A photo-receiving unit of an entertainment device stores commands sent from a remote controller into a buffer memory. A main unit of the entertainment device incorporates the stored commands at regular intervals (such as once in every vertical synchronization period) and the individual portions of the main unit, or the peripheral devices connected to the main device, are controlled based on the incorporated command. As a result, the user can operate the main unit or peripheral devices with a remote controller not originally meant for the entertainment device.

This application is related to Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-344536 filed on Nov. 10, 2000 and No. 2001-330041 filed on Oct. 26, 2001, based on which this application claims priority under the Paris Convention and the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote-control signal receiver having at least a game execution function for executing video games based on game programs stored in storage media such as CD-ROM, DVD-ROM and semiconductor memory, and an image reproduction function for reproducing image information from storage media having recorded therein image information such as movie; information processing method for remote-control signal; storage medium having recorded therein information processing program for remote-control signal; information processing program; and remote-control device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today, game programs of video games are generally distributed in a form being stored in optical disks such as CD-ROM or DVD-ROM since such disks can store larger volume of video games which are becoming more advanced and complicated, and can be manufactured at lower costs than semiconductor memories.
A video game machine reads out a game program from an optical disk, displays game scenes and characters on a monitor device, and emits under control effective sounds from speaker units. Movement of the characters or the like displayed on the monitor device can be controlled through a controller by the user.
The user thus can enjoy various types of video games such as RPG (role playing game), AVG (adventure game) and SLG (simulation game).
Video data stored in such CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs for the video games are generally stored as being processed by compressive decoding using a high-performance compressive decoding technique such as MPEG2. The video game machine is thus provided with a MPEG decoder, by which the compressively decoded video data can be reproduced.
On the other hand, movie DVDs also contain video data as being processed by compressive decoding by such high-performance compressive decoding technique such as MPEG2. Thus the video game machine proposed by the present inventors can reproduce video scenes not only of video games but also of movies with the aid of the MPGE decoder.
Such video game machine proposed by the present inventors has already been distributed widely as an entertainment device in expectation of its versatility for the future since it can reproduce not only video games but other various digital contents such as music CDs and DVDs, and can send/receive digital contents through a communication network such as internet.
The conventional entertainment device has, however, been designed to reproduce music CDs or DVDS, which are optical disks having stored therein data other than video game programs, while being controlled by a controller connected through a cable to the main unit of such entertainment device.
Such controller has provided thereon a xe2x80x9c◯xe2x80x9d button with an embossed ◯ marking, a xe2x80x9cxc3x97xe2x80x9d button with an embossed xc3x97 marking, a xe2x80x9cxcex94xe2x80x9d button with an embossed xcex94 marking and a xe2x80x9cxe2x96xa1xe2x80x9d button with an embossed xe2x96xa1 marking for playing the game. In the reproduction of movie DVDs, the individual buttons are assigned with functions, for example, of menu selection, selection cancel/reproduction stop, menu display and title display, respectively, so that the user could control the reproduction operation on the main unit of the entertainment device by using such buttons. Such conventional entertainment device has thus been suffering from the problems below.
The controller is connected with the main unit of the entertainment device typically through a cable of approx. 2.5 m long. Such length of the cable was defined so as to allow the user to enjoy the video game as being properly distant from a monitor device, which is usually placed close to the entertainment device, and to put back the cable without problem.
While such length of the controller is convenient for enjoying the video game, a problem resides in that the controller is placed far from the user enjoying movies stored in a DVD on such entertainment device, since the movies are usually enjoyed at a position distant further than the length of such cable, which makes it difficult to operate the main unit of such entertainment device.
While the problem seems to be overcome by using a longer cable as long as 3 or 4 m, such longer cable will be inconvenient to put away and will make the user feel annoyed during the play of the video game.
In these days, reproducing devices such as video tape recorders and CD players are widely popularized, where most of which are operable by remote controllers, and every remote controller has similar key arrangement. Thus most of the recent users are supposed to be familiar with operations corresponded to such key arrangement of the remote controllers.
Such key arrangement of the remote controllers is, however, entirely different from that of the controller of the entertainment device designed for video games. Thus, for the case that the DVD for example is reproduced using the controller of the entertainment device, the user should encounter difficulty in operating the entertainment device since the user has to unwillingly struggle with key operation using the keys having an arrangement entirely different from that of the remote controller.
The present invention is completed to overcome the foregoing problems and an object thereof is to provide a remote-control signal receiver allowing the user to reproduce, for example, DVDs with a sense of handling a remote controller; information processing method for remote-control signal; storage medium having recorded therein information processing program for remote-control signal; information processing program; and remote-control device.
In the present invention, a main unit of an entertainment device is provided with a receiving unit to which operational commands are sent in a wireless manner via a remote control unit. The main unit of the entertainment device will execute action corresponded to the operational command received by the receiving unit. This allows the user to operate the main unit of the entertainment device or external devices connected to such main unit with a sense of using a remote controller.
Other and further objects and features of the present invention will become obvious upon understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described in connection with the accompanying drawings or will be indicated in the appended claims, and various advantages not referred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employing of the invention in practice.


Systems, methods, and apparatuses for ATM deposit jammed item imaging and transaction completion are described herein. A transaction system detects, based on information provided by a sensor coupled to the transaction system, an interrupted transaction. The transaction system receives partial transaction information related to the interrupted transaction. The transaction system also receives an image associated with the interrupted transaction from a computing device. The transaction system determines additional transaction information based at least on the image. The transaction system may execute operations related to the interrupted transaction based on the additional transaction information.

Automated teller machines (ATMs) are a convenient way for customers to complete financial transactions, including document deposits. ATMs may be placed and accessed by customers at various geographic locations, such as bank locations, convenience stores, or other stores to facilitate an account holder's interaction with the banking systems. During document deposits, the deposited documents may become jammed in the ATM before a transaction is completed. A jammed document can cause delays in the processing of the transaction, and in some cases, may further cause the loss of the jammed document.

Systems and methods for ATM deposit jammed item imaging and transaction completion


A snowshoe constructed of a solid piece of rigid material having a cross brace for pivotally supporting a binding for the boot of the wearer. An opening forward of the cross brace permits the toe of the boot to pivot downwardly. The snowshoe is provided with braces of L-shaped construction and openings to reduce weight. Studs may be employed for traction on hardpacked snow and ice. The solid piece making up the platform of the shoe is made from a light weight rigid plastic material such as polypropylene.

The present invention relates to a snowshoe and more particularly to a snowshoe which is light in weight and more effective and useful than existing snowshoes, while at the same time reducing the cost to the consumer.
A snowshoe is a device that is fastened to the bottom of a boot to facilitate traversing deep snow with minimal sinking into the snow. The binding is the device which holds the snowshoe to the boot of the snowshoer.
There are a large variety of snowshoes on the market. One problem with existing designs has to do with their weight. A heavy snowshoe makes it difficult for the wearer to do any extensive walking on snow consequently having a negative impact on endurance, thereby discouraging the use of snowshoes as a sport. Another problem with existing shoes has to do with the bindings. Most bindings attach the bottom of the boot to the shoe in such a way as to limit the freedom of motion of the foot and this adds to the discomfort and diminishes the utility of using the snowshoe.
Other drawbacks of existing designs involve shapes which make walking more difficult, size of the shoes which makes it difficult to move the legs, and cost which makes some showshoes too costly for a mass market.
A variety of showshoe designs are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: Des. 161,198, 1,004,900, 2,515,070, 2,615,260, 3,299,541, 3,802,100, 4,045,889, 4,085,529, and 4,720,938. These patents show a variety of configurations. None of the preceding patents teaches the present invention including the specific manner of utilizing bindings in the present application.


A rallye wheel hub cab retaining device is provided for securing the hub cap to the vehicle's wheel lug, whereby deterring theft of the hub cap. A fixed length of cable is secured to the hub cap on one end by means of four stud terminals, each secured to the existing bolts of the cap. The opposite end, fitted with a loop and "S" hook, is bolted to the wheel lug, and held fast by the wheel lug nut. The relatively simple device secures the hub cap to the wheel, yet still allows enough slack to gain access to the wheel nuts. The device is short enough to safely allow the cap to rotate with the wheel, without striking the vehicle's fender well, should the cap come loose from the rim.

The invention is drawn to a theft deterrent device which prevents unauthorized removal of a rallye wheel hub cap or wheel cover from a vehicle wheel.
The hub cap produced for the rallye wheel is easily stolen and unless protected, is very easy to steal from the vehicle, using only one's hands; no tools are required for removal. It should also be noted that the manufacturer of the rallye wheel hub cap stopped producing them in 1989, thus making them even more scarce, and therefore, more valuable.
There is presently no other device on the market to deter the theft of the rallye wheel hub cap which attaches to the wheel without modifying the hub cap or the wheel.
The prior art demonstrated in this field includes devices which require the alteration or refitting of the hub cap to the wheel in a manner to which is foreign to the manufacturer's original specification. Not only do the alternations or refitting alter the appearance of the hub cap, but in some instances actually change the structure due to welding, heating and drilling of the original cap to accept the after market devices. On some classic or collectible automobles this is a definite point disadvantage when competing in an auto show.
Other forms of the prior art include devices that incorporate heavy pieces of metal to connect the hub cap to the wheel which, by definition are off-center to the horizontal axis of the wheel, thereby causing the rotating wheel assembly to be out of balance resulting in premature tire wear, not to mention the shaking felt by the operator, due to the out of balance effect.
One form of prior art allows a would-be thief to observe the anti-theft device attached to the hubcap in plain view, thereby allowing the thief to determine which tools are needed to remove the device.
It is a primary object of this invention to provide a device to retain a rallye wheel hub cap without requiring modification of either the wheel or the hub cap.
It is another object of this invention to provide a rallye wheel hub cap theft deterrent device which is low cost, easy to install and weather resistant.
It is a further objection of the invention to provide a device which will be hidden from view inside the hub cap so as to not warn a potential thief .


Novel compounds represented by the formula: ##STR1## wherein R represents hydrogen, optionally substituted alkyl radicals having from 1 to about 10 carbon atoms, optionally substituted alkenyl radicals having from 1 to about 10 carbon atoms, optionally substituted aryl, alkaryl and aralkyl radicals having from about 6 to about 16 carbon atoms and optionally substituted acyl and acyloxy radicals having from about 1 to about 10 carbon atoms, manifest glycosidase inhibition activity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel piperidine derivatives which manifest glycosidase inhibition activity and to novel intermediates useful in the manufacture thereof. The present invention also relates to methods for preparing such derivatives and intermediates.
More particularly, the present invention relates to 5-fluoro analogs of 2-hydroxymethyl-3, 4,-dihydroxypiperidines, which are the ring nitrogen analogs of 1-deoxy-D-glucose and are generally referred to as 1-deoxynojirimycin (DNJ) analogs. More particularly, the present invention relates to 1,2-dideoxy-2-fluoronojirimycin and the corresponding N-derivatives; to intermediates useful in preparing such fluorinated analogs; to methods for preparing the intermediates beginning with 1-deoxynojirimycin as starting material; and to methods for preparing the 2-fluoro analogs utilizing such intermediates.
2. Related Art
1-Deoxynojirimycin is a known glucosidase inhibitor. See, for example, Truscheit et al., Ang. Chemie Int'l Ed., 20, 744 (1981). Fluoro analogs of Chemie Int glucose and glucose derivatives are also known. For example, see Withers et al, J.Amer. Chem. Soc., 109, 7530-31 (1987), and "Fluorinated Carbohydrates: Chemical and Biochemical Aspects; ACS Symposium Series 184," ed. N.F. Taylor, American Chemical Society (1988).
Kinast et al, DE3620645, disclose 2-amino-1-deoxynojirimycin derivatives which inhibit glucosidases. A cyclic stannylene intermediate of 1-deoxymannojirimycin is utilized to specifically functionalize the 3-hydroxy group.
Munava et al, J. Org. Chem., 41, 1832 (1976),. disclose a cyclic stannylene intermediate of glucose utilized to functionalize the 2-hydroxy group with a benzoyl group.
David et al, Tetrahedron, 41(4), 643 (1985) review utilization of stannylenes in carbohydrate chemistry.

1,2-dideoxy-2-fluoronojirimycin as glycosidase inhibitors


Various solutions with respect to uplink control information (UCI) feedback timing signaling in wireless communications are described. A user equipment (UE) identifies a type of uplink (UL) transmission to perform with respect to a network node of a wireless network. The UE receives a control signal from the network node and determines, based on the control signal, a timing offset of a transmission schedule for the identified type of the UL transmission. The UE performs the UL transmission to the network node according to the transmission schedule such that a first type of the UL transmission is performed with a first timing offset and a second type of the UL transmission is performed with a second timing offset different than the first timing offset.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims listed below and are not admitted as prior art by inclusion in this section.
In mobile communications in 5th-Generation (5G) and New Radio (NR) mobile networks, it was proposed that, for aperiodic channel state information (CSI) reporting on physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), the possible timing offset values Y are the same as PUSCH scheduling offset determined in scheduling and hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) agenda item. However, as the PUSCH scheduling offset is determined by processing latency for PUSCH, and CSI feedback offset is determined by CSI processing latency, they may not overlap each other completely.

Uplink channel information feedback timing signaling in wireless communications


A temperature sensing circuit has a first insulated gate field effect device which is operated deep into its subthreshold region where the voltage across the device varies with temperature and has a second insulated gate field effect device which is operated in an area of its square law region where the voltage across the second insulated gate field effect device is substantially independent of temperature. A comparator compares the voltages across the first and second field effect devices and provides a signal OT indicating the temperature sensed by the first insulated gate field effect device.

This invention relates to a temperature sensing circuit using insulated gate field effect devices for sensing temperature.
In particular, this invention relates to a temperature sensing circuit comprising a first insulated gate field effect device, a second insulated gate field effect device, means for operating the first insulated gate field effect device in its subthreshold region so that the voltage across the first insulated gate field effect device varies with temperature, and means for comparing the voltages across the first and second insulated gate field effect devices.
Such temperature sensing circuits are described in, for example, GB-A-2096771 and a paper entitled "Integrated MOS temperature sensor" by R. C. Jaeger and D. V. Kerns published in the Conference Proceedings of the 1980 IEEE Region 3 Conference and Exhibit Apr. 13, 14, 15, 16, 1980 Nashville, Tenn.
In each of these prior documents, the first and second insulated gate field effect devices are each formed by an insulated gate field effect transistor (IGFET). The two IGFETs are arranged to be operated in their subthreshold region where the drain current Id varies logarithmically with the gate-to-source voltage Vgs in a manner such that the slope of the Id versus Vgs curve is constant over many decades and directly proportional to temperature. The two IGFETs are arranged to have different drain currents by, for example, appropriately scaling the channel width and length geometry of the IGFETs and/or by appropriately scaling load resistors connected in series with the IGFETs. The difference in the gate-source voltage .increment.Vgs of the two IGFETs may thus be used as a measure of absolute temperature.


An improved silane modified polymer useful in adhesive compositions is made from a silane precursor material made by a process comprising reacting an organic compound having a backbone that is terminated by an amino group having at least one active amino hydrogen and a hydrolysable silane, wherein the backbone is comprised of at least one secondary amino group having one active amino hydrogen and a Michael addition acceptor compound, wherein the Michael addition compound fails to have a group reactive with an isocyanate group to form the silane precursor compound. The silane precursor compound is reacted with an isocyanate terminated polyurethane prepolymer to form a silane modified prepolymer. The silane modified prepolymer may then be cured with moisture and may be employed in an adhesive composition containing other components such as a plasticizer, catalyst and filler.

In automobile factories, windows are installed using robots and computer controlled processing which facilitates the use of a variety of high performance adhesives, for instance, nonconductive adhesives and high modulus adhesives. These adhesives have to be storage stable and be readily applied under high shear, for example, to a windshield, while retaining the bead shape so that the windshield can be properly fitted to the automobile. This typically has been achieved by one part moisture curable polyurethane prepolymer based adhesives having fillers, with the prepolymers having sufficient molecular weight, so that they are still pumpable and can be applied to the windshield without sagging or stringing in the time it takes to place the windshield on the automobile. These adhesives contain free isocyanate groups that are regulated and will be subject to more stringent regulation.
Silane modified polymers (SMPs) have been used to replace the moisture curable polyurethane based adhesives. SMPs generally are comprised of flexible polymeric backbones that are terminated by moisture reactive (hydrolysable) silane terminal groups. SMPs, generally, have been made by three routes. The first, illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,751, involves hydrosilylating a silicon hydride having hydrolysable silyl groups with an allyl terminated polyether, where the allyl terminated polyether was formed from a polyether polyol. Unfortunately, these SMPs tend to be expensive due to the cost to fabricate the allyl terminated polyether due to the use of chlorine and alkali that must be removed and disposed. The second, illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,557, generally involves reacting an aminosilane with an isocyanate terminated prepolymer resulting in trialkoxysilyl end groups with polyether polymer backbones containing urea linkages. Adhesives with these prepolymers tend to have high viscosities and low elongation. The third, illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,625,012 and 6,355,127 involves reacting an isocyanato organosilane with a polyurethane having terminal active hydrogens. Likewise, these have suffered from high viscosities and low elongations.
Recently, PCT Appl. Nos. WO2012/003212, WO2012/003216, and WO2012/003187 have described hydrosilylating a silicon hydride having hydrolysable silyl groups with an allyl terminated polyether, where the polyether has only one allyl terminal group and the other terminal group is an alcohol. After hydrosilylation, the terminal alcohol is reacted with a diisocyanate resulting in urethane linkage and isocyanate terminal group. This is then reacted with a polyether polyol to form SMPs.
Each of the above have suffered from complex and expensive processes to make a moisture curable SMP useful for an adhesive composition.
What is needed is a SMP composition that is useful as an adhesive for bonding glass into a structure avoiding some of shortcomings they have exhibited such as those described above.

Silyl terminated prepolymers, method for making them and adhesive compositions made therefrom


A cyclone-type separator comprises a hollow cylindrical main body in to which liquid containing foreign matter is introduced, a clean room provided in an upper end of the main body, a communication pipe which connects the clean room to an interior of the main body, and a porous separating pipe arranged in the clean room. As the liquid swirls in the main body, an eddy stream is generated. A columnar air layer and a clean liquid layer are formed, both aligned with the centerline of the eddy stream. The air layer and the liquid layer are guided via the communication pipe into the separating pipe. At the bottom of the clean room, there are provided a first reservoir for storing the liquid coming through the separating pipe, a second reservoir for storing the liquid flowing from the first reservoir, and a coolant outlet port for discharging the clean liquid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cyclone-type separator that utilizes a centrifugal force to separate solid matter from liquid coolants such as cutting fluid and grinding fluid for use in machine tools. More particularly, the invention relates to a structure that prevents liquid coolants from bubbling after foreign matter has been removed from them.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the process of cutting metal work pieces, a water-soluble liquid coolant composed mainly of much water is used to increase the lifetime of the tools, to enhance the precision of cutting and to remove chips fast. A water-soluble liquid coolant of this type is used over again. Hence, solid matter such as chips and metal particles should be quickly removed from the liquid coolant.
Known hitherto as a means for removing such matter is a cyclone-type separator. The cyclone-type separator comprises a main body, an inlet-port unit, a clean room, and a communication pipe. The main body has a discharge port in its lower end. The inlet-port unit introduces a dirty liquid coolant containing solid matter, into the main body. The clean room is provided in the upper end of the main body. The communication pipe guides the liquid coolant cleaned in the main body, into the clean room.
The main body is a conical hollow body whose diameter gradually decreases toward the discharge port. The inlet-port unit is provided in the upper end of the main body and injects the dirty liquid coolant into the main body. The dirty liquid coolant falls along the inner surface of the main body, in the form of an eddy stream. The eddy stream of coolant, thus generated in the main body, provides a centrifugal force. The centrifugal force separates the foreign matter from the liquid coolant. The foreign matter separated fall along the inner surface of the main body and is discharged from the main body through the discharge port.
The eddy stream of the coolant, falling along the inner surface of the main body, starts flowing upwards near the discharge port. That is, an upward eddy stream develops on the centerline of the main body, moving from the discharge port toward the clean room. The upward eddy stream includes a columnar air layer and a clean coolant layer. The columnar air layer passes through the communication pipe, reaching the clean room. The clean coolant layer rises along the circumferential surface of the columnar air layer.
The liquid coolant cleaned in the main body is guided into the clean room, along with the upward eddy stream, and thence into a coolant tank.
In the conventional cyclone-type separator, the columnar air layer and the coolant layer surrounding this air layer move upwards along the centerline of the main body, without mixing with each other. They move through the communication pipe, reaching the clean room.
In the conventional cyclone-type separator, an outlet port located at the downstream end of the communication pipe opens directly to the clean room. Inevitably, the air layer and the coolant layer mix with each other. That is, air mingles into the liquid coolant.
Consequently, the liquid coolant violently bubbles in the clean room, forming a great amount of foam. The foam enters the coolant tank as the liquid coolant flows into the tank. The coolant tank is inevitably filled with the foam, which may overflow the coolant tank.
To prevent the overflowing, de-foaming agent is added to the liquid coolant that has been cleaned, or a device dedicated to de-foaming is provided outside the main body.
As generally known, however, the de-foaming agent is a factor that degrades the cooling efficiency of the liquid coolant. A repeated use of the liquid coolant containing the de-foaming agent may lead to poor cutting results or may shorten the lifetime of the tools.
If a device for de-foaming the coolant is used, the system that reuses the liquid coolant will be a large-scale one, requiring a high operating cost and a large installation space.

Cyclone-type separator for separating foreign matters by utilizing a centrifugal force


An illustrative electronic assembly having an electrical connector therein to ground an electronic component of the electronic assembly to a grounding feature of a printed wiring assembly (PWA) of the electronic assembly. The electronic assembly may include a housing, the PWA, the electronic component and the electrical connector. The electrical connector may be a conductive and resilient extender or connector that may have a first portion connected to the PWA and a second portion extending generally away from the PWA toward the electronic component. The second portion of the electrical connector may be in mechanical and electrical contact with the electronic component.

Many electronic devices include one or more components that are manually operated by a user, such as touch screen displays and/or other manually operated switches or buttons. Such electronic devices include, for example, mobile phones, tablet computers, digital cameras, music players, HVAC controllers such as thermostats, and/or other manually controlled electronic devices. These electronic devices may be particularly susceptible to Electrostatic Discharge (ESDs) events. In some cases, an ESD event can occur when a user or operator is loaded with static electricity and contacts the electronic device, discharging the static electricity to the electronic device. Such ESD events have been known to cause damage to internal electronic components of the electronic device. Providing some level of ESD protection is thus often desirable.

Electrostatic discharge connector and method for an electronic device


An autonomous oscillator synchronizes to an external harmonic force only when the forcing frequency lies within a certain interval, known as the synchronization range, around the oscillator's natural frequency. Under ordinary conditions, the width of the synchronization range decreases when the oscillation amplitude grows, which constrains synchronized motion of micro- and nano-mechanical resonators to narrow frequency and amplitude bounds. The present invention shows that nonlinearity in the oscillator can be exploited to manifest a regime where the synchronization range increases with an increasing oscillation amplitude. The present invention shows that nonlinearities in specific configurations of oscillator systems, as described herein, are the key determinants of the effect. The present invention presents a new configuration and operation regime that enhances the synchronization of micro- and nano-mechanical oscillators by capitalizing on their intrinsic nonlinear dynamics.

Mechanical oscillators are an essential component of practically every electronic system requiring a frequency reference for time keeping or synchronization and are also widely used in frequency-shift based sensors of mass, force, and magnetic field. Currently, micro- and nano-mechanical (collectively referred to as "micromechanical" herein) oscillators are being developed as an alternative to conventional oscillators, e.g. quartz oscillators, supported by their intrinsic compatibility with standard semiconductor processing and by their unprecedented sensitivity and time response as miniaturized sensing devices.
Generally, synchronization is possible when the frequency of an externally applied harmonic perturbation, Ωs, lies close enough to the oscillator's frequency Ω0, such that |Ωs−Ω0|<ΔΩ where 2ΔΩ is the synchronization range. Usually, the larger the interaction with the external harmonic perturbation, the further the frequency can be shifted and the larger the synchronization range. Additionally, the width of the synchronization range decreases as the amplitude of the linear oscillator increases. In other words, the ability to change the frequency of operation to an external harmonic perturbation decreases as the self-sustained drive force of the linear oscillator is increased.
Unfortunately, as the dimensions of the vibrating structures are reduced to the micro- and nano-scale their dynamic response at the amplitudes needed for operation frequently becomes nonlinear, with large displacement instabilities and excessive frequency noise considerably degrading their performance. These factors would seem to preclude micromechanical oscillator systems, specifically the micro- and nano-resonators, from being used in timing applications.

Nonlinearity induced synchronization enhancement in mechanical oscillators


In accordance with the teachings described herein, systems and methods are provided for charge compensation. A system may include an operational transconductance amplifier including an input terminal and an output terminal, a transistor network, and a capacitive circuit. The transistor network may be coupled in a feedback loop between the input terminal and the output terminal. The capacitive circuit may be configured to compensate a charge built on a parasitic capacitance of the transistor network during operation.

An operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) typically receives differential input voltages and produces an output current. The OTA is similar to a standard operational amplifier in that the OTA has a high impedance differential input stage and may be used with negative feedback. The OTA may be implemented in various circuits. For example, the OTA may be used in a switched-capacitor circuit, such as a sample/hold circuit of pipelined analog-digital converters (ADCs).
FIGS. 1A and 1B show at 100 an example of a diagram of a flip-around sample/hold circuit of ADCs and an example of timing diagrams of switches in the diagram of the sample/hold circuit. As shown in FIG. 1A, the sample/hold circuit includes a differential input 102, input switches 104, an operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) 106, sample/hold capacitors 108, reference terminals 110, reference switches 112, loading capacitors 114, and feedback switches 116.
Differential input voltage signals may be provided at the differential input 102. The input switches 104 control when to pass the differential input voltage signals to input terminals of the OTA 106. A direct current (DC) common-mode voltage signal, VCM, is supplied to the reference terminals 110 to provide proper DC points for the OTA 106. The OTA 106 may generate two output voltage signals to be applied to the loading capacitors 114. The feedback switches 116 control two feedback loops of the OTA 106.
The timing diagrams of the reference switches 112, the input switches 104, and the feedback switches 116 are shown at 118, 120, and 122 in FIG. 1B, respectively. During the sampling phase, both the input switches 104 and the reference switches 112 are on (at a logic high level) and the feedback switches 116 are off (at a logic low level). The right-side plates of the sample/hold capacitors 108 that are connected to the input terminals of the OTA 106 are set to VCM through the reference switches 112. The left-side plates of the sample/hold capacitors 108 that are connected to the differential input 102 through the input switches 104 are set to follow the differential input voltage signals.
After a predetermined period of time, the reference switches 112 are turned off (at a logic low level). The values of the differential input signals are stored on the sample/hold capacitors 108. The input switches 104 are turned off slightly later than the reference switches 112 so that charge injection and sampling time may be signal-independent. The left-side plates of the sample/hold capacitors 108 are disconnected from the differential input 102. After another predetermined period of time, the feedback switches 116 are turned on (at a logic high level). The left-side plates of the sample/hold capacitors 108 are connected to output terminals of the OTA 106 through the feedback switches 116. This is called "flip-around," where the left-side plates of the sample/hold capacitors 108 are "flipped" from the differential input 102 to the output terminals of the OTA 106. The values of the differential input voltage signals stored on the sample/hold capacitors 108 are held at the output terminals of the OTA 106 and passed to the loading capacitors 114.

Charge compensation for operational transconductance amplifier based circuits


Noise of a CT image is reduced with good accuracy by using noise information obtained from the CT image. An X-ray CT apparatus comprises a successive approximate reconstruction part that reconstructs a CT image for a reconstruction area of an imaging object from measured projection data obtained by an X-ray detection part of the X-ray CT apparatus, and successively corrects the CT image so that calculated projection data obtained by forward projection of the CT image performed by calculation and the measured projection data detected by the X-ray detection part become equal to each other. The successive approximate reconstruction part comprises a noise measurement part that calculates noise intensity in the CT image at least for a predetermined region of interest, and successively corrects the CT image of the region of interest by using the calculated noise intensity.

X-Ray CT (computed tomography) apparatuses are apparatuses for calculating X-ray absorption coefficients at positions of an imaging object from measured projection data obtained by capturing images of the imaging object from many directions, and obtaining an image of X-ray absorption coefficient distribution (henceforth also referred to as CT image). By replacing the X-ray absorption coefficients with normalized CT values (−1000 for air, and 0 for water), a CT image is generated.
The CT image shows a tomographic image of a subject. On medical sites, pathological conditions of patients can be accurately and instantly diagnosed by using CT images, and therefore they are clinically useful. However, in order to obtain a CT image of high image quality required for diagnosis by medical practitioners, radiation exposure of a certain extent is unavoidable. If the irradiation dose is reduced in order to realize low exposure, ratio of noise to the detected signals increases, and there are thereby generated many line-shaped streak artifacts and grain-like noise, which cause incorrect diagnoses. Therefore, it has been desired to simultaneously realize both diagnosis of good quality and low radiation exposure by reducing the streak artifacts and noises at the time of low radiation dose imaging.
Patent document 1 discloses a method for generating a noise map in which image of imaging object has been removed (difference image). In this method, a plurality of measured projection data obtained by scanning the same positions of one imaging object at substantially the same times are divided into two sets of projection data according to projection angles, CT images are reconstructed from the sets of the divided projection data, respectively, a difference image of the two CT images is obtained, and a noise map is obtained from this difference image. According to the technique of Patent document 1, a filter is created by using this noise map to remove noise of the CT image. In this method, the filter is created on the basis of the noise map obtained from actual CT images, and therefore image of the imaging object is less easily degraded compared with the case of using a conventional filter for eliminating radio frequency components.


An integrated circuit (IC) configured for being connected to an external reference voltage uses an IC reference voltage to determine the logic levels of signals applied to the IC. The IC includes an internal reference voltage generator and logic for selecting one of the internal reference voltage and the external reference voltage for use as the IC reference voltage dependent at least in part upon the operational mode of the IC.

The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits, and, more particularly, to an integrated circuit that selects between an internal reference voltage and an external reference voltage dependent at least in part upon the mode of operation of the IC.
Many integrated circuit interface standards, such as, for example, stub series terminated logic second version (SSTOxe2x80x942), require the use of a reference voltage pin. During operation of the integrated circuit (IC), all input signals are referenced to the voltage applied to the reference voltage pin, i.e., the reference voltage, in order to determine whether the input signal is a logic high or low level.
The reference voltage must also be applied to the reference voltage pin during testing. Test systems for ICs typically generate the reference voltage in one of several ways, including a driver pin, power supply or a direct current measurement unit. IC test systems generally require a high degree of parallelism, i.e., duplicate tester resources for each and every device under test (DUT). Thus, the method or device used to generate the reference voltage is duplicated for each DUT in order to ensure integrity of the reference voltage signal.
The need for an IC testing system to duplicate the method or device of used to generate the reference voltage for each DUT increases the cost and complexity of the testing system. Further, the need to duplicate the method or device used to generate the reference voltage for each DUT limits the capacity of the testing system, i.e., limits the number of DUTs that can be simultaneously tested by the system.
Therefore, what is needed in the art is a method and apparatus for generating the reference voltage that does not consume testing system resources.
Furthermore, what is needed in the art is a method and apparatus for generating the reference voltage that does not limit the capacity of the testing system.
The present invention provides an integrated circuit (IC) that selects between an internal reference voltage and an external reference voltage dependent at least in part upon the mode of operation of the IC.
The invention comprises, in one form thereof, an integrated circuit (IC) configured for being connected to an external reference voltage. The IC uses an IC reference voltage to determine the logic levels of signals applied to the IC. The IC includes means for generating an internal reference voltage and means for selecting one of the internal reference voltage and the external reference voltage for use as the IC reference voltage dependent at least in part upon the operational mode of the IC
An advantage of the present invention is that the reference voltage is generated without requiring testing system resources.
A further advantage of the present invention is that the testing system capacity is not limited by generation of the reference voltage.

Internal generation of reference voltage


An injection nozzle for injecting a substance, such as a cryogenic gas or cryogenic liquid, into the interior of a process vessel, or directly into material inside a process vessel, and includes a housing having a first internal chamber for receiving a fluid, and a second internal chamber having an actuator located therein, a valve body having an outlet, a stem positioned within the first internal chamber of the housing and having opposed proximal and distal ends, wherein the stem is reciprocally movable along its longitudinal axis in the housing to open and close the valve body outlet, and a sensor configured to receive a signal from the actuator.

It is known to use nozzles to inject substances, such as a liquid or gas, into a wide variety of materials and products, or into processing vessels containing same, especially in the food and beverage industry. Such nozzles are usually mounted on an exterior wall of a processing or treatment vessel and inject substances inside the vessel.
Nozzles may be used to inject cryogenic substances, such as for example liquid nitrogen, into a processing vessel, such as a blender, for food products in order to chill same for subsequent processing. Such a process is referred to as bottom injection (BI), and the nozzles which inject the cryogenic substance are frequently referred to as bottom injection nozzles (BINs). BINs are typically mounted at an exterior wall of the blender and are in fluid communication with the interior of the blender such that the cryogenic substance can be injected through the BIN and into the blender, and optionally directly into the food being processed in the blender.
Known injection nozzles and cryogenic cooling apparatus including the same do not have a mechanism to determine whether a nozzle outlet is in an open or closed position before, during and after an injection cycle. There may be malfunctions in which one or more nozzle outlets remain open, even though the cryogenic cooling apparatus has been shut down or turned off. Such a malfunction causes significant economic losses and may result in serious health and safety issues. Careful attention to whether a nozzle outlet is in an open or closed position before, during and after injection cycles is extremely important.
What is therefore needed is an injection nozzle and apparatuses and methods regarding same which provide an accurate and reliable indication of nozzle outlet closure and safety feedback.

Injection nozzle and apparatus and methods regarding same


The present disclosure relates generally to the field of medical treatment and therapy of mammalian tissue. More specifically, it relates to coverings and/or dressings that provide negative pressure at mammalian tissue sites, such as at one or more sites of surgical, non-surgical, and/or traumatic wounds, to promote closure and healing of the wounds. A key embodiment of the disclosed invention entails the use of a dressing that comprises a sponge that is shaped so as to create a vector force inward bringing wound edges together to promote healing, especially upon application of negative pressure. Other key features of the disclosed invention are its simplicity, its low cost, and that it is completely mechanical and lacks the need for any electronic components. The disclosure also relates to devices, systems, kits and methods for providing said negative pressure at said mammalian tissue sites and promote healing.

Although the invention disclosed in the following pertains primarily to treatment and therapy of wounds in mammalian subjects via the application of negative pressure, it is to be understood that, as contemplated herein, the invention may have general usefulness in the medical treatment and therapy of certain non-wound conditions of mammalian tissue that could benefit from the application of negative pressure.
Negative-pressure wound therapy (NPWT) is a therapeutic technique that uses a vacuum covering and/or dressing to promote healing in acute or chronic wounds and enhance healing, illustratively, of surgical, non-surgical, and traumatic wounds, of second- and third-degree burns, and the like. This therapy involves the controlled application of sub-atmospheric pressure to the local wound environment, using a sealed wound covering and/or dressing connected to a vacuum source. The use of this technique in wound management increased dramatically over the last several decades, and numerous studies have been published to-date examining NPWT. For example, it has been reported that NPWT appears to be useful for treatment of diabetic ulcers, for management of the open abdomen (laparotomy), as well as for other wound types.
Wound healing has been found by many studies to be improved with application of negative pressure. Thus, NPWT promotes wound healing by applying a vacuum through a special sealed covering and/or dressing. It has been observed that the continued vacuum draws out fluid from the wound and increases blood flow to the area. The vacuum may be applied continuously or intermittently, depending on the type of wound being treated and the clinical objectives. Typically, the covering or dressing may have to be changed two to three times per week, or fewer times in some cases. Some of the coverings or dressings used for the technique include open-cell foam dressings and gauze, sealed with an occlusive dressing intended to contain the vacuum at the wound site. Some NPWT devices allow delivery of fluids, such as saline or antibiotics to irrigate the wound, in which case intermittent removal of used fluid supports the cleaning and drainage of the wound bed. Examples of some commercially available NPWT devices include the PREVENA™ Incision Management System (by Acelity™), the V.A.C.Ulta™ Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System (also by Acelity™), and the PICO™ Single Use Negative Pressure Wound Therapy System (by Smith and Nephew).
It has been reported that the negative pressure is found to be optimized between about −120 mmHg and about −150 mmHg. If the negative pressure is too great, the terminal capillaries collapse. If the negative pressure is too slight, there is no benefit observed. Some of the observed advantages of using these vacuum devices include the following. (1) The ability for wound dressing changes to be done less frequently, so that the vacuum needs to be changed only once or twice a week. (2) The suction device keeps the wound free of exudate and lowers the bacterial load. (3) The device keeps grafts, such as skin grafts, unperturbed while healing; and acts as a splint on the graft. (4) Improved oxygenation of the tissues from the negative pressure. (5) The plastic drape acts as a "truss" to keep the wound from splitting or spreading. (6) The wound vacuum can be placed on in a sterile environment, protecting the wound from the bacteria of the environment. (7) Less pain is experienced at the wound site. (8) Protection of the wound from moisture (e.g., stomach overhanging on a hip wound).
A general technique employed in current NPWT treatments usually entails protecting the periwound by applying a skin barrier followed by a transparent film. A dressing or filler material is then fitted to the contours of the wound, which is covered with a non-adherent dressing film, and the overlying foam is then sealed with a transparent film. A drainage tube is connected to the dressing through an opening of the transparent film. A vacuum tube is connected through an opening in the film drape to a canister on the side of a vacuum pump or vacuum source, turning an open wound into a controlled, closed wound while removing excess fluid from the wound bed to enhance circulation and remove wound fluids. This creates a moist healing environment and reduces edema. There must be an air tight seal for this therapy to be successful. The technique is usually used especially with chronic wounds or wounds that are expected to present difficulties while healing.
With current NPWT systems, various types of filler material are available to be used over the wound surface, most usually including the following three types of filler material: (1) open-cell foam; (2) gauze and transparent film; or, (3) honeycombed textiles with a dimpled wound contact surface. In the first type, foam dressings are used to fill open cavity wounds and can be cut to size to fit wounds; the foam dressing is applied, filling the wound, and then a film drape is applied over the top to create a seal around the dressing. In the second type, open weave cotton gauze can be covered with a transparent film, and a flat drain is sandwiched in gauze and placed onto the wound; the film drape covers the wound and creates a complete seal, and then the drain is connected to the pump via the tubing. The third type includes layers of non-woven polyester, joined by a silicone elastomer, and has a non-adherent wound contact surface made up of numerous small semi-rigid dome structures. With all three techniques, once the dressing is sealed, the vacuum pump can be set to deliver continuous or intermittent pressures, with levels of pressure dependent on the device used; and the pressure can be applied constantly or intermittently. The dressing type used depends on the type of wound, clinical objectives, and the patient. For pain sensitive patients with shallow or irregular wounds, wounds with undermining or explored tracts or tunnels, gauze may be used, while foam may be cut easily to fit a patient's wound that has a regular contour and perform better when aggressive granulation formation and wound contraction is the desired goal.
The foregoing notwithstanding, the current NPWT devices available on the market have many shortcomings and downfalls. For example, some available NPWT devices do not include any fluid reservoir to collect fluids. They may include a battery operated electronic pump. They are bulky, expensive, and noisy, bothersome to patients. Furthermore, many types are permeable to gases and fluids, and/or do not provide enough suction to be sufficiently beneficial toward wound healing. Physicians and other medical professionals often report that these devices can be very cumbersome to use, are prone to failure due to discharged batteries, and are costly for insurance and manufacturers. Some patients must pay thousands of dollars out-of-pocket for the use of these devices. The vacuum devices usually have a central pump unit that is powered by a rechargeable battery. There is also a sponge and film that create a closed circuit. The suction device is usually a rigid circular tube and the interface with the sponge is usually made of firm plastic. The rigid plastic and round tubing have been known to occasionally cause pressure and pressure necrosis underneath, which are outcomes that are opposite to the goal of using a vacuum device. In addition, the current vacuum devices have been known to fail quite often. This can be due to a patient that lacks the savviness to recharge the unit, or simply due to a faulty unit. When a vacuum device fails, the result is very poor for wound healing, as a wet sponge stays placed on the incision for a prolonged period of time, possibly up to a week. Also, patients often do not realize when the collection canister is full, which may cause the vacuum to fail. In addition, the canisters may have a good deal of stagnant fluid within, which can create the stigma of an odor. The fluid or exudate that accumulates is rife with bacteria, chemical messengers, and cellular debris. Furthermore, the vacuum devices are often used repeatedly and are often refurbished. They are reportedly cleaned between uses, but there are simply too many crevices and parts for these to not harbor bacteria from the prior users. It is not unusual for physicians and other medical professionals to waste much time in the operating room trying to troubleshoot a vacuum device, only to find out that it was a faulty refurbished unit.
Many apparatuses and systems employing NPWT have been reported to-date that attempt to solve some of the above needs. Examples of these reports include the following: Heiser, J., et al., US Patent Application Publication 2012316538; Askem, B. A., et al., WO Patent Application Publication 2016188968; Greener, B., US Patent Application Publication 2013296816; Locke, C. B., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 9,138,515; Freedman, B. A., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,974,428; Zurovcik, D., U.S. Pat. No. 9,173,777; Mulligan, S., US Patent Application Publication 2007185463; Renard, S. et al., WO Patent Application Publication 2014174218; Sanders, T. B., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,057,449; Pratt, B. A., et al., WO Patent Application Publication 2017040045 to; and, Storm, K., et al., J. Orthop. Trauma., 29(0 10):533-536 (2015 Oct. 1). However, these, and numerous others like them, suffer from a variety of unfavorable and limiting features, making them costly to produce and/or purchase, and/or potentially impractical or cumbersome to use. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for simple and versatile dressings, and associated devices, systems, and methods, that provide treatment and therapy of wounds via negative pressure to promote closure and healing of the wounds. Disclosed in the following is a simple, practical, economical negative pressure dressing, device and system that solve the foregoing shortcomings.

Negative pressure wound apposition dressing system

MIDWEST TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT SERVICES, LLC


The invention includes an isolated peptide comprising all or part of the amino acid sequence: EGKLSSNDTE GGLCKEFLHP SKVDLPR (SEQ ID NO: 1), wherein the peptide inhibits calcium channel activity. The peptides of the invention are useful for preventing or treating cancer.

A 54 amino acid paralytic peptide named soricidin (NCBI accession no. P0C2C6) was discovered and isolated from the submaxilary saliva gland of the Northern Short-tailed Shrew (Blarina brevicauda). A previous patent on the use of soricidin in treating pain (U.S. Pat. No. 7,119,168, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety) provided data that showed that this 54-mer peptide caused paralysis and inhibited calcium uptake by two ovarian cancer cell lines (U.S. Pat. No. 7,273,850, incorporated by reference herein in its entirety). There remains a need for anti-cancer agents that do not have paralytic activity.
One group of calcium ion channels implicated in cancer is the Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels that are found across the invertebrates and vertebrates. A member of the TRP super-family was named after it was discovered that activates in the presence of vanilloids (capsaicin from hot peppers for example) and are called Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid. The first four of these receptors tested (TRPV1, TRPV2, TRPV3 and TRPV4) all responded to capsaicin and were also responsible for detecting changes in temperature. The remaining two of the TRPV sub-family, TRPV5 and TRPV6 were found predominantly in epithelial type tissues and were responsible for influx of calcium ion. TRPV5/6 were identified as responsible for import of calcium into epithelial tissues of the intestine and hence uptake of calcium from the diet. These channels were also shown to be present in a number of other tissues in varying amounts, but most notably intestinal epithelial cell, kidney, placenta and pancreas. The expression of TRPV6 was measured as highly elevated in human ovarian, prostate and mammary cancer, thyroid and colon tumors and in some known prostate cancer cell-lines. In prostate cancer, TRPV6 was hugely up-regulated in carcinomas that have breached to tissue wall and have begun to metastasize (Zhuang et al. 2002). TRPV6 is therefore a potential target for cancer therapy. Accordingly, there is a strong need for compounds that block the activity of the overabundant TRPV6 channels in cancer cells.
More recently, the involvement of TRPV6 in cancer has been suggested to activate a pro-survival/anti-apoptotic pathway in two cancer cell lines with over-expressed TRPV6. In the prostate cancer cell line (LnCaP) intracellular calcium concentrations, increased by greater levels of TRPV6, activate nuclear factor of activated T-cells (NFAT; Lehen'kyi et al. 2007). Bolanz et al. (2008) have also shown the involvement of calcium-activated NFAT in switching on anti-apoptotic genes in a human breast cancer cell line (T 47-D). Bolanz et al. showed that reducing the production of TRPV6 by interfering RNA seemed to relieve the apoptotic block. These reports further accentuate the need for TRPV6 inhibitors in cancer treatment.

Peptide composition for cancer treatment by inhibiting TRPV6 calcium channel activity


A method for providing soft handover in a code division multiple access mobile communication system supporting multicast multimedia broadcast service. In an asynchronous mobile communication system supporting an MBMS service, when a UE moves to a region where it can receive data from a plurality of Node Bs, soft handover is performed on the UE. Thus, even though an MBMS user moves from an existing cell to a new cell, a stable MBMS service is provided. Furthermore, the UE can soft-combine data received from a plurality of Node Bs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to soft handover in a code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile communication system, and in particular, to soft handover in a multimedia broadcast/multicast service.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, due to the development of the communication industry, a service provided by a code division multiple access (hereinafter referred to as "CDMA") mobile communication system is being developed to include multicasting multimedia communication that transmits not only voice service data but also high-capacity data such as packet data and circuit data. In order to support the multicasting multimedia communication, a broadcast/multicast service has been proposed in which one data source provides a service to a plurality of user equipments (hereinafter referred to as "UE"). The broadcast/multicast service can be divided into a cell broadcast service (hereinafter referred to as "CBS"), i.e., a message-based service, and a multimedia broadcast/multicast service (hereinafter referred to as "MBMS") that supports multimedia data, such as real-time image and voice, still image, and text.
The CBS is a service for broadcasting a plurality of messages to all UEs located in a particular service area. The particular service area where the CBS is provided can be an entire cell area where the CBS is provided. The MBMS is a service for simultaneously providing voice data and image data, and requires many transmission resources. The MBMS is serviced over a broadcast channel, since a plurality of services can possibly be provided at the same time within one cell.
Generally, in an asynchronous mobile communication system, timing synchronization between Node Bs is not provided fundamentally. That is, as the Node Bs have their own independent timers, reference times of the Node Bs can be different from one another. A unit of the timer is called a Node B frame number (BFN). Each Node B can include a plurality of cells, and each cell has a timer that advances at regular intervals from the BFN. A unit of the timer given to each cell is called a system frame number (SFN). One SFN has a length of 10 ms, and the SFN has a value of 0 to 4095. One SFN is comprised of 38400 chips, and one chip has a length of 10 ms/38400.
Therefore, when a radio network controller (hereinafter referred to as "RNC") transmits MBMS data to Node Bs, if there is no separate synchronization process among the Node Bs (or cells), the respective Node Bs (or cells) will transmit the MBMS data at different times. This means that when a UE moves to a new cell (or Node B), it cannot receive the existing service.
Obviously, a UE roams from one cell area to another cell area rather than staying in one cell area. At this point, a common voice service is continued through soft handover. However, soft handover for the MBMS service has never been defined. Therefore, if a UE that was receiving an MBMS service from a particular Node B in a specific cell area moves to another cell area, the UE cannot continue to receive MBMS data, and must again perform an initialization operation for MBMS in order to receive the MBMS service from a new cell (or Node B).

Soft handover method for multimedia broadcast/multicast service in a CDMA mobile communication system


The circuit for controlling the oscillation frequency of an oscillation loop (66) has among others the following components—a first tunable capacitor unit (80) for providing a selectable amount of capacitance to the oscillator loop in accordance with a stored setting, and for controlling the oscillation frequency of the oscillator loop, and—a volatile storage unit (84) adaptated to store the setting of the tunable capacitor unit. The circuit further comprises a supply line (52) to the volatile storage unit and at least one other supply line (44) for the other components of said circuit. The supply line to the volatile storage unit is independent of said at least one other supply line, so that the volatile storage unit can be powered independently of other components of said circuit.

Patent application US 2003/0132809 discloses a circuit for a real time clock of a computer. Typically, in the known circuit, all the components and in particular the volatile storage unit, are powered through a common supply line.
In situations where power consumption should be kept lowest possible, the power supply line of the circuit is cut off to save energy during the sleep mode. However, in the known circuit, the setting stored in the volatile storage unit is lost when the supply line is cut off. As a result, it is necessary to reload the setting in the volatile storage unit when the power is restored. Reloading the setting in the volatile storage unit each time the power is restored is a cumbersome process.

Circuit and method for controlling an oscillation loop


Systems and techniques for implementing secure devices using entropy multiplexing are described herein. An entropy-multiplexing (EM) tree containing a plurality of tree depths may be accessed. A first message may be transmitted to a set of neighbor devices. At least a portion of the first message may be encrypted using a first seed value generated using a first tree depth of the plurality of tree depths and a first clock value of a device. A response may be received from a neighbor device of the set of neighbor devices. The response may include a second message. The second message may be encrypted using a second seed value generated using a second tree depth of the plurality of tree depths and a second clock value. The second message may be decrypted using a third seed value generated using the second tree depth and a third clock value of the device.

Internet of things (IoT) networks contain a group of internet connected devices that communicate with each other. The communication may be secured. IoT networks may rely on a single centralized IoT Key Manager (IKM). Central key managers may serialize key distribution in response to multicast publication of content needing encryption and/or decryption. The key distribution may be unreliable during high workloads.

Secure devices using entropy multiplexing


The invention relates to a low-calorie chocolate containing:. fat, preferably derived from cocoa, PA1 a sweetening mass, PA1 at least one emulsifier, PA1 and, optionally, desiccated defatted cocoa and/or a pulverulent milky product or a derivative thereof,. characterized in that it has a total fat content of less than 32% by weight, preferably less than 31% by weight and still more preferably less than 29% by weight relative to all of the abovementioned ingredients, and in that the sweetening mass is based on at least one product chosen from the group consisting of crystallized maltitol of high purity, lactitol, hydrogenated isomaltulose and low-calorie saccharide polymers.

The present invention relates to a novel low-calorie chocolate and to a process for manufacturing the said chocolate.
Three types of chocolate can be distinguished: dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate.
Generally, traditional dark chocolate may be defined as a product which is obtained from cocoa paste consisting of a cocoa liquor containing about 54% of fatty substances, sucrose and cocoa butter. Milk chocolate contains milk in addition to the dry matter. White chocolate also contains milk but lacks desiccated defatted cocoa.
All these chocolates may contain filling ingredients such as hazel nuts, crisped rice, desiccated fruits or the like.
From a physical point of view, a chocolate may be assimilated with a practically anhydrous dispersion of very fine nonfatty particles (sucrose, lactose, proteins, minerals and the like) in a solidified fatty phase consisting essentially of triglycerides. The latter are solely derived from cocoa in the case of a dark chocolate, but are derived from milk in the case of milk or white chocolate.
A conventional process for the manufacture of chocolate comprises the following successive essential stages: kneading--refining--optionally dry conching--liquid conching--tempering--moulding--cooling--packaging.
Kneading is intended to produce a homogeneous paste from sugar, cocoa paste and optionally from cocoa butter and milk powder. The operation is carried out in a mechanical kneading machine. The paste obtained should have a specific texture, which is appropriate for the subsequent refining operation. It is possible to control the texture by the choice of the particle size of the sugar and also by the fat content.
Refining consists in rolling the paste obtained from the kneading, between steel rollers so as to reduce the size of the particles to less than 25 microns. This operation transforms the initial paste into a fine powder which is hygroscopic and capable of trapping ambient odours. At this stage, it is therefore desirable for conching to take place as rapidly as possible.
Conching is essential for modifying the flavour and improving the rheological characteristics of the chocolate. This operation can be carried out in a single stage (liquid conching) or in two stages (dry and then liquid conching) and may last from a few hours to several days. The refined powder is worked at high temperature, at around 75.degree.-80.degree. C. in the case of a dark chocolate, and at around 65.degree. C. for white and milk chocolates. Dry conching consists in performing this high temperature working in the absence of high fat contents. It enables the conching time to be reduced.
The chocolate flavour is developed during this operation. By virtue of the temperature increase and the aeration of the mass used, undesirable compounds such as aldehydes and short-chain fatty acids escape from the mass by volatilisation while other flavouring compounds are formed. Furthermore, the rheology of the product changes: the powder obtained at the end of the refining progresses towards the pasty state. The insoluble particles (of sugar, cocoa, milk and the like) are dissociated by friction and separation of water and become rounded so as to communicate greater flowability to the paste, with a lower yield point. To further improve these characteristics, lecithin is added to the chocolate a few hours before the end of conching. The lecithin coats the sugar particles and emulsifies the residual traces of water to give the chocolate good flow properties which are essential for the subsequent moulding stage.
Tempering of the chocolate is intended to permit crystallisation of the cocoa butter in stable form. For that, the chocolate paste is adjusted to a temperature of about 29.degree. C., sometimes slightly less, so as to create seed crystals of all sorts, and then to a slightly higher temperature during the moulding, so as to melt the unstable crystalline forms.
Moulding is an operation for shaping chocolate, for example, into tablets or into figurines. The chocolates may be solid or filled. So-called "couverture" chocolate, which is intended for coating the surface of products such as cakes, cereal bars, candied fruits and the like, also exists.
During the cooling stage, the fatty substance congeals by crystallisation into a stable form if the tempering operation was well conducted. In the opposite case, the chocolate may be difficult to remove from moulds, may melt between the fingers and may also deteriorate over time due to a phenomenon called fat bloom.
Other production techniques are sometimes used. The one best known is the "crumb" technique which is widely used in England for the production of milk chocolates. It consists in mixing milk or concentrated milk products containing 30-40% dry matter with sugar, in heating the mixture to boiling point under vacuum at about 75.degree. C. and in working this mixture with cocoa paste before drying under high vacuum in order to obtain a powder containing less than 1% water. This process makes it possible to obtain a milk chocolate having organoleptic properties which are very different from those obtained with the conventional method.
Sucrose has been the reference sweetening mass since the beginning of the chocolate industry. Its organoleptic and technological properties render it particularly suitable for this type of confectionery product.
On the other hand, its nutritional properties may be open to criticism. Indeed, sucrose has a calorific value of 4 kcal/g, which gives to the chocolate, of which sucrose is the essential constituent, a high calorific value.
Moreover, it is known that sugar is completely contraindicated for diabetics because the glucose constituting it can be rapidly assimilated by the organism, which may generate severe hyperglycemia in these patients.
Finally, sucrose is a substrate which can be fermented by the commensal bacteria in the mouth, which convert it to corrosive acids which are responsible for tooth decay.
To overcome these disadvantages, the idea was developed to substitute polyols for sucrose in chocolate. These polyols may be in particular hydrogenated monosaccharides such as sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, erythritol or hydrogenated disaccharides such as maltitol, lactitol, hydrogenated isomaltulose (equimolar mixture of 1,6-glucopyranosylsorbitol and 1,6-glucopyranosylmannitol).
In the pure state, these polyols have no reducing power and are not fermented into acids by the flora of the buccal cavity. They therefore permit the manufacture of noncariogenic chocolates insofar as the other ingredients of the formulation do not provide fermentable sugars. In the case of milk chocolates and white chocolates, the milk may be replaced by lactose-free milk ingredients so as to best ensure this hypocariogenicity.
Polyols are slowly metabolised and they do not cause a sharp rise in the level of blood glucose following their consumption. Consequently, they are often recommended in the diet for diabetics.
Furthermore, their calorific value is estimated at a mean value of 2.4 kcal/g (10.0 KJ/g), that is to say about 60% of that for sugar.
However, as far as calorie reduction is concerned, it can only be observed that it still remains limited in the case of the polyol-containing chocolates currently available, this being for the simple reason that in addition to the calorific value of the sweetening mass, there is the substantially greater calorific value of fatty substances which constitute another essential ingredient of the chocolate.
These fatty substances are in the form of triglycerides and are generally obtained from cocoa and/or milk. They differ from other fatty substances in their capacity to be metabolised, at least partially, without causing gastrointestinal disorders or without even affecting the metabolism of vitamins.
Their calorific value indeed amounts to 9 kcal/g. Furthermore, they are essentially in a saturated form. They are not therefore particularly recommended by nutritionists and are against the current concern of consumers to limit the excessive supply of calories by diet.
To respond to this concern, it would therefore be appropriate, in the case of chocolate, to replace sucrose with a low-calorie substitute, polyols being especially quite suitable for this purpose, but also to reduce the amount of fatty substances. However, there are technological manufacturing imperatives including in particular the rheological properties which are necessary in order to perform the refining, conching and moulding operations under satisfactory conditions, which a priori prevent a substantial reduction in the fat content in polyol-containing chocolates.
This is true particularly for refining, which is a stage in which the paste must be sufficiently cohesive in order to be properly suitable for grinding in the rollers of the refining device. A paste which is too dry would render the rolling impossible. Furthermore, the fatty substances are essential in order to impart malleability to the paste, which permits good refining. At this stage of the manufacture, it seemed, until now, impossible to have a fat content of less than 28% for polyol-containing chocolate. Such a threshold would deprive the manufacturer of the advantageous opportunity of applying dry conching which promotes the separation of water.
These fatty substances are also very important during conching and moulding because they impart the appropriate rheology to the paste and temper the effects of the polyols which, by virtue of their hygroscopicity, rather tend to increase this viscosity as will be seen below. It should be noted that the addition of an emulsifier such as lecithin, which is prior to conching and which is intended to reduce the viscosity of the chocolate paste, can compensate the reduction in the fat content only to a certain degree. Indeed, an excess of lecithin would lead to the formation of too stable a water-in-oil emulsion which would prevent the evaporation of water and volatile compounds which is sought during conching, and, worse still, may also lead to an effect which is the reverse of that sought, namely an increase in the yield point of the chocolate paste.
There is another difficulty to be overcome when attempts are made to reduce the fat content of a chocolate. Indeed, one of the roles of the fatty substance in chocolate is to form a continuous and solid cross-linkage between the cocoa particles and the particles of sweetening agent. It constitutes, in a way, a cement which ensures the cohesion, the consistency and the hardness of the chocolate after cooling. It should therefore be ensured that these properties are not affected.
Finally, the greater the reduction in fatty substances, the more difficult it is for the fatty phase to crystallise in a stable crystalline state, that is to say one which enables the chocolate not to progress towards a matt and whitish appearance which is typical of the phenomenon known as fat bloom and which is quite damaging to the product.
It therefore appeared impossible, until now, to manufacture polyol-containing chocolates containing less than 32%, preferably less than 31%, and still more preferably less than 29% of fatty substances.
Moreover, as already mentioned, some polyols may be constraining with respect to the chocolate manufacturing process especially because of their high hygroscopicity which poses problems as regards storage and during the implementation of the process. It is thus recommended to provide for the use of conditioned atmospheres with controlled humidity levels in order to avoid water being taken up. This phenomenon is observed for sorbitol in particular.
Still with respect to these hygroscopicity problems, the brittleness and the morphology of the crystalline powders of some polyols, such as sorbitol and hydrogenated isomaltulose, cause, during refining, the formation of particles having a specific surface area which is greater than that of sugar. This renders the worked paste more hygroscopic and therefore more viscous, and requires the use of a higher amount of fatty substances in order to improve the rheological behaviour of this paste.
Moreover, the temperature increases which occur directly or indirectly during the grinding, kneading, refining, or conching operations render the polyols more unstable.
Firstly, their hygroscopicity increases. In the specific case of sorbitol, the critical relative humidity which should not be exceeded in the manufacturing environment, thereby drops from 73% to 62% when the temperature is increased from 20.degree. to 40.degree. C.
Secondly, the temperature increases may result in a disorganisation of the crystalline states, by releasing the water of crystallisation when the relative humidity is low for the polyols of hydrated crystalline form (hydrogenated isomaltulose, lactitol monohydrate and the like), or by melting of the crystals for the polyols having a low melting point (xylitol, sorbitol and the like), this melting of the crystals corresponding to their transition to a very hygroscopic amorphous state.
It was therefore necessary to limit the conching temperature for example to 40.degree.-48.degree. C. for sorbitol and to 65.degree. C. for lactitol monohydrate, all the more so since the phenomenon of water regain increases per se much more substantially at high temperature than at low temperature given that polyols are thereby more soluble and therefore pass more rapidly and more easily from the crystalline state to the hygroscopic amorphous state, thus intensifying the regain of water.
However, it should be noted that the regain of water during conching leads to thickening or even to agglomeration of the worked paste. Moulding therefore becomes very difficult or impossible and, in any case, the finished product is of poor quality. For example, it has a grainy and sandy texture.
This conching temperature limitation reduces the effects of this stage which is essential for developing the chocolate flavour and for improving its rheological qualities. And increasing the conching time, which is economically damaging to the manufacturer, does not really enable this disadvantage to be overcome: the removal of water and bitter volatile compounds by evaporation is inadequate.
The only remaining solution therefore is to use raw materials lacking water and more highly processed, and therefore more expensive.
To illustrate this inability of chocolate manufacturers to bring under control the reduction of the fat content of polyol-containing chocolates, as well as the technological problems affecting manufacture which are linked to the physicochemical properties of these ingredients, there may be mentioned for example Patent FR 2,201,042 which, in Example 18, p. 20 of the description, discloses the preparation of a sucrose- and lactitol-containing chocolate containing not less than 32% by weight of fatty substances, and this is a threshold below which it is impossible to manufacture chocolate. But it still represents a relatively high amount and this is all the more so since the sweetening mass essentially consists of sucrose which is a high-calorie and cariogenic product.
Similarly, Patent FR 2,499,576 relating to anhydrous maltitol crystals, teaches, in Example 10 thereof, the application of the said crystallised maltitol in the manufacture of sugar-free chocolate, but this chocolate still contains 32% by weight of fatty substances.
European Patent Application No. 0317917, for its part, relates to a process for manufacturing sugar-free and noncariogenic milk chocolate using the so-called "crumb" technique. The sugar substitutes used in this process are maltitol, lactitol or hydrogenated isomaltulose (equimolar mixture of 1,6-glucopyranosylmannitol and 1,6-glucopyranosylsorbitol, which is marketed under the registered trade mark ISOMALT). The chocolates manufactured according to this process have a fat content which is not less than 35% by weight. It should also be noted that the "crumb" technique is quite special and differs substantially from traditional techniques for manufacturing chocolate.
The technical presumption that it was a priori technically impossible to reduce the fat content of polyol-containing chocolate, of maltitol-containing chocolate in particular, below 32% by weight, is clearly evident from Japanese Patent Application No. 60/232058 which describes a chocolate in which sugar is replaced with a mixture of maltitol powder and lactose or maltose or mannitol or a mixture of these. The fat content of some of the chocolates, whose preparation is described in the examples and in the control tests, is of the order of 26.5% by weight, but it is explicitly indicated in this patent application that the chocolate, whose sweetening mass consists solely of maltitol (control 2), is of poor quality, namely that it is granular, that it has a sweet taste which is unsatisfactory and that it has a sandy feel on the tongue. Furthermore, it is also stressed that its production process is very difficult to implement. The polyol used consists of a maltitol syrup powder. This maltitol-containing chocolate is used, moreover, as negative control which is intended to demonstrate the advantages of the invention which is claimed in this application and which, precisely, provides for the use of the mixture of maltitol and at least one other sugar such as maltose, lactose or mannitol, in order to overcome the disadvantages of a low-fat chocolate whose sweetening mass would consist solely of a polyol such as maltitol. The reading of this document could only therefore have convinced a person skilled in the art not to use maltitol as sweetening mass for preparing a low-fat polyol-containing chocolate.
With respect to maltitol and this problem of reducing the fat content of foodstuffs, European Patent Application No. 390,299 should also be mentioned, which relates to an improved, fat-containing foodstuff in which the improvement consists in the complete or partial replacement of the fat by an amount of maltitol which is effective tastewise. On the one hand, the trivial nature of this invention will not pass unnoticed, knowing, in particular, that maltitol has been known as a sugar substitute for quite some time, and neither, on the other hand, will the fact that the chocolate is not explicitly mentioned among the products which are the target of this invention. Consequently, the problems which are specific to the processes for manufacturing chocolate, such as for example the regain of water and the rheological behaviour which have been mentioned above, are absolutely not addressed. Yet, as has been seen, these specific problems are such that they can greatly hamper the reduction of fatty substances in chocolate.
Moreover, only the complete substitution of maltitol for fatty substances is addressed in this patent application. Yet, it is not inconceivable that the reduction of fatty substances in fatty and sugary foodstuffs such as chocolate, could be compensated for by an increase in the amount of desiccated defatted cocoa. The content of this patent application is not to be taken into account within the context of reducing the fat content of chocolate. And this may furthermore be confirmed by a technical publication, dated Jan. 6, 1990, from the patentee of this European patent application, the company TOWA CHEMICAL INDUSTRY Co., relating to maltitol powder which is marketed by it under the registered trade mark AMALTY.
This publication indeed contains, page 4, an example of application of AMALTY to the preparation of chocolate. The no. 1 handling precaution which is mentioned therein stipulates that the amount of cocoa butter should be slightly increased given that AMALTY absorbs more fat than does sugar because of its greater porosity. Moreover, it is evident that the fat content in the maltitol-containing milk chocolate formulation proposed is about 38.4% by weight.
Therefore, nothing in this document indicates or even suggests that a polyol such as maltitol is suitable for manufacturing chocolate with a reduced fat content.
Another article, which appeared in CONFECTIONERY MANUFACTURE & MARKETING Vol. 22, No. 5 of MAY 1985, mentions the application of maltitol powder which is marketed under the trade mark MALBIT by the company MELIDA, in the preparation of chocolate with a reduced fat content. It is again evident that this reduction is limited to 36-37% by weight for milk chocolate.
With respect to another polyol which is used as sweetening mass in sugar-free chocolate, namely lactitol monohydrate, Patent Application WO 90/06317 teaches that the fat content achieved for dark chocolate and milk chocolate, prepared using the said polyol (Examples 4 and 5), is 33% and 32.5% by weight respectively.
This technological deficiency may be extended to many polyols other than those mentioned above. And this is supported by the article by Anne CRIDLAND entitled "Developments in dietetic chocolate" which appeared in Volume 24, No. 10, of 1987, pp. 2 to 6 of the journal CONFECTIONERY MANUFACTURE & MARKETING, in which the author explains, page 6, in the paragraph entitled "Fat", that the fat in chocolate is probably the most important element with regard to the technical and textural properties of the product and that there is in existence no chocolate with a reduced calorific value and with a pleasant taste, which satisfies the required technical functions.
Acknowledging this state of the art, the applicant company set itself the objective of developing a low-calorie chocolate which, although having a very reduced fat content, being less than 32%, preferably less than 31% and still more preferably less than 29% by weight, would have technological and organoleptic properties comparable to those of traditional sucrose containing chocolate.
Comparable technological properties are understood to mean both the properties of the chocolate obtained and the possibility of having recourse to a conventional technology for its manufacture, and using, up to the conching stage, the same ingredients as for a conventional chocolate, except for the sweetening mass. The desired aim is in fact to dispense, as far as possible, with, on the one hand, operational constraints such as a conditioned atmosphere, a sophisticated equipment or a long manufacturing time, and, on the other hand, technical difficulties such as the regain of water, poor rheological behaviour or limitation of the conching temperature.
And it was after numerous tests and studies that the applicant company took the credit for finding that the above-defined objective could be achieved provided that products selected from the group consisting of crystallised maltitol of high purity, lactitol, hydrogenated isomaltulose or low-calorie saccharide polymers or a mixture thereof, are used for constituting the sweetening mass.