A control device which controls the power of a plurality of apparatuses in a home network, and a method thereof are provided. The control device includes an input unit which receives a power off command, and a control unit which concurrently turns off apparatuses which are currently turned on among the plurality of apparatuses in response to the power off command received by the input unit. Therefore, it is possible for a user to concurrently turn off currently running apparatuses so user convenience can increase.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and methods consistent with the present invention relate to a control device and method, and more particularly, to a control device and method which control the power of a plurality of apparatuses in a home network.
2. Description of the Related Art
When users desire to connect network connectable apparatuses to televisions, they need to separately and manually turn off each of a plurality of currently running apparatuses using remote controllers or power buttons contained in the plurality of apparatuses, which causes user inconvenience.
Additionally, when users are able to use a single remote controller capable of manipulating a plurality of currently running apparatuses, they need to change the remote control mode for each of the currently running apparatuses in order to turn off the currently running apparatuses. Accordingly, users may feel inconvenience, because they need to perform such a mode change operation as many times as there are apparatuses which they desire to turn off.
As a result of the rapid development of video and audio media technologies, various types of apparatuses are capable of being connected to home networks. Therefore, user inconvenience becomes more pronounced due to the increase in the number of times users need to manipulate currently running apparatuses to turn off the apparatuses.


A container arrangement for storage in dispensing a flowable particulate material is provided. The container arrangement comprises a container including a bottom and a wall with a lower dispensing aperture. Arrangements are provided for selectively erecting a slanted dispensing surface operably positioned underneath particulate material received in the container. The dispensing surface, when erected, is positioned above the container bottom and slanted downwardly toward the wall having a lower dispensing aperture therein. Various arrangements for constructing the dispensing surface are provided. A method for dispensing particulate material from a container is also provided.

A wide variety of flowable solid materials are regularly stored and shipped in large containers. The term "flowable solid materials" and variants thereof, in this context, is meant to refer to any solid, particulate, material which can flow, for example, under the influence of gravity. Such materials include, for example: finely granulated pesticides and insecticides; seed material such as corn; foodstuffs such as various grains; synthetic plastic pellets and granules and, various mineral products.
Flowable particulates are often shipped and/or stored in large containers. A wide variety of large shipping and storage containers have been used. These include, for example: barrels; large plastic bags stored within barrels; large cartons; large plastic bags positioned within cartons; large flexible sacks made of various fabrics, plastics, paper materials, or laminates; and, boxes of wood, fiberboard, plastic or laminates.
The principles of the present invention generally relate to arrangements for facilitating the dispensing of solid materials from various storage containers. Problems generally addressed by arrangements according to the present invention, will be understood by first considering a conventional storage system using a flexible plastic bag containing flowable solids material, stored within a large carton.
Consider for example a seed corn delivery involving storage of the seed corn within a flexible plastic bag, the flexible plastic bag being shipped contained within a large plastic or cardboard shipping container. A typical container or box might be on the order of about four to five feet deep, and three to five feet square. Such a container might hold, for example, 2000 pounds of flowable seed corn.
Such a container would typically be shipped stored upon a forklift pallet or the like. When delivered to a farm or farm supply, it would be offloaded from the truck or railroad train using a forklift. A problem then remains as to how to dispense the particulate material from within the container.
One possible system is to open up the top of the container and remove the solid particulate material through the open top. The present invention concerns alternatives to such systems, for avoidance of the equipment and inconvenience associated therewith and to enhance safety.
In some systems a spout may be provided in the bottom of the internal bag and the container. The solid particulate material can be removed through the spout under the influence of gravity. However, at some point, free flow of the solid material will empty the bag, and will require that the box be tipped, in the direction of the spout. Since the container may be rather large, and would involve a substantial weight of material, this tipping cannot be easily controlled or effected. The present invention is intended to avoid conventional gravity systems wherein a tipping of the carton is needed, to obtain convenient pouring of a solids material.

Container and dispenser system for flowable solids


An airfoil has a hollow shell providing external airfoil surfaces, and a corrugated core within the shell. The core contacts inner surfaces of the shell to support the shell. The airfoil is formed by consolidating a hollow shell pre-form and a corrugated core pre-form. At least a part of the hollow shell has a leading edge shell portion and/or a trailing edge shell portion which, before consolidation of the pre-forms, is a unitary body having a shape which wraps around the respective edge.

Hollow airfoils (e.g. fans, blades or vanes) for use in gas turbine engines are known.
For example, hollow metallic fan blades have been in operation for many years and also hollow metallic guide vanes. GB2147055A discloses such a hollow metallic airfoil.
GB2154286A discloses a hollow composite airfoil in which a process for forming the airfoil using carbon, graphite or glass reinforced epoxy resin composites is proposed. The airfoil has an outer shell producing the airfoil surfaces and a corrugated internal support. The shell is formed from stacked assemblies of laminae, one stack for each side of the airfoil and are joined to each other at the leading and trailing edge of the airfoil. A boot at one end of the airfoil and a mounting platform at the other end of the airfoil seal off the interior of the airfoil from the exterior.


Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer readable media may be configured to characterize optical characteristics of optical elements. An optical element mount may be configured to carry an optical element. A calibration display may be configured to display a calibration object. The calibration object may include a known visual pattern. Multiple images of the calibration object may be obtained. The multiple images may be acquired using the optical element carried by the optical element mount. The multiple images may include different perspectives of the calibration object. Optical characteristics of the optical element may be characterized based on the known visual pattern and the different perspectives of the calibration object.

Optical elements (e.g., lenses, mirrors, prisms) used to acquire images/videos may have optical imperfections, such as optical aberrations and optical distortions. Such imperfections may distort provision of light by the optical elements to image sensors and cause imperfections in images/videos acquired using the optical elements. Optical elements must be characterized and calibrated to remove/reduce the impact of optical imperfections on image/video acquisition.
Optical characteristics of an optical element also may not have been determined by its manufacturer when it is received for assembly into a system. Therefore, such characteristics need to be determined. There can be situations in which only part of the optical characteristics are known or that particular or additional optical characteristics need to be determined for a particular assembly. Accordingly, there is a need to determine optical characteristics of optical elements efficiently.

Characterizing optical characteristics of optical elements


A file server has a conversion table that stores therein, in a corresponding manner, logical addresses specified by a higher-level layer and physical addresses specified by a disk driver that are address information indicative of a storage area in a disk device. The file server accesses the disk device with a storage area indicated by a physical address as an access destination and counts up the number of access requests to each storage area in a given period of time for each of the logical addresses. The file server then updates the conversion table such that the physical addresses are lined up in a descending order of the logical addresses of a higher number of the access requests counted. Thereafter, the file server changes storage areas of data stored in the storage device based on the conversion table updated.

In recent years, file server systems are known to share data with a plurality of client terminals. Such a file server system includes a storage device such as a disk device that stores therein data to be the subject of access, and an information processing apparatus such as a file server that receives an access request from a client terminal and accesses the disk device.
When such a file server receives access request from a client terminal that uses the file server system, the file server carries out an access to the disk device to obtain data from the disk device and transfers the data to the client terminal. In this process, the file server takes time, from executing the access to the disk device until retrieving the data from the disk device, such as a seek time for moving a head to a track of an access position and a rotational waiting time for the access position on a recording medium to rotate to reach the position of the head. A related art example is described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 03-034158.
The file server system described above, however, has a tendency of access performance to deteriorate. For example, when storage areas of data of high access frequency are dispersed on the disk device, the access performance deteriorates. More specifically, when the storage areas of data of high access frequency are dispersed on a disk, the distance between pieces of the data of high access frequency becomes longer, whereby the time for the head to move and the time for the disk to rotate become longer. As a consequence, seek operation and rotational waiting operation takes longer time, whereby the access performance deteriorates.
An example of a tendency of access requests from client terminals in a file server system will be described with reference to FIG. 16. FIG. 16 is an exemplary chart for explaining the tendency of access requests from client terminals. In the example in FIG. 16, the abscissa axis represents an offset uniquely given to an area of a disk device in a unit of 1 GB, and the ordinate axis represents a rate of I/O load caused by an access to full load for each area. The example in FIG. 16 illustrate vertical lines with diamonds, squares, triangles, and Xs at their both ends representing respective load statuses. A line with diamonds represents the load status of each area caused by an access from 0:00 to 5:59 and a line with squares represents the load status of each area by an access from 6:00 to 11:59. A line with triangles represents the load status of each area caused by an access from 12:00 to 17:59 and a line with Xs represents the load status of each area by an access from 18:00 to 23:59.
As indicated in FIG. 16, accesses occur in limited areas and occur in nearly the same areas throughout the day. For example, in the example indicated in FIG. 16, no access occurs for the storage areas of offsets 1386 to 1932. Furthermore, accesses are concentrated only in limited areas making the load high, resulting in a plurality of dispersed areas with high load. For example, in the example indicated in FIG. 16, accesses are concentrated in the storage areas of offsets 378 to 420 and on the storage areas of offsets 1302 to 1344 and these storage areas of concentrated accesses are far apart from one another.
Under such a tendency, as described above, the distance between pieces of the data of high access frequency is long and the time for the head to move and the time for the disk to rotate become longer. As a result, the time it takes for the seek operation and the rotational waiting operation becomes longer, whereby the access performance deteriorates.
As a way to make a seek time and a rotational waiting time short, there is a method for causing a disk controller to move data of high access frequency to an outer circumferential zone of the disk which is faster than an inner circumferential zone of the disk. However, to realize the method of disposing data of high access frequency at the outer circumference of the disk by the disk controller, it is preferable to prepare special hardware for each disk device. The above-described issue is not limited to file servers, and it is common to information processing apparatuses that control an access to storage devices.

Non-transitory medium, access control method, and information processing apparatus


A method in which a chemical array is read on an array reader and the results saved in a memory linked with a performance characteristic of the array reader. Alternatively or additionally results from reading an array and a linked performance characteristic of a reader which performed the reading are retrieved from a memory. Computer program products and apparatus are also provided.

Biopolymer arrays such as polynucleotide arrays (for example, DNA or RNA arrays), are known and are used, for example, as diagnostic or screening tools. Such arrays include regions of usually different sequence polynucleotides arranged in a predetermined configuration on a substrate. These regions (sometimes referenced as "features") are positioned at respective locations ("addresses") on the substrate. The arrays, when exposed to a sample, will exhibit an observed binding pattern. This binding pattern can be detected upon interrogating the array. For example all polynucleotide targets (for example, DNA) in the sample can be labeled with a suitable label (such as a fluorescent compound), and the fluorescence pattern on the array accurately observed following exposure to the sample. Assuming that the different sequence polynucleotides were correctly deposited in accordance with the predetermined configuration, then the observed binding pattern will be indicative of the presence and/or concentration of one or more polynucleotide components of the sample.
Biopolymer arrays can be fabricated by depositing previously obtained biopolymers onto a substrate, or by in situ synthesis methods. The in situ fabrication methods include those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,449,754 for synthesizing peptide arrays, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,351 and WO 98/41531 and the references cited therein for synthesizing polynucleotide arrays. Further details of fabricating biopolymer arrays are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,242,266, 6,232,072, 6,180,351, and 6,171,797. Other techniques for fabricating biopolymer arrays include known light directed synthesis techniques.
In array fabrication, the probes formed at each feature usually are expensive. Additionally, sample quantities available for testing are usually also very small and it is therefore desirable to simultaneously test the same sample against a large number of different probes on an array. These conditions make it desirable to produce arrays with large numbers of very small (for example, in the range of tens or one or two hundred microns), closely spaced features (for example many thousands of features). After an array has been exposed to a sample, the array is read with a reading apparatus (such as an array "scanner"), which detects the signals (such as a fluorescence pattern) from the array features. Such a reader should typically have a very fine resolution (for example, in the range of five to twenty microns).
The signal image resulting from reading the array can then be digitally processed to evaluate which regions (pixels) of read data belong to a given feature as well as the total signal strength from each of the features. The foregoing steps, separately or collectively, are referred to as "feature extraction". However, the signal in the image for any particular feature may be very low. Additionally, the results obtained by an array reader have inherent limitations governed by the reader's performance characteristics which affect how the read results are interpreted. For example, a low accuracy in a detected signal (as may result from high noise in the reader) may lead a user who is trying to interpret read results from an array (or software performing such a task) to conclude that the result (in the form of a detected signal) from a particular feature is unreliable where the detected signal from that feature is already low. This may lead to discarding the read result from that particular feature. The present invention recognizes though, that often results from reading chemical arrays are shared for others to evaluate. However, as the present invention further recognizes, shared results alone without an understanding of the performance characteristics of the reader which obtained them can lead to a misinterpretation of those results. For example, a user in the previous example having only the results from the reading, would not know that the result from the low signal feature should be discarded. This can lead to misinterpretation of the results from the read array with serious consequences in research or diagnosis.
The present invention recognizes then that it would be desirable to ensure that one or more performance characteristics of a chemical array reader are readily available along with the results from reading an array on that reader.


Some embodiments provide a scalable content streaming system that performs server-side archiving. The content streaming system includes a set of streaming server clusters, a remote storage server, and a set of distributed servers. Each streaming server cluster includes at least one streaming server and a local storage server. Each streaming server of a particular cluster distributes a content stream that is uploaded to the streaming server while also recording the content stream to the local storage server of that particular cluster. The remote storage server stores files from the local storage servers that are transferred when recording to those files is complete. The set of distributed servers distribute a live stream of content from a particular streaming server when the content is being uploaded to the particular streaming server and distribute a recorded stream of the content from the remote storage server when the upload is complete.

With continued deployments of higher speed data networks and new devices that leverage such data networks, content providers are extending beyond static content to offer streaming content over these data networks. Streaming content includes live streaming whereby content is distributed to end users as it is being published by a content provider. Live streaming includes audio and video streams of live events such as sporting events, news, etc. Streaming content can also include previously broadcast or recorded events such as television programming, movies, music, and other such multimedia content that is available on-demand to end users.
Server-side archiving is a process of recording a live stream so that the stream can subsequently be accessed on-demand. Server-side archiving provides convenience to the content provider as the content provider publishes the content stream once for the dual purpose of making the content stream available for live distribution to end users and for recoding the content stream for subsequent on-demand access.
FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art process for performing server-side archiving. The figure includes a content provider 110, streaming server 120, storage server 130, and end user 140. The content provider 110 publishes a content stream 115 to the streaming server 120. The streaming server 120 distributes the stream 115 to multiple end users including the end user 140. End users include any user with a network connected device such as smartphone, tablet, laptop, or other computing machine.
While the content is being streamed to the streaming server 120, the streaming server 120 performs server-side archiving. Specifically, the streaming server 120 records the stream 115 as a file on the storage of the storage server 130. Once the live stream is complete, end users can access the stream 115 on-demand by requesting that the storage server 130 stream the content that was recorded to the file. The storage server 130 and the streaming server 120 may be separate servers or a single server.
In many instances, content providers do not host or distribute their own streams because of the costs associated with doing so. Specifically, a content provider will need sufficient bandwidth to stream live and on-demand content to hundreds or thousands of end users. Additionally, the content provider will need sufficient storage resources to store the on-demand content. Many content providers therefore turn to a content streaming system for the live and on-demand distribution of their content streams.
The content streaming system provides an infrastructure with sufficient bandwidth, storage, and other resources to distribute large amounts of content to large quantities of end users. However, within the content streaming system, server-side archiving becomes a complex issue.
FIG. 2 illustrates one prior art approach to server-side archiving within a content streaming system 205. As shown, the content streaming system 205 includes an ingest cluster 210, storage server 240, and a set of edge servers 250. The ingest cluster 210 includes a load balancer 215 and streaming servers 220 and 230. Each streaming server 220 and 230 includes an internal storage 235.
In FIG. 2, the load balancer 215 distributes the content providers 260 and 270 across the ingest cluster 210 such that the content provider 260 publishes content to the streaming server 220 and the content provider 270 publishes content to the streaming server 230. The published content is distributed from the streaming servers 220 and 230 to multiple end users using the set of edge servers 250. Additionally, the published content is recorded to a file that is stored on the internal storage 235 of the streaming server to which the content is being streamed.
Once a content provider stops publishing content to a particular streaming server, the particular streaming server transfers the recorded file from the internal storage 235 to the storage server 240. The set of edge servers 250 can then distribute the content on-demand to end users by accessing the recorded file on the storage server 240.
A problem occurs in the content streaming system 205 when a content provider is disconnected from the streaming server and the content provider reconnects to resume a live stream. As shown in FIG. 3, when the content provider 310 initially connects to the content streaming system 305, the load balancer 315 forwards the content provider 310 to a first streaming server 320 of the ingest cluster 330. The content provider 310 begins publishing a live stream to the first streaming server 320 and the first streaming server 320 records the live stream to a file on its local storage 335.
During the live stream, the content provider may be disconnected from the first streaming server 320 due to a network error (e.g., network congestion) or because the content provider 310 choose to interrupt, pause, or stop the live stream. When the content provider 310 reconnects to the ingest cluster 330 in order to resume the live stream, the load balancer 315 may forward the content provider 310 to a second streaming server 325 of the ingest cluster 330. The content provider 310 resumes publishing the remainder of the live stream to the second streaming server 325 and the second streaming server 325 records the latter portion of the live stream to a file on its local storage 345. As a result, the live stream becomes segmented into two separate files.
When the files are transferred to the storage server 340, one file may overwrite the other file such that the available on-demand content stream is incomplete. Alternatively, the storage server 340 may retain both files. However, when an end user request for the content stream arrives at the storage server 340, the request will specify a single file and not each of the at least two segmented files. This is because the content provider provides the end user with the link to the on-demand content. The content provider assumes that its streamed content was recorded and stored as a single file on the storage server 340 and the content provider is therefore unaware of the file segmentation.
To remedy the file segmentation issue, the storage server 340 can perform transcoding to combine the segmented files into one file. However, the resources needed to perform such transcoding can degrade the overall system performance. Transcoding is a resource intensive process that takes several minutes or hours for the storage server 340 to complete. When transcoding, many of the storage server's resources are used to perform the transcoding instead of servicing on-demand requests. Moreover, transcoding may not be possible when the content provider publishes a content stream that is encoded using an encoder that is not supported by or unknown to the storage server 340.
Accordingly, there is a need for a content streaming system that performs live distribution of content and server-side archiving for multiple content providers and end users. There is a need for such a system to perform server-side archiving in a manner that does not degrade overall system performance and does not subject the system to the issues of file segmentation and transcoding. Furthermore, there is a need for scalability within the content streaming system such that the system can perform live distribution and server-side archiving for any number of content providers, end users, live streams, and on-demand streams.

Scalable content streaming system with server-side archiving


Conventionally, when due to running out of a battery or paper the printing designated in advance is not completed and when the interrupted printing is to be resumed, the images from the beginning must be printed, or images to be printed must be selected again using the camera. To resolve this problem, a printing system, which continuously performs printing on a plurality of sheets based on print setting information including, at the least, information for designating an image to be printed, comprises input means for entering image data that are to be printed printing means for printing the image data entered by the input means, storage means for, when printing based on the print setting information is halted, storing interrupt information concerning the printing completed before the interrupt, and control means for employing the interrupt information stored in the storage means to resume printing based on the print setting information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing system, and relates in particular to a printing system appropriate for outputting, through a computer to a printer, digital data obtained by a digital still camera or a video camera, or for printing such digital data through a recording medium or communication means.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, thermal transfer line printers are available that employ thermal recording paper for printing, that selectively drive multiple heat generating elements arranged in the main scanning direction to feed paper in the sub-scanning direction, and that print lines of dots on the paper.
As a consequence of the development of input devices such as digital cameras, digital video cameras or scanners for handling images the focus has been on the use of thermal transfer printers as printing means.
The reason for this is as follows. Because with an ink-jet printer there are only two choices, either ink droplets are ejected or they are not, resolution and the appearance of tone gradation are obtained by depositing small droplets of ink on paper. On the other hand, with a thermal transfer printer, since the value of the available heat can easily be changed for each pixel, many tone gradations can be obtained for one pixel, and when compared with an ink-jet printer, a thermal transfer printer can print a smoother, higher quality image. Further, as the functions of thermal heads and the quality of the printed material they output are improved, images for which the quality of the finish is as good as that of a silver halide photograph can be printed. Therefore, thermal transfer printers have drawn much attention, especially as a natural image printer that can keep step with the recent progress of digital cameras.
Recently, a system has also appeared that provides for one of the above printing apparatuses to be directly connected to an image pickup device, such as a digital camera or a digital video camera, or to be integrally constructed with a device, so that obtained image data can be printed without an apparatus, such as a computer, being required for processing the data. This system, since image data obtained by a digital camera or a digital video camera can be easily printed, like a photograph, it is very convenient.
As an example of this system, the connection of an image input device and an image output device is described in Japanese Application Laid-Open No. 10-243327.
According to this publication, in an image input/output system wherein an image output device and an image input device are connected together, the image output device has a function for receiving an image signal from the image input signal and outputting it, and includes a power source for supplying power to the image input device. The image output device includes: determination means, which is connected to the image output device by a connection cable along which image data is transmitted and power is received from the image output device, and which determines whether the supply of power by the image output device is enabled; and a power source. When the determination means ascertains that the supply of power by the image output device has been enabled, it employs that power. But when the supply of power has not been enabled, the determination means employs the power available from the power source. According to this system, since power can be received from the image output device, an image can be printed without taking into account the remaining power available in the image input device, such as a digital camera.
Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-65182, a power conservation system for a composite camera is described. According to this publication, the composite camera is designed by integrally forming an image pickup means, which includes a digital viewfinder, for storing video data on a recording medium, and a printing means for printing the video data on recording paper. The composite camera also comprises control means for halting the supply of power to the electronic viewfinder while the printing means is outputting the video data to the recording paper. According to the specifications for this camera, since the supply of power to the electronic viewfinder is halted during printing, an effective power saving configuration is provided.
In addition, since the digital camera is directly connected to the printer, while the printer is using image data acquired by the digital camera for printing, a power supply device, such as an AC adaptor, that is used to supply power to the printer can also be used to supply power to the digital camera when requested. However, in accordance with the recent development of more power efficient semiconductors, the consumption of power can be reduced, so that a battery can be used to operate both the digital camera and the printer, and the two can be employed outdoors as a mobile device.
Furthermore, information concerning the images to be printed, the number of sheets to be printed and the printing method to be used can be set in advance in the digital camera, so that once printing is started, multiple types of images that have been designated in advance can be automatically produced.
However, a problem has arisen in that when the digital camera and the printer are employed as mobile devices, especially when it is necessary for a large number of sheets to be printed, the battery power is soon exhausted and the printing is halted.
Further, as another problem, due to a shortage of paper the printing process may be interrupted before the previously designated printing has been completed.
In both these cases, when resuming printing, the process must be begun again at the beginning, or the setup procedure for the printing must be repeated.
As a result, since each time a continuous printing process is interrupted the printing must be resumed at the beginning, not only is paper and ink wasted, but also time.
In addition, a certain amount of labor is required to select only those images that have not yet been printed or to repeat the printing setup procedure, and there is always a chance that an error may be made in the selection of the images or in the designation of the number of sheets to be printed and that, as a result, paper, ink and time will again be wasted. Furthermore, when the requirement is for a large number of sheets to be printed, the above problems become more significant, making it impossible to provide a convenient printing system for users.

Printing system, printing method, digital camera, storage medium and program for printing method, and printing control apparatus


A method of treatment including: selecting tissue to be exposed to radiation for gradual closure of one or more blood vessel within the tissue to be exposed radiation; selecting radiation levels to promote gradual constriction of the one or more vessel; exposing the tissue to be exposed radiation to selected radiation levels.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates methods and devices for radiative treatment of tissue and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to methods and devices for radiative treatment of blood vessels.
Brachytherapy is a form of radiotherapy, where, generally, a radiative source (isotope) is encapsulated and manually placed within or at the vicinity of an anatomical area to be treated.
Brachytherapy is commonly used oncologically and generally involves treatment of cervix, prostate, breast, skin cancers.
The encapsulated source emits x-ray, gamma, beta, or alpha radiation at prescribed doses and thereby inflicting radiation related injuries11 at tumors and shrinking or obliterating the tumor.
The biological controlling mechanism is thought to be direct damage to the tissue, which causes scarring and fibrotic tissue formation at the injury sites.
These biological mechanisms are similar to those activated in the AVM treatment state of the art Stereotactic Surgery (Radioactive surgery for AVM's), where a focal beam locally ablates a blood vessel's tissue and causes injury and blockage by fibrotic tissue.
The doses in Brachytherapy can be roughly divided into two segments: chronic radiation11,12 (superscript numbers direct in this document to numbered reference in the section entitled "Field And Background Of The Invention") and acute radiation,12 brachytherapy methods. The first method includes seed placement at the desired area, where slow release of radiation from the seed to the surrounding tissue, produces the desired outcome over weeks/months. The latter method includes temporary seed placement at the desired area, where the entire dose of the desired radiation amount is released within minutes to hours after which the seed is extracted.
It is important to note that, in both treatment strategies, the desired biological effect is injury and scarring of the tissue. Where chronic radiation relies on continuous injury and fibrosis cycle that will, eventually, kill the tumor and acute radiation relies on concentrated damage and focused trauma to the tumor structure.
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17. Hansen A, Hehrlein C, Hardt S, et al. Is the "candy-wrapper" effect of 32P radioactive β-emitting stents due to remodeling or neointimal hyperplasia: Insights from intravascular ultrasound. Catheter. Cardiovasc. /nterv. 2001; 54(1):41-48. doi:10.1002/ccd.123S.
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24. Kim C S, Kim J-M, Nam S Y, et al. Low-dose of Ionizing Radiation Enhances Cell Proliferation Via Transient ERK1/2 and p38 Activation in Normal Human Lung Fibroblasts. J. Radiat. Res. 2007; 48(5):407-415. doi:10.1269/jrr.07032.
25. Hansen A, Hehrlein C, Hardt S, et al. Is the "candy-wrapper" effect of 32P radioactive-emitting stents due to remodeling or neointimal hyperplasia: Insights from intravascular ultrasound. Catheter. Cardiovasc. Interv. 2001; 54(1):41-48. doi:10.1002/ccd.1235.
26. Wardeh A J, Kay I P, Sabate M, et al. Beta-Particle-emitting radioactive stent implantation. A safety and feasibility study. Circulation 1999; 100(16):1684-1689. Available at: http://www(dot)ncbi(dot)nlm(dot)nih(dot)gov/cgi-bin/Entrez/referer? http://www(dot)circulationaha(dot)org/cgi/content/full/100/16/1684.
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28. Kim H S, Waksman R, Cottin Y, et al. Edge stenosis and geographical miss following intracoronary gamma radiation therapy for in-stent restenosis. J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2001; 37(4): 1026-1030. doi: 10.1016/S0735-1097(01)01112-3.
31. Van Der Giessen W J, Regar E, Harteveld M S, et al. "Edge Effect" of (32)p radioactive stents is caused by the combination of chronic stent injury and radioactive dose falloff. Circulation 2001; 104(18):2236-41. Available at:
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Methods and devices for treating vascular related disorders


A system, including a processor to define opportunities for encoding a watermark into an audio stream having sections, each section, when represented in the frequency domain, including a signal of amplitude against frequency, the processor being operative to, for each one of the sections, identify a fundamental frequency, f being the frequency with the largest amplitude of the signal in the one section, the fundamental frequency f defining harmonic frequencies, each harmonic frequency being at a frequency f/2n or 2fn, n being a positive integer, and define the one section as an opportunity for encoding at least part of the watermark if the amplitude of the signal of the one section is less than a value v for all frequencies in one or more different frequency ranges, each of the different frequency ranges being centered around different ones of the harmonic frequencies. Related apparatus and methods are also described.

By way of introduction, watermarking may be used to detect illegally distributed content and to determine the origin of the illegal distribution.
The following references are believed to represent the state of the art:    US Published Patent Application 2006/0048633 of Hoguchi;    US Published Patent Application 2006/0239501 of Petrovic, et al.;    Japanese Published Patent Application 2005 049409 of University of Meiji; and    Korean Published Patent Application 2009 0093530 of University of Seoul Industry Cooperation Foundation.


The present technology pertains to methods and microbial co-cultures for converting lignocellulosic biomass to biofuels and/or other carbon-based chemicals. Aspects of the present disclosure relate to novel consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) methods by which the efficiency of the production of biofuels and/or other carbon-based chemicals from cellulosic biomass-containing materials can be increased. In particular, the present disclosure provides numerous microbiological co-cultures for increasing the efficiency of ethanol and/or lactic acid production from biomass.

In general, fermentation products are produced by degradation of starch-containing material into fermentable sugars by liquefaction and saccharification followed by conversion of the sugars directly or indirectly into the desired fermentation product using a fermenting organism.
However, the industrial production of fermentation products such as ethanol and lactic acid is facing the challenge of redirecting the production process from fermentation of relatively easily convertible but expensive starchy materials, to the complex but inexpensive lignocellulosic biomass such as plant biomass.
Unlike starch, which contains homogenous and easily hydrolyzed polymers, lignocellulosic biomass contains variable amounts of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and small amounts of protein, pectin, wax and other organic compounds. Cellulosic biomass is a vast poorly exploited resource, and in some cases a waste problem. However, hexoses from cellulose can be converted by yeast to fuel ethanol for which there is a growing demand. Pentoses from hemicellulose cannot yet be converted to ethanol commercially but several promising ethanologenic microorganisms with the capacity to convert pentoses and hexoses are under development.
Typically, the first step in utilization of lignocellulosic biomass is a pre-treatment step, in order to fractionate the components of lignocellulosic material and increase their surface area. The pre-treatment method most often used is acid hydrolysis, where the lignocellulosic material is subjected to an acid such as sulphuric acid whereby the sugar polymers cellulose and hemicellulose are partly or completely hydrolysed to their constituent sugar monomers and the structure of the biomass is destroyed facilitating access of hydrolytic enzymes in subsequent processing steps. Another type of lignocellulose hydrolysis is steam explosion, a process comprising heating of the lignocellulosic material by steam injection to a temperature of 190-230° C. A further method is wet oxidation wherein the material is treated with oxygen at 150-185° C. The pre-treatments can be followed by enzymatic hydrolysis to complete the release of sugar monomers. This pre-treatment step results in the hydrolysis of cellulose into glucose while hemicellulose is partially or completely transformed into the pentoses xylose and arabinose and the hexoses glucose, mannose and galactose. Thus, in contrast to starch, the hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass results in the release of pentose sugars in addition to hexose sugars. This implies that useful fermenting organisms need to be able to convert both hexose and pentose sugars to desired fermentation products such as ethanol.
After the pre-treatment, the lignocellulosic biomass processing schemes involving enzymatic or microbial hydrolysis commonly involve five biologically mediated transformations: (1) the production of saccharolytic enzymes (cellulases and hemicellulases); (2) the hydrolysis of carbohydrate components present in pretreated biomass to sugars; (3) the fermentation of hexose sugars (e.g. glucose, mannose, and galactose); (4) the fermentation of pentose sugars (e.g., xylose and arabinose) and (5) the conversion of sugar alcohols like sorbitol, mannitol or xylitol.
Each processing step can make the overall process more costly and, therefore, decreases the economic feasibility of producing biofuel or carbon-based chemicals from cellulosic biological material. Thus, there is a need to develop methods that reduce the number of processing steps needed to convert cellulosic biological material to biofuel and other commercially desirable materials.
The five biologically mediated transformations may occur in a single step in a process configuration called consolidated bioprocessing (CBP), which is distinguished from other less highly integrated configurations in that CBP does not involve a dedicated process step for cellulase and/or hemicellulase production. CBP offers the potential for higher efficiency than processes requiring dedicated cellulase production.
Current CBP processes include extensive and costly pretreatment of the material by mechanical, thermochemical, and biochemical processes. Generally, the goals of such pretreatment processes include (1) rendering the cellulosic and hemicellulosic polymers more accessible to microorganisms, and (2) converting the complex cellulosic and hemicellulosic polysaccharides into simpler, fermentable sugars or other simple compounds, that are more readily converted into fuels and other chemicals by microorganisms. The mechanical, thermochemical, and biochemical processes frequently used in the pretreatment of lignocellulosic material constitute a major cost and are not completely effective.
Furthermore, the microorganisms currently used for the production of fuels and other chemicals from lignocellulosic material lack the necessary cellular machinery for both breaking down the complex plant polysaccharides into sugars (saccharification) and then converting the various resulting sugars into fuels and other chemical products in an efficient manner.
Ideally, desirable characteristics of different microorganisms could be utilized simultaneously by fermenting lignocellulosic biomass with co-cultures of the microorganisms. However, the optimal conditions for fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass vary greatly from species to species. Under the most favorable conditions, monocultures of bacteria can replicate very quickly and efficiently produce the desired fermentation product. However, due to evolutionary pressure, when a co-culture of microorganisms is present, the species that can grow the fastest often dominates. Many variables influence the success of bacterial fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass, including but not limited to: temperature, pH, growth medium, and pre-treatment protocol. Identifying the small window of conditions suitable for co-culturing at least two microorganisms, while the organisms simultaneously ferment lignocellulosic biomass, presents a significant challenge.
Thus, there remains a substantial unmet need for bioconversion processes that take advantage of better microorganisms and/or combinations of microorganisms in order to convert a broader spectrum of lignocellulosic biomass and saccharify complex polysaccharides to fermentable sugars for fermenting fuels and other chemicals.
Therefore, the availability of novel microorganisms and/or combinations of microorganisms for converting lignocellulosic biomass to high levels of carbon-based chemicals would be advantageous.

Methods and microbial cultures for improved conversion of lignocellulosic biomass


The system consists of a receiver which receives an input signal and first and second compressors. The compressors compress first and second portions of the input signal forming first and second compressed signals. A storage device is provided to store the compressed signals and a transfer device for directing the storage of the first and second compressed signals in first and second time slot areas of the storage device. A controller is used to sequentially read the first and second time slot areas of the storage device thereby forming a serial signal which is then transmitted by a transmitter.

In time division multiplexed (TDM) communication systems, data is transmitted in a frame having a plurality of time slots. The data in each time slot is typically destined for separate receivers. The key to operating a TDM type of system is maintaining the proper timing of data in one time slot with respect to the frame and other time slots.
Presently, much of the timing operation is handled through the use of ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuits) devices. Their method of operation typically consists of receiving and storing the data to be transmitted in the various time slots. When a transmission frame begins, the ASIC will delay transmission of the data giving the receiver time to ramp up its power. This ramp up does not take long and the delay is only equivalent to a few bits. After the ramp up delay, a synchronization word is transmitted which will contain information such as the system identification (i.e. color code). Following the synchronization word, the first voice data is transmitted. At the end of the voice data, the ASIC delays a second data transmission to provide spacing between data in adjacent time slots. The process repeats itself for second, third, etc. time slots until the last time slot is reached. The frame will then repeat, if operating in a duplex configuration, or may be delayed for a receive cycle in a TDD (Time Division Duplex) system where transmit and receive occur on the same frequency.
Using the above means, the controller of the system is required to spend much of its processing ability in maintaining the timing of the transmission of data bits and retrieving the appropriate data bits at the desired time. Therefore, there is a need for a device which will free up processing functions and maintain the critical timing required to operate a TDM communication system.

Apparatus for use in time division multiplexed communication systems


Apparatus is described for mounting an auxiliary motor such as a trolling motor to the transom of a boat. The apparatus includes a frame, a motor mount, a pivot connection between the frame and the motor mount, a control motor supported by the frame, a gear carried by the frame and driven by the control motor, and a linking arm connected between the gear and the motor mount.

Trolling motors are commonly mounted to marine craft (e.g., fishing boats) for the purpose of controlling movement of the craft at slow speeds (e.g., while fishing from the craft). The trolling motor usually has low horsepower, although for large boats the trolling motor may have significant power (e.g., 25 horsepower or more). Typically the trolling motor is gasoline powered and is mounted on a pivot which enables the motor to be pivoted about a vertical axis so that it can be used to steer the boat in the desired direction.
Often steering of the trolling motor is controlled manually. For example, an arm or handle secured to the trolling motor is manipulated by a person in the boat in order to steer the craft. This is not always convenient, however, because someone must maintain virtually continuous contact with the steering arm.
Trolling motors are normally mounted to the transom of a boat by means of bolts, clamps, or brackets. Some of such mounting techniques are cumbersome to use and are not adaptable to all types of boats. Other mounting techniques are not suitable for all types of trolling motors.
Some mechanisms for controlling the steering of a motor at the rear of a boat involve use of cables and pulleys. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,915,050 and 3,968,768. However, cables can slip, and the proper tension must be maintained on the cables.
There has not previously been provided a system for mounting and steering a trolling motor having the advantages provided by the present invention.


A fluid displacement rotational assembly includes a frame, a support structure supporting the frame for rotating an axle connected to the frame, chamber members coupled to the frame and each chamber member being arranged diametrically opposed by an associated one of the plurality of chamber members to form a plurality of diametrically opposed chamber member pairs, a plurality of conduits coupled to extend between the chamber members of the diametrically opposed chamber member pairs such that the chamber members of each diametrically opposed chamber member pair are in environmental communication with each other, a plurality of pistons slidably mounted in the chamber members such that the pistons in each diametrically opposed chamber member pair form a fluid chamber between each piston of the diametrically opposed chamber member pair and extending through the conduit of the diametrically opposed chamber member pair, and a fluid positioned in each fluid chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to power generators and more particularly pertains to a new fluid displacement rotational assembly for providing highly efficient rotational energy production.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of power generators is known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,372,474 to-Miller describes a gravity assisted rotation device. Another type of power generator is U.S. Pat. No. 3,934,964 issued to Diamond providing rotation using a combination of gravitational and buoyant forces. Also using gravitational and buoyant forces are U.S. Pat. No. 3,412,482 to Kusmer, U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,950 to Al-Mutairi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,212 to Everett, U.S. Pat. No. 5,944,480 to Forrest, U.S.
Pat. No. 5,996,344 to Frenette et-al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,498,294 Everett, U.S. Pat. No. 6,009,707 Alkhamis, U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,622 Denson, Sr., U.S. Pat. No. 4,407,130 Jackson, U.S. Pat. No. 29,149 to Durham, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,353,270 to Sen.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the need remains for a device that increases the efficiency of energy production.
The present invention meets the needs presented above by providing a frame coupled to an axle, a support structure supporting the frame such that the frame is rotatable to rotate the axle, a plurality of chamber members coupled to the frame and arranged around a perimeter of the frame diametrically opposed by an associated one of the plurality of chamber members to form a plurality of diametrically opposed chamber member pairs, a plurality of conduits coupled to extend between the chamber members of an associated one of the diametrically opposed chamber member pairs such that the chamber members of each diametrically opposed chamber member pair are in environmental communication with each other, a plurality of pistons slidably mounted in the chamber members such that the pistons in each diametrically opposed chamber member pair form a fluid chamber between each piston of the diametrically opposed chamber member pair and extending through the conduit of the diametrically opposed chamber member pair, and a quantity of fluid positioned in each fluid chamber.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.


An antenna arrangement comprises an electric antenna (4) configured to receive a reception signal from a sender and at least one conductive loop (3, 25) with two terminals (16, 17) to be connected to a receiver circuit (2, 24) which is configured to process an electric signal generated by the at least one conductive loop (3, 25). The at least one conductive loop (3, 25) is spaced within a distance from and magnetically coupled to the electric antenna (4) such that the at least one conductive loop (4, 25) generates the electric signal in response to the reception signal received by the electric antenna (4). Alternatively, the antenna arrangement may be used as a sending antenna used with a transmitter.

An example of a transmitter or receiver is a so-called radio frequency identification (RFID) transponder used, for example, as an RFID tag or label. The transponder comprises a substrate, a receiver/transmitter circuit, and at least one conductive loop used as an antenna. The transponder receives queries from a base station and responds to them. The queries are transmitted by a transmission signal with a certain frequency, for example around 850 MHz to 960 MHz. The conductive loop of the transponder is the antenna that receives or transmits a transmission signal. The inductance of the conductive loop and an input or driving capacitance of the receiver/transmitter circuit form an LC-resonance circuit which is usually tuned to the frequency of the transmission signal through the choice of an appropriate conductive loop.
The integrated circuit and the conductive loop are normally arranged on a substrate, such as paper or an appropriate plastic sheet. Different materials for the substrate and different materials around the transponder in use may have different dielectric values, affecting the tuning of the antenna of the transponder negatively.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,564 discloses a receiver, specifically an RFID tag, comprising an antenna used as a voltage and power source designed to operate with an arbitrary load or front end. The antenna has an antenna section which comprises at least one element and at least one antenna terminal, and at least one loading bar placed adjacent to the elements at a spacing distance. The real part of the antenna input impedance is changed through adjustment of the load bar length, width, or spacing distance and by the number of loading bars.

Transmitter, receiver, antenna arrangement for use with a transmitter or for use with a receive, and RFID transponder


Apparatus for the application of adhesive to one side of a running web of tipping paper for use in filter cigarete makers has a single source of adhesive or two or more sources containing identical or different adhesives, and one or more conduits leading from the source(s) to one or more nozzles which applies or apply one or more films of a single adhesive or of different adhesives to selected portions of the one side of the web. The rate of admission of adhesive(s) to the nozzle(s), including interruption and restarting of admission of adhesive(s), is regulated by one or more valves each having a body receiving a rotary valving element provided with one or more peripheral projections and/or recesses serving to regulate the rate of flow of adhesive toward the single nozzle or the respective nozzles. The rotary elements of two or more valves can constitute disc-shaped sections of a single rotor confined in a valve body common to all valves. The adhesive or at least one of two or more different adhesives being applied to the web can contain one or more taste- and/or odor- and or flammability influencing agents.

The present application claims the priority of the commonly owned German patent application Serial No. 100 19 930.5 filed Apr. 20, 2000 and commonly owned European patent application Serial No. 01106122.3 filed Mar. 13, 2001. The disclosures of the above-referenced priority applications, as well as that of each US and foreign patent and patent application identified in the specification of the present application, is incorporated herein by reference.
The invention relates to improvements in methods of and in apparatus for applying flowable adhesives to running strips or webs of paper or the like. More particularly, the invention relates to improvements in methods and in apparatus which can be resorted to with advantage in connection with the application of adhesive to running strips or webs (hereinafter called webs for short) of wrapping material of the type utilized in connection with the making and processing of smokers"" products.
Examples of webs of wrapping material which must be provided with layers or films of special adhesive and/or with layers or films containing different types of adhesive are those which are employed for the assembly of filter rod sections with plain cigarettes to form filter cigarettes of unit length or multiple unit length. Wrapping material of such character is known as tipping paper and is utilized in machines known as filter cigarette makers or tipping machines. Examples of such machines are those known worldwise as MAX (distributed by the assignee of the present application). A MAX machine is designed to assemble successive groups of coaxial plain cigarettes and filter rod sections of unit length or multiple unit length, to connect the constituents of such groups with each other by resorting to so-called uniting bands (sections of a web of tipping paper one side of which carries a continuous or composite film of adhesive) which are convoluted around the filter rod sectons and the adjacent end portions of plain cigarettes, and to thereafter sever the groups to obtain filter cigarettes of unit length.
German patent No. 24 45 342 C2 discloses a machine which can change the quantity of adhesive being applied to successive still coherent uniting bands of tipping paper, i.e., prior to separation of successive foremost uniting bands from the leader of a running web of tipping paper. The quantity of adhesive per uniting band is changed by reducing or increasing the thickness of the film of applied adhesive and/or by changing the area(s) of the adhesive-coated portion(s) of each uniting band. The purpose of changing the quantity of adhesive per uniting band is to properly relate the quantity of applied adhesive to the permeability of the web of tipping paper and/or to properly relate the quantity of adhesive to the force with which certain portions of a uniting band must adhere to the filter mouthpiece, to the plain cigarette and/or both. The patented machine is further provided with means for intermittently interrupting the application of adhesive to the running web of tipping paper. This is accomplished by resorting to a rotary cam the RPM of which is related to the speed of the running web of tipping paper and which serves to alternatingly move the running web toward and away from the adhesive applying nozzle.
The patented apparatus exhibits certain drawbacks, especially as far as its versatility is concerned. For example, the patented apparatus applies adhesive to those portions of the running web which are not to be bonded to constituents of filter cigarettes. Furthermore, the patented apparatus increases the rate of application of adhesive immediately subsequent to each interruption of transfer of adhesive to the running web of tipping paper.
The aforementioned German patent also discloses a method of applying adhesive to a running web of tipping paper. The method involves the utilization of at least one nozzle with an orifice which discharges adhesive into contact with the running web of tipping paper. The method does not take into consideration the possibility of injury to a smoker, e.g., when the filter cigarette is smoked all the way to the end of the tobacco-containing part (i.e., to the end of the plain cigarette forming part of the filter cigarette). Combustion of the inner end of the tobacco-containing part of the filter cigarette can result in the development of flame (due to combustion of adhesive which forms part of the adhesive coat on the inner side of the convoluted uniting band), and such flame can cause injury to and can frighten the smoker. Moreover, once the tobacco-containing part of a filter cigarette is combusted close or very close to the end portion which is surrounded by the respective terminal portion of the convoluted uniting band, the glowing remaining part of the tobacco-containing portion is likely to fall to the floor or onto a chair or table or suit or dress with resulting damage to the carpet, to the piece of furniture or to the clothing and the danger of fire.
A further drawback of the patented method and apparatus is that the accuracy and predictability of the application of adhesive decrease when a tipping machine turns out filter cigarettes at a rate which can be achieved by resorting to modern high-speed tipping machines. This results in the making of a high percentage of rejects as well as in customer complaints.
An object of the present invention is to increase the predictability of the application of adhesive to running webs of wrapping material, such as tipping paper which is utilized in filter cigarette making machines.
Another object of our invention is to provide a method which can be resorted to for the application of adhesive to a running web of tipping paper or the like and which renders it possible to economize with the adhesive regardless of the complexity of the pattern which is formed by applied adhesive at one side of the web.
A further object of the invention is to provide a method which renders it possible to accurately select and/or alter the pattern formed by the adhesive at one side of a web of tipping paper or the like.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a method which renders it possible to impart to the adhesive desirable qualities and/or characteristics which were not known up to this time and/or which cannot be achieved by resorting to heretofore known and practiced methods.
Still another object of the instant invention is to provide a method which renders it possible to greatly reduce the likelihood of injury to and/or startling of the smoker as well as the possibility of damage to furniture, carpeting and/or clothing at the location(s) where filter cigarettes are being smoked in offices, at homes and/or elsewhere.
A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus for the application of flowable adhesive to running webs of paper or the like, such as webs of tipping paper for use in filter cigarette making machines.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which can properly and predictably apply one or more types of adhesive to a running web of tipping paper in modern high-speed tipping and/or analogous machines for the making of filter cigarettes, other smokers"" products (such as cartons or packets for smokers"" products), or products which are not classifiable as smokers"" products but do employ or require the application of accurate patterns of adhesive substance(s) onto running webs of wrapping or other absorbent and/or foraminous material.
An additional object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which can be readily adjusted or converted for the application of one, two or more types of adhesive to different webs of adhesively bondable material and which can be installed in existing machines (such as the aforementioned tipping machines) for the making of various products including but not limited to smokers"" products.
A further object of this invention is to provide rod-shaped smokers"" products which are safer, more pleasing to the eye and tastier to smokers than heretofore known smokers"" products.
Still another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which exhibits the above-enumerated features and advantages, which can be utilized for the making of the aforementioned superior products, and which can be installed in or incorporated into existing mass-producing machines or productino lines.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which can interrupt and/or restart the application of adhesive to running webs of paper, tipping paper or the like with a degree of accuracy and predictability not achievable with presently known apparatus.
Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which can apply simple, complex or highly complex patterns of adhesive to a running web of paper or the like in such a way that the web is not induced or compelled to perform undesirable fluttering and/or other stray movements even when the application of adhesive takes place at a rate which is required in modern high-speed tipping machines or the like.
An additional object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which can repeatedly apply a pattern of adhesive films to one side of a running web of paper or the like in such a way that the quality of the pattern is higher than those achievable with conventional apparatus because the application of patterns is not affected by those irregularities of transport of the web which necessarily or normally develop in conventional apparatus.
A further object of the invention is to provide novel and improved filter cigarettes, filter cigars and analogous rod-shaped smokers"" products.
An additional object of the invention is to provide novel and improved valves for use in the above outlined apparatus.
One of several features of the present invention resides in the provision of an apparatus which is designed to apply a flowable adhesive to selected portions of a running web of wrapping material, especially a wrapping material of the type utilized in connection with the making of smokers"" products. A typical example of such wrapping material is so-called tipping paper which is to be subdivided into relatively short sections called uniting bands serving to connect filter mouthpieces with plain cigarettes in a filter cigarette making machine (also called tipping machine).
The improved apparatus comprises at least one source of adhesive (e.g., a tank), an applicator including at least one nozzle and having at least one adhesive-discharging orifice adjacent a course or path (hereinafter called course) for the running web, means (such as one or more groups of interconnected conduits, channels or the like) for connecting the at least one source with the applicator, and means for regulating (such regulation includes interrupting) the flow of adhesive in the connecting means. In accordance with an important and highly advantageous feature of the invention, the connecting means comprises at least one rotary valve, particularly a valve of the type wherein at least one rotor is confined in and can turn relative to a stator to thereby increase or reduce the rate of adhesive flow or to interrupt the flow of adhesive from the source to the applicator.
In a presently preferred embodiment, the at least one valve includes a valve body (stator) and at least one rotor which is disposed in and has a peripheral surface defining with the valve body at least one arcuate path for the flow of adhesive from the inlet to the outlet of the at least one valve. The peripheral surface of the rotor exhibits at least one irregularity or unevenness which is arranged to influence the flow of adhesive from the inlet to the outlet of the at least one valve. The at least one irregularity can include a recess (such as a groove) and/or at least one projection (e.g., a lobe or the like). The valve body can include or constitute a housing defining a chamber for the at least one rotor.
The applicator (such as the aforementioned nozzle) can be provided with at least one adhesive-storing chamber which communicates with the at least one orifice and can be resorted to for the purpose of regulating the quantity of adhesive being applied to unit lengths of one side of the running web. Similar or analogous results can be obtained by utilizing a nozzle with an orifice having a variable depth and/or capacity and/or another parameter which, if changed, influences the quantity of adhesive being applied to the web by the thus constructed applicator. In other words, the orifice(s) of the nozzle or nozzles is or are adjustable. For example, the arrangement can be such that the overall width of the applicator and/or of the orifice is adjustable.
The applicator, such as the nozzle(s) or a carrier for the nozzle(s), can be provided with an arcuate (such as convex) web-contacting surface which is adjacent a portion of the course for the web.
The apparatus is preferably provided with means (such as one or more pumps) which serves to adjust (such as vary) the pressure of adhesive in the connecting means.
The applicator can include or be constituted by a plurality of nozzles each having at least one adhesive-discharging orifice adjacent the course for the web. The connecting means of such apparatus can include discrete conduits each of which connects the at least one source (or a selected one of several sources) with a different nozzle. Such apparatus can further comprise means (such as two or more pumps) for individually selecting the pressure of adhesive in at least two conduits.
For example, the applicator can include at least two nozzles each having at least one adhesive-discharging orifice adjacent the course for the running web. The connecting means of such apparatus can include at least two conduits each of which connects the at least one source with a different nozzle, and the apparatus further comprises means (such as one or more pumps) for maintaining the pressure of adhesive in one of the at least two conduits at a value or level which at least approximates the pressure of adhesive in the other conduit. The connecting means can further include an additional conduit which communicates with the at least one source, and the at least two conduits have inlets which communicate with the additional conduit; the pressure maintaining means can include at least one pump which is disposed in the additional conduit upstream of the inlets of the at least two conduits.
At least a portion (e.g., at least one of several nozzles) of the applicator can be provided with a coat of a material which opposes (such as prevents) accumulations of adhesive on the applicator; this reduces the likelihood of clogging of one or more orifices and the resulting departure of actual rate of application of adhesive to one side of the running web from the desired or required rate of application.
In accordance with a desirable and advantageous additional feature of the invention, the apparatus further comprises means (such as one or more sensors and/or detectors) for monitoring at least one variable parameter of adhesive on the web. For example, the monitoring means can include means for ascertaining the quantity of adhesive being applied to the web. Alternatively, or in addition to such quantity-ascertaining monitoring means, the monitoring means can include means for generating signals denoting the monitored parameter(s) and the apparatus can further comprise means for adjusting the source and/or the applicator and/or the connecting means and/or the regulating means in response to (e.g., as a function of) such signals.
If the applicator comprises a plurality of nozzles each of which has at least one orifice, the regulating means of such apparatus can comprise a rotary valve for each nozzle. Each valve can include a valve body and a rotor which is disposed in and has a peripheral surface defining with the valve body at least one arcuate path for the flow of adhesive from the inlet to the outlet of the respective valve. The peripheral surface of each rotor can be provided with at least one irregularity (such as the aforementioned recess(es) and/or projection(s)) serving to influence the flow of adhesive from the inlet to the outlet of the respective valve. Each peripheral surface, or at least one of the peripheral surfaces, can be provided with two or more irregularities (e.g., with a projection and with a recess which at least partially surrounds the projection).
The improved apparatus or the machine which embodies or cooperates with such apparatus is provided with means for advancing the web along its course at a first speed, and with means for rotating (e.g., indexing) the rotor or rotors of the valve or valves forming part of the regulating means at a second speed. Such apparatus can further comprise means for synchronizing the operation of the advancing means with that of the rotating means.
The improved apparatus can comprise at least two sources of adhesive, e.g., a first source containing a first adhesive and a second source containing a different second adhesive. The applicator of such apparatus can comprise first and second nozzles each of which has at least one orifice adjacent the course for the web, and the connecting means of such apparatus can include at least one first conduit which serves to convey first adhesive from the respective (first) source to the first nozzle and at least one second conduit which serves to convey second adhesive from the respective (second) source to the second nozzle.
A presently preferred rotary valve of the improved apparatus can include a hollow stator and a rotor which is rotatable (such as indexible) in the stator about a predetermined axis. The stator and the rotor define an arcuate groove which is disposed in a plane normal to the predetermined axis and extending from the inlet to the outlet of the valve. The groove can extend along an arc which is close to but is less than 360xc2x0.
The applicator of the improved apparatus can comprise a plurality of nozzles each of which is provided with at least one orifice and each of which is adjacent a different portion of the course for the running web. The connecting means of such apparatus can include a plurality of conduits, at least one for each of the nozzles and each connecting the source or one of several sources with the respective nozzle. For example, the source of such apparatus can include a plurality of discrete sources of different adhesives, and the aforementioned conduits can include at least two conduits connecting one of the discrete sources with the respective nozzles. The regulating means of such apparatus can include a plurality of valves each of which has a hollow body and a rotor which is turnable in the respective body about a predetermined axis; the peripheral surface of each rotor defines with the respective valve body a path leading to one of the nozzles, and the valve bodies co-operate with the respective rotors to confine the adhesive to flow along the prescribed paths, namely to the respective nozzles.
The rotors of valves in the just discussed apparatus can constitute disc-shaped sections of a rotor which is common to all valves of the regulating means. Furthermore, the hollow bodies preferably form part of a stator which is common to and surrounds all of the disc-shaped sections, and the peripheral surface of each disc-shaped section can be provided with at least one irregularity which serves to influence the flow of adhesive within the respective hollow body.
At least one of the disc-shaped sections can cooperate with the respective hollow body to establish a seal against leakage of adhesive from the respective valve. Still further, the internal surfaces of such hollow bodies (i.e., the surfaces surrounding the respective rotors) can be provided with arcuate grooves for the flow of adhesive along the respective paths; the centers of curvature of such grooves are or can be disposed on the predetermined axis. Each such groove can extend along an arc which approximates but is less than 360xc2x0. As already mentioned hereinbefore, at least one of the nozzles can be provided with at least one adhesive-storing chamber which communicates with the respective orifice.
Another feature of the invention resides in the provision of a method of applying adhesive to selected portions of one side of a web, particularly a web of wrapping material for smokers"" products. The improved method comprises the steps of advancing the web lengthwise along a predetermined course, placing first and second nozzles adjacent the one side of the web in a predetermined portion of the course, establishing first and second sources respectively containing first and second flowable adhesives, conveying adhesives from the first and second sources to the first and second nozzles, and utilizing the first and second nozzles for the application of first and second adhesives to the selected portions of one side of the web in the course.
The conveying step can include inducing the flow of first and second adhesives to the respective nozzles along discrete first and second paths, and the utilizing step can include intermittently applying at least one of the adhesives to the one side of the web in its course. Such step of intermittently applying at least one of the adhesives can include regulating the flow of the at least one adhesive by a rotary valve. The conveying step can be carried out by utilizing at least one pump for each of the first and second adhesives. In accordance with a presently preferred embodiment, the conveying step includes conveying the first and second adhesives along discrete first and second paths, and such method can further comprise the step of introducing into the adhesive at least one additive (such as a flavoring agent and/or a substance which prevents adhesive from adhering to parts of the valve(s) and/or nozzle(s)) in at least one of the first and second paths.
A further feature of our invention resides in the provision of a method of making rod-shaped smokers"" products wherein a tubular envelope confines smokable material and at least a portion of the envelope consists of a section of a web of paper or the like one side of which is at least partially coated with at least one film of an adhesive. This method comprises the steps of advancing the web lengthwise along a predetermined course, establishing at least one source of flowable adhesive, positioning an orifice of at least one nozzle adjacent a portion of the course at one side of the advancing web, conveying adhesive along at least one path extending from the at least one source to the at least one nozzle, and regulating the flow of adhesive in the at least one path. This regulating step includes employing at least one rotary valve.
An additional feature of the invention resides in the provision of a method of making rod-shaped smokers"" products wherein a tubular envelope confines a smokable material and at least a portion of the envelope consists of a section of a web one side of which is at least partially coated with at least one film of adhesive. This method comprises the steps of advancing the web lengthwise along a predetermined course, positioning the orifices of at least two nozzles adjacent a portion of the course at one side of the web, establishing at least two sources of flowable adhesive, and conveying flowable adhesive from each of the sources along a discrete path to a different one of the nozzles. Such method can further comprise the step of maintaining the adhesives in the paths at different pressures.
Another feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a novel article of manufacture which is a rod-shaped smokable product including a smokable filler and a tubular envelope consisting at least in part of a section of a web having one side at least partially coated with at least one film of adhesive. The at least one film contains at least two different types of adhesive.
At least one of the two or more different types of adhesive can consist, at least in part, of a combustion retarding material. Furthermore, at least one of the adhesives can contain a flavoring agent.
The filler can consist of cigarette tobacco and a filter mouthpiece, i.e., the smokable product can constitute a filter cigarette.
The aforementioned section of the web can constitute a convoluted uniting band of tipping paper which serves to attach one end portion of a plain cigarette to one end portion of a filter mouthpiece. Such band can include a first annular portion which is at least partially coated with adhesive containing at least one flavoring agent, and a second annular portion at least partially coated with adhesive consisting of or containing a combustion retarding material.

Method of and apparatus for applying adhesive to webs of wrapping material


A pharmaceutical composition includes an NAG-1 inhibitor as an active ingredient for inhibiting resistance against an anticancer drug of an ovarian cancer patient and a method of diagnosing prognosis of resistance against an anticancer drug of an ovarian cancer patient by using the NAG-1 inhibitor. It is found by controlling NAG-1 protein that NAG-1, which is overexpressed in an ovarian cancer patient and in an ovarian cancer stem cell having resistance against an anticancer drug, plays a key role in a chronic inflammatory reaction and resistance against an anticancer drug, and in this regard, NAG-1 can be used as a target gene for effective tumor therapy.

In the United States, ovarian cancer is one of the major causes of female cancer death, and chronic inflammation is considered as an important risk factor for ovarian endometriosis that can progress to epithelial ovarian cancer. Due to no symptoms in early stages of ovarian cancer and a lack of effective early diagnostic techniques, ovarian cancer generally progresses to a more advanced stage. All stages of ovarian cancer development, including tumor production, promotion, and progression, are closely related to inflammatory response. A recent study has shown that epithelial ovarian cancer cells, which express myeloid differentiation protein 88 (MyD88), continuously activate NF-κB and produce a cytokine causing chemical resistance against paclitaxel.
Through several epidemiological studies, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are known to be involved in reducing the risk of progression of a variety of cancers including ovarian cancer. In addition, in many cancer cell lines, NSAID has been shown to induce expression of NSAID-activated protein 1 (NAG-1). NAG-1 is also known as macrophage inhibitory cytokine 1 (MIC-1), growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15), prostate-derived factor (PDF), placental bone morphogenetic protein (PLAB), and placental transforming growth factor-β (PTGF-β).
In most cases, intestinal epithelial NAG-1 is expressed at a low level, but expression thereof can be induced at a relatively high level under abnormal conditions such as wounds, tumors, and inflammation. In this regard, NAG-1 is expressed at a high level in a cancer patient having prostate cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, and the like. In the case of human epithelial cancer, an increased level of NAG-1 in serum is related to progression of tumor through metastasis, and thus, NAG-1 in serum can be clinically used for diagnosis and prediction of chronic inflammation and a cancer disease. However, the relationship between the expression of NAG-1 and antibiotic resistance is not clearly identified yet.

Pharmaceutical composition for inhibiting resistance against anticancer drugs of patient suffering from ovarian cancer comprising NAG-1 inhibitor as active ingredient

PUSAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY INDUSTRY-UNIVERSITY COOPERATION FOUNDATION


The present disclosure pertains to a method for providing digital goods using a URL coupon. The method includes: generating a digital goods provision URL containing information on digital goods; generating a URL coupon containing the digital goods provision URL; providing the URL coupon; receiving a digital goods provision request at the digital goods provision URL; authenticating a user; and transmitting an information processing request containing authenticated user information and digital goods identification information to a digital goods managing server. The method makes it possible to provide digital goods in an easy and safe manner.

Coupon for providing digital goods has appeared along with the development of electronic commerce. Typically, a coupon issuer provides a coupon code to a user, and the user manually inputs the coupon code to a system of the coupon issuer. The conventional digital goods coupon is quite inconvenient to issue, manage, and use, and is low in security. Thus, demand has existed for an easy-to-use and secure coupon.

Method and device for providing digital goods using URL coupon


Described are methods and systems for synchronizing client-side cookies with server-side cookies. A control that executes on a client computer within the context of a remote application, receives control input that is generated by a remote control that executes on a server within the remote application. In response to receiving the control input, the control generates a content request and forwards the content request to a synchronization agent that executes on the client computer. In many instances, the content request is a request for a cookie. Upon receiving the content request, the synchronization agent determines the type of content requested and responsively issues a synchronization request to a remote synchronization agent that executes on the server. The remote synchronization agent retrieves the requested content from the server and transmits the requested content to the synchronization agent. Upon receiving the requested content, the synchronization agent returns the content to the control.

A number of different systems exist to remotely provide a client or other remote computer with application content generated by plugins, Flash, ActiveX controls, or other scripts executing within a browser or application. When remotely providing the application content generated by these scripts or sub-applications, graphical output can be captured and transmitted to a remote computer where the graphical output can be re-drawn. In other instances commands or script input can be captured, transmitted to a remote computer, and inputted into a similar script executing locally on the remote computer. Scripts or sub-applications such as plugins, Flash or ActiveX controls may use cookies or other cached data to execute. In some instances, when output generated by the scripts is transmitted to a remote machine, locally cached data or locally stored cookies are no longer available to the script output. Similarly, when script input is transmitted to a remote machine, locally cached data and locally stored cookies are not available to a script or plugin executing on the remote machine. Thus, when the script or plugin executes on the remote machine, the output generated by the script may differ from the output that would have been generated by a script executing on the local machine.

Synchronization of server-side cookies with client-side cookies


A heating apparatus includes a heater, a current-feed switching circuit configured to switch turning-on/off of current-feeding from an AC power source to the heater, thereby feeding current from the AC power source to the heater at a predetermined current-feed ratio, a temperature detector configured to detect a heating temperature of the heater, and

A conventional known heating apparatus switches turning-on/off of the current feeding from an AC power source to a heater of a heating apparatus to heat the heater at a predetermined current-feed ratio. As a conventional technique of restraining occurrence of high-frequency wave, in other word, harmonic current in current-feed of the heating apparatus, for example, a technique is known which turns on the current-feed by 100% when the heater temperature is less than a lower limit value, turns off the current-feed when the heater temperature is higher than an upper limit value, and a sine-wave alternating current (AC) is periodically turned on/off in synchronization with zero cross of a sine-wave AC when the heater temperature falls between the upper limit value and the lower limit value.
According to the conventional technique, high frequency wave occurring at turning-on/off of the sine-wave alternating current can be reduced. However, a standard value of a harmonic current in heaters has been recently become strict and therefore, in heating control of the heaters, a technique of further restraining the harmonic current has been demanded. For example, a method of further restraining the harmonic current by forcibly inserting a period of current-feed ratio of 100% or the current-feed ratio of 0%, during which the harmonic current hardly occurs, in current-feed control of the heaters can be considered. However, according to this method, a balance between restraint of the harmonic current and the control accuracy of the heating temperature of the heating apparatus is important. Thus, there has been a demand for keeping the control accuracy of the heating temperature while improving the effect of restraining the harmonic current.
The present invention provides a technique of keeping the predetermined control accuracy of the heating temperature while improving the effect of restraining the harmonic current in heating control of the heater.

Heating apparatus and image forming apparatus having the same

Abstract: a current-feed controller configured to control the current-feed ratio of the current-feed switching circuit such that the detection temperature of the temperature detector falls within a target range. The current-feed controller performs at least one pair of ON lock current-feed control to fix the current-feed ratio to almost 100% in a first period and OFF lock current-feed control to fix the current-feed ratio to almost 0% in a second period every predetermined control period of the current-feed switching circuit.