When a cellular wireless communication device can receive communication from multiple (more than one) transmission sources, two steps are performed. First, a block of source data made up of M packets is coded (encoded) such that the block of source data can be derived at the receiver from any K (K=M+A) out of the N packets, where A<M, M<N and N is the total number of coded packets. Second, different subsets of the N packets are sent from each of the transmission sources. The cellular wireless communication device can receive packets from multiple transmission sources. For example, the block of source data can be coded by Reed-Solomon (RS) coding or rateless coding such as Tornado coding or Raptor coding. (Sometimes they are also called Fountain Codes). An example of the multiple sources is multiple base stations in a cellular communication system. Other examples of the multiple sources include multiple sectors, multiple RF channels (multiple frequencies), multiple beams (using a smart antenna system) multiple sets of tones (in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing based system), and multi-code channel communication systems. Possible applications include W-CDMA, Wi-Max, etc. In real-time applications, such as, for example, voice communications, the real-time requirement may be satisfied in many cases in which the real-time requirements would otherwise fail. For example, in voice over internet protocol (VoIP) communications, a voice call may be clearer, or may avoid being dropped. In another example, better streaming video can be achieved.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to wireless communications and more particularly to data coding and decoding in wireless communications.
2. Background
System resources are often wasted when a cellular wireless communication device can communicate with multiple (more than one) transmission sources. If multiple sources transmit the same information, the sources may increase the interference in the system for other users. Additionally, more network resources may be consumed, such as, for example, by increasing back haul traffic. Back haul traffic is traffic on the network side of an air interface, such as a base station. Thus, for example, in an IS-95 system, an example of back haul is data traffic between a base station and a base station controller.
Resources are also wasted, for example, in soft hand-off (SHO) in cellular wireless communication systems such as, for example, code division multiple access (CDMA). In SHO, a mobile wireless communication device is being transferred from one base station to another base station, based on received signal levels from the two base stations. The mobile station receives data from both the base stations for short duration before a complete hand-off to the next base station is completed. See generally, TIA-2000.5-D "Upper Layer (Layer 3) Signaling Standard for cdma2000® Spread Spectrum Systems", March 2004, Section 2.6.6, pages 2-471 to 2-619. Typically in SHO, multiple base stations transmit the same information at the same time so that the receiver can combine the information at its front-end. But SHO creates waste through redundancy.
One solution to the problem is cell selection in packet data systems such as IS-856. In cell selection, the cellular wireless communication device determines which of the available transmission sources should send packets. The chosen transmission source sends the next packet, and the other available transmission sources do not send packets.
A first problem with the cell selection solution is that the transmission sources may not know which packets the cellular wireless communication device has received from other transmission sources, and therefore, the transmission sources may send multiple copies of the same packets, wasting system resources. A solution for the first problem with the cell selection solution is for the cellular wireless communication device to give a next packet indicator in a signaling or other overhead channel, to inform the transmission sources which packet to send, as described in U.S. Pat. Appl. Pub. No. 2002/0145991 A1, published on Oct. 10, 2002, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
A second problem with the cell selection solution is increased overhead signaling. Increased overhead signaling occurs regardless of whether the cellular wireless communication device gives a next packet indicator. Increased overhead signaling occurs because the cellular wireless communication device must tell the transmission sources (1) which transmission source should transmit next and, optionally, (2) which packet should be sent next. Transmitting and tracking this information causes overhead and possibly delay in the system.
Cell-Selection also takes away the advantage of combining information from multiple base stations, especially, at the hand-off regions where signal strength from all the base stations could be weak.

Multiple source wireless communication system and method


The wearing article is provided with a fastening system adapted to releasably connecting front and rear waist regions defining a waist-opening. The fastening system includes engaging fasteners located on transversely opposite side edges of the rear waist region and landing fasteners located on transversely opposite side zones of the front waist region. Each of the engaging fasteners has an insert and an engaging portion while each of the landing fasteners has a pocket adapted to receive the insert and a landing portion which is formed on the outer surface of the pocket and with which the engaging portion is releasably engaged.

The present invention relates to wearing articles for direct and indirect containment of body wastes and having so-called waist fasteners. More particularly, the present invention relates to such wearing articles provided with a fixed point type fastening system used to fasten a waist region of the wearing article, particularly, such as disposable diapers, diaper covers, training pants, incontinence pants or the like and thereby to retain the article about an appropriate region of a wearer's body.
A fixed point type fastening system is well known (See WO 02/051278 A2, hereinafter referred to as "Citation 1"). The fastening system disclosed in Citation 1 comprises a first component having a hollow portion and a second component adapted to be inserted into this hollow portion. The hollow portion at least partially defines a surface adapted to be releasably engaged with at least one surface defined by the second component. These two surfaces adapted to be releasably engaged with each other respectively comprise a plurality of hooks and a plurality of loops. It is claimed by Citation 1 that such a fastener is advantageous for use with the absorbent article.
The absorbent article provided with an improved fastening system is also well known (See WO 02/11657 A2, hereinafter referred to as "Citation 2"). The fastening system disclosed in Citation 2 comprises face-to-face paired flap-like backings extending outward from each side edge in one of waist regions, on one hand, and a flap-like backing extending outward from each side edge in the other waist region and adapted to be interposed between the face-to-face paired flap-like backings, on the other hand. The face-to-face paired flap-like backings in the one waist region are provided on the inner surface thereof with a plurality of hooks and/or loops while the flap-like backing in the other waist region is provided on both the surfaces thereof with a plurality of loops and/or hooks adapted to be releasably engaged with the hooks and/or loops of the face-to-face paired flap-like backings.
In the case of the fastening system disclosed in Citation 1, basically characterized in that the second component is inserted into the hollow portion of the first component, both the hollow portion of the first component and the second component are provided with the hooks or the loops. These hooks and loops may be at least partially engaged one with another during insertion in the vicinity of entrance of the hollow portion and prevent the second component from being sufficiently inserted into the hollow portion. To solve such a problem, the user must insert the second component into the hollow portion with one hand while the hollow portion is sufficiently opened with the other hand. This fastening system is thus accompanied with inconvenience that the user must handle the fastening system with both hands in preparation for the wearing article.
The fastening system disclosed in Citation 2 also is accompanied with the inconvenience that the user fastening system must handle the fastening system with both hands in preparation for wearing the article. Specifically, the user must open the face-to-face paired flap on each side of the one waist region with both hands or one hand and then interpose the flap on each side of the other waist region between the face-to-face paired flaps with the other hand. In addition, this fastening system is disadvantageously distinguished from the fixed point type fastening system in that a position at which the hooks are engaged with the loops must be appropriately selected by the user him- or herself. So far as this aspect is concerned, the fastening system disclosed in Citation 2 is similar to the other fastening systems of prior art requiring such positioning.
It is assumed that the second component has not been properly inserted into the hollow portion of the first component as the fastening system disclosed in Citation 1 has often been the case or the positioning has not been properly selected as the fastening system disclosed in Citation 2 has often been the case. In both cases, it will be impossible to fasten the wearing article on the appropriate region of the wearer's body and consequentially the wearing article will readily slip down. Due to this, body wastes will leak beyond the leg-openings of the article.

Wearing article having waist fastening elements with inserts and pockets


A shift redundancy circuit for enabling switching operation of memory blocks to be executed at a high speed and for reducing current consumption relating to the switching operation. A shift control circuit includes a first shift control circuit for generating a first shift signal corresponding to a first deficiency address of a memory block and a second shift control circuit for generating a second shift signal corresponding to a second deficiency address of a memory block. When the memory blocks are switched, a shift signal controlling the switching of selection line switches are selected from the first shift signal whose state is determined in advance, the second shift signal whose state is determined in advance, and a low potential power supply.

The present invention relates to a shift redundancy circuit, a method for controlling a shift redundancy circuit, and a semiconductor memory device.
For semiconductor memory devices in recent years, demands for miniaturization, larger capacity, and lower power consumption are increasing. As semiconductor memory devices are miniaturized and designed to have larger capacity, deficiencies easily occur in their memories. This leads to a problem of productivity reduction, that is, yield reduction. Redundancy devices play an increasingly larger role in remedying such deficiencies and preventing yield reduction of semiconductor memory devices.
As a conventional redundancy device included in a semiconductor memory device, a shift redundancy circuit is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2000-100191.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram describing an operation principle of a shift redundancy circuit 230. The shift redundancy circuit 230 includes a deficiency address hold circuit 231, a fuse signal generation circuit 232, a redundancy selection fuse circuit 233, a fuse signal amplification circuit 234, a fuse decoder circuit 235, a shift control circuit 236, an address decoder 237, and a selection driver 238.
In FIG. 1, a memory cell array AR is formed by, for example, four memory blocks BLK0 to BLK3. Each of the memory blocks BLK0 to BLK3 is selected based on block address signals ra0 and ra1. Four column selection lines cl0 to cl3 and one redundancy column selection line rcl, which commonly share each of the memory blocks BLK0 to BLK3, are arranged for the memory cell array AR. Further, four pre-column selection lines pcl0 to pcl3 are arranged for the four column selection lines cl0 to cl3.
The pre-column selection lines pcl0 to pcl3 are selected by the address decoder 237, based on column address signals ca0 and ca1. The pre-column selection lines pcl0 to pcl3 are connected, in a switchable manner, to the column selection lines cl0 to cl3 or to the redundancy column selection line rcl and the column selection lines cl0 to cl2, which are at bit positions adjacent to the bit positions of the column selection lines cl0 to cl3, by selection line switches RSW and SW0 to SW3 included in the selection driver 238.
In detail, shift signals sclj and scl0 to scl3 are respectively input into the selection line switches RSW and SW0 to SW3 from the shift control circuit 236, which will be described later. The pre-column selection lines pcl0 to pcl3 are connected, in a switchable manner, to the column selection lines cl0 to cl3, or to the redundancy column selection line rcl and the column selection lines cl0 to cl2, by the selection line switches SW0 to SW3 into which the corresponding shift signals scl0 to scl3 are input.
In the present example, when low (L) level shift signals scl0 to scl3 are respectively input into the selection line switches SW0 to SW3, the pre-column selection lines pcl0 to pcl3 are connected to the column selection lines cl0 to cl3. When high (H) level shift signals scl0 to scl3 are respectively input into the selection line switches SW0 to SW3, the pre-column selection lines pcl0 to pcl3 are connected to the redundancy column selection line rcl and the column selection lines cl0 to cl2.
When the pre-column selection line pcl0 is not connected to the redundancy column selection line rcl, the redundancy column selection line rcl is clamped to a low-potential power supply Vss (e.g., to ground potential) by the selection line switch RSW into which an L level shift signal sclj is input.
The deficiency address hold circuit 231 includes a plurality of fuse circuits (not shown) for holding, when any of the memory blocks BLK0 to BLK3 includes a memory cell having a deficiency, an address selecting the memory cell as a deficiency address.
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, when the memory block BLK1 includes a memory cell having a first deficiency and the memory block BLK2 includes a memory cell having a second deficiency, the deficiency address hold circuit 231 holds a first deficiency address corresponding to the first deficiency and a second deficiency address corresponding to the second deficiency. To be specific, the deficiency address hold circuit 231 outputs address signals fa0 and fa1 indicating the first deficiency address, and address signals fb0 and fb1 indicating the second deficiency address.
The address signals fa0, fa1, fb0, and fb1, which are output from the deficiency address hold circuit 231, are complemented by the fuse signal generation circuit 232, and are generated as fuse signals fa0x, fa0z, fa1x, fa1z, fb0x, fb0z, fb1x, and fb1z, respectively.
When the memory blocks BLK1 and BLK2 are selected, the redundancy selection fuse circuit 233 outputs redundancy selection signals faj and fbj for respectively remedying the first deficiency and the second deficiency, in response to memory block selection signals ba0 and ba1 from a memory block selection circuit, which is not shown.
The redundancy selection signals faj and fbj, which are output from the redundancy selection fuse circuit 233, are amplified by the fuse signal amplification circuit 234, and are generated as fuse signals cfaj and cfbj, respectively.
The fuse decoder circuit 235 decodes the fuse signals fa0x, fa0z, fa1x, fa1z, fb0x, fb0z, fb1x, and fb1z, which are output from the fuse signal generation circuit 232, and the fuse signals cfaj and cfbj, which are output from the fuse signal amplification circuit 234, to generate decode signals cfj and cf0 to cf3, respectively.
The shift control circuit 236 generates shift signals sclj and scl0 to csl3 for controlling the switching of the selection line switches RSW and SW0 to SW3 based on the decode signals cfj and cf0 to cf3, which are output from the fuse decoder circuit 235.
The following describes the operation of the shift redundancy circuit 230 with the above-described structure.
When the memory block BLK0 is selected, the memory block selection signals ba0 and ba1 are both set at an L level because the memory block BLK0 has no deficiency, and the redundancy selection signals faj and fbj are both set at an L level.
In this state, the shift control circuit 236 generates L level shift signals sclj and scl0 to scl3 in response to the decode signals cfj and cf0 to cf3 output from the fuse decoder circuit 235.
Thus, the pre-column selection lines pcl0 to pcl3 are connected to the column selection lines cl0 to cl3 by the selection line switches SW0 to SW3, respectively. The redundancy column selection line rcl is clamped to ground potential by the selection line switch RSW.
When the memory block BLK1 is selected, the memory block selection signal ba0 is set at an H level and the memory block selection signal ba1 is set at an L level because the memory block BLK1 has a first deficiency. Thus, the redundancy selection signal faj is set at an H level and the redundancy selection signal fbj is set at an L level.
In this state, the shift control circuit 236 generates H level shift signals sclj and scl0 to scl2 and an L level shift signal scl3 in response to the decode signals cfj and cf0 to cf3 output from the fuse decoder circuit 235.
Thus, the pre-column selection lines pcl0 to pcl2 are connected to the redundancy column selection line rcl and the column selection lines cl0 and cl1 by the selection line switches SW0 to SW2, respectively. The pre-column selection line pcl3 is connected to the column selection line cl3 by the selection line switch SW3. The column selection line cl2 is not selected (connected to neither the pre-column selection line pcl2 nor pcl3).
When the memory block BLK2 is selected, the memory block selection signal ba0 is set at an L level and the memory block selection signal ba1 is set at an H level because the memory block BLK2 has a second deficiency. Thus, the redundancy selection signal faj is set at an L level and the redundancy selection signal fbj is set at an H level.
In this state, the shift control circuit 236 generates H level shift signals sclj, scl0, and scl1, and L level shift signals scl2 and scl3 in response to the decode signals cfj and cf0 to cf3 output from the fuse decoder circuit 235.
Thus, the pre-column selection lines pcl0 and pcl1 are connected to the redundancy column selection line rcl and the column selection line cl0 by the selection line switches SW0 and SW1, respectively. The pre-column selection lines pcl2 and pcl3 are connected to the column selection lines cl2 and cl3 by the selection line switches SW2 and SW3, respectively. The column selection line cl1 is not selected (connected to neither the pre-column selection line pcl1 nor pcl2).
When the memory block BLK3 is selected, the shift control circuit 236 generates L level shift signals sclj and scl0 to scl3 in the same manner as when the memory block BLK0 described above is selected because the memory block BLK3 has no deficiency. Thus, the pre-column selection lines pcl0 to pcl3 are connected to the column selection lines cl0 to cl3 by the selection line switches SW0 to SW3, respectively. The redundancy selection line rcl is clamped to ground potential by the selection line switch RSW.
In this way, in the shift redundancy circuit 230, the shift control circuit 236 operates according to the redundancy selection signals faj and fbj, which are generated based on the memory block selection signals ba0 and ba1. Then, the switching of the selection line switches RSW and SW0 to SW3 is controlled according to the shift signals sclj and scl0 to scl3, which are generated by the shift control circuit 236.
As a result, when the memory block BLK1 is selected, connection destinations of the pre-column selection lines pcl0 to pcl2 are switched to be sequentially shifted from the column selection lines cl0 to cl2 to the redundancy column selection line rcl and the column selection lines cl0 and cl1, which are at bit positions adjacent to the bit positions of the column selection lines cl0 to cl2. This switching realizes the memory block BLK1 with no deficiency.
Also, when the memory block BLK2 is selected, connection destinations of the pre-column selection lines pcl0 and pcl1 are switched to be sequentially shifted from the column selection lines cl0 and cl1 to the redundancy column selection line rcl and the column selection line cl0, which are at bit positions adjacent to the bit positions of the column selection lines cl0 and cl1. This switching realizes the memory block BLK2 with no deficiency.
With the conventional structure described above, the shift control circuit 236 operates to change the states of the shift signals sclj and scl0 to scl3 every time when the memory blocks BLK0 to BLK3 that are selected are switched. Then, the selection line switches RSW and SW0 to SW3 are switched based on those shift signals. This slows the switching of the selection line switches RSW and SW0 to SW3. As a result, the switching of the memory blocks BLK0 to BLK3 fails to be executed at a high speed.
Further, the shift control circuit 236 operates every time when the memory blocks BLK0 to BLK3 are switched. This increases the operation current of the shift control circuit 236, and thereby increases power consumption.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a shift redundancy circuit, a method for controlling the shift redundancy circuit, and a semiconductor memory device that enable a switching operation of memory blocks to be executed at a high speed and reduce current consumption relating to the switching operation.

Shift redundancy circuit, method for controlling shift redundancy circuit, and semiconductor memory device


A combined injection and production method includes establishing a production well and an injection well into a hydrocarbon-bearing formation; introducing a mixture of a surfactant, a co-surfactant and a carrier fluid into each of the production well and the injection well so that the mixture flows into porous media surrounding the production well and the injection well; holding the mixture in the porous media surrounding the production well in the presence of water for a period of time sufficient to form a water film on surfaces of the porous media surrounding the production well; and injecting an injection fluid into the injection well while producing from the production well, whereby hydrocarbons flow from the porous media around the injection well toward the production well.

The invention relates to a formulation and method of using same for improving well productivity in hydrocarbon reservoirs, and use of the formulation in an exploitation method to improve the cold production recovery factor in heavy and extra heavy oil exploitation.
Improvement in productivity of heavy and extra heavy oil wells such as those found in the Orinoco River Belt in Venezuela is clearly desirable. Increase of the recovery factor in the cold exploitation of such reservoirs is a real need. Some of the largest reservoirs of heavy and extra heavy oil in the world are in Venezuela and hold oil having API gravity within the range of 6 to 16. Unfortunately, the production rate of much of this oil is unacceptable and the final oil recovery in those reservoirs is disappointing.
It is a high concern in the exploitation of heavy and extra heavy oil reservoirs to increase productivity of the well and the final oil-in-place recovery during the reservoir lifetime exploitation. With these wells, primary cold production schemes are quickly abandoned in favor of thermal methods to improve well flowability by reducing oil viscosity in the reservoirs. These processes are costly and also still produce a low output in terms of final recovery. They also have serious problems of sour gas production such as H2S and CO2 which are very costly to address. Such thermal recovery methods typically produce final oil recovery below 20-30%.
Venezuelan heavy and extra heavy Orinoco River Belt oil sandstones are exceptional reservoirs. 60% of the reservoirs of this type have a KH/U value between 40 and close to 1,000 in very many cases. Unlike other reservoirs, however, the oil in Venezuelan extra heavy oil reservoirs is flowable at reservoir conditions.
Even these wells, however, have a final recovery by cold production which is very low and perhaps in most cases below three (3) percent of the original oil in place. The conditions for flow of oil in those reservoirs, with even excellent petrophysical properties, are very unfavorable to the flow of oil. The components of the heavy and extra heavy oil, particularly the asphaltenes in natural form in the native oil, are capable by natural fluid-rock interactions of generating an oil-wet condition at the surface of the natural mineral components of the sandstone. This produces the most adverse conditions to flow of oil in a porous media. This is a natural oil-wet condition of the reservoir media, which is a completely different condition as compared to formation damage in the well resulting from drilling or production activities, which could also happen in the well.
The need exists for improvement in production rates from wells producing from formations containing heavy and extra heavy wells, particularly those which contain asphaltenes and other hydrocarbons which lead to oil wet flow environments, and to improve the cold production final recovery of the original oil in place in such reservoirs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Formulation and method of use for exploitation of heavy and extra heavy oil wells


A rotor nozzle assembly has its nozzle rigidly fixed in the rotor body which is journaled at one side in a two-part housing which can be opened for replacement of the rotor body and nozzle as a unit.

European patent publication 0 252 261, for example, discloses a rotary nozzle for a high pressure cleaning apparatus which comprises a nozzle housing in which a rotor body is journaled for rotation about an axis of the housing, i.e. is axially rotatable, and is set in rotation by the cleaning liquid flowing through the nozzle housing. Downstream of the rotary body or rotor, a nozzle is provided whose ends turned toward the outlet orifice of the nozzle housing is supported in a pocket bearing on the nozzle housing and has a discharge axis including an acute angle with the rotation axis of the rotor, whereby the discharged jet has a conical configuration surrounding the rotation axis as the rotor is propelled within the housing.
This rotor nozzle assembly has a rotor formed with a cup serving as an entrainer for the rotor and in which the nozzle itself extends at its end remote from the end engaging the pocket bearing. This system has the drawback that, should replacement of the rotor body or of the nozzle be necessary or desirable as a consequence of wear or for substitution of another nozzle or rotor body matched to particular applications of the apparatus, such replacement or exchange is rendered difficult by the manner in which the rotor body is mounted. For example, replacement requires that the nozzle end be fitted into the entrainer cup.
Furthermore, with this construction, sealing elements and bearing locations must be provided at the driving side of the rotor body. Such elements are highly sensitive to contaminants in the cleaning liquid and are thus subject to early failure.
Moreover, adjustment of the speed or the setting of the speed is not normally possible and the maximum angle of the spray cone is greatly limited.
Finally, since the inlet side of the nozzle is surrounded by free space, the cleaning liquid tends to become turbulent in this region and the flow through the nozzle tends to become highly turbulent, creating problems in the effect of delivery of the liquid.

Rotor nozzle for high pressure cleaning apparatus


An apparatus and method for locating a UE using a GPS and a dead-reckoning sensor are disclosed. At an initial time, the UE calculates its initial position and the initial position of a serving Node B using a received GPS satellite signal and calculates a first distance between the UE and the Node B based on a first RTT received from the Node B. A predetermined time later, the UE calculates a second distance between the UE and the Node B based on a second RTT received from the Node B, calculates the distance that it has moved using the first and second distances and its position angle measured the predetermined time later, and calculates a displacement in correspondence with the distance using the position angle. Then the position of the UE is obtained by adding the displacement to the initial position of the UE.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a mobile communication system, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for accurately locating a UE (User Equipment) in the shadow area of GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the ever-growing proliferation of personal, portable devices, one of the clear tendencies in modern society is to encourage and support provision of a positioning service for emergency services such as E911, (Emergency Call) service. Particularly, the United States seeks to deploy a nationwide, seamless communications infrastructure for the E911, service based on position information of UEs. It is provided by FCC (Federal Communication Committee) that the UE; positioning service should have an error of ±125M. With this relatively accurate UE positioning, it is possible to further provide other position information-related services.
The growing demands for the UE positioning service increases the importance of more accurate UE positioning. In general, a UE is located using Cell ID, AOA (Angle of Arrival), TOA (Time of Arrival), TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival), and at least three GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites.
In the Cell-ID method, a Node B, taking charge of cells and having information about its own accurate position, locates UEs within each cell based on its position. Since the positions of the UEs are determined on a cell by cell basis, they may be inaccurate. The AOA method is viable only when the angles between the Node B and the UEs are known through an intelligent antenna such as a smart antenna. The Node B can accurately locate the UEs based on the angles in transmitting data. Without the angles, therefore, it is impossible to accurately locate the UEs.
The TOA method locates a UE using the difference between a signal transmission time from the Node B and a signal arrival time at the UE. In the TDOA method, at least three Node Bs determine the position of a UE by triangulation of their transmitted signals to the UE. A distinctive shortcoming of the TDOA method is that it is impossible to accurately locate the UE in a radio channel environment having densely arranged obstacles like tall buildings, and thus many erroneous positioning factors like signal refraction and diffraction are present. The UE can also be located using GPS satellite signals. However, the GPS-based method is not feasible in an area where GPS satellite signals are not received such as a shadow area (e.g., subway).
Existing mobile communication systems can locate UEs in the above UE positioning methods either alone or in combination. It is noted that the GPS-based method is a more widespread used method because the use of GPS satellite signals provides an accurate absolute position of a UE. As described above, however, the GPS-based method cannot be carried out in the shadow areas.

Apparatus and method for locating user equipment using global positioning system and dead reckoning


A web server that integrates portions of operating system code to execute substantially within user space to reduce context switching. The web server includes an application level interpreter, such as an HTTP interpreter, configured to process client requests. The web server typically includes a network interface dedicated to process traffic to and from the web server. The web server may include within its user space kernel device driver extensions enabling it to communicate directly with the network interface. The server may implement a polling architecture in which the server periodically monitors the interface for new requests. The web server typically includes a user space transmission protocol library that enables the server to perform its own network processing of requests and responses. The library may include TCP/IP drivers that are optimized or streamlined for to processing HTTP requests.

1. Field of the Present Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of web-based applications and more particularly to a web server architecture that incorporates and optimizes elements typically implemented in kernel space to reduce context switching and produce a more efficient server.
2. History of Related Art
The Internet has become a medium for business and other applications, resulting in a commensurate proliferation of web-based services. Typically, web-based services are implemented by installing specialized software, referred to herein as a web server, on a server device that is connected to a network, whether it is a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN). A web server is accessed over the network from various client devices running client applications such as conventional web browsers that issue requests to web servers. A common example is a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) formatted client request to retrieve and display a particular web page. The amount of time that expires between the time a client request is received by a server device and the time the server device sends an appropriate response back to the client reflects the performance of the web server.
Referring to FIG. 1, selected features of conventional web server architecture are depicted in block diagram format. In the depicted embodiment, a server device 100 includes various software components that work in conjunction with the actual web server application to handle client requests. A network interface 102 interacts with the network at the hardware level to receive client requests from the network. Upon receiving a client request, network interface 102 issues an interrupt to the operating system kernel 104. The kernel 104 must then suspend its current processing and invoke one or more network protocol routines indicated in FIG. 1 by the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) block 106. TCP/IP is a widely implemented suite of protocols that support networked computing on a large number of computer networks including the Internet. Among other functions, TCP/IP 106 extracts an HTTP formatted request from one or more received network packets. TCP/IP 106 then hands the extracted HTTP request to a web server application indicated by reference numeral 110.
To process an HTTP request, web server 110 is typically required to retrieve data by accessing a file system cache 122 via a file system 120. If the requested data is not present in file system cache 122, file system 120 may retrieve the data from disk. File system 120 then provides the retrieved data to web server 110. Web server 110 then accesses TCP/IP 106 to prepare the retrieved data for transmission over the network. This TCP/IP formatted response is then sent to the requesting client over the network via network interface 102.
Those knowledgeable in client-server software and server class operating systems will appreciate that the interrupt driven process described above suffers from excessive context switching that will undesirably limit server performance. Context switching refers generally to a change in state that occurs when a server processor switches from executing one process to another. Context switching is especially time consuming when an application program operating in user space invokes a process that executes in the kernel space, or vice versa. The user space and kernel space identify conceptual spaces defined by the operating system that have different levels of protection. Operating systems typically implement protection mechanisms to restrict access to the operating system's trusted core code. Because the bulk of the network communication code exists in kernel space, web server 110 must invoke kernel code frequently. Moreover, the generic or fully general TCP/IP code that resides in the kernel space is not optimized for web server processing. The generic code, for example, includes socket layer processing for general-purpose packet assembly and disassembly, but incurs some processing overhead. Because of the web server's wide spread prevalence in Internet applications, it would be highly desirable to implement a server that relied less heavily on operating system protected code and was optimized for processing specific types of network packets.

Web server architecture for improved performance

International Business Machines Corporation


The method of the invention pertains to determining the signal transduction activity in a tissue section by immunohistochemistry techniques. The expression level of the receptor of interest is determined as well as the expression levels of one or more effector molecules of the receptor signal transduction pathway. Furthermore a combined ratio of expression levels of effector molecules in subcellular compartments with the receptor expression was found to have prognostic significance.

Receptor tyrosine kinase signaling and other receptor mediated signaling pathways typically progress through a pathway that includes ligand binding, receptor activation, phosphorylation of signaling intermediary proteins in the cytoplasm that amplify or network the signal, translocation of a subset of the signaling proteins into the nucleus, followed by activation of transcription, by either the translocated protein or other nuclear co-factors.
EGFR (HER1) is a member of the HER family of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). Each RTK has a ligand-binding domain, a single membrane-spanning region, and a cytoplasmic tyrosine-kinase-containing domain. Under normal physiological conditions, activation typically is controlled by both the temporal and spatial expression of the RTK ligands including mechanisms such as homo- or hetero-dimerization of receptors, activation of kinase domains, phosphorylation, and resulting docking sites in modified domains that allow for activation of downstream signaling pathways involved in growth, proliferation, and/or survival such as Ras/MAPK, PI3K/Akt, PLCγ, and STAT. Dysregulation of the EGFR/HER1 signaling pathway is known to be involved in the development and growth of many tumors, including bladder, brain, breast, colon, esophagus, head, kidney, lung, ovary, neck, pancreas, prostate and stomach. (See e.g., Marmor, M. D., K. B. Skaria, and Y. Yarden. 2004. Signal transduction and oncogenesis by ErbB/HER receptors Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys. 58:903-913; Olayioye, M. A., R. M. Neve, H. A. Lane, and N. E. Hynes. 2000. The ErbB signaling network: receptor heterodimerization in development and cancer. EMBO J. 19:3159-3167; Riese, D. J., and D. F. Stern. 1998. Specificity within the EGF family/ErbB receptor family signaling network. Bioessays. 20:41-48; Schlessinger, J. 2004. Common and distinct elements in cellular signaling via EGF and FGF receptors. Science. 306:1506-1507; and Yarden, Y., and M. X. Sliwkowski. 2001. Untangling the ErbB signalling network. Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell Biol. 2:127-137.)
The monoclonal antibody Erbitux (cetuximab), which targets EGFR, has FDA approval for the treatment of colorectal cancer. In addition, Iressa and Tarceva, two small molecules that target EGFR, have FDA approval for non small cell lung cancer. DakoCytomation California, Inc. provides an FDA approved companion diagnostic that can detect EGFR in patient biopsies. This test can be useful, for example to identify patients, who should respond favorably to EGFR targeted therapeutics. However, experience has shown that currently available EGFR diagnostic tests do not correlate well with patient response to treatment with and EGFR targeted therapeutic.
US2006/0094068 and US2007/0059785 each teach an assay for one or another of a molecular marker (which may include pERK or a total cytoplasmic ERK compared to total nuclear ERK) that may be useful in predicting if an individual will or determining if an individual patient is responding to treatment with an EGF or EGFR inhibitor. The method requires a pre and post treatment biopsy from a subject treated with an EGF or EGFR inhibitor.
There is a need for methods for determining the signal transduction pathway activation state with specific reference to the receptor of interest which likely requires that the receptor and pathway effector molecule expression levels be determined in the same assay to achieve adequate levels of accuracy.
There is also a need for methods for determining the signal transduction pathway activation state associated with a receptor that evaluates more than one possible pathway in the same assay.
There is also a need for an assay that does not require a post treatment biopsy. The lability of phosphorylated proteins, even during short ischemic times between tissue excision and fixation (or freezing) may limit the clinical utility of an assay based strictly on detection of phosphorylated proteins. Therefore there is also a need to devise alternative strategies for determining signal transduction pathway activation state without relying on accurate detection of phosphorylated effector molecules, especially for those molecules that turn out to be unstable in routine clinical practice or when suitably specific detection reagents are not available.
There is also a need for a method that can provide prognostic information based on the receptor expression and the signal transduction pathway(s) activation state.

Methods for determining signal transduction activity in tumors


The invention relates to electric motors, particularly to low-voltage gearless commutator motors, and can be used as motor-wheels in transportation vehicles and in other technologies. The aim of the present invention is to provide an electric motor with increased performance characteristics, relatively simple design, and high reliability. A pulsed inertial electric motor according to the invention comprises: (i) a stator with circular magnetic conductor on which an even number of permanent magnets are uniformly arranged with a certain pitch; (ii) a rotor separated from the stator by air gap and bearing an even number of electromagnets, each electromagnet consisting of two coils with opposite winding directions connected in series, which are arranged over the circle in pairs one opposite to another; (iii) a collector distributor mounted on the stator body, containing circularly arranged current-conducting plates separated by insulating spacers and connected with alternating polarity to a dc current source, and (iv) current collectors-brushes mounted on the rotor and capable of contacting with plates of the collector distributor, whereby all brushes are connected to identical (beginning or end) terminals of the windings of said electromagnets and interconnected so that the coils in the opposite electromagnets are connected to each other via one identical terminal and to the opposite brushes via another identical terminal, with the number n of permanent magnets in the stator and the number m of electromagnets in the rotor selected so as to obey the relationsn=10+4k,m=4+2l,where k is an arbitrary integer (k=0, 1, 2, . . . ) and l is any integer such that 0≦l≦k.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to electric motors, particularly to low-voltage gearless commutator motors, and can be used as motor-wheels in vehicles such as electrically propelled bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, electric-motor cars, etc., as well as in other technologies.
2. Background of the Invention
Devices and machines provided with a reduction gear and an asynchronous electric motor are widely used in various technologies, in particular, in transportation. Asynchronous motors, being ecologically safe, reliable, and economically effective, offer a number of advantages over internal combustion engines.
The best prospects are related to a gearless (direct-drive) motor-in-wheel (motor-wheel) in which the wheel rotation is induced directly by the electromagnetic interaction between the built-in rotor and stator magnetic systems. In prior art, there is a motor-wheel comprising a rim and a shaft with built-in asynchronous electric motor. The motor represents a disk asynchronous electric machine comprising a stator with magnetic conductor, windings, and current lead, which is mounted on the immobile axis, and a rotor with short-circuit winding and magnetic conductors situated on both sides of the stator. The stator and rotor in assembly comprise a wheel capable of spinning. This motor-wheel design provides high reliability due to the absence of a mechanical reduction gear and is characterized by better cooling conditions as compared to the traditional design, which is ensured by radial channels carrying a cooling medium. However, use of the asynchronous electric motor still leads to high heat evolution and requires a complicated control system and high-voltage power supply. Such a motor-wheel offers no prospects in electric energy recuperation during motion of retardation of the vehicle.
Another built-in motor known in the prior art comprises two main parts: an immobile stator, mounted on the axis and provided with a magnetic conductor and a set of uniformly arranged permanent magnets, and a mobile rotor bearing a rim and containing at least two groups of electromagnets. A collector distributor (commutator) is mounted on the stator and provided with current-conducting plates connected to a dc current source. The rotor bears current collectors occurring in electric contact with plates of the collector distributor.
Said motor-wheel can be implemented in several modifications and variants. Advantages of such design are the absence of a reducing gear, use of low-voltage power sources, absence of supplementary electronic circuits, possibility of energy recuperation, and small size and weight. By combining the main elements of this motor-wheel with auxiliary elements, it is possible to create a variety of analogous devices retaining all advantages of said motor-wheel.
However, the above motor-wheel and its analogs still have some disadvantages, the main of these being large start and transient currents in course of starting and accelerating the vehicle. This leads to rapid degradation and a decrease in the working life of storage batteries and to unfavorable thermal regimes. Another drawback is low efficiency of recovery and use of electric energy. Finally, said electric motors are characterized by relatively low torque, which considerable reduces the field of possible practical applications. Technical solutions suggested to eliminate these disadvantages are based on the use of high-voltage power sources and complicated control schemes, which increase the cost and decrease reliability of such systems in exploitation.


A system for providing loaner clubs to novice golfers includes a coding scheme for golf club holders, which can be provided at a golf range having targets, in order to facilitate play by people entirely new to the game of golf. In general, one innovative aspect of the subject matter described in this specification can include a golf club stand including holders for golf clubs of different types, and visual indicators associated with the holders for the golf clubs of different types, where the visual indicators correspond to targets of different distances within a golf range.

This specification relates to golf, golf clubs, and holders for golf clubs in a golf club stand,
The origins of golf are not clear, but the modern game of golf is generally considered to have begun in Scotland during the Middle Ages. Golf began to find substantial international popularity beginning in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and more specifically in the United States during the roaring twenties. Even so, golf remains widely viewed as a game of the upper classes, requiring a good deal of money and time to play. Because of the time needed to play a full game of golf, driving ranges are often used by golfers to practice their swing when they do not have the time for eighteen holes of golf. However, hitting golf balls at a driving range has often been considered a rather boring pastime, even when targets are provided on the golf range.
More recently, however, this notion has changed with the development of interactive golf ranges, where the successful hitting of a target with a golf ball is automatically identified in a computer system. For example, the TopGolf company has developed Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for golf balls and targets that enables rapid feedback for golf balls hit by specific players into specific targets on a golf range. Details of RFID and other golf related technologies can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,607,123, 7,056,221, 7,059,974, 7,160,196, and 7,337,965, which are hereby incorporated by reference. Such technologies allow the development of innovative and exciting games of golf that increase the fun for new players while still providing an authentic golf experience for established players. These exciting games, along with golf range facilities that include high quality food and drink, and other on-site entertainments, open the doors to a much larger public interested in playing golf.

System for providing loaner clubs to novice golfers


A method of controlling a vehicle equipped with an internal-combustion engine with a “stop and start” system. The method provides, during vehicle running, for learning the “duty cycle” values associated with the odd gears and even gears, determining the “maximum duty cycle” value for the odd gears and “minimum duty cycle” value for the even gears, determining a duty-cycle band to which the “neutral gear” condition corresponds on the basis of the “minimum duty cycle” value for the even gears and “maximum duty cycle” value for the odd gears, and controlling the “stop and start” system on the basis of the duty-cycle band to which the “neutral gear” condition corresponds.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to, in general a method of controlling a vehicle equipped with an internal-combustion engine and, in particular, such a method using a "stop and start" system.
2. Description of Related Art
An internal-combustion engine includes a number of cylinders (normally, four arranged in line) equipped with respective pistons connected to an engine crankshaft by connecting rods. The shaft of an electric-starter motor powered by the vehicle's battery is also mechanically connected to the engine crankshaft of the internal-combustion engine. To start the internal-combustion engine, the electric motor drives the engine crankshaft into rotation from a starting position in which the engine crankshaft is stationary. As soon as the engine crankshaft starts to turn, fuel is directly or indirectly injected into the cylinders to try to achieve initial firing in the shortest possible time and, consequently, enable the internal-combustion engine to become self-sustaining.
The "stop and start" system stops the internal-combustion engine when the vehicle is stationary or about to stop [typically, for traffic-related motives (such as a red traffic light) or crossroads without right of way] and restarts the internal-combustion engine as soon as the driver operates the clutch pedal.
Certain problems arise in vehicles equipped with an internal-combustion engine with a "stop and start" system and a manual gearbox.
As the "stop and start" system is implemented by the engine-control unit (that is to say, it is set op to enable and disable this system, which stops the internal-combustion engine when the vehicle is stationary or about to stop and restarts it as soon as the driver operates the clutch pedal), it is extremely important that the engine-control unit can accurately and precisely identity the "neutral gear" condition.
For example, EP1104859 discloses a method of controlling the transmission of a vehicle, which includes the steps of providing a pair of position sensors and using the signals coming from both the position sensors to determine the "neutral gear" condition.
EP718142 discloses a "gearshift control" system (in particular, for tractors or other earth-moving machines) that includes in a preliminary "setting up" phase the step of providing a position sensor that is set to read the position of the gearshift actuator piston. This method includes furthermore the steps of learning by the position sensor a first and second end value, calculating a first threshold value through the algebraic sum of the first end value and a correction margin, calculating a second threshold value through the algebraic difference between the second end value and correction margin, and determining a value range (which corresponds to the "neutral gear" condition) as a function of the mean value of the first threshold value, the second threshold value, and a constant value.
JP2008302821 discloses a method of controlling the gearshift of a vehicle, which includes in a preliminary "setting up" phase the step of arranging close to the driver-operated gear-selection lever a sensor that is set to read when in use the position of the gear-selection lever. This method includes furthermore the step of learning the value read by the sensor, which corresponds to the "neutral gear" condition, in an initial learning step.
JP2010060125 discloses a method of learning the reference position of a driver-operated gear-selection lever as a function of the comparison between two signals coming from a pair of sensors in successive operating cycles.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,393,928 discloses a system for controlling the gearshift of a vehicle by a pair of sensors. The method includes, at first, the step of learning the values read by the sensors (which correspond to the "neutral gear" condition) and, subsequently, the step of engaging the other even and odd gears.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,670 discloses an apparatus for controlling the gearshift of a vehicle equipped with a pair of position sensors. The method includes the steps of determining in a preliminary "setting up" phase a set of tolerance values and learning the values read by the sensors, which correspond to the "neutral gear" condition that is in a substantially central position. During normal vehicle running, the "even or odd gear" condition is determined as a function of the comparison of the signals coming from the pair of position sensors with the values corresponding to the "neutral gear" condition and set of tolerance values.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,079 discloses a system for controlling the transmission of a vehicle equipped with a sensor arranged close to the shift lever. The method includes the step of learning the values read by the sensor to determine the "forward and reverse gear" conditions and "neutral, gear" condition. In particular, the method includes the step of learning the value react by the sensor, which corresponds to the "neutral gear" condition in an initial learning step to allow the subsequent learning of the "forward and reverse gear" conditions.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 201109881 discloses a system for controlling a vehicle provided with a pair of sensors that are both arranged close to the shift lever. The method includes the steps of determining in a preliminary step a value range associated with each possible gear condition and comparing in use each value range with the signals coming from the pair of sensors to determine the gear condition.
The methods described above, though, do not guarantee an accurate and precise identification of a "neutral gear" condition that, above all, is reliable in time (even in a ease of fault of some components). This can cause a failure to stop and/or an undesired restarting of the vehicle's engine with the "stop and start" system.
The object of the invention is to provide a method of controlling a vehicle equipped with an internal-combustion engine with a "stop and stall" system, which method permits the drawbacks of the related art to be overcome while being simple and inexpensive to implement.

Method of controlling a vehicle equipped with an internal combustion engine with a stop and start system


Disclosed is a cellooligosaccharide composition comprising, as the main ingredient, at least one cellooligosaccharide selected from the group consisting of cellobiose, cellotriose, cellotetraose, cellopentaose and cellohexaose, which is in the powdery form having an average L/D value of 3.0 or lower, a bulk density of 0.80 g/mL or lower and an angle of repose of 60° or lower.

Cellooligosaccharide is a generic name for cellobiose, cellotriose, cellotetraose, cellopentaose, and cellohexaose and is an oligosaccharide with 1 to 6 glucopyranose units linked by a β-1,4 bond in one molecule.
In the present specification, a composition containing other components, for example, glucose in addition to these cellooligosaccharides is referred to as a "cellooligosaccharide composition."
Furthermore, in the present specification, a composition that comprises this "cellooligosaccharide composition" as an active ingredient and may contain other additives or the like is referred to as a "cellooligosaccharide-containing composition" or "drug composition").
Cellooligosaccharide are hardly digested and absorbed by humans, and therefore, they are useful as low-calorie sweeteners. In addition, they are also useful as general foods, functional foods, cosmetics, drugs and additives hereof, other raw materials for chemical conversion, and raw materials for fermentation (Non-patent Document 1).
With a focus on lipids in the liver that can cause pathological conditions such as diabetes, arteriosclerosis, and cirrhosis in adults, the present invention can be used as an agent for preventing or improving a lifestyle-related disease because a composition comprising a cellooligosaccharide composition with a specific saccharide composition suppresses a decrease of a blood adiponectin concentration and decreases lipids in the liver.
Non-patent Document 2 discloses bioavailability of dietary intake calorie, blood sugar levels, blood insulin concentrations, and the like when healthy humans (females) ingest a cellooligosaccharide composition consisting of 92.9% of cellobiose, 3.3% of cellooligosaccharides with a degree of polymerization of 3 or higher, and 3.8% of glucose. In the document, only blood sugar levels and insulin concentrations were measured to confirm digestibility of the cellooligosaccharide composition, and the composition was only orally administered to humans to obtain exact dietary intake calories. Furthermore, the document includes no description or suggestion about the intake of the cellooligosaccharide composition and the neutral fat concentration in the liver. Therefore, the document is completely different from the cellooligosaccharide composition of the present invention, which has a specific saccharide composition and a low decreasing rate of blood adiponectin, and is used as an agent for preventing or improving a lifestyle-related disease since the composition is effective in decreasing the neutral fat concentration in the liver by oral intake thereof.
The following reports are available on the attempts to use cellooligosaccharides for lipid metabolization.
Non-patent Documents 1, 3, and 4 describe results after breeding SD male rats for 4 weeks by feeding a high sucrose diet (64.7 parts by mass of sucrose, 25 parts by mass of casein, 5 parts by mass of corn oil, 4 parts by mass of mineral, 1 part by mass of vitamins, 0.2 parts by mass of choline hydrochloride, and 0.05 parts by mass of vitamin E) of which 1 or 2.5% by mass was replaced with a cellooligosaccharide composition comprising 85.7% by mass of cellobiose, 3.7% by mass of cellotriose, and 9.3% by mass of glucose as a saccharide composition. According to the document, intake of the cellooligosaccharide composition having the above-mentioned saccharide composition decreased serum total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride levels and body fat rates as compared with a group without the cellooligosaccharide composition. However, although the cellooligosaccharide of the documents showed a decreasing effect of serum lipid, the weights of the internal organs such as a liver did not change. Furthermore, a decreasing effect of visceral lipid was not observed. On the other hand, the present invention provides an agent for preventing or improving a lifestyle-related disease that has a specific saccharide composition; suppresses a decrease of a blood adiponectin concentration; comprises a cellooligosaccharide composition; and has an excellent decreasing effect of lipid in the liver. Therefore, it is totally different from the cellooligosaccharide of the documents decreasing the serum lipid.
Furthermore, Patent Document 1 describes food/feed additives for regulating intestinal functions and promoting lipid metabolism which are characterized in that lactic bacteria cells (Lactobacillus rhamnosus) and cellobiose are contained in mixture ratios of 1:2.5 to 8. The document describes results after breeding male Wister rats for 14 days by feeding an elemental diet 20.0 parts by mass of casein, 0.3 parts by mass of DL-methionine, 3.5 parts by mass of minerals, 1.0 parts by mass of vitamins, 7.0 parts by mass of soybean oil) of which 10% by mass was replaced with cellobiose. According to the document, the group fed with diet containing cellobiose alone had no effect on serum or visceral lipid metabolism as compared with the group fed with diet not containing the same. The lipid levels were decreased only when cellobiose and the above-mentioned lactic bacterium were used in combination. Therefore, it is essentially different from an agent for preventing or improving a lifestyle-related disease such as the saccharide composition of the present invention, which comprises cellooligosaccharides having a highly regulated saccharide composition, and decreases fat levels in the liver by cellooligosaccharides alone. Furthermore, since the diet for promoting the lipid metabolism of the document requires simultaneous intake of cellobiose and viable bacterial cells, there is a problem that the effect thereof decreases to a considerable extent before use because of poor stability of viable bacterial cells in a formulation.
Therefore, there has been known no lifestyle-related disease preventing or improving agent which comprises, as an active ingredient, an Insulin-non-increasing cellooligosaccharide composition having a specific saccharide composition and suppressing a decrease in a blood adiponectin concentration and decreases lipids in the liver by taking the same.
Hereafter, activation of the enteric bacteria flora by the cellooligosaccharide composition of the present inanition or the cellooligosaccharide-containing composition of the present invention will be explained. In recent years, it has been revealed that the enteric bacteria flora is closely related to human health. For example, bifidobacteria, lactic bacteria and the like are useful bacteria that bring health to humans. Since they decrease with aging, attempts have been made to improve the enteric bacteria flora (intestinal flora) with functional foods such as prebiotics (served as nutrients for enteric bacteria and having a function to increase them). There are many existing functional foods that propagate bifidobacteria and lactic bacteria.
In particular, the above-mentioned prebiotics with a higher selective activity of activating only useful intestinal bacteria and not activating harmful bacteria are more efficient. Examples of the existing attempts include foods that activate useful bacteria while inhibiting propagation of Clostridium perfringens, a kind of a Welch bacillus, as harmful intestinal bacteria.
Among the above-described attempts of increasing bifidobacteria and lactic bacteria and suppressing Wench bacillus, those related to oligosaccharides with β bonds will be described below.
Patent Document 2 describes the substance for improving intestinal flora comprising glucoolroosaccharides having β-glucosidic bonds and/or a reduced product thereof as an active ingredient. The glucooligosaccharide described in the document is one or two or more types selected from cellobiose, sophorose, laminaribiose, gentiobiose, and gentiooligosyl-D-glucose. This oligosaccharide undoubtedly promotes propagation of useful bacteria such as bifidobacteria and lactic bacteria and has an effect of suppressing propagation of Welch bacillus.
However, there was a problem that harmful bacteria other than Welch bacillus such as Bacteroides fragilis and Eubacterium aerofaciens were increased to a considerable extent. Bacteroides fragilis and Eubacterium aerofaciens are anaerobic asporogenic Gram-negative bacillus which are harmful bacteria relating to various abscess forming infections and bacteremia caused by the mixed infection thereof with aerobic bacteria. The agent for improving intestinal flora of the above-mentioned document is totally different from the present invention of an agent for activating enteric bacteria which can propagate useful bacteria such as bifidobacteria and lactic bacteria and suppressing propagation of harmful bacteria such as Bacteroides fragrlis and Eubacterium aerofaciens. Therefore, there has been known no agent for activating enteric bacteria that has a regulated saccharide composition of cellooligosaccharides in a specific range; propagates useful bacteria such as bifidobacteria and lactic bacteria; and suppresses propagation of harmful bacteria such as Bacteroides fragailis and Eubacterium aerofaciens.
Hereafter, suppression of propagation of Helicobacter pylori or a bacteriostatic effect against Helicobacter pylori by the cellooligosaccharide composition or the cellooligosaccharide-containing composition of the present invention will be described. Helicobacter pylori is a microaerobic Gram-negative bacillus. Helicobacter pylori is thought to live in a strongly acidic environment in the stomach by producing ammonia from urea by the urease activity thereof to neutralize the gastric acid. It has been revealed that this ammonia produced by Helicobacter pylori damages the stomach mucous membrane and it is associated with stomach diseases such as gastritis, ulcer, stomach cancer, and lymphoma. It is recognized that suppression or regulation of the growth of Helicobacter pylori is an effective method for prevention or improvement of these diseases.
As a conventional method for suppressing Helicobacter pylori, administration of antibiotics has been attempted. This method undoubtedly has an effect of suppressing Helicobacter pylori. However, there was also a problem that the suppressing actions of the antibiotics affected not only Helicobacter pylori, but also enteric bacteria which are useful for the human body. Furthermore, there was also a problem that the antibiotics had no small effects on the human body such as causing diarrhea as the adverse drug reaction. Therefore, a suppressing agent that is safe to the human body and acts selectively on Helicobacter pylori has been desired. As prior art, examples of the agent for suppressing Helicobacter pylori comprising a saccharide as an active ingredient include the following.
Patent Document 3 discloses an antitumor agent comprising fucoidan as an active ingredient. The antitumor agent of this document utilizes inhibition of Helicobacter pylori colonization on the stomach wall by fucoidan and has effects of preventing infection of Helicobacter pylori. On the other hand, since the agent for suppressing Helicobacter pylori of the present invention comprising a cellooligosaccharide as an active ingredient directly suppresses Helicobacter pylori irrespective of colonization on the stomach wall, it has an effect of improvement in addition to prevention and is totally different from the preventing-agent of the document.
The present invention is a composition comprising a cellooligosaccharide composition with a specific saccharide composition as an active ingredient. There has been known no agent for suppressing Helicobacter pylori or no bacteriostatic agent against Helicobacter pylori that is safe to the human body which suppresses propagation of Helicobacter pylori by orally taking.
Hereafter, the property of the cellooligosaccharide composition for improving the skin barrier function or the cellooligosaccharide-containing composition of the present invention will be described. In the human skin, the horny cell layer functions as a barrier against the external environment of an organism. The barrier function of the skin is closely related to the amount of transepidermal water loss of the skin, and suppression of this transepidermal water loss is critical in maintaining flexibility and moisture of the skin (Non-patent Documents 5 and 6). So far, inventions have been made with a focus on regeneration of the lamellar structure of the horny cell layer using saccharides or oligosaccharides as an active ingredient.
Patent Document 4 describes an agent regenerating the lamellar structure of the horny cell layer cells in the skin that comprises glucose and/or raffinose, and an agent regenerating the lamellar structure of the horny cell layer cells in the skin characterized in that glucose and oligosaccharides are contained.
The document describes, as a lamellar structure regenerating agent, a topical agent comprising glucose as an essential component and one or more oligosaccharides selected from the group consisting of raffinose, melibiose, trehalose, sucrose, maltose, cellobiose, gentianose, stachyose, and cyclodextrin. According to this document, a lamellar structure regenerating effect is undoubtedly observed in raffinose, melibiose, trehalose, sucrose, and cyclodextrin, and an effect of decreasing "greasiness" is further observed by combination use of glucose and raffinose. However, this document has no description about recovery of the transepidermal water loss by the above-mentioned cellooligosaccharides including cellobiose. In particular, it is not known that cellooligosaccharides are excellent in usability and promotion of recovery of the transepidermal water loss and improve the skin barrier function without addition of glucose. Furthermore, since the agent for improving lamellar structure of this document needs to contain a large amount of glucose such as 7.4% by mole or more in proportion to raffinose or oligosaccharides, there was a problem that, when it was used in combination with an amino acid or a component containing an amino group such as a protein and subjected to a heating process, browning or discoloration occurred due to the Maillard reaction, which markedly reduced the commodity value. The present invention is essentially different from the above-described invention in that it has minimal "greasiness"; decreases browning; and can improve the skin barrier function without containing glucose as an essential component. Therefore, there has been known no agent for improving skin barrier function of the present invention that comprises cellooligosaccharides including cellobiose in a specific range as an active ingredient; has favorable usability; causes minimal browning; and promotes recovery of transepidermal water loss without using glucose in combination.
Hereafter, the Indigenous dermal bacteria flora improving property of the cellooligosaccharide or the cellooligosaccharide composition of the present invention will be described.
The healthy human skin maintains epidermal pH as weakly acidic and is protected by beneficial indigenous dermal bacteria having an action for improving resistance. However, internal tissues of individuals with easily damaged skin due to dry skin, atopic dermatitis, or the like are infected with Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aerugunosa, harmful bacteria, from the injury on the skin surface. The infection causes further deterioration of the human skin condition. When internal tissue is exposed, Staphylococus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa are attached to the injury and grow on the exudated body fluid even if the injury is as small as invisible. In fact, it is said that a large amount off Staphylococcus aureus is detected in the skin of patients with atopic dermatitis. Therefore, it is extremely important to maintain the cell count of beneficial dermal bacteria and suppress the cell count of Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, harmful bacteria on the human skin.
Furthermore, among the skins, more indigenous dermal bacteria exist in the skin of the scalp where hairs are more densely grown than other sites, and the balance of the cell counts of these bacteria is very important. Furthermore, it is also important to impart refreshing feeling and smoothness to dry hair as sensory effects.
Many drugs and raw material components for cosmetics having a bacteriostatic action against Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa have been disclosed. Examples thereof include N-acylglutamic acid-containing detergents (Patent Document 5, iron-bound lactoferrin-containing agents Patent Document 6), various plant extracts (Patent Documents at 8, 9, 10, and 11), and so forth. However, since these agents also have a bacteriostatic action against beneficial indigenous dermal bacteria with potency comparable to or greater than the action against bacteria belonging to genus Staphylococcus, they could not be used as agents for improving indigenous dermal bacteria flora.
Furthermore, an agent for adjusting the balance of the counts of Living indigenous dermal bacteria by mixing a bittern and a rosemary extract or a licorice extract has been disclosed (Patent Document 12). However, the effect was not adequate, and bacteriostasis against Pseudomonas aeruginosa was not described. Furthermore, refreshing feeling or smoothness was not imparted as a touch in a dried condition, and the agent was expensive and was very difficult to use in practice.
Furthermore, an agent for improving indigenous dermal bacteria flora comprising isomaltooligosaccharide has been disclosed (Patent Document 13). According to this document, an agent for improving indigenous dermal bacteria flora comprising isomaltooligosaccharide and/or a sugar alcohol obtained by reducing isomaltooligosaccharide does not act on staphylococcus ecidermidis in a specific range of pH and amount thereof and has an effect of suppressing Staphylococcus aureus. As shown in the comparative examples of the present application, however, these effects are not adequate when high amounts of carbohydrate a added in order to improve the retention of skin moisture and a touch of a face lotion. Furthermore, the document has no description about bacteriostasis against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and the agent did not impart refreshingness or smoothness as a touch in a dried condition.
Therefore, the agent for improving dermal bacteria flora of the document is fundamentally different from the agent for improving indigenous dermal bacteria flora of the present invention, which does not exhibit a bacteriostatic action against a beneficial dermal bacterium, i.e. Staphylococcus epidermidis; but exhibits a bacteriostatic action or a propagation-suppressing action against harmful bacteria, i.e. Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa; and imparts refreshingness or smoothness as a touch of dried hair.
Finally, the high fluidity cellooligosaccharide powder of the present invention which is excellent in oil retention in addition to powder fluidity and uniform dispensability; hardly absorbs moisture; and is excellent in handling properties such as a compression moldability, heat resistance, acid resistance, a property of preventing starch retrogradation, and a property of preventing protein modification will be described below.
Patent Document 14 describes a solid formulation comprising cellobiose as the principal ingredient and cellooligosaccharide of a degree of polymerization of L to 7 as an excipient. This cellooligosaccharide excipient undoubtedly has water activity which is equal to that of sucrose and is useful as a low-calorie sweetener. According to this patent document, however, since lyophilization is performed when a cellooligosaccharide solution obtained by enzymatic degradation of cellulose is powderized, the cellooligosaccharide powder become light, and the powder fluidity is not necessarily satisfactory. Furthermore, the patent document has no description or suggestion about the crystal shape, powder fluidity, handling properties such as uniform dispersibility of the cellooligosaccharide powder. Therefore, the formulation is essentially different from the cellooligosaccharide powder of the present invention, which highly regulates the crystal shape and physical properties of the powder of cellooligosaccharide; is excellent in powder fluidity; and has improved uniform dispersibility.
Non-patent Documents 3 and 4 describe a cellooligosaccharide powder obtained by enzymatically degrading a sulfite pulp, subjecting the obtained cellooligosaccharide solution to ultrafiltration, purifying with diatom earth and an ion exchange resin then crystallizing with ethanol and isopropyl alcohol. However, crystallization treatment with a poor solvent of the document is intended only to produce cellobiose with higher purity, and there is no description about the crystal shape of cellooligosaccharides. The technique is totally different from that of the present invention for regulating the crystal shape and physical properties of the powder to improve powder fluidity and uniform dispensability of a cellooligosaccharide powder.
Therefore, there have been known no high fluidity cellooligosaccharide powder that has highly regulated saccharide composition and crystal shape of cellooligosaccharides; is excellent in oil retention in addition to powder fluidity and uniform dispersibility; hardly absorbs moisture; and is excellent in handling properties such as a compression moldability, heat resistance, acid resistance, a property of preventing starch retrogradation, and a property of preventing protein modification as that of the present invention, and a method for producing such cellooligosaccharide powder has not been known, too.
Non-patent Document 1: New technologies of wood chemicals, CMC Publishing Co, Ltd., 66-72 (2000)
Non-patent Document 2: Nutrition, 20, 979-983 (2004)
Non-patent Document 3: Journal of Japanese Society of Nutrition and Food Science 49, No. 3, 143-148 (1998)
Non-patent Document 4: Cellulose Communications, 5, No. 2, 91-97 (1998)
Non-patent Document 5: "Advancement and future prospect of evaluation techniques for usefulness of cosmetics", Yakuji Nippo Limited, 82-101 (2001
Non-patent Document 6: "Functional cosmetics", Japan Cosmetics Science Association Ed., JISC, 235-252 (1991)
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2004-321068
Patent Document 2: JP-A-3-262460
Patent Document 3: JP-A-7-138166
Patent Document 4: JP-A-2006-45186
Patent Document 5: JP-A-11-80781
Patent Document 6: JP-A-11-279076
Patent Document 7: JP-A-6-116162
Patent Document 8: JP-A-8-73368
Patent Document 9: JP-A-8-73372
Patent Document 10: JP-A-11-43443
Patent Document 11: JP-A-2001-226280
Patent Document 12: JP-A-2005-139075
Patent Document 13: JP-A-2005-89355
Patent Document 14: JP-A-62-273921


A spacer is slidably mounted to the headband of a goggle. The spacer comprises a block formed of a body which in use is captured between the headband and the head of the user. The block has an elongated contoured inboard head engaging surface and an outboard frame engaging portion spaced therefrom. In a forward position, adjacent the goggle, the block supports the goggle in spaced relation with the face or head of the wearer to thereby allow ventilation thereof. When the block is in a retracted position the goggle rests against the face or head of the user.

The invention relates to improvements in a ski goggle and the like and in particular to a device for allowing the goggle to be cleared or defogged of condensed moisture formed on the internal viewing surface thereof while in use or in resting period while on the head.
A conventional ski goggle is secured onto the head of a user by a headband which is attached to lateral sides of the goggle by various conventional methods. The headband secures the goggle onto the head in various positions or about the neck. In particular, the headband allows the goggle to be positioned over the eyes when in use or on the forehead or ski hat when not in use. Typical goggle designs employ a contoured face engaging surface which seals the goggle against the face, hat if worn, or head and hair in or near the viewing position and thereby forms a generally closed unventilated volume. Oftentimes during skiing, vaporous moisture from perspiration and snow is trapped in the closed volume. The vaporous moisture tends to condense on the warm inside surface of the goggle lens which causes the goggle to fog up and thereby impair the vision of the user.
Normally it is necessary to stop skiing, remove and pump the goggle to create air flow through the inside or retrieve a wipe in order clean the goggle. Another less effective way of cleaning the goggle includes wiping the inside of the lens with a gloved or ungloved finger, but the results are typically unsatisfactory. In any event, the necessity to frequently defog the lens becomes burdensome and reduces the enjoyment of the sport. In addition, there is strong incentive not to defog the lens, but to simply ignore the problem until reduced visibility becomes intolerable. This presents a danger to the user as well as others nearby.
In Gottlieb, U.S. Pat. No. 2,027,037 the problem of condensation on spectacle lenses is addressed. In the arrangement, guards are attached to the spectacle rims in such a way that the lenses are spaced out of contact with the face. The patent does not address the problems associated with a tightly fitting goggle and a flexible headband.
In Augerman et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,240 a sports goggle is provided with an anterior frame section which carries the lens and a posterior frame section which carries the nose bridge and temples. The distal ends of the temples are connected by means of a flexible headband. Spacing from the face is maintained by the rigid hinge portions on the posterior frame and a stud on the nose piece. The problem of a confined or unventilated goggle is not addressed.
Schauweker, U.S. Pat. No. 2,410,184 discloses an eye protection device, for example, welders goggles which have permanent vent openings in the side of each goggle element.
Volk, U.S. Pat. No. 3,497,294 discloses conventional eyeglasses employing temple mounted vanes which may be extended outwardly to direct air across the interior surface of the glasses.
Leight, U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,925 and Herman, U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,155 describe spectacles which carry slidable ear protectors on the temples. Rustin, U.S. Pat. No. 4,751,746 also describes ear protectors which are mounted on the temples and held in position by means of a clip which attaches to the lens frame.
The prior methods do not provide for a convenient, effective, stylish and comfortable method for clearing and prevention of fogging in a ski goggle.


Techniques for providing alerts in a system that implements an organizational management platform to manage applications for an organization are disclosed. The method can include accessing organizational data associated with the organization. A rule having a condition for activation of a trigger can be received from a user interface. A dependency map having data objects that are associated with the rule can be generated by the system. A change in a first data object from the data objects can be determined. Additionally, a dependency between the rule and the first data object can be determined based on the dependency map. Moreover, the condition for the activation of the trigger can be determined to be satisfied based on the determined change. Subsequently, an action associated with the activation of the trigger can be performed based on the condition for the activation of the trigger being satisfied.

A database generally refers to a type of computer program that primarily stores and retrieves data. The database generally may execute procedural instructions from a database trigger in response to a certain event involving a particular table or view within the database. However, database triggers generally are limited to operations performed on objects within a database. As such, database triggers are unable to support various types of operations associated with maintaining an enterprise system of record integrated with applications (e.g., time and attendance application). Therefore, a need exists for providing triggers that support operations associated with enterprise systems of record integrated with applications.
Additionally, due to the large scale of data stored in a database, conventional systems may not be able to determine in real-time the values of data objects. Conventional systems may not be able access data that is changing in real-time and react to the changes dynamically. Therefore, a need exists for systems that store, access, and determine in real-time the values stored in a large database.

Techniques for providing alerts in a time and attendance system


In a preferred embodiment, an aircraft passenger seat includes a seat back and a laterally-expanding tray table including a telescoping table segment and a main table segment having an interior pocket for receiving the telescoping table segment in a retracted position, where the telescoping table segment is adjacent to the main table segment in a fully extended position to form a contiguous table surface. The seat back may include a mounting region for stowing the laterally-expanding tray table, including a latching mechanism for latching the main table segment in a stowed position. The mounting region may extend across half the width of the seat back. The seat back may include storage region(s) horizontally adjacent to the mounting region, each storage region configured to stow a passenger convenience feature.

The present disclosure relates to a tray table of the type found on transportation seating products, such as railway and aircraft passenger seats. Conventional tray tables typically extend the width of a seat back, and are moveable between a stowed position flush with and latched to the seat back of a seat and a deployed position with the tray table extending away from the seat back in a generally horizontal position for use by an aft-seated occupant. Other well-known designs include bi-fold tray tables that are hinged in the middle and are typically stowed in a folded configuration in an armrest. To deploy the table, the arm cap is raised, the table pivoted out of a storage cavity in the armrest, pivoted laterally across the lap of the seat occupant, after which the table is unfolded at the hinge to form a full width tray table.
The inventors recognized a need for a tray table that occupies minimal stowage space, affording seat designers to include additional amenities. The inventors further recognized a need for a tray table that, while still useful to a passenger, takes up less space than a standard tray table.


Techniques whereby a client computer may request metadata relating to a peripheral device from one or more server computers are provided. Upon connecting to a peripheral device, the client computer receives information identifying the device, and generates a query, using the received information, for metadata relating to the device. The client computer may, for example, first attempt to execute the query locally to determine if metadata appropriate for use (e.g., not outdated) is stored on the client computer. If not, the client computer may issue the query to one or more server computers which stores metadata received from manufacturers and/or suppliers of peripheral devices. The one or more server computers may issue a response making the requested metadata available to the client computer and providing instructions relating to subsequent requests from the client computer, so as to manage the processing load borne by the one or more server computers. The client computer may employ the metadata to present a graphical interface that enables the user to manage the device.

In conventional arrangements, when a peripheral device is connected to a client computer, the client computer may receive information from the peripheral device which includes one or more hardware identifiers. In general, a hardware identifier identifies a function performed by the peripheral device. If the peripheral device is a multi-function device, such as a printer/scanner/fax machine, the client computer may receive one or more hardware identifiers identifying the print function, one or more other hardware identifiers identifying the scan function and one or more other hardware identifiers identifying the fax function. When the client computer receives the hardware identifier(s) from the device, the client computer uses the identifier(s) to identify a driver enabling the client computer to interoperate with and employ functions provided by the peripheral device.
More than one hardware identifier may be provided for each function, because there may be more than one driver which will allow the client computer to employ a particular function. For example, many device manufacturers typically supply multiple drivers for a given device function, with one driver being very specific to the function, and others being more generic. More generic drivers typically may be used by a client computer to employ functions provided by any of multiple devices (or families of devices), but may not allow the client computer to employ all of the aspects of a given device function. For example, the manufacturer of a monitor may include one driver that enables a client computer to employ all of the display functionality provided by the monitor, and several more generic drivers that do not enable the client computer to employ all of this functionality, but allow the client computer to interoperate with any of several monitors.
Typically, hardware identifiers for a given function are provided to a client computer in a sequence which ranges from most specific to most generic. That is, for each function performed by the device, the client computer receives a sequence ranging from the most specific hardware identifier to the most generic. If the device is a multi-function device, the hardware identifiers for each individual function conform to this sequence. Thus, if a device has two functions, and two hardware identifiers are provided by the device for each function, the client computer receives two groups of two identifiers each, with each group arranged in a sequence from most specific to most generic. When the hardware identifiers are received, the client computer attempts to match the hardware identifiers in each group in sequence (from most specific to least specific) with a driver (e.g., stored on the client computer). When a particular hardware identifier does not match a driver, the client computer proceeds with trying to match the next hardware identifier in sequence in the group. Once a matching driver is found for a group, the client computer may employ the function represented by identifiers in the group.
This processing is illustrated conceptually in FIG. 1, in which device 101 is connected to client computer 102 via link 120. Device 101 includes hardware identifiers 105, which are provided to client computer 102 when device 101 is connected thereto, and are employed by matching facility 110 (which may be a portion of an operating system executing on client computer 102) to retrieve one or more drivers. Hardware identifiers 105 include identifiers for each of three different functions, with the first digit in each identifier following the letter "H" identifying the function. For example, hardware identifiers H11 and H12 correspond to a first function, H21, H22 and H23 correspond to a second function, and H31 corresponds to a third function. The identifiers for each function are arranged in a sequence from most specific to most generic, with the second digit in each identifier following the letter "H" identifying a level of specificity. Thus, hardware identifier H11 for the first function is more specific than is H12, and hardware identifier H22 for the second function is more specific than is H23.
When device 101 is connected to client computer 102, matching facility 110 receives the hardware identifiers for each function in sequence, and attempts to match each hardware identifier for a given function in turn to a driver stored in storage facility 115. For example, for hardware identifiers relating to the first function, matching facility 110 first attempts to match identifier H11 to a driver stored in storage element 115, and if no match is found, proceeds to try to match identifier H12. Similarly, matching facility 110 attempts to match identifiers for the second function (i.e., H21, H22 and H23) and for the third function (i.e., H31) to a driver in storage facility 115. When a matching driver is found for any function, client computer 102 employs the corresponding function as defined by the driver.
Because each hardware identifier provided by a peripheral device relates to a function performed by the device, rather than the device itself, a client computer that receives hardware identifiers corresponding to multiple functions (such as might be supplied by a multi-function device) "perceives" the device as multiple distinct entities (i.e., one entity for each function defined by a set of hardware identifiers). For example, when a multi-function device such as a printer/scanner/fax machine provides hardware identifiers for its functions to a client computer, the client computer perceives the device as three entities, providing print, scan and fax capabilities, respectively.

Retrieval of metadata for peripheral devices