A liquid ring pump includes an impeller rotatably supported in an open ended cup-shaped housing. The impeller includes blades which are spaced to form pockets therebetween so that a certain amount of liquid may be maintained in the pockets to compress gas introduced beneath the liquid. A control disk having an inlet port and at least one outlet port is positioned adjacent to the impeller. A cup-shaped cover having intake and pressure connections and a partition wall therebetween covers the open end of the housing. The control disk and cup-shaped cover together with the partition wall form a suction chamber in fluid communication with the intake connection and a surge chamber in fluid communication with the pressure connection. Intake gas flows from the intake connection into the suction chamber and then through the control disk inlet port into at least one of the impeller blade pockets. After the impeller rotates, the then compressed gas flows through a control disk outlet port into the surge chamber, and then to the outlet opening of the pressure connection. Noise originating at the control disk outlet port(s) is dampened by at least one baffle disposed in the surge chamber which diverts the portion of the sealing liquid expelled together with the compressed gas to follow a course that at least at one location intersects the course of the compressed gas flowing through the surge chamber toward the outlet opening of the pressure connection.

The present invention relates to pumps generally, and more specifically to a liquid ring pump having a noise damping mechanism.
Liquid ring pumps typically comprise an open ended cup-shaped housing, an impeller rotatably supported in the housing adjacent a control disk and a cup-shaped member covering the open end of the housing. The impeller includes blades which in conjunction with surfaces thereabout form blade pockets or cells. A certain amount of liquid is trapped between adjacent blades in these pockets or cells. As the impeller turns, the liquid in a respective pocket Or space between adjacent blades moves in and out due to the impeller being eccentrically mounted in the pump housing. This creates, in effect, a liquid piston as the blades drive the captive ring of liquid around the inside of the casing. The cup-shaped cover member includes a conduit-like intake connection having an inlet opening and a conduit-like pressure connection having an outlet opening. These connections are associated with the cup-shaped cover member so that the inlet and outlet openings provide fluid communication between the intake and pressure connections, respectively, and the interior of the cup-shaped member facing the pump housing. The cup-shaped member further includes a partition wall which extends toward the cup-shaped housing and which is disposed between the inlet opening and outlet opening of the abovementioned connections. A control disk is arranged between the housing and the cup-shaped member so that the control disk and cup-shaped member together with the partition wall form a suction chamber in fluid communication with the intake conduit via the inlet opening and a surge chamber in fluid communication with the pressure conduit via the outlet opening. The control disk includes an inlet port and at least one outlet port formed therethrough, wherein the inlet port provides fluid communication between the suction chamber and at least one blade pocket and the outlet opening provides fluid communication between at least one blade pocket and the surge chamber. Accordingly, intake fluid, such as gas, is compressed within the pockets before the pockets line up with the outlet opening(s) prior to discharge.
Such a liquid ring pump is disclosed in European Patent No. 138,182. However, these liquid ring pumps present a problem in that they generate a very disturbing, roaring noise, especially at average intake pressures. This noise originates at the outlet opening(s) or orifice(s) formed in the control disk, through which the sealed-in and compressed gas is rhythmically exhausted. Then the noise is transmitted to the outside of the pump via the pressure conduit or external outlet connections. Thus, there is a need to develop a liquid ring pump which minimizes such noise.


A system and method of increasing the efficiency in multi-stage power converters by providing an open loop charge pump stage which reacts in part based on information from a closed loop multi-phase buck converter stage.

A typical computing power supply for laptops and related devices such as tablets uses a combination of Lithium Ion (Li-Ion) batteries, usually arranged in groups of two cells in series that produces a maximum voltage of approximately 10V. Such a relatively high power supply voltage is unsuitable for modern integrated circuits so mobile personal computers (PCs) conventionally include a buck converter to regulate the battery power supply voltage from the series-connected batteries to an internal power supply voltage such as 1V for powering the integrated circuits within the device.
A single stage multi-phase buck converter would require high voltage components to step down from such a relatively high battery power supply voltage to the relatively low internal power supply voltage. The use of such high voltage components demands substantial die space to achieve suitable drain to source resistance and also leads to higher gate drive losses and voltage-current overlap switching losses for the power switches. Thus, single stage multi-phase buck converters are not very efficient in applications in which the output voltage is substantially stepped down from, for example, around 10V to 1V.
To improve the efficiency, two-stage multi-phase DC/DC power converters have been used. A first stage comprises a step-down switched capacitor (charge pump) stage that converts the input voltage from the batteries into an intermediate charge pump output voltage. A second stage multi-phase buck converter converts the intermediate charge pump output voltage into the regulated internal power supply voltage. But the efficiency of such multi-stage power converters at low output load remains a problem.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved multi-stage DC/DC power converter with efficient operation at low output loads.

Multi-staged buck converter with efficient low power operation


The present invention relates to a method for improving the germline transmission efficiency of avian primordial germ cells (PGCs), and methods for producing avian chimeras and transgenic using it. The present method comprises the steps of (a) isolating primordial germ cells (PGCs) from an avian embryonic gonad; and (b) culturing said PGCs in vitro for at least 5 days. According to the present method, the germline transmission efficiency of PGCs can be dramatically improved in a feasible manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for improving the germline transmission efficiency in aves, more particular, to a method for improving the germline transmission efficiency of avian primordial germ cells (PGCs), and methods for producing avian chimeras and transgenic using it.
2. Description of the Related Art
The migration pattern of avian primordial germ cells is very different from that of mammals and this unique mode allows producing germline chimeras by the injection of primordial germ cells into the blood vessel of recipient embryos. Primordial germ cells, which are the progenitors of functional gametes after sexual maturity, first originate from the epiblast in the blastoderm and translocate to the hypoblast of the area pellucida (1,2). During the gastrulation, they circulate through the vascular system and finally colonize into the gonadal anlagen (3). Previous reports showed that the transfer of primordial germ cells collected from germinal crescent (4,5) or blood vessel (6) into recipient embryos could produce germline chimeras. However, the number of primordial germ cells provided for transplantation was extremely limited when collected from those embryonic tissues.
It has been known that primordial germ cells lose their migration activity after settling down into the gonad. Chang et al. (7) reported, however, that primordial germ cells from the embryonic gonads, which have passed beyond the migration stage, could also induce germline transmission after being transferred into the recipient embryos at the migratory stage.
As a potent bioreactor, transgenic avian might be more applicable to biotechnology and medicine than transgenic mammals (8). Since avian germ cells migrate into the embryonic gonads through the vascular system, germ cell-mediated germline chimeras have been considered as one of the efficient tools for inducing avian transgenesis. Several attempts were made for producing chicken germline chimera to date (6, 9, 10) and a gonadal primordial germ cell (gPGC) transplantation system has been developed for overcoming a lot of difficulties in the production of transgenic poultry (7, 11, 12). Our previous study (7) first reported the germline chimera production by transfer of chicken gPGCs, which confirmed that primordial germ cells nested in the embryonic gonads could regain migration activity by transplantation into the embryos at earlier stage. However, the germline transmission efficiency remained low leveling the previous study. Therefore, there remains a need in the art for improving germline transmission efficiency in gPGC-derived chicken chimeras.
Throughout this application, various patents and publications are referenced and citations are provided in parentheses. The disclosure of these patents and publications in their entities are hereby incorporated by references into this application in order to more fully describe this invention and the state of the art to which this invention pertains.

Method for improving germline transmission efficiency of avian primordial germ cells

Seoul National University Industry Foundation


A vibrator device includes a circuit element, which has a first terminal and is a quadrangle in plan view, a vibrator, which is disposed on an active surface and is a quadrangle in plan view, a base, on which the circuit element is disposed and which has a second terminal, and a wire which connects the first terminal and the second terminal together. In plan view of the circuit element, at least one side of the vibrator is disposed along a direction where the one side intersects each of two adjacent sides of the circuit element, and the vibrator does not overlap the first terminal.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a vibrator device, an oscillator, an electronic device, and a vehicle.
2. Related Art
For example, a COL package structure that has a lead, a control chip disposed on the lead, and an MEMS chip disposed on the control chip is disclosed in U.S. Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0290364.
However, the following problem is likely to arise in a configuration where the MEMS chip is disposed on an active surface of the control chip as in the COL package structure of U.S. Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0290364. That is, if the size of the control chip is not sufficiently larger than the size of the MEMS chip, the MEMS chip overlaps terminals of the active surface and thus connecting wires to the terminals is difficult. The terminals may be disposed in a portion that does not overlap the MEMS chip of the active surface to solve this problem, but the plurality of terminals are concentrated since the region that does not overlap the MEMS chip is narrow. For this reason, it is difficult to connect each wire to each of the terminals, and a sufficient space for disposing the wires cannot be ensured.

Vibrator device, oscillator, electronic device, and vehicle


A method of producing shaped, self-supporting ceramic bodies includes preparing a mold by applying a gas-permeable, conformable material to a shape-defining surface of a shaped parent metal. The gas-permeable material, when set or stable, provides a mold with a shaped surface which is defined by, and is therefore substantially congruent to, the shape-defining surface. Upon heating, the parent metal melts and flows from the mold into a receptacle without disturbing the mold. Oxidation reaction product is then grown by oxidation of the molten parent metal with a vapor-phase oxidant to form an oxidation reaction product which grows into the mold cavity and is shaped by it. A ceramic body is recovered from the mold and has substantially the same shape as the pattern section of the original shaped parent metal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of making shaped ceramic bodies by growing an oxidation reaction product within a mold. In particular, the invention relates to a novel and improved method of making ceramic bodies having a predetermined shape or geometric configuration.
2. Commonly Owned Patent Applications
The method of growing ceramic products utilized in the present invention is generally disclosed in Commonly Owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,360, which issued on Dec. 15, 1987, from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 818,943, filed Jan. 15, 1986, and its ancestor applications (now abandoned), all in the names of Marc S. Newkirk et al. and entitled "Novel Ceramic Materials and Methods of Making Same". This patent discloses a method using an oxidation phenomenon to grow a polycrystalline oxidation reaction product from a parent metal at elevated temperatures in the presence of an oxidant, which growth may be enhanced by the use of a dopant or dopants alloyed into the parent metal. The disclosed method affords the production of self-supporting ceramic bodies. The method was improved upon by the use of external dopants applied to the surface of the precursor parent metal as disclosed in Commonly Owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,352, which issued on Aug. 1, 1989, from U.S. patent application Ser. No. 220,935, filed on June 23, 1988, as a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 822,999, filed Jan. 27, 1986, and its ancestor patent applications (now abandoned), all in the names of Marc S. Newkirk et al. and entitled "Methods of Making Self-Supporting Ceramic Materials".
The entire disclosure of all Commonly Owned Patents and Patent Applications mentioned in this specification is expressly incorporated by reference herein.

Method for producing mold-shaped ceramic bodies


An integrated circuit for automatic calibration control of pin electronics is disclosed. The integrated circuit includes a substrate, and both pin electronics and a calibration circuit integral with the substrate. The calibration circuit is dedicated to a single channel of automatic testing equipment for a single pin of a device under test. Each sub-circuit of the pin electronics may include a replica output. The replica output is electrically coupled to the calibration circuit. The calibration circuit may include a multiplexor for receiving each of the replica outputs from the sub-circuits, such as a comparator, load and a driver, and for selectively switching between the replica outputs to determine calibration parameters for one or more levels of the sub-circuit. The calibration circuit includes a state machine capable of determining calibration parameters including offset and gain. After determining the calibration parameters, the state machine can compensate the one or more levels for each sub-circuit of the pin electronics based upon the calibration parameters.

The present invention relates to automatic testing equipment for testing integrated circuits and more specifically to self calibration of pin electronics.
The testing of integrated circuits presently involves the use of automatic test equipment (ATE) 100. The ATE includes a central control unit 110 that oversees the ATE as well as a plurality of channel cards 120. Each channel card 120 can be associated with a plurality of channels. Each pin of an integrated circuit device, known in the art as the "device under test" or DUT, is coupled to one of the channels of the ATE. A channel in the ATE is defined by the electronics that are associated with a single pin of the DUT. In general, a pin of the DUT is electrically coupled to pin electronics 130. Pin electronics 130 include, but is not limited to one or more of the following, a comparator, a load, a driver, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) and a parametric measurement unit (PMU). Each channel card 120 includes a levels generator 140. A levels generator 140 generates analog reference levels for use by the pin electronics 130. The levels generator 140 includes a plurality of DACs that each generates a reference level. Multiple references levels may be generated for each sub-circuit of the pin electronics including the comparator, driver, load or other parts of the pin electronics.
The pin electronics 130 need to be calibrated in order to meet the specifications of the tester manufacturer, so that the ATE will work for its intended purpose. For example, the pin electronics 130 can experience voltage, offset, first order nonlinearity (gain) and second order non-linearities. If the pin electronics are not properly calibrated, the ATE 100 will not be capable of accurately testing the integrated circuit devices.
In general, in order to calibrate the pin electronics 130 for each channel, the pin electronics 130 are coupled to a central or quasi-central resource 110 of the automatic testing equipment's analog sub-system which performs calibration one pin at a time. As shown in FIG. 1, the central system calibration resource 110 provides the calibration signals and measures the result of the calibration signal for each individual pin electronics channel. All of the calibration resources are provided in this central location. The centrally located calibration resources are coupled to each pin through a matrix line. The test system's main processor controls calibration relays 150 in order to select the pin electronics to calibrate.
Because of sensitivities to conditions, such as temperature, the pin electronics need to be recalibrated on a regular basis. If a large temperature change occurs during testing, the pin electronics need to be recalibrated. As a result, the DUTs would need to be disconnected during recalibration, since the recalibration process requires use of the output pin. Because the prior art calibration systems for ATE have used at best quasi-central resources, require disconnecting the DUTs and the DUT interface board, and can include thousands of pin electronics circuits, the recalibration times can be greater than an hour for a single ATE.

Calibration control for pin electronics of automatic testing equipment


A solution for equalization in a radio receiver is provided. According to the provided solution, equalization with a zero forcing equalization algorithm is improved with frequency domain processing of received information symbols. The frequency spectrum of received information symbols is modified with a calculated frequency domain representation of the radio channel impulse response. Thereafter, the information symbols having the modified frequency spectrum are filtered with a zero forcing filter having the filter coefficients calculated through a zero forcing algorithm.

As the bandwidth of a telecommunication signal increases, inter-symbol interference caused by frequency selectivity of a radio channel becomes a limiting factor when considering the reliability of a data transfer. The frequency selectivity is caused by multipath propagation of a telecommunication signal in the radio channel resulting in arrival of different transmitted signal components at a radio receiver at different time instants. The time difference between the time instants at which the first and the last signal components arrive at the receiver is called a delay spread. When the delay spread is higher than a symbol duration, inter-symbol interference occurs. In order to mitigate the effects of inter-symbol interference on reliable data detection, several types of equalizers have been developed.
An equalizer based on a "zero forcing" algorithm is a widely used, low-complexity equalizer which aims to eliminate the inter-symbol interference at decision time instants, i.e. at the center of the bit or symbol interval. The zero forcing equalizer may be realized, for example, with a transversal digital filter whose filter coefficients are calculated from the radio channel impulse response such that the output of the filter has a value (unity, for example) at the decision time instant and zero otherwise. The zero forcing equalizer actually attempts to counter the frequency selectivity of the radio channel by compensating the attenuation of the telecommunication signal at certain frequencies. This leads to a drawback associated with the zero forcing equalizer. If the radio channel frequency response has spectral nulls in its frequency spectrum, the zero forcing equalizer gives an amplification rising to infinity to these frequencies. This results in drastic amplification of noise at these frequencies and, thus, degradation in the performance of the equalizer.
Frequency domain equalizers transform a received telecommunication signal and a radio channel impulse response into a frequency domain. The frequency spectrum of the telecommunication signal is then weighted in the frequency domain with the frequency spectrum of the radio channel in order to compensate for the frequency attenuations caused by the radio channel. There exist a number of algorithms for carrying out the weighting. A problem with the frequency domain equalizers is that they are complex equalization methods consuming high amounts of computational resources. In particular, the frequency domain equalizers calculate a high amount of divisions which consume a substantial amount of computational resources particularly in ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) implementations in which the silicon area is a very limited resource.


A method for deriving the concentration of a gas dissolved in an electrical insulating oil (2) comprises the following steps:—preparing a membrane (5) permeable to the gas, interposed between a container (7) of the oil (2) and a measuring chamber (4) that receives a part of the gas through the membrane (5);—measuring the value of gas concentration in the measuring chamber (4);—deriving an estimated value of the concentration of the gas in the oil (2) as a function of the measured value,—the measuring step comprising taking at successive measuring instants a plurality of measurements of the values of gas concentration in the measuring chamber (4);—the deriving step comprising calculating the estimated value of gas concentration in the oil (2), at an instant selected from said measuring instants, according to a non-linear function of the values measured at the selected measuring instant and at one or more of the measuring instants preceding the one selected.

Especially in the field of medium- or high-voltage transformers, oil is frequently used to insulate the transformer, for the reasons set out below.
Partial discharge is a well-known phenomenon in electrical apparatuses subjected to medium or high voltages.
A partial discharge is an electric discharge limited to a portion of the insulation of an electrical system and does not therefore cause immediate failure of the system but, more generally, causes its gradual degradation. By their very nature, therefore, partial discharges are substantially limited in extent to a defect in the insulating system.
In light of this, the use of a liquid insulator such as oil has the advantage of allowing convective movements within the oil and thanks to certain chemical processes, this type of insulation is at least partly self-restorative, that is to say, it is capable of at least partly compensating the degradation it undergoes during operation of the transformer.
It is known that partial discharges that take place in the oil cause gases to be formed.
Another factor in the evolution of gases is the reaching of very high temperatures by the oil.
For this reason, diagnostic systems based on the assessment of gas concentration in the oil have been in use for some time to assess the insulation condition of oil-insulated transformers.
In this field, the most advanced solutions involve the use of a membrane permeable to the gas, interposed between a container for the oil and a measuring chamber containing only gas. The measuring chamber receives through the membrane a part of the gas present in the oil.
That way, by separating the measuring chamber from the oil it is possible to place a sensor in the measuring chamber to measure the value of gas concentration in the measuring chamber. The sensor is particularly reliable because it is never in contact with the oil.
This type of configuration, however, makes it necessary to estimate the value of gas concentration in the oil as a function of the value measured in the measuring chamber. In effect, it is not the quantity of interest, namely, the gas concentration in the oil, that is measured directly but a quantity indirectly correlated with it, namely, the concentration of the gases inside the measuring chamber.
This estimated value is derived using suitable processing means which implement formulas that reflect the condition of equilibrium between the concentration of gases in the oil and the concentration of gases in the measuring chamber.
It should be observed, however, that these formulas do not take into account the dynamics of the phenomenon by which the gases pass through the membrane from the oil to the measuring chamber.
The aforesaid technical solutions therefore have certain shortcomings.
First of all, there is the risk that the values estimated for gas concentration in the oil will differ considerably from the real values. Typically, the risk is such that the values will be underestimated, leading to serious diagnostic assessment errors when the estimated values are interpreted.
Moreover, there is also the risk that such an estimation of the values of gas concentration in the oil will not allow particularly intense partial discharge phenomena to be identified at all or to be identified with an unacceptable delay. That makes such measuring systems somewhat unreliable for diagnostic purposes.
Lastly, the aforesaid prior art systems are not very precise or reliable during the steps of checking and adjusting (setting up) the devices themselves, where particularly rapid transients in the variation of gas concentration in the oil are created.
In effect, it should be observed that some prior art systems contemplate a calibration procedure to take into account the dynamics of the phenomenon by which gas passes through the membrane from the oil to the measuring chamber.
These calibration procedures involve setting a first predetermined value of gas concentration in the oil and measuring the corresponding value of gas concentration in the measuring chamber, then setting a second predetermined value of gas concentration in the oil (greater than the first value) and measuring the corresponding value of gas concentration in the measuring chamber, and so on.
That provides a plurality of experimental values of gas concentration in the to measuring chamber, each corresponding to a known value of gas concentration in the oil.
These experimental points are then interpolated to derive a coefficient of proportionality, that is to say, a coefficient of calibration.
These calibration procedures, however, are also not free of disadvantages because they are highly time-consuming and, in any case, involve a somewhat heavy approximation, with the result that estimation of the value of gas concentration in the oil is relatively imprecise.
It should also be observed that systems which involve measuring gas concentration in a measuring chamber separated from the oil by a membrane have a further drawback due to possible gas saturation in the measuring chamber.
In effect, if the concentration of the gas to be measured in the measuring chamber reaches saturation, the values measured by the sensor are not reliable.
To avoid saturation, it is necessary to discharge at least part of the gases present in the measuring chamber. This, however, leads to transients related to the transfer of the gases through the membrane, thus further increasing the risks of error in estimating the values of gas concentration in the oil, as described above.

Method and device for deriving the concentration of a gas dissolved in an electrical insulation oil


1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives and optically active 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives with the following formula, having vasodilating activity based on calcium antagonism, and PAF antaognism, and methods of producing the same are disclosed: ##STR1## wherein (*) indicates a chiral center in the case of the optically active 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives.

The present invention relates to 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives and optically active 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives having (a) vasodilating activity based on calcium antagonism and (b) PAF antagonism, and methods of producing the optically active 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives.
Generally it is known that 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives are useful as remedies for diseases of circulatory system such as remedies for ischemic heart disease, cerebral circulatory disease and hypertension, since the 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives have vasodilating activity based on the calcium antagonism thereof.
It has been reported that it is essential that the 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives have a 3,5-diester structure in order that the 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives exhibit the above-mentioned actions.
Representative examples of such 1,4-dihydropyridine derivatives are 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-4-(2-nitrophenyl)-pyridine-3,5-dicarboxylic acid dimethyl ester (Generic name: "NIFEDIPINE" as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,644,627) and 1,4-dihydro-2,6-dimethyl-4-(3-nitrophenyl)pyridine-3,5-dicarboxylic acid-3-[2-(N-benzyl-N-methylamino)ethyl]ester-5-methyl ester hydrochloride (Generic name: "NICARDIPINE" as described in Japanese Patent Publication 55-45075).
Furthermore, as the conventional methods of producing optically active 1,4-dihydropyridine-3-carboxylate derivatives, there are known, for instance, (a) a method comprising the steps of subjecting 1,4-dihydropyridine-3-carboxylic acid derivatives to optical resolution to obtain optically active 1,4-dihydropyridine-3-carboxylic acid derivatives, (refer to T. Shibanuma et al., Chem. Pharm. Bull. 28, 2809 (1980)) to 1,4-dihydropyridine-3,5dicarboxylate derivatives and (b) a method of subjecting diastereomers of 1,4-dihydropyridine-3,5-dicarboxylate derivatives to optical resolution (refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 56-36455).
Platelet-activating factor (PAF) is produced by many types of pre-phlogocytes, platelet and liver, liberated, and exhibits not only strong platelet aggregation activity, but also biological activities in a wide range, which are induced directly or through the liberation of other strong mediators such as thromboxane A.sub.2 and leucotriene. Therefore it is considered that compounds having PAF antagonism are useful for remedies for varieties of allergic diseases, inflammatory diseases, and hyperexcretory diseases, such as asthma, arthritis, and bronchitis. Furthermore, recent studies have revealed that PAF is capable of inducing the reduction of the blood flow volume of coronary artery. Therefore it is also considered that PAF antagonists will be useful as remedies for angina pectoris.
As PAF antagonists, varieties of compounds such as PAF analogues and benzodiazepine derivatives has been reported.
However, a compound having (a) vasodilating activity based on calcium antagonism and (b) PAF antagonism have not yet been discovered.


A shredder has a first plate and a second plate. The first plate is mounted in a housing. The plates each have on one of their faces a number of teeth. The first plate and the second plate are relatively rotated for interdigitating their teeth and shredding vegetative material placed between the plates. The shredded vegetative material is delivered through holes in the first plate to a weighing device in the housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for shredding, grinding, comminuting and weighing vegetative material.
2. Description of Related Art
Herbs, tobacco and other vegetative material will often be shred or ground just before being used, in order to assure freshness of the shredded/ground material. In this specification methods and apparatus for grinding and comminuting are deemed to include methods and apparatus for shredding.
Measuring the amount of shredded/ground material is important to assure that a sufficient amount of the material is prepared. On the other hand, one ought to avoid preparing an excessive amount. While the excess might be stored for later use, this material will tend to quickly lose moisture and freshness and thus become unsatisfactory. To avoid preparing an excess, one can deliver the freshly prepared material to a scale in increments until the desired weight is achieved, but successive transfers of material to a scale is time-consuming.
While food processors, blenders and other devices can comminute vegetative material, they tend to be large and occupy significant storage space. Likewise many weighing devices exist but these can again be bulky. In addition, finding storage space for a separate grinder/shredder and weighing device can often be difficult. Moreover, often one would like to be able to easily transport these devices and use them in situations where electricity or other external power sources are unavailable.
Known weighing devices have zeroing features. For example, a container may be placed on a scale before using a zeroing or tare function. Basically, the weight of the container is eliminated and the displayed weight is compensated to indicate only the weight of the contents of the container.
See also, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,304,363; 4,111,212; 4,605,175; 4,789,106; 5,174,403; 5,329,069; 5,386,944; 5,522,556; and 7,422,170.

Shredder and shredding method for vegetative material


A network node includes control plane functionality for managing a session of a user equipment (UE) which is anchored at a User Plane Function (UPF) anchor for communicating traffic between the UE and a data network. The node operates to obtain, from an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a session context request responsive to a handover indication indicating a handover of the session from a Fifth Generation System (5GS) to an Evolved Packet System (EPS). The node identifies whether an uplink classifier (UL-CL) UPF is in use for local offloading to a local UPF anchor for delivery to a local area data network. Based on the identifying, the node obtains uplink tunnel information of the UL-CL UPF instead of the UPF anchor for establishing at least one bearer for the session and sends to the AMF a session context response including the uplink tunnel information of the UL-CL UPF.

Interworking between Fourth Generation (4G) and Fifth Generation (5G) networks will play an important role in the deployment of 5G, which will initially rely on an Evolved Packet System (EPS) to be the "anchor" or underlying system. The 5G system (5GS) and the EPS utilize different radio access technologies (RATs) and core functions. In a standalone (SA) deployment of 5G, suitable interworking with the EPS to facilitate mobility between the two different systems is essential.

Maintaining local offloading of traffic in a handover from a fifth generation system (5GS) to an evolved packet system (EPS)


Problems are resolved in a business process that includes application programs that run on an Information Technology (IT) infrastructure having IT components. A symptom is generated that identifies a problem in the business process. Selected application programs and/or IT components in the IT infrastructure that may cause the problem in the business process are identified, based on the symptom. A respective situation for a respective selected application program and/or IT component is obtained. The respective situation is one of a set of component-independent predefined situation categories that is associated with a respective selected application program and/or IT component. The respective situations provide the status of the selected application programs and/or IT components in a common situation format that includes the associated one of the component-independent predefined situation categories. The respective situations that are obtained are analyzed to identify at least one problem in the selected application programs and/or IT components that may cause the problem in the business process.

Information Technology (IT) systems, methods and computer program products, including, for example, computer networks, have grown increasingly complex with the use of distributed client/server applications, heterogeneous platforms and multiple protocols all on a single physical backbone. The control of traffic on networks is likewise moving from centralized information systems departments to distributed work groups. The growing utilization of computer networks is not only causing a move to new, high speed technologies, but is, at the same time, making the operation of computer networks more critical to day to day business operations. Furthermore, as computer systems become more distributed and, thereby, more inter-related, the number of different components of a system that may result in problems increases. For example, application integration, including integration across heterogenous systems, has increased the complexity of systems and the interdependence of systems while also increasing reliance on such systems for example, for mission critical applications.
This increase in the complexity of systems may make problem determination and/or resolution more complex. In conventional systems, components, such as applications, middleware, hardware devices and the like, generate data that represents the status of the component. This component status data will, typically, be consumed by some management function utilized to monitor the system and/or for problem analysis/resolution. The management function may, for example, be a user reading a log file or it may be a management application that is consuming the data for analysis and/or display. In conventional systems, component and component owners are responsible for determining what data is provided, in terms of format, completeness and/or order of the data as well as the meaning of the data.
Such an ad hoc approach to component status information may be convenient for the component developer, however, the complexity of the management function may be increased. For example, the management function, may need some context for a status message from the component. In particular, the management function will, typically, need to know what a data message from a component represents, the format of the data, the meaning of the data and what data is available. For example, the management function may need to know that a particular message (e.g., message "123"), from a particular component (e.g., component "ABC") has a certain number of fields (e.g., three fields) and what data is in each of the fields (e.g., a first field is a timestamp, a second field is a queue name and third field is a value for the queue name). Typically, no data other than the data provided by the component can be derived from the management system. Furthermore, this approach also assumes that the consumer of the data knows, not only the significance of the data fields, but also the format of the fields (e.g., the timestamp is in the mm/dd/yy format).
Furthermore, the cause of the problem that is reported by an error message may be reported by a component other than the component with the problem. Thus, a management function may need to know, not only the existence of the component, but the relationship between the components that are managed. Without such knowledge, the management function may not recognize that the source of the component is not the component reporting the error.
One difficulty that may arise from the use of differing component status formats is in the analysis of problems for differing components or from different versions of a component. Knowledge bases have conventionally been used to map component status data, such as error log messages, that are reported by components to symptoms and eventually to fixes for problems. For example, there are symptom databases utilized by International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, N.Y., that map Web Sphere error log messages to symptoms and fixes. These databases typically work on the assumption that if you see a specified error message (e.g., message "123") from a specified component (e.g., component "XYZ"), then a particular symptom is occurring (e.g., the performance is slow) and a predefined remedy (e.g., increase the parameter "buffsize" to 10) will likely fix the problem.
One problem with mapping error messages or combinations of error messages to symptoms and fixes is that such a mapping typically associates specific, component dependent, error messages to specific, component dependent, fixes. Thus, for example, if a new release of a product is released, the symptom database may need to be rewritten or modified to take into account all the new messages. This approach does not lend itself to creating cross-product or cross-component symptom databases as each message for each product must, typically, be known in order to create the symptom database.
The above problems may be exacerbated when attempting to resolve problems in a business process that uses application programs that run on an IT infrastructure that includes a plurality of IT components. In particular, the application programs can generally run a business application and/or process. It may be difficult to detect and resolve problems occurring in the IT infrastructure and/or the application programs that may cause the business process that is run from the application program to fail. More specifically, a business application/process administrator may not have an in-depth knowledge of the IT infrastructure components and how to detect and resolve problems therein. Moreover, changes in the IT infrastructure components and their characteristics may make even finding relevant IT infrastructure components difficult.
In one example, a business process or process step may encounter a problem. For example, an account balance may not be retrieved. Conventionally, the business application administrator may need to work with a database administrator, a network administrator, a host/operating system administrator, etc., to figure out the problem. This may make problem identification and resolution difficult, time consuming and/or costly.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Resolving problems in a business process utilizing a situational representation of component status


Method and systems are provided for reliable, convenient, self-administered, and cost-effective determination of central venous pressure. The noninvasive method and apparatus use changes in transmural pressure to create detectable changes in peripheral venous vascular volume for the determination of central venous pressure. Transmural pressure changes can be manifested by intravascular or extravascular pressure changes. The system is noninvasive and uses optical measurements of venous volume in the presence of transmural pressure changes. The relationship between the transmural pressure change and the change in vascular venous volume is combined with anatomical measurements to determine the central venous pressure of the subject. Central venous pressure can be used to determine hemodynamic status of the subject to include fluid overload in the heart failure patient.

The central venous pressure (CVP) refers to the mean vena cava or right atrial pressure, which is equivalent to right ventricular end-diastolic pressure in the absence of tricuspid stenosis. The higher the CVP, the greater the passive diastolic filling of the right ventricle. Per Starling's cardiac function curves in normal hearts, greater filling of the right ventricle leads to a larger right ventricular stroke volume on the subsequent beat. CVP is expressed in millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or centimeters of water (cm H2O) above atmospheric pressure (1.36 cm H2O=1.0 mm Hg). In most patients, the mean right atrial pressure measured by the CVP closely resembles the mean left atrial pressure (LAP). At the end of diastole, left atrial pressure is assumed to equal left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP), which in turn is assumed to reflect left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV). Thus, CVP reflects left ventricular preload, a critical parameter in optimizing cardiac function. However, in patients with obstruction, or valvular problems or pulmonary disease the right and left ventricles may function independently. In these less common cases, left ventricular preload should be estimated by measuring the pulmonary capillary 'wedge' pressure, using a pulmonary artery catheter (PAC), as this is a better guide to the venous return to the left side of the heart than CVP.
Central venous pressure (CVP) measurement is essential for monitoring hemodynamics in critically ill patients, individuals with heart failure, and patients undergoing surgery to estimate cardiac preload and circulating blood volume. The current standard technique for measurement of CVP is invasive, requiring insertion of a catheter into a subclavian or internal jugular vein, with potential complications. As CVP is the pressure at the right atrium, the system must be "zero-ed" relative to the location of the right atrium or the phlebostatic axis. This reference point is located at the intersection of the fourth intercostal space and mid-axillary line, allowing the measurement to be as close to the right atrium as possible.
CVP can be estimated by physical examination of the jugular veins of the neck. The external jugular vein runs over the sternomastoid muscle and the internal jugular vein runs deep to it. With the subject in a semi-supine position, the lower part of the external jugular vein is normally distended while the upper part is collapsed. Thus, jugular venous pressure (JVP) provides an indirect measure of central venous pressure. The internal jugular vein connects to the right atrium without any intervening valves, acting as a column for the blood in the right atrium. Unfortunately, JVP measurements are difficult and measurement prone due to variance in patient position and clinician measurement techniques. A 1996 systematic review by Cook et al concluded that agreement between doctors on the jugular venous pressure can be poor. Cook, Deborah J., and David L. Simel. "Does this patient have abnormal central venous pressure?." Jama 275.8 (1996): 630-634. When determining CVP in a heart failure patient by JVP examination, there is the mistaken belief that jugular pulsations are easier to see if the patient is in fluid overload. However, because jugular pulsations depend on right atrial and ventricular contraction, if the patient is in heart failure with a low ejection fraction, the pulsations may be difficult to perceive.
A simple, accurate, noninvasive, and self-administered determination of CVP would represent a valuable tool in the assessment of cardiac function and overall hemodynamic status to include volume status, fluid overload, and left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP). Such a self-administered test would have significant value in the ambulatory monitoring of the patent with congestive heart failure.
Heart failure occurs due to inadequate cardiac output. Management goals are thus focused on the optimization of stroke volume for the patient with limited cardiac function. Stroke volume is critically dependent on the volume of blood in the left ventricle at the end of diastole, the end diastolic volume. FIG. 1 is a graphical representation of heart performance of a patient with heart failure. The overall performance of the heart in a patient with heart failure is defined by decreased stroke volume when the end diastolic filling pressure exceeds an optimal level. Optimal performance of the heart occurs over a limited range of end diastolic pressures and is labeled "target volume" in the figure and is represented using Frank-Starling curve. Thus, fluid management in these patients is critical; too little fluid leads to decreases stroke volume while fluid overload also leads to decreased stroke volume.
Heart failure is a significant medical problem with an estimated US cost of approximately $30 billion annually with 80% of that expenditure being attributable to hospital admissions. The ability to reduce hospital admissions by improved ambulatory management has been a long-standing clinical objective. The primary cause of heart failure-related hospitalizations is fluid overload. Historical monitoring methods for fluid overload, such as shortness of breath, swelling, fatigue, and weight gain, are not sensitive enough to reflect early pathophysiologic changes that increase the risk of decompensation and subsequent admission to the hospital. Lewin J, Ledwidge M, O'Loughlin C, McNally C, McDonald K. Clinical deterioration in established heart failure: what is the value of BNP and weight gain in aiding diagnosis? Eur J Heart Fail. 2005; 7(6):953-957. Stevenson L, Perloff J K. The limited reliability of physical signs for estimating hemodynamics in chronic heart failure. JAMA. 1989; 261(6):884-888. FIG. 2 shows a typical clinical course of a heart failure patient with increasing fluid overload resulting in hospitalization. Examination of the figure shows that clinically observable signs occur late in the overall decompensation sequence. Thus, the use of clinical symptoms for the management of heart failure patients is problematic.
The difficulty of determining early hemodynamic congestion is demonstrated by the recently completed Better Effectiveness After Transition-Heart Failure (BEAT-HF) study. The study involving more than 1400 patients who were extensively monitored with existing noninvasive technology. The study investigated aggressive management of heart failure patients using a protocol that included pre-discharge heart-failure education, regularly scheduled telephone coaching, and telemonitoring. Telemonitoring included a BLUETOOTH enabled weight scale and blood-pressure/heart-rate monitor integrated with a text device that sent the information to a centralized call center for review (BLUETOOTH is a wireless technology standard used for exchanging data between fixed and mobile devices over short distances using short-wavelength UHF radio waves in the industrial, scientific and medical radio bands, from 2.400 to 2.485 GHz). If predetermined thresholds were exceeded, the patient was called and medication changed as determined by the clinical staff. Also, if significant symptoms were reported, the patient's heart-failure physician was notified and the patient was sent to the emergency department, if necessary. The conclusion from this extensive clinical study was that the intervention had no significant effect on hospital readmission rates.
Decreases in hospital admission rates have been demonstrated by using an invasive-implanted pulmonary artery pressure monitoring system. The CARDIOMEMS HF System measures and monitors the pulmonary artery (PA) pressure and heart rate in heart failure patients. The System consists of an implantable PA sensor, delivery system, and Patient Electronics System. The implantable sensor is permanently placed in the pulmonary artery, the blood vessel that moves blood from the heart to the lungs. The sensor is implanted during a right heart catheterization procedure. The Patient Electronics System includes the electronics unit and antenna. The Patient Electronics System wirelessly reads the PA pressure measurements from the sensor and then transmits the information to the doctor. After analyzing the information, the doctor may make medication changes to help treat the patient's heart failure. In a clinical study in which 550 participants had the device implanted, there was a clinically and statistically significant reduction in heart failure-related hospitalizations for the participants whose doctors had access to PA pressure data. The system costs approximately $2,000 to implant and has a list price of $18,000.
An accurate, self-administered, and noninvasive measurement of CVP would be a significant medical advancement as it would provide information of comparable value to the expensive, invasive CARDIOMEMS system. Specifically, CVP is a measure of right atrial pressure and closely resembles the mean left atrial pressure (LAP). At end diastole left atrial pressure is assumed to equal left ventricular end diastolic pressure (LVEDP), which in turn is assumed to reflect left ventricular end diastolic volume (LVEDV). Thus, CVP is directly related to left ventricular preload, a key parameter in optimizing cardiac output in the heart failure patient.

Methods and apparatuses for central venous pressure measurement status


[Object of the Invention] An object of the present invention is to provide a reciprocation compressor comprising an extraction passage connecting a crank chamber with an inlet chamber, an aperture disposed in the extraction passage and a filter capturing foreign matters flowing from the crank chamber to the inlet chamber, wherein the foreign matters captured by the filter is restrained from returning to the crank chamber even if reverse flow of refrigerant from the inlet chamber to the crank chamber is generated, and the filter does not restrict design specifications of other members of the compressor.

Patent Document 1 teaches a reciprocation compressor comprising a cylinder block provided with a plurality of cylinder bores, a plurality of pistons each disposed in one of the cylinder bores, a front housing closing one end of the cylinder block to cooperate with the cylinder block, thereby forming a crank chamber, a valve plate closing the other end of the cylinder block, a cylinder head opposing the cylinder block with the valve plate inserted between them to form in it an annular outlet chamber, an inlet chamber disposed radially inside the outlet chamber, an inlet passage connecting an inlet port with the inlet chamber and an outlet passage connecting an outlet port with the outlet chamber, a driving shaft disposed in a housing formed by the front housing, the cylinder block and the cylinder head and rotatably supported by the housing, a converter for converting rotational movement of the driving shaft to reciprocal movement of the pistons, an extraction passage between the crank chamber and the inlet chamber, and an aperture disposed in the extraction passage, wherein refrigerant gas is sucked into the cylinder bores from the inlet chamber, compressed in the cylinder bores, and discharged into the outlet chamber from the cylinder bores, and wherein a filter is located upstream of the aperture in relation to the flow of the refrigerant gas in the extraction passage directed to the inlet chamber from the crank chamber. In the reciprocation compressor of the Patent Document 1, foreign matters flowing from the crank chamber to the inlet chamber is captured by the filter.

Abstract: [Disclosure of the Invention] A reciprocation compressor comprises an extraction passage connecting a crank chamber with an inlet chamber, an aperture disposed in the extraction passage and a filter capturing foreign matters flowing from the crank chamber to the inlet chamber, and the filter is located downstream of the aperture in relation to the flow of the refrigerant in the extraction passage from the crank chamber to the inlet chamber, and the filter is disposed in the inlet chamber.


In one embodiment, a method includes: querying a database for data related to a video content item currently being displayed on a display device, the video content item comprising at least one of video scene; receiving the data upon identifying the video content item in the database, the data comprising metadata relevant to one or more promoted objects appearing in the at least one of video scene; and displaying, on the display device, a graphical timeline of the video content item generated using the metadata, wherein the graphical timeline comprises an interactive visual indication and an interactive thumbnail for each of the one or more promoted objects appearing in the at least one of video scene, the interactive visual indication identifying a particular promoted object from the one or more promoted objects and the interactive thumbnail identifying a video scene of the video content item in which the particular promoted object appears.

Social television creates a need and opportunity for interaction between the sender and content consumers. This involves new services, applications and changes in content production. The use of a second screen provides a parallel path, whereby the user can become an active agent in the broadcast content or another activity, rather than interrupt playback. Nowadays, the use of a second screen application to enhance the television (TV) viewing experience has become a current practice.
The second screen refers to the use of a computing device (commonly a mobile device, such as a tablet or smartphone) for which applications are designed to give another form of interactivity to the user and another way to sell advertising content. Some examples of such applications include: TV programs broadcast live tweets and comments; synchronization of audiovisual content; additional content information; games; TV program recommendations; electronic program guide; remote controlling; music identification; etc.


A method of thermally joining plastic eavestrough allows plastic eavestrough systems to be considered in more applications including traditional aluminum eavestrough systems where long lengths of continuous eavestroughs are desired. The method allows end to end joining of plastic eavestrough with a thermal joint therebetween or an angled connection with a thermal joint therebetween. This allows plastic eavestrough systems to be customized on site for improved performance and appearance. Thermally joined plastic eavestrough sections either aligned in an end to end or angled connection are possible.

Roll formed aluminum seamless eavestrough systems are well known and commonly used for commercial and domestic building applications. The seamless aluminum eavestrough can be produced in any desired length to fit a particular application. This continuous length of eavestrough will not leak intermediate its length and any leaks in the system are at corner connectors and downspout connectors.
Extruded plastic eavestrough can also be manufactured in long lengths, however, for shipping to retail outlets, storage at retail outlets as well as transport by the end consumer, the eavestroughs are normally sold in short lengths of ten to twelve feet. For many applications, a joiner connector will be required to join two lengths of eavestroughs for longer runs. Any eavestrough connector has the potential to leak and also produces a visual interruption in the length of the eavstrough. One solution for plastic eavestroughs is to merely sell longer lengths and thereby reduce the number of connectors, however, this solution is often not practical. Attempts have been made to thermally form on a job site a flat plastic strip material into a continuous length of plastic eavestrough much in the manner of roll formed aluminum eavestrough. These attempts have not been successful.
Plastic eavestrough has excellent durability, resiliency, and high quality surface finish and would be an alternative to aluminum eavestrough if longer continuous lengths were available. For new construction, vinyl or plastic siding is often used and these installers could easily install plastic eavestrough if the joiner problem could be resolved. In some circumstances, plastic eavestrough would be preferred.
The present invention provides an apparatus as well as a method for thermally joining or welding two lengths of eavestrough to form a continuous length without a separate connector. The opposed ends of the eavestrough are heated to soften the plastic material and the heated ends are brought together under pressure to join the two sections. The softened plastic at the ends of the respective eavestrough sections adhere or co-mingle resulting in a strong connection. This method can be used to join eavestroughs in a straight end to end manner to form a continuous length of eavestrough or the method can be used to join eavestrough sections at a particular desired angle. This provides a further advantage of the invention in that plastic eavestroughs can be thermally joined at different angles one to the other thereby further reducing the probability of leakage at a corner.
The present invention is also directed to an apparatus which is easily used on a construction site to thermal join or weld eavestrough sections.


A method and a telecommunications system for interchanging messages and information during a telephone conference, with the telephone conference taking place via a telephone network and the telephone conference being assigned a code which can be predetermined, and from which a password is derived which allows the subscribers to the telephone conference access to a communication platform which is based on a data network, for the purpose of interchanging data during the telephone conference.

The present invention relates to a method for interchanging messages and information during a telephone conference in a telecommunications system using a telephone network via which the telephone conference takes place.
The present invention further relates to a telecommunications system, which is set up for interchanging messages and information during a telephone conference, using a telephone network.
Telephone conference circuits represent a frequently offered service feature from network operators and form an important component of modern business life, particularly when the geographical distance between the call partners make a personal meeting difficult or impossible.
One implementation option for a telephone conference circuit is described, for example, in IBM "Technical Disclosure Bulletin 77C 01761".
As is known, it is impossible during telephone conferences for the subscribers to interchange additional message or information material; for example, pictures or videos.
Although voice and picture data can be transmitted during video conferences, all the subscribers need to have special telecommunications devices which are set up for a video conference. However, the procurement of such telecommunications devices is associated with very high costs. Furthermore, the known video conference systems do not yet have the same characteristics as a telephone conference circuit in terms of transmission quality and connection stability.
A method for transmitting pictures via fax during a telephone conference has been known from IBM "Technical Disclosure Bulletin 95A 61562". However, this method has the major disadvantage that it is impossible to interchange video data, and the subscribers cannot "chat" to one another.
With regard to the expressions "chatting" and "chatrooms", reference should be made, for example, to U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,761, in which a "chatroom system" in a computer network is described. In this context, U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,830 has also become known which describes a method for connection to program-specific "chatrooms".
An object of the present invention is, thus, to provide a simple and cost-effective way to allow additional messages and information material to be interchanged between subscribers to a telephone conference in a simple manner during that telephone conference.

Method for interchanging messages and information during a telephone conference

Siemens Enterprise Communications GmbH & Co., KG


A solid weight load testing system is disclosed for testing the load capacity of a crane. The apparatus includes a holder that includes a platform and a post, the post having upper and lower end portions and being structurally connective at its lower end portion to the platform. A plurality of weights are selectively placed upon the holder by a user in order to arrive at a selected capacity. Each weight has a central opening that is sized and shaped to fit the post as the weight is lowered to the platform. A pair of lifting eyes are provided on each plate, the lifting eyes being mounted to the periphery of a weight on a line that intersects the center of the weight opening. An attachment portion on the top of the post enables a connection to be perfected between the holder and a crane to be load tested. A crane lift line is rigged to the attachment portion after a selected plurality of weights have been added to the holder. The lifting eyes are peripherally positioned on the weight and extend generally away from the periphery of each weight so that the lifting eyes do not interfere with stacking of multiple of the weights.

Not applicable
Not applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the testing of the load capacity of a crane. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved solid weight load testing system for satisfying the load testing requirements of cranes, providing a system that is unique and specifically designed to provide a variety of weights with minimal handling and down time for equipment being tested.
2. General Background of the Invention
The load testing requirements of cranes require the utilization of a plurality of weights, the most common type and use being water weight. Water bags require special storeage arrangements. Additional items such as dynamometer, pumps, hoses, stoppers, patch material, etc. must be maintained on hand in order to service these water bags during crane testing. Water weights in certain working environments can eventually deteriorate and require complete replacement.
The dynamometers that are used with water weights require a certification about every six months, which is costly to maintain, especially in an offshore marine environment.
A solid weight load testing system for testing the load capacity of a crane includes a holder that has a platform and a post, the post having upper and lower end portions and being structurally connected at its lower end portion of the platform.
A plurality of weights are provided that can be selectively placed and stacked upon the holder. Each weight provides a central opening that is sized and shaped to fit the post as the weight is lowered upon the post to the platform.
A pair of spaced apart lifting eyes are provided on each plate, the lifting eyes being mounted on the periphery of a weight and can be positioned along a line that intersects the center of the weight opening.
An attachment portion is provided on the top of the post for enabling a connection to be perfected between the holder and a crane to be tested.
A crane having a lift line can be rigged to the attachment portion after a selected plurality of weights have been added to the holder.
The lifting eyes are peripherally positioned on the weights and extend generally away from the periphery of the weights. In this manner, the lifting eyes do not interfere with stacking of multiple of the weights upon the holder.
The weights and their lifting eyes are so positioned that some of the weights can be stacked upon other of the weights wherein the lifting eyes of some weights are oriented about 90 degrees apart with reference to the central longitudinal axis of the post.


A method of diagnosing an exhaust gas recirculation control system of an engine as to occurrence of a fault in the system. The state of a pressure sensor incorporated in the exhaust gas recirculation system for controlling the recirculation is checked with the aid of various parameters involved in operation of the engine. When the pressure sensor is found as suffering from abnormality such as freezing and inoperative, execution of the diagnosis or result obtained after execution of the diagnosis is invalidated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method of diagnosing an exhaust gas recirculation control system of an internal combustion engine primarily for a motor vehicle. More particularly, the invention is concerned with an exhaust gas recirculation control system diagnosis method capable of positively avoiding erroneous decision in the diagnosis upon occurrence of abnormality such as freezing of moisture in a pressure sensor means employed in the exhaust gas recirculation control system. The invention is also concerned with an apparatus for carrying out the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the internal combustion engine (hereinafter also referred to simply as the engine) for a motor vehicle, there is generally adopted an exhaust gas recirculation control system which includes an exhaust gas recirculation passage extending from an exhaust gas passage to an intake air passage for recirculating a part of the exhaust gas discharged from the engine to the intake air passage so that a maximum combustion temperature of a fuel is suppressed to such extent that NO.sub.x produced by the combustion and contained in the engine exhaust gas can be reduced. In that case, recirculation of the exhaust gas to the intake system is not constantly effected but the timing for effecting the exhaust gas recirculation as well as the amount of recirculation is controlled in dependence on the running or operation states of the engine by controlling correspondingly the actuation of an exhaust gas recirculation control valve installed in the exhaust gas recirculation passage. By way of example, in a low load range of the engine where combustion of the fuel is rather at a low level and generation of NO.sub.x is relatively insignificant, recirculation of the exhaust gas is interrupted. Further, it is generally practiced to control or limit the amount of recirculation of the exhaust gas so that content of the exhaust gas contained in the intake air remains substantially constant at a predetermined ratio.
In such exhaust gas recirculation control system, erroneous operation or occurrence of a fault in the exhaust gas recirculation control valve, a modulator for controlling the valve and other components of the system will provide obstacle to effectuation of the exhaust gas recirculation as desired. For coping with this inconvenience, there has been proposed an approach for diagnosing the exhaust gas recirculation control valve as to occurrence of some fault by detecting directly the actuated position of the recirculation control valve. This approach is however disadvantageous in that the exhaust gas recirculation control system is complicate in the structure and expensive, because there is required not only provision of a specific detector for detecting the actuated position of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve but also a processing apparatus for processing the information available from the output of the detector.
As a method of diagnosing the exhaust gas recirculation control system which can evade the aforementioned inconveniences, there may be mentioned a diagnosis method or system disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11127/1988 (JP-A- 63-11127), according to which an exhaust gas recirculation control valve installed in an exhaust gas recirculation passage extending from an exhaust gas passage to an intake passage is temporarily manipulated (i.e., opened or closed) during recirculation of the exhaust gas to the intake passage on the condition that the engine load is stable, and a change in the suction pressure brought about by the manipulation of the control valve is detected, whereon decision is made as to whether the change in the suction pressure lies within a predetermined range. On the basis of the result of this decision, it is then determined if a fault occurs in the exhaust gas recirculation system.
The principle underlying this diagnosis method is based on the fact that actuation of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve is accompanied with a corresponding change in the suction pressure. Starting from this fact, it is contemplated to detect a fault occurring in the exhaust gas recirculation control valve and associated devices by checking the change of the suction pressure which is detected when a negative pressure playing a role in the actuation of the exhaust gas recirculation control valve is varied. To this end, it is necessary to apply directly the pressure prevailing within the exhaust gas passage or alternatively the suction pressure to the pressure sensor by providing a pressure introducing pipe. In this conjunction, it is however noted that moisture contained in the exhaust gas tends to be condensed as dew on the inner wall of the pressure introducing pipe or on the pressure sensor itself when the temperature of the exhaust gas is low. As a consequence, when the ambient temperature is below the freezing point, the condensate dew is frozen to decrease the flow section area of the pressure passage or the pressure sensor itself is frozen. In such situation, the change in the pressure of concern can no more be detected with any reliability. It goes without saying that diagnosis of the exhaust gas recirculation system in the state mentioned above will result in that the system suffers abnormality even when it operates normally, which leads to unnecessary generation of an abnormality alarm to the discomfort of the driver and/or wasteful exchange of components of the exhaust gas recirculation control system which suffer no fault.
As will be appreciated from the above description, in the known fault diagnosis method for the exhaust gas recirculation control system, no consideration is paid to dew condensation and freezing of moisture contained in the exhaust gas in the pressure introducing passage or on the pressure sensor itself. Thus, the known diagnosis method suffers a problem that the exhaust gas recirculation system which is operating normally may erroneously be decided to be abnormal due to inoperativeness of the pressure sensor.

Method of diagnosing exhaust gas recirculation control system of internal combustion engine and apparatus for carrying out the same


A mask blank having a resist layer, which enables charge-up to be suppressed during electron beam irradiation. The mask blank having a resist layer includes a substrate having a thin film, a resist layer formed on a surface of the thin film, and a conductive layer formed on the resist layer. The conductive layer includes a first metal layer containing aluminum as a main component thereof and a second metal layer made of a metal other than aluminum. The first metal layer is formed on the resist layer side of the second metal layer.

A photomask processing step is performed by the following method. A resist layer is formed on a photomask blank in which an optical film (hereinafter also called "thin film") including a light shielding layer and a phase shift film is formed on a substrate, and a resist pattern is formed on the resist layer by irradiating the resist layer with electron beams. Further, the resist pattern is transferred to the above-mentioned light shielding layer and phase shift film by subjecting the shielding layer and the phase shift film to etching.
The resist pattern, which is formed by electron beam irradiation during the processing step, is required to be formed at an extremely accurate position. However, a generally used resist layer is an insulator, and hence accumulation of charges (charge-up) may occur in the resist layer. Then, the charge-up causes distortion of the electron beam radiated to the surface of the photomask blank. The distortion of the electron beam results in slight shift of a position of the resist pattern formed on the photomask, and hence the distortion becomes a cause of reduction in positional accuracy of the resist pattern.
In order to avoid this problem, there has been known a technology of forming an organic conductive layer on the surface of the resist layer (for example, see Patent Document 1). When a water-soluble material is selected for the organic conductive layer, the configuration in which the organic conductive layer is formed on the resist layer has an advantage in that the organic conductive layer can be removed by a developer.
Further, there has been proposed a technology of forming an aluminum film or a metal conductive film on the surface of the resist layer formed on a wafer substrate (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Mask blank having a resist layer, method for manufacturing mask blank having resist layer, and method for manufacturing transfer mask


A ground truth expansion system that generates an expanded set of synthetic questions and selects a targeted subset of questions for machine learning training. The machine learning may be used to train an automated inquiry system that responds to questions received from individuals about subject matter of interest. The automated inquiry system is particularly suitable for use in, for example, responding to questions raised by insured individuals about their healthcare benefits.

As computing systems have increased in complexity, businesses have increasingly turned to artificial intelligence (AI) systems to provide services to employees and consumers. With proper training, AI systems can automate many of the tasks that were previously performed by teams of experts and perform these tasks at levels of sophistication, and with the benefit of insights, unattainable by humans. Key to the success of an AI system, however, is the ability of the system to find meaningfully complex patterns, which humans cannot identify, in a stream of input data. To identify patterns, an AI system is typically trained with a known dataset that exhibits the desired characteristics of the patterns to be detected. When building a dataset for training, the AI system designer must consider a number of incompatible design parameters. If the training dataset is too repetitive, the AI system can be too narrowly trained and may miss the detection of patterns that stray too far from those in the training dataset. If the training dataset is too small or focused, however, the AI system may do a poor job of detecting desired patterns and not reach a desired accuracy of detection. Constructing the right dataset for training can therefore involve a significant amount of trial-and-error by the AI system designer. Constructing training sets using trial-and-error is time consuming, costly, and ultimately frustrating to system designers. As such, a better method of generating training datasets of desired scope would therefore be beneficial to improving the functionality of AI systems.


A method of generating a multi-subcarrier optical signal is disclosed. A local oscillator oscillates one or more data signals to generate one or more oscillating data signals. A series of modulators phase modulate a lightwave to generate a phase modulated lightwave, wherein the series of modulators are driven by the one or more oscillating data signals. The intensity modulator modulates the phase modulated lightwave, the intensity modulator being driven by one of the oscillating data signals, to generate the multi-subcarrier optical signal.

Recently, techniques for optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing ("O-OFDM") signals have been demonstrated to extend the total capacity of transmission and to increase spectral efficiency for optical communications systems. For example, as described by J. Yu, "1.2 Tbit/s orthogonal PDM-RZ-QPSK DWDM signal transmission over 1040 km SMF-28", in Electron. Lett., Vol. 46, No. 11, 2010: 775-777, a highest bit rate per channel of 5.4 Tb/s OFDM PM-QPSK and 10.8 Tb/s OFDM PM-16QAM optical signal generation has been demonstrated by comb generation and a supercontinuum technique. However, due to the limited optical signal to noise ratio ("OSNR") of an OFDM signal generated by the supercontinuum technique, signal transmission distance may be limited, making this technique somewhat impractical for long distance transmission.
As described by R. Dischler, and F. Buchali, "Transmission of 1.2 Tb/s continuous waveband PDM-OFDM-FDM signal with spectral efficiency of 3.3 bit/S/Hz over 400 km of SSMF", in Proc. OFC, paper PDPC2 (2009); J. Yu, X. Zhou, M.-F. Huang, D. Qian, P. N. Ji, T. Wang, and P. Magill, "400 Gb/s (4×100 Gb/s) orthogonal PDM-RZ-QPSK DWDM Signal Transmission over 1040 km SMF-28" n Optics Express, 17, 17928-17933 (2009); and J. Yu, "1.2 Tbit/s orthogonal PDM-RZ-QPSK DWDM signal transmission over 1040 km SMF-28", in Electron. Lett., Vol. 46, No. 11, 2010: 775-777, the technique of applying a phase modulator in series with an intensity modulator can be used to generate 400 Gb/s and 1.2 Tb/s optical signals. Due to the limited amplitude of the RF signals on the phase modulator, only 12 subcarriers covering approximately 300 GHz bandwidth with flat spectrum subcarriers can be generated, as described in J. Yu, "1.2 Tbit/s orthogonal PDM-RZ-QPSK DWDM signal transmission over 1040 km SMF-28", in Electron. Lett., Vol. 46, No. 11, 2010: 775-777. To increase the bit rate for a single channel, more subcarriers need to be generated. Accordingly, an improved method and system for generating more subcarriers is desired.

Methods and systems for coherent multi-subcarrier source generation


A fishing hook retaining apparatus and method, utilizing a retaining apparatus secured to a shaft of a fishing pole. In one embodiment, the apparatus is a sleeve having a magnet in an interior portion thereof, and a channel extending part of the way through an upper portion thereof. A hook is retained therein by the passage of a portion thereof through the channel, and the contacting of the hook with the magnet. The apparatus may be secured to the shaft, in one embodiment, with an O-ring that is looped over two opposing securing members, and about the shaft of the pole. In another embodiment, the apparatus comprises two upwardly angled opposing sides, with a bar interposed therebetween. In a third embodiment, the apparatus comprises a base having retention ends which couple the apparatus to the shaft of the pole. In yet another embodiment, the apparatus is integral with the shaft of the pole.

A common problem encountered by fishermen of all skill levels relates to the storage of hooks. There is a need for a convenient means for storing hooks that are not being used, whether on a long-term basis between fishing outings, or during a particular fishing outing when a different hook is being utilized or during a break in fishing. Storage, to be effective and safe, should secure the hook in a place where neither its barb nor point is at significant risk of coming into contact with the hand or other body portion of the fisherman or bystander.
In the area of fly fishing, the problem is made more complicated by the fact that care needs to be taken to not damage a fly during the storage of a hook that is still coupled to a fly. Flies can be delicate and expensive, and the mishandling of a fly can harm it and reduce its effectiveness.
There is a need therefore for a fishing hook retaining apparatus and method that facilitates the storage of a hook when not in use, in a manner that is protective of the fly. The present invention satisfies these needs and provides other, related, advantages.

Fishing hook retaining apparatus and method


A bumper panel for preventing opening car doors from being damaged from hitting other objects has a design that can be interchanged. The bumper panel may have a design cover that slips over the rigid panel portion having resilient material layer over a rigid panel. The design cover may have an open end to enable the cover to slip over the rigid panel portion and may have mount apertures that align with mount fixtures when configured over the rigid panel. A design cover may be reversible and may have different designs on the inside various sides and surfaces of the design cover. As many as four designs may be displayed depending on the orientation and configuration of the design cover over the rigid panel. A bumper panel may be suspended from mount fixtures or retained along a wall or other object by mount brackets.

Bumper panels are used to prevent damage from opening car doors. The opening car door can be damaged as well as the object hit by the opening car door, such as another car. Many people mount bumper panels in the garage, such as along the sides of the garage to prevent such damage. In addition, a bumper panel may be configured between cars parked in a garage to prevent damage, such as by being suspended or supported on a stand or support. Prior bumper panels are usually a solid color and are not very attractive.


A fluidized patient support apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus utilizes granular material beneath a patient support surface which when fluidized by pressurized gas uniformly distributes the pressure imparted to the body of a patient lying thereon. The apparatus includes means for recirculating the fluidizing gas in order to avoid raising the ambient temperature of a room in which the bed is situated with exhaust gas. Also provided are a pair of inflatable bladders and selective fluidization means to assist in turning and transferring the patient.

Burn Patients, and other Patients subject to extensive recuperative periods, must remain in bed for extended periods of time. When such patients lie supinely on a conventional mattress, most of the load is born by protuberances of the posterior surface of the body such as the heels, the buttocks, the scapulae, and the occipital region of the head. The relatively small areas of soft tissue at these points are then subjected to high pressures by being compressed between the skeleton and the supporting surface. When this pressure becomes great enough to cause collapse of small capillaries and veins, pressure sores or decubitus ulcers may result. Burn patients also have problems with rubbing against the surface of an immobile conventional mattress surface which can result in the extraction of a skin graft. In order to overcome these problems, hospital beds have been developed which use fluidized granular material (preferably spherical beads) as a supporting medium in order to uniformly distribute the supporting pressure points along the body surface, thus reducing the pressure at the aforementioned critical areas.
Fluidized bead beds comprise a tank partially filled with a mass of some granular material, the granular material resting on top of a diffuser board. A flexible, loose fitting sheet, which is permeable to air but not the granular material, is laid on top of the granular material to form the patient support surface. A gas, commonly air, is blown through the diffuser board into the granular material fluidizing the material so that a patient laying on top of the covering sheet is buoyantly susPended upon the bed. In this way, the forces imparted to the body are evenly distributed over the body and the chance of decubitus ulcers occurring is greatly lowered. Burn patients lie more comfortably, and the fluidized support medium moves with the body which reduces the likelihood of skin graft extraction. Also, this structure allows body fluids exuded from wounds to flow through the covering and into the granular material away from the patient, quickening the healing process. When the granular material is not being fluidized, the material settles down into a solid structure and contours to the body.
Although fluidized bead beds are quite satisfactory in accomplishing the objectives enumerated above, they are not without some disadvantages. When bead beds are operated for an extended period of time, heating of the room air becomes a problem. This is because the air used to fluidize the beads must be pressurized by a compressor or other type of blower. The air is necessarily heated as the compressor does work on it, and when the air is exhausted through the cover sheet, the ambient temperature of the room is raised. Another disadvantage comes about when it is desired to transfer a transfer the patient off of the bed because the level of the granular material supporting the patient is below the rim of the tank. The situation is worsened if the bed is fluidized since the patient sinks even further down. Another difficult arises when it is desired to roll the patient on his side in order to perform various clinical procedures. The location of the surface within the tank structure below the level of the rim makes it difficult for hospital personnel to manually roll the patient over onto his side. The procedure is rendered even more difficult in the case of burn patients who are sensitive to manual manipulation.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fluidized bead bed capable of operating without exhausting heated air into the room.
It is a further object to provide a fluidized bead bed with a means for positioning a patient on his side with no need for manual manipulation of the patient by hospital personnel.
It is a still further object to provide a fluidized bead bed with a means for facilitating the transfer of the patient off of the bed.


A film drive mechanism for positioning film relative to the optical stage of a commercial printer. The mechanism includes a film drive assembly and a mount base assembly. The film drive assembly includes an elongated frame member, a feed spool mounted on one end of the frame member, a takeup spool mounted on the other end of the frame member, and guide means for moving the film between the spools along a longitudinal feed path. The film drive assembly is mounted for lateral movement on the mount base assembly. The film drive assembly is adjusted on the mount base assembly for a particular width of film by a selector knob positioned on a selector shaft carried by the film drive unit and including a plurality of tabs selectively coacting with a detent in a guide shaft carried by the mount base. Fine adjustment of the film drive assembly relative to the mount base assembly to accommodate the cropping requirements of each frame of the film is accomplished by a driven pulley carried by the film drive assembly and threadably engaging the selector shaft with the selector shaft restrained against rotation so that rotation of the pulley moves the film drive assembly along the axis of the selector shaft.

This invention relates to film drive assemblies for photographic printers and, more particularly, to methods for attachment of film drive assemblies to photographic printers.
Commercial photographic processing laboratory require the capability of making vast numbers of photographic prints from equally large numbers of photographic negatives. The photographic negatives are typically handled in long roll form, and are processed in photographic printers by mounting the long roll of negative film on mechanized film drives. The photographic printers may operate in both automated and semi-automated environments.
Most film drives for use with these photographic printers are either electrically or pneumatically powered. A continuous roll of exposed and developed photographic film is mounted on the feed spool of the film drive and routed across the optical stage of the photographic printer. Individual negative frames are sequentially positioned at the optical stage of the photographic printer by operation of the drive components of the film drive so that one or more photographic prints can be made from each frame, under either operator or machine control. Finally, the film is collected on a film takeup spool of the film drive.
Because photographic film is manufactured in a variety of different widths, a film drive needs to be capable of variably positioning the film in relation to the photographic printer so that the longitudinal center line of the various widths of photographic film can be positioned to correspond with the optical center of the photographic printer. And because each frame of a roll of photographic film requires individual cropping, a film drive further must be capable of variably positioning each frame of a roll of film of a given width.
A number of devices have been developed and utilized, with limited success, to provide the capacity for variably positioning the film in relation to the printer. In U.S. patent application Ser No. 359,852, filed May 31, 1989, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,292 issued Mar. 17, 1992 an apparatus is disclosed consisting essentially of two nested brackets, one affixed to the printer work surface and the second slidably affixed to the first. An alternative type currently used in printers manufactured by Lucht Engineering of Minneapolis, Minn., permits the entire drive assembly to slide longitudinally across a limited portion of the printer work station top surface. Both of these devices utilize electronic position sensing switches to relocate the film center line. This arrangement has not been entirely satisfactory since it requires sophisticated Hall effect magnetic sensor technology to function with a degree of reliability necessary in a commercial setting. Additionally, removal of the drive mechanism is frequently time consuming and labor intensive. The present invention addresses these problems.


In an automatic press for continuously carrying out a plurality of processes simultaneously, while reducing press load to be applied is necessary to avoid the problem of defective products or damage to dies due to overload in automatic load control device for use in an automatic press of the noted type is proposed, in which the presence of material to be press-worked in each die is detected to appropriately establish an optimum press load value.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an automatic forging press and, more particularly, to a press for continuously carrying out a plurality of forging processes at a time.
2. Prior art
A generally known automatic forging press comprises a forging device in which a plurality of upper dies are mounted in a row on the bottom side of a slide hanging from an eccentric through a connecting rod so as to freely move up and down, while corresponding lower dies are mounted in a row on the upper side of a bed facing the upper dies, and a transfer device in which materials to be worked are supplied and fed to each die for each step sequentially in order. Finally, press-worked products are taken out from the forging press.
In the press of the above type, a large amount of deformation as well as complicated and accurate configuration never attained by a single forging press can be achieved, because heated materials to be press-worked are supplied from one side, the materials being subject to several processes of plastic deformations by application of pressure, and finally press-worked products are taken out from the other side.
When forging is repeatedly carried out for a long period of time, forging conditions may vary with the lapse of time, and therefore various attempts have been proposed to correct the varied forging conditions thereby securing uniform quality of products at all times.
Prior art disclosed from the foregoing viewpoint can be classified as follows:
1. Art for maintaining a load, applied by dies, constant:
For example, the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (unexamined) No. 61-259900 discloses control of the pressing force applied to materials to be press-worked by arranging an elastic block on the upper side of the upper dies. Other Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications (unexamined) Nos. 60-102300, 60-12300 also disclose similar presses.
2. Art for maintaining dead point center constant:
For example, the Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication (unexamined) No.60-157097 discloses a press in which the temperature of the die sets 15a, 16a is detected, thereby actuating the slide control motor 43 with the programable controller 44, as shown in FIG. 4 thereof. Other Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications (unexamined) Nos. 61-169199, 61-169200 and 60-141399 also disclose similar presses.
3. Art for freely performing vertical slide control:
For example, the Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication (examined) discloses a press in which the wrist pin 5b is eccentrically and rotatably mounted on the top end of the connecting rod 3b, and one end of the lever 6b is connected to the wrist pin, while the other end thereof is provided with the adjusting screw 45.
The foregoing prior forging press control means with their respective features are advantageous to overcome the problems pointed out therein.
However, there still remains a problem not solved by the foregoing prior art presses particularly in the automatic press for continuously carrying out a plurality of processes at a time.
In the automatic press of this type, a required press load is separately determined depending on how many dies of all the dies are fed with materials to be press-worked at a certain point of time. For example, a required load when all of the plural dies is fed with the material mounts to five times as large as a required load when only one die is fed with the material.
Usually, automatic forging presses are operated to carry out continous forging press working by establishing their required load on the assumption that each of the plural dies are fully supplied with one material to be press-worked.
Because it is impossible to feed every die for every process with material, intermediate product or finally press-worked product (hereinafter collectively referred to as "workpiece") so long as the time of starting operation and the time of terminating thereof are concerned, a problem exists in that a smaller number of workpieces at those times of starting and/or terminating operation cannot avoid suffering from an excessive load, which results in defective products having such a defect as reduction in thickness or the like. The same kind of problem will arise also during operation caused by overheating of the workpiece itself which brings about failure of the feeding device resulting in interruption of continuous feeding with workpieces.

Load control device for use in automatic forging press