Stereotactic radiosurgery is facilitated by a technique for computing the doses at various points within the patient's body. In particular, the doses are computed at a relatively high density of points within a fine dose grid and at a relatively low density of points within a coarse dose grid. In that fashion, the user can quickly obtain necessary information about the radiation dose distribution before implementation of a proposed treatment plan. An advantageous technique of locating the intersection between the radiation beam and the contour or other surface of the patient is also provided. The method is especially well suited for use with a particular structure which allows one to utilize relatively narrow beam widths as a result of great mechanical accuracy.

This invention relates generally to dosimetry for a radiosurgery system employing multiple beams of radiation focused onto a stereotactically localized target, and more particularly to a dosimetry technique which quickly provides useful data for planning patient treatment.
In 1951, Dr. Lars Leksell coined the term "radiosurgery", to describe the concept of focusing multiple beams of external radiation on a stereotactically localized intracranial target. After experimentation with standard X-ray treatment devices, proton beam, and linear accelerators, he and his collaborators developed a device which is called the GAMMA KNIFE (currently marketed by the Electra Corporation, Stockholm, Sweden). The device consists of a hemispheric array, currently containing 201 Cobalt-60 sources. The radiation from each of these sources is collimated and mechanically fixed, with great accuracy, on a focal point at the center of the hemisphere. When a patient has a suitable lesion for treatment (usually an intracranial arteriovenous malformation), it may be precisely localized with another device called a stereotactic frame. Using the stereotactic apparatus, the intracranial target is positioned at the focal point of the GAMMA KNIFE. Since each of the 201 radiation pathways is through a different area of the brain, the amount of radiation to normal brain tissue is minimal. At the focal point, however, a very sizable dose is delivered which can, in certain cases, lead to obliteration of the lesion. This radiosurgical treatment is, in some instances, a much safer treatment option than conventional surgical methods.
Several GAMMA KNIFE devices are currently being used worldwide for stereotactic radiosurgery and have been used to treat approximately 1500 patients. The results of treatment, as well as many technical issues, have been discussed in multiple publications. Several factors, however, have impeded the widespread usage of this device. First, the device costs about $2.2 Million Dollars, U.S. Second, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ruled that this device cannot be shipped loaded in the U.S.A. Consequently, loading must be done on site, necessitating the construction of a portable hot cell. Third, the half life of Cobalt-60 is 5.2 years, which requires reloading the machine, at great expense, every 5-10 years. Fourth, the dosimetry system currently marketed with the device is relatively crude, especially when utilized with more modern imaging modalities such as CT scan and MRI scan.
An alternative method for radiosurgery involves irradiation of intracranial targets with particle beams (i.e., proton or helium). In this instance, one does not rely solely on multiple cross-fired beams of radiation. A physical property of particle beams, called the "Bragg-peak effect", allows one to deliver the majority of the energy of a small number of beams (approximately 12) to a precisely predetermined depth. Multiple publications regarding particle irradiation of intracranial lesions (especially pituitary tumors and arteriovenous malformations) have appeared in the literature. The results have not generally been as good as those obtained with the GAMMA KNIFE. This may, however, be solely a consequence of patient selection criteria. Particle beam devices require the availability of a cyclotron. Only a few such high energy physics research facilities exist in the world.
A third current radiosurgical method uses a linear accelerator (LINAC) as the radiation source. As mentioned above, Leksell rejected the LINAC as mechanically inaccurate. More recently, groups from Europe have reported their methods for radiosurgery with LINAC devices. In the United States, researchers at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston have developed a prototype LINAC system using highly sophisticated computer techniques to optimize dosimetry. Thus far, approximately 12 patients have been treated with good results. This LINAC system, however, suffers from certain mechanical inaccuracies which have limited its use. In addition, the computer dosimetry system employed is very time consuming, rendering the treatment program inefficient.
Currently, there is great interest in radiosurgery. Although the GAMMA KNIFE represents the "gold standard", its great expense and requirement for frequent replenishment of radiation sources have discouraged most potential users. The proton beam devices are never likely to be widely available because of the requirement for high-energy particle beam source (cyclotron). The linear accelerator offers an attractive alternative to such devices. However, a major disadvantage of known linear accelerator based systems is the need for time consuming (e.g., several hours) computer calculations for determining the radiation distributions.
Before subjecting a patient to stereotactic radiosurgery, the tumor or other target area within the patient must be localized. This may be accomplished by stereotactic angiography or by CT (computer tomography) localization. After the localization of the tumor or other target area, a CT localizer (or an NMR imaging system) should be used on the patient, even if the original localization was using stereotactic angiography. The data from the CT scan and the angiographic films, if any, should be transferred to a computer system used for calculating the dosage.
When applying radiation to a patient, it is important that the radiation be concentrated on the target area and minimized for the patient's healthy tissues. It is especially important that the radiation be minimized on certain critical structures. For example, if using radiation treatment on a patient's brain, it may be important that the radiation dosage applied to the patient's optic nerves is minimized.
Before a physician applies the radiation to the patient, the physician may decide on two or more arcs which will be used for applying the radiation to the patient. In particular, the physician decides upon the plane in which the radiation beam will be applied in an arc to the patient's target area. The localization data and the proposed treatment arcs are input into a dosimetric computer system. That computer system generates a value for the radiation at each point in a grid extending throughout the patient's skull (assuming that the radiation is for the treatment of a target area within the brain). It is this process that is very time consuming and may require over four hours of computer time. Specifically, the process usually generates the value of the radiation dose at over 250,000 points within the patient's skull. After the doctor has received the radiation distributions from the computer, the doctor may decide that one or more critical structures is receiving too much radiation. Alternately, the doctor may decide that the target area is not receiving sufficient radiation. At any rate, the doctor may be required to revise the arcs through which the radiation source will travel in order to apply radiation to the tumor. It would then be necessary to repeat the very time consuming process of recalculating the radiation distribution.
Some prior dosimetric computer systems have been designed in which the radiation distribution may be calculated and shown or supplied for a smaller volume than the complete volume of the patient's skull. These type of systems require that one repeatedly indicate the area or volume for which the radiation distribution is desired. Although this may give faster results than the process giving the complete radiation distribution, the results are somewhat incomplete unless the doctor repeatedly selects numerous areas or zones for which the radiation distribution is requested. Each radiation distribution that is generated shows only a portion of the plane of view illustrating the radiation distributed within the patient.
The time-consuming nature of prior dosimetric systems is at least partly due to the generally used technique for calculating where the beam goes into the patient's skull. Specifically, the patient's skull may be simulated by thousands (often hundreds of thousands) of tiles and the usual "tiling" technique uses a series of simultaneous equations in order to calculate where the beam of radiation enters the patient's skull.
A further reason for the time-consuming nature of prior dosimetric procedures is that the resolution must be sufficiently high to give adequate details of the radiation distribution. In other words, the points at which the radiation dosages are given must be sufficiently close together that the doctor will have enough information to make proper decisions. On the other hand, this requirement for high resolution causes one to use so many data points that the calculations will, on most computers, take a tremendous amount of time.
A further reason for the time-consuming nature of previous dosimetric techniques is that such techniques require radiation distribution calculations based upon relatively complex mathematical models. The models require that the entrance width of the beam be taken into account because the width of the beam is generally large compared to the curvature of the patient's skull. In other words, the center of the radiation beam might be perpendicular to the patient's skull, but the beam is sufficiently wide compared to the curvature of the patient's skull that the edge of the beam is entering the patient's skull at a significantly different angle than at the beam center. Since the portion of the beam entering at the edge has a significantly different angle than the center of the beam, prior systems have generally taken into account this edge effect. This increases the complexity of the calculations. A further reason for the complexity of calculating the radiation distribution is that prior techniques usually require calculation of the primary radiation and the scattered radiation. The primary radiation is radiation which reaches a point inside the target volume with few interactions with the overlying material, whereas the scattered radiation is the radiation distribution resulting from the interaction of the primary radiation with the overlying structures or materials away from the primary path. The scattered radiation does not proceed along the same directional path as the primary radiation or the beam.
A further disadvantage of prior dosimetric systems is that they lack flexibility in terms of providing requested data.

Dosimetric technique for stereotactic radiosurgery same


A poker game system and method involving hole cards and community cards such as Texas Hold'em, Omaha and Stud. The system and method replace pre-flop betting with an option to fold or place a fixed bet with no permitted raises. The system and method serve to increase the number of players electing to play the initial round of community cards (e.g., the flop in Texas Hold'em).

Poker became very popular in the 2000s due to various factors including amateur Chris Moneymaker winning the World Series of Poker, televised poker and online poker. Television served to raise poker awareness, the Internet provided immediate access to poker games and Moneymaker showed that anyone could win. As a result, brick and mortar poker rooms and online poker rooms were full. Poker has since leveled off in popularity well below the peak levels experienced in the 2000s. Many factors may account for the dip in popularity but one reason is the small number of hands players play to conclusion during a session.
For example, in Texas Hold'em, many hands end pre-flop before any community cards are dealt. Thus, the hand ends after the players have seen only 2 of a possible 7 cards. The poker hands typically end quickly because one player raises the pot beyond what the other players are willing to invest with marginal or weak starting hands.
Thus, it would be advantageous to develop a poker game system and method whereby more players participate in the hand until at least a first set of community cards are dealt and a first betting round begins.

Poker game system and method involving pre-flop fold or fixed bet option


A transmitter section of the arrangement includes an altimeter transmitter and a Doppler transmitter. The transmitters both provide frequency-modulated outputs. The altimeter transmitter is linear-FM while the Doppler transmitter is sine-FM.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an integrated altimeter and Doppler velocity sensor arrangement for use in an airborne vehicle. More specifically, the invention relates to such an arrangement which uses one waveform for the altimeter function and a different waveform for the Doppler velocity sensor function.
2. Description of Prior Art
Integrated ground speed and altimetery measuring instruments are known in the prior art as illustrated in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,239,837, Fried, Mar. 8, 1966, U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,370, Frasure et al, Oct. 5, 1971, U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,925, Darboven, Jr., Jan. 14, 1975, U.S. Pat. No. 4,806,935, Fosket et al, Feb. 21, 1989, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,676, Breiholz et al, June 10, 1986.
The '837 patent teaches an integrated ground speed and altimetry measuring instrument. However, the transmitted wave in the '837 patent is modulated by a single modulator. Separate channels are used in the receiver for providing ground speed and altimetry outputs.
The '370 patent also teaches an integrated Doppler and altimeter radar. In the '370 patent, the transmitter is arranged for operation in either the ICW (interrupted continuous wave) mode or FM-CW mode. The radar must operate.
In the '925 patent, the system is sine-FM modulated. However, in the '925 patent, altimetry data is extracted from the frequency-modulated Doppler system. It does not employ a separate modulating wave whose data is "corrected" by the Doppler data.
The '935 patent is an improvement of the system in the '925 patent. The '935 patent uses a closed loop operation of signal processing portions for reflected signals including phase shift information. Once again, it does not teach closer to the present invention than the '925 patent.
The '676 patent is presented as of interest only in that it teaches an FM-CW radar altimeter whose output is used to calculate ground speed.
Other radar techniques exist for range and velocity determination, and it is well known that a waveform can be chosen to estimate either range or velocity with high accuracy. It is also well known that it is not possible to simultaneously perform these measurements well with one waveform while still obtaining high accuracy. It has been proven that such a waveform does not exist. However, modern research looks for rather esoteric waveforms that offer the best possible compromise for a given situation.

Integrated altimeter and doppler velocity sensor arrangement


A method for external ear canal pressure regulation to alleviate one or more symptoms associated with a disorder or treat one or more disorders, the method including providing a fluid transfer device which generates a fluid flow of a fluid through an earplug, the earplug having an earplug external surface configured to sealably engage an external ear canal wall as a barrier between an external ear canal pressure and an ambient pressure; sealably engaging the earplug of the fluid transfer device with the external ear canal wall as the barrier between the external ear canal pressure and the ambient pressure; and operating the fluid transfer device to generate the fluid flow of the fluid through the earplug to achieve an external ear canal pressure differential between the external ear canal pressure and the ambient pressure effective to alleviate a disorder symptom or treat a disorder.

Neurologically-mediated pain or discomfort associated with a disorder, such as craniofacial pain syndromes or headache syndromes, may negatively impact the quality of life of the sufferer. In addition to the burden upon the individual, chronic neurological conditions may be a significant strain upon family members, employers, and the healthcare system.
Regarding migraine headaches, concomitant symptoms such as pain, nausea, aura, photophobia, dysesthesias, dizziness, vertigo, and dysequilibrium may represent a significant burden to the population. Epidemiological studies indicate that, in the United States, approximately 18% of women and 6% of men experience frequent migraine headaches and 2% of the general population suffer from chronic migraine headaches. Additionally, persons suffering with chronic migraine headaches or other headaches of similar severity and disability may be at a significantly greater risk for depression and attempted suicide. Thus, it is prudent for clinicians and researchers to continue searching for effective therapies and methodologies to alleviate the symptoms associated with these disorders or treat the disorders.
Standard pharmaceutical therapies for migraine headaches may generally be prescribed to prevent pain or to relieve pain. The various agents which fall under these two broad categories may exhibit a wide range of effectiveness and also incur varying degrees of side effects. From the perspective of economics, the expense of these medications may be a major source of financial burden on the consumer. Moreover, advanced interventions such as botulinum toxin injections, nerve blockades, neurosurgical alterations, and implanted electrical stimulators may significantly increase costs associated with treatment, while subjecting patients to potential changes in their anatomy and physiology, with no guarantee of complete or permanent symptomatic relief or disorder resolution. Furthermore, one of the most widely used abortive agent categories in current migraine treatment may not be appropriate for those with cardiovascular risk factors, which may pose a significant population considering the prevalence of cardiovascular disease.
There is a burgeoning field of understanding and applications within the neurosciences which seek to affect positive physiological changes in the nervous system through non-pharmaceutical and non-surgical applications. This field of 'functional neurology' views the human nervous system as a receptor driven system, which may be activated and stimulated in specific ways to produce adaptive, long-term changes through the process of neuroplasticity. This approach to neurorehabilitation utilizes, but not necessarily exclusively, various forms and patterns of receptor activation or deactivation to promote positive neurophysiological adaptations within the central nervous system, including the brain, brainstem, and spinal cord, which may then promote optimized physiological function of associated tissues, organs, and systems.
There would be a substantial advantage in providing a method which can achieve beneficial targeted central nervous system excitation through various stimuli via cranial nerves and concomitant brainstem integration. Particularly, there would be a substantial advantage in providing an effective non-pharmaceutical and non-surgical method having a low side-effect profile for the alleviation of neurologically-mediated pain or discomfort associated with a disorder, such as craniofacial pain syndromes or headache syndromes, or for the treatment of the disorder.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for external ear canal pressure regulation to alleviate disorder symptoms


A dynamic global callback technique which is capable of maintaining a manageable number of incoming calls to a central location from a plurality of remote units. A plurality of remote units are prompted to initiate callback attempts to a central location during a given callback period. The number of successful callback attempts from the remote units to the central location is monitored. The callback period if dynamically adjusted so as to cause the monitored number of successful callback attempts to approximately equal the number of successful callback attempts capable of being handled by the central location without overloading the telephone network.

This invention generally relates to a remote monitoring system and, more particularly, to a dynamic callback technique which minimizes the amount of time required to obtain stored information from a plurality of remote units without exceeding the capacity of the telephone network.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,241,237 and 4,455,453 to Paraskevakos et al. disclose remote meter reading systems where each of a number of remote units initiate callback at predetermined intervals to a central facility for billing and monitoring purposes. A central complex provides a digital instruction to each remote unit upon the completion of its data transfer. The instruction includes data to control the next scheduled callback time. Such a system cannot, however, be used to dynamically control a callback in response to the incoming rate of calls.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,584,602 to Nakagawa discloses a data collecting system and method which are capable of collecting television audience rating data. A marker signal initiates the callback and, after waiting a predetermined time necessary for other terminal units to transmit their data, each terminal unit automatically dials a predetermined telephone number in order to transmit requested viewing data. Such a system may prove useful where a known number of terminals are calling in, but does not promote an efficient use of phone lines where it is necessary for each terminal to call in.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,696,029 to Cohen controls the initiation of voting calls through regulation of the visual stimuli which trigger the calls. A control center monitors polling call traffic at a plurality of central offices until it determines that the traffic being generated has reached a level which is not within the traffic-handling capabilities of the central office switching machines. The control center then sends messages which cause character generators at local affiliates to reduce the frequency and/or duration of the visual stimuli until the traffic generated has dropped to a level which is within the traffic handling capabilities of the central office. However, this technique cannot be used where the generation of data cannot be controlled.
In order to appreciate the problem solved by the present invention, it is important to understand at least an overview of the problem of connecting a subscriber by telephone through the telephone network to a cable television headend. By way of example, the subscriber may be assumed to have an ordinary telephone set and be located in a different telephone exchange (central office) area from the telephone exchange serving a private branch exchange located at the cable television headend. In particular, when a subscriber initiates a call, the dial tone serving and switching capacity of the initial telephone exchange, the capacity of trunks connecting the two telephone exchanges, the capacity of the lines serving the private branch exchange, the switching capacity of the private branch exchange, and the busy status of the extensions at the private branch exchange are all factors involved in determining whether two different subscribers associated with a cable television headend are able to achieve a through connection to the headend at the same time. The difficulties in establishing a telephone connection when a large number of remote units are attempting to call the headend are magnified when subscribers, especially those who are located in a small geographic area and would tend to connect to the headend over similar telephone paths, all call in simultaneously.


A modulator may include a substrate. The modulator may include one or more waveguides formed upon or formed in the substrate. A signal electrode may be provided adjacent to at least one of the one or more waveguides and may include a curved outer surface. The modulator may include one or more ground electrodes provided adjacent to the signal electrode. Each ground electrode, of the one or more ground electrodes, may include a respective curved inner surface that is radially spaced from the curved outer surface of the signal electrode. The one or more ground electrodes and the substrate may at least substantially enclose the curved outer surface of the signal electrode.

A modulator is a device that uses a modulation signal to modify a periodic waveform, called a carrier signal, to add information to the carrier signal. For example, a modulator may use an electrical current in a signal electrode to generate a radio frequency field, and the radio frequency field may modify the carrier signal to add information to the carrier signal. Modulators are sometimes used to convert an electrical signal into an optical signal in an optical network. In such a case, the modulation signal may be based on the electrical signal, and the optical signal may be used as the carrier signal.

Modulator with signal electrode enclosed by ground electrode


A heater includes: a ceramic body having a rod-like shape; and a heat generating resistor embedded in the ceramic body, the heat generating resistor including a first straight line section, a second straight line section which is disposed alongside the first straight line section, and a folded section which connects the first straight line section and the second straight line section, in a transverse cross section of the heater, the first straight line section having a shape having a first major axis, the second straight line section having a shape having a second major axis, the second major axis being inclined with respect to the first major axis, a centroid of the first straight line section and the second straight line section being deviated from a centroid of the ceramic body to a side on which a distance between the first major axis and the second major axis is narrower.

As a heater, a heater described in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2015-18625 (hereinafter, also referred to as "Patent Literature 1") is known. The heater described in Patent Literature 1 includes a ceramic body and a heat generating resistor provided within the ceramic body. The heat generating resistor has two straight line sections and a folded section which connects the two straight line sections. In recent years, improvement of a rate of temperature rise has been demanded of a heater.
In a cross section of the heater described in Patent Literature 1 perpendicular to an axial direction of the two straight line sections, the two straight line sections each have a shape having a major axis and these major axes are in a parallel relationship. Furthermore, a centroid of the two straight line sections is located on a line dividing the ceramic body in half. Owing to this, heat generated from the two straight line sections is prone to be confined in an intermediate portion between the two straight line sections in the ceramic body. As a result, it has been difficult to improve a rate of temperature rise of a surface of the ceramic body that is to come in contact with an object to be heated.


An evaporation device for drying sludges includes a heatable, hollow cylindrical, approximately horizontally oriented evaporator provided at one end with a product inlet and at the other end with a product outlet while in its product-charged interior an essentially radially oriented, externally driven rotor is disposed which is equipped with vanes that extend essentially over the length of the evaporator. At least in the region upstream of the product outlet, the walls of the interior are provided with at least one cutting zone that extends essentially in the longitudinal direction of the interior and interrupts the circular outline of the cross section of the interior.

The present invention relates to an evaporation device for drying sludges, the device including a heatable, hollow cylindrical evaporator that is oriented approximately horizontally and is provided at one end with a product inlet and at the other end with a product outlet. In the interior of the evaporator where it is charged with the product there is disposed an externally driven rotor which is equipped with essentially radially oriented vanes that extend essentially over the length of the evaporator.
Such an evaporation device has been used for many years to dry wet products, particularly sludges from waste water systems. The vanes of the internally rotating rotor which extend essentially over the length of the evaporator and whose edges end at a small distance from the interior wall of the evaporator cause the sludges to be deposited on the heated interior wall of the evaporator in the form of a thin product film, with the rotor vanes continuously transporting the product through the evaporator and discharging it at the product outlet in the form of an at least partially dry granulate.
In this connection, it has been found to be necessary to make the interior surface of the evaporator smooth and cylindrical throughout in order to obtain a high heat transfer rate to the product or sludge film. However, with many such sludges there exists the problem during drying that, with decreasing water content, the material to be dried, which is introduced at the product inlet as a pumpable product, goes through a viscous intermediate phase which leads to the formation of large lumps. In certain regions of the "viscous" phase of the sludge to be dried, there will initially be product baking onto the vane edges which prevents the formation of a product film because the interior surface is "wiped" in this region and the drying process is interfered with. From time to time the baked product comes loose in coarse agglomerates. Although these coarse agglomerates are substantially broken up again by the rapidly rotating rotor vanes, they result in a large percentage of fine grained material or dust. Moreover, the heat transfer to a product to be dried, which is present in the form of coarse lumps, is considerably reduced by their small contact surface toward the heated interior wall. The resulting coarse lumps have such a configuration that they have a relatively thin, dry outer surface which encloses a still relatively wet product quantity. If such lumps reach the product outlet, their breaking open may cause sticking, baked-on product, etc. in subsequently connected devices.


A breathable, elastic, film laminate including layers of an inherently breathable, elastic polymer film alternately stacked with layers of a filled plastic polymer. The laminate may be made by grafting a thermoplastic polymer to an elastomer to form an inherently breathable elastic polymer, extruding, the elastic polymer through a die, extruding the filled plastic polymer through a die, stacking the extruded elastic polymer with the extruded plastic polymer while the polymers are in a melt-extrudable state to create a multilayer film laminate, and stretching the laminate.

The present invention is directed to breathable elastic multilayer film laminates having alternating layers of elastic and plastic polymers, and methods of making such laminates.
Films are typically used to provide barrier properties in absorbent articles. More specifically, absorbent materials are incorporated into absorbent articles to absorb bodily fluids or other liquids, and films are incorporated into absorbent articles to prevent the absorbed fluids and any excess fluids from transferring onto a wearer's clothing or migrating into other undesirable areas. Films are also used to provide barrier properties in other types of disposable items, such as surgical and health care related products, as well as in disposable work wear such as coveralls and lab coats. In these types of protective apparel, films are used to prevent cross exchange of microorganisms through the protective apparel.
Ideal films for absorbent articles and other disposable items are liquid-impermeable yet vapor-permeable, thereby providing a barrier against the liquid while simultaneously allowing the article to breathe. Breathable films allow moisture vapor to pass through the film, which results in enhanced comfort to a wearer of an absorbent article since the release of moisture vapor reduces or eliminates a clammy sensation that often accompanies trapped moisture.
Breathable films can be produced by stretching a thermoplastic film containing a filler. Microvoids are created when the polymer separates from the filler particles during the stretching process. This drawing or stretching also orients the molecular structure within the film which increases the strength and durability of the film in the stretched direction. However, uni-directionally stretched films are easily torn or split along the cross-direction or transverse stretched direction. For example, a machine-directionally oriented film has a propensity to split or tear along the machine direction. Also, the tensile characteristics of the film are dramatically increased in the machine direction, but the tensile strength and tear-resistance in the cross-direction is significantly inferior to that of the machine direction.
One solution for remedying the durability problems of stretched filled films is to laminate the film to another layer of film, suitably one that does not have the same durability problems. However, any other layers in the laminate must also be breathable in order to maintain breathability throughout the laminate.
Lamination of films can also be used to combine materials that have a variety of material attributes. For example, laminating an elastomeric film to a stretched filled film may result in an elastomeric laminate. Elastomeric laminates provide better fit and conformance on a wearer, thus providing better leakage protection compared to non-elastomeric laminates and films. However, typical elastomeric films may reduce the breathability of the laminate. Additionally, elastomeric films are generally relatively expensive compared to stretched filled films. Furthermore, a number of elastomeric films are incompatible, or have low compatibility, with stretched filled films, resulting in a corrugated structure, or possibly delamination of the laminate. Controlled delamination of the laminate may provide certain benefits, such as loftiness and enhanced breathability, but uncontrolled delamination may result in a flimsy structure that detrimentally separates during use.
There is thus a need or desire for a breathable elastic laminate that is durable, and wherein the layers of the laminate are compatible with one another such that the layers are not prone to uncontrollable delamination.

Breathable elastic multilayer film laminate and method of making a breathable elastic multilayer film laminate


A device manages a management database in the form of objects to be managed that are referenced according to a reference specification. Equipment exchanges management data in the form of data structures indicated by patterns each corresponding to a respective referenced object and being assigned a respective identifier. In order to manage a given object, the device and the equipment store synchronization information associating the reference of the given object and the corresponding pattern identifier. In order to manage a given object, the equipment sends the corresponding pattern assigned the respective identifier and a data ticket which has a structure indicated by said pattern and is assigned said identifier. The device translates the pattern into the respective referenced object as a function of the identifier of said pattern and the synchronization information, and then stores the data from the received ticket in the management database.

A network generally comprises equipments to be managed and a device for managing those equipments.
Network management is based on the management device and the equipments to be managed exchanging information. Thus the management device can send commands to one or more network equipments, in particular to request modification of configuration parameters, or merely to consult certain configuration parameters of the network equipments. The network equipments prompted in this way generally modify the parameters on receiving a modification request or send requested information on receiving an information request. The network equipments are also adapted to send information spontaneously to the management device, such as in particular information relating to alarms.
The data exchanged in this way must be comprehensible to the sender and to the receiver. To this end, a network conventionally uses a management information base (MIB) reference model of such management information.
An MIB specifies a management information model in the form of objects to be managed in relation to parameters to be consulted, parameters to be modified, or alarms to be sent. These objects are specified by the International Standardization Organization (ISO) in the form of an object record tree. Thus a reference is assigned to each object specified in the MIB.
As a function of the type of management required, it is possible to refer to only a portion of the MIB tree, below called the "MIB portion".
The MIB contains individual scalar objects that can be instantiated once only, and groups of objects that can be instantiated a varying number of times, these groups being conventionally represented in the form of tables in which each row represents one instance of the group of objects. Each row is then identified by an index.
In a management network, the equipments and the management device generally know the MIB portion in accordance with which they manage their own management data. Thus a network is conventionally managed on the basis of a model of the above type, with knowledge thereof being shared by the management device and the network equipments to be managed.
A standardized protocol such as the simple network management protocol (SNMP) is generally used to send this information between the equipments and the management device. This kind of protocol is suited to exchanging management data relating to objects specified in the MIB, but it occupies considerable transmission bandwidth in the network. About 75% of the size of each message corresponds to 'Abstract Syntax Notation 1'/'Basic encoding rule' (ASN.1/BER) references.

Network management method, a system and a device


A blood measuring apparatus includes: first and second chambers which communicate with each other through an aperture; first and second electrodes which are disposed respectively in the first chamber and the second chamber; and a controller: which performs blood measurement by causing a current to flow between the first and second electrodes in a state where diluted blood is contained in the first chamber and diluting solution is contained in the second chamber; and which performs electrolysis by applying a voltage between the first and second electrodes in a state where diluting solution is contained in the first and second chambers, thereby producing washing solution, and which performs washing on at least the aperture, and the first and second chambers by using the produced washing solution.

The present invention relates to a blood measuring apparatus using the electrical resistance method.
There is a blood cell counting apparatus using the electrical resistance method. Such an apparatus includes first and second chambers which communicate with each other through an aperture, in each of which diluted blood for measurement is contained, and in which electrodes are disposed respectively in the two chambers, and performs the blood cell counting (see U.S. Pat. No. 2,656,508).
In the apparatus, proteins in blood adhere to the aperture and the interiors of the first and second chambers. Whereby, the wettability is impaired particularly in the aperture and air bubbles adhere to the aperture. In such a case, the air bubbles are caused to function as a disturbance in measurement by fluid vibration, and therefore it is impossible to obtain an adequate measurement result. When air bubbles once adhere to the vicinity of the aperture, moreover, the air bubbles are hardly removed by a water stream.
Therefore, the aperture and chambers are washed with chlorinated detergent for proteins decomposition which is sucked from the outside of the measuring apparatus. However, the expiration is set in chlorinated detergent because of the property that, when chlorinated detergent comes in contact with the air, the detergent decomposes, and hence management of such detergent is cumbersome. In some countries, import restrictions are imposed on chlorinated detergent. In the case where a measuring apparatus is additionally provided with chlorinated detergent, for example, the importation of the apparatus itself is restricted.
Alternatively, enzymatic detergent may be used in such washing. In the case where enzymatic detergent is used, however, washing must be performed in the state where the liquid temperature is held at a constant temperature, thereby causing a problem in that such washing requires a prolonged period of time.
Also in an apparatus which measures biological fluid other than blood, in the case where adhering materials such as proteins are to be washed away, usually, a similar problem arises.
Furthermore, there is an automatic analyzing apparatus in which a washing solution is produced by electrolysis of a saline solution, and a reaction chamber is washed (see JP-A-11-153604).


The present invention is for a support sleeve for a riser supporting an elevated toy vehicle trackway above a surface, the sleeve comprising a first end, a second end having an open end, one or more walls extending between the first end and second end, wherein the one or more walls define a hollow interior for supporting the riser, and one or more supports extending outwardly from the perimeter of the first end. The one or more supports form a shoulder extending outwardly from the first end, wherein the shoulder encircles the perimeter of the first end. The present invention further provides a method of stabilizing one or more toy vehicle tracks mounted on one or more track risers, comprising inserting a first track riser within a hollow support sleeve having a top end and a base end, the base end having one or more outwardly projecting supports.

The invention relates to a device for stabilizing the support pillars or risers of elevated tracks for toy vehicles, in particular tracks consisting of trackway segments which are plugged together and form driving lanes designed to be driven on which are spaced above the surface on which such trackways are set up.
The desire for playing with track bound toy vehicles is well known. More specifically, track bound toy vehicles having extended tracks or driving track segments with a spacing above the surface on which the trackway is set up. For this purpose, the driving tracks or driving track segments have to be supported by supporting elements, for example blocks, pillars, or certain track risers, supporting such tracks with suitable spacings. It is understood that this type of support for the trackway segments leads only to unstable trackways. For example, when using blocks as risers, the block may be mounted on an unstable surface, such as carpet, rugs, or any other offset or inherently unstable surface, causing the blocks to fall over, such as from the weight of the toy vehicle on the tracks, the momentum of the toy vehicle, or inadvertent knocking over of the tracks or blocks by the user, among others. In addition, as more risers or blocks are mounted on top of each other to adjust the elevation of the track, the risers and track become even more inherently unstable. This instability of the track has an adverse effect on the user's desire to play with such toys. Thus, there is a need for a device that improves the stability of these track risers.


An apparatus and methods for pumping a fluid mixture from a wellbore location to a selected location is disclosed. The apparatus, in one embodiment, includes a container configured to be placed in the wellbore, wherein the container is configured to mix therein a fluid received from a first source and an additive received from a second source, and a pump unit coupled to the container and configured to pump the mixed fluid from the container to the selected location. The method in one embodiment includes: supplying a fluid from a first source to a container placed in a wellbore; supplying an additive from a second source to the container; allowing the fluid and the additive to mix in the container to form a mixed fluid; and pumping the mixed fluid from the container to the selected location.

1. Field of the Disclosure
This disclosure relates generally to a system and methods for pumping multiphase fluids from a wellbore to the surface or from a wellbore into a formation.
2. Background of the Art
Pump systems deployed in wellbore employing electrical submersible pumps are used to lift produced fluids from a wellbores to the surface. Pump systems placed in wellbores also are used to inject a fluid, such as water, from a source at the surface or sea floor into a formation from a secondary well to aid the formation fluid, such as oil and gas, to flow toward or into a producing well or to fracture a formation or to dispose of water separated from the produced formation fluid back into a formation. Often, it is desirable to include one or more additives, such as chemicals, into such fluids to aid the flow of formation fluids, open pores in the formation and to inhibit formation of corrosion in the downhole equipment. It is desirable to mix a fluid supplied from the surface or sea bed with one or more additives close to the pumping location in the wellbore. Current wellbore pump systems are not designed to mix the additives and the fluids at the pumping locations in the wellbore and then to pump the mixture to another location, such as into the formation, surface or sea bed.
The disclosure herein addresses some of the deficiencies of prior art system and provides improved apparatus and methods for pumping fluids and additives from a location in the wellbore.

Apparatus and method for pumping a fluid and an additive from a downhole location into a formation or to another location


A differential device has a differential case that houses a gear group, and a ring gear that is disposed fitted to the differential case. The differential case and the ring gear are supported rotatably about a drive shaft. The ring gear is made up of a helical gear. The ring gear abuts the differential case in the axial direction of the drive shaft. The ring gear and the differential case are welded at an abutting portion of the ring gear and the differential case in the axial direction of the drive shaft.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a differential device, and more particularly, to a differential device that effectively allows suppressing damage to a welded portion between a differential case and a ring gear.
2. Description of the Related Art
A differential device has ordinarily a differential case that houses a gear group, and a ring gear that is disposed fitted to the differential case. The differential case and the ring gear are supported rotatably about a drive shaft. Integral welding of the differential case and the ring gear is a recent trend. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-192326 (JP-A-2007-192326) discloses a conventional differential device that relies on such a configuration.
Another recent trend is the use of ring gears that have a helical gear. In such a configuration, a thrust load (helical gear-specific thrust load), derived from the helical angle of the helical gear, acts on the ring gear. Thrust load may damage the welded portion of the differential case and the ring gear (for instance, weld detachment).


Techniques for communicating between service nodes within a hybrid cloud computing system. These techniques include utilizing a messaging provider within an off-premise computing system to pass messages between off-premise servers holding a connection to an on-premise computer system and off-premise servers holding a connection to an end user computer system.

A hybrid cloud computing system includes computing devices both in an "off-premise" location (also referred to as cloud computer systems) and in an "on-premise" location (referred to as on-premise computer systems). The off-premise location (or cloud location) generally includes computer systems managed or controlled by a provider of "cloud" computing services and the on-premise location includes computer systems that function in one or more locations managed or controlled by a single entity that may subscribe to and utilize the cloud computing services. On-premise and off-premise computer systems may cooperate to provide services. In one example, hybrid cloud computing systems handle requests incoming from "external" computer systems (such as computer systems controlled by an end user or administrator), where at least part of the request is to be processed by an on-premise computer system.
For security, on-premise computer systems may be configured to reject incoming network connections and may only communicate with off-premise computer systems via outgoing connections. Thus, external computer systems typically send traffic to the off-premise servers, which transmit associated traffic to the on-premise servers for processing. Though several techniques exist for allowing communication from off-premise to on-premise computer systems despite the "no incoming connection" limitation, this type of communication is not straightforward.
Communication is further complicated due to the presence of load balancers within the hybrid cloud computing system that operate to redirect traffic to specific off-premise computer systems based on processing load (e.g., to prevent any particular system from being over- or under-burdened). Specifically, load balancers do not typically inspect incoming traffic deeply. Thus, load balancers may be unaware that traffic incoming from any particular external computer is destined for a particular on-premise computer. For this reason, load balancers may select an off-premise computer system to receive traffic from an external computer system, where the selected off-premise computer is different than the off-premise computer that has an open connection to the destination on-premise computer system. This further complicates the handling of traffic between external computer systems and on-premise computer systems.

Efficient communication within hybrid cloud system


An apparatus and a method for processing information, and a program and a program storing medium are disclosed in which a user can surely recognize the change of images when they are operated. Upon detection of an operation, a processing manager applies, every predetermined period, a transition function to an elapsed time from the detection of the operation to compute a ratio of the movement of an image to a distance from the current position of the displayed image to a destination specified by the operation. On the basis of the obtained ratio of the movement of the image, the processing manger specifies a display position of the image toward the destination. A content processing routine controls the display so that the image is displayed at the specified position every predetermined period.

The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and a method for processing information, and a program and a program storage medium used therefor, and particularly to an apparatus and a method for processing information for displaying images, and a program and a program storage medium used therefor.
In recent years technologies have been available with personal computers for example in which a thumbnail which corresponds to still picture or moving picture data is displayed for a personal computer user to select these data by means of the thumbnail to manipulate the selected data.
However, if the position of a thumbnail changes when it has been operated, the user cannot sometimes recognize the change of the position.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to allow the user to surely recognize the change in images when they are operated.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus comprising: detection means for detecting a first operation; computation means for computing, when the detection means has detected the first operation, a ratio of movement of a displayed image to a distance from a current position of an image to a first destination specified by the first operation by applying, every predetermined period, a transition function to an elapsed time from the detection of the first operation; specification means for specifying a display position of the image toward the first destination on the basis of the ratio of movement of the image computed by said computation means; and display control means for controlling the display of the image so that the image is displayed, every predetermined period, at a position specified by said specification means.
Preferably, if a second operation is detected by the detection means while the image is moving to the first destination, the computation means applies, every predetermined period, a transition function to an elapsed time from the detection of the second operation to compute a ratio of the movement of the image to a distance from a moving position of the image at which the second operation has been detected to a second destination specified by the second operation; and if the second operation is detected by the detection means while the image is moving to the first destination, the specification means specifies a display position of the image toward the second destination on the basis of the ratio of movement of the image computed by the computation means.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method comprising the steps of: detecting an operation; computing, when the operation has been detected in the detecting step, a ratio of movement of a displayed image to a distance from a current position of a image to destination specified by the operation, by applying, every predetermined period, a transition function to an elapsed time from the detection of the operation; specifying a display position of the image toward the destination on the basis of the ratio of movement of the image computed in the computation step; and controlling the display of the image so that the image is displayed, every predetermined period, at a position specified in the specification step.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program storage medium storing a computer-readable program comprising the steps of: detecting an operation; computing, when the operation has been detected in the detecting step, a ratio of movement of a displayed image to a distance from a current position of a image to destination specified by the operation, by applying, every predetermined period, a transition function to an elapsed time from the detection of the operation; specifying a display position of the image toward the destination on the basis of the ratio of movement of the image computed in the computation step; and controlling the display of the image so that the image is displayed, every predetermined period, at a position specified in the specification step.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a computer-readable program comprising the steps of: detecting an operation; computing, when the operation has been detected in the detecting step, a ratio of movement of a displayed image to a distance from a current position of a image to destination specified by the operation, by applying, every predetermined period, a transition function to an elapsed time from the detection of the operation; specifying a display position of the image toward the destination on the basis of the ratio of movement of the image computed in the computation step; and controlling the display of the image so that the image is displayed, every predetermined period, at a position specified in the specification step.
In the above-mentioned inventions, preferably, the transition function is defined so that a travel distance per unit time decreases with time, the transition function is variable depending on a predetermined condition, and the predetermined condition is determined by the degrees of importance of a displayed object.
In the above-mentioned inventions, an operation is detected and, at the time of detection, a transition function is applied, every predetermined period, to an elapsed time from the detection of the operation, a ratio of the movement of the image to a distance from the current display position to a destination specified by the operation, and, on the basis of the obtained ratio of the image movement, an image display position toward the destination is specified, at which the image is displayed every predetermined period.

Apparatus and method for processing information, and program and medium used therefor


In an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine, an exhaust pipe is reliably bent and deformed during vehicle rear collision while improving drainage performance in the exhaust pipe in normal times. The exhaust system 1 includes a second pipe 17 corresponding to a downstream end part of an exhaust pipe 10 through which exhaust gas flows from an engine 2. The second pipe 17 includes: a fragile part 30 as a starting point of bending deformation of a tail pipe 13; and a partition plate 20 vertically dividing the inside of the second pipe 17 to form, under the partition plate 20, a lower passage 7 to flow water that accumulates in the exhaust pipe 10. The partition plate 20 is in a vicinity of the fragile part 30 and at a position not overlapping with the fragile part 30 in an axial direction of the second pipe 17.

In vehicles such as automobiles, an exhaust pipe, through which exhaust gas from an engine flows, is generally disposed in a lower part of a vehicle body so as to extend to a vehicle rear part. Regarding such an exhaust pipe, many structures have been proposed.
For example, under the condition that various attempts have been executed, conventionally, to absorb a shock at the time of a rear collision using a crush space of a vehicle rear part, JP 2010-215005 A discloses ensuring a shock absorbing stroke using an exhaust pipe having a fragile part formed by a heading part or a bellows part so that the exhaust pipe is easily bent at the time of a rear collision, thus preventing the exhaust pipe from obstructing deformation of the vehicle rear part.
Also, when the pressure of the exhaust gas is, for example, reduced, water may accumulate in the exhaust pipe. JP 2015-158149 A discloses forming an exhaust passage and a drainage passage by disposing a partition plate inside a pipe body downstream of a center pipe (exhaust pipe), thus improving drainage performance.

Exhaust system of internal combustion engine


The invention relates to a method and an array for determining the IP addresses of a terminal array connected to an IP network by means of a telecommunication network. A pseudo-hardware address is administratively assigned as identifier to the subscriber connection of the terminal array. Said identifier is stored in the peripheral area of the telecommunication network and transmitted in an IP address request by the terminal array to a network management unit for assigning IP addresses. Said network management unit assigns an IP address using the identifier of the terminal connection and transmits said address to the terminal array.

In an Internet Protocol network or IP network, i.e. in a network that uses the TCP/IP Protocol, each network device and each terminal arrangement needs a unique Internet Protocol address or IP Address. In IP version 4 (Ipv4), an IP address, which is made up of a network address and a device address, consists of four numbers (octets) each separated by a dot, for example 22.214.171.124. In later IP versions, more octets are used for the IP address. IP addresses can be created manually and permanently assigned to a terminal arrangement in a network. Manual configuration of an IP network is time consuming, however, and only of interest for smaller, rarely changed sub-networks.
To automate the assignment of IP addresses, network operators hence normally use a BOOTSTRAP protocol or BOOTP as it is known, or a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol or DHCP. BOOTP is a TCP/IP protocol that can be used by terminal arrangements to find out their IP address or other network information such as server addresses and gateway data. When a terminal arrangement boots up, it transfers a BOOTP REQUEST to the BOOTP server in a UDP packet (USER DATA PROTOCOL, an unreliable TCP/IP protocol), said server sending back the required IP address in a BOOTP RESPONSE message.
In this procedure, the BOOTP REQUEST and BOOTP RESPONSE messages use an IP broadcast function, which can be used to send messages before the specific IP address is known. Such a method is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,545, for example.
DHCP is also a piece of software for automatic assignment of IP addresses to terminal devices that log into a TCP/IP network. DHCP software normally runs on servers, and such a DHCP server is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,024 for example. The main way in which DHCP differs from BOOTP is that once an IP address is assigned it is stored and used again for later DHCP request messages.
In order to assign an IP address, BOOTP servers or DHCP servers require a hardware address of a terminal arrangement, which is sent by the network interface of said terminal arrangement to the respective server in the IP-address request message, e.g. in the BOOTP REQUEST. In networks based on the ETHERNET standard, the hardware address (MAC address) of the Ethernet card forming the network interface is used as a uniquely assignable identifier for each IP-address request and IP-address response (BOOTP REQUEST, BOOT RESPONSE).
Terminal arrangements in the sense intended here are, for example, network computers having Ethernet card or modem as network interface. In particular, however, terminal arrangement is also used to mean network terminating units known as Integrated Access Devices or IADs. Such an IAD is a network terminating unit for multiplexing different communications technologies at the subscriber end onto a single telecommunications network line. The IAD also demultiplexes the data streams coming from the network into the relevant channels.
A telecommunications network line for connecting to an IAD may be an analog telephone line or even an ISDN line, a DSL line or a T1 line. Currently, the most common use of IAD units is the multiplexing of voice and data over a DSL line. DSL stands for Digital Subscriber Line, and, unlike an ISDN line, is not enabled using switching technology but is permanently connected and supplied with voice information and data information via a central network device, a DSL Access Multiplexer or DSLAM for short. The DSL digital subscriber lines of a particular local area emanate from such a DSLAM, which is usually part of a peripheral network node, and a specific set of subscriber line data (port data) configurable by a central network management system is often stored in the DSLAM for each subscriber line.
A network operator can manage terminal arrangements such as IADs in an IP network centrally using SNMP over IP for instance, where SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol, which is a network monitoring and control protocol used throughout the world. In order to manage a terminal arrangement, the network operator must assign the allocated network management interface a static IP address that can be used to exchange network management messages. Furthermore, the IP routers and the network management system within the IP network of the network operator must also know this IP address. Network operators do this using one of the BOOTP or DHCP protocols in the aforementioned way. The unique identifier for defining an IP address in a BOOTP server or DHCP server is the hardware address of the terminal arrangement.
When installing a terminal arrangement, the network operator must enter the required information in the BOOTP server with the hardware address of the internet protocol interface of the relevant network arrangement of the terminal arrangement used. To do this, either the exact hardware address of the terminal arrangement must be entered manually by the subscriber prior to installation, or the subscriber must register the hardware address with the network operator via telephone or post, once the terminal arrangement has been installed at the subscriber's premises. If, for example, the subscriber has not obtained the terminal arrangement from the network operator, but purchased it on the open market, then registration of the hardware address of the terminal arrangement by the subscriber is currently the only solution. Both registration options mentioned are very time consuming, require coordination between subscriber and network operator, are prone to errors and can lead to undesirable delays in service availability after the terminal arrangement has been installed at the subscriber's premises.
The object of the invention is to define a more advantageous method of assigning IP addresses for terminal arrangements, and to define suitable arrangements for this purpose.

Method and array for determining internet protocol addresses of a terminal array


The present invention contains a priority base station (20) placed in a sensitive area (19) to restrict unwanted calls using mobile telephones (5-7). In one example, the base station is a priority base station where a mobile telephone has a preference for the type of base station that it represents. The priority base station then exclusively manages communication with the mobile telephones to neutralize their sending-receiving.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a radio protection method essentially usable in the field of mobile telephony. The object of the invention is to prevent mobile telephones from ringing or being used for calls in sensitive public areas, in particular theaters, cinemas, lecture halls.
2. Description of the Related Art
The systems currently available in university and other auditoriums to prevent mobile telephone use are somewhat simplistic. They are essentially jammers or transmitters that send simple instructions to the mobile telephones, for example instructions to disable the ringer. The jammers transmit jamming signals with a non-negligible power at random and on all frequencies in a range. These jamming signals are superposed on signaling or speech signals addressed to mobile telephones situated in the environment of the jammers. The mobile telephones are incapable of interpreting the signals resulting from such superposition: calls are disconnected.
Such systems have the disadvantage that there is no effective way to limit the areas in which neutralizing noise is broadcast. Consequently some regions that are not to be protected, but which are situated in the vicinity of an area protected in this way, are affected by the broadcast noise. In these areas communication with mobile telephones becomes random or even impossible.
Furthermore, the installation of such jammers is illegal.
Instructions sent to mobile telephones to disable the ringer do not prevent call set-up. The simple transmitters must also have universal means of communicating with these terminals, which is difficult to implement. Not all mobile telephones use the infrared technology, for example. It is nevertheless necessary to solve the problem of one person's call bothering many others by neutralizing not only incoming calls, which activate the ringer of a mobile telephone, but also outgoing calls, if a mobile telephone user attempts to communicate with another party.

Radioelectric protection method for a zone against the use of mobile telephones


The present invention relates to physiologically active substances extracted from infected tissues inoculated with a poxvirus. The substances of the present invention have excellent actions to improve blood flow and recover functions of diseased tissues, thus are useful as drugs for various diseases caused by blood flow disorders.

The present invention relates to physiologically active substances extracted from infected tissues and pharmaceutical compositions containing them.
Blood flow disorders are caused by various factors, for example, organic diseases of blood vessels such as arteriosclerosis, exposure to cold, physical and mental stresses, certain drugs and the like, and consequently tissues or organs fall into a state of ischemia. Several symptoms such as functional disorders of tissues or organs, feeling cold in foot and arms, numbness, pain and hypesthesia are presented. As a result of long continuance of this ischemia state, local tissues fall into atrophy, degeneration and necrosis finally.
As increasing aging population, many patients, especially old patients, often suffer from the said symptoms such as numbness, pain, functional troubles and the like. Therefore, it has been desired to develop drugs which can improve blood flow at diseased tissues and recover functions of such tissues as well as having greater safety without any side effects.
As a result of investigations for physiologically active substances extracted from infected tissues and produced by inoculation with a poxvirus to animal tissues, organs or cultured cells. The substances have been found having excellent action to improve blood flow and recover functions of diseased tissues as well as a process for the preparation thereof.
An object of the present invention is to provide novel physiologically active substances extracted from infected tissues. Another object of the invention is to provide pharmaceutical compositions containing the physiologically active substances.


A communication apparatus in which a service can more efficiently used is provided. The communication apparatus searches for an apparatus that provides a particular service and establishes a wireless connection to the other searched communication apparatus. Subsequently, an address of the other connected communication apparatus is obtained from the other communication apparatus, and the service provided by the other communication apparatus is used using the obtained address.

In recent years, the number of cases has been increased in which a wireless LAN station function is mounted to an electronic device such as a digital camera or a printer, and the electronic device is used as a communication apparatus while being connected to a wireless LAN. For example, PTL 1 discloses a method in which a wireless LAN function is mounted to the digital camera to facilitate image sharing.
Wi-Fi Alliance has established a specification called Wi-Fi Direct (registered trademark). According to Wi-Fi Direct, a protocol for deciding upon whether each of the electronic devices operates as either a wireless LAN access point or a wireless LAN station is established. While the protocol is executed, it is possible to automatically decide upon which one of the electronic devices operates as the wireless LAN access point and the other of which operates as the wireless LAN station. When this Wi-Fi Direct is used, the access point may not separately be prepared any more, and the mutual electronic devices can execute various services (such as image sharing and printing) through a direct communication, so that the usability for users is improved.
In addition, a function of searching for a content of a service provided by another apparatus on an application layer (Service Discovery function) is established as an optional function of Wi-Fi Direct. According to the present Service Discovery function, information on a service provided by the electronic device corresponding to a connection opposite party can be found out before the execution of the connection processing, and the usability for the users is improved.

Communication apparatus, control method for the communication apparatus, and non-transitory computer-readable storage medium


The present invention relates to the shaver capable of cutting deeply, provided with the outer blade having a plurality of the hair-guiding ports and the inner blade being adjacently located to the inner part of the outer blade and relatively moving against the said inner part, serving like an electric shaver of rotation or motion, which consists in going back and forth adjacently, wherein there is provided an escaping gap for taking hairs out in one part between the outer and inner blades, thus hooking the hairs guided into the gap, on the tip of the inner blade or pinching them inside the escaping gap and afterward, taking out the hairs and beards from the root of hairs and when the hairs move to the region without any escaping gap, they will be cut in the deep location.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shaver such as an electric shaver, with blades rotating or moving back and forth and adjacently to each other, provided with the outer blades having a plurality of ports for guiding hairs and beards inside, together with the inner blades moving in relative movements against the said inner part.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, the shaver in the above-mentioned example has many ports for guiding hairs inside on the outer blades for touching the skin on its outer surface, which shaver is used to cut the hairs guided inside the guiding ports by means of the cutting blade provided on the edge of the inner side of the hair-guiding ports and the cutting blade provided on the tip of the inner blade, which is adjacent to the inner part of the outer blade.
In this way, according to the shavers, there is a problem that hairs and bears cannot be shaven with a sufficient deepness inside because the hairs and beards guided into the guiding holes are to be cut on the tip of the inner blades adjacent to each other in the inner side of the outer blades, making the cutting points away from the skin for the thickness of the outer blade.
In order to resolve these problems, as a conventional methods that have been adopted, the cutting points of the hairs and bears were brought close to the skin by making the outer blades thinner and the lift-blades for taking out the hairs and beards from the root of hairs were provided on the front side of the inner blades.
The thickness of the outer blade of the current deep-cutting shaver may be between about 75 xcexcm and 80 xcexcm because the thinning of the outer blade is limited in order to secure the rigidity of the same outer blade and not to hurt skin got into the guiding port. Therefore, with this method only, it is hard to carry out the deep cutting like hand-cutting knife.
On the other hand, the means for providing a lift-blade is constructed as shown in the FIG. 30 as an exemplified plan.
In other words, as shown in the above figure with a sign (a), the lift blade 51 is pushed resiliently toward the inner side of the outer blade 53 in the front side of the inner blade 52, so that the lift blade 51 will be strongly pushed toward the hairs 55 guided into the guiding hole 54, with the tip of the blade getting stuck into the hairs 55. Thus as in the FIG. 30(b), the lift blade 51 will lift from the inner side of the outer blade 53 along the inclined surface of the front of the inner blade 52, taking out the hairs 55 stuck into its tip from the root of hair. Therefore, the hairs 55 guided inside will be cut with the inner blade 52 as it is taken out by the lift-blade 51.
However, the amount of lifting of the lift-blade 51 may be about 30 xcexcm, constituting about one third of the thickness of the outer blade 53, wherein the deep cutting as with the knife to cut with the hand is impossible and also, there is a problem that the manufacturing cost becomes high as the construction will be complicated in order to make the lift blade 51 resilient in the front side of each inner blade 52.
Furthermore, there is a problem that after downy hairs or soft hairs get into the inner part of the outer blade 53 from the guiding hole 54 of the outer blade 53, they get in contact with the lift blade 51 or the inner blade 52 (especially in the case of a shaver not having the lift blade 51) and the hairs and beards leave these blades 51 and 52 while it is impossible to easily cut them regardless of the lift blade 51.
The main purpose of the present invention is to provide a shaver capable of cutting deep, wherein there is provided an outer blade having the guiding hole of a plurality of hairs on the outer sides and the inner blade adjacent to the inner side of the outer blade and moving relatively against the inner part of the outer blade, thus comprising an escaping gap for taking the hairs out on one part between the outer and inner blades and in this case the hairs guided into the said gap are hooked in the tip of the inner blade and pinched in the escaping gap and when the hairs are taken out from the root of hair and have moved to a region without an escaping gap, they are to be cut in the deep part.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a shaver capable of cutting deep, wherein there is provided an assisting material for taking out the hairs by moving together with the said inner blade in the vicinity of the inner blade and the hairs guided into the position of the said assisting material upon being guided into the guiding port are to be pinched between the end surface of the said material and the outer blade and taken out from the root of hair, thus being cut in the deep part after being taken out by the next inner blade.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a shaver capable of cutting deeply, wherein the hairs guided into a position of the assisting material are to be pinched between the assisting material and the outer blade more favorably by the resilient power by putting the assisting material to the inner side of the outer blade for resilience, thus taking the hairs out of the root of hair and cutting the hair taken out, with the next inner blade in the deeper position.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide capable of cutting deeply in the same manner as described above, wherein the inner blades are divided into several ones and between a plurality of the inner blades and one outer blade there is formed a escaping gap for taking the hairs out.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a shaver capable of cutting the hairs deeply, wherein the escaping gap is formed in such a way that its distance decreases as it goes closer to the region where there is no escaping gap as described above and thus, the hairs guided into a region where the escaping gap is formed, are to be pinched more strongly as they are pinched near the region where there is no escaping gap, with the increasing power of taking out the hairs from its root.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a shaver capable of cutting deeply, wherein between the escaping gaps there is provided an introducing material for introducing the hairs, taking the hairs inside the outer blade sufficiently with the friction resistance or attaching power of the introducing material even though they are downy or soft hairs and the hairs are to be introduced between the outer and inner blades in order to be easily cut.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a shaver capable of cutting deeply, wherein there is provided an introducing material for introducing the hairs into at least one part somewhere between the assisting material and the outer blade, thus cutting easily the hairs even when they are soft as described above.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide a shaver capable of doing the deeper cutting, wherein there is provided an assisting material in the side preceding the inner blade, thus taking the hairs with the assisting material preceding the inner blade and cutting the hairs thus taken with the following inner blade.
Furthermore, another purpose of the present invention is to provide a shaver capable of cutting the hairs introduced into the inner part of the outer blade after taking them so that they should not escape from the guiding port by means of the introducing material with the closing structure, wherein the introducing material is provided in order to close the gaps between the outer blade and the inner blade.
Other purpose of the present inventions will be easily clarified according to the examples set forth below.


Dies for forming components, such as sheet components, and methods of producing the dies are disclosed. The die may include a bulk material and a forming surface. A solid conductor may be formed in the bulk material. The solid conductor may be spaced from and extend adjacent to the forming surface and have a melting point that is greater than a melting point of the bulk material. The solid conductor may be configured to absorb heat from the forming surface. There may multiple solid conductors within the bulk material, for example spaced apart and extending along an axis. The solid conductor may be a bundle of carbon fibers, which may be pitch-based. The solid conductor may be conformal to the forming surface, for example, having a constant spacing therefrom. The solid conductor may be cast-in to the die during its production.

Hot stamping is a metal forming process that may include heating an article or component to be formed and then stamping the article while it is still at an elevated temperature. For example, when hot stamping a steel article, the article may be heated to a temperature at which the microstructure of the steel is converted to austenite (e.g., austenitizing). This temperature may be around 900-950° C., depending on the composition of the steel. In some hot stamping processes, the dies of the stamping mold that provide the desired shape to the stamped article may be cooled. The cooled dies may cool the article as it is being stamped and/or immediately after it is stamped. If the cooling rate of the dies is sufficiently high, the microstructure of the stamped article may be converted to a high strength phase. In the case of steel components, a sufficient cooling rate may result in a martensitic microstructure. Hot stamping may also be used to form articles made from other metals, such as aluminum. For example, aluminum alloys may be solution heat treated and quenched using a hot stamping process.


A method for controlling cursor functions on a touch typing keyboard, comprising activation of the cursor control functions via transverse force applied comfortably by thumb movement. Such activation can be accomplished more easily, more efficiently, and more ergonomically effectively than prior art methods because it can be done without averting the eyes from the text copy and does not entail moving or uncomfortable stretching of the hands.

This application references Disclosure Document #277134 entitled "Ergonomic Thumb Activated Keyboard" mailed Mar. 17, 1991 and received in the USPTO on Mar. 22, 1991.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to activation of non-alphanumeric keys including cursor movement keys on keyboards for computers, electronic typewriters, word processors, and the like, and more particularly, to an improved method and apparatus for activation of alpha-numeric keys which is easier, more efficient, more ergonomic, and permits the touch typist to activate non-alphanumeric keys without moving the eyes from the text or moving the hands from their accustomed touch typing position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The standard electronic and computer keyboards of prior art (See FIG. 1) comprise a number of non-alphanumeric keys including "arrow" keys, 12, 14, 16, 18, which cause a cursor (or perhaps a typing mechanism for electronic typewriters) to move around the screen (or paper for electronic typewriters.) These non-alphanumeric keys are located in positions on the keyboard which force the touch typist to avert his or her eyes from the copy to the keyboard in order to locate and use these keys. Further, the typist must change the hand/finger location(s) and/or stretch uncomfortably to activate these keys.
For the arrow (cursor movement) keys, in particular, the typist must change the hand/finger location from one arrow key to another to move in different directions. Typically, the typist must
1) avert the eyes from the copy to the keyboard, PA0 2) remove the hands from their accustomed location, PA0 3) locate and depress the desired arrow key for movement in one direction, PA0 4) if another directional movement is then required, he or she must then move the hand/finger to the next arrow key for movement in a different direction, PA0 5) step 4) may need to be repeated for other arrow keys, PA0 6) look to the keyboard and return hands to original position, and then PA0 7) search the copy to find the proper location to begin inputting again.
This is not only an inconvenience but a waste of valuable time as well. Further, it adds to typist fatigue which can lead directly to lower efficiency and poorer quality work.
This inconvenience, inefficiency, and fatigue is not only generated by activating the cursor movement keys, but by activating virtually all of the other non-alphanumeric keys as well. These other keys include the page up, page down, home, end, backspace/erase, delete, specific function such as F1 through F12, insert, escape, control, alt, backslash, caps lock, and tab keys, as well as function keys F1, F2, etc. Though for reasons of simplicity and efficiency the discussion herein focuses on the cursor movement keys, the inherent limitations of prior art cursor movement keys are applicable to any and all of the other non-alphanumeric keys as well.
Some keyboard designs more recent than that shown in FIG. 1 (see, for example, Sprague et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,349) have moved the cursor movement keys into different locations, yet none of these designs eliminate the problems and inefficiencies hereinabove delineated. Other prior art (see the "Thumbelina" device of Appoint Corporation) show control of the cursor using a cursor ball which may be operated by the thumbs and which functions much like a mouse. Keyboards including such cursor balls also include cursor movement keys, and the cursor ball is not intended as a surrogate for the cursor keys, but merely as an additional means for moving the cursor. Each of the two types of means has advantages over the other, and each is a separate device unto itself. Cursor keys, for example, provide the user with a way to back or forward space one space at a time or move up or down one line at a time in discrete steps rather than with the continuous movement provided by a mouse or cursor ball. The present invention as applied to cursor movement is intended primarily for use in lieu of the traditional cursor keys rather than as a replacement for a cursor ball or mouse.
The invention shown by Crews, U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,030, permits somewhat easier motion of the cursor, but entails learning of a new keyboard layout as well as movement of the thumbs which is not as comfortable or as natural nor which interface as well with the spacebar as that provided by the present invention. In addition, the invention of Crews entails movement of the thumbs between four different keys to activate cursor movement in the four directions. This entails more time consuming and tedious movements than required in the present invention wherein only two keys may be used to provide cursor movement in all four directions. Further, unlike the present invention, Crew's invention docs not use, and cannot accommodate, the traditional spacebar for spacing which is widespread and found in virtually 100% of the keyboards used today. Still further, Crew's invention is not suitable to today's common keyboard and is not likely to be embraced by keyboard users or keyboard manufacturers since it entails such a radical departure from that to which users have become accustomed.
One keyboard made by Everex Systems, Inc. uses the "j" key to move the cursor in lieu of a mouse (in addition to its normal function as the "j" alphanumeric key). Cursor movement is activated by resting a finger on the top face of the "j" key and "gently sliding" the finger in the direction one wishes the cursor to move. This cursor movement key is intended for movement by a finger and has not proven as ergonomic as was originally hoped. The motion needed by the finger to control the cursor is neither as natural or comfortable as it could be, and users have found it less accurate and efficient than they would like. The device is not as easily activated as is the present invention which may comprise pressure on the side rather than top face of a key. In addition, the Everex "j" key is not a "dedicated" key, i.e., it has two functions--one as an alphanumeric key and one as a mouse key--thus making it more cumbersome than the present invention. Further, the device is not a surrogate for the traditional cursor movement keys as may be the present invention, and hence provides continuous mouse-like, rather than discrete cursor movement as may be provided by the invention shown herein.
Another keyboard design by Outbound in its Laptop System personal computer shows a Track Ball.TM. located below the center of the spacebar. It may be thumb activated but, as will be shown herein, is not as comfortably or as naturally activated as the present invention. Further, it takes up extra space on the keyboard which may not be necessary with the present invention. Such extra space actually forces the manufacturer to make the keyboard larger, entailing extra expense. It also requires extra space by the user to situate the keyboard. In addition, it moves the cursor in the continuous manner of a mouse or cursor ball rather than the discrete step movements supplied by standard cursor keys and which may be supplied by the improved cursor keys of the present invention. Further, it does not take advantage of the natural tendency of the thumbs to provide activation via transverse motion using direct pressure from the face of a thumb rather than traction force from a side of the thumb.
There is therefore, at present, no comfortable, easy means to activate non-alphanumeric keys such as the discrete step cursor (or typing mechanism) movement keys on standard size and design computer or electronic typewriter keyboards without moving the hands from their accustomed touch typing position, stretching of the hands uncomfortably, and/or averting the eyes to look at the keyboard.

Keyboard with transversely activated non-alphanumeric keys


An immobilizer ECU transmits a vehicle ID code and a SEED code, which is read from an electronic key, to a data center online. The data center generates an encryption key from the received SEED code and a first logic, and generates a further SEED code from the encryption key, the vehicle ID code, and a second logic. The immobilizer ECU obtains the further SEED code online from the data center, generates the encryption key from the obtained further SEED code, the vehicle ID code, and the second logic, and stores the encryption key.

The present invention relates to a registration system that registers an electronic key to a controller of a communication subject.
A known electronic key system performs wireless communication between a vehicle and an electronic key, which is held by a user of the vehicle to lock and unlock doors or start and stop the engine when the electronic key is verified. In such an electronic key system, the communication between the electronic key and the vehicle is encrypted and thereby protected to maintain a certain level of security (for example, refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-302848).
Encrypted communication may be performed by employing symmetric-key cryptosystem that uses the same encryption key for encryption and decryption. A shared key, that is, the same encryption key, is registered to an electronic key and a vehicle that perform encrypted communication in compliance with the symmetric-key cryptosystem. The registration of the encryption key to the electronic key and the vehicle is performed when registering the electronic key to a controller of the vehicle. The controller verifies the electronic key by comparing identification information received from the electronic key with identification information stored in its memory.
In an electronic key registration system that registers an electronic key to a controller, to avoid registration of an electronic key other than that of the user, the inventors of the present invention have considered storing in advance a vehicle ID code (identification information unique to a communication subject) of a vehicle (communication subject) to the controller and the electronic key, and then shipping the controller and the electronic key together out of a factory. In this example, however, the shipping becomes complicated, and an additional electronic key cannot be registered at a later date. The inventors of the present invention have also considered shipping out the controller, which stores a vehicle ID, and the electronic key separately from a factory. However, in this case, someone may tamper with the vehicle ID code. Such a problem is not limited to an electronic key system used in a vehicle and may also occur in an electronic key system used in a building such as a house.

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