A modular portable table usable as a temporary table or support structure includes a tabletop, one or more leg assemblies, and an anchor assembly for securing the table to a substrate, the one or more leg assemblies positioned between the tabletop and the anchor assembly.

Interest in outdoor activities is growing. Every year, more and more people spend time outdoors participating in a wide variety of work and leisure activities, including hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, picnicking, reading, sunbathing, yard games, and the like. Many people enjoy outdoor activities throughout all four seasons and in all types of weather, terrain and ground conditions. However, the lack of readily available clean, dry, and convenient flat surfaces often limits the types of equipment a person may bring with them.
Surveys have shown that the most often requested item by outdoor enthusiasts is a table. Virtually everyone has a need to use, stow and protect one or more items used in a given outdoor activity (e.g., binoculars for bird watching or books for reading). Many people also desire to use additional unnecessary but preferred items in order to make the outdoor experience more enjoyable (e.g., range finders for golf or a beverage while playing yard games). Such items can be expensive, breakable and unsuited to be placed on wet, rough, or uneven surfaces, such as the ground.
Although many urban parks and campsites are equipped with tables or benches, they are often un-sanitary, occupied and/or placed too far from the desired location of any given user. These tables also tend to be immovable as they are typically either permanently mounted in one location or too large and cumbersome for any one person to move. Such tables are also generally dirty from prolonged exposure to the weather. As a result, many individuals are unable or unwilling to use them.
Traditional fixed-leg home dining and bench-style tables are similarly impractical for most outdoor applications due to their size and weight. Even currently available folding tables are unsuited for broad use across the gamut of terrain and ground conditions commonly encountered by outdoors enthusiasts. Such tables are too large to be easily carried and do not allow for use on un-even or slanted terrain because items placed on the tabletop surface will simply slide off. Furthermore, these tables are not portable, packable, or made from interchangeable parts. Moreover, these tables lack versatility, as they do not allow users to modify or alter their configuration to suit a given user's needs, the terrain, or the ground conditions or environment in which it will be deployed.
Thus, there exists a need for an inexpensive, lightweight, modular portable table that is compact, easily stowed and assembled, and suitable for use in any environment and with any terrain and ground conditions.


Disclosed in the present specification is a self-checkout device to which hybrid product recognition technology is applied and which helps a user to more conveniently and quickly make a payment. The self-checkout device according to the present specification photographs a product with a plurality of cameras, and then recognizes a barcode by detecting a barcode region from the captured images and, simultaneously, extracts a feature point of the images such that a product can be recognized through the calculation of the proportion that matches with a reference image of the product. Thus, a product can be quickly recognized through barcode recognition and packaging paper recognition in a product image.

In the case of large stores or medium-to-large size supermarkets, a self-checkout counter, which does not require a cashier, is installed and operated in order to reduce a waiting time for customers to wait in line in front of the checkout counter or for customers who do not want to show their purchased products to a cashier.
FIG. 1 is an exemplary diagram of a self-checkout counter according to the related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, most self-checkout counters are equipped with one or two barcode scanners, and when a customer searches for barcodes of products one by one and places the barcode on a front surface of the scanner, the product is processed in such a manner that the product is recognized.
In such a self-checkout counter, there is an inconvenience that products should be taken out of a shopping basket one by one to find barcodes of the products and the barcodes should be moved an appropriate distance from a front surface of a scanner. This is an inconvenience caused by the barcodes of the products differing in size and attachment position thereof. In the case of some products, a portion of the barcode may be exposed such as to be difficult to recognize and a portion of the barcode may be damaged. In this case, depending on the situation, with the help of a cashier, the barcode of the product is recognized using a laser-type hand scanner, or a unique serial number of the product is input to recognize the product.
Such a recognition method and an exceptional situation are factors that lower the convenience to a customer using a self-checkout counter and the functional reliability of the checkout counter.

Self-checkout device to which hybrid product recognition technology is applied


Disclosed herein is a method of integrating data of an XML document with a DB on a web. In the method, an XML document provided with user-defined tags is designed. An XSL format document for normal data mapping and an XSL format document for repetitive data mapping are designed. Mapping information required to map the normal data and the repetitive data of the XML document to the XSL format document for normal data mapping and the XSL format document for repetitive data mapping is created. An XSL document for normal data mapping and an XSL document for repetitive data mapping are generated using the mapping information. An SQL query statement required to integrate the normal data and the repetitive data of the XML document with a DB is generated. Data of the XML document is integrated with the DB by executing the SQL query statement on the DB.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method of integrating the data of an Extensible Markup Language (XML) document with a database (DB) on a web and, more particularly, to a method of integrating the data of an XML document with a DB on a web, which can dynamically integrate the data of an XML document with a DB on a web using an XML replacement technology.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, markup language refers to a series of characters or symbols inserted into specific locations so as to reveal a way in which a relevant file is to be output through a printer or a form in which the file is to be viewed on a screen. Well-known markup languages include Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) and HyperText Markup Language (HTML).
SGML is a markup language mainly for efficiently transmitting, storing and automatically processing multimedia electronic documents between different heterogeneous systems without causing the loss of information. HTML is a markup language mainly for describing hypermedia documents used on the Internet.
SGML is disadvantageous in that even if it has various functionalities, as described above, it is difficult to use the SGML and it is not easy to generate and understand a document type definition (hereinafter referred to as "DTD"). Further, HTML is disadvantageous in that even if it is simple and is easily used, HTML is a fixed markup language defined by SGML, and thus it is difficult to incorporate the variety of and dynamic characteristics of the web.
In order to compensate for the disadvantages of existing markup languages, an extensible markup language (hereinafter referred to as "XML") has been proposed. XML is a next generation Internet standard language proposed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in 1996 and adopted as a recommended standard by the W3C in the spring of 1998.
XML is a meta-language generated by improving the simple representational functions of HTML, collecting only the practical functions of SGML and then simplifying them. This XML is one of Internet standard languages that are currently receiving attention thanks to its various advantages such as the advantage of having excellent compatibility with other languages, being easy to create, and having a DTD for verifying a data format and tools for supporting the DTD, and the advantage of a tag being closely related to the contents of a document so that an XML file itself may function as a single desirably designed DB.
That is, to date, HTML which has been most widely used as a content representation language on the Internet, is suitable for the functionality of representation, but has limitations when desiring to reuse or search for documents. Thus, as a next-generation Internet language for solving these limitations, XML that is a language enabling the scalability, compatibility, and information structurization has received attention.
Meanwhile, a database (DB) is a structure of data stored depending on specific relationships that reflect the meaning of data. Such a DB, as storage of information, is used by a large number of application programs, and thus the structure of a DB must be able to be changed without the revision of application programs.
In the prior art, there are problems in that a DB must be newly created to store XML documents in the DB, and XML documents having the same DTD must be stored in the table of the newly created DB, and in that when, in particular, the schema structures of DBs storing XML documents are different from one another, the data of an existing DB may not be used, or the data of the existing DB that has already been constructed must be migrated to the new DB.
In order to solve these problems, research has been conducted into technology in which the information of a DB is converted into a document using XML and the document represented by XML is stored easily in the DB, by generating mapping rules between the DTD of the XML document and the schema of the DB, converting the XML document into the DB in compliance with the generated mapping rules and then storing the DB, and by converting information stored in the form of the DB back into the XML document.
In detail, technology entitled "method of storing and managing an XML document and a medium for storing software programmed to perform the same" is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 10-2001-0017631. This patent proposes a method of storing and managing an XML document, which performs mapping between the schema structure of a DB that has been previously constructed and used and DTD documents defining the structure of an XML document, thus performing storage and searching in conjunction with even the DB of schema types that were used previously.
Further, in the prior art, as the requirements of users related to application programs are diversified, there are a large number of types and quantities represented by XML documents, so that there is a problem in that it is difficult for a system, in which a single DB server processes the requests of all users, to promptly cope with the requests of the users to make a response.
In order to solve this problem, research has been conducted into technology which enables pieces of XML data managed by a source DB to be duplicated to another server which is physically different from a source server without any loss of the meanings of structural information and attribute information contained in an original XML document as well as the contents of the original XML document.
In detail, technology entitled "apparatus and method for duplicating an XML document to a remote server without any loss of the structural and attribute information of the XML document" is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 10-2003-0092525. This patent proposes a method which can process the service requests of application programs by distributing users' queries that have been concentrated on a source server into a plurality of duplication servers while allowing even each duplication server to support searching based on the contents and attributes provided by an XML query language, through the use of characteristics of the structural and attribute information included in each XML document being maintained without change when duplicating the XML document stored in the DB of the source server to the DB of the duplication server.
However, the above patents are problematic in that promptness is low when the data of each XML document is stored in the DB and in that when errors are caused in a storage procedure, a DB having low accuracy may be constructed. Therefore, the inventor of the present invention has completed the invention related to a scheme capable of immediately integrating an XML document on a web with a DB using mapping information upon integrating data while conducting research into technology for integrating data with a DB using data mapping between XML/Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) documents so as to solve the above problem.

Method of integrating data of XML document with database on web


A method is disclosed for visualizing a lymph node in a volume section of an examination subject by way of a combined MR/PET apparatus and to a correspondingly embodied combined MR/PET apparatus. The method includes acquisition of PET data of the volume section by way of a positron emission detector in order to record on the basis of the PET data a metabolic activity per PET voxel within the predetermined volume section; acquisition of MR data of the volume section by way of a magnetic resonance system in order to record on the basis of the MR data a lymph-node-specific contrast per region of the predetermined volume section; and generation of an image as a function of the metabolic activity recorded per PET voxel and as a function of the lymph-node-specific contrast recorded per region, abnormal lymph nodes being visualized in the image as distinguishable from normal lymph nodes.

As background information, assessing lymph nodes in malignant diseases (cancers) in diagnostic radiology is a major problem and one that continues to remain unresolved. The contemporary approach is based on the principle that lymph nodes with a size of more than 10 mm harbor malignancy and that lymph nodes that are less than 10 mm are benign (inoffensive). This crude morphological classification is not always correct, however, since of course lymph nodes less than 10 mm in size can also be affected by tumor cells and since lymph nodes more than 10 mm in size can also be simply enlarged due to an inflammatory change and therefore do not harbor malignancy. Furthermore there also exist fibrotic lymph nodes which have been converted into connective tissue as a result of a previous inflammation process and consequently are likewise enlarged.
Positron emission tomography (PET) is frequently used in the prior art for diagnosing lymph nodes. After a tracer, fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) for example, has been administered, PET visualizes the local activity of the glucose metabolism, which is significantly increased in the case of malignant diseases. A disadvantageous aspect, however, is that the activity of the glucose metabolism is also increased in the case of inflammations, which means that a malignant disease cannot be inferred on the basis of an increase in the activity of the glucose metabolism. Although the use of the tracer fluorothymidine (FLT) in PET reveals a higher specificity for malignant diseases, it likewise proves unsuccessful very frequently in the case of lymph nodes. Trials with other PET tracers, based on 11C-choline for example, have similarly failed to produce good results to date and consequently they are not employed commercially.
Moreover, using PET for diagnosing lymph nodes is problematic due to the low spatial resolution. In PET, a small lymph node is usually not clearly visible due to the partial volume effect. As a result of the partial volume effect objects are represented with too little activity concentration in the PET image if their size is in the range of the PET resolution or below.
Equally, the combined use of PET and computed tomography (CT) achieves no further advantage compared to PET on its own in relation to this problem, since CT merely allows a judgment concerning the size of the lymph node and furnishes no information on the reason for the enlargement (e.g. malignant event).
As background information, magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) is likewise only able to deliver judgments relating to the size of a lymph node, since experiments, by way of MR spectroscopy for example, to deliver judgments concerning the malignancy of a lymph node have so far yielded no satisfactory results. Also known are lymphotropic contrast agents for MRT which are taken up by inflammatory cells and selectively accumulate in the lymphatic tissue. Examples of contrast agents of the type are iron oxides, such as Sinerem (Guerbet) and perfluorocarbons (experimental contrast agents). However, the contrast agents likewise do not lead in every case to a correct diagnosis, since they merely indicate if inflammatory cells (macrophages) are present in a lymph node and give no direct pointer to whether malignant cells are contained in a lymph node. If a lymph node is fibrotic and contains neither macrophages nor tumor cells, the use of such contrast agents can lead to an incorrect diagnosis in that the lymph node is wrongly classified as cancerous.
The use of iron oxides as contrast agents results in a further disadvantage, since iron oxide leads to a negative contrast (to a local signal loss) so that the lymph nodes are no longer visible. For the assessment according to the prior art it is therefore necessary to acquire a second MR image which is generated before the contrast agent is administered (i.e. at least 24 hours previously). Since the lymph nodes can shift position within the course of 24 hours (i.e. between the generation of the two MR images), a corresponding evaluation is problematic. Other MR contrast agents (e.g. gadolinium chelates) produce only a very unspecific contrasting of the lymph nodes and therefore lead to no satisfactory results in the assessment of the malignancy.

Method for visualizing a lymph node and correspondingly embodied combined MR/PET apparatus


The invention relates to a labeling reactant of formula (I) useful for labeling an oligonucleotide

The publications and other materials used herein to illuminate the background of the invention, and in particular, cases to provide additional details respecting the practice, are incorporated by reference.
Synthetic oligonucleotides tethered to various ligands have been used as research tools in molecular biology [for reviews, see e.g. Iyer, R. P., Roland, A., Zhou, W., and Ghosh, K. Curr. Opin. Mol. Ther., 1999, 1, 344; Uhlman, E. and Peyman. A. Chem Rev, 1990, 90, 543; English. U. and Gauss, D. H. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1991, 30, 613. Beaugace and Iyer, Tetrahedron, 1993, 49, 6123.; Wojczewski, C., Stolze, K. and Engels, J. W. Synlett, 1999, 1667]. They have been applied to genetic analysis, and to elucidate mechanism of gene function. Oligonucleotides carrying reporter groups have had widespread use for automated DNA sequencing, hybridization affinity chromatography and fluorescence microscopy, Oligonucleotide-biotin conjugates axe widely used as hybridization probes. Antisense oligonucleotides covalently linked to intercalators, chain cleaving or alkylating agents have been shown to be efficient as gene expression regulators. The sequence specific artificial nucleases, when targeted against mRNA, may find applications even as chemotherapeutics.
The labels can be attached to the target oligonucleotides or polynucleotides either chemically or enzymatically. The chemical approach includes often preparation of modified building blocks, and their subsequent insertion into synthetic oligonucletides during oligonucleotide synthesis. Alternatively, natural DNA can be transformed, for example by bisulfite catalyzed transamination of cytosine residues [Biochemistry, 1980, 19, 1774] followed by labeling of the amino functions with appropriate label molecules, The enzymatic approach, in turn, consists of preparation of nucleoside triphosphates derivatized with appropriate tether molecules and their incorporation into RNA or DNA structure by a polymerase reaction.
For several applications, such as for DNA hybridization assays, it is desirable to introduce more than one reporter group to the oligonucleotide structure. This can be performed by three alternative methods: (i) by coupling several base- or carbohydrate-tethered nucleosidic building blocks or nucleoside triphosphates to the growing oligonucleotide chain, (ii) by functionalization of the internucleosidic phosphodiester linkages, or (iii) by using several multifunctional non-nucleosidic building blocks during oligonucleotide chain assembly. All of these methods have their own drawbacks. Since the double helix formation of DNA is based on hydrogen bonding between the complementary base residues, tethers attached to the base moieties often weaken these interactions. This problem is easily overcome by using the tethered nucleosides at the 3′- or 5′-terminus of the coding sequence, or by using labels linked to C5 of pyrimidine residues. Introduction of tethers to the phosphate backbone gives rise to new chiral centers and makes the purification of these analogues difficult. Introduction of the tether arm to the carbohydrate moiety, in turn, often decreases the coupling efficiency of the phosphoramidite due to steric hindrance.
Introduction of linker arms to the nucleobase is most commonly performed by allowing a nucleoside with a good leaving group (N-tosyl, N-benzoyl, halogen, triazole, thiol) at C4 of pyrimidines or C2, C8 or C6 of purines to react with the appropriate nucleophilic linker molecule (e.g. an alkane-α,ω-diamine). Since normally an excess of linker molecule and rather vigorous reaction conditions has to be used laborious purification procedures cannot be avoided. The basic reaction conditions needed gives additional requirements to the other protecting groups in the target molecule. These problems may be overcome by attachment of the linker molecules to C5 of pyrimidine bases by a palladium catalyzed coupling reaction between 5-halogeno pyrimidine nucleoside and an alkynyl- or allyl linker. Recently, attachment of linker arm to the N3 of 3′, 5′-O-protected thymidine [J. Org. Chem., 1999, 64, 5083; Nucleosides, Nucleotides, 1999, 18, 1339] and 2′-deoxy-5′-O-(4,4′-dimethoxytrityl)uridine [Org. Lett. 2001, 3, 2473] based on Mitsunobu reaction have been reported. Since the coupling reaction is performed under mild conditions, a wide range of tethers can be introduced.
The majority of methods described in literature involve attachment of functional groups in the oligonucleotide structure during chain assembly. Hence, introduction of the label molecules has to be performed in solution. In the labeling reaction the amino or mercapto groups of oligonucletides are allowed to react in solution with isothiocyanato, haloacetyl or 2,4,6-triazinyl derivatives of label molecules. Carboxylic acid groups, in turn, can be labeled with amino tethered labels with the aid of water-soluble carbodiimide. Since in all the cases the labeling reaction is performed in aqueous solution with an excess of labeling reactants, laborious purification procedures cannot be avoided. Especially when attachment of several labels is required the isolation and characterization of the desired conjugate is extremely difficult, and often practically impossible. Hence, several attempts to incorporate label molecules or their appropriately protected precursor to oligonucleotide structure during chain assembly have been done [U.S. Pat. No. 4,948,882, U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,236]. The fluorescent label monomers for solid phase chemistry synthesized are most commonly organic dyes (e.g. fluorescein, rhodamine, dansyl, dabsyl, pyrene, Alexa, Cy, TAMRA), several of these blocks are even commercially available. However, such labels and labeled biomolecules suffer from many commonly known drawbacks such as Raman scattering, other fluorescent impurities, low water solubility, concentration quenching etc. In specific binding assays, generally very low concentrations of analytes to be measured are present. Thus multilabeling of oligonucleotides with organic fluorophores may not enhance detection sensitivity the extent needed in many applications. For this type of applications lanthanide(III) chelates are labels of choice since they do not suffer from this phenomenon. In DNA hybridization assays, time-resolved luminescence spectroscopy using lanthanide chelates is well known [Hemmila et al. Bioanalytical Applications of Labelling Technologies, Wallac Oy, 1994]. Therefore, a number of attempts have been made to develop new highly luminescent chelate labels suitable for time-resolved fluorometric applications. These include e.g. stabile chelates composed of derivatives of pyridines [U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,195, U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,722, U.S. Pat. No. 4,761,481, PCT/FI91/00373, U.S. Pat. No. 4,459,186, EP Appl.0770610, Remuinan et al, J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans 2, 1993, 1099], bipyridines [U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,134], terpyridines [U.S. Pat. No. 4,859,777, U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,423, U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,825] or various phenolic compounds [U.S. Pat. No. 4,670,572, U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,191, Ital Pat. 42508 A789] as energy mediating groups and polycarboxylic acids as chelating parts. In addition, various dicarboxylate derivatives [U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,677, U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,578, U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,563] macrocyclic cryptates [U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,923, WO 93/5049, EP-A493745] and macrocyclic Schiff bases [EP-A-369-000] have been published. Also a method for the labeling of a biospecific binding reactant such as hapten, a peptide, a receptor ligand, a drug or PNA oligomer with luminescent labels by using solid-phase synthesis has been published [U.S. Pat. No. 6,080,839, EP 067205A1]. Also oligonucleotide labeling reagents have been synthesized and used in multilabeling of oligonucleotides [Nucleic Acids Res., 22, 1994, Org. Lett., 2001, 3, 2473].
For several applications, such as for those involving an antisense approach, enhanced stability of oligonucleotides towards nucleases is desired. Most commonly this has been achieved by modifying the phosphodiester backbone (mono- and dithioates, phosphoramidites) or carbohydrate moiety.

Oligonucleotide labeling reactants based on acyclonucleosides and conjugates derived thereof

Abstract: wherein: R is a temporary protecting group. A is either a phosphorylating moiety or a solid support tethered to Z via a linker arm E″. Z is a bridge point and is formed from

Abstract: E is a linker arm between R and Z. E′ is a linker arm between Z and Z′. E″ is a linker arm between Z and A. E′″ is a linker arm between Z′ and G. Z′ is a purine or pyrimidine base. G is a protected bivalent aromatic structure, tethered to two iminodiacetic acid ester groups N(CH2COOR″)2, or G is a structure selected from the group consisting of

Abstract: or G is a protected functional group, or G is a protected or unprotected organic dye, hapten or a spin label.


A method is provided for coupon validation. A coupon is downloaded to a mobile device. The mobile device is used to determine a radio frequency fingerprint comprising cell tower data and cell sector data. The coupon is associated with the radio frequency fingerprint. Whether the radio frequency fingerprint matches a radio frequency fingerprint specified for redemption is determined. Redemption of the coupon is enabled in response to a determination that the radio frequency fingerprint matches the radio frequency fingerprint specified for redemption.

In marketing, a coupon is a ticket or document that can be exchanged for a financial discount, rebate, or other value related to goods or services. Customarily, coupons are issued by manufacturers of consumer packaged goods or by retailers, to be used in retail stores as a part of sales promotions. Coupons are often widely distributed through mail, magazines, newspapers and computer networks. Coupons distributed via computer networks have become popular because there is no postal cost and any printing cost is borne by the user, who may print the coupons, rather than the businesses issuing them.
Online retailers often refer to their coupons as "coupon codes," "promotional codes," "promotion codes," "discount codes," "key codes," "promo codes," "shopping codes," "voucher codes" or "source codes." Such electronic coupons typically provide for reduced cost or free shipping, a specific dollar or percentage discount, or some other offer to encourage consumers to purchase specific products or to purchase from specific retailers.
However, the popularity of electronic coupons has given rise to various problems. An electronic coupon that is submitted for redemption may be fraudulent and the business redeeming the coupon may not have issued the coupon. Because some retail stores in a national business may redeem only some of the business' electronic coupons, the selective retail stores need to be able to determine how an electronic coupon was issued before deciding whether to redeem the electronic coupon. Furthermore, businesses that issue electronic coupons need to verify that electronic coupons being submitted to a clearing house for redemption are actually being redeemed at a valid retail store for the business.

Coupon validation using radio frequency fingerprinting


A power management method for use by a blade server or other networked computer having a CPU, memory, network interface, and timer. The method includes monitoring processes in the computer, determining that the computer has become idle, and switching the CPU and memory from an active state to a low power state while maintaining the network interface and timer in an active state. Power management for multicore processors is also provided. A power supply system can be used for providing shared power to groups of the networked computers that each have a similar active power demand. Each PSU in the power supply system is capable of supplying the active power demand at an efficiency greater than a preselected desired minimum efficiency. Changes in power requirements resulting from a computer switching between low power and active states can be accommodated by switching a single PSU into or out of the system.

It is becoming more common for computers and other electronics to utilize low power quiescent modes during periods of substantial inactivity. For example, desktop and laptop computers can be placed into standby and hibernation modes in which the computer is essentially shut down and not able to function until manual switching of the computer back into its fully active state. Another power management approach short of a system-wide idling of the computer is to selectively power down only certain components, such as the computer's hard disk drive. However done, these approaches are commonly used on consumer computers, but may not be practical for use by servers where the rapid transitions and brief intervals of activity make it difficult to conserve idle power. Yet, as much as 60% of the power consumed by servers in a typical data center is wasted by idle servers that are powered on, but not performing useful work. The recent trend towards server consolidation is partly motivated by the high energy cost of idle systems. By moving services to virtual machines, several services can be time-multiplexed on a single physical server, increasing average utilization. Consolidation allows the total number of physical servers to be reduced, thereby reducing idle inefficiency. However, server consolidation by itself does not close the gap between peak and average utilization—data centers still require sufficient capacity for peak demand, which can leave some servers idle in the average case. Furthermore, consolidation does not save energy automatically—system administrators must actively consolidate services and remove unneeded systems.
Although support for sleep states is widespread in handheld, laptop and desktop machines, as noted above these states are not typically used in current server systems. The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) standard defines a rich set of power states that an operating system and hardware platform can use to manage power consumption. These low power states operate by transferring volatile data (e.g., main memory) to non-volatile storage (typically disk). Unfortunately, the high restart latency of these states renders them unacceptable for interactive services—disks simply provide insufficient I/O response time and bandwidth to restore memory state in fractions of a second. Moreover, unlike consumer devices, servers cannot rely on the user to transition between power states; they must have an autonomous mechanism that manages state transitions.
Recent server processors include CPU throttling solutions (e.g. Intel Speedstep™, AMD Cool'n'Quiet™) to reduce the large overhead of light loads. These processors use dynamic voltage and frequency scaling (DVFS) to reduce their operating frequency linearly while gaining cubic power savings. DVFS relies on operating system support to tune processor frequency to instantaneous load. In Linux, the kernel continues lowering frequency until it observes ˜20% idle time. Improving DVFS control algorithms remains an active research area. Nonetheless, DVFS can be highly effective in reducing CPU power. However, as FIG. 1 shows, CPUs account for a small portion of total system power.
Energy proportional computing seeks to extend the success of DVFS to the entire system. In this scheme, each system component is redesigned to consume energy in proportion to utilization. In an energy-proportional system, explicit power management is unnecessary, as power consumption varies naturally with utilization. However, as many components incur fixed power overheads when active (e.g., clock power on synchronous memory busses, leakage power in CPUs, etc.) energy-proportional operation may not be readily achievable.
Another more recent concern is the AC to DC conversion losses in computer systems large and small, and this has led to a variety of research proposals, product announcements, and standardization efforts to improve power supply efficiency. The concern is particularly applicable to data centers, server farms and other multi-server systems such as can be implemented using blade servers, where each watt wasted in the power delivery infrastructure implies even more loss in cooling. As in conventional blade enclosures, power is provided by multiple PSUs connected in parallel. A conventional load-sharing IC continuously monitors and controls the PSUs to ensure load is divided evenly among them. Individual PSUs can be disabled and electrically isolated when they are not needed to supply the load.
A variety of recent initiatives seek to improve server power efficiency:
1. 80+ certification. The EPA Energy Star program has defined the "80+" certification standard to incentivize PSU manufacturers to improve efficiency at low loads. The 80+ incentive program is primarily targeted at the low-peak-power desktop PSU market. 80+ supplies carry an average 30% cost premium and require considerably higher design complexity than conventional PSUs, which may pose a barrier to widespread adoption in the reliability-conscious server PSU market. Furthermore, despite their name, the 80+ specification does not require energy efficiency above 80% across all loads, rather, only within the typical operating range of conventional systems.
2. Single voltage supplies. Unlike desktop machines, which require five different DC output voltages to support legacy components, server PSUs typically provide only a single DC output voltage, simplifying their design and improving reliability and efficiency.
3. DC distribution. Recent research has called for distributing DC power among data center racks, eliminating AC-to-DC conversion efficiency concerns at the blade enclosure level. However, the efficiency advantages of DC distribution are unclear and deploying DC power will require multi-industry coordination.
4. Dynamic load-sharing. Blade enclosures create a further opportunity to improve efficiency through dynamic load-sharing. Hewlett Packard's Dynamic Power Saver feature in the HP Blade Center c7000 employs up to six high efficiency 2.2 kW PSUs in a single enclosure, and dynamically varies the number of PSUs that are engaged, ensuring that all active supplies operate in their "green" zone while maintaining redundancy.

Computer energy conservation with a scalable PSU configuration

The Regents of the University of Michigan


A liquid junction assembly for providing a flow connection between two tubular conduits. The assembly includes respective bodies configured to define elongated passages of respective first and second cross sections to receive and locate the respective tubular conduits, a plate with at least one hole therethrough of a third cross section smaller than the first and second cross sections, and a seat for the plate, defined in a face of one or both of the bodies. The bodies and the plate are assembled with the plate in the seat and the elongated passages and the hole aligned along a common axis.

Problems commonly arise in liquid chromatography from the dead volumes that can be created by any of the myriad of connections from the injection port to the column and from the column to the detector. Dead volume, or the lack thereof, is extremely critical after the column until the sample reaches the detector. These problems are exacerbated with capillary and low micro and nano-liquid chromatography mass spectrometry where bad connections can lead to a total failure of the experiment. The typical low flow rates in these applications make them exceptionally sensitive to dead volumes. While there has been significant development of minimal dead volume and ultra high pressure liquid chromatography (UHPLC) fittings to optimise simple connections (e.g. the Thermo NanoViper, the IDEX MarvelX fittings, and the Optimze Technologies EXP2 fittings), there are currently no reliable minimal dead volume unions for joining two capillaries.
Current such unions, or 'liquid junctions', currently comprise a tubular body with axially aligned cylindrical passages to receive the respective capillaries. The passages are separated at the center of the body by a web in which is drilled a very small hole at the axial center line, to join the passages and thereby the bores of the capillaries. In a typical such system, the passage may be of 0.9 mm diameter and the hole 50 μm. The current manufacturing method entails drilling the hole using a drill bit or a laser beam. These methods are limited due to the distance from the end of the passage in the fitting to the web to be drilled. Typical limitations with mechanical drilling using drill bits range from approximately 75 to 200 μm and greater, depending on the capabilities of the machine shop, equipment used and drill bit sizes. Typical limitations of laser drilling are in the 30-60 μm range due to the distance of the laser head from the web in which the through hole is laser drilled. Correctly positioning the hole within, e.g., 50 μm of the center line is challenging, as alignment of the laser is done by camera and eye and is thus operator dependent. The laser beam must not touch the sides of the access passage, thus reducing cutting power. It is also difficult to flow the necessary gas down the hole for laser cutting. All of these factors impact the position of the through hole, which is quite critical in such small inner diameters of tubing that are used with the liquid junction.
Another method currently used is to drill a large hole to accommodate the OD of the tubing, or in some instances tubing with an additional outer sleeve to increase the OD to fit through the larger drilled through hole. The tubing coming in from both sides is then butted together. This again can cause dead volume, should both tubes not fit exactly flush together, or even cause blockage due to hole misalignment. This method also relies on the user positioning each tube exactly half way in the fitting, in the case of a coned port union, so there is enough tubing protruding past the ferrule for it to bite or have purchase onto the tubing.
It is an object of the invention to achieve a liquid junction especially adaptable at the micro or nanoscale in which the necessary hole accuracy is more easily achieved than with the aforementioned prior arrangements.
Reference to any prior art in the specification is not an acknowledgment or suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in any jurisdiction or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be understood, regarded as relevant, and/or combined with other pieces of prior art by a skilled person in the art.


A mobile skid turner for inverting skid loads of paper includes an H-shaped base frame portion with casters for facilitating movement in desired directions and opposing upright structural members at an intermediate location. A rotatable shaft facilitates the rotational inverting of the product. A first and second set of forks are included for engaging an underlying side of a skid pallet located under a product to be inverted and for engaging an overlying side of another skid pallet overlying the product to be inverted. Sensors and limit switches located on at least one member of each of the forks are included for stopping a clamping action of the forks at a predetermined clamping setting. The rotation action is power assisted. Controls are provided for selectively controlling the clamping action and the rotation action of the product.

Although the invention can relate to other analogous or similar industries, by way of background, the printing industry will be discussed herein. In most short-run printing shops, about 25,000 sheets, more or less, need to be printed on one side of the paper and then those sheets need to be turned over for printing the opposite side as soon as possible.
However, until the ink has dried, the paper cannot be compressed or it will stick together, which causes off-setting. In short-run shops, it is necessary to print the opposite side and not wait until the ink has finished drying. In order to do this, the paper has to be turned over by hand, placed on a skid and fed back into the press so the second side can be printed.
Skid turners known in the art are typically not movable or mobile and those that are mobile are manually operated such as the hand pushed mini-fork lifts and the rotation or inverting function is not done in a backward motion. Also, in prior art devices, the paper needs to be compressed, otherwise, the paper will fall out on to the floor as the rotation function is performed. Further, aeration means is not present in mobile unit known in the art, and ink sticking problems are encountered when the forks over-compress the paper stack because the prior art mobile devices need to compress the paper stack in order to perform the inverting function. Therefore, care must be taken to take the time to let the ink dry before attempting to handle the skid with current prior art mobile devices.
The reason why the prior art skid turners have to compress the paper between the two skids or pallets is because they turn the paper in a clockwise or counter-clockwise inverting or rotation movement. If the paper comes loose during the turn, it will end up sliding and will not be centered on the skid or will fall onto the floor.
What is needed is a movable skid turner that will not compress the paper and will aerate it.


A combine harvester has a cutting and conveyance device for crop, a threshing device for separating grain from the crop, a sieve system arranged in the longitudinal direction of the combine harvester, and a blower system comprising at least two blowers disposed upstream of the sieve system transversely to the longitudinal direction of the combine harvester and controlled independently of one another.

The present invention relates to a combine harvester. More particularly, it relates to a combine harvester having a cutting and conveyance device for crop, a threshing device for separating grain from the crop, a sieve system, and a blower system.
DE 39 06 186 A1 makes known a combine harvester of the initially stated type, which comprises a cutting and conveyance device for crop, a threshing unit for separating the grain from the crop, and a sieve system extending in the longitudinal direction of the combine harvester. A blower system is disposed upstream of the sieve system, transversely to the longitudinal direction of the combine harvester. Crop that is picked up by the cutting and conveyance device and conveyed to the combine harvester is directed to the threshing device to separate grain from the crop. The threshing device separates a large portion of the grain from the crop. The remaining crop, which comprises mainly straw and chaff, is transferred to the sieve system in order to separate out the portion of grain remaining in the crop. The blower system disposed upstream of the sieve system in the transverse direction of the combine harvester generates an air volume flow to act upon the sieve system with air, thereby assisting in the separation of heavy grains from the lighter-weight components of the crop, such as chaff and straw. The efficiency of the separation is dependent upon the consistency of the supply of the crop to the sieve system. The consistency of the supply is greatly affected when the combine harvester is in a tilted position since gravity causes crop to accumulate on the sieve system.
DE 39 06 186 A1 provides a blower system comprising a cross-flow fan which extends in the direction of travel across the entire width of the sieve system. The cross-flow fan is segmented by partition walls in order to attain a number of sectors that corresponds to the number of sieve sections of the sieve system, which are acted upon by air by the cross-flow fan. To balance the uneven crop distribution that occurs when the combine harvester is in a tilted position, the blower speed is changed in accordance with the slant.
A proven disadvantage of this blower system is that changing the blower speed has the same effect across the entire width of the sieve system. The cleaning output during the harvesting operation on the slope is clearly impaired despite a constant flow across the width of the sieve system at low throughput rates, and therefore, due to the force of gravity, the bulk phase dominates in the crop on the downhill section of the sieve system, while the flight phase dominates on the uphill section of the sieve system.

CLAAS Selbstfahrende Erntemaschinen GmbH


An apparatus for securing adjustable roofing support spacers to underlying secondary structural supports, the adjustable roofing support spacers used to support a new sloped roof system over a preexisting roof deck. The apparatus comprises a bearing member which is positioned on top of the existing roof deck, and connectors which connect the bearing member and the support spacer to the structural support and extensive through the roof deck.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to building roof assemblies for building structures, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to apparatus for securing adjustable roofing support spacers to preexisting roof structures.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Numerous types of roof assemblies have heretofore been proposed for pre-engineered buildings in efforts to provide a watertight roof assembly, while at the same time enabling the roof assembly to expand and contract as changes in temperature are encountered. Typical of such prior art roof assemblies which has met with considerable success in recent years is the standing seam roof assembly. The panel members of the standing seam roof assembly are joined to each other along adjacent sides such that the sides are lapped together to form the standing seams. The panel members of the standing seam roof are secured to the secondary structural members by means of clips. The interconnection of the panel members of the standing seam roof lend stiffness and strength to the roof structure while allowing the roof structure to expand and contract as a function of the coefficient of expansion of the materials of which the roof panels are made and the temperature cycles to which the roof panels are exposed.
In addition to the use of standing seam roof assemblies in new construction, standing seam roof assemblies are also finding increasing usage in another segment of the roofing industry, that of "built-up roof" replacement. Generally, a built-up roof is formed of a plurality of sections which are interconnected and overcoated with asphaltic composition to provide a watertight seal. While such roof assemblies have generally served successfully, problems have nevertheless been encountered as a built-up roofs age, or when buildings settle, or when construction errors result in water holding roof pockets. Standing water in such pockets often results in deterioration of roofs.
A need has long been recognized for a means for replacing built-up roofs, as well as other conventional roofs, which does not require substantial modification to the preexisting roofs and which is economical both in fabrication and on-site construction. Further, it is highly desirable that the replacement roof assembly be capable of providing a new roof surface independent to the variations in the surface of the underlying roof. Past repair methods, especially those capable of altering the slope of the roof surface to improve drainage characteristics, have required substantial destruction of the original roof assembly and extensive custom construction, exposing the building interior to weather damage and being excessively time consuming and expensive.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,534,148, 4,520,610 and 4,620,397 presented adjustable roofing support spacers for supporting replacement roof panels at a desired new slope over a preexisting roof. The present invention presents improvements to this same art as it presents apparatus for securing the adjustable roofing support spacers to the preexisting roof and building structure.

Apparatus for securing a roofing support spacer to underlying support structures


An integrated circuit 2 is formed of multiple wafer layers 4, 6, 8, 10 arranged in a stack and connected with through silicon vias 12. Mechanical strain sensors 26, 28, 30, 32 in the form of ring oscillators are provided proximal to the through silicon vias 12 and detect mechanical strain associated with the through silicon via 12. The measured mechanical strain may be used to dynamically adjust operating parameters of the integrated circuit either as a whole or in regions where the mechanical strain is detected. The operating parameters adjusted can include clock frequency, operating voltage and heat generation.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of integrated circuits. More particularly, this invention relates to integrated circuits formed of a stack of wafer layers interconnected by a plurality of through silicon vias.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings schematically illustrate one example of an integrated circuit formed of a plurality of wafer layers interconnected with through silicon vias (TSVs). FIG. 1 illustrates an integrated circuit 2 comprising four wafer layers 4, 6, 8, 10 with through silicon vias 12 providing electrical connections between the wafer layers 4, 6, 8, 10. This type of technology allows more compact devices to be produced. Furthermore, the speed of communication between the wafer layers 4, 6, 8, 10 is higher than is typically achieved between separate integrated circuits each formed of one wafer layer and interconnected with a signal bus.
FIG. 2 illustrates a through silicon via used to provide an electrical connection between two wafer layers 14, 16. Each wafer layer 14, 16 comprises a silicon substrate with multilayer circuitry formed thereon using conventional lithographic techniques. In order to provide an electrical connection between wafer layers 14, 16, a through silicon via 12 is provided by etching the silicon substrate of the wafer layer 16 to produce a hole therein. This hole is then filled with a conductive material, such as copper (or tungsten cored copper) extending through the silicon substrate, connecting with one or more portions within the multilayer circuitry and protruding from the silicon substrate. The adjacent wafer layer 14 has a contact pad 18 formed on the upper surface of the multilayer circuitry and this makes mechanical contact with the conductive material protruding from the through silicon via 12. Adhesive bonding is used to hold the wafer layers 14, 16 together. It will be appreciated that FIG. 2 illustrates a single electrical connection and that in reality a large number of such connections will typically be provided between wafer layers to pass the desired electrical signals between the wafer layers 14, 16. There are other ways of forming a through silicon via, such as drilling holes which are then filled at different points in the manufacturing process. These different ways of forming the through silicon vias do not materially effect the invention.
FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a wafer layer 20 having an array of through silicon vias 12 formed upon its surface. These through silicon vias are illustrated as having a regular layout, but it will be appreciated that this is not a requirement and the through silicon vias 12 could be more randomly located across the surface of the wafer layer 20. The through silicon vias 12 are typically physically large structures (e.g. approximately 1 micrometre in diameter) when compared to the geometry size of the circuit elements within the multilayer circuitry of the wafer layers (approximately a few tens of □ anometers). It is known that the mechanical engagement of the through silicon vias 12 between wafer layers results in mechanical strain within the wafer layers. This mechanical strain can alter the electrical properties of the circuitry, e.g. speed up or slow down the circuitry, change threshold voltages etc. These changes in the electrical properties can result in incorrect operation of the circuitry if it is located too close to a through silicon via 12 which is subject to a high level of mechanical strain. For this reason, it is known to define keep out areas (KOAs) 22 surrounding each of the through silicon vias and form the wafer layers such that no circuitry which may be perturbed by the strain-induced electrical changes is formed within the keep out areas 22.
While this approach may avoid incorrect operation due to strain induced changes as a result of the use of through silicon vias, there are a number of disadvantages and problems associated with the keep out areas 22. As the number of through silicon vias 12 it is desired to provide increases, then the proportion of the area of the wafer layer 20 which is occupied by the keep out areas 22 increases. When the number of connections is relatively small, e.g. connecting between a wafer layer carrying processing logic and a wafer layer carrying only memory, then the overhead of the keep out areas 22 may be accommodated. However, in circumstances where a higher number of electrical connections provided by through silicon vias 12 is desired, such as connecting between two wafer layers each carrying active processing logic (e.g. two wafer layers carrying different portions of a microprocessor), then the area of the keep out areas may be so large a proportion of the area of the wafer layers 20 that there is insufficient space to accommodate the processing logic required on the wafer layers.

Stress detection within an integrated circuit having through silicon vias


A sander has a body, a motor mounted on the body, and a pad driven by the motor. A mechanism is interposed between the motor and the pad for transmitting the rotational motion of the motor to the paid in such a manner that the pad can perform a dual action including an orbital motion and a rotational motion. A resilient member is mounted on the body. The resilient member serves to contact the pad so as to produce frictional resistance against the rotation of the pad.

1. Field of the invention
This invention relates to a sander, and more particularly to a sander having a pad for mounting an abrasive sheet which performs a dual motion including an orbital motion and a rotational motion.
2. Description of the prior art
In a typical sander, there is provided a mechanism for a pad to perform a dual motion including an orbital motion and a rotational motion. Such sanders are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 58-41084 and Japanese Laid-Open patent publication No. 62-297066. In such construction, the pad is eccentrically mounted on a rotary shaft of a motor through a bearing. The pad can freely rotate relative to the rotary shaft through its orbital motion. When the pad is rotated without load, its rotational speed increases until substantially the same speed as that of the rotary shaft or the motor.
In order to obtain an excellent finished surface of a work, the motor may be rotated at high speed so that the pad may be rotated also at high speed. However, when the pad is rotated at high speed, abrasive sheet such as sandpaper may be scattered by a centrifugal force. Further, since the pad is idled at high speed from the beginning, the work is abruptly abraded when the pad is pressed thereon, so that the finished surface becomes rather rough.
Further in the typical sander, the bearing is eccentrically mounted on a rotary shaft of a motor, while a shaft rotatably supported by the bearing is fixed to the pad. In this arrangement, however, it is necessary to include another shaft other than the rotary shaft. Further, a bearing support member of large diameter having a recess for mounting the bearing has to be integrally formed with or fixed to the rotary shaft. Therefore, the number of parts of the sander increases, and construction around the rotary shaft becomes large. Thus, the whole construction of the sander becomes large and an operation for assembling the parts is complicated.


A current driving device includes a reference current source, a first MISFET connected to the reference current source, a plurality of current distribution MISFETs which constitutes a current mirror together with the first MISFET and distributes a reference current, a current input MISFET connected to the current distribution MISFETs, and a plurality of current supply sections each of which includes MISFETs constituting a current mirror circuit together with the current input MISFET and supplies a driving current for a pixel circuit. With the plurality of current distribution MISFETs provided, change in gate the potential of MISFETs in the current supply section can be suppressed, so that the generation of a crosstalk in a display device can be suppressed.

The present invention relates to current driving devices, and more particularly relates to a technique used for a preferable current driving device as a display driver such as an organic EL (electro luminescence) panel.
In recent years, the size and definition of flat panel displays such as organic EL panels have been increased. At the same time, flat panel displays have been made thinner and lighter and also costs for fabricating such panels have been reduced. In general, an active matrix method is preferably used as a driving method for a large-size, high definition display panel. Hereinafter, a known display driver for an active matrix display panel will be described.
FIG. 20 is a circuit diagram illustrating the configurations of a display panel and a known current driving device serving as a display driver connected to the display panel. Herein, a display panel means to be an organic EL panel.
As shown in FIG. 20, the known current driving device includes current supply sections 1001a1, 1001a2, . . . and 1001an (hereinafter, referred to as a "current supply section 1001a when the current supply sections are not distinguished from each other) for supplying driving currents to a plurality of pixel circuits 1005a1, 1005a2, . . . and 1005an (hereinafter, referred to as a "pixel circuit 1005a when the pixel circuits are not distinguished from each other) formed on a display panel, respectively, and a reference current supply section (bias circuit) 1101 for supplying a reference current to each section in the current supply section 1001a. Note that a "reference current" herein means to be not only a predetermined current flowing from a reference current generator but also a current from a reference current generator transmitted by a current mirror circuit.
When the size of a display panel is large as in a television display device, a large number of current supply sections 1001a are provided so that the current supply sections 1001a are divided onto a plurality of semiconductor chips 1105. The semiconductor chips 1105 are arranged in a frame portion of a display panel in many cases.
Each of the pixel circuits 1005a1, 1005a2, . . . and 1005an includes a p-channel first TFT (thin-film-transistor) 1104 connected to the current supply section 1001a via a signal line, a second TFT 1102 constituting a current mirror circuit together with the first TFT 1104, and an organic EL device 1103 for emitting light in accordance with a current supplied from the second TFT 1102.
The reference current supply section 1101 includes a p-channel first MISFET 1108 to which a supply voltage is supplied at a terminal, a resistor 1107 which is connected with the first MISFET 1108 and generates a reference current, a p-channel second MISFET 1109 constituting a current mirror circuit together with the first MISFET 1108, and an n-channel current input MISFET 1110 for transmitting a reference current to the current supply portion 1001a.
When a gray scale of m bits is controlled, each of the current supply section 1001a includes current sources 1112-1, 1112-2, . . . and 1112-m (m is a positive integer) arranged in parallel to an output section connected to the pixel circuit 1005a and switches 1115-1, 1115-2, and 1115-m for controlling currents flowing in the current sources 1112-1, 1112-2, . . . and 1112-m, respectively, to turn the current ON or OFF. Herein, each of the current sources 1112-1, 1112-2, . . . and 1112-m is formed of an n-channel MISFET 1110 constituting a current mirror circuit together with the current input MISFET 1110. Moreover, each of the switches 1115-1, 1115-2, . . . and 1115-m independently performs a switching operation based on display data.
FIG. 23 is a circuit diagram illustrating the arrangement and configuration of a current supply section in the known current driving device. In FIG. 23, an example of current supply sections for 64 gray scale in which six current sources are provided in each current supply section is shown. The current sources 1112-1, 1112-2, . . . and 1112-m include an MISFET, two MISFETs, . . . and 32 MISFETs having the same size and properties, respectively. These MISFETs are arranged in the manner shown in the upper part of FIG. 23 when viewed from the top. Connections are made so that adjacent ones of the MISFETs are connected to a single output section.
With the above-described configuration, the current supply section 1001a is substantially operated as a current mode D/A converter, receives display data as a digital signal, and withdraws as an analog signal a current having an amount corresponding to the display data from an output section.
As has been known, an organic EL device has the rectifying action as a diode does and the illuminance of the organic EL device varies in accordance with the amount of a current conducted. In the pixel circuit 1005a, the amount of a current conducted by the organic EL device 1103 varies in accordance with the amount of a current flowing in the TFT 1104. Accordingly, the organic EL device 1103 is current-driven by the current supply section 1001a, so that the illuminance of the organic EL device 1103 varies.
As has been described, the current driving device current-drives the plurality of pixel circuits 1005a in the display panel based on display data to achieve a gray scale display (see, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-88072 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-340765).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Current driving device and display device


Visco-supplement compositions derived from a transcellular fluid, such as human amniotic fluid, human aqueous humor fluid, or human vitreous fluid are described. Also described are methods for treating inflammatory conditions of the musculoskeletal system, such as joint inflammation, and methods of lubricating a joint using the described visco-supplement compositions.

Visco-supplements are viscous substances that can function as a lubricant and shock absorber for joints, and are often used to treat inflammatory conditions of the human musculoskeletal system. Many visco-supplements typically used for treating inflammatory conditions of the human musculoskeletal system are produced via bacterial culturing, or by a process of extraction from tissues of a different species, such as rooster combs, which is the fleshy growth on top of the rooster's head.
The primary viscous, protecting, nutritional and lubricating fluid of the human musculoskeletal system responsible for maintaining healthy, articulating joints is synovial fluid. Synovial fluid is secreted by the synovial membrane, which is the soft tissue found between the articular capsule (joint capsule) and joint cavity. In native joints, synovial fluid functions as a biomechanical lubricant, lowering the friction and wear of articulating cartilage in joints, as well as a source of nutrients for the articulating tissues. Synovial fluid lubricating macromolecules, including hyaluronic acid and proteoglycan 4 (PRG4), are secreted by synoviocytes in the synovial membrane lining the joint and chondrocytes in the cartilage of the joint, and are concentrated in synovial fluid due to the retaining property of the semi-permeable synovial membrane.
Currently available visco-supplements for the treatment of inflammatory conditions of the human musculoskeletal system are comprised of essentially a single component, hyaluronic acid (HA). Considering the complexity of naturally occurring synovial fluid, and the complex biological system necessary for maintaining the health and proper functioning of articulating joints, pure HA is not an ideal treatment for inflamed joints at least for physiological reasons.
Furthermore, the clinical record of currently available HA based visco-supplements is poor. That record was recently reviewed by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS), and in June, 2013, the AAOS issued clinical practice guidelines to physicians, which recommended against using HA for patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee based on supporting evidence from several high-quality research studies that met the inclusion criteria.
The AAOS's clinical practice guidelines are based on some of the best peer reviewed study evidence available. According to the AAOS's website, currently published studies do not show a clinically effective response for HA injections based on minimal clinically important improvements (MCIIs). Some peer reviewers were critical of the AAOS' findings and recommendation, especially in light of the important clinical practice implications, and highlighted prior systematic reviews supporting the use of HA. However, these reviews were analyzed and found to have several flaws. For example, most did not address the issues of publication bias, between-study heterogeneity, and clinical significance in determining final recommendations.
Inflammation of articulating surfaces of the musculoskeletal system is one of the most common medical complaints. Although the exact causes for painful knee, hip, shoulder, facet, ankle and wrist joints may be difficult to ascertain and in many cases are unknown, it is understood that degenerative damage, especially cartilage damage, plays a central role in the pathogenic mechanism leading to this disorder. Current treatment modalities include pharmacological treatments, physiotherapy, visco-supplement injections, corticosteroid injections and, at the terminus of a continuum of care for joint pain, surgical replacement of the joint. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), nearly one in two people are projected to develop symptomatic knee osteoarthritis by age 85 years; two in three people who are obese are projected to develop symptomatic knee osteoarthritis in their lifetime; and one in four people are projected to develop hip arthritis in their lifetime. Also, according to the CDC, an estimated 52.5 million adults in the United Stated reported being told by a doctor that they have some form of arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, or fibromyalgia.
Moreover, by 2030, the number of Americans aged 18 years or older who are projected to have doctor-diagnosed arthritis is 67 million.
Present pharmacological treatments for such joint inflammation include the use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as naproxen, ibuprofen, etc., and drugs of the cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor group like celecoxib, as well as other drugs including glucosamine, chondroitin, and opiates. Present non-pharmacological treatments include hot or cold packs around the inflamed joint; anaerobic exercises, such as resistance training; suggestion of weight loss or use of a crutch; use of a brace, particularly for the patella; and correction of joint tiling or misalignment.
However, many of the pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments employed for treating joint inflammation suffer from several drawbacks. For example, corticosteroid injections are one of the most common anti-inflammatory treatments for joint pain, and it carries many risks including deteriorating articulating cartilage in the joint if overused, atrophy of subcutaneous fat, and nerve inflammation. There is, as a result, growing interest in the development of novel technologies to repair or regenerate the painful, degenerated articulating musculoskeletal bone and cartilage system.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for improved methods and compositions for treating inflammation of the human musculoskeletal system. Preferably, such improved compositions provide the requisite lubrication, cushioning, and protection of the joint, but more closely resemble the composition of synovial fluid found in healthy articulating joints as compared to known visco-supplements.

Visco-supplement compositions, and methods of use thereof


A stable oxygen containing dentifrice in powder form which contains a carrier and evenly dispersed therethrough a multiplicity of microencapsulated droplets of an oxygen releasing agent such as hydrogen peroxide. The walls of the microcapsules are rupturable upon mechanical manipulation of the dentifrice as it occurs during the toothbrushing action for releasing the oxygen-containing agent.

Dentifricating paste, powder or liquid form is usually used for cleaning or embellishing of teeth. Generally, the dentifrice contains a mixture of a fine, grain-free polishing agent or abrasive for scouring and scrubbing the teeth and which will neutralize potentially deleterious or dangerous acids present in the gaps between the teeth. The latter object is invariably very difficult since bacteria penetrate deeply into the space between the teeth and convert remains of food, mainly sugar and starch, into lactic acid which has a particularly deleterious effect on the dentine.
Although the bacteria destroying effect of oxygen is well know, the incorporation of oxygen or oxygen releasing agents into toothpaste or powders, however, presents various problems. For example, the oxygen is often prematurely released thereby lowering or eliminating the efficacy of the dentrifice in addition to its limiting the shelf life thereof. For this reason the application of hydrogen peroxide separate from and in addition to a toothpaste or powder is often recommended. As used hereinafter the term oxygen containing agent shall include other bactericides and germicides that are non-toxic in the amount, and for the environment and use contemplated herein.
The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by providing a dentifrice containing an oxygen releasing agent such as hydrogen peroxide which is surrounded by envelopes which are rupturable upon mechanical manipulation of the sort occurring during the toothbrushing or cleaning operation.
The technique of microencapsulation per se is known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,686,701 disclosed a cosmetic applicator containing rupturable microcapsules which contain solvents for removal of nail enamel and perfume to mask the odor of said solvents. U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,270 discloses a cosmetic make-up removing composition incorporated in a flexible support throughout which are distributed microcapsules containing the cosmetic make-up removing or treating composition.

Dentifrice containing microencapsulated oxygen


A pouch-type battery cell includes a battery case including a metal layer and polymer resin layer, and an electrode assembly disposed within the battery case, the battery case further including an electrode assembly receiving part formed in at least one of an upper case and a lower case of the battery case, and a venting member disposed on an outer surface of the electrode assembly receiving part at a location adjacent to a sealing part of the battery case, wherein the venting member is made of a shape memory alloy that is deformed to penetrate the battery case when a temperature of the venting member increases to a value above a transition temperature of the shape memory alloy. A battery module including the pouch-type battery cell, and a battery pack are also provided.

As an energy source capable of repeatedly charging and discharging portable electronic products such as mobile phones, tablet PCs, and vacuum cleaners, the demand for secondary batteries is rapidly increasing. Research and development of secondary batteries for application to devices requiring high capacity and high efficiency, such as electric vehicles and power storage devices, are in progress.
In particular, among secondary batteries, lithium secondary batteries having advantages such as high energy density, high voltage, high power, and excellent life characteristics are widely used.
The lithium secondary batteries may be classified based on the shape of a case. For example, there is a cylindrical battery or a prismatic battery, each of the cylindrical battery and the prismatic battery is configured to have an electrode assembly mounted in a metal can, and there is a pouch-type battery, the pouch-type battery is configured to have an electrode assembly mounted in a pouch-type case made of an aluminum laminate sheet. The pouch-type battery has an advantage that it can freely change in shape because it can be easily curved or bent.
In general, a lithium secondary battery includes an electrode active material, a binder, and an electrolyte constituting an electrode as main components, which are electrochemically stable at operating voltages ranging from 2.5V to 4.3V. However, when the voltage of the lithium secondary battery rises above the operating voltage, the components are decomposed to generate gas, and thus the lithium secondary battery is expanded and deformed due to the generated gas. In addition, when a separator is damaged by an inorganic material included in the electrode mixture, contact between a positive electrode and a negative electrode may cause a large amount of current to flow and promote the generation of heat and gas, which may cause ignition and explosion of the secondary battery.
In order to remove the gas generated inside the battery, the cylindrical battery and the prismatic battery are provided with a safety device such as a vent in a cap assembly, while the pouch-type battery only determines venting by the sealing strength without a separate safety device. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to guide venting under desired conditions.
In this regard, Korean Patent No. 0886570 discloses a secondary battery in which an opening communicating with an interior is formed in a battery case and a safety opening and closing portion of a shape memory alloy capable of opening and closing the opening is added.
Korean Patent No. 0886570 uses a structure for opening and closing the opening in a pouch case of the state in which the opening was formed. However, since the safety opening and closing portion is applied to a sealing part of the pouch battery, there is a problem that a dead space occurs in the width direction of the battery cell because a structure in which the sealing part is bent is not applicable.
Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2013-0019477 relates to a secondary battery having a form of opening through a pouch while a bent-shape of shape memory alloy is being unbent when the temperature rises.
However, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2013-0019477 is not preferable because the shape memory alloy is located inside the pouch-type battery, and there is a problem that the shape memory alloy generates side reactions with the electrolyte and the like.
As such, in order to discharge the gas generated inside the pouch-type battery cell at a desired temperature, there is an urgent need for a technology that can set the discharge temperature of the gas and can prevent the ignition and explosion caused by the increased internal pressure of the secondary battery.

Pouch-type battery cell including venting member and battery pack including the same


A method and apparatus for training a user to move in a desired movement pattern, especially for training a golfer to swing a golf club. One or more sensors are placed adjacent the user, for example pressure sensors under the user's feet and/or between the user's hands and a golf club. The sensors generate signals corresponding to the user's movement. A comparator and signal generator are used to compare a function of the user signals and a reference value, and to generate training signals which are communicated to the user, e.g. by radio frequency signals received by a headset worn by the user. In this way, the user senses, during the actual movement, training signals which represent a relationship between the actual movement pattern and a desired movement pattern. Preferably, the comparator determines whether a function of the user signals is above or below a preselected and adjustable reference value, and the training signals undergo a distinct change when the function of the user signals crosses the reference value.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods and apparatus for sports training.
2. Introduction to the Invention
Many methods have been proposed for training people to improve theft skills in sporting activities. However, the known methods suffer from serious disadvantages. For example, they make use of intrusive equipment and/or methods which are distracting or impossible to use during normal play; and/or do not provide immediate information to the player; and/or do not provide information in a form which the player can easily understand and act upon; and/or cannot be adjusted to reflect important variables, in particular the skill level of the player.

Methods and apparatus for sports training


A computer-implemented system and method is disclosed for inventory management including an inventory machine, a medication tray, and at least one marker. A medication tray includes a plurality of compartments to receive medications and other items, where each compartment is designated as a receptacle for a specific item or type of item. A marker is provided for each item placed in a compartment, and insertion of a medication tray into an inventory machine enables components to scan for markers. The markers are configured to generate identifying data and other data related to an item upon being scanned by an imaging apparatus and processed by a decoder apparatus. The correct/incorrect location of items within a medication tray, among other information, is determined in an automated fashion as part of the computer-implemented inventory management system and method.

Medication trays are often used to provide a specific selection and quantity of medications for a particular medical use case, physician preference, and/or location. A given hospital may have multiple variations of medication trays in use, each varying in type, amount, and/or placement of medications within the medication tray. Consequently, hospital pharmacies can manage a large quantity of medication trays used throughout a facility.
One aspect of managing the medication trays may be replenishment and verification of the contents held by a medication tray when a portion of the medication tray is used and the tray is later returned to a pharmacy. This may entail accounting for recalled, expired, and/or soon-to-expire medication. An additional aspect of managing medication trays may include ensuring proper placement of items within a medication tray so that inadvertent use or administration of a medication does not occur.
Existing inventory systems and methods consist of a mix of paper recording through manual means, electronic recording, and/or radio-frequency identification ("RFID") identification/recording to aid pharmacy personnel in the replenishment and handling of medications. These inventory systems and methods can be cumbersome and/or error prone. Furthermore, such systems and methods can be expensive to implement and operate. They may also fail to provide comprehensive inventory tracking. For instance, such systems and methods may fail to account for proper placement of items within a medication tray. One of the reasons for these deficiencies is a failure to identify, track, and control individual items within a medication tray in an automated and accurate manner so as to adequately manage kind, count, and location of items placed therein. For instance, a manual processes for identifying proper placement of items within a medication tray and proper location of the trays themselves can lead to misplaced and unaccounted for items.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the above-mentioned problems

Safety, management and tracking of hospital pharmacy trays


A glass sheet forming system (10) has two parallel forming lines (12) that can utilize any two of three forming stations (18) to provide versatility in use for forming different glass sheet jobs of different sizes and shapes while reducing switchover time from one job to the next.

Glass sheet forming systems conventionally include a furnace for heating glass sheets for forming, a forming station that cyclically receives the heated glass sheets from the furnace to provide the forming and a cooling station located downstream from the forming station to provide cooling that may be slow cooling for annealing, faster cooling for heat strengthening or rapid cooling for tempering. The most efficient operation of such glass sheet forming stations takes place with the least possible downtime between switching from one job to another. Such job switching was originally accomplished by changing one or more molds utilized to provide the glass sheet forming, but such mold switching changes require significant downtime, four to six hours or more, that necessarily increases the cost of each formed glass sheet produced. To reduce the downtime, a pair of forming stations that can be moved sideways along the length of the glass sheet forming system for use of one or the other have also more recently been utilized, which is more economical than having two systems because the cost of the forming stations relative to the cost of the furnaces and cooling stations is much less and reduces the downtime since any mold changing can be performed when another production job is being performed.
Prior art glass sheet forming systems are disclosed by: U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,255 Bennett et al. which discloses a roll bed having detachable drive wheel assemblies that permit a lower press ring of varying shapes to be utilized in the forming; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,348 Shetterly et al. which discloses cooling of a formed glass sheet after the forming, both of which patents are assigned to the assignee of the application and are hereby incorporated by reference.


A time-of-flight (TOF) type ion scattering spectroscope (ISS) using a mixture of ions of different masses. Ions having a mass smaller than the smallest mass of the atoms in the sample surface can precisely discriminate light-weight object atoms of slightly different masses. Ions having an intermediate mass between heavy-weight atoms and light-weight atoms in the sample surface can precisely discriminate heavy-weight object atoms of slightly different masses.

In an ion scattering spectroscopy, a beam of ions of a known fixed kinetic energy is irradiated onto a surface of a solid sample, and the energy spectrum of ions colliding with the atoms in the surface or subsurface and scattered within a preset small solid angle is measured. For measuring the energy of the scattered ions, a method known as the time-of-flight (TOF) method is used.
A TOF type ISS is illustrated with FIG. 7. When a beam of ions 46 is irradiated onto a sample 41, the ions collide with the atoms of the sample 41 and are scattered backward. Some of the scattered ions come into a flight tube 43 through the gate 42. The space within the flight tube 43 is a drift space in which no electromagnetic field is present and the ions fly without being exerted by an external force. Since the speed of an ion is proportional to the square root of its energy, the flight time of an ion in the flight tube 43, thus the arriving time of an ion at an ion detector 40 placed at an end of the flight tube 43, depends on the energy of the ion.
The flight time t.sub.f of an ion having mass m and an initial energy E travelling a distance d is given by EQU t.sub.f =d.multidot.{m/(2.multidot.E)}.sup.1/2. (1)
By measuring the flight time t.sub.f of a scattered ion, its energy E is calculated using the formula (1). When an ion beam injecting onto the sample is pulsated, the starting point of the flight time t.sub.f can be taken from the pulsating timing, and when the injecting beam is continuous, the opening time of the electric field shutter at the gate 42 is used as the starting point of the flight time t.sub.f. In the pulsating (chopping) beam method, therefore, the length of time period from the time when the beam of ions is chopped to the time when the ions scattered by the sample surface arrives to the detector is measured, the speed of scattered ions is calculated, and the mass of atoms of the sample that scattered the ions is calculated.
In such a TOF type ISS, an ion generator is provided in which ions involved in the measurement are generated from a solid or gas ion source. Because the mass of ions used in the measurement should correspond to the sample, proper material of the ion source should be selected depending on the sample. The reason is explained referring to FIG. 8. When an ion of mass m.sub.i running at speed v.sub.1 collides with a stationary atom of mass m.sub.o, the speed v.sub.2 of the ion scattered almost 180.degree. backward is given by EQU v.sub.2 =(m.sub.o -m.sub.i).multidot.v.sub.1 /(m.sub.o +m.sub.i).(2)
If the mass m.sub.i and the speed v.sub.1 of the colliding ion is known, the mass m.sub.o of the object atom can be calculated from the formula (2) by measuring the speed v.sub.2 of the back-scattered ion.
The formula (2) also teaches that the motion of the ion after the collision depends on the mass of the ion m.sub.i and the mass of the atom m.sub.o. When m.sub.o >>m.sub.i, that is the mass m.sub.o of the stationary atom is far larger than the mass m.sub.i of the colliding ion, the speed v.sub.2 of the ion after the collision is almost the same as the speed v.sub.1 before the collision, and the diversity in the speed of scattered ions is so small that the precision of the measurement is low. When, on the other hand, m.sub.o .ltoreq.m.sub.i, that is the mass m.sub.o of the stationary atom is comparable to or smaller than the mass m.sub.i of the colliding ion, the ion cannot be scattered backward and no measurement is possible.
It is necessary therefore to use an ion having a mass slightly smaller than that m.sub.o of the object atom to measure the mass m.sub.o of the atom of the sample precisely. This is why the mass of the ions should be properly selected in the measurement, and the material of the ions source is changed according to the sample. If the object element to be measured is changed, further, though the sample remains the same, the ion source should be changed accordingly. The change of the ion source, albeit solid ion source or gas ion source, requires troublesome operations and long measurement-interrupting time.


[Object] To provide an electronic apparatus capable of inhibiting a failure due to dropping of a screw from occurring.

For example, there is known an electronic apparatus including an electric motor, a circuit board on which a control circuit that drives the electric motor, and a casing that houses the electric motor and the circuit board. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a motor unit in which a rotor, a stator, and a motor drive control device are attached to a lower case, the motor drive control device including a substrate and a heat sink attached to the substrate by a plurality of fixing bolts.

Abstract: [Solving Means] An electronic apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a casing 10; a cover portion (case cover 20); a circuit board 22; a screw member 80; and a facing member (holding member 60). The cover portion has a first surface and a second surface and is to be attached to an opening portion 11 of the casing 10, the first surface including a screw hole 203 and facing the casing 10, the second surface being opposite to the first surface. The circuit board 22 is to be disposed on the first surface. The screw member 80 includes a head portion 81 and a shank 82 and fixes the circuit board 22 to the cover portion, the head portion 81 engaging with the circuit board 22, the shank 82 including a groove 82s and passing through the circuit board 22, the groove 82s being screwed into the screw hole 203. The facing member is to be disposed inside the casing 10 and faces the head portion 81 with a distance (L1) smaller than a length (L2) of the shank 82.


A high dispersible hydrophobic fine silica powder can be made, wherein the silica powder has hydrophobicity of more than 50%, triboelectrostatic charge of more than −500 μC/g, decomposition rate of an organic group on the powder surface of less than 15%, transmittance of a 5% alcoholic dispersion liquid of more than 40% preferably, and a specific surface area of more than 200 m2/g. This high dispersible hydrophobic fine silica powder can be made by mixing a hydrophobic agent comprising a volatile organic silicon compound in the gas state with a fine silica powder in a fluidized bed type reaction vessel at the time of a hydrophobic treatment, and controlling a gas flow rate to more than 5.0 cm/sec at the time of this mixing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high dispersible hydrophobic fine silica powder and a production method thereof. The high dispersible hydrophobic fine silica powder of the present invention is suitable as a filler for controlling a viscosity for resins, such as adhesives, coating materials or the like, a reinforcing filler for natural rubber, synthetic rubber, engineering plastics or the like, a filler for an antiblocking agent for films of polyethylene, polyester or the like, or a flowability improving agent for toners for electrophotography, powder coating materials or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has been known that a silica powder can have a multifunction property, by surface modifying with silane coupling agents or surface modifying agents, such as polymer or the like, according to its use and chemically changing hydroxyl groups on the powder surface. For example, it has been carried out that a silica powder generally having hydrophilicity with the hydroxyl groups on the powder surface is changed to the hydrophobic silica powder by using suitable coupling agents or polymer. More concretely, the hydrophobic silica carried out a hydrophobic treatment with an organic halosilane has been publicly known conventionally, and this silica is described, for example, in the specification of West German Patent No. 63784.
The hydrophobic fine silica powder is used as the filler and the reinforcing material of resins, the fluidizing agent of a resin powder, or the like. By the hydrophobic treatment, when the fine silica powder is added to resins, such as silicone resins, epoxy resins or the like, it is possible to increase the dispersibility of the resin, and also increase a mechanical strength of the hardened materials. Further, it is possible to obtain the effects, such as increasing the flowability of the resin powder, preventing the adsorption of moisture, or the like. Especially, it has been known that the fine silica powder having a large specific surface area is effective to increase the flowability of the resin powder since it has a small average primary particle size, and to have a high reinforcing effect as the filler for resins, rubbers or plastics. Further, in the case of a transparent resin or the like, it has been known that the resin has a high transmittance in its transparency.
As for the conventional hydrophobic silica powder, the powder having the comparatively small specific surface area, more concretely, having the specific surface area of less than 200 m2/g can have the uniform hydrophobicity. However, the hydrophobic treated silica powder having the specific surface area of more than 200 m2/g, has problems mostly that the uniformities of the hydrophobicity and the treatment are low. In this case, even when the amount of the hydrophobic agent is increased in order to increase the treating effect, it is difficult to obtain the uniformly hydrophobic silica powder since the fine silica powder having the large specific surface area has a strong agglomeration. So, it has been provided that a gas flow rate in the fluidized bed is controlled in the range of from 1.4 to 3.0 cm/sec by controlling the flowing rate to prevent the scattering of silica. By this way, the amount of the treating agent can be decreased without decreasing the hydrophobic treating level. (Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2001-261327) However, this silica powder is not the fine silica powder having the large specific surface area provided in the present invention, but the powder is the grade having about 130 m2/g of the specific surface area.
Further, when the reaction temperature is increased in order to increase the treating efficiency, there is a problem that an organic group of the treating agent or on the surface of the silica powder is decomposed. When the organic group on the surface of the silica powder is decomposed, the hydrophobicity is not only bad influenced but also the property of the hydrophobic silica powder is influenced so much. For example, although triboelectrostatic charge is obtained by the surface contact with an iron powder, the objective triboelectrostatic charge cannot be obtained when the organic group on the powder surface is decomposed. Further, when the organic group on the powder surface is decomposed, the fine silica powder may be colored to yellowish or the like, with the generated carbon. Such yellowish color damages the appearance of the resins at the time of adding to silicone resins, acrylic resins or the like. Further, an electrostatic chargeability of the silica powder is decreased due to the conductivity of the generated carbon. Therefore, when said silica powder is used as an external additive for toners, powder coating materials or the like, the electric properties, such as the electrostatic chargeability, are damaged.
On the other hand, when the reaction time, that is, the staying time in reaction gas becomes long without increasing the reaction temperature, the productivity decreases. Moreover, in the case of using the fluidized bed type reaction vessel, when the staying time becomes long, the silica powder is easily agglomerated to decrease the dispersibility, thus the triboelectrostatic charge is bad influenced. Further, since the dispersibility is decreased, the transparency at the time of kneading with the resin is also damaged.

Highly dispersible fine hydrophobic silica powder and process for producing the same