A method of automatically classifying alerts issued by intrusion detection sensors (11a, 11b, 11c) of an information security system (1) for producing collated alerts, each alert being defined by a plurality of qualitative attributes (a1, . . . , an) belonging to a plurality of attribute domains (A1, . . . , An). Attributes belonging to each attribute domain are organized into a hierarchical structure. For each alert issued by the intrusion detection sensors (11a, 11b, 11c), a trellis specific to that alert is constructed by generalizing each alert in accordance with each of its attributes and at all the levels of the hierarchical structure. Each specific trellis is iteratively merged into a general trellis. Collated alerts in the general trellis are identified by selecting the alerts that are simultaneously the most pertinent and the most general. The collated alerts are supplied to an output unit (23) of an alert management system (13).

The invention relates to a method of automatically classifying alerts issued by intrusion detection sensors.
The security of information systems relies on the deployment of intrusion detection systems (IDS) including intrusion detection sensors that send alerts to alert management systems
Intrusion detection sensors are active components of the intrusion detector system that analyze one or more sources of data for events characteristic of an intrusive activity, and they send alerts to an alert management system that centralizes the alerts from the various sensors and optionally analyzes all the alerts.
Intrusion detection sensors generate a very large number of alerts, possibly several thousand alerts a day, as a function of the configuration and the environment.
The surplus alerts may result from a combination of several phenomena. First of all, false alerts represent up to 90% of the total number of alerts. Secondly, it is often the case that alerts are too "granular", i.e. that their semantic content is highly impoverished. Finally, alerts are often repetitive and redundant.
To facilitate analysis by a security operator, it is therefore necessary to process alerts upstream of the management system in order to correlate them, i.e. reduce the overall quantity of alerts and simultaneously improve their semantic content. This can be achieved by unsupervised classification of alerts.
The objective of unsupervised classification of alerts is to divide the alert space into a plurality of classes taking account of variables that characterize them.
In the present field of application, the alerts that are classified are described by variables that are essentially qualitative and structured.
The qualitative and structured variables belong to discrete domains, each of which presents partial order.
Classifying qualitative structured variables is known as conceptual classification.
One conceptual classification method is proposed by R. S. Michalsky and R. E. Stepp in their paper "Learning from Observation: Conceptual Clustering" published in "Machine Learning: An Artificial Intelligence Approach" in 1993.
That method takes a data set and constructs a conceptual hierarchy "downwards", dividing a complete data set into separate classes.
Because it divides the data set and is incapable of integrating a new item of data without being reinitialized, the Michalsky method is unsuited to classifying alerts.
Because there can be several new alerts per second, alert databases are highly dynamic.
D. H. Fisher proposes another conceptual classification method in a Ph.D. thesis "Knowledge Acquisition via Incremental Conceptual Clustering", Department of Information and Computer Science, University of California, 1987.
The Fisher method is an incremental conceptual classification method that does not require prior knowledge of the required number of classes. In contrast, this method is applied to nominal variables.
Other methods derived from the Fisher method process structured data. The structure of the hierarchy obtained by those methods depends greatly on the order of insertion of the data. Moreover, the Fisher approach divides up the data set.
Manganaris et al., in a paper entitled "A Data Mining Analysis of RTID Alarms" given at the 2nd International Workshop on Recent Advances in Intrusion Detection 1999, propose modeling a tolerated behavior of an information system using alerts supplied by intrusion detector tools. The use of intrusion detection systems (IDS) in an operational environment shows that the less frequent alerts are generally the more suspect ones.
According to that model, repetitive alerts are considered to be either false alerts caused by normal behavior of information system entities that appears intrusive from the IDS point of view or failures of those entities.
K. Julisch proposes another method of classifying alerts in a paper "Mining Alarm Clusters to Improve Alarm Handling Efficiency", Proceedings of the 17th ACSAC, 2001. That method generalizes alerts to highlight groups of alerts that are more pertinent than each alert considered individually.
The method used by Julisch is a modification of a method proposed by Han et al. in "Exploration of the Power of Attribute-Oriented Induction in Data-Mining, AAAI Press" in "Advances in Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining", MIT Press, 1996.
Briefly, the Han method generalizes structured variables. The domain of each variable has partial order represented by a tree hierarchy, the level of abstraction or generalization whereof increases from the leaves of the hierarchy to its summit.
The Hall method is iterative. Each iteration chooses an attribute and generalizes the attribute of each individual as a function of the associated hierarchy. Variables that are equal after generalization are merged. The overall number of variables therefore decreases on each iteration. The process stops when the number of variables falls below a given threshold.
That criterion for stopping the process is not satisfactory since it is not possible to know a priori how many groups of alerts it is desirable to present to the security operator. Moreover, the generalized alerts obtained may be overgeneralized and of limited interest. The difficulty of that approach therefore consists in finding a good compromise between greatly reducing the number of alerts and maintaining their pertinence.
The modification introduced by Julisch consists in removing from the set of alerts subjected to the generalization process any generalized alerts for which the number of underlying alert instances exceeds a given threshold.
To avoid overgeneralization, generalization of the remaining generalized alerts is cancelled and the process iterated using another attribute.
The drawback of that method is that it is unable to identify pertinent generalizations that might have arisen if the alerts supplied to the security operator had been retained for subsequent generalizations. Moreover, the nature of the generalized alerts obtained depends on the order of the attributes, which is based on heuristics.
Finally, the Julisch method is not incremental and the generalization process must be reinitialized on each request from the security operator.

Method of automatically classifying a set of alarms emitted by sensors for detecting intrusions of an information security system


A product recommender system where product ratings from a plurality of users are represented as plurality of vectors is disclosed. The ratings vectors are represented by a mean vector and a covariance matrix. The mean vector and the covariance matrix are estimated from a data-set of known product ratings. Product ratings are predicted using the mean vector and the covariance matrix.

1. Field
The application relates to computer-based methods and apparatus for recommender systems.
2. Prior Art
A recommender system can be used to predict preferences of users for products. Consider a recommender system involving a plurality of products rated by a plurality of users. An observed rating is a rating of one of the products that has been made by one of the users. If a particular user has not yet rated a particular product then that rating is a missing rating. The product recommendation problem is to predict missing ratings.
For example, a user named Tony has rated three movies: Titanic as 4 stars, Star Wars as 2 stars, and The Godfather as 3 stars. Tony has not rated Independence Day and Jaws. A user named Mike has rated Titanic as 1 star and Jaws as 3 stars. Mike has not rated Star Wars, The Godfather or Independence Day. The set of Tony's observed ratings thus consists of his ratings of Titanic, Star Wars, and The Godfather. Mike's observed ratings thus consist of his ratings for Titanic and Jaws. The goal of movie recommendation to accurately predict the missing ratings which constitute the ratings Tony would give to Independence Day and Jaws and the ratings Mike would give to Star Wars, The Godfather and Independence Day.
A set of product ratings can be represented as a data-matrix, where some entries of the data-matrix are undefined. Let k denote the number of products and let n denote the number of users. In the movie example above k= and n=2. Let yi(j) denote the observed rating of the jth product by the ith user. Let yi denote all observed ratings from the ith user. The data-matrix is the set of all observed ratings from all users and can be represented as 101 in FIG. 1. Positions in the data-matrix corresponding to missing ratings have no assigned value. A data-matrix for the movie example above is illustrated is 201 in FIG. 2.
Performance of recommender systems is generally measured using a Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE). The RMSE measures a difference between a predicted rating and an actual observed rating.
In addition to movies there are many other products whose ratings are able to be predicted by recommender systems, e.g. book and television shows. Recommender systems are applicable in Internet dating sites to predict how users will rate potential mates. Grocery stores can use recommender systems to predict buying habits of shoppers. Recommender systems are applicable in medicine. Consider a plurality of drugs and a plurality of patients. Consider a patient who has responded well to some drugs but not others. A response by a patient to a drug is akin to a rating of that drug by the patient. Recommender systems can thus be applied to predict drugs the patient will respond well to.
Recommender systems are currently an active area of research. A matrix factorization approach currently stands out for large-scale, real-world, recommender systems. In the matrix factorization approach, an integer l is first chosen. A data-matrix 101 of size k×n is then approximated by a product of a left matrix 301 of size k×l and a right matrix 302 of size l×n. The left matrix 301 and right matrix 302 are generally estimated to minimize an error measure between their product and the data matrix 101. Once these matrices have been estimated, missing ratings of a particular user are predicted by an inner product of appropriate columns and rows from the left matrix 301 and the right matrix 302. For example, yi(j) is predicted by the dot product of the ith row of the left matrix 301 and the jth column of the right matrix 302.
The matrix factorization approach has a number of disadvantages. A variety of approaches for estimation of the left matrix 301 and the right matrix 302 are in general use. These approaches result in different values for the left matrix 301 and the right matrix 302. Hence performance of these approaches varies. Little guidance in selection of the integer l is available. Generally a variety of values of l need to be tried. In many cases a large l performs best. A large l, however, means that the left matrix 301 and the right matrix 302 are also very large and finding these matrices becomes computationally expensive. Once the left matrix 301 and the right matrix 302 have been estimated it is generally difficult to add new products or new users without re-estimating the left matrix 301 and the right matrix 302. The matrix factorization approach generally yields performance that is often too low for many applications. A number of heuristic methods have been proposed to increase performance. One way is to average predictions obtained using slightly different training approaches and/or different values of l. This method is generally too cumbersome for practical application. Performance of matrix factorization may be increased by applying a combination of pre-processing, post-processing and data manipulation steps. Such steps are generally heuristic in nature and may only work on particular data-sets. For example, subtraction of a global mean may improve performance for movie recommendation but not for a dating site.
A need exists for a method and apparatus that achieves high performance without the disadvantages of the matrix factorization approach. The method and apparatus should be able to add new products and new users without requiring extensive re-calculations. The method and apparatus should be able to achieve high performance without requiring averaging of many predictions. The method and apparatus should not rely on heuristic data manipulations to achieve high performance.

System and method for predicting missing product ratings utilizing covariance matrix, mean vector and stochastic gradient descent


An illuminated keyboard is equipped with a thin key module which includes a support frame with multiple keycap installation apertures and multiple keycaps corresponding to the keycap installation apertures. Each keycap has at least three movable arms each is connected between the first wall of one side of the keycap and the second wall of the keycap installation aperture. The support frame, keycaps and movable arms are integrally formed by injection. The movable arm has a first connecting section connected to the keycap and a second connecting section connected to the first connecting section at a first bend spot. The second connecting section is extended between the keycap and support frame and connected to the keycap installation aperture. In the illuminated keyboard, light is generated by a lighting unit and transmitted through a light guide plate or light guide circuit board to project to the keycaps for illumination.

There are numerous types of keyboard products on the market in response to different consumer requirements. Many producers also provide illuminated keyboards with integrated lighting modules to generate illumination effect to attract consumers and increase consumers' purchase desire. While providing illumination function is important, trying to improve the structural design to reduce the total thickness of the keyboard module also is a heavy focus of the producers so that it can be widely adopted on notebook computers or desktop computers that highlight thinner and lighter design.
A conventional illuminated keyboard such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,319,130, 7,939,773 and 6,217,183 generally includes a keycap, a circuit board triggered by the keycap to generate a command signal, a baseboard located at one side of the circuit board and a driven mechanism with two ends connecting to the keycap and baseboard. In the aforesaid illuminated keyboard, the keycap is pressed by a force to move toward the circuit board, and the driven mechanism is also compressed downwards to trigger and set on a circuit switch on the circuit board to generate a corresponding control signal. When the force pressing the keycap is absent, the driven mechanism provides a return elastic force to push the keycap to move away from the circuit board at a selected elevation. As the driven mechanism always is formed at a certain thickness, even it is compressed when being driven by the keycap, it still has a certain height. Hence the driven mechanism becomes a constraint that makes slimness of the illuminated keyboard difficult.
In order to overcome the problem caused by the driven mechanism, some producers have proposed other keyboard designs. For instance, Taiwan utility model No. M434979 discloses a design which has a first support member and a second support member coupled to form a V-shaped structure to overcome the thickness problem caused by the conventional driven mechanism that adopts an X-shaped structure. Although the structure disclosed in this prior art can reduce the thickness of the illuminated keyboard, it utilizes the driven mechanism only in another form, hence still has limited effect on slimness of the keyboard. Moreover, deployment of the first and second support members makes assembly of the keyboard more difficult and requires more assembly steps.

Illuminated keyboard equipped with a thin key module


A document scanner includes a casing and a document cover disposed above the casing. The casing includes a document glass and houses an image scanner. The document cover has one end portion and the other end portion opposite to the first end portion in a first direction and is configured to pivotally move about the one end portion between a closed position in which the other end portion covers the document glass and an open position in which the other end portion uncovers the document glass. The other end portion has an end surface that intersects, when the document cover is at the closed position, with an upper surface of the document glass. The end surface has an indication indicating a location to which an external device is to be brought into proximity to establish short-range wireless communication between the document scanner and the external device.

A known image forming apparatus is configured to perform short-range wireless communication with an external device, such as an IC card and a smartphone, in compliance with, for example, a near field communication ("NFC") technology. The known image forming apparatus includes a document scanner including a document cover configured to open and close. The document cover has an NFC communication area on an upper surface thereof.

Document scanner and image forming apparatus


This invention provides a surface-emitting display device comprising a plurality of power supply lines 21 connected to a plurality of pixel circuits, respectively, and a power supply bus 22 having a power supply terminal 23 and connected to end portions of the plurality of power supply lines 21 at a prescribed interval, the power supply bus 22 having one or more slits 71, 72 extending along the length direction thereof from the power supply terminal 23 toward the end portions.

Taking a top-emission structure active matrix organic EL display as an example, a representative panel unit is formed by bonding together a TFT circuit substrate 11 on which is formed an organic EL element, and a color filter substrate 12, as shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 2(a) is a schematic diagram of the wiring configuration of this TFT circuit substrate. In this TFT circuit substrate, there exist power supply lines 21 supplying a power supply (electric power) to the individual pixel circuits 24 arranged in one column, and a power supply bus 22 which combines all of these and leads them to a power supply terminal 23. Further, resin is provided to planarize the TFT depressions/protrusions, and normally contact holes 27 connecting emission portions are provided here. The numeral 25 denotes a data signal line, and the numeral 26 denotes a gate signal line.
FIG. 2(b) is a schematic diagram which extracts only this power supply-related wiring. In this way, a configuration of the power supply lines on the TFT circuit substrate in which lines run in one direction is used, rather than full-coverage wiring or a mesh shape. One objective of this is to prevent an increase in the capacitance between wires, and consequent slower driving, due to the increase in area of power supply lines traversing signal lines. A further aim, when pixels are small, is to increase the transistor area by even a small amount. The numeral 16 denotes the position of IC (control circuit) arrangement.
FIG. 3A shows a representative configuration of a pixel circuit. This is a TFT circuit used mainly with liquid crystal elements, but can of course also be used to drive organic EL elements. In this case the TFT-side power supply line is a cathode, and the common upper transparent electrode for all the pixels is a positive electrode. The numeral 31 denotes an organic EL element, 32 and 33 denote TFTs, 34 denotes a capacitor, 35 denotes a source signal line, and 36 denotes a gate signal line.
FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram showing one example of the wiring structure of a pixel circuit 24 of a conventional TFT circuit substrate. Here, the wiring structure is shown for the principle transistor forming the pixel circuit 24 of the conventional TFT circuit substrate.
In the wiring structure of FIG. 3B, a gate wiring pattern 55 is formed as a first-layer metal wiring pattern, and moreover a source wiring pattern 56, drain wiring pattern 57, and the power supply line 21 are each formed on the gate wiring pattern 55, with an insulating layer and a Si layer 29 interposed, as a second-layer metal wiring pattern.
A gate control element region 58 is provided adjacent to the gate wiring pattern 55. This gate control element region 58 is provided with the TFT (Thin Film Transistor) 33 and capacitor 34 shown in FIG. 3A, and moreover the data signal line (source signal line) 25 which is the second-layer metal wiring pattern, and the scan signal line (gate signal line) 26 which is the first-layer metal wiring pattern, are connected.
The source wiring pattern 56 is provided as wiring forming the source of the TFT 32 shown in FIG. 3A. The base portion of this source wiring pattern 56 is connected to the power supply line 21, and the tip portion is branched into a comb shape, to form branch portions 56a, 56b parallel to the power supply line 21.
On the other hand, the drain wiring pattern 57 is provided as wiring forming the drain of the TFT 32. The base portion of this drain wiring pattern 57 is connected to the light emission portion via the contact hole 27, and has a branch portion 57a extending from this base portion to between the branch portions 56a, 56b of the source wiring pattern 56, and a branch portion 57b extending from the base portion to between the branch portion 56b and the power supply line 21. That is, the drain wiring pattern 57 has comb-shape branch portions which mesh with the comb-shape branch portions of the source wiring pattern 56.
Next, a pixel portion of the panel of FIG. 1 has cross-sectional structures along lines AA and BB in FIG. 4A(a) such as shown for example in FIG. 4B(b) and FIG. 4C(c). First, on a glass substrate there exist a TFT structure and the planarization resin 40 for this. This may be covered with an inorganic passivation film as necessary. After depositing an underlayer 41 thereupon to improve closeness of contact, a reflective electrode 42 is formed. After forming an insulating film 43 having openings at emission portions, a plurality of organic films 44 are evaporation-deposited, and a transparent electrode layer 45 is deposited thereupon. Here, what is called the upper transparent electrode layer may be IZO, ITO, or another transparent oxide layer, or may be a half-mirror shape metal film of several nm to several tens of nm. This transparent electrode layer 45 is for example as shown in FIG. 5A(a) and FIG. 5B(b), and the full-coverage wiring 53 which is common to all pixels is connected at a panel peripheral portion to a power supply bus 51 separate from that above, and is drawn out to the terminal 52. And finally, the entire face of the pixel portion is covered by a barrier layer 46.
On the other hand, on the color filter substrate side, a black matrix 47, color filter 48, and also, if necessary, a bank barrier wall 39 and color conversion layer 49, are formed on a glass substrate. Of course, there are also methods in which a bank barrier wall and color conversion layer are not used. Also, spacers 50 may be provided as necessary.
And, the TFT circuit substrate and color filter substrate are positioned such that pixels are aligned, and are bonded together. In general, an adhesive or other solid is used as a gap layer, but a liquid or gas may be used.
On a TFT circuit substrate such as that of FIG. 2, thick-film wiring such as on a printed substrate is difficult, and so the wiring resistance cannot be ignored, and the voltage drop (rise) increases in moving away from the power supply terminal. In particular, in the case of a current driving method of self-emission such as an organic EL panel, the current flowing in the power supply lines is greater than for liquid crystal panels and similar, and the voltage drop (rise) at the power supply lines and power supply bus is greater. This leads directly to an in-plane distribution of the voltages across organic EL emission elements, resulting in brightness unevenness. Further, when a TFT pixel circuit is configured as in FIG. 3A, when the GND potential in particular rises, the gate control voltage fluctuates, and so extremely large brightness unevenness results even for a slight in-plane potential distribution. Further, in the case of a current driving method of self-emission such as an organic EL panel, the current flowing in power supply lines is greater than in liquid crystal panels and similar, so that the voltage drop (rise) at power supply lines and the power supply bus is greater. Hence only a small number of pixels near the power supply terminal where the GND potential is low are very bright, and if this is left unresolved and the average brightness for the overall panel is set, even screen burn-in may occur.
There have been various proposals, as follows, of methods to reduce brightness unevenness due to such potential unevenness near power supply wiring. Patent Reference 1, Patent Reference 2, and Patent Reference 3 attempt to reduce the wiring resistance (voltage drop) due to the power supply bus by supplying power to two or more places of the power supply bus itself. This is effective for reducing resistance. However, there are cases in which power cannot be supplied to a plurality of places due to problems of space and cost, and moreover if the screen is large and the current increases, the power supply bus cannot be made sufficiently thick, and in some cases, increasing the number of places of power supply to some extent does not adequately suppress the voltage drop of the power supply bus.
Further, in Patent Reference 4, Patent Reference 5, and Patent Reference 6 and similar, attempts are made to render uniform the potential on organic EL elements through contact hole wiring measures, and these are effective in cases in which potential unevenness on organic EL elements at the center of brightness unevenness is dominant. However, when using this method, no matter how the contact resistance is adjusted, the entire current is added to the common power supply bus and flows to the power supply terminal, so that a voltage drop always occurs across the power supply bus itself at a distance place from the terminal. That is, when applying this method, the distribution of the voltage drop of the power supply bus itself cannot be reduced, so that brightness unevenness caused by unevenness in the gate voltages of TFTs such as that of FIG. 3A cannot be reduced.
Patent Reference 7 discloses the reduction of variation in the potential of power supply lines by inserting one slit up to an intermediate position of the power supply bus. However, this one slit alone cannot adequately render potentials of power supply lines uniform when the number of power supply lines connected to the power supply bus is large or when the bus is long.
Patent Reference 8 discloses a substrate for displays which reduces voltage drops by connecting adjacent power supply lines (Vdd) at a plurality of places using metal lines. Here, reduction of the widths of the portions of intersection of metal lines and data lines to reduce parasitic capacitance is also described. However, in this configuration, power supply lines are simple connected in a mesh shape, so that for example during full-surface lighting, voltage drops are reduced prominently only near the power supply terminal, and concentrated brightness unevenness results.
It is also possible to correct the light emission instruction data itself sent to each pixel, to reduce brightness unevenness by software means. However, brightness unevenness in a screen is two-dimensional, and it would be necessary to provide memory sufficient for all pixels in the image controller and also set two-dimensional correction coefficients, entailing prohibitive costs.
Of course, power supply line materials can be changed to lower-resistance wiring materials, power supply line films can be made thicker, and bus widths can be expanded to lower power supply line resistances. However, a change in wiring material would necessitate changes in conventional processes, and thickening of power supply line films would cause cost increases and increases in internal stresses (warping, cracking, film peeling). Further, an increases in the bus width would cause an increase in the frame, and would further cause a cost increase due to the reduced product yield from the mother substrate.
Patent Reference 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-232795
Patent Reference 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-232796
Patent Reference 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2004-206055
Patent Reference 4: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-078071
Patent Reference 5: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-157300
Patent Reference 6: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-250553
Patent Reference 7: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-34278
Patent Reference 8: Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-163384


An aquarium cleaning device having an inner component with a plate employing a cleaning surface and an alternative cleaning element operative on a second surface opposite the cleaning surface. A magnetic element is carried by the plate and means for providing orienting buoyancy is carried adjacent one end of the plate. An outer component has a body with a surface for engaging the exterior of an aquarium wall. A second magnetic element is carried by the body such that the body is positionable for magnetic attraction between the magnetic elements with the cleaning surface adjacent the aquarium wall or with the second surface adjacent the aquarium wall. By moving the body between the first and second positions, the inner component is flipped within the aquarium to alternate the cleaning elements.

Cleaning of aquarium interior surfaces which are difficult to access or have other limitations, require specialized cleaning devices. In the aquarium art it is desirable to be able to clean the interior of the glass or clear plastic walls without draining the tank or reaching into the water. The currently available devices for cleaning the interior surface of the aquarium wall use two oppositely charged magnets carried in specially adapted housings.
The first magnet is positioned on the outside of the glass with the second magnet on the inside of the glass in the tank. The second magnet has a covering of a rough or abrasive substance as a cleaning surface to scrape off algae and other materials adhered to the glass. The outer magnet case has a smooth resilient surface to avoid scratching or marring the external surface of the glass. The magnets are positioned adjacent one another on the internal and external surfaces of the glass. The internal magnet is attracted to the external magnet. The external magnet is moved by hand over the glass with the internal magnet following the motion. This induced motion of the internal magnet moves the cleaning surface across the inner surface of the glass to clean the glass. An example of this type of device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. 6,348,104 entitled DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CLEANING AQUARIUM WINDOWS issued on Feb. 19, 2002 to Bakker.
The device in Bakker also has the property that upon disengagement of the internal and external magnetic devices, the internal element floats to the surface of the water in the aquarium for retrieval. However, this property prevents recovery of the internal element anywhere but on the surface of the water and floating buoyancy tends to uncouple the internal and external units. Current products like that disclosed in Bakker have weight or buoyancy distribution within the internal element such that immediately upon disengagement the polarized faces of the internal element magnets orient themselves in a perpendicular plane to the glass thus minimizing the chance for re-engagement.
It is therefore desirable to have a remotely actuated surface cleaning device capable of more vigorous cleaning action. It is further desirable to have a cleaning device with a reduced profile cleaning component for access to areas in which other objects are in close proximity to the glass thereby limiting accessibility. It is also desirable to have a flexible inner component to conform to convex or concave glass surfaces. It is also desirable to distribute the bouyancy proximate one end of the inner cleaning component such that the polarized magnet faces remain parallel to the aquarium glass upon disengagement thus greatly improving the ability to re-engage with the outer unit.


A rheometer comprises a thin-walled bob having two ends, adjacent at least one of which ends there is disposed a respective flow diverter plate to eliminate adverse end effects caused by swirling fluid in the rheometer.

This invention relates to rheometers used for measuring fluid characteristics such as viscosity, which rheometers would but for the present invention tend to provide inaccurate measurements due to significant adverse end effects created by swirling fluid.
Various industries may need to test fluids to determine if they are suitable for their intended use. Fluid properties are often measured within pressurized environments. Fluid properties may be measured at elevated temperatures which may require pressure to prevent boiling. Certain fluids have a tendency to entrain air and fluid pressure is required to compress the air bubbles in the fluid. In real-time monitoring of processes, the fluid is continuously or semi-continuously pumped through the instrument at the process conditions.
Such fluids are often characterized as either Newtonian or non-Newtonian. To characterize a fluid as one of these, shear stress versus shear rate measurements are made. In Newtonian fluids, the shear stress versus shear rate is a constant called viscosity. Examples of Newtonian fluids are water and certain oils. In non-Newtonian fluids, the shear stress versus shear rate is not constant. Non-Newtonian fluids are classified by their shear stress versus shear rate curves as Power law, Bingham, or Pseudoplastic fluids. Examples of non-Newtonian fluids are gels, drilling muds, and cements. In non-Newtonian fluids, certain rheological properties or characteristics, such as n', K', yield stress, consistency, etc. are measured.
An apparatus used to measure shear stress versus shear rate is referred to herein as a rheometer, which term as used herein encompasses both multiple-speed testing and single-speed testing devices (the latter conventionally being referred to as a "viscometer" even if performed by the identical instrument capable of multiple-speed testing). In one embodiment, a rheometer is a couette type instrument in which a cup is turned at a constant speed or shear rate within a body of fluid contained in a chamber of a housing. A bob is suspended inside the cup. Fluid between the bob and cup imparts a torque or shear stress on the bob. This torque is measured and converted to the desired parameter viscosity) in a known manner. In an alternative embodiment, a paddle may be suspended inside the rotating cup. The resulting torque on the paddle can then be measured and converted to a fluid parameter (e.g., consistency).
In one such type of instrument, such as the Fann 35/50 series of rheometers, the sleeve of the rotating cup ends just after the bottom of the bob and the level of the fluid in the chamber does not extend much above the top of the bob. As a result, there is little swirl in the fluid at the respective ends of the bob. Because there is little swirl, the fluid imposes practically no effects on the ends of the bob to distort the measurement. Any such "end effects" which remain are essentially linear and can be readily compensated.
In a pressurized type of instrument, however, the entire system is full of fluid and in many such devices the bob is a thin walled tube because an extremely light part is needed. This common on devices such as the Brookfield TT-100 and the Brookfield TT-200. The combination of the device being filled with fluid along with the bob being basically a hollow tube makes the readings of this type of rheometer erratic and inconsistent. This because in this configuration the tested fluid undergoes moderate to very high swirl which creates moderate to very high non-linear end effects adversely affecting the rotation of the thin-wailed type bob, thereby affecting the measurements that are responsive to such rotation. Thus, there is the need for an improved instrument of this type which does not undergo such adverse end effects and which thus provides consistent, accurate measurements.

Rheometer with flow diverter to eliminate end effects


Methods and computer implemented systems for evaluation and optimisation of methods used for forecasting, modeling, valuation, and decision-making, in staged resource planning are provided. Fundamentally, a universal comparator that accounts for perfect decision differencing (PERNOB) is determined and used for evaluating benefits associated with the use of prediction method-sets and decision-making method-sets in staged resource planning. According to one application, PERNOB is used to evaluate different prediction method-sets and decision-making method-sets and enable the selection of optimal method-sets corresponding to a given situation. According to another application, PERNOB is used to create an unbiased operational decision making environment through realistic re-valuation of system resource(s).

The inherent advantages of having perfect knowledge of the future in resource management is obvious in that if a resource manager can know exactly how much a limited resource will be available at a given time in the future, and how much demand for that resource that needs to be satisfied at that time, then the best possible decision can be made so to maximise economic benefits that would result from the optimal use of that available resource to satisfy that demand.
In real-life practice, however, having perfect knowledge of the future is not a present reality, and resource managers have to rather rely on modeling and predictions as to the future availability of resources as well as the future demand for or expenditures of the resources.
The number of approaches and methodologies for generating predictions of the future is diversely plentiful, but one commonality amongst all of them is that they can only generate estimates based on imperfect knowledge of the future at the time of prediction.
For operations or systems of any complexity, computer modeling is a convenient means that resource managers can use to generate a mathematical representation (model) of a given operation or system. Depending on complexity, a system can comprise of many interacting subsystems, with the corresponding system model comprising of many interacting submodels.
The representation of the system at a given time is commonly referred to as the "state" of the system for that time. The modeled system would take into account a plethora of factors (or variables) that influences and constrains the modeled system, and it is the changes in these variables over time that evolves the system model from one mathematical state to another mathematical state (hence the term "state variables"). The time interval between one state of the modeled system to another state in computer simulation is commonly referred to as a "stage" or a "time-step".
Some of these state variables are dependent variables inherent within the modeled system, while others are independent variables that can include external influences and/or constraints that have to be inputted into the modeled system. In resource management modeling, one or more state variables could represent the level or amount of one or more resources of interest to the resource manager, while other state variable(s) of the model could be the level or amount of demand for such resource(s). It is the changes in these state variables across time-steps in a modeled system that provide a resource manager with the information required for making decisions as to how best to valuate, allocate, and deploy, the resource(s) available to satisfy demand at a given time and maximize economic benefits that would result from same.
When a resource manager is using a system model to determine future availability of, or demand for, a given resource without perfect foreknowledge, at least some of these input variables would have to be predictions based on imperfect knowledge of the future and made using any of the aforementioned diverse selection of forecast methods. Of course, when any of the input variables are predictions or estimates based on imperfect knowledge of the future, they would be subject to inherent uncertainty and inaccuracy. Consequently, the output state variables in terms of resource availability and/or demand would likewise contain inherent uncertainty and inaccuracy. As such, any valuation of resources and any decision made based on any erroneous information would be suboptimal, and the deleterious effects of making suboptimal valuation and/or decisions repeatedly over a number of stages or time-steps can be amplified and have profound adversity on the overall economic benefits that would be realized.
Resource management models can be deterministic or stochastic. Deterministic models require that all future inputs need to be supplied with "certainty" for the formulation of the model problem; they also called scenario planning models. Stochastic (or probabilistic) models, on the other hand, directly accommodate "uncertainty" of inputs by requiring a probabilistic representation (e.g. statistical distribution) of every uncertain input and can thereby generate outputs given with confidence intervals.
As mentioned above, resource management modeling of operations or systems commonly requires the formulation of large number of influences and constraints. This requirement can significantly limit the selection of available mathematical programming techniques that can perform the task, and it can also place an inordinate amount of computational burden and modeling time. Due to these reasons, a deterministic problem formulation is oftentimes used for resource management modeling of large and/or complex operations or systems, although stochastic modeling is also becoming increasingly viable with our continuing advances in computational technologies.
Regardless of deterministic or stochastic modeling, either situation would still require formulation of input scenarios (considering for all influences and constants) to provide a vision of the future; and when input scenarios (whether finite or probabilistic) are simply predictions based on imperfect foreknowledge, the resulting error within the predicted outputs, such as availability of resources or future demand, can mislead the resource manager to assume inappropriate risk levels and thereby resulting in decisions that produce unrealistic net benefits and/or costs.
In reality all time-related planning processes must in some fashion consider time-related uncertainties in order to improve decision making. A number of the more sophisticated resource management models have the programmed ability to automatically provide recommendations to the resource manager on how best to valuate, allocate, and deploy, resources of interest to activities that would maximize economic benefit and/or minimize cost over planning periods. These models can be applied to planning the operation and expansion of assets and resource in many industries including complex electrical utility systems, and they have to take into consideration a tremendous variety and number of state variables, notwithstanding the added algorithms to enable automated formulation of decision(s) based on applicable state variables at each time-step. The accuracy and actual value of the any decision made, regardless of level of sophistication of the decision making algorithms, would hinge upon the accuracy of the input state variables and cannot escape the inevitable "garbage-in-garbage-out" idiom. That said, the selection of and reliance on suboptimal decision formulation methodology, regardless of however perfect and accurate the predictions are, would still yield suboptimal decisions and compromised economic benefits.
Similar to the fact that there are many different methods for making predictions on state variables, there are also diverse approaches and methods for formulation of decisions based on any given state of a system. Oftentimes, a resource manager may use different decision formulation methodologies and algorithms to variably compensate for the suspected degrees of error caused by inaccurate prediction of input state variables, and as such, very different decisions (e.g. in terms of course of action respecting valuation, allocation, or deployment, of available resources) can be reached even for a single state of the modeled system.
At the end, with the multitude of approaches and methodologies for both prediction of input state variables, matrixed with the multitude of approaches and methodologies for decision formulation (including resource valuation), resource managers are commonly left with the question as to which combination of prediction method vs. decision formulation method should be adopted/matched so that economic benefits are indeed maximized.
An examination of the prior art has revealed numerous different methods that resource managers can use to evaluate a given prediction method or a given decision formulation method, but this piecemeal approach would be time consuming, and perhaps more importantly, it cannot be used to holistically or systemically evaluate different combinations and permutations of prediction methods and decision formulation methods. Further, a resource manager would now be saddled with yet another layer of uncertainty in decision-making in terms of which evaluation methodology would be best and should be used, and the quagmire worsens.
Yet further, resource managers are often required to plan for different time frames or time scales (e.g. hourly, weekly, monthly, and multiyear planning), and as such, their operations and systems are simulated using models that run on different time horizons and time-steps. Ultimately, at any given point in time, the longer-term predictions in terms of resource availability and resource demand would feed into the shorter term predictions which would eventually drive present-time evaluation of resource, formulation of decisions on resource allocation and deployment, and execution of resulting decisions to generate corresponding economic benefits.
As such, it is important that approaches and methods used for predicting resource availability in the more distant future are comparable and compatible (e.g. in terms of method bias and accuracy) with approaches and methods used for predicting resource availability in the near future. At a given demand level, an over-abundance of resource can lead to under-valuation of said resource and vice versa, and any mismatch in valuation of a given resource at the boundary between two different time frames would be confusing and not very helpful for the resource manager.
So in order to improve the utility of the economic results from deterministic modeling, there is therefore a need for a more practicable and more universal solution that can help resource managers meaningfully evaluate and select optimal methods for prediction as well as methods of decision formulation for their respective situations and purposes.

Optimisation of resource management using perfect knowledge bias


A heat insulating member including at least one cholesteric resin layer having cholesteric regularity controlled such that, in a wavelength range of 800 nm to 2,500 nm, the cholesteric resin layer has a band of reflecting 40% or more of incident light with a wavelength width equal to or wider than 300 nm; and a binder layer containing a pigment, the heat insulating member having a yellow index of 2.0 or lower.

Conventionally, laminated glass has been used as, for example, window glass for vehicles. Generally, a laminated glass includes at least one pair of glass plates and an intermediate film such as a resin film disposed between the glass plates. Such a laminated glass has high safety because even if the glass is broken upon receiving impact, scattering of broken glass pieces is less likely to occur (see Patent Literature 1).
In recent years, from the viewpoint of improving air conditioning efficiency to promote energy saving, the development of films that block light in an infrared range (infrared radiation) is being advanced (Patent Literatures 2 and 3).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Heat insulating member, heat insulating laminated glass, and heat insulating laminated glass article


A novel process for preparing highly pure cilostazol, effected by reacting 6-hydroxy-3,4-dihydroquinolinone and 5-(4-chlorobutyl)-1-cyclohexyl-1H-tetrazole in the presence of a hydrated inorganic base, is disclosed. Further disclosed is highly pure cilostazol, and particularly highly pure cilostazol that is substantially free of 6-[4-(1-cyclohexyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-butoxy]-1-[4-(1-cyclohexyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-butyl ]-3,4-dihydro-1H-quinolin-2-one.

The present invention relates to the field of chemistry, and more particularly to a novel and improved process of preparing 6-(4-(1-cyclohexyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)butoxy)-3,4-dihydro-2(1H)-quinolinone (also known under the generic name cilostazol), and to highly pure cilostazol.
6-(4-(1-cyclohexyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)butoxy)-3,4-dihydro-2(1H)-quinolinone (also known and referred to herein as Cilostazol), is known as an inhibitor of cell platelet aggregation. Cilostazol is presently marketed (under the brand name Pletal™ by Otsuka American Pharmaceutical, Inc. of Rockville, Md.) as a drug for the treatment of stable intermittent claudication.

Intermittent claudication is a condition caused by narrowing of the arteries that supply the legs with blood. Patients with intermittent claudication suffer from oxygen deficiency in the blood vessels that reach the active leg muscles and thus develop a severe pain, aching or cramping in the legs during walk. This medical condition is typically caused by a peripheral atherosclerotic vascular disease; a condition more commonly known as atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Atherosclerosis occurs when deposits of fatty substances build up, in this case in the legs, leading to an inadequate blood supply to the leg muscles. Intermittent claudication affects tens of million of, predominantly, elderly people. It can greatly impair their ability to walk without considerable discomfort and can seriously affect their ability to exercise or even engage in ordinary activities of daily life.
The presently standard effective treatments of intermittent claudication include intensive exercise regimens, drug treatments, such as pentoxifylline (Trental™) and Cilostazol, and under certain circumstances, re-vascularization surgical procedures (operations to open the leg arteries or provide a replacement artery).
Administration of cilostazol to subjects suffering from intermittent claudication dilates the arteries and thereby improves blood and oxygen supply to the legs, enabling faster and prolonged leg motion. Patients treated with cilostazol reported substantial improvement in both walking distance and walking speed during daily routines.
The mechanism of action of cilostazol is yet unclear. Cilostazol is known as an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase III (PDE III), and as a result exerts vasodilation and inhibition of platelet aggregation activities. Nevertheless, it is not clear whether its beneficial effect on intermittent claudication is attributed to these activities
Cilostazol is now being studied for its use as a therapeutic agent for various indications other than intermittent claudication, such as sexual dysfunctions and additional medical conditions related to blood circulation (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,790).
The synthesis of cilostazol was first described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,479 (to Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co.). According to the teachings of this patent, cilostazol and analogs thereof are prepared by a process that involves alkylation of a hydroxycarbostyril derivative, having the general Formula I below, with a tetrazole derivative, having the general Formula II below, wherein X represents a halogen atom and n represents the length of the hydrocarbon chain connecting the tetrazole and the halogen atom (see, Scheme 1 below).

According to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,479, the above reaction is performed at conventional alkaline conditions, using a wide variety of organic and inorganic bases, and in the absence or presence of an inert solvent.
Thus, further according to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,479, cilostazol is prepared from 6-hydroxy-3,4-dihydroquinolinone (also referred to herein throughout as Compound I) and a molar excess of 5-(4-chlorobutyl)-1-cyclohexyl-1H-tetrazole (also referred to herein throughout as Compound II) using 1,8-diazabicyclo[5,4,0]undec-7-ene (DBU) as a base and ethanol as a solvent.

Later on, Nishi, et al. (Chem. Pharm. Bull., 31, 1983, 1151-57), described a method of preparing Cilostazol in a higher yield of 74%, by reacting Compound I with a molar excess of Compound II in isopropanol in the presence of potassium hydroxide as a base, and purifying the resulting product by column. chromatography and recrystallization from methanol.
Additional processes for preparing cilostazol are taught in U.S. Pat. No. 6,515,128 and its continuation-in-part U.S. Pat. No. 6,825,214 (to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.).
One of these processes involves a phase transfer reaction of Compound I with Compound II in a mixture of a water-immiscible solvent and water in the presence of a water-soluble base, and a quaternary ammonium phase transfer catalyst. The most preferred quaternary ammonium phase transfer catalyst, according to the teachings of these patents, is tricaprylylmethylammonium chloride (Aliquate®336). This process further involves isolation of crude cilostazol from the biphasic mixture and its purification by recrystallization.
The second process involves a reaction of Compound I with a molar excess of Compound II in a non-aqueous hydroxylic solvent, such as 1-butanol, 2-propanol, 2-butanol and amyl alcohol, in the presence of an alkali metal hydroxide, such as potassium hydroxide, and an alkali metal carbonate, such as potassium carbonate. This process further involves isolation of crude cilostazol from the reaction. mixture and its purification by recrystallization.
The third process involves a reaction of Compound I with Compound II in a non-aqueous hydroxylic solvent in the presence of a mixture of an alkali metal hydroxide and an alkali metal carbonate as base, and molecular sieves as an agent of dehydration. This process further involves isolation of crude cilostazol from the reaction mixture and its purification by recrystallization.
The inventors of the present invention reproduced the abovementioned, processes (see, Reference Examples 1-7 in the Examples section hereinbelow), and used HPLC measurements to analyze the composition of the reaction mixture after each step, and to thereby meticulously follow and detect any trace amount of an impurity. The inventors of the present invention have thus uncovered that a substantial amount of the impurity 6-[4-(1-cyclohexyl-1H-tetrazol-5-yl)-butoxy]-1-[4-(1-cyclohexyl-1H-tetrazol-5yl)-butyl]-3,4-dihydro-1H-quinolin-2-one (also referred to herein throughout as Compound III, presented hereinbelow) is present in the final product (both the crude and purified cilostazol) obtained by all of these processes (see, for example, FIGS. 1-3). The presence of such an impurity was not reported in any of the abovementioned prior art processes. The present inventors have further found that the most substantial amounts of this impurity are obtained in processes which involve inorganic bases (see, for example, Reference Examples 2, 4, 6 and 7 hereinbelow and FIGS. 1-3).

The formation of Compound III as a substantial impurity obtained along with the desired product cilostazol is highly undesirable and pauses a major limitation to the entire synthesis process, particularly due to the findings that such an impurity is exceptionally difficult to remove from the final product by methods suitable for commercial scale (such as recrystallization) and hence may require the use of column chromatography.
Thus, while the prior art teaches several processes for preparing cilostazol, all of these processes are limited in that they require the use of excessive amounts of at least one of the starting materials in order to achieve acceptable reaction yields, and/or the use of reagents which are hazardous, expensive and/or difficult to isolate and remove from the reaction product and/or involve the formation of substantial amounts of Compound III.
As is mentioned above, some of the processes described hereinabove for preparing cilostazol use an excessive amount of at least one of the starting materials. The starting materials typically used in the synthesis of cilostazol, namely, 5-(4-chlorobutyl)-1-cyclohexyl-1H-tetrazole and 6-hydroxy-3,4-dihydroquinolin-2(1H)-one, are expensive compounds. In general, the need to use of molar excess of any of the starting materials, and/or of any expensive reagent, typically indicates that the reaction conditions are less than optimal in terms of yields, impurities and the treatment of waste. Therefore an improved process that would allow an efficient use of the starting materials is critical in the commercial scale production of cilostazol.
In addition, processes which involve the use of organic bases, such as 1,8-diazabicyclo[5,4,0]undec-7-ene (DBU), are limited due to the hazardousness of these compounds (DBU, for example, is classified as a harmful substance that may cause burns and lachrymation) and the difficulties encountered while trying to isolate these compounds from the product mixture, which oftentimes lead to use column chromatography or repetitive purification procedures. Similarly, processes in which a phase transfer catalyst, such as the reagent Aliquat®336, is used are limited by the acute hazardousness of this catalyst (Aliquate®336 is classified as a highly toxic substance by inhalation, ingestion or skin absorption, a severe irritant and very destructive of mucous membranes), and the difficulties encountered during purification of the product. Phase transfer catalysts are also oftentimes costly and environmentally unfriendly.
Processes that involve the use of inorganic bases are relatively advantageous in this respect. Inorganic bases are relatively inexpensive, are easy to handle, are relatively environmentally friendly and, most advantageously, can readily be separated from the final product. However, as mentioned above, the present inventors have uncovered that the processes described in the art which use inorganic bases for the synthesis of cilostazol, are severely limited by the substantial formation of Compound III.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have an efficient process for preparing cilostazol devoid of the above limitations.

Highly pure cilostazol and an improved process for obtaining same


The system includes a digital camera or similar CCD or CMOS device which transmits image data to a computing device. Changes such as motion, light or color are detected in various sectors or regions of the image. These changes are evaluated by software which generates output to an audio speaker and/or to an infra-red, radio frequency, or similar transmitter. The transmitter forms a link to a microprocessor based platform which includes remote microprocessor software. Additionally, the platform include mechanical connections upon which a robot can be built and into which the digital camera can be incorporated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a toy device which is responsive to visual input, particularly visual input in different sectors of the visual field.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the prior art, simplified robot-type toys for children are known. However, these robot-type toys typically have a pre-set number of activities. While these robot-type toys have been satisfactory in many ways, they typically have not capitalized on the child""s interest in order to provide an avenue to elementary computer programming.
While some electronic kits have been produced to allow the consumer to build a robot-type toy, these electronic kits have tended to be complicated and required an adult level of skill to operate.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a toy device which has a wide range of activities.
It is therefore a further object of the present invention to provide a toy device which can maintain the sustained interest of children.
It is therefore a still further object of the present invention to provide a toy device which can be programmed by a child.
It is therefore a still further object of the present invention to provide a toy device which can be assembled by a child.
These and other objects are attained by providing a system with a microprocessor-based platform. The microprocessor-based platform typically can receive wheels which it can control and further provides the physical platform upon which the robot can be built using elements which include interlocking building blocks which are physically and visually familiar to children. The microprocessor-based unit receives commands via a link, such as an infra-red link or a radio frequency link, from a personal computer. The personal computer receives input from a digital camera or similar visual sensor. The digital camera or similar visual sensor includes interlocking elements to allow it to be incorporated into the robot built from the interlocking building blocks. The personal computer receives the input from the digital camera and, via a program implemented in software, processes the visual input, taking into account various changes (motion, light, pattern recognition or color) in the various sectors of the visual field, and sends commands to the microprocessor-based platform. The program is implemented modularly within software to allow children to re-configure the program to provide various responses of the robot-type toy to various visual inputs to the digital camera. These various programmed responses provide for a wide range of activities possible by the robot-type toy.
Moreover, the system can be configured without the microprocessor-based unit so that the personal computer is responsive to changes in the sectors of the visual field as detected by the digital camera, with processing. There are many possibilities for such a configuration. One configuration, for example, is that the personal computer would drive audio speakers in response to physical movements of the user in the various sectors of the visual field as sensed by the digital camera. This could result in a virtual keyboard, with sounds generated in response to the movements of the user.
Alternately, an auxiliary device may be activated in response to a movement in the visual field, pattern recognition or a particular color entering or exiting the field. The auxiliary device could be a motor which receives instructions to follow a red ball, or a light switch which receives instructions to switch on when any movement is sensed.


Porous implantable devices for housing one or more therapeutic agents are disclosed herein. The implantable devices include a porous outer wall defining an interia or void. The interior void houses a carrier material carrying a first therapeutic agent. The implantable devices are made by patterning at least a portion of a polymerizable substrate into a polymerized three-dimensional porous outer wall surrounding an interior void. This can be achieved by two-photon polymerization techniques. A first therapeutic agent is then added to the interior void, which is then sealed. Methods of treating diseases using the implantable devices are disclosed herein. The methods include implanting the implantable device at a target area and locally releasing a therapeutically effective dosage of a first therapeutic agent from the interior void. The implantable devices can also be used in methods of screening potentially therapeutic agents for desired biological responses.

A significant challenge in modern medicine is the manufacturing of therapies that maximize the precision and personalization for individual patients. The needs for such technologies in medicine are wide-ranging; many, if not most, medical conditions involve the dysfunction of specific organs or the occurrence of diseased regions within otherwise healthy tissues. These include but are not restricted to needs in direct applications for cancer therapy; interventions in ocular disorders; and treatment of neurological disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and epilepsy, among others. Despite the focal nature of these disease processes, current therapies are delivered systemically, exposing the rest of the body to unwanted side effects and minimizing potential efficacy. As such, designing a versatile therapeutic delivery platform that can be precisely tailored for each patient is paramount.
The delivery of therapeutic agents into their respective targets presents several challenges. Systemic pharmacological delivery has particular limitations given the need for targeting of specific desired regions without affecting surrounding unaffected areas and tissues, as well as obstructions by various blood-tissue barriers which may restrict delivery. The more straightforward solution has been through the use of implantable devices and gels which are applied directly into afflicted regions. Such interventions maximize concentrations of local drug delivery while minimizing toxicity and side-effects experienced by systemic delivery options. Yet, current devices have several shortcomings in regards to implementations in complex systems such as the central nervous and ocular systems, as they are typically obtrusive and invasive in size, lacking in the fine control necessary for precise delivery, are not customizable for individual patients, and often have added complexities in releasing therapeutic materials. Therefore, a need persists for devices that can provide pinpoint precision of therapeutic delivery, maximize efficacy, reduce side-effects and damage, and account for specific individual patient needs.


Various embodiments include an electric motor vehicle which does not have any active suspension components, gearbox, differential or other mechanical transmission components, in various embodiments including consists a chassis, at least one pair of integrated wheel and brushless DC electric motor assemblies mounted on the chassis with conventional suspension components including springs and dampers. In various embodiments, a battery pack on the chassis provides power to the integrated wheel and electric motor assemblies; and a control system operates each integrated wheel and motor assembly independently of each other integrated wheel and motor assembly. Various embodiments include the control system including a master controller connected to the battery pack, and, a separate slave controller connected to the battery pack and to each of the integrated wheel and motor assemblies as well as the master controller.

Prior art electrical vehicles typically incorporate a brushed motor gearbox train and require a substantial bank of batteries in order to operate. The use of a gearbox train to transfer the power from the motor to the four wheels causes losses in efficiency. Sometimes as much as 50% of the power input to the electric motor is lost before being transferred to the wheels of the vehicle.
Electric vehicles incorporating In-wheel electric motor systems have been developed in the past that have sought to overcome the issue of loss of power and reduced efficiencies associated with conventional electric drive trains. Whilst these in-wheel electric motor vehicles have lower power losses and are more efficient, these vehicles have associated with them, the problem of poor road holding performance. The reason these vehicles perform badly on the road is a result of increases in their so-called "un-sprung mass".
The un-sprung mass of a ground vehicle with a suspension is the mass of the suspension, wheels or tracks (as applicable), and other components directly connected to them. The mass of the body and other components supported by the suspension is the sprung mass. Un-sprung mass includes the mass of components such as the wheel axles, wheel bearings, tyres, springs, shock absorbers, and suspension links.
As the un-sprung mass of a vehicle increases, the contact force of a tyre fluctuates when the vehicle runs over an uneven road, resulting in deteriorated road holding properties.
When in-wheel motors are utilised instead of a central electric motor the effect on the un-sprung and sprung masses are twofold. Firstly the sprung mass of the vehicle decreases as the motor and transmission which originally sat on a suspended chassis is taken off the chassis. Secondly, since the motor stator of the in-wheel motor is rotatably fixed to a spindle shaft connected to a part called an "upright" or "knuckle" which is one of the parts around the wheels of the vehicle, the un-sprung mass of the vehicle increases when an in-wheel motor is mounted, thereby deteriorating the road holding properties of the vehicle.
As a result of the large un-sprung masses associated with in-wheel electric motors, the road holding performance, and consequently safety, of these vehicles is seriously compromised.
Even when the mass of the body of a vehicle, so-called "sprung mass" is small, the road holding properties of such vehicles deteriorates when in-wheel electric motors are used. As a result, the in-wheel motor vehicle is rarely used although it is a very attractive electric car having excellent space efficiency and transmission efficiency of driving force.
One attempt at overcoming the problem of increased sprung mass when in-wheel electric motors are introduced into a vehicle to replace a centrally mounted electric motor is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,306,065 which discloses a method of mounting an in-wheel motor and an in-wheel motor system both of which are capable of reducing the tyre contact force fluctuation of a vehicle to improve the road holding properties of the vehicle so as to overcome the abovementioned problems of the earlier prior art. However, the way in which the inventor has done this is to introduce very complicated and sophisticated active suspension components that constantly monitor pressures exerted on the wheels by the terrain and by the suspended chassis to compensate for the differences in pressures through the use of active suspension components. Such an approach adds complexity and raises the cost to manufacture in-wheel electric vehicles.
The problems caused by un-sprung mass result in the introduction of variable force between the wheel and the ground. This can result in wheels locking under braking or spinning even under minimal acceleration and especially under strong acceleration. This locking and spinning contributes further to the poor road-holding experienced in the general motor vehicle industry.
It has been determined by the present inventor that by reducing the mass of in-wheel electric motors and by reducing the un-sprung mass of the vehicle generally it is possible to design a vehicle that uses in-wheel electric motors without active suspension and which has acceptable road holding performance. In particular, it has been discovered that a golf course or resort vehicle with in-wheel electric motors mounted on traditional suspension components, can adequately maintain grip on the road and provide acceptable road holding performance. As will be described below, if in-wheel electric motors weighing up to 7 kg (which provide up to 1 KW in power output) are utilised in a golf course or resort vehicle of approximately 450 kg, performance will be adequate for most road conditions encountered. If however, the road and or other surface conditions are going to challenge the vehicle, for instance, unsealed road surfaces, or hilly terrain, active control systems are provided by the present invention which result in good road holding performance without the need to provide active suspension.
The inventor has found that anti-lock braking, active traction control and providing electronic differential speed controls, when provided in an electric vehicle fitted with in-wheel electric motors, overcome the previously documented problems associated with un-sprung mass without the need to provide active suspension components.
Golf course or resort vehicles are fairly small in dimension, and often lack components such as a roof, windows and doors. Typically these vehicles are generally around 4 feet (1.2 m) wide×8 feet (2.4 m) long×6 feet (1.8 m) high and weigh 900 pounds (410 kg) to 1,000 pounds (450 kg) (which is more than half the weight of highway vehicles). Such a vehicle equipped with in-wheel electric motors will end up having a maximum speed of 30 kph which is more than enough for use as a:
(a) golf course car;
(b) resort car;
(c) CBD/metro car;
(d) utility vehicle for carrying a payload such as landscaping material;
(e) factory or studio vehicle;
(f) airside airport vehicle.
Thus although the present invention will be described by reference to a "golf course and resort vehicle" the person skilled in the art will appreciate that the term applies to any vehicle of relatively small dimensions and weight and which is principally concerned with transporting people, or other payload, short distances at low speed.


An exemplary turbine system for generating hydroelectric power. The exemplary turbine system is generally installed in shallow waterways and accelerates water flowing therein. The accelerated water generates power via spinning one or more turbine rotors of the system. An exemplary method for installing the turbine system is disclosed. The method includes first lowering a turbine system base into the shallow waterway, where the base includes a depression for accepting a mortise insert. The mortise insert includes one or more sockets for accepting notches in a base plate, where the base plate is coupled to one or more turbine rotors. The base plate mates with the mortise insert for ease of installation and securely positioning the one or more turbine rotors within the system.

Traditional hydroelectric systems are generally integrated with damns or similar structures for manipulating large bodies of water. These hydroelectric systems are generally built simultaneously with their respective water manipulation structures, and are built at the location where they are to operate. Therefore, there exists a long-felt but unresolved need for hydroelectric systems that are easier to manufacture and install, and may be installed in various waterways, rather than only larger water manipulation structures.


A circuit breaker for protecting a motor-driven system from overcurrents and undervoltages includes both current and voltage sensors and derives a precise estimate of electromagnetic torque output from sensed currents and voltages. A contactor similarly includes torque estimating capability.

In a motor system, it is often necessary to monitor the torque produced by the motor, particularly if the motor is being used to drive a complex load, such as, for example, a pump or a valve. Electromechanical torque transducer systems are sometimes employed, but are limited due to physical constraints, high costs, and lack of reliability and robustness. A recent alternative for monitoring torque relies on the current sensed by a single current transformer in one of three phases supplying the drive motor. In particular, the current is assumed to represent a scaled version of the actual torque produced by the motor.
Unfortunately, however, as derived from the steady-state equivalent circuit of an induction motor, the relationship between current and output torque (or shaft torque) is not fixed, but varies as both power factor and efficiency change at different loads and speeds, as shown in FIG. 1. Other factors which affect the relationship between current and shaft torque include rotor electrical and mechanical time constants and saturation. Therefore, using current to deduce the state of the load and the nature of faults results in significant errors.
Another method for monitoring torque output in an induction motor involves a model-based approach wherein knowledge of motor parameters (e.g., rotor and stator resistances, leakage inductances and magnetizing inductance) and motor speed is required in addition to motor currents and voltages. Unfortunately, however, motor parameters must be given, measured or estimated; and estimation under transient conditions is difficult and may involve complex computations.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide means for precisely estimating torque in an induction motor using both current and voltage information, which information can be provided from circuit breaker sensors that function to protect the motor from overcurrents and undervoltages. Similarly, such information can be provided from contactor sensors or similar devices in a motor control center. Furthermore, it is desirable that such torque measurements be made without requiring measurements of motor parameters or speed.

Electrical distribution equipment with torque estimating capability


In a system for restoring a controlled unit from an abnormal condition, a plurality of predicted abnormal conditions and corresponding restoring procedures are prestored. When an actually generated abnormal condition matches with one of the prestored abnormal conditions, the system restores the controlled unit from the abnormal condition based on the prestored restoring procedure corresponding to the abnormal condition which matches with the actually generated abnormal condition.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system for restoring a controlled unit from an abnormal condition. More specifically, the present invention relates to a system for controlling operations of a controlled actuating unit, wherein the operations of the controlled actuating unit are monitored and diagnosed, and further restored when abnormality is detected. The present invention is particularly applicable to the sequence control of the actuating unit performed by a sequence controller including a programmable controller, a relay circuit, a robot controller and a numeric controller.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various diagnostic systems for controlled actuating units are known as disclosed in references such as Japanese First (unexamined) Patent Publication No. 1-48206 and Japanese Second (examined) Patent Publication No. 1-52762.
Japanese First Patent Publication No. 1-248206 discloses a programmable controller. A sequence program to be executed by the controller is formed by a plurality of routines, each having sequence steps. A timer is provided for checking whether the routine proceeds from one step to a next step within a preset maximum time. An abnormal condition is determined when the timer counts up the preset maximum time. When the abnormal condition is determined, all transition conditions necessary for proceeding to the next step with an indication of the unsatisfied transition condition are stored in a data memory, which can be displayed on a display screen.
Japanese Second Patent Publication No. 1-52762 discloses a programmable controller including a calculation mode and a run mode. In the calculation mode, maximum and minimum ON times or OFF times of each output relay are derived by operating a controlled unit. In the run mode, ON times or OFF times of each output relay are derived by actually operating the controlled unit, and an abnormal condition is determined when the derived ON time or OFF time of each output relay exceeds the corresponding maximum or minimum ON or OFF time.
However, though the occurrence of the abnormality can be known in both publications and all the transition conditions with the unsatisfied transition condition can be known in Japanese First Patent Publication No. 1-248206, the restoring operation for all abnormal conditions should be manually performed by the operator. This is troublesome to the operator and deteriorates the operation efficiency.
Further, when a new abnormal condition which is not predictable beforehand occurs, since no indication of a required transition condition can be shown to the operator, it is difficult for normal operators to deal with that abnormality. Specifically, after a well experienced operator has manually restored the system from the particular new abnormality with his own knowledge, no other operators can share what the well experienced operator has learned. Further, if such abnormality occurs repeatedly, the well experienced operator has to perform the same or similar manual operations repeatedly. This possibly deteriorates the operation efficiency.
On the other hand, though it is theoretically possible to include all predictable abnormal conditions, i.e. all predictable transition conditions in the sequence program, such an inclusion requires a great deal of efforts and is not practical. In practice, the abnormality is so irregular that it is extremely difficult to make the sequence program for predicting all possible abnormal conditions. Further, since abnormal conditions actually generated form only a part, dealing with all predictable abnormality is not practical, but is wasteful.

System for restoring controlled unit from abnormal condition


A patient support apparatus including a patient support and a removable section. A locking mechanism includes interactive members supported by the patient support and the removable section for releasably securing the removable section to the patient support.

This invention relates to a birthing bed, and particularly to a removable foot section for a birthing bed. More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus for attaching a removable foot section to a birthing bed.
Conventional birthing beds typically have a detachable foot section. The removal of the foot section permits a caregiver to slide a stool into the space vacated by the foot section so as to be in position to assist in delivery. After delivery, the foot section is reattached to a patient support deck (hereafter, xe2x80x9cthe patient supportxe2x80x9d) of the birthing bed. The present invention comprises improvements to such beds.
The present invention will be described primarily as a birthing or delivery bed, but it will be understood that the same may be used in conjunction with any other patient support apparatus, such as a hospital stretcher or an operating table. Also, the present invention will be described primarily as a mechanism for attaching a removable foot section to the patient support such that the foot section extends generally horizontally in the plane of the patient support. But it will be understood that the same may be used for attaching a removable head section or a removable side panel to the patient support such that the removable head section or the removable side panel, as the case may be, extends generally horizontally in the plane of the patient support.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, a patient support apparatus comprises a patient support having a first generally planar surface, a removable section having a second generally planar surface, and an attachment mechanism configured to secure the removable section to the patient support such that the second planar surface of the removable section is aligned generally parallel to the first planar surface of the patient support only when the removable section is fully inserted into the patient support and latched to the patient support.
According to another embodiment of the invention, the foot section must be inserted into the bed at an angle relative to the patient support, and is configured to become generally coplanar with the patient support only when it is fully inserted into the bed.
According to still another embodiment, if the foot section is inserted only a part of the way into the bed and let go, it will assume a non-coplanar position with respect to the patient support. The foot section will become generally coplanar with the patient support only when it is fully inserted into the bed.
According to yet another illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a patient support apparatus comprises a patient support, a removable section, and a latch having interactive members coupled to the patient support and the removable section. The removable section is movable between a first position wherein the removable section is coupled to the patient support by the interactive members and a second position wherein the removable section is spaced apart from the patient support. The removable section is movable from the second position to the first position along an inclined path of travel having both horizontal and vertical components relative to a ground surface.
According to a further illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a patient support apparatus comprises a patient support, and a removable section movable between a first position wherein the removable section is coupled to the patient support and a second position wherein the removable section is spaced apart from the patient support. The patient support apparatus further comprises a locking mechanism including a detent coupled to one of the patient support and the removable section and a detent release coupled to the other of the removable section and the patient support, wherein the detent release is selectively connected to the detent when the removable section is in the first position.
In still yet another illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a patient support apparatus comprises a patient support, a removable section, and an attachment mechanism including cooperating engagement members coupled to the patient support and the removable section. The removable section is movable between a first position wherein the removable section is connected to the patient support by the engagement members and a second position wherein the removable section is spaced apart from the patient support. The patient support apparatus further comprises a locking mechanism including a locking recess supported by the removable section and a detent supported by the patient support, the detent movable between a first position received within the locking recess and a second position in spaced relation to the locking recess when the removable section is coupled to the patient support by the engagement members.
According to a further illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a patient support apparatus comprises a patient support, a removable section movable between a first position wherein the removable section is coupled to the patient support and a second position wherein the removable section is spaced apart from the patient support. The patient support apparatus further comprises a latch coupled to the patient support and movable between a first, locked position and a second, unlocked position. A latch release is coupled to the removable section, wherein movement of the latch release moves the latch between the locked position and the unlocked position when the removable section is in the first position.
According to yet another illustrated embodiment of the present invention, a removable section for selective coupling with a patient support comprises a body, a guide member supported by the body, and a handle supported for sliding movement by the guide member. The removable section further comprises a locking mechanism including an interactive member operably connected to the handle, wherein movement of the handle moves the interactive member.
Additional features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.


The present invention features a system and method for operating or operably connecting an American locking cylinder with a Profile mortise lock, wherein the American locking cylinder functions with the Profile mortise lock in place of a Profile locking cylinder. Essentially, the present invention provides a door lock cylinder conversion adapter that converts an American cylinder to be operable with a Profile mortise lock. The door lock cylinder conversion adapter functions to actuate the internal locking mechanism of a Profile mortise lock much the same way a standard Profile locking cylinder would, only with an American locking cylinder providing the means for effectuating the actuation.

In the current window and door market there are two primary or main locking cylinders used to secure windows and doors in a secured or locked position. The first is the American cylinder and the second is the Profile cylinder.
As shown in FIG. 1, a prior art door locking system 10 is shown having an internal plate mount 14 and an external plate mount 18 positioned on either side of an American cylinder mortise lock 22. The American cylinder mortise lock 22 comprises a mortise receiver 24 and various internal locking components, including a bolt 26. The American cylinder mortise lock 22 is operable with an American cylinder lock 34 having an internal cam (not shown) used to selectively turn the components of mortise lock 22, and particularly bolt 26, thus locking and unlocking a door (not shown). The internal cam further prevents American cylinder 34 from freely rotating. Instead, the cam is made to contact one or more stoppers within American cylinder 34 that limit its range of rotation.
The American cylinder lock 34 is widely used in the United States as a standard cylinder lock. It is small and mounts from behind the door hardware. A flat tailpiece 38 extends from behind the mechanism of American cylinder lock 34 and extends into mortise receiver 24. When a key is inserted and turned, the internal cam causes tailpiece 38 to rotate, which subsequently turns or drives bolt 26 inside mortise lock 24. Turning the cam functions to drive bolt 26 into a door jamb (not shown), thus locking the door. The benefit of the American cylinder is that it is cost effective. In addition, because the American cylinder lock is mounted from behind the door hardware, and particularly external plate mount 18, it is protected from environmental elements that can corrode or rust its various components. As such, the life of locking mechanism 10 is extended and the durability of the locking mechanism is increased. Another benefit is that tailpiece 38 can comprise different lengths that are easily interchangeable or cut to accommodate different door thicknesses.
Referring now to FIG. 2, shown is another prior art door locking system 10. Door locking system 10 comprises an internal plate mount 40 and an external plate mount 44 positioned on either side of a Profile cylinder mortise lock 48. A Profile cylinder mortise lock 48 comprises an eyehole 52 allowing access to various internal locking components, such as a bolt (not shown). Profile cylinder mortise lock 48 is operable with a Profile cylinder 54 having a cam 56 used to selectively turn the components of mortise lock 48, and particularly the bolt, thus locking and unlocking a door. A Profile cylinder 54 is a type of locking cylinder that is primarily used in Europe, but that is also frequently used in the United States. A Profile cylinder 54 mounts by placing it through external plate mount 40 and mortise lock 48 with a screw 50 coming in edgewise, thus securing Profile cylinder 54 into place. Unlike the American cylinder illustrated in FIG. 1, Profile cylinder 54 has no tailpiece. Instead, cam 56 is built directly into Profile cylinder 54. When a key is inserted and turned, cam 56 is caused to rotate. This rotation subsequently drives the bolt into the door jamb, thus securing or locking the door.
There are several deficiencies inherently associated with the Profile-type locking assembly. The Profile cylinder is comparatively expensive compared to the cost of the American cylinder. Thus, if the locking cylinder malfunctions or breaks, the purchase of a new one will be significant as compared to other locking cylinders. In addition, the Profile cylinder mounts from the outside of the door as shown in FIG. 2, thus leaving its component parts exposed to environmental elements that can corrode the various internal components. Another disadvantage is that there is no tailpiece. Because there is no tailpiece, in order to accommodate different door thicknesses, an entire new locking cylinder must be purchased. Thus, a particular Profile locking assembly made for one door thickness may not be interchanged for use on another door thickness. And, since different manufactures offer several different door thicknesses, several different sized Profile cylinders must be manufactured and stocked. Finally, the components of the Profile door locking assembly do not fit tightly together, but comprise varying degrees of slop. Other problems not specifically recited herein will be apparent to one skilled in the art.