A decoder and decoding method for use in surround sound system wherein at least four audio input signals representing an original sound field are encoded into two channel signals and said encoded signals are decoded into at least four audio output signals corresponding to the four audio input signals and have an amplitude ratio and a phase relationship. The decoder and method including means for: compensating the said encoded signals for variations in perceived loudness relative to frequency associated with the encoded two channel signals due to non linearity in human hearing response at least at some frequencies; producing steering signals in responsive to the phase relationship of the said compensated signals; decoding said encoded signals to produce audio output signals corresponding to audio input signals by varying at least the amplitude ratio of said encoded signals contained in each of the output signals in response to said steering signals.

In a multi-channel system as described above four channels of audio signals are obtained from an original sound field and are encoded by an encoder into two channels. The encoded two channels may be recorded on recording media such as CD, DVD or the like or broadcast via stereo TV or FM radio. The encoded two channels may be reproduced from the recording media or broadcast and decoded by means of a matrix decoder back into four channels approximating the four channels of audio signals obtained from the original sound field. The decoded signals may be applied to four speakers to reproduce the original sound field through suitable amplifiers.
Because the four channels of audio signals are encoded into two channels by the encoder it may not be possible for the decoder to reproduce signals that are identical to the original four audio signals. As a result, cross-talk between adjacent channels may increase so that it may not be possible to obtain a reproduced sound field that is identical to the original sound field.
The present invention may provide a matrix decoder having improved separation between respective channels including between front and rear channels and between left and right channels.
The present invention may provide a matrix decoder capable of alleviating cross-talk between the respective channels to thereby improve the quality of the reproduced sound field.
The present invention may provide a matrix decoder capable of improving image stability in the reproduced sound field.


For a source file on which basis a binary object file has been generated, a digital signature is generated for the source file, and the digital signature is stored. The digital signature may be secure hash algorithm (SHA) hash values. The binary object file is output. To verify that the binary object file has been generated from the source file, a digital signature is generated for the source file, and compared to the digital signature for the source file as previously stored. Where the digital signature for the source file as has been generated matches the digital signature for the source file previously stored, the binary object file is indicated as having been generated from the source file.

The software development process of a computer program entails one or more developers writing source files. The source files of the computer program are written in a textual format, in a given computer programming language, such as C++, or another type of computer programming language. Once the source files have been sufficiently developed, a binary object file is generated from the source files. For example, the source files may undergo compiling by a compiler to yield the binary object file. The binary object file may be directly executable to execute the computer program, such that it is an executable binary object file, or it may be an intermediate file, which is then parsed or interpreted, for instance, to execute the computer program.
A developer may have in his or her possession a number of source files and a binary object file that purportedly has been generated based on the source files in question. However, the developer has no easy way of knowing if the binary object file has indeed been generated from these source files, and/or whether the binary object file has been maliciously or otherwise modified after having been generated from these source files. Currently, the developer has to re-generate the binary object file from the source files provided to ensure that he or she has a binary object file that is positively based on these source files. However, this binary object generation process is circuitous where the developer already has a binary object file purportedly generated from the source files, and where he or she just wants to verify that the binary object file has indeed been generated from these source files.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

Verifying that binary object file has been generated from source files

International Business Machines Corporation


An inflatable towable chariot includes a generally U-shaped inflatable wall bladder insertable within an exterior jacket including a generally U-shaped wall pocket of a size and shape to receive and be substantially filled by the wall bladder upon inflation of the wall bladder. A floor is connected to the pocket and spans and substantially covers the area partially enclosed by the pocket for supporting a passenger on the chariot. The floor may likewise be constructed as a pocket for receiving either an inflatable floor bladder, or a rigid floor insert. Upon inflation of the wall bladder, the bladder and exterior jacket partially define the shape of one another and reinforce one another afford a relatively rigid raised wall. Handles on the exterior jacket accommodate securement of a passenger in any desired standing, kneeling, sitting or reclining position. The towing system includes a generally triangular shaped tongue covered by relatively nonstretchable fabric and secured to the exterior jacket across the rearward edge thereof to minimize side to side wobbling during towing of the chariot.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed generally to inflatable recreational passenger support devices and more particularly to a generally chariot-shaped towable inflatable apparatus for use on water and snow.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Towable inflatables for recreational water use likely originated with a rope tied to an automotive tire inner tube and pulled by a boat. In fact, a modified form of this early inner tube has survived all competition to remain one of the most popular towable inflatables on the market. The new tubes, or rings as they are called, include either a pvc or rubber tube situated within a fabric cover having a towing strap extended from one edge for connection to a power boat or the like. But such rings are not designed to accommodate more than one passenger; they ride so low as to afford little visibility to other traffic and the low profile affords little if any protection for passengers from wind, water, or any object which the ring may accidentally strike.
One competitive inflatable device was the torpedo which was generally a long inflatable tube secured to a towing rope at one end and adapted to support multiple riders stratling the tube in generally horseback riding positions. Whereas this device gave the riders a different sensation than the conventional ring, it requires substantial skill on the part of the rider since it rolls easily in the water and, like the ring, it also has a very low profile not easily viewed by other traffic.
For one to enjoy water sports in a standing or kneeling position, it has heretofore been necessary to use some device other than inflatables such as water skies or the more recently popular knee board which affords a surfboard-like experience for one being pulled behind a power boat. These devices also require the passenger to develop riding skills before they can be enjoyed and neither device provides protection from wind, water, objects and the like.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an improved inflatable passenger support device.
Another object is to provide an inflatable towable passenger support device in the shape of a chariot with raised front wall and side walls and a floor surface for supporting one or more passengers thereon in a standing, kneeling, sitting or reclining position.
Another object is to provide an inflatable towable chariot having multiple handles on the top edge thereof and exterior side walls to accommodate both forward and side to side leaning movements of the chariot.
Another object is to provide an inflatable towable chariot having raised side walls which enable the chariot to be easily seen by other traffic on the water or snow.
Another object is to provide an improved inflatable towable chariot wherein an inflatable U-shaped wall bladder is enclosed within a fabric jacket such that the bladder and jacket reinforce one another to afford a generally rigid wall structure for protecting and securing the passenger or passengers on the chariot.
Another object is to provide an inflatable towable chariot which is stable when being towed and easily mounted by a swimmer in the water adjacent the stationary chariot.
Another object is to provide an improved inflatable towable chariot having a generally continuous triangular towing system to minimize side to side wobbling of the chariot in use.
Finally, an object of the invention is to provide an improved inflatable towable chariot which is simple and rugged in construction, economical to manufacture and efficient in operation.


An object is to improve noise reduction. Provided are an image-capturing-mode selecting portion (104) that selects one image-capturing mode from a plurality of image-capturing modes; and a noise-reduction processing portion (110) that performs noise-reduction processing for input image signals by employing, in the case in which the image-capturing mode selected by the image-capturing-mode selecting portion (104) is a specific image-capturing mode, an applied noise model in which a noise model employed for a predetermined signal-value region differs from a reference noise model determined on the basis of properties of an image-acquisition element.

In the related art, as a method of reducing noise in video signals, a method has been proposed in which generated noise levels are modeled, noise levels generated in input video signals are estimated on the basis of the noise model, and then noise reduction processing is performed. For example, in Patent Literature 1, a method is proposed in which a noise level is calculated on the basis of input video signals and a reference noise model.

Image processing apparatus, method, and computer-readable recording medium having image processing program recorded thereon


An apparatus for simultaneous heating and cooling includes a heating system and a cooling system, each having a plurality of heat exchangers coupled by a refrigerant circulation system, the refrigerant transfer system having refrigerant flow selection means for controlling the flow of heat-carrying refrigerant, whereby a refrigerant flow selection means selectively routs refrigerant flow between heating and cooling system heat exchangers selected by the flow selection means. The apparatus includes embodiments wherein the heating system heat exchangers comprise a condenser and a vessel containing water, the cooling system heat exchangers comprise an evaporator and a vessel containing water, and refrigerant flow paths are selected by a plurality of valves that select heat exchangers. The apparatus further includes an air handling system for moving air so as to be in thermal contact with selected heat exchangers, whereby air having moisture is dried.

This invention relates to systems for heating and cooling, and more particularly to systems that simultaneously heat and cool, with the capability of dehumidifying ambient air.
The desirability of using heat extracted during a cooling process is well appreciated. For example, heating a vessel containing water using heat extracted from the air is desirable in the wine industry to heat or cool grape juice and control the fermentation process.
An apparatus and process of simultaneous heating and cooling could also be used in aquatic industries. For example such an apparatus could be used to simultaneously cultivate fish requiring a hot environment and to cultivate fish requiring a cold environment. Normally fish are raised indoors, creating very high humidity, therefore it is desirable to extract latent heat and moisture from the air, transfer the extracted heat and moisture to a pond. Such an apparatus will reduce maintenance costs, reduce water loss, and save energy.
As a means for providing simultaneous heating and cooling, with attendant dehumidification, an apparatus is disclosed for simultaneously heating and cooling a material. The apparatus comprises a heating system and a cooling system, each with a plurality of heat exchangers in fluid communications with a refrigerant circulation means having refrigerant transfer selection means. The refrigerant transfer selection means comprises refrigerant transfer paths for routing refrigerant flow. The refrigerant transfer selection means has a path selection device for controlling and selecting transfer paths for the flow of heat-carrying refrigerant between heat exchangers. The refrigerant transfer selection means selects heat exchangers by routing refrigerant flow. By further including an air handling system to move air to be in thermal contact with heat exchangers air is dehumidified, when heat exchangers are selected from the group consisting of an air condenser and an air evaporator.
The refrigerant circulation means comprise a compressor, refrigerant, a receiver, and mechanisms for storing and conveying refrigerant. The refrigerant circulation means is operable to function according to principles well understood in the art of heating and cooling systems.
One aspect of the invention is exemplified by an apparatus comprising a heating system for taking up heat from a circulating refrigerant for the purpose of releasing heat to a material. The heating system has a plurality of heat exchangers, and a refrigerant transfer selection means. The refrigerant transfer selection means comprises refrigerant transfer paths and a path selection device. A heat exchanger in the heating system is selected by the refrigerant transfer selection means, the selected heat exchanger taking up heat from circulating refrigerant.
A second aspect of the invention is exemplified by an apparatus comprising a cooling system for releasing heat to a circulating refrigerant. The cooling system has a plurality of heat exchangers and a refrigerant transfer selection means. The refrigerant transfer selection means comprises transfer paths and a path selection device. One of the heat exchangers in the cooling system is selected by the refrigerant transfer selection means, the selected heat exchanger releasing heat to circulating refrigerant for the purpose of cooling collocated or ambient materials.
The first and second aspects are demonstrated by a first embodiment having a heating system wherein the heat exchanger is selected from either a condenser or a vessel containing water, and a cooling system wherein the heat exchanger selected from either an evaporator or a vessel containing water.
Another aspect of the invention is illustrated by a heating and cooling apparatus comprising the first and second aspects, wherein the apparatus further includes an air handling system operable for moving air, and used in conjunction with the heating system and cooling system as a means to de-humidify air. This aspect is illustrated by a second embodiment with heating and cooling systems have selectable heat exchangers, and further including a fan to effect air exchange between the selectable heat exchangers, thereby to remove humidity from air exchanged.

Apparatus for simultaneous heating cooling and humidity removal


Embodiments of methods and apparatus for high temperature operation of electronics according to the invention are disclosed. One embodiment of the invention generally includes an integrated circuit package having a substrate. A plurality of integrated circuits are coupled to a surface of the substrate. A lid is positioned above the substrate facing the surface. One or more pieces of compliant and thermally conductive material are compressed between at least one of the integrated circuits and the lid. The lid defines in part an enclosed volume containing the compliant and thermally conductive material.

The present invention relates to the field of electronic devices. In particular, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for high temperature operation of electronics.
The temperature levels at which electronic devices operate without error can be affected by the material of which the device is formed as well as the type of circuit. For example, a circuit formed by a bulk CMOS process may not be capable of operating without error at the same ambient temperature and heat dissipation conditions as the same circuit implemented in a silicon on sapphire (SOS) process. In addition, one bulk CMOS circuit may perform adequately at a higher temperature than another bulk CMOS circuit if the second circuit converts a greater amount of input electrical power into heat. For error-free operation of the circuits at a particular ambient temperature, the second circuit may require additional mechanisms for moving heat away from the circuit.
One example of an environment in which operation of electronic devices can be affected by temperature is downhole in a well. For example, sensors used in a well can include electronics performing the functions of receiving, processing, and storing information about the parameters being sensed. Temperature-related errors in electronics operation can reduce the ability of a downhole tool to perform adequately.

Method and apparatus for high temperature operation of electronics


A technique is described for determining the performance of substrate-side emitting VCSELs formed on a wafer. The technique involves forming top-emitting VCSELs on the same wafer as bottom-emitting VCSELs and then testing the top-emitting VCSELs and using the results to determine the performance of the bottom-emitting VCSELs of the wafer.

It is desirable to integrate vertical-cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) on semiconductor circuit chips (usually Si CMOS) via flip-chip bonding to reduce packaging costs, increase performance by eliminating parasitic circuit elements such as wire bonds, and allow for the formation of integrated transmitter arrays. It would be particularly useful to integrate 850 nm VCSELs since that wavelength forms a standard for local area fiber-optic networks (the other standard wavelength is 1.3 .mu.m, where no manufactured VCSEL technology yet exists). In a flip-chip bonded VCSEL, the light must be emitted through the bottom surface, i.e., the substrate side of the VCSEL chip. For 850 nm operation then, the opaque GaAs substrate must be removed. The GaAs substrate is removed after the VCSEL chip is flip-chip bonded to a semiconductor chip (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,632, issued on Jan. 31, 1995). Unfortunately, this means that the VCSEL chips cannot be tested until they have already been mounted. This destroys one of the major advantages of VCSELs over edge-emitting lasers, which is that VCSELs can be tested on the wafer before cutting the wafer into individual chips. Moreover, if the VCSEL is bad then the bonded VCSEL/semiconductor chip must be discarded. What is desired is a technique to test VCSEL devices while they are still part of the wafer.

Wafer having top and bottom emitting vertical-cavity lasers


A portable electronic device includes a main body, a battery, and a battery fixing mechanism including a button disposed through a button hole of the main body, first and second rod members, a first linkage rod pivoted to the first rod member and disposed in an oblique slot of the button, first and second transverse elastic members, and a rail member having transverse, oblique, and incurve rails. When a protruding rod of the first rod member moves in the transverse, oblique, or incurve rail, the rail member moves longitudinally to make the first rod member move transversely to be engaged with or separated from a first fixing hole of the battery. The first and second transverse elastic members are respectively disposed on the first and second rod members. The second rod member abuts against the first rod member for pushing the first rod member when the button is pressed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable electronic device and a battery fixing mechanism thereof, and more specifically, to a portable electronic device utilizing a protruding rod of a rod member to move along a rail member so as to make a button retracted in a button hole of a main body and a battery fixing mechanism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a battery fixing mechanism of a conventional portable electronic device (e.g. a notebook) usually includes a battery slot formed at a bottom or a rear end of the portable electronic device for containing a battery, and further includes two telescopic hooks disposed at two sides of the battery slot respectively and two push buttons connected to the two telescopic hooks respectively for driving the two telescopic hooks to be engaged with or disengaged from corresponding fixing holes on the battery. In such a manner, when a user wants to detach or replace the battery, the user needs to use his two hands to push the two push buttons for driving the two telescopic hooks to be disengaged from the fixing holes of the battery, so that the user could detach the battery from the battery slot. However, since the aforesaid design requires the user to perform the battery detaching operation with his two hands, the aforesaid design causes the user much inconvenience in operating the portable electronic device.
Although the aforesaid problem could be further solved by the design of utilizing one press button to drive the two telescopic hooks, this design may further result in a complicated linkage mechanism between the press button and the telescopic hooks, and may make the user easily touch the press button while operating or carrying the portable electronic device so as to cause a problem that the battery may be accidentally separate from the portable electronic device.

Portable electronic device and battery fixing mechanism


An injection molding apparatus and process for forming a plurality of first parts and a plurality of complementary second parts during a single molding cycle has a system for removing parts molded during each cycle and for assembling the parts into finished articles. The system includes a plurality of rotatable suction cups for removing the parts and for aligning them with and inserting them into a series of loading ports in a central mold member so as to mate respective ones of the first parts with respective ones of the second parts. The central mold member further has internal chute assemblies for conveying assembled articles away from the mold. A novel system for driving the rotatable suction cups uses a rotatable member mounted to various mold halves and a camming arrangement whereby relative movement of the mold halves during the mold closing and opening motions causes rotation of the suction cups.

The present invention relates to an injection molding apparatus and process for forming an assembled article from two complementary molded parts and, more particularly, to an unloading and assembly system for use in said injection molding apparatus.
Multi-piece articles and the components therefore are often injection molded in stack mold machines. Articles so produced include floppy disk shells, DAD boxes and Petri dishes having a molded base and a molded cover. Stack molds are used because numerous components can be formed in a single cycle. A family stack mold having eight cavities per half is typically used to manufacture Petri dish components. In such a molding system, eight bases and eight covers are molded in a single cycle.
After components are molded, they are removed from a stack mold machine in a number of ways. For example, the components may be removed using a guide rail system such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,740 to Rees. The removed components are then conveyed to an assembly machine such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,938,675 to Rees for mating one component to another. The assembly machine, in addition to automatically assembling the articles from its components, presents a counted stack of articles for packaging. Where the components being formed are Petri dish components, the conveyor systems are closed so as to reduce potential contamination.
In an alternative removal system, the parts are removed using a robot. The deficiency with this approach is that cycle time is penalized. This occurs because the robot requires a finite amount of mold open or wait time to remove the parts.
In still another system, sterilized air is used to blow molded parts down a vertical guide conduit. U.S. Pat. No. 4,422,998 to Sorenson illustrates this type of system.
Cycle times associated with stack mold machines have been improved through the use of a pivoting part removal device that deposits molded parts in a vertical chute mounted alongside the mold. Pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 353,243, filed May 17, 1989, to DiSimone illustrates a stack mold system having such a part removal device.
Improvements in cycle time have created other problems however. For example, systems having a shorter cycle times create more components for assembly. As a result, the speed of the associated assembly machine(s) must be increased to keep up with the rate of molding. A typical molding rate is eight sets of article components every six seconds or approximately 80 per minute. At such rates, assembly machines are prone to jamming and somewhat unreliable.
The foregoing problems are complicated during the manufacture of Petri dish components by the need to maintain as much of a sterile environment as possible. Handling methods such as guide rails and robots allow the interior surfaces of both the base and cover components to be exposed to the atmosphere for sufficient periods of time to reduce their sterility. As a result, the components must be sterilized after assembly. This is typically done by subjecting the assembled and packed Petri dishes to gamma radiation or by placing the packaged and assembled Petri dishes in a container which is flooded with ethylene oxide gas for several hours. The cost associated with such sterilization procedures is on the order of $6.50 per 500 assemblies. This cost represents a significant portion of the product's overall cost. Typical costs for the resin material used to produce the Petri dish components is about $8.50 per 500 assemblies.
Improvements in overall production could be obtained if these problems could be eliminated or overcome.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a process and apparatus for forming injection molded components and for assembling these components into a desired article immediately after demolding.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a process and apparatus as above which eliminates the need for separate assembling machines and sterilization equipment.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a process and apparatus as above which decreases the cost for producing injection molded article.
These and further objects and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the following description and drawings in which like reference numerals depict like elements.

Unloading and assembly system and process for injection molding apparatus


A microscope system includes a culture unit for holding and cultivating a specimen while maintaining constant temperature and humidity; a stage for holding the culture unit; a first light-converging optical system for converging illumination light emitted from a light source on the specimen; a second light-converging optical system for converging transmitted light that has passed through the specimen; a transmitted-light pinhole provided at a position optically conjugate to the light-converging position of illumination light on the specimen to cut off part of transmitted light converged by the second light-converging optical system; a transmitted-light detector that detects transmitted light that has passed through the transmitted-light pinhole; a moving system for moving the first and second light-converging optical systems, the transmitted-light pinhole, and the transmitted-light detector and the stage relative to each other; a housing that encloses these components and cuts off external light; and a control unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microscope system.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-275584, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of Related Art
As a conventional microscope system, a transmission-type stage-scanning microscope is known, in which a specimen is placed on a stage, and the stage is moved to scan the specimen with illumination light emitted from a light source with the illumination light fixed, and light that has passed through the specimen is detected (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2008-39882).


Methods, systems, computer program products, and methods of doing business by using various types of media to enhance greetings and/or responses provided to users of communication systems, for example by providing music or sound for a telephone caller, or video or image for a video phone caller, or any of these types of media or an executable program for a message sender who is using an e-mail system or an instant messaging system. In preferred embodiments, information from an intended message recipient""s calendar (and/or context) is used when selecting the media to enhance a greeting/response, thereby providing contextual information for the message sender. In alternative embodiments, the selection is based on one or more factors such as information stored in user profiles. The disclosed techniques enable alleviating some of the problems that result from distance communication (as contrasted to face-to-face communication), and may also make distance communication more enjoyable and/or more productive. Adaptations are also disclosed for a calling-party scenario.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication systems, and deals more particularly with methods, systems, computer program products, and methods of doing business by using various types of media to enhance greetings and/or responses provided to users of these communication systems, for example by providing music or sound for a telephone caller to hear, or video or image for a video phone caller to view, or icons to be displayed to a message sender who is using an instant messaging system or e-mail.
2. Description of the Related Art
Face-to-face communication between people involves many parallel communication paths. We derive information from body language, from words, from intonation, from facial expressions, from the distance between our bodies, and so forth. Distance communication, such as phone calls, voice mail, e-mail, or exchanging instant mail messages, on the other hand, involves only a few of these communication paths. Users may therefore have to take extra actions (which may or may not be successful) if they wish to try to overcome the limitations so imposed.
Distance communicating is becoming more prevalent in our society. Voice mail systems have become widely used in recent years, with most people having voice mail capability on their office phones and some type of answering machine capability or system for their home phones and mobile phones. Video phones are not as widely used as conventional telephones, but when a caller and called party connect using video phones, the communications that result from this type of phone conversation will be greatly enhanced and will go a long way in making up for the disadvantages imposed by physical distance. E-mail is used by millions of people around the world as a means of distance communicating.
Instant messaging systems are a popular communications mechanism for many people, and provide for instant, real-time communication between users who are connected to the system through an on-line or electronic networking environment such as the Internet, World Wide Web (hereinafter, xe2x80x9cWebxe2x80x9d), or corporate internal intranets. Examples of instant messaging systems include Yahoo!(copyright) Messenger, AOL Instant MessengerSM, and Sametime(copyright). (xe2x80x9cYahoo!xe2x80x9d is a registered trademark of Yahoo! Inc., xe2x80x9cAOL Instant Messengerxe2x80x9d is a service mark of America Online, Inc., and xe2x80x9cSametimexe2x80x9d is a registered trademark of Lotus Development Corporation.)
Instant messaging systems provide real-time awareness of who is logged on. Typically, an instant messaging system (hereinafter, xe2x80x9cIMSxe2x80x9d) user has an address book or xe2x80x9cbuddy listxe2x80x9d containing names or nicknames for those people with whom he communicates. The entries in this address book are used for selecting a message recipient. The IMS typically indicates, using a visual cue (such as different icons or different fonts), which of the people are logged on to the system and which are not. When the message sender and the target recipient are both currently logged on to an IMS (which may be the same IMS, or a different IMS), the message can be delivered and presented to the recipient nearly instantly (depending on network delay). Instant messaging systems are well known in the art, and a detailed description thereof is not deemed necessary to an understanding of the present invention.
In spite of the increasing prevalence of distance communications, or perhaps because of it, people who want to contact someone who happens to be unavailable are often frustrated and unhappy with their communications experience. Many people who communicate by telephone, for example, are annoyed when they reach the called party""s voice mail system or answering machine. Often, they choose not to leave any message at all, preferring instead to try again later to xe2x80x9creach a human beingxe2x80x9d. In addition to causing user frustration, this situation is also time consuming and unproductive. Furthermore, voice mail messages often provide very little useful information for the caller.
Accordingly, there is a need for techniques that provide more enjoyable and more productive ways for people to communicate and to exchange messages, where these techniques may also alleviate some of the disadvantages in distance communications.
An object of the present invention is to provide more enjoyable and more productive ways for people to communicate and/or to exchange messages.
Another object of the present invention is to provide ways of alleviating some of the disadvantages in distance communications.
Yet another object of the present invention is to define techniques for enhancing greetings and/or responses in communication systems using various types of media.
A further object of the present invention is to enhance greetings and/or responses by adding contextual information (which preferably pertains to the intended message recipient).
Still another object of the present invention is to define techniques for using stored calendar information of a message recipient to enhance that recipient""s automated greetings to message senders.
A further object of the present invention is to provide techniques for allowing message recipients to customize the automated enhancement of their greetings.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide new methods of doing business whereby media files to be used with (or instead of) greetings and/or responses can be merchandised to consumers.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description and in the drawings which follow and, in part, will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To achieve the foregoing objects, and in accordance with the purpose of the invention as broadly described herein, in a first aspect the present invention provides methods, systems, computer program products, and methods of doing business by enhancing greetings used in communication systems. In this first aspect, this technique preferably comprises: receiving, from a message initiator, an incoming message for an intended message recipient, where the intended message recipient does not answer the incoming message; programmatically selecting a media file to be incorporated with the intended message recipient""s greeting for rendering to a message initiator, wherein the selected media file conveys contextual information pertaining to the intended recipient; and rendering the selected media file and greeting to the message initiator. This aspect may further comprise programmatically consulting the intended message recipient""s electronic calendar to determine his current status, and wherein the selected media file is selected to correspond to the current status. The selected media file might be rendered before or after rendering the greeting, as a replacement for the greeting, or mixed with the greeting as background.
The message exchange may be an e-mail message exchange, and the greeting may be an e-mail response message or an instant message generated by an automated function, in which case the technique preferably comprises: receiving, from the message initiator, an incoming e-mail message for the intended message recipient when the automated function is activated for generating the response message for the intended message recipient""s incoming e-mail messages; programmatically determining the selected media file to be incorporated with the generated response message; and returning the selected media file and generated response message to the message initiator.
In a second aspect, this technique comprises enhancing a message exchange during a temporary suspension in the exchange, by rendering a media file that has been programmatically selected to convey contextual information pertaining to a party to the exchange.
The techniques disclosed herein may also be used advantageously to provide new methods of doing business. As one example, prerecorded media files to be used in greeting enhancements may be merchandised to companies and/or individuals. As another example, the improved communication systems that result from incorporating the techniques of the present invention can be offered to customers as a value-add service (e.g., of a telephone company or Internet service provider). Merchandising the media files preferably further comprises: receiving requests for selected ones of the pre-recorded media files for incorporating with greetings to be rendered for message initiators to convey contextual information pertaining to an intended recipient of the message; and providing the selected ones, in response to receiving the requests. The message initiators may be callers using telephones, callers using video phones, or message senders using e-mail or instant messaging systems. A subscription, a one-time charge, or a pay-per-use model is preferably used to charge for the merchandised media files.
The techniques of the present invention may also be adapted to convey contextual information pertaining to the message initiator. In this optional adaptation, the present invention preferably comprises: initiating, by the message initiator, an inbound message for the message recipient, where the message recipient does not answer the inbound message; programmatically selecting the media file to be incorporated with the message initiator""s message, based on the contextual information (which may, for example, be obtained from the message initiator""s electronic calendar or other context); and rendering the selected media file along with, or as, the message initiator""s message for the message recipient.
The present invention will now be described with reference to the following drawings, in which like reference numbers denote the same element throughout.

Media-enhanced greetings and/or responses in communication systems

International Business Machines Corporation


A combination of a capsule for incorporating a radioactive source to be applied in brachytherapy and a guidewire, in which the capsule is attached to the guidewire via an adapter, and the adapter comprises a cable or thread with a flexibility greater than that of the guidewire

Such a combination is known in practice and described, for instance, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,520, which is herewith incorporated by reference.
For local radioactive radiation treatment of a specific internal area of the human body, such as a tumor, or a wall section of a blood vessel, it is possible, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,861,520, to deliver a capsule with a radioactive source, via a hollow needle, a flexible tube or a catheter or the like, to the area to be treated. For this purpose, normally the so-called "after loading" technique is employed. First, the catheter, or the like, is placed in the body and then the capsule attached to the distal end of a guidewire is delivered with the help of a remotely controlled device to the treatment area.
The combination of the capsule and guidewire should, on the one hand, have a high degree of flexibility to be able to follow the curves of a catheter or the like, and on the other, a certain rigidity, so that the capsule can be pushed through a catheter toward its distal end with the help of the guidewire. For the application in endovascular brachytherapy, a catheter normally has an inside diameter on the order of 1.5 mm or less. The length of a capsule depends on the desired strength of the radioactive source placed in the capsule, but should be on the order of several times the diameter, for instance in the range of 5 to 7 mm. The capsule itself and its connection with the guidewire are not flexible, so that the front part of the combination of guidewire and capsule has a relatively low degree of flexibility. Thus there is a certain probability that the capsule cannot pass the curves in a catheter with a strong curvature or only passes with difficulty.

Combination of a capsule for brachytherapy and a guidewire

Delft Instruments Intellectual Property B.V.


The light source contains a gas filled chamber with a region of radiating plasma sustained by a focused beam of a CW laser. The means for plasma ignition is a pulsed laser system generating a first and a second laser beams focused in the chamber. The first laser beam provides the optical breakdown, after which the second laser beam ignites the plasma, whose volume and density are sufficient for stationary plasma sustenance by CW laser after finishing the second laser pulse. Preferably, the first laser beam is generated in Q-switching mode and the second laser beam is generated in free-running mode. The technical result consists in ensuring high reliability of igniting the plasma, in creating in this basis electrodeless high-brightness broadband light sources with the high spatial and power stability, and in providing an ability to collect broadband plasma radiation in a spatial angle of more than 9 sr.

Continuous optical discharge (COD) is a stationary gas discharge sustained by laser radiation in pre-created relatively dense plasma. A COD, sustained by a focused beam of a continuous wave (CW) laser, is realized in various gases, in particular, in Xe at a high gas pressure of 10-200 atm (Carlhoff et al., "Continuous Optical Discharges at Very High Pressure," Physica 103C, 1981, pp. 439-447). Due to a high plasma temperature of about 20,000 K (Raizer, "Optical Discharges," Sov. Phys. Usp. 23 (11), November 1980, pp. 789-806) COD-based light sources are among the highest brightness continuous light sources in a wide spectral range between about 0.1 μm and 1 μm. Compared to arc lamps, such laser-pumped plasma light sources not only have a higher brightness, but also a longer lifetime, making them preferable for a variety of applications.
One of the challenges related to designing high-brightness laser-pumped plasma light sources, relates to producing initial plasma that provides reliable ignition of the COD.
As known, for example, from the U.S. Pat. No. 9,368,337, issued on Jun. 14, 2016, in laser-pumped plasma light source two pin electrodes, located on the axis of a transparent chamber, between which an arc discharge is generated for a short time, are used for starting plasma ignition. The beam of CW laser is focused in the chamber center, in the gap between the two electrodes. The source is characterized by high brightness and ease of use. The latter is largely due to the fact that quartz chambers or bulbs with two electrodes, containing gas, in particular, high-pressure Xe (10 atm or higher), are commercially available products.
However, the relatively cold electrodes located near the high-temperature plasma region produce disturbances of convective gas flows in the chamber and, as a result, impair spatial and energetic stability of the laser-pumped plasma light source. Besides, the presence of electrodes near the radiating plasma region is characterized by "dead" spatial angles restricting the exit of plasma radiation. Also, electrode material sputtering may result in decreased transparency of the bulb walls and, correspondingly, to the light source degradation over time.
This drawback is largely overcome in the high-brightness broadband light source known from the U.S. Pat. No. 9,357,627, issued on May 31, 2016. In its embodiment, after COD ignition the laser beam focus area and, correspondingly, the radiating plasma region, are moved from the gap between the igniting electrodes towards the chamber wall. By choosing the relative position of the laser beam, chamber axis and radiating plasma region, a high spatial and power stability of the broadband laser-pumped plasma light source is provided.
However, the need to move the radiating plasma region complicates the light source design and operation. Besides, it makes using the sharp focusing of the laser beam more difficult, which may limit achievement of the high brightness of the light source. The disadvantages of an electrode-containing chamber also include the complex technology for sealing the metal/glass joint and the complex chamber shape producing a concentration of stresses which result in lower strength of the chamber when operating at high gas pressures.
The above-mentioned disadvantages are absent in the electrode-free laser-pumped plasma light source known from the patent application JPS 61193358 issued on Aug. 27, 1986, where the laser is used both for starting plasma ignition and for COD sustenance.
However, the threshold power of laser radiation required for plasma ignition is usually from about ten to several hundreds of kilowatts or higher, while the laser radiation intensity sufficient for COD sustenance is typically just a few tens of Watts. Thus, using the same laser with a high output power both for plasma ignition and COD sustenance either results in reduced lifetime of the light source (when the full laser power is used for COD sustenance), or is redundant, expensive and, therefore, impractical if only a fraction of the full laser power is used to sustain the COD.
U.S. Pat. No. 10,057,973, issued on Aug. 21, 2018, proposes to overcome this challenge by using a single CW laser with the power of less than 250 Watts and a wavelength of less than 1.1 μm. It is suggested that COD ignition and sustenance is provided by means of sharp focusing of CW laser beam with a focal area cross size of less than 1-15 microns, and a focal area length of 6 microns or lower.
However, this solution is not versatile, since the requirements to laser focusing are very high and do not guarantee high functional reliability of the proposed light source. Besides, the laser power of around 250 Watts supplied to the light source may be too high for a variety of applications.
These disadvantages are overcome in the light source known from patent FR2554302 issued on May 3, 1985, where a focused pulsed laser beam intended for initial plasma ignition or optical breakdown is used as a means for plasma ignition and a CW laser is used for COD sustenance. The above-mentioned approach eliminates the problem of the laser-pumped plasma light source lifetime.
However, sharp focusing of laser beams is required for both plasma ignition and ensuring high brightness of laser-pumped plasma light source. Thus, an extremely precise adjustment is needed of the pulsed and CW laser focusing areas. This results in a complexity and poor reliability of laser ignition, making stable COD ignition in a high-brightness light source problematic.
These disadvantages are partially overcome in the light source known from the U.S. Pat. No. 10,244,613, issued on May 25, 2017. In an embodiment of the invention the beams of one or several igniting lasers and beams of one or several CW lasers, intended for COD sustenance, are introduced into an optical fiber used for delivering the radiation of the said lasers to a condensing or focusing optical system. In the said device, superposition of the focusing areas of the pulsed lasers and of CW lasers is achieved, if the wavelengths of the said lasers are similar.
However, if the pulsed and CW laser wavelengths are different, their focusing areas diverge due to chromatic aberrations. Besides, transmitting laser pulses with the high power used for reliable COD ignition (hundreds of kW) through an optical fiber may result in optical fiber destruction, which determines the disadvantages of this solution.

Laser-pumped plasma light source and plasma ignition method


A routing plane includes an authentication packaging system that receives client authentication information, as part of a request from a requesting client that is to be routed to a target service. The authentication packaging system combines the authentication information with assertion information indicative of an assertion as to the identity of the routing plane, using an entropy, such as a signing key. The authentication package is attached to the request and is sent to the target service. The target service validates the authentication package based on the entropy and authenticates the routing plane based on the assertion information and performs authentication processing based on the authentication information.

Computing systems are currently in wide use. Some such computing systems are deployed in architectures where applications, services and microservices are accessed by clients, through scalable routing planes, such as API gateways. The routing plane receives a request from a requesting client (such as a requesting application) and routes that request to a target entity, such as a target service, where the request is processed.
In some architectures, the components in the routing plane terminate the request and transform the request into a new request that is sent to the target service. As part of the termination process, some original authentication statements corresponding to the requesting client can be lost. For instance, certificate-based authentication statements are lost in this type of termination.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Client certificate authentication in multi-node scenarios


In an optical communication system, optical communications are transferred over a first ring and a second ring. A fault is detected on the first ring or the second ring. If the fault is detected on the first ring, a shared optical protect link is used for ring-based restoration of the first ring if the link is available, and restoration overhead for the first ring is transferred in an active location of the shared optical protect link. If the fault is detected on the second ring, the shared optical protect link is used for ring-based restoration of the second ring if the link is available, and restoration overhead for the second ring is transferred in the active location of the shared optical protect link.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is related to the field of optical communications, and in particular, to an optical communication system that implements ring-based restoration by using shared protect links.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 illustrates Synchronous Optical Network (SONET) system 100 in an example of the prior art. SONET system 100 includes optical nodes 101-112 and optical spans 121-144 that are coupled together to form optical rings 151-156 as indicated in the following table.
COUPLEDSPANNODESRING121101 &102151122102 &106151123105 &106151124101 &105151125102 &103152126103 &107152127106 &107152128102 &106152129103 &104153130104 &108153131107 &108153132103 &107153133105 &106154134106 &110154135109 &110154136105 &109154137106 &107155138107 &111155139110 &111155140106 &110155141107 &108156142108 &112156143111 &112156144107 &111156
Optical rings 151-156 each represent a Four-Fiber, Bi-directional, Line-Switched Ring (4-fiber BLSR), although other ring configurations, such as a 2-fiber BLSR, could also be used. Optical spans 121-144 each represent four optical fibers—two working fibers that transfer optical communications around the ring in opposite directions, and two protect fibers that provide protection capacity for the working fibers. Note that spans 127 and 137 occupy physical route 120 between optical nodes 106 and 107. Thus, route 120 includes eight optical fibers for two 4-fiber BSLRs.
FIG. 2 illustrates optical nodes 106-107 in an example of the prior art. Optical node 106 includes Add/Drop Multiplexers (ADMs) 201-204, digital cross-connect 209, and optical links 211-214. Optical node 107 includes ADMs 205-208, digital cross-connect 210, and optical links 215-218. Digital cross-connect 209 is coupled to respective ADMs 201-204 over respective optical links 211-214. Digital cross-connect 210 is coupled to respective ADMs 205-208 over respective optical links 215-218. Digital cross-connects 209-210 and optical links 211-218 provide communication capability between the rings. In some cases, the ADMs and cross-connects at a given node are integrated into one system.
ADMs 201-208 are coupled to optical spans 122-123, 126-128, 131-134, 137-138, 140-141, and 144 to form optical rings 151-156 as indicated in the following table.
ADMSPANRING201122151201123151202128152202127152203133154203134154204137155204140155205126152205127152206131153206132153207137155207138155208141156208144156
Physical route 120 includes optical span 127 of optical ring 152 and optical span 137 of optical ring 155. Thus, optical rings 152 and 155 share physical route 120. Optical span 127 includes work lines 219-220 and protect lines 221-222. Optical span 137 includes work lines 223-224 and protect lines 225-226. In this example, each line represents a fiber in a 4-fiber BLSR, although other line/fiber configurations could be used in other examples.
FIG. 3 illustrates physical route 120 in an example of the prior art. Physical route 120 includes optical span 127 having work lines 219-220 and protect lines 221-222. Physical route 120 includes optical span 137 having work lines 223-224 and protect lines 225-226. Work line 219 has a set of STS-1 signals numbered from #1 to #N, where the term STS-1 #1 represents the first STS-1 signal in work line 219 and STS-1 #N represents the Nth STS-1 signal in work line 219. Lines 220-226 have similar STS-1 configurations. The STS-1 #1's in protect lines 221-222 transport restoration overhead in an active location to initiate restoration in the event of a fault on optical ring 152. Likewise, the STS-1 #1's in protect lines 225-226 transport restoration overhead in an active location to initiate restoration in the event of a fault on optical ring 155.
FIG. 4 illustrates protect line 226 in an example of the prior art. Protect line 226 includes STS-1's #1 to #N. STS-1 #1 includes an overhead portion and a payload portion. The overhead portion includes Section Overhead (SOH) and Line Overhead (LOH). The payload portion includes Path Overhead (POH) and user data. The LOH in STS-1 #1 of protect line 226 is the active location for restoration overhead that indicates when protect line 226 is used to restore optical ring 155. The restoration overhead is typically the K1/K2 bytes in the LOH. Although not shown, the LOH in STS-1 #1 of protect lines 221-222 and 225 are the active locations for restoration overhead that indicates when respective protect lines 221-222 and 225 are used to restore their respective optical rings. Note that the LOH of STS-1 #1 transports the restoration overhead. STS-1 #2 to #N are not used for restoration overhead, but rely on the restoration overhead in STS-1 #1. The LOH also has a Data Communication Channel (DCC) that can be used for messages between line entities.
Those skilled in the art are aware that additional systems, such as Wave Division Multiplex (WDM) equipment, may be included in communication system 100, but these additional systems are omitted for clarity.
Referring to FIGS. 1-4, in operation, optical ring 152 transports optical communications using optical spans 125-128 and optical nodes 102-103 and 106-107. Optical ring 155 transports optical communications using optical spans 137-140 and optical nodes 106-107 and 110-111. If ADM 204 detects a fault on optical span 140, then ADM 204 couples work line 223 to protect line 226 and sets the K1/K2 bytes in the LOH of STS-1 #1 on protect line 226 to indicate that protect line 226 is being used to restore optical ring 155. In response to the K1/K2 bytes in STS-1 #1 on protect line 226, ADM 207 couples protect line 226 to a protect line in optical span 138. In response to the K1/K2 bytes in STS-1 #1 on the protect line in optical span 138, optical node 111 couples the protect line in optical span 138 to a protect line in optical span 139. Thus in response to a fault on span 140, optical node 106 transfers communications to optical node 110 over protect lines in spans 137-139, and the restoration is signaled by the K1/K2 bytes in the LOH of STS-1 #1 on these protect lines.
When optical node 110 detects the fault on optical span 140, then optical node 110 couples the affected work line in optical span 139 to a protect line in optical span 139 (going in the opposite direction). Optical node 110 also sets the K1/K2 bytes in the LOH of STS-1 #1 of the protect line to indicate that the protect line in span 139 is being used to restore optical ring 155. In response to the K1/K2 bytes in STS-1 #1 on the protect line in optical span 139, optical node 111 couples the protect line in span 139 to a protect line in span 138 and sets the K1/K2 bytes accordingly. In response to the K1/K2 bytes in STS-1 #1 on the protect line in optical span 138, ADM 207 couples the protect line in optical span 138 to protect line 225 in optical span 137. Thus in response to the fault on span 140, optical node 110 transfers communications to optical node 106 over protect lines in spans 137-139. The K1/K2 bytes in the STS-1 #1 on these protect lines are set to indicate that the protect lines are being used to restore ring 155 from a fault on span 140.
Ring 152 could implement restoration in a similar fashion. For a fault on span 128, protect lines are used to transfer the optical communications from node 106 through nodes 107 and 103 to node 102, and protect lines are used to transfer the optical communications from node 102 through nodes 103 and 107 to node 106 to restore the faulty span 128. The K1/K2 bytes in the STS-1 #1 on these protect lines are set to indicate that the protect lines are being used to restore ring 152 from a fault on span 128.
There are two primary forms of fault restoration in optical networks—ring-based restoration and mesh-based restoration. Ring-based restoration is typically much faster than mesh-based restoration. The faster ring-based restoration provides a better quality-of-service to the communications user. Ring-based restoration is also typically much less complex than mesh-based restoration. Thus, ring-based restoration can be easier for network personnel to understand and manage.
To provide the faster and simpler ring-based restoration, a protect line is needed for each work line in the prior art. Thus, ring-based protection in the prior art does not allow the work lines in the same physical route to share a single protect line. Mesh-based restoration allows protect capacity to be shared, but mesh-based restoration is much slower and far more complex than ring-based restoration. Unfortunately, there is no effective technique to use ring-based restoration while allowing the rings to share protect lines on shared physical routes.

Optical communication system having ring-based restoration using shared protect links


The device is of the type comprising a carriage slidably and pivotally mounted on a shaft (101), and an arm (102) connected to the carriage and bearing against and slidable along a rail (108) parallel to the shaft (101), the arm (102) bearing against the rail (108) through an element (110) for actuating a sensor (112) mounted on the arm (102), a roller (111) being interposed between the rail (108) and the actuating element (110) and being rotatively mounted on the latter. According to the invention, the actuating element is a rod (110) mounted by a first end (125) of the two ends (125, 113) of the rod on the arm (102) to pivot about a pivot pin (126) which is parallel to the shaft (101) and disposed in the vicinity of the rail (108). The sensor (112) is mounted on the arm (102) and cooperates with one of the two ends (125, 113) of the rod (110). A system (127-131) for balancing the force (F) applied to the rod (110) by the roller (111) is provided.

The present invention relates in a general way to machines for grinding ophthalmic glasses, and more particularly to a device for regulating the grinding weight for such machines.
The invention concerns more particularly a device for regulating the grinding weight in a machine for grinding ophthalmic glasses of the type comprising a carriage slidably and pivotally mounted on a shaft, and an arm which is connected to the shaft and bears against and is slidable along a rail parallel to said shaft, the arm bearing against the rail through an element for actuating a sensor mounted on the arm, a roller being interposed between the rail and the actuating element and being mounted on the latter. Such a device was described and represented in the French patent application No. 2,639,276 filed on Nov. 22, 1988 in the name of the applicant.
As described in said patent application and as known per se, a conventional machine for grinding ophthalmic glasses comprises a generally U-shaped carriage which is slidably and pivotally mounted on a first shaft by an intermediate part of the carriage, a second shaft parallel to said first shaft and carrying a group of grinding wheels driven in rotation by a motor, wings of the carriage carrying a third shaft which is parallel to the first and second shafts and is in two parts between which a blank to be ground is maintained, and an arm connected to the carriage and carrying a tracer member against which bears a template mounted on an extension of said third shaft.
In operation, as the blank to be ground is gripped between the two shaft parts, between the wings of the carriage, it is brought into contact with a rotating grinding wheel while being driven in rotation about itself until the blank has been reduced to the dimensions of the template.
This operation for peripherally grinding the blank requires applying the latter against the grinding wheel with a certain force which, in the conventional machines, was produced merely by the weight of the carriage, it being possible if necessary to correct this weight by means of a spring. However, it was found necessary to vary this force in order to regulate the depth of the grinding pass as a function of the nature and/or the thickness of the glass to be ground.
According to a first solution prior to said French patent application No. 2,639,276, a counterweight is employed mounted on the carriage and movable in a direction perpendicular to the shafts in one direction or the other, so as to increase or decrease the force with which the blank is applied against the grinding wheel. In a variant, it is also possible to employ a spring.
In a second solution, described in French patent No. 2,481,635 of the applicant, the arm carrying the tracer member bears against and slides along a rail parallel to the aforementioned shafts, and the tracer member is itself mounted on a jack which bears against a compression spring and is connected to a displacment sensor connected to an electronic device controlling the jack.
These different systems whereby it is possible to control the force with which the blank is applied against the grinding wheel were not fully satisfactory. Indeed, in the case where a counterweight or a spring is used, the regulation is effected manually and this necessarily results in a certain imprecision which cannot be ignored.
In the case of the device disclosed in said French patent No. 2,481,635, it is found that wearing of the abutment of the jack against the compression spring occurs, which results in play producing mechanical deviations.

Device for regulating the grinding weight for an ophthalmic glass grinding machine


A method for at least partially inhibiting vascularization of a developing solid tumor. Said method comprising parenterally administering to the patient the polysaccharide toxin produced by group B .beta.-hemolytic Streptococcus bacteria known as GBS toxin in an amount effective for said inhibition.

Group .beta.-hemolytic Streptococcus (GBS) are ubiquitous microorganisms. GBS is not known to cause any harmful infections in humans except for very young babies. GBS pneumonia, also called "early-onset disease", is associated with high morbidity and mortality in newborn infants. The GBS infection may be present on the day of birth and is particularly frequent in premature babies. After the infants reach a few weeks of age and normal lung development has occurred, they are no longer subject to GBS pneumonia.
In a series of studies conducted by Dr. Carl G. Hellerqvist and his associates at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee, a polysaccharide GBS toxin was identified. This toxin, which is elaborated by Group B .beta.-hemolytic Streptococcus is believed to be a major factor in the complications of GBS pneumonia.
The GBS toxin has been isolated from GBS culture media, purified, and partially characterized. See Hellerqvist, et al. (1981), Pediatr.Res., 15:892-898; Rojas, et al. (1981), Pediatr.Res., 15:899-904; Rojas, et al. (1983), Pediatr. Res., 17:1002-1008; and Hellerqvist, et al. (1987), Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 84:51-55. In these studies, sheep were used as an experimental model for testing the effect of the GBS polysaccharide toxin on lungs. Differing from human, the lungs of mature sheep as well as young sheep are subject to GBS toxin. When the toxin is infused into sheep it produces pulmonary hypertension and increased pulmonary vascular permeability. These changes are similar to those occurring in newborn infants with Group B streptococcal sepsis.
GBS toxin is a complex polysaccharide with an estimated molecular weight of around 200,000. This polysaccharide shares immunological structural features with the group antigen as reported in Hellerqvist et al. (1981), cited above, and contains phosphodiester structures deemed essential directly or indirectly to toxin function [Hellerqvist, et al. (1987), cited above.]

Therapeutic agent and method of inhibiting vascularization of tumors


A wavelength dispersion measurement method includes generating a plurality of test lights in the first terminal, the wavelengths of which are different from a wavelength of a signal light, multiplexing each test light with the signal light and outputting the multiplexed light to the first transmission path, reconverting each electrical signal after converting each beam into electrical signals, multiplexing each test light with the signal light and outputting the multiplexed light to the second transmission path, reconverting each electrical signal after converting each test light into electrical signals, multiplexing each test light with the signal light and outputting the multiplexed light to the first transmission path, measuring times for each test light to be propagated up to a specified number of go-around, and measuring a change of a wavelength dispersion amount in the paths based on a difference between the measured propagation times of each wavelength.

It is noted that the waveform distortion of signal light transmitted through an optical fiber occurs owing to the effect of the wavelength dispersion characteristic of the optical fiber that the propagation velocity of the signal light differs depending on a difference in the wavelength thereof. Currently, in an optical transmission system that uses a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) method the transmission rate of which is greater than or equal to 40 Gbps, a tunable dispersion compensator (TDC) is installed just before an optical receiver corresponding to each wavelength, in order to adjust a wavelength dispersion amount in each wavelength. For example, as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-208892, the bit error rate (BER) of signal light received in an optical receiver is measured during system start-up so that the dispersion compensation amount in the TDC is optimized in response to the wavelength dispersion characteristic of a transmission path in which an optical fiber is used. Using the measurement value as a parameter for the optimization, the dispersion compensation amount in the TDC can be precisely adjusted to an optimum level.
When the above-mentioned optimization of the dispersion compensation amount in which the BER is used as a parameter is also applied during a system operation, the wavelength dispersion characteristic of the transmission path changes owing to environmental conditions such as a temperature change and the like or time degradation. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, there is a possibility that a curved line indicating the relationship of the BER to a dispersion compensation amount in a TDC changes from a state indicated by a dashed line to a state indicated by a solid line. In this case, it is difficult to determine whether it is desirable to increase or decrease the dispersion compensation amount in the TDC from the optimum point A1, on the basis of the measurement value B1′ of the BER after the change with respect to the optimum point A1 of a dispersion compensation amount before the change. Namely, when the wavelength dispersion characteristic of the transmission path changes during the system operation, it is difficult to determine the adjustment direction for the optimization of the dispersion compensation amount by simply measuring the BER. As a commonly used technique for avoiding such a situation as described above, there has been a technique in which the dispersion compensation amount in the TDC is changed in both increasing and decreasing directions by requirements, then the BER is measured, and hence the dispersion compensation amount is adjusted in a direction in which the measurement value becomes relatively small, thereby promoting the optimization.
In the optimization of the dispersion compensation amount in the TDC, a wavelength dispersion amount on a transmission path with respect to a signal light having a corresponding wavelength is indirectly obtained on the basis of the BER measured at a receiving end. With respect to techniques for measuring the wavelength dispersion amount on the transmission path, there have been various methods other than the above-mentioned utilization of the BER. For example, there has been disclosed a technique in which a plurality of optical pulses the wavelengths of which are different from one another are transmitted from one end of a transmission path and returned from the other end thereof, the individual optical pulses travelling back and forth on the transmission path are detected, and hence a wavelength dispersion amount is measured on the basis of a corresponding group delay. In addition, there has been disclosed a technique in which a wavelength dispersion amount is measured on the basis of the group delay of an optical pulse caused to travel back and forth more than once on a same transmission path.
Incidentally, when, as described above, the direction of the optimization is determined by increasing and decreasing the dispersion compensation amount in the TDC, the measured BER depends on the quality of a signal light received by an optical receiver. The signal quality is mainly influenced by the level of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) light occurring when the signal light is optically amplified on the transmission path. The level of the ASE light at a receiving end changes depending on a transmission state such as the transmission distance of the signal light, the number of optical relays (the number of spans), or the like. When the level of the ASE light at the receiving end is high, namely, an optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) is low, the value of the BER drifts upward at the optimum point of the dispersion compensation amount as illustrated in FIG. 2, in the above-mentioned relationship of the BER to the dispersion compensation amount illustrated in FIG. 1. Accordingly, since the range within which the dispersion compensation amount in the TDC can be adjusted (for example, portions indicated by heavy lines in FIG. 2) narrows, it turns out that a possibility for obtaining an optimum point is reduced. Specifically, when the dispersion compensation amount is increased or decreased in order to determine the direction of the optimization, there is a possibility that the degradation of the signal quality occurs that exceeds a limit within which a forward error correction (FEC) circuit in an optical receiver can correct an error (BER=1*10−3 indicated by a dashed line in the example illustrated in FIG. 2). When such a degradation of the signal quality as described above occurs, it turns out that it is difficult to measure the BER of the signal light, and hence it is difficult to optimize the dispersion compensation amount on the basis of the BER.
In addition, considering a case in which, by applying, in place of the measurement of the BER, a technique of the related art in which the wavelength dispersion amount is measured on the basis of the group delay of the optical pulse caused to travel back and forth on the transmission path, as described above, the optimization of the dispersion compensation amount in the TDC is promoted, a commonly used optical transmission system includes an optical amplifier on a transmission path, and usually an optical isolator is disposed at the input-output portion of the optical amplifier. While the optical isolator allows passage of an optical pulse transmitted from one end of a transmission path and transmitted to the other end thereof, the optical isolator blocks return light reflected from the other end of the transmission path. Therefore, it is difficult to apply the method, in which an optical pulse is caused to travel back and forth on the same transmission path and then the wavelength dispersion amount is measured, to the optimization of the dispersion compensation amount in the TDC in the commonly used optical transmission system. Furthermore, in a case in which it is assumed that an optical transmission system includes no optical amplifier on a transmission path, since an optical pulse travels back and forth on a same transmission path, the power of the optical pulse is reduced owing to the loss of the transmission path. The reduction of the power of the optical pulse becomes noticeable with increase in the number of times the optical pulse travels back and forth on the transmission path. Since the detectable level of the optical pulse is limited, the number of times the optical pulse travels back and forth is restricted. Therefore, if the number of times the optical pulse travels back and forth decreases, it is difficult to measure the wavelength dispersion amount with a required accuracy. Even if the number of times the optical pulse travels back and forth can be increased, the waveform distortion of the optical pulse due to the effect of the wavelength dispersion occurs with increase in the number of times the optical pulse travels back and forth, and hence it is difficult to correctly perform timing detection. Therefore, the measurement accuracy of the wavelength dispersion amount is inevitably reduced.

Wavelength dispersion measurement method and device and optical transmission system


A device for providing a dining support that is extendable from and retractable and concealable on furniture is disclosed. The device has a platform that is movable between a deployed position for supporting food and drinks, and a retracted position beneath the furniture. To move device from the retracted position to the deployed position, the platform is pulled from beneath the furniture and then elevated to a horizontal position. The height of the platform is vertically adjustable.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to an auxiliary support structure for furniture and, in particular, to an improved system, method, and apparatus for providing a food and/or beverage support device for dining that is extensible from and retractable and concealable on an item of furniture.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the prior art, storable folding tables or support surfaces (also known as "TV trays" or "television trays") for use with arm chairs, couches, hospital beds, and the like have been known and used for many years. Such tables are typically used for positioning food and drink items on the tables or as writing surfaces, while a person is comfortably seated on the furniture. Some of the disadvantages associated with earlier designs of these types of tables is their overall instability, and their inability to be adjusted by the user to allow the user to do different types of activities such as writing, reading, etc.
For example, furniture having folding or collapsible armrests have been known. See, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,399,744, 2,409,316, and 4,938,534. Other patents disclose chairs or seats equipped with armrests that are collapsible or retractable. Another example discloses a folding theater seat equipped with a movable armrest. While the armrest can be positioned in a storage box, the seat is preformed as part of an array of seats and is difficult to use with individual seats. More recent examples include U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,520,586, 5,586,806, 5,524,957, 5,129,702, 5,322,344, 5,375,907, and 5,035,464. Although each of these designs is workable, an improved solution for a portable and stowable tray for use with living room furniture would be desirable.

System, method, and apparatus for a retractable and concealable support for an item of furniture


Various disclosed embodiments include methods and systems for operating a wireless electronic device having one or more antennas. The method comprises monitoring at least one parameter of a signal received from a remote transmitter. The method includes determining that the at least one parameter meets a first threshold and performing, at the wireless electronic device, a probing operation. The probing operation includes performing an antenna switching operation. The probing operation includes generating first signal information of the received signal prior to the antenna switching operation and generating second signal information of the received signal subsequent to the antenna switching operation. The probing operation includes determining whether the antenna switching operation achieves a desired gain based at least in part on the generated first and second signal information. The probing operation includes reversing the antenna switching operation in response to the desired gain not being achieved.

Electronic devices such as handheld electronic devices and other portable electronic devices are becoming increasingly popular. Examples of handheld devices include cellular telephones, handheld computers, media players, and hybrid devices that include the functionality of multiple devices of this type. Popular portable electronic devices that are somewhat larger than traditional handheld electronic devices include laptop computers and tablet computers.
Due in part to their mobile nature, portable electronic devices are often provided with wireless communications capabilities. For example, portable electronic devices may use long-range wireless communications to communicate with wireless base stations and may use short-range wireless communications links, such as links for supporting the Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11) bands and the Bluetooth band.
Antenna design is increasingly challenging as the need to support more frequency bands and more radio access technology continues to grow. In addition, a user's hand position or head position while operating the portable electronic device may have an impact on received signal strength, wireless transmission, etc. It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with improved wireless communications capabilities.

Wireless electronic device with switchable antenna system


Perfluorinated acid ion-exchange resins are highly effective catalysts for the isomerization of 3-pentenoic compounds to 4-pentenoic compounds, especially if the catalysts contain a group 8 metal in an oxidation state of at least +2.

Schneider et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,815 discloses the preparation of 4-pentenoates by the isomerization at elevated temperatures of 3-pentenoates using an acidic-ion-exchange resin containing a noble metal of group 8 of the periodic table as the catalyst.
Perfluorinated ion-exchange polymers are commercially available as Nafion.RTM.. The preparation of such products is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,282,875 to Connolly et al.
Perfluorinated ion-exchange polymers have been previously employed as isomerization catalysts--see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,022,847 and 4,038,213 to McClure and McClure et al. which disclose the isomerization of alkanes.

Preparation of 4-pentenoic acid, amide or esters by isomerization


An index is created for a database by selecting at least one column of a database table as a basis to create the index, generating at least one index of a tree structure according to the at least one column, where a pointer stored in a leaf node of the at least one index is null. In an example embodiment, a value to a pointer is stored in a leaf node according to an intermediate result in response to the intermediate result being generated, where the pointer stored in the leaf node points to a data page storing the intermediate result. The created index can be reused and the intermediate result can be effectively used, such that the efficiency of database operation is improved.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of databases, and in particular to creating indexes for databases.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Along with the development of computer technology, the application of a database is more and more prevalent, and the capacity of databases is increasingly larger. In order to quickly query a database, existing database management systems create indexes for databases. Indexes are created on some columns in a database table. For example, an index can be created on columns such as: 1) columns that need to be searched frequently (to speed up searching); 2) columns that are used as a primary key (to enforce uniqueness of the column and organize arrangement structure of data in the table); 3) columns that are frequently used for a 'join' operation between tables (such columns can be foreign keys and may speed up 'join'); 4) columns that frequently need to be searched according to scope (the data in the designated scope is continuous since the index has been ordered); 5) columns that frequently need to be sorted (a query that requires sorting can utilize the order of indexes to speed up the query, since indexes have been sorted); and 6) columns that are frequently used in a WHERE clause to speed up computation of conditions in the where clause.
Creation of an index can greatly improve performance of a database system. Uniqueness of each row of data in a database table can be assured by creating a unique index, such that searching of data can be accelerated and a 'join' operation between tables can also be accelerated, specifically, it is particularly meaningful in realizing reference integration of data. When data is searched by using a group and order clause, the time of grouping and sorting in a query can also be significantly reduced. By utilizing an index, optimization may be used during the query, thereby improving performance of system.
In existing database management systems, a B+Tree index is the most common index structure, and an index created by default is such type of index. A B+Tree index is a type of balance tree and is based on a binary tree; it is composed of a root node, an intermediate node and a leaf node. Root nodes, intermediate nodes and leaf nodes are all located in an index page and are called as an index node. The node that does not have parent node is a root node, the node that does not have child node is a leaf node, and the node located between root node and leaf node is an intermediate node. A root node stores a pointer pointing to an intermediate node; an intermediate node is located between a root node and a leaf node and stores a pointer pointing to next level intermediate node or leaf node; and a leaf node stores a pointer pointing to a data page (i.e., a physical storage location of data).
A database query is often a multiple-stage query. Assume there are two tables, T1 and T2, in which T1 has two indexes: index T1_i1 on a first column col1 and an index T1_i2 on a second column col2, taking the following query for example:
select*from T1, T2 where T1.col1=T2.col1 and T1.col2>=60 and T1.col2<90
The database management system first scans index T1_i2 by using the condition T1.col2>=60 and T1.col2<90 to obtain an intermediate result, and the intermediate result is copied into memory or other temporary storage location. At this time, the intermediate result corresponds to content between 60 and 90 indexed by the col2 in T1. Then, the column col1 of the intermediate result is matched with the first column of table T2 to obtain a query result. At this time, since what is stored in leaf node of index T1_i1 on the first column col1 of T1 is a pointer pointing to a physical storage location of data in original table T1, and the intermediate result is copied to memory or other temporary storage location, the pointer in index T1_i1 will become invalid for the intermediate result. That is, the intermediate result cannot utilize index T1_i1, thus, a full table traverse has to be performed on the intermediate result. In a large enterprise application, the capacity of the intermediate result is often very large, such that a full table traverse on intermediate result will consume a large amount of computing resources.


Disclosed is a remote management system including: a first image forming device; a second image forming device which is communicable with the first image forming device by using a first communication system; and a remote management server which is communicable with the second image forming device by using a second communication system, wherein the remote management server transmits setting information for the first image forming device to the second image forming device communicable with the first image forming device by using the first communication system, by using the second communication system, the second image forming device transmits the setting information received from the remote management server, to the first image forming device by using the first communication system, and the first image forming device carries out a setting operation in accordance with the setting information received from the second image forming device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote management system and a remote setting method for remotely setting an image forming device, and an image forming device for remotely setting another image forming device.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, an image forming device, such as a printer, a multi-function peripheral or the like, which is installed in an office or the like, is remotely managed from a remote management server in a management company via a communication line in order to maintain the image forming device to be always normally used. As a remote management, the management for consumable supplies and the number of sheets used in the printing is carried out. Further, in the remote management, in order to maintain the printout having the normal image quality, for example, various parameters are changed in accordance with the usage environment.
Although the following print system is not used as the remote management, the print system for carrying out the communication setup for wirelessly connecting a printer with a personal computer for transmitting print data to the printer is known. The communication setup can be carried out by using an infrared remote controller (See Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-123183).
As described above, the remote management is widely used. However, the connection setup for starting the remote management for a newly installed image forming device is still carried out by a service personnel who visits the place in which the image forming device is newly installed. Therefore, the above connection setup is inconvenient.
Further, if the above connection setup has not yet be done, the other various settings cannot be carried out by the remote management, as a matter of course.
Even in the setup carried out by using the infrared remote controller, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-123183, a service personnel having the remote controller is still required to visit the place in which the image forming device is newly installed in order to carry out the setting. Therefore, it is not possible to solve the problem caused in the above remote management.

Remote management system, remote setting method and image forming device

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


An interactive game and gaming system are presented. In some aspects, information is derived from a database and a select subset of it is used to generate both questions and potential answers to the questions. A player is presented with the potential answers and selects an answer, which is evaluated by the system to determine its correctness. Commercial advantages of interacting with players in this way and collecting information about the players and promoting things to the players are described.

Interactive electronic and computer games have proliferated. The games include aspects that entertain their users or players. Other aspects generate profit for the party putting on the games or distributing or selling the games. Other aspects raise awareness of an issue or promote a product or a company.
One common aspect to gaming, especially online gaming, is that a player can interact with a client machine (computer, mobile device) by way of a browser or client application. The client machine then uses an interface and a network (wired, wireless) connection to interact with a server machine that serves content and information to the client for the purpose of driving the game play. Another feature of online gaming, especially in games that are free to players to play, is that the game is used as a platform for promotion of other things. This can be done by presenting pop up type or banner type advertising to a player of the game. Yet another common feature of online gaming is to encourage a player to sign up for a service or to create an account or to join a database of players that include information about the player. Providers of interactive games can benefit from information about the community of players, including demographic information and information about why the players like the game or dislike it and information about what interests the players and how the players react to the game and the products and services being promoted.
A source of information or database from which queries (questions) to players can be derived is used to formulate both the queries and a plurality of possible responses (answers) to the queries.

Server and application for interactive gameplay