An apparatus for supporting rolls of work material for a printer includes first and second mandrel support plates each having a pair of mandrel supports spaced equidistant one from the other, along a length thereof. The first and second mandrel support plates are coupled to the printer for supporting opposing ends of a feeder roll mandrel and a take-up roll mandrel for the rolls of work material. One or both of the first and second mandrel support plates including adjustment means for adjusting the relative positions of the first and second mandrel support plates for alignment of the feeder and take-up roll mandrels one with the other.

In known printers, a single print head is mounted on a frame for movement transversely across and for printing on a piece of sheet-type work material. Generally, the print head prints onto the work material while the work material is stationary or moving. Where the printer employs roll-fed work material, the printer usually includes a mandrel plate or other support for supporting a feeder roll of work material as well as a take-up roll for the work material. When using a printer configured in this manner, the work material is fed through the printer from the feeder roll to the take-up roll.
The above-described printers generally include a frame, that carries a platen for supporting the work material as it is being printed and a print head responsive to commands issued from a controller. At least one mandrel support plate is usually attached to the frame for supporting the ends of a feeder roll mandrel and a take-up roll mandrel.
One problem associated with this type of printer is that often the mandrel support plates may not be positioned parallel to one another. This problem may be caused during assembly or during moving of the printer from one location to another. The frame could also be slightly twisted, causing the mandrel support plates to be out of alignment with respect to one another. If the mandrel support plates are not aligned substantially parallel to one another, the feeder and take-up rolls mandrels positioned on the mandrel support plates may also be out of alignment relative to each other. If the feeder and take-up roll mandrels are not substantially parallel one to the other, the work material may not feed through the printer properly which can cause the performance of the printer and the quality of work produced thereby to be adversely affected.
Based on the foregoing, it is the general object of the present invention to provide a roll positioning mechanism for a printer that overcomes the above-described problems and drawbacks present in the prior art.


Footwear articles and footwear article modification methods are described. According to one aspect, a footwear article includes an insole configured to support a foot of an individual when the footwear article is worn by the individual, an outsole which contacts the ground when the footwear article is worn by the individual, an upper configured to hold the footwear article to the foot of the individual when the footwear article is worn by the individual, wherein the upper includes a lateral portion and a medial portion, and wherein the lateral portion of the upper is configured to retain an interchangeable placard in a position with respect to the footwear article wherein the placard covers substantially an entirety of the lateral portion of the upper of the footwear article.

Many different footwear articles have been developed of different types and for different purposes. The different types of footwear articles are applicable for different uses in athletics, occupations, fashions, etc. Oftentimes, individuals will have numerous pairs of shoes, sandals, boots, etc. depending upon activities to be performed, level of dress (formal/informal), etc. Different types and designs of footwear articles are introduced as new materials for fabricating the footwear articles are introduced and new fashion designs are introduced.
At least some aspects of the present disclosure enable wearers of footwear articles to customize and personalize their footwear differently at different moments in time. Additional aspects of the disclosure provide a database of different footwear article designs which may be accessed by individuals to customize their footwear. The disclosure also provides additional aspects as described in further detail below.


A circulation air distributing system for supplying fresh conditioned, hot or cold air through the use of cells metal cellular flooring. Distribution box inserts are uniformly distributed along the cellular flooring units prior to concrete placement. Selected distribution box inserts are activated to provide individual control means including diffuser means, for supplying individual workstations with fresh air at the volume, the temperature, and in the direction desired by the occupant. Air movement is from the floor surface upwardly toward the ceiling and into a return plenum space provided above the ceiling structure. In the event of a fire, selected diffuser means may be replaced by mask assembly which provide fresh, breathable air to an individual. Signal means activated on connection of the mask assembly to the control means, alerts the fireman as to the location where rescue is required.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an air distribution system, and more particularly, to an air distribution system for supplying fresh conditioned air to individual office work spaces through cellular flooring.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An early air circulation system supplied conditioned air through individual cells of metal cellular flooring units, see U.S. Pat. No. 2,182,686 issued to J. H. YOUNG. In the YOUNG '686 arrangement, discharge outlets are provided, each associated with a single cell of the metal cellular flooring unit. The outlets may be provided in either the floor, the vertical walls, or partitions of different rooms throughout the building. The YOUNG '686 system may be termed a single duct air conditioning system wherein air of a predetermined temperature is supplied to all areas of the building.
Dual duct air conditioned systems employing two or three ducts to convey hot and cold conditioned air are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,729,429 issued to GOEMANN and 3,356,134 issued to SAWYER.
GOEMANN '429 provides separate ducts conveying hot and cold air to the perimeter of a building where the hot and cold air streams are mixed within above-the-floor sill boxes to provide air of a desired temperature. The air is then discharged into the building. The GOEMANN '429 arrangement is concerned solely with air conditioning the perimeter of a building, or supplying only cold air at pre-selected locations in the interior of the building.
SAWYER '134 provides a dual duct air conditioning system where hot and cold air is supplied to above-the-floor window sill mixing boxes at the perimeter of the building and to individual above-the-floor interior mixing boxes uniformly spaced throughout the area of the floor. In the SAWYER '134 arrangement, hot air is provided only through a conduit extending adjacent to the perimeter of the building; whereas no hot air is introduced into the conduits extending through the interior of the building. Thus, the interior mixing boxes provide only cold air.
A personal environmental module for controlling the environment in a work space is describe in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,397 issued to DEMETER, ET AL. The module is situated beneath the desk of the workstation and has a first inlet receiving room air and a second inlet receiving conditioned air from an underfloor duct. The housing includes two outlets communicating with vents situated on top of and at opposite ends of the desk, and from which conditioned air is discharged. Temperature control in the module is accomplished by separately controlling the amount of pre-conditioned air and room air to obtain the desired temperature.


The battery system and process of the present invention enables the increase of the specific energy of the lead-acid battery by using new starting pastes which will allow significantly higher utilization efficiencies of the positive and negative pastes. The invention enables the increased utilization efficiency of both electrodes, to thereby increase the specific energy of the battery. Two paste combinations have been found to be advantageous. First, a battery has at its positive terminal, a lead sulfate (PbSO.sub.4) paste and at its negative terminal, a tribasic lead sulfate (3PbO'PbSO.sub.4 'H.sub.2 O). In a second combination, a paste of lead sulfate (PbSO.sub.4) is used at the positive electrode and while a monobasic lead sulfate (PbO.PbSO.sub.4), is applied to the negative electrodes.

One of the oldest and best-known devices used to store energy is the lead-acid battery. The technology is based upon the reduction of lead dioxide to lead sulfate at the positive electrode and the simultaneous oxidation of lead to lead sulfate at the negative electrode. The electrolyte, sulfuric acid, is consumed, and energy is discharged during this process. Energy is stored by reversing these reactions; that is, charging the battery.
The energy stored is proportional to the discharge voltage, which is about 2.08 volts per cell, and to the amount of lead species. Lead has a high atomic weight and is an inherently inefficient chemical for battery energy storage. Lead is also used for carrying current within the cell. As a result, the amount of lead required per kilowatt hour of storage may be 50 to 100 pounds, which unfavorably impacts both weight and cost of the storage system. This translates to an energy density of about 10 to 15 watt hours per pound, depending upon battery design, operation, and desired life.
Another way of looking at this low specific energy, is in regard to the high equivalent weights of the starting materials, which is only partially made up for by the very high cell voltage. Another important reason, however, is that very little of the charged, active material is available for discharge. Both positive and negative electrodes typically yield only 20-35% utilization. Anything higher than 60% is a laboratory curiosity. By contrast, both electrodes in a nickel-cadmium cell yield at least 70-80% and sometimes more. Lithium electrodes often approach 100%. Invariably, electrodes in other batteries exhibit utilization efficiencies well beyond the range of those in lead-acid batteries.
Problems relating to the efficiency of usage of batteries come from the reactions occurring within the batteries themselves. During discharge, the lead dioxide which is a fairly good conductor, from the positive plate is converted to lead sulfate, an insulator. The lead sulfate can form an impervious layer encapsulating the lead dioxide particles, thus partially eliminating access of the electrolyte to the active material.
In the case of a standard lead-acid battery, such batteries are easily and commercially available in charged form. By providing a plate made of lead dioxide (PbO.sub.2), in the presence of a lead (Pb) plate and sulfuric acid, a charged battery is formed which can then be discharged, and re-charged.
The use of pastes applied to the electrodes has been practiced to increase the availability of the reacting materials. The vertical positive and negative plates of lead based alloy grids have been coated with layers of electrochemically active pastes. In a charged condition, the paste on the positive electrode contains lead dioxide which is the positive active material, and the negative electrodes contain a sponge lead. Typically batteries are formed where both electrodes are lead and act only as conductors, but where the paste alone acts as the electrode material which undergoes chemical change.
One conceivable way to form the Pb/PbO.sub.2 battery is to start with the components which would be present in a discharged battery, and apply a charge to form the Pb/PbO.sub.2 starting structures. With respect to the negative electrode, and the use of metallic lead, the sponge lead forms fairly easily. However, the PbO.sub.2 does not form as readily. In some cases PbO, lead monoxide, interspersed with some free lead can help begin to build the starting structure during the charging reaction. The PbO will form the first PbO.sub.2, to be followed by further PbO.sub.2 formation. The theory behind the formation of the battery in this manner is that the formed Pb/PbO.sub.2 starting structures will have an expanded structure, and therefore be more amenable to reaction during discharge.
The use of pastes as a starting material is particularly useful for the bipolar battery which may be formed by a series of stacked lead plates, typically with one side having the positive paste and the other side having the negative paste. An ion permeable separator typically separates the plates, and the plates themselves form the electrical interconnection between the cells. The use of pastes, although increasing the active species and the overall surface area and availability of the active species, has had no significant effect in minimizing the mechanism described above which limits utilization of the electrodes.
The pastes which have been used today have typically been a "leady" oxide paste, such as PbO interspersed with some elemental free lead. This paste is typically applied to the grids of conventional lead-acid batteries, the grids containing the active ingredients, namely PbO.sub.2 are pasted with a "leady oxide" which is primarily PbO containing a small amount of free lead. This is for the purpose of assisting in the charging reaction, as was previously discussed. This contrasts with other battery formulations, such as where two differing pastes are utilized as the beginning of formation of the reactive elements themselves during the charging reaction.
It would be advantageous to begin with an expanded lead dioxide PbO.sub.2 as the positive electrode and an expanded sponge lead for the negative electrode. However, obtaining such expansion, without building the battery in reverse through the charging reaction is either impossible or impractical.
Either with or without the conventional use of PbO, the power output of the battery, even in the presence of such pastes, is significantly influenced by its state of discharge. Further, the lead sulfate, especially near the positive electrode can grow into large, hard, angular crystals, which can dislodge active material from the electrodes, and can further impede the reduction to lead at the negative electrode.
A beginning to the solution to the problem of under utilization of batteries was described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,507,372, issued on Mar. 26, 1985 to John J. Rowlette, inventor herein, and entitled "Positive Battery Plate," and which is incorporated herein by reference. The solution outlined in the `372 patent involved the addition of a conductive filler to the pastes. The filler of choice was stated to be tin dioxide, for the positive electrode, rather than the previously used graphite which was noted to undergo a reaction in the presence of the electrolyte to form acetic acid, and then to form lead acetate.
The use of tin dioxide is outlined in U.S. Pat. No. 4,713,306 to Pinsky et al, issued on Dec. 15, 1987 and entitled "Battery Element and Battery Incorporating Doped Tin Oxide Coated Substrate. The substance of this patent is incorporated herein by reference.
The addition of the tin dioxide can be accomplished as a pre-dispersed paste, or as a powder or coating onto a particulate or fibrous substrate, such as glass powder or glass wool. Further, the conductivity of the tin dioxide is greater than that of graphite. Stannic oxide additive is commercially available from Crystal Research of Olympia, Wash.
One of the most important reasons for the limitation in discharge of the active materials of a lead-acid cell is lack of access of the electrolyte to all parts of the active material. When the PbO.sub.2 in the positive plate discharges and becomes PbSO.sub.4 there is a theoretical volume expansion, based upon the dry compounds, from 25.15 cm.sup.3 /mole to 48.2 cm.sup.3 /mole. Assuming this volume expansion in the liquid phase to nearly approximate the volume differential in the solid phase from which these numbers were drawn, it can be seen that the reaction, and its accompanying volume expansion will eventually plug up the pores of the PbO.sub.2 and thus prevent the electrolyte from contacting the remaining particles of PbO.sub.2, making those remaining particles of PbO.sub.2 essentially inaccessible.
A similar problem occurs at the negative electrode, where the volume change from elemental Pb to PbSO.sub.4, based upon the dry preparations is from 18.25 cm.sup.3 /mole to 48.2 cm.sup.3 /mole. Of course, more utilization can always be achieved if the discharge rate is reduced, since a reduced discharge rate will not cause as rapid plugging and will allow for a more even, orderly expansion. However, such a reduced discharge rate limits the uses of the battery and will not satisfactorily be useful for higher useful discharge rates.
What is therefore needed is a battery composition which permits formation of the electrode materials in an expanded form and which will enable a higher usage for a given amount of current flow. The battery composition should be such that the reactive materials are stable, and that the battery is re-chargeable without a serious reduction in the utilization.

Utilization efficiencies by using high sulfate starting materials


A billing statement according to one aspect of the invention includes a description of a transaction and an offer pointer associated with the transaction, wherein the offer pointer includes information that may be used to review an offer. In one example of this aspect, a telephone number or a hyperlink is provided adjacent to a total amount owed listed on a statement (e.g., an electronically-displayed billing statement). The offers reviewed may be customized, for example, based on details of the transaction such as the product purchased or the amount of the purchase, the identity of the consumer, and/or on other data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems for providing offers to consumers. More particularly, the present invention concerns systems for providing offers to consumers using billing statements.
2. Description of the Related Art
Sellers present offers to consumers in order to sell products and to acquire new customers. For example, a retailer may use newspaper advertisements or mass mailings to offer products to consumers for sale prices. In another example, a representative of a long distance telephone service provider may call a consumer and offer cash in exchange for the consumer's agreement to use the provider's service. Other conventional channels for presenting offers include radio and television advertisements, billboards, and in-store displays.
However, since a typical consumer is inundated with offers received through conventional channels, such offers are rather limited in their ability to receive the consumer's thorough consideration. Moreover, of all the offers presented to the consumer, only a small fraction actually deal with products and/or services in which the consumer is interested. As a result of these factors, most offers presented to consumers through conventional channels are virtually ignored.
Some sellers, realizing that only a small fraction of presented offers will be considered and even a smaller fraction will actually be accepted, try to increase a total number of accepted offers by increasing the total number of offers presented to consumers. This strategy is not acceptable to most sellers because it suffers from the problems described above with respect to offers presented through conventional channels and because it can be quite costly. Additionally, since this strategy results in an increase in the number of offers presented through conventional channels, the already small fraction of these offers which are effectively considered tends to decrease.
In an attempt to address the foregoing, some sellers have employed billing statements as vehicles for presenting offers to consumers. For example, Synapse Group, Inc. of Stamford, Conn. presents offers for magazine subscriptions using materials enclosed with monthly credit card billing statements. This approach presumes that a consumer will pay more attention to items received along with a billing statement than to advertising vehicles such as mass mailings or newspaper advertisements. As a result, it is believed that the approach increases the percentage of offers which are thoroughly considered by consumers.
One shortcoming of the previous approach results from the limited space available for including advertising materials within billing statements. Due to this limitation, offers which can be presented using this approach are limited to a small number of concise, simply explained offers. Accordingly, what is needed is a system allowing sellers to present more offers and additional types of offers, including complex, customized, and dynamically-created offers, to consumers using billing statements.
Moreover, offers presented using billing statements as described above are no more likely than other conventional offers to deal with products or services in which a particular consumer is interested. As a result, such offers are no more likely than conventional offers to be accepted even if thoroughly considered. Therefore, what is also needed is a system providing consumers with increased incentive to accept offers presented using billing statements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System for providing offers using a billing statement


An ignition timing control apparatus for a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine has a position sensor for generating a series of position signals. Each signal corresponds to one of the cylinders of the engine and indicates a first position and a second position with respect to top dead center of the piston of the corresponding cylinder. The number of degrees of crankshaft rotation between the first and second positions is different for a prescribed reference cylinder of the engine than for the other cylinders of the engine. A cylinder recognizing portion of a microcomputer recognizes the reference cylinder based on the signal from the position sensor. An ignition timing braking portion of the microcomputer performs ignition timing braking when the target ignition timing falls during a prescribed braking period and ignition has yet to take place when a piston reaches its second position. A braking period adjusting portion adjusts the length of the braking period depending on which cylinder is firing and on whether cylinder recognition has been completed.

This invention relates to an ignition timing control apparatus for an internal combustion engine. More particularly, it relates to an ignition timing control apparatus which can prevent abnormal ignition from occurring when the engine rotational speed suddenly increases.
An internal combustion engine is generally equipped with a rotational position sensor which indicates the position of the piston of each cylinder of the engine. FIG. 1 illustrates the output signal of a typical rotational position sensor. The output signal is in the form of pulses which are generated at prescribed intervals, such as once every 180 degrees of crankshaft rotation. Each pulse corresponds to a specific cylinder of the engine and indicates a prescribed position with respect to top dead center of the piston of the cylinder. For example, in FIG. 1, the rising edge of each pulse occurs when the piston of the corresponding cylinder is at 75.degree. BTDC, while the falling edge occurs when the piston is at 5.degree. BTDC. The ignition timing for each cylinder is normally measured from the rising edge of the corresponding pulse, and ignition is controlled so as to occur a prescribed length of time after the occurrence of the rising edge of a pulse.
FIG. 2 illustrates the output signal of a conventional rotational position sensor for an engine and the current in the ignition coil of the engine. In this example, the ignition timing is set so that ignition occurs prior to the falling edge of an output pulse of the rotational position sensor, i.e., prior to 5.degree. BTDC. However, when the engine rotational speed suddenly increases, if the ignition timing was calculated before the speed increase took place, ignition will end up taking place later in the engine cycle than intended, and may even take place after the falling edge of a pulse, as shown by the dashed lines in FIG. 2. In this case, proper combustion will not take place, and the engine will not generate maximum power.
In order to prevent late ignition when the engine speed suddenly increases, some engines are equipped with a so-called "ignition timing braking device". If ignition has yet to take place at the time of the falling edge of the output pulse of the rotational position sensor, the ignition timing braking device cuts off the ignition coil current and forces ignition to occur. The process of cutting off the ignition coil current in this manner is referred to as "ignition timing braking". In the example of FIG. 2, when ignition timing braking is performed, ignition will take place no later than 5.degree. BTDC.
In the example of FIG. 1, the output pulses of the rotational position sensor are all identical. However, in some automobiles, the rotational position sensor generates a different type of output signal which enables identification of a prescribed reference cylinder of the engine. As shown in FIG. 3, which illustrates such an output signal, the number of degrees of crankshaft rotation between the rising and falling edges of a pulse is different for the reference cylinder than for the other cylinders. For example, in FIG. 3, the falling edge of a pulse corresponding to the reference cylinder occurs at 15.degree. BTDC, whereas it occurs at 5.degree. BTDC for the other cylinders. Thus, the falling edge of the pulse corresponding to the reference cylinder is offset by 10.degree. with respect to the other pulses. The duty cycle of a pulse corresponding to the reference cylinder is therefore different from the duty cycle of pulses for the other cylinders. By monitoring the duty cycle, the reference cylinder can be identified.
However, it is difficult to perform ignition timing braking with an ignition system which generates a rotational position signal of the type illustrated in FIG. 3. Therefore, with this type of rotational position signal, misfiring and other ignition problems occur when the engine rotational speed suddenly increases.

Ignition timing control apparatus for an internal combustion engine


Electric charge remaining on a photoreceptor after transfer causes image deterioration. According to one conventional method widely used in view of this problem, erase light is emitted onto a photoreceptor after the transfer to remove the electric charge remaining on the photoreceptor. However, such a method poses the following problem: emission of erase light leads to light-induced fatigue of the photoreceptor, and as a result, the photoreceptor which has deteriorated from the light-induced fatigue wears down due to abrasion and the like with a cleaner blade, resulting in a shorter lifetime of the photoreceptor. Thus, the thickness of the photosensitive layer is detected to acquire the amount of thickness decrease, and the amount of the erase light is reduced according to the acquired amount of thickness decrease.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, and in particular to a technique to reduce deterioration of a photoreceptor due to light-induced fatigue while also maintaining an image quality by neutralizing and erasing electric charge remaining on the photoreceptor by emitting erase light prior to charging.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses using an electrophotographic system charge a surface of a photoreceptor to a uniform electric potential with use of a charger, forms a latent image by exposure scanning using a laser beam, develops the latent image using toner, and transfers the developed toner image onto a recording sheet.
However, when the toner image formed on the photoreceptor is transferred, the following phenomenon occurs: a transfer current concentrates at a non-exposure portion (dark portion) where toner does not exist, and electric charge remains at a portion where toner exists (light portion). It is difficult to uniformly charge the surface of the photoreceptor with electric charge remaining thereon partially. As a result, a previous image may appear, as hysteresis (in this specification, referred to as "photoreceptor memory"), in the latent image and the toner image that results from development of the latent image, in the subsequent image forming process. This leads to deterioration in the image quality.
Accordingly, a conventional method of irradiating the photoreceptor with a predetermined light (in this specification, referred to as "erase light") after the toner image is transferred, to neutralize the potential on the photoreceptor, and subsequently charging the photoreceptor for the next image formation is widely adopted.
The surface of photoreceptors suffers abrasion due to such as a cleaning operation, and the photosensitive layer suffers fatigue, deterioration, and the like. Thus, the lifetime of photoreceptors is limited to a particular period of time, and exposure by erase light is considered to be a factor affecting the lifetime of the photoreceptors.
Specifically, in recent years, Organic Photoconductors (OPC) using organic photosensitive materials are widely used. Although such organic photoreceptors (photoconductors) have advantages in, for example, cost, productivity, and low-pollution characteristics, they are susceptible to light-induced fatigue due to emission of the erase light. The surface of the photoreceptor with light-induced fatigue readily wears down due to a cleaning operation and the like.
Here, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2003-76076 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2005-208223, output of the erase light may be suppressed to decrease image deterioration due to the photoreceptor memory so as to extend the lifetime of the photoreceptor.
However, the degree of the photoreceptor memory is considered to be affected by various factors including a usage environment. Particularly, in image forming apparatuses that have multiple photoreceptors and form a color image by transferring toner images formed on the photoreceptors by multiple transfer, the degree of the photoreceptor memory is considered to be affected by the positions of the photoreceptors.

Image forming apparatus, image forming unit, and erase light control method

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A dust cap assembly includes a sleeve and a sealant that seals an end face portion of a fiber optic ferrule from contaminants and, upon removal, provides remedial cleaning of any foreign matter present on the ferrule when the dust cap assembly was initially installed along with methods of making the same. The sleeve of the dust cap assembly has a through bore and a distal end for receiving the sealant. Further, the sealant may optionally have advantageous mechanical and optical properties such that the dust cap assembly may function as a terminator for testing.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to dust cap assemblies for fiber optic ferules used in fiber optic connectors. Specifically, the dust cap assembly seals the fiber optic ferrule from contaminants during its incumbency and, upon removal, provides remedial cleaning of any foreign matter present on the ferrule when the dust cap assembly was initially installed. In other embodiments, the dust cap assembly may optionally function as a terminator for testing the integrity of an optical cable assembly or as enabling a non-contact continuity test for fiber optic patch cables.
2. Technical Background
The capacity to send information over a wire revolutionized communication. Copper wire was the standard for more than 150 years, with ease of use and interconnection, but as bandwidth demand increased, it was necessary to seek alternative mediums. Optical fiber, developed and perfected over the past three decades, has made its presence felt, providing secure, high capacity signal transmission; in the past used primarily for long distance signal transmission due to its tremendous efficiency and security, but unable to easily leverage these attributes in more localized arenas. With developments in the joining of truncated fibers, suddenly optical fiber was becoming as versatile as copper. Optical fiber could be cut and easily rejoined via splicing, either by laser, electric arc or mechanical splicing, and by other mechanical processes. Of the mechanical processes developed, the ability to mate and de-mate an optical fiber to another optical fiber completed the versatility picture. Fiber optic ferrules and fiber optic connectors provided easy junction points in the field that tremendously increased the ease of use of optical fibers. Polishing optical fibers within appropriate ferrules is necessary to efficiently join two fibers end to end in such a way as to preserve the integrity of the optical signal with as little signal loss (attenuation) as possible.
To create a typical fiber optic cable assembly a fiber optic cable is terminated, a fiber optic connector is assembled at an end of the cable and the ferrule end face polished. The exactitude of the polished face of a fiber optic ferrule is such that any minute amounts of debris on that end face can block or decrease signal transmission or even damage the end face. Polished ferrule end faces can represent the end result of hours of manufacturing providing a polished ferrule end face to mate to another polished ferrule end face and thereby transfer signals from one fiber into another. Protecting the polished end faces of fiber optic ferrules is extremely important: protection from residual dust from the connector housing; protection from airborn contaminants in the manufacturing facility; protection from the effects of water, oils and chemicals; protection from the effects of temperature cycling, just to name a few. Dust caps as known in the art provide a shield from the physical contact of the delicate ferrule end faces with the outside environment, but do not inherently preventingress of moisture, remediate existing contaminants, and can actually deposit contaminants onto the very ferrule end faces they are designed to protect. Thus, there is an unresolved need for dust cap assemblies that will literally seal the optical ferrule end face, insuring the integrity of the factory polished ferrule, one that is inexpensive, easy to install and remove, and that prevents contamination by water, oil, dust, particulates, damage due to handling, etc.

Dust cap assembly for sealing an optical fiber ferrule and methods thereof


A memory device comprises at least two memory ranks sharing input/output lines, at least one mode register configured to store bits used to tune delays of data signals of the at least two ranks output through the input/output lines, a controller configured to determine tuning parameters for the data signals based on the stored bits in the at least one mode register, the tuning parameters comprising at least the delays of the data signals, and at least one nonvolatile memory disposed in at least one of the at least two memory ranks and configured to store the tuning parameters.

The inventive concept relates generally to electronic memory technologies. More particularly, certain embodiments of the inventive concept relate to memory systems having memory ranks and methods of tuning electrical parameters of the memory ranks.
A memory rank is a set of memories that are accessed concurrently. As an example, a memory rank may comprise multiple dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips connected to the same chip select signal to allow concurrent access to the chips. Memory ranks are commonly used, for instance, in memory modules comprising several memory chips.
In general, the concurrent access of different memory chips in a memory rank requires an ability to control the timing and other aspects of access operations. As memory systems become increasingly intricate and/or complex, there is a general need for new techniques for performing these control operations.

Memory system having memory ranks and related tuning method


A thrust sliding bearing (1) includes an upper casing (3) having an annular surface (2); an annular lower casing (5) which is superposed on the upper casing (3) so as to be rotatable about an axis (0) of the upper casing (3) and has an annular surface (4) opposed to the annular surface (2) of the upper casing (3); and an annular thrust sliding bearing piece (6) and an elastic ring (7) which are superposed on top of each other and are interposed between the annular surfaces (2) and (4).

In general, a strut-type suspension is mainly used in a front wheel of a four-wheeled vehicle, and is constructed such that a strut assembly incorporating a hydraulic shock absorber in a cylinder formed integrally with a main shaft is combined with a coil spring. Among such suspensions, there is a type of structure in which the axis of the coil spring is actively offset with respect to the axis of the strut, so as to allow the sliding of a piston rod of the shock absorber incorporated in the strut to be effected smoothly. There is another type of structure in which the coil spring is disposed by aligning the axis of the coil spring with the axis of the strut. In either structure, a thrust bearing is disposed between a mounting member of a vehicle body and an upper spring seat of the coil spring to allow the rotation to be effected smoothly when the strut assembly rotates together with the coil spring by the steering operation.
In this thrust bearing, a rolling bearing using balls or needles or a synthetic resin-made sliding bearing is used. However, the rolling bearing has a possibility that fatigue failure occurs in the balls or needles due to fine vibrations and vibration load or the like, and there is a problem in that it is difficult to maintain smooth steering operation. The sliding bearing has problems in that since its friction torque is high as compared with the rolling bearing, an increase in the thrust load results in an increase in the friction torque, which renders the steering operation heavy, and that, depending on a combination of synthetic resins, the stick-slip phenomenon occurs, frequently producing frictional noise attributable to the stick-slip phenomenon.
In addition, a lubricant such as grease is applied to the sliding bearing, and the above-described frictional noise practically does not occur insofar as such a lubricant is present, as desired, on the sliding surface. However, there can be cases where the frictional noise begins to be produced due to the dissipation or the like of the lubricant over long periods of use.
It should be noted that the above-described problems do not necessarily occur only in the thrust sliding bearing incorporated in the strut-type suspension, but can similarly occur in general thrust sliding bearings.


A gift container with an integrated decorative display element is provided. The decorative element is adapted to be easily mounted upon the gift box to reduce the time and complexity involved in wrapping gifts. The decorative element may include mechanisms to quickly secure the gift box lid to the gift box container.

Gift boxes are commonly used in connection with gift presentation. Most boxes include a lid and a container and may bear the logo or name of the vending establishment. Typically, the gift giver selects a decorative gift wrap that is placed around the box and then the wrapped box is decorated with a ribbon, bow and the like. To achieve a neatly presented gift wrapped package requires skill, discipline, and patience.
Furthermore, the task of wrapping a box typically proves time consuming (selecting paper, sizing, cutting, folding and taping) and somewhat wasteful of resources (paper, tape, etc.). In times of high volume gift purchasing, the prospect of taking the purchases home to wrap them adds to the stress of an already hectic shopping experience. To some challenged gift givers, the combination is almost unbearable.
For the "gift-wrapping challenged," the difficulty of gift wrapping may be somewhat alleviated by a pre-formed box. However, a pre-formed box of uniform dimensions still requires wrapping which can provide a less desirable appearance due to flaws in the wrapping technique. Therefore, the provision of a preformed, rigid box does not mitigate the challenge to the would-be gift wrapper.
Alternatives have appeared. For example, at peak gift giving times, e.g., the holiday season, a gift purchaser may turn for help to an available gift-wrap service. This act itself, may prove to be a challenge as the gift giver must contend with and negotiate long lines to avoid the gift wrapping task.
Recently, to assist consumers, rigid set up boxes incorporating coordinated designs corresponding to a desired motif (children's birthdays, Christmas, graduation, etc.) have become available. Such boxes facilitate time savings; however, unless secured, the lid of such a box may be dislodged from the underlying container to thereby expose the gift. Consequently, decorative gift boxes are often tied with a ribbon to secure the lid to the box container. Particularly in the case of a highly decorative, specialty box, the gift giver may forget to purchase a color-coordinated ribbon. Thus, even with a decorative gift box, the user may use a non-matching ribbon found in the user's home.

Gift container with decorative display element included therein


A power supply is configured to perform an at least partial compensation of a voltage variation caused by a load change using a voltage variation compensation mechanism which is triggered in response to an expected load change. An Automated test equipment for testing a device under test comprises a power supply, which is configured to supply the device under test. The automated test equipment comprises a pattern generator configured to provide one or more stimulus signals for the device under test. The power supply is configured to perform an at least partial compensation of a voltage variation caused by a load change using a voltage variation compensation mechanism which is activated in synchronism with one or more of the stimulus signals and/or in response to one or more response data signals from the device under test. Corresponding methods and a computer program are also described.

Power supplies, or regulated power supplies, are applied in many technical applications. For example, regulated power supplies are used in most electrical apparatuses, like computers, multimedia devices, and so on. Furthermore, regulated power supplies are also used in electrical laboratory environments in which, typically high requirements are set.
Moreover, regulated (or controlled) power supplies are typically also used in automated test equipment in order to provide one more supply voltages for device under test (or even for multiple devices under test). For example, in automated test equipment, it is often desirable to program the supply voltage in a test program and to perform tests at different supply voltages. Also, it is typically desirable to have a very well-defined and stable supply voltage in an automated test equipment, in order to be able to reliably characterize a device under test.
However, it has been found that problems arise when there are load changes. For example, an abrupt increase of a load current of a load connected to a power supply (or of a DUT which is tested using an automated test equipment) may result in a voltage drop. It has been found that such load changes often occur very fast, such that it is very difficult to keep the supply voltage, which is provided to the load, within an acceptable range. For example, there are conventional solutions showing voltage droop, if a sudden load change occurs at the output of a device-under-test (DUT) power supply.
In view of this situation, there is a desire to create a concept which provides for an improved tradeoff between implementation effort and supply voltage integrity.

Power supply, automated test equipment, method for operating a power supply, method for operating an automated test equipment and computer program using a voltage variation


An image decoding method, a decoder and a storage medium are porovided. The method includes: receiving code stream data, and parsing the code stream data to obtain a coding tree unit corresponding to the code stream data; parsing an i-th node of i-th layer corresponding to the coding tree unit to obtain i-th state parameter and i-th flag parameter corresponding to the i-th node; performing detection processing on the i-th node according to the i-th state parameter and the i-th flag parameter to obtain an i-th detection result; acquiring a (i+1)th node of a (i+1)th layer corresponding to the coding tree unit; continuing to perform detection processing on the (i+1)th node, and traversing all the nodes corresponding to the coding tree unit until all the coding unit data corresponding to the coding tree unit is obtained; and generating a decoded image corresponding to the code stream data.

At present, a technical solution to video coding mainly refers to partitioning a space region of a picture into small blocks that are not overlapped with each other as basic units for coding using a partitioning technology and then coding the small blocks. Commonly used multi-type-tree (MTT) is evolved step by step from Quadtree (QT) to Quad-Tree-Binary-Tree (QTBT) and then further in combination with Ternary Tree (TT). Therefore, the only difference of QT, QTBT, and MTT is that partitioning manners for picture partitioning are different, and the partitioning principles of the three technologies are the same.
Detailed partitioning is usually needed to be performed on each frame of picture during video coding to achieve a relatively good coding effect, and in addition, detailed partitioning may generate more header information and repeated information representations due to a fixed partitioning solution in an existing video coding technology, so that the coding efficiency is reduced.

Method for picture decoding, decoder and storage medium

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


The present invention relates generally to the field of molecular biology and concerns a method for enhancing various economically important yield-related traits in plants. More specifically, the present invention concerns a method for enhancing various economically important yield-related traits in plants relative to control plants, by increasing expression in a plant of a nucleic acid sequence encoding a Yield-Enhancing Polypeptide (YEP). The YEP may be a Class I TCP or a CAH3 or a Clayata 1 (CLV1) polypeptide with a non-functional C-terminal domain. The present invention also concerns plants having increased expression of a nucleic acid sequence encoding a YEP, which plants have enhanced yield-related traits in plants relative to control plants. The invention also provides constructs useful in the methods of the invention.

Tcp
Transcription factors are usually defined as proteins that show sequence-specific DNA binding affinity and that are capable of activating and/or repressing transcription. The Arabidopsis thaliana genome codes for at least 1533 transcriptional regulators, accounting for ˜5.9% of its estimated total number of genes (Riechmann et al. (2000) Science 290: 2105-2109). The TCP family of transcription factors is named after its first characterized members (teosinte-branched1 (TB1), cycloidea (CYC) and PCNA factor (PCF); Cubas P et al. (1999) Plant J 18(2): 215-22). In Arabidopsis thaliana, more than 20 members of the TCP family polypeptides have been identified, and classified based on sequence similarity in the TCP domain into Class I (also called Group I or PCF group) transcription factors that positively regulate gene expression, and Class II (also called Group II or CYC-TB1 group) transcription factors that negatively regulate proliferation. All TCP transcription factors are characterized by a non-canonical predicted basic-Helix-Loop-Helix (bHLH), that is required for both DNA binding and homo- and hetero-dimerization (see Cubas et al. above).
One Class I TCP polypeptide, AtTCP20 (also named PCF1 orthologue), binds to the promoter of cell cycle and ribosomal protein genes, as reported in Li et al. (2005) PNAS 102(36): 12978-83). International Patent Application WO0036124 provides a nucleic acid sequence encoding a Class I TCP polypeptide (named VBDBP) and the corresponding polypeptide sequence. Expression vectors and transgenic plants comprising the aforementioned VBDBP nucleic acid sequence are described. In International Patent Application WO2004031349, transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana plants overexpressing (using a 35CaMV promoter) a nucleic acid sequence encoding a Class I TCP polypeptide (named G1938) are characterized. Retarded plant growth rate and development are observed.
CAH3
Carbonic anhydrase catalyses the reversible reaction H2CO3⇄H2O+CO2. There are 3 classes of carbonic anhydrases (alpha, beta and gamma), phylogenetically unrelated but sharing some similarities at the active site. In plants, all three classes exist. Carbonic anhydrases are present in chloroplasts, mitochondria (mostly gamma class) and cytosol, and may represent up to 2% of total soluble proteins in leaves. Carbonic anhydrase is important for ensuring efficient photosynthesis by maintaining CO2 concentration in cells at a suitable level. It is known that at atmospheric O2 and CO2 pressure, ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (Rubisco) works at 30% of its total capacity, hence there is interest in improving the CO2 uptake mechanism in plants. Carbonic anhydrase expression is co-regulated with the expression of Rubisco, and plants generally maintain a constant carbonic anhydrase versus Rubisco ratio. It is furthermore reported that carbonic anhydrase may also limit photorespiration by providing C-skeletons for nitrogen assimilation under certain conditions. In plants with a C3 type of photosynthesis, most of the carbonic anhydrase activity is localized to the stroma of the mesophyll chloroplasts, whereas in C4 plants, most of the carbonic anhydrase is found in the cytoplasm of mesophyll cells.
The idea of using carbonic anhydrase for increasing CO2 assimilation has been formulated many times. In WO9511979, it is postulated that transforming a monocotyledonous plant with a carbonic anhydrase from a monocotyledonous plant the ability of carbon dioxide fixation would be improved and would result in accelerated plant growth. Other documents disclose methods for mimicking a C4 type photosynthesis in C3 plants thereby improving the efficiency of photosynthesis (for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,610,913, 6,831,217 or US 20030233670). In these approaches, a C4-like pathway is introduced in C3 plants by introducing and expressing a combination of various enzyme activities (such as phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEPC) or pyruvate orthophosphate dikinase (PPDK)) from C4 plants to increase CO2 fixation; expression of these genes is under control of C4 regulatory sequences, typically their native promoters. Although predicted however, these attempts did not result yet in plants with increased yield.
Clavata
Leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinases (LRR-RLKs) are polypeptides involved in two biological functions in plants, i.e., growth and development on one hand, and defense response on the other. LRR-RLKs are transmembrane polypeptides involved in signal transduction, with from N-terminus to C-terminus: (i) a signal peptide for ER subcellular targeting; (ii) an extracellular receptor domain to perceive signals; (iii) a transmembrane domain; and (iv) an intracellular cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinase domain that can phosphorylate downstream target proteins, be phosphorylated by itself (autophosphorylation) or by other kinases, or be dephosphorylated by phosphatases.
LRR-RLKs comprise the largest group within the plant receptor-like kinase (RLK) superfamily, and the Arabidopsis genome alone contains over 200 LRR-RLK genes. Members of this family have been categorized into subfamilies based on both the identity of the extracellular domains and the phylogenetic relationships between the kinase domains of subfamily members (Shiu & Bleecker (2001) Proc Natl Aced Sc USA 98(19): 10763-10768). The subfamily LRR XI comprises one of the most studied LRR-RLK, Clavata1 (CLV1; Leyser et al., (2002) Development 116:397-403), involved in the control of shoot, inflorescence, and floral meristem size.
The shoot apical meristem can initiate organs and secondary meristems throughout the life of a plant. A few cells located in the central zone of the meristem act as pluripotent stem cells. They divide slowly, thereby displacing daughter cells outwards to the periphery where they eventually become incorporated into organ primordia and differentiate. The maintenance of a functional meristem requires coordination between the loss of stem cells from the meristem through differentiation and replacement of cells through division. In Arabidopsis, the Clavata (CLV1, CLV2, and CLV3) genes play a critical role in this process, by limiting the size of the stem cell pool in these meristems.
Clavata1 mutants have been identified in Arabidopsis (Leyser et al. see above; Clark et al., (1993) Development 119: 397-418; Diévart et al., (2003) Plant Cell 15: 1198-1211), in rice (Suzaki et al., (2004) Development 131: 5649-5657), and in corn (Bommert et al., (2004) Development 132: 1235-1245). All mutants present an enlargement of the aboveground meristems of all types (vegetative, inflorescence, floral) due to ectopic accumulation of stem cells, leading often to abnormal phyllotaxy, inflorescence fasciation and extra floral organs and whorls. This phenotypic severity varies between the different Arabidopsis mutants, the weaker alleles presenting only a small increase in stem cell number, whereas the strong alleles have more than 1000 fold more stem cells compared with the wild type (Dievart et al., (2004) supra).
The number of carpels formed per flower and the extent of growth of the ectopic whorls are sensitive indicators of clv1 mutant severity (Clarke et al., (1993) Development 119: 397-418). Two weak Arabidopsis mutants, clv1-6 and clv1-7, contain lesions after the transmembrane domain, leaving the possibility that the polypeptides these alleles encode are actually expressed and located to the plasma membrane (Clarke et al., (1993) supra).
Transgenic Arabidopsis plants expressing the nucleic acid sequence encoding the full length CLV1 polypeptide under the control of the ERECTA promoter (ER; for broad expression within the meristems and developing organ primordial) do not present a disrupted meristem (Clarke et al., (1993) supra). Granted U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,338 provides for an isolated nucleic acid sequence encoding a Clavata1 protein, and modified nucleic acid sequences encoding a modified Clavata1 protein, and describes expression vectors comprising the aforementioned isolated nucleic acid sequences, and plants and plant cells comprising the aforementioned isolated nucleic acid sequences.

Transgenic plants comprising as transgene A class I TCP or Clavata 1 (CLV1) or CAH3 polypeptide having increased seed yield and a method for making the same


Systems and methods for broadband failover in land mobile radio networks. One method includes operating a first communication interface of a converged communication device to execute a first communication between the device and a first network using an LMR modality. The method includes determining a plurality of radio communication characteristic values for each of a plurality of sites of the first network and generating a fallback threshold for a home site of the device based on the plurality of radio communications characteristics. The method includes determining whether a current radio communication characteristic value associated with a home site of the device exceeds the fallback threshold, and, when the current radio communication characteristic value does not exceed the fallback threshold, operating a second communication interface of the converged communication device to execute a second communication between the device and a second network using a non-LMR modality.

Public safety and other organizations use communication networks and portable electronic devices to facilitate communication among their members. Some of these devices operate over multiple communication systems. For example, portable two-way radios, smart telephones, and converged devices issued to public safety officers may simultaneously operate over land mobile radio (LMR) networks, long-term evolution (LTE) networks, or other wireless communication systems that provide broadband capabilities.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.
The apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments of the present invention so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.


A semiconductor laser array includes a set of low-loss waveguides for transmitting generated light waves to an external facet. The width of the output waveguides is less than a critical width required for complete confinement of the transmitted light so that the spot width of the light transmitted by each waveguide is increased to greater than 75% of the spacing between the output waveguides to produce a single-lobed beam. In one embodiment, scanning contacts induce a bias on a set of low-loss output waveguides to scan an output beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a phased-array semiconductor laser and more particularly to an output structure for the laser.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Phased-array lasers include a set of directly coupled waveguide amplifiers which generate in-phase light waves. Each waveguide has a terminal aperture at a laser facet that radiates the light waves generated in the waveguide amplifier. Typically, a radiated output beam from the phased-array laser includes a high-intensity central lobe and several low intensity sidelobes. These sidelobes increase the width of the beam and divert energy from the central beam.
Many laser applications require a highly resolved output beam. Accordingly, much effort has been expended to develop a phased-array laser that produces an output beam having only a single lobe. It is well-known that for an array of radiators having aperture size S and spacing distance D the ratio of S to D must be greater than 75% to obtain a single-lobed output beam.
In existing systems, the output waveguides are forward biased to amplify the light waves propagating therethrough. Thus, if the distance, D, between waveguides is reduced to obtain a single-lobed output beam then evanescent coupling between the output waveguides will occur. Conversely, if the output waveguides are flared to increase the size of the output apertures then higher order transverse modes may be supported. Either evanescent coupling or higher order modes may destabilize the laser output beam.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,069 Streifer et al. teach variable spacing of the output waveguides to achieve a single-lobed output beam. Y-shaped couplers are used to assure coupling between widely spaced output waveguides and the output waveguides are forward-biased to achieve light amplification.
Additionally, many systems, such as a facet scanning system or optical fiber array input scanning, require an output beam which may be scanned in a controllable manner. Typically, an output structure utilizing scanning electrodes is used to vary the index of refraction according to some function across the array. Generally, the bias induced by the scanning electrode is impressed on an amplifying portion of the laser and interferes with the bias applied to cause amplification. Such interference can affect the stability of the laser output beam.

Phased locked arrays with single lobe output beam


A synthetic aperture radar apparatus comprising an altitude calculation device, and means to feed back altitudinal information obtained by the altitude calculation device, to a synthetic aperture radar device in the synthetic aperture radar apparatus at all times. Thus, an observational region is observed with the synthetic aperture radar device, while at the same time, the altitude of an artificial satellite is calculated by measuring the acceleration thereof in the altitude calculation device, the altitudinal information being continually fed back to an operation controller in the synthetic aperture radar device, whereby the synthetic aperture radar device is operated continuously and automatically.

This invention relates to a synthetic aperture radar apparatus. More particularly, it relates to a synthetic aperture radar apparatus constructed of a synthetic aperture radar device which is mounted in an artificial satellite and with which a land surface, etc. are observed, and an altitude calculation device which is mounted in the artificial satellite and which measures the acceleration of the satellite, thereby to calculate the altitude of the satellite.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a prior-art synthetic aperture radar apparatus. In the figure, numeral 1 designates a transmitter, numeral 2 a circulator, numeral 3 an antenna, numeral 4 the earth, numeral 5 a receiver, numeral 6 a data recorder, and numeral 7 an operation controller.
A transmission pulse sent from the transmitter 1 in the synthetic aperture radar apparatus is led through the circulator 2 to the antenna 3, and it is thereafter radiated as an electric wave from the antenna 3 toward the earth 4. This electric wave is scattered in various directions on the surface of the earth 4. Some of the scattered waves are received by the antenna 3 again. The received waves, namely, observational echoes are led through the circulator 2 to the receiver 5, and they are subjected to amplification, frequency conversion and analog-to-digital conversion by the receiver 5. The digital data thus obtained is recorded by the data recorder 6.
The above operations are repeatedly performed every transmission pulse that is transmitted at a fixed period with the movement of an artificial satellite, not shown, carrying the synthetic aperture radar apparatus. Herein, all of control commands such as an observation start command for the synthetic aperture radar apparatus, an ON/OFF command for the power source of the transmitter 1, a command for setting the pulse-recurrence frequency of the transmitter 1, a command for setting the gain of the receiver 5, a record/reproduce command for the data recorder 6, and an observation end command, are delivered from the operation controller 7. Image processing is executed on the basis of the observational data recorded on the data recorder 6, whereby the image of an observed region is obtained.
Meanwhile, in the case of observing a land surface or the like with the synthetic aperture radar apparatus, the transmission pulse which is transmitted from the transmitter 1 must be transmitted at a timing at which the following two conditions are satisfied:
(1) The transmission pulse and an echo from the observed region do not overlap. PA0 (2) A nadir echo (an echo from a point lying just under the satellite) and an echo from the observed region do not overlap.
Accordingly, the pulse-recurrence frequency of the transmission pulses is set so as to meet the aforementioned conditions. However, the propagation distance of the pulse varies according to changes in a distance from the artificial satellite to the observed region, namely, the altitude of the satellite, so that the timing comes to deviate.
It is therefore necessary that several pulse-recurrence frequencies of the transmission pulses are prepared beforehand in anticipation of the fluctuating component of the altitude, and that the pulse-recurrence frequency is properly selected and set according to the satellite altitude.
Since the satellite altitude varies depending upon an observed position on the earth, a predetermined pulse-recurrence frequency has heretofore been selected and set according to the observed position on the earth as illustrated in FIG. 3 by way of example. For example, in case of observing a region which belongs to a first zone, the pulse-recurrence frequency of the transmitter 1 needs to be set at f.sub.1, and in case of observing a region which belongs to a second zone, the pulse-recurrence frequency of the transmitter 1 needs to be set at f.sub.2. The same applies to a frequency f.sub.3 corresponding to a third zone, and a frequency f.sub.4 corresponding to a fourth zone.
Accordingly, in a case where the synthetic aperture radar apparatus is mounted on a flying object such as the artificial satellite for the purpose of observing a land surface etc., the setting of the pulse-recurrence frequency of the transmitter 1 needs to be altered according to the change of an observed zone.
With the prior-art synthetic aperture radar apparatus as stated above, the orbital changes of the satellite are predicted, and the operation of altering the pulse-recurrence frequency in accordance with altitudinal changes attendant upon the orbital changes is programmed for the operation of the radar apparatus. A command for altering the pulse-recurrence frequency on the basis of the program is delivered from the operation controller 7 to the transmitter 1. With such a programmable operation based on the predicted changes, however, only the setting operations based on predictive data are possible to the last, and the setting of the pulse-recurrence frequency according to an actual altitudinal change cannot be realized.
Accordingly, an unexpected altitudinal change on the orbit of the satellite cannot be coped with, so that an accurate pulse-recurrence frequency cannot be set.

Director General, Agency of Industrial Science and Technology


A modular element has an internally hollow body (2) made of plasstic material and exhibiting a parallelepiped horizontally-disposed configuration with a transverse section symmetrically diverging from a top portion (4) to a base portion (5). The opposite end surfaces (9, 11) of the body (2) are respectively provided with a coupling lug (8) and an engagement seat (10) matching the shape of said coupling lug. The coupling lug (8) of each modular element (1) is adaped to be fitted in the engagement seat (10) of a contiguous modular element (1b) for the purpose of consecutively connecting several modular elements together. In an alternative embodiment a modular element (12) is provided, at its opposite sides, with two coupling lugs (8) each adapted to be fitted in an engagement seat (10) exhibited by a contiguous modular element (13).

The present invention relates to a modular element for defining areas and routes on carriage roads and the like, of the type comprising a plastics body having a substantially parallelepiped horizontally-disposed configuration the transverse section of which symmetrically diverges from a top portion towards a base portion coming in contact with and resting on the ground and joining means operating at the opposite ends of the body in order to allow the modular element to be joined in alignment with another modular element.
It is known that in roadways subjected to the passage of motor-vehicles and the like it is often necessary, for example due to maintenance works concerning the featheredge or for other reasons, to make the vehicles take a given route or, at all events, to define areas through which unauthorized vehicles cannot have access.
One of the most efficient solutions for the above purposes consists in using modular elements adapted to rest on the ground and consecutively connected to one another. In greater detail, each modular element has an inwardly hollow plastics body of a substantially parallelepiped horizontally-disposed configuration. The body has a transverse section symmetrically diverging away from a top portion towards a base portion which is the one allowing the modular element to rest on the ground. The mutual connection between the different modular elements is achieved by joining means operating at the opposite ends thereof.
Currently these joining means consists of two coupling lugs provided on the body of each modular element and respectively integral with opposite end walls of the body itself. Said coupling lugs disposed at the opposite ends of two adjacent modular elements, can be mutually joined by an intermediate element made of plastic material and provided, at the opposite ends thereof, with engagement seats matching the shape of the lugs and adapted to be engaged with said lugs by relative sliding.
The use of intermediate elements for the accomplishment of the connection between the different modular elements involves an increase in the production costs, due to the necessity of manufacturing said intermediate elements separately from the modular elements.
In addition, as said intermediate elements have rather small sizes, some of them can be inadvertently lost, which gives rise to problems when the modular elements are being assembled.
It has also been found that the connection between the modular elements through said intermediate elements does not always ensure a satisfactory steadiness to the structure thus achieved. As a result, in some cases it is necessary to arrange additional connection members for properly joining together the different modular elements. As a result there is a further increase in prices and the joining operation between the different modular elements becomes less feasible.
It is also to be pointed out that the additional connection members, usually consisting of suitably shaped metal rods or bars, can be dangerous should a vehicle accidentally impinge on the barrier formed by the mutually joined modular elements.

Modular element for defining areas and routes on carriage roads and the like


To correctly acquire image data of an inspected article by preventing a difference in shade between images caused by a difference in position or sensitivity between sensor elements. An X-ray generation source irradiates an inspection region where an inspected article passes with an X-ray. X-ray detection means receives the X-ray passing through the inspection region using a plurality of sensor elements. Image data generation means generates image data of the inspected article from an output of the X-ray detection means. Incidence condition changing means changes two or more kinds of X-ray incidence conditions common for all of the plurality of sensor elements of the X-ray detection means in a state of absence of the inspected article in the inspection region. Correction data generation means acquires correction data that is needed for making a shade of an image uniform for each incidence condition.

In a factory where food and the like are produced, a product is automatically inspected during its transport by a conveyor or the like using an article inspection apparatus for checking the presence of a defect such as foreign object intrusion and a missing ingredient in the product, and the product is categorized as a normal product or a defective product.
Particularly, a product such as food needs to be closely inspected for the presence of an intruding foreign object such as metal or plastic. Therefore, an article inspection apparatus that uses an X-ray has been developed in recent years.
Generally, in the article inspection apparatus that uses an X-ray, an X-ray that has a width in a direction orthogonal to the passing direction of an inspected article is emitted to a passage of the inspected article. The X-ray that is transmitted through the inspected article is received by a plurality of sensor elements that are arranged in the direction orthogonal to the passing direction of the inspected article. Image information that represents a difference in X-ray transmittance between each part of the inspected article with light and shade is acquired, and various processes are performed on the image information to determine the presence of foreign object intrusion or the presence of a missing or damaged ingredient and the like.
In addition to a change in transmittance caused by the presence of foreign object intrusion, the presence of a damaged or missing ingredient, and the like in the inspected article, a difference in distance to each X-ray sensor element from the X-ray source due to the spreading emission of the X-ray toward an inspection region makes the intensity of the X-ray incident on each sensor element non-uniform in the article inspection apparatus that uses the X-ray.
In addition, a difference in sensitivity between each sensor elements occurs, and a difference in sensitivity between each array or each module also occurs in an arrangement of a plurality of arrays or modules, each of which is configured with a plurality of sensor elements.
For example, as illustrated in FIG. 13, in a state of the absence of the inspected article, if an X-ray that is generated by an X-ray generation source 1 is emitted from above the center in the width direction of a transport belt 2 and spreads in a fan shape in the width direction of the belt, and the X-ray that is transmitted through the transport belt 2 is detected by sensor elements 3a, 3a, . . . , 3a arranged in the width direction of the transport belt 2, a distance L to each of the sensor elements 3a, 3a, . . . , 3a from the X-ray generation source 1 is the shortest at the center and is increased toward both ends as illustrated in FIG. 14. Accordingly, as illustrated by a dotted line, the output of each of the sensor elements 3a, 3a, . . . , 3a (or the shade of an image acquired from the output) is theoretically the highest in the central part and tends to be decreased toward both ends as opposed to the change in the length L. In addition to such a change, a difference in sensitivity between each array, a difference in sensitivity between each sensor element in the array, and the like cause the output value of each sensor element to vary and also affect the image acquired from the output.
Accordingly, the output of each sensor element needs to be corrected in advance in order to correctly acquire the X-ray transmittance of each part of the inspected article when the article for inspection is transported.
As such a correction method, correction means for performing correction that equalizes the output of each sensor element or the shade of the image acquired from the output at a transmittance of 100% given that the transmittance in the state of the absence of the inspected article is set as 100% is provided in the related art.
For example, such a method of performing correction in the state of the transmittance of 100% is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

X-ray inspection apparatus and correction method for X-ray inspection apparatus


A dough processing system for processing a U-shaped strand of dough comprising a processing head, which has two gripping means for looping the dough strand, and a shaping table, which is provided with positioning means for positioning the dough strand, wherein the shaping table is embodied as a processing table, in which various positioning means of the processing table have multiple different processing functions.

Dough processing systems of the above-stated type are known for use in the automated production of pretzels. One such system is illustrated and described, for example, in WO 01/60164. This system consists of two main components. The first component is a dough processing head, which is equipped with two program-controlled grippers. The second component is a holding element, which is integrated into the shaping table and comprises a plurality of positioning means embodied as holding pins. The holding pins hold the strand of dough on the shaping table during a looping movement in the production of the pretzel shape.
The problem addressed by the invention is that of devising a dough processing system with which the fully automatic production of a different dough shape is possible, more particularly, with which the production of a so-called single-strand braid is possible

Dough processing system and method therefor


In various embodiments, a mechanical assembly and/or storage vessel is fluidly coupled to a circulation apparatus for receiving pressurized heat-transfer fluid from an outlet at a first elevated pressure, boosting a pressure of the heat-transfer fluid to a second pressure larger than the first pressure, and returning heat-transfer fluid to an inlet at a third pressure.

Storing energy in the form of compressed gas has a long history and components tend to be well tested, reliable, and have long lifetimes. The general principle of compressed-gas or compressed-air energy storage (CAES) is that generated energy (e.g., electric energy) is used to compress gas (e.g., air), thus converting the original energy to pressure potential energy; this potential energy is later recovered in a useful form (e.g., converted back to electricity) via gas expansion coupled to an appropriate mechanism. Advantages of compressed-gas energy storage include low specific-energy costs, long lifetime, low maintenance, reasonable energy density, and good reliability.
If a body of gas is at the same temperature as its environment, and expansion occurs slowly relative to the rate of heat exchange between the gas and its environment, then the gas will remain at approximately constant temperature as it expands. This process is termed "isothermal" expansion. Isothermal expansion of a quantity of gas stored at a given temperature recovers approximately three times more work than would "adiabatic expansion," that is, expansion where no heat is exchanged between the gas and its environment, because the expansion happens rapidly or in an insulated chamber. Gas may also be compressed isothermally or adiabatically.
An ideally isothermal energy-storage cycle of compression, storage, and expansion would have 100% thermodynamic efficiency. An ideally adiabatic energy-storage cycle would also have 100% thermodynamic efficiency, but there are many practical disadvantages to the adiabatic approach. These include the production of higher temperature and pressure extremes within the system, heat loss during the storage period, and inability to exploit environmental (e.g., cogenerative) heat sources and sinks during compression and expansion, respectively. In an isothermal system, the cost of adding a heat-exchange system is traded against resolving the difficulties of the adiabatic approach. In either case, mechanical energy from expanding gas must usually be converted to electrical energy before use.
An efficient and novel design for storing energy in the form of compressed gas utilizing near isothermal gas compression and expansion has been shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,207 (the '207 patent) and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/639,703 (the '703 application), the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. The '207 patent and '703 application disclose systems and methods for expanding gas isothermally in staged hydraulic/pneumatic cylinders and intensifiers over a large pressure range in order to generate electrical energy when required. Mechanical energy from the expanding gas is used to drive a hydraulic pump/motor subsystem that produces electricity. Systems and methods for hydraulic-pneumatic pressure intensification that may be employed in systems and methods such as those disclosed in the '207 patent and '703 application are shown and described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/879,595 (the '595 application), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
In the systems disclosed in the '207 patent and '703 application, reciprocal mechanical motion is produced during recovery of energy from storage by expansion of gas in the cylinders. This reciprocal motion may be converted to electricity by a variety of means, for example as disclosed in the '595 application, as well as in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/938,853 (the '853 application), the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Additionally, as described in the '703 application, heat-exchange liquid may be sprayed into a cylinder chamber containing gas undergoing expansion or compression. Such a heat-exchange spray may enable isothermal expansion or compression of gas, with resulting efficiency gains.
The ability of such systems to either store energy (i.e., use energy to compress gas into a storage reservoir) or produce energy (i.e., expand gas from a storage reservoir to release energy) will be apparent to any person reasonably familiar with the principles of electrical and pneumatic machines. However, energy storage systems like those described above may utilize pumps to circulate heat-exchange fluid that either do not accept high-pressure input flows or else do not pump high-pressure inputs with high efficiency, thus diminishing the overall efficiency of the entire system. Specifically, some amount of the work required to pressurize heat-exchange fluid from a low ambient pressure is wasted. Thus, it would be desirable to extract already-pressurized heat-exchange fluid from the system itself, circulate it at its elevated pressure, thermally condition it (if necessary), and recycle it back into the system.

Systems and methods for efficient pumping of high-pressure fluids for energy


In one aspect, the present invention provides methods of determining whether an agent is more like a partial agonist of a target molecule than a full agonist of the same target molecule. In another aspect, the present invention provides methods to select a candidate compound that may reduce blood plasma glucose concentration in a mammal. Populations of genes are provided that are useful in the practice of the present invention.

Identifying new drug molecules for treating human diseases is a time consuming and expensive process. A candidate drug molecule is usually first identified in a laboratory using an assay for a desired biological activity. The candidate drug is then tested in animals to identify any adverse side effects that might be caused by the drug. This phase of preclinical research and testing may take more than five years. See, e.g., J. A. Zivin, "Understanding Clinical Trials," Scientific American, pp. 69-75 (April 2000). The candidate drug is then subjected to extensive clinical testing in humans to determine whether it continues to exhibit the desired biological activity, and whether it induces undesirable, perhaps fatal, side effects. This process may take up to a decade. Id. Adverse effects are often not identified until late in the clinical testing phase when considerable expense has been incurred testing the candidate drug.
For example, an agonist (also referred to as a full agonist) is a chemical substance that binds to a target molecule (e.g., a receptor molecule), in or on a cell, to produce a biochemical and/or physiological effect. A partial agonist is a chemical substance that binds to a target molecule, but does not produce as great a magnitude of a biochemical and/or physiological effect as the agonist. The maximum magnitude of the biochemical and/or physiological effect produced by an agonist of a target molecule cannot be produced by a partial agonist of the same target molecule, even by increasing the dosage of the partial agonist. Some agonists of a target molecule are medically useful drugs that typically produce both desirable and undesirable biological effects. In contrast, partial agonists of a target molecule, that are medically useful drugs, often produce a weaker undesirable biological response than does an agonist of the same target molecule. Thus, partial agonists may be better drugs than full agonists because a partial agonist causes a desirable biological effect, and causes little or no undesirable biological effects.
There is a need, therefore, for methods for identifying partial agonists of target molecules that possess a desirable biological activity, and which cause fewer, or less severe, adverse effects than an agonist of the same target molecules.

Methods for characterizing agonists and partial agonists of target molecules


A multi-component mortar system including a component A and a component B wherein, component A includes aluminous cement, at least one set inhibitor, at least one mineral filler and water, and component B includes an initiator system for the set-inhibited aluminous cement, at least one mineral filler and water. The multi-component mortar system is easy to use and suitable for repair and refurbishment and particularly for printing 3D structures.

Two component mortar systems are usually composed of a powder component containing cement and optionally other powdery additives and a liquid component containing water and optionally other liquid additives. These systems suffer from the disadvantage that by mixing the components, the cement in the powder component can form a corrosive dust, polluting the surroundings and leading to health problems when inhaled. Moreover, powder dosing is much more complicated in automated systems than dosing of a liquid material and the powder often leads to a blockage when the mortar is mixed by a static mixer.
These problems can be solved by using a liquid component containing cement in form of a suspension. The most common liquid for suspending cement is water. However, when cement is in contact with water hydration starts leading to setting and hardening of the cement. Hardening of cement can be retarded by using well-known retarders. However, the retardation of Portland cement does not last for days, months or years. Thus, the cement containing component of such an aqueous two-component mortar system cannot be stored long enough for practical use. Use of organic solvents instead of water is not practicable, as most organic solvents are either inflammable and/or unhealthy, will contribute to the greenhouse-effect or remain in the mortar causing further problems.
In contrast to Portland cement, the hydration of aluminous cement can be inhibited for several months or even years. US 2010/0175589 describes the use of boric acid or salts of boric acid as inhibitors of the setting of the aluminous cement. US 2014/0343194 describes the use of phosphate containing set inhibitors for this purpose. These described set-inhibited aluminous cement suspensions have good storage stability. The hydration of such set-inhibited aluminous cement suspensions can be initiated by pH increase. But these systems have disadvantages. The described aluminous cement suspensions contain high amounts of calcium aluminate which causes high costs and leads to high amounts of hydroxide and accelerator needed to initiate the setting, which further increases costs and enhances the corrosiveness of the system.
Thus, from economic, environmental and practical point of view, the existing solutions for mortars based on set-inhibited aluminous cement need improvement.
3D printing is a widely used technique to create three-dimensional (3D) structures for various purposes. In 3D printing, 3D objects are produced by applying layers of material that are positioned under computer control. The material is extruded in formable, viscous state through a nozzle and hardens quickly after deposition. Commonly used materials are thermoplastic polymers. 3D printing of inorganic material is more challenging than printing of polymers. Some attempts with 3D printing of cement based materials are also known, using Portland cement in form of a powder-component with the already described disadvantages.
When state of the art mortars are mixed and applied, the fresh mortar delivered out of the nozzle typically doesn't immediately show the required yield stress to give a good, self-supporting material. Thus, the structure that is intended to be formed must be supported until the setting starts and the mortar develops enough strength to be self-supporting. This, however, needs additional production steps and is associated with increased costs and time. And strongly accelerated state of the art mortars are difficult to control, they can start to stiffen or harden before they are applied, which can lead to blocking of the pumps or the nozzle.


In a method for treating textile fabric (5), such as woven goods, knitted goods, threads, yarns, slivers and the like, with a treatment substance such as revivers or brighteners and the like, the application of the product is performed in the course of the drying process, to save water and energy. The treatment substance is added to the gas stream that is forced through the textile package (5) as it dries.

The application of treatment and brightening or reviving substances to textile fabric in stacks or packages is in most cases done after the dyeing, in a treatment stage following this upgrading process; the textile fabric is placed in a closable or open container that is connected to a circulating pump. The system is then filled with the treatment fluid, which substantially comprises water and the substance for treating the textile goods, to affect the chemical, physical-mechanical or surface property of the goods. In this known method, at least in the remainder of the treatment process, the water serves merely to distribute the treatment means uniformly into, over and through the textile fabrice, by being forced under pressure through the textile material by the circulating pump.
This know method needs improvement, because following the actual upgrading operation, another wet treatment is needed, and for that purpose the entire fluid volume must be brought by heating devices to the treatment temperature, which when reached must be kept constant for a given treatment period, for the desired adsorptive bonding of the products to the fabric to occur.
Moreover, the known method is environmentally undesirable, because large quantities of water have to be mixed with the substance necessary for the treatment, and depending on the extraction performance of the treatment substances, some of them get into sewer systems.

Method or apparatus for treating textile fabric or goods


A spool type valve arrangement in which a booster spring is employed to overcome static friction of the spool valve O-rings and thereby assure prompt actuation of the spool valve member. The arrangement is such that the booster spring is only active through a limited distance of travel from release position toward application position, this limited distance of spool valve travel being selected so as to occur prior to any transition of the port connections controlled by the spool valve. In this manner, the spool valve return spring force need not be increased in order to reset the spool valve sufficiently to reestablish the original spool valve port connections.

The present invention relates to spool valve devices, such as employed in pneumatic control valves for railway freight cars and particularly to the high pressure spool valve whose main function is to connect emergency reservoir air to the car brake cylinders during an emergency brake application and thereby provide a higher emergency brake pressure than the maximum attainable service brake pressure.
While it is generally accepted that spool type valves are desirable from the standpoint that a substantially leak free operation can be economically achieved over a long service life, it is also recognized that the pressure seals that make the foregoing possible may also introduce a friction component that causes resistance to spool valve actuation. In the industry standard, ABD/W type freight brake control valves, and in newer ABDX valves, the high pressure spool valve device is designed to provide, in addition to the main function of providing high pressure during emergency, the function of trapping service brake pressure on the inshot valve piston during emergency to assure the same inshot brake pressure when making an emergency on top of a service application as when making a straightaway emergency; and the quick action chamber blowdown function to delay recharging the train brake pipe pressure following an emergency brake application for a period of time sufficient to assure a complete halt of the train and thereby prevent premature release of the emergency brake application.
In combining these several functions in a single spool valve, numerous O-ring seals are provided on the spool to prevent cross leakage between the several spool valve grooves via which the appropriate pressure connections are made. Consequently, the high pressure spool valve device may be subject to somewhat high breakout resistance to valve actuation, from both its release and emergency application positions, due to the relatively high breakaway friction between these O-ring seals and the spool bushing with which the O-rings are sealingly engaged.
For example, the high pressure spool valve is pressure actuated from its normal release position to an application position in response to an emergency brake application to provide the above-mentioned functions; and in its application position is actuated by a return spring to reset the valve to its normal release position. It will be appreciated that prior to such actuation to either application or release position, the spool valve sits in a static condition in which O-ring friction and thus frictional resistance to valve actuation is maximum. Accordingly, the return spring must be relatively strong to overcome this static friction and assure reset of the spool valve from application to release position. The force exerted by this relatively strong return spring in release position, however, counteracts the pressure actuating force during an emergency to such extent that emergency actuation of the high pressure spool valve under very low pressure conditions can be impeded.

High pressure valve for railway car brake control valve device