The subject invention concerns compositions and methods useful for the prevention or amelioration of autoimmune diseases. Specifically exemplified are compositions and methods useful in immunizing to prevent insulin dependent diabetes. In a preferred embodiment, diabetes is prevented by the parenteral administration of a composition comprising specific antigenic peptides of insulin and further comprising incomplete Fruend's adjuvant.

Autoimmune diseases are characterized by an abnormal immune response (involving either immune system cells or antibodies) directed against normal autologous (self) tissues. Autoimmune diseases afflict huge numbers of individuals throughout the world.
A normal immune system has the capacity to identify and destroy a large variety of foreign invader organisms such as bacteria and viruses. Remarkably, a normal immune system can readily distinguish foreign substances from self, and thereby is able to react vigorously against potentially pathogenic entities from the environment without harming the host's own cells.
The immune system's non-reactivity to self is termed immunological tolerance. In pathological situations, immunological tolerance to a wide variety of self substances is broken, resulting in an autoimmune response to self. If of an appropriate nature and of sufficient severity and duration, the anti-self response will result in an autoimmune disease. In certain autoimmune diseases, specific elements of the immune system predominate in mediating the pathogenic process, while in other autoimmune diseases, all of the components of the immune system cooperate to produce disease. Antibodies are considered to play the major causal roles in diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, myasthenia gravis and Graves' disease, while cellular immune mechanisms are believed to be those primarily involved in multiple sclerosis (MS) and insulin dependent diabetes (IDD).
Whereas susceptibility to autoimmune diseases may be inherited through the defective actions of multiple genes, indirect evidence exists to suggest that an interaction with a foreign substance from the environment may also be necessary to induce the pathogenic process that results in disease. One explanation for this is that immunization with the foreign inductive chemical induces a cross-reactive response to self through molecular mimicry or chemical similarity. However, once the autoimmune process has been initiated, other secondary immunizing events involving other self antigens typically occur through the release of intracellular constituents in forms not normally encountered by the immune system. Targeted organs thus become damaged through the combination of all of these events, which will lead to the appearance of a clinically recognized disorder only when the disease process has progressed to result in the ablation of large numbers of tissue cells so targeted.
A number of strategies have been used or proposed to suppress autoimmune diseases, most notably drugs, such as cyclophosphamide, cyclosporin A, methotrexate, and Imuran (azathioprine). Steroid compounds, such as prednisone and methylprednisolone, are also employed in many instances. These drugs have limited long term efficacy against both cell- and antibody-mediated autoimmune diseases. Use of such drugs is limited by virtue of their toxic side effects which include "global" immunosuppression. Prolonged treatment with these drugs inhibits the normal protective immune response to pathogenic microorganisms, thereby increasing the risk of infections. A further drawback is that immune-mediated elimination of aberrant cells is impaired and there is, thus, an increased risk that malignancies will develop in patients receiving prolonged global immunosuppression.
The self substances, or autoantigens, which are the targets of autoimmune responses are most often protein products unique to the targeted cells (e.g., hormones such as insulin in IDD); particular enzymes unique to the specialized function of targeted cells (e.g., glutamic acid decarboxylase or GAD in IDD, or 21 hydroxylase in Addison's disease); specialized cell specific receptor molecules (e.g. the thyroid stimulating hormone or TSH receptor in Graves' disease or acetylcholine receptors in the neuromuscular junctions in myasthenia gravis); and/or structural constituents of the targeted cells or tissues (e.g., beta cell sialo-glycoconjugate in IDD). Prior to the current invention, immunization with autoantigens has been used as a means to induce autoimmune disease in experimental animals. For example, the administration of myelin basic protein (MBP) has been used as a means to induce EAE (a model for MS) in mice.
The methods and compositions of the subject invention are specifically exemplified with regard to the prevention of IDD. However, as discussed more fully herein, the principles discovered by applicants for preventing diabetes are broadly applicable to a variety of known autoimmune conditions as well as to autoimmune conditions which may be identified in the future. Known autoimmune disorders include diabetes, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune uveitis, rheumatoid arthritis, Addison's disease, thyroiditis, atrophic gastritis, myasthenia gravis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura, hemolytic anemia, systemic lupus erythematosus, primary billary cirrhosis, Wegener's granulomatosis, polyarteritis nodosa, and inflammatory bowel disease. Because the subject invention is specifically exemplified with regard to diabetes, a detailed background of diabetes is provided below.
Insulin dependent diabetes. Diabetes mellitus comprises a group of diseases that result in elevations of blood glucose levels because of relative to absolute deficiencies in the pancreatic hormone, insulin. Insulin is secreted into the blood when food is ingested and has its major actions in directing the absorbed nutrients into body stores. Diabetes is a major public health problem affecting at least 5 and as many as 10 million Americans. The prevalence of the most severe form of IDD is 1 in 300 in the United States. In 1991, the direct health care costs attributable to diabetes care in the United States exceeded $20 billion, with as much as twice this figure in additional indirect costs, such as for loss of productivity (Bransome and Edwin 1992! Diabetes Care 15:1-5).
Chronic elevation of blood glucose levels is the most obvious metabolic effect in diabetes and is associated with progressive damage to blood vessels. This leads to heart attacks, strokes, blindness, peripheral nerve dysfunction, and kidney failure. The frequency and severity of diabetes related complications are greatest in the insulin dependent form of the disease, in which an immunological destruction of the pancreatic insulin-secreting beta cells occurs. The high rate of irreversible complications in IDD occurs despite the availability of insulin replacement through injections given 1-4 times daily.
Insulin, as well as other pancreatic hormones, are well known and characterized. See, for example, Steiner et al. (1989) "Chemistry and Biosynthesis of Pancreatic Protein Hormones," In Endocrinology, DeGroot et al., Eds., W. B. Saunders Company, pp. 1263-1289. As described in Steiner et al., the amino acid sequence of insulin is highly conserved across a number of species, including human, monkey, porcine, and bovine. Although insulin is well known for its association with diabetes, there are a number of other proteins which are also associated with the pancreas or diabetes. These other proteins include glucagon and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD).
Through the research efforts of ourselves and others, IDD has proved itself to be predictable both in unaffected relatives of patients with IDD, as well as in persons from the general population. A predisposition to develop clinical diabetes can be determined through several different tests. For example, genetic susceptibility to diabetes has become increasingly definable through the use of molecular biological means usually from DNA samples obtained from peripheral blood. One major gene involved in the inherited susceptibility to IDD is that located at the HLA-DQ locus. It is currently possible to identify risks varying from essentially none to those as high as 70 fold above those without the genetic genotype. In families, a genetic risk as high as 1 in 4 can be estimated for unaffected siblings just through identification of HLA haplotypes shared with the affected proband.
Persons who have just developed IDD or are in process of developing IDD have a number of disease specific autoantibodies in their blood. Such autoantibodies include those to islet cell antigens (ICA), to beta cell specific proteins of 64 kDa (now believed to be the lower molecular isoform of glutamic acid decarboxylase GAD.sub.65 !) to native insulin and proinsulin, and to a number of more minor determinants such as carboxypeptidase-H and heat shock proteins belonging to the hsp-60 family.
Insulin autoantibodies (IAA) are observed in untreated, newly diagnosed IDD patients (Palmer et al. 1983! Science 222:1337-1339) as well as in unaffected relatives of diabetic probands. Whereas autoimmunity to insulin could directly cause .beta.-cell damage, interfere with the action of endogenous insulin, or have both effects, some investigators suggested that IAA reflect the rate of islet cell destruction and thus act merely as reporters of aggressive islet directed autoimmunity (Ziegler et al. 1989! Diabetes 38:1320-1325; Vardi 1988! Diabetes Care 11:736-739).
The non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse is a useful animal model for human IDD. Analysis of the NOD mouse provides important insights into the sequence of pathogenic events, which leads to an understanding of the nature of the target islet cell autoantigens involved in the autoimmunological process. Previous studies from our laboratory have demonstrated that an extended prophylactic course of daily, subcutaneous injections of porcine insulin protected NOD mice from both hyperglycemia and islet infiltration by mononuclear leukocytes (insulitis) (Atkinson et al. 1990! Diabetes 39:933-937). Such treatment may relieve the pancreatic .beta.-cells of metabolic demands on them and thus induce a state of ".beta.-cell rest." This quiescent state may be associated with diminished expression of many islet factors, including those that may serve as potential autoantigens at the cell surface (Aaen et al. 1990! Diabetes 39:697-701; Kampe et al. 1989! Diabetes 38:1326-1328). Non-specific immunostimulation caused by cytokine (Jacob et al. 1990! Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 87:968-972) or adjuvant (Sadelain et al. 1990! Diabetes 39:583-589) treatments, or environmental microbes have been implicated in other protocols of IDD prevention (Like et al. 1991! Diabetes 40:259-262). An enhanced understanding of the pathogenic role of insulin autoimmunity in IDD is clearly required.
There have been reports of efforts to induce antigen-specific immunotegulation to ameliorate autoimmune diseases (Steinman, L. 1990! Mol. Biol. Med. 7:333-339). For example, various methods have been employed to induce antigen-specific suppression of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) (PCT application WO 91/15225). Recently, several novel immunological approaches have been explored relevant to autoimmune diseases such as EAE in mice and rats and lupus nephritis in MRL/lpr mice. Many have been directed toward blocking the function of the effector CD4.sup.+ T cell which has been shown to exhibit V.sub..beta. isotype restriction in EAE. These approaches have included the use of anti-TCR antibodies (Acha-Orbea et al., supra), synthetic TCR peptides (Offner, H., G. A. Hashim, A. A. Vandenbark 1991! Science 251:430-432) and superantigen treatment (Kim, C., K. A. Siminovitch, A. Ochi 1991! J. Exp. Med. 174:1431-1437). The tolerogenic effects of intragastric antigens administration are also well described (Silverman et al. 1983! J.Immunol. 131:2651-2661; Peng et al. 1990! Clin. Exp. Immunol. 81:510-515; Michael 1989! Immune Invest. 18:1049-1054; Kitamura et al. 1987! J. Immunol. 139:3251-3259; Michalek et al. 1982! J.Immunol. 128:1992-1998; Mowat, A. M. et al. 1986! Immunol. 58:677-683; PCT applications WO 91/12816, WO 91/01333; WO 92/06704). Nagler-Anderson et al. (1986! Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:7443-7446) describe the oral administration of collagen-induced arthritis in a mouse model. Deficiencies in this ability have been reported in several experimental mouse models of autoimmune diseases (Gesualdo et al. 1990! J.Immunol. 145:3684-3691; Miller et al. 1984! Clin. Immunol. Immunopathol. 31:231-240).
Zhang et al. observed a beneficial response to oral insulin (Zhang et al. 1991! Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:10252-10256) and further demonstrated in co-transfer studies that splenocytes from insulin-fed NOD mice prevented the adoptive transfer of diabetes by splenocytes from untreated, diabetic mice to irradiated recipients.
Our current invention provides the means for the first time to prevent the disease process from becoming established in the genetically predisposed, or otherwise in progressing once initiated as identifiable by autoantibodies, through a novel treatment that is akin to vaccination to self proteins important to the pathogenic process underlying IDD.

Methods and compositions for delaying or preventing the onset of autoimmune disease


First and second signal processing units are each configured by an IC, so that the circuit space occupying in a receiver apparatus can be reduced. The signal path can be shortened from a BPF section inputting a program signal coming from a broadcasting station to a demodulation section compared with the related art. The transmission loss on the signal path can be thus reduced compared with the related art. The possible route for noise entering from the outside to the first and second signal processing units can be made as short as possible. This enables to reduce the noise entering from the outside, and prevents the signals coming over the signal path from being attenuated by the noise so that the signal reception sensitivity can be increased.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a receiver apparatus capable of receiving program information coming from a broadcasting station for a plurality of channels, for example, and outputting the received program information, and relates to an information recording/outputting apparatus equipped with the receiver apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The multi-channel services have been recently available for broadcasting because of expanded range of services, e.g., terrestrial broadcasting using ground antennas, Broadcasting Satellite (BS) broadcasting using broadcasting satellites, Communication Satellite (CS) broadcasting using communication satellites, and community antenna television (CATV) broadcasting. As the multi-channel services become popular for broadcasting as such, recorder devices exemplified by a hard disk recorder is increased in capacity available for recording of program information. The number of channels is also increased, being capable of simultaneously recording plural pieces of program information coming at the same time from a broadcasting station.
As the broadcasting technologies are advanced and the recorder devices are improved, there has been a demand for a receiver apparatus equipped with a tuner, which is capable of receiving plural pieces of program information at the same time for a plurality of channels, and outputting the received program information all at once to display devices and recorder devices. Herein, the display devices are those exemplified by television receivers, projector devices, and others, and the recorder devices are those exemplified by hard disk recorders. The following related arts are related to a receiver apparatus aiming to meet such a demand, i.e., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2000-513896, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 6-69829 (1994), Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 10-294930 (1998), and Japanese Utility Model No. 3100213.
JP-A 2000-513896 describes a receiver apparatus of a multi-tuner type, equipped with two tuners in a module. In the receiver apparatus, the oscillation frequency of these two tuners is not tuned to the radio frequency or harmonics of a signal received by either of the two tuners so that interference is prevented therebetween.
JP-A 6-69829 describes an IC receiver apparatus, including a tuner circuit whose high-frequency circuit section is of a two-chip configuration. The two-chip configuration includes an RF amplification IC and an AGC mixer IC using a GaAs field-effect transistor having excellent high frequency characteristics and third-order distortion characteristics. This leads to the small-sized tuner circuit having excellent third-order distortion characteristics with the fewer number of components.
JP-A 10-294930 describes a digital tuner in which two channels are alternately switched under the control of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) so that video/audio signals provided by an antenna for these channels are received at the same time. As to the two channels, one is a user-select channel, and the other is a channel adjacent to the user-select channel in the forward direction, i.e., in the channel switching direction.
In a television tuner unit described in Japanese Utility Model No. 3100213, a plurality of television tuners are disposed in line on a motherboard. In the respective television tuners, an incoming television signal is amplified by a first wide-range amplifier, and thus amplified television signal is split by a splitter into two directions.
With such a television tuner unit described in Japanese Utility Model No. 3100213, however, after the television signal input to the corresponding tuner is split by the splitter, the signal is attenuated in level in proportion to the number of splitting so that a so-called splitting loss is increased. The television tuner is thus required to equip a correction circuit including individual components, e.g., a balun transformer, an amplifier transistor, and a filter, for the aim of correcting the splitting loss. The concern here is that the component values of such individual components vary in absolute value, whereby the tuner shave to be increased in reception sensitivity. This arises another necessity for the respective tuners to equip high-frequency components that are high in performance capability but expensive. As a result, problematically, the manufacturing cost is increased.
Another problem with the television tuner unit described in Japanese Utility Model No. 3100213 is that the circuit occupies the larger space in the receiver apparatus including the television tuners. This is due to the configuration that the tuners are each shielded by a metal-made cabinet together with each corresponding correction circuit, and such tuners are disposed in line. As the circuit is increased in size as such in the receiver apparatus, the power consumption of the receiver apparatus is resultantly increased.
An information recording/outputting apparatus equipped with a receiver apparatus compatible with such multi-channel services has also been developed. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 9-9193 (1997) describes a multi-channel recording/reproducing apparatus equipped with a plurality of tuners and a large-capacity hard disk drive. In the multi-channel recording/reproducing apparatus, the tuners each receive broadcast programs for a plurality of channels, and video signals based on the received broadcast programs are encoded for recording to the hard disk drive. The encoded signals recorded on the hard disk drive are converted into original video signals by a decoder, and then provided to a television receiver so that programs represented by the encoded signals are reproduced by the television receiver.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 2003-289490 describes a broadcast program recorder apparatus which allows a user to set a "store by" date for program information to be recorded. Such a date setting is allowed to make when the user programs the apparatus to record a broadcast program, or when the user actually records the broadcast program. Based on thus set "store by" date, the program information is accordingly deleted.
With the JP-A 9-9193, when the video signals are encoded for recording to the hard disk drive after the tuners receive a plurality of television broadcast programs, the video signals are subjected to compression prior to recording. This is aimed to record the video signals as many as possible. The problem with the first related art is that the recording of the video signals or others is allowed only up to the recording capacity of the hard disk drive. For more recording of the video signals, the hard disk drive may be possibly increased in capacity to a further degree. When this is the case, however, the larger the capacity of the hard disk drive, the likelier that the manufacturing cost is increased.
With the JP-A 2003-289490, the "store by" date set by the user is used as a basis to delete the program information so that the recording capacity is reserved on the recording medium. This aims to enable the effective use of the recording medium. The problem with the second related art is that, however, the user is required to make a program setting to record a broadcast program. When no program setting is made, or when the user starts watching a broadcast program not from the beginning, the user cannot view the entire program he or she did not program to record or the part of the program he or she failed to watch as did not start watching the program from the beginning. In this sense, there is a problem that the user's convenience for use is considered poor.

Receiver apparatus and information recording/outputting apparatus


A tool head has a longitudinal axis, forward and rearward ends, and top, bottom and peripheral surfaces. The peripheral surface has first and second side walls provided with respective first and second serrated portions, each of the first and second side walls being divided into spaced apart top and bottom side wall portions. The peripheral surface also has a stopper wall which faces in the rearward direction, extends transversely to the second side wall and is provided with a stopper serrated portion. A rear wall formed at the rearward end and connects the first and second side walls. The tool head also includes an insert retaining portion proximate the forward end, and a coupling portion which extends in the direction of the rearward end and includes vertically spaced apart top and bottom coupling arms separated by a coupling recess opening out to the rear wall.

In the field of metal cutting, tool holders are known to have a cutter bar removably connected to a holder blade. A fastener is used to clamp a mounting surface of the holder blade between two inner walls of a groove of the cutter bar. Serrated surfaces are provided both on the inner walls of the groove and on the mounting surface. For example, such tools are disclosed in CN209598226 and CN106180773.
Also known are tool holders having a bolt passing across an end of the shank, allowing for assembly without removing the bolt. For example, such tools are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,293 and 7,240,594.
It is an object of the subject matter of the present application to provide tool holder having a quick removal mechanism while providing improved coupling between the tool head and the tool holder.

Replaceable tool head having serrated coupling portions and a tool holder therefor


A paper web moistened in a paper machine and reeled on a machine reel is calendered in a multinip calender arranged apart from the paper machine, whose roll assembly is formed of a first set of rolls and a second set of rolls in the travel direction of the paper web. At least one surface of the paper web is moistened with at least one pre-moisturizer, whereafter the paper web is guided to the first calender nip of the first set of rolls and one surface of the paper web is moistened with at least one intermediate moisturizer, whereafter the paper web is guided to the first calender nip of the second set of rolls, wherein a paper web having a roughness of 1.0-1.1 μm and/or gloss of 54-57% or 56-60% is produced as a result of calendering.

The invention relates to a method for producing calendered paper and an apparatus for implementing the aforementioned method.
After the drying of paper, the desired surface structure of the web is produced by means of a mechanical treatment of the surface of paper, i.e. calendering. There are many calendering methods, but it is characteristic to all of them that the web is led through one or several nips, which is/are formed between two rotating rolls that are pressed against each other. The purpose of the calendering is to improve the properties of a paper web, especially its thickness profile, smoothness, gloss as well as porosity and opacity of the surface. The formability of the paper web in the nip is affected by the temperature of the calender rolls, the nip pressure prevailing in the nip and the moisture content of the web. By adjusting these parameters it is possible to affect the above-mentioned physical properties of the paper web.
At present, the end users of paper demand paper grades of higher quality. The speeds of paper machines have also increased, which has resulted in rapid development of on-line calendering methods. However, on-line calendering methods are not suitable for production of high quality printing paper grades with especially high surface quality requirements, such as SC grades. These high quality paper grades must still be produced by using re-reeling and off-line multiroll or super calenders after the drying of the fiber web, wherein several, even three or four such calenders are used in parallel in one paper machine to satisfy the production capacity.
Supercalenders are calendering units in which nips are formed between a press roll having a smooth surface, such as a metal roll, and a roll provided with a flexible coating, such as a paper or polymer roll. Supercalenders typically comprise 10 to 12 nips of which one is a so-called reversing nip in which two rolls having a flexible surface are positioned against each other. By means of the reversing nip it is possible to treat both sides of the web to make them substantially similar. The supercalender rolls are conventionally arranged on top of each other, wherein they form a high stack of rolls.
Conventionally, SC grades are manufactured in such a manner that the paper is dried, "overdried" to a moisture content of approximately 2 to 4% in the drying section of the paper machine. Thereafter the paper is moistened to calendering moisture of 8 to 11% before reeling up. On the reel, the moisture of the paper has time to stabilize in the z-direction of the paper before supercalendering by means of the supercalender.
However, the moistening of paper to the above-mentioned moisture content causes problems. It is difficult to reel up such paper having a moisture content of 8 to 11% and to handle the paper reels as well. Problems are also caused by the shrinking of the web in the CD and/or MD direction resulting from the drying of the paper before calendering. The height of the stack of rolls in the supercalender sometimes also causes problems relating to space in a paper mill.
Normally, when paper is calendered the smoothening and glazing of its surface takes place at the expense of the thickness of paper. In the calender, linear load and/or nip pressure are/is used as a control variable, which determines the surface quality of the paper as well as the final thickness. In other words, when the aim is to attain good surface quality, the thickness of paper is reduced. Attempts have been made to solve this problem by means of so-called gradient calendering, in which paper is moistened right before calendering in such a manner that the moistening water has time to be absorbed only in the surface of the paper web, wherein the effect of calendering is exerted only on the surface layers of the web, and the calendering does not bring about changes in the density of the central parts of the web or a substantial change in the thickness of the web.
Gradient calendering has been applied in on-line calenders in which the paper web is guided directly without re-reeling from the drying section of the paper machine to a calender containing several nips, for example to a supercalender. Such a method is disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,355, in which the web is overdried in the drying section of the paper machine and moistened again before it is guided to an on-line calender located in connection with the paper machine. The amount of moistening water and the absorption time of the water is selected in such a manner that the moistening water only affects the surface layers of the web. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,758,135 one side of the paper web is moistened with a first moisturizer before the web is guided to a supercalender, and the opposite side is moistened with a second moisturizer after the reversing nip of the supercalender. U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,342 also discloses the use of two moisturizers in connection with the calendering process, in which a multiroll calender is divided into two roll sets of rolls and a first moisturizer is positioned before the calender and a second, a so-called intermediate moisturizer is positioned between the set of rolls.
However, by means of the methods according to these publications it has not been possible to attain the high surface quality required of SC papers. Furthermore, the methods presented by these publications are only suitable for on-line calenders. In practice, moisture gradient calendering has not yet been applied in off-line multinip calenders.

Method and apparatus for producing calendered paper


A new and distinct cultivar of Impatiens plant named ‘Balfusimglo’, characterized by its light yellow-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, upright-mounded growth habit.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Impatiens plant botanically known as Impatiens walleriana×Impatiens auricoma and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Balfusimglo'.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Elburn, Ill. during September 1999. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Impatiens hybrid cultivars with numerous flowers, unique flower coloration and flower shape, excellent basal branching, and an upright, compact to moderate growth habit.
The new Impatiens cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Impatiens walleriana breeding selection designated 9516-4, not patented, characterized by its medium coral-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Impatiens auricoma breeding selection designated 193, not patented, characterized by its medium yellow-colored flowers, medium green-colored foliage, and upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during March 2001 in a controlled environment at Elburn, Ill.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal stem cuttings since March 2001 at Arroyo Grande, Calif. and West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.


The video processing apparatus includes: an input portion, which is configured to input a input video signal therein; and a video correcting portion, which is configured to correct the input video signal, wherein the video correcting portion is constructed to conduct a part of a Retinex process and a part of resolution restoration (deconvolution) by a circuit for common use, and further wherein the Retinex process is conducted upon basis of a result of calculation, applying a first output obtained by applying a mirror reflection component (specular) filter onto the input video signal, a second output obtained by applying a diffuse reflection component (diffuse component) filter onto the input video signal, and a third output obtained by applying an ambient light component (ambient component) filter onto the input video signal.

The present invention relates to a video processing apparatus for the purpose of an improvement of visibility for the video or picture, an entire or a part of which is low in the visibility thereof, and in particular, it relates to a video processing apparatus and a projector apparatus applying the same therein, for conducting a preferable video correction upon a projection surface thereof.
In recent years, progress is made on small-sizing of the projector, and with this small-sizing, the projector, being used to be normally installed, fixedly, within an audiovisual room or a hole, etc., for example, for projecting the video on a screen, can be portably carried with; therefore, it can be freely carried with, and installed there. As a way of use of such portable-type projector, since there is further added a business need, i.e., projecting the video, easily or readily, in a conference hall or a meeting room, etc., with using a white board or a wall surface thereof; i.e., using scene of the projector come to be diversified.
However, as a background technology of the present invention is already known the following Patent Document. Thus, in that Patent Document 1 is disclosed a technology for reducing geometrical fuzz or diffuse generated due to enlarging/contracting operation when conducting keystone correction, by means of sharpness processing.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2011-77971

Video processing apparatus and projector apparatus applying the same therein


A modular, portable, environmentally friendly aboveground fueling assembly includes at least one pad member that is supported on the ground, and that is fabricated from a material that is heat resistant and that is resistant to exposure to petroleum products. A portable aboveground fuel tank is supported on the pad member, and at least one pumping station is included for dispensing fuel from the tank to a customer. A freestanding structure is secured to the fuel tank and the pad, and the structure is designed to give an aesthetic effect of a more substantial, permanent facility than would be given by the aboveground fuel tank standing alone. The components of the assembly are generally designed so as to be conveniently portable and so as to be simple to assemble and disassemble in the field. The assembly serves a need for inexpensive and environmentally friendly service stations, particularly in rural areas and underdeveloped countries.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable service station that can be conveniently and efficiently deployed at an airport or a vehicle service area, and that is environmentally friendly, aesthetically attractive and particularly suited for installation in parking lots of supermarkets and shopping centers, as well as rural and underdeveloped areas.
2. Description of the Related Technology
One significant disadvantage of in-ground refueling stations such as most existing vehicular service stations is the time and labor involved in preparing and constructing such a facility. Some factors that contribute to the expense of constructing a belowground facility include the need for construction permits, subcontractors, excavation and the time and planning involved in locating a permanent site for the facility. Once installed, such facilities cannot practically be moved to different locations, or be sold.
Fueling facilities that use aboveground tanks have become more common in recent years, in no small part because of the efforts of the inventor, R. Michael Webb, and the company he founded, U-Fuel, Inc. of Eau Claire Wisconsin. Aboveground fueling facilities that have been designed by Mr. Webb and marketed by U-Fuel, Inc. are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,988,020; 5,033,637; 5,305,926; and 5,562,162, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated as if set forth fully herein.
Aboveground fueling facilities have a number of advantages, some of which are set forth above. However, traditional above ground tanks are sometimes not aesthetically suitable for the purpose of service stations in developed areas, such as residential neighborhoods or in automotive service areas that are near busy highways. It is also necessary to lay large concrete pads to support the weight of the tank and to direct fluids such as rain water away from the tank so as to avoid contamination, especially in areas that have strict environmental regulations. Such pads must be constructed on site, because of their great size and weight. This prevents a contractor from prefabricating an entire aboveground service station and moving it on site, which would otherwise be economically desirable, especially when deploying a system in an underdeveloped or rural area that is remote from the facilities of the contractor.
It is clear that a need exists for improved aboveground service station facility that is conveniently portable, that does not require the same degree of on site preparation as conventional above ground facilities, and that is aesthetically proper for use in developed areas such as residential neighborhoods or in automotive service areas by a busy highway.

Modular aboveground service station and method of assembly


The present invention provides a non-human bone metastasis model animal in which tumor cells capable of inducing bone metastasis by peripheral administration have been introduced, and a method for producing the animal. The bone metastasis model animal in the present invention may be useful for understanding the biology of bone metastasis and developing novel therapeutic strategies for lung cancer patient with multi-organ metastases, including bone metastasis. The present invention also provides a method of screening an agent for inhibition and/or prevention of bone metastasis of tumor cells using the non-human bone metastasis model animal.

Lung cancer is an increasingly common cause of cancer-related death in the world, and over 90% of deaths from lung cancer can be attributed to metastasis (Yano, S. et al., Int. J. Cancer 67:211–217, 1996). Lung cancer is histologically classified into two groups, small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) and non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), based on different clinical behavior (the rate of tumor growth, the pattern of tumor progression, the sensitivity to chemo- and radiotherapy). In both types, however, multi-organ metastasis is frequently observed at the time of diagnosis. Bone, following the liver and brain, is the third most common organ of metastasis in lung cancer patients. In particular, bone metastasis causes various severe symptoms by inducing pathological fracture, compression of spinal cord, and hypercalcemia, and reduces the quality of life of the patients (Iguchi, H. et al., Cancer Res. 56:4040–4043, 1996). Though palliative radiotherapy is given to reduce the symptoms for patients with bone metastasis, a novel treatment is necessary for these patients to improve their prognosis.
Recently much attention has been paid to develop a bone metastasis model with human cancer cells in order to understand the molecular mechanism and to develop a treatment. When cancer cells were injected through the intracardiac route into immunodeficient mice, melanoma (Arguello, F. et al., Cancer Res. 48:6876–6881, 1988; Nakai, M. et al., Cancer Res. 52:5395–5399, 1988), breast cancer (Hall, D. G. and Stocia, G., J. Bone Miner. Res. 9:221–230, 1994; Sasaki, A. et al., Cancer Res. 55:3551–3557, 1995), prostate cancer (Shevrin, D. H. et al., Prostate 19:149–154, 1991), and lung cancer (Iguchi, H. et al., Cancer Res. 56:4040–4043, 1996) have been reported to produce bone metastasis.
In these models, tumor cells were injected into the left ventricle of the heart and bone metastasis was developed in 75% of recipient mice. However, intracardiac injection of tumor cells does not seem to be technically easy, and is associated to some extent with sudden death of the animal. Therefore, intracardiac injection of tumor cells imposes a substantial burden on animals, causing ethical and economic problems. As a result, a simple method with good reproducibility of screening a novel agent to solve the important problem, that is, inhibition and/or prevention of bone metastasis, has not yet been developed.

Non-human animal exhibiting bone metastasis of tumor cells and method of screening for bone metastasis inhibitors


In a computer system that has one or more primary processing units processing user tasks and at least one auxiliary processing unit servicing the primary processing units, feature control is performed by storing a authorization code in the auxiliary processing unit. When an operation to change the feature of the computer system is initiated, a signal, including a key code, is sent to the auxiliary processing unit. The auxiliary processing unit checks the key code against the authorization code, and enables the operation if the check is successful.

Doren et al, in an U.S. Pat. application entitled "DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM WITH LOGICAL PROCESSOR FACILITY", filed Nov. 12, 1986, Ser. No. 930,965, and owned by the assignee of the present invention, disclose a multi-user data processing system wherein each user is given the control of a domain of facilities. The user operates within the user's domain as though the user had control of a separate logical computer, so that the data processing system functions as multiple data processing systems.
The features of a data processing system, such as, for example, its maximum memory size or the allowable types of input/output channel operations, are often sold or leased as options. Therefore, it is often desirable to be able to control features of a data processing system. In data processing systems similar to that described by Doren et al, one such important feature is the number of domains that can be initiated concurrently in the system. Controlling the number of domains is desirable, for example, when a system installation is charged for the maximum number of domains that can be activated concurrently or when it is desirable to guarantee a minimum level of performance of the domains by regulating system resources contention.
In typical prior art data processing systems, controlling a feature of a system is achieved by storing an authorization code in a "hidden" location of the main memory. (The authorization code may be, for example, the maximum number of domains that can be started concurrently.) To change the feature of the system, a key code (which, under the above example, the key code will be the number of domains already activated in the system) will be checked against the authorization code. The feature operation will be changed when the check is successful.
One disadvantage of the above-described method is that because the authorization code is stored in the main memory, it can easily be tampered with.
An object of this invention is to provide a more secure method and apparatus for controlling the features of a data processing system, especially for controlling the number of domains which can be initiated in a multi-domain system.

Controlling the initiation of logical systems in a data processing system with logical processor facility


In a contact mike, a pair of coils are formed so as to be directly connected to the resonating surface of a musical instrument or other vibrating object. The coils are coaxial and oppositely wound such that a single space is defined at their common center. A magnet is resiliently suspended within the coils and is resiliently isolated from the vibration of the resonating surface. Since the coils vibrate in the vicinity of the magnet, which remains relatively stationary due to its own inertia, an alternating current is induced in the coils which anologues the vibrations of the surface. In one embodiment the resonating member of the instrument itself is used to form part of the resilient connection between the magnet and the coil.

In the art of microphones, a coil caused to vibrate in the vicinity of a magnet has long served as the means for generating an electrical signal that analogues the acoustical vibrations to be picked up. In traditional contact microphones, the coil is attached to a diaphram at the end of an eustuchian tube whose other end is attached to the surface to be miked. Such devices work well but are rather fragile and expensive.
In more recent contact microphones coils and magnets have been for the most part replaced by piezo-electric elements which when stressed, produce an electrical output which varies depending on the stress, thus producing an A.C. signal output that analogues the vibrations of the resonating member to which the microphone is attached. This type of microphone has the advantages of being very simple and fairly small and light. A disadvantage of this type of microphone however is that since the output is rather small and the low frequency response is generally weak, a pre-amp of some description is almost always required for boosting the signal and for equalization. Such pre-amps are an added expense, are bulky and require a power source. Another disadvantage of piezo electric micophones is that due to the vagueries of the piezo electric elements a "flat" response giving a signal which accurately coresponds to the vibrations of the miked surface is difficult to obtain. Yet another disadvantage of this type of microphone is that in actual practice arranging the microphone in such a manner as to be stressed adequately to produce a strong signal is difficult. Sometimes increasing the pressure engaging the mike to the surface increases the output of the mike however this results in the problem the vibrating characteristics of the surface become altered due to the extra force.


A system and method for configuring and registering a cryptographic device. The configuration phase involves loading a device serial number (DSER) and a symmetric key (SK) into non-volatile memory of the cryptographic device. The non-volatile memory is integrated with processing logic of the cryptographic device. DSER is provided by an external source while SK is generated within the cryptographic device. The registration phase involves providing DSER to a database that contains cryptographic information associated with each cryptographic device manufactured. The cryptographic information includes at least a public key and a private key encrypted with SK. DSER is used to locate the appropriate cryptographic information and to transmit the cryptographic information to an electronic system having the cryptographic device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of cryptography. More particularly, the present invention relates to a circuit and method for configuring and registering a cryptographic device.
2. Description of Art Related to the Invention
Currently, many individuals are using personal computers to store and to transmit sensitive information (e.g., confidential, proprietary, etc.) in a digital format. For example, credit card account information occasionally may be transmitted over the Internet to purchase good(s) and/or service(s). Likewise, bank account numbers and bank account balances are transmitted using on-line banking. Due to the sensitive nature of this information, measures have been taken to protect the "integrity" of the information outside the physical confines of the computer; namely, to guarantee that the information has not been altered without authorization. However, such measures fail to protect information within the computer.
As described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,539,828 assigned to Intel Corporation, Assignee of the present application, information may be protected within a computer by utilizing cryptographic hardware. The cryptographic hardware includes an integrated circuit (IC) package containing processing logic and dedicated, non-volatile (NV) memory in the IC package (referred to as "device NV memory"). Typically, the cryptographic hardware undergoes an exhaustive configuration phase at a manufacturing facility in which the device NV memory is configured to contain unique cryptographic information necessary for secure functionality of the cryptographic device such as, for example, a public/private key pair and a digital certificate.
Regardless of whether the cryptographic hardware involves a single-chip or even a multi-chip package implementation, a few disadvantages would be realized as cryptographic techniques become more advanced. One disadvantage is that larger, more costly packages will be required because larger amounts of device NV memory will be necessary in order to store greater amounts of cryptographic information. Hence, it would be cost efficient to substantially mitigate the amount of NV memory placed in the cryptographic device in favor of NV memory located elsewhere in the system which is referred to as "system NV memory" herein. Examples of system NV memory include hard disk, NV memory placed on a motherboard or daughter card, etc.
Currently, system NV memory has not been used. The reason is that a reliable, cost-effective technique has not been developed for ensuring that system NV memory, configured and programmed with cryptographic information unique to a certain cryptographic hardware, will be implemented within an electronic system having that cryptographic hardware.
It is contemplated that the key information may be programmed into the cryptographic hardware instead of producing at least a portion of the key information internally. However, such programming reduces the security of the system and may impose greater liability on the original equipment manufacturer of the electric system.

System and method for configuring and registering a cryptographic device


An out-feed roller support stand having a sturdy, stable base that folds for compact storage. A support mast that telescopes into and is adjustable within the base supports a work support head that includes an adjustable cross bar on which a row of pivoting caster wheels are mounted. An alternative embodiment includes a ramp for guiding sagging ends of work-pieces up onto the caster wheels. Both the height and angle between the adjustable cross bar and floor are adjustable after the position of the support mast has been adjusted in order to position the support head in roughly the correct location.

When working with lumber or plywood or other man-made sheet materials, there is frequently a need to provide auxiliary support for those materials, particularly when using fixed tools such as table saws, router tables, thickness planers, and jointers. In these situations it is necessary to have the work-piece supported at both ends, both to insure an accurate cut and for safety reasons. Typically, the user is feeding the material into the tool, so the in-feed side of the material is supported by the tool user. Some sort of support is often required for the out-feed side of the machine. Furthermore auxiliary in-feed support is also sometimes needed, such as when extremely long stock is being machined.
This support needs to meet several requirements.    1. It must be strong enough to support the weight of the material.    2. It must be stable enough that the moving material cannot move it or tip it over, particularly when the material first contacts the support.    3. It must be adjustable so that the work-piece-contacting portions of the support can be made level and in line with the work-piece supporting structure of the machine.    4. It must offer low resistance to the moving material. This reduces the effort required by the operator and reduces the opportunity the material has for tipping the support over.    5. It must not impart any directional forces on the work-piece. Re-directing a work-piece while it is being machined can result, at best, in an inaccurate cut; at worst it can result in the tool binding and, work-piece kick-back with resulting damage to tool and injury to user.
Additional features are also desirable. For instance:    6. It is desirable for the support to be easily positioned and adjusted.    7. It is desirable for the support to be easy to store in a relatively small space.    8. It is desirable for the support to be configured so that the advancing end of a work-piece will successfully engage and be supported by the support even of the end of the work-piece is sagging when it encounters the support.
Numerous user-made and commercially manufactured supports are available. None include all of the features identified above.
For instance, a typical problem with existing out-feed supports is that it is difficult or impossible to get the support "head" exactly in line and level with the tool. This can be difficult for a number of reasons, including a shop floor for other support surface that is not level or a tool that is not set up perfectly level. Many existing out-feed supports provide for both height and angular adjustment of the head by providing a tube supporting the head that telescopes within a tube projecting from a base, or that is part of a base, and a thumb screw or male wing knob threaded through the base tube bears against the head support tube to lock it in position. The weight of the head tends to cause the head support tube to fall down into the base tube as soon as the thumb screw is loosened, and correct adjustment is very difficult because the weight of the head has to be supported with one hand while its height and angle are adjusted very accurately and the thumb screw is tightened. This needs to be accomplished without affecting head height or angular position, but the act of tightening the thumb screw often moves the position of the head as the screw acts on the support tube. Often this head positioning operation needs to be done while a work-piece is also being supported by the head and the machine with which the out-feed roller support is being used in order to establish the height at which the head needs to be positioned.
Out-feed stands or supports must have some sort of head that allows the work-piece to slide over it with very minimal resistance. There are two reasons for this. First, if there is high resistance to the material movement, the stand may simply be knocked over. Secondly, high resistance increases the force a user must apply to move the work-piece. This is undesirable from the point of view of fatigue, but, more importantly, it is also a safety issue. A slip while a user is applying force toward the tool blade or cutter can lead to operator contact with the blade and serious injuries. Typical existing roller stands generally incorporate either a single long roller, or a series of ball rollers for contact with the work-piece being supported. Each approach is less than ideal. A single long roller sufficiently distributes the load of the work-piece to prevent damage; however, unless this roller is carefully aligned with the machine, so that the roller axis of rotation is parallel to the machine work surface and perpendicular to the direction of travel of the work-piece, the roller will tend to guide the work-piece out of line rather than along its intended direction of travel. Multiple ball rollers do not need to be precisely aligned due to their multidirectional nature, however the point contact with the work-piece can lead to damage of the work-piece surface because the entire weight of the work-piece being supported by the support stand bears on the very small areas of contact with the balls.
A support stand head needs to be level with the work surface of the machine with which it is being used. This is perhaps more critical than getting the stand at the same height, since the work-piece will be guided out of line if the out-feed head is not level with the tool.
Some out-feed stands address this issue by supplying adjustable feet to the stand. Alternatively, the angle of the head may be adjusted in prior art stands having masts that tilt relative to the floor by rotating the mast on which the head rests. Adjustment in this manner is very difficult because, among other reasons, it is difficult simultaneously to adjust the angle of the head and the projection of the mast from such prior art stands.
The height and angle adjustment mechanisms of prior art stands often require substantial "trial and error" to correctly adjust the stand, and the time required to get it right often encourage use with less than optimal positioning.
For the reasons described above, among others, none of the prior art support stands address all of the needs of such a stand.


A stroller includes a wheel, a rotation control device mounted above the wheel, and a wire control device mounted on a position that facilitates operation of a user and connected to the rotation control device to lock and unlock the rotation control device between. Thus, the wire control device is mounted on a position that facilitates operation of the user, so that the user directly controls rotation of the wheel, thereby facilitating the user controlling the moving direction of the stroller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a stroller, and more particularly to a stroller having a wheel rotation control device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional stroller comprises a wheel, a bottom frame, a rear frame, a rear wheel, a push handle, and a rotation control device mounted between the bottom frame and the wheel to control rotation movement of the wheel so as to control the moving direction of the stroller. However, the rotation control device is located at the front side of the stroller, so that a user located at the rear side of the stroller has to move forward to operate the rotation control device to control rotation movement of the wheel, thereby causing inconvenience to the user in operating the rotation control device.

Stroller having wheel rotation control device


A liquid crystal display is disclosed. The liquid crystal display includes a first backlight source, a second backlight source and a liquid crystal panel. The first backlight source provides magenta backlight and the second backlight source provides green backlight. The first and second backlight sources are alternatively driven periodically to provide backlight for illustrating images. The liquid crystal panel comprises a liquid crystal layer and a color filter. The liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are controlled for adjusting the transmittance of the backlight provided by the first and second backlight sources. The color filter includes red pixel areas, transparent pixel areas and blue pixel areas for performing color filtering operations on the backlight penetrating through the liquid crystal layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display with wide color gamut.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Because the liquid crystal display (LCD) has advantages of thin appearance, low power consumption, and low radiation, the liquid crystal display has been widely applied in various electronic products for panel displaying. In general, the liquid crystal display comprises a color filter, a liquid crystal layer and a backlight source. However, because of the restriction imposed by the optical features of the color filter and the liquid crystal layer, the liquid crystal display is unable to illustrate all true colors of an original image. In other words, how to develop a liquid crystal display having high color reproduction performance is one of the most important topics nowadays.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a prior-art liquid crystal display. As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal display 100 comprises a color filter 110, a liquid crystal layer 120, a thin film transistor array unit 130, a diffuser 140 and a backlight source 150. The color filter 110 comprises a plurality of red pixel areas 101, a plurality of green pixel areas 102 and a plurality of blue pixel areas 103 arranged periodically. The liquid crystal display 100 controls circuit operations of the thin film transistor array unit 130 for writing data signals to pixel units based on gate signals. The written data signals are then employed to vary voltage drops between opposite sides of different pixel areas of the liquid crystal layer 120 for twisting the angles of the liquid crystal molecules in the liquid crystal layer 120 so that the transmittances of different pixel areas of the liquid crystal layer 120 can be controlled for illustrating images with the aid of uniform backlight provided by the backlight source 150 in coordination with the diffuser 140.
By making use of the color filter 110 and the backlight source 150 both having a high color rendering property, the liquid crystal display 100 is able to achieve a color gamut over 100% of NTSC (National Television Standards Committee) color gamut. However, the color filter 110 having a high color rendering property has low transmittance, and therefore the output brightness of the liquid crystal display 100 is reduced significantly. For that reason, the backlight source 150 is required to provide backlight having much higher brightness for retaining image brightness, i.e. resulting in high backlight power consumption.


Techniques relating to structural context for fixed layout markup documents are described. In one instance, a process defines content and associated positional information of a document with a set of content markup. The process also specifies a structural configuration for the document relative to at least some of the content markup, such that the structural configuration is separate from the content markup.

Modern documents are often defined using a markup language such as XML or HTML and described as markup documents. Modern documents may also be classified as fixed layout documents or adaptive documents. Adaptive documents re-layout the contents of the document based on the desired overall size of the content, such as a single sheet of paper or the size of a display window. Fixed layout documents describe where each discrete unit of a page's content, such as an image or a single run of text, is positioned on the page. Fixed layout documents are also frequently markup documents. The XML Paper Specification (XPS) describes one such document format (the XPS Document format) that is a fixed layout document and also a markup document.
Fixed layout markup document formats, such as the XPS Document format, define a document as a set of markup elements. Individual markup elements define portions of document content and a location where the content should be displayed within the document. Fixed layout markup document formats do not natively handle structural information relating to the document markup; such as to recognize that a particular portion of the markup represents a portion of a paragraph, a cell of a table, a header, or a footer, among others. Accordingly, fixed layout markup document formats do not readily establish a structural context for document markup.

Structural context for fixed layout markup documents


A method and apparatus for separating bone and meat of the upper half of a poultry carcass with a variety of the sizes are provided, wherein first cutting is effected in the neighborhood of a shoulder joint to disconnect tissues under influence of a separation force applied between the upper half of a poultry carcass and the head of a humerus, second cutting is effected along the surface of the front side of a furcula, and then breast meat is efficiently separated by a conventional device with a higher recovery rate and an auto-loading system comprising a plurality of buffer conveyors is provided, wherein the upper halves of poultry carcasses are continuously loaded to as many apparatuses for the separating without downtime. In the first cutting of the method and an apparatus for the separating, an inserting position and depth of an obliquely moving cutter blade (116) is properly determined with accuracy by the help of a guide bar with reference pieces, which is selected according to the size of the upper half of a poultry carcass and put inside the shoulder joints for setting reference planes, vertical and horizontal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for separating bone and meat of an upper half of a poultry carcass, from which legs have been cut off (hereinafter simply referred to as upper half), and an auto-loading system used with the apparatus, wherein tissues such as a tendon, ligament, muscle, envelope and the like around a shoulder joint are cut and breast meat is separated from a bone together with wings in a stable manner and, more particularly, to the method and apparatus, in which the separation can automatically be effected with high flexibility to difference in size of upper halves and with a high recovery rate, and the auto-loading system for upper halves, in which the upper halves are continuously transported to feed a plurality of apparatuses for the separating by the help of as many buffer conveyors each for a temporary stay of an upper half awaiting its turn of loading.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, breeding, slaughtering, and processing of carcasses of poultry have been grown up to a large scale in a related industry and a variety of automation has largely been carried out in the growth. In the mean time, cutting-off of legs from a carcass of poultry has still been conducted manually. Methods and apparatuses suitable for the use of deboning of the legs have already been proposed by the same inventors.
Separation of breast meat in an upper half, whose leg portions are removed in a previous process, has also been carried out by manual operation. In such manual operation, there has been arisen problems that separated breast meat and supreme (white meat), which remains between furcula, are subject to damages and thereby to their devaluation as article of commerce. Moreover, an operator necessarily conducts manual operation while palms and fingers contact with meat directly, which makes a managing cost in an hygienic aspect higher and, besides, a direct production cost higher due to a lower recovery rate.
Now, description will given about breast meat 10a. An ideal cut plane 35 exists around shoulder joint 11, as seen from a perspective view in FIGS. 8 and 9. Muscle of the supreme 10b is connected with a humerus, which combines with the glenoid 11b of a shoulder joint 11 combines and on the other hand the breast meat 10a and a wing 12 are connected with the shoulder joint 11 by way of a breast muscle and a brachial muscle respectively. The breast meat 10a is present in an area formed by being surrounded by a scapula 11a, the upper portion of an os coracoideum 13 and a furcula 14.
The shoulder joint 11 is integrated with the head (not shown) 12a of a humerus 12b which fits in the glenoid 11b of the scapula 11a by the help of tissues such as a ligament, tendon, muscle, envelope and the like, said scapula 11a joining with a furcula 14 and os coracoideum 13, as seen from FIG. 9.
As can be seen from the above description, separation of breast meat is conducted after cutting the tissues such as a tendon, ligament, muscle, envelope and the like combined with the scapula 11a and the head 12a of a humerus 12b (hereinafter referred to as shoulder joint cutting). A recovery is affected at a great extent by performance in the shoulder joint cutting, that is, if the position and depth of the shoulder cutting is proper for the size of an upper half, a better recovery is secured.
In order to achieve the purpose, it is necessary to properly set the inserting position and cutting depth of a cutter blade in an area for shoulder joint cutting in response to different sizes of the upper half with flexibility of operation.
Configuration of tendons in tissues which are an object of the shoulder joint cutting has been investigated in regards to their positional relations with sizes of upper halves. The following conclusion has been obtained, as a result of detailed studies on the basis of figures of a skeletal system.
1. In FIGS. 14(A), 14(B) and 14(C), the skeleton of an upper half is shown in a front elevational view as seen from the breast side, side elevational view and rear elevational view and FIGS. 15(A) and, 15(B) are enlarged views of encircled portions designated at D and E, each of which include a shoulder joint, in the FIGS. 14(B) and 14(C).
It can be seen from FIGS. 15(A) and 15(B) that:
a) the heads 11c, 12a of a scapula and humerus are combined with each other by two pairs of tendons (i) and (ii); and PA1 b) a tendon (i) is located outwardly of a tendon (ii), as seen from a rear elevational view of FIG. 15(B), a tendon (ii) is originated at the head 11c of a scapula 11b and extends to the head 12a of a humerus 12b outwardly and obliquely relative thereto, and the tendon (ii) is also originated at the head 11c of a scapula 11b and extends to the head 12a of a humerus downwardly and almost vertically.
2. Next, an inserting position of a cutter blade in a shoulder joint cutting is discussed. As can be seen from FIG. 12, a vertical reference plane Ya is set on the inside of the head 11c of a scapula 11b and a horizontal reference plane Xa is set on the head 12a of a humerus 12b. An inserting position of an obliquely moving cutter blade 116 is at distances of Sa from the vertical reference plane Ya and of Ha from the horizontal plane Xa, wherein these values of Sa and Ha fluctuate only in a span of 2 to 3 mm for all the variations in size of upper halves, which is small enough to be neglected.
In consideration of the above situation, it has been found that the position of the obliquely moving cutter blade 116 can be set at an almost proper position, if location of the vertical reference plane is adjusted according to the size of an upper half as work, while a inserting position of the obliquely moving cutter blade 116 is selected at a constant distance from the vertical reference plane Ya, but a problem is how to adjustably determine a location of the vertical reference plane according to a size of the upper half.
As a further finding, it is required in cutting of tissues around a shoulder joint that the two pairs of tendons (i) and (ii) are cut, as described in 1 a), that cutting of tendons (i) is conducted obliquely from an external position in the air, as described in 2 b), and on the other hand, that cutting of tendons (ii) is conducted horizontally.
3. As to a depth of inserting of a cutter blade in cutting the tendons (ii), as can be seen in FIG. 15(B), it has been found that meat is not damaged, even if the edge of the cutting blade is sent till it contacts with the lower portion of the head 11c of a scapula on condition that a direction of the cutter blade is adjusted to be horizontal especially in the last instant of the cutting operation. That is, it has been understood together with the other descriptions of 1 a) and 1 b) that it is only required that two directions of insertion are adopted for a cutting blade and a direction of the cutting blade is required to be horizontal only in the last instant of operation.
Leg portions of a poultry carcass are separated by dividing the carcass at a hip joint and removing spurs and toes and even a skilled worker have been able to debone the legs portions to recover thigh meat at an average rate of 720 leg portions or 360 poultry carcasses per day.
A solution for the above problems has been proposed and tried to automate and rationalize a deboning operation, which is disclosed, for example, in the specification of Japanese Patent Application No. H 4-203528 already filed. According to the specification, a deboning method of poultry suitable for automation and an automated deboning apparatus are disclosed.
The deboning apparatus has, as shown in FIG. 24, a construction that a rotary octagonal table 300 is equipped, processing stations S1 to S8 are located in respective positions of the sides. At the station S1, the tibia 306 of a leg as a work that is shown in FIG. 23, and which has been transported by a conveyor 301, is manually inserted in a chuck (not shown) to fix for deboning. After the chucking, the leg is subjected to various processing, such as extraction by a tool and separating meat by scraping, in given sections F, F, G in the order, from bones, while effecting a first and second cuttings by rotary cutter blades, as shown in FIG. 23, in each of the processing stations S1 to S8 in an automatic fashion with an intermittent feed.
The above mentioned deboning apparatus is also applicable to any form of a cut-up part of poultry, that is to an upper half, which is a processing object of this invention. An auto-loader suitable for such a deboning apparatus has not been proposed in the sense of practical use.

Method and apparatus for separating bone and meat of upper half of poultry carcass and auto-loading system used therewith


A process for the preparation of fluorinated propanes and propenes. CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CH.sub.2 is produced from CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CHF.sub.2 by the sequential steps of dehydrofluorination, a reduction, and a second dehydrofluorination in which the same catalyst is preferably used for each step. Preferably the catalysts is palladium on carbon. The process provides the steps of passing CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CHF.sub.2 over a Pd/C catalyst to form CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CHF; hydrogenating CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CHF over a Pd/C catalyst to give CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 F; and passing CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 F over a Pd/C catalyst to give CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CH.sub.2.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to the preparation of fluorinated propanes and tri- and tetra-fluorinated propenes. More particularly, the invention concerns a process for the production of the fluorinated propenes CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CH.sub.2 and CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CHF, and the fluorinated propane, tetrafluoropropane CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 F.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Fluorinated propenes such as trifluoropropene (CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CH.sub.2) are useful monomers for the manufacture of fluorosilicones and in the production of fluorinated chemical intermediates such as trifluoropropene epoxide and 3,3,3-trifluoropropylbenzene. Tetrafluoropropene finds use as a copolymer with ethylene, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,472,826 and Chem. Abstr., 71 (1969) 125454y). Tetrafluoropropane (HFC-254fb, CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 F) is known as a blowing agent (Chem. Abstr. 114 (1991) P83236c) and heat transfer agent (Chem. Abstr. 114 (1991) P125031q).
Trifluoropropene has been made by two known prior art processes. In both processes the first step is the addition of CCl.sub.4 to ethylene to produce CCl.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 Cl. Fluorination of the latter using a liquid phase fluorination process, such as HF in conjunction with an antimony catalyst, provides CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 Cl which is subsequently dehydrochlorinated to give CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CH.sub.2 (see A. L. Henne, et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 72 (1950) 3369). Alternatively, the fluorination of CCl.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 Cl in a vapor phase process gives CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CH.sub.2 directly (See German Patent 1 140 928).
Tetrafluoropropene has been made by the dehydroiodination of CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CHFI with alcoholic KOH (R. N. Hazeldine, et al, J. Chem. Soc., (1953) 1199), by the dehydrofluorination of CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CHF.sub.2 with KOH (I. L. Knunyants, et al, Izvest, Akad. Nauk S. S. S. R. Otdel. Khim. Nauk., (1960) 1412; Chem. Abstr. 55:349f), and by the addition of HF to trifluoropropyne (R. N. Hazeldine, et al, J. Chem. Soc., (1952) 3483).
Tetrafluoropropane, CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 F, has been made by the reaction of ClF with CCl.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 Cl (N. N. Chuvatkin, et al, Zh. Org. Khim., 18 (1982) 946; Chem. Abstr., 97: 144272r), by the fluorination of CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 I with HgF, and via Zn reduction of CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CHFI (R. N. Hazeldine, et al, J. Chem. Soc., (1953) 1199) or CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CHFBr (P. Tarrant, et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 77 (1955) 2783).
The above processes suffer from several drawbacks. These include the use of expensive starting materials or reagents, such as CF.sub.3 I or HgF, or hazardous reactants such as ClF. Where dehydrohalogenations are required, a significant amount of waste is produced. For example, in the dehydrofluorination of CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CHF.sub.2 with KOH, an organic solvent is generally used, and an excess of KOH is generally employed in order to maintain a concentration of base which results in a high organic conversion. This produces a waste mixture of KOH and KF. While the prior art process for CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CH.sub.2 appears attractive from the above considerations, it is not readily apparent how it might be used as a suitable raw material for CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CHF. The use of CF.sub.3 CH.dbd.CH.sub.2 as a raw material for CF.sub.3 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 F via HF addition, is not without drawbacks since dimerization may compete with HF addition (see for example, M. Van Der Puy, et al, J. Fluorine Chem., 76 (1996) 49).
Dehydrofluorination of certain hydrofluorocarbons is known. For example, HCF.sub.2 CH.sub.2 F was dehydrofluorinated over a fluorinated alumina catalyst at about 425.degree. C. and gave mainly CHF.dbd.CHF (See U.S. Pat. No. 3,432,562 (1969)). 1,1,1-Trifluoroethane was dehydrofluorinated at 400.degree. C. using NiO, Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3 or ZnO as the catalyst (See F. H. Walker, et al, J. Org. Chem., 30 (1965) 3284). Conversions were 30 to 63%. Thermal, non-catalytic dehydrofluorinations require substantially higher temperatures. For example, CH.sub.3 CF.sub.2 CH.sub.3 was dehydrofluorinated to CH.sub.3 CF.dbd.CH.sub.2 at 731.degree. C. with a conversion of only 42% (See P. R. Austin, et al, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 75 ((1953) 4834). All of the foregoing disclosures are incorporated herein by reference. It is an object of this invention to overcome the above limitations via a process which is low cost, both from a standpoint of raw material cost and capital cost, which is amenable to scale, and which produces little waste. It is therefore a further objective to provide a process for producing trifluoropropene, tetrafluoropropene and tetrafluoropropane at low cost by utilizing the same or similar process equipment for each reaction step.

Fluorinated propenes from pentafluoropropane


A bending transducer device for generating electrical energy from deformations, and a circuit module which has such a bending transducer. The bending transducer includes at least one electrically deformable, vibration-capable, electrically conductive support structure, one piezoelectric element and a first contacting element, the conductive support structure having a first restraining area and a second restraining area for restraining the support structure, the piezoelectric element being designed and situated on the support structure in such a way that the piezoelectric element is deformable due to the deformation of the support structure caused by vibrations, and a first electrode for picking up the voltage generated by the deformation of the piezoelectric element is formed and contacted by the support structure, the first contacting element being connected electrically conductively to the support structure outside the first restraining area and the second restraining area.

Piezoelectric transducer mechanisms, such as bending transducers, may be used for generating electrical energy from mechanical deformations. In addition to a piezoelectric element, a bending transducer typically includes a support structure on which the piezoelectric element is fixedly attached. Via the support structure, a mechanical deformation may be introduced into the piezoelectric element, e.g., by vibrating the support structure. The support structure itself may be a second piezoelectric element. To pick off the voltage generated by the deformation of the piezoelectric element, electrodes, which in turn are contactable via contacting elements, may be provided on the piezoelectric element. Piezoelectric transducer mechanisms may be used in sensor and actuator technology in particular.
For example, German Patent Application No. DE 10 2005 062 872 A1 describes a device for detecting the rolling motion of a vehicle wheel in which a piezoelectric element is contacted on a chip carrier via the electrodes formed on its opposite sides, its upper electrode being contacted via a wire bond, and the chip carrier, including the piezoelectric element and the wire bond, are cast into a mold compound. In such sensors for measuring accelerations, e.g., vibrations, reliable contacting is possible with little complexity.
Moreover, piezoelectric materials are increasingly used for generating electrical energy from energies of the surroundings, in particular vibrations and deformations, which is also referred to as energy harvesting. Bending deformations of the piezoelectric element are enabled here which result in clearly higher energy generation than, for example, the mechanical strains of a piezoelectric element cast into a mold compound, as described in German Patent Application No. DE 10 2005 062 872 A1.
In bending transducers in which the support structure and the piezoelectric element are fixedly restrained, electrical contacting of the piezoelectric element may be implemented in a relatively simple manner since the piezoelectric element is fixedly connected to a housing. The use of a sufficiently large-surface and thus expensive piezoelectric element is generally required for such configurations. Furthermore, the areas of the piezoelectric element at the housing connection are particularly exposed to mechanical stresses which reduce the transducer's service life.
If the piezoelectric element is not fixedly restrained, contacting generally takes place via flexible wire connections. However, these wire connections are also exposed to the mechanical stresses that occur and have, with respect to the repeated deformations, only limited reliability.
German Patent Application No. DE 10 2007 006 994 A1 describes a circuit module, in particular for use in a vehicle tire, which has a bending transducer for generating electrical energy from mechanical deformations. The bending transducer contained in the circuit module includes an elastically deformable, vibration-capable support structure and a piezoelectric element. The support structure has a first restraining area and a second restraining area with which the support structure is mounted in a housing of the circuit module. The piezoelectric element is designed and situated on the support structure in such a way that a deformation of the support structure due to vibrations causes the piezoelectric element to be deformable. On its top and bottom sides, the piezoelectric element is coated by an electrically conducting layer which serves as lower and upper electrode, respectively. On the one hand, the support structure may be utilized for electrical contacting by designing it as a metallic spring device, in particular for contacting the lower electrode. On the other hand, the upper electrode formed on the upper side of the piezoelectric element may be contacted via additional contacting means such as a wire, a flexible printed circuit board, or a flexible metal sheet.

Bending transducer for generating electrical energy from mechanical deformations


A lens barrel includes: an electromechanical conversion element; an elastic body having a joining surface, a drive surface, and grooves; a motion member rotating by vibration wave of the drive surface; a rotating ring having a recess part and rotating by rotation of the motion member; a moving ring engaged to the recess part and moving to an optical axis direction by rotation of the rotating ring; and a lens held in the moving ring; wherein the element is made of a material having sodium potassium niobate, potassium niobate, sodium niobate or barium titanate, wherein a value of T/(B+C) is within a range of from 1.3 to 2.8 when: length from the drive surface to a base unit of the groove is defined as T; length from the base unit of the groove to the joining surface is defined as B; and thickness of the element is defined as C.

The present invention relates to a lens barrel and an imaging device.
A vibration wave motor generates a progressive vibration wave (hereinafter referred to as a progressive wave) on a drive surface of an elastic body through making use of expansion/contraction of a piezoelectric body (see Japanese Patent Examined Publication H1-17354). A vibrator in such a vibration wave motor is generally configured of an electromechanical conversion element (hereinafter referred to as a piezoelectric body) and an elastic body. Up until now, piezoelectric bodies have been made of a material called lead zirconate titanate. This material is commonly referred to as "PZT". However, in recent years, a lead-free material and the application of this material to a vibration wave motor have been studied in order to lessen burden on the environment (see Japanese Patent Examined Publication H1-17354).


A continuous polymerization process for producing reactive polymers comprises continuously charging into a first reaction zone at least one functional monomer and polymerizing the monomers to produce a first polymeric product having at least one functional group. This first polymeric product is then continuously directly charged into a second reaction zone together with at least one modifier reactant having a functional group that is complementary to the functional group of the first polymeric product. At least a portion of the modifier reactant reacts with at least one of the functional groups of the first polymeric product to produce a second polymeric product which incorporates at least a portion of the modifier reactant, such that the second polymeric product is a reactive polymer.

Various types of reactive polymers have been developed and are known in the art. These reactive polymers are produced by a number of well known methods. These methods generally require the reactive polymers to be produced in a successive series of steps. U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,303, issued to Iwase et al., discusses reactive polymers to use in a specific method of application, and generally teaches how to make such polymers in two separate batches.
In a typical methodology, a first polymeric product is produced that carries reactive functional groups which can react in a subsequent modification reaction to give the reactive polymer. The first polymeric product is generally produced via a continuous, batch, or semi-batch process. The subsequent modification reaction is typically an addition or condensation reaction with a reactant that carries a functional group that can react with the reactive functional group of the first polymeric product to produce a reactive polymer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,064,161, issued to Lewis et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,313, issued to Lewis et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,012, issued to Seko et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,850, issued to Kempter et al. as well as WO 9109888, and WO 9325596, discuss making reactive polymers via batch processes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,146, issued to Emmons; U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,362, issued to Novak et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,242,243, issued to Antonelli et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,303,565, issued to Tobias; and RE 31,309, issued to Antonelli et al. discuss unsaturated polymers where the backbone is formed via free radical mechanisms, and the side chains are unsaturated fatty acid derivatives, using long batch and semi-batch process times. The reaction route for these polymers involves 1) reaction of hydroxyl functional backbones with fatty acids, 2) reaction of carboxylic functional backbones with epoxy fatty acids, or 3) reaction of carboxylic functional backbones with hydroxyethyl fatty acid amine.
After the first polymeric product is produced, a number of processing steps are typically required to prepare the first polymeric product for the modification reaction with subsequent materials to form the reactive polymer. These steps include cooling, dissolving, flaking, milling or otherwise recovering/handling/processing the first polymeric product before it can undergo subsequent modification to form the reactive polymer.
Because of the difficulties above, most reactive polymers are produced via condensation mechanisms, and not free radical mechanisms. For example, the prior art discloses numerous examples of unsaturated polyester and urethane polymers where the reactive modifiers are added during or after the main chain step-polymerization.
There are also a number of patents involving anionic polymerization. Very little prior art teaches the production of the main chain polymer with a free radical mechanism. These prior art processes require two relatively long steps with intermediate polymer recovery in order to produce the final reactive polymer. Furthermore, such prior art methodologies teach batch processing methods. The economic advantages of using a single process are well known. U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,911, issued to Blum, teaches that a single continuous process is preferred to produce finished powder coatings by using a reactor and extruder in a series. However, the reference does not teach or suggest using such a layout to create unsaturated polymers. By requiring additional handling/recovery/processing of the first polymeric product prior to its subsequent modification, the cost and/or difficulties of producing reactive polymers is increased. A need remains for producing reactive polymers via a simple, cost effective method.

Process for continuous production of reactive polymers with in-line post-modification and products thereof


A diagnosis support apparatus detects a finding and a position, on a diagnosis image as a diagnosis target medical image, which corresponds to the finding from the image, and searches a database storing a plurality of medical images linked to findings and diagnosis names by using the detected finding. The diagnosis support apparatus simultaneously performs or switches between the first display operation of causing a display unit to display the diagnosis image, together with the detected finding and a position on the display which corresponds to the finding and the second display operation of causing the display unit to display the found medical image, together with a diagnosis name associated with the medical image.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a diagnosis support apparatus which supports a diagnosis concerning medical care and a diagnosis support method.
Description of the Related Art
In the field of medical care, doctors make diagnoses by observing medical images obtained by imaging apparatuses such as an OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) and an X-ray CT apparatus. Doctors display a medical image as a target image by using a medical image display apparatus (also called a viewer), and browse the image by using various functions attached to the viewer, thereby making a diagnosis.
There has been developed a diagnosis support apparatus which supports such a diagnosis based on an image by using a computer. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-42650 (to be referred to as patent literature 1 hereinafter) discloses a technique of estimating a lesion position based on an output from an imaging apparatus and giving an index to an estimated lesion. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-59381 (to be referred to as patent literature 2 hereinafter) discloses a technique of obtaining, as disease condition information, inquiry results, doctor's findings, and feature amounts obtained by image processing, and extracting and presenting a diagnosis name and an image linked to the obtained disease condition information from cases stored in a database.
However, patent literature 1 is limited to presenting an index with respect to an estimated lesion. That is, since no findings concerning the estimated lesion or no cases having the estimated lesion are presented, a doctor needs to estimate a case by analogy based on the display of the lesion and the index. On the other hand, patent literature 2 only presents a diagnosis name linked to an image processing result and a typical image corresponding to the diagnosis name. This makes it difficult to comprehend the correspondence between a diagnosis target image and a case. It is therefore sometimes difficult to determine whether the presented diagnosis name is proper.

Diagnosis support apparatus and diagnosis support method


A column access control apparatus comprises a column signal control unit for controlling a write CAS pulse signal and an internal CAS pulse signal in response to a first signal, and a column decoder for outputting a column decoding signal using an output signal of the column signal control unit and the first signal. The column signal control unit delays the internal CAS pulse signal and the write CAS pulse signal to output delayed signals when the first signal is activated.

The present disclosure relates to a semiconductor memory device and, more particularly, to a column access control apparatus.
Generally, an access time of a column access operation in a read operation is the same as that in a write operation in a DRAM.
In case of error checking and correction (ECC), column access operation is performed based on a delay which is caused by an external data transfer through an internal path in the write operation. However, since an additional delay is further required for a decision in an ECC operation, the column access operation takes longer time than usual.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional column access control apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of a column access control unit of FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional column access control apparatus includes a column address counter 100, a column access control unit 200, a column decoder 300 and a memory cell array 400.
Here, a signal CASP_WT is used to generate a column access signal YI in the write operation and a signal CASP_RD is also used to generate the column access signal YI in the read operation. An internal CAS pulse signal ICASP is used to generate the column access signal YI in a burst operation.
A signal AYP is employed to generate the column access signal YI together with an address signal YAT. The signal AYP is activated if any one of the three signals CASP_WT, CASP_RD and ICASP is activated.
A signal BURST_STOP stops the generation of the column access signal YI during the burst operation. As shown in FIG. 2, when the signal BURST_STOP is activated, the signal AYP is in a low level. Thus, the column access signal YI is in a low level.
Meanwhile, in case of the ECC operation, the column access operation in the column access control apparatus should be performed based on the delay caused by the external data transfer through the internal path in the write operation. However, since an additional delay is further required to take time for a decision in an ECC operation, there is a problem that the column access operation takes longer time than usual.

Column access control apparatus having fast column access speed at read operation


An engine hood structure including a hood panel, and a porous metal layer disposed on an inside of the hood panel. The porous metal layer has a density increased in a direction extending from an outer periphery of the engine hood structure toward a central portion of the engine hood structure. The porous metal layer is constructed such that a plateau stress generated in the porous metal layer upon a compression test is increased in a direction extending from an outer periphery of the engine hood structure toward a central portion of the engine hood structure.

The present invention relates to an engine hood structure for automobiles, and specifically, relates to an engine hood structure for automobiles which has necessary tensile rigidity, bending rigidity and torsional rigidity, an engine noise absorbing characteristic and an excellent impact absorbing characteristic.
An engine hood for automobiles includes an hood outer panel and an hood inner panel constituted of a plurality of beam members in order to provide necessary tensile rigidity, bending rigidity and torsional rigidity. A steel plate has been conventionally used as a material for an automobile engine hood. Recently, aluminum alloy plates, such as Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) 5000 series, 6000 series and 7000 series, are frequently used from a viewpoint of reduction in weight of the engine hood.
Further, the engine hood for automobiles has a sound insulator for reducing noise generated from the engine, which is attached to the hood inner panel. However, it is required to minimize a height of the engine hood. Therefore, there is a demand to provide an insulator having a reduced thickness and an excellent sound absorbing characteristic.
Further, if there occurs a collision of an automobile with a pedestrian, the pedestrian is lifted up such that the head or shoulder of the pedestrian will be hit against the hood outer panel of the engine hood. Therefore, in the engine hood for automobiles, it is required to ensure a characteristic of protecting the head or shoulder of the pedestrian upon the occurrence of collision. In order to improve the pedestrian protecting characteristic, there have been proposed technologies including an arrangement of an impact absorbing member that is made of a synthetic resin material and disposed between an engine hood and a chassis component within an engine compartment. Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. 2000-203378 describes such an arrangement of an impact absorbing member. Further, Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. 2003-054449 describes a hood inner panel having a plurality of projections and an irregular shape part formed on an outer surface of each of the projections. The irregular shape part is adapted to allow deformation of the outer surface of the projection when a load is applied to the projection. Further, Japanese Patent Application First Publication No. 2003-205866 describes an hood inner panel having corrugated beads and convex shaped portions. Japanese Patent Application First Publication Nos. 2003-252246 and 2003-261070 describe a reinforced panel structure. Further, there have been proposed a technology of developing an air bag onto an engine hood upon detecting a collision by means of a sensor mounted to a vehicle, and a technology of lifting up an engine hood to increase a space between the engine hood and an engine compartment and thereby prevent parts or members accommodated in the engine compartment from coming out from the engine compartment.