The present invention provides a load balancing device, computer program product, and method for balancing the load across a plurality of proxy devices arranged to perform malware scanning of files stored within a file storage device of a computer network. The computer network has a plurality of client devices arranged to issue access requests using a dedicated file access protocol to the file storage device in order to access files stored on the file storage device. The load balancing device is arranged so as to intercept access requests issued to the file storage device, and comprises a client interface for receiving an access request issued to the file storage device using the dedicated file access protocol. Further, the load balancing device comprises load balancing logic for applying a predetermined load balancing routine to determine to which proxy device to direct the received access request, and a proxy device interface for sending the access request to the proxy device determined by the load balancing logic, each proxy device being coupled to the file storage device. This enables a very efficient system to be developed for performing malware scanning of files stored within the file storage device, whilst enabling that system to be developed independently of the particular file storage device being used in the computer network, or the operating system being run on that file storage device.

The present invention relates to techniques for handling malware scanning of files stored within a file storage device of a computer network. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, "malware" may include, amongst other things, viruses, worms, Trojans, and/or computer files, words, content, etc. that have been banned for the computer network, etc.
In a computer network, it is common to provide a file server arranged to provide certain centralised services to the users of client devices connected to that network. For example, the file server will often be used to store user files for subsequent access by authorised users over the network.
It is often desirable to perform malware scanning of the files stored within such a file server, and accordingly appropriate scanning software has been written for installation on the file server so as to enable files to be scanned at appropriate times, for example when they are written to the file server, read from the file server, etc. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a typical prior art arrangement of a computer network, where the computer network comprises a number of client devices 10 coupled to a file server 30 via an appropriate communication infrastructure 20, for example a wired network. In the FIG. 1 example, a malware scanner in the form of an anti-virus (AV) scanner 40 is installed on the file server 30 to perform scanning of the files stored on the file server 30. Typically, the anti-virus scanner 40 can be configured to determine when scanning is performed (i.e. when files are read, when files are written, both, etc.), what type of files are scanned (all files, only executable files, files of a type in which a macro program may be embedded, compressed files, etc.), and what type of scanning is performed (anti-virus algorithms that compare a suspect file to a dictionary of known virus characteristics, heuristic algorithms that seek to detect virus-like activity associated with a file being scanned, etc.).
One of the problems with the approach illustrated in FIG. 1 is that the anti-virus scanner 40 may significantly impact the performance of the file server, particularly when the anti-virus scanner is configured to perform rigorous scanning of files (e.g. by scanning many file types, by employing multiple scanning algorithms, by scanning when files are both read and written, etc.). Furthermore, it is necessary to write a separate version of the anti-virus scanner for each operating system that may be used on the file server 30, for example Windows NT, Windows 2000, Novell Netware, etc.
FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative known arrangement which aims to reduce the performance impact of the FIG. 1 approach. In accordance with the FIG. 2 approach, the AV scanner 60 is placed on a separate device to the file server 30, for example a desktop PC, with a redirector program 50 being installed on the file server 30 to intercept file access requests issued by the client devices 10 and to redirect those file accesses via the link 70 to the AV scanner 60, where any appropriate AV scanning is performed prior to the file access request being processed by the file server 30. Since the heart of the AV scanner is now separated from the file server 30, this approach clearly reduces the performance impact of the scanning process on the other activities being performed by the file server 30. However, the performance of file access processes can still be adversely affected by the scanning process, for example in cases where significant numbers of the files to be accessed have to undergo anti-virus scanning before being accessed. Further, it is still necessary to write redirector software 50 for each operating system that may be used by the file server 30.
The problem of having to write different software versions for each operating system has recently been compounded by the introduction of dedicated file storage devices that can be connected to the computer network, and which are intended solely to provide for central storage of files. Since these file storage devices do not need to perform all of the other functions that are typically associated with the more traditional file storage devices such as the file server 30 illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, they do not require the complex operating systems that are typically installed on file servers 30. Instead, most of these recent dedicated file storage devices, such as those available from Network Appliances, EMC, IBM, etc., have a "trimmed down", proprietary operating system installed thereon to enable those storage devices solely to manage file storage and retrieval activities. These proprietary operating systems are typically not "open" operating systems, and so it is not possible to write software to run on them without obtaining the necessary approval and assistance of the device vendor.
Clearly, it would be desirable to enable any file storage device of a computer network to be scanned for malware, whether that file storage device be the more traditional file server type device, or a dedicated file storage device, and to facilitate such scanning without having to redesign and re-code the scanning software for each device/vendor. In addition, it would be desirable to farther reduce the performance impact that the malware scanning process may have on the file accessing process.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved technique for performing malware scanning of files stored within a file storage device of a computer network.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Handling of malware scanning of files stored within a file storage device of a computer network


A fastening element for attaching a part such as a cooking hob to a supporting element, such as a frame supporting/surrounding the cooking hob, can include a spring secured to the supporting element. In one implementation, the fastening element can be secured by engaging a locking element of the spring into a first recess in the supporting element. In the mounted state, the spring has at its free end a gripping portion for holding the part, and the spring being embodied, as an element which is bent in a leaf-shaped manner. For ease in mounting the spring, the spring can have at the other end a width-reduced end that can penetrate a second slit-shaped recess in the supporting element. The width-reduced end and the slit-shaped recess are narrower than the region of the spring that is bent in a leaf-shaped manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a fastening element for attaching a part, especially a cooking hob, to a supporting element, in particular to a frame supporting and/or surrounding the cooking hob, the fastening element comprising a spring which can be secured to the supporting element by engaging a locking element which is disposed on the spring into a first recess in the supporting element, the spring having at its one end which is free in the mounted state a gripping portion for holding the part and the spring being embodied as an element which is bent in a leaf-shaped manner.
2. Background and Relevant Art
Fastening elements of this type are used during the installation of a cooking hob in a worktop. This involves inserting into recesses in the supporting element, i.e. in the support frame, during the mounting process a number of springs which are formed from a leaf-shaped material strip, which each have a gripping portion and which, when mounted, hold the cooking hob. In order to secure the spring in the support frame, the recess in the support frame and the spring end opposing the free spring end are shaped relative to each other so as to allow the spring to be secured in a defined position on the support frame.
In order to prevent the spring from falling out in the mounted position, a lug-like projection, which engages into a corresponding recess in the support frame and thus secures the spring, is stamped on in an end portion of the spring metal sheet.
The mounting of the spring and the cooking hob on the support frame is complex insofar as auxiliary means must be used in order to be able to mount the spring on the support frame. For this purpose, use is typically made of a pressing device or a hammer which allows the spring to be pressed or struck into its end position.

Fastening element for attaching a part to a supporting element

Electrolux Home Products Corporation N.V.


Liquid compositions, which are chemically and physically stable, comprising peroxygen bleach, a crystalline hydroxyl-containing stabilizing agent, perfume microcapsules and more than 10% of surfactant by weight of the total composition. The perfumes microcapsules, preferably, comprise a polymeric outer shell made of the condensation of melamine and formaldehyde. Process for laundering fabrics comprising the step of contacting the fabrics with said bleaching compositions.

Peroxygen bleach-containing compositions have been extensively described in laundry applications as laundry detergents, laundry additives or even laundry pretreaters. Many bleach compositions, including peroxygen bleach-containing compositions, comprise a perfume for the purpose of delivering a pleasant smell in addition to the whitening performance; but also for the purpose of improving the overall consumer acceptance of bleaching compositions.
Indeed, nowadays, having a good perfume is of such importance for consumers that some compositions might have as a main purpose to impart a pleasant smell to laundry. Therefore, it would be a significant advancement in the art to provide a composition which gives a pleasant smell to laundry in addition to excellent whitening and cleaning performances. However, the incorporation of some ingredients, such as perfumes, into conventional bleaching compositions has always been problematic due to the tendency of bleaching compositions to chemically react with these specific ingredients.
Most of the time, the addition of these compounds leads bleaching compositions to be unstable. More particularly, such bleaching composition will be chemically unstable: the active ingredients will have the tendency to diminish upon time, leading therefore to a less efficient composition. This effect is particularly significant in the case of incorporation of perfume. The perfume will react with the bleaching component upon storage and will result in compositions which do not have the desired benefit, i.e., the delivery of a good perfume to the laundry treated thereby.
Several different methods have been used to overcome this problem. One of these methods, in view of introducing perfumes in detergent and bleaching compositions, is the use of microcapsules and/or compounds in a form of particles with perfumes encapsulated therein. The following documents are representative of the prior art available on bleaching composition comprising perfume microcapsules:
WO 00/032735, published on Jun. 8, 2000, discloses a bleaching formulation containing perfume in a microencapsulated form.
US 2003/012222, published on Jul. 3, 2003, relates to detergents and cleaning agents comprising capsules having a core of a hydrophobic material which encloses at least one perfume.
However, the addition to bleaching compositions of such microcapsules and/or compounds in a form of particles, has a tendency to lead to products which are physically unstable. Indeed, these bleaching compositions will have the tendency to sediment and/or settle out, especially during storage and/or transportation. Furthermore, the addition to bleaching compositions of such microcapsules and/or compounds in a form of particles, will often result in compositions which are not homogenous and/or in compositions forming layer at its surfaces.
Accordingly, there is a need to formulate bleaching compositions having stably suspended perfume microcapsules.
The present invention provides, therefore, a stable bleaching composition which, in the same time, delivers a good perfume to the laundry treated thereby and which have excellent bleaching performance.

Bleaching compositions containing perfume microcapsules and a stabilizing agent


A system, method, and computer program product provide automated reconciliation of transactions. A transaction in a first list is reconciled with a combination of two or more transactions in a second list. A function, which may be implemented as a recursive function, successively searches for combinations of transactions in the second list in order to obtain a match for a transaction in the first list.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to financial and investment software, and more particularly to a system, method, and computer program product for automated reconciliation between two differently recorded sets of transaction records.
2. Description of Background Art
Software for managing personal and/or business finances and investments typically provides functionality for reconciling a user-maintained transaction register with a statement provided by a bank or other financial institution. In conventional financial software applications, a reconcile function operates as follows. Upon receiving a statement from the financial institution, the user activates the reconcile function or mode, and specifies a closing date and ending balance for the statement. All transactions in the register are displayed, except those that have previously been cleared against prior statements. Transactions occurring after the closing date may be omitted or displayed differently from other transactions. The user is then given an opportunity to clear individual transactions in the register by matching them against transactions in the statement. Once the user has cleared all the transactions from the statement, software 307 compares the statement ending balance, adjusted for uncleared transactions, against the register ending balance. If necessary, and if requested by the user, an adjustment is made to the register. The reconciliation is then complete.
The above-described process entails substantial manual effort by the user. The user must manually review each transaction in the statement and check it against the list of register transactions. This process may be time-consuming and error-prone.
Accordingly, many financial software applications provide an automated reconciliation function, wherein the statement from the financial institution is retrieved (such as from an online source) and downloaded onto the user's computer. Software 307 then automatically compares the retrieved statement with the user-entered register. Software 307 attempts to match downloaded statement transactions with register transactions, by comparing the dates and amounts of the transactions, as well as payee or other descriptive information. Some software applications perform a "fuzzy" match determination, in order to allow for slight differences in dates, amounts, and other descriptive information. For example, such software applications may be able to detect a match between a $36.50 register transaction dated June 24th and a $36.60 statement transaction dated June 26th (thus accounting for bank processing time, inaccuracies in entry of data, and the like). In general, such software applications attempt to mimic the type of judgment call a human would make in performing manual reconciliation. In such software applications, the user may be queried as to whether to match a particular statement transaction against one of a limited group of register transactions (or vice versa), particularly when the "fuzzy" match determination algorithm fails to provide a definitive result.
In general, such prior art systems attempt to take into account discrepancies between user-entered transactions and corresponding bank-entered transactions. However, there are many circumstances in which these systems are not capable of identifying matches, despite the "fuzzy" match capability. In particular, in many situations the bank may combine several transactions that the user has entered separately. Conversely, the user-entered register may contain a combined transaction record reflecting several transactions that the bank has entered separately. Since in such situations the amounts for the transactions differ substantially between the user-entered register and the bank statement, the automated reconciliation function is not able to detect a match.
For example, a user may enter into the software two transactions on a particular date, representing a $457 deposit and a $213 deposit. In the bank's records, these transactions may be recorded as a single transaction in the amount of $670; this may occur, for example, if the user presented the items together when making the deposit at the bank. The above-described automated reconciliation function would fail to detect a match, since no single transaction in the register matches a transaction in the statement. This is undesirable, since the user would then have to manually indicate that these transactions should be cleared.
As another example, in an investment account, a register may record transactions representing user contributions, and may further record separate transactions representing an employer's matching contributions. The financial institution may record the user contribution and the employer contribution together, as a single transaction. Again, the above-described automated reconciliation function would fail to detect a match, since the financial institution's single transaction would not match any single transaction in the register.
What is needed, then, is a system, method, and computer program product for detecting matches between two lists of transactions, where one of the transaction lists contains a combined transaction representing two or more transactions in the other transaction list. What is further needed is an automated reconciliation system, method, and computer program product that is capable of recognizing matches between a combined transaction and separately recorded transactions. What is further needed is an automated reconciliation system, method, and computer program product that is capable of recognizing matches between different combinations of transactions.

Reconciling combinations of transactions


An arrangement for feeding the subscriber's lines (10) of a public exchange with reduced line current upon the occurrence of a power failure, when the temperature within the public exchange or the temperature of individual components, mounted on circuit boards on which line interface circuits are present, exceeds a predetermined reference value, when the length of a subscriber's line is less than a line length reference value, or when the conversation time on a subscriber's line exceeds a conversation time reference value. All subscriber's lines or individual subscriber's lines only are fed with the reduced line current for a restricted time (FIG. 5B).

The present invention is intended for use in telephone exchange modules of the kind which include a magazine which houses subscriber line circuits, a regional processor which forms the main control means of the line interface circuits, and associated circuits, such as ring generators, tone receivers, time selectors, for instance. The telephone exchange module is normally dependent on central group selectors which serve several telephone exchange modules. Each subscriber line circuit is connected to a respective subscriber over a telephone line. Normally, eight line circuits are combined on a circuit board, a so-called line board, although one line board may contain fewer or more line circuits. The remaining circuits of the module are also incorporated on circuit boards. The module as a whole thus comprises a large number of circuit boards which are arranged parallel with one another in a magazine. The circuit cards in a magazine are normally cooled by means of conventional convection-air-cooling systems. A local telephone exchange may comprise one or more such magazines. The magazines are placed in cabinets positioned in a room equipped with an air-conditioning system which functions to maintain the air temperature in the room within appropriate limits, these limits being selected so that the function of the telephone exchange module will be ensured irrespective of the ambient temperature. Energy is supplied to the magazine of a telephone exchange module from the mains network, via a conventional current supply unit comprising a rectifier and smoothing circuits. The local telephone exchange also includes a reserve current source, in the form of batteries. This reserve current source is used in the event of a mains failure, so that telephone traffic is able to continue unimpeded.
In unfavourable circumstances, for instance unsuitable positioning of the module or a failure in an air-conditioning system, the ambient temperature of the telephone exchange may rise to 40.degree.-50.degree. C., which can result in undesirable functional disturbances.
A telephone exchange, and not only a telephone exchange of the aforedescribed kind, but also telephone exchanges in general, must be dimensioned in accordance with its peak load. It is normally a requirement that telephone traffic shall be able to continue at peak load periods while maintaining a high sound quality, among other things. This creates dimensioning problems, among other things because the boards present in the magazine generate considerable heat during peak load periods. The development of heat in an underlying magazine influences, to some extent, the ambient temperature of an overlying magazine. Since the boards are densely packed side-by-side in a magazine, the heat generated adjacent one board will also influence the ambient temperature of adjacent boards. Such thermal influence is unfavourable and requires the use of circuit board components which are highly tolerable to heat, in order to ensure reliability in operation. This is expensive.
In order to dimension the telephone exchange so that it is able to manage all traffic during a peak load period, it is necessary to dimension the batteries so that they are able to deliver the power required to operate the exchange during a peak load period in the event of a mains failure. The batteries must therefore be dimensioned to deliver a high power output over a specified operating time, typically four hours. This makes the batteries expensive and bulky.
The temperature of a line board can also increase when a subscriber line is short, wherein the line has a low ohmic resistance and a high current passes through those circuits through which current is supplied to the line, hereinafter referred to as supply circuits. These supply circuits will therewith be heated. If, on the other hand, the subscriber line is long, its ohmic resistance will be high and a small current will pass through the supply circuits, which are thus not heated.
Another source resulting in the heating of line board components is the length of the call or conversation being made. The longer a call, the longer the line board components remain active and the more heat generated by these components.
Another source of heat is the number of lines which are active simultaneously on each line board.
German patent DE 25 51 916 relates to a device for reducing the loop current of a subscriber line in order to keep heat losses low. A control signal, derived from the loop current is used to select either a normal or a reduce line supply voltage. Should the loop current exceed a threshold value--as is the case for short subscriber lines, then the reduced supply voltage is selected and the loop current will drop. A reduced loop current is preferred in order to keep heat losses in the line circuit low thus allowing the use of cheap resistors in the line circuit. This selection is made at the occasion when the subscriber line is connected to the exchange. Once the supply voltage has been selected it is never changed.
This known device is of a static nature and will not account for varying operating conditions prevailing in the exchange such as for example an increase of the traffic intensity, an increase of the ambient temperature of the exchange or switching to battery operation of the exchange.


Microfluidic devices, and methods for their use are described. The microfluidic devices include articles formed from a thermoplastic composition comprising a poly(aliphatic ester)-polycarbonate comprising soft block ester units, derived from monomers comprising an alpha, omega C6-20 aliphatic dicarboxylic acid or derivative thereof, a dihydroxyaromatic compound, and a carbonate source.

Thin walled articles are commonly used in the medical field, for example in microfluidic and/or polymerase chain reaction (PCR) applications. Microfluidic applications deal with the precise control of fluids that are geometrically constrained in microfluidic devices that can be characterized in general by the presence of one or more channels with at least one dimension of less than or equal to 1 millimeter (mm). Obtaining microfluidic devices that can achieve accurate fine mold detail replication and that can allow for the production of channels with such small dimensions is a constant challenge.
Considering PCR applications, PCR is a process used to amplify and copy a piece of DNA sequence across multiple orders of magnitude and is a vital technique in the field of molecular biology. In the PCR process, the DNA fragment is mixed in aqueous solution with complementary DNA primers and DNA polymerase enzyme and the mixture is taken through several thermal cycling steps. This thermal cycling process separates the double-helix of the target DNA sequence and initiates new DNA synthesis through the DNA polymerase catalyst. A typical thermal profile for the PCR reaction is shown below in Table 1, where ° C. is degrees Celsius.
TABLE 1StepTime DurationTemperature (° C.)Initial Denaturation2minutes94-95Denaturation20-30seconds94-95Primer Extension1minute72Final Extension5-15minutes72
The PCR reactions are typically carried out in microwells in arrays from 8 to 96 wells and volumes of 0.2-0.5 milliliters (mL). Due to the high number of samples in each microwell plate, the Society of Biomolecular Screening and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) have published standards ANSI/SBS 1-2004 through 4-2004 for microwell plates concerning the particular dimensions and positions of the microwells for microwell plates having 96, 984, and 1536 wells.
Efficient heat transfer through the walls of the microwell to the reaction solution is required for strict temperature control during the PCR reaction process. In order to achieve efficient heat transfer, the PCR trays are designed with very thin microwell wall thicknesses, such as around 0.2 mm. Injection molding of these thin-wall trays becomes a significant challenge since an extremely high flow material is required to fill the thin microwell walls. In addition, the material needs to have sufficient heat resistance to avoid deformation during the PCR thermal cycling step, and optical clarity is desired so the liquid volume level can be observed. Typically, a polypropylene such as PD702 from LYONDELL BASELL is used for injection molding of the PCR trays. However, polypropylene is subject to softening at elevated temperatures such as those used in PCR denaturation cycles, which can cause PCR or other microfluidic components to become excessively flexible during processing, and/or be subject to warping or other physical deformation, and/or leaking.
Polycarbonate materials have not typically been used for thin-wall microfluidic applications such as PCR microwells because while many polycarbonates possess the clarity and high heat resistance desired for the PCR or other microfluidic applications, they have generally been thought to lack sufficient flow to fill the thin tooling required and/or do not have sufficient ductility at room temperature. Accordingly, polypropylene has generally been the thermoplastic of choice for PCR and other microfluidic applications.
While a number of microfluidic and/or PCR devices fabricated from polypropylene or other materials that have been used for such devices have been proposed, there is a continuing need in the art for materials for use in making thin walled articles that are compatible with the microfluidic and/or PCR operating conditions.


An electric connection box includes a first cover and a second cover each having connector mounting portions, a first wiring board and a second wiring board which are mounted in a stacked manner between the first and second covers, a plurality of press-contacting terminals which are disposed in the connector mounting portions of the first and second covers, and are inserted in the first and second wiring boards, and a connecting wire which is selectively connected to the press-contacting terminals, and is arranged to extend over the first and second wiring boards when the first and second wiring boards are stacked together.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric connection box used, for example, in the interior wiring of an automobile.
2. Related Art
In one known conventional electric connection box, a wiring plate, having wires laid thereon, and an ECU board, having electronic parts soldered thereto, are received in a stacked manner within an upper case having connector mounting portions, and press-contacting portions of press-contacting terminals are connected to the wires laid on the wiring plate, and tab terminal portions project into the connector mounting portions, and a lower open portion of the upper case is closed by a lower case, and wiring plate engagement recesses are formed in inner surfaces of opposite side walls of the upper case, and engagement projections are formed on side walls of the wiring plate (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. JP-A-2001-320814 (Pages 2 to 3, FIG. 1)).
In another known conventional electric connection box, wires are laid respectively on inner surfaces of lower and upper cases, and press-contacting terminals, driven into connectors mounted on the upper and lower cases, are connected to the wires (which are to be connected by press-contact) by press-contacting blades formed on upper and lower ends of connecting bus bars provided at side surfaces of the upper and lower cases (see, for example, JP-A-2000-188814 (Pages 3 to 5, FIG. 1)).
In a further known conventional electric connection box, wiring boards are stacked together, and wires are installed to extend sequentially along a lower surface of the second-layer wiring board, an upper surface of the first-layer wiring board and a lower surface of the third-layer wiring board, and a plurality of terminals are connected to the wires on the wiring boards, and the wires are connected to bus bars provided transversely in the wiring boards, and terminals of the bus bars project form the wiring boards, and the terminals are disposed between the bus bars, and a plurality of terminals are provided at a cover for receiving the wiring boards, and a power supply bus bar is provided at an extension portion of the wiring board (see, for example, JP-A-2000-139016 (Pages 3 to 5, FIG. 1)).
However, in the above JP-A-2001-320814, connectors can be mounted only on the upper case, and therefore many circuits can not be connected to the electric connection box.
In the above JP-A-2000-188814, the connectors can be mounted on both of the lower and upper cases, but free connection can not be easily made between the lower and upper cases since an insulating plate is disposed between the upper and lower terminals.
In the above JP-A-2000-139016, the bus bars are arranged in the longitudinal direction, and therefore connection in the transverse direction is limited, and in the case where the electric connection box is small in size, more circuits and joints can not be absorbed.


Crude coal tar is distilled in the form produced in a coke plant. The distillation tower contains a rectification section to retain naphthalene with the other components heavier than benzene. The benzene is removed overhead.

The National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants ("NESHAP"), Part 61, Subpart L promulgated in 1989 (Federal Register, V. 54, No. 177, p. 38073 et seq., Sep. 14, 1989), decree that all coal tar tanks must be sealed and gas-blanketed because of emissions of benzene which otherwise occur. Exemptions from gas-blanketing may be obtained if alternative methods are demonstrated to reduce benzene emissions from the tanks by 98%. Emissions should not in any event exceed 500 ppm by volume.
The gas-blanketing of tar tanks is expensive both initially and as an on-going enterprise. Regardless of the particular governmental standards, it is recognized that benzene emissions from storage tanks and during transport present a problem which should be addressed. We have therefore invented a practical alternative.
Processing of coal tar of various types is a common practice in the coke making industry. However, the removal of benzene as we perform it is not known to us, and the treatment of coal tar in two stages to make both a low-benzene tar and a low-benzene sludge fuel has not been done to our knowledge.

Process for preparing debenzolized tar and low-benzene centrifuged tar sludge

North Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County


A bubble cycling heat exchanger includes a closed fluid loop in contact with a heat absorbing source through a heat conducting block. The loop has a bubble generator. An expanding area for generating bubbles is installed at the loop. The loop is also formed with a radiator and a guide region from which bubbles are easily separable. The heat conducting block is connected to the heat absorbing source. Since the overheating of the heat absorbing source will cause the loop to generate bubbles by an unequilibrium formed at the guide region of the loop, the bubbles will separate from the guide region so that the liquid in the loop flows for transferring heat and so that heat is radiated by the fins or other elements of the radiator from the primary element of a computer at the heat absorbing source. The loop operates continuously until a thermal equilibrium is achieved.

A prior art heat pipe radiator includes a seal vacuum chamber filled with proper working fluid. A plurality of radiating fins are installed thereon. A capillary section is installed in the chamber. The heating way is to heat one end of the pipe to boil and evaporate the working fluid. The heat is transferred from a hot section at one side to a cold section at another side. After the gas is condensed to become liquid at the cold section. The liquid flows back due to gravitation or capillary force.
Thus, due to the structure of the heat pipe, the amount of heat to be transferred will be deteriorated with the increment of an operation inclination. Due to the capillary force from the structure of the heat pipe, if overheat occurs, a dry out will be induced. Once dry out occurs, no liquid flows back so that the heating area is full of high temperature gas so that only gas phase exists. Therefore, temperature will increase dramatically so that heat supper conduction in the heat pipe fail and thus the effect is reduced greatly. Furthermore, the non-condensing gas in the heat pipe must be removed completely otherwise super conduction will be affected. Moreover, since an operation inclination exist, the heat pipe is possibly moved or folded. Accordingly, it is apparent that heat pipe has some original disadvantages necessary to be improved.


A method, system, and computer-program product for determining one or more decision steps of a programming logic set executed by a computer. The method comprises steps of: receiving at least one data set; receiving conditional information; tagging one of said one or more data sets to indicate qualification under the conditional information. The tagging includes determining, for each tagging condition element, if the tagging condition element passes or fails, and combining, in accordance with a predefined logic scheme, the results of the individual tagging condition elements from the determining step to further determine whether said data set meets the conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system, method, and computer program product for determining decision steps of a programming logic set executed by a computer. Particularly, the present invention provides users with the details of how a pass/fail decision was made in a programming logic set executed by a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
The cumulative effect of many investment decisions over a variety of assets and/or investments ultimately defines whether a portfolio of assets is successful. Poor investment decisions result in a loss of capital (e.g., a reduction in the value of an asset or portfolio of assets) or a lower rate of return. A financial institution's business model relies on the assumption that an acceptable rate of return can be made (e.g., a bank, mutual fund, hedge fund, real estate syndicate etc.). A poor investment decision substantially and negatively affects the financial institution's profitability and has a significant and lasting negative effect on the economic viability of the financial institution.
One way to minimize the risk of loss associated with investment decisions is to obtain insurance. In certain instances, a purchaser or holder of a large number of similar investment vehicles (such as mortgages or asset backed securities) may enter into an agreement with an insurer. The agreement will include the conditions the investment vehicle must satisfy (or pass) in order to be insured by the insurer. For example, if the investment vehicle is a mortgage, a mortgage insurer might require that the mortgage have a loan to value ratio of more than 80% before insuring the mortgage. The loan to value ratio is only an exemplary condition that may be imposed by a mortgage insurer before insuring a mortgage. Other exemplary conditions may involve the interest rate, the term of the loan, or funding date. The conditions for insurance imposed by a mortgage insurer can be complex, and it is time consuming to analyze the mortgages individually by comparing them to the constraints imposed by the mortgage insurer.
Conventionally, computers have been used to compare data representing provisions of the investment vehicle (i.e., a mortgage) to the conditions of the insurer. Conventional computer applications interface with the computer to check through true or false (e.g., pass/fail) conditions to make a decision of whether an investment vehicle satisfies (e.g., passes) the conditions imposed under an agreement with the insurer.
With respect to the computer application, the conditions imposed by the insurer can be programmatically organized into a program logic set that contains 2 groups in 3 levels. The first level is an AND-group level. The second level is an OR-group level. The third level is an individual condition level. Each AND-group can have more than one OR-group within it. Each OR-group can have more than one individual condition within it. The number of AND-groups, OR-groups and individual conditions determine the level complexity of the task the computer application is processing.
An AND-group condition is considered to be true if at least one of all OR-groups within the AND-group is true. An OR-group is considered true if all individual conditions within the OR-group are true. If all AND-groups are true, the whole set of logic is considered a pass. Otherwise, the logic set is considered a fail. FIG. 1 shows an exemplary structure of programming logic set.
As shown in FIG. 1, there are two AND-groups 2A and 2B. Within AND-group 2A, there are three OR-groups 1A, 1B, and 1C. Within AND-group 2B, there are three OR-groups, 1D, 1E, and 1F. Within each OR-group, there are shown three individual conditions. When a computer is executing the program logic, it will check through each AND-group. Inside each AND-group, the computer will check each OR-Group by order. If one of the OR-groups is satisfied, that means all individual conditions are satisfied in the OR-group. For example, if OR-group 1A is satisfied (i.e., all individual conditions within 1A are satisfied), then AND-group 2A is also satisfied. Thus, the computer will not check the rest of the OR-groups (1B or 1C) within AND-group 2A. The conventional technique is performed this way because it uses fewer computer resources and improves computer efficiency. Efficiency is improved because the computer does not check programming conditions that do not affect the pass or fail decision, regardless if they are satisfied.
For example, if OR-group 1A passes and OR-group 1B passes, the AND-group 2A passes. If OR-group 1A passes and OR-group 1B fails, the AND-group 2A still passes. Once the computer determines that AND-group 2A passes, the results of OR-group 1B are irrelevant. Thus, the conventional technique skips OR-group 1B and any other irrelevant processing.
The conventional approach does not allow a user to question the results of the programming logic. For example, if the computer determined that a loan did not pass or satisfy the conditions imposed under an agreement with the mortgage insurer, a user of the conventional approach would not know the reason why the computer determined that a loan did not pass or satisfy the conditions. The conventional approach provides only the overall result. In many cases, a user needs to know not only the result of the program logic, but also the details of the pass or fail of each AND-group, OR-group, and even the individual conditions inside the OR-groups. Conventional programming logic is not able to effectively provide detailed decision-making information.
Using the conventional technique, if a user questioned the results of the programming logic, the user would have to go through the programming logic set manually to see which conditions caused the data representations of the loan to fail. This is a very time consuming process where mistakes can be easily made.
There are many reasons for users to question the processing results and for users to need the detailed information about how the pass/fail decision was made. For example, if the computing process does not match the user's expectations, this might indicate that the programming logic is incorrect, or that a human error occurred such as information having been input into the computer incorrectly.
The present inventor has recognized a need for a new programming approach to deal with a situation where a user needs to know the details of how pass/fail decisions were made after the programming logic set is executed by the computer. Furthermore, there is also a need for a computer capable of showing the role each individual condition plays in making pass/fail decisions.
Furthermore, in the context of the example discussed above involving mortgages, a new programming approach would help individual loan holders by reducing processing costs of the mortgage guarantors and mortgage insurers.

System, method, and computer program product for determining results of programming logic

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac)


In one embodiment, a power on reset circuit includes a main circuit and a translation circuit. The main circuit may be configured to receive an external signal and to generate an input signal that is indicative of a state of the external signal. The translation circuit may be configured to receive the input signal and provide a power on reset signal indicative of a brownout condition of the external signal. The external signal may be a relatively high voltage signal compared to the power on reset signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical circuits, and more particularly but not exclusively to power on reset circuits.
2. Description of the Background Art
A power on reset circuit generates a signal indicative of the status of a monitored power source provided to the circuit. For example, the power on reset circuit may generate a logical LOW signal when the monitored power source is below a trip point, and a logical HIGH signal when the monitored power source is above the trip point. The signal may be provided to another circuit that operates depending on the state of the signal. For example, the other circuit may be reset when the signal indicates that the monitored power source is below the trip point.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an exemplary power on reset ("POR") circuit 100. As shown in FIG. 1, POR circuit 100 comprises a main circuit 180 and a translation circuit 190. Main circuit 180 includes a resistor ladder comprising resistors R1, R2, R3, and R4. The voltage across R4, which is a scaled version of the monitored external voltage Vcch, is coupled to control the gate of transistor M1. When the voltage on the gate of transistor M1 is below its threshold voltage (the trip point in this example), transistor M1 is OFF, thereby providing Vcch on node 110 via resistors R6 and R5. When the voltage on the gate of transistor M1 is above the trip point, transistor M1 is ON, thereby pulling node 110 to ground. Capacitor C1 sets the pulse width and brownout sensitivity of POR circuit 100. Capacitor C2 prevents stray capacitance from causing the output of transitor M1 (i.e., node 110) to be OFF when resistor R6 is very weak. Transistor M2 provides some hysteresis by modifying the falling trip point of POR circuit 100. The effects of transistor M2 and capacitors C1 and C2 are not relevant to the present disclosure, and will not be taken into account in the following analysis in the interest of clarity.
In a typical application, the signal on node 110, which is indicative of the state of Vcch, may be directly provided to another circuit. However, in applications where there is voltage incompatibility between main circuit 180 and the other circuit, a translation circuit may be employed between the two circuits. In circuit 100, translation circuit 190 allows the signal on node 110 of main circuit 180 to be provided to a low voltage, single gate oxide (SGOX) transistor coupled to node 130.
One problem with circuit 100 is that it has a tendency to not provide a correct output signal on node 130 during brownouts. For example, the POR output signal on node 130 may not indicate the correct state of Vcch when Vcch dips below the trip point. FIG. 2 shows waveforms illustrating improper operation of a power on reset circuit. In the examples of FIG. 2 and subsequently described FIG. 3, a logical HIGH POR output indicates a proper external voltage Vcch, while a logical LOW POR output indicates a brownout. In the example of FIG. 2, the POR output does not pull down to ground (i.e., logical LOW) even when Vcch goes below the trip point during a brownout (see arrows 212 and 213). FIG. 3 shows waveforms illustrating proper operation of a power on reset circuit. As shown in FIG. 3, the POR output should pull to ground (see arrows 312 and 313) when Vcch dips below the trip point, indicating to other circuits that a brownout has occurred.


A cleaning solvent made up of blends of propionate esters. Propionate esters selected from the group methyl propionate, butyl propionate, propyl propionate and higher homologues, are blended with esters selected from the group methyl hydroxypropionate, ethyl hydroxypropionate and higher homologues. Blends of these esters produces cleaning effectiveness and low toxicity.. The mixtures are particularly useful in electronic parts cleaning and defluxing, and for degreasing. The blending of the propionate solvents produces a selective range of evaporation rates and Flash Points.

This invention relates to the composition of non-hazardous and non-toxic solvent systems. The objective of this invention is to provide alternatives to those solvents or solvent compositions that are either labeled hazardous by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act), or have an undesirable Toxicology a defined by TLV (Threshold Limit Value ). Those solvents with TLV of less than 1000 are to be considered undesirable and in need to be replaced.
Further objectives of this invention is to offer replacements for those solvents identified by the International agreements of the "Montreal Protocol". An urgent list of Ozone depleting solvents has been drawn up with the highest Ozone depleting solvents to be phased out by 1995. These chemicals include the Halogenated solvents: Chloro-Fluorinated Carbons (CFC's), TriChloroethane and Carbontetrachloride. A balance of other chemicals and solvents that have less severe Ozone depleting ratings are to be phased out by the year 2000. Many of the Halogenated solvents are used in industrial applications because of their good solvency, fast evaporation and non-flammable rating. The objective is to offer a balance of properties with a new system of solvents that is safe for the environment and safe for the workers.


By initially setting a tone value-drive signal relation in which an assumed ink jet volume determined from the number of times the jettings of ink droplets of a respective kind relative to a tone value does not monotonically increase, the actual jet ink volume is set to monotonically increase relative to the jet volume.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the ink jet recording of jetting ink droplets from a corresponding nozzle by deforming a pressure chamber by an actuator and, in particular, to an ink jet recording apparatus and method of performing tone recording by jetting a plurality of ink droplets from a corresponding nozzle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patent Document 1 below discloses the technique of effecting multi-stage tone control by, while jetting a plurality of kinds of ink droplets from a corresponding nozzle communicating with a pressure chamber, controlling the number of times the jettings of various kinds of ink droplets and achieving an enhanced tone representation capability.
In this prior art technique, when an assumed jet volume corresponding to the tone value is given by the following expression
            ∑              i        =        1            N                  Vi      ×      Ki        ,where N is the number of kinds of ink droplets, Vi is a jet volume corresponding to the singly jetting of an i-th number of kinds of ink droplets, and Ki is a number of times the jettings of the i-th number of kinds of ink droplets corresponding to a given tone value.
The assumed jet volume is monotonically increased relative to the tone value.
Patent Document 1: JPN PAT APPLN KOKAI PUBLICATION NO. 2001-347694.


Disclosed are security articles and methods and systems for authenticating security articles using a plurality of stimuli. According to one embodiment, an illustrative security feature includes an encoded feature wherein differential activation of phosphorescent or fluorescent materials creates a machine readable code through the simultaneous presence of a source of electromagnetic radiation and a specific gas environment. A detector detects a differential spectral emission across the security feature that results from the change in gas environment. The spectral emission may be compared to an expected emissive signature to determine authenticity of the security article.

The present invention relates generally to detectable security markings. More specifically, the present invention relates to security articles having light absorption and emission characteristics that change upon exposure to a specific gas environment.
Counterfeiting and forgery have become significant concerns in the modern economy and marketplace. Advances in computing technology and printing techniques have increased the incidence of forgeries, counterfeited documents, and other fraudulent activities. Countless areas of today's high-technology society require and rely upon certification, authentication and protection of highly valuable documents, papers, currency and other materials. Thus, there is a need for security markings to be incorporated into currency, important documents, packaging, and other authentic materials to prevent unauthorized copying, forging, counterfeiting and other fraudulent use.
A similar problem exists in a variety of contexts. In addition to protecting against counterfeit currency, authentication of valuable documents or materials also affects many facets of the economy. Authentication stamps such as visas or postmarks, for example are subject to fraudulent use and forgery. Also a wide variety of products and consumer goods may be created as knock-offs cheap replacements or gray market goods. Notaries public use a raised stamp to authenticate notarized documents. Drivers' licenses, passports and other photographic identification contain holograms and microprinting. Sporting memorabilia and retail clothiers use holographic tags and stamps to assist in proving authenticity. Even fashion designers are now including authentication devices in their clothing to prevent passing off of knock-offs as designer products.
Current methods of authentication of currency involve visual observation, scanning under ultraviolet lamps, notes containing security threads, and emissive materials such as inks and planchettes. Such security threads emit a distinct marking, color or code in response to exposure to the ultraviolet light. In some circumstances, the emissive features of different denominations of notes can emit different colors. In addition to the colors of the emission, a code number or other unique identifier can be detected by the naked eye when the note is exposed to ultraviolet light or excitation of some form.
A disadvantage to most of the traditional security features is that they are visible and known to the world. If a counterfeiter is aware there is a security thread in a bill or a watermark in a document, replication of the security feature is easier. Once a feature is made known to the public, a counterfeiter may begin to develop specific strategies and solutions to overcome the security protections provided by the specific feature. Methods of creating and perfecting forgeries and counterfeit documents have become easier and more available with the advent of highly sophisticated computer printing and processing. As far back as 1991, the United States Treasury has continually added security safeguard features to the denominations of currency in an attempt to combat the use of counterfeit money. These safeguards have included watermarks, security threads embedded in the paper, microprinting, color-shifting ink, and the use of multi-colored bills.
Accordingly, a need exists for security features that further reduce a counterfeiter's likelihood of success, even if they are aware of the existence of the security feature. There is a further need for covert optically encoded markings, formed from at least one emitter that responds differently when exposed to two varied stimuli to create a machine readable response that cannot be detected by the human eye.

Gas activated changes to light absorption and emission characteristics for security articles


At least one radiation pattern is rotated at a first radio station for the purpose of sampling a predefined angular range. At a first time of rotation, a second radio station is detected with a first angular position within the angular range corresponding to the first time. The second radio station determines a first quality value which can be assigned to the first angular position and reports the first quality value back to the first radio station. The first quality value is available for evaluation at the first radio station at a second time corresponding to a second angular position of the radiation pattern. The first radio station controls the speed of rotation of the at least one radiation pattern for subsequent rotations so that the first angular position corresponds to the second angular position.

Beamforming methods are generally used in the downlink on the part of a base station to achieve improvements in reception on mobile radio communication terminals. Improvements in the reception of transmitted signals are achieved by beamforming methods which are employed on the transmission side and which can be implemented with the aid of what is termed a SMART antenna array.
In the related art, groups of radio communication terminals are formed based on a respective angular position, it then being possible to provide radio coverage to an individual group by a directed radiation pattern.
Depending on the resolution or, as the case may be, width of the radiation patterns used to provide radio coverage to groups it is possible, because of the spatial orientation of the radiation patterns, to provide radio coverage to a comparatively high number of radio communication terminals using the same radio transmission resources (such as carrier frequency, timeslot, code, etc.). Based on the resolution, width and spatial orientation of the radiation patterns it is possible, despite the use of the same radio transmission resources, to reduce disruptive interference signals in the radio communication system as a result of the directed transmission.
For the improved use of beamforming methods it is necessary always to know the current angular positions of receiving radio stations that are to be provided with radio coverage by a transmitting radio station.
In particular in the case of a mobile radio system in which positions of mobile terminals can change quickly it is necessary to detect changes in position quickly in order, where appropriate, to be able to update a covering radiation pattern or in order to carry out a new assignment of a terminal to a radiation pattern. In this way it is made possible to avoid an existing radio connection between a transmitting radio station, for example a base station, and a receiving radio station, for example a terminal, being lost.
It is common practice at the present time to use what are termed "opportunistic beamforming" methods with which, for example, a radio cell or a predefined angular range is sampled and provided with radio coverage on the part of a base station that has a suitable antenna array with the aid of a rotatable radiation pattern.
FIG. 1 shows such an angular range WB which is embodied, for example, as a 120° sector of a radio cell. A rotatable radiation pattern SD1 is formed—generally using digital signal processing in the baseband on the part of a base station BTS1—with the aid of an adaptive beamforming method. The radiation pattern SD1 samples by way of example the illustrated angular range WB from 60° through 0° to 300°.
At measuring times a radio station FS1 determines quality values which allow a time-related assessment of a radiation pattern signal transmission. Measured "signal-to-interference-noise ratio" (SINR) values, for example, can be used as quality values.
If the radio station FS1 is detected by the rotating radiation pattern SD1, the radio station FS1 will measure a correspondingly greater SINR value than at times at which the radio station FS1 is not detected by the rotating radiation pattern SD1.
The measured SINR values are reported back to the base station BTS1. The latter decides, based on the reported SINR values, whether and how the base station BTS1 will perform a radio or, as the case may be, data transmission to the radio station FS1.
If a correspondingly large SINR value is reported back, a radio transmission of data can take place from the base station BTS1 to the radio station FS1, since the latter is detected by the rotating radiation pattern SD1.
If, on the other hand, the radio station FS1 is not detected by the rotating radiation pattern SD1, the reported SINR value is correspondingly small and no radio transmission of data would take place from the base station BTS1 to the radio station FS1.
In a method of this kind two opposing ancillary conditions need to be taken into account during the sampling in a compromise to be chosen:
On the one hand the sampling of the radio cell should be performed as quickly as possible in order to provide each radio station with data at regular intervals. Too slow a rotation of the radiation pattern could lead for example to time gaps in the radio coverage of the radio station that are undesirable in terms of a "Quality of Service" (QoS) value that is to be complied with.
On the other hand each radio station requires a certain measuring time for determining the quality value and for reporting back the quality value to the radio station that is performing the rotation of the sampling radiation pattern. In addition processing time is required there in order to evaluate the reported quality values. These required times represent an obstacle in terms of increasing the speed of rotation of the radiation pattern.
In the event that a rotation is too fast, reported SINR values, based on which the radio transmission is specified, could already be out of date and could disadvantageously influence an efficient data transmission.

Method for controlling a radio transmission


In an optical transmission system for intensively modulating an optical wavelength with a sending signal to be transmitted and optically amplifying a modulated optical signal, a wavelength dispersion characteristic of a single mode optical transmission line can be suitably compensated. The optical transmission system comprises a modulating circuit for modulating optical phases or frequencies of the optical wavelength with the sending signal to set a chirping parameter .alpha. to -0.65 to -1.3, and outputting an modulated signal; an optical transmission line having wavelength residual dispersion value of 16 to 21 ps/nm/Km for transmitting the modulated signal; and a dispersion compensating circuit for compensating wavelength dispersion value, of the optical transmission line, which is set to approximately +500 to +1200 ps/nm when an input optical power is more than -5 dBm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical transmission fiber system. More particularly, it relates to an optical transmission system for optimally compensating a wavelength dispersion characteristic of a single mode optical transmission fiber.
2. Description of the Related Art
High-capacity transmission systems are strongly expected in future multi media network. Several schemes have been proposed to realize a super high capacity optical transmission system, for example, Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM) system, an Optical Time-Division Multiplexing (OTDM) system, which is used in optical areas, and a wavelength-Division-Multiplexing (WDM) system.
An Erbium Doped Fiber amplifier (EDFA) having a wide gain band in the 1.5 .mu.m band has been put to practical use as a pre-amplifier, a post amplifier, or a repeater amplifier. The WDM system among the above-described various kinds of systems is more useful as a system for obtaining a flexible optical wave network, in which cross-connecting, branching, inserting optical signals, and multiplexing different kinds of services are performed.
Further, the WDM system is more preferable to other systems in the case where a network constructed by using a 1.3 .mu.m zero-dispersion single mode fiber, which is called as SMF, is employed as high-capacity repeaterless transmission system. This is because that as the transmission speed per optical carrier signal is lowered, it maybe possible to make acceptable values large, of wavelength dispersion and input optical power which is limited due to nonlinear effect of an optical fiber.
However, transmission speed and distance are limited because a transmission waveform is distorted due to a wavelength dispersion characteristic or interaction of the characteristic and nonlinear effect, in the case where an optical signal having a high speed more than 10 Gb/s per carrier wave is transmitted.
The wavelength dispersion characteristic means a characteristic, in which speed is changed for each wavelength according to a refractive index having wavelength dependency. Therefore, a delay amount becomes different per carrier wavelength, and then waveform distortion is generated.
It is general to use a system for inserting a dispersion compensating device having dispersion, of which symbol is reversed to that of transmission fiber dispersion generated in a transmission fiber, and offsetting the transmission fiber dispersion as a system for suppressing the wavelength dispersion. Several systems, for example (1) a system employing a grating technique, (2) a system employing an optical interferometer, or (3) a system employing an optical fiber have been already proposed, as dispersion compensating device.
Further, a system for performing pre-chirping in a transmitter, that is, a system for intentionally modulating phases or frequencies to suppress dispersion modulating phases or frequencies to suppress dispersion due to wavelength dispersion other than intensity signal components which is modulated with a base band signal, or a system for shaping waveform by a pulse compression effect according to nonlinear effect in SMF, has been proposed.
A dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) is most attractive among various kinds of dispersion compensating devices from the view point of controlling operation in a wide band and dispersion, and stability.
FIG. 1 shows a structural example of a general wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) transmission system having a plurality of repeaters, which employs a SMF transmission line.
A system shown in FIG. 1 performs wavelength division multiplexing transmission under the condition of 3 repeaters, 16-carriers.times.4=280 Km.
Further, in FIG. 1, there are 16 pieces of laser diodes 1 (LD) corresponding to 16 carriers.
A Lithium Niobate (LiNbO.sub.3) external modulator, which is so-called as LN, emits different carrier wavelengths, each modulated corresponding to a signal.
An optical coupler 3 receives optical outputs of the emission spectrums, each of 16 different wavelengths respectively sent from the 16 pieces of laser diodes (LD) 1, combines and outputs them. A branch circuit 4 having a branching ratio of 10:1 branches and outputs 1/10 of the combined signals outputted from optical coupler 3 and inputs it to a wavelength stabilizer 5.
The wavelength stabilizer 5 feeds a control signal back to a driver circuit of each of laser diodes (LD) 1 so as to set carrier wavelength signal to a predetermined wavelength.
Further, in the above-described external modulator 2 and the optical coupler 3, attenuation is generated. Accordingly, a post amplifier 6 is provided to amplitude an emitted level to the original level. The post amplifier 6 is formed of the above-described Elbium Doped Optical Fiber.
A reference numeral 7, for example, it is 1.3 .mu.m zero-dispersion single mode fiber, that is SMF, has a length of about 70 Km.
A branch circuit 9 receives the optical signal sent from the optical transmission line, and the optical signal branched by the branch circuit 9 is inputted to an optical to electrical convertor 12 via a band pass filter 11 having a central wavelength of 0.3 nm to covert it to a corresponding electrical signal.
In FIG. 1, a dispersion compensating circuit 8 is inserted on the way of the optical transmission line. Dispersion compensating circuit 8 is formed of a dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) 80, a pre-amplifier 81 and a post amplifier 82.
In FIG. 1, when one wavelength is transmitted, only one laser diode (LD) 1 may be employed and no optical coupler and optical selective filter are necessary.
Further, dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) 80 has a larger dispersion absolute value, and symbols of the value are reversed to the distributed value of SMF 7 to give dispersion compensation.
Dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) 80 is employed to give dispersion compensation. However, a core size of the fiber 80 is substantially small, and a nonlinear refractive index is large. That brings great nonlinear effect in comparison with that of a normal SMF or a dispersion shifted fiber.
In this case, nonlinear effect that appears extreme is self phase modulation (SPM) when a signal source outputs one wave carrier for TDM and OTDM, while it is cross phase modulation (XPM) as well as self phase modulation (SPM) when the signal source outputs multi-wave carriers.
In either cases, wavelength chirping is generated on the optical signals, and transmission waveforms are distorted resulting in deterioration of the transmission characteristic. It is the easiest way for reducing the nonlinear effect in dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) 80 to make input power of the DCF 80 lowered.
However, if the input power of DCF 80 is lowered, SN ratio becomes worse according to a loss. Or the input power of SMF 7 should be increased, so that the nonlinear effect in SMF 7 appears extreme.
In either way, there are limitations in an allowed range of input power, transmission distance and transmission speed in comparison with the case where there is no nonlinear effect in dispersion compensating fiber (DCF) 80. That brings some problems, such as optical signal transmission via the SMF becomes difficult.
Further, even by various kinds of the above described dispersion compensating systems, such as the system for pre-chirping in a transmitter or the system for compressing pulses and shaping waveform of pulses with the non-linear effect in a SMF, there has been a problem that tolerance of input power to SMF 7, in which shaping of waveform may be effectively performed, is narrow, if only one of the above described systems is employed.
When transmitting 1-wave, it is possible to control the output of the optical amplifier so as to be an input power to SMF 7, of which waveform can be shaped.
However, when employing the WDM transmission system, the problems appear as follows;
(1) It is difficult to constantly keep output power of each channel because of dispersion of the optical output power in an optical source or losses in optical devices; and PA0 (2) The dispersion is generated in optical outputs between channels, because there is a gain tilting on amplifying characteristic of an optical amplifier, so that a different wavelength makes different amplifying power. Therefore, it is difficult to stably transmit WDM signals on a SMF transmission line.

Optical transmission system employing single mode optical transmission fiber


A diagnostic device for measuring selective tissue conductance and temperature is described which can be used to assess pain, abnormal sensation or sympathetic dysfunction in a human being or animal. Two spaced-apart electrodes are mounted together for measuring conductance of tissue over a selected region. A temperature sensor is positioned adjacent the electrodes for measuring tissue temperature in the selected region. A circuit is provided for indicating measured temperature and conductance to a user for localizing a region of sympathetic nerve dysfunction. In preferred form, the device indicates measured temperature and conductance visually and/or audibly by utilizing a measurement of both selective tissue conductance and temperature together. A more specific and useful diagnosis of sympathetic nerve dysfunction may be made than through the use of sensing either conductance or temperature separately.

Various methods and machines have been used in the past to measure electrical characteristics of living tissue for the purpose of locating an area of abnormal nervous system activity. U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,599, issued Oct. 6, 1987, to William Woodley and David Longmire describes such an apparatus and its use. This patent should be carefully considered for the purpose of putting the present invention into proper context.
A device known as the EPI-SCAN 5000, manufactured by the Epi-Scan Corporation of Russellville, Ala., represents an embodiment of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,599. One clinical use of this device is to objectively assess mediation, maintenance or clinical expression of certain pain forms through the sympathetic nervous system. Localized variance in skin conductance levels can be an indication of sympathetically-mediated or maintained pain. Detection of such abnormalities may be used to indicate certain pain therapies, such as insertion of a "nerve block."

Selective tissue conductance/thermography sensor apparatus


An optical information medium comprises a first disc forming information recording layer on a main surface thereof, a second disc being bonded to the first disc at the surface where the information recording layer is formed by way of an adhesive. A hydrophilic resin film is formed on the surface of the disc at the inner peripheral side extending from the center hole to the information non-recording area. The hydrophilic resin film is damp and is rough compared with the other portion formed of non-hydrophilic resin, and it is elastic. The characters, patterns or designs can be printed on the optical information medium using water-base ink, etc. after manufacturing the optical information medium. Further, the hydrophilic resin film is formed on the disc at the portion outside the information recording area. Further, when the hydrophilic resin film is formed, the surface of the inner and outer peripheral portions of the optical information medium protuberates slightly thicker than other portion so that the fats of the fingers is hardly stuck to the recording surface of the optical information medium even if the inner and outer peripheral portions of the disc is grasped by hand.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical information medium comprising one disc formed of a transparent substrate and having an information recording area at least at a main surface thereof and another disc which is bonded to the one disc.
2. Prior Art
A digital video disc (DVD) capable of recording and reading information of a high-density put into practical use associated with the recent development and practical utilization of a laser having a short wavelength. The optical information medium of this type can adopt a structure in which two discs are bonded.
A read-only optical information medium having such a structure for bonding two surfaces of discs has a hole at the center thereof and an inner peripheral side information non-recording area at the outside thereof. A pair of discs which are bonded to each other comprise a transparent substrate and an information recording area provided outside the inner peripheral side information non-recording area on the main surface of one of the discs, and a pit serving as an information recording means formed on the information recording area, and a reflecting layer formed of a metal film and provided on the pit. Further, as an optical information medium capable of recording information, a tracking guide is formed on the information recording area provided on at least one disc, and an optical recording layer formed of organic dyes, etc. is formed on the tracking guide by a means such as a spin-coating process. Still further, a reactive curing resin as an adhesive is coated on the surfaces of a pair of discs by means of the spin-coating process or a screen printing, and the coated surfaces are laid on top of another to oppose each other, and two discs are bonded to each other by the adhesive set forth above.
In the optical information medium, two discs are bonded by the adhesive as mentioned above. However, since the surface of the disc on which the inner peripheral side information non-recording area is provided is smooth, slippage is liable to occur between a clamper and the disc when the smooth surface is clamped by an optical information medium player so as to rotate the disc. As a result, there occurs a problem of faulty operation and non-reproduction of the record involved in the displacement of clamping position or rotating variation.
In the optical information medium set forth above, since the surface of the disc in the inner peripheral side information non-recording area is smooth, when the outer peripheral portion is grasped by hand, the disc is slippery and liable to be dropped. Accordingly, two surfaces of the optical information medium at the peripheral side portion are frequently normally grasped by fingers, thereby soiling the recording surface of the optical information medium with fats on the fingers.


A method of ventilating a patient controls an actuator, in accordance with a prescribed value for a respiratory parameter, to compress an inflatable bag to cause air to flow out of an output valve of the bag. The respiratory parameter may include tidal volume, pressure, volume limit, peak pressure, I:E ratio, inspiratory time, and/or breathing rate of the air flowing through the output valve. The method also senses the pressure flowing through the output valve, and sends a pressure signal to the controller. Additionally, the method senses the flow rate through the output valve, and sends a flow rate signal to the controller. The method also adjusts the compression of the actuator as a function of the flow rate signal and/or the pressure signal to adjust the output tidal volume, pressure, volume limit, peak pressure, I:E ratio, inspiratory time, and/or breathing rate to be in accordance with the prescribed value.

Respiratory disease is one of the leading causes of death in many developing countries. Frequently, there is a shortage of life saving equipment, like ventilators, at hospitals in these countries. As a result, caregivers are often provided with a bag valve mask or Ambu bag and asked to manually ventilate a patient by hand for hours and sometimes days. This arrangement is unreliable can may be life threatening to the patient.


A device for sifting a siftable material comprises at least three nestable trays. The trays are stacked to form a vertically stacked array. Each tray has a base having a plurality of ribs defining a plurality of openings sized to permit the material to pass through, while preventing passage of large objects. The openings of each tray are arranged in a pre-set pattern so that pairs of trays may be nested together with the openings of one tray blocked by the ribs of the other. The trays may be identical with the openings arranged asymmetrically in the base of each tray, so that the necessary interference or blocking is achieved by rotating each tray relative to the adjacent tray. Alternatively, the openings can be symmetrically located with two different trays being provided, having complementary patterns of openings. The stacked array of trays can be configured as a cat litter container, or used for sifting a variety of the material.

The use of devices to sift siftable or particulate material to remove relatively larger items found in the material is well known. Sifting devices enjoy a wide range of uses, from separating aggregates and other granular materials in quarry or concrete mixing operations, to sifting ingredients for baked foods, to use with pet litter boxes.
With pet litter boxes, screens of various sorts have been employed for removing solid excrement deposited in pet litter and sand in place of the traditional method of using a hand-held scoop or strainer. Sifting devices not only reduce the unpleasantness of the operation, but they reduce waste by minimizing the amount of unused litter being thrown out, and so more litter is reused. Examples of such devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,796,188, 4,217,857, 4,505,226, 4,602,593, 4,615,300 and 4,771,731. However, these prior art litter box devices are impractical and cumbersome to use and are unduly complex to make because of the various movable flaps, plates and false bottoms. They also waste time. In many cases, the screens are used in combination with imperforate pans to trap the litter.
It is therefore desired to provide a sifting device having a series of stacked trays adapted to hold a quantity of siftable material. Each of these trays being bereft of movable parts, yet being capable of sifting the material when lifted off of the stack.


A method for producing a honeycomb structure using, as a part of a starting material, a recycled raw material recycled from a recovered material which is produced in the production process of the honeycomb structure and originates from the starting material for the honeycomb structure, and further provides the honeycomb structure. The recycled raw material is ground so that it has an average particle diameter of 10–2000 μm and contains 10% or less by weight of particles having an average particle diameter of 2800 μm or more.

The present invention relates to a method for producing a honeycomb structure and a honeycomb structure.
Porous honeycomb structures comprising cell partition walls (ribs) forming a composite of a plurality of cells adjacent to each other and a honeycomb outer wall enclosing and holding outermost cells positioned at outermost periphery of the cell composite are widely used as a filter for catching and removing particulate materials contained in dust-containing fluid such as diesel engine exhaust gas (diesel particulate filter (DPF)) or a catalyst carrier (for purification of exhaust gas) which supports a catalyst component for purification of exhaust gas to remove harmful materials contained therein, and as the materials constituting the honeycomb structures, there are used refractory silicon carbide (SiC), cordierite and composites thereof, etc.
Furthermore, development of DPF is advanced in which a regeneration system is employed which carries out continuous regeneration by supporting an oxidation catalyst on a conventional DPF and oxidizing and burning the deposited particulates (DPF for regeneration of catalyst).
For economical production of the above honeycomb structures, it is preferred from the points of improvement of yield and reduction of cost to prepare (recycle) starting raw materials from recovered materials which originate from starting raw materials for honeycomb structures and which are produced during production of honeycomb structures (for example, unfired dried products such as unfired molded products removed between drying step and firing step for some reasons or fragments thereof (including fired products in the case of SiC)) and reuse them for molding as recycled raw materials.
In the case of cordierite ceramic materials, when unfired dried products which are recovered are ground for using as recycled raw materials, the cordierite ceramic materials produced using the ground powders are, in many cases, greater in coefficient of thermal expansion than cordierite ceramic materials produced using inherent starting raw materials and are deteriorated in thermal shock resistance, and hence they cannot be used as honeycomb catalyst carriers for purification of exhaust gas.
In order to solve the above problems, there are proposed cordierite ceramic materials and methods for producing the same, for example, a method of crushing, grinding and classifying unfired dried products which are recovered materials at light grinding step to prepare (recycle) raw materials and using the recycled raw materials (Japanese Patent No.1703709), a method of removing at least a part of binder contained in unfired recycled raw materials, then grinding the recycled raw material to prepare a ground powder, adding water, binder, etc. to the ground powder, followed by kneading to prepare a recycled clay, and molding and firing the recycled clay (JP-A-2000-302533), and a method of grinding unfired recycled raw material to prepare a ground product, removing powders of below 1 mm in diameter from the ground product, and adding water to the remaining ground product, followed by kneading to prepare recycled clay, molding the recycled clay and firing the molded product (JP-A-8-119726).
However, according to the method of Japanese Patent No.1703709, when the recycled raw materials are ground to a particle size of below 10 μm, not only the grinding efficiency is low to require much cost, but also abrasion of the grinding equipment is great and a large amount of impurities are incorporated.
According to the method of JP-A-2000-302533, since the recycled raw materials are heat treated to remove binder, the production cost is high, and according to the method of JP-A-8-119726, since recycled materials of 1 mm or less are removed, yield of the recycled raw materials is low and the recycled materials are coarse, and hence the dissolution of raw materials at kneading becomes insufficient, resulting in clogging at the time of molding of honeycomb.
Furthermore, in the case of producing a DPF, a coarse raw material must be used for increasing the porosity, but if a ground recycled material containing beyond 20% by weight of particles having an average particle diameter of than 45 μm or less is used, the average pore diameter of the resulting DPF becomes small.
Moreover, in the case of producing a DPF, if a ground recycled material containing beyond 10% by weight of particles having an average particle diameter of 2800 μm or more is used, the recycled raw material is not sufficiently dissolved at the steps of mixing and kneading, and there are possibilities of causing clogging of die during molding to result in defect of cells in the resulting honeycomb structure.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems in the conventional technologies, and the object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a honeycomb structure using an unfired recycled raw material (which may be a fired material in the case of SiC) recovered in the course of production of honeycomb structure, wherein the resulting honeycomb structure has low thermal expansion and porosity similar to those of a honeycomb structure obtained using inherent starting raw materials and yield of the honeycomb structure can be improved and production cost can be considerably reduced, and another object is to provide the honeycomb structure.

Method for producing honeycomb structure and honeycomb structure


The invention is a radiofrequency identification tag comprising a semiconductor chip having radio frequency, logic, and memory circuits, and an antenna that are mounted on a substrate. The antenna may be used by the chip to modulate an incident RF signal to transfer information to a base station. The antenna comprises one or more lengths of thin wire that are connected directly to the chip by means of wire bonding. The chip and antenna combination are sealed with an organic film covering.

In general, circuitry is manufactured on hard printed circuit boards or flexible substrates. Printed circuit boards include materials like epoxy-resin or epoxy-glass boards. One generic class on which these circuits are manufactured is FR4. Alternatively flexible substrates, also called "flex", include structures of copper on polyimide. These circuits are generally used in automobiles, consumer electronics, and general interconnections.
A well known technology for attaching semiconductor circuits, or "chips" to the circuit board or flex structures is called wirebonding. Wire bonds are made from small diameter wires in the range of 25 microns in diameter and are very short. Generally the wire bonds are on the order of 1 millimeter (mm) in length. These wire bonds are normally kept short for several reasons:
1. The small diameter of the wire makes it very weak. PA1 2. In typical circuits many bonds are made and longer lengths would make the connections more prone to electrical shorting. PA1 3. Longer lengths of the wires increase self and mutual inductance which degrade the electrical performance of the circuit.
Radio Frequency Identification (RF ID) is just one of many identification technologies for identifying objects. The heart of the RF ID system lies in an information carrying tag. The tag functions in response to a coded RF signal received from a base station. The tag reflects the incident RF carrier back to the base station. Information is transferred as the reflected signal is modulated by the tag according to its programmed information protocol.
The tag consists of a semiconductor chip having RF circuits, logic, and memory. The tag also has an antenna, often a collection of discrete components, capacitors and diodes, for example, a battery in the case of active tags, a substrate for mounting the components, interconnections between components, and a means of physical enclosure. One variety of tag, passive tags, has no battery. They derive their energy from the RF signal used to interrogate the tag. In general, RF ID tags are manufactured by mounting the individual elements to a circuit card. This is done by using either short wire bond connections or soldered connections between the board and the circuit elements: chip, capacitors, diodes, antenna. The circuit card may be of epoxy-fiberglass composition or ceramic. The antennas are generally loops of wire soldered to the circuit card or consist of metal etched or plated on a circuit card. The whole assembly may be enclosed in a plastic box or molded into a three dimensional plastic package.
While the application of RF ID technology is not as widespread as other ID technologies, barcode for example, RF ID is on its way to becoming a pervasive technology in some areas, notably vehicle identification.
Growth in RF ID has been inhibited by the absence of infrastructure for manufacturing the tags, the high cost of tags, the bulkiness of most of the tags, problems of tag sensitivity and range, and the need for the simultaneous reading of multiple numbers of tags. A typical tag costs in the $5 to $10 range. Companies have focused on niche applications. Some prior art is used to identify railway boxcars. RF tags are now used in the automatic toll industry, e.g. on thruway and bridge tolls. RF tags are being tested for uses as contactless fare cards for buses. Employee identification badges and security badges have been produced. Animal identification tags are also commercially available as are RF ID systems for tracking components in manufacturing processes.
One limitation of making RF tags made from PC boards or flex is that the flex or boards must be manufactured first. For very high volumes of tags (greater than one hundred million tags) new factories must be built to accommodate the capacity needed for board or flex production to meet tag demand. Further, RF tags made from these technologies are too expensive for many applications. For example, bar codes are a technology that is used for identification at a much lower cost than existing RF tagging technology.

Method of making a radio frequency identification tag