A zoom lens driving mechanism is disclosed that is adapted to rotate a first driving lens barrel and a second driving lens barrel relative to each other and thereby to move a movable lens barrel back and forth in parallel to an optical axis. More specifically, a linearly movable member that is provided to guide a linear movement of the movable lens barrel relative to the second driving lens barrel, is moved back and forth under a guidance by a leading groove formed in the first driving lens barrel. With such a unique arrangement, no part is required to support the linearly movable member, and therefore, any apprehension about the strength of a part as well as a flare phenomenon can be avoided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving mechanism for a photographic lens adapted to move the photographic lens back and forth in parallel to an optical axis for power varying or focusing.
2. Description of the Related Art
As photographic cameras become more popular, marketing trends require that cameras be more and more compact, thin, and lightweight and simultaneously contain a power varying mechanism such as a zoom mechanism or focus change-over mechanism. The power varying mechanism functions to move the photographic lens back and forth in a direction parallel to an optical axis, for example, to move the photographic lens forward with respect to a camera body for telephoto and move the photographic lens back toward the camera body for wide-angle or standard photo. Thus, a lens barrel holding the photographic lens is moved back and forth relative to the camera body in parallel to the optical axis.
In order to assure that the photographic lens can be moved within a given range to obtain a desired magnification while making the camera as thin as possible, the lens barrel assembly must be constructed with four stages of which three stages can be successively moved. More specifically, the lens barrel assembly must be constructed so that a first driving lens barrel is movable back and forth relative to a stationary lens barrel, a second driving lens barrel is movable back and forth relative to the first driving lens barrel, and a movable lens barrel holding a part of the photographic lens is movable back and forth relative to the second driving lens barrel. By adopting such arrangement, it is possible to limit a length of the lens barrel assembly in the direction of the optical axis approximately to a length of the stationary lens barrel and to obtain a moving range of the photographic lens approximately corresponding to three times the length of the stationary lens barrel. The respective stages of the lens barrel assembly must keep the photographic optical system in a predetermined optical relationship during their movement.
A driving mechanism to move the lens barrel assembly back and forth utilizing a cam barrel is also well-known and the above-mentioned arrangement can be adopted in such a driving mechanism. However, a length of the cam will be unacceptably increased to assure an adequate moving range of the lens barrel assembly while making the camera body as thin as possible. Consequently, a cam slit must be formed in the lens barrel assembly over its fill length, resulting in an apprehension that the strength of the lens barrel assembly might be unacceptably decreased. Particularly, with the photographic lens employing a mechanism adapted to perform the operation of power varying and focusing from a single power source for the economical reasons, the cam's length is increased resulting in a decrease in the cam's strength. To avoid such an inconvenience, a cam groove having a bottom, instead of a cam in the form of a through-hole, has been adopted as the cam formed in the lens barrel assembly.
However, the driving mechanism formed with the previously-described cam groove having the bottom suffers from the following problem. With the conventional mechanism utilizing the cam slit formed in the lens barrel assembly to drive the photographic lens, a pin member interlocked with the cam slit is operatively associated with the cam slits of two lens barrel stages, one serving to guide a movement in parallel to the optical axis and the other serving to regulate a distance of this movement. With the driving mechanism adopting the cam in the form of a groove having a bottom, on the other hand, it is impossible for the pin member to extend through the lens barrel assembly and therefore, in addition to the lens barrel assembly formed with the cam groove, a driving ring member or the like must be provided to control a direction as well as a distance of the pin member's movement.
It is also well-known from Japanese Patent Application Disclosure Gazette No. 1995-128567 to move one driving lens barrel back and forth in parallel to the optical axis without rotation around the optical axis and to rotate the other lens barrel about the optical axis to thereby move it back and forth in parallel to the optical axis so that a front lens group holding frame may be moved back and forth in parallel to the optical axis as the other lens barrel rotates.
In the case of a triple-stage zoom lens barrel assembly described in Japanese Patent Application Disclosure Gazette No. 1995-128567, a stationary lens barrel comprises inner and outer barrels between which a rotatable barrel is disposed. Such barrel assembly of double structure correspondingly enlarges the outer diameter of the lens barrel assembly and limits the possibility of making the camera compact.
In view of the problem described above, the applicant of the present application has already developed and proposed a driving mechanism for a photographic lens that is improved so that additional use of parts such as a rotatable barrel or a driving ring as well as adoption of the lens barrel assembly of dual-structure can be avoided while still realizing a more compact camera (Japanese Patent Application No. 1995-295942 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/733,401). The driving mechanism for photographic lens disclosed in this prior patent application is characterized in that a movable lens barrel is moved back and forth as a second driving lens barrel, which telescopically receives therein the movable lens barrel, is rotated. The second driving lens barrel is moved back and forth as a first driving lens barrel, which telescopically receives therein the second driving lens barrel, and is rotated relative to the second driving lens barrel. The first driving lens barrel is moved back and forth relative to a stationary lens barrel, which telescopically receives therein the first driving lens barrel, as the first driving lens barrel is rotated. A second linearly movable member that is provided to prevent the movable lens barrel from being rotated, is moved back and forth together with the second driving lens barrel. A first linearly movable member that is provided to prevent the second linearly movable member from being rotated, is moved back and forth together with the first driving lens barrel.
However, the driving mechanism for a photographic lens disclosed in the above-mentioned patent application adopts an arrangement such that the second linearly movable member is guided by the first linearly movable member and, as a result, may suffer from the following problem. Specifically, the first linearly movable member is combined with the second linearly movable member so that their portions to guide and their portions to be guided define together a common cylinder. More specifically, the respective linearly movable members basically comprise cylindrical bodies and each of them is circumferentially divided so as to form an appropriate number of openings and keys. The keys of the first linearly movable member are received by the respective openings of the second linearly movable member. Thus, a distal end of the first linearly movable member is circumferentially discontinuous due to the presence of the openings and the keys are supported on a proximal end of the first linearly movable member in a cantilever fashion. Additionally, both the first linearly movable member and the second linearly movable member must be disposed within the lens barrel assembly and, for this reason, their thickness must be as thin as possible. In consequence, the first linearly movable member is problematic due to its lack of strength, and there is an apprehension that this member might be damaged due to fatigue.
Further, the first linearly movable member is operatively associated with a rear end of the first driving lens barrel and with the stationary lens barrel so that the first linearly movable member is reliably prevented from being rotated. Such arrangement necessarily results in a situation that the keys of the first linearly movable member lie adjacent the plane of photographic film. The keys lie inside the lens barrel assembly and therefore adjacent the optical axis. Thus, there is an apprehension that the keys of the first linearly movable member might cause an undesirable flare phenomenon.

Driving mechanism for a photographic lens


A new cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla named ‘Blue Heaven’ that is characterized by its very early spring blooming habit, its ability to re-bloom on new growth after deadheading, its consistently well formed, large sized inflorescences that are red-purple in color (bluer in color depending with alkaline pH and sufficient aluminum levels), its strong flower stems, and its durable thick foliage.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hydrangea macrophylla and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Blue Heaven'. 'Blue Heaven' represents a new Bigleaf Hydrangea, a deciduous shrub grown for landscape use and for use as a potted plant.
'Blue Heaven' arose as a naturally occurring whole plant mutation in June 2001 in De Kwakel, The Netherlands. 'Blue Heaven' was selected as a single unique plant from amongst 250 seedlings that were derived from sown in 1999 from numerous open pollinated cultivars of Hydrangea macrophylla. The seeds collected from open pollination were combined into one seed lot, therefore the parentage of 'Blue Heaven' is unknown.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar was first accomplished by softwood stem cuttings in De Kwakel, The Netherlands in February 2002 by the inventor. The characteristics of this cultivar have been determined to be stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


A sample analyzing apparatus is provided with a memory for storing a schedule of maintenance, a display, and a controller for displaying on the display a screen of calendar format, wherein the screen includes a date display area for displaying a date and a maintenance item display area for displaying a maintenance item scheduled on the date.

Specimen analyzers such as colorimetric analyzer, fluorescence analyzer, immune analyzer, blood coagulation analyzer, and blood analyzer are known as a specimen measuring apparatus for analyzing a measurement sample prepared from a specimen and a reagent.
In this type of specimen analyzer, a measuring unit for preparing the measurement sample by processing a specimen using various reagents, and optically or electrically measuring the obtained measurement sample is arranged.
The process from preparation of the measurement sample to the measurement of the measurement sample in the measuring unit always needs to be smoothly performed in order to maintain the analyzing accuracy of the specimen analyzer. Thus, maintenance of the measuring unit of the specimen analyzer needs to be performed according to a predetermined schedule for the necessary maintenance items. The maintenance items of the immune analyzer include, for example, "pipette washing" of the pipette for dispensing the reagent; "discard cuvette" of discarding the used cuvette (sample tube) accommodated in the discarding container, and emptying the container; "waste process" of the used washing liquid and the like; order task of consumable goods (pipette chip used in dispensing reagent and specimen, cuvette for accommodating and optically detecting the dispensed reagent) used in the specimen analyzer, and the like.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-211003 discloses an automatic analyzer in which when the maintenance item is executed, the executed date is stored in the storage device. In the automatic analyzer, the user can newly register the maintenance item other than the maintenance items registered in advance. The automatic analyzer has an alarm function of notifying a timing of performing maintenance on the registered maintenance items to the user.
In the analyzer disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-211003, the record of the maintenance is displayed on the maintenance screen, and the maintenance item name, where warning alarm is issued, and the date and time thereof are displayed in time-series from the oldest, for example, as shown in FIG. 9 of the publication.
On the screen, twelve maintenance records are displayed from the oldest record, and the maintenance record of a new date and time can be displayed by scrolling the screen.
However, in the analyzer disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 9-211003, the record of maintenance can be checked, but the schedule of maintenance cannot be checked. Therefore, if the user wants to check the schedule of a maintenance task, in particular, wants to check the schedule of maintenance task of three days, one week, two weeks etc. later, the schedule of the maintenance task cannot be easily acquired.


A new, distinct Dianthus plant as illustrated and described, characterized by magenta pink flowers on short stems, above mat forming and compact silvered foliage.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct plant of Dianthus hybrid plant named 'Fuchsia Fire' characterized by magenta pink flowers on short stems, above mat forming and compact silvered foliage. The new Dianthus was the result of an intentional cross by the inventors at a nursery, in Hebron, Ill. in 2017. The selection of the new plant was due to its' magenta pink flowers on short stems, above mat forming and compact silvered foliage, compared to the taller stems and mounding foliage of the parent plants. Initial asexual reproduction has taken place at a nursery in Hebron, Ill. since 2018 by means of vegetative tip cuttings. The new Dianthus has shown to be stable and identical in reproduction after rooting over 700 plants from 2018 to 2019.
No plants of the new Dianthus have been sold in this country, or anywhere in the world, prior to the filing of this application, nor has any disclosure of the new plant been made prior to the filing of this application with the exception of that which was disclosed by the inventor and his company, Intrinsic Perennial Gardens, Inc within one year of filing of this application and was derived directly from the inventor.


According to a drive control method and apparatus, an offset printing section and an intaglio printing section are connected together by a gear train. Separately from an offset printing section prime motor for driving an entire sheet-fed printing press, an intaglio printing section auxiliary motor is provided in the intaglio printing section where load is heaviest and load variations are great. By so doing, the entire sheet-fed printing press is driven by the offset printing section prime motor and the intaglio printing section auxiliary motor. Moreover, the electric current value (driving torque value) of the intaglio printing section auxiliary motor is controlled in accordance with an electric current value (torque value) for driving the offset printing section prime motor, the torque distribution rate of the intaglio printing section auxiliary motor, and the rated electric current value of the intaglio printing section auxiliary motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive control method and a drive control apparatus for a printing press such as a sheet-fed printing press.
2. Description of the Related Art
A printing press, such as a sheet-fed printing press, especially, a securities printing press, has hitherto been equipped with an offset printing section and an intaglio printing section in order to carry out offset printing and intaglio printing at a stroke, and has driven these printing sections by a single prime motor.
Thus, a high load has been imposed on the prime motor, and the use of the prime motor with great capacity has been necessitated. As a result, the use of an expensive motor has been needed, and the rigidity of a drive system has been required, causing further upsizing. Thus, the problems have arisen that a motor with even greater capacity has to be used, and a high speed operation cannot be performed.
Moreover, a printing pressure between an intaglio cylinder and an impression cylinder of the intaglio printing section is so high that a load under the printing pressure exerted by the surfaces of both cylinders in contact is heavy. Thus, the use of the motor with even greater capacity has been necessitated.
Furthermore, a wiping roll of the intaglio printing section thermally expands over time, increasing a contact pressure on the intaglio cylinder. To deal with an expected increase in the load, the use of the motor with even greater capacity has been required.

Drive control method and drive control apparatus for printing press


A rotary engine is provided for providing torque. The engine includes a housing, a stator, a crank shaft, a rotor and a pair of vanes. The housing has an inner wall with an elliptical profile with major and minor axes. The stator has an outer wall and a double ellipsoid profile corresponding to the major and minor axes. The crank shaft is disposed at a junction of the major and minor axes, rotating about a spin axis orthogonal to the profiles. The rotor has an annular circular profile disposed between the inner and outer walls. The rotor turns on the crank shaft. The vanes radially slide within the rotor as the crank shaft rotates and as the vanes turn within the inner and outer walls.

The invention relates generally to rotary engines. In particular, the invention relates to rotary engines with simple geometries.
Rotary internal combustion engines have been developed for decades. These include U.S. Pat. No. 1,028,316 to Allyn, U.S. Pat. No. 1,701,534 to Knopp, U.S. Pat. No. 2,988,008 to Wankel (the best known), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,721 to Burris. Another more recent is U.S. Pat. No. 8,936,004 to Buchanan with a modified Otto cycle (under tradename "EPIC") as Navy Case 100714.

United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A hinge including leaves configured to facilitate adjusting the mounting position between hinged objects. In one embodiment, the hinge may generally include first and second leaves pivotally connected together. The leaves define mounting holes that receive fasteners to mount the leaves to the hinged objects. The mounting holes are preferably configured to provide adjustment of the leaves and hinged objects in at least two directions, which may be horizontal and vertical. In one embodiment, the hole shapes preferably may include horizontal slots, vertical slots, round holes, and combinations thereof. Other shapes may be used. When a fastener is partially inserted into a hinged object through a slotted-type mounting hole, for example, the hinged object is slideable relative to the leaf and the other hinged object. By employing a preferred sequence of installation steps, the installer may readily optimize the alignment between and mounting of the hinged objects. In one embodiment, the hinged objects may be a door and a door frame. A method of installation using the specially-configured leaves is also provided.

The present invention relates to hinges, and more particularly to continuous hinges and methods to align and adjust hinged objects for optimal clearance and operation.
When a hinge is mounted to objects to be hinged with respect to each other, care must be taken to ensure proper alignment and mounting of the hinge and hinged objects. Doors that are in need of repair are often retrofitted with various types of hinges that are known for their increased strength among other factors. Hinges that are applied in the field are often installed under less than ideal conditions. To complete a quality field installation of a door, for example, the door must be maintained in proper alignment with the frame, requiring a prescribed set of clearances at each side of the door and at its top and bottom edges. If this is not done, the door may potentially rub against the frame or drag on the threshold, increasing the difficulty for persons entering or leaving the building as well as imposing additional stress and wear on all of the door hardware, such as locksets and automatic door closers.
Uniform industry standards for the design of butt hinges have been applied to doors and frames in the form of cutouts, or receiving mortises, that allow butt hinges to be fastened directly into these recesses. However, not all of the door alignment requirements are assured when the doors and frames are manufactured. Sometimes, particularly if the doors and frames arrive at the job site from different manufacturing sources, the cutouts or recesses may not correspond, creating misalignment problems that can affect the operating clearances. Also, the installation of frames can be affected by improperly dimensioned or misaligned wall openings, resulting in frame distortion that contributes to door misalignment.
To install continuous hinges such as disclosed in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,092,870; 3,402,422; 4,976,008; 4,996,739; 4,999,878; 4,999,879; 4,999,880; 5,001,810; 5,201,902; 5,778,491 and 5,991,975, all of which are incorporated herein by reference, the installer typically must carefully remove the damaged hinges and mark and drill for the new fastener locations on both the door and the frame as best possible. This especially pertains to those types of hinges that are applied to the exterior faces of doors and frames when they are in need of hinge replacement. All too often, when transferring the new screw hole locations from the continuous hinge to the door and frame, the hinge can shift, or the drill point can slide from the mark, contributing to poor door alignment when the installation is complete. Such fastener hole misplacements occur with even greater frequency when large holes are required for through-bolting, especially when hidden internal door reinforcements are encountered by the installer.
Hinges that are continuous (i.e., hinges that attach a door to its frame or to another door for a substantial part of the length of the joined portions) may take various forms, including hinges which are formed from sheet metal by stamping and curling "knuckles", or essentially cylindrical receptacles, along the length of a strip which will accept a longitudinal pin, wire or rod. The knuckles are separated by spaces of generally equal length so that the opposing knuckles of a second hinge member may be interposed between the knuckles of the first hinge member and joined by the pin, wire or rod. Such hinges are commonly known as "piano" hinges, and are used, in addition to pivoting the covers for piano keyboards, for building athletic lockers, furniture, equipment enclosures and for building architectural doors and frames, or wherever a secure hinging system is required. My U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,975, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a hinge of this type, which has been improved by a variety of means to mechanically articulate a covering member to enhance its appearance as well as to improve its protection from environmental deterioration and other hazards.
Another form of continuous hinge, described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,422, which is incorporated herein by reference, teaches a continuous hinge with two hinge members rotatably mounted about the edges of a C-shaped, elongated clamp that defines an internal channel. Gear segments at the edges of the hinge members are meshed with each other to pivotally connect the hinge members. One or more thrust bearings disposed in recesses of both hinge members prevent relative movement of the hinge members along their axes of rotation. The bearings occupy most of the cross-sectional spaces within the clamp and have bearing surfaces on their ends that are generally parallel to, abut, and support the recess end surfaces of the hinge member recesses. Another configuration of a continuous hinge is taught in my U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,879, which is incorporated herein by reference, that discloses hinge members with gear segments meshed with the clamp instead of, or in addition to, being meshed with each other.
Butt hinges as well as continuous hinges can be improved by providing alignment flexibility when attaching the hinges so that the door will have adequate clearance within its frame or other surrounding enclosure. One of the more difficult steps in continuous hinge or butt hinge installation in the field is the proper sizing of the door and frame in relation to each other and the proper marking and preparation of the fastener holes in a way which will insure the alignment of the door to its frame when the installation is complete. Currently, the installation of continuous hinges is dependent upon the skills of the individual installer. While individual butt or mortise hinges are typically fitted into cutouts with pre-threaded bolt holes prepared in both the door and the frame at their respective factories, discrepancies in manufacturing tolerances and machinery often result in doors that do not provide acceptable clearances. When this occurs, the aesthetics may suffer, weather or sound sealing may be inadequate, or the door and frame may actually interfere with each other as the door is cycled. The fixed locations of butt hinge screw attachments may actually inhibit proper positional adjustment of the door.
Continuous hinges are more frequently applied to the unprepared surfaces of doors and frames which offer little to assist in their alignment. Repair work in particular, where continuous hinges are used to overcome conditions in which conventional hinges have failed, is more dependent upon the skill level of the installer because the working environment as well as the condition of the door and frame components may be less than ideal, largely because the doors themselves may have suffered damage when their hinges failed and because the work must often be completed very quickly with a minimum of installation tools. Unless all of the fastener locations for a continuous hinge are carefully marked and drilled, the door will interfere with or rub against the frame following installation or shortly thereafter.
A method of marking, adjusting and positioning the height of a door and the tools for accomplishing a simplified continuous hinge installation is disclosed in my invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,732,409, which is incorporated herein by reference, in which a continuous hinge is mounted to a rail which has been aligned and affixed to the hinged object using tools and methods that allow for the vertical adjustment of the hinged object during or after the installation.
Despite the improvements that the aforementioned teachings provide, there still remains further need for an improved hinge and method of installation to provide even greater flexibility and ease in adjusting a door to properly align it with its frame under a wide variety of frame and door conditions encountered in the field. There is a further need for an improved hinge and method of installation that reduces reliance on the skills of the installer to allow installers of various skill levels to properly align and hang a door.


A valet vault is described herein. The valet vault may be constructed with components that result in improved strength and prevent theft. In one example embodiment, the vault may comprise a service side, an attachment side, and four exterior sides, a lockable utility box, a secured storage area being accessible through a door where a hinged end of the door is pivotally connected to a door frame by at least one hinge, and a security plate substantially separating the secured storage area and the lockable utility box. The vault may comprise a catch/latch to stop the door. The vault may comprise an illuminatable sign that does not compromise the security of the secured storage area. The door may comprise reinforcements. The vault may be a podium or be coupled to a wall.

Valet personnel are charged with keeping car keys secure. Often, valet equipment, whether stand-alone or contained within a podium or kiosk, are broken into in order to steal car keys, tip money for the valet personnel, or other valuables. Once a thief has access to a car, the car owner's navigation system may be used by the thief to be directed to the home of the owner of the car where the thief may further steal goods from or vandalize the car owner's home. Accordingly, there is a need for improved valet equipment that more securely controls access to valuables contained therein.


Described is a technology in which image near-duplicate retrieval is performed using similarities between patterns of query image words and patterns of database image words. In general, the image retrieval problems resulting from visual polysemy are reduced by using such visual patterns. Visual word vectors and visual pattern vectors are determined for the query image and a database image. These four vectors are used to determine similarity between the database image and the query image. The similarity scores may be used for ranking and/or re-ranking the database image similarity to the query image relative to other database images' similarity scores. Also described is expanding a query visual word of the query image to a set of visual words that are visual synonyms with the query visual word, to help reduce image retrieval problems resulting from visual synonymy.

In general, Image Near-Duplicate (IND) refers to a pair of images that are close to being exact duplicates of one another, such as two images of the same object or location that differ only slightly due to changed capturing conditions, times, rendering conditions, and/or editing operations, and so forth. Detection or retrieval of IND is very useful in a variety of real-world applications. For example, IND can improve traditional tag-based image searches by filtering out duplicate images returned by search engine; IND can be used as a way of building bridges between two web pages in different languages; IND can provide similarity clues for recognizing visual events and searching news video clips.
Image Near-duplicate (IND) retrieval thus aims at finding images which are duplicates or near duplicate to another (e.g., query) image. One of the most popular and practical methods toward IND retrieval is based on Bag-of-Words (BoW) model which assumes that image retrieval is analogous to document retrieval. The general idea behind BoW methods is that local regions of images are characterized using high-dimensional descriptors, which are then mapped to "visual words" selected from a visual vocabulary.
However, the BoW approach is problematic in that visual words are poor in their ability to express regions relative to text words. As image retrieval is a growing in importance, including with respect to image-based querying, any improvements in image retrieval are beneficial.

Co-location visual pattern mining for near-duplicate image retrieval


An example system for therapy delivery includes one or more processors configured to in response to a prediction indicating that the meal event is to occur, output instructions to an insulin delivery device to deliver a partial therapy dosage, to a device to notify the patient to use the insulin delivery device to take the partial therapy dosage, or to the insulin delivery device to prepare the partial therapy dosage prior to the meal event occurring, and in response to a determination indicating that the meal event is occurring (e.g., based on movement characteristics of a patient arm), output instructions to the insulin delivery device to deliver a remaining therapy dosage, to the device to notify the patient to use the insulin delivery device to take the remaining therapy dosage, or to the insulin delivery device to prepare the remaining therapy dosage.

A patient with diabetes receives insulin from a pump or injection device to control the glucose level in his or her bloodstream. Naturally produced insulin may not control the glucose level in the bloodstream of a diabetes patient due to insufficient production of insulin and/or due to insulin resistance. To control the glucose level, a patient's therapy routine may include dosages of basal insulin and bolus insulin. Basal insulin, also called background insulin, tends to keep blood glucose levels at consistent levels during periods of fasting and is a long acting or intermediate acting insulin. Bolus insulin may be taken specifically at or near meal times or other times where there may be a relatively fast change in glucose level, and may therefore serve as a short acting or rapid acting form of insulin dosage.

Prediction based delivering or guiding of therapy for diabetes


A planar-part-based toy assembly set includes planar parts that have different shapes and are made by stamping a planar material board. The planar parts include a body piece and a limb piece. The body piece has a slotted ring for coupling with the limb piece. The slotted ring has a cutting slot, a narrow section and, a wide section. The limb piece has a closed ring, or a slotted ring as stated above. The closed ring of the limb piece can pass through the cutting slot of the slotted ring of the body piece and be mounted around the narrow or wide section of the slotted ring. When the closed ring is around the narrow section, the limb piece can freely swing, and when the closed ring is around the wide section, the limb piece is fixed at a specific angle, which can be later adjusted by the player.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to toy model assembly kits, and more particularly to a planar-part-based toy assembly set composed of a plurality of planar parts that have different shapes and are made by stamping a planar material board using a stamping machine, wherein each of the planar parts can such couple with an adjacent planar part that the two coupled parts are allowed to swing with respect to each other or are fixed at a specific angle with respect to each other. In this manner, the planar parts can be assembled into a three-dimensional structure that can be posed to present different postures.
2. Description of Related Art
There are various toy model assembly kits available on the market, such as robot model assembly kits, animal model assembly kits and so on. For making these toys more interesting, the manufacturers usually provide parts of such a toy model assembly kit with joints that, when combined together, have their joining angle adjustable, thereby endowing the assembled models to change postures and thus be more realistic. However, since these existing posture-changeable model toys need structurally complicated parts, particularly the joint parts that allow their joining angle to be adjustable, the manufacturing costs are relatively high.


An optical fiber gain medium has a core region in which a signal propagates, and a cladding region surrounding the core into which a pump signal is coupled. The gain medium also includes a plurality of doped regions each of which has a different effect on the gain profile of the gain medium. In a first embodiment, two doped regions are located in the cladding region at different radial distances from the core. Each of the two doped regions has a different absorption characteristic such that it absorbs signal energy in a different wavelength region of the gain band. The relative contributions may be controlled by controlling a number of different factors, including type of dopant, density of dopant, radial width of the doped regions, and relative separation between the doped regions, and their positioning relative to evanescent portions of different wavelength bands. In another embodiment, the different doped regions include dopant in the core and in a cladding region, and each dopant is pumped by a separate pump source. The relative contributions of the different dopants to the gain in the different wavelength ranges may be controlled by type of dopants used, density of doping, location of the dopant region in the cladding relative to the core and evanescent portions of different wavelength bands, and relative pump power and pump wavelengths provided to each doped region.

This invention relates generally to the field of optical fiber design and, more specifically, to optical fiber with a cross-sectional profile for use with optical fiber gain or loss media having improved gain or loss characteristics.
An optical fiber gain medium is a device that increases the amplitude of an input optical signal. If the optical signal at the input to such an amplifier is monochromatic, the output will also be monochromatic, with the same frequency. A conventional fiber amplifier comprises a gain medium, such as a glass fiber core doped with an active material, into which is coupled to an input signal. Excitation occurs from the absorption of optical pumping energy by the core. The optical pumping energy is within the absorption band of the active material in the core, and when the optical signal propagates through the core, the absorbed pump energy causes amplification of the signal transmitted through the fiber core by stimulated emission. Optical amplifiers are typically used in a variety of applications including but not limited to amplification of optical signals such as those that have traveled through a long length of optical fiber in optical communication systems.
Many different types of optical fiber have been developed over the years to improve the characteristics of fiber gain media. Different characteristics of the fiber can significantly affect the various characteristics of concern. For example, doping with different active materials produces different wavelength profiles for both absorption of pump energy and gain. In a silica-based fiber, doping with erbium produces an absorption spectrum, for example, in the ranges of 980 nm and 1480 nm, and an emission spectrum, for example, in the range of 1550 nm. However, co-doping with erbium and ytterbium produces a gain medium that, due to the charge transfer between the ytterbium and the erbium, produces an absorption spectrum that includes light in the vicinity of 1060 nm, while still maintaining an emission spectrum in the vicinity of 1550 nm.
Since signal propagation is in the core of a fiber, doping of the fiber with an active material is typically in the core. Pump light is therefore often coupled into the core as well. In some multiple-clad fibers, however, signal propagation is in the doped fiber core, while pump light is injected into an inner pump cladding of the fiber that surrounds the core. It is still the core that is the portion of the fiber doped with active material. However, the pump light traveling through the inner cladding tends to intersect the core, getting absorbed by the active material. This produces the desired gain in the core.
Recently, fiber has been described that has a core doped with active material, but that also has a cylindrical ring separated from and encompassing the core that is also doped with an active material. An example of such an arrangement is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,970,198, in which a fiber has a core doped with a first combination of materials, and a ring region spaced radially from the core and doped with a different combination of materials. As such, the two doped regions produce different gain responses when pumped. The core of the fiber is pumped with pump energy at two different wavelengths, a first, shorter wavelength (i.e., 0.98 xcexcm) and a second, longer wavelength (i.e., 1.48 xcexcm). Because of their different wavelengths, each of the pump signals has a different mode field diameter. That is, each pump signal has a different distribution of power density over the cross-sectional area of the fiber. The portion of the light that extends beyond the core boundary is generally referred to as the xe2x80x9cevanescentxe2x80x9d portion. The longer wavelength pump signal has a much larger evanescent portion, and therefore a much greater interaction with the dopant in the ring region. Therefore, adjusting the relative power of the two pump signals allows the overall gain profile of the gain medium to be adjusted.
In accordance with the present invention, an optical fiber gain medium is provided that has a core region within which an optical signal propagates, and a cladding region surrounding the core region. The cladding region has a lower index of refraction than the core region, and may be appropriate for receiving pump energy that pumps an active material in the gain medium so as to provide signal gain to the optical signal in the core. The fiber gain medium also has a plurality of doped regions within the fiber that influence the gain profile of the gain medium.
In a first embodiment of the invention, first and second doped regions are located within the cladding region of the fiber. Each of the doped regions has a different radial distance from the core, and each has a different dopant composition. Each of the dopant compositions results in an absorption loss to the optical signal in the core, as an evanescent portion of the signal overlaps and interacts with each of the doped regions. In this embodiment, the absorption loss attributable to interaction with the first doped region affects a different wavelength range than that attributable to the second doped region.
Different mechanisms may be used to effect the degree to which different wavelengths in the signal are absorbed by the doped region. For example, the different radial positions of the rings may be used to provide different degrees of signal absorption at different wavelengths, since the different wavelengths will have different relative degrees of evanescent spreading into the cladding region. The materials used to dope the doped regions may themselves be selected to create a desired absorption profile, either in and of themselves, or in combination with the radial positioning of the doped regions. The density of the dopant distribution in each doped region may also be selected to control the relative effect of each. Moreover, the radial width of the doped regions can also be used to control the relative absorption in different wavelengths of the optical signal, and may be combined with other methods of doing so.
In another embodiment of the invention, the fiber has a core region and a cladding region, and multiple doped regions include a doped region in the core and a doped region in the cladding. Each of the doped regions includes an active material that, when pumped with pump energy at an appropriate pump wavelength, provides gain to the optical signal in the core within a desired wavelength range. Also provided in this embodiment are a first pump source coupling a first pump signal into the core, and a second pump source coupling a second pump signal into the cladding region. Independent control of the first pump source and the second pump source allow the relative gain contributions of the two doped regions to be actively controlled. The radial distance of the doped cladding region from the core may be selected to provide desired relative contributions from the two doped regions. The width of the doped cladding region may also be selected to affect the relative contributions of the doped core region and the doped cladding region to the signal gain. Similarly, the relative density of the dopant in the cladding region and the dopant in the core may likewise be used to control the relative gain contributions from the two regions. Also, the particular dopant material for either or both of the doped regions may be selected so as to provide significantly more gain to one wavelength range within the signal gain band than to other wavelengths within the gain band. Any of these different methods may be mixed and matched to provide a desired gain profile for the gain medium.

Optical fiber with improved cross-sectional profile and optical gain media using same


A calcium yttrium silicate oxyapatite laser crystal doped with thulium provides a laser material finding particular utility in 2 .mu.m diode pumped lasers. The calcium yttrium silicate oxyapatite doped with trivalent thulium, preferably has the formula EQU Ca(Tm.sub.x Y.sub.1-x).sub.4 (SiO.sub.4).sub.3 O, where x=0.0025-0.12.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to calcium-yttrium silicate oxyapatite lasers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Calcium-yttrium silicate oxyapatite lasers are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,710,707 and 3,781,707. Fluorapatite laser material doped with chromium and holmium or thulium is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,627,692.


At least one embodiment relates to an apparatus for super-resolution fluorescence-microscopy imaging of a sample. The apparatus includes an objective lens having a forward field of view, the objective lens being configured to collect light. The apparatus may also include a processing arrangement configured to perform super-resolution fluorescence-microscopy imaging of the sample with the collected light. Further, the apparatus includes a waveguide component located forward of the objective lens and configured to (i) receive light from outside the forward field of view, and (ii) use total internal reflection within the waveguide component to direct excitation light. In addition, the apparatus includes an electronic optical-path control system configured to cause input light of a first wavelength to follow a first optical path corresponding to a first optical mode and also configured to cause input light of the first wavelength to follow a second optical path corresponding to a second optical mode.

Optical microscopes are used within histology, cell biology and related fields to view biological samples such as cells. However, the resolving power of optical microscopes is limited due to the diffraction limit of light. This limitation restricts the resolution of visible light microscopy to around 200 to 300 nm. In order to overcome this limit, several techniques have been developed, termed "nanoscopy", "super-resolution imaging", or "super-resolution microscopy".
These super-resolution imaging techniques allow imaging of a biological sample with a resolution down to around 20 to 50 nm. They are based upon processing light emitted from photo-switchable fluorophores or quantum dot markers that have been attached to, or embedded within, the biological sample. Examples of such super-resolution techniques include Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (STORM), direct Stochastic Optical Reconstruction Microscopy (dSTORM), Photoactivated Localization Microscopy (PALM), Super-Resolution Optical Fluctuation Imaging (SOFI), and Entropy-Based Super-Resolution Imaging (ESI).
FIG. 1 shows an example prior-art arrangement for super-resolution imaging, such as dSTORM imaging. The arrangement comprises a first laser light source 140, a second light source 145, a first beam splitter 160, a second beam splitter, 150, an objective lens 110 having a resolution of around 250 nm at the relevant wavelengths (e.g., a high-NA 60× objective lens), a sample 170, and a CCD or sCMOS detector 190. The arrangement also includes means to direct light from the first laser light source 140 to the first beam splitter 160 and to direct light from the second laser light source 145 to the first beam splitter 160. The first beam splitter 160 combines the received laser light from the first and second laser light sources 140, 145 to form an excitation beam 130 and directs the excitation beam 130 to the second beam splitter 150. The second beam splitter 150 directs the excitation beam 130 to the objective lens 110.
To image a particular region of interest in the sample, the excitation beam is directed onto a region of interest of the sample 170 so as to excite the fluorophores in that region. When performing dSTORM two different wavelengths may be used. When fluorophores in the sample region emit light, this is collected and processed in order to generate an image of the region of interest. This is achieved by focusing the objective lens 110 onto the region of interest on the sample 170 so that the excitation beam 130 may be directed onto the region of interest, and so that light emanating from the region of interest can be collected. The second beam splitter 150 functions to filter the collected light 120 from the excitation light 170, and to direct the collected light 120 onto the CCD detector 190. Further filtering may, of course, be performed. A computer (not shown) receives data from the CCD detector 190 and processes the data to determine the positions of the fluorophores by Gaussian-fitting (or another method), to an accuracy greater than the 250 nm resolution of the objective lens.
A problem with the apparatus typically used for super-resolution imaging at present is that it can be expensive, bulky, and cumbersome to set up and operate.
Super-resolution imaging arrangements typically use an objective lens with a high numerical aperture (NA) to illuminate a sample, either with an evanescent field (total internal reflection fluorescence) or with a highly-inclined and laminated optical sheet (HILO).
However, lenses with high numerical apertures (NA) are expensive. They also have a limited field-of-view (FOV) which restricts the field over which fluorescent light can be collected from the sample. This limited field-of-view is around 50 to 250 micrometers in size, which is smaller than the size of typical biological samples, e.g. large cell cultures and colonies, or tissues. This means that the microscope may be repositioned and realigned, relative to the sample, during the imaging, in order to obtain a complete sub-resolution image of the entire biological sample. This is particularly problematic when imaging live cell cultures, since it is not possible to simultaneously image movements involving a first part of the cell culture and second part of the cell culture when the second part of the cell culture is outside the field-of-view. Furthermore, complex image processing may be used to stitch the acquired sub-resolution images together to form a complete sub-resolution image of the entire biological sample.


According to one embodiment, the present invention relates to a method and a system for emulating a private label network over an open network where settlement occurs at varying discount rates with one or more merchants or providers. A computer implemented method and system for settling a transaction at a discount rate may include receiving an authorization record for the transaction initiated by a customer over an open payment network; identifying payment plan data associated with a transaction; creating a settlement record based at least in part on the authorization record and the payment plan data; determining a discount rate for the settlement record; and settling with a provider for the transaction at the discount rate.

The growth and wide acceptance of credit cards have led to greater acceptance at the point of sale, increased availability of affinity and loyalty programs as well as greater convenience and security in making large payments. A credit card transaction typically involves a financial institution issuing a credit card to a consumer where the financial institution lends an amount of funds to the consumer and reduces the consumer's pre-set credit limit by the amount. Interchange is the fee paid by merchants to issuers of the cards. Bankcard interchange fees are calculated by combining a percent of the total sales amount with a fixed fee per transaction. They are collected by the merchant's acquiring banks, and then forwarded to the card issuer's Visa™ or MasterCard™ settlement account. The merchant pays a discount fee of generally 1.5-2%, which includes the interchange fee. The discount fee covers the processing costs from the merchant acquirer and the fee from the bankcard association (Visa™ or MasterCard™). Merchants pay an amount of a basis point spread over the interchange fee for processing services.
Cardholders generally refer to consumers and businesses that have accounts with issuers. Issuers solicit credit card accounts, extend credit, stimulate activity and usage, perform customer service, collect payments, and manage cardholder risk. Merchants may be any business, not-for-profit or government organization engaged in exchanging value via credit cards. Credit sales are settled to a merchant's demand deposit account (DDA) that the merchant has with a commercial bank, also referred to as the merchant bank. Acquirers purchase credit sales from merchants and forward the balances to issuers. In order to do this, an authorization process obtains, transports and routes data to enable authorization and electronic settlement between/among issuers, acquirers, and the bank where the merchant maintains an account to receive cash credit card receipts.
Card associations set the operating rules and enforce them with various constituents in the industry. They also act as a common utility and operate the communications network, the switching and routing function, and certain back-up and stand-in functions, such as authorizations. Card associations are also significantly engaged in globally developing and maintaining brand equity and card acceptance. Almost any function can be out-sourced to third party providers. Usually but not in all cases, the decisioning criteria may be set by an industry client entity and an outsourcer may act as an agent performing functions in accordance with contractual specifications set by the client entity. Such functions may include credit granting; application processing; plastics issuing; accounts receivable processing (e.g., applying entries, computing balances and interest, etc.); statement rendition and mailing; payment processing; authorization processing, switching, and routing; risk management algorithms—application scoring, behavioral scoring, fraud controls; selling merchants; purchasing credit card sales; settlement processing; customer service; and collections, both pre and post write-off.
Discount income is earned from credit sales purchased from retailers. The discount is intended to cover the transaction cost, the cost of financing receivables and as compensation for presenting a merchant with a customer who is credit-worthy and eligible to make a purchase with credit. The actual discount charged to the merchant may result from negotiations with the acquirer. The acquirer considers profitability factors, such as business volume, fraud rates, average ticket size, etc. when an offer is made. Generally, an acquirer may have two known pricing components—fees paid to the associations and interchange fee paid to the issuer—and the residual which covers the acquirer's operating expense and profit. The interchange rate may be set by the card association. In practice, interchange varies by type of card—generally these are general purpose credit cards (GPCC), non-revolving cards, and procurement cards. While rates may vary from card to card, the model is substantially similar. Discount income may be typically split three ways: the acquirer retains a portion; a small portion is paid to the card association for services; and a portion, referred to as "interchange" is forwarded to the card issuer.
Merchants generally make a certain margin on the goods and services sold. Full service merchants may have mark-ups of 50% and some discounters may have a mark-up of 27% margin. Credit card transactions are actually the purchase transaction where the discount rates and/or interchange fees may be applied. A discount rate is applied to the credit sale, advancing the net amount after subtracting the discount from the gross sale in accordance with the contract through the acquirer. The discount rate for a GPCC is negotiated between the acquirer and the merchant. For example, a typical GPCC discount rate may be 250 basis points or 2.5%. From the discount rate, the Merchant Processor pays an interchange fee to a Credit Card Issuer, an assessment fee to a Card Association, and the residual is provided to cover the acquirer's operating expense and profit.
Interchange fees may include fees paid by a Merchant via Merchant Acquirer to a credit card issuer, such as Card Issuing Bank, for transactions that are processed through interchange. Interchange may represent a clearing and settlement system where data is exchanged between a Card Association and a Card Issuing Bank. Interchange fees may be set to compensate for risk and operating expenses involved in processing a transaction. Interchange fees vary depending on the type of card presented, how it is processed, the type of merchant accepting the credit card and/or other criteria.
A basic credit card transaction starts with the purchase of a good or service at a merchant with a credit card, which is swiped at a point of sale terminal and the transaction value is entered. The transaction is processed through a card association to the bank that issued the card. Assuming there are funds available under the consumer's credit limit, an authorization is routed back to the merchant through the same network. The approval is routed back to the merchant and the consumer signs the receipt.
Another type of credit card is a retail store credit card, which are credit cards generally issued by retail stores. These cards carry the name or logo of the issuing retail store and typically can only be used at the store that issued the card. Private label programs offer store cards by a third-party entity on behalf of the retailer. Much of the cost of the program comes from the merchant discount, while other fees are derived from the processing of statements and cardholder accounts. Generally, retailers who offer private label benefits also offer financing plans. Typically, larger merchants are able to commit to the one-to-one relationships with financing providers. These merchants can also commit to the required infrastructure, training and financial obligations for the ability to offer the variety of financing plans to customers. However, smaller merchants are unable to offer competing financing plans and/or other benefits due to the lack of funds, infrastructure and other resources.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a method and system for variable settlement with merchants and providers which overcomes the above-described inadequacies and shortcomings.

Method and system for emulating a private label over an open network


A table with a frame, a table plate and at least three table legs, whose table legs as well as optional desk accessories such as a telephone holder or a working lamp may be fastened onto the frame in a slot. The table legs or desk accessories are preferably inserted into the slot through an adapter. The table frame may be formed from frame sections connected to each other by means of corner connectors. Onto the frame a slidable and tiltable carrier for a computer monitor can be mounted. Individual tables can be connected to each other by connectors.

Tables should, especially if designed for the office and workplace area, be flexibly adaptable to all kinds of usage requirements. It should be possible to adapt the working surface of the table to different uses by only a few manual operations, e.g. by combining several tables, and the tables should accommodate accessories and, if needed, working utensils in such a way that they are all conveniently within reach of the user.
Tables with a frame underpinning are usually constructed in such a way, that the table legs are integrated into the frame's corner connector. The table plate is laid on top and is usually permanently connected to the frame. Even if the frame, the table legs and the plate are releasably connected to one another, the position of the table legs in relation to the frame and the table plate is preferably fixed. Accessories such as telephone holders, working lamps, draft holders, monitor holders and the like may be clipped either onto the table plate or onto both the table plate and the frame. When so configured, the table plate can perform a function in the attachment of accessories and is not exclusively available as a working surface.
We are therefore faced with the task of developing a table with a structure that provides utmost flexibility regarding the arrangement of the table legs, the frame and the table plate in relation to one another and to the accessories as far as present. This task is accomplished by a table in accordance with various aspects of the present invention.

Flototto Einrichtungssysteme GmbH & Co. KG


An inkjet recording ink of giving an image having high image quality and excellent weather resistance is provided, which is an inkjet recording ink comprising a specific phthalocyanine dye, wherein the total amount of cations in the ink except for a lithium ion, a hydrogen ion, an ammonium ion, an organic quaternary nitrogen ion and an ion produced by the proton addition to a nitrogen atom in a basic organic material is 0.5 wt % or less.

Accompanying recent popularization of computers, an inkjet printer is widely used for printing letters or an image on paper, film, cloth or the like not only in offices but also at homes.
The inkjet recording method includes a system of jetting out a liquid droplet by applying a pressure using a piezo element, a system of jetting out a liquid droplet by generating a bubble in an ink under heat, a system of using an ultrasonic wave, and a system of jetting out a liquid droplet by suction using an electrostatic force. The ink composition used for such inkjet recording includes an aqueous ink, an oily ink and a solid (fusion-type) ink. Among these inks, an aqueous ink is predominating in view of production, handleability, odor, safety and the like.
The coloring agent used in such an ink for ink-jet recording is required to have high solubility in a solvent, enable high-density recording, provide good color, exhibit excellent fastness to light, heat, air, water and chemicals, ensure good fixing on an image-receiving material and less bleeding, give an ink having excellent storability, have high purity and no toxicity, and be available at a low cost. However, it is very difficult to find out a coloring agent satisfying these requirements in a high level.
Various dyes and pigments for inkjet use have been already proposed and actually used, however, a coloring agent satisfying all requirements is not yet found out at present. Conventionally well-known dyes and pigments having a color index (C.I.) number can hardly satisfy both color hue and fastness required of the ink for ink-jet recording.
On the other hand, the cyan ink is found to have problems in that the dye is low in the solubility and readily precipitates and when a letter is printed, an abnormal printing area as if the dye is aggregated (a bronze part; a trouble such that the film property is changed and becomes mat as compared with the normal printing area) is generated in the high-density printing area to deteriorate the image quality.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An IC card may include a substrate having opposing first and second surfaces, and a circuit carried by the substrate adjacent the first surface of the substrate. The substrate may include a first area defining a first sector of the substrate carrying the circuit and configured to be separated from the IC card, the first sector having a form and size based upon a first IC card format, the first area having a first line delimiting the first sector to the first IC card format. The substrate may include a second area defining a second sector around the first sector and configured to be separated from the IC card based upon a second line. The second sector may have a form and size based upon at least one of a second IC card format and a third IC card format.

Integrated circuit (IC) cards typically include a substrate and a circuit formed in the substrate. The substrate 20 with the predefined full-size (1FF) IC card format is shown in FIG. 1, and the circuit 3 may be used as a card for certain applications, which comply with the standard ISO/IEC 7810:2003, for example, as a credit card or cash point card. For other applications, the circuit is detached from the card, together with a sector of predefined form and size, for example, the predefined form and size equivalent to the Mini-SIM (2FF), Micro-SIM (3FF) or Nano-SIM (4FF) IC card formats (FIG. 1).
Essentially, the IC in the sector forms a small-size card which may be used for specific applications. For example, in the 2FF format (ISO/IEC 7810:2003 specification), the card may be used with most cellular phones. In the 3FF format (ETSI TS 102 221 V9.0.0 specification), it may be used with certain smart phones, such as the iPhone 4; and in the 4FF format (ETSI TS 102 221 V11.0.0 specification), it may be used in the more recent iPhone 5. The formats differ in terms of surface dimensions and/or thickness.
The substrate with the 1FF format has a size of 85.6 mm×53.98 mm×0.76 mm and has, formed in it, a number of pre-incisions corresponding to the sector with 2FF format (25 mm×15 mm×0.76 mm), the sector with 3FF format (15 mm×12 mm×0.76 mm) or the sector with 4FF format (12.3 mm×8.8 mm×0.67 mm), for removal of the sectors. Such cards may be helpful because they incorporate four different formats, i.e. 1FF, 2FF, 3FF and 4FF.
However, they may have several drawbacks, mainly associated with the production complexity and costs and certain defects, which occur when removing the sectors with 2FF, 3FF or 4FF format from the card. In particular, as can be understood from the dimensions indicated above, the 4FF format is characterized not only by a smaller surface area compared to other formats, but also by a smaller thickness, which may require machining of the substrate.
A first technique includes starting with a substrate having a thickness, which is substantially the same as the thickness of the formats 1FF, 2FF and 3FF (0.76 mm), and scraping a portion of the substrate in which the thinner sector (0.67 mm), with format 4FF thickness, is formed for integration of the circuit. After scraping, the pre-cut lines are formed in the substrate to delimit the 2FF, 3FF and 4FF sectors.
In this method, it may be difficult to perform a precise scraping operation, involving precisely only the 4FF sector. Moreover, incision of the pre-cut lines may be complicated by the different thickness of the substrate. Moreover, performing pre-cut lines before scraping may result in breakage of the lines during scraping.
This technique may give rise to a large number of defective cards during production, or to defects in the final product, resulting in difficult extraction of the sectors with 2FF, 3FF and 4FF format. This may be problematic in the case where a sector, for example, 4FF format sector, becomes detached, even only partially from the card, despite the fact that the user intends to detach another sector, for example, a sector with 3FF or 2FF format.
Another technique may include injection-molding, namely the injection of a material in a mold that already defines the thinner portion of the 4FF sector. However, this technique is even more costly, owing to the molding process, and does not solve the aforementioned problems associated with the pre-cut lines.


Anti-HER2 biparatopic antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in which the drug is an auristatin analogue and is conjugated to the antibody at a low average drug-to-antibody ratio (DAR), and methods of using the ADCs in the treatment of a HER2-expressing cancer. The low average DAR (<3.9) ADCs as described herein have improved tolerability and decreased toxicity as compared to a corresponding ADC having a DAR≥3.9 when administered at the same toxin dose.

HER2 (ErbB2) is a transmembrane surface-bound receptor tyrosine kinase that is a member of the ErbB family of receptor tyrosine kinases and is normally involved in the signal transduction pathways leading to cell growth and differentiation. HER2 is a promising target for treatment of breast cancer as it was found to be overexpressed in about one-quarter of breast cancer patients (Bange et al, Nature Medicine 7:548 (2001)).
Herceptin® (trastuzumab, U.S. Pat. No. 5,821,337) was the first monoclonal antibody developed for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer and has increased survival times for patients so that they are now the same as for patients with HER2-negative breast cancer. Pertuzumab (Perjeta®, U.S. Pat. No. 7,862,817) is a humanized monoclonal antibody, which is designed specifically to prevent the HER2 receptor from pairing (dimerizing) with other HER receptors (EGFR/HER1, HER3 and HER4) on the surface of cells, a process that is believed to play a role in tumour growth and survival. The combination of Perjeta, Herceptin and chemotherapy is thought to provide a more comprehensive blockade of HER signaling pathways. Pertuzumab binds to domain II of HER2, essential for dimerization, while trastuzumab binds to extracellular domain IV of HER2.
Li et al (Cancer Res., 73:6471-6483 (2013)) describe bispecific, bivalent antibodies to HER2 that are based on the native trastuzumab and pertuzumab sequences and which overcome trastuzumab resistance. Other bispecific anti-HER2 antibodies have been described (International Patent Application Publication Nos. WO 2015/077891 and WO 2016/179707; U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2014/0170148, 2015/0284463, 2017/0029529 and 2017/0291955; U.S. Pat. No. 9,745,382). An antibody-drug conjugate comprising a HER2-targeting biparatopic antibody site-specifically conjugated to a tubulysin derivative has also been described (Li et al., Cancer Cell, 29:117-129 (2016)).
Auristatins are synthetic analogues of dolastatin 10, which is a potent microtubule inhibitor with anti-cancer activity. Antibody-drug conjugates comprising auristatin payloads, such as monomethyl auristatin E (MMAE) or monomethyl auristatin F (MMAF), have been described (U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,498,298 and 7,659,241; International Patent Application Publication Nos. WO 2002/088172 and WO 2016/041082). International Patent Application Publication No. WO 2106/041082 describes N-acyl sulfonamide modified auristatins and their use as antibody-drug conjugate payloads.
This background information is provided for the purpose of making known information believed by the applicant to be of possible relevance to the present disclosure. No admission is necessarily intended, nor should be construed, that any of the preceding information constitutes prior art against the claimed invention.

Anti-HER2 biparatopic antibody-drug conjugates and methods of use


A new crib sheet for allowing for safe use of a pillow in a baby crib. The inventive device includes a sheet having a generally rectangular configuration. The sheet has a periphery defined by long opposed side edges and short opposed end edges. The periphery has a peripheral elastic band extending therearound to facilitate securement of the sheet to a mattress. A pillow pouch is formed within an upper portion of the sheet. The pillow pouch receives a pillow therein for securement within the sheet.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to baby accessories and more particularly pertains to a new crib sheet for allowing for safe use of a pillow in a baby crib.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of baby accessories is known in the prior art. More specifically, baby accessories heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art baby accessories include U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,543 to Hoss et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,383,713 to Roston; U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,734 to Pollard; U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,753 to Lunt; U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,611 to Mallett; and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 317,841 to Mendyk.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new crib sheet. The inventive device includes a sheet having a generally rectangular configuration. The sheet has a periphery defined by long opposed side edges and short opposed end edges. The periphery has a peripheral elastic band extending therearound to facilitate securement of the sheet to a mattress. A pillow pouch is formed within an upper portion of the sheet. The pillow pouch receives a pillow therein for securement within the sheet.
In these respects, the crib sheet according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of allowing for safe use of a pillow in a baby crib.


A cable routing device for installation on a post of a computing system board, includes a tube shaped main body having a hollow inner cavity. The main body includes a lower generally cylindrical portion having a first inner diameter sized to achieve a clearance fit over the post, and a flexible upper portion having a general shape of a truncated cone when in an unflexed condition, the flexible upper portion having slits arranged approximately opposite to each other thereby defining two sides to the flexible upper portion, the flexible upper portion having a second inner diameter proximate to a top of the flexible upper portion. When the flexible upper portion is in the unflexed condition, the second inner diameter is smaller than the first inner diameter and smaller than an effective diameter of the post, and when the two sides are flexed in an outward direction the device achieves a clearance fit over the post. The device further includes a cable clip molded to the main body, and configured to retain a plurality of cables.

A computing system board carries many components, some of which are coupled by cables routed over the board. To provide proper airflow, prevent damage to the components, and to permit proper installation on the board, such cables typically are clamped to posts attached to the board. Posts can be threaded on to the board at various locations. However, such locations may not always be favorable to cable routing.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A system and method to manage data processing stages of a logical graphics pipeline comprises a number of execution blocks coupled together and to a global spreader that assigns graphics data entities for execution to the execution blocks. Each execution block has an entity descriptor table containing information about an assigned graphics data entity corresponding to allocation of the entity and a current processing stage associated with the entity. Each execution block includes a stage parser configured to establish pointers for the assigned graphics data entity to be processed on a next processing stage. A numerical processing unit is included and configured to execute floating point and integer instructions in association with the assigned graphics data entity. The execution blocks include a data move unit for data loads and moves within the execution block, with the global spreader, and with other execution blocks of the plurality of execution blocks.

Microprocessor designers and manufacturers continue to focus on improving microprocessor performance to execute increasingly complex software, which delivers increased utility. While manufacturing process improvements can help to increase the speed of a microprocessor by reducing silicon geometrics, the design of the processor, particularly the instruction execution core, relates to processor performance.
Many microprocessors use instruction pipelining to increase instruction throughput. An instruction pipeline processes several instructions through different phases of instruction execution concurrently, using an assembly line approach. Individual function blocks such as a decode block, as a nonlimiting example, may be further pipelined into several stages of hardware, with each stage performing a step in the instruction decode process on a separate instruction. Thus, processor hardware pipelines can be deep with many distinct pipeline stages.
Another method to improve instruction execution speed is known as "out-of-order" execution. Out-of-order execution provides for the execution of instructions in an order different from the order in which the instructions are issued by the compiler in an effort to reduce the overall execution latency of the program including the instructions. One approach to out-of-order instruction execution uses a technique referred to as "register scoreboarding," in which instructions are issued in-order, but executed out-of-order. Another form of out-of-order scheduling employs a technique known as "dynamic scheduling." For a processor that provides dynamic scheduling, even the issue of instructions to execution hardware is rescheduled to be different from the original program order. The results of instruction execution may be available out of order, but the instructions are retired in program order. Yet, instruction pipelining in out-of-order techniques, such as dynamic scheduling, may be used separately or together in the same microprocessor.
Dynamic scheduling of parallel instruction execution may include special associative tables for bookkeeping instruction and functional unit status as well as the availability of a result of a particular instruction for usage as an input operand according to prescribed instructions. Scheduling hardware uses these tables to issue, execute, and complete individual instructions.
The scope of the dynamic scheduling of parallel instruction execution is instruction level parallelism (ILP), which has been extended to multiple threads (hyperthreading or simultaneous multithreading (SMT)). This technique provides hardware assisted dispatch and execution of multiple threads providing multiple instructions per clock issue to process in a parallel functional unit. Dynamic scheduling hardware provides simultaneous instruction issue from the multiple active threads.
Scheduling hardware may use scoreboards for the bookkeeping of thread and instruction status to trace dependencies and to define the moment of. issue and execution. In addition, threads may be suspended because of long latency cache misses or other I/O reasons. Nevertheless, as a nonlimiting example, the scoreboard may be comprised of an instruction status, a functional unit status, as well as a register result status. All three of these tables interact in the process of instruction execution by updating their fields each clock cycle. In order to pass the stage and change status of an instruction, certain conditions should be fulfilled and certain actions should be taken on each stage.
Register renaming is another technique that may be implemented to overcome name dependency problems when architecture registers namespace is predetermined, which enables instructions to be executed in parallel. According to a register renaming technique, a new register may be allocated each time an assignment is made to a register. When an instruction is decoded, the hardware checks the destination field and renames the architecture register name space. As a nonlimiting example, if register R3 is assigned a value, a new register clone R3′ may be allocated and all reads of register R3 in the following instructions are directed to clone R3′ (replacing architecture name by clone name).
In continuing this nonlimiting example, when a new assignment is made to register R3, another register clone R3″ is allocated and the following references are redirected to new clone R3″. This process continues with all input instructions. This process not only removes name dependencies, but it also makes the processor appear to have more registers and may increase the instruction level parallelism so that more parallel units may operate.
Register renaming may also be used by reorder buffers so as to extend the architecture register space and create multiple copies of the same register associate with different commands. This results in the ability to provide out-of-order with in-order completion.
When an instruction is decoded, it may be assigned a reorder buffer entry associated with the appropriate function unit. The destination register of the decoded instruction may be associated with the allocated reorder buffer entry, which results in renaming the register. The processor hardware may generate a tag to uniquely identify this result. The tag may be stored in the reorder buffer entry. When a subsequent instruction refers to the rename destination register, it may receive the value or the tag stored in the reorder buffer entry, depending upon whether or not the data is received.
A reorder buffer may be configured as a content addressable memory (CAM) where the tag is used for a data search. In application, a destination register number of a subsequent instruction may be applied to a reorder buffer and the entry containing this register number may also be identified. Once identified, the calculated value is returned. If the value has not been computed, the tag, as described above, may be returned instead. If multiple entries contain this register number, then the latest entry is identified. If no entries contain the required register number, then the architecture register file is used. When the result is produced, the result and tag may be broadcasted to all functional units.
Another processing approach involves real-time scheduling and multiprocessor systems. This configuration involves loosely coupled MIMD microprocessors, where each processor has its own memory and I/O channels. Several tasks and subtasks (threads) may run on these systems simultaneously. However, the tasks may include synchronization in some type of ordering to keep the intended processing pattern. Plus, the synchronization needed may be different for various processing patterns.
Unlike instruction level parallelism processors, real-time scheduling processors use processor assignment to task in threads (resource allocation). With the instruction level parallelism configuration, there may be specialized functional blocks with few of them duplicated, which means that instruction assignment for distribution is relatively simple depending upon the number of available slots and the type of instruction.
However, for multiprocessor systems of the MIMD type, all processors are typically similar and have a more complicated task assignment policy. At least one nonlimiting approach is to consider the MIMD structure as a processor pool, which means to treat the processor as a pooled resource and assign processes to processors depending upon availability of memory and computational resources.
There are at least two methodologies for distributing tasks and threads in this environment. The first is static assignment, which occurs when each type of task or thread is preassigned to a particular processor or group of processors. The second configuration is dynamic assignment, as similarly described above, which calls for tasks being assigned to any processor from the pool depending upon available resources and task priority. In this configuration, the multiprocessor pool may have special dispatch cues where tasks and threads are waiting for assignment and execution, as well as for I/O event completion. Also in this configuration, threads are parts of a task, and some of the tasks may be split into the several threads that may be executed in parallel with some synchronization on data and order. Thus, the threads in general may execute separately from the rest of the process. Also, an application can be a set of threads that cooperate and execute concurrently in the same address space but using different processors. As a result, threads running concurrently on separate processors may yield dynamic gain in performance.
In a multiprocessor configuration, thread scheduling may be accomplished according to load sharing techniques. Load sharing may call for the load being distributed evenly across the various microprocessors in the pool. As a result, this ensures that no microprocessor is idle.
Multiprocessor thread scheduling may also use some of the static scheduling techniques described above, such as when a thread is assigned to a specific processor. However, in assigning certain threads to a specific processor, other processors may be idle while the assigned processor is busy, thereby causing the assigned thread to sit idly waiting for its assigned processor to become free. Thus, there may be instances where static scheduling results in inefficiency in the processor.
Dynamic scheduling of processors may be implemented in an object oriented graphics pipeline. An object is a structured data item representing something travelling down a logical pipeline, such as a vertex of a triangle, patch, pixel, or video data. At the logical level, both numeric and control data may be part of the object, though the physical implementation may handle the two separately.
In a graphics model, there are several types of objects that may be processed in the data flow. The first is a state object, which contains hardware controlled information and shader code. Second, a vertex object may be processed, which contains several sets of vertices associated with numerical control data. Third, a primitive object may be processed in the data flow model which may contain a number of sets of primitives' associated numerical and control data. More specifically, a primitive object may include a patch object, triangle object, line object and/or point object. Fourth, a fragment object may be part of the data flow model which may contain several sets of pixel associated numerical and control data. Finally, other types of objects such. as video data may be processed in a data flow model as well.
Each type of object may have a set of possible operations that may be performed on it and a (logically) fixed data layout. Objects may exist in different sizes and statuses, which also may be known as levels or stages to represent the position they have reached in the process in pipeline.
As a nonlimiting example, the levels of an object may be illustrated on a triangle object, which initially has three vertices that point to the actual location of vertex geometry and attribute data. When the references are resolved (check caches and retrieve data from API buffers if needed), the object level is upgraded so that the object is sent through other stages. The level of upgrade normally may reflect the availability of certain data in the object structure for immediate processing. An upgraded level includes the previous level in most cases.
One of ordinary skill in the art would know that there may generally be two types of sizes (layouts) of an object. A first is a logical layout, which may include all data structures. The logical layout may remain unchanged from the moment of object creation through termination. A second type of layout for objects is a physical layout that shows the data structure is available for immediate processing, which operates to match the logical layout in the uppermost level.
Both the logical and physical layouts may be expressed in terms of frames and buffers—logical frames and physical buffers. Logical frames may be mapped to physical buffers to make data structures available for immediate processing. Each object initially may contain few logical frames and one of them may be mapped to a physical buffer. All other frames used in later stages may not be mapped so as to save memory resources on the chip. Yet both frames and buffers may have variable size with flexible mapping to each other.
An object may refer to data held within other objects in the system. Pipeline lazy evaluation schemes track these dependencies and use them to compute the value stored inside an object on demand. Objects of the same type may be processed in parallel independent cues. Alternatively, a composite object may be created containing several vertices, fragments, or primitives to process in SIMD mode.
For graphics processing applications, the features described above have historically included fixed function and programmable hardware based pipeline solutions. However, these linear solutions oftentimes lead to inefficiencies resulting from the static configuration of the graphics pipeline. When the bandwidth of a particular stage as described above does not change during the execution time of the frame generation, inefficiencies and idle time in the processor are introduced, thereby decreasing the overall efficiency. This inefficiency is compounded in an application involving multiple parallel processors.
Thus, there is a heretofore-unaddressed need to overcome the problem of dynamic creating and execution management of multiple logic graphic pipelines in an MIMD structure of parallel multithread processors. There is a further need for improved resource utilization in parallel processing to achieve higher performance, which may be previously attributed to poor allocation and scheduling protocol resolution.

System and method to manage data processing stages of a logical graphics pipeline


An injector driver and a drive method therefor wherein a reference current signal is generated that is synchronized to an injector valve signal for causing the injector to inject and that has a current increasing tendency substantially equivalent to an injector current waveform for the case in which a low voltage is applied to the injector, a current that flows in the injector is detected as a detected current signal, and the electrical powering of the injector is controlled by comparing the reference current signal with the detected current signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an injector driver, and specifically to an injector driver and a drive method therefor, which drive an injector of an internal combustion engine to which a battery directly supplies power.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electromagnetic fuel injector (hereinafter "injector") is known as a conventional fuel injector in an internal combustion engine mounted aboard a vehicle such as an automobile. The injector includes a nozzle having a fuel injection port, a plunger, on the end of which is formed a valve (valve body), that is inserted into the nozzle and reciprocally moves freely therewithin, a return spring that imparts resilient force in the valve-closing direction to the plunger, and a coil that receives electrical power from a battery and provides electromagnetic force in the valve-opening direction to the plunger. By electrically powering the coil the plunger is pulled inward to move the valve away from the valve seat of the fuel injection port, thereby injecting fuel from the fuel injection port. When the electrical power to the coil is stopped, however, the magnetic attraction by the coil attenuates, and the resilience force of the return spring closes the valve.
In recent years, injectors (fuel injectors) have come to be disposed in the cylinders of gasoline engines to improve the combustion efficiency, and attempts have been made to inject fuel directly into a cylinder. By directly injecting fuel into a cylinder, because gasoline fuel supplied by an injector is entirely supplied to the cylinder, it becomes possible to perform combustion with a value that is closer to the theoretical value, and it is possible to reduce a fuel consumption and to achieve a reduction in NOx and hydrocarbons and the like contained in the exhaust gas.
In the case of direction injection, however, the space into which the gasoline fuel is injected is the space formed by the cylinder block, the piston, and the cylinder head and, if injection during the compression stroke is considered, combustion must be done at a pressure that a much higher than the case of injection into the intake manifold. Also, there is not enough space and time for the fuel to diffuse after it is injected. Under this type of condition, therefore, in order to achieve combustion conditions equivalent to those in past art, it is necessary to make the fuel pressure of the gasoline fuel supplied to the injector high, and to sufficiently diffuse the fuel within the cylinder from the instant of injection. This makes it necessary to perform high-speed drive of the injector to oppose the high fuel pressure, and also to perform accurate control of the fuel injection time. The driving circuit to achieve this must apply a high voltage in a short period of time to the injector (more precisely, to the injector solenoid) and must perform high-speed opening and closing of the needle valve of the injector.
The Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-11-351039, for example, discloses art wherein, in an injector drive circuit direct cylinder-injection engine, because a high fuel pressure is applied to the injector, a high magnetic attraction is required by the coil of the injector, rather than using battery voltage (+B) drive, the battery voltage (+B) is generally increased to approximately 50 to 200 V by a voltage-boosting unit and applied to the injector to operate the injector, after which a switch is made to a holding current.
In the art disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-11-351039, however, although there are the advantages of the valve opening response time (T0) of the injector being short and the fact that there is no influence from a variation in the battery voltage (+B), it is necessary to use a voltage boosting unit to increase the battery voltage, and necessary to take noise countermeasures because of the use of a high voltage, thereby leading to the problem of an increase cost of the apparatus.
To solve the above-described problem, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2001-41085 discloses art in which, in driving the injector by the battery voltage (+B), a threshold value at which a switch is made to constant current control is changed depending upon the battery voltage (+B), and the threshold value is set smaller the lower is the battery voltage (+B), thereby preventing excessive current when the battery voltage is low.
However, in the case such as in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2001-41085, in which the injector drive current is controlled by the battery voltage (+B) without using a voltage-boosting unit, the voltage applied to the injector is reduced, making it difficult to suppress the variation (or make constant) of the injector valve opening response time T0 because of battery voltage variation and variations characteristic to each cylinder.
The variation of the injector valve opening response time T0 will be described with reference made to FIG. 10 to FIG. 12. FIG. 10 of the accompanying drawings describes the relationship between the voltage applied to the injector and the injector valve opening response time T0. In this drawing, the horizontal axis represents the voltage applied to the injector INJ, and the vertical axis represents the injector INJ valve opening response time T0. The symbol A denotes drive by the battery voltage (+B), and the symbol B denotes drive by the use of a voltage boosting unit.
In the case of driving using a voltage-boosting unit, as described above, even if the applied voltage varies, the span of change ΔT0 of the valve-opening response time T0 of the injector INJ is small, and there is no particular problem. In contrast, when driving using the battery voltage (+B) only, when the voltage applied to the injector INJ varies, the span of change ΔT0 of the valve-opening response time T0 of the injector INJ becomes large. The voltage applied to the injector INJ varies in accordance with variation of the battery voltage (+B) and variation in the coil resistance (including the wiring harness resistance) caused by ambient temperature variations and the elapse of time.
FIG. 11 describes the valve-opening response time T0 of the injector for the case in which the injector is controlled by a constant voltage, and FIG. 12 describes the valve-opening response time T0 of the injector for the case in which the injector is controlled by a constant current. As shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, the current increasing tendency of the current flowing in the injector INJ differs between the case in which a high voltage is applied and the case in which a low voltage is applied. The valve-opening response time T0 of the injector INJ changes greatly depending upon the current increasing tendency of the current flowing in the injector INJ. In this manner, in the conventional constant-voltage control method and constant-current control method in which a voltage-boosting circuit is not used, there is the problem of not being able to suppress variation in the valve-opening response time T0.

Injector driver and drive method for the same