Provided is a brewing device for an espresso maker having a brewing chamber for receiving grounds, a pressing ram mounted movably on a path of travel extending between a top position and a bottom compaction position in which it penetrates into said brewing chamber to form a cake of compacted grounds, a hydraulic drive mechanism for the pressing ram having a hydraulic pump and means for measuring the volume of hydraulic fluid injected into the drive mechanism. The brewing device has a control circuit that determines the height of the cake of compacted grounds from signals delivered by the volume measurement means during the travel of the pressing ram.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brewing device for an espresso maker, in particular a brewing device in which an amount of grounds introduced into a brewing chamber is controlled during each cycle in order to guarantee a repeatable result for a selected beverage type.
Description of Related Art
The amount of grounds to introduce into the brewing chamber can be alterable in order to obtain different beverages, specifically strong coffee known as ristretto, espresso, lungo, etc.
The brewing device of a coffee maker typically has a brewing chamber, which is supplied with grounds, and a pressing ram, which compresses the grounds in the brewing chamber into a cake. The grounds are generally produced by a coffee grinder equipped with grinding wheels, one of which is driven in rotation. The amount of grounds delivered corresponds to a grinding wheel drive time stored in a control circuit. However, several parameters, specifically the wear of the grinding wheels or the hardness of the coffee beans, can cause the amount of grounds delivered to vary even with the same grinding wheel drive time.
For measuring this variation, adding a device for measuring the thickness of the cake of compressed grounds, which is representative of the amount of grounds introduced into the brewing chamber, is known to the prior art. The thickness of the cake of grounds is calculated from the measurement of the compaction position of the pressing ram in the brewing chamber.
An appliance for preparing beverages having a brewing device comprising a brewing chamber which receives the grounds and a pressing rain which is axially displaced by an electric motor from a waiting position outside the chamber to a compaction position inside the chamber is thus known from document EP0627186. A sensor associated with a control device is used to calculate the compaction position of the rain in the chamber by counting the number of revolutions of the motor. The sensor can be a Hall effect sensor associated with several magnets driven in rotation or an optical sensor associated with a slotted disc driven in rotation by the motor. The compaction position of the rain can then be compared to a predetermined value, a deviation between these two values indicating the presence of too small or too large an amount of grounds in the chamber.
In this construction, however, the sensors and the associated movable elements are expensive and complicated and are a potential source of breakdowns. An optical sensor in particular is sensitive to fouling in the environment of an espresso maker.
Also known from document EP2394541 is a brewing device for an espresso maker having a brewing chamber for receiving grounds, a pressing ram mounted movably in translation along a path of travel extending between a top retracted position in which it is situated above the brewing chamber and a bottom compaction position in which it penetrates the brewing chamber to form a cake of compacted grounds, wherein the pressing ram is driven by a hydraulic drive mechanism with a hydraulic cylinder and a pump. The device has a rotary potentiometer controlled by drive means during the travel of the pressing ram, making it possible to measure the compaction position of the pressing rain and deduce the height of a cake of compacted grounds therefrom.
This document discloses a device for driving the pressing rain that is economical insofar as the pump supplying the hydraulic cylinder is necessary for the injection of hot water under pressure into the brewing chamber for making coffee. For measuring the height of the compacted cake of grounds, however, the potentiometer is an expensive and bulky component that is hard to fit in the brewing device.
The object of the present invention is to remedy the aforementioned disadvantages and to propose a brewing device enabling precise control of the amount of grounds introduced into a brewing chamber that is simple in design and inexpensive to implement.
Another object of the present invention is to propose a brewing device that operates in a reliable manner.

Brewing device with control of the amount of grounds by a flow meter and coffee maker comprising such a device


A method of preparing an ink includes homogenizing a dispersion to coat pigment particles in the dispersion with a monomer. An ink for use in a printing device includes pigment particles encapsulated in a polymerized monomer, where the monomer has a polarity that is higher than a polarity of a surface of the pigment particles.

Inkjet printing is a method for producing images by the selective deposition of ink droplets on a print medium, such as paper, film, fabric and other substrates. Digital data is provided to the print engine to drive the selective deposition of the ink droplets in a pattern that forms the desired image. Inkjet printing can be in color or monochromatic. Because of their many advantages, inkjet printers have found broad applications in such diverse fields as industrial labeling, short run printing, desktop publishing and pictorial printing.
The inks used in various ink jet printers can be classified as either dye-based or pigment-based. A dye is a colorant which is molecularly dispersed or dissolved in a carrier medium such that discrete colorant particles cannot be observed. The carrier medium can be a liquid or a solid at room temperature. In pigment-based inks, the colorant exists as discrete particles suspended in a carrier medium. These pigment particles are usually treated with dispersants or stabilizers which keep the pigment particles from agglomerating and/or settling out of suspension.
Ideally, the ink used in an inkjet printing system should meet various performance parameters. These parameters may include certain physical properties of the ink such as viscosity, surface tension, and electric conductivity that work well with the discharging conditions of the inkjet print head, such as the driving voltage and driving frequency of the ink discharge means in the print head, the form and material of print head discharge orifices, the diameter of the orifices, etc. The ink should also be able to remain in storage for prolonged periods of time without causing subsequently clogging or other complications in the print head. The ink should not chemically attack, corrode or erode surrounding materials such as the ink storage container, print head components, etc. The ink should be non-toxic, flame-resistant and without any unpleasant odor. The ink should also exhibit low foaming and high pH stability characteristics.
The ink should be quickly fixable onto a print medium such that an image formed appears smooth without revealing the individual drops of ink used to form the image. Once formed into the desired image on the print medium, the ink should have strong water resistance and light resistance, meaning that the image will resist being degraded by exposure to either moisture or strong light. The ink of the printed image should also have high adhesion to the print medium and be resistant mechanical damage such as scratching.
In order to promote these desirable characteristics of an inkjet ink, specifically, a pigment-based ink, it has been suggested to encapsulate the colorant particles in a pigment-based ink. However, previous attempts to encapsulate colorant particles in a pigment-based inkjet ink so as to promote desired ink characteristics without otherwise degrading the ink's performance have met with very limited success.

Encapsulation of pigment particles by polymerization

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A bichromatic grating coupler comprises a two-dimensional diffraction grating structure, including a first sub-grating having a first periodic structure and a second sub-grating having a second periodic structure. The first and second sub-gratings are superimposed with respect to each other in the diffraction grating structure. A first optical port is coupled to the diffraction grating structure along a first direction, and a second optical port is coupled to the diffraction grating structure along a second direction. The first optical port is configured to direct a first light beam having a first wavelength to the diffraction grating structure, such that the first light beam is diffracted in a first direction by the first sub-grating. The second optical port is configured to direct a second light beam having a second wavelength to the diffraction grating structure, such that the second light beam is diffracted in a second direction by the second sub-grating.

Low size, weight, and power (SWaP), environmentally robust, mass producible sensors based on laser cooled atoms would be of enormous commercial importance. For example, the unparalleled stability of atom-based clocks, gyroscopes, and accelerometers could enable precise timing and navigation in Global Positioning System (GPS)-denied environments.
A key functional component of compact atomic sensors based on laser cooled atoms is the optical system which emits, conditions, and directs the free-space laser beams required for collecting, cooling, and trapping clouds of atoms. For example, compact atomic sensors may require many laser beams of different wavelengths to precisely intersect one another inside an ultra high vacuum cell chamber containing an atomic vapor. Also, the laser beam parameters, such as the Gaussian parameters (waist position and divergence angle) and polarization, may need to be precisely matched between many different beams.
Currently, state of the art atomic sensor optical systems utilize one or more "bulk" optical components (e.g., lenses, mirrors, polarizers, and other optics) as optical elements. Compact atomic sensors are difficult to batch fabricate at low cost if the optical assemblies must be aligned one optic at a time, and/or if there is no easy method for validating the alignment before their positions are permanently fixed relative to the ultra high vacuum cell chamber into which the beams are projected.
To enable mass production of atomic sensor optical systems, enabling robust performance in various environments, a method of projecting multiple wavelengths of light from a single emission point on a planar surface is required. Furthermore, such a method should be compatible with the use of integrated waveguide optical systems.

Bichromatic chip to free-space grating coupler


Air pressure which is proportional to the rotation speed of an engine is generated in a crank chamber 2 during operation. The crank chamber 2 is communicated to a fuel tank 10 having sealed structure with interposition of a check valve 25. Air pressure which is proportional to the rotation speed of the engine is applied to fuel in the fuel tank 10. The fuel tank 10 is communicated to the fuel injection system 30. The fuel injection system 30 opens its injection orifice only when power is supplied to a solenoid coil and injects supplied fuel into a combustion chamber. Because air pressure which is proportional to the rotation speed of the engine is applied to fuel, through each fuel injection time is constant, fuel which is proportional to the rotation speed can be injected. In particular, a shorter injection time is sufficient for high rotation speed operation in comparison with conventional fuel injection time, thereby power consumption of the fuel injection system 30 is reduced. Fuel injection rate is stabilized and the rotation stability at high speed is improved. This invention provides an engine for models in which power consumption of the electronic controlled fuel injection system is reduced and fuel is supplied adequately to the rotation speed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an engine for models having an electronic controlled fuel injection system.
2. Description of Related Art
FIG. 6 shows the structure of a conventional four-cycle glow engine which has been known as an engine for models. Exhaust gas discharged from an exhaust muffler 101 of the engine 100 is partially guided into a fuel tank 102 in order to pressurize fuel in the fuel tank 102. Fuel which is pressurized at an approximately constant pressure by means of exhaust gas is sent to a needle valve 103, and supplied to the engine 100.
According to the engine for models described herein above, engine operation under low rotation speed such as idling operation is unstable, and when the engine is accelerated rapidly from the low rotation condition, a lot of air is fed in the valve body, but the supply of fuel can not follow the supply of air, and the balance of air-fuel ratio is unbalanced. The rotation of the engine increases not smoothly and increases slowly, and can be stopped in the bad case. As a whole, the response is not good, the transition from the low rotation speed to high rotation speed or the higher rotation speed to low rotation speed requires a long time, it is a disadvantage of the conventional engines.
The inventors of the present invention proposed an engine to solve the above-mentioned problem in which a constant pressure was applied to fuel in a fuel tank, and the pressurized fuel was injected into a combustion chamber using an electronic controlled fuel injection system. The fuel injection system used for the engine for models comprises a box to which pressurized fuel is fed, a coil accommodated in the box, and a valve disposed movably in the coil for closing a fuel injection orifice with pressing force of a forcing means. A current supply to the coil of the fuel injection system actuates the valve body to move in the opposite direction against the pressing force, and the closed fuel injection orifice is opened to inject fuel stored in the box into the outside.
In the above-mentioned engine for models proposed by the inventors of the present invention, fuel consumption per one cycle is different depending on the rotation speed, it is required to inject more fuel into combustion chambers in order to increase the rotation speed. In detail, as shown in FIG. 7, the rotation speed of the engine is proportional to the fuel injection time, for example, the fuel injection time during low speed operation such as 2000 rpm is assumed to be 1, then the fuel injection time during high speed operation such as 8000 to 10000 rpm range is about 2.
In the above-mentioned engine for models proposed by the inventors of the present invention, because the pressure applied to fuel is constant, it is required to extend a single fuel injection time in order to increase the fuel supply that is injected with a single injection. Therefore, the current supply time supplied to the coil of the fuel injection system is extended with increasing in rotation speed, and the extended current supply time results in the increased power consumption, this is a problem. Further, in the method that the fuel supply is controlled by controlling the injection time for injecting pressurized fuel at a constant pressure, the injection time can be longer than the time of one cycle for high speed rotation, in such high rotation speed operation, the fuel supply can not be controlled, it is another problem.
It is the object of the present invention to provide an engine for models with low power consumption of an electronic controlled fuel injection system, which is capable of supplying fuel adequately to the operated rotation speed and capable of being operated stably in wide rotation speed range.


In a refrigerating device comprising waste heat utilization equipment having: a refrigerating cycle 200 formed by sequentially connecting a compressor 210, a condenser 220, an expansion valve 240, and an evaporator 250; and a Rankine cycle 300 formed by sequentially connecting a heater 310 using the waste heat of a heat generating device (for example, an internal combustion engine) 10 as a heating source, an expansion device 320, the above-mentioned condenser 220, and a pump 330, in which the drive shafts of the compressor 210 and the expansion device 320 are separated from each other. Then, the output of the expansion device 320 is used mainly for generating electricity.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerating device comprising waste heat utilization equipment, for recovering power by utilizing waste heat of a heat generating device, and is preferably applied to a vehicle having an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional refrigerating device, for example, one disclosed in Patent document 1 is known. The refrigerating device has a Rankine cycle, utilizing cooling waste heat included in a cooling medium, such as a cooling water, for cooling an internal combustion engine as a heat generating device, and a refrigerating cycle, and the output shaft of an expansion device in the Rankine cycle is connected to the shaft of a compressor in the refrigerating cycle. Due to this, it is possible to drive the compressor by using power (output of the expansion device) recovered in the Rankine cycle and air-conditioning is enabled while the load imposed on the internal combustion engine is reduced.
[Patent document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 56-43018
However, in the above-mentioned refrigerating device, air-conditioning is not possible when waste heat cannot be recovered such as when an internal combustion engine is in a warm-up state. For example, in the case where the refrigerating device is applied to a vehicle, even if the cooling of the vehicle is required after it has been exposed to the heat of the sun in summer, and despite a strong demand for air-conditioning, it is not possible to perform air-conditioning until warm-up of the engine is completed because the compressor cannot be driven by an expansion device.

Refrigerating device comprising waste heat utilization equipment


The present invention relates to a soil anslysis system for determining various soil characteristics. Various soil characteristics may include moisture content, organic matter content and the presence of nitrogen phosphate, potassium and other elements. The soil analysis system includings a plurality of testing assemblies for determining soil characteristics. The soil analysis system further includes a soil testing device or probe which is operatively inserted into the soil to support the testing assemblies. Preferably, the soil analysis system is used in cooperation with a positioning system and a data collection system for recording soil characteristic data based upon the geographic location to which the soil characteristic data relates.

The present invention relates to a soil analyzer. In particular, the present invention relates to a soil analyzer for analyzing soil characteristics.
Soil analysis techniques are utilized to determine certain soil characteristics for agricultural application. The soil of a field may be analyzed for purposes of selecting crop as well as analyzing application rates for fertilizer and other chemicals. Systems have developed for providing variable rate application of fertilizer and other products to a field. Different soil characteristics may affect the analysis for determining the proper quantity of a particular product to be applied to a field. It is desirable to provide a soil analysis system which provides the necessary data for effectively analyzing the quantity of product to be applied to a field. It is also desirable to have a soil analysis system which can be used to provide soil characteristic information by location in a field. Accordingly, different areas of a field may have different soil characteristic conditions, and it is desirable to provide a soil analysis system which creates a database of soil characteristics for different areas of a field.


A steering device including a column rotatably supporting a steering shaft on which a steering wheel is mounted; a vehicle body attaching bracket that is attachable to a vehicle body and has a pair of right and left side plates for holding right and left side surfaces of the column therebetween; a fastening rod spaced from the axis of the column and inserted into the side plates of the vehicle body attaching bracket and the column; and fastening members arranged at both ends of the fastening rod to fasten the inner surfaces of the side plates to the side surfaces of the column, wherein contact surfaces of the right and left side surface of the column and the inner surfaces of the side plates are formed in two parts including a part near the axis of the fastening rod and a part spaced from the axis of the fastening rod.

In the steering device that the telescopic position or the tilting position of the steering wheel is adjustable, after the telescopic position or the tilting position of the steering wheel is adjusted, a column is firmly clamped to a vehicle body attaching bracket so that the steering wheel does not move from that position.
As a steering device in which a telescopic position is adjustable and an outer column is clamped to an inner column, there is a steering device disclosed in Patent Document 1. In the steering device disclosed in the Patent Document 1, since the inner column is strongly fastened to the outer column, a position offsetting from the axis of the outer column is fastened.
FIG. 7 is an enlarged longitudinally sectional view showing a conventional steering device in which a position offsetting from the axis of an outer column is fastened. As shown in FIG. 7, in the hollow and cylindrical outer column 1, a steering shaft 4 is supported to freely rotate. To the steering shaft 4 in the rear side of a vehicle body (a front side in the direction intersecting at right angles to the surface of a sheet of FIG. 7), a steering wheel not shown in the drawing is attached.
To a cylindrical inner peripheral surface 15B formed in the outer column 1 in the front side of the vehicle body (an interior side in the direction intersecting at right angles to the surface of the sheet of FIG. 7), an inner column is internally fitted. The outer column 1 is attached to the vehicle body 6 by a vehicle body attaching bracket (an upper bracket) 3.
A part of the inner column 2 in the front side of the vehicle body is pivotally supported by the vehicle body 6 through a tilting central shaft not shown in the drawing. On the upper part of the vehicle body attaching bracket 3, a pair of right and left flange parts 31A and 31B for attaching the vehicle body attaching bracket 3 to the vehicle body 6 is formed. The flange parts 31A and 31B are fastened to the vehicle body 6 by bolts 312A and 312B and abutting surfaces 311A and 311B on the upper surface of the flange parts 31A and 31B abut on the vehicle body 6 and are fixed thereto. In the flange parts 31A and 31B, a pair of right and left side plates 32A and 32B are bent in L shapes and extend downwardly from the flange parts 31A and 31B.
In the lower part of the outer column 1, clamp parts 11A and 11B are integrally formed. In the lower surface of the outer column 1 and the lower surfaces of the clamp parts 11A and 11B, a slit 13 is formed so as to pass through from the outer peripheral surface 15A to the inner peripheral surface 15B of the outer column 1. The slit 13 is formed over the entire length of a telescopic position adjusting range of the outer column 1.
Between inner surfaces 321A and 321B of the side plates 32A and 32B of the vehicle body attaching bracket 3, side surfaces of the clamp parts 11A and 11B are held so as to move telescopically and tilt.
In the clamp parts 11A and 11B, telescopic long grooves 12A and 12B elongating in the axial direction of the outer column 1 are formed in the lower part of the axis of the outer column 1. Further, a fastening rod 34 is inserted into tilting long grooves 33A and 33B formed in the side plates 32A and 32B and the telescopic long grooves 12A and 12B from the right side of FIG. 7 (intersecting at right angles to the axis of the outer column 1).
In the right side of the fastening rod 34, a disk shaped head part (a fastening member) 341 is formed. In the outer periphery of the head part 341, chamfered parts 342 and 342 are formed in parallel. The chamfered part 342 is internally fitted to the tilting long groove 33B to prevent the fastening rod 34 from rotating relative to the vehicle body attaching bracket 3 and to achieve tilt movement of the fastening rod 34 along the long tilting groove 33B.
An end face 343 of the head part 341 abuts on an outer surface 322B of the side plate 32B. In a left side of the fastening rod 34, a male screw 344 is formed. To the male screw 344, a cylindrical nut (a fastening member) 35 is screwed. An end face 351 of the nut 35 abuts on an outer surface 322A of the side plate 32A. To the nut 35, an operating lever 36 is fixed through a washer 37 and a bolt 38.
Inside surfaces of the clamp parts 11A and 11B respectively, abutting surfaces 17A and 17B are formed in the vicinity of the axis of the fastening rod 34. The abutting surfaces 17A and 17B lightly abut on the inner surfaces 321A and 321B of the side plates 32A and 32B, even when the fastening rod 34 is unfastened. The abutting surfaces 17A and 17B can abut on the inner surfaces 321A and 321B of the side plates 32A and 32B over the entire length of the telescopic position adjusting range of the outer column 1.
The outer peripheral surface 15A of the outer column 1 has a space between the inner surfaces 321A and 321B of the side plates 32A and 32B and the outer peripheral surface 15A, even when the fastening rod 34 is fastened.
When swinging the operating lever 36, the nut 35 rotates so that the side plates 32A and 32B is fastened through the fastening rod 34 or a fastening state is released. That is, when the operating lever 36 is swung in a fastening direction, the nut 35 rotates and the end face 351 of the nut 35 moves to a right side of FIG. 7 and the fastening rod 34 moves to a left side of FIG. 7.
As a result, the end face 351 of the nut 35 fastens the outer surface 322A of the side plate 32A and the end face 343 of the head part 341 fastens the outer surface 322B of the side plate 32B. Thus, the inner surfaces 321A and 321B of the side plates 32A and 32B strongly press the abutting surfaces 17A and 17B in the vicinity of the axis of the fastening rod 34 to deform the clamp parts 11A and 11B toward the axis of the outer column 1 and narrow the width of the slit 13.
As a result, the diameter of the inner peripheral surface 15B of the outer column 1 is reduced to strongly fasten the outer column 1 to inner column 2. At the same time, the abutting surfaces 17A and 17B in the vicinity of the axis of the fastening rod 34 are strongly fastened by the inner surfaces 321A and 321B of the side plates 32A and 32B.
Accordingly, the axis of the outer column 1 is considered to be a fulcrum point, a center of the abutting parts of the abutting surfaces 17A and 17B in the vicinity of the axis of the fastening rod 34 and the inner surfaces 321A and 321B is considered to be a power point, and the clamp parts 11A and 11B are fastened by a moment proportional to a distance L2 between the fulcrum point and the power point. Therefore, the outer column 1 can be strongly pressed to the inner column 2.
However, the fastening position of the side plates 32A and 32B of the vehicle body attaching bracket 3 and the outer column 1 is located in the vicinity of the axis of the fastening rod 34 spaced downward from the axis of the outer column 1.
Accordingly, when a steering force is applied to the outer column 1 from the steering wheel, in a moment applied to the vehicle body attaching bracket 3 by this steering force, the abutting surfaces 311A and 311B of the flange parts 31A and 31B and the vehicle body 6 are considered to be a fulcrum point. Further, a center of the abutting parts of the abutting surfaces 17A and 17B in the vicinity of the axis of the fastening rod 34 and the inner surfaces 321A and 321B are considered to be a power point. A large force acts on the vehicle body attaching bracket 3 by a moment proportional to a distance L1 between the fulcrum point and the power point. Accordingly, a rightward and leftward supporting rigidity in FIG. 7 is low relative to the steering force applied to the outer column 1.
In order to improve the supporting rigidity of the vehicle body attaching bracket, the vehicle body attaching bracket may be reinforced, however, a problem arises that the cost of a material is high and a weight increases. Further, to improve the supporting rigidity of the vehicle body attaching bracket 3, the abutting surfaces 17A and 17B in the vicinity of the axis of the fastening rod 34 may be extended near the axis of the outer column 1. However, since there is a dimensional unevenness in production, the fastening position of the side plates 32A and 32B of the vehicle body attaching bracket 3 and the outer column 1 is limited to a part in the vicinity of the axis of the fastening rod 34. Thus, it is difficult to improve the supporting rigidity of the vehicle body attaching bracket 3.
In steering devices disclosed in Patent document 2 and Patent Document 3, a spacer made of a synthetic resin is interposed between inner surfaces of a vehicle body attaching bracket and both right and left side surfaces of an outer column to improve the supporting rigidity of the vehicle body attaching bracket. However, in the steering device disclosed in the Patent Document 2, since the number of parts is increased, a problem arises that the cost of the parts is high and the number of assembling processes is increased.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-2001-347953
Patent Document 2: JP-A-8-207787
Patent Document 3: JP-B-3,415,953


According to the present invention it has been found that the administration of an anti-ADM antibody or an anti-adrenomedullin antibody fragment or an anti-ADM non-Ig scaffold may reduce considerably the risk of mortality in a patient having a severe chronical or acute disease. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention said anti-ADM antibody or an anti-adrenomedullin antibody fragment or anti-ADM non-Ig scaffold binds to a region of ADM that is located in the N-terminal part (aa 1-21) of adrenomedullin, (see FIG. 2). In another preferred embodiment said anti-ADM antibody or anti-ADM fragment or anti-ADM non-Ig scaffold recognizes and binds to the N-terminal end (aa1) of adrenomedullin. N-terminal end means that the amino acid 1, that is “Y” of SEQ ID No. 21 or 23, is mandatory for antibody binding. The anti-ADM antibody or anti-ADM antibody fragment or anti-ADM non-Ig scaffold would neither bind N-terminal extended nor N-terminal modified Adrenomedullin nor N-terminal degraded Adrenomedullin in said preferred embodiment.

The peptide adrenomedullin (ADM) was described for the first time in 1993 (Kitamura, K., et al., "Adrenomedullin: A Novel Hypotensive Peptide Isolated From Human Pheochromocytoma", Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, Vol. 192 (2), pp. 553-560 (1993)) as a novel hypotensive peptide comprising 52 amino acids, which had been isolated from a human pheochromocytome; SEQ ID No.: 21. In the same year, cDNA coding for a precursor peptide comprising 185 amino acids and the complete amino acid sequence of this precursor peptide were also described. The precursor peptide, which comprises, inter alia, a signal sequence of 21 amino acids at the N-terminus, is referred to as "preproadrenomedullin" (pre-proADM). In the present description, all amino acid positions specified usually relate to the pre-proADM which comprises the 185 amino acids. The peptide adrenomedullin (ADM) is a peptide which comprises 52 amino acids (SEQ ID NO: 21) and which comprises the amino acids 95 to 146 of pre-proADM, from which it is formed by proteolytic cleavage. To date, substantially only a few fragments of the peptide fragments formed in the cleavage of the pre-proADM have been more exactly investigated, in particular the physiologically active peptides adrenomedullin (ADM) and "PAMP", a peptide comprising 20 amino acids (22-41) which follows the 21 amino acids of the signal peptide in pre-proADM. The discovery and characterization of ADM in 1993 triggered intensive research activity, the results of which have been summarized in various review articles, in the context of the present description, reference being made in particular to the articles to be found in an issue of "Peptides" devoted to ADM in particular (Editorial, Takahashi, K., "Adrenomedullin: from a pheochromocytoma to the eyes", Peptides, Vol. 22, p. 1691 (2001)) and (Eto, T., "A review of the biological properties and clinical implications of adrenomedullin and proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide (PAMP), hypotensive and vasodilating peptides", Peptides, Vol. 22, pp. 1693-1711 (2001)). A further review is (Hinson, et al., "Adrenomedullin, a Multifunctional Regulatory Peptide", Endocrine Reviews, Vol. 21 (2), pp. 138-167 (2000)). In the scientific investigations to date, it has been found, inter alia, that ADM may be regarded as a polyfunctional regulatory peptide. It is released into the circulation in an inactive form extended by glycine (Kitamura, K., et al., "The intermediate form of glycine-extended adrenomedullin is the major circulating molecular form in human plasma", Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., Vol. 244 (2), pp. 551-555 (1998). Abstract Only). There is also a binding protein (Pio, R., et al., "Complement Factor H is a Serum-binding Protein for adrenomedullin, and the Resulting Complex Modulates the Bioactivities of Both Partners", The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 276 (15), pp. 12292-12300 (2001)) which is specific for ADM and probably likewise modulates the effect of ADM. Those physiological effects of ADM as well as of PAMP which are of primary importance in the investigations to date were the effects influencing blood pressure.
Hence, ADM is an effective vasodilator, and thus it is possible to associate the hypotensive effect with the particular peptide segments in the C-terminal part of ADM. It has furthermore been found that the above-mentioned further physiologically active peptide PAMP formed from pre-proADM likewise exhibits a hypotensive effect, even if it appears to have an action mechanism differing from that of ADM (cf. in addition to the abovementioned review articles (Eto, T., "A review of the biological properties and clinical implications of adrenomedullin and proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide (PAMP), hypotensive and vasodilating peptides", Peptides, Vol. 22, pp. 1693-1711 (2001)) and (Hinson, et al., "Adrenomedullin, a Multifunctional Regulatory Peptide", Endocrine Reviews, Vol. 21 (2), pp. 138-167 (2000)) also (Kuwasako, K., et al., "Purification and characterization of PAMP-12 (PAMP-20) in porcine adrenal medulla as a major endogenous biologically active peptide", FEBS Lett, Vol. 414 (1), pp. 105-110 (1997). Abstract only), (Kuwasaki, K., et al., "Increased plasma proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide in patients with essential hypertension", Ann. Clin. Biochem., Vol. 36 (Pt. 5), pp. 622-628 (1999). Abstract only) or (Tsuruda, T., et al., "Secretion of proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide from cultured neonatal rat cardiac cells", Life Sci., Vol. 69 (2), pp. 239-245 (2001). Abstract only) and EP-A2 0 622 458). It has furthermore been found that the concentrations of ADM which can be measured in the circulation and other biological liquids are, in a number of pathological states, significantly above the concentrations to be found in healthy control persons. Thus, the ADM level in patients with congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction, kidney diseases, hypertensive disorders, Diabetes mellitus, in the acute phase of shock and in sepsis and septic shock are significantly increased, although to different extents. The PAMP concentrations are also increased in some of said pathological states, but the plasma levels are lower relative to ADM ((Eto, T., "A review of the biological properties and clinical implications of adrenomedullin and proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide (PAMP), hypotensive and vasodilating peptides", Peptides, Vol. 22, pp. 1693-1711 (2001)); page 1702). It is furthermore known that unusually high concentrations of ADM are to be observed in sepsis, and the highest concentrations in septic shock (cf. (Eto, T., "A review of the biological properties and clinical implications of adrenomedullin and proadrenomedullin N-terminal 20 peptide (PAMP), hypotensive and vasodilating peptides", Peptides, Vol. 22, pp. 1693-1711 (2001)) and (Hirata, et al., "Increased Circulating Adrenomedullin, a Novel Vasodilatory Peptide, in Sepsis", Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, Vol. 81 (4), pp. 1449-1453 (1996)), (Ehlenz, K., et al., "High levels of circulating adrenomedullin in severe illness: Correlation with C-reactive protein and evidence against the adrenal medulla as site of origin", Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes, Vol. 105, pp. 156-162 (1997)), (Tomoda, Y., et al., "Regulation of adrenomedullin secretion from cultured cells", Peptides, Vol. 22, pp. 1783-1794 (2001)), (Ueda, S., et al., "Increased Plasma Levels of Adrenomedullin in Patients with Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome", Am. J. Respir. Crit. Care Med., Vol. 160, pp. 132-136 (1999)) and (Wang, P., "Adrenomedullin and cardiovascular responses in sepsis", Peptides, Vol. 22, pp. 1835-1840 (2001))).
Known in the art is further a method for identifying adrenomedullin immunoreactivity in biological liquids for diagnostic purposes and, in particular within the scope of sepsis diagnosis, cardiac diagnosis and cancer diagnosis. According to the invention, the midregional partial peptide of the proadrenomedullin, which contains amino acids (45-92) of the entire preproadrenomedullin, is measured, in particular, with an immunoassay which works with at least one labeled antibody that specifically recognizes a sequence of the mid-proADM (WO2004/090546).
WO-A1 2004/097423 describes the use of an antibody against adrenomedullin for diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cardiovascular disorders. Treatment of diseases by blocking the ADM receptor are also described in the art, (e.g. WO-A1 2006/027147, PCT/EP2005/012844) said diseases may be sepsis, septic shock, cardiovascular diseases, infections, dermatological diseases, endocrinological diseases, metabolic diseases, gastroenterological diseases, cancer, inflammation, hematological diseases, respiratory diseases, muscle skeleton diseases, neurological diseases, urological diseases.
It is reported for the early phase of sepsis that ADM improves heart function and the blood supply in liver, spleen, kidney and small intestine. Anti-ADM-neutralizing antibodies neutralize the before mentioned effects during the early phase of sepsis (Wang, P., "Adrenomedullin and cardiovascular responses in sepsis", Peptides, Vol. 22, pp. 1835-1840 (2001).
In the later phase of sepsis, the hypodynamical phase of sepsis, ADM constitutes a risk factor that is strongly associated with the mortality of patients in septic shock. (Schütz et al., "Circulating Precursor levels of endothelin-1 and adrenomedullin, two endothelium-derived, counteracting substances, in sepsis", Endothelium, 14:345-351, (2007)). Methods for the diagnosis and treatment of critically ill patients, e.g. in the very late phases of sepsis, and the use of endothelin and endothelin agonists with vasoconstrictor activity for the preparation of medicaments for the treatment of critically ill patients have been described in WO-A1 2007/062676. It is further described in WO-A1 2007/062676 to use, in place of endothelin and/or endothelin agonists, or in combination therewith, adrenomedullin antagonists, i.e. molecules which prevent or attenuate the vasodilating action of adrenomedullin, e.g. by blocking its relevant receptors, or substances preventing the binding of adrenomedullin to its receptor (e.g. specific binders as e.g. antibodies binding to adrenomedullin and blocking its receptor bindings sites; "immunological neutralization"). Such use, or combined use, including a subsequent or preceding separate use, has been described in certain cases to be desirable for example to improve the therapeutic success, or to avoid undesirable physiological stress or side effects. Thus, it is reported that neutralizing anti-ADM antibodies may be used for the treatment of sepsis in the late stage of sepsis.
Administration of ADM in combination with ADM-binding-Protein-1 is described for treatment of sepsis and septic shock in the art. It is assumed that treatment of septic animals with ADM and ADM-binding-Protein-1 prevents transition to the late phase of sepsis. It has to be noted that in a living organism ADM binding protein (complement factor H) is present in the circulation of said organism in high concentrations (Pio et al.: Identification, characterization, and physiological actions of factor H as an Adrenomedullin binding Protein present in Human Plasma; Microscopy Res. and Technique, 55:23-27 (2002) and Martinez et al; Mapping of the Adrenomedullin-Binding domains in Human Complement factor H; Hypertens Res Vol. 26, Suppl (2003), S56-59).
In accordance with the invention the ADM-binding-Protein-1 may be also referred to as ADM-binding-Protein-1 (complement factor H).

Anti-adrenomedullin (ADM) antibody or anti-ADM antibody fragment or anti-ADM non-IG scaffold for reducing the risk of mortality in a patient having a chronic or acute disease or acute condition


A fuser system of a xerographic device, including a fuser member and a pressure member in which the pressure member is made to exert pressure upon the fuser member so as to form a nip having a nip width between the fuser member and the pressure member, wherein the nip width is set to within a specification nip width range, a drive system for driving said fuser member relative to said pressure roll; a sensor for monitoring the torque of said drive system; a processor in communication with the sensor that receives torque data from the sensor, wherein the processor determines a current nip pressure uniformity from the torque data and compares the current nip pressure uniformity to the specification nip pressure uniformity range, and a nip pressure adjustment device in communication with the processor, which adjusts the current nip pressure uniformity to be within the specification nip pressure uniformity range.

This invention relates to a fuser system that includes a closed loop control that controls a fuser's nip pressure.
In the art of xerography or other similar image reproducing arts, a latent electrostatic image is formed on a charge-retentive surface, i.e., a photoconductor or photoreceptor. To form an image on the charge-retentive surface, the surface is first provided with a uniform charge after which it is exposed to a light or other appropriate image of an original document to be reproduced. The latent electrostatic image thus formed is subsequently rendered visible by applying any one of numerous toners specifically designed for this purpose.
It should be understood that for the purposes of the present invention, the latent electrostatic image may be formed by means other than by the exposure of an electrostatically charged photosensitive member to a light image of an original document. For example, the latent electrostatic image may be generated from information electronically stored or generated, and this information in digital form may be converted to alphanumeric images by image generation electronics and optics. The particular method by which the image is formed is not critical to the present invention, and any such suitable method may be used.
In a typical xerographic device, the toner image formed is transferred to an image receiving substrate, such as paper. After transfer to the image receiving substrate, the image is made to adhere to the substrate using a fuser apparatus. To date, the use of simultaneous heat and contact pressure for fusing toner images has been the most widely accepted commercially, the most common being systems that utilize a pair of pressure engaged rolls.
The use of pressure engaged rolls for fixing toner images is well known in the art. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,289,587, 5,998,761, 4,042,804 and 3,934,113.
At the time of initial set-up of a xerographic device, the fuser system is set to be within certain specifications for, e.g., dwell time (nip width/process speed), paper velocity and creep. Dwell time is one of the more significant drivers of image fix and quality. Paper velocity is an important factor in paper handling. Creep, which is the release surface's extension in the nip, is important with respect to enabling self-stripping of the paper from the fuser roll. These specifications are set by, for example, setting a roll rotation speed for the paper velocity and setting the nip width for the dwell time and creep.
Once initially set, the nip width and nip uniformity of a typical fuser is not changed during operation of the xerographic device. Unfortunately, several internal and external factors can cause the fuser system to drift outside of the designated specifications. For example, in a typical soft-on-hard roll pair in which the soft roll is the driving roll, the fuser system may begin operating outside of specifications due to, e.g., hardening of the roll materials over time. Typical fuser roll systems include some materials such as silicone materials that tend to become harder over time at unpredictable rates. This hardening causes large reductions in both dwell time and creep, which causes premature failure (e.g., smaller nip widths that lead to insufficient fixing of the toner image and/or poor image quality, as well as to poor stripping of the image receiving substrate).
In addition to these failure modes, it is at times desired that the nip width and nip uniformity in a fuser be altered on demand. For instance, the fusing quality on thick paper is improved with large nip widths, and the fusing quality on thin papers is often improved with small nip widths. The fusing latitude in the presence of varied media and images, therefore, is improved if the nip width can be accurately set and controlled.
Typically, resetting the nip width to improve fusing latitude or to compensate for system failures due to the fuser system falling out of specifications has been dealt with by either (a) having a technician re-set the nip on site and/or (b) setting the nip width far above specifications at the factory, permitting the device to operate longer before falling out of specification. However, each of these 'solutions' has serious problems. Using technicians to reset the nip requires an on site visit by a technician and down time of the device. Initially setting the nip width high above specifications usually causes paper handling and stripping issues, especially with lightweight papers.
Maintaining nip width uniformity is as critical as maintaining the average nip width, as a nip width uniformity out of specification results in two major failure modes. The first is that the axial variation of nip width and pressure results in axial variation of toner adhesion/fix and axial variation of toner gloss, which can cause the fuser to fail to meet print-quality requirements. The second is that the axial nip uniformity also controls the fuser's paper handling and wrinkling performance, so variations in uniformity can cause the fuser to fail for wrinkling, mis-stripping, or other paper-handling reasons.
What is required is an improved inline method where the machine itself measures and adjusts the nip width and nip uniformity to maintain the fuser system within operational specifications.

Closed loop control of nip pressure in a fuser system


The present invention relates to a reduced-fat, ready-to-eat food item comprising a cereal component, a water-soluble dietary fiber composition component, and a binding agent component, wherein a sufficient amount of each component is used to provide for said food item to be formed into a desired shape and maintain said shape.

Ready-to-eat food items, especially food bars, or snack bars as they may be appropriately termed, are known and have been available for some time. Some snack bars generally contain one or more grains, nuts, dried fruit, sweeteners and other ingredients. These ingredients are typically mixed with a binder such as a sugar syrup or shortening and compressed into bars or slabs which may be later cut to a desired size. Depending on the snack bar's composition, it may be mixed, formed, and/or baked prior to packaging and sale.
Consumers who purchase and eat these snack bars may be health conscious and thus careful about what they eat. For such consumers, these food bars, or snack bars, would be even more desirable if they contained reduced-fat levels. However, in such food bars,, fat is typically added in the preparation of the bar. Fat may be added as a binding agent and/or in the form of an oil, which acts to keep the food bar tender and imports other desirable organoleptic properties, such as flavor and mouthfeel. When the oil is not added, or is replaced with water and sugar syrup, the resulting food bar has a poor texture in that it is excessively hard and brittle, and thus is typically not as acceptable to consumers. In the present invention, however, when the water-soluble dietary fiber composition of the present invention is added to food items, particularly food bars, as a replacement for such oils, it has been surprisingly found that a reduced-fat, ready-to-eat food item can be prepared with few, if any, of these undesirable effects.


A method for simulating analog behavior of a circuit in a simulation system includes representing the circuit as a hierarchically arranged set of branches, which includes a root branch and a plurality of other branches logically organized in a graph. The hierarchically arranged set of branches includes a first branch that has one or more subcircuits and a second branch that also has one or more subcircuits. The first branch and second branch are interconnected in the graph through a third branch at a higher hierarchical level in the graph than the first and second branches. The method further includes determining whether the one or more subcircuits having states substantially equivalent to one another, selecting an appointed leader for representing behaviors of the one or more subcircuits having states substantially equivalent to one another, where the appointed leader conforms to a set of predefined criteria and the remaining one or more subcircuits having states substantially equivalent to one another are deemed as followers, simulating analog behavior of the appointed leader, and replicating simulation results of the appointed leader to the followers.

1. Cross Reference to Background Materials
The following publications (A)-(G) are not all from same fields of endeavor and terms used in some of them are not necessarily of same exact meanings as terms used herein because of differences in context. Nevertheless, the contents of these prior publications may be useful in assisting in understanding of the novel concepts presented herein, and thus these background publications may considered as being incorporated herein by reference for the purpose of providing additional background information:                (A) Saleh, Shyh-Jye Resve Jou, and A. Richard Newton, Mixed-mode Simulation and Analog Multilevel Simulation", Kluwer Academic Publishers, Massachusetts, 1994 ISBN 0-7923-9473-9;        (B) Lawrence Pillage, Ronald Rohrer, and Chandramouli Visweswariah, "Electronic Circuit and System Simulation Methods, McGraw-Hill Inc., New York, 1995, ISBN 0-07-0501169-6;        (C) D. L. Beatty, R. E. Bryant, Fast Incremental Circuit Analysis Using Extracted Hierarchy", IEEE 1988, 25th ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference, pp 495-500;        (D) Xiaoyi Jiang and Horst Bunke, "Optimal Quadratic-time Isomorphism of Ordered Graphs," Elsevier Science Ltd, 1999, Journal of the Pattern Recognition Society;        (E) Peter Saviz and Omar Wing, PYRAMID—a Hierarchical Waveform Relaxation-based Circuit Simulation Program", IEEE, 1988, pp 442-445;        (F) Peter Saviz and Omar Wing, Circuit Simulation Hierarchical Waveform Relaxation", IEEE, 1993, IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, Vol. 12, pp 845-860; and        (G) Kevenaar and Leenaerts, "A Flexible Hierarchical Piecewise Linear Simulator Elsevier Science Publishers V., 1991, VLSI Journal 12, pp 211-235.2a. Reservation of Extra-Patent Rights and Resolution of Conflicts
After this disclosure is lawfully published, the owner of the present patent application has no objection to the reproduction by others of textual and graphic materials contained herein provided such reproduction for the limited purpose understanding the present disclosure of invention and of thereby promoting the useful arts and sciences. The owner does not however disclaim any other rights that may be lawfully associated with the disclosed materials, including but not limited to, copyrights any computer program listings art works other works provided herein and trademark trade dress rights that may be associated with coined terms art works provided herein and other otherwise-protectable subject matter included herein or otherwise derivable herefrom.
If any disclosures are incorporated herein reference and such incorporated disclosures conflict part—or whole then to the extent with the present and/or disclosure, of conflict, broader disclosure, and/or broader definition terms, the present disclosure controls. If such incorporated disclosures conflict in part or whole with one another, then to the extent of conflict, the later-dated disclosure controls.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for efficiently simulating analog behavior of designs having hierarchical structure


In a DPCM predictive encoder (or performing DPCM prediction by digitizing a NTSC color television signal with a rate three times of a color sub-carrier frequency, a two-frame predictor which outputs a differential signal over two frames is employed as one of predictors. A predictor switcher adaptively selects one of prediction information as an optimal prediction signal and selects corresponding differential information as an optimal differential signal. This differential signal is quantized by a quantizer. The quantized output and the optimal prediction signal are summed by an adder and supplied to the predictors as a local decoding signal.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates generally to a DPCM predictive encoder. More specifically, the invention relates to a DPCM predictive encoder employing a differential PCM system for predictive encoding of a NTSC television image signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the predictive encoder for a NTSC color television image signal, a NTSC color television signal is initially converted into a digital signal by an analog/digital converter (A/D converter). A sampling clock frequency of the A/D converter is set at four times of a color sub-carrier frequency, for example. The digital signal is compared with a prediction signal generated in a predictor by an differential value generator so that an differential signal is generated. The differential signal is quantized by a quantizer for encoding. An encoding output is added to the prediction signal of the above-mentioned predictor by an adder so that a local decoding signal is generated. This local decoding signal becomes an input for the predictor to generate the prediction signal.
As a predictor, one frame period predictor constructed with one frame delay circuit, is employed, which generates a pixel information for a subject pixel to be encoded depending upon the corresponding pixel in one previous frame.
Here, it is known in the art that the one frame period predictor is used for obtaining prediction effect, in which an differential signal in a frame period relative to a still image becomes zero. When such one frame period predictor is used in the DPCM predictive encoder employing the A/D converter operating at four times of the sub-carrier frequency, the interframe differential signal in the still image becomes zero to provide effective prediction result. However, if the sampling frequency of the A/D converter is set at three times of the sub-carrier frequency, a sampling phase relationship between the frames is differentiated so that inteframe predictor cannot be effective even on the still image and the differential signal in one frame period cannot be made zero. Therefore, in this case, the interframe prediction is not effective for the still image.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a DPCM predictive encoder which enables interframe prediction to be effective when the A/D converter is acting at the speed three times of the color sub-carrier.


A cord stopper (3A˜3E) comprises a locking member (10A˜10E) adapted to be normally in locking engagement with a cord (2, 2A˜2C) and, when the locking member (10A˜10E) is pressed, to come out of locking engagement with the cord (2, 2A˜2C); and a housing member (30A˜30E) including a housing member proper (31A˜31E) adapted for housing the locking member (10A˜10E) therein and attached to an article (1). The housing member proper (31A˜31E) has a housing space (37, 37E) large enough to substantially accommodate the locking member (10A˜10E). Pressure applied to the housing member proper (31A˜31E) can be transmitted to the locking member (10A˜10E) through an outer wall of the housing space (37, 37E).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a cord stopper for fixing any part of a cord to an article and particularly to a cord stopper comprising a locking member capable of normally be locking engagement with a cord, and coming out of locking engagement with the cord when the locking member is pressed, and a housing member adapted to house the locking member therein and attached to the article.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cord stopper is used for binding and releasing an opening of a sleeve of a garment or an opening of a bag. A conventional cord stopper is comprised of a cylindrical female member and a male member reciprocally mounted in the cylindrical female member. The male member is normally urged by separate urging means or urging means integrally formed with the male member in the direction tending to coming out of the female member. The female member and the male member have the respective through holes. Thrusting the male member into the cylindrical female member against the resiliency of the urging means brings the holes of the male and female members into registry or registration with each other, thus permitting the cord to pass through the holes freely. Releasing the hold of the male member restores the male member, under the resiliency of the urging means, to its original position where the hole of the male member and the hole of the female member are out of registry with each other, thus bringing the cord in locking engagement with the cord stopper.
Usually, a cord whose one end is attached to a garment is inserted through such a cord stopper, which cord stopper is locked at any place adjacent to the other end of the cord in use, so that the cord stopper dangles with the cord. When the cord stopper dangles, the cord stopper is likely to touch the skin of the wearer or catch extraneous things, thus hindering the proper movement of the cord stopper. Furthermore, when the cord stopper dangles, the cord stopper is likely to touch or collide against extraneous things and be broken, so that the cord stopper loses its proper function as such.
Furthermore, the cord stopper is made of relatively rigid materials such as acetal on account of necessity of firmly locking the cord. Therefore, there is another problem that, if such a rigid cord stopper is attached to a garment and the cord stopper touches the skin directly or through the garment fabric, the cord stopper feels offensive to the skin.
In order to prevent a cord stopper from dangling, there has been proposed a method that a cord stopper is housed in a housing member sewn to a garment, as indicated in Japanese Patent Laid-open Application No. 2005-58583.
The cord stopper shown in the publication is comprised of a cylindrical female member, a male member reciprocally mounted in the female member, and urging means for urging the male member in the direction tending to come out of the female member. The male member and the female member have through holes formed respectively therethrough. The female member has a rim formed thereon for sewing the female member to a garment.
Although the cord stopper disclosed in the publication can solve the problem that the cord stopper dangles, it still suffers from another problem. Since the male member protrudes out of the female member, the projecting part of the male member touches or catches extraneous things, and is likely to damage the wearer himself or extraneous things. Moreover, since the male member protrudes out of the female member, the cord stopper is less attractive in design or appearance.
Therefore, the object of this invention is to provide a cord stopper which is well prevented from touching or catching extraneous things, thus less likely to damage the wearer himself or extraneous things, and is attractive in appearance as well.


A handheld dental video camera and a corresponding method is disclosed. The dental video camera includes a window for receiving light. In some aspects of the invention, a lamp is mounted distally beyond the window and aimed to illuminate a subject. In other aspects of the invention, a white LED is used to illuminate the subject.

This invention relates to the field of video imaging and, more specifically, to a video imaging apparatus for use in dental imaging.
Video imaging cameras have been used for obtaining images in dentistry for some time. One example of an existing system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,782 (Williams), which describes a video dental camera that includes a light source, a CCD, and an adjustable focus lens system. Other examples of existing system can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,805 (Moermann et al.), and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,261 (Monroe et al.).
Until now, however, it has been extremely difficult to fashion a sufficiently slim instrument. Slim instruments are desirable because they provide accessibility to places that thicker instruments can not reach. Moreover, even in cases where a thick instrument can provide adequate access, the slimmer instruments can reduce the discomfort experienced by the patient.
One factor contributing to the thickness of previous dental video cameras is the type of light source that is incorporated into the camera head. Some previous dental cameras, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,502, use an external light source and route the light from the source to the head using fiber optics. This arrangement, however, requires the optical fibers to travel through the cable and through the body of the handheld camera unit, which results in a stiffer cable (which can reduce maneuverability) and a thicker handheld unit. In addition, the fiber optic connections require a more complex and expensive connector, as compared to fully electrical connectors. Finally, using fiber optics to illuminate the subject requires increased power, because some of the light energy is lost in the optical fiber.
Other prior art imaging devices use lamps at the end of the imaging head instead of fiber optics. But until now, lamps have not been used in configurations that minimize the thickness of the instrument. For example, the lamps in Williams are positioned axially away from the imaging window, and the lamp in Moermann is positioned on the proximal side of the imaging window. Both of these configurations result in relatively thick instruments.
In addition, the lamps used in previous imaging devices had significant shortcomings. One example is the halogen lamp used in Monroe, which consumes significant power and generates heat. Another example is the LED used in Moermann, which, like all ordinary LEDs, produces essentially monochromatic light that can make diagnosis of certain medical conditions difficult.

Dental imaging system with lamps and method


A liposome containing a hydrophobic iodine compound such as a 1,3,5-triiodobenzene derivative having at least one substituent containing 18 or more carbon atoms as a membrane component, and an X-ray contrast medium containing the liposome for use in radiography of a vascular disease and the like.

In the modern society, especially in the societies of advanced countries, opportunities of ingesting high calorie and high fat diet are increasing. For this reason, mortalities due to ischemic diseases resulting from arteriosclerosis (heart diseases such as myocardial infarction and angina pectoris, cerebrovascular diseases such as cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage) have been increasing. Therefore, it has been desired to diagnose such conditions at an early stage to employ an appropriate treatment. However, no satisfactory method is available for diagnosing progress of arteriosclerosis at an early stage before the onsets of the aforementioned diseases.
Methods for diagnosing arteriosclerosis are basically classified into non-invasive methods and invasive methods in which a catheter or the like is inserted into an artery. Among them, typical non-invasive methods include X-ray angiography and ultrasonography. However, by these methods, it is almost impossible to detect arteriosclerosis at an early stage, especially constriction of coronary artery, which causes myocardial infarction or angina pectoris, at an early stage before the onset of these diseases.
CT, MRI and the like may sometimes be used as another class of non-invasive methods. However, these methods have been mainly developed for detection of tumors, and accordingly, they have a problem of a low resolution of arteriosclerotic lesions. In addition, the methods require expensive and large-scale apparatuses, which limits employable hospitals and general applicability. Further, methods utilizing radioisotopes have also been investigated. However, these methods still remain at an experimental level.
As the invasive methods, intravascular echo, vascular endoscope and the like have been used. It is recognized that an arteriosclerotic lesion with a thickness as thin as 0.1 mm can be measured by these methods. However, for employment of these methods, it is necessary to arterially insert an ultrasonic oscillator or an endoscope attached to an end of a catheter, which may result in serious physical stress and heaviness as well as a risk of a patient. Therefore, although these methods have been used therapeutically for patients after the attack of myocardial infarction and the like or as secondary prophylaxis, they cannot be used for a diagnostic purpose to know as to presence or absence or a degree of progress of arteriosclerosis in a patient before onset.
Among the aforementioned methods, a method most widely used for identification of a lesion of arterial vasoconstriction is X-ray angiography. This method comprises the step of administration of a water-soluble iodine contrast medium to visualize vascular flows, and detecting a lesion at which the flows are obstructed. However, these methods can only detect a lesion where constriction progresses 50% or more and fail to detect a lesion before the onset of attack of an ischemic disease.
Separately from the above methods, attempts have also been reported in which a hydrophobic iodine contrast medium or a hydrophilic contrast medium is formulated for selective accumulation in a target lesion (International Patent Publications WO95/19186, WO95/21631, WO89/00812, British Patent No. 867650, WO96/00089, WO94/19025, WO96/40615, WO95/2295, WO98/41239, WO98/23297, WO99/02193, WO97/06132, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,192,859, 4,567,034, 4,925,649, Pharm. Res., 16 (3), 420 (1999), J. Pharm. Sci., 72 (8), 898 (1983), Invest. Radiol., 18 (3), 275 (1983). For example, Pharm. Res., 16 (3), 420 (1999) discloses that, by injection of an oil-particle dispersion of cholesteryl iopanoate as a hydrophobic compound, the iodine compound accumulates in arteriosclerotic lesions of experimental animals.
Further, J. Pharm. Sci. 72 (8), 898 (1983) discloses examples of X-ray hepatography and splenography by injection of an oil-particle dispersion of cholesteryl iopanoate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,034 describes a method of selective hepatography or splenography utilizing liposomes encapsulating an ester of diatrizoic acid. International Patent Publications WO96/28414 and WO96/00089 disclose contrast media for imaging vascular pools or lymphatic systems. However, the methods using these formulations are not satisfactory in efficiency and selectivity for a purpose of selective contrast of vascular diseases, and no example thereof is reported in which vascular diseases are imaged by utilizing X-ray irradiation.
Mechanisms of onset of arterial diseases have recently been progressively elucidated at levels of genes, proteins and cells (J. Biol. Chem., 1996, 271 (44) 27346–52; Nature, 386 (6662) 292–6). As for arteriosclerosis, it has been elucidated that plural kinds of cells form lesions while they mutually control their proliferation (Arterioscler. Throm. Vasc. Biol., 1999 (3) 461–71; Lab Invest 1998, 78 (4) 423–34). However, no example has been demonstrated which reproduces the state of a lesion, in which plural kinds of cells are involved as mentioned above, in a cell culture vessel, and accordingly, evaluation of drugs for arteriosclerosis or restenosis have so far been conducted mainly by using model animals.
However, such methods using animals are time-consuming and require a high cost, and their use is also required to be minimum from a viewpoint of prevention of cruelty to animals. Therefore, an in vitro evaluation method of reproducing a state of arteriosclerotic lesion has been desired for screening of a large number of compounds for a short period of time.

Liposome containing hydrophobic iodine compound


A mudline connector including a compression adaptor which can be elastically deformed onto an internal tubular member. The compression adaptor deflects inwardly to grip upper and lower sealing mandrels, providing axial and bending load support and creating a seal to isolate bore pressure from an outer annulus. The clamping arrangement provides a sealed connection between two well casing sections extending in opposite axial directions. The well casings are gripped and held in an end to end configuration by a radial load applied internally by a compression ring. The connector is activated by introducing pressure to activate pistons which in turn provide an axial thrust to stroke the internally tapered compression ring along the externally tapered compression collar, effectively creating an interference fit therebetween. This deflects the inner surface of the compression collar inwardly, deflecting the compression adaptor inwardly to grip the outer surfaces of the upper and lower sealing mandrels.

A tieback system is a procedure for reconnecting a previously abandoned pre-production, exploration or appraisal well to a production platform or subsea christmas tree with the intention of producing hydrocarbons through it.
There are several advantages of using or being able to tieback to an existing well. For example, where an exploration well is drilled and finds a target that is particularly productive, it is possible to benefit from this prior work by tying back to an existing explorational well. This is particularly advantageous since it can save significant time and money rather than drilling another well with the purpose of production from the same field. A further advantage is that there are certain long lead times, such as incurred with the provision of a production platform or christmas trees etc, that are required to produce hydrocarbons. In addition, it is beneficial to drill production wells which can be temporarily abandoned during the time it takes to manufacture the platform etc. This then means that production can begin far sooner than it otherwise would have. Furthermore, at present certain wells, particularly in a high pressure/high temperature (HP/HT) environment cannot be tied back meaning that the well can only be drilled after the platform is in place.
In conventional tieback methods, a threaded connection is made between a well casing at the mudline and a well casing that extends towards the surface. The actuation of a threaded connection at this location can be restricted or even prohibited. In particular, within a HP/HT environment, nickel alloys are generally used within the well casings at this connection. However, nickel alloys have a strong tendency to scratch and gall one another under any sort of load. Accordingly, this present major problems when attempting to tie back within a HP/HT environment at the mudline.
It is an aim of the present invention to overcome at least one problem associated with the prior art whether referred to herein or otherwise.


The present invention relates to a method for preparing fluorinated olefin compounds, in particular (chloro)fluoropropenes and (chloro)fluorobutenes, and specifically, the fluorinated compound 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene, including at least one step of fluorination, in the gaseous phase, with HF and at least one compound selected from the halopropenes having formula the CX3CHClCH2X and the halopropenes having the formulas CX3CC1═CH2, CClX2CCl═CH2 and CX2═CClCH2X, where X is, independently, a fluorine or chlorine atom, in the presence of oxygen and a fluorination catalyst suspended in a fluidized-bed reactor.

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) and in particular hydro-fluoroolefins, such as 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1234yf) are compounds known for their properties of refrigerants and heat-exchange fluids, extinguishers, propellants, foaming agents, blowing agents, gaseous dielectrics, monomer or polymerization medium, support fluids, agents for abrasives, drying agents and fluids for energy production units. Unlike CFCs and HCFCs, which are potentially dangerous to the ozone layer, HFOs do not comprise chlorine and thus do not present a problem for the ozone layer.
Several processes for the manufacture of HFO-1234yf are known.
WO 2009/084703 describes a process for the manufacture of HFO-1234yf from hexafluoropropene involving the intermediacy of hexafluoropropane, pentafluoropropene, and pentafluoropropane.
WO 2007/079431 describes the preparation of HFO-1234yf by a process comprising the stages of fluorination of 2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoro-1-propene (HCFO-1233xf) to give 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoro-2-chloropropane (HFC-244bb), followed by a dehydrochlorination stage. The product HCFO-1233xf is prepared by fluorination of the corresponding chlorinated precursor (CCl2═CClCH2Cl).
WO 2008/054781 describes a preparation of HFO-1234yf by reaction of 2,3-dichloro-1,1,1-trifluoropropane (HFC-243db) in the presence of HF over a catalyst, in particular 98/2 Cr/Co. The reaction products comprise HFO-1234yf and 2-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoro-1-propene (HCFO-1233xf), the latter product being predominant; the other products 1-chloro-3,3,3-trifluoro-1-propene (HCFO-1233zd) and also 1,1,1,2,2-pentafluoropropane (HFC-245cb) and 1,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene (HFO-1234ze) are also formed. A higher temperature favors the production of the 1233zd isomer. The starting material, 2,3-dichloro-1,1,1-trifluoropropane (HFC-243db), is indicated as being obtained by chlorination of trifluoro-1-propene (TFP).
WO 2008/040969 and WO 2008/075017 describe a substantially similar preparation. It is indicated that the reaction proceeds by dehydrochlorination of HFC-243db to give HCFO-1233 (both xf and zd), followed by a reaction involving the formation of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoro-2-chloropropane and the formation subsequently of the desired 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoro-1-propene by dehydrochlorination. The HF:organics ratio is varied and it is indicated that the dehydrochlorination reaction to give HCFO-1233 (xf and zd) is favored by low HF:organics ratios while the reaction for the preparation of the desired final compound is favored by high HF:organics ratios. The starting material, 2,3-di-chloro-1,1,1-trifluoropropane (HFC-243db), is indicated as being obtained by chlorination of trifluoropropene or trifluoromethylpropene.
WO 2010/123154 describes a preparation of HFO-1234yf by reaction of HCFO-1233xf with HF in the presence of oxygen and of a catalyst comprising chromium oxide CrOm with 1.5<m<3. This document teaches the use of an oxygen/HCFO-1233xf molar ratio at most equal to 1 in order to improve the selectivity.
Furthermore, the document US 2011/245548 describes the use of a molar ratio of oxygen with respect to a chlorinated compound of between 0.1 and 1 in order to increase the lifetime of a catalyst in the fluorination reaction of pentachloropropane or tetrachloropropene to give HCFO-1233xf.
The preparation methods as mentioned above generally comprise several stages and require very expensive capital costs. In addition, it is often complex to implement them on an industrial scale. The presence of byproducts which cannot be recovered in value and also the lifetime of the catalyst are among the most frequently encountered problems when moving on to the industrial scale.
Furthermore, the presence of oxygen in an amount as described in the prior art presents numerous problems: formation of oxygen-comprising byproducts; formation of water, which, in the presence of HF, results in a highly corrosive medium and safety (risk of ignitibility of the gaseous effluent) in the reactor or downstream of the reactor in the separation units.
There exists a need for a process for the preparation of HFO-1234yf from a starting material which is readily accessible and easy to employ, resulting "on a long-term basis" in the desired product with a high selectivity and advantageously a high yield and/or conversion.

Method for preparing fluorinated olefin compounds


A system and method for treating pets, the system comprising: a content provider to provide video and audio content adapted for treating a pet; a video and audio output device for playing the video and audio content; and a feedback interface for providing indications to the content provider about behavior of the pet, wherein the content provider is to adapt the provided content according to the received indications. The method comprising playing video and audio content by a video and audio out-put device, the content comprising: an image adapted for treating a pet; and a sound adapted for treating a pet; receiving indications about behavior of the pet; and adapting the played content according to the received indications.

In some cases or situations pets may need special emotional and/or behavioral care, especially in times when the primary caregiver is not around. Additionally, pets may have particular fears, stresses and/or behavioral problems which may be treated in order to improve the life quality of the pet and of the pet's owner.
For example, certain pets may fear and/or get stressed and/or sad of certain situations, such as riding a car, swimming in water, being left home alone, etc. The pet's behavior in such certain situation may deteriorate the life quality of the pet, of the pet's owner and of other people in the pet's surroundings. For example, the neighborhood residents may suffer from the pet's crying when the pet is left home alone.
Therefore, a solution for treating certain emotional and/or behavioral problems with and/or without presence of a human caregiver may improve the life quality of the pet and of the people in the pet's surroundings.


A cutoff apparatus is adapted to be positioned adjacent a roll-forming machine, and is particularly adapted for adjustably receiving and cutting bumper-length segments from a swept elongated shape made of high strength steel being extended from the roll-forming machine. The cutoff apparatus includes a carriage with rollers for rollingly engaging the elongated shape to align the carriage with the elongated shape, the carriage being adapted to periodically move with the roll-formed shape for a short distance as the roll-formed shape is being formed. The cutoff apparatus further includes a blade operably mounted to the carriage for cutting segments from the roll-formed shape on the fly. An overhead supporting device supports the carriage in a counterbalanced condition so that the carriage can pivot and/or translate as necessary to minimize undesirable stress on the roll-formed shape as the roll-formed shape extends through the carriage, thus providing a reduced need to critically align and maintain the alignment of the cutoff apparatus with the roll-formed shape.

The present invention relates to a cutoff apparatus, and in particular to a cutoff apparatus adapted to cut bumper-length segments from an elongate shaped being made in a continuous roll-forming process.
Recently, an apparatus and process was invented to manufacture roll-formed tubular vehicle bumpers that are longitudinally curved or swept. (See U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,512 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,026). The roll-formed bumpers are made from a strip of high strength steel alloy of about 60 to 120 ksi tensile strength or more which is roll-formed into a tubular shape and swept longitudinally to form a longitudinally curved shape. The elongate shaped is then cut into bumper-length segments which are subsequently prepared as needed to form automotive bumpers or bumper reinforcement bars. The above noted process is particularly economical since high strength-to-weight bumpers can be made with very high strength materials at a competitive cost and at high production rates.
It is known to position a cutoff device in-line with a roll-forming machine to cut segments from an elongated shaped element during the roll-forming process. However, traditional cutoff devices are not adapted to sever a longitudinally curved shaped element such as a bumper made of high strength materials as in the elongated shaped bumper noted above. For example, the traditional cutoff devices utilize a track to guide the cutoff mechanism of the traditional cutoff device during the cutoff stroke. However, use of a track requires that the track be accurately aligned with the elongated shaped bumper so that there will not be any interfering misalignment between the track and the high strength elongated shaped bumper. In particular, any such interference can cause poor part quality, excessive wear on the cutoff device, and/or binding on the cutoff device. Notably, alignment is particularly difficult to achieve and/or maintain when the elongated shaped bumper is longitudinally curved. Further, use of a curved track necessarily requires that the track be changed, adjusted, and/or realigned every time the bumper-forming process is changed over to make a different bumper having a different degree of sweep. Hence, a cutoff device is desired that self-aligns with the elongated shaped bumper.
Another problem is that many traditional cutoff devices utilize a saw blade. This can result in excessive downtime caused by frequent blade changes since the bumper is made of high strength steel and has a large section to cut through. Thus, a cutoff device is desired that is long lasting, but which is maintainable by traditional die maintenance methods.
One type of cutoff device that has been used includes semi-stationary cutoff dies that are made to receive the bumper, the cutoff dies being adapted to move along the path of the bumper during a cutting stroke as a bump-press arrangement stamps the dies to shearingly cut the elongate shaped. (See FIGS. 16 and 17 labelled as prior art in the attached drawings.) The cutoff dies include cammed die slides for trimming the sides of the bumper, and also include a center die for trimming the center web of the elongated bumper. These cutoff dies require that the inside of the elongated bumper be supported so that the cutoff dies do not crush the bumper during the stamping/cutoff process. However, supporting the inside of a bumper in an exact location so that the cutoff dies can shearingly engage same is difficult if not impossible to achieve. Further, even if a way to support the inside of the tube is devised, the cutoff dies are sensitive to alignment and will tend to hang up or wear undesirably unless the dies are fully aligned with the path of the bumper. Further, the press can tend to "walk" out of alignment due to vibration from the stamping/cutoff process. This problem is compounded since the die stamping press cannot be permanently anchored to the floor, but rather must be adjustably mounted to the floor so that the location of the die stamping press can be adjusted to receive bumpers having different levels of sweep.
Another cutoff device sometimes used to cut roll-formed shapes is a traditional band saw type cutoff device. However, these devices require a track to move along a curved path, as discussed above, and further require frequent maintenance such as blade changes due to blade wear from the high strength steel used in the above noted process.
Thus, a cutoff apparatus is desired for solving the aforementioned problem. In particular, a cutoff apparatus is desired which is self-aligning, readily maintainable, long-lasting in service, and readily adjustable for different levels of sweep, but which is relatively non-complex in operation.


A method of losslessly compressing and encoding signals representing image information is claimed. A lossy compressed data file and a residual compressed data file are generated. When the lossy compressed data file and the residual compressed data file are combined, a lossless data file that is substantially identical to the original data file is created.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image processing and compression. More specifically, the invention relates lossless encoding of video image and audio information in the frequency domain.
II. Description of the Related Art
Digital picture processing has a prominent position in the general discipline of digital signal processing. The importance of human visual perception has encouraged tremendous interest and advances in the art and science of digital picture processing. In the field of transmission and reception of video signals, such as those used for projecting films or movies, various improvements are being made to image compression techniques. Many of the current and proposed video systems make use of digital encoding techniques. Aspects of this field include image coding, image restoration, and image feature selection. Image coding represents the attempts to transmit pictures of digital communication channels in an efficient manner, making use of as few bits as possible to minimize the band width required, while at the same time, maintaining distortions within certain limits. Image restoration represents efforts to recover the true image of the object. The coded image being transmitted over a communication channel may have been distorted by various factors. Source of degradation may have arisen originally in creating the image from the object. Feature selection refers to the selection of certain attributes of the picture. Such attributes may be required in the recognition, classification, and decision in a wider context.
Digital encoding of video, such as that in digital cinema, is an area that benefits from improved image compression techniques. Digital image compression may be generally classified into two categories: loss-less and lossy methods. A loss-less image is recovered without any loss of information. A lossy method involves an irrecoverable loss of some information, depending upon the compression ratio, the quality of the compression algorithm, and the implementation of the algorithm. Generally, lossy compression approaches are considered to obtain the compression ratios desired for a cost-effective digital cinema approach. To achieve digital cinema quality levels, the compression approach should provide a visually loss-less level of performance. As such, although there is a mathematical loss of information as a result of the compression process, the image distortion caused by this loss should be imperceptible to a viewer under normal viewing conditions.
Existing digital image compression technologies have been developed for other applications, namely for television systems. Such technologies have made design compromises appropriate for the intended application, but do not meet the quality requirements needed for cinema presentation.
Digital cinema compression technology should provide the visual quality that a moviegoer has previously experienced. Ideally, the visual quality of digital cinema should attempt to exceed that of a high-quality release print film. At the same time, the compression technique should have high coding efficiency to be practical. As defined herein, coding efficiency refers to the bit rate needed for the compressed image quality to meet a certain qualitative level. Moreover, the system and coding technique should have built-in flexibility to accommodate different formats and should be cost effective; that is, a small-sized and efficient decoder or encoder process.
Many compression techniques available offer significant levels of compression, but result in a degradation of the quality of the video signal. Typically, techniques for transferring compressed information require the compressed information to be transferred at a constant bit rate.
One compression technique capable of offering significant levels of compression while preserving the desired level of quality for video signals utilizes adaptively sized blocks and sub-blocks of encoded Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) coefficient data. This technique will hereinafter be referred to as the Adaptive Block Size Discrete Cosine Transform (ABSDCT) method. This technique is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,021,891, entitled "Adaptive Block Size Image Compression Method And System," assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. DCT techniques are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,345, entitled "Adaptive Block Size Image Compression Method And System," assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. Further, the use of the ABSDCT technique in combination with a Differential Quadtree Transform technique is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,104, entitled "Adaptive Block Size Image Compression Method And System," also assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. The systems disclosed in these patents utilize what is referred to as "intra-frame" encoding, where each frame of image data is encoded without regard to the content of any other frame. Using the ABSDCT technique, the achievable data rate may be reduced from around 1.5 billion bits per second to approximately 50 million bits per second without discernible degradation of the image quality.
The ABSDCT technique may be used to compress either a black and white or a color image or signal representing the image. The color input signal may be in a YIQ format, with Y being the luminance, or brightness, sample, and I and Q being the chrominance, or color, samples for each 4:4:4 or alternate format. Other known formats such as the YUV, YCbCr or RGB formats may also be used. Because of the low spatial sensitivity of the eye to color, most research has shown that a sub-sample of the color components by a factor of four in the horizontal and vertical directions is reasonable. Accordingly, a video signal may be represented by four luminance samples and two chrominance samples.
Using ABSDCT, a video signal will generally be segmented into blocks of pixels for processing. For each block, the luminance and chrominance components are passed to a block size assignment element, or a block interleaver. For example, a 16×16 (pixel) block may be presented to the block interleaver, which orders or organizes the image samples within each 16×16 block to produce blocks and composite sub-blocks of data for discrete cosine transform (DCT) analysis. The DCT operator is one method of converting a time and spatial sampled signal to a frequency representation of the same signal. By converting to a frequency representation, the DCT techniques have been shown to allow for very high levels of compression, as quantizers can be designed to take advantage of the frequency distribution characteristics of an image. In a preferred embodiment, one 16×16 DCT is applied to a first ordering, four 8×8 DCTs are applied to a second ordering, 16 4×4 DCTs are applied to a third ordering, and 64 2×2 DCTs are applied to a fourth ordering.
The DCT operation reduces the spatial redundancy inherent in the video source. After the DCT is performed, most of the video signal energy tends to be concentrated in a few DCT coefficients. An additional transform, the Differential Quad-Tree Transform (DQT), may be used to reduce the redundancy among the DCT coefficients.
For the 16×16 block and each sub-block, the DCT coefficient values and the DQT value (if the DQT is used) are analyzed to determine the number of bits required to encode the block or sub-block. Then, the block or the combination of sub-blocks that requires the least number of bits to encode is chosen to represent the image segment. For example, two 8×8 sub-blocks, six 4×4 sub-blocks, and eight 2×2 sub-blocks may be chosen to represent the image segment.
The chosen block or combination of sub-blocks is then properly arranged in order into a 16×16 block. The DCT/DQT coefficient values may then undergo frequency weighting, quantization, and coding (such as variable length coding) in preparation for transmission. Although the ABSDCT technique described above performs remarkably well, it is computationally intensive.
Further, although use of the ABSDCT is visually lossless, it is sometimes desirable to recover data in the exact manner in which it was encoded. For example, mastering and archival purposes require to compress data in such a way as to be able to recover it exactly in its native domain.
Traditionally, a lossless compression system for images consists of a predictor, which estimates the value of the current pixel to be encoded. A residual pixel is obtained as the difference between the actual and the predicted pixel. The residual pixel is then entropy encoded and stored or transmitted. Since the prediction removes pixel correlation, the residual pixels have a reduced dynamic range with a characteristic two-sided exponential (Laplacian) distribution. Hence the compression. The amount of compression of the residuals depends on both the prediction and subsequent entropy encoding methods. Most commonly used prediction methods are differential pulse code modulation (DPCM) and its variants such as the adaptive DPCM (ADPCM).
A problem with pel-based prediction is that the residuals still have a high energy. It is due to the fact that only a small number of neighboring pixels are used in the prediction process. Therefore there is room to improve the coding efficiency of pel-based prediction schemes

Apparatus and method for encoding digital image data in a lossless manner


Gaming methods and apparatus are described for providing a plurality of progressive prizes for a gaming system. Separate progressive prizes are maintained for each of a plurality of different wager options for a game playable on the gaming system. The progressive prizes can be maintained so as to reduce the difference in contribution to the expected return to player between the wager options.

With the increase of gambling at gaming venues has come increased competition between gaming venues to obtain a larger share of the total gambling spend. Gaming venue operators have therefore continuously looked for new variations and types of games in order to attract both new and return customers to their venues.
In response to this need, suppliers of gaming devices and systems have attempted to provide the sought after variety, while still developing games that comply with the relevant regulations in the jurisdiction of the gaming venue operator. Suppliers of gaming devices therefore are faced with restrictions on the types of games and gaming apparatus that are allowable, both in terms of the prevailing regulations and in terms of providing a return on investment to the gaming venue operators.
In addition, it is important that a player be able to understand the operation of a game quickly so that the player can start to quickly play the game and therefore extract maximum entertainment from the game.
One method that has been used with gaming machines is to offer a progressive prize. The progressive prize is contributed to through gaming activity on the gaming machine, for example by taking a percentage of all wagers placed on the gaming machine. The progressive prize is awarded on the occurrence of a progressive prize winning event. Various methods of contribution to a progressive prize and determination of when the progressive prize has been awarded have been developed.
A problem with progressive prizes is finding an appropriate method of determining how to award the progressive prize. Taking the example of a gaming machine that implements a spinning reel game, if the progressive prize winning event is the spinning up of a particular combination of symbols on a pay line that has been purchased through the placing of a wager in the form of a number of credits, then this combination can be expected to occur with the same frequency no matter how many credits are wagered on that outcome.
For other winning combinations of a pay line, the award may be multiplied by the amount of credits that were wagered on that pay line. However, multiplication of a progressive prize in this manner is not viable. The result is that the contribution to the expected return to player of the progressive prize is higher for players that only wager a single credit per pay line than for players that wager multiple credits per pay line. An ongoing problem faced in the field is how to develop new ways of offering progressive prizes that adequately address variations in the expected return to player.

Apparatus, system and method for awarding progressive or jackpot prizes

Aristocrat Technologies Australia Pty Limited