Provided are a chain and a connecting pin that enable reduction in the number of components and the workload involved in chain assembly, and that enhances the strength of a connecting pin. A chain 100 has inner plates 110, outer plates 120 and connecting pins 130. Each connecting pin 130 has a pair of outer shaft sections 131 formed on both end sides of the pin and fixed into pin holes 121 of the outer plates 120; a pair of inner shaft sections 132 formed inward of the pair of outer shaft sections 131 in the pin longitudinal direction and freely fitted into pin holes 111 of the inner plates 110; and a movement restricting section 133 formed inward of the left-right pair of inner shaft sections 132 in the pin longitudinal direction and restricting the movement of the inner plates 110 in the chain width inward direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chain that has inner plates, outer plates and connecting pins, and to a connecting pin that is assembled into the chain.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bushless roller chains are conventionally known in which pairs of outer plates, and pairs of inner plates disposed between the pairs of outer plates, are connected by connecting pins that directly support the pairs of inner plates in such a manner that the latter can pivot, and that directly support rollers disposed between the pairs of inner plates in such a manner that the rollers can rotate, and so that, as a result, the pairs of outer plates and the pairs of inner plates are alternately chained with one another, in the chain running direction (for instance, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-44386).
In this bushless roller chain, the connecting pins are fixed to the outer plates, and are inserted, in a freely fitted state, into pin holes that are provided in the inner plates.


Methods, apparatus, and systems for webgame interactions are provided. A first terminal sends a request for establishing a P2P channel to a second browser, when the first browser logs in to a webgame application on the first terminal. The P2P channel is established between the first browser and the second browser, after the first browser receives an accepting response to the request for establishing the P2P channel from the second browser. The first browser uses the P2P channel to transmit webgame application data between the first browser and the second browser. An exemplary browser can include a requesting module, an establishing module, and a processing module. Another exemplary browser can include a receiving module, an obtaining module, a responding module, an establishing module, and a processing module.

Webgame is a web browser based, multiplayer interactive, network game. Players do not need to download a client for playing a game, but they can use the web browser to open a webpage to enter a game. Webgame communication is performed between the web and a server. Interactions between players are performed via the server.
Currently, webgames use a communication mode including a B/S (browse/server) mode. This mode uses an application as the core to deploy servers in the network. Requests from the players and communications between players must go through an application server to complete. However, this communication mode has drawbacks. Webgames cannot be directly connected, and players cannot have p2p interaction, and all communications/interactions have to be transited through the server. This requires a high demanding for the server and results in great pressure on the server.

Method, apparatus, and system for webgame interaction

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


A controlled plasma deposition system and method are provided including a vacuum vessel. An electron adding mass spectrometer is connected to a vacuum vessel for carrying out a gas treatment for a semi-conductor wafer. In the mass spectrometer, a gas in the vacuum vessel is incorporated, and electrons are added to the particles in the gas. Then the value of negative ions obtained by ionizing the particles, for example specific radicals, is measured. Once measured, the information is forwarded to a controller that may optimize the plasma deposition method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a gas treatment system and method for carrying out a plasma treatment with respect to, e.g., a semiconductor waver.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a process for producing a semiconductor device, there is a process for treating a semiconductor waver (which will be hereinafter referred to as a xe2x80x9cwaferxe2x80x9d) serving as a substrate to be treated, using plasma. This is carried out by introducing a treatment gas into a vacuum vessel having a wafer mounting table and supplying electromagnetic energy to the treatment gas to produce plasma. For example, as such a process, there are deposition and etching. As a technique for producing plasma, there are the ECR system for utilizing the electromagnetic cyclotron resonance which is the interaction between microwaves and a magnetic field, the ICP system for supplying electric and magnetic fields to a treatment gas from a coil wound onto a dome-shaped vessel, and the parallel plate system for applying a high-frequency power between a pair of plates facing each other.
In such a plasma treatment, particles produced in plasma, e.g., radicals, have different functions, such as deposition and etching, in accordance with the kind of the particles, so that it is considered that radicals play an important role in the treatment on a wafer. Therefore, there are disclosed a method for estimating the density of radicals during the production of plasma, and a method for controlling the microwave output by the value thus obtained. As a method for estimating the density of radicals, there are a laser induced fluorescence method (LIF method) for irradiating plasma with laser light to allow molecules to absorb the light to emit fluorescence to estimate the density of radicals on the basis of the measured value of the fluorescence, and a method for detecting the variation in spectrum of an infrared semiconductor laser beam to measure the density of radicals in a vacuum vessel.
However, since the above described LIF method is a method for measuring fluorescent molecules, it is not possible to estimate the density of a non-fluorescent kind of radicals, and it is impossible to measure high-order radicals having a great molecular number, so that there is a problem in that it is not possible to precisely carry out a process control.
Also in the method for measuring the radical density on the basis of the variation in spectrum of the infrared semiconductor laser beam, although it is possible to measure low-order radicals since the spectrum caused by radicals is known, it is impossible to measure high-order radicals having a great molecular number.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to eliminate the aforementioned problems and to provide a system and method capable of estimating the kind and density of, e.g., radicals, to carry out a good treatment, e.g., a treatment having a small dispersion between substrates to be treated.
In order to accomplish the aforementioned and other objects, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas treatment system for supplying a treatment gas into a vacuum vessel to carry out a predetermined treatment for a substrate to be treated, the system comprising: electron adding means for emitting electrons to the treatment gas extracted from the vacuum vessel and for causing electrons to adhere to particles in the treatment gas; mass spectrometry means for determining the kind of negative ions of the particles, to which electrons adhere, by the electron adding means; density estimating means for estimating the density of the particles in the treatment gas corresponding to the determined negative ions, on the basis of the measured value of the number of the negative ions determined by the mass spectrometry means; and a control part for controlling a process condition, which influences the state of the treatment gas in the vacuum vessel, on the basis of the estimated result of the density of the particles estimated by the density estimating means.
The density estimating means may vary the magnitude of electron energy emitted from the electron adding means, to derive the variation in measured value of the negative ions of the particles, to use data corresponding to the peak value of the measured value as the estimated result of the density of the particles. The mass spectrometry means preferably has a gas extracting port which is movable in the vacuum vessel. The electron adding means may be connected to the vacuum vessel via a bellows which is retractable with respect to the vacuum vessel. The process condition may be at least one of the magnitude of energy applied to the treatment gas, the pressure in the vacuum vessel, and the flow rate of the treatment gas. The control part may carry out a feedback in real time on the basis of the estimated result of the density of the particles estimated by the density estimating means, to control the process condition. The control part may set and control the process condition with respect to a subsequent product substrate to be treated, on the basis of the estimated result of the density of the particles estimated by the density estimating means with respect to a test substrate to be treated.
In addition, according to the present invention, the particles in the treatment gas, to which electrons adhere, may be radicals, molecules or atoms. The magnitude of electron energy emitted from the electron adding means is changed to derive the relationship between the magnitude of electron energy and the measured value of the particles, so that the density of the particles can be estimated on the basis of the derived result.

Plasma deposition apparatus and method with controller


Character conversion methods for converting characters from a source character code set to a destination character code set. The source and destination character code sets are analyzed to establish a mapping table indicating relationships therebetween. A target character encoded in the source character code set is converted to destination code encoded in the destination character code set by searching the mapping table.

This present invention relates to character conversion technology, and in particular to a method for converting character codes between two different character code sets.
Character encoding/decoding is mainly utilized in multilingual applications. The multilingual applications may be employed in many devices, such as computers, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), or mobile handheld devices.
A conventional method of converting character codes between two different character code sets is to establish one-to-one mapping tables. The established mapping tables generally contain records of character codes of two different character code sets, that is, a source character code set and a destination character code set.
For example, if a source character code set is Arabic ISO and a destination character code set is Unicode-UCS (Universal Character Set), a one-to-one mapping table is established for character code conversion. In this example, because Arabic ISO (International Organization for Standardization) character set includes 209 characters and Arabic ISO/Unicode-UCS uses 16 bit (2 bytes) representation, a one-way mapping table requires (209)×(2+2)=836 bytes. A one-way mapping table can only accomplish one-way conversion, that is, from Arabic ISO to Unicode or from Unicode to Arabic ISO. If two-way conversion is required, that is, from Arabic ISO to Unicode and from Unicode to Arabic ISO, the size of the mapping table must be doubled to 836×2=1672 bytes.
Furthermore, the efficiency of character conversion can be viewed as the efficiency of a binary search in the mapping table. The complexity is log2N, N=209.
Since different languages may adopt different character code sets to encode characters, in the device supporting multilingual applications, characters have to be converted from one character code set to another, causing character conversion problems. Particularly, in some devices, such as mobile handhelds, the memory size and the calculation ability of central processing unit (CPU) may be limited. Thus, conventional methods are not satisfactory for many devices.

Methods and systems for character conversion


A pressure switch includes a switch housing which has an accommodation bore extending inward from one end of the switch housing, and a slide bore extending between the accommodation bore and the other end of the switch housing. A piston is slidably disposed within the slide bore and is adapted to receive a pressure. A terminal serving as one electric contact is fixed to the accommodation bore via a holding ring made of an insulating material. A disk spring serving as the other electric contact is disposed between the piston and the terminal. The disk spring deforms due to a pressing force of the piston and comes in contact with the terminal. The pressure switch further comprises an annular elastic ring placed on the outer end of the holding ring. An end portion of the switch housing is deformed inward so as to elastically deform the elastic ring, thereby sealing the opening portion of the accommodation bore. The switch housing has a cylindrical portion which has a cylindrical outer shape and into which the holding ring is press-fit, a threaded portion for attachment of the switch housing, and a polygonal tightening portion which is formed between the cylindrical portion and the threaded portion and is used to tighten the switch housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pressure switch used for detecting a pressure increase in a hydraulic apparatus.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In a hydraulic power steering apparatus used in an automobile or the like, a hydraulic pump is generally driven by an engine, and operation oil discharged from the hydraulic pump is supplied to the hydraulic power steering apparatus so as to assist the driver's steering operation.
In such a hydraulic power steering apparatus, when a steering operation is carried out while the automobile or the like is stopped and therefore the engine is running at its idle rotational speed (hereinafter referred to as "stationary steering operation"), the load pressure of the hydraulic pump increases, resulting in an engine stall. In order to solve this problem, the conventional automobile or the like employs a so-called idle-up mechanism and also employs a pressure switch which detects an increase in the load pressure of the hydraulic pump while the engine is running at the idle speed so as to operate the idle-up mechanism.
FIG. 1 shows an example of such a pressure switch. In FIG. 1, numeral 1 denotes a switch housing, which is attached to a pressure introduction passage 3 formed in a pump housing 2.
In the switch housing 1 is supported a piston 4 which is movable in the axial direction. Load pressure introduced through the pressure introduction passage 3 acts on the piston 4. Disposed above the piston 4 is a terminal 5 serving as one of a pair of electric contacts. This terminal 5 is held by the holding ring 7 via a resin 6 serving as an electrical insulator.
Between the terminal 5 and the piston 4 is disposed a disk spring 8 serving as the other electric contact. When the piston 4 presses the disk spring 8, the disk spring 8 comes in contact with the terminal 5. The disk spring 8 is held between the holding ring 7 and the switch housing 1, and is grounded to a vehicle body via the switch housing 1 and the pump housing 2.
The holding ring 7 is placed into an accommodation bore 1a formed in the switch housing 1, and an end portion 1b of the switch housing 1 is deformed inward through caulking, so that the holding ring 7 is fixed to the switch housing 1, thereby positioning the disk spring 8. After the caulking, a resin 9 is charged into the opening portion of the accommodation bore 1a so as to seal the opening portion.
When the load pressure of the hydraulic pump increases due to a stationary steering operation while the engine is running at the idle speed, the increased pressure acts on the piston 4, so that the piston 4 slides against the spring force of the disk spring 8. Consequently, the piston 4 elastically deforms the disk spring 8, thereby bringing it into contact with the terminal 5. With this operation, electrical conduction is established between the pump housing 2 and the terminal 5, so that an electrical signal for idle-up is generated.
Since such a pressure switch is disposed in an engine space, the adhesive force between the end portion (caulked portion) 1b of the switch housing 1 and the resin 9 charged in the opening of the accommodation bore 1a decreases due to salt damage caused by antifreezing agents scattered on roads or due to thermal shock, resulting in formation of a gap between the resin 9 and the caulked portion 1b. In this case, moisture and the like enters the inside of the switch housing 1 through the gap and causes adverse effects on the electric contact portion between the disk spring 8 and the terminal 5.
In the conventional pressure switch, a thread is formed on the outer circumference 1c of the lower end of the switch housing 1, and the lower end of the switch housing 1 is screwed into a threaded hole 2a formed at the opening end of the pressure introduction passage 3 of the pump housing 2 of the hydraulic pump.
In order to screw the switch housing 1 into the pump housing 2, an intermediate portion 1d of the switch housing 1 has a hexagonal shape. Since the hexagonal intermediate portion 1d overlaps with the press-fit portion of the holding ring 7 and the inner circumference of the intermediate portion 1d is circular so as to accommodate the holding ring 7, the intermediate portion 1d has thin-wall portions on which stress is concentrated upon press-fitting of the holding ring 7. When the concentrated stress exceeds the breaking point of the material of the switch housing 1, the holding ring 7 becomes loose, resulting in positional shift of the disk spring 8.
This problem also occurs when the switch housing 1 is screwed into the pump housing 2. That is, when a spanner or a like tool other than a box wrench is used to screw the switch housing 1 into the pump housing 2, the intermediate portion 1d of the switch housing 1 deforms, so that the holding ring 7 becomes loose, resulting in positional shift of the disk spring 8. Even when a box wrench is used, a similar problem occurs if the switch housing 1 is tightened with a force exceeding a predetermined torque.
This causes a possibility that the pressure switch does not become ON even when a predetermined pressure acts on the pressure switch, resulting in degradation of the performance of the pressure switch.


At least one wireless communication is received and sampled to produce samples. A channel response is estimated corresponding to the at least one wireless communication. An initial channel correlation matrix is produced based on the received samples and the channel response. The initial channel correlation matrix is factorized to produce a Cholesky factor. Forward substitution is performed using the Cholesky factor and received samples to produce initial values for the at least one wireless communication. The Cholesky factor is updated using additional channel correlation matrix values, producing an updated Cholesky factor. Subsequent values for the at least one wireless communication are produced using the updated Cholesky factor.

In wireless communication systems, such as cellular, wide local area networks (WLAN), wide metropolitan area networks (WMAN), personal area networks (PANs), etc, demand for higher data rate services is growing. In such systems, typically a wireless device communicates with a network nodes such as a base station (cellular networks) or access point (APs), although wireless device to wireless device (ad hoc) communications is growing in prevalence.
To accommodate higher and higher data rates, improved receiver performance is desired. One technique for improved receiver performance is a generalized Rake structure. Generalized Rake structures typically have multiple Rake fingers collecting energy from received communications and combining them, such as by using maximal ratio combining (MRC). Another technique uses a normalized least mean squares (NLMS) based approach, such as by using a finite impulse response (FIR) filter. In such a technique, the FIR filter is used to process received communications and a NLMS algorithm is used to adjust the tap values.
Other approaches for implementing receivers use zero forcing (ZF) block linear equalizers and minimum mean square error (MMSE) equalizers. To accurately detect the data using these approaches requires that an infinite number of received samples be used, which is not practical.
One approach for handing an infinite number of samples is a sliding window Cholesky based Equalization. Although Cholesky based equalization is described in the Background, the following is provided to give context to the Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments and may contain information that is not publicly known or would constitute prior art.
For data sequence d={d0, d1, . . . }, a sequence r={r0, r1, . . . } is given per Equation 1.r=Sd+n  Equation 1n is a zero-mean Gaussian noise sequence with covariance given by the relationships E[nin*j]*=Σi,j; and S is a linear operator where
            (      Sd      )        i    =            ∑      j                          S                  i          ,          j                                            d          j                .            One approach to estimate d from r is a minimum mean square error equalization based approach per Equation 2.{circumflex over (d)}MMSE=(SHΣ−1S+I)−1SHΣ−1r  Equation 2
Whenever N≧K and S is full rank, an alternative estimation procedure often utilized in communications application is a zero-forcing block linear equalization based approach per Equation 3.{circumflex over (d)}ZF=(SHΣ−1S)−1SHΣ−1r  Equation 3Simpler forms of both Equation 2 and Equation 3 can be derived by ignoring noise correlation, Σ−1.
A solution to Equation 3 can be put into a unified framework by a two step procedure. First, a "matched filtering" operation is performed on the measured ("received") data, as per Equation 4.y=SHΣ−1r  Equation 4The estimate of the original data is obtained by solving for {circumflex over (d)} in a linear K-equation system as per Equation 5.y=R{circumflex over (d)}  Equation 5R is a symmetric positive definite matrix.
Equation 5 can be solved via the Cholesky decomposition. This involves finding a lower triangular matrix G, such that R=GGH. Equation 5 can be solved by first finding a vector b such as by Equation 6.y=Gb  Equation 6Subsequently, {circumflex over (d)} is derived per Equation 7.b=GH{circumflex over (d)}  Equation 7
Accordingly, solving Equation 5 using Cholesky decomposition is performed in three steps. First, R is factored R=GGH, (Cholesky factorization). Second, forward substitution is performed per Equation 6. Third, backward substitution is performed per Equation 7.
Utilizing Cholesky decomposition to solve Equation 5 yields highly efficient implementations when R is banded. To estimate an infinite sequence d based on an infinite set of observations r, several assumptions are used. First, the problem is assumed to be causal, which means that ri cannot depend on dj for j>i. Additionally, the time-dependence is assumed to be finite.
In particular, the following assumptions are made. First, the noise covariance operator Σ is banded. This first assumption means that the covariance matrix for any finite subset of elements of n is banded and the bandwidth is upper-bounded by some Wn which can be referred to as the noise covariance bandwidth. Second, ri does not depend on any dj for j<i−Wd, where Wd is the data operator bandwidth. Neither the noise covariance bandwidth nor the data operator bandwidth have anything to do with the bandwidth of a communication channel.
These assumptions have the following implications. First, the matched filter operation can always be performed using a finite amount of resources with a finite delay. The operator R is banded with bandwidth W=Wn+Wd. Banded in this respect means that for any finite subset of natural numbers I, a matrix RI is formed by taking those elements of R, which have row and column indexes in I. The resulting RI is a banded matrix and its bandwidth is upper bounded by W.
Unlike the matched filtering operation, the banded nature of R is not sufficient to reduce the problem of solving Equation 5 from an infinite-dimensional operation to a sequence of finite-dimensional operations.
To solve Equation 5, a sliding window Cholesky based equalization can be used. For every i∈{0, 1, . . . }, the index set is Ii={i−V, i−V+1, . . . i+V−1, i+V} when i>V and Ii={0, 1, . . . i+V−1, i+V} when i≦V. For every i, the matched filter vector is yi=[yj]T, j∈Ii and the matrix Ri=RIi. {circumflex over (d)}i is obtained by per Equaiton 8.yi=Ri{circumflex over (d)}  Equation 8
The middle, (V+1)th, element of the (2V+1)-element solution is taken. Since V elements are infront and behind i, this technique is referred to as a symmetric sliding window approximation. However, the number of elements before and after i do not need to be the same, so asymmetric approaches can also be used. In the asymmetric versions, more emphasis is placed either on the past or on the future symbols.
The approximation of an infinite sequence as a window is justified as follows. The inter-dependence of the estimate on a particular symbol on received data typically decreases as distance from symbol of interest increases. As a result, received data points may be neglected outside of a certain range, with negligible degradation in performance. Accordingly, a window around the element of interest can be used, such as a window leading and lagging that element by V. Also, although this approach is applicable for infinite or extremely long sequences, it can also be used for finite or fixed length sequences.
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram of a sliding window Cholesky based receiver. An antenna or antenna array 10 receives a communication or multiple communications over a wireless interface. The communication(s) are sampled by a sampling device 12 to produce a received vector r or multiple received vectors, based on the implementation. A channel estimation device 16 estimates a channel response h or channel responses for the communication(s).
A compute channel correlation matrix and sliding window control device 14 receives the samples r and channel response(s) h and produces a channel correlation matrix Ri corresponding to a sliding window around an element i of interest. Also, received samples corresponding to the sliding window rwini are produced. A Cholesky decomposition device 18 factors the channel correlation matrix Ri into a Cholesky factors G and GH. A forward substitution device 20 receives a Cholesky factor and the received samples and performs forward substitution. A backward substitution device 22 receives a Cholesky factor and the output of the forward substitution device 20 and produces soft values for the sliding window. Preferably, backward substitution is only performed on the values of interest, such as the middle values, to reduce complexity.
After discarding the values around the element of interest, a soft value is produced around the value of interest. Typically, this value is a spread symbol of a spread symbol vector d. The spread symbol vector d is despread by a despreader 24 to produce soft data symbols of the received communication(s). Alternately, this value may be the soft symbols themselves of the communication(s) and the despreader 24 is not required.
To analyze the complexity, the complexity of Cholesky decomposition, forward and backward substitution are analyzed. For the analysis, one symbol is used as the elements of interest and a window of V elements prior and post that symbol form the sliding window.
For Cholesky decomposition, the complexity of the square roots involved in Cholesky decomposition is assumed to be a minor part of the overall process. As a result, for a (2V+1)×(2V+1) matrix with bandwidth W the decomposition requires roughly (2V+1)(W2+3W) flops. Flop is a floating point operation (complex if the matrices are complex). For forward substitution, roughly 2(2V+1)W flops are required. For backward substitution, since only the element of interest are processed, the complexity of this step is 2(V+1)W flops.
The total complexity associated with estimation of each data symbol for the symmetric sliding window with width V in flops is then approximately given byCOMPSW(V)=2VW2+W2+12VW+9W  Equation 9
As described above, sliding window based Cholesky Equalization results in complexity that is too high for many commercial communication systems. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a lower complexity technique.


A control system for a vehicle interior comprising a control element for a user to interact with is provided. The control element may comprise a sensing electrode configured to provide one or more electrical signals and a non-conductive cover material provided on or over the sensing electrode. The sensing electrode may be formed of or comprise a conductive plastic. The non-conductive cover material may be formed of or comprise a non-conductive plastic. The non-conductive cover material may be or comprise an outer layer, over-layer or skin of the control element. The non-conductive cover material may provide one or more touch interactive surfaces of the control element.

The interior of vehicles such as automobiles and aircraft comprise a host of user interface controls (control elements) that allow the user (the driver or passenger) to control various functions of the vehicle. For example, in automobiles, such functions include, but are not limited to, operating the windows, climate control system, navigation system, entertainment system, locking/unlocking the doors, adjusting the seats, etc. Traditionally, user interface controls have been in the form of electromechanical push buttons, switches and rotary knobs, composed of a number of injection-moulded plastic sub-parts that are fitted together to mechanically move and actuate electronic components mounted to an underlying circuit board. The main issue with these traditional technologies is the large number of sub-parts needed for the assembly of relatively simple functional elements, and the standardised actuating mechanisms that rely on particular electronic components and mounting configurations. This places a limit on the complexity of the control system and the design freedom of the vehicle interior. For example, the position or arrangement of such traditional control elements may be dictated more by mechanical/physical constraints associated with the size, shape and/or rigidity of the materials and/or components used, rather than ergonomic considerations. Such multi-part control interfaces are also prone to collecting dust and allow ingress of water through the grooves and slots that separate the parts, which can lead to failure of the devices.
The growing number of increasingly complex devices and functions available in vehicles today has created a demand for new control concepts that make use of different technologies and materials with an increasing emphasis on simplicity, reliability and ergonomic design. In particular, as the automotive sector moves towards integrating control interfaces seamlessly in interior surfaces following current technology trends, there is a growing need for seamless and adaptable control interface solutions, in which styling, ergonomic design and functionality are flexible. With the increasing amount of technology crammed into vehicles which can be seen as a distraction, there is also a safety drive for automotive control interfaces to allow users to intuitively operate them without needing to take their eyes off the road. For this reason, (3D) profiled control interfaces that can be easily manipulated by the user, such as raised tactile buttons, rotary knobs and push-pull buttons currently populate the automotive interior space.
Capacitive touch sensitive control elements and panels are currently replacing traditional electromechanical control elements, as these are typically re-configurable and can provide the function of buttons, switches and/or trackpads. However, although a relatively mature technology, traditional capacitive sensors require sophisticated fabrication techniques and expensive materials, which increases the overall cost of vehicle interiors. In addition, this sensing technology is often incompatible with three-dimensionally (3D) profiled surfaces, and as such, capacitive touch interfaces are typically integrated into flat surfaces of vehicle interior which limits the range of gestural interactions that a user can make and limits the ergonomic design considerations that can enhance driver safety.
There is therefore a need for a control system for a vehicle interior that makes use of ergonomic control elements/interfaces that can be seamlessly integrated anywhere in the vehicle's interior, are simple and cheap to manufacture, without sacrificing functionality.
Aspects and embodiments of the present invention have been devised with the foregoing in mind.


A track roller rim is disclosed. The track roller rim may include an outer member including an annular configuration defining an axis of rotation, a radial direction, and a circumferential direction disposed about the axis of rotation, where the outer member has an inner circumference, an outer circumference, a first axial end disposed along the axis of rotation, and a second axial end disposed along the axis of rotation. The track roller rim may include a first annular inner member, where the first annular inner member is interference fit within the inner circumference of the outer member at the first axial end. The track roller rim may include a second annular inner member, where the second annular inner member is interference fit within the inner circumference of the outer member at the second axial end.

Track roller rims for heavy equipment (e.g., an excavator and/or the like) may be manufactured by forging two half rims and then welding the half rims together. However, the forging process is complex and expensive, and the welding process requires welding equipment, which is also expensive and may not be readily available in some countries, geographic regions, jobsites, and/or the like.
One attempt to design a track roller is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,555,845 that issued to Komatsu Ltd. on Jan. 31, 2017 ("the '845 patent"). In particular, the '845 patent discloses a roller device including a shaft, a bushing, a roller shell, a retainer, and a seal. The roller shell is fitted over the outer circumference of the bushing. The retainer is fixed detachably to an end of the bushing, and fitted in an end of the roller shell on a radially outer side. The retainer is fixed to the bushing by a plurality of fixing members (bolts).
Since the outer portion of the roller device of the '845 patent is fixed in place by bolts, the roller device may fail under impact forces on the outer portion caused by the weight of heavy equipment on the track, and/or loosen due to vibrations in the track.
The track roller rim of the present disclosure solves one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art.


Technologies for facilitating inter-system-on-a-chip (SoC) communication include a first SoC, a second SoC, and a dedicated manageability controller network. The first SoC includes a first main processor, a first manageability controller, and a memory dedicated to the first manageability controller and having manageability controller firmware stored thereon. The first manageability controller is different from the first main processor and to control functions of the first SoC. The second SoC is different from the first SoC and includes a second main processor and a second manageability control, which is different from the second main processor and to control functions of the second SoC. The second SoC is to access the manageability controller firmware of the memory of the first SoC over the dedicated manageability network.

Embedded and system-on-a-chip (SoC) systems are becoming more prevalent in the computing ecosystem. For example, a great number of SoC systems are being deployed in SoC servers in data centers. Traditional servers and SoC servers alike typically require manageability functions in order to operate. Although the manageability functions of a particular system may vary depending on the implementation, they may include, for example, integrity attestation, monitoring and logging (e.g., for malware detection or system operating condition alerts), system configuration and control, software and firmware updates, and other suitable functions. In typical SoC systems, manageability is integrated into the SoC in the form of a microcontroller having its own static random-access memory (SRAM) embedded in the SoC. Additionally, many SoCs may be placed together on a particular field replaceable unit (FRU) for fault isolation and to simplify the replacement of components.
Embedded manageability controllers (e.g., on SoCs) require memory to store code and data for operation. As the number of manageability features implemented in the manageability controllers increases, so does the demand for memory for the necessary data and code storage. Although personal computing systems are able to access host dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) for operation (e.g., via uniform memory access), manageability controllers generally cannot use system host DRAM due to reliability requirements in the server space. Accordingly, SoC-based manageability controllers are effectively limited to the use of SRAM embedded into the SoC, which creates a significant barrier to the introduction of additional manageability features. That is, the associated cost, die size, and power consumption of additional SRAM banks limit the ability to increase the size of the SRAM on the SoC, thereby limiting the number of available manageability functions on the SoC.
In an effort to improve manageability while side-stepping those physical limitations, various techniques have been employed. For example, at least one technique involves paging read-only data and code from external memory (e.g., flash memory accessed over a serial peripheral interface) into the internal SRAM. That is, the portion of the code and data that is actively used at a given point in time is copied from the external memory to the internal SRAM. However, such an approach significantly impacts performance due to reloading from the external memory. Alternatively, external DRAM accessible to the manageability controller and dedicated for its use my be embedded on the SoC; however, such an approach requires a memory controller, which significantly increases chip cost, power consumption, and complexity.


Provided is a vacuum cleaner. The vacuum cleaner includes a main body including a cord reel around which a power cord is wound and a cord reel button for operating the cord reel.

1. The Field
Embodiments relate to a vacuum cleaner.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, vacuum cleaners are apparatuses, which suck air containing foreign substances such as dusts using a vacuum pressure generated by a motor mounted within a main body to filter the foreign substances in the main body.
Vacuum cleaners come into wide use in people's homes due to their convenience of use. Specifically, vacuum cleaners are increasingly in demand because of a need to clean felt carpets or sofas. The vacuum cleaners may be classified into a canister type vacuum cleaner in which a suction nozzle that is a suction hole is separated from a main body to connect the suction nozzle to the main body using an extension tube and an upright type vacuum cleaner in which a suction nozzle is integrated with a main body.
The upright type vacuum cleaner includes a main body in which a motor for generating a suction force is disposed, a suction nozzle for sucking air containing foreign substances from a floor by the suction force of the motor, and a dust collection unit for filtering the foreign substances from the sucked air. Also, a hook ring for winding and storing a power cord for applying a power the motor is disposed in the main body.


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide systems, methods, and non-transitory computer storage media for detecting abnormal behavior of device in an enterprise network based on an analysis of behavioral information of the device's neighbors in network. At a high level, embodiments of the present disclosure employ a hive-mind approach to determine anomalous behavior of a device in a network based on analyzing behavior information reported by neighboring devices within the network. Embodiments identify that a device is alive and connected within the network based on multiple neighboring devices reporting behavioral information about the device; however, the device may be dysfunctional and failing to report its own information. By aggregating and analyzing behavioral information of a device based on the reporting information of its neighboring devices, embodiments of the present disclosure are able to determine whether a device is healthy even when the device is unable to report its own information.

Generally, companies conduct continuous analysis on computing device behavior within an enterprise to ensure that all computing devices and operations are running properly. In some instances, this analysis provides an enterprise and information security team critical information that may be used to thwart potentially malicious tasks. To gain these insights, enterprise and information security teams typically review certain telemetry data and information derived or created from computing devices and software agents or similar computer programs operating in the network. For example, these teams may monitor device behavior by observing reporting data to ensure a particular device is alive and reporting. For instance, a computing device may be considered alive where the device is operating as expected. However, this monitoring process is prone to error when a device is alive but stops reporting on its status and health. As such, conventional approaches for identifying abnormal or potentially harmful behavior within an enterprise network remain deficient.


A retaining structure for a flexible O-ring which is used for sealing a gap between an electrical device and an electrical connector to be mounted directly on an electrical device, comprises a pressing projection provided on an inner peripheral wall of an O-ring-receiving groove for a connector housing, and a notch portion provided for an outer peripheral wall of the O-ring-receiving groove on the opposite side of the pressing projection, wherein an O-ring inserted into the O-ring-receiving groove is held by engagements by contacting portions defined by a pointed end of the pressing projection and oppositely disposed contacting portions P.sub.1 and P.sub.2 on an outer peripheral wall.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a retaining structure of an O-ring which is used for sealing a gap between an electrical device and an electrical connector to be mounted directly on the electrical device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto, in an electrical connector which is mounted directly on an electrical device, in order to maintain the device airtight or watertight, a gap between an electrical connector and the device is sealed by causing an O-ring to intervene. As in FIG. 8, which shows in a schematic sectional view is shown of airtight-type coaxial connector K, as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid Open No. HEI 4-115782.
In this airtight-type coaxial connector K, an O-ring d is inserted into an O-ring-receiving groove c for maintaining a sealing property at a device mounting surface b of a connector housing a.
However, in such O-ring-receiving groove c, the O-ring d tends to slip off from the O-ring-receiving groove, while assembling work for the connector housing a is conducted. For the above reason, the operator must perform assembling work while giving attention that the O-ring d is retained in the groove consequently, there arises the problem that assembling efficiency of the device deteriorates.


A plurality of disparate datasets is aggregated into a geodata data structure specifying a plurality of geospatial locations and a set of aspatial parameters at each geospatial location. Each aspatial parameter is combined at each geospatial location to generate an atmospheric corrosivity scale parameter at each of the plurality of geospatial locations. A grid is created with cells representing each of the plurality of geospatial locations and each of the corresponding atmospheric corrosivity scale parameters. The grid is stored for output of at least a portion of the plurality of geospatial locations and the corresponding atmospheric corrosivity scale parameters overlaid on a geographic map.

Atmospheric corrosion can affect bridges, flag poles, buildings, monuments and other outdoor objects. Economic losses caused by atmospheric corrosion are enormous and results in the disappearance of a significant portion of metal produced. Atmospheric corrosion has been reported to account for more failures in terms of cost and tonnage than any other type of material degradation processes.
Certain atmospheres can be particularly corrosive environments. A large portion of the damage caused by corrosion is attributed to atmospheric corrosion. Protective coatings and, in particular, metals are subject to deterioration when exposed to atmospheric environments. Other materials can be adversely affected by such corrosive environments, as well. Accordingly, there is a need for improved tools for prioritization of atmospheric corrosion inspections, predicting corrosion rate, and monitoring corrosion risk.

Atmospheric corrosivity mapping method and apparatus


The invention relates to a method of preparing a reagent for the determination by hemagglutination of antibodies to bacterial toxins. According to this method erythrocytes are treated with glutaraldehyde and then with the bacterial toxins in the presence of glutaraldehyde without a wash step. The reagent thus obtained is further treated with a reagent for blocking aldehyde groups.

It is known to determine antibodies using hemagglutination to visualize their presence in a biological medium; for this purpose, erythrocytes are used which bear an antigen which reacts with the antibodies to be determined; however, the treated erythrocytes have poor stability, and this is a major disadvantage of this type of method, which is in other respects useful because it does not demand the use of expensive measuring apparatus. In French Patent A-2,331,352, a means is described for improving, in particular, the stability of the hemagglutination reagent, consisting in treating the erythrocytes, suspended in a buffer, with a lower aliphatic aldehyde and a water-soluble chromium salt before they are brought into contact with the chosen antigen; the storage period is then improved if the treated erythrocytes are stored at 4.degree. C. in a colloidal solution or in the lyophilized state. In French Patent A-2,475,737, there is a description of another means for improving the stability of red cells treated for use as a reagent in hemagglutination reactions, and which simultaneously decreases the phenomena of spontaneous agglutination; whole blood is subjected to the action of an aldehyde, such as formaldehyde or glutaraldehyde, and the red cells are then isolated and treated with a tannin before they are brought into contact with the chosen antigen to obtain a reagent which will be stored in lyophilized form.

Reagent for the determination by hemagglutination of antibodies to bacterial toxins, method of preparation and application thereof


The invention is concerned with methods for producing a useful and highly uniform optical component which is useful in the construction of an optical sensor. Also discussed are the optical component itself, an optical sensor comprising the optical component, a process for producing the optical sensor and a process for detecting and/or quantifying the amount of an analyte in a sample using the optical sensor.

Optical sensors are now widely used to detect and quantify the presence of analytes in a wide variety of technical fields, including environmental chemistry, food hygiene and medicine. An optical sensor for detecting an analyte comprises a chemical system including a luminescent compound (typically a fluorophore) whose absorption and/or emission spectrum is altered by the presence of an analyte. For instance, the fluorophore may have a characteristic emission spectrum which alters when the luminescent compound interacts with the analyte. Thus, monitoring the absorption and/or emission of the luminescent compound (at a specific wavelength or across a range of wavelengths) as it is brought into contact with a sample can indicate whether or not a particular analyte is present in the sample.
By way of example, one luminescent compound is the commercially available Mag-fluo-4 fluorescent compound. Mag-fluo-4 is essentially non-fluorescent in the absence of divalent cations. However, in the presence of Mg2+ cations, Mag-fluo-4 becomes strongly fluorescent, with a maximum fluorescence intensity at wavelengths of just under 520 nm. Thus, detection of fluorescence emission from Mag-fluo-4 can indicate the presence of magnesium ions.
Optical detection systems have particular advantages in the detection and quantification of analytes. They are often very specific to a particular analyte and resistant to interference from other species, as they will typically only interact with a specific analyte or group of analytes. Further, they can be calibrated to accurately indicate the quantity of analyte present in a sample. They can be used to provide rapid and continuous measurements. Moreover, optical sensors are equilibrium sensors which do not consume the analyte they are measuring or generate by-products. This is in contrast to electrochemical sensors which consume analyte and so rely on an unchanging rate of diffusion of the analyte to the sensor electrode in order to provide an accurate measurement.
However, luminescent compounds normally cannot simply be dispersed within a sample (for instance a food sample or a biological sample), not least because they may be harmful to consumers or patients. Thus, the luminescent compounds must be immobilised somehow in order to provide a useful sensor.
One method that has been used to immobilise luminescent compounds is to immobilise them within a polymer matrix in the sensor. To manufacture the sensor, the polymer matrix is typically provided at the end of an optical waveguide (usually an optical fibre) which directs incident light towards the sensing region containing the polymer, and directs emitted light away from the sensing region towards a detector.
There are significant practical difficulties associated with providing a polymer comprising the luminescent compound in the sensing region. In practice, an end of an optical fibre is often coated with a monomer solution and the polymer is generated in situ on the optical fibre. This is often done when the sensor is already assembled, as the optical fibre can be difficult and messy to handle once coated. Consequently, if any error is made during the procedure the entire sensor is rendered unusable.
This solution is unsatisfactory for several reasons. Firstly, the process is uneconomical. The individual coating of each optical waveguide is slow and labour-intensive. It requires the preparation of excess quantities of polymer solution, causing wastage of expensive luminescent compounds. Moreover, the procedure is difficult and errors are easily made, which can cause large fractions of the sensors made this way to be faulty (for instance if the polymerisation step is imperfectly performed or if the sensor is contaminated by spreading of the polymer outside the sensing region).
Perhaps even more significantly, the procedure is problematic because it must be performed separately upon each optical waveguide (usually an optical fibre) that is used. This means that uniformity of the sensing region cannot be guaranteed, and so each sensor (or where a sensor comprises more than one waveguide, each waveguide within the sensor) must be calibrated individually. This process is laborious.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved process for generating an optical component which comprises an immobilised luminescent compound. Such an improved process would ideally be:    i. more efficient, for instance able to generate multiple components simultaneously; and/or    ii. capable of providing uniform components, meaning that not all of the components need to be quality-tested and even calibrated individually; and/or    iii. less wasteful of polymer and/or luminescent compound; and/or    iv. more economic, for instance scalable to produce large quantities of the optical components.
It is also desirable to provide an optical component carrying a luminescent compound which is separable from the other parts of an optical sensor such as an optical waveguide (e.g. an optical fibre). It is also desirable to provide a process which generates such an optical component. This would enable the optical component carrying the immobilised luminescent compound to be tested before the sensor is assembled and, in case of any difficulties, discarded without causing the loss of an entire sensor assembly.


The invention relates to a thickness gauge (1) for non metallic materials (4) in the form of foil, film, tape or the like which comprises first non contact measuring means (3), designed to measure the distance of the faced material surface, and second non contact measuring means (5), designed to measure the distance of a metal reference surface (6), said first and second measuring means (3, 5) being installed on one side of a space for receiving the material (4) and operating in two coaxial spatial regions, so that their measurements refer to a same measuring axis (8), wherein the first non contact measuring means (3) is a backscattering fluid sensor.

This invention relates to a thickness gauge for non-metallic materials in the form of foil, film, tape or the like.
The thickness of such materials can be measured indirectly by measuring the absorption of a radiation source, or directly by measuring and comparing the distance of the two faces or surfaces of the film. Gauges which directly measure the distance of the film surfaces can perform the measurement either with or without contact.
Document GB 2,217,835A describes a non-contact thickness gauge for measuring the thickness of foil, film and tape made of non-metallic materials.
In particular, it illustrates the combination of a first optical sensor which measures the distance to the upper surface of the film, and a second inductive sensor which measures the distance to a metal reference surface.
The inductive sensor is hollow to allow the housing of the optical sensor, and the two sensors are installed coaxially so that they perform their measurements along the same measuring axis.
While the measurements of the first sensor are performed directly on the measuring axis, those of the second sensor naturally take place on an area surrounding that measuring axis (typically an annulus), so that in practice the second sensor estimates the distance to the metal reference surface along that measuring axis.
In a first disclosed embodiment, the metal reference surface comes into contact with the lower surface of the film.
Since the film moves, the said reference surface is preferably a roller in order to minimise friction.
GB2217835A also describes a second construction in which the metal reference surface is positioned at a distance away from the lower surface of the film, such distance being known as a result of the use of a third, optical sensor.
The above-mentioned thickness gauge presents some drawbacks, however.
Depending on the composition of the material being examined and its surface characteristics, the ratio between the regular reflection factor and the diffuse reflection factor can vary considerably, as can the diffusion indicating curve.
The optical sensors used in thickness gauges designed in accordance with the known technique must therefore be specially constructed on the basis of the optical characteristics of the materials to be measured.
Equally, the optical characteristics of the materials to be measured often present intentional or unintentional dissimilarities which can prejudice the regulation system of the sensor.
In this respect, it should be noted that the speed of the material to be measured relative to the thickness gauge can reach values of around 10 m/sec. By contrast the time constant of the regulator of an optical sensor is measured in tenths of a second, with the result that sudden variations in the optical characteristics of the material overload the regulation circuit of the optical sensor. This makes the measurements performed unreliable because of the adjustment time required by the optical sensor regulator (typically a few tenths of a second). Moreover, the large size of currently known optical sensors means that inductive sensors with a very large diameter have to be used, thus reducing the reliability of the measurements taken.
In fact, the larger the size of the annulus on which the measurement of the inductive sensor is performed, the less precise is the estimated distance of the metal reference surface along the measuring axis.
It should be noted that optical distance sensors have a maximum accuracy of around .+-.10 .mu.m, which is not always satisfactory, especially when the average thickness of materials measured is under 1 mm.
In general the non contact thickness gauges currently known for non metallic materials present reliability problems.

Non-contact thickness gauge for non-metallic materials in the form of film, foil, tape and the like


A deployable infill assembly and passenger seat construction. The infill assembly includes a cushion element deployable laterally along a low trajectory from a stowed position to a deployed position. The cushion assembly is coupled to a frame carrying guide tracks for guiding movement of the cushion assembly between the stowed and deployed positions. The cushion assembly is selectively deployable for use as a leg support, table or to complete a continuous bed. The infill assembly is packaged in a compact footprint well-suited for aircraft applications.

The construction of passenger seats for aircraft and other conveyances is determined according to seating class. For example, aircraft passenger cabins may be configured with one or more of economy, premium economy and business seating classes. Economy and premium economy seating classes are typically configured with rows of closely-spaced seat groupings wherein individual seats lack lower leg support and have limited seat back recline due to the relatively short seat pitch. Business seating classes may be configured with larger seats and living spaces, wherein the comparatively long seat pitch allows greater seat adjustability. In some configurations, premium seats can adjust between a seat and a bed.
Conventional lie-flat seat constructions typically include a seat back, seat bottom and leg rest that move into horizontal alignment to form the bed. In some seat constructions, the combined longitudinal length of the seat elements is less than the8 desired bed length. In other seat constructions, the seat may include an ottoman forward of the seat that meets the leg rest when the seat is fully reclined. This configuration may position the ottoman too close to the seat when upright, thereby limiting leg room and compromising a safe seat ingress and egress path to the seat.
In some configurations, it may desirable to space the ottoman far from the seat to provide additional leg room when the seat is upright or adjusted short of fully lie-flat. In such configurations, it may difficult, impractical or impossible to translate a seat element far enough to meet the spaced ottoman, leaving a gap between the ottoman and the nearest seat element and resulting in a discontinuous bed uncomfortable for sleeping.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an assembly separate from the passenger seat that deploys to occupy or fill the space directly forward of a reclined seat element. Such as assembly could advantageously be used to expand the continuous seat surface or a bed. For safety reasons, it would be desirable for the assembly to stow out of the seat ingress and egress path directly forward of the passenger seat. Further, a desirable assembly would be easy to stow and deploy and would be robust to withstand a lifetime of repeated cycling. Still further, it would be desirable to package the assembly in a compact and lightweight package particularly-suited for aircraft applications.

Deployable infill assembly and passenger seat construction


Antisense compounds, compositions and methods are provided for modulating the expression of apolipoprotein B. The compositions comprise antisense compounds, particularly antisense oligonucleotides, targeted to nucleic acids encoding apolipoprotein B. Methods of using these compounds for modulation of apolipoprotein B expression and for treatment of diseases associated with expression of apolipoprotein B are provided.

Lipoproteins are globular, micelle-like particles that consist of a non-polar core of acylglycerols and cholesteryl esters surrounded by an amphiphilic coating of protein, phospholipid and cholesterol. Lipoproteins have been classified into five broad categories on the basis of their functional and physical properties: chylomicrons, which transport dietary lipids from intestine to tissues; very low density lipoproteins (VLDL); intermediate density lipoproteins (IDL); low density lipoproteins (LDL); all of which transport triacylglycerols and cholesterol from the liver to tissues; and high density lipoproteins (HDL), which transport endogenous cholesterol from tissues to the liver.
Lipoprotein particles undergo continuous metabolic processing and have variable properties and compositions. Lipoprotein densities increase without decreasing particle diameter because the density of their outer coatings is less than that of the inner core. The protein components of lipoproteins are known as apoliproteins. At least nine apolipoproteins are distributed in significant amounts among the various human lipoproteins.
Apolipoprotein B (also known as ApoB, apolipoprotein B-100; ApoB-100, apolipoprotein B-48; ApoB-48 and Ag(x) antigen), is a large glycoprotein that serves an indispensable role in the assembly and secretion of lipids and in the transport and receptor-mediated uptake and delivery of distinct classes of lipoproteins. The importance of apolipoprotein B spans a variety of functions, from the absorption and processing of dietary lipids to the regulation of circulating lipoprotein levels (Davidson and Shelness, Annu. Rev. Nutr., 2000, 20, 169-193). This latter property underlies its relevance in terms of atherosclerosis susceptibility, which is highly correlated with the ambient concentration of apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins (Davidson and Shelness, Annu. Rev. Nutr., 2000, 20, 169-193).
Two forms of apolipoprotein B exist in mammals. ApoB-100 represents the full-length protein containing 4536 amino acid residues synthesized exclusively in the human liver (Davidson and Shelness, Annu. Rev. Nutr., 2000, 20, 169-193). A truncated form known as ApoB-48 is colinear with the amino terminal 2152 residues and is synthesized in the small intestine of all mammals (Davidson and Shelness, Annu. Rev. Nutr., 2000, 20, 169-193).
ApoB-100 is the major protein component of LDL and contains the domain required for interaction of this lipoprotein species with the LDL receptor. In addition, ApoB-100 contains an unpaired cysteine residue which mediates an interaction with apolipoprotein(a) and generates another distinct atherogenic lipoprotein called Lp(a) (Davidson and Shelness, Annu. Rev. Nutr., 2000, 20, 169-193).
In humans, ApoB-48 circulates in association with chylomicrons and chylomicron remnants and these particles are cleared by a distinct receptor known as the LDL-receptor-related protein (Davidson and Shelness, Annu. Rev. Nutr., 2000, 20, 169-193). ApoB-48 can be viewed as a crucial adaptation by which dietary lipid is delivered from the small intestine to the liver, while ApoB-100 participates in the transport and delivery of endogenous plasma cholesterol (Davidson and Shelness, Annu. Rev. Nutr., 2000, 20, 169-193).
The basis by which the common structural gene for apolipoprotein B produces two distinct protein isoforms is a process known as RNA editing. A site specific cytosine-to-uracil editing reaction produces a UAA stop codon and translational termination of apolipoprotein B to produce ApoB-48 (Davidson and Shelness, Annu. Rev. Nutr., 2000, 20, 169-193).
Apolipoprotein B was cloned in 1985 (Law et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 1985, 82, 8340-8344) and mapped to chromosome 2p23-2p24 in 1986 (Deeb et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 1986, 83, 419-422).
Disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,786,206 are methods and compositions for determining the level of low density lipoproteins (LDL) in plasma which include isolated DNA sequences encoding epitope regions of apolipoprotein B-100 (Smith et al., 1998).
Transgenic mice expressing human apolipoprotein B and fed a high-fat diet were found to develop high plasma cholesterol levels and displayed an 11-fold increase in atherosclerotic lesions over non-transgenic littermates (Kim and Young, J. Lipid Res., 1998, 39, 703-723; Nishina et al., J. Lipid Res., 1990, 31, 859-869).
In addition, transgenic mice expressing truncated forms of human apolipoprotein B have been employed to identify the carboxyl-terminal structural features of ApoB-100 that are required for interactions with apolipoprotein(a) to generate the Lp(a) lipoprotein particle and to investigate structural features of the LDL receptor-binding region of ApoB-100 (Kim and Young, J. Lipid Res., 1998, 39, 703-723; McCormick et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1997, 272, 23616-23622).
Apolipoprotein B knockout mice (bearing disruptions of both ApoB-100 and ApoB-48) have been generated which are protected from developing hypercholesterolemia when fed a high-fat diet (Farese et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 1995, 92, 1774-1778; Kim and Young, J. Lipid Res., 1998, 39, 703-723). The incidence of atherosclerosis has been investigated in mice expressing exclusively ApoB-100 or ApoB-48 and susceptibility to atherosclerosis was found to be dependent on total cholesterol levels. Whether the mice synthesized ApoB-100 or ApoB-48 did not affect the extent of the atherosclerosis, indicating that there is probably no major difference in the intrinsic atherogenicity of ApoB-100 versus ApoB-48 (Kim and Young, J. Lipid Res., 1998, 39, 703-723; Veniant et al., J. Clin. Invest., 1997, 100, 180-188).
Elevated plasma levels of the ApoB-100-containing lipoprotein Lp(a) are associated with increased risk for atherosclerosis and its manifestations, which may include hypercholesterolemia (Seed et al., N. Engl. J. Med., 1990, 322, 1494-1499), myocardial infarction (Sandkamp et al., Clin. Chem., 1990, 36, 20-23), and thrombosis (Nowak-Gottl et al., Pediatrics, 1997, 99, E11).
The plasma concentration of Lp(a) is strongly influenced by heritable factors and is refractory to most drug and dietary manipulation (Katan and Beynen, Am. J. Epidemiol., 1987, 125, 387-399; Vessby et al., Atherosclerosis, 1982, 44, 61-71). Pharmacologic therapy of elevated Lp(a) levels has been only modestly successful and apheresis remains the most effective therapeutic modality (Hajjar and Nachman, Annu. Rev. Med., 1996, 47, 423-442).
Disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,315 and the corresponding PCT publication WO 99/18986 is a method for inhibiting the binding of LDL to blood vessel matrix in a subject, comprising administering to the subject an effective amount of an antibody or a fragment thereof, which is capable of binding to the amino-terminal region of apolipoprotein B, thereby inhibiting the binding of low density lipoprotein to blood vessel matrix (Goldberg and Pillarisetti, 2000; Goldberg and Pillarisetti, 1999).
Disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,096,516 are vectors containing cDNA encoding murine recombinant antibodies which bind to human ApoB-100 for the purpose of for diagnosis and treatment of cardiovascular diseases (Kwak et al., 2000).
Disclosed and claimed in PCT publication EP 911344 is a monoclonal antibody which specifically binds to ApoB-48 and does not specifically bind to ApoB-100, which is useful for diagnosis and therapy of hyperlipidemia and arterial sclerosis (Uchida and Kurano, 1998).
Disclosed and claimed in PCT publication WO 01/30354 are methods of treating a patient with a cardiovascular disorder, comprising administering a therapeutically effective amount of a compound to said patient, wherein said compound acts for a period of time to lower plasma concentrations of apolipoprotein B or apolipoprotein B-containing lipoproteins by stimulating a pathway for apolipoprotein B degradation (Fisher and Williams, 2001).
Disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,006 is a cloned cis-acting DNA sequence that mediates the suppression of atherogenic apolipoprotein B (Ross et al., 1993).
Disclosed and claimed in PCT publication WO 01/12789 is a ribozyme which cleaves ApoB-100 mRNA specifically at position 6679 (Chan et al., 2001).
To date, strategies aimed at inhibiting apolipoprotein B function have been limited to Lp(a) apheresis, antibodies, antibody fragments and ribozymes. However, with the exception of Lp(a) apheresis, these investigative strategies are untested as therapeutic protocols. Consequently, there remains a long felt need for additional agents capable of effectively inhibiting apolipoprotein B function.
Antisense technology is emerging as an effective means of reducing the expression of specific gene products and may therefore prove to be uniquely useful in a number of therapeutic, diagnostic and research applications involving modulation of apolipoprotein B expression.
The present invention provides compositions and methods for modulating apolipoprotein B expression, including inhibition of the alternative isoform of apolipoprotein B, ApoB-48.

Antisense modulation of apolipoprotein B expression


A bill validator for evaluating paper articles includes a bill guide for receiving the paper articles. A bill protector validates the received articles corresponding to genuine currency and rejects all other articles. A sensor measures a portion of the article which passes a predetermined position of the bill guide during receiving by the bill guide and further measures the portion of the article and any other articles which pass the predetermined position during rejection. The bill validator is disabled for a predetermined period of time if the measurement of the portion of the article during receiving differs from the measurement taken during rejection. As a result, the bill validator is disabled in the event that a user attempts to remove an article with a rejected article causing the measurement of the received article to differ from the measurement taken during rejection.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to apparatus for controlling the operation of a currency changer and, in particular, to an apparatus for controlling the operation of a currency changer including a paper currency acceptor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices that perform one or more tests on U.S. bills or other paper currency to determine their genuineness in order to dispense change are well known in the prior art. Typically, in such devices, the paper currency being validated is moved over a path along which various optical, magnetic or edge sensing tests are performed. On failing any of these tests, the bill is moved along the path in a reversed direction to be returned to the user and no credit is given. For example, a bill is moved along a path at a uniform rate of speed past a pair of photocells spaced farther apart than the length of the bill. If both photocells are covered simultaneously, the inserted object is rejected, since it cannot be a genuine bill.
Such prior art validators are subject to tampering and defrauding. For example, strings are sometimes attached to currency which is provided to a change machine. After change is given, an unacceptable article is fed to the change machine. As the unacceptable article is being rejected, the user pulls the stringed article out simultaneously therewith. There is a need in the prior art for bill validators which prevent repeated withdrawal of stringed bills thereby preventing a user which tampers or defrauds a change machine from emptying the bill change machine of its change.

Bill validator with anti-stringing shut-down feature


The invention relates to a mechanical valve assembly used to control a fluid (e.g., gas, liquid, etc.) to provide at least one of a check valve control feature and flow range control feature. When unwanted low flows are present, the valve remains closed and jumps open only at higher desired flow rates. The valve then closes when the forces at the input and output equalize, and the process repeats. Such allows fluid delivered to a flow meter in larger segregated bursts, rather than steady low flows that cause metering errors.

In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids (e.g., liquids, gases). Fluid dynamics has several subdisciplines, including aerodynamics and hydrodynamics. Fluid dynamics has a wide range of applications, including determining the mass flow rate of petroleum/water through pipelines, and such applications often require the use of a control valve.
A flow control valve regulates the flow or pressure of a fluid. Control valves normally respond to signals generated by independent devices such as flow meters or temperature gauges. Prior art control valves are normally fitted with actuators and positioners. Such valves are often referred to as automatic control valves as the hydraulic actuators respond to changes of pressure or flow to open/close the valve. Automatic control valves generally do not require an external power source, meaning that the fluid pressure is enough to open and close them.
Automatic control valves include check valves. A check valve is a type of valve which allows a fluid liquid or gas to flow in a forward direction only. In reverse flow conditions, the valve closes to prevent flow. Prior art inline check valves generally have two ports, an inlet and an outlet, with self-contained mechanical controls. The actuation of the valve is controlled by forward and reverse opposing forces. Forward forces may include upstream pressure, seat opposing forces, and flow forces when the flow is present. Opposing forces may include downstream pressure, inertia forces, and spring forces when a spring is present. The valve opens when upstream forces overcome downstream forces, and flow passes through the valve. Thus, check valves work automatically, and most are not directly controlled by a person or any external control.
An important concept in check valves is the "cracking pressure," or the point of minimum upstream pressure at which the valve will operate. Typically, the check valve is designed for, and can therefore be specified for, a specific cracking pressure. For prior art devices, the valve is in the fully open position at higher flow rates and operates at predictable pressure drops, and flow streams can be accurately predicted. However, at low flow conditions, the valve is only partially open, where the resulting flow rate is based on the percent of travel of the component that "opens" to allow flow.
Low flow conditions can be particularly troublesome for applications being metered by a flow meter with inter-moving parts for measurement elements measuring fluid flow. As the fluid passes through such a meter, the fluid flow activates the meter's measurement elements causing movement (e.g., spinning wheel or oscillating plate, etc.). Very Low Fluid flow rates can often have inefficient inertia for triggering the flow registering elements in devices such as flow meters. Such low flow simply passes through the meter without being metered, resulting in revenue loss to the entity metering the fluid consumption (typically a fluid supplier such as a utility company).
What is needed is a valve technology that prevents undesired low flow rates. Restated, the technology would prevent flow out of the valve at initial travel points (i.e., travel of the component that "opens") where the inertia of the fluid is insufficient to move a meters' measurement elements. Once a specific predefined travel setpoint is reached, the device should allow the flow to "jump up" to a range set by the associated travel.
The technology disclosed and claimed in this document teaches such a device.


The present invention discloses a wheel balancer having a floor standing base and an operator keyboard and display pod mounted to a support above the base. Manually adjustable brackets attaching the substantially L-shaped support to the base and to the pod allow the pod to be adjusted by the operator through four degrees of freedom, including into a space minimizing position for shipping or storage.

The present invention relates generally to motor vehicle wheel balancing equipment and more particularly to an operator keyboard and display pod on a wheel balancer which allows vertical, rotational, and horizontal adjustment of the pod.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that automotive service equipment, such as a wheel balancing machine, usually includes a base unit which houses a motor drive assembly for rotating the wheel to be balanced, a power supply, and tool and weight tray. Such a machine will also have an operator interface which includes a keyboard or switch assembly for entering data and for controlling operations, as well as an electronic display which reflects information concerning the status and operation of the machine. In many prior art balancers, the operator keyboard/display is integral to the machine base and is not adjustable. In others, a physically separated "pod" is attached to and extends vertically above the base and which contains the keyboard, display, or both.
It will further be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the operator interface pod should be adjustable so that any sized machine operator can easily view the display and operate the keyboard from many different directions and under a variety of ambient lighting conditions.
A few attempts have been made in the prior art to provide adjustable pods on wheel balancers, with limited success. For example, the Corghi EM 89 Wheel Balancer has a pod which rotates and moves horizontally but cannot be moved vertically or tilted.
The Hoffman Geodyna 100 has a pod which extends from a support which can be tilted but can not be rotated or moved vertically or horizontally.
The MF MT 6000 pod sits on a support. The pod can be rotated about the support but can not be moved vertically, horizontally, or tilted.
The operator interfaces on the Coats Model 1004, Model 1001, Model 850, Model 600, and Model 6401 are fixed and cannot be tilted or rotated.
In addition to lacking complete adjustability, prior art wheel balancer pods have a further deficiency in the amount of space they take up during shipping and storage. Such pods either must be completely removed or an oversize container must be used to secure the pod which is fully or partially extended from the base unit.
What is needed, then, is an operator interface pod for a wheel balancer which allows the pod to slide, rotate, and pivot through multiple degrees of freedom. This interface pod must also be adjustable both horizontally as well as vertically, including into a position proximate to the base unit where it occupies minimal space during packing and shipping. This device is presently lacking in the prior art.

Wheel balancer with adjustable operator pod


A navigation system for providing navigation information to a user responsive to user commands includes (1) a user device for issuing user commands and displaying a user interface to the user and (2) a navigation device for connecting to the user device and receiving user commands from the user device and transmitting navigation information to the user device. The information received from the user device includes updated map information, traffic information, news information, weather information, event-related information, business-related information, and user-specified information. The navigation device performs route following based on commands received from the user device and transmits routing instructions to the user device. The navigation device and user device are separately operable by a user.

There are two main types of vehicle navigation systems currently in use.
The first type of system includes a navigation-capable device, e.g. a GPS-based device, located in a vehicle which performs all required computations and contains all necessary navigation data. In this system, the navigation functions are restricted to the vehicle and can be performed anywhere in an area covered by navigation data stored in the device. A device according to this type of system requires a large amount of computational power, memory, and a large amount of map data storage.
Disadvantageously, there is no way to easily update frequently changing information, i.e. transitory information, stored in the system, e.g. restaurant names, traffic conditions/road conditions, construction projects, etc. Current in-vehicle navigation systems allow traffic information update using radio link information about traffic conditions at predetermined locations. Disadvantageously, this time critical information is not reconfigurable on-the-fly, the traffic information is only available for the predetermined points at the time of map creation. If the transitive information is stored in the system, data stored in data storage on the system requires complete replacement or update of the data. If only a small portion of the data changes or if the changes are frequent in nature, the replace/update process becomes tedious to a user. Further, if the user fails to update just prior to leaving for a destination and traffic conditions change, the user may be frustrated to encounter significant traffic delays.
The second type of system includes data and computational power hosted remote from the device. Smaller local maps and routing directions are then provided to the device over a network connection, e.g. a cellular telephone network, a system employing this type of architecture requires a powerful central server to perform route computation and a central database collocated with the server for storing map data. Disadvantageously, navigation capability, e.g. GPS, is required at the user device which further must be able to perform map matching or route following to display turn instructions at the correct time. Under this system, the primary objective is to move the additional cost and complexity required to perform navigation and store map data from a user device, e.g. a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a cellular telephone, to a central server. This trade-off allows for a simpler user device; however, transmission of server generated maps and routing increases the cost and bandwidth required.
Several additional disadvantages of such an approach include:
The cellular phone still requires the additional cost of a GPS or other navigational capability and must be capable of performing maps matching and route following computations;
Network capabilities and communication bandwidth can become swamped or overwhelmed if a large number of users require routing services at the same time, e.g. multiple requests from users for rerouting during rush-hour traffic; and
The cellular phone must be in constant contact with the server in order to receive updated directions and information.
Based on the foregoing discussion, there is a need in the art for a third type of system able to perform complex computations, e.g. maps matching and route following, and store large amounts of maps data without being tied to a specific installation location and able to receive updates and other navigation information without requiring constant connection time and high bandwidth.

Intelligent modular navigation information capability


A method of treating pulmonary metastasis of osteosarcoma cells (pOSs) in a subject in need thereof includes administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of an agent that interferes with VCAM-1/α4β1 signaling between pOSs expressing VCAM-1 and pulmonary macrophages (MACs) expressing α4β1.

Osteosarcoma (OS) is the most prevalent aggressive malignant bone cancer affecting children and young adults, with a predilection in boys and African American descent. OS arises from primitive mesenchymal bone-forming cells and has a high propensity for lung metastasis, accounting for >80% of all OS metastatic sites. Roughly 20% of the patients presents with pulmonary metastasis (pOS) initially at diagnosis, and up to 30% of patients presenting with localized disease will relapse in distant sites, including >80% metastatic relapses in the lung. Outcome for metastatic disease remains dismal (<30%) over the last 3 decades, which accounts for almost all of OS-related mortality. OS contains complex genetic alterations, making molecular targeted therapy challenging.

Compositions and methods of treating sarcoma lung metastasis


A system and method for a drinking game, the method including providing a gaming machine having a series of digital or analog selection entities corresponding to various outcomes occurring within the game session such as possible types of alcohol, possible types of cordials, possible types of mixer, what type of drink, which player consumes the drink, and how the player consumes the drink, whereby a player pulls a lever and the selection entities land on a specific selection and the player consumes a drink based on the selection indicator after the stopping mechanism stops the selection entities.

Games that provide useful information to players, while at the same time providing entertainment, have been popular for many years. In particular, games that encourage drinking alcoholic mixed drinks and shots that have a social entertainment component have become increasingly popular. These games can often combine known games and the drinking of alcohol to create new and entertaining drinking games.
Some examples of known drinking games include large circular wheels that a user must spin that are divided into sections that are pie shaped, wherein each section contains the name of a drink. These games often have a selector, where the game requires the user to drink the drink named in the section the stopper lands on. These games are very popular in bar settings because they provide entertainment value due to the randomness involved in the game.
However, problems with known drinking games and drinking game machines include that they are often too large for home use, only provide for the choice of pre-determined drink names, and do not provide for any opportunity for multiple outcomes.
Some games have tried to solve the problems in the prior art, such as U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,466, deals with a food preparation board game and a method of playing said game. The game involves a spin wheel having a pointer that a user will spin, and over the course of the game will randomly select recipe information and a plurality of ingredients. A player wins when they collect all of the ingredients required for a recipe.
However, the above patent fails to solve all of the problems in the prior art as it deals with food ingredients, only uses one spin wheel, and as a board game, it is not an ideal machine to be played on a bar or in a bar setting.
Due to all of the existing shortcoming in presently available devices, there is still a need for a drinking game machine that allows for random selection of drink ingredients, multiple outcomes, and a form factor suitable for a bar or home setting.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An apparatus is provided that may be used to secure an object or objects, such as a charging cord and/or charging adapter or block for example, at a location, such as at an alternating current (AC) wall outlet or other electrical outlet. Apparatus can be sized and dimensioned to secure a complimentary smartphone or cellphone and/or computer (e.g., laptop, tablet, etc.) charging cord and/or charging adapter or block to an electrical outlet using a keyed or other mated fastener.

Handheld telephonic devices (also referred to as cell phones, mobile phones, or smart phones) and portable computers (e.g., laptops, tablets, etc.) are typically sold with a charging cord and/or a charging adapter or wall plug that are used to charge an internal rechargeable battery. Due in part to the small size of the charging cord and/or charging adapter, these items can be easily lost, misplaced, or appropriated by other users. Accordingly, keeping track of the charging cord and/or charging adapter can be a frustrating experience, especially when the associated phone or computer is in need of charging the battery. For example, a charging cord and/or charging adapter may be borrowed by a family member or misappropriated by another user for their own phone or computer. It is not uncommon for users to misplace or lose chargers and/or charger cords due to the ease of disconnecting the chargers and/or cords from wall outlets or other charging sources.

Apparatus to secure a charger block and/or cord


An electrical connector includes a shield having opposed planar side panels. The shield is configured to receive a shield of a mating connector within the side panels. A dielectric is attached to the shield. The dielectric is configured to receive the coaxial cable and the shield is electrically connected to an outer conductor of the coaxial cable. The side panels are configured to abut and engage side panels of an adjacent connector with a substantially flush fit to form a row of connectors to be located in an outer housing. A separate strain relief member may be attached to the shield. Each of the shield and the strain relief member may include an IDC feature that pierces the cable insulation.

The invention relates generally to coaxial cable connectors, and more particularly to a coaxial cable connector assembly suitable for use in multi-connector RF assemblies.
Generally, coaxial cables have a circular geometry formed with a central conductor (of one or more conductive wires) surrounded by a cable dielectric material. The dielectric material is surrounded by a cable braid (of one or more conductive wires) that serves as a ground, and the cable braid is surrounded by a cable jacket. In most coaxial cable applications, it is preferable to match the impedance between source and destination electrical components located at opposite ends of the coaxial cable. Consequently, when sections of coaxial cable are interconnected by connector assemblies, it is preferable that the impedance remain matched through the interconnection.
Today, coaxial cables are widely used. Recently, demand has risen for radio frequency (RF) coaxial cables in applications such as personal computers and wireless networks. In addition, there is an increased demand for RF coaxial cables in the automotive industry, which is due, in part, to the increased electrical content within automobiles, such as cellular phones, GPS, satellite radios, Bluetooth® compatibility systems and the like. The wide applicability of coaxial cables demands that connected coaxial cables maintain the impedance at the interconnection.
Coaxial cables are used in making single line-to-line connections and also in multi-connector applications such as stripline applications. For example, coaxial connectors are commonly used in making board mounted antenna to communication device connections. However, with the ongoing trends for miniaturization and space conservation in electronic systems, it may be anticipated that current connection strategies may not meet the centerline-to-centerline communication device to antenna spacing requirements in the near future. Thus there is a need for a connector design and mating strategy that reduces centerline spacing for stripline applications.

RF connector with adjacent shielded modules


A protective device for a spark-ignition gas engine is provided, which engine has a throttle valve for controlling a gas/air mixture and has an exhaust-gas turbocharger with a turbine that is associated with a throttle member for exhaust gas. A detection unit is configured to detect an actual differential pressure across the throttle valve, and a control unit is configured to change the position of the throttle member based on the actual differential pressure. The throttle member for the exhaust gas is provided only downstream of the turbine in relation to the flow direction of the exhaust gas. A method for regulating an exhaust-gas throttle member, connected downstream of a turbine of an exhaust-gas turbocharger, is also disclosed.

In the gas engine, an excessively high charge pressure leads to an increase in the pressure difference across the throttle valve, because the pressure required upstream of the cylinder head, or downstream of the throttle valve, for operation at constant power remains approximately constant.
If a threshold value of the pressure difference across the throttle valve is exceeded, the compressor of the turbocharger reaches the surge line. In the case of modern turbochargers with "narrow characteristic maps", a very high pressure difference leads to "surging". Surging refers to an instability in the volume flow rate delivered by the compressor, which in turn, due to other side-effects, can lead to system failures and to turbocharger damage and engine damage.
To avoid this, solutions are known which regulate the pressure difference across the throttle valve by using a bypass at the compressor or a bypass at the turbine of the turbocharger.
For example, an internal combustion engine having an exhaust-gas turbocharger is also already known from DE 103 15 148 A1. A bypass line or a bypass, which connects the primary side to the secondary side, is associated with the exhaust-gas turbocharger. To prevent surging of the compressor, it can be equipped with internal recirculation. Recirculation means that air or air mixture is recirculated from the secondary side of the compressor to the primary side of the compressor. This recirculation can also be configured in a switchable manner.
A device for a spark-ignition gas engine is known from DE 10 2009 049 394 A1, which device includes on the one hand a throttle valve as well as a detection unit for the pressure difference across the throttle valve, and on the other hand includes a throttle element in a bypass line of the exhaust-gas turbine for the purpose of regulating the volume flow rate in the bypass line.

Device and method for regulating a spark-ignition gas engine