The present invention relates to a laser beam inspection apparatus for inspecting a defect on a sample such as semiconductor integrated circuits by using a laser beam. The laser beam inspection apparatus irradiates a laser beam to a sample supplied with a constant current or applied by a constant voltage, and then detects indirectly a change in current or a change in electric field corresponding to a change in the value of resistance developed by scanning the laser beam along the surface of the sample. For example, the change in current is conducted indirectly in such a manner that a magnetic field detecting apparatus detects the change in the magnetic field caused by a current flowing the power supply line provided between a constant voltage source and a sample, and whereby it becomes possible to specify the defective area of the sample based on the detection of the change in the magnetic field.

A laser beam apparatus such as an OBIRCH (Optical Beam Induced Resistance Change) measuring apparatus as disclosed in JP-A-2001-4719, for example, is known as an apparatus for inspecting an inner defect in a sample such as semiconductor integrated circuits. The OBIRCH measuring equipment irradiates a laser beam to the sample, and measures a change in the value of resistance within the simple caused by the heat generation accompanied by beam heat. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a construction of conventional OBIRCH measuring equipment as the laser beam inspection apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, in the conventional OBIRCH measuring equipment 60, upon the optical 20, path of a laser beam emitted from a laser source 61, a laser scanning unit 62 for raster-scanning the laser beam in a two-dimensional direction perpendicular to its incident direction, and a microscope 63 for condensing the scanned laser beam L at a micro-spot diameter are arranged. A sample T such as semiconductor integrated circuits is disposed on a sample base 64 at a focus point of the microscope 63. A predetermined voltage is applied to the sample T from a constant voltage supply 65. The sample T is connected to a current/voltage converter including an operational amplifier, a feedback resistor, and the like. The current/voltage converter 66 is connected to a system controller 67, and the system controller 67 further is connected to a monitor 68. The system controller 67 is also connected to a laser scanning unit 62. Furthermore, the system controller 67 is connected to a temperature controller 69 for maintaining the temperature of the sample base 64 at a predetermined temperature.
The laser beam L emitted from the laser source 61 is raster-scanned in a two-dimensional direction that is perpendicular on the optical path by means of the laser scanning unit 62, and further condensed by the microscope 63 to be irradiated to a fine area on the surface of the sample T. This laser beam scanning is controlled by the system controller 67. A given voltage is applied in advance to the sample T by the constant voltage supply 65, and a given current is flown in the circuit. At the irradiation spot of the sample T irradiated by the laser beam, the temperature of the spot rises with absorption of the laser beam and thereby the specific resistance thereof changes. Therefore, the amount of current flown in the sample T also changes. The heat conductance is poor at the position having voids and so on. For this reason, when the laser beam is irradiated to such a position, it is hard to escape generated heat at the ambience, resulting in a great temperature rise. Consequently, at the defective spot of the sample applied by the given voltage, the change in the specific resistance is increased with an increase of the temperature, and the change of the value of current is also enlarged.
In the current/voltage converter 66, the detected current is converted to a voltage after it is once amplified, and a detection signal corresponding to the converted voltage value is transferred from the current/voltage converter 66 to the system controller 67. The system controller 67 converts the difference of the voltage values each obtained as a detection signal to brightness information, and displays lined up image information corresponding to laser beam irradiation positions on the monitor 68. In this way, the defective spot of the sample T may be confirmed by an image.


A system and method for utilizing a continuous pinless web that is free of tractor pin feed holes within a utilization device that is originally adapted to feed web having tractor pin feed hole strips along its widthwise edges is provided. The utilization device can comprise an IBM high-volume laser printer having an image transfer drum synchronized to a pair of tractor pin feed drive units. A drive roller is operatively connected to the lower pin feed unit according to a preferred embodiment. A registration controller is utilized to synchronize the movement of the web with the operation of the utilization device element using a differential and a separate registration motor. The image transfer drum and drive roller are each synchronized to a central drive motor that generates pulses via an encoder. The pulses track the movement of the image transfer drum. A mark sensor reads marks on the web to synchronize actual movement of the web with the image transfer drum using the registration motor. The movement of the registration motor is averaged over the length of each section or page in the web to avoid jump discontinuities. The printer's fuser section draws web from the image transfer element at a controlled rate and with a desired steering alignment. Signals that emulate those originally generated by a skew/advance/retard sensor that tracks pin feed holes are generated by comparing fuser drive pulses to drive motor pulses and monitoring the location of the pinless web edge as it passes under a dedicated edge location sensor.

In high-volume printing applications, high-volume electronic or "laser" printers such as the IBM.RTM. 3800.TM. and 3900.TM. series, as well as the Siemens.RTM. 2140.TM., 2200.TM., and 2240.TM. series, lay down computer-generated images (at a rate of 100 or more standard images per minute) on a continuous web by directing the web through an image element, that, typically, comprises a moving image drum having toner deposited thereon. A portion of such a web 12 is illustrated in FIG. 1. The feeding of the web 12 to the image drum is facilitated by one or more "tractor pin" feed units that engage evenly spaced holes 14 disposed along opposing widthwise edges of the web on "pin feed" strips 16. The widthwise edges having "tractor pin feed holes" therein, as well as the sheets themselves often include perforations 17, 18, respectively, for easy removal.
A typical pin feed application is depicted in FIG. 2. A source 20 of continuous web 22 is driven (arrow 24) to an image transfer element 26 of a printer 28. Toner 30 is provided to the image transfer element or drum 26 by operation of the optical print head 32. A separate developer 34 is provided to attract the toner to the drum 26. The web 24 engages the image drum 26 at a transfer station 36 where printing is laid upon the web as it passes over the image drum 26. The image drum rotates (arrow 38) at a speed matched to the speed of web travel. This is often accomplished by gearing or drive belts that interconnect the tractor pin feed units 40, 42 and the drum to a central drive motor. The web 24 is driven to and from the image drum 26 by a pair of tractor units 40 and 42 that each include a plurality of pins 44 on moving endless tractor belts 45 for engaging pin holes in the edges of the web. The pin holes 14 are moving endless tractor belts 45 for engaging pin holes in the edges of the web. The pin holes 14 are detailed in FIG. 1 discussed above.
Downstream of the tractor pin feed units 40 and 42, the web 24 is directed over a fuser 46 and a preheat unit 48 that fixes the toner to the web 24. The web is subsequently directed to a puller unit 50 that comprises a pair of pinch rollers, and into a director chute 52 onto a stack of zigzag folded finished web 54.
A significant disadvantage of a printer arrangement according to FIG. 2 is that the additional inch to inch and one-half of web that must be utilized to provide the tractor feed hole strips entails significant waste. The web area between the tractor feed pin hole strips already comprises a full-size page and, thus, the tractor feed strips represent area having no useful function other than to facilitate driving of the web into the printer. In a typical implementation, the pin holes are subsequently torn or cut off and disposed of following the printing process.
A challenge in modifying existing tractor pin feed utilization devices, such as the high-volume IBM.RTM. 3900 Series laser printer illustrated in FIG. 2 is that a number of sensor signals rely upon the scanning of tractor pin feed holes. For example, the fuser section 46 draws the web from the drive section of the image drum 26 at a relatively synchronized rate. In order to maintain synchronization, and to ensure that the side edges of the web do not move laterally, electro-optical advance sensors and skew sensors are used adjacent the fuser section. These sensors scan for the location of tractor pin feed holes. The holes are required to operate these sensors. However, when holes are absent, an alternate sensing arrangement must be utilized.
In a pinless drive of web through a portion of a utilization device it may be desirable to provide correction to the feed rate of the web to maintain the web relative to the image drum or other utilization drive element. Registration can be controlled by providing a differential drive to the main pinless drive element when an offset in proper registration is deleted. However, the offset may be significant enough that the input registration correction by the differential drive may cause a sudden "jump" discontinuity in the web. Particularly where toner is laid down by an image drum this discontinuity of the applied image.
A variety of utilization devices currently employ tractor pin feed continuous web. Such a feed arrangement is a standard feature on most devices that utilize more than 80 pages per minutes. Specialized equipment has been developed to automatically remove tractor pin feed strips when they are no longer needed. Hence, substantial cost and time is devoted to a web element that does not contribute to the finished appearance of the completed printing job. However, such tractor pin feed strips have been considered, until now, a "necessary evil" since they ensure accurate feeding and registration of web through a utilization device.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a reliable system for feeding continuous web through a utilization device that does not entail the use of wasteful edgewise strips having tractor pin feed holes.
It is another object of this invention to provide a system and method for feeding web that ensures accurate registration of the web with other moving elements of a utilization device and enables web to be directed to a variety of locations.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a system and method of feeding pinless web particularly through a utilization device having a fuser section with a separate fuser section with a fuser motor downstream of an image drum drive section. The system and method should ensure adequate registration between each section in the absence of pin feed holes to enable registration serving.
It is a further object of this invention to provide registration control to a drive for pinless web in a utilization device that evenly applies registration control evenly over a web section to avoid abrupt registration correction that could cause discontinuities.

Method and apparatus for pinless feeding of web to a utilization device


A word is split into one or more first substrings. A morpheme is applied to the one or more first substrings to create one or more second substrings. The one or more first and second substrings are selected as one or more splittings, and a score is generated for each of the one or more splittings. One of the one or more splittings with a score higher than the other one or more splittings is selected as a keyword.

This disclosure relates to information retrieval.
Content items, e.g., advertisements, can be identified by a search engine in response to a query. The query can include one or more search terms, and a search engine can identify and rank the content items based on, for example, the search terms, e.g., keywords, in the query and one or more parameters associated with the content item.
Some online advertising systems are used in countries where the language includes compound words. A compound word includes two or more words merged together. For example, in German, the word for "flower bouquet" is the compound word "Blumenstraeusse" made up of Blumen (flower) and Straeusse (bouquet). Online advertising systems can be used in countries such as Germany where the language, German, includes compound words. Therefore, the search terms used in these queries can include these compound words.
Determining the appropriate advertisements to be displayed when a query is performed with search terms that are compound words can result in higher advertising revenue and a better user experience. Some advertising systems identify advertisements using the entire compound word as a keyword. However, other processes can be used to select advertisements associated with these compound words.


An automatic system for the provisioning, deployment and management of digital subscriber lines (DSL) in a telephone network uses data on loop composition, electromagnetic interference and crosstalk between lines to optimize the performance and correct problems with one or more symmetric and or asymmetric digital subscriber lines in a cable. The system optimizes DSL lines on an individual basis using measurements and data. The optimal transmit power spectral density (PSD) for each DSL can be found in an iterative manner. Starting each DSL with some predetermined starting parameter, the transmit PSD of each DSL is optimized in round-robin fashion. The crosstalk into a given DSL is calculated as the power sum of all transmissions passed through their measured crosstalk couplings. An asymmetric DSL has its transmit PSD optimized by using the “waterfilling” technique. A symmetric or single carrier DSL has its transmit PSD optimized simply as being the PSD corresponding to the maximum bit rate that it can reliably transmit. The joint optimization algorithm converges rapidly to unique values after only a few iterations. Each DSL may also be analyzed by the DSL management system to correct for crosstalk disturbers and electromagnetic interference (EMI) on an individual basis.

The mainstay of the local telephone company network is the local subscriber loop, i.e., the loop from a central office ("CO") to a subscriber. The local subscriber loop is now being used to provide broadband digital telecommunication services such as digital subscriber line ("DSL") service. Such broadband DSL services include integrated services digital subscriber network ("ISDN"), high-rate digital subscriber line ("HDSL"), asymmetrical digital subscriber lines ("ADSL") and very high rate digital subscriber lines ("VDSL") technology. DSL services allow residential and business customers to send and/or receive digital data at higher rates of speed than were previously possible using analog modem technology.
DSL technologies are engineered to operate over a class of subscriber loops, such as nonloaded loops (18 kft) or Carrier Serving Area (CSA) loops (9 to 12 kft). Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology exploits the existing, ubiquitous, copper telephone loop plant to provide megabit per second (Mbps) high-speed Internet access and other services. The great majority of residential customers and many business customers are served by such metallic (copper) twisted pair cables connected from a local switch in the central office ("CO") to the subscriber's landline telephones. For each subscriber, telephone and DSL signals travel on a twisted pair from a central office (CO) to the subscriber.
There are many impairments to DSL transmission including loop loss and crosstalk. DSL signals are attenuated and distorted by transmission through the loop, particularly at high frequencies and on loops with bridged tap. Some of the power of a DSL transmitting on a loop travels through a crosstalk-coupling path and generates crosstalk noise into other DSLs on loops in the same cable. Additionally, there is impairment from radio ingress and impulse noise, which is sometimes worse than the impairment from crosstalk. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) due to radio ingress appears as narrowband noise spikes in the frequency domain, and impulse noise occurs as brief spikes in the time domain. All these impairments vary in severity by tens of dB's from loop to loop.
Crosstalk generally increases with increasing frequency, and because DSL frequencies extend into the Megahertz ("MHz") range, crosstalk becomes the major limitation to high-speed ADSL. As time progresses it is expected that there will be many more ADSL users each demanding higher speed service. This will result in more crosstalk and higher-bandwidth services that are more vulnerable to crosstalk. Sources of crosstalk are often called "disturbers." There are two types of crosstalk: near-end crosstalk (NEXT) and far-end crosstalk (FEXT). NEXT is more powerful than FEXT, particularly below about 1 MHz where many DSLs use overlapping spectra. If there is one crosstalker, then the received crosstalk PSD is the product of a PSD transmitted on a nearby pair times the crosstalk coupling transfer function. With multiple crosstalkers the received crosstalk PSD is the power sum of each component.
If a DSL or other system transmits a power spectral density (PSD) on one pair of a multi-pair cable, then this PSD is multiplied by a crosstalk coupling function in the frequency domain, and the resulting crosstalk couples into a nearby pair. Spectral compatibility is the property that crosstalk between different systems that transmit in the same twisted-pair cable does not significantly degrade the performance of any of the systems. Spectrum management is the process of deploying DSLs in the loop plant in such a manner that ensures spectral compatibility. Current techniques for spectrum management apply rigid rules uniformly across the entire loop plant, as embodied in ANSI T1.417, the Spectrum Management Standard, developed by ANSI-accredited DSL standards committee T1E1.4. These rules do not take into account the individual types of crosstalk sources and crosstalk couplings of a particular cable, which may be considerably different than the near worst-case couplings that are assumed in the spectrum management standard.
DSL lines are typically maintained by using tests developed for POTS lines, which ignore frequencies above 4 kHz. DSL lines that fail because of the environment at high frequencies can sometimes be repaired by knowledgeable technicians with expensive manual tests, or the DSL service may simply be abandoned.
In typical current DSL provisioning the loop working length determines if a customer can get high rate service (˜1.5 Mbps), low rate service (˜400 kbps), or no service. Telephone loops vary considerably at high frequencies, with noise and crosstalk levels typically differing by 20 dB or more on different loops. The achievable bit rates that could be offered to customers are usually significantly higher than those currently provisioned. Moreover, some unexpected service failures are inevitable. DSL modems do self-adapt to their loop, for example by lowering the bit rate if need be. But this does not provide the DSL service provider much specific information or control.
DSL is a relatively new service from the local exchange carriers (LECs). Current practice assumes that there is little knowledge about a particular loop's transmission parameters except a rough estimate of loop length. All DSL services must withstand a statistical worst-case environment, assuming 99% worst-case crosstalk couplings that are only exceeded on 1% of cables, and binders filled with the worst-case types of crosstalkers. This conservative practice denies some customers DSL service that could have otherwise been provided such service (false negatives), in order to achieve a low number of expensive unexpected failures (false positives). However, it fails to completely eliminate false positives, since it does not account for the many different factors that can cause failures such as high levels of radio ingress or impulse noise. Worse, many DSLs are set to transmit higher power than necessary, creating unnecessarily high levels of crosstalk, instead of responding properly to the actual impairments on each particular loop.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a system for using measurements of crosstalk, electromagnetic noise, background noise and loop make up to precisely determine DSL performance.
Furthermore, it would be desirable to have such a system for the automated identification and isolation of problems that result in degradation of the DSL performance.
Additionally, it would be desirable to implement these methods in a system that could efficiently provision, manage and maintain DSL service even before the installation of any DSL modems.
It would be desirable to provide a system that could automatically diagnose problems with DSL service once such DSL modems were installed.
It would be desirable to provide a system that could enable higher bit rates capable of supporting video transmission using current DSL technology.
Furthermore, it would be desirable to have a DSL management system that can identify potential problems with most DSL lines allowing DSL to be a carrier-grade service with solid service level agreement (SLA) guarantees.
Finally, it would be desirable to have a DSL management that automatically identifies the most costly and difficult to diagnose problems to provide remediation advice (i.e., remove bridged tap) before expending effort in the field.

Automated system and method for management of digital subscriber lines


The present invention provides human glycoprotein hormone (hGPH) α-chain splice variants, including isolated nucleic acids encoding these variants and the encoded amino acid sequences, as well as antibodies, antisense oligonucleotides, expression vectors and host cells comprising these sequences. The present invention further discloses the use of these sequences in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of symptoms, diseases and disorders related to glycoprotein hormones.

The glycoprotein hormones, particularly those that are synthesized and secreted by the anterior pituitary gland can play important roles in a variety of physiological functions, including, for example, metabolism, temperature regulation, growth and reproduction. This family of evolutionarily conserved hormones includes the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), luteinizing hormone (LH), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and chorionic gonadotropin (CG). Structurally, the glycoprotein hormones are heterodimers comprised of a common α-subunit and a hormone-specific β-subunit.
The two subunits are non-covalently linked to form a heterodimer, and the formation of the heterodimer has been shown to be required for receptor binding. Within a particular species, the α-subunits are identical among the glycoprotein hormones while the β-subunits differ and determine the receptor binding specificity of the particular hormone.
Structure-function relationships among the human glycoprotein hormones have been substantially based on models of gonadotropins, particularly hCG. The crystal structure of partially deglycosylated hCG revealed structural features that are also relevant to the other glycoprotein hormones (Lapthom et al., 1994, Nature 369:455-461; Wu et al., 1994, Structure 2:548-558). The common α-subunit contains an apoprotein core of 92 amino acids including 10 cysteine residues, which forms pairs by disulfide linkage. The proposed cysteine pairs are 7-31, 10-60, 28-82, 32-84, and 59-87. Bonds 28-82 and 32-84 form a ring structure penetrated by a bond bridging cysteine residues 10 and 60 to result in a core—the cystine knot—that forms three hairpin loops. Both the α-subunit and the hCG β-subunit have a similar overall topology. Each subunit has two β-hairpin loops (L1 and L3) on one side of the central cystine knot (formed by three disulfide bonds), and a long loop (L2) on the other side.
The α-subunit is encoded by a single gene which is located on chromosome 6 in humans, and is identical in its amino acid sequence within a given species (Fiddes and Goodman, 1981, J. Mol. Appl. Gen. 1:3-18). The hormone specific β-subunit genes differ in length, structural organization and chromosomal localization (Shupnik et al., 1989, Endocr. Rev. 10:459-475).
The carbohydrate moiety of the glycoprotein hormones constitutes 15-35% by weight of the hormone. The common α-subunit comprises two asparagine (N)-linked oligosaccharides, and the β-subunit has one asparagine glycosylation site in TSH and LH and two in CG and FSH. In addition, the CG β-subunit has a unique 32-residue carboxyl-terminal extension peptide (CTEP) with four serine (O)-linked glycosylation sites. (Baenziger, 1994, in: Lustbander et al. (Eds.) Glycoprotein Hormones: Structure, Function and Clinical Implications. Springer-Verlag, New York, pages 167-174).
Following secretion, the glycoprotein hormones travel in the blood stream to the target cells, which contain membrane bound receptors. The hormone binds to the corresponding receptor and stimulates the cell. Typically, such stimulation involves an increase in activity of a specific intracellular regulatory enzyme which in turn catalyzes a biochemical reaction essential to the response of the cell. For example, binding of hCG to the hCG receptor present upon the corpus luteum (an ovarian structure), stimulates the activity of the enzyme adenylate cyclase. This enzyme catalyzes the conversion of intracellular ATP to cyclic AMP (cAMP). cAMP stimulates the activity of other enzymes involved in the production of ovarian steroid hormones, especially progesterone. hCG-stimulated progesterone secretion is essential for the maintenance of pregnancy during the first trimester of gestation. The exact mechanism by which a dimeric glycoprotein hormone, such as hCG, stimulates post-receptor events, such as activation of adenylate cyclase activity, is unknown. By a variety of experimental manipulations, it has been shown however, that accurate glycosylation plays important role in this regard. Treatment of glycoprotein hormones such as LH, FSH, or hCG with hydrogen fluoride removes approximately 70% of the oligosaccharide side chains. The resultant partially deglycosylated molecules retain their receptor binding activity but are unable to stimulate any post-receptor events. Glycosylation is also important in determining the hormone plasma half-life.
Soluble proteins containing cystine knot domains such as the glycoproteins are known to bind G-protein coupled receptors; other cystine knot proteins; glycoprotein hormone superfamily members; and glycoprotein hormone receptors. Thus, these multifunctional glycoproteins modulate a number of functions, including modulation of glycoprotein hormones-related protein activity, regulation of cellular proliferation, regulation of cellular differentiation and regulation of reproductive function.
U.S. Application No. 20020169292 discloses compositions and methods based on mutant Cystine Knot Growth Factors (CKGFs) comprising amino acid substitutions relative to the previously known hormone/growth factor. Specifically the application discloses mutated thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and chorionic gonadotropin (CG), which possessed modified bioactivities, including superagonist activity.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,361,992 discloses modified human glycoprotein hormone comprising modified α-chain in which certain amino acids are substituted with basic amino acids, specifically modified human glycoprotein hormone having increased activity over a wild-type hormone.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,306,654 discloses recombinantly produced human FSH which offers the opportunity for control of glycosylation pattern both on the α and β portions of the heterodimer. These obtained mutants have utility as antagonists and in altering pharmacokinetic activity of these hormones.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,242,580 discloses single-chain forms of the glycoprotein hormones, which may either be glycosylated, partially glycosylated, or nonglycosylated, and the α- and β-chains that occur in the native glycoprotein hormones or variants of them may optionally be linked through a linker moiety. The resulting single-chain hormones either retain the activity of the unmodified heterodimeric form or are antagonists of this activity.
Agonist and antagonist of the glycoprotein hormone α-chain can be used for screening, diagnosis and treatment of glycoprotein hormone related conditions, diseases or disorders, and for targeting of drugs or other therapeutic entities to cells bearing glycoprotein hormone receptors.

Variants of human glycoprotein hormone alpha chain: compositions and uses thereof


A lip advancer is presented for preventing proclining or tipping forward of the lower incisors that causes relapse and gingival recession in retention with forward intermaxillary elastic traction that extends diagonally from posterior bracket hooks in the lower arch anchored to hooks on upper anchorage appliances. In one embodiment, the lip advancer is comprised of an invisible clear liner type plastic retainer for use with a dental arch, and a bumper extending labially from the retainer for pressing against the patient's lip causing the lip muscles to react pushing back with an opposite force thus preventing the anterior teeth from flaring labially. In another embodiment, for use with a plurality of brackets and an archwire, the lip advancer comprises an auxiliary archwire extending from and in contact with the brackets, and a bumper formed on the auxiliary archwire for applying pressure labially to a corresponding lip.

A malocclusion is a misalignment or incorrect relation between the two jaws, maxilla and mandible, and the teeth of the respective two dental arches. This is often referred to as a skeletal dysplasia characterized by overjet of the upper incisors and jaw protraction, and often requires external headgear wear. There are generally three orthodontic terms to describe direction. Buccal-lingually means from the cheek side to the tongue side, respectively. Mesial-distally means from anterior to posterior or front to back. Occlusal-gingivally means from the bite side to the gum side. Malocclusion or malalignment of the bite, may be classified in one of three classes:
Class I: Neutrocclusion where the molar relationship of the occlusion is within normal limits. This is described as the maxillary (or upper) first molar mesial cusp fitting into the central groove of the mandiubular (or lower) first molar, and where the other teeth may have additional problems such as spacing, crowding, or vertical alignment issues such as over or under eruption.
Class II: Distocclusion where the mesiobuccal cusp tip of the upper first molar is anteriorly or forwardly positioned ahead of the mesiobuccal groove of the lower first molar and instead is anterior to it (often called a large "overbite" or technically a large overjet of the upper teeth anterior to the lower dentition). Again, the Class II malocclusion can be a result of the skeletal components of the upper jaw (maxillary segment) and/or lower jaw (mandibular segment) being malaligned or may additionally involve the dentition being maligned (above). Class II malocclusion also has two divisions where: division 1 has molar relationships such as Class II with the anterior teeth protruding; and division 2 has molar relationships like Class II but the central incisor teeth are retroclined and the lateral incisor teeth are seen anteriorly overlapping the centrals. It is important that the upper first molars are often and generally displaced and rotated mesially in Class II malocclusions taking up more space in the upper dental arch and contributing to the overjet, requiring correction.
Class III: Mesiocclusion is found in patients where the upper molars are placed not in the lower molar mesiobuccal groove but where the upper molar is located posteriorly to the lower molar central groove and often referred to as an underbite.
A distalizer applies to the treatment generally, of the upper teeth and upper jaw with a Class II overjet condition above but can also be used in the lower jaw or teeth by reversing the direction of force to be used in the correction of a Class III malocclusion.
Rotation and distalization of upper molars, with segmented archwires and orthodontic brackets (braces) in conjunction with Class II, up and down, inter-arch, or intermaxillary elastics with or without headgear or fixed functional appliances (which hold the lower jaw forward and downward) is not new. Distalizers have been used to correct one or more of the malocclusions described above for more than half a century.
In prior art distalizers one common, and most clinically visible complication for patients that has been recognized, is that both upper canines become over-extruded, elongating the canine out of its tooth socket due to the elastic traction. This is in addition to unfavorable canine crown tipping that has been observed clinically (above). This poses a serious aesthetic and functional issue as interferences in the occlusion (bite) for patients with prior distalizers. Once upper canines have been over-extruded they are difficult to re-intrude because they are the longest rooted teeth in the maxilla.
It is ideal biomechanically to push the molar horizontally and vertically from as close to the centers of resistance of the molar, the entire dentition, and the maxilla that are all located closer to the upper part of the roots. For this reason, it is preferable and indicated in orthodontic biomechanics to translate the molar roots, or bodily move the molar posteriorly by pushing more distally (location of mid-hook on bar, see FIG. 2) in the horizontal dimension, and from a more gingival location that is closer vertically to the three centers of resistance, compared to prior distalizers.
Finally, the preferred method of molar distalization is to apply as direct a force to the molar as possible. (Conversely, to prevent canine over-extrusion it is ideal to avoid direct force on the canine at the anterior end). The method of distalizing the molar in prior distalizers is indirect vs. direct force because the prior art uses a force on the anterior end of the canine rather than the force being closer to the molar that requires movement. In the prior art this results in a domino-effect of indirect force from the canine crown, and canine root encased in bone, to the relatively straight bar mesiodistally and sphere (and to the obstructing two middle premolar teeth) resulting in a dissipated force to the molar tube.
Overall the goal is to prevent upper canine over-eruption while additionally, applying the inter-arch elastic force more posteriorly (distally) and higher (gingivally) to be closer biomechanically to the 3 centers of resistance for greater, bodily molar movement. Conversely, from a transverse perspective it is also ideal to push on the molar tube a further distance to the buccal away from the center of resistance of the molar. These improvements would also make canine and bodily molar movements more stable long-term, precluding relapse in retention.
International publication number WO 2017/070799 to Voudouris, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety, is directed to an Orthodontic Bracket with a Sliding Molar Distalizer. Furthermore, international application number PCT/CA2017/000053 to Voudouris, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety, is directed to an Orthopedic-Orthodontic Molar Distalizer.
In addition to canine over-eruption, there is another long-standing problem in popular Class II mandibular advancers or correctors. The lower incisors tend to flare forward with the use of these up and down or inter-maxillary traction elastics that stretch between the upper and lower jaws and teeth diagonally.
In conjunction with an upper distalizer, an invisible clear liner-type plastic retainer, has been used in the lower arch in conjunction with a bondable button on the lower molar (where a Class II intermaxillary traction elastic is placed or anchored, see FIG. 2). This invisible retainer is placed in order to try to keep the lower arch ideally from second molar to second molar at least splinted together, or anchored together in effect to try to prevent the lower incisors from proclining forward but this has only limited assistance if any. The whole arch tends to move forward molar-to-molar along with the entire invisible retainer.
For that matter, the same problem occurs when there are full lower brackets second molar-to-second molar with a lower rectangular wire for added anchorage. The whole set of lower braces move forward with lower incisors into the lip with a domino effect starting from the second molars moving forward to the incisors bilaterally. The reason is that the heavy-force Class II inter-arch elastic forces over-power the dentoalvelar bone housing of the lower dentition consistently and commonly. This can often also lead to periodontal recession or gum recession at the front, or labial of the lower incisors.
There is a need for an orthodontic device that overcomes at least some of the above identified problems.


The automatic connection device includes a fixed connection plate, that is attached to or integrated with the tool holder and stationary relative to same, a movable connection plate, that is mounted movably on the tool so as to be able to both pivot and slide relative to same, and a centering device provided on the tool holder and the tool such that, when said tool is mounted and assembled mechanically on the tool holder, the connection plates are mutually centered and the electrical, pneumatic and/or hydraulic couplers of same are mutually connected so as to connect at least one of the electrical, pneumatic and/or hydraulic networks of the tool to that of the tool holder.

The construction or public-works equipment of the handling, loading or lifting equipment type, or loader-excavator earthmoving type or similar comprises working equipment in the form of an articulated arm at the end of which a work tool is installed.
The work tools are generally made up of a bucket, shovel, or loader, or of a hydraulic tool (for example a rock breaker, auger, brush cutter, etc.) or even others, depending on the type of use. Generally, the changing and mounting of these work tools turns out to be a long and difficult operation, considering both the weight of each of them and also the conditions under which these changes are done, most often on-site, meaning on construction sites.
On average, during a workday, the construction equipment driver can need to change the tools several tens of times. These steps of mounting and dismounting require immobilizing the equipment for several minutes each time. Accumulated, this time immobilized represents a non-negligible loss of productivity.
In order to simplify mounting the tool on the free end of the stick of construction or public-works equipment, the Applicant developed several solutions, in particular a quick and reversible device for attachment of a tool to construction equipment wherein the tool holder comprises two pairs of holding axles extending laterally and mobile by moving closer or farther apart by means of a locking cylinder, whereas the tool comprises at least two pairs of receiving parts for which the openings are facing and each intended to receive one of the holding axles. Because of this device, the tool can be locked and unlocked on the tool holder by means of the locking cylinder by reversibly changing the distance separating pairs of holding axles between an extended position of the locking cylinder in which the holding axles are stopped at the bottom of an associated receiving part and a withdrawn position of the locking cylinder in which the holding axles can be removed from the receiving parts.
Thus, an equipment driver could take a tool and assemble it or disassemble it with the tool holder, with considerable freedom in the positioning of the equipment relative to the tool, while also minimizing the risks of dropping the tool during assembly operations.
Depending on the tool mounted on the tool holder, the driver must sometimes get out of the vehicle to come connect the electric, hydraulic and/or pneumatic networks from the tool to those on the tool holder because today, there is no satisfactory device for automatic connection between a tool and a tool holder on the stick of construction or public-works equipment such as previously described.
In fact, during placement of the tool on the tool holder by means of the previously mentioned device, once a first pair of holding axles has been inserted in a pair of receiving parts, the second pair of holding axles is inserted in the other pair of receiving parts by a pivoting movement of the tool holder relative to the tool, in order to place the second pair of holding axles facing the openings of the other pair of receiving parts, followed by a sliding movement in order to insert the second pair of holding axles into the bottom of the receiving parts.
However, current electric, hydraulic and/or pneumatic automatic connection devices between a tool and a tool holder are not suited to a pivoting motion of the tool holder relative to the tool, but only a straight translational movement bringing the tool holder closer to the tool.
Furthermore, these automatic connection devices are equipped with damping or movement compensation devices typically comprising springs, silent blocks or compensation cylinders, and consequently result in automatic connection devices that are complicated, expensive and unreliable.

Device for automatic connection between a tool and a tool holder of a construction or public works machine


An electric motor has a field pole formed by a field current passing through a field winding. A voltage booting converter converts output voltage of a battery and outputs the voltage between a power source line and a grounding line. Field winding is electrically connected onto an electric current channel between battery and power source line and formed so that voltage switched by a switching element is applied to both ends. A controller controls the field current so as to adjust density of magnetic flux between a rotor and a stator by performing switching control on switching element and a switching element connected in parallel to field winding and converts the output voltage of battery into voltage in accordance with a voltage command value.

Recently, a hybrid vehicle and an electric vehicle are drawing public attention as an eco-friendly vehicle. The hybrid vehicle is a vehicle having a motor driven not only by a conventional engine but also by a DC power source via an inverter as a mechanical power source. That is, the hybrid vehicle is to obtain the mechanical power source by driving the engine and converting DC voltage from the DC power source into AC voltage by the inverter so as to rotate the motor by the converted AC voltage.
The electric vehicle is a vehicle having a DC power source, an inverter and a motor driven by the inverter as the mechanical power source.
As a drive motor of such a hybrid vehicle and an electric vehicle, a permanent magnet type motor provided with a permanent magnet in a rotor and rotated by a magnetic action of poles due to the permanent magnet and a rotating magnetic field generated in a stator, a field winding type motor provided with a field coil in a rotor and rotated by a magnetic action of a component in the vertical direction to a rotation shaft of a magnetic field generated in the rotor by a field current passing through the field coil and a rotating magnetic field generated in a stator, and the like are taken into consideration.
For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-229461 discloses a charge control device including a power generator having a field winding and plural-phase power generating winding, a rectifying circuit connected to a voltage output terminal of the power generator, a field current control switching element for controlling an electric current passing through the field winding of the power generator, connection switch means for switching and connecting the output side of the rectifying circuit to one of a high pressure storage cell and a low pressure storage cell, and control means for controlling ON/OFF of the field current control switching element and controlling switch of the connection switch means so as to charge the high pressure storage cell and the low pressure storage cell by respective reference voltage.
Here, torque generated from a motor is generally determined by magnetic flux passing from a rotor to a stator and an armature current passing through a stator winding. However, in the permanent magnet type motor, the magnetic flux between the rotor and the stator is determined by a permanent magnet to be used and maintained constant irrespective of the revolution speed. Therefore, for example as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-304752, an AC electric motor for an electric vehicle for variably controlling content of magnetic flux by generating the magnetic flux by both a permanent magnet and a field pole provided on the rotor side is proposed.
According to the AC electric motor for the electric vehicle described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-304752, the AC electric motor is a synchronous electric motor having the field pole on the rotor side, the permanent magnet is buried and an exciting coil is provided in the field pole. Then, field magnetic flux is generated by magnetic flux due to the permanent magnet and magnetic flux due to the exciting coil excited as required.
Further, in the hybrid vehicle and the electric vehicle, there is also consideration that the DC voltage from the DC power source is boosted by a voltage boosting converter and the boosted DC voltage is supplied to the inverter for driving the motor.
For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-143157 discloses a motor control device for a vehicle including a field winding motor provided in the vehicle for generating the mechanical power, a battery, a voltage boosting and step-down inverter provided between the battery and the field winding motor, and a controller for performing field control and voltage boosting and step-down control in accordance with an operation state of the vehicle.
According to the above, the voltage boosting and step-down inverter is formed by an inverter unit, a voltage boosting and step-down unit and a capacitor. The voltage boosting and step-down inverter supplies electric power from the battery to a field winding motor for starting up an engine (a start-up motor), and supplies the electric power from the voltage boosting and step-down unit to field windings of the start-up motor and a field winding motor for driving rear wheels (a rear wheel drive motor). In this case, the controller performs control of supplying the electric power to the field windings by turning a field control circuit ON/OFF.
However, according to the AC electric motor for the electric vehicle described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-304752, there is a need for a power circuit for supplying an exciting current to the exciting coil. In Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 5-304752, a rotation transformer and a rectifier are provided in the interior of the electric motor and the exciting current is supplied from the exterior via the rotation transformer. Therefore, a physical constitution of the entire electric motor is enlarged in the axial direction relative to a main body of the electric motor and size and weight are not easily reduced.
In the motor control device for the vehicle described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-143157, there is also a need for a field control circuit for controlling power supply to the field windings. Therefore, there are problems that a physical constitution of the device is enlarged and cost is increased. These are against a demand of reducing size in the physical constitution of the device currently being increased from a view of ensuring interior space of the vehicle.
Therefore, this invention was made in order to solve the above problems and an object thereof is to provide a drive device of an electric motor capable of achieving both size reduction and higher output of the electric motor.


A hose connector for joining flexible hoses is comprised of a tubular pipe body with at least one insertion portions made of a shape memory alloy (SMA) or other shape memory material that has a memorized shape. The insertion portion is located on at least on one end of the tubular pipe body and has an outer diameter smaller than an interior diameter of the flexible hose in a martensite state. The insertion portion is inserted into the interior diameter of the flexible hose and the memorized shape is recovered with the application of heat, wherein the outer diameter of the insertion portion becomes larger than the outer diameter of the flexible hose sealing the outer diameter of the insertion portion against the interior diameter of the flexible hose.

A hose connector formed at the end of a metal tube is typically used to connect the tubing to a flexible polymeric hose, such as, fuel tubing used between a vehicle's fuel tank and an engines carburetor or other fuel metering system. The fuel tubing can be part of a long rigid fluid line, a stem defined at the end of a connector body or a fitting adapted to connect two flexible hoses together. The polymeric hose is fitted on the outer periphery of the hose connector over radially enlarged frustoconical or barrel shaped protrusions formed on the end the hose connector. For this type of hose connector, a fluid tight seal is maintained by the tightness of the inner walls of the polymeric hose against the protrusions of the hose connector. Therefore, when assembling the polymeric hose on the hose connector considerable force is required to be applied in order fit the hose over the hose connector protrusions to make a solid fluid tight seal. In many cases the force required to make such a connection requires the use of special tools or machinery.
Materials, both organic and metallic, capable of possessing shape memory are well known. An article made of such materials can be deformed from an original, high temperature configuration to a second, low temperature configuration. The article is said to have shape memory for the reason that, upon the application of heat alone, it can be caused to revert, or to attempt to revert, to its high temperature shape, from its low temperature configuration, i.e. it "remembers" is original, high temperature shape. The high temperature shape is imparted, that is, "memorized", during an operation known as shape setting, in which the material is constrained to the desired high temperature shape at elevated temperature and kept there for a finite amount of time. By forming the hose connector end of a shape memory alloy (SMA) material it becomes feasible to install the hose connector end by hand into a polymeric hose by deforming the hose connector end to a diameter smaller than the interior diameter of the polymeric hose. The connector end can then be heated to achieve transformation of the connector end to the memorized shape, thereby causing the hose connector to expand to its original shape and seal against the inner walls of the polymeric hose, thereby removing the need to use machinery or hand tools to install the hose connector on the polymeric hose.


Plastic lenses for spectacles having a high refractive index and a high Abbe's number, and having good transparency, heat resistance, mechanical strength and impact resistance are produced. Plastic lenses for spectacles are produced through polymerization of an epithio group-having compound (a), a polythiol compound (b) and a polyisocyanate compound (c) whereby the ratio (by mol) of the polythiol compound (b) to the polyisocyanate compound (c) is at least 1.2 calculated on the basis of —SH and —NCO groups. The invention also provides a process for preparing such lenses and a catalyst for use in said process.

The present invention relates to plastic lenses for spectacles, in particular to those having a high refractive index and a high Abbe's number and having good transparency, heat resistance, mechanical strength and impact resistance.
Plastics are being much used these days for optical products such as lenses, as being lightweight, hardly broken and easily colored when compared with glass. It is known to use, as the monomer material, an epithio group-having compound in producing plastic lenses. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 180977/1999 discloses a plastic lens having optical properties, a refractive index of 1.70 or so and an Abbe's number of from 35 to 37 or so, which, however, still leaves room for improving its heat resistance and mechanical strength.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 292950/1999 and 352302/1999 disclose a resin composition prepared by reacting an epithio group-having compound, an isocyanate group-having compound and a thiol group-having compound in a ratio of thiol group/isocyanate group of at most 1, and its use for plastic lenses. They say that the resin composition has improved heat resistance, mechanical strength and impact resistance. However, the plastic lenses of the resin composition are often cloudy and could not be well cured, and are therefore unsuitable to practical use for spectacles.
The present invention has been made so as to solve the problems as above, and to provide plastic lenses for spectacles having a high refractive index and a high Abbe's number and having good transparency, heat resistance, mechanical strength and impact resistance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Systems and methods for determining an order accepting mode for a target service provider are provided. A method includes receiving a request for determining an order accepting mode for the target service provider. The method also includes obtaining an order accepting evaluation parameter with respect to the target service provider in response to the request. The method also includes determining an order accepting mode for the target service providers based on the order accepting evaluation parameter. The order accepting mode includes at least one of an order designating mode, an order striving mode, or an order quick-accepting mode.

Online to offline services, such as online taxi hailing services, utilizing Internet technology have become increasingly popular because of their convenience. Determining suitable order accepting mode for online taxi drivers is very important for the online taxi drivers and the service provider to efficiently serve the users. When the online taxi drivers are not in suitable order accepting mode, it may affect the service quality and deteriorate the user experience of the online to offline service. Therefore, it is desirable to provide efficient systems and methods for determining order accepting mode for drivers.

Online transportation reservation systems prioritizing reservations based on demand, regional transportation capacity, and historical driver scores

BEIJING DIDI INFINITY TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.


A window assembly (10) with its glazing frame that stays independently from lateral movement of building main structure (44) is disclosed. The window assembly (10) includes an outer retaining frame (12) and an inner glazing frame (14). The outer retaining frame (12) is attached to the building main structure(44). The glazing frame holds glass pane (20), and sits inside the outer retaining frame (12). Between the outer retaining frame (12) and the inner glazing frame (12) is a predetermined clearance space (X) and (Y), at their vertical edges and their top edge. The resulting window assembly allows the glazing frame to retain its shape, while the outer retaining frame (12) moves laterally with the main structure (44) during an earthquake or blast, thereby minimizing the chance of glass breakage. Application of glazing gasket (32) or sealant (54) provides watertight result to the window assembly (10).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to window assemblies, and more specifically to window assemblies that are used in buildings located in seismic zones or in buildings designed to withstand a blast.
2. Description of the Related Art
Window assemblies in buildings are commonly installed by fastening, bolting or welding the window frame to the building's main structure.
Seismic movement creates story drift in buildings, which is the lateral displacement of one level relative to the level below or above. This causes lateral movement to the building main structure and the attached window frame.
The lateral movement of the window frame causes it to crush the glass panes in the window. Without adequate clearance space for the movement, the glass in window might break during a strong earthquake. The chance for glass breakage is greater in larger and taller glass panes, because they are affected by greater lateral displacement. However, large glass panes are highly desirable in many facilities including air traffic control tower cabs.

Window assembly for buildings in seismic zones


The invention provides classes of immunomodulatory compositions which comprise an average of one or more immunostimulatory sequence (ISS) containing polynucleotide conjugated, or attached, to antigen. The extent of conjugation affects immunomodulatory properties, such as extent of antigen-specific antibody formation, including Th1-associated antibody formation, and thus these various conjugate classes are useful for modulating the type and extent of immune response. The invention also includes methods of modulating an immune response using these compositions.

Immune responses to resolve different pathologies, such as those seen in viral infections, bacterial infections, cancer, and allergic reactions are important to the overall health of the host. Successful resolution of infections, cancer, or allergic reactions may depend on the type and magnitude of the immune response. Immunizations, whereby antigen is used to elicit further immune responses, may be helpful in the successfully resolving the infections, cancers, and/or allergic reactions. Since the type of antigen used to elicit immune response is different from one disease to the next, it would be desirable to have a method of immunization that would enable the immune system to address all the aforementioned infections and diseases. More specifically, it would be desirable to have a method of immunization that enabled differential modulation of immune responses. While immunizations, in general, have tended to induce humoral (antibody) responses, it may be preferable to induce another type of immune response, namely, cellular immune response to avoid complications that may arise from a humoral response (e.g., anaphylactic shock).
The type of immune response generated to infection or other antigenic challenge can generally be distinguished by the subset of T helper (Th) cells involved in the response. The Th1 subset is responsible for classical cell-mediated functions such as delayed-type hypersensitivity and activation of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs), whereas the Th2 subset functions more effectively as a helper for B-cell activation. The type of immune response to an antigen is generally influenced by the cytokines produced by the cells responding to the antigen. Differences in the cytokines secreted by Th1 and Th2 cells are believed to reflect different biological functions of these two subsets.
The Th1 subset may be particularly suited to respond to viral infections, intracellular pathogens, and tumor cells because it secretes IL-2 and IFN-γ, which activate CTLs. The Th2 subset may be more suited to respond to free-living bacteria and helminthic parasites and may mediate allergic reactions, since IL-4 and IL-5 are known to induce IgE production and eosinophil activation, respectively. In general, Th1 and Th2 cells secrete distinct pattern of cytokines that negatively regulate each other. For example, IL-2 shifts the immune response toward Th1 and inhibits the development of Th2 response. Likewise, IL-10, another Th2 cytokine, shifts the immune response towards Th2 and inhibits the development of Th1 response. A shift in the Th1/Th2 balance can result in an allergic response, for example, or, alternatively, in an increased CTL response.
For many infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis and malaria, Th2-type responses are of little protective value against infection. Proposed vaccines using small peptides derived from the target antigen and other currently used antigenic agents that avoid use of potentially infective intact viral particles, do not always elicit the immune response necessary to achieve a therapeutic effect. The lack of a therapeutically effective human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) vaccine is an unfortunate example of this failure. Protein-based vaccines typically induce Th2-type immune responses, characterized by high titers of neutralizing antibodies but without significant cell-mediated immunity.
Moreover, some types of antibody responses are inappropriate in certain indications, most notably in allergy where an IgE antibody response can result in anaphylactic shock. Generally, allergic responses also involve Th2-type immune responses. Allergic responses, including those of allergic asthma, are characterized by an early phase response, which occurs within seconds to minutes of allergen exposure and is characterized by cellular degranulation, and a late phase response, which occurs 4 to 24 hours later and is characterized by infiltration of eosinophils into the site of allergen exposure. Specifically, during the early phase of the allergic response, allergen cross-links IgE antibodies on basophils and mast cells, which in turn triggers degranulation and the subsequent release of histamine and other mediators of inflammation from mast cells and basophils. During the late phase response, eosinophils infiltrate into the site of allergen exposure (where tissue damage and dysfunction result).
Antigen immunotherapy for allergic disorders involves the subcutaneous injection of small, but gradually increasing amounts, of antigen. Such immunization treatments present the risk of inducing IgE-mediated anaphylaxis and do not efficiently address the cytokine-mediated events of the allergic late phase response. Thus far, this approach has yielded only limited success.
Administration of certain DNA sequences, generally known as immunostimulatory sequences or "ISS," induces an immune response with a Th1-type bias as indicated by secretion of Th1-associated cytokines. Administration of an immunostimulatory polynucleotide with an antigen results in a Th1-type immune response to the administered antigen. Roman et al. (1997) Nature Med. 3:849–854. For example, mice injected intradermally with Escherichia coli (E. coli) β-galactosidase (β-Gal) in saline or in the adjuvant alum responded by producing specific IgG1 and IgE antibodies, and CD4+ cells that secreted IL-4 and IL-5, but not IFN-γ, demonstrating that the T cells were predominantly of the Th2 subset. However, mice injected intradermally (or with a tyne skin scratch applicator) with plasmid DNA (in saline) encoding β-Gal and containing an ISS responded by producing IgG2a antibodies and CD4+ cells that secreted IFN-γ, but not IL-4 and IL-5, demonstrating that the T cells were predominantly of the Th1 subset. Moreover, specific IgE production by the plasmid DNA-injected mice was reduced 66–75%. Raz et al. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:5141–5145. In general, the response to naked DNA immunization is characterized by production of IL-2, TNFα and IFN-γ by antigen-stimulated CD4+ T cells, which is indicative of a Th1-type response. This is particularly important in treatment of allergy and asthma as shown by the decreased IgE production. The ability of immunostimulatory polynucleotides to stimulate a Th1-type immune response has been demonstrated with bacterial antigens, viral antigens and with allergens (see, for example, WO 98/55495).
It has been reported that linking ISS to antigen results in a significant enhancement of the Th1 immune response compared to co-administration of ISS and antigen in an admixture. See, for example, WO 98/16247; WO 98/55495.
Other references describing ISS include: Krieg et al. (1989) J. Immunol. 143:2448–2451; Tokunaga et al. (1992) Microbiol. Immunol. 36:55–66; Kataoka et al. (1992) Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 83:244–247; Yamamoto et al. (1992a) J. Immunol. 148:4072–4076; Yamamoto et al. (1992b) Microbiol. Immunol. 36:983–997; Mojcik et al. (1993) Clin. Immuno. and Immunopathol. 67:130–136; Branda et al. (1993) Biochem. Pharmacol. 45:2037–2043; Pisetsky et al. (1994) Life Sci. 54(2):101–107; Yamamoto et al. (1994a) Antisense Research and Development. 4:119–122; Yamamoto et al. (1994b) Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 85:775–779; Raz et al. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:9519–9523; Kimura et al. (1994) J. Biochem. (Tokyo) 116:991–994; Krieg et al. (1995) Nature 374:546–549; Pisetsky et al. (1995) Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 772:152–163; Pisetsky (1996a) J. Immunol. 156:421-423; Pisetsky (1996b) Immunity 5:303–310; Zhao et al. (1996) Biochem. Pharmacol. 51:173–182; Yi et al. (1996) J. Immunol. 156:558–564; Krieg (1996) Trends Microbiol. 4(2):73–76; Krieg et al. (1996) Antisense Nucleic Acid Drug Dev. 6:133–139; Klinman et al. (1996) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:2879–2883; Raz et al. (1996); Sato et al. (1996) Science 273:352–354; Stacey et al. (1996) J. Immunol. 157:2116–2122; Ballas et al. (1996) J. Immunol. 157:1840–1845; Branda et al. (1996) J. Lab. Clin. Med. 128:329–338; Sonehara et al. (1996) J. Interferon and Cytokine Res. 16:799–803; Klinman et al. (1997) J. Immunol. 158:3635–3639; Sparwasser et al. (1997) Eur. J. Immunol. 27:1671–1679; Roman et al. (1997); Carson et al. (1997) J. Exp. Med. 186:1621–1622; Chace et al. (1997) Clin. Immunol. and Immunopathol. 84:185–193; Chu et al. (1997) J. Exp. Med. 186:1623–1631; Lipford et al. (1997a) Eur. J. Immunol. 27:2340–2344; Lipford et al. (1997b) Eur. J. Immunol. 27:3420–3426; Weiner et al. (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:10833–10837; Macfarlane et al. (1997) Immunology 91:586–593; Schwartz et al. (1997) J. Clin. Invest. 100:68–73; Stein et al. (1997) Antisense Technology, Ch. 11 pp. 241–264, C. Lichtenstein and W. Nellen, Eds., IRL Press; Wooldridge et al. (1997) Blood 89:2994–2998; Leclerc et al. (1997) Cell. Immunol. 179:97–106; Kline et al. (1997) J. Invest. Med. 45(3):282A; Yi et al. (1998a) J. Immunol. 160:1240–1245; Yi et al. (1998b) J. Immunol. 160:4755–4761; Yi et al. (1998c) J. Immunol. 160:5898–5906; Yi et al. (1998d) J. Immunol. 161:4493–4497; Krieg (1998) Applied Antisense Oligonucleotide Technology Ch. 24, pp. 431–448, C. A. Stein and A. M. Krieg, Eds., Wiley-Liss, Inc.; Krieg et al. (1998a) Trends Microbiol. 6:23–27; Krieg et al. (1998b) J. Immunol. 161:2428–2434; Krieg et al. (1998c) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:12631–12636; Spiegelberg et al. (1998) Allergy 53(45S):93–97; Horner et al. (1998) Cell Immunol. 190:77–82; Jakob et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 161:3042–3049; Redford et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 161:3930–3935; Weeratna et al. (1998) Antisense & Nucleic Acid Drug Development 8:351–356; McCluskie et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 161(9):4463–4466; Gramzinski et al. (1998) Mol. Med. 4:109–118; Liu et al. (1998) Blood 92:3730–3736; Moldoveanu et al. (1998) Vaccine 16: 1216–1224; Brazolot Milan et al. (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:15553–15558; Briode et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 161:7054–7062; Briode et al. (1999) Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol. 118:453–456; Kovarik et al. (1999) J. Immunol. 162:1611–1617; Spiegelberg et al. (1999) Pediatr. Pulmonol. Suppl. 18:118–121; Martin-Orozco et al. (1999) Int. Immunol. 11:1111–1118; EP 468,520; WO 96/02555; WO 97/28259; WO 98/16247; WO 98/18810; WO 98/37919; WO 98/40100; WO 98/52581; WO 98/52962; WO 98/55495; WO 98/55609; WO 99/11275; Elkins et al. (1999) J. Immunol. 162:2291–2298; WO 98/52962; WO 99/51259 and Van Uden et al. (1999) J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 104:902–910. See also Zimmermann et al. (1998) J. Immunol. 160:3627–3630; Krieg (1999) Trends Microbiol. 7:64–65; WO 99/33488; WO 99/33868; WO 99/62923 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,663,153, 5,723,335 and 5,849,719. See also Liang et al. (1996) J. Clin. Invest. 98:1119–1129; Bohle et al. (1999) Eur. J. Immunol. 29:2344–2353 and WO 99/56755.
The ability to modulate the Th1-type immune response would be desirable in situations where levels of antibody production or cytokine production may be important, for example in viral infections or allergic conditions. The present invention provides compositions and methods of differential modulation of Th2-type responses to Th1-type responses.
All publications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Immunomodulatory compositions containing an immunostimulatory sequence linked to antigen and methods of use thereof


A cryogenic rectification system for producing oxygen having a feed air preparation system and a plurality of same size cold box modules operating in parallel and in conjunction with the feed air preparation system.

Oxygen is produced in large quantities by the cryogenic rectification of feed air in a cold box comprising one or more columns. Prior to entering the cold box the feed air is initially processed in a feed air preparation system wherein the feed air is compressed, cooled and cleaned of high boiling impurities, such as water vapor, carbon dioxide and/or hydrocarbons, which would otherwise solidify at the low temperatures of the cryogenic rectification. Typically the feed air preparation system utilizes relatively standard equipment. However, the cold box, and in particular the column or columns of the cold box, must be designed specifically of each individual cryogenic rectification plant depending upon the desired production of product oxygen by that plant. This individual design of each individual cold box is costly and time consuming.
Accordingly it is an object of this invention to provide a cryogenic rectification system which enables one to have cryogenic rectification plants of different capacities without need for a different cold box design for each such cryogenic rectification plant.

Cryogenic rectification system with modular cold boxes


A machine for neural computation of acoustical patterns for use in real-time speech recognition, comprising a plurality of analog electronic neurons connected for the analysis and recognition of acoustical patterns, including speech. Input to the neural net is provided from a set of bandpass filters which separate the input acoustical patterns into frequency ranges. The neural net itself is organized into two parts, the first for performing the real-time decomposition of the input patterns into their primitives of energy, space (frequency) and time relations, and the second for decoding the resulting set of primitives into known phonemes and diphones. During operation, the outputs of the individual bandpass filters are rectified and fed to sets of neurons in an opponent center-surround organization of synaptic connections ("on center" and "off center"). These units compute maxima and minima of energy at different frequencies. The next sets of neurons compute the temporal boundaries ("on" and "off"), while the following sets of neurons compute the movement of the energy maxima (formants) up or down the frequency axis. Then, in order to recognize speech sounds at the phoneme or diphone level, the set of primitives belonging to the phoneme is decoded such that only one neuron or a non-overlapping group of neurons fire when a particular sound pattern is present at the input. The output from these neurons is then fed to an Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM) decoder and computer for displaying in real-time a phonetic representation of the speech input.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pattern recognition systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to an acoustical pattern recognition system implemented as a neural network which performs real-time decomposition of input patterns into their primitives of energy, space (frequency) and time relations and then decodes these primitives into phonemes or diphones which are recognized parts of speech.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pattern recognition has been accomplished in various ways in the prior art. One of the best known methods of pattern recognition is typified by a simple radar system wherein a beam of electromagnetic energy illuminates a target and is backscattered to a receiver set which is coupled to a computer that analyzes the backscattered signal and forms an image of the target. Similarly, sonar systems accomplish the same result with acoustical type signals.
Regardless of the transmission and receiving apparatus used in these systems, a multi-purpose, digital computer is continually utilized to perform complex calculations to obtain an output which identifies the input signal. The types of computers used in the prior art to perform such calculations have been exclusively sequential machines that require sophisticated programming to effectively perform pattern recognition algorithms such as Fourier transforms, fast Fourier transforms and similar types of algorithms known to those with ordinary skill in the art.
A major drawback which exists with the use of digital, sequential computers in pattern recognition systems is the inherent limitation of these computers to perform their function in a strictly sequential fashion. It is known that sequential, digital computers perform one step of a process or algorithm over each machine cycle. In this manner, successive iterations are repeated over a large number of computer machine cycles of a complex algorithm in order to perform a pattern recognition function.
Depending upon the complexity of the algorithm, the digital computer must perform enormous numbers of machine cycles to form the complete solution of a complex algorithm. For example, when higher order differential equations must be solved simultaneously or when a large number of differential equations must be solved either simultaneously or sequentially, the number of machine cycles required to solve the equations increases drastically. With these drastic increases in machine cycles comes an increased time period for the digital, sequential computer to perform a complete analysis of incoming data. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that complete and useful pattern recognition with such digital computers can take hours or even days. Thus, the use of digital computers generally does not allow pattern recognition in "real-time."
There is therefore a long felt need in the pattern recognition art for a machine which can drastically reduce the time required to achieve pattern recognition. Some form of parallel processing of incoming signals would perform this function, and the use of a parallel processor or a machine capable of inherent parallelism could allow pattern recognition of a complex signal in real-time.
An additional problem which has existed in the pattern recognition art arises from the requirement that signals be resolved into digital components before they may be processed by a sequential, digital computer. This requires that all incoming signals be first "digitized" by an "analog to digital" component of the pattern recognition system before the digital computer can begin processing the signal with its particular pattern recognition algorithm. This places many burdens on prior art pattern recognition systems in that it requires expensive hardware to implement analog to digital conversion and increases the overall processing time of such systems by requiring the analog to digital conversion step. Thus, a pattern recognition system which utilizes incoming analog signals directly without analog to digital conversion is highly desirable.
Neural networks which are patterned after the intricate and sophisticated neural system of the brain are viewed in accordance with the present invention as providing an ideal model by which speedy parallel processing of analog signals can be accomplished for accurate pattern recognition. As known to those skilled in the art, neural networks are electronic networks which mimic the behavior of brain neurons and are appropriately interconnected to provide a desired processing function. As used herein, the term "neuron" is used without distinction for real neurons--those found in the brain--and for artificial neurons--those made from electronic components. It has been previously established that it is possible to construct artificial neurons which are, as far as input-output relations are concerned, complete analogs of the biological counterpart. Such technology is applied in accordance with the present invention for performing rapid processing of analog signals to provide an efficient pattern recognition technique.
The present inventor has previously established in a paper entitled "General Principles of Operation in Neuron Nets With Application to Acoustical Pattern Recognition", Mueller et al., Biological Prototype and Synthetic Systems, Vol. I, pp. 192-212, Plenum, New York (1962), that neurons may be used as logical devices to construct networks which perform logical operations for providing methods of quantitative calculations of input-output relations. In particular, as described therein, a neuron sees the output of its neighbors only up to integration at its synapse so that, as far as the individual neuron is concerned, there exist no input pulses. Its input and output are instead voltages which continue through varying periods of time and which are, within limits, continuously variable. Input pulses to the neurons may be integrated by an RC circuit of the synapse, whereby output pulses may be integrated at the synapse of a succeeding neuron. The input-output characteristics, normally mostly logarithmetic, also can be varied by positive or negative feedback from linearity to a complete step function Neurons thus function essentially as nonlinear amplifiers having a lower and upper bound and its characteristics can be controlled by external connections through feedback.
The output of neurons within a neural network can have a certain voltage, have a certain duration or occur at a certain time, and have an extension in space (i.e., involve a number of neurons) or occur at a certain place. Thus, there are only three variables or domains on which the system can operate, namely, energy, time and space. The basic operations on these variables are those of addition and subtraction in space or time (integration) and "if--then" type operations which are the consequence of the transmission of energy from one neuron to the next. As noted in the above-mentioned article, the discontinuity (quantization) in space or in the input-output characteristics (threshold) make logical operations of the Boolean type possible.
Mueller et al. further demonstrated in the above-mentioned article that networks of such neurons may be developed for acoustical pattern recognition using a transistorized neuron model. Such a network preferably comprises low output and input impedances to minimize sneak paths through the logic nets so as to allow many connections to each neuron. Preferably, integration and refractory time constants that are independent of the number and strength of the input connections to a neuron are also used. In addition, such circuits are designed to have stable thresholds which vary less than one percent. An artificial neuron of this type is disclosed therein. Mueller et al. further demonstrate that such artificial neurons may be used for the initial transformation of the auditory pattern to neural signals using a simulated cochlea and artificial neural networks. A sample neural network for acoustical pattern recognition is described which recognizes simple vowels and some consonants through the use of excitatory and inhibitory connections necessary for logical stability.
However, although the Mueller et al. article illustrates that it has long been known by the present inventor that neural nets may be used for general acoustical pattern recognition, the system described therein generally functions only to break the input acoustical patterns into a limited number of primitives which may or may not be recognized as certain vowel and consonants sounds. A more generalized system is desired which allows the primitives to be related to known phonemes and diphones which are known elements of speech which can be readily recognized when displayed. The present invention has been designed to meet this long-felt need.

Neural networks for acoustical pattern recognition

The Trustees of The University of Pennsylvania


A process for the isolation and purification of (RR,SS)-2-(dimethylamino)methyl!-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanol and its salts from a Grignard reaction mixture which includes the (RR,SS) isomer, the (RS,SR) isomer and Grignard reaction side products. An aqueous solution of HBr is added to the reaction mixture to effect the selective precipitation of the (RR,SS) hydrobromide isomer from the mixture while the (RS,SR) isomer remains in solution. The precipitated (RR,SS)-2-(dimethylamino)methyl!-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanol hydrobromide is converted to (RR,SS)-2-(dimethylamino)methyl!-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanol hydrochloride.

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation and purification of (RR,SS)-2-(dimethylamino)methyl!-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanol and its salts. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved process for the purification and isolation of (RR,SS)-2-(dimethylamino)methyl!-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanol and its salts from reaction mixtures containing the (RR,SS) isomer, the (RS,SR) isomer, and Grignard reaction side products.
The hydrochloride salt of (RR,SS)-2-(dimethylamino)methyl!-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanol is commonly known as Tramadol. Tramadol is considered a non-addicting analgesic, and is indicated for the management of moderate to moderately severe pain.
The original preparation, isolation and purification of Tramadol was reported in Arzneimittel-Forsch./Drug Res. 28(I), Heft 1a, 107,114 (1978), and patented in British Patent 997,399 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,652,589. In this work, the compound is initially obtained from a Grignard reaction mixture as a mixture of the cis and the trans hydrochloride salts. The unwanted trans isomer is removed from the mixture by refluxing a slurry of this salt in wet dioxane, filtering while still hot, and repeating the procedure in anhydrous dioxane. A second filtration resulted in pure cis Tramadol hydrochloride. A disadvantage with this procedure results from the use of large quantities of dioxane. Dioxane has been listed as a carcinogen by the EPA, and has been linked to CNS depression and necrosis of the liver and kidneys.
Improved methods for separation of the cis and trans isomers have been described in two recent patent documents, both owned by Chemagis Ltd., of Bnei Brak, Israel. In the first of these, namely U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,129, the cis and trans isomers are separated from a Grignard reaction mixture by adding HCl (aqueous or anhydrous) to the crude reaction mixture in an organic solvent. This separation takes advantage of the selective precipitation of the cis (RR,SS) isomer from the reaction solution at a faster rate than the trans (RS,SR) isomer. According to the patent, a purity of 97.8% of the cis isomer is obtained after two recrystallizations. However, this indicates that over 2% of trans isomer remains. Furthermore, as stated in the later-published European Patent Application EP 0 778 262 (also owned by the assignee of the '129 patent), the process described in the '129 patent suffers from the disadvantage that the time interval between the end of separation of the (RR,SS) isomer and the start of the (RS,SR) isomer separation is variable, and seems to depend sharply on the composition of the crude mixture. Thus, according to the published European Patent Application, the yield and quality of the final product obtained from the purification process taught in the '129 patent may vary, and about 40% of the (RR,SS) isomer does not separate and remains in solution with the (RS,SR) isomer.
The process described in the European Patent Application EP 0 778 262 filed by Chemagis Ltd. uses a strong acid in an organic or aqueous medium to selectively dehydrate the (RS,SR) isomer, while the (RR,SS) isomer remains intact. The (RS,SR) isomer remains in the mother liquor upon crystallization of an amine salt of the (RR,SS) isomer. In this process, some of the trans (RS,SR) isomer is also converted to the cis (RR,SS) isomer. Yield losses have been found to be high with this process.
A reader should bear in mind that in the foregoing references of European origin, Tramadol is referred to as the trans isomer. However, when named according to IUPAC rules, Tramadol is the cis isomer. The present patent document follows IUPAC nomenclature rules, and thus, Tramadol is referred to herein as the cis isomer.
The known methods for preparation and/or purification of Tramadol suffer from significant disadvantages. For example, some methods use hazardous raw materials. Other methods require numerous steps, including multiple recrystallizations in order to obtain the desired product. Still other methods suffer from low yield, and low selectivity of the desired cis isomer.
Accordingly, it is desired to provide an improved process for the preparation and purification of (RR,SS)-2-(dimethylamino)methyl!-1-(3-methoxyphenyl)cyclohexanol and its salts that uses generally safe ingredients, is highly selective for the desired cis isomer, and provides high yield of the desired end product.

Preparation and purification process for 2-(dimethylamino) methyl!-1-(3-methoxphenyl)-cyclohexanol and its salts


An elbow supporter for a computer mouse and keyboard includes a clamp for clamping the supporter on a table of a computer, a threaded rod combined with the clamp and further with a connecter threadably engaging the threaded rod, a first pivotal arm pivotally connected to the connecter at a first end, a first end of a second pivotal arm pivotally connected to a second end of the first pivotal arm. An elbow support disc is fixed on a second end of the second pivotal arm so the elbow support disc may be lifted or lowered by rotating the second threaded rod clockwise or counterclockwise. A mouse sheet is fixed on and moved together with the first pivotal arm, so the mouse sheet may also move up or down together with the elbow support disc.

This invention relates to an elbow supporter for a computer mouse and keyboard, particularly to one supporting an elbow in using a mouse or keyboard, for lessening elbow's pain caused by a long period of using a computer.
As scientific technology has developed, computers have been used more and more widely in schools, institutions, private offices and even at homes. Whether using keyboard of a computer or using a mouse, the elbow is always in a hanging condition, liable to become tired and painful after a long period of working. So an elbow supporter for a computer has been made and in use nowadays and adjustable in its height to suit to the bodily height of a user.
There is a conventional elbow supporter and a mouse sheet as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, including an elbow support base 10, an upper arm 20, a clamp 30, a front turning base 40, a rear turning base 50, and two parallel arms 60.
The elbow support base 10 has a center hole 101 for a shaft of the upper arm 20 to fit firmly therein.
The upper arm 20 is provided to be located between the elbow support base 10 and the rear turning base 50.
The clamp 30 consists of an upper half clamp 301 and a lower half clamp 302, respectively having a vertical toothed surface 301 and 302 to engage with each other, and a long hole and a threaded hole for a bolt to engage for adjusting clamping distance between the upper and the lower half clamp 301 and 302. The lower half clamp 302 has a flat surface 3021 and a threaded hole 3022 in the flat surface 3021 for a bolt 3031 of an intermediate disc 303 to engage for adjusting the distance between the upper surface of the intermediate disc 303 and a lower surface of the upper half clamp 301. The lower half clamp 302 further has a shaft base 304 base in a rear portion to combine with an arm 401 of the front turning base 40.
The front turning base 40 has two arms 401, 402 spaced apart vertically with an opening, with the arm 401 combined with the shaft base 304 as described above, and the other arm 402 under the bottom of the shaft base 304 for a pivotal shaft 403 to fit through the two arms 401, 402 and the shaft base 304 so as to let the front turning base 40 swing. Further a cap 404 closes under the shaft 403 and the bottom end of the front turning base 40 to prevent the pivotal shaft 403 from falling off.
The rear turning base 50 has two arms 501 and 502 with a center hole for a lower shaft 202 of the upper arm 20 to fit therein and through a gasket 503 fitted in an aperture between the two arms 501, 502, secured with the upper arm 20.
The two parallel arms 60 respectively have their two ends bored with a pin hole 602 for a pin 601 to fit therein and further in pin holes of the front and the rear turning base 40 and 50, combined with the front and the rear turning base 40, 50 so that contained angles of the two parallel arms 60 with the front and the rear turning base 40 and 50 may be adjusted. Further, a push block 603 is provided under the upper parallel arm 60, and the lower parallel arm 60 has threaded hole 605 for a bolt 604 to engage for altering the aperture between the two parallel arms 60 so that the height of the elbow support base 10 may be changed to permit the same base 10 move freely together with the elbow in typing the keyboard or moving the mouse.
However, the conventional elbow supporter and the mouse sheet has in practical use a drawback that the position of the mouse sheet is stationary when a user adjusts the height of the elbow support base. Consequently, the user can only adjust the position of the elbow support base to cope with the condition, but the user feels comfortable only for the part from the elbow to the shoulder, but as for the part between the elbow and the hand, it cannot cope with the mouse sheet stationary in its position, maybe too high or too low for the hand to handle, inconvenient and uncomfortable.

Elbow supporter for a computer mouse and keyboard

No. 3, Alley 11, Lane 15, Yung Fu Street


An image forming apparatus includes a plurality of photosensitive drums, a frame member, a first sheet metal member, and a pressing member. The frame member is configured to accommodate the photosensitive drums such that the photosensitive drums are withdrawn along an axial direction thereof. The first sheet metal member is disposed on a first side of the frame member and configured to position the photosensitive drums. The pressing member is configured to press the photosensitive drums toward the first sheet metal member. The frame member includes a first wall disposed on a second side, opposite to the first side, of the frame member in the axial direction, a second wall disposed on a third side of the frame member and connected to the first wall, and a third wall disposed on an upper side relative to the photosensitive drums and connected to the first wall and the second wall.

A known electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes a main body casing, and process cartridges detachably attachable to the main body casing.
In the above image forming apparatus, the main body casing includes a pair of left and right frames made of resin, a pair of left and right metal frames fixed to inner surfaces of the left and right frames made of resin, and four pipes extending between the metal frames. The process cartridges each include a photosensitive drum extending in the left and right direction. The process cartridges are disposed between the pair of petal frames when attached to the main body casing.
In the image forming apparatus, to maintain the rigidity in the main body frame, the process cartridges are detachably attachable to the main body casing in substantially a top-bottom direction (which is a direction perpendicular to an axial direction of the photosensitive drum). In this configuration, it is difficult to detachably attach the process cartridges relative to the frame member along an axial direction of the process cartridges.


A protective device for use with a hanging planter includes a container that houses a shade. Both the container and the shade are connected to a main shaft that includes a runner. The shade is connected to the runner. When the runner is toward the top end of the container, the shade is housed by the container and is not deployed. When the runner is toward the bottom end of the container, the shade is deployed and extends outward of the container side-to-side.

This disclosure is in the field of devices and methods intended to protect plants contained in hanging baskets from certain amounts of rainfall or sunlight that may damage the plant.
Since the advent of the hanging flower basket it has become very common for the gardener to protect the plant from heavy rainfalls and scorching direct sunlight. The common way of protection is to take down the hanging flower basket and store it away during these periods. The problem with this typical solution is the burden of dropping, spilling, or dumping the plant material, finding a safe place to store the basket, and the task of re-hanging the basket back up.