Provided is a transgenic animal model for testing immunogenicity and protective efficacy of human vaccines and the method for generating such a multitransgenic animal. Also disclosed are methods for screening compositions for human vaccine development. More specifically, a mouse model capable of expressing human leukocyte antigen DR4, and human costimulatory molecules (CD80) upon infusion of human HLA-matched hematopoietic stem cells, which can develop into a functional human immune system is provided.

This invention relates to a transgenic animal model for testing immunogenicity and protective efficacy of human vaccines as well as a method for generating such a multi-transgenic animal. This invention also relates to methods for screening compositions for human vaccine development. More specifically, the present invention relates to a mouse model capable of expressing human leukocyte antigen DR4, and human costimulatory molecules (CD80) upon infusion of human HLA-matched hematopoietic stem cells, which reconstitute long-lived and functional human T and B cells.
Human vaccine research often requires in vivo analysis to test the immunogenicity, protective efficacy, and toxicity of certain vaccine candidates. However, in vivo human study is severely limited due to ethical and technical constraints. There is a growing need for an animal model to carry out in vivo studies of human cells, tissues and organs, without putting individuals at risk. Many important studies have been carried out using mice as an animal model in research of complex human biological systems. There is a growing need of "humanized mouse model" capable of reconstitute a surrogate human immune system (HIS) that can be used for studies on human immunology, which may provide a predictive preclinical model for human vaccines prior to clinical trails.
Various models of humanized mice were developed with different genetic manipulations designed to meet the needs of in vivo studies of human systems. (See Table 1). Although, the current mouse models permit long-term hematopoiesis of human B cells (2, 3). they allow poor development of functional human T cells (2-5). The current mouse models also fail to develop serum levels of human IgM and IgG comparable to that of human blood (3). This limitation has been attributed to the lack of expression of Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA) molecules in mouse lymphoid organs. Recently, humanized mice expression HLA class I molecules have been generated but shows little improvement in human T cell reconstitution and function of T and B cells (6. 11.12). Upon vaccination, infection, or transplantation, current humanized mouse models fails to elicit immune responses in the same extent as vaccinated or infected humans (2-5. 7-9). A humanized mouse model, or a mouse-human chimera, which overcome these constraints, is described in the instant application, and in Danner R. Chaudhari SN. Rosenberger J. Expression of HLA class II molecules in humanized NOD.Rag1 KO.IL2RgcKO mice is critical for development and function of human T and B cells. PLoS One. 2011:6(5):e19826, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
TABLE 1Current Humanized Mouse ModelsMutate allelePhenotypeAdvantageDisadvantageNOD-scid KONo mature T and B cellslow level of innate immunityResidual innate immunityRadiation sensitivelow NK-cell functionLow but present NK-cellDecrease innate immunityincreased engraftment ofactivityhuman HSCs and PBMCsDecrease lifespan owing tothymic lymphomasNOD-scid KO,No mature T and B cellsLong lifespanLack appropriate MHCIL2Rγ KORadiation sensitiveFurther reduction in innatemolecules for T-cell selectionIL-2Rγ-chain deficiently; noimmunityin the mouse thymushigh-affinity signalingNK cells absentSeem to lack some human-through multiple cytokineHigher level of engraftment ofspecific cytokines required forreceptors leading to manyhuman cellshuman cell development andinnate-immune defectsDevelop functional humansurvivalimmune systemLow and variable level of T-Complete absence of IL2rgcell-dependant antibodygeneresponsesNOD-Rag1 KORag1 mutation leading toRadiation resistantResidual innate immunitylack of mature T and B cellsLow but present NK-cellactivityLow and Variable level ofengraftmentNOD-Rag1 KO,Rag1 mutation leading toRadiation resistantIL2Rγ KOlack of mature T and B cellsLong lifespanIL-2Rγ-chain deficiently; noFurther reduction in innatehigh-affinity signalingimmunitythrough multiple cytokineNK cells absentreceptors leading to manyHigher level of engraftment ofinnate-immune defectshuman cellsDevelop functional humanimmune systemComplete absence of IL2rggeneNOD-scid, HLA-A2,Transgenic expression ofLong lifespanSeem to lack some human-IL2Rγ KOhuman HLA-A2Further reduction in innatespecific cytokines required forNo mature T and B cellsimmunityhuman cell development andRadiation sensitiveNK cells absentsurvivalIL-2Rγ-chain deficiently; noHigher level of engraftment ofLow and variable level of T-high-affinity signalinghuman cellscell-dependant antibodythrough multiple cytokineDevelop functional humanresponsesreceptors leading to manyimmune systeminnate-immune defectsComplete absence of IL2rggeneTransgenic expression ofhuman MHC moleculesBALB/c-Rag1 KO,Rag1 mutation leading toRadiation resistant (can surviveResidual innate immunitylack of mature T and B cellshigh dose of radiation)Low but present NK-cellactivityLow and variable level ofengraftmentBALB/c-Rag1 KO,Rag1 mutation leading toRadiation ResistantIL2Rγ KOlack of mature T and B cellsIL-2Rγ-chain deficiently; nohigh-affinity signalingthrough multiple cytokinereceptors leading to manyinnate-immune defects

The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Navy


In a ceramic heater, a resistive heating element formed from a ceramic electrically conductive material is embedded in a ceramic body. The ceramic electrically conductive material has a structure in which particles of an electrically conductive ceramic phase are dispersed in a matrix ceramic phase, and contains the ceramic electrically conductive phase in a range of from 30 to 80% by weight. When a virtual circle is drawn with a certain radius in a section of said ceramic electrically conductive material, if the percentage of the area of said electrically conductive ceramic phase particles in the virtual circle is not smaller than 60%, a region enclosed by the circle is defined as an uneven distribution portion of said electrically conductive ceramic phase particles and the maximum diameter of the uneven distribution portion is set to be not larger than 5 .mu.m.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a ceramic heater and, for example, to a ceramic heater-used in a ceramic glow plug or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a ceramic heater used in a ceramic glow plug or the like, there has been known a ceramic heater in which a ceramic resistive heating element containing WC as a main component is embedded. in an electrically insulating ceramic body containing Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 or the like as a main component.
In the aforementioned ceramic heater, because the thermal expansion coefficient of Si.sub.3 N.sub.4 constituting the ceramic body is smaller than that of WC which is a main component of the resistive heating element, concentration of stress based on the difference between the thermal expansion coefficients may occur in the resistive heating element to bring a problem in the durability of the resistive heating element when a cycle of heating and cooling is repeated.

Glow plug and heating element made of ceramic material


An acupressure belt for the treatment of lower back pain is formed of a central fabric panel to which opposed elastic panels are affixed. The elastic panels terminate in a pair of end panels which may be joined together to retain the belt about the torso of the wearer. Located on the inner surface of the central panel is a plurality of acupressure-applying protrusions, each of which are individually positionable on the panel. The protrusions are positioned to apply pressure to the L.sub.1 -L.sub.4 acupressure points associated with the lower spine. A pair of overlapping elastic panels are further affixed to the opposed sides of the control panel about the torso with the protrusions in position, whereby acupressure is generated and applied for the relief of lower back pain.

The oriental teachings of a plurality of target sites in the human body for the treatment of pain and certain ailments has been established in literature and practice for some three thousand years. These sites, some 400 in number, are located on 12 paired and 2 unpaired "meridians". The science of acupuncture, utilizing a series of thin needles inserted through the skin at such specific sites, provides a methodology for the treatment of ailments associated with the meridians. Current medical thinking suggests that the insertion of the acupuncture needles stimulates the production and release of endorphins, which serve to moderate or eliminate pain in surrounding areas.
For obvious reasons, there is a reluctance on the part of certain individuals to participate in an acupuncture regimen. In addition, the physical insertion of the needles and their manipulation requires great skill and clearly is not a therapy which can be provided by the patient himself. Related acupressure therapy, which utilizes the known acupuncture points for the application of concentrated and direct pressure on the skin surface, rather than the penetration of the skin surface by an acupuncture needle, provides an alternative therapy which can accomplish the same results in a non-invasive manner and thus may be practiced by the patient without the continued presence and supervision of an acupuncture therapist.
In order for acupressure therapy to be effective, the pressure points must be identified and contacted with precision. In addition, it may be necessary for the pressure to be applied over a continued period of time. Manual application of pressure is subject to shortcomings, especially when it is attempted by the patient himself, both because of difficulties in locating the appropriate pressure points, as well as the difficulties associated with the continuous maintenance of pressure on the points over an extended period of time.
In particular, it has been found that lower back pain of nonspecific origin may be alleviated in up to approximately 80% of the time by the application of acupressure to specific acupuncture points proximate the spine in the lower back region. Because of the location of such points, it is especially difficult for manual self-application of the necessary pressure. Further, the associated points are eight in number, thus making it cumbersome, if not impossible, for the simultaneous manual application of pressure to each of the points.
It is accordingly A purpose of the present invention to provide an acupressure device adapted to simultaneously provide pressure to spinal acupuncture points for the relief of lower back pain.
A further purpose of the present invention is to provide a device able to provide acupressure to spinal acupuncture points in a manner which facilitates continuous therapy.
Yet a further purpose of the present invention is to provide such a device which may be adjusted to accommodate person-to-person variations in the location of the pressure points.
A still further purpose of the present invention is to provide a spinal acupressure device in the form of a belt having an integral closure device which allows appropriate pressure to be placed simultaneously against the eight acupressure points of the lower spine to allow acupressure therapy to be maintained thereon over an extended period of time.


The disclosed non-limiting embodiments of the present technology are directed to methods and systems for warning in regard to cyber threats, especially methods to detect malicious web resources, in particular phishing websites, and mirrors of blocked and/or prohibited websites. The disclosed method comprises receiving, by the computer device, pointers for a plurality of web resources; extracting, by the computer device, at least some of the content elements of each web resource of the plurality of web resources. Iteratively combining, by the computer device, at least two content elements into subgroups and then iteratively combining subgroups into groups in response to a number of web resources including the at least two content elements exceeding a predefined minimum threshold of web resources for the at least one first subgroup and/or group.

Phishing is widespread among malicious web resources. It allows obtaining confidential user data in order to commit fraudulent actions.
Generally speaking, the phishing sites work as follows. A typical phishing site executes copying or imitating sites for various services, for example, banks, payment systems, online auctions, email services, and social networks in order to obtain confidential data from users voluntarily (account name, password, email, full name, passport number, credit card data, etc.). A user who is transferred to a phishing site, for example, a fake online banking service, is prompted to enter registration data and/or provide additional confidential information using various psychological techniques. For example, the user can be prompted to enter their account name and password for their online banking account, and to inform of the approximate balance in the account. This may enable the individuals with malicious intent to access the bank account (using the so-misappropriated account access data) and to steal the user's funds or take other illegal actions with the use of the obtained information.
Furthermore, it is possible to copy or imitate web resources for purposes of mischief, profiting of displaying advertisements, displaying inaccurate or prohibited information, etc., which may cause reputational harm to the owners of the original web resources that were copied or imitated. In the case of creating mirrors of prohibited or blocked web resources, users may be provided access to such resources, which may cause harm to third parties. For example, the owners of intellectual property may be harmed by the provision of access to mirror sites that distribute pirated content that was previously blocked.
Phishing sites are widespread in the area of online payment systems and banking services. Access to the targeted resources may be obtained through the devices of company employees, partners, and clients. The creators of phishing websites use various means to redirect user traffic to fraudulent pages: distributing spam, capturing traffic by interacting with the DNS server, typosquatting, etc.
According to the study entitled "Wombat Security State of the Phish 2017", in 2016 76% of organizations had been victims of a phishing attack. The total number of known phishing attacks in 2017 was over 1 million. In recent years, phishing technologies have been actively developed, the complexity of algorithms has increased, and the masking of phishing web pages has improved. It has become more difficult to identify phishing web pages, even for experienced users and the owners of web resources themselves. Modern internet security systems can identify phishing web resources, block them, and/or warn users when they are visiting suspicious web resources to caution them against entering confidential data.
Phishing distribution technologies facilitate the creation of many similar site using so-called phishing packs (Phishing pack, Phishing Toolkit), which makes it more difficult to timely detect and block them. A phishing kit is a program that simplifies the creation of phishing sites; it contains the basic templates and scripts that are necessary to create and configure multiple phishing sites and to collect user data. By adding content from the original site, or content similar thereto, scammers can quickly create many similar phishing sites, which makes it more difficult to timely detect and block them. Due to the large number of phishing websites and their similarity to original web resources, it has become time-consuming and laborious for IT security specialists to check suspicious web resources manually. Creating automated systems and methods that accelerate the process of identifying and blocking phishing web resources is an important task.
In the simplest case, phishing web resources are identified by comparing the URL address with a database of URL addresses. Methods that are more complicated may be based on analyzing the page content.
US Patent Application No. 20120158626 (published Jun. 21, 2012) describes a method for identifying and classifying malicious web resources. The method is based on applying machine learning algorithms to recognize and classify malicious web resources based on various characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,856,937 (issued Oct. 7, 2014) describes a method and system for identifying malicious web resources. This known method includes creating an update for a database containing legitimate web resources, suspicious web resources, and malicious web resources. Web resources are classified by comparing screenshots of web resources with legitimate and phishing web resources contained in the database.
In practice, known methods to identify malicious web resources automatically may incorrectly classify a web resource, for example, a legitimate web resource or a web resource associated with a legitimate website will be classified as malicious. And, vice versa, some malicious web resources may not be identified as malicious or suspicious, but may be classified as legitimate, as a result of which all similar malicious web resources will also be classified as legitimate, for example, those created by the same phishing pack may also be classified as legitimate, non-malicious web resources. To prevent such situations from arising, an expert must manually verify the web resources. Manually verifying many web resources is laborious and can lead to erroneous results due to the human factor.

Method and computer device for identifying malicious web resources


A system and method for transferring a plurality of data packets between a link layer and a transport layer is presented. The system and method provide a standardized development interface for development of link layer and transport layer drivers across multiple platforms. The abstract interface provides a standardized functional module through which multiple packet transfer commands are received and passed. The abstract interface discerns the level of sophistication of interfacing drivers and when drivers lack the capability for transferring multiple packets in a single command, the abstract interface emulates multiple transfer capabilities for such drivers.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for transferring data between a transport layer and a link layer in a computer system. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methods for transmitting bulk data partitioned into a plurality of packets between a transport layer and a link layer using a singular command therebetween.
2. The Relevant Technology
Today, computers are becoming a main staple for information exchange in the modern society. Computers, namely personal computers (PC), provide the source and termination points for a majority of information exchange. A user at a PC may input information and quickly transmit such information to another user at a destination computer in a fraction of a second. The logistics of such transfers originated from simple origins such as directly coupled or connected computers. However, today, computers are not directly coupled in a one-to-one corresponding configuration, but frequently exist in a network environment wherein multiple computers are interconnected one with another.
In computer networks wherein interconnections are not dedicated and isolated, information or data targeted for one computer must be addressed for receipt by a designated computer. Furthermore, information traveling from a source computer to a destination computer, in most networks, travels over a shared network link. To facilitate the transfer and management of significant amounts of data across communication or computer networks, the partitioning of data into useable packets has become necessary to facilitate multiusers on a shared network resource.
In addition to partitioning data into smaller components or packets, network transfer software facilitating the exchange of data between computers has also been partitioned into identifiable components. Standardized components or structures conforming to the OSI protocol model have been promulgated for many years. Although many systems do not incorporate each and every level of the OSI standardized model, the majority of network systems incorporate fundamental components of the OSI model. For example, the transport layer of the OSI model facilitates the aforementioned partitioning or packetizing of bulk data into useable, convenient packet formats for dispatching throughout the computer network. Some transport layers have become preeminently dominant in the computer networking arena. For example, TCP/IP, although taking on minor and major variations, has become a standard transport protocol for use in implementing the transport layer of the OSI model for computer networking. Additionally, IPX and NetBEUI have also become standard transport protocols in computer networks. Such transport protocols are implemented in an OSI or network protocol stack by programming a transport protocol driver capable of receiving bulk data and transforming such bulk data into packetized and formatted data capable of efficient propagation through a computer network.
FIG. 1 represents a prior art configuration of a network protocol stack or configuration 100 capable of transporting bulk data 102 between a computer and network 164. As described above, transport layer or driver 104 receives bulk data 102 and partitions bulk data 102 into packets properly sized and formatted for propagation in network 164. In FIG. 1, transport driver 104 partitions bulk data 102 into packets 106, 108 and 110 and applies formats accordingly. Generally, rather than directly transporting or forwarding data through subsequent layers or levels, pointers to the data packets are generated. Pointer 112, 114 and 116, provide accessibility to the packetized data and are individually passed to other layers as opposed to replicating or copying entire data packets upon issuance of a transfer command.
As described above, a transport driver interfaces with other software components supporting the functionality of other OSI layers. To facilitate the compatibility of various layers, an interface 120 defines a neutral specification for the development of operative layers or drivers. Transport driver 104 incorporates an interface 118 compliant with interface 120 through which packetized information may be exchanged.
A link layer device driver 124 provides link layer functionality which generally comprises preparing and presenting data in a particular form and location in preparation for transmission and reception by hardware such as physical device 130 interfaced to network 164. Similar to transport driver 104, link layer device driver 124 provides a compatible interface 128 for compliant communication therebetween.
Communication flow of bulk data 102 to network 164 will now be discussed. Transport layer 104 receives bulk data 102 from yet a higher layer in the OSI module, typically an application layer. As discussed above, transmission of bulk data 102 in raw format across network 164 is prohibitive due to several factors such as (i) interference noise present in network 164 which destroys or degrades a portion of bulk data 102, thus requiring a retransmission of the entire bulk data, (ii) the shared nature of network 164 with other computers requiring time-multiplexing, and (iii) other practicalities of successful transmission of a substantial amount of data in a single transmit session. In a modern system, bulk data 102 is partitioned into, among others, data packet 106 having a pointer 112. Transport driver 104 dispatches a send packet request 122 comprised of pointer 112 transmitted via interface 120 through send packet request 126 to link layer device driver 124. Link layer device driver 124 then issues a request 132 to physical device 130 thereby notifying physical device 130 of the presence of data packet 106 for dispatch through network 164.
Traditional network protocol stacks typically employ dedicated buffers within system resources such as RAM that are accessible both to a computer microprocessor and physical device 130. In such configurations, link layer device driver 124 upon receiving pointer 112 may copy data packet 106 into the predefined buffer known and accessible to physical device 130.
Physical device 130, upon receipt of request 132, performs an autonomous transfer of data packet 106 into network 164. Physical device 130 generally is comprised of embedded control facilitating the extraction of data packets from common memory resources. Physical device 130 in a response 134 notifies link layer device driver 124 of the completion of the transfer of data packet 106 to network 164. Response 134, although depicted as a direct communication with link layer device driver 124 is commonly carried out with physical device 130 initiating an interrupt through the microprocessor of the computer system followed by the servicing of an interrupt service routine directed to link layer device driver 124. Link layer device driver 124 issues a send packet response 136 to interface 120 which in turn reissues or simply forwards send packet response 138 to transport driver 104. The transformation of send packet response 136 to send packet response 138 depends upon the level of functionality of interface 120.
Upon receipt of send packet response 138, transport driver 104 then initiates the transfer of packet 108 and packet 110 in sequential order by employing the processes utilized by packet 106 such as initiation of send packet requests 140 and 152, and receipt of send packet response 150 and 162. It should be noted that packets individually traverse the network protocol stack before the initiation of a subsequent traversal by a subsequent data packet. Furthermore, the successful transfer of a data packet by physical device 130 to network 164 results in a specific acknowledgement or response for each packet transferred. As discussed earlier, such responses typically take the form of an interrupt to the microprocessor which causes the microprocessor to postpone its present operations in favor of servicing an individual response. It should be evident that as bulk data 102 increases in size and the number of data packets increases, the delivery of sizeable bulk data results in a significant impairment of microprocessor performance. Furthermore, modern communication networks facilitating the transfer of high bandwidth data, such as imaging data, are required to devote a significant amount of microprocessor resources to the manipulation of such data. When undesirable intermittent interruptions become pervasive, performance degrades to undesirable or intolerable levels.
It would represent an advancement over the prior art to provide a method and system for sending a plurality of data packets from a transport driver to a link layer device driver without transmitting an individual command for each data packet. It would, therefore, represent an advancement in the art to provide the ability to minimize the quantity of interruptions to the microprocessor during the transmission of bulk data to a network. It would also represent an advancement in the art to minimize the amount of handshaking carried out between layers within the OSI stack. It would yet represent an advancement in the art to provide a method and system for receiving a plurality of data packets from a network and forwarding the plurality of data packets to a transport driver without being required to issue individual transfer commands for each packet.
The foregoing problems in the prior state of the art have been successfully overcome by the present invention, which is directed to a system and method for transferring a plurality of data packets between a transport layer and a link layer device driver in a computer operating system. The current system and method can be used in virtually any computer network system. The present invention comprises both methods and systems for batching or transferring a plurality of data packets between a transport layer and a link layer in a network protocol stack of a computer system.
In the present invention, a network protocol stack comprised of a transport driver receives bulk data to transfer to a network. The transport driver, in order to facilitate orderly transfer of data through the network, packetizes and formats the bulk data into data packets. The transport driver contains a level of functionality for initiating a multi-packet transfer by generating a request including an array of pointers to the data packets. A pointer to the array of pointers is also included within the multi-packet transfer request. Additionally, a quantity of data packets indicator is included within the request and, alternatively, when a plurality of destination drivers exist, a handle or device descriptor accompanies the multi-packet request.
The transport layer subsequently issues a multi-packet or send packets request to the abstract interface which in turn evaluates the device driver handle or descriptor as specified by transport driver to determine the capabilities or sophistication of the destination link layer device driver. If the abstract interface determines that the link layer device driver is capable of a single command, multi-packet transfer, then the abstract interface issues the single command and the link layer device driver begins retrieving the plurality of data packets and placing them in data buffers accessible to the target hardware such as a network card or xe2x80x9cphysical device.xe2x80x9d The link layer device driver then starts the physical device transferring the data.
Upon the completion of the transfer of multiple packets by the physical device, a transfer response is generated to the link layer device driver which in turn issues a send complete response to the abstract interface. The abstract interface sends a send complete response to the transport driver acknowledging the completion and readiness for additional data packets. Such a transfer of a plurality of data packets in a single command minimizes interrupts to the host computer microprocessor. Each interrupt to the host microprocessor suspends the present processing of the microprocessor to attend to the present interrupt.
Alternative configurations of the present invention provide for the coupling of sophisticated drivers, that is to say drivers having enhanced functionality capable of multi-packet transfers, with less sophisticated drivers where the abstract interface mediates or facilitates the invocation of multi-packet transfer commands by emulating the multi-packet transfer, thus allowing the less sophisticated destination driver to interface with a more sophisticated transport layer driver. For example, the abstract interface upon receiving a multi-packet transfer request, evaluates the sophistication and capability of the designated device driver. If the destination driver is not capable of handling a multi-packet transfer request, individual packet transfer requests can be created by the abstract interface and issued sequentially by the abstract interface to the destination driver. Sophistication or capability information of a driver is loaded into the abstract interface upon loading the driver into the system. Inclusion of sophistication and capability information facilitates the interoperation of older or legacy drivers with more sophisticated or modern drivers as new generations of drivers become available. The present invention also facilitates receiving a plurality of packets from a network and transferring a plurality of packets to a transport layer using a single command.
The abstract interface describes an interface by which one or more device drivers may communicate with one or more transport drivers and the operating system. The abstract interface enables a transport driver to pass network packets or data packets to any one of a plurality of device drivers for transmission to the network via any one of a plurality of physical devices. The abstract interface also facilitates the reception of network packets by a device driver from any one of several underlying physical devices. In summary, the abstract interface defines a fully abstracted environment for facilitating device driver and transport driver development by including common functions such as registration and interception of hardware interrupts into abstract interface functions that may be invoked by the drivers.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a system and method in a computer operating system for transferring a plurality of data packets between a transport layer and a link layer device driver via an abstract interface.
Another primary object of the invention is to provide a system and method for transferring a plurality of received data packets from a link layer device driver to a transport driver via an abstract interface while minimizing the impact of interruptions to the host system microprocessor that occurs when individual packets are transferred.
Another important object of the present invention is to provide an abstract interface between drivers in a network protocol stack wherein the standardized development interface facilitates ease of portability and driver development. Additionally, many common functions and resource management details of drivers are incorporated into the abstract interface. The abstract interface is also capable of discerning the level of sophistication of interfacing drivers and emulating multiple transfer capabilities for drivers inherently lacking such capability.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other objects and features of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following description and the appended claims, or may be learned by practice of the invention as set forth hereinafter.

System and method for batching data between link and transport layers in a protocol stack


A switch control mechanism in a liquid boiling apparatus employs the lifting force of bubbles formed in the boiling liquid to actuate a switching system which controls the application of energy to boil the liquid.

In the field of heating water in domestic appliances a number of switch control systems are in use which include the use of temperature sensitive bimetallic strips to trigger a switch to open circuit an electrical supply to a heating element. Typically, the bimetallic strip is actuated by the temperature of steam rising from the boiling liquid which is directed to contact the bimetallic strip and thus trigger a switching mechanism.
It is also known to employ floats to trigger a switch to open circuit an electrical supply to a heating element to prevent, such as a kettle or urn, from boiling dry. The use of vibration sensors and ultrasonic wave reflection is also known in the control of apparatus for boiling water.
In contrast with these known arrangements the present invention employs the lifting force of bubbles which form in a boiling liquid to actuate a control system for applying thermal energy to the liquid.


Apparatus for influencing a cross-sectional profile of a headbox having an inner chamber and process for determining a width and position for the sections of the headbox. The apparatus includes a device for distributing fluid that extends across a machine width, at least one connection opening extending across the machine width between the fluid distribution device and the inner chamber of the headbox, and a plurality of elements being one of continuously and discretely adjustably positionable within the fluid distributing device to section the fluid distributing device across the machine width. The process includes measuring a profile of a selected characteristic of the pulp suspension in the headbox that is dependent on its position; forming intersecting points of the profile of the characteristic with a uniform sectioning of the size of the characteristic under consideration; and determining the position and width of the sections. In this regard, the width of respective sections correspond to a respective distance of the points of intersection of the profile of the characteristic with the uniform sectioning of the size of the characteristic under consideration, and the position is determined by the intermediate space between two respectively adjacent points of intersection of the profile of the characteristic with the uniform sectioning of the size of the characteristic under consideration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a headbox of a paper machine or a cardboard machine having a plurality of devices positioned across a machine width for sectionally influencing a characteristic of the pulp suspension; to an apparatus for influencing a cross-section profile of a headbox having a device transversely positioned across a machine width for distributing a fluid, at least one connecting opening transversely positioned across the machine width between the fluid distributing device and an inner chamber of the head box, and a plurality of devices that sectionally influence a pulp suspension characteristic; and to a process for determining the position and width of the sections of a headbox.
2. Discussion of Background Information
Headboxes with devices for the sectional influencing of a characteristic of the pulp suspension are generally known in the art. German Patent Application No. DE 37 41 603, for example, describes a headbox arrangement in which a diluting fluid is supplied to the headbox in a vicinity of a compensation channel located between two turbulence generators. The dilution fluid is supplied through supply points that are uniformly distributed across a width of the headbox, and the single supply amounts can be adjusted individually.
Another possibility for influencing a characteristic of the pulp suspension is discussed in German Patent Application No. DE 40 19 593. This document describes a headbox that exhibits a uniformly distributed sectioning and that enables varying of the pulp concentration sectionally and/or the pulp suspension amount per section.
Common to the headboxes described above is that the devices that cause the sectioning of the headbox are uniformly distributed across a width of the headbox and are fixed in their positions. In this manner, the headboxes of the prior art have permanently adjusted sections in which a width of individual sections is permanently defined. This embodiment of the headbox, and, in particular, the sectioning of the headbox, provides the advantage that an inexpensive manufacture of the headbox is possible and that the regulation tasks arising during the influencing of the characteristics of the pulp suspension, can be easily solved.
However, a problem of the prior art headboxes lies in that characteristic alterations of the pulp suspension, as observed across the width of the headbox, are not equally large at all points, i.e., there are regions in the headbox, e.g., the peripheral regions, in which relatively large characteristic alterations occur, while there are other regions in which only very minor characteristic alterations of the pulp suspension from the ideal condition occur. Thus, it was necessary in the prior art to keep a section width as small as possible, so that an alteration of the characteristics did not become too large across a section. This requires that the number of sections sharply increases with the desired refinement of the adjustment possibilities and likewise increases the costs of production enormously.


A photographic element comprises a silver halide emulsion layer having associated therewith a dye forming coupler and a combination of a carbonamide compound, a phenolic compound, and an electron-rich compound. Such a combination provides improved dye stability.

In a silver halide photographic element, a color image is formed when the element is exposed to light and then subjected to color development with a primary aromatic amine developer. Color development results in imagewise reduction of silver halide and production of oxidized developer. Oxidized developer reacts with one or more incorporated dye-forming couplers to form an imagewise distribution of dye. Dye-forming couplers (as well as other various photographic addenda) are typically dispersed in silver halide emulsion layers of the photographic element with the aid of coupler solvents, which are typically oily or low melting compounds.
In any polychromatic chromogenic photographic material, it is desirable that the dyes so formed should have certain properties. For instance, the dyes should be bright in color with very little secondary absorption so that good color reproducibility is obtained. The expectations include resistance to light fade and both humid and dry heat dark fade. The dyes that are formed by any color coupler during processing have a tendency to fade over time as a result of exposure to light, heat, humidity and oxygen resulting in a deterioration of the original recorded image. It is, therefore, highly desirable that the formed dyes should be more resistant towards fading by heat, humidity and light.
Techniques are known in the art for providing resistance to light fade of photographic dyes. Unfortunately, these techniques have not been completely successful resulting in the development of many unique stabilizing chemistries. Compounds which have been disclosed as light stabilizers for yellow image dyes, e.g., include substituted phenolic and blocked phenolic compounds including; heterocyclic phosphorous materials (U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,645), phenolic thiane derivatives (EP 0 310 551), substituted and blocked bisphenols (UK 1,267,287, U.S. Pat. No. 4,782,011, DE 4,307,439, DE 4,307,439, DE 4,320,828, EP 0 508 398, EP 0 538 862, U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,530, U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,021, U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,855, U.S. Pat. No. 5,441,861, U.S. Pat. No. 5,466,569, U.S. Pat. No. 5,891,613, WO 91/008,515, U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,578, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,284,742, 5,091,294, EP 0 310 552, U.S. Pat. No. 5,935,773). In addition, yellow dyes may also be stabilized against fading by light with the use of thiomorpholine dioxide compounds as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,271,U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,294, U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,665 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,312,881.
Various yellow high boiling coupler solvents have been reported to increase light stability. German patent application DE 1 96 32927 describes the use of cyclic imides, cyclic carbamates, and cyclic ureas as a means of improving the chromogenically developed color image dye stabilities. However, in particular, the amount of dye stabilization to light fade is only modest. U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,572 reports the use of a specific bis-urea compound in combination with malonamide yellow couplers. However, the bis-urea compounds were not shown to be effective for other couplers and were specifically reported to be ineffective for beta-ketoamide yellow couplers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,045,987 describes the use of amide group substituted aromatic compounds, wherein the amide groups are directly bonded to a phenyl ring, as addenda to coupler dispersions, and in particular the use of such compounds in association with magenta and cyan dye image-forming couplers. Essentially equivalent results are reported for the use of such amide group substituted phenyl compounds regardless of whether the amide group substituents comprise normal, cyclic, or branched alkyl groups. U.S. Pat. No. 6,413,707 discloses the use of urethane based coupler solvents and U.S. Pat. No. 6,555,306 describes a substituted dipiperidine compound as a yellow coupler solvent in photographic elements to improve image dye stability. Most recently, U.S. Pat. No. 6,846,620 discloses a class of bis-amide coupler solvents that is relatively low in cost and enhances the light stability and reactivity of the formed yellow dye image.
In spite of past efforts, the coupler solvents and stabilizers developed to date still do not sufficiently improve the light stability of the dye images, especially yellow dye images.

Stabilized silver halide photographic element


A garbage can having an outer can, an inner can to be contained and hung in the outer can normally closed by two half caps being opened by a lever with a pedal stepped down to open the two half caps outward with a adhesive bar thereof closing and opening an open upper end of a garbage bag adhered to the bars simultaneously, and a garbage bag roll being stored below the inner can on the bottom of the outer can supplying garbage bags one by one continuously through a slot in the bottom of the inner cap.

A commonly known garbage can shown in FIG. 1 comprises a can 1 with a elongate slot in its bottom, an extended body portion 11 under the bottom, two round projections 12, 13 respectively provided on two diametrically opposite inner walls of the extended body portion 11 for hanging a roller for a garbage bag roll 14. In using, the top end of the garbage bag roll 14 is pulled through the slot upward to place an upper open end of one garbage bag of the roll 14 to be folded around the upper round edge of the can 1. After the first bag is filled full of garbage, it is taken off the can 1, with the bottom end torn from the next one wound around the garbage bag roll 14.
However, this conventional garbage bag has undesirable features as follows.
1. A garbage bag has to be manually handled to be folded with its upper open end around an upper circumferential edge of the can every time a bag is to be replaced.
2. A punched cut line of a garbage bag is no so easy to be torn off when one bag is full and to be taken away from the can.
3. A bag pulled and placed in the can is always open without a cap, liable to attract flies and mosquitoes to fly around garbage thrown in the bag, quite insanitary.

Garbage can with garbage bags automatically deposited without manual handling


The invention relates to methods for making deoxyribofuranose compounds such as compound (2) which are useful intermediates in the preparation of pharmaceutical compounds such as 5-amino-3-(2′-O-acetyl-3′-deoxy-β-D-ribofuranosyl)-3H-thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidin-2-one and the like.

Nucleoside analogs are an important class of compounds that are useful in the treatment of disease. For example, nucleoside analogs have been used in the treatment of cancers and viral infections. After entry into a cell, nucleoside analogs are frequently phosphorylated by nucleoside salvage pathways in which the analogs are phosphorylated to the corresponding mono-, di-, and triphosphates. Among other intracellular destinations, triphosphorylated nucleoside analogs often serve as substrates for DNA or RNA polymerases and become incorporated into DNA and/or RNA. Where triphosphorylated nucleoside analogs are strong polymerase inhibitors, they may induce premature termination of a nascent nucleic acid molecule. Where triphosphorylated nucleoside analogs are incorporated into nucleic acid replicates or transcripts, gene expression or disruption of function may result.
Some nucleoside analogs may be efficacious because of their ability to inhibit adenosine kinase. Adenosine kinase catalyzes the phosphorylation of adenosine to adenosine 5′-monophosphate (AMP). Inhibition of adenosine kinase may effectively increase the extracellular level of adenosine in humans and thereby serve as a treatment of ischemic conditions such as stroke, inflammation, arthritis, seizures, and epilepsy.
The last few decades have seen significant efforts expended in exploring therapeutic uses of nucleoside analogs. For example, certain pyrimido[4,5-d]pyrimidine nucleosides are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,542 to Robins et al. as being effective in treatment against L1210 in BDF1 mice. Additionally, 3-β-D-ribofuranosylthiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidines demonstrating significant immunoactivity, including murine spleen cell proliferation and in vivo activity against Semliki Forest virus, are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,041,426 and 4,880,784 to Robins et al. A number of publications have also described non-glycosyl derivatives of the thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidine moiety. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,994,321 and 5,446,045; Revankar et al., J. HET. CHEM., 30, 1341-49 (1993); and Lewis et al., J. HET. CHEM., 32, 547-56 (1995).
3,5-Disubstituted-3H-thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidin-2-one compounds have been shown to have immunomodulatory activity. The preparation and usefulness of this class of compounds is discussed in U.S. Application Publication No. US2006/0160830 (U.S. application Ser. No. 11/304,691), and U.S. application Ser. No. 11/873,202, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Method of preparing deoxyribofuranose compounds


Provided is an augmented reality display technology capable of more entertaining a user.

The present disclosure relates to a virtual reality display device that displays a virtual model superimposed on a background image of a real world, and a recording medium storing a computer program for realizing the same.
Recently, experience-based video contents referred to as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have been attracting attention in accordance with the development of a rendering technique of computer graphics and the spread of mobile devices, such as a smart phone and a head-mounted display. VR is a technology that blocks visibility of a real space and presents only a video of a virtual space to a user wearing mainly a head-mounted display, and highly immersive video contents can be presented to the user. In contrast, AR is a technology that displays a two-dimensional model or a three-dimensional model superimposed on a background image while presenting a real space as the background image to a user of a smart phone and a head-mounted display, and highly realistic video contents in which the real space and the virtual model are mixed can be presented to the user. The present disclosure relates to especially an augmented reality (AR) technology among these experience-based video technologies.
Relating to the AR technology, a system has been disclosed, in which, for example, when a predetermined marker in a real space is photographed by a camera included in a mobile terminal, a virtual image of a character and the like corresponding to the marker is read, composed on a background image of the real space, and displayed. Example of such systems may be found in Japanese Patent Application Publication Nos. 2016-218974 and 2017-010578. A virtual character controller that controls an operation of a virtual character displayed in a display in real-time. An image of a character design printed on a garment is recognized, and a presentation image associated with the design on a photographic subject image of a person wearing the garment is superimposed, thereby generating an augmented reality image and displaying it.
An image of one virtual character is displayed on a display, and there is a problem that a way of playing and a range of expression are limited. While it is also considered to use the conventional techniques in displaying a plurality of characters in a virtual space, simple displaying of a plurality of characters provides a poor effect of attracting user interest.

Augmented reality display device and program recording medium

Abstract: An augmented reality display device 10 includes an imaging unit 13, a special effect execution unit 11b, and a display unit 14. The imaging unit 13 acquires a background image of a real world. When a plurality of models for a specific combination are present in a virtual space, the special effect execution unit 11b executes a special effect corresponding to the combination of the models. The display unit 14 displays the models together with the background image based on the special effect.


A rotating mechanism for a cosmetic case includes a slider (2) that is equipped with two studs, each of which crosses a helicoidal opening (6) of a spiral casing (3) that is pressed onto the slider (2). The studs each extend into a longitudinal port that is arranged inside an exterior sleeve (4) and that is pressed onto the spiral casing (3). The slider (2) includes two parts, namely an upper end including a cradle (13) designed to receive a cosmetic product, and an elongated cylindrical portion (14) in which the studs at its lower end are arranged.

Generally, as revealed by documents FR 2 955 469 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,252, a rotating mechanism consists of a slider equipped with studs encased inside an interior sheath that is equipped with two longitudinal ports, and which is itself encased inside an outer enclosure comprising two helicoidal grooves. The slider's studs cross the ports of the interior sheath and extend into the helicoidal grooves of the exterior casing. The rotating mechanism is connected by the outer casing to a packaging component below. The slider, which is equipped with a stick made of cosmetic product, such as a stick of lipstick or lip cream, is subjected to an axial translation movement, through the rotation of the assembly formed by the spiral casing and the upper packaging. A closing cap is pressed onto the upper end of the rotating mechanism, corresponding to the lower packaging component, so that it hermetically seals the cosmetic case made in this way.
A stick of lipstick or lip cream is, in general, cast by the bottom of the cosmetic case or molded beforehand and mounted into the slider.
The lower packaging and the mechanism are in general fitted in such a way as to require a specific assembly, which cannot be carried out by the final packager of the lipstick stick. For this purpose, the rotating mechanism is preassembled to the lower packaging component by the mechanism's distributor.
The lower packaging component comprises a filling orifice, as revealed by document U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,252, which, after the lipstick stick has been cast, is obstructed by an appropriate cover. However, an error in placement or in casting the lipstick stick, makes both the mechanism and the lower packaging component unusable, and they must then be discarded.
The upper end of the rotating mechanism in document FR 2 955 469, upon contact with the lips of the user, through which the stick of cosmetic product comes out, is beveled, and is mounted on a part that is arranged in the center of the mechanism. This part is the interior sheath inside which the slider is guided. The cylindrical profile of the interior sheath is not constant, namely, it consists of two cylindrical parts having two different diameters. In the case of an interior sheath of metallic material, the upper end of these rotating mechanisms, therefore comprise sharp-edged parts, which may irritate the lips of the user. These sharp-edged parts cannot be rounded by a stamping process.


A photovoltaic power conversion device has a top surface adapted to receive impinging radiation. The device includes at least two adjacent, serially connected cells. Each cell includes a semi-insulating substrate and a lateral conductivity layer of a first doped electrical conductivity disposed on the substrate. A base layer is disposed on the lateral conductivity layer and has the same electrical charge conductivity thereof. An emitter layer of a second doped electrical conductivity of opposite electrical charge is disposed on the base layer and forms a p-n junction therebetween. A plurality of spaced channels are formed in the emitter and base layers to expose the lateral conductivity layer at the bottoms thereof. A front contact grid is positioned on the top surface of the emitter layer of each cell. A first current collector is positioned along one outside edge of at least one first cell. A back contact grid is positioned in the channels at the top surface of the device for engagement with the lateral conductivity layer. A second current collector is positioned along at least one outside edge of at least one oppositely disposed second cell. Finally, an interdigitation mechanism is provided for serially connecting the front contact grid of one cell to the back contact grid of an adjacent cell at the top surface of the device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to monolithic series-connected solar cells and, more particularly, to interdigitated thermophotovoltaic power converters. Specifically, the present invention relates to an improved front-back interdigitated contact arrangement for use in such monolithic series-connected power converter devices.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, a semiconductor solar cell includes a plurality of p and n conductivity-type regions in a semiconductor body. These regions generate a voltage potential and/or a current when electron-hole pairs are created in the semiconductor body in response to impinging radiation on the top or emitter layer. When this occurs, the holes and electrons migrate, respectively, to p-doped and n-doped regions. Because of the typical small voltage generated for each cell, for example 0.5 to 0.8 volts open circuit for a silicon concentrator cell, such cells are serially connected to achieve higher operating voltages. In monolithic structures where the cells share a common substrate, electrical isolation as well as serial connection of the individual cells must be provided.
Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems convert radiant energy and infrared light energy from a heat source into electricity in much the same manner as a traditional solar cell converts visible light from the sun into electricity. Since the energy spectrum emitted from a heat source is dependent on the temperature of the source, and since these temperatures are generally much lower than the temperature of the sun, thermophotovoltaic converters must use semiconductors with band gaps that are much smaller than those traditionally used for solar cells. The low band-gaps of the TPV converter insures that the voltage generated by individual discrete devices is typically less than approximately 0.5 volts. Additionally, the close proximity of the converter to the radiant energy source with its high flux density, results in the generation of extremely high current densities in such converters. These high current densities combine with low voltage outputs to cause a large fraction of the generated power to be dissipated by resistance losses in the front surface metallization of the converter. Since the generated current scales with the area of the device, these parasitic power losses result in a practical upper limit for the size of an individual discrete device of around 1 cm.sup.2. Because many proposed thermophotovoltaic applications envision a relatively large area converter array, the practical considerations associated with considering such an array with 1 cm.sup.2 individual devices provide incentive for developing monolithic integrated circuits for these devices that will allow an entire wafer to be processed into a single component. Additionally, the proposed array is fabricated on a semi-insulating substrate facilitating incorporation of an effective back surface reflector, which is a necessary element of an efficient thermophotovoltaic system.
All of the current approaches to the fabrication of monolithically interconnected thermophotovoltaic converters share a common design element. They assume the active device layers are grown epitaxially on a semi-insulating substrate, commonly in InP. The purpose of the semi-insulating substrate is two-fold. First it allows for the electrical isolation of the individual discrete devices, that is isolation in individual cells on the device. Secondly, the lack of free-carriers in the substrate should facilitate the incorporation of an effective back-surface reflector. Since the front and back contact metallization is required to be located on the front or top surface of the cell due to the back surface reflector layer, the metallization utilized for such front-back contacts tends to reduce the amount of surface area available for exposure to impinging radiation. Such front-back contact structures on the top surface of the device are also applicable to general solar photovoltaic cells to permit easy mounting of such cells into a device. Heretofore, a number of monolithic solar cell configurations having front-back contact arrangements have been designed. Some examples of such devices are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,865,999 and No. 4,933,021. Typical solar cell configuration includes contacts disposed on the back surface of the cell without a back surface reflector layer such as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,952. To date, front-back contact arrangements for photovoltaic converters have provided inadequate performance for high current operation especially when utilizing devices having lattice-mismatched compositions due to series resistance losses from the contact structure. Consequently, there is still a need for a photovoltaic power conversation device which includes an interdigitated front-back contact arrangement that provides high efficiencies and low series resistance in the cell.

Interdigitated photovoltaic power conversion device


Seal failures on organically sealed multipane insulating window units are decreased if an opaque light barrier is applied directly to the outside surface of the outer glazing sheet. This barrier should be wide enough to prevent impingement on the seal of direct light and internally reflected light.

In recent years, there has been increasing demand for high performance insulating windows. These windows typically include two or more sheets of rigid, transparent glazing material and may also include one or more sheets of nonrigid transparent material all held in parallel alignment to one another by an edge-seal system. This edge-seal may include spacer frame elements to position the glazing sheets relative to one another and a sealant to prevent moisture from entering and condensing in the voids between the glazing sheets.
A basic double glazing unit of the art is shown in FIG. 5 to include glazing sheets 12 and 14 (typically glass), and spacer 24 with a layer of adhesive 28 sealing the perimeter of the unit to keep out moisture which otherwise would condense on the internal surfaces of the glazing sheets.
A more advanced multipane glazing unit of the art is shown in FIG. 6. In this unit, glass sheets 12 and 14 and plastic film 16 make up three parallel glazing surfaces and define air or gas spaces 18 and 22. Sheets 12 and 14 and film 16 are spaced from one another by spacers 24 and 26 and the edge of the unit is sealed with adhesive 28. Typically, in both cases this sealant 28 is an elastomeric adhesive material which adheres to the sheets of glazing and helps to join then to the spacers. As the performance of these windows has improved, they have been employed in applications of ever-increasing harshness.
In these harsher environments, these windows often fail prematurely. Impact of sunlight on the sealant/adhesive (such as the impact of Rays R.sub.o and/or R.sub.1 28 in the prior art drawings) can have the effect of cross-linking and hardening the sealant. This can lead to embrittlement and a breakdown in the bond of the sealant to the glass panes and other components. One approach to solving this problem has been to use silicone materials as adhesive sealants. Silicones are quite resistant to light-induced cross-linking and hardening but have the serious failing that they are very readily permeated by water vapor. This leads to moisture condensing and collecting within the window structure. The solution to this moisture problem is to employ a two layer-two material seal system. The application of the seal systems is time consuming, labor intensive, and high priced.
Alternatively, especially when using organic sealants such as polyurethanes and polysulfides, this problem has been avoided here-to-fore at least in part by encasing the edge of the units in a mullion cap. Such a cap 32 is held in place by foam adhesives 34 and 36 in the prior art FIG. 6. These caps have been used for their architectural and fabrication properties but have also shielded the sealant/adhesive from the direct rays of the sun such as ray R.sub.o shown in the two prior art figures which is seen entering the sealant in FIG. 5.
The use of mullion caps does to some extent protect the adhesive/sealant, but certain practical problems prevent these from being completely effective in many applications. The caps are easily dislodged and forced out of alignment, they often do not fit flush to the outside of the glass and they can lend themselves to poor alignment due to installation error or poor engineering design. See, for example, the gap shown in the prior art figure.
The use of mullion caps has helped but has had problems. The caps are expensive, they are easily dislodged and forced out of alignment and also, they often do not fit flush to the outside of the glass. See, for example, the gap shown in the prior art figure. Typically, this gap was not considered to be a problem. Recently, however, increasing failure rates have been noted for seals in windows as shown in this figure. In addition, these mullion caps primarily serve to block direct incident exposure (rays R.sub.o and R.sub.1) and do not take into account that there is substantial amounts of light reaching the sealant through internal reflection within the outer glazing sheet itself. Such light as shown as rays R.sub.3 and R.sub.5 in FIG. B.

Window construction with UV protecting treatment


A rotary shaft is provided so as to be coaxial with an inner member which comprises a hub ring and a bearing inner ring. External gears are rotatably provided around eccentric portions formed on the rotary shaft. The external gears mesh with internal teeth formed on the inner periphery of a casing. When the rotary shaft rotates, the external gears mesh with the internal teeth one after another, so that their centers rotate about the axis of the rotary shaft. When the rotary shaft rotates once, the external gears rotate about their own axes by an amount corresponding to the difference in number between the external teeth and the internal teeth. The rotation of the external gears about their axes is transmitted through a torque transmission to the inner member, thereby rotating the inner member at a reduced speed.

Conventional power transmission devices for transmitting power to vehicle wheels are disclosed in JP Patent Publication 2005-7914A and JP Patent Publication 5-332401A. The one disclosed in JP Patent Publication 2005-7914A, which is an in-wheel motor driving unit, comprises an electric motor for generating a driving force, a wheel shaft to which the body of a wheel is connected, and a speed reducer for reducing and transmitting the rotation of the electric motor to the wheel shaft. The speed reducer is a gear speed reducer with parallel shafts in which a plurality of gears having different numbers of teeth are combined.
JP Patent Publication 5-332401A discloses a speed reducer for use in an electric vehicle, which includes planetary gear speed reducer units provided in two stages between the rotor of an electric motor and wheel hubs. The output of the second-stage planetary gear speed reducer unit is distributed to right and left wheels under springs.
Because the in-wheel motor driving unit disclosed in JP Patent Publication 2005-7914A eliminates the necessity for large-sized power transmission mechanisms such as propeller shafts and differentials are not necessary, use of such driving units can reduce the weight and size of the vehicle. But the reduction ratio provided by the gear speed reducer with parallel shafts is only about 1/2 to 1/3, which is insufficient as a speed reducer mounted in an in-wheel motor driving unit. Also, because such a speed reducer is heavyweight, the use of such speed reducers adds to the weight of the vehicle under the springs, thereby deteriorating the drive feel. Thus, this in-wheel motor driving unit is not yet put to practical use.
Although the planetary gear speed reducer units of the speed reducer for an electric vehicle disclosed in JP Patent Publication 5-332401A provide a higher reduction ratio than gear speed reducers with parallel shafts, their reduction ratio is still insufficient for use in an in-wheel motor driving unit. In order to obtain a sufficiently high reduction ratio, planetary gear speed reducing units, which each comprise a sun gear, a ring gear, pinion gears and a carrier for the pinion gears, have to be provided in many stages. This increases the number of parts of the speed reducer and makes it difficult to provide a compact speed reducer. That is, such a speed reducer tends to be heavyweight and large in size.


A method for use in a handwriting recognition system, and apparatus for accomplishing the method, that generates a User set of prototype symbols. The method includes the steps of (a) inputting one or more strokes for representing a predetermined symbol; and (b) comparing characteristics of the inputted strokes to stroke characteristics associated with one or more predetermined Starter prototype symbols. If the stroke characteristics match to within a predetermined threshold, the method further includes a step of (c) averaging the characteristics of the inputted stroke or strokes with the characteristics of a corresponding one or ones of the strokes of the matching one of the Starter prototype symbols to form a User prototype symbol. Further steps include (d) storing the User prototype symbol for subsequent use; and (e) deleting one or more Starter prototype symbols of the same label as the input symbol. If the stroke characteristics do not match, the method further includes the steps of (f) storing the characteristics of the one or more inputted strokes as the User prototype symbol for subsequent use; and (g) deleting the one or more Starter prototype symbols. A counter is maintained and deletes the Starter set only after a predetermined number of instances of the symbol have been entered by the user.

Symbols formed by handwriting, when traced on an electronic tablet, are represented by sequences of x-y coordinate pairs. A fundamental unit of handwriting is the stroke. A stroke is considered as a sequence of points, represented by their respective x-y coordinates. As employed herein a stroke is considered to be the writing that occurs from a pen-down to a pen-up condition of a handwriting input device. Symbols, such as letters of the alphabet and numbers, are assemblages of such strokes.
Many on-line, handwriting recognition systems employ curve matching methods to match an unknown character against prototype, or template, characters. Examples of such systems are described in the following articles: W. Doster and R. Oed, "Word processing with on-line script recognition", IEEE Micro, Vol. 4, pp. 36-43, October 1984; K. Ikeda, T. Yamamura, Y. Mitamura, S. Fujiwara, Y. Tominaga, and T. Kiyono, "On-line recognition of handwritten characters utilizing positional and stroke vector sequences", Proc. 4th Int. Jt. Conf. Pattern Recognition, pp. 813-815, November 1978; C. C. Tappert, "Adaptive on-line handwriting recognition", Proc. 7th Int. Conf. Pattern Recognition, pp. 1004-1007, 1984; C. C. Tappert, "Speed, accuracy, flexibility trade-offs in on-line character recognition", IBM Research Report RC 13228, October 1987; and T. Wakahara and M. Umeda, "Stroke-number and stroke-order free on-line character recognition by selective stroke linkage method", Proc. 4th ICTP, pp. 157-162, 1983. In general, the recognition accuracy of such prototype-based handwriting recognition systems is a function of the quality of the prototypes.
Many online, handwriting recognition systems use elastic curve matching to match an unknown character against prototype (template) characters. Examples of such systems are described in the following articles: T. Fujisaki, T. E. Chefalas, J. Kim, and C. C. Tappert, "Online recognizer for runon handprinted characters", Proc. 10th Int. Conf. Pattern Recognition, pp. 450-454, June 1990; K. Ikeda, T. Yamamura, Y. Mitamura, S. Fujiwara, Y. Tominaga, and T. Kiyono, "Online recognition of handwritten characters utilizing positional and stroke vector sequences", Proc. 4th Int. Conf. Pattern Recognition, pp. 813-815, November 1978; C. C. Tappert, "Adaptive online handwriting recognition", Proc. 7th Int. Conf. Pattern Recognition, pp. 1004-1007, 1984. Such systems usually represent each way of writing a character by a single prototype that usually is one writing of the character. This minimizes the number of prototypes and therefore the computation time for matching. The recognition system of T. Fujisaki et al, above, collects original character prototypes from a user's writing samples through a training scenario. Averaged prototypes are formed by averaging original character prototypes of the same label and shape (within a match threshold). For example, similarly-shaped A's are averaged to yield an averaged A prototype.
An article by T. E. Chefalas and C. C. Tappert, "Improved prototype establishment in a handwriting recognition system", IBM Tech. Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 33, p. 420, January 1991 describes global and incremental averaging techniques for online handwriting recognition.
An article by J. M. Kurtzberg and C. C. Tappert, "Symbol Recognition System By Elastic Matching" IBM Tech. Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 24, No. 6, pp. 2897-2902, November 1981, describes a technique for utilizing elastic matching to recognize symbols.
An article by C. C. Tappert, "Cursive Script Recognition System By Elastic Matching", IBM Tech. Disclosure Bulletin, Vol. 24, No. 11A, pp. 5404-5407 describes a technique for utilizing elastic matching to recognize cursive script.
An important consideration is a total number of prototypes in a prototype set. As can be appreciated, the larger the number of prototypes, the greater is the amount of time required to examine the prototype set to identify those that most nearly match an input assemblage of strokes. In general, the speed of recognition is inversely proportional to the number of prototypes in the prototype set. Also, the larger the number of prototypes the greater is the amount of memory required to store the set. A reduction in processing time and memory requirements is an important consideration in many applications, particularly in portable, battery operated handwriting input devices and/or in portable computers that employ a handwriting user interface.
A further consideration is the ease and accuracy of a transition from a system-supplied, generic set of starter symbol prototypes to a more accurate set of working prototypes that are customized, during a training session, to the handwriting characteristics of a particular user. The set of starter symbol prototypes may be designed by experts in handwriting recognition and is, by definition, robust and free of aberrant symbols (mavericks). The set of starter symbols often contains a number of possible representations of each symbol. By example, three different prototypes of the uppercase letter "A" may be provided so as to cover the case of an "A" printed with one continuous stroke, with two strokes, or with three strokes. Other forms of the letter "A" prototype may also be provided to cover different variations in stroke order and direction. As can be realized, if a given user consistently forms the letter "A" with three stokes, and consistently uses the same stroke order and direction, then the alternate "A" symbol starter prototypes are superfluous.
It is thus an object of this invention to provide methods for accurately evolving from a starter set of symbol prototypes to a working set of user-specific symbol prototypes.
It is another object of the invention to provide methods for automatically replacing a set of starter symbol prototypes with user symbol prototypes through a training operation, wherein an identity of input characters is known beforehand.
It is a further object of the invention to provide methods for accurately evolving from a starter set of symbol prototypes to a working set of user-specific symbol prototypes, and to also eliminate starter symbol prototypes from the set of working prototypes so as to reduce a total number of prototypes in the prototype set.

Methods and apparatus for evolving a starter set of handwriting prototypes into a user-specific set

International Business Machines Corporation


A packaging machine and method for filling bags with a supporting structure to which at least one filling box is fastened which includes a conveyor element and to which a weighing device and a filling spout are assigned. A control device is provided. The filling box is retained non-communicating with the supporting structure and the assigned filling box and is weighed separately by the assigned weighing device to discharge from the filling box a predefined quantity of intended fill product by way of differential weighing and to fill it into the bag through the filling spout. The control device controls the strength of a volume flow into the bag over the time of the filling process so that the intended fill product is maintained at a high fill height while overflow is simultaneously prevented.

The present invention relates to a packaging machine and a method for filling bags. The packaging machine according to the invention may be provided for bagging all kinds of bulk goods. This kind of system is particularly preferred for bagging fine-grain products, i.e. for bagging fine and dusty products requiring lengthy filling and in particular compacting times.
A great variety of packaging machines for filling open-mouth bags have been disclosed in the prior art. For example so-called FFS packaging machines ("Form Fill Seal packaging machines") tend to be used for efficiently filling bulk materials into open-mouth bags. In these FFS packaging systems the open-mouth bag is manufactured on the machine or in an immediately preceding device. The machine has a roll of tubular sheet assigned to it from which open-mouth bags are continuously manufactured during operation as required. A considerable advantage of these FFS packaging machines is that the open-mouth bags can be manufactured in the actually required lengths. There is no need to use prefabricated bags which are also more expensive.
FFS packaging machines process open-mouth bags of plastic sheets which may be waterproof. This is why open-mouth bags filled with hygroscopic materials—such as cement—are suitable for open-air storage after closing since their contents are reliably protected from moisture.
The drawback of known packaging machines for filling open-mouth bags is their limited filling capacity in particular when bagging dusty, fine-grain products since these products must as a rule be compacted to provide a firm package containing the smallest possible amount of air. Trapped air moreover reduces the stacking capability.
Rotary packaging machines in indexed operation can basically ensure increased filling rates since e.g. in one position up to e.g. 90% of the intended fill quantity is filled in high speed while in the next angular position the remaining quantity is filled in slow speed. In the subsequent angular position the product in the bag can be compacted further and deaerated. The following step provides for discharge and then for the appending of another open-mouth bag.
In the case of a packaging machine provided for gross weighing the bag appended to the filling spout must be continuously weighed during the filling process. Filling is stopped as the target weight has been reached. The drawback of this is that vibrating devices for compacting the filled product do not only act on the bag but the vibrations are also transmitted directly to the scales so that incorrect weights may be measured. Therefore the vibrating device is switched off during filling. This alternating weighing and vibrating, however, reduces the filling rate.
Another option is filling by way of a differential weighing device. Such a system has been disclosed e.g. in DF 10 2008 043 545 A1. Therein the filling rate is increased by employing a bagging carousel having two differential weighing devices for high seed filling and a differential weighing device for low speed filling. However, despite the three differential weighing devices, the filling rate is still rather low. This system shows another drawback in that in the worst-case scenario, any inaccuracies of all three of the differential weighing devices used may add up so that it is difficult to ensure precise weighing. Moreover in the case of e.g. poorly flowing bulk goods, caking may occur within the product path. When part of the intended fill cakes at the wall then the currently processed container will be underweight. When caking detaches at a later time then a following container will show some overweight.

Packaging machine and method for filling bags


A twin-substrate wireless electronic module includes a main substrate, a plurality of integrated circuit chips, a frame substrate, a filter, and a shield member. The main substrate has a first surface and a second surface, and is formed with a notch that extends from the first surface through the second surface. The integrated circuit chips are surface-mounted on the first and second surfaces of the main substrate. One of the integrated circuit chips disposed on the first surface is a transceiver integrated circuit chip. The frame substrate has a first frame surface and a second frame surface. The first frame surface has a filter-mounting area aligned with the notch. The filter is surface-mounted on the filter-mounting area and is accommodated in the notch. A method for manufacturing the twin-substrate wireless electronic module is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electronic module, more particularly to a twin-substrate wireless electronic module suitable for application to wireless transmission devices and to a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In commonly assigned co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/111,938, there is disclosed a miniaturized multi-chip module suitable for application to wireless transmission devices. The multi-chip module includes a substrate, integrated circuit chips mounted on and connected electrically to the substrate, and an interposer mounted on one surface of the substrate. The interposer cooperates with the substrate to confine a receiving space for receiving the integrated circuit chips on the surface of, the substrate to which the interposer is attached, and is provided with conductors that are connected electrically to the substrate. Therefore, when the interposer is mounted on a circuit board, the conductors serve as external electrical connections for the integrated circuit chips. A method for manufacturing the miniaturized multi-chip module is also disclosed therein.

Twin-substrate wireless electronic module and method for making the same

Universal Scientific Industrial Co., Ltd.


A wafer treating method includes the steps of irradiating a wafer, provided with devices on the face side, from the back side with a laser beam capable of being transmitted through the wafer, while converging the laser beam to a predetermined depth, so as to form a denatured layer between the face side and the back side of the wafer, and separating the wafer into a back-side wafer on the back side relative to the denatured layer and a face-side wafer on the face side relative to the denatured layer. The denatured layer remaining in the face-side wafer is removed, and the face-side wafer is finished to a predetermined thickness, whereby the devices constituting the face-side wafer are finished into products, and the back-side wafer is recycled.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a water treating method including irradiating a water with a laser beam so as to form a denatured layer in the inside of the water, and thereby to separate the wafer into a back-side wafer and a face-side wafer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Devices such as ICs and LSIs utilized for various electronic apparatuses are manufactured by slicing a semiconductor ingot such as a silicon ingot to form wafers each of which serves as a base for the devices, grinding both sides of the wafer and polishing a surface of the wafer to mirror finish the surface, and fabricating circuits at the mirror-finished surface (refer to, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2006-100786 and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2005-317846).
In the process of manufacturing the devices starting from the semiconductor ingot, however, most part of the semiconductor is discarded, which is extremely uneconomical. Specifically, it is known that let the volume of the semiconductor ingot be 100%, then the volume discarded during the step of slicing the semiconductor ingot to form wafers used as bases is 20%, the volume discarded during the step of mirror finishing the surface of the wafers is 20%, the volume discarded during the process in which the back side of the wafer provided with devices is ground to thin the wafer is 55%, and the volume discarded during the step of dicing the wafer into the individual devices is 1%. Thus, 96% of the silicon ingot is discarded, as is known.


A table containing correspondence between “n” and “m” is set in a control circuit of a servo control system so that the current command data in the m-th (m=1, 2, 3 . . . ) current command register is assigned to the n-th (n=1, 2, 3 . . . ) servo amplifier. When data is specified in this table to satisfy “n=m”, the current command data in the n-th current command register is passed to the n-th servo amplifier. When “m=1” is set for “n=1” and “m=1” is set for “n=2” in this table, the current command data stored in the first current command register is passed to the first and second servo amplifiers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a servo motor control system that has, in a controller, a serial bus control circuit having a function of sending a current command in a plurality of different control modes to servo amplifiers for driving a servo motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Driving and controlling a large-capacity motor requires a large-capacity inverter unit. However, acquisition of a large-capacity inverter unit is difficult because of constraints introduced by its components. Accordingly, a plurality of small-capacity inverter units are connected in parallel to obtain a large capacity required to drive and control a large-capacity motor.
When a motor control unit supplies a motor driving command to each of the plurality of small-capacity inverter units connected to drive the motor, the motor control unit needs to generate as many motor driving commands as the inverter units. In this case, a plurality of motor driving command generation units are exclusively used to drive a motor. As a result, when the motor control unit drives another motor in addition to the above one, a certain number of motor driving command generation units for driving the other motor are further required, thereby limiting the total number of motors that can be driven.
A motor control system that controls a plurality of inverter units using one motor driving command from a motor control unit and thereby drives one large-capacity motor is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-86918. This motor control system will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B.
A motor driving command, which is created by a motor control unit 20 and sent through a serial bus 24 from the motor control unit 20, is supplied through a relay unit 21 to a plurality of inverter units 22a to 22d in parallel. Each of the plurality of inverter units 22a to 22d is controlled by the same (common) motor driving command and drives a motor 23. As described above, the motor control unit 20 can control the plurality of inverter units 22a to 22d using only one motor driving command generation unit. Accordingly, when the motor control unit 20 drives one or more other motors in addition to the motor 23 above, it is enough to add one or more motor driving command generation units and the addition is not so difficult.
The relay unit 21 in FIG. 7A has a receiver circuit 21a, a setting circuit 21b, a computation circuit 21c, and a plurality of driver circuits 21d1 to 21dn as shown in detail in FIG. 7B. The plurality of driver circuits 21d1 to 21dn correspond to the plurality of inverter units 22a to 22d, respectively. The motor driving command (torque command) output as parallel data from the motor control unit 20 is received by the receiver circuit 21a of the relay unit 21 and input to the computation circuit 21c. The computation circuit 21c generates the motor driving command for the plurality of inverter units 22a to 22d. The generated motor driving command is simultaneously output as parallel data from the computation circuit 21c to the plurality of inverter units 22a to 22d through the plurality of driver circuits 21d1 to 21dn.
The motor control system in FIG. 7A has the relay unit 21 (see FIG. 7B) on the serial bus 24 that connects the motor control unit 20 and the motor 23. Therefore, a unit for controlling the motor 23 becomes complicated, making downsizing difficult. In addition, a command signal for the motor 23 is received by the relay unit 21 as serial data and, based on the received data, the command signal for the motor 23 is created, so response delay is caused.


A communication cable comprising an outer sheath layer and at least one pipe through which an optical fiber unit is laid by means of a compressed gas, the outer sheath layer comprising a high-melting and flame-retardant resin and having on the inside thereof an inorganic fiber layer. The communication cable has excellent flame retardance.

As a method for laying an optical fiber cable, a pressurized gas carriage system has been proposed in which an optical fiber unit composed of a single optical fiber or plural optical fibers is carried in a pipe made of synthetic resins, etc. by use of compressed air, etc. as disclosed in JP-A-59-104607 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"). According to this cable laying system, parts of a pipe cable other than an optical fiber unit are produced in a factory and laid on buildings, etc., and an optical fiber unit is then laid to complete a communication cable in the final stage of construction.
In this system, optical fibers receive no outer force, such as tension, the optical fibers are not damages upon laying. Further, since the optical fiber unit is carried through a previously laid pipe by utilizing a compressed fluid, it can thread its way even on a complicated route. Furthermore, since optical fiber units can be exchanged or added after construction, maintenance of communication equipment is easy and the cost of cable laying is reduced.
On the other hand, with the recent rise of height of buildings, demands for communication cables to have flame spread resistance or surviving properties on fire have increased as pointed in Proceedings of The 1989th International Wire and Cable Symposium, pp. 301-305.
Hence, the inventors of the present invention previously proposed a flame-retardant pipe cable as described in JP-A-2-114219. The structure of the proposed pipe cable is shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b), in which six pipes 11 each containing an optical fiber unit and high tensile body 12 are jacketed by outer sheath layer 10 comprising flame-retardant polyethylene, and thereby the pipe cable has improved flame retardance. Each pipe has a double-layered structure composed of flame-retardant polyethylene outer layer 13 and crosslinked polyethylene inner layer 14 as illustrated in FIG. 2(b).
However, even with such a structure, melting of the resins is hardly avoidable when heat above a certain level is applied for a long time, and outer sheath layer 10 and flame-retardant polyethylene layer 13 melt and run to cause the optical fiber units laid in the pipes to be exposed to heat and air and broken by combustion. Therefore, the conventional pipe cables are still insufficient in survivability on fire as communication cables.


A communication device that promotes an augmented reality voice call is disclosed. The communication device comprises a processor, a memory, and an application stored in the memory that, when executed by the processor, identifies a calling party or called party of a voice call of the communication device, downloads an avatar, wherein the avatar is a graphical representation associated with the calling party or called party; the application creates an image combining the avatar and a graphical representation of a living environment selected by the user of the communication device, and presents the image on a display of the communication device during the voice call.

Voice call via a communication device allows users to engage with one another via a communication device using only voice so long as there is a signal from a network to allow for a voice call. Video call via a communication device allows users to engage with one another whilst seeing a live image of the other user. Video call via a communication device may be subject to certain limitations such as high bandwidth usage or the requirement that a Wi-Fi connection be present in order to make a video call.


A check valve which is positioned in the vacuum air line of an internal combustion engine. The check valve includes a single-piece valve body having an outlet port and two or more inlet ports, with one outlet port located substantially in line with the inlet port and connected by a venturi tube. The second inlet port is separated from the main air flow line by the valve stem and a diaphragm which allows communication there between and prevents back pressure. The second inlet port communicates with the outlet port through the valve stem and a second venturi tube which provides a vacuum boost to a device, usually vehicle brakes, connected to the inlet.

Internal combustion engines have long employed air flow conduits to provide vacuum assist for automobile subsystems, such as brakes, automatic transmissions and others. These systems often employed chick valves located along the air flow conduit to prevent subsystem back pressure from reaching the engine. A typical check valve of this sort is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,889,710.
Prior check valves employed either a continuous diameter airway or employed multiple valves and hoses to create a venturi effect and act as a vacuum booster for the subsystem to which it was associated. Space limitations in the automobile engine compartment all but preclude the use of multiple valve-hose system, while the prior art continuous diameter airways did not provide the increased power boost desired to implement the brakes or other subsystem.