Pharmaceutical formulation in the form of a gel suitable for the transdermal administration of an active agent of the class of estrogens or of progestin class or of a mixture of both, comprising:. as permeation enhancers of the above said active agents a combination consisting substantially of an aliphatic alcohol having general formula CH3(CH2)nCH20H wherein n=8-16 and of a monoalkylether of diethylene glycol; PA1 as a vehicle or carrier, a combination of an alkanol of 2.div.4 C atoms, a glycol and water; PA1 as gelling agent a polymer or copolymer of acrylic acid; PA1 a tertiary amine as a thickening and neutralizing agent.

While there are many patents and publications available which relate to the transdermal administration of steroid drugs, and the use of penetration enhancer, the applicant is unaware of any prior art which relates to the enhancer and vehicle composition of a semisolid dosage form disclosed herein and to use such composition in the transdermal administration of estrogen, progestin or a mixture thereof.
The present invention relates to a novel composition based on enhancers combination in a vehicle composite for transdermal administration of steroid hormones alone or mixture thereof. A formulation that provides therapeutically useful concentrations of steroid hormones such as estradiol and norethindrone for hormone replacement therapy.
When the ovaries do not function properly due to age i.e. menopause or disease or have been removed, the consequent lack of endogenous estradiol may produce a number of symptoms, such as hot flushes, pain and increased hypocalcemia which may eventually lead to osteoporosis.
One possibility of avoiding or alleviating these symptoms is by hormone replacement therapy i.e. by prescribing a compensatory doses of estrogen to the patient.
The serum levels of estradiol required for clinical efficacy have been reviewed by Powers between 40-60 pg/ml. This range of values are the physiologic serum levels of the premenopausal women during the early follicular phase.
Various methods or dosage forms are in use or have been proposed for the estradiol replacement therapy e.g. tablets, injectable, implants and transdermal devices (patches or gel) etc.
Oral therapy, using tablets is well accepted by the patient. However estradiol is rapidly metabolized during the liver first pass inactivation generating estrone. Thus, a high dose of estradiol is necessary to achieve clinical appropriate estradiol serum levels and as a consequence, high estrone serum levels are produced above physiological values. Absorption via the gastrointestinal tract results in enhanced delivery of the circulating estrogen to the liver, where much of it is metabolized to inactive conjugates, and only a fraction of the active hormone enter general circulation. The liver responds to this enhanced delivery with increased protein and lipid metabolism, and these activities may carry potential risks.
Examples of these changes include enhanced hepatic synthesis of renin substrates, sex hormone-binding globulin, and changes in cholesterol and lipid lipoprotein metabolism.
The use of parenteral injections and implants or pellets while avoiding the first pass metabolization is much less convenient for the patient, then these dosage forms are not popular.
The estradiol transdermal administration is the cutaneous delivery device which delivers estradiol into the systemic circulation via the stratum corneum at a constant rate. Clinical studies shows beneficial effects of transdermal estradiol on plasma. Gonadotrophins, maturation of the vaginal epithelium, metabolic parameters of bone resorption and menopausal symptoms (hot flushes, sleep disturbance, genitourinary discomfort and mood attention) appear to be comparable to those of oral and subcutaneous estrogens, while the undesirable effects of oral estrogen on hepatic metabolism are avoided (Balfour 1990).
The physicians normally prescribe a progestin combining estrogen to postmenopausal women who have not undergone hysterectomy. Unopposed estrogen cause endometrial hyperstimulation, which lead to irregular vaginal bleeding, endometrial hyperplasia and cancer. Only progestin addition can protect the endometrium while maintaining the beneficial effects of estrogen on symptoms and the skeleton. According to the literature, the transdermal dose of norethindrone acetate required to oppose estrogen hyperstimulation of the endometrium is about 200-300 mcg/day (Whitehead 1990).
Transdermal estradiol must be administered continuously or in 28 day cycle, consisting of three weeks treatment followed by a one week treatment free interval (during which vaginal bleeding may occur). Continuous therapy may be particularly suitable for women who have undergone hysterectomy or those symptoms of estrogen deficiency occur during free intervals.
Additional progestin treatment should be taken by patients with an intact uterus for 10 to 15 consecutive days of each month. Withdrawal bleeding will usually occur at the end of each phase of progestin therapy whether estrogen treatment is cyclical or continuous.
Continuous/combined therapy (continuous estrogen with continuous progestin) has the advantage of not causing withdrawal bleeding.
Transdermal administration of drugs offers several therapeutic and compliance advantages over the more traditional routes of administration. A major drawback of this therapy however, is the limitation of the amount of drug that can be transported across the skin. This limitation is due to several factors. Since the skin is a protective barrier by nature, the rates of transport of most compounds through the skin is quite slow. It is generally accepted that a surface of patch beyond 50-100 sqcm would result in difficulty of application. Therefore the application of a transdermal semisolid dosage form such as a gel, cream, ointment, liquid, etc., augment the patient's compliance and the surface of application can be extended.
In order to overcome the barrier properties of the stratum corneum and facilitate the percutaneous absorption of the active agent, many compounds are described as penetration enhancer, such as, azone, glycol, pyrrolidone, fatty alcohol, fatty acid and ester thereof, etc., mentioned by M.o slashed.llgaard in "Pharmaceutical Skin Penetration Enhancement", Marcel Dekker, New York 1993, pages 229-242.
EPA 0 367 431 discloses that aliphatic alcohols such as isopropyl alcohol and isobutyl alcohol that are commonly used in topical transdermal formulation thus, enhance the rate of transdermal delivery of steroid drugs.
EP 0 573 133 claims a transdermal device which contains gestodem in combination with one or more estrogens. It is also described the addition of transdermal penetration enhancers.
FR 2 518 879 claims a medicament based of estradiol for postmenopausal treatment. This simple medicament is an hydroalcoholic gel where estradiol is dissolved in the above mentioned vehicles and is appointed to administer estradiol by transdermal route.
EPA 0 279 977 describes a transdermal device for administering progesterone and an estradiol ester alone or in combination, utilizing a polymer matrix which has the drug(s) with a penetration enhancer such as sucrose monococoate, glycerol monooleate, sucrose monolaurate, glycerol mnolaureate, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,084 claims a transdermal estrogen/progestin device comprising a polymeric layer made from polymer adhesive such as polyacrylic, silicone or other suitable polymer adhesives and decyl alcohol as penetration enhancer.
GB 2 208 147 A discloses a transdermal reservoir type with controlled membrane for the administration of estrogen and progestin, containing ethanol as an agent that enhances the percutaneous absorption.
WO 90/11 064 discloses a skin penetration enhancer composition for estrogen and progestin or a mixture thereof. The composition contains diethylene glycol monoethyl or monomethyl ether in addition to propylene glycol monolaurate, methyl laurate or the like.
None of the above mentioned inventions or publications report a study of lauryl alcohol together with diethylene glycol monoethyl ether in a ternary vehicle composite in a semisolid dosage form, designed to administer estradiol and norethindrone acetate simultaneously by the transdermal route.
One object of the present invention is to obtain a transdermal formulation that could deliver, at controlled rates, both an estrogen and progestin combined with appropriate permeation enhancers. This is very important since it is well known that transdermal permeability is mainly influenced by both physicochemical properties of the permeants and by the interaction of the permeants with the enhancers. Therefore a given enhancer could prove to be very adequate for an hormone and simultaneously would not increase the permeability of the other hormone. This is well illustrated by Chien, in its chapter on "Development Concepts and Practice in Transdermal Therapeutic Systems" in Transdermal Therapeutic Systemic Medications, Marcel Dekker Inc., New York, 1987, pages 25-81, who state that a penetration enhancer increases the permeation of different compound to different degree.
There has not been known an enhancer or combination thereof which shows the transdermal penetration enhancement effect for any active agent or drug. As an example we can quote results of this author as therein below indicated:
______________________________________ Enhancement of Skin Permeability of Various Drugs by Different Types of Enhancer Enhancement factor.sup.a Propyl Propyl Decylmethyl Drugs myristate oleate Azone sulfoxide ______________________________________ Progesterone 4.56 5.36 5.96 11.04 Estradiol 9.33 14.62 20.17 12.59 Hydrocortisone 4.57 5.01 61.3 25.23 Indomethacin 3.77 4.67 14.49 15.67 ______________________________________ .sup.a Enhancement factor = (Normalized skin permeation rate) with enhancer/(Normalized skin permeation rate) without enhancer.
Additionally, another argument in favor of our position is sustained when the results reported by Chien are analyzed. He published the dependence of the enhancement factor for the skin permeation of progesterone on the alkyl chain length of saturated fatty acid in "Transdermal Therapeutic Systemic Medications". He found the major enhancement effect using caproic acid (C8), however the same author discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,682 that the better enhancer for estradiol is decanoic acid (C10) . These results lead us to attain the same conclusion of Chien in "Transdermal Controlled Systemic Medications", Marcel Dekker, New York 1987, pages 25-81, that concludes that the efficacy of skin penetration enhancer for a specific active agent, is function of the type, concentration and, how the penetration enhancer release from the devices.
The prior art presented herein clearly prove that at least for steroid compounds, as shown in the present patent application, there is no such an universal penetration enhancer composition and the adequate permeation rate across the skin can be achieved only by testing different types of compounds at different concentrations. Although prior art was useful for the theoretical approach, the results emerged from the careful investigation of multiple variables.

Composition for transdermal administration of an estrogen


A rechargeable battery is disclosed. In one aspect, the battery includes first and second battery cells facing each other and a case comprising first and second insertion portions, into which the first and second battery cells are respectively inserted. The case also includes a circuit accommodator formed between the first and second insertion portions and accommodating a protection circuit configured to control charging and discharging operations of the first and second battery cells.

1. Field
The described technology generally relates to rechargeable batteries.
2. Description of the Related Technology
Due to the development of wireless Internet and communication technologies, portable electronic devices, such as a mobile phone and portable computers, are in wide use. An electronic device generally includes a rechargeable battery or a number of rechargeable batteries for use at various locations without connecting to the power grid.


A rotary actuator, in particular for a motor vehicle, has an actuating element which can rotate about an axis, and a position sensor which detects the position of the actuating element in circumferential direction. The rotary actuator is disposed such that the rotational movement of the actuating element is continued a certain distance in the released state after manual actuation and is slowly decelerated.

The invention relates to a rotary actuator, in particular for a motor vehicle, having an actuating element which can rotate about an axis and a position sensor which detects the position of the actuating element in the circumferential direction.
Such rotary actuators are used in motor vehicles and serve to control different functions which are displayed on a display. As a result, different systems such as, for example a navigation system, an integrated telephone, an infotainment system and the like can be actuated in the motor vehicle and individual functions within these systems can be controlled or selected. Rotary actuators are also known which can be additionally actuated axially in order to select a functions selected and marked by rotating the rotary actuator in a menu, by pressing. Such rotary actuators which have an axial switching function are referred to as turn and push actuators.
Rotary actuators usually have a control face which is profiled in a corrugated shape or sawtooth shape and an assigned latching element. When the rotary actuator rotates, the corrugated or saw-tooth-shaped control or face which interacts with the latching element is rotated. The latching element can be embodied as a leaf spring which has one or two latching projections which run over the profiled control face, as a result of which a clicking noise is generated in which case.
Since conventional rotary actuators latch in immediately in the released state after manual actuation, they are felt to be "static" by many users, and in addition, it is felt to be disadvantageous that in order to operate the rotary actuator it is necessary to use the entire hand, which has to engage around the rotary actuator completely. The force which has to be applied to this is also felt to be comparatively large by many users.


A mixing head assembly comprising a housing having an input mix chamber passageway and a non-perpendicular output passageway. The assembly also includes a first input including a first nozzle for injecting a first fluid into the input mix chamber passageway and a second nozzle for injecting a second fluid into the input mix chamber passageway whereby the second fluid can mix with the first fluid to form a mixed fluid. The first nozzle and the second nozzle are configured to inject the first fluid and the second fluid into the input mix chamber passageway such that the first fluid and the second fluid meet at an intersection point. The first axial line and the second axial line are neither co-linear nor co-planar. Furthermore, an intersection point of the first fluid and the second fluid is not located along a longitudinal axis of the input mix chamber passageway.

The present invention relates to a mixing head assembly, and in particular to a mixing head assembly for mixing polyol and isocyanate to form high quality polyurethane foam.
Polyol and isocyanate are mixed to form polyurethane foam. The polyurethane foam is then placed into a mold to form polyurethane objects. Polyurethane foams can be used in a number of industries for a number of purposes. For example, rigid polyurethane foams are used in the auto and other industries for structural reinforcement, preventing corrosion and damping sound and vibration. Rigid polyurethane foams are also used as refrigeration and cooler insulation. Furthermore, flexible polyurethane foams can be used in seating cushions, arm rests and in other similar applications.
Heretofore, polyurethane foam producing methods, including structural reaction injection molding and reinforced reaction injection molding, have been used to produce flexible or rigid foam. Polyurethane foam has been made using low pressure foaming processes and high pressure foaming processes. In a low pressure foaming process, after reactive components are introduced at a low pressure into a mixing chamber through a nozzle, the components are mixed by high-speed rotation of an impeller, and are introduced into a molding. However, due to economical and environmental factors such as cleaning, mixture loss, inferior working conditions, bad quality or the like, the low pressure foaming process has typically been replaced with the high pressure foaming process. Meanwhile, the high pressure foaming process typically includes injecting reactive components at a high pressure by a nozzle to mix the reactive components by an impingement force. Thereafter, the mixture is introduced into the molding apparatus to form an object. The system for performing the high pressure foaming process typically comprises a tank for polyol, a tank for isocyanate, pumps for pumping the polyol and isocyanate, a mixing head assembly, a driving hydraulic unit, and an electronic control unit. The mixing head assembly introduces and mixes the reactive components, which is a major part for determining the quality of the final foam product.
Typical mixing head assemblies inject the reactive components in a horizontal or vertical direction. However, several methods have been proposed for improving the mixing efficiency and laminar flow at a discharging port by providing a swirl inducing chamber or an additional device. However, since the typical mixing head has a complicated construction, there are some drawbacks, such as difficulty of the maintenance, expensive manufacturing price and shortening of life cycle.
FIGS. 5–7 illustrate a typical mixing head assembly 10. The mixing head assembly 10 includes a mixing chamber 12. The polyol and isocyanate are injected into the mixing chamber 12 through a first nozzle 16 and a second nozzle 18. In use, the typical mixing head assembly 10 is connected to a hydraulic tank and to polyol and isocyanate feed lines (not shown). When a pump of the hydraulic tank is operated, a cleaning piston rod 20 is retracted from a discharge pipe 14 of the mixing chamber 12 and a mixing chamber piston rod 22 is retracted from the mixing chamber 12. Concurrently, the first nozzle 16 and the second nozzle 18 are opened to inject polyol and isocyanate at an initial high pressure of 120 to 200 bar into the mixing chamber 12.
Since the polyol and isocyanate are injected into the mixing chamber 12 in the form of opposing and impinging jets through the first nozzle 16 and the second nozzle 18, the polyol and isocyanate impinge primarily on each other. Furthermore, the first nozzle 16 and the second nozzle 18 could have axes that are neither co-linear nor co-planar. Accordingly, in this situation, the typical mixing head assembly 10 is considered to be a "dual-tilt" mixing head. The dual-tilt mixing head forces the jets of polyol and isocyanate to impinge secondarily on a wall of the mixing chamber 12, thereby forming a first swirl due to the impinging energy. The mixture consisting of the polyol and the isocyanate is passed from the mix chamber 12 to the discharge pipe 14 to form a second swirl. The mixture is passed from the mix chamber 12 to the larger diameter discharge pipe 14 to form a laminar flow, and then is introduced into the mold. After a predetermined amount of the mixture is introduced into the mold, the mixing chamber piston rod 22 extends to move the mixture out of mix chamber 12 and into the discharge pipe 14. Thereafter, the cleaning piston rod 20 is extended to move the mixture out of the discharge pipe 14 and into the mold, thereby completing the pouring process of the two mixed components from the mixing head assembly 10 into the mold.
Accordingly, a mixing head assembly solving the aforementioned disadvantages and providing an improved mixing of the reactive components is desired.


A method (300) of converting interlaced Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) video signals to progressive video signals can include receiving an interlaced video signal representing a luma component specifying luma lines and a chroma component specifying chroma lines (310) wherein the chroma component can specify approximately one-half the number of lines of the luma component. The interlaced video signal can be decoded and the number of the chroma lines can be increased to approximately the same as the number of the luma lines (320). The number of chroma lines of the interlaced video signal then can be decreased (340), to substantially reverse the previous increase. The interlaced video signal then can be deinterlaced to produce a progressive video signal (350), which can be processed further (360) as needed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to the processing of video signals, and more particularly, to the conversion of interlaced video formats into progressive video formats known as deinterlacing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, many of the transmitted and broadcast TV signals are interlaced. Many of these signals are transmitted in Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) form. For example, the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has developed the standard for digital television wherein the signals, referred to as ATSC signals, are transmitted in MPEG form. Some of the ATSC formats are interlaced, for example 480i and 1080i video signals. These MPEG signals are in the so-called 4:2:0 format. Accordingly, the MPEG signals contain chroma, the difference signal portion of the video signal, of half-spatial resolution in both horizontal and vertical directions. In order to display this chroma with the associated luma, the matrixed red, green, and blue portion of the video signal, the chroma must be converted back to 4:4:4 form.
Most MPEG decoders output the chroma component after it has been formatted to match the interlaced luma output. Typically, such MPEG decoders will convert the interlaced 4:2:0 chroma into interlaced 4:2:2 chroma. If the resulting chroma and luma are to be deinterlaced and possibly converted to a different number of lines, the chroma vertical resolution will be degraded if the usual chroma output of the decoder is deinterlaced.
Many new displays, such as plasma, LCD, LCOS, and other "matrix" type displays, are being developed which are inherently progressive, or non-interlaced. Accordingly, in addition to decoding, converting the video signal to 4:2:2 format, and then deinterlacing the video signal, to properly display a video signal on many inherently progressive displays, the video signal must undergo further vertical format conversion. This can result in further degradation of the chroma vertical resolution. For example, in the case where a 1080i signal is to be displayed on a 720p display, most MPEG decoders will convert the 270 lines per field of 4:2:0 chroma to 540 lines per field by vertical interpolation. Typically, both the chroma and luma components of the signal would be deinterlaced producing a 1080p signal. This sequence degrades the vertical resolution. Moreover, the down-conversion of the luma from 1080 to 720 lines, and up-conversion of the chroma from 540 to 720 lines, can further degrade the vertical resolution. The present invention is directed towards reducing this degradation.

Method and system for MPEG chroma de-interlacing


Systems and methods identify recent or ephemeral events involving entities that can be used to update a data graph or provide enhanced search results. For example, a computer-implemented method includes determining at least one search term for an entity in a data graph and determining a time period having an increase in queries for the at least one search term, the increase meeting a threshold. The method may include determining documents having dates associated with the time period, the documents being responsive to the at least one search term, and analyzing the documents to determine a subject, verb, object triple, where the search term corresponds to the subject or the object of the triple. The method may also include providing an update for the data graph based on the triple. The method may also include generating text describing the triple for inclusion in a search result for the search query.

Entities such as people, places, things, concepts, etc., may be the subject of queries. Some search systems may store entities as nodes in a graph-based data store, or data graph. The edges that link one entity with another may indicate a relationship between the nodes. For example, the nodes "Baltimore, Md." and "United States" may be linked by the edges of "in country" and "has state." A search system may use the graph-based data store to provide information about an entity in response to a query. However, such graph-based data stores may lack information about what an entity has done or what has happened to an entity when the events are ephemeral or recent. For example, a celebrity may have a wedding or a birth that receives news coverage but is too recent to be reflected in the data graph. Similarly, a company may have sponsored a sports event, launched a product, or been involved in an environmental disaster. These events may not be captured in the graph-based data store, but may be of interest to someone initiating a search for the company.

Discovering entity actions for an entity graph


The invention relates to an archery system that launches an arrow from a position that is perpendicular to a direction of flight for the arrow. After release, the arrow rotates to a position that is parallel to the direction of flight to the target.

Several types of archery bows and crossbows (hereinafter sometimes referred to collectively as "bows") have been used over the years. Conventional bows launch arrows pointing in the directional travel. Consequently, conventional archery arrows have standard lengths of, for example, 28-33 inches to match various draw lengths for different people. The long arrow lengths allow stabilizing the front of the arrow when the rear of the arrow is pulled back with the string of the bow. The draw length of a bow is limited by the length of the arrow. The draw length cannot be longer than the arrow. Otherwise, the tip of the arrow is drawn behind the front portion of the bow, which creates a dangerous position if the tip of the arrow hits the front of the bow upon launch. Additionally, arrows of such length flex and bend in flight, thereby making them unstable and inconsistent in accuracy. Cross bows have similar issues, using arrows (sometimes called "bolts") of, for example, 16-22 inches in length.
Because conventional arrows are long, such arrows are carried in a separate pouch. Additional equipment pouches are cumbersome. Arrows for archery bows typically are carried on the shooter's back or are set near the shooter. Because the arrows are not very close to the actual bow, a shooter cannot reload and shoot multiple rounds quickly. Alternatively, extra arrows can be attached to the bow, but the shooter must retrieve an arrow, insert it on the bow, and then draw the arrow back. Such a lengthy process also is time consuming.
The arms of the convention bows have to be long enough to provide sufficient recoil to propel the arrow when launched. Consequently, conventional archery bows are very tall, and conventional cross bows are very wide. Thus, conventional bows are bulky, and may be hard to carry or maneuver in tight areas.
Conventional bows also have high pull weights, which can make it difficult to draw the arrow and make an accurate shot. Complex "compound" bows can reduce the pull weight, but complexity and cost of the device is increased. Cross bows in particular can be hard to draw and may employ a foot stirrup for the shooter to hold the device in place while the shooter cocks the device.
Accordingly, a need exists in the art for an archery system that can launch shorter arrows, provide a lower pull weight while maintaining suitable arrow velocity, have a compact size compared to conventional systems, have a draw length that is not limited by the length of the arrow, and/or reduce draw weight without complex mechanisms.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Examples described herein provide for associating a network device to a network management system (NMS). Examples herein include determining, by a network orchestrator, a set of embeddings indicative of characteristics of the network device and each of a plurality of instances of the NMS. Examples herein include determining, by the network orchestrator for each of the plurality of instances, a probability score based on the set of embeddings, wherein the probability score is indicative of a likelihood of the network device to be associated with the instance. Examples herein further include, based on the probability score for each of the plurality of instances, selecting, by the network orchestrator, a first instance of the plurality of instances to associate with the network device. Examples herein include associating, by the network orchestrator, the network device to the first instance.

Networks may include a plurality of resources connected by communication links, and may be used to connect people, provide services (e.g., internally and/or externally via the Internet and/or intranet), and/or organize information, among other activities associated with an entity. For instance, a network may include a variety of network devices, such as access points, controllers, gateways, switches, etc., which perform different network operations, such as network access, authentication, and routing network traffic to provide connectivity.
A network may include a network management system (NMS) for monitoring performance and management of network devices in the network. An NMS may include multiple instances, each of which may identify, configure, monitor, update, and troubleshoot network devices in a large-scale network, such as an enterprise network. Moreover, an NMS may include one or more applications to enable network device discovery, network device monitoring, network performance analysis, network device management, intelligent notifications, customizable alerts, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, an NMS may include a system management control application that displays the performance data collected from each network device and enable network administrator to make necessary modifications.

Network device association with network management system

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


In a method for drying coating films on coated components, microwaves are generated by at least one magnetron (3A) in at least one microwave generator module (3) and introduced into a drying chamber (2A) through one or more waveguides (4). Air or another gas is blown from a blower (5) into the drying chamber (2A). An additive agent comprising a dipolar or polarizable molecular composition is mixed into the gas to form a gas mixture within the drying chamber (2A). The coated components (9) are placed into the drying chamber (2A) in a batch or continuous flow-through process. The microwave energy vibrationally excites and heats the additive agent in the gas mixture, which in turn heats the coating film (9') on the components (9). Alternatively, the additive agent may be mixed or applied directly in the coating film substance, so as to achieve direct heating of the coating film, or so as to evaporate from the coating film into the gas to form the gas mixture. The gas is preferably air, and the additive agent is preferably water vapor in a prescribed and controlled relative proportional content within the range from 20% to 90%, which is maintained within the drying chamber. The component may be a metal component or a non-metal component, and the coating may be a water-thinnable or solvent-containing one-, two-, or more component lacquer based on an epoxy, or a polyurethane, or an alkyde resin, or an acrylic resin. Uniform drying of the coating film is achieved even on components having a complex geometry.

It is generally known to dry surface coatings, and especially two component lacquers applied onto metallic or non-metallic components, by means of warm air in a temperature range of e.g. 40 to 90.degree. C., within a convection oven. It is also known to dry such lacquers by means of infrared radiation applied to the lacquer coated articles. Disadvantages common to these two known drying methods are a relatively high energy consumption and a relatively long drying time. Also, in the case of the infrared radiation drying, only components having a relatively simple geometric shape or configuration can be properly dried, because a more complicated geometry would form shadows in the infrared radiation and thus prevent proper uniform drying.
The publication "Deutsche Farben-Zeitschrift" ("German Color Journal") 23rd year, No. 12, (1969), page 585, mentions the possibility of drying lacquers by means of microwave radiation under the heading "Bestrahlung--moderne Trocknungsverfahren fur Lacke". In this context, it was described that commercially available equipment can be used to generate microwaves in the range from 10.sup.8 to 10.sup.10 Hz, which are then directed at the lacquer film on an article so as to heat the film material, which thereby essentially has the effect of transforming the film into the solid state. The heating effect results from the arising dielectric losses, and is highly and immediately effective. Lacquer coatings containing water as a solvent are especially suitable. Such a microwave drying method is also applicable in principle for drying printing inks or dyes. However, it is doubtful whether standard lacquer systems without special dielectric characteristics would actually be dryable in practice by the method proposed in this publication. The described method will be unefficient because the microwaves just heating the thin coating layer which has a small heat capacity due to its low mass. The heat energy of the coating film will rapidly dissipated into the substrate (component) which is not heated up in this microwave process. In particular this will be a disadvantage using thick metall parts.
The English language Abstract of Japanese Patent Publication 4-260472(A), published in the Patent Abstracts of Japan, C-1021, Jan. 28, 1993, Vol. 17, No. 46, describes the use of a special paint coating film that contains a microwave-absorptive self-heat generating powder. In a drying method, such a paint coating film containing the special powder additive is subjected to microwave radiation, which heats the powder and thereby dries or hardens the paint coating film. In this context, the resins or other components of the paint coating film as well as the substrate material must be heat resistant to the necessary degree. Particular characteristics, which the paint coating film must apparently possess for carrying out the mentioned method, are not described in this English language abstract.
French Patent Publication 2,458,323 (Berteaud et al.) describes a method for coating a substrate, by means of which a thin layer of an overcoating is applied onto the substrate. The substrate may especially be made of glass or an analogous material. The overcoating is heat-processed by applying microwave energy thereto. The special feature in this context is that the microwave energy is within a particularly selected frequency range that is adapted for selectively exciting particular components of the overcoating layer. The microwave energy is controlled in such a manner that the frequency of the microwave radiation directed into the drying chamber is varied or adjusted to the extent necessary so that the temperature of the coating is maintained at a constant nominal value. This is achieved using a conventional and commercially available pyrometer. According to this conventional method, the microwaves act directly upon the coating layer. For this purpose, the lacquer or coating materials are partially modified or specially adapted for the microwave drying process, for example by the addition of carbon dust thereto. Only non-conducting substrate materials are used, whereby microwave frequencies higher than 2.45 GHz may also be used.
German Patent Laying Open Document 4,121,203 (Linden et al.) discloses a method and an apparatus for drying a water soluble dispersion lacquer or coating on paper or cardboard webs or sheets by means of microwaves. Preferably, a plurality of commercially available and accepted microwave oscillators are arranged so as to couple the microwave energy into a hollow wave guide. The webs or sheets of paper or cardboard material are dried in a continuous flow-through process, whereby a negligible residual moisture remains in the material, but the method uses a very economical minimum input of energy.

Method for drying lacquers and other coatings on metal or non-metal individual components or assemblies using microwaves


A heat dissipation assembly is configured in an enclosure of a network device. The enclosure defines an air flue. The heat dissipating assembly includes a fan module received in the air flue, and a damper module secured in one end of the air flue adjacent to the inside of the enclosure. The fan module includes a first bracket and a plurality of fans fixed with the first bracket. The damper module includes a frame and a plurality of vanes located in the frame. When a direction of airflow of the plurality of fans changes, the plurality of fans in the air flue is reversed, and the first bracket supports the plurality of vanes of the damper module to keep the air flue open.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to heat dissipation assemblies, more particularly to a heat dissipation assembly with bidirectional airflows.
2. Description of Related Art
Most high-grade network devices, such as set-top boxes, routers and servers, are generally mounted on a shelf. Shelves with different structures also require heat dissipation assemblies of the network devices to be different. In order to satisfy configurations of different shelves, a heat dissipation assembly secured in the network device is generally required to provide bidirectional airflow of a fan. For example, one direction of an airflow of the fan flows from an inside of the network device to an outside of the network device, and another direction of an airflow flows from the outside of the network device to the inside of the network device. In order to meet the above requirements, two different fan modules and corresponding different air flues are designed, which unfortunately leads to high cost, due to complexity of constructions of the network device. Furthermore, configuration and upgrade of the network device are limited due to the different fan modules and the different air flues.

Heat dissipation assembly with bidirectional airflow


Embodiments of the present disclosure disclose a method for determining a frequency resource, and an apparatus. The method includes: first determining, by user equipment (UE), a power headroom report; and subsequently sending, by the UE, the power headroom report (PHR) to a base station in a random access process, where the power headroom report may be carried by a related information segment of message 3 (Message 3) sent by the UE to the base station. According to the solutions provided in the present disclosure, a base station can obtain, in a timely manner, a basis for performing scheduling configuration when UE performs current uplink data transmission, and can more accurately configure power control and scheduling information for the UE. This avoids allocating the UE a channel that exceeds an uplink transmission capability of the UE, and thereby avoids an uplink bandwidth waste.

Internet of Things (IoT) is "the Internet of connected things". IoT extends a user end of the Internet to any object, so that information exchange and communication can be performed between any object and another. Such a communication manner is also referred to as machine type communication (MTC), and a communications node is referred to as an MTC terminal. A typical application scenario of Internet of Things includes smart metering, smart household, and the like. Internet of Things needs to be applied to multiple scenarios, for example, an outdoor/indoor scenario and an overground/underground scenario. Therefore, many special requirements, for example, coverage enhancement, support for a large quantity of low-rate devices, low costs, and low energy consumption, are imposed on design of Internet of Things. To meet these special requirements, a new research project was approved on the 62nd meeting of 3GPP GERAN to research into a method for supporting ultra low complexity and low-cost Internet of Things in a cellular network. With its relatively low costs and prominent coverage enhancement capability, a Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) solution was approved on the 69th meeting of 3GPP RAN, and is standardized in R13 release.
In an existing Long Term Evolution (LTE) communications system, user equipment (UE) and a base station (eNodeB) frequently communicate with each other, the user equipment periodically reports a power headroom report to the base station, and the base station performs power control and scheduling on an important basis of the power headroom report reported by the user equipment. However, in an NB-IoT system, because user equipment has fewer services, if an existing power headroom report transmission mechanism in the LTE is reused, a base station cannot obtain a power headroom report (PHR) for current uplink data transmission performed by the user equipment, and therefore cannot perform scheduling and power control for the current uplink data transmission of the user equipment.

Method for indicating power headroom report, and apparatus


Pressure pulsations are damped in and a hydraulic unit by a device including a housing with an inlet and an outlet having a throttle and a filter preceding the throttle. The filter and the throttle are combined into a one-piece function element, which can be produced without metal-cutting machining and which can be fixed in the interior of the housing. This preceding filter prevents clogging of the throttle by contaminants in the pressure fluid, without requiring additional expense for parts or assembly. The function element can be produced economically in a minimum number of work steps, can be manipulated without problems, and in an advantageous refinement makes it possible to avoid unwanted accumulations of air in the device.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a device for damping pressure pulsations, and a hydraulic unit equipped with this device, in an electronically regulatable vehicle brake system. For regulating the brake pressure required at the wheel brake cylinders, electronically regulatable vehicle brake systems require pump elements, which are acted upon as needed by a rotating drive element. This action is effected cyclically, and as a result, pressure pulsations can occur in the hydraulic circuit connected to it during the regulation cycle. The pressure pulsations can be transmitted to the brake pedal via the master cylinder located in the hydraulic circuit. The consequence is unwanted pulsating motions of this brake pedal as well as noise that is perceptible in the vehicle interior.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For damping the pressure pulsations in an electronically regulatable brake system, a device is already known from German Patent Disclosure DE 42 34 013 A1. FIG. 3 of this reference shows a hydraulic block of an electronically controllable vehicle brake system, with a receiving bore which forms the housing of the device. The receiving bore is closed off from its surroundings by a cap anchored by positive engagement, and in its interior it defines a damping chamber. An inflow conduit arriving from a pump element discharges into this chamber, and an outflow conduit emerges from it. At the exit point of the outflow conduit there is a throttle, along with a separate filter element preceding the throttle. The filter element prevents clogging of the throttle from an accumulation of dirt.
It is a disadvantage of the design of this known noise-damping device that the filter and the throttle are each individual components, which must be anchored to the hydraulic block in separate assembly steps. The individual components are of metal and are relatively complicated to produce, in multiple machining steps. Their reliable fixation must be checked and assured during assembly. This makes the known device comparatively expensive.

Device for damping pressure pulsations and a hydraulic unit equipped with this device


Microelectronic imagers and methods for packaging microelectronic imagers are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a microelectronic imaging unit can include a microelectronic die, an image sensor, an integrated circuit electrically coupled to the image sensor, and a bond-pad electrically coupled to the integrated circuit. An electrically conductive through-wafer interconnect extends through the die and is in contact with the bond-pad. The interconnect can include a passage extending completely through the substrate and the bond-pad with conductive fill material at least partially disposed in the passage. An electrically conductive support member is carried by and projects from the bond-pad. A cover over the image sensor is coupled to the support member.

Microelectronic imagers are used in digital cameras, wireless devices with picture capabilities, and many other applications. Cell phones and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), for example, incorporate microelectronic imagers for capturing and sending pictures. The use of microelectronic imagers in electronic devices has been steadily increasing as imagers become smaller and produce higher quality images with increased pixel counts.
Microelectronic imagers include image sensors that use Charged Coupled Device (CCD) systems, Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) systems, or other systems. CCD image sensors have been widely used in digital cameras and other applications. CMOS image sensors are also becoming very popular because they have low production costs, high yields, and small sizes. CMOS image sensors provide these advantages because they are manufactured using technology and equipment developed for fabricating semiconductor devices. CMOS image sensors, as well as CCD image sensors, are accordingly "packaged" to protect their delicate components and provide external electrical contacts.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional microelectronic imager 1 with a conventional package. The imager 1 includes a die 10, an interposer substrate 20 attached to the die 10, and a housing 30 attached to the interposer substrate 20. The housing 30 surrounds the periphery of the die 10 and has an opening 32. The imager 1 also includes a transparent cover 40 over the die 10.
The die 10 includes an image sensor 12 and a plurality of bond-pads 14 electrically coupled to the image sensor 12. The interposer substrate 20 is typically a dielectric fixture having a plurality of bond-pads 22, a plurality of ball-pads 24, and traces 26 electrically coupling bond-pads 22 to corresponding ball-pads 24. The ball-pads 24 are arranged in an array for surface mounting the imager 1 to a board or module of another device. The bond-pads 14 on the die 10 are electrically coupled to the bond-pads 22 on the interposer substrate 20 by wire-bonds 28 to provide electrical pathways between the bond-pads 14 and the ball-pads 24.
The imager 1 shown in FIG. 1 also has an optics unit including a support 50 attached to the housing 30 and a barrel 60 adjustably attached to the support 50. The support 50 can include internal threads 52, and the barrel 60 can include external threads 62 engaged with the threads 52. The optics unit also includes a lens 70 carried by the barrel 60.
One problem with conventional packaged microelectronic imagers is that they have relatively large footprints and occupy a significant amount of vertical space (i.e., high profiles). For example, the footprint of the imager 1 in FIG. 1 is the surface area of the bottom of the interposer substrate 20, which is significantly larger than the surface area of the die 10. Accordingly, the footprint of conventional packaged microelectronic imagers can be a limiting factor in the design and marketability of picture cell phones or PDAs because these devices are continually shrinking to be more portable. Therefore, there is a need to provide microelectronic imagers with smaller footprints and lower vertical profiles.
Another problem with conventional microelectronic imagers is the manufacturing costs for packaging the dies. For example, forming the wire-bonds 28 on the imager 1 shown in FIG. 1 is complex and expensive because it requires connecting an individual wire between each bond-pad 14 on the die 10 and a corresponding pad 22 on the interposer substrate 20. In addition, it may not be feasible to form wire-bonds for the high-density, fine-pitch arrays: of some high-performance devices. Moreover, the support 50 and barrel 60 are assembled separately for each die 10 individually after the dies have been singulated from a wafer and attached to the interposer substrate. Therefore, there is a significant need to enhance the efficiency and reliability of packaging microelectronic imagers.

Microelectronic imagers and methods of packaging microelectronic imagers


A user destination is identified based on received location information from a user. A first seat in a vehicle is assigned to the user based on the user destination. At least one of the first seat and a second seat in the vehicle is moved upon user entry until a distance between the first seat and the second seat is greater than a distance threshold.

Vehicles can transport users to destinations. For example, an autonomous service vehicle can transport a plurality of users to one or more destinations. At each destination, users may enter and exit the vehicle. Space in the vehicle may be lacking for ingress and egress of the users upon arriving at a destination. Current systems lack techniques for actively adjusting positions of seats in the vehicle to accommodate ingress and egress of the users and positioning the users in the vehicle based on their respective destinations to aid in the adjustment of the seats.


A light guiding member in a shape of a rod shape comprises a light receiving portion formed on an end thereof in an axial direction thereof, and a knurled recess portion which extends in the axial direction, is formed on a side face thereof, wherein the knurled recess portion has two or more recesses, a side face of each recess in a light receiving portion side is a reflective surface, the reflective surface of at least one of the recesses having a primary reflective surface and a secondary reflective surface.

In recent years, in an image reading apparatus, such as a personal facsimile, small light emitting diodes (hereinafter referred to as an LED) with a low power are starting to be used as a light source of a reading light source apparatus, due to improvements in an output of such LEDs and a raise in the sensitivity of a CCD type sensor as a light receiving element. In a conventional linear light source apparatus equipped with such LEDs as light sources, the number of the light sources is reduced and a light guiding member in which light emitted from the light source enters the light guiding member and the light is guided towards a desired direction, is used so as to obtain uniform lighting intensity.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the structure of a linear light source apparatus disclosed in Japanese Laid Open Patent No. H09-163080 as a conventional linear light source apparatus. The linear light source apparatus is equipped with a light guiding member 1 which is made of transparent resin etc., and a light source 2 which is made up of LEDs. A light receiving section 3 is formed at one end of the light guiding member 1 in an axial direction thereof, and a flat and smooth face 4, on which a reflective film is formed, is provided at the other end thereof. The light source 2 is arranged so as to face the light receiving section 3. Moreover, knurled recess portion 5 is formed so as to extend in the axial direction on an outer circumferential surface of the light guiding member 1 which is in an opposite side to a light emission side of the light guiding member 1. The cut-out direction of recesses of the knurled recess portion 5 is perpendicular to the axial direction. The recesses are in a shape of isosceles triangle in a cross sectional view thereof, taken along in the axial direction. Light emitted from the light source 2 enters the inside of the light guiding member 1 from the light receiving section 3, and the light is repeatedly reflected within the light guiding member 1, and is then reflected on reflective surfaces 6 of the knurled recesses 5, so as to be emitted from the light guiding member 1 with predetermined angles.
Of components of light emitted from the light source 2, a light ray al of the light with a large incident angle to the light receiving section 3 is reflected on a reflective surface 6 of one of the knurled recesses 5 near the light receiving section 3 (a light ray α2). Since the light ray α1 with the large incident angle to the light receiving section 3, is incident on the reflective surface 6 of the recess of the knurled recess portion 5 at a small incident angle (the light ray α2), a light ray α3 is emitted from the light guiding member 1 at an output angle which is approximately perpendicular thereto (slightly inclining in the direction of the flat and smooth face 4). On the other hand, of the components of the light emitted from the light source 2, a light ray β1 whose incident angle with respect to the light receiving section 3 is small, propagates along the axial direction of the light guiding member 1, and is reflected on a reflective surface 6 of another recess of the knurled recess portion 5 which is distant from the light receiving section 3 and near the flat and smooth face 4 (a light ray β2). Since the light ray β1 with the small incident angle with respect to the light receiving section 3 is incident on the reflective surface 6 of the recess of the knurled recess portion 5 at a large incident angle (a light ray β2), a light β3 is emitted from the light guiding member 1 with an angle, inclining in a direction of the flat and smooth face 4.
However, in the linear light source apparatus shown in FIG. 8, since the light β3 is outputted at an angle, inclining in the direction of the flat and smooth face 4, a black line may appear in a scanned image. FIG. 9 is a partial cross sectional view of the image reading apparatus, wherein an object 42 to be scanned and light rays are shown for explanation of a shadow 44. A platen glass 41, which is made of an optical permeability material, is provided in the image reading apparatus so as to face a light emitting face 9 of the linear light source apparatus. The reading object 42 to be scanned, which has an image thereon, is placed on the platen glass 41, when it is used. Light emitted from the light emitting face 9 of the light guiding member 1 is irradiated to the platen glass 41, so that a projection image of the reading object 42 is scanned, so as to form a reading image. When the reading object 42 having a thickness such as a book etc. is scanned, a gap is produced between a face of the reading object 42 to be irradiated, and a document cover 43. Since the reading object 42 does not transmit light, a light ray β3a which irradiates an end portion of the reading object 42 does not irradiate the document cover 43. Although the light ray β3b which is slightly shifted in the axial direction from the light ray β3a which irradiates the end portion of the reading object 42, irradiates the document cover 43, since the light β3b has an angle, a portion to be irradiated thereby is shifted in the axial direction from the edge of the reading object 42, that is, the document cover 43 is irradiated. Therefore, a shadow 44 is produced between the light β3a and the light β3b, since the light is not irradiated there, so that a black line appears in a reading image. Moreover, a similar thing happens when there is difference in level such as a folded line, in the reading object 42.
In view of the problem, the present light guiding member and a linear light source apparatus emit light so that a black line may not appear in a reading image, even when there is a gap or a level difference in a reading object.
One of aspects thereof is a light guiding member in a shape of a rod shape comprising: a light receiving portion formed on an end thereof in an axial direction thereof; and a knurled recess portion which extends in the axial direction, is formed on a side face thereof, wherein the knurled recess portion has two or more recesses, a side face of each recess in a light receiving portion side is a reflective surface, and the reflective surface of at least one of the recesses having a primary reflective surface and a secondary reflective surface.
The secondary reflective surface may be formed at an end of the primary reflective surface in the axial direction, and an inclination angle of the secondary reflective surface may be larger than that of the primary reflective surface.
Further, at least one of the recesses may have a reflective surface, a flat surface and a light transmissive face, and the light transmissive face may comprise a primary light transmissive face and a secondary light transmissive face.
Moreover, the primary light transmissive face may be formed at an end of the secondary light transmissive face, and an inclination angle of the secondary transmissive face may be larger than that of the primary light transmissive face.
Moreover, at least one of the recesses may have a reflective surface, a flat surface and a light transmissive face, and the flat surface may incline counterclockwise from the axial direction.
Widths of flat faces in the axial direction may be shorter as away from the light receiving portion to the flat and smooth face.
Depths of the recesses are larger as close to the flat and smooth face from the light receiving portion.
One of the two or more recesses of the knurled recess portion may have a one face reflective surface made up of one face, and another one of the two or more recesses of the knurled recess portion may have a two face reflective surface made up of a primary reflective surface and a secondary reflective surface.
The one of the two or more recesses of the knurled recess portion which has the one face reflective surface, and the another one of the two or more recesses of the knurled recess portion which has the two face reflective surface made may be formed by turns.
Another aspect of the present light guiding member and a linear light source apparatus is a liner light source apparatus comprising: the above-mentioned light guiding member; and a light source provided so as to face the light receiving portion of the light guiding member.
In the present light guiding member and the linear light source apparatus, since the reflective surface of the recess of the knurled recess portion has the primary reflective surface and the secondary reflective surface, the light rays having two angles which are different in the axial direction can be directed to a reading object and emitted from the linear light source apparatus, so that even when there is a gap or a level difference in a reading object, a shadow is not produced on the document cover, whereby a black line does not appear in the reading image.

Light guiding member and linear light source apparatus


Detecting appliance in a building, in one aspect, may comprise receiving meter data associated with energy consumption, the meter data comprising at least energy consumption data associated with usage of the appliance, receiving customer data associated with the meter data, extracting features for training a model for detecting the appliance, based on at least the meter data and the customer data, and constructing the model based on the features.

The research topics on appliance detection problem can be classified into two categories based on the difference of hardware and software deployment. One uses single sensor to monitor the power outlet or multiple sensors to measure the electrical information of individual appliance. Special technical expertise is usually required for single sensor deployment, and multiple sensor installation and maintenance incur high cost. The other utilizes data mining techniques to disaggregate overall consumption data into individual device level and associate different levels of consumption to existing appliance feature (signature) database. The consumption data is typically sampled at high frequency. In addition, the prior knowledge about appliance consumption (signature) is difficult to obtain.

Detecting appliances in a building from coarse grained meter data with partial label

International Business Machines Corporation


A rotation type working machine includes: an attachment mounted so as to be able to rotate with respect to a base body; a rotation mechanism which rotates the attachment; a control device which controls the rotation mechanism; and an entering object detection device which detects a position of an entering object entered into a work area, in which the control device controls a rotation operation of the attachment based on a first physical amount related to at least one of a current angular velocity of the attachment and a current moment of inertia of the attachment, and the position of the entering object detected by the entering object detection device.

In a rotation type working machine having an attachment mounted so as to be able to rotate with respect to a traveling body (a base body), when an entry of an entering object into a no-entry area is detected, a control to forcibly stop a rotation operation is performed. A technique to alter a no-entry area based on a type of an entering object, for example, a worker who performs specific work, a general worker, or the like is proposed.

Swing operating machine and method of controlling swing operating machine


A method for detecting a change of an impedance of a magnetic field receiver of a metal detector, including: having a first network of passive components, including the impedance of the magnetic field receiver; having a second network of passive components, excluding the impedance of the magnetic field receiver; and processing a first measurement signal from a first node of the first network with a second measurement signal from a second node of the second network to detect the change in the impedance of the magnetic field receiver; wherein the first network, the second network, the first node, the second node is configured such that in an absence of an external influence which affects the impedance of the magnetic field receiver, the first measurement signal is substantially the same with the second measurement signal; and in a presence of the external influence, the first measurement signal is different from the second measurement signal.

There is a number of situations in which it is desirable to make high accuracy measurements of a small signal resulting from the cancellation of larger signals applied to a network of passive components. The signal sources have noise that, in general, does not cancel the same way the signal does. This represents one of the main elements limiting the accuracy of this type of measurement. Examples of measurements that use signal cancellation and are subject to the noise limitation are instruments for the precision measurements of passive components, such as LCR bridges, sensor measurement circuits etc. One example of a situation where the application of the general principles is relevant is in the field of metal detectors.
Metal detectors employing simultaneous transmission and reception, known as continuous wave (CW) detectors or very low frequency (VLF) detectors, require that their transmit and receive coils are magnetically decoupled from each other. In the terminology used in this field, it is said that they are in an induction balanced or nulled arrangement. In this way, the weak signals originating from the targets excited by the transmitter are not obscured by the strong transmitted signal. Since the amplifier that is connected to the receive coil has a gain of the order of hundreds, the nulling of the coils (the attenuation of the direct or feed through signal) must be at least of the order of thousands. This requirement adds to the complexity of coil construction and therefore to the total cost. It also precludes or makes much more difficult the integration of CW metal detectors with other types of sensors, such as like ground penetrating radars, and the construction of arrays of metal detectors.
There are types of metal detectors that do not require induction balanced or nulled coils. For example, pulse-induction metal detectors use non-overlapping transmit and receive periods and therefore can use un-nulled coils or even the same coil (named mono-loop) for both transmission and reception. However, these detectors have disadvantages such as higher power consumption, higher cost and significant susceptibility to electromagnetic interference. At the other end of the scale, the very simple beat frequency oscillator (BFO) metal detectors employ a relatively stable internal oscillator and another oscillator constructed around the sensing coil. When the coil is brought in the presence of metal, its inductance changes and so does the frequency of its associated oscillator. The difference between the two frequencies (the beat signal) is amplified and transformed into an audible signal, such that a change in the pitch of the sound indicates the presence of metal. This type of detector is very simple and cheap to make, but is very limited in terms of discrimination and ground rejection.
The advantages of the CW detectors of high sensitivity, lower power consumption and simpler construction would benefit greatly from a coil that does not require nulling. There have been a number of approaches to perform electronic nulling, from the fixed arrangement described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,026 to the adaptive systems described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,407, U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,640 and the U.S. Pat. No. 5,729,143. However, all of these have in common the fact that the electronic nulling is only a fine adjustment applied after the transmit-receive coils are coarsely nulled.
The signal applied to the transmit coil of a metal detector can be either generated by an oscillator that includes the transmitter coil (which therefore tunes itself to the frequency of the resonant circuit) or generated by a separate oscillator and applied to the amplifier that drives the resonant circuit. The second option is also used for non-resonant operation. In all cases, the amplitude of the transmitted signal must be maintained as constant as possible, either through active means, such as feedback control of amplitude, or through careful design of the electronic circuits. If the requirements of amplitude stability are not met, the amplitude fluctuations propagate through the residual coupling between the transmit-receive coils and cause an increase in the detection noise floor. The result is the equivalent of a significant reduction in the sensitivity or the detection depth of the detector.
Most metal detectors that attempt to provide electronic nulling deal with this problem by either deriving the nulling signal from the transmitted signal itself or by using separate signal sources with extremely low intrinsic noise. It should be noted that, because of the parasitic circuit elements, the signal required to balance the receive coil may not be totally in phase or anti-phase with the transmitted signal.
Therefore, the first approach, more suited to analogue processing, requires that signals with adjustable amplitude and phase must be generated from the transmitted signal while maintaining the amplitude fluctuations. Only in this situation can the fluctuations in amplitude of the transmit signals induced in the receive coil be cancelled by the amplitude fluctuations of the nulling signal.
The second approach, more suited to digital processing, has the disadvantage that it requires the sources for both transmit and nulling signals to have a noise amplitude level comparable with that of the receiver amplifier. Because the noise of these two sources is not correlated, their noise adds in root-mean-square terms. Therefore, the noise of these two sources used in an electronic nulling circuit must be lower than that of the source used in the nulled coil set-up, by a factor comparable to the receiver amplifier gain, in order to obtain comparable results.
Based on advances in the digital signal processing and mixed signal components, it is now possible to construct CW metal detectors where the transmitted signals are generated numerically before being converted to electric signals with a digital-to-analogue converter (DAC). At the same time, the received signals are digitised with an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC), with the rest of signal processing performed in software.

Noise reduction circuitry for a metal detector


A valve assembly is disclosed for mounting through a wall having a first face and a second face defining a thickness there between. The valve assembly includes a valve body housing having an axially-extending inner bore. A valve body is telescopically received in the inner bore of the valve body housing, such that the valve body is axially movable with respect to the valve body housing. A valve is nested in a recess of the valve body. A locking element selectively engages the valve body housing and the valve body to lock a position of the valve body relative to the valve body housing.

This invention relates to plumbing valves, and in particular, to adjustable mounting systems for use therewith.
Many valve assemblies are installed through a wall or surface. For example, valve assemblies may be installed in walls for faucets, showers, and the like. To hide the mounting hardware, these valve assemblies are typically anchored against the back side of the wall frame and project forward. Once the valve assembly is fixed in place, the wall covering is attached. Of course, the wall covering will have the necessary cutouts for the valve assembly to extend through. In some cases, a handle and/or an escutcheon may be separately attached to the valve assembly on the front side of the wall.
However, the thickness of the wall may vary depending on the construction materials selected. Thus, the installation often involves doing a first rough-in installation and any corrections for depth are made during the final installation.
To reduce the need for a separate rough-in installation, adjustable mounting systems have been developed. See e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,331,386; 4,662,389; and 6,666,227. Many adjustable mounting systems for valve assemblies exploit the fact that an escutcheon covers a portion of the neck of the valve. By altering the positioning of the escutcheon, minor over -or under-extension of the valve assembly from the mounting surface can be hidden. Adjustment of the escutcheon works well for many kinds of valves having handles that move about a fixed rotational axis.
Even in valves having a fixed rotational axis, the amount of escutcheon adjustment can be quite limited. The amount of escutcheon adjustment may be limited by the spacing between the handle and the valve body or the amount of threading along the shaft to which the escutcheon is connected. If the threading extended too far, it can diminish the appearance of the fixture.
Further, adjustment of escutcheon will not work with all types of valves and aesthetic designs. For example, certain types of mixing valves have pivot centers that must be a predetermined distance from the wall covering. Often the pivot center may have some spatial relationship with the escutcheon that makes adjustment of the escutcheon along a central axis unacceptable as a means for accommodating installation into walls of various thicknesses.
Hence, a need exists for an improved valve assembly that is easily installed in walls of different thicknesses. In particular, there is a need for a valve assembly that provides for the placement of valve components at a predetermined distance from the front side of the wall using a rear side mounting, regardless of wall thickness.


A system and method for reducing peak-to-average ratio (PAR) values in signal transmission systems is presented. The presented approach divides a plurality of symbols into a number of non-overlapping subsets of symbols, and manipulates each of the non-overlapping subsets of symbols to produce a plurality of sub-sequences. A strategic manipulation of the subsets of symbols results in the reduction of PAR values.

In modern digital communication, a channel input signal is generally synthesized as a linear combination of certain bases functions whose coefficients bear information to be transmitted. For example, in an asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) system using N sub-carriers, the basis function is represented by:
      x              (      n      )        =            1      N                          ∑                  k          =          0                          N          -          1                                                                      X                                (            k            )                                            exp                                (                                          j2                                                                                π                                                                                nk                            N                        )                              where X(k) is the coefficient bearing the information symbols to be transmitted. Since the inverse Fourier transform (IFT) is equivalent to a summation of several different frequencies, the resulting signal x(n) becomes approximately Gaussian for large N, according to the central-limit theorem. This means that there may be some very high peaks present in the signal x(n).
One of the problems encountered in the presence of high peaks within x(n) is a large peak-to-average ratio (PAR) value, or, equivalently, a large crest factor, which reduces the reliability of transmission systems. This is due to the fact that power amplifiers are typically only capable of modulating signals that are bounded by a fixed constant. Thus, any input signal exceeding this value is "clipped" at this level. In other words, if high peaks are present within x(n), then there is a possibility that these high peaks will be "clipped" because the high peaks exceed the bounds of the power amplifier. This introduces noise to the system, reduces the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and, thus, has strong impact on the reliability of the system. In order to reduce this effect, one can attenuate the amplitude of the entire signal. However, this worsens the SNR directly, and, further, reduces the system SNR due to increased quantization noise.
Given the problems associated with potentially large PAR values in digital communication systems, a need exists in the industry to reduce PAR values, thereby improving reliability of digital communication systems.

System and method for reducing peak-to-average ratio (PAR) values


Purpose. To provide a refrigeration cycle capacity enhancement apparatus that, in addition to lowering the temperature of coolant going from a condenser 4 to an evaporator 7, raising the temperature of coolant going from the evaporator 7 to a compressor 3, enhancing the performance thereof, and preventing the return of liquid coolant to the compressor 3, can also keep the pressure on the coolant from becoming higher and higher under high loading.. Constitution. Taking note of the fact that the capacity of a heat exchanger 5 is raised by combining drain water D from an evaporator 7 with the heat exchanger 5, this is a refrigeration cycle capacity enhancement apparatus that comprises a compressor 3 and a condenser 4 installed on the engine compartment 12 side of a vehicle, and an evaporator 7 installed on the vehicle cabin 13 side thereof. The heat exchanger 5 is provided to exchange heat between the coolant going from the condenser 4 toward the evaporator 7 and the coolant going from the evaporator 7 toward the compressor 3, while drain water D is conveyed to the heat exchanger 5 from the evaporator 7.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a refrigeration cycle capacity enhancement apparatus, and particularly a refrigeration cycle capacity enhancement apparatus for applications in vehicle refrigeration cycles in which carbon dioxide gas is used as the coolant.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in a refrigeration cycle, a heat-exchanger is often provided for exchanging heat between low-pressure coolant at the outlet of an evaporator and high-pressure coolant at the intake of a condenser, thereby lowering the temperature of the coolant going from the condenser to the evaporator and raising the temperature of the coolant going from the evaporator to a compressor, enhancing the performance thereof, and seeking also to prevent the return of liquid coolant to the compressor.
In particular, in cases where carbon dioxide gas is used instead of conventional Freon as the coolant in the refrigeration cycle, Freon being problematic in that it destroys the ozone layer while carbon dioxide gas does not have that problem, a heat exchanger is well suited for enhancing the capacity of the refrigeration cycle, as noted above.
As to the heat exchanger, a double-pipe structure is effective, irrespective of the coolant type.
This heat exchanger will take on the functions of the condenser in an auxiliary capacity, so it is effective in lowering the high pressure of the coolant to some degree. However, when there is a high load on the refrigeration cycle, this is not adequate for circumventing high pressure rises in the coolant, which is a problem.
Meanwhile, there is another method for cooling high-pressure coolant in an auxiliary manner, namely that of introducing to the condenser the drain water from the evaporator that is discharged in abundance when there is a high load, as noted above, and exchanging heat between this and the coolant. However, there are problems with this also. Not only is the actual effective flow volume insufficient, with drain water alone, to cool the high-pressure coolant, but, particularly in refrigeration cycles used in vehicles, while the drain water is being conveyed to a condenser installed inside the engine compartment it absorbs heat from the engine compartment and evaporates, so that hardly any benefit can be hoped for.

Refrigeration cycle capacity enhancement apparatus


A multi-input control method and system, and an electronic device supporting the same are provided. The multi-input control method includes receiving an activation request for multiple applications (apps), identifying one or more input units to operate the multiple apps, and assigning the input units to the multiple apps according to occurrence of an event or preset information so that the input units are operable to operate the apps in an independent manner.

Recent advances in hardware technologies have enabled electronic devices such as mobile terminals to support various user functions in composite ways. Such electronic devices of the related art now support a multitasking feature.
An electronic device supporting a multitasking feature enables activation of multiple user functions. However, in most cases, only one user function is actually utilized according to user input control. That is, during execution of one application program, to execute another application program, the user of the electronic device may have to perform input control to suspend execution of the current application program and to newly select a different application program to be executed. Such input control for selecting an application program to be suspended and another application program to be executed in an existing multitasking environment may confuse and inconvenience the user, and may cause waste of user time.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

Multi-input control method and system, and electronic device supporting the same


An angled dental implant includes an implant fixture to be implanted into a hole formed in the mandible of the patient, an abutment having a truncated conical portion configured to be bolted to the fixture, a cylinder configured to engage the abutment, where the cylinder has a center line that is inclined relative to a longitudinal axis of the fixture, wherein the cylinder is fastened to the abutment with a bolt aligned with the center line of the cylinder.

Hither to, as the prosthetic method in a deficit tooth portion, a method for using a bridge and a method for using a denture base have been generally employed.
However, since the method for using a bridge is a method in which healthy natural teeth in the both sides of the deficit tooth portion are cut to prepare an abutment tooth, with which is then engaged a metallic body provided in a dental prosthesis positioned in the deficit tooth portion, it had such defects that not only the healthy natural teeth must be cut to provide an engaging portion, but also since an occlusion pressure is not directly applied to the dental prosthesis part positioned in the deficit tooth portion, a bone loss is likely caused in the instant site.
Also, the method for using a denture base is a method in which a denture is fixed to a denture base made of a synthetic resin or the like to prepare a dental prosthesis. According to this method, the occlusal force which acts to the dental prosthesis is burdened by the remaining natural teeth and/or the oral mucosa, and therefore, this method involved such defects that a sense of incongruity is generated during the use of the dental prosthesis and that the matter wherein the dental base covers receptors of the taste lying scattered in the oral mucosa tissue, thereby generating blunting of the taste. In addition, it involved a serious defect that a loss of the residual ridge is caused during the use for a long period of time.
Thus, as a therapeutic method for overcoming these defects, a technology of dental implant in which an implant fixture acting as a retention balancer of a dental prosthesis is implanted in an implantation hole formed in a mandible of the deficit tooth portion and made act for the functions of a tooth root in a natural tooth, and a fixture is connected and fixed to the implant fixture in the oral cavity side thereof, whereby a dental prosthesis is fixed to this fixture of a dental prosthesis was developed and has been being exploited.
When a therapeutic method for using such a dental implant is exploited, the dental prosthesis can be fixed without covering the oral mucosa. Therefore, this method has such advantages that neither a sense of incongruity nor blunting of the taste is generated at the time when the dental prosthesis is installed, a use feeling like natural teeth is obtained, and that since a proper occlusal force is imparted to the mandible, the bone loss to be highly expected in case where no implant fixture is implanted can be suppressed at the minimum. Thus, this therapeutic method has rapidly developed to such an extent that it can be applied to not only the case where a single tooth is lost, or two or more teeth are locally lost but also the case of an edentulous jaw (i.e., all teeth are lost).
According to the therapeutic method for using such a dental implant, in order that an implantation hole in which an implant fixture is implanted is formed in a mandible of the deficit tooth portion and that after the implant fixture is implanted in this implantation hole, a screw hole exposing in the center in the oral cavity side of the implanted implant fixture is clogged, and at the same time, it is inhibited that the bone grows to the oral cavity side over the implant fixture during the healing stage, there is mainly employed a double technique in which in the oral cavity side of the implant fixture, a cover screw formed such that the end portion thereof in the implant fixture side has a size equal to or larger than that of the end portion of the implant fixture in the oral cavity side, while the oral cavity side thereof has a size larger than that of the end portion in the implant fixture side is screwed in the aforesaid screw hole; a gingiva surrounding the implantation hole is sutured; after not only the implanted implant fixture is thoroughly connected to the mandible of the deficit tooth portion, but also the operated portion where the implantation hole has been formed is healed, the gingiva portion in the oral cavity side having the implant fixture implanted therein is again cut to take apart the cover screw from the implant fixture; in the oral cavity side portion of the implant fixture, a healing abutment in which the outer size thereof in the implant fixture side is equal to that of the end portion of the implant fixture in the oral cavity side, while the length thereof is longer than the thickness of the surrounding gingiva is screwed; and after the cut surrounding gingiva portion has been healed, a fixing device of a dental prosthesis is connected and fixed thereto.
In this double technique, after the surrounding gingiva portion cut in order to screw the healing abutment has been healed; the healing abutment is taken apart from the implant fixture; an abutment having a gold cylinder external engagement portion, which functions as a support for connecting and fixing a fixing device of a dental prosthesis, is connected and fixed to the oral cavity portion of the implant fixture by screwing an abutment screw through which the abutment is penetrated in the aforesaid screw hole; and then, impression taking for preparing a dental prosthesis is carried out. In this case, the gold cylinder external engagement portion provided in the portion of the abutment nearest the oral cavity includes a case that as in posterior tooth portions, it is connected and fixed such that its center line is coincident with the center axis of the implant fixture and a case that as in maxillary anterior tooth portions, its center line is inclined against the center axis of the implant fixture. In any cases, the gold cylinder external engagement portion is connected and fixed so as to enable to fix the position against the implant fixture.
In such dental implant technique, in order to prepare dental prostheses having a good appearance, it is very important to select a construction for each of the abutment having a gold cylinder external engagement portion functioning as a support for connecting and fixing the fixing device of a dental prosthesis and the gold cylinder to be externally engaged in the gold cylinder external engagement portion of the abutment.
That is, in the abutment, a portion in which the end portion thereof in the implant fixture side has a size equal to that of the end portion of the implant fixture in the oral cavity side, while the oral cavity side has a size larger than that of the end portion in the implant fixture side is provided in the implant fixture side, and in the oral cavity side of the portion provided in the implant fixture side, the gold cylinder external engagement portion functioning as a fixing device of a dental prosthesis must be provided. In particular, in order to enable to apply to cases of maxillary anterior tooth portions or cases where an implant fixture as an artificial tooth root portion is not implanted in a mandible of the deficit tooth portion with a right angle, an abutment in which the axial line of the gold cylinder external engagement portion is inclined with an angle against the axial line of the implant fixture has been recently prepared.
In addition, the gold cylinder functioning as the fixing device of a dental prosthesis must be formed such that the end portion thereof in the implant fixture side has the same size as in the end portion in the oral cavity side functioning as a base end portion of the gold cylinder external engagement portion of the abutment. In particular, in case of the gold cylinder as described above, in which the axial line of the gold cylinder external engagement portion is inclined with an angle against the axial line of the implant fixture, it is of a problem how the gold cylinder is externally engaged in the gold cylinder external engagement portion of the abutment.
Hitherto, as the construction for the abutment and the gold cylinder in which the axial line of the gold cylinder functioning as the fixing device of a dental prosthesis is inclined with an angle against the axial line of the implant fixture implanted in the mandible of the deficit tooth portion, there has been proposed a construction in which as disclosed in, for example, JP-A-1-190350, an abutment is provided in the oral cavity side thereof a portion becoming in a cylindrical form having the same diameter after forming such that the end portion thereof in the implant fixture side has the same size as in the end portion of the implant fixture in the oral cavity side, while the oral cavity side thereof has a size larger than that in the end portion in the implant fixture side; in the oral cavity side of the portion becoming in a cylindrical form provided in the oral cavity side, the end surface in the oral cavity side of the expansion portion provided in the state of being further expanded from the aforesaid portion has a plane inclined against the axial line of the implant fixture in the surrounding thereof; in a portion in the center side of the inclined plane and positioned nearest the oral cavity side, a gold cylinder external engagement portion whose center line is inclined against the center axis of the implant fixture is provide; the truncated conical gold cylinder functioning as the fixing device of a dental prosthesis comes into contact with the aforesaid plane in the state that the end surface thereof in the implant fixture side is inclined against the axial line of the implant fixture.
However, in the state that the therapy by means of a dental implant using the abutment and gold cylinder in the above-described conventional example has been completed, as in a anterior tooth portion shown in FIG. 14, an abutment 2* is connected and fixed to an implant fixture 1 by means of an abutment screw 3 while inclining the center line of a gold cylinder external engagement portion 2d* with an angle (against the center axis of the implant fixture 1, and in the oral cavity side of the abutment 2* as well as of the abutment screw 3, a gold cylinder 4* functioning as a fixing device of a dental prosthesis 6 is connected and fixed to the abutment 2* by means of a gold screw 5. In this case, the dental prosthesis 6 is fixed only in the surrounding of the gold cylinder 4*, and if an external surface of an end portion of the dental prosthesis 6 in the side of the implant fixture 1 is larger than an end surface of the abutment 2* in the oral cavity side, bacteria likely retain in this discontinuous surface portion to cause an inflammation in the gingiva. Accordingly, since the dental prosthesis 6 is provided only in the oral cavity side more inside than the end portion of the gold cylinder 4* in the implant fixture 1 side, having the same shape as the end surface of the abutment 2* in the oral cavity side, both the expansion portion of the abutment 2* and the end portion of the gold cylinder 4* in the implant fixture 1 side are exposed, leading to a defect such that the esthetics are remarkably deteriorated.
In addition, as an angled dental implant which is freed from the foregoing defect, there has also been proposed one having a structure comprising a truncated conical portion in which in the above-described conventional abutment, the end portion in the implant fixture side has the same size as the end portion of the implant fixture in the oral cavity side, and the oral cavity side is larger than the end portion in the implant fixture side; and not only in the oral cavity side of this truncated conical portion, an external periphery side plane perpendicular against the axis of the truncated conical portion is provided, but also in a portion positioned in the center side of the truncated conical portion and nearest the oral cavity side, a dental prosthesis retaining portion whose center line is inclined against the center axis of the implant fixture is provided.
However, since this angled dental implant does not use a gold cylinder, a dental prosthesis having such a shape that the end portion in the implant fixture side comes into contact with the above-described external periphery side plane of the abutment and that the dental prosthesis is retained in the dental prosthesis retaining portion of the abutment must be prepared. In addition, since in the portion of this dental prosthesis to be retained in the dental prosthesis retaining portion of the abutment, a bolt hole must be provided in the state that it penetrates from the inclined external surface of the dental prosthesis retaining portion through the center of the truncated conical portion in order to penetrate an abutment screw for connecting and fixing the abutment to the implant fixture, the dental prosthesis must be prepared in such a manner that the presence of this bolt hole does not mind. Accordingly, in order to prepare a dental prosthesis with high precision, this case not only needs many steps as compared with the case where the gold cylinder is used, but also involves a fatal defect that it is difficult to achieve the preparation with high precision.