The invention relates to HMOs and compositions comprising thereof for reducing the risk of, preventing, or treating CVD and/or CDV associated pathological conditions or diseases in humans, particularly in overweight and obese humans.

The increasing trend of obese individuals has become a major health issue over the past several decades and World Health Organization (WHO) has declared obesity as a global epidemic. According to WHO, it was estimated that more than 1.9 billion adults were overweight in 2014, and among them, at least 600 million were obese. This means that worldwide, obesity has more than doubled since 1980 (WHO, fact sheet from January 2015). The rapid increase in obesity over such a short time frame makes a novel genetic cause per se unlikely and strongly favours modified environmental factors over the past 30 years. Such environmental factors include dietary habits, exercise or energy expenditure, and lifestyle. Indeed, there appears to be a strong correlation between Westernization in terms of diet and lifestyle and obesity. A shift from more traditional diets, rich in whole-plant foods like whole-grain cereals, fruits, and vegetables, to modern Western-style diets rich in refined carbohydrates, fat, and red/processed meats and low in fibre and whole-plant foods, is strongly correlated with increased body weight, obesity, and the diseases of obesity (Conterno et al. Genes Nutr. 6, 241).
Overweight and obesity is commonly associated with accumulated abdominal visceral fat and can be related to psycho-sociological behavioural disorders. It is often associated with the development of several chronic complications, which increases the risk of developing metabolic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) (Boulangé et al. Genome Medicine 8, 42 (2016)).
High low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride concentrations and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in the blood is a precursor to hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, and causes the formation and build-up of atherosclerotic plaque in the arteries leading to higher risk of CVD. Cardiovascular risk factors are not only observed in adults, but also obese children and young adults suffer from dyslipidaemia, hypertension, hyperinsulinemia or insulin resistance (Bridger, Paediatr. Child Health 14, 177 (2009)).
Cholesterol concentrations within the circulatory pool are products of input from gut absorption and endogenous synthesis relative to clearance through hepatic and extrahepatic tissue pathways. A disruption in any of these mechanisms can alter this balance, which is reflected in plasma cholesterol concentrations and subsequent CVD progression (Matthan et al. J. Am. Heart Assoc. 2, e005066 (2013)). Complex interplay between the gut intestinal microbiota and the diverse human physiological systems are taking plays in the human body, and it has been implicated that an imbalance in this host-microbiota interaction can disrupt the energy homeostasis and lipid metabolism (Zhang et al. EBioMedicine 2, 966 (2015); Conterno et al. Genes Nutr. 6, 241 (2011)).
Gut microbiota is a specific entity within the body which has its own genome whose gene pool is much more abundant than the one of its host. It has been estimated that the human intestine harbours 1013 to 10′4 bacterial cells and the number of bacteria outnumbers the total number of cells in the body by a factor of 10 (Gill et al. Science 312, 1355 (2006)). In diet-induced obesity, over-nutrition can alter composition of the gut microbiota, with dietary nutrients influencing the growth of certain species. Diets rich in cholesterol, saturated fats, and simple carbohydrates are associated with a gut microbiota rich in particular organisms belonging to the Firmicutes phylum. In line with this, it has been shown that there are marked differences in the gut microbiota between healthy, obese, and type 2 diabetic patients (Bäckhed et al. PNAS 101, 15718 (2004), Qin et al. Nature 490, 55 (2012)) with fewer Bacteroidetes and more Firmicutes in obese than lean people. However, this proportion has shown to change with weight loss leading to increase in the abundance of Bacteroidetes and decrease in the abundance of Firmicutes (Ley et al. Nature 444, 1022 (2006)). Additionally, specific changes at genus level has been observed with lower number of bifdobacteria in obese versus lean and diabetic versus non-diabetic individuals (Schwiertz et al. Obesity 18, 190 (2009)).
It would be advantageous to be able to prevent or reduce the damaging consequences of a dysbiotic microbiota in overweight and obesity. Modulation of the microbiota increasing the abundance of beneficial bacteria could be a way to interrupt the processors involved in CVD and hence improve cardiovascular health. Beneficial bacteria such as bifidobacteria have shown to ameliorate both metabolic and immunological dysfunctions related to obesity. As an example, Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum has shown to reduce serum cholesterol, triglyceride and glucose levels and decrease insulin resistance and improve glucose tolerance in obese mice. Additionally, the species can reduce liver steatosis and the number of larger adipocytes in enterocytes of obese mice (Cano et al., Obesity, 21, 2310 (2013)).
One mode of action for lowering cholesterol by bifdobacteria is the processing of bile salts. Metabolism of cholesterol, a precursor of bile acids, is mediated through the bacteria expressing the enzyme bile salt hydrolase (BSH). Some bifdobacteria have high BSH activity promoting deconjugation of bile acids in the gut to secondary amino acid conjugates. When these secondary conjugates are excreted, cholesterol is broken down to replace the processed bile salts. Overall, this process promotes the catabolism of cholesterol, leading to reduced serum levels (Ettinger et al., Gut Microbes 5, 719 (2014)). Another mechanism is through bacterial metabolites like short chain fatty acids (SCFA), including acetate, propionate and butyrate. Acetate has shown to be negatively associated with visceral adipose tissue and insulin levels in obese individuals and propionate has shown to reduce lipogenesis and cholesterol synthesis inhibition (Verbeke et al., Nutrition Research Reviews 28, 42 (2015)).
Probiotic supplementation could be an approach, however, the addition of a small number of different probiotics to the intestine is unlikely to fully promote a beneficial intestinal microbiota composition with sufficient production of metabolites.
WO 2013/154725 describes that some sialylated and fucosylated HMOs has a positive effect on the growth of certain strains of bifdobacteria that are typically found in both infant and adult microbiota.
EP-A-1332759 discloses that oral doses of 2′-FL, 3′-SL, 6′-SL, LNnT and sialic acid promote insulin secretion in type 2 diabetes-model mice.
EP-A-2143341 discloses that a mixture of GOS, sialylated oligosaccharides and N-acylated oligosaccharides reduces triglyceride concentration in liver in model mice.
EP-A-2332552 discloses that 3′-SL and 6′-SL reduce/prevent fat accumulation in the liver and other organs in high-fat diet mice and rats.
WO 2013/057061 discloses a composition for increasing insulin sensitivity and/or reducing insulin resistance. The composition contains long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, probiotics and a mixture of oligosaccharides containing at least one of lacto-N-neotetraose (LNnT) and lacto-N-tetraose (LNT), at least one N-acetylated oligosaccharide different from LNnT and LNT, at least one sialylated oligosaccharide and at least one neutral oligosaccharide, for use in increasing insulin sensitivity and/or reducing insulin resistance. This composition can also contain 2′-O-fucosyllactose (2′-FL). The composition is particularly adapted for use in infants who were born preterm and/or who experienced IUGR, and in pregnant women suffering from gestational diabetes. It is also stated that the composition can be given to children, adolescents, and adults suffering from insulin resistance and/or type II diabetes. It is stated that the efficacy of the composition can be the result of the synergistic combination of immunity modulator effects triggered by the probiotics and the LC-PUFA through their stimulation with the specific oligosaccharide mixture.
WO 2014/187464 discloses a synthetic mixture of oligosaccharides comprising at least 6 oligosaccharides selected from fucosylated, sialylated, sulfated, GlcNAc- GaINAc- and mannose-containing oligosaccharides, for treating a microbiota of a human, to reduce or eliminate the activity and/or the proportion of a microbe in the microbiota that is associated with the development or maintenance of a cardiovascular disease.
However, there remains a need for effective interventions which are able to prevent or reduce CVD and long-term effects of CVD in CVD patients, especially where the patients are overweight or obese, which are safe, well tolerated and well accepted.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Synthetic composition for preventing or treating CVD


In one preferred embodiment, a boot control apparatus of an MCU includes a register, a reset signal generating circuit, and a controlling circuit. The register includes a first pin to receive a reset signal output from the reset signal generating circuit, and a second pin to receive a signal output from the controlling circuit. The controlling circuit includes a signal detecting circuit, and a delay circuit for delaying a signal output from the signal detecting circuit. The register is capable of sending a command to the MCU to allow the MCU to execute a warm boot if the first pin receives a reset signal and the second pin is at a low level, and sending another command to the MCU to allow the MCU to execute a cold boot if the first pin receives a reset signal and the second pin is at a high level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to boot control apparatus and method for a micro controller unit (MCU), especially to a boot control apparatus and method for efficiently booting the MCU.
2. Description of Related Art
When an MCU device is cold booted, initialization will be executed in the MCU. Generally, the initialization includes hardware verification, software resetting, and so on. E.g. I/O interfaces and memories self-checking. When the MCU device is warm booted, system parameters will be reset and software will be updated in the MCU. A cold boot takes more time than a warm boot. Generally, the MCU can correctly execute a warm boot or a cold boot depending on a corresponding button of the MCU device being activated. However, the MCU cannot differentiate between commands to execute a warm boot or to execute a cold boot when receiving reset signals from an internal source and so always executes a cold boot which wastes time.
What is desired, therefore, is boot control apparatus and method for efficiently booting an MCU.


A biological electrode array connects electrical apparatuses to the skin surface of a living body. The array includes an insulating mount having a central area. A case is connected to the mount and has a cavity with conductive shielding extending thereabout. A plurality of shielding electrodes extend from the insulating mount and are spaced-apart about the central area. The shielding electrodes are electrically connected to the shielding of the case. A plurality of spaced-apart brush-tip electrodes extend from the central area of the mount. Signal buffers within the cavity of the case are electrically connected to the brush-tip electrodes. Conductors extend from the cavity, each conductor being electrically connected to one of the buffers. The brush-tip electrodes have thin, but resilient wires, typically of hard stainless steel or tungsten.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrode apparatuses used in detecting bioelectric signals on a living body, especially for use in detecting electromyographic (EMG) signals from the skin surface of a human body.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrodes which are conventionally used for the acquisition of EMG signals are either invasive (needle or wire) electrodes which penetrate through the skin into a muscle, or non-invasive surface electrodes which are placed on the skin surface above a muscle. Surface electrodes are preferred for their non-invasive characteristics, but their usefulness is limited. One of the reasons for this is that they pick up concurrent activities of many muscle fibres, yielding complex action potentials which represent summated or averaged activities. Reportedly EMG signals can be obtained selectively from the skin surface, i.e. action potentials of muscle fibres of individual or a small number of motor units can be obtained with appropriate combinations of several surface electrodes. The structural and dynamic properties of a muscle are detectable with use of groups of similar electrodes appropriately combined. Many basic electrodes are usually combined at fixed distances from each other in one or two dimensions and are conventionally called an electrode array.
The basic electrodes which form the array must have small contact areas with the skin. Pin electrodes with flat tips have been used in the past in the construction of arrays. However such electrodes have not been very successful because the skin-electrode impedance is too high. Pin electrodes with sharp tips have also been used to investigate the skin electrode impedance with different penetrating depths of the needle point into the skin. The results indicate that the deeper the penetrating depth, the lower the skin-electrode impedance.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,466 discloses a quasi-invasive needle-like electrode which penetrates into the upper, most largely cast-off cell layers of the horny skin to reduce the skin electrode impedance in a very small contact area. Since the contact area between the electrode and the skin is so small, a minimum depth of penetration must be achieved by the electrode in order to reduce the skin-electrode impedance to an acceptable level. On the other hand, the depth must be limited to the thickness of the layer of the stratum corneum of skin (from less than 50 to over 350 micrometers on human skin) in order to keep the electrode non-invasive. However it is difficult or at least inconvenient to determine and control the depth of the penetration of such an electrode in practice, especially when the electrode is part of an array and when motion occurs on the skin or in the muscle. In addition, regular electrolytic treatment is also necessary for electrodes of such small contact area to reduce the impedance of the electrodes themselves.
An example of an electrode array is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,468 to Byers et al. The electrode array includes a base and a plurality of electrically conductive protuberances extending substantially perpendicular to and from the support surface of the base in a two dimensional array. Each of the protuberances has a tip for electrically contacting the tissue.
The prior art discloses various ways to improve types of biological electrodes other than those for electrode arrays suitable for EMG electrodes. Such other types typically have much larger skin contact areas (usually greater than 5 mm.sup.2). An example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,846 to Fletcher. The electrode system includes an insulated electrode and an impedance transformer. Another example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,706,679 to Schmidt. This electrode comprises bundles of silver wire held by a conductive tube with a flat tip. These however are large area electrodes which are intended to be used individually and not in an array.


A method is presented for processing data in a multithreaded application to alleviate impaired or substandard performance conditions. Work items that are pending processing by the multithreaded application are placed into a data structure. The work items are processed by a plurality of threads within the multithreaded application in accordance with a first algorithm, e.g., first-in first-out (FIFO). A thread within the multithreaded application is configured apart from the plurality of threads such that it processes work items in accordance with a second algorithm that differs from the first algorithm, thereby avoiding the impairing condition. For example, the thread may process a pending work item only if it has a particular characteristic. The thread restricts its own processing of work items by intermittently evaluating workflow conditions for the plurality of threads; if the workflow conditions improve or are unimpaired, then the thread does not process any work items.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved data processing system and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for multiple process coordinating. Still more particularly, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for process scheduling.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern operating systems support multiprogramming, whereby multiple programs appear to execute concurrently on a single computational device with a single central processing unit (CPU) or possibly multiple CPUs in a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) machine. The appearance of concurrent execution is achieved through the use of serialized execution, also known as "time slicing": the operating system of a device allows one of the multiple programs to execute exclusively for some limited period of time, i.e., a time slice, which is then followed by a period of time for the exclusive execution of a different one of the multiple programs. Because the switching between programs occurs so quickly, it appears that the programs are executing concurrently even though they are actually executing serially. When the time slice for one program is concluded, that program is put into a suspended or "sleep" state, and another program "awakes" and begins to execute.
One way of improving the performance of a single program or a single process is to divide the program or the process into paths of execution, often termed "threads", that appear to execute concurrently. Such a program or process is typically described as "multitasking" or "multithreaded"; the operating system provides each thread with a time slice during which it has exclusive use of the CPU. Operating systems typically provide built-in mechanisms for switching between concurrent programs and/or threads in a very quick and efficient manner; some types of CPUs provide direct hardware support to an operating system for multithreading.
As threads execute, they invariably need to access resources within a data processing system, such as memory, data structures, files, or other resources. Resources that are intended to be shared by multiple threads must be shared in such a way to protect the integrity of the data that is contained within the resource or that passes through the resource; one way of effecting this is by means of serializing execution of threads that are competing for a shared resource. When a first thread is already using a resource, a second thread that requires the resource must wait until the resource is no longer being used, which would typically occur as a consequence of the first thread having successfully completed its use of the resource. Hence, an operating system allocates time slices to threads in accordance with their needs and their competition for resources rather than through the use of strictly periodic time slices.
In some situations, threads that are competing for shared resources may begin to require more time per work unit because the threads spend more time waiting for other threads to finish using a shared resource that is required to complete the processing of a work unit. On a server, for example, threads may respond more slowly to incoming requests as they wait for a resource that is required to respond to those incoming requests. In the worst situations, the threads may become deadlocked on a shared resource, in which case the threads may completely stop responding to incoming requests.
During these types of situations, there may be some actions that a system administrator can take to help alleviate the situation. For example, the system administrator could dynamically reconfigure a system in a certain manner by entering commands through a system administration tool or utility. Due to the software architecture of the data processing system, though, an action by the system administrator may be placed into a queue behind many other previously pending work units. Hence, the alleviating action of the system administrator is delayed because the threads are slowly processing the work units. In the case in which the threads have become deadlocked, the alleviating action of the system administrator becomes trapped in the queue; since the threads are no longer removing and processing work units from the queue, the alleviating action of the system administrator is never processed.
A particularly serious scenario in which a server's threads may become deadlocked is a denial-of-service attack, which are increasingly more common. The connectivity of the Internet provides malicious users with the ability to probe data processing systems and to launch attacks against computer networks around the world. Many computer security tools are commercially available that provide defensive mechanisms for limiting the ability of malicious users to cause harm to a computer system. An intrusion detection system can alert an administrator to suspicious activity so that the administrator can take actions to track the suspicious activity and to modify systems and networks to prevent security breaches. These intrusion detection systems typically only gather information about possible security incidents, and a system administrator must manually take certain actions to protect networks and resources from the malicious user during an intrusion or attack.
When a server experiences a denial-of-service attack, a large number of requests are directed at the server in a short period of time, e.g., requests for web pages from a web server, and the larger number of pending requests overwhelm the server because the requests are received much faster than they can be answered by the worker threads on the server. Depending on various factors, the server may crash, or the server may continue to respond to incoming requests, albeit in a seemingly much slower manner, because all of the server's worker threads are already busy with pending requests. In some cases, the threads may become deadlocked on a shared resource.
During a denial-of-service attack, there may be some actions that a system administrator can take to help alleviate the situation. For example, the system administrator could configure the server to stop servicing requests from particular clients as identified at particular addresses or to refuse certain authentication credentials. However, many data processing systems have a distributed architecture, and the system administration tools communicate with servers using the same request and response mechanism as is used by the denial-of-service attack. Hence, an action by the system administrator through an administrative application may generate a request to the server, and the system administrator's request is processed in the same manner as the requests from the denial-of-service attack. In that case, the system administrator's request may be placed into the same queue as previously pending requests, and the system administrator's request becomes trapped in the queue, either severely delaying the processing of the system administrator's request or, in the case of deadlocked threads, ensuring that system administrator's request is never processed.
Therefore, it would be advantageous to have a technique for alleviating denial-of-service conditions in a server. It would be particularly advantageous to alleviate these conditions in a manner such that the processing architecture can be extended to provide for the solution without disrupting the basic processing architecture.

Method and system to alleviate denial-of-service conditions on a server

International Business Machines Corporation


Example sensor apparatus for microfluidic devices and related methods are disclosed. In examples disclosed herein, a method of fabricating a sensor apparatus for a microfluidic device includes etching a portion of an intermediate layer to form a sensor chamber in a substrate assembly, where the substrate assembly has a base layer and the intermediate layer, and where the base layer comprises a first material and the intermediate layer comprises a second material different than the first material. The method includes forming a first electrode and a second electrode in the sensor chamber. The method also includes forming a fluidic transport channel in fluid communication with the sensor chamber, where the fluidic transport channel comprises a third material different than the first material and the second material.

Microfluidic systems such as, for example, fluid ejection systems (e.g., an ink jet cartridge), microfluidic biochips, etc., often employ microfluidic apparatus (or devices). Microfluidic apparatus may enable manipulation and/or control of small volumes of fluid through microfluidic fluid channels or networks of the microfluidic systems. For example, microfluidic devices may enable manipulation and/or control of volumes of fluid on the order of microliters (i.e., symbolized μl and representing units of 10−6 liter), nanoliters (i.e., symbolized nl and representing units of 10−9 liter), or picoliters (i.e., symbolized pl and representing units of 10−12 liter).
Where ever possible the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying written description to refer to the same or like parts.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


An amorphous laminated core and a method of making an amorphous laminated core by punching core pieces from amorphous thin sheet material, laminating the plural sheets of core pieces, and forming caulking through-holes by punching. Rod shaped materials are directed into the caulking through-holes of the laminated core pieces.

It has recently been proposed to use amorphous materials having high permeability and less iron loss in cores for heightening efficiency of motors and saving energy.
A core employing the amorphous material is, as seen in Japanese Patent Publication Hei-5-109545/(1993), alternately laminated with oriented silicon steel sheets and the amorphous materials, with a laminated core component mechanically connected by caulking.
Japanese Patent Publication Hei-9-215279/(1997) discloses use of projections and through-holes as a caulking means for a laminated core.
Since the composing material, especially, the amorphous material, has high brittleness and it itself is very thin, the production does not depend on punching out one sheet at a time but depends on steps of laminating the plural amorphous thin sheets unified in one component using adhesives, followed by integrally punching the caulking through-holes and caulking projections.
Thus, it has been adopted to use the caulking means as a final caulking.
However, in case the materials are once laminated and then punched out, since punching is done especially on a plurality of layered materials of high brittleness, it is difficult to stably form caulking projections through to the lower layers of the amorphous laminated sheets, as a result of which sufficient caulking strength is not effected.
In addition, the lamination formed core is weak in caulking strength and there is thus a problem of the core breaking.
Further, there is a problem that micro cores, as for pocket telephones, could not be produced from the amorphous thin sheet material.

Production method of amorphous laminate core and amorphous laminate core


Message delivery is controlled based on the context of the recipient and the content of the message. A message is received from a sender device, the message containing dynamic content. Contextual requirement data is received from the sender device indicating a dynamic contextual requirement to be met for the message to be made available to a user of a recipient device. Context data is received, indicating a context of the user of the recipient device. The dynamic content and the dynamic contextual requirement are modifiable, depending on the context data. The context data is evaluated to determine whether the dynamic contextual requirement is met. Responsive to the dynamic contextual requirement being met, the message is made available to the user of the recipient device.

Smartphones have shifted how people prefer to communicate. Instead of using voice calls to communicate, more and more people prefer to use messages to communicate. The transition from voice communication to messaging presents problems in terms of context, as messaging allows conversations to take place over minutes, hours, days, or even longer periods. Over time, the intent of a message and the circumstances or context in which the message was sent may be lost.
Though the sender likely knows the appropriate context or circumstances in which a message should be read by a recipient, once a message is sent from a device, such as a smartphone, the sender has virtually no control over the circumstances in which the message is viewed. The sender's lack of control over changing context and circumstances of the recipient presents issues not only with messages being misunderstood but also contributes to messages being sent that might be untimely.

Method, system, and computer readable storage device for managing message delivery based on context of a recipient and message content


The present invention concerns a method for remotely evaluating and/or checking the audio quality of an Internet Protocol based voice communication terminal and a corresponding terminal. Method mainly comprising the steps of providing an IP based terminal with an audio device able to perform measurement and computation on at least some of the digital and/or analog voice signals delivered and/or transmitted within said IP communication terminal, connecting a control terminal to the network to which said IP communication terminal is connected to, retrieving at the control terminal the results of measurement and computation operations of at least one audio quality parameter performed by said device.

At present, more and more IP based sound or voice communication terminals, such as IP phones, use complex vocoder algorithms, like for example ITU-T G.711, G.723.1 or G.729.
Using such algorithms incorporating silence suppression mechanism in association with traditional audio functions (handsfree, digital gains, clipping mechanism, automatic gain control), performed by digital signal processors, can lead to major audio quality problems depending on the user voice (loud or whispered) and on the user environment (noisy or calm).
Nowadays, when a user or customer experiences bad audio quality in his communications and complains about it, the only available solution is to send a qualified expert on site in order to perform audio measurements (like electrical levels of signals from microphones and to earpiece and loudspeaker) with an adapted device.
Nevertheless, this existing solution is not seamless for the customer, as during the measurement session at least the concerned IP communication terminal is not available for the corresponding user.
Furthermore, if these audio quality problems have occurred on several terminals of the customer's premises, then the customer's telecommunication system itself might not be available.
In addition, the expert will have to go with his measuring device in each office or to each place equipped with a faulty terminal. The repetitive interventions take a lot of time and can cause major disturbances in the customer's activity.
The problem to be solved by the invention is to propose a method which allows test measurements of audio quality parameters of IP telecommunication terminals without interfering with the normal use of said terminals.
Said method should also increase productivity and efficiency of the support teams or expert teams, by reducing the service time and by rendering the measurements operations less tiresome.

Method for remotely evaluating the audio quality of an IP terminal and corresponding terminal


A semiconductor integrated circuit device has an output circuit composed of a P-channel transistor whose source is connected to a terminal for receiving a supplied voltage and an N-channel transistor whose source is connected to a terminal for receiving a ground voltage, with the node between the drains of the two transistors used as the output terminal of the output circuit. A capacitive circuit element is connected between the sources of the two transistors, and thus in parallel with the output circuit, so as to suppress variations that occur in the current supplied from the supplied power as a result of a current being fed through the output circuit to or from a load connected to the output terminal. This helps keep constant the voltage that is supplied to an internal circuit that is connected in parallel with the output circuit, and thereby stabilize the operation of the internal circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device having an internal circuit and an output circuit that operate on the same source of electric power.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 8 shows an example of the circuit configuration of a conventional semiconductor integrated circuit device. As shown in this figure, in this device, both an internal circuit 10 and an output circuit 20 operate on the same supplied voltage VDD fed from a common electric power source. The output circuit 20 is built as a CMOS inverter circuit composed of a P-channel MOSFET (metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor) 21 and an N-channel MOSFET 22 (hereafter a MOSFET is referred to simply as a xe2x80x9ctransistorxe2x80x9d). The gates of these P-channel and N-channel transistors 21 and 22 are connected together, and their node is connected to the input terminal IN of the output circuit 20. The source of the P-channel transistor 21 is connected to a terminal D, which is in turn connected to the supplied voltage VDD. The source of the N-channel transistor 22 is connected to a terminal G, which is in turn connected to ground GND. The drains of the P-channel and N-channel transistors 21 and 22 are connected together, and their node is connected to the output terminal OUT of the output circuit 20
According to this circuit configuration, when the potential at the input terminal IN turns to a low level, the P-channel transistor 21 is turned on, and the N-channel transistor 22 is turned off, with the result that the potential at the output terminal OUT turns to a high level (equal to the supplied voltage VDD). By contrast, when the potential at the input terminal IN turns to a high level, the P-channel transistor 21 is turned off, and the N-channel transistor 22 is turned on, with the result that the potential at the output terminal OUT turns to a low level (equal to the ground level).
Now, consider a case where, as shown in FIG. 8, a capacitive load 50 is connected to the output terminal OUT of the conventional semiconductor integrated circuit device described above. When the potential at the input terminal IN of the output circuit 20 turns from a high level to a low level, an electric current flows from the supplied voltage VDD through the P-channel transistor 21 so as to charge the load capacitance CK. By contrast, when the potential at the input terminal IN of the output circuit 20 turns from a low level to a high level, an electric current flows through the N-channel transistor 22 to ground GND so as to discharge the load capacitance CK.
Moreover, it is inevitable that, as shown in FIG. 8, small parasitic resistances RD and RG exist across the power lines, i.e. on the one hand along the path from the supplied voltage VDD to the branch node A between the internal circuit 10 and the output circuit 20, and on the other hand along the path from the confluence node B between the internal circuit 10 and the output circuit 20 to ground.
From the descriptions given above, it will be understood that, as the potential at the input terminal IN of the output circuit 20 turns from a high level to a low level, the current flowing through the resistance RD increases, and the current flowing through the resistance RG decreases; by contrast, as the same potential turns from a low level to a high level, the current flowing through the resistance RD decreases, and the current flowing through the resistance RG increases. In this way, every time the potential at the input terminal IN of the output circuit 20 changes its level, the currents that flow through the resistances RD and RG fluctuate, causing variations in the voltage on which the internal circuit 10 operates and thus destabilizing the operation of the internal circuit 10.
It is to be noted that, the greater the load capacitance connected to the output terminal OUT, for example as a result of a number of capacitive loads being connected in parallel to the output terminal OUT, and the higher the current capacity of the P-channel or N-channel transistor 21 or 22, the larger the currents that flow to charge and discharge the load capacitance, and therefore the more serious the effect of the problem. The same is true when a number of output circuits change their output level simultaneously.
An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor integrated circuit device that ensures stable operation of an internal circuit that operates on the same source of electric power as an output circuit.
To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a semiconductor integrated circuit device is provided with: a supplied power terminal for receiving electric power; an internal circuit that operates on the electric power supplied thereto via the supplied power terminal; an output circuit that operates on the electric power supplied thereto via the supplied power terminal; and a capacitive circuit element that is connected midway along the power supply path laid from the supplied power terminal to the output circuit and that acts to allow the electric current that occurs as the output circuit is turned on and off to be supplied to and from an output terminal via the output circuit.
In this circuit configuration, connecting a capacitive circuit element in the manner described above makes it possible to supply the current for the charging/discharging of the load capacitance also from the capacitive circuit element. This helps reduce the charge/discharge current required to be supplied from the supplied power terminal. As a result, it is possible to keep constant the current that flows from the supplied power terminal to the power supply path, and thereby reduce the effect on the internal circuit of the variations caused in the supplied voltage by the operation of the output circuit.

Semiconductor integrated circuit device with a stable operating internal circuit


Basketball backboards and other moldable plastic parts of basketball goal assemblies are formed of thermoplastic materials made in a compression molding process enabling use of an integrally molded graphics sheet. To produce the compression molded part with inmolded graphics, a peripheral edge of the printed graphics sheet is positioned to register with a positioning surface in the mold thereby aligning the graphics sheet relative to the mold. The graphics sheet bonds/melts with the base thermoplastic material during the molding operations and becomes a permanent inmolded graphics sheet surrounded by a border portion. The printed graphics sheet is formed of a material compatible with the thermoplastic material. A preferred thermoplastic material includes recycled plastic made from landfill-destined plastic and/or recycled glass fiber and/or other filler materials.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to basketball backboards and other moldable, plastic parts of basketball goal assemblies and, more particularly, to basketball backboards and other parts of basketball goal assemblies formed of thermoplastic materials made in a compression molding process enabling use of an integrally molded graphics sheet.
2. Description of Related Art
Basketball backboards are currently made of a variety of materials and are commonly produced using a moldable plastic material. Compression molding has been a common method of producing basketball backboards and related parts of basketball goal assemblies for many years. Heretofore, compression molding of basketball backboards and related parts has been limited to thermoset materials, which is characterized by placement of a cold charge in a compression mold. Thermoset processed materials have certain drawbacks, including the fact that these materials are generally not recyclable other than as filler materials. In general, there are two basic types of compression molding processes which may be used for molding thermoplastics. The following description of these two processes outlines some of the difficulties that have prevented use of compression molded thermoplastics in the basketball goal assembly field.
The first type is a sheet molding process that involves placing a reinforcement, such as a glass mat, between sandwiching layers of a thermoplastic and heating the materials to produce a single sheet of material. The single sheet of material is then cut to the desired size and then reheated to molding temperature before being placed in a compression molding press. This process has the disadvantage of higher cost because of the apparatus required, the material handling costs incurred in making the sheet, handling and cutting the sheet, and the like. The material used to make the sheet is also subject to three thermodynamic cycles, a first cycle when the thermoplastic sheet is formed, a second cycle when the thermoplastic sheets and glass mat are molded together, and a third cycle when the resulting sheet is heated to molten temperature prior to molding the part.
The second form of thermoplastic compression is bulk molding compounds by producing a billet of molten material that is placed into a compression molding press which molds the molten material into a part. Effectively placing and distributing long reinforcing fibers in the billet has heretofore required complex machinery as discussed in detail in PCT International Publication Number WO 95/26823 having an International Publication Date of Oct. 12, 1995, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Neither of these prior processes has been able to use post consumer recycled materials, which typically contain dissimilar, contaminated thermoplastics, without costly cleaning and processing that makes use of recycled thermoplastics impractical.
In addition, in recent years, it has become increasingly common to provide graphics on the front face of backboards for a variety of reasons, including aesthetic appeal to the consumer, product and source identification, etc. However, the only commercially acceptable methods of applying graphics have been silk-screening with inks or applying decals. Silk-screening is time consuming and the inks tend to fade after prolonged exposure to sunlight and the elements. Decals are also expensive and can peel off after time. An example of a prior art basketball backboard with silk-screened graphics is a backboard sold by a company known as "SureShot." The silk-screened SureShot backboard is 48 inches across and made of structurally foamed polystyrene molded in a multiple-port injection process. The backboard is molded in the natural color of polystyrene, which is a milky white color. The entire SureShot backboard is subsequently spray painted, both to seal the polystyrene and protect the backboard from ultraviolet radiation. Finally, graphics are silk-screened on the front face of the backboard.
To improve upon the graphics provided in basketball backboards, the assignee of this application has pioneered producing molded backboards with inmold graphics technology, which typically is accomplished by printing on a sheet or substrate using a full color printing process. This sheet is then placed in the mold and bonds/melts with base material during the molding operation and becomes a permanent "inmolded" graphics sheet. The advantage of this technology is the ability to print any image onto the sheet in one printing process (versus one silk-screen operation for each color) and the use of specially formulated inks that resist fading due to the sunlight and elements. This prior art inmold process was first introduced with polystyrene resin in a straight injection molding process.
Specifically, this first inmold process was used to produce a small backboard structure designed for youth sports, which was sold under the "Mini Jammer" name. The "Mini Jammer" backboard was formed by injecting styrene into a straight injection mold to form the styrene into the final desired shape of the backboard, which was small, i.e. less than 48 inches. The graphics display was printed on a styrene sheet laid by hand into the mold for forming the backboard. Alignment of the sheet was accomplished by aligning holes in the sheet on pins in the mold provided for producing the mounting holes in the backboard. Upon injecting styrene into the mold, the back portion of the graphics sheet melted to cause it to be integrally joined to the face of the backboard. As styrene is relatively easy to print on, its use in this prior art process was conducive to the production of backboards provided with sheets having graphics printed thereon.
In the parent application Ser. No. 08/190,914, an improvement of the prior inmold graphics process is disclosed that uses structural foam technology to mold backboards from polyolefin materials. The developments disclosed in this application greatly enhance the impact strength and structure (playability) of the backboard, thereby permitting the use of an inmold graphics sheet with larger backboards, such as 48 inches. In particular, this is accomplished by providing a basketball backboard formed of a structural foam plastic material, such as a polypropylene, molded in an injection molding operation. By molding the backboard using a structural foam material, the backboard is provided with an internal cellular structure and has a tough external skin, which provides good rebound characteristics. A printed graphics sheet formed of a material compatible with the backboard material, such as one formed of the same base resin material, is bonded to the backboard simultaneously with the molding operation of the backboard such that the graphics sheet is inmolded with the backboard structure. There is greater difficulty associated with printing on polyolefin materials than the prior art styrene material due to polyolefin-based materials being relatively non-porous and therefore not receptive to printing inks. To overcome this problem, the graphics sheet is corona treated prior to printing to produce pores in the sheet for receiving ink during printing.
The foregoing demonstrates that there is a need for a compression molding process for making basketball backboards and related basketball goal assembly parts from recyclable thermoplastic materials without requiring the extensive cleaning and processing that heretofore has made use of thermoplastics for these products impractical. There also is a need to further develop the inmold graphics process to permit its use in basketball backboards and other molded plastic parts of basketball goal assemblies made by compression molding thermoplastic resin materials.

Compression molded basketball components with inmold graphics


The recording paper is transported to a paper inversion unit in such a manner that, when recording of a first surface of a recording paper is performed, the recording paper is transported to a position where a rear end of the recording paper is released from a pair of sheet transport rollers, the sheet transport roller and a pinch roller are released at the position, the recording paper is transported in a direction opposite to the direction in the first surface recording to the pair of sheet transport rollers by a pair of sheet discharge rollers, the sheet transport roller is pressed against the pinch roller again, and the transport of the recording paper in the reverse direction is further continued.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a both-side recording apparatus in which both-side recording can be performed to a recording medium inverted by a sheet inversion unit, particularly to the both-side recording apparatus with a sheet transport mechanism having a pair of sheet transport rollers including a sheet transport roller and a pinch roller and a pair of sheet discharge roller arranged on the downstream side of the pair of sheet transport rollers in a transport direction.
2. Related Background Art
In an inkjet recording apparatus which can perform the both-side recording, some methods have been realized or proposed. In these methods, after the recording of the surface (front surface) of the recording paper is terminated, the transport direction of the recording paper is inverted, the recording paper is fed into an inversion device, the recording paper is transported again by the same sheet transport unit after termination of inversion operation, and the recording is performed to a reverse surface of the recording paper by the same recording unit.
In the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,068, the recording paper is supported by the sheet transport rollers while sandwiched by the sheet transport rollers when recording operation of the front surface of the recording paper is terminated, and a rotating direction of the sheet transport roller is directly reversed to transport the recording paper to the inversion unit. In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-067407, after the recording operation of the front surface of the recording paper is performed while the recording paper is transported to the downstream side where the recording paper has already disengaged from the sheet transport roller, the transport direction of the recording paper is reversed, and the sheet transport rollers support the recording paper while sandwiching the recording paper again by utilizing a guide member. In both the methods, a region where the recording of the front surface is terminated and ink is fixed is supported by the sheet transport roller while sandwiched by the sheet transport roller again, and the recording paper is transported.
However, there are some restrictions in the above conventional examples. In the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,332,068, because a paper supporting and sandwiching space for the sheet transport rollers is required, it is impossible that an array of discharge ports of a recording head is arranged to proximity of a nip position. Therefore, a blank space where the recording operation cannot be performed is not prevented from remaining in a rear end portion of the recording paper. In the invention disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-067407, the blank space in a rear end portion of the recording paper can be eliminated. However, in the case where the recording operation is performed by the inkjet recording, since deformation such as surface waviness influenced by swelling of the recording paper occurs, there is a possibility that paper jam is generated when the sheet transport rollers support the recording paper while sandwiching the recording paper. Further, since the sheet transport rollers support the region where the recording the ink is fixed while sandwiching the region again to transport, it is necessary to wait until the ink is completely dried to be fixed. In consideration of various kinds of conditions, it is necessary to secure sufficient dry standby time in order not to transfer the ink to the roller side in any case.


A measuring system enabled to simultaneously start measurement by a plurality of transponders by communication between a reader/writer and a plurality of transponders each with a built-in sensor is to be provided. In addition to an identifier SID intrinsic to a sensor and a chip identifier TID intrinsic to a transponder chip, a unique identifier UID combining the sensor SID and the chip TID is provided in each transponder. A reader/writer, in designating a transponder and transmitting a measurement command to it, invalidates the chip TID out of the UID of each transponder, validates only information regarding a sensor function, and transmits measurement commands including action commands unique to each type of sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transponder, more particularly to a transponder, in particular to a transponder with a built-in sensor and a sensing system the transponder.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known ways of communication by a sensing system of this kind include communication using a reader/writer and a transponder. In this way of communication, the reader/writer utilizes the unique identifier (ID) of the transponder.
First, in order to identify individual transponders, the reader/writer has to cause each transponder to transmit its ID. Therefore, the reader/writer transmits to each transponder an identification command to have ID information sent.
In communication using a reader/writer and a transponder, if the reader/writer communicates back to a plurality of transponders at the same time, different signals will collide with one another. This would make it impossible for the reader/writer to recognize the ID of each transponder. To overcome this problem, in order to ensure accurate recognition of the ID of each transponder, the reader/writer is provided with a function to control return communication from transponders.
By utilizing this function, the reader/writer acquires the ID of every transponder. After completing the acquisition of IDs, the reader/writer sends a command to designate a transponder and have its internal processing done. After completing the internal processing, the transponder transmits to the reader/writer a message to notify the completion.
Upon confirmation of the completion of internal processing by the transponder, the reader/writer transmits and receives similar information to and from another transponder and repeats this procedure until such transmission/reception is completed for every transponder.
The presence of a sensor built into a transponder makes it possible for the sensed result by communication. Further, the transponder with the built-in sensor can be reduced in size to about the dimensions of an integrated circuit size by using semiconductor integrated circuit technology for its configuration. The smaller the size of the transponder is, the greater the variety of purposes it can be applied to.
Incidentally, known examples of the prior art of data processing system between a plurality of transponders and one reader/writer or of a processing system using wireless communication between a plurality of handsets and a base unit include the following.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-224674 (Patent document 1), relating to a radio telemeter system, discloses a radio telemeter system, including a base unit and a handset constitutes a group, by which the discrimination of a radio unit is accomplished more quickly by transmitting a signal specifying the group (group ID) following a communication synchronizing signal (radio header) and the reception is started with the group specifying signal thereby to reduce the duration of the state of reception.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-293893 (Patent document 2), relating to a radio meter inspection method for consecutively collecting information from meters connected to a handset, discloses a method according to which an external device and a base unit are line-connected, the base unit and a handset are connected by a wireless line under the control of the external device, the line connection between the external device and the base unit is not cut off after the completion of the collection of measurement information from a measuring tool connected to the handset, but the base unit is wireless-connected again to another handset under the control of the external device and continues to collect the next set of measurement information from the measuring tool connected to that other handset.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 08-273088 (Patent document 3), relating to a radio meter inspection method of inspecting measuring tools such as city water meters or city gas meters by using electric waves, discloses a method according to which the meter to respond is specified by transmitting in a meter inspection request telegraphic message a few designated ones among the digits of the ID number of each of the meters to be collectively inspected, such digits being successively transmitted for these meters, and each meter having received the inspection telegraphic message, if the ID containing the designated digits is found identical with its own ID, returns the reading of the meter following the sequence of the transmitted IDs.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 05-041888 (Patent document 4), relating to a broadband data collection system, discloses a broad band data collection system including individual house data sending means, provided for each house, for converting the data of the consumed quantity of electric power, city water or city gas into a required high frequency signal and sending it byway of an electric wave; small group data receiving means, provided for each group consisting of a plurality of houses, for receiving the electric wave from the individual house data sending means and demodulating it into data; and broad band data collecting means for collecting the data on individual houses received by a plurality of the small group data receiving means via a communication line or the like, wherein the individual house data sending means is provided with a memory unit for storing house codes preset for the identification of houses and type codes preset for the identification of data types, and an identification code matching the house code and the type code read out of the memory unit is added to the head or the like of each set of data and sent out.
Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-224674
Patent document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-293893 Patent document 3: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 08-273088
Patent document 4: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 05-041888

Transponder and a sensing system using the transponder


A shield member comprises an outer shield portion, an inner shield portion, and a connecting portion. The outer shield portion and the inner shield portion have annular shapes. The connecting portion connecting the outer shield portion with the inner shield portion has a cylindrical shape. The shield member has a cylindrical shape as a whole. A top potion of the outer shield portion has a dam portion which protrudes in an axial direction of the outer shield portion and elongates in a peripheral direction of the outer shield portion. A surface of the dam portion and a surface of the outer shield portion form a gutter-like guiding portion. The shield member shields an outer opening of a outer side member, and shields at least one of an inner opening of an outer wheel housing and an outer periphery of an inlet filler pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shield member which shields a vicinity of a fuel supply opening provided in a vehicle and inhibits mud, water, and so on from entering the vicinity of the fuel supply opening.
2. Description of the Related Art
A fuel supply opening for supplying fuel to a vehicle consists of a tip end portion of an inlet filler pipe extending from a fuel tank. The inlet filler pipe, in general, extends from the fuel tank to a direction of a wheel housing. In addition, the tip end portion of the inlet filler pipe protrudes in a space between an outer wheel housing and an outer side member through an inner opening provided in the outer wheel housing. On the other hand, an outer opening is provided in the outer side member so as to face the inner opening. Therefore, the fuel supply opening, which is the tip end portion of the inlet filler pipe, is disposed inside the outer opening. The outer opening is covered by a fuel lid openably and closably.
By the way, there is a space formed between a peripheral portion of the outer opening and an outer periphery of the fuel lid such that the fuel lid can be opened and closed. Consequently, in rainy weathers, for example, water might possibly enter a vicinity of the fuel supply opening via the space between the peripheral portion of the outer opening and the outer periphery of the fuel lid.
A technique has been proposed in order to solve this problem. In such a technique, water, which has entered from the space between the peripheral portion of the outer opening and the outer periphery of the fuel lid, is inhibited from entering the vicinity of the fuel supply opening while the fuel lid is being closed, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Publication (KOKAI) No. 7-27,926, for example. FIG. 13 is a cross sectional view for schematically illustrating a vicinity of a conventional fuel supply opening of a vehicle. A fuel lid disclosed in the publication will be herein after described.
In the technique disclosed in the publication, a sealing member 162 is provided in an outer peripheral portion of a fuel lid 161. When the fuel lid 161 is closed, the sealing member 162 formed in the fuel lid 161 elastically contacts with a peripheral portion of an outer opening 160 formed in an outer side member 106, and shields a gap between the fuel lid 161 and the peripheral portion of the outer opening 160. Therefore, if the fuel lid 161 is being closed, even in rainy weathers, for example, water which has entered from the gap between the peripheral portion of the outer opening 160 and the fuel lid 161 does not reach the vicinity of a fuel supply opening 170.
However, even when this type of the fuel lid 161 is used, the fuel lid 161 is opened when supplying fuel. Consequently, when a vehicle body is wet in rainy weathers, for example, water attached to the vehicle body might slip down the body so as to drop to the vicinity of the fuel supply opening 170 via the outer opening 160. In this case, depending on where the fuel supply opening 170 is disposed, water dropped down to the fuel supply opening 170 might possibly enter the fuel supply opening 170.
Moreover, if the technique disclosed in the publication is applied, in order that the sealing member 162 elastically contacts with the peripheral portion of the outer opening 160 completely, it is necessary to make an outside diameter of the fuel lid 161 far larger than an opening diameter of the outer opening 160. This is because of a reason described below.
With the technique disclosed in the publication, the sealing member 162 comes into contact with the peripheral portion of the outer opening 160 upon closing the fuel lid 161, and it comes into apart from the periphery of the outer opening 160 upon opening the fuel lid 161. Generally, the fuel lid 161 is pivotably supported by the outer side member 106, and swings to open and close the outer opening 160. Thus, the fuel lid 161 and the sealing member 162 need to be formed as a shape which corresponds to unevenness of the opening and closing movement of the fuel lid 161. In order to correspond to unevenness of the opening and closing movement of the fuel lid 161, the fuel lid 161 needs to have the sealing member 162 shaped in a manner that the sealing member 162 can contact with the outer opening 160 at a position far closer to the outer peripheral side than an inner periphery of the outer opening 160. Accordingly, the fuel lid 161 needs to be formed to have a far larger diameter than the opening diameter of the outer opening 160.
However, in recent years, in order to upgrade the decorativeness of a vehicle, there has been a demand for making the outside diameter of the fuel lid 161 to be smaller. Accordingly, in consideration of such a circumstance, it is not preferable to enlarge the outside diameter of the fuel lid 161.


Systems and methods for assessing operation of analog digital converters (ADCs) of a battery pack supplying power to a vehicle are disclosed. One example system comprises, a first ADC for determining a voltage of at least one battery cell; a second ADC for determining a voltage of a plurality of battery cells; and a controller performing an action in response to comparing an output of said first ADC to an output of said second ADC.

When lithium-ion batteries are configured to supply and store power from a vehicle they may be exposed to many charging and discharging cycles. For example, during a discharge cycle the battery may provide power to propel the vehicle, cool vehicle occupants, and provide entertainment. On the other hand, during a charging cycle the battery may be supplied power from a power supply or from vehicle wheels. However, if battery cells are charged more than a desired amount or discharged more than a desired amount the battery cells may degrade. Therefore, it may be desirable to accurately determine the state (e.g., voltage) of one or more battery cells so that battery charging or discharging may be limited during some conditions.
ADCs are one way to determine battery charge. In one example, the voltage of individual battery cells may be determined by selectively coupling individual battery cells to a higher resolution ADC (e.g., 12 bit resolution). If a particular battery cell is above a desired voltage, the particular battery cell can be discharged based on the ADC output. In this way, it is possible to determine and regulate charge of individual battery cells.
However, when only a single ADC is used to determine battery cell voltage, it may be more difficult to determine degradation of the battery cell voltage measurement. For example, if the ADC output drifts beyond an expected threshold amount, it may be difficult to determine that the ADC output is drifting. Further, it may be difficult to determine if there is degradation of circuitry between the battery cell and the ADC. For example, if switching circuitry between the ADC and battery cells does not switch in a desired manner, the ADC may read the same battery cell more times than is desired.
The inventor herein has developed a system for assessing ADC operation and voltage of a battery, comprising: a first ADC for determining the voltage of at least one battery cell; a second ADC for determining the voltage of a plurality of battery cells; and a controller performing an action in response to comparing an output of said first ADC to an output of said second ADC.
By comparing the output of one ADC to the output of another ADC, it may be possible to determine if circuitry or ADC output has degraded. In one embodiment, a first single higher resolution ADC may be selectively coupled to one or more battery cells. The first ADC output of the battery cell voltage may be stored to memory of a microcontroller during the time period that the first ADC is coupled to the battery cell. Once the first higher resolution ADC has stored the voltage of each battery cell of a battery cell stack to memory, a second lower resolution ADC may be coupled to the series combination of the same battery cells to determine the voltage of the plurality of battery cells. In particular, a microcontroller may then compare the sum of individual battery cell voltages as measured by the first higher resolution ADC to the battery cell voltage formed by the physical series combination of the same battery cells and as indicated by the second lower resolution ADC. Thus, the output of the first higher resolution ADC may be compared to the output of the second lower resolution ADC. If the output of one ADC is different from the output of the other ADC by more than a predetermined amount, the microcontroller may take an action. For example, if the output of one ADC is greater than the output of the other ADC by more than a predetermined amount, the battery pack may indicate that it is desirable to service the battery pack.
The present description may provide several advantages. For example, the approach may provide improved control over the state of charge of a battery pack because the battery pack may be operated closer to operational limits Further, the approach may provide improved battery cell diagnostics. Further still, the approach may provide alternative ways to operate the battery pack since the second ADC may still provide useful battery data even if operation of the first ADC has degraded. In addition, the approach may increase battery life as a higher percentage of the available battery capacity may be utilized.
The above advantages and other advantages, and features of the present description will be readily apparent from the following Detailed Description when taken alone or in connection with the accompanying drawings.
It should be understood that the summary above is provided to introduce in simplified form a selection of concepts that are further described in the detailed description. It is not meant to identify key or essential features of the claimed subject matter, the scope of which is defined uniquely by the claims that follow the detailed description. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages noted above or in any part of this disclosure.

System and method for assessing ADC operation and voltage of a battery pack


The present invention relates to multimeric (e.g., dimeric, trimeric) forms of peptide vectors that are capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) or efficiently entering particular cell types. These multimeric peptide vectors, when conjugated to agents (e.g., therapeutic agents) are capable of transporting the agents across the BBB or into particular cell types. These compounds are therefore particularly useful in the treatment of neurological diseases.

The invention relates to compounds including dimeric or multimeric peptide vectors and uses of such compounds.
The brain is shielded against potentially toxic substances by the presence of two barrier systems: the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB). The BBB is considered to be the major route for the uptake of serum ligands since its surface area is approximately 5000-fold greater than that of BCSFB. The brain endothelium, which constitutes the BBB, represents the major obstacle for the use of potential drugs against many disorders of the CNS. As a general rule, only small lipophilic molecules may pass across the BBB, i.e., from circulating systemic blood to brain. Many drugs that have a larger size or higher hydrophobicity show promising results in animal studies for treating CNS disorders. Thus, peptide and protein therapeutics are generally excluded from transport from blood to brain, owing to the negligible permeability of the brain capillary endothelial wall to these drugs.
Therapy of brain diseases can be impaired by the inability of otherwise effective therapeutic agents to cross the BBB. Thus, new strategies for transporting agents into the brain are desired.

Multimeric peptide conjugates and uses thereof


In order to improve a method to determine the lubricant filling degree of a fluid bearing in which the bearing gap of the fluid bearing is illuminated and the luminous reflectance is analyzed so that the filling degree can be determined in a simple and reproducible manner, it is provided that a spatial intensity profile of the reflected light is recorded.

The invention relates to a method to determine the lubricant filling degree of a fluid bearing in which the bearing gap of the fluid bearing is illuminated and the luminous reflectance is analyzed.
Hydrodynamic bearings, also called fluid bearings, are used, for example, for the rotary bearing of high-precision spindle motors as employed in hard disk drives. Compared to ball bearings, hydrodynamic bearings display high running precision and silent running combined with much higher shock resistance (robustness). They operate almost noiselessly and practically without wear and tear since at nominal speed there is no direct physical contact involving dry friction between the bearing parts that rotate in relation to each other. Between the shaft and the shaft receptacle (bearing sleeve), there is a thin layer of lubricant, such as a lubricant oil.
A method to determine the lubricant filling degree of a fluid bearing is known, for example, from JP 2001-090733 A. Using such a method, it is possible to check whether the desired filling level has been achieved during the manufacture of the bearing, that is while it is being filled or also after it has been filled.

Method to determine the lubricant filling degree of a fluid dynamic bearing


A light-emitting assembly and a method for manufacturing the same are provided. The light-emitting assembly includes a circuit board with a light-emitting element and a plurality of optical microstructures disposed thereon. The optical microstructures adjacent to the light-emitting element absorb or guide a portion of light emitted from the light-emitting element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present application relates to a light-emitting assembly, and in particular to a light-emitting assembly having optical microstructures and a method for manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional direct-type backlight module 10 includes a circuit board 10a with at least a light-emitting element 10b disposed thereon. It should be noted that a portion of light emitted from the light-emitting element 10b is reflected by the circuit board 10a, as the arrow shows in FIG. 1, and then leaves the backlight module 10. However, the light projecting on the circuit board 10a is not uniformly distributed, thus adversely affecting the illumination uniformity of the direct-type backlight module 10.

Light-emitting assembly and method for manufacturing the same


Hydroxypropyl cellulose particles which contain 50-100 weight % of particles with a particle size that is larger than 150 μm and not larger than 355 μm.

Hydroxypropyl cellulose is a hydroxy ether which is obtained by reacting propylene oxide with cellulose. Hydroxypropyl cellulose is used as a binder or forming base material which is added to solid pharmaceutical preparations such as granules and tablets, as a binder for manufacturing ceramics, as a film or coating agent, or as a food additive, thickener, stabilizer, gelator, paste agent, emulsifier, dispersant, adhesive, and so on.
Hydroxypropyl cellulose is ordinarily supplied in particle form. As particulate hydroxypropyl cellulose, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses hydroxypropyl cellulose particles with a particle size of 1-150 μm for use in the adhesive layer of an adhesive patch. In addition, Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 record low substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose particles with a volume average particle size of 25 μm or less, measured by a dry laser diffraction method, for use in solid preparations.


An elbow support apparatus with distal sides and front, back, upper and lower sides constructed as a cushioned or inflatable device having at least a flexible upper surface and a lower surface configured to fit on the lap of the driver of a motor vehicle when the driver is seated adjacent the steering wheel of the vehicle whereby the elbows of the driver are supported such that the driver's hands are maintained in the 9:15 position on the steering wheel; the device is provided with an apron attached to the front side, fasteners attached to each of the distal sides, plural fasteners attached to the back side, and plural, inverted u-shape locating members configured on the lower side of the cushion device.

The driver's elbow support apparatus of this invention relates to a flexible, portable device constructed and arranged to solve the problems experienced by drivers of various vehicles including cars, trucks, vans or SUVs. Motor vehicles are provided with an arm rest on each door adjacent a passenger. Some cars are provided with an elbow support on a central console located between a driver and a front-seat passenger. The problem experienced by drivers is that their arms get tired when driving. The arm rests provided in motor vehicles are spaced to the extent that a driver would have to lean to one side or the other in order to use them. Leaning, in this sense, creates stress on the body and ultimately fatigue and an unsafe condition for long and short driving trips.


A network approach for aided GPS broadcast positioning where A-GPS data is made available in the network and broadcast via cell broadcast servers to wireless devices in order to reduce the time required to determine the position of a wireless device.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to Satellite Positioning Systems (SATPS) and in particular to aided GPS broadcasting of positioning data.
2. Related Art
A Satellite Positioning System (SATPS) such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) maintained by the United States Government is based on radio navigation. The GPS system is a satellite based navigation system having a network of 24 satellites, plus on orbit spares, orbiting 11,000 nautical miles above the Earth, in six evenly distributed orbits. Each GPS satellite orbits the Earth every twelve hours.
A prime function of the GPS satellites is to serve as a clock. Each GPS satellite derives its signals from an on board 10.23 MHz Cesium atomic clock. Each GPS satellite transmits a spread spectrum signal with its own individual pseudo noise (PN) code. By transmitting several signals over the same spectrum using distinctly different PN coding sequences the GPS satellites may share the same bandwidth without interfering with each other. The code used in the GPS system is 1023 bits long and is sent at a rate of 1.023 megabits per second, yielding a time mark, sometimes called a "chip" approximately once every micro-second. The sequence repeats once every millisecond and is called the coarse acquisition code (C/A code). Every 20th cycle the code can change phase and is used to encode a 1500 bit long message, which contains "almanac" data for the other GPS satellites.
There are 32 PN codes designated by the GPS authority. Twenty-four of the PN codes belong to current GPS satellites in orbit and the 25th PN code is designated as not being assigned to any GPS satellite. The remaining PN codes are spare codes that may be used in new GPS satellites to replace old or failing units. A GPS receiver may, using the different PN sequences, search the signal spectrum looking for a match. If the GPS receiver finds a match, then it has identified the GPS satellite, which generated that signal.
Ground based GPS receivers use a variant of radio range measurement methodology, called trilateration, in order to determine the position of the ground based GPS receiver. The GPS position determination is different from the radio direction finding (RDF) technology of the past in that the radio beacons are no longer stationary; they are satellites moving through space at a speed of about 1.8 miles per second as they orbit the earth. By being space based, the GPS system can be used to establish the position of virtually any point on Earth using methods such as trilateration.
The trilateration method depends on the GPS receiving unit obtaining a time signal from the GPS satellites. By knowing the actual time and comparing it to the time that is received from the GPS satellites, the receiver can calculate the distance to the GPS satellite. If, for example, the GPS satellite is 12,000 miles from the receiver, then the receiver must be located somewhere on the location sphere defined by the radius of 12,000 miles from that GPS satellite. If the GPS receiver then ascertains the position of a second GPS satellite it can calculate the receiver's location based on a location sphere around the second GPS satellite. The two spheres intersect and form a circle with the GPS receiver being located somewhere within that location circle. By ascertaining the distance to a third GPS satellite the GPS receiver can project a location sphere around the third GPS satellite. The third GPS satellite's location sphere will then intersect the location circle produced by the intersection of the location spheres of the first two GPS satellites at just two points. By determining the location sphere of one more GPS satellite, whose location sphere will intersect one of the two possible location points, the precise position of the GPS receiver is determined to be the location point located on the Earth. The fourth GPS satellite is also used to resolve the clock error in the receiver. As a consequence, the exact time may also be determined, because there is only one time offset that can account for the positions of all the GPS satellites. The trilateration method may yield positional accuracy on the order of 30 meters; however the accuracy of GPS position determination may be degraded due to signal strength and multipath reflections.
As many as 11 GPS satellites may be received by a GPS receiver at one time. In certain environments such as a canyon, some GPS satellites may be blocked out, and the GPS position determining system may depend for position information on GPS satellites that have weaker signal strengths, such as GPS satellites near the horizon. In other cases overhead foliage may reduce the signal strength that is received by the GPS receiver unit. In either case the signal strength may be reduced or totally blocked. In such case, aiding information may be used to aid in location determination.
There are multiple ways of using radio spectrum to communicate. For example in frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, the frequency band is divided into a series of frequency slots and different transmitters are allotted different frequency slots. In time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, the time that each transmitter may broadcast is limited to a time slot, such that transmitters transmit their messages one after another, only transmitting during their allotted period. With TDMA, the frequency upon which each transmitter transmits may be a constant frequency or may be continuously changing (frequency hopping).
As previously mentioned, another way of allotting the radio spectrum to multiple users is through the use of code division multiple access (CDMA) also known as spread spectrum. In CDMA all the users transmit on the same frequency band all of the time. Each user has a dedicated code that is used to separate that user's transmission from all others. This code is commonly referred to as a spreading code, because it spreads the information across the band. The code is also commonly referred to as a Pseudo Noise or PN code. In a CDMA transmission, each bit of transmitted data is replaced by that particular user's spreading code if the data to be transmitted is a "1", and is replaced by the inverse of the spreading, code if the data to be transmitted is "0".
To decode the transmission at the receiver unit it is necessary to "despread" the code. The despreading process takes the incoming signal and multiplies it by the spreading code chip by chip and sums the result. This process is commonly known as correlation, and it is commonly said that the signal is correlated with the PN code. The result of the despreading process is that the original data may be separated from all the other transmissions, and the original signal may be recovered. A property of the PN codes that are used in CDMA systems is that the presence of one spread spectrum code does not change the result of the decoding of another code. The property that one code does not interfere with the presence of another code is often referred to as orthogonality, and codes, which have this property, are said to be orthogonal. The process of extracting data from a spread spectrum signal is commonly known by many terms such as correlating, decoding, and despreading. Those terms may be used interchangeably herein. The codes used by a spread spectrum system are commonly referred to by a variety of terms including, but not limited to, PN (Pseudo Noise) codes, PRC (Pseudo Random Codes), spreading code, despreading code, and orthogonal code. Those terms may also be used interchangeably herein.
It is because CDMA spreads the data across a broadcast spectrum larger than strictly necessary to transmit data that CDMA is often referred to as spread spectrum. Spread spectrum has a number of benefits. One benefit being that because the data transmitted is spread across the spectrum, spread spectrum can tolerate interference better than some other protocols. Another benefit is that messages can be transmitted with low power and still be decoded, and yet another benefit is that several signals can be received simultaneously with one receiver tuned on the same frequency.
The GPS system uses spread spectrum technology to convey its data to ground units. The use of spread spectrum is especially advantageous in satellite positioning systems. Spread spectrum technology enables GPS receiver units to operate on a single frequency, thus saving the additional electronics that would be needed to switch and tune other bands if multiple frequencies were used. Spread Spectrum also minimizes power consumption requirements of GPS receivers. GPS transmitters for example require 50 watts or less and tolerate substantial interference.
Although the GPS system is available widely, there are conditions that can degrade its performance or block the effectiveness of individual GPS satellite position system receiver units, such as GPS receivers. But while some GPS receivers are less effective in determining their location others may not be blocked and are able to determine their location.
A known approach improving a GPS receiver units' ability to acquire the visible GPS satellites is to use aiding information such as a timing signal provided by a fixed terrestrial network or almanac and ephemeris data stored in a fixed network device. The network device then establishes point-to-point communication with the device that requires aiding. But, the implementation of point-to-point fixed network solutions require expensive equipment to be purchased and maintained by network operators. Point-to-point fixed network solutions are also susceptible to network outages and failures.
Such point-to-point approaches to increasing the ability of the GPS receiver unit to acquire GPS satellites and determine the location of the GPS receiver unit involved the GPS receiver unit being configured to receive aiding or assisting data from another network device using point-to-point communication, such as a cellular network. But, such approaches are less then optimal due to the number of different types of networks, cost of network infrastructure and problems inherent with outages that may occur within fixed networks.
Therefore, there is a need for methods and systems for improving the ability of GPS receiver units to determine their location that overcomes the disadvantages set forth above and others previously experienced.

Network system for aided GPS broadcast positioning


A communication node relays data between equipment communicating with each other via a multi-hop network based on a multi-hop manner, records a predetermined kind(s) of data among the relayed data, checks validity of the equipment by matching the predetermined kind(s) of data against past data recorded by the recording part, and outputs a check result of the validity of the equipment to a predetermined output destination(s).

There is a demand to use network services of wireless communications even in areas where no radio waves reach from wireless local area network (LAN) access points and services of wireless communication networks are not available. In this case, a wireless LAN access point (so-called "a base unit") having a multi-hop function can be used to expand the range of connection to the existing LAN.
PTL 1 discloses a wireless relay system which can prevent impersonation by an unauthorized communication terminal using a falsified media access control (MAC) address or identification address. PTL 1 discloses a wireless relay system that includes a plurality of wireless relay apparatuses 3 that perform relay processing in a multi-hop manner, a communication terminal 2 that is connected to a wireless relay apparatus 3, and a gateway apparatus 1 that relays communication data to a shopping server 7 as a communication destination specified by the communication terminal 2. When receiving a substitutive authentication request command from the communication terminal 2, the wireless relay apparatus 3 authenticates the communication terminal 2 by matching information about a path used until the gateway apparatus 1 receives the command against path information stored in advance in the gateway apparatus 1.
PTL 2 discloses an authentication apparatus that contributes to improvement in security and accuracy of authentication. Specifically, this authentication apparatus includes a plurality of information acquisition parts which acquire identification information used based on authentication methods different from each other and a storage part which holds authentication sequence information that is formed by a combinations of and an order of authentication elements. A set of an authentication method and matching information used with the information acquisition parts is used as a single authentication element. This authentication apparatus authenticates an individual authentication target based on the combinations and the order of authentication elements.
PTL 1: Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. JP2013-201481A
PTL 2: Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. JP2017-151759A

Communication node, multi-hop network, equipment validity check method, and program


A plurality of disc-shaped substrates carry light emitters and are axially stacked, spaced apart, in a metal housing to dissipate the heat produced by the light emitters. The housing comprises mutually connected elongate planar ribs that abut the light emitters or substrates for thermally connecting the light emitters to the housing. The ribs have shoulders. The substrates are received between the ribs and abut the shoulders. The shoulders are positioned proximate each light emitter in intimate contact with the substrate for efficient heat dissipation.

Light sources comprising assemblies of light emitters such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) are finding increasing application in mass production applications because of their high efficiency and long life. One such application is light sources for replacing florescent and incandescent lights and the like.
High output LEDs, particularly when a large number are used on a common support, produce a significant amount of heat. If elevated temperatures are then produced, the life of the LEDs is reduced. In practice, it is desirable that the LED be placed into contact with heat dissipation surfaces to effectively cool the LED. One such arrangement is described in the applicant's pending application No. 60/830,110. While this device performs satisfactorily, it will be appreciated that there is an ongoing need for an improved assembly capable of mounting a large number of light emitters and one which can be produced economically. The assembly should include a great deal of heat transfer potential in addition to providing a means for further incorporating the light emitter into the circuitry of an overall lighting assembly.

Hong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute Company Limited


A memory device can dynamically select a voltage step size for programming (i.e., charging) memory cells. The memory device can increase the voltage step size to reduce programming time or decrease the voltage step size to reduce errors. The memory device can identify device conditions, such as temperature or amount of use (e.g., a count of program/erase cycles). The memory device can increase the voltage step size when the device conditions are less likely to cause errors (e.g., in a middle temperature range or below a threshold number of program/erase cycles) or can decrease the voltage step size when the device conditions are more likely to cause errors (e.g., in a high or low temperature range or above a threshold number of program/erase cycles).

A memory sub-system can store and access information using volatile memory devices, non-volatile memory devices (e.g., flash "NAND" and/or "NOR" technology), or combination memory devices. Some memory sub-systems, such as flash memory, utilize electrical energy, along with corresponding threshold levels or processing voltage levels, to store and access data. During a programming operation, memory components can be charged to a target level by iteratively applying voltage to memory components until the memory components store a charge at the target voltage levels. The increment of the amount of voltage applied in each iteration is referred to as the "programming voltage step size" or "voltage step size."
The performance or characteristics of memory devices can change or degrade due to strenuous device conditions, such as a high number of program/erase cycles or external conditions such as extreme temperatures or changes in temperature between programming and reading. For example, in many industrial and automotive applications, memory devices are used in extreme cold (e.g., −40 degrees Celsius) or extreme heat (e.g., 105 degrees Celsius). As another example, programming at −5 degrees Celsius and reading back at 85 degrees Celsius can cause an increase in errors. These strenuous device conditions can lead to errors and other performance issues, such as programming operations skipping from being too far below the target level in one programming step iteration to being too far above the target level in the next programming step iteration. One way to address errors and performance issues raised by these strenuous device conditions is to set a low voltage step size, reducing the possibility of missing target voltage levels when program operations are performed during strenuous device conditions. However, reducing the voltage step size requires more iterations to perform programming operations, slowing them down.

Dynamic memory programming voltage step for strenuous device conditions


A mechanical cutter for cutting solid materials. It comprises left and right cutting jaws which are moveably connected by a rear hardware unit and rotate about this pivot point. The cutting jaws have opposing curved cutting edges which close but form an opening extending down to the base. The cutting jaws also have central holes. Straps with two mounting holes and an elongated base hole are placed above and below the cutting jaws to guide the linear motion of the cutting jaws. One pair of handle plates is placed above the top strap and another pair of handle plates is placed below the bottom strap. Alternately, a handle assembly is slid over the straps on the right and left side. A circular boss with an eccentric hole is on the end of each top and bottom handle plate. The circular bosses mate with the respective strap mounting holes. The plates are connected with each other through, the eccentric holes in the circular bosses and the central holes in the cutting jaws, by front hardware units. Two handles are each formed by assembly of one bottom plate to one respective top plate. The handles have grips which assist in keeping the handle plates joined. As the handles are separated, the jaws open to allow the material to be cut to enter. As the handles are closed, the cutting edges of the jaws close and cut the inserted material.

The applicant claims the benefit of his provisional application, Ser. No. 60/025,824, filed Sep. 3, 1996.
The present invention relates to the field of mechanical tools and more particularly tools used for cutting solid, roughly circular materials such as bolts.
The standard bolt cutter is generally made up of two handles connected to a pair of opposing jaws which can be manually separated or brought together by movement of the handles. The connection of the handles to the jaw can be designed to create double action movement which produces greater cutting force. Single action bolt cutters which provide reduced cutting power are also available on the market.
The current state of the art for mechanical bolt cutters generally requires five sizes of cutters to cut steel bolts with a diameter of up to 5/8". This results in the necessity to make and stock many component parts and finally assembled products which increases the cost of bringing the product to market. Further, the state of the art bolt cutters are heavy, relatively expensive to manufacture, and the handles must be made long enough to exert sufficient cutting force. The cutting force in the state of the art bolt cutters is also hindered by the fact the application of cutting force only occurs through a small portion of the handle arc range.
Development of a bolt cutter which has greater cutting power but which can be made lighter, shorter, and less expensively than products presently on the market represents a great improvement in the field of bolt cutters and satisfies a long felt need in the construction industry as well as for other mechanics and home craftsmen.