An Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing, OFDM, transmitter comprises a signalling data generator (113) which generates a set of data symbols indicative of physical layer characteristics of data transmissions from the OFDM transmitter (100). A first symbol generator (115) and second symbol generator (117) generates a first and second OFDM signalling symbol by allocating the set of data symbols to subcarriers. The allocation of the physical layer data symbols to subcarriers is different for the first OFDM signalling symbol and the second OFDM signalling symbol. A data packet generator (105) and transmitter (101) generate a data packet and transmit this to an OFDM receiver (300). The OFDM receiver (300) determines the physical layer data symbols by combining the data symbols of corresponding subcarriers of the first and second OFDM signalling symbols and uses the resulting information to decode the user data of the data packet.

In recent years, wireless data communication in domestic and enterprise environments have become increasingly commonplace and an increasing number of wireless communication systems have been designed and deployed. In particular, the use of wireless networking has become prevalent and wireless network standards such as IEEE 801.11a and IEEE 801.11g have become commonplace.
The requirement for increasing data rates, communication capacity and quality of services has led to continued research and new techniques and standards being developed for wireless networking. One such standard is the IEEE 801.11n standard which is currently under development. IEEE 801.11n is expected to operate in the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequency spectrum and promises data rates of around 100 Mbps and above on top of the MAC layer. IEEE 801.11n will use many techniques which are similar to the earlier developed IEEE 801.11a and IEEE 801.11g standards. The standard is to a large extent compatible with many of the characteristics of the earlier standards thereby allowing reuse of techniques and circuitry developed for these. For example, as in the previous standards IEEE 801.11a and IEEE 801.11g, IEEE 801.11n will use Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplex (OFDM) modulation for transmission over the air interface.
Furthermore, in order to improve efficiency and to achieve the high data rates, IEEE 801.11n is planned to introduce a number of advanced techniques. For example, IEEE 801.11n communication is expected to typically be based on a plurality of transmit and receive antennas. Furthermore, rather than merely providing diversity from spatially separated transmit antennas, IEEE 801.11n will utilise transmitters having at least partially separate transmit circuitry for each antenna thus allowing different sub-signals to be transmitted from each of the antennas. The receivers may receive signals from a plurality of receive antennas and may perform a joint detection taking into account the number and individual characteristics associated with each of the plurality of transmit antennas and receive antennas. Specifically, IEEE 801.11n has seen the likely introduction of a Multiple-Transmit-Multiple-Receive (MTMR) antenna concept which exploits Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) channel properties to improve performance and throughput.
In order to enable or facilitate reception, the standards of IEEE 802.11a/g as well as all 802.11n proposals prescribe that all data packet are preceded by a physical layer preamble which comprise known data that facilitates receiver gain setting, synchronization and channel estimation. In addition, a dedicated OFDM symbol is included which conveys physical layer signaling required for the decoding of the data packet. This information includes, among others, information of the modulation scheme, coding rate and packet length for the data packet. This signaling is known as the SIG field. Since IEEE 802.11n receivers require information relating to multiple antennas, the signaling field has been enhanced for IEEE 802.11n and is generally referred to as SIG-N. The SIG-N fields are communicated as QPSK symbols in the subcarriers of the dedicated SIG-N field OFDM symbol.
Specifically, SIG-N mapping (QPSK) has been defined in the context of a proposal (Cenk Kose, Bruce Edwards, "WWiSE Proposal: High throughput extension to the 802.11 Standard", IEEE document number 11-05-0149-02-000n) to IEEE802.11n.
In such systems, no signaling information is available prior to the transmission of the SIG-N field and the receiver must thus be able to decode this field without any prior information about its nature (this is necessary for compatibility reasons).
In addition to providing high data rate services, IEEE 802.11n is also expected to be used for a variety of applications having different requirements and characteristics. For example, IEEE 802.11n may be used for lower data rate applications, such as mobile Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and mobile multimedia streaming for handheld devices. Although these applications have low data rate it is desired that they can be accessed over a large area and therefore it is desirable for IEEE 802.11n cells to have as large a coverage area as possible.
In order to extend the range of IEEE 802.11n cells, low data rate robust modes have been proposed which exploit the potential of the MIMO configuration to increase range.
Some of the proposed modes use a Space Time Block Code (STBC) combined with the low order constellation BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying) to provide a robust communication at lower signal to noise ratios. In other proposals, range extension is achieved by efficient use of beamforming techniques.
However, a problem for these robust modes is that the range extension applied to the user data may result in a range which exceeds that achieved for the OFDM symbols containing the SIG-N fields. In order to overcome this discrepancy, it has been proposed to introduce an optional simple repetition of the SIG-N field such that the OFDM symbol is transmitted twice.
This approach may provide a 3 dB signal to noise ratio improvement and may thereby increase the range. However, although this extension is beneficial it is not optimal and may in some situations limit the effective coverage area of the IEEE 802.11n cell.
Hence, an improved OFDM communication system would be advantageous and in particular a system allowing increased range, improved compatibility between user data and signalling transmissions, low complexity and/or improved performance would be advantageous.

Transmission of signaling information in an OFDM communication system


This invention relates to compositions and methods for achieving the efficient aziridination of organic molecules, especially olefins. More specifically, the invention is directed to a mild, selective, and efficient aziridination protocol that involves catalysis by a mixed-valent dirhodium(II,III) catalyst (Rh25+). Especially preferred sources for forming such mixed-valent dirhodium(II,III) catalyst (Rh25+) are dirhodium(II) carboxamidates, such as dirhodium(II) caprolactamate, and their derivatives and analogues.

Aziridines are organic compounds having a 3-member ring with a large distortion. The general formula of an aziridine moiety is shown below:

The incorporation of an aziridine into an organic compound is referred to as aziridination. Aziridination is a powerful approach for introducing nitrogen into organic compounds, especially olefins (Müller, P. et al. (2003) "ENANTIOSELECTIVE CATALYTIC AZIRIDINATIONS AND ASYMMETRIC NITRENE INSERTIONS INTO CH BONDS," Chem. Rev. 103(8); 2905-2920; Dauban, P. et al. (2003) "IMINOIODANES AND C—N BOND FORMATION IN ORGANIC SYNTHESIS," Synlett 2003:1571; Jacobsen, E. N. (1999) "FUTURE PERSPECTIVES IN ASYMMETRIC CATALYSIS," 2:607, In: Comprehensive Asymmetric Catalysis; Jacobsen, E. N. et al. Eds., Springer-Verlag, Berlin; Müller, P. (1997) "TRANSITION METAL-CATALYZED NITRENE TRANSFER: AZIRIDINATION AND INSERTION," 2:113, In: Advances in Catalytic Processes; Doyle, M. P., Ed; JAI Press Inc, Greenwich). Largely regarded for their synthetic versatility, aziridines are well suited for ring opening with an assortment of nucleophiles to yield functionalized amines (Hu, X. E. (2004) "NUCLEOPHILIC RING OPENING OF AZIRIDINES," Tetrahedron 60:2701).
Several methods for directly forming aziridines have been advanced. U.S. Pat. No. 4,840,890 (Kamei et al.), for example, teaches that such compounds can be produced through the intramolecular dehydration of an alkanolamine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,252 (Sharpless et al.) discloses that phenyltrimethylammonium tribromide may be employed as a general catalyst for the direct aziridination of olefins. U.S. Pat. No. 5,703,246 (Aggarwal et al.) teaches forming aziridines by reacting a metallocarbon with an alkyl, aryl or heteroaromatic sulfide and then reacting the product with an amide, carbonyl, or olefin. Ylides have been used to catalyze aziridination (Doyle, M. P. et al. (2001) "Epoxides and aziridines from diazoacetates via ylide intermediates," Org. Lett. 3(6):933-935; Yang, X. F. et al. (2002) "STEREOCONTROLLED AZIRIDINATION OF IMINES VIA A SULFONIUM YLIDE ROUTE AND A MECHANISTIC STUDY," J. Org. Chem. 67(23):8097-8103). Electrochemical approaches to aziridination have been proposed (Hilt, G. (2002) "DIRECT ELECTROCHEMICAL AZIRIDINATION OF ALKENES UNDER METAL-FREE CONDITIONS," Angew Chem Int. Ed. Engl. 41(19):3586-3588, 3513). Iodine (III) has been used to mediate aziridination (Padwa, A. et al. (2002)"STEREOCHEMICAL ASPECTS OF THE IODINE(III)-MEDIATED AZIRIDINATION REACTION OF SOME CYCLIC ALLYLIC CARBAMATES," Org. Lett. 4(13):2137-2139). Mahoney, J. M. et al. (2005) disclose the use of Brønsted Acids to catalyze aziridination (BRØNSTED ACID-PROMOTED OLEFIN AZIRIDINATION AND FORMAL ANTI-AMINOHYDROXYLATION," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127:1354-1355). U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,960 (Antilla et al.) teaches the synthesis of chiral cis-aziridines by reacting an imine with a diazo compound in the presence of a chiral vaulted biary-Lewis Acid complex. U.S. Pat. No. 6,307,087 (Buchwald et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 6,395,916 Buchwald et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,946,560 (Buchwald et al.) disclose Ar—Ar1 compounds, where Ar and Ar1 are optionally substituted monocyclic and polycyclic aromatic and heteroaromatic moieties, and the compounds are produced through the use of a transition metal (including rhodium) and a ligand that may contain an aziridine moiety.
Methods of using aziridines are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,127 (Zhang). U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,709 (Piller et al.) discloses uses of aziridines in facilitating the synthesis of photographic color couplers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,331 (Ryang) teaches the use of poly N-substituted aziridines to form curable resins. U.S. Pat. No. 5,936,127 (Zhang) teaches the aziridination of aldehydes as a means for producing chiral heterocyclic compounds.
Despite their value and utility, available methods for the direct preparation of aziridines remain limited. Transition metal catalyzed processes in conjunction with an appropriate nitrene precursor (e.g., iminophenyliodinanes such as TsN=IPh, or in situ variants) have received considerable attention, and represent the best currently available technology for forming aziridine derivatives (Dauban, P. et al. (2001) "COPPER-CATALYZED NITROGEN TRANSFER MEDIATED BY IODOSYLBENZENE PHI=O," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 123:7707-7708; Duran, F. et al. (2002) "INTRAMOLECULAR PHI=O MEDIATED COPPER-CATALYZED AZIRIDINATION OF UNSATURATED SULFAMATES: A NEW DIRECT ACCESS TO POLYSUBSTITUTED AMINES FROM SIMPLE HOMOALLYLIC ALCOHOLS," Org. Lett. 4:2481-4283; Gillespie, K. M. et al. (2002) "ENANTIOSELECTIVE AZIRIDINATION USING COPPER COMPLEXES OF BIARYL SCHIFF BASES," J. Org. Chem. 67(10):3450-4588; Siu T. et al. (2002) "PRACTICAL OLEFIN AZIRIDINATION WITH A BROAD SUBSTRATE SCOPE," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 124:530-531; Li, Z. et al. (1993) "ASYMMETRIC ALKENE AZIRIDINATION WITH READILY AVAILABLE CHIRAL DIIMINE-BASED ZCATALYSTS," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 115:5326-5327; Evans, D. A. et al. (1994) "DEVELOPMENT OF THE COPPER-CATALYZED OLEFIN AZIRIDINATION REACTION," "J. Am. Chem. Soc. 116:2742-2753; Sanders, C. J. et al. (2000) "STRUCTURAL ORIGINS OF A DRAMATIC VARIATION IN CATALYST EFFICIENCY IN ENANTIOSELECTIVE ALKENE AZIRIDINATION: IMPLICATIONS FOR DESIGN OF LIGANDS BASED ON CHIRAL BIARYLDIAMINES," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 122:7132-7133; Liang, J.-L. et al. (2002) "METALLOPORPHYRIN-MEDIATED ASYMMETRIC NITROGEN-ATOM TRANSFER TO HYDROCARBONS: AZIRIDINATION OF ALKENES AND AMIDATION OF SATURATED C—H BONDS CATALYZED BY CHIRAL RUTHENIUM AND MANGANESE PORPHYRINS," Chem. Eur. J. 8:1563) for which catalysis via dirhodium(II,II) complexes (Rh24+) holds a prominent position (Müller, P. et al. (1996) "A METHOD FOR RHODIUM(II)-CATALYZED AZIRIDINATION OF OLEFINS," Tetrahedron 52:1543; Müller, P. et al. (1998) "THE RHODIUM(II)-CATALYZED AZIRIDINATION OF OLEFINS WITH\{[(4-NITROPHENYL)SULFONYL]IMINO\}PHENYL-BOLD LAMBDA 3-IODANE," Can. J. Chem. 76:738-750; Guthikonda, K. et al. (2002) "A UNIQUE AND HIGHLY EFFICIENT METHOD FOR CATALYTIC OLEFIN AZIRIDINATION," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 124:13672; Liang, J.-L. et al. (2002) "RHODIUM(II,II) DIMER AS AN EFFICIENT CATALYST FOR AZIRIDINATION OF SULFONAMIDES AND AMIDATION OF STEROIDS," Org. Lett. 4:4507; Liang, J. L. et al. (2003) "CHIRAL RHODIUM(II,II) DIMERS CATALYZED ENANTIOSELECTIVE INTRAMOLECULAR AZIRIDINATION OF SULFONAMIDES AND CARBAMATES," Tetrahedron Lett. 44:5917; Fruit, C. et al. (2004) "ASYMMETRIC TRANSFER OF NITRENES CATALYZED BY CHIRAL DIRHODIUM(II) USING AROMATIC SULFAMATE ESTERS," Tetrahedron-Asymmetry 15:1019). However, drawbacks in the uses of this methodology arise from high catalyst loadings, limited shelf life of TsN=IPh, competing C—H insertion, and/or poor selectivity.
Ruthenium, silver and copper catalysts have been studied in efforts to mediate more efficient direct aziridination (Man, W. L. et al. (2004) "DIRECT AZIRIDINATION OF ALKENES BY A CATIONIC (SALEN)RUTHENIUM(VI) NITRIDO COMPLEX," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 126(47):15336-15337; Omura, K. et al. (2004) "DESIGN OF A ROBUST RU(SALEN) COMPLEX: AZIRIDINATION WITH IMPROVED TURNOVER NUMBER USING N-ARYLSULFONYL AZIDES AS PRECURSORS," Chem. Commun. (Camb) 21(18):2060-2061; Cui, Y. et al. (2003) "EFFICIENT AZIRlDINATION OF OLEFINS CATALYZED BY A UNIQUE DISILVER(I) COMPOUND," J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125(52):16202-16203; Gullick, J. et al. (2003) "OBSERVATION OF THE ENHANCEMENT IN ENANTIOSELECTIVITY WITH CONVERSION FOR THE AZIRIDINATION OF STYRENE USING COPPER BIS(OXAZOLINE) COMPLEXES," Chem. Commun. (Camb.) (22):2808-2809. Rhodium (II,II) dimers have also been reported as aziridination catalysts (Liang, J. L. et al. (2002) "RHODIUM(II,II) DIMER AS AN EFFICIENT CATALYST FOR AZIRIDINATION OF SULFONAMIDES AND AMIDATION OF STEROIDS," Org. Lett. 4(25):4507-4510).
Unfortunately, despite all such advances, methods for directly forming aziridines remain of limited utility, due to yield, cost, complexity or lack of stereospecificity. Thus, a need remains for a chemical synthetic approach capable of efficiently forming aziridines and possessing stereospecific control. The present invention is directed to this and other needs. The present invention is thus directed to a mild, selective, and efficient aziridination protocol that involves catalysis by a mixed-valent dirhodium(II,III) catalyst (Rh25+).

Efficient aziridination of olefins catalyzed by dirhodium catalysts


A temporary platform for assembling elevator equipment in an elevator shaft is arranged substantially in the region of a shaft opening, such that the platform partially sits on a floor surface of the building and partially protrudes into the elevator shaft. The platform includes a bottom frame and bottom plates that lie on or are inserted into the bottom frame. The bottom frame also includes two lateral bottom bars, at least one front and one rear transverse bar that interconnect the two lateral bottom bars, and at least two intermediate bars that are arranged parallel to the two lateral bottom bars. The two intermediate bars are supported substantially by the front and the rear transverse bars.

Temporary platforms are already used today for the assembling elevator equipment in an elevator shaft. Known such platforms are for example designed to be arranged in the region of a shaft opening, such that the platform partially sits on a floor surface of the building and partially protrudes into the elevator shaft. From WO2004007869, for example, such a work platform is known, which is pivoted into the elevator shaft, or from CN204626921 another platform is known, which is inserted into the shaft. The platforms provided by these solutions are assembled approximately in one plane with a floor of an access floor, allowing for easy stepping onto the platform.
A disadvantage of these solutions is that often at this location, i.e. in the area of the bottom of the access floor, further erection elements, such as an erection beam, as it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 8,646,224, must be arranged. This prevents a construction of the aforementioned platform or it must be moved to another access level. However, this makes accessibility to the entire elevator shaft more difficult.
In the figures, the same reference numbers are used for equivalent parts in all of the figures. Pairs of related components are identified in the "X, Y" format where "X" and "Y" are the corresponding reference characters.

Platform for assembling elevator equipment


In a first embodiment, a flip top container of partially irregular hexagonal transverse cross section is formed from a unitary blank of paperboard or other stiff, foldable and resilient sheet material. In a second embodiment of the container, another unitary blank of paperboard is employed to form a cigarette container having the same partially irregular hexagonal transverse cross sectional shape, except that a panel having tongue which is reclosable after opening is employed in lieu of a flip top closure.

This invention relates to paperboard containers and more particularly to a paperboard container fashioned from an integral blank of paperboard and formed into a hexagonal cigarette carton of the flip top type.
Flip top cigarette containers formed of paperboard are known and are generally defined by a rectangular body and a hinged lid, with the body often having an internal collar insert which extends above the top edge of the front wall and sides of the container. A flip top lid is hinged to the rear wall of the container by a living hinge, with the lid having a top flat closure and three depending walls, one of which is a front wall and the other two of which are side walls. The overall configuration is that of a rectangular parallelepiped.
Cigarette containers are also known which do not include a flip top closure having a living hinge but which have the same general configuration of a rectangular parallelepiped and a top closure.


A method of configuring an integrated circuit device to perform a function includes storing a plurality of configurations for performing the function, each of the configurations being designed for a different characteristic of a particular input to the function. Inputs are received for the function, including the particular input. The characteristic of the particular input as received is examined, and one of the plurality of configurations is instantiated based on that characteristic of the particular input as received. A machine-readable data storage medium may be encoded with instructions to perform the method. A programmable device may be configured according to the method, and also may be incorporated into a heterogeneous system.

Early programmable devices were one-time configurable. For example, configuration may have been achieved by "blowing"—i.e., opening—fusible links. Alternatively, the configuration may have been stored in a programmable read-only memory. Those devices generally provided the user with the ability to configure the devices for "sum-of-products" (or "P-TERM") logic operations. Later, such programmable logic devices incorporating erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) for configuration became available, allowing the devices to be reconfigured.
Still later, programmable devices incorporating static random access memory (SRAM) elements for configuration became available. These devices, which also can be reconfigured, store their configuration in a nonvolatile memory such as an EPROM, from which the configuration is loaded into the SRAM elements when the device is powered up. These devices generally provide the user with the ability to configure the devices for look-up-table-type logic operations.
At some point, such devices began to be provided with embedded blocks of random access memory that could be configured by the user to act as random access memory, read-only memory, or logic (such as P-TERM logic). Moreover, as programmable devices have become larger, it has become more common to add dedicated circuits on the programmable devices for various commonly-used functions. Such dedicated circuits could include phase-locked loops or delay-locked loops for clock generation, as well as various circuits for various mathematical operations such as addition or multiplication. This spares users from having to create equivalent circuits by configuring the available general-purpose programmable logic.
While it may have been possible to configure the earliest programmable logic devices manually, simply by determining mentally where various elements should be laid out, it was common even in connection with such earlier devices to provide programming software that allowed a user to lay out logic as desired and then translate that logic into a configuration for the programmable device. With current larger devices, including those with the aforementioned dedicated circuitry, it would be impractical to attempt to lay out the logic without such software. Such software also now commonly includes pre-defined functions, commonly referred to as "cores," for configuring certain commonly-used structures, and particularly for configuring circuits for mathematical operations incorporating the aforementioned dedicated circuits. For example, cores may be provided for various trigonometric or algebraic functions.
Available programming software has heretofore assumed that when a user specifies a certain logic design, that design is static. However, in some cases, it may be that the design includes a function that is parameterizable or that may operate differently when its inputs are in different ranges. This is particularly the case where the programmable device is part of a larger heterogeneous system where some other device, such as a microprocessor, calls upon the programmable device to process data. Depending on the characteristics of those data, slightly different versions of the user logic design may be required.

Multiple alternate configurations for an integrated circuit device


In order to preserve edges of a picture and to suppress a residual distorted signal in a reproduced picture, a picture processing device (in-loop filter) includes a first filter unit for applying a first filter to an input picture to generate a first filter picture, an attribute information generator which generates an attribute value indicating whether or not to apply a second filter to each pixel of the generated first filter picture, and a second filter unit for applying the second filter to a target pixel of the first filter picture selected on the basis of the attribute value of each pixel of the generated first filter picture, to generate a second filter picture.

A compression encoding technique is used so as to efficiently transmit or accumulate moving picture data. In the case of a moving picture; the MPEG1, 2, and 4 or H.261 to H.264 systems are widely used.
In order to improve the encoding efficiency, a target picture is divided into a plurality of target blocks, and then a predictive encoding/decoding process is performed. Specifically, a picture for one frame is divided into target blocks of 16×16 pixels. In the case of an intra-frame predictive encoding method, a predicted signal is generated using an adjacent picture signal (reproduced or uncompressed from compressed picture data) which resides in the frame in which a target block to be encoded resides and is subtracted from the target block to obtain a difference signal which is then encoded.
Instead of the intra-frame predictive encoding method, an inter-frame predictive encoding method may be used (in which a predicted signal of a target block is generated, using another frame adjacent on the time axis in a moving picture, and the difference between the predicted signal and the target block is encoded). In this case, a motion detection is carried out for the target block using uncompressed encoded frames as reference pictures. A predicted signal with the minimum error is then determined, and a difference value between the determined predicted signal and the target block is obtained.
Next, discrete cosine transform and quantization processes are performed on the difference signal obtained by the intra-frame predictive encoding method or the inter-frame predictive encoding method. The quantized coefficients of discrete cosine transform and the motion vectors or mode information for specifying the predicted signal are entropy-encoded to generate encoded data.
Data encoded in the above-described manner is uncompressed and reproduced so as to obtain a predicted signal of a next target block. The reproduced picture is stored as a reference picture in a frame memory after distortion caused by encoding is removed by means of in-loop filter processing.
The in-loop filter may be a known block distortion removing filter which removes a block distortion between blocks. However, the block distortion removing filter has a problem in that the filter is prone to generate an out-of-focus picture. Meanwhile, below-described Patent Literature 1 discloses a filtering process which removes noise near edges in a reproduced picture. According to the method of Patent Literature 1, since the filtering process is performed so as not to cross over the edges of an object within a picture, it is effective to clear the impressions of the entire picture while preserving the edges.

Image processing device, method, and program, dynamic image encoding device, method, and program, dynamic image decoding device, method, and program, and encoding/decoding system and method


An extra seat back 7 is arranged behind a regular seat 4, 5 of a vehicle in such a manner that the extra seat back 7 can take a first position embedded in a recess of a luggage floor, a second position rised up from the luggage floor, and a third position of a full-flat state.

The present invention relates to a seat arrangement for vehicles and, more particularly, to a seat arrangement which includes an extra or spare seat back located backward of a rear seat for use on the automotive vehicles, particularly on van or micro-bus type compact car.
In a conventional vehicle such as van type vehicle, a rear seat is arranged in such a manner that a seat back thereof can be tilted rearwardly onto a floor of the vehicle body in order to keep a large space adequate to accommodate a heavy load in the vehicle, when such the load is to be put thereon.
An example of this type conventional rear seat is disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model Publication No. Hei 7-27239 (1996) in which there is a lack of a means for providing passengers with the comfortable rear seat. The conventional rear seat includes a mechanism for tilting the seat back in a full-flat state so that the passenger sitting in the rear seat can spend a relaxed time in the vehicle. However, it has been experienced that a person sitting in a front seat can not meet the passenger sitting in the rear seat in a face to face relation, or even if the passengers sitting in the front seat and the rear seat can face each other, there is a limitation of a space for stretching out their legs or a space for passenger sitting portion.


An active prosthetic socket including a prosthetic socket shaped to fit a residual limb. An active adjustment system is integrated with the prosthetic socket and is configured to dynamically adjust the fit of the active prosthetic socket to the residual limb of a user during ambulation or motion.

One conventional prosthetic socket device which attempts to address residual limb volume changes during ambulation or motion is a vacuum-assisted socket system (VASS). The VASS uses a vacuum to regulate residual limb volume fluctuation and decrease perspiration. However, the VASS may not be effective, is bulky and heavy.
Another conventional prosthetic socket is an air pressurized active prosthetic socket device which attempts to minimize residual limb volume by allowing the user to adjust the air level of the device to the comfort level of the user. However, the air pressurized active prosthetic socket may be ineffective because it is rotationally unstable.
Although the conventional systems discussed above attempt to maintain adequate socket-limb contact during use of the prosthetic socket, they do not account for the shape changes that occur within the residual limb during ambulation or motion. Thus, there is a need for a truly active prosthetic socket which provides for changes in the socket attendant to changes in the limb during completion of motion.


Cell culture chambers and incubators are operated to grow cells under a wide variety of conditions. Where those conditions result in too rapid evaporation of the well media for low volume wells such as those found in 1536-well plates, a subchamber is provided to increase the local humidity so that media evaporation is controlled to an acceptable level. A local liquid source is provided. That liquid may be water or an isotonic solution matched to the well media for a particular application.

Many screening assays, both for the detection of potential therapeutics and for the isolation of clonal populations, require cells to be cultured in microtiter plates. The small well size and volume of the 1536-well plate make conventional methods of culturing cells inadequate under certain conditions. Under those conditions, evaporation of media is too rapid to support cell growth.
While the volumes of typical sample plates having larger well volumes than those found in 96-well plates is such that standard approaches may be employed without too rapid evaporation of media to support cell growth, once the volume of individual wells begins to get below 10 .mu.l, evaporation of the media from the wells begins to be a problem. At the 1 .mu.l well volume typical of the 1536-well plate described in U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/037,636 filed Feb. 18, 1997 and incorporated by reference herein, too rapid evaporation of well media can be a substantial problem.
This problem cannot necessarily be solved by simply increasing the humidity of the cell culture chamber. For example, at a temperature of 37.degree. C., it may be impossible to increase the chamber humidity above approximately 95% humidity. This limitation results because the sides of the chamber are typically sufficiently cooler than the chamber air temperature that condensation occurs and water comes out of the chamber atmosphere as quickly as it is added. As a consequence, at this temperature and maximum global humidity, too rapid evaporation of well media may still occur.
It will be recognized to be highly advantageous to provide a simple, cost effective solution to this and other problems which result when multiple well plates having low volume wells such as 1536-well plates are utilized in standard cell culture chambers.

Cell culture chamber for multiple well plates


A BIOS setting modification system is provided in a computing device. During a computing device runtime for the computing device, an Out-Of-Band (OOB) controller device receives a first BIOS setting modification request and, in response, generates first BIOS setting modification information and causes the transmission of a System Management Interrupt (SMI). During the computing device runtime for the computing device, an SMI handler subsystem in the computing device retrieves, in response to the SMI, the first BIOS setting modification information, either directly from the OOB controller device, or from a storage subsystem in which it was provided by the OOB controller device. The SMI handler subsystem then applies the first BIOS setting modification information to at least one subsystem in the computing device such that a first BIOS setting modification provided by the first BIOS setting modification information takes effect during the computing device runtime for the computing device.

The present disclosure relates generally to information handling systems, and more particularly to modifying BIOS settings in an information handling system.
As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users is information handling systems. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
Information handling systems such as, for example, server devices, utilize a Basic Input Output System (BIOS) that may include non-volatile firmware that is configured to perform hardware initialization during a booting process for the server device, as well as provide runtime services for an operating system and/or other programs provided on the server device. The BIOS may include or be associated with a plurality of BIOS attributes/settings (hereinafter, "BIOS settings") that may be utilized to configure devices and/or other subsystems in the server device (e.g., Network Interface Controller (NIC) devices, memory devices, storage (e.g., Redundant Array of Independent Disk (RAID)) devices, the BIOS itself, etc.) to operate in a desired manner. However, the conventional BIOS provided in server devices does not provide any mechanism for modifying BIOS settings during runtime of the server device. Rather, when a user wishes to modify BIOS settings such as, for example, a memory device speed of a memory device, that user must set up an Out-Of-Band (OOB) job to modify that BIOS setting by, for example, providing BIOS settings modifications (as part of the OOB job)=to a remote access controller, Baseboard Management Controller (BMC), and/or other OOB controller device known in the art. The user must then re-boot the server device in order to have the OOB controller device provide the OOB job to the BIOS (or a pre-boot application in the server device) so that the OOB job will be executed to apply the BIOS settings modifications. Following the execution of the OOB job, the user must then re-boot the server device again in order for the BIOS setting modifications to take effect. As such, multiple re-boots of the server device are required in order to modify BIOS settings via a conventional BIOS.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved BIOS setting modification system.


A data arbitration apparatus for combining data from a plurality of data paths, wherein data from the respective data paths are clocked by respective clock signals asynchronously and at different rates includes a multiplexer to which the respective data paths are coupled. The output of the multiplexer is applied to a "D"-type register having a dock input terminal coupled to one of the respective clock signals. The D-type register provides the combined data signal. A logic arrangement is coupled to the respective clock signals for providing control signals according to a hierarchy of importance of the signals occurring on the respective data paths. The control signals are coupled to condition the multiplexer to provide data samples from the respective data paths according to the established hierarchy. The logic arrangement is constructed such that the multiplexer switches to a different data path on a predetermined transition of the clock signal for that data path and switches back to the prior connected data path on the next predetermined transition of the clock signal associated with such prior connected data path.

Often it is necessary or desirable to coalesce non-synchronous data from different data sources into a single data stream, with samples in the combined data stream occurring at a constant rate. For example, in formatting compressed video data according to a particular protocol, a state machine may be employed to control the formatting of such data. Depending upon system exigencies, it may become necessary to re-establish the current state of operation of the state machine. This may be accomplished by inserting a particular codeword into the input data stream that the state machine is processing. The particular codeword may be provided by a system microprocessor controller which is operating asynchronously with the data being input to the formatter.


A method for accelerating processing of program code in a heterogeneous system may be provided. It may include identifying at runtime a code region having an acceleration potential, creating a dependency graph of the program code, expanding the dependency graph based on a first set of predefined rules to generate variants of the code region, and determining segments within the variants based on a second set of predefined rules. The segments may be dedicated and assigned and compiled for use to/by a specific execution unit such that a cost function is minimized.

Developing a complex computer software application usually requires specific domain knowledge. Domain experts are focusing on the overall functional correctness of an application, but lacking knowledge about system level optimizations such as parallel programming for multi-core CPUs or using graphics processors for matrix calculations. This lack of knowledge may result in a poor performance of the application or even infeasibility, e.g., extreme memory consumption. Today, computer systems are often made up of several different processing units such as CPUs (central processing unit), GPUs graphics processing unit), FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) and other dedicated processing units. Such systems are referred to as heterogeneous systems. System experts are needed to fully exploit the performance of such a system. These experts know about the best implementation for a given subroutine of an application program such as sorting or matrix multiplication on a specific system. Often, system experts provide libraries containing efficient implementations of subroutines for a specific system. Such libraries may adapt the underlying algorithm (execution kernel) of a subroutine, depending on current input parameters and system settings, to optimize for specific performance goals such as high throughput or low power consumption. For domain experts to develop their software, they are using such system libraries in order to benefit from system level optimizations. The drawback, however, may be the required use of such libraries: not only does this hinder portability to other systems but—even more important—domain experts still need to be specialists in using such relatively low-level libraries and must know how to apply them efficiently to achieve a performance improvement.
Related published technologies include, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 8,296,743 B2, which discloses a method for library-based compilation and dispatch to spread computations of a program across heterogeneous cores in a processing system. The source program contains a parallel-programming keyword, such as map-reduce, from a high-level library oriented parallel programming language.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,979,852 B2 discloses a system for automatically generating optimized codes which are operational on a predefined hardware platform. The system includes an analyzing device for defining optimization rules on the basis of performance tests and measures determined on the basis of standout sequences and static and dynamic parameters.
Thus, known solutions are able to dynamically change the execution kernel for a single function during runtime to optimize a given program for a new system setting. However, such systems still require the domain expert to use specific libraries appropriately during development. Furthermore, the focus on adapting only single kernel functions prevents the system from applying higher-level optimizations such as re-ordering or merging of kernels.
However, known technologies perform the optimization on the basis of single instructions of a program code. Hence, there is a need for an optimization targeted at a sequence of several instructions which may run in a heterogeneous computing system environment.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Adaptable and extensible runtime and system for heterogeneous computer systems

International Business Machines Corporation


A spider hinge for a frameless glass door includes a base plate, a pivot block connected to the base plate, a swing base pivotally connected to the pivot block, and a positioning mechanism disposed between the pivot block and the swing base. The swing base has two legs slantwise extending therefrom. Each leg has a round frustum extending therefrom. The round frustum has a threaded hole define in one side thereof for assembling with a fastener. The glass door is secured by fastening the fastener and the round frustum. The positioning mechanism includes two springs and a positioning block connected to the two springs and biased by the springs. The pivot block has multiple cavities for selectively receiving the positioning block to achieve the purpose of positioning the swing base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hinge, and more particularly to a spider hinge for a frameless glass door.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional spider fitting for a glass in accordance with the prior art shown in FIGS. 20 and 21 comprises a body 91 and four legs 92 radially extending from the body 91. Each leg 92 has a free end formed with a round ring 93. Each round ring 93 has a through hole 94 centrally defined therein and aligning with a corresponding one of four openings in the glass. A fastener extends through the aligned through hole 94 and the opening for assembling the spider fitting and the glass.
Although the conventional spider fitting provides the effort of securing the glass, the legs can not pivot around the body. The conventional spider fitting is provided for connecting the continuous and immovable glasses not for glass door.
The present invention has arisen to mitigate and/or obviate the disadvantages of the conventional spider fitting for glass.


Nucleic acid molecule selected from the group consisting of (a) a nucleic acid molecule having a nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID: NO 1, (b) a nucleic acid molecule which encodes a peptide having an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID: NO 2, (c) a nucleic acid molecule whose complementary strand hybridizes to a nucleic acid molecule according to (a) or (b) and which codes for a peptide which binds to ciliary neurotrophic factor receptor (CNTFR), the peptide binding with lower affinity than ciliary neurotrophic factor to the interleukin-6 receptor (IL-6R), (d) a nucleic acid molecule whose nucleotide sequence differs from the nucleotide sequence of a nucleic acid molecule according to (c) due to the degenerated genetic code, the codon at positions 82-84 of the nucleic acid molecule according to (a) coding for a non-positively charged amino acid, and the peptide at position 28 shown in SEQ ID: NO 2 having a non-positively charged amino acid residue.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) variants which, owing to the loss of affinity for the interleukin 6 receptor (IL-6R), can be used as a therapeutic with particularly low side effects for disorders or diseases which are associated with CNTF.
2. Description of Related Art
During the development of new medicaments which not only reduce weight safely and effectively, but at the same time positively influence metabolic disarrangements which are often associated with adiposity, such as insulin resistance and glucose intolerance, a class of molecules naturally produced by the body has become the subject of current investigation. These molecules are the so-called glycoprotein 130 (gp130) ligands from the group of interleukin (IL)-6-like cytokines, wherein the ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) and its analogs are particularly investigated as potentially active therapeutics against adiposity (Febbraio M A, gp130 receptor ligands as potential therapeutic targets for obesity. J. Clin Invest 2007; 117(4):841-9).
CNTF was originally identified as a trophic factor that supports the survival of neurons in the ciliary ganglion of chick embryos (Adler R, Landa K B, Manthorpe M. Varon S. Cholinergic neuronotrophic factors: intraocular distribution of trophic activity for ciliary neurons. Science 1979; 204(4400):1434-6). Additional investigations revealed that this effect was not only found with parasympathetic but also with other periphery neurons, such as sympathetic, sensory and motor neurons (Barbin G, Manthorpe M, Varon S. Purification of the chick eye ciliary neuronotrophic factor. J Neurochem 1984; 43(5): 1468-78; Sendtner M, Kreutzberg G W, Thoenen H. Ciliary neurotrophic factor prevents the degeneration of motor neurons after axotomy. Nature 1990; 345(6274):440-1) and also with different central neurons (Ip N Y, Li Y P, van dS, I, Panayotatos N, Alderson R F, Lindsay R M. Ciliary neurotrophic factor enhances neuronal survival in embryonic rat hippocampal cultures. J Neurosci 1991; 11(10):3124-34; Hagg T, Quon D, Higaki J, Varon S. Ciliary neurotrophic factor prevents neuronal degeneration and promotes low affinity NGF receptor expression in the adult rat CNS. Neuron 1992; 8(1): 145-58; Ip N Y, McClain J, Barrezueta N X, Aldrich T H, Pan L, Li Y, Wiegand S J, Friedman B, Davis S, Yancopoulos G D. The alpha component of the CNTF receptor is required for signaling and defines potential CNTF targets in the adult and during development. Neuron 1993; 10(1):89-102; Clatterbuck R E, Price D L, Koliatsos V E. Ciliary neurotrophic factor prevents retrograde neuronal death in the adult central nervous system. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1993; 90(6):2222-6). CNTF is a molecule that has been strongly conserved during evolution and which functions are mainly restricted to the neuromuscular axis (Perret D, Guillet C, Elson G, Froger J, Plun-Favreau H, Rousseau F, Chabbert M, Gauchert J M, Gascan H. Two different contact sites are recruited by cardiotrophinlike cytokine (CLC) to generate the CLC/CLF and CLC/sCNTFRalpha composite cytokines. J Biol Chem 2004; 279(42):43961-70). CNTF shows a number of structural and functional characteristics that distinguish this factor from most other cytokines of the gp130 group. Firstly, it does not possess a signal peptide and consequently cannot be secreted. This led to the early assumption that it is a protein which is stored in the cytosol and released only upon damage of the nerve fibers (Masiakowski P, Liu H X, Radziejewski C, Lottspeich F, Oberthuer W, Wong V, Lindsay R M, Furth M E, Panayotatos N. Recombinant human and rat ciliary neurotrophic factors. J Neurochem 1991; 57(3):1003-12; Stöckli K A, Lottspeich F, Sendtner M, Masiakowski P, Carroll P, Gotz R, Lindholm D, Thoenen H. Molecular cloning, expression and regional distribution of rat ciliary neurotrophic factor. Nature 1989; 342(6252):920-3). Further, CNTF in high concentration is able not only to bind to its original alpha receptor (CNTFR), but also to the IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) (Schuster B, Kovaleva M, Sun Y, Regenhard P, Matthews V, Grotzinger J, Rose-John S, Kallen K J. Signaling of human ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) revisited. The interleukin-6 receptor can serve as an alpha-receptor for CTNF. J Biol Chem 2003; 278(11):9528-35).
Due to its neurotrophic potential, CNTF was tested as a potential therapeutic for different neurodegenerative diseases. Protective effects were shown in animal models (Anderson K D, Panayotatos N, Corcoran T L, Lindsay R M, Wiegand S J. Ciliary neurotrophic factor protects striatal output neurons in an animal model of Huntington disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1996; 93(14):7346-51; Emerich D F, Winn S R, Hantraye P M, Peschanski M, Chen E Y, Chu Y, McDermott P, Baetke E E, Kordower J H. Protective effect of encapsulated cells producing neurotrophic factor CNTF in a monkey model of Huntington's disease. Nature 1997; 386(6623):395-9), and a phase I study showed the safety of intracerebrally administered CNTF for Huntington's disease (Bloch J, Bachoud-Levi A C, Deglon N, Lefaucheur J P, Winkel L, Palfi 5, Nguyen J P, Bourdet C, Gaura V, Remy P, Brugieres P, Boisse M F, Baudic S, Cesaro P, Hantraye P, Aebischer P, Peschanski M. Neuroprotective gene therapy for Huntington's disease, using polymer-encapsulated cells engineered to secrete human ciliary neurotrophic factor: results of a phase I study. Hum Gene Ther 2004; 15(10):968-75). In contrast, in a clinical phase III study subcutaneously injected CNTF showed no influence on disease progression in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Miller R G, Petajan J H, Bryan W W, Armon C, Barohn R J, Goodpasture J C, Hoagland R J, Parry G J, Ross M A, Stromatt S C. A placebo-controlled trial of recombinant human ciliary neurotrophic (rhCNTF) factor in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. rhCNTF ALS Study Group. Ann Neurol 1996; 39(2):256-60). Some patients in this study developed a dose-dependent weight loss which confirmed the previously observed cachexia after systemic administration of CNTF to mice (Henderson J T, Seniuk N A, Richardson P M, Gauldie J, Roder J C. Systemic administration of ciliary neurotrophic factor induces cachexia in rodents. J Clin Invest 1994; 93(6):2632-8). Accordingly, work was focused on the elucidation of the mechanisms which lead to such a reduction of the body weight to allow the targeted modulation of these mechanisms. It is however to be concluded that CNTF is not a physiological regulator of the weight, and its cachectic effects were observed exclusively after exogenous administration in animal experiments and clinical studies.
Early on it was already known that CNTF from rats has a fourfold higher activity than human CNTF (Masiakowski P, Liu H X, Radziejewski C, Lottspeich F, Oberthuer W, Wong V, Lindsay R M, Furth M E, Panayotatos N. Recombinant human and rat ciliary neurotrophic factors. J Neurochem 1991; 57(3):1003-12). This is due to an amino acid in position 63 of the protein which is arginine (R) in rats and glutamine (Q) in humans. By the substitution Q63R, it was possible to generate a human CNTF variant whose activity corresponds to that of rat CNTF (Panayotatos N, Radziejewski E, Acheson A, Pearsall D, Thadani A, Wong V. Exchange of a single amino acid interconverts the specific activity and gel mobility of human and rat ciliary neurotrophic factors. J Biol Chem 1993; 268(25):19000-3). Further studies showed that also N-terminal or C-terminal deletions to some extent resulted in an increase of activity or at least did not negatively influence CNTF activity (Negro A, Corsa V, Corona G, Grandi C, Skaper S D, Callegaro L. Structure-function studies of human ciliary neurotrophic factor. Neurochem Res 1994; 19(2):223-7; Krüttgen A, Grotzinger J, Kurapkat G, Weis J, Simon R, Thier M, Schroder M, Heinrich P, Wollmer A, Comeau M. Human ciliary neurotrophic factor: a structure function analysis. Biochem J 1995; 309 (Pt 1):215-20). These findings ultimately led to the generation of Axokine®, a CNTF analog which differs from naturally occurring human CNTF by targeted modifications (deletion of the 15 C-terminal amino acids, replacement of cysteine in position 17 by alanine, and replacement of glutamine in position 63 by arginine) (Peterson W M, Wang Q, Tzekova R, Wiegand S J. Ciliary neurotrophic factor and stress stimuli activate the Jak-STAT pathway in retinal neurons and glia. J Neurosci 2000; 20(11):4081-90) and which is tested as a potential therapeutic for adiposity (Preti A. Axokine (Regeneron). IDrugs 2003; 6(7):696-701). Moreover, evidence has been obtained recently that the activity of Axokine® is retained even after simultaneous removal of N- and C-terminal amino acids (Breusing K. Generierung and Charakterisierung eines verbesserten Ciliary Neurotrophic Factors (CNTF). Inauguraldissertation zur Erlangung der Doktorwürde der Medizinischen Fakultät der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel 2007).
The CNTF analog Axokine®, developed by the company Regeneron, has already been tested as a potential therapeutic for adiposity. However, in clinical studies the induction of neutralizing antibodies against CNTF has been observed in numerous patients and the substance did not enter the market.
The therapeutic use of CNTF or CNTF analogs, respectively, has been proven problematic so far due to the severe side effects which are associated with their systematic administration. The fact that CNTF in high concentrations is able not only to bind to its original receptor, but also the IL-6R can possibly explain some of the IL-6R-mediated side effects of systemically administered CNTF, such as fever (Shapiro L, Zhang X X, Rupp R G, Wolff S M, Dinarello C A. Ciliary neurotrophic factor is an endogenous pyrogen. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1993; 90(18):8614-8) or the induction of an acute phase response in the liver (Dittrich F, Thoenen H, Sendtner M. Ciliary neurotrophic factor: pharmaeokinetics and acute-phase response in rat. Ann Neurol 1994; 35(2):151-63). These effects may be avoided by a monospecifity for the CNTFR.
The induction of neutralizing antibodies against CNTF observed in clinical studies is another so far very problematic aspect when using CNTF as a medicament. These antibodies can both jeopardize the therapeutic effect of the medicament and interfere with the body's own CNTF which is possibly associated with severe consequences. Therefore not only the company Regeneron but also the companies Xencor and Merck have dealt with the mitigation of CNTF immunogenicity (see WO 02/070698 A2; US 2005/0064555 A1 and US 2005/0069987 A1).
Due to the activation of IL-6R CNTF exhibits a B cell and therefore immune stimulating activity. It is hence possible that the pronounced antibody formation that was observed in response to B cell stimulation can be explained by the capability of administered CNTF to bind and activate IL-6R. A CNTF variant which is not able to activate the IL-6R would possibly no longer possess this property. Since on the other hand B cells do not express CNTFR, such a CNTF variant should not be capable of stimulating B cells. It is therefore obvious that the antibody formation against the CNTF variant is prevented in this way.
There is an urgent need for new therapeutics for adiposity and neurological diseases. CNTF variants without affinity or with only low affinity to IL-6R which render it possible to prevent IL-6R-associated side effect are interesting candidates for a new generation of CNTF medicaments for neurological diseases and for the regulation of body weight.


A via provides a plurality of electrical connections between conductors on different layers of a circuit board. The via includes an opening through the circuit board formed by a plurality of substantially partially overlapping bores. An electrically conductive plating is formed on an inner surface of the opening. The plating forms a plurality of distinct electrically conductive paths.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to circuit boards and more particularly, to vias in multi-layer circuit boards.
2. Background Art
Vias in circuit boards allow an electrical connection to be formed between conductive layers. For multiple electrical connections through a circuit board, multiple vias are used. The multiple vias must be implemented while complying with tight space requirements and maintaining low manufacturing costs. This becomes increasingly difficult as the size of circuit boards decreases, and as the number of electrical connections required by increasingly complex circuits increases.
What is needed is a method and apparatus that allows increased numbers of electrical signals to be routed through a circuit board while complying with the tight size restrictions of the circuit boards.

Via providing multiple electrically conductive paths


A telecommunication system obtains personal information from a caller to provide the identity of the caller to a called telephone. In one embodiment, fingerprint information of the caller is obtained from a fingerprint scanner at the calling telephone of the caller which is then correlated with names in a finger print information database to the identify the caller. In another embodiment, voiceprint information of the caller is obtained to identify the caller through use of a voiceprint information database that correlates the voiceprint information with voiceprint data in the voiceprint information database. In both embodiments, if a called telephone local switch determines that the called telephone is authorized to receive the identity of the caller, the called telephone local switch transmits the identity of the caller to the called telephone.

This invention generally relates to a telecommunication system, method and telephone and more particularly to a telecommunication system, method and telephone with caller identification capability.
The proliferation of personal telecommunications has created a demand for features to enable a called party at a called telephone to avoid unwanted telephonic calls. Known call identification systems are based solely on automatic number identification of the telephone number of the caller that is provided to the called telephone during ringing and prior to answering of the call. In some of the identification systems, a directory listing name that is associated with the calling telephone is provided in lieu of the telephone number of the calling telephone and displayed at the called telephone on an alphanumeric display. Alternatively, the called telephone is programmed by the user to display a name preselected by the user of the called telephone in lieu of the telephone number of the calling telephone.
While the systems that display a personal name of a person give the appearance of providing personal identification of the caller, in fact, they do not unless the caller with that name is calling from a telephone having a telephone number associated with the name of the caller. If the caller calls from a another telephone another name associated with the other telephone is displayed. If someone other than the person whose name is associated with the calling telephone calls from the calling telephone of the named caller, then the name of the actual caller is not displayed; instead, the name of the person associated with the telephone number of the calling telephone is displayed.
The inventor has determined that existing caller identification systems are disadvantageously limited in their capabilities and thus are unreliable with respect to enabling the called party of the called telephone to predetermine the identity of the actual party placing the call from the identified calling telephone. With the existing telecommunication systems, methods and telephones with caller identification capability, the called party must assume but cannot know with any degree of certainty that the identity displayed is the identity of the caller actually placing the call.
Telephonic systems are also known that have a so-called voice dialing pursuant to which automated voice recognition are employed to enable a telephone to respond to voice commands from the user, particularly the digits of the telephone to be called, to place calls. These systems are designed to recognize the voice of any normal user in a large population of potential users.
In accordance with the present invention the aforementioned disadvantageous inability of known communication systems, methods and telephones with so-called identification capability to provide the identity of the actual caller irrespective of the identity of the caller are overcome by providing a telecommunication system and method in which the actual identity of the person calling is ascertained and by providing a telephone in which personal identifying information concerning a caller is automatically obtained and transmitted.
An embodiment of a telecommunication system of the present invention has means for automatically obtaining personal information concerning a caller during placement of a call to a called telephone and means responsive to the personal information automatically obtained for personally identifying the caller. Preferably, the automatically obtaining means includes one of means for obtaining fingerprint information from the caller and means for obtaining voiceprint information from the caller. In the case of obtaining fingerprint information, a fingerprint scanner associated with at least one of the keys of the keypad is used for automatically obtaining fingerprint information from the caller. In the case of obtaining voiceprint information, a telephone microphone converts the voice of the caller to electrical audio signals and the automatically obtaining means responds to the electrical audio signals to produce corresponding voiceprint information associated with the caller. The fingerprint information is transmitted to a fingerprint database and the voiceprint information is transmitted to a voiceprint database. The fingerprint information is compared with fingerprint data in the fingerprint database to personally identify the caller associated with the fingerprint information. The voiceprint information is compared with voiceprint data in a voiceprint database to personally identify the caller associated with the voiceprint information. Preferably, a local switch servicing the called telephone includes at least one of the fingerprint database and the voiceprint database.
Preferably, the telecommunication system includes means for providing to the called telephone an identity of a telephone of a caller and means responsive to a determination that the at least one of the fingerprint information and the voiceprint information is not associated with a known personal identity for actuating the caller telephone identity providing means. Likewise, the telecommunication system of the present invention includes means for detecting if the called telephone is authorized to receive the identity of the caller, and means responsive to the detecting means for providing the identity of the caller to the called telephone if authorized.
In keeping with another aspect of the present invention, a telephone is provided having means for automatically obtaining personal identifying information concerning a caller using the telephone and means for automatically transmitting the personal identifying information of the caller to a telephonic switch during placement of a call by the caller. Preferably, a fingerprint scanner associated with a scanable finger pad scans a fingerprint of a finger of the caller pressed against the scanable finger pad, and the finger pad is associated with one of the keys of the keypad used for the placement of the call.
In accordance with the telecommunication method of the present invention, the personal identity of a caller is automatically ascertained at a calling telephone during initiation of a call to a called telephone and the personal identity is automatically provided to the called telephone prior to the call being answered at the called telephone.

Telecommunication system, method and telephone with personal caller identification capability


A method of preventing a flow pattern in a wet-type color image forming apparatus and a system adopting the same includes a material layer directly contacting a developing roller of a developing unit of a photosensitive body of the image forming apparatus and having a thickness of 7–15 μm. A size of an essential composition used for representing corresponding one of colors in high-concentration ink is 0.7–1.5 μm. A hold up volume is not formed between the developing roller and the photosensitive body during a developing process, and a flow pattern such as a stripe, is not formed in a final image, and even though the flow pattern is formed in the final image, the flow pattern can be minimized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a method of using the same, and more particularly, to a wet-type color image forming apparatus and a method of preventing a flow pattern of an ink image using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As there is a need of reducing a size of a wet-type color image forming apparatus, a method of removing a developing solution supply unit or simplifying a structure of the wet-type color image forming apparatus has been suggested to reduce the size of the wet-type color image forming apparatus. As a result, ink having toner concentration of more than 12% is not diluted but is used as is without change.
In the related art, a developing process using the high-concentration ink is performed using a direct contact method in which a developing roller contacts a photosensitive body. In the direct contact method, preferably, the high-concentration ink stained in the developing roller is completely used for developing a latent electrostatic image that is formed on the photosensitive body. However, remaining ink that is not completely used for developing the latent electrostatic image but drifts away exists between the photosensitive body and the developing roller in the developing process, and the remaining ink accumulates, as shown in FIG. 1. A hold up volume 16, which is a bundle of the remaining ink, is formed between a developing roller 12 and a photosensitive body 10. The hold up volume 16 might be used to develop the latent electrostatic image with ink 14 that is newly supplied in the developing process.
However, since the ink 14 forming the hold up volume 16 is not be electrically controlled in comparison with new ink 14 having an electrical potential, the ink 14 forming the hold up volume 16 is moved to the photosensitive body 10, and then drops downward immediately. As a result, a part of the latent electrostatic image may be not developed or incompletely developed. In addition, a part of the ink 14 that is normally moved to the photosensitive body 10 from the developing roller 12 is torn off and separated from the ink 14 by a viscous force of the remaining ink 14 contained in the developing roller 12. Due to the separation of the ink 14, the part of the latent electrostatic image is not developed or incompletely developed. A metering blade 18 coats the ink 14 having a predetermined thickness on a surface of the developing roller 12.
As mentioned above, in order to avoid to the remaining ink 14 contained in the hold up volume 16 or the developing roller 12, high-concentration ink is used. However, a stripe so-called a flow pattern is formed in a developing direction when the photosensitive body 10 directly contacts the developing roller 12. Due to the flow pattern, a final resultant (image) is formed in a solid phenomenon, in which an excessive amount of the ink 14 is attached to an image portion more than a blank portion of the latent electrostatic image, in the developing direction.
The flow pattern is completely removed when the ink prepared on the surface of the developing roller is completely used for developing the latent electrostatic image in the developing process. That is, in a case where the ink prepared on the surface of the developing roller is moved to the photosensitive body, the remaining ink disappears from the surface of the developing roller, and the hold up volume is not formed between the developing roller and the photosensitive body, and thus the flow pattern does not to exist in the developed latent electrostatic image.
However, to do this, an amount of the ink prepared on the surface of the developing roller should be minimized. In a case where the amount of the ink is minimized, an optical density of the developed resultant deteriorates, and thus a final image fades.

Method of preventing flow pattern in wet-type color image forming apparatus and system adopting the same


A display element includes a disk which rotates through 160.degree.-180.degree. to display a bright or a dark side in a viewing direction in ON and OFF positions respectively A constantly on LED is arranged to illuminate the disk in ON position for viewing in a first arc including the viewing direction. The disk masks the LED to viewers in the OFF position of the disk. In addition to light from the illuminated disks, the components may be arranged so that viewers over a second arc may view the LED directly when the disk is in ON position. The elements may be arranged in arrays to form a changeable sign. Thus the array may be made up of single elements, of columns of such elements or of a combination of elements and columns.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a display element which may be used alone as an indicator but will be more commonly used as a pixel in an array of such elements to form a changeable display sign. The invention will be found particularly useful for signs and displays which must be viewed over wide angles such as bus destination signs.
2. Summary of the Invention
The display element is of the type using a rotor disk defining a median plane, having opposed sides which respectively contrast and conform with their background and which is rotatable about a rotation axis approximately parallel to said median plane to display the bright or dark sides of the disk in a viewing direction which is considered the axis of a viewing cone (not necessarily a surface of revolution) which surrounds the viewing direction. The stator which forms the background to each disk is coloured darkly to contrast with the disk bright side; and conform to the disk dark side. The bright and dark sides are displayed in the ON and OFF respective positions.
A light emitting diode (LED) corresponding to each disk is positioned to form part of the disk's pixel when the bright side is displayed (called the ON position) the LED being positioned and directed to illuminate the bright side of the disk when oriented to ON positions The LED is permanently on and so must be masked to the viewer in the OFF position of the disk.
`Forward` and `rearward` are respectively, the directions from the display element toward the viewer, and the opposite direction.
An `array` is the entire bus sign or other sign, composed of `sub arrays` which are each made up of a column of individual display elements, or of individual elements.
Reference to an `LED` herein is intended to include a cluster of such LED's.
The `viewing direction` is the general centre of the locations (projected on a plane perpendicular to the viewing direction) from which the display element, or any array thereof, is intended to be viewed.
The `viewing cone` surrounds the viewing direction and includes the projections on such plane of the positions from which the display elements or an array thereof is intended to be viewed.
In a preferred aspect of the invention herein the angle through which the illuminated disks (in plan view) may be viewed is about 150.degree. approximately symmetrically disposed about the longitudinal axis of a bus on which the array is disposed. However, the direct light from the LEDs may be viewed over an arc of about 75.degree. from the longitudinal axis on the side of the bus toward which the light from the LED is directed. This is useful since a bus sign is often viewed from the sidewalk. Thus, for buses for use in most countries other than England and Australian the 75.degree. sector will be on the right of the bus center line, and in England and Australia on the left.
It is known to use such a disk augmented by the end of an optic fibre. See for example patents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,353 dated Dec. 4, 1990, Norfolk PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,171 dated Jun. 11, 1991, Norfolk, et al PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,055,832 dated Jun. 8, 1991, Browne
However, optic fibres while suitable for relatively narrow angle viewing are not so suitable for viewing over wide angles, as are LED's. Moreover, LED's are cheaper to a sufficiently marked degree, that a display application with LED's may be practical where a similar application with fibres would be impractical.
Other patents have used LED's with a rotating disk. See for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,325 dated Sep. 24, 1991. However this patent does not provide for masking of the LED by the disk per se,nor for wide angle viewing. Hence the LED had to be switched off in OFF state. The design of the present display element assumes that the LED will be continuously on while the disk switches between ON and OFF positions, thus avoiding the cost of individual switching circuitry for each LED. Such switching requires design complexity and expenses
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a display element, for use alone or in an array of such elements, wherein the appearance of a rotatable flip disk is augmented in ON orientation by an LED, which LED must be masked by the disk, to the viewer, in OFF orientation and wherein the rays from the LED are directed to illuminate only the bright side of the disk with which it is associated and to be viewed directly
It is an object of this invention to provide a display element or an array thereof allowing, in ON position, viewing over a wide angular range and in OFF position masking the rays over a wide angular range, and preferably where the rays reflected from a disk illuminated by the LED are visible through a sector in plan view which is symmetric with regard to the forward direction in plan view.
By `disk viewing direction` herein I mean the direction approximately perpendicular to the average attitude of the illuminated disk in ON and OFF position and perpendicular to its rotary axis. This will not be parallel to the disk in ON and OFF position since the ON and OFF disk orientations are slightly offset from each other to reduce rotation below 180.degree. where a magnetic drive is used, for reasons associated with the drive. Where an array of display elements is used, the viewing direction is taken as perpendicular to the plane approximating the locus of the array.
By `plan view` I mean the view in the direction perpendicular to the viewing direction and parallel to the median plane of an array. Plan view in relation to a bus will therefore be approximately a vertical view but in other applications it may have any real orientation.
It will be realized from what has already been said that for a bus or other vehicle destination sign, the plan view will be in, approximately, a horizontal plane and that the viewing locations for viewing directly LED light will be all on one side of light viewing direction for the illuminated disks.
The invention in one aspect provides a display element suitable for use as a pixel in an array, having a disk movable between an ON position (displaying a bright side to a viewer) and an OFF position (displaying a dark side to the viewer) with an LED positioned to illuminate the bright side of the disk in ON position, and where the element or an array thereof may be located in immediate proximity to a bus (or other vehicle) windshield to be viewed by pedestrians there-through. The proximity of the display element to the windshield is limited only by the spacing required to allow movement of the disk between ON and OFF positions and static charge interaction between disk and windshield.
The closer the array is to the windshield, the wider may be the viewing angle.
It is an object of this invention to provide a display element wherein the light source used is markedly maintenance free and inexpensive in contrast to alternate designs.
It is an object of this invention to provide a display element for forming a pixel which is suitable for relatively large multiple pixel arrays (for example, of 20 by 40 pixels) to provide good definition in the sense of providing a small pixel relative to the size of the array and a pixel having a relatively large effective area.
By `effective area` I mean the percentage of the sign area which is occupied by the bright areas of the disks when all are ON. This is a measure of the sign's efficiency even though it may not be strictly accurate in view of the effects of the light effects of the LED's and the preferred angle of the disk bright panels to the viewing direction. The need to have as large an effective surface as possible renders preferable the use of rectilinear elements since these tend to have the best `packing factor` and hence provide the largest ON area in a display. The need to supply pixels, small in area relative to the size of the array, suggests, therefore the use of square pixels.
`LED` herein refers to the chip which is mounted in a lens, although the chip plus lens is elsewhere frequently called, collectively, an LED.
The invention therefore provides, in one aspect, a display element, or a column or array thereof where the stator is preferably an open front housing, usually of approximately square shape, and a disk designed to rotate about an axis to display a bright or dark side in the viewing direction. (The background to the disk, when viewed in the viewing direction is typically coloured to contrast with the bright disk side and to match the dark disk side). An LED associated with the stator is located and provided with shroud means so that the LED rays illuminate the bright side of the disk for viewers on each side of the viewing directions. Means prevents the escape of LED rays in directions transverse to the viewing direction.
The preferred drive for the disk is electromagnetic in accord with techniques well known to those skilled in the art. However, other drives may be used within the scope of the invention.
In a preferred form of the invention, a printed circuit board (`PCB`) is mounted on one side of the disk and an LED mounted so that its rays will illuminate the bright side of the disk when the latter is in the ON position. This will depend on the attitude of the disk when ON. Preferably in ON position, the bright side of the disk is tilted slightly toward the LED and the LED rays are directed transverse to the viewing direction. Means, preferably a housing on the sides of the LED lens (relative to the desired direction of LED rays); and the PCB on the back, prevent the escape of rays diverging very much from the desired LED ray direction. Sufficient divergence of LED rays from the desired LED ray disk-illuminating directionDexists that viewers on a side-walk in front of the bus (on one selected side) may view the direct rays from the LEDs) when the disk is in ON position.
The wall need not be a PCB, within the scope of the invention. However, it is considered most suitable since it is then convenient to provide metal strips on the PCB board, to provide the LED leads.
Preferably, only one side wall is provided rather than two for each element or column thereof. The opposed wall is then provided by the adjacent element or columns thereof in the direction of LED radiation.


A receiving device receives from a base unit across a network an instruction stream that includes drawing commands for producing graphic frames of a user interface. The receiving device is connected to a display. The receiving device parses the instruction stream to determine the drawing commands and their arguments. The receiving device executes the drawing commands in a graphics engine of the receiving device to generate the graphic frames of the user interface. Executing includes performing rendering functions and interpolating coordinates for animation. The receiving device outputs the graphic frames of the user interface for display.

Modern living room media consumption experiences, consisting mostly of media watching and gaming, are realized through gaming consoles, streaming devices, set-top boxes connected to TVs, and Smart TVs. Media playback and gaming devices can be extended with inexpensive "casting sticks" that stream media or gaming content. A casting stick that streams media typically does so by receiving a media URL and streams the media content from that media URL. Casting sticks are used as an inexpensive means to provide service to another screen without incurring the expense for a full-featured entertainment device.
Casting sticks have audio/video processing and output capabilities, but they conventionally feature a simple user interface. The inexpensive hardware of the casting stick is typically not capable of running the technology stack typically used to implement user interfaces (e.g., Java, HTML5). As a result, the user experience of using a casting stick is usually inferior to that of using a main, full-featured media consumption device.

Distributed video and graphics rendering system


A device with a touch-sensitive display and a battery can determine a battery level of the battery, and in accordance with a determination that the battery level is at or below a first threshold value, cause a haptic output and/or enter a low-power mode. While in low-power mode, the device may produce different outputs in response to user inputs than while in a normal power mode. In some embodiments, while in the low-power mode, the device may display only the time and an indication that the device is in a low-power mode.

Reduced-size personal electronic devices, such as devices that are smaller than cellular phones, may be used as timekeeping devices as well as providing other applications or functions. In cases where the personal electronic device may be the primary timepiece of the user, it may be important to provide timekeeping functionality for a relatively long period of time between charging the battery of the device. The device's timekeeping functionality may supersede the importance of the other applications or functions of the device.

Reduced-size user interfaces for battery management


An insulation cap of a wire joint of a joined electrical wire, the insulation cap including a cap main body for receiving the wire joint being formed by joining cores of a plurality of covered wires and an electro-conductive sleeve, and a flexible fastener provided on an inner wall of the cap main body for fastening the wire joint by contacting a rear end of the electro-conductive sleeve thereon. The flexible fastener is formed as an integral part of the cap main body by fastening a molding die through a hole provided at an opposite end of a joint insertion end of the cap main body. A plurality of flexible fasteners are provided axial symmetrically to extend toward a direction of inserting the wire joint from a base formed as an integral part of the inner wall of the cap main body.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an insulation cap being put on a wire joint formed by joining cores of a plurality of covered wires and insulation cover near the wire joint, and a joined electrical wire using the insulation cap.
2. Description of the Related Art
An example of the insulation cap to be put on the wire joint of a plurality of covered wires and insulation cover near the wire joint is fixed with the covered wire by winding a tape around them. FIG. 15 shows an example of such insulation caps (refer patent document 1).
An insulation cap 50 shown in FIG. 15 includes a cap main body 51, which a wire joint 54 joining cores 53b together and insulation cover near the wire joint are inserted into, and a support plate 52 projecting from an opening edge of the cap main body 51 for fixing the covered wire. The cap main body 51 has an opening at one end and a closed end at the other end. The wire joint 54 is inserted through the opening as an insertion end, and sealant 56 is filled therethrough. Covered wires 53 are fixed on the support plate 52 with a tape 55 for preventing the wire joint 54 from falling out from the cap main body 51.
According to the insulation cap 50 by prior art, it is not assured that the inserted wire joint 54 is positioned at the center of cap main body 51. Therefore, the insulation cap 50 is fixed by curing the sealant 56 in a condition of the wire joint 54 positioned with a tilt. In that case, the sealant 56 is not filled in every corner so that the wire joint 54 is filled unevenly around it with the sealant 56 and the wire joint 54 does not have enough waterproofness.
FIG. 16 shows another example of insulation cap 60 by prior art, of which a wire joint 67 is positioned in the center (reference document 2). The insulation cap 60 has an opening at one end and a closed end at the other end as same as the insulation cap 50. A wire joint 67 is formed by joining cores 65b and an electro-conductive sleeve 66 together. The insulation cap 60 is formed into a stepped cylindrical shape. An insulation cover 65a near the wire joint 67 is covered by a large diameter part 61, and the wire joint 67 is received in a small diameter part 64 continued to the large diameter part 61. The large diameter part 61 is provided at an opening edge 62 with a flexible fastener 63 to be folded toward an inside of the insulation cap 60 around a base formed as an integral part of the opening edge 62.
The wire joint 67 is inserted while bending the flexible fastener 63. After the wire joint 67 is inserted completely, a top end of the flexible fastener 63 restored elastically to an initial position engages with a rear end of the sleeve 66 of the wire joint 67. Thereby, the wire joint 67 is prevented from falling out from the opening edge 62.
Patent references are follows;
Reference 1: Japan Patent Application No. H10-243539,
Reference 2: Japan Patent Application No. H8-22847.
Objects To Be Solved
However, a length of the flexible fastener 63 of the insulation cap 60 is short and the flexible fastener 63 is located near the opening edge 62 of the insulation cap 60. Thereby, the wire joint 67 is not received deeply in the insulation cap 60 so that a wire element of the core is exposed from the opening edge 62 and water comes into the insulation cap. Therefore, the wire joint 67 has poor waterproofness.
Even if the insulation cap 60 is made of a transparent or semitransparent resin, the wire joint 67 is located near the large diameter part 61 of the insulation cap 60. Therefore, a gap between the wire joint 67 and the insulation cap 60 is large to see difficultly inside the insulation cap 60. It cannot be confirmed from outside of the insulation cap 60 that the wire joint 67 is inserted into a predetermined position so that failures of fastening or waterproofing the wire joint 67 possibly occurs. When the wire joint 67 is inserted and a sealant for waterproofing is filled into the insulation cap 60, the sealant covers around the wire joint 67 and it becomes more difficult to see the wire joint 67.

Insulation cap and joined electrical wire using the same


The present invention provides a mold having a mold face with color zones delimited from each other on the mold face by separation fins, a powder pan which contains at least two different colored powders so as to not intermix, coupling means to couple the mold and the powder pan during a powder-slush process, means for rotating the mold to distribute and deposit the powder onto substantially an entire surface of the mold including all color zones; and cutting means for cutting a slush skin extending over a different color zone. The cutting means is slidably contactable with the separation fins in a direction of the longer axis of the separation fins.

It is known to produce molded parts (dashboards as part of the interior fittings of motor vehicles, for example) in accordance with the powder-slush process. In this case a mold, corresponding for example to the three-dimensional shape of a dashboard, is heated and coupled together with a powder pan.
By rotating the unit formed from mold and powder pan, distribution of the PVC powder capable of forming a gel takes place, which is brought into contact with the hot mold and adheres controlling the rotation.
Following the end of rotation, i.e. after the powder has been deposited on the heated surface of the inner wall of the mold, the powder pan is separated from the mold and the phases of sintering and gelling of the powder in the mold follow.
The mold is cooled after the powder adhering to the mold has been sintered together and a slush skin has formed. The slush skin is subsequently removed from the mold.
The powder-slush process described up to this point assumes that the slush skin which was formed is of a single color, because only one particular PCV powder is used over the entire area of the mold. However, actually there is often a requirement to embody molded parts, in particular dashboards for the interior fitting of motor vehicles, in several colors, i.e. with areas of different colors. It is intended to keep the powder-slush process for doing this, since it has been generally successful in connection with the production of slush skins.
Masking techniques constitute a known possibility. If, for example, a two-colored slush skin is desired, a color zone corresponding to a first color area is covered with a mask in the mold, so that only the other color zone corresponding to the second color area is free. A part of the slush skin is then produced in this color zone using PVC powder with the desired second color.
Subsequently the opposite operation is performed, i.e. now the already produced partial slush skin in the second color zone is covered with another mask, so that the first color zone in the mold is free, where now the second part of the slush skin is produced using another PCV powder with the first color. The masks are embodied in such a way that a narrow transition area is formed between the individual color zones, so that during production of separation seam with the previously produced first part of the slush skin and in this way a one-piece slush skin is created.
Although the masking technique is basically usable for producing multicolored slush skins, it has been shown in actuality that the separating seam looks untidy to the eye. But it is the separating seam itself, extending between the different color areas, which is the decisive criterion for a multicolored slush skin which looks tidy to the eye.
While the parts of the slush skin with the different colors are produced at different times when using the masking technique, it is already known from EP 0 162 594 A2 to produce these color areas at the same time in one mold. For this purpose different chambers or color zones delimited by separation fins are formed in the mold, into which the divers PVC powders with the appropriate desired colors are introduced. The separation fins are embodied such that a one-piece slush skin has been created at the end of the powder-slush process.
Although by means of this technique it is possible to shorten the amount of time for producing a multicolored slush skin, it was also found in this case that the separating seams are not tidily made, which as a result is not pleasing to the eye of the user.
Finally, it is also possible to produce the separate skin pieces of different colors separately and to combine these individual parts later into a uniform slush skin, for example by connecting the individual parts by HF welding. If the slush skin has a three-dimensional shape, however, HF welding is difficult and an untidy weld seam can appear. It is also possible to connect the individual skin parts by gluing. But this process is also complicated with three-dimensional skins and results in untidy separating seams. There is furthermore the danger that the adhesive may fail, for example if a multicolored dashboard is exposed to temperature extremes in winter and summer. In the summer the extended exposure to the rays of the sum can easily cause the adhesive to loosen.

Process for producing multicolored, slush skins, and mold and separating device for executing the process


An electrical power generation assembly comprising a main body having a low density to provide lift and wind driven means on its surface to generate electrical power. The main body has a part-circular, or a part-elliptical, cross section frontal region. The main body has a first distance and a second distance. The ratio of the first distance to the second distance is equal to or more than 0.5 and equal to or less than 5 according to the shape of the frontal region of the main body. The ratio of the diameter of the wind driven means to the first distance is equal to or less than 0.25.

Wind power is presently the world's fastest growing source of renewable energy having an annual growth rate of 40% over the last seven years. The disadvantage of known wind turbine technology is that wind speed near the ground is reduced by irregularities. As a result, wind turbines are arranged on towers above the ground. The siting of such towers has to be chosen carefully, taking into account not only prevailing local wind speed, but also the opinion of local residents.
Our UK patent application 0311536.7 filed 20 May 2003 discloses an electrical power generation assembly comprising a main body having a sufficiently low density to effect lift thereto, and wind driven means on a surface of the main body to generate electrical power.


A surgical fluid management system includes a console and a cassette for delivering fluids to a surgical site. The console has a pump rotor and a pressure-sensing membrane. The cassette has a cassette housing, a flexible fluid delivery tube in the housing. The flexible fluid delivery tube has a lumen configured to interface with the pump rotor and to deliver a flow of fluid from a fluid source as the rotor is rotated. A pressure-transmitting membrane is located in a wall of the cassette housing and in fluid communication with said fluid delivery lumen. The pressure-transmitting membrane flexes outwardly in response to a positive pressure in the lumen and flexes inwardly in response to a negative pressure in the lumen. The pressure-transmitting membrane detachably adheres to or presses against the pressure-sensing membrane to cause the pressure-sensing membrane to move in response to pressure changes in the flexible fluid delivery tube.

The present invention relates generally to a surgical fluid management system and more particularly to a surgical fluid management system of the type used in endoscopic procedures.
Surgical fluid management systems typically deliver a fluid, such as saline, to a targeted working space or body cavity to provide access and visibility to the physician performing a procedure in the working space or body cavity. The fluid usually provides a pressure sufficient to "open" the space (i.e. create a working space for the procedure) as well as flushing blood and debris from the space. Typically, the surgical fluid management system includes a fluid bag as a source of fluid and a control system including a pump for delivering the fluid from the fluid bag to a surgical working space a preset fluid pressure.
Surgical fluid management systems are often inconvenient to use and difficult to monitor. Further, the control systems of such fluid management systems are often unable to accurately measure pressure in a working space when the patient and the fluid management console are at different elevations.
One challenge with present fluid management systems is the early detection of empty fluid bags. While fluid bags are usually changed at regular intervals and/or when observed to be low on fluid, such "manual" protocols are subject to human error.
It would therefore be beneficial to provide improved surgical fluid management systems that overcome at least some of these shortcomings. In particular, it would be desirable to provide surgical fluid management systems with an ability to monitor when the fluid in a bag has been exhausted. At least some of these objectives will be met by the inventions described below.