A memory apparatus includes a first memory bank, a second memory bank, a row decoder and repair circuit, and an input/output driver controller. The row decoder and repair circuit is coupled to the first and second memory banks in common. The row decoder and repair circuit generates a shared repair signal according to whether a word line disposed in a first memory bank is replaced with a word line disposed in a second memory bank. The input/output driver controller allows read or write operations for one of the first and second memory banks to be performed based on the shared repair signal and an operation signal.

1. Technical Field
Various embodiments generally relate to a semiconductor apparatus, and, more particularly, to a repair circuit, a memory apparatus using the same and an operating method thereof.
2. Related Art
In general, a memory apparatus may include a plurality of memory banks each of which includes a plurality of memory cell arrays. In each memory bank, a plurality of word lines and a plurality of bit lines may be disposed perpendicular to each other, and memory cells may be coupled at points where the word lines and the bit lines intersect. As the manufacturing process of a memory apparatus is highly integrated, a failure may occur due to a coupling relationship between memory cells or between a memory cell and a word line or a bit line. Therefore, a memory bank includes a redundant array for replacing a memory cell in which a failure occurs.
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a representation of an example configuration of a memory apparatus 10 according to the conventional art. In FIG. 1, the memory apparatus 10 may include a first memory bank MB1, a second memory bank MB2, and a row decoder and repair circuit 11. Each of the first memory bank MB1 and the second memory bank MB2 may include a plurality of word lines WL. Further, each of the first memory bank MB1 and the second memory bank MB2 may include a normal array NA and a redundant array RA. The number of the word lines disposed in the normal array NA may be larger than the number of the word lines disposed in the redundant array RA. The row decoder and repair circuit 11 may be disposed between the first and second memory banks MB1 and MB2, and select any bank of the first and second memory banks MB1 and MB2 and any word line in the selected memory bank, based on an address signal. The row decoder and repair circuit 11 may include a fuse circuit for replacing a failed word line with a redundant word line disposed in the redundant array RA, when a failure occurs in the word line selected based on the address signal.
It is illustrated in FIG. 1 that four word lines are disposed in the redundant array RA of each memory bank. Also, it is illustrated that failures have occurred in five word lines in the normal array NA of the first memory bank MB1 and failures have occurred in three word lines in the normal array NA of the second memory bank MB2. The symbol X appearing on the failed memory cell and/or word line represents a failure that occurred in a memory cell and/or word line. In the second memory bank MB2, the three word lines in which failures have occurred may be replaced with the word lines disposed in the redundant array RA. Therefore, the second memory bank MB2 may operate normally. However, in the first memory bank MB1, because the number of failed word lines is larger than the number of the word lines disposed in the redundant array RA, one among the five failed word lines may not be replaced. Accordingly, the failure of the one word line may not be repaired. Due to this fact, the first memory bank MB1 may not operate normally, and as a result, the entire memory apparatus 10 cannot help but be sorted out as a bad product.

Repair circuit, memory apparatus using the same and operating method thereof


A hearing aid system comprises a hearing aid (1) and an external device (2). The external device (2) continuously sends short range power-off commands (4) to the hearing aid (1). Under normal operation of a hearing aid, the range is too short to power-off the hearing. When the hearing aid (1) is placed in close proximity of the external device (2), the hearing aid is within range (3) and will consequently power-off. The method further provides a method of controlling a hearing aid.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of hearing aids. The invention, more specifically, relates to hearing aids having an input transducer, a signal processing unit, a power supply unit, and an output transducer. The invention particularly relates to the field of remote controls for hearing aids. The invention further relates to a method of controlling the state of a hearing aid.
Within the context of the present disclosure, a hearing aid should be understood as a small, battery-powered, microelectronic device designed to be worn behind or in the human ear by a hearing-impaired user. A hearing aid comprises one or more microphones, a battery, a microelectronic circuit comprising a signal processor, and an acoustic output transducer. The signal processor is preferably a digital signal processor. The hearing aid is enclosed in a casing suitable for fitting behind or in a human ear. The hearing aid serves to alleviate a hearing loss by amplifying sound at frequencies in those parts of the audible frequency range where the user suffers a hearing deficit.
2. The Prior Art
EP-A2-2043388 discloses a hearing aid system of two hearing aids connected with each other through a wireless connection. As the distance between the two hearing aids is constant while in operation at the respective ears of the user, the signal strength of the wireless connection will be constant. If the hearing aids are removed from the users' ears and placed in a box, the signal strength will increase due to the decrease in distance between the two hearing aids. The hearing aids will power-off, when the signal strength reaches a threshold limit.
DE-C2-3109049 discloses a hearing aid with magnetic switches for changing the state of a hearing aid by a magnetic field. Thus, by displacement of a magnet, the state of the hearing aid can be changed.
EP-A2-2028881 discloses two hearing aids capable of communicating with each other through a wireless link and having a mechanism monitoring the signal strength of the magnetic field. If the signal strength increases in only one hearing aid, it can be inferred, that it is a "telephoning" situation, and the program will change accordingly. If the magnetic field increases in both hearing aids, it is inferred that the two hearing aids are in very close proximity of each other and they will power of.
US-A1-20080123882 discloses a hearing aid having means for detecting a change in an acoustic path, whereby it is established that the hearing aid is no longer placed in the ear of the user, accordingly the hearing aid at least partially powers off.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,927 provides a remote-controllable, programmable hearing aid system, including a hearing aid with incorporated amplifier and with a signal processing circuit whose transmission characteristic can be determined at any time by a set of control parameters, and an external control unit with a transmitter for wireless transmission of control parameters to the hearing aid. A receiving circuit for receiving the control parameters is located in the hearing aid.
WO-A1-2009076949 provides a hearing aid having means for entering or leaving a stand-by mode initiated by a remote control. During use, a dedicated stand-by command issued by the remote control is received and decoded in the hearing aid.
Many hearing aids today can be controlled by a remote control, which gives the user of the hearing aid an easier way to control the hearing aid. In some cases the user might also be able to power-off the hearing aid or change the state to a stand-by mode using the remote control, where the hearing aid turns off most processing, keeping power on at just a minimum of circuits sufficient to power up the hearing aid from the stand-by mode using the remote control.
For a lot of elderly people with a hearing loss the handling of hearing aids can be difficult, because they are small, so that it is not easy to manipulate control buttons or to visually recognize whether the hearing aids are turned on or off. Consequently a lot of elderly people do not turn off their hearing aids when they are not in use, which drains the batteries quickly and decreases the life time of the batteries.


An active-matrix organic light emitting diode display panel structure includes: a displaying region including at least one curved peripheral portion located on an outer edge; displaying pixel units disposed in the displaying region, some of the units are defined as at least one group disposed adjacent to each of the at least one curved peripheral portion; at least one group of dummy pixel units disposed on the outer edge of the displaying region and corresponding to the at least one curved peripheral portion, the dummy pixel units connected to a group of peripheral displaying pixel units that is connected to the each curved peripheral portion, and located outside the group of the peripheral displaying pixel units. Each of the peripheral displaying pixel units is directly connected to the dummy pixel units. The dummy pixel units can lower loading effect of the peripheral displaying pixel units and prevent a brightness decreasing issue.

An active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display panel has of self-luminance characteristics and employs an ultra-thin organic material coating layer and a glass substrate. The organic material is self-luminous when electrified. The AMOLED display panel is self-luminous and needs no backlight modules as required by a thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT LCD). Furthermore, the AMOLED display panel has advantages of wide viewing angles and high saturation. Especially, the AMOLED display panel has advantages of a low drive voltage, low power consumption, fast response times, light weight, a thin thickness, a simple structure, and a low cost. Therefore, the AMOLED display panel is regarded as one of the most promising panel products nowadays.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional AMOLED display panel has a bezel 90 and a displaying region 91. The displaying region 91 disposed in the bezel is substantially rectangular in shape and has four corners and four curved edges 910 located on the four corners respectively. Furthermore, the displaying region 91 is disposed with a plurality of pixel units 915 that are arranged in an array, the pixel units 915 are red, green, and blue pixel units 915 arranged according to specific rules.
However, brightness of the pixel units 915 located on the curved edges 910 of the displaying region 91 is easily lowered or uneven due to loading effect, which seriously influences displaying effect.
The above loading effect refers that during exposure, development and etching processes of an array substrate of the AMOLED display panel, because pattern density of edge pixel units 915 in regions of the curved edges 910 are different from pattern density of internal pixel units 915 to cause that an actual dimension of the edge pixel units 915 is different from a predetermined dimension, which results in unevenness of displaying brightness or color of the edge pixel units 915.
Therefore, it is necessary to provide an active-matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display panel structure to solve the technical issue of the prior art.

Active-matrix organic light emitting diode display panel structure

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A system and method can control a transmission during a flying engine start. The method includes receiving a request for an internal combustion engine to be started while a vehicle is solely driven by an electric motor-generator. Further, the method determining a time lapse between a moment when a first clutch starts to be filled and a moment when a second clutch starts to be filled such that the first clutch and the second clutch reach first and second clutch pressure thresholds, respectively, at substantially the same time. The method includes transferring transmission fluid to the first clutch and transferring transmission fluid to the second clutch after the determined time lapse has passed since the first clutch started to be filled.

A hybrid vehicle may include a transmission, an internal combustion engine, and an electric motor. Accordingly, the vehicle can be propelled by the internal combustion engine, the electric motor, or both. Sometimes, the vehicle may be solely driven by the electric motor. At some point, however, the vehicle operator may request additional torque while the vehicle is propelled by the electric motor. The vehicle operator may request additional torque by, for example, pressing an accelerator pedal. In response to this torque request by the vehicle operator, the internal combustion engine may start while the vehicle is propelled by the electric motor. Such engine start is referred to as a flying engine start. The term "flying engine start" therefore means a process in which the internal combustion engine of a vehicle starts while the vehicle is solely driven by one or more electric motors.

Systems and methods for controlling an automatic transmission during a flying engine start using a flow accumulator


A computer-implemented method for identifying variants of samples based on similarity analysis may include (1) collecting, from security agents on endpoint computing systems, metadata attributes that describe samples identified by the security agents over an initial period of time, (2) collecting metadata attributes that describe a current sample identified after the initial period of time, (3) comparing at least two of the metadata attributes that describe the current sample with corresponding metadata attributes of the samples identified over the initial period of time, (4) designating the current sample as related to another sample from the samples identified over the initial period of time based on the comparison of the two metadata attributes, and (5) performing a security action to protect a user from malware based on the designation of the current sample as related to the other sample. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Individuals and organizations seek to protect their computing resources from attackers and malicious software. To achieve that goal, security vendors may attempt to identify software and categorize the software as malicious. These security vendors may index the different samples of software according to unique identifying features, such as hashes.
Unfortunately, attackers have responded to these security features by modifying the software, through polymorphism, in a manner that avoids detection (e.g., alters the hash), while preserving the software's malicious functionality. The security vendors may attempt to keep up with these modifications by manually coding each detected variant as malware. Nevertheless, the attempts by security vendors to manually code each detected variant as malware is inefficient, not comprehensive, and prone to human error. Accordingly, the instant disclosure identifies and addresses a need for additional and improved systems and methods for identifying variants of samples based on similarity analysis.

Systems and methods for identifying variants of samples based on similarity analysis


A work machine includes a frame, a sensor assembly, and an ultrasonic sensor. The frame includes a first portion and a second portion that includes a front bumper and is configured to pivot with respect to the first portion for steering the work machine. The sensor assembly is positioned on the first portion or the second portion of the frame and is configured to sense data for detection of obstacles within a first area around the work machine. The ultrasonic sensor is positioned on the front bumper of the second portion and is configured to sense data for detection of obstacles within a second area around the work machine, the second area outside the first area when the second portion is in an articulated position with respect to the first portion.

Work machines, such as compaction machines, can be used for compacting substrates. More particularly, after application of an asphalt layer on a ground surface, a compaction machine can be moved over the ground surface in order to achieve a planar ground surface. Compaction machines can be manual, autonomous, or semi-autonomous. To aid in control of the compaction machine, obstacle detection may be employed to detect obstacles with respect to the compaction machine. European Patent No. 1508819 B1 discloses a driving assistance system for an automobile that employs various types of sensors.

Ultrasonic sensors for work machine obstacle detection


An optical path-changing member comprises a member main body which is made of a transparent material and in which a reflection section optically connecting the optical fiber to the light input and output end is formed, wherein the reflection section is a first lens having a concave shape when viewed from an incident direction and making light incident on the inside of the member main body from one of the optical fiber and the light input and output end be internally reflected in the member main body and directed to the other of the optical fiber and the light input and output end, a second lens having a convex shape toward the optical component is formed in a light incidence and emission surface of the member main body, that faces the optical component.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical path-changing member that is provided at a terminal of an optical transmission body such as an optical fiber. An optical path-changing member is an optical component for changing a direction of an optical path between an optical fiber and a light input and output end provided at a substrate, thereby optically connecting the optical fiber and the light input and output end.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a method to fix an optical connector assembled to a leading end portion of an optical fiber wired along a substrate on which an optical element such as a light-emitting element such as a surface emission type laser diode (Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser, hereinafter referred to as a VCSEL) or a light-receiving element such as a photodiode (PD), in which light is vertically emitted or incident with respect to the substrate, is mounted, to the substrate so as to be optically connected to the optical element has been widely used.
In this type of optical connector, a structure to change an optical path in order to optically connect the optical fiber and the optical element is provided. As a typical optical connector having this structure, a PT optical connector (standardized by JPCA-PE03-01-06S) which changes an optical axis by 90° in the inside of the connector has been put to practical use.
The PT optical connector is a substrate mounting type optical connector that optically connects a multi-core optical fiber such as a multi-core optical fiber ribbon and an optical element on a flexible wiring substrate, and is beginning to be used in optical interconnection of routers, servers, parallel computers, or the like.
As an optical path-changing member that changes a direction of an optical path of a multi-core optical fiber, there is an optical path-changing member described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2006-184782. This optical path-changing member has a function to change an optical path of a two-dimensionally arranged multi-core optical fiber and has a structure to prevent occurrence of a large optical path difference by inclining a multi-core optical fiber of an upper stage with respect to a multi-core optical fiber of a lower stage, thereby bringing leading ends of the multi-core optical fibers of the upper and lower stages close to each other. Light emitted from the optical fiber or the optical element is of an external reflection type in which the light is incident on a reflection surface from the outside of an optical path-changing member main body.
As the optical element that is connected to the multi-core optical fiber, an optical module is used. The optical module is an optical component with a multi-channel light-emitting and light-receiving element and a transceiver circuit built therein.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2007-121973, as an optical path-changing member, an internal reflection type PT optical connector is disclosed in which light is incident on a reflection surface from the inside by way of an optical path-changing member main body. A lens is formed on the lower surface of the optical path-changing member, and light emitted from a leading end portion of an optical fiber is totally reflected to the circuit board side by a reflection surface and then condensed by the lens, thereby being optically coupled to a light input and output end on the circuit board side. Further, in a case where an optical element on the circuit board side is a light-emitting element, light emitted from the light-emitting element is condensed by the lens and then totally reflected by the reflection surface, thereby being optically coupled to the leading end portion of the optical fiber.
In the above-described optical path-changing members, since the reflection surface has the form of a flat slope, there is a problem in that it is difficult to change an optical path of incident light to an optimum direction. If the reflection surface has the form of a flat slope, there is a case where a shift occurs in a direction of incident light or a case where an optical connection cannot be maintained.


A jigsaw includes a motor, a rod having a blade attached thereto, a power transmission portion that converts rotation transmitted from the motor to vertical movement of the rod to vertically move the blade, and a counterweight that moves vertically in a direction of the vertical movement of the rod outside a range of the vertical, movement of the rod and the blade. At least a part of the counterweight is disposed so as to cross an extended line of a trajectory of the vertical movement of the rod. The counterweight moves vertically independently of the vertical movement of the rod which is produced by the power transmission portion.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application Number 2013-099581 filed on May 9, 2013, and Japanese Patent Application Number 2014-015821 filed on Jan. 30, 2014, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference.
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to reciprocating cutting tools that cut a workpiece by reciprocating a blade, such as jigsaws.
Description of Related Art
As shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-347502 (JP 2001-347502 A), a reciprocating saw is known which includes a detachable saw blade (blade), a plunger (rod) capable of linearly reciprocating along a vertical reference line, and a balance weight capable of linearly reciprocating above the plunger along the reference line.
Each of the plunger and the balance weight has a guide member protruding rearward. A gear is disposed so as to receive these guide members with a common elliptic guide groove. As the gear rotates, each guide member is guided by the guide groove. The plunger and the balance weight are located closest to each other when the guide members are located at intersections with the minor axis of the guide groove. The plunger and the balance weight are located farthest from each other when the guide members are located at intersections with the major axis of the guide groove. The plunger and the balance weight thus reciprocate at symmetrical positions.
As shown in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-115912 (JP 2011-115912 A), a reciprocating tool is known which rotates a gear having, in its front part, a gear eccentric portion and a needle controller located on the opposite side to the gear eccentric portion, and which vertically reciprocates a plunger via a sleeve receiving the needle roller and a connector, and vertically reciprocates a balance weight via an elliptic hole receiving the gear eccentric portion.
The gear eccentric portion is shorter in a longitudinal direction than the needle roller of the gear, and the balance weight is mounted rearward of the plunger and a blade.
The balance weight is formed by two separate portions, namely a base portion and a weight portion disposed in front of the base portion. The weight portion is made relatively heavy so that the position of the overall center of gravity of the balance weight is located more in the front part. This suppresses the rearward or forward moment as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-115912 (JP 2011-115912 A).
In the reciprocating saw of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-347502 (JP 2001-347502 A), the plunger and the saw blade are aligned with the balance weight in the vertical direction, and are not shifted with respect to the balance weight in the longitudinal direction. Accordingly, rearward or forward moment is not generated, and vibration can be easily suppressed.
However, the plunger and the balance weight need to be placed so as to adjoin the gear, and therefore the blade cannot be swung in the longitudinal direction. Accordingly, the blade cannot make orbital motion (longitudinal swinging together with vertical movement), and the cutting force cannot be increased. Moreover, since both the guide member of the plunger and the guide member of the balance weight are received by the single guide groove formed in the single gear, the vertical movement of the plunger is not independent of the vertical movement of the balance weight. Namely, the vertical movement of the plunger and the vertical movement of the balance weight are dependent on each other. Therefore, the vertical movement of the plunger and the vertical movement of the balance weight cannot be adjusted independently.
In the reciprocating tool of Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-115912 (JP 2011-115912 A), the position of the center of gravity of the balance weight is located more in the front part, but the entire balance weight is still shifted with respect to the plunger in the longitudinal direction. As a result, rearward or forward moment is generated, and vibration and noise are generated due to the moment.
Such a balance weight is effective in suppressing vibration of the rod if the weight portion having great mass is disposed on an extended line of the rod. However, when the weight portion moves vertically, the longitudinal moment is generated, which may produce vibration. One solution to this problem is to provide a guide member that guides the vertical movement of the weight portion. However, when the weight portion operates in the longitudinal direction, the guiding function of the guide member is degraded. Accordingly, providing such a guide member is not enough to prevent vibration (Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H11-5201 (JP H11-5201 A)).


It is presented a method for initializing a radio base station. The method comprises the steps, performed in the radio base station, of: obtaining location data for the radio base station; receiving a configuration message over a first communication link, the configuration message matching the location data for the radio base station and the configuration message comprising at least one connectivity parameter; and establishing, based on the at least one connectivity parameter, a connection with a core network over a second communication link, the second communication link being different from the first communication link. This means that the first communication link can be used to obtain connectivity using the configuration message intended for the radio base station with the matching location. A corresponding radio base station, computer program and computer program product are also presented.

Deploying new radio base stations can be complicated. However, the actual deployment in the field benefits from being as simple as possible, as the physical environment can be demanding and the detailed technical skill of the service technician performing the physical deployment can vary at best and can be very low at worst. There is also a desire to keep cost down and/or increase availability of manpower by using staff with as low skill and/or short training as possible.
Ericsson Review #2 2008 page 74 discloses a situation where a new site for a radio base station is introduced. It is shown how a large part of the configuration can be performed automatically. However, the actual installation requires an on-site installer entering initial data (for example, radio base station identity) and activating the self-configuring function. In other words, there are still some parameters that need to be manually configured on site to initialise the configuration process. Any such manual entry, no matter the extent of it, is a risk factor for human errors and requires input devices, should thus be avoided if possible.

Method and apparatuses for initialising a radio base station


In a method of manufacturing a Hg.sub.1-x Cd.sub.x Te (x=0 to 1) infrared detector using GaAs as a substrate, there is provided a method of depositing a HgCdTe film that has high crystalline quality. By changing the substrate temperature, it is possible to control the plane orientation of a CdTe buffer layer formed on a GaAs (211)B substrate. When the substrate temperature is high, the buffer layer is formed with plane orientation (133) and when the substrate temperature is low, the buffer layer is formed with plane orientation (211). In the former, it is possible to form a film having high crystalline quality as compared with that of a film in the latter.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method of manufacturing Hg.sub.1-x Cd.sub.x Te (also, hereinafter referred to as HgCdTe), and in more particular to a method of using a GaAs(211)B substrate and growing a CdTe buffer layer and a thin HgCdTe infrared detection layer on the substrate with high crystalline quality.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Formerly, when GaAs was used as a substrate material for a HgCdTe infrared detector, mainly the (100) plane and GaAs surfaces tilted slightly away from the (100) plane were used, and depending on the substrate heat treatment temperature and substrate heat treatment during exposure to a Te flux or Arsenic flux, a CdTe buffer layer was selected to be grown in the (100) or (111) orientation on the substrate, and a HgCdTe infrared detection layer was grown in either of these plane orientations on the substrates.
In the aforementioned method, during the high or elevated temperature heat treatment of the substrate, a problem exists in that the surface of the substrate becomes rough.
Also, it has been pointed out that if the thin HgCdTe film infrared detection layer was grown on the (100) oriented substrate, pyramid shaped protrusions were formed on the epilayer surface, and if the same layer was grown on the (111) oriented substrate, twinning occurred inside the crystal (refer to A. Million, L. DiCioccio, J. P. Gailliard and J. Piaguet, Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology A6 (4), Jul./Aug. (1988), 2813). These defects were a problem in that they lower the function of the HgCdTe infrared detection layer.
Furthermore, it has been reported that when a GaAs(211)B substrate was used as a substrate for a HgCdTe infrared detector, CdTe films were grown in both the (211) and (133) orientations on the GaAs(211)B substrates which were heat-treated at about 550.degree. C. and at a temperature lower by about 15.degree. C., respectively, while exposing the GaAs surfaces to a Te flux, and the CdTe growth temperatures were about 300.degree. C. (M. D. Lange et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 58(18), 6 May 1991, pp. 1988-1990). However, it was difficult to selectively grow the CdTe film in either of the (211) and (133) orientations on the GaAs(211)B substrates with high crystalline quality.

Method of manufacturing a thin Hg.sub.1-x Cd.sub.x Te film


An apparatus and method of precisely controlling deflection or twisting of a surgical instrument during surgery is applied to a surgical instrument incorporating a shape memory alloy. An example of such an instrument is a Nitinol urological retrieval coil. The shape memory alloy is caused to assume a predetermined shape when heated to a predetermined temperature not more than a few degrees above body temperature, by delivering irrigating fluid having a temperature above the transformation temperature of the shape memory alloy.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for deflecting a surgical instrument inserted into an endoscope, and to a method of causing the distal end of the surgical instrument to bend or twist during a surgical procedure.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,966,906, incorporated by reference herein, discloses apparatus for deflecting a surgical instrument inserted into an endoscope, and a method of causing the surgical instrument to deflect during a surgical procedure, in which the surgical instrument is provided with a sheath made of a shape memory alloy having an austinitic transformation temperature no more than a few degrees above the normal temperature of the human body, and in which transformation to a desired shape is caused to occur by increasing the temperature of an irrigation fluid to just beyond the transformation temperature of the instrument.

Apparatus and method for causing deflection of a surgical instrument


To provide an aqueous ink composition which, without impairing ejection stability, is excellent in light-fastness and water-fastness, does not cause cohesion differential, gloss differential, bronzing phenomenon, color-bleeding, and the like, and has improved fixing ability and coloring property.

An aqueous ink composition generally contains water as a main component, to which a coloring component and a wetting agent such as glycerin are incorporated. Moreover, recording media to be used for the aqueous ink composition include those capable of absorbing the ink composition to some extent and of being penetrated by a colorant, for example, paper. As a recording process using an aqueous ink composition, an ink jet recording process has recently attracted an attention. Ink jet recording process is a recording process in which droplets of an ink composition are ejected through fine nozzles and deposited onto a recording medium to conduct recording.
Hitherto, a water-soluble dye has been frequently employed as a colorant for an aqueous ink composition to be used in an ink jet printing method, so that there exists a defect that the light-fastness and water-fastness of a recorded image are poor. On the other hand, it has been examined to employ a pigment as a colorant for improving the light-fastness and water-fastness of a recorded image, but there arises a problem that fixing ability onto a recording medium is insufficient in the case of employing a pigment as a colorant.
In addition, the present inventors found the following problems. Color-bleeding may occur because the penetration rate of an ink composition is slow depending on recording media. Therefore, it has been examined to incorporate an acetylene glycol-type or glycol other-type penetrating agent. However, even in the case of an ink composition wherein the penetrating ability of the ink is enhanced by the use of the above-described penetrating agent, the penetrating ability is still insufficient depending on recording media, and thus there sometimes occurs a phenomenon that color density becomes uneven (hereinafter, referred to as "cohesion differential"). Accordingly, there is a problem that ejecting amount of the ink composition cannot be increased and thus coloring property cannot be improved, especially in the case that recording is conducted by overlapping two or more colors.
Furthermore, in the case of conventional ink compositions, the inventors have found problems of occurrence of a phenomenon that difference in reflectance is observed depending on print duties (hereinafter, referred to as "gloss differential") and occurrence of a phenomenon that a solid print of cyan looks reddish (hereinafter, referred to as "bronzing"). In addition, it is sometimes difficult to realize image recording of a sufficiently high gloss.

Abstract: An aqueous ink composition comprising at least water, a pigment dispersed by polymer, a sulfonyl group-containing (co)polymer, and an ultra-penetrating agent.


A fueling system to be provided in a gas station is disclosed, which comprises at least one fueling machine, and a data input/output unit, the data input/output unit being movable in a required direction, and a fueling data being input from the data input/output unit and being output to the fueling machines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fueling system to be installed in a gas station, particularly to a fueling system, of which essential fueling operations are carried out by fueling operators, and supplemental operations such as fueling data input and clearing off are carried out by a customer sitting in a car.
2. Discussion of Related Art
There exist a variety of fueling systems, such as a system designed to be used as self-service machinery, and a system aimed to be operated by fueling operators. The former system is advantageous in view of reducing cost with the elimination of fueling operators from a gas station. In a latter system, there is such an advantage that a customer does not have to perform a fueling operation, who may be unaccustomed to fueling operation, the fueling operation sometimes being accompanied with danger in handling fueling equipment such as a fueling nozzle. Moreover, the customers avoid dirtying hands or clothes by mistake, and are not directly annoyed with the odor of fuel vapor, which is not good for health.
A fueling system which is designed to be operated mainly by fueling operator is disclosed, for instance, in Japanese Patent Application 10(1998)-219757, that has a full-tank fueling function and a fuel-sort discrimination function. By the use of this system, it is possible to decrease the number of fueling operators by the reduction of labor, so that cost reduction is effectively performed. There is, however, such a case that the arrival of a customer escapes fueling operator""s attention when the operator is concentrated on some other job such as other customer""s fueling. In this case, the newly arrived customer may feel inconvenience. Moreover, it is sometimes inconvenient for a customer to get off his car for settlement.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a fueling system wherein the substantial fueling operation is carried out by fueling operators and other supplementary operations such as the input of fueling data and settlement is carried out by a customer sitting in a car, thereby effectively eliminating the number of fueling operators without giving the customer a feeling of inconvenience.
The above object of the present invention is attained by a fueling system to be provided in a gas station comprising at least one fueling machine, and a data input/output unit, the data input/output unit being movable in a required direction, and a fueling data being input from the data input/output unit and being output to the fueling machines.
The above object can also be attained by a fueling system to be provided in a gas station comprising a plurality of fueling machines, at least one data input/output unit which is movable by a conveyance unit, a fueling data being input from the data input/output unit and being output to the fueling machines, and entry sensors, each for sensing a car at a fueling area wherein fueling operation is performed, the data input/output unit being moved toward the car by means of the conveyance unit with the detection of a signal from each of the entry sensors.


Expression-based hierarchical validation is disclosed, including: receiving an indication to configure validation for an application page element; in response to the indication, causing to be displayed a validation configuration user interface to receive validation configuration for the application page element; receiving validation configuration for the application page element that includes a validation expression provided via the validation configuration user interface; and generating, based at least in part on the validation expression, code to be executed at a runtime to validate runtime data associated with an instance of the page element.

Typically, when developing an application in a development environment, specialized code is written to perform the validation for a particular form field. However, this presents a challenge to development tool users who have limited or no programming knowledge, making it difficult for them to configure validation for fields in an application that they are designing.

Expression based hierarchical mechanism for HTML form data validation


A toy gun for launching projectiles is provided. The gun includes a stock having a first end and a second end, where the first end is secured to an elongated barrel; and a trigger mechanism is secured on the stock adjacent to the elongated barrel for launching the projectiles. The trigger mechanism includes a release mechanism having a lower leg connected to the stock and an upper leg connected to the bottom leg by a spring and the upper leg is moveable between a first position and a second position. The trigger mechanism also includes at least one retaining member extends upwardly through a longitudinal slits in the upper leg. As the release mechanism is moved from the first position to the second position, the projectile attached to the trigger mechanism is launched.

A rubber band gun is a toy gun used to fire one or more rubber bands (or "elastic loop bands"). Typically, in such guns, a rubber band is stretched and retained lengthwise along the barrel of the gun and a trigger mechanism is provided for releasing the rearward end of the stretched rubber band so that the band is projected from the muzzle end of the barrel.
One type of prior art gun includes a repeater (or revolver) rubber band gun that is capable of firing 10 or more rubber bands, semi-automatically. The repeater rubber band gun is usually made of wood, and has a plastic firing mechanism, consisting of a toothed cogwheel onto which the bands are hooked. A band is hooked around the front or nozzle of the barrel, and stretched back to the first tooth of the cogwheel. The wheel is turned backward one notch, and the next band is hooked on. Once all teeth on the wheel are loaded, the gun is ready to fire. A trigger releases the wheel by one notch launching or releasing a rubber band. Every time the trigger is pulled a rubber band is launched until there are no more rubber bands to launch. However, this prior art gun is difficult to operate as loading and firing of the gun is complicated.
Another type of prior art gun includes a Gatling gun consisting of between 3 and 12 repeater rubber band guns arranged on a cylindrical rotor. The rotor rotates and each individual barrel is fired as it reaches the top of its locus. To rotate the rotor, an individual manually rotates a crank handle. However, this prior art gun is also difficult to operate as the loading and firing of the gun is complicated.
Consequently, a rubber band gun is needed that is easy to load and fire.


An alkaline solution containing dissolved sodium sulfides, mercaptides and phenolates is treated with a carbon dioxide-containing solvent in a reaction zone under mass transfer conditions to neutralize effluent alkaline solution and recover processable hydrocarbon values.

Commonly, hydrocarbon streams produced by refining operations or natural gas liquids processing operations contain phenolics and sulfur compounds, such as hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans. These streams are usually treated with alkaline solutions such as aqueous solutions of an alkali metal hydroxide in order to remove such sulfur compounds and phenolics and reduce odor and corrosivity associated with these acidic species. For example, mercaptans are generally removed from such hydrocarbon streams by washing or contacting such streams with an aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide or potassium hydroxide. The sulfur compounds are absorbed into the alkaline solution and reacted with it to form sulfides and mercaptides, i.e., the metal salts of hydrogen sulfide and the mercaptans respectively. Also any phenolics contained in thermal or catalytic cracked hydrocarbons are typically converted to phenolates when absorbed into the alkaline solution. The alkaline solution containing the sulfides, mercaptides, and phenolates is then typically separated from the hydrocarbon stream, regenerated and recycled for contacting more of the sulfur-containing hydrocarbon stream, until its alkalinity is reduced below effective levels. Effluent alkaline solutions that contain toxic contaminants such as hydrogen sulfide, or have a pH value greater than 12.5 are defined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Office as characteristic hazardous waste. Consequently, they require special handling prior to disposal.
Existing processes, examples of which are discussed herein, deal primarily with managing the fresh caustic requirements of a refinery and thus focus in regenerating the effluent caustic by removing most of the sulfides and mercaptides. For instance, one method of regenerating the alkaline solution is air/steam stripping of the mercaptides from the alkaline solution. In yet another method, the sulfides and mercaptides are oxidized in the presence of oxygen in an oxidation zone to thiosulfate and disulfides. The thiosulfates remain dissolved in the alkaline solution and reduce the alkalinity of the alkaline hydroxide solution. The disulfides, which are relatively insoluble in the alkaline solution, may then be removed therefrom by contacting the alkaline solution with an organic solvent. In order to carry out the oxidation, a catalyst is generally employed. The catalyst includes certain metal chelates, for example, phthalocyanine disulfonate. The oxidation zone typically involves a column having suitable contacting means such as trays with bubble caps, suitable spacing material such as Raschig rings or a plurality of fibers positioned longitudinally in the column.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,921,021 to Urban et al. relates to the treatment of a sour hydrocarbon distillate with an alkaline solution. The effluent alkaline solution containing mercaptides is then mixed with air in a regenerator whereby the mercaptides are oxidized to disulfides. The regenerated caustic and disulfides are in the form of a finely dispersed mixture. The dispersion is passed through a coalescing system and then to a settling tank whereby the disulfide compounds are separated from the alkaline solution. While most of the disulfides are removed in the settling tank, in some cases the settling step may be followed by a naphtha wash to remove disulfides still retained in the alkaline solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,853,432 to Gleim et al. discloses the regeneration of used alkaline reagents by oxidizing same using a phthalocyanine catalyst. For example, mercaptides contained in a caustic solution were oxidized to disulfides, which were then withdrawn from the regeneration zone by skimming or by dissolving in a suitable solvent such as naphtha.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,574,093 to Strong relates to a multi-step process wherein the effluent caustic solution generated by treating a low-boiling hydrocarbon stream for mercaptan removal is thereafter used in a second treating step wherein a higher boiling sour distillate is sweetened. In the sweetening step, the mercaptans in the sour distillate are oxidized to disulfides. The disulfides exit the treating stage in the hydrocarbon stream along with those mercaptides which had been previously extracted and oxidized from the low boiling hydrocarbon stream. Thus, the higher boiling stream is sweetened at the same time. The regenerated caustic solution is then introduced into a separation zone from which the disulfide phase is recovered from the caustic zone. The coalescence of the disulfide compound into a separate phase is stated to be extremely difficult without the use of coalescing agents. In addition, a high residence time is used in the separation zone to further facilitate this phase separation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,614 to Asdigian also relates to a multi-step process for the extraction of mercaptans from hydrocarbon streams with an alkaline solution, followed by the regeneration of the mercaptide-containing alkaline solution resulting from such extraction by oxidation in the presence of a catalyst in an oxidation zone, followed by the separation of the disulfides and the alkaline solution by decantation within a phase separation zone. From this process, the alkaline solution is recycled. In addition to the requirement of a separate oxidation zone and a large settling zone, the use of additional coalescing means is said to be required.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,666,689 to Maple et al. discloses regenerating a effluent alkaline solution by adding a suitable oxidation catalyst to the effluent alkaline solution and contacting the alkaline solution with an oxygen-containing solvent in a reaction zone, wherein the solvent is immiscible with the effluent alkaline solution. The reaction zone comprises a plurality of fibers positioned longitudinally within a conduit, whereby the two liquids, i.e., the effluent alkaline solution containing the oxidation catalyst and the oxygen-containing solvent, are in contact while co-currently flowing through the reaction zone during which the mercaptides are oxidized to disulfides and are simultaneously extracted from the alkaline solution to the solvent.
However, the aforementioned processes do not provide a satisfactory solution to the problem of disposal of the alkaline solution when after it has been used a number of times it is no longer suitable for any use in the refinery. Moreover, during a typical treatment of thermal or catalytic cracked hydrocarbon streams any phenolics contained therein are converted to phenolates, for instance cresylic acid is converted into sodium cresylate, which are subsequently incorporated into the alkaline stream. This has the undesired effect of reducing the volume of the hydrocarbon stream. Moreover, it requires special handling of the effluent alkaline solution for disposal purposes. Methods and associated equipment available to recover the cresylates are complex and very costly. Because the volume of the effluent alkaline solution generated by individual operators is relatively small, it is generally not economically feasible for these operators to regenerate such phenolate containing alkaline solutions. Some companies recover cresylates from effluent alkaline solutions which are transported to them, but, the additional transportation costs renders this option economically deficient or often times unfeasible.
Therefore, there is a need for a simple and inexpensive method for treating effluent alkaline solutions containing phenolates, sulfides and mercaptides to separate the aqueous alkaline solution for disposal or reuse.

Process for treating an effluent alkaline stream having sulfur-containing and phenolic compounds


A waveguide structure (200) according to the invention comprises a core layer (210), a cladding layer (206) and a buffer layer (208). Sub-regions (204) are formed in the cladding layer (206) but not in the core layer (210). In one dimensional applications the sub-regions are slots: in two dimensional applications the sub-regions are rods. The rods or slots may be air-filled or filled with an in-fill material, (e.g. Si). The in-fill material, if present, enhances the contrast in dielectric constant between sub-regions (204) and the core layer (210).

It is increasingly recognised that integrated optical circuits have a number of advantages over electrical circuits. However, it has been difficult to produce integrated optical circuits which are comparably small, primarily due to the difficulty in producing waveguides which can include tight bends without large signal losses. It has also been difficult to produce integrated optical circuits including signal processing devices which can be easily coupled to current optical fibres, owing to a difference in the refractive index of the material used for optical fibres and those materials typically used for integrated optical devices, whilst still maintaining compact sizes.
Optical signals may be resonantly confined and manipulated using structures whose periodicity is of the same scale as an optical wavelength. Much recent interest has centred upon the field of photonic crystal (PC) waveguide structures.
Photonic elements may be incorporated in a range of different optical systems. Examples of appropriate optical systems include implementations in telecommunications, biosensors and optical storage media.
Photonic crystal waveguide structures are typically based on some perturbation in dielectric constant in the core of a planar waveguide structure. This has most commonly been performed by the spatially periodic etching of air rods through a cladding layer into the core layer of the waveguide. As light propagates through the core, it interacts with the dielectric constant modulation and, in some structures, in a manner analogous to electrons in a semiconductor, certain electromagnetic fields are forbidden to propagate in the core.
Electrons moving through a semiconductor lattice experience a periodic potential as they interact with the lattice nuclei via the Coulomb force. This interaction results in the formation of allowed and forbidden energy states. For pure and perfect semiconductors, no electrons will be found in an energy range called the forbidden energy gap or simply the band gap. However, the situation is different for real materials: electrons can have an energy within the band gap if the periodicity of the lattice is broken by, say, a missing silicon atom or by an impurity atom occupying a silicon site, or if the material contains interstitial impurities (additional atoms located at non-lattice sites).
Likewise, photons moving through a block of transparent dielectric material that contains a number of tiny air holes arranged in a lattice pattern also experience allowed and forbidden regions. The photons will pass through regions of high refractive index—the dielectric in the core layer—interspersed with regions of low refractive index—the air rods. This contrast in refractive index affects a photon just as a periodic potential would affect an electron travelling through a silicon crystal. Indeed, if there is large contrast in refractive index between the two regions then most of the light will be confined either within the dielectric material or the air rods. This confinement results in the formation of allowed energy regions separated by a forbidden region—the so-called photonic band gap
Furthermore, by not including certain holes/slots in the lattice/slot region, a defect state waveguide can be formed. More detail on the nature of the band structure of photonic crystals of this sort can be found in WO 98/53351 (BTG International).
One dimensional (1D) photonic crystals comprising a region of equidistant air slots formed in a core material, such that a photonic bandgap (PBG) is present, are known. Two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystals comprising a lattice of air holes formed in a core material, typically silicon, have been fabricated, which exhibit a photonic bandgap.
PCs are typically manufactured through a combination of PECVD or LPCVD (or ion sputtering), e-beam lithography or pattern masking, dry etching and oxidization processes. Conventionally the core may be made of silicon nitride (or Silicon Oxynitride or Ta2O5 while the buffer layer and cladding layer which bound the core are made of silicon dioxide (but also Silicon Oxynitride).
It is also known to introduce a third material into air slots/rods, in order to reduce out-of-plane losses. These are discussed in more detail in our co-pending applications U.S. Ser. No. 10/196,727 (filed Jul. 17, 2002) and U.S. Ser. No. 10/287,825 (filed Nov. 5, 2002)
Confinement of light within the waveguide is provided by using light having a wavelength within the photonic bandgap wavelength range. However, it has been found that photonic crystal devices suffer from large losses, mainly due to the escape of light from the waveguide in a vertical direction. Furthermore, in order to provide a strong and complete bandgap at optical frequencies, it has been necessary to use a high refractive index material, typically silicon. This makes it difficult to couple light into the waveguides from existing optical fibres, which typically have a core having a much lower refractive index. This problem necessitates complicated, lossy mode coupling devices.

Abstract: Sub-regions (204) may furthermore be formed in the portion of the buffer layer neighbouring the core layer. Slots or rods in the buffer may be air-filled or filled by an in-fill material.

Abstract: Substantially complete confinement of the mode in the core can be assured while still maintaining the ability to interact with the field within the photonic band structure region. Rather than perturb the majority of the field (which is confined in the core), it is possible to interact with the evanescent field in the cladding layer (or the buffer layer) without substantially affecting mode confinement.


Toner of one aspect of the present invention has a weight average molecular weight Mw of 30,000≦Mw≦95,263 as determined from a molecular weight distribution based on GPC, includes a THF-insoluble gel component at a weight proportion of less than 5%, and includes components each having a molecular weight of 500 to 1500 which components have an area occupancy of 4% to 10% on a chart of the molecular weight distribution based on GPC.

An electrophotographic image forming apparatus makes visible an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor surface with use of toner. There is a demand for toner that allows a high quality image to be formed. Patent Literature 1, for example, discloses "toner that includes a binder resin containing a tetrahydrofuran (THF)-insoluble matter in an amount of 5 weight % or less, where in a molecular weight distribution based on gel permeation chromatography (GPC) of a THF-soluble matter in the binder resin, components each having a molecular weight of less than 50,000 have a content (M1) of 40% to 70%, components each having a molecular weight of 50,000 to 500,000 have a content (M2) of 20% to 45%, components each having a molecular weight of greater than 500,000 have a content (M3) of 2% to 25%, and M1≧M2>M3". Note that M1, M2, and M3 are expressed in weight % on the basis of the area ratio in a GPC chromatogram.
Patent Literature 1 further discloses that using the above toner "makes it possible to form, with high transfer efficiency, a high quality image having moderate glossiness that is easily adjustable.


Technology is directed to text message based concierge services (“the technology”). A user interacts with a concierge service (CS) via text messages to obtain a specific concierge service. For example, the user can send a text message to the CS, e.g., to a contact number provided by the CS, requesting for a recommendation of a restaurant, and the CS can respond by sending the recommendation as a text message. The CS determines a context of the request and generates recommendations that are personalized to the user and is relevant to the context. The CS can use various techniques, e.g., artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing, to determine a context of the request and generate the recommendations accordingly. The CS can also receive additional information from a person associated with the CS, such as a concierge, to further customize or personalize the recommendations to the user.

Current concierge service providers (CSPs) use various media to provide concierge services, e.g., website, email, telephone, physical offices, etc. However, the current CSPs lack efficiency, e.g., in terms of time, accuracy, ease of access, resources required by the users to access the CSPs, etc. For example, to obtain services from a CSP who is accessible online, a user needs to have access to Internet. In another example, to obtain services from a CSP who is accessible via email, the user needs to have access to the Internet. Further, email is not an effective medium for conducting communications that need a quick response. Some studies suggest that the percentage of emails that are reportedly read within a few minutes of receipt are significantly less, and therefore fail to prompt the individuals to respond. In yet another example, to obtain services from a CSP who has a physical presence, e.g., an office, the user needs to visit the CSP's office physically to avail the services. Visiting the CSP's office can not only be time consuming for the user, can also be impractical, especially if the CSP's office is not in a location convenient to the user.
While it is possible to find a great French restaurant, with outdoor seating, for under $60 dollars, using the current CSPs, it can require the user to sift through pages of reviews on social discovery applications, such as Yelp by Yelp of San Francisco, Calif., or bookmarking articles in "best of" magazines, or have long phone calls with CSPs, all of which can consume time and be tedious for the user.
Further, the search results provided by the current social discovery applications for a particular service, e.g., restaurants, lack personal context. They are more of results of a query to a database than recommendations. Some applications provide a number of filters or search criteria using which the user can obtain more relevant results. The search criteria is typically limited to few common known ones, such as, a restaurant name, cuisine, distance, cost. Such search criteria barely provides personalized results. Further, in spite of using such search filters, the number of search results retrieved can be quiet large, which may not be helpful as the user has to review the large number of search results to find a suitable service and which can consume time and be tedious for the user. The search results provided may not be personalized or customized for a specific user. The current social discovery applications lack the capabilities to understand the context of the request. For example, if a user is interested finding a perfect restaurant for a first date, the social discovery applications may not be able to support such requests.


A system, computer-readable storage medium sorting at least one program, and a computer-implemented method for providing notifications to players of games are described. An identifier for a player of a first game is received. Notifications for at least one other game are obtained using the identifier for the player. The notifications for the at least one other game are transmitted to a device of the player, where the notifications for the at least one other game are to be displayed in a user interface for the first game.

Online multiplayer games allow players to play these games without being in the same physical location. A multiplayer game may generally be classified as a synchronous multiplayer game or an asynchronous multiplayer game. A synchronous multiplayer game is a game in which the players play the game at the same time. An asynchronous multiplayer game is a game in which the players may play the game at different times. In other words, players of an asynchronous multiplayer game do not need to play the game at the same time. Thus, asynchronous multiplayer games allow players to play the games on their own schedule. Unfortunately, a first player of an asynchronous multiplayer game may not know when a second player of the asynchronous player has performed an action that requires a response from the first player (e.g., the second player made a move in the game and it is now the first player's turn to make a move).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for providing notifications to players of games


A tarp distributing apparatus includes a tarp guide device held in an immobile condition adjacent to and extending upright to above a rear location on a truck load bed so as to establish the height to which a tarp can be moved to above and over the rear of a cargo on the truck load bed, a tarp draught device mounted in a mobile condition adjacent to and extending upright to above the truck load bed forwardly of the tarp guide device so as to undergo movement relative thereto and along the truck load bed for engaging and pulling the tarp relative to the tarp guide device forwardly over the cargo, and an actuation mechanism configured to manipulate and move the tarp draught device relative to the tarp guide device and the cargo so as to accomplish distributing the tarp over at least a portion of the cargo.

Many trucks have load beds for carrying a load of cargo thereon. The beds are open and accessible during loading and unloading of the cargo. However, during storage and/or transport of the cargo, the load is covered either to protect it from the elements or keep loose portions thereof from escaping from the load. A cover or tarp is, therefore, typically used to cover the cargo when in storage or during transport on the truck.
Tarps are frequently heavy and loads resting on the truck load beds oftentimes have irregular configurations making it extremely difficult for truck drivers or others to manually pull heavy tarps over the loads while climbing over them. Because of such difficulty, many accidents occur each year as truck driver's fall of their trucks while trying to tarp their load. Understandably insurance companies issuing policies that cover truckers hauling such loads of cargo build in high premiums in order to discourage such hazardous activity by truckers to manually cover loads in this manner. The same can be said for companies attempting to circumvent liability by forbidding truck drivers to tarp their cargo on company property. Thus, requiring them to drive off and tarp their load somewhere else.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an innovation that will provide a way to prevent the aforementioned hazardous activity by truckers from arising.

Apparatus and method for distributing a tarp over a cargo on a truck load bed


The present invention discloses a soft gelatin capsule formulation of a 15-keto-prostaglandin compound, which comprises: a soft gelatin capsule shell comprising gelatin and sugar alcohol as a plasticizer, and a mixture comprising a 15-keto-prostaglandin compound and a pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle which is filled in the shell. By encapsulating the 15-keto-prostaglandin compound in the specified soft gelatin capsule shell, stability of the compound is significantly improved.

Prostaglandins (hereinafter, referred to as PGs) are members of class of organic carboxylic acids, which are contained in tissues or organs of human and other mammals, and exhibit a wide range of physiological activities. PGs found in nature (primary PGs) have, as a general structural property thereof, a prostanoic acid skeleton as shown in the formula (A):

On the other hand, some synthetic analogues have modified skeletons. The primary PGs are classified into PGAs, PGBs, PGCs, PGDs, PGEs, PGFs, PGGs, PGHs, PGIs and PGJs on the basis of the structural property of the five membered ring moiety, and further classified into the following three types by the number and position of the unsaturated bond in the carbon chain moiety.    Type 1 (subscript 1): 13,14-unsaturated-15-OH    Type 2 (subscript 2): 5,6- and 13,14-diunsaturated-15-OH    Type 3 (subscript 3): 5,6-, 13,14-, and 17,18-triunsaturated-15-OH.
Further, PGFs are classified on the basis of the configuration of the hydroxyl group at the 9-position into a type (wherein the hydroxyl group is of the α-configuration) and β type (wherein the hydroxyl group is of the β-configuration).
In addition, some 15-keto-PGs (PGs having an oxo group at position 15 in place of the hydroxy group) and 13,14-dihydro-15-keto-PGs have been known as substances naturally produced by enzymatic actions during metabolism of the primary PGs and have some therapeutic effect. 15-keto-PGs have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,073,569, 5,534,547, 5,225,439, 5,166,174, 5,428,062 5,380,709 5,886,034 6,265,440, 5,106,869, 5,221,763, 5,591,887, 5,770,759 and 5,739,161. The contents of these publications are herein incorporated by reference.
For example, 15-keto-16-halogen prostaglandin compounds are useful as cathartics (U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,032, the contents of the reference is herein incorporated by reference). For treating gastrointestinal diseases, the agent is preferably formulated as an orally administrable dosage form. In general, PG compounds are less soluble in water and become significantly unstable under the presence of water. A capsulated formulation comprises a 15-keto-16-halogen PG compound and a solvent which can maintain the stability of the compound such as glyceride had been proposed (WO01/027099 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,583,174), the contents of the cited reference is herein incorporated by reference.
Elastic shell of a soft gelatin capsule, in general, incorporates a plasticizer in addition to gelatin. Examples of plasticizer include glycerin, propylene glycol, sorbitol, maltitol, sugar alcohol solution derived from corn starch (Anidrisorb™, Polysorb™), i.e. a mixture of sorbitol, sorbitane, mannitol and hydrogenated starch hydrolysate, hydrogenated maltose starch syrup, i.e. a mixture of maltitol, sorbitol and oligosaccharide alcohol.


The present invention provides methods of multi-dimensional profiling of biologically active agents and determining their effects on biological systems. The methods of the present invention include real-time impedance monitoring of cellular responses to biologically active agents and categorization of cellular kinetic profiles into mechanism specific cellular response profile groups. The grouping of similar cellular response profiles allows the correlation between agent and mechanism, thus allowing for the identification of potential therapeutic applications of agents or further study of cellular responses or mechanisms.

The advent of combinatorial chemistry and high throughput screening techniques has revolutionized the drug discovery process allowing for screening and generation of small molecule lead compounds against molecular targets at an unprecedented rate. Most screening assays for small molecule compounds are target driven and it is often difficult to control for off-target interactions. However, the potential interaction of drugs with unintended targets or pathways could prove fatal leading to toxicity or side effects. Additionally, in phenotype-based screening where the target is not readily apparent, identification of the target can prove elusive. Therefore, there is an increasing need in drug discovery, and chemical biology for technologies that can predict or provide information allowing for testable hypotheses regarding the underlying mechanism of action of small molecule compounds.
A number of multi-dimensional profiling technologies including gene expression profiling, proteomic profiling, protein-fragment complementation profiling, high content microscopy-based profiling and cell line cytotoxicity based profiling approaches have been described to measure both the interaction of compounds on intended targets and also generate testable hypotheses concerning mechanism of action and off-target effects. In all cases a very large information-rich data set is generated which can be used to cluster compounds based on activity patterns. Each data point in such a data set corresponds to the measured value for one particular assay target, with all the data in the set being measured at the same time point. These information-rich data sets can be mined with the help of specially designed algorithms to look for specific patterns of activity amongst the compounds being screened and to formulate hypothesis concerning the mechanism of action of compounds. Indeed, all the profiling approaches have had various degrees of success not only in elucidating mechanism of action of unknown compounds, but also unraveling new and novel mechanisms for existing drugs. The challenge in implementing multi-dimensional profiling technologies in a drug discovery setting is to formulate a method that is practical, simple to use and easy to analyze and can be used on routine basis.

Use of impedance-based cytological profiling to classify cellular response profiles upon exposure to biologically active agents


An aqueous aerosol hair spray styling aid composition and method including a terpolymer of vinylpyrrolidone/ethyl methacrylate/methacrylic acid (at least partially neutralized 30-1004) monomers in an amount of about 1% to about 124 by weight of the composition, particularly about 2% to about 10% by weight of the composition; water in an amount of about 20% to about 804 by weight of the composition; and a dimethyl ether liquefied propellant gas in an amount of about 25% to about 40% based on the total weight of the aerosol composition.

Hair sprays provide human hair with a particular shape or configuration and function by applying a thin film of a resin or gum onto the hair to adhere adjacent hairs together so that they retain the particular shape or configuration at the time of application. Many of these hair sprays have been applied from aerosol compositions that include a liquefiable propellant gas - generally a halohydrocarbon, such as trichlorofluoromethane or trichlorotrifluoroethane or a gaseous hydrocarbon such as propane or butane. Recently proposed legislation, directed to the depletion of the atmospheric ozone layer has led to the halohydrocarbons being increasingly replaced with pure gaseous non-halogenated hydrocarbons as propellants. However, the use of non-halogenated hydrocarbons as propellants has resulted in a problem of decreased solubility of the hair spray resin or gum in water requiring an increased amount of volatile organic solvent, such as ethanol, to achieve sufficient solubility, therefore creating an additional ecological problem.
As set forth in the Nuber, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,613, a film-forming terpolymer of vinylpyrrolidone, t-butyl methacrylate and methacrylic acid monomers can be at least partially neutralized to improve the water solubility or dispersibility of the resin and provide the resin with the quality of being easier to remove from the hair during washing. However, as disclosed in the Nuber, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,767,613, such aerosol hair treating agents generally have a maximum of about 5% water and require a high amount, up to about 95% by weight, of a volatile organic solvent, such as alcohol, despite the increased solubility of the neutralized resin.
As stated in the product literature of Stepan Company, of Northfield, Ill., directed to the use of the terpolymer of vinylpyrrolidone/ethyl methacrylate/methacrylic acid (STEPANHOLD EXTRA) for use as a fixative hair spray, this particular fixative polymer was designed specifically for pump sprays, not aerosol hair sprays. The terpolymer apparently was not found to be compatible with hydrocarbon propellants, or required far too much alcohol solvent to satisfy volatile organic contaminant regulations. Surprisingly, in accordance with the present invention, it has been found that excellent and homogeneous delivery of the terpolymer can be achieved with the use of dimethyl ether as the propellant.
Stepan Company discloses one example of an aerosol hair spray that includes the terpolymer of the composition of the present invention and has 41.10% by weight water, but the composition also includes 45.70% by weight alcohol, as follows, where percentages are percent by weight: Terpolymer of polyvinylpyrrolidone, ethyl methacylate, and methacrylic acid 9.60%; SDA 40 Alcohol (190 Proof) 45.70%; AMP (Regular) 0.40%; Silicone L-722 (Union Carbide) 0.50%; Propylene Glycol 2.00%; Perfume V-5177 (Van Dyke) 0.60%; 54 Morpholine in SDA 40 Alcohol 0.10%; and Distilled Water 41.10%.
In accordance with the present invention, a new and improved aerosol hair spray styling aid composition has been found wherein a terpolymer of vinylpyrrolidone/ethyl methacrylate/methacrylic acid --at least partially neutralized for water solubility; and about 25% to about 50% dimethyl ether propellant, particularly at least about 25%, to about 40% by weight dimethyl ether propellant and preferably about 25% to about 35% by weight dimethyl ether propellant; can be suitably solubilized or dispersed in the aerosol composition containing about 30% to about 80% water and less than 40% volatile organic compounds (such as alcohol solvents and/or propellants), particularly less than about 35% volatile organic compounds (excluding the propellant), e.g., 0-30% ethanol, preferably 5-25% alcohol, while providing an aerosol spray styling aid that can effectively solubilize or disperse from about 1% to about 12%, by weight of the composition, of the terpolymer, more suitably about 2% to about 10% by weight terpolymer, and preferably about 2% to about 8% by weight terpolymer, with a volatile organic compound, e.g., alcohol, being optionally included for fast drying.


An end-wall unit for a submersible motor unit and a submersible motor unit for use in driving a pump including a housing that extends along a longitudinal axis and defines an interior chamber, a stator at least partially enclosed by said housing within a stator chamber, a rotor rotatably supported by a bearing assembly and at least partially enclosed by said stator, and an end-wall assembly that includes an end cap and at least one of a capacitor and a bearing assembly. The at least one of the capacitor and the bearing assembly is supported by the end cap in a position such that the at least one of the capacitor and the bearing assembly is at least partially enclosed by the housing when the end-wall assembly is installed on the motor unit.

Dwellings located in rural areas are often not supplied with fresh water by a public utility. In such cases, fresh water can be pumped from a well and delivered to the dwellings via a plumbing network. To extract well water from the well, however, a pump and a motor for driving the pump must be used to impart a force on the water sufficient to elevate the water out of the well and into the dwelling.
Pumps and motors are known to be submerged in the well water, and any other fluid, to be removed from a reservoir. The housing of submersible motors encloses the internal components of the motor and protects those components from the ambient aquatic environment. Motors that employ a capacitor to assist during the starting of the motor have conventionally had the capacitor externally coupled to a bottom of the motor housing. This requires apertures to be formed in the motor housing through which conducting leads can extend to receive electrical energy from an electrical-energy transmission network. These apertures can damage the integrity of the motor's housing, and provides additional locations where the fluid from the ambient environment can enter the interior of the motor housing.
Attempts to internally install the capacitor within the motor housing, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,353 to Bevington, which is the subject of Reissue patent application Ser. No. 10/797,931 and incorporated in its entirety by reference herein, have successfully eliminated the apertures in the motor housing through which conducting leads must extend. However, properly positioning the capacitor within the motor housing has complicated the installation process.
Similarly, conventional installation of a bearing assembly within a motor housing requires time and skill to ensure that the bearing assembly is properly situated to rotatably support a rotating member such as the rotor or the drive shaft. Conventional motors include dedicated support assemblies that are installed to support the bearing assembly at a desired location within the motor unit. The dedicated support assemblies are in addition to the existing components of the motor, and increase the number of parts and complexity of the motor, making installation more costly.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a submersible motor unit with an internal capacitor that can be easily installed within the interior of the motor housing, and a motor unit that facilitates simplified installation of the bearing assembly. The motor unit should simplify the overall assembly process, and should minimize the cost of assembly.

Modular end bell construction for a submersible motor unit


Various technologies pertaining to authenticating a password in a manner that prevents offline dictionary attacks are described. A protected module, which can be a hardware security module, a trusted platform module, or the like, is in communication with an authentication server. The protected module comprises a key that is restricted to the protected module. The key is employed in connection with authenticating the password on the protected module.

Utilizing a personal computing device and a computer executable application that is configured to transmit and receive data over a network (such as a browser), a user can register with and utilize one or more online services. Typically, these services are accessed via the user providing a username and password, and the service authenticating the password prior to allowing the user access to the service. Exemplary services include but are not limited to e-mail, instant messaging, banking, retail sales, and so forth.
Several security techniques have been employed in connection with preventing an attacker from acquiring passwords of users. Unfortunately, many users typically choose passwords that are fairly easy to remember for the user, which oftentimes cause the passwords to be fairly easy to guess. Accordingly, dictionary attacks can be employed to guess many passwords. An attacker performs a dictionary attack by setting forth numerous guesses for one or more usernames, wherein the guesses are passwords revealed to be commonly used in other systems, or expected to be likely used by the users of the target system (e.g. because the passwords use terms associated with the target system or company). Utilizing a dictionary attack, an attacker can oftentimes guess numerous passwords for varying usernames. To facilitate prevention of online dictionary attacks, authentication servers have been employed to limit a number of times that a computing device can submit an incorrect password for a username; if the number of incorrect guesses surpasses a threshold, the user account and/or the device making the guess is at least temporarily suspended from issuing login requests (guesses).
Configuring an authentication server to monitor incorrect guesses of passwords, however, does not prevent offline dictionary attacks. In an offline dictionary attack, the attacker acquires a copy of a password database retained in an authentication server (or acquires the authentication server itself). The attacker then analyzes content of the password database to determine how to guess passwords. For instance, some currently existing password databases include passwords in plain text. Accordingly, if an attacker acquires the copy of the password database, the attacker can quickly determine passwords for all users of the service. To strengthen password protection, hashing functions have been employed. The current accepted "best practice" is for a service to retain a hash that corresponds to a respective password, but not retain the password itself In an exemplary embodiment, for a particular user, an authentication server maintains for each user a record of the username or other user identifier, a randomly generated value specific to the user's account (referred to as a salt), and a hash value: the hash value being the result of performing a one-way hash function over the concatenation of the user's password and the salt. During authentication for a proffered username and password, the authentication server re-executes the hash function over the purported password concatenated with the salt for that user's account. The resulting hash is then compared with the hash value in the database; if the values are equal, the password is determined to be a correct match and the user is authenticated.
Even utilizing the current accepted best practice, however, an attacker can copy the database values to his or her own machine and guess passwords for usernames at leisure. Furthermore, the attacker can deploy special-purpose hardware, such as field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) or collections of graphics processing units (GPUs) to increase the rate of password guessing compared to a commodity computing device. Moreover, the administrator of the service, if an offline dictionary attack is suspected, has no mechanism to audit which passwords were issued as guesses or which accounts may have had their password successfully guessed by the attacker. Therefore, if it is ascertained that an offline dictionary attack has occurred, there is no way for the service provider to know which passwords may have been correctly guessed, thus requiring that the service be shut down and that all users of the service be notified of a potential attack.

Utilization of a protected module to prevent offline dictionary attacks


Systems and methods in accordance with embodiments of the invention implement multi-directional environmental sensors. In one embodiment, a multi-directional environmental sensor includes: an inner conductive element that is substantially symmetrical about three orthogonal planes; an outer conductive element that is substantially symmetrical about three orthogonal planes; and a device that measures the electrical characteristics of the multi-directional environmental sensor, the device having a first terminal and a second terminal; where the inner conductive element is substantially enclosed within the outer conductive element; where the inner conductive element is electrically coupled to the first terminal of the device; and where the outer conductive element is electrically coupled to the second terminal of the device.

Sensors that monitor environmental parameters are widely used to provide and/or enhance the functionality of many engineered structures. For example, temperature sensors are often included within electronic circuitry to help prevent the circuitry from over-heating. Similarly, temperature sensors can also be used to monitor the temperature of an engine (e.g. automobile engine) to also help prevent it from overheating. Pressure sensors and strain gauges can also be used to facilitate the viability of engineered structures. For example, these gauges can measure to what extent a mechanical structure is being stressed and/or strained, and thereby determine whether the structure's failure load is being approached. Accordingly, it would be useful to develop more robust and versatile environmental sensors that can withstand more rigorous engineering applications.


A layline labeling process includes providing a layline material including a carrier film and a plurality of ink regions applied to the carrier film; applying a laser to laser-treat the ink side of the layline material to remove a first portion of ink to form a pattern of labeling; applying the laser treated layline material to a product with the ink side against the product; curing the product; and removing the carrier film after curing, wherein a second portion of ink of the ink regions of the laser treated layline material not removed by the laser treatment remains bonded to an outer layer of the product. Because of the laser treatment to form the pattern of labeling where the ink has been removed from the carrier film, the labeling is visible by the contrast of the outer layer of the product where the ink was burned away, against the remaining ink that has bonded to such outer product layer during curing.

The present disclosure is described in connection with the labeling and marking of hose products, although comparable principles may be applied to marking or labeling of other suitable products. In many conventional labeling processes, hoses are labeled by applying ink directly to the hose's outer cover after the hose is cured, such as by using an inkjet printer or comparable ink printing device. Inkjet and similar printers are expensive and difficult to employ for certain types of products, such as hoses.
Another conventional labeling process involves applying to the product a preprinted label or ink decoration on what is referred to in the art as a layline film, which in the case of hose labeling is applied to the hose cover during manufacturing, prior to curing. The layline material generally includes a backing material and a clear transfer tape or film, often made of polypropylene or Mylar film. The layline material may contain preprinted marketing data, including usually at least a quarter date (e.g., 3Q17) indicating when the hose was produced. The ink for printing the marketing data is generally printed using a conventional silkscreen-type printing process.
With the use of tensioning rollers, a spool of the layline material is uncoiled and applied onto the cover of the hose, applied ink side down against the hose with the clear transfer film layer on top and exposed. As the layline material is applied onto the hose, a curing agent is applied onto the hose/layline material combination. The hose, layline material, and curing agent combination is then coiled onto a reel and the reel enters the vulcanizer to cure the combination. The curing agent is either an extruded plastic cover or a wrapped fabric which jackets the hose assembly during curing. After curing, the curing agent is removed from the hose along with the clear transfer tape or film of the layline material. The result is the hose has the printed backing material of the layline material remaining. The curing process induces heat onto the hose to promote adhesion between the hose and layline ink of the printed material.
Conventional layline labeling has deficiencies. As specified by certain industry standards in the hose and related industries (e.g., SAE, ISO and other industry standards), a minimum amount of product information must be preprinted onto the Mylar or other carrier film. Among other requirements, the information at least minimally needs to include a calendar quarter date (i.e., 2Q17), which represents about a 12-week time period when the hose was produced. Manufacturing schedules, however, are not always precise due to for example market conditions and customer needs, and hose manufacturing at times can be sped up or delayed. Accordingly, any portion of the preprinted layline that becomes out of date is no longer usable, and must be destroyed. This presents a costly waste of materials.
In this regard, the preprinted layline material cannot be updated if not used, nor otherwise altered to include variable information. In some cases, an inkjet printer also may be used, which prints variable data onto the hose separate from the layline material after curing. Variable data may include a production tracking number, specific production date, or other information that may vary as to the hose products. As indicated above, however, inkjet or comparable printing can be expensive and difficult to perform. Because the variable information ink printing is applied after the hose is cured, variation in the hose position as it is unrolled and printed can allow the ink printing to overlap the layline data, causing poor appearance. Even when post-curing ink printing is added, any unused layline that has become out of date still is unusable and must be destroyed as the preprinted layline material cannot be altered, again resulting in significant scrap of unused layline material which is costly.
In other product labeling fields, laser printers have been employed. In conventional laser printing for product labeling applications, typically found on printed cardboard packaging and the like, the material to be marked with the laser is first printed with two ink regions of contrasting colors of ink, including a dark base layer (for example black or red) and a lighter upper layer (e.g., white) printed over the darker base layer. The laser removes the upper layer in the shape of letters or numbers thereby exposing the darker base layer so the characters are readable. Laser printing has not been employed in layline printing applications or processes, including for hose labeling and marking.


A barbed tape product as adjacent pairs of loops in which the loops of a pair are attached to each other at an attachment point that is circumferentially offset relative to an attachment point of the adjacent pair of loops. Additional attachment points may be provided in helically progressive positions between the first and second attachment points. The attachment points are positioned on one pair of loops so that each of the attachment points are circumferentially offset relative to all other attachment points on an adjacent pair of loops. The attachment points may be positioned in a predetermined helically progressive pattern on a coil of the product. The pattern may provide a predetermined natural configuration of the product when the product is in a deployed state of use. Attachment elements for attaching strands of the product together are sized and configured for strength and accuracy in automatically attached concertina or other barbed tape products.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to a barbed tape product, and more particularly to a barbed tape product having a predetermined pattern of attachment points.
2. State of the Art
Barbed tape products are known. Much of the process of making such products has been automated. For example, forming the barbs from a stock tape material has been automated. Also, placement of a reinforcing wire within a channel formed in the tape has been automated. Bending of the barbed tape product into round coils is also part of known production processes. However, automatically and efficiently clipping adjacent strands of barbed tape product together has been virtually unsuccessful. Accordingly, most manufacturers rely upon manually attaching adjacent strands of the product in a concertina or other pattern. Most concertina products have three attachment elements for every two winds (or loops) of the product strand. These elements are generally placed at equally spaced circumferential positions along the product strand. Known barbed tape concertina products seldom purposely depart from this pattern except for between rolls when attaching is suspended, the strand is severed, and the machine is re-threaded for a subsequent roll of product.
Attachment elements such as generally U-shaped clips with arms that extend from a base and surround a pair of strands are known. In these clips, the arms interleave with each other in an attached configuration. These clips are attached with a clip gun that is typically actuated by a human operator. For convenience, multiple clips are held together in a string by a pair of filaments. The string of clips is fed into the clip gun so that the clip gun may be actuated repeatedly.

Barbed tape product with a predetermined pattern of attachment points and attachment elements