Window cover systems include window cover material in the form of pleated panels or slats. The window cover material is suspended from a traverse track and is traversed along the track for opening and closing the window system. Arrangements for maintaining spacing and alignment of pleats or slats are provided. The alignment maintaining arrangements include traverse tapes which are substantially rigid in longitudinal and lateral directions in the plane of the tape, and are flexible in a direction perpendicular to the tape. The arrangements also include attaching the window cover material to vertical edge members and providing foldable spacer-members between adjacent edge-members. In one arrangement, a box-pleated panel of window cover fabric is suspended from a traverse track on slide-members. The slide-members are each attached to a spacer-tape at regular intervals along the spacer-tape. The spacer-tape is substantially rigid in the traverse direction and in a vertical direction perpendicular to the traverse direction. The window cover system is opened and closed by rolling and unrolling the panel and the spacer-tape around a roller located at one end of a window frame. Other arrangements include combined, tape-supported vertical slat blinds and vertical pleated drapes in which the tape(s) are supported by sprockets or wheels/pulleys.

a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to window cover systems, to window cover systems using various cover materials such as pleated or non-pleated fabrics or slats or blinds, and to vertically and horizontally oriented cover systems, that is, those in which the pleats or blinds or slats are oriented vertically or horizontally.
The term "window cover" is used here for convenience, but with the understanding that my invention can be used to cover other areas or openings, such as doorways. Also, for convenience frequent reference is made to pleated fabric window cover systems, but this reference is exemplary and not limiting, for as indicated above the invention is applicable to various materials, including non-pleated fabrics and blinds. As shown in FIG. 2, the terms "longitudinal width" (or simply "width") and "height" of a window cover refer to the dimensions "w" and "h", respectively.
b. Current State of the Relevant Art
Over the past several years, pleated shade systems have become a popular form of window treatment. One version of a pleated shade system available from Verosol USA, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pa., under the trademark RIDEAU, utilizes a prepleated fabric with strong, permanently set pleats which pack very tightly. The Verosol fabric pleats are single pleats. Another version of prepleated fabric is a dual pleated "hollow" fabric recently introduced by the Window Fashion Division of Hunter Douglas, Inc. of Broomfield, Colo., under the trademark DUETTE. Graber, Inc. markets a CRYSTAL PLEAT brand, dual hollow pleated fabric window cover. A seamed pleated fabric cover is available from Verosol, USA, Inc. under the trademark FINALE.
Several of these pleated fabrics work very well in pleated shade systems because the pleats run horizontally and the regularity of the pleats is controlled by the weight of a board or other length of rigid material fastened to the bottom edge of the area of pleated fabric.
A major problem associated with attempting to use the prepleated material in vertical orientations is the difficulty in providing uniform hanging of the pleats. Because of the strongly set pleats, the material tends to behave like a tension spring. The pleats have a spring inherent bias toward the packed-together or closed state of the fabric. When used in a vertical drape, this spring force makes the material hang with uneven draping when the drape is closed (i.e. the open state of the pleated fabric) because the bottom portion of the material which is not mechanically constrained tends to draw together. Thus the pleats do not hang straight and the appearance is unacceptable.
An additional problem occurs when the drape is being traversed open (closed or packed state of the fabric) after being left in a closed position for a length of time. The pleats of the drape do not always pack consistently and tend to distort out of the plane of traverse of the drape. This makes it difficult to obtain a uniform pleating of the drape as it closes and requires hand adjustment of the individual pleats of the fabric.
Vertical blind systems are also popular window covers and share some of the same problems. It would be preferable to use the same string ladder spacing and confining system in a vertical blind that is used in horizontal blind. However, if a string ladder is used, the weight of the ladder itself tends to distort the shape of the overall blind, especially at the edges where the bottom portions of the edge slats tend to be pulled inward. Furthermore, when the vertical blind is traversed from a closed to an open position, the slats tend to distort out of the plane of traverse due to unevenness in the folding of the string ladder material between slats.
My two recent patents, U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,668, issued Aug. 22, 1989, entitled VERTICAL WINDOW COVERING SYSTEMS, and its continuation-in-part, U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,153, issued Apr. 10, 1990, also entitled VERTICAL WINDOW COVERING SYSTEMS, disclose vertical cover support systems which are especially adapted to overcome the above problems associated with vertically mounted draperies and blinds. The '668 and '153 patents are incorporated by reference. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 55, in one preferred embodiment, the vertical cover support systems disclosed in these patents include an elongate mounting platform 2, which is adapted for easy traverse along the system track 1, and means 4 which extends through a slot in the bottom of the traverse track for mounting a vertical drapery edge stabilizer 3. The end of the window cover 5 is attached to the rigid edge stabilizer member 3, which in turn is rigidly mounted to the platform 2 by member 4 and is held by the platform in a rigid vertical orientation to thereby maintain the end of the drapery 5 or other cover in a precise vertical orientation. A cord tensioning arrangement 6 maintains the cover in the vertical plane of the system (the vertical plane extending downward from the traverse track 1). Preferably the platform 2 is elongate along the direction of the traverse track 1 and includes spaced wheels 7—7 which are captured between top and bottom rails of the track, thereby providing the combination of a stable horizontal mounting platform for the vertical edge stabilizer 3 and easy, finger-tip traversal along the track. Other features may include a torque release arrangement (not shown) for releasably mounting the edge stabilizer to the platform 2 and allowing the edge stabilizer to pivot when a predetermined sideways force is applied, to prevent damage to the system.
Like all thing conceived by humans, the vertical cover support systems disclosed in my above patents are not perfect. Specifically, although the systems are quite effective, it is desirable to have a system of even greater simplicity and lighter weight which provides the stability, ease of traverse and other improved characteristics described in my above-described patents.
In addition to the vertical string ladder venetian blind systems mentioned above, there are available non-ladder, vertical blind cover systems comprising vertical slats which typically are suspended from a top traverse track (the slats are free at the bottom). These slats traverse open and closed along the longitudinal width of the track and the individual slats pivot about vertical mounting axes so that when the blind array is partially or wholly closed across the window opening, the slats can be pivoted open and closed in unison, similar to the horizontal opening and closing of horizontal Venetian blinds.
The above vertical slat blind systems are not stable and move undesirably, for example, when subjected to air currents associated with heating or air conditioning outlets or wind. The movement includes longitudinal swaying (along their width, w, FIG. 2), distortion, which is in and out movement transverse to the plane of the cover (the plane of FIG. 2), and flutter, which is vibration about the vertical slat axis. Quite obviously, such movements detract from the proper function and enjoyment of the blinds, as well as their durability. For example, vibration can cause rapid deterioration of the blind mounting apparatus, damage to adjacent walls, etc.


A printed circuit board connector includes contact elements for electrically connecting contacts of at least two electrical printed circuit boards, and retaining devices retaining the contact elements in an intended position inside the printed circuit board connector. The contact elements and the retaining devices are constructed and/or disposed in such a way as to cause forces exerted upon the retaining devices by and/or through the contact elements to at least partly cancel one another out in the region of the retaining devices.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a printed circuit board connector having contact elements for electrically connecting contacts of at least two electrical printed circuit boards, and having retaining devices that retain the contact elements in their intended position inside the printed circuit board connector.
Such printed circuit board connectors are known in great numbers.
The increasing complexity of printed circuit boards that are to be connected necessitates the use of printed circuit board connectors with ever higher numbers of poles. Moreover, the demands of quality are increasing as well. Such demands include, among others, demands for strength and reliability of the electrical connections that can be made by the printed circuit board connectors (high contact forces).
Printed circuit board connectors that meet those demands are being put in contact with the printed circuit boards to be connected to one another, and in a connection position of those printed circuit boards a not inconsiderable force, which necessitates a correspondingly stable construction of those elements, is exerted upon the retaining devices that keep the contact elements in their intended position within the printed circuit board connector, on the printed circuit board connector housing, and on the connections between the retaining devices and the contact elements as well as between the retaining devices and the printed circuit board connector housing.
However, an especially stable construction of those elements results in an increase in their size and is thus contrary to the further demand that the printed circuit board connectors be kept as small as possible or be made with the highest possible contact element density.


A circuit assembly includes a busbar substrate with busbars and a resin part that is in intimate contact with the busbars, a press-fit member that is made of metal with a thickness greater than the thickness of the busbars, and is press-fitted in the busbar substrate, an electronic component connected to the press-fit member, solder that connects the busbars and the press-fit member, and a solder accumulating portion that is formed with the resin part, and in which the solder is accumulated.

Conventionally, a technique for press-fitting metal into a substrate is known. JP 2011-159727A discloses a substrate in which resin layers and conductive layers made of thick copper are alternately stacked on each other, and a copper inlay that is press-fitted into a through-hole formed in the substrate. When being press-fitted into the through-hole formed in the substrate, the copper inlay abuts against retaining parts that protrude from the conductive layers toward the center of the through-hole so that the retaining parts are folded, and thus the copper inlay and the retaining parts remain in contact with each other.
Meanwhile, in the above-described configuration, the retaining parts protruding from the conductive layers are folded by the copper inlay, but if the conductive layers are made of, instead of thick copper, a busbar made of a metal plate material, the busbar is not likely to be folded when the copper inlay is press-fitted. Accordingly, a configuration is conceivable in which the inlay is press-fitted into a through-hole formed in the busbar when the busbar and the inlay is connected to each other, but in this case, a defect may occur in the connection between the inlay and the busbar unless they have high dimensional accuracy, causing a concern that reliability in the connection between the inlay and the busbar is reduced.
The technique disclosed in the present specification has been accomplished in view of the aforementioned circumstances, and it is an object thereof to improve the reliability in connection between a busbar and a press-fit member.

Circuit assembly and electrical junction box


Disclosed is a powerless humidification module for an air cleaner which is capable of preventing leakage of water into the air cleaner. A powerless humidification module for an air cleaner which is detachably mounted on an upper portion of a body of the air cleaner and is capable of preventing leakage of water includes a base cover having a first opening opened toward the air cleaner and a second opening opened toward a side surface of the first opening, a cistern part located in the interior of the base cover and located such that a space defined between an inner partition wall and an outer partition wall having predetermined heights such that water supplied to one side thereof is stored surrounds a periphery of the first opening whereby water supplied to one side thereof is stored, and a humidification filter located in the second opening.

An air cleaner having a general humidification function can perform air purification and humidification by using an air purification filter and a humidification unit installed in the interior of a device.
However, according to a humidification cleaner of a conventional technology, when a humidification function is not used, a humidification filter installed in the interior of the device has to be separated, and thus it is bothersome to use the humidification cleaner and the size of the device increases as the number of parts installed in the interior of the device increases.
Further, because the humidification cleaner of the conventional technology is disposed in the interior of the device, the humidified air is supplied to the interior via the interior of the device and thus the humidification degree is low.
In an effort to solve the above-described problems, in patent document 1 of the applicant discloses a powerless humidification device for an air cleaner that can be separated from an air cleaner without being integrally formed with the air cleaner and can be mounted on various kinds of air cleaners with a simple structure.
The humidification device may be easily mounted on various types of air cleaners and thus may humidifies an interior by using air discharged from the air cleaner without using a separate power supply, but water in the interior of the humidification device may be introduced into the air cleaner as the humidification device is detachably mounted on the air cleaner.
When the water leaked from the humidification device is introduced into the interior of the air cleaner, the electric parts located in the interior of the air cleaner may break down and a short circuit accident may occur according to occasions, and it may be considered that a waterproof member, such as rubber, is interposed in an attachment/detachment part to prevent the problem, but the waterproof member formed of a material such as rubber may deteriorate the easiness of attachment of the humidification module.    (Patent Document 1) Patent document 1: KR 2017-0043314 A

Powerless humidification module for air cleaner capable of preventing leakage of water


A method, system, and computer program product for electronic delivery of regulated shareholder communications to registered electronic mail client accounts. A signed regulated shareholder communication electronic mail is generated by a proxy platform server computer and the electronic mail is transmitted to an electronic mail address inbox of a client computer. An active content associated with the shareholder communication is delivered by the proxy platform server computer when the shareholder communication is opened by a user on the client computer. The user is authenticated by the proxy platform server computer. A voting ballot is delivered by the platform server computer to the authenticated user's opened shareholder communication. The ballot votes submitted from the opened shareholder communication by the user are recorded in a proxy platform server computer voting database.

Corporations and mutual fund companies have been searching for solutions to the inefficiency and expense associated with postal mail and telephone communications to voters related to meetings, corporate governance, regulatory or compliance matters, merger, acquisitions, takeovers, written consents, proxy contests, or simply dissemination of information to voters.
A number of vendors have started to provide technology-based outsourcing services to the financial services industry. Such services include investor communications electronic solutions. However, current market offerings direct the shareholders away from their electronic mail and to corporate and proxy websites to access shareholder ballots and submit their voting response. The extra steps necessary to access the corporate or proxy website and enter their shareholder identification (ID) to gain access to the secure content creates a user barrier which leads to uninformed voting or no voting at all.
These vendors have made proxy voting easier by launching electronic, web-based proxy voting solutions where the shareholder receives an e-mail notification of an event to vote. However, as noted above, the shareholder is directed away from his e-mail to a website where he must use security credentials provided to log in for access to the meeting materials and ballot. From the ballot, the shareholder can cast his vote.

Method and system for providing electronic delivery of regulated shareholder communications to account electronic mail addresses


A temporary pacemaker combines technologies of the implantable pacemaker, the waterproof watch, with a separate remote-control programming unit that communicates with the pacemaker via IR radiation. An LCD readout on the temporary pacemaker continuously reports on current settings, and is monitored periodically, as well as during the setting process. The programming unit is aimed at an IR sensor on the pacemaker, and its dedicated controls are used for setting, with the aid of prompting messages on its own LCD panel. Battery life is about 6-9 months, while that for the lithium battery in the sealed and sterilizable pacemaker approaches five years.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to temporary pacemakers, also known as wearable external pacemakers, and more particularly pertains to an external pacemaker that is VELCRO strapped to a patient's arm, chest or another portion of the body, using VELCRO or some other means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are several varieties of prior art pacemakers that are placed outside the body to be used temporarily while a patient is awaiting implantation of a permanent pacemaker or post-operative use. To use a prior art pacemaker, it is customary to connect a heart wire (hereinafter frequently designated as a lead) through the open chest and connect it to the heart or inserting a disposable lead transcutaneously, inserting it through a vein and into the heart. The external end of the lead or heart wire is, of course, attached to the pacemaker unit, so it follows that the unit must be positioned close to the patient. This is the first primary requirement of a temporary pacemaker.
External pacemakers of the prior art intended f or temporary use by new patients have been too bulky to be worn conveniently on the patient's body. In many instances, an extension cable is used between the lead or heart wire and the external pacemaker so that the pacemaker can be placed on an IV pole. As a result, the patient has been uncomfortably constrained by being connected by lead, heart wire, or cable to a comparatively immobile instrument. Added is the mental distress of knowing that even normal motion may dislodge the lead or heart wire with potentially hazardous results. Large control components--usually rotary switches and keyboards--are employed to make it easy for medical personnel to set pacing variables, but these also invite tampering by patient or visitors to the patient's room. Further, such components prevent adequate sterilization of the pacemaker before its use by a different patient. Added is the custom of using short-lived batteries, requiring routine instrument maintenance that sometimes is forgotten under stress, especially since personnel expected to perform it are unfamiliar with such procedures.
The second primary requirement is that a temporary pacemaker must be easily and readily adjustable. This must be done immediately after connection to the patient, and on some occasions, must be done on an emergency basis during the first crucial hours of a patient's experience with the pacemaker. Because of this requirement, the necessary controls are made relatively large and easy to manipulate. Usually, programming is accomplished by means of push buttons and rotary switches placed on one face of the enclosure. The same f ace of the box or enclosure must also support one or more readout displays as well. As a result of these combined factors, the temporary pacemaker is much larger than an implantable pacemaker.
These two requirements--proximity to the patient and ready programmability--lead to a series of design conflicts that have not been resolved in the prior art to date. The present invention, however, resolves all of them. The nature of these design conflicts can be appreciated from the following descriptions:
First, one would prefer to attach the temporary pacemaker (hereinafter frequently designated as a unit) to the patient's body, to avoid inadvertent tension on the lead or heart wire. Ideally, it would be attached to the patient's upper arm, chest, or leg using a snug but comfortable strap. Prior art units are much too large to make such a practice convenient or comfortable, however. As a result, the comparatively bulky unit is sometimes tied to the patient's bed, hung on an IV pole, or placed on a nearby table, with a connecting cable provided. With such arrangements, the patient is often unable to move in bed without the hazard of dislodging the lead, a fact that adds mental stress to physical discomfort. In other instances, especially for ambulatory patients, the unit is sometimes pinned to the patient's clothing. All of these arrangements require a longer lead than would a body-mounted unit, though, and both lead length and the relative immobility of the unit increase the possibility of accidentally stressing the lead or heart wire.
The second kind of conflict arises because having a readily adjustable unit situated very near the patient opens the possibility of tampering with the control settings by the patient or visitors. Experience shows that this is a genuine concern, even though it may seem at first to be an implausible one. Remedial changes, both in design and of an ad hoc kind, have proven unsatisfactory. A cover or interlock on the controls has been provided in some cases. But this places an extra burden on medical personnel, who must quickly release the lock, sometimes under stressful conditions. The same is true of interlock arrangements that must be negotiated before settings can be changed. When an unlocked cover is provided, medical personnel have been known to put tape over the cover to make it harder for the patient or visitors to change settings. But this is obviously an unsatisfactory solution, since time-consuming tape removal is a handicap, especially in emergencies, and also the presence of the tape interferes with vision in routine monitoring of the unit.
The third conflict arises because the unit is close to the patient and blood contact is inevitable in the use of the overall system. Therefore, a means of disinfecting the unit is called for by standards of sound medical practice before the same unit is used for a different patient, in spite of the fact that the lead used with the unit is disposable. Such standard practice in this case is augmented by widespread public anxiety concerning HIV infection and AIDS, where human blood is concerned. The units are much too expensive for casual disposal because they are relatively complex and are manufactured in small volumes. But these units are not sealed, so that disinfecting liquids cannot easily and effectively be used. The components cannot withstand temperatures even approaching autoclave temperatures. Furthermore, gas sterilization, although used, is unsatisfactory because literally days are required for "aeration", or permitting the toxic sterilizing gases to diffuse out of the many interstices inside the case.
A fourth shortcoming common to all prior art temporary pacemakers is unrelated to the conflicting requirements just cited. It is customary to employ comparatively short-lived batteries to power the unit, with the expectation that the batteries will be checked and usually changed for each new patient. But on occasion this routine step has been neglected with serious consequences. Longer-lived batteries are available, but are most compatible with smaller and more efficient systems.
The present invention resolves all of the conflicts just outlined. The essential innovation places the bulky control mechanisms in a unit that is separate and that never comes in contact with the patient. By means of infrared radiation, the temporary pacemaker communicates with a small, sealed unit worn by the patient. This resolves the tampering issue, the comfort and convenience issue, and the sterilization issue. In addition, the new, wearable unit of the invention is a natural recipient o.f a long-lived battery.


An Internet-enabled method and system for processing insurance claims. The system may include an insurance claim processing server which is configured to estimate a value of an insurance claim as a function of insurance claim assessment data entered by a user during an insurance claim consultation session. The insurance claim assessment data may include one or more bodily injuries and one or more treatments of the bodily injuries. The insurance claim processing server may include a rules engine and a web server which may be executable to generate and send to a client computer system a plurality of web pages comprising insurance claim assessment questions. The client computer system may be coupled to the insurance claim processing server through a network such as the Internet. The client, including a web browser, may be operable to receive the insurance claim assessment data entered by the user and send the insurance claim assessment data across the network to the insurance claim processing server. The system may include additional client computer systems which are also coupled to the insurance claim processing server through the network.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer software, and more particularly to insurance claim processing software.
2. Description of the Related Art
Insurance companies have been processing and settling claims associated with bodily injury for a long time. The task of evaluating, analyzing or estimating the amount of damage associated with one or more types of bodily injuries, especially trauma-induced bodily injuries, can be very complex. Complexity in the evaluation process often arises out of the fact that concurrent expertise in legal, medical and insurance fields is often required to arrive at a particular decision involving a bodily injury claim.
Several factors can affect the estimated amount of the claim associated with a bodily injury. Every accident is different and every injury is unique. Arriving at a customized evaluation of a bodily injury claim, which is unique for a specific accident, injury, etc. is desirable. Applying across-the-board standards may tend to result in an inequitable solution for one or more parties involved. External environmental factors, such as the experience level of a claims adjuster, record of accomplishment of the legal professionals, post-injury quality of life for the injured party, etc., all can affect the valuation of a claim.
During the past several years, many insurance companies have been using computer-based and knowledge-based claim-processing systems to process, evaluate, analyze and estimate thousands of claims in a fair and consistent manner. A knowledge-based claim-processing system includes an expert system which utilizes and builds a knowledge base to assist the user in decision making. It may allow the insurance companies to define new rules and/or use previously defined rules, in real-time. The business rules are generally written by industry experts to evaluate legal, medical, insurance conditions before arriving at a valuation of a claim.
In knowledge-based systems, to estimate a claim for bodily injury, the user may enter inputs on a display screen and step through a series of displays or screens to complete the data input process. This process may be referred to as a consultation session. The knowledge-based claim processing system may then utilize the user-provided inputs to generate a consultation report. The consultation report may include, for example, an estimate of a value of an insurance claim.
In the past, such knowledge-based systems for estimating the value of an insurance claim have been limited to traditional computing architectures such as mainframes and stand-alone personal computers. Therefore, it was necessary to install and maintain client software as well as server software for these knowledge-based systems in particular physical locations. With the growth of the Internet, however, many personal computers may now be granted client access to servers distributed all over the world.
It may therefore be desirable to develop a knowledge-based system for insurance claim processing which is configured to be accessed over the Internet. It may also be desirable to develop a knowledge-based system for insurance claim processing which is configured to be accessed through a web browser. It may be desirable to develop new business models for providing insurance companies with access to a web-based or internet-based insurance claim processing server.

Internet-enabled system and method for assessing damages


There is provided a barometric altimeter to detect a floor number at the current position in especially a high-rise building, and to calculate a height or a floor number more precisely. To this end, a barometric altimeter (100) stores, at a barometric pressure/height conversion coefficient storage unit (2), a plurality of barometric pressure/height conversion coefficients that is calculated beforehand based on temperature of air indoors in accordance with a month and a date, and an arithmetic expression, for which the plurality of barometric pressure/height conversion coefficients are used. For the actual operation, while a reference barometric pressure measurement/storage unit (1) measures and stores a barometric pressure at a position as reference barometric pressure, a current barometric pressure measurement unit (3) measures the barometric pressure at the position to be measured. Then a height calculation unit (5) calculates the height through predetermined calculation using the result of processing at these blocks.

Conventionally a technique of measuring a height or an altitude (height in vertical direction above sea level 0 m) using a barometric altimeter is known. This technique for measurement is used in some cases on earth as in the measurement of the current height during mountain climbing, or is used in other cases high in the sky that is in the atmosphere away from the earth as in the measurement of the height of an airplane.
Such a barometric altimeter measures the height based on the following principle.
That is, air present at some part on earth receives force corresponding to the weight of air above the part in the sky from the vertically above (from the sky) of the air due to the attractive force (gravity) of the earth. This means that the amount or the density of air is always more (larger) on the surface of the earth than in the sky, resulting in that the pressure of air, i.e., the barometric pressure also is always higher on the surface of the earth than in the sky. Assuming that air is ideal gas, it is well known as the theory of hydrodynamics that the barometric pressure decreases in an exponential manner as it moves up in the sky (with an increase in height).
The barometric altimeter often measures barometric pressure using a sensor generally called an absolute pressure sensor. This absolute pressure sensor is capable of measuring the barometric pressure in the atmosphere with reference to vacuum (0 barometric pressure or 0 hectopascal). As is commonly said as a high pressure system and a low pressure system, a change in barometric pressure is based on a change in weather, or conversely a change in barometric pressure can be an important index to forecast a change in weather. The absolute pressure sensor measures the barometric pressure as the index, and a similar sensor is used for the barometric altimeter as well.
As stated above, the barometric altimeter is configured to find the height or the altitude by measuring the barometric pressure using an absolute pressure sensor or the like. That is, in order to find the height or the altitude from the barometric pressure measured by the absolute pressure sensor or the like, a certain functional relationship between the barometric pressure and the height has to be found. For the practical operation, a qualitative relationship of just a decrease in an exponential manner as in the above-mentioned ideal gas is not sufficient, and another functional relationship that is more quantitative has to be found, for example.
A technique for such a functional relationship is disclosed in Patent Literature 1. This technique is to select a reference temperature T0 at the sea level 0 m based on the climate zones (temperate, tropical and polar) and the date in the following relational expression specified by the international standard indicating the relationship among the height, the barometric pressure and the temperature, and to find the height H from the barometric pressure P0 at the sea level 0 m and the barometric pressure P at the measurement position:H=15385×T0×[1−(P/P0)0.190255].


In a cross section, perpendicular to an axial direction of a honeycomb structural body having partition walls and cells, a plurality of sections having a different cell density is formed from a central area toward an outer peripheral area, and a partition wall is formed between the sections adjacent to each other. The boundary section has boundary partition walls and plural boundary cells having a polygonal shape different in shape from the cells in the sections formed adjacent to the boundary section. The partition walls in the sections adjacent to the boundary section are connected by the boundary partition walls. A part of the boundary cell is surrounded by at least the boundary partition walls. A relationship of φ1/φ2≧1.25 is satisfied, where φ1 indicates an average hydraulic diameter of the boundary cells and φ2 indicates an average hydraulic diameter of the cells.

There are known honeycomb structural bodies, in which catalyst is supported, capable of purifying exhaust gas emitted from an internal combustion engine of motor vehicles, etc. For example, the honeycomb structural body is comprised of partition walls arranged in a lattice shape and a plurality of cells formed by the partition walls. The honeycomb structural body is mounted to an exhaust gas passage through which exhaust gas is passing. When exhaust gas having a high temperature flows through the honeycomb structural body mounted to the exhaust gas passage, catalyst supported in the honeycomb structural body is activated by the exhaust gas having a high temperature. The activated catalyst purifies the exhaust gas.
Recently, because vehicles emission control for reducing motor vehicle emissions becomes stricter year by year, there is a strong demand for further decreasing harmful materials (cold emissions) generated immediately when an internal combustion engine starts. In order to solve this problem, it is required to use a technique for decreasing a thickness of each of the partition walls to decrease an overall weight of a honeycomb structural body and speedily increase a temperature of the honeycomb structural body to a target temperature in order to activate the catalyst. It is further required to use a technique for providing exhaust gas having a uniform flow speed and distribution to a honeycomb structural body in order to effectively use an overall catalyst supported by the honeycomb structural body. For this reason, it is requested for the honeycomb structural body to have a superior performance of purifying exhaust gas and a low pressure loss (also imply referred to as pressure loss), etc.
For example, a patent document 1 has disclosed a honeycomb structural body having a central section and an outer peripheral section in a cross section which is perpendicular to an axial direction of the honeycomb structural body. The patent document 1 has determined a relationship in a catalyst amount, a surface area, a cell density, etc. between the central section and the outer peripheral section. Further, a patent document 2 has disclosed a structure of a honeycomb structural body comprised of an inside peripheral wall having a cylindrical shape, first cells and second cells. In the structure, the first cells have a hexagonal shape arranged in the inside of the inner circumferential wall. The second cells have a shape (a circle, an ellipse, a square and a triangle) different from a hexagonal shape and arranged in the outside of the inner circumferential wall. In addition, a patent document 3 has disclosed a honeycomb structural body comprised of cells having a square shape, and a relationship in an opening ratio and an absorbing ratio, etc. between a central section and an outer peripheral section in the honeycomb structural body.
A patent document 4 has disclosed a honeycomb structural body having a structure in which an inside skin section is formed between a first cell section (as a central section) and a second cell section (as an outer peripheral section). The patent document 4 has determined a relationship in a cell density, etc. between the first cell section and the second cell section. Further, a patent document 5 has disclosed a honeycomb structural body having a structure in which web frames (i.e. partition walls) are formed from a central section toward an outer peripheral section, and the number of the web frames is changed in a radial direction of the honeycomb structural body. Still further, a patent document 6 has disclosed a structure of a honeycomb structural body in which partition walls have a shape protruded from a central point toward an outside, and a cell density of a central section is smaller than a cell density of the outer peripheral section. Still further, a patent document 7 has disclosed a structure of the honeycomb structural body in which an opening ratio of cells is increased sequentially or stepwise from a central section to an outer peripheral section.
Further, a patent document 8 has disclosed a honeycomb structural body having a structure in which a first honeycomb section (as a central section) and a second honeycomb section (as an outer peripheral section) is directly assembled together to form a monolithic mold, and the first honeycomb section and the second honeycomb section have a different cell density, a different thickness of a partition wall, a different shape of a cross section of cells, etc. Still further, a patent document 9 has disclosed a honeycomb structural body comprised of a plurality of honeycomb segments assembled together to form a monolithic body. The patent document 9 has determined a relationship in a thickness of a partition wall, a cell density, etc. between the outermost honeycomb segment, which forms an outermost peripheral surface, and the other honeycomb segments which do not form the outermost peripheral surface. Furthermore, a patent document 10 has disclosed a honeycomb structural body having a section in which a cell density is gradually decreased from a center toward an outer periphery.


The present invention provides an isolated and purified protein derived from Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies thuringiensis, having a molecular weight of approximately 20 kDa of SDS-PAGE, said protein having the partial amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID No. 1, and wherein said protein displays cytotoxic effects against tumor cells. Also provided is a method of treating a neoplastic cell comprising administering a therapeutically effective dose of the composition of the present invention to said cell, and a method of activating macrophages, comprising administering a therapeutically effective dose of the composition of the present invention to said macrophages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of immunology and protein chemistry. More specifically, the present invention relates to the isolation, purification and characterization of a novel antiproliferative protein from Bacillus thuringiensis var. thuringiensis, as well as the effects of this protein on macrophage activation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Agents that display antiproliferative properties selectively against tumor cells have potential as anticancer drugs. These types of agents are sought from both synthetic as well as natural sources. Such compounds with antiproliferative properties could be either proteinaceous or nonproteinaceous in nature.
Both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria are known to synthesize proteins that are toxic to eukaryotic cells. Bacillus thuringiensis is a gram positive bacteria that during sporulation synthesizes large quantities of a protein that kills insects when ingested (Hofte and Whiteley, 1989). This protein has been used as a microbial pesticide for more than 30 years, and it is considered harmless to humans (Green et al, 1990). Insecticidal proteins are assembled in the bacteria as crystalline parasporal bodies and fall into three different size classes, 133-145 kDa; 65-67 kDa and 27 kDa. Different subspecies of Bacillus thuringiensis may express one or more of each size classes.
The 133-145 kDa protein is a protoxin which, when degraded by mid-gastrointestinal proteases, yields an amino terminal fragment of about 67 kDa that contains the toxin moiety (Ogiwara etal, 1992). The 67 kDa toxin shares a significant structural homology with toxins from various other subspecies of Bacillus thuringiensis. The 27 kDa toxin, however, shows no homology with any of the other size classes of toxins but is highly homologous within the subspecies (Luthy et al., 1982). The genes for 27 kDa toxin from subspecies israeliensis (Bacillus thuringiensis israeliensis), kyushunsis (Bacillus thuringiensis kursataki) and morrisoni (Bacillus thuringiensis morrisoni) have been cloned and it has been found that the Bacillus thuringiensis israeliensis toxin differs by a single base from Bacillus thuringiensis morrisoni toxin; whereas it is only 39% identical to Bacillus thuringiensis kursataki toxin (Waalwijk et al., 1985; Ward and Ellar, 1986; Ward et al., 1986; Galjart et al., 1987; Koni and Ellar, 1993). The toxins from various subspecies have been shown to be cytolytic to insect cells in culture.
Almost 20 years ago it was reported that a toxin derived from Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies thuringiensis has antitumor activity against certain murine tumors such as Yoshida ascites sarcoma in vivo. Subsequently, it was shown that a toxin derived from Bacillus thuringiensis israeliensis also has antitumor activity against certain type of murine tumor cells in vitro. The Bacillus thuringiensis thuringiensis protein enhances the humoral immune system in rats and guinea pigs, and induces long lasting antitumor immunity as judged by the rejection of the subsequent tumor transplant. The structural characterstics of this antitumor protein and whether it is functionally related to the insecticidal toxins described above from various other subspecies, is not known.
Murine resident macrophages are poorly phagocytic, exhibit minimal spreading and limited adherence to glass or plastic, and do not possess microbicidal or tumoricidal activity (Wiltrout, et al., 1990). Activated macrophages, in contrast, exhibit increased adherence and spreading, and increased production of mediators of microbial and tumor toxicity such as reactive oxygen intermediates (superoxide, hydrogen peroxide), reactive nitrogen intermediates (nitric oxide), and TNF-.alpha. (Wiltrout, et al., 1990; Green, et al., 1993; and Aggarwal, B. B. 1992). IFN-.gamma. is known to be the major macrophage activating factor; it primes macrophages to react to a second signal such as LPS to optimize the activation process (Wiltrout, et al., 1990; and koerner, et al., 1987). However, full macrophage activation can be also induced by granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) alone (Grabstein, et al., 1986), or by combinations of IFN-.gamma. and TNP-.alpha. or IFN-.gamma. plus IL-2 (Cox, et al., 1992), in the absence of LPS.
The prior art is deficient in the lack of effective means of inhibiting the growth of a wide variety of tumors and for activating macrophages. The present invention fulfills this longstanding need and desire in the art.

Antiproliferative protein from Bacillus thuringiensis var. thuringiensis


The driving skill of a vehicle operator is determined according to how a driving operation is executed by the vehicle operator. The driving skill can be estimated by comparing an actual trajectory of a vehicle with a ideal or reference vehicle trajectory. The estimated driving skill is used as a control parameter of a vehicle steering system which, for instance, provides a steering property depending on the yaw rate of the vehicle, or provides a reaction opposing a steering input according to the yaw rate of the vehicle. Thus, a skilled vehicle operator will benefit from brisk handling of the vehicle, and can maneuver the vehicle at will, while an unskilled vehicle operator will benefit from stable handling of the vehicle, and will find the vehicle easier to handle and less tiring.

Conventionally, various vehicle control systems have been proposed with the aim of improving the lateral stability of the vehicle and the driveability of the vehicle. Such vehicle control systems include traction control systems and four wheel steering systems. Such vehicle control systems are intended to optimally control the throttle, the brake, the steering system and other parts of the vehicle according to the dynamic properties of the vehicle, the dynamic conditions of the vehicle, and the operations carried out by the vehicle operator.
When the vehicle operator is a skilled one, and is familiar with the dynamic properties of the vehicle, he may not need any assistance from such control systems, and may even find such assistance superfluous and undesirable.
For instance, according to the system proposed in Japanese patent laid-open publication (kokai) No. 3-217362, the skill of the vehicle operator is evaluated according to how quickly a corrective steering action is taken when the vehicle is steered by a difference in the tractions of the right and left wheels against the will of the vehicle operator. It was proposed to permit a certain amount of difference between the tractions of the right and left wheels to exist when the level of the skill of the vehicle operator is relatively high, and control the difference in the tractions of the right and left wheels when the level of the skill of the vehicle operator is relatively low.
According to the invention disclosed in Japanese patent laid open publication (kokai) No. 4-303007, the system estimates what kind of the road, such as a city street, a highway or a country road, the vehicle is travelling from the lateral acceleration, the travelling speed of the vehicle and other parameters, and estimates the skill of the vehicle operator according to the lateral acceleration, the road condition and the steering angle. It is also estimated if the vehicle operator is in a hurry. Depending on the results of such estimation, the system selects a suitable running mode from such modes as a sport mode and a normal mode of the vehicle for the four wheel steering system or other systems of the vehicle so that the driveability of the vehicle may be improved according to such estimated data.
However, according to the proposal of Japanese patent laid-open publication (kokai) No. 3-217362, the skill of the vehicle operator can be evaluated only when the vehicle is steered by a difference in the tractions of the right and left wheels. This situation may not be present most of the time. Furthermore, because the skill of the vehicle operator normally depends on the road condition even for the same vehicle operator, this proposed system would not allow his skill to be constantly evaluated and promptly updated for each new road condition, and the vehicle control system would not be optimized most of the time.
The proposal of Japanese patent laid open publication (kokai) No. 4-303007 also has its shortcomings. Because the driving skill of the vehicle operator estimated from the lateral acceleration, the road conditions and the steering angler are used as control data in a feed-forward system, the control action at each time point is not necessarily optimized. In particular, this system is unsuitable to a situation in which the road condition constantly changes, and the vehicle often encounters unexpected disturbances.

Vehicle control system based on estimation of the driving skill of a vehicle operator


An exercise device including a frame having an upper frame portion and a lower frame portion. The upper frame portion supports an arm exercise member for exercising the arms of a user, and the lower frame portion supports a leg exercise member for exercising the legs of the user. The device is provided with a mechanism for adjusting the height of the arm exercise member relative to the leg exercise member. In addition, the frame for the device includes a pivot joint whereby the device may be folded from a use configuration to a storage configuration which is approximately one-half the height of the use configuration.

This invention relates generally to exercise devices and, more particularly, to an exercise device designed to exercise the arms and legs of a user, and which is capable of being reconfigured from a use to a storage position for easy portability and storage of the device.
Individual exercise devices, such as exercise bikes and related apparatus, have become very popular as a convenient means of exercise for individuals with limited mobility or where exercise space is limited. Prior art devices have provided means for exercising either the arms or legs, or both. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,402 discloses an exercising device including a seat for supporting a user, and including a pedal crank for exercising the user's legs and an arm crank for exercising the user's arms. While this device is effective for providing exercise to both the arms and legs of a user, it suffers from the disadvantage of being somewhat large and bulky and therefore difficult to transport or store conveniently.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,902,002 also discloses an exercise device including mechanisms for exercising both the arms and the legs, and wherein the arm exercising mechanism is adjustable in the vertical direction. This device is also rather bulky and therefore difficult to transport and store.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,177 discloses a foot operated exercising device including a frame for rotatably mounting foot pedals. The frame may be provided in two sections pivotally connected together by a hinge whereby the device may be folded for compact transportation and storage. While this device provides for convenient transportation or storage when not in use, there is no provision for exercising the arms of the user, and thus is not capable of providing as complete a workout as other devices incorporating both arm and leg exercising mechanisms.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an exercising device capable of exercising the user's arms and legs wherein the exercising device is sufficiently light to provide for convenient transportation, and is additionally collapsible to provide for convenient transportation and storage of the device.


A printer having a physical connection port and a wireless communication module for sending and receiving data by wireless communication, a received data processor controlling the received data, and a printing mechanism for running a printing process is provided, as is a POS system having such a printer, a wireless communication control method, and a computer readable medium carrying a program for implementing the method. A virtual port emulator on a host system receives display output requests from a POS application running on the host, finds data for a wired connection port on a printer of a stand-alone system linked to the virtual port for the display data, and sends the display data with the connection port data through a physical port on the host to a printer of the host system. Data received by the host printer is then allocated by a first received data processor and sent by wireless communication through a wireless communication device of the host to the stand-alone system printer. The wirelessly transmitted data received through a wireless communication device of the stand-alone system is then distributed by a second received data processor to a display of the stand-alone system through a wired connection port. That display then displays the received information, that is, the display data from the POS application.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a printer, a POS system, a wireless communication control method, and a data storage medium on which a program for the control method is carried. The invention relates more particularly to a printer having a wired connection port, a wireless communication device for sending and receiving data by wireless communication, a received data processing unit for controlling received data, and a print processing mechanism for running a printing process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Multiple POS terminals each comprising a host controller, input device, display device, and printer for printing receipts for purchased products and product order forms are typically connected via a LAN (local area network) or other wired or wireless network architecture to create a POS system. Once a POS system is assembled it can be reconfigured to create an even better POS system as needs and conditions change.
Reconfiguring a POS system, that is, changing the configuration of components in a POS system, is, however, not easy, and changing the configuration of a deployed system already in use is even more difficult. A POS system can be initially built as an extensible system so that the system configuration can later be changed, anticipating the need for additional POS terminals and the configuration of the POS terminals. However, assuring the ability to reconfigure the POS system creates such problems as wasted installation space and requiring more time to develop and build the system. Furthermore, adding a new POS terminal to a POS system requires temporarily shutting down the entire system and changing the LAN or other network connections. Modifying a system is therefore both time consuming and costly.
Incorporating a wireless communication device in the host controller of the POS terminal so that wireless communication can be used instead of a physical connection to the network (LAN) is one potential solution, but the added wireless communication device then occupies a physical port. This also requires either modifying the host controller to incorporate the wireless communication device or replacing the host controller with a host controller having a wireless communication module. A problem with this is that it is also necessary to change the host controller software or make other system-wide changes. Further time and money is therefore also needed to make such system-wide changes.
Yet another problem is that communication performance varies with the location of the antenna of the wireless communication device, and finding the ideal antenna location is not easy.

Printer, POS system, wireless communication control method, and data storage medium


An optical fiber compatible modulator device provides high-contrast levels switchable using modest applied voltages. As a two-port optical modulator, a normal light signal incident at a first port is deflected to a non-normal direction for passage through an absorption layer (e.g., a multiple-quantum well (MQW) layer), the absorption layer having an adsorption characteristic which changes as a function of a voltage applied across it. The non-normal direction light signal exiting the absorption layer is deflected to a normal light signal for output from a second port of the optical modulator. As a one-port optical modulator, a normal light signal received at a first port is deflected to a non-normal direction for passage through an absorption layer. A reflector reflects a non-normal direction light signal exiting the layer back through the layer to the deflector means and is output at the port of the optical modulator.

Normal-incidence optical modulators are attractive devices for optical fiber communications because they can be interfaced to optical fibers more easily than waveguide-based devices. They are also interesting for integration with high-complexity Silicon Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (Si CMOS), because they promise the availability of large amounts of optical Input/Output (I/O) directly to Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) chips. One example of such devices is described in the article by K. W Goossen et al., entitled."GaAS MQW Modulators Integrated with Silicon CMOS", IEEE Phot. Tech. Lett. 1995 Apr; v.7(4), pp.360-362.
However, there are technological hurdles to be overcome before such devices can be considered for use in lightwave communications applications. The first of these obstacles is the production of modulator devices which operate at the 1.55 micron wavelengths used in most modem telecommunication systems. This has recently been demonstrated by Cunningham, et. al. at the 1996 Conference on Lasers and Electro-optics. A second obstacle is to design a modulator that will function with a modest applied voltage, while still producing the high-contrast (10:1) desired in lightwave systems. Other obstacles relate to optical fiber packaging and engineering.
What is desired is a low cost modulator device which compatibly interfaces to optical fibers and which provides high-contrast levels switchable using modest applied voltages.

Retro-reflecting electroabsorption optical modulators


Disclosed herein are inkjet ink compositions comprising: at least one pigment and at least one polyurethane comprising: at least one polypropylene glycol, and at least one diisocyanate. The at least one polyurethane contains at least 70 wt % polypropylene glycol relative to the at least one polyurethane and has a weight average molecular weight (Mw) of no more than 80,000.

Inkjet ink compositions typically contain a liquid vehicle, which functions as a carrier, and a colorant such as a dye or pigment. Additives and/or cosolvents can also be incorporated to adjust the inkjet ink to attain desired overall performance properties. Polymers have also been incorporated in inkjet ink compositions as dispersants to improve dispersibility of a pigment in liquid media, or to improve performance. For example, emulsion polymers or latexes have been used as an additive to improve the print performance of inkjet inks. However, as emulsion polymers, these polymers are not soluble in certain liquid media, which may lead to difficulties in printing, e.g., nozzle clogging. Accordingly, there remains a need for inkjet ink compositions and systems with improved print properties, such as improved print durability and reliability.


A three-dimensional and a two-dimensional GPS unit periodically provide coordinate positions of points on the work machine and are combined with a Kalman filter to produce a point of reference on a work machine. The point of reference is improved by combining the position with an inertial position derived from accelerometer data in another Kalman filter. Additionally, the two-dimensional GPS unit provides a heading that is combined with an inertial orientation derived by the angular rate from a gyroscope in another Kalman filter to produce a precise orientation estimate. Inclinometers provide pitch and roll of the work machine. With the point of reference, orientation estimate, pitch, roll and known geometry of the work machine, the GPS unit calculates the location and orientation of machine components and continuously tracks its movement throughout the mine. Additionally, the accelerometers and gyroscope provide position and orientation when the GPS units are inoperable.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to the field of automated control of work equipment and, in particular, to a multiple-source system for determining the position and orientation of various components of a work machine operating on the grounds of a surface mine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Work machines play an integral part in mining operations and perform a variety of functions. They may excavate and transport ore, stabilize roads and slopes, and provide support functions. Most work machines, such as excavators, shovels, and backhoes, require human operators and move constantly. Their operation is time consuming and labor intensive because of the need for skilled drivers and a large crew to direct the work. For example, if a particular area of a mine needs to be excavated, the area is surveyed and marked before the machine operator can begin to remove the ore. During the process, the operator constantly updates the work machine's position and orientation to remove the ore efficiently. In addition, the work may only occur at certain times during the day to ensure the safety of the operator and the survey crew, especially if the mining conditions are not ideal.
Because of safety and efficiency concerns during mining, there has been much effort to develop automated systems of varying degrees, to control work machines. For example, a fully An automated machine can operate nonstop in a variety of conditions, without putting a human operator in danger. In addition, an automated system may eliminate the need for survey crews by identifying dig locations and automatically updating topographical changes for future work planning. In order for the automated system to be effective, it must account for the position and orientation of the work machine at all times. Various equipment-positioning systems have used a number of triangulation tools such as lasers, radio, microwave, radar, and satellite-based navigational systems, including the United States Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian Global Orbiting Navigational Satellite System (GLONASS) and other service components of the general Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). These services are generally referred to as "GPS".
Because fore-aft pitch and side-side roll can affect position and orientation values, some systems have utilized additional devices, such as inclinometers, rate gyros, magnetometers and accelerometers, to assist with equipment positioning.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,771 to Sahm et al. uses a single GPS unit to determine the location and orientation of a work machine with a rotatable car body. The system calls for GPS measurements at a known distance from the rotation axis and collects three coordinate positions as the car body rotates around a fixed undercarriage. The system then calculates the orientation plane of the car body and the position of the axis of rotation using the three sets of coordinates. With the calculated data and the known geometry of the work machine, the system can determine the position and orientation of critical machine components.
One problem of the system is that it can only be used with machines with a rotatable car body. In addition, the system can only calculate the orientation plane while the car body is rotating and the undercarriage is not moving. Therefore, if a machine moves to a new location, the system cannot unambiguously calculate the orientation until the undercarriage is motionless and the car body rotates. What is preferred is a system that can continuously track all types of work machines.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,191,732 to Carlson et al. comes close to describing a total picture of the work machine under all conditions by using a single GPS unit with additional devices to determine the position, pitch, roll, and orientation. The system obtains spatial coordinates from the GPS unit and uses inclinometers to measure the pitch and roll. To determine orientation, the system uses a magnetometer and a rate gyroscope to provide the current heading and the angular rate. The system needs an initial value, which the magnetometer usually provides, to use the rate gyro to calculate orientation. Thus, the Carlson approach determines orientation utilizing two position points, but it also relies on the initial orientation provided by the magnetometer. The rate gyro provides valid data, but magnetometers are unsuitable for mining operations due to electromagnetic interference from heavy equipment and mining deposits. Therefore, the system cannot determine an accurate orientation measurement during mining operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,191,733 to Dizchavez describes a system that can continuously track all types of work machines utilizing two high precision three-dimensional (3-D) GPS units. The GPS units periodically measure spatial coordinates with respect to a chosen reference. After obtaining two sets of measurements, the system calculates a plane equation fitting the two sets of data and determines the orientation, pitch, and roll of the work machine. With the calculated data and the known geometry of the work machine, the system can determine the position and orientation of critical machine components. One drawback of the system is that it requires valid GPS data from two sources. Thus, if GPS data are not available or unreliable and the work machine moves, the system cannot unambiguously determine the position and orientation until GPS data become available and the machine moves again. What would be preferred is a system that can function with a single 3-D 3-dimensional GPS unit and can compensate for GPS dropouts.
For the foregoing reasons, there is still a need for an improved method of determining location and orientation of a work machine during mining operations. This invention utilizes a novel combination of positioning components and data filtering to achieve these objectives.

Multi-source positioning system for work machines


System for ventilating a vehicle cab (1) and a closet (3) for the drying, airing and storage of work clothing. The system is constituted by a fan in the closet (3) and the fan (9) extracts air from the cab (1) through the closet (3). Excess heat from the coolant circuit of the drive engine is utilized as a heat source in the drying of work clothing. Also, the invention can be advantageously used when the cab is occupied overnight.

Adjacent to vehicle cabs equipped with facilities for overnight occupancy, some problems arise which this invention is designed to solve. In Europe, the cubage (volume) of contemporary sleeping cabs for trucks is usually as little as four to seven cubic meters. When one or two persons spend a number of hours in the cab overnight, the carbon dioxide content can become very high and can even exceed set limit values for the carbon dioxide content. The exhaled air has the effect, moreover, of raising the air humidity in the cab. This contributes to condensation problems and, as the cab is made of metal, the air humidity should be kept at a low level. In addition, the truck driver and/or co-passengers are occasionally forced to work in work clothing which has to be stored in the cab. This work clothing can become contaminated, damp and extremely foul-smelling. There is therefore a need to ventilate odor and dangerous gases which may be present after work has been conducted in work clothing or protective clothing in the course of professional traffic. Finally, there is a need to dry and store clothes and work clothing.
In order to overcome problems with odor and dangerous gases, contemporary trucks are usually ventilated by the introduction of fresh air by the circulation fan of the air conditioning unit. The drawback with this is a high energy consumption, which can mean that the truck batteries are drained after the fan has been running for several hours during, for example, overnight occupancy. The consequence might be that, the next day, the truck cannot be started.
A previously known device relating to a trailer having a drying closet is illustrated in patent document DE 44 23 903. This drying closet is used for drying clothes. The clothes are dried with heat by gas-heating and the air is conducted from the drying closet into the trailer.
A previously known device relating to a clothes closet for a vehicle cab is illustrated in patent document EP 309 692. This device comprises a clothes closet having a hinged cover on the top side of the clothes closet. The clothes closet is disposed closely adjacent to the sleeping space in the vehicle cab.
Another device for storing clothes, for example, in a vehicle cab is previously known from patent document U.S. D. No. 296 319, which shows a storage unit consisting of a plurality of shelves and cabinets.
A drawback with ordinary storage cabinets is that it is difficult to store and dry wet clothes or other wet articles, such as, for example, towels, therein. Clothes which are stored wet develop an unpleasant odor or, in the worst case, mold, which leads, in turn, to a poor interior environment in the vehicle. Furthermore, ordinary storage cabinets do not offer a facility for active ventilation, as is desirable when the night is spent in a truck cab.

System for ventilating a vehicle cab and closet, further including closet drying means


A system to deliver a digital good from a seller to a buyer is disclosed. The system includes an interface to receive a digital goods package from the seller, the digital goods package including the digital good and a buyer identifier. A digital goods database is provided to store the digital goods package, with an identifier extractor being provided to extract the buyer identifier from the digital goods package. The system further includes a notifier to notify the buyer, based on the buyer identifier, that the digital good has been received from the seller and is ready to be collected by the buyer, wherein, after having sent the notification that the digital good is ready to be collected, the system allows the buyer to access and retrieve the digital good.

For transactions concerning physical goods, there are typically four parties involved: the seller, the buyer, the payment system, and the delivery mechanism. While physical goods could be exchanged locally without a formal delivery system, the tracking information provided by the delivery system is invaluable for resolving disputes between the buyer and the seller.
With digital goods, the seller could theoretically send the digital good directly to the buyer, either through e-mail, an online server, or in a closed-loop environment. One of the problems with such an arrangement is that there is no objective third party tracking of the consummation of the transaction. Without this information, the buyer is vulnerable to non-delivery, and the seller is vulnerable to fraudulent chargebacks.

Method and system to deliver a digital good


In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a kit for constructing a biomechanical model of a lever system selected from a first class lever system, a second class lever system, and a third class lever system, comprising a base, a support structure attachable to the base, at least one lever assembly attachable to the support structure, and at least one cord assembly attachable to the lever assembly. The present invention is also directed to first, second and third class lever system models useful for teaching and demonstration purposes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to biomechanical models, and more particularly to kits for making biomechanical models of lever systems in the body, such as first, second, or third class lever systems, useful for teaching and demonstration purposes as well as complete models of first, second, and third class lever systems.
2. Brief Description of the Art
The study of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology requires a thorough understanding of the skeletomuscular system. One educational approach to studying and learning the skeletomuscular system is to consider this system as a combination of levers (i.e., bones) and force generators (i.e., muscles) that act together to produce force that moves a resistance force(i.e., a weight). When muscles contract, force is usually applied to bones, resulting in movement or support of the bones. In the skeletomuscular system, the joints function as fulcrums, the bones function as levers, and the muscles produce the force that moves the levers and resistance. The arrangement of levers, resistance, fulcrums, and forces comprise three classes of lever systems depending on the relative position of the components.
In a Class I lever system (also known as a first class lever system), the fulcrum is located between the force and the resistance. An example of this type of lever system is a child's seesaw. The children alternate between being the resistance (weight) and the force across a fulcrum in the center of the seesaw board. An example of a first class lever system in the body is the head and neck. The joint in the neck is the fulcrum, the posterior neck muscles generate the force that pulls down the back of the head, and raises the face.
In a Class II lever system (also known as a second class lever system), the resistance is located between the fulcrum and the force. An example is a wheelbarrow where the wheel is the fulcrum and the person lifting on the handles provides the force. The load, or resistance, carried in the wheelbarrow is placed between the wheel and the operator. In the body, an example of a class II lever system is the foot and ankle when a person stands on his toes. The calf muscles act as force generators and pull the heel (end of the lever) to elevate the foot and the weight of the entire body, with the ball of the foot acting as the fulcrum.
The Class III lever system (also known as a third class lever system) is the most common type of lever system in the body. In this system, the force is located between the fulcrum and the resistance. An example is a person operating a shovel. The hand placed on the handle closest to the blade acts as the force to lift the resistance, such as a shovel full of dirt, and the hand placed near the end of the handle acts as the fulcrum. In the body, an example of a Class III lever system is the action of the biceps muscle (force generator) pulling on the forearm (lever) to flex the elbow (fulcrum) and elevate the hand (resistance).
Biomechanical engineering students, physical therapy students, medical students, allied health students, veterinary students, and sports medicine students must have a good working knowledge of the joints of the body and how they operate. However, learning the large number of muscles, bones, and joints and how they interact can be a difficult task. Various methods have been developed to assist students in learning the biomechanics of the human body. Textbooks, videos, and computer programs offer methods of teaching the interaction between the various components. However, each of these teaching methods has disadvantages.
In the case of textbooks, the motion of the lever systems and the relative placement of the bones and muscles as they move is difficult to S describe in words and diagrams, and the student is forced to view the three-dimensional movement of a lever system in a two-dimensional presentation. Thus, full appreciation of the actual biomechanics of the lever systems of the body is not possible with textual materials.
In the case of videos, motion of the lever systems can be demonstrated and viewed from multiple angles. However, the student does not have the opportunity to interact physically with the demonstration. For example, the student cannot apply resistance to the lever system and measure forces required to move that resistance. Like textual materials, full appreciation of the actual biomechanics of the lever systems in a video presentation is not possible.
Computer programs can offer animated simulations of lever system motion. In addition, some programs can offer application of "virtual resistance" to the animated lever system and demonstrate how that applied "virtual resistance" affects the force needed to move the lever system. However, the student never interacts with a physical object and thus cannot fully appreciate important details of the biomechanics of the lever systems.
Educational three-dimensional models are available for learning various organs of the human body. For example, models of the human brain, eye, ear, jaw, heart, lung, hand, foot, skull, skeleton, and tooth are available commercially. Anatomical models of various other species, such as dog and horse, are also available. However, while such models show anatomical relationships between various organs, they do not show the biomechanics of lever systems, nor do they demonstrate how resistances are handled by the lever systems. Models of human joints have been made with cardboard and rubber bands; however, such models are not suitable for repeated classroom demonstration use, nor are they designed to quantitatively measure the forces required for joint movement.
What is needed in the art is an interactive educational device that offers a three-dimensional demonstration of the various lever systems, as well as the capability to demonstrate both quantitatively and qualitatively how biomechanical variables affect the force required to move the lever system. The present invention provides an answer to that need.


The present invention relates to a new composition comprising substances that promote DNA repair, reduce body fat levels and increase lean body mass and that decrease wrinkle appearance and/or improvement in skin surface. In some aspects, the composition of the present invention include resveratrol, forskohlin and astaxanthin. In another aspect the composition of the present invention further comprises carboxy alkyl ester. The present invention also relates to a method of promoting internal health and external appearance in a subject in need, said method comprising administering to the subject a composition that promotes DNA repair, reduces body fat levels and increases lean body mass and that decreases wrinkle appearance and/or improvement in skin surface.

As we age, our bodies undergo a variety of changes. These changes can frequently interact with each other to produce compounding effects. Three major causes of human-ageing include gene expression deficiency at the cellular level, muscle degeneration at the muscular level, and free-radical production at the skin surface level.
While some of these age-related changes are inevitable, they can also result from nutritional deficiencies and lifestyle patterns. For example, the human skin is constantly exposed to numerous physical, chemical and environmental stressors, some of which directly or indirectly adversely affect the skin. Cutaneous overexposure to environmental solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation has a variety of adverse effects on human health, including the development of melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancers. Environmental pollutants and UV light are also key factors that contribute to the structural damage of the skin's vital components, and the resultant appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
A number of therapies exist for promoting DNA repair, for improving lean body composition (decreasing body fat and maintaining lean body tissue), for promoting skin health and help reduce the appearance of wrinkles, including surgical intervention, intervention with diet, exercise and dietary supplement programs are frequently instituted.
However, no single therapy in use today has demonstrated an ability to reliably enhance DNA repair, decrease body fat, increase lean body mass, promote skin health and help reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Therefore, there exists a currently unmet need in the art for an effective composition and method to promote overall internal health via cellular DNA repair, improvement in lean body mass and reduce body fat levels, and external appearance improvements via promoting skin health or helping reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Thus, a treatment means that can be orally administered and that can effectively stabilize and/or enhance the adverse effects of ageing and exposure to environmental factors that contribute to the structural damage of the skin of patients would be of considerable benefit. The present invention discloses such a composition and method.

Composition and method for promoting internal health and external appearance


Provided is a melt-molding material which is produced using an EVOH resin and has improved feeding property. A pellet mixture comprising a first EVOH resin pellets (pellet 1) each having approximately circular or elliptical cross-section and having an ethylene unit content of 20 to 34 mol %, and a second EVOH resin pellets (pellet 2) each having ethylene unit content of 35 to 60 mol %, wherein the difference of ethylene unit content between the pellet 1 and the pellet 2 is from 10 to 30 mol %.

EVOH resin has a high crystallinity due to firmly hydrogen bonding between hydroxyl groups in its polymer chain, therefore exhibiting strong intermolecular force. Not only crystal part but also amorphous part in EVOH resin can exhibit strong intermolecular force. This provides EVOH resin film with excellent gas-barrier property.
EVOH resin is utilized for packaging film or sheet, or container such as bottle for food, pharmaceutical, industrial medicine, agricultural chemicals, and so on, because of the excellent gas-barrier property. EVOH resin for molding these articles are commonly distributed in the form of columnar or granular pellet having a length of about 1 to about 10 mm.
In general, EVOH resin pellets are produced by strand pelletizing process, which is disclosed in JP H3-61507A (Patent document 1) and so on. The strand pelletizing process comprises extruding a solution in which EVOH resin (or its composition) is dissolved in a solvent into a coagulating bath through the metal plate outlet having an opening of 1 to 5 mm in diameter, or extruding a molten resin through die, and making the molten resin solidify by cooling to obtain a rod-shaped strand, followed by cutting the strand at appropriate intervals of distance. Thus EVOH resin pellets are obtained.
The strand is soft and flexible even in a solid state after cooling, and therefore the strand extruded through the metal plate outlet or die runs like snaking. The strand is sometimes cut diagonally, and thus produced pellets do not have even size, which is a problem. The Patent document 1 suggests, for producing pellets having even size, establishing appropriate conditions of strand run, position of cutter, and so on.
As described in JP2001-96530A (Patent document 2), the strand pelletizing process has difficulty in cutting large volume of resin precisely for a short time. Such difficulty is particularly noted when producing pellets from EVOH resin having low content of ethylene unit and low saponification degree.
As a solution of the problem associated with strand pelletizing process, the Patent document 2 suggests a hot-cut pelletizing process in which EVOH resin melt containing water is cut immediately after discharging from the extruder. The hot-cut pelletizing process is classified into air hot-cut pelletizing process and underwater pelletizing process. The air hot-cut pelletizing process produces pellets by cutting EVOH resin melt containing water with rotating cutter immediately after discharging from outlet of a twin-screw extruder. The underwater pelletizing process produces pellets by extruding EVOH resin to a chamber equipped with cutter and filled in cooling water, followed by cutting in the water immediately.
In Example of the patent document 2, EVOH resins having ethylene unit content of 32 mol %, 20 mol %, and 55 mol % were used to produce pellets of Examples 1-3 respectively and Comparative Examples 1-3 respectively. The pellets of examples 1-3 produced by hot-cut pelletizing process have disc- or flattened disc-shape, and are almost uniform in size. Whereas pelletizing process in comparative examples 1-3 often takes a break because of strand broken, wherein the pelletizing process is performed by extruding molten resin through die having plurality of holes arranged in horizontal direction into cooling water to solidify, followed by cutting the solidified resin, i.e. strand, into pellets,

Molding material of saponified ethylene-vinyl ester-based copolymer


A non-virtual server and a virtual server make up the same tenant in an environment, in which virtual servers created by dividing a single physical server into a plurality of computer environments coexist with a non-virtual server that directly uses a single physical server as a computer environment without using server virtualization. A management computer is provided with virtual switch management information that shows a correlation between the virtual servers and an internal network to which a relevant virtual server connects, and physical switch management information that shows a correlation between the non-virtual server and an internal network to which the non-virtual server connects. The management computer creates a virtual server that belongs to the same tenant as a physical instance, identifies a first internal network to which the non-virtual server connects, and configures the tenant so that the relevant virtual server is connected to the first internal network.

Server virtualization techniques are popular, and the integration of a plurality of virtual servers onto a single piece of hardware (a single physical server) to construct a corporate information system has become the norm. In accordance with server virtualization techniques, the physical resources of a physical server (CPU, memory, and so forth), which conventionally had been associated on a one-to-one basis with the physical server, can be divided into a plurality of server resources and effectively utilized by independently running a virtual server for each server resource. In addition, by flexibly changing the amount of physical resources allocated to a virtual server, and transferring the virtual server to another physical server (a physical server that has virtualization functions and can run a plurality of virtual servers, such a physical server being referred to hereinbelow as a "virtual server host"), it is possible to distribute resources to meet demand for service provided by application on a virtual server. However, because the virtual server is sharing the resources provided by a single virtual server host, performance is affected by the other virtual servers on the same virtual server host.
Accordingly, an operation method that utilizes, without any modification, a physical server that does not have a hypervisor (software having functions for running a plurality of virtual servers on a single physical server) as a processing environment is conceivable even in an environment where a virtual server exists. A physical server that does not have a hypervisor monopolizes the physical resources possessed by a single hardware apparatus (the physical server), and therefore can make the most of the processing performance, and moreover, can be operated stably without receiving any influence from other servers. These physical servers will be called non-virtual servers, or bare metal servers herein. Although a non-virtual server has advantages from the standpoint of performance as mentioned above, it lacks flexibility of system construction compared to the virtual server host, which is capable of running a plurality of virtual servers. Meanwhile, cloud computing has been flourishing as a recent trend. The cloud reduces operational and management costs and meets increasing dependence on information systems by aggregating and integratively managing a large number of servers in the cloud on a platform using virtualization. A characteristic feature of the cloud is that it reinforces multi-tenant user management.
A tenant associates resources and/or a service menu provided by the cloud to each specific user group and/or organization. A plurality of tenants share one cloud infrastructure, thereby making it possible to increase the utilization efficiency of the entire platform. A mechanism for safeguarding security is essential so that an illegally access to the resources of a tenant by another tenant is inhibited. In an ordinary cloud system, security is ensured for each tenant by user authentication and network segmentation. A management apparatus for configuring network policy is disposed on the network, and controls the authorization/non-authorization of communications between servers in accordance with the tenants, users, and virtual server applications. A network configuration management apparatus like this must be capable of being flexibly created and changed in accordance with tenant and virtual server demands, and is realized as a virtual server called a network appliance.
Another requirement from the standpoint of performance is a mechanism that ensures stable operation without being affected by the operating state of a business system operating on another tenant. It is common to try to realize stable operations in a virtual server environment using load balancing that makes use of online virtual server migration, and by prioritizing control of the communications of each virtual server.
As described hereinabove, in an environment that aggregates a large number of tenants on a single platform, resource utilization efficiency increases, but guaranteeing processing performance becomes a problem. The practical application of a non-virtual server is one solution for obtaining stable computer processing performance, but it is essential that there be ideas for increasing disk I/O performance and network performance similarly. In addition, a resource configuration that covers these diverse items must be capable of changing as appropriate in line with the state of usage of the entire platform, which changes from moment to moment.
For example, PTL 1 discloses a router configuration method and system for distributing a communication load over a network. In accordance with this system, it is possible to utilize a plurality of network routes in parallel, and to make effective and practical use of network resources. PTL 2 discloses a method of efficiently managing the configuration in a multi-tenant environment.

Method of managing tenant network configuration in environment where virtual server and non-virtual server coexist


An epitaxial semiconductor crystal plate or wafer capable of attaining increased reliability with enhanced luminance, a manufacturing method thereof as well as a light-emitting diode (LED). It has been found that epitaxial wafers with enhanced illuminance and increased yield of manufacture can be fabricated by specifically arranging a double-heterostructure epitaxial wafer such that the interface between its p-type clad layer 2 and p-type GaAlAs active layer 3 and that between an n-type GaAlAs clad layer 4 and p-type GaAlAs active layer 3 measure 1.times.10.sup.17 cm.sup.-3 or less in oxygen concentration. Also, in order to cause the oxygen concentration near the p-type GaAlAs active layer 3 in layers of the epitaxial wafer to be less than or equal to 1.times.10.sup.17 cm.sup.-3, it may be preferable that a nondoped GaAs polycrystal for use as a preselected original material in liquid-phase epitaxial growth be less than or equal to 1.times.10.sup.16 cm.sup.-3 or thereabout.

The present invention generally relates to optical semiconductor microelectronics, and more particularly to epitaxial crystal multilayer structures and a manufacturing method thereof. The invention also relates to semiconductor light-emitting devices with enhanced light emission output intensity.
In recent years, red light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have become more widely used in the manufacture of electronic equipment. Several types of LEDs have been developed to date. A double-heterostructure LED is one example. A rear-surface reflection LED is another example. These LEDs come with enhanced luminance, and hence offer extended usability and applicability, such as for use with indoor lamps and display devices, as well as outdoor display devices.
However, in spite of the foregoing advances in this technology, it is also true that there are continuous demands for a further increase in luminance and a further decrease in manufacturing cost. To satisfy such demands, great efforts have been made to study several subjects involving the film thickness of the epitaxial layer, the carrier density or concentration, the crystal growth temperature settings, and other factors. Unfortunately, no efforts have been reported as being successful in demonstrating significant advantages leading to accomplishment of further improvements luminance at least at present.
For these reasons, it still remains difficult to meet luminance specifications as demanded, which in turn makes it difficult to provide an improvement in the manufacturing yield, while reducing the costs therefor.
In view of the foregoing, it may be appreciated by those skilled in the semiconductor art that there remains an unmet need for an epitaxial wafer capable of offering highly enhanced luminance with increased stability and reliability, along with an improved manufacturing method, as well as a light-emitting diode using the same.

Epitaxial wafer and manufacturing method thereof as well as light-emitting diode with enhanced luminance