Methods for the detection of, or the risk of, bladder cancer in a patient, comprising assaying for the presence of a combination of at least two biomarkers selected from CEA, VEGF, IL-8, NGAL, NSE, IL-2, EGF, TM, d-Dimer, MMP-9, IL-6, IL-4, MMP-9/NGAL, FAS, CRP, TUP and NMP22 in one or more samples isolated from a patient wherein detecting the presence of a combination of at least two biomarkers in the one or more samples indicates the presence or risk of bladder cancer.

Bladder cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide. Bladder cancer is more than three times more common in men than women though the mortality rate in the latter is twice as great. Most of the patients who present with superficial bladder cancer tumours will experience a recurrence within 5 years and almost 90% of these patients will have a recurrence within 15 years. As such, it is vital that these patients are followed up on a regular basis to ensure that the cancer does not spread beyond the bladder. The constant monitoring and the costly diagnostic techniques results in bladder cancer being, on a cost per patient basis, the most expensive cancer to manage from diagnosis to death.
The usefulness of a diagnostic test is measured by its sensitivity and specificity. The sensitivity of a test is the number of true positives (the number of individuals with a particular disease who test positive for the disease) and the specificity is the number of true negatives (the number of individuals without a disease who test negative for the disease). The most common sign of bladder cancer is gross or microscopic haematuria, often detected by the family physician, and is observed in 85% of all bladder cancer patients. A simple urine dip test can be used to detect the presence of blood. Although cancer without blood is rare, leading to high sensitivity of a simply blood dip test, the specificity of the test is poor with fewer than 5% of patients presenting with haematuria actually having bladder cancer. However, the 5% of patients who do present are normally diagnosed with superficial tumours, which can easily be resected.
Cystoscopy and cytology are the preferred methods used to diagnose bladder cancer. A cytological examination involves the examination of urothelial cells in voided urine. This method has high specificity and it is convenient to obtain a sample. However, it has poor sensitivity and is subjective at low cellular yield. A cytological assessment is usually combined with flexibly cystoscopy. Cystoscopy allows direct observation of the bladder and biopsy of suspicious regions and results in 95% accuracy in diagnosis. It is therefore considered the gold standard in accurately diagnosing bladder cancer.
However, there are some disadvantages associated with cystoscopy, namely that it is extremely expensive, causes patient discomfort and does not allow for upper tract visualisation or for the detection of small areas of carcinoma in situ. Attempts have been made in the art to identify one or more biochemical bladder cancer biomarkers that could identify patients who present with bladder cancer before committing them to cystoscopy. At the present time approximately 20% of patients present with advanced disease and their prognosis is poorer as a result. Attempts have therefore been made in the art to identify a proven marker or panel of markers, which could be used as a screening tool for bladder cancer for high-risk asymptomatic patients.
No single biomarker or panel of biomarkers has yet achieved the levels of sensitivity and specificity required to reduce the frequency of cystoscopy needed for an accurate diagnosis. Over the last 10 years a large number of bladder cancer markers including BTA STAT, NMP22, telomerase and FDP, have been evaluated against the gold standard urine cytology with quite consistent results of low specificity. These markers are present in urine in a large proportion of patients with urological pathologies other than bladder cancer and in patients with urinary infections. NMP22 and BTA have FDA approval as point of care assays. However, NMP22 requires immediate stabilisation in urine, which is not always possible, and the presence of BTA can be masked by blood present in the urine. New putative markers, such as survivin, hyaluronic acid, cytokeratin 8 and 18 and EGF, which have been shown to induce expression of the matrix metalloproteinase (MMP9) in some bladder cancer cells have been proposed as bladder cancer markers. However, none of the putative biomarkers have been bench-marked against the high specificity of urine cytology and the high sensitivity of the telomerase assay.
Thus, in the field of bladder cancer diagnosis and treatment, the biomarkers identified in the prior art are unsatisfactory since they lack the required sensitivity and specificity required to make an accurate diagnosis of bladder cancer or assessment of a patient's risk in developing the disease. As a result the clinician is not able to accurately assess whether a patient should be put forward for further cytoscopic and cytological tests which results in high costs associated with diagnosing and managing the disease. An aim of the present disclosure is to overcome these problems.

Method for detection of, or the risk of, bladder cancer


The invention provides a mass spectrometric method for analyzing a sample in a solution, including the steps of directing a flow of a solution containing sample compounds to be analyzed towards a supersonic nozzle having an input end and an output end; vaporizing the solution and sample prior to its expansion from the output end of said supersonic nozzle; allowing expansion of the vaporized sample and solution from said supersonic nozzle into a vacuum system, forming a supersonic molecular beam with vibrationally cold sample molecules; ionizing the vaporized sample compounds with electrons while contained as vibrationally cold molecules in said supersonic molecular beam; mass analyzing the ions formed from said sample compounds; detecting said ions formed from said sample compounds after mass analysis, and processing the data obtained from the resulting mass spectral information, for identifying and/or quantifying the chemical content of said sample. The invention also provides apparatus for analyzing a sample in a solution.

Mass spectrometry (MS) is a central analytical technology that finds a large variety of applications in a broad range of fields, especially when coupled with a separation technique such as gas chromatography (GC) or liquid chromatography (LC). GC-MS has become the most widely used form of mass spectrometry.
GC-MS is generally characterized by very good sensitivity, excellent separation resolution, very good molecular identification capability through the rich ion fragmentation pattern and extensive libraries available for identification, relative ease of use and low cost. However, GC-MS suffers from a major limitation: its inability to analyze thermally labile (and relatively non-volatile) compounds that tend to dissociate in the GC injector, column or MS electron impact ion source. This drawback is especially severe when relatively large bio-molecules and drugs are encountered.
Thus, various methods of LC-MS were developed for the analysis of these compounds, and LC-MS is now experiencing rapid development and growth in its use and applications. The major problem in the coupling of an LC to the MS is in the need to avoid large solvent load on the MS high vacuum system, coupled with the need to preserve molecular integrity. Accordingly, the type of LC-MS is usually named after its MS interface and ionization technique. Today, the major LC-MS techniques are:
1. Particle Beam LC-MS (PB-LC-MS)
In this method, the LC effluent is sprayed through a thermally assisted or pneumatic nebulyzer into a drying desolvation chamber to form small droplets or particles that expand through a supersonic nozzle into a differentially pumped vacuum chamber before entering the MS ion source. The heavy sample particles (hence the name particle beam) formed after solvent vaporization move preferentially forward, while the solvent molecules are pumped away. Sample/solvent separation factor of over 105 can be achieved. The sample particles are thermally vaporized inside the electron ionization (EI) ion source, and the sample compounds are ionized as gas phase molecules in thermal equilibrium with the heated ion source walls. The EI ion source is a standard ion source with an added heated plate to assist with the intra ion source thermal vaporization of the particles. PB-LC-MS is a useful technique especially due to its EI mass spectra, which provide library-searchable EI mass spectra for easy molecular identification. However, PB-LC-MS is limited in its ability to analyze very thermally labile compounds, due to the intra-ion source thermal vaporization stage. Furthermore, compounds with low volatility tend to exhibit ion source-related peak tailing, due to lengthy intra-ion source adsorption-desorption cycles. This peak tailing can be reduced by further heating the ion source, but with the major penalty of excessive molecular and/or molecular ion dissociation. PB-LC-MS also suffers from non linear signal dependence on the sample concentration (and matrix) due to variation in the particle transmission versus its size due to partial vaporization of small sample compounds that are pumped away and lost with the solvent.
2. Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionization (APCI)
In APCI, the LC effluent is sprayed and ionized in a zone of corona discharge, at about 1 atmosphere. The solvent molecules and other gases are ionized and then the vaporized sample compounds are ionized through a series of atmospheric pressure charge transfer and chemical ionization processes. The sample ionization efficiency is very high, but typically only 10−4 of the ions are transferred to the MS through a 100μ nozzle or ion transfer tube. In contrast to the particle beam method, APCI involves with high-pressure sample vaporization. APCI is a soft ionization technique that finds growing use. However, the existence of mostly M+ ions is a limitation that is usually overcome by the use of costly and complex MS-MS instrumentation that enables molecular ion dissociation and provides fragment information. In addition, APCI is relatively ineffective for the ionization of non-polar compounds; its ionization efficiency is compound-dependent and therefore non-quantitative, and thus requires compound-specific calibration for quantification.
3. Electrospray LC-MS (ES-LC-MS)
ES-LC-MS has recently become the most popular LC-MS method. It is based on spray formation from a highly charged needle and spontaneous ion evaporation from the highly charged droplets. The main attribute of electrospray (ES) is the possible formation of multi-charged molecular ions that enable very high mass determination up to about 105 Dalton. It is also currently the most sensitive LC-MS method. ES can also be used with small molecules, but it suffers from a non-uniform response (non-quantitative detection) that may vary substantially among different compounds and has to be optimized for each molecule separately. In general, ES sensitivity is reduced for both small molecules and non-polar compounds. MS-MS instrumentation is also desired with ES, in order to provide fragment information and to enable better identification capability in view of the lack of ES mass spectral libraries. Adduct ion formation and complex matrix effects also hamper the effectiveness of both APCI and ES.
The use of supersonic molecular beams (SMB) for sampling and ionization in mass spectrometry was explored, aimed at improving all aspects of GC-MS with special emphasis on the development of improved, fast GC-MS. Supersonic molecular beams are characterized by the following features, which are of importance to mass spectrometry:
Extreme Intra-molecular Vibrational-rotational Supercooling:
Upon the expansion of organic compounds from a supersonic nozzle into a vacuum system, significant vibrational and rotational supercooling occurs. Thus, upon collimation a supersonic molecular beam is formed with vibrationally cold sample molecules for its further ionization by electrons or on a surface.
This intra-molecular cooling considerably improves the level of mass spectral information provided by electron ionization, when the sample compounds are ionized as vibrationally cold molecules contained in the supersonic molecular beam. The molecular ion abundance is largely enhanced and it is practically always exhibited, combined with the library-searchable fragment ions. Peak tailing due to lengthy intra ion source adsorption-desorption cycles is eliminated and matrix interference is reduced at the molecular and high mass fragment ions. Isomer and other structural effects are amplified and isotope abundance and elemental information is enabled. This enhanced information is provided even for thermally labile and relatively non-volatile compounds.
Unidirectional Motion with Controlled Hyperthermal Kinetic Energy up to 30 eV:
This directional kinetic energy enables a very effective ionization method called Hyperthermal Surface Ionization (HSI). HSI is based on the hyperthermal surface scattering of the sample compound from a suitable surface such as rhenium oxide, having a high surface work function. In HSI, the molecular kinetic energy is used to effectively bridge upon the surface ionization potential (IP-φ). Thus, the hyperthermal surface scattering is followed by spontaneous molecular ionization that can be very effective for compounds with relatively low molecular ionization potentials, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) or drugs. HSI is also a selective ionization method that is thus effective for the detection of drugs and PAHs in complex matrices, due to the reduced efficiency of aliphatic compounds ionization. HSI is potentially the most efficient mass spectrometric ionization due to very high ionization yield (up to 10%), its unique fragmentation pattern which can exhibit a single molecular or fragmented ion and the reduced vacuum background of the thermal molecules.
High Flow Rate (100-500 ml/min) Atmospheric Pressure Sample Inlet Capability, Combined with Heavy Species Focusing in the Beam Axis (Jet Separation):
This feature simplifies the transfer of the sample compounds from a GC or LC, according to the present invention.
HSI is potentially the most efficient mass spectrometric ionization method, due to its very high ionization yield (up to 10%), its unique fragmentation pattern which can exhibit a single molecular or fragmented ion, and the reduced vacuum background of the thermal molecules.
Up to now, the technique of mass spectrometry with supersonic molecular beams (SMB-MS) was successfully employed with gas phase samples, provided either from a direct sample introduction device after thermal vaporization, or from a gas chromatograph. However, its coupling with liquid samples of thermally labile compounds or with the output of an LC was not performed, despite the considerable merits of LC-MS, due to several major problems that must be considered and overcome:    a) The problem of intact vaporization of thermally labile compounds is central to the achievement of this goal. This is a major and complex problem that cannot be overcome by any standard, known approach.    b) Isolated vaporized sample compounds must be vibrationally cooled, avoid shock wave heating, collimated, properly enriched in the SMB, and be ionized while contained in the SMB for the preservation of the merits of SMB.    c) The liquid solvent load on the vacuum pumps needs to be considered, including its effect on the molecular cooling, aerodynamic acceleration and jet separation efficiency.    d) Peak tailing from all sources must be eliminated, combined with molecular cooling in the supersonic beam.    e) Cluster and adduct ion formation must be avoided or minimized.    f) All of the above items must be achieved with high sample transfer and ionization efficiency.

Mass spectrometer method and apparatus for analyzing a sample in a solution


Lightweight authentication for on-premise rich clients is described. The lightweight authentication mitigates the amount of software that is installed on a client machine for authentication purposes. A portion of an external website is hosted on an application executing on the rich client. The user can interact with the portion of the external website in order to enter credentials or other identification information. The entry of the credentials or other identification information is relayed to the external website for verification. If the verification is successful, the user can interact with various external websites utilizing the single verification.

As computing technology advances and computing devices become more prevalent, computer programming techniques have adapted for the wide variety of computing devices in use. For instance, program code can be generated according to various programming languages to control computing devices ranging in size and capability from relatively constrained devices such as simple embedded systems, mobile handsets, and the like, to large, high-performance computing entities, such as data centers or server clusters.
Conventionally, as applications are being developed and/or modified for use with computing devices, authentication of users has typically been approached in one of two ways. The first approach is a pure on-line web-based approach where authentications occur through a mechanism referred to as "cookies". With this approach, the components and/or dependencies occur on the server side (e.g., web side) and the client side (e.g., client machine, client device) simply user a browser in order to interact with the server side. Thus, software is not installed on the client machine. However, a problem with this approach is that the authenticated session state remains open only while the browser is open. Further, this approach only works on a web application but does not work on an application running on a desktop (e.g., a rich client).
A second approach for authentication is for rich clients. In this approach, software (and complicated dependency) is downloaded and installed on the client machine. In some cases, a problem with this approach is that the software that is downloaded and installed is quite large, which can consume valuable resources on the client machine. Another problem with this approach is that due to the numerous platforms, different software components are created and made available for installation on the different client machines (depending on the supported platform). This can create numerous deployment challenges, which can reduce usability of the system and can create a negative user experience. Additionally, different software components are created and made available for installation on the client machines for different languages.
Consequently, there is no system today that properly supports an authentication mechanism that mitigates the installation of software (complicated dependency). Further, there is no system today that can allow a rich client to interact with server side components in a seamless and integrated manner.
The above-described deficiencies of today's computing system and authentication system techniques are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.


A voltage stabilizing circuit includes an input capacitor, a booster circuit having an input side coupled across the input capacitor, a first output capacitor coupled to an output side of the booster circuit, and a series connection of a first power switch and a second output capacitor coupled between two terminals of the first output capacitor. The first power switch has a terminal coupled to one terminal of the first output capacitor. The second output capacitor has a first terminal coupled to the other terminal of the first power switch at a common node, and a second terminal coupled to the other terminal of the first output capacitor. A second power switch is coupled between the input capacitor and the common node.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional power supplying device 1 is shown to include a rectifying and boosting conversion circuit 11, a series connection of a diode (D1) and an output capacitor (C1), and a DC-to-DC converter 12. The rectifying and boosting conversion circuit 11 receives an alternating current (AC) input voltage (v) from an input power source 10, and rectifies and boosts the AC input voltage (v) so as to output an output voltage (Vr1) at an output side thereof. The series connection of a diode (D1) and an output capacitor (C1) is coupled to the output side of the rectifying and boosting conversion circuit 11 for receiving the output voltage (Vr1) therefrom, and rectifies and filters the output voltage (Vr1). The DC-to-DC converter 12 is coupled in parallel to the output capacitor (C1) for receiving a voltage (Vr2) (C1), and converts the voltage (Vr2) into one or more DC voltages (V11-V1n) which are to be supplied to one or more backend loads (not shown).
In such a configuration, when a brownout condition suddenly or temporarily occurs in the AC input voltage (v) from the input power source 10, typically, by increasing the capacitance of the output capacitor (C1) the working voltage range of the DC-to-DC converter 12, the conventional power supplying device 1 may maintain normal supply of the DC voltages (V11-V1n) within a regulation period, thereby ensuring normal operations of the backend loads, for example, storing information. However, increasing the capacitance of the output capacitor (C1) may increase the volume of the output capacitor (C1) and power consumption of the conventional power supplying device 1. In addition, increasing the working voltage range of the DC-to-DC converter 12 may reduce efficiency of conversion from the voltage (Vr2) to DC voltage(s) (V11-V1n) by the DC-to-DC converter 12 in normal operation thereof.


A ferroelectric varactor suitable for capacitive shunt switching is disclosed. High resistivity silicon with a SiO2 layer and a patterned metallic layer deposited on top is used as the substrate. A ferroelectric thin-film layer deposited on the substrate is used for the implementation of the varactor. A top metal electrode is deposited on the ferroelectric thin-film layer forming a CPW transmission line. By using the capacitance formed by the large area ground conductors in the top metal electrode and bottom metallic layer, a series connection of the ferroelectric varactor with the large capacitor defined by the ground conductors is created. The large capacitor acts as a short to ground, eliminating the need for vias. The varactor shunt switches can be used to create a bandpass filter and a tunable notch filter. The bandpass filter is implemented by cascading the switches, and the bandpass filter implemented through the use of a resonance circuit.

The present invention relates to ferroelectric varactors, and in particular, to a ferroelectric varactor that is suitable for a capacitive shunt switch.
Electrically tunable microwave filters have many applications in microwave systems. These applications include local multipoint distribution service (LMDS), personal communication systems (PCS), frequency hopping radio, satellite communications, and radar systems. There are three main kinds of microwave tunable filters, mechanically, magnetically, and electrically tunable filters. Mechanically tunable filters are usually tuned manually or by using a motor. They suffer from slow tuning speed and large size. A typical magnetically tunable filter is the YIG (Yttrium-Iron-Garnet) filter, which is perhaps the most popular tunable microwave filter, because of its multioctave tuning range, and high selectivity. However, YIG filters have low tuning speed, complex structure, and complex control circuits, and are expensive.
One electronically tunable filter is the diode varactor-tuned filter, which has a high tuning speed, a simple structure, a simple control circuit, and low cost. Since the diode varactor is basically a semiconductor diode, diode varactor-tuned filters can be used in monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) or microwave integrated circuits. The performance of varactors is defined by the capacitance ratio, Cmax/Cmin, frequency range, and figure of merit, or Q factor at the specified frequency range. The Q factors for semiconductor varactors for frequencies up to 2 GHz are usually very good. However, at frequencies above 2 GHz, the Q factors of these varactors degrade rapidly.
Since the Q factor of semiconductor diode varactors is low at high frequencies (for example, <20 at 20 GHz), the insertion loss of diode varactor-tuned filters is very high, especially at high frequencies (>5 GHz). Another problem associated with diode varactor-tuned filters is their low power handling capability. Since diode varactors are nonlinear devices, larger signals generate harmonics and subharmonics.
Varactors that utilize a thin film ferroelectric ceramic as a voltage tunable element in combination with a superconducting element have been described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,640,042 discloses a thin film ferroelectric varactor having a carrier substrate layer, a high temperature superconducting layer deposited on the substrate, a thin film dielectric deposited on the metallic layer, and a plurality of metallic conductive means disposed on the thin film dielectric, which are placed in electrical contact with RF transmission lines in tuning devices. Another tunable capacitor using a ferroelectric element in combination with a superconducting element is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,194.
With the advent of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology, attention has been focused on the development of MEMS devices for radio frequency (RF) applications. MEMS switches are one of the most prominent micromachined products that have attracted numerous research efforts in numerous years and have many potential applications such as impedance matching networks, filters, signal routing in RF system front-end and other high frequency reconfigurable circuits. MEMS switches provide many advantages over conventional electromechanical or solid-state counterparts in terms of low insertion loss, high isolation, low power consumption, high breakdown voltage, high linearity and high integration capability. The majority of today's MEMS switches employ electrostatic actuation and require a high actuation voltage, a major drawback of this type of switch. Recently, high relative dielectric constant Barium Strontium Titanium Oxide (BST) thin-films have been used in RF MEMS switches as a dielectric layer for reducing the actuation voltage requirements as well as improving isolation. Isolation can be improved more than 10 dB using ferroelectric thin-films of BST compared to dielectric materials such as Si3N4.
However, RF MEMS switches have several limitations such as, for example, relatively low speed, low power handling capability, required high actuation voltage, low reliability, low switching lifetime and high packaging cost. Although improvements are being made in these areas, challenges remain for commercial applications of RF MEMS switches. A ferroelectric varactor based capacitive shunt switch can over come most of the limitations of existing RF MEMS switches.

Ferroelectric varactors suitable for capacitive shunt switching


A method of determining a phase shift caused by reflection at, or transmission through, a dielectric coating as a function of wavenumber includes obtaining a nominal phase shift for the dielectric coating as a function of wavenumber, determining a first wavenumber and a second wavenumber for performing measurements of phase shift at these wavenumbers based on the nominal phase shift, determining a wavenumber shift based on a first measurement of phase shift at the first wavenumber, a second measurement of phase shift at the second wavenumber, and the nominal phase shift as a function of wavenumber, and determining the phase shift as a function of wavenumber based on the wavenumber shift and the nominal phase. Further described is a method of determining a layer design for a dielectric coating, wherein the dielectric coating comprises a plurality of stacked layers.

Dielectric coatings are commonly used in many optical systems and optical instruments. These dielectric coatings have a significant wavelength-dependent contribution to the overall image quality budget. Although it has been known since the 1950's that dielectric coatings, by design, will introduce wavelength-dependent phase shifts to incoming wave fronts, this issue has to the inventor's knowledge not been addressed in the scientific literature.
In particular, the phase shift in reflection and transmission may depart from the as-designed phase shift due to manufacturing errors, and it may even be the case that structures are imprinted on the dielectric coating's reflected/transmitted wave front during the coating manufacturing process. The impact on the performance of the optical system including dielectric coatings may or may not be catastrophic depending on the robustness of the coatings design against manufacturing errors and on the design itself.
In several highly demanding applications (such as weak lensing astronomy, e.g., Euclid, gravitational wave detection, e.g., LISA, LIGO/VIRGO, polarization microscopy, earth observation missions, interferometry for spectrometry, etc.), an accurate knowledge of the phase of the light after reflection/transmission is necessary. However, the accurate phase is often impossible to assess unambiguously, thus leading to extremely stringent requirements on the manufacturing accuracy of the dielectric coatings, or to comparatively large error budgets.
Known techniques for determining the phase of light after reflection/transmission by a dielectric coating include ellipsometry and spectral reflectance/transmittance. The former technique necessitates a priori knowledge of the exact design of the dielectric coating and access to a wavelength scanning ellipsometer. The latter technique is based on Kramers-Kronig relations. It again requires a priori knowledge of the exact design of the dielectric coating and moreover provides non-unique solutions leading to ambiguities on the actual phase shift of the dielectric coating.
Details of the coating design are often retained by the coating manufacturer as part of their intellectual property. However, both the aforementioned techniques are unusable if the exact design of the dielectric coating is unknown. Moreover, both techniques are rather cumbersome to implement.
Thus, there is a need for methods and corresponding apparatus for determining a phase shift caused by reflection at, or transmission through, a dielectric coating as a function of wavenumber. There is further need for such methods that require minimal knowledge of the design (e.g., layer design) of the dielectric coating. There is yet further need for methods for determining a layer design for a dielectric coating that improve robustness of the as-designed phase shift in the presence of deviations from the layer design during manufacturing.

Wave front reconstruction for dielectric coatings at arbitrary wavelength


A system and/or method for temporal profiling of an incident laser pulse. The system and/or method includes a laser beam source for providing the incident laser pulse and a Bragg grating (BG) coupled to receive the incident laser pulse. The BG includes a distribution of diffraction efficiency density at various depths within the BG and provides a plurality of diffracted beamlets from the incident laser pulse. The system and/or method combines the diffracted beamlets into a single temporally shaped laser beam.

Raw laser beams may be produced from a variety of mechanisms. It is known in the art that raw laser beams need to be temporally profiled in order to have proper applications in areas such as laser communications, laser signal processing, laser spectroscopy, laser inertial confinement fusion, etc. Typically, laser pulse shaping in the time or frequency domain is used for the temporal profiling of very short input laser pulses. In the case of longer pulses, the direct modulation of beam intensity using a Pockels cell (that alters the polarization state of light passing through it when an applied voltage induces birefringence changes in an electro-optic crystal) is employed.
In particular, a simple approach for temporal profiling of laser pulses includes the direct modulation of pulse intensity using a Pockels cell placed between two polarizing elements. In this approach, application of a temporally profiled electrical pulse to the Pockels cell results in a time-dependent attenuation of the input laser pulse. One example of a device exploiting such an approach is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,421,390, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. A basic disadvantage of this approach is that it has limited capability to form optical pulses with special temporal profiles, especially with temporal profiles having relatively fast rising optical intensity.
Laser beam pulse shaping in the time domain can also be based on an approach that first temporally broadens a short laser pulse using a fiber, temporally profiles the broadened chirped pulse, and then compresses it using a grating pair to synthesize the desired pulse shape. An example of this approach is disclosed in M. Haner, W. S Warren. "Synthesis of crafted optical pulses by time domain modulation in a fiber-grating compressor," Appl. Phys. Lett., v. 52(18), 1458-1460, 1988, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This approach is used for generating voltage programmable and arbitrarily shaped laser pulses in subpicosecond durations. The disadvantage of this approach is that it is a three-stage process. The first stage is the creation of the chirped pulse. Then, this pulse is shaped by programmable microwave generator. Finally, it is compressed using a grating pair to synthesize the desired pulse shape. As such, this approach requires the use of complicated and expensive equipment (e.g., the microwave generator) to create the proper and accurate temporal shape of the desired laser pulse.
A. M. Weiner, J. P. Heritage, E. M. Kirschner. "High-resolution femtosecond pulse shaping," JOSA B, v. 5, 1563-1572, 1988, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, discloses an approach based on spatially separating spectral components of a laser pulse and modifying the amplitudes and/or the phases of these components to produce the optical spectrum corresponding to the desired temporal pulse profile. Then, the spectral components are recombined to obtain the desired temporal shape of laser pulse. This approach can only be used to generate simple optical pulse profiles because it requires a very detailed and accurate modification of the amplitude-phase relation between the spectral components.
An additional disadvantage in each of the above-mentioned approaches is that these approaches result in large losses in total energy due to attenuation of the input pulses.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,826,561, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety, describes an approach for time-tailoring the intensity of focused laser beam pulse reflected from a reflector onto a focal region. This approach permits stepwise or continuous shaping in space and time which is accomplished by dividing up and reassembling portions of the laser beam. This approach has a basic disadvantage that it only allows temporal profiling of pulse intensity in the focal region. In addition, this approach has the further disadvantage that the different temporal parts of the pulse irradiate the focal region from different directions and that it requires complicated and expensive equipment to control and realize the needed temporal beam intensity.
In view of the above, it is desirable to provide a system and method for temporal shaping or profiling of laser beams that overcomes the above-described shortcomings while retaining their advantages. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a system and method that can realize practically any temporal output beam shape and/or any distribution of the beam intensity in time (e.g., longer than the input pulse duration) without requiring complicated controlling equipment, without big losses in beam power, and/or without requiring a special distribution of the intensity of the initial (incident, raw, or input) laser beam.

Apparatus and method for the temporal profiling of short laser pulses with thick Bragg gratings


A system comprises at least one computer device in communication with one or more server computers. The system converts unstructured text into usable order details, and uses instant messaging to notify recipients of the order details. The notices include electronic web links that launch a web interface that generates an editable, pre-populated electronic order ticket based on the order details. Submission of the electronic order ticket launches an auction during which the recipients may respond with offers to fulfill to the electronic order ticket. If after the auction more than one response is needed to fill the electronic order ticket, the system automatically allocates how and in which order the responses will be used to fill the electronic order ticket. If the electronic order ticket is not completely filled after the auction, the electronic order ticket is submitted to one or more additional exchanges for further filling.

The present disclosure generally relates to a system for trading and analyzing derivative products, and more particularly, software that aggregates, organizes, parses and extracts market data for trading information from trading networks.
Derivatives can be traded either on an exchange or off-exchange. Derivatives traded on an exchange are called exchange-traded derivatives. The primary purpose of exchanges is to provide contract standardization, anonymity, a clearing system, price transparency and a large number of participants in order to provide liquidity in a contract.
Derivative contracts entered into through private negotiations are typically called off-exchange or OTC derivatives. OTC contracts allow the creation of products whose risk-return characteristics closely match the needs of individual customers. Additionally, the nature of private, non-transparent markets addresses privacy concerns when participants do not want the terms of their trade or prospective trade advertised to the broader market.
Notably, a significant amount of the business transactions involving derivative contracts, and options in particular, is negotiated and consummated through voice brokers, away from computerized and electronic trading environments. This is typically the case because such transactions involve complex financial instruments (e.g., packages of products, spreads, etc.) which are not listed on electronic exchanges, for example, and/or because they involve large (atypical) trading quantities for which the electronic trading environment provides little or no liquidity. Indeed, most (if not all) of the liquidity in the institutional market for complex derivative contracts and options exists in the voice broker market, as opposed to electronic trading environments.
Conventional methods of communicating indications of interest and/or pricing information related to derivative contracts in the voice broker market include voice communications (i.e., via telephone) and via instant messenger (IM). Increasingly, IM is becoming the preferred method for such communications because, for example, brokers are able to receive and access multiple IM's simultaneously, and transmitting any information via IM creates a written record that may be accessed at a later time, if necessary.
Although IM technology has, in general, enhanced the workflow and communications between traders and brokers of derivative instruments (in the voice broker market), there are still significant deficiencies in existing electronic trading systems preventing the use of such IM technology in electronic markets, for example.
For one, conventional IM communications include unstructured text (i.e., textual information that does not comply with or follow any particular order, sequence or syntax). As a result, conventional electronic trading systems are unable to automatically process and extract any relevant information included in such text.
Further, even if the IM communications were structured (i.e., organized according to a certain sequence and format) such that a particular system could identify relevant information based on its position within a particular IM text, such information could not be leveraged by other systems that may utilize a different IM sequence or format.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods and apparatus configured to recognize, parse and extract relevant information from unstructured IM text, and convert the unstructured text into structured data that can be easily organized and presented to users for viewing, comparing, analyzing, etc.
There is also a need for methods and apparatus configured to convert the unstructured text (after being parsed from unstructured text) into a format that can easily be processed by and integrated with all types of electronic systems and modules (e.g., order management systems, electronic exchanges, risk systems, pricing models, etc.).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and system for collecting and parsing market data from various sources


In a mobile communication system having a plurality of terminals including a diversity terminal, an adaptive array base station controls a down-link transmitting power waveform for a terminal establishing access such that transmitting power is decreased at a timing when a reception level of a chip antenna is measured and that transmitting power is increased at a timing when a reception level of a whip antenna as a transmission antenna is measured. In the diversity terminal, therefore, the whip antenna is more likely to be selected as a receiving antenna, thereby improving down-link reception performance.

Recently, in rapidly growing mobile communication systems (for example, Personal Handyphone System, abbreviated as PHS hereinafter), a PDMA (Path Division Multiple Access) scheme is proposed where path division multiple access is established between radio terminal devices (terminals) of a plurality of users and a radio base station (base station) by spatially dividing the same time slot at the same frequency in order to increase the frequency utilization efficiency of radio waves.
In this PDMA scheme, the adaptive array technique is employed at present where an up-link signal from an antenna of each user terminal is received by an array antenna at a base station and separated and extracted with reception directivity through adaptive array processing. On the other hand, a down-link signal from the base station to the terminal is transmitted from the array antenna with transmission directivity to the antenna of the terminal.
Such adaptive array processing is a well-known technique and described in detail, for example, in "Adaptive Signal Processing by Array Antenna" by Nobuyoshi Kikuma (Kagaku Gijutsu Shuppan,) chapter 3, MMSE Adaptive Array, pp 35 to 49, and therefore the description of the operation principle will not be made here.
It is noted that in the following description, a base station performing down-link transmission directivity control for a terminal using such adaptive array processing will be referred to as an adaptive array base station.
On the other hand, such a terminal is known that performs selective diversity reception (diversity reception, hereinafter) using a plurality of antennas. As such a terminal, a terminal including two antennas called a whip antenna and a chip antenna is common, which will be referred to as a diversity terminal hereinafter. Furthermore, a terminal with one antenna that does not perform diversity reception will be referred to as a normal terminal.
This diversity terminal normally operates to fix one antenna (generally a whip antenna) as a transmission antenna at the time of transmission and to select one of the whip antenna and the chip antenna which has a higher reception level as a reception antenna at the time of reception.
Such a conventional diversity terminal carries out the aforementioned diversity reception irrespective of whether a base station of the other party for access is an adaptive array base station performing transmission directivity control or a non-directional base station.
FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing an exemplary connected state between a terminal and a base station, and more particularly a diagram schematically showing path division multiple access from a diversity terminal and a normal terminal to an adaptive array base station through adaptive array processing.
Referring to FIG. 9, a diversity terminal 2 transmits an up-link signal with a whip antenna 2a fixed as a transmission antenna at the time of transmission, and an adaptive array base station 1 receives this signal with an array antenna 1a.
On the other hand, a normal terminal 3 transmits an up-link signal with one antenna 3a at the time of transmission, and adaptive array base station 1 receives this signal with array antenna 1a.
In response, adaptive array base station 1 transmits a down-link signal to diversity terminal 2 with directivity (which corresponds to a transmitting power level) indicated by the solid line, and transmits a down-link signal to normal terminal 3 with directivity (which corresponds to a transmitting power level) indicated by the broken line.
The transmission directivity for diversity terminal 2 is such that a beam is directed to whip antenna 2a of diversity terminal 2 that has transmitted the up-link signal and null is directed to antenna 3a of normal terminal 3 that is an interference source.
On the other hand, the transmission directivity for normal terminal 3 is such that a beam is directed to antenna 3a of normal terminal 3 that has transmitted the up-link signal and null is directed to whip antenna 2a of diversity terminal 2 that is an interference source.
As a result, the signal received at antenna 3a of normal terminal 3 is a signal with a small interference component, that is, with a so-called DU (Desired user's power: Undesired user's power) ratio being high, where the down-link signal level (the solid line) from adaptive array base station 1 to diversity terminal 2 is relatively small with respect to the down-link signal level (the broken line) from adaptive array base station 1 to normal terminal 3.
The signal received at whip antenna 2a of diversity terminal 2 is also a signal with a high DU ratio where the down-link signal level (the broken line) from adaptive array base station 1 to normal terminal 3 is relatively small with respect to the down-link signal level (the solid line) from adaptive array base station 1 to diversity terminal 2.
As described above, the diversity terminal operates to fix the whip antenna as a transmission antenna at the time of transmission and to select one of the whip antenna and the chip antenna which has a higher reception level as a reception antenna at the time of reception.
Here, with reference to chip antenna 2b of diversity terminal 2, this antenna is not used to transmit the up-link signal, and the null of the transmission directivity (the broken line) for normal terminal 3 is not directed.
Therefore chip antenna 2b of diversity terminal 2 receives the transmitting power (the broken line) for normal terminal 3 in addition to the transmitting power (the solid line) for diversity terminal 2. As a result, there is a possibility that the reception level in chip antenna 2b may exceed the reception level at whip antenna 2a, resulting in that chip antenna 2b may be selected as a receiving antenna.
If chip antenna 2b is selected as a receiving antenna, the down-link signal level (the broken line) from adaptive array base station 1 to normal terminal 3 becomes relatively large with respect to the down-link signal level (the solid line) from adaptive array base station 1 to diversity terminal 2, resulting in a signal with a large interference component and a low DU ratio.
Even if such a received signal with a low DU ratio is demodulated in diversity terminal 2, the frame of the demodulated signal will suffer from an error to prevent accurate demodulation.
As described above, in the conventional mobile communication system where a plurality of terminals including a diversity terminal establish access to an adaptive array base station, a down-link received signal at the diversity terminal has a reduced DU ratio and the reception performance is deteriorated because of interference wave. As a result, the diversity terminal will not be able to maintain path division multiple access.
An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a radio base apparatus, a transmitting power control method and a transmitting power control program, free from deteriorated reception performance in a diversity terminal, in a mobile communication system where a plurality of terminals including a diversity terminal establish access to an adaptive array base station.

Radio base apparatus, transmission power control method, and transmission power control program


The present invention relates to polymeric compositions useful in the manufacture of biocompatible medical devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to certain hydrophilic monomers capable of polymerization to form polymeric compositions having desirable physical characteristics useful in the manufacture of ophthalmic devices. The polymeric compositions comprise polymerizable hydrophilic siloxanyl monomers.

Various articles, including biomedical devices, are formed of organosilicon-containing materials. One class of organosilicon materials useful for biomedical devices, such as soft contact lenses, is siloxy-containing hydrogel materials. A hydrogel is a hydrated, crosslinked polymeric system that contains water in an equilibrium state. Hydrogel contact lenses offer relatively high oxygen permeability as well as desirable biocompatibility and comfort. The inclusion of a siloxy-containing material in the hydrogel formulation generally provides higher oxygen permeability since siloxy-based materials have higher oxygen permeability than water.
Another class of organosilicon materials is rigid, gas permeable materials used for hard contact lenses. Such materials are generally formed of silicon or fluorosilicon copolymers. These materials are oxygen permeable, and more rigid than the materials used for soft contact lenses. Organosilicon-containing materials useful for biomedical devices, including contact lenses, are disclosed in the following U.S. patents: U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,267 (Ellis et al.); U.S. Pat. No. 5,034,461 (Lai et al.); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,215 (Bambury et al.).
Siloxy-containing materials are of keen interest as ophthalmic materials as they have characteristically high gas permeability, but suffer the disadvantage of being very hydrophobic. This hydrophobicity results in poor wettability and comfort of the resulting materials when in contact with the cornea, and creates difficulty in compatibilizing such siloxy-containing monomers with hydrophilic monomers to result in a transparent copolymer with an ideal blend of properties, i.e., compatibilization.
Soft contact lens materials are typically made by polymerizing and crosslinking hydrophilic monomers such as 2-hydroxyethyl methyacrylate, N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone, methacrylic acid and combinations thereof. The polymers produced by polymerizing these hydrophilic monomers exhibit significant hydrophilic character themselves and are capable of absorbing a significant amount of water in their polymeric matrices. Due to their ability to absorb water, these polymers are often referred to as "hydrogels." These hydrogels are optically clear and, due to their high levels of water of hydration, are particularly useful materials for making soft contact lenses. Siloxane-type monomers are well known to be poorly soluble in water as well as hydrophilic solvents and monomers and are therefore difficult to copolymerize and process using standard hydrogel techniques. Therefore, there is a need for new siloxane-type monomers that have improved solubility in the materials, specifically the diluents, used to make hydrogel lenses.
Sulfonate groups are completely ionized at physiological pH. In their non-ionized form they are highly acidic. Acidic monomers cause hydrolysis of siloxanyl substituents and because of this neither carboxylic acid nor sulfonic acid monomers can be directly incorporated into contact lens formulations where siloxanyl groups are present. In addition, whereas carboxylic acid monomers, such as methacrylic acid, can be dissolved in formulations leading to high Dk systems, this will not occur with sulfonic acid monomers because of their extremely high polarity. Sulfonic acid based monomers and polymers are some of the most hydrophilic materials in existence. The purpose of this invention is to introduce sulfonic acid monomers into traditionally hydrophobic monomer systems in order to achieve compatibilization. A silyl group serves as a blocking group for the sulfonic acid monomer. Because trimethylsilylsulfonic acids are readily hydrolyzed, other comonomers used in a monomer mix should not be acidic, basic or nucleophilic. However, if one wanted to use, for example, 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) or methacrylic acid (MA) in the formulation with a trimethylsilylsulfonate monomer, either HEMA or MA could also be trimethylsilylated.
Therefore, the present invention provides novel hydrophilic organosilicon-substituted monomers which are useful in articles such as biomedical devices including contact lenses wherein the silyl substituted group is a blocking group to a highly polar monomer that would not otherwise dissolve or co-mix with hydrophobic monomers. After hydrolysis of the trimethylsilyl blocking group, the biomaterial is rendered hydrophilic.

Use of silylated sulfonate monomers to improve contact lens wettability


A roving frame has a flyer region into which the suspension carriage trains are moved past a device for monitoring the presence or absence of cores or bobbins on the hangers. An error signal is transmitted in the case of an error and correction is effected when the suspension carriage train is in the flyer region. The suspension carriage train is then moved back past the sensors and either on this backward movement or the next forward movement, the functional correctness or poor mounting is again measured. Correction is effected in each case in the flyer region where the hangers are more readily accessible.

A roving frame can comprise a flyer region having at least one and usually two or more rows of flyers, each of which is associated with a spinning spindle at which a core or core sleeve can be disposed so that in the roving process, the yarn can be wound upon the core sleeves to form a full bobbin thereon.
Although not relevant to the present invention, the roving frame may be provided with a drafting frame fed with sliver from a can field and the system can be equipped with one or more spinning frames (especially ring spinning frames) a creel in which empty core sleeves can be stationed until they are transferred to the flyer region and into which the bobbins can be fed in a waiting position, and a track system connecting the waiting position, creel, flyer frames and spinning frames.
The full roving bobbins are thus delivered to ring spinning or other machines for the further steps in the production of yarn or thread.
The roving frame can be associated with a suspension carriage system including tracks or rails running from the waiting location into the flyer region and leading out of the flyer region to a waiting region or creel and then to the other machines with which the flyer frame may be associated. That track system, for example, can service a number of roving frames and a number of spinning machines. The empty core sleeves, hereinafter referred to simply as cores, and the full bobbins can be displaced on suspension carriage trains which can have a number of mutually-articulated supports or holders from which the empty cores or the cores fully wound with yarn (full bobbins) can be suspended. Such "carriages" can be articulated together to provide a train which can extend the full length of the row of flyers and can be referred to as a suspension carriage train. The "carriages" may have grippers at the respective holders which automatically engage the cores when the latter are thrust from below onto the holders and can automatically release the cores as part of a bobbin change process.
In a standard bobbin change process, for example, in a system in which the suspension carriage train is fed into the flyer region of the roving frame, the spindle rail can rise to transfer fully wound bobbins to the suspension carriage train, the suspension carriage train can advance to position empty core sleeves in line with the spindle and the spindle rail can rise again to capture the empty core sleeve from the suspension carriage train.
The suspension carriage train, which thus brought empty cores into the flyer region, can then leave with the fully wound bobbins. At a replacement station, the fully wound bobbins may be removed from the suspension carriage train and replaced by empty cores. There may be a station at which yarn residues may be removed from the empty cores.
Such systems are known and, since automatic operation of bobbin-change systems do depend upon having empty cores correctly mounted with the suspension carriage train at the appropriate location, no fully or partially wound cores on that train at the time it enters the flyer regions, and no omissions of such cores at positions of the suspension carriage trains which are supposed to have such cores, monitoring of the suspension carriage system for functional correctness of core and bobbin mounting is essential.
The flyer frame and suspension carriage train system has been described, inter alia, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,405 which corresponds to German patent document DE 42 29 296 A1.
The invention is particularly concerned with such monitoring and its starting point is a roving frame with a system for automatic replacement of full roving bobbins with cores (empty core sleeves) in an arrangement in which the full bobbins and the cores are carried by a suspension carriage train on a track or rail system through the flyers (see also German patent document DE 44 21 778 C2). The monitoring for functionally correct core and bobbin mounting here is intended to establish that the hangers of the train have properly received the full bobbins or are carrying the empty core sleeves or have transferred them before or after the bobbin change operation. The type of mounting can be determined and it is also possible with this system to recognize whether the mounted element is a core or a bobbin. Upon a failure, i.e. a deviation from the prescribed mounting, an error signal is generated.
While this system provides a basis for monitoring the correctness of the adjustment of cores or bobbins to the hangers, it cannot itself assure that prior to the initiation of the bobbin replacement operation, every full bobbin can be transferred to the correct hanger and every spindle will receive a core. Hence there have remained problems with respect to correction of errors which may be detected in even the earlier system.

Monitoring of core mounting for a roving frame


A pump assembly provides for direct replacement of volumes of liquid from a reservoir with equal volumes of air preferably at substantially atmospheric pressure, the same pressure or with pressure equalization to be at least equal to atmospheric pressure. A slide arrangement preferably positively displaces liquid from the reservoir and air into the reservoir. The pump draws air from the atmosphere into a chamber from which the air either is available for passage to replace liquid from the reservoir or is pressurized to assist dispensing liquid, preferably, admixing with the liquid to provide foaming. Gravity separation of air and liquid to be dispensed is used to replace liquid with air in the reservoir and to selectively place air and liquid into communication with passageways for ejection.

Liquid dispensers for dispensing soaps and other similar fluids in liquid form are known. For various reasons in some applications, it is preferable to dispense soaps and other similar fluids in the form of a foam. Generally, in the form of a foam, less soap liquid is required to be used as contrasted with the soap in the liquid form. As well, soap as foam is less likely to run off a user's hands or other surfaces to be cleaned.
Known liquid dispensers for dispensing foams include the dispenser taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,288 to Banks, issued Jul. 29, 1995. A disadvantage which the present inventor has appreciated with dispensers such as those taught by Banks is that when used with a non-collapsible or rigid sealed container of soap liquid, a vacuum comes to be developed in the container which renders the dispenser inoperative.
Known liquid dispensers for dispensing liquids without foaming of the liquids are also known. The present inventor has also appreciated that many such dispensers also suffer the disadvantage that they are not suitable for use with non-collapsible or rigid sealed containers since the pumps develop a vacuum in the container. Non-collapsible or rigid sealed containers have the disadvantage of requiring various one-way valve mechanisms to permit air to enter the containers under vacuum to equalize the pressure in the containers with atmospheric pressure. Such one-way valves typically suffer the disadvantage that they maintain at least some vacuum pressure differential in the container and with many viscous soaps, the presence of even a slight vacuum can negatively affect dispensing.
The present inventor has also appreciated that known soap dispensers suffer the disadvantage that they do not permit for positive replacement of air for liquid dispensed from a liquid reservoir and/or do not permit a positive pressure to develop in a container.


A partially-automated system and method of generating insurance pre-applications that reduces data entry and processing errors. Rules-based software applications are used to generate insurance product options for insurance applicants. The fulfillment of each insurance application is outsourced to a service provider which reduces insurance broker involvement in the application process. A central control hub houses computer hardware and software for storing data and transmitting information between the hub and external workstations to facilitate monitoring and completion of each insurance application and placement of insurance policies. Insurance brokers may be partially or wholly reimbursed for the fee associated with each insurance pre-application.

The vast majority of insurance policies, and, in particular, life insurance policies, are obtained through an insurance agent or broker who often represents multiple insurance companies. These brokers must track an array of products and underwriting requirements related to each individual insurance company. To complicate matters, the application forms that must be completed to apply for a policy vary by insurance company, state, and product. Because most brokers may only sell a few policies each year with any one insurance company, they lack the repetition and familiarity necessary to fully understand how to properly complete each insurance company's forms. This confusion may lead to data entry and processing errors, which result in costly underwriting delays and lost sales opportunities. Because the life insurance application is the trigger mechanism that initiates underwriting processes, such as paramedical exams, motor vehicle reports and physician statements, it is critical that the application be completed correctly.
Numerous solutions have been developed to address one or more aspects of the fulfillment of life insurance applications. U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2001/0049611 to Peach claims a fully automated system for storing insurance forms and permitting consumers to directly complete electronic insurance application forms. Unfortunately, consumers know less than brokers about completing life insurance applications. Systems that rely on consumers to properly complete insurance company's forms have simply generated more mistakes and underwriting delays than previously.
U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2002/0120474 to Hele et al. claims a system for electronically obtaining an insurance application that can be completed without any broker interaction. Again, this system relies on a consumer fulfillment model, which continues to produce data entry errors and incomplete forms. Other automated systems for inputting data into an insurance application do exist in the industry. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,526 to Fuchs et al. provides a system and method of inputting client information into a database and provides contract printing capabilities. However, this method, specified for the property and casualty industry, does not reduce the data entry and processing errors made by brokers and therefore does not decrease the cost of issuing a life insurance policy.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a system and method which is able to reduce the errors made by brokers in the processing of insurance applications and further which alleviates the need for each broker to be familiar with the state and product specific forms for each insurance underwriter.

Electronic insurance application fulfillment system and method


An image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member configured to bear an electrostatic latent image, a developing unit including a developing sleeve and containing developer, and a control portion configured to control a process condition for image formation. The control portion changes the process condition for image formation when, in a case where the developing unit detected to have a developer amount smaller than a predetermined amount is removed from a main body of the image forming apparatus, the removed developing unit is remounted to the main body of the image forming apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, there are known inventions relating to an image forming apparatus to which a cartridge including a developing device can be removably mounted as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2003-215893 and S62-237477. The invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-215893 uses toner to which particles having a polarity opposite to a polarity of the toner are extraneously added. Further, when a toner remaining amount detecting unit detects that a toner remaining amount is a predetermined amount or less, setting of a charge and a developing bias is changed so that toner charged with reverse polarity opposite to a desired polarity is ejected from a developer container at a time of non-image formation. With this configuration, positive fog that increases just before running out of toner is suppressed so that good printed images can be obtained over a long term from an initial stage.
The invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. S62-237477 is an invention relating to an image forming apparatus, in which a display portion displays an indication prompting a user to shake the cartridge when it is determined that the cartridge has run out of toner based on a detection result of a remaining amount detecting sensor. Then, the cartridge is mounted again, and the toner remaining amount is detected. If it is determined again that the cartridge has run out of toner, the display portion displays an indication prompting the user to replace the cartridge.
In addition, as to detection of remaining amount of toner, it is common to indicate, for example, "Toner Low" or "Toner Out" to a user before the cartridge has completely run out of toner to cause a defective image in a printed image which a user wants to output. In other words, when "Toner Out" is indicated, the cartridge has not completely run out of toner, yet.
When "Toner Out" is indicated, the toner inside the cartridge is roughly split into two parts, including a part close to a developing roller and the other part adhering to an inner wall of a developing container. When the cartridge is replaced, these two parts of toner remain without being used.
The toner close to the developing roller is affected by history of printed images, and hence a part carried much by a surface of the developing roller and a part carried little by the surface occur. As a result, evenness of toner coating in a longitudinal direction may be deteriorated as the toner is being consumed. On the other hand, the toner adhering to the inner wall of the developing container and remaining immobile is hardly affected by charge hysteresis of a regulating member.
In this state, if the cartridge is removed and mounted again, toner inside the cartridge is vibrated because a posture of the cartridge is largely changed. As a result, it is possible to move the toner that was not moved and adhering to the inner wall of the developing container.
When the user shakes the cartridge in which a little toner remains, the user usually shakes the cartridge so that the toner moves close to the developing roller. However, the unevenness of the toner coating on the developing roller in the longitudinal direction may remain depending on the handling method.
In addition, even if the unevenness of the toner coating in the longitudinal direction is eliminated, charged state of the toner may be unstable because toner that has been constantly affected by the charge hysteresis and toner that has not been affected by the charge hysteresis are mixed on the surface of the developing roller.
When an image is printed in this state, uneven density in the longitudinal direction of the developing roller may occur in either case described above.

Image forming apparatus having process condition control


A link resolver menu generated by a link resolver server includes a link to a “rights advisor website” containing a program that determines available rights for a resource. When activated, the program uses the resource information in the link to obtain a standard resource identifier and then uses user and context information to access and extract all agreements stored therein that are applicable to the organization to which the user belongs. The resource identifier is then used to determine agreements that are applicable to that resource. An applicable right is selected from each agreement, if available. The rights are then ordered in a tree from the most permissive to the most restrictive. The tree is then traversed from its lowest level upward and the resulting rights are presented to the user.

This invention relates to library services and digital rights management. Reference, or context-sensitive, linking provides the ability to transmit bibliographic data through hypertext links and thereby to connect users who are searching in one reference collection with content in another collection. Such reference collections can include academic research journals, general interest magazines, e-books, bibliographic indexes, and other reference works and additional sources and services associated with the latter items. For example, a reference link can allow a user to move from an abstract of a document located in a collection from one publisher to the full-text content in another vendor database. Another link could allow a user to move from a bibliography in one document to a library catalog of related documents. Other links can allow users to move from one database to another, from a journal article to a web site and from an abstract to an on-line store where a full-text copy of the document can be purchased.
Initially, reference links were simple hyperlinks which were inserted into search result lists by the owner of the reference collection and typically point to predetermined resource copies. As useful as these hyperlinks were, they quickly generated a problem called the "appropriate-copy" problem. This problem occurs when a user locates a link to a resource that has multiple copies available, some of which the user can access via different routes that are governed by distinct access policies and associated with a distinct costs. For example, a simple link may point to a resource copy to which the user does not have access, but the user may have access to another copy of that resource via another route. Alternatively, the user may have access to several copies of the resource via routes that have different costs and, of course, the user would like to obtain the copy at the lowest cost. Thus, in order to be of most use to the user, a link to this resource should point to the resource copy that is most appropriate to that user and the circumstances surrounding user and the link (called the "context").
In order to solve the appropriate copy problem, dynamic links are typically inserted into the collection by the owner. However, rather than pointing to a predetermined resource, each link is dynamic in the sense that the destination is determined or "resolved" at the time that link is accessed based on the user and the context. One method of implementing dynamic link resolution is to use a "link resolver", which is a server managed by the collection owner. Because a collection owner, such as a library, has information regarding the collection, policies, and users, an owner-managed link resolver can provide the desired context-sensitive linking.
A typical owner-managed link resolver system 100 is shown in FIG. 1. In this system, a user searching in a collection via a conventional mechanism such as a browser receives, on the browser screen display 102, a search results list 104 containing links associated with resources, such as journals, in response to a query. In FIG. 1 resource links 106, 108 and 100 are shown. In a collection that operates with a link resolver, the search results list is modified to display a separate link resolver link associated with each resource link. For example, link resolver link 112 is associated with resource link 110. The link resolver link 112 contains a URL at which a link resolver server 116 is located and information identifying the resource. Selecting the link resolver link 112, sends this information to the link resolver server 116 as indicated schematically by arrow 114.
Generally, for a given resource, the URL information that is sent to server 116 is constructed according to a predetermined standard. One standard for formatting the URL information that is sent to the server 116 is called "OpenURL." An OpenURL consists of a base URL, which points to the link resolver 116, and a "query" string, which contains bibliographic data identifying the resource, typically in the form of key-value pairs. The OpenURL standard is described in detail in the PDF document Z39—88—2004.pdf available from the National Information Standards Organization, 4733 Bethesda Avenue, Suite 300, Bethesda, Md. 20814. An example of a URL constructed in accordance with the current OpenURL standard is (the conventional http:// preface has been omitted to deactivate the link):
resolver.example.edu/cgi?url_ver=Z39.88-2004                &rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:book        &rft.isbn=0836218310        &rft.btitle=Sample+Book+Title
In this URL, the initial portion: "resolver.example.edu" is the URL of the link resolver server, for example, server 116. The suffix portion contains version information concerning the URL and resource identification information. In this case, the resource identification information includes the information type (book), the ISBN number of the book and its title.
A resource copy designed to be used with the OpenURL standard will contain only the suffix of the OpenURL query, leaving the URL of the link resolver server blank as follows:                ——————?genre=book&isbn=0836218310&title=Sample+Book+Title
Any resource collection containing that resource will dynamically construct a URL in response to the selection of a link resolver link and preface the query portion of the URL with the URL of its particular link resolver server.
The link resolver 116 parses the elements of an OpenURL received from the link 112 and generates links to appropriate resource copies and services based on information concerning the user and the context which is known to the collection owner. The generated links are then typically displayed as indicated schematically by arrow 118 in the user's browser screen display 102 in the form of a link menu 120 containing the links, for example, links 120 and 122. In order to reduce computational overhead, these links are typically not actually resolved until selected by a user. Thus, any given link may be inactive, reach resources that are not accessible or generate multiple results, etc.
Various link resolver servers are commercially available. A link server that is currently popular is the SFX link resolver server sold by Ex-Libris Limited, 313 Washington Street, Suite 308, Newton, Mass. 02458. This server can generate appropriate links from received information in a known fashion.
However, in systems that use the aforementioned link servers, problems can still arise. For example, link servers cannot provide appropriate links in circumstances where the user does not have access to a desired resource. Further, the collection owner may continually acquire and release access rights through purchase and expiration of subscriptions, etc. Therefore, it may be difficult for the collection owner to know at any given time what the most cost-effective copy would be, even given the user and context information.

Method and apparatus for obtaining content license rights via a document link resolver


A handle for a drill- and/or chisel hammer has a mount which can be fixed to the hammer. A radial grip is fixed to said mount, the grip axis of said radial grip crossing a tool axis which is defined by the position of a tool received by the hammer. A tangential grip is also fixed to the mount. Said tangential grip has a first grip section whose grip axis is tangential to the tool axis and a second grip section whose grip axis is tangential to the tool axis and essentially perpendicular to the grip axis of the first grip section.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to a supplemental handle for a hammer drill and/or a hammer chisel as well as a hammer drill and/or a hammer chisel containing the supplemental handle.
2. Description of the Related Art
For hammer drills, it is known from E 196 06 498 A1, for example, to use radial grips that can be fastened by the user to any desired radial position relative to the tool axis, which is defined by the longitudinal axis of the drill. This is done by means of a collar around the tool axis that can be fastened to the hammer housing. In hammer chisels, a so-called spade grip has proven useful that tilts about the chisel axis and also can be tilted about an axis perpendicular to the chisel axis into certain notch positions toward or away from the chisel. A similar handle is known from DE 32 29 183C2.
In DE-AS 1 427 734, a percussion drilling machine is described in which a radial handle is screwed into the housing of the drilling machine.
So-called combination hammers, i.e. hammers that are suitable both for drilling as well as chiseling, are commonly only provided with one handle variation suitable for one type of use, which is less suitable for the other type of use. If, therefore, the user wishes to switch between chiseling and drilling, it is often necessary to exchange the handle, which can be costly. Also, quickly changing the current grip position is possible only by altering or repositioning the respective handle.
From DE-U-88 09 840, a combination hammer is known to which a supplemental handle can be fastened by means of a mounting support. The supplemental handle consists of a radial grip that can be fastened directly to the mounting support and a tangential grip that can be fastened to the mounting support by means of a traverse.
The objective of this invention is to provide a universal supplemental handle that is equally suitable for drilling and for chiseling and that offers the user a number of ergonomically practical grip positions without expending work to reposition, or with minimal work to reposition.
This objective is met according to the invention by means of a handle with the features of patent claim 1. Advantageous further developments of the invention are found in the dependent claims.
According to the invention, a supplemental handle for a hammer drill and/or hammer chisel is provided that has a mounting support, a radial grip that can be fastened to the mounting support or directly to the hammer and whose grip axis is essentially radial to a tool axis defined by the position of a tool held by the hammer, and with a tangential grip that can be fastened to the mounting support. A first grip section of this tangential grip has a grip axis that runs essentially perpendicular to and at a distance from the tool axis, and a second grip section has grip axis that runs essentially perpendicular to and at a distance from the tool axis and essentially perpendicular to the grip axis of the first grip section.
By providing two types of handles according to the invention, namely a radial grip for the drill and a tangential grip for the chisel, it is possible to switch between the different modes of operation without having to change to a different handle accordingly. The especially advantageous design of the tangential grip, namely dividing it into a first grip section and a second grip section perpendicular to the first, enables the user to guide the hammer very comfortably, especially when chiseling.
The handle arrangement according to the invention ensures that all handle elements are located only in one quadrant of a plane perpendicular to the tool axis. This allows the other three quadrants of the plane to be kept open by the handle system so that it is also possible to drill or chisel right up against walls or in comers. The three handle sections offer three grip possibilities for an optimum support of the moments occurring when working.
By arranging its grip sections open upward, the tangential grip is designed so that the hand can be removed from the grip quickly at all times andxe2x80x94for example when the drill is unexpectedly seizedxe2x80x94the hand does not get caught.
In an especially advantageous further development of the invention, the radial grip is fastened removably to the mounting support, wherein its removal does not influence the fastening of the tangential grip. This makes it possible to quickly remove it from the mounting support and, for example, to fasten it at another position directly to the hammer, which is especially advantageous for vertical drilling downward.
In another advantageous further development of the invention, the tangential grip is fastened to the mounting support and can be tilted about an axis perpendicular to the tool axis. This ensures that the tangential grip can be tilted in the direction of the chisel, for example when setting the chisel or, when drilling or chiseling, perpendicular downward, or backward away from the chisel so that the user can create the best grip situation accordingly. The tilting of the tangential grip is possible without influencing the fastening of the radial grip.
An additional advantage is a locking element provided to lock the tangential grip to the mounting support wherein catches ensure form-locked positioning of the tangential grip relative to the mounting support and thus ensure a secure connection between the tangential grip and the mounting support during operation.

Handle for a drill- and/or chisel hammer


A rail car door closer is shown for hopper type rail cars used to carry bulk commodities or materials. Cylinders provide horizontal motion to rotate an axle on which cam closers are attached thereto. The cam closers operate between a relaxed position (down position) and a raised position (up position). During rotation of the cam closers from the relaxed position to the raised position, the cam closers push hopper doors under the rail car up to a latched position. Individual hopper doors can be closed, or multiple doors can be simultaneously closed, depending on the preference of the operator. The cylinders are protected from falling bulk commodities by an elongated tent frame structure.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to rail car door closures and, more particularly, to rail car door closures that are attached to opposite ends of a rotating axle with an actuating mechanism that is attached to and covered by an elongated main frame tent structure with cam closures for pressing against the rail car door to cause the rail car door to close during rotation of the axle.
2. Background of the Prior Art
Railroad cars are used to carry bulk commodities with the most common bulk commodity being coal to provide energy and power. Other bulk commodities may be grain, aggregate, phosphate or other similar type materials. The railroad car used to carry bulk commodities normally has hopper doors on the bottom thereof that swing downward when unloading. These hopper doors on the bottom of a railroad car typically weigh about 200-300 pounds each and are difficult to close manually even under ideal conditions. After a period of extended wear, the hopper doors may become bent or warped making the closing of the hopper doors manually even more difficult.
Over the years, numerous injuries to railroad workers have been involving the closing of the heavy hopper doors. The manual closing of the hopper doors takes two people under even ideal conditions. A warped, bent or worn hopper door becomes even more difficult to close.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,886,473 to Marchiori et al shows a type of rail car door closure having a chain drive or cable with a rotatable member attached thereto. By turning the rotatable member into the upper direction, followed by forward and reverse motion of the chain or cable, rail car doors are closed by force exerted against the door from the rotatable member. However, the system as shown in Marchiori et al has certain limitations involving primarily the installation and maintenance of the mechanism.
A different version of a door car opener and closer is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,063,022 to Marchiori et al that is a fairly complicated rail car door opener and closer combination. The opener portion is not applicable to the present invention and will only work on certain types of door locks. The system as shown in the '022 patent can only be installed at locations that provide enough clearance from the railroad track to install and operate the system.
Another type of rail car door closure is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,464 to Clarke. The system as shown in Clarke has a bell crank assembly which actuates arms that press against the hopper door to cause closure thereof.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,262 to Turpin, Sr. shows a railroad hopper car door closure with wheels mounted on the end of a pair of laterally extending arms to cause closure of the hopper doors. The system as shown in Turpin is located outside the railroad tracks and is not protected from falling bulk commodity.


A booster seat has a seat member (14) and armrests (12a, 13a), and the distance between the armrests (12a, 13a) can be automatically changed according to the height of the support portion (14a) of the seat member (14). The armrests (12a, 13a) are formed on side members (12, 13) extended on the opposite sides of the support portion (14a) of the seat member 14 on a base (11) mounted on a seat of a vehicle. Tapered, wedge-shaped blocks (17, 18) are arranged on the inner side surfaces of the side members (12, 13) so as to extend toward a middle portion of the support portion (14a). When the side members (12, 13) and the wedge-shaped blocks (17, 18) are moved on the base (11) in directions along the width of the support portion (14a), the seat member (14) is moved vertically relative to the base (11) by the cooperative action of the upper surfaces (17a, 18a) of the wedge-shaped blocks (17, 18) and the bottom surface (14b) of the seat member (14) and, at the same time, the distance between the armrests (12a, 13a) is adjusted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a booster seat and, more specifically, to a booster seat having armrests and a seat member. The booster seat is capable of changing the distance between the armrests according to the height of the support portion of the seat member.
2. Description of the Related Art
A booster seat is used on a vehicle to seat a child taller than babies and shorter than adults, such as a schoolchild (hereinafter referred to simply as xe2x80x9cchildxe2x80x9d), at a proper level on the seat of the vehicle.
Generally, a seat belt cannot be properly put around a child if the child is seated on the seat of a vehicle. Therefore, a booster seat is placed on the seat of the vehicle and the child is seated on the booster seat so that the apparent height of the child is great enough to put the seat belt around the child.
A known booster seat is provided with armrests that can be moved to adjust the width of the support portion of a seat member according to the build of a child to be seated on the booster seat.
In this known booster seat, the height of the support portion remains unchanged regardless of the width thereof. Therefore the booster seat is narrow to a tall child and is unable to hold a short child steady.
The present invention has been made in view of such a problem and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a booster seat having armrests and a seat member, in which the distance between the armrests can be changed according to the height of the support portion of the seat member.
According to the present invention, a booster seat comprises a base to be mounted on a seat of a vehicle; a seat member placed on the base and having a support portion; a pair of armrests disposed on opposite sides of the seat member, respectively; a seat height adjusting mechanism capable of vertically moving the seat member relative to the base to adjust the height of the support portion of the seat member, and an armrest adjusting mechanism capable of adjusting the distance between the armrests according to the vertical movement of the seat member by the seat height adjusting mechanism. The distance between the armrests is decreased when the height of the support portion of the seat member is increased, and is increased when the height of the support portion of the seat member is decreased.
In the booster seat according to the present invention, it is preferable that the seat height adjusting mechanism comprises a plurality of wedge-shaped blocks disposed between the base and the seat member, tapered from the opposite sides of the support portion toward the middle of the support portion, respectively, and each having an upper surface serving as a first slope. A bottom part of the seat member faces the plurality of wedge-shaped blocks and has a second slope corresponding to the first slopes. The seat member can be moved vertically relative to the base by the cooperative action of the first slopes of the plurality of wedge-shaped blocks and the second slope of the seat member when the plurality of wedge-shaped blocks are moved in directions along the width of the support portion. It is also preferable that the armrest adjusting mechanism includes a pair of side members extended along the opposite sides of the support portion of the seat member on the base, connected to the outer ends of the plurality of wedge-shaped blocks, respectively, and is provided with the armrests, respectively. The distance between the armrests can be adjusted by moving the side members together with the plurality of wedge-shaped blocks on the base in a direction along the width of the support portion.
In the booster seat according to the present invention, it is preferable that the seat height adjusting mechanism includes an operating bar provided with pins extending along the width of the support portion of the seat member. The base and the seat member are provided with longitudinal slots capable of receiving the pins of the operating bar, respectively, and are inclined relative to each other. The seat member can be moved vertically relative to the base by the cooperative action of the pins of the operating bar and the slots of the base and the seat member when the operating bar is moved longitudinally on the base in a state where the seat member is able to move only vertically relative to the base. It is also preferable that the armrest adjusting mechanism includes a pair of bearing portions formed on the base, each for pivotally supporting one end of each armrest. The seat member is provided with a pair of openings in which the armrests are inserted, respectively. The armrests turn in a plane perpendicular to a direction along the length of the support portion as the seat member is moved vertically relative to the base so that the distance between the armrests is adjusted.
According to the present invention, the seat height adjusting mechanism moves the seat member vertically relative to the base to adjust the height of the support portion of the seat member, and the armrest adjusting mechanism moves the armrests according to the vertical movement of the seat member by the seat height adjusting mechanism to adjust the distance between the armrests. Thus, the distance between the armrests can be automatically adjusted according to the adjustment of the height of the support portion of the seat member. When the height of the support portion is decreased for a tall child, the distance between the armrests increases, so that the tall child can be comfortably seated on the booster seat. When the height of the support portion is increased for a short child, the distance between the armrests decreases, so that the short child can be seated on the booster seat in a steady position.
According to the present invention, when the seat member is moved vertically relative to the base by the cooperative action of the seat member and the plurality of wedge-shaped blocks capable of moving along the width of the support portion, and the distance between the armrests is adjusted by moving the pair of side members in coordination with the movement of the wedge-shaped blocks, the seat member can be vertically moved and the distance between the armrests can be adjusted by mechanical mechanisms. Thus, the booster seat is simple in construction and capable of functioning with reliability.
According to the present invention, when the seat member is moved vertically relative to the base by the cooperative action of the pins of the operating bar that move along the length of the support portion on the base, and the slots of the base and the seat member, and the distance between the armrests is adjusted by turning the armrests in coordination with the vertical movement of the seat member relative to the base, the operations for vertically moving the seat member and adjusting the distance between the armrests can be very easily achieved, and the seat member can be vertically moved and the distance between the armrests can be adjusted by mechanical mechanisms. Thus, the booster seat is simple in construction and capable of functioning with reliability.