A method of producing a hybrid foodstuff is provided. The method comprises combining a plant-originated substance with an amount of cultured animal cells so as to enhance a meat organoleptic and/or meat nutritional property in the hybrid foodstuff, wherein the animal cells do not form a tissue, and wherein the amount is below 30% (w/w) of the hybrid foodstuff.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to cultured meat-containing hybrid food.
In recent years, attempts have been made to bring natural taste, odor, appearance and nutritional value of meat to the process of vegetarian food preparation, under the fields of food science, food technology and molecular gastronomy.
Cultured meat, also called synthetic meat, cell-cultured meat, clean meat, and in vitro meat, is meat grown in cell culture instead of inside animal, see Verbeke, Wim, Pierre Sans, and Ellen J. Van Loo. "Challenges and prospects for consumer acceptance of cultured meat." Journal of Integrative Agriculture 14.2 (2015): 285-294, which is incorporated herein as a reference. Several patent documents describe a variety of cultured meat consumable products and related method: US patent app. Nos. 2005010965, 2006121006, and 2006029922 disclose process for production and cultured meat which comprises muscle cells that are grown ex vivo attached to either 2D or 3D support structure and further comprises other cells such as fat cells or cartilage cells, or both, that are grown ex vivo together with the muscle cells. The visual appearance (including color), smell, texture taste and price-per-product of the cultured meat published in the art is not yet satisfying, see Post, Mark J. "Cultured meat from stem cells: Challenges and prospects." Meat Science 92.3 (2012): 297-301; Verbeke, Wim, et al. "'Would you eat cultured meat?': Consumers' reactions and attitude formation in Belgium, Portugal and the United Kingdom." Meat science 102 (2015): 49-58; and Forgacs, Gabor, Francoise Marga, and Karoly Robert Jakab. "Engineered comestible meat." U.S. Pat. No. 8,703,216. 22 Apr. 2014, all incorporated herein as a reference.
It therefore remains a long felt and unmet need to provide a novel non-meat production method which is more cost-efficient than the current methods of production and non-meat products which are healthier having an improved meaty flavor and appearance.
Additional background art:
US Patent Application Publication No. 20060121006;
U.S. Pat. No. 9,332,779;
US Patent Application Publication No. 20110301249


A bicycle rear-wheel hub includes an inner casing disposed in the hub at one side, an outer casing disposed on the inner casing, an axle inserted through the hub and a set of flywheels disposed on the outer casing. The hub includes an inner thread and a wheel shoulder at one end, and a rubber ring set inside the wheel shoulder in front of the inner thread. The inner casing has an outer thread at one end for engaging with the inner thread of the hub. The inner casing also has a tool hole at the opposite end for inserting a tool. The outer casing has a number of elongated grooves around the outer wall surface for fastening the set of flywheels. The flywheels each has a number of inner projections formed in a center hole for engaging with the elongated grooves of the outer casing.

The present invention relates to bicycle rear-wheel hub assembly which is durable in use and can eliminate noise while changing the position of the bicycle chain.
Several flywheels may be simultaneously attached to a bicycle's rear-wheel hub for mounting the chain alternatively so that the speed of the bicycle can be changed. In regular speed changing bicycles, the smallest flywheel has total 14 teeth. Because of the number of teeth on the smallest flywheel is limited to 14 teeth, the speed of a speed changing bicycle can not be greatly improved. Further, because the tooth forms of the flywheels of a speed changing bicycle are not variable (see FIGS. 1 and 2), noise and friction problems will happen while changing the position of the chain, causing the chain to disconnect from place.

Taiwan Bicycle Industrial Development Co., Ltd.


A motor vehicle body is disclosed which includes at least one rear wheel house and a reinforcing structure for connecting a shock absorber in the region of the wheel house. The reinforcing structure includes a reinforcing profile arranged on an outside of the wheel house facing a rear wheel, and extends with a spring plate connecting piece provided for fastening a spring plate from a lower side of the wheel house to an upper apex portion of the wheel house. The reinforcing profile located in the region of the upper apex portion of the wheel house includes a middle profile portion with a shock absorber connection, to which a shock absorber can be fastened with an end portion facing away from the rear wheel.

For the rear wheel or rear axle suspension of a motor vehicle, in addition to a spring, shock absorbers are typically also provided. The end of the shock absorber facing away from the axle is to be connected to the body. Since in the region of a shock absorber connection on the body side comparatively high mechanical loads occur during the operation of the vehicle, such connecting regions of the motor vehicle body have to be structurally reinforced. It has been usual up to now to arrange additional reinforcing profiles in the region of a wheel house in order to be able to furnish the shock absorber with locally adequate stability in the connecting region.
Accordingly, as disclosed in DE 10 2004 027 377 A1 a wheel house support profile is known on which a reinforcing profile in extension of a longitudinal axis of a shock absorber is additionally fastened to the outer surface of a wall and of the wheel house support profile. The respective reinforcing profile in this case is fastened to a corresponding inner wall of the lateral frame of the body via a U-shaped flange.
Although with such reinforcing profiles the region of a shock absorber connection of the motor vehicle body can be locally reinforced, it is desirable, however, that such reinforcing profiles additionally assume or reinforce further additional functions of the body.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an improved shock absorber connection or shock absorber connection reinforcement which at the same time also contributes to a reinforcement or stiffening of the motor vehicle body proper. Here, the shock absorber connection should result in a component reduction and contribute to a reduction of the motor vehicle gross weight. Furthermore, implementation should be as cost-effective and production-rational as possible.

Motor vehicle body with reinforced shock absorber connection


Disclosed herein is a novel single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in HLA-B*15:02 that can be used as a biomarker for carbamazepine-induced severe adverse skin reactions in Asians. Also provided herein are methods and reagents for assessing the specific SNP, and applying the SNP in predicting an increased risk of carbamazepine-induced severe adverse skin reactions.

Carbamazepine (CBZ) is a drug that is frequently prescribed in treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder. HLA-B*15:02 is strongly associated with carbamazepine-induced life-threatening inflammatory adverse reactions in skin and mucous membrane (Chung et al., Medical genetics: a marker for Stevens-Johnson syndrome, Nature, 2004, 428(6982): p. 486; Chen et al., Carbamazepine-induced toxic effects and HLA-B*15:02 screening in Taiwan, N Engl J Med, 2011, 364(12): pp. 1126-33). See also www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/PostmarketDrugSafetyInformationforPatientsandProviders/ucm 124718.htm. Thus, HLA-B*15:02 screening is warranted in patients requiring carbamazepine therapy (Tegretol® and Tegretol®-XR prescribing information: FDA approved labeling. 2014). Currently, the detection of HLA-B*15:02 through HLA typing is feasible but technically challenging due to the highly polymorphic and homologous nature of all HLA-B haplotypes. Current HLA typing methods have limitations in resolution, accuracy, price, and/or convenience that prevent them from wide use for HLA-B*15:02 screening.
Briefly, there are four major approaches for HLA-B*15:02 detection currently available:                (1) Direct sequencing methods—e.g., Sanger sequencing or next-generation sequencing (NGS)—are the most accurate options, but they are time-consuming, expensive, and also requiring special expertise to analyze the data;        (2) Sequence-specific oligonucleotide probe hybridization (SSOP) has high sensitivity and specificity, but it also has many disadvantages including complex processing and low resolution;        (3) Sequence-specific PCR (SSP-PCR), for example, the commercially available Pharmigene PG15:02 Detection Kit (U.S. Pat. No. 7,470,513), is less expensive and easier to process, but it is low throughput, and has low specificity owing to cross-reactions; and        (4) Tagging SNP method, in particular a two-SNP haplotype consisting of the minor alleles of rs2844682 and rs3909184, has been reported to tag the HLA-B*15:02 allele in 45 unrelated individuals from the HapMap (International HapMap, C., The International HapMap Project. Nature, 2003, 426(6968): pp. 789-96) population of Han Chinese in Beijing, China (CHB) (de Bakker et al., A high-resolution HLA and SNP haplotype map for disease association studies in the extended human MHC. Nat Genet, 2006, 38(10): pp. 1166-72). However, further testing has demonstrated these two SNPs have very poor accuracy (with ˜6% sensitivity) to detect HLA-B*15:02 (Zhu, G. D., et al., Genotypes at rs2844682 and rs3909184 have no clinical value in identifying HLA-B*15:02 carriers. Eur J Clin Pharmacol, 2015).
Thus, in light of the potential for life-threatening adverse reactions caused by carbamazepine and related drugs, there is an urgent need for an accurate, high-throughput, and cost-effective assay for HLA-B*15:02 screening. In particular, an ideal assay should produce no false negatives. Such an assay would be highly valuable and immediately desired in clinical practice.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Single nucleotide polymorphism in HLA-B*15:02 and use thereof


A boron ion plasma, generated by use of a cathodic arc, is manipulated and delivered to a large flat product such as a silicon wafer with boron ion energies suitable for incorporation of boron atoms into solid state devices as one of the key steps in manufacturing solid state electronics and with uniformity of boron dose over the area suitable for the scale of manufacturing desired.

The arc ion source, in general, has been known as a method for plasma generation (A plasma consists of a gas-like dispersion of atomic ions and free electrons in which the number of free electrons and the number of positive ions are approximately equal.) for over one hundred years, but to our knowledge, the boron cathode has been used by only one group previously [2], besides the present effort. That effort [2] was directed towards production of boron nitride mechanical coatings. Arc ion sources differ from other plasma sources in that the plasma is generated by an electron arc from solid material in an arc gap, which otherwise, may consist of good vacuum. Hence the other name, "vacuum arc". Other ways of generating ion plasma generally work by introducing suitable energy (RF or microwave irradiation, hot or cold cathode electrons, etc.) to gas at somewhat low pressures, but not at a vacuum in the sense of the vacuum arc source. A list of intrinsic advantages and disadvantages could be compiled, but only a few factors actually dominate design considerations for applications to semiconductors for the respective types of ion generation. The arc produces practically 100% ionization and a very high absolute rate of plasma generation, whereas plasmas that originate as gases contain a small fraction of ionized atoms and many neutral gas atoms. The arc source produces "macroparticles" (MP's), which are particles of solid material of some microns in diameter. They consist of cathode material and are negatively charged. (The ions are positively charged.) The gaseous plasmas contain chemically unwanted neutral atoms, chemically unwanted ions, chemically desired neutral atoms and chemically desired ions. Chemical separation issues, vacuum issues, and ion economy are the ones that ultimately have the most to do with the configuration of ion implanters based on gaseous plasmas (existing practice). Macroparticles is the disadvantage that, in many ways, may influence design for arc sources, and therefore can be considered as somewhat symmetrical, as a drawback, to undesired atoms in the gaseous source, as far as design factors are concerned. The present effort was based on two premises: (1) that the boron arc source could be developed to a reliable level of operation and (2) that once that was done, the advantages could outweigh the disadvantages, relative to existing practice, by use of suitable design of delivery systems.


This document describes techniques and apparatuses for implementing a transparent display device. A transparent display device includes a transparent or translucent screen to render images on the screen, and to render virtual objects that appear to be in a three-dimensional (3D) space behind the screen. The transparent display device also includes a hand tracker to sense movement of a user's hands to interact with one or more of the virtual objects, and to generate 3D-input based on the movement. The transparent or translucent screen enables the user to see the user's hands behind the screen as the user's hands interact with the one or more virtual objects. The transparent display device is controlled to modify the rendering of the images on the screen or the virtual objects behind the screen based on the 3D-input.

In typical user interactions with windows management and content retrieval, windows of information (e.g., a web page, a word-processing document, and a picture) are concurrently projected on a two-dimensional (2D) screen. These windows of information can be visualized and navigated via a "multiple layers" view, but even in the multiple layers view some of the windows are hidden by a top layer of windows. Unlike on a physical desk where documents and objects can be scattered around, in a conventional computer desktop user interface there is no fixed position given to inactive windows behind a top active window. Thus, the user cannot cognitively register background windows to a specific position in the physical space, making it difficult and inefficient for the user to choose among different windows.


The present invention is an inline tester for analyzing the integrity of a disk drive. Structurally, the inline tester includes a set of statistical and diagnostic routines included in the ROM of a disk drive and a diagnostic logic section included in the drive's logic board. In initial use, the inline tester reconfigures the drive, making the drive less tolerant of flaws within the drive's media. The drive is also reconfigured to enable error detection and disable error correcting codes as well as device retries. Each sector of the media is then tested with multiple test patterns and failing sectors are added to a list of suspected sectors. At the conclusion of testing, the drive is restored to its normal operating configuration with error correcting codes and device retries enabled. Later, each sector in the list of suspected sectors is re-tested. Sectors that fail are added to the drive's list of bad sectors and are replaced by an alternate sector allocated from a reserved portion of the drive.

Normally, computer hard disks are subject to a number of differing analog and digital tests as part of the manufacturing process. Fundamentally, these tests are aimed at two separate, although related goals. The first of these goals is the detection of bad, or inoperable, disk drives that, for whatever reason, do not fall within required manufacturing specifications. The second goal of drive testing is the construction of a drive flaw map. During flaw map construction, each sector within the magnetic media of the disk is repeatedly tested. Sectors that are inoperable are mapped to new sectors allocated from a reserved portion of the disk drive. In some cases, of course, a drive will be found to have too many flaws, and the drive will fall outside of required manufacturing specifications.
Traditionally, testing of disk drives has been performed by devices known as drive testers, a process that has several disadvantages. One such disadvantage is caused, in part, by the rapid growth in disk drive technology which has increased drive capacity and performance at a rapid rate. Unfortunately, the performance and capacity of disk drive testers has not matched the rapid pace of disk drive development. As a result, testing of drives has become an increasingly time consuming part of the manufacturing process. This problem is compounded by the relative expense of disk drive testers which limits the number of testers that may be employed economically on a single manufacturing line.
A second disadvantage associated with traditional disk drive testers is the inability of such devices to provide the type of failure prediction that may be usefully employed in high reliability computing environments. More specifically, it is generally the case that disk drives experience an increasing number of defects over the life-span of the drive. These defects, which arise after the drive has left the manufacturing environment, are known as "grown defects." Unfortunately, the great size of modern disk drives has made it relatively impractical to exhaustively re-test a functioning drive.

Hitachi Computer Products (America ), Inc.


To provide a liquid crystal compound having a large negative dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈), and having at least one of characteristics such as a high stability to heat, light and so forth, a high clearing point, a suitable refractive index anisotropy (Δn) and an excellent compatibility with other liquid crystal compounds, and an intermediate thereof. A solution is a compound represented by formula (1):

A display device using a liquid crystal compound is widely utilized for a display of a watch, a calculator, a word processor and so forth. The display devices utilize refractive index anisotropy, dielectric anisotropy or the like of the liquid crystal compound.
A liquid crystal phase includes a nematic liquid crystal phase, a smectic liquid crystal phase and a cholesteric liquid crystal phase, but a device utilizing the nematic liquid crystal phase is most widely used. Moreover, examples of display modes include a dynamic scattering (DS) mode, a deformation of aligned phases (DAP) mode, a guest/host (GH) mode, a twisted nematic (TN) mode, a super twisted nematic (STN) mode, a thin film transistor (TFT) mode, a vertical alignment (VA) mode, an in-plane switching (IPS) mode and a polymer sustained alignment (PSA) mode.
The liquid crystal compound used in the display modes should show the liquid crystal phase in a wide temperature range centering on room temperature, be sufficiently stable under an environment in which the display device is used, and have sufficient characteristics for driving the display device, but any single liquid crystal compound satisfying the conditions is not currently found.
Consequently, a liquid crystal composition having required characteristics is prepared by mixing several kinds to tens of kinds of liquid crystal compounds under an actual situation. The liquid crystal compositions are required to be stable to moisture, light, heat or air ordinarily present under conditions in which the display device is used, and also stable to an electric field or electromagnetic radiation, and also chemically stable to a compound to be mixed. Moreover, the liquid crystal composition is required to have suitable values of various physical properties such as refractive index anisotropy (Δn) and dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈) depending on the display mode or a shape of the display device. Furthermore, each component in the liquid crystal composition should have a good solubility with each other as an important requirement.
As a mode for overcoming narrowness of viewing angle being a biggest problem of a liquid crystal display device, among the display modes, a mode such as the IPS mode, the VA mode, the OCB mode and the PSA mode has attracted attention in recent years. Among the liquid crystal display devices having the modes, in particular, a device having the VA mode or the IPS mode has been actively developed because such a device has a wide viewing angle and also an excellent responsiveness, and further achieves a high contrast display. Features of the liquid crystal composition used for the liquid crystal display devices having the display modes are in a negative dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈). Then, a liquid crystal composition having a large negative dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈) is known to allow a decrease in a driving voltage of a liquid crystal display device including the liquid crystal composition (Non-patent literature No. 1). Therefore, the liquid crystal compound being a constituent of the liquid crystal composition is also required to have a larger negative dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈).
As a component of the liquid crystal composition having a negative dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈), a liquid crystal compound having a fluorine-substituted phenanthrene ring or a fluorine-substituted dihydrophenanthrene ring has been examined so far (Patent literature No. 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5).
In JP H8-53672 A (Patent literature No. 1), a compound as described below is proposed, but dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈) is not large.

In JP 2005-325113 A (Patent literature No. 2), a compound as described below is proposed, but is unsuitable as a liquid crystal compound because a shape of a molecule is nonlinear.

In U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,834 B (Patent literature No. 3), a liquid crystal composition using a compound represented by formula (a) is proposed.

In the formula, L1 and L2 are independently hydrogen or fluorine. The compound represented by formula (a) has a large negative dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈), but is not sufficient in order to decrease a driving voltage of a liquid crystal display device having the VA mode, the IPS mode or the like. Moreover, the compound generally has a significantly low solubility, and is unstable to light.
In JP 2006-520327 A (Patent literature No. 4), benzochromene derivative (b) is proposed.

In the formula, Y is —CO—, —CS—, —CH2—, —CF2— or —CHF—, and L1 and L2 are independently hydrogen, fluorine, chlorine or —CN. When Y is —CF2—, and L1 and L2 are fluorine, the derivative has a large negative dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈), but a basic skeleton is different from the art of the invention.
In JP H11-508890 A (Patent literature No. 5), a fluorine-substituted dihydrophenanthrene derivative represented by formula (C) is proposed.

In the formula, E1, E2, E3, E4, E5 and E6 are independently —CF— or —CH—, and G is —CF2CF2— or —CF═CF—.
In Examples in the identical Patent literature, compounds as described below are disclosed. However, no Examples of a compound having fluorine on 1-position and 8-position of a 9,10-dihydrophenanthrene ring are found, and physical properties thereof are not explained, either.

In order to decrease the driving voltage of a liquid crystal display device having the VA mode, the IPS mode or the like, a liquid crystal compound having a larger negative dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈), a liquid crystal composition and a liquid crystal display device are desired.

Compound having dihydrophenanthrene, liquid crystal composition and liquid crystal display device

Abstract: wherein, for example, R1 and R2 are alkyl having 1 to 12 carbons, alkoxy having 1 to 12 carbons or alkenyl having 2 to 12 carbons; ring A1, ring A2 and ring A3 are 1,4-cyclohexylene or 1,4-phenylene; Z1, Z2 and Z3 are a single bond or —(CH2)2—; X is —CF2— or —CHF—; and l, m and n are 0 or 1.


A shift control system for an automatic transmission. The shift control system includes an oil temperature sensor, a hydraulic controller to operate a hydraulic clutch, and a control unit in operative communication with the oil temperature sensor and the hydraulic controller. When a gear shift is requested just after an engine restart, the control unit controls the hydraulic clutch with an adjusted shift control process, in contrast to a normal condition of the engine. This adjustment is determined based on a first oil temperature at a time point when the engine is last stopped and on a temperature difference between the first oil temperature and a second oil temperature at a time point when the engine is last restarted after the last engine stop.

The present invention relates generally to shift control systems for automatic transmissions, and more particularly to a shift control system for an automatic transmission, configured to suitably control shift operation requested just after the engine being restarted after a period of rest, so as to reduce a potential shift shock.
In general, leaving an internal combustion engine at rest for some period of time leads to dropping down to an oil pan hydraulic fluid such as lubricating oil with which a hydraulic circuit is filled by an oil pump driven by the engine. This is true for hydraulic fluid in a hydraulic circuit that supplies hydraulic pressure to frictional engaging elements such as a hydraulic clutch and a hydraulic brake in an automatic transmission. When the hydraulic fluid in the frictional engaging elements and in the hydraulic circuit drops down into the oil pan, air enters the frictional engaging elements and the hydraulic circuit. During shift operations just after restarting the engine, the entrance of air results in a delay in engagement of the frictional engaging elements and thereby in a delay in shift response. In addition, this delay tends to increase a shift shock.
A Japanese Laid-open Patent Application No. H8(1996)-166058 shows a technique against such a problem as discussed above. In this technique, first, an engine rest time period Tstop is estimated based on an oil temperature at the last engine stop T1, an oil temperature at the restart of the engine T2, and an atmosphere temperature T3. In case engine rest time period Tstop is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold time period Ttrg, it is determined that air enters a hydraulic circuit for supplying hydraulic fluid to a frictional engaging element. In response to the determination, the line pressure and the accumulator back pressure are increasingly adjusted during shift operations in a predetermined number of times just after the engine restart, to avoid the delay in engagement of the frictional engaging elements.

Shift control system for automatic transmission


A solenoid valve driving device includes a bypassing current path of which one end is connected to a point between a first switching device and a first solenoid valve and another end is connected to a point between a second switching device and a second solenoid valve, and an element disposed in the bypassing current path and having a characteristic that causes current to flow from the first switching device side to a second switching device side. By adopting the above described constitution, through current generated when the first switching device is switched from an OFF-state to an ON-state during duty control of the first switching device can be suppressed by the inductance of the second solenoid valve. In this way, one solenoid valve among a pair of the first and second solenoid valves, which is not operated, has a function of suppressing the through current.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a solenoid valve driving device and, in particular, relates to a driving device for driving a plurality of solenoid valves which are parallel-supplied with electric power by an electric power supply source in common.
2. Related Art:
A solenoid coil of a solenoid valve which has been used for an anti-skid control device and has been operated under duty control (PWM control) has been driven by a driving circuit as shown in FIG. 9. In the driving device shown in FIG. 9, a first solenoid valve 3 is operated under duty control. In duty control, the mean current flowing through the first solenoid valve 3 is controlled by switching a first driving IC 4.
The driving circuit shown in FIG. 9 is provided with the first and the second driving ICs 4, 6 which receive and are driven by respective driving signals from a central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as "CPU 7"). The CPU 7 sends the electronic signals to the first and the second driving ICs 4, 6 via a buffer not shown or the like. When the driving ICs 4, 6 are turned on, a current from an electric power supply source 1 is supplied to the first solenoid valve 3 and the second solenoid valve 5 corresponding to the first driving IC 4 and the second driving IC 6, respectively. For example, when the first driving IC 4 is turned on, current flows from the electric power supply source 1 to the first solenoid valve 3 and the first driving IC 4 via a diode 2 and a choke coil 9. Immediately after the first driving IC 4 is turned off, the recirculation of the current occurs through the first solenoid valve 3 and a recirculation diode 8 which is connected in parallel to the first solenoid valve 3. A recirculation diode may be connected in parallel to the second solenoid valve 5, however, since it produces the same effect as the recirculation diode 8, the representation in the figure and the description thereof will be omitted. If the second solenoid valve 5 is not operated under duty control, the recirculation diode is not required for the second solenoid valve 5.
In this circuit structure, there is a problem that, when the first driving IC 4 is switched from an OFF-state (shut-down state) to an ON-state (conductive state) while the first solenoid valve 3 is operated under duty control, the recirculation diode 8 connected in parallel to the first solenoid valve 3 does not come to a state in which it prevents the current flowing in a reverse direction at the same time when the first driving IC 4 is turned on. That is, the recirculation diode 8 comes to a reverse direction current prevention state (a one- way current passing state) in which current is prevented from flowing from the electric power supply source 1 to the first driving IC 4 through the recirculation diode after an instantaneous delay time has passed since the first driving IC 4 is turned on. During this delay time, bypassing current flows from the electric power supply source 1 to the first driving IC 4 through the recirculation diode 8 (hereinafter referred to as "through current"). Since the change of the through current is very rapid, surge voltage is produced by the parasitic inductance of the wire in the circuit. As a result, a problem is produced such that the recirculation diode 8 and the first driving IC 4 are required to have a large margin on withstand voltage. In addition, the surge voltage and the surge current cause radio-noises.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 9, a choke coil 9 has been provided in the upstream of the first solenoid valve 3 as a coil for preventing a rapid change of the through current. However, the choke coil provided in the circuit increases the number of parts and a production cost. In particular, if there are many solenoid valves driven by a solenoid valve driving device, for example, in the case of an anti-skid control device, many choke coils are required to prevent the surge voltage with the result that the production cost is further increased. If the choke coil 9 is not used, high-response recirculation diodes having a small delay in response need to be used, which also increases the production cost.


In a data management system, examination of first data for malicious content by a malicious content scanner is initiated in response to a request to write first data to a data storage device. In response to the examination revealing no malicious content in the first data, the first data, a first signature representative of a version of the malicious content scanner at a time of the examination of the first data, and second data linking the first signature to the first data as read-only data are written to the data storage device.

The present disclosure relates to a data management method, a data management system, and a corresponding computer program product.
It is known to read and write data to storage, for example, using a backup system that preserves historic versions of data in accordance with a backup scheme. For example, such a backup scheme may maintain hourly backups of a file for the last 24 hours, daily backups of the file for the last month, and weekly backups of the file for all previous months. It is, moreover, known to examine data for malicious content to curb spread of computer viruses.
The present disclosure expounds upon this background.

Data management of potentially malicious content

International Business Machines Corporation


A bipolar optical plug-and-socket connector for connecting two optical fibers with other optical fibers and electro-optical transmission and receiving devices includes an optical housing for holding two fiber end sleeves in which each sleeve terminates a fiber. The optical housing includes first and second housing portions which have different external forms from one another. The housing portions hold respective ones of the sleeves when the sleeves are inserted into the housing portions along a plugging direction. The housing portions join to one another in a direction running perpendicular to the plugging direction to place the optical housing in a fully assembled position while the housing portions hold the sleeves. Each housing portion includes an end lock for locking the sleeves in the housing portions. The end locks of the housing portions lock the sleeve held in the other of the housing portions when the housing portions are joined together.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a bipolar optical plug-and-socket connector for connecting two optical fibers with other optical fibers, electro-optical transmission devices, or electro-optical receiving devices in which the bipolar optical connector has an optical housing for holding two fiber end sleeves which terminate respective ends of the two optical fibers.
2. Background Art
Optical plug-and-socket connectors connect optical fibers with one another and to devices having opto-electronic transducers. Optical fibers are used to build so-called ring bus structures which are especially prevalent in automobiles. In a ring bus structure, optical fibers connect several devices in a ring-shaped configuration to enable the devices to communicate with one another through a data bus. Connecting devices to a ring-shaped optical fiber configuration involves providing each device with a bipolar connection. For each device, one connection terminal is assigned to a transmission line of the device and the other connection terminal is assigned to a receiving line of the device. The transmission line of a given device connects to the receiving line of a subsequent device in the ring, and the receiving line of the given device connects to the transmission line of a preceding device in the ring.
Plug-and-socket connectors used in such a ring-shaped configuration can advantageously be designed as bipolar plug-and-socket connectors. However, to make things easier to handle, it is possible for the final assembly of the plug-and-socket connectors with the optical fibers to be done once assembly of the ring bus system is complete. Only the first ends of a set of two optical fibers can be preassembled because the other ends of the two optical fibers held in a bipolar plug-and-socket connector of a given device are connected with two different devices. The two different devices are neighboring devices in the ring. In order to protect the fiber end sleeves, and thus protect the sensitive end surfaces of the other ends of the optical fibers, it is generally necessary to place additional protective caps or the like on them for protection during transport until they are used to connect devices to the ring.
Performing the final assembly at the time when the ring line is being put together presents an additional danger of optical fiber mix-up. This is because only the prefabricated part of the plug-and-socket connector can be coded while the loose optical fiber ends, which still have to be inserted into the plug-and-socket connectors for the neighboring devices, can be mixed up. This danger is addressed by labeling the plug-and-socket connectors on their outside surfaces with printed arrow symbols which the operator assembling the system is supposed to heed.


An external application is loaded by an electronic device. The external application loads one or more internal applications. The internal application loads a player application, such as a video player. At least one communication channel is configured between the external application and the player application. Subsequently, the player application may provide signals to the external application via the communication connection when one or more events occur. In response, the external application may perform one or more actions and/or may provide reply signals to the player application. Additionally, the player application may provide instructions to the external application and/or the external application may provide instructions to the player application.

Modern applications frequently involve pulling in information and functionality from multiple other sources, including other applications. Bringing together multiple independent applications in this manner often creates a disjointed, clumsy experience that feels more like interacting with many separate interfaces, rather than one seamless, integrated interface. As software applications become more interrelated, this transition between application contexts becomes more important, as does making it as smooth and transparent as possible.
For example, a web page presented by a web browser may call one or more components. As such, the web page may be an external application and the components may be internal applications. Such components may include iframes, widgets, and so on. Such internal applications may call one or more players, such as one or more video players. Thus, multiple independent applications may be simultaneously operating that may create a disjointed, clumsy experience that feels more like interacting with many separate interfaces, rather than one seamless, integrated interface.


A start-up range neutron monitor system for monitoring neutrons generated from a neutron source comprises a neutron detector disposed in a non-earthed state and adapted to detect neutrons generated from the neutron source, a coaxial cable for externally transmitting a detection signal from the neutron detector, the coaxial cable being composed of a core and an outer sheath, a preamplifier incorporated on a way of the coaxial cable for amplifiying the detection signal, and a signal processing unit connected to the preamplifier through the coaxial cable to process the amplified detection signal amplified. The coaxial cable is composed of a first cable portion connecting the neutron detector and the preamplifier on an input side thereof and a second cable portion connecting the preamplifier and the signal processing unit on an output side of the preamplifier. A cable shield is further disposed so as to cover the first cable portion of the coaxial cable, wherein an earth side circuit on the signal processing unit is earthed and the cable shield is connected to an earth side circuit of the preamplifier, thus constituting the entire system as one point earth structure. A coil assembly including including first and second coils are also incorporated in the core and outer sheath of the first cable portion of the coaxial cable respectively alone or together with the cable shield. The first and second coils have the same inductance and are arranged so as to generate magnetic fluxes in directions reverse to each other.

The present invention relates to a start-up range neutron monitor (SRNM) system in a nuclear power plant particularly for suppressing contamination of external noise.
A nuclear power plant includes a reactor building in which is installed a reactor containment vessle in which a reactor is disposed.
A structure of a known start-up range neutron monitor system in a nuclear power plant is shown in FIG. 8, and the known SRNM system of FIG. 8 comprises a neutron detector 1 arranged in a reactor, coaxial cables 3 and 4 for transferring signals detected by the neutron detector 1 to a signal processing unit 2a disposed inside a monitor 2 arranged in a central control chamber, and a preamplifier 5 disposed between these cables 3 and 4. Namely, the neutron detector 1 is operably connected to the preamplifier 5 in the reactor building through the coaxial cable 3 connecting the neutron detector 1 and the preamplifier 5 by penetrating inside the reactor containment vessel and the coaxial cable 4 connects the preamplifier 5 and the signal processing unit 2a. These coaxial cables 3 and 4 are composed of cores 3a and 4a and outer sheaths 3b and 4b for earthing, respectively. An earth circuit has one point earth structure earthed through the signal processing unit 2a.
In the known start-up range neutron monitor system of FIG. 8, electric pulse signals in response to thermal neutrons in the start-up range in the reactor are detected. The thus detected signal has a weak magnitude, so that the detected amplified by the preamplifier 5 and then treated with by the signal processing unit 2a of the monitor 2.
However, since the known SRNM system has a structure in which, as described above, the neutron detector 1 and the preamplifier 5 are connected through the coaxial cable 3, when the external noise is transferred to the coaxial cable 3, an S/N (signal/noise) ratio of the weak signal is extremely lowered by the external noise, thus being inconvenient.
This problem will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
Supposing that the external noise is invaded into the coaxial cable 3 on the input side of the preamplifier 5 and a noise current I.sub.N is caused by the external noise in the outer sheath 3b, a circuit in such case will be modeled as that shown in FIG. 9 and an equivalent circuit is shown in FIG. 10, in which reference numeral 1' denotes a detection signal source by means of the neutron detector 1.
Referring to FIGS. 9 and 10, the start-up range neutron monitor system has, as a whole, one point earth structure in the central control chamber, and the neutron detector 1 has an isolated, i.e. non-earthed, structure. For this reason, when an impedance of the coaxial cable 3 and the circuit is supposed to R.sub.C, a noise voltage V.sub.12, caused between both poles P.sub.1 and P.sub.2 of the preamplifier 5 is represented as EQU V.sub.12 =I.sub.N .multidot.R.sub.C ( 1)
That is, even if the noise current I.sub.N be weak, the noise voltage V.sub.12 becomes R.sub.C times of the current I.sub.N, so that the S/N ratio of the detected weak signal of the neutron detector 1 is lowered, thus requiring a complicated signal processing circuit of the monitor 2 disposed on the output side of the preamplifier 5 and an increased load for calculation of the signal processing, thus imparting adverse influence on the signal treatment.


When fixing a glass layer 3 to a glass member 4 by irradiation with laser light employing a one portion 31 of the glass layer 3 as start and end points, the glass layer 3 is cut at the one portion 31. In the glass layer 3, the one portion 31 is made thicker than a main portion 32, whereby end parts 3a, 3b rise fully. Melting the end parts 3a, 3b by irradiation with laser light L2 for a preliminary stage for final firing while pressing them toward the glass member 4 reliably buries a gap G and homogenizes the thickness of the glass layer 3. Thus constructed glass layer 3 is irradiated with the laser light L2 for final firing, so as to fuse the glass members 4, 5 to each other.

Known as a conventional glass fusing method in the above-mentioned technical field is a method which burns a glass layer containing organic matters (organic solvents and binders), a laser-light-absorbing material, and a glass powder onto one glass member along a region to be fused, then superposes the other glass member on the one glass member with the glass layer interposed therebetween, and irradiates the glass layer with laser light along the region to be fused, so as to fuse the glass members to each other (see, for example, Patent Literature 1).
Meanwhile, for fixing the glass layer to a glass member, techniques for removing the organic matters from the glass layer by irradiation with laser light instead of heating in a furnace have been proposed (see, for example, Patent Literatures 2 and 3). Such techniques can prevent functional layers and the like formed on glass members from being worsened by heating and inhibit the energy consumption from being increased by the use of the furnace and the heating time from becoming longer in the furnace.

Glass welding method and glass layer fixing method


The present invention relates to a method for reformatting and using the existing 2 digit month field and the existing 2 digit day field in a conventional 8, 7 or 6 digit date format to accommodate new century information. The invention is particularly useful for dealing with 6 digits formats used in existing databases, for example, ASCII date formats of the form mm/dd/yy or dd/mm/yy or yy/mm/dd. The method of the present invention for encoding century information is based on numerically offsetting the range of 1 through 31 days in the day field and/or offsetting the range of 1 through 12 months in the month field. In ASCII, the constraint is the value of the largest number that can be represented in 2 digit ASCII form (i.e. 99). There can be 3 day field ranges, 1-31, 32-62, 63-93 within the range 1 through 99, and there can be 8 month field ranges, 1-12, 13-24, 25-36, 37-48, 49-60, 61-72, 73-84, 85-96. Each of the embodiments manipulate the digits in these fields to produce a century accumulated date. Thus, century may be inserted into the day field, the month field, or both the day and the month field. The century can also be extracted from the century accumulated date to produce a conventional date format.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method for keeping track of dates when a date field exceeds its predefined limit. More specifically the present invention relates to a method for reformatting a conventional 6, 7 or 8 digit date having fields displaying the day, month, and year to accommodate new century information and for incorporating such dates into existing systems.
2. Background and Description of the Prior Art
Digital date information in the 20th century has been commonly stored in a 6 digit format, in which 2 digits represent the month, 2 digits represent the day and 2 digits represent the year. It is argued that starting with the year 2000, 7 or 8 digits must be used for date entries so that centuries can be distinguished from one another. For example, conventional systems use three basic 6 digit formats each having a day field, a month field, and a year field. These are:
1. commercial, mm/dd/yy (most widely used in the U.S. business); PA1 2. government, yy/mm/dd (U.S. federal government standard); PA1 3. European, dd/mm/yy (common in Europe and Canada).
In each format, mm represents a month, dd represents a day, and yy represents a year. Problems arise in these conventional 6 digit systems when a new century approaches. For example, the first year of any century is represented in the commercial format as 01-01-00 through 12-31-00. Currently, there is no way to distinguish in this 6 digit format whether the date is Jan. 1, 1900 or Jan. 1, 2000. Thus, electronic databases that keep 6 digit date information for more than 100 years can quickly become confused as to exactly which date is meant by 01-01-00.
While some have suggested solutions to this problem, see e.g., Jerome Murray, The Year 2000 Computing Crises; a Millennium Date Conversion Plan, 1996, such plans have been complex and do not lend themselves to easy adaptation of current 6 digit database date formats.
Some have suggested that eight digits are required for date entry starting with the year 2000, while others have suggested that at least seven digits are necessary. However, reformatting the current databases from 6 to eight or seven digits can be costly and very time consuming. Moreover, a problem still arises in the seven digit format when a new millennium approaches. Furthermore, such a conversion and method of formatting dates uses additional computer memory. This may slow the computer down and more rapidly use up the memory available within the computer to the user.
What is needed is a simple method for manipulating and using a 6 digit date formats to accommodate century information that does not totally replace the 6 digit date format.

Method for reformation conventional three field date formats to produce a century accumulated date


A method for generating a key in a network. The network includes at least one first user and one second user having a secured communication link to one another, and a third user, to which a secured communication link is to be established. The first user and the third user each generate a first partial value sequence from properties of the transmission channel between the first user and the third user. The second user and the third user each generate a second partial value sequence from properties of the transmission channel between the second user and the third user. In a secured part of the network, which includes at least the first and the second user, but not the third user, the key is ascertained from at least the first partial value sequence of the first user and the second partial value sequence of the second user. The key is also generated in the third user from at least the first partial value sequence and the second partial value sequence.

Secure communication between various devices is becoming more and more important in an increasingly networked world and represents an essential requirement for the acceptance and therefore also the economic success of the corresponding applications in many areas of application. This includes—depending on the application—various protection goals, for example, ensuring the confidentiality of the data to be transmitted, mutual authentication of the participating nodes, or securing the data integrity.
To achieve these protection goals, suitable cryptographic methods are typically used, which may generally be divided into two different categories: symmetrical methods, in which transmitter and receiver have the same cryptographic key, and asymmetrical methods, in which the transmitter encrypts the data to be transmitted using the public key (i.e., which is also possibly known to a potential attacker) of the receiver, but the decryption may only take place using the associated secret key, which is ideally only known to the legitimate receiver.
Asymmetrical methods have the disadvantage, inter alia, that they generally have a very high computational complexity. Therefore, they have only limited suitability for resource-restricted nodes, for example, sensors, actuators, etc., which typically only have a relatively low computing power and a small memory space and are to operate energy efficiently, for example, because of battery operation or the use of energy harvesting. In addition, only a limited bandwidth is often available for data transmission, which makes the exchange of asymmetrical keys, having lengths of 2048 bits or even more, unattractive.
In contrast, it must be ensured in the case of symmetrical methods that both receiver and transmitter have the same key. The associated key management generally represents a very demanding task. In the field of mobile wireless, keys are introduced with the aid of SIM cards into a mobile telephone, for example, and the associated network may then assign the unique identifier of a SIM card to the corresponding key. In the case of wireless LANs, in contrast, a manual input of the key to be used typically takes place ("pre-shared keys", generally established by the input of a password) during the setup of a network. However, such key management rapidly becomes very complex and impractical if one has a very large number of nodes, for example, in a sensor network or other machine-to-machine communication systems. In addition, a change of the keys to be used is often possible not at all or only with very great effort.
For some time, novel approaches have therefore been studied and developed under the keyword "physical layer security," with the aid of which keys for symmetrical methods may be generated automatically on the basis of the transmission channels between the involved nodes. Ascertaining random numbers or pseudorandom numbers from channel parameters may be inferred, for example, from WO 1996/023376 A2, and generating secret keys from channel parameters is described in WO 2006/081122 A2.
Heretofore, above all approaches have been considered and studied in the literature in which the above-described key generation takes place directly between two nodes.

Method for generating a key in a network and user on a network and network


A package for packaging one or more MEMS devices is disclosed. A package in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention can include a packaging structure having a base section, a top section, and an interior cavity adapted to contain a number of MEMS devices therein. In some embodiments, the packaging structure can include a first side, a second side, a third side, and a top end, which, in certain embodiments, may form a pinout plane surface that can be used to connect the packaging structure to other external components. In some embodiments, a number of MEMS-type inertial sensors contained within the interior cavity of the packaging structure can be used to detect and measure motion in multiple dimensions, if desired.

Inertial sensors are utilized in a variety of applications for detecting and measuring inertial motion in one or more dimensions. In the design of navigational and communications systems, for example, such devices are useful in sensing slight variations in linear and rotational motion of an object traveling through space. In automotive systems, such devices can be used to sense tire rotation in antilock braking systems (ABS), and to detect the presence of a collision in airbag deployment systems. Typically, such motion is sensed by detecting and measuring displacement of a resonating structure such as a number of cantilevered beams or interdigitated comb fingers. In an inertial sensor employing a MEMS-type gyroscope and/or accelerometer, for example a number of oscillating proof masses can be used to sense displacement and/or acceleration in response to movement of the device about an input or "rate" axis. In some designs, one or more of the gyroscopes and/or accelerometers can be provided as a part of an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that can be used to measure inertial motion and acceleration in multiple dimensions about an X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis.
Packaging of many MEMS devices is typically accomplished using a chip carrier that mounts the MEMS device and associated electronics to an integrated circuit board or other such structure. In the fabrication of MEMS gyroscopes, for example, such chip carriers can be used to package the various drive and sense components of the gyroscope as well as any associated drive and/or sensing circuitry. The particular structure of the chip carrier may vary depending on the type of mechanical and/or electrical connection made between the chip carrier and the other components. Other factors such as heat dissipation, hermeticity, temperature, humidity, chemicals, electromagnetic fields, and/or the existence of mechanical stresses may also play an important role in the type of chip carrier utilized. Accordingly, much effort in the field has focused on providing adequate packaging safeguards to prevent corrosion and/or interference caused by such environmental conditions.
In certain applications, it may be desirable to employ multiple inertial sensors to detect and measure motion of an object in more than one dimension. To accomplish this task, many prior-art devices utilize a cluster of individual packages each containing a single inertial sensor that measures motion about a particular axis or in a particular plane. Such a grouping of inertial sensors may be called an IMU. The use of multiple packages in this manner can greatly increase the overall size of the IMU, in some cases preventing their use in those applications where space is limited. The use of multiple packages can also increase the number of interconnects and circuitry necessary in the overall structure, increasing the complexity and/or cost of the device.


The present invention is a method of reducing vascular permeability in tissue of a subject comprising inhibiting the activity of serine proteinase tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA). This tPA activity which increases permeability of the tissue in a subject results in edema in the tissue is separate from tPA's thrombolytic activity. The present invention more specifically relates to administering an amount of a tPA inhibitor sufficient to reduce the vascular permeability increasing activity of tPA in a subject. Useful tPA inhibitors for the present method are neuroserpin, mutant neuroserpin, wild-type PAI-1, mutant PAI-1, an antibody that binds to tPA, an antibody that binds to the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor or a low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor family antagonist.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of reducing vascular permeability in tissue comprising inhibiting the activity of serine proteinase tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA). This tPA activity which increases permeability of the tissue in a subject results in edema in the tissue is separate from tPA's thrombolytic activity. The present invention more specifically relates to administering an amount of a tPA inhibitor sufficient to reduce the vascular permeability increasing activity of tPA in a subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
Edema is an increase in the extravascular component of the extracellular fluid volume. It may be restricted to some organs, such as the brain (cerebral edema), the peritoneum (ascitis) or the pleaura (hydrothorax), or generalized (i.e., anasarca). Edema may result from a variety of pathophysiological events including damage or dysruption of the capillary endothelium with increases in its permeability and transfer of fluids to the extravascular compartment. This type of edema may be observed in patients with cerebral ischemia, head trauma, acute vascular occlusion (i.e., pulmonary embolism), and infection (i.e., sepsis), among others.
More specifically, in conditions in which cerebral edema is associated with pathological conditions, the opening of the blood brain barrier (BBB) results from pathologic increases in cerebrovascular permeability and is associated with the development of vasogenic edema and intracranial hypertension. BBB opening contributes to the morbidity and mortality of patients with many neurological disorders, including head trauma, subarachnoid hemorrhage. Additionally, it is one of the most common complications associated with ischemic stroke Garcia et al., Acta Neuropathol. (Berl) 43, 85-95 (1978); Baker et al., J. Neuropathol. Exp. Neurol. 30, 668-679 (1971).
Outside of the central nervous system (CNS), tPA is primarily a thrombolytic enzyme and its principal substrate is the zymogen plasminogen. Bugge et al., Cell 87, 709-719 (1996). However, within the CNS, tPA is thought to have a very different function, and its activity has been associated with events that require neuronal plasticity, such as long term potentiation and seizures. Tsirka et al., Nature 377, 340-344 (1995), Carroll et al., Development 120, 3173-3183 (1994), Qian et al., Nature 361, 453-457 (1993), Seeds et al., Science 270, 1992-1994 (1995), Yepes et al., J. Clin. Invest 109, 1571-1578 (2002). As a thrombolytic agent, tPA is the only FDA-approved thrombolytic medication for the treatment of patients with acute ischemic stroke (Tissue plasminogen activator for acute ischemic stroke. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke rt-PA Stroke Study Group, N. Engl. J. Med. 333, 1581-1587 (1995)). In seeming contradiction, however, animal models of ischemic stroke have shown that both genetic deficiency of tPA (Wang et al., Nat. Med. 4, 228-231 (1998), Nagai et al., Circulation 99, 2440-2444 (1999)) and inhibition of tPA with its natural inhibitor, neuroserpin (Yepes et al., Blood 96, 569-576 (2000), Cinelli et al., Mol. Cell Neurosci. 18, 443-457 (2001)), are associated with a significant increase in neuronal survival and a decrease in stroke volume. Consistent with these latter studies, endogenous tPA activity within the CNS increases following middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) (Wang et al., Nat. Med. 4, 228-231 (1998), Yepes et al., Blood 96, 569-576 (2000)), and thrombolytic treatment with tPA following embolic stroke is associated with evidence of increased vascular permeability (Zhang. et al. Circulation 106, 740-745 (2002), Aoki et al. Stroke 33, 2711-2717 (2002)). Thus, understanding the mechanisms leading to increased vascular permeability in tissue caused by increased levels of tPA in the affected tissue provides a platform for the development of effective therapeutic strategies aimed at the treatment of patients with pathological conditions associated with increased cerebrovascular permeability and cerebral edema, such as cerebral ischemia, head trauma, stroke and other neurological diseases as well as acute vascular occlusion, such as pulmonary embolism, and infection, such as sepsis.

Methods of reducing vascular permeability in tissue by inhibition of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and tPA inhibitors useful therein

The Regents of The University of Michigan


A self-pumping hydropneumatic vibration damper with internal level control, especially for motor vehicles, has an oil-filled working cylinder under the pressure of at least one gas cushion. The working cylinder is divided into two working spaces by a working piston mounted on a piston rod. A piston pump, which is driven by the sprung movements of the vehicle and thus conveys damping oil from a low-pressure chamber into the working space connected to the high-pressure chamber. The pump cylinder of this piston pump is formed by the hollow piston rod, which connects the working space connected to the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber. An axially movable stepped pump piston is provided in the pump cylinder.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a self-pumping hydropneumatic vibration damper with level control, especially for motor vehicles. The vibration damper includes a damping oil-filled working cylinder under the pressure of at least one gas cushion, which is located in a high-pressure chamber and acts as a spring, the working cylinder being divided into two working spaces by a working piston mounted on a piston rod; and a piston pump driven by sprung movements of the vehicle to convey damping oil from a low-pressure chamber into the working space connected to the high-pressure chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
Self-pumping hydropneumatic vibration dampers with internal level control are already known (e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,826,863 and 6,651,547), in which the working piston divides the working cylinder into two working spaces and in which the piston rod and a pump rod together form a pump cylinder, which conveys oil from a low-pressure chamber to the working space connected to the high-pressure chamber under the action of the sprung movements caused by irregularities in the pavement. Depending on the position of the working piston in the working cylinder, a regulating opening connects the high-pressure chamber to the low-pressure chamber and thus, when the vehicle is unloaded, the vehicle body returns to its normal level again. With this type of vibration damper, however, the piston pump requires both a hollow piston rod and a pump rod.


A method and a computer system for operating at least two interconnected control units. The control units access sensor data and each execute at least one computer program for controlling operational sequences, in particular in a vehicle. The control units exchange synchronization information with one another. In order to design and refine a computer system in a way that will enable even especially complex operational sequences, as required in a modern motor vehicle, for example, to be controlled and/or regulated simply and cost-effectively with the aid of the computer system, using conventional control units, the control units execute the same computer program time-synchronously using a settable time lag.

From the motor vehicle sector, it is known to use control units to control and/or regulate various operational sequences in a motor vehicle. The operational sequences to be controlled or regulated include, for example, the operation of an internal combustion engine (torque control, speed control, injection period control, etc.), of a steer-by-wire system, of a brake-by-wire system or of other X-by-wire systems, the operation of safety-related functions (vehicle-stability control systems, antilock systems for the brakes, anti-slip control, active steering systems, active shock absorber systems, etc.), as well as comfort and convenience functions (air-conditioning, electrical seat adjustment, mirror actuation, or steering-wheel adjustment, electrical power-window control, sliding sunroof, etc.).
As the complexity of operational sequences to be controlled or regulated increases, so does the complexity of the computer programs that are run on the control units for carrying out the control and, respectively, regulating functions, which ultimately also leads to higher demands on the control unit hardware. In particular, to fulfill the control and, respectively, regulating functions, it is necessary to process an ever increasing amount of sensor signals that are made available by sensors via inputs to the control unit. However, the number of inputs of one control unit is limited. For that reason, to render possible the control and/or regulation of advanced, complex operational sequences, the need exists to develop and market control units having a larger number of inputs. However, it is a complex and cost-intensive process to develop new control units. Such new developments would make available more diverse control units, but would decrease the number of individual control units, so that additional costs would likewise be entailed for control units.
However, in the motor vehicle sector, in particular, low costs and associated standardized components, as well as high piece numbers are vitally important to the competitiveness of components.
Today, conventional standard control units already have plugs with fewer terminals than would actually be required for complex operational sequences in motor vehicles. However, for the reasons described above, new control units having plugs with more terminals will not be made available in the foreseeable future. Thus, it is essential to discover other ways for controlling and/or regulating advanced, complex operational sequences using standard control units.
From the information technology sector, it is known to interlink a plurality of computers (for example, so-called PCs, personal computers) via a data-transmission medium to a computer system. The data-transmission medium can be a wireless link, an optical connection or a wire-based connection. Data and information can be transmitted via the data-transmission medium in accordance with user-defined protocols. Various computer programs having different functions are run on the computers of such distributed computer systems. The sequences on the individual computers are coordinated by a higher-level unit or by a computer (so-called master) of the computer system. For this purpose, it is possible for the master to transmit synchronization information via the data-transmission medium to the other computers (co-called slaves). The distributed computer systems make possible a greater computing capacity with respect to computing power and memory capacity, and they are characterized by substantial flexibility. In this context, the larger number of inputs and/or outputs of the computer system as compared to individual computers is unimportant. Moreover, input signals incoming at one computer of the computer system are not necessarily required at other computers as well and are, therefore, also not transmitted by the one computer to the remaining computers. This is because various computer programs requiring, as a rule, different input signals are run on the computers.

Method and computer system for operating at least two interconnected control units


An apparatus and method for placement of a tubular body in the urethra. The tubular body includes a proximal portion adapted for placement toward a bladder end and bladder neck end of the urethra and a distal portion opposite from the proximal portion. A sensor component located on the tubular body is responsive to a feature of the urethra and outputs a first signal indicating proper placement of the proximal portion of the tubular body relative to the bladder and bladder neck. Preferably, an insertion tool is used during positioning of the urethral apparatus. The insertion tool is coupled to the distal end of the urethral apparatus and is used to push the urethral apparatus proximally in the urethra. The first signal can be transmitted from the urethral apparatus through the insertion tool from which it is perceivable by the person positioning the urethral device. Upon proper placement, the insertion tool is decoupled from the urethral apparatus and withdrawn leaving the urethral apparatus in place in the urethra with the proximal portion properly positioned relative to the bladder neck and bladder.

Urine flow problems include urine retention, incontinence, and difficult urination. These problems, especially retention and ischuria, can have serious consequences. Retention can result from any of a number of causes, including without limitation, spinal cord injury or tumors, coma, typhoid, peritonitis, prostatic enlargement, urethral stricture, urethritis, cystitis, bladder tumors, urethral calculus, Parkinson's disease, prostatitis, or multiple sclerosis. Patients suffering from these and other conditions often require some interventional means to periodically drain the bladder. Failure to do so can result in damage of the epithelium and detrusor muscles associated with the bladder, and an increased potential for bacterial invasion and urinary tract infection.
The urine flow problem of incontinence is the inability to retain urine. Incontinence can result from paralysis or relaxation of the sphincters or contraction of the longitudinal muscular layers of the bladder. Incontinence can also occur in coma, epileptic seizure, spinal cord injury or tumors associated with the spinal cord, spinal meningitis, or local irritation of the bladder. Incontinence may be categorized as either stress incontinence, in which urine is expelled during stresses such as exercise, coughing, and laughing; urge incontinence, in which the patient in unable to control the urge to urinate in part due to uninhibited bladder contractions; or mixed incontinence, in which the patient experiences both stress and urge incontinence.
Difficult urination or dysuria can result from urethral strictures, enlarged prostates, atony and impairment of the bladder's muscular power, and inflammatory conditions involving the urethra, bladder, or lower ureter.
Devices have been developed to be positioned in the urethra and/or bladder to correct the problems of urine flow. These devices, including urinary drainage catheters, have been used for many years. A device of this type requires proper placement in the urethra in order to operate correctly and with minimal discomfort. It can be difficult to properly position a urine-control device in the urethra. Some of these urethral devices require that a physician use a cystoscope or rely on ultrasound, fluoroscopy, X-ray, or similar technology for position information to properly place a device in the urethra. These techniques require relatively expensive equipment. Another way that it can be determined that a urethral device has been positioned into the bladder is to observe the flow of urine through the device which is an indication that the bladder has been entered. This method requires that a through-lumen or valve can be maintained in an open position during insertion and that the bladder be sufficiently full so that a flow of fluid is readily observable. Therefore, this method may not be available if the patient's bladder is empty. Accordingly, devices for placement in the urethra are relatively hard to properly position and have often required that a skilled physician position the device using expensive equipment.
Accordingly, it is an object to provide a urethral device that can be positioned relatively easily.

Urethral apparatus with position indicator and methods of use thereof


A semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) acts as a controller of a heating-controlled device or appliance. A heating body has a positive temperature coefficient and acts as both a heating element and a temperature sensor. A Silicon-Controlled Rectifier (SCR) switches AC current to the heating body to increase its temperature. When the SCR switches off, temperature sensing is performed using a sampling resistor, isolation diode, voltage comparator, and switch for a low-voltage DC supply are formed on an integrated circuit that has a first circuit branch and a second circuit branch. A compensation diode and a compensation resistor can be added in parallel to reference resistors. The compensation diode compensates for the forward voltage drop of the isolation diode that would otherwise create an inaccurate temperature measurement. The diodes have the same temperature response, allowing for a more accurate temperature measurement over a full temperature range of the sensorless appliance.

A variety of consumer products include a heating element or heating body that is used to produce heat. The heating body has a positive temperature coefficient to allow for temperature control. Electronic products with a heating body are now widely used in people's daily life. Such products include a hair curler, a hair-straighter, an electric blanket, and many other kinds of products.
In these products, the heating body is both the heating element and the temperature sensor. The positive temperature coefficient allows the heating body itself to function as the temperature sensor, so an additional temperature sensor is not needed. These heating products that have a heating body that functions as both the heat generator and the temperature sensor are referred to as sensorless products. Sensorless products have many advantages, including a compact size and control structure, stable temperature performance, safety, and better robustness for daily use.
Older sensorless products may use a conventional temperature-measuring circuit. A conventional temperature-measuring circuit has a sampling circuit, a reference circuit, and a voltage comparator. To prevent damage to an integrated circuit (IC) from high voltages, a diode is inserted in series in the sampling circuit.
Unfortunately, the forward voltage drop of the diode creates an inaccuracy due to the temperature-drift characteristics of the diode. Conventional circuits generally ignore this error, which can cause an error in the temperature control. A technical problem is that the temperature-measuring result of the conventional method in sensorless products can vary with ambient temperature.
What is desired is to solve this temperature-control problem caused by the diode that prevents circuit damage caused by high voltages. It is desired to make accurate measurements without the effect of ambient temperature variation. A solution is desired that can be implemented by an integrated circuit with a compensation diode and a resistor. Compensation of measurement error for the full temperature range of the products is desirable.


Foamed polymeric materials exhibiting improved heat resistant properties and improved mechanical properties, as compared with known foamed styrene polymer materials, are obtained by expanding a polymer blend including a syndiotactic styrene polymer and an amount of an amorphous polymeric material which will impart enhanced heat resistant properties to the blend.

Expanded materials or foams containing amorphous or atactic polystyrene have been widely used in a variety of applications because of their low density, low thermal conductivity, low cost and good energy absorption properties. Particular applications include thermal insulators, disposable containers, and protective packaging.
Most of the important properties of polystyrene, including energy absorption, thermal resistivity, strength to weight ratio, and cost per unit volume, are strongly dependent on density and, therefore, can be easily adjusted by controlling the amount of expansion. However, expanded polymeric materials other than polystyrene foam are often selected where certain nonstrength properties are important, particularly high temperature resistance.
It is known that syndiotactic polystyrene exhibits certain improved heat resistant properties as compared with atactic polystyrene. Specifically, syndiotactic polystyrene has a higher melting point than atactic polystyrene. However, the heat distortion temperature, an important thermal property for expanded polymeric materials, is only about 80.degree. C. for compositions comprised of substantially pure syndiotactic polystyrene. The patent literature suggests that various rubber-like polymers and/or thermoplastic resins can be blended with syndiotactic polystyrene to control viscosity and the rate of crystallization. In particular, it has been disclosed that atactic polystyrene, isotactic polystyrene, polyphenylene ethers, or mixtures thereof are compatible with syndiotactic polystyrene, and that by selecting the amount, type and molecular weight of these polymers, the expansion molding methods used for conventional crystalline resins, such as polyethylene and polypropylene, and for conventional non-crystalline resins, such as atactic polystyrene and polyvinyl chloride, can be applied. The patent literature also discloses that syndiotactic polystyrene can be blended with polyphenylene ethers to provide compositions endowed with enhanced mechanical properties as compared to those containing amorphous polystyrene or isotactic polystyrene. However, the literature does not suggest that polyphenylene ethers or any other materials can be added to syndiotactic polystyrene to improve the mechanical properties thereof at higher temperatures.

High temperature syndiotactic styrene polymer foam


A device detects a first signal on a channel that is one of a plurality of channels arranged in a first order on a list, with each channel being associated with a different site in a multi-site communication system. Upon detecting the first signal, the device attempts to measure and record signal strength of a signal at each channel on the list based on the first order beginning with the detected first signal, and selects as a home site the site associated with the channel having the signal with the highest recorded signal strength. The device rearranges the channels on the list into a second order based on the recorded signal strengths with the home site channel at the top. If necessary, the radio attempts to awaken its repeaters one after another based on the second order until a repeater is found to transmit a signal.

Multi-site communication systems provide wide-area coverage for users of the system. These systems comprise a number of sites, with each site corresponding to a different geographic coverage area and each site having located therein an infrastructure device (which will hereinafter be referred to as a repeater) serving the coverage area by managing one or more channels (e.g., uplink and downlink channels, time slots, radio frequency channels, etc.) in the coverage area. Accordingly, for purposes of the teachings herein, a site is characterized by a repeater that serves a particular coverage area, a channel for wireless communication device transmissions, and a system identification that identifies transmissions from the repeater on the channel at the site. Some or all of the infrastructure devices in a multi-site communication system may be networked or connected together to provide the wide-area coverage, and in many instances two or more of the coverage areas have some degree of overlap.
Multi-site communication systems may be designed as trunked systems or conventional systems. In trunked systems, a limited number of communication channels are shared among a much larger number of users to facilitate efficient use of the system's communication resources. Thus, to afford each user a reasonable opportunity to use the system's resources, one or more control channels are utilized by the infrastructure to allocate the shared resources between the many users in the system. In general, when a wireless communication device (which will hereinafter be referred to as a radio) wants to communicate on the trunked system, it sends a request on the control channel to communicate with another radio or group of radios. In turn, the requesting radio (and the radios to which it desires to communicate) receives back on the control channel the allocation of a traffic channel to use for their communications. Upon the conclusion of the communications, the allocated channel is released for use by other radios in the system.
In conventional systems, a number of communication channels are also shared amongst a number of users (although the number of users per channel is typically much smaller than in trunked systems). However, there is no control mechanism provisioned in the infrastructure to allocate the resources among the users in the system. Thus, in contrast to a trunked system, each channel in a conventional system is dedicated to one or more groups of users enabling the users to control access to the channels through their radios by manually selecting a channel or selecting a talkgroup that is assigned a particular channel.
As a user roams or travels in a multi-site communication system, the user may move from one coverage area served by one repeater of which it is aware to a new coverage area served by a different repeater of which it may not be aware. In that case, the user's radio must be able to detect the repeater in the new coverage area to facilitate communications in that coverage area. In trunked systems, naturally, the control channels can be used to help radios locate a repeater. More particularly, the repeaters periodically send out a message on the control channel that identifies the repeater (e.g., via the system identification) and that provides addressing for contacting the repeater. Moreover, the repeaters in trunked systems are generally continuously keyed, which helps to locate a repeater, and some repeaters transmit adjacent site information that can assist a radio in finding a suitable repeater.
Conventional systems do not use control channels to locate a repeater upon a radio moving to a new coverage area. However, in some conventional systems, the repeaters periodically broadcast beacon messages that serve the same purpose as the messages sent on the control channel in that they identify the repeater and provide contact information for the repeater. However, the transmission of beacon messages is not allowed in all conventional communication systems for various reasons including transmission regulations.
An alternative manual method could be used to find a repeater in a conventional system, which involves a user manually tuning his radio in an attempt to locate the repeater for the coverage area in which he is currently located. As might be expected, this approach can be cumbersome, time consuming, and not the most effective method of finding the repeater that provides the radio with the best signal strength for transmitting and receiving the radio's communications. In addition, some conventional systems require the repeater to de-key or enter into an inactive sleep mode when there have been no transmissions on its channel(s) for a certain length of time. This can further exacerbate the problem of a radio locating the repeater upon entering the repeater's coverage area, especially if there happens to be a relatively lengthy time until the next transmission by the repeater on the channel.
Thus, there exists a need for a method for site selection by a radio in a multi-site communication system that can be used in conventional multi-site communication systems.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help improve understanding of various embodiments. In addition, the description and drawings do not necessarily require the order illustrated. Apparatus and method components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the various embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Thus, it will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, common and well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment may not be depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments.

Methods for site selection in a multi-site communication system


A motor vehicle lock for a motor vehicle closure member having a locking catch that is movable between an unlatched position and a latched position, a pawl for holding the locking catch in the latched position by latching engagement therewith, and a locking pin rotatably mounted on a carrier for rotation about an axis of rotation which is eccentric to a central axis thereof in which the locking pin is rotatable by a motor between a preliminary locking position and a main locking position and in which the pawl is disengageable from latching engagement with the locking catch by a dynamic effect derived from the rotation of locking pin from the main locking position in a direction toward the preliminary locking position, thereby releasing the locking catch. This dynamic effect is achieved, in accordance with preferred embodiments by a control flange on the locking pin which coacts with of the pawl.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lock for a motor vehicle closure member such as a motor vehicle door, hood or trunk or tailgate lid. More specifically, the invention is directed to such a lock that is provided with a locking catch (latch member) that can be shifted from a latched position to an unlatched position, and a locking pin (striker) that engages the locking catch and is mounted on a support plate (striker plate) at a position that is eccentrically offset from the axis of rotation of the support plate, a solenoid motor being provided for rotating the support plate between a preliminary locking position (partially open position) and a main locking position (fully closed position).
2. Description of Related Art
The known motor vehicle lock of the initially-mentioned type, upon which the present invention is based (U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,178 to Boyko), is suitable as a door lock, hood lock or trunk lid lock for motor vehicles, and in the example disclosed in the noted patent, is used as a door lock for a sliding door of a van-type vehicle. Power motor vehicle locks, i.e., locks that are operated by a solenoid motor, are also especially important for hoods and hinged lids, for example, for trunk lids and station wagon tailgates, because of the forces necessary there.
While in other known motor vehicle door locks the locking catch, in most cases a forked rotary latch member is moved from the preliminary locking position into the main locking position in a motor-assisted manner (also reversed for a power-assisted opening), in the Boyko motor vehicle lock, from which the invention starts, the movement of the two body parts against one another, between the preliminary locking position and main locking position, is brought about by eccentric displacement of the locking pin around the axis of rotation of the support plate. Thus, in the Boyko design, the locking catch is held only in the main locking position, and to bring the position of the locking catch, including the locking pin and related lock mechanism, from the preliminary locking position into the main locking position, the locking pin must be eccentrically rotated. However, the eccentricity of the locking pin relative to the axis of rotation depends on the desired path between preliminary locking position and main locking position, and a sizeable eccentricity has the drawback that the locking pin performs a relatively great lateral relative movement in the mouth of the locking catch, to which the mouth of the locking catch has to be matched.
Also in the Boyko motor vehicle lock, various switches are provided for detecting different positions of locking pin via an actuating arm and control elements associated therewith. When opening the door lock, the locking pin is detached from the locking catch by pulling on an opening lever to release the locking catch, so that it can return to the open position, opening the door. Here, the locking pin follows the movement of the door, which opens under the action of the return spring power of the door sealing element. Simultaneously with disengagement of the locking pin and return of the locking catch into the opening position, a switch is actuated, which triggers the untwisting of the locking pin from the main locking position into the preliminary locking position by the auxiliary motor.
The Boyko motor vehicle lock has to be opened manually. It might be possible to hit on the idea to open this motor vehicle lock also by power, for example, if it is produced as a motor vehicle hood lock or a motor vehicle hinged-lid lock. For this purpose, an additional actuation mechanism for the opening lever would, then, have to be provided, for example, by a solenoid. But, this entails considerable technical expense.
While an arrangement for having the solenoid motor operate the locking catch and locking pin when opening is known (German Offenlegungsschrift 37 08 095, in which a free-wheel connection is provided), it is not feasible to apply this technique to the Boyko vehicle lock, on which this invention is based. This is because of the location of the solenoid motor and locking parts on opposed body parts in this known approach.

BOMORO Bocklenberg & Motte GmbH & Co. KG