The present invention provides a solid preparation containing compound (I) or a salt thereof, a pH control agent and a calcium antagonist, which is superior in the dissolution property, stability and the like.

It is important that pharmaceutical products be effective and safe. Even if a pharmaceutical product is effective and safe immediately after production, if the drug is easily decomposed or denatured during distribution of the pharmaceutical product, it is not considered to be effective and safe as a pharmaceutical product. Therefore, the stability of the drug is extremely important for pharmaceutical products.
To secure effectiveness and safety of a pharmaceutical product, not only the effectiveness and safety of the active ingredient itself are important but also the properties of the pharmaceutical preparation, such as the drug dissolution property in the body and the like, are extremely important. For example, when dissolution of the drug from the pharmaceutical preparation is too late, the blood concentration of the drug does not reach an effective level, and the expected efficacy may not be sufficiently exhibited. On the other hand, when dissolution of the drug from the pharmaceutical preparation is too fast, the blood concentration of the drug increases sharply, causing a high risk of side effects.
In other words, pharmaceutical products are required to ensure the stability of the drug and a certain level of the drug dissolution, in addition to the effectiveness and safety.
Meanwhile, the drug dissolution property is known to correlate with the solubility thereof. In general, lower solubility of a drug is known to cause slower drug dissolution property.
Incidentally, benzimidazole derivative (I) having a strong angiotensin II receptor antagonistic activity
wherein R1 is a monocyclic nitrogen-comprising heterocyclic group having a hydrogen atom that can be deprotonized, R2 is an esterified carboxyl group, and R3 is an optionally substituted lower alkyl, or a salt thereof (hereinafter to be sometimes referred to as compound (I)), particularly, a salt of (5-methyl-2-oxo-1,3-dioxol-4-yl)methyl 2-ethoxy-1-{[2′-(5-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)biphenyl-4-yl]methyl}-1H-benzimidazole-7-carboxylate (patent document 1) is a promising therapeutic drug for hypertension and the like. However, the properties of a pharmaceutical preparation need to be adjusted to stabilize compound (I) because compound (I) is unstable in the neutral pH range, at which pharmaceutical preparations are generally produced. Nevertheless, the solubility of compound (I) is low at the pH range where compound (I) is stable. In addition, a combination drug product composed of compound (I) and active ingredients such as calcium antagonist and the like cannot be easily formulated into, a pharmaceutical preparation superior in the stability and dissolution property due to the difference in chemical properties.
As combination drug product, a combination of a compound having an angiotensin II antagonistic activity and a compound having a calcium antagonistic action (patent document 2) and an oral solid preparation containing acetaminophen obtained by a separating granulation method to suppress the unpleasant taste of acetaminophen and prevent discoloration thereof (patent document 3) are known. However, a combination drug product of compound (I) and a calcium antagonist, which simultaneously achieves stability and solubility, i.e., dissolution property, of the drug has not been known.


A method of controlling an aftertreatment system having a SCR catalyst and communicating with an engine electronic control module (ECM) is provided. The method may receive a plurality of system values corresponding to NH3 and NOx emissions of the aftertreatment system; determine an optimal urea dosing target value based on the system values and one of a target NH3 storage value and an estimated NH3 storage value; and determine an optimal engine NOx output target value based on the system values and a measured NOx conversion efficiency value.

Internal combustion engines, including diesel engines, gasoline engines, gaseous fuel-powered engines, and other engines known in the art exhaust a complex mixture of air pollutants. These air pollutants are generally composed of particulates and gaseous compounds including nitrogen oxides (NOx) among others. Due to increased awareness of the environment, exhaust emission standards have become more stringent, and the amounts of particulates and NOx emitted into the atmosphere by an engine may be regulated depending on the type of the engine, size of the engine, class of the engine, and the like.
In order to comply with the regulation of particulates and NOx, some engine manufacturers have implemented a strategy called selective catalytic reduction (SCR), which is a process where a reagent, most commonly urea ((NH2)2CO), or a water/urea solution, is selectively injected into the exhaust gas stream of an engine and absorbed onto a downstream substrate. The injected urea solution decomposes into ammonia (NH3), which reacts with NOx in the exhaust gas to form water (H2O) and diatomic nitrogen (N2). However, because an excess in either the NOx or the urea injected may result in undesirable emissions, the urea dosage must be carefully controlled.
Aftertreatment models have been developed to help SCR systems estimate the appropriate amount of urea to be injected for different conditions to result in better NOx conversion efficiencies. One such type of model is a model predictive control (MPC) which generally assumes a certain NOx quantity for a given model of the exhaust system and guides the SCR process based on this quantity. While aftertreatment models may provide some means for estimating appropriate urea dosing values and improving the overall NOx conversion efficiency, there is still room for improvement.
In particular, the quantity of NOx that is exhausted from an engine, or the engine NOx output value, is not only tied to reducing pollutants, but it is also directly tied to the fuel efficiency of the associated engine. For instance, an increase in fuel efficiency results in an increase in engine NOx output, and a decrease in fuel efficiency results in a decrease in engine NOx output. Conventional MPC models may estimate optimal urea dosing values, but there are still no models which also estimate optimal engine NOx output for the purposes of improving fuel efficiency.
The present disclosure is directed at addressing one or more of the deficiencies set forth above.

Supervisory model predictive selective catalytic reduction control method


A communication device including a ground element and an antenna element is provided. The antenna element includes a metal element and a circuit element assembly. The metal element is adjacent to an edge of the ground element and does not overlap with the ground element. The circuit element assembly includes a first circuit and a second circuit, and is substantially surrounded by the metal element and the edge of the ground element. The first circuit includes a switch element, and the second circuit is a reactance circuit. The metal element is coupled through the first circuit to a first signal source. The metal element is further coupled through the second circuit to a second signal source.

1. Field of the Invention
The disclosure generally relates to a communication device, and more particularly to a communication device and a dual-wideband small-size antenna element therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
With rapid development of wireless communication technologies, people not only use mobile communication devices for talk, but also require them to provide more functions. The available space in a mobile communication device for the embedded antennas becomes very limited because a variety of modules and components should be disposed therein to support more functions. Accordingly, it is a critical challenge for antenna designers to design a small-size, dual-wideband antenna in a mobile communication device for covering main mobile communication bands.

Communication device and antenna element therein


Image data for a digital photograph is segmented into a first portion and a second portion. The image data of the second portion is processed to have a quality lower than the image data of the first portion. An image file for the scene is stored where the image file contains image data corresponding to the first and second portions so that the image file has a high quality portion and a low quality portion.

Mobile and/or wireless electronic devices are becoming increasingly popular. For example, mobile telephones, portable media players and portable gaming devices are now in wide-spread use. In addition, the features associated with certain types of electronic devices have become increasingly diverse. For example, many mobile telephones now include cameras that are capable of capturing still images and video images.
The imaging devices associated with many portable electronic devices are becoming easier to use and are capable of taking reasonably high quality photographs. As a result, users are taking more photographs, which has caused an increased demand for data storage capacity of a memory of the electronic device. Although raw image data captured by the imaging device is often compressed so that an associated image file does not take up an excessively large amount of memory, there is room for improvement in the manner in which image data is managed.

System and method for generating a photograph with variable image quality


A transportation vehicle and methods for transporting persons, robots or cargo, and more particularly motorized vehicles, and methods for transporting over surfaces, including surfaces such as floors, roads, paths and sidewalks, and surfaces having obstacles or inclined surfaces and for enabling the ascending or descending of stairs without tilting while supporting a user or a load on a frame. The vehicle uses horizontal extending and retracting rods and vertical extending and retracting rods to pass over an obstacle or ascend or descend stairs. The horizontal extending and retracting rods are used as mechanisms to move the first set of ground contacting modules located to the fore of the vehicle or the last set of ground contacting modules located to the aft of the vehicle in a fore-aft plane to pass over an obstacle or to position the first set or last set of ground contacting modules upon a stair to be used for ascending and descending stairs. The vertical extending and retracting rods are used to raise or lower the frame, to raise or lower individual ground contracting members and to keep the vehicle stable.

The embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein are vehicles, methods and systems for transporting persons, robots or cargo that enable efficient transportation, where such transportation is taken to broadly encompass movement of persons, robots and cargo over different surfaces, obstacles, difficult terrain and climbing stairs.
Humans and cargo are transported by many common forms of vehicles and transportation methods. Many of said vehicles have either one or two power-driven axles. Such vehicles may include wheelchairs, carts, carriages, automobiles, wagons, recreational vehicles, motorcycles, trucks, chariots, gurneys and the like. However, presently vehicles in use have several drawbacks.
First, typically such vehicles cannot climb stairs while keeping their platform and rider level. Also, such vehicles often cannot climb over certain obstacles or overcome obstacles such as a curb of a sidewalk. In addition, such vehicles typically cannot climb onto a van or truck without assistance from a ramp or a lift gate, while the van or truck is stationary or in motion. Generally, presently vehicles cannot easily maneuver over many obstacles.
Second, while there are many vehicles that can transport multiple individuals and a payload, many such vehicles are not lightweight and capable of navigating or climbing over obstacles, climbing stairs and also of transporting more than one individual rapidly on common surfaces such as roads and sidewalks. Wheelchair devices are not made to transport more than one individual, defeating the portability purposes of having a lightweight device for different terrains, stairs, and for common surfaces such as floors as well as for transporting more than one individual over obstacles and to locations which may be miles apart.
Most common vehicles such as automobiles, motorcycles, wheelchairs and gurneys, place all of their points of ground contacts such as wheels on the ground all at the same time, such that when there is an obstacle in the road, such vehicles must run over such obstacle. Often, this results in passengers either feeling bumps or having the entire platform or chassis incline rather than staying level. Some conditions present insurmountable obstacles for conventional two or four-wheel vehicles. As an exemplary, the bottom of a chassis or the axle of a vehicle may be incapable of moving over an obstacle. Presently most vehicles generally cannot climb stairs or over curbs of a sidewalk, or over certain obstacles.
Accordingly, it is desirable to create a device which solves the above disadvantages by improving the capabilities of vehicles to effectively climb stairs, climb over objects in their path yet still fulfill the goals of mobility and having the platform remain stable and level over larger distances for one or more passengers, or a robot and a payload. Such systems and vehicles may be used to provide efficient transportation for a broad range of users, including providing an assistive technology that fulfills the goals of flexible and portable transportation over a range of surfaces, over obstacles and for climbing stairs. This invention relates to a vehicle with horizontally extending and retracting rods for positioning ground contacting modules over and past an obstacle and upon stairs and with vertically extending and retracting rods for elevating or lowering the vehicle or for lifting or lowering ground contacting modules.


A diversity indication method in GERAN/MUROS system, includes the steps: after a user receives a diversity indication, it receives data from two sub-channels, and then carries out diversity combination; if the user does not receive diversity indications, users receive data from subchannel allocated to them. Using the method of this invention, we can carry out diversity indications in GERAN/MUROS system. In this way, users do not need to determine whether current frame is using diversity transmission in all sub-channels by carrying out autocorrelated operations over training sequences 26 bit long in each frame, and the users may demodulate information from another paired subchannel only when they receive diversity indications in subchannel allocated regularly to greatly reduce the user's complexity.

In recent years, with rapid growth in the demand for mobile voice service, GSM network will enter into a great development. However, limited frequency resources become increasingly difficult to meet the needs during people's calls, especially in densely populated cities. With the aging of existing GSM network equipments, it is more urgent to expand existing GSM network.
Multiple User Reuse One Slot (MUROS) technology is mainly used in 3GPP GSM/EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN). Study Item stage will be discussed from GERAN#36 meeting, aimed at enhancing user capacity of GSM system, and helping network operators to alleviate the pressure. In Work Item stage, it is called VAMOS (Voice Services over Adaptive Multi-user Channels on One Slot).
MUROS needs to further enhance the voice capacity on the basis of reusing existing network equipments and wireless resources. In feasibility study stage, candidate MUROS solutions mainly focus on two or more users reusing the same time slot on the premise that call quality is not compromised. At present, main consideration is given to improving the system's voice capacity by two times, that two users reuse one slot. What is affected is full-rate and half-rate voice channels, TCH/FS, TCH/HS, TCH/EFS, TCH/AFS, TCH/AHS, and TCH/WFS, as well as associated control channels, such as slow associated control channel (SACCH, including full-rate SACCH/TF and half-rate SACCH/TH, where SACCH described below in this invention also includes full-rate and half-rate) and fast associated control channel (FACCH, including full-rate FACCH/F and half-rate FACCH/H, where FACCH described below in this invention also includes full-rate and half-rate).
Existing MUROS solutions mainly include the following four categories:
1) Co-TCH Program
Downlink: linear combined two-way Gaussian minimum shift keying (GMSK) baseband modulation signals (two-way phase difference Pi/2), are sent out upon RF modulation and power amplification.
Uplink: each mobile station uses GMSK modulation respectively, and adopts different training sequence (TSC), to separate out two-way reusing user signals at base station by joint detection methods.
2) Orthogonal Subchannel (OSC) Program
Downlink: a quadri-phase shift keying (QPSK) is used to transmit two-way user signals.
Uplink: each mobile station uses GMSK modulation respectively, and use different training sequences, to separate two-way reused signals at base station by interference elimination methods.
3) Adaptive Symbol Constellation Mapping (ASC) Program
Downlink: alpha-QPSK program, with phase difference alpha between the same channel and orthogonal channel.
Uplink: each mobile station uses GMSK modulation respectively, and adopts different training sequences, to demodulate two-way reused signal at base station with multi-user-multiple-input multiple-output (MU-MIMO) receivers.
4) High-order Modulation (HOM) Program
Downlink: each user is separately numbered, and GMSK, QPSK, 8PSK, or 16QAM programs can be used upon rate matching to reuse data of 1-4 users in the same time-frequency resources.
Uplink: up to two users share the same time-frequency resources, using GMSK or QPSK modulation, and distinguishing the users through the training sequence.
At present, in feasibility study of MUROS, main consideration is given to the above-mentioned four programs, allowing two users to share the same time-frequency resources to improve the system capacity by two times. However, which program to be used in 3GPP GERAN is still under discussion. No matter whichever program, it can be regarded as there are two sub-channels respectively, allocated to a user, forming a user group, or known as a pair of users.
FIG. 1 shows frame structure of GSM system. GSM system uses Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), in which each TDMA frame is divided into eight time slots, numbered from 0, 1, . . . , 7, regardless of whether frames or time slots are non-overlapping. Time slot is basic wireless resource unit in GSM system. On the principle of certain time slot distribution, each mobile station in each frame can only sends signals to base station in designated time slots. When it meets timing and synchronization conditions, base station can receive separately signals from each mobile station in each time slot without mixing and interference mutually. Meanwhile, signals sent from base station to multiple mobile stations are arranged in order, and transmitted in scheduled time slot. If only mobile stations receive signals in specified time slots, they will be able to distinguish signals received from combined signals.
FIG. 2 shows MUROS frame structure. In MUROS system, on the same carrier frequency, there are two users reusing the same slot; in the downlink, users are identified through I (In-phase) and Q (Quadrature) phase information, while it may be considered as a physical channel is divided into two sub-channels, respectively allocated to a user. FIG. 2 shows a typical two users reusing, each of which occupies a sub-channel. Of course, two sub-channels may also be allocated to a user at the same time.
In GSM system, discontinuous transmission (DTX) technology is used; when voice codec detects voice interval, it will not send during interval period.
The role of DTX:
1. To use DTX to reduce interference level in the system, and improve the effectiveness of the system.
2. Due to the use of DTX transmitter, total time for transmission is lowered, to reduce power consumption and extend service life of MS battery.
In order to achieve DTX, one has to use voice activity detection (VAD), that once the speech pauses, a reminder is given.
In MUROS downlink, as Legacy user and MUROS users occupy the same time-frequency resources during transmission, such two users are called a pair of users. But when one of Legacy users enters into DTX stage, or ends its calls, or switch to other neighbouring districts, such two users will not be able to maintain the state of pairing, and this user will be converted to non-MUROS state or pending for pairing states.
In this case, at present, a good program is to use diversity transmission technology on remaining MUROS users in this user group, that is remaining users send the same information through downlink subchannels.
FIG. 3 shows frame structure in MUROS system during diversity transmission. As shown in the figure, when one of users come into DTX state, or ends its calls, another user may send the same data in two-way subchannels to improve transmission reliability.
At transmitting end, the advantages of using diversity transmission are as follows:
1) It may improve channel quality, in particular, improve control channel SACCH and FACCH channel conditions. In bad channel conditions, it is essential to improve the reliability of control channel;
2) It may easily transfer into pairing state, only if one of sub-channels is allocated to users that newly access to.
At receiving end, a user will need to receive information from two channels, carry out autocorrelated operations over training sequence that it receive and its training sequence, and determine whether the information from the channel is sent to itself. If one adopts diversity transmission, the users may combine the information from such two channels upon demodulation in order to obtain diversity gain; otherwise, the users only demodulate information from sub-channels allocated to themselves initially, and do not obtain diversity gain at this time.

Diversity indicating method in geran/muros systems


A method and apparatus for heating semiconductor wafers in thermal processing chambers. The apparatus includes a non-contact temperature measurement system that utilizes radiation sensing devices, such as pyrometers, to determine the temperature of the wafer during processing. The radiation sensing devices determine the temperature of the wafer by monitoring the amount of radiation being emitted by the wafer at a particular wavelength. In accordance with the present invention, a spectral filter is included in the apparatus for filtering light being emitted by lamps used to heat the wafer at the wavelength at which the radiation sensing devices operate. The spectral filter includes a light absorbing agent such as a rare earth element, an oxide of a rare earth element, a light absorbing dye, a metal, or a semiconductor material.

A thermal processing chamber refers to a device that uses energy, such as radiative energy, to heat objects, such as semiconductor wafers. Such devices typically include a substrate holder for holding a semiconductor wafer and a light source that emits light energy for heating the wafer. For monitoring the temperature of the semiconductor wafer during heat treatment, thermal processing chambers also typically include radiation sensing devices, such as pyrometers, that sense the radiation being emitted by the semiconductor wafer at a selected wavelength. By sensing the thermal radiation being emitted by the wafer, the temperature of the wafer can be calculated with reasonable accuracy.
One major problem in the design of rapid thermal processing chambers having an optical temperature measurement system, however, has been the ability to prevent unwanted light radiated by the heater lamps from being detected by the pyrometric instrumentation. Should unwanted light not being emitted by the semiconductor wafer be detected by the pyrometer, the calculated temperature of the wafer may unreasonably deviate from the actual or true temperature of the wafer.
In the past, various methods have been used to prevent unwanted thermal radiation from being detected by the pyrometer. For instance, physical barriers have been used before to isolate and prevent unwanted light being emitted by the heater lamps from coming into contact with the pyrometer. Physical barriers have been especially used in rapid thermal processing chambers in which the heater lamps are positioned on one side of the semiconductor wafer and the pyrometer is positioned on the opposite side of the wafer.
Physical barriers, however, can restrict the system design. For instance, the physical barrier can restrict how the wafer is supported. In one embodiment, a light-tight enclosure is created below the wafer using a large diameter continuous support ring to hold the wafer at it edges. When a support ring is present, there can be overlap between the support ring and the edges of the wafer, which can lead to temperature non-uniformities in the wafer during heating cycles. Another problem can arise if the support ring or the wafer is warped even slightly. When this occurs, light can stray through the gap into the supposedly light-tight region. The stray light can induce errors in the pyrometer readings.
Besides physical barriers, spectral filters have also been used to limit the amount of light interference detected by the pyrometers. For instance, spectral filters can operate by removing light being emitted by the heater lamps at the wavelength at which the pyrometer operates. Preferably, spectral filters absorb unwanted thermal radiation while at the same time being transparent to the thermal radiation being emitted by the heater lamps that is necessary to heat the semiconductor wafer.
One type of spectral filter that has been used in the past is a window made from fused silica, such as silica doped with hydroxy (OH) ions. Fused silica glass is transparent to most light energy but is known to have several strong absorbing regions that are maximized at wavelengths of about 2.7 microns, 4.5 microns and at wavelengths equal to and greater than 5 microns.
Because certain OH-doped silica glass can effectively absorb light at wavelengths of 2.7, 4.5 and greater than 5 microns and is substantially transparent at many other smaller wavelengths of light, silica glass makes an effective spectral filter when the pyrometer contained within the thermal processing chamber is configured to sense thermal radiation at one of the above wavelengths.
Silica glass, however, is unfortunately not well suited to being used as a spectral filter in temperature measurement systems that contain pyrometers that sense thermal radiation at shorter wavelengths, such as less than about one micron. Specifically, in some applications, it is more advantageous and beneficial to operate pyrometers at relatively short wavelengths. In particular, by using pyrometers that operate at shorter wavelengths, the effects of wafer emissivity variations can be minimized providing for more accurate temperature determinations. Specifically, at lower wavelengths, silicon wafers are more opaque and the emissivity of the wafer is not significantly temperature dependent. The emissivity of the wafer is one variable that must be known with some accuracy in determining the temperature of wafers using pyrometers.
In addition to more precisely determining the temperature of wafers, pyrometers that operate at relatively shorter wavelengths are also generally less expensive and less complicated then pyrometers that are configured to operate at higher wavelengths. Further, pyrometers that sense thermal radiation at lower wavelengths generally operate very efficiently and can generate low noise measurements.
In the past, however, pyrometers that operate at lower wavelengths have been selectively used in thermal processing chambers due to the significant amount of stray light that can be detected in thermal processing chambers at lower wavelengths. As such, a need currently exists for a spectral filter that can efficiently absorb light energy at lower wavelengths, such as wavelengths less than about 2 microns.

Apparatus and method for reducing stray light in substrate processing chambers


A scanning system utilizing a scanner which is located in a case of size adapted to fit in the palm of the hand or to be attached to the hand along the top outside surface of the hand between the fingers and the wrist. The scanner includes a scan engine within the case mounted on a printed circuit board which scans symbols having data identifying characteristics, which are visible through a window in a side wall of the case. A switch for enabling scanning operations may be provided by a manually actuated trigger on the printed circuit board and an arm which is pivotally mounted on a post which aligns the scan engine in the case and is captured in an opening along a wall of the case. The scanner may be connected by a retractable cable to a retraction unit which can be carried by the operator. The system may be configured with the scanner on the outer side of the hand and held on the hand as by a strap or glove. A light weight arm unit is carried on the forearm. A terminal may be carried by the operator as on his or her belt. The arm unit has an outside or top surface with a keypad and display. The keypad enables the system to be turned on and off and for data to be entered which is transferred to the terminal. Passages in the arm unit are provided for cables which connect the scanner to the arm unit and the arm unit to the terminal.

The invention is especially adapted to provide a handle-less bar code scanning system wherein a bar code scanner is contained in a unit without a handle and which may be held in the palm of the operators hand or upon the back of the hand, when hands free operation is desired. The term "bar code" means any optically perceivable symbol or arrangement of symbols having data representing characteristics. The system is however preferably used with a bar code having alternate light and dark bars of different width to represent different data such as can identify different products, objects or operations, especially for inventory management and control.
Productivity of operators is a function of stress and strain on the operator and operator fatigue. Conventional bar code readers are gun shaped and must be removed from receptacles, such as holsters, when put into use. Such units are also not adaptable to hands free operation. In addition, other data items which are not scannable must be manually entered. It is also desirable to provide interactive operations so that the operators are instructed by information appearing on a display to perform various operations, such as manual entry of information items, picking or placing of certain items and other transactional tasks. The development of scanning systems which provide both convenient handling of the scanner, hands free operation and manual data entry and management of operators performing scanning operations without substantial increase in the size of the systems and the weight of the systems which would be detrimental to efficiency, productivity and reduction of errors in the field has presented significant problems. A system has been proposed for hands free bar code scanning where a scanner is mounted on the hand and a unit is mounted on the arm which contains a data collection memory batteries, a display and a keyboard. However the hand mounted unit and arm mounted units are heavier and require more muscular operators than is desired.


In a process for low-pollutant combustion in a power station boiler (22) for steam generation, at least one precombustion chamber (24) acts at the boiler itself, which precombustion chamber is operated with at least one burner (25a-c). At least a part of the primary air (26) initially flows through a heat exchanger (24c) , in which a caloric treatment of this air takes place to give combustion air (26a). This combustion air (26a) then flows into the burner (25a-c), where a mixing, and subsequent combustion with fuel (12) or with another mixture takes place. A further air stream as secondary air (27) is injected directly into the precombustion chamber (24), this taking place directly before the actual join of the precombustion chamber (24) to the boiler (22). Downstream of the precombustion chamber (24), a tertiary air stream (29) is fed into the boiler (22). Using this configuration, a process with double air staging is proposed, the boiler (22) being operated with air deficiency. As a result of this substoichiometric operation of the boiler (22), nitrogen-containing fuel compounds can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process according to the generic clause of claim 1. It also relates to a burner for carrying out this process.
2. Discussion of Background
In power station boilers which are operated with premixing, very low air ratios must always be used. This leads generally and inevitably to a risk of corrosion, which is not to be underestimated, as a result of the atmosphere formed with this type of combustion. Deposits can be potentially formed on the cold boiler walls, which initiate the risk of soot emission or asphalt emission. Following the burnout stage in each case, excessive temperatures result which cause a relatively high thermal NOx emission.

Process for low-pollutant combustion in a power station boiler


A population of expanded adult islet beta cells is provided as well as a population of expanded and redifferentiated adult islet beta cells. Methods of generation of the populations of cells are provided.

The present invention relates to a population of expanded and re-differentiated adult islet beta cells capable of both storing insulin in physiological amounts and secreting insulin in response to glucose.
Type I diabetes is caused by the autoimmune destruction of the pancreatic islet insulin-producing beta cells. Insulin administration does not prevent the long-term complications of the disease, since the optimal insulin dosage is difficult to adjust. Replacement of the damaged cells with regulated insulin-producing cells is considered the ultimate cure for type 1 diabetes. Pancreas transplantation has been successful but is severely limited by the shortage of donors. With the development of new islet isolation and immunosuppression procedures, significant success has been reported using islets from 2-3 donors per recipient (Shapiro A M, Lakey J R, Ryan E A et al. New Engl J Med 2000; 343:230-238). This progress underscores the urgent need for developing alternatives to human pancreas donors, namely abundant sources of cultured human β cells for transplantation.
Terminally differentiated, postmitotic islet cells are difficult to expand in tissue culture. Adult and fetal human islet cells grown on HTB-9 matrix in RPMI 1640 medium containing 11 mM glucose, and supplemented with 10% FBS and hepatocyte growth factor, were shown to proliferate at the most for 10-15 population doublings, after which they underwent senescence. The replication span could not be extended by expression of the catalytic subunit of human telomerase (hTERT), which was introduced into the cells with a retrovirus (Halvorsen T L, Beattie G M, Lopez A D, Hayek A, Levine F. J Endocrinol 2000; 166:103-109). Due to massive cell death, this method resulted in a 3-4 expansion of the islet cell mass.
An alternative to forced expansion of post-mitotic β cells is the induction of differentiation of stem/progenitor cells, which have a natural self-expansion capacity, into insulin-producing cells. The directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells has generated cells that only produce low amounts of insulin, compared to β cells, and their potential use in transplantation has met with ethical objections, as well as concerns regarding risk of teratomas.
Adult stem cells have also been differentiated into insulin-producing cells. However, the efficiency of expansion of these cell types in tissue culture and their rate of differentiation into insulin-producing cells need to be greatly improved to allow generation of significant cell numbers for transplantation.
It has been clearly demonstrated that committed cells can be at least partly reprogrammed with dominant genes that activate a cascade of developmental events. U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20050244966 to the present inventors teaches the reprogramming of fetal hepatic cells into beta-like insulin-producing cells by expression of dominant transcription factors, such as Pdx1, that direct the development of endocrine pancreas. The human fetal liver cells were induced to produce and store mature insulin in significant amounts, about a third of those produced by normal β cells, release it in response to physiological glucose levels, and replace β-cell function in STZ-diabetic nonobese-diabetic severe combined immunodeficient (NOD-scid) mice. The modified cells expressed multiple β-cell genes.
Islet cells have been expanded ex vivo in the presence of epidermal growth factor and nerve growth factor. Although these cells show high insulin content, they do not secrete insulin in response to glucose (Lechner A. et al., Biochem Biophys Res Commun 327:581-588, 2005).
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, abundant sources of cultured human β cells capable of producing physiological concentrations of insulin for transplantation devoid of the above limitations.
A number of factors have been shown to promote both β-cell proliferation and differentiation in tissue culture. Members of the growth hormone family, including placental lactogen (PL), growth hormone (GH) and prolactin (PRL), induce replication in neonatal rat islet cells. Significant mitogenic effects of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) have been observed on human fetal and adult islets and mouse islets. In the presence of activin A or nicotinamide, HGF has been shown to stimulate β-cell differentiation in cultured fetal pancreatic islets as well as a pancreatic cell line. Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), and its more stable analog exendin-4, have been shown to stimulate β-cell proliferation and to induce insulin gene expression in a pancreatic cell line. Members of the epidermal growth factor (EGF) family, including EGF, TGFα and betacellulin, have also been shown to stimulate β-cell proliferation and differentiation. Betacellulin is a potent mitogen for a number of cell types, including β cells. It was shown to increase islet neogenesis in alloxan and STZ-treated mice, and accelerate islet-regeneration in 90%-pancreatectomized rats [Li L, et al., Endocrinology 2001; 142:5379-5385].
In a number of rodent models, betacellulin, in combination with other factors was shown to comprise differentiation capabilities. Thus, in rodent pancreatic cell lines, betacellulin was shown both alone and in combination with other factors to induce differentiation of insulin producing cells. In addition, Pdx1 expression, combined with betacellulin treatment induced insulin expression in the mouse glucagonoma cell line alpha TC1-6, and the rat intestinal cell line IEC-6. Expression of neuroD, combined with in vivo treatment with betacellulin, induced conversion of mouse liver cells into insulin-producing cells.
Betacellulin has been shown to induce proliferation of a number of human pancreatic cell types. For example, betacellulin was shown to stimulate proliferation of adult human pancreatic duct cells [Rescan et al., Laboratory Investigation (2005) 85, 65-74].
In combination with other factors, betacellulin may also enhance differentiation into insulin-producing cells. For example, together with activin A, betacellulin induced differentiation of human fetal pancreatic cells into insulin producing cells. However, while activin A was shown to comprise the differentiating activity, betacellulin was shown to comprise a mitogenic activity only [Demeterco et al., Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and metabolism, 2000, Vol. 85, No. 10 3892-3897].
U.S. Pat. Appl. No. 20040132679 teaches the administration of betacellulin in conjunction with islet cell differentiation transcription factors for the treatment of type I Diabetes. These factors were shown to enhance the differentiation of a population of hepatic cells into insulin producing cells. However, when administered alone, betacellulin had no effect on the serum glucose of STZ induced diabetic mice, indicating that betacellulin alone was not able to differentiate the hepatic cells, but rather had a mitogenic activity thereon. Furthermore, therapeutic efficacy was shown only for the in-vivo administration of the islet cell differentiation promoting factors.
In conclusion, it has never been demonstrated that betacellulin per se has insulin producing capabilities in human pancreatic cells, only mitogenic capabilities.
It has been suggested that Neurogenin 3 (Ngn3) is a key proendocrine transcription factor. This has been demonstrated by the absence of endocrine cells in mice lacking Ngn3, by lineage tracing analyses, and by ectopic expression of Ngn3. Ngn3 is involved in the lateral specification events, which control the choice between the endocrine and exocrine cell fates by mutual signaling between neighboring cells through the Notch pathway. Terminal differentiation of β cells requires shut off of Ngn3 expression.
Identification of an insulin cell differentiating factor for an expanded culture of human beta cells would be highly advantageous for cell transplantation in the treatment of diabetes.

Populations of expanded and re-differentiated adult islet beta cells capable of producing insulin and methods of generating same


A requester requests a domain zone control validation from a validating entity. The validating entity generates a pass string. The requester enters the pass string into a domain zone. The validating entity determines if the pass string was entered in the domain zone. If the pass string is present in the domain zone, the domain zone control was successfully validated.

The Internet comprises a vast number of computers and computer networks that are interconnected through communication links. The interconnected computers exchange information using various services, such as electronic mail, Gopher, and the World Wide Web (WWW). The WWW service allows a server computer system (i.e., Web server or Web site) to send graphical Web pages of information to a remote client computer system. The remote client computer system can then display the Web pages. Each resource (e.g., computer or Web page) of the WWW is uniquely identifiable by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). To view a specific Web page, a client computer system specifies the URL for the Web page in a request (e.g., a HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) request). These follow the familiar format http://www. example.com uniquely identifying the particular resource. The request is forwarded to the Web server that supports that Web page to the client computer system. When the client computer system receives that Web page, it typically displays the Web page using a browser. A browser is a special-purpose application program that effects the requesting of Web pages and the displaying of Web pages.
The domain name system (DNS) is the world's largest distributed computing system that enables access to any resource in the Internet by translating user-friendly domain names to IP Addresses. The process of translating domain names to IP Addresses is called Name Resolution. A DNS name resolution is the first step in the majority of Internet transactions. The DNS is in fact a client-server system that provides this name resolution service through a family of servers called Domain Name Servers. The hierarchical domain space is divided into administrative units called zones. A zone usually consists of a domain (say example.com) and possibly one or more sub domains (projects.example.com, services.example.com). The authoritative data needed for performing the name resolution service is contained in a file called the zone file and the DNS servers hosting this file are called the authoritative name servers for that zone. The DNS clients that make use of the services provided by authoritative name servers may be of two types. One type is called a stub resolver that formulates and sends a query every time it receives a request from an application that requires Internet service (e.g., a browser). The other type is called a caching (also called recursive/resolving) name server that caches the name resolution responses it has obtained from authoritative name servers and thus able to serve multiple stub resolvers.
The zone file hosted on an authoritative name server consists of various types of records called Resource Records (RRs). Associated with each DNS resource record is a type (RRtype). The code for these RRtypes is assigned by an international organization called Internet Assigned Names Authority (IANA). An RR of a given RRtype in a zone file provides a specific type of information. Some of the common RRtype codes are: NS, MX, CNAME, and A. An NS RR in a zone file gives the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the host that is considered the name server for that zone. For example, an NS RR in the zone file of the zone example.com may give the information that the host ns1.projects.example.com is a name server for the domain projects.example.com. Similarly an MX RR gives the host name for a mail server for the zone. An A RR gives the IP address for a host in a domain within the zone. CNAME provides "canonical name" records and maps names in the zone file. A zone file generally consists of multiple RRs of a given RRtype with some exceptions (e.g., there can be only SOA RR in a zone file). It can also have multiple RRs for the same domain name and same (or different) RRtype (e.g., multiple name servers or mail servers for a domain services.example.com).
The DNS infrastructure consists of many different types of DNS servers, DNS clients and transactions among/between these entities. The most important transaction in DNS is the one that provides the core service of DNS (i.e., name resolution service) and is called the DNS Query/Response. A DNS Query/Response transaction is made up of a query originating from a DNS client (generically called a DNS resolver) and response from a DNS name server. The response consists of one or more RRs. These RRs may be served from its own zone file (for an authoritative name server) or from a cache of RRs obtained from other name servers (for a caching/resolving/recursive name servers). In this way, the DNS serves as a global, distributed database. Name servers (serving zone files) each contain a small portion of the global domain space, and clients issue queries using a domain name and a desired RRtype.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Methods and systems for evaluating economic viability of a proposed microgrid, including uncertain variables are disclosed. One or more candidate distributed energy resources can be selected for use within a proposed microgrid. An investment cost and an operation cost of the one or more candidate distributed energy resources can be determined. A cost of drawing power from a main power grid can be compared to a sum of the investment cost and the operation cost of the one or more candidate distributed energy resources. The proposed microgrid can be identified for installation when the sum of the investment cost and the operation cost is less than the cost of drawing power from the main power grid.

Microgrids are localized power grids that can disconnect from a traditional (main) power grid to operate autonomously to help mitigate grid disturbances to strengthen grid resilience. Microgrids can continue operating while the main power grid is down, and can function as a grid resource for faster system response and recovery. Microgrids also support a flexible and efficient electric grid, by enabling the integration of growing deployments of renewable sources of energy. Microgrid generation resources can comprise fuel cells, wind, solar, or other energy sources. Multiple dispersed generation sources and an ability to isolate the microgrid from the main power grid provide highly reliable electric power. Additionally, produced heat from generation sources such as microturbines can be used for local process heating or space heating, allowing flexible tradeoffs between the needs for heat and electric power. Thus there are many advantages to microgrid power generation. However, high investment costs of microgrid operation and deployment are major obstacles to widespread and rapid deployment of this viable technology. An accurate assessment of microgrid economic benefits is a challenging task due to significant uncertain data involved in the assessment. Moreover, some of the assessment results such as reliability improvements are difficult to comprehend for customers when represented in supply availability terms. Thus, efficient planning models are required for ensuring the economic viability of microgrid deployments and further justifying investments based on cost-worth analyses in uncertain conditions. These and other issues are addressed in the present disclosure.

Methods and systems for determining economic viability of microgrid


The present invention relates to soft, multifunctional carriers which transport equipment, such as hunting equipment, hunting bows, compound bows, hunting gear, camping gear, hiking gear and animal antlers for camping, fishing and/or hunting. The equipment can be placed on or hung from a tree or the like and act as a backrest or cushion and provide access to the equipment transported for hunting, camping or fishing purposes. The carrier can be utilized in conjunction with an elevated tree stand or as a storage area on or near ground level.

This invention relates to soft, multifunctional carriers which transport equipment, such as hunting equipment, hunting bows, compound bows, hunting gear, camping gear, hiking gear and animal antlers for camping, fishing and/or hunting. The equipment can be placed on or hung from a tree or the like and act as a backrest or cushion and provide access to the equipment transported for hunting, camping or fishing purposes. The carrier can be utilized in conjunction with an elevated tree stand or as a storage area on or near ground level.
Soft flexible bow cases and backpacks are known in the art and are used by hunters to transport bows from a hunter's vehicle to, for example, a location in the woods, such as a hunter's stand or blind where the hunter is camouflaged with the surrounding area. Such cases and backpacks are typically only for a single purpose such as carrying a bow or gear to the field.
Compound bows, archery bows and cross bows are used for hunting and include a mechanical pulley and cam with a stringing arrangement to reduce user effort and strength in propelling an arrow. The bow typically may have an attachment for carrying a quiver and arrows. The combination is especially bulky for transport. Further, some states and/or jurisdictions require disablement of the bow during transportation to discourage the poaching of animals. This is accomplished by making it more difficult to setup and employ the bow in a quick and efficient manner. Disablement of the bow requires one to stop to and engage the bow before properly utilizing the bow. These actions cause enough of a delay to allow a poached animal to escape.
Multifunctional bow cases and backpacks are known in the art for delivering or carrying the bow, case or pack and converting to another device or use. Examples of bow carriers include U.S. Pat. No. 6,691,693, which details a bow case and a detachable tree form blind, U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,502, which details a carrying case that converts into a hunting vest, U.S. Pat. No. 4,480,774, which details as a crossbow carrying case, U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,957, which details an archery bow case that doubles as a blind combination, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,935,495, which details a crossbow case. Examples of backpacks include U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,114, which details a backpack able to carrying a hunting bow, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,887, which details a backpack for an archery bow.
Examples of multifunctional or convertible backpacks include U.S. Pat. No. 6,244,481, which teaches a combination backpack and seat cushion, U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,575, which teaches a combination cushion and backpack, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,531, which teaches a cushion for use in wrapping around a tree.
Specialty carriers for carrying antlers into the field in a manner which causes minimal damage to the antlers, which allows for the hunter's safety and which creates a minimal amount of noise during transport are also known. Antlers are used in hunting as a means for attracting wild game into an area. In the most common use, antlers are attached to a tree and either scraped against the tree or cause noise by striking the antlers against one another. The antlers can be authentic antlers taken from a previously killed animal, naturally cast or shed antlers, or can be synthetically made or purchased. Once in the field there is a need to properly secure the antlers to make them accessible in the hunting location and so that they can be properly used in a short amount of time. Examples of antler securing apparatus include U.S. Pat. No. 6,289,626 which describes a remote controlled antler rattler, U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,664 which details another embodiment of a remote controlled antler rattler, U.S. Pat. No. 4,610,641 which details a synthetic antler for attracting animals, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,135,333 which teaches a pack for carrying hunting equipment employing a means of transporting antlers from a recently harvested deer.
While at a hunting or fishing location, the hunter or sportsman makes the area their temporary base of operations. This base of operations can be a cave, a wooded area, a marsh, or any other area which offers the protection sought. While at a location, the hunter must be quiet and still so as to not be seen by the game being hunted. A camouflaged or hidden area is desired, which may involve being camouflaged by trees. Trees can provide protection while the hunter is on the ground and seeking refuge in or behind a series of trees. The hunter may also be physically located in a tree stand as a tree stand allows the hunter to be 3 to 35 foot off of the ground and out of sight of the animal.
Since the hunter can expect to wait a significant amount of time for the game to enter the area, comfort becomes a key element in keeping still and being quiet. Devices which improve comfort aid the hunter. In addition, any device chosen must minimize noise, as even minute noises can scare off an animal.
Additionally, there exists a need for a storage system for the gear the hunter needs and has transported. This gear includes hunting calls, hunting scents, additional ammunition, food, and drink. Storing this equipment prevents the equipment from being damaged on the ground and prevents the area from appearing occupied and/or unnatural to potential game.
A combination or multifunctional device which allows for the transport of hunting equipment and provides other advantages such as comfort and storage for equipment is desired in the art.

Multifunctional carrier device for hunting equipment


A wireless local area network audio and video communication system with mobile units is provided, wherein mobile units are operated in a power saving mode and become active at selected intervals corresponding to the duration of audio and video signals forming audio and video data packets. In a preferred arrangement the mobile units have a digital signal processor that operates at different clock rates during different portions of the intervals.

This invention relates to wireless data communication systems and particularly to such systems which may be used for wireless voice, audio or video communication, such as for telephone service, walkie-talkie, museum guides, live video, and the like.
Devices have been known for providing audio signals over a wireless data communications system. In a prior application Ser. No. 09/715,926, filed Nov. 17, 2000, the specification of which is incorporated herein by reference, the present inventor has described a system for providing simplified mobile units that provide voice communication and can also provide voice activation and operation of a remote computer.
One problem associated with all wireless data communication systems is the duration of battery life of mobile units. Typically, a trade-off is required between device size and weight and battery life. Various components of a wireless mobile unit providing communications contribute to the use of power and shortened battery life. It is well-known that it is desired that a system operate over an extended period of time, for example, at least an 8 hour working shift, and accordingly it is an object of the invention to provide a method of operation and a mobile unit for wireless communications over a wireless data communication system that provides low power consumption and long battery life.


A system and method for delayed error handling. In one embodiment, a computerized method includes sending a Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) command to a peripheral device through a network connection, waiting for a SCSI response from the peripheral device, detecting an error in the network connection, waiting for an amount of time that is consistent with the network connection to the peripheral device being re-established, and determining if the error in the network connection has been corrected. In another embodiment, a computerized method includes detecting the iSCSI error on an IP network connection to an iSCSI peripheral device after an iSCSI command has timed out, waiting (upon detection) for an amount of time for the IP network connection to become re-established, checking (while waiting) to determine if the IP network connection has been re-established, and performing an iSCSI error-recovery function if the IP network connection has been re-established.

Interest in the use of network-based storage systems has increased considerably in recent years. Storage servers connected to a network provide commonly available mass storage that can be shared or allocated exclusively to each of a number of computers or other information-handling systems connected to a common network.
The Small Computer Systems Interface (SCSI) is a widely used standard for accessing various storage devices such as hard discs, CD-ROM's, DVD's, ZIP discs, tapes, Superdisks, and the like. Newer versions and interface definitions have been developed, including wide, fast, wide and fast, 40 MB/s, 80 MB/s, 160 MB/s and fiber channel (both copper-wire and optical versions), and the like. These interfaces, however, are all storage-based architectures.
The Internet and many other communications networks use TCP/IP (including the software interface layers for telecommunications protocol and Internet Protocol) to transfer data. It generally takes a dedicated computer interface to receive and decode (or code and transmit) TCP/IP packets, and to pass data carried by such packets to applications residing at higher layers in the communications stack.
The Internet SCSI (iSCSI) protocol has been under consideration recently as a way of extending SCSI-based services across an IP network. Neither the iSCSI protocol nor the SCSI protocol itself define how to handle certain errors due to, for instance, the network connection between a computer and an iSCSI-based storage device going down. Currently, some systems will retry the iSCSI command repeatedly, and eventually take the peripheral device offline if the retries fail.
Therefore, there is a need for an error-handling system and method that address error handling due to network problems in an iSCSI-based system.

System and method for delayed error handling


A system and method for distributing portable computer virus definition records with binary file conversion are described. One or more virus definition records are stored into a structured virus database. Each virus definition record includes an identifier uniquely identifying a computer virus, at least one virus name associated with the computer virus, a virus definition sentence comprising object code providing operations to detect the identified computer virus within a computer system, and a virus removal sentence comprising object code providing operations to clean the identified computer virus from the computer system. At least one updated virus definition record is stored into the structured virus database indexed by the identifier and the at least one virus name for each virus definition record. The virus definition records stored in the structured virus database are converted into a virus data file. The virus data file includes virus definition sets. Each virus definition set includes binary data encoding instructions to detect the computer virus within a computer system, instructions to clean the computer virus from the computer system, and names associated with the computer virus.

Computer viruses are program code usually causing malicious and often destructive results. All computer viruses are self-replicating. More precisely, computer viruses include any form of self-replicating computer code which can be stored, disseminated, and directly or indirectly executed. Computer viruses can be disguised as application programs, functions, macros, electronic mail attachments, and even applets and in hypertext links.
Computer viruses travel between machines via infected media or over network connections disguised as legitimate files or messages. The earliest computer viruses infected boot sectors and files. Over time, computer viruses evolved into numerous forms and types, including cavity, cluster, companion, direct action, encrypting, multipartite, mutating, polymorphic, overwriting, self-garbling, and stealth viruses, such as described in "MCAFEE.com: Virus Glossary of Terms," NETWORKS ASSOCIATES TECHNOLOGY, Inc., (2000), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference. Most recently, macro viruses have become increasingly popular. These viruses are written in macro programming languages and are attached to document templates or as electronic mail attachments.
Historically, anti-virus solutions have reflected the sophistication of the viruses being combated. The first anti-virus solutions were stand-alone programs for identifying and disabling viruses. Eventually, anti-virus solutions grew to include specialized functions and parameterized variables that could be stored in a data file. During operation, the data file was read by an anti-virus engine operating on a client computer. Finally, the specialized functions evolved into full-fledged anti-virus languages for defining virus scanning and cleaning, including removal and disablement, instructions.
Presently, most anti-virus companies store the anti-virus language code for each virus definition into data files. For efficiency, the source code is compiled into object code at the vendor site. The virus definitions, including the object code, are then stored into the data files. To speed virus detection, the virus definitions are organized for efficient retrieval often as unstructured binary data.
Anti-virus companies are continually discovering new computer viruses on a daily basis and must periodically distribute anti-virus software updates. Each update augments the data file with new computer virus definitions, as well as replacing or deleting old virus definitions. Over time, however, the size of the data files tend to become large and can take excessive amounts of time to download. Long download times are particularly problematic on low bandwidth connections or in corporate computing environments having a large user base.
Consequently, one prior art approach to decreasing anti-virus data file downloading times determines and transfers only the changes between old and new data files. The anti-virus company first compares old and new data files and forms a binary delta file. The delta file is downloaded by users and a patching utility program converts the old data file into the new data file by replacing parts of the binary data file. While this approach can often decrease the amount of data to be downloaded, the sizes of the delta files are arbitrary and vary greatly, depending upon the differences in binary data. In the worst case, the old and new data files are completely different and the delta file effectively replicates the new data file, thereby saving no download time.
While the use of delta files can effect throughput, changing the format of data files, particularly in a corporate computing environment, to avoid the use of delta files would create a further concern with respect to maintaining backward compatibility. Any new data file format change would necessitate replacing the existing data files on fielded client computers at potentially high cost due to downloads and installation.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach to efficiently distributing virus definitions to allowing updating in a backward compatible manner. Preferably, such an approach would store virus definitions maintained as indexed records in a database management system coupled with the ability to convert the virus definitions between formats. Such an approach would allow efficient virus definition updating while preserving existing data file formats.

System and method for distributing portable computer virus definition records with binary file conversion


One or more electronically-accessible media including electronically-executable instructions that direct an apparatus to perform actions including: inserting a type signature tag into a serialized binary blob to serialize an object, the type signature tag including a type signature based on an object type of the object; and transmitting the serialized binary blob. An arrangement including: a signature table having multiple entries, each respective entry of the multiple entries associating a respective object type with a respective type signature, each respective type signature created responsive to a structural representation of the respective object type associated therewith. An apparatus including: one or more media having electronically-executable instructions; and one or more processors capable of executing the electronically-executable instructions to perform actions including: receiving a serialized binary blob; and deserializing an object by extracting a type signature from the serialized binary blob, the type signature derivable from an object type of the object.

The traditional functional-oriented approach to programming has largely been superseded by the object-oriented programming approach. With functional-oriented programming, code is organized around actions and written based primarily on logic. With object-oriented programming, code is organized around "objects" and written responsive primarily to the underlying data.
Object-oriented programming provides many conceptual advances and code-related benefits such as reusability, adaptability, modularity, and so forth. These benefits arise, at least partly, from the fundamental tenets of object-oriented programming and the principles that flow therefrom. For example, object-oriented programming usually adheres to encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism.
Particularly because of polymorphism, object-oriented programming typically results in complex interrelationships between and among different objects. These interrelationships are established and/or utilized when the object-oriented programming is being executed. In a runtime environment, predecessor and successor linkages from each object to one or more other objects are maintained, manipulated, utilized, and so forth.
Such complex interrelationships of objects as represented partially by predecessor and successor linkages form non-linear relationships that are referred to as graphs of objects. Although utilizing these graphs of objects facilitates adaptability, modularity, and other organizational and operational flexibilities, they also tend to increase the requisite memory and processing bandwidth during runtime.
Furthermore, when a multi-dimensional graph of objects is to be transmitted from an originating entity to a destination entity, serialization is employed. At the originating entity, the graph of objects is serialized and then transmitted in serialized form to the destination entity. At the destination entity, the serialized form is received and then deserialized into another graph of objects with the accompanying non-linear relationships. Unfortunately, communicating the serialized form from originating entity to destination entity is bandwidth intensive.
Accordingly, there is a need for a serialization of objects paradigm that reduces bandwidth demands.


Using a charge transporting organic compound made of a polymer whose polymer main chain has a fluorene derivative, which is substituted with an amino group having an aromatic ring or heterocyclic ring, connected thereto at the 9 position thereof, e.g. a compound represented by the following formula (1), in a charge transporting thin film, the resulting organic EL element ensures low voltage drive, a high luminance, a very long life and no imperfections.

For organic EL elements, an organic electroluminescent element showing approximately 1000 cd/m2 at a drive voltage of 10 V or below has been reported, for example, by Tang et al., of Eastman Kodak Co., in 1987 (e.g. see Non-patent Document 1).
In order to enhance a luminous efficiency of element, Tang et al., tried optimization between an electrode and an organic compound, thereby making an organic electroluminescent element using an aromatic amine compound as a charge transporting layer and an aluminium complex of 8-hydroxyquinoline as an electron transporting light-emitting layer.
For a hole transporting material, there are known aromatic diamine derivatives (eg, see Patent Documents 1, 2 and 3), aromatic amine-containing polymers (e.g. Patent Documents 4 and 5) and the like. Specific examples include tetraphenylbiphenyldi amine (TPD), N-phenylcarbazole and 4,4′-[N-(1-naphthyl)-N-phenylamino]biphenyl (NPB).
These materials, respectively, have a glass transition temperature of 60° C. to 95° C. and undergo crystallization by virtue of joule heat generated at the time of element drive, thereby causing element degradation. To avoid this, there is a demand for materials that have a high glass transition temperature and are stable.
Polymer materials have been used in some cases so as to increase a glass transition temperature, and polymer materials such as, for example, polyvinylcarbazole and the like are known as such a polymer material. However, elements using polymer materials such as polyvinyl carbazole and the like have the problem in that not only the drive voltage of the element is high, but also a life characteristic is poor. Accordingly, there has been a demand of polymer materials which can lower the element drive voltage and improve a drive life.
Non-patent Document 1:                Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 51. p 913, 1987
Patent document 1:                Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 8-20771
Patent document 2:                Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 8-40995
Patent document 3:                Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 8-40997
Patent document 1:                Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 11-283750
Patent document 1:                Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-36390

Charge-transporting compound, charge-transporting material, charge-transporting varnish, charge-transporting thin film, and organic electroluminescent device


A retaining device for improving the functionality of placard holders when the placard holder is subject to transient atmospheric conditions. The retaining device includes a member used in conjunction with a placard holder to more fully secure a placard with the placard holder when transient atmospheric conditions are encountered. The retaining device may be adapted to use with many designs of placard holders, including, but not limited to, U.S. Department of Transportation approved hazardous material information placard holders.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device used to retain a placard within a placard holder.
2. Background Art
Placards are used in many situations to provide information to a reader about a particular material or device with which the placard is spatially related. The placard is usually positioned in such a manner that it is nearby or affixed to the package or container holding the thing described on the placard. Often, placards are placed within a holding device that is secured nearby, or on, the package or container. The advantage of the holding device is that it allows a placard to be changed when the contents of the associated package or container are changed. This is particularly useful where the placard holder is affixed to a refillable container such as a drum, railcar, shipping container, or the like.
Placards are also used as a source of information identifying the type of hazard a hazardous material in shipment may pose. This type of placard forms a component of an international system of hazard communication. Prominent display of the placard on shipping containers functions to immediately warn responders, handlers and bystanders that hazards are present and that caution should be taken when interacting with the container's contents. Therefore, it is critical that when such a placard is placed on a container that it remain firmly attached to the container throughout the time that the hazardous material is present.
Due to the standardized size and format of many hazardous material placards, the holders with which they are used must be designed so they do not obscure the information being displayed on the placard. This limitation restricts the available upper surface area of the placard that may be contacted by the placard holder for the purpose of restraining the placard within the holder. The placard holder is often comprised of a back frame member attached to the transport container and a front frame member having a flat surface portion enclosing an open window area. Such a placard holder is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,229,891 to Keller, the disclosure of which is fully incorporated by this reference. In other prior art devices, the placard holder is as described in Keller, but without the locking arm, the outer lip, the locking tabs, and the ridges. Still further alternative prior art devices, the placard holder is as described in Keller, but the back frame is a surface of the vehicle/container such that the placard holder is permanently affixed to the vehicle/container. In yet further alternative prior art devices, the placard holder is as described in Keller, but without the locking arm, the outer lip, the locking tabs, and the ridges; and the back frame is a surface of the vehicle/container such that the placard holder is permanently affixed to the vehicle/container. The front and back frame members are usually peripherally bound by a spacing member that creates a placard pocket between the front and back frame members. At least some part of the periphery is left unbounded so as to allow access to the placard pocket. To facilitate ease of insertion and removal of the placards, the tolerances to which the placard holders are manufactured are large, usually resulting in excess space between the surfaces and edges of the placard and the placard holder.
However, when such placard holders are used on surfaces subject to atmospheric disturbances, whether natural or artificial, several problems have been identified. The atmospheric disturbance may be weather related, but is more often the result of the method by which the container on which the placard holder is placed is transported. For example, a tractor trailer vehicle pulling a tanker containing hydrochloric acid ("HCl") would be required to have hazardous material placards on both ends and both sides of the tanker identifying the contained material as HCl. However, when moving down the road at speeds often exceeding forty miles per hour (40 mph), the placards are subjected to winds at or near the speed at which the vehicle is traveling. This often results in air flow beneath the placard, causing it to shift within the placard holder. Even worse, the placard can lift away from the vehicle, become bent or broken, or otherwise damaged, thus limiting its ability to effectively convey the information contained on it.
What is needed is a placard holder that will restrict the movement of the placard within the placard holder, so that the placard substantially maintains its original position, no matter the atmospheric conditions to which it is subject.

Device for retaining a placard within a placard holder, and methods and systems thereof


HOEFC11 polypeptides and polynucleotides and methods for producing such polypeptides by recombinant techniques are disclosed. Also disclosed are methods for utilizing HOEFC11 polypeptides and polynucleotides in the design of protocols for the treatment of chronic renal failure, inflammatory diseases, myocardial ischemia, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, cirrhotic liver disease, among others, and diagnostic assays for such conditions.

Hyaluronic acid (HA), an important constituent of extracellular matrix, is a linear polysaccharide of alternating glucuronic acid and N-acetyl glucosamine residues. It is synthesized by a membrane-bound enzyme hyaluronan synthase (HAS) and extruded into the extracellular space. Cloning of two human HAS (HAS 1 and HAS 2) has been reported very recently (K. Watanabe and Y. Yamaguchi, J. Biol. Chem. 271:22945-22948, 1996) (N. Itano and K. Kimata, Biochem. Biophy. Res. Communications, 222:816-820, 1996). HA synthesis is involved in many cellular functions such as migration, invasion, adhesion, transformation, proliferation and wound healing. HA synthesis has been shown to be induced by FBS, PDGF, EGF, IL-1, retinoic acid, IGF, TGF beta, etc. Increased HA production is: (a) a general phenomenon in various organs attached by inflammatory cells, (b) implicated in tissue edema, (c) a characteristic of tissue remodeling and (d) a marker for early stage of extracellular matrix remodeling following vascular injury. Increased levels of HA have been reported in chronic renal failure, inflammatory diseases, cancer (prostate, mammary and other invasive tumors), aortas from diabetic patients, smaller airways of patients with acute alveolitis, transplantation edema in rejecting heart and kidney, myocardial ischemia, balloon injury, liver cirrhosis, wound healing and angiogenesis. Hyaluronidase (breaks down HA) is reported to be beneficial in limiting cellular damage during myocardial ischemia in rat, dog and man. This indicates that the hyaluronan synthase family has an established, proven history as therapeutic targets. Clearly there is a need for identification and characterization of further members of the hyaluronan synthase family which can play a role in preventing, ameliorating or correcting dysfunctions or diseases, including, but not limited to, chronic renal failure, inflammatory diseases, myocardial ischemia, cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, cirrhotic liver disease.

HAS2 splicing variant HOEFC11: a target in chronic renal failure, inflammatory diseases and myocardial ischemia


A heat-sensitive stencil including a thermoplastic resin film on which a porous resin layer and a porous reinforcing layer are formed in succession. A porous fibrous layer may be disposed between the porous resin layer and the porous reinforcing layer.

This invention relates to a heat-sensitive stencil, to a method of preparing a stencil printing master and to a stencil printer using the heat-sensitive stencil.
One known heat-sensitive stencil is composed of an ink-permeable thin paper serving as an ink port and a thermoplastic resin film bonded with an adhesive to the port. The stencil is heated imagewise by, for example, a thermal head to perforate the heated portions of the thermoplastic resin film, thereby obtaining a printing master for reproducing images by mimeographic printing. The conventional stencil, however, poses problems because (1) the adhesive tends to be accumulated in interstices between fibers to form "fins" which prevent the thermal perforation during the master forming step and the passage of an ink during the printing step, (2) the fibers per se prevent smooth passage of an ink and (3) the paper port is relatively expensive.
To cope with the above problems, JP-A-54-33117 proposes a stencil having no paper port and composed substantially only of a thermoplastic resin film. While this stencil can completely solve the above-mentioned problems, a new serious problem arises; i.e. it is necessary to significantly increase the thickness of the stencil in order to obtain satisfactory stiffness required for transferring the stencil master during printing stage. An increase of the thickness results in the lowering of the thermal sensitivity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,560 discloses a heat-sensitive stencil having a porous resin layer formed on a thermoplastic resin film. This stencil has been found to be able to solve the above-described problems but to cause a problem because of insufficient tensile strength.
JP-A-H10-147075 discloses a heat-sensitive stencil having a porous fibrous layer over a surface of a porous resin layer. The fibrous layer has been found to improve the tensile strength of the stencil but to adversely affect the print image quality.

Heat-sensitive stencil, method of preparing stencil printing master and stencil printer


In a method of manufacturing a cylinder head having a partition plate for an intake port, there is prepared a partition plate having an intake-side distal end and a cylinder-side distal end. The partition plate is located in a core to form the intake port and molten metal is supplied to a periphery of the partition plate. After solidifying the molten metal, the core is removed. At least the intake-side distal end of the partition plate is located in an expansion-permit space that permits thermal expansion of the partition plate caused by heat of molten metal.

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a cylinder head and, more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a cylinder head with an intake port in which a partition plate is disposed.
In recent years, a cylinder of an internal combustion engine includes a cylinder head is formed with an intake port in which a partition plate, called as a tumble plate, is incorporated.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-193469 (see paragraphs 0011, 0020 and 0022 and FIGS. 1, 3 and 4) and Japanese Patent Application National Publication of Translated Version No. 2002-501829 (see paragraph 0022 and FIG. 3) disclose structures wherein an airflow control valve disposed in an intake-side distal end of an intake port is controlled while permitting a partition plate to deflect intake air, introduced from the intake port to a cylinder bore, for intensifying tumble flow occurring inside the cylinder bore to achieve improvement over fuel consumption.
Incidentally, in the following description, for the partition plate, a side across which intake air, such as air and fuel gas, is passed is referred to as an "intake-side" and the opposite side, i.e., a cylinder bore side is referred to as a "cylinder-side".


A collimator suitable for the collimation of high energy gamma photons.

In order for Anger gamma cameras to form an image showing the distribution of radioactive material in an object or in a patient, a means is necessary to determine the location of the radioactive material. This means usually comprises of a collimator attached to the face of the camera to control the direction of the detected gamma rays or other radiation emanating from the radioactive material. The control of directionality occurs at each location on the camera face by means of collimation channels which allow gamma rays (or other radiation) through only if they come from within an acceptance angle.
In a parallel-hole collimator, the apertures are parallel to each other, perpendicular to the crystal of the camera face, long enough and of small enough diameter that the acceptance angle is narrow. The apertures are packed closely enough together, in most cases, that the intrinsic resolution of the camera does not allow resolution of the apertures on the final image. The result is an acceptable 1:1 relation between direction of origin of the gamma rays and site of interaction with the camera crystal. This allows an image to be formed by film or a computer since the electronics of the camera are able to localize the site of interaction of each gamma ray with the crystal.
Gamma cameras sometimes are used in connection with so called high-energy isotopes. Many references define "high energy" or "super high energy" isotopes as those that undergo positron emission and the accompanying 511 keV photons (e.g., fluorine-18, iodine-123, carbon-11, nitrogen-13 and oxygen-15). As such, these collimators are designed around the 511 keV emission, and generally have a working range not in excess of 600 keV. Sodium-24 is a radioactive isotope produced by the neutron irradiation of stable sodium (Na-23). Sodium is found in many products, with specific mention to pharmaceutical dosage forms such as capsules and tablets. As such, sodium-24 is a desirable isotope for radionuclide imaging studies. However, sodium-24 has gamma rays of 1368 and 2754 KeV—well beyond the range of many of the so-called "super high energy" known collimators. Particularly, the gamma rays from sodium-24 penetrate through known collimator septa resulting in a scatter of gamma photons, which interact with the crystal, or detector, of the gamma camera resulting in reduced image resolution.
Accordingly, there is a need for a collimator that reduces the scatter of high-energy gamma photons, e.g. those from sodium-24, thereby providing enough resolution for high energy gamma photon, e.g. sodium-24, radionuclide imaging using a gamma scintillation camera.


A gateway (103) determines whether or not voice information collected by a sound collecting device (102) needs to be subjected to voice recognition by a server apparatus (101), and only voice information that is determined to need to be subjected to voice recognition by the server apparatus (101) is transmitted by the gateway (103) to the server apparatus (101). The server apparatus (101) recognizes the received voice information, decides a control instruction, and transmits the control instruction to a household electrical appliance (104) via the gateway (103).

In recent years, with the proliferation of household electrical appliances with network connecting functions, systems for controlling household electrical appliances via a network have been proposed. In addition, with improvements in recognition rate in voice recognition technology, it is becoming possible to input a voiced operation instruction for a household electrical appliance to control the household electrical appliance.
As conventional voice recognition systems, techniques are proposed in which voice information input at a client is transmitted to a server and the server performs voice recognition in order to reduce load on the client with limited processing capability (for example, refer to Patent Literature 1).
In Patent Literature 1 described above, an amount of data transmission between the client and the server is reduced by having the client compression-encode a feature parameter of voice information and transmit the compression-encoded feature parameter.
However, with Patent Literature 1 described above, since the server performs all voice recognition, voice information of all voice recognition objects is transmitted from the client to the server. In other words, all voice information input by the client is transferred to the server. As a result, there is a need to further reduce the amount of data transmission between the client and the server in order to avoid data from concentrating at the server.

Control method for household electrical appliance, household electrical appliance control system, and gateway

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA


A trocar tip protector includes a housing having a first inlet and a second inlet adjacent to each other. The first inlet is configured to receive and frictionally retain a tip of a trocar sleeve. The second inlet is configured to receive and frictionally retain a tip of a trocar obturator. The housing may be formed by extruding a generally tubular structure and then bending the generally tubular structure into a generally U-shaped configuration that positions the trocar sleeve and the trocar obturator substantially parallel relative to each other when the trocar sleeve tip is inserted into the first inlet of the housing and when the trocar obturator tip is inserted into the second inlet of the housing.

Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to trocar tip protectors for trocar assemblies. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to trocar assembly optical trocar tip protectors providing protection for tips of a trocar sleeve and obturator.
Background of Related Art
A trocar assembly is a surgical instrument that is used to gain access to a body cavity. A trocar assembly generally comprises two major components: a trocar sleeve composed of a trocar housing and a trocar cannula; and a trocar obturator. The trocar sleeve, having the trocar obturator inserted therethrough, is directed through the skin to access a body cavity. Once the body cavity is accessed, laparoscopic or arthroscopic surgery and endoscopic procedures may be performed. In order to penetrate the skin, the distal end of the trocar sleeve is placed against the skin that has been previously cut with a scalpel. The trocar obturator is then used to penetrate the skin and access the body cavity. By applying pressure against the proximal end of the trocar obturator, the sharp point of the trocar obturator is forced through the skin until it enters the body cavity. The trocar sleeve is inserted through the perforation made by the obturator and the obturator is withdrawn, leaving the trocar sleeve as an access way to the body cavity.
The proximal end portion of the trocar sleeve is typically adjoined by a housing that defines a chamber having an open distal end portion that communicates with the interior lumen defined by the trocar sleeve. An obturator, or other elongated surgical instruments, axially extend into and are withdrawn from the trocar sleeve through the proximal end portion of the chamber. Trocar obturators are typically designed with a sharp tip that is used to puncture an abdominal wall. Trocar packaging designs should ensure that the sharp tip of the trocar obturator does not puncture packaging material that forms a sterile barrier. If the material used for the sterile barrier is not strong enough to prevent puncture on its own, an ancillary form of protection may be required.
Typically, a tip protector is used for trocar assemblies, especially trocar obturators. Current tip protectors generally consist of a cap that completely encapsulates the sharp tip of the trocar obturator. Such caps completely obscure the view of the tip of the trocar obturator as it sits in the unopened package. It is, however, important for those using these instruments to be able to visibly identify the tip style prior to use. This is especially important when a variety of different obturator tip styles are available.
In addition to the tip problem discussed above, problems exist when providing packaging for surgical trocar assemblies. Some trocar assembly designs require that the trocar assembly be packaged with the obturator not inserted into the trocar sleeve, as over time this would cause a seal within the trocar cannula to become deformed. If this is the case, a two-piece device assembly must be packaged.
It is generally preferred to dispense a single assembly from the trocar assembly package rather than a two-piece assembly. Reasons for preferring a one-piece assembly include reducing the opportunity for components to roll off from the sterile barrier as well as the desire to keep the obturator and trocar sleeve matched up together when dispensing or unpacking numerous different trocar types.
As a result, it is readily apparent that a trocar assembly optical trocar tip protector is needed which overcomes the shortcomings of prior trocar assembly optical trocar tip protectors. The present disclosure provides such a trocar assembly optical trocar tip protector.


The present invention is related to patient interfaces, such as nasal masks (2), particularly though not solely for use in providing continuous positive airway pressure therapy or positive pressure ventilation to patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnoea. In a first form the invention is a patient interface that has securement means (601) releasably attaching the interface to headstraps wherein the securement means (601) is slidably engaged with the patient interface. In a second form of the invention the mask headgear is formed of a plurality of straps (701, 702) where at least one of the plurality of straps is slidably engaged with another of the plurality of straps. In a further form the patient interface may be provided with vertically adjustable engaging means (802) that engage the patient interface with the headgear straps.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to patient interfaces, particularly though not solely for use in providing Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) therapy or positive pressure ventilation to patients suffering from obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA).
2. Summary of the Prior Art
In the art of respiration devices, there are well known a variety of respiratory masks which cover the nose and/or mouth of a human user in order to provide a continuous seal around the nasal and/or oral areas of the face such that gas may be provided at positive pressure within the mask for consumption by the user. The uses for such masks range from high altitude breathing (ie. aviation applications) to mining and fire fighting applications, to various medical diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
One requisite of such respiratory masks has been that they provide an effective seal against the user's face to prevent leakage of the gas being supplied. Commonly, in prior mask configurations, a good mask-to-face seal has been attained in many instances only with considerable discomfort for the user. This problem is most crucial in those applications, especially medical applications, which require the user to wear such a mask continuously for hours or perhaps even days. In such situations, the user will not tolerate the mask for long durations and optimum therapeutic or diagnostic objectives will not be achieved, or will be achieved with great difficulty and considerable user discomfort.
In common with prior art designs, is an inability to seal effectively when the user's face becomes distorted. For example, as shown in the prior art mask of FIG. 1 when the user 100 is sleeping on his or her side, one side 101 of the headgear tends to be pulled tight while the other side 102 tends to be loose. This causes the axis of the mask 103 to be twisted with respect to the axis of the head 104, due to the net torque from the headgear, resulting in leakage 105 on one side. The user 100 sleeping on his or her side may also distort the facial contours around the nasal area 106 and may lead to further leakage.