The invention relates to a method for monitoring a pipeline in order to detect the slow reduction of the free inner cross-section by means of the position of a control valve in the pipeline. When the flow rate is essentially constant, a first position is determined and stored at a first moment. According to at least one second position of the control valve, determined at a second, subsequent moment, the point at which the position of the valve exceeds a pre-deterrninable threshold value for a valve opening is determined, and optionally a signal is emitted to indicate that the threshold value has been exceeded and/or the time at which it was exceeded. As a result, suitable maintenance measures can be introduced, before faults occur in the process system.

In many areas of process-control and energy technology the fault-free operation of a system depends on the pipelines, especially on their ability to let the relevant process medium pass through them. To avoid costly regular interruptions to operation it would be sensible to be able to detect well in advance whether a pipeline is blocked in process operation or whether the free internal cross section of the pipeline is slowly reducing. Such faults should where possible be detected right at the start, before a blockage of a pipeline can cause the plant to come to a halt. An operating fault could be avoided by a timely advance warning by optimizing maintenance processes and taking countermeasures in good time.
Previously plant operators were somewhat surprised to find that the flow though a pipeline had been suddenly blocked by a blockage. The mostly unexpected occurrence of a fault then causes production outages and the associated significant costs. One possibility of detecting a reduction in the free pipeline cross section well in advance is an endoscopic investigation of the pipeline, but this can only be done by interrupting the process and thus entails significant effort.
A method for monitoring exhaust gas transport systems with a control valve as control for a pressure-regulated exhaust emission is known from DE-PS 43 42 554. Based on the characteristic curve of the control valve at the exhaust outlet point, the pressure which would exist of the control valve were fully open is regulated as a function of the current volume stream and the regulated exhaust pressure. The maximum pressure loss occurring at maximum volume stream is determined with reference to the input pressure and the outlet pressure determined on the basis of the characteristic curve with a fully open control valve, presented as a function of time and compared with the maximum permitted pressure loss. When the value of the maximum pressure loss approaches the value of the maximum permitted pressure loss the time for cleaning the exhaust gas transport system is determined. The disadvantage of the method is that it is designed specifically for the requirements of an exhaust gas transport system and cannot simply be used as it is with other pipeline systems. In addition no account is taken of the fact that on determination of the exhaust gas pressure for a fully open control valve on the basis of its characteristic curve, because of the increased volume stream the loss of pressure over the pipeline increases additionally. The monitoring is thus comparatively imprecise.
A position regulator for a control valve with a position generator for recording the setting of the valve and with a device for evaluating the recorded position is known for example from DE 199 47 129 A1. This patent describes a system for diagnosis of the current valve status on the basis of a recorded sound signal. In particular a leakage in a closed valve is audibly detected.

Method for monitoring a pipeline and position regulator for a control valve


A hydrophone includes a body formed of a flexible, plastic material. The body includes a plurality of channels and each channel may have one or more wells. The wells are adapted to receive an active element which includes mounting hardware. The mounting hardware includes a soft, rubber grommet or other means which suspends the active element, thereby permitting the flexing of the body without introducing that motion to the active element.

In modern marine seismic streamer systems, a vessel tows a long cable supporting a large number of sensors. Recent developments in such systems have simultaneously focused on making such cables light, durable, and easy to manufacture and maintain, as well as sensitive to the acoustic signals of interest while remaining relatively immune to noise. These developments lead to improvements disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,251, assigned to the same assignee as the present invention.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,128,251, there was disclosed a structure of a solid marine seismic cable which included an interior cable, a surrounding woven strength member, an overlying foam floatation layer, and an enclosing jacket. One or more elongate channels were formed in the overlying floatation layer, and one or more piezoelectric elements were mounted in the channel(s). The elongate form of the channel enlarges the acoustic aperture for improved reception of seismic signals.
Further testing of the structure disclosed in that patent proved the efficacy of the structure disclosed therein, and has resulted in certain improvements and refinements, which are the focus of the present application. Many drawbacks then known in the art were solved by the structure disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,853,604, incorporated herein by reference. However, the improvements and refinements have continued.
More particularly, we have found that previous solid marine seismic cables suffer extreme stresses at the ends of the hydrophone body when the cables are reeled onto a cable reel aboard a vessel. This is due in large part to the fact that the body is rigid and the cable forms a sharp bend at each end of the body when it is wrapped around the reel. These extreme stresses have been found to result in premature failure of the cables. The present invention is directed to solving these and other drawbacks in the art.


A method for generating a channel quality indicator (CQI) in a mobile communication system is presented. The method includes grouping a number of subcarriers to form at least one channel quality indicator subband for generating a channel quality indicator, and generating a channel quality indicator in each channel quality indicator subband, wherein a size of each channel quality indicator subband is dependent on a system bandwidth value and is an integer multiple of a downlink frequency resource unit size, wherein the downlink frequency resource unit size is prescribed according to the system bandwidth value.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of generating a channel quality indicator in a mobile communication system, and specifically, considering a downlink channel status to adaptively adjust the number of frequency bands for channel quality indicator measurement and a width of a frequency band for the channel quality indicator measurement in a frequency-selective channel of a mobile communication system.
Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, channel information is fed back for efficient communication. For example, downlink channel information is uploaded and uplink channel information is downloaded. This channel information is referred to as a channel quality indicator (CQI). The CQI may be generated by a variety of methods. For example, the CQI may be reported by quantizing and uploading a channel status, by calculating and uploading SINR (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio), or by announcing a real channel status such as MCS (modulation coding scheme) level.
The CQI is most often generated according to the MCS level. The CQI should change according to the change in the modulation scheme and the coding scheme. Therefore, at least one CQI is necessary per codeword unit.
The number of CQIs increases if a MIMO (Multiple-input Multiple-output) is applied to a system. Specifically, several codewords may be simultaneously transmitted since MIMO systems generate multi-channels using multi-antennas. Thus, several CQIs should be reported correspondingly. As such, the size of control information is proportionally increased if a plurality of CQIs are used.
FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram for generation and transmission of CQI.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a user equipment 100 measures a downlink quality and then reports a CQI value to a base station 200 via uplink control channel. The CQI value is selected according to the measured downlink quality.
The base station 200 may perform downlink scheduling, user equipment selection, and resource allocation, according to the reported CQI. The CQI value may include one of SINR (signal to interference and noise ratio) of a channel, CINR (carrier to interference and noise ratio), BER (bit error rate), FER (frame error rate), or a value resulting from converting one of the values above to transmittable data. In a MIMO system, information reflecting a channel status such as RI (rank information), PMI (preceding matrix information), may be added to the CQI value.
In a mobile communication system, link adaptation is used to maximize the use channel capacity of a channel. The link adaptation provides a method of adjusting MCS (modulation and coding set) and transmission power according to a given channel. The channel quality information must be fed back to a base station to enable the base station to perform the link adaptation.
Abrupt channel variation appears within a system bandwidth if a frequency band used by a system exceeds a coherence bandwidth. Specifically, in a multi-carrier system such as an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) system, several subcarriers exist within a given bandwidth. Since modulated symbols are transmitted via each of the subcarriers, optimal channel transmission means that channel information is carried by each subcarrier. Therefore, the size of the channel information is abruptly raised in a multi-carrier system having a plurality of subcarriers.

Method of generating channel quality indicator adaptively in downlink status and user equipment for the same


A computer apparatus (100) includes an OS execution unit (120), an OS-dependent interrupt processing unit (110), and an OS-independent interrupt processing unit (130). When an OS-independent interrupt (201) due to a state of a device (200) occurs, the OS-independent interrupt processing unit (130) determines whether or not to initiate a task (145). When the task (145) is to be initiated, the OS-independent interrupt processing unit (130) turns on the flag (141) and causes the OS execution unit (120) to generate an OS-dependent interrupt (202). When the OS-dependent interrupt (202) is generated, the OS-dependent interrupt processing unit (110) determines whether or not the flag (141) is on, and when the flag (141) is on, initiates the task (145) and turns off the flag (141).

Non-Patent Literature 1 discloses a computer system using a real-time operating system (OS) for embedded devices. The computer system of Non-Patent Literature 1 has two types of interrupt handlers: a kernel-managed interrupt handler which is dependent on the OS and a non-kernel-managed interrupt handler which is independent of the OS. The kernel-managed interrupt handler is also referred to as an OS-dependent interrupt handler. The non-kernel-managed interrupt handler is also referred to as an OS-independent interrupt handler.
The OS-dependent interrupt handler can issue an OS service call within the OS-dependent interrupt handler. However, an OS-dependent interrupt generated while the service call is being processed is delayed until the OS-dependent interrupt can be accepted.
The OS-independent interrupt handler cannot issue an OS service call within the OS-independent interrupt handler. However, an OS-independent interrupt generated while a service call is being processed can be accepted even in a section where OS-dependent interrupts cannot be accepted.

Computer apparatus, task initiation method, and computer readable medium


The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for improving the probability of a successful, subsequent attempt to boot a computer system after a failed system boot. The method comprises the steps of: (a) identifying a cause of the failed system boot; and (b) modifying parameters related to an identified cause of a failed system boot and/or taking evasive action based on an identified cause of a failed system boot.

FIG. 1 shows a conventional computer 10 having a video display 12, such as a CRT monitor, and an input device 14, such as a keyboard. The computer 10 has a central processing unit ("CPU") or microprocessor 16 and memory 18. The microprocessor 16 executes programs that reside within the memory 18 of the computer 10.
Description of BIOS Program
When a conventional personal computer 10 is first turned on, a Basic Input/Output System ("BIOS") is enabled. A BIOS program 24 (see FIG. 2) is a set of programs usually stored permanently in a read only memory ("ROM") that provides the most basic control and management of the computer's hardware. When a user turns on the computer 10, the BIOS program 24 conducts a series of complex tests of the devices installed on the computer 10. During run-time, the BIOS program 24 provides the Operating System and application programs with access to these devices.
Software is usually designed to operate in layers, and the BIOS program 24 is the lowest software layer in the computer 10 (as shown in FIG. 2). It functions as the interface between the hardware and the other layers of software, isolating them from the specific hardware details. This arrangement enables the user to change certain hardware devices without having to install a new operating system.
The BIOS Program Functions
The BIOS program 24 has two basic functions:
A. Initialize and configure the computer 10 PA1 B. Provide run-time BIOS Services PA1 Test Random Access Memory (RAM) PA1 Conduct an inventory of the hardware devices installed in the computer PA1 Configure hard and floppy disks, keyboard, and serial and parallel ports PA1 Configure other devices installed in the computer such as CD-ROM drives and sound cards PA1 Initialize computer hardware required for computer features such as Plug and Play and Power Management PA1 Run Setup if requested PA1 If prior tasks are successful, then load and run the Operating System such as DOS, OS/2, UNIX, or Windows '95
The present invention relates to the first function, in particular, to software inserted in or linked to the BIOS program 24 that operates and modifies the operation of the BIOS program 24 during the initialization and configuration of the computer 10.
FIG. 2 illustrates the second function and the relationship between the system files 26, the BIOS program 24, and the hardware in the computer 10 during run time. The system files 26 are part of the operating system. When the computer 10 is started, the system files 26 are loaded in memory 18, usually random access memory. The system files 26 form a unified set of routines for controlling and directing the computer's operations. The system files 26 interact with the BIOS program 24 which is copied into random access memory ("RAM") 18 from the ROM for execution of runtime services. The BIOS program 24 links requests made from the system files 26 to the hardware.
Initialize and Configure the Computer
The first job of a BIOS program 24 is to initialize and to configure the computer hardware when the user turns on the computer 10 ("system boot"). The BIOS program 24 runs a startup program called the POST program, which performs a number of tasks, including:
In order to perform these tasks, the POST program runs a plurality of separate start-up, diagnostic routines. The POST runs these diagnostic routines on the computer system. If the POST process is successful, then an operating system is loaded onto the computer system, thereby enabling the user to use the computer system. The steps of executing the POST process and loading or booting the operating system is referred to as a "system boot".
When a POST routine fails, the BIOS will not boot the operating system. Thus, if the system boot fails, then the user will not be able to use the computer until the system is booted up successfully. Consequently, once a system boot fails, unless the user wants to turn the computer over for repairs and not retry the system boot, the computer system's configuration needs to be modified to increase the probability of successfully booting up the system.
In the current approach, to maximize the probability of a successful subsequent boot up sequence following a failed system boot, the BIOS determines whether a previous POST was successful, by checking a piece of data, which will indicate whether the previous POST was successful. If the BIOS determines that the previous POST was not successful, the BIOS typically will advise the user that the previous attempt failed, and will attempt to reboot the system using pre-defined default parameters to configure the system and leave some performance features disabled. These default parameters are intended to improve the probability that the computer system will successfully boot up.
However, a problem with this approach is that by using default parameters to configure the entire system, performance parameters for the computer are lowered and fewer features are enabled. Clearly, a BIOS that improves the probability of a successful subsequent system boot without unnecessarily inhibiting specific features and/or performance parameters of the computer system is desirable.
If, on the subsequent attempt to boot, the BIOS is able to complete the POST process, the BIOS will pause at the end of the POST process to give the user the option of continuing the boot process or entering a system utility that enables the user to change certain system parameters and to enable or disable certain system features. If the user selects to continue the boot process, then the system will boot the Operating System and run with less performance and/or fewer features enabled. If the user chooses to enter the system utility, then the user may selectively change, enable, or disable system features and/or performance parameters. Because most computer users are not knowledgeable about the various parameters and are not knowledgeable about the effects of changing the parameters, this option is not helpful to the ordinary user. Although it provides flexibility, the user may have no idea what to do and could end up adjusting parameters in a way that does not improve or unnecessarily hurts system performance. In short, this option is not a convenient, user friendly option for remedying a failed system boot. Clearly, a BIOS which does not rely on the user to selectively change system parameters and improves the probability of a successful subsequent boot after a failed system boot is desirable.

Apparatus and method to determine cause of failed boot sequence to improve likelihood of successful subsequent boot attempt


In the method of manufacturing a semiconductor device, via holes and first trenches to form air gaps are concurrently formed in a first insulating film on a semiconductor substrate and a second insulating film is formed thereon. Thereafter, the second insulating film lying outside the area corresponding to the regions where the first trenches to form air gaps are formed is partially removed to form trenches for wiring by using a mask. A plurality of wirings are formed by filling in the trenches for wiring with a metal film. The second insulating film remaining in the regions where the first trenches to form air gaps are formed is then removed to form second trenches to form air gaps. Subsequently, in forming a third insulating film, air gaps are formed within the second trenches to form air gap.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Related Art
To reduce parasitic capacitance between wiring when fabricating semiconductor devices with multi-layered wiring structures on a semiconductor substrate, a low-dielectric-constant material has heretofore been used as the interlayer insulating film or air gaps (cavities) are formed between wiring.
The latter is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 85519/2001. In this publication, wirings having a reversed taper configuration on a sacrifice layer are formed made up of, for example, PSG (Phosphorous Silicate Glass) and the sacrifice layer is removed by dry etching or wet etching to thereby form air gaps between wirings.
Japanese Patent No. 3102382 discloses a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same in which openings of via holes and opening between wirings are concurrently formed to form cavities on the insulating portions between the wirings.
However, in the conventional method wherein air gaps are formed after formation of the wirings, a mask of a photoresist film or the like is formed and interlayer insulating films between wirings are removed to form trench to form air gaps by means of etching. The use of a mask to form trenches to form air gap results in a significant increases in the number of processes.
Unlike this, the removal of the interlayer insulating film by dry etching without forming a mask may damage the wirings.
Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, if an interlayer insulating film 1 is selectively removed by wet etching without forming a mask, shape after the etching becomes difficult to control. When overetching results, as shown in FIG. 1A, the interlayer insulating film 1 having via holes formed therein becomes irregularly shaped, and thus the supporting leg for the wiring 5 or the interlayer insulating film 1 between the wirings 5 may disappear.
On the other hand, if underetching occurs after the interlayer insulating film 1 is selectively removed by wet etching, as shown in FIG. 1B, interlayer insulating film 6 in which air gaps 9 are to be formed may take the shape of irregular tapers. As a result, even if via holes are formed in the wirings 5 and of low filling-up capability (i, e, the recesses are difficult to be filled up) to deposit an interlayer insulating film 6 therein, uniform air gaps 9 cannot be obtained.
Further, the use of a low-dielectric-constant material as a interlayer insulating film often makes a difference in etching selectivity for the etchant between the interlayer insulating film and its underlying layer small. This requires for an etching stopper film to be formed between the interlayer insulating film and its underlying layer. This in turn deteriorates the adhesiveness between layers and increases the parasitic capacitance between wirings despite the use of the low-dielectric-constant material as the interlayer insulating film.

Manufacturing of a semiconductor device with a reduced capacitance between wirings


An object of the invention is to provide a control apparatus and a control method having a simple constitution, which can stably perform switching of optical path in an optical signal exchanger, while suppressing an influence on a control due to the mechanical resonance of tilt mirrors. To this end, the control apparatus of the optical signal exchanger is constituted such that in an optical signal exchanger of three-dimensional type using one set of MEMS mirror arrays, each having a plurality of tilt mirrors arranged on a plane, each tilt mirror having a reflecting surface an angle of which is controllable, when the angle of the MEMS mirror on the optical path is feedback controlled by detecting power of an optical signal output from a specific position, a resonance component removing section that removes a resonance frequency component included in a control signal is shared corresponding to a pair of driving electrodes arranged in a coaxial direction of the MEMS mirror. As a result, the influence on the feedback control by a resonance action of the MEMS mirror can be reduced, while suppressing an increase in circuit size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching control technique for an optical signal exchanger, and in particular relates to a control apparatus and a control method of an optical signal exchanger that uses a reflecting tilt mirror made by micromachining (MEMS: Micro Electric Mechanical System) technology.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with the increase in traffic on the Internet and the like, a demand for optical networks is increasing. Under such circumstances, attention is being paid to the introduction of optical signal exchangers that switch data of high speed and high volume just as in an optical signal state. As a conventional technique for realizing a high speed and high capacity optical signal exchanger, for example a system mechanically switching an optical fiber or a system constituted by combining waveguides, has been predominant. However, in this conventional technique, it is necessary to adopt a multistage constitution. Therefore, an optical loss inside the optical signal exchanger is very significant, and further, there is also a limit to deal with an increase in the number of channels. Consequently, it is difficult to realize an optical signal exchanger that deals with several 10 channels or more.
Under the abovementioned circumstances, an optical switch using a tilt mirror (hereunder referred to as an MEMS mirror) made by applying micromachining (MEMS) technology is predominant compared to other switches, from the point of miniaturization, wavelength independence and polarization independence, and is thus gaining attention. In particular, for example as shown in FIG. 23, an optical signal exchanger of three-dimensional type constituted by combining two collimator arrays 1A and 1B having a plurality of collimators arranged in two dimensions, respectively, and two MEMS mirror arrays 2A and 2B having a plurality of MEMS mirrors arranged in two dimensions, respectively, is expected from the point that a reduction in optical loss, a large capacity and multichannel can be realized.
Regarding the abovementioned three-dimensional optical signal exchanger, the present applicant has proposed a control technique for automatically correcting angular displacement of respective MEMS mirrors to reduce an optical loss (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-236264 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-132833). A control apparatus for an optical signal exchanger applied with this control technique, for example as shown in FIG. 24, automatically corrects the angular displacement of reflecting surfaces of respective MEMS mirrors by; detecting in an optical power detection section 12, power of light branched by an optical coupler array 11 provided on a latter stage of an output optical fiber array 10B connected to a collimator 1B on an output side, judges in a comparison control section 13 based on the detection results, coupling states of optical signals with respect to output optical fibers, and controlling respective MEMS mirror drive sections 14A and 14B so that the loss inside the optical signal exchanger become minimum.
The optical switch using the MEMS mirror in the abovementioned optical signal exchanger include an intrinsic problem in that since the switch element itself mechanically operates, when the angle is controlled at a high speed, mechanical resonance of the MEMS mirrors occurs, thereby affecting the feedback control of the angle.
A mechanical characteristic of the MEMS mirror can be generally expressed by the following equation (1):
                                          G            MEMS                                          (            s            )                          =                              ω            MEMS            2                                              s              2                        +                          2              ·                              ξ                MEMS                            ·                              ω                MEMS                            ·              s                        +                          ω              MEMS              2                                                          (        1        )            where ωMEMS is a resonance frequency of the MEMS mirror, ξMEMS is a damping factor, and s is a Laplacian operator. The damping factor ξMEMS has a value of about from 0.001 to 0.01, although this depends on the process structure of the MEMS mirror.
FIG. 25 is a diagram showing one example of a specific configuration of the conventional control apparatus shown in FIG. 24 mentioned above. FIG. 26 is a diagram schematically showing the driven state of a typical MEMS mirror.
As shown in the respective figures, each MEMS mirror arranged on the MEMS mirror array comprises electrodes 2X-1 and 2X-2, 2Y-1 and 2Y-2 in the vicinity of the opposite ends of a mirror 2a, for each direction of the X axis and the Y axis. A voltage is applied to the electrode affiliated with the direction in which the mirror 2a is to be tilted (for example, in FIG. 26, the electrode 2X-1), in accordance with a control signal from the comparison control section 13, to electrostatically actuate the electrode, thereby tilting the reflecting surface of the mirror 2a in the required direction. At this time, the electrostatically actuated MEMS mirror follows the mechanical characteristic shown in equation (1), and hence resonance may occur, for example, as shown in FIG. 27. In the conventional control apparatus, the driven state of the resonance acting MEMS mirrors is feedback controlled so that an angle of the reflecting surface is optimized, based on the detection result in an optical power detection section 12. Therefore, there is a possibility that the feedback control cannot be accurately carried out due to an influence of the resonance action.
In order to reduce the influence on the feedback control due to the resonance action of the MEMS mirror, for example, it can be considered to insert in a control loop, a filter for removing resonance frequency components included in the control signal. Such a method is well known in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 8-126370, 5-210419, 5-285786 and 8-149876, though these publications are in different fields to the control of the optical signal exchanger.
However, taking into consideration actual implementation of the filter in the conventional control apparatus of the optical signal exchanger of the three-dimensional type, four filters are required for one MEMS mirror, as shown in FIG. 25. Since these four filters are necessary for each one of MEMS mirrors arranged in the respective MEMS mirror arrays 2A and 2B on an input side and on an output side, there is a problem in that the circuit size is increased.

Control apparatus and control method of optical signal exchanger


A candle with a decorative light element is provided. A light emitting device is disposed within the main body of the candle, and a sensor connected to the light emitting device detects the presence of a flame on the wick. When a flame is detected by the sensor, the light emitting device is activated. The portion of the candle from which the wick projects is preferably substantially opaque, and the portion of the candle in which the light emitting device is disposed is preferably at least partially light transmissible or translucent, so that the glow of the flame does not interfere with the glow of the light emitting device within the candle.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to candles, and more specifically to decorative candles.
2. Description of the Related Art
A candle usually emits light by the burning of its wick, however its use as a primary lighting instrument has been reduced with the popularization of electric light. Therefore, the candle is currently used more frequently as decoration.
As a result of this trend, there have emerged a number of decorative and entertainment candle-related products, one example of which can be found in Chinese Patent No. 02233525.0. This patent teaches a candle-based product having a flashing function having a candle and a base tray. The candle is rooted on the base tray, and the tray includes an integrated circuit, power supply, and light emitting diode (LED). The integrated circuit and LED are fixed on the base tray. An aluminum wire/foil core is used as lighting circuit switch; while the switch is closed, the candle will flash. However, there must be a base tray, and the lighting circuit must also be fixed on the base tray. The base tray therefore limits the geometry and nature of the candle. Another drawback is that the aluminum core here is made from two small aluminum foil bars with a layer of insulating material between them set parallel with the wick. The insulating material is removed by the high temperature developed by the burning of the wick, and the aluminum foil bars will be connected and form a circuit. However, burned ash will remain (from the combustion of the insulating material and the melting of the aluminum), and this negatively affects the candle's ability to provide decoration and view. More importantly, after the candle is shut off, the two pieces of aluminum must be pulled apart manually as they remain fused together, and thus the circuit remains closed. Finally, as with ordinary candles, some kind of smoke can be formed during operation, especially if the wick burns all the way down to the LEDs.
An improvement to this design is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/758,179, published Jul. 18, 2002 with Publication No. 2002/0093834 (now abandoned). This application discloses the use of an optical fiber to conduct light from a flame on the wick to a photosensor switch on the LED base. When a flame is present, the LED light show is activated, and when the flame is extinguished, the LEDs go out as well. This design and the one mentioned above suffer from a major deficiency. Since the wax of the candle is designed to be light transparent, light from the flame easily enters and permeates the wax, thereby washing out the light emanating from the LEDs in the base of the candle. The light show effect is thereby diminished by the very trigger mechanism that activates it (the flame), and the result is not very impressive.


An electrical connector footprint on a printed circuit board (PCB) can include vias and antipads surrounding those vias. While conventional antipads surrounding vias are large in order to improve impedance of the PCB, the presence of the antipads can compromise the integrity of the ground plane and can permit cross talk to arise between differential pairs on different layers in the PCB. Antipads can be constructed and arranged so as to limit cross talk between layers in a PCB, while also maximizing impedance.

Typical electrical connector footprints, such as on printed circuit boards (PCB), contain vias and antipads surrounding those vias. While conventional antipads surrounding vias are large in order to improve impedance of the PCB, the very presence of the antipads compromises the integrity of the ground plane and permits cross talk to arise between differential pairs on different layers in the PCB.

Connector footprints in printed circuit board (PCB)


An information processing apparatus includes an input device which allows input of a plurality of information so as to allow performance of a plurality of processes, an input information display device that displays input information that is the input one or more kinds of information, a delete menu storage device that stores a delete menu having a plurality of delete options, and a delete menu display device that displays only delete options corresponding to the information input by the input device from among the plurality of delete options, as the delete menu.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus for processing various kinds of input information, to a printing and embossing complex apparatus, to a delete menu display method of the information processing apparatus, and to a program.
2. Related Art
In the related art, a label making apparatus that prints given information on a tape as ink characters and makes labels is known (for example, see JP-A-10-00818). In addition, a Braille label making apparatus which makes Braille labels by performing both an ink character printing process and a Braille embossing process such that visually impaired people and people with normal vision can recognize the labels is also known (for example, see JP-A-2001-88358). Furthermore, in the Braille label making apparatus, generous labels can be separately made by either performing only the ink character printing process without performing the Braille embossing process, or Braille labels can be made by performing only the Braille embossing process without performing the ink character printing process.
The label making apparatus has a function for deleting input information by using various options in accordance with a user's request so as to improve user operationality. For example, the label making apparatus displays a delete menu including a plurality of options such that the whole input information is batch-deleted or only some of the sections are selectively deleted, thus allowing a user to select a desired option. From the above fact, it can be easily assumed that the Braille label making apparatus may also have such a function.
In the Braille label making apparatus, however, various kinds of information, such as ink character printing information and Braille embossing information, are input according to the apparatus characteristics. That is, the delete menu includes options, such as 'whole information will be deleted', 'ink character printing information will be deleted', and 'braille embossing information will be deleted'. A user can select a desired option from among the plurality of options. In this case, for controlling the apparatus, it is natural that the menu for deleting information that has not been input cannot be selected, but a user, in particular, a user who has not experienced the input manipulation of the label making apparatus may be confused as to why some of the delete menus cannot be selected.

Information processing apparatus, printing and embossing complex apparatus, delete menu display method of information processing apparatus and program


A bee dissemination device or dispenser that is non destructive to the hive, is easy to insert, refill, and remove includes a cartridge insertable in a housing. The device is designed to be used by a non professional bee keeper, such as a grower. It is inserted into the entrance of a standard bee hive with minimal disruption to the hive or colony. When the bees exit the hive, they walk up a ramp through a dry biological control suspension and leave the hive, carrying and depositing the biological control agent onto the flowers as they pollinate the crop. When the biological control agent runs low, additional material is added easily by lifting a hinged lid or replacing the old cartridge with a filled one. The lid also provides some moisture protection to keep the biological agent dry, thereby facilitating bee inoculation. The dispenser is removed by simply pulling it from the hive entrance when pollination activities are completed. The removal is non disruptive and does not destroy the integrity of the hive. When the device is inserted, refilled, or removed at night, minimal protective clothing is required by the user.

Because bees have evolved to carry and disseminate pollen and other microscopic matter, it is a natural extension to use bees to carry microscopic biological control agents to protect plants from certain insect and diseases. Over the last few years, several authors have reported using honey bees to carry biological antagonists to control insects and diseases that attack plants. Gross et al. (1994) used honey bees as disseminators of a virus that controlled the corn earworm on crimson clover and developed an applicator for that purpose. Thomson et. al (1992) used commercial pollen trays to inoculated the bees with a biological antagonist that protected apples and pears from fire blight. Peng et al. (1992) designed a dispenser to contaminate honey bees with a biological control agent to control Botrytis fruit rot on strawberries. Each of these applicator/disseminator devices were effective in inoculating the bees with the biologicals but they are cumbersome and difficult to use especially by a non professional bee keeper.
Because recent research has shown that bee disseminated biological antagonists can control two different diseases on apples, pears, and strawberries, there is potentially a large market for this biological approach. Currently in the United States, there are about 45,000 acres of strawberries, 330,000 acres of apples and 67,000 acres of pears under cultivation. Each year these crops have to be pollinated and protected from Botrytis fruit rot or fire blight.
A number of known devices are mounted on the opening of bee hives which direct bees in and out of the hive. Such devices frequently surface-contaminate a bee with live pollen for dissemination outside the hive. Most of these devices include a hive entrance modifier forming a downwardly sloping ramp used by entering and exiting bees. Pollen is poured into the funnel-shaped region formed by the ramp and it is picked up by the bees as they exit the hive. A disadvantage of these devices is that they need to be serviced frequently (every 1-2 hours) by adding teaspoons of pollen or biocontrol agents into the funnel. If refilling is not done frequently, than bees exiting the hive are without their pollen or biocontrol payload.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,435,951 (Antles), 2,485,879 (Harwood), and 3,371,360 (Antles et al.) disclose hive exit devices, as described above, that require frequent refilling and only coat the bees as they exit the hive. Because the entire entrance/exit region of the hive is not totally covered by these devices, some exiting bees avoid the device and do not come in contact with the pollen or biocontrol agent. This obviously reduces biocontrol efficacy in the field. Although U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,744 (Ferrari) discloses a device that forces the bees to contact the pollen or the biocontrol material as they exit the hive, the device requires frequent refilling.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,069,702 (Reed) has a large storage area and contains a feeder wheel that automatically deposits the material onto the bees. However, it has moving parts that can fail and require maintenance. In addition, this feeder constantly deposits material across the exit of the hive even when the bees are inactive. Depending on the formulation of the biocontrol agent, clogging of the apparatus is possible, resulting in less material being applied to the bees.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,412,363 (Robson) discloses an apparatus for collecting and distributing pollen that is dimensioned to fit within the stack of hives (supers) that form a segmented bee colony. The apparatus includes a removable tray, but removing and inserting a new tray can be difficult because of dead bee bodies and caking problems.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,511 (Gross et al.) discloses a device placed in front of beehives to disseminate biocontrol agents. Although this device has a removable tray, removing and inserting a new tray can be difficult because of dead bee bodies and caking problems. In addition, a major disadvantage of this device is that it requires cutting a fairly large hole in the hive for attachment.
Most of the currently available devices only hold a few teaspoons of material and need to be recharged frequently. Although this may be fine for research purposes using only a few hives, it does provide practical limitations for commercial applicability.


Microlithographic illumination system includes individually drivable elements to variably illuminate a pupil surface of the system. Each element deviates an incident light beam based on a control signal applied to the element. The system also includes an instrument to provide a measurement signal, and a model-based state estimator configured to compute, for each element, an estimated state vector based on the measurement signal. The estimated state vector represents: a deviation of a light beam caused by the element; and a time derivative of the deviation. The illumination system further includes a regulator configured to receive, for each element: a) the estimated state vector; and b) target values for: i) the deviation of the light beam caused by the deviating element; and ii) the time derivative of the deviation.

In illumination systems of microlithographic projection exposure apparatus, which are used for the production of finely structured semiconductor components, flat arrangements of beam deviating elements can be used to manipulate the projection light to try to improve the imaging properties of the microlithographic projection exposure apparatus. One example of this involves so-called multi-mirror arrays, in which a multiplicity of micromirrors are arranged in an array, such as in rows and columns. The micromirrors are movable, such as tiltable about two axes provided perpendicularly to one another, so that their surface normal can be tilted into any directions starting from a neutral position. This can allow for variable alterations in the illumination settings in illumination systems.

Method and device for monitoring multiple mirror arrays in an illumination system of a microlithographic projection exposure apparatus


Reactive, non-isocyanate coating compositions prepared by mixing epoxy, tertiary amine, anhydride, hydroxy- and, optionally, acid functional compounds, a system of making the coating composition, a method of coating the composition on a substrate and a substrate coated with the composition.

Polymers that are used as binders in the preparation of coatings compositions usually require that a cross-linking reaction occurs after the application of the composition. This cross-linking reaction is necessary to obtain desired properties such as mechanical strength, resistance against chemical agents, exterior durability, etc. The cross-linking is often the result of the reaction between functional groups on the polymer and co-reactive functional groups on a cross-linker added to the composition. Examples are the reaction between the hydroxyl groups of a polymer and melamine-formaldehyde resins or between hydroxyl groups and polyisocyanate resins.
High performance, low temperature curing polyurethane or polyurea coatings include reactive polyisocyanates and active hydrogen-containing compounds such as hydroxyl-containing polymers or amine-containing polymers. Although these materials exhibit excellent performance and cure at low temperatures, the isocyanates may, under some conditions, be relatively hazardous to handle.
The coatings industry has been trying for years to develop non-isocyanate coating systems without sacrificing performance. Various non-isocyanate systems developed suffer from inferior performance in one or more areas such as durability, gloss retention, drying, hardness, solvent and humidity resistance and the like.
The market interest for non-isocyanate coatings is driven by environmental and safety concerns. Lower volatile organic compounds (VOC) and higher performance continue to be the driving forces for developing new and innovative coatings systems.
A non-isocyanate reactive coatings system, identified as the AA (All Acrylic) System, is available from Akzo Nobel Resins, a part of Akzo Nobel. This AA system is composed of two functional compounds: the first compound is a polymer containing epoxy and hydroxyl functionalities and the second compound is a polymer having tertiary amine and acid functionalities. The epoxy and tertiary-amine groups are the dominant functionalities in these polymers.
The first major cure reaction in AA is the reaction of t-amine with the epoxy group to form a quaternary ammonium ion with the aid of carboxylic acid:
Once the acid groups are consumed by the formation of quaternary ammonium ions, other reactions take place to consume the excess epoxy groups. For a description of the chemistry of "all acrylic" coatings see Leo G. J. Van de Ven, Rene T. M. Lejzer, Egbert Brinkman, and Paul Vandevoorde, Double Liasion, "Curing Mechanism of Waterborne Isocyanate Free All-Acrylic coatings", No. 498–499, pp. 67–71 (1997); also see: Proceeding Eurocoat 97, September 23–25, pp. 549–560 (1997) and Farbe Lack, Vol. 105, No. 8, pp. 24–28 (1999),; E. Brinkman, and Paul Vandevoorde, "Waterborne two-pack isocynate-free systems for industrial coatings", Progress in Organic Coatings 34, pp. 21–25 (1998); E. Manning and E. Brinkman, "All acrylic technology as an alternative to isocyanate-free polyurethane systems, Polymers Paint Colour, J. Vol. 190, No. 4426, pp. 21–23, (2000); Richard Hall and Maarten Weber, "Waterborne All Acrylic (WBAA) Coatings in Transport and its Structure", Eurocoat, 2001, Lyon France.
The early hardness development (performance during the first few days), the ultimate flexibility, and solvent resistance of this system are unsatisfactory for applications in metal coatings, such as for small machinery, agricultural implements and construction equipment. Improved performance properties are desired. The present invention addresses these weaknesses.
Other non-isocyanate systems comprise various combinations of anhydride, hydroxyl, epoxy, and acid compounds. These formulations utilize tertiary-amine as a catalyst for the anhydride-hydroxyl reaction. The tertiary-amine catalyst does not contribute to the crosslinked structure of the film network. These systems have poor chemical resistance, hydrolytic instability and poor exterior durability.
The following patents are a few examples of the prior art where catalytic amounts of tertiary amines are used to catalyze the anhydride-hydroxyl reaction. U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,790 describes a process of coating where one of the compositions applied is a high solids coating based on hydroxy-functional epoxies and anhydride. U.S. Pat. No. 4,452,948 describes a two-pack coating system comprised of a hydroxyl component, an anhydride component and a catalyst. U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,806 refers to formulations of curable compositions comprising an acid-functional compound, an anhydride-functional compound, an epoxy-functional compound, and a hydroxy-functional compound. U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,243 refers to a substrate coated with a composition including a hydroxy-functional compound, an anhydride-functional compound and cycloaliphatic epoxy compound. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,826,921, 4,946,744, and 4,798,745 refer to the formulation of compositions including anhydride and hydroxy-functional compounds. U.S. Pat. No. 5,602,274 refers to the use of non-cyclic anhydride with other coreactants such as, polyols, amines and epoxies. None of the prior art describe mixtures of compounds containing four (4) or five (5) functionalities in which a polymeric tertiary amine is used as co-reactant.

Reactive non-isocyanate coating compositions


A controller reads out image data of an area frame that a user has drawn on an original and accurately extracts the area frame by removing noise from the read-out image data to divide image data of an area outside the area frame and image data of an area inside the area frame into separate stencils, according to a separation program. It is therefore possible to execute a separation process desired by the user without increasing costs and man-hours and with easy operations not making the user feel troublesome.

The present invention relates to a stencil printing machine with a plurality of drum units and a method of controlling the same.
A stencil printing machine with a plurality of drum units has been hitherto known. With such a stencil printing machine, as disclosed in the Japanese Patent No. 2911891, an area specified by a user and the other area can be separately printed by perforating separate stencil sheets by heat according to an image of the specified area and an image of the other area and then loading the perforated stencil sheets on respective drum units.
The style of separation that the user desires varies on originals. However, according to the configuration of the conventional stencil printing, the separation area is specified by causing the printing machine to scan a sheet in which the separation area is specified. Accordingly, the number of man hours for the separation process increases, and furthermore, when the sheet is contaminated, noise which is difficult to remove is added to an original image in some cases. Moreover, black letters and colored letters within the original cannot be separated unless the user specifies an area.
For two-color separation, it is possible to add various types of hardware elements such as a digitizer, a color scanner to recognize colors of originals, and an automatic two-color separation function to the machine. However, addition of the hardware elements to the machine increases costs of the stencil printing machine. Moreover, users tend to avoid a separation operation using a digitizer and a separation operation requiring specifying each color because the methods thereof are difficult to understand and the operations thereof are complicated.
The present invention was made to solve the aforementioned problem and an object of the present invention is to provide a stencil printing machine capable of executing a separation process that a user desires with an easy operation not making the user feel troublesome and the method of controlling the same.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a stencil printing machine capable of selectively executing various types of separation processes that the user desires and the method of controlling the same.

Stencil printing machine with a plurality of drum units and method of controlling the same


Method and apparatus for providing virtual capacity to a service provider. A service provider contacts a third party service provider when the service provider can not perform services for a customer. A solicitation is sent by the service provider and accepted by the third party service provider. After acceptance, status and/or location information from the third party service provider is redirected within a network management facility so that the information is sent to the service provider, rather than to an entity normally associated with the third party service provider. After services have been performed by the third party service provider, the third party service provider is generally free to accept service requests from other service providers, whereby messages transmitted by the third party service provider are routed to the new service provider.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the service industry. More particularly, the present invention provides for a method and system for providing virtual capacity to a provider of services, such as freight delivery services.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of wireless communication systems is well known for transmitting information between fixed stations and one or more geographically dispersed mobile receivers. For example, satellite communication systems have been used in the trucking industry for many years to provide messaging and location information between fleet-owned dispatch centers and their respective tractor-trailer vehicles. Such systems offer significant benefits to fleet owners because they allow almost instantaneous communications and real-time position information. An example of such a satellite communication system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,979,170 entitled "Alternating Sequential Half Duplex Communication System and Method"; U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,274 entitled "Multiplexed Address Control in a TDM Communication System"; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,926 entitled "Dual Satellite Navigation System"; U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,810 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Automatic Event Detection in a Wireless Communication System," all assigned to the assignee of the present invention and all incorporated herein by reference thereto as if repeated verbatim immediately hereinafter.
In the satellite communication system described by the above-mentioned patents, fleet-owned dispatch centers communicate using land-based systems such as telephone or fiber-optic networks to a hub, otherwise known as a network management facility (NMF). The NMF acts as a central communication station through which all communications between vehicles and dispatch centers pass. The NMF comprises a number of network management computers (NMCs), each NMC responsible for providing a communication path from the NMF to geographically dispersed vehicles in the communication system using a geosynchronous satellite. The geosynchronous satellite comprises one or more transponders, which are electronic circuits well known in the art for relaying high frequency satellite communication signals between remote locations. Each NMC is assigned an individual transponder, with each transponder operating at a unique frequency in order to avoid interference with communication signals on other transponders. In the satellite communication system of the above-referenced patents, each transponder is capable of handling the communications needs of approximately 30,000 vehicles. Each vehicle in the communication system is equipped with a transceiver, otherwise known as a mobile communication terminal (MCT), for communicating message and location information to a pre-designated NMC via the geosynchronous satellite.
In a typical transaction where trucking companies, or carriers as they are known, with the capability and flexibility to transport large amounts of goods to multiple destinations efficiently, a carrier is called upon to transport goods from one location to another by a customer, otherwise known as a shipper. Examples of shippers might include almost any manufacturer of goods. Sometimes a carrier will have a standing contract with a shipper to transport goods that the shipper desires to be transported. The shipper provides delivery instructions to the carrier comprising details of the shipment, including, for example, when and where to pick up the goods and where to ship them. Generally, these instructions pertaining to a shipment are provided to the carrier or its representative (e.g., a vehicle operator of carrier) in the form of a document commonly referred to as a "bill of lading." The bill of lading may also provide other pertinent information concerning the shipment, such as a description and quantity of the goods being shipped.
Many times a carrier will not have any available vehicles for transporting goods which a shipper desires to be shipped, especially a carrier that is obligated by contract to transport goods of a shipper. If a carrier does have an available vehicle, the capacity of the vehicle may be too small for the quantity of goods to be shipped. In any of these situations, the carrier will either have to inform the shipper that it cannot transport the goods, or hire a third party carrier to transport the goods. The latter alternative would be especially demanded of the carrier if the carrier had previously contracted with the shipper to transport goods belonging to the shipper.
After the goods have been assigned for transportation by a carrier to a third party carrier, the carrier needs to be kept apprised of various events throughout a typical delivery cycle. Typically, the carrier relies on a third party network management facility having an associated third party dispatcher for being kept informed of the status of goods being transported by a third party carrier. For example, upon arrival at a predetermined pickup destination, a truck driver of a vehicle for the third party carrier may contact a dispatch center associated with the third party carrier to alert the dispatch center of the time and location of arrival. It is then the responsibility of the third party dispatcher to inform the third party network management facility of this information, who in turn would then transmit the information to the carrier so that the carrier may furnish the information to the shipper. Similarly, after the truck of a third party carrier has been loaded at the pickup destination, the truck driver may send a message to the third party dispatch center indicating the time of departure, the location from where the departure occurred, and a description of the goods that are being transported. Another example where a vehicle operator for a third party carrier might transmit a status message to the third party dispatch center is when an unscheduled stop has been made and/or when the vehicle departs from the unscheduled stop. All of these possible events in a delivery cycle are important information that should be communicated to the carrier. Many times personnel in the third party network management facility and/or the third party dispatch center forget to transmit this information, or are tardy in doing same.
Although communications between drivers and dispatch centers and/or network management facilities have been made much more convenient and reliable using satellite or terrestrial-based communication systems, a variety of problems still persist in the reporting process. For example, a driver may forget to send a message upon arrival or departure from a planned pickup destination, causing confusion at the dispatch center as to the status of goods in transit. Or, a driver may send a message long after he has departed a pickup indicating that he is just now leaving the pickup location, to avoid possible negative consequences of forgetting to send a timely message. Furthermore, a driver may not wish to inform the dispatch center when making an unscheduled stop, for a variety of reasons. Thus, with respect to transportation information that should be transmitted to a carrier from a third party carrier, the carrier relies heavily on the third party dispatch center, on the network management facility, and on the third party truck driver. As previously indicated, because of the problems of relying on truck drivers, dispatch centers and/or network management facilities, a carrier may not be kept properly abreast of various events throughout a third party carrier delivery cycle.
Therefore, what is needed is a system and method that overcomes the deficiencies of a carrier relying on a third party service provider for information on goods being transported. What is more specifically needed is a system and method for a service provider to conveniently receive communications from a third party service provider while the services are being performed.

Method and apparatus for providing virtual capacity to a provider of services


A bearing device includes an outer ring spacer and an inner ring spacer, which are interposed between outer rings of a plurality of axially juxtaposed rolling bearings and inner rings of such rolling bearings, respectively. The outer ring and the outer ring spacer are disposed within a housing while the inner ring and the inner ring spacer are mounted on a main shaft. A cooling structure including a nozzle is provided in the outer ring spacer for blowing a cooling fluid to an outer peripheral surface of the inner ring spacer to thereby supply the cooling fluid to the rolling bearing. The nozzle is provided with its discharge port side inclined forwardly with respect to the direction of rotation of the main shaft.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cooling structure for a bearing device and, more particularly, to the cooling structure for a main shaft in a machine tool and the cooling structure in the bearing device that is incorporated in the main shaft.
Description of Related Art
In the main shaft device employed in the machine tool, incompatible technologies of suppression of the temperature rise in the main shaft device and of a speed-up of the main shaft device for increasing the machining ability, both required in bearings used to support a main shaft, are desired for in view of the necessity to secure the machining accuracy and also to increase the machining efficiency. Accordingly, in recent years, various new techniques of cooling the bearings and lubricating them come to be introduced.
So long as the method for cooling the bearing is concerned, various patent documents 1, 2 and 3 listed below disclose such unique methods as discussed below. Specifically, the patent document 1 discloses the method of cooling by rendering a cold blast to form a spiral flow by injecting such cold blast into a space, which is delimited between, for example, two bearings, at an angle relative to the direction of rotation. The patent document 2 discloses the use of an air outlet port for air cooling an inner ring spacer, which port is formed in the main shaft or a bearing housing so that an inner ring of the bearing can be indirectly cooled by blowing the inner ring spacer with a compressed air to thereby air cool the latter. If the inner ring is cooled, there is two functions, i.e., a function of dissipating generated heats by means of the cold blast and a function of reducing the bearing preload through the reduction of the inner ring temperature, and a cumulative effect of suppressing the bearing temperature can be expected by means of those functions. The patent document 3 discloses the use of a ceramic material, which has a density lower than that of a steel material and also has a high modulus of elasticity at a low linear expansion, as material for the inner ring so that the preload can be relieved while the amount of expansion of the inner ring in a radial direction is reduced.
Also, so long as the method of lubricating the bearing is concerned, the patent document 4 listed below, for example, discloses a technique concerning the air oil lubricating method that can be suitably employed for a high speed operation. This known technique is such that an inclined surface area continued to the raceway surface is provided in an outer diametric surface of the bearing inner ring and a ring shaped nozzle member is provided along the inclined surface area with a gap defined therein. The nozzle member is provided with a nozzle for discharging an air oil towards an inner ring inclined surface area and, accordingly, an oil contained in the air oil discharged from the nozzle can be attached on the inclined surface area assuredly. The oil so attached forms an attachment flow by the effect of an attachment force and a centrifugal force brought about by the rotation, and can be assuredly introduced into the bearing. Therefore, along with the speed-up of the bearing, reduction to a noise is made possible as compared with the conventional oiling method.
If the technique of the above discussed air oil lubricating method is applied to a bearing device in which a plurality of rolling bearings are juxtaposed in an axial direction, the result is such as shown in FIGS. 81 and 82 which show as, for example, a suggested example 1. Namely, as shown in FIG. 81, the bearing device includes two axially juxtaposed rolling bearings 101 and 101 and an outer ring spacer 104 and an inner ring spacer 105 that are interposed respectively between outer rings 102 and 102 of each of the rolling bearings 101 and 101 and between inner rings 103 and 103 of each of the rolling bearings 101 and 101. In the example as shown, the rolling bearing 1 is in the form of an angular contact ball bearing. Each of those rolling bearings 101 and 101 is used with the initial preload applied by means of a widthwise dimensional difference between the outer ring spacer 104 and the inner ring spacer 105.
As clearly shown in FIG. 82, the outer ring spacer 104 is comprised of an outer ring spacer man body 110 and a pair of nozzle members 111 and 111, and a nozzle 112 for supplying the air oil towards the associated rolling bearing 101 is provided in each of the nozzle members 111. Respective discharge ports 112a of the nozzles 112 are opposed to a shoulder surface area (inclined surface area) 103b of the inner ring 103 via a gap δ. The shoulder surface area 103b of the inner ring 103 is formed with a plurality of annular recesses 120 that are juxtaposed in a circumferential direction at respective axial positions confronting the discharge ports 112a of the nozzles 112.
The air oil for use in lubricating the bearings is, after having been supplied from an external air oil supply device 145 shown in FIG. 81, discharged from the nozzle 112 by way of a supply port 140, then through a supply hole 147 and finally through an introducing passage 113 within the outer ring spacer 104. The oil contained in the air oil so discharged is blown onto the inner ring 103 at the annular recess 120 of the inner ring 103 and is then attached on the inner ring 103. The oil so attached forms an attachment flow by the effect of the attachment force and the centrifugal force developed as a result of rotation of the inner ring 103, and is guided along the shoulder surface area 103b, shown in FIG. 82, towards the side of a raceway surface 103a and is finally provided for lubrication of the rolling bearing 101.
FIG. 83A illustrates a sectional view showing a cooling structure for the bearing device designed in accordance with a suggested example 2, FIG. 83B illustrates a sectional view showing, on a large scale, a main portion of the cooling structure in FIG. 83A and FIG. 84 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 84-84 in FIG. 83A. In the structure shown in FIGS. 83A, 83B and 84, in which a cooling air is injected onto an outer diametric surface of an inner ring spacer 180 so as to be oriented in a rotational direction of the shaft to thereby cool the bearing through the inner ring spacer 180, test results of the temperature of each of the bearing inner ring 181 and the outer ring 182 and the noise level at that time, which are obtained through experiments conducted in relation to the rotational speed, are shown in FIGS. 85 and 86. In FIGS. 85 and 86, white plots pertain to the results with no cooling effect and black plots pertain to the results with the cooling effected. As shown in FIG. 85, it is suspected that with the air cooling performed, the temperature of each of the inner ring 181 and the outer ring 182 is lowered during the operation and the increase of the bearing preload is suppressed. It is, however, to be noted that the noise level, when the air cooling is performed, is increased by 20 dB (A) at most as compared with that exhibited when no air cooling is performed.
FIG. 87 shows, as a suggested example, 3, the bearing device J in which four rolling bearings 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D, each in the form of an angular contact ball bearing, are arranged in parallel combinations, the left side two rolling bearings 1A and 1B in one combination and the right side two rolling bearings 1C and 1D in the other combination, and the two intermediate rolling bearings 1B and 1C are held in back-to-back combination relative to each other. In such a bearing device J, supply and discharge passages for the air oil AO and the cooling air A will be such as discussed below. Namely, so long as the air oil AO is concerned, as shown by broken line arrows, the air oil AO is supplied from oil supply ports (not shown), which are provided in axially opposed ends of an intermediate outer ring spacer 4M, towards the two intermediate rolling bearings 1B and 1C and, also, from oil supply ports (not shown), which are provided in the left and right side outer ring spacers 4L and 4R, towards the outer rolling bearings 1A and 1D. On the other hand, so long as the cooling air A is concerned, as shown by the solid line arrows, the cooling air A is discharged from a cooling air discharge port 11M, which is provided in the intermediate outer ring spacer 4M, towards between the intermediate outer ring spacer 4M and the inner ring spacer 5M and, also from cooling air discharge ports 11L and 11R, which are provided in the left and right side outer ring spacers 4L and 4R, towards between the left and right side outer ring spacers 4L and 4R and the inner ring spacers 5L and 5R. The air oil AO after the oil for lubrication has been supplied to the rolling bearings 1A, 1B, 1C and 1D, and the cooling air A after the bearing device J and a main shaft 7 have been cooled, are discharged to the outside of a main shaft device from exhaust ports (not shown) provided in axially opposed ends of each of the outer ring spacers 4L, 4M and 4R.
In the case of the bearing device J shown in FIG. 87, air of the air oil AO, which has been injected from the oil supply port in the intermediate outer ring spacer 4M, flows in the same direction as the cooling air A discharged from a cooling air discharge port 11M of the intermediate outer ring spacer 4M. However, the cooling air A, discharged from the cooling air discharge ports 11L and 11R of the left and right side outer ring spacers 4L and 4R, flows in part towards the intermediate rolling bearings 1B and 1C. Thus, the cooling air A discharged from the cooling air discharge ports 11L and 11R of the left and right side outer ring spacer 4L and 4R flows in a direction counter to the direction of flow of the air oil AO which is injected from the oil supply port of the intermediate outer ring spacer 4M. Therefore, the air cooling air A and the air oil AO collide with each other at an axially outer side portion 140 of the intermediate rolling bearings 1B and 1C and, consequently, it occurs that the flow of the air oil AO becomes not stable. Once this occurs, the oil of the air oil AO will no longer be supplied sufficiently towards the axially outer side portion 140, resulting in the occurrence of an excessive temperature rise.


The inventon relates to antibodies that react with a variant epilope in the extracellular region of a variant CD44 polypeptide, wherein the variant epitope has the amino acid sequence:. I S S T I S T T P R A P D H T K Q N Q D W T Q W N P S H S N P E. V L L Q T T T R M T D V D R N G T T A Y E G N W N P E A H P P L. I H H E H H E E E E T P H S T S T I O A T P S S T T E E T A T Q. K E Q W F G N R W H E G Y R Q T P R E D S H S T T G T A A A S A. H T S H P M Q G R T T P S P E D S S W T D F F N P I S H P M G R. G H Q A G R R (residues 53-219 of SEQ ID NO:4). Methods of using the antibodies to identify variant epitopes also are provided.

The ability to metastase forms the actual life-endangering property of malignant tumour cells. The original primary tumour cells probably acquire this property by a whole series of changes in the course of the tumour progression. As a result of this process, cancer cell variants are continuously detached from the primary tumour mass, penetrate the extracellular matrix and migrate into the lymphatic system or the blood circulation. Often adhering to one another, the metastasing tumour cells are transported in the blood or lymph system, leave the vascular system at other places in order there to penetrate into secondary tissue and form daughter tumours (survey of Hart et al., 1989; Nicolson, 1987). The formation of metastases requires a whole series of interactions of the tumour cells with intercellular matrix and other cells. Almost all of these interactions require cell surface components, such as e.g. the receptors for matrix and lamina, surface-bound proteolytic enzymes, as well as cell adhesion molecules with inclusion of those which cause organ-specific adhesion and thus organ preference of the metastasis, furthermore growth factors and growth factor receptors.
It is known that the membrane proteins differentiate non-metastasing and metastasing tumour cells of the BSp73 rat tumours, demonstrated by antibody reaction (Matzku et al., 1983 and 1989).

Antibodies that react with variant CD44 surface proteins


A spin rotary member includes a substrate, a spin injector made of a ferromagnetic material magnetized in a substrate in-plane direction, and provided on the substrate, a spin rotor made of a ferromagnetic material having a magnetic moment rotatable in the substrate in-plane direction, and provided on the substrate, being separated from the spin injector, a channel part made of a non-magnetic material, arranged between the spin injector and the spin rotor, and bonded with the spin injector and the spin rotor directly or through an insulating layer, and a spin rotation control part configured to control a rotation direction of spin of the channel part.

Conventionally, a nanoscale small motor is known as a motor (for example, see Patent Literatures 1 and 2). A motor described in Patent Literature 1 includes a rotor including magnet, and small coils surrounding the rotor from four directions, and is driven using electromagnetic induction. A motor described in Patent Literature 2 includes a rotor made of a non-magnetic material to which an electrode is connected, and is driven using gyromagnetic effect.


A curling machine provided with an adjusting device for evenly winding elongated workpieces into spirals, includes a machine frame sustaining a horizontal worktable; a vertical axis mandrel for a curling tool and provided with a counteracting device for acting on elongated workpieces passing through the worktable. The counteracting device is connected to an actuator in the form of an oleodynamic cylinder which is fixed on the worktable and provided with a rod carrying a tool holder in the free end of the rod, the vertical axis mandrel being removable from the worktable.

This invention relates to a curling machine provided with an adjusting device for winding evenly elongated workpieces into spirals.
The improvement can be particularly embodied to a machine having a vertical axis curling mandrel and a horizontal axis twisting mandrel that is yet disclosed in the Italian patent application No. RM2001A000552 by the same inventor. However, in the same way, the improvement could relate to only a curling machine.
Referring to FIG. 1 a combined machine for curling strips and twisting polygonal cross-section elongated workpieces, which is the subject-matter of the above mentioned patent application No. RM2001A000552 by the same inventor, is generally therein shown. This combined machine comprises a machine frame denoted as 1, sustaining an upper horizontal worktable 2. A vertical axis curling mandrel 3, designed to hold a curling tool 4, passes through the upper worktable 2. The curling tool 4 is comprised of a plurality of subsequent articulated links for bending a metal strip. The curling tool 4 is known from the Italian patent No. 1.302.352 by the same inventor. Further, on the same worktable 2 provision is made of a known lever-controlled supporting or counteracting element 20 for the metal strip in order to allow the metal strip to be buckled. A horizontal-axis chuck 7, which is provided with locking jaws for the one end of a workpiece to be twisted (such jaws are not shown in detail in the drawings, as known) is mounted in a not fixed way to a hollow twisting mandrel projecting from a front wall 5. A supporting bar 8, which is sustained by a pedestal 9 at its end, carries a vice 10 adapted to lock the other end of the generally polygonal cross-section workpiece to be twisted. An electric motor 11 through a suitable transmission, is mounted inside the frame 1 to move in turn both the curling mandrel and the twisting mandrel.
In operation, an elongated workpiece, such as a metal strip or other workpiece to be curled or bent into a spiral, is retained by the curling tool 4 which is connected to the vertical-axis mandrel. On the upper horizontal worktable 2 of the machine the supporting or counteracting element, in general a spring-charged pin (in case, carrying an idle roller) having a vertical axis movable along a slot of the horizontal worktable, is controlled by an operator through a hand-lever. The supporting or counteracting element acts as a sliding abutment for the elongated workpiece, which, otherwise, would only rotate around the bending mandrel, that retains the workpiece, and would not buckle.
The operation of the counteracting element and its function of co-operation with the curling mandrel for the deformation of the elongated workpiece are automatic. However, the force applied by the spring-charged pin onto the elongated workpiece, is not adjustable, since said force is merely produced by the lying and the shape of the slot along which the pin is moved. Further, such a force is susceptible to change in consequence of the progressive wear of the slot. Therefore, a machining reproducibility is not assured in the course of time.

Curling machine provided with an adjusting device for evenly winding elongated workpieces into spirals


The invention relates to minimizing the progression of cancer in a companion animal using P2X7 immunotherapy.

Reference to any prior art in the specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other jurisdiction or that this prior art could reasonably be expected to be ascertained, understood and regarded as relevant by a person skilled in the art.
The incidence of cancer in companion animals, such as dogs and cats and the like is increasing, and cancer is now considered to be the leading cause of death in older animals. It is believed that the annual incidence rate for cancers in dogs is about 2 to 2.5% (about the same as humans) and about 1.5 to 2% for cats.
The cancers having the highest incidence in dogs are in the following order: lymphoma (about 20%); mast cell tumor (about 18%); soft tissue sarcoma (about 10%); hemangiosarcoma (about 10%); osteosarcoma (about 9%). The remaining segments typically include squamous cell carcinoma, mammary carcinoma, melanoma, histiocytoma and fibrosarcoma.
The cancers having the highest incidence in cats are in the following order: lymphoma (about 25%); mast cell tumor (about 22%—of cutaneous neoplasms); squamous cell carcinoma (>11% of cutaneous neoplasms); mammary carcinoma (about 10%); and the remaining segments include hemangiosarcoma, osteosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, sebaceous hyperplasia/adenoma.
Approaches to cancer treatment in veterinary oncology include surgery, radiation therapy, hyperthermia therapy, photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy. Gene therapy and immunotherapy have not been widely implemented.
Apart from Palladia (toceranib phosphate; Pfizer), no medicines have been given marketing approval for use as chemotherapeutics for cancer treatment in companion animals. This is mainly because of the high costs associated with obtaining marketing approval.
In most jurisdictions, veterinary oncologists have "off-label" drug use privileges. Off-label drug use means that the veterinary oncologist can use drugs approved for one species (including humans) freely in another species. With these privileges, a common practice has arisen in veterinary oncology whereby the oncologist tends to select those chemotherapeutics for use in cancer treatment of companion animals for which significant clinical experience has been obtained in human oncology.
Examples of chemotherapeutics and relevant indications currently used in veterinary oncology are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1ChemotherapeuticType of cancerAlkylating agentsCyclophosphamide (Cytoxan)Lymphoma, mast cell tumors,mammary tumors, hemangiosarcomasIfosfamide (Ifex)Chemoresistant lymphoma, soft tissuesarcomaChlorambucil (Leukeran)Leukemias, mast cell tumors,lymphomaMelphalan (Alkeran)Multiple myelomaBusulfan (Myeleran)LeukemiasProcarbazine Hyd (Matulane)LymphomaPlant alkaloidsVincristine (Oncovin)Lymphoma, venereal tumors,mast cell tumors, sarcomasVinblastineLymphoma, mast cell tumorsAntimetabolitesMethotrexateLymphoma, osteosarcomaCytosine arabinosideCNS lymphoma, leukemia(Cytostar, Ara-C)FluorophyrimidinesSkin tumors, mammary carcinoma,(Fluorouracil [5-FU])GI tumorsHydroxyureaRecurrent leukemiasAntitumor antibioticsDoxorubicinLymphoma, hemolymphatic(hydroxydaunomycin)malignancies, carcinomas andsaracomas including osteosarcomaEpirubicin (Pharmorubicin)LymphomaMethoxymorpholinodoxorubiconChemoresistant lymphoma, sarcomasand carcinomasMitoxanthroneOral squamous cell carcinoma,lymphoma, sarcomas and carcinomasBleomycinSquamous cell carcinomaActinomycin DLymphoma, sarcoma, carcinomaPlatinum compoundsCisplatin (Platinol)Osteosarcoma, skin and nasalcarcinomasCarboplatin (Paraplatin)Skin and nasal carcinomasLobaplatinOsteosarcomaNitrosoureasLomustineBrain and CNS tumors, lymphomas,mast cell tumorsCarmustineBrain tumorsTopoisomerase I inhibitorsCamptothecinsLymphomaHormonesPrednisoneLymphomas and mast celltumorsBiologic Response ModifiersPeroxicam (Feldene)Squamous cell carcinoma, mammaryadenocarcinoma, transmissiblevenereal tumorsMuramyl dipeptideSplenic hemangiosarcoma,osteosarcomaRetinoidsEtretinate (Tegison)Cutaneous lymphoma, mycosisIsotretinoin (Accutane)fungoidesOtherPaclitaxel (Taxol)Mammary carcinomas, lymphomasDarcarbazineRecurrent lymphoma, melanoma,sarcomasL-asparaginase (Elspar)Lymphoid malignancies, mastcell tumors
There are a number of problems and limitations concerning these chemotherapies. For example, as observed in human therapy, these compounds are associated with toxicities linked with the non specific action against dividing cells including bone marrow, gastrointestinal epithelia and hair follicles. Side effects include immunosuppression, anaemia, nausea and vomiting, delayed wound healing, reproductive failure and hair loss. Some specific organs may also be susceptible including heart, kidneys and CNS.
Also, the use of a single chemotherapeutic agent is rarely effective for curing cancer, as not all tumor cells will be effectively killed by a single agent. One reason for this is that as cancer cells develop, so too does the incidence of mutation that may result in resistance phenotypes. Therefore, in most situations it is necessary to develop a combination chemotherapy for the given clinical case.
There is a need for an alternative or improved treatment of cancers of companion animals, and especially those cancers having a higher incidence in companion animals.
There is also a need for an alternative or improved treatment of cancers in dogs.
There is a need for treatment of lymphoma, mast cell tumor, soft tissue sarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, osteosarcoma, squamous cell carcinoma, mammary carcinoma, melanoma, histiocytoma and fibrosarcoma in dogs.
There is also a need for an alternative or improved treatment of cancers in cats.
There is a need for treatment of lymphoma, mast cell tumor, squamous cell carcinoma, mammary carcinoma, hemangiosarcoma, osteosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, and sebaceous hyperplasia/adenoma in cats.


Articles produced by a powder metallurgy process involving forming of a shape by compaction followed by sintering without the application of external pressure from a stainless steel alloy powder produced by rapid atomization followed by an annealing treatment, which powder consists essentially of in weight percent, chromium 14-30, molybdenum 1 to 5, vanadium 0 to 5, tungsten 0 to 6, silicon 0 to 1.5, carbon minimum as specified below to one fifth chromium content minus 2, other strong carbide forming elements such as Nb, Ta, Ti totaling together 0 to 5, the total of Mo, V and W being at least 3, the balance being iron including incidental impurities; the alloy powder (including any addition of free graphite powder mixed therewith before sintering having a sufficient carbon content to form carbides with all the Mo, V, W and other strong carbide forming elements present; the articles consisting of distribution of carbides embedded in a substantially ferritic matrix containing at least 12% by weight of chromium in solution, and which articles do not require further heat treatment.

This invention relates to atomised high alloy powders of compositions which when used to manufacture sintered articles, provide metal articles having a good corrosion resistance, compared with components produced from conventional stainless steel powders, and in addition having exceptionally good wear resistance.
Stainless steels can be classified in a variety of ways. However, the key differences in properties are determined by the type of matrix created in the steel after processing and possibly, heat treatment. Alloys based around predominantly ferritic, austenitic, and martensitic matrices are all in common use. In addition, duplex steels, typically having a matrix containing 50/50 mix of austenite and ferrite, are available.
Martensitic stainless steels are essentially ferrous alloys containing chromium and carbon. They can be made fairly hard and wear resistant by development of a martensitic matrix, sometimes strengthened by precipitates, but are generally only resistant to corrosion in relatively mild environments due to their low chromium contents.
Austenitic stainless steels are ferrous based alloys containing moderate additions of chromium but with very little carbon. In addition liberal amounts of austenite stabilising elements, such as nickel, manganese and nitrogen, are added. The common austenitic grades contain a minimum of 6% nickel. In general, these alloys achieve better corrosion resistance than the martensitic grades. This is due primarily to their higher chromium contents. However, powder metallurgy produced austenitic stainless steels are susceptible to fairly severe crevice type corrosion at certain sintered densities. In addition since the austenitic grades are generally soft they cannot achieve good wear resistance.
Conventional ferritic stainless steels are ferrous based alloys containing primarily large additions of chromium with low concentrations of carbon and nickel. These alloys show excellent corrosion resistance especially at the higher chromium levels (superferritic) with a reduced tendency to the crevice type corrosion found in austenitic stainless steels. However, the ferritic type matrix is extremely soft and has a poor work hardening response. Consequently these alloys develop poor wear characteristics.
In summary, austenitic grades provide good corrosion resistance but have a tendency towards crevice type corrosion in powder metallurgy produced components. In addition, these materials tend to be more highly alloyed than ferritic grades, with a similar level of corrosion performance, due to the requirement for large additions of nickel to stabilise the austenitic matrix. Martensitic grades provide good wear resistance but only moderate corrosion resistance. Finally ferritic grades offer potentially excellent corrosion resistance but poor wear resistance due to the poor mechanical properties of ferrite.
In general it has been the practice when producing conventional stainless steel materials for applications requiring good corrosion resistance and ease of fabrication to avoid the use of chromium in large quantities due to the fact that a fully austenitic matrix cannot be maintained without large nickel or manganese contents also being present. In the practice of this invention no nickel or manganese is required to provide a material with excellent corrosion properties and powder metallurgy processing avoids any problems with ease of fabrication. Furthermore, in conventional austenitic or ferritic stainless steels the addition of large quantities of carbon is also to be avoided due to a reduction in corrosion resistance by the well known phenomenon of sensitisation (reduction of the matrix chromium content in the vicinity of the grain boundary by carbide precipitation at the grain boundaries).

Stainless steel powders and articles produced therefrom by powder metallurgy


An optical disk device and a tilt correction method capable of high precision tilt correction with a smaller number of measurement positions are provided. Prior to data recording and reproduction, a number of measurement positions are set in the radial direction on an optical disk with intervals between two adjacent measurement positions shorter and shorter from the inner region to the peripheral region of the optical disk. The tilt at each of the measurement positions is measured, and the resulting tilt data are stored in a memory. The tilt data are used for making tilt corrections when recording or reproducing data on the optical disk.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk device and a tilt correction method able to correct an incident angle of a laser beam so that the laser beam perpendicularly irradiates the surface of an optical disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical disks, such as CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, and CD-RWs, are widely used. Particularly, in recent years and continuing, DVD type optical disks show up in greater numbers, and have higher track density and thus higher capacity than the above CD type optical disks. The reproduction-only DVD has become wide-spread, and the recordable DVD is being brought into practical use.
To record or reproduce data on an optical disk, an object lens is provided to condense a laser beam to form a small light spot on a track of the optical disk. If the optical axis of the object lens tilts relative to the optical disk, optical aberrations arise at the light spot, and this may present obstacles to data recording and reproduction. Below, the angle between the optical axis of the object lens and the normal line to a recording surface of the optical disk is called as "tilt of the optical system" or just "tilt".
Along with the higher and higher density of the above optical disks, there appear more and more apparatuses equipped with mechanisms for correcting the tilt that causes or increases the optical aberrations.
In the related art, a tilt correction device has been proposed, which includes a light emission element using LEDs (light emission diode), a tilt sensor formed by a two-division light detector for detecting the light emitted from the light emission element and reflected at the optical disk, and a device for tilting an object lens or an optical pick-up based on the output of the tilt sensor.
In the above tilt correction device, the arrangement of the tilt sensor is adjusted so that the two parts of the light detector in the tilt sensor yield the same outputs when detecting an optical disk originally installed, that is, an optical disk free from tilt. The light emitted from the light emission element is reflected by the optical disk, enters into the tilt sensor, and forms a light spot on the tilt sensor. By extracting a differential signal with the two-division detector in the tilt sensor, tilt can be detected.
In addition to the above method, there are other methods for detecting tilt. For example, a tilt correction value causing the RF signal and the TE (tracking error) signal to become the maximum can be extracted as tilt.
Another method for correcting tilt involves measuring in advance the tilt at a number of positions on the optical disk, and making tilt corrections based on the measured data. Another method involves measuring the tilt of the optical disk continuously and performing tilt servo.
Such a technique is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2000-339727, which proposes an optical disk device to measure tilt at a number of positions in the radial direction of the optical disk and store the measured tilt data in advance, and correct the tilt based on the stored tilt data.
However, in the method of measuring in advance tilt data, which cause the RF signal and the TE signal to become the maximum, at a number of positions, and making tilt corrections based on the measured tilt data, because the magnitude of the tilt and its variation are small in the inner region of the optical disk, and large in the peripheral region of the optical disk, complicated calculations and tilt data of many positions are needed for interpolation to correct tilt between the two regions.

Optical disk device and tilt correction method