In an information recording medium for recording and reproducing data thereon on a sector-by-sector basis, the recorded data being managed as at least one file by using a file structure, the file structure includes unused space management information for identifying a used region and an unused region. At least one defective region is registered as an unused region in the unused space management information, the at least one defective region being a region on the information recording medium which is incapable of proper reproduction of the recorded data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for recording/reproducing information on an information recording medium. In particular, the present invention relates to a technique for achieving real-time recording/reproduction of video and/or audio data on an information recording medium including a defective region.
2. Description of the Related Art
Optical disks are representative of information recording media having a sector structure. The trend for higher density and larger capacity in recent years has underlined the importance of the reliability of such disks. If a disk includes a sector in which information cannot be properly recorded or reproduced, such a sector is typically registered as a "defective sector" by an optical disk apparatus so that the defective sector will not be used thereafter, and another sector is substituted for that defective sector. This ensures reliability of the disk. Such a defect management function performed by optical disk apparatuses is described in the International Standards Organization ISO/IEC10090 (hereinafter referred to as the "ISO standards") for 90 mm optical disks.
FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating the structure of a general disk medium.
The disk medium 1 includes a number of concentric or spiral tracks 2 formed thereon, each track 2 including a number of subdivisions which are referred to as sectors 3. The disk includes two types of regions: disk information areas 4 and a data recording area 5. The disk information areas 4, which store parameters and the like that are necessary for making access to the disk, are positioned at the innermost periphery and the outermost periphery of the disk medium 1.
The disk information areas 4 may also be referred to as lead-in and lead-out areas, respectively. The recording/reproduction of data is performed for the data recording area 5. Every sector in the data recording area 5 receives an absolute address which is referred to as a physical sector number (hereinafter "PSN").
FIG. 26 illustrates the data structure (denoted as 2600) of a conventional disk medium. The data structure 2600 illustrates a case where, as shown in FIG. 27, the disk medium includes a directory DIR1 under a directory ROOT, and the directory DIR1 includes two files FILE1 and FILE2.
The data structure 2600 includes unused space management information 2601, a data structure 2602 representing the logical space on the disk medium 1, a data structure 2603 representing the physical space on the disk medium 1, and defect management information 2604. The physical space data structure 2603 includes a control data area 2605, defect management information 2606, and an unused spare area 2607, which are to be interpreted only by a reproduction apparatus (e.g., an optical disk drive) for physically reproducing data on the disk medium 1 and which are inaccessible to a control apparatus (e.g., a personal computer). Note that these areas are not included in the logical space data structure 2602.
As shown in FIG. 26, the logical space is divided into a volume structure 2608 for storing logical volume structure information and a region (partition space) 2609 for storing the file structure and file data in the logical volume space. The respective divisions of the logical space are managed based on their consecutive addresses which are referred to as logical sector number (hereinafter "LSN").
Hereinafter, the respective contents which are stored in the partition space 2609 will be described.
The unused space management information 2601 is a bit map which represents whether each sector within the partition space 2609 is used or not. Each bit on the bit map corresponds to a sector. The bit value "1" indicates "used", whereas the bit value "0" indicates "unused". In the example shown in FIG. 26, the unused space management information 2610 and the ROOT directory file structure 2611 always have the "0" bit value on the bit map, whereas all the other regions, except for an unused region 2612, have the "1" bit value on the bit map.
The ROOT directory file structure 2611 includes a ROOT directory file (not shown in the figure) for storing information concerning the files and/or directories which are under the ROOT directory, and a ROOT ICB (not shown in the figure) for specifying a position at which the ROOT directory file is recorded.
A DIR1 file entry 2613 includes the location information of a DIR1 directory file 2614. The DIR1 directory file 2614 stores information concerning the directories and files which are in the directory DIR1.
The DIR1 directory file 2614 includes information concerning the files FILE1 and FILE2 stored in the directory DIR1, and the location information of a FILE1 file entry 2615 and a FILE2 file entry 2616.
The FILE1 file entry 2615 and the FILE2 file entry 2616 include the location information of the file data of the files FILE1 and FILE2, respectively, and the like.
The FILE1 extent 2617 contains the file data of the file FILE1. The FILE2 extent 2618 contains the file data of the file FILE2.
Next, the physical space data structure 2603 will be described.
The physical space on the disk is generally divided into a disk information area 2619 and a data recording area 2620. The disk information area 2619 stores control information which is referred to only by a reproduction apparatus (e.g., an optical disk drive) for physically reproducing data on the disk medium 1 and is inaccessible to a control apparatus (e.g., a personal computer).
The disk information area 2619 is generally divided into a control data area 2605 and defect management information 2606. The control data area 2605 stores control information such as disk identification information and copyright protection information. The defect management information 2606 stores information concerning any defects on the disk. The defect management information 2606 will be described later in detail.
The data recording area 2620 includes a user area 2621 for recording file structures and file data, and a spare area 2622 for complementing any defective regions which may be present in the user area. A defective region 2623 included within the user area 2621 can be substituted for by a spare region 2624 in the spare area 2622. Similarly, a defective region 2625 included within the user area 2621 can be substituted for by a spare region 2626 in the spare area 2622.
Next, the relationship between the logical space 2602 and the physical space 2603 will be described. If no defective regions are present in the physical space 2603 on the disk, the user area 2621 corresponds to the logical space 2602 for each group. In the example illustrated in FIG. 26, it will be seen that the volume structure 2608, the unused space management information 2610, the ROOT directory file structure 2611, the DIR1 file entry 2613, the DIR1 directory file 2614, the FILE1 file entry 2615, and the FILE2 file entry 2616 in the logical space 2602 correspond to their respective counterparts in the physical space 2603. However, if the physical space 2603 includes any defective regions (e.g., 2623 and 2625), such defective regions (2623 and 2625) can be substituted for by spare regions (e.g., 2624 and 2626) within the spare area 2622. For example, the FILE1 extent region 2617 in the physical space 2603 includes the defective region 2623 in the example illustrated in FIG. 26. Since the defective region 2623 cannot be used, the defective region 2623 is substituted for by the spare region 2624, thereby providing an error-free logical space 2602. As a result, the FILE1 extent 2617 is allocated as one continuous space within the logical space 2602. The same applies to the defective region 2625 in the FILE2 extent 2618 within the physical space 2603.
The defective regions (e.g., 2623 and 2625) and the spare regions (e.g., 2624 and 2626) are managed by the defect management information 2606 within the disk information area 2619. A disk definition structure 2627 of the defect management information 2604 stores information such as a defect management method for the disk and disk attributes. A primary defect list (hereinafter "PDL") 2628 usually stores the location information of defective regions which are detected during an initialization process performed by a disk manufacturer. Any defective regions which are detected during the use by a user are handled by a secondary defect list (hereinafter "SDL") 2632. The SDL 2632 includes a secondary defect list header 2629 for storing the number of updates made to the defect management information 2606, a secondary defect list registration number 2630 for indicating the number of pairs of defective regions and corresponding spare regions that are registered in the list ("2" is set in the example illustrated in FIG. 26), and a list 2631 of the PSNs of the defective regions and the PSNs of their corresponding spare regions as arranged in the ascending order of the PSNs of the defective regions. Thus, a recording/reproduction apparatus for the disk reads the defect management information 2604 during a start-up process which is performed upon insertion of the disk, and may access the spare regions, instead of any defective regions, in a subsequent disk access.
Next, a conventional method for performing a recording process for the disk will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 28. The recording process can be generally divided into two portions: a file data recording process from Steps 2301 to 2309 and a file structure recording process from Steps 2310 to 2317.
(1) File Data Recording Process
A disk recording apparatus (not shown in the figure) first performs a region allocation Step 2301 for selecting or allocating a location, from within the unused region on the disk, for recording a file. Specifically, a region for recording a file is selected from among the unused regions (which are indicated by the "0" bit value on the aforementioned bit map) in the unused space management information 2601 (FIG. 26). Thus, Step 2301 determines the location of a file to be recorded on the disk. It is assumed that the unused space management information 2601 has previously been read from the disk medium.
Next, at Step 2302, the disk recording apparatus begins recording file data at the recording location which was determined at Step 2301. When performing an actual writing to the disk, an error determination step 2303 checks whether or not a physical address (i.e., location identification information recorded in the form of convexities and concavities on the disk) has been read properly. This check is performed because a sector address must be read before writing data in any given sector. If the sector address which has been read includes an error, the recording cannot occur properly because of inability to identify the right location. If the error determination step 2303 determines that an address read error has occurred, the region associated with the error is defined as a defective region, and an replacement step 2308 is performed.
Next, a verification step 2304 is performed for verifying whether or not a write operation was successfully performed. Specifically, the confirmation of a successful write operation at the verification step 2304 involves reading data from the region for which the write operation was performed, comparing the read data against the data which was intended to be written, calculations associated with error correction codes, and the like.
After the verification step 2304, it is determined at Step 2305 whether or not the data includes an error. If the data includes an error, the region associated with the error is defined as a defective region, and an replacement step 2309 is performed.
If the error determination step 2305 determines no error, it is determined at Step 2306 whether or not all of the data to be recorded has been recorded. If less than all of the data to be recorded has been recorded, a next recording address is set at Step 2307, followed by a data write operation 2302 and a verification step 2304.
The above steps are repeated until all the data to be recorded have been recorded without errors. Thereafter, a file structure recording process is performed.
Note that the replacement steps 2308 and 2309 each involve a process for replacing a defective region with a spare area (e.g., 2622) shown in FIG. 26.
FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing the replacement operation to be performed at the replacement step 2308 or 2309 during recording. At Step 2401, a spare region 2624 or 2626 for substituting for a defective region 2623 or 2625 is allocated from within the spare area 2622 shown in FIG. 26. As a result, at Step 2402, the data which would otherwise have been recorded in the defective region 2623 or 2625 is written in the spare region 2624 or 2626. Thereafter, an error determination step 2403 is performed so as to check whether or not a physical address has been read properly, in a manner similar to Step 2303 described with reference to FIG. 28. If it is determined that the address which has been read includes an error, Steps 2401 and 2402 are performed so as to the perform recording in another spare region. If the write operation is normally ended, a verification step 2404 is performed for verifying whether or not a write operation was successfully performed. Specifically, the confirmation of a successful write operation at the verification step 2404 involves reading data from the region for which the write operation was performed, comparing the read data against the data which was intended to be written, calculations associated with error correction codes, and the like. After the verification step 2404, it is determined at Step 2405 whether or not the data includes an error. If the data includes an error, Step 2401 is again performed to allocate yet another spare region. If the error determination step 2405 determines no error, an SDL registration step 2406 is performed which registers the PSN of the defective region and the PSN of the corresponding spare region on the SDL, and increments the SDL entry number by 1.
(2) File Structure Recording Process
After the file data recording process as described in (1) above is completed, a file structure recording process is performed so as to accommodate any changes in the file data recording locations and any updates made to the size information. The actual file structure recording process is similar to the aforementioned process from Steps 2301 to 2309 except for handling different data contents and recording areas. Specifically, a write operation for the file structure (Step 2310), an address read error determination (Step 2311), a verification (Step 2312), and a verification error determination (Step 2313) are repeated, each time setting a next address (Step 2315), until the process is terminated as a data end is determined (Step 2314).
The replacement processes (Steps 2316 and 2317) which are performed in the case where an error is determined in the error determination Steps (2311 and 2313, respectively) are similar to the replacement step 2308 or 2309 for the aforementioned file data recording process, which have been described with reference to FIG. 29.
(3) Data Reproduction
Next, the operation of reading data which has been recorded in accordance with the recording method illustrated in FIGS. 28 and 29 will be described with reference to FIG. 30. Specifically, FIG. 30 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of reproducing one extent (as part of the file data of the files recorded on a disk). Hereinafter, the respective steps of this process will be described.
Prior to reproduction, a disk reproduction apparatus (not shown in the figure) reads the file structure information at Step 2501. Next, at Step 2502, the file structure which was read at Step 2501 is interpreted so as to obtain therefrom an LSN at which the file data of a file to be reproduced is recorded, as well as the size of that file. Thereafter, at Step 2503, the LSN is converted into a PSN, which is set as a read location. At Step 2504, it is determined whether or not the read location expressed by its PSN has been registered as a defective region PSN on the SDL in the defect management information 2604. If the read location is registered on the SDL as a defective region PSN, the reproduction apparatus calculates the PSN of a spare region which corresponds to the defective region from the SDL, and performs a reproduction process for the spare region at Step 2506. If the read location is not registered as a defective region PSN on the SDL, at Step 2505, the reproduction apparatus performs a reproduction process for the PSN as obtained through the conversion at Step 2503. After the reproduction step 2505 or 2506, the reproduction apparatus determines whether or not all data of the extent which is currently subjected to reproduction has been in fact reproduced at Step 2507. If the reproduction of all of the data is not complete, at Step 2508, a PSN to be reproduced next is set to an address which is obtained by adding the size of data which has been reproduced to the PSN obtained through the aforementioned conversion at Step 2503, and the reproduction process from Step 2504 is repeated. If it is determined at step 2507 that the reproduction of all data of the extent in question is complete, the process is terminated.
However, according to the above-described conventional technique, if the defective region 2623 exists in the FILE1 extent in the data arrangement as shown in FIG. 26, the corresponding spare region 2624 which is allocated within the spare area 2622 will require a seek operation to occur over a considerable distance. For example, in order to continuously reproduce all of the FILE1 extent, portions of the FILE1 extent that are in the user area 2621 are first reproduced. Then, upon encountering the defective region 2623, a seek for the spare area 2622 and a concomitant rotation wait period must occur before the access to the spare region 2624 becomes possible. Similarly, after an access is made to the spare region 2624, a seek from the spare region 2624 back to a region lying subsequent to the defective region 2623 and a concomitant rotation wait period must occur before the access to the remainder of the FILE 1 extent becomes possible. The same also applies to any defective region 2625 in the FILE2 extent.
Thus, a significant delay occurs during a recording or reproduction process if any defective regions (e.g., 2623 or 2625) exist in the user area 2621. It is presumable that such delay may not be critically problematic in the case of disks which are utilized as large-capacity storage media for traditional computer applications. However, such delay may well be critically problematic in real-time recording and/or smooth reproduction of data containing digital video and audio data (hereinafter referred to as "AV data"). For example, problems such as partial loss of AV data, noise generation, inability to perform smooth reproduction, may occur.

Recording method and reproduction method suitable for recording/reproduction of AV data, and recording drive and reproduction drive, information recording system and information reproduction system, and information recording medium for such methods


Systems, methods and media for determining and aggregating electronic document segment usage information from different versions of a document are disclosed. More particularly, hardware and/or software for determining the aggregate segment usage for an electronic document received from one or more users are disclosed. Embodiments include receiving from one or more users an indication of their usage of segments of different versions of the electronic document, aggregating the segment usage indications received, and creating document utilization information for the electronic document. Further embodiments include transmitting the document utilization information to one or more users. Other embodiments include displaying to the user an electronic document and indications of the document utilization information. Electronic documents may be in PDF format, HTML format, etc.

Personal computer systems are well known in the art. They have attained widespread use for providing computer power to many segments of today's modern society. Personal computers (PCs) may be defined as a desktop, floor standing, or portable microcomputer that includes a system unit having a central processing unit (CPU) and associated volatile and non-volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM) and basic input/output system read only memory (BIOS ROM), a system monitor, a keyboard, one or more flexible diskette drives, a CD-ROM drive, a fixed disk storage drive (also known as a "hard drive"), a pointing device such as a mouse, and an optional network interface adapter. Examples of such personal computer systems are International Business Machine Corp.'s (IBM's) PC 300, ThinkCentre, ThinkPad, Aptiva, and IntelliStation series.
The use of mobile computing devices, such as notebook PCs, personal digital assistants (PDAs), sophisticated wireless phones, etc., has also become widespread. Mobile computing devices typically exchange some functionality or performance when compared to traditional PCs in exchange for smaller size, portable power, and mobility.
The widespread use of PCs and mobile computing devices in various segments of society has resulted in a reliance on computer systems both at work and at home, such as for telecommuting, news, stock market information and trading, banking, shopping, shipping, communication in the form of hypertext transfer protocol (http) and e-mail, as well as other services. Many of these functions take advantage of the communication abilities offered by the Internet. Such connectivity has facilitated unprecedented collaboration and sharing of information between individuals, both within organizations and outside organizational structures. This collaboration has resulted in individuals having access to and sharing vast amounts of information, often in the form of electronic documents.
Electronic documents are digitized documents that contain text, graphics, photographs, etc., and can be read by various computer systems. Electronic documents may contain text or graphics, and a wide variety of file formats have been used, such as Portable Network Graphics (PNG), Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG), Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), Tag Image File Format (TIFF), Microsoft Word (DOC), etc. Other file formats capable of handling text and graphics include Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and Adobe Systems Inc.'s Portable Document Format (PDF). For many applications, electronic documents, particularly PDF documents, have supplanted printed material for the dissemination of information, as many journals, newsletters, books, articles, etc., and now distributed either exclusively or non-exclusively in electronic form.
While electronic documents possess improved qualities in many ways over hardcopies, such as cost, easy of distribution, and time to prepare, disadvantages of electronic documents when compared to paper documents do exist. One deficiency of electronic documents is that it is difficult to find the most interesting or useful part of an electronic book or other document. With paper books, individuals may observe which pages are the most worn or the pages to which the book naturally opens due to frequent reading of those pages. One can easily discern which book in, say, a library is the most useful based on its wear, and one can also often find the most useful part of the book by noting the wear caused by frequent reading. Further, a user may visibly tab the most important pages of a book. Because of the virtual nature of an electronic document, however, electronic documents fail to provide such indications of frequently-read or particularly useful sections of the document.
There is, therefore, a need for an effective system to determine electronic document usage. More particularly, there is a need to aggregate usage statistics of different versions of an electronic document to increase the utility and reliability of the usage statistics and to enable a user to readily find the most frequently used sections of an electronic document, or the most frequently used electronic document in a library of electronic documents.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems, methods, and media for aggregating electronic document usage information

International Business Machines Corporation


A cement float for use in a wellbore tubing string includes: a mandrel having a bore extending from a first end to a second end including a fluid flow control device therein, and outer surfaces defining a tapering outer diameter from the first end to the second end; an outer lock sleeve having an outer surface and a sleeve bore therethrough, the outer lock sleeve retained at least about the outer surfaces of the mandrel surfaces and defining interfaces therebetween, the sleeve being expandable radially outwardly by driving the mandrel against the sleeve bore to place the cement float in anchoring position within the tubing string.

The present invention relates to a cement float for wellbore operations.
In casing drilling the casing string is used both as the drill string and the borehole liner. When drilling is complete, a cement float must be run in through the casing string and is generally landed in a profile nipple, which is a sub in the original casing string that contains an annular groove called a profile. Sometimes however, the profile in the profile nipple is damaged so that it cannot accept a cement float. In such a case and in other instances when the use of a profile nipple is not desirable, a cement float is required that does not rely on the existence of a profile.


A compact Galilean-type zoom finder suitable for compact cameras, and the like whose zoom ratio is about 2. The zoom finder is comprised of four units having negative, negative, positive and negative refractive powers in order from an object side and a movable fixed aperture framing window. The first and the fourth lens units are fixed and the second and the third lens units are moved to perform zooming. The moving framing window helps to delineate the field of view.

This invention relates to zoom viewfinders.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,725,130 and 4,854,680 each describe a 3-unit Reverse Galilean-type zoom viewfinder. The finders disclosed in the above-mentioned patents all have a 3 unit, minus-plus-minus configuration. In these finders, the positive lens unit always moves for zooming, while the two negative lens units generally are stationary. U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,130 also discloses that the first negative lens unit may also move for zooming.
The inherent problem with this approach is that when the above minus-plus-minus component configuration is used and only the single positive unit is moved for zooming, the zoom finder suffers from defocusing. To accommodate this defocus, the lens of the observer's eye has to constantly adjust itself as the viewfinder zooms. Although, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,130, the movement of the first lens unit in conjunction with the second lens unit can rectify this problem, a design modification such as this would loose an advantage of having fixed (i.e. stationary) outer lens elements.
U.S. Ser. No. 07/783,588 shows a finder which solves many of these problems by having four lens units that are:
(a) a stationary first lens unit having negative refractive power; PA1 (b) a movable second lens unit having negative refractive power; PA1 (c) a movable third lens unit having positive refractive power; and PA1 (d) a stationary fourth lens element having negative refractive power, where the second and third units are being movable for zooming.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,725,130 and 4,854,680 do not identify the location of the field stop. If the field stop is assumed to be the clear aperture of the front most lens element, then the value of margin for the disclosed viewfinders will not remain constant throughout the zoom range. U.S. Ser. No. 07/783,588 does not address the question of margin control either.
Reverse Galilean-type viewfinders which include a projected frame or reticle easily delineate the field of view. When we eliminate the reticle or the frame, controlling the field of view becomes more difficult. Merely changing magnification does not guarantee that as we zoom we will see the correct field of view (FOV), because the aperture (window) that limits the FOV may appear to change size resulting in a variation in the apparent FOV. Having a fixed location field stop (i.e. framing window) with a variable aperture may solve this problem, but at the expense of the system's compactness.

Zoom viewfinder with fixed size moving window


Systems and methods for placing ads in a block on a webpage are disclosed. Generally, two ranking models are trained using a first and second ads data set. The first model predicts a first click probability for each ad in the first ads data and rank the ads based on the eCPM. The second model is trained using the second ads data set comprising a subset of the first ads data set and interaction features related to ad position in the block. The second model predicts a second click probability for each ad in the second ads data set. An overall expected revenue for each arrangement of ads in the second ads data set is then calculated. The computer system selects the arrangement with maximum computed overall expected revenue and places the ads in the block on the webpage according to the selected arrangement.

Sponsored Search is a proven solution for driving targeted leads to all types of businesses. Sponsored search places the ads on search results pages that are relevant to the advertisers, allowing the advertisers to target customers who are searching for the advertising product. The present disclosure is generally directed to sponsored search. More specifically, the present disclosure is directed to systems and methods for list ranking using interaction features and placing the ranked list on a block in a webpage. These systems and methods optimize the revenue and click efficiency of the displayed sponsored search results.
In sponsored search, the ads are shown in north, east and south sections of the webpage. Conventionally, the compass points refer to the top, right and bottom sections, respectively, of a web page, with search results listed along the left or west side of the page. The ads shown in the north section of the webpage are also called north ads. Bucket metrics showed that more than 66% revenue is yielded by the ads displayed in the north section. Also, the click efficiency in the north section is one of the most important metrics to the advertisers. The click efficiency is the number of clicks divided by the number of ads shown in the section of interest. For example, if a user clicks on one of the five ads in the north section on a webpage, the click efficiency is ⅕=20%. When advertising using an online advertisement service provider such as Yahoo! Search Marketing™, the advertisers would usually bid to put their ads in the north section because of the high click efficiency.
In conventional approach of ads ranking, the click probability of all candidates are independently evaluated by a model which is powered by the historical view/click data. Ads which are directed to the same search term are candidates to be placed on the web page, sorted and ranked. All ads which match a search term are ranked according to their estimated Cost Per Mille (eCPM), which is conceptually the product of the predicted clickability and its bid. Finally, the top ranked ads are placed in the north section of the page while the rest are placed in the east and south. The ads are placed in slots starting closest to the top of the page. There may be a predetermined number of slots in the north section or other sections, such as four slots.
Nonetheless, the conventional solution fails to optimize the arrangement of ads in a section. It would be desirable to develop additional systems and methods for ranking and placing ads in the same displaying section or other regions of the webpage.

Systems and methods for list ranking and ads placement using interaction features


The present invention relates to a device and a method for applying traction to the back and neck of a patient. The traction device is inexpensive, relatively attractive and inconspicuous when mounted on a chair for use by the patient, and can be used with most household chairs.

Traction devices are often employed by patients with back and/or neck problems of the type that can be positively affected by the application of a tensioning force to the back and/or neck.
These devices often comprise a chair and a traction apparatus fixed to the back of the chair. The apparatus usually includes a sling suspended from a cable for placing under the patients chin and around the back of the neck. The cable extends from a tensioning means upwards to an over hanging beam located above the head of the patient and then downwards to the sling. The tensioning means may or may not be adjustable by the patient when seated on the chair with the traction device in use.
These devices are simple in principal to use and therefore could be used by a patient with little or no supervision by a physician, but they are also currently expensive and often unnecessarily complex and therefore are primarily utilized at hospitals and clinics. Traveling to and from the hospital or clinic for treatment is often inconvenient or difficult for the patient and therefore presents a disincentive for the patient to continue with treatment over an extended period of time except in cases where the back or neck problem is serious.
A second problem of these devices is that they are usually gallows like in appearance, include a clinical looking chair, and are permanently fixed to the chair. This makes them unattractive for a patient who may wish to purchase one and have it for use at home, or to attach a traction device to an existing chair, thereby solving the problem of having to go to the hospital or clinic and making it easier to make beneficial use of traction on a more regular or continuous basis.
A traction device is needed therefore which is inexpensive, is relatively attractive and inconspicuous when mounted on a chair for use by the patient, and which can be used with most household chairs.


Provided is a rubber laminate, comprising a vulcanized rubber sheet having a degree of vulcanization in a range from 85% to 95%, a rubberized ink layer, a pressure sensitive adhesive rubber layer and a surface coating layer. The raw materials of the vulcanized rubber sheet, of the rubberized ink layer, and of the pressure sensitive adhesive rubber layer all include an identical rubber composition. Accordingly, the rubber laminate can firmly adhere to a rubber article and does not detach from the rubber article after the vulcanization and inflation of the rubber article.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rubber laminate for adhering onto a rubber article by vulcanization. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rubber laminate as a label for a rubber article.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
In the process of manufacturing a rubber tire, an unvulcanized raw tire is adhered with a label, and then subjected to vulcanization under heat or pressure to adhere the label on the raw tire and produce the rubber tire. With the heat or pressure, the conventional label printed with a desired image or symbol is usually detached from the rubber tire, and thus fails to keep its original image after the vulcanization.
With reference to U.S. Pat. No. 4,252,589, Hayakama et al. disclose that the thin rubber sheet provided with mark indications is partially vulcanized to a degree of vulcanization of 50-80%. If the degree of vulcanization is less than 50%, the thin rubber sheet softens and flows during the vulcanization, and thus the mark indication readily distorts after the vulcanization. The higher degree of vulcanization reduces the tack of the thin rubber sheet. If the degree of vulcanization is over 80%, the stuck rubber sheet does not concentrically deform and further the color patch does not adhere onto the outer layer rubber of the tire side wall when the tire is deformed into the toroidal shape. Both tack and peel strength between rubber sheet and green tire may not be sufficient to resist the inflation, causing the separation of the thin rubber sheet and green tire.
With reference to U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,652, Bohm et, al. disclose a method of applying a white side wall applique to a tire. Before vulcanization, a barrier layer in a range from 0.25 millimeters to 1.77 millimeters and a white decorative rubber layer in a range from 0.76 millimeters to 2.54 millimeters are laminated together. Since the laminate layer is either uncured or only partially cured and the barrier and white decorative rubber layers are too thick, the applique adhered onto the tire is also distorted after vulcanization.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a rubber laminate to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.


The invention relates to a pyrimidone derivative represented by formula (I) or a salt thereof wherein: X represents two hydrogen atoms, a sulphur atom, an oxygen atom or a C1-2 alkyl group and a hydrogen atom; y represents a bond, an ethenylene group, an ethynylene group, an oxygen atom, a sulphur atom, a sulfonyl group, a sulfoxide group, a carbonyl group, a nitrogen atom being optionally; or a methylene group optionally substituted; R1 represents a pyrimidine group optionally substituted; R2 may represent a C1-6 alkyl group optionally substituted by a C6,10 aryloxy or a C6,10 arylamino group; a C3-6 cycloalkyl group, a C1-4 alkylthio group, a C1-4 alkoxy group, a C1-2 perhalogenated alkyl group, a C1-3 halogenated alkyl group, a phenylthio group, a benzyl group, a benzene ring, an indan ring, a 5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthalene ring, a naphthalene ring, a pyridine ring, a pyrrole ring, a thiophene ring, a furan ring or an imidazole ring; R3 and R4 represents each independently a hydrogen atom, C1-6 alkyl group, a hydroxy group, a C1-4 alkoxy group or a halogen atom; R5 represents a hydrogen atom, a C1-6 alkyl group or a halogen atom. The invention relates also to a medicament comprising the said derivative or a salt thereof as an active ingredient which is used for preventive and/or therapeutic treatment of a neurodegenerative disease caused by abnormal activity of GSK3β3 or GSK3β3 and cdk5/p25, such as Alzheimer disease.

GSK3β (glycogen synthase kinase 3β) is a proline directed serine, threonine kinase that plays an important role in the control of metabolism, differentiation and survival. It was initially identified as an enzyme able to phosphorylate and hence inhibit glycogen synthase. It was later recognised that GSK3β was identical to tau protein kinase 1 (TPK1), an enzyme that phosphorylates tau protein in epitopes that are also found to be hyperphosphorylated in Alzheimer's disease and in several tauopathies. Interestingly, protein kinase B (AKT) phosphorylation of GSK3β results in a loss of its kinase activity, and it has been hypothesised that this inhibition may mediate some of the effects of neurotrophic factors. Moreover, phosphorylation by GSK3β of β-catenin, a protein involved in cell survival, results in its degradation by an ubiquitinilation dependent proteasome pathway.
Thus, it appears that inhibition of GSK3β activity may result in neurotrophic activity. Indeed there is evidence that lithium, an non-competitive inhibitor of GSK3β, enhances neuritogenesis in some models and also increases neuronal survival, through the induction of survival factors such as Bcl-2 and the inhibition of the expression of proapoptotic factors such as P53 and Bax.
Recent studies have demonstrated that β-amyloid increases the GSK3β activity and tau protein phosphorylation. Moreover, this hyperphosphorylation as well as the neurotoxic effects of p-amyloid are blocked by lithium chloride and by a GSK3β antisense mRNA. These observations strongly suggest that GSK3β may be the link between the two major pathological processes in Alzheimer's disease: abnormal APP (Amyloid Precursor Protein) processing and tau protein hyperphosphorylation.
Although tau hyperphosphorylation results in a destabilization of the neuronal cytoskeleton, the pathological consequences of abnormal GSK3β activity are, most likely, not only due to a pathological phosphorylation of tau protein because, as mentioned above, an excessive activity of this kinase may affect survival through the modulation of the expression of apoptotic and antiapoptotic factors. Moreover, it has been shown that β-amyloid-induced increase in GSK3β activity results in the phosphorylation and, hence the inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase, a pivotal enzyme in energy production and acetylcholine synthesis.
Cdk5/p25, also known as tau protein kinase 2 (TPK2), is a proline directed, Ser/Thr kinase essential for central nervous system development and in particular for neuronal migration and neurite outgrowth. Cdk5 is a homologue of cyclin-dependent kinases and rather ubiquitously expressed. Its activator p35 (a 305 aa protein) or a truncated form p25 (208 aa, missing an N-terminal proline-rich domain not required for activity) are selectively expressed in neurons, limiting cdk5 kinase activity essentially to the CNS. Cdk5 is completely inactive in the absence of p35 or p25. The term cdk5/p25 will be used here for the active enzyme since evidence exists suggesting that p25 and less so p35 may be involved in pathological processes.
Physiological substrates of cdk5/p25 include DARPP-32, Munc-18, PAK1, synapsin 1 and perhaps some others. In addition, it is now well established that cdk5/p25 phosphorylates tau protein epitopes which are hyperphosphorylated in Alzheimer's disease. More recently, elevated cdk5/p25 activity, mislocalization of cdk5 and an increase in p25 activator has been found in the brain of Alzheimer patients. Interestingly, prephosphorylation of tau protein by cdk5/p25 considerably enhances phosphorylation of tau by GSK3β on other epitopes, also found hyperphosphorylated in Alzheimer's disease. Moreover, neurofibrillary tangles, the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease, are labelled with antisera for GSK3β and cdk5, but not GSK3α and MAP kinase, also, GSK3β and cdk5 are associated with microtubules and both, more than PKA and CK, contribute to the AD-like phosphorylation of tau protein. These results taken together suggest that mixed inhibitors of GSK3β and cdk5/p25 should efficient in protecting tau protein from hyperphosphorylation. Therefore, they would be useful in the treatment of any pathological disorder associated with the abnormal phosphorylation of tau protein, in particular Alzheimer's disease, but also other tauopathies (e.g. frontotemporoparietal dementia, corticobasal degeneration, Pick's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy).
Cdk5/p25 has been linked to apoptosis and neurodegeneration in more general terms. Its overexpression induces apoptosis in cultured neurons, in brain tissue apoptotic cells show strong immunoreactivity for cdk5. Neurotoxic agents, incl. Aβ(1-42), neuronal injury, ischemia or growth factor withdrawal lead to activation and mislocalization of cdk5/p25, abnormal phosphorylation of cdk5 substrates, cytoskeletal disruption and cell death. Moreover, phosphorylation by cdk5/p25. transforms DARPP-32 into an inhibitor of protein kinase A, reducing signal transduction in the striatum with obvious implications for Parkinson's disease. A role for cdk5 in ALS has also been proposed based on its ability to phosphorylate neurofilaments. More recently, deregulation of cdk5 was detected in a mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
Altogether, these experimental observations indicate that GSK3β inhibitors may find application in the treatment of the neuropathological consequences and the cognitive and attention deficits associated with Alzheimer's disease, as well as other acute and chronic neurodegenerative diseases. These include, in a non-limiting manner, Parkinson's disease, tauopathies (e.g. frontotemporoparietal dementia, corticobasal degeneration, Pick's disease, progressive supranuclear palsy) and other dementia including vascular dementia; acute stroke and others traumatic injuries; cerebrovascular accidents (e.g. age related macular degeneration); brain and spinal cord trauma; peripheral neuropathies; retinopathies and glaucoma.
In addition GSK3β inhibition may find application in the treatment of other diseases such as:
Non-insulin dependent diabetes (such as diabetes type II) and obesity; manic depressive illness; schizophrenia; alopecia; cancers such as breast cancer, non-small cell lung carcinoma, thyroid cancer, T or B-cell leukemia and several virus-induced tumors.
Since it appears that both, GSK3β and cdk5/p25 play a major role in the induction of apoptosis in neuronal cells, combined inhibition of these two enzymes may find application in the treatment of not only Alzheimer's disease and the other above-mentioned tauopathies, but also in a number of other neurodegenerative disorders, in particular Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; other dementias including vascular dementia; acute stroke and other traumatic injuries; cerebrovascular accidents (e.g. age related macular degeneration); brain and spinal cord trauma; peripheral neuropathies; retinopathies and glaucoma. In addition mixed TPK1/TPK2 inhibitors may find their applications in the treatment of other diseases such as: smoking cessation and other withdrawal syndromes, epilepsy.

Substituted 2-pyrimidinyl-6,7,8,9-tetrahydropyrimido[1,2-a]pyrimidin-4-one and 7-pyrimidinyl-2,3-dihydroimidazo [1,2-a]pyrimidin-5(1H)one derivatives for neurodegenerative disorders


A method for dynamic filtration of a pharmaceutical product is provided. The method includes using an unconditioned resin configured to selectively retain one or more components from a mixture having the pharmaceutical product and where the unconditioned resin is configured to be activated by a medium of the mixture. The method further includes the use of at least one positioning material disposed adjacent to the unconditioned resin, where the positioning material is configured to provide mechanical support to the resin to at least partially retain the resin in position.

The invention relates generally to methods and devices for filtering pharmaceutical products.
During a pharmaceutical compounding process one or more chemical components are required to be removed from the end product for safety or efficacy purposes. As used herein, the term "chemical components" refers to one or more chemicals present in the initial mixture used to prepare the pharmaceutical product. The chemical components may include any form of compounds intentionally added to, or present from material impurities, or present from contamination of an unrefined pharmaceutical product that are not desired in the end pharmaceutical product. Various methods of filtration and separation are known in the art for removing—chemical components from a mixture to obtain a pharmaceutical product that is suitable to be administered to a subject. The conventional removal methods typically require use of solvents or materials that unintentionally add further matter to the mixture that is not desired in the final pharmaceutical product. The undesired matter needs to be removed from the device before conducting the filtration process. This undesired matter may include solvents that are used to prepare the device to perform the filtration or separation or solvents or materials added to the mixture. Alternatively, this undesired matter may also include biologically relevant materials such as endotoxins, proteins, nucleic acids, bacteria or viruses that are contained within the conditioning system or solvents and are subsequently introduced to the filtration device. The additional steps involving addition and subsequent removal of solvents and other materials from the device or the mixture adds to the complexity of the filtration process and to the complexity of the process equipment. Further, these additional steps result in longer time duration for the overall filtration process. Furthermore, quality control mechanisms are required to ensure that the undesired matter is not carried in to the pharmaceutical product. In addition, there is a chance of contamination of the mixture due to extraneous material entering the filtering device while carrying out the steps of administering and removing the undesired matter from the device.
Therefore, there is a need to explore new methods and devices for filtration of pharmaceutical products that do not require addition of solvents or other materials to the filtration device or to the pharmaceutical mixture and that are relatively easier to perform. Further, there is a need for new methods and devices that can be pre-conditioned and stored, such that these devices are ready to use for filtration without conducting any further steps for conditioning the device immediately prior to filtration. Furthermore, there is a need for a device that is sealed to prevent any extraneous material from entering the device either before or during filtration, or once the device is prepared and stored for filtration.

Methods for dynamic filtration of pharmaceutical products


A reaction vessel for confined amplification and detection of nucleic acid material. The vessel features a plurality of adjacent chambers, each chamber comprising a front wall, a back wall, two side walls, and a bottom wall, the front and back walls terminating in an upper opening at a top edge of said front and back walls, a side wall of each chamber comprising a side wall in common with an adjacent chamber so as to integrally connect the chambers side-by-side; the front wall of each chamber including a liquid access port spanning all of the chambers below the top edge, the common side walls terminating at the port; and a movable elastomeric plug mounted within the upper opening above the port, shaped to block the port of each of the chambers and to stopper each the chamber when moved below the top edge, the plug spanning across all of the chambers in the vessel so as to close off the port simultaneously for all of the chambers when moved below the top edge.

It is known to do PCR amplification, and then separation and detection of captured targeted nucleic acid material in a closed container, such containers being individually processed, but in parallel, in a processor. Examples are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,229,297 for the container, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,089,233 for the processor. These examples are used primarily for heterogeneous PCR, which relies upon amplification and detection done in separate chambers and separate steps. Although such a system is a breakthrough in using PCR for diagnostic purposes, due to the confinement that prevents carryover contamination of yet-to-be used containers, it has a minor drawback: Each container has to be separately loaded with sample and then sealed, and amplified target has to be moved to a separate detection site. In contrast, it is known that homogeneous PCR does not require separate processing of amplification and detection in separate chambers.
There has been a need, therefore, prior to this invention, for a device that permits homogeneous PCR to be done in a plurality of containers that are sample-loaded and then sealed, all at once, together.

Integrally attached and operable multiple reaction vessels

Johnson & Johnson Clinical Diagnostics, Inc.


The present invention provides a copolymer comprising repeating units derived from (A) at least one fluoroalkyl (meth) acrylate represented by the following general formula (I) or (II):

The present invention relates to a high molecular weight compound carrying, on side chains, a fluoroaliphatic group suitably used in fields of coating in which high uniformity is required, for instance, a variety of fields of paints and varnishes in which a coated film comprising several layers should have high surface smoothness, or fields of coating, which require precise application and processing and likewise require the use of a high speed and high shearing-coating method such as a spin coating or spray coating technique, for instance, photolithography processes, which make use of photo resists sensitive to radiant rays such as ultraviolet rays, far ultraviolet rays, excimer laser light and X-rays and more specifically, processes for manufacturing semiconductors such as LSI and IC, processes for producing substrate for liquid crystals and thermal heads, processes for producing PS plates and other photo fabrication processes.
Moreover, the present invention relates to a high molecular weight compound carrying, on side chains, a fluoroaliphatic group suitably used in cosmetics, fiber-processing agents, medical supplies, oxygen-rich films and additives for a variety of lubricants, or as various agents such as paint removers, resist-peeling agents, foaming agents for washing and surface-modifiers.
The present invention further relates to an image-forming composition comprising the foregoing high molecular weight compound carrying, on side chains, a fluoroaliphatic group (hereunder also referred to as "fluorine (atom)-containing polymer") and a novel presensitized plate useful for preparing a lithographic printing plate, whose image-forming layer comprises the foregoing fluorine-containing polymer and more specifically to a presensitized plate useful for preparing a lithographic printing plate, which can provide uniform surface quality without causing any trouble such as foaming during production of lithographic printing plates and which can provide a lithographic printing plate excellent in the developing ability and ink-receptivity.
Recently, there have been required for coated films in a variety of forms from thin films to thick films in a various fields of coating industries and there have thus been remarkable development in techniques for more uniformly and efficiently applying such films and machinery and tools.
In these fields of various coating techniques, there have conventionally been used various kinds of surfactants called leveling agents such as hydrocarbon-type, silicone-type and fluorine atom-containing type surfactants. Among them, the fluorine atom-containing surfactants have widely been used because of their high ability of lowering surface tension and a low probability of staining after the application.
The fluorine atom-containing surfactants can efficiently reduce the surface tension of a coating liquid upon applying the same and they are effective in the improvement of the ability of the liquid to wet substrates and the uniform coating ability. However, they have low surface energy and accordingly reduce the surface energy of the coated layer and as a result, this often leads to uneven distribution of the applied film on the air boundary side. As a result of such tendency of the conventional fluorine atom-containing surfactant to cause uneven distribution of the applied film, the surfactant forms a low surface energy surface to thus inhibit the re-coating properties of the film (the ability of receiving a coating liquid on the existing coated film in layers) and the surfactants make the coated film surface highly water repellent and/or oil repellent to thus considerably inhibit the development with an aqueous liquid or a solvent type liquid or the surface-wetting ability of a washing liquid for partially or completely washing the resulting film (these aptitudes will hereunder be referred to as "aptitude for post-process").
Conventionally, the ability of a coating liquid to wet a substrate and the ability thereof to uniformly coat the surface upon the application of the coating liquid and the aptitudes for post-process such as re-coating properties and the developing ability are considered to be in a reciprocal relationship. More specifically, when using a fluorine atom-containing surfactant ensuring high wettability and uniform coating ability upon the application of a coating liquid, the aptitudes for post-process are often deteriorated.
For this reason, the added amount of such a fluorine atom-containing surfactant is controlled depending on the purposes or surfactants other than the fluorine atom-containing ones are used although they do not provide sufficient wettability and uniform coating ability. However, there has not yet been developed any particularly effective means for eliminating the foregoing reciprocal relation.
Moreover, the conventional fluorine atom-containing surfactant suffers from various problems such that it causes foaming attributable to the surfactant per se. Therefore, it takes a long time period for antifoaming operations and this in turn leads to the deterioration of working efficiency prior to the application of a coating liquid and the surfactant becomes a cause of the formation of craters, pinholes and fish eyes (cissing like fish eyes) because of the foams after the coating operations. On the other hand, the antifoaming ability has been considered to be an important factor from the viewpoint of productivity of photo resists. In general, a photo resist is filled in a bottle through a nozzle. If the resist undergoes vigorous foaming, however, it flows over the opening of the bottle and the charging operation is quite difficult. Accordingly, in case of the conventional photo resist, which is liable to cause foaming, the charging speed thereof should sufficiently be reduced to prevent any foaming of the resist.
Further, a problem arises such that the conventional resist composition is liable to form wet portions remaining on the end face of a wafer as the diameter of the wafer increases, for some years ahead. For this reason, there has been desired for the development of a photo resist composition, which can provide a uniform coated film, has a good antifoaming ability and never leaves any uncoated portion.
Moreover, it is quite important to treat the surface of a variety of materials when processing them in order to protect the quality of the materials. To this end, a variety of varnishes and paints have been developed in the field of construction materials. In addition, cosmetics capable of forming a film having water retention characteristics may be considered to be a kind of surface-treating agents from such a standpoint. Most of materials commonly used in such surface-treatments are high molecular weight compounds and insoluble in water. This is because it is intended to isolate the material from aqueous components by the action of such a coated film in most of cases. For this reason, it is common that a water-insoluble polymer is dispersed in, for instance, an aqueous carrier or dissolved in, for instance, an organic solvent prior to practical use. However, the composition loses its dispersibility due to, for instance, agglomeration in, for instance, dispersions in aqueous carriers and it cannot be used at all, while in the organic solvent systems, there is a restriction in the use of organic solvents per se. In particular, in the field of cosmetics applied to the skin, hair and nails, it is an essential requirement for the cosmetics that they may be applied thereto using an aqueous carrier. More specifically, there has been desired for the development of a polymer, which may uniformly be dissolved in the aqueous carrier and is capable of forming a film having excellent water resistance after the application thereof.
In addition, the following problems have been recognized in the field of lithographic printing plates: The presensitized plate for preparing a lithographic printing plate has a structure, which comprises a substrate provided thereon with an image-forming layer and a typical production process therefor comprises the steps of applying upper layers such as an image-forming layer consisting of an image-forming composition dispersed or dissolved in an organic solvent and, if desired, a protective layer onto the surface of a substrate, which has been subjected to appropriate surface treatments and to which an under coat layer, a back coat layer or the like have been applied in advance; and then drying the upper layers. In addition, a typical plate-making process comprises the steps of surface exposure through an image-carrying mask according to the contact or projection system, or direct exposure by scanning and/or modulation of electromagnetic waves on the basis of the image information outputted from a computer, to thus cause or induce imagewise changes in the physical properties of the image-forming composition on the substrate; removal of the image-forming composition on the non-image areas (development) and optional hydrophilization, conversion into ink receptive areas and/or formation of a protective layer to thus give a lithographic printing plate having non-image areas consisting of the hydrophilic substrate surface layer and image areas consisting of the surface layer of the hydrophobic composition. The lithographic printing plate thus prepared receives dampening water on the hydrophilic non-image areas and receives ink on the lipophilic image areas in the typical printing process to thus form images on the surface. The resulting ink images are directly or indirectly transferred to a desired printing medium to thus give printed matters.
As to the image-forming layer used herein, there have already been known a variety of techniques and examples of such image-forming layers are negative type ones in which soluble components are converted into insoluble ones through the exposure as the physical property change and positive type ones in which insoluble components are converted into soluble ones through the exposure as the physical property change; or image-forming layers, which make use of an optical reaction or a heat mode process for ensuring physical property changes; or those in which images are formed through the thermosensitive recording system. All of these image-forming layers suffer from common technical problems to be solved irrespective of the kinds thereof, in order to obtain a presensitized plate useful for preparing a lithographic printing plate, which is highly useful. More specifically, (1) the image-forming layer should be highly uniform; (2) the image areas should be highly hydrophobic and the non-image areas should easily be removed through the development. The foregoing manufacturing processes mainly determine the uniformity of the image-forming layer from the technical standpoint. In this respect, a presensitized plate insufficient in the uniformity is not preferred since such a presensitized plate never provides any printing plate, which satisfies such an essential requirement that it can stably provide a large number of uniform printed matters carrying images of high quality. Moreover, it is also important that the image area is highly hydrophobic since the high hydrophobicity may improve the resistance to developers in the plate-making process to thus achieve high resolution and it likewise ensures sufficient printing durability and ink-receiving ability of the resulting printing plate in the printing process. In this respect, however, the high hydrophobicity of the image area may result in the reduction of the solubility of the image area in an alkaline aqueous solution, which is a developer currently used in this field and therefore, it may lead to undesirable results such as insufficient development of the non-image areas and formation of sludge components in the developer. More specifically, the hydrophobicity of the image area and the removability of the non-image area are reciprocal to one another. The development of a technique, which can simultaneously satisfy these requirements, is quite difficult, but this is a quite important problem to be solved.
It has been known that it is quite useful to use, as the image-forming composition, one comprising a polymeric compound carrying fluoroaliphatic groups to achieve the foregoing object. For instance, Japanese Un-Examined Patent Publication (hereunder referred to as "J.P. KOKAI") Sho 54-135004 discloses effects attained by the improvement of the uniformity of the image-forming layer. Moreover, J.P. KOKAI Sho 62-170950, Hei 8-15858 and 2000-19724 disclose the usefulness of a copolymer comprising a monomer unit having a fluoroaliphatic group and a monomer unit having a specific functional group. These techniques simply relate to the improvement of the prior arts, which disclose the use of polymeric compounds having fluoroaliphatic groups by further selection of substituents for the polymeric compounds and they relate to techniques for lightening the adverse effects of the fluoroaliphatic group-containing polymer on the plate-making process and/or printing process or conversely techniques for effectively using such a polymer. Specifically, J.P. KOKAI Sho 62-170950 discloses the further improvement of the uniformity-developing function of films due to the improvement of the surface activity; J.P. KOKAI Hei 8-15858 discloses the elimination of the problem concerning the delayed developing ability due to hydrophobicity; and J.P. KOKAI 2000-19724 discloses the effect of high contrast image formation by the simultaneous satisfaction of the requirements for the hydrophobicity of the image area and the removability of the non-image area while making the most use of the hydrophobicity and the force of orientation. Among such effects due to the polymeric compounds having fluoroaliphatic groups, the uniformity-developing ability of a film would be due to the surface activation ability of the fluoroaliphatic group-containing polymeric compound or an ability of the polymeric compound to lower the surface tension of a dispersion of an image-forming composition in an organic solvent used in the presensitized plate manufacturing process. Moreover, other effects of the polymeric compounds having fluoroaliphatic groups may be attributable to the high hydrophobicity of the polymeric compound included in the image-forming layer of a presensitized plate useful for preparing a lithographic printing plate and the ability thereof to cause orientation, uneven distribution and/or localization on the surface of the image-forming layer. In other words, it is possible to make, relatively high, the distribution of the fluoroaliphatic group-containing polymeric compound in the proximity to the surface of the image-forming composition and therefore, it would be recognized that particularly high hydrophobicity can be imparted to the surface while maintaining the removability of the non-image area through development. Furthermore, the fluoroaliphatic group-containing polymeric compound may be improved by various methods other than the selection of copolymerizable components. For instance, J.P. KOKAI 2000-187318 discloses that an image-forming material excellent in the discrimination of the solubility between the image and non-image areas by the use of a polymer prepared using a monomer unit having at least two fluoroaliphatic groups in the molecule.
As has been described above, the use of an image-forming layer containing a fluoroaliphatic compound is effective for eliminating the foregoing technical problems (1) and (2), which are common to the image-forming layers for presensitized plates for lithographic printing plates. However, the effect of the compound is still insufficient and there has been desired for the further improvement of the compound.
For instance, in case where a positive image-forming layer is used, it has been desired for obtaining good printed matters to develop a presensitized plate capable of providing images having high discrimination between the image and non-image areas or having a high gradation (high contrast) from the viewpoint of image reproducing ability and anti-scratch characteristics, having high sensitivity, free of the formation of any indistinct image during printing and satisfying the requirements for the stability to an incandescent and the development latitude. However, there has not yet been developed any satisfactory technique.
In this respect, the expression "an image is low contrast" means that when a presensitized plate is exposed to light rays through a step wedge and then developed, the difference between the step number at which images begin to remain and the step number at which the film completely remains is large. On the other hand, the expression "an image is high contrast" means that when a presensitized plate is exposed to light rays through a step wedge and then developed, the difference between the step number at which images begin to remain and the step number at which the film completely remains is small.
Moreover, the term "formation of an indistinct image during printing" is caused when the litho-film rises due to the gas generated through the decomposition of the light-sensitive material and this makes the complete contact exposure impossible. In general, the higher the contrast of the image, the easier the elimination of indistinct images formed during printing, if the clear sensitivity is set at the same level. In addition, the term "stability to an incandescent" means the stability of the image observed when a printing plate is exposed to light rays from an incandescent such as those emitted from a fluorescent lighting and the higher the contrast of the image, the higher the stability to an incandescent. Incidentally, the "step wedge" is a tanzaku-like film whose density changes at a rate of 0.15 per step and used for estimating the relation between the exposure value and the amount of remaining film of the light-sensitive layer observed after the exposure and the subsequent development. Moreover, the term "clear sensitivity" means the sensitivity observed at an instance when images begin to form after the exposure and the subsequent development. The term "development latitude" herein used means a measure used for evaluating the extent of the change in the sensitivity of images after the exposure and the subsequent development when the developer undergoes a concentration change and the smaller the sensitivity change, the higher the development latitude.
Moreover, in case of a photopolymerizable printing plate typical of the negative lithographic printing plate comprising a photopolymerization initiator and a monomer having a polymerizable double bond, in particular, a laser direct-exposure type printing plate having high sensitivity to laser beams falling within the visible region, the gradation thereof has conventionally been low contrast and therefore, it is liable to cause fog due to scattered light rays and/or reflected light rays when imagewise exposing the same in an inner drum type laser plate setter in which the printing plate is exposed to light while the plate is fixed and a mirror is rotated at a high speed. It is necessary to expose light rays having a high energy in order to improve the printing durability of the printing plate, but the exposure value cannot be increased since the fog attributable to scattered light rays and/or reflected light rays becomes increasingly high. Accordingly, it is necessary to suppress the occurrence of fog due to scattered light rays and/or reflected light rays to improve the printing durability. Converting the gradation of the light-sensitive material into high contrast can solve this problem. This is because the imagewise exposure is carried out by irradiation with a laser beam within a very short time on the order of about 1 μsec per dot, while the fog due to scattered light rays and/or reflected light rays is such a phenomenon that a light-sensitive material is optically hardened through irradiation thereof with very weak light over a long period of time on the order of several minutes. Therefore, if the gradation of a light-sensitive material is high contrast, it is difficult to optically harden the light-sensitive material and the area exposed to scattered and/or reflected light rays is removed through development and any fog is not formed. In the light-sensitive lithographic printing plate on which images are depicted using, for instance, an infrared laser beam, the discrimination between the image and non-image areas is low or the gradation thereof is low (low contrast) and accordingly, it suffers from problems in that images on the portion touched with bare hands are slipped and that the resistance to defects is low.

Abstract: wherein, X1 represents —O— or —NR3—; R1 represents —H or —CH3; R3 represents a hydrogen atom, a substituted or unsubstituted alkyl group having 1 to 12 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl group having 3 to 12 carbon atoms, a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 12 carbon atoms or a substituted or unsubstituted aralkyl group having 7 to 24 carbon atoms; R2 represents H or F; m is an integer ranging from 0 to 10; n is an integer of 2 or 3; and o and p each represents an integer of 1 or 2, and (B) at least one polyoxyalkylene group-containing ethylenically unsaturated monomer, and also provides an image-forming composition, a presensitized plate useful for preparing a lithographic printing plate, a paint composition or a photo resist composition comprising the copolymer. The fluoroaliphatic group-containing copolymer can provide a coating composition capable of simultaneously satisfying the requirements for the ability of a coating liquid to wet the base material and the uniform coating ability upon the application of the liquid and the post-processing aptitudes such as the re-coating ability of the coated film and developing ability as well as the foaming ability of the coating liquid.


An electric power generating plant with an electric motor (11) driven by an internal combustion engine (4) is arranged in a chamber enclosed in a housing (1) surrounded by an insulating material (13) via a water jacket. A heat exchanger through which the exhaust gases (18) of the internal combustion engine flow is arranged inside this water jacket.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention deals with a combined heat and power generator unit which includes an internal combustion engine which powers an electric generator. The waste heat of the internal combustion engine is utilized via one or several cooling water circulation systems (motor waste heat, exhaust heat, generator waste heat). These circulation systems are used to heat water. The simultaneously generated electricity is either used by the operating authority--wholly or partially--or is sold to the power company.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Presently known combined heat and power generators have been used mainly for community or commercial purposes, due to the motor size used.
For these applications, individual machine rooms have usually been built; therefore, there were no stringent requirements for soundproofing of the units. The units were mostly "open" (accessible) machines with only the exhaust sounds of the internal combustion unit being dampened using a muffler.
Smaller units, which are on the market in small numbers, have been encapsulated and soundproofed using commercially available soundproofing materials. Therefore sound insulating elements of different designs have been implemented to reduce the noise level.
In all cases one of the two main purposes of the combined heat and power generation units is the generation of heat. This heat is stored "somehow" in all cases because the generation and the usage (of the heat) occurs in many cases, at different times and does not match the demand.
The dampening of soundwaves is a linear function of the weight of the walls being hit by the sound waves. The higher the weight of these walls, the better the sound attenuation.
On all combined heat and power generation units one disadvantage is that one can generate heat and electricity, however the cost for soundproofing alone is relatively high.
Another disadvantage of the known combined heat and power generation units is that the generation of warm water for producing potable water and for heating water is rather costly because the equipment required is located externally from the heat and power generation unit--and they therefore need lots of room and big buildings.

Power generator unit in combined heat and power generation technique


A process for the treatment or processing of containers is provided. The process includes automatically conveying the containers past a processing station for the treatment or processing by or through a conveying device and then inserting the containers into a transport or packaging container having a bottom, a circumferential side wall and an insertion opening opposite to the bottom. In some embodiments, a plurality of containers are placed on a flat supporting base so that the bottoms of the containers directly rest on the flat supporting base; the containers, while resting on the flat supporting base, are conveyed to a processing station by the conveying device to be treated or processed; and after the treatment or processing of the containers, the transport or packaging container is placed on the flat supporting base so that all the containers of the plurality of containers are accommodated in the transport or packaging container.

Medication containers, for example vials, carpoules or ampoules, are widely used as containers for preservation and storage of medical, pharmaceutical or cosmetic preparations to be administered in a liquid form, in particular in pre-dosed amounts. These generally have a cylindrical shape, can be made of plastic or glass and are available in large quantities at low costs. In order to fill the containers under sterile conditions as efficiently as possible concepts are increasingly used according to which the containers are already packaged in a transport or packaging container at the manufacturer of the containers under sterile conditions, which are then unpacked and further processed at a pharmaceutical company under sterile conditions, in particular in a so-called sterile tunnel.
For this purpose various transport or packaging containers are known from the prior art, in which a plurality of medication containers are concurrently arranged in a regular array, for example in a matrix array along rows and columns extending perpendicular thereto. This has advantages with regard to the automated further processing of the containers since the containers can be passed at controlled positions and in a predetermined arrangement at processing stations, for example to processing machines, robots or the like.
Examples for such transport or packaging containers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,118,167 B2 and U.S. Pat. No. 8,100,263 B2. Further similar transport or packaging containers and supporting bases are disclosed in WO 2011/135085 A1, US 2011/0277419 A1, WO 2012/025549 A1, WO 2011/015896 A1, WO 2012/007056 A1 and WO 2009/015862 A1.
A conventional transport or packaging container, similar to that disclosed in EP 2 382 135 B1 (corresponding to WO 2010/086128) is shown in FIG. 1a. The containers 2′ are received in an insert having a plurality of cylindrical receptacles 39′ formed therein, which are formed by transverse webs 35′ and a bottom 40′. The bottoms 3′ of the containers 2′ rest on the bottom 40′ of the insert, the filling openings 7′ at the upper end of the containers 2′ face the opening of the transport or packaging container 10. The insert is inserted into the transport or packaging container 10′ together with the plurality of containers 2′ and constitutes a separate member.
However, for the further processing the medication containers must always be separated. This is exemplified with reference to FIG. 1b, which is a schematic flow diagram of a conventional process for freeze-drying of pharmaceutical products in medication containers, e.g. of the kind disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,043.
First, the processing plant, namely a sterile tunnel, is charged with the vials. For this purpose, the vials are mounted upside down in transport frames, which are then conveyed through the processing plant. For pretreatment the vials held in the transport frame are sterilized. Then the transport frames together with the vials stored therein are turned and filled with a drug solution.
Subsequently a plug is placed on the upper edge of the vial, in which a passage is formed, via the interior of the vials is communicating with the cavity of the freeze-dryer during the lyophilization.
For freeze-drying (also known as lyophilization, or sublimation drying) the vials are then removed from the transport frame and individually put into the freeze-dryer. For this purpose, the bottoms of the vials must be put directly on a cooling bottom of a planar design to obtain a good cooling effect. If a direct contact is not ensured over the entire surface at this stage, this will result in a considerable prolongation of the freeze-drying process, leading to higher costs.
After freeze-drying the vials are removed from the freeze-dryer, the plugs are pushed down and a metal cap is put on the plug and beaded or crimped. Vials processed in such manner are then delivered, for example by inserting a plurality of vials together in a supporting base and inserting the supporting base into a transport or packaging container, which is then packed sterilely for delivery.
The direct contact between the bottom of the medication containers and the cooling bottom necessary for freeze-drying conventionally requires treatment or processing of individual containers, which increases the processing and packaging costs. Conventionally a batch-wise, concurrent processing of a plurality of medication containers is not possible. In any case, a direct contact between the bottoms of the medication containers, in particular of the bottoms of the vials is not possible in the conventional supporting bases.
In particular, due to the necessary separation the above described procedure is time consuming and expensive.

Process for handling or processing containers for medical or pharmaceutical applications and carrier and transport or packaging container thereof


A system for estimating the friction between a road surface and a tire of a vehicle includes at least one first sensor and at least one vehicle processing device containing a friction estimation algorithm which is arranged to estimate the friction between the road surface and the tire of the vehicle based on friction related measurements is provided. The vehicle processing device is arranged to: receive an estimate of the expected friction between the road surface and the tire of the vehicle from a central processing device, from a storage device in the vehicle, or from at least one second sensor in the vehicle; adapt the friction estimation algorithm based on said received estimate of the expected friction; receive at least one friction related measurement from the at least one first sensor in the vehicle; and use the adapted friction estimation algorithm to perform an estimation of the friction between the road surface and the tire of the vehicle based on the at least one friction related measurement.

Systems that provide vehicles with friction information may be used to increase road safety for conventional vehicles, but will become increasingly important with the introduction of autonomously driving vehicles. If a vehicle has information about the friction on the road, warnings can be given to the driver/vehicle, and the driver/vehicle can adapt, e.g. by adapting automatic braking systems in the vehicle to the friction on the road.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,666,562 describes a method for the estimation of a maximum friction between a vehicular tire and a road surface via driving dynamics measurements.
EP1558456 describes a method for determining friction between a surface and a tire of a driven wheel in a wheeled vehicle.
US20150251659 describes a method for performing proactive estimation of the friction coefficient using both camera and wheel friction coefficients. The friction coefficient is estimated to the camera friction coefficient, which is continuously checked for plausibility using the wheel friction coefficient.
US2015224925 describes a method for determining a state of a pavement from sensor data, in which method locally measured friction coefficients may be assigned to individual image sectors of a camera image from a forward facing camera.


The present invention relates to compounds of transition metals with azo ligands, a process for their production, the use of these compounds as catalysts, a process for olefin (co)polymerization using these compounds, reaction products of these compounds with co-catalysts, the olefin (co)polymer, the use of these olefin (co)polymers for the production of molded parts, as well as molded parts that are produced from the olefin (co)polymers.

There is a great need of catalyst compounds that are suitable for the polymerization of olefins in the presence of polar additives.
The polyolefin industry employs processes in which ethene as well as other non-polar 1-olefins are polymerized with the aid of various catalysts and free-radical initiator systems. Such polymerizations may be carried out by the use of organometallic Ziegler-Natta co-ordination catalysts, chromium catalysts and, most recently, with metallocene-like compounds of early transition metals, and also free-radical initiators. In addition it is found that these catalysts react in a very sensitive manner to a range of substances that adversely affect or completely inhibit the catalytic activity. For example, it is known that traces of oxygen, carbon monoxide, water or oxygen-containing organic compounds that act as donors can lead to a deactivation of these catalysts. If such substances are present the use of catalysts is normally restricted to free-radical initiator systems.
In order to improve this situation and also to co-polymerize polar monomers, catalysts based on late transition metals have been developed. Review articles may be found in Mecking, S. Angew. Chem. 2001, 113, 550; Ittel, S., Johnson, L. K. and Brookhart M. Chem. Rev. 2000, 100, 1169 and Boffa, L. S.; Novak, B. M. in Chem. Rev. 2000, 100, 1479.
The types of complexes used are typically subdivided into those with anionic ligand skeletons or those with neutral ligand skeletons. The group of complexes with an anionic ligand skeleton exhibit on account of the uncharged, (neutraly active polymerization species particularly robust properties with respect to the catalyst poisons mentioned above. The reason for this is the reduced Lewis acidity of the catalytic species. Current research is therefore concentrated specifically on such types of catalyst. Thus, Ostoja Starzewski and K. A. Witte describe in J. Angew. Chem. 1987, 99, 76 such catalysts with a [P,O] ligand type. Klabunde, U. and Ittel, S. D. also report on similar catalysts in J. Mol. Catal. 1987, 41, 123. Comparable catalysts with [P,O] complexes are also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,175,326.
A new catalyst class A conceptually similar to [P,O] complexes has also been developed, which contains an imine nitrogen donor instead of the phosphorus donor.
The common feature is large steric radicals R and R″″, which screen as far as possible the apical positions around the metal centre.
The corresponding processes for the production of such catalysts are described in more detail in WO 98/30609, WO 98/42664, WO 98/42665, DE-A 199 61 340, WO 00/56785, WO 01/92347 and WO 02/08236.
It was now surprisingly found that special azo dyes can also be incorporated into a number of anionic ligand systems for purposes of complexing. Azo dyes represent a class of compounds that has already been investigated in detail, and which in addition can be synthesized on an industrial scale.
Such ligands for the production of single-site catalysts for the polymerization of olefins are disclosed by Schroder, D. L., Keim, W., Zuideveld, M. A., Mecking, S. in Macromolecules, 2002, 35, 6071. Activation with widely different Lewis acids in the presence of polar additives as well as sterically demanding ortho-substituted compounds that have a specific influence on the activity and molecular weight are not disclosed however.
In EP-A 1 170 308 ligands are described that likewise exhibit an azo finction but, in contrast to the claimed complexes, do not have an oxygen-metal bond but instead have an amide-type nitrogen-metal bond. Also, no transition metal compounds with late transition elements are disclosed. No sterically demanding substituents in the ortho position to the amide-type nitrogen in such complexes are described.
DE-A 123747 disclosed a monometallic, chelating azo ligand that has, in addition to the azo donor function, a metal-carbon(phenyl) bond, i.e. not an oxygen-metal bond but a carbanionic phenyl-metal bond. Since metal-phenyl bonds of nickel have been shown to be polymerization active, the complex postulated in DE-A 123747 would not co-ordinate the metal centre in a chelate-type manner during the polymerization. The disadvantage with this process is therefore the change in the geometry of the metal complex during the polymerization. Accordingly good results are not expected as regards the uniformity of the polymers.

Monometallic azo complexes of late transition metals for the polymerization of olefins


A metering system for metering a metering fluid includes at least one metering unit, a fluid supply component conveying the metering fluid to the metering unit, and a control module conveying a control fluid to the metering unit. The metering unit includes a first housing part, an exchangeable second housing part and a membrane which is arranged between the housing parts and divides a cavity formed between the housing parts into a pumping chamber and a metering chamber which are separated from each other in fluidic terms. Channels are formed in the first housing part which receive the control fluid and are in flow connection with the control module, and channels are formed in the second housing part which receive the metering fluid and are in flow connection with the fluid supply component.

For the purpose of precisely metering extremely high-quality media, for example in the pharmaceutical sector, elaborate and costly metering systems are usually employed which have to be cleaned and sterilized after the end of the process with high effort. This is profitable above all for larger sample quantities. In the processing of smaller quantities, however, this represents an undesired cost factor. This is why it is preferred to use disposable components for the metering of smaller media quantities, which can be changed after each run.
A metering unit of this type is described in DE 20 2012 003 948 U1. In the metering unit which is illustrated there, air as a control fluid is alternately blown into a pumping chamber and sucked out of it, so that a membrane is moved between two end positions and hence the volume of a metering chamber opposite the pumping chamber increases and decreases. This results in a membrane pump by means of which the metering fluid can be dosed in very precise quantities. The metering chamber which is shown there has its inlet and outlet sides fluidly connected to or separated from an inlet and outlet through a membrane valve each. The process of controlling the membrane valves is carried out, for example, by means of a pneumatic valve controlling the pressurization of the membrane on the part of the pumping chamber.
It is the object of the invention to provide a metering system which allows an extremely precise metering of a defined media quantity, with that part of the system which is in contact with the media being easily exchangeable and having such a simple construction that it can be produced at low cost and thus be designed as a disposable part.

Metering system, housing part for a metering unit and metering unit


A method and system are provided for authenticating a communication device. The method conducted at a remote server includes the steps of: receiving, from a communication device via a first communication channel, a fingerprint identifying the communication device and a value of a parameter of the communication device specific to the communication device and variable over time; determining whether the value is within a predicted range; and if the value is not within the predicted range or the predicted range has not been established, sending an additional authentication request via a second communication channel. The predicted range is learnt over a given number of interactions between the communication device and the remote server and an expected rate of change of the value.

Use of mobile communication devices is very widespread and security of information stored on or accessed by a mobile communication device is an important issue.
Many mobile communication devices include secure elements, for example in the form of a hardware security module, built into the mobile communication device or attachable to the mobile communication device, such as via the subscriber identity module (SIM) card. The secure element may store secure details such as payment card details and may control the security and access to the payment card details, for example, for use with Near Field Communication (NFC) payment implementations.
Mobile communication devices may communicate with a remote server in carrying out secure transactions instead of using a device-based secure element. An example of this is host card emulation (HCE) where, instead of the mobile communication device using a secure element on the mobile device to store payment card details, the payment card details are stored in a cloud-based secure server. An application on the mobile communication device then makes a request to the cloud-based secure server for card details to be presented to a point of sale device.
In order to avoid hacking of the payment process, the mobile communication device must identify itself securely to the cloud-based secure server to ensure that the request for payment card details is valid. In order to not negatively impact the user experience, this is aimed to be done without user input.
Device fingerprinting technology is a known method of identifying a mobile communication device to a remote server. Active fingerprinting uses the installation of executable code directly on a device which has access to identifiers assigned to the device hardware, such as the International Mobile Station Equipment Identity (IMEI) or the media access control (MAC) address. The executable code uses an algorithm, with inputs of an identifier to generate the fingerprint. The remote server knows how the fingerprint is generated by the device and can therefore identify the device.
Fingerprinting technology may result in breaches of security as a hacker may be able to obtain the executable code and reverse engineer it and may try to access a remote server storing card credentials by imitating the mobile communication device.
There is a need in the art to address the aforementioned and other problems.
The preceding discussion of the background to the invention is intended only to facilitate an understanding of the present invention. It should be appreciated that the discussion is not an acknowledgment or admission that any of the material referred to was part of the common general knowledge in the art as at the priority date of the application.

Methods and systems for authentication of a communication device