The disclosure discloses a method and device for realizing Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) control, in both of which phase shifters can be provided on a metal ground edge of a wireless terminal, and an induced current of the metal ground edge can be altered by applying the phase shifters, so as to reduce an antenna near field radiation characteristic of an SAR. The method and device of the disclosure can alter current phase and amplitude distribution of the metal ground without affecting the reception and transmission performance of the terminal, so as to reduce a local SAR peak value and lessen the harm of radiation to human bodies. Furthermore, the disclosure does not require any major change in a structure, circuit, and, antenna of a designed model, and can save space. The disclosure bears great flexibility and adaptability in an application, thereby realizing the objective of miniaturized design of the wireless terminal.

With the rapid development of wireless communication technology, wireless terminals (mobile phone, data card, MiFi/Hotspot product) have been applied more and more widely. At the same time, the influence of electromagnetic radiation on human bodies brought about by the wireless terminal has become a public concern.
Most existing SAR reducing techniques adopt a method such as reduction of transmitter power, use of wave absorbing material or of a conductor reflector and shield, and radiation-proof and wave-absorbing coating on a casing surface, etc., which will not only increase costs and process complexity, but also affect a communication signal, thereby failing to fundamentally solve the contradiction between human body radiation safety and high-quality wireless communication. In addition, more space is required for the location of the reflector and shield during assembly, which is contrary to the purpose of miniaturized design of the wireless terminal.
Additionally, a mechanism of forming a local SAR peak value is the joint contribution from the surface current of an antenna conductor per se and the surface current induced on metal surfaces in the antenna near field, such as a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) metal ground, a shielding cover, and a shielding frame. In a wireless terminal device, the exposed circuit shielding cover, PCB substrate metal ground, housing, and the antenna would interact with each other to form a complicated boundary condition. The SAR peak value generally appears near a maximum local current at the antenna or a PCB metal surface. Currently, the parasitic conductor structures such as a PCB grooving or a conductive ring structure are usually added near the antenna or on the PCB to alter the surface current distribution, so as to reduce an SAR value. However, such technique takes up much more space, and is applicable to one-directional SAR reduction for a product such as the mobile phone, but not applicable to a data card wireless terminal product.

Method and device for realizing specific absorption rate (SAR) control


There is provided a pacing system having special functions for treating the patient's atrium with atrial pacing so as to reduce the probability of occurrence of dangerous atrial arrhythmias. The pacemaker of the system provides for atrial Pace.sub.-- Conditioning, whereby the patient's normal intrinsic atrial rate is overridden by higher rate pacing whenever a predetermined sequence of intrinsic heartbeats is sensed. The pacemaker also provides for special pacing routines following the detection of one or more PACs. The PAC response routines include pacing at an elevated rate for a predetermined time or number of beats, and smoothing out pacing intervals for one or several cycles following the occurrence of a PAC. The pacemaker also includes a post-exercise function, for overtaking the intrinsic rate and pacing the heart following exercise, the pacing being in accordance with a predetermined program which holds a relatively higher rate longer than normal post-exercise, so as to provide enhanced blood flow to the cardiac tissue and prevent the onset of ischemia.

An arrhythmia, as used herein, is described as a disturbance in the normal rate, rhythm or conduction of the heartbeat. More specifically, an atrial arrhythmia is such an arrhythmia which has its site of origin in the atria. An atrial tachycardia is a condition where the atria contract at a high rate, e.g., 100 or more beats per minutes. In paroxysmal (temporary) atrial tachycardia (PAT) an ectopic atrial focus becomes a pacemaker for the heart for the duration of the tachycardia. This duration may vary from seconds to several days. The irritable atrial focus that causes the atrial tachycardia normally causes ventricular tachycardia at the same frequency when AV conduction is normal. Another arrhythmia is termed "atrial flutter," in which situation a re-entry circuit in the atrial wall is the pacemaker of the heart, stimulating it with a frequency of approximately 200 to 300 beats per minute. In this situation, the AV node normally blocks every second, third or fourth impulse from the atrium and the ventricular frequency therefore varies from 60 to 50 bpm; the ventricular rate is regular when the block is constant, but irregular when the block varies.
In atrial fibrillation (AF), there is a chaotic and turbulent activation of atrial wall tissue. The number of depolarizations per minute exceeds 400 and the stimuli occur in the refractory period of the surrounding atrial myocardium. Under these conditions, the depolarization of the atrial wall is not coordinated, and a chaotic and non-effective activity controls the heart. With this irregular atrial activity, the AV node does not conduct every atrial stimulus, and the ventricles receive impulses in an irregular fashion.
Another form of atrial arrhythmia is the premature atrial contraction (PAC) or atrial extrasystole. The PAC is basically an atrial contraction which arrives early, before it is expected. While the sinus node is normally the pacemaker of the heart, when a PAC occurs a focus takes over the function of the sinus node for one beat. After such an ectopic atrial beat, the next beat from the sinus node is slightly delayed. Thus, the PAC causes an irregular cardiac rhythm. The irregularity may, in certain situations, be regular, as in Bigeminy or Trigeminy, i.e., one or two normal beats between each PAC. PACs may be a prelude to atrial tachycardia. As is known, tachyarrhythmias pose a danger of fibrillation, which in turn can be life threatening. Tachyarrhythmias are also associated with other low cardiac output symptoms, such as fatigue and syncope, and other undesirable manifestations. While many supra-ventricular tachyarrhythmias (SVT) are episodic, and marked by abrupt onset but also abrupt termination, they cause considerable patient distress and, if untreated, can lead to dangerous life-threatening conditions. The major danger of supra-ventricular tachyarrhythmias, especially chronic atrial fibrillation, is the development of blood clots which can cause stroke and possibly death.
In the patient where atrial tachycardia is the result of ectopic atrial focus in the pacemaker, one method of treatment is ablation the heart tissue where the focus is to be found. However, this is an expensive and dangerous procedure. Other techniques include anti-tachycardia, or cardioversion-type stimulation, where either a train of high rate pulses or one or more high energy pulses is delivered to the patient's heart in an attempt to restore a more normal rhythm. While these techniques can be valuable, and have achieved some success rate, it is clearly more desirable to treat a patient with an incipient atrial problem, to suppress it or to otherwise prevent the dangerous atrial arrhythmia from occurring in the first instance. Thus, it is known that incidences of PACs, if not treated, can develop into a more dangerous atrial arrhythmia, including tachycardia or fibrillation.
Another potential cause of atrial arrhythmia is ischemia, which is brought on due to restricted blood circulation to the cardiac tissue. When one performs exercise, the body can build up an oxygen debt or oxygen depletion. Under normal post-exercise circumstances, for a heathy patient, the cardiac rate remains high for a period of time, which ensures a sufficient blood flow to the heart. However, if the post-exercise rate drops too fast, this can result in ischemia. While the effect depends on the level of exercise and the duration of the exercise, for patients at risk of atrial tachycardia or fibrillation, there is a need to ensure that the cardiac rate does not decrease too rapidly after exercise episodes.
What is needed in the pacing art is a new therapy approach to provide pacing treatments which anticipate the causes of such dangerous atrial arrhythmias and which respond when needed to suppress the onset of such an arrhythmia. For example, there is a need for a pacing therapy designed to condition a patient's heart so as to provide stable consistent conduction pathways and refractory periods in the atrium, which can be achieved by stimulating the atrium from the same site and at stabilized rates. Similarly, the incidence of PACs can be reduced by increasing the heart rate when appropriate, e.g., by increasing the pacing rate to a stabilized higher rate following the occurrence of a PAC. Also, cardiac refractory dispersion can be reduced by providing a smooth transition from the PAC coupling interval to the underlying heart rate. Further, following patient exercise, the danger of ischemia and refractory dispersion can be reduced by taking over with pacing and limiting the decrease of pacing rate so that a higher than intrinsic rate is maintained for some period of time, thus providing a higher delivery of oxygen to the heart post-exercise.

Pacemaker system with improved techniques for preventing and suppressing atrial arrhythmias


A lift system particularly designed for transport of pipes from a first to a second elevated location includes first and second storage locations with a lifter component positioned therebetween. The lifter is positioned such that pipes at a first location can be easily picked off a first location by the lifter for transport to the second location. Fingers on the drive chains of the lifter offer a two-point spaced contact to each pipe whether picked off the location or placed thereon by the user. Upon each pipe reaching the upper end of the lifter the fingers return to the lower end which causes a deposit of the pipe onto a second elevated location, e.g., a storage location, truck bed or the like.

This invention relates to a lifting device and, more particularly, to a system particularly designed for transporting well drilling pipes from one storage location to another second higher location or vice versa.
The use of a plurality of pipes in drilling wells is well known. In such an environment, well pipes are constantly being dismantled and stored at a field site for transport to another central storage rack or to a bed of a vehicle. Due to the elongated configuration of these pipes, the transfer of the pipes from one location to another can be awkward, tedious and fatiguing.
Although a number of elevating devices are known, no devices have been designed to particularly address the transfer of well pipes from one location to another. No devices have been shown which decrease the awkwardness, tediousness, and fatigue associated with such transfers.
In response thereto I have invented a pipe lifter which easily transports pipes between storage racks or from a first rack to the back of a transport truck or the like. A first storage rack presents first and second rails having an input end adjacent an input end of the lift. As such, the pipes are easily rolled along the rails of the storage rack for deposit onto the lift for elevation to a higher storage position, such as an upper storage rack or an end of a truck bed or the like. Upon the pipe approaching this elevated location it is deposited thereon. The design of the pipe lifter system enables the pipes to be easily transferred between these two locations and diminishes the awkwardness and fatigue associated therewith.
It is therefore a general object of this invention to provide a lifter system particularly designed for use with elongated pipes or the like.
Another object of this invention is to provide a first storage rack for the pipes or the like which is integrated into the downstream portion of the system.
A further object of this invention is to provide a pipe lifting system, as aforesaid, which elevates the pipes to a second storage location upstream of the first rack, such as a second storage rack, truck bed or the like.
Another object of the invention is to provide a system, as aforesaid, which includes a lifting device having an elongated end easily attached to an edge of the truck bed or the like.
Another particular object of this invention is to provide a system, as aforesaid, wherein the lifting device includes a pair of spaced-apart flanges thereon which picks a pipe at the output end of the first storage rack, elevates this pipe to the second end of the lifting device and deposits the pipe at the second storage location upon movement Of the flanges towards the first storage rack.
A further object of this invention is to provide a system, as aforesaid, which diminishes the awkwardness, tediousness and fatigue associated with the transport of well pipes from one storage location to another.
Another object of this invention is to provide a system, as aforesaid, which reduces the manpower needed to transfer a pipe from storage location to another.
Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, a now preferred embodiment of this invention.


A stand-off having a flange and a projecting portion extending from the flange is integrated with a first substrate, for example, a printed circuit board (PCB), by forming a hole in the PCB, inserting the projecting portion of the stand-off through the hole, and attaching a second substrate to the first substrate with the flange therebetween. The flange can be at least partially received by a relief formed in one of the substrates or in an aperture in an adhesive layer between the two substrates. The stand-off can be further secured to the PCB using one or more of adhesives, interference fit techniques, snap-assembly features, and other applicable techniques. Alternatively, the stand-off can be attached to a substrate using a sliding snap feature or sliding interference fit. An attachable component can be attached to the projecting portion of the stand-off.

1. The Technical Field
The present invention is directed generally to connection of stand-offs and other components to circuit boards, touch panels, and other substrates and components.
2. The Related Art
It can be desirable to mount additional components, substrates, and/or boards to a printed circuit board ("PCB") or other substrate. It is known to use stand-offs with PCBs to mount additional components to the base PCB substrate. Traditionally, stand-offs have been press-fit into the PCB material, adhered to the PCB using adhesive or glue, or soldered to the PCB. Each of these methods has certain advantages and disadvantages.
For example, press-fit techniques, which rely on physical interference between the stand-off and the PCB substrate, can be implemented relatively easily and inexpensively. The strength of a press-fit connection, however, is a function of the interfering surface area between the stand-off and the PCB, which in turn is a function of the PCB thickness and the relevant stand-off dimension, for example, length. Thus, the strength of the connection between the stand-off and the PCB diminishes with decreasing PCB thickness. This phenomenon places a practical lower limit on the thickness of a PCB that is to incorporate a press-fit stand-off.
Adhesive or glue-based techniques rely on the strength of the adhesive or glue bonding the stand-off to the PCB and the surface area (usually very small) of the stand-off/substrate that the adhesive acts on. If the substrate includes a decorative layer, surface coating, or the like, these techniques may also rely on the integrity of the bond between such layers or coatings and the substrate. As such, adhesive or glue-based techniques may offer only limited strength. Also, adhesive strengths often decrease with increasing temperature. Accordingly, adhesive or glue-based techniques often are not suitable for use in high temperature applications.
Unlike the foregoing techniques, which can be used with stand-offs made of nearly any material, for example, plastic and metal, solder-based techniques generally employ metal stand-offs. Metal stand-offs can be more expensive to manufacture and use than stand-offs made of other materials, for example, plastic. Also, solder-based techniques often are unreliable because the strength of the solder connection is susceptible to variations in the soldering process and the size of the metal stand-off that typically would be used with such a technique because a metal stand-off acts as a heat sink when put through a reflow oven.
Traditional methods typically use rigid PCB materials (0.062″ and thicker), which generally are acceptable for flat applications. However, there are multiple benefits to using thinner PCB materials. For example, thinner PCB materials can more easily be formed to mate with other, corresponding three-dimensional substrates. Also, thinner PCB materials (or other substrate materials) often are less costly than thicker materials.

Apparatus and methods for interconnecting electrical circuit substrates and components


An assembled-battery voltage detection device for detecting a voltage at an assembled-battery including a plurality of single batteries connected in series includes: single-battery voltage detection circuits detecting voltages at the respective single batteries; single-battery voltage detection terminals connected to ends of the single batteries; connectors connecting the single-battery voltage detection terminals and the single batteries; voltage detection terminals detecting a voltage at one of the single batteries located at one end in the assembled battery; an assembled-battery voltage detection circuit detecting a potential difference between the voltage detection terminals; a single-battery voltage sum calculator calculating a sum of the voltages detected by the single-battery voltage detection circuits; an end-battery voltage abnormality determination unit determining whether the voltage at the single battery located at the end is 0 V; and an abnormality output unit outputting an abnormality depending on predetermined conditions.

Conventionally, there is well known a device or a method for detecting an abnormality of an assembled battery constructed with a plurality of rechargeable single batteries connected in series. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-252809 discloses a battery pack overcharge/overdischarge preventing control device in which a protective circuit makes a self-diagnosis to determine whether a protective circuit of a secondary battery normally operates. The battery pack overcharge/overdischarge preventing control device determines whether the protective circuit normally operates by comparing a total cell voltage, in which cell voltages at a plurality of secondary batteries detected by a cell voltage detection circuit are added to each other, to a battery voltage detected by a battery voltage detection circuit. In control of the battery pack overcharge/overdischarge preventing control device, when a switching circuit is turned off to interrupt a charge or discharge current, whether the protective circuit normally operates is determined based on whether a current value output from a current detection circuit is 0 and whether the battery voltage output from the battery voltage detection circuit is greater than or equal to a voltage necessary for a control circuit to operate.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-168118 discloses an assembled-battery abnormality detection device that detects a disconnection between a cell and a detection terminal even if the cell is in the overcharge or overdischarge state. In the assembled-battery abnormality detection device, a circuit that detects the overcharge and overdischarge of the cell outputs a disconnection diagnosis making signal, whereby MOS transistors each provided to a corresponding cell are alternately turned on and off forcedly and the turned-on/off MOS transistors are switched and alternately turned on and off. The assembled-battery abnormality detection device detects the disconnection of a connection line between the cell and the corresponding detection terminal based on a signal detected from an abnormality detection circuit at that time.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-025925 discloses an assembled-battery voltage detection device that prevents the false determination that the disconnection is generated although the disconnection is not generated in wiring to an assembled battery. In the assembled-battery voltage detection device, a voltage detection line is extracted from each of a plurality of voltage input terminals, a capacitor is interposed in each coupling line coupling two voltage detection lines adjacent to each other, and each voltage detection line is connected to a voltage detection unit. In the assembled-battery voltage detection device, the voltage detection line located on a positive electrode side of each cell is connected to a ground through one or a plurality of disconnection detecting resistors, and the disconnection of the wiring between a plurality of voltage detection points and a plurality of voltage input terminals of the assembled battery is detected based on an input voltage from each voltage detection line. In the assembled-battery voltage detection device, in the case that the disconnection is generated in a wire harness at the end of the assembled battery, because the voltages at both the ends of the corresponding capacitor substantially are 0, the determination that the disconnection is generated in the wire harness at the end can be made when the voltage at both the ends lowers to a predetermined threshold.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-050316 discloses a power supply device that detects disconnections of all the voltage detection lines and surely detects the voltage at the battery cell. The power supply device includes a battery block that is constructed with a plurality of battery cells connected in series, a voltage detection circuit that detects the voltage at each battery cell through the voltage detection line, and a disconnection detection circuit that detects the disconnection of the voltage detection line from a detected voltage of the voltage detection circuit. The disconnection detection circuit determines the disconnection of the voltage detection line if the detected voltage at the battery cell is smaller than a predetermined voltage value or if a voltage difference between the detected voltage value at the battery cell and a predetermined voltage value is larger than a set value.

Assembled-battery voltage detection device


A light guide plate, a light source assembly, a display panel and a display device are provided. The light guide plate includes a light-emitting surface, a bottom surface opposite to the light-emitting surface and a light-entering surface intersecting with the light-emitting surface and the bottom surface; at least one of the light-emitting surface of the light guide plate and the bottom surface of the light guide plate includes a horizontal portion and an inclined portion protruding out of a plane where the horizontal portion is located along a direction away from both of the light-emitting surface and the bottom surface; the inclined portion is at an end, which is close to the light-entering surface, of the light guide plate, and the inclined portion has an included angle with respect to the horizontal portion.

With developments of display technology, people are pursuing more and more narrow borders of display devices. A backlight structure of a display device generally includes a light guide plate, a mold frame, a back plate, a light source, a component for fixing the light source, and a light shielding tape, etc. In general, in a display device including a backlight structure of side-in type, it is required that an appropriate distance is between a light-emitting surface of a light-emitting portion of the backlight structure and an edge, which is close to the light-emitting portion, of a display region, so that the light guide plate provides uniform light for a display panel.

Light guide plate, light source assembly, display panel and display device

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


An adaptive method for removing fixed pattern noise from focal plane array (FPA) imagery. A set of correction terms is applied to the focused image from the FPA, and a filter is applied to the corrected, focused image. The set of correction terms is also applied to a blurred version of the FPA image, and the filter is applied to the corrected, blurred image. Fixed pattern noise errors are then calculated using the filtered imagery, and employed to update the correction terms. The updated correction terms are then used for processing the next image. In one embodiment, the filter is an anti-median filter. In another embodiment, the filter is an anti-mean filter.

Focal plane arrays (FPAs) are used in various applications to capture images for subsequent processing. For example, air-to-air missiles have employed infrared sensors with FPAs to capture infrared images of a target being tracked. The focal plane array contains n.times.n infrared detectors. Each detector has a slightly different sensitivity to infrared radiation. This non-uniform sensitivity yields fixed pattern noise (FPN). FPN manifest itself in the image resulting in some pixels which are too bright and some which are too dark.
Some missile sensor processors have employed algorithms to reduce FPN. Currently used algorithms have introduced significant scene artifacts in the output image which causes the missile tracker to mis-track the target. Efforts to reduce the scene artifact growth have resulted in insufficient fixed pattern noise reduction under certain simulated flight conditions.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a technique for removal of fixed pattern noise from sensor images without introducing significant scene artifacts.

Adaptive non-uniformity compensation algorithm


A lithium boron fluorophosphate complex compound including a compound A that is one selected from a group of lithium boron fluorophosphates represented by Formula (I), and a compound B that is one selected from a group of compounds represented by Formulae (II) to (IX). R0 represents a hydrocarbon group, R1 to R7 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or a substituent, R8, R9, R10, R11, and R13 to R21 each independently represent a substituent, and R12, R22, and R23 each independently represent a divalent linking group.

Boron compounds are used in the field of electrochemistry, for example.
For example, a non-aqueous electrolytic solution for a lithium secondary battery, the solution including a borate selected from the group consisting of alkyl borates and halogen-containing borates, is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
A non-aqueous electrolytic solution containing an organoboron compound having a specific structure is known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
A non-aqueous electrolytic solution battery including a non-aqueous electrolytic solution containing boronate and/or borinate is known (see, for example, Patent Document 3).
A compound such as LiBF3(PO2F2) is known as an electrolyte for electrochemical devices such as a lithium battery, a lithium ion battery, and an electric double layer capacitor (see, for example, Patent Document 4).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication (JP-B) No. 4187959    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 11-3728    Patent Document 3: JP-B No. 3439002    Patent Document 4: JP-B No. 5544748

Lithium boron fluorophosphate complex compound, lithium boron fluorophosphate-containing composition, lithium boron fluorophosphate, additive for lithium secondary battery, non-aqueous electrolytic solution for battery, and lithium secondary battery


The present invention provides a smoke generator for a model train. The invention allows a toy locomotive to produce smoke as an actual train would, in a puffing pattern. The present achieves its purpose by manipulating the flow of air through a smoke generating housing with a fan and a blocking device.

The present invention relates to a smoke unit for a model toy train. The smoke unit described herein produces smoke in a puffing pattern that is characteristic of actual trains.
Thousands of individuals enjoy collecting and operating model toy trains. From the avid collector to the casual hobbyist, all are drawn to the trains, train cars and accessories that include a high level of detail. Ideally, the components of model railroads duplicate exactly their real life counterparts.
Steam engines replicas are among the favorites of collectors. Model toy train manufacturers have successfully developed means for producing smoke in a puffing pattern, reminiscent of actual steam engines. Creating a puffing smoke pattern was accomplished through the use of a piston. The piston operated to force smoke out of a smoke unit and create the puffing action. The piston was driven through a linkage connected to one of the toy train wheels.
The problem with the piston assembly was its bulky size. This shortcoming became especially acute during the development of replicas of larger steam engines. One of the largest steam engines, the Union Pacific Big Boy, was outfitted with two sets of wheels which acted independently of one another. This is known as an articulated train. The replica, then, was also designed with two independent, articulated, sets of wheels. Incorporating two sets of wheels, in turn, meant that space for the puffing smoke piston assembly disappeared. However, the demand for realism in model locomotives required that the traditional puffing smoke pattern of the steam engine be duplicated.
Rather than doing without smoke at all the prior art attached a fan unit to the smoke housing to blow smoke out of the model toy train. The fan however was unable to produce a puffing action and therefore lacked the realism so many model toy train enthusiasts look for. The present invention provides an inventive solution to the problem of the prior art.
The present invention relates to a puffing smoke unit for a model toy train. The unit includes a smoke generator including an exhaust hole and a fan operative to create a flow of smoke from the smoke generator out the, exhaust hole. A blocker intermittently restricts the flow of smoke through the exhaust hole to create a puffing action.
The present invention also relates to a method of creating a puffing action in a model toy train which includes providing a fan and a smoke generator. A stream of smoke is generated from the smoke generator which is intermittently obstructed to create a puffing action.
It is to be understood that the flow of smoke may be restricted in a variety of fashions including both blocking plates and valves. The blocking mechanism can operate at a constant rate or at a rate proportional to the speed at which the model toy train is traveling.

Puffing fan driven smoke unit for a model train


A multiprocessor power-on switch circuit applied to a mainboard having multiple power-on circuits is provided, in which each power-on circuit includes a peripheral circuit corresponding to a processor. A selection circuit in the power-on switch circuit is responsible for selecting a power-on circuit as a first power-on circuit or a second power-on circuit. When the mainboard is powered on, a detection circuit in the power-on switch circuit receives a status signal from the first power-on circuit performing the power-on action. When the status signal is determined as a fault signal by the detection circuit, a control signal is output to the selection circuit, so as to make the selection circuit set the second power-on circuit as the power-on circuit to actuate the mainboard.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a multiprocessor power-on switch circuit, and more particularly to a multiprocessor power-on switch circuit using a selection circuit to switch power-on circuits.
2. Related Art
It becomes more and more difficult to improve the operating and processing capacity of a processor simply with the current techniques, and thus many manufacturers producing processors resort to develop the parallel processing technology for multiple processors, so as to enhance the operating and processing capacity of a computer (especially a server). In addition to a computer, the technique of multiprocessor can be used in almost all the operating devices, such as personal digital assistant and digital television.
If a computer employs multiprocessor, more than one processor is disposed on the mainboard. Although the number of the processor has changed from one to several, only one processor is required to perform the power-on action when needed, and the processor for performing power-on is a predetermined one of the processors.
A current multiprocessor mainboard circuit has two architectures: one is multiple processors used together with a set of peripheral circuits, the other is multiple processors used together with multiple sets of peripheral circuits and each processor has a special set of peripheral circuits. The mainboard in which multiple processors share a set of peripheral circuits is now able to cope with the situation that the processor performing the power-on action fails according to various processing mechanisms. However, currently, as the multiple processors use the respective peripheral circuit architecture individually, when the processor for power-on or the peripheral circuit thereof fails, the mainboard has no corresponding processing mechanism, and the mainboard cannot automatically switch to other processors and peripheral circuits to perform the power-on action, even if more than one processor and peripheral circuit that can operate normally are disposed thereon, thus making the whole computer completely unusable.
Therefore, it becomes an issue to be solved urgently that, how to provide a function to automatically switch to other processors to perform the power-on action when the processor for performing the power-on action or the peripheral circuit thereof fails.


The present invention provides activator compounds, including agonists, to the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma. Particular PPAR.gamma. activators are set forth, as are a pharmaceutical composition for treating diabetes, non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disorders, and methods for such treatment.

Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is characterized by insulin resistance of the peripheral tissues, including the skeletal muscle, liver, and adipose. The resulting hyperglycemia is often accompanied by defective lipid metabolism which can lead to cardiovascular complications such as atherosclerosis and hypertension.
Thiazolidinediones comprise a group of structurally-related antidiabetic compounds that increases the insulin sensitivity of target tissues (skeletal muscle, liver, adipose) in insulin resistant animals. In addition to these effects on hyperglycemia, thiazolidinediones also reduce lipid and insulin levels in animal models of NIDDM. Recently, the thiazolidinedione troglitazone was shown to have these same beneficial effects in human patients suffering from impaired glucose tolerance, a metabolic condition that precedes the development of NIDDM, as in patients suffering from NIDDM (Nolan et al., 1994). While their mechanism of action remains unclear, it is known that the thiazolidinediones do not cause increases in insulin secretion or in the number or affinity of insulin receptor binding sites, suggesting that thiazolidinediones amplify post-receptor events in the insulin signaling cascade (Colca and Morton, 1990, Chang et al., 1983).
Thiazolidinediones have been found to be efficacious inducers of differentiation in cultured pre-adipocyte cell lines (Hiragun et al., 1988; Sparks et al., 1991; Kletzien et al., 1992). Treatment of pre-adipocyte cell lines with the thiazolidinedione pioglitazone results in increased expression of the adipocyte-specific genes aP2 and adipsin as well as the glucose transporter proteins GLUT-1 and GLUT-4. These data suggest that the hypoglycemic effects of thiazolidinediones seen in vivo may be mediated through adipose tissue. However, as estimates of the contribution of adipose tissue to whole body glucose usage range from only 1-3%, it remains unclear whether the hypoglycemic effects of thiazolidinediones can be accounted for by changes in adipocytes. Additionally, thiazolidinediones have been implicated in appetite regulation disorders, see PCT patent application WO 94/25026 A1, and in increase of bone marrow fat content, (Williams, et al, 1993).
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR.gamma.) is an orphan member of the steroid/thyroid/retinoid superfamily of ligand-activated transcription factors. PPAR.gamma. is one of a subfamily of closely-related PPARs encoded by independent genes (Dreyer et al., 1992; Schmidt et al, 1992; Zhu et al., 1993; Kliewer et al., 1994). Three mammalian PPARs have been identified and termed PPAR.alpha., .gamma., and NUC-1. Homologs of PPAR.alpha. and .gamma. have been identified in the frog, Xenopus laevis; however, a third Xenopus PPAR, termed PPAR.beta., is not a NUC-1 homolog, leading to the suggestion that there may be additional subtypes in either or both species.
The PPARs are activated to various degrees by high (micromolar) concentrations of long-chain fatty acids and peroxisome proliferators (Isseman and Green, 1990; Gottlicher, 1992). Peroxisome proliferators are a structurally diverse group of compounds that includes herbicides, phthalate plasticizers, and the fibrate class of hypolipidemic drugs. While these data suggest that the PPARs are bona fide receptors, they remain "orphans" as none of these compounds have been shown to interact directly with the PPARs.
PPARs regulate expression of target genes by binding to DNA sequence elements, termed PPAR response elements (PPRE), as heterodimers with the retinoid X receptors (reviewed in Keller and Whali, 1993). To date, PPREs have been identified in the enhancers of a number of genes encoding proteins that regulate lipid metabolism including the three enzymes required for peroxisomal beta-oxidation of fatty acids, medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, a key enzyme in mitochondrial beta-oxidation, and aP2, a lipid binding protein expressed exclusively in adipocytes. The nature of the PPAR target genes coupled with the activation of PPARs by fatty acids and hypolipidemic drugs suggests a physiological role for the PPARs in lipid homeostasis (reviewed in Keller and Whali, 1993).
Recently, a second isoform of PPAR.gamma., termed PPAR.gamma.2, was cloned from a mouse adipocyte library (Tontonoz et al., 1994). PPAR.gamma.1 and .gamma.2 differ in only 30 amino acids at the extreme N-terminus of the receptor and likely arise from a single gene. PPAR.gamma.2 is expressed in a strikingly adipose-specific manner and its expression is markedly induced during the course of differentiation of several preadipocyte cell lines; furthermore, forced expression of PPAR.gamma.2 was shown to be sufficient to activate the adipocyte-specific aP2 enhancer in non-adipocyte cell lines. These data suggest that PPAR.gamma.2 plays an important role in adipocyte differentiation.
Recently, the thiazolidinedione pioglitazone was reported to stimulate expression of a chimeric gene containing the enhancer/promoter of the lipid-binding protein aP2 upstream of the chloroamphenicol acetyl transferase reporter gene (Harris and Kletzien, 1994). Deletion analysis led to the identification of an approximately 30 bp region responsible for pioglitazone responsiveness. Interestingly, in an independent study, this 30 bp fragment was shown to contain a PPRE (Tontonoz et al., 1994). Taken together, these studies suggested the possibility that the thiazolidinediones modulate gene expression at the transcriptional level through interactions with a PPAR.

Activators of the nuclear orphan receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma


An optical device having a sub-wavelength grating formed in a specified region is disclosed that is able to prevent wave front degradation accompanying a phase difference of a polarized light beam passing through the optical device. The optical device includes a circular-belt-like region where the sub-wavelength diffraction grating is formed, and a center portion where the sub-wavelength diffraction grating is not formed. A vertically polarized light beam used for operations on a blue-light optical recording medium A has a phase difference in the sub-wavelength diffraction grating to be an integral multiple of 2π and hence is transmitted through the sub-wavelength diffraction grating. A horizontally polarized light beam used for operations on a blue-light optical recording medium is diffracted by the sub-wavelength diffraction grating. The light path length L1 of the light beam passing through the circular-belt-like region is the same as that of the light beam passing through the center portion without the sub-wavelength grating.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical device used in an optical pickup for recording, reproducing, or erasing information in an optical recording medium, a method of producing the optical device, an optical product, an optical pickup and an optical information processing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, an optical pickup in the present technical field is constituted by assembling many optical parts such as lenses, prisms, wave plates, polarized-light optical devices, and so on. In recent years and continuing, it is required that an optical pickup be able to support not only conventional CDs or DVDs, but also new optical recording media conforming with plural new and old standards, such as large capacity blue-light optical recording media. To meet this requirement, the number of the optical parts may further increase. On the other hand, the size of the optical pick is limited, and cannot be made larger than this limit. In other words, it is necessary to include DVD, or blue light functions into a space having a CD size. Furthermore, it is required to make the optical pickup more compact, when, for example, the optical pickup is installed in a notebook personal computer.
As for the optical parts, such as a prism of a polarized beam splitter, there exist problems of many processing steps and a large space occupied in the arrangement. Specifically, the prism of the polarized beam splitter includes two right-angle glass prisms whose shapes are processed at high precision, and after a wavelength selection film is formed on the slope of one prism, the one prism is combined with the slope of the other prism, forming a cubic structure. Due to this structure, complicated processing steps are required compared to plate elements. In addition, an optical part having such a cubic structure occupies considerable space inside the optical pickup.
As for materials of optical parts, in the related art, a ¼ wave plate is made from a quartz crystal, which is an optical crystal, or from a liquid crystal. However, when using the quartz crystal, because it is necessary to process the optical crystal with the primary axis of the crystal being in a specified direction, and direction precision is also required when assembling the optical pickup, there is a negative effect on cost reduction. When using the liquid crystal, the liquid crystal has to be sealed by using two glass substrates, and this also causes increased cost.
Therefore, it is desired that by integrating plural optical parts into an optical device, an optical device can be made compact and be assembled simply, and the cost of the optical device can be further reduced without using an evaporation film or an optical crystal, which are fabricated in each conventional optical part.
Along with recent progress in processing techniques, it becomes possible to fabricate a grating structure having a pitch comparable with the light wavelength or even shorter. In such a sub-wavelength grating structure, although a diffracted wave is not generated, the transmittance properties strongly depend on the fine structure, and it is possible to control a phase speed (effective refractive index), or properties of polarized light by controlling the fine structure. For example, this technique is described in the following references.    1. Hisao Kikuta, Koichi Iwata, "Structural complex refractive index and its applications to optical devices", in "Introduction to Diffraction Optical Devices", under the editorship of Physical Society of Applied Physics, Optical Society of Japan, Optical Design Group, Optronics Co., May 20, 1997, first edition, first copy, pp 158.    2. Hisao Kikuta, Koichi Iwata, "Optical control with a fine grating structure comparable to light wavelength", Optics, Vol 27, pp. 12-17 (1998).    3. Hisao Kikuta, "Diffraction grating in sub-wavelength region", Oplus E, Vol. 21, No. 5 (May, 1999) pp. 543-550.    4. Japanese Patent Gazette No. 3077156.    5. Japanese Patent Gazette No. 3382600.
By using the grating structure in the sub-wavelength region, for example, it is not necessary to perform surface coating of prisms of a polarized beam splitter, and the structure can be made into a plate. Similarly, because the phase speed can be controlled, it is possible to produce a ¼ wave plate by a grating structure.
FIG. 24 is a schematic view of a polarized light selective diffraction device using the sub-wavelength grating in the related art.
In FIG. 24, rectangular gratings having fine pitches are arranged periodically at intervals longer than the wavelength of incident light. If a phase difference between the light passing through the rectangular gratings of fine pitches and the light passing through regions other than the rectangular gratings is an integral multiple of 2π, the incident light is not diffracted and the incident light beam is totally transmitted through the diffraction device. While, if the phase difference is an integral multiple of π, all of the incident light is diffracted, and there is no light directly passing through the diffraction device. By appropriately selecting the equivalent refractive indexes and heights of the rectangular gratings of fine pitches, it is possible to separate the incident polarized light with light diffraction. In addition, diffraction direction can be controlled by the shape of the grating of pitches longer than the light wavelength.
FIG. 25 is a schematic view of a wave plate using the sub-wavelength grating in the related art.
In FIG. 25, a phase difference is obtainable from anisotropy generated by the sub-wavelength grating, and since this phase difference can be set to be π or π/2, various kinds of wave plates can be realized.
Further, while the sub-wavelength grating is formed in the whole region of the optical device in the related art, in an optical pickup of the present invention, the sub-wavelength grating is formed only in a specified limited region to constitute various kinds of optical elements.
However, when the sub-wavelength grating is formed only in a limited region, a light path length difference, and in turn, a phase difference is generated between the region where the sub-wavelength grating is formed and the region where the sub-wavelength grating is not formed; due to this, a wave front aberration is generated, and this degrades the light condensing properties of the object lens.
FIG. 26A is schematic view illustrating light paths in the sub-wavelength grating and in the region without the sub-wavelength grating in the related art.
As shown in FIG. 26A, the sub-wavelength grating is formed only in a specified region. If the heights of the sub-wavelength grating and the region without the sub-wavelength grating are not appropriately selected, the light path in the sub-wavelength grating is different from the light path in the region without the sub-wavelength grating.
The light path difference Δnd can be expressed byΔnd=(1+ns)*d/2−n1*d
where ns represents a refractive index in a vertical polarization direction, and n1 represents a refractive index of the sub-wavelength grating region.
This light path difference Δnd generates a phase difference between the sub-wavelength grating region and the region without the sub-wavelength grating.
FIG. 26B illustrates an aberration caused by the phase difference in the related art.
As illustrated in FIG. 26B, due to the light path difference between the sub-wavelength grating region and the region without the sub-wavelength grating, and in turn the phase difference between the sub-wavelength grating region and the region without the sub-wavelength grating, a wave front aberration is generated, and this degrades the light condensing properties of the object lens.

Optical device, method of producing the same, optical pickup, and optical information processing device


A multi-ply absorbent sheet includes a first absorbent ply of cellulosic sheet; a second absorbent ply of cellulosic sheet; and a ply bonding adhesive interposed between the first absorbent ply and the second absorbent ply, the ply-bonding adhesive thereby adhering said absorbent plies together. The ply-bonding adhesive comprises polyvinyl alcohol and nanofibrillated cellulose. In a particularly preferred embodiment the adhesive is applied as a dilute aqueous composition to tissue plies and the nanofibrillated cellulose has a Characteristic Breaking Length of 6.5 km or above.

Multi-ply absorbent sheet such as towel and tissue sometimes conventionally include a plurality of glue-bonded layers or plies. Adhesives employed include aqueous polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH) solutions as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,414,459. Such solutions are relatively low solids, less than 10% by weight PVOH and exhibit Newtonian Fluid viscosity characteristics; that is, wherein viscosity is substantially independent of shear. Tissue/towel ply bonding is typically carried out in the following steps: 1) embossing one or more plies; 2) applying glue to the web on the raised emboss pattern elements; 3) bringing one or more plies into contact with the glued surface and applying sufficient pressure to the mated web to provide enduring plybond once the glue has dried. This process places several demands on the glue. It must penetrate the first web, but not too much. Enough tackiness must remain to stick to the non-glued web. The remaining glue must preferably penetrate the nonglued web to improve the integrity of the bond. See, also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,554 to Neal et al., entitled Paper Product Comprising Adhesively Joined Plies which describes ply-bonded absorbent sheet provided with polyvinyl alcohol or starch adhesive compositions; note Col. 4, lines 20-55.
A paper/glue bond can be considered a fiber/polymer composite structure with a tendency to fracture at the interface of the plies. The process and product requirements present a difficult balancing act. If the glue is too viscous, it may not penetrate either ply sufficiently. If the glue is too thin, excess glue is required to overcome the excess wicking of glue into the web. Sometimes increased marrying roll pressure is used in an attempt to overcome the performance of the glue; however, bulk, softness and emboss quality suffer when too much pressure is used.
There is a need for a better ply bonding adhesive that overcomes the mentioned deficiencies.
Nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) or sometimes referred to as microfibrillated cellulose (MFC) is known in the art to be useful for a variety of purposes, including for use as a structural material in sheet and related articles. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,734,335 it is mentioned that NFC is useful for use in absorbent structures. Col. 22, lines 13+. See, also, U.S. Pat. No. 7,614,110, Col. 13, lines 38+. United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2012/0219816 discloses use of NFC as a layer in a multilayer paperboard structure, Abstract. See, generally, United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2012/0058536, ¶ [0151], which discloses NFC as a structural material. NFC is used in molded structures, as seen in United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2009/0308552, ¶ [0001], as well as United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2011/0263756, Abstract. NFC is, likewise, known for use in adhesives. JP 60250079 discloses a liquid adhesive made by blending a polyvinyl acetate emulsion, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and above 3-4% NFC based on the weight of the liquid composition. See, also, United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2010/0285295, ¶ [0023], where NFC is mentioned as a filler for an adhesive resin; United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2011/0052881, ¶ [0062], having similar discussion, as well as United States Patent Application Publication No. US 2009/0042003, ¶ [0057].

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Glue-bonded multi-ply absorbent sheet and polyvinyl alcohol ply bonding adhesive


A dual curtain rod comprises a telescoping traverse rod having a strap and hook member affixed to each end. The strap will fit over and around existing curtain rod brackets and be secured by the hook so as to enable the hanging of an additional set of curtains.

It is sometimes desirous to complement window and similar structural openings with various treatments, valances, and curtains. A common and effective method to facilitate this is the use of a lateral support rod. This lateral support rod is typically affixed, or otherwise secured, near a top region of such an opening to hold drapery-like material of an assortment of shapes and designs. Those exhibiting the desire to complement such openings have an innate artistic urge to be afforded the ability to have a more robust treatment display. Not only should there be an ability to have a robust treatment display, but there should be a means to alternate from a less robust to a more robust display at the discretion of the decorator and with minimal effort and cost. Any artisan covets a tool that provides robustness in its appearance and expression while limiting complexity in its use.
Curtain and valance rods already exist. Existing art in the field also provide versatility by incorporating dual rod systems that are extendable. However, prior art fails to afford the utilization of an auxiliary rod in conjunction with an existing curtain rod to generate a multiple rod system at the discretion of a decorator. It is desirable to have an easily removable curtain rod that is used with an existing stationary curtain rod. A beneficial feature is for this device to attach to and detach from an existing curtain rod with ease. It is further desirable for the device to attach in such a way as to allow a user to create a tessellation of treatments rather than a mere dual rod system.


A device with which electrical energy can be transferred from a power cable running along a stationary rail of a transport system to a moving element that can be driven along the rail. Each moving element has for this purpose a transfer head which works inductively together with the power cable. The power cable is attached with the aid of carrier profile which extends substantially along the entire length of the rail and is fixed in a releasable manner to the rail, which element has at least one a trough-like holder open to the side in which the power cable is laid. The power cable is thus relatively easily and accurately laid, avoiding hanging loops of cable which could be damaged by abrasion by the passing transfer heads of the moving elements.

The invention relates to a device for the contactless transfer of electrical energy from at least one power cable carrying electrical energy which is laid alongside a stationary rail of a transport system, to a movable element that can be driven along the rail, which element has a transfer head working inductively together with the power cable, with at least one carrier element fixed in a releasable manner to the rail, which element has a holder for the power cable.
Transport systems of the type considered here are known in various embodiments. One prominent example of this are electrically powered suspension railways in which the individual cars suspended from a carrier rail move along the carrier rail driven by a motor. In all these cases, it is necessary to transfer the electrical energy of the moving element required to operate, in particular to drive it, from a stationary power cable laid alongside the rail, to the movable element. In the past, this has mostly been effected by sliding contactors which are fixed to the moving element and which slide along a stationary power rail that is accessible from the outside and which serves as a power cable. The disadvantage is that spark formation cannot always be reliably prevented, which is not acceptable especially in environments at risk from explosions. In addition, dust is generated by the sliding contacts which can also not be tolerated in many fields of application, particularly in painting technology.
For these reasons, there are also transport systems of the above kind in which the electrical operating power is transferred inductively—that is contactlessly—from the stationary power cable to the moving element. In this case, spark formation and contaminating dust are reliably prevented. With these systems, however, there is the question of how the power cable can be laid against the guide rail. In known contactless energy transfer transport systems this is done with the aid of a large number of individual clips which are fixed with elastic mountings onto the rail at intervals of approximately 15 cm. The individual clips have connecting openings through which the power cable has to be "threaded". This "threading" is a task that has to be done by hand and involves considerable expenditure. In addition, loops of the power cable hang down between the individual clips and can under unfavourable conditions make contact with the transfer heads of the passing moving elements and can thus suffer abrasion.

Device for the contactless transfer of electrical energy


Techniques for reducing latency in address decoding are described. According to one approach, a method of operating an addressing circuit comprises partitioning range of encoded addresses into a first and second subset of encoded addresses, sending a first encoded address to a address decode circuit from a controller. In response to determining that the first encoded address is contained in the first subset, decoding the first encoded address in a first duration. In response to determining that the first encoded address is contained in the second subset, decoding the first encoded address in a second duration which is longer than the first duration and simultaneously sending a halt signal to the controller to stop sending subsequent encoded addresses for decoding for the entirety of the second duration.

The approaches described in this section could be pursued, but are not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
The present disclosure generally relates to integrated circuits and more specifically relates to reducing transactional latency in address decoding.
Address decoding circuits are used in many integrated circuits, especially those relying on buses for example, microprocessors, FPGAs, and ASICS. Address decoding circuits typically contain digital logic that implements the address decode function.
An address decoding circuit in a computing system generates a chipselect signal for a target device upon receiving a request (an address decoding transaction) from a controller to access that target device. Examples of target devices or target circuits may include input/output devices, memory components, and connection components. A controller circuit controls the flow of data going to and from a computing system's main memory and other target devices.
An address decoding transaction comprises a controller sending requests (which may include memory-mapped or encoded addresses) to an address decoding circuit to read data from or write data to a target device. The encoded address is used by processing circuitry (for example, a central processing unit) to communicate with a controller. However, it is the address decoding circuit that then implements the address decoding function to generate a chipselect signal for the target device and forwards the results of the decoding to a selecting circuit, for example a de-multiplexer circuit. The selecting circuit then forwards the instructions from the controller to the appropriate target device.
In many systems, addresses are decoded in a single clock cycle. However, in more complicated computing systems, such as FPGAs that employ an interconnect architecture, use larger address widths, or interface with more addressable target circuits, address decoding is more complex and may become a critical path for the operation of the circuit. Therefore, there is a need for mitigating or eliminating the additional latency, while allowing a high operating frequency for address decoding transactions.

Reducing transactional latency in address decoding


A universally applicable device for guiding the cable of cable saw systems for sawing concrete, brickwork, natural stone, and other masonry products. A bearing plate supports (and attaches) the guide to a base. A support projects upwardly from the bearing plate. A transverse beam ca be fixed at any height on the support. The transverse beam has one or two free ends. A hollow end beam that can be stopped and rotated by 360.degree. around the longitudinal axis of the transverse beam is disposed on each free end of the transverse beam. The end beam carries deflection rollers on which the incoming and outgoing saw cable is guided to the workpiece and to the cable saw, respectively. Each of the rollers are borne in a roller housing that is rotatable by 360.degree. about the longitudinal axis of the end beam. Any cutting planes or flush cuts and all angles to the work piece can therefore be set, without having to perform any substantial changeover procedure for the cable saw between different cutting jobs.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a cable guide in cable saw systems for sawing masonry, such as work pieces made of concrete, brickwork, natural stone, quarry stone, etc., by means of an endlessly revolving saw cable.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 2,577,523 discloses a device of this general kind, wherein two individual rollers that are each rotatable about 360.degree. are borne in a hollow axle that is held perpendicular to a support. The saw cable is guided via the rollers from the cable saw to the work piece to be cut. The saw cable thereby runs through the hollow axle between the two rollers. Another such device is required for guiding the cable from the work piece back to the cable saw. In spite of the fact that the individual rollers swing independently of each other, the possibilities for adjusting the cable are limited.


An organic light emitting diode (OLED) having an improved service life and improved transport of negative charge carriers. The organic light emitting diode based on an organic semiconductor material in which the transport of negative charge carriers and the stability with respect to reduction are determined by azahetarylene/Lewis acid complex units. This leads to an improved service life of the emission layer, which firstly increases the service life of the component and avoids readjustment of the brightness during operation. Organic light emitting diodes are disclosed in which the position of the emission zone in the emitter layer and the color of the emission can be specifically influenced by azahetarylene/Lewis acid complex units.

An OLED comprises as a rule at least one lower, at least semitransparent electrode, a hole-transporting layer, i.e. a layer comprising charge transport material which is suitable for transporting positive charges, an emitter layer, a layer for transporting negative charges and finally an upper electrode.
In order to manage with as few layers as possible in an OLED, attempts have been made to use, as an emitter layer, an electron-deficient material in which an electron excess can be stabilized. It is thus possible to omit the layer between emitter material and negative electrode.
OLEDs based on semiconductor material having, for example, a skeleton of polyarylenevinylene or poly-para-phenylene (in particular polyfluorene and/or poly-spiro-fluorene), in which, in addition to these constituents, proportions of further chromophores and/or molecules having electronegative centers are also incorporated in the form of polymerized units or introduced in the form of blends are known. The molecules having electronegative centers all have as a rule at least one nitrogen atom by means of the electronegativity of which (in comparison with carbon) an excess electron can be stabilized in the existing π-conjugation.
With the above-described organic semiconductor materials for active layers of an OLED, it is possible at present to cover a large range of the possible CIE (International Commission on Illumination) color coordinates and to achieve relatively high luminances and efficiencies which are relevant for commercial applications. However, the operating life of the polymer OLEDs has to date been too low to become established on the market. This applies in particular to the shorter-wave, i.e. the blue and white emitting light emitting diodes and/or displays, such as the so-called passive matrix displays.
A disadvantage of stabilization by means of a nitrogen atom is, however, that the electron loan pair of the nitrogen has an n-π* transition and an additional electron is therefore raised to a π* energy level and falls into an n-level. It thereby emits radiation which is no longer in the visible range and adds nothing to the luminosity of the OLED.

Organic light emitting diode with increased radical anion stability and applications thereof


A method is provided for avoiding the corruption of information which can occur when a processor nests subroutines and these subroutines disable and enable interrupts.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the servicing of interrupts and, in particular to the servicing of interrupts in connection with nested subroutines.
2. Description of Related Art
In processing systems, it is common to utilize interrupt servicing subroutines to facilitate the processing of multiple demands for shared resources, e.g. memories. These subroutines typically include instructions for disabling further interrupts, until completion of the current interrupt, and then re-enabling interrupts. The primary purpose of this disable/enable feature is to ensure that conflicting demands for the same resources are serviced without corrupting already-existing information.
In some situations, the simple acts of disabling and then re-enabling interrupts in beginning and end portions, respectively, of each interrupt subroutine are inadequate to prevent the corruption of information. For example, it is sometimes desirable to permit nesting of a second subroutine within a first, each of which includes its own disable and enable interrupt instructions. The end of the nested second subroutine can include an enable interrupt instruction followed by a return instruction to effect return to and completion of the first subroutine. However, if a request for servicing another interrupt is pending when the nested second subroutine issues its enable interrupt instruction, the other interrupt could be serviced by a third subroutine before completion of the first. If the third subroutine is sharing memory locations still being used by the first subroutine, the third subroutine could modify and inadvertently corrupt information in these shared memory locations. Alternatively, these memory locations could contain incorrect information, e.g. memory addresses which had not yet been updated by the first subroutine. In this case the third subroutine could either read or store information at an incorrect address.
A known solution to this problem is to first store pertinent data (e.g. a processor status word) relating to the status of a processor performing the nested subroutines, disable interrupts to facilitate performance of one of the subroutines, and then to read the stored data and restoring the processor to its earlier status before reenabling interrupts. This solution is both time and memory consuming.
European Patent 441054 discusses this problem generally and proposes as a solution a combination of register banks, status bits and interrupt logic for servicing interrupts. It is desirable to provide a simpler solution.
It is an object of the invention to provide a simple method for servicing interrupts that effectively avoids the problem of corrupting information stored in memory.
Note that the word xe2x80x9cmemoryxe2x80x9d, as used herein, is intended to be interpreted as generally as is consistent with the manner in which it is used and includes, without limitation, volatile and non-volatile devices of various types, such as registers, RAMs, DRAMs, ROMs, LiFOs, FlFOs, etc.
In accordance with the invention, in the operation of a processor having the capability of performing nested subroutines in response to requested interrupts, a method of servicing such interrupts includes:
providing an indicator representing a current interrupt enable status;
saving status data including the indicator;
placing the current interrupt enable status in a disabled state;
at least beginning performance of an action designated by the requested interrupt;
before accepting another interrupt request:
reading the indicator from the saved status data;
placing the current interrupt enable status in the state indicated by the indicator.

Servicing of interrupts with stored and restored flags


An archery target constructed of compressed layers of foam. Layers of cross linked, closed cell polyethylene foam of 1/8 to 1/4 inch thickness and a density of 2 to 4 pounds are stacked and compressed between support platens positioned to maintain the compressive forces over the central portion of the target. Band retainers are secured around the target to maintain compression and retain the layers in registry to one another. A weather resistant cover can be trained around the baled target and a handle can also be mounted to the binding support platens.

The present invention relates to archery targets and, in particular, to a target and constructed of compressed foam strips banded between a pair of opposing boards, which target may be covered with a weather resistant membrane.
A variety of archery targets or backstops have been developed over the years to safely capture an arrow with minimal damage to the target. Depending upon the type of arrow point, the target life will vary. Penetration by field or practice points, which do not provide cutting surfaces, produces minimal wear and tear to the target. That is, the material with arrow point penetration and removal tends to merely compress and re-expand. A broadhead with multiple cutting surfaces, in contrast, cuts the material. With repeated penetrations, the cuts can intersect and overlap which can cause the loss of sections of the material. Material loss can be exaggerated when arrows are shot from different angles, which results in overlapping cuts in three dimensions.
A variety of materials have been used to create targets. Common materials used in both indoor and outdoor applications are straw, excelsior (i.e. wood strands), and cardboard. Dirt, layered sod, rubber belting and various types of foam targets have also been used to stop broadheads on outdoor ranges.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,244 discloses a target constructed of compressed layers of cardboard. The layers are compressed between end boards which that are placed under compression by threaded through rods. Protection must be provided with such targets when used outdoors. The coarse materials also tend to restrict arrow removal.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,244,585 discloses a target constructed of a gathered and wound thermoplastic film which is formed into a circular disk and where the circular surface of the disc forms the target face. A cover sheet is applied over one or more vertically stacked disks and which are placed on edge. Still other targets including vertically stacked materials are known. Such targets typically provide a relatively few layers, for example, facing and backing layers with a core layer mounted at the center.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,977 discloses a horizontally layered target which is constructed of layers of carpeting. The target face is formed by the edges of the horizontally stacked layers. Bands are fitted around the stacked layers and drawn tight to compress the layers. The banding process, however, tends to place an uneven compression on the layers with particularly less compression in the center region. The carpet material is also not compatible with broadheads.
Targets constructed of molded, single pour, open and closed cell foams of various densities (e.g. polyurethane and polystyrene foams) and covered bats of polyester materials are also known. Such targets are used with broadheads and may include sections, which are replaced after protracted tear out has occurred. Many of the foregoing types of targets are also shown at an article by Tom Kacheroski in Archerv Business at pp. 52-53 (March/April, 1997).
Targets filled with fibrous materials in the manner of a pillow are also known. When used with broadheads, the covering for these targets must be frequently replaced.
Although all of the foregoing targets will stop an arrow, many do not particularly accommodate broadheads. That is, a broadhead will either become trapped in the target or will cause tear out with relatively few shots. The stacked materials of some are also relatively heavy and susceptible to absorption of moisture. The thickness of the layers can also induce arrows to align at differing angles, depending upon whether the point first encounters the core of the material or an interstice at the layers, which can cause damage from other arrows being shot into the target.
In appreciation of the deficiencies of known targets, the present target was developed to provide a relatively light weight, weather resistant, and tear out resistant target that is compatible with both field and target points and broadheads and is useable both indoors and outdoors. The target is constructed of compressed layers of cross linked, closed cell foam. The foam exhibits a thickness of 1/16 to 3/8 inches and the compression pressure is established to compress the stacked layers approximately 5 too 20% from a loose stacked condition.


An imaging lens enables a large focal depth and low error sensitivity. The imaging lens satisfies “0.016<Δ/f<0.018,” where Δ is the absolute value of longitudinal chromatic aberrations at F curve and C curve wavelengths, and f is the combined focal distance of the entire compound imaging lens. A first, a second, and a third lens are disposed sequentially, the first lens disposed toward an object, and the third lens disposed toward an image surface. The first lens has a positive refraction, a meniscus shape, and a convex surface facing the object. The second lens has a meniscus shape with a concave surface facing the object. The third lens has a convex-type shape facing the object; and a concave-type aspherical shape facing the image surface, providing a negative refraction in a radially central portion and a positive refraction in a radially peripheral portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a compound imaging lens including three lens elements.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the advancement of miniature solid-state image sensors for mobile cameras mounted in applications such as mobile phones has resulted in the use of solid-state image sensors having pixels 3 μm or smaller in size. An imaging lens having three or more lens elements is necessary to practically accommodate solid-state image sensors of such extremely small pixel sizes. Such optical systems require corrections to sufficiently compensate for various aberrations.
Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2006-308789 discusses a known example of an imaging device using three lens elements.
However, the imaging lens discussed in the Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication recited above has a small depth of focus, causing difficulties when focusing. Moreover, such an optical system is highly sensitive to errors.
The present invention was accomplished in consideration of the problems recited above, and is directed to provide a compound imaging lens that has three lens elements, a compact size, a large depth of focus, and low sensitivity to error.


A removable electrical unit 20 is described which incorporates a soft stop and releasing mechanism which is employed to prevent removal of the unit from its housing in an unsafe manner. In operation, the unit is pulled from the housing by means of a front handle 22 on the unit and when the unit is partially removed from its housing a stop block 72 on the unit engages a stop spring 90 on the housing. A second handle 30 on the top of the unit becomes accessible and is actuated to disengage the stop block and stop spring. The unit may then be completely removed from the housing in a safe two handed manner.

A current trend in the design of electrical systems is the provision of modular configurations whereby the individual electrical devices making up the system are removable from the system housing. Such systems provide a number of advantages. The customer is able to buy a system which has a combination of different device types tailored to his own requirements. In addition, the manufacturer is able to offer a large number of different systems based on a smaller range of individual device types. If a device becomes defective, it can be removed for repair and replaced with a good device without seriously degrading the performance of the system as a whole.
One type of multi component system is a mass data storage subsystem which comprises removable data storage devices, e.g. disk drives, mounted in a chassis which also contains associated device controllers, power supplies and cooling fans.
With removable disk drives, extra provision in the form of improved shock mounts is commonly required to provide protection for the head disk assembly during handling. Although it may be possible to provide protection sufficient to cope with most handling conditions, it is extremely difficult to achieve such a level of protection within the limited space of a fixed form factor e.g. 5.25 inches. Care is also needed when inserting or removing the disk drive into or from the chassis in order to avoid damage to the head disk assembly.
An article entitled `Removable and Transportable DASD` (IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin vol. 33 No. 6B November 1990 pp 76-77) describes a disk file module which is designed to be removably installed in the chassis of a user system. The module includes a first handle on its front surface for use in removing the module from either rack or tower mounting chassis. A second handle which folds flat at the top of the unit may be used an additional carrying aid.
A similar arrangement is employed in the EMR removable disk subsystem manufactured by Emulex Corporation. A pair of removable Portable Disk Modules (PDM) are mounted in a chassis and each module has a front mounted handle and a second handle hingeably attached to its top surface. The second handle is presumably used to assist in removal of the module from the chassis.

Removable electrical unit with combined grip and release mechanism exposed by partial withdrawal

International Business Machines Corporation


In one embodiment, a system includes a processor to retrieve, from a memory, data of a video frame, the data including measurements of luminance, each of the measurements of luminance being associated with a different entry in a matrix, calculate a weighted average luminance value Ly for the measurements of luminance weighted according to a row position of the one measurement of luminance in the matrix, calculate a weighted average luminance value Lx for the measurements of luminance weighted according to a column position of the one measurement of luminance in the matrix, and create a video signature, S0, of the video frame, the video signature, S0, including the weighted average luminance value Ly and the weighted average luminance value Lx. Related apparatus and methods are also described.

Video sequences may be identified for many reasons, including recognizing a TV show rerun in order to associate existing metadata with the show, recognizing when certain adverts or content items are being broadcast, identifying pirated content and other data analysis tasks.
Video signatures may be used to identify video sequences.


Systems and methods for determining bi-propellant volume and adjusting a mixture ratio are discussed herein. A controller can calculate an adjusted mixture ratio and command the rocket engine to implement the adjusted mixture ratio by opening or closing valves of the propellant tanks, which changes the volumetric flow rates of each of the propellants. The adjusted mixture ratio can be calculated by an algorithm based on sensed or calculated data associated with each propellant. The adjusted mixture ratio can be used to evenly deplete the propellants to reduce the amount of each propellant remaining after a mission and to improve propellant use, which allows for an increase in a non-propellant payload.

Rocket propulsion systems typically use two or more liquid propellants. Conventional propellant control systems measure or estimate the mass of each propellant and calculate the mass flow rate of each of the propellants of the propulsion system to determine the remaining amount of each propellant and the rate of use or depletion of each propellant. To measure or approximate the mass of each of the propellants, a variety of sensors has been used, including capacitance probes, delta-pressure transducers, over-driven resistive thermal detectors (RTD), or other propellant height sensors. The capacitance probes are the closest to true mass sensors, but rely on calibrations that drift over time, so even capacitance probes cannot produce unbiased estimates of mass. The delta-pressure measurements also produce mass estimates, but since density of cryogenic propellants cannot be determined accurately, delta-pressure systems also produce biased mass estimates. The RTD systems directly measure propellant heights, therefore, volume when considered along with an accurately measured tank map. As with the delta-pressure systems, propellant mass can be approximated from propellant height (or volume), but the estimate is biased, because propellant density is not accurately known. Once mass is estimated, engine commands can be adjusted to correct for a mass ratio imbalance between the propellants. The mass ratio imbalance can be corrected to align with a commanded or desired mixture ratio (i.e., the amount of one propellant relative to the amount of the other propellant). Rocket engines require a narrow range of propellant mixture ratios to operate properly, but small adjustments in mixture ratio can be made to cause propellants to be depleted at the same time such that propellant use is maximized.
Each of the conventional systems for measuring or calculating the mass flow rate are prone to bias errors. First, measurement uncertainty can be introduced into the calculations. The sensors can be subject to spikes caused by an instantaneous change in the environment or the system. For example, sloshing can affect an instantaneous mass reading, but does not affect a stable mass reading. The system senses the instantaneous mass and adjusts based on the incorrect instantaneous mass. Further, changes in the number of firing engines throughout a mission can affect mixture ratio bias. Mixture ratio bias may have independent variations from engine to engine. For example, any mixture bias estimated during boost with all engines firing must be reset when switching to fewer engines for a deceleration burn and again when reducing the number of engines for a landing burn.
The art would benefit from a method for producing unbiased propellant volume and mixture ratio controls to reduce the required flight propellant reserve and improve overall launch vehicle performance.

Propellant volume and mixture ratio control


A frequency converter (100) comprises a processor (102), memory (104) and basic software (106) in the memory, the execution of which software implements the basic functionality of the frequency converter. For application-specific customization, the memory of the frequency converter is arranged to include application software (108) that contains callable functions (210) and is installable separately from the basic software. The frequency converter is arranged to execute the basic software (106) and the application software (108) with the same processor (102). The basic software (106) calls a function of the application software and/or provides functions of its own to be called by the application software indirectly via a link (240k) in a call table (240), the location of the link in the call table being independent of the location of the function (210) corresponding to the link in the memory.

The invention relates to a frequency converter comprising a processor and a memory. Frequency converters are generally used in connection with electric motors.
An entity formed of a frequency converter and an electric motor is often incorporated into a surrounding system that gives commands to the frequency converter and may receive response signals from it. To be incorporated into the surrounding system, the frequency converter comprises software. The software is usually stored in a non-volatile memory. It controls the processor to implement the basic functions of the frequency converter in response to input signals coming from outside. The basic functions can be considered to include the critical tasks in respect of the electric motor, such as starting, switching off and speed control of the motor as well as possible fault and/or safety control. In addition to speed, the controlled variables may include frequency, torque, location and power. In inverter use, there may be other controlled variables as well. With respect to this invention, the only essential thing is that the frequency converter has given basic functionality provided by the manufacturer and generated by a processor in the control of basic software. Defining the basic functionality in detail is not essential from the viewpoint of the invention.
The general tendency towards large production runs necessitates standard frequency converters with standard basic software, irrespective of the customer or application. On the other hand, the basic software of a frequency converter is not necessarily applicable to be incorporated into the surrounding system. For example, the signalling protocol (command language) of the surrounding system may be different from that of the basic software of the frequency converter.
It is not probable that the supplier of the surrounding system would like to customize its own command language. Thus, a protocol converter is required to adapt the frequency converter to the surrounding system. If the protocol converter is a separate device or an accessory card with processors, this means a significant increase in the costs. On the other hand, if there is no protocol converter or if it is integrated into the frequency converter or the surrounding system, the frequency converter or the surrounding system have to be manufactured case-specifically, which makes long production runs impossible.


Provided herein is a CD40L-Fc fusion protein and methods of using the fusion protein in the treatment of cancer comprising administering the CD40L-Fc fusion protein or the CD40L-Fc fusion protein in combination with one or more immune checkpoint inhibitors (e.g., an anti-CTLA4 antibody, anti-PD-L1 antibody).

Cancer continues to be a major global health burden. Despite progress in the treatment of cancer, there continues to be an unmet medical need for more effective and less toxic therapies, especially for those patients with advanced disease or cancers that are resistant to existing therapeutics.
The role of the immune system, in particular T cell-mediated cytotoxicity, in tumor control is well recognized. There is mounting evidence that T cells control tumor growth and survival in cancer patients, both in early and late stages of the disease. However, tumor-specific T-cell responses are difficult to mount and sustain in cancer patients.
T cell pathways receiving significant attention to date include signaling through cytotoxic T lymphocyte antigen-4 (CTLA-4, CD152) and programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1, also known as B7-H1 or CD274). Recently however, CD40 ligand (CD40L) has generated interest as a mediator for tumor control.
CD40L is a member of the TNF family of molecules which is primarily expressed on activated T cells (including Th0, Th1, and Th2 subtypes), and forms homotrimers similar to other members of this family. Further, CD40L has also been found expressed on Mast cells, and activated basophils and eosinophils. CD40L binds to its receptor CD40 on antigen-presenting cells (APC), which leads to many effects depending on the target cell type. In general, CD40L plays the role of a costimulatory molecule and induces activation in APC in association with T cell receptor stimulation by MHC molecules on the APC.
Despite the significant progress made over the past decade in developing strategies for combatting cancer and other diseases, patients with advanced, refractory and metastatic disease have limited clinical options. Chemotherapy, irradiation, and high dose chemotherapy have become dose limiting. There remains a substantial unmet need for new less-toxic methods and therapeutics that have better therapeutic efficacy, longer clinical benefit, and improved safety profiles, particularly for those patients with advanced disease or cancers that are resistant to existing therapeutics.

CD40L-Fc fusion polypeptides and methods of use thereof


A remote video delivery system transmits video and text from a hotel office to hotel rooms. A series of video players generates the video signals to modulators. The modulators transmit the signals on various frequencies. A system controller directs the signals from the modulators to the appropriate converter boxes within the rooms. An outside vendor runs a billing system to charge the guests for the video delivery without the need for involvement by the hotel staff.

In the hotel industry, there is a continual need to provide as many services for the guest as possible in the most convenient manner. (The word "hotel" in this application refers to any multi-user establishment including hotels, motels, hospitals, airplanes, etc.) In addition, there is the continual need to provide such services to the guest in the most efficient manner. (The word "guest" or "user" in this application refers to any user of the entertainment and information system described herein.)
When video cassette players and tapes were introduced to the consuming public as a whole, some hotel establishments installed individual video cassette players in their guest rooms so that their guests could privately view movies. However, such arrangements were cumbersome and required the hotel guest to walk to the movie rental location in the hotel or elsewhere and rent the video. Then, upon viewing the video, such arrangements typically required the hotel guest to return the video before departing.
Subsequently, systems were developed which could disseminate movie videos from a central location within a hotel to the rooms of the individual hotel guests as desired by the guests. Such systems were generally not developed or operated by the hotel establishment, but were developed, installed and operated by outside vendors. An example of such a system is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,244 and the corresponding U.S. Reissue Pat. No. 34,611. Such systems were inherently flawed in that, among other things, they depended on the hotel for collecting revenues from the guests and for providing assistance to the guests as required. In addition, such systems required that a large staff of personnel be maintained to provide maintenance and other services as required.
In such prior systems, any charges generated by a particular room were either added to the hotel guest's bill electronically through an interface with the hotel's accounting computer or were automatically printed and manually entered by the hotel management onto the guest's account. Due to the expense of developing interfaces for every hotel's accounting system, such automatic systems are often impractical and not universally utilized. The manual method often led to a failure to post certain charges, and in some circumstances incorrect amounts were charged by the hotel. In addition, unscrupulous hotel guests often fabricated problems in order to escape payment for services rendered. As a result, vendors experienced substantial problems with account adjustments and collections utilizing the prior systems. Moreover, in such systems, the vendor was dependent on the hotel or management company to reconcile invoices and to pay in a timely manner.
The limited resources and tight profit margins characterizing the operation of smaller properties exacerbated the above mentioned difficulties. Further, the transaction costs of dealing with these properties were high. That is, because of an almost universal absence of single source property management, each hotel had to be dealt with on an individual basis.
Maintenance for such systems was performed on a regular basis by the vendor who would normally send a representative to the hotel location to change the selection of video choices and provide any maintenance which might be required. If there were a problem during the daily operation of any particular system, the vendor would have to either rely on the hotel operator to fix the problem or provide a service staff near every installation. Of course, providing a maintenance staff near every hotel installation was so expensive that most vendors could not provide such services. Consequently, if a problem developed, the hotel would attempt to correct it or simply refund the movie system user's money. Even if the vendor were contacted in such situations, the vendor would typically be unable to provide any servicing of the system at the time unless a service representative happened to be at the location. Thus, in the majority of cases, the system would be out of service for a significant amount of time, even if the problem were relatively minor and could have easily been fixed by a trained service person.
An additional limitation with these systems was that the only service such systems provided to the hotel guest was the playing of videos. Such systems did not offer any services which required communications to any remote location such as a local food delivery establishment. Therefore, there has been a long standing need for an entertainment and information system that would offer additional services as provided by the invention disclosed herein.

Entertainment and information systems and related management networks for a remote video delivery system