A shoe donning enabler adapted for use with a dressing stick but which can be used without a dressing stick by some patients. The enabler can be attached to an ordinary pair of shoes and may be supplied as a conversion kit. The enabler has a ring supported at the back of a shoe on a lace, a first end of which is attached to the ring and a second end of which is threaded through a pair of holes provided in the back of the shoe. The second end of the lace passes from the inside of the shoe through one of the holes, passing back through the second hole into the inside of the shoe and is attached to the ring. The lace is long enough that the ring hangs outside the shoe where it can be hooked with a dressing stick or finger.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a shoe donning enabler which can be attached to an ordinary pair of shoes and may be supplied as a conversion kit. The enabler is adapted for use with a dressing stick but can be used without a stick by some users.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Most human beings want to be independent insofar as possible. It starts with, "Mommy, I want to do it myself," and continues ever after. Sometimes, however, as a result of injury, disease, age or some combination thereof, it becomes difficult for a person who is disabled by cardiovascular accident (CVA), Parkinson's, total hip replacement, multiple sclerosis, etc. to dress. Dressing hooks as shown in the drawings are commonly used to reach for items, pull up zippers, don pants and so forth. Putting on shoes, however, is still a challenge.
People who are disabled are no less fashion conscious than other people and prefer to wear ordinary, current style clothes and shoes. Cost is also a factor, as special clothing and orthopedic shoes are expensive, in addition to being institutional in appearance.
An individual feels more like a real person if she can dress herself. There have been studies showing that a person's feelings of self-worth have a profound effect on his or her physical health. There have also been studies showing that the elderly are more likely to commit suicide than younger people, probably because of their diminished ability to function independently and decreased number of personal choices, factors which impact the physically disabled irrespective of age.
There are many devices for supporting the back of a shoe while an able bodied person pushes in his or her foot. There are pull tabs, straps and rings for pulling up a pair of boots or for putting on and taking off a pair of overshoes. Insofar as known, none of the above-mentioned devices provides a conversion system for attaching a shoe donning enabler, adapted for use with a dressing stick, to an ordinary pair of shoes. It is to this need, that the present invention is addressed.


A mock battle game for children in which each player in the role of a shooter is provided with a toy water gun which when triggered, projects a beam of water in the direction in which the gun is aimed. Each player who acts as a target wears a vest having at least one target zone that includes a water-sensor module housing a water-absorbent, non-conductive pad having embedded therein a pair of spaced electrodes. The pad is impregnated with salt crystals to form a resistance bridge between the electrodes which function as a normally open switch to connect a battery in the vest to an integrated circuit unit. When the switch is closed, the unit then generates a visible or audible signal. In the course of play when a shooter-player succeeds in striking the target zone on the vest of a target-player to wet the module therein, the salt crystals are then dissolved to produce a conducive salt solution that closes the switch, the resultant signal being indicative of a hit.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to shooter and target games for children, and more particularly to a game in which a shooter-player is provided with a water gun that when triggered projects a water beam in the direction in which the gun is aimed, and in which a target player wears a vest having a target zone therein which when struck and made wet by the water beam, then produces a switching action to activate a battery-powered unit which emits an audible or visible signal indicative of a hit.
2. Status of Prior Art
A game whose popularity with children is of long standing is one involving a mock battle between "good" and "bad" guys. These good and bad guys may assume many different guises, such as cowboys and indians, cop and robbers, humans and outer-space aliens or whatever other hostile opponents are in vogue with children. But regardless of the character of the opponents, the theme common to these games is that a player provided with a toy weapon assumes the role of a shooter seeking to strike an opposing player who acts as a target. In most such games, each player is both a shooter and target.
In recent years, the usual toy weapon for playing shooter-target games has been a laser-beam gun, the shooter-player who holds this gun shooting out a simulated laser beam which he aims in the direction of a target worn by an opposing player. Thus the Scarlari et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,715 discloses a toy laser pistol which includes a flash unit to generate, when the gun is triggered, a burst of high-intensity light. The light is collimated to produce a beam simulating a laser beam. A vest worn by a player who acts as the target is provided with a target area of fluorescent material. This material glows to indicate a hit when a light beam from the toy laser gun strikes the fluorescent target area.
In my above-identified co-pending application there is disclosed a war game assembly for children involving at least two opposing toy vehicles, each having a battery-powered motor for driving the vehicle whereby a player in a driver's seat in the cockpit can steer his vehicle in the direction of the opposing vehicle to engage the vehicle in combat. Each vehicle is provided in front of the cockpit with a laser beam turret gun powered by the vehicle battery, making it possible for the driver to aim the beam toward the opposing vehicle, the gun when triggered producing gun shot sounds.
Mounted on the fender of each vehicle is a hit register having a photodetector which when struck by a beam emanating from the other vehicle, produces both an indication of a hit and counts the number of hits scored. Hence in simulated combat, players driving in opposing vehicles each seek to score the greatest number of hits.
The major drawback of a laser-beam toy gun is that the light beam projected therefrom when the gun is triggered is not visible under daylight conditions, thereby making it necessary to generate shooting sounds so that one is then aware that a beam is being projected. And when as in the Scarlari patent, this target is a fluorescent area, this area is ineffective in daylight hours when it is exposed to natural light, for the target is then always "on".
Toy weapons which shoot out a water beam that can be aimed at an opposing player have obvious advantages over laser beam guns. With a watergun, a player can in the daytime see the beam of water and also see when this beam strikes an opposing player and where he has hit the player.
But the disadvantage of a water gun, even those currently available which are capable of projecting a water beam over a relatively long distance, is that when the beam strikes and wets a player there is nothing to then indicate that the target has been hit or where it has been hit other than the fact that the target is wet in the region struck by the water beam. But a wet target does not look very different from the same target when dry.


A digital TV and a method of switching a channel automatically thereof provides a viewer with advance notice of an automatic channel switch using linkage descriptor information on HD broadcasting. Providing the viewer with notice of the switched channel reduces viewer confusion. The method includes the steps of determining whether a linkage descriptor is included in additional information regarding a broadcast program whether the broadcast program regardless of whether the broadcast program is selected by a viewer, checking the remaining time of the broadcast program if the linkage descriptor is included in the additional information, displaying a channel switch notice message on a screen, determining whether or not the broadcast program has ended, switching a channel of the broadcast program to a designated channel when the broadcast program ends, and displaying a channel switch confirmation message on the screen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a TV, and more particularly, to a digital TV and a method of automatically switching a channel thereof.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Generally, digital broadcasts transmit additional data along with video and audio data to provide viewers with a variety of services. However, the digital broadcasts differ in bandwidths for the respective areas and has limited bandwidths in use. Hence, in order to transmit both SD (standard definition) broadcasts and HD (high definition) broadcasts (having a data size several times greater than that of the SD broadcasting) within a limited bandwidth (ex., 7 MHz in Australia), the SD broadcasts having a data size as great as the data size of the HD broadcasts should be terminated in a time zone transmitting the HD broadcasts.
If several SD broadcasts are terminated while the HD broadcast is carried out, the corresponding SD broadcasting channels are at states having no signal carried thereon. Hence, in order to avoid providing viewers with a screen in a no-signal state, the TV channel is automatically switched to another channel. Specifically, a DVB (digital video broadcasting) system (a digital broadcasting standard used in Europe and Australia) uses a linkage descriptor including information for channel switch for automatic channel shifting.
The linkage descriptor is included in PSI (program specific information) of a transport stream (hereinafter abbreviated 'TS'). A method of switching a broadcast program automatically using the linkage descriptor is explained by referring to FIG. 1 as follows.
Referring to FIG. 1, SD broadcasts (service_id=1070, 1071, 1072, and 1073) of four channels are carried out until a HD broadcast begins after 10 o'clock. Hence, three (service_id=1071, 1072, and 1073) of the SD broadcasts are terminated. Therefore, after 10 o'clock, one SD broadcast and one HD broadcast are carried out.
If the HD broadcast starts while a viewer watches the broadcast of the service ID of '1071' (service_id=1071) during SD broadcasting, the channel watched by the viewer will become a no-signal channel, that is, failing to display a broadcast video.
In order to overcome such a problem, a control unit of a TV analyses a linkage descriptor of the PSI information of a transport stream, and switches the channel to a broadcast program designated by the linkage descriptor, i.e. the broadcast program (service_id=1070) to prevent the viewer from watching the no-signal channel.
The TV according to the background art ends the SD broadcast program watched by the viewer when the HD broadcasting begins, and then switches the channel to another channel automatically, whereby the viewer is through no fault of his own) due to the abrupt change of the channel.

Digital TV method for switching channel automatically


An active single-mode optical fiber has the core made of a rare earth doped non-oxide glass and the cladding made of an oxide glass. The glass of the core has a melting temperature lower than that of the glass of the cladding and lying within the range of the softening temperatures of the latter. In a preferred embodiment the core is made of a chalcogenide glass and the cladding is made of a lead silicate glass. To produce the fiber, a preform, obtained by introducing an element made of the non-oxide glass into the hole of a capillary tube made of the oxide glass, is brought to a temperature lying within the range of softening temperatures of the oxide glass and not lower than the melting temperature of the non-oxide glass, and is drawn. The capillary tube, during the drawing process, serves as a container for the molten glass of the core.

Optical fiber communication systems increasing make use of optical amplifiers to compensate the attenuation of the transmitted signals resulting from propagation along the fiber, in order to avoid the need for optical/electrical conversions, and vice versa, in the repeaters. Those optical amplifiers in general comprise a section of rare earth doped optical fiber which the signal to be amplified and a pump signal, at a different wavelength, are sent. The most commonly used optical amplifiers use as the active fiber a silica fiber, doped for instance with erbium. These amplifiers operate on signals whose wavelength lies in the third transmission window (around 1.55 .mu.m) and require the use of sources at that wavelength. However, silica fibers, which are the most commonly used carriers in optical communication systems, have essentially zero dispersion in the second transmission window (wavelengths around 1.3 .mu.m), while in the third window their dispersion is high (in the order of 15-20 ps/nm.multidot.km). For high bit rate transmissions over long distances, this fact compels introducing into the system means for compensating the chromatic dispersion, which make the communication system complex and costly.
Optical amplifiers operating in the second transmission window have already been proposed: they use fibers made of non-oxide glass, in particular fluoride glasses, aluminium-fluoride glasses or chalcogenide glasses, doped with rare earth metals.
The drawback of optical fibers made of non-oxide glass is that their mechanical and chemical inertia characteristics are worse than those of silica fibers (or, in general, of oxide glass fibers. Moreover, the fabrication process can also cause quality problems, since the mechanical and optical characteristics of those fibers are closely linked with the "thermal history" of the glass from which the fiber is formed and, more particularly, with the number of operations which require heating the glass to a temperature exceeding the glass transition temperature, since such operations may give rise to crystallization or devitrification of the glass matrix.
To avoid the problems connected with the thermal history of the glass, it has been proposed to produce non-oxide fibers by the "double crucible" method. See paragraphs 2.3.2 "Double crucible method" and 2.3.8 "MIR (medium-infrared fibers)" of the book "Fiber Optics Communications Handbook", by the Technical Staff of CSELT, published by TAB Professional and Reference Books, Blue Ridge Summit, Pa., USA, 2nd edition, 1990. This method, however, has problems in controlling the quality of the interface between the cladding and the core glasses, can cause the inclusion of gas bubbles in the fiber and, above all, very difficult to apply in practice when single mode active fibers (whose core diameter must be in the order of 1-2.multidot.mm) are to be obtained, for reasons linked with the control of the geometric dimensions of the output hole of the inner crucible.

Active single mode optical fibres and method for their fabrication

Cselt- Centro Studi E Laboratori Telecomunicazioni S.p.A.


The present invention relates to phosphoramidate, and phosphate esters of (1R,cis)-4-(6-amino-9H-purin-9-yl)-2-cyclopentene-1nethanol, processes for their preparation, and their use in treating viral infections.

Retroviruses form a sub-group of RNA viruses which, in order to replicate, must first "reverse transcribe" the RNA of their genome into DNA ("transcription" conventionally describes the synthesis of RNA from DNA). Once in the form of DNA, the viral genome may be incorporated into the host cell genome, allowing it to take advantage of the host cell's transcription/translation machinery for the purposes of replication. Once incorporated, the viral DNA is virtually indistinguishable from the host's DNA and, in this state, the virus may persist for the life of the cell.
A species of retrovirus, the Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been reproducibly isolated from patients with AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) or with the symptoms that frequently precede AIDS. AIDS is an immunosuppressive or immunodestructive disease that predisposes subjects to fatal opportunistic infections. Characteristically, AIDS is associated with a progressive depletion of T-cells, especially the helper-inducer subset bearing the CD4 surface marker. HIV is cytopathic and appears to preferentially infect and destroy T-cells bearing the CD4 marker, and it is now generally recognized that HIV is the etiological agent of AIDS. Clinical conditions such as AIDS-related complex (ARC), progressive generalized lymphadenopathy (PGL), Kaposi's sarcoma, thrombocytopenic purpura, AIDS-related neurological conditions, such as AIDS dementia complex, multiple sclerosis or tropical paraparesis, and also anti-HIV antibody-positive and HIV-positive conditions, including such conditions in asymptomatic patients, are also conditions which may be treated by appropriate anti-viral therapy.
Another RNA virus which has been recognized as the causative agent of an increasingly serious international health problem is the non-A, non-B hepatitis virus. At least 80% of cases of chronic post-transfusional non-A, non-B hepatitis have been shown to be due to the virus now identified as hepatitis C and this virus probably accounts for virtually all cases of post-transfusional hepatitis in clinical settings where blood products are screened for hepatitis B. Whereas approximately half of the cases of acute hepatitis C infection resolve spontaneously over a period of months, the remainder become chronic and in many if not all such cases chronic active hepatitis ensues with the potential for cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The structure of the hepatitis C virus genome has been elucidated and the virus has been characterized as a single stranded RNA virus with similarities to flaviviruses.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a small DNA containing virus which infects humans. It is a member of the class of closely related viruses known as the hepadnaviruses, each member of which selectively infects either mammalian or avian hosts, such as the woodchuck and the duck. Recent insights into the mechanism of replication of the hepadnavirus genome indicate the importance of reverse transcription of an RNA intermediate, suggesting that the reverse transcriptase is a logical chemotherapeutic target. HBV is a viral pathogen of major worldwide importance. The virus is etiologically associated with primary hepatocellular carcinoma and is thought to cause 80% of the world's liver cancer. Clinical effects of infection with HBV range from headache, fever, malaise, nausea, vomiting, anorexia and abdominal pains. Replication of the virus is usually controlled by the immune response, with a course of recovery lasting weeks or months in humans, but infection may be more severe leading to persistent chronic liver disease outlined above.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,916,224 discloses 2′,3′-dideoxy-2′,3′-didehydro-carbocyclic nucleosides and their use in the treatment of HIV. WO 96/29336 discloses masked monophosphate nucleoside analogues for the treatment of HIV. Wang et al. (Bioorganic Et Medicinal Chemistry Letters 8, pp. 1585–1588, 1998) disclose the synthesis of L-carbocyclic 2′,3′-didehydro-2′,3′-dideoxyadensosine and its use in HIV infections.
It has now been discovered that certain phosphoramidates of (1R,cis)-4-(6-amino-9H-purin-9-yl)-2-cyclopentene-1-methanol are useful for the treatment of viral infections, particularly hepatitis B and retroviral infections, especially HIV. Compounds of the present invention have pharmacokinetic properties which render them advantageous as therapeutic agents.

Phosphoramidate, and mono-, di-, and tri-phosphate esters of (1R, cis)-4-(6-amino-9H-purin-9-yl)-2-cyclopentene-1-methanol as antiviral agents

University College Cardiff Consultants Limited


A method for estimating a probability of a drilling dysfunction or a drilling performance indicator value occurring includes entering drilling-related data having a probability distribution into a mathematical model of a drill string drilling a borehole penetrating the earth and entering drilling parameters into the model for drilling the borehole. The method further includes performing a plurality of drilling simulations using the model, each simulation providing a probability of the drilling dysfunction occurring or a probability of a drilling performance indicator value occurring with associated drilling parameters used in the simulation, selecting a set of drilling parameters that optimizes a drilling objective using the probabilities of the drilling dysfunction occurring or the probabilities of a drilling performance indicator value occurring; and transmitting the selected set of drilling parameters to a signal receiving device.

Earth formations may be used for various purposes such as hydrocarbon production, geothermal production, and carbon dioxide sequestration. Boreholes are drilled into the earth formations to gain access to them. The boreholes are typically drilled by using a drill string having a drill bit at the far end. Torque and weight are applied to the drill string by a drill rig in order to rotate the drill bit and provide a force to cut through formation rock. Forces other than those applied by the drill rig are also imposed on the drill string. These other forces are applied by the formation itself as it makes contact with the drill string and the drill bit. The total sum of a certain combination of forces acting on the drill string however can cause drilling dysfunctions such as stick-slip and whirl. Unfortunately, drilling dysfunctions can lead to equipment damage, drilling downtime and associated costs. Hence, it would be well received in the drilling industry if methods were developed to predict with a known level of certainty when a drilling dysfunction will occur.

Statistical approach to incorporate uncertainties of parameters in simulation results and stability analysis for earth drilling


Deformable spacers and spacer assemblies absorb energy when flange bolts are subjected to compressive axial loads by plastically deforming, failing in shear, rupturing or in a combination of failure modes so the flange bolts and the flanges connected thereby are not damaged. One deformable spacer may have a hollow cylindrical body with a plurality of elongated slots there through. Another deformable spacer may have an annular stiffener extending inwardly from an inner surface of a hollow cylindrical body. A spacer assembly may include an inner cylindrical body, and outer cylindrical body, and an annular shoulder extending from one of the bodies and engaged by the other body shears when a shear failure load is applied to the flange bolt. Another spacer assembly may include an annular belt around a cylindrical body so that the belt will rupture before the cylindrical body plastically deforms.

When manufacturing objects such as engines or generators that could be used in automobiles or aircrafts, parts that may be subjected to shock or impact loads may be secured to each other using fasteners or bolts having deformable spacers. For example, when securing an inlet to an engine case, fasteners in the form of bolts and nuts may be used to attach an inlet to the engine case. In designing an engine, the inlet, engine case, and bolts are selected in a manner that may reduce a risk that the inlet may become detached from the engine case if a blade in the engine becomes detached and/or fails during operation of the engine and creates an impact load tending to pull the inlet away from the engine case. The inlet should remain intact and attached to the engine case, and the blades should remain contained within the engine case.
Currently, this type of result is achieved through a selection of the number of bolts and the type of bolts in a manner that provides a capability to withstand forces of high magnitudes that may be applied to the inlet if a rapidly rotating fan blade becomes detached from the engine. The selection of bolts and the design of the inlet and engine case to withstand such forces of high magnitude can increase the weight of the aircraft. However, this design may result in an increase in the number of bolts and/or the size of the bolts. The design also may increase the thickness and/or size of flanges for the inlet and engine case where the bolts may be used to secure the inlet to the engine case.
One currently used solution for reducing the weight and/or cost of securing an inlet to an engine case involves using load-absorbing elements, such as deformable spacers. Deformable spacers may be used with bolt and nut assemblies to absorb energy that may be applied to the bolt and nut assembly when impact loading occurs. Currently known deformable spacer designs, however, are, in general, inefficient in absorbing energy and may not be as effective in minimizing the force transmitted to the nut and bolt assemblies and the connected components.

Load controlling bolted flange deformable spacers


A computer-implemented simulator models the entire analytic value chain so that data generation, model fitting and strategy optimization are an integral part of the simulation. Data collection efforts, data mining algorithms, predictive modeling technologies and strategy development methodologies define the analytic value chain of a business operation: data→models→strategies→profit. Inputs to the simulator include consumer data and potential actions to be taken regarding a consumer or account. The invention maps what is known about a consumer or an account and the potential actions that the business can take on that consumer or account to potential future financial performance. After iteratively performing simulations using varying inputs, modeling the effect of the innovation on a profit model, the simulator outputs a prediction of the commercial value of an analytic innovation.

1. Field of the Invention
Generally, the invention relates to automated decision-making and optimizing automated decision-making processes. More particularly, the invention relates to data processing systems and methods for simulating an analytic value chain.
2. Background Information
Businesses must make a multitude of decisions every day, both large and small. These decisions may involve determining what price to charge a particular customer, whether to grant a loan or an insurance policy, how to route air traffic or whether or not to issue a prescription to a particular patient. Particularly in financial services industries, entities have traditionally employed large numbers of low- and mid-level knowledge workers to make many of these decisions, a practice which often entailed high operation and opportunity costs to reach decisions. Additionally, traditional decision-making processes can be slow and cumbersome. For example, using traditional methods of mortgage underwriting, obtaining a loan approval often required several months. The human factor in decision-making can also result in imprecise, inconsistent decisions. Seeking to improve such factors in decision-making as cost, speed, consistency, precision and agility, businesses are turning more and more to automated decision-making technologies.
Using these technologies it becomes possible to build automated systems that sense data, apply codified knowledge or logic to the data, and make decisions with little or no human intervention. Additionally, the Internet has made automated decision-making more feasible. More and more individual financial data is obtainable over the Internet in real-time. For example, an individual's FICO (FAIR ISAAC CORPORATION, Minneapolis Minn.) score, which summarizes the consumer's credit relationships and payment history into one number, is available in a second or two. Consumers easily apply for loans online. Automated decision-making can help businesses generate decisions that are more consistent than those made by people and can help managers move quickly from insight to decision to action.
Since the early days of scoring and automated decision making, there has been a quest to improve data, models, and strategies, with the hope of improving decision yield, and thereby improving the profit picture and competitive capacity of a business operation. However, there are costs and risks associated with introducing changes such as analytic innovations to a current operation. Even limited field tests can be expensive to administer and businesses usually desire ROI (return on investment) estimates for proposed analytic innovations before proceeding to field testing.

Apparatus and method for simulating an analytic value chain


A device for measuring length and vertical clearance of engine connecting rods comprising a base which is attached to an upstanding member in a hinged fashion. A vertical guide slot of substantial length is disposed within the upstanding member along a longitudinal center axis and distal to the base. A wrist pin mandrel comprising a guide slot receiving member is disposed on the upstanding member such that said guide slot receiving member is engaged in the vertical guide slot. Positioned at the top of the upstanding member is a dial indicator within a mount. A plunger projecting downward from said dial indicator rests upon the top of the mandrel's guide slot receiving member. Proximally to the base of the measuring surface is a standard mount which engages a standard. The standard is vertically slidable and adapted to be locked at adjusted elevations within said mount. A pair of self-centering pins extend perpendicularly from the measuring surface which are offset one to each side of the standard equal distance and on a horizontal line above the mount. A lever is pivotally attached beside a lower stop of the guide slot for urging the mandrel upward within the guide slot.

When piston bearing engines seize due to failure in the drive line or other engine components, damage to the connecting rods is common. Rods may bend, twist, draw, or become elongated. Regardless, any damage to the connecting rods render an engine less efficient and in some cases inoperable. Therefore, mechanics need a precise means for determining whether distortion exist and if so to what extent before attempting to restore an engine to its original condition.
Various patents have been granted on devices which are designed to detect and measure defects in connecting rods. Representative of the prior art devices include the following.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,436,104 to Husak discloses an engine connection rod test gauge which relates to the fittings of crank connecting rods for automobile engines. This device tests the parallelism of the piston-pins with the crank bearings and any deviation from accuracy can be corrected.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,575,797 to Shaw discloses a lining jig intended for use in testing the condition of engine connecting rods and determining whether they are straight.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,025,008 to Arp discloses a connecting rod and piston testing and alignment device adapted for use to check the accuracy and parallelism of connecting rod bearings and their perpendicularly to pistons.
While these devices would appear to operate reasonably well and generally achieve their objectives under the limited range of operating conditions for which they were designed these devices embody one or more of the following drawbacks.
Neither prior art device allows the operator to measure an individual rod's standard length to the thousandths of an inch or metric length to the millimeter. Furthermore, the prior art fails to allow the operator to measure an individual rod's vertical clearance. Additionally, there remains a need for an improved device which allows the operator to obtain with precision length and vertical clearance of a series of engine connecting rods of a variety of sizes and from these critical readings detect any deviation from the manufacturers specification.

Device for measuring length and vertical clearance of engine connecting rods


A connector selectively connects at least two support structures to provide a larger, rigid support structure. The connector includes a body portion from which extends downward a center support portion. A pair of outer sleeves extend downwardly from the body portion on opposite sides of the center support portion, each outer sleeve extending downwardly less than the center support portion. In use, the outer sleeves are inserted through openings in the support structures into the feet of the support structures. The body portion rests on the decks of the support structures and the center support portion extend downward from the body portion between the support structures. The center support portion is sized to extend to the floor when the connector is connected to the support structures.

The present invention relates generally to support structures and more particularly to a connector for connecting two support structures, such as pallets, to form a single, large support structure.
Pallets are often used to store and transport goods. Pallets maintain the goods at a distance above the floor such that they can readily be lifted and moved by a forklift. Plastic pallets are lighter and more durable than wooden pallets. Elongated metal or composite reinforcement members have been used in some plastic pallets in order to increase the stiffness and load-bearing capacity of the pallet.
Some plastic pallets are nestable. The nestable pallets generally include openings in the deck that are aligned with recesses in the feet, such that feet of one deck may receive the feet of another, like pallet stacked thereon. Nestable pallets reduce the overall size of the stacked pallets when empty for convenient transport and storage.
Pallets are typically provided in one of several standard sizes. Occasionally, it is desirable to use pallets for an object (such as a bundle of goods) that are greater than the size of the pallet, even greater than two or three times the size of the pallet. Two or more standard size pallets can be used adjacent one another if the object is rigid and self-supporting, but not if the object is non-rigid and needs a continuous rigid support structure.


A nickel-base alloy for a glass-contacting member used in an unenergized state and having a composition comprising by weight 25 to 40% of chromium, 10 to 45% of cobalt, optionally 0.1 to 3.0% of titanium and optionally 0.01 to 0.05% of at least one element selected from among rare earth metals with the balance consisting of nickel and unavoidable impurities.

Examples of the glass-contacting member which have hitherto been used in contact with the above-described various glasses include a nickel-base alloy used as the material of a mold for hot-molding of glass and comprising 0.3 to 15% of chromium, 0.1 to 3% of titanium, 0.2 to 2.5% of beryllium and 1% or less of manganese (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 30528/1976), an alloy used as the material of a mold for molding of glass and comprising 40 to 90% of nickel, 5 to 30% of cobalt, 1.5 to 6.5% of aluminum, optionally 3% or less of silicon and optionally 25% or less of copper with the balance consisting of iron (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 58920/1978), a nickel-base alloy having an excellent resistance to corrosion by molten glass and comprising 0.2 to 25% of aluminum (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 139015/1975), a nickel-titanium alloy suitable as a mold for molding of glass and comprising 50% of titanium and 50% of nickel (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 79725/1973) and further Inconel 600 which is a nickel-base alloy represented by 15.5Cr-8Fe-Ni and Inconel 690 which is a nickel-base alloy represented by 29Cr-9Fe-Ni.
The above-described glass-contacting members used in producing the above-described glasses, such as rolls, molds and spinners, should be excellent in not only high-temperature strength and high-temperature oxidation resistance but also resistance to corrosion by glass during contact with molten glass, softened glass or solid phase glass. Conventional glass-contacting members, however, had problems such as poor high-temperature strength, poor resistance to oxidation at a high temperature, poor resistance to corrosion by glass, and low melting point. For example, Inconel 600 and Inconel 690, i.e., nickel-base alloys having the above-described compositions, had problems that they are not always excellent in the resistance to corrosion by glasses such as molten glass, softened glass and solid phase glass and had a melting point as low as about 1350.degree. C.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems accompanying the conventional members for use in contact with glass, particularly those comprising a nickel-base alloy. An object of the present invention is to provide a nickel-base alloy which is excellent in not only high-temperature strength and high-temperature oxidation resistance but also resistance to corrosion by glass such as molten glass or solidified glass, has a melting point above 1350.degree. C., i.e., the melting point of the above-described conventional nickel-base Inconel, and is suitable as the material of a glass-contacting member used in an unenergized state.

Nickel-base alloy for glass-contracting member used in unenergized state


Mechanisms and techniques provide a system that operates in a computerized device(s) to establish a data distribution path for content within a content distribution network by receiving a network topology definition defining at least one hierarchical interconnection of network groups. Each network group comprises at least one content engine. The system also receives a channel definition comprising a selection of a plurality of content engines that are to distribute content within the content distribution network. The plurality of content engines in the channel definition is selected from content engines within the network groups defined within the network topology definition. The system determines an assignment of at least one root content engine within the channel definition and applies a content distribution path determination technique to the network topology definition in relation to the channel definition to determine a set of content distribution paths in the content distribution network to be used for distribution of content from the root content engine(s) to the content engines defined in the channel definition.

Computer networks such as the Internet allow computer systems to exchange content (e.g., data) in a variety of ways. One technique for accessing content over a computer network such as the Internet operates by using a suite of protocols collectively referred to as the World Wide Web. In a typical operation of the world wide web, a user at a client computer system operates a client software application such as a web browser to access content served by a web server computer system over the computer network. The content may be any type of data or information such as documents, web pages, files, database information, streams of audio and/or video data or the like that the web server transmits over the data communications network to the web browser operating in the client computer system. Similar data communications mechanisms and techniques allow client computer systems such as web site kiosks to periodically retrieve content such as advertising audio or video data from one or more content server computer systems in order to present the information to individuals such as corporate customers who interact with the kiosks.
Client computer systems that require the ability to access content using the aforementioned techniques may be connected to a computer network such as the Internet at diverse geographic locations. In such situations, a producer, provider or other originator of the content may utilize a group of technologies collectively called a content distribution network to disseminate or distribute the content to many content server computer systems called content engines located within the different geographic regions of the computer network (e.g., located in various local area network installations) for future access by client computer systems that request this content from the content engines. Generally then, a content distribution network or CDN is a collection of computer systems (e.g., content engines and content routers) that interoperate with each other to efficiently provide portions of content to requesting client computer systems. The various portions of content distributed within a content distribution network may be related in some manner, such as being provided from a single content provider or may be related by the type of content. A content distribution network typically includes a content router (e.g., operating as a load balancer) and one or more content engines that operate as servers (e.g., web servers) to serve content requested by content requests sent from client computer systems to the content router. The content router receives client requests for content and using various content routing techniques decides which content engine is to service those client requests. The content router then redirects the client requests to the appropriate content engine. This redirection may be based on numerous factors such as the geographic proximity of the requesting client to an available content engine containing the requested content, or on the specific content requested, or on load balancing considerations between multiple available content engines. A content engine that receives a redirected request from client computer system typically operates to serve the requested content back to those clients, though the content engine may perform further redirection techniques as well in some instances.
As an example of the operation of a content distribution network, a user controlling a web browser operating on a client computer system may select a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that references a specific portion of content served by the content distribution network. A domain name specified within the URL might generally reference the content distribution network itself, such as www.CDN.com and protocols such as the Domain Naming System (DNS) can initially direct that client content request to a content router associated with that content distribution network. Through various redirection techniques (e.g., Domain Naming System redirection and/or Hypertext Transport Protocol redirection), the content router that receives the client request for content can redirect this client request to an address of a specific content engine within (i.e., associated with) the content distribution network based on the aforementioned routing criteria (e.g., the geographic location of the client requesting the content, load balancing considerations made between the various content engines, and so forth). A content engine that receives the redirected content request can then process this request to serve the requested content to the client computer system.
As explained above, a conventional content delivery network accelerates access to content on behalf of client computer systems that request the content by distributing the content for receipt and local storage at content engines distributed throughout a computer network such as the Internet. Rather than all client computer systems requesting the same content from a single content provider computer system (e.g., sometimes referred to as an origin server), individual client computer systems are able to obtain the requested content from a content engine computer system (i.e., a server) that is "close" to the client and that locally stores the required content. This improves a client's performance with respect to access to the content for a number of reasons. The client computer system may be much closer in network terms (e.g., number of network hops) to the content engine computer system as compared to the content provider computer system. In addition, the data communications link from the client computer system to the content engine may be a high-speed connection while one or more data communications links (e.g., a satellite link) along the network path from the client computer system to the content provider computer system may be a relatively slow data communications links. As a result, the client computer system can access the content faster (i.e., can get better response) from the more local content engine computer system than from the more distant or remote content provider computer system. In addition, by having many content engine computer systems distributed throughout a computer network, the load, demand and bandwidth requirements of each content engine computer system and can be less since each content engine only needs to serve content to certain client computer systems.
Various conventional techniques and mechanisms also exist for distributing the content from the content provider computer system to the selection of content engines distributed through a computer network such as the Internet in order to accelerate access to the content by client computer systems. Such techniques essentially pre-position the content within each of the content engine computer systems for subsequent servicing of client requests for the content. As an example, each content engine can periodically contact a master content provider computer system to determine if additional content is available for storage within the content engine. If the content engine determines that the master content provider computer system contains content that the content engine may require later to serve to client computer systems, that content engine can obtain a copy of this content to maintain within local storage in order to service subsequently received client requests for this content. The conventional content engine may use a standard data access protocol such as the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) in order to access or download the content from the content provider computer system.
Pre-positioning content within content engines is especially important when the content is very large or in situations where there is a low speed connection between the content provider computer system and the content engine that will cache or otherwise store the content for access by requesting client computer systems.

Methods and apparatus for performing content distribution in a content distribution network


The present invention relates to the field of software-based services in communication networks. More particularly, it includes systems and methods for maintaining and utilizing routing data to handle event notifications generated by call handling in a service logic execution environment. Particular aspects of the present invention are described in the claims, specification and drawings.

The present invention relates to the field of software-based services in communication networks. More particularly, it includes systems and methods for maintaining and utilizing routing data to handle event notifications generated by call handling in a service logic execution environment.
A service is a software application that is installed in a communication network to provide value added functions to subscribers. Subscribers are users of the communication network who subscribe to the services. Services control the network to perform value-added functions for subscribers based on provisioned data and network conditions. Service instance is a single run time instance of the service that provides the service functions to a subscriber. A service may include one or more service instances, which may be operating in different modes to handle different phases of providing the service. Service Logic Execution Environment (SLEE) is the run time environment in which a service executes. A SLEE is a new approach to the long-standing issue of how to supplement switches with intelligent capabilities. Sun Microsystems, Inc. has sponsored development of telecommunications computing standards, so that service logic execution environments will have open, non-proprietary architectures. The so-called JAIN SLEE standard reached the stage of public comment on 12 Aug. 2002, having gone through drafts prior to that. A SLEE is intended to support multiple services and accept software written by multiple vendors in compliance with one or more telecommunications computing standards.
The JAIN SLEE standard leaves much to be filled in by the service developer. JAIN SLEE is essentially an application program interface (API) specification that does not specify the internal details of implementing services. JAIN SLEE specification is very generic in the definition of service and subscriber data. This provides a lot of flexibility but comes with a cost, as it places the burden on the service developers to provide the necessary Management interfaces. The standard does not provide any mechanism for the service developer to define the data schema for the service and subscriber data. Nor does it define any mechanism to provide sophisticated data provisioning and management. The complementary Java Management (JMX) standard is still evolving. In JAIN SLEE, Event Triggering is the primary mechanism to invoke services, which limits efficient use of the Services by other applications and clients that are not based on an event model, such as web based provisioning and statusing interfaces.
Traditionally, both before JAIN SLEE and even now, as the first public comment draft is being circulated, service execution platforms are being built to serve a single function on a proprietary platform, to deliver a single event or sequence the events from a single source to one service instance. Traditional platforms have associated a call or a sequence of events to a service instance and delivered all the events of that call or sequence to the same service instance. These special purpose platforms have worked well for stable services that support events from a single network. But special purpose platforms have proven cumbersome and expensive to modify and difficult for a support staff to integrate and maintain.
Services include two important components—service logic and service data. Service data may have both service scope data, which is the data that is common across the service, and subscriber scope data, which the data specific to a subscriber related to the service. A service execution environment like a SLEE benefits from support for persisting the data, provisioning the data, and exposing the data to services during runtime. Existing proprietary platforms support the service data by typically defining it using some method specific to the underlying database system of the platform—a proprietary language or a more generic language like SQL. Service developers typically also have to develop interfaces to provision this data along with the services. During execution, the services access the data using some proprietary programming interface or a more generic interface like JDBC. The problems with these platforms are multifold, including lack of compliance with JAIN SLEE or any similar telecommunications computing standard. First, the service developers need to understand the platform design to be able to develop data provisioning interfaces and have to manage their own data persistence by accessing and updating it using some programming interface. Second, the service data definition on proprietary platforms is so closely tied to the platform data that the platform has to restrict the power/functionality of service data definition, or require it to be statically defined before platform installation, so the proper analysis of its impact on the platform and other service on the platform can be done. This makes it hard to dynamically deploy a new service. Third, the service developers have to concern themselves with the underlying details of the platform database and user interfaces rather than just focusing on what the service does.
Services are typically triggered by events, requests or messages (we shall use the terms event and event notification to refer to all of them) originating in the call processing system and other external systems, and some of the service execution platform provided services as well. Addresses are the identifiers that typically identify the subscribers associated with the events by points of call origination, destination or both. Addresses also may identify participants in a service other than the subscriber.
With the development and improved capabilities of wireless communications and the Internet, more and more services are being offered on multiple networks. For example, a simple voice service could serve subscribers whose calls originate from a land based telephone network, a wireless telephone network, and an the Internet connection. Similarly, a text-based chat room could serve subscribers calling in from a public telephone, using a web browser over the internet, sending/receiving Short Messages from a wireless phone, and sending/receiving email from a distribution list. Enhanced services for subscribers from multiple networks are so-called converged services.
Accordingly, there is an opportunity to provide software components compliant with a telecommunications computing standard for a service logic execution environment, such as the emerging JAIN SLEE standard or a subsequent standard. In this new environment designed to support multiple types of service and multiple vendors, many components need to be developed to support development and execution of new services. For instance, there is an opportunity to provide methods and devices that assist service developers in specifying their service definition and requirements for the service data. In addition, it is useful to support services with component operable in the service logic execution environment that support data persistence and access, with minimal development effort by service developer.

Service logic execution environment (SLEE) that is running on a device, supporting a plurality of services and that is compliant with a telecommunications computing standard for SLEES


A non-contact feeder system to supply an induced current to an electrical load includes at least three feeding cables arranged approximately parallel with one another along a moving direction of the electrical load; a plurality of AC power supplies to supply AC currents to the feeding cables; pick-up parts to supply an induced current, induced from a magnetic field formed by the AC current flowing through each of the feeding cables, to the electrical load and to be movable along the feeding cables without contacting the feeding cables as the electrical load moves; and a controller to control the plurality of AC power supplies, so that phases of the AC currents supplied from the AC power supplies are the same, and directions of the AC currents flowing through the feeding cables positioned adjacent to one another are reverse with respect to one another. Thus, the space to mount components in the non-contact feeder system is decreased and the induced current is improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-contact feeder system, and more particularly, to a non-contact feeder system in which a phase and a direction of an AC current of a feeding cable are controlled or a connection structure of the feeding cable is improved, thereby decreasing a space to mount the non-contact feeder system and improving an efficiency of a power supply.
2. Description of the Related Art
To carry products or determine positions of the products on a production line or a distribution system, a moving system having a moving object, such as a carrier, is generally used. To supply an electrical power to the moving object and operate the moving object, a power cable has been connected to the moving object, which causes noise and dust because the power cable is dragged together with the moving object. Further, the power cable may be damaged or cut because the power cable is repeatedly bent while being dragged.
To solve the above problem, a non-contact feeder system supplies the electrical power to a moving object without contacting a power cable to the moving object. In the non-contact feeder system, a feeding cable, through which an AC current flows, is prepared along a moving direction of the moving object, and an induced current is generated from a magnetic field formed around the AC current flowing through the feeding cable and is supplied to the moving object.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional non-contact feeder system comprises an AC power supply 121 to supply an AC current, a parallel round cable 111 arranged along a moving direction of a moving object 160, which moves back and forth with respect to the parallel round cable 111, and a pick-up part 131 moving together with the moving object 160 and inducing an induced current from a magnetic field formed around an AC current flowing through the parallel round cable 111.
As an electrical capacity required for the moving object 160 increases, as shown in FIG. 2, a non-contact feeder system having two AC power supplies 121 and 122 and two parallel round cables 111 and 112 connected to corresponding ones of the AC power supplies 121 and 122 has been used to supply an electrical power to the moving object 160.
However, in the conventional non-contact feeder system, if AC currents are supplied to the two parallel round cables 111 and 112 by using the two AC power supplies 121 and 122, the pick-up parts 131 and 132 covering each of the parallel round cables 111 and 112 should be spaced apart from each other at a predetermined interval "d" as shown in FIG. 3. This is required because each of the AC power supplies 121 and 122 is separately controlled and a phase and a direction of an AC current supplied from each of the AC power supplies 121 and 122 to each of the corresponding parallel round cables 111 and 112 are separately determined. Thus, a direction of a magnetic field formed around one of the parallel round cables 111 and 112 is formed independently from the other one of the parallel round cables 111 and 112. If each AC current has a direction as shown in FIG. 3, the magnetic fields formed around the parallel round cables 111 and 112 destructively interfere with each other, thereby decreasing an efficiency of the induced current.
Thus, in the conventional non-contact feeder system, if more than two parallel round cables 111 and 112 are prepared to supply the AC currents from more than two AC power supplies 121 and 122 to the moving object, the parallel round cables 111 and 112 should be spaced apart from each other at predetermined intervals, thereby decreasing the efficiency of the induced current.


A new and distinct Pedilanthus macrocarpus named ‘Chilly Willy’ is characterized by freeze hardiness (at least to 12° F.) beyond that of any cultivars of Pedilanthus known to the Inventor. The color of the mature stems is R.H.S. Colour Chart 143A to 143D.

Pedilanthus is a genus of the large plant family Euphorbiaceae. About 15 species of Pedilanthus are known from the warm parts of Mexico, ranging in growth form from small shrubs to small trees. The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Pedilanthus macrocarpus, a shrubby succulent species which grows wild in the Sonoran Desert in the Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California Sur and Baja California Norte. Plants have also been found outside the Sonoran Desert in the Mexican state of Sinaloa, south of Sonora. Pedilanthus macrocarpus is commonly grown as a succulent landscape shrub in much of the warmer parts of the southwestern United States. Many unpatented clones of Pedilanthus macrocarpus are produced and sold in the nursery trade. Until the present time, cultivation of this species has been limited by its minimal frost resistance, with plants showing injury at temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees Fahrenheit (F). The new cultivar was discovered as a naturally occurring stem mutation of an unnamed cultivar growing in a cultivated area near Tucson, Ariz., uninjured by a historic freeze and is the object of this application.


A method of performing tonal transform on image data. The method includes extracting a portion of the image data, assigning one of a plurality of labels to the extracted portion, performing a first tonal transformation on the extracted portion if a first label is assigned to the extracted portion, and performing a second tonal transformation on the extracted portion if a second label is assigned to the extracted portion. The method can be performed, for example, with an image processor comprising a memory that stores the image data and a processor coupled to the memory.

Embodiments of the invention relate to an image processor for and a method of performing a tonal transformation on image data.
An image scanned using an imaging device (e.g., a scanner, a multi-functional device such as a scanner-printer-facsimile machine, etc.) may have several tonal transformations performed on it before the resultant image is either displayed (e.g., on a personal computer (PC)) or printed (e.g., via a printer). One common type of tonal transformation is known as gamma correction. Gamma correction is usually performed by applying a power-law transformation to the pixels of a document. The correction maps input intensity values into transformed, output intensity values. The transformation has the basic form ofs=crγ  [e1]where r is the input intensity value, s is the output intensity value, and c and γ are positive constants. Values for γ<1 has the effect of making the output lighter than the input, while values for γ>1 has the effect of making the output darker than the input.

Image processor for and method of performing tonal transformation on image data


A pressurized inverted dispenser utilizes a hollow vertically elongated body having a lower end with an aperture, an upper end, a flat vertical cover and a front curved wall with a button receiving opening. The front wall, the cover, the upper end and the lower end are sealed together. The inside surface of the cover carries a connector support. A button is disposed in the opening which is slidably movable toward and away from the rear wall between depressed and extended positions. A horizontally elongated connector secured to the rear surface of the button and slidably engages the connector support. The button slidably supports a horizontal leg of a spring which also has a vertical end leg aligned with the aperture, and a U shaped central section disposed between and secured to the first and second legs. The spring normally maintains the button in extended position, with the section extending toward the aperture and the free end of the vertical leg closing and sealing the aperture, the section when the button is depressed extending away from the aperture and withdrawing the free end of the leg out of engagement with the aperture, thus opening the aperture.

Dispensers of viscous products such as lotions, creams and paste normally dispense the product from the top of the dispenser. While the product is discharged relatively easily, the discharge cannot be stopped or cut off cleanly and quickly, whereby the product continues to leak or dribble out of the dispenser for a short period after the discharge is discontinued, and subsequently must be cleaned or wiped off. In addition, such dispensers utilize a relatively large number of parts or components and are relatively expensive.
The present invention is directed toward a new and improved type of dispenser which overcomes these disadvantages.


A seal for a regenerative air preheater. The seal is comprised of two members that each have a plurality of tabs and slots. The tabs and slots interlock so that the tabs on one member are positioned adjacent the slots on the other member. Further, the tabs have a narrow neck section and a wider sealing section. The wider sealing sections overlay and the narrow neck sections are positioned within a recessed region of the notch on the opposite member so as to interlock the two members. Preferably, the neck sections do not significantly overlap thereby providing greater flexibility for each of the tabs. The seal is mounted either to the rotor or to the inner wall of the housing so as to extend through the bypass gap between the rotor and the inner wall of the housing. As the tabs are flexible, the tabs can resiliently deform as a result of the tabs making contact with the sealing surface of the heat exchanger.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a seal for a regenerative heat exchanging system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an improved seal that is used to prevent bypass leakage of hot gas or cold air through a heat exchanging system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Regenerative heat exchangers are used with many types of machinery that exhaust hot gas and operate more efficiently when supplied with preheated air. These types of machinery include power plants, chemical processors, refineries, pulp and paper mills, and ship engines. Typically, two fluid stream passages extend through a heat exchanger. The first passage is an exhaust or hot gas conduit that communicates with a hot exhaust outlet of the machinery. Hot exhaust gases flow from the machinery exhaust into the hot gas conduit to the heat exchanger. The second passage is an intake or cold air conduit that communicates with a cold air intake passage of the machinery. The cold air conduit feeds air into the intake passage of the machinery. As is known in the art, the regenerative heat exchanger extracts heat from the exhaust gases of the machinery and transfers the heat to the cool air conduit, so that the machinery is supplied with heated intake air which improves the operating efficiency of the machinery.
One typical heat exchanger includes a movable heat exchanging body that moves between the hot gas conduit and the cool air conduit. The movable heat exchanging body cyclically collects heat from the exhaust conduit and transfers this heat energy to the intake conduit. In this manner, the heat from the machinery exhaust is used to warm the air that is being supplied via the intake conduit to the machinery. By supplying the machinery with preheated air, the efficiency of the machinery is improved. Additionally, the heat exchanger is environmentally friendly as it recycles heat that would otherwise be exhausted into the earth's atmosphere.
This type of heat exchanger is referred to as a Ljungstrom.TM.-style preheater. The heat exchanging body in a Ljungstrom-style preheater is typically cylindrical in shape and is located in a sealed relationship with an outer housing. The heat exchanging body, typically called a rotor, rotates about a center shaft within the housing of the heat exchanger. A plurality of radial walls extend radially outward from the center shaft and subdivide the heat exchanging body into a plurality of angular sectors. The angular sectors have a core material to provide a path for heated exhaust or intake air to travel through. The core is heated by the exhaust and the heat energy of the core is transferred to the intake air when the heated core is exposed to the intake air. As the heat exchanging body rotates, the angular sectors are alternatively exposed to the hot and cold conduits of the heat exchanging apparatus. Hence, as an angular sector of the heat exchanging body is exposed to the hot conduit, it absorbs heat from the exhaust gases of the machinery. The sector then rotatably moves and is exposed to the intake conduit where the sector then releases heat into the cool air that is passed into the machinery intake.
One difficulty with these heat exchangers is that there is typically a gap that exists between the rotor and the inner walls of the housing. Consequently, some heated gas in the exhaust conduit, may flow through the gap between the rotor and the inner wall of the housing and thereby bypass the core material in the rotor. Similarly, cool air in the intake conduit may also flow through the bypass gap between the rotor and the inner wall of the housing similarly bypassing the core material of the rotor. It will be appreciated that the amount of gas that bypasses the core material of the rotor in both the exhaust conduit and the intake conduit reduces the efficiency of the heat exchanger as a greater amount of unheated air is being provided to the power plant and a greater amount of heated gas is being exhausted through the exhaust conduit without heating the rotor.
To address this particular problem, seals are typically installed at the upper and lower surfaces of the rotor which extend into the gap between the outer surface of the rotor and the inner surface of the housing. These seals are typically referred to as either circumferential or bypass seals and they generally extend around the entire circumference of the rotor. These seals can either be mounted on the rotor so as to extend outward against a surface on the inner wall of the housing or they can be mounted on the housing so as to extend inward towards a surface on the rotor. In effect, these seals occlude the opening between the inner wall of the housing and the outer wall of the rotor and thereby direct the hot gas in the exhaust conduit through the core material of the rotor and similarly direct the cool air in the intake conduit through the core material of the rotor.
One difficulty associated with the use of these seals is that the rotor will generally deform during operation as a result of differential thermal expansion. This deformation is typically referred to as turndown and is often exhibited by the outer surfaces of the rotor sagging downward with respect to the center axis and toward the housing. It will be appreciated that a bypass seal mounted on the outer surface of the rotor that is positioned so as to be immediately adjacent the inner wall of the housing will make contact with the housing when the rotor turns down. This may result in the seal becoming unduly worn or damaging the inner walls of the housing.
One solution to this problem is to position a seal in the bypass space so that a measured gap remains between the outer surface of the seal and the adjacent wall. The measured gap is selected so that when the rotor deforms as a result of turndown, the outer surface of the seal is positioned immediately adjacent the wall. However, positioning a seal in this manner results in the seal not being particularly efficient when the heat exchanger has not fully turned down as gases can flow through the measured gap, thereby reducing the efficiency of the heat exchanger. Further, the degree of turndown of the heat exchanger may vary or even be unknown during operation which could result in a gap remaining during operation of the heat exchanger thereby reducing the efficiency of the heat exchanger.
Another possible solution is to use a seal that is flexible so that when the heat exchanger turns down, the seal can resiliently contact the sealing surface. A flexible seal can then be positioned substantially adjacent the sealing surface prior to turndown thereby allowing the seal to substantially occlude the bypass opening over the entire range of deformation of the rotor. However, as the seal will continuously be rubbing against the sealing surface, it is generally desirable that the seal be relatively thick so as to prolong the life of the seal against damage and the continuous wear of rubbing against the sealing surface. However, increasing the thickness of the seal to prolong the life of the seal against damage and wear naturally results in a decrease of the flexibility of the seal.
One possible solution to this problem is illustrated by the prior art seal shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the seal is comprised of two relatively thick seal members 100a and 100b with a plurality of slots 102 formed therein to allow the seal to conform to the curvature of the rotor of housing. The slots 102 thereby define a plurality of tabs 104. In some applications only a single seal member 100a is mounted in the heat exchanger so that the tabs 104 can make contact with a sealing surface and partially occlude the bypass gap. As the tabs 104 are not connected to each other, they have a degree of independent resilience which allows the tabs 104 to deform against the sealing surface when the heat exchanging body deforms as a result of turndown. However, the slots 102 will still allow for some heated gases in the hot gas conduit and some cold air in the cool air conduit to bypass the heat exchanging body. The Applicant has observed heat exchanger installations using these types of seals that have an approximately 6% efficiency loss that is attributable directly to the notches 102 in the seals.
In other applications, two identical seals 100 are positioned adjacent each other in the manner shown in FIG. 3. Specifically, the tabs 104 on one seal are positioned to overlap the slots 102 on the other seal. While this will reduce the efficiency loss stemming from air and exhaust gases escaping through the slots 102, the seal is increased in thickness and is therefore significantly less flexible. The loss in flexibility often requires that these types of seals to be positioned away from the sealing surface so as to account for the deformation of the heat exchanging body occurring as a result of turndown. Further, even with overlapping seals, a gap typically remains right at the sealing surface even when two seal members are overlapping. This gap results from the seals contacting the surface at an acute angle which prevents the upper seal from contacting the sealing surface without the slots in the upper seal providing an additional leakage path. Hence, while these types of seals provide some improvement to efficiency loss in heat exchangers, they still result in inefficient operation as air and gases can bypass the heat exchanging body through the bypass gap.
Consequently, there is a need for an improved seal that can be mounted in the bypass gap between the heat exchanging body and the inner wall of a housing of a heat exchanger that will reduce the inefficiencies of the heat exchanger that result from air and gases bypassing the heat exchanging body. In particular, there is a need for a seal which can be mounted in the bypass gap so as to be positioned immediately adjacent a sealing surface so as to substantially close off the bypass gap. To this end, the seal should be flexible so that when the heat exchanging body deforms as a result of turndown, the seals can be deformed by the sealing surface while simultaneously maintaining resilient contact with the sealing surface. This seal should also be configured so as to be both flexible and yet capable of withstanding a significant amount of wear as a result of continuous rubbing contact with the sealing surface.

Perimeter sealing element for regenerative heat exchanger


This invention concerns a system for the attachment of an information sensor opposite to, and at an air gap's distance from, the coder of a bearing, with the system including a cap to be associated with a ring that at least partly covers the coder, where, in combination, the cap includes at least one device for attachment of the sensor to the internal surface of the cap and one device for electrical connection of the sensor. The invention also concerns a sensor designed to be attached to such a system, an ensemble formed by the attachment system and the associated sensor, as well as a bearing equipped with such an ensemble.

This invention concerns a system for the attachment of a sensor that senses information opposite to, and at an air gap's distance from, the coder of a bearing, a sensor designed to be attached to such a system, an ensemble formed by the attachment system and the sensor together, as well as a bearing equipped with such an ensemble.
When bearings of this kind are equipped with a sensor of the rotation speed, angular position, and/or rotation direction, they can be used in particular for automobile wheels that are equipped with an antilock system for said wheels, with the information then being used by a computer to help with braking.
One of the problems that arises with bearings of this kind concerns the attachment of the sensor opposite, and at an air gap's distance from, the coder that generates the impulses that the sensor is to detect. In fact, particularly in magnetic detection technologies, the control of the air gap directly governs the quality of the signal detected.
It is known, for example from document EP-0743526, that a sensor can be integrated into a detachable connector, with said connector being designed for placement in a housing created in a cap associated with the bearing.
This type of solution has numerous disadvantages. In fact, the relative position of the sensor with respect to the coder, and therefore the control of the air gap, depends on manufacturing tolerances of the connector and the housing as well as the relative positioning of these two elements. In a safety application such a braking assistance, the mechanical tolerances do not offer sufficient precision to control the air gap.
In addition, since the connector is detachable, the reliability of the attachment, particularly in a demanding environment such as that of vehicle wheels, cannot be guaranteed, particularly in the case of impact.
Furthermore, since the cap consists of a housing in which the connector is placed, the cap is not sufficiently reliable in waterproofing or protection of the coder.
The system described above also makes it necessary to adapt the size of the cap/connector/sensor ensemble to each bearing size, which runs counter to the standardization pressures in the automobile industry.

Integrated system for attachment and connection of a sensor


A scale inhibition method for injecting an alkaline agent and a chelating agent into a fluid containing at least silica and calcium ions, and inhibiting generation of scale, includes feeding the chelating agent and the alkaline agent into piping channeling the fluid, mixing the fluid while causing the fluid to flow in a chemical-mixing part provided in the piping, and when either a pressure difference between the pressures or a flow rate difference between the rates of fluid flow at an inlet and an outlet of the chemical-mixing part exceeds a preset upper threshold, increasing the amount of the chelating agent fed, and feeding the chelating agent at an increased feed amount until the pressure difference or flow rate difference falls below a preset lower threshold.

In geothermal power generation, high-temperature geothermal water is collected from a production well, and power is generated using steam separated from the geothermal water. The geothermal water from which steam has been separated is returned into the ground from an reinjection well.
Geothermal water collected from a production well contains more calcium ions and dissolved silica than well water or river water. Therefore, deposition of scale comprising calcium carbonate or amorphous silica readily occurs. In particular, in an above-ground section or in an reinjection well, inhibition of silica scale generated by a decrease in temperature of geothermal water at the above-ground section is a problem to be addressed.
Sulfuric acid injection is generally used to inhibit silica scale. Sulfuric acid injection is a method in which the pH of geothermal water is lowered, whereby the speed of polymerization of silica is reduced and the speed of silica scale deposition is decreased.
However, lowering the pH of geothermal water merely lowers the speed of polymerization of silica. Therefore, in instances in which time is required to return the geothermal water to the reinjection well, deposition of silica scale is not necessarily inhibited to a sufficient extent. In addition, there was a risk of piping or other elements corroding due to the acid. In addition, in instances in which sulfuric acid is used as the acid, there was a risk of deposition of anhydrite or other scale.
Non-patent document 1 discloses injecting a chelating agent into the production well, injecting an alkaline agent in the above-ground section, and inhibiting scale deposition. The solubility of amorphous silica is said to increase with increasing pH value, and to rapidly rise in particular at pH8 or above. Therefore, increasing the pH of geothermal water makes it possible to inhibit silica scale deposition. In contrast to the above method in which the speed of silica polymerization is inhibited, the total amount of silica deposition does not increase with passage of time; therefore, this effect is maintained even in the reinjection well. In addition, additionally using a chelating agent for chelating calcium or magnesium in the production well makes it possible to inhibit deposition of calcium carbonate, anhydrite, and magnesium silicate in the production well.

Method for inhibiting scale and geothermal power generating device


A versatile metamaterial reflector is constructed of at least one pair of first and second reflectors each having a frequency-dependent phase shifting of a reflected waveform but together providing, between them, a constant phase difference. As few as two different types of reflectors (for example, a zero and relative pi radian reflector) are used to construct a variety of metamaterial reflectors.

The present invention relates to metamaterials, generally defined as materials that exhibit properties not found in nature, and in particular to a method and apparatus providing a readily manufactured broadband metamaterial reflector.
Metamaterial reflectors can manipulate the wave shape of a reflected waveform by altering the phase delay of the reflection in a way that differs from that which would be expected from a homogenous surface. The construction of such metamaterial reflectors can be difficult, and the resulting metamaterials may have a relatively narrow band response, meaning that they work only over a very limited range of frequencies. Both of these drawbacks can limit the use of metamaterials for important commercial applications in the control of audio and other signals.


An arrangement for monitoring the security status of an object includes affixing to the object a passive two way communication circuit such as a frangible radio security tag or smart label. The tag or label, when operational, is arranged to receive a remotely generated request for status information and, responsive to the request, to transmit status information to a remote device. The radio tag or label is affixed to the object in a manner so that it is rendered inoperative if the object is tampered with. By remotely monitoring the status information on a periodic basis, the security of the object can thus be determined. The tag can include a circuit built on a substrate that is scored or otherwise rendered breakable along a predetermined axis or in a predetermined direction. This assures that when the object to which the radio tag is affixed is subject to authorized manipulation or tampering, critical components in the tag will in fact break. If desired, the radio tag can be incorporated into a label or other covering to make the radio tag inconspicuous.

Various monitoring techniques have been used to remotely monitor the security status of an object. For example, a closed circuit television system can be set up to monitor an area in which the object is located. The television output may be monitored manually or by computer to detect unauthorized activity or changes in the television picture, indicating intrusion or movement of the object. However, these systems are expensive, in that a separate camera and/or receiver may be needed for each object or area that is kept under surveillance.
Alternatively, an object (such as a door or window) can be wired to a control panel or a central station in such a way that a signal is generated when the window or door position is changed. Such wiring is often expensive, and it is difficult to relocate the object without rewiring the security system. If a wireless communication system is used, the transmitter that monitors the door or window is typically expensive, due in part to the fact that a power source must be included to operate the transmitter, and due in part to the complexities of the transmitter itself.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,528,222 issued to Moskowitz et. al on Jun. 18, 1996 discloses a radio frequency circuit and memory in a thin flexible package. This type of device is sometimes referred to as a "radio tag". Moskowitz mentions that the radio tag device includes a semiconductor circuit with logic, memory, and so on. He contemplates using the radio tag in conjunction with credit cards, passports, admission tickets and stamps, but does not show or suggest any arrangement which would disable the radio tag as a result of tampering, allowing that device to be used for remote monitoring of the status of objects to which the device is attached.
In its annual report for 1996, Gemplus, a French-based company, describes its Series 200 RF-ID tag, which is a small radio tag device that can be passively read from a remote location. In this report, mention is made of "security schemes", but Gemplus makes no reference to any use of its RF-ID tags in the manner that would provide the desired functionality as is discussed above.


A shoe having a resilient sole, an upper secured to the sole, and a rockable member within a cavity in the sole. The rockable member is configured for side-to-side rocking in the sole cavity between a neutral position and a tilted position as the wearer's foot is moved relative to the sole between a neutral position and a tilted position.

This invention relates to the construction of shoes generally, and more particularly to an athletic shoe sole construction having a rockable member that rocks as a wearer applies sidewardly directed forces through his or her foot to the shoe sole.
The sole of a shoe is subject to a variety of forces, both static and dynamic, as its wearer moves about. Static forces applied to the sole may vary from a vertical load relative to the top surface of the sole, for example when the wearer stands on a horizontal surface, to mixed vertical and horizontal loads relative to the sole, for example when the wearer stands on a sloped surface. The dynamic forces may likewise vary from a vertical load, such as when the wearer lands after a vertical jump, to mixed horizontal and vertical forces relative to the sole, such as when the wearer plants his or her foot to change direction. Finally, the static and dynamic forces may vary with the size and weight of the wearer and the wearer's activity level. A casual walker will exert relatively modest forces, while an athlete in competition or in training will exert relatively large forces to the shoe sole.
Although conventional shoe soles may comfortably support the foot and adequately bear the vertical forces of the wearer, shoe soles are ill-equipped to adequately bear the horizontal forces of the wearer. Consequently, as horizontal forces are applied to the sole, the foot tends to slip along the top surface of the sole. This slipping is considerably more pronounced when the shoes are used for athletic purposes, and affects the performance of the shoe. Such slipping also contributes to fatigue and ultimately fosters injury.
In addition to possible injury, fatigue and compromised athletic performance, lateral (i.e., side-to-side) sliding of the foot over the sole has other deleterious effects. It may reduce the comfort of the wearer and induce blisters and irritation of the forefoot. The sliding effect may also reduce shoe life. Repetitive sliding against the upper wall may cause the upper to tear from the sole. Thus, whenever a shoe is used in a manner requiring abrupt lateral changes of direction, the lateral sliding of the forefoot adversely affects the performance of the wearer and the performance of the shoe.

Midsole construction having a rockable member


Systems and methods are described for tailoring shareable content object reference model (SCORM)-compliant content to one or more users. A learning management system (LMS), configured to be SCORM-compliant, initiates shareable content object (SCO) to provide content to users. The LMS implements an instance of application programming interface (API) comprising a plurality of functions to be called by SCO during runtime to access data model elements accessible via LMS. The LMS is configured to support one or more data model elements undefined by SCORM. Further, LMS receives a call to a function of the plurality of functions of the API from SCO to access information about users. The call references a name of a data model element undefined by SCORM. The data model element identifies information about users. The LMS provides information about the users to SCO and the SCO tailors the content to the users based on the information.

Organizations have recognized phishing attacks as one of the most prominent threats that can cause serious breaches of data including confidential information such as intellectual property, financial information, organizational information and other important information. Attackers who launch phishing attacks may attempt to evade an organization's security apparatuses and tools, and target its employees. To prevent or to reduce the success rate of phishing attacks on employees, organizations may conduct security awareness training programs for their employees, along with other security measures. Through security awareness training programs, organizations actively educate their employees on how to spot and report a suspected phishing attack. As a part of a security awareness training program, an organization may execute a simulated phishing campaign for its employees to test and develop the cybersecurity awareness of the employees. In an example, the organization may execute the simulated phishing campaign by sending out one or more simulated phishing communications periodically or occasionally to devices of employees and observe responses of the employees to such simulated phishing communications. A simulated phishing communication may mimic a real phishing message and appear genuine to entice an employee to respond/interact with the simulated phishing communication. The simulated phishing communication may serve a twin purpose of training an employee to recognize phishing attacks and to gauge the security awareness of the employee based on an interaction of the employee with the simulated phishing communication (for example, by clicking on a link in the simulated phishing communication or opening an attachment in the simulated phishing communication) for further security awareness training. In response to the employee interacting with the simulated phishing communication, training content relevant to a phishing exploit included in the simulated phishing communication is launched. The training content may be provided through a learning management system (LMS).
Typically, organizations use an LMS as a key component for security awareness training programs. An LMS is an application or software that delivers and manages delivery of educational content including security awareness training content to employees (also referred to as users) of organizations. In an example, the LMS may receive the training content from a variety of sources, in units called shareable content objects (SCOs). There are several technical standards available for creating and/or integrating the training content into the LMS. An example of one such technical standard includes shareable content object reference model (SCORM). In an example, integration of the training content into the LMS may be controlled using technical guidelines outlined by SCORM.
According to the SCORM run-time environment (RTE), communication between an LMS and a SCO may occur through a European Computer Manufacturers Association ECMAScript (JavaScript) application programming interface (API). The LMS may initiate the launch of the SCO and implement the API. The SCO may find and use the API to communicate with the LMS. In an example, the SCO may make JavaScript calls to the API as a user (for example, an employee of an organization) interacts with SCORM-compliant training content during runtime. The SCORM-compliant training content delivered by the LMS is presented to each user in an identical style. In other words, a single variant of SCORM-compliant training content is presented to multiple employees. A uniform or single variant of SCORM-compliant training content may appear uninteresting and monotonous to users and thus less effective in conveying security awareness content. Accordingly, it is less likely that SCORM-compliant training content would be apposite to each individual user. The users may attempt to complete the training for the purpose of meeting mandatory training requirements. To make the SCORM-compliant training content more apposite for an individual user or a set of users, multiple variants of the SCORM-compliant training content may have to be created. This involves adding or modifying the SCOs, which may be time-consuming. Additionally, creating multiple variants of the SCORM-compliant training content may add significant overhead as each variant of the SCORM-compliant training content may be of a large size (for example, thousands of megabytes) which makes them expensive to manage, upload and store.

Systems and methods for adaptation of SCORM packages at runtime with an extended LMS


A Viterbi decoder which operates a plurality of states at one time to thereby decode a plurality of channels at an increased speed. The decoder includes a branch metric calculating unit which receives convolutional data and calculates a plurality of branch metrics. A branch metric allocating unit allocates the plurality of branch metrics as even and odd branch metrics. A state metric storing unit stores a current state metric and allocates a plurality of state metrics as even and odd state metrics. First and second add-compare-select (ACS) units perform addition, comparison, and selection on the even branch and state metrics, and select paths having optimum distances. Third and fourth ACS units perform addition, comparison, and selection on the odd branch and state metrics, and select paths having optimum distances. A path tracing logic unit traces the path selection information selected in the first through fourth ACS units, and outputs decoded data. A path storing unit stores a path selection signal generated and selected in the path selection information controller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Viterbi decoder, and more particularly, to a Viterbi decoder having a plurality of add-compare-select units for adding, comparing, and selecting branch metrics and state metrics, and outputting decoded data from a selection signal representing an optimum path. The present application is based upon Korean Application Nos. 96-7208 and 96-7727, which are incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a Viterbi decoder uses a Viterbi algorithm which depends on maximum likelihood decoding when a received convolutional codeword is to be decoded. The Viterbi algorithm compares a plurality of known code sequences with received code sequences, selects a path having the shortest code distance as a maximum likelihood path, and obtains decoded data corresponding to the selected path. The Viterbi algorithm exhibits excellent error correction capability, thus is widely used in satellite, ground network, and mobile communications.
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional Viterbi decoder which has a branch metric calculator 100, an add-compare-select (ACS) unit 110, a state metric memory 120, a path memory 130, and a path tracing logic unit 140. The branch metric calculator 100 calculates a Euclidean distance or a Hamming distance between received data and a codeword to be transmitted. The ACS unit 110 adds and compares the branch metrics calculated in the branch metric calculator 100 and state metrics, and selects a survival branch for each state which is the most approximate to the code order of the received data. That is, in the ACS unit 110, calculated branch metrics are added to previous state metrics in an adder according to a trellis diagram, currently received state metrics are compared in a comparator, and small state metrics are selected in a selector, wherein the selected state metrics are stored in the state metric memory 120. Selected path selection signals are stored in the path memory 130 after passing through the path tracing logic unit 140. Meanwhile, the state metric memory 120 stores a current state metric. The path tracing logic unit 140 traces path information stored in the path memory 130 in order to look for a state having the largest maximum likelihood, finds the most approximate path to that of data sent from a transmitting encoder (not shown), and outputs decoded data.
A system employing a code division multiple access (CDMA) communications method uses a Viterbi decoder including a single ACS unit. It usually uses a convolutional codeword with a constrained length K of 9, and thus the number of states is 2.sup.9-1, namely, 256. Therefore, the single ACS unit 110 performs addition, comparison, and selection on 256 states for one symbol. Since operations for a plurality of channels must be performed, decoding speed is significantly reduced.