An elongated yieldable conical element has a nonrigid body which is compressible to a conical shape increasing in diameter from a narrow diameter end. The conical element is used in a method of treating a contracture of successive fingers of the hand by threading a narrow and of the element through successive curled fingers of the hand and engaging the conical end at about the narrow diameter end to apply outwardly directed force to the fingers of the hand to open the curl to some extent with minimized discomfort to a user.

After a stroke or other neurological disorder, tightness of the hand muscles of an individual can often lead to debilitating contracture of the fingers of the hand, resulting in a fist-like deformity. Often this condition can be prevented by the use of splinting and other medical means, but this can be painful and often the patient is unwilling to go through painful procedures such as stretching and range of motion exercises. The contracture or tightness, if not treated often becomes worse and can lead to the finger nails puncturing the flesh infection of palm and spaces between the finger and thumb can result from difficulty in cleaning the tightly fisted hand.
Health practitioners, such as occupational therapists, physical therapists and nursing staff, often try to wedge the hand open as with a folded washcloth or roll of gauze bandage. Other common means of keeping the hand open to prevent further contracture once started, include the use of conical tubes. Cone shaped tubes are generally made of rigid plastic and may be covered with some sort of thin material to make them more comfortable. Often lengths from 4 to 5 inches and widths tapering from 3/4 inch to 11/2 inches in diameter are used. Other methods dealing with contractures are the use of palm splints. Such splints fit in the palm and are intended to rest between the fingers and the palm surface and to act as a barrier to prevent the fingers from digging into the palm of the skin. In extreme cases, surgery where tendons are severed, is a last, painful and often ineffective resort. It is a particular problem with any of the known devices that their use requires the fingers to be pried open before inserting the device into the tightly-clenched fist. This opening of the fingers can be extremely painful and in some cases can cause dislocation of a joint when done by the therapist, other medical practitioner or family care giver. The force exerted during prying of the fingers can be considerable in order to insert a splint and or the aforementioned cone devices which require forcing of the cone through the widest opening of the clenched fist towards the narrowest opening of the fingers. To insert even a washcloth or gauze roll can be painful and traumatic for the patient because of the necessary finger prying apart.


A dipper assembly for a mining shovel, includes a dipper having a dipper back and an open dipper bottom, and a dipper door pivotally mounted to the dipper, configured to pivot between an open position and a closed position with a swing speed, and to cover the open dipper bottom. The dipper assembly also includes one or more hydraulic door snubbers. The hydraulic door snubbers include a base having one or more connecting plates, one or more mounting plates coupled to the base and configured to receive a link extending from the dipper door, one or more friction plates, and a hydraulic cylinder configured to clamp the mounting plates, the connecting plates, the friction plates and the link together.

This section is intended to provide a background or context to the invention recited in the claims. The description herein may include concepts that could be pursued, but are not necessarily ones that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, what is described in this section is not prior art to the description and claims in this application and is not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Shovel dippers are formed with teeth at their leading edge and a dipper door that normally closes the rear of the dipper to hold earth and other materials that are loaded into the dipper by the action of the shovel. The dipper door must be held closed while the dipper is being loaded and while the load in the dipper is swung to a deposit point. At that point, the dipper door is opened to allow the contents of the dipper to empty. The door is typically held closed by a mechanical latch, and is released by a cable or trip wire rope to allow the door to swing open under its own weight and the weight of the contents of the dipper. The door is re-latched by allowing it to swing closed by virtue of its own weight and the changing attitude of the dipper as the dipper rotates back in preparation for its next loading cycle. Dippers typically are equipped with a braking device on the dipper door linkage to reduce the swing speed as the door swings open and closed.
Conventional dipper door braking devices typically utilize a spring loaded bolted connection. As the door swings open or closed by virtue of its own weight, the bolted connection provides friction, reducing the swing speed of the dipper door. The bolted connection is typically tightened to a predetermined torque value to achieve the necessary friction braking force. However, the bolted connection tends to lose its torque value as the braking device wears. To maintain the predetermined torque value, the bolted connection must be adjusted regularly, resulting in machine downtime.
An example of another conventional dipper door braking device can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,202, issued Oct. 22, 2002, for "Dynamically Active Dipper Door Mechanism." This patent discloses a door that is controlled by a brake pivotally linking the door to the dipper. The brake may be controlled by linkage actuated by a linear actuator. This conventional dipper door braking device must be actuated to provide a braking force to the dipper door. Therefore, if not actuated, the braking device may permit the dipper door to swing freely by virtue of its own weight, potentially damaging the dipper or other machine components.


An electric connector is disclosed to include an electrically insulative housing, which has solder ball receiving portions, terminals respectively mounted in the housing corresponding to the solder ball receiving portions, each terminal having an endpiece, which defines with the sidewall of each of the solder ball receiving portions a respective receiving chamber, and solder balls respectively movably accommodated in the receiving chambers defined by the endpieces of the terminals and the sidewalls of the solder ball receiving portions.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric connector and more particularly, to an electric connector with solder balls.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, the connection between an electric connector and a circuit board can be done in two ways. One way is to directly solder the pins of the electric connector to the circuit board. The other way is to bond the terminals of the electric connector to the circuit board by means of a solder material. China Patent #2004200 59350.7 discloses an electric connector with solder balls. According to this design, the electric connector comprises a housing and a number of terminals. The housing has a plurality of terminal slots and a plurality of bottom solder ball grooves respectively disposed in communication with the terminal slots. The terminals are respectively mounted in the terminal slots, each having a protruding portion. Further, solder balls are respectively mounted in the bottom solder ball grooves and fixedly connected to the protruding portions of the terminals. According to this design, the bottom solder ball grooves extend in vertical direction, therefore the solder balls may easily be forced away from the bottom solder ball grooves. Although the protruding portions of the terminals are respectively engaged into the solder balls to hold the solder balls in place, however it is difficult to control the solder balls at the same elevation.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide an electric connector that eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks.


Systems and methods are disclosed for identifying a set of internal edges on a representation of a network that satisfy a set of demands on the network. The disclosed systems and methods perform a multi-step process of selecting the internal edges. In a first step, an initial set of internal edges can be selected using a clique graph (or in another suitable manner). In a second step, a second set of internal edges can be selected using stream graph(s) (or in another suitable manner). The second set of internal edges can be used when determining network paths that satisfy the demands. When the representation of the network has a cut of two, the disclosed systems and methods can identify a set of internal edges providing a degree of protection against link failure.

A data communication network may support different types of demands having different levels of link failure protection. Paths in the data communication network should be selected such that link failure protection requirement are satisfied. When a link failure occurs, a network path must be identified that satisfies the demand and does not go through the failed link. The number of links required to satisfy a demand on a network should be reduced to increase the capacity of the network and reduce the cost of operating the network.

Satisfying demands in data communication networks


Adherence monitors are disclosed, incorporating cap removal sensors together with a determined time period in order to determine that a dose of medicament has been dispensed. In another form, cap removal data is combined with acoustic data to determine that a dose of medicament has been dispensed. Several specific structural arrangements are also disclosed.

The invention is concerned with adherence monitors for inhalers with a mouthpiece cap or cover. These are often used in the treatment of respiratory diseases such as asthma, COPD, cystic fibrosis, and bronchiectasis. However, such devices may also be used to deliver other medications, for example for the treatment of pain, heart conditions, erectile dysfunction, diabetes, and other indications. The general term cap or cover will be used interchangeably to refer to all such covers and caps, however constructed, which serve to close or protect the mouthpiece when it is not is use, and are opened or removed when the inhaler is to be used.
A common type of medicament inhaler is what is known as a pressurised metered dose inhaler (pMDI). Such inhalers generally comprise a medicament canister and an actuator. The medicament canister contains medicament under pressure and is designed to deliver a metered dose of medicament in the form of an aerosol spray. The actuator comprises a generally L-shaped hollow tube which has a first open end adapted to receive the medicament canister, and a second open end which acts as a mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is usually fitted with a removable cap.
Another type of medicament inhaler is a dry powder inhaler (DPI). A common type of dry powder inhaler is in the form of a generally tube-shaped body (e.g. a TURBUHALER® which is manufactured and marketed by AstraZeneca AB), which includes an internal store of a suitable medicament; a rotatable base for dispensing a single dose of the medicament into an appropriate inhalation chamber; and a mouthpiece, through which a user may inhale the medicament that has been dispensed into the inhalation chamber. Such dry powder inhalers usually come with a removable and replaceable screw-cap, adapted to cover the mouthpiece and tube-shaped body of the inhaler, when the inhaler is not in use.
Another common type of a DPI is in the form of a disc (e.g. GSK's Diskus® inhaler) which includes a priming lever, and the priming lever, when actuated, dispenses a metered dose of medicament in the form of a dry powder into an appropriate receptacle adjacent a mouthpiece (which is usually covered by a cap when the DPI is not being used). The dry powder may then be inhaled by the user (namely, by sucking strongly on the mouthpiece of the inhaler).
Another type of medicament inhaler is a breath-actuated inhaler (BAI). A BAI is in the form of a pMDI or a DPI in which the dose is delivered by a triggering mechanism internal to the inhaler in response to inspiratory flow rates exceeding certain pre-set levels, i.e. a patient's inhalation causes the dose to be delivered. An example of such a pMDI BAI is the Easi-Breathe® which is manufactured and marketed by Ivax/Teva.
Another type of DPI is an inhaler in which the medicament is held within a capsule which is perforated by the user (e.g. by a use of a piercing button on the inhaler) prior to the inhalation during which the medicament is delivered (e.g., HandiHaler® manufactured and marketed by Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG). Other types of DPI are also known (e.g. Genuair® by Almirall).
Another type of DPI inhaler is ELLIPTA® (manufactured and marketed by GSK), and sold under a number of brand names: ANORO®ELLIPTA®, BREO®ELLIPTA®, INCRUSE®ELLIPTA®, RELVAR®ELLIPTA®. The ELLIPTA® DPI is described in a number of granted patents and patent applications, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,161,968 and 8,746,242.
A problem associated with the use of all medicament inhalers is poor adherence. Many studies have shown that users frequently do not take their medicament at the predetermined or prescribed times and/or in the required amounts. The consequences of this non-adherence can include reduced disease control, lower quality of life, lost productivity, hospitalisation and avoidable deaths. This represents a considerable cost to the users, as well as to the health system.
To address this problem, there are now available a number of adherence monitoring devices for use with medicament inhalers. The adherence monitors include dose detection means and means for transmitting the adherence data gathered, either wirelessly or otherwise, to a device such as, for example, a docking station, website, cloud computing network or a smartphone, tablet or personal computer (belonging to the user or a health professional). This adherence data may be transmitted in real time or at predetermined set times. Examples of patents which describe such technology are U.S. Pat. No. 6,958,691 (Anderson et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 8,424,517 (Sutherland et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 8,342,172 (Levy et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,842 (Mishelevich et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 8,464,707 (Jongejan et al.), WO 95/07723 (Wolf et al.), US Patent Application No. 2014/0000598 (Sutherland), WO 2013/043063 (Sutherland) and WO 2015/030610 (Sutherland).
WO 2014/147550 (von Hollen et al.) discloses a system configured to monitor the usage of a respiratory medicament delivery device, the system comprising a means for selectively connecting and disconnecting the power supply from a processor by means of respectively, removing or replacing a tethered cover from/onto the mouthpiece of the pMDI. The von Hollen device utilises the cap on/off motion only for the purposes of connecting/disconnecting power supply to the processor. The cap on/off is not detected per se. The dose detection means is separate from the cap on/off motion and instead relies on the use of other sensors.
There are also available adherence monitoring devices which detect the on/off position of the cap fitted onto the mouthpiece of a pMDI.
PCT/NZ2014/000184 (Sutherland et al.) describes an adherence monitoring device with cap detection means, which detects cap removal/replacement in relation to the mouthpiece of a medicament inhaler. A separate dose detection means is provided. The cap detection is not used to detect if a dose is dispensed.
Adherence monitors known in the art use cap removal detection in conjunction with other sensors to detect actuation and/or inhalation.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a monitoring device for a medicament inhaler, in which dose detection is both cost effective and sufficiently accurate.
It is a further object of specific aspects of the present invention to provide a monitoring compliance system for a medicament inhaler which is suitable for use with, for example, the HandiHaler® and the Ellipta® inhaler, and similar devices.


A new crystal form of adefovir dipivoxil {9-[2-[bis(pivaloyloxy)-methoxy]-phosphinyl]-methoxyl]-ethyl]-adenime} and its composition is disclosed, as is a method to prepare the crystal comprising placing adefovir dipivoxil in a round bottom flask, adding organic solvent and dissolivng adefovir dipivoxil ultrasonically to form and adefovir dipivoxil solution, and spray drying the adefovir dipivoxil solution.

The new antiviral drug, adefovir dipivoxil (hereinafter "AD"), is a nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor with the nomenclature of 9-[2-[bis(pivaloyloxy)-methoxy]phosphinyl]methoxy)ethyl]adenine, which exhibits a marked invivo antiviral activity against both HIV and HBV. For more information about its antiviral activities, see Barditch-Crovo P et al, J Infect Dis, 176(2): 406, 1997, and Starrett et al, J Med Chem, 37:1857-1864, 1994.
Studies show that the AD in nature exists in two forms: amorphous and crystal. PCT patent application "pharmaceutical formulations" (International Publication NO. W00035460A) discloses a more stable AD pharmaceutical formulations comprising anhydrous crystalline AD and dihydrate crystalline AD and an alkaline excipient. Another application, W09904774A, discloses compositions containing one or more crystalline AD, wherein the AD comprises the following crystalline forms with different melting points: the anhydrous crystalline form, the hydrated form, the solvate form, and the salt crystalline form.
It is well known that different crystalline forms of a drug compound have different melting points, solubility, and density of said drug compound. At the same time, the fluidity and flexibility of crystals of said compound and the dissolution rate, stability, and effectiveness of said crystals in a pharmaceutical formulation may differ from one to another. For example, although the γ-type of indolacin is less stable, it has better performance in solubility, bioavailability and pharmacology than that of the α and β type. In addition, different crystalline forms may be enantiotropic under certain conditions. For instance, during the process of wet granulation, the drug may be dissolved in a solvent added and recrystallized in the later drying step to obtain a new crystalline form, which may affect the dissolution of the drug and the uniformity of the pharmaceutical formulation containing this drug. Therefore it is necessary to select a crystalline form with a suitable stability during manufacture and storage. Taking insulin zinc as an example, the dissolution rate of its stable form is slower than that of its metastable one. Thus a suspension of short, medium or long term release may be obtained by adjusting the proportion of these two crystalline forms. Therefore, it is not always necessary to adopt the most stable crystalline form in pharmaceutical industry, which depends on a lot of factors, such as the clinical uses, producing costs and cycles, as well as techniques and so on.

Crystal form of adefovir dipivoxil and its preparation


Systems, methods, and devices are provided for time measurement. One embodiment includes a method for measuring time on multiprocessor systems. The method includes allocating a memory space to a thread to be used to communicate with an operating system and saving a context switch count, an offset, and a scale factor, received from the operating system, in the memory space.

A computing device, such as a server, router, desktop computer, laptop, etc., and other devices having processor logic and memory, includes an operating system layer and an application layer to enable the device to perform various functions or roles. The operating system layer includes a "kernel", i.e., master control program, that runs the computing device. The kernel provides task management, device management, and data management, among others. In other words, the kernel sets the standards for application programs that run on the computing device. The application layer includes programs, i.e., executable instructions, which are located above the operating system layer and accessible by a user. As used herein, "user" space, or "user-mode" implies a layer of code which is less privileged than the layer of code which is in the operating system layer or "kernel" space.
In an operating system, a process refers to a running program which has a state and may have an input and output. Each process has one or more threads. A thread is an executable set of instructions being executed on a processor. A thread is sometimes referred to as a lightweight process. For example, a process contains attributes shared by all executing threads in the in the process, such as an address space, file descriptors, variables of an executing instance of a program, etc. Processes and threads are well known in the art and are described, for example, in Modern Operating Systems, Andrew S. Tannenbaum, (1992).
Many applications, or processes may be running at the same time on a computing device. The kernel manages the set of processes such that each process is provided with processor cycles. The kernel provides a set of services, referred to as "system calls" to allow the processes to interact with the kernel. In a system call, the process calls a routine in the kernel (system) to undertake some specific task. For example, a system call referred to as "gettimeofday" is used in Unix systems to retrieve time.
Many application programs use time information, e.g., "time of day", and use it often. Some example uses include time-stamps for file modifications and database transactions. Taking the difference between times is often used to measure intervals. A slow time of day interface can become a performance limiter. The use of time information has become so frequent that many processors provide software with a hardware clock of some sort that can be read quickly. Such clocks may not indicate the date and time directly, but rather count at some known rate. Hardware counters provides an affordable solution and can be associated with computing device components, e.g., processors, rather easily.
When a process involves a time measurement, a user process calls, e.g., queries, into the operating system with a request for time. The operating system is then expected to do something with hardware to return time. For example, in one operating system environment, the operating system may retrieve an offset and a scale factor which can be applied to a count from a counter and convert the count to date and time. In this example, the offset is additive and accounts for when the counter started. The scale factor is multiplicative and accounts for a difference in rates between the counter and external standard clock rates, i.e. as measured by an office wall clock. The counter can be converted to wall clock time using the formula: Wall_time=(scale_factor*hardware_counter)+offset. The operating system query can be expensive in terms of lines of program coding and processor time used since the query is often implemented as a system call. This query, however, does not pose a system performance issue because the scale factor and offset do not change. As such a program will only have to call a routine for these values once.
However, in multiprocessor computer devices, the hardware usually provides a separate and independent counter for each processor. These counters possess all of the properties of the counter described above, except that they may not be synchronized. As a result the scale factor and offset discussed above may not be the same for each processor. For example, the processors may not all run at the same speed, each processor's counter may start with a different initial value, and/or both. In a multiprocessor environment, the executing threads of a process may be switched on and off of a processor and/or from one processor to another (referred to herein as "context switches") for efficient utilization of computing resources. When this occurs while the thread is gathering time information it is possible that the scale factor and offset being used by the thread will be inappropriate for the counter value used and/or the counter value will not be current.

Time measurement using a context switch count, an offset, and a scale factor, received from the operating system

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A content modification system includes a treatment controller which may be hosted at a web server. The treatment controller receives a request for content from a user. One example of a request is an HTTP request for a web page. The treatment controller determines a representation of the requested content and receives a modification instruction for modifying the requested content. The treatment controller is operable to modify the representation according to the instructions and render the representation to a predetermined format for delivery to the user.

In some instances, content providers may desire to deliver different web pages to different users or different categories of users. In one example, an online retailer may conduct online experiments to determine which web page is most successful in achieving a sale or some other objective. To conduct the experiment, different treatments are delivered to browsers of users in different control groups and their actions are captured. A treatment is content that is presentable online to a user, for example, via a browser, but has one or more features that can be varied so different variations of the treatment can be tested or otherwise presented. The treatment may include an online advertisement or a web page or any component of a web page that has one or more attributes, such as color, size, shape, location, text, etc., that can be varied. The treatment is presented to the users. Then, their actions, in response to the treatment, are tracked using the IDs generated from their browser attributes and possibly other user device attributes. The captured actions may be used to determine the effectiveness of different treatments.
In another example, once the most successful treatment are identified for a group, that treatment is used to configure other content similarly for delivery to the group. Thus, different treatments may be presented to different groups of users. These are some examples whereby different web pages may be delivered to different users.
To implement a system that can re-configure a web page on-the-fly can be difficult, especially in real-time without undue delay for presenting the web page to the user.


The invention concerns a process for the manufacture of a mixture of (3a.alpha.,5a.beta.,9a.alpha.,9b.beta.)-dodecahydro-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethyln aphtho-[2,1-b]furan and (3a.alpha.,5a.beta.,9a.alpha.,9b.alpha.)-dodecahydro-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethyl naphtho[2,1-b]furan which utilizes the substituted hexenoic acids, 6-(2',6',6'-trimethyl-cyclohex-1'-en-1'-yl)-4-methyl-hex-2- or -3-enoic acid. The invention also concerns nitriles and a process for manufacture of the hexonic acids from the nitriles, having the formula ##STR1## wherein one of the bonds denotes a single bond and the other denotes a double bond, and, R represents hydrogen or the ester group COOR.sup.1 in which R.sup.1 represents a lower alkyl or aryl group.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a process for the manufacture of odorants, and novel nitriles used therein.
2. Background Art
The expensive, optically active odorant (-)-(3aR-(3a.alpha.,5a.beta.,9a.alpha.,9b.beta.))-dodecahydro-3a,6,6,9a-te tramethyl-naphtho[2,1-b]furan, is commercially available under various trade names, namely AMBROX.RTM. (Firmenich), AMBROXAN.RTM. (Henkel), AMBERLYN.RTM. (Quest), SYLVAMBER.RTM. (BASF) and AMBROXID.RTM. (Haarman & Reimer). Several processes for the manufacture of (-)-(3aR-(3a.alpha.,5a.beta.,9a.alpha.,9b.beta.))-dodecahydro-3a,6,6,9a-te tramethyl-naphtho[2,1-b]furan are known. These processes all start with sclareolid, i.e., (3aR-(3a.alpha.,5a.beta.,9a.alpha.,9b.beta.))-decahydro-3a,6,6,9a-tetramet hylnaphtho[2,1-b]furan-2(1H)-one. Sclareolid itself is obtained by oxidation of sclareol (muscatel sage oil) by way of an oxidizing agent such as chromic acid. Sclareol in turn is obtained from the natural source Salvia sclarea by extraction. At present, however, the amount of commercially available sclareol is limited and the price can fluctuate enormously depending on the harvest of Salvia sclarea. A further disadvantage of this process is use of chromic acid in the oxidation step which is problematic from the point of view of environmental protection. There accordingly exists a need for an industrially realizable process for the manufacture of dodecahydro-3a,6,6,9a-tetramethylnaphtho[2,1-]furan, which does not use sclareol and, accordingly is not dependant on the availability of sclareol and, moreover, which is more economical and more environmentally friendly than the process hitherto used. This is now possible by means of the process in accordance with the invention.

Process for the manufacture of odorants and intermediates used therein


The system of the present invention allows the interior of the eye to be viewed and simultaneously treated with a laser without the use of an optic in contact with the eye. The system scans illumination light into the eye so that the interior of the eye can be observed and includes an integral treatment laser that can be directed to a desired position in the interior of the eye including the fundus. Light reflected from the patient's eye and received by the system may be observed directly by the physician via an eyepiece lens. In a preferred embodiment, however, the reflected light is applied to an image detector that is coupled to a display for displaying an image of the interior of the patient's eye. Because the physician can view the interior of the eye via the display during treatment, unwanted reflections of the treatment laser to the physician's eye via the viewing system are prevented.

Various types of scanning laser ophthalmoscopes such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. Webb 4,765,730; Webb 4,764,006; Webb 4,768,873 and Kobayashi 4,781,453 are known for scanning a laser that is directed onto the fundus of a patient's eye to allow an interior portion of the eye to be viewed on a display for diagnostic purposes alone.
In order to treat the eye after diagnosis, different devices are currently used. For example, methods for treatment typically employ bright, white light provided by a slit lamp or the like which is shone into the patient's eye. While the eye is thus illuminated, the physician holds a prismatic or focusing contact lens so that it touches the cornea of the patient's eye and then directs a treatment laser through the contact lens. There are several disadvantages associated with this method of treatment. Bright, white light shone into a dilated eye is uncomfortable for the patient. Moreover, when procedures are lengthy, such as a panretinal photocoagulation which can take up to an hour, bright, white light exposure to the retina can approach damaging levels. Further, manipulations of the contact lens, as may be necessary during a procedure, can cause corneal abrasions. Contact of the lens with the eye can also result in the transmission of diseases. Since the contact lens is hand held, unintentional movement can also result in misdirection of the treatment laser.

System for treating the fundus of an eye


The current invention is intended to be installed in revenue service railroad tracks to detect railroad cars exhibiting wheel set lateral instability. The invention utilizes an array of inductive proximity sensors mounted at regular intervals in a section of railroad track. Each proximity sensor is oriented to sense the lateral position of railroad car wheel sets. The invention employs a computer algorithm to extrapolate the trajectory from the set of proximity sensor signals for each wheel set. A second algorithm evaluates the shape of the trajectory to detect oscillating lateral motion of the wheel set. A third algorithm assesses the severity of any wheel set lateral oscillations that are detected. An additional function of the invention is to detect railroad car trucks that exhibit “tracking errors”.

Freight and passenger railroad car wheel sets can develop sustained lateral oscillations, commonly referred to as high-speed lateral instability or "hunting", while operating on railroad track at elevated speeds. The consequences of wheel set lateral instability include:
1. Excessive suspension wear.
2. Damage to lading carried by railroad vehicles, particularly finished automobiles, electronic products or any items that are sensitive to sustained vibrations.
3. Increased derailment risk.
4. Increased fuel consumption of trains with hunting cars.
5. Reduced train operating speeds.
Lateral instability is a natural consequence of the typical railroad car wheel set design (FIG. 1a) that consists of a pair of conical shaped wheels 4,5 mounted rigidly to a solid axle 6. This design is inherently unstable as the wheel set rolls on the rails as shown in FIGS. 1a and 1b. A slight lateral displacement of the wheel set 4, 5, 6 toward the left rail 2 causes the effective rolling radius of the two wheels of the wheel set to change, with the effective rolling radius of the left wheel 4, rleft, increasing and that of the right wheel 5, rright, decreasing. Because the wheels 4,5 are connected via a rigid axle 6, they cannot rotate independently of one another. The difference in their rolling radii (rleft>rright) caused by the lateral shift creates longitudinal and lateral creep forces Fcreep at the wheel/rail contact area 100, 101 that act to restore the wheel set back to its equilibrium position on the rails.
However, due to insufficient damping forces in this simple mechanical system the wheel set will tend to oscillate laterally around its equilibrium position, as shown in FIG. 1a. The magnitude and frequency of this lateral oscillation depends on several factors, including the amount of taper (T1, T2) of the wheel tread cross section, the friction between the wheels 4, 5 and rails 2, 3 the lateral alignment of the railroad track, the design and condition of the railroad car's suspension and, most importantly, the weight and speed of the railroad car, which is shown traveling into the page for FIGS. 1a, 1b. Lateral instability tends to increase as railroad car weight decreases and speed increases.
Railroad cars have suspensions commonly referred to as "trucks" or "bogies". Several different types of trucks are currently used in railroad cars, but most consist of two or more rigid axle wheel sets contained within a framework that rotates horizontally under the railroad car body to negotiate curves. FIG. 2 shows top views of a typical railroad car truck 7 with laterally unstable wheel sets at five locations L1→L5 along the track. The lateral oscillations of the wheel sets 4,5,6 are shown, and their trajectories 20, 21 are represented as the dashed lines passing through each wheel. L1 shows truck 7 veering left. L2 shows truck 7 veering right. L3 shows truck 7 veering about straight. L4 shows truck 7 starting to veer left again. L5 shows truck 7 returning past straight again before veering right again.
Attempts have been made to minimize wheel set lateral instability in railroad cars by several methods:
1. The use of cylindrical wheel shapes or wheels with very little tread taper.
2. Increasing the yaw resistance of railroad car suspensions to prevent lateral wheel set oscillations.
3. Adding yaw dampers to railroad car suspensions to damp out the lateral wheel set oscillations.
Unfortunately these methods also tend to degrade the ability of railroad car suspensions to negotiate curves, and they increase the cost and maintenance of railroad car suspensions. Thus, the vast majority of freight railroad cars in service in North America are not equipped with any special equipment to control wheel set lateral instability. As a consequence high-speed instability is remedied by simply replacing wheel sets and truck components when lateral instability is detected.
Truck tracking errors occur when one or more wheel sets in a truck run with a lateral offset toward one rail or the other. The causes of this behavior include:
1. The two wheels of a wheel set have worn to different diameters.
2. Different side/side wheel set center distances (d1, d2) due to defects in the truck frame (FIG. 2, L1)
3. Truck frames 7, locked in misalignment with the railroad car and track due to rotational binding or friction at their pivot point 22 (FIG. 2, L1).
Three truck-tracking situations are illustrated in FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c. FIG. 3a shows the top view of a truck 7a in proper alignment with the track. Both wheel sets 30, 31 are in rolling alignment with the track and are centered between the rails. FIG. 3b shows a truck 7b that is not tracking properly. The truck center member 22 is locked in a rotated position such that neither wheel set 32, 33 in the truck 7b is aligned with the track. The misalignment causes both wheel sets 32, 33 to track toward the left rail. In FIG. 3c the truck tracking error is characterized by the leading wheel set 35 tracking toward the right rail, and the trailing wheel set 34 tracking toward the left rail.
The current invention utilizes the same array of inductive proximity sensors as the lateral instability detector to detect wheel sets that are tracking toward one rail or the other. The invention also employs an algorithm that evaluates the wheel set trajectory to determine if a wheel set is tracking consistently toward one rail or the other.
Several methods have been previously developed to detect and quantify the lateral instability of railroad cars. Prior art involved placing acceleration or force sensors on individual railroad cars and monitoring these sensors in a series of track tests under controlled conditions. These "on-board" methods of detecting and quantifying lateral instability are not practical for the large number of railroad cars in operation on the freight railroads.
Another lateral instability detection device has been developed for commercial applications by Salient Systems, Inc. This device employs strain gauge force sensors applied to lengths of rail that sense the lateral forces applied by railroad car wheel sets. Proprietary computer algorithms are applied to the wheel set lateral force data to detect lateral force patterns associated with lateral instability.
The lateral force measurement method of detecting lateral instability suffers from the following problems:
1. Lateral force measuring sensors must be applied to the rails and calibrated periodically.
2. The lateral force sensors cannot be removed and reapplied to the rails for track maintenance.
3. Certain track maintenance activities destroy the lateral force sensors.
4. The lateral force sensors are susceptible to voltage surges that propagate along the rails.
5. Lighter railroad cars may generate lateral wheel forces that are below the sensitivity threshold of the sensors and will not be detected even though the railroad car wheel sets are laterally unstable.
The advantages of the lateral displacement measurement method of detecting lateral instability of the present invention compared to the lateral force method include:
1. The lateral displacement sensors of this invention are easily removed from the rails and do not require periodic calibration.
2. The inductive proximity sensors are well isolated from the rails and are less susceptible to damage from voltage surges in the rails.
3. The lateral displacement sensor detection capability is not affected by the magnitude of the lateral wheel force, and very light railroad cars (those more inclined to hunt) are detected as reliably as heavier railroad cars.
The shape of the sinusoidal trajectory of a laterally unstable wheel set is more uniform and easier to characterize compared to the wheel set lateral force time series.
Prior art for detecting truck tracking errors consists of a commercial product offered by Wayside Inspection Devices Inc. (http://www.wid.ca) called the T/BOGI™ system (U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,260). This device consists of a laser/camera range finder system that scans the side of passing railroad car wheel sets to measure their angular orientation and tracking disposition relative to the track.
The disadvantage of this prior art is the complexity and cost of the laser/camera range finder system and the need for periodic cleaning and maintenance. In addition, the T/BOGI™ system obtains one instantaneous measurement of the wheel set tracking position at a single point on the track.
The current invention evaluates the tracking position of the wheel set at several points along the track. Furthermore, the present invention detects light railroad cars, which are most prone to hunt. The present invention is easier to maintain and more resistive to damage caused by voltage surges in the rails.

Railroad car lateral instability and tracking error detector


A latch plate pivots between a latch position wherein the latch plate engages with the striker and an open position wherein the latch plate releases the striker. A pawl member pivots between an engaging position wherein the pawl member engages with the latch plate to restrain the latch plate in the latch position and a releasing position wherein the pawl member disengages from the latch plate. A holding lever pivots while incorporating with the latch plate and the pawl member. The holding lever includes a holding portion which is engageable with the pawl member to restrain the pawl member in the releasing position and an arm portion against which a projected part of the latch plate abuts to pivot the holding lever in a direction to disengage the holding portion from the pawl member when the latch plate is pivoted from the latch position toward the open position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to door locks, and more particularly to automotive slide door locks of a type which comprise a latch plate engageable with a striker to achieve a latched condition of the slide door and a pawl member engageable with the latch plate to keep the latched condition of the slide door. More specifically, the present invention is concerned with a door lock used as an auxiliary door lock in a slide door dual lock system which employs two door locks to latch the slide door to a door opening.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Among various locks for automotive slide doors, there is a dual lock system which includes main and auxiliary door locks which are mounted to rear and front portions of the slide door. Upon closing of the slide door, the main and auxiliary door locks latch the rear and front portions of the door to the vehicle body. Usually, the front or auxiliary door lock is employed for tightly restraining the latched door even upon a vehicle collision. For the functions of these two door locks, a door opening of the vehicle body is equipped with rear and front strikers to which respective latch plates of the main and auxiliary door locks are engageable.
Each of the main and auxiliary door locks is constructed to have three conditions, which are a full-latch condition wherein the latch plate fully latches the striker with an aid of pawl member to completely latch the door at the closed position, a half-latch condition wherein the latch plate incompletely latches the striker with an aid of the pawl member to incompletely latch the door at the closed position and an open condition wherein the latch plate is released from the pawl member to release the striker thereby to release the door.
In case of an auto-slide door wherein initial opening motion and subsequent opening movement of the door are carried out by an electric power, an electric actuator is used for actuating both the main and auxiliary door locks. In this case, a link member is used which extends from the electric actuator to both the main and auxiliary door locks. When, for the purpose of opening the slide door, an operator (or driver) operates a so-called "open switch" ON, the electric actuator is energized to move the link member in a direction to cancel the latched condition of the latch plate of each door lock. Usually, the link member is connected to both the inside and outside door handles, so that the two door locks can be actuated by the door handles.
Due to the nature of the slide door, when the door is slid into the door opening, the latching action of the auxiliary door lock to the front striker is completed before that of the main door lock to the rear striker. That is, when the slide door is about to be led into the door opening, the door is inclined relative to the door opening having the front or auxiliary door lock positioned close to the front striker and the rear or main door lock positioned away from the rear striker. Thus, further movement of the slide door into the door opening induces firstly the engagement of the auxiliary door lock with the front striker and then the engagement of the main door lock with the rear striker. In fact, until the main door lock completes its full-latch condition, the auxiliary door lock is compelled to assume a so-called "over-stroke condition" wherein the latch plate is overly turned beyond its full-latch position. When the slide door is finally and thus neatly put into the door opening, the auxiliary door lock is turned back to the normal full-latch condition. That is, due to the nature of the slide door, the two door locks are compelled to operate with different timings.
Such different timing operation of the two door locks tends to induce the following disadvantage at the time of opening the slide door.
That is, when, due to ON turning of the open switch, the electric actuator is energized to move the link member in the latch canceling direction, the latch plates of both the main and auxiliary door locks are released from respective pawl members and the main door lock is instantly turned to its open condition. However, the auxiliary door lock can not be turned to its open condition until the slide door makes a certain open motion from the closed position. That is, during this time, the auxiliary door lock is kept in the above-mentioned "over-stroke condition". This means that it is necessary to keep the electric actuator energized for a certain time even after completion of turning of the main door lock to its open position. If the energization is stopped just after turning of the main door lock to the open position, the auxiliary door lock is turned back to its full-latch (or half-latch) condition. Of course, in this case, the slide door can not be opened. In practice, in order to suppress this undesired phenomenon, an elongate electric connector unit has been hitherto employed for keeping the electric connection between the electric actuator installed in the slide door and a power source installed in the vehicle body.


A key switch control device includes a gate controller and a load connected in series to AC power supply, a control circuit connected to the key switch to receive from it a pulse signal for controlling the gate controller and the load, enabling AC power supply to be connected to the load when the key switch is clicked once, or disconnected from the load when the key switch is clicked at least twice. The control circuit includes an oscillator, a time pulse counter, a periodic comparator, a power modulation recognizer, and an output drive.

The present invention relates to a key switch control device, and more particularly to such a key switch control device which is capable of regulating and memorizing the power output of the load.
Various wall switches have been disclosed for controlling different electric home apparatus. These wall switches include: (1) a touch control switch, (2) an on/off contact switch, and (3) a rotary type light intensity regulating switch. A touch control switch provides multi-step control responsive to touching by means of a coupling capacitor. However, this kind of switch may work falsely due to the effect of static electricity, sparks at switching contact, or inductive load. An on/off contact switch is directly connected to the AC power supply for on/off control. Because an on/off contact switch is directly connected to the AC power supply, it cannot control the volume of current passing through, and tends to produce sparks when switched, causing the contacts to be melted. Furthermore, an on/off contact switch is vulnerable to moisture, causing a contact error. A rotary type light intensity regulating switch is complicated to use. When in use, the switch must be turned to the ON position, and then the rotary knob of the switch must be rotated to regulate the intensity of light of the controlled apparatus from low to high. When turning off the controlled apparatus, the rotary knob of the switch is rotated in the reversed direction to regulate the intensity of light of the controlled apparatus from high to low, and then the switch is turned to OFF position. Furthermore, this kind of switch is vulnerable to moisture, causing a contact error, and sparks tend to be produced at the contacts of the switch when operating the switch.

7-F1, No. 339, Chung Cheng Rd., Pan Chiao


A release device (10) is provided for use with a fall protection unit (12) having a lifeline (14) that can be deployed N in a fall direction to protect a worker (16) in a fall event, and includes a frame (22) configured to fix the release device (10) to a fall protection unit (12), a release member (24) mounted for movement from a lock position to a release position, a connection member (26) configured to connect the deployable lifeline (14) of the fall protection unit (12) to another piece of fall protection equipment connected to the worker (16), the connection member (26) having a locked condition wherein the connection member (26) is prevented from moving in a fall direction relative to the frame (22) and a released condition wherein the connection member (26) is free to move in the fall direction relative to the frame (22); the connection member (26) having a stop surface (34); and a stop link (28) mounted to the frame (22) to move from a engaged position to a disengaged position in response to the release member (24) moving from the lock position to the release position. The stop link (28) has a hold surface (38) engaged with the stop surface (34) with the stop link (28) in the engaged position and the connection member (26) in the locked condition, and at least one of the stop surface (34) and the hold surface (38) area planar surface extending at an acute angle to the fall direction with the connection member (26) in the locked condition and the stop link (28) in the engaged position.

Fall protection equipment is well known for protecting a worker during a fall event by connecting a worker to an anchor point and absorbing the loads of the fall without allowing a worker to impact the ground or any other lower surface. Problems can arise after a fall event because the worker can become seriously injured if the worker is left suspended in the air for too long a period due to the constriction put on a worker's body by the fall harness. Accordingly, it is important that a worker be rescued as soon as possible after a fall event that leaves a worker suspended in free space. One type of fall protection device/equipment that can allow a worker to be safely rescued is a so-called Anchorage Rescue Device (ARD) which contains a length of lifeline that can be deployed in a controlled manner after a worker has experienced a fall event. One challenge for ARDs is that a release device is needed to allow the lifeline to be deployed after a fall event while a worker's full weight is being supported by the ARD. Accordingly, there is a need for such release devices. Furthermore, it would be beneficial if such release devices could allow either a manual release by a rescuer who has physical access to the ARD unit or a remote release by a rescuer who is positioned remote from the ARD unit and cannot physically access the ARD unit.
Published patent application US 2009/0173578 A1, published Jul. 9, 2009 discloses a fall protection unit having a deployable lifeline (21) and both manual and remote means are alternatively provided for actuating deployment of the lifeline (21). In this regard, the device utilizes a rotating cam pin (14) having a cylindrical surface that engages a cylindrical surface on a connecting member (11) to hold the connecting member 11 in a locked condition. The cam pin (14) can be rotated to expose a clearance cut (18) on the cam pin (14) that allows the connecting member (11) and the lifeline (21) to be deployed from the unit.

Release device for use with a fall protection unit having a deployable lifeline


Embodiments of the invention provide techniques for disaster recovery in the event of a database connection failure. In one embodiment, a network address for a secondary server may be stored in multiple data objects of a client computer. In the event of a failed connection to a primary server, the network address of the secondary server may be retrieved from one of the data objects stored in the client computer. When an updated network address for the secondary server is received, it may be propagated to the data objects of the client computer.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to computer systems. More specifically, embodiments of the invention provide techniques to recover from a database connection failure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Databases are well known systems for storing, searching, and retrieving information stored in a computer. Access to a database may be provided by a client-server architecture, in which a client computer may connect to a server hosting a database. Typically, access to a particular database application is provided using a database driver. The database driver provides an application that allows a software application to interact with a database. By implementing a common interface, different database vendors allow the software application to interact with their particular database implementation. To interact with the database, the software application establishes a connection with the database, through the database driver, at a network address location for the database. Often, the network address is in the form of a socket, i.e., a combination of an internet protocol (IP) address and a port number. After a connection is established, however, in some situations, a server may become unavailable to a client. For example, a server may suffer a critical fault or error and be forced to shut down or a network connection between a software application and a database server at a particular network address may fail. Thus, the client computer may lose access to the database hosted by the server.
In such situations, the client computer may be connected to a database on a secondary server. More specifically, the secondary server (also referred to as a failover server) may provide the client computer with access to a back-up database that is equivalent to the database hosted on the unavailable server. However, in order to access the back-up database, the client computer needs to know a network address for connecting to the secondary server. Thus, there is a need for techniques for a client computer system to connect to a secondary server in order to recover from a database connection failure.

Intelligent disaster recovery for database connection failures

International Business Machines Corporation


Systems and methods are disclosed for identifying tissue specimen types present in digital whole slide images. In some aspects, tissue specimen types may be identified using unsupervised machine learning techniques for out-of-distribution detection. For example, a digital whole slide image of a tissue specimen and a recorded tissue specimen type for the digital whole slide image may be received. One or more feature vectors may be extracted from one or more foreground tiles of the digital whole slide image identified as including the tissue specimen, and a distribution learned by a machine learning system for the recorded tissue specimen type may be received. Using the distribution, a probability of the feature vectors corresponding to the recorded tissue specimen type may be computed and used as a basis for classifying the foreground tiles from which the feature vectors are extracted as an in-distribution foreground tile or an out-of-distribution foreground tile.

When processing a digitized image of a slide-mounted histopathology specimen (e.g., a digital whole slide image), it is often assumed that there is only a single tissue specimen type present in the slide as indicated by a database, such as a laboratory information system. However, in some instances, the recorded tissue specimen type in the laboratory information system may be erroneous and/or one or more additional tissue specimen types may be present in the slide that are not recorded in the laboratory information system. Not only does this result in inaccurate recording, but may also cause an incorrect application of an artificial intelligence (AI)-based image processing system specific to a given tissue specimen type to one or more regions of the digital whole slide image that include a different tissue specimen type.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art, or suggestions of the prior art, by inclusion in this section.

Systems and methods to process electronic images to categorize intra-slide specimen tissue type


An angle adjustable camber assembly is adapted to support the wheel of a wheelchair having a seat, the rear of which is at a given rear seat height. The assembly comprises a movable member for supporting the wheel. The movable member is adapted to translate and rotate so as to be able to selectively position the wheel at any one of a variety of camber angles while substantially maintaining the rear seat height and a spacing between the top of the wheel and the seat frame.

This invention relates in general to land vehicles and more particularly, to personal mobility vehicles. Most particularly, the invention relates to camber assemblies for wheelchairs.
Frequently, the rear wheels of a wheelchair are cambered, or angled with respect to a vertical plane. A wheelchair with a large camber angle has more responsive turning, and is typically beneficial in sports applications. A wheelchair with little to no camber has a smaller overall width and thus increased maneuverability in tight confines. Wheelchairs with adjustable camber are well known in the art. Adjustable camber allows the user to change the camber angle in order to adapt to a driving environment. A user would typically choose a small camber angle for indoor use, and a large camber angle for outdoor use. Changing camber alters several characteristics of the wheelchair due to the repositioning of the wheels. One undesirable consequence of changing from no camber to a high camber angle is that the rear of the wheelchair is lowered. This lowering not only alters the user's position, but also requires the front casters to be re-squared. Re-squaring the front casters is often a difficult adjustment. Another undesirable result of adjustable camber is that the tops of the rear wheels tend to tilt inward towards the centerline of the wheelchair, which changes the location of the tires and hand rims. To compensate for these changes, the rear axles must displace outward and downward as the camber angle increases. There are several wheelchairs available that offer two or more camber angles while addressing these issues with limited success. One such wheelchair is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,311,999. In this invention, the height of the rear of the wheelchair changes as the camber angle is changed, requiring that the front casters be re-squared during such adjustment.
What is needed is a wheelchair that offers the user a wide range of camber angles, is quickly and easily adjusted without having to re-square the casters, and that compensates for the change in position of the wheel.


A laterally independently operated column-equipped vulcanizer comprises two (right and left) die opening and closing devices (12A, 12B) disposed to be operable independently of each other, the die opening and closing devices having upper die mounting members (17a, 17b) corresponding to lower die mounting members (13a, 13b) installed on a base plate (11), the upper die mounting members being supported in an ascendable and descendable manner on right and left paired columns (18a, 18b) erected on the base plate. The right and left paired columns throughout the two die opening and closing devices are arranged in V-configuration as viewed in plan. Loaders (22a, 22b) capable of carrying green tires GT into the die opening and closing devices are disposed on the side of the columns narrowly spaced from each other in the lateral direction among the columns arranged in V-configuration. Unloaders (23a, 23b) capable of carrying vulcanized tires T out of the die opening and closing devices are disposed on the side of the columns widely spaced from each other in the lateral direction among the columns arranged in V-configuration. Thus, the entire vulcanizer can be rendered even more compact.

Generally, a laterally independently operated column-equipped vulcanizer is well known in which an upper die mounting member corresponding to a lower die mounting member installed on a base plate is supported in an ascendable and descendable manner on right and left paired columns erected on the base plate to construct a die opening and closing device, and two (right and left) of these die opening and closing devices are disposed to be operable independently of each other.
With this laterally independently operated column-equipped vulcanizer, however, it is general for the right and left paired columns of these respective die opening and closing devices to be arranged laterally in a straight line or in parallel throughout the two (right and left) die opening and closing devices. Thus, the vulcanizer has posed the disadvantage of taking up a wide installation space in the lateral or right-and-left direction.
Hence, it has been difficult, for example, to replace a vulcanizer for a small tire by a vulcanizer for a large tire, which has been increasingly needed in recent years, within the same installation space.
So far, Patent Document 1 has disclosed a vulcanizer comprising two (right and left) tire vulcanizers having right and left paired columns arranged in V-configuration (hereinafter referred to as a V-arranged column-equipped vulcanizer) for compactness of the vulcanizer.    Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,584 B2 (FIG. 1, FIG. 5)

Laterally independently operated column-equipped vulcanizer


To provide an image processing method, including: image recording, wherein an image composed of a plurality of laser drawn lines is recorded by heating by irradiating parallel laser lights on a recording medium spaced by a predetermined distance, wherein, in the image recording, among the plurality of laser drawn lines constituting the image, at least two units of lines drawn with different energy, each composed of a pair of laser drawn lines adjacent to each other and with different irradiation energy, are formed.

As a method for uniformly recording or erasing an image on a thermoreversible recording medium (hereinafter, it may also be referred to as a "recording medium" or a "medium") in case of surface irregularity on the medium or remote recording or erasing, various methods of making a laser light have been proposed (see PTL1 and so on). As such an image processing method by a laser light, a laser recording apparatus (laser marker) which enables to irradiate a high-power a laser light on the thermoreversible recording medium and control a location thereof has been provided. When the laser light is irradiated on the thermoreversible recording medium using this laser marker, a photothermal conversion material in the thermoreversible recording medium absorbs the light and converts it into heat, and image recording and image erasing can be carried out by the heat. For example, as a method for carrying out image recording and image erasing by a laser light, a method for recording by a near-infrared laser light, where a leuco dye, a reversible color developing agent, and various photothermal conversion materials are combined, has been proposed (see PTL2).
Here, examples of a method for scanning a laser light in image recording and image erasing using the laser light include those illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. Here, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, solid arrows denote a laser drawing operation (marking operation), and dashed arrows denote a jump operation of moving drawing points (idling operation).
In FIG. 1, a first laser drawn line 201 is drawn from a first starting point to a first end point, and the laser light is irradiated and scanned so that a second laser drawn line 202 adjacent to the first laser drawn line 201 is drawn in parallel with the first laser drawn line 201 from a second starting point to a second end point.
According to the laser light scanning illustrated in FIG. 1, drawing in a short image recording time is possible with less speed reduction at a turnaround portion. However, due to a heat accumulation effect of printing the starting point of the second laser drawn line 202 right after printing the end point of the first laser drawn line 201, the thermoreversible recording medium is excessively heated at the turnaround portions of the laser drawn lines. As a result, there are problems of non-uniform image density and reduced repetition durability.
FIG. 2 illustrates a method for irradiating and scanning a laser light, where a first laser drawn line 211 is drawn from a first starting point to a first end point; the laser light is scanned without irradiating from the first end point to a second starting point; and a second laser drawn line 212 adjacent to the first laser drawn line 211 is drawn from the second starting point to a second end point in parallel with the first laser drawn line 211 (see PTL3).
According to this laser light scanning illustrated in FIG. 2, reduction of speed at a turnaround portion and an effect of heat accumulation may be improved, and an excess energy application on the thermoreversible recording medium may be avoided. Thereby, repetition durability improves. However, a dashed portion with no laser light irradiation is long, and thus an image recording time and an image erasing time are long. Also, in the laser light scanning method, as an alternative of reducing the heat accumulation effect, the second laser drawn line 212 is recorded in a cold state after the first laser drawn line 211 is drawn. Thus, heat accumulation cannot be used, and high energy is required. Thus, a scanning speed cannot be increased, and there is a problem that the image recording time cannot be reduced.
Also, the present applicants have proposed earlier a method for irradiating and scanning a laser light illustrated in FIG. 3 such that a first laser drawn line 221 is drawn from a first starting point to a first end point and then a second laser drawn line 222 adjacent to the first laser drawn line 221 is drawn from a second starting point toward a second end point located on a line in a direction tilted to the first starting point with respect to a line parallel to the first laser drawn line 221 (see PTL4).
According to this proposal illustrated in FIG. 3, uneven density at a solid image portion and an erased portion can be suppressed, and repetition durability of the solid image may be improved. At the same time, image printing and erasing times can be reduced. However, since the second laser drawn line 222 is diagonally recorded, there is a problem that an end portion of an image is missing depending on the types of the image.
Among images drawn by scanning a laser light, in case of drawing a bar code image in particular, a high image density and an accurate line width are required, it is necessary to draw the image by irradiating a high-energy laser light for improved readability. However, in all the methods for scanning a laser light described in the prior art, heat accumulation effect of a laser drawn line at a turnaround portion is not sufficiently resolved. Thus, it is at present difficult to draw an image with a high image density and an accurate line width and repeatedly draw an image with high readability when the image is a diagram of an arbitrary line width formed by a plurality of laser drawn lines, which requires a high image density and an accurate line width and requires improvement in readability, particularly a bar code image.

Image processing method and image processing apparatus


A combined ribosome-display and phage-display method and kit for carrying out the method are provided. The method includes screening a ribosome-display library of binding agents to identify binding agents that interact with one or more target molecules of interest, converting the RNA encoding the binding agents to a phage-display format by amplification and primer extension, and the screening the phage-display library to enrich for binding agents that interact with one or more target molecules of interest.

It has been shown that the larger the starting library diversity, the more likely a high affinity reagent will be selected without the need for affinity maturation (Vaughan, et al. (1996) Nat. Biotechnol. 14:309-314; Ling (2003) Comb. Chem. High Throughput Screen 6:421-432). However, due to the limited number of E. coli cells that can be feasibly grown, the largest libraries constructed for phage-display are on the order of 1×1010 members (Dower, et al. (1988) Nucleic Acids Res. 16:6127-6145; Sheets, et al. (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:6157-6162), which are stored frozen and subjected to freeze-thaw before selection. Ribosome-display, on the other hand typically starts with a freshly translated library with a diversity 100-fold greater (Pluckthun (2012) Methods Mol. Biol. 805:3-28; Hanes & Pluckthun (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:4937-4942), but requires more steps and effort if not automated.
Ribosome-display is described in US 2006/0177862 for use in the selection of antibodies, wherein ribosome-display complexes are encapsidated into a viral coat to protect the product from degradation. Further, US 2013/0210680 suggests the use of ribosome-display in amplifying a library of clones. Moreover, ribosome-display has been combined with other display technologies for screening the output from the ribosome-display rounds (Pelletier, et al. (1999) Nat. Biotechnol. 17:683-690) or for affinity maturation of phage-display selected pools (Groves, et al. (2006) J. Immunol. Methods 313:129-139; Groves & Nickson (2012) Methods Mol. Biol. 805:163-90; Finlay, et al. (2009) J. Mol. Biol. 388:541-558; Dufner, et al. (2006) Trends Biotechnol. 24:523-9). However, ribosome-display has not been integrated with phage-display as part of a primary selection scheme.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and kit for generating high affinity binding agents

THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS


A method and apparatus for determining a range of sight which are capable of monitoring and correcting the operability of the instrument. A light emitter directs an emitted light beam to a measurement zone and a light receiver receives a received light beam from the measurement zone. The emitted light beam and the received light beam cross each other in the measurement zone. A deflector deflects at least a portion of the emitted light beam downstream of the measurement zone along a light transmitting path and directs the portion of the emitted light beam into the received light beam at a side of the measurement zone opposite from the light receiver. An optical shutter intermittently closes the light transmitting path in a temporally controlled manner.

The invention concerns a scattered light range of sight measurement instrument which measures the amount of light scattered by a light beam as it traverses a gas sample from which the density of particulates in the gas sample can be established. With this information, the sight range or viewable distance through the sample can be determined.
Stray or scattered light measuring instruments are used for determining the presence of particles (aerosols, dust, etc.) in venting conduits as well as in the atmosphere as a whole. For example, the carbon particle emissions from a chimney can be determined in this way. Scattered light measuring instruments are further used in street traffic, ocean shipping and air transport, and they are used, when appropriate, to generate a warning signal when a predetermined range (or distance) of sight becomes too low, e.g. exceeds a lower threshold value.
Such instruments employ either the transmission principle or the light scattering principle.
Range of sight measuring instruments employing the transmission principle, also sometimes referred to as transmissometers, direct a predefined amount of light into one end of a measuring distance. The emitted light is received by a light receiver located at the other end of the measurement distance where the incoming light volume is measured. If there are no particles along the measuring distance, the receiver receives 100% of the emitted light. The mathematical relationship between the length of the measuring distance and the transmission value measured at the receiver can be used to determine the distance or range of sight through the air or gas sample being measured.
Instruments which, for example, include an optical reflector and direct the light beam several times over the measurement distance, and only then determine the amount of received light, are also transmissometers.
Sight range measuring instruments which measure light scattered by particulates in the sample being measured also employ a light emitter and a light receiver. The emitter and receiver are arranged so that an emitted light beam from the light emitter and a received light beam striking the light receiver cross each other to prevent light from the emitter from directly reaching the light receiver.
When the light emitter is on one side (or upstream) of the measurement zone and the light receiver is on the other side or downstream of the zone, and particulates in the gas sample are to be detected, the so-called forward-scattering principle is employed.
On the other hand, if the light emitter and receiver are both on the same side of the measurement zone, the so-called back-scatter principle is employed.
Since the two light beams cross each other, no light from the emitter can directly reach the light receiver. The receiver can only receive a portion of the emitted light beam when the emitted light strikes a particle inside the measurement zone, because the particle will scatter the light in multiple directions. Accordingly, as the density of the particles in the measurement zone increases, the light receiver receives proportionally more light, which indicates a reduced viewing range or distance through the sample.
Although scattering light instruments have many advantages as compared to transmissions instruments, a significant disadvantage of them is that with good sight only a very small amount of light is received by the light receiver. For example, the testing of the functionality of the individual components of the instrument and assembly groups requires additional steps. If the light emitter were to cease to operate due to a defect, there would be no light that is directed or scattered towards the light receiver even when the particle concentration in the measurement zone is high. Instead, the instrument would interpret such a reading as indicating an extremely good or long range of sight. According to published German patent application No. DE 19 05 016, such errors are precluded by closing the light path from the light scattering particles to the light receiver at regular, short intervals, during which no scattered light from the particles can reach the light receiver. During this time interval, a predetermined amount of test light is directed from the light emitter directly to the light receiver. In this manner, several components of the light scattering instrument can be monitored with regard to their functionality. However, a disadvantage of this is that this manner of checking for defects fails to recognize a fairly large number of possible defects. For example, it cannot be determined when the emitted light beam and/or the received light beam are completely interrupted by a large surface obstacle which would prevent light from reaching the light receiver. As a consequence, the scattered light instrument interprets this occurrence as indicating a large viewing distance. Further, any progressively increasing contamination of optical boundary surfaces cannot be recognized because the boundary surfaces are also not in the optical path of the test light directed to the light receiver.
Further suggestions for correcting typical problems encountered with such scattered light instruments come from German published patent application No. DE 44 01 755 A1. It proposes to integrate a transmissions arrangement in a forward-scattering instrument and by providing at least one additional light receiver, or an additional light receiver and an additional light emitter. This combined and switchable scattered light and transmitted light measurement is said to enable the correct detection of obstacles within the optical measuring distance, or to compensate for deposits on the optical boundary surfaces. The arrangement of DE 44 01 755 A1 however has the disadvantage that the use of an additional light receiver involves additional costs. Moreover, with such a transmissions measurement, effectively only half the length of the scattered light measurement distance is being tested. For this reason, the German publication points out that the additional light receiver should also have an additional light emitter. Aside from the resulting higher costs, a major disadvantage of such an arrangement is that the optoelectronic components frequently react differently to changed conditions. It can therefore not be assured that over a longer period of time this will lead to correct compensations for measuring errors due to contaminants on the optical boundary surfaces. The reason for this is that whenever small particle concentrations are present (and the line of sight is large), the useable amount of light is necessarily very small so that even relatively minor incorrect compensation values can lead to large measurement errors.

Scattered light range of view measurement apparatus


A DC (direct current) converter includes a PWM (pulse width modulation) pulse generation unit outputting a PWM pulse signal whose duty ratio is controlled in accordance with an output voltage, a PFM (pulse frequency modulation) pulse generation unit outputting a PFM pulse signal whose pulse output interval is controlled in accordance with an output voltage, a selection circuit selecting and outputting any one of the PWM pulse signal and the PFM pulse signal in response to a selection signal, a drive circuit unit driving a load and generating an output voltage on the basis of a signal outputted from the selection circuit, and a switching control unit outputting the selection signal. When the selection signal is in a second state, the switching control unit detects a fact that the number of pulses of the PFM pulse signal in a measurement period increases to or above a set value of the maximum number of pulses, and switches the selection signal to a first state.

1. Field of the Invention
A DC converter according to the present invention particularly relates to a DC converter which supports a first drive method using a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) pulse signal and a second drive method using a PFM (Pulse Frequency Modulation) pulse signal.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, a DC converter has often been used as a power control circuit in an electronic circuit. A DC converter is a voltage converter which is supplied with a DC voltage as an input voltage and then outputs an output voltage having a different voltage value. As an example of a DC converter, there is a switching regulator generating an output voltage by driving an output transistor on the basis of a pulse signal. Switching regulators are widely used due to the high efficiency of power conversion.
An example of the switching regulator is disclosed in Patent Document 1. FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a switching regulator 100 described in Patent Document 1. The switching regulator 100 generates a feedback voltage VFB by dividing an output voltage VOUT by means of resistors R111 and R112, comparing the feedback voltage VFB with a reference voltage VREF, and generates a one-shot pulse signal having a fixed off-time. A constant voltage source VOS, a reference circuit 111, a transconductance amplifier 112, a constant current source 113, a current comparator 114, and a one-shot circuit 116 are used to generate the one-shot pulse signal. The one-shot pulse signal is then supplied to a drive circuit 120 via an inverter 117, a NAND circuit 118, and an AND circuit 119. The drive circuit 120 drives a push-pull switch 130 on the basis of the one-shot pulse signal. The push-pull switch 130 generates the output voltage VOUT with use of an inductor L and a capacitor C.
At this point, pulse intervals are set for the one-shot pulse signal on the basis of a difference between the reference voltage VREF and the feedback voltage VFB. A method of driving the push-pull switch 130 on the basis of a signal changing the frequency of a pulse and having a fixed off-period (a fixed high-level period) as described above is called the PFM (Pulse Frequency Modulation) drive method.
In addition, the supply of the one-shot pulse signal to the drive circuit 120 is interrupted in the switching regulator 100 when the output voltage VOUT exceeds a specified voltage. In the example shown in FIG. 8, a hysteresis comparator 115 detects a fact that the output voltage VOUT reached a specified voltage, from the feedback voltage VFB, and puts the NAND circuit 118 and the AND circuit 119 in an interrupted state. Such a drive method using a pulse signal including the no-signal state is called a VFM (Variable Frequency Modulation) drive method.
In the switching regulator 100, the output voltage VOUT is generated by the PFM drive method, and when the voltage VOUT reaches a specified voltage value, a voltage is generated by the VFM drive method. At this point, the push-pull switch 130 is substantially in a stop state during a drive period by the VFM drive method. Such a drive period by the VFM drive method allows a reduction of power consumption in the switching regulator 100.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 6-303766

DC converter which has switching control unit to select PWM signal or PFM signal