A communication device, including:                a communicator that communicates with a terminal that broadcasts an advertisement and broadcasts to a scanner terminal that receives data from the terminal; and        a controller that controls the communicator to transmit, to the terminal, data that is included in an advertisement that is scheduled to be broadcast by the terminal and transmission information regarding the advertisement and cause the communicator to broadcast the transmission information that is intended to cause the scanner terminal to receive the advertisement that is broadcast by the terminal.

Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Kokai Publication No. 2012-142877 discloses a widely used technique in which broadcasting advertisement packets intermittently at given intervals in order for a slave device to be found by the master device in the Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (BLE), which is one of the near field communication standards.
The conventional BLE allows advertising data of up to 31 bytes to be carried in an advertisement packet. The new version (Bluetooth 5), which was released in December of 2016, allows advertising data of up to 254 bytes to be carried in an advertisement packet. Using the periodic advertising and the secondary advertising, which are additional functions of the Bluetooth 5, allows for periodic transmission of a large volume of data without establishing connection. The cycle of the periodic advertising is prescribed so that a relatively long cycle from 7.5 ms to 81.91875 s can be set. However, it is required for receiving the secondary advertising to receive an advertisement of the type ADV_EXT_IND that is preliminarily transmitted on the primary channel. However, if there is a terminal around that is advertising, it is highly possible that crosstalk prevents proper reception of the advertisement on the primary channel that is required for receiving the periodic advertising. Consequently, there is the risk of lowering the probability of proper reception of the periodic advertising.

Communication device, scanner terminal, communication system, communication method, and storage medium


A compressor having a variable-geometry ported shroud includes a compressor housing defining an inlet duct, a shroud, and a bypass passage. A variable-geometry port extends through the shroud into the bypass passage, and includes an adjustable mechanism that is selectively configurable to adjust the meridional location of the port between at least first and second meridional locations. In one embodiment an opening extends through the shroud, and the adjustable mechanism includes a bypass control device that is disposed within the opening and is axially movable therein. The bypass control device has an axial length less than that of the opening such that there is always a portion of the opening that remains unblocked by the bypass control device and forms a port through the shroud. The bypass control device is axially movable between at least first and second positions to place the port at the first and second meridional locations.

The present disclosure generally relates to compressors, such as those used in turbochargers for internal combustion engines. The disclosure more particularly relates to compressors having a ported shroud and a bypass passage connected to the port in the shroud and to the compressor inlet duct, whereby fluid can flow in either direction through the bypass passage, depending on operating condition, to help alleviate surge and increase flow at choke and thereby extend the usable flow range of the compressor.
In many automotive turbocharger applications, it is a challenging task to supply a compressor having an adequately wide flow range from surge on the low end to choke on the high end. Many workers in this field have developed a host of designs and methods for extending the usable flow range. Probably the most widely used and effective design for compressor flow range enhancement is the ported shroud. In a compressor having a ported shroud in its simplest form, the shroud has one or more ports that extend through it into a bypass passage defined in the compressor housing, and the bypass passage has an end that is fluidly coupled to the inlet duct of the compressor. At low-flow operating conditions near the surge line, part of the fluid that has already been at least partially compressed by the compressor can pass through the port(s) in the shroud and be recirculated back to the compressor inlet via the bypass passage. This has been found to help alleviate surge and therefore allow the compressor to operate down to lower flow rates before surge occurs at a given pressure ratio. At high-flow operating conditions near choke, some of the fluid entering the inlet duct can flow from the inlet duct into the bypass passage and out through the port(s). This has been found to enable a higher flow rate to be achieved.
While this simple ported shroud design is an improvement over non-ported designs, it has been recognized that the optimum port configuration for near-surge conditions is not necessarily (and indeed not usually) optimum for near-choke conditions. Accordingly, some workers in the field have developed variable-geometry mechanisms that enable the port configuration to be varied depending on operating condition.
At least from the standpoint of flow range enhancement, some of these variable-geometry ported shroud designs are improvements relative to fixed-geometry ported shroud designs. However, further improvement is desired.

Compressor with variable-geometry ported shroud


An apparatus for calibrating a pulse oximeter which can improve the repetitivity of measured values for calibration tests and which can calibrate the pulse oximeter with a high reliability. A tissue model having a light-absorbing characteristic approximated to that of the tissue of a living body is inserted into a space between a light-emitting section and a light-receiving section of a measuring probe that is connected to the pulse oximeter, and a blood model having a light-absorbing characteristic that is approximated to that of the blood is moved within the tissue model so as to enter into or exit from the space between the light-emitting section and the light-receiving section.

The invention relates to an apparatus for calibrating a pulse oximeter using a finger model approximated to a light-absorbing characteristic of a human finger.
Description of the Related Art
A pulse oximeter injects light rays of, e.g., two different wavelengths, each of which exhibits a different light-transmitting characteristic to oxygenated hemoglobin and reduced hemoglobin into the finger tip, etc., of a human being, calculates a ratio between variations of the transmitted light rays of the respective two wavelengths appearing as the arterial blood pulsates, and finds the degree of oxygen saturation of the circulating blood with this ratio as a function.
By the way, a method of calibrating this pulse oximeter has conventionally involved only the oximeter body, not including a measuring probe, and calibrations have been made electrically.
Another method calibrates the pulse oximeter by actually making a measurement on the finger tip of a healthy human being. The reliability of the calibration is judged by comparing such measurement with a plurality of measurements made with the finger tip of the same person installed to the measuring probe and then checking that the compared measurements are the same.
However, in the calibration method involving the actual measurement of the finger tip of a human being, the repetitivity of the measured value is so poor that it is difficult to judge whether the measured value is reliable or not.

Apparatus for calibrating pulse oximeter


The augmented reality system described herein calculates a personalized escape plan from a location for a user. A participant is registered to an emergency direction system that employs an augmented reality system to provide instructions to the participant to exit a data center. The emergency direction system receives a floor plan. The emergency direction system may also detect a hazard, and determine a hazard growth score. The emergency direction system can also compute a dynamic escape plan using hazard growth score and the hazard location. In some embodiments, the emergency direction system can also recalculate the dynamic escape plan to account for the person to carry an asset during exiting the structure corresponding to the floor plan in response to the hazard. Instructions for the person to exit the data center in response to the hazard carrying the asset are forwarded to the participant.

The present disclosure generally relates to methods and systems for providing directions for exiting a location in real time, and more particularly to methods and systems for providing directions for exiting a building in an emergency, using an augmented reality system.
Augmented reality (AR) technology generally includes images along with annotations of features or objects displayed on the image. The AR images may be photographs or computer-generated images of an area of interest. The area of interest may be a city including buildings and roads, a park, a rural area, or the like. The annotations may identify the features or objects included in the AR image.

Augmented reality based dynamic guidance

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An automatic urine disposal device has a urine collecting pad, vacuum pump, and urine tank. In the urine collecting pad, the top sheet comes in contact with the wearer's skin, the hydrophilic sheet is disposed on the bottom of the top sheet, and the urine absorbent sheet is disposed at the bottom. When discharged urine flows in the top sheet, the hydrophilic sheet widely diffuses urine to saturate its entire surface and then becomes non-breathable. As the vacuum pump vacuums the air from the urine tank, urine is directed from a urine drainage port of the urine collecting pad via a urine drainage tube to the urine tank which is a sealed container.

The present invention relates to an automatic urine disposal device worn by the bedridden elderly, hospitalized patients, physically disabled people, and others who are unable to voluntarily control the bladder or to clean up urine on their own and also relates to a urine receptacle or a collecting pad used therefor.
Because of age, physical disability, hospitalization due to injury or illness, or other physical conditions, people sometimes become unable to voluntarily control the bladder or clean up urine on their own. In those situations, generally, a catheter is directly inserted into the bladder to discharge urine or paper diaper is used.
When a catheter is directly inserted into the bladder, the wearer feels great discomfort and there is also the probability of injuring the urethra or bladder or the occurrence of an infection. Thus, expertise as well as special sterilized utensils is required.
When a paper diaper is worn for a prolonged period of time, urine may leak, the wearer can become uncomfortable, get stuffy, or skin troubles such as rashes may occur. To avoid this, the paper diaper must be frequently changed, which will impose considerable physical and mental burdens on both the wearer and the caretaker. Imposed on a daily basis, those physical and mental burdens become a big concern and a significant economical burden as well.
To avoid those problems, a method has been presented in which urine that has been absorbed by a urine absorbent material of a urine collecting pad is discharged by means of a vacuum pump and drawn into a urine tank. The vacuum pump suctions air from a sealed urine tank and due to the difference between the tank's pressure and the atmospheric pressure, urine absorbed in the urine collecting pad is drained into the urine tank. Automatic urine disposal devices of such configuration have been disclosed in Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 07-171182 and No. Hei 08-191852.
In the conventional urine disposal devices, urine is drained while the urine collecting pad abuts up against the wearer's urinating part, that is, the urine collecting pad's urine absorbent material is being exposed to atmospheric air, and therefore, the percentage of urine collection from the urine collecting pad (urine absorbent material) is low. For this reason, the amount of urine which remains in the urine collecting pad (urine absorbent material) is large, which makes the wearer feel uncomfortable. To reduce the amount of urine which remains in the urine collecting pad, the capacity of the vacuum pump must be increased. Accordingly, it becomes necessary to increase the size and volume of the urine disposal device. Thus, in fact, the conventional urine disposal device has no practical use as a portable urine disposal device. As stated above, in the conventional techniques, there are problems in that the amount of urine which remains in the urine collecting pad is large and to reduce the amount, the urine disposal device must be large and heavy.

Automatic urine disposal device and urine receptacle used therefor


A fault detection circuit for a plurality of DC loads uses a reference load as a benchmark. The voltages at the centerpoints of the loads to be monitored are monitored and compared with the voltage of the centerpoint of the reference load. The comparison is affected by faults which do not affect all loads equally (as by a short or open) and is unaffected by faults which do affect all loads equally (as by changes in voltage of the source).

The parent application hereto discloses a fault detection circuit for use with multi-phase loads, such as anti-icing or deicing heaters on aircraft The there-disclosed fault detection circuit operates by comparing the voltage at the centerpoint of a reference load with the voltages at the centerpoints of the loads to be monitored.
For certain aeronautical applications, heaters are powered by 270 VDC. It would be advantageous to provide fault detection circuitry which would work in such an environment.
One object of the invention is to provide a fault detection circuit for determining the existence of a fault in any one of a plurality of loads which are supplied by a DC source.
Another object is to provide such a circuit which is highly sensitive to faults in the loads and highly insensitive to changes in the source.
A further object is to provide such a circuit which does not require the use of many conductors which must be routed out of the loads.
Still a further object is, in general, to improve on prior art circuits of this general type.
In accordance with the invention, the DC loads to be monitored are center-tapped. A reference center-tapped load is connected across the DC source and the reference centerpoint of that reference load is used as a benchmark. The voltages at the centerpoints of all the loads to be monitored are compared against the voltage of the centerpoint of the reference load. When the voltage at any centerpoint of a monitored load is substantially unequal to the voltage at the centerpoint of the reference load, this indicates a load fault.

Fault detection circuit for use in determining the existence of a fault in any one of a plurality of DC loads


Techniques are disclosed for predicting the future behavior of data streams through the use of current trends of the data stream. By way of example, a technique for predicting the future behavior of a data stream comprises the following steps/operations. Statistics are obtained from the data stream. Estimated statistics for a future time interval are generated by using at least a portion of the obtained statistics. A portion of the estimated statistics are utilized to generate one or more representative pseudo-data records within the future time interval. Pseudo-data records are utilized for forecasting of at least one characteristic of the data stream.

Recent advances in hardware technology have resulted in the ability to collect and process large amounts of data. For example, the use of credit cards or the accessing of a web page can create large amounts of data records in an automated way. These dynamically growing data sets are often referred to as data streams. The fast nature of data streams constrains their applicability to data mining tasks. For example, data streams cannot be re-examined in the course of their computation, thus requiring algorithms to be executed on the first pass of the data. Further, due to the fast nature of data streams, an effective model needs to be robust enough to be able to be rapidly updated during the course of the computation. Because of these requirements, standard data mining algorithms on static data sets cannot be easily modified to be used on data streams.
An important problem in data stream computation is query processing. Such queries include, by way of example only, problems such as selectivity estimation of range queries. This problem has been explored in the context of data streams but has been limited to methods designed for processing of historical queries. Examples of such research are disclosed in A. Dobra et al., "Processing Complex Aggregate Queries over Data Streams" ACM SIGMOD Conference, 2002; A. Dobra et al., "Sketch Based Multi-Query Processing Over Data Streams" EDBT Conference, 2004; A. Gilbert et al., "Surfing Wavelets on Streams: One-pass Summaries for Approximate Aggregate Queries" VLDB Conference 2001; A. Gilbert et al., "How to Summarize the Universe: Dynamic Maintenance of Quantiles" VLDB Conference, 2002; G. Manku et al., "Approximate Frequency Counts over Data Streams" VLDB Conference, 2002; J. Vitter et al., "Approximate Computation of Multidimensional Aggregates of Sparse Data using Wavelets." ACM SIGMOD Conference, 1999, the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference herein.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for predicting future behavior of data streams

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention relates to a tracked chassis, comprising a continuous track, which comprises ground plates (15) coupled so as to be rotatable relative to each other and which is guided by means of a driven sprocket (10) having at least one toothed ring (11) in order to drive the continuous track, wherein each individual ground plate (15) has at least one hump link (16) having hump link flanks (17) oriented in the running direction of the continuous track and the hump links (16) are designed to engage in recesses (13) formed between radially protruding teeth (12) arranged on the circumference of the sprocket (10) while the continuous track circulates over the sprocket (10), characterized in that the ground plates (15) are coupled to each other by means of at least one connecting sideplate (19), which is arranged between the ground plates and which allows the ground plates (15) to shift in parallel relative to each other, and the ground plates are in planar contact with the hump link flanks (17) while the continuous track circulates over the sprocket (10).

The invention relates to a tracked chassis comprising a continuous track that comprises ground plates coupled so as to be rotatable to each other and which is guided by means of a driven sprocket having at least one toothed ring in order to drive the continuous track, wherein each individual ground plate has at least one hump link with hump link flanks oriented in the running direction of the continuous track, and wherein the hump links are designed to engage in recesses formed between radially protruding teeth arranged on the circumference of the sprocket while the continuous track circulates over the sprocket.
Conventional tracked chassis generally feature an additional running path that is respectively realized on the sprocket and on the continuous track and serves for supporting the track links on the sprocket, wherein the sprocket is supported on plane surfaces realized on the hump links either by means of the faces of the sprocket teeth and/or of a circumferential surface realized on the sprocket.
A tracked chassis with the initially cited features is known from DE 44 44 982 A1, wherein the sprocket is supported on the track links with the faces of its sprocket teeth in this design of a tracked chassis such that a corresponding running path is formed.
The continuous track of the known tracked chassis is realized in the form of a so-called hump links track, in which a hump link (shoe) with hump link flanks (shoe noses) that are aligned in the moving direction of the hump links continuous track is respectively arranged on the individual ground plates of the continuous track. In this case, the individual ground plates are directly coupled to one another by means of engaging or overlapping areas and bolt connections engaging therein. If the hump link continuous track is guided over a driven sprocket (driving drum) in order to be driven, the shoes engage into intermediate spaces between sprocket noses (sprocket teeth) on the driving drum and are taken along by the sprocket noses during the rotation of the driving drum. In the known tracked chassis two spaced-apart sprockets are provided and hump links (shoes) on the ground plates that are spaced apart by the same distance are respectively assigned to said sprockets. The sprocket noses, as well as the shoes, have relatively steep shoe noses engagement surfaces or shoe noses that respectively extend in an arc-shaped fashion such that a form-fitting engagement between the shoes and the intermediate spaces between the sprocket noses on the driving drum is always ensured when the shoes and the sprocket noses have an identical pitch and the shoes of the hump links continuous track are taken hold of and pushed along by the opposing shoe nose engagement surfaces of two adjacent teeth.
DE 44 44 982 A1 also mentions a common problem occurring on a tracked chassis of this type, namely that a wear-related elongation of the hump links continuous track is associated with an increase of its pitch as the operating time of the tracked chassis increases. In the described design of a tracked chassis, this leads to a restraint of the individual shoes in the recesses of the driving drum such that the wear on the shoes and on the sprocket noses is increased. In order to improve the functionality of the tracked chassis without having to completely disassemble the tracked chassis, the sprocket noses are arranged on the driving drum separably and with an adjustable radial distance from the driving drum such that the distance between the shoe nose engagement surfaces of the sprocket noses can be increased by displacing the sprocket noses radially outward and therefore adapted to the increased distance between the shoe noses when the hump links continuous track is elongated. In this way, the running path formed by the faces of the sprocket teeth or sprocket noses can be preserved.
The known tracked chassis has the disadvantage that the position of the sprocket noses on the sprocket needs to be corrected if an elongation of the track occurs, wherein this correction is associated with a corresponding effort. Furthermore, the known arrangement does not completely eliminate the track restraint problem during the engagement with the sprocket because the direct bolt connection between the individual ground plates makes it impossible for an individual ground plate to align itself to the position of the sprocket noses during its circulation over the driving drum since its position relative to the driving drum is influenced by the position of the leading ground plate, as well as the position of the following ground plate. Consequently, an inclined position of the ground plates with the shoes arranged thereon cannot be precluded and also not compensated if it occurs.
DE 44 21 001 A1 already discloses a drive system for a continuous track, in which the sprocket features a running path for the ground plates of the hump links continuous track in the form of outer circumferential surfaces to both sides of its cylindrical driving bodies. The track links engage into the recesses formed between the cylindrical driving bodies with triangular teeth provided on the track links such that a linear contact of the driving bodies on the teeth flanks results. In this case, the individual track links are connected to one another by means of connecting sideplates, the fastening of which on the connected track links respectively defines rotational axes for the pivoting motion of the teeth that successively engage with the driving bodies of the sprocket during the approach. In the known drive system, it is attempted to prevent wear by reducing the occurring vibrations with an arrangement of rubber mountings for the driving bodies and rubber bandages for the running surfaces. The behavior of the track in case of an elongation thereof is not discussed.
Furthermore, DE 22 59 352 A describes a track drive for vehicles, in which the teeth of the sprocket and the hump links of the track links have an angular shape with linearly extending teeth flanks and hump link flanks, but in which an additional running path is formed analogous to the tracked chassis described in DE 44 44 982 A1 due to the contact of the faces of the sprocket teeth with separate support surfaces on the hump links of the track links, wherein the teeth heads of the sprocket teeth end on a diameter that is concentric to the sprocket and defines the running path. Since power is transmitted due to the respectively contacting surfaces of the sprocket teeth and the hump links, two geometrically independent surfaces are required for driving and for guiding the track in a track drive of this type.


A method used for synthesizing intermediates for use in the synthesis of carotenoids and carotenoid analogs, and/or carotenoid derivatives. In some embodiments, the invention includes methods for synthesizing optically active intermediates useful for the synthesis of optically active carotenoids. Synthesis of optically active carotenoids, in one embodiment, may be accomplished by forming an optically active dihydroxy intermediate from ketoisopherone. The optically active dihydroxy intermediate may be converted into optically active astaxanthin derivatives.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to the fields of medicinal and synthetic chemistry. More specifically, the invention relates to the synthesis and use of carotenoids, including analogs, derivatives, and intermediates.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
Carotenoids are a group of natural pigments produced principally by plants, yeast, and microalgae. The family of related compounds now numbers greater than 700 described members, exclusive of Z and E isomers. At least fifty (50) carotenoids have been found in human sera or tissues. Humans and other animals cannot synthesize carotenoids de novo and must obtain them from their diet. All carotenoids share common chemical features, such as a polyisoprenoid structure, a long polyene chain forming the chromophore, and near symmetry around the central double bond. Tail-to-tail linkage of two C20 geranyl diphosphate molecules produces the parent C40 carbon skeleton. Carotenoids without oxygenated functional groups are called "carotenes", reflecting their hydrocarbon nature; oxygenated carotenes are known as "xanthophylls." Cyclization at one or both ends of the molecule yields 7 identified end groups (illustrative structures shown in FIG. 1).
Documented carotenoid functions in nature include light-harvesting, photoprotection, and protective and sex-related coloration in microscopic organisms, mammals, and birds, respectively. A relatively recent observation has been the protective role of carotenoids against age-related diseases in humans as part of a complex antioxidant network within cells. This role is dictated by the close relationship between the physicochemical properties of individual carotenoids and their in vivo functions in organisms. The long system of alternating double and single bonds in the central part of the molecule (delocalizing the π-orbital electrons over the entire length of the polyene chain) confers the distinctive molecular shape, chemical reactivity, and light-absorbing properties of carotenoids. Additionally, isomerism around C═C double bonds yields distinctly different molecular structures that may be isolated as separate compounds (known as Z ("cis") and E ("trans"), or geometric, isomers). Of the more than 700 described carotenoids, an even greater number of the theoretically possible mono-Z and poly-Z isomers are sometimes encountered in nature. The presence of a Z double bond creates greater steric hindrance between nearby hydrogen atoms and/or methyl groups, so that Z isomers are generally less stable thermodynamically, and more chemically reactive, than the corresponding all-E form. The all-E configuration is an extended, linear, and rigid molecule. Z-isomers are, by contrast, not simple, linear molecules (the so-called "bent-chain" isomers). The presence of any Z in the polyene chain creates a bent-chain molecule. The tendency of Z-isomers to crystallize or aggregate is much less than all-E, and Z isomers may sometimes be more readily solubilized, absorbed, and transported in vivo than their all-E counterparts. This has important implications for enteral (e.g., oral) and parenteral (e.g., intravenous, intra-arterial, intramuscular, intraperitoneal, intracoronary, and subcutaneous) dosing in mammals.
Carotenoids with chiral centers may exist either as the R (rectus) or S (sinister) configurations. As an example, astaxanthin (with 2 chiral centers at the 3 and 3′ carbons) may exist as 3 possible stereoisomers: 3S, 3′S; 3R, 3′S and 3S, 3′R (identical meso forms); or 3R, 3′R. The relative proportions of each of the stereoisomers may vary by natural source. For example, Haematococcus pluvialis microalgal meal is 99% 3S, 3′S astaxanthin, and is likely the predominant human evolutionary source of astaxanthin. Krill (3R, 3′R) and yeast sources yield different stereoisomer compositions than the microalgal source. Synthetic astaxanthin, produced by large manufacturers such as Hoffmann-LaRoche AG, Buckton Scott (USA), or BASF AG, are provided as defined geometric isomer mixtures of a 1:2:1 stereoisomer mixture (3S, 3′S; 3R, 3′S, (meso); 3R, 3′R) of non-esterified, free astaxanthin. Natural source astaxanthin from salmonid fish is predominantly a single stereoisomer (3S, 3′S), but does contain a mixture of geometric isomers. Astaxanthin from the natural source Haematococcus pluvialis may contain nearly 50% Z isomers. As stated above, the Z conformational change may lead to a higher steric interference between the two parts of the carotenoid molecule, rendering it less stable, more reactive, and more susceptible to reactivity at low oxygen tensions. In such a situation, in relation to the all-E form, the Z forms: (1) may be degraded first; (2) may better suppress the attack of cells by reactive oxygen species such as superoxide anion; and (3) may preferentially slow the formation of radicals. Overall, the Z forms may initially be thermodynamically favored to protect the lipophilic portions of the cell and the cell membrane from destruction. It is important to note, however, that the all-E form of astaxanthin, unlike β-carotene, retains significant oral bioavailability as well as antioxidant capacity in the form of its dihydroxy- and diketo-substitutions on the β-ionone rings, and has been demonstrated to have increased efficacy over β-carotene in most studies. The all-E form of astaxanthin has also been postulated to have the most membrane-stabilizing effect on cells in vivo. Therefore, it is likely that the all-E form of astaxanthin in natural and synthetic mixtures of stereoisomers is also extremely important in antioxidant mechanisms, and may be the form most suitable for particular pharmaceutical preparations.
The antioxidant mechanism(s) of carotenoids, (e.g., astaxanthin), includes singlet oxygen quenching, direct radical scavenging, and lipid peroxidation chain-breaking. The polyene chain of the carotenoid absorbs the excited energy of singlet oxygen, effectively stabilizing the energy transfer by delocalization along the chain, and dissipates the energy to the local environment as heat. Transfer of energy from triplet-state chlorophyll (in plants) or other porphyrins and proto-porphyrins (in mammals) to carotenoids occurs much more readily than the alternative energy transfer to oxygen to form the highly reactive and destructive singlet oxygen (1O2). Carotenoids may also accept the excitation energy from singlet oxygen if any should be formed in situ, and again dissipate the energy as heat to the local environment. This singlet oxygen quenching ability has significant implications in cardiac ischemia, macular degeneration, porphyria, and other disease states in which production of singlet oxygen has damaging effects. In the physical quenching mechanism, the carotenoid molecule may be regenerated (most frequently), or be lost. Carotenoids are also excellent chain-breaking antioxidants, a mechanism important in inhibiting the peroxidation of lipids. Astaxanthin can donate a hydrogen (H) to the unstable polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) radical, stopping the chain reaction. Peroxyl radicals may also, by addition to the polyene chain of carotenoids, be the proximate cause for lipid peroxide chain termination. The appropriate dose of astaxanthin has been shown to completely suppress the peroxyl radical chain reaction in liposome systems. Astaxanthin shares with vitamin E this dual antioxidant defense system of singlet oxygen quenching and direct radical scavenging, and in most instances (and particularly at low oxygen tension in vivo) is superior to vitamin E as a radical scavenger and physical quencher of singlet oxygen.
Carotenoids, (e.g., astaxanthin), are potent direct radical scavengers and singlet oxygen quenchers and possess all the desirable qualities of such therapeutic agents for inhibition or amelioration of ischemia-reperfusion injury. Synthesis of novel carotenoid derivatives with "soft-drug" properties (i.e. active as antioxidants in the derivatized form), with physiologically relevant, cleavable linkages to pro-moieties, can generate significant levels of free carotenoids in both plasma and solid organs. In the case of non-esterified, free astaxanthin, this is a particularly useful embodiment (characteristics specific to non-esterified, free astaxanthin below):                Lipid soluble in natural form; may be modified to become more water soluble;        Molecular weight of 597 Daltons (size <600 daltons (Da) readily crosses the blood brain barrier, or BBB);        Long polyene chain characteristic of carotenoids effective in singlet oxygen quenching and lipid peroxidation chain breaking; and        No pro-vitamin A activity in mammals (eliminating concerns of hypervitaminosis A and retinoid toxicity in humans).
The administration of antioxidants which are potent singlet oxygen quenchers and direct radical scavengers, particularly of superoxide anion, should limit hepatic fibrosis and the progression to cirrhosis by affecting the activation of hepatic stellate cells early in the fibrogenetic pathway. Reduction in the level of "Reactive Oxygen Species" (ROS) by the administration of a potent antioxidant can therefore be crucial in the prevention of the activation of both "hepatic stellate cells" (HSC) and Kupffer cells. This protective antioxidant effect appears to be spread across the range of potential therapeutic antioxidants, including water-soluble (e.g., vitamin C, glutathione, resveratrol) and lipophilic (e.g., vitamin E, β-carotene, astaxanthin) agents. Therefore, a co-antioxidant derivative strategy in which water-soluble and lipophilic agents are combined synthetically is a particularly useful embodiment. Examples of uses of carotenoid derivatives and analogs are illustrated in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/793,671 filed on Mar. 4, 2004, entitled "CAROTENOID ETHER ANALOGS OR DERIVATIVES FOR THE INHIBITION AND AMELIORATION OF DISEASE" to Lockwood et al. published on Jan. 13, 2005, as Publication No. US-2005–0009758 and PCT International Application Number PCT/US2003/023706 filed on Jul. 29, 2003, entitled "STRUCTURAL CAROTENOID ANALOGS FOR THE INHIBITION AND AMELIORATION OF DISEASE" to Lockwood et al. (International Publication Number WO 2004/011423 A2, published on Feb. 5, 2004) both of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Vitamin E is generally considered the reference antioxidant. When compared with vitamin E, carotenoids are more efficient in quenching singlet oxygen in homogeneous organic solvents and in liposome systems. They are better chain-breaking antioxidants as well in liposomal systems. They have demonstrated increased efficacy and potency in vivo. They are particularly effective at low oxygen tension, and in low concentration, making them extremely effective agents in disease conditions in which ischemia is an important part of the tissue injury and pathology. These carotenoids also have a natural tropism for the heart and liver after oral administration. Therefore, therapeutic administration of carotenoids should provide a greater benefit in limiting fibrosis than vitamin E.
Problems related to the use of some carotenoids and structural carotenoid analogs or derivatives include: (1) the complex isomeric mixtures, including non-carotenoid contaminants, provided in natural and synthetic sources leading to costly increases in safety and efficacy tests required by such agencies as the FDA; (2) limited bioavailability upon administration to a subject; and (3) the differential induction of cytochrome P450 enzymes (this family of enzymes exhibits species-specific differences which must be taken into account when extrapolating animal work to human studies). Selection of the appropriate analog or derivative and isomer composition for a particular application increases the utility of carotenoid analogs or derivatives for the uses defined herein.
Synthesis of an appropriate analog or derivative and isomer composition requires a supply of starting materials (e.g., carotenoids, carotenoid synthetic intermediates). Any new synthetic route which is more efficient to a carotenoid analog or derivative and/or synthetic intermediate would be beneficial. More efficient synthetic routes would provide a more stable source of starting materials (e.g., carotenoids) which may be difficult or expensive to extract from natural sources. Synthetic routes to natural products may facilitate the synthesis of analogs and derivatives of the natural products.

Methods for the synthesis of astaxanthin


The image forming apparatus includes an image forming section; a conveyance path to convey a recording medium to the image forming section; a drawer unit including the conveyance path and configured to be pulled out relative to the apparatus; an electrical cable to electrically connect the drawer unit and an interior of the apparatus even when the drawer unit is pulled out from the apparatus; and a cable holder (a first regulating member) to ensure that that the cable is securely prevented from protruding from the drawer unit. According to the present invention, the electric cable is prevented from running off from the drawer unit due to the folding of the cable caused by the regulating member, so that the electric cable is prevented from getting hung up on the parts disposed in the body.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a facsimile machine, a printer, or a copier.
2. Related Art
An image forming apparatus is known in which a jam sensor to detect an abnormal conveyance such as a paper jam is disposed in a sheet conveyance path, through which a recording medium such as a sheet passes. If abnormal conveyance is detected by the jam sensor, printing operation and conveyance of the sheet is suspended and the abnormal conveyance is reported to a control panel disposed on the apparatus. After the abnormal conveyance has been detected and the operation of the apparatus is stopped, the user pulls out a drawer unit composing the sheet conveyance path from the apparatus, so that the recording medium can be removed.
JP-2004-333731-A discloses an image forming apparatus including a drawer unit connected with an electric cable to the apparatus, in which electrical connection of the drawer unit is maintained even when the drawer unit is pulled out from the apparatus. With such a structure, even when the drawer unit is drawn from the apparatus, the apparatus is able to locate a position at which the jam occurs or the status of the removal of the jammed sheet and report to the user, prompting the user to fix the jam.
JP-2004-333731-A also discloses that, when the drawer unit is attached to the apparatus, the cable is gradually loosened and part of the cable sticks out from the drawer unit. As a result, the projecting part of the cable may get hung up on another part inside the apparatus. If the drawer unit is installed again with the cable caught on a part in the apparatus, the cable and/or the part may be damaged.
Accordingly, considering the above problem, the present invention provides an optimal image forming apparatus capable of both maintaining electrical connection of the drawer unit to the main body of the apparatus even after the drawer unit has been pulled out from the image forming section and of preventing the electrical communication cable connecting the apparatus with the drawer unit from the parts disposed in the apparatus.

Image forming apparatus including drawer with variable length cable holder


A layered presentation system (LAPE) includes a server that performs compressed-domain image processing on image data received from multiple clients including a master client and other clients to generate a composite image that incorporates imagery from the other clients with a master image from the master client for viewing on a shared display. The system's clients can add imagery in the form of questions, comments, and graphics to a currently displayed image. The added imagery is processed along with the master image to generate the composite image that then appears on the shared display and perhaps also on each client's individual display. The processing includes scaling the master image/added imagery, as required, and blending and/or overlaying the added imagery onto the master image so as to augment but not obscure it. A network protocol is included for sending image data in the compressed domain back and forth between the server and each of the clients.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a presentation system for processing image data received from multiple clients including a master client and other clients to generate a composite image/frame that incorporates the imagery from the other clients with a master image from the master client for viewing on a shared display, such as an LCD projector or shared electronic whiteboard. An underlying image processing algorithm processes the additional imagery, which may be in the form of questions, comments, graphics, etc., along with the master image to generate the composite image that then appears on the shared display and perhaps also on each client's individual display. The system, and its algorithm, can be implemented in a variety of different ways, utilizing hardware, software, and/or networking resources.
2. Description of the Related Art
Business meetings/presentations with multiple attendees are quite common today. Typically, such meetings/presentations take place in a conference room where a lead presenter and one or more of the other attendees are gathered. Additional attendees may be remotely located but able to participate via telecommunication. The lead presenter may be making a presentation using an LCD projector that displays on screen images/slides created using PowerPoint® or any other presentation software. Other participants may occasionally have comments or questions concerning a particular slide. While some such comments/questions can be asked orally, it may be easier for a particular participant or more useful for the group as a whole, for that participant to augment his comment/question by adding imagery/annotations/video to the current displayed contents so that others can see.
The presentation system should be able to efficiently receive and process such secondary image data from multiple clients, some of which may be remotely located. Such a system should also be able to handle data exchange between a main server and a variety of clients having different configurations, including personal PCs, laptops, wireless handheld devices such as cell phones and PDAs, and to give any client the option to view a copy of the current screen contents on its own display of whatever size. In addition, such secondary image data needs to be merged so as to effectively augment the main image.

LAPE: layered presentation system utilizing compressed-domain image processing


Direct oxidation of propylene to propylene oxide is accomplished using alkaline earth metal compound-supported silver catalysts containing a rhenium promoter and a potassium promoter derived from a potassium salt.

The direct oxidation of ethylene to ethylene oxide by molecular oxygen is well-known and is, in fact, the method used currently for commercial production of ethylene oxide. The typical catalyst for such purpose contains metallic or ionic silver, optionally modified with various promoters and activators. Most such catalysts contain a porous, inert support or carrier such as alpha alumina upon which the silver and promoters are deposited. A review of the direct oxidation of ethylene in the presence of supported silver catalysts is provided by Sachtler et al. in Catalyst Reviews: Science and Engineering, 23 (1&2), 127-149 (1981).
It is also well-known, however, that the catalysts and reaction conditions which are best suited for ethylene oxide production do not give comparable results in the direct oxidation of higher olefins such as propylene. The discovery of processes capable of providing propylene oxide by vapor phase direct oxidation in higher yields than are presently attainable thus would be most desirable.
The use of supported silver catalysts containing relatively low levels of alkali metal promoters and rhenium promoters for direct oxidation of ethylene to ethylene oxide has previously been proposed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,833,261 teaches supported silver catalysts containing a maximum of 3000 ppm alkali metal and 1860 ppm rhenium. The support, according to the patent, is preferably of aluminous composition; the use of an alkaline earth metal carbonate or titanate as a support is not suggested. The alkali metal promoter may be introduced using any of a large number of alkali metal compounds; the choice of counter anion to the alkali metal was apparently not regarded as critical. The patent also discloses that diluents such as carbon dioxide and moderating agents such as dichloroethane may be introduced in the feedstream contacted with the catalyst. The use of a nitrogen oxide species such as NO is not taught, however. Moreover, there is no suggestion in the patent that these catalysts or reaction conditions could successfully be modified or adapted in order to selectively convert propylene to propylene oxide.

Propylene oxide process using alkaline earth metal compound-supported silver catalysts containing rhenium and potassium promoters


A voltage regulator. A pass element has a control gate and outputs an output voltage according to an input voltage and a control signal received from the control gate. A feedback circuit generates a feedback signal according to the output voltage. A bandgap circuit generates a reference voltage according to the output voltage. An amplifier generates a first signal according to the feedback signal and the reference voltage. A start-up circuit generates the control signal according to the reference voltage and the first signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a voltage regulator, and more particularly to a voltage regulator with start-up circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A voltage regulator is designed to provide and maintain a constant voltage in electrical applications, wherein a low dropout (LDO) voltage regulator is a DC linear voltage regulator which has a very small input-output differential voltage and relatively low output noise.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional LDO voltage regulator 100. The LDO voltage regulator 100 comprises a bandgap circuit 110, an amplifier 120, a feedback circuit 130 and a pass element 140, wherein the feedback circuit 130 has two resistors R1 and R2. An input voltage Vin is coupled to the pass element 140, and is also coupled to the bandgap circuit 110 and the amplifier 120 as a supply voltage. The bandgap circuit 110 generates a reference voltage Vref, which is a stable voltage, according to the input voltage Vin. The amplifier 120 receives the reference voltage Vref and a feedback signal VFB, and then generates a control signal Vg to control the pass element 140. The pass element 140 outputs an output voltage Vout according to the input voltage Vin and the control signal Vg. Then, the feedback circuit 130 generates the feedback signal VFB according to the output voltage Vout. Therefore, by comparing the reference voltage Vref and the feedback signal VFB, the LDO voltage regulator 100 controls the pass element 140 according to a difference between the reference voltage Vref and the feedback signal VFB to supply the output voltage Vout to a load circuit 150.
In FIG. 1, the reference voltage Vref is generated according to the input voltage Vin. For this reason, if noise interferes with the input voltage Vin, the reference voltage Vref will also be disrupted with the noise, thus varying the voltage value of the reference voltage Vref, such that the output voltage Vout does not obtain a desired voltage value. Meanwhile, the output voltage Vout is coupled to the bandgap circuit 110 as a supply voltage, to improve the performance (e.g. line regulation) of the voltage regulator, and hence the output voltage Vout is not disrupted with the noise from the input voltage Vin.
However, the output voltage Vout remains at a low voltage level when the voltage regulator is in an initial state, and the supply voltage of the bandgap circuit 110 is not high enough to individually power up the bandgap circuit 110. Thus, the reference voltage Vref will remain at a low voltage level along with the output voltage Vout. If the output voltage Vout is the supply voltage of the bandgap circuit 110, power up of the voltage regulator will be difficult. Therefore, a start-up circuit is desired to solve the above problem.

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation


A centrifugal separator device (10) for separating solid and/or liquid particles which are suspended in gas media, which device comprises a rotor (12) which is provided sedimentation members (14), which is rotatably mounted in a surrounding stationary housing (20) and which has a central inlet for the gas medium which is to be cleaned. The housing (20) has, on the one hand, an outlet (32) for cleaned gas which, during its passage through the sedimentation members (14) in the rotor (12), has been freed form solid and/or liquid particles, and, on the other hand, an outlet (28 a-c) for solid and/or liquid particles which have been transferred onto the inner side of the housing. A number of parallel guide rails (26), which run helically, are arranged on the inner side of the housing and extends axially at least over a major part of the length of the rotor (12), and the outlet (32) in the housing for cleaning gas is located, with respect to the axis, at one end of the rotor (12) while the outlet (28a-c9 for the particles which have been collected on the housing wall is located at the opposite axial end of the rotor. The guide rails (26) are arranged in a direction on the inner side of the housing in relation to the direction of rotation of the rotor which is such that a peripherally outer of a gas vortex generated by the rotor is forced to entrain the particles which have been collected between the guide rails toward the particles outlet.

SE-A-0202671-4 describes a centrifugal separator of the type mentioned at the outset, which centrifugal separator functions satisfactorily for cleaning gas media containing a relatively low or moderate degree, of liquid or particle impurities and while the flows of gas and liquid/particles downstream of the rotor go in the same axial direction toward their respective outlet apertures. When the contaminated gas is being cleaned, it flows into a central inlet shaft in the rotor which comprises a large number of inset plates which are stacked closely one upon the other, such as conical disks, or a multiplicity of curved axial plates, or some other form of sedimentation members having an equivalent function, after which the particles in the gas are caused to sediment on the sedimentation members in connection with the gas escaping radially from the rotor. The sediment particles then slide outward along the sedimentation members and are finally flung, by centrifugal forces, over onto the surrounding, stationary housing wall. With the aid of the component of the axial and tangential flow of the gas in the housing, the particles which have been collected on the housing wall stream, in this connection, in helical "rivulets" along the wall in the direction toward an annular screening element which projects inward essentially radially from the side wall of the housing and which separates the gas outlet from an outlet for the solid and/or liquid particles. The inwardly directed screening element creates, on its upstream side, an air cushion-forming vortex which forms a barrier for the rivulets and/or drops of liquid or solid particles which are streaming toward the outlet such that the latter are formed into a stationary ring upstream of the screening element. By means of placing one or more outlet holes or slits at the site of this ring-shaped accumulation of liquid or particles, it is possible, in an undisturbed manner, to draw off the liquid/particles from the housing of the centrifugal separator without there being any remixing with the cleaned gas.
However, when such a separator is used for separating a large content of liquid and/or particles from gases, problems can arise due to the fact that the liquid flow can penetrate through the air cushion vortex and reach the screening element either directly or as splashes from slits or apertures at the liquid outlet, with it being possible for some of the liquid to be entrained out toward the outlet for the cleaned gas stream and to be reincorporated into the latter.

Centrifugal separator for cleaning gases


A manufacturing method of a circuit board is provided. Firstly, a substrate board having a plurality of through holes is provided. Next, a first metal layer is electro-less plated on the surface of the substrate board and the surface of the through holes. Then, a second metal layer is plated on the first metal layer. After that, the second metal layer and the first metal layer are patterned to form a patterned circuit layer. Lastly, a third metal layer is plated on the patterned circuit layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a manufacturing method of a circuit board, and more particularly to a method of manufacturing a circuit board having a circuit pattern by double plating.
2. Description of the Related Art
The manufacturing process of a semiconductor element is divided into front-end process and rear-end process. The manufacturing process before sawing a wafer into a chip is referred as the front-end process, while the manufacturing process after sawing a wafer into a chip is referred as the rear-end process. During the rear-end process, the chip is packaged to form a package structure. The chip bonding technology and the micro-system interconnecting technology are applied to the package structure for bonding and connecting the chip and other elements on a circuit board and stretching the leads out, and a plastic insulant is applied for packaging and fixing the package structure.
Of the package structure, the circuit board is used for carrying and fixing an electronic element, and a circuit pattern is formed on the surface of the circuit or inside the circuit board for connecting circuits. Meanwhile, the circuit board can be used for conducting the heat, and separating and protecting the elements. The conventional manufacturing process of a circuit board is elaborated below by accompanied drawings.
Referring to FIGS. 1A˜1G, a conventional process of manufacturing a circuit board is shown. Firstly, proceed to FIG. 1A, a substrate board 190 including a copper layer 191 and an insulation layer 192 is provided.
Next, proceed to FIG. 1B, catalyst treatment is applied to the surface of the circuit board, and a first metal layer 110 is electro-less plated thereon. The first metal layer 110 is used as an electrode for subsequent plating.
Then, proceed to FIG. 1C, the first metal layer 110 is used as an electrode, and a second metal layer 120 is plated on the first metal layer 110 totally. In the present step, the thickness of second metal layer 120 is equal to the thickness of a required circuit pattern.
Next, proceed to FIG. 1D, a dry film of photo-resist layer 150 is pasted on the second metal layer 120.
Then, proceed to FIG. 1E, the photo-resist layer 150 is patterned according to the required circuit pattern.
Next, proceed to FIG. 1F, the patterned photo-resist layer 150 is used as a mask, and the second metal layer 120, the first metal layer 110 and the copper layer 191 are etched to form a patterned circuit layer 140.
Then, proceed to FIG. 1G, the photo-resist layer 150 is removed. Thus, a circuit board 100 having the required circuit pattern is formed.
The etching process of FIG. 1F normally has to take the following parameters into consideration: the material to be etched, etching rate, etching time, etching thickness, etching selectivity, and etching concentration. The formula for etching rate is expressed as: etching rate=etching thickness÷etching time. And etching selectivity refers to the ratio of etching rate between different materials to be etched, especially the materials to be removed and the material not to be removed. Examples to the material to be removed are second metal layer 120, the first metal layer 110, and the copper layer 191. Examples to the material not to be removed is the insulation layer 192. Normally, the etching process can be divided into isotropic etching and anisotropic etching. The isotropic etching normally has a high etching selectivity such as wet etching, while the anisotropic etching has a lower etching selectivity such as dry etching.
In the step of forming the patterned circuit layer 140, the isotropic etching is applied.
Referring to FIGS. 2A˜2C, the etching process of FIG. 1F is shown. As shown in FIG. 2A, the isotropic etching may not only etch downwards but also etch horizontally towards the metal layer underneath the photo-resist layer 150. In the etching process, under the photo-resist layer 150, a part of the second metal layer 120, the first metal layer 110 and the copper layer 191 on the surface of the substrate board 190 are also horizontally etched to form a larger circuit clearance D140 as shown in FIG. 2C and FIG. 1G. Furthermore, the part of the circuit layer 140 with narrower width may disappear after horizontal etching.
Thus, the conventional manufacturing method of circuit board is incapable of effectively controlling the expansion of the circuit clearance. Moreover since the part of the circuit layer with narrower width may disappear after horizontal etching, the precision of the circuit board is largely restricted.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, Inc.


A semiconductor device includes plural transistors in which the transistors themselves share a gate and a channel region and posses three or more source and drain regions. In such a configuration, a drain current is determined by the voltage application condition (potential difference of all source and drain regions). Therefore, assuming one of the three source and drain regions to be a control terminal (disturbance terminal) instability or drift of the transistor operation may be intentionally produced by applying proper voltages to each of the three source and drain regions.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device.
In semiconductor devices, especially integrated circuit devices using MOS transistors, there is a mounting demand for smaller size and higher speed as the system is being enhanced in function and enlarged in capacity more and more. As a result, a device having a design rule of 1 .mu.m or less has been realized.
The MOS transistor used in such devices is composed of one source, one drain and one gate. As the device size is shrunk, in order to maintain the device characteristics, the source and drain in the device are composed by forming a diffusion layer called LDD, or the gate electrode is made of refractory metals or refractory metal silicide. However, even if the device is further shrunk, the basic structure of the MOS transistor is unchanged, comprising one source, one drain and one gate.
A plan view and a sectional view of a conventional MOS transistor are shown in FIGS. 17A and 17B.
A field oxide film 2 for separating devices is formed on a substrate 1. A device is formed in a region enclosed by the field oxide film 2. The device is composed by forming a source 5a and a drain 5b (positions of 5a and 5b may be interchanged) by introducing impurities of the reverse conductive type of the substrate 1 into the substrate 1. In the region between the source 5a and the drain 5b, a gate oxide film 3 is formed on the substrate 1. A gate electrode 4 is formed on the gate oxide film 3. The structure of only one device is shown here, but in an actual integrated circuit device, a plurality of such devices are disposed, and the desired devices are connected with metal wiring to make up an intended circuit. Meanwhile, an insulation film 6 is formed on the entire surface of the device so as to avoid malfunction due to electric contact by the metal wiring mutually connecting the elements. The metal wiring connecting the devices must contact with the source 5a, drain 5b, or the gate electrode 4. Therefore, specific regions of insulation film 6 are removed by etching, and contact holes 7 for connecting the metal wirings are formed.
There are, however, functions that cannot be realized or hardly realized by the aforesaid construction of the conventional devices, and the development of devices having such functions is being awaited.
One of such desired functions is that, when a specific device is fabricated, a nerve circuit known as neuron should be easily assembled at a similar distribution of device characteristics of other devices manufactured in the same conditions.
In other words, what must be taken into consideration when designing a circuit having a certain function is to design a circuit capable of realizing a high yield in the aspect of fabrication of circuit while operating stably as the designed circuit. That is, it is required to design so as to optimize the circuit operation and to have a sufficient allowance in the circuit operation. As the method for this purpose, for example, it is known to design a basic circuit for optimizing the circuit operation, manufacture the designed device, measure the characteristic of the device, and estimate the characteristic of the intended circuit on the basis of the measured characteristic. In another method, it is known to stimulate the operation of a desired circuit by a computer by using the preliminary extracted parameters of device fabrication and device characteristic.
In both methods, nevertheless, the connecting manners of the transistors, resistors, capacitors and other components of the circuit are determined together with the input and output method and entire circuit construction, and still more the characteristics of the individual elements such as transistors, resistors and capacitors must be predetermined.
The circuit composition may be relatively easily determined by the logic design. On the other hand, the characteristics of individual elements differ depending on the manufacturing conditions, manufacturing equipment, or difference in substrates among manufacturing lots even in identical manufacturing conditions. Accordingly, if a multiplicity of identical devices should be manufactured, discrepancies of characteristics occur among the devices. Therefore, if the allowance of operation of the device characteristics on the whole is discussed by making routine measurement of device characteristics, circuits of high reliability will not be expected. To the contrary, if all device characteristics are carefully examined by either fabricating basic circuits or simulating them, it takes enormous time and cost, and it is not practicable.
Incidentally, the nerve circuit exhibits its effect when it is used to bring the computer more closely to the human thinking manner.
A nerve circuit is composed as a matrix by organically coupling the individual nerve cells. To form such circuit composition by using transistors, the individual prices are intricately combined and the wiring and other structures are very complicated, and it is hard to realize as a circuit.
In order to solve the above problems, the invention intends to present a semiconductor device capable of designing the circuit easily which was difficult in the conventional semiconductor device, and also capable of effectively and easily realizing the formation of the nerve circuit by organically coupling transistors.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An apparatus includes a first body, a second body, and a linking mechanism. The first body includes an input unit on an input side of the first body. The second body includes a display on a display side of the second body. The linking mechanism is configured to link the first body and the second body such that the first body and the second body can be switched between four different modes.

Patent Literature 1 describes a mobile apparatus including a first chassis (10) having operation keys, a second chassis (20) having a display panel, and coupling members (30) and (40) configured to couple the first chassis (10) and the second chassis (20) to each other. The coupling member (30) is coupled turnably to the first chassis (10) and the second chassis (20) respectively by hinge units (50) and (60) provided at both ends of the coupling member (30) (the same applies to the coupling member (40)) (for example, refer to paragraphs [0013] to [0015] of the specification and FIGS. 2 and 3 of Patent Literature 1).

Information terminal apparatus and information processing method


A rechargeable electrochemical cell charging system is provided having a thermistor that engages the negative cell terminal at a location remote from the negative charge contact. The thermistor outputs temperature data to a controller in the charger that determines the rate of cell temperature increase. When the increase reaches a predetermined predetermined rate, the charge to the cell is discontinued. The cell can also include an air moving system that circulates cool ambient air through battery compartment to cool the batteries being charged.

The present invention relates generally to nickel rechargeable cells, such as nickel metal hydride (NiMH) cells, and more specifically to a method and apparatus for automatically reversibly terminating a cell charging process. This invention can also be employed in nickel cadmium (NiCd) cells.
For greater convenience and portability, many modern electrical appliances and consumer products can be operated to draw electric current from batteries of standard size and electrical performance. For convenience and economy, various rechargeable batteries have been developed, such as nickel metal hydride cells and the like.
Metal hydride cell technology provides excellent high-rate performance at reasonable cost when compared to nickel cadmium and lithium ion technology. Moreover, metal hydride cells have about a 50% higher volumetric energy density than NiCd cells and about equal to lithium ion cells. The internal chemistry of metal hydride rechargeable cells has an impact on the ability to charge such cells. Issues affecting the ability to charge nickel rechargeable cells arise as a result of the internal chemistry of such cells. When a nickel rechargeable cell approaches a full charge state, oxygen is generated at the positive electrode as follows:4OH−→O2(gas)+2H2O+4e−
The oxygen gas diffuses across a gas-permeable separator to the negative electrode where it is recombined into cadmium hydroxide or water as follows:1/2O2(gas)+H2O+Cd→Cd(OH)2+Heat@Cadmium negative electrode1/2O2(gas)+H2→H2O+Heat@Hydride negative electrode
When recharging such cells, it is important to ascertain when the cell has become fully charged. For example, if a cell were to become overcharged for an extended period of time, the pressure buildup within the cell could cause the cell to fail as well as electrolyte to leak, thereby further subjecting the charger to potential damage.
Metal hydride rechargeable cells are typically recharged by applying a constant current rather than constant voltage to the cells. In this scheme, cell voltage increases gradually until the cell approaches full charge whereupon the cell voltage peaks. As the cells reach the overcharge state, the released heat causes the cell temperature to increase dramatically, which in turn causes the cell voltage to decrease. Cell pressure also rises dramatically during overcharge as oxygen gas is generated in quantities larger than the cell can recombine. Thus, conventional constant current charge interruption methods cannot support a very fast charge rate without risking internal pressure buildup, rupture, and electrolyte leakage. For this reason, metal hydride cells can be provided with safety vents.
With constant voltage charge, on the other hand, the charging current is high at the beginning of the charge, when the cell can accept higher currents, and then decreases to lower levels as the cell approaches full charge. When constant voltage charging, the above-noted signals for the end of a constant current charge process are not useful because as the cell approaches the full charge state, the cell voltage becomes constant. Like a constant current charge approach, charging time cannot be used for the constant voltage charge when the charge rate is higher than 0.3 C due to runaway accumulation of in-cell pressure that can damage devices. As a result of these shortcomings it has been difficult to identify an effective termination signaling means and constant voltage charging for metal hydroxide cells has therefore been generally considered to be impractical.
With alternating current charge, the charging current can be modulated at a defined frequency or combination of frequencies to produce a net positive current that enables the cell to become charged. An alternating current charge can provide a fast charge with less pressure buildup and lower temperature increase than constant current or constant voltage charge. However, when using an alternating current charge, the above-noted signals for the end of a constant current charge process are not useful because as the cell approaches the full charge state, changes in the cell voltage are difficult to detect above the voltage response to the applied alternating current. As a result it has been difficult to identify an effective termination signaling means and alternating current charging for metal hydroxide cells has also therefore been generally considered to be impractical. It should be appreciated that an alternating current charge is used throughout the present disclosure to mean a varying current that produces a net positive charge, such as a modulated alternating current. For example, an alternating current can be half-wave rectified or full-wave rectified to produce a series of current pulses, or an alternating current can be offset by a desired DC current.
One common way to reduce pressure buildup at the full-charge state is to provide a negative electrode having an excess capacity of greater by 40-50% more than the positive electrode, a gas-permeable separator, and limited electrolyte to accommodate effective diffusion of gasses. This avoids the production of hydrogen gas at the negative electrode while permitting the oxygen to recombine with the negative electrode material. When a cell reaches full charge, oxygen gas continues to be produced at the positive electrode, but hydrogen is not produced from the negative electrode. If hydrogen were produced, the cell could rupture from excess pressure. The oxygen recombination reaction therefore controls the cell pressure. The oxygen gas then crosses the separator and reacts with the negative electrode material. Downsides of this arrangement include reduced cell capacity and corresponding shorter cell cycle life due to degradation of the negative electrode from overcharge with oxidation and heat.
Charge termination based on peak voltage can be unreliable at the end of the charging period because an over-voltage condition can exist before termination. Termination based on a voltage decline (−dV) is necessarily associated with oxygen recombination and the accompanying detrimental temperature rise. In practice, this means that voltage detection must be accurate and fast. Unless the ambient temperature is steady, it can be difficult to accurately measure a change in voltage. Moreover, when the charge rate is slower than 0.3 C, the voltage drop measurement is too small to be detected accurately. A charge rate of 1 C draws a current equal to the rated capacity of the electrochemical cell or battery. Termination based only on peak temperature is also easily affected by ambient temperature changes.
Others in the art have sought pressure-based mechanisms for reversibly breaking the connection between the electrode and the cell terminal when internal cell pressure exceeds a predetermined level. Such systems have proven useful for their intended purpose, but require volume-occupying components to be installed in the cell.
Still others have attempted to determine a charging termination point based upon the rate of change in temperature over time (dT/dt). This charging method is useful because an increase in temperature slope provides an indication that cell charging should be terminated prior to an indication based on absolute temperature. Charge can thus be terminated before damaging pressure accumulates within the cell. Accordingly, there is a reduced risk of cell rupture and leakage in a dT/dt method when compared to the other methods noted above. This makes it the most common charge termination method in use today.
Conventional battery packs include thermistors that are attached to the sides of the cells disposed in the packs. A processor in the charger receives the temperature data and determines the rate of temperature change over time (dT/dt). Once dT/dt exceeds a specified threshold, the charger discontinues current to the battery pack. Because the sides of the cells in battery packs are typically conductive, the heat transfer rates from the cell interior to the thermistor are sufficient for the thermistor to provide a suitable indication of thermal behavior inside the charger. The processor is thus able to produce a reliable indication of the charge termination point based on temperature increase.
Single cells (i.e., cells not in battery packs), however, typically have insulating labels around the outer surface of the can to enable safe handling. The labels also provide decreased heat transfer rates from the interior of the cell. Thermistors therefore may not be placed at the side of individual cells if meaningful temperature data is to be obtained. Accordingly, conventional conventional charge methods for round cells mount a thermistor directly on the charge contact that engages the negative end of the cell. Heat transfer rates between the cell interior and the conductive negative end of the cell have proven suitable for use with the thermistor. However, high charging currents also pass through the contacts that generate a significant amount of IR heat that is emitted by the charge contacts and sensed by the thermistor. As the temperature of the thermistor increases, the measurement variations in temperature slope become increasingly unreliable. The resistance of the interface between the charge contact and cell being charged coupled with the additional IR heat that is produced interferes with the thermistor's ability to accurately determine the rate of temperature change at the negative end of the cell. Accordingly, conventional chargers measuring single cell temperatures do so with low sensitivity to temperature change, and are thus unable to determine a charge termination point prior to the accumulation of potentially damaging internal cell pressure.
In summary, as a single (i.e., not in a battery pack) metal hydride rechargeable cell reaches its fully charged state, oxygen is evolved from the positive electrode, thereby increasing the internal cell pressure and driving the exothermic oxygen recombination reaction. At a very high constant current charge rate, usually less than one hour, charge current is still very high at the end of charge. This results in severe heating of the cell and shortened cycle life. The available methods of terminating constant current charge of single cells based on rate of temperature change have not proven to be reliable due to the placement of the thermistor along with the significant amount of heat generated at the negative end of the cell.
What is therefore needed is a method and apparatus for reliably determining a charge termination point relying on a measured change of temperature over time. It would be further desirable to reduce the thermal effects of charging on the electrochemical cell being charged in order to prolong the charging cycle.

Method and apparatus for regulating charging of electrochemical cells using cell temperature increase rate


A device for holding and dispensing reusable bags includes a structural base, a first arm-bracing wing, a second arm-bracing wing, an elastic restraint, and a bag storing hanger. When in use, a plurality of reusable bags is initially hooked onto a hook portion of the bag storing hanger. The elastic restraint secures the plurality of reusable bags with the structural base such that the plurality of reusable bags is stored on a racking portion of the bag storing hanger. The first arm-bracing wing and the second arm-bracing wing rest on a grocery bag holder when the device is used to dispense the plurality of reusable bags. A handle extending from the structural base allows the user to carry the device conveniently.

In recent years, public awareness about the detrimental effects that plastic bags can have upon the environment has been steadily increasing. As a result, the prevalence of reusable bags in the shopping industry is rising as reusable bags offer a more environmentally friendly alternative to the old plastic bags. Hundreds of thousands of sea animals die every year from the consumption of discarded plastic bags. The manufacturing process itself releases harmful toxins into the environment. Every year about five hundred billion to one trillion plastic bags are used and discarded worldwide; costing retailers billions of dollars and causing devastating and permanent environmental damage. The extent of the waste is so extreme that it has started a cottage industry in Africa, where plastic bags are used as raw material for weaving of goods. To combat this trend the consumer is being encouraged to shop with reusable grocery bags. Reusable shopping bags are an alternative means to plastic bags, often comprising fabric material such as canvas and synthetic fibers. Reusable grocery bags may require more energy to produce, but they are environmentally friendly and do not need to be discarded after each use.
With the modern consumer becoming more aware of their affect on the environment; an environmentally sensitive life style is becoming the new norm. Part of that norm is the use of reusable grocery bags. The present invention seeks to promote the use of reusable grocery bags by increasing the ease of use of said product comparable to existing plastic bags in local grocery stores. The present invention allows the user to comfortably and efficiently transport, store, and load their reusable grocery bags at the retail store or supermarket. Increasing the ease of use of reusable grocery bags makes the environmentally friendly product appealing and thus promoting an environmentally conscious society. The present invention creates a comfortable portable carrier for reusable grocery bags that is also compatible with the majority of grocery bagging racks used in today's supermarkets.


A client computing device having a processor and a memory receives, in response to a request, a replication layout from a replication controller. The client device initiates a data replication request at each of a plurality of data servers according to the replication layout. The client device receives, from each of the data servers, integrity information representing a state of a replication dataset at each of the servers. The client device transmits the integrity information to the replication controller.

File replication is widely employed in data storage, e.g., data distribution and file sharing systems. Examples of distributed file system protocols and/or services include the Andrews File System (AFS), Distributed Computing Environment (DCE), Distributed File System (DFS), Lustre, the General Parallel File System (GPFS), Coda, etc. Examples of network file systems and protocols include Network File System (NFS), Common Internet File System (CIFS), Network for Protocol (NCP). Distributed file systems and network file systems generally include intrinsic organizing structures such as hierarchical namespace control (e.g., nested files and directories, junctions, etc.). These kinds of file systems also include well-defined file access and concurrent sharing semantics, as well as consistency guarantees that are generally difficult to implement in combination with replication.
In distributed file system protocols, support for replication is typically implemented transparently between data servers or storage systems, with limited involvement by clients. However, infrastructure and architectural limitations of distributed file systems limit replication capabilities. For example, in file systems employing server-to-server replication, replication performance is strongly limited by bandwidth between cooperating data servers.


A cooling device includes: a cooling fan; a shroud provided at an outer circumferential side of the cooling fan; an inner circumferential wall provided on the shroud and adjacent to the outer circumference of the cooling fan so as to surround the cooling fan; an outer circumferential wall provided to surround the inner circumferential wall. An air-flow-direction downstream side end of the outer circumferential wall is positioned at a further downstream position in an air flow direction than an air-flow-direction downstream side end of the inner circumferential wall. The cooling fan is rotatable within a space provided on a radially inner side of the inner circumferential wall. The air-flow-direction downstream side end of the outer circumferential wall is provided at a further upstream position in the air flow direction than an air-flow-direction downstream side end of the cooling fan.

Traditionally, a cooling system of an engine installed in a construction machine mainly includes a radiator and a cooling fan. The radiator circulates cooling medium between the radiator and the engine and cools the cooling medium by outer air. The cooling fan forms air flow around the radiator and aids heat exchange of the radiator. Further, a shroud is provided between the radiator and the cooling fan to surround the radiator and the cooling fan for ensuring air flow from the radiator to the cooling fan (for example, see Patent Document 1).
In recent years, the total heat quantity of an engine is increased and therefore the water temperature of a radiator is increased. To solve such a problem, for example, the flow of air blown by a cooling fan (i.e., the flow of air passing through the vicinity of the radiator) may be increased by increasing the rotation speed of the cooling fan. However, when the rotation speed of the cooling fan is increased, noise is increased.
Accordingly, to enhance cooling capability of a cooling system of the engine, it is required to increase the flow of air blown by the cooling fan without increasing the rotation speed of the cooling fan. Various technologies for changing a shape and position of a shroud have been developed. For example, to prevent counter flow of air discharged from the cooling fan (i.e., to prevent air in the engine from returning to the radiator through the cooling fan), two cylindrical portions are provided on an end of the shroud (for example, see Patent Document 2).
Patent Document 1: JP-A-9-118141 (Published on May 6, 1997)
Patent Document 2: JP-A-2006-132380 (Published on May 25, 2006)

Cooling device and construction machine or working machine equipped with the same


A method for preparing an optical device by dicing includes applying a dicing tape onto the back face of a substrate provided thereon with a large number of optical elements on the surface thereof and dicing the substrate from the surface side of the substrate using a blade to thus prepare individual optical devices and the method is characterized in that the dicing operation is conducted in several stages using a blade which can ensure a moderate autogenously blade-generating effect. An optical device prepared by the method includes a substrate and an optical element formed on the surface of the substrate and it is characterized in that the maximum size of the ruptures present on the back face of the substrate in the direction vertical to the cut surface is not more than 0.1 mm.

There has rapidly been increased requirements for the development of a large capacity-information transmission along with the recent wide spread of personal computers and the internet. For this reason, it has been desired for the spread of the optical transmission, which can ensure a high transmission rate, even to the terminal information transmission devices such as personal computers. To realize this, it is necessary to mass-produce high quality optical waveguides for use in the optical interconnection, at a low production cost.
As materials for preparing such an optical waveguide, there have been known, for instance, inorganic materials such as glass and semiconductor materials and various resins. When it is intended to prepare an optical waveguide using a resin, film-forming processes required can be conducted by coating and heating operations under the atmospheric pressure and accordingly, this method is quite advantageous in that devices and processes to be used are quite simple. Various kinds of resins have been known as those which permit the constitution of an optical waveguide and, in particular, polyimides have been expected as such materials because of their high glass transition points (Tg) and excellent heat resistance. When preparing an optical waveguide using a polyamide resin, the resulting waveguide may ensure long-term reliability and it can withstand the soldering.
An optical device prepared using a resin such as an optical waveguide is in general constructed by forming V-shaped grooves for mounting optical fibers on a substrate such as a silicon wafer and subsequently laminating, in order, a lower clad layer, a core layer and an upper clad layer of resins. For instance, a silicon wafer having a diameter of about 12.7 cm is prepared as a substrate; a large number of optical elements such as optical waveguides are lengthwise and crosswise formed and arranged on the substrate; a dicing tape is adhered to the back face of the same; and the silicon wafer is diced with a blade to thus separate the wafer into individual optical devices. Thus, desired optical waveguide devices can be mass-produced.
When applying a dicing tape onto the back face of the substrate and carrying out the dicing with a blade to thus separate optical devices by a single dicing operation or stage, however, a problem arises such that the substrate, in particular, the edge of the back face thereof is ruptured. In this connection, there has been proposed a method in which the upper resinous portion is cut using a relatively soft blade, while the lower substrate portion is cut using a relatively hard blade. However, this method suffers from such problems that it requires the use of two kinds of blades and that steps are formed at the cut area due to the use of such two kinds of blades. Furthermore, both of these methods suffer from a problem in that the substrate and, in particular, the edge of the back face thereof is ruptured when peeling off the dicing tape. The problem of such ruptures may further results in various other problems. For instance, the ruptures of the edge portion result in the lost of the flatness of the resulting optical device and the broken pieces of such edge portion serve as foreign substances and they adversely and variously affect the optical device.

Method for preparing optical device by dicing


A pharmaceutical paste formulation containing an active ingredient, an API solubilizer, a cross-linking agent, a consistency improver, a rheology modifier, a humectant, and a liquid base.

The present invention relates to improved pharmaceutical paste/gel formulations that are easily spreadable and can be applied using a wide range of devices for site specific application (e.g., single-and-multi-use squeezable tubes, syringes, etc.).
Generally, topical pharmaceutical formulations have localized action of an active agent/ingredient at the site of application with little-to-no systemic exposure, whereas transdermal pharmaceutical formulations deliver active agents/ingredients body-wide (systemically).
Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (commonly referred to as canker sores, hereinafter referred to as "RAS") is a common oral disorder affecting over half of the population of the United States where painful circular yellowish sores develop on the oral mucosa. RAS typically affects the softer parts of the mouth that move, such as the tongue, soft palate, cheeks, and lips. RAS is said to be "recurrent" because a sore usually reappears in the same or a new location after healing. In some cases, multiple ulcers are present, some of which may be healing while others are just starting to appear. There are three (3) main subtypes of RAS: (1) minor aphthous stomatitis; (2) major aphthous stomatitis; and (3) herpetiform aphthous stomatitis. Minor aphthous stomatitis is the most common subtype, constituting more than eighty (80) percent of RAS cases, and is generally characterized by small (i.e., less than one (1) centimeter in diameter) sores that heal in approximately one (1) week and do not typically result in the formation of scar tissue. Major aphthous stomatitis is the second most common form of RAS, constituting approximately fifteen (15) percent of RAS cases, and is generally characterized by slightly larger (i.e., greater than one (1) centimeter in diameter) sores that take longer to heal (i.e., two (2) or more weeks) and are extremely painful and often result in the formation of scar tissue. Herpetiform aphthous stomatitis is the least common subtype of RAS, occurring in less than five (5) percent of RAS cases, and is generally characterized by clusters of very small ulcers (i.e., less than one (1) millimeter) that typically heal in approximately one (1) week.
The treatment of RAS with sucralfate is generally known. For instance, ProThelial™ "is polymerized sucralfate malate paste that forms a protective layer over the oral mucosa by adhering to the mucosal surface" marketed by Mueller Medical International LLC. ProThelial™ is a thick gel packaged in a wide mouth bottle. ProThelial™ users are instructed to remove the product from the bottle using a spoon and to apply the product to the affected area using the "tongue to apply paste throughout the mouth (as if using tongue to remove peanut butter from teeth)." Known sucralfate formulations for treating RAS require broad range application to the entire mouth by swishing/gargling and tend to dry-up on storage due to high solid content and sucralfate's high water absorbing capacity.
Thus, there is a need for sucralfate formulations that can be applied to ulcers on a site specific basis using an applicator, such as a squeezable tube, and that will not dry and harden in storage.

Pharmaceutical paste formulations for site specific application


Discussed is an including a transfer unit transferring an electrode sheet having a plurality of notching grooves formed in a side surface thereof to a cutting point via a measuring point, wherein, when a front notching groove which is disposed at a front end in the electrode sheet is passing through the cutting point, a notching groove disposed in a rear end of the front notching groove is configured to pass through the measuring point; a detection unit at the measuring point to detect the notching groove passing through the measuring point and generating a notching groove detection signal; and a cutting unit at the cutting point to cut the electrode sheet according to the notching groove detection signal generated by the detection unit.

In general, secondary batteries refer to chargeable and dischargeable batteries, unlike primary batteries that are not chargeable. The secondary batteries are being widely used in the high-tech electronic fields such as mobile phones, notebook computers, and camcorders.
Such a secondary battery is classified into a can type secondary battery in which an electrode assembly is built in a metal can and a pouch type secondary battery in which an electrode assembly is built in a pouch. The pouch type secondary battery comprises an electrode assembly, an electrolyte, and a pouch accommodating the electrode assembly and the electrolyte. Also, the electrode assembly has a structure in which a plurality of electrodes and a plurality of separators are alternately stacked.
The electrode is manufactured by cutting a long sheet-shaped electrode sheet at regular intervals through a cutting apparatus. Here, the cutting apparatus detects an electrode tab formed on the electrode sheet to cut the electrode sheet at regular intervals.
However, in the cutting apparatus, when the electrode tab formed on the electrode sheet is deformed, i.e., folded o lifted, a cutting time of the electrode sheet varies to cause a problem in which the electrode sheet is irregularly cut to manufacture defective electrodes.

Apparatus and method for cutting electrode sheet


A dispenser for dispensing solid or liquid water-conditioning/treating agents into a body of water (such as a pool, hot tub, or the like) comprises a hollow body adapted to receive water treating agent which can be solid (tablet form), granular, powder or liquid. The dispenser has an overall specific gravity such that, when the dispenser is substantially empty of water-conditioning/treating agent(s), the dispenser will float, but when the dispenser contains water-conditioning/treating agents, the dispenser will sink.

The present invention relates to dispensers which dispense water conditioning or treating agents, such as sanitizing/disinfecting/purifying chemicals (i.e., chlorine, bromine, or non-chlorine oxidizers), water purifying microbes, algaecides or anti-microbial agents for virtually any body of water, such as, but not limited to, pools, ponds, hot tubs, and fountains and other water features. In particular the invention relates to a dispenser of water treating agents which will provide a notification when the dispenser needs to be refilled.
Oxidizers are commonly used to sanitize and disinfect water in bodies of water, such as noted above. Algaecides are used to rid a body of water of unwanted algae. These chemicals can be added to the water either as a liquid or as a solid. There are numerous types of dispensers for solid chemicals. However, these solid chemical dispensers are typically floating dispensers. Thus, they release the chemical near the surface of the water, resulting in a stratified layer at the bottom of the body of water where there is not much chemical. Further, such floating dispensers can interfere with, or get in the way of, people playing or swimming in the water. There are also solid chemical dispensers which rest on the bottom pool. However, dispensers at the bottom of the body of water are more difficult to retrieve to check the chemical level in the dispenser and more difficult to refill. In addition, there are dispensers wherein algaecide, supplied as a compressed solid, is placed in a pool skimmer. These, like the floating dispensers noted above, result in the pool water being stratified, with an upper layer containing the algaecide and a lower layer with not much algaecide.
It would be desirable to provide a dispenser which will sink to the bottom of the body of water when filled with water treating agent but which will then rise to the surface when the water treating agent is substantially depleted (i.e., when the dispenser is mostly empty of water treating agent).