A stationery accessory system comprises a slidable tab including indicia of contents contained in or demarcated by the stationery accessory system and a sheet-like member including a rail; one of the slidable tab and the rail having a channel defined along a longitudinal aspect thereof, the channel defined by a wall of the rail, and the channel having a longitudinal opening narrower than a width interior to the channel measured parallel to the longitudinal opening; and the other of the slidable tab and the rail having an expanded edge, the expanded edge having a width greater than the longitudinal opening such that the channel and the expanded edge are slidably engageable.

The present invention relates to stationery items, such as file folders and loose-leaf dividers, report dividers or organizers having tabs. The invention relates to folders of the hanging type, as well as loose filing folders.
Conventional hanging folders 101 have plastic tabs 102 that can be positioned in plural, discreet positions along a top edge of the folder, as shown in FIG. 1. In conventional usage, shown in FIG. 2 hanging folders 101 are arrayed in a row, one behind the other, within a file drawer 201 having suitable supports 202. The plastic tabs 102 have wing portions 103 that are inserted into slots 104 disposed at each of the discrete positions. In order to make the tabs on folders further back in the file drawer visible, most users of such files stagger the positioning of the tabs for example in a sequence from left to right that repeats every three or five folders, or the like, as shown in the front portion 203 of the drawer 201 of FIG. 2. However, when the files need to be repositioned or when files need to be added or deleted from a file drawer, the pattern with which the tabs had previously been staggered is disrupted, leaving one or more tabs 205 further forward in the drawer, possibly obscuring one or more of the tabs 206 further back in the drawer, as shown in the back portion 204 of the drawer 201 of FIG. 2. The user must then remove the plastic tabs from positions at which they have been placed, and they must then be reattached to hanging folders at new positions, re-establishing the desired staggered pattern.
Conventional loose filing folders such as manila folders are often used to create sub-files, also referred to as inside folders, within hanging folders, or may be used in loose filing drawers or boxes of their own. Manila folders 301 are conventionally precut, usually with each having a tab at one of three or five staggered positions 302 along a top edge 303, as shown in FIG. 3. By selecting a sequence of folders where the tabs of one folder do not overlap the tab of an immediately succeeding folder, the tabs of each succeeding folder are made relatively more visible, as shown in the front portion 401 of the drawer of FIG. 4. However, as with the hanging folders, when the filing system must be updated, or when individual file folders are replaced or changed the staggered pattern may be disrupted as shown in the back portion 402 of the drawer of FIG. 4. Again, a tab 403 further forward in the drawer may obscure a tab 404 further back in the drawer. Because the manila folders do not have repositionable/adjustable tabs, they are frequently discarded when changing the filing system or when the file tabs become damaged or tattered. In some cases adhesive labels may be applied over the tabs and new markings then made. While discarding manila folders that now have tabs in the wrong positions due to a rearrangement of the filing system is wasteful, re-labeling and reusing folders is difficult and sloppy.
What is needed is an improved tab system for file folders, hanging file folders, loose-leaf dividers, report dividers, organizers and the like.


A macro virus definitions database is maintained and includes a set of indices and associated macro virus definition data files. One or more of the macro virus definition data files are referenced by the associated index. Each macro virus definition data file defines macro virus attributes for known macro viruses. The sets of the indices and the macro virus definition data files are organized according to macro virus families. One or more strings stored in a suspect file are compared to the macro virus attributes defined in the one or more macro virus definition data files for each macro virus family in the macro virus definitions database. The macro virus family to which the suspect file belongs is determined from the indices for each of the macro virus definition data files at least partially containing the suspect file.

Computer viruses, or simply "viruses," continue to plague unsuspecting users worldwide with malicious and often destructive results. Computer viruses propagate through infected files or objects and are often disguised as application programs or are embedded in library functions, macro scripts, electronic mail (email) attachments, applets, and even within hypertext links. Typically, a user unwittingly downloads and executes the infected file, thereby triggering the virus.
By definition, a computer virus is executable program code that is self-replicating and almost universally unsanctioned. More precisely, computer viruses include any form of self-replication computer code which can be stored, disseminated, and directly or indirectly executed. The earliest computer viruses infected boot sectors and files. Over time, computer viruses evolved into numerous forms and types, including cavity, cluster, companion, direct action, encrypting, multipartite, mutating, polymorphic, overwriting, self-garbling, and stealth viruses, such as described in "McAfee.com: Virus Glossary of Terms," Networks Associates Technology, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif. (2000), the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference.
In particular, macro viruses have become increasingly popular, due in part to the ease with which these viruses can be written. Macro viruses are written in widely available macro programming languages and can be attached to document templates or electronic mail. These viruses can be easily triggered by merely opening the template or attachment, as graphically illustrated by the recent "Love Bug" and "Anna Kournikova" macro virus attacks in May 2000 and February 2001, respectively. The "Love Bug" virus was extremely devastating, saturating email systems worldwide and causing an estimated tens of millions of dollars worth of damage.
Today, there are over 53,000 known computer viruses and new viruses are being discovered daily. The process of identifying and cataloging new viruses is manual and labor intensive. Anti-virus detections companies employ full-time staffs of professionals whose only job is to analyze suspect files and objects for the presence of viruses. On average, training an anti-virus specialist can take six months or longer. These professionals are hard pressed to keep up with the constant challenge of discovering and devising solutions to new viruses.
In the prior art, few automated tools for identifying new viruses exist. On the front line, the processes employed by anti-virus experts to discover new viruses are ad hoc and primarily reactive, rather than proactive. Typically, suspect files or objects are sent to the virus detection centers by concerned users who have often already suffered some adverse side effect from a possible virus. In times past, virus detection centers had more time during which to identify and analyze viruses, and to implement patches and anti-viral measures that could be disseminated before widespread infection occurred. Today, however, viruses often travel by e-mail and other forms of electronic communication and can infect entire networks at an alarming rate. As a result, the present manual processes for detecting new viruses are woefully slow and generally incapable of responding in a timely fashion.
Similarly, existing anti-virus software fails to provide an adequate solution to protecting and defeating new viruses. These types of software are designed to pattern scan and search out those viruses already positively identified by anti-virus software vendors. Invidious writers of computer viruses constantly strive to create new forms of viruses and easily evade existing anti-virus measures.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach to automatically identifying new forms of computer viruses and, in particular, macro computer viruses. Preferably, such an approach would be capable of identifying candidate virus families when presented with a suspect string or a particular virus family when presented with a suspect file or object. Moreover, such an approach would be capable of identifying a macro virus within a range of given search parameters.

System and method for identifying a macro virus family using a macro virus definitions database


A server device determines a selected game content from among the multiple game media base on a request from a user belonging to one team, and if the selected game content is a first selected game content whose associated attribute is of a specified content and a returnable condition is met, displays the first selected game content to the user in a state in which the user can select return or acquisition of the first selected game content. The server device, if the user selects return of the first selected game content, stores, in the memory and in association with the user, a game content that is different from the multiple game media, and if the user selects acquisition of the first selected game content, stores, in the memory and in association with the user, the first selected game content.

In recent years, so-called "social games" have become known as games, provided to portable terminals via a communication network, that allow multiple players (users) to communicate with each other. Among social games are ones in which, for example, the user carries out a quest using a user-selected character or engages in battles with non-player characters (NPCs). For example, patent reference 1 describes fighting games in which a player character is manipulated to battle (fight) with opponents.

Non-transitory computer-readable medium, control method, server device, and terminal device to carry out lotteries in social games


The present invention relates to compositions comprised of a peptide ligand or derivatives thereof that are capable of specific binding to the high affinity receptor-1 of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and structure similar receptors. The invention further provides a peptide ligand or derivatives thereof that are capable of inhibiting angiogenesis induced by VEGF. The present invention also provides a method for treatment or diagnosis of disease associated with angiogenesis in a patient in need of therapy comprising administering to the patient an effective amount of the pharmaceutical composition of the present invention and a pharmaceutical acceptable carrier.

The growth of new blood vessels from existing endothelium (angiogenesis) is tightly controlled in healthy adults by opposing effects of positive and negative regulations. Under certain pathological conditions, including proliferative retinopathies, rheumatiod arthritis, psoriasis and cancer, positive regulations prevail and angiogenesis contributes to disease progression (Folkman (1995) Nature Medicine 1:27–31; Achen and Stacker (1998) Int. J. Exp. Pathol. 79:255–265). In cancer, the notion that angiogenesis represents the rate limiting step of tumor growth and metastasis, (Folkman (1971) New Engl. J. Med. 285:1182–1186) is now supported by considerable experimental evidence (reviewed in Aznavoorian et al. (1993) Cancer 71:1368–1383; Bidfer and Ellis (1994) Cell 79:185–188; Plate and Warnke (1997) J. Neurooncol 35:365–372; de Jong et al. (1998) J. Pathol 184:44–52).
A number of angiogenic growth factors have been described to date among which vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) appears to play a key role in the regulation of vasculogenesis and angiogenesis as a highly specific mitogen for endothelial cells (Brown et al., (1997) Control of Angiogenesis (Goldberg and Rosen, eds) Birkhauser, Basel, pp 233–269; Martiny-Broun and Marme(1995) Current Opin. in Biotech. 6:675–680; Ferrara and Davis-Smyth (1997) Endocrine Reviews 18:4–25).
VEGF is a glycosylated, disulfide-linked homodimeric protein consisting of two 23 kD subunits. Four different monomeric isoforms of VEGF exist ranging in size from 121 to 206 residues in humans (VEGF121, VEGF165, VEGF189 and VEGF206). Transcripts encoding the three shorter forms are detected in the majority of tumor cells and tumor tissue expressing VEGF gene. The isoforms result from different splicing events, and all variants share the same 115 N-terminal as well as six C-terminal residues and have a leader sequence to leave the cells. VEGF165 is the dominant isoform, while VEGF206 has so far only been identified in human fetal liver cDNA library VEGF165 and VEGF189 bind heparin with high affinity, and are sequestered to the cell surface or within the extracellular matrix bound to proteoglycans, while VEGF121 does not bind heparin and is thus freely diffusible. Plasmin cleavage of VEGF165 generates a 110-residue long N-terminal fragment (the receptor-binding domain) that no longer binds heparin but is equipotent to VEGF121 in its ability to induce endothelial cell proliferation.
VEGF is expressed in embryonic tissues (Breier et al., (1992) Development (Camb.) 114:521), macrophages, proliferating epidermal keratinocytes during wound healing (Brown et al., (1992) J. Ex. Med. 176:1375–9) and may be responsible for tissue edema associated with inflammation (Ferrara and Davis-Smyth (1997) Endocrine Reviews 18:4–25). In situ hybridization studies have demonstrated high VEGF expression in a number of human tumors including glioblastoma, ovarian tumors, carcinoma, hemangioblastoma, brain neoplasms and Kaposi's sarcoma (Plate et al., (1992) Nature 359:845–848; Zebrowski et al., (1999) Ann. Surg. Oncol. 6:373–378). High levels of VEGF were also observed in hypoxia-induced angiogenesis (Shweiki et al., (1992) Nature 359:843–845).
The biological function of VEGF is mediated through binding to two high affinity receptors which are selectively expressed on endothelial cells during embryogenesis (Millauer et al., (1993) Cell 72:835–838) and VEGF related pathologies (tumor formation). VEGF receptors include the human kinase domain receptor (KDR), described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,712,380; its murine analog flk-1, sequenced by Mallhews (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88:9026–9030; U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,458 and the Fsm-like tyrosine kinase (Flt-1) (Shibuya et al., (1990) Oncogene 5:519–524). All of them are class III tyrosine kinases (Vaisman et al., 1990: J. Biol. Chem. 265, 19461–19466; Kaipainen et al., (1993) J. Exp. Med. 178:2077–2088). Studies in mice have shown that the expression of KDR reaches the highest levels during embryonic vasculogenesis and angiogenesis (Millauer et al., 1993 Cell 72:835–838). In contrast, only low levels of mRNA for Flt-1 were found during fetal growth and moderate levels during organogenesis, but high levels in newborn mice (Peters et al., 1993 Proc. Natl. Aca. Sci. U.S.A 90(16):7533–7). Experiments with knockout mice deficient in either receptor revealed that KDR is essential for the development of endothelial cells, whereas Flt-1 is necessary for the organization of embryonic vasculature (Fong et al., 1995 Dev. Dyn. 203(1):80–92; Shalaby et al., 1995 Nature 376 (6535:62–6).
KDR and Flt-1, each ˜1300 amino acid residues long, are composed of 7 extracellular Ig-like domains containing the ligand-binding region, a single short membrane-spanning sequence, and an intracellular region containing tyrosine kinase domains. The amino acid sequences of KDR and Flt-1 are ˜45% identical to each other. Flt-1 has the higher affinity for VEGF (KD=10–20 pM) compared to 75–125 pM for the KDR receptor. VEGF binding to KDR but not Flt-1 elicits an efficient (ED50˜0.1–1 ng/ml) DNA synthetic and chemotactic endothelial cell response. Activation of Flt-1 receptor by VEGF might modulate the interaction of endothelial cells with each other or the basement membrane on which they reside.
The Flt-1 receptor mRNA can be spliced to generate forms encoding either the full-length membrane-spanning receptor or a soluble form, denoted sFlt-1. Pure sFlt-1 retains its specific high affinity binding for VEGF and fully inhibits VEGF-stimulated endothelial cell mitogenesis by dominant negative mechanism.
Like other growth factor transmembrane tyrosine kinase receptors, VEGF receptors presumably undergo ligand-induced dimerization, that triggers signal transduction by promoting either autophosphorylation or transphosphorylation specific downstream signal transduction protein mediators.
To gain a better understanding of the biological activity of VEGF the analysis of structure/activity relationships was performed using site-directed mutagenesis and epitope mapping of neutralizing monoclonal antibodies (Keyt et al., (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271:5638–5646). Arg82, Lys84 and His86, located in a hairpin loop, were found to be critical for binding KDR/Flk-1, while negatively charged residues, Asp63, Glu64 and Glu67, were associated with Flt-1 binding. The three-dimensional structure of the receptor-binding domain of VEGF (residues 8–109) showed that these positively and negatively charged regions are distal in the monomer but are spatially close in the dimer (Wiesmann et al., (1997) Cell 91:695–704). Mutations within the KDR site had minimal effect on Fit-1 binding, suggesting that receptors have different binding sites on VEGF which may serve to dimerize tyrosine kinase receptors resulting in initiation of angiogenesis.
Domain deletion studies on Flt-1 receptor have shown that the ligand binding function resides within the first three domains (Barleon et al., (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272:10382–1038; Cunningham et al., (1997) Biochim. Biophys. Res. Commun. 231 (3): 596–599), and domain 4 is required to efficiently couple ligand binding to signal transduction by means of direct receptor-receptor contacts (Barleon et al., (1997) J. Biol. Chem. 272:10382–10388). The crystal structure of the complex between VEGF and the second domain of Flt-1 showed domain 2 in a predominantly hydrophobic interaction with the "poles" of VEGF dimer (Wiesmann et al., (1997) Cell 91:695–704). Deletion experiments on KDR demonstrated that only domain 2 and 3 are critical for ligand binding (Fuh et al., (1998) J. Biol Chem. 1998; 273 (18):11197–204).
Endothelial cells also contain another type of VEGF receptors, Neuropilins (NP), possessing a lower mass than either VEGFR2 or VEGFR1 (Gluzman-Poltorak Z., et al., (2000) J. Biol. Chem., 275(24):18040–5; WO Patent 0002/3565A2). It was subsequently found that these smaller VEGF receptors of endothelial cells are isoform specific receptors that bind VEGF165 but not VEGF121 (Gluzman-Poltorak Z, et al., (2000) J. Biol. Chem., 275(38):29922). Unusually large amounts of these isoform-specific receptors were found in several types of prostate and breast cancer cell lines (Miao, H. Q., et al., (2000) FASEB J., 14(15):2532–9). Neuropilin-1 is likely to play an important role in the development of the cardiovascular system. Gene disruption studies have indicated that np-1 participates in embryonic vasculogenesis and angiogenesis and is involved in the maturation of blood vessels, since mouse embryos lacking a functional np-1 gene die because their cardiovascular system fails to develop properly (Kawasaki, T., et al., (1999) Neurobiol. 39(4):579–89). Subsequent experiments have shown that NP-1 also serves as a receptor for the heparin-binding form of placenta growth factor (PlGF), PlGF-2, and for VEGF-B.
In addition to its normal physiological role, VEGF receptors are associated with numerous pathologies, including cancer, rheumatiod arthritis, diabetic retinopathy and psoriasis; development of VEGF antagonists, blocking the interaction between VEGF and its receptors with is therefore clinically attractive. Humanized neutralizing antibodies have been shown to interact with VEGF near the KDR and Flt-i binding sites (Kim, K. J., et al., (1993) Nature 362, 841–844; Muller, Y. A., et al., (1997) Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. 94, 7192–7197; Muller, Y. A. et al., (1998) Structure 6:1153–1167; U.S. Pat. No. 5,855,866), and SELEX-derived RNA molecules (Jellinek, D. et al., (1994) Biochemistry 33:10450–10456; U.S. Pat. No. 5,859,228), that target VEGF, suppress tumor growth that is dependent on vascularization of adjacent normal tissue (Plate, K. H. et al., (1994) Brain-Pathol., 4:207–218). Anti KDR monoclonal antibodies inhibited VEGF induced signaling and demonstrated high anti-tumor activity (Witte et al., (1998) Cancer & Metast. Reviews 17:155–161; U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,301). Soluble Fit receptor (U.S. Pat. No. 5,861,484), fragments of VEGF (U.S. Pat. No. 5,240,848) have been shown to inhibit factor/receptor interaction and angiogenesis in vivo. Anti VEGF antisense oligonucleotide was designed to inhibit VEGF expression and VEGF induced neovascularization (U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,756).
The present invention describes a new ligand for VEGF receptor-1 and similar receptors with is useful for targeted delivery of therapeutics. Such treatment should be as devoid as possible of undesired side effects such as those associated with conventional chemotherapy and some of the experimental biotherapies.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Ligand for vascular endothelial growth factor receptor


A toy building system with function bricks adapted to perform a function in response to a mechanical trigger action; sensor bricks with a sensor adapted to produce an output in response to a mechanical trigger action; and logic bricks with an input responsive to a sensor brick output and adapted to perform a logic function on the sensor brick output and to produce a logic output. The sensor brick output and the logic brick output are arranged in a first uniform manner relative to the coupling means, and the sensor output action and the logic output action are of uniform physical nature. The logic brick input and the function brick input are arranged in a second uniform manner relative to the coupling means. The function brick input is responsive to a logic brick output and adapted to perform the function in response to a logic brick output.

Such toy building systems have been known for decades. The simple building blocks have been supplemented with dedicated building elements with either a specific appearance or a mechanical or electrical function to enhance the play value. Such functions include e.g. motors, switches and lamps, but also programmable processors that accept input from sensors and can activate function elements in response to received sensor inputs.
Self-contained function building elements exist which have a function device adapted to perform a preconfigured function, an energy source for providing energy to the function device for performing the function, and a trigger responsive to an external trigger event to trigger the function device to perform the function. Typically, such known function building elements are designed for manual activation of the trigger and only provide a limited play value.
It is thus the purpose of the invention to provide a toy building system with new building elements that are suitable for use in the system, and that will enhance the play value of the system.

Toy building system with function bricks


Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. In some examples, a user equipment (UE) may receive, from a base station, a configuration associated with a layer to reference signal port mapping. In some cases, the UE may identify, based at least in part on the configuration, that at least one layer of a set of layers for receiving a downlink transmission from the base station is adapted based on at least one interference layer. In some cases, the adapted layer may be mapped to one or more reference signal ports. The UE may receive the downlink transmission and may decode the downlink transmission based on identifying that the at least one layer is adapted and the layer to reference signal port mapping.

The following relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to signaling design for non-linear precoding schemes.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform-spread-OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In some wireless communications systems, such as NR or millimeter wave (mmW) systems, a base station may communicate with a UE using a scheme for multiple user transmission. Multiple user transmission may include a transmission from a base station supporting more than one UE simultaneously using the same frequency band. Current techniques for performing wireless communications in wireless communications systems, in certain instances, are sensitive to spatial separation between different UEs. Thus, it may be challenging to perform wireless communications with certain UEs located spatially close to each other in certain systems based on the lack of orthogonality between various transmissions. Therefore improved techniques for communicating may be desired.

Signaling design for non-linear precoding schemes


A modular paneling assembly and method of applying same is provided. The modular paneling assembly includes at least one elongated panel member, upper and lower rails defining upper and lower recesses, respectively, the upper and lower recesses spaced apart a distance greater than the distance between upper and lower edge portions of the panel member, such that the panel member is removably retained in the recesses when supported by the bottom rail. The method of applying the paneling assembly includes the steps of mounting the upper and lower rails to a mounting surface, inserting the upper edge portion of the panel member into the upper recess and inserting the lower edge portion of the panel member into the lower recess.

There are many known advantages to using cedar wood to line the interior of a storage area for clothing, accessories, and other valuables. Cedar is a lightweight and dimensionally stable wood that lies flat and stays straight. Contrary to many other wood species, cedar resists the natural tendency to crack and check over time. In addition, most cedar wood is resistive to bacterial and fungal growth and contains natural oils that serve as preservatives to help the wood resist rot and decay. Naturally occurring organic compounds contained in cedar wood give off a richly distinct cedar aroma that smells good to humans, but makes the wood highly unattractive to insects, moths and other pests.
Although it is highly desirable to line the interior of a storage area with cedar wood, known methods for accomplishing this objective are typically complex and can be very expensive. Thus, unfortunately, many individuals that want to install a cedar closet liner are forced to pay expensive labor costs for professional installation by a carpenter or the like.
In addition, the beneficial aspects of cedar wood described above tend to degrade over time. As such, individuals looking to replace an old existing cedar closet liner are forced to pay expensive labor costs for removal and reinstallation by a professional, such as a carpenter or the like.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method and apparatus for applying a modular paneling assembly that is simple and low cost. It is desirable to provide such a method and apparatus which may be installed using little technical skill or know-how relating to carpentry or the like. It is desirable to provide a modular paneling assembly that may be easily installed in small areas and corners. It is also desirable to provide a modular paneling assembly that facilitates simple removal and replacement of individual panel members which are older or damaged.

Method and apparatus for applying a modular paneling assembly


The present invention relates to a brake disk arrangement for a yarn tensioning device wherein at least one of a pair of opposed facing brake disks can be acted upon by a variable pressing force in the direction of the other brake disk. According to the present invention, rotary motion is transmitted from one brake disk to the other in a simple manner, without affecting the brake force, by connecting to one of the brake disks a concentric magnet that is secured against relative rotation with respect to this brake disk, and by connecting to the other brake disk a concentrically arranged body of hysteresis material which is secured against relative rotation with that brake disk. At least the brake disk that can be acted upon the variable pressing force comprises a nonmagnetic material and is changeable in position axially relative to the magnet or the hysteresis material associated with the disk. In alternate embodiments, both brake disks may be provided with a magnet.

In disk-type braking arrangements in textile yarn tensioning devices, to avoid rapid wear of the surface of the brake disk from the traveling yarn, on the one hand, and to avoid the accumulation of lint or dirt between the brake disks, on the other hand, the brake disks are typically driven to rotate counter to the direction of yarn travel. In order to be able to transmit this drive from one disk to the other, a widely used provision is a central shaft that penetrates both brake disks and simultaneously can act as a cable-type friction brake.
A disadvantage of this arrangement is that fibers and yarns can wrap around this shaft, and that the shaft or its lining, if it is additionally used as a cable-type friction brake, tends to become scored by the yarn over the course of time and hence rendered useless. Up to that time, the braking values vary gradually, causing a gradual deviation from the desired yarn tension values.
In German Patent Document DE 33 29 644 A1, for instance, a yarn tensioning device that does not have this kind of central shaft is described. To be capable of transmitting the rotation of one brake disk to the other, however, this known apparatus has a set of gears that is relatively complicated and expensive.

Rotationally driven brake disk arrangement of a yarn tensioning device


A network switch includes a transmit queue of packets along with indication (e.g. in respective status words) of the type of each packet and its size. An arbitrator includes a counter which is incremented by the size (e.g. in bytes) of each packet of a first type (e.g. xe2x80x98low-lossxe2x80x99) and decremented by a scaled size of each packet of a second type (e.g. xe2x80x98normal lossxe2x80x99). If the queue exceeds a set limit, preferably less than the maximum possible size of the queue, packets are discarded if a scaled packet of the second type exceeds the net content of the counter.

This invention relates to packet-based data communication networks such as for example Ethernet networks and more particularly relates to the organisation and management of traffic queues in network switches.
It is customary, and in most circumstance a practical necessity, for network switches, that is to say devices having a multiplicity of ports for receiving data packets and arranged to forward data packets from one or more ports, to provide some temporary storage of packets in a queue for each xe2x80x9ctransmittingxe2x80x9d port. It should be understood that switches commonly have ports which are capable of duplex operation and the term xe2x80x9ctransmitting portxe2x80x9d is intended to refer to the transmit function of a port which is capable of duplex operation.
It is desirable for a variety of reasons to sort traffic data into different types, that is to say high priority and low priority or normal loss and low loss packets. It is inevitable in a practical system that a network or part of it may become congested and in order to relieve that congestion it may be necessary to discard packets rather than to store and forward them normally. The criteria for discard may vary according to the sorting which is desired. For example, network switches may be remote or internally controlled by means of special packets known as xe2x80x9cmanagement framesxe2x80x9d which may normally be given a high priority, and thereby immunity against discard. Alternatively, certain packets (for example those defining video data) must be transmitted with a minimum or constant latency. As a practical matter it is better to discard such packets rather than to transmit them with excessive delay, since many television systems are capable of reconstituting (by extrapolation or interpolation) missing video data whereas cannot properly handle data which is received out of proper synchronism.
It is in theory possible to provide for each transmitting port of a switch a multiplicity of queues of packets sorted according to traffic type, but such an expedient has a disadvantage of adding more memory in respect of each port. Such a solution is particularly undesirable where traffic queues are implemented within an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) rather than external memory. Furthermore, adding memory to a port does not scale easily if there are for example four queues per port.
The basis of the present invention is to employ for at least one port, and optionally in respect of a multiplicity of ports, a FIFO queue which can support at least two categories of traffic sorted according to traffic type, such as low and normal loss. The terms xe2x80x98low lossxe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98normal lossxe2x80x99 are used herein to denote packets of which xe2x80x98normal lossxe2x80x99 packets should be discarded in preference to low loss packets. The invention further contemplates use of a threshold or xe2x80x9cwatermarkxe2x80x9d and a packet ratio counter which counts the ratio of the aggregate sizes of the respective traffic types, for example in bytes. Thus the FIFO queue can accept both low and normal loss packets up to the threshold or watermark, which is preferably programmable. Accordingly, in an uncongested system, no packet will be lost.
Once the length of FIFO queue exceeds the threshold, the system enables a decision to be made whether to accept or discard a packet. A counter (or a set of counters) may be used to form a net aggregate of the accumulated traffic flow of one type and a scaled traffic flow of the other type, the scaling being made in accordance with the desired ratio. The counter may be incremented by the size of every accepted packet of one type and decremented by a scaled packet size of another type. The net aggregate is used to make a decision whether to accept or discard a packet of said other type. In particular, a scaled packet may be compared with said net aggregate and be discarded or transmitted according as the scaled packet size is greater than said net aggregate or not.
These and further features of the invention will be more apparent from the following description by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Method and apparatus for controlling traffic queues in network switches


The present invention relates to a method of producing and loading silk particles, preferably spider silk particles, with a compound. In particular, the present invention provides a novel two step method for loading silk particles, preferably spider silk particles, with small and water-soluble compounds. Also disclosed are silk particles, preferably spider silk particles, loaded with at least one compound which are eminently suited as carriers for controlled and sustained delivery applications. Furthermore, the invention relates to pharmaceutical or cosmetic compositions comprising said silk particles, preferably spider silk particles, and a pharmaceutically active compound or cosmetic compound for controlled and sustained release. The present invention is also directed to silk particles, preferably spider silk particles, loaded with a compound obtainable by the method according to the invention.

In the past years sophisticated drug depot systems for controlled delivery of substances have been developed, for example to achieve constant drug levels in plasma during therapy. These systems have the advantage of reducing toxic side effects so that the number of drug administrations can be decreased, while at the same time improving cellular uptake and bioavailability. Especially colloidal micro- and nanoparticulate carriers have been extensively investigated as a platform for controlled drug delivery. There is also an ongoing quest to design nano- or microparticles which facilitate controlled release of substances other than pharmaceutical compounds. In general, the material employed as carrier for controlled and sustained release of a substance should offer control of structure, morphology and function, while also exhibiting good mechanical stability.
For example, biodegradable and biocompatible polymers are preferred because of their ability to retain their properties for a limited period of time before gradually decomposing into soluble nontoxic degradation products which can be excreted from the body. Many synthetic (aliphatic polyesters, polyglycolic acid (PGA), polylactid acid (PLA), etc.) and natural (polysaccharides, chitin, chitosan, proteins) polymers have been employed to produce degradable vehicles for encapsulation, incorporation or binding of active compounds [Freiberg, S., Zhu, X. X. Polymer microspheres for controlled drug release. International Journal of Pharmaceutics 2004; 282(1-2):1-18].
While synthetic polymers potentially posses the feature of sustained release of the encapsulated therapeutic agent from a period of days up to several months, they typically demand organic solvents or relatively harsh formulation conditions during processing with potentially limited biocompatibility because of remaining toxic solvents and acidic degradation products.
A further advance in the art was to consider natural polymers which have the advantage of being biocompatible. However, most biopolymers known at present have a major drawback, namely that they resolubilize rapidly in aqueous environment due to their hydrophilic nature, thus resulting in fast drug release profiles. In order to circumvent this problem, chemical cross-linking procedures have been considered. Unfortunately, the presence of residual cross-linking agents can lead to toxic side effects. In addition, undesirable reactions between the drug and the cross-linker could result in the formation of either toxic or inactivated derivatives.
The use of hydrophobic biopolymers as carriers for sustained drug release has also been investigated in the art. For example, silk proteins have been considered as being suitable biopolymers. In particular, silk proteins from spiders and insects, especially Bombyx mori fibroin, have been tested for their ability to deliver drugs and other substances.
For example, silk microspheres consisting of silkworm fibroin for encapsulation and controlled release of a model protein drug has been described in the art. These silk fibroin microspheres with diameters of several microns are obtained by a method using lipid vesicles as a template [Wang, X., Silk microspheres for encapsulation and controlled release. Journal of Controlled Release 2007; 117(3): 360-370].
Larger silk fibroin particles with diameters ranging from 100 to 440 μm and improved loading efficiencies have also been described in the art. However, the preparation techniques for producing these particles are highly sophisticated and lack scalability [Wenk, E., Silk fibroin spheres as a platform for controlled drug delivery. Journal of controlled release 2008; 132(1):26-34].
WO 2007/014755 describes a method of producing nano- and microscapsules consisting of spider silk proteins. These capsules with sizes of several microns are composed of an outer spider silk protein shell and can generally be filled with substances such as proteins or chemical reactants. The microcapsules are formed by the encapsulation of emulsion droplets resulting in hollow spider silk protein shells.
WO 2007/0829223 relates to the use of protein microbeads in cosmetics. In particular, this international patent application describes protein microbeads composed of synthetic spider silk proteins for delivery of cosmetic substances [Hümmerich, D., Primary structure elements of spider dragline silks and their contribution to protein solubility. Biochemistry 2004 Oct. 26; 43(42): 13604-13612]. Similarly, WO 2007/082923 describes the use of protein microbeads for formulating poorly water-soluble effect substances. In both patent applications, the water-insoluble effect substances can be either associated with or encapsulated in the protein microbeads. The association of the substances to these beads is mainly due to hydrophobic interactions. This encapsulation strategy has the basic disadvantage that the loaded substances are only released upon proteolysis of the protein microbeads by the activity of proteases which makes a constant and controlled release difficult. A further problem is that this system is only suitable for the formulation of mainly water-insoluble substances.
Hence, there is a strong need in the field to provide a novel method of producing micro- or submicroparticles with improved qualities. In particular, there is still an ongoing quest to produce nano-scaled particles which are biocompatible and biodegradable as well as being stable carriers for small and water soluble compounds. There is also a need to provide a suitable method of loading silk particles, e.g. spider silk particles, effectively with a compound of interest. The silk particles, e.g. spider silk particles, should also be capable of releasing the loaded compound controllably and sustainably.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and simple drug delivery system which takes into account all of the above criteria. The present invention, therefore, provides a novel method of producing silk particles, preferably spider silk particles, loaded with a compound. More particularly, the method comprises the steps of providing silk particles, preferably spider silk particles, comprising one or more silk polypeptides, preferably spider silk polypeptides, comprising at least two identical repetitive units, and incubating said silk particles, preferably spider silk particles, with at least one compound, wherein the compound is water-soluble and has a molecular weight of between about 50 Da and about 20 kDa.
Surprisingly, one major advantage of the silk carrier system according to the invention is that these particles can be produced and loaded within an all-aqueous system and under ambient condition. This is particularly important with regard to the loading of labile compounds as well as to the overall biocompability of the product. The silk particles, e.g. spider silk particles, of the invention have revealed unexpected loading efficiencies for small and water-soluble compounds. Surprisingly, the silk particles, e.g. spider silk particles, obtained by the method according to the invention have further demonstrated a most favourable release profile, rendering them eminently suitable for controlled and sustained delivery of a compound. The produced silk particles, e.g. spider silk particles, are, therefore, very well suited for delivery of pharmaceutical and cosmetic compounds. Due to their colloidal stability and biocompability under physiological conditions, the loaded silk particles, e.g. spider silk particles, according to the invention are especially suitable for in vivo applications.

Silk particles for controlled and sustained delivery of compounds


A servo system for detecting and demodulating servo data is disclosed. In illustrated aspects, a demodulation circuit or portion includes a correlator component configured to output a correlation of a sequence of equalized channel samples with a sequence of correlator weight derived based on at least one mapped channel sequence. A decision component, for example a threshold detector uses the correlation results to output a data bit symbol based upon the correlation of the sequence of equalized channel samples to the at least one mapped channel sequence.

Data storage devices use servo data to position a head relative to a data storage medium for read or write operations. During operation, a servo demodulator receives a readback signal to detect servo data associated with each track to position the head and to make sure that the head is in the vicinity of the track center. The servo data includes, for example, Servo Address Mark (SAM), Servo Index Mark (SIM) and Track IDs associated with each data track. The SAM, SIM and Track IDs are detected using a symbol mapping and an associated detection algorithm. As the demand for greater storage density increases, prior symbol mapping and detection algorithms require more redundancy which reduces servo format efficiency. Aspects of the present invention provide solutions to these and other problems, and offer other advantages over the prior art.

Detection of servo data for a servo system


A code cell is selected from a program code. The code cell is a contiguous subsection of code. To select the code cell from the program code, a first indicator is placed in the program code prior to the beginning of the code cell and a second indicator is placed in the program code after the end of the code cell. The code cell is edited to obtain an edited code cell. The edited code cell is analyzed, without saving the program code, to produce a result. The result is provided.

Program development is an iterative process engaged in by a program developer in a program development environment. The process of creating executable code requires a significant amount of time on the part of the developer in running different versions of the code. The developer will frequently add or subtract different lines of code and or alter values for variables in the code in an effort to reach a desired result or optimize the execution of a piece of code. For developers in an interpreted language development environment, this editing and execution process will frequently take place either from a command line or from an editor. An interpreted language environment executes code line by line with an interpreter without first compiling the entirety of the code. The command line in an interpreted language development environment allows a line by line execution of the code and may allow the code to be resolved to a small number of commands appearing in a command window. The editor groups many lines of code together for the program developer to access and alter as needed.
Unfortunately, both the command line and the editor have drawbacks for developers in an interpreted program development environment. With the command line, output appears in place, but there is no line-by-line grouping. As a result, the scope of the code is difficult to track. With the editor, many lines may be grouped together, but the developer/user is required to name and save the file each time prior to attempting to execute the code so that it can be analyzed. This requires the developer's mental effort and also generates large amounts of unwanted data on the system from leftover code versions.

System and method for cell-based code editing and publishing


Collaborative electronic mail messages are fully integrated into traditional electronic mail on the client end. The collaborative electronic mail allows users to have online discussions without the clutter of numerous related individual electronic mails in the inbox, while at the same time reducing any deviation from the electronic mail user interface as seen by the end users.

Electronic mail, commonly referred to as "email", has become an invaluable source of communication in the modem world. Email generally refers to an electronic version of a letter that is communicated from the sender's computer to one or more recipients' computers, possibly via multiple intermediary computers or computing devices. Email has numerous advantages—it allows communications to occur much more quickly than the traditional postal service, while at the same time allowing for the creation of a record of communications between sender and recipient.
Email, however, is not without its problems. One such problem is that users often like to carry out discussions via email. These discussions start, for example, with one email message sent to a group of recipients. One of the recipients responds to the email message with some comments, and sends the response to all of the recipients (and the original sender). Again, another recipient may respond to these new comments with some additional comments, and send this response to all of the other recipients (including the original sender and the sender of the first comments). Typical email systems forward messages by optionally including the text of the original message(s), as well as a list of all the recipients, subject, date and time, etc. This can result in many different email messages being sent to each individual participating in the discussion, and can result in long threads of messages that often include redundant information.
One possible solution to this problem is to store electronic mail content for a collaborative discussion on a centralized storage server (e.g., a web server or SQL server) and simply pass around a pointer to that storage in the electronic mail message. When a participant replies to the electronic mail the storage is updated and notification may be sent to the participants, which in turn can examine the latest status of the collaborative discussion by de-referencing the pointer to the storage sent around in the notification (or the original electronic mail). This can considerably simplify the ability to track discussions and facilitate collaborative decision making while at the same time avoiding electronic mail clutter.
However, there are problems with this approach. Without appropriate innovation, there are client-side user interface (UI) and interpretation issues, and server-side problems. One problem is that these web documents are hosted at a single location, providing a centralized model for distribution of the web documents. This is contrary to typical electronic mail systems which follow a distributed model in which copies of electronic mail messages are stored in multiple distributed locations (based on the individual recipients and authors of the messages). Being based on a centralized model, such electronic communications are not well-integrated into the users' distributed email systems. Many inconsistencies and duplications can arise due to this poor integration. For example, controls that users are accustomed to having displayed on the toolbars or menus of their email programs are duplicated (although possibly with different functionality) within the web document. Such duplications and inconsistencies result in a rather user-unfriendly interface that can be confusing and non-intuitive.
The invention described below addresses these disadvantages, integrating collaborative messaging into an electronic mail system.

Integrating collaborative messaging into an electronic mail program


A method for communicating data between Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices in a network (100) including multiple nodes (200, 202). The method includes starting a scan mode at a first node (200) having data to send; and determining whether data to send has been transmitted to the first node from an upstream node or a downstream node. If the data to send was received from a downstream node, the first node begins a scan mode. If the data to send was received from an upstream node, the first node begins an ADV event.

The present disclosure relates to Bluetooth networks, particularly to methods of communication between Bluetooth devices in a Bluetooth low energy network.
The Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) specification is a set of standards for wireless network technologies operating within the 2.4-2.4835 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. BLE is designed to considerably reduce power consumption compared to legacy, or "Classic", Bluetooth® devices.
Applications for the BLE specification include healthcare, security, fitness, and home entertainment. Within these applications, devices may utilise Bluetooth mesh profiles to communicate with other BLE devices in a network. Each device in the network can transfer data between other devices in the network, creating a so-called "mesh".
A number of previous applications have attempted to address various issues such as increasing the speed at which a connection between BLE devices is established and for avoiding data packet collision.
According to the specification, a BLE device operates across 40 channels in the 2.4 GHz band, each mapped onto a set of RF (radio frequency) channel index values 0, 1, . . . , 39. Channels 0 to 36 are used for the transmission of data while channels 37, 38, and 39 are for the transmission of advertising (ADV) events.
The term "node" as used herein may refer to any device that may have BLE capability. Such devices may include smartphones, smart plugs, light bulbs, laptops, home entertainment devices or any other device that can connect to a BLE network. A node may also be able to communicate in other wireless networks, such as Wi-Fi® networks or cellular networks. A node may also be able to communicate via the Internet through such networks.
In the status quo, when a node does not have any data to send, it operates in a mode termed the "default mode". The default mode includes periodical ADV events and a low power state between the ADV events. Otherwise, if the node does have data to send, the node periodically sends periodic ADV events and inserts a scan mode between the ADV events. The scan mode is the mode in which the node is able to receive advertising packets from other nodes. The period of time over which this occurs is known as a scan window.
The ADV event comprises transmitting an ADV packet on one of the ADV channels. A first node may advertise sequentially on some or all of the three ADV channels. Similarly, if the first node is in the scan mode, the scan may occur sequentially on some or all of the three ADV channels.
If a second node is in the scan mode and detects an ADV packet sent by the first node, the second node may communicate with the first node and a data session between the first and second nodes may be established. Once the data session has been established, data can then be transferred between the first and second nodes.
These rules enable a fast data session setup for data exchanges while minimizing a node's energy consumption.
In this standard regime, there is a significant chance of ADV packet collision between two nodes, leading to a failed data session setup. This is because ADV events are limited to three transmission channels. This problem can be exacerbated if the ADV interval (the time between ADV events) is short or if multiple nodes have synchronised ADV cycles. In both of these cases, the chance for ADV packet collision and, therefore, data session setup failure, is increased. To minimise this problem, the BLE specification includes a random delay of up to 10 ms before an ADV event to randomize the ADV's start time and reduce the likelihood of ADV packet collision. Such a method however is inefficient for the short ADV interval and synchronous ADV cycles cases.

Method and system for data transfer in a Bluetooth low energy network


A charging device, a method for controlling a charging device, and a method for detecting a peripheral device are provided. The charging device comprises: a charging gun; a power module; and a controlling module coupled with the charging gun and the power module, wherein the controlling module is configured to determine whether the charging gun is connected with a peripheral device to be charged, and if yes, to control the power module to convert AC electricity to DC electricity to charge the peripheral device. A method for controlling a charging device is also provided. The method comprises: determining whether the charging gun is connected with a peripheral device; and if yes, controlling the power module to convert AC electricity to DC electricity to charge the peripheral device if the charging gun is determined to be connected to the peripheral device.

As electric vehicles become competitive alternatives to conventional vehicles, charging cabinets are developed to safely and efficiently charge electric vehicles.
A traditional charging cabinet needs to meet different charging requirements for different electric vehicles, which leads to the possibility of charging fault. In addition, the anode and the cathode of a charging entrance of the electric vehicle may be reversely connected during manufacturing or after a repair, which may result in an abnormal charging. Therefore, extensive diagnosis for the charging entrance before the charging is needed. Besides, since traditional charging cabinet is inconvenient to move because of huge size, the electric vehicle must be moved into the charging cabinet to perform the diagnosis, which is inconvenient.
In addition, the inventor of the present disclosure found that traditional charging cabinet can only detect whether the charging entrance is abnormal, but cannot determine where charging fault, if any, appears. Therefore, the charging cabinet needs to be manually checked to confirm where the charging fault appears, which is both time-consuming and expensive.
Therefore, there is a need for a charging device which not only can efficiently and reliably charge electric vehicles, but also allows easy monitoring of its working state.

Charging device, method for controlling charging device and method for detecting peripheral device


An eaves beam with framing which includes an eaves beam with an upper member and a lower member. The framing is comprised of an upper beam and a lower beam. The eaves beam can be pre-attached to the framing, allowing for a more efficient installation.

Typically glazed roofs are assembled on-site. The walls, supporting posts, rafters and beams are assembled to form a complete conservatory roof and enclosed structure. The beam rafters and panels of the glazed roof are then assembled at the job site.
On-site construction is problematic simply because it is very labor intensive and requires a great deal of time to ensure that everything is properly installed to prevent leakage and other like problems. Even with relative small roofs, such as a bay window roof, on-site fabrication is required and can be expensive due to the labor costs.


Embodiments of the present invention are directed to a unified messaging proxy and a method thereof. The unified messaging proxy advantageously enables a user to be communicatively coupled with the same account on a messaging platform using multiple end user devices at the same time, allowing the user to read messages on a first end user device and send messages from a second end user device. The unified messaging proxy manages the multiple end user devices and intercepts all messages to and from the multiple end user devices and the messaging platform. From its perspective, the messaging platform only sees a single client messaging application.

Some prior art instant messaging solutions are not designed for multiple devices usage. These prior art instant messaging solutions were designed decades ago with no mobility in mind. As such, by design, a session cannot be connected to more than one device, preventing a user from reading messages on both of his PC and mobile device at the same time. For example, if the user begins messaging using the PC, messages associated with the open session will be received on the PC. However, if the user continues messaging using the mobile device, messages thereafter will be received on the mobile device rather than on the PC since the connection between with the messaging service and the PC will become disconnected. The messaging service typically only allows connection from the last connected device, thereby disconnecting the connection from the previously connected device.
End user devices are getting cheaper, smarter and ubiquitous, and owning multiple end user device is becoming prevalent. It is not uncommon to use one end user device to access everything. It is also not uncommon to use multiple end user devices to access one thing, including a messaging service. Thus, there is a need for a unified messaging proxy, a system and a method thereof.

Unified messaging proxy, a system and a method thereof


A plurality of modular units are connected together on a slightly sloped drainage field with a perforated header pipe at the lower side conveying water away from the drainage system. An impermeable flexible liner cushioned on both sides is located below the modular units. The modular units are each made up of rigid boxes that have connecting cross slots at the bottom thereof and vertical perforations there through. The rigid boxes are lined with a drainage fabric that is site specific and have an expanded geosynthetic material therein, which is held in place when filled with porous granular material. High flexural strength mats are connected together over the tops of the modular units. An air inlet pipe connects air to the cross slots, down the sloped drainage field, to the header pipe to drain water from the bulk granular material resting on the high flexural strength mats. The entire system may be quickly disassembled, moved to a different location, and reassembled with the number of modular units being changed according to the circumstances.

After production of bulk granular material, whether by mining, crushing or some other process, many times water or other fluids needs to be removed from the bulk granular material. For example, frac sand is used in the hydraulic process known as "fracing" to produce petroleum fields. Most frac sand has a large amount of moisture which needs to be removed prior to shipping. The frac sand may be washed to remove fine particles. After washing, the frac sand is put in piles to allow the water to drain therefrom.
Other industries also require the draining of bulk granular material. For example, during coal mining, water is sprayed to control coal dust. Upon removing coal from the mine, the water needs to be removed prior to shipment. The present portable drain system can be used to remove the water from the mined coal.
There are many other types of bulk granular materials that need to be drained for removal of liquids prior to shipment. The drainage of bulk granular material is common in the construction, mining or agricultural industries. For example, after diatomaceous earth is removed from the ground, it needs to have water removed. Fertilizers, whether natural or synthetic, need to be drained and dried prior to packaging and shipment. While a heater may remove some of the final moisture content, the majority of the moisture can be removed by a drainage system. For most bulk granular materials, a majority of the moisture can be removed by the portable drainage system as shown in the present invention.

Portable drainage system for bulk granular materials


An method and an apparatus for measuring the partial pressure of gases dissolved in liquids in plants for carrying out biotechnological and food technological processes includes a measuring space which is separated by a gas-permeable diaphragm which is permeable for the gas to be determined. A light emission source produces a light ray with a wavelength which is absorbed by the gas to be determined. The light ray is directed into the measuring space. A measuring device is provided for determining the light ray leaving the measuring space. The measuring space, the light emission and the measuring device are arranged in a rod-shaped probe. The probe is capable of being sterilized. The measuring space is filled with a fluid which does not chemically react with the gas to be determined.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for measuring the partial gas pressure in liquid media.
2. Description of the Related Art
Primarily in the field of fermentation technology, it has increasingly been found necessary to carry out the measurement of gases through the determination of the partial pressure. For example, special probes have been developed for the determination of the partial oxygen pressure and the partial carbon dioxide pressure. A widely used example of these probes are the so-called Severinghaus electrodes. These devices operate with diaphragm-covered single-rod pH-electrodes. (DE-OS 25 08 637, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 22(1980), 2411-2416, Biotechnol. Bioeng. 23(1981), 461-466). In this system, an electrolyte solution or an electrolyte paste is located between the gas-selective diaphragm and the pH-electrode. The measuring principle is based on the fact that in an aqueous solution carbon dioxide forms carbonic acid which dissociates into a bicarbonate anion and a proton. This process results in the electrolyte solution in a pH-value change which is measured by means of the pH-probe. The disadvantage of this measuring principle is the fact that carbon dioxide is not measured directly, but in its ionic form. Since the portion of the ionic form is below 0.1%, this method is not sufficiently accurate. In addition, other volatile acid or basic gases impair the pH-value measurement. Also, the maintenance costs are very high.
Also known from the prior art are pCO.sub.2 -optodes. These optodes also include a diaphragm-covered sensor system (SPIE Vol.798 Fiber Optic Sensors II (1987) p. 249/252; Anal. Chim. Acta 160 (1984) p. 305-309; Proc. Int. Meeting on Chemical Sensors, Fukuoka, Japan, Elsevier, p. 609-619, (1983), Talanta 35(1988)2 p. 109-112. Anal. Chem. 65(1993) p.331-337, Fresenius Z. Anal. Chem. 325(1986) p.387-392). The pH-optodes use as indicator phase pH-indicators which change their absorption properties or fluorescence properties in dependence on the proton concentration (Anal. Chem. 52(1980) S. 864-869, DE-OS 3 343 636 and 3 343 637. U.S. Pat. No. 855,364). When the indicator is separated from the substance being measured by means of a gas-permeable diaphragm, only gases, for example, carbon dioxide, can pass through the diaphragm to the indicator phase and can produce in the indicator phase a pH-value change by hydrolysis. The operation of such carbon dioxide optodes is analogous to the Severinghaus electrodes. The disadvantages of optical pH-measurements and, thus, pCO.sub.2 -measurements, are the very limited analytic measuring range and the dependency on ionic strength. The disadvantages already mentioned in connection with the Severinghaus electrodes also prevent the wide use of the optodes.
A differential pressure gage for the determination of carbonic acid is known from German Offenlegungsschrift 2 435 493. However, this device can only be used in flowing media. Accordingly, the device is particularly not suitable for use in conventional stirring or stationary reactors, as they are used particularly in the fermentation industry.
German Offenlegungsschrift 2 926 138 discloses a device for the continuous measurement for the content of dissolved carbon dioxide in liquids. The measuring principle is based on the determination of the conductivity differential. The device is equipped with a diaphragm, wherein liquid containing dissolved carbon dioxide flows against one side of the diaphragm and a neutral or basic measuring liquid flows against the other side of the diaphragm. A conductivity transducer each is arranged in the flow path of the measuring liquid in front of and following the permeable diaphragm. This measurement has the disadvantage that it is not suitable for liquids which change their chemical and physical properties.
In addition, it is known from European patent application 0 462 755 to determine gases, such as CO.sub.2, by infrared absorption measurement. In this measurement, a ray of infrared light is conducted through the fluid to be measured. The light ray is divided into two or more components. These divided light rays are then measured. This measuring arrangement has the disadvantage that is does not permit the measurement of partial pressures and that it is sensitive to dispersive particles of the sample liquid.
The division into two ray paths is already known from GB 2 194 333. In this method, only one light ray is conducted through the substance to be measured. The remaining radiation is used as reference light in order to increase the accuracy.
Also known in the art is a so-called chopped gas analysis device which also operates with luminescence diodes (Laser und Optoelektronik 17(1985)3, p. 308-310, Wiegleb, G.: Einsatz von LED-Strahlungsquellen in Analysengeraten [Use of LED-radiation sources in analysis devices]).
The known devices and methods have in common that they only measure concentrations. The substance to be measured is placed directly and measured in the path of radiation. This is possible for gases and liquids without dispersive particles with media-constant compositions in which disturbances can be taken into consideration by a blank value. However, the above-described optical methods are not capable of determining partial pressures. Also not possible is a use for liquids having compositions which change with the media and which contain particles which render the liquid turbid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,759 discloses a measuring probe in which a measuring volume is defined by a diaphragm. Substances to be detected can diffuse through the diaphragm into the measuring volume where they react chemically with a sensing reagent. Thus, for example, a CO.sub.2 measurement is based on a change of the pH value. The change of the reagent is then determined by measuring. This system has the disadvantage that the chemical sensing reagent is required. The sensing reagent and the diffusion process lead to a relatively long response time to the changes of the partial pressure in the sample space, wherein the response time may be in the order of magnitude of seconds to minutes because of the required diffusion into the measuring chamber. Another problem is the use in the case of very high partial pressures, because in that case too much light is absorbed and the measuring signal is too weak as a result.
Also known and described in the art is the analytic method of attenuated total reflectants (ATR). The measurement utilizes the phenomenon of the formation of evanescent waves or surface waves at the border surface between two optically differently dense media. In a medium having a high refraction number, a light ray is reflected back into the optically denser medium at the border surface to an optically thinner medium if the angle between the incident light ray and the perpendicular to the border surface exceeds the border angle of the total reflection. However, a portion of the light rays penetrate into the surrounding thinner medium by a few wave lengths and are only there reflected back into the optically denser medium. If light-absorbing substances are present in the area of this short light path, the reflected portion of the light becomes smaller. This weakening can be detected and correlated to the quantity of the absorbed substance.
A number of embodiments of the method for utilizing this light absorption phenomena are known in the art. Most ATR devices contain crystals, usually trapezoidally cut prisms. In DE-OS 42 27 813, very simple geometric shapes are described for the ATR element. Commercially available plane-convex microlenses of glass or of synthetic material, having the shape of hemispheres, are used.
In DE-OS 44 18 180, a cube corner reflector in the form of a triple prism is used. The advantage of this arrangement is its compact construction. The emitted light is deflected by 18.degree.. This makes it possible to use the arrangement in a thin rod. Light wave conductors are used for supplying the light to be introduced and for removing the residual light.
DE-OS 40 38 354 discloses an ATR probe which does not use any prisms, lenses or similar components. The light is also conveyed through light conductors. The light conductors for supplying and removing light and the actual ATR sensor are composed of a common light conducting fiber, wherein the casing of the light conductor is removed in the area of the probe which does participate in the reaction. The light wave conductor is mechanically supported and is arranged in a probe body within a measuring chamber, so that the light wave conductor is in contact with the medium to be examined.
It is also known in the art to determine the CO.sub.2 concentration in liquids by means of weakened total reflection (The Chemical Engineer 498 (1991) page 18). In a flow measuring cell for fluid substances, for example, beer, an attenuated total reflectance crystal (sapphire-ART) is arranged perpendicularly of the flow direction. The infrared light which is supplied at one side to the crystal travels through the crystal and is totally reflected several times. Each reflection causes the radiation to penetrate into the sample liquid by several .mu.m and is weakened by the carbondioxide present in the substance The residual light liquids or gases can be used in the same manner. The type of the fluids depends on the gases to be measured.
In accordance with another preferred feature of the present invention, luminescent diodes are used as the light emission source. The use of these devices has the following advantages:
The emission has a relatively narrow band width, i.e., the use of interference filters is not absolutely necessary for selectively determining the respective gas. Because of the relatively low current consumption, it is possible in principle to construct the measuring arrangement with battery operation. A decisive advantage as compared to conventional infrared sources is the high constancy of power. Therefore, it may be possible to omit a reference circuit or to set up compensation circuits without moving parts. Such a system is less susceptible to mechanical trouble. At the same time, the high constancy of power ensures a long operation without recalibration. The luminescent diodes have such a small dimension that coupling of the light into optical waveguides is possible without problems. Thus, the sensitive components can be positioned externally and are not subject to the thermal and mechanical loads of a vapor sterilization.

Apparatus for measuring the partial pressure of gases dissolved in liquids


A method for generating and managing at least one user-defined plugin container is provided. The method may include generating the user-defined plugin container. The method may further include registering the generated user-defined plugin container, and at least one routing policy associated with the generated user-defined plugin container, on at least one gateway. Additionally, the method may include activating the registered user-defined plugin container and the registered at least one routing policy. The method may also include deploying the activated user-defined plugin container. The method may further include receiving at least one transaction via the at least one gateway. The method may also include routing the received at least one transaction to the deployed user-defined plugin container. The method may further include processing the received at least one transaction using the user-defined plugin container. The method may also include presenting the processed at least one transaction to at least one device.

The present invention relates generally to the field of computing, and more specifically, to gateway plugins.
Generally, one of the key functions of a gateway in a cloud system is to serve as a platform for cloud system administrators and application owners to manipulate the transactions that pass in and out of the cloud. For this purpose, gateway products are allowed to run customized functions provided by users. Specifically, users may define customized functions for the gateway using two types of services: plugin service and external service. For example, using the plugin service, gateway products may enable users to define functions for a plugin and upload the plugin to the gateway for execution. Alternatively, users may set up an external service and enable the gateway to forward incoming transactions to the external service for execution.

International Business Machines Corporation


Use of monovalent salts of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids C.sub.10 -C.sub.18 as external lubricants in granules formulation based on acrylic polymers for injection molding at temperatures from 180.degree. C.-220.degree. C. of articles having a thickness greater than 10 mm, preferably the lubricant amount is from 10 to 100 ppm; and related compositions.

It is well known that for preparing articles of acrylic polymers, for instance polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), with high thickness, low molding temperatures are generally recommended for the reasons listed hereinafter:
articles are obtained with higher optical purity, as the degradation of the material is minimized and therefore the yellowing of the same is minimized; PA1 cooling times in the mold, normally rather long for pieces having a high thickness, are reduced; PA1 eddies, shrinkages and cooling stresses are reduced, because of the lower thermal gradient between melted mass and mold.
The typical molding temperatures normally used for PMMA being in fact of the order of 230.degree.-250.degree. C., and do not allow to obtain articles of high purity, as stressed by the yellow index, even though they show a good aesthetic aspect.
The drawback of molding processes employing low temperatures consists in that strong frictions are generated in the feeding zone with localized overheating causing in a stochastic way on the finished piece white or silver stripes which irreparably compromise the article aesthetics.
In order to overcome this drawback it is known that frictions can be reduced using external lubricants which are added on the granules surface. However the presence of external lubricants, when relatively low molding temperatures are used, causes the appearance of haze in the polymer which is well visible in articles with high thickness. The onset of this diffused haze on the whole piece leads to an article having poor aesthetic characteristics.


The present invention relates to a cleaning robot system of a satellite type. The present invention provides a cleaning robot system of a satellite type that includes a flat autonomous cleaning head, a hose assembly, and a cleaning main body. The flat autonomous cleaning head includes a suction inlet formed in a bottom thereof, a side connector communicating with the suction inlet, travel wheels provided on both side thereof, and variable speed drive motors for driving the travel wheels. The hose assembly is connected to the cleaning head and is at least partially flexible. The cleaning main body is connected to the hose assembly and includes a vacuum pump, a dust collector, a discharge air separator, a power supply, and a controller. Since the cleaning head of the cleaning robot system according to the present invention has a simple structure, it is possible to make the cleaning head thin. Further, since the cleaning robot system has high output of power and high vacuum sucking performance, it is possible to satisfactorily clean the house. Furthermore, the cleaning robot system can perform wet cleaning by ejecting steam, hot water, and wash water, unlike a disk-shaped robot cleaner. Therefore, the cleaning robot system can satisfactorily perform all kinds of cleaning options that can be performed by a manual cleaner. In addition, the cleaning robot system can have a self-washing function to perform self-washing.

A disk-shaped robot cleaner, which can brush and suck dust, is widely used. The robot cleaner can determine regions that need to be cleaned using various sensors to thereby autonomously clean the regions.
In particular, a cleaning mechanism has been improved so that the robot cleaner equally cleans a predetermined region. However, there are basic problems not solved despite the improvement of the navigation mechanism. That is, the robot cleaner should generally have a disk shape with a small height in order to clean a region below furniture such as a bed. Further, since the robot cleaner need recharging, robot cleaner should be operated at low power consumption. Accordingly, it is difficult to expect such satisfactory cleaning performance as achieved when using a high power cleaner. Furthermore, due to the limited electric capacity and spatial limitation of the robot cleaner, it is difficult to select various cleaning options, for example, wet cleaning using steam ejection other than just a vacuum suction. In a worse case, dust cracked finer due to brushing may be dispersed below the furniture.


The invention describes a process of controlled comminution of a particulate solid material in to a milling having particles of predetermined dimensions, and also a milling whirl chamber having two end faces and a cylindrical side wall with at least one nozzle for injection a working fluid into the chamber, means for introducing the particulate solid material into the chamber, a central axial passage for discharge of the comminuted material in a flow of the working fluid from the chamber, and one or more mechanical elements for control of the comminution process in the chamber. The process includes tangential injection of the working fluid in to the chamber, introducing the particulate solid material for creating in the chamber a vortex where the particulate material undergoes comminution in the flow of the working fluid, and control of uniformity of the milling and dimensions of the particles therein by deliberately accelerating or retarding discharge from the chamber of the particles moving in the vortex close to the inner walls of the chamber by the mechanical elements provided in the chamber and adapted to interact with such particles.

In the art under consideration a distinction is made between jet pulverizing systems or jet mills and whirl or vortex chamber mills. In one type of jet mill particles to be comminuted are introduced into the working fluid which is brought up to the high speed in a chamber owing to injecting thereof through one or more Venturi nozzles; moving in the high speed fluid flow, the particles collide with a target which may constitute reflective surfaces and/or other particles moving in different fluid flows in the chamber. In other words, in jet mills the particles are ground owing to the collision effect. Working speeds at which the particles of different materials move and get milled in the fluid flows in jet mills are substantially not less than 150-300 m/s. Such jet mills are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,133,504. In another kind of jet mills the coarse particles are forced to collide with intersecting high speed fluid jets, thus obtaining even a higher resulting speed of interaction, and such technology is described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,926.
Neither of these kinds of jet mills is pertinent prior art with respect to the new technology being the subject of the present patent application.
It is also known to use whirl or vortex chambers in conjunction with jet mills for the classification of the ground material emerging from jet milling. In such combined system the relatively coarse particles are recirculated from the whirling classifier to the jet mill and such systems are described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,219,164, 4,189,102 and 4,664,319. It should be emphasized, that in such systems vortex chambers do not effect the milling operation, but rather the sorting.
Moreover, it has already been known to use whirl or vortex chambers for milling.
One modification of this technology is referred to, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,641, and still constitutes a combination of the jet milling principle with a vortex chamber. A material to be comminuted is introduced into the vortex chamber through a venturi nozzle, i.e. at a speed of about 300 m/s. On the other hand, in the vortex chamber there is created a fluid flow vortex which rotates at a speed being much lower than the above mentioned value. During operation the particles injected into the chamber earlier become involved in the rotation of the relatively slow fluid vortex and thus turn to targets for the particles which continue to be injected through the venturi nozzle at the high speed. Such interaction results in collision between the particles in the vortex and the particles in the jet, i.e. ensures the comminution owing to the collision principle, as in the jet-mills mentioned above.
There are known milling vortex chambers which perform a so-called resonance whirl milling. Such a milling process differs from the jet milling process by a number of specific conditions, for example, by the speed of particles to be comminuted in the fluid flow, which in whirl chambers is considerably lower than that in jet mills. In these chambers there is no need in the high speed injection (through venturi nozzles) of the particles to be comminuted. Speed of the fluid flow in the nozzles of the vortex chamber is usually in the range of 50-130 m/s, and speed of the particles to be comminuted which move in the rotating fluid flow in the chamber is still lower and not greater than 50 m/s. It should be stressed that at such speeds jet mills turn to be totally useless. Owing to such specific conditions prevailing inside the whirl chamber the relatively coarse fed-in solid particles disintegrate spontaneously rather than in consequence of collision between the particles. It is generally believed that this effect is due to the fact that the coarse particles fed into the chamber, while rotating in the vortex, travel back and forth across the vortex thus passing a series of annular concentric zones with different values of fluid pressure so that in the course of their radial movement the particles are subjected to pressure gradients. In the course of a repeated back-and-forth motion a disbalance of pressure builds up in numerous cracks and cavities of the particles leading to gradual loosening of the particles' structure and eventually to spontaneous disintegration. Owing to this special milling principle the vortex chambers enable to comminute there inside such materials as rubber, paper, etc. i.e. the materials which can not be milled by colliding in jet mills. Moreover, super-hard abrasive materials, such as diamonds and boron nitride (BN), which cannot be milled by impact (collision), appeared to be comminutable in the resonance vortex chambers.
WO 94/08719 and SU 1,457,995 describe whirl chamber milling apparatuses fitted with tangential fluid injection nozzles and performing the so-called "resonance vortex grinding". The milling chamber comprises a generally cylindrical body with one or more openings serving for the introduction of a particulate solid matter to be comminuted. During the milling process, particles reaching dimensions substantially close to the required range of the milling are continuously discharged via an axial discharge duct. There may be further provided one or more sound generators placed each in the nozzle for interacting with the incoming fluid flow and thereby enhancing the grinding operation (WO 94/08719), or the chamber may be provided with a rotatable internal side wall adapted for rotation in the direction opposite to the vortex direction (SU 1,457,995).
It should be emphasized, that in each of the mentioned milling whirl chambers the comminution process, once initiated under specific parameters (such as the dimensions of the chamber, the volumetric flow rate and the viscosity of the working fluid, the size of the particles to be comminuted, etc.), will last until all the comminuted material is unloaded from the discharging passage of the chamber. In other words, between the moment the material is loaded to the milling whirl chamber and the moment it is completely discharged therefrom, the milling chamber acts as a black box.
None of the references known from the prior art deals with improving efficacy of the whirl milling chamber apparatuses, as such. More particularly, no means have been mentioned or described in the prior art for controlling the comminution process in the whirl chambers for deliberate adjusting the degree of comminution and uniformity of the milling which is expected to be obtained.

Process and device for controlled cominution of materials in a whirl chamber


A system and method for regulating the erase saturation in a semiconductor memory is disclosed. More particularly, the present invention measures the under-erase and over-erase condition of all SONOS transistors in an array of non-volatile SRAM cells and corrects the erase voltage to prevent over-erase and under-erase.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to non-volatile, static random access memory (nvSRAM) and, more specifically, to providing an erase voltage to the non-volatile SONOS transistors of an nvSRAM so as to prevent under/over erasure.
2. The Relevant Technology
In general, a computer system is comprised of a memory for holding data and programs, a processor for executing the programs or operating on the data held in memory, and an input/output device for facilitating communications between the computer system and a user. There are several different types of digital memories available for use in the memory portion of a computer system. In many instances, the particular application in which the computer system is intended to be used dictates the type of memory that is appropriate for all or a portion of the memory of the computer system. For instance, one application for a computer system in which an nvSRAM may be appropriate is in a portable computer system. Portable computer systems are generally designed to operate, if needed, with power supplied by a battery housed within the system. If the battery becomes incapable of providing power to the system and an alternative source of power is not available, the data held in memory could be come irretrievably lost. In such applications, it is desirable to use an nvSRAM because the static random access memory (SRAM) portion is capable of retaining the data while power is present and providing the performance needed during normal operations, and the non-volatile memory (nv) portion is capable of retaining data for an extended period of time after power has been removed and once power is restored, reestablishing the data in the SRAM portion.
A basic nvSRAM memory device is comprised of (1) a plurality of nvSRAM memory cells; and (2) a controller for managing the operations of the nvSRAM memory cells. The nvSRAM cell is comprised of a static random access memory cell and a non-volatile memory cell. Briefly, the terms "random access memory" and "RAM" refer to the ability to access any one of a plurality of cells in the memory at any time to write/read data to/from the accessed cell. In contrast, other types of memory require that other memory locations be traversed before the desired memory location can be accessed. These types of memories (magnetic tape, for example) are typically much slower than a random access memories. The term "static" refers to the ability of the memory to retain data as long as power is being supplied. In contrast, the term "dynamic" refers to memories that retain data as long as power is being supplied and the memory is periodically refreshed. The term non-volatile refers to the ability of a memory cell to retain data in the absence of power.
An nvSRAM typically utilizes silicon/oxide/nitride/oxide/silicon (SONOS) nonvolatile cells to provide data retention to a standard high speed SRAM memory when the power is removed. An nvSRAM provides a solution in electronic systems where it is desirable to retain the configuration of the system just before a power failure event, such as redundant array storage. Other applications include high speed data logging with nonvolatile storage in cases where Flash or EEPROM memories are limited by the number of writes required, or by the slow write speed of these technologies. One significant advantage of an nvSRAM, compared with other nonvolatile technologies, is unlimited reads and writes to the SRAM portion of the nvSRAM since the data is written to non-volatile storage elements only upon power down. The nvSRAM is accessed with standard SRAM interfaces and timings; the non-volatile operations are transparent to the user. The non-volatile operations are typically accomplished by transferring data from active SRAM latches into a separate set of SONOS non-volatile cells connected by the appropriate circuitry.
The programming and erase voltages for the SONOS transistors of an nvSRAM vary in both duration and magnitude. For example, the typical erase voltages can range from −11.5 to −8.9V, 9.6 mS for SONOS transistors. The range of erase voltages on a SONOS transistor is due at least in part to a number of SONOS transistor and charge pump process differences and design marginalities that occur from lot-to-lot, wafer-to-wafer and die-to-die. A single erase voltage for all die would leave some transistors under-erased and some transistors over-erased.
Although nvSRAMs possess many desirable properties, there are limitations to its non-volatile properties. Principal among these limitations are the number of nv stores (endurance) and data retention lifetime. A typical non-volatile memory device will specify both endurance and data retention and guarantee these in its data sheet through extensive testing. Both endurance and data retention are affected by fabrication processes and process control as well as program and erase conditions of the non-volatile cells.
There are also two additional failure modes associated with nvSRAMs: failure to store at extreme cold temperatures and pre-latching failures during NV recall. Both types of failures can be addressed by choice of erase and programming voltages, as can endurance and data retention.
It is therefore desirable to provide a method for measuring the under-erase and over-erase condition of a plurality of SONOS transistors on a die and thereafter implement a proper erase voltage so as to prevent under/over erasure. It is also desirable to define program and erase conditions for an nvSRAM such that process variation will be negated while ensuring specified endurance and data retention.

Non-volatile, static random access memory with regulated erase saturation and program window


A Coriolis flow meter (11) with a vibrating direction restriction means includes flow tubes (13, 13), a drive means (14) for driving the flow tubes (13, 13), and phase difference detection means (15, 15) for detecting a phase difference in proportion to a Coriolis force. The Coriolis flow meter further includes plate springs (16, 16) functioning as vibrating direction restriction means, and a flow tube fixing member (17) also functioning as a vibrating direction restriction means and serving to fix the flow tubes (13, 13) in position.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a Coriolis flow meter which detects a phase difference and/or a vibration frequency proportional to a Coriolis force applied to a curved flow tube to thereby obtain a mass flow rate and/or the density of a fluid flowing through the flow tube, and in particular a Coriolis flow meter which is suitable for minute flow rate measurement.
2. Background Art
The Coriolis flowmeter is a mass flowmeter which utilizes the fact that when a flow tube through which a fluid flows is supported at one end or both ends thereof, and vibration is applied to a portion of the flow tube around the supporting point of the flow tube in a direction perpendicular to the flow direction, the Coriolis forces applied to the flow tube are proportional to the mass flow rate. Coriolis flowmeters, which are well known, are roughly classified in two types according to flow tube structure: a straight-tube type, and a curved-tube type.
In a Coriolis flowmeter of the straight-tube type, when vibration is applied to a straight tube, of which both ends are supported, in a direction vertical to the straight-tube center portion axis, a difference in displacement due to the Coriolis forces is generated between the support portions and the central portion of the straight tube, that is, a phase difference signal is obtained. Based on this phase difference signal, the mass flow rate is detected. The straight tube type Coriolis flowmeter thus constructed has a simple, compact, and solid structure. On the other hand, there arises a problem in that it is difficult to achieve high detection sensitivity.
In contrast, the curved tube type Coriolis flowmeter is superior to the straight tube type Coriolis flowmeter from a view point that the curved tube type Coriolis flowmeter allows selection of a shape for effectively obtaining the Coriolis forces. In fact, the curved tube type Coriolis flowmeter is capable of performing mass flow rate detection with high sensitivity. Known examples of the curved tube type Coriolis flowmeter include one equipped with a single flow tube (see, for example, JP 04-55250 A), one equipped with two flow tubes arranged in parallel (see, for example, JP 2939242 B), and one equipped with a single flow tube in a looped state (see, for example, JP 05-69453 A).

Coriolis flow meter with vibrating direction restriction means