Methods and systems for providing cardiac therapy are described. In some embodiments, methods and systems are configured to deliver atrial tachyarrhythmia therapy by confirming that a patient is asleep and thereafter administering the therapy. Sleep can be confirmed, in some embodiments, through the use of a histogram that can be calculated using one or more parameters that are monitored by an implantable stimulation device. Parameters can include both physiological and non-physiological parameters. In other embodiments, atrial tachyarrhythmia therapy is delivered by determining desirable times to administer such therapy. Other various systems and methods for administering cardiac therapy are described.

Cardiac arrhythmias can generally be thought of as disturbances of the normal rhythm of the heart muscle. Cardiac arrhythmias are broadly divided into two major categories, bradyarrhythmia and tachyarrhythmia. Tachyarrhythmia can be broadly defined as an abnormally rapid heart (e.g., over 100 beats/minute, at rest), and bradyarrhythmia can be broadly defined as an abnormally slow heart (e.g., less than 50 beats/minute). Tachyarrhythmias are further subdivided into two major sub-categories, namely, tachycardia and fibrillation. Tachycardia is a condition in which the electrical activity and rhythms of the heart are rapid, but organized. Fibrillation is a condition in which the electrical activity and rhythm of the heart are rapid, chaotic, and disorganized. Tachycardia and fibrillation are further classified according to their location within the heart, namely, either atrial or ventricular.
In general, atrial arrhythmias are non-life threatening, chronic conditions, because the atria (upper chambers of the heart) are only responsible for aiding the movement of blood into the ventricles (lower chambers of the heart), whereas ventricular arrhythmias are life-threatening, acute events, because the heart's ability to pump blood to the rest of the body is impaired if the ventricles become arrhythmic.
Current treatments for atrial fibrillation include drug, external cardioversion, ablation, and pacing therapy. Each of these treatments has positive and negative aspects. For example, often times side effects associated with drug therapy can lead to low compliance among the patient population. Additionally, most times a patient can be converted to normal sinus rhythm using external cardioversion. However, many times the patients tend to revert back to atrial fibrillation. This can also be the case with ablation therapy. Pacing therapy is currently being clinically investigated to ascertain its applicability as a valid therapy for atrial fibrillation. There are subsets of patients in whom pacing therapy is effective in preventing or reducing the incidence of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and/or stabilizing the rhythm after pharmacologic therapy or cardioversion has been successful in terminating an episode of persistent atrial fibrillation.
Internal cardioversion is yet another option for treating atrial tachyarrhythmias such as atrial fibrillation. This option has an advantage in that most times cardioversion is successful, and hospitalization (outpatient and inpatient) is not required. There are existing devices for treating atrial fibrillation using internal cardioversion. In one instance, a patient activates a device to provide shock therapy by simply placing a credit card-like activator over an implanted device. The disadvantage of this type of therapy delivery is that it is patient dependent. In many cases patients who receive uncomfortable shocks are less likely to deliver therapy to themselves since they perceive the pain from the shock to be worse than the side effects of atrial fibrillation.
Other devices can be programmed to provide shocks during a certain times of the day. For example, the device might be programmed to administer therapy to a patient suffering from atrial fibrillation early in the morning when the patient desires to wake up.
Atrial fibrillation is a disease that affects many active people who lead busy lives and often cover several time zones each week, and in some cases each day. For these types of people, their desired "wake-up" time can vary by 6 hours or more within a given time zone. However, programming a device to administer therapy at the same time during a day (e.g. in the early morning waking hours) is not ideal for a patient who changes time zones or whose lifestyle habits are highly variable.
This invention arose out of concerns associated with providing improved methods and systems for administering cardiac therapy to patients, and particularly, to patients who suffer from atrial fibrillation.

Selection of preventative arrhythmia therapy based on patient specific histogram data


A control system for a power unit having a supply of fuel and a supply of reductant is disclosed. The control system may have a first sensor associated with the supply of fuel to generate a signal indicative of a quantity of fuel remaining. The control system may also have a second sensor associated with the supply of reductant to generate a signal indicative of a quantity of the reductant remaining. The control system may further have a controller in communication with the first and second sensors. The controller may be configured to affect operation of the power unit such that the remaining fuel is consumed before consumption of the remaining reductant.

Internal combustion engines, including diesel engines, gasoline engines, gaseous fuel-powered engines, and other engines known in the art exhaust a complex mixture of air pollutants. These air pollutants may be composed of gaseous compounds such as, for example, the oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Due to increased awareness of the environment, exhaust emission standards have become more stringent, and the amount of NOx emitted from an engine may be regulated depending on the type of engine, size of engine, and/or class of engine. In order to ensure compliance with the regulation of these compounds, some engine manufacturers have implemented a strategy called Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR).
SCR is a process where a gaseous or liquid reductant (most commonly a urea/water solution) is added to the exhaust gas stream of an engine and is absorbed onto a catalyst. The reductant reacts with NOx in the exhaust gas to form H2O and N2. Although SCR is effective, the NOx-reduced emissions are only realized as long as the reductant is available for addition to the exhaust gas stream. In other words, when the supply of urea is depleted, the concentration of NOx in the exhaust emissions increases.
As the SCR process is becoming a possible strategy utilized to comply with environmental regulations, guidelines regarding the use of SCR are being contemplated. One such guideline may include requiring deactivation of a vehicle when the supply of urea runs low, and preventing operation of the vehicle thereafter until the supply has been replenished. Another such guideline may require limited utility, including the possibility that an engine without an adequate supply of urea would have a limited number of restarts While these guideline may adequately prevent excessive amounts of NOx from being expelled to the environment, they may be problematic. For example, a vehicle could become inconveniently stranded, costing the owner of the vehicle considerable time and resources.
An alternative strategy to disabling a vehicle in response to low levels of available urea may include providing a low-urea engine operating mode. One such mode is described in US Patent Publication No. 2006/0184307 (the '307 publication) by KOSAKA published on Aug. 17, 2006. The '307 publication discloses a travel assist system that searches a nearest service station based on navigation information, and predicts a quantity of aqueous urea solution consumed until the service station is reached. If a quantity of the remaining aqueous urea solution is not greater than the aqueous urea solution consumption by a predetermined value, a warning is provided to a user. Control conditions of a diesel engine enabling the vehicle to reach the service station without running short of the aqueous urea solution are then calculated, and an exhaust gas recirculation quantity is increased based on the calculation result. Thus, both the nitrogen oxides contained in the exhaust gas and a consumption of the aqueous urea solution are reduced.
Although the travel assist system of the '307 publication may suitably enable a vehicle to reach a service station without running completely out of the aqueous urea solution, it may still be problematic. Specifically, if the service station is closed, no longer in business, or does not stock a supply of urea, it may be possible for the vehicle to run out of urea and still be operational. In this situation, the vehicle would no longer be compliant with emission regulations. In addition, the system of the '307 patent does not provide a strategy for dealing with a sufficient supply of urea that is simply unavailable at a required rate, such as when the urea supply is frozen and melting slowly.
The system of the present disclosure solves one or more of the problems set forth above.

System implementing low-reductant engine operation mode


The invention relates to microscale cell separating apparatus which are able to separate cells on the basis of size of the cells, interaction of the cells with surfaces of the apparatus, or both. The apparatus comprises a stepped or sloped separation element (16) interposed between an inlet region (20) and an outlet region (22) of a void that can be filled with fluid. The void can be enclosed within a cover (12) and fluid flow through the void engages cells with the separation element. Only cells which have (or can deform to have) a characteristic dimension smaller than or equal to the distance between a step and the cover or body can pass onto or past a step. Modifications of surfaces within the apparatus can also inhibit passage of cells onto or past a step.

Developments in methods of manufacturing very small devices, such as microelectronic devices, have made it possible to precisely and reproducibly make devices having features with nanometer-scale dimensions. Apart from use of such methods in microelectronic device production, similar technology has been used to make devices for handling biological materials, such as cells and macromolecules.
Microengineered bio-handling devices having structural elements with minimal dimensions ranging from tens of micrometers (the dimensions of biological cells) to nanometers (the dimensions of some biological macromolecules) have been described. This range of dimensions (nanometers to tens of micrometers) is referred to herein as "microscale." For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,928,880, U.S. Pat. No. 5,866,345, U.S. Pat. No. 5,744,366, U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,335, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,427,946 describe microscale devices for handling cells and biological molecules.
Hemocytometry is a field of medical analysis and research wherein blood cells are analyzed using variety of techniques and devices. Basic manually-operated devices such as microscope slides with Neubauer or Makler chambers were developed over a century ago. These devices are expensive, reusable, and lack flexibility, multiple features, and disposability. Disposability is especially desirable to minimize medical personnel interaction with potentially hazardous biological specimens.
Every year, approximately 500,000 patients are diagnosed with blood disorders worldwide, including about 30,000 per year in the United States. Many blood disorders can be alleviated by transplantation of stem cells (i.e., relatively non-differentiated cells which retain at least hematopoietic capacity) into the patient. The ideal source of stem cells is the same patient to whom the cells are to be administered. However, hematopoietic (and other) stem cells are relatively rare in adults, and can be difficult to isolate in large numbers.
Blood drawn from the umbilicus shortly after delivery ("cord blood") is a rich source of hematopoietic stem cells. Cord blood storage methods are presently known and used commercially, but have the drawback that a relatively large volume (e.g., 100 to 250 milliliters) of blood must be stored in order to preserve a sufficient number of hematopoietic stem cells for use in future medical procedures. The large volume of cord blood that is stored increases the cost and decreases the convenience of the procedure. The stored volume could be decreased significantly (e.g., to 0.1 to 1 milliliter) if stem cells could be separated from cord blood prior to storage. However, present methods of separating stem cells from cord blood are expensive and cumbersome and are sometimes ineffective. The present invention overcomes the shortcomings of previously known stem cell separation methods and facilitates efficient and cost-effective separation of stem cells from cord blood.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Microstructure for particle and cell SEparation, identification, sorting, and manipulation


A conductive polymer composition comprises a conjugated double bond-bearing polymer and a composite dopant consisting essentially of an organic anion derived from an anionic surface active agent and an inorganic anion derived from a transition metal salt. A process for preparing the conductive polymer composition is also described wherein the polymerizable proceeds rapidly in coexistence of the organic anion and the inorganic anion. Addition of fine particle of an oxide is effective in film formation on substrates.

1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates to a conductive polymer composition which comprises a conjugated double bond-bearing polymer doped with anions derived from anionic surface active agents and inorganic transition metal salts. The invention also relates to a process for preparing the conductive polymer composition and a process for forming the composition in the form of a film.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, conjugated double bond-bearing conductive polymers, such as polyaniline, polypyrrole and polythiophene, have been prepared through chemical oxidation polymerization or electrolytic polymerization.
When using electrolytic polymerization, the resultant conductive polymer is formed on an electrode in the form of a film, and is thus difficult to prepare the polymer in large amounts. In contrast, the polymerization through chemical oxidation has no limitation with respect to the amount. That is to say conductive polymers can be obtained in large amounts relatively easily by reaction between a polymerizable monomer and an appropriate oxidant.
However, the conductive polymer obtained by the chemical oxidation polymerization is in the form of a powder or particles. This makes it difficult to uniformly cover solid surfaces with the polymer. Hence, attempts have been made to form a film by mixing the polymer with various types of binders or by rendering the polymer soluble in solvents by introduction of an appropriate substituent thereinto.
Usually, the chemical oxidation polymerization velocity depends greatly on the type of oxidant. If ammonium persulfate or hydrogen peroxide which can increase the polymerization velocity is employed, the resultant polymer is not high in electric conductivity and/or is poor in heat resistance. The reason for this is that such an oxidant as mentioned above is so highly active that undesirable side reactions frequently take place. This may result in the formation of polymers whose structural regularity is not high, or once formed polymer may be degraded owing to the attack with the oxidant.
In order to solve the above problems, oxidants which contain transition metal ions such as trivalent iron ions are frequently used. Although, the resultant polymer has a relatively great electric conductivity and good thermal stability, the polymerization velocity is so small that it takes a long time before completion of the polymerization. Accordingly, the resultant conjugated double bond-bearing polymer is resident for a long time in the reaction system. Under these conditions, the polymer is most liable to be attacked with the protons generated during the course of the polymerization reaction, coupled with the problem that the electric conductivity eventually lowers.
The conjugated double bond-bearing conductive polymers have a dopant of anions or cations taken in as a part thereof, with which inherent electric, optical and chemical characteristics develop. The thermal stability of the polymer tends to depend greatly on the type of dopant. The anion doping in the conjugated double bond-bearing polymer is now described in more detail.
In general, inorganic acid ions are so small in ion size that they are likely to diffuse. Especially, under high temperature and high humidity conditions, the inorganic acid ions taken in a polymer matrix are relatively readily de-doped from the polymer matrix, making it difficult to provide a conductive polymer which has good heat and humidity resistances.
In order that polyvalent anions, such as sulfate ions, are permitted to incorporate in a polymer matrix as a dopant, it is necessary that two bonding sites which are positioned closely to each other, are provided within a polymer chain or between adjacent polymer chains. In addition, where the polyvalent ions are incorporated in the matrix as a dopant, they are extremely sterically crowded owing to the small ion size. This results in the polymer structure being strained, thus leading to lower electric conductivity than expected.
On the other hand, when organic anions having a bulky structure are used, little or no strain is not exerted on the polymer structure. Such bulky organic anions are not prone to diffusion on the application of heat. Thus, the resultant conjugated double bond-bearing polymers have good electric characteristics and good heat and moisture resistances.
In fact, when anthraquinonesulfonate ions or alkylnaphthalenesulfonate ions are doped, the resultant polypyrrole has good heat and moisture resistances as set out in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication Nos. 3-93214 and 2-130906. In these publications, the doped polypyrrole is prepared by electrolytic polymerization. In the electrolytic polymerization, transition metal salts are usually used. However, the salts containing such relatively large molecule anions are low in solubility in water. Accordingly, it has been difficult to directly incorporate the anion into a conjugated double bond-bearing polymer through chemical oxidation polymerization in an aqueous medium.
The conductive polymers obtained by chemical oxidation polymerization are ordinarily in the form of powder or particles. Since the polymer structure is formed of conjugated double bonds, it is, in most cases, difficult to process the powder or particles by thermal melting or dispersion in solvents.
For the purpose of film formation, attempts have been made wherein the conductive polymer powder is mixed with resin binders, or appropriate substituents are introduced into the main chain of the polymer to render the polymer soluble in solvents.
However, the mixing with binder resins or the introduction of substituents into the main chain of the polymer has the following problems.
In the former case, it is inevitable that the electric conductivity lowers owing to the dilution of the conductive polymer. In the latter case where the polymer is rendered soluble in solvents, limitation is placed on the selection of a substituent owing to the difficulty in balancing the solubility to be imparted and the inherent characteristics, e.g. electric conductivity and environmental stability, of the conductive polymer. Additionally, the preparation of a polymerizable monomer having an appropriate substituent which is effective in rendering the resultant polymer soluble in solvents is difficult. This eventually leads to high costs of the conductive polymer.

Conductive polymer composition comprising polypyrrole and composite dopant

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A lubricating grease is specific for a rock bit for drilling subterranean formations. The rock bit body includes a plurality of journal pins, each having a bearing surface, with a cutter cone mounted on each journal pin and also including a bearing surface. A grease reservoir provides lubricating grease to such bearing surfaces. The grease composition adjacent the bearing surfaces comprises a lubricating base oil, sufficient thickener and additives in the base oil to form a rock bit grease, and an effective amount of polarized graphite.

Heavy-duty rock bits are employed for drilling wells in subterranean formations for oil, gas, geothermal steam, and the like. Such bits have a body connected to a drill string and a plurality, typically three, of hollow cutter cones mounted on the body for drilling rock formations. The cutter cones are mounted on steel journals or pins integral with the bit body at its lower end. In use, the drill string and bit body are rotated in the bore hole, and each cone is caused to rotate on its respective journal as the cone contacts the bottom of the bore hole being drilled.
While such a rock bit is used in hard, tough formations, high pressures and temperatures are encountered. The total useful life of a rock bit in such severe environments is in the order of 20 to 200 hours for bits in sizes of about 3¾ to 36 inch diameter at depths of about 5000 to 20,000 feet. Useful lifetimes of about 65 to 150 hours are typical. When a rock bit wears out or fails as a bore hole is being drilled, it is necessary to withdraw the drill string for replacing the bit. Prolonging the time of drilling minimizes the lost time in "round tripping" the drill string for replacing bits. Replacement of a drill bit can be required for a number of reasons, including wearing out or breakage of the structure contacting the rock formation. One reason for replacing the rock bits includes failure or severe wear of the journal bearings on which the cutter cones are mounted. The journal bearings are lubricated with grease adapted to severe conditions. Lubrication failure can sometimes be attributed to misfit of bearings or seal failure, as well as problems with a grease.
The journal bearings are subjected to very high pressure drilling loads, high hydrostatic pressures in the hole being drilled, and high temperatures due to drilling as well as elevated temperatures in the formation being drilled. Considerable development work has been conducted over the years to produce bearing structures and employ materials that minimize wear and failure of such bearings.
A variety of grease compositions have been employed in the past. For example, one suitable grease composition includes a generally low viscosity, refined petroleum or hydrocarbon oil basestock which provides the basic lubricity of the composition and may constitute about ¾ of the total grease composition. Such basestock oil is thickened with a conventional metal soap or metal complex soap wherein the metal is aluminum, barium, calcium, lithium, sodium, or strontium. U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,384 discloses such a grease composition including a petroleum derived mineral oil lubricant basestock and a metal soap or metal complex soap including aluminum, barium, calcium, lithium, sodium or strontium metals.
In order to enhance the film lubricating capacity of such petroleum basestock greases, solid additives such as molybdenum disulfide, copper, lead or graphite may be added. Synthetic polymer extreme pressure agents (EPA) are also used. Such additives serve to enhance the ability of the lubricant basestock to form a film between the moving metal surfaces under conditions of extreme pressure. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,358,384, 3,062,741, 3,107,878, 3,281,355, and 3,384,582 disclose the use of molybdenum disulfide and other solid additives such as copper, lead, silver and graphite which have been employed to attempt to enhance the lubrication properties of oils and greases. It is also known to include metallic oxides like zinc oxide or lead oxide in lubrication oils. Not all of these and other additives are suitable for use in grease compositions for the extreme conditions encountered by a rock bit. Copper and lead, for example, are now considered undesirable if they can be avoided.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide a grease composition for lubricating rock bits that protects the journal bearing surfaces from premature wear or failure during service at the high temperatures, bearing pressures and rotational speeds often found in modern rock bits. It is also desirable that the grease composition complement the sealing arrangement and promote optimum sealing.

Rock bit with grease composition utilizing polarized graphite


There are disclosed a profile producing method and a profile producing apparatus for producing a profile in a device for mediating between image data including color data and a color image, such as a color scanner and a color printer. In the process of producing the profile, a smoothing processing is applied.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a profile producing method and a profile producing apparatus for producing a profile representative of the association between color data representative of values of for example red (R), green (G) and blue (B), or color data representative of dot % of cyan (C), magenta (Y) and black (K), and colors on a color image associated with image data including the color data, in a device for mediating between image data including color data and a color image, such as a color scanner and a color printer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, it is performed that image data is obtained through reading a recorded original image by a color scanner and the like, and an image is outputted by a color printer in accordance with the image data thus obtained, so that an image, which is very closely similar in a color to the original image, is obtained, and an image, which is very closely similar in a color to an image obtained by printing based on the image data obtained by the color scanner, is outputted by a color printer. To perform a color matching for providing matching of colors of two images, there is used a profile defining the association between color data representative of dot % of CMYK for example, of an output device such as a color printer, and colors outputted in accordance with the color data, so that an image represented by a desired color can be obtained by a conversion of the image data using the profile. Here, the conversion as to colors is noticed. Hereinafter, such a conversion is referred to as a color conversion.
To make up such a profile, a color chart, consisting of sets of color patches associated with a plurality of sorts of color data wherein with respect to four colors of CMYK for example, dot % is sequentially varied as 0%, 40%, 70%, 100%, is outputted by an output device such as a color printer, and the color patches of the color chart thus outputted are measured by a calorimeter to obtain XYZ values defined by XYZ color system or L*a*b* values defined by CIELAB, so that color data of CMYK are associated with the XYZ values (or the L* a*b* values). Hereinafter, it is defined that the XYZ are values defined by the XYZ color system, and the L*a*b* are values defined by the CIELAB.
Basically, the profile is produced in the manner as mentioned above. However, the number of color patches constituting the color chart is not so large number that the number of color patches corresponds to that of the profile on a basis of one-to-one. Accordingly, it is performed to increase the number of pairs of the association between CMYK data and XYZ data (or L*a*b* data) by the interpolation operation and the like in accordance with a color association definition (here, the finally completed one is referred to as a "profile", and the non-completed one is referred to as a "color association definition") defining the association between CMYK data and XYZ data (or L a b data), which are obtained by a colorimetry of the color chart in the manner as mentioned above, and finally a desired profile is produced.
In the event that it is intended to obtain an output image by a color printer in accordance with image data obtained by a color scanner, color data included in the image data is modified using the profile produced in the manner as mentioned above, but not using the image data obtained by the color scanner, so that a desired color of image is outputted in accordance with the modified color data.
By the way, according to the above-mentioned method of producing a profile, it happens that the produced profile may include noises destroying monotonicity of variations of XYZ data or L*a*b* data to variations of color data of any of C, M, Y, K owing to measurement errors by a calorimeter, and characteristics of a device of an object of the profile to be produced, for example, characteristics of a color printer outputting of the color chart (for example, in some characteristics of the color printer, even if a color patch based on the same color data is concerned, it happens that colors of color patches are mutually different between a case where the color patch is recorded on the center of a paper and a case where the color patch is recorded on the edge of the paper). In the event that the produced profile includes such a noise, when the color conversion is performed using the profile, a jump in color density and a fluctuation in a hue direction will occur on a portion of gradation wherein density of a color is continuously varied, in a color image outputted based on image data after the color conversion, and thus there is a possibility that it is difficult to output a color image having an image quality which is high in color. Further, in the event that an inversion profile, wherein CMYK data is determined from XYZ data (or L*a*b* data) in accordance with the produced profile, is determined by a computation, there is a possibility that noises included in the profile become a main cause of errors of the computation, so that it is difficult to exactly determine the inversion profile.

Profile producing method and profile producing apparatus


The present invention, known as runspace, relates to the field of computing system management, data processing and data communications, and specifically to synergistic methods and systems which provide resource-efficient computation, especially for decomposable many-component tasks executable on multiple processing elements, by using a metric space representation of code and data locality to direct allocation and migration of code and data, by performing analysis to mark code areas that provide opportunities for runtime improvement, and by providing a low-power, local, secure memory management system suitable for distributed invocation of compact sections of code accessing local memory. Runspace provides mechanisms supporting hierarchical allocation, optimization, monitoring and control, and supporting resilient, energy efficient large-scale computing.

Technical Field
The present invention, referred to as runspace, relates generally to fields of computing system control, data processing and data communications, and more specifically to methods and systems which provide resource-efficient computation, including for execution of large, many-component tasks distributed on multiple processing elements.
Descriptions of the Related Art
Modern high-end computer architectures embody tens of thousands to millions of processing elements, large amounts of distributed memory, together with varying degrees of non-local memory, networking components and storage infrastructure. These systems present great challenges for both static and dynamic optimization of resources consumed by executing applications. Traditionally, computer architectures have labored to present applications with a single, simple address space, along with intuitively reasonable semantics for sequential execution of code and access to data. The resulting paradigm has served well for years, but becomes an impediment to optimal resource allocation when both computation and data are distributed and virtually all hardware speedup is accomplished via parallel processing, rather than by faster clock rates. The current invention anticipates a stage when semiconductor manufacturers approach physical or cost-efficiency limits on the reduction of circuit sizes, leaving parallelism as the most promising avenue for performance improvement. Already, in applications where maximum performance is critical, traditional OS resource allocation via interrupts and pre-emption impedes performance. Thus, a major challenge in achieving efficient distributed computing is providing system software that makes optimal use of the physical system while providing a usable abstract model of computation for writers of application code.

Efficient execution of parallel computer programs


Systems and methods for providing communication between a user and at least one entity are disclosed. In one example, the method comprises receiving an entity selection input of the at least one entity, and a message from the user to the at least one entity, analyzing the selection input and the message to determine entity information and inquiry information associated with the message and the selection input, determining least one communication channel based on the entity information and the inquiry information, obtaining a response to the message via the at least one communication channel from the at least one entity, and transmitting the response to the user.

1. Applicable Field
The field of the present invention relates generally to systems and methods for communicating with businesses, organizations or other entities.
2. Related Art
People may seek to personally communicate with businesses, organizations or other entities for various reasons. A person may wish, for example, to provide feedback, address customer service issues, make reservations, inquire about products or services, or find information not available through other methods. There are many communication options available, for example, calling or sending an email to a local business, calling or sending an email to a corporate office or initiating a web chat on the entity's website.
Typically the person performs a search using a search engine in an attempt to initiate communication with the entity. The person is searching for an implicit or explicit token, such as a phone number, an email address, or a Web contact form, that can be used to initiate communication with the entity. These tokens for any type of entity can be found on the entity's Web page (typically by following a "Contact" link). These tokens can also be found on place pages (specific type of Web page that describes a specific addressable geographic location), or using various service websites (review websites) or applications.
Numerous strategies have been used in the information retrieval field to improve search results by determining the most relevant search results for a user's query from the millions or billions of possible results. Most of these strategies involve ranking of Web pages based on their popularity and relevancy. In addition, results are often optimized based on updated content, cross-referencing of inbound and outbound links, meta tags and website description, as well as, Search Engine Marketing (selling of keywords by the search engines).

System and method for abstract communication


The present invention relates to phonetic self-improving search engines. The search engine may include a phonetic database having a plurality of phonetic equivalent formulas stored therein, each of the phonetic equivalent formulas being associated with at least one respective pronounceable unit. After an initial query in a primary database fails to produce a positive result, an error memory database may be queried with a search string to obtain a positive result based on records of previously failed searches which ultimately found a positive result. If no record is found, the search string may be parsed into at least one pronounceable unit. Phonetically equivalent formulas may be applied to the at least one pronounceable unit to create at least one phonetic search string which is re-queried into the error memory database and the primary database. Successful positive results may be stored with the search string in the error memory database.

(1) Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a search engine, and more particularly to self-improving phonetic search engines for use in databases, web browsers and the like.
(2) Description of Related Art
Conventional search engines (or browsers) that perform searches on the web, whether they be search engines within a company website helping clients look for products and services, database searches within call centers, or general search engines for the world wide web (Internet), generally perform the search task using a text matching process. Users enter keywords within designated search fields and the text matching process begins.
This process is generally not the most accurate or convenient way to search for data, partially because the user may make spelling mistakes while typing in the search field, or s/he may not know the precise spelling of a proper noun that may have various different spelling formats (i.e. "Fich" and "Fish" both pronounced "Fish" or "Jo" and "Joe"). This results in frustration as the user may not be referred to the site/information that s/he intended and s/he must then restart the search attempting a different spelling or set of words.
As an illustrative example, typically in website searching, the user may enter a search string which is then compared with the database of registered URLs. If an accurate match is found, the user is directed to the respective website associated with the registered URL. If no accurate match is found, the web-browser typically returns an error message indicating that no match has been found, whereby the user must then reenter a different search string by experimenting with various spelling combinations.
Phonetic string matching has been developed in the past to address the problem of spelling in search queries. However, current systems codify both the primary database and the search string to attempt to match the two when the text-based search does not reveal any results. The problem with this approach is that it assumes the primary database to not change constantly, and if changed, to do so with aid of a coding agent that would include application specific phonetic tags onto primary records to be used for future queries within a closed database system. When the primary database becomes as large and open as the world wide web with constantly changing data and no universal application to tag all primary records for an application-specific phonetic matching process, then there arises a need to address potential misspellings in search queries in a more efficient manner.
Some technologies have recently been introduced that utilize matched and un-matched terms within a search string that consists of more than one word to correct the spelling of the un-matched term and help direct a user automatically to what s/he may have been looking for (please see referenced U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,958). However, these technologies are not helpful when the un-matched term is only one word.
Accordingly, there is a need for improving the current methodologies employed in search engines.


A metal gasket for an internal combustion engine is formed of a metal plate, and includes a bead formed on the metal plate. The bead has a hardness at least partly different from that of the metal plate by heating the bead locally and then cooling the same. Accordingly, the surface pressure of the bead when the gasket is tightened can be adjusted as desired.

The present invention relates to a metal gasket with a locally heat-treated bead used for an internal combustion engine.
An internal combustion engine has been developed to provide high power and light weight. As a result, high pressure and high temperature are applied to the engine. Since a metal gasket is strong against high pressure and high temperature, the metal gasket has been widely used.
In the metal gasket, when holes, such as cylinder bores, water holes, oil holes and so on, are sealed, beads are formed on a metal plate around the holes to project outwardly from a metal plate. When the metal plate with the beads is situated between a cylinder block and a cylinder head and is tightened, the beads are compressed to provide surface pressures thereat, by which the holes are sealed.
In the gasket, the various holes are formed as stated above. However, since high pressure and high temperature are formed in the cylinder bores, bolts for tightening the cylinder head and the cylinder block are arranged around the cylinder bores to provide surface pressures around the cylinder bores as equal as possible. The pressures for other holes are less than those of the cylinder bores.
When the gasket is designed, therefore, the highest surface pressures are formed around the cylinder bores to securely seal therearound. In case the beads are formed around the various holes, in view of the required arrangement of the surface pressures on the gasket, the beads around the cylinder bores are formed to provide the surface pressures higher than those of the other holes.
In order to change the surface pressure of the bead, the height and/or width of the bead is changed. Generally speaking, as the height of the bead increases, the surface pressure of the bead increases, and as the width of the bead decreases, the surface pressure of the bead increases. Further, in case the hardness or the thickness of the plate for the bead is changed, the surface pressure of the bead is changed, as well.
The metal gaskets and metal laminate gaskets have been designed and prepared in view of the above, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,024. However, in case the surface pressures of the beads on one metal plate are changed, the width and/or height of the beads must be changed. In this respect, although the surface pressure of the bead can be adjusted by changing the width and/or height of the bead, the surface pressure can not be precisely adjusted by changing the width and/or height of the bead.
In view of the above, the present invention has been made, and an object of the invention is to provide a metal gasket with a bead, wherein the surface pressure of the bead can be changed easily without changing the width and height.
Another object of the invention is to provide a metal gasket as stated above, wherein the surface pressures of the beads on one metal plate can be changed easily.
A further object of the invention is to provide a metal gasket as stated above, wherein the arrangement of the beads with different surface pressures can be made easily.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.

Metal gasket with locally heated-treating bead


An emulsified liquid fuel utilizes minor proportions of petroleum, maximum proportions of water (H2O) and minimal amounts of acetone and alcohol, all readily available, plentiful and inexpensive.

1. Field of Invention
My present invention relates to a method of combining relatively inexpensive, readily available, renewable liquids together with fossil fuel to result in affordable, available, emission reducing fuel to be used in regular mass-produced internal combustion engines already manufactured and in the possession of consumers.
2. Background of the Invention
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,432,308 (Sullivan) and 5,997,591 and Japanese Patent JP55108492
Although all teach that oil or acetone in combination with water produce fuel compositions that reduce pollution, none actually combined all of the elements in the right proportions and with the appropriate additional additive to make the invention usable to a consumer, without engine damage and at a lower cost than the original fuel cost. My invention results in a low-cost, emission free, plentiful fuel which would end dependence on foreign oil immediately.


A computer peripheral system including a mobile vehicle, a two-way wireless link to a host computer and software residing on the host computer for providing control and guidance is disclosed. The system is installed on an existing host computer as an add-on peripheral device whose function is to perform some automatic task (e.g. floor cleaning) in a working environment (e.g. a home or business). The mobile vehicle is equipped with a plurality of sensors, data from which is conveyed to the host system over the wireless link. Software on the host computer communicates control and movement commands to the mobile system. A method and apparatus for sensing the position of the mobile vehicle in a working environment is also disclosed. Software installed on the host computer can use data from the sensing apparatus to automatically construct and maintain a map of the operating environment and to guide the mobile vehicle through the environment in order to carry out its task. Also disclosed are methods and apparatus for providing entertainment for onlookers as the vehicle carries out its task.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automatic guided vehicles (AGVs), methods and apparatus for controlling AGVs, and use of an AGV as a computer peripheral device in a home or office environment already equipped with a computer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous devices and systems have been proposed for controlling an automatic guided vehicle (AGV) through a working environment. AGV systems have been successfully applied to specialized tasks such as warehouse automation, hospital delivery systems, and other industrial applications. There is a great deal of interest in using AGVs for automatic cleaning tasks. Despite extensive work and progress in the fields of AGV design, navigation, and control, the promise of ubiquitous cleaning robots suitable for ordinary household use remains substantially unfulfilled.
Most AGV systems described in the prior art use an onboard computer for control and guidance. U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,566 to Kobayashi, et al, describes a method for subdividing an area to be cleaned into a regular grid. As the AGV traverses the area, ultrasonic sensors detect the presence or absence of an obstacle within each grid square. The onboard computer system stores this information and uses it to guide the vehicle through the environment. A principal limitation of this system (and many similar systems, such as another taught by U.S. Pat. No. 5,305,217 to Nakamura et al.) is the high cost and/or limited capabilities of the onboard computer. If the vehicle includes an inexpensive computer, its storage, processing, and user-interface capabilities are necessarily limited. If the vehicle includes a computer system with plentiful storage and CPU resources, the cost of the system is increased beyond the reach of many consumers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,401 to Everett, et al; teaches a method for AGV navigation using retroreflective strips applied to a floor to mark guidepaths. These strips are detected by a camera and image-processing equipment mounted on the vehicle. The cost of the camera and image-processing equipment render this system unsuitable for consumer applications. Furthermore, most household and office environments cannot accommodate strips applied to the floor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,540 to Soupert, et al; teaches a cleaning system which requires an operator to manually guide an AGV through a desired path during a learning phase. A computer system on the vehicle memorizes the path so that the vehicle can later clean automatically. Any such system which requires a laborious, time-consuming, or error-prone installation process will be subject to substantial resistance from consumers.
The fields of AGV navigation and control have been extensively addressed in the prior art. A principal problem in AGV navigation is determining the position of the vehicle within the working environment. Dead-reckoning (a.k.a. odometry), a process in which wheel rotation counts and steering angle measurements are used to continuously update an estimate of the vehicle's location, is a standard technique. AGV navigation methods which rely exclusively on dead-reckoning tend to be severely limited by accumulated errors in the position estimate.
Some systems in the prior art use a secondary source of navigational information to correct accumulated errors in a dead-reckoning position estimate. U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,402 to Wand et al; teaches a method for using a vision system to provide an absolute reference for dead-reckoning navigation. Vehicles which include a vision system and associated computation and storage facilities are too complex and expensive for cost-sensitive applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,228 to Hyyppa teaches a navigation method which uses a plurality of anonymous, fixed retroreflective reference markers detected by a scanning system on a vehicle. During a learning phase, an operator guides the vehicle along a desired path and an onboard computer monitors the apparent motion of the reference markers and memorizes their locations. During a subsequent automatic operation phase, the computer can derive an estimate from observations of the reference markers. This system is limited because the vehicle must be within line-of-sight of at least three reference reflectors at every point along its intended path. This system is further limited because it requires that the operator precisely specify the path for the vehicle to follow.
The cited example systems suffer from high cost, an inconvenient installation process, or both. These factors limit their utility in home or small-business applications. That such systems have not been widely accepted for home or office use (as of the date of this application) despite much progress in the field of AGVs is significantly due to the high cost of the onboard computers used for guidance and control.
Traditionally, AGVs have been thought of as expensive systems suitable only for use in large factories or dangerous environments where the cost of the system is not a critical factor. Most improvements have been in the area of making AGVs more autonomous, or in developing sensing methods to determine their position more accurately-often through the application of expensive technologies or components.

Computer peripheral floor cleaning system and navigation method


The invention provides a group III-nitride light emitting device having improved external quantum efficiency and brightness. The light emitting device comprises an n-type clad layer, an active layer and a p-type clad layer formed in their order. Also, a p-electrode is formed on the p-type clad layer, wherein the p-electrode comprises CuInO2 layer, a transparent conductive oxide layer and a reflective metal layer sequentially formed on the p-type clad layer. The reflective metal layer may be an Ag layer or an Al layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting device, more particularly to a group III-nitride light emitting device having enhanced brightness and electrical properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since development of a group III-nitride light emitting diode (LED) using AlxGayIn1−x−yN-based material, a great deal of efforts have been made to heighten brightness. A method for increasing brightness includes enhancing light emitting efficiency of a light emitting layer and extracting light generated inside into the outside without internal loss.
Several technologies have been suggested to improve external extraction efficiency (external quantum efficiency) of light generated inside a device. For example, a Ni/Au layer having a relatively good transmissibility is thinly deposited with a thickness of up to 100 Å on a p-type clad layer to be used as a p-electrode of a group III-nitride light emitting device. This allows light generated inside to exit to the outside through the Ni/Au layer (light exits in the p-electrode side). However, even despite deposition of the Ni/Au layer with a small thickness, a considerable amount of light is absorbed in the Ni/Au layer or reflected into the inside again. Also, sapphire (Al2O3) used as a substrate has low thermal conductivity so that heat generated during operation of the device is hardly released to the outside, thus deteriorating device properties.
To overcome such problems and elevate external extraction efficiency more significantly, a group III-nitride light emitting device with flip chip structure has been developed. In this case, for a metal layer used for a p-electrode, a Ni/Al layer, Ni/Ag layer or Ni/Al(Ag)/Pt layer having good reflectivity is used instead of the Ni/Au layer having good transmissibility (Al or Ag has higher reflectivity than Au). U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,011 discloses a light emitting device with flip-chip structure connected to electrodes of a submount.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating an example of a conventional flip chip light emitting device. Referring to FIG. 1, the light emitting device 10 includes an undoped GaN layer 13, an n-doped AlGaN layer 15, an active layer 17 and a p-doped AlGaN layer 19 sequentially formed on a transparent sapphire substrate 11. A p-electrode 21 made of Ni/Ag (or Al)/Pt layer (Ni is placed below Pt) having high reflectivity is formed on a p-doped AlGaN layer 19. An n-electrode 23 is formed on an area of the n-doped AlGaN layer 15. The flip chip light emitting device 10 is flipped over so that the substrate 11 faces upward, and then mounted on the submount. FIG. 2 shows a side sectional view illustrating a flip chip light emitting device 10 mounted on the submmount.
Referring to FIG. 2, the flip chip light emitting device 10 is mounted on a submount 21 so that the p-electrode 21 and n-electrode 23 of the light emitting device 10 are connected to an electrode part (not illustrated) of the submount 21 through bumps 31, 33. In this flip chip structure, light exits toward the transparent sapphire substrate 11. The p-electrode 21 uses an Ag(or Al) layer having higher reflectivity to reflect light upward (toward the output direction) through the Ag(Al) layer. This enhances external extraction efficiency of light.
In the p-electrode 21 made of the Ni/Ag(Al)/Pt layer, thick Ni layer reduces reflectivity of the p-electrode 21, while too thin Ni layer causes p-electrode 21 to be opened. The opened p-electrode 21 leads to defects of the device. Therefore, the Ni layer used should have appropriate thickness, and the Ag (Al) layer should be used as a reflective film. But use of the Ni layer having even adequate thickness results in decreased brightness.


In some embodiments, a method includes receiving, by a wireless component of a wireless valve switch system via a wireless network, wireless instructions and causing, by the wireless component based on the wireless instructions, actuation of a sprinkler valve. In some embodiments, a wireless valve switch system includes a wireless component configured to be electrically coupled to a sprinkler valve. The wireless component includes a controller to receive, via a wireless network, wireless instructions and cause, based on the wireless instructions, actuation of the sprinkler valve. In some embodiments, a wireless valve switch system includes a turbine component that includes a casing forming a chamber configured to be fluidly coupled to a sprinkler valve. The turbine component further includes a turbine disposed in the chamber and configured to rotate responsive to fluid flow through the chamber to power an electrical component configured to be electrically coupled to the sprinkler valve.

Sprinkler systems are often used by homeowners, farmers, public entities, businesses, etc. to provide liquid flow to different areas (e.g., for irrigation of lawns and gardens, for irrigation of farms and parks, for cooling, for control of airborne dust, for fire suppression, etc.). In one example, buried systems allow water to be distributed to sprinkler heads distributed throughout an area to be watered. In many systems, electronic valves are used to control the flow of water to the sprinkler system. There is generally a wire path between the electronic valves and a control device as part of these systems.


It is presently customary in a high-temperature fuel-cell system to divide the cathode waste gas, in particular, into two subflows, of which one is recirculated again to the cathode and the other is removed for heat utilization. The bifurcation is carried out at relatively high technical costs at about the operating temperature of the fuel cell at the gas outlets themselves. In order to reduce that cost, the entire cathode waste gas is fed through a heat exchanger to a bifurcation having two branch pipes. The first branch pipe opens through an air addition point and the heat exchanger into the cathode and the second branch pipe opens into a temperature-increasing device. In this way, a bifurcation of the hot cathode waste gas is avoided and the heat of the entire cathode waste gas is used to heat the cathode waste gas subflow fed back into the cathode. The invention can preferably be used, in particular, for fuel cells having operating temperatures above 600.degree. C. Such fuel cells are the molten carbonate fuel cell and the solid electrolyte fuel cell.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a fuel-cell system, in particular a high-temperature fuel-cell system, including at least one fuel-cell block having an anode section and a cathode section. The invention also relates to a method for operating such a fuel-cell system.
A fuel cell contains an anode and a cathode which are separated by an immediately adjacent, ion-conducting electrolyte. The electrolyte may be composed of an ion-conducting liquid, of a polymer membrane or, as in the case of a high-temperature fuel cell, of a solid body, such as of zirconium oxide containing small additions of yttrium oxide, for example. The electrolyte of a high-temperature fuel cell is oxygen-ion-conducting at operating temperatures of the high-temperature fuel cell of about 1000.degree. C. The fuel, generally hydrogen, is fed to the anode, oxygen or combustion air is fed to the cathode by suitable duct systems and water produced in the reaction of hydrogen and oxygen is discharged from the fuel cell with anode waste gas or cathode waste gas, depending on the type of fuel cell. A fuel cell can convert the fuel into electrical energy with a higher efficiency and lower environmental pollution than is capable of being done by conventional, heretofore-known internal-combustion engines having an efficiency which is limited by the so-called Carnot process.
In development projects that are currently running, attempts are additionally also being made to utilize the heat produced during the operation of fuel cells, in particular during the operation of high-temperature fuel cells. Thus, the development of a high-temperature fuel-cell power station proceeds as a rule from the combination of high-temperature fuel cells with a gas turbine and, optionally, a steam turbine connected downstream of the gas turbine, wherein the high-temperature fuel cell takes over the function of the combustion chamber of the gas turbine.
In particular, in devices disclosed in a paper by Dr. E. Erdle entitled "Hochtemperaturbrennstoffzelle SOFC-Stand der Forschung fur eine neue Technik zur Stromerzeugung" High-Temperature SOFC Fuel Cell--State Of Research Aimed At A New Technology For Current Generation! in VDI Berichte No. 1029, 1993 and in German Published, Non-Prosecuted Patent Application DE 40 21 097 A1, for operating a high-temperature fuel cell, a bifurcation is provided in each case for the cathode waste gas produced on the cathode side, at which bifurcation a first portion of the cathode waste gas is fed to a combustion chamber and at which bifurcation a second portion of the cathode waste gas is conveyed through a recuperative heat exchanger to the temperature-lowering system and then mixed with an inflow of cooler air. The inflow of cooler air is fed back into the cathode gas spaces together with the cooled subflow of the cathode waste gas through a compressor and the same recuperative heat exchanger. The non-recirculated portion of the cathode waste gas is combusted with the anode waste gas in a burner. The flue gas of that combustion process is normally fed to a gas turbine. That configuration is quite sensible thermodynamically, but has the disadvantage of requiring the cathode waste gas to be bifurcated at about 1000.degree. C. Consequently, a high expenditure is necessary in regard to the pipe system and the connecting and welding procedure.
A further disadvantage of that configuration is that the amount of recirculated cathode waste gas must not exceed a certain proportion because the quantity of heat might otherwise no longer be adequate to preheat the cathode gas to be fed to the fuel cell.

Fuel-cell system and method for operating a fuel-cell system


A cuttings collector will collect cuttings generated while drilling through conductor pipe for the first string of casing. The cuttings collector has a riser that secures to the exterior of an outer wellhead housing. A cage surrounds the riser. Ports at the upper end of the riser allow cuttings to flow out the riser and back down into the cage. A funnel guide locates at the upper end of the riser to guide the drill bit and the lower end of the first string of the casing. The running tool for the first string of casing lands an inner wellhead housing in the outer wellhead housing and simultaneously engages the cuttings collector to retrieve it. Cuttings from the collector will be dumped from the cuttings collector near the surface. The cuttings collector telescopes from an extended to a collapsed position for storage.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to subsea well drilling, and in particular to a means for collecting cuttings produced while drilling the well for a first string of casing after conductor pipe has been installed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When drilling with a floating drilling vessel, normally a guide base will be installed on the sea floor. Then the well will be drilled or jetted to an initial depth of typically around 300 feet. Large diameter conductor pipe, normally 30 inches in diameter, will be installed in this initial portion of the well. An outer wellhead housing secures to the upper end of the conductor pipe and locates at the subsea floor on the guide base.
Then, the operator lowers a drill bit through the outer wellhead housing and drills through the conductor pipe to a depth that may be around 1,000 feet. The operator then runs a first string of casing, which is normally 20 inches in diameter. An inner or high pressure wellhead housing locates at the upper end of the 20 inch casing. The inner wellhead housing lands in the outer wellhead housing. The operator cements the 20 inch casing in place.
The operator installs a riser to the exterior of the inner wellhead housing leading to the surface. A blowout preventer stack is connected into the riser at a subsea location. The operator will then drill the well for at least two additional strings of casing.
While drilling the well for the 20 inch casing, there normally will be no riser to the surface because the riser will connect to the inner wellhead housing, which has not yet been installed. As a result, cuttings produced during drilling for the 20 inch casing flow up over the outer wellhead housing and pile up on the guide base. Sometimes the pile of cuttings can be a problem. The extent of the cuttings may result in the operator having to extend the outer wellhead housing higher above the sea floor than desired.
Proposals have been made to return cuttings to the surface. These proposals involve various techniques to utilize a riser while drilling the 20 inch. While this would prevent the build up of cuttings around the outer wellhead housing, the proposals necessitate the use of wellhead structure that will be other than of the type conventionally employed.

Subsea drilling cuttings collector and method of drilling


A photoelectric coupling assembly and manufacturing method thereof enabling a three dimensional electrical wiring pattern is provided. The assembly includes a photoelectric conversion unit equipped with a photoelectric conversion element and a molded article. The molded article has a hole configured and arranged to have an optical fiber inserted there-through such that a distal end of the fiber faces an active layer of the conversion element, a front surface on which the conversion unit is mounted, and a side surface being contiguous to the front surface. The lead being insert molded into the molded article has a first surface being exposed at the front surface and electrically connected to the conversion element, a second surface being exposed at the side surface, and an engaging portion having a width increasing in a direction away from the front surface. At least a portion of the engaging portion is contained inside the resin forming the molded article.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a photoelectric coupling assembly for connecting an electrical circuit and an optical fiber and a method for manufacturing the photoelectric coupling assembly.
2. Description of the Background Arts
With the development of broadband communication systems, higher speeds and larger capacities are increasingly in demand for networked household electric appliances as well as for routers at network nodes. Consequently, the investigation and implementation of optical interconnections is on the rise. An optical interconnection is a connection arrangement contrived to carry out a photoelectric conversion at a boundary section (interface) between a signal processing section and a signal transmission section such that the broadband capacity of optical fiber technology can be utilized to accomplish high-speed, high-capacity transmissions. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2005-43622, for example, discloses a technique in which an electrical circuit and an optical fiber are coupled together at a photoelectric conversion section using a photoelectric coupling assembly that includes a photoelectric conversion element (a light-emitting element or a light-receiving element) and an optical fiber holding member.
FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view showing the assembled state of an optical fiber cable connected to a photoelectric coupling assembly in accordance with the disclosure of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 2005-43622. The photoelectric coupling assembly 100 includes a molded article 104 having holding holes 102 each configured to mechanically hold an optical fiber 101 such that an optical input/output end surface 103 of each optical fiber 101 is exposed at a main surface. An electrical wiring pattern 105 is provided on the main surface and a side surface of the molded article 104 such that the portion of the electrical wiring pattern 105 on the main surface is connected to the portion of the electrical wiring pattern 105 on the side surface. A photo-semiconductor element 107 is provided in front of the optical fiber 101 with an insulating film 106 disposed there-between. The photo-semiconductor element 107 is connected to the electrical wiring pattern 105 with bumps 108. The same patent publication claims that the degree of freedom with which the photo-electric coupling assembly can be arranged is increased by having the kind of electrical wiring pattern just described. However, it is inherently difficult to form an electrical wiring pattern in a continuous manner on the surface of an object such that the wiring pattern is accurately positioned in three dimensions.

Photoelectric coupling assembly and manufacturing method thereof


The invention relates to the use of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids for the manufacture of a nutritional composition for feeding infants of a mother who suffered from a metabolic disorder during pregnancy and to a corresponding composition. Said composition comprises a n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid fraction containing at least 0.1 wt docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) based on total weight of the lipid, at least 0.01 wt % n-3 docosapentaenoic acid (DPAn-3) based on total weight of the lipid, and at least 0.01 wt. % eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) based on total weight of the lipid, wherein the sum of DHA, DPAn-3 and EPA is below 1 wt. % of total lipid.

The polyunsaturated fatty acid status of infants is of continuing interest in the art. Several functions have been attributed to different fatty acids. For example, docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is the primary structural fatty acid component in both the gray matter of the brain and the retina of the eye and thus is essential for brain and eye function. Hence, DHA is of particular importance for the growing infant.
As a result of DHA deficiency, n-6 docosapentaenoic acid (DPA n-6) is instead incorporated in the growing brain of the infant. This is undesirable because it is difficult to reverse and may result in impaired neurological development. Additional, insufficient DHA may lead to a hindrance of healthy development.
DHA deficiency is of particular importance for infants of mothers who suffered from a disease during pregnancy. Hence, particularly for these infants, it is of crucial importance that the infant formula provides an optimal fatty acid profile in the infant.
DE 4 327 310 describes a milk composition from cows containing eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and n-3 docosapentaenoic acid (DPA-n3), which is useful for promoting growth, intellectual function and sight function in children. The fat composition is however unsuitable for feeding to an infant because the weight ratio linoleic acid/alpha-linolenic acid (LA/ALA) is not optimal.
WO 01/78530 describes a nutritional composition containing specified amounts of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) as well as their precursor essential fatty acids ALA and LA, for providing nutrition and for enhancing neurological development of preterm infants.
WO 2004/052115 describes glyceride compositions, methods of making the glyceride compositions, and nutritional formulations containing the glyceride compositions. The glyceride compositions contain predominantly monoglycerides and diglycerides carrying one or more long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids. Also disclosed are methods of using the glyceride compositions and nutritional formulations
WO 98/36745 describes methods and compositions for reducing the incidence of necrotizing enterocolitis. Said compositions provide n-6 and n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.
The object of the present invention is to provide a nutritional composition with polyunsaturated fatty acids suitable for feeding an infant of a mother who suffered from a metabolic disorder during pregnancy.


In a method for photo-ionization ion mobility spectrometry, a reagent gas is added, in particular an aromatic compound, which has a large ionization cross section in the range of ionizing VUV radiation, but a low probability for the formation of protonated quasi-molecular ions. In this way, the detection of only weakly proton affine substances is also amplified or even made possible at all, and also the detection of electronegative substances in a negative operating mode is improved. Preferred reagent gases are benzene, toluene and xylene. FIG. 1

The invention concerns a method for the detection of gas traces in the air with the help of a photo-ionization ion mobility spectrometer, whereby a sample gas is directed into a photo-ionization chamber and the sample molecules present in the sample gas are ionized by the VUV radiation of a, lamp and whereby this ionization is amplified by adding a reagent gas.
A method of photo-ionization ion mobility spectrometry is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,931.
Ion mobility spectrometers operate similarly to time-of-fright mass spectrometers, however not under a vacuum, but rather at atmospheric pressure.
Ion mobility spectrometers (IMS) are used, for example, to detect the presence of substance vapors in an environment, such as of pollutants in atmospheric air. The possibilities range from a simple alarm function at the presence of known pollutants, e.g. a chemical warfare agent, through the identification of an unknown substance, to the quantitative determination of concentration.
Typical ion mobility spectrometers have an ionization source, a reaction cell, a drift cell, e.g. in the shape of a tube, an entrance grid between the reaction and drift regions, and an ion detector. The spectrometers operate at atmospheric pressure, where the mean free path length of the gas molecules in the drift cell is small compared to its dimensions. Usually, a carrier gas, i.e. dry air, is introduced into the spectrometer together with the sample gas or vapor. The carrier gas containing the sample is fed via an inlet to the ionization source, which causes the carrier gas and sample molecules to be partially ionized. The ionization source usually consists of .sup.241 Am or .sup.63 Ni. Through collisions, the charge from the carrier gas molecules is transferred to the sample molecules, meaning that quasi-molecular ions form. There is generally an electrical potential gradient in the reaction region, so that the charged mixture is moved toward the injection grid. The latter is electrically charged and normally bars admission to the drift cell. Periodically, this potential is lowered, however, for a brief time, so that a sample ion pulse moves into the drift cell. Here, there is an approximately constant electrical drift field, i.e. a constant potential gradient which moves the ions along the axis of the cell to a detector electrode located at the end of the drift cell opposite to the end with the injection grid, collecting the charge from the ions. The arrival time of the ions relative to the pulsed opening of the injection grid is dependent upon the mobility of the ions detected. Light ions are more mobile than heavy ions and reach the detector earlier. This effect is exploited for characterization of the ions. The pulsed opening of the grid can be repeated periodically in measuring cycles in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio by the addition of subsequently acquired ion mobility spectra, or to perform a quasi-continuous measurement.
The use of a radioactive ionization source as an emitter of .alpha. or .beta. rays limits application to the detection of those pollutants which are strongly proton affine or electronegative (basically these are only chemical warfare agents and explosives) and their use represents a certain risk especially in the nonmilitary area.
For this reason, and to expand the range of analytical applications, various efforts were undertaken how to replace the radioactive ionization sources. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,839,143 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,928,033, the use of alkali-cation emitters as ionization sources in ion mobility spectrometers is described. With these sources, ionization of the sample molecules is only possible during the positive operating mode of the ion mobility spectrometers. In this way, many electronegative pollutants evade ionization. Furthermore, considerable electrical power (in excess of one Watt) is required to heat the alkali emitter to temperatures of 600.degree.C.-800.degree. C., rapidly consuming batteries in a small battery-operated instrument.
In the international patent application WO 93/11554 A1, a corona discharge ionization source for an ion mobility spectrometers is presented. But also with this type of ionization source, electronegative pollutants are not detectable, since nitrous gases resulting from the discharge are very strongly electronegative, thus making a charge transfer to the generally weaker electronegative pollutant molecules impossible.
The application of vacuum-UV light for pollutant ionization is known from photo-ionization detectors (PID) which are used as detectors for gas chromatography or non-selective manual instruments. The VUV light is either generated by lasers, by low or high pressure lamps filled with inert gas, by constant current lamps or by flash lamps. In the above cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,931, a flash lamp is suggested as particularly advantageous. Although irradiation with VUV light in principle allows for the ionization of a large number of pollutant molecules, ionization is restricted to those substances with an ionization potential which is less than the energy h.nu. of the light, and which can, in addition, absorb the light. Thus for example the molecules of 1,1-dimethylhydrazine fuel can hardly be ionized in the ppm range with the light of a 10.6 eV lamp because of its low absorbency, despite its low ionization potential of 7.3 eV.
In conjunction with ion mobility spectrometers, it is known that the addition of a chemical reagent gas such as acetone or carbon tetrachloride to the carrier gas can improve the detection selectivity. The initially cited U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,931 also suggests such an addition in conjunction with photo-ionization, particularly acetone, thereby quoting two articles, i.e. Luczynski and Wincel Int. J. Mass. Spectrometry and Ion Physics, Vol. 23, pp. 37-44 (1977) and Tzeng et al. in J. Am. Soc., Vol. 111, pp. 6035-6040 (1989). It is inferred from these articles that the ionization process takes place via the formation of protonated monomers H.sup.+ (CH.sub.3).sub.2 CO and dimers H.sup.+ [(CH.sub.3).sub.2 CO].sub.2.
It is indicated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,931 that the addition of acetone not only increases selectivity but also detection sensitivity. It is asserted that it is not necessary for the reagent substance to have an ionization energy which is lower than the photon energy, since excited reagent molecules could be formed which are ionized through subsequent reactions. An "effective" ionization potential is therefore important. Without any further explanations, and particularly without any example, it is mentioned that the addition of a reagent gas can improve the sensitivity of an ion mobility spectrometers in the positive and negative mode.
For acetone, the only reagent substance explicitly described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,931, the ionization of the target substance to be detected proceeds via the intermediate formation of protonated dimers of the acetone molecule. Charge transfer to the target molecule occurs via the proton and not through direct ionization. The effectiveness of the charge transfer therefore depends for the most part upon the proton affinities of the molecules involved, not upon their ionization potential. It is absolutely necessary for the progress of the reaction that the proton affinity of the target substance is greater than that of acetone. Detection of non-proton affine target substances, such as of some hydrocarbons and chlorinated thioether, is therefore not amplified by the addition of acetone.
However, there is still a need for a method of operation for an ion mobility spectrometer with a VUV lamp as a non-radioactive ionization source for the detection of a target substance in air, in which selectivity and detection sensitivity are improved by the addition of a reagent gas which is also successful for less proton affine target substances. Preferably, by selection of the reagent gas, the method should be able to be optimized for certain target substances, or it should be possible to suppress interferents. The method should be able to be operated in the positive and negative mode if possible.

Photo-ionization ion mobility spectrometry


Signals sent from detectors through input units are inputted to respective microcomputers. Microcomputers are synchronized with each other by an external clock, and execute input processing and arithmetic operation processing. In addition, a common memory is connected to each of the microcomputers, which read out/write data from/to the common memory through respective buses. In such a manner, each of the microcomputers adopts a simple hardware configuration having the external clock and the common memory which are common to the microcomputers.

For example, in a multiple redundancy configuration in a safety controller for a railway disclosed in JP 2000-255431 A, a failsafe function can be ensured using a plurality of control systems to improve its reliability. Each of control systems carries out comparison between one's own system and other system using a common memory with respect to input/output results of a signal to/from an on-site device. When the result data disagree with each other, each of the control systems judges that a failure has occurred and causes running of trains on railways to stop.
More specifically, for a certain input contact signal, input results in one's own system (hereinafter referred to as "a system A") and input results in other system (hereinafter referred to as "a system B") are compared with each other as follows. A controller of the system A reads out an input contact signal from an input unit of the system A and writes read-out results to the common memory. On the other hand, a controller of the system B, similarly, reads out an input contact signal from an input unit of the system B and writes read-out results to the common memory.
The controller of the system A reads out, from the common memory, the results which the controller of the system B has written, compares the results thus read out with its input results which have been read out from the input unit of the system A, and then carries out comparison with respect to input results between one's own system and other system.
However, the related art involves the following problems. In the conventional multiple redundancy configuration, when obtaining the input results of other system, the controller of one's own system reads out other system read-out results which have been written to the common memory by the controller of other system. With such a configuration, a circuit configuration for realization of a multiple system becomes complicated. Moreover, the complexity of the circuit configuration results in that the data processing becomes complicated, and hence there arises a problem in that an operation speed becomes slow, or the read-out results are delayed. Furthermore, there is encountered a problem in that the system becomes expensive since a dedicated hardware is required.
In addition, in the conventional multiple redundancy configuration, each of the control systems reads out a contact signal obtained through a relay circuit to carry out the comparison and the verification of an ON/OFF state of the contact signal. However, for example, when an encoder is used as signal detecting means, a signal which continuously changes its ON/OFF state is inputted to each of the control systems. As a result, there is encountered a problem in that each of the conventional control systems cannot carry out the comparison and the verification for counting results of such input signals.


This invention relates to a method of treating cancer in a human in need thereof by determining the presence or absence of a detectable amount of a gene product of the Neurofibromin-2 (NF2) gene in a sample from the human, and administering to the human an effective amount of a focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, if no gene product or no isoform 1 gene product is detected. This invention also relates to a method of treating cancer in a human in need thereof, comprising determining the presence or absence of a detectable amount of a functional isoform 1 protein of the NF2 gene, or a functional fragment thereof, in a sample from the human, and administering to the human an effective amount of a focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, if no gene product or no isoform 1 gene product is detected.

Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK herein) is a non-receptor protein tyrosine kinase that has both signaling and scaffolding functions in focal adhesions. FAK is a central regulator of cell adhesion, migration, and survival. As such, FAK inhibition provides an important avenue for treating a number of cancers. In treatment, it is important to identify patients who will respond to FAK inhibitors from those who will not, so that non-responders can be provided alternative treatment.

GlaxoSmithKline Intellectual Property (No. 2) Limited


Embodiments are directed to obtaining a specification of at least one operational requirement for at least one capacitor, generating a design of the at least one capacitor to satisfy the at least one operational requirement, the design of the at least one capacitor comprising a plurality of layers and a first integrated busbar coupled to at least a portion of the layers, and based on the design, manufacturing the at least one capacitor by utilizing an additive manufacturing technique.

Sufficient bus capacitance is needed to ensure that a solid state power source operates in accordance with power quality requirements. Typical requirements include highly localized capacitance and minimal series inductance, while adhering to one or more package constraints. Such requirements impose challenges in terms of size, cost, and thermal performance. For example, it is desirable to be able to cheaply manufacture capacitors to fit into a small form-factor or profile while still being able to operate the capacitors at elevated power levels and temperatures.

Multilayer capacitor with integrated busbar


A method estimates the distance of a flat part while maintaining the precision needed for estimating the distance in detail. Distance information is estimated by estimating each piece of distance information of an image represented by image data, and distance information represented by resolution-converted image data, and combining the distance information of the image and the distance information of the resolution-converted image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distance information estimating apparatus which can estimate the distance from at least one image.
2. Description of the Related Art
A multi-viewpoint image includes a plurality of viewpoint images captured at the same time by a so-called camera array (known as camera array system, multiple lens camera, and the like), a plurality of viewpoint images captured by sequentially moving a viewpoint (an image capture position) of one still camera, or a plurality of viewpoint images created by sampling a video image captured by a video camera. In a case of calculating distance information to an object included in the viewpoint images, or generating an image of an optional viewpoint including a viewpoint which does not carry out image capture, parallax information corresponding to a viewpoint interval is necessary.
In order to extract parallax information from a multi-viewpoint image, there has been developed a multi-viewpoint image processing apparatus which obtains corresponding information of individual pixels in two images which are optionally selected from among a group of viewpoint images.
In the multi-viewpoint image processing apparatus, with regard to a certain pixel (a target point) on one captured image, a corresponding pixel (a corresponding point) is specified on the other captured image. A parallax about these pixels, that is, a displacement amount between a position of the target point in one image and a position of the corresponding point on the other image corresponding to the target point is calculated as the parallax.
Here, a matching process for specifying the corresponding point on the other image for the target point on one image between two images has various methods. For example, there is an area-based method of specifying the corresponding point by using a pixel block which is constructed by a plurality of pixels including a target point on one image as a template, and determining a correlation between the template and each of areas on the other image. Further, there is a feature-based method of extracting a feature which includes a target point on one image to specify the corresponding point on the other image on the basis of the feature.
In any of the area-based method and the feature-based method, a search area is set on the basis of a coordinate of the target point on one image, a correlation degree is determined about each of candidates of the corresponding point in the search area, and a pixel having the highest correlation degree is selected as the corresponding point, on the other image. In a case where the camera posture or a distortion is known, it is possible to estimate the depth of the corresponding points according to a triangulation method.
Further, there has been proposed a technique of estimating the distance from a picture composition of one image. For example, the depth can be estimated by analyzing a feature amount of the image, for example, a blur degree and the picture composition, and associating the feature amount with previously set depth information.
According to a method described in US 2009/0052796 A1, the feature-based method and the area-based method are mixed, the feature point is extracted, and a small pixel block (hereinafter, referred to as a patch) is generated around the feature point. The small patch is sequentially generated in the vicinity of the feature point by performing sorting out of the patch in which the patch is adopted, in a case where the patch can be viewed from a plurality of cameras. As a result, precise distance information estimation can be carried out.
According to a method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-123019, the feature-based method and the area-based method are mixed, one of a plurality of images in which the camera positions are known is set as a standard image, and a two-dimensional mesh constituted by a plurality of triangles is generated on the standard image. It is possible to estimate the distance information of the image by determining the distance of each of apexes of the mesh so that the two-dimensional mesh converted into a viewpoint of the reference images other than the standard image coincides with the reference image most closely.
According to a method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-029168, it is possible to estimate the distance information of an image by analyzing an image picture composition even from one image and collating it with a previously prepared depth structure pattern.
However, the methods according to US 2009/0052796 A1 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-123019 have a problem that the parallax of a flat part of the image can not be determined.
In the method according to US 2009/0052796 A1, the corresponding patch to the patch as seen from the other viewpoint can not be uniquely defined in a flat part which is a certain degree larger than the magnitude of the patch.
In the method according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-123019, the corresponding point to each of the apexes of the mesh as seen from the other viewpoint can not be uniquely determined in a flat part which is a certain degree larger than the magnitude of the mesh.
Since the method according to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2012-029168 estimates on the basis of the previously prepared structure patterns, it is hard to carry out an estimation having a high precision, for example, a fine irregularity.

Distance information estimating apparatus