Isolated polynucleotides encoding monkey and canine Melanin Concentrating Hormone (MCH) Type 2 receptors and chimeric polypeptides are provided. Vectors and cells for recombinant expression of such MCH receptor polypeptides, and isolated MCH receptor polypeptides are also provided. MCH receptor polynucleotides and polypeptides may be used, for example, to identify agents that specifically interact with MCH receptor. Such agents find use within therapies for humans and animals afflicted with conditions associated with MCH receptor activation.

Melanin concentrating hormone, or MCH, is a cyclic 19 amino acid neuropeptide that functions as a regulator of food intake and energy balance. In many vertebrate species, including humans, MCH is produced in the hypothalamus, which is associated with behaviors such as eating, drinking, aggression and sexual behavior. MCH is also produced at various peripheral sites, including the gastrointestinal tract and testis.
The postulated role of MCH in feeding behavior and body weight is confirmed by the finding that i.c.v. injection of MCH into the lateral ventrical of the hypothalamus increases caloric consumption in rats over similarly treated control animals. Furthermore, rats having the ob/ob genotype exhibit a 50–80% increase in MCH mRNA expression as compared to leaner ob/+ genotype mice. MCH knockout mice are leaner than mice that produce MCH, but are otherwise genetically identical, due to hypophagia and an increased metabolic rate.
MCH activity is mediated via binding to specific receptors. Like other G protein-coupled receptors (e.g., neuropeptide Y (NPY) and beta-adrenergic receptors), MCH receptors are membrane-spanning proteins that consist of a single contiguous amino acid chain comprising an extracellular N-terminal domain, seven membrane-spanning alpha helical domains (connected by three intracellular loop domains alternating with three extracellular loop domains), and an intracellular C-terminal domain. Signal transduction is initiated by the binding of MCH to the receptor. This elicits conformational changes in the extracellular domains. When the receptor is functioning properly, these conformational changes propagate through the transmembrane domains and result in a coordinated change in the intracellular portions of the receptor. This precise alteration in the intracellular domains acts to trigger the associated G-protein complex to modulate intracellular signaling.
MCH1R is a 353 amino acid, 7-transmembrane, alpha-helical, G protein-coupled receptor, initially reported as orphan receptor SCL-1 by Kolakowski et al. (1996) FEBS Lett. 398:253–58 and Lakaye et al. (1998) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1401:216–220. Chambers et al. (1999) Nature 400:261–65 and Saito et al. (1999) Nature 400:265–69 subsequently showed that SLC-1 was an MCH receptor. Immunohistochemistry studies of rat brain sections indicate that the MCH1R is widely expressed in brain. MCH1R expression is found in olfactory tubercle, cerebral cortex, substantia nigra, basal forebrain CA1, CA2, and CA3 field of the hippocampus, amygdala, and in nuclei of the hypothalamus, thalamus, midbrain and hindbrain. Strong signals are observed in the ventromedial and dorsomedial nuclei of the hypothalamus, two areas of the brain involved in feeding behavior. Upon binding MCH, MCH1R expressed in HEK 293 cells mediate a dose dependent release of intracellular calcium. Cells expressing MCH1R also exhibit a pertussis toxin sensitive dose-dependent inhibition of forskolin-elevated cyclic AMP, indicating that the receptor couples to a GI/O G-protein alpha subunit.
Recently, a second MCH receptor (designated MCH2R) was identified (WO 01/70975; WO 01/07606; WO 00/49046; An et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (2001) 98:7576–7581; Sailer et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (2001) 98:7564–7569; Hill et al., J. Biol. Chem. (2001) 276:20125–20129; Mori et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. (2001) 283:1013–1018). The human sequence (Hill et al.) has GenBank Accession Number AF347063. MCH2R has an overall amino acid identity of more than 30% with MCH1R, and is detected specifically in the same regions of the brain as MCH1R.
Agents capable of modulating MCH receptor activity are highly desirable for the treatment of obesity, eating disorders (e.g., bulimia and anorexia), sexual disorders (e.g., anorgasmic or psychogenic impotence) and metabolic disorders, such as diabetes. Isolated MCH receptors (e.g., as components of membrane preparations), cells expressing such receptors and cloned MCH receptor genes are needed to facilitate the discovery of such agents.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for additional MCH receptor sequences. The present invention fulfills this need, and provides further related advantages.

Monkey and canine melanin concentrating hormone receptors


Fabric conditioning compositions comprising at least 10% by weight free fatty acid are useful in softening fabrics.

Conventional fabric softening compositions are added in the rinse cycle of the laundering process to soften fabrics. However, adding such compositions during the rinse cycle can be inconvenient for the consumer, unless the consumer has a laundry washing machine that has a built-in fabric softener dispensing unit, a removable agitator post-mounted fabric softener dispenser, or has a fabric softener dosing device such as the DOWNY® Ball. Otherwise, the consumer has to monitor the laundering process and then manually add the fabric softener to the load as soon as the rinse cycle begins.
Softening-through-the-wash ("STW") compositions are able to soften fabrics while being added to the fabrics in the laundering process during the washing stage, negating the need to add a separate fabric conditioning composition to the rinse stage and/or drying stage of the laundering process. The STW compositions can thus be added to the load of laundry at the beginning of the laundering process, which provides the consumer with an efficient and easy way to soften fabric during the laundering process.
It is convenient to provide fabric softening compositions in the form of a unit dose. Previous attempts have been made to provide a unit dose fabric softening composition in the form of a tablet. However, such tablets tend to leave an undesirable visible residue on the treated fabrics and/or may provide only limited fabric softening benefits. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,421 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,886. Tablets are thus generally not as well accepted by the consumer as softeners in liquid or gel forms.
There has thus been a need to provide a softening-through-the-wash composition that provides effective deposition of a fabric softening active on the treated fabrics to provide a consumer noticeable softening benefit, while avoiding the deposition of a visible residue on the treated fabrics.

Fabric softening compositions comprising free fatty acid


A piezoelectric element prevents the development of a short circuit between separate electrodes and provides a high level of connection reliability. The piezoelectric element utilizing a longitudinal oscillation mode includes a piezoelectric substrate which has on one main surface thereof a first electrode and a second electrode separated by longitudinally extending linear grooves and, on the other main surface, a third electrode. Conductive support members are secured to node sections of the first and second electrodes so as to be spaced apart from each other with respect to the longitudinal dimension of the piezoelectric substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric element utilizing a longitudinal oscillation mode for use in an AM filter or other electronic components.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a known conventional piezoelectric element utilizing a longitudinal oscillation mode, a first main surface of a piezoelectric substrate is provided with input and output electrodes that are formed by dividing electrode material via a longitudinally extending linear groove, and a second main surface of the piezoelectric substrate is provided with a common electrode, wherein a part of each of the input and output electrodes is provided with a separate, independent support section which is formed of an isotropic elastic conductive material and which constitutes an electrical contact section for achieving electrical contact with an external conductor as described in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2-224515. The above-mentioned support sections are arranged on either side of the groove and at a common position with respect to the longitudinal dimension of the input and output electrodes.
In the above-described piezoelectric element, the distance between the support members, which are spaced apart from each other, is small. Thus, when the piezoelectric element as described above is connected to external conductors, such as terminals of a case for an electronic component, with the input and output electrodes facing downwards, it is necessary for the external conductors to be located in close proximity to each other. Thus, if there is a small positional deviation of the piezoelectric element, a short circuit may be developed between the input and output electrodes.
In the above-described piezoelectric element, the elastic support sections thereof are connected to terminals of a case by bringing them into elastically biased contact with the terminals. In effecting this connection, the support sections may be connected and fixed to pattern electrodes of a mounting substrate or the like by using a conductive adhesive or the like. In this case, due to the small distance between the support sections of the input and output electrodes, a short circuit may be developed between the input and output electrodes if the conductive adhesive is spread to only a small amount, resulting in a deterioration in reliability of the electrical connection.

Piezoelectric element and method of producing same


A three-dimensional multilayer fabric is provided. The fabric comprises a surface layer, a backing layer, and an intermediate layer connecting the surface layer and the backing layer. The surface layer includes sequential unstitched surface portions and sequential stitched surface portions formed in an alternating and repeating pattern. The unstitched surface portions of the surface layer are essentially composed of surface warp threads only, and the stitched surface portions of the surface layer are composed of the surface warp threads and intermediate warp threads. The backing layer includes sequential unstitched backing portions and sequential stitched backing portions formed in an alternating and repeating pattern. The unstitched backing portions of the backing layer are essentially composed of backing warp threads only, and the stitched backing portions of the backing layer are composed of the backing warp threads and the intermediate warp threads. The intermediate warp threads are woven without interlacing with weft threads on the surfaces of the unstitched backing portions. The intermediate layer includes sequential intermediate portions composed of the intermediate warp threads only. Each of the intermediate portions consists of a first intermediate portion and a second intermediate portion connected to the stitched surface portions and the stitched backing portions in an alternating and repeating pattern. The connecting warp threads of the intermediate layer exposed to the outside of the backing layer are sheared. Further provided is a method for the production of the fabric.

Fabrics are typically made from corresponding raw materials and are constructed by weaving, knitting, plaiting or braiding. For example, felt fabrics are produced by the interlocking of fibers. Fabrics are primarily classified into woven fabrics, knitted fabrics, felt fabrics, plaited fabrics, non-woven fabrics, laminated fabrics and molded fabrics by standard production methods thereof.
In a narrow sense, woven fabrics refer to fabrics constructed by interlacing vertical warp threads with horizontal weft threads at right angles. Woven fabrics are the most widely used fabrics for under wears and outer wears. Knitted fabrics are constructed by making sets of threads into loops and combining the loops with one another in forward, backward, left and right directions. Knitted fabrics are rapidly produced by knitting and tend to be loose and elastic when being worn. Strands of fibers are interlocked by heat, moisture, pressure or striking to construct felt fabrics, thus eliminating the need for the use of threads. In plaited, braided and lace fabrics, individual threads are interlaced with sets of threads while sliding in any one direction to attain desired effects. Non-woven fabrics are constructed by the application of adhesive materials, the attachment of fibers through chemical functions on the surface of the fibers, or the attachment of webs or sheets of thermoplastic fibers by heating. Laminated fabrics are constructed by laminating a foam to one or two woven fabrics to achieve improved flexibility and provide a cushiony feeling. The surface areas of molded fabrics are larger than those of the raw materials before extrusion. Molded articles (e.g., clothes) are cushiony, or are in the form of a pile or plate. These articles are very wearable, match the functions of the human body, and are not readily deformed.
The lateral sides of two-dimensional fabrics are not utilized or used. Sewing and other fusion techniques are currently used to impart three-dimensional shapes to fabrics.
Industrial applications of such techniques have been reported. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,384,519 suggests a blind comprising fabrics 85 and 86 and a movable blade 87 positioned between the fabrics wherein the fabrics are adhered to the blade by fusion or bonding (see, FIG. 13). The horizontal movement of the blade allows light to enter through the mesh type fabrics, and the vertical movement of the blade blocks light. By the movements of the blade, the amount of light entering the blind can be controlled. In addition, the soft texture and mesh structure of the fabrics enable the blind to shield light in a controllable manner. However, the use of an adhesive or pressure-sensitive adhesive for the adhesion of the blade to the fabrics may cause the problems of indoor environmental pollution. Particularly, long-term use of the blind causes a deterioration in the physical properties of the adhesive or pressure-sensitive adhesive by UV light, resulting in poor adhesion between the blade and the fabrics. In serious cases, the blade is separated from the fabrics.
In an attempt to overcome the above problems, a roll screen and a roll blind are suggested in Korean Patent No. 699769. Specifically, the blind is produced using a single fabric woven by warp threads and weft threads as connecting means. A front mesh type curtain sheet 12, a rear mesh type curtain sheet 13 and a light-shielding curtain sheet 14 are integrally formed in the blind. The mesh type curtain sheets serve to control the amount of air flowing through and light entering the blind, and the light-shielding curtain sheet serves to block light entering the blind. More specifically, the blind is configured such that the front mesh type curtain sheet 12, the rear mesh type curtain sheet 13 and the light-shielding curtain sheet 14 are integrated by connecting weft threads 17 woven together with front connecting knots 15 and rear connecting knots 16. The light-shielding curtain sheet 14 is woven between the front mesh type curtain sheet 12 and the rear mesh type curtain sheet 13 by repeatedly connecting and fixing the light-shielding curtain sheet 14 to the front mesh type curtain sheet 12 and the rear mesh type curtain sheet 13 while integrally bonding the connecting weft threads 17 to warp threads by weaving, passing the connecting weft threads 17 from the rear connecting knots 16 through grooves 18 formed in the front connecting knots 15, and repeatedly weaving the end portions of the connecting weft threads 17 integrally bonded to the front mesh type curtain sheet 12 with the warp threads of the rear connecting knots 16 to form several connecting knots.
The front mesh type curtain sheet 12 and the rear mesh type curtain sheet 13 are connected by the weft threads to construct the multilayer fabric. This requires the removal of the weft threads in order to create a three-dimensional shape. Further, the front mesh type curtain sheet 12, the rear mesh type curtain sheet 13, the light-shielding curtain sheet 14, the front connecting knots 15 and the rear connecting knots 16 are not woven together in the multilayer fabric. Instead, the front connecting knots 15 are formed by integrating the front mesh type curtain sheet 12, the light-shielding curtain sheet 14 and the weft threads 17, and the rear connecting knots 16 are formed by integrating the rear mesh type curtain sheet 13, the light-shielding curtain sheet 14 and the weft threads 17.
The greatest problem of the patent is that the blind contradicts the fundamental theory of weaving. Weaving is a technique by which warp threads and weft threads are interlaced on a loom to construct a fabric. Specifically, the construction of a fabric by weaving is achieved by winding warp threads on a warper, drawing-in the warp threads, moving the drawn-in warp threads upwardly and downwardly (i.e. shedding motion) on a loom to form openings, and passing weft threads between the openings. In view of the foregoing, weft threads must be moved upwardly and downwardly (shedding motion) to accomplish the patented blind. In actuality, however, the weaving technique is impossible to realize. Therefore, the patented blind is considered to be incomplete.


A method controlling an application from a web page. The method includes the steps of recording activation of an interface button associated with the application on the web page, determining whether the application is already active, and calling the application if the application is not already active. The method further includes the step of passing command line parameters to the application if the application is a non-web application.

The present invention relates to self-service kiosks and more specifically to a method of controlling applications.
Retailers have a desire to sell their products over networks, such as global networks which are a part of the World Wide Web (WWW or "web") and which use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP protocol). These retailers wish to provide Internet server web sites which offer the same features as Internet server web sites available to home shoppers who use their computers to connect to the Internet server web sites.
Kiosks provide a publicly-accessible computing platform for displaying web pages and other web-delivered content from retailer web sites. Kiosks may be located within a retailer's transaction establishment or elsewhere, such as in shopping malls. Kiosks may be easily networked to retailer web sites using the TCP/IP protocol. Web pages from web sites may be displayed using known and available web software, such as Microsoft® Internet Explorer software.
Kiosk owners may wish to integrate web applications with non-web applications on the same kiosk, where non-web applications typically include Microsoft Visual Basic applications, Microsoft Visual C applications, Microsoft Visual C++ applications, and host character based applications (e.g., VT100 emulation used locally). However, integration is difficult. To port all applications to the same technology costs lots of time and money.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a method of controlling applications which allows web and non-web applications to run together on the same kiosk.


A method for creating a surface having a fast changing temperature, comprises providing a heat exchanger coupled to an orifice opening into a jacket which is in contact with the surface to be heated and cooled, the jacket forming a reservoir capable of housing a fluid in contact with the surface to be heated and cooled, and providing two gas sources, each gas source being independently connected to the said heat exchanger, one source providing a first gas, which liquefies when it expands through the orifice, and the other gas source providing a second gas, having an inversion temperature lower than the temperature obtained by the liquefaction of the first gas, and causing the exhaust gas flowing out from the jacket, to flow through the said heat-exchanger to preheat or precool the inflowing gas, as the case may be, and further causing the said first and the second gas alternately to flow through the said heat exchanger and orifice, to cool or to heat the surface; means being provided for allowing and stopping the flow of each gas through the orifice.

The ability to cause fast changes in temperatures, particularly between very low temperatures and room or higher temperatures, on a desired surface and at a desired location, is of practical importance in many uses. Fast temperature changes can be exploited, for instance, in the treatment of various materials, for sealing or surface curing purposes, etc.
Cold and hot surfaces are used also for medical uses. For instance, cryogenic techniques are employed to destroy malignant tissues, or for plastic surgery. One example of such a use is presented in U.S. Pat. No. 774,549, which relates to a thermal treatment of biological tissues by passing heat carriers through a cryosurgical probe. The method is said to be useful in the cryo-surgery of the human brain. This method, however, involves passing a heat carrier through a surgical probe, its subsequent heating and repeated passage through the probe. Acetone or alcohol are used as the heat carrier. Prior to its passage through the probe the heat carrier is either cooled to -70.degree.-75.degree. C., or heated to +70.degree.-90.degree. C.
Devices of this type present severe drawbacks, inasmuch as they have long lags in temperature changes, they require cumbersome heating/cooling apparatus outside the probe, and are complicated and expensive to use.
Cryosurgical instruments having both cryocooling and heating capabilities are also known in the art. One such device and its medical use have been described by Andrew A. Gage "Current Issues in Cryosurgery", Cryobiology 19, 219-222(1982), at pp. 220-21!. The device described therein was cooled by liquid nitrogen and electrically heated, to provide hemostasis. The electrical heating, however, by its nature is a relatively slow procedure.
Another device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 1,217,377, which exploits the expansion of gases through an orifice. However, simple expansion of gas through an orifice provides relatively slow temperature changes, and the changes in temperature are relatively mild. Thus, for instance, in the device of U.S. Pat. No. 1,217,377 it is not possible to liquify nitrogen. Additionally, this prior art device employs helium at room temperature which, expanding from a pressure of about 300 atmospheres, will attain a heating of merely about 30.degree. C. In any case, in the single pass expansion described in this reference, liquefaction of nitrogen cannot be achieved. However, helium has an inversion temperature of about 45K, which renders it possible to employ neon or hydrogen as the second gas, as is done in this reference. The highest inversion temperature of neon is about 200K, and of hydrogen is about 180K. Accordingly, these gases cannot be used while using nitrogen as the first gas, because the temperature of liquid nitrogen is 80K, and thus the heating obtainable with neon and hydrogen is low. Additionally, neon and hydrogen may be found at an inversion temperature lower than their maximal temperature, so that no heating is obtained. However, neon is expensive and hydrogen is dangerous, and the obtainable temperatures are unsatisfactory for many uses, which accounts for the lack of success of the above-mentioned device.
Prior art devices and methods have so far failed to provide simple and effective fast temperature changing means which can be used in order to exploit the potential of cryogenic techniques, in industry and in medicine. It is therefore clear that it would be highly desirable to be able to exploit such methods in as many as possible applications.

Fast changing heating-cooling device and method

State of Israel, Ministry of Defense, Rafael-Armaments Development Authority


In a method for computer-supported motion estimation for picture elements of chronologically successive images of a video sequence, a motion estimation is implemented with using a known dynamic programming (DP) method. A further dimension is added to the optimization space of the DP algorithm. As a result, the motion of objects is recognized in all directions and an incorrect classification of picture elements as an occlusion, which could not be prevented in known methods, is thus avoided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method for computer-supported motion estimation for picture elements of chronologically following images of a video sequence.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the field of block-based image coding methods, and object based image coding methods as well, a qualitatively high-grade motion estimate for the blocks or, respectively, objects of the individual images of a video sequence is important in order to achieve a high quality of the reconstructed images at the receiver of the video data stream with an optimally high saving in required transmission capacity.
Instead of having to code the luminance information and/or chrominance information of the individual picture elements (pixels) of the images of a video sequence, motion estimation makes it possible to encode only the form or shape of specific blocks, or only the form or shape of specific objects, as well as further information with respect to the blocks or objects between two successive images, the encoded blocks or objects and information being transmitted to the receiver.
For example, the further information can identify the shift of these blocks or objects between two successive images.
A considerable savings in the required transmission capacity is achieved with this block-based or object-based coding.
Fundamentals about motion estimation in block-based image coding methods may be found, for example, in the following documents: R. Mester and M. Hotter, Zuverlassigkeit und Effizienz von Verfahren zur Verschiebungsvektor-schatzung, Mustererkennung, 1995, Informatik Aktuell, Springer Verlag, pp.285-294; Liu et al., Method and Apparatus for determining motion vectors for image sequences, U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,068, 1995; F. Dufaux and F. Mschehni, Motion Techniques for digital TV: A Review and a New Contribution, Proceedings of the IEEE, Vol. 83, No. 6, pp.858 through 876, June 1995.
A dynamic programming method is known from H. Sakoe et al., Dynamic Programming Algorithm Optimization for Spoken Word Recognition, IEEE Transactions, Vol. ASSP-26, No.1, pp.43 through 49, 1978.
The use of the dynamic programming method (Dynamic Programming Algorithm, DP method) is also known in image processing and particularly in conjunction with so-called stereo correspondence (D. Geiger et al., Occlusions and Binocular Stereo, Intern. Journal of Computer Vision, No.14, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, pp.211 through 226, 1995).
One disadvantage in this method is that the cost function employed in the DP method is fashioned such that the motion vectors allocated to the picture elements are intensified in such a way that the motion vectors have no large differences within a uniform surface or area, i.e. within an object to be classified, so that no large discontinuities occur between the motion vectors (monotonicity constraint). Although a qualitatively good motion estimation is thereby achieved for the picture elements within the object, this method is inadequate especially for picture elements at the edges of objects, since these picture elements are not classified as object edge elements or points in this method but--erroneously--as occlusions.
Another method that employs the DP algorithm for motion estimation in the framework of stereo correspondence is known from I. Cox et al., Stereo Without Regularization, NEC Research Institute, Princeton, N.J. 08540, pp. 1-31,1992.
The two methods described above also have the disadvantage that the DP method is only implemented in a two-dimensional optimization space. This means that only the motion of objects in one direction is reliably recognized, for example in the direction of the investigated scan line. When, however, an object moves rapidly in another direction, then, as set forth below, it can occur that the object is no longer "found" by the DP method, and thus faulty motion vectors are allocated to the individual picture elements by this method.

Method for computer-supported motion estimation for picture elements of chronologically following images of a video sequence


The present invention relates to a composite cement obtainable by grinding Portland cement clinker and latent hydraulic material together, preferably in the presence of at least one amine grinding aid, to provide a ground mixture and combining the ground mixture with a mineral filler. It further relates to a method of manufacturing the composite cement comprising the steps of grinding a latent hydraulic material and a portland cement clinker together, preferably in the presence of at least one amine, to provide a ground mixture and combining the ground mixture with one or more mineral fillers as well as to binders and to using the cement or binders as building material.

The present invention relates to a composite cement obtainable by grinding Portland cement clinker and a latent hydraulic material together to provide a ground mixture and combining the ground mixture with a mineral filler, to a method of manufacturing the cement as well as to binders containing the cement and to using the cement or binder as building material.
Portland composite cements are increasingly used. In composite cements the Portland cement clinker, frequently referred to as clinker hereinafter, is replaced by other constituents like granulated blast furnace slag, abbreviated slag or GBFS hereinafter, fly ash and limestone. The composite cement is typically composed of two reactive components. Within the last years the production of composite cements has reached a constant level due to the limited availability of GBFS and fly ash. Thus, ternary blends including limestone move into focus. In order to increase the amount of composite cement an increase of the proportion of ternary blends including the high limestone proportions is required.
Increasing amounts of limestone (or other inert fillers) affect the strength of the hardened binder. The early compressive strength of the composite cements also suffers from a low reactivity of the slag. One solution is the addition of alkali sulphate that improves the evolution of the compressive strength of composite cements. This measure is limited by allowable total alkali content.
Another typical solution is an increase of the fineness of the cement clinker. The grindability of clinker and the other components slag, fly ash, limestone differs from each other and also a given component shows some variability of grinding behaviour depending on actual composition. Thus, it is generally believed that higher fineness in turn requires a separate grinding of clinker and the other cement components. Several technical reports indicate that separate grinding of the cement components followed by blending them (homogenization) is particularly suited to Portland-slag cement or blast furnace cement production, where the significant difference in grindability of the different constituents can be problematic for the inter-grinding process and blending separately ground slag with cement or clinker is beneficial:    Cementitious Materials, Technical Report No. 74 Concrete Society Working Party, Published December 2011, http://www.concrete.org.uk/publications-technical-reports.asp    Future Grinding Technologies—Report about Phase 1: Evaluation of Roundtable Event, technical report TR 127/2015, European Cement Research Academy, Published 2015, https://ecra-online.org/research/future-grinding-technologies/    J. Trenkwald, H. M. Ludwig, Herstellung hüttensandhaltiger Zemente durch getrenntes Mahlen and Mischen im Zementwerk Karlstadt, ZKG September 2001.
Several publications find that a tailored particle size distribution of cement components provides appropriate performance of composite cements that have high cement clinker replacement ratio:    M. Onera, K. Erdogdu, A. Gunlu, Effect of components fineness on strength of blast furnace slag cement, Cement and Concrete Research 33 (2003) 463-469    Tongsheng Zhang, Qijun Yu, Jiangxiong Wei, Pingping Zhang, Peixin Chen, A gap-graded particle size distribution for blended cements: Analytical approach and experimental validation, Powder Technology 214 (2011) 259-268    Tongsheng Zhang, Qijun Yu, Jiangxiong Wei, Pingping Zhang, A new gap-graded particle size distribution and resulting consequences on properties of blended cement, Cement & Concrete Composites 33 (2011) 543-550    Tongsheng Zhang, Qijun Yu, Jiangxiong Wei, Pingping Zhang, Effects of size fraction on composition and fundamental properties of Portland cement, Construction and Building Materials 25 (2011) 3038-3043    S. Palm, A. Wolter, Strength development of multi-composite cements with optimized void filling, CEMENT INTERNATIONAL January 2011, pp. 56-64 Separate grinding requires more installation and thereby increases capital expenditure.
Thus, there exists a need to provide composite binders that develop sufficient strength while allowing a high clinker replacement ratio. An improvement of the early compressive strength evolution as well as a reduction of the water demand of the composite cement is desirable.
It was now surprisingly found that ternary cements from latent hydraulic materials and Portland cement clinker ground together and combined with separately ground mineral fillers, especially limestone, show good performance while limiting clinker demand. Accordingly, the present invention solves the above mentioned problems by providing a composite cement obtainable by grinding a latent hydraulic material and a portland cement clinker together, preferably in the presence of at least one amine grinding aid, to provide a ground mixture and combining the ground mixture with one or more separately ground mineral fillers. The invention further solves the object with a method of manufacturing a composite cement comprising the steps of grinding a latent hydraulic material and a portland cement clinker together, preferably in the presence of at least one amine grinding aid, to provide a ground mixture and combining the ground mixture with one or more mineral fillers. Still further, the object is solved by binders containing the composite cement as well as by the use of the cement or binder as building material.

Composite cement and method of manufacturing composite cement


A tube bundle heat exchanger includes tubes channeling a gas flow and a pressure shell enclosing the tubes channeling a coolant flow. First and second nozzles are disposed at a rear end of the pressure shell and third and fourth nozzles are disposed at a front end of the pressure shell. A feed pipe includes a first three-way valve and a drain pipe includes a second three-way valve. A first bypass pipe is connected to the first three-way valve and the third nozzle, a second bypass pipe is connected to the first three-way valve and the first nozzle, a third bypass pipe is connected to the second three-way valve and the second nozzle, and a fourth bypass pipe is connected to the second three-way valve and the fourth nozzle. One of the three-way valves is controllable.

The invention relates to a tube bundle heat exchanger for controlling a wide performance range.
For the purpose of cooling medium flows, in particular of gases, in numerous process technology plants such as gasification plants, thermal and catalytic cracking plants, steam reforming plants etc., as a rule heat exchangers, in particular tube bundle heat exchangers (radiators), are used, in which the medium flows to be cooled flow through straight heating surface tubes and in this process transfer the existing heat of the hot medium flow by way of the tube wall to the cooling medium that surrounds the tubes.
It is the main task of such a heat exchanger or tube bundle heat exchanger, as stated above, to transfer heat between two media, wherein a particular quantity of heat is removed from the one medium (hot medium), and an adequate quantity of heat is fed to the other medium (cooling medium). It is well known that the quantity of the heat transferred depends on the size of the heat exchanger, on the heat transfer coefficients of the two media, and on the temperature difference between the two media. In single-phase media the medium temperature changes with the infeed of heat or with the removal of heat. In this case the temperature gradient over the device length of the heat exchanger resembles an exponential function.
As a rule, a tube bundle heat exchanger comprises a large number of heating surface tubes, a pressure shell that surrounds the heating surface tubes and that forms a shell side, and two tubesheets, between which the heating surface tubes are arranged. The first medium flows through the tube inlet chamber of the heat exchanger, then through the heating surface tubes and through the tube outlet chamber of the heat exchanger. The second medium flows by way of a nozzle into the shell side of the heat exchanger, flows several times around the individual heating surface tubes, and subsequently flows through a second nozzle out of the heat exchanger.
The two media can flow in a heat exchanger or tube bundle heat exchanger in the same axial direction of the heat exchanger (co-current flow), or one of the two media can flow within the heat exchanger in the opposite direction relative to the other medium (counter current flow). The temperature gradient of the heat exchange of the media with counter current flow differs from that with co-current flow and thus results in a difference in the average logarithmic temperature difference between the two media. The quantity of heat transferred between the two media is thus different in both circuit connections, i.e. counter current flow connection or co-current flow connection.
The output of the heat exchanger or of the tube bundle heat exchanger can change as a result of fouling (build-up of deposits or dirt within the heating surface tubes) or as a result of other influences over the service life of the tube bundle heat exchanger; a situation which results in the need for control intervention. At the same time there is often the need to adjust the quantity of heat to be transferred or the exit temperatures of the medium to the desired operating load. Frequently, bypass control comprising a bypass pipe and a three-way mixing valve, i.e. a regulated three-way valve, is used for controlling the exit temperatures of the medium and thus the thermal output of the tube bundle heat exchanger. In this process, part of the medium flow is removed from the main flow before it is fed to the tube bundle heat exchanger, and is made to bypass the tube bundle heat exchanger. The reduced flow quantity of a medium reduces heat transfer and, by way of the changed exit temperature of the medium, influences the average logarithmic temperature difference. The control range or the control intervention that is achievable with this bypass arrangement is, however, relatively modest.
It is the object of the present invention to create a tube bundle heat exchanger with a bypass system in which the above-mentioned disadvantages are avoided, or in which the exit temperatures of the media and the quantity of heat to be transferred are controllable in a very wide range.

Tube bundle heat exchanger for controlling a wide performance range


A wound dressing that releases, via hydrolysis and in a controlled manner, acetic acid when subjected to body temperatures and moisture, and is made from a cellulose ester substrate with a partial solvent thereon.

Wound dressings made of cellulose diacetate are known. See: People's Republic of China Patent Application No. 87 1 01823A published Aug. 31, 1988. Therein, it is disclosed that a cellulose diacetate gauze wound dressing obtains beneficial results over conventional cotton gauze wound dressing because the inventive dressing does not stick to the wound. Additionally, Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, N.J., has marketed a non-adhering cellulose acetate, petrolatum emulsion impregnated wound dressing under the tradename "Adaptic" since Feb. 3, 1984.
Additionally, the medical advantages obtained by treating wounds with acetic acid (or vinegar) is widely known in folk medicine. See: G. Majno, "The Healing Hand Man and Wound in the Ancient World", Harvard University Press, paperback edition, 1991, page 186. A combination of vinegar and ethyl alcohol is also known to be beneficial for treating wounds. See: PCT Application FR88/00238, published Nov. 17, 1988. Therein, a therapeutic solution of vinegar, distilled water, and ethyl alcohol is used to treat burns.
The use of triacetin, trimethylene glycol diacetate, and glycol monoethylene acetate on cellulose acetate tow is known. In this known usage, triacetin, trimethylene glycol diacetate, and glycol monoethylene acetate act as plasticizers that facilitate inter-filament bonding.
There is a need for a wound dressing that can release acetic acid in a controlled manner, thereby facilitating wound healing.


In cases where the transfer positions of toner images of respective colors that are formed on respective photosensitive bodies show a positional deviation, the rpm values of driving parts that drive the photosensitive bodies are adjusted in accordance with the amount of the positional deviation so that the linear velocities of the photosensitive bodies are constant. Alternatively, in the speed setting processing in which specified reference toner images are formed on the respective photosensitive bodies at a specified timing and are transferred onto an intermediate transfer belt, and then the relative amounts of mutual positional deviation of the respective reference toner images are calculated on the basis of the timing at which the respective reference toner images are detected by toner image detection sensors, and the driving speeds of the respective photosensitive bodies are individually set on the basis of the results of these calculations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color image forming device such as a copier, facsimile device, printer or the like which utilizes an electrophotographic system in which toner images of different colors respectively formed on a plurality of image carriers are superimposed and transferred onto a transfer body or recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, devices equipped with a so-called printer engine constructed from a plurality of photosensitive bodies as image carriers, an endless intermediate transfer belt as a transfer body that successively passes through transfer positions mutually facing the respective photosensitive bodies, and a conveyor belt as a conveying member which holds and conveys a recording paper as a recording medium, have been known as color image forming devices of this type. In such color image forming devices, toner images of mutually different colors formed on the surfaces of the respective photosensitive bodies by the electrophotographic process are respectively overlapped and transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt, or onto the surface of the recording paper that successively passes through the respective transfer positions while being held on the conveyor belt, so that desired color images can be obtained.
In such a color image forming device, in cases where positional deviation occurs in the transfer positions of the respective color toner images when the respective color toner images formed on the respective photosensitive bodies are transferred onto the surface of the intermediate transfer belt or recording paper, the so-called "overlap deviation phenomenon" occurs in the color images obtained by the superimposition of the respective color toner images, so that the problem of a drop in image quality arises. The transfer position deviation that causes this overlap deviation phenomenon in such color images is caused by fluctuations in the light path due to temperature variations in the optical system that optically scans the respective photosensitive bodies, variations in the linear velocity of the respective photosensitive bodies and the like.
Conventionally, therefore, detection pattern toner images are formed on the respective photosensitive bodies, these detection pattern toner images are transferred onto the intermediate transfer belt or recording paper, and the spacing of these transferred detection pattern images is measured. Then, the exposure timing is varied so that this spacing is constant, and the positional deviation of the toner images in the respective transfer positions is thus corrected.
However, in the case of a method in which the transfer position deviation of the respective transferred color toner images is thus corrected by varying the timing of the exposure performed on the respective photosensitive bodies, the minimum amount of positional deviation that can be corrected corresponds to the dot diameter of the light beam that exposes the respective photosensitive bodies, e.g., 42 μm. Accordingly, in this conventional transfer position correction method, amounts of positional deviation at dimensions smaller than the dot diameter of the light beam cannot be corrected. Accordingly, the following problem arises: namely, there are limits to the correction of the positional deviation of the respective color toner images that can be accomplished.
Furthermore, for example, in the image forming device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-20607, in order to solve the problem of positional deviation of the respective color toner images, i.e., the problem of the overlap deviation phenomenon caused by this positional deviation, as described above, the occurrence of deviation in the superimposition of the respective color toner images is prevented by separately setting and processing the driving speeds of the respective photosensitive bodies. In the case of such setting and processing of the driving speeds of the respective photosensitive bodies, specified reference toner images are first formed on the respective photosensitive bodies at a specified timing, and these reference toner images are transferred to the surface of a belt member. Next, the relative amounts of positional deviation of the respective reference toner images with respect to each other are calculated on the basis of the timing at which these respective reference toner images are detected by a photo-sensor. Then, on the basis of the results of these calculations, the driving speeds of the respective photosensitive bodies are individually set, and the respective photosensitive bodies are driven at speed differentials corresponding to the respective amounts of positional deviation. As a result, deviation of the transfer positions of the toner images on the respective photosensitive bodies can be prevented, so that the respective color toner images can be effectively superimposed.
Meanwhile, the variation in the linear velocity of the photosensitive bodies that causes the overlap deviation phenomenon of the respective color toner images described above is caused by variation in the diameter dimensions of the respective photosensitive bodies, variation in the dimensions of the respective parts constituting the driving force transmission system that applies a rotational driving force to the respective photosensitive bodies, and the like. For example, variation in the linear velocity of the photosensitive bodies caused by eccentricity of the photosensitive body gears that are fastened to the rotating shafts of the photosensitive bodies is known.
Specifically, in such photosensitive body gears, when the location where the radius is the greatest due to eccentricity engages with the gear on the driving side, the linear velocity of the photosensitive body is slowest. On the other hand, when the location where the radius is smallest engages with the gear on the driving side, the linear velocity of the photosensitive body is highest. Since the former location and the latter location in the photosensitive body gear are located in point-symmetrical positions at 180 degrees from each other with reference to the center of rotation, fluctuating characteristics that trace a sine curve of one period appear in the linear velocity of the photosensitive body for each revolution of the gear. Furthermore, since the surface of each photosensitive body passes through the transfer positions at a maximum speed when the photosensitive body is rotating at a linear velocity corresponding to the upper limit of the sine curve, the toner image is transferred onto the recording paper in a shape that is extended further in the direction of movement of the surface of the photosensitive body than would inherently be the case. On the other hand, since the surface of the photosensitive body passes through the transfer positions at a minimum speed when the photosensitive body is rotating at a linear speed corresponding to the lower limit of the sine curve, the toner image in this case is transferred onto the recording paper in a shape that is more contracted in the direction of movement of the surface of the photosensitive body than would inherently be the case.
Thus, in the transfer process in which the respective color toner images are superimposed, when toner having a shape that is more contracted than the inherent shape is transferred onto a toner image with a shape that is extended further than the inherent shape on the intermediate transfer belt or recording paper, the abovementioned overlap deviation phenomenon occurs. Furthermore, this overlap deviation phenomenon also occurs when toner having a shape that is extended further than the inherent shape is transferred onto a toner image with a shape that is more contracted than the inherent shape.
In recent years, a type of control referred to as so-called "phase alignment", in which the rotational phases of a plurality of photosensitive body gears are synchronized, has been used in order to avoid such an overlap deviation phenomenon. Specifically, in this phase alignment control, marks are first applied to the locations of maximum diameter or locations of minimum diameter on the photosensitive body gears that are fastened to the rotating shafts of the respective photosensitive bodies, and these marks are detected by a photo-sensor or the like. Then, the rotational angles of the respective photosensitive body gears are respectively grasped on the basis of these detection results. If the respective photosensitive bodies are individually stopped at mutually identical rotational-angular positions on the basis of this understanding when the image formation operation is completed, then the rotational phases of the respective photosensitive body gears can be synchronized in the next image formation operation. Furthermore, the system may also be devised so that the rotational phases of the respective photosensitive body gears are aligned by temporarily causing the driving speeds of the driving sources of the respective photosensitive bodies to differ from each other on the basis of the amount of deviation in the rotational phase grasped by the detection results of the photo-sensor at the time that the image formation operation is initiated.
However, even if the rotational phases of the respective photosensitive body gears are aligned in this way, the painstakingly aligned rotational phases are skewed by the linear velocity difference in the respective photosensitive bodies in the case of a construction that imparts a linear velocity difference to the respective photosensitive bodies as in the image forming device disclosed in the abovementioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-20607. Furthermore, as this linear velocity difference is increased, the skewing of the rotational phases of the photosensitive body gears becomes more severe, so that overlap deviation tends to be generated by phase deviation. Especially in the case of a continuous printing mode, i.e., a continuous image formation operation, in which images are continuously printed out on a plurality of recording papers, the phase deviation increases each time that an image is printed out, so that the problem of conspicuous overlap deviation arises.
Technologies relating to the present invention are (also) disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-078734 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-005363.

Printer engine and color image forming device using this printer engine for preventing deviation of transfer positions and overlap deviation


In an organic light emitting display, a first pixel and a second pixel share a data line, a select scan line, and a driving element, and a field is divided into first and second subfields. An organic light emitting element of the first pixel is driven by a first emission control signal transmitted to a first emit scan line, and an organic light emitting element of the first pixel is driven by a second emission control signal transmitted to a second emit scan line. The first emission control signal has a low-level pulse in the first subfield, the second emission control signal has a low-level pulse in the second subfield, and a select signal transmitted to the select scan line has a low-level pulse in each of the first and second subfields. In addition, a scan driver for driving the select signal line, the first emit scan line, and the second emit scan line is provided.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display and a driving method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In a display area of an active matrix display such as a liquid crystal display and an organic light emitting display, scan lines extended in a row direction and data lines extended in a column direction are formed. Two adjacent scan lines and two adjacent data lines define a pixel area, and a pixel is formed on the pixel area. An active element such as a transistor is formed on the pixel and transmits a data signal from the data line in response to a select signal from the scan line. Therefore, the active matrix display needs a scan driver for driving the scan lines and a data driver for driving the data lines.
In the active matrix display, colors are represented through combinations of colors emitted by certain pixels. In general, the pixels include pixels for displaying red, pixels for displaying green, and pixels for displaying blue, and the colors are displayed by combinations of red, green, and blue. In the display, the pixels are arranged in an order of red, green, and blue along a row direction, and data lines are respectively coupled to pixels arranged along the row direction.
Since a data driver converts the data signals to analog voltages or analog currents and applies those to all data lines, the data driver has many output terminals corresponding to the data lines. Generally, the data driver is manufactured in the form of an integrated circuit. However, a plurality of integrated circuits are used to drive all data lines since the number of output terminals which an individual integrated circuit has is limited. In addition, if the data line and driving elements are formed on each pixel, the aperture ratio corresponding to a light emission area of the pixel is reduced.

Display with multiple pixels sharing a data line and driving method thereof


A storage case for accommodating a plurality of compact discs includes lid and bottom members having similar rectangular panels and pairs of opposed peripheral walls extending along the short and long sides, respectively, of the respective panels, with the lid and bottom members being pivotally connected for relative movements about an axis parallel to adjacent long sides of the panels between a closed position in which the panels are in parallel spaced relation and the pairs of peripheral walls interfit to enclose a space between the panels, and an opened position in which the panels are angularly spread apart. Trays having compact disc supporting elements thereon are mounted on the lid and bottom members so as to be disposed at interiors of the respective panels in the closed position with the disc supporting elements confronting each other, and with one of the trays being spaced from the respective panel to define a compartment therebetween for receiving a printed booklet or the like.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to cases for storing disc-shaped information carriers having high storage density, such as, optically-readable compact discs, and more particularly is directed to a storage case which can accommodate a plurality of compact discs as well as a printed pamphlet or booklet concerning information recorded on the compact disc or discs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Compact discs have, for the most part, been displayed, sold and stored in cases or containers of the so-called "jewel-box" type. A jewel-box case generally comprises lid and bottom members of a clear or transparent plastic having similar substantially square panels, and a tray of an opaque plastic which snap-fits into the bottom member and has a centrally located compact disc holder. The lid and bottom members are hingedly connected along one-edge of the respective square panels for movement relative to each other between an angularly spread apart opened position in which a compact disc can be placed on, or removed from the holder therefor at the center of the tray, and a closed position in which the lid and bottom members enclose and protect a compact disc positioned on the holder of the tray. Printed promotional material is usually provided within the jewel-box case so as to be viewable through the clear panels of the lid and bottom members. For example, a printed sheet may be disposed between the panel of the bottom member and the tray secured therein, while a relatively thin printed pamphlet or booklet containing information relevant to the recorded contents of the respective compact disc is held against the inside of the clear panel of the lid member by tabs which project from peripheral walls of the lid member generally parallel to the panel of the latter.
The above-described jewel-box cases have provided attractive packaging for displaying, selling and storing single compact discs. However, multiple compact discs on which there are recorded related works, for example, of a particular composer or performer, are now being offered for sale in sets, and it is desired to provide cases similar to the described jewel-boxes in which such sets of compact discs can be readily displayed, sold and stored.
In one proposed arrangement for packaging a plurality of compact discs, for example, as disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,874,085, each compact disc is held or supported in a respective bottom portion, and two or more of such bottom portions are stacked, whereupon a cover or lid portion is applied on the uppermost bottom portion and the resulting assembly and a printed pamphlet or booklet are then wrapped in a supplementary sheet to form a packet which is slidably inserted into an outer box-like container. The foregoing arrangement is disadvantageous in that the packaged compact discs are not easily removable from the package for reproduction of the recorded music or other information, and, after such playback or reproducing is completed, the repackaging of the compact discs is burdensome.
In another proposed arrangement for packaging a plurality of compact discs, for example, as disclosed in detail in U.S Pat. No. 4,709,812, a unitary blank of paperboard or the like is prescored along fold lines to define multiple panels which can be preprinted with graphics or the like, whereupon two or more compact disc holders of plastic material are glued on respective panels of the blank. After compact discs are disposed on the respective holders therefor, the blank is folded to a closed condition and is then inserted in a separately erected cover carton which is finally wrapped with a clear plastic film or "shrink-wrap". Although the various panels of the unitary blank provide surfaces on which suitable information can be preprinted, such surfaces are not sufficient to carry all of the explanatory printed information that may be desired in connection with a set of compact discs. Furthermore, once again, the described arrangement for packaging a plurality of compact discs is not readily opened and closed.
In yet another proposed arrangement for storing two or more compact discs or the like, for example, as described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,888, a storage cassette is provided with a box-like center portion forming an intermediate bottom and, at the opposite sides of the latter, covers which have compact disc holders for the acceptance of respective compact discs, and which are hingedly connected to the center portion for swinging relative to the latter between opened and closed positions like covers of a book. In the closed position, the holders on the covers face toward the box-like center portion so that a compact disc on each holder is contained within a space defined by the respective cover and the box-like center portion. The center portion may also have compact disc holders therein for accepting additional compact discs, or the center portion may be employed for receiving a printed pamphlet or booklet. When the center portion has holders therein for receiving additional compact discs, the compact disc holders of the covers may be provided on respective trays which are snapped into the covers and may be removed from the latter for permitting the insertion of printed material between each tray and the respective cover. Such printed material has to be relatively thin and may comprise, at most, only a few sheets. On the other hand, if the center portion is employed for accepting a printed pamphlet or booklet, a compact disc supported on the holder of one of the covers can, in the closed position of such cover, undesirably engage the printed pamphlet or booklet in the center portion. Furthermore, the provision of two covers hingedly connected with the center portion, as described, for accommodating two compact discs is undesirably complicated in structure and assembly.

Storage case for multiple compact discs and related printed material


The present invention discloses a method of purifying Mullerian Inhibiting Substance. The method takes advantage of immunoaffinity chromatography to achieve MIS at up to 95% purity. The method provides for a purified MIS product in which contaminating enzymes having MIS proteolytic activity or inhibitors of MIS antiproliferative activity are substantially removed by addition of an alkali metal halide solution or an alkaline earth metal halide solution prior to elution with an acid solution having a pH of between about 2.5 and 4.0.

The efficient and rapid purification of biological materials such as proteins, nucleic acids or polysaccharides, has been of great interest. Immunoaffinity chromatography is advantageous since, under the proper conditions, purification of 1,000-10,000 fold can be attained. Cf. Harlow, E. et al., Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (1988).
One protein for which a rapid and efficient purification system is desirable is the biological modifier Mullerian Inhibiting Substance (MIS) produced in vivo by the ovary and testis. MIS is a testicular protein responsible for regression of the anlagen of the female reproductive tract in the fetal urogenital ridge, as well as other differentiative functions such as inhibition of oocyte meiosis and lung surfactant. Previous studies in A431 cells and more recently in fetal lung suggest that MIS is a potent inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptor autophosphorylation. Cf. Cigarroa et al., Growth Factors 1:79-91 (1989); Coughlin et al., Mol. and Cell. Endocrinol. 49:75-86 (1985); and Catlin et al., Metabolism.
Human Mullerian Inhibiting Substance has been cloned and expressed recombinantly (rhMIS) in animal cells as a 140 kDa homodimer (Cate et al., Cell 45:685 (1986)). By virtue of carboxy-terminal amino acid homology, MIS is a member of a large gene family that includes TGF-.beta. (Derynck et al., Nature 316:701-5 (1985)), inhibin (Mason et al., Nature 318:659-63 (1985)), activin (Ling et al., Nature 321:779-82 (1986)), Vg1 from Xenopus (Weeks et al., Cell 51:861-7 (1987)), the Drosophila decapentaplegia protein (Padgett et al., Nature 325:81-4 (1987)), and the bone morphogenesis factors (Wozney et al., Science 242:1528-34 (1988)).
RhMIS is a 140 kDa glycoprotein composed of two identical subunits which, under disulfide bond reducing conditions, migrates on polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis at an apparent molecular weight of 70 kDa. The protein can be proteolytically cleaved in approximately one hour by exogenous plasmin into two distinct fragments that migrate electrophoretically as 57 kDa and 12.5 kDa moieties with cleavage at residue 427 of the intact 535 amino acid monomer as demonstrated by Pepinsky (Pepinsky et al., J. Biol. Chem. 263(35):18961-4 (1988)). Prolonged exposure to plasmin can result in cleavage of MIS at additional sites. In addition, purification of MIS by known techniques can be contaminated by other proteases that also cleave MIS.
MIS has been proposed as a potential growth inhibitor of epithelial human tumors of Mullerian origin such as endometrial, Fallopian tubal, cervical, and certain ovarian neoplasms. Experimental evidence using purified bovine MIS support this hypothesis (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 06/792,233, filed Oct. 19, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,687; Fuller et al., J. Clin, Endocrinol. Metab. 54:1051-5 (1982); Fuller et al., Gynecol. Oncol. 22:135-48 (1985)). purified rhMIS used in similar in vitro assays, however, demonstrate limited anti-cancer activity (Wallen et al., Cancer Res. 49:2005-11 (1989)),
Mullerian Inhibiting Substance may be obtained by a variety of different methods. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 06/792,233, filed Oct. 19, 1985, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,687, and entitled "Purified Mullerian Inhibiting Substance and Process for Treating Human Ovarian Cancer Cells," describes a process for purifying MIS from testes by using aqueous polar dissociative solutions, separation of DNA and RNA, fractionation by gel filtration chromatography, and isolation of the MIS. U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,188, filed Jul. 29, 1981 and entitled "Purified Mullerian Inhibiting Substance and Method of Purification" describes a process for purifying MIS from testes which comprises treatment with a protease inhibitor, chromatography on ion exchange, chromatography on wheat germ lectin, on concanavalin A and/or on a supported triazinyl dye. U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,833, filed on Mar. 1, 1982 and entitled "Method of Preparing Hybridomas and of Purifying Immunogenic Materials" describes a process for separating MIS using immunoaffinity chromatography. MIS has also been obtained from recombinant DNA techniques as disclosed by Cate (Cate, et al., Cell 45:685-698 (1986)). None of the references, however, describe a method of recovering substantially pure MIS which retains an antiproliferative activity or is essentially free of enzymes having proteolytic activity against MIS.
A need, therefore, continues to exist for the development of highly efficient techniques for immunoaffinity chromatography, wherein a biological substance can be isolated from a complex biological mixture without interference from contaminating proteolytic enzymes or other factors that impede MIS antiproliferative activity. In particular, the need exists for an immunoaffinity chromatography method which can isolate and purify MIS so that the isolate will be essentially free from undesired proteolysis or other factors which may alter MIS activity.

Purification of Mullerian inhibiting substance


A molded product obtained by molding a laminate which comprises a stretchable substrate made of a sheet-shaped synthetic resin foam and including multiple slits, and a stretchable surfacing material affixed to at least one surface of the substrate, wherein the substrate is bonded to the surfacing material in a state that at least some of the slits are kept opened.

In clothing such as brassieres pads, a laminate is used which is formed by laminating a surfacing material made of a cloth as a surfacing material of a substrate made of a soft polyurethane foam (Patent Documents 1, 2 and 3 given below).
Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Publication 2006-348423 A) states, in paragraphs 0011 and 0012, that a laminate made up of an outer stretchable soft polyurethane foam, an inner stretchable soft polyurethane foam, and a non-stretchable cloth interposed between both the foams is formed into a cup-like shape by hot molding.
Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Publication 2004-256956 A) states, in paragraphs 0009 to 0011, that, in a cup portion of a brassiere including a surfacing cloth and a backing cloth attached respectively to front and back surfaces of a core material made of an urethane sponge, through-holes each having a diameter of 1 to 2 mm are formed in a zigzag lattice arrangement in the core material, thus giving stretching properties and air permeability to the core material.
Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Publication 2006-161195 A) states, in paragraph 0011, that an inner cloth and an outer cloth are bonded respectively to front and back surfaces of a hard urethane foam sheet including many through-holes, each having an inner diameter of 3 mm, in a lattice pattern, and a brassiere pad portion is formed by hot press molding of the laminate.
Further, Patent Document 4 (Japanese Patent Publication 2009-057662 A) discloses, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a sheet body 10A made up of a soft polyurethane foam including slit-like cuts 11A formed to extend in one direction and slit-like cuts 11B formed to extend in a direction crossing the one direction. Patent Document 4 states, in paragraph 0018, that by providing the cuts 11A and the cuts 11B in the crossing directions in such a way, through-holes can be kept opened in a pad, which is formed by molding the sheet body in a state stretched in multiple directions.
Patent Document 5 (Japanese Patent Publication 59-133043 A) states a laminate sheet production process in which a surfacing material is continuously affixed, by using an adhesive, to the surface of a substrate that is made of a soft polyurethane foam, while the substrate is unrolled from a stock roll.

Molded product, clothing, production process for laminate, and production process for molded product


Devices and methods are described for timing notifications based on blinks. An example method may include (1) receiving input data that is indicative of movement of an eye; (2) detecting an occurrence of an event; in response to detection of the event: (3) determining at least one notification corresponding to the event; (4) delaying presentation of the at least one notification until the computing device determines that the input data is indicative of at least one blink by the eye; and in response to the input data that is indicative of the at least one blink, (5) causing the at least one notification to be presented.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Computing devices such as personal computers, laptop computers, tablet computers, cellular phones, and countless types of Internet-capable devices are increasingly prevalent in numerous aspects of modem life. Over time, the manner in which these devices are providing information to users is becoming more intelligent, more efficient, more intuitive, and/or less obtrusive.
Many current and developing computing devices provide notifications to users when certain events occur. For example, some wearable computing devices may provide audio or video notifications to a user when a new text message is received, when an incoming phone call is received, when a new email has arrived, and/or when a battery needs to be changed or is low, among others. These notifications, however, may interrupt and/or distract a user whose attention is focused on a particular task.


A rotary shaving head having a one-piece cup-shaped metal body including a comb portion. A plurality of openings in the comb portion are defined by opposed sidewalls, the intersection of at least one sidewall of at least one of the openings with an inner surface of the comb portion defining a cutting edge having a positive rake angle. A rotary shaving head manufacturing method includes the steps of etching a set of openings corresponding to a shaving head blank into an elongate flat metal strip, forming the blank into a cup-shaped unfinished shaving head, and removing material from the inner surface of the comb portion of the unfinished shaving head.

Electric shavers are commonly used to shave facial and body hair. Many people prefer electric shavers to razors because the cutting blades of electric shavers do not contact the skin. There is a belief that the lack of blade contact with the skin reduces the risk of nicks, cuts and other skin irritations. One conventional electric shaver is commonly referred to as a rotary shaver, wherein a rotary cutter is disposed within and rotates relative to a circular shaving head. For example, with reference to the typical rotary electric shaver shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the use of a rotary shaver 11 involves rubbing one or more shaving heads 13 (commonly two or three per shaver) over the surface of the skin 25. As shown in FIG. 3, hairs 23 (e.g., whiskers) enter openings 15 in the shaving heads 13. The blades 19 of a rotary cutter 17 abut against and slide relative to the inner surface (or under surface, which is also sometimes referred to as a track surface) 21 (FIG. 3) of each of the heads 13. The intersection of the sidewalls 27 that form the shaving head openings 15 and the inner surface 21 of the shaving head form cutting edges 29. The shearing action between the blades 19 of the rotary cutter 17 and the cutting edges 29 shears hairs 23 that extend through the openings 15 without requiring the cutting blades 19 or cutting edges 29 to contact the skin 25.
Manufacture of conventional rotary shaving heads 13 typically involves forming a large batch of shaving heads in series from a continuous strip of metal using a die system (e.g., a progressive die system). After the heads 13 are formed, slot-shaped openings 15, as shown in FIG. 4 for example, are cut in each of the heads 13 with a saw. This time consuming and inefficient process substantially increases manufacturing costs. Use of the saw to make the openings 15 also limits the possible geometries of the openings. First, the cutting edges 29 formed by sawed openings are less than ideal. FIG. 3 is a cross section of a typical sawed opening 15. A hair 23 that has entered the opening is about to be sheared between one of the cutting edges 29 and one of the blades 19 of a rotary cutter 17. Because the opening 15 has been cut with a saw, the sidewalls 27 of the opening are substantially planar. Further, the sidewalls 27 are substantially perpendicular to the inner surface 21 of the shaving head, which means the cutting edge 29 has virtually no rake angle (i.e., the sidewall of the opening intersects the inner surface at a substantially perpendicular orientation). The shearing action produced by the rotary cutter 17 would be improved if the cutting edge 29 had a positive rake angle (i.e., if the sidewall of the opening and the inner surface 21 of the shaving head 13 formed an acute angle at the cutting edge) because the zero rake angle cutting edge 29 has a large contact area with the hair and is therefore subjected to relatively large forces as the hair is sheared. The result is that the cutting edge 29 wears out after a relatively short time, thereby necessitating frequent replacement of worn out shaving heads. Unfortunately, conventional technology makes manufacture of rotary shaving heads having positive rake angle cutting edges uneconomical.
Referring to FIG. 4, a conventional sawed opening 15 is elongate and rectangular in plan view. That is, the opening 15 extends in a linear path along its length. Non-linear openings (e.g., a curved or serpentine slot shape) can more readily facilitate the entry of hairs, particularly longer hairs which are often at least slightly curved, into the openings. To this end, U.S. Pat. No. 6,515,253 (Battaglia) discloses a method of manufacturing rotary shaving heads having slightly curved slots and other openings having non-rectangular geometries by using a laser to cut the openings in shaving head blanks (either before they are formed by a progressive die system or between stages of a progressive die system). Using a laser to make the slots as disclosed in the '253 patent, however, splatters melted metal debris onto the back of the laser-etched blanks. The debris prevents the blanks from lying flat on the forming equipment, increases the probability for misfeed of the blanks through the forming equipment, and increases the probability that the blanks will get stuck in the forming equipment. Thus, after laser etching the blanks need to be processed to remove the debris, thereby adding to the time and expense of the manufacturing process. Furthermore, the laser-etched openings are similar to the sawed openings in that the laser cuts straight through the metal perpendicular to the inner surface of the shaving head, which means the cutting edges formed by laser-etched openings have virtually no rake angle. Thus, while laser-etched openings may extend along a non-linear path, the curved openings produced by the laser still do not produce a cutting edge having a positive rake angle.
In contrast, perforated foil and microscreen shaver parts having more suitably sharp cutting edges have been manufactured by chemical (or electrochemical) etching processes. Whereas openings formed with lasers and saws have sidewalls that pass substantially straight through the substrate, the reaction kinetics of chemical etching processes can be used to form openings having arcuate sidewalls. These arcuate sidewalls can be used to make finely honed cutting edges having positive rake angles. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,802,932 (Vankov, et al.) teaches that sharp teeth having positive rake angles can be etched into a flat elongate cutter used for a reciprocating beard trimmer. Etched shaver parts are manufactured as an array of parts on a single panel (i.e., a piece of sheet metal). The entire array is etched at the same time by immersing the panel in a tank (or sequence of tanks) containing the etching chemicals. However, the chemical etching of foils is typically conducted with the foil in a relatively thin condition, and there is no subsequent forming (e.g., permanent deforming) of the foil. Any forming of the foil after etching is likely to result in structural failure thereof. Such a process is therefore not compatible with the making of rotary shaver shaving heads, which must be formed into its cup-shaped configuration.

Shaving head for rotary shaver and method of manufacturing the same


Au automatic pencil comprising an outer pencil tube, a pencil head, a clipping device, a guiding tube and a pencil lead cylinder, characterized in that a resilient element is mounted between the guiding tube and the clipping device allowing the guiding tube to reciprocate upward and downward within the stopper. The resilient element urges the guiding tube to rise upward if the pencil lead cylinder is not depressed, and to keep a distance from the pencil lead, and to allow another pencil lead to be inserted. The pencil lead cylinder can adapt a plurality of pencil lead.

(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to automatic pencil, and in particular, an automatic pencil allowing vertically depressing of a pencil lead to protruded from the tip of the automatic pencil.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 1 is a conventional automatic pencil. The pencil has a hollow pencil shaft 1 having a bottom end linked to a pencil head 10. The center region of the pencil head 10 is being mounted with a pencil tip 11. The pencil head 10 is extended to mount a mounting cylinder 100 and is positioned with a pencil shaft. The pencil tip 11 is a banding ring 110 having frictional force to pull a pencil lead 12. A stopper is provided on the pencil tip 11 which is formed from two semi-circular stopping plates 13. The bottom end is extended until the slot within the top end of the pencil tip 11 and is mounted with a spring 14, allowing the pencil tip 11 to reciprocate upward and downward.
The bottom section of the stopping plates 13 is a slot 131 for the mounting of rolling ball 15, and is in combination with the inner wall of the inner cylinder 16. The top section of the inner cylinder 16 is mounted with a guiding tube 17 and the utmost end has a capping body 18. The top end of the capping body is an eraser 181.
Pencil leads 12 are inserted via the guiding tube 17. When the pencil leads 12 are depressed downwardly to the stopping plates 13, the depression of the pencil tip 11 when writing will automatically push out the pencil lead 12 without any other operation action, and can continuously in writing, which is very convenient in application. Conventional pencil leads are generally very long and when pencil leads are placed within the guiding tube 17, there is no any device to downward depress of the pencil leads, therefore the pencil shaft 1 has to be shaked so that the lead will side down to the stopping plate 13 and via the depressed pencil tip 11, the compression spring 14 causes the pencil tip 11 to inwardly contracted into the pencil shaft 1. When depression force is released, the spring 14 causes the tip 11 to protrude out from the pencil head 10 and at the same time, a pencil is withdraw at a great length. Repeating the action for several times, the pencil lead 12 is pushed out for utilization.
Whether or not there are pencil leads 12 contains in the pencil shaft 1, it can not be seen from outside of the pencil shaft 1, even the remaining of the lead cannot be determined. Thus, when the user opens the capping body 18 and inserts another pencil lead, the guiding hole 19 may be blocked and the pencil lead 12 is broken or is being blocked. In the conventional automatic pencil, no pencil lead cylinder is provided to the pencil shaft 1 and therefore, the pencil shaft 1 cannot hold extra pencil leads.


The invention is an apparatus and method for assembling a planar surface for multiple sheets of building material connected by multiple retaining clips. Each of the retaining clips comprises a first portion and a second portion. The first portion has a first receptacle defined by a central wall and an upper and lower flange. The second receptacle is defined by an opposite side of the central wall and a second lower flange. A first sheet is inserted into the first receptacle through the open side between the upper and lower flanges and opposite the central wall. A second sheet is pivoted through the open sides of the second receptacle, which are opposite the central wall and the second lower flange. The second portion comprises a T-shaped element having opposing tabs extending from a retaining tongue. The opposing tabs are received within a slot on the first portion such that the retaining tongue overlies the upper surface of a second sheet and closes one of the open sides of the second receptacle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a clip for retaining adjacent plywood panels in a coplanar relationship and, more particularly, to a clip which enables a user to more easily mount adjacent panels together when surrounding structures limit available space.
2. Description of the Related Art
A roof is generally mounted to a dwelling structure by attaching panels, made from plywood, particle board, and the like, to a truss structure on an upper portion of the dwelling structure. The panels are preferably mounted to the truss in a planar relationship so that a set of shingles can be attached to an exterior surface of the panels, perhaps with an insulating member therebetween.
Because many of the panels tend to easily warp and bend, especially wood-based panels, it is known to provide one or more clips along the edges of adjacent panels which engage an edge of an adjacent panel and maintain the adjacent panels in a planar relationship. FIG. 1 shows an example of a prior art clip which illustrates this concept.
FIG. 1 shows a one-piece clip 10 which comprises a central transverse wall 12, an upper plane 14 of mounting tongues and a lower plane 16 of mounting tongues which extend orthogonally from upper and lower edges of the wall 12, respectively. The upper plane 14 of mounting tongues has a first tongue 18 with an aperture 19 and a second tongue 20 which typically is stamped from the aperture 19 and deformed 180 degrees with respect to the first tongue 18. The lower plane 16 of mounting tongues has a third tongue 22 with an aperture 23 and a fourth tongue 24 which is typically stamped from the aperture 23 and deformed 180 degrees with respect to the third tongue 22.
The clips 10 are typically used to interconnect sheets of plywood which are laid on a truss to make a smooth planar substrate adapted to receive insulation and shingles. An edge of a first plywood panel (not shown) is typically slid between the first and third tongues 18 and 22 after the plywood panel has been mounted to a truss. A second plywood panel (not shown) is then slid between the second and fourth tongues 20 and 24 mounted to the truss.
A disadvantage of the prior art clip is that it is difficult to maneuver large panels between the tongues 20 and 24 once the clip is mounted to a first panel mounted to the truss because the edge of the panel must be slid between the tongues 20, 24 as the tongues are lying co-planar with the roof. In addition, the prior art clips are not designed to accommodate specially-cut plywood sheets, especially sheets cut for specific corners and intersections of a tight or oblique nature.

Clip for retaining adjacent panels in a planar relationship


A tagging event can be detected where a software entity is associated with a tag resulting from a user interaction. At least one situational attribute relating to the tagging event can be automatically determined. The one or more situational attribute can be stored in a data repository so that the stored situational attribute is associated with the tag. The detecting, determining, and storing can be repeated for a set of different tags, each associated with a software entity. A search of tagged software entities can be conducted. The results of the search can be modified based at least in part upon the stored situational attributes of the tagged software entities.

The present invention relates to the field of content tagging and, more particularly, to assisting users in searching for tagged content based on historical usage patterns.
With the explosion of user generated and non-user generated content, tagging has become a key part in the organization process. Frequently, users organize content using a personalized tagging scheme based on what they feel is relevant and appropriate. That is, content tags can be affected by a user's personality, knowledge of content, mood, primary language, and various other factors. While this is a great strength of tagging, it quickly leads to user-centric tags. User-centric tags counteract the organization provided by tagging and increase the difficulty in searching for tagged content. For example, while a user can tag a Web page about game consoles with the tag "gaming", another user may tag the same Web page with the keyword "game platforms". As such, users often have to guess as to what an appropriate tag would be for content. Additionally, a user can often unintentionally use several variants of a tag keyword to tag content. For instance, a user can keyword tag a picture of a "church" with the keyword "church" and at a later date tag another picture of a church as "cathedral".
Further, content is often inadvertently tagged with the wrong keyword(s) resulting in content being incorrectly categorized and/or stored. Searching for incorrectly tagged and/or mislabeled content can be a frustrating and time consuming endeavor which detracts from the user experience. At present, there is no solution to compensate for the drawbacks associated with tagging.

Assisting users in searching for tagged content based on historical usage patterns

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A downhole system and related method, which may be used in an injection well for permitting removal, repair and or replacement of equipment installed in the well without unloading the formation in which the well is placed. The system generally includes an annulus sealing device, such as a packer, at least one valve, such as a flapper valve, a latching assembly and a rigid elongate member. The rigid elongate member may be connected to the latching assembly and serves the valve to open and close, or be permitted to open and close. The latching assembly serves to disconnect, and subsequently reconnect, equipment from the annular sealing device. Such release is accompanied by closure of the at least one valve and reconnection by opening of the at least one valve. The latching assembly has seals to prevent fluid from flowing around the latching assembly when the valve is open.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to oil and natural gas production. More specifically, the system facilitates the introduction of a fluid under pressure into a wellbore and then sealing the wellbore below a desired depth to prevent egress of the introduced fluids while allowing removal of a portion of a work string from the wellbore.
2. Description of the Related Art
In oil and gas wells, it may be desirable to inject a fluid into the well to enhance production of hydrocarbons. For example, steam, carbon dioxide, water or other fluids may be injected into the well to maintain reservoir pressure or heat the oil to lower its viscosity.
Gas injection is one common approach in enhanced oil recovery, and may use carbon dioxide, natural gas, or nitrogen. When the subject gas is injected, the phase behavior of the mixture of gas and crude causes the desired oil displacement, swelling, or a reduction in the surface tension of the oil with the surrounding formation. Each of these makes the oil easier to produce for the formation.
Enhanced oil recovery using gas injection can present some additional problems. For example, in the event of mechanical problems with equipment already in use with the well (e.g., the pump above the system fails, a tubing leak develops, etc.), the entire tubing string may have to be removed and the operator may have to flow down the well, resulting in significant delay and expense from the well flow down. Moreover, removal of the entire tubing string potentially negates any benefits from the prior fluid introduction, because such introduced fluids would be allowed to egress through the wellbore to the surface when the tubing string is removed.

Downhole system and method for facilitating remedial work


Embodiments of the disclosure provide a micromachined mirror assembly for controlling optical directions in an optical sensing system. The micromachined mirror assembly may include a micro mirror configured to direct an optical signal into a plurality of directions. The micromachined mirror assembly may also include at least one actuator coupled to the micro mirror and configured to drive the micro mirror to tilt around an axis. The micromachined mirror assembly may further include one or more objects attached to the micro mirror. The one or more objects may be asymmetrically disposed with respect to the axis to create an imbalanced state of the micro mirror when the micro mirror is not driven by the at least one actuator.

Optical sensing systems such as LiDAR systems have been widely used in autonomous driving and/or for producing high-definition maps. For example, a typical LiDAR system measures the distance to a target by illuminating the target with pulsed laser light beams and measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor such as a photodetector or a photodetector array. Differences in laser light return times, wavelengths, and/or phases can then be used to construct digital three-dimensional (3D) representations of the target. Because using a narrow laser beam as the incident light can map physical features with very high resolution, a LiDAR system is particularly suitable for applications such as sensing in autonomous driving and high-definition map surveys.
The pulsed laser light beams emitted by a LiDAR system are typically directed to multiple directions to cover a field of view (FOV). Various methods can be used to control the directions of the pulsed laser light beams. Existing LiDAR systems generally use electrostatic-, piezoelectric-, or magnetic-based actuators (e.g., electrostatic actuators, piezoelectric actuators, magnetic actuators, etc.) to drive an optical component, such as a mirror, in the LiDAR systems to direct the pulsed laser light beams to the surrounding environment when the mirror is oscillating back and forth. One drawback of driving the mirror using electrostatic, piezoelectric, or magnetic actuators is that it is not easy to break the initial balance of the mirror to start oscillating because the actuating force provided by such actuators tends to hold the balanced mirror stationary. Typically, the initiation of the oscillating motion relies on an external disturbance (e.g., randomly occurred) to break the balanced state. As a result, it is challenging to archive high speed initiation of the oscillating motion of the mirror.
Embodiments of the disclosure improve the speed of initiating the oscillating motion of the mirror by providing a micromachined mirror assembly with asymmetric structure.

Micromachined mirror assembly with asymmetric structure


The present disclosure provides a pet grooming system and various related apparatus for grooming a pet. The pet grooming system can comprise components dedicated to pet grooming or can adapt a surface cleaning apparatus or tools normally used for cleaning floors and upholstery to instead groom a pet. The pet grooming system can include a hand tool coupled with a portable module via a conduit assembly, at least a portion of which may be in the form of a flexible hose. A plurality of pet grooming attachments are provided, and the hand tool can concurrently mount a grooming comb and a sprayer attachment to groom a pet.

Surface cleaning apparatus can be embodied as a portable or hand-carriable unit, an upright-type unit, a canister-type unit, or a stick-type unit. One exemplary surface cleaning apparatus can be adapted to be hand-carried by a user to a cleaning area. Such a surface cleaning apparatus can be provided with hoses and hand tools adapted for cleaning a variety of surfaces. Some hand tools are adapted in particular for grooming pets by vacuuming hair and other debris from the coat and skin of the pet.