This invention is directed to a method and apparatus for thermal homogenization of molten metal in a heath of a electric arc furnace for steel production. The invention addresses the problem of lack of thermal homogenization by providing a lance which directs oxygen gas downwardly towards the surface of the bath and into the molten metal in a direction that diverges away from a direct line to a central region of the hearth through a horizontal divergence angle in the range of 10.degree. to 50.degree. thereby to enhance movement of the molten metal about the hearth and the direction of the gas is inclined downwardly to strike the nominal horizontal plane of the surface of the bath at an inclined angle in the range of 35.degree. to 50.degree. thereby to minimize splashing of the molten metal.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for thermal homogenisation of molten metal in a metallurgical vessel and in particular but not exclusively to electric arc furnaces for steel production.
Electric arc furnaces in steel processing are used to melt down ferrous materials and refine them into molten metal before tapping into a ladle. The furnaces usually comprise a hearth of generally crucible shape into which ferrous materials such as, for example, scrap, are charged, one or more electrodes adapted to melt the ferrous material with electric arc heating to form a bath of metal and one or more gas injection ports in the bottom of the hearth through which argon is directed into the molten metal for the purposes of stirring the bath.
To enhance melting of ferrous material and to post combust carbon monoxide within the furnace it has also been proposed to blow oxygen into the hearth from above the level of the bath.
In more recent times, other hearth shapes have been proposed. Such hearths generally comprise a deep portion, referred to hereinafter as a crucible, adapted to hold the bulk of the molten metal, at one end of the hearth and at the other end a shallow portion, hereinafter referred to as a balcony. The balcony is generally provided with a taphole in its base or an outwardly projecting spout in its wall. The one or more electrodes used in the furnace are generally placed within the crucible zone. Typically hearths of this kind are tiltable to facilitate tapping.
Additionally, they are so shaped to enable some molten metal to remain in the crucible at the conclusion of the tilting/tapping operation to avoid slag entrainment when tapping the steel.
A problem that has been observed in electric arc furnaces in general is that the temperature of the molten metal in the hearth is not homogeneous. In particular, "cold spots" and "hot spots" have been observed in the hearth, that is, positions in the hearth at which the temperature of the molten metal is relatively lower and higher respectively than that of the bulk of the molten metal.
It has been observed that this disparity is exacerbated in hearths having balconies and that the temperature of the molten metal in the balcony is relatively lower than that of the molten metal in the crucible. It has also been observed that the temperature of the molten metal towards the walls of the hearth is relatively lower than that of the molten metal towards the centre of the crucible with the exception of the areas near the electrode where the opposite is the case.
It has also been observed in hearths provided with means to blow oxygen into the hearth from above the level of the bath that continued blowing of oxygen after the scrap has melted can produce splashing of molten metal onto the walls of the hearth and back splash onto the oxygen blowing means causing deterioration of the wall surfaces and of the oxygen blowing means respectively.
Continued operation of the scrap melting apparatus after the ferrous materials have been converted to molten metal is often required to heat the molten metal to a predetermined temperature and/or maintain that temperature prior to tapping.
An object of the present invention is to address the above problems of the prior art.


A wireless communication system has a first communication apparatus and a second communication apparatus. The first communication apparatus has an information generator to generate first information associated with a mobile terminal, an encoder to encode the first information, and a first wireless communication module to transmit the encoded first information to the mobile terminal by close range wireless communication. The second communication apparatus has a second wireless communication module to receive the encoded first information transmitted by the mobile terminal and second information, a decoder to decode the encoded first information, a verification module to verify validity of the first information, and an information processing module to process the second information received by the second wireless communication module when the validity is confirmed by the verification module.

When an accounting process is performed at shops such as restaurants, there is a problem that it is impossible to acquire and manage order information for each customer if batch order processing is performed for each group of customers. In order to solve this problem, for example, a method for settling an account for each order has been proposed in which a touch-panel ordering terminal allocated to each group is used and has an electronic money settlement function using RFID tags.
However, the known ordering terminal has a problem that a settlement can be made only for one person at a time, not for a group.
Moreover, it is not desirable from a point of view of personal-information protection to carelessly acquire customer's personal information when order processing is performed for each customer.

Wireless communication system and wireless communication method


By having a cellulase preparation comprising at least a certain amount of endoglucanases derived from two different types of microorganisms, the cellulase preparation can be provided with a higher activity and a wider pH property than those of cellulase preparations each containing one of the endoglucanases alone. Moreover, by introducing and expressing simultaneously two different types of cellulase genes in a single host cell, a cellulase preparation having a high activity and a wide pH property can be produced easily.

Conventionally, a cellulose-containing fiber has been treated with cellulase to impart desired properties to the fiber. For example, in the textile industry, treatment with a cellulase is carried out to improve the touch feel and appearance of a cellulose-containing fiber, or to give a colored cellulose-containing fiber a "stonewashed" appearance providing local variations in color (Patent Literature 1).
Heretofore, in searching for cellulases utilized for such uses, components exhibiting a high activity for a cellulose-containing fiber have been isolated from cellulase composites produced by cellulase-producing fungi such as filamentous fungi. As a result, endoglucanases classified in GH family 5, GH family 12, and GH family 45 have been isolated as cellulases exhibiting a high activity mainly for a cellulose-containing fiber. For example, SCE3 derived from Trichoderma viride has been known as an endoglucanase classified in GH family 5 (Patent Literature 2); PPCE derived from Penicillium pinophilum has been known as an endoglucanase classified in GH family 12 (Patent Literature 3); STCE derived from Staphylotrichum cocosporum has been known as an endoglucanase classified in GH family 45 (Patent Literature 4); and so forth.
In a case where any of these cellulases is commercially produced, generally a transformant obtained by introducing genes encoding the cellulase into a microorganism such as a filamentous fungus is cultured, and a larger amount of the cellulase is expressed as a recombinant enzyme. In this case, the activity of a thus-prepared cellulase preparation for a cellulose-containing fiber depends on the activity of the recombinant cellulase expressed in a large amount. Similarly, the pH property of the cellulase preparation also depends on the properties of the recombinant cellulase expressed in the large amount. For example, in the case of SCE3, the optimum pH is weakly acidic (Patent Literature 2), while, in the case of PPCE, the optimum pH is acidic (Patent Literature 3). Accordingly, cellulase preparations obtained by expressing large amounts of SCE3 and PPCE as recombinant enzymes exhibit the same pH properties as those of SCE3 and PPCE, respectively.
So far, in order to improve the activity of and modify the properties of a cellulase preparation, attempts have been made mainly to search for a novel cellulase exhibiting desired properties and to modify known cellulases through a protein engineering approach. However, to obtain a cellulase exhibiting an activity significantly superior to known cellulases, first, a novel microorganism has to be isolated, which is not easy to do. Further, the possibility that the microorganism or the like produces a cellulase having desired properties is low. In addition, even if mutation is introduced into a known cellulase through a protein engineering approach, it is difficult to drastically modify the properties of the known cellulase. Due to these problems, conventionally and at present, a cellulase preparation having both a high activity and an excellent pH property has yet to be obtained.

Cellulase preparation comprising endoglucanases derived from two different types of microorganisms


A laminated insole (2) for a footwear has an upper layer (4) of a resilient foam material having an outline (6) shaped for incorporation in the footwear, and a bottom layer of a fibrous mat (10) and having a shape conforming with the outline (6) of the upper layer (4). The fibrous mat (10) includes a multiplicity of fibers (12), a number of which penetrate the foam material of the upper layer (4) for bonding the bottom layer (10) to the upper layer (4), and a stiffening portion (14) for providing stiffness to the insole (2). Preferably, each of the fibers (12) of those penetrating the foam material (4) emerges from the outer surface (16) thereof and thereby provides a pilosity (17) thereon. The laminated product (2) is suitable for use as an insole as well as a slip-in insole in any footwear. It takes advantage of the resilient properties of the foam, the stiffness and thermoformability of the fibrous mat and the comfort provided by the pilosity covering the upper layer of foam.

Different kinds of laminated products using a needling process for bonding two layers of different material are already known in footwear manufacturing. However, a drawback with those products is that they generally do not provide a good rigidity to the finished product and therefore their use is limited to articles which do not require a good rigidity. As a result, they are not very suitable as an insole for footwear.

Laminated product for use in footwear manufacturing


Embodiments of a method for separating dies from a wafer having first and second sides. The process embodiment includes masking the first side of the wafer, the mask including openings therein to expose parts of the first side substantially aligned with scribe lines of the wafer. The process embodiment also includes etching from the exposed parts of the first side of the wafer until an intermediate position between the first and second sides and sawing the remainder of the wafer, starting from the intermediate position until reaching the second surface.

A semiconductor chip or die (such as an image sensor chip) is typically fabricated on a single semiconductor wafer along with hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of copies of the same die. The cutting needed to separate individual dies from a semiconductor wafer—a process known as "dicing" or "wafer dicing"—can be done with a die saw (such as a diamond saw). Cuts are made along non-functional areas of semiconductor material, known as scribe lines, that separate the dies on the wafer from each other. Using a diamond saw introduces mechanical stress to the semiconductor wafer and can result in cracking at the die edges, compromising the integrity and reliability of the device on the die. An alternative to the diamond saw is laser scribing, which involves scanning a laser beam over the scribe lines of a semiconductor wafer, but this solution has low throughput and the required equipment is expensive.
The increasing demand for image sensors with faster processing speeds and better image quality, while at the same time decreasing the physical size of the image sensor chip, has led to smaller pixel cells sizes and smaller photosensitive regions or photodiodes. Advances in CMOS technology, such as the use of materials with low dielectric constant k, known as low-k dielectrics, that reduce cross coupling and parasitic capacitance between metal layers which make up the metal interconnect, are used to keep up with the decreasing image sensor chip size. However, low-k dielectrics are brittle due to their porous nature, which makes an image sensor with low-k dielectric prone to peeling and cracking when diamond saws are used to separate dies on a semiconductor wafer.
In addition to using low-k dielectric, another way to increase the size of a photodiode in a pixel cell, is to use a backside illuminated ("BSI") image sensor. BSI image sensors include a pixel array fabricated on a frontside of the semiconductor wafer, but receive light through a back surface of the image sensor. During fabrication of a BSI image sensor, the image sensor chip or device is first fabricated on a semiconductor wafer. When all the necessary elements have been formed in or on the device wafer, the device wafer is bonded to a carrier wafer for further processing. Due to the tradeoff of parameters such as bonding strength and wafer distortion, bonding strength can be maximized, but this can cause weakness at the bonding interface. This combination of low-k dielectric in the device wafer and weak bonding interface can increase the occurrence of peeling and cracking when a diamond saw is used to dice BSI dies from the combined wafer (device wafer plus carrier wafer).


All of the possible keno numbers are displayed on an electronic reader board in the keno game room or on the electronic keno gaming machine. After each player has marked his keno ticket and prior to the start of drawing keno balls, an electronic random number generator is used to select a predetermined group of keno numbers to be "red" numbers for that particular game. All of the other remaining keno numbers are "white" numbers for that particular game of keno. When a player achieves a winning keno ticket, the player wins certain preestablished payouts depending upon whether the player has an all "red" keno winning combination, an all "white" winning keno combination or a "mixed color" winning keno combination. A bonus jackpot feature can be also added to the method of play of keno. In one version of this bonus jackpot feature, the player wins the traditional keno payout for achieving a regular winning combination of matching numbers selected by the player. The player also wins a bonus jackpot amount if the player's matching numbers are all (or a high percentage) of the same color. In another version of this bonus jackpot feature, the player makes a separate, additional wager to be eligible for the bonus jackpot feature payouts. These bonus jackpot feature payouts can be flat amounts or progressive amounts. Progressive jackpot pools can be established for all "red" winning keno combinations or all "white" winning keno combinations or certain "mixed" color winning keno combinations.

This invention also relates to a keno game, and more particularly to a keno game that utilizes progressive jackpot pools and increases the attractiveness of the game to the players.
Conventional keno is a well known game. In conventional keno, there are eighty numbers in the pool--typically eighty keno balls numbered 1 through 80 and maintained in a air blower device that circulates the keno balls. Twenty of the eighty keno balls are selected each game.
Each player marks a keno ticket that is an 8.times.10 matrix with all eighty numbers printed thereon. The player selects between one and fifteen numbers that the player thinks will be drawn during the game. The player makes an appropriate wager. Depending on the number of matches between the twenty numbers drawn and the numbers selected by the player, the player wins or loses. The more numbers that match, the higher the payoff to the player. In keno, unlike in bingo which is keno's related number drawing game, there is no requirement that the numbers that are drawn must appear in certain patterns on the keno ticket. However in keno, also unlike bingo in which numbers are drawn until a winner occurs, only twenty numbers are drawn each keno game so there is no guarantee that a player will win each game.
In live keno, multiple players participate each game and no players may win, some players may win or all players may win. In traditional live keno, players may select between one and fifteen numbers and wagers can range from as little as 35.cent. a game to $5, $10 or even higher dollars per game. Typically each establishment operating a keno game will provide for the players a payout chart showing the amount possible to be won by the player based on the amount wagered, the number of numbers selected by the player and the number of matches achieved by the player when the twenty keno balls are selected. For example, if the player wagers $1 and selects one number, the player will typically win $3 if his one number is one of the twenty keno balls drawn during the play of the game. Similarly, if the player selects fifteen numbers, the player will typically be paid if anywhere between a total of eight and fifteen of his numbers match the twenty keno balls drawn. The highest payout will be made for matching fifteen out of fifteen, with lower payouts made for matching fourteen out of fifteen, thirteen out of fifteen and so on down to eight out of fifteen. Any matches of seven or less are losing plays. Similar payout schemes are provided for selections by the player of between one and fifteen numbers.
In electronic keno, a single player plays against the gaming machine for each round of the game and the player either wins or loses each round. The electronic controls of the gaming machine randomly select twenty numbers from the pool of eighty numbers and determine whether the player has achieved a winning payout at the conclusion of each round of the game. The player wagers a coin, token or credit and selects the number of numbers that the player is attempting to match during that round of the game. The selection is made by using a light pen, or pressing the numbers on a selection panel or touching the numbers selected using conventional touch screen technology. In the typical electronic keno format, the player may select between one and ten numbers to attempt to match. When the player presses the "Start" button, the electronic controls of the gaming machine select twenty numbers from the total pool of eighty numbers. Just as in live keno, the player wins when he matches all or a predetermined minimum number of his selected numbers. If the player matches less than the predetermined minimum number of his selected numbers, then the player loses.
Conventional bingo is also a well known game and is related to keno. In conventional bingo, players are provided with bingo cards that have a matrix of five rows and five columns. The columns are lettered B I N G O from left to right across the top of the matrix and each bingo card has five numbers in each row except the center column which has a "free space" at the intersection of the third row and the third column.
Bingo balls individually numbered 1-75 are mixed together and balls are selected one at a time. As each ball is selected, the number is announced to the players, who cover any corresponding number on their bingo card. When a player achieves a predetermined arrangement of covered spots on his bingo card, that player yells out "Bingo|" and he wins he game.
In the conventional manner of play of bingo, in order to win the game, a player must cover five spaces in a vertical column, a horizontal row or along one of the two diagonals of the bingo card. The free space in the center of the bingo card allows a player to win with as few as four numbers being drawn. Other winning combinations include the four corners of the bingo card and the eight numbers immediately adjacent and surrounding the free space. Winning combinations can also include the covering of spots on the bingo card so that letter symbols are formed such as an X, U, L, H or T.
The operator of the bingo game will designate at the beginning of the game which particular combination or combinations of covered spots will be winning combinations for that particular game. It is also popular to play "coverall" or "blackout" games in which all of the spots on the bingo card must be covered (the twenty-four spots having numbers and the center free space) in order for the player to win.
There is a need to increase the player appeal of keno in order to generate increased revenues from the operation of the game. Increased player participation would allow the payment of higher payouts which in turn would generate more player participation.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of playing keno and an improved keno apparatus that will increase the player participation in the game.
It is a further object of the present invention to increase the popularity of keno by increasing the difficulty factor of getting a winning keno ticket, to allow for prizes high enough to attract gamblers away from other types of gaming such as video poker, slot machines and live table games, and to compete with lotteries.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a large electronic display board on which all of the possible keno ball numbers are displayed. Prior to each game, some of the numbers on the display board are specially designated with a first distinctive marking and the remaining numbers on the display board are specially designated with a second distinctive marking. These special designations are accomplished by means of an electronic random number generator so that chance is introduced into the selection of which numbers receive the first distinctive marking and the second distinctive marking.
It is a further feature of the present invention to provide a bonus jackpot feature, that can either be a progressive jackpot or flat jackpot amount, to the game of keno for which the player is automatically eligible for the bonus jackpot simply by playing the game of keno or by which the player can become eligible for the bonus jackpot by making a separate wager in addition to the regular wager for the regular keno game.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide that the wagers made by the player are used to fund the special payouts made to the player for certain winning keno combinations. In one form, the wager is split between the payouts for a regular keno game and the bonus jackpot payouts for certain pre-designated winning combinations. In another form, a first wager makes the player eligible for payouts on the regular keno game and a second optional wager makes the player eligible for bonus jackpot payouts for certain pre-designated winning combinations.
It is an advantage of the present invention that the additional features added to the keno game will allow more and higher payouts to be made by the gaming establishment or the keno game operator. This will result in increased player participation and additional revenues to the gaming establishment or keno game operator.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description.
The present invention is a refinement of the principles and concepts described in the applicant's previous applications for patents, viz. U.S. application Ser. No. 08/182,850, filed Jan. 18, 1994, entitled "Bingo Game", now Pat. No. 5,482,289 and U.S. application Ser. No. 08/569,793, filed Dec. 8, 1995, entitled "Bingo Game", now pending. The disclosure of each of these patents is incorporated herein by this reference.


A method for the seamless switching of a wireless device between wireless wide area networks (WWANs) and wireless local area networks (WLANs) includes automatically detecting the available WWANs and WLANs, selecting one of the available networks for use by the wireless device, and connecting the wireless device to the selected network. The method also includes maintaining the network connection by monitoring the connection and, upon determining that the connection has been lost, selecting a another available network for use and connecting the wireless device the other network. Additionally, the method communicates information about the availability networks and connection status to a user of the wireless device, which allows the user to manually switch the wireless device connection from the automatically selected available network to another available network. Further, a wireless device implements the above described method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of wireless technology and, more particularly, to seamless roaming between wireless networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless technology allows electronic devices to communicate with one another without the use of physical lines (e.g., wire or fiber optic cable), and accordingly, has become increasingly popular in recent years. There are different types of access networks in wireless technology, for example, the wireless local area network (WLAN) and the wireless wide area network (WWAN). WWANs are used by traditional cellular companies to provide high-mobility access (e.g., for users moving in cars) over a broad coverage area. WLANs can be used in buildings (e.g., homes or businesses) for stationary or low mobility access.
While WLANs provide higher throughput rates (e.g., ranging from 11 Mbps to 54 Mbps), such networks generally do not provide a broad area of coverage, and thus, are not always suitable for high mobility access. On the other hand, while WWANs provide broad ranging coverage, they generally have lower throughput rates.
Previously developed techniques have provided for connections to both a WLAN and a WWAN by a mobile device. With these techniques, separate device applications were used to independently support and manage different kinds of connections. That is, one application would be used for WWAN connections, and another application would be used for WLAN connections. This was problematic in that the two applications were independent, and thus, did not provide the ability to coordinate connections for different types of wireless networks. Thus, whenever there was a loss of connection as a mobile device was moved out of the coverage area, of one kind of wireless network into the coverage area of another kind of network, the previously developed techniques were not able to automatically switch connections. Instead, a user had to manually switch from one application managing hardware for a connection of the first kind of wireless network to a different application managing hardware for a connection of the second kind of wireless network. In order to make this manual switch, the user was required to shut down all applications using the external network connection and then, after the switch was made, to reinitiate network connectivity and restart all applications. Accordingly, the previously developed techniques were disruptive, time consuming, and not user friendly.
Therefore, what is needed is a way to automatically and seamlessly switch between and among different types of wireless networks.

Systems and methods for seamless roaming between wireless networks


Polymer blends contain a polyphenylene ether and a siloxane-polyetherimide copolymer. These blends exhibit good ductility, good injection moldability, very low flammability and high impact strengths.

This invention relates to polymer blends which are characterized by good ductility, good injection moldability, very low flammability and high impact strengths.
Polyphenylene ethers (also known as polyphenylene oxides) are engineering thermoplastics characterized by high inherent heat capacities, low moisture absorption rates and good hydrolytic stabilities, excellent dimensional stabilities and electrical properties. An object of the present invention is to provide polyphenylene ether resin blends in which the flame resistance, the processability and certain of the physical properties of the polyphenylene ether are improved.
Polyphenylene ether resins have been blended and modified with a variety of ingredients, including other engineering plastics. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,431,779 discloses a polymer blend which contains a polyetherimide and a polyphenylene ether. The blend is described as exhibiting good impact strength and other mechanical properties.
A continuing need exists for polymers and polymer blends which exhibit low flammabilities, which have advantageous physical properties and which are processable by conventional techniques.

Polyphenylene ether/siloxane polyetherimide copolymer


A process is provided to make ethylene and propylene from a carbonaceous feedstock. The process comprises preparing a gaseous mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen from a feedstock. A Fischer Tropsch synthesis is then performed on the gaseous mixture to obtain a Fischer Tropsch product along with unconverted carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The Fischer Tropsch product in admixture with the unconverted carbon monoxide and hydrogen from the previous step is then subjected to terminal cracking to form ethylene and propylene.

Various processes are known which convert methane to lower olefins. An example is a process wherein methane is converted to synthesis gas, which in turn is converted to a paraffinic product by means of the Fischer-Tropsch reaction. By using for example the naphtha paraffin product as isolated from said Fischer-Tropsch product as steam cracker feedstock, lower olefins may be prepared. This route is applied on a commercial scale. For example, in "The Markets for Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis Products", Presentation of Peter J. A. Tijm, Shell International Gas Ltd., Alternative Energy '95, Vancouver, Canada, May 2-4, 1995 on page 5, it is mentioned that SMDS naphtha, the Fischer-Tropsch derived naphtha fraction of the Shell MDS process, is used as steam cracker feedstock in for example Singapore.
The above commercial process involves that a naphtha feedstock is made in the Fischer-Tropsch process, is transported to a steam cracker, in which the lower olefins are prepared. This process is cumbersome due to the large number of process steps and transport. There is a need for a more integrated process. The following process provides just such a process.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Process to prepare lower olefins from a carbon containing feedstock


An image forming apparatus which forms an image by using a unit having at least a member associated with image formation and storage unit storing information, comprising, an image carrier, developing unit for developing a latent image formed on said image carrier by supplying toner to said image carrier and controller for controlling image formation operation on the basis of the information stored in said storage unit, wherein said storage unit stores information for controlling toner consumption operation in accordance with a characteristic of the toner, and said controller controls the toner consumption operation on the basis of the information stored in said storage unit without printing any image on a print medium.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing an example of a conventional image forming apparatus. In FIG. 5, the electrophotographic image forming apparatus has a freely rotatable photosensitive drum 1 serving as an image carrier. The photosensitive drum 1 is uniformly charged by a primary charger 2, and exposed to an information signal by a light-emitting element 3 such as a laser to form an electrostatic latent image. The electrostatic latent image is visualized into a toner image by a developing device 4. The toner image is transferred by a transfer charger 9 onto a transfer paper sheet 14 conveyed by a transfer sheet convey sheet. The toner image is then fixed by a fixing device 11 to obtain a permanent image. Toner left on the photosensitive drum 1 after transfer is removed by a cleaning device 8.
In the image forming apparatus, the developing device 4 contains toner and carrier serving as a developer. Screws 43 and 44 stir the developer to charge the toner. A development method using such two-component developer causes the following phenomenon. The toner in the developer is consumed by development, replenished from a toner cartridge 5, and replaced by outputting an image. When images (low-coverage-rate images) which hardly consume toner are successively output, toner is replaced only little by little. Toner stays in the developing device for a long time, is rubbed between a blade 42 and a developing sleeve 41 for a long time, and stirred in a developing chamber 47 and stirring chamber 48.
The toner in the developer which is repetitively rubbed and stirred for a long time changes to an irregular shape or suffers offset of the particle diameter distribution. Further, an external additive such as a titanium oxide particle which is added to the developer in order to improve the flowability becomes buried in the toner surface. This results in degradation such as poor flowability of the developer, failing to obtain an image which keeps a desired image quality.
Charges of toner stabilize upon rubbing several times. However, repetitive rubbing gradually charges toner to exceed a predetermined charge amount. As charges of toner increase, the amount of toner attached to a latent image which is formed on the photosensitive drum 1 and is equal in potential difference to the developing sleeve 41 decreases from an initial state. This appears as degradation of the image quality such as low density upon outputting an image or conspicuous graininess at a low-density portion.
As another development method, various dry monocomponent development methods have been proposed and commercially available. One of these methods is impression (contact) development. Impression development has many advantages such as easy simplification and downsizing of the apparatus because this development does not require any magnetic material (carrier). In addition, impression development can form a color image by using nonmagnetic toner.
FIG. 6 shows a developing unit using impression (contact) development. In impression (contact) development, an electrostatic latent image is developed by pressing the surface of a toner carrier against the electrostatic latent image or bringing the surface into contact with the image. As the toner carrier, an elastic, conductive developing roller must be adopted. In order to obtain a known development electrode effect or bias effect, a conductive layer is formed on or near the surface of the developing roller, and a bias voltage can be applied as needed. Toner is charged by triboelectrification between the toner carrier and a developing blade for forming a toner layer.
In the above-described impression (contact) development, the image quality degrades as the number of formed images increases. Degradation of the image quality is mainly caused by toner deterioration, and main causes are rubbing between the developing roller and the surface of the image carrier and rubbing between the developing roller and the developing blade. This phenomenon occurs when toner near the developing roller is hardly consumed and rubbed for a long time. In particular, the phenomenon becomes prominent when many low-coverage-rate images are printed.
To solve these problems, there is proposed a method of forcedly consuming a predetermined amount of toner by development considering the relationship between the number of turns of the developer carrier or the print count and the coverage rate.
As a simple method, a predetermined amount of toner is consumed when the number of turns of the developer carrier reaches a predetermined value. According to this method, however, a predetermined amount of toner is consumed even when a large amount of toner is consumed. Forced toner consumption operation is executed even under conditions in which no problem occurs, wastefully consuming toner. To prevent this, a predetermined amount of toner is consumed only when the toner amount is equal to or smaller than a given threshold (coverage rate) which is calculated from the number of turns of the developer carrier or the print count and the sum of laser exposure amounts for one image of video count data.
The flow of a detailed process is shown in FIG. 3. The number of output images is set (step S301), and when image formation starts (step S302), a CPU 30 loads input image data (step S303), and calculates an image ratio (step S304). After one image is output (steps S305 and S306), whether the image ratio is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value (e.g., 5%) is determined (step S307). If YES in step S307, a predetermined amount of toner is consumed (step S308). A latent image is formed in the entire region along the axial direction of a photosensitive drum at a laser irradiation amount of FFH so as to consume an amount of toner corresponding to a predetermined value (corresponding to an image ratio of 5%). The predetermined amount may be constant or changed depending on the image ratio of an output image. When the predetermined amount is changed, it is preferable to consume an amount of toner corresponding to an image ratio of 5% or more including the image ratio of the output image. After the end of consumption and replenishment of toner, whether the number of output images reaches a designated count is checked (S309). If NO in step S309, the process is repeated from loading of image data (from step S303); if YES, image formation ends (step S310).
This sequence need not always be executed. The sequence is executed only when the print count or the number of turns of the developer carrier reaches a predetermined value. This can reduce the number of forced toner consumption operations.
By the above-described sequence, a predetermined amount of toner is always replaced, and excessive rubbing of the same toner can be prevented. As a result, excessive charging and deterioration of toner are suppressed.
In the conventional scheme described above, the following phenomena occur. The deterioration degree or charged state of toner sometimes greatly changes owing to preparation variations in the developer of toner and carrier or the difference in the characteristic of the regulation blade or developer carrier. When the developing unit is designed as a unit detachable from the image forming apparatus main body, the characteristic of the developer or each part may vary between units. If forced toner consumption operation is executed on the basis of a predetermined threshold or consumption amount, toner is excessively consumed, or an image deteriorates due to insufficient consumption.

Image forming apparatus and unit, and storage medium mounted in the unit


A method for automatically identifying and correcting errors in electronily stored character strings input from handwritten character strings is disclosed. The input character strings are compared to a predetermined list of correct character strings by dividing the input character string and each of the correct character strings into at least one character string fragment. Each character string fragment or set of character string fragments is formed by applying at least one different fragmentation submethod to the character string. The corresponding fragments from the input character string and the correct character strings are then compared in turn. The correct character string producing a unique lowest comparison value is determined to be the correct character string intended by the input character string. Accordingly, the determined correct character string is output in place of the input character string.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for analyzing character strings generated by optical character recognition of handwritten character strings.
2. Description of Related Art
One of the primary demands for optical character recognition (OCR) is as a method to replace keypunching or hand entry of information from forms that were filled out by hand. Much of the information from these forms consists of words or character strings that are chosen from a list that is either explicitly defined for or implicitly known by the person filling out the forms.
One example of such a form is the list of various diseases that are explicitly stated or implicitly known to a person when completing an insurance application form. Another example comprises much of the information on the United States Census Form. One particular example from the United States Census Form is the ethnic background section, especially the implicit list of native American Indian tribes.
When trying to identify words read from forms that have been filled out by hand, problems beyond the normal spelling errors occur, and the error rate is much greater than for OCR of machine printed characters. When attempting to form optical character recognition of even reasonably clearly printed machine character strings, an OCR system will create insertion, deletion, substitution and segmentation errors. These normal OCR errors are compounded by normal handwriting errors. These errors include poorly formed letters, non-standard orientations, poor spacing between letters, and the normal variety in the types of pens and pencils used to write with.
Conventional word identification methods are quite sensitive to deletions, insertions and segmentation errors at various locations in character strings. Examples of such prior art methods are the methods used to verify spelling implemented with many word processors. However, the various method developed for checking the spelling in word processing and other applications are oriented towards identifying misspellings based on human typographical and cognitive errors.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,730,269 and 4,580,241 to Kucera et al. discloses a method for transforming a misspelled word into a word skeleton by replacing letters with a general phonetic equivalent. Such a system is useless in attempting to correct OCR generated misspellings, as OCR errors have no relationship to the cognitive human errors discoverable by the phonetic skeleton scheme of Kucera et al.
Another example is U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,206 to Itoh et al., which discloses a method for ensuring that the correct character string for a misspelled character string is in a selected list of possible correct character strings chosen from a larger dictionary. The method of Itoh et al. assumes (correctly for typographical and cognitive errors) that characters having the lowest frequency of use have the highest probability of being correct. Such an assumption makes the method useless in correcting OCR-generated errors, as the likelihood of a character being incorrectly included or excluded from an OCR-generated character string is dependent upon the way an individual prints.
These methods can identify any number of possible words to replace the misspelled word when the misspelling is caused by typing or cognitive errors. However, few of these methods can positively identify the correct word even when the spelling errors are rather minor, and they have great difficulty with common OCR errors.

Method and apparatus for analyzing character strings

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of Commerce


A topical insecticide is provided which can be safe to use and avoids many common deleterious side effects of conventional topical insecticides. The insecticide contains an insecticide and an insect growth regulator effective for killing fleas, flea larvae and flea eggs. The insecticide is formulated by dissolving an insecticidal (tetrahydro-3-furanyl) methylamine derivative or a chloronicotinyl insecticide and an insect growth regulator (IGR) in a solvent containing a quaternary ammonium salt to increase the solvency of the IGR component, thereby providing an insecticide having high insecticidal activity.

The invention relates generally to insecticides and more particularly to a topical insecticide, such as one suitable to use on house pets such as cats and dogs.
The infestation of animals with fleas is highly undesirable. Accordingly, it has become common to administer both topical and internal insecticides to livestock and pets. Topical applications can be desirable, in that many insecticides are acceptably safe when used topically, but not when used internally.
Various topical insecticides have drawbacks. Some require a large volume to be applied to the animal. This can cause considerable mess and can lead to an unpleasant smell. Also, when the animal is a house pet, there is a further complication in that the insecticide should be safe for human contact. It should also not lead to staining of furniture, carpeting and the like. Finally, even if safe, topical insecticides for house pets should not be irritating or lead to rashes, hair loss or exhibit other unpleasant side effects.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide an improved topical insecticide, which overcomes drawbacks of the prior art.

High concentration topical insecticide containing insect growth regulator


After loss of communications between a cash handling device and a financial institution, transactions may continue to be processed. In one configuration, the transactions may be processed up to a predefined transaction limit. Transaction limits may be defined by a number of transactions, a dollar amount transacted or to be transacted, an amount of time and/or combinations thereof. Additionally or alternatively, the transaction limit may be specific to one or more types of transactions. Transaction data may be stored in memory until communication has been re-established, at which time the data may be transmitted to the financial institution for processing.

Businesses and other organizations often require a supply of cash to fund transactions such as providing change for customer purchases. In some instances, such businesses and organization use a cash handling device that provides recognition of transactions (e.g., withdrawals, deposits) by transmitting the transaction data to a financial institution. Since, in such systems, there is a reliance upon communications between the cash handling device and the financial institution, a disruption in communications may cause the cash handling device to lock down and prevent further transactions. The cash handling device may respond in such a fashion to avoid potential loss of funds or other discrepancies since the financial institution is not able to reconcile data if communications have been lost. Thus, a business or organization would not be able to access funds during the communication outage, thereby disrupting regular operations.


A lubricating oil composition for a transmission, the composition including: (A) a lubricant base oil comprising a mineral base oil and/or a synthetic base oil; and (B) a poly(meth)acrylate having a weight average molecular weight of no more than 25,000, wherein the composition has a kinematic viscosity at 100° C. of 2.5 to 4.9 mm2/s.

One means for improving energy efficiency of gears such as transmissions and final drive gears is to use a less viscous lubricating oil. For example, transmissions and final drives etc. are equipped with a gear bearing mechanism. It is considered that a less viscous lubricating oil used for the foregoing reduces churning resistance and drag torque which are caused by the viscosity resistance of a lubricating oil, and improves power transmission efficiency, which can result in improvement in fuel efficiency.

Lubricating oil composition for transmission


A fast, flexible hardware comparator is implemented using read-write memory chips (RAMs). Characteristic data is stored at a specific address corresponding to the reference value, which can be read out only in case of agreement when addressed by the actual value. To reduce the addresses to be decoded in the RAMs, the required address lines are evenly distributed among several RAMs. The present invention can be used as an address comparator in software testing, and as a reference/actual value comparator in digital control circuits, if the address difference from the reference value address in each case is additionally stored in the RAMs.

The present invention relates generally to comparators, and more particularly to a comparator for comparing dual-coded data, such as can be used for fast address comparison in computer systems, for testing and diagnosis of software, or in digital control circuits for comparison of reference and actual values.
In some hardware comparators, the data is checked directly, bit by bit, using gates or comparators. However, with the bit width of data words used in current computer systems, this leads to a correspondingly large number of components. In many instances, these large numbers of components cannot be tolerated, because of the resulting space requirement.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,100,532 discloses a comparator provided with memory in which characteristic data are stored at specific addresses, which map the comparison data in question so that the data can be output by address control. By dividing the address lines into individual groups, the known device achieves a reduction in the required address space, and a 2-bit wide version of the memory makes it possible to provide information as to whether a currently accessed address is equal to or greater than the comparison address.
The present invention is directed to the problem of further developing hardware comparators for comparing dual-coded data by reducing the number of required components and by expanding their area of application.


A remote copy system comprises a primary storage system having a primary volume, and a secondary storage system having a secondary volume forming a pair relationship with the primary volume. When the primary storage system receives a write command from a primary host computer, it stores the command in the primary volume and creates a journal added with time information. The secondary storage system receives the journal from the primary storage system and updates the secondary volume based on the received journal. The primary host computer determines, based on the operating status of the secondary storage system, either the time added to the latest journal that the secondary storage system received or the time added to the latest journal that updated the secondary volume as the recovery point objective, and provides the determined time this to the user.

The present invention generally relates to a remote copy system, and particularly relates to a remote copy system that copies data between storage systems located respectively at two remote sites.
In recent years, the importance of corporate information systems and the data used therein is increasing, and disaster recovery technology for recovering data in computer systems that failed due to a disaster or the like is attracting attention. A remote copy system is known as representative technology for performing disaster recovery.
For instance, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2005-18506 (Patent Document 1) discloses technology where a storage system receives data sent from a host computer and writes the data in its own storage apparatus, and also transfers such data to another storage system positioned in a physically remote location in order to store the data.
More specifically, this technology relates to a computer system having a primary host computer and a primary storage system connected thereto at a primary site, and a secondary host computer and a secondary storage system connected thereto at a secondary site that is located remotely from the primary site. When the primary storage system receives data with a creation timestamp from the primary host computer, it writes the data in its own volume, and further writes the data and its timestamp as a journal in its own journal volume. The secondary storage system reads the journal in the primary storage system, and temporarily stores the data with the timestamp in a journal volume of the secondary storage system in the same update sequence as the volumes of the primary storage system. The secondary storage system then retrieves the data from the journal volume and writes it into the volume. With this computer system, if a failure occurs in the primary site or in a communication line between the primary storage system and the secondary storage system, the journals stored in the journal volume that the secondary storage system received before the failure are reflected in the copy destination volume of the secondary storage system. As a result of adopting this kind of configuration, even if an active computer system encounters a disaster and is subject to a system failure, the data copied to a storage system positioned at a physically remote location can be used to recover the computer system in a relatively short period of time.
With the technology described in Patent Document 1, the time pertaining to the journal that was last reflected in the secondary volume is set as the recovery point objective (RPO). The set recovery point objective is presented to the user of a computer system at the time of recovery, but there is a problem in that such time cannot necessarily be used as a valid recovery point objective.
More specifically, journals that have not yet been reflected in the secondary volume among the journals that the secondary storage system received can be reflected in the secondary volume while maintaining the same update sequence as the primary volume even after a failure occurs in the primary site or in the communication line between the primary site and the secondary site. Thus, although the time pertaining to the journal that was last reflected in the secondary volume immediately before the occurrence of a failure should be set as the recovery point objective under normal circumstances, there are cases where the journals that have already been received by the secondary storage system are subsequently reflected in the secondary volume, and the time pertaining to the journal that was reflected after the occurrence of a failure is set as the recovery point objective.
Further, if the latest time among the time pertaining to the journals that the secondary storage system received is deemed to be the recovery point objective, there are cases where such time is invalidated due to a failure occurring in the secondary journal volume or the remote copy being temporarily suspended.
Such an inaccurate recovery point objective will cause the loss of data, and it may not be possible to recover the computer system to its complete original conditions.
In addition, the user of a computer system must constantly determine whether the presented recovery point objective is valid or invalid, and was excessively burdened with recovery operations.

Remote copy system and method of deciding recovery point objective in remote copy system


Methods, systems, and computer programs are presented for managing company job listings in a social network by selecting which job posts are included in the company job slots. One method includes an operation for selecting a job post, from a company job pool, for inclusion in the job slots that are presented to members. Further, the method includes operations for presenting the selected job post to members, and for determining a view threshold number based on the day of a week that the job post was posted. The number of views within a period is determined, and when the number is greater than or equal to the view threshold number, the job post is kept in the job slot; otherwise, the job post is marked as a rotatable job post, where rotatable job posts are discarded from the job slots when other jobs are available in the job pool.

Large companies may have thousands of jobs open at any time. These companies often utilize service providers to increase the visibility of their job openings to potential candidates, and these service providers may include a professional network focused on professional connections.
A large company may purchase a large number of job slots from the professional network, which are filled with job openings selected by the company. The job openings in the job slots are then presented to the members of the professional network. However, managing the job slots is often complicated because hiring managers have to manually configure the job openings that they want to post in the available job slots. Further, there could be several managers, including human relationships managers, involved in determining how to use the job slots. The result is that many times, available job slots are not utilized even though there may be job listings that the company would like to present to members.
Further, sometimes job slots may be filled by jobs that are not performing well or that already have enough applicants to find an appropriate hire. These jobs take valuable space in the professional network that could be used by other jobs that would perform well if posted.

Job post selection based on predicted performance


A method and apparatus maintain the operating temperature of an electronic device within an acceptable operating range for a wide range of ambient temperatures. The apparatus includes a heat sink and a temperature dependent loading device which brings the heat sink into thermal contact with the electronic device when the ambient temperature exceeds a threshold level.

Electronic devices, including integrated circuits, must be maintained during operations at a temperature within an operating range of temperature specified by the manufacturer of the electronic device to operate properly. In the case of commercially available integrated circuits, typically the range of temperatures is between 0 deg. and 70 deg. Celsius. When implementing an electronic device in a given system, for example on a printed circuit board within a computer system, features must be included to maintain the electronic device at temperatures within the operating range of the electronic device.
Typically, because electronic devices produce heat as a by-product of operation, electronic devices must be cooled. Fans and heat sinks have been used to cool electronic devices and maintain them within the specified operating range. Fans and heat sinks work well when implemented in an environment with narrow temperature limits such as the home. However, when temperature extremes of the environment can vary widely, devices for regulating the operating temperature of the electronic device must be made more complex, and have to both heat and cool the electronic device. Heat sinks in intimate contact with the electronic device tend to shift the operating range of the electronic device downward for a given ambient temperature. Therefore, with a heat sink alone, both the upper range and lower range of acceptable ambient temperatures in which the electronic device can operate within its operating range are raised, making heat sinks alone unsuitable for cold environments. Fans are likewise unsuitable and moreover, tend to be costly and prone to failure.

Apparatus for heating and cooling an electronic device


A method of driving recording elements of a print head in an image forming apparatus for printing an image on media, for example, nozzles ejecting ink on the media in an inkjet printer, and an image forming apparatus employing the method are provided. The method includes: obtaining, for each of a plurality of drive tables, a maximum number of recording elements to be simultaneously driven when printing the image, according to a drive order in each of the plurality of drive tables, each drive table comprising drive order information about the order of driving the recording elements; selecting the drive table of the plurality of tables in which the obtained maximum number of the recording elements to be simultaneously driven is smallest; and driving the recording elements using the selected drive table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of analyzing electric power to be consumed when printing a page prior to the page being printed and driving recording elements of a print head using the result of the analysis, and an image forming device employing the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an image forming device converts a document from an application program or an image from a digital camera into encoded data and outputs the data onto physical media.
Recently, image forming devices having an array head structure have been developed. Image forming devices having an array head structure print at higher speeds because they do not have a print head that moves from side to side. Instead, they use a print head that is as long as the media is wide. Image forming devices having the array head structure typically has many recording elements included in the print head to print an image to the media.
In an inkjet printer, a print head has a plurality of nozzles that eject ink onto the media to print an image. It is desired that fixed level of electric power be supplied so that the respective nozzles eject ink onto the media.
However, in an image forming device having the array head structure, such as an inkjet printer, the amount of electric power consumed for printing varies according to the number of recording elements used. Further, the amount of electric power consumed for printing varies according to the characteristics of the image being printed. Therefore, because the number of recording elements used varies and characteristics of images to be printed differ, power may not be stably supplied.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method for driving a print head with reduced power consumption that is not significantly influenced by characteristics of an image to be printed and thus stably drive the power supply device.

Method of driving a print head and image forming device employing the method


A floor exercise slider may have an attachment device on a side of a frame. A resilient pad is attached to an upper surface of the frame, with the resilient pad having raised blocks separated by grooves. A slide plate may be joined to a bottom surface of the frame. The raised blocks may be evenly spaced apart laterally and/or longitudinally by the grooves. Two sliders may be attached via the attachment devices to form a slider assembly which can accommodate both of the user's hands or feet.

Floor exercise sliders are pads or discs having a low-friction bottom surface. With the user's hands and/or feet on the pads, various exercises may be performed, with the sliders providing added intensity and resistance. Sliders are useful for exercising the arms, the legs and the core. Although various types of sliders have been used in the past, disadvantages remain with existing designs. Improved slider designs are needed.


The invention is a magneto-optical recording medium characterized by containing at least a soft magnetic layer, a protective layer, a resin layer having a servo pattern formed thereon, a reflecting film, a lower dielectric material film, a recording film, an upper dielectric material film, and a cover layer, formed on a substrate in this order.

Many examples of magneto-optical recording media having been practically used are formed by accumulating a recording layer, a protective layer and the like on a transparent substrate, and exert recordation and reproduction of information with light incident on the side of the substrate.
Miniaturization of a track width and a recordation mark size is exemplified as means for increasing the recording density of the magneto-optical recording medium, and for example, reduction of a spot size of a light beam for irradiating the magneto-optical recording medium has been practiced. The numerical aperture NA of an objective lens currently used for the magneto-optical recording medium is about from 0.55 to 0.6.
In general, a relational equation φ=λ/2NA holds, in which φ represents a spot size, NA represents a numerical aperture of an objective lens, and λ represents a wavelength of laser light. According to the equation, in order to decrease the spot size φ, it is necessary to increase the numerical aperture NA of the objective lens. In the case where the NA is increased, the resolving power is improved, but the focal length is shortened.
Therefore, in the case where the numerical aperture NA becomes larger, the aberration due to unevenness of the thickness and tilt of the substrate is increased, and thus, it is necessary to decrease the thickness of the substrate as far as possible. Accordingly, it is preferred for realizing high density recordation that recordation and reproduction are conducted with light incident on the side of the recording film, rather than the conventional recordation and reproduction conducted with light incident on the side of the substrate.
Hereinafter, the system conducting recordation and reproduction with light incident on the side of the recording film is referred to as a front illumination system.
In the front illumination system, an optical flying head having a structure, in which a coil generating a magnetic field and an objective lens are integrated, and a proximity actuator are used.
In a magneto-optical recording medium, to which a high recording magnetic field (for example, 300 Oe or more) is necessarily applied, it is generally necessary that a large electric current (about 900 mA) is applied to the coil of the proximity actuator.
In order to improve the rate of recordation and reproduction, on the other hand, it is necessary that the electric current is switched at a high speed, and thus, a high speed transient response is demanded.
In the case where a large electric current is applied, however, the transient response time of the electric current is necessarily large, and thus, high speed switching of the electric current, i.e., high speed switching of the magnetic field, becomes difficult.
Furthermore, upon conducting high speed switching of the electric current, the electric current flows on the surface layer of the coil, and the resistance of the coil is increased to cause heat generation of the coil, which brings about problems in deterioration of performance, service life and the like.
Therefore, high speed switching of an electric current is difficult in a medium requiring a high recording magnetic field, and in order to realize a recording speed of 100 Mbps, it is necessary to suppress the upper limit of the intensity of the recording magnetic field to about 200 Oe or less. In other words, it is necessary to suppress the electric field intensity for satisfying the demanded specification of 100 Mbps.
In order to maintain the recording performance equivalent to that with an externally applied magnetic field of 300 Oe even though the magnetic field intensity is reduced to 200 Oe, it has been practiced that a soft magnetic layer, such as NiFe and the like, is formed as an underlayer of the recording layer on the substrate.
This is because upon applying a magnetic field to a soft magnetic layer, a magnetization state equivalent to that obtained by applying a high magnetic field owing to such a nature that the magnetic flux is not diffused but is concentrated thereto. Therefore, in the case where a soft magnetic layer is provided, recordation and reproduction of a medium requiring a high recording magnetic field can be conducted with a decreased electric current flowing in a coil.
It is necessary that the thickness of the soft magnetic layer is 100 nm or more for obtaining an effect equivalent to that obtained by applying a high magnetic field of 300 Oe.
A conventional ordinary magneto-optical recording medium has a servo pattern having a concavoconvex shape containing lands and grooves on the surface thereof, and a soft magnetic layer is formed on the servo pattern.
In the case where a soft magnetic layer having a thickness of 100 nm or more is formed, however, the lands are broadened to change the width ratio of the lands and the grooves, the taper angle of the grooves becomes significantly obtuse, the edge parts of the lands and the grooves are notably rounded.
Accordingly, a recording layer is thus formed on the soft magnetic layer, to which the servo pattern of the substrate is not accurately reflected, and therefore, recordation and reproduction cannot be conducted with satisfying the demanded performance.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 03-105741 (1991) discloses a substrate for a magneto-optical recording medium improved in C/N by providing a soft magnetic material layer having a thickness of about 100 nm or more on an aluminum substrate, and further providing a groove layer thereon.
However, an aluminum substrate generally has a low rigidity, and there is a possibility that it is in contact with an objective lens upon disposing closely thereto, and thus, a proximity actuator is not preferably used.
Furthermore, in the case where the groove layer is provided directly on the soft magnetic layer, the soft magnetic layer is exposed to the air to bring about such a possibility that the magnetic characteristics are changed due to oxidation and nitriding.

Magneto-optical recording medium including a soft magnetic layer, a protective layer and a silane coupling agent layer, in this order


An air tap assembly includes a mounting seat, a connecting member, a stop member, and an end cap. Thus, the stop plate of the stop member prevents the air from flowing back into the vent holes of the second pivot portion of the connecting member, so that the air tap assembly has an anti-reverse effect to prevents the air from flowing back into the air cushion, thereby facilitating a user folding the air cushion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air tap assembly, and more particularly to an air tap assembly having an anti-reverse effect.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional air tap is mounted on an air cushion (or mattress) to introduce air into the air cushion by an inflator or in a manual manner so as to inflate the air cushion. However, the conventional air tap does not have an anti-reverse effect, so that the air is introduced through the air tap to flow into the air cushion freely. Thus, when the air cushion is compressed during the folding process, the air is easily introduced through the air tap into the air cushion due to a surface tension produced by a foam material mounted in the air cushion, thereby greatly causing inconvenience to a user when folding the air cushion.


Apparatus having corresponding methods and computer-readable media comprise: a memory having a plurality of ports; a plurality of processors, wherein each processor is configured to access a respective port of the memory, and wherein each processor is configured to wait responsive to assertion of a respective wait signal; and an arbiter configured to assert the wait signals responsive to memory enable signals asserted by the processors such that the memory is accessed by only one of the processors at a time.

This background section is provided for the purpose of generally describing the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventor(s), to the extent the work is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Modern multiprocessor systems include multiple processors or processor cores that share a common resource such as a memory subsystem. To share the common resource, accesses to the common resource must be synchronized. Problems that must be solved in such systems include controlling thread interactions, avoiding race conditions, and the like. One conventional solution involves the use of exclusive monitors.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional multiprocessor system 100 that employs exclusive monitors. For clarity only two processors are shown. The multiprocessor system 100 includes two processors 102A and 102B, a memory subsystem 104, a bus 106, and a global monitor 108. The processors 102 communicate with the memory subsystem 104 over the bus 106. Each processor 102A,B includes a respective local monitor 110A,B. The exclusive monitors 108, 110 are high-level tools that provide synchronization for access to the memory subsystem using synchronization primitives such as semaphores and the like over the bus 106.

Sharing memory using processor wait states


The present invention provides a method to prepare 5-substituted pyrimidines by reacting a 5-acylpyrimidine with a suitable nucleophile to afford a 5-methanolpyrimidine, such as flurprimidol.

The 5-pyrimidinemethanol, flurprimidol (1, α-isopropyl-α-[p-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl]-5-pyrimidinemethanol, CAS #56425-91-3) is a plant-growth regulator currently marketed under the brand names Cutless® and Topflor® as well as a mixture with various other agrochemicals. In the United States, it is manufactured by SePRO Corporation (Carmel, Ind.). Flurprimidol was first described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,949. Its structure is depicted below:

Flurprimidol (1) is currently manufactured by the methodology illustrated in Scheme 1.

Briefly, p-(trifluoromethoxy)bromobenzene (2) is converted to p-(trifluoromethoxy) phenylmagnesium bromide and reacted with isobutyronitrile to afford isopropyl p-(trifluoromethoxy)phenyl ketone (3). The reaction of 3 with 5-bromopyrimidine 4 in the presence of n-BuLi affords 1. This reaction proceeds through the intermediacy of the lithiated intermediate 5. The conversion of 5-bromopyrimidine (4) to the 5-lithiopyrimidine (5) occurs without significant degradation only at or below −80° C. The cryogenic operation required to maintain such reaction conditions is expensive. The limited stability of 5 mandates the presence of 3 during the addition of n-butyllithium, which introduces impurities such as 6 and 7 in the final product.

Method for preparation of 5-substituted pyrimidines


Methods of treating diseases of the nervous system by administration of compositions having the neurological therapeutic activity of human erythropoietin are disclosed. These compositions include therapeutic agents such as peptides, peptide dimers, polypeptides, and proteins that have the full range of biological activity of human erythropoietin or only certain biological activities of erythropoietin. Improved therapeutic regimens where the erythropoietin is administered at concentrations below those required to stimulate hematopoiesis are also provided.

Erythropoietin (EPO) is a glycoprotein hormone produced by the kidney in response to tissue hypoxia that stimulates red blood cell production in the bone marrow. The gene for erythropoietin has been cloned and expressed in Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,008. Recombinant human erythropoietin (r-HuEPO or Epoetin alfa) has an amino acid sequence identical to that of human urinary erythropoietin, and the two are indistinguishable in chemical, physical and immunological tests. Recombinant human erythropoietin acts by increasing the number of cells capable of differentiating into mature erythrocytes, triggering their differentiation and augmenting hemoglobin synthesis in developing erythroblasts (Krantz S B. Blood (1991) 77: 419–434, Beckman B S, Mason-Garcia M. The Faseb Journal (1991) 5: 2958–2964).
Epoetin alfa has been well tolerated in studies conducted to date. Hypertensive encephalopathy and seizures have occasionally been described in dialysis patients treated with Epoetin alfa, particularly during the early phase of therapy when hematocrit is rising. (Eschbach J W, Egrie J C, Downing M R, Browne J K, Adamson J W. New Engl J Med (1987) 316: 73–78, Winearls C G, Oliver D O, Pippard M J, et al. Lancet (1986) 2 (8517): 1175–1177). Such reports became more rare as experience of use of the compound developed. Occasionally, cancer patients treated with Epoetin alfa have experienced an increase in blood pressure associated with a significant increase in hematocrit. The risk, however, appears substantially lower than in chronic renal failure patients.
No antibody titers against Epoetin alfa could be demonstrated and confirmed in subjects treated with Epoetin alfa for up to 2 years, indicating the absence of immunological sensitivity to Epoetin alfa. Skin rashes and urticaria have been observed rarely and when reported have been mild and transient in nature, but these events suggest allergic hypersensitivity to some components of the Epoetin alfa formulation.
Epoetin alfa is approved for sale in many countries for the treatment of anemia in chronic renal failure (dialysis and predialysis), anemia in zidovudine treated HIV positive patients (US), anemia in cancer patients receiving platinum-based chemotherapy, as a facilitator of autologous blood pre-donation, and as a peri-surgical adjuvant to reduce the likelihood of requiring allogeneic blood transfusions in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery.
EPO influences neuronal stem cells, likely during embryonic development, and possibly during in vitro experiments of differentiation. (Juul et al Pediatr Dev Pathol (1999) 2(2) 148–158. Juul et al Pediatr Res (1998) 43(1) 40–49.) Further, neonates and infants that suffer CNS injury via hypoxia, meningitis, and intraventricular hemorrhage, show an EPO induced neuroprotective effect (Juul et al Ped Res (1999) 46(5) 543–547.)
EPO helps prevent apoptosis of neural tissue in cases of injury that create hypoxia. This may be the result of EPO produced locally by astrocytes (Morishita et al Neuroscience (1996) 76(1) 105–116). Neuroprotection has been demonstrated in gerbil hippocampal and rat cerebrocortical tissue (Sakanaka et al PNAS (1998) 95(8) 4635–4640. Sadamoto et al Biochem Biophys Res Commun (1998) 253(1) 26–32).
EPO induces biological effects of PC12 cells, including changes in Ca2+, changes in membrane potential, and promotion of neuronal survival. This has been interpreted that EPO can stimulate neural function and viability (Koshimura et al J. Neurochem (1999) 72(6) 2565–2572. Tabria et al Int J Dev Neurosci (1995) 13(3/4) 241–252.).
O'Brien et al propose that a 17 amino acid peptide sequence of EPO can act through the EPO-R (Erythropoietin receptor) to induce biological activity in NS20Y, SK-N-MC, and PC12 cells, which includes sprouting, differentiation and neuroprotection. Curiously this peptide does not promote proliferation of hematologic cells, thus it appears inactive in cell lines well understood for their sensitivity to EPO activity. (Campana et al Int J Mol Med (1998) 1(1) 235–241 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,700,909, issued on Dec. 23, 1999, 5,571,787, issued on Nov. 5, 1996, 5,714,459, issued on Feb. 3, 1998, and 5,696,080, issued on Dec. 9, 1997, all to O'Brien et al.)
EPO may influence neuronal stem cell commitment to drive differentiation of neurons as opposed to astrocytes or oligodendrocytes. This is compared to a similar activity of EPO, where it functions to drive commitment of hematopoietic stem cells to produce red blood cells (RBCs). There is an apparent relationship between CNS hypoxic injury, resulting in the production of EPO from astrocytes that commits neuronal stem cells to differentiate into neurons, while simultaneously acting as a neuroprotective function for existing neurons. (WIPO publication number WO99/21966, published on May 6, 1999, Weiss et al.)


A browsing application includes instructions for identifying and subscribing to a syndication feed delivered over a network. The instructions include code for analyzing a page of data that has been retrieved over the network by a browsing application to determine the availability of the syndication feed, code for causing a user interface element to be displayed on the browsing application, the user interface element indicating the availability of the syndication feed, and code for responding to a user's selection of the user interface element by causing the browsing application to display a page which permits the user to subscribe to the syndication feed.

Network browsing applications allow a computer user to view the contents of a network. Some network browsing applications, like Windows Explorer distributed by the Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., focus on specific types of networks and/or files. For example, Windows Explorer is primarily oriented toward browsing files in a local area network. Other network browsing applications, such as Netscape Navigator, distributed by Netscape Corporation of Mountain View, Calif., or Internet Explorer, distributed by the Microsoft Corporation, allow users to install "plug-in" applications that allow the network browsing application to work with additional file types. Additional examples of network browsing applications, also referred to herein as "browsing applications" for simplicity, include, without limitation, internet browsers, mail programs with browsing capabilities, file-sharing applications, and any application which provides the capability to browse resources either on an external network (e.g., the internet) or an internal network. Such applications may be separate from or integrated into an operating system.
Some web sites that can be accessed by network browsing application include content that changes over time. Examples of such web sites include news sites, such as CNN.com or FoxNews.com, as well as blogs, weather sites, discussion forums, project status sites, and the like. Some network users are members of projects or forums related to a particular topic, or may merely be interested in tracking changes to a particular site (e.g., breaking news stories). For at lest the last decade, the only way to monitor changes to a particular site was to visit all site's pages on a regular basis. However, a relatively new technology, referred to as "syndication", allows a network user to easily view, and even receive, content changes made since the network user last visited the site. A high-level description of one syndication technology, known as Really Simple Syndication or RSS, is provided at http://rss.softwaregarden.com/aboutrss.html, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The specification for RSS 2.0 can be found at http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss, and is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. An alternative syndication technology, known as Atom, is described in a series of Internet Drafts submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) which can be reviewed at http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-atompub-format-11.txt, http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-atompub-protocol-05.txt, and http://www.ietf.org/internet-drafts/draft-ietf-atompub-autodiscovery-01.txt, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
To view the changes to a site as published using a syndication technology, the network user must utilize a network browsing application compatible with the syndication technology implemented by the site. As the number of syndication technologies increases, and as the technologies mature, network users are likely to become frustrated with individual network browsing applications unless the network users constantly upgrade their software.
What is needed is a means through which network users can more readily subscribe to and browse a syndication feed.

Systems and methods for improving access to syndication feeds in network browsing applications


A faucet handle turning tool having a cylindrically-shaped body member with a cavity in one end. The cavity has sidewalls which taper inwardly to engage a faucet handle. There is a hexagonal head on one end of the cylindrical body to receive a wrench which provides the turning movement to turn the body member. A square bore is disposed within the hexagonal head to receive a ratchet drive which can provide the rotating driving movement to the hexagonal head. By utilizing separately provided ratchet or wrench drive means, the faucet handle tool requires only a minimum amount of storage space within a tool box.

This invention relates to faucet handle tools and, particularly, to a low profile faucet handle turning tool which is adapted to be fitted over a faucet handle to provide added turning leverage.
Valve and faucet handles used in plumbing often become rusted, limed and corroded making them difficult to turn. This is especially true in the case of elderly persons, persons suffering physical problems which make it difficult to exert a great deal of force on the handle in order to break it free and even in the case of persons having no physical problems if the valve and faucet handle have become severely corroded, limed or rusted. At times, the valve or faucet handle is positioned in such a location that it is difficult to reach by hand or to apply a wrench or other tool to the faucet handle due to a minimum amount of clearance. Modern faucet handles are frequently made of plastic or light metal or plastic-type materials. Wrenches, pliers and the like when applied to these plastic or light metal handles will frequently crack or break them. Thus, there is a need for a mechanism to assist in loosening plastic faucet handles which can fit in minimum clearance areas and is simple to use.
An example of a valve and faucet handle tool is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,562,758. This patent discloses a faucet handle turning tool which has a cavity at one end and a handle protruding from the other end. The cavity is designed to be placed over the faucet handle. The handle of the tool is then rotated to provide leverage and thus assists in turning the faucet. A disadvantage of this tool is that its handle is part of the overall tool. The result is that this tool takes up more room in the toolbox or storage area than if the tool did not have an integral protruding handle. Furthermore, the fixed length of the handle determines the maximum amount of leverage which can be applied to the tool.
Another device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,010,346. This patent illustrates a petcock drain tool which has a shaft which pivots about a pivot point. Thus, the flexibility of the shaft permits the tool to access places which a straight shaft tool could not reach. Again, however, as the shaft is part of the tool, it takes up valuable storage space in a toolbox.
Another device is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 2,599,668 which is a radiator cap wrench which assists in removing a radiator cap while the operator's hand is kept away from the top of the radiator cap. The handle is integral with the wrench and, for the same reasons cited above, would take up valuable storage space in a toolbox.
Ideally, a tool should take up a minimum amount of space in storage, function for the purpose intended, be inexpensive to manufacture and sell and efficiently serve the purpose for which it is intended. Applicant's device is such a tool. As most persons undertaking any repair job have at a minimum either a set of open-ended wrenches, a ratchet wrench or an adjustable wrench, the repair person already has a means by which he or she can provide a lever arm to an adapter tool. Thus, there is no need to duplicate this function which can easily be provided by tools already existing in the toolbox. Applicant's device is an adapter which fits over the faucet handle and receives the faucet handle internally in a cavity. The side of the tool opposite the cavity is adapted for receiving either a ratchet drive or a wrench. With the tool placed over the faucet handle, the wrench or ratchet engages the turning mechanism and the tool is turned which in turn turns the faucet handle. Due to the design of Applicant's device, a very low profile faucet handle turning tool is achieved which allows the repairman to work in extremely close areas.


A cylinder sleeve is composed of multiple identical interlocking sleeve elements. Each sleeve element has a circular cylindrical portion and an integral circular arc portion tangent to the cylindrical portion. The circular arc portion has a boss on one end and an offset finger on the other which mates with the boss of an adjacent sleeve element to fix the adjacent sleeve elements together radially.

This invention relates to axial piston fluid pumping apparatus, and more particularly to an assembly of parallel cylinder sleeves for the axial pistons.
International Patent Application No. PCT/US96/12362 filed Jul. 24, 1996, for "Fluid Pumping Apparatus" and published as International Publication No. WO97/05382, discloses a compact axial piston pumping apparatus assembled from stacked components. The disclosure of the international application is hereby incorporated by reference as though fully set forth herein. One of the stacked components of the axial piston pumping apparatus is a cylinder sleeve member formed as a single extruded aluminum element. The cylinder sleeve member includes a large central opening and three cylinder bores symmetrically disposed about the central opening and parallel with each other. The central opening receives the shaft of a drive motor which mounts the pistons that operate in the cylinder bores.
The present invention is directed to an alternative construction for such a cylinder sleeve.