The present invention relates to an antiviral drug comprising as an active ingredient a substance capable of suppressing an expression of a target gene or an activity of a protein encoded by said target gene, wherein said target gene is one or more genes having an action of retaining virus-derived nucleic acid in a host cell and selected from the group consisting of DOCK11 gene, LIPG gene, DENND2A gene, and HECW2 gene. The present invention also relates to a screening method for the antiviral drug.

Diseases associated with viral infection, such as viral hepatitis, influenza infection, herpesviral infection, AIDS, and viral hemorrhagic fever, are recognized as medically and socially important problems. For the diseases associated with viral infection, preventions using vaccines and the like, and therapies using drugs, for example, are widely studied. However, it cannot be said that such vaccines and drugs produce sufficient effects, and furthermore elucidation of their action mechanisms per se may be difficult in some viruses so that development of drugs against such viruses still cannot be started. In addition, since traits of viruses are extremely diverse and transcription factors etc. involved in their life cycles are also varied, the development of drugs is currently underway for individual viruses.
Hepatitis B virus (hereinafter abbreviated as "HBV"), one of the causes of diseases associated with virus infection, is thought to affect more than 350 million people worldwide. HBV causes acute or chronic hepatitis after infection, and some of the hepatitis cases further progress to hepatic cirrhosis or hepatic cancer. Currently, interferons (IFNs) and nucleotide analogs are used in the treatment of hepatitis B caused by HBV. However, it is difficult to completely eliminate the virus even in patients receiving long-term administration of such agents, and furthermore, there are problems with the agents, such as occurrence of resistant viruses and acute exacerbations in patients receiving long-term administration, increase in severity due to re-exacerbation after completion of administration, and the like.
After HBV enters a hepatocyte, the viral genes move into the nucleus of the hepatocyte, and then converted from incompletely circular double-stranded DNA into Hepatitis B virus covalently closed circular DNA (HBV cccDNA). It is known that HBV cccDNA is bare closed circular HBV DNA that is present in the nucleus of hepatocytes and acts as a replicative intermediate during viral replication (Non-Patent Document 1). In hepatocytes, HBV cccDNA behaves in the same manner as the human genome and stays in the nucleus. It is also known that HBV cccDNA is not directly affected by an antiviral nucleotide analog and still remains in hepatocytes after nucleotide analog therapy. It is a clinical fact that HBV viral genome cannot be completely eliminated from hepatocytes with existing agents, and therefore radical cure of HBV infection is thought to be impossible (Non-Patent Document 2).
Since HBV cccDNA has the property of staying within the cell after HBV infection, it has attracted attention in recent years as a marker for prediction of long-term prognosis for antiviral drugs and degree of liver damage. However, the in vivo mechanism of retaining HBV after infection has not yet been elucidated, and also the behavior of HBV cccDNA remains unclear. As a drug focusing on HBV cccDNA, an artificial DNA nuclease targeting HBV cccDNA itself has been reported (Patent Document 1).
For complete removal of HBV from hepatocytes to prevent or treat hepatitis B, there is a great need for elucidating HBV retention mechanism including behavior of cccDNA and thereby discovering a new molecule(s) that can be a target of anti-HBV drug.


A cover pocket for securing the corners of a mattress cover to a mattress or box spring which is made from a rectangular flexible material. The material to be made into the corner pocket has notches at opposite corners which overlay each other. Folding in a specific manner and fastening by stitching to a matress cover results in the corner pocket to be attached at each of the corners of the mattress cover.

In the past bedsheets and mattress covers have been held to mattresses and/or boxsprings by means of elastic bands at each corner thereof. These bands are attached to the mattress cover at two points equidistant from a corner thereof and then passed beneath the mattress or boxspring to hold the cover in place. The elastic bands are provided at each of the four corners of the bed sheet or mattress pad.
Other constructions such as nonpermanent elastic bands fitted under the mattress or boxsprings and attached to the matress pad by clips have been used. Another construction is to manufacture the bedsheet or mattress pad with side panels extending over the sides and part of the bottom of the mattress or bedsprings, stitching these panels together at the corners, and inserting an elastic strip at the corners to retain the overlap of the side panels under the mattress or bedsprings.
The above constructions have been adapted for use in different applications such as a baby's crib, a round rather than rectangular bed or a water bed. However, none of these modifications describe a corner pocket for securing a bed sheet or mattress cover as disclosed by the present invention.

Corner pocket for securing mattress covers and the like


A device (1) for controlling the operation of a power load comprised in an apparatus (12) belonging to a terminal electrical installation (2) of an electrical network (16) on the basis of events that are related to the operation or management of the electrical distribution network. A method and the use of same for managing the power required in an electrical network via a plurality of devices, and a system including a plurality of devices for controlling the operation of a power load and an electrical distribution network are also described.

The state of the art in terms of power load management in terminal electrical installations of an electrical network consists in controlling the power supply of those loads according to tariff conditions. The most well-known case is the control of the operation of an electric water-heater according to off-peak rates/peak rates. As a result, the technical solutions implemented for controlling power loads in terminal electrical installations are in fact solutions for tariff management as shown in patent FR2947396. Energy meters usually include a remote control receiver used to change the metering indices according to pricing periods as for example in patent FR2636142. These state-of-the-art meters include a control relay designed to control an external power relay for automatically controlling the operation of the water heater according to the tariff status. In modern electrical networks, which are becoming increasingly complex as shown in patent FR2976415, which include an increasing proportion of variable production, and infrastructures close to saturation in front of constantly growing needs. Therefore, an active management of demand for energy becomes increasingly essential to avoid the risk of failure of electrical networks which could even lead to the blackout of entire regions.
This invention falls within the scope of so-called "Smart grids".

Device for controlling a power load in an electrical network, and associated method and system


In a decoding system according to the invention, a digital signal received from an AWGN channel interfered by pulse interferences is so decoded (8) that the AGC control signal (10) of the RF/IF circuits of the reception is produced by median filtering (21) for the essential removal of the effect of pulse interferences, and that the interference is measured using a linear metric, whereby an external interference estimation circuit (30) is preferred.

In radio apparatus, e.g. digital cellular mobile phones, the encoding and decoding methods employed have been widely studied. In reception pulsed signal interferences create problems which makes a received signal difficult to process by methods known in the art. The problems related to pulsed interferences has in the past been studied e.g. in an article by K. R. Matis, J. W. Modestino: Performance of Selected Coded Direct-Sequence Receiver Structures in Pulsed Interference, Milcom 1985, vol. 3, Boston, Mass. In said article the principle of interference measurement is described, but there is no mention of how to implement said measurement. In the reference it is also not mentioned how an AGC signal can be made to comply with the level of a utility information signal included in a received signal.
Decoding methods have also been studied by means of simulation, and the main results thereof are published in the following references: (1) J. Juntti: Performance Simulations of a Convolutionally Coded DS Systems in Pulsed Noise Interference, Licenciate's Dissertation, University of Oulu, Department of Electricity, May 1990, and (2) K. Jyrkka: Performance Simulations of a Convolutionally Coded DS System in Pulsed CW Interference, Diploma study, University of Oulu, Department of Electricity, November 1990. Said references give no suggestions for solution of how the AGC signal could in practice be made to conform ideally to the level of the information signal.
In conventional receivers the decoding operation can be carried out e.g. by means of a circuit arrangement like the one shown in FIG. 1. The radio frequency circuits 2 of a receiver process, i.e. amplify and convert, the signals received from an antenna 1 so that they can be processed in a demodulator circuit 3. The result of the demodulation is conducted to an integrator 4, from the output of which samples are taken at symbol time intervals T. The samples are conducted further to a quantization circuit 6. The processing of the frames of the received digital signal, i.e. deinterleaving, is carried out in circuit 7, and the output thereof is conducted to a decoder circuit 8, from the output of which the utility data 9 contained in the signal received with the antenna 1 is provided.
As mentioned above, after demodulation the received signal is conducted to a quantization circuit 6. In the quantization circuit 6 the received signal is quantized into three or more levels (soft decision quantization) instead of using two level quantization (hard decision quantization). In such soft decision quantization, reliability information is added to every symbol decision. The reliability information can be presented, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, where 8 quantization levels are used. There are two numbers showing the reliability information for each quantization interval. These numbers are called metrics and they are determined separately when the received signal is compared with both of the symbols. The metrics are used in decoding algorithms.
An optimal convolution decoder is used to minimize error probability in a long symbol sequence. The error probability of a sequence will be minimized when such a sequence is selected so that a so called Euclidjan distance is minimized compared to the received symbol sequence. The optimal decoder calculates the Euclidean distance for each received sequence of all possible transmitted sequences. The calculation of the Euclidean distances is done by adding, after every symbol decision (soft decision), a metric corresponding to the Euclidean distance of each sequence. Usually the distances are calculated using the Viterbi algorithm
Optimum values for the metrics can be calculated, when the quantization levels are fixed and if the statistical properties of interfering signals are known. It is known in the art to optimize metrics in AWGN (Additive White Guassian Noise) channels. However, when pulse interference occurs in such a channel, the metrics calculated at above can no longer be optimal. Again, if the statistical properties of the pulse interference are known it is possible to calculate the optimal metric values, but usually in communication systems the properties of the interference signal are not known a priori. The optimal receiver should measure the interference and then analyse the statistical properties of the interference. To avoid these difficulties in receiver realisation, the metrics of the AWGN-channel are usually used. A drawback is that the performance is degraded considerably when pulse interferences occur in the channel, the metrics can no longer be optimal unless changed to conform with the noise strength.
In the Finnish patent application no. 923738 filed simultaneously with the corresponding Finnish patent application to this application, the formation of an AGC control signal is presented optimally using median filtering with which the AGC control signal ideally conforms with the level of the information signal.

Decoding using a linear metric and interference estimation


The disclosed apparatus dispenses volatized air freshener compound into the room air forcibly moving the air through a prefilter and a high efficiency filter utilizing a fan disposed in the space therebetween. A container of volatile air freshener liquid or gel is positioned in a location such that the air drawn through the prefilter will pass across the top of the container. The container is provided with a lid mounted for movement to open and close the container, the lid being connected to and operable by a control such as a timing mechanism to adjustably regulate the amount of volatized air freshener compound which is permitted to escape into the air passing through the air filter, or the container can be kept totally closed and thus inoperative.

This invention relates to a process and apparatus for dispensing a volatile air freshener into circulating room air, and more particularly to a process and apparatus for dispensing volatized air freshener compound into the air as the air is being filtered by an air filtering apparatus.
The invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with an air filtering apparatus of the type described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,284 wherein air is drawn into a filter cabinet through a prefilter and is forced outwardly through a high efficiency HEPA type filter by means of the fan disposed in the space between these filters. Such an apparatus removes from the air such large particulates as street and house dust as well as sub-micronic size particulates such as tobacco smoke and typical airborne bacteria and viruses. The filter serves to remove by adsorption a wide variety of odors from the air being filtered. However, many odors which are caused by gases and particulates smaller than about 0.3 micron in size, may not be effectively removed by the filter apparatus. In order to treat the air containing odors originating from such sources, liquid malodor modifiers or air freshener chemicals have been employed. These are generally of two types: (a) those which mask odors, and (b) those which remove odors. Such air freshener chemicals are frequently used in households and are available in various familiar forms, including solids and liquids, with the liquid type being dispensed either by means of spraying or by means of a capillary wick which increases the surface area of contact between the liquid air freshener and the room air.
Heretofore, liquid air freshener chemicals have been added to the filtered air in an air filtering apparatus of the type illustrated in my U.S. Pat. No. 2,936,284. This has been done by positioning an open trough downstream from the high efficiency filter element, i.e., between that element and the exterior grid of the filter apparatus cabinet. The liquid air freshener was poured into this trough and was permitted to constantly evaporate into the filtered air as it flowed from the air filtering apparatus. Unfortunately, that arrangement provided no control over the amount of the air freshener that was being dispensed into the air, and as a result, either the liquid air freshener rapidly evaporated and the unit was operated without any air freshener, or an undesirable overabundance of the air freshener was dispensed into the air.
Another method previously used is the placement of an air freshener liquid or gel within the cabinet of the air filtering apparatus at the intake end. The air freshener was continuously volatilized into the air until the supply was exhausted or removed. Removal or closure of the container for the air freshener required turning the unit off and removing a section of the air filtering apparatus housing or enclosure in order to gain access to the air freshener.
These prior methods in reality provided no control over the dispensing of air freshener into the air.
One object of this invention is to provide a control over the dispensing of the air freshener into the air as it is flowing through the air filtering apparatus. The control provided by this invention (1) permits the air freshener dispensing to be adjusted from the exterior of the cabinet without requiring dismantling of any part of the cabinet and (2) provides an accurate means of varying the amount of air freshener media released into the room air. The control prevents the dispensing of air freshener when unnecessary and it permits the air freshener to be dispensed selectively in predetermined measured amounts depending upon the user's requirements. Thus, the air freshener liquid can be used much more economically and only in the quantities necessary to overcome the odors in the room.
It has been found that when the air freshener is dispensed by volatilization into the air upstream of the high efficiency or HEPA type filter, it serves not only to remove the odors from the air but it also tends to remove the odors from the upstream side of the filter. Over a period of several months the upstream side of the HEPA type filter traps particulates which are malodorous and to some extent the filter adsorbs malodorous gases. In previous application of air freshener chemicals to the air downstream of the HEPA type filter there was no effect upon the HEPA type filter itself. However, with the present invention the HEPA type filter may in effect be "cleansed" of these odors because the air carrying the air freshener will impinge upon the trapped particles and adsorb gases on the upstream side of the HEPA type filter.

Mason Engineering & Designing Corporation


A first prosthetic part (11) is adapted to be attached to a femur; a second prosthetic part (17) is adapted for attachment to the tibia. An intermediate joint assembly has a meniscal part (13) and a coupling part (15) which is rotatable about an axis of rotation (39). The femoral part and an element of the intermediate joint assembly, respectively, have rotary joint surfaces (19, 21) which are essentially congruent. To permit the intermediate joint assembly to move in translatory direction in addition to rotation thereof about the axis (39), the assembly includes a guide portion (16) engaging a guide track(35), preferably formed on the meniscal and coupling parts, respectively. The guide track and the guide portion are interlocked, for example by forming the guide track and the guide portion in dovetail, tongue-and-groove connection, or the like. The guide track and guide portions extend in a direction which is essentially an analog of the physiological direction of sliding movement of a natural knee joint, which is being replaced by the prosthetic joint. To provide for increased stability, the guide portion may be formed with a stabilizing section (2136) which fits into a box-like stabilizing structure (2114) formed on the first prosthetic part (2111). It is possible to provide modular sets of prosthetic joint parts to meet various requirements.

Many solutions have been proposed for the problem of endoprosthetics, which permit unchangeable maintenance of a stable bone implantate joint, which will last for a very long time, ideally from implantation to the death of the patient or wearer of the prosthesis. There are, primarily, two factors which interfere with such lifetime implantation. For one, the interface between the bone-implantate is subject to changeable forces, which change both with respect to value as-well as direction. Particularly shearing forces are involved. For another, biological reactions of tissues and degrading bones are a factor, especially reactions to foreign-body materials, and reactions to abraded particles from the prosthesis itself.
The long lifetime, and particularly implanted lifetime, of a joint can be increased by reducing changeable forces engaging at the interface between the various prosthetic parts, and on the sliding surfaces thereof. The wear on the sliding surfaces should be minimized. Various solutions have been proposed, but not all of them can be applied at the same time. It is not sufficient to consider all the technical aspects of the joint; anatomical as well as physiological changeable conditions must be considered. The complex kinematic which occurs in joints, and particularly in complex joints such as the knee joint, can make it difficult to compromise between conflicting solutions applicable to specific parts, to achieve the overall goal of lifetime reliability.
It is well known that the wear and tear on slide bearings can be reduced by decreasing the per-square or area pressure of the respectively rubbing sliding parts. The surface or area pressure, and the resulting wear and tear on the bearing, is small when the contact surface of the two sliding elements is large. This contact bearing surface can be increased by making the sliding surfaces as large as possible and effectively congruent. Typical examples for such bearings are shown in FIG. 1, in which a straight slide bearing is schematically illustrated, and in FIG. 2, which, schematically, illustrates a hinge or ball joint. The slide bearing of FIG. 1, in principle, can be considered as a hinge or ball joint in which the engaging surfaces have infinite radii. Yet, in spite of the common characteristic of minimal wear and tear, there are basic differences: The slide joint, FIG. 1, is free for translatory movement, but does not have an axis of rotation. The hinge or ball joint, on the other hand, has an axis of rotation, but is restrained from translatory movement. This results in different relationships with respect to externally acting forces.
Reference is again made to FIG. 1:
A force, such as force F1 coming from above at an inclination, results in lateral shifting of the sliding head due to horizontal component of the force. This horizontal component of the force does not have any effect on the lower part of the sliding joint.
A force similar to force F1, when applied to a hinge or ball joint, see FIG. 2, passes through the joint without causing any rotation thereof. The horizontal component of this force, however, results in an undesired shear force, which continuously changes its direction if the upper portion of the joint oscillates back and forth like a pendulum. Most simply, the hinge joint has the advantage of rotary movement, which, however, is obtained by accepting the disadvantage of translatory immobility, and shearing forces at the interface.
Human body joints rarely are pure hinge joints or pure slide joints. Usually, and especially the knee joint provides a combination of both. A rotary movement and translatory movement can be superimposed upon each other.
In order permit a combination of such movements, it is necessary to open the hinge joint, that is, it is necessary to reduce the congruence of the slide surfaces with respect to each other. Referring to FIG. 3, the contact surfaces are decreased which, however, substantially increases the area or surface pressure, and hence wear and tear on the joint. This wear and tear is further increased by repetitive translatory movement of the head of the joint on the slide surface. Due to the almost point or at best somewhat line contact, and hence a highly increased surface pressure, a kneading process on the respective joint parts results which, in turn, causes material fatigue of the lower joint portion or component. The non-congruent position of the elements does not necessarily prevent the occurrence of shear forces at the interface. Raised slide surfaces at the interface result in forces which are similar to those which arise in a pure hinge or ball joint. The result is increased wear and tear as well as shear forces at the interface, which has undesirable effects in all prostheses of this type.
It has been proposed to use a combination of slide and ball joints, in which the sliding and ball joint components are located on two different planes, by using an intermediate element, see FIG. 4. The rotary movement of the ball joint and a translatory movement of the slide joint are vertically staggered, so that the translatory movement is available as a lower motion of the ball joint. The congruence of joint surfaces is fully retained; wear and tear is minimized. The forces supplied by the ball joint are not transferred to the interface but, rather, translated into translatory movement by the intermediate element. Prostheses are of this type are known, and have been referred to as meniscal knees.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,778, Buechel and Pappas, describes two different knee joint prostheses, which have also been referred to as the "Oxford Knee" and the "New Jersey Knee". The "Oxford Knee" has two femoral portions, two intermediate portions and two tibial portions. The femoral portions each have a spherical segment which has a retention section, for retention on the femur. The tibial parts also have retention on the tibia. The tibial parts not only have retention sections for attachment to the tibia, but also a flat plateau on which the intermediate part can slide.
Upon flexion of 90.degree. and more, the intermediate part can slide over the flat or table-like surface and, possibly, can be entirely dislocated. A similar danger may occur if the tension of the remaining ligaments decreases after the operation and the femoral part lifts off the intermediate part. A new operation of the knee joint will then become necessary.
The "New Jersey" described for example in FIG. 15 of the referenced U.S. Pat. No. 4,309,778, has a special arrangement to prevent loss of contact over the table or slide surface. Two dovetail-like, bowed grooves are provided on the tibia part; an engagement element is provided for the intermediate part element, fitting in the grooves through which the intermediate part element are constrained to be guided. The curves are directed towards the center, so that the intermediate part, upon bending of the knee, cannot slide backwardly in uncontrolled manner, and pushed over the surface or table, but, rather, engages the still remaining central projection from the bone. The dovetaile shape prevents dislocation or luxation of the joint, if the ligaments should lose tension or will have decreased tension or strength.
The intermediate portions are constrained to be guided on a predetermined path which permits congruence of the joint surfaces between the femoral portion and the intermediate portion only in a single position of the joint. For all other positions of the joint than the single one, an incongruence of joint surfaces results, which increases wear and tear of the engaging surfaces. Non-congruent conditions arise because the femoral parts, which are securely anchored in the femur, are always at the same distance from each other and have a common axis of rotation. The intermediate parts, however, approach each other laterally upon sliding forwardly and backwardly on the curved path or, respectively, separate from each other. Further, the axes of the hinge or ball joints continuously change their position with respect to each other. Similar situations obtain, in reverse sense, however, upon rotary movement about an axis which is perpendicular to the slide surface. The continuously changing degree of non-congruence of the surfaces of this prosthesis, and particularly of the hinge or ball joint surfaces, causes increased wear and tear and decreases the effect of a meniscal layer in a knee joint.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,158, to which European Patent Specification 0 018 364 B1, Pappas and Buechel, corresponds, describes a knee prosthesis, which also has been termed a "rotating platform-type prosthesis". It includes a femoral portion, a tibial portion and an intermediate or meniscal portion. The femoral portion has the usual posts or stems to lock the femoral portions against the femur and two condyles, defining condylar bearing surfaces. The tibial portion or part also has fixation elements, for example a fixation fin or the like, for attachment to the tibia, and a central bore or opening for reception of a rotation pin forming part of the intermediate or meniscal portion. The intermediate or meniscal portion is formed not only with the twist or rotation post, but also is formed with two concave slide bearings for reception of the-condyles of the femoral part.
The prosthesis of this disclosure has the advantage of congruence of the slide surfaces of the hinge joints, which decreases wear and tear, and, further, luxation or dislocation of the meniscal bearing element is prevented due to the presence of the rotation pin.
However, the presence of the rotation pin does not permit translatory movement of the femoral part relative to the tibial part, in contrast to the earlier described embodiments. The rotation pin only permits the possibility of rotation about the axis of the pin itself. This, then, is a classic hinge joint with the additional freedom of rotation about an axis perpendicular to the joint. Inclined forces, such as the force F1, which arise, for example, by forces due to muscles, loading due to weight of the wearer upon placing the foot on a surface, or the like, will pass through the joint to the interface and there result in the undesired shearing forces. The principle of a meniscus knee again is compromised since the congruence of the joint surfaces, which reduces wear and tear, is obtained only by loss of the translatory possibility and the consequent natural kinematics of the knee which, otherwise, would protect and enhance the secure attachment of the prosthesis with the bones of the wearer.
In case of missing ligaments, or ligaments which no longer can assure the required stability, the prostheses of the referenced U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,309,778, Buechel and Pappas, as well as 4,470,158, Pappas and Buechel, have problems with stability. To ensure stability in medial as well as lateral and posterior direction, a knee joint prosthesis has been proposed (see British Patent 2,223,950, to which Published Application WO 90/04369--PCT corresponds), in which a femoral part, a tibial part and an intermediate or meniscal part are provided, and in which the meniscal part is pivotably retained. The meniscal part is formed with a finger which engages in a box structure of the femoral part. This box structure is so dimensioned that the finger is guided on at least three sides in any flexural position of the joint. Thus, stability is ensured in medial, lateral and posterior direction.
The structure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,933, Sidebotham et al (to which European Publication 0 381 352 A1 corresponds), also ensures lateral, medial and posterior stability. The prosthesis there described does not, however, have a pivotable meniscal or intermediate part. Translatory movement is not possible with the structure of either the British Patent 2,223,950., or the U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,933. Yet, this translatory possibility is required to protect, preserve and conserve the fixation or attachment of the prosthetic elements to the femur and tibia, respectively.


The invention is related to a reflector lamp comprising a parabolic primary reflecting section, a parabolic or spheric secondary reflecting section joined to the primary reflecting section, a parabolic or spheric tertiary reflecting section joined to the secondary reflecting section, and an incandescent or discharge light source. The secondary and tertiary reflecting sections have faceted surfaces which longitudinally extend along the surface thereof so that most (at least 50%) or substantially all the light reflected by the faceted surfaces avoids the light source and thus the light, which would be absorbed or scattered by the light source, is minimized or substantially eliminated.

This invention relates to a reflector lamp having a reflecting section with faceted surfaces. More particularly, this invention relates to such a reflector lamp which provides improved luminous efficiency by virtue of such faceted surfaces.
Known types of reflector lamps, such as floodlights, automotive headlamps and spotlights, comprise a concave reflector and a light source. The light source is recessed in the concave reflector which reflects frontwardly more than half of the total light output of the lamp. Well-designed reflector lamps for display applications such as PAR 20, PAR 30 and PAR 38 lamp types, provide a visually uniform spot of light of a specified angular width. The luminous efficiency of this cone of light (beam) is an important parameter. Lamp makers are making great efforts in order to achieve even a slight further increase in luminous efficiency. The quantity of light in the beam can be increased by deeply recessing the light source in the reflector while at the same time making the light source as small as possible, or for a fixed source size keeping the reflecting surface as far away from the source as possible.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,865 issued to Van Horn, Putz and Henderson, Jr. on May 8, 1984, an improved luminous efficiency and a beam pattern substantially circumferentially uniform about the lamp axis and a reasonably compact reflector lamp can be achieved by a concave reflector having a faceted parabolic front section, a spherical intermediate section and a parabolic rear section. Each section has substantially the same common focal point, and a filament light source is located transversally to the lamp axis at the substantially common focal point. The reflector sections are dimensioned so that substantially all light rays coming from the filament light source which are reflected by the spherical intermediate section become reflected by the faceted parabolic front section. The spherical intermediate section allows more of the light rays that are emanated by a long light source which otherwise would not initially strike the parabolic front section to be directed so as to become re-reflected by the parabolic front section. Additionally the light rays, reflected by the facets, include components thereof which are circumferential about the lamp axis and thereby provide a beam pattern which is substantially circumferentially uniform about the lamp axis.
Tungsten halogen filament tubes, mounted axially in the reflector, have generally replaced incandescent filaments as they provide a larger luminous efficiency and also provide whiter light. Filaments are long and have small diameters. When the halogen filament light tubes are axially positioned in the reflector, the facets make the diameter images appear to be larger and to approach the filament length image.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,176 of Sands, Marella and Fink, Jr. issued on Jan. 15, 1985 discloses a reflector lamp which may be of the parabolic aluminized reflector (PAR) type lamp. This prior art reflector lamp has a reduced amount of internal absorption and the internal reflective surfaces direct the light rays into the useful beam pattern more advantageously. Instead of the facets on the parabolic front section, the enhanced light output is achieved by subdividing the intermediate section disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,447,865 into further intermediate sections.
This prior art type reflector lamp comprises a concave reflector and a finite light source positioned axially in the reflector. The geometric center of the light source is located approximately at the focal point of the concave reflector. The concave reflector comprises a parabolic reflective section and at least first and second additional parabolic sections. The first and the second additional parabolic sections are reflective and have a substantially common focal point confocal with the focal point of the concave reflector.
The prior art type reflector lamp comprises a further technical improvement. The subdivided intermediate sections, namely the first and second parabolic sections are aligned relative to the light source positioned approximately at the focal point of the concave reflector, i.e., at the focal point of the main parabolic reflective section. This alignment results in a further improved beam pattern. The first and the second additional sections are so aligned relative to the light source as to be effective to reflect light rays impinging on their surfaces onto the primary parabolic reflective section and thereby direct the light rays in an improved beam pattern. Nevertheless, in the case of elongated and axially positioned light sources, particularly halogen gas filament tubes, most of the light and infrared rays reflected by the intermediate section of the reflector go back to the light source itself which partly absorbs, partly scatters these rays. This phenomenon decreases the light output of the reflector lamp on one hand, and increases the temperature of the light source envelope on the other. The increased heat adversely influences the seal integrity and lumen maintenance of the halogen gas filament tube and brings about a premature darkening of the tube envelope.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a reflector lamp, particularly a parabolic aluminized sealed halogen reflector lamp, with increased luminous efficiency. This object can be achieved by reducing or substantially eliminating the light absorbed or scattered by the light source.
In order to achieve these objects and advantages, our invention provides a reflector lamp comprising a substantially parabolic primary reflecting section, a substantially parabolic or substantially spheric secondary reflecting section joined to the primary reflecting section, and a tertiary (or bottom-side ring) reflecting section joined to the secondary reflecting section. The primary, secondary and tertiary sections form substantially a concave reflector with a a substantially planar, parabolic or spheric rear section joined to the tertiary reflecting section 15. The reflector is provided with an incandescent halogen or discharge light source.
The secondary reflecting section has faceted surfaces longitudinally extending along the surface thereof so that a substantial portion of the light reflected thereby avoids the light source and the light absorbed or scattered by the light source is reduced. The tertiary or bottom-side ring refleting section also has faceted surfaces longitudinally extending along the surface thereof, preferably the same number as in the secondary reflecting section. Preferably, the faceted surfaces in the tertiary reflecting section are in phase with the faceted surfaces in the secondary reflecting section; meaning that the faceted surfaces of both the secondary and tertiary reflecting sections are substantially aligned with one another.
In a preferred embodiment of the reflector lamp, the focal point of the secondary reflecting section is axially aligned relative to the focal point of the primary parabolic reflecting section toward the apex of the parabolic reflecting section so that the secondary reflecting section gives room for the ferrule seals needed to provide hermeticity. Preferably, the focal point of the tertiary reflecting section is confocal with the focal points of the primary and secondary reflecting sections so that the tertiary reflecting section gives room for the ferrule seals needed to provide hermeticity.
In an alternate embodiment of the reflector lamp, the faceted surfaces of the secondary and tertiary reflecting sections are circumferentially alternately declined from and inclined to the tangent of the surface at an angle so that substantially all of the reflected light avoids the light source.

Reflector lamp having a reflecting section with faceted surfaces


A welding head including upper and lower probe members and probe pin. The upper and lower probe members are independently actuatable and biased to follow the profile of a workpiece and supply a balance load to opposed surfaces of a workpiece during welding operation.

The present invention relates to a welding head. In particular, the present invention relates to a welding head for friction stir welding applications.
Friction stir welding is a process of welding component parts together using friction heat generated at a welding joint to form a plasticized region which solidifies joining workpiece sections. A welding head is used to generate friction heat along a welding joint. The welding head includes a welding probe which is inserted into a joint between workpiece sections. The probe includes a pin that is inserted into the joint and a shoulder which is urged against an upper surface of the workpiece. The pin and shoulder spin to generate friction heat to form a plasticize region along the joint for welding operation.
For welding operation, a workpiece is supported by a rigid table or backplate typically formed of a steel plate. Rigid backplate stabilizes the actuation force of the upper shoulder to maintain the integrity of the workpiece so that the workpiece does not bend or deform under the load. To maximize strength of the joint between workpiece sections, the welded portion should extend the entire thickness of the workpiece. To assure that the weld extends the entire thickness, sufficient friction heat must be generated between upper and lower surfaces of the workpiece so that the plasticized region extends between upper and lower surfaces of the workpiece .
Typically, the thickness of a workpiece can vary along the joint. Variations in the workpiece thickness can vary pin depth or extension into the workpiece joint. If pin depth does not extend sufficient thickness, the plasticized region does not extend the entire thickness of the workpiece causing stress notches in the joint. For a smaller thickness, pin can extend too close to the backplate so that workpiece becomes joined to the backplate as a result of the welding operation. These and other problems are addressed by the present invention.


An apparatus is provided that comprises a first detection unit configured to detect a first user operation on a first object and a first display unit configured to generate signals to display the first object in a first display state. The apparatus further comprises a second display unit configured to generate signals to change the display state of the first object from the first display state to a second display state. The apparatus further comprises a third display unit configured to generate signals to change the display state of the first object from the second display state to the first display state in response to the detection of the second user operation on the first object.

The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus that manages contents by, for example, images such as icons, and to an information processing method and a program in the information processing apparatus.
In recent years, along with increase in storage capacity of a storage apparatus, the number of contents such as applications and files capable of being stored in an information processing apparatus is increasing. When a user searches for content from such a huge amount of content, means for distinguishing frequently accessed content from the other content can reduce an operational burden on the user.
As one of the means described above, there exists software having functions of managing an access history to a content (activation operation history) and displaying contents frequently used in the higher order of a list and contents less frequently used in the lower order of the list, for example, to thereby improve accessibility to contents.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-25905 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Document 1) discloses an information processing apparatus capable of displaying an icon so as to stand out from other icons by increasing or decreasing luminance or contrast of the icon selected from a plurality of icons.
Furthermore, there is also a technique of applying an expression of paper becoming old to an icon in accordance with a low access frequency, as a technique of expressing a secular change of a file or the like.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program


An apparatus for communicating data through information channels each being associated with its own wavelength comprises modulators and an optical multiplexer. Each modulator is associated with its own wavelength. The optical multiplexer is operationally coupled to the modulators. The optical multiplexer receives multiple input optical signals each of which is received from its own modulator. Each input optical signal has its own dispersion substantially equal to a dispersion of each remaining input optical signals.

The present invention relates generally to terminal equipment for an optical communication system. More specifically, the present invention relates to optical transmitters multiplexing and optical receivers demultiplexing signals having substantially equal dispersion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,183, entitled xe2x80x9cMultiple Wavelength Division Multiplexing Signal Compensation System and Method Using Samexe2x80x9d and issued on Jun. 29, 1993, discloses a wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) system. FIG. 1 illustrates a wavelength-division multiplexing system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,183. As FIG. 1 illustrates, each wavelength has an associated laser coupled to a dispersion-compensation fiber, which in turn is coupled to a common wavelength division multiplexer. For example, lasers 12, 14 and 16 are coupled to dispersion-compensation fibers 18, 20 and 22, respectively, which are coupled to wavelength division multiplexer 24. In this example, the wavelength of laser 12 is 1540 nm; the wavelength of laser 14 is 1550 nm; the wavelength of laser 16 is 1560 nm. Wavelength division multiplexer 24 is coupled to a an additional dispersion-compensating fiber 26 and transmission fiber 28.
This known system individually compensates the dispersion associated with each wavelength before the optical signals are multiplexed by the wavelength division multiplexer (and after the optical signals are demultiplexed by the wavelength division demultiplexer (not shown in FIG. 1)). This is performed for each wavelength by a separate and unique dispersion-compensation fiber associated with that wavelength: dispersion compensation fiber 12 has a dispersion of xe2x88x9220 ps/nm at its wavelength (1540 nm), dispersion-compensation fiber 14 has a dispersion of xe2x88x92200 ps/nm at its wavelength (1550 nm), and dispersion-compensation fiber 16 has a dispersion of xe2x88x92360 ps/nm at its wavelength (1550 nm). These dispersion-compensation fibers compensate individually for each particular wavelength to produce a unique residual dispersion associated with each wavelength. Each wavelength is subsequently compensated by the dispersion-compensation fiber 26 and transmission fiber 28. By eliminating the residual dispersion associated with each wavelength at the wavelength-division multiplexer 24, the dispersion of all of the wavelengths at the end of the transmission fiber 28 can be controlled to a desired amount, such as for example, approximately zero dispersion for approximately all of the wavelengths.
Such a WDM system, however, suffers several shortcomings. First, each wavelength requires a separate and unique dispersion-compensating fiber disposed, for example, between the respective laser and the wavelength-division multiplexer of the optical transmitter. Similarly, each wavelength requires a separate and unique dispersion-compensation fiber disposed, for example, between the wavelength-division multiplexer and the respective detector (not shown in FIG. 1). As WDM systems having more and more information channels are designed, adding more and more dispersion-compensation fibers associated with each wavelength make the WDM system more complex and expensive.
Second, polarization of the optical signals received by the wavelength-division multiplexer cannot be maintained due to the unique dispersion-compensation fibers required by each wavelength. Consequently, although desirable for the optical signals associated with each wavelength to have an associated polarization that is orthogonal to adjacent wavelengths, such an arrangement is not possible where the polarization cannot be maintained.
An apparatus for communicating data through information channels each being associated with its own wavelength comprises modulators and an optical multiplexer. Each modulator is associated with its own wavelength. The optical multiplexer is operationally coupled to the modulators. The optical multiplexer receives multiple input optical signals each of which is received from its own modulator. Each input optical signal has its own dispersion substantially equal to a dispersion of each remaining input optical signals.

Apparatus and method for multiplexing and/or demultiplexing optical signals having substantially equal dispersion


A portable mooring device for a small watercraft includes frame means having a pair of opposing side members and a plurality of crossbar members that are assemblable and adjustable by releasably securing telescopic engagements therebetween with removable pins, watercraft-seating means having shoe and support elements that are assemblable and adjustable by releasably securing telescopic engagements therebetween and the watercraft-seating means to the frame means with removable pins, and securing means having a tongue mechanism with a winch wherein the securing means is assemblable and adjustable by releasably securing telescopic engagements thereof and by releasably securing the securing means to the frame means with removable pins. The portable mooring device is easily disassemblable by simply removing all of the removable pins. A method of mooring a small watercraft is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to small watercraft and more particularly, without limitation, to docking equipment for small watercraft.
2. Description of the Related Art
Small watercraft are commonly used by a multitude of people for a variety of purposes including for pleasure, such as boat racing and water skiing, and for recreation, such as fishing or simply cruising along a lake or waterway enjoying the scenery. One of the complications encountered by users of small watercraft occurs during those intervals when the watercraft is not in use and there are no docking facilities for safely securing the watercraft along a shoreline.
For example, if watercraft users are relaxing and eating at a campground along a waterway where there are no docking facilities or only limited docking facilities that have already been taken by other campers, they may be forced to tie their watercraft to a stake driven in the bank of the waterway, or other such makeshift arrangement. Such a procedure would obviously expose the watercraft to undesirable and potentially damaging random and repeated contact with the bank and/or the waterway bottom along the bank of the waterway, such as rocks, etc., which could easily mar or damage the smooth finished surface of the watercraft. This is cause for serious concern because an investment in a small pleasure or fishing boat can range from ten to forty thousand dollars, and fiberglass and paint repairs of watercraft can be very costly. Sometimes, old tires or carpet are left along waterways that can be used to provide some protection for temporarily moored watercraft where docking facilities are unavailable. Unquestionably, such makeshift padding constitutes unsightly clutter and debris, thereby destroying what might otherwise be a pleasing and aesthetic landscape.
The only other alternative that may be available for temporarily mooring a small watercraft is to put the watercraft back on a trailer and pull it completely out of the water; that is, if a trailer is available at that site and if a ramping area is available for accomplishing that objective, and if space is available to park the boat after it has been pulled out of the water. Unfortunately, trailering a boat can be time consuming and a hassle. As a result, even if trailering is a possibility, the stake and rope method may be used to avoid the time and hassle of trailering, which often results in needless and costly damage.
What is needed is a portable, lightweight mooring device for a small watercraft.

Portable mooring device for small watercraft


A master brake cylinder arrangement (10) for a motor vehicle brake system, comprising a master brake cylinder housing (12) with a cylindrical recess (28), at least one pressure piston (30, 32) which is displaceable and sealingly guided in the cylindrical recess (28) of the master brake cylinder housing (12), a fluid reservoir (14) which is fluidically coupled to the master brake cylinder housing (12) via a connecting region (22) and which serves for storing brake fluid, wherein the at least one pressure piston (30, 32) together with the master brake cylinder housing (12) sealingly encloses a pressure chamber (38, 40) which, as a function of the position of the associated pressure piston (30, 32), is fluidically connected to or separated from the fluid reservoir (14), wherein furthermore the at least one pressure chamber (38, 40) can be or is fluidically coupled to a fluid circuit of the motor vehicle brake system, wherein the fluid reservoir (14) in the connecting region (22) is received, in a manner sealed by means of a sealing element (62), in a receiving portion (26) of the master brake cylinder housing (12), and wherein at least one throttle element (66) is provided in the connecting region (22), which throttle element as a function of the pressure conditions in the at least one pressure chamber (38, 40) throttles or derestricts the fluid stream between the fluid reservoir (14) and the at least one pressure chamber (38, 40) through the connecting region (22). In said master brake cylinder arrangement it is provided that the at least one throttle element (66) is combined with the sealing element (62) so as to form an integral structural unit.

The present invention relates to a master brake cylinder arrangement for a motor vehicle brake system, comprising:                a master brake cylinder housing with a cylindrical recess,        at least one pressure piston which is displaceable and sealingly guided in the cylindrical recess of the master brake cylinder housing,        a fluid reservoir which is fluidically coupled by a connecting region to the master brake cylinder housing and which serves for storing brake fluid,wherein the at least one pressure piston together with the master brake cylinder housing sealingly encloses a pressure chamber which, as a function of the position of the pressure piston, is fluidically connected to or separated from the fluid reservoir, wherein furthermore the pressure chamber can be or is fluidically coupled to a brake circuit of the motor vehicle brake system, wherein the fluid reservoir in the connecting region is received, in a manner sealed by means of a sealing element, in a receiving portion of the master brake cylinder housing and wherein at least one throttle element is provided in the connecting region, which throttle element as a function of the pressure conditions in the pressure chamber throttles or derestricts the fluid stream between the fluid reservoir and the pressure chamber through the connecting region.
This master brake cylinder arrangement takes account of the following situation: in an initial state prior to actuation of the brake, in which the pressure piston is preloaded into an initial position by a resetting spring, there is a fluidic connection between the fluid reservoir and the pressure chamber delimited by the pressure piston. This fluidic connection is guaranteed by means of holes in a hollow-cylindrical portion of the pressure piston, wherein these holes in the initial position are situated in a region between two peripheral seals that surround the pressure piston. If from this position the brake system is actuated, the pressure piston is displaced accordingly in the master brake cylinder housing. However, so long as the connecting bores in the hollow-cylindrical portion of the pressure piston have not yet moved completely past an associated peripheral seal, such that a fluidic connection still exists between the pressure chamber and the fluid reservoir, the result is temporarily a delayed pressure build-up. The speed at which pressure is built up in the brake circuit depends on the respective volume of the leakage stream, i.e. the volume of brake fluid that is able to flow off through the not yet completely closed holes into the fluid reservoir. In addition, angular flexibility and friction of the peripheral seal on the pressure piston lead to dynamic variations of the size of the connecting gaps and hence to likewise dynamically varying leakage streams and leakage volumes, which in this transitional phase may lead to an oscillating or pulsating pressure build-up. This may possibly be perceived by the driver in the course of the brake actuation.
In order to combat these instabilities during the pressure build-up, the throttle element described in the introduction is provided. It is displaced as a function of the actually prevailing pressure and throttles a leakage stream, thereby allowing brake pressure to be built up faster and more uniformly in the pressure chamber. As a function of the actually prevailing pressure conditions in the connecting region between fluid reservoir and pressure chambers the throttle element may occupy different functional positions. If for example in an emergency braking situation a fast and—in terms of amount—steep pressure build-up is necessary by means of a rapid displacement of the pressure piston, the throttle element should effect maximum throttling of the return flow of brake fluid from the pressure chamber into the fluid reservoir. On the other hand, if a follow-up flow of brake fluid from the fluid reservoir is needed, for example if a function of a traction control system requires brake fluid from the fluid reservoir, the throttle effect should be as low as possible.
Master brake cylinder arrangements with such throttle elements are prior art. For example, the document U.S. Pat. No. 6,637,201 B2 discloses such a master brake cylinder arrangement with two pressure pistons, which are guided in the master brake cylinder housing. As regards the throttle effect, the prior art cited above provides an arrangement comprising freely movable, separately constructed throttle flaps. This arrangement is of a relatively complicated construction and has the drawback that, because of the separate construction of the throttle flaps, it is susceptible to incorrect assembly. Furthermore, precisely this separate construction of the throttle flaps may lead to their jamming or canting and hence no longer functioning properly.
The document EP 2 039 574 A1 discloses a similar form of construction having the same object of creating different throttle situations for the fluid stream between the fluid reservoir and the pressure chamber as a function of the pressure conditions actually prevailing in the connecting region. In this case the previously described problem of the separate, freely movable throttle flaps is taken into account in that the throttle flaps are in each case mounted pivotably by means of a type of hinge arrangement on one of the connecting sockets. However this solution is also of a complex construction and hence relatively cost-intensive. Its assembly moreover requires great care in order to prevent installation faults.
Finally, the document US 2008/0276612 A1 discloses a relatively complex throttle arrangement, which is mounted in and around a connecting socket of the fluid reservoir. The variety of parts and the arrangement in the connecting socket alone call for comprehensive assembly measures, which makes the arrangement cost-intensive.

Master brake cylinder arrangement for a motor vehicle brake system, and integral sealing throttle element for the same


An event counter is disclosed which, in one embodiment, provides a reaction timer to time a user's response time to an event. In a second embodiment, the event counter provides a counting device to count the number of occurrences of events or the magnitude of an event. The invention uses a commercially available stopwatch to time the response time. The start/stop switch of the stopwatch is connected to a signal generator such as a piezoelectric element. In one variation, the internal piezoelectric element used as a beeper in the stopwatch is used as the signal generator. In a second variation, the event timer is further provided with a circuit to allow a higher voltage LED to be driven by a lower voltage of the system battery. In yet another variation, the event timer further includes a random delay circuit to randomly delay the start time of the stopwatch. Random delay is provided without a microprocessor by using a variable current switch and two RC circuits having different tau values. The differential voltage of the two RC circuits is used to activate the start/stop switch.

Many recreational devices are designed to be interactive with a user and, in particular, are configured to measure a length of time between an event and the user's response to the event, or to measure the level of response of the user to the event. For example, in martial arts training, response time is measured between the time a buzzer sounds or a light flashes and the user responds by kicking or hitting a bag or the like. Once the user has responded by hitting the bag or the like, it is desirable to stop the timer so that the user can then measure their response time from the event. The user then attempts to improve their response time by repeating the process. In other applications, it is desirable to measure the strength of a user's impact on a device such as a punching bag, or the number of times the bag is hit.
In designing and manufacturing recreational items for measuring response times and impact and the like, the devices are typically provided with electronics for performing the desired functions. Thus, it is desirable to find a way to provide such electronics which are relatively inexpensive, easy to manufacture, and are easily replaceable.

Event counter and method for driving a circuit device


A partially formed semiconductor device includes a substrate, a first layer, a layer of polysilicon, and a grown layer of polysilicon. The first layer is positioned above at least a portion of the substrate. The layer of polysilicon is positioned above at least a portion of the first layer and has a first opening formed therein. The first opening has a first width that is defined by a plurality of sidewalls. The grown layer of polysilicon is positioned adjacent at least the plurality of sidewalls and the grown layer of polysilicon defines a second opening. The second opening has a second width with the second width being less than the first width. A method for partially forming a semiconductor device includes forming a process layer above at least a portion of a substrate. A layer of polysilicon is formed above at least a portion of the process layer. An opening is formed in the layer of polysilicon, and the opening has a first width that is defined by a plurality of sidewalls. The first width of the opening is reduced to a second width by growing a layer of polysilicon adjacent at least a portion of the sidewalls of the opening.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of semiconductor processing, and, more particularly, to a method of making a semiconductor device having a grown polysilicon layer that assists in transistor scaling.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a constant drive within the semiconductor industry to increase the operating speed of integrated circuit devices, e.g., microprocessors, memory devices, etc. This drive is fueled by consumer demands for computers and electronic devices that operate at increasingly greater speeds. This demand for increased speed has resulted in a continual reduction in the size of semiconductor devices, e.g., transistors. That is, many components of a typical field effect transistor, e.g., channel length, junction depths, gate dielectric thickness, etc., are reduced. For example, all other things being equal, the smaller the channel length of the transistor, the faster the transistor will operate. Thus, there is a constant drive to reduce the size or scale of the components of a typical transistor to increase the overall speed of the transistor, as well as integrated circuit devices incorporating such transistors.
Typically, the feature size of integrated circuit components (e.g., transistors) may be determined during the semiconductor manufacturing process using a variety of masking techniques, such as photolithography. Photolithography may be used to selectively isolate very small regions on the surface of a wafer. Generally, photolithography comprises coating the wafer with a photosensitive layer, such as a photoresist. The photoresist may then be selectively exposed to light through a master pattern on a photographic plate. The exposed portions of the photoresist may be developed and removed revealing selected areas of semiconductor material for further processing. In this manner, very fine integrated circuit components, such as the channel length of a field effect transistor, may be determined. Unfortunately, transistors and other semiconductor devices are desired with feature sizes smaller than photolithography and other masking techniques are capable of producing.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.

Method of making a semiconductor device having a grown polysilicon layer


The disclosure facilitates the generation and provision of stop locations based on context data and transaction data associated with a user's account. Context data indicating a location and travel path of a user is collected from a computing device of the user and a plurality of stop locations are identified by a recommendation engine based on the context data. User transaction data associated with the user is received by the recommendation engine. User preference data is determined by the recommendation engine based on the transaction data. The recommendation engine provides a recommendation of at least one stop location based on the user preference data, whereby the user is enabled to select a stop location based on the recommendation. Generating recommendations based on the user's transaction data and context data provides reliable recommendations to the user and enhances the efficiency of the user's stops while traveling.

Current mapping applications provide users with a way to access directions, visualize a path of travel, and receive information about nearby businesses and/or points of interest while traveling. For instance, a mapping application on a user's mobile phone may provide a map showing the path to the user's destination as well as information regarding the user's next turn to follow the displayed travel path or the like. Further a user may be shown information associated with businesses (e.g., gas stations, restaurants, stores, etc.) that are nearby as they travel. However, even with the provided information, it can be challenging for users to select the places to stop along the travel path and maintain a balance of efficient travel (e.g., not detouring too far from the travel path to reach a stopping place, etc.) and stopping at locations the user prefers (e.g., a user may prefer a particular brand of restaurant or gas station, etc.). Mapping applications do not provide accurate, personalized recommendations for stop locations along the user's travel path, which may result in the user receiving unhelpful stop location recommendations and/or missing out on a stop location they would have preferred.

Providing stop recommendations based on a travel path and transaction data


Spike noise in a k-space dataset acquired in magnetic resonance imaging may be removed by generating a mask including a set of data points which constitute spike noise in the k-space dataset based on the acquired k-space dataset via a trained deep learning network, the mask corresponding to a location of the spike noise in the acquired k-space dataset. An image reconstructed based on the acquired k-space dataset and the mask may be displayed.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging modality that can create images of the inside of a human body without using x-rays or other ionizing radiation. Spike noise, which refers to the sharp, localized, and erroneous changes in k-space, can cause severe artifacts in an MR image. The issue of spike noise is generally difficult to completely resolve because the spike noise may be rooted in multiple sources. For example, spike noise may be due to hardware damages including broken cables, rosin at small Printed Circuit Board (PCB) joints, and others. Conventional troubleshooting methods, including cable rebooting, subsystem component replacement, require long standby time, and may lead to operation delay and high service cost. Improved methods for reducing artifacts caused by spike noise are generally desired.

Methods and systems for removing spike noise in magnetic resonance imaging


A knife assembly for mounting in a combine header for cooperation with the radial feed fingers of the central drum portion of a rotary auger in which a plurality of transversely spaced knife bars fixed to a knife frame are pivotally supported upon a mounting frame fixed in relation to the feed opening of the combine header, so that the cutting edges of the knife bars are closely spaced to the central drum portion of the auger and interdigitate with the radial feed fingers of the auger drum portion, in order to cut exceptionally long vegetation, such as stalks or vines, carried by the auger before such vegetation reaches the feed opening to the combine.. The knife assembly further includes adjustable stop means for accurately locating the cutting edges of the knife bars close to the central drum portion of the auger, and a locking means for locking the knife bars in an elevated inoperative position to permit cleaning out the cut vegetation in the central drum portion of the auger.

This invention relates to combine headers, and more particularly to a cutting apparatus for stripping long vegetation from the central drum portion of the feed auger in a combine header.
The accumulation of vines, long stalks and other undesirable vegetation about the radial spikes on the central drum portion of a rotary auger in a combine header is a consistent problem for farmers operating agricultural combines.
Several attempts have been made to overcome this problem by stripping or cutting the vines, stalks, and other unwanted vegetation from the radial spikes and the central portion of the auger. Some of these stripper devices are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,778,483 Nikkel Jan. 22, 1957, 3,021,662 Yaniuk Feb. 20, 1962, 3,525,204 Dovichak Aug. 25, 1970.
Dovichak discloses a stripper bar for stripping vegetation from the helical blades of the auger.
Nikkel discloses a guard plate having slots through which the radial feed fingers pass in order to strip the vegetation from the fingers.
Yaniuk discloses a plurality of cutter bars extending between adjacent feed fingers on the central drum portion of the auger for cutting the vegetation carried by the feed fingers past the cutter bars. The Yaniuk cutter bars are mounted behind the auger and above the feed opening, but the cutter elements are separate from and fixed to the sides of the cutter bars, thereby taking up unnecessary space between the closely spaced feed fingers 11. Moreover, the cutter bars of Yaniuk are mounted in a rigid position relative to the feed opening and the auger.

Knife assembly for stripping auger drum of combine header


A down-conversion mixer includes a converting-and-mixing module and a load module. The converting-and-mixing module performs voltage-to-current conversion and mixing with first and second differential oscillatory voltage signal pairs upon a differential input voltage signal pair to generate first and second differential mixed current signal pairs. The load module includes two RL circuits and a negative resistance providing circuit that cooperate to convert the first and second differential mixed current signal pairs into first and second differential mixed voltage signal pairs. Each RL circuit includes two variable resistors, and an inductor connected between the variable resistors.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional down-conversion mixer includes a single-ended to quadrature differential converting circuit 11, a single-ended to differential converting circuit 12, a transconductance circuit 13, a mixing circuit 14 and a buffering circuit 15.
The single-ended to quadrature differential converting circuit 11 converts a single-ended oscillatory voltage signal (Sos) into a first differential oscillatory voltage signal pair and a second differential oscillatory voltage signal pair. The single-ended to differential converting circuit 12 converts a single-ended input voltage signal (Sr) of radio frequency into a differential input voltage signal pair. The transconductance circuit 13 includes four transistors 131-134 and an inductor 135, and converts the differential input voltage signal pair into a differential input current signal pair (I1, I2). The mixing circuit 14 includes eight transistors 141-148 and four resistors 149, and mixes the differential input current signal pair (I1, I2) with the first and second differential oscillatory voltage signal pairs to generate a first differential mixed voltage signal pair and a second differential mixed voltage signal pair that are of intermediate frequency. The buffering circuit 15 buffers the first and second differential mixed voltage signal pairs to generate a first differential output voltage signal pair (Vo11, Vo12) and a second differential output voltage signal pair (Vo21, Vo22).
When a frequency of each of the first and second differential mixed voltage signal pairs is low, a conversion gain (CG) of a combination of the transconductance circuit 13 and the mixing circuit 14 can be expressed by the following equation:
                                          C                                                                          G                    ≈                                                    2                Π                            ·              sin                                                                                c                                                  (                                      Π                    ·                                          Δ                      /                                              T                        OS                                                                              )                                            ·                              (                                                      g                                                                  m                                                                                131                                            ,                      132                                                        +                                      g                                                                  m                                                                                133                                            ,                      134                                                                      )                            ·                              R                L                                                    ,                            Equation                                                  1            where gm131,132 denotes a transconductance of each of the transistors 131, 132, gm133,134 denotes a transconductance of each of the transistors 133, 134, RL denotes a resistance of each of the resistors 149, TOS denotes a period of each of the first and second differential oscillatory voltage signal pairs, and Δ denotes a half of the fraction of the period in which all of the transistors 141-148 conduct.
Since all of the parameters in Equation 1 are fixed, both the CG of the combination of the transconductance circuit 13 and the mixing circuit 14 and a CG of the conventional down-conversion mixer are fixed. In addition, the CG of the conventional down-conversion mixer is low, and a noise figure of the conventional down-conversion mixer is high.


Disclosed are a method and an apparatus for processing with a developing solution repeatedly used, both an imagewise exposed, positive-working presensitized lithographic printing plate and an imagewise exposed negative-working presensitized lithographic printing plate. The plates each comprise an aluminum support and a light-sensitive layer formed thereon. A replenishing solution is added to the developing solution to compensate for the degradation of the developing solution brought about by development and/or by carbon dioxide in the air. The method comprises the steps of; measuring a reflection density of the light-sensitive layer of the printing plates to discriminate the type of the printing plate, selecting a predetermined developing condition according to the discriminated type of the printing plate, and developing the printing plates according to the selected developing condition.

Hithertofore, in instances in which positive-working presensitized lithographic printing plates and negative-working presensitized lithographic printing plates are processed using a developing solution capable of developing a negative-working presensitized lithographic printing plate and a positive-working presensitized lithographic printing plate in common, there is a processing method in which a fresh developing solution is fed to the surfaces of the plates to be processed and the developing solution having been used is discarded (i.e, a fresh-solution processing method). In another processing method in which a replenishing solution is added to a developing solution so that the developing solution can be repeatedly used (i.e., a circulation method), positive-working presensitized lithographic printing plates and negative-working presensitized lithographic printing plates may cause exhaustion of the developing solution in a degree different from each other, and hence there has been the problem that it is difficult to control the replenishing and is difficult to carry out stable processing in practical use. The fresh-solution processing method has the disadvantage that it consumes the developing solution in a larger quantity than the circulation method.

Method and apparatus for processing presensitized lithographic printing plate


An SDRAM access control section activates a row of an SDRAM when a request is made to access the row in the continuous access mode. The SDRAM access control section outputs a read command or a write command to the SDRAM 300 when a request is made to access the SDRAM 300, without deactivating the accessed row, until a detection signal that detects the last column is asserted. The SDRAM access control section deactivates the accessed row when the detection signal is asserted.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a controller that controls an access to a synchronous semiconductor memory device.
2) Description of the Related Art
The operating speed of the microprocessors has been constantly improving. Dynamic random-access memories (DRAMs) that operate synchronously with the clock signal (i.e., SDRAMs), which can be accessed speedily, have appeared in the market. The internal operation of the SDRAM is divided into row series operation and column series operation.
The SDRAM has a bank structure in which a memory cell array is divided into independent banks. This structure makes the operating speed of the SDRAM faster.
FIG. 12 shows a large scale integration (LSI) 3 that includes a conventional SDRAM control module 90. The SDRAM control module 90 includes an SDRAM access control section 1. The SDRAM access control section 1 generates an SDRAM control signal 23. The SDRAM control signal 23 may be a row address strobe signal RAS, column address strobe signal CAS, WE signal, or CS signal. The SDRAM access control section 1 also generates an address signal 24 that contains a bank address. The SDRAM access control section 1 generates the SDRAM control signal 23 based on the input of a signal 21. The signal 21 (access request signal) requests access to the SDRAM 300. The SDRAM access control section 1 generates the address signal based on the input of an address signal 22. The SDRAM control signal 23 and the address signal 24 are input into the SDRAM 300 at a predetermined timing to write and read a data signal 25 onto and from the SDRAM 300.
The operation for reading data from the SDRAM is explained next. The signal 21 and the address signal 22 are input into the SDRAM control module 90 from a module that is not shown in the figure. The SDRAM access control section 1 issues a row activation command AC, a read command RD, and a bank deactivation command PR to the SDRAM 300 after receiving the signal 21 and the address signal 22. The bank deactivation command PR is a precharge command. These commands are generated based on a combination of high logical level (H) and low logical level (L) of the SDRAM control signals 23 that could be the RAS, CAS, WE, CS signals. The address signal 22 is processed into a format suited for the SDRAM 300 by multiplexing process. The address signal 22 is transmitted to the SDRAM 300 by the SDRAM access control section 1 in the form of the address signal 24. A row address and then a column address is transmitted to the SDRAM 300. The SDRAM 300 outputs the data signal 25 to a data bus after passing through the CAS latency on execution of the read command RD. The data signal 25 output from the SDRAM 300 is read by a module, which is not shown in the diagram, in LSI 3.
FIG. 13 is a time chart that explains the operation in detail. It has been assumed here that the same row in the same bank of the SDRAM 300 is accessed twice. The burst output length when transferring the burst of the SDRAM 300 is 1 and is programmed before accessing the SDRAM 300.
The signal 21 is asserted in clock cycle 1. As a result, the SDRAM access control section 1 issues a row activation command AC. Then, the SDRAM access control section 1 issues a read command RD in clock cycle 3. The SDRAM access control section 1 issues a deselect command DS in clock cycle 2, i.e., between the row activation command AC and the read command RD. It is assumed here that two clock cycles are required for RAS-CAS latency.
The SDRAM access control section 1 issues a bank deactivation command PR to deactivate the bank in clock cycle 6. It is assumed that five clock cycles are required from the issuance of the row activation command AC before the issuance of the bank deactivation command PR. Moreover, it is assumed that after the read command RD is issued in cycle 3, two clock cycles are required for CAS latency. Hence, the data signal 25 is output to the data bus in clock cycle 5.
The signal 21 is again asserted, i.e., in clock cycle 6, after the data (d0) of the SDRAM is output. The SDRAM requires two clock cycles from the issue of bank deactivation command PR until the issue of row activation command AC. Hence, the SDRAM row activation command AC is issued in clock cycle 8. A second SDRAM access (a1) is performed like the first SDRAM access (a0). The second SDRAM read data (d1) is output in clock cycle 12. In this example, twelve clock cycles are required from the first SDRAM access request until the output of the second SDRAM access data.
According to the conventional SDRAM control module, the cycle of the row activation AC and bank deactivation PR are repeated in the same row, each time the signal 21 is asserted. Therefore, the process is inefficient because many clock cycles are required when the same row in the same bank is continuously accessed many times.

Access controller that efficiently accesses synchronous semiconductor memory device


An incremental positioner is disclosed. In one embodiment, the incremental positioner includes a motor, a drive shaft, a motion converter and a rack. The motion converter engages the rack and, impelled by the motor and drive shaft, causes the rack to move. The motion converter transmits and converts the continuous rotary motion of the motor to a linear intermittent motion of the rack. To generate such intermittent motion, the motion converter is physically configured so that even though the motion converter is in constant motion, it urges the rack to move on a periodic basis. In other words, during each revolution of the motion converter, the rack "dwells" (i.e., does not move) during a first portion of the cycle, and advances during a second portion of the cycle. Each time the rack advances, it does so by a characteristic incremental distance.

In research and development laboratories, among other types of facilities, there are applications that require moving an element (e.g., test strips, a microtitre plate, etc.) a precise distance to a desired location to perform a function at that location. Typically, such movement must be accomplished in a repetitive manner at a precise time interval. Such a task can be performed by an incremental positioner/motion controller.
Sophisticated or "intelligent" motion controllers are often used for such service. Motion controller 100, depicted in FIG. 1, is typical of such intelligent controllers.
Intelligent motion controller 100 includes a control unit 102 and a motorized stage 110. Control unit 102 includes control means 104, depicted figuratively as a collection of switches and rheostats that control a variety of parameters related to stage movement. Control means 104 may control, for example, the direction of stage motion (e.g., forward or reverse), stage speed, coarse or fine stage movement, and the acceleration and deceleration of every movement. Hence the designation "intelligent."
A first cable 106 provides electrical connection between control unit 102 and motorized stage 110, and a second cable 108 attaches to a power supply. Motorized stage 110, which is depicted as a linear stage, includes a motor 112 that is operatively connected to a stage 114.
While such intelligent motion controllers are usually capable of positioning a stage to a high degree of resolution (i.e., about 1 micron accuracy for linear positioners and about 0.004.degree. for rotary positioners), and are quite flexible within the parameters of their operation, they do suffer from several significant shortcomings. In particular, such motion controllers are relatively slow and they are rather expensive. Regarding cost, a motion controller having the capabilities of intelligent motion controller 100 may sell for over $2000 (at least about $800 for the control unit and about $1,200.00 for the motorized stage). Moreover, in view of the complexity of such devices, reliability may be an issue as well.
There may be some applications in which the flexibility offered by such an intelligent controller justifies its cost. There will, however, be many other applications in which process parameters remain fixed (e.g., the positional increment is fixed) so that it may be difficult to cost-justify such an intelligent motion controller. Also, high-speed positioning may be required, which may be beyond the capabilities of the aforedescribed intelligent controllers. Or, a smaller and less expensive system may be desired.
As such, the art would benefit from a fast, inexpensive and reliable incremental positioner.

Article comprising an incremental positioner


A thermally insulating lining for the housing of a heater system for a Stirling, or hot air engine ensures that only safe temperature will be reached on the outside of the heater system. The insulating lining is arranged in two parts. An insulating wall is made up of individually adjacentely placed, replaceable insulating elements in the form of ceramic tiles, and/or ceramic tubes, and an intermediate space between the tiles and the outer wall. The intermediate space is separated, if desired, from the insulating elements by a ceramic paper. The intermediate space is packed with ceramic fiber batts, or loose, lump ceramic insulating material.

A thermally insulating ling for the housing of a heater system has been proposed in which the heater space is provided with an insulating firebrick lining directly adjoining the outer wall of the housing. Such wall linings have however not proved to be suitable in all cases, because the thermal insulating effect is not sufficient to prevent the escape of the heat to the outside as is desired. The temperature of the products of combustion in the heater space normally obtaining of approximately 2000.degree. C. is such that the escape of heat may only be prevented to a limited extent so that the external wall of the housing of the heater system radiates heat so intensively that the use of Stirling engines is largely out of the question in small spaces in which workers have to be present.

Thermally insulated stirling engine-hot gas heater system combination


The invention encompasses compounds of Formula I useful in the treatment of diseases, including asthma, by raising the level of cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) through the inhibition of phosphodiesterase IV (PDE IV). ##STR1##. The invention also encompasses certain pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treatment of diseases by inhibition of PDE IV, resulting in an elevation of cAMP, comprising the use of compounds of Formula I.

This invention relates to compounds and pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment of diseases by raising the level of cyclic adenosine-3',5'-monophosphate (cAMP) through the inhibition of phosphodiesterase IV (PDE IV).
Many hormones and neurotransmitters modulate tissue function by elevating intracellular levels of 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP). The cellular levels of cAMP are regulated by mechanisms which control synthesis and breakdown. The synthesis of cAMP is controlled by adenyl cyclase which may be directly activated by agents such as forskolin or indirectly activated by the binding of specific agonists to cell surface receptors which are coupled to adenyl cyclase. The breakdown of cAMP is controlled by a family of phosphodiesterase (PDE) isoenzymes, which also control the breakdown of guanosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cGMP). At least seven members of the family have been described (PDE I-VII), the distribution of which varies from tissue to tissue. This suggests that specific inhibitors of PDE isoenzymes could achieve differential elevation of cAMP in different tissues [for reviews of PDE distribution, structure, function and regulation, see Beavo & Reifsnyder (1990) TIPS, 11:150-155, Nicholson et. al. (1991) TIPS, 12: 19-27, and Torphy and Undem (1991) Thorax, 46: 512-523].
The availability of PDE isotype selective inhibitors has enabled the role of PDEs in a variety of cell types to be investigated. In particular it has been established that PDE IV controls the breakdown of cAMP in many inflammatory cells, for example, basophils (Peachell P. T. et al., (1992) J. Immunol., 148: 2503-2510) and eosinophils (Dent G. et al., (1991) Br. J. Pharmacol., 103: 1339-1346) and that inhibition of this isotype is associated with the inhibition of cell activation. Furthermore, elevation of cAMP in airway smooth muscle has a spasmolytic effect. Consequently PDE IV inhibitors are currently being developed as potential anti-inflammatory drugs particularly for the prophylaxis and treatment of asthma, by achieving both anti-inflammatory and bronchodilator effects.
The application of molecular cloning to the study of PDEs has revealed that for each isotype there may be one or more isoforms. PDE IV has been shown to exist in four isoforms (A, B, C and D) to date, each coded for by a separate gene in both rodents (Swinnen J. V. et al., (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 86: 5325-5329) and man (Bolger G. et al., (1993) Mol. Cell Biol., 13: 6558-6571).
The existence of multiple PDE IVs raises the prospect of obtaining inhibitors that are selective for individual isoforms, thus increasing the specificity of action of such inhibitors. This assumes that the different PDE IV isoforms are functionally distinct. Indirect evidence in support of this comes from the selective distribution of these isoforms in different tissues (Swinnen et al., 1989; Bolger et al., 1993; Obernolte R. et al., (1993) Gene, 129: 239-247, ibid) and the high degree of sequence conservation amongst isoforms of different species.
To date, full length cDNAs for human PDE IVA, B and D (Bolger et al., 1993 ibid; Obernolte et al., 1993 ibid; Mclaughlin M. et al., (1993) J. Biol. Chem., 268: 6470-6476) and rat PDE IVA, B and D (Davis R. et al., (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 86: 3604-3608; Swinnen J. V. et al., (1991) J. Biol. Chem., 266: 18370-18377), have been reported, enabling functional recombinant enzymes to be produced by expression of the cDNAs in an appropriate host cell. These cDNAs have been isolated by conventional hybridization methods. However using this approach, only partial cDNAs for both human and rat PDE IVC have been obtained. (Bolger et al., ibid. 1993 and Swinnen et al., ibid. 1989 and International Patent Specification No. WO 91/16457.)
The design of PDE IV inhibitors for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as asthma, has met with limited success to date. Many of the PDE IV inhibitors which have been synthesised have lacked potency and/or inhibit more than one type of PDE isoenzyme in a non-selective manner. PDE IV inhibitors that are relatively potent and selective for PDE IV, are reported to be emetic as well. Indeed this side effect has been so universal that experts have expressed their belief that the emesis experienced upon administration of a PDE IV inhibitor may be mechanism based.
The compounds described herein are potent inhibitors of PDE TV at concentrations that exhibit little or no inhibitory action on other PDE isoenzymes. These compounds inhibit the human recombinant PDE IV enzyme and also elevate cAMP in isolated leukocytes. Certain compounds prevent inflammation in the lungs induced by carrageenan, platelet-activating factor (PAF), interleukin-5 (IL-5) or antigen challenge. These compounds also suppress the hyperresponsiveness of airway smooth muscle seen in inflamed lungs. Advantageously, compounds according to the invention have good oral activity, and at orally effective doses exhibit little or none of the side-effects associated with known PDE IV inhibitors, such as rolipram. The compounds of the invention are therefore of use in medicine, especially in the prophylaxis and treatment of asthma and other inflammatory conditions.

PDE IV inhibiting compounds, compositions and methods of treatment