Compositions including a compound of the family of avermectins, preferably ivermectin, and an agonist compound for at least one of the retinoic acid receptors are described. The compositions are in particular used in the treatment of acne.

Acne is a common multifaceted skin disorder of the hair follicles and sebaceous glands which leads to the formation of comedones. It affects nearly all adolescents and may also persist into adulthood. Adult women may particularly be affected and experience premenstrual outbreaks.
Genetic predisposition, overproduction of sebum (seborrhea), androgens, follicular keratinization disorders (comedogenesis) and bacterial colonization accompanied by inflammatory factors are various factors which play a determining role in the formation of acne.
Several forms of acne exist, the factor common to all of them being the attack of pilosebaceous follicles. For example, mention may be made of acne conglobata, acne keloidalis nuchae, drug-induced acne, recurrent acne miliaris, acne necrotica, acne neonatorum, premenstrual acne, occupational acne, senile acne, solar acne and acne vulgaris.
Acne vulgaris, also known as polymorphous juvenile acne, is the most common and comprises four stages:                stage 1 corresponds to comedonal acne and is characterized by a large number of microcysts and open and/or closed comedones;        stage 2, or papulopustular acne, is mildly to moderately serious and is characterized by the presence of microcysts and open and/or closed comedones, but also red papules and pustules. It affects mainly the face and leaves some scars;        stage 3, or papulocomedonal acne, is more serious and extends to the back, thorax and shoulders. It is accompanied by a large number of scars;        stage 4, or nodulocystic acne, is accompanied by numerous scars. It exhibits nodules and also large, painful purplish pustules.
These various forms of acne are traditionally treated by using various active agents. For example, mention may be made of anti-seborrheic and anti-infective agents such as benzoyl peroxide marketed by Pierre Fabre under the name Eclaran®. Mention may also be made of retinoids such as tretinoin, marketed by Galderma under the name Retacnyl®, or isotretinoin, marketed by Roche Laboratories under the name Roaccutane®, for their capacity to act on keratinocyte proliferation and differentiation. Naphthoic acid derivatives, such as adapalene, described notably in the application FR 2 837 101, or the derivatives thereof, described in the patent EP 0 850 909, are also recognized as active substances for treating acne.
However, the use of these active agents, notably retinoids, causes numerous side effects in patients. In particular, retinoid-based treatments may cause dry skin, irritation, erythema, desquamation and stinging or burning in treated patients. Thus, the use of such treatments also requires the application of multiple moisturizing, humectant and soothing agents to provide relief to the patient.
Moreover, these various treatments are often combined with a course of antibiotics such as tetracycline, erythromycin, minocycline and doxycycline to treat acneic lesions, but their low lipid solubility requires regular and frequent administration which may generate resistance phenomena and promote the development of these resistant organisms as well as intolerance-related problems in the patient.
Thus, it must be acknowledged that there exists a need to provide acne treatments that are more effective and that do not cause side effects in the patient. In particular, there is to date no treatment that acts on both the factors involved in acne formation and the inflammatory reactions resulting therefrom.

Compositions comprising a compound from the family of avermectins and an agonist compound for at least one of the retinoic acid receptors for treating acne


The present invention provides a high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus that includes an inhale gas introducer that supplies an inhale gas containing oxygen to a patient and a patient side path that guides the inhale gas from the inhale gas introducer into the patient. An oscillating air pressure provider that applies an oscillating air pressure having a higher frequency than a respiration frequency of the patient, to the inhale gas flowing through the patient side path, an exhaust path that exhausts an exhale gas containing carbon dioxide exhaled from the patient, into the atmosphere, and an auxiliary inhale gas supply are also provided. The patient side path includes a branching pipe that branches a flow from the inhale gas introducer to the exhaust path side and the patient side and an intrachea insert tube that is connected to the patient side end of the branching pipe can be inserted through a mouth into the trachea of the patient.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an artificial respiration apparatus and in particular, to a high-frequency oscillation respiration apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 16, in a conventional high-frequency oscillation aspiration apparatus 200, an inhale gas containing a high-concentration oxygen is supplied from an oxygen supply source 201 to flow through a fluid path system having a three-way branching pipe 202 for branching to a patient X and an exhale side. The inhale gas is urged by a high-frequency (3 to 15 Hz) oscillating air pressure generated by an oscillating air pressure urging unit 203 to flow with a flow rate of 10 to 30 [1/min] at a normal mode and 60 [1/min] at maximum for supplying oxygen to lungs of the patient X. Here, the average pressure applied to the lungs of the patient is controlled according to an open degree of a rubber valve of an inhale valve 204 provided at an outlet of the inhale gas. The average pressure is normally set so as to maintain 5 to 15 [cm H2O] (490 to 1470 [Pa]) (hereinafter, the pressure values represent values added to the atmospheric pressure).
Explanation will be given on a principle of oxygen supply in the high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus 200. Firstly, when an inhale gas to be supplied to a patient is urged by a high-frequency oscillation oscillating air pressure, the pressure amplitude of the inhale gas causes a small-amount ventilation (gas exchange like convection) with respect to the gas containing carbon dioxide to be exhaled (hereinafter, referred to as an exhale gas). Simultaneously with this, vibration of the inhale gas causes a diffusion movement, which causes the inhale gas to intrude into the lungs via an in-trachea tube 207 and the exhale gas to be transferred out of the lungs (up to the mouth of the patient). A subsequent exhale gas portion performs the aforementioned ventilation and urges the exhale gas, which has been transferred out of the lungs, to be sent to the outlet. Thus, it is possible to maintain a constant oxygen concentration in the lungs of the patient.
Japanese Utility Model Publication (examined) 2-7569 discloses a high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus using a mechanical piston and electrical speaker vibration as an oscillating air pressure urging unit. However, these methods provide only a small amplitude of oscillating air pressure for urging the inhale gas and cannot perform a sufficient ventilation for lungs of a grow-up and have been used only for new-born babies.
In the high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus as shown in FIG. 16, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Nos. 2798255, 2798256, and 2798257, a blower 205 and a rotary valve 206 are used as the oscillating air pressure urging unit 203 so as to improve the high-frequency oscillation oscillation.
Moreover, in the aforementioned high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus 200, the user (doctor) can set the following basic parameters according to the state of the patient: (1) inner pressure (5 to 15 [cmH2O] (490 to 1470 [Pa]) of a flow path from the oxygen supply source to the patient x; (2) a ventilation amount per oscillation cycle with respect to the lungs of the patient (hereinafter, referred to as one ventilation amount against the lungs of the patient; more specifically, several to several hundreds of [ml] according to the weight of the patient); and (3) ventilation frequency (3 to 15 [Hz]) of the oscillating air pressure. In addition to these, there are accompanying parameters: an inhale gas supply amount and an inhale gas oxygen concentration of the inhale gas sent to the patient. According to the state of the patient, the aforementioned basic parameters are controlled as follows to control respiration.
(1) When oxidation is required, i.e., when it is necessary to increase the partial pressure of oxygen (PaO2) in the artery blood of the patient X, the average inner pressure in the flow path up to the patient is increased.
(2) When it is necessary to quickly exhaust carbon dioxide, i.e., when it is necessary to lower the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaO2) in the artery blood, one ventilation amount against the lungs of the patient is increased.
(3) The inherent frequency increasing the ventilation efficiency varies depending of each of the patients X as well as the state of the patient. The ventilation frequency is regulated so that the frequency is near the inherent frequency.
The ventilation frequency, at the initial stage, is determined according to the weight of the patient, and then adjusted to a frequency at which resonance is generated with the body of the patient X to increase the gas (oxygen) diffusion efficiency and the gas exchange (between oxygen and carbon dioxide) is effectively performed. In general, the ventilation frequency is set to about 15 {Hz] for a new-born baby and 3 to 10 {Hz] for a child or a grown-up.
During an artificial respiration, the ventilation frequency is normally fixed unless a sudden change is caused in the state of the patient X. The ventilation frequency is not often changed. Accordingly, normally, in order to perform a desired artificial respiration according to the state of the patient X, the respiration state is adjusted with the parameter (1) or (2).
In the aforementioned conventional high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus 200, the oscillating air pressure amplitude is increased by using a blower 205 having a large output, thus enabling to obtain a sufficient ventilation for lungs of a grown-up. FIG. 17 graphically shows an inner pressure change in the vicinity of the three-way branching pipe 202 during a high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration.
However, in the oscillating air pressure urging unit 203 of the aforementioned conventional high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus 200, the inner pressure amplitude (difference between the uppermost pressure and the lowermost pressure) in the vicinity of the three-way branching pipe 202 during a high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration exceeds 100 [cm H2O] (9800 [Pa]) and accordingly, it is necessary to carefully adjust the pressure for a patient.
The pressure applied to lungs of a human being is a load to the lungs if the pressure is too high or too low. In the conventional example, the pressure amplitude is increased to perform a sufficient ventilation, which means that the pressure approaches the uppermost or the lowermost pressure. In order to perform a high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration without applying a load to the lungs of a patient, it is necessary to set the pressure with a great care.
Moreover, in the aforementioned high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus 200, even when the pressure is in a range not applying a load to a patient, a high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration with a large pressure amplitude causes a large vibration of the breast of the patient X, which is not preferable when a medical instrument of instillation or a catheter is applied to the patient X or when a measurement is to be performed using a measurement apparatus.
Furthermore, when the pressure amplitude is increased in the high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus 200, there arises a problem that the oscillating air pressure urging unit 203 causes a large noise and the power consumption is also increased.
Moreover, there is a case that the patient state is suddenly changed, resulting in an excessive decrease or increase of PaO2. In such a case, the inherent frequency of the patient X has been changed and the adjustments of (1) and (2) alone are insufficient. The ventilation frequency should be changed.
However, when the ventilation frequency is changed, the oscillating flow state in the in-trachea tube is remarkably changed, which in turn changes the gas exchange effect by the patient, causing a further change in the patient. Especially at the ventilation frequency 3 to 10 {Hz] used for a child to a grown-up, a change of 1 [Hz] may remarkably change the gas convey mechanism and the doctor should be very careful when changing the ventilation frequency.
As has been described above, in the conventional high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus, the xe2x80x9cone ventilation amountxe2x80x9d and the xe2x80x9cventilation frequencyxe2x80x9d represent parameters affecting the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the artery blood. That is, one cure index is affected by two factors and the high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus should be operated very carefully. For the doctor using the high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus, the xe2x80x9csetting of the ventilation frequencyxe2x80x9d is a very complicated operation.
Doctors want a high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus capable of adjusting the ventilation frequency without causing a sudden change in the partial pressure of carbon dioxide in the artery blood of the patient.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus capable of performing a sufficient ventilation while reducing the pressure amplitude.
Moreover, an object of the present invention to provide a high-frequency oscillation (hereinafter, referred to as HFO) artificial respiration apparatus in which adjustment can be made without causing interactions between the aforementioned parameters.
The high-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus disclosed in claim 1 comprises: an inhale gas introduction block for supplying an inhale gas containing oxygen to a patient, a patient side path for guiding the inhale gas from the inhale gas introduction block into the patient, an oscillating air pressure urging block for applying an oscillating air pressure having a higher frequency than a respiration frequency of the patient, to the inhale gas flowing through the patient side path, and an exhaust path for exhausting an exhale gas containing carbon oxide exhaled from the patient, into the atmosphere.
Furthermore, the patient side path includes a branching pipe for branching a flow from the inhale gas introduction block to the side of the exhaust path and the side of the patient and an in-trachea insert tube which is connected to the patient side end of the branching pipe and can be inserted through a mouth into lungs of the patient.
The apparatus further comprises an auxiliary inhale gas supply block for supplying an inhale gas up to the vicinity of the lungs of the patient through a path different from the patient side path. The auxiliary inhale gas supply block includes an inhale gas supply source and an auxiliary inhale gas supply path, which is different from the patient side path, for guiding the inhale gas from the supply source into the lungs of the patient.
In the aforementioned configuration, an inhale gas is generated from the inhale gas introduction block and set to a patient through the patient side path. Furthermore, the inhale gas flowing through the patient side path is urged by the oscillating air pressure urging unit. The inhale gas is divided by the branching pipe into the patient side path and the exhaust path. The inhale gas introduced into the patient side is driven by the positive pressure of the oscillating air pressure through the in-trachea insert tube to reach lungs of the patient, thus supplying oxygen to the lungs. On the other hand, an exhale gas containing carbon dioxide is driven by a negative pressure of the oscillating air pressure to flow through the in-trachea insert tube to the branching pipe and is pushed together with a subsequent inhale gas into the exhaust path to be exhausted into the atmosphere.
While the aforementioned ventilation is performed in the lungs, the auxiliary inhale gas supply block supplies an inhale gas from the inhale gas supply source through the auxiliary inhale gas supply path into the lungs of the patient. This auxiliary inhale gas supply path is separated from the patient side path and the gas is not urged by the oscillating air pressure. Moreover, the auxiliary inhale gas supply path is not connected to the exhaust path, either. Accordingly, the inhale gas is supplied slowly at a constant flow rate into the lungs. Accordingly, the exhale gas generated in the lungs is forced to be sent through the in-trachea insert tube into the exhaust path apart form the function of the negative pressure of the oscillating air pressure.
Moreover, the high-frequency oscillation (HFO) artificial respiration apparatus claimed in claim 12 comprises: an inhale gas introduction block for supplying an inhale gas containing oxygen to a patient; a patient side path for guiding the inhale gas from the inhale gas introduction block to the patient; an oscillating air pressure urging block for urging the inhale gas flowing in the patient side path with an oscillating air pressure having a cycle shorter than a respiration cycle of the patient; an exhaust path for exhausting into the atmosphere an exhale gas containing carbon dioxide exhaled from the patient; and a controller for controlling operation of the oscillating air pressure urging block.
The oscillating air pressure urging block can regulate a ventilation amount per oscillation cycle and an oscillating frequency of the oscillating air pressure. Moreover, the controller includes an entry block for accepting the oscillation frequency entered, and an operation control block for controlling the oscillating air pressure urging block to supply an output oscillating air pressure set to the oscillation frequency entered.
The operation control block has a ventilation state maintaining function for modifying the oscillation frequency according to an entered value in such a manner that a ventilation amount per oscillation cycle and an oscillation frequency of the oscillating air pressure are modified while maintaining a value of VT2xe2x80xa2f constant wherein VT represents a ventilation amount per oscillation cycle for lungs of the patient and f represents an oscillation frequency.
In the aforementioned configuration, an inhale gas is generated from the inhale gas introduction block and sent through the patient side path to the patient. Furthermore, the inhale gas flowing in the patient side path is urged by an oscillating air pressure from the oscillating air pressure urging block. The inhale gas is divided in a branching pipe to a patient side and an exhaust path side. The inhale gas flowing into the patient side is sent by the positive pressure of the oscillating air pressure through an in-trachea insert tube to reach the lungs of the patient, thus supplying oxygen to the lungs. Moreover, an exhale gas containing carbon dioxide generated from the lungs is caused by the negative pressure of the oscillating air pressure to flow through the in-trachea insert tube to the branching pipe and pushed together with a subsequent inhale gas into the exhaust path to be exhausted into the atmosphere.
When the ventilation efficiency of the patient is found to be low or the patient state has changed and the oscillation frequency should be set to a new value, the user (doctor) enters a new oscillation frequency value to the entry block through an external input unit connected to the entry block.
The operation control block stars an operation control to modify the oscillation frequency of the oscillating air pressure output from the oscillating air pressure urging block. That is, the oscillating air pressure urging block is regulated to be modified from the previous oscillation frequency to the oscillating frequency entered, upon this modification, the ventilation amount per oscillation cycle is also modified according to the modification of the oscillation frequency. That is, control is performed to modify the oscillation frequency f and the ventilation amount per oscillation cycle so that the one ventilation amount VT for the lungs of the patient and the oscillation frequency f satisfy the condition VT2xe2x80xa2f=constant.
It should be noted that the aforementioned xe2x80x9cventilation amount per oscillation cyclexe2x80x9d represents an oscillation amount per one oscillation cycle of the oscillating air pressure directly output from the oscillating air pressure urging block, and the xe2x80x9cone ventilation amount for lungs of the patientxe2x80x9d represents a ventilation amount actually ventilated per oscillation cycle by the oscillating air pressure which has reached the lungs of the patient.
The xe2x80x9cventilation amount per oscillation cyclexe2x80x9d and the xe2x80x9cone ventilation amount for lungs of the patientxe2x80x9d may not coincide with each other but they change with a steady interrelationship between them. Accordingly, when the target xe2x80x9cone ventilation amount for lungs of the patientxe2x80x9d is known in advance, a corresponding xe2x80x9cventilation amount per oscillation cyclexe2x80x9d can be identified. The operation control of the oscillating air pressure urging block is performed so as to obtain the target xe2x80x9cventilation amount per oscillation cyclexe2x80x9d.
The present invention achieves the aforementioned object by the aforementioned configuration.

High-frequency oscillation artificial respiration apparatus


Copolymers of butene-1 and propylene, having specific physical properties and substantially a syndiotactic structure; and easily heat-sealable polypropylene resin compositions comprising 5-50 parts by weight of one of the copolymers and 95-50 parts by weight of a stereoregular crystalline propylene-ethylene copolymer or propylene-ethylene-C.sub.4-12 -.alpha.-olefin copolymer having specific compositions and melt flow index.

a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relate to copolymers of butene-1 and propylene and also to heat-sealable polypropylene resin compositions containing one or more of the copolymers and useful as heat-sealing layers for heat-bonding polyolefins.
b) Description of the Related Art
The existence of .alpha.-olefin polymers having a syndiotactic structure has been known for many years, including syndiotactic polypropylene by way of example. Syndiotactic polypropylene can be obtained by conducting polymerization at a low temperature in the presence a conventional catalyst composed of a vanadium compound, ether and an organoaluminum compound. This polypropylene however has poor syndiotacticity so that it can hardly be considered to have the properties of a syndiotactic polypropylene.
J. A. Ewen et al. has found for the first time that polypropylene having such good tacticity as exceeding 0.8 in terms of syndiotactic pentad fraction as measured by .sup.13 C-NMR can be obtained by polymerizing propylene in the presence of a polymerization catalyst composed of methyl aluminoxane and a transition metal (Hf and Zr) compound having an asymmetric ligand (J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 110, 6255-6, 1988).
In the meantime, it has been found by the present inventors that polybutene-1 having high syndiotacticity can be obtained when butene-1 is polymerized using the above catalyst in a high-purity form. This catalyst has good activity per transition metal and, moreover, the resultant polybutene-1 has high tacticity. However, the balancing of physical properties of the polybutene-1 is rather poor and articles molded from the polybutene-1 have insufficient transparency.
Polypropylene resins which substantially have stereoregularity, namely, either an isotactic structure or a syndiotactic structure have excellent stiffness and are superior in external appearance such as transparency and gloss. They are hence used for various applications. For films, propylene-ethylene copolymers are used to improve impact resistance and heat sealability. As resins having excellent balance among stiffness, impact resistance and heat sealability, propylene-ethylene-butene-1 terpolymers are known by way of example.
Although these copolymers have excellent balance among stiffness, impact resistance and heat sealability, it is desired to improve the heat sealability further so that the efficiency in the use of films can be improved.

Butene-1 copolymer and resin composition containing the same


The invention relates to a device comprising a surgical material and a support material and related methods for the application of the surgical material to a wound or surgical site using the device.

Bone hemostatic materials are either wax-like, putty-like, or paste-like in consistency. Waxlike materials such as bone wax and Ostene™ must be warmed and kneaded to soften them into a putty-like consistency for application to bleeding bone. Other commercially available putty-like hemostatic materials such as Hemasorb™, Hemasorb Plus™, and Absorbable Hemostatic Bone Putty (AHBP™) do not require warming or kneading prior to application to bone.
When the bleeding bone surface is elongated and narrow such as the medially-divided sternum, application of hemostatic materials using conventional surgical manipulation is more difficult. The present invention addresses the need to provide a more effective means for applying hemostatic and other, e.g., antimicrobial, putty-like materials to the surface of bleeding bone during a surgical procedure.
A new construct concept has been developed to provide a more surgically convenient method for applying hemostatic and drug-containing materials to bleeding surfaces. This concept can be applied to surfaces of any anatomical dimension. Another advantage of this construct is that it may offer protection from damage to surgical gloves by sharp bone surfaces.

Device for the application of surgical materials to tissue


Aspects of the subject matter described herein relate to modeling and simulating software contention. In aspects, a model declares properties of a scarce software object and models software components that need the scarce software object to execute. A simulator uses the model to set up data structures that track locking activity related to the software object. The simulator simulates the interaction between software components and hardware including seizing and releasing locks on the software object. The simulator may use a function or other similar mechanism to distribute seize and release operations with respect to a lock across multiple instances of the software object. The simulator may use data generated by a simulation to provide an indication of lock objects and hardware utilization, transaction latencies, and other statistics.

Information technology personnel, business planners, and procurement personnel are interested in knowing the hardware and software architecture needed to adequately run software needed by their organizations. Ideally, such people would like to know the hardware needed before they actually purchase the hardware.
In response, software vendors and others have attempted to create software that attempts to determine if selected hardware is suitable to provide responses in a timely manner when selected software is executed on the hardware. Creating an accurate model that takes into account the appropriate interactions, however, is challenging.

Modeling and simulating software contention


A calibration device for the extrusion of profiles from plastics is provided. The calibration device comprises at least one tank calibrator with an opening and a running surface for the extruded profile, which can be arranged in a vacuum tank with cooling water and via whose outer surface the heat of the extruded profile can at least partly be transferred to the cooling water. The at least one tank calibrator includes at least one cooling channel for cooling the running surfaces and the axial length of the tank calibrator at least corresponds to the height and/or the width of the nominal dimension of the profile.

This invention relates to a calibration device, a calibration method and a dry calibrator.
Profiles of thermoplastic materials (e.g. PVC) generally are manufactured by means of extrusion. Shaping of a profile requires a nozzle and a calibration device.
Calibration devices for manufacturing plastic profiles, e.g. window profiles, usually include a dry and a wet calibration device, wherein after exit from the nozzle the hot extrudate first passes through the dry calibration device and subsequently through the wet calibration device. At the end of calibration and after complete cooling of the profile to room temperature, the profile must have the desired contour, i.e. the profile must have the nominal dimensions.
The wet calibration device includes a plurality of vacuum tanks arranged in series, in which extensive cooling of the profile is effected by direct contact with the cooling water, after the same has partly been cooled already in the dry calibration. Usually, so-called short calibrators or covers are arranged in a vacuum tank of the wet calibration device at intervals of about 100 mm on the inlet side and about 500 mm on the outlet side, which each have a through opening which largely corresponds to the geometry of the profile.
The vacuum tanks as such are closed on all sides. Covers with openings for the entry and exit of the profile only are arranged at the end faces. The vacuum tanks are charged with negative pressure (order of magnitude about 30 to 100 mbar), whereby the profile is slightly "bloated" and rests against the through openings of the covers. The profile thus cools down in a defined shape, which ensures dimensional stability.
The cooling water flows through the vacuum tanks proceeding from few supply lines down to few discharge lines.
The negative pressure only must be applied via a negative pressure port and then each acts in the entire interior space of a vacuum tank. The manufacturing effort for the short calibrators (covers) is comparatively low, because the same do not require any supply and distribution bores for negative pressure and cooling water.
The dry calibration upstream of the wet calibration includes at least one dry calibration device, wherein e.g. up to eight dry calibration devices can be arranged in series.
The dry calibration devices include through openings with running surfaces for a contact with the extrudate, which approximately corresponds to the contour of the profile. In detail, however, dimensional or geometrical differences do exist, in order to follow the reduction in length with decreasing temperature of the plastic and in order to compensate the distortion as a result of different cooling rates.
The dry calibration devices are supplied with negative pressure and with cooling water. The negative pressure applied at the running surfaces effects that the profile is sucked against the same. The negative pressure acts via so-called vacuum slots between profile and dry calibration device and ensures that the profile rests against the running surface without clearance, so that said profile assumes a defined outer contour. Within the calibration, a flow connection to the vacuum pumps is created via connection and distribution bores. Outside the dry calibration devices, the transmission of the negative pressure is effected by means of hoses and connecting points.
As a result of the close contact of the profile on the running surface to the dry calibration device, a heat transfer from the hot profile to the cold dry calibration device is effected.
To prevent or minimize a rise in temperature of the dry calibration devices, the same are cooled, mostly continuously. This is effected by passing cooling water through cooling channels located close to the running surface. Each of these cooling channels requires a supply line and a discharge line for the cooling water, wherein it is possible however to combine several cooling channels. Thus, for each cooling circuit two water ports are required, each for the supply line and for the discharge line.
The maintenance of the desired operating state of the dry calibration devices requires a considerable additional effort during manufacture in addition to the required minimum requirement with regard to the geometry of the running surface, in order to be able to ensure and reproduce the required negative pressure and cooling, which in particular concerns the manufacture of distribution bores for the negative pressure and for the cooling water supply and discharge lines. Each port requires corresponding coupling points (couplings) and connecting hoses, which during a change of the calibration must be disconnected and connected with regard to a different profile geometry. In addition, certain settings with regard to the flow rate or height of the negative pressure must be maintained, whereby corresponding cocks also must be provided for each port. In general, the expenditure during manufacture and operation of the conventional dry calibrations is high.
It therefore is the object to create a calibration device which has a simple design and to create a calibration method which is easy to carry out.

Calibration device and method as well as a tank calibrator for profile extrusion


A carrier body assembly for forming part or all of a shower floor includes a rigid carrier body having a bearing surface for sanitary surface material such as tile and a sealing membrane that overlies the top or bottom surface of the carrier body but is attached to only a portion of the top or bottom surface. The unattached portion of the membrane is folded away from the carrier body to enable trimming of the carrier body to fit without damaging the membrane. After installation of the carrier body the membrane overlies the adjacent shower structure to form a watertight, water-impermeable connection between the carrier body and the adjacent shower structure.

Where shower facilities are involved, a carrier body is provided that is protected by a sanitary surface material such as tile or acrylic. The carrier body may be installed adjacent to a previously constructed floor or wall structure, and the surface material may extend to cover the adjacent floor or wall structure. The upper surface of the carrier body has a drain opening that connects to a drain for removal of waste water. It is desirable that installation of the carrier body and sanitary surface material, as well as the connection of the drain opening to the drain and the sealing of the carrier body with the adjacent floor or wall structure be carried out quickly and efficiently, and without leaks.
The carrier body during use of the shower supports the weight of the shower user and is therefore a rigid body that provides stable footing for the user and resists cracking or separation of the sanitary surface material.
Some carrier bodies are prefabricated for installation on site. Holzmann et al EP 1 388 317 A2 discloses a prefabricated carrier body formed as a support plate that includes a set of sealing strips attached to and extending along the upper periphery of the support plate. The sealing strips extend outwardly a short distance beyond the periphery of the support plate. The support plate is closely received in an opening formed in the adjacent floor structure and butts up against the adjacent floor structure. As a result, the sealing strips overlap the adjacent floor structure and thereby cover the butt joints. Tiling the adjacent floor surfaces covers the sealing strips and cooperates with the sealing strips to forms a water tight, water-impermeable connection between the carrier body and the adjacent floor structure.
In a similar manner, Illbruck Sanitaertechnik GmbH DE202006012825U1 discloses a prefabricated carrier body formed from rigid foam that includes sealing strips attached to the carrier body. Each sealing strip protrudes from a respective side face of the carrier body. The strips can be glued or otherwise sealingly attached to the adjacent floor or wall structure after installation of the carrier body in the appropriate sized opening.
Prefabricated carrier bodies delivered to installation sites that are carefully prepared to closely receive the carrier body generally present little or no problem in regard to sealing-off the carrier body in relation to its surroundings. But if the carrier body cannot fit, or does not closely fit, into the prepared adjacent floor or wall structure, difficulties can arise in the sealing of the carrier body with the sealing strips, as well as difficulties applying the sanitary surface material—in particular where tiles and limiting dimensions are concerned.
Rather than a prefabricated carrier body, it is also known to provide a premanufactured shower foundation that is directly installed onto the subfloor of a shower stall or alcove and forms the entire shower floor. Providing a prefabricated shower foundation eliminates the need for the services of a skilled craftsman in constructing a shower foundation on site, and a prefabricated shower foundation can be installed in one trip to the job site without the need to wait for adhesive or mortar set up.
A prefabricated shower foundation is disclosed in Young, U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,347. In Young, an injection molded base having a generally flat portion defining the area for the shower floor, an integral, solid vertical curb along one side of the flat portion, and vertical extensions along the other sides of the flat portion is formed from a synthetic resin. The base is intended to rest on the subfloor of the shower stall or alcove, and the curb and vertical extensions contain the water draining from the shower floor during use.
After formation of the base, a waterproof membrane is formed over the base, including the curb and vertical extensions (waterproof as used herein means water-impermeable). The membrane is preferably formed by spraying a liquid synthetic rubber onto the base and allowing the liquid rubber to dry. A continuous sheet of solid waterproof material could be used to form the waterproof membrane but folds or creases in the sheet necessary to conform the sheet to the base prematurely stress the sheet and damages the integrity of the sheet.
After the waterproof membrane is formed, backing material formed as a backer layer is placed over the flat portion of the base and underneath an upper drain portion secured to the base. The backer layer may be made of a plurality of sheets of cement backer boards such as those sold under the DUROCK™ or WONDERBOARD™ trademarks.
The backer layer in Young is not intended to be a waterproof layer or act as an additional waterproof sealing membrane that seals the waterproof membrane applied to the base from water received through the backer layer. As is known to persons of ordinary skill in the relevant shower construction art, cement backer boards are not waterproof, that is, not water impermeable to function as a seal. As explained in Young, the flat portion of the base has its own slope to accommodate the drainage of any water which may seep through the backer layer. The water drains down the base to weep holes in the drain.
Cement backer boards have sufficient flexibility to conform to the slope during installation without cracking. The backing layer after being installed against the base then cooperates with the base to form a rigid carrier body that is capable of providing stable footing for the user and resists cracking or separation of the sanitary surface material applied over the backing layer after the prefabricated shower foundation is installed on site.
Mortar is then applied between the outside edges of the drain portion and the protruding edges of the backer boards to ensure a continuous seal around the drain portion. To complete the prefabricated shower foundation, mortar or like material is molded over the vertical curb to provide additional strength and rigidity.
The prefabricated shower foundation is installed on site in the space designated for the shower stall or alcove. A waterproof plastic lining is attached to the wall studs and over the vertical extensions of the base, and wall panels are placed directly onto the backer layer and are attached to the studs. Sanitary surface material, such as a tile adhered by grout is secured directly to the backer layer and shower walls. Although as pointed out earlier that cement backer boards are not waterproof, the boards do not swell when wet. The structural integrity of the tile, grout, and the backer layer itself is maintained even if water is absorbed through the grout and into the backer layer.
Young discloses a prefabricated base with predetermined dimensions that defines the size of the shower floor, and forming a rigid carrier body sized to those predetermined dimensions.
Another type of prefabricated shower foundation is formed from a thermoplastic plastic sheet that forms a shell having a hollow backside. The shell includes a shower floor portion spaced from the backside, and raised side walls surrounding the floor for containing and directing water flow. The shell alone does not provide the rigidity required for supporting the weight of a user standing on the floor portion of the shell. The shell is filled with a backing material that supports the shell on the subfloor of the shower stall or alcove and cooperates with the shell to form a rigid carrier body capable of stably supporting the user.
Because the upper side of the shell is exposed to view and is itself water impermeable, the shell itself functions as a waterproof layer that covers the backing material.
An example of a prefabricated shell shower foundation is disclosed in Huang et al. US Patent Application Publication US2007/0130685 ("Huang"). As pointed out in Huang, the backing material adds considerable weight to the completed shower foundation. Huang discloses filling the plastic shell with a resinous material and low weight density fillers to reduce the weight of the finished prefabricated shell shower foundation while maintaining suitable structural rigidity.
Both Young and Huang disclose prefabricated shower foundations using a prefabricated plastic base and a backing material that cooperates with the base to form a rigid carrier. In Young, the plastic base supports the backing material while in Huang the backing material supports the plastic base. Young, by placing the backing material over the base, allows for tiled shower floor surfaces which many consumers prefer. Young also provides a redundant waterproof membrane over the plastic base before installing the backing material. In Huang, a redundant waterproof membrane could also be provided by spraying the membrane onto the inside of the plastic shell before adding the backing material.
Kirby US Patent Application Publication 2003/0089059 discloses a construction for a portion of a shower foundation that forms a shower curb. The shower curb is located adjacent to a shower pan and is constructed on site, relying on the presence of a shower liner previously placed to be under an adjacent shower pan construction in which a waterproof membrane formed as a shower liner is provided between the backing material and the sanitary surface material. The backing material is formed by stacking two or three two-by-four dimensional lumber boards in a vertical stack. The bottom surface of the bottom board rests against the subfloor of the shower stall or alcove.
A shower liner is placed over and covers the exposed side surfaces of the boards and the top surface of the top board. A three-sided lattice-like frame is placed over the sheet and the boards. The side of the frame extending along the inner side of the boards extends only partway down from the top surface of the top board. A cementitious material or "mud" is applied over the frame and into the lattice openings to provide a hard surface for laying ceramic tile over the hardened material. The boards support the weight of a user stepping on top of the shower curb's ceramic tile.
The shower liner is positioned below a sloped shower pan that is adjacent to the shower curb. When the shower liner is installed under the shower pan, a sufficient quantity is left over for overlying the boards. Excess shower liner would be trimmed at some point in the construction of the shower curb.
Kirby discloses that the shower curb can be constructed after the remainder of the shower foundation is installed on site and not necessarily constructed as part of a premanufactured shower foundation. The backing material is cut to fit on site, and then assembled after cutting with other components brought to the job site or previously installed in prior construction of the shower foundation.
The shower curb disclosed in Kirby is very similar to the shower curb disclosed in Young. Kirby, like Young, discloses a shower curb element (made of stacked lumber in Kirby, and molded plastic in Young) that rests on the subfloor and a flexible waterproof sheet that overlays and conforms to the shower curb element (although Young prefers a sprayed-on membrane). Kirby, like Young, discloses applying a moldable "mud" or mortar over the sheet overlying the shower curb element, allowing the mud or mortar to harden, and laying tile on the hardened surface. Kirby essentially differs from Young's shower curb only in disclosing a three-sided frame that assists in applying the mud. Kirby's frame could also be adapted for use applying mortar to Young's shower foundation.
Premanufactured carrier bodies with attached peripheral seals and premanufactured shower foundations are not practical for all construction situations. The shower dimensions may not be known, or not known with sufficient accuracy. The shower dimensions may not be compatible with available premanufactured carrier bodies or premanufactured shower foundations.
Thus there is a need for a carrier body assembly that is adaptable on-site for different shower dimensions and not limited to specific, predetermined shower dimensions as are the carrier bodies and shower foundations described above.

Carrier body for sanitary surface material


An anchor device for a seatbelt system which includes an anchor plate which is U-shaped in cross-section when seen from the front of a vehicle and which has an outer end of a passenger restraining belt fastened to one side thereof and a runner piece coupled to the other side of said anchor plate. A roof lining is inserted into the central region of the U-shaped anchor plate and the runner piece together with the anchor plate moves along said roof side whereby when the runner piece has moved as far forward as possible along the roof side, the outer end of the belt is moved further towards the front of the vehicle than the runner piece to provide a sufficient space for the passenger to enter or exit the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to anchor devices for seatbelt systems and more particularly to anchor devices utilized in seatbelt systems which automatically fasten the belt about the passenger.
2. Prior Art
Seatbelt systems, by restraining the passenger using a belt during a vehicular emergency, prevent the passenger from hitting dangerous objects and greatly increase the safety of the passenger. However, for reasons such as the difficulty in fastening the belt, etc. the number of seatbelt wearers is very low. As a result, passive seatbelt systems have been proposed which automatically fasten the belt about the passenger after he has seated himself.
These passive seatbelt systems have the outer end of the passenger restraining belt fastened to a truck by an anchor plate. By causing the truck to move forward or backward along the roof side of the vehicle, the belt is caused to approach or leave the passenger's seat to thereby automatically fasten or unfasten the belt about the passenger.
In such automatic fastening seatbelt systems, in order that the entrance or exit of the passenger is not interfered with, it is necessary that a sufficient space be formed between the belt and the passenger seat at times when the passenger is entering or exiting the vehicle. However, since the front end of the roof side connects to the front pillar of the vehicle, there is a possibility that the outer end of the belt will come into contact with the passenger when he enters or exits the vehicle even though the truck moves as far as possible towards the front of the vehicle.


Techniques, an apparatus and an article of manufacture for distributed scalable clustering and community detection. A method includes generating a label for each node in a graph, wherein said label identifies a community in which a node participates, propagating each label locally within two or more segments of the graph based on a participation percentage of each node in at least one identified community within the graph, and deriving at least one cluster of nodes in the graph that corresponds to the at least one identified community based on said propagating.

Graph Clustering and community detection on distributed architectures and/or multi-core clusters using large amounts of data (for example, petabytes or more) presents challenges. Existing algorithmic frameworks, disadvantageously, include large time complexity and/or are not scalable on large multi-core clusters. Consequently, a need exists for techniques and/or frameworks to address these issues.

Distributed scalable clustering and community detection

International Business Machines Corporation


A straight traveling apparatus for a construction machine and a control method thereof are provided which can allow a curved travel when the working device is operated during the curved travel.

The present invention relates to a straight traveling apparatus, more specifically, a straight traveling apparatus for a construction machine and a control method thereof, which allows a curved travel when the working devices (boom, arm, etc.) are operated during a travel.
FIG. 1 shows a hydraulic circuit of the straight traveling apparatus which controls the straight travel valve electrically according to the prior art.
As shown in FIG. 1, the first and second variable displacement hydraulic pumps (hereinafter, the first and second hydraulic pumps) (1, 2) and the pilot pump (17) are connected to the engine (not shown).
A first travel control valve (5) and first working control valves (6, 7) are installed in a flow path (3) that is connected to the first hydraulic pump (1). The first travel control valve (5) controls the hydraulic oil that is supplied to the left travel motor (4), and the first working device switch valves (6, 7) controls the hydraulic oil that is supplied to the first working device (e.g. arm).
A second travel control valve (10) and second working control valves (11, 12) are installed in a flow path (8) that is connected to the second hydraulic pump (2). The second travel control valve (10) controls the hydraulic oil that is supplied to the right travel motor (9), and the second working device control valves (11, 12) controls the hydraulic oil that is supplied to the second working device (e.g. boom).
The straight travel valve (14) is installed at an upstream of the flow path (8), which is switched by the pilot pressure applied from the electrical control valve. When the working device, e.g. boom, is operated during a travel, the straight travel control valve (14) is switched so that the hydraulic oil of the first hydraulic pump (1) is supplied to the left travel motor (4) and right travel motor (9), respectively, while the hydraulic oil of the second hydraulic pump (2) is supplied to the first working device and the second working device, respectively.
Thus, some of the hydraulic oil of the first hydraulic pump (1) is supplied to the left travel motor (4) by way of the flow path (3) and the first travel control valve (5), and the rest of the hydraulic oil of the first hydraulic pump (1) is supplied to the first working device by way of the flow paths (3, 15), straight travel valve (14), and first working device switch valve (6, 7).
Also, some of the hydraulic oil of the second hydraulic pump (2) is supplied to the right travel motor (4) by way of the path (8), the straight travel valve (14) and the second travel control valve (10), and the rest of the hydraulic oil of the second hydraulic pump (2) is supplied to the second working device by way of the flow paths (8, 16) and the second working device switch valves (11, 12).
On the other hand, when the working device, e.g. boom, is operated during the travel, the spool of the straight traveling control valve (14) is switched to the right direction in the drawing by the pilot pressure applied from the electrical control valve.
Due to this spool switching, some of the hydraulic oil of the first hydraulic pump (1) is supplied to the left traveling motor (4) by way of the flow path (3) and the first travel control valve (5), and the rest of the hydraulic oil of the first hydraulic pump (1) is supplied to the right travel motor (9) by way of the flow paths (3, 15), the straight travel valve (14), and the second travel control valve (10). Meanwhile, some of the hydraulic oil of the second hydraulic pump (2) is supplied to the first working device by way of the flow path (8), the straight travel valve (14) and the first working device switch valves (6, 7), and the rest of the hydraulic oil of the second hydraulic pump (2) is supplied to the second working device by way of the flow paths (8, 16) and the second working device switch valves (11, 12).
As described above, when the working device, e.g. boom, is operated during the travel, the hydraulic oil of the first hydraulic pump (1) is supplied to the left travel motor (4) and right travel motor (9), respectively, while the hydraulic oil of the second hydraulic pump (2) is supplied to the first working device and the second working device, respectively.
Hence, in case that the working device is operated during the travel, the apparatus can move straight as the single travel can be prevented due to the overload applied to the working device.
FIG. 2 shows the hydraulic circuit of the straight travel apparatus which controls the straight travel valve hydraulically.
As shown in FIG. 2, when the working device, e.g. boom, is operated during the travel, the straight travel valve (14) is switched so that the hydraulic oil of the first hydraulic pump (1) is supplied to the left travel motor (4) and right travel motor (9), respectively, while the hydraulic oil of the second hydraulic pump (2) is supplied to the first working device and the second working device, respectively. The straight travel control valve (14) is installed in the upper side of the path (8), and switched by the pilot pressure applied from the pilot pump (17).
In this case, since the configuration is same as that in FIG. 1 except the pilot pump, the detailed description will be abbreviated with same reference numerals for the overlapping parts in the drawing.
FIG. 3 shows the drive track according to the prior art when the working device is operated during a curved travel.
As shown in FIG. 3, when the working device is operated simultaneously with a straight traveling apparatus in a combined operation with a curved travel along the drive track, the straight travel valve (14) is switched to make a straight travel, and the machine is not put under the curved travel. Thus, when the straight travel valve (14) is switched during the curved travel, it may cause the safety problem to occur since the machine moves straight against the driver's intention for the curved travel.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a straight traveling apparatus for the construction machine and a control method thereof, which secures the safety by the curved travel at the driver's intention when the working devices are operated during the curved travel.
In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a straight traveling apparatus for a construction machine comprising:
a first and a second variable displacement hydraulic pump and a pilot pump;
a left travel motor and a first working device that are operated by the first variable displacement hydraulic pump;
a plurality of control valves that are installed in a flow path of the first hydraulic pump and control the hydraulic oil supplied to the left travel motor or the first working device;
a right travel motor and a second working device that are operated by the second variable displacement hydraulic pump;
a plurality of control valves that are installed in a flow path of the second variable displacement hydraulic pump and control the hydraulic oil supplied to the right travel motor or the second working device;
a straight travel valve that is switched by the pilot pressure operated by an electrical control valve, the straight travel valve, when being switching, supplying the hydraulic oil of one of the first and second hydraulic variable displacement pumps to the left and right travel motors while supplying the hydraulic oil of the other of the first and second variable displacement hydraulic pumps to the left and right working devices;
a pressure detection sensor for detecting the pilot pressure applied to the left and right travel motor control valves and the pilot pressure applied to the first and second working device control valves; and
a controller that outputs a control signal to the electrical control valve so that the pilot pressure applied to the straight travel valve is blocked in case that the difference between the pilot pressures applied to the left and right travel motor control valves is larger than the pre-set pressure value, when the first and second working devices are operated during a travel.
According to the embodiment of an aspect of the present invention having the above-described configuration, a method for controlling a straight traveling apparatus for a construction machine including a left travel motor and a first working device that are operated by a first variable displacement hydraulic pump; a first working device control valve that is installed in a flow path that is connected to the first variable displacement hydraulic pimp; a right travel motor and a second working device that are operated by a second variable displacement hydraulic pump; a second working device control valve that is installed in a flow path that is connected to the second variable displacement hydraulic pump; a straight travel valve that is switched by a pilot pressure applied from an electrical control valve; a pressure detection sensor for detecting the pilot pressures applied to left and right travel motor control valves as well as the first and second working device control valves; and a controller to which the detection signal from the pressure detection sensor is inputted, the method comprising:
a step of detecting the pilot pressures applied to the left and right travel motor control valves as well as the pilot pressures applied to the first and second working device control valves;
a step of calculating a pressure difference between the pilot pressures applied to the left and right travel motor control valves;
a step of comparing the calculated pressure difference with the pre-set pressure value, when the first and second working devices are operated during a travel; and
a step of blocking the pilot pressure applied to the straight travel valve from the electrical control valve by recognizing the a curved travel mode when the calculated pressure difference is larger than the pre-set pressure value.
According to another embodiment of an aspect of the present invention having the above-described configuration, a straight traveling apparatus for a construction machine comprising:
a first and a second variable displacement hydraulic pumps and a pilot pump;
a left travel motor and a first working device that are operated by the first variable displacement hydraulic pump;
a plurality of control valves that are installed in a path that is connected to the first variable displacement hydraulic pump and control the hydraulic oil supplied to the left travel motor or the first working device;
a right travel motor and a second working device that are operated by the second variable displacement hydraulic pump;
a plurality of control valves that are installed in a path that is connected to the second variable displacement hydraulic pump and control the hydraulic oil supplied to the right travel motor or the second working device;
a straight travel valve that is switched by a pilot pressure applied from the pilot pump and supplies an hydraulic oil that is discharged from one of the first and second variable displacement hydraulic pumps to the left and right travel motors while supplying an hydraulic oil that is discharged from the other of the first and second variable displacement hydraulic pumps to the left and right working devices; and
a straight travel detection valve that is installed in a flow path between the pilot pump and the straight travel valve,
wherein the straight travel detection valve is switched and blocks the pilot pressure applied to the straight travel valve in case that a pressure difference between the pilot pressures applied to the left and right travel motor control valves is larger than the pre-set pressure value of a valve spring at both ends of the straight travel detection valve, when the first and second working devices are operated during a travel.
Preferably, the electrical control valve includes a solenoid valve, the proportional pressure reducing valve being adjusted to allow the pilot pressure from the pilot pump to the straight travel valve, in response to an electrical signal that is applied from the controller.
More preferably, the electrical control valve includes a proportional pressure reducing valve, wherein an hydraulic oil supplied from the pilot pump is converted to a pilot pressure in response to the electrical signal applied from the controller, and the pilot pressure is applied to the straight travel valve.
A first and second shuttle valves are provided, the first shuttle valve for selecting the pilot pressure which is relatively higher between the pilot pressures at both ends of the left travel motor control valve, and applying the selected pilot pressure to one pressure receiving port of the straight travel detection valve; and the second shuttle valve for selecting the pilot pressure which is relatively higher between the pilot pressures at both ends of the right travel motor control valve, and applying the selected pilot pressure to the other pressure receiving port of the straight travel detection valve.
When the difference between the pilot pressures is below the pre-set pressure value, the straight travel mode is recognized and the pilot pressure from the electrical control valve is applied to the straight travel valve to be switched.
According to an aspect of the present invention having the configuration described above, when the working device is operated simultaneously with the straight traveling apparatus in a combined operation during the curved travel, the straight travel mode is blocked and the machine is allowed for the curved travel, so that it has the effect of protecting the driver and machine from the safety accident.
                1; first variable displacement hydraulic pump        2; second hydraulic pump        3, 8; flow path        4; left travel motor        5; first travel motor control valve        6; first working device control valve        9; right travel motor        10; second travel motor control valve        11; second working device control valve        13; electrical control valve        14; straight travel valve        17, 18, 21, 22; pressure sensor        19, 20; joystick        23; controller        24; first shuttle valve        25; second shuttle valve        26; straight travel detection valve        27, 27a; drive pedal

Driving straight ahead device for construction machine and control method therefor


A method for information interaction under small cell deployment, includes: a master evolved node B adding a candidate secondary evolved node B for a user equipment (S10); the master evolved node B interacting local home network information with the candidate secondary evolved node B via an inter-evolved node B interface (S20); the master evolved node B determining whether to use the candidate secondary evolved node B to provide the user equipment with a dual connectivity service (S30). The embodiments of the present document can provide a guarantee for selecting a standalone gateway to support a selected Internet Protocol (IP) traffic offload at local network (SIPTO@LN) service aiming at the dual connectivity service feature under small cell deployment. The embodiments of the present document further disclose an evolved node B working under small cell deployment

As shown in FIG. 1, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system architecture in the related art comprises: a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Serving GateWay (SGW) and Evolved Node Bs (eNBs); wherein, an interface between user equipment (UE) and the eNB is a UU interface, an interface between the eNB and the MME is an S1-MME (S1 for the control plane) interface, an interface between the eNB and the SGW is an S1-U interface, and an interface between the eNBs is an X2-U (X2-User plane) or X2-C (X2-Control plane) interface. In LTE, the protocol stack of the S1-MME interface is divided from bottom to up into the following protocol layers: L1 protocol, L2 protocol, Internet Protocol (IP), Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), S1-Application Protocol (S1-AP). In LTE, the protocol stack of the S1-U interface is divided from bottom to top into the following protocol layers: L1 Protocol, L2 protocol, User Datagram Protocol/Internet Protocol (UDP/IP), GPRS Tunneling Protocol-User plane (GTP-U).
Currently, due to the lack of spectrum resources and the sharp increase of high-traffic services of mobile users, in order to increase the user throughput and enhance the mobility performance, the demand of using a high-frequency point (such as 3.5 GHz) to perform hotspot coverage is increasingly obvious, and using low-power nodes becomes a new application scenario. However, since the signal attenuation at a high-frequency point is relatively serious, the coverage of the new cells is relatively small, and the new cells do not share stations with the existing cells, therefore, if a user moves between these new cells, or moves between the new cells and the existing cells, frequent handover processes are inevitably caused, consequently the user information is frequently transferred between the evolved node Bs, which causes a great signaling impact on the core network, and further restraints the introduction of a large number of small cellular evolved node Bs at the wireless side. As shown in FIG. 2, under small cell deployment architecture, the dual connectivity service of the user plane can reduce the frequent handovers due to the movement of the user equipment. The dual connectivity of the user plane means: user data may be distributed from the core network via the Master eNB (MeNB) to the user, or from the core network via the Secondary evolved node B (SeNB) to the user. Wherein, an interface between the user equipment and the evolved node B is a UU interface, an interface between the MeNB and the MME is an S1-MME interface, an interface between the MeNB, the SeNB and the SGW is an S1-U interface, and an interface between the eNBs is an Xn interface. After the user accesses to the MeNB, the dual connectivity may be implemented by the way of adding, modifying or deleting the SeNB.
On the other hand, along with a wide range of user demands for local services and INTERNET services, for the user equipment (UE) and the core network, a permanent online function needs to be supported (i.e., after a data connectivity is established, the UE may send data to an external data network at any time, while the external data network may also send data to the UE). The external data network refers to an IP network that does not belong to the Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), but has a connection with the PLMN. For the LIPA@LN (Local IP Access at Local Network) or SIPTO@LN (Selected IP Traffic Offload at Local Network) function, if the gateway supporting the LIPA or SIPTO service is separated from the evolved node B (which may be a macro evolved node B or a home evolved node B), we call the gateway as a standalone GW, and the standalone gateway usually also supports the SGW function. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the architecture of an SIPTO@LN standalone LGW, and under the architecture of the SIPTO@LN standalone LGW, the SGW and the PGW (commonly referred to as LGW) of the UE are located in the wireless-side access network, and are separated from the (H)eNB.
In the relevant LTE system, in order to implement the SIPTO@LN function, under the scenario of a standalone gateway, the concept of local home network is defined, that is, a set of evolved node Bs or home evolved node Bs achieve local IP access to SIPTO@LN via one or more standalone gateways. The LHN ID (Local Home Network ID) is used to uniquely identify the local network in one PLMN. Currently one gateway can only belong to one LHN ID. The evolved node B (which may be a macro evolved node B or a home evolved node B) needs to report the locally supported LHN ID to a core network through a UE-specific message, and the SIPTO service PDN GW (Packet Data Network Gateway) selection is performed by selecting a service standalone gateway according to the LHN ID provided by the evolved node B or the home evolved node B ((H)eNB). Therefore, the (H)eNB needs to carry the LHN ID in an INITIAL UE MESSAGE and an UPLINK NAS TRANSPORT message.

Method for conducting interaction on information in environment of small evolved node B, evolved node B, and mobility management entity


Pincers are describe for throwing and catching a flying disc such as a FRISBEE (a trade mark). The pincers are made up of a pair of pivotally interconnected jaws for selectively grasping and releasing the flying disc. The jaws are operated by a pair of handles which are pivotally attached to each other and each of which is pivotally attached to a separate jaw. Opening and closing of the handles produce a like opening and closing of the jaws with resulting grasping and releasing of the disc.

This invention relates to a device for catching and throwing a projectile. More particularly the invention relates to pincers for launching a flying disc such as a FRISBEE (a trade mark) in flight and for intercepting and grabbing the disc as it is travelling through the air.
Devices are known for launching projectiles such as FRISBEES in flight. The U.S. patent to Perkins, referred to above, illustrates one such device. That device includes a yoke for engaging the device and an elastic band which serves as a catapult. When the device is attached to the yoke and is swung upward the device is projected into the air.
Devices such as that described in the Perkins patent suffer from a number of shortcomings. They can for example only be used for launching discs into the air; they cannot be used for catching them when they are in flight. Moreover such devices employ mechanical means, such as a catapult, for accelerating the discs through the air. In addition to the foregoing such devices are relatively complicated of construction and hence are relatively expensive to produce.

Pincers for throwing and catching a flying disc


Disclosed herein are aspects of a staff scheduling system for preparing a staffing schedule report for at least one elementary education campus of a school district. In one embodiment, a staff scheduler comprises at least one interface for receiving a plurality of inputs from at least one external computing device; and a processor configured to perform a staff scheduling algorithm to generate a staffing schedule report for each of the elementary education campuses, wherein the staff scheduling algorithm generates a series of input prompts and decisions based on the plurality of inputs. The plurality of inputs may include at least student data, teacher data, enrollment data, and required minutes per course per week.

School districts are required to maintain a certain student to staff ratio, provide certain required courses, while remaining within budgets for their district. At elementary school campuses, there are generally classroom teachers; "specials" teachers, such as, music, art, physical education, library, and other teachers; and also instructional specialists, such as gifted and talented, reading specialist, English as a Second Language (ESL), and other special instructors. There may, in some campuses, be special education instructors for students with learning or physical disabilities requiring specially designed instruction. Determining staffing for the elementary education campuses can be challenging for districts as enrollment fluctuates. What is needed is a system for determining staffing requirements for elementary education campuses.

System, apparatus, and method for generating elementary staffing schedules


One embodiment provides a method for determining at least one recommended vehicular travel route, the method including collecting a plurality of travel route inputs from a plurality of sources, relative to a travel route comprising a starting point and an ending point; determining at least one travel route recommendation by (i) assessing the collected plurality of travel route inputs and (ii) taking in to consideration vehicle emission impact parameters; and tracking vehicle adherence. Other variants and embodiments are broadly contemplated herein.

Air pollution, the contamination of the indoor or outdoor environment by any chemical, physical or biologic agent that modifies the natural characteristics of the atmosphere, has been on a steep rise in numerous cities across the globe. It is one of the primary reasons for deterioration in the quality of urban life and responsible for many deaths and serious health disorders. Pollutants of major public health concern include particulate matter, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide. Motor vehicle emission is a leading cause of air pollution, but difficult to regulate compared to industry emissions, since vehicles move across geographical zones and individual vehicle emissions are not easily estimated. Various government agencies have made (or are considering) attempts to reduce emissions using appropriate incentive mechanisms, for example, tolls or taxes, and/or by publishing area-specific air quality indices to enable environmentally conscious citizens to self-regulate.

Travel planning based on minimizing impact of vehicular emission

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


Disclosed is a centrifugal-blower impeller, which consists of a center part and radially outer part, which has a smaller thickness of material than the center part. The outer part consists of ring segments attached by welding to the periphery of the center part. The ring segments are first welded to the center part and thereafter radially to each other so that the ring segments are subject to tensile stress and the center part to compressive stress.

The present invention relates to an impeller in a centrifugal blower, the front and/or back plate of the impeller being made up of a center part and a radially outer part attached to it and having a material thickness smaller than that of the center part. The front and back plates of the impeller are plate disks. In rotating plate disks, stresses increase towards the hub. The stresses are tensile. Obtaining a disk of even strength by reducing its thickness towards the periphery is previously known. Likewise, the manufacture of impellers by welding is part of current technology. Furthermore, prestressing of structures is used in both construction technology and mechanical engineering, as is also prestressing by means of welding. It is also known that different stresses prevail in different parts of the impeller of a blower, and owing to the aerodynamic form it has not been possible entirely to even out these stresses by varying the thickness of material. Prestressing of the structure is in this case the only usable method by which stress peaks can be lowered. Several attempts have been made. In one structure the front plate is tied to the hub by means of tensing bars, which are prestressed. The characteristics that attempts of this type have in common is that they require additional parts which result in additional costs, limit the blower's uses and lower the performance of the blower. In the case mentioned, the tensing bars increase the noise produced by the blower and lower its efficiency. The lowering of stress peaks achieved by these means is quite modest.


According to one embodiment, in a measurement apparatus, a controller acquires a first signal waveform, a second signal waveform, and a third signal waveform. Among mth diffraction light and ±nth diffraction light, the first signal waveform is related to spatial distribution of light intensity about first interference light by interference of the ±nth diffraction light. The second signal waveform is related to spatial distribution of light intensity about second interference light by interference of the mth diffraction light and the +nth diffraction light. The third signal waveform is related to spatial distribution of light intensity about third interference light by interference of the mth diffraction light and the −nth diffraction light. The controller calculates a measurement error component based on a phase difference between the second signal waveform and the third signal waveform. The controller corrects the first signal waveform with using the calculated measurement error component.

In an exposure apparatus, to perform alignment between the exposure apparatus and a substrate, interference light according to diffraction light diffracted with an alignment mark on the substrate is detected, and alignment measurement is performed, by a measurement apparatus. At this time, improvement of accuracy of the alignment measurement is desired.

Measurement apparatus, exposure apparatus, measurement method, and recording medium


A method and device automatically engage an emergency descent function of an aircraft as a function of pressure variation measured in the cabin of the aircraft.

It may however transpire, following a fault or an incident, that the pressurization of the airplane can no longer be maintained at an acceptable level. A regulatory procedure then compels the pilot to take the airplane down, as rapidly as possible, to a breathable altitude of 10 000 feet (about 3000 meters). This procedure is called an emergency descent.
In this case, the crew is responsible for the various tasks related to the initiation of the descent, as well as to the management of the descent until leveling off at low altitude.
It may nevertheless transpire, although very rarely, that the crew is no longer in a position to enter the commands required for piloting the airplane, for example in the case of a pressurization fault that has caused the crew to lose consciousness. The airplane is in this case left to itself, although it is absolutely necessary to perform an emergency descent. If, in such a situation, the automatic pilot is engaged, the flight is continued automatically until the fuel reserves are totally exhausted, following which the airplane drops.
Other circumstances such as the shattering of an engine causing a hole in the structure of the airplane for example may lead to the same situation. The inability of the crew to pilot the airplane in such circumstances may therefore have catastrophic consequences.
To remedy this type of situation, an automatic piloting system is known which, when it is engaged, makes it possible to carry out the emergency descent in an automatic manner, that is to say without requiring the aid of a pilot. Moreover, the engagement of an automatic emergency descent such as this can be carried out, either manually by the pilot, or also in an automatic manner. A mode of automatic engagement of a descent function is based, generally, on the absence of reaction of the crew to an alert which indicates an excessive altitude of the cabin. To detect an excessive altitude, the pressure of the air inside the cabin is measured, and an alert is emitted when this pressure is below a predetermined pressure threshold.
This standard solution exhibits the drawback of triggering the emergency descent function only when the pressure of the air in the cabin falls to said pressure threshold. However, so as not to cause untimely triggerings, it is necessary for this pressure threshold not to be too high. However, there may be a relatively significant duration between the occurrence of a pressurization problem and the attaining of this pressure threshold. And it is known that the longer the exposure of an organism to an insufficient pressure, the greater the risk of hypoxia. Consequently, this standard solution for automatically triggering an emergency descent is not completely satisfactory.

Method and device for automatically controlling an emergency descent of an aircraft


Disclosed herein is a semiconductor device, including: a first group of transistors formed on a semiconductor substrate; and a second group of transistors formed on the semiconductor substrate, each of which is lower in operating voltage than each of the transistors in the first group; wherein each of the transistors in the first group includes a first gate electrode formed on the semiconductor substrate through a first gate insulating film, and a silicide layer formed on the first gate electrode; each of the transistors in the second group includes a second gate electrode formed in a trench for gate formation, formed in an insulating film above the semiconductor substrate, through a second gate insulating film; and a protective film is formed so as to cover the silicide layer on each of the first gate electrodes of the first group of transistors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device in which transistors different in applied voltage from one another are embedded, and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
An increase in gate leakage current in silicon oxide system gate insulating film, and depletion in a polysilicon system gate electrode have become problems with promotion of high integration of MISFETs. As measures taken to cope with such problems, adoption of a gate stack structure having a gate insulating film having a higher permittivity larger than that of a silicon oxide, and a metallic gate (hereinafter referred to as "a high permittivity film/metallic gate") is discussed for high-speed operation and low-power consumption MIS type transistors. However, utilizing a normal manufacturing method results in that a heat history after the high permittivity film/metallic gate is formed is high. As a result, there is encountered such a problem that the characteristics and reliability of the high-permittivity insulating film are deteriorated, and a value of a work function of the metallic gate shifts from a design value.
In order to solve this problem, a buried gate (for example, a damascene gate) structure is proposed. This buried gate structure is obtained by completing a prime heat treatment process necessary for transistor formation before the high permittivity film/metallic gate is formed. The technique relating to this buried gate structure, for example, is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-102443 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). A method of forming this buried gate structure when a metallic electrode, for example, is used is described as follows. That is to say, a gate insulating film and a gate electrode portion are removed once after a transistor structure having a silicon oxide system gate insulating film and a polysilicon system gate electrode is formed, and a metallic system oxide film and a metallic electrode are newly buried therein. According to this method, the metallic electrode is prevented from being deteriorated because the heat treatment necessary for the transistor formation is completed before the formation of the metallic electrode.
However, the high-speed operation and the low-power consumption are demanded for the actual semiconductor devices. For this reason, in order to meet these requirements, a transistor adopting the metallic system oxide film and the metallic electrode, and a transistor adopting an existing silicon oxide system gate insulating film and the polysilicon system gate electrode for the high-speed operation are mixedly formed in the actual semiconductor device. Therefore, the damascene gate structure having the high permittivity film/metallic gate for the high-speed operation and low-voltage operation, and a gate structure having a thicker gate insulating film showing a high withstand voltage have to be formed on the same semiconductor substrate of the same chip in the embedded manner.
Patent Document 1 discloses a method of manufacturing a transistor structure having a polysilicon gate electrode made of cobalt silicide and a gate insulating film formed from a silicon oxide film, and a damascene structure having a titanium nitride film and a tantalum oxide film. In addition, a method is also proposed in which a damascene gate electrode for a high-speed operation and low-voltage operation is formed to be higher than a polysilicon gate electrode for a high-withstand voltage operation in a damascene gate processing stage. Also, this method aims at preventing the polysilicon gate electrode from being polished when a metal is polished by utilizing a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) method. This method, for example, is described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-6475 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2).
In the case of the structure in which the low-voltage operation transistor (LV) having the damascene structure having the high-permittivity film/metallic gate for the high-speed and low-power consumption operation, and the high-withstand voltage (high-voltage operation) transistor (MV/HV) having the silicon oxide/polysilicon gate are integrated on one chip, it is disclosed to form a gate silicide layer of the high-withstand transistor before the formation of the low-voltage operation transistor. This, for example, is described in Patent Documents 1 and 2.
With the technique described in Patent Document 1, when a dummy polysilicon gate of the low-voltage operation transistor is removed, a cobalt silicide layer of the polysilicon gate of the high-withstand voltage transistor is used as a mask in order to prevent the polysilicon gate in the high-withstand voltage transistor region from being etched. However, there is still left such a problem that a gate resistance value increases because the cobalt silicide layer is trimmed.
On the other hand, as shown in the technique described in Patent Document 2, when an interlayer insulating film is polished by utilizing the CMP method, the central portion of the interlayer insulating film sags downward due to roughness and denseness of a density with which the gate is formed. As a result, there is caused such a problem that a metalized film formed by utilizing an electroless plating method is left in the resulting recess portion when the metallic film is subsequently polished by utilizing the CMP method. When the polishing is performed excessively for the purpose of preventing the metallic film from being left in the recess portion, the polysilicon gate is over-trimmed. In order to solve this problem, the method described in Patent Document 2 is proposed such that the damascene gate (replacement gate) of the low-voltage operation transistor is formed to be higher than the gate of the high-withstand voltage transistor in the stage of processing the dummy gate. However, it is not easy to suitably determine the processing conditions or the like for the dry etching of the dummy gate for the purpose of controlling a base step necessary for the lithography process in the phase of processing the dummy gate.

Semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same


The invention relates to a method for the open-loop control of an internal combustion engine, which is operated with a fuel blend of an initial and at least one second fuel, the internal combustion engine having a fuel metering system, a tank fill-level gauge for determining the tank content and a change in the tank content, a sensor for the detection of the cylinder charge for determining an air mass supplied to the internal combustion engine and at least one exhaust gas probe for determining and controlling the oxygen content in the exhaust gas in a closed-loop. According to the invention, two methods, which are independent from each other, are used for determining the composition of the fuel blend.

Internal combustion engines on the basis of Otto (gasoline) engines are generally operated with fuel from hydrocarbons, from fossil fuels based on refined crude oil. Alcohol produced from renewable resources (plants), for example, ethanol or methanol, is increasingly being added in various mixing ratios to this fuel. In the USA and Europe, a blend of 75-85% ethanol and 15-25% gasoline is often utilized under the trade name E85. The internal combustion engines are designed in such a way that they can be operated with pure gasoline as well as with blends up to E85. This is denoted as a "flex-fuel operation". The operating parameters in the flex-fuel operation have to be adapted in each case to the existing fuel blend for an efficient operation with only a small discharge of toxic emissions; while at the same time high engine performance is guaranteed. A stoichiometric air-fuel ratio is, for example, present at 14.7 mass parts of air per part of gasoline; however, when using ethanol, a proportion of air of 9 mass parts must be set.
The current fuel composition before the point of injection time and the current exhaust gas composition, therefore the partial pressure of the oxygen in the exhaust gas, are determined via the interaction of sensors, and are conveyed to the control electronics of the internal combustion engine. Based on this sensor-data, the combustion of the internal combustion engine is optimized, especially via the setting of the ignition timing and the most advantageous air-fuel ratio.
Various fuel composition sensors are utilized to determine the composition of the fuel blend. Fuel composition sensors use the various properties of alcohol and gasoline for determining the composition of the fuel. Therefore, ethanol, for example, is a protic solvent, which contains hydrogen ions and has a large dielectric constant, which is, however, dependent on the water content. Gasoline, on the other hand, is an aprotic solvent with a small dielectric constant. Based on this, there are fuel composition sensors, which determine the fuel composition with the aid of the dielectric properties of the fuel blend. Other fuel composition sensors use the differing electric conductivity or the differing optical properties of the fuels, like, for example, the differing refractive indexes.
Furthermore, systems for determining the fuel composition are known, which do not use specific fuel composition sensors, but which evaluate the signals of the existing sensors in the internal combustion engine. With these systems as well as with systems using fuel composition sensors, a mixture adaptation is carried out, which corrects systematic mixture errors, that can occur because of air leakage or railpressure-offset. Multiplicative mixture errors, which have an equal effect in the entire load speed range, can, in the steady state operation of an engine at operating temperature, initially not be distinguished from mixture deviations due to a modified mixing ratio. A modified stoichiometric factor of the air/fuel mixture is consequently not detectable in this case, and an incorrectly working ethanol sensor would not be detectable and would lead to a trimming of the mixture adaptation.
In systems without an ethanol sensor, the determination of the fuel mixing ratio takes place by means of a fuel adaptation. When a fuel adaptation takes place, the mixture adaptation is temporarily discontinued after fueling, and the fuel-tank ventilation is blocked, so that an undefined amount of fuel via the intake air can not falsify the fuel adaptation. Subsequently, the fuel mixing ratio of ethanol and gasoline can be determined, for example, via the proportion of air and fuel required for a stoichiometric combustion.
Especially a temporary, but systematic mixture deviation present during the fuel adaptation leads to a divergence of the adaptation values. An incorrectly adapted fuel mixing ratio can likewise mistakenly be adapted as a mixture error in the mixture adaptation; or a mixture error in the fuel adaptation, which occurs during the fuel adaptation, can be mistakenly adapted as a fuel mixing ratio. A fuel mixing ratio, which is falsely determined, does not, in fact, have any influence on the air/fuel ratio lambda in the steady state operation of an engine at operating temperature. It does, however, erroneously affect the settings of the engine management system for the calculation of the angular ignition spacing, for the cold start behavior and for optimizing the degree of efficiency.
The task of the invention is to provide a method, which makes a reliable and cost-effective detection of the composition of a fuel blend of at least two fuels possible.

Method for determining the composition of a fuel blend


A support element for supporting a rotatable belt in a double belt press, which element includes a central portion presenting a reaction zone in which pressing forces are generated and end portions enclosing the central portion and defining belt return regions for the rotatable belt, is composed of a first part defining the central portion, a second part defining one end portion coextensive with the first part along a meeting plane and movable relative to the first part, components establishing a pivot connection between the parts along one edge of the meeting plane, and two piston-cylinder units mounted between the parts in the vicinity of the edge of the meeting plane opposite the one plane and spaced apart in a direction parallel to the axis of the pivot connection between the parts, the units being arranged to pivot the parts away from one another under the action of pressure medium in the cylinders of the units and to produce respectively different operating forces.

The present invention relates to structures employed in double belt presses for simultaneously tensioning and controlling the stationary and rotating belts.
In double belt presses operating according to the rolling bed principle, a compression force is generated in a reaction zone between rotating belts which are driven externally via their edges. The belts are supported by a stationary supporting structure via a succession of roller bearings from a roller bed for each belt. The forces generated in the reaction zone as well as the driving or friction forces are transmitted to the supporting structure through each roller bed. This state of the art is disclosed in my U.S. Application Ser. No. 114,673, filed Jan. 23, 1980 for CONTINUOUS LAMINATING MACHINE and corresponding to German Application No. P 27 37 629.0 of Aug. 20, 1977.
The solution disclosed in those applications for tensioning presents certain drawbacks in that it is not as economical as it could be, and is not suitable for influencing, i.e., controlling, the direction of movement of the belts through the reaction zone. However, such control is necessary if specific, high pressures are to be established in the reaction zone of the double belt press or if, for example, flaws occur in the geometric configuration of the supporting structure as a result of deformations.

Belt tensioning and control for double belt presses