A first channel (20) is formed by sequentially connecting a compressor (21), a vapor separator (55), a heat exchanger (30) and an expander (22). In the first channel (20), a room air is taken as a primary air and discharged to outdoors. A second channel (40) is formed by connecting a heat exchanger (30) to a second inlet duct (43) and a second outlet duct (44). In the second channel (40), an outside air is taken as a secondary air and supplied to a room. The vapor separator (55) is connected to a vacuum pump (36). The vapor separator (55) separates vapor from the compressed primary air to dehumidify the primary air to or below the absolute humidity of the outside air. The vapor separated by the vapor separator (55) is partly supplied to the secondary air in the second outlet duct (44). Then, the secondary air thus humidified is supplied to the room.

This invention relates to an air conditioning system using an air cycle.
A conventional refrigerator operating through an air cycle is disclosed, for example, in xe2x80x9cShin-ban Reito-Kucho-Binran Dai-4-han Kiso-henxe2x80x9d pp.45-48, published by Japan Society of Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers. Alternatively, a heating system in which an air cycle is used to form a heat pump is disclosed in xe2x80x9cAIRAH JOURNALxe2x80x9d June 1997 pp.16-21, published by The Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating. Hereinafter, this heating system will be described.
As shown in FIG. 9, the above heating system comprises a heat source side channel (a) and a heat application side channel (f). The heat source side channel (a) is formed by connecting a compressor (b), a first heat exchanger (c), a second heat exchanger (d) and an expander (e) in this order and arranged to operate through an air refrigeration cycle. On the other hand, the heat application side channel (f) is formed by connecting the second heat exchanger (d), a humidifier (g) and the first heat exchanger (c) in this order.
Further, in the heat source side channel (a), when the compressor (b) is driven, a room air being discharged for ventilation is taken in the compressor (b) and compressed therein. The compressed air sequentially flows through the first heat exchanger (c) and the second heat exchanger (d), is expanded in the expander (e) and is then discharged to outdoors. On the other hand, in the heat application side channel (f), an outside air being supplied to the room for ventilation is taken in and sequentially flows through the second heat exchanger (d), the humidifier (g) and the first heat exchanger (c). During this flow, the outside air is heated through heat exchange with the air of the heat source side channel (a) in both the heat exchangers (d, c) and humidified in the humidifier (g). The system provides heating for the room by heating and humidifying the outside air taken in the heat application side channel (f) and then supplying it to the room.
As described above, in the conventional heating system, the room air taken in the heat source side channel (a) does nothing but to sequentially flow through the compressor (b), both the heat exchangers (c, d) and the expander (e). Therefore, the following problems arise.
The actual air contains a certain amount of moisture. The air reaches a low temperature through expansion in the expander. Therefore, moisture in the air is condensed so that water droplets will be ejected together with the air from the expander. Further, when the heating system is operated as a heat pump, the temperature of the air undergoing expansion often drops to sub-zero Celsius temperatures. In this case, moisture in the air may be frozen into ice and ejected as snow combined with the air.
This problem is highlighted particularly in such a structure that supplies a room air to the compressor as in the above-described heating system. Specifically, during heating, the absolute humidity of a room air is generally higher than that of an outside air. Therefore, the air higher in absolute humidity than the outside air will be discharged from the compressor. As a result, not only moisture in the air may be condensed at the expansion, but also moisture in the air discharged from the expander may be condensed and blown out as mist.
Accordingly, the conventional heating system requires a structure for disposing of water droplets and ice discharged together with the air from the expander. Particularly, when the system has caused freezing, the processes of defrosting ice and then draining off defrosted water are needed. This creates the need for components for such processes and therefore induces the problem that the system construction is complicated.
On the contrary, if the air temperature at the inlet of the expander is elevated and the air temperature at the outlet of the expander is thereby increased, it can be prevented that moisture in the air discharged from the expander is condensed. Therefore, the above problem can be avoided. In this case, however, it is necessary to increase the input to the compressor in order to ensure a required heating capacity. This induces the problem of decreasing the COP (coefficient of performance).
If a structure is adopted which supplies an outside air to the heat exchanger in order to cool the compressed air as for example in the above-described heating system, the air temperature at the inlet of the expander may be reduced to provide improved COP because during heating the outside air is generally at a relatively low temperature. In this case, however, the air temperature at the outlet of the condenser cannot be reduced enough to avoid the above-described problem resulting from moisture condensation. Therefore, it is impossible to reduce the air temperature at the inlet of the expander to provide improved COP.
The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing points and therefore has its object of maintaining a high COP and concurrently providing a simplified construction of the system by eliminating the need for drainage and snow removal processes.
The present invention provides for dehumidifying an air, which works in an air cycle, in a portion of the cycle upstream of an expander (22) until the air reaches the absolute humidity of an outside air or below.
More specifically, a first solution taken in the present invention is directed to an air conditioning system that is formed with an air cycle circuit (20) including a compressor (21), a heat exchanger (30) and an expander (22) and configured to provide heating for a room by heating a secondary air through heat exchange with a primary air of the air cycle circuit (20) in the heat exchanger (30) and then supplying the heated secondary air to the room. Further, the system is provided with dehumidifying means (55, 60) for dehumidifying the primary air so that the absolute humidity of the primary air is equal to or below the absolute humidity of an outside air, the dehumidifying means (55, 60) being disposed in a portion of the air cycle circuit (20) upstream of the expander (22).
In a second solution taken in the present invention, based on the first solution, the primary air is an exhaust air being discharged from the room to outdoors or a mixed air of the exhaust air and an outside air and is discharged to outdoors through the expander (22), while the secondary air is an inlet air being supplied from outdoors to the room or a mixed air of the inlet air and a room air and is supplied to the room through the dehumidifying means (55, 60).
In a third solution taken in the present invention, based on the second solution, the dehumidifying means (55, 60) is arranged to supply to the secondary air moisture having been removed from the primary air.
In a fourth solution taken in the present invention, based on any one of the first to third solutions, the dehumidifying means (55) is disposed in a portion of the air cycle circuit (20) located between the compressor (21) and the expander (22) and arranged to dehumidify the primary air compressed by the compressor (21).
In a fifth solution taken in the present invention, based on the fourth solution, the dehumidifying means (55) includes a separation membrane configured so that vapor in the air is permeable from higher side to lower side in vapor partial pressure of the separation membrane, and is arranged to separate vapor from the primary air without condensation.
In a sixth solution taken in the present invention, based on the fifth solution, the separation membrane is formed of a polymer film and configured so that vapor permeates therethrough by diffusion of water molecules into the membrane.
In a seventh solution taken in the present invention, based on the fifth solution, the separation membrane has a large number of pores of substantially the same size as a free path of molecules and configured so that vapor permeates therethrough by capillary condensation and diffusion of water molecules.
In an eighth solution taken in the present invention, based on the fifth solution, the dehumidifying means (55) is arranged to contact one surface of the separation membrane with the compressed primary air and contact the other surface thereof with the secondary air to transfer vapor in the primary air to the secondary air.
In a ninth solution taken in the present invention, based on the fifth solution, pressure reducing means (36) is provided for reducing the pressure of one side of the separation membrane of the dehumidifying means (55) to ensure a difference in vapor partial pressure between both sides of the separation membrane.
In a tenth solution taken in the present invention, based on any one of the first to third solutions, the dehumidifying means (55) is disposed in a portion of the air cycle circuit (20) upstream of the compressor (21) and arranged to dehumidify the primary air to be supplied to the compressor (21).
In an eleventh solution taken in the present invention, based on the tenth solution, the dehumidifying means (60) includes a humidity medium for absorbing and releasing moisture through contact with an air and arranged to allow the humidity medium to absorb moisture in the primary air to be supplied to the compressor (21) while releasing the moisture therein to the secondary air thereby continuously dehumidifying the primary air.
In a twelfth solution taken in the present invention, based on the eleventh solution, the humidity medium of the dehumidifying means (60) is provided with a solid adsorbent for adsorbing moisture.
In a thirteenth solution taken in the present invention, based on the twelfth solution, the humidity medium of the dehumidifying means (60) is formed of a rotor member (61) that is formed in the shape of a disc to allow air passage in a direction of its thickness and provides contact of the passing air with the solid adsorbent, and the dehumidifying means (60) is provided with a moisture absorbing section (62) where the rotor member (61) absorbs moisture in the primary air through contact with the primary air, a moisture releasing section (63) where the rotor member (61) releases moisture therein to the secondary air through contact with the secondary air, and a drive mechanism for rotatively driving the rotor member (61) to allow the rotor member (61) to move between the moisture absorbing section (62) and the moisture releasing section (63).
In a fourteenth solution taken in the present invention, based on the twelfth solution, the solid adsorbent is made of porous inorganic oxide.
In a fifteenth solution taken in the present invention, based on the eleventh solution, the humidity medium of the dehumidifying means (60) comprises a liquid absorbent for absorbing moisture.
In a sixteenth solution taken in the present invention, based on the eleventh solution, the humidity medium of the dehumidifying means (60) comprises a liquid absorbent for absorbing moisture, and the dehumidifying means (60) is arranged so that the liquid absorbent is heated by the primary air coming from the compressor (21) to release moisture having absorbed from the primary air to the secondary air.
In a seventeenth solution taken in the present invention, based on the fifteenth or sixteenth solution, the dehumidifying means (60) includes a moisture-permeable, hydrophobic porous membrane and is arranged to contact the liquid absorbent with the primary air through the hydrophobic porous membrane.
In an eighteenth solution taken in the present invention, based on the fifteenth or sixteenth solution, the liquid absorbent is made of a water solution of hydrophilic organic compound.
In a nineteenth solution taken in the present invention, based on the fifteenth or sixteenth solution, the liquid absorbent is made of a water solution of metallic halide.
In a twentieth solution taken in the present invention, based on the fifteenth or sixteenth solution, the dehumidifying means (60) comprises a circulation circuit (64) that includes a moisture absorbing section (65) for contacting the liquid absorbent with the primary air and a moisture releasing section (66) for contacting the liquid absorbent with the secondary air and circulates the liquid absorbent between the moisture absorbing section (65) and the moisture releasing section (66).
A twenty-first solution taken in the present invention is, based on any one of the eleventh to twentieth solutions, provided with humidity adjusting means (90) for adding part of moisture being released from the humidity medium to part of the secondary air supplied to the dehumidifying means (60) and then supplying the part of the secondary air to the room, while adding the remaining part of moisture being released from the humidity medium to the remaining part of the secondary air, cooling and dehumidifying the remaining part of the secondary air through heat exchange with the secondary air not yet supplied to the heat exchanger (30) and then supplying the remaining part of the secondary air to the room.
In the first solution, the air cycle circuit (20) operates through an air cycle in a manner that the primary air flows through the compressor (21), the heat exchanger (30) and the expander (22) in this order. In the heat exchanger (30), the secondary air undergoes heat exchange with the compressed primary air so that it is heated. Then, the heated secondary air is supplied to the room thereby providing heating for the room. On the other hand, the primary air is dehumidified by the dehumidifying means (55, 60) so as to reach the absolute humidity of the outside air or below before it arrives at the expander (22). Therefore, even if the temperature of the primary air at the outlet of the expander (22) is set lower than the outside air temperature, it can be prevented that water droplets or ices are produced in the primary air at the outlet of the expander (22).
In the second solution, an air containing at least an exhaust air from the room is taken in as a primary air, flows through the compressor (21), the heat exchanger (30) and the expander (22) in this order, and is then discharged to outdoors. This air is dehumidified by the dehumidifying means (55, 60) before it arrives at the expander (22). Further, an air containing at least an inlet air from outdoors is taken in as a secondary air, is heated through heat exchange with the primary air in the heat exchanger (30), and is then supplied to the room.
In the third solution, the dehumidifying means (55, 60) effects removal of moisture from the primary air and supply of the moisture to the secondary air. In other words, in the dehumidifying means (55, 60), the moisture removed from the primary air is used to humidify the secondary air.
In the fourth solution, moisture is removed from the primary air, which has been compressed by the compressor (21), by the dehumidifying means (55).
In the fifth solution, since the dehumidifying means (55) includes the given separation membrane, moisture in the compressed primary air is separated from the primary air while maintaining its vapor state.
In the sixth or seventh solution, the separation membrane is configured to allow vapor to permeate therethrough in the given course.
In the eighth solution, the compressed air contacts one surface of the separation membrane, while the secondary air contacts the other surface thereof. Accordingly, in operating conditions where the vapor partial pressure of the secondary air is lower than that of the primary air, moisture in the primary air is transferred to the secondary air without any external action being placed thereon.
In the ninth solution, a difference in vapor partial pressure between both sides of the separation membrane can be ensured by the pressure reducing means (36). In other words, the separation membrane is contacted on one surface thereof by the compressed primary air and reduced in pressure on the other surface side thereof by the pressure reducing means (36). Accordingly, the vapor partial pressure on the other surface side of the separation membrane can be maintained lower than the primary air.
In the tenth solution, the primary air dehumidified by the dehumidifying means (55) is supplied to the compressor (21).
In the eleventh solution, the humidity medium of the dehumidifying means absorbs moisture in the primary air and releases the absorbed moisture to the secondary air. In other words, the moisture in the primary air is continuously transferred to the secondary air through the humidity medium. This provides continuous dehumidification of the primary air and continuous humidification of the secondary air.
In the twelfth solution, the humidity medium absorbs moisture in such a manner that the moisture is adsorbed on the solid adsorbent. Further, the humidity medium releases moisture in such a manner that the moisture is desorbed from the solid adsorbent.
In the thirteenth solution, the humidity medium is formed of a disc-shaped rotor member (61). A portion of the rotor member (61) absorbs moisture through contact with the primary air in the moisture absorbing section (62). The rotor member (61) is rotatively driven by the drive mechanism so that the portion of the rotor member (61) which has absorbed moisture moves to the moisture releasing section (63). In the moisture releasing section (63), the rotor member (61) releases the moisture through contact with the secondary air. The rotor member (61) as the humidity medium is thereby regenerated. Thereafter, the portion of the rotor member (61) which has been regenerated moves to the moisture absorbing section (62) again and repeats these actions.
In the fourteenth solution, the solid adsorbent is made of porous inorganic oxide. It is to be noted that the solid adsorbent may be made of particular inorganic oxide alone or may include the inorganic oxide as a main ingredient.
In the fifteenth solution, the humidity medium absorbs moisture in such a manner that the moisture is absorbed in the liquid absorbent. Further, the humidity medium releases moisture in such a manner that the moisture is desorbed from the liquid absorbent.
In the sixteenth solution, the liquid absorbent absorbs moisture from the primary air not yet supplied to the compressor (21). This liquid absorbent is heated up into an easy-to-release condition by the high-temperature primary air compressed by the compressor (21), and then released to the secondary air. This moisture release regenerates the liquid absorbent.
In the seventeenth solution, the primary air and the liquid absorbent come into indirect contact with each other through the hydrophobic porous membrane interposed therebetween. The moisture in the primary air permeates the hydrophobic porous membrane and is then absorbed in the liquid absorbent, whereby the primary air is dehumidified.
In the eighteenth solution, the liquid absorbent is made of a water solution of hydrophilic organic compound. Examples of organic compound of this kind include ethylene glycol, glycerin and hydrophilic resin.
In the nineteenth solution, the liquid absorbent is made of a water solution of metallic halide. Examples of metallic halide of this kind include LiCl, LiBr and CaCl2.
In the twentieth solution, the liquid absorbent absorbs moisture of the primary air in the moisture absorbing section (65), whereby the primary air is dehumidified. This liquid absorbent flows through the circulation circuit (64) to reach the moisture releasing section (66). In the moisture releasing section (66), the liquid absorbent releases moisture to the secondary air, so that it is regenerated and the secondary air is humidified. The regenerated liquid absorbent flows through the circulation circuit (64) to reach the moisture absorbing section (65) again, and repeats this circulation.
In the twenty-first solution, the humidity medium in the dehumidifying means releases moisture to the secondary air, so that it is regenerated and the secondary air is humidified. The humidified secondary air is then supplied to the room through the humidity adjusting means (90). During the time, part of the secondary air takes part of moisture being released by the humidity medium and is then supplied to the room as it is. On the other hand, the remaining part of the secondary air takes the remaining part of moisture being released by the humidity medium, is cooled through heat exchange with the secondary air yet to be supplied to the heat exchanger (30) so that moisture in the secondary air is removed by condensation, and is then supplied to the room. In short, only part of moisture released from the humidity medium is supplied to the room together with the secondary air.
Thus, according to the present invention, since the primary air dehumidified to or below the absolute humidity of the outside air by the dehumidifying means (55, 60) expands in the expander (22), this prevents production of water droplets or ice in the primary air at the outlet of the expander (22) and also condensation of moisture in the primary air having been blown out of the expander (22) and concurrently enables the temperature of the primary air at the outlet of the expander (22) to be set lower than the outside air temperature. Therefore, the temperature of the primary air at the inlet of the expander (22) can be set still lower. Accordingly, while the quantity of heat given to the secondary air in the heat exchanger (30) is maintained, the input to the compressor (21) can be reduced. As a result, the COP can be enhanced. And concurrently water droplets or the like can be prevented from being produced in the primary air exiting from the expander (22) thereby eliminating the need for drainage and snow removal processes. Thus, the construction of the system can be simplified.
Particularly in the second solution, an air containing an inlet air from outdoors is used as the secondary air. Since the outside air temperature during heating is generally relatively low, such a low-temperature air containing an inlet air from outdoors is supplied as the secondary air to the heat exchanger (30). Therefore, the primary air can be cooled to a low temperature in the heat exchanger (30) so that the temperature of the primary air at the inlet of the expander (22) can be set at a low temperature. As a result, while the quantity of heat given to the secondary air in the heat exchanger (30) is maintained, the input to the compressor (21) can be reduced. This further ensures enhancement in the COP. Also in this case, the primary air is dehumidified to or below the absolute humidity of the outside air by the dehumidifying means (55, 60). Therefore, a drainage process and a snow removal process can be omitted thereby simplifying the construction of the system.
Further, in the second solution, an air containing an exhaust air coming from the room is used as the primary air, while an air containing an inlet air coming from outdoors is used as the secondary air. Therefore, the room can be ventilated while air conditioned. Furthermore, since the primary air containing the exhaust air is compressed by the compressor (21) and the compressed primary air is then heat exchanged with the secondary air containing the inlet air in the heat exchanger (30), hot heat can be recovered which is contained in the exhaust air being discharged to outdoors for ventilation. As a result, energy loss involved in ventilation can be reduced.
Still further, according to the third solution, moisture removed from the primary air can be used to humidify the secondary air. This eliminates the need for supplying additional moisture for humidification of the secondary air, which provides simplified construction. In addition, when all of the moisture removed from the primary air is supplied to the secondary air, there will be no need to dispose of the moisture as a drain. This also provides simplified construction.
Still further, according to the fifth to ninth solutions, moisture in the primary air can be separated from the primary air without being condensed. Therefore, energy taken by dehumidification of the primary air can be reduced to a larger extent as compared with the case of removing moisture by condensing it. This provides enhanced energy efficiency.
Particularly according to the eighth solution, moisture in the compressed primary air can be supplied to the secondary air as it is held in a vapor state. Thus, moisture will not evaporate in the secondary air in humidifying the secondary air. Accordingly, the heating capacity can be improved by recovering energy of vapor in the primary air to the secondary air, which provides enhanced energy efficiency.
Still further, according to the ninth solution, the difference in vapor partial pressure between both sides of the separation membrane can be ensured by the pressure reducing means (60), regardless of the operating conditions. Accordingly, means for removing moisture can always separate vapor from the compressed primary air for dehumidification of the primary air.
Still further, according to the eleventh to twentieth solutions, moisture in the primary air can be continuously transferred to the secondary air by the humidity medium of the dehumidifying means (60), which enables continuous dehumidification of the primary air and continuous humidification of the secondary air. Particularly according to the twelfth to twentieth solutions, the humidity medium of the dehumidifying means (60) can be formed using the solid adsorbent or the liquid absorbent. Further, according to the thirteenth and twentieth solutions, the dehumidifying means (60) can be formed properly for each particular humidity medium.
Still further, according to the twenty-first solution, the humidity medium of the dehumidifying means (60) can supply to the room only part of moisture being released to the secondary air. The secondary air having taken the moisture from the humidity medium may have an absolute humidity higher than that of the room air. In such a case, if the secondary air is supplied to the room as it is, the room humidity may have so risen as to give an uncomfortable feeling to a person present in the room. In contrast, according to this solution, it is possible to supply to the room so much only of moisture being released by the humidity medium as is necessary to maintain the room humidity, which makes it possible to maintain the room comfortably.


The information management system disclosed enables caregivers to make better decisions by using aggregated data. The system enables the integration, validation and analysis of genetic, phenotypic and clinical data from multiple subjects. A standardized data model stores a range of patient data in standardized data classes comprising patient profile, genetic, symptomatic, treatment and diagnostic information. Data is converted into standardized data classes using a data parser specifically tailored to the source system. Relationships exist between standardized data classes, based on expert rules and statistical models, and are used to validate new data and predict phenotypic outcomes. The prediction may comprise a clinical outcome in response to a proposed intervention. The statistical models and methods for training those models may be input according to a standardized template. Methods are described for selecting, creating and training the statistical models to operate on genetic, phenotypic, clinical and undetermined data sets.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of analyzing, managing and acting upon clinical information, and specifically to a system which integrates genetic and phenotypic data from a group of subjects into a standardized format in order to validate the data and to make better decisions related to the genetic and phenotypic information of a particular subject.
2. Description of the Related Art
The current methods by which clinical decisions are made do not make the best possible use of existing information management technologies. Very little data from clinical trials and electronic clinical records—collected as it is by a variety of methods, and stored in many different formats across a wide range of systems—is immediately reusable by other groups in the biomedical community and can be accessed to aid caregivers and other decision makers. This situation will become considerably more complicated once personal genetic data occupies a more central role in understanding the causes and treatments of diseases and other predispositions of subjects. Within the next decade it will be possible to scan the entire genome of a patient either for clinical trials, or for the purpose of personalized drug assignment. Insofar as researchers continue to use different methods and systems for storing and analyzing this data, and the associated phenotypic data, all of the difficulties associated with sharing information within the biomedical community will persist and worsen.
A body of prior art exists to develop tools that manage the integration of existing data sets. For example, success has been achieved with tools that input textual data and generate standardized terminology in order to achieve information integration such as, for example, the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS): Integration Biomedical Terminology. Tools have been developed to inhale data into new ontologies from specific legacy systems, using object definitions and Extensible Markup Language (XML) to interface between the data model and the data source, and to validate the integrity of the data inhaled into the new data model. Bayesian classification schemes such as MAGIC (Multisource Association of Genes by Integration of Clusters) have been created to integrate information from multiple sources into a single normative framework, using expert knowledge about the reliability of each source. Several commercial enterprises are also working on techniques to leverage information across different platforms. For example, Expert Health Data Programming provides the Vitalnet software for linking and disseminating health data sets; CCS Informatics provides the eLoader software which automates loading data into ORACLE® Clinical; PPD Patient Profiles enables visualization of key patient data from clinical trials; and TABLETRANS® enables specification of data transformations graphically.
Depending on the tool, automated approaches to data integration can be far less resource intensive than the manual data integration, but will always be more constrained. It is exceedingly difficult to teach a computer how data of heterogeneous types should be sensibly merged. Prior art that most successfully approaches data integration makes use, in some form, of standardized master templates which define a data model, and provide a clear framework to researchers for inputs into, and augmentations of, that data model. This has been successfully applied, for example, in the GO (Gene Data model) project which provides a taxonomy of concepts and their attributes for annotating gene products. Similar projects include the Mouse Gene Database (MGD) and the Mouse Gene Expression Database (GXD). However, no system exists today to combine all phenotypic and genetic information associated with a patient into a single data model; to create a series of logical and statistical interrelationships between the data classes of that standard; to continually upgrade those relationships based on the data from multiple subjects and from different databases; and to use that information to make better decisions for an individual subject.
Prior art exists to manage information in support of caregivers and for streamlining clinical trials. Some of the enterprises involved in this space include Clinsource which specializes in software for electronic data capture, web randomization and online data management in clinical trials; Perceptive Informatics which specializes in electronic data capture systems, voice response systems, and web portal technologies for managing the back end information flow for a trial; and First Genetic Trust which has created a genetic bank that enables medical researchers to generate and manage genetic and medical information, and that enables patients to manage the privacy and confidentiality of their genetic information while participating in genetic research. None of these systems make use of expert and statistical relationships between data classes in a standardized data model in order to validate data or make predictions; or provide a mechanism by which electronically published rules and statistical models can be automatically input for validating data or making predictions; or guarantee strict compliance with data privacy standards by verifying the identity of the person accessing the data with biometric authentication; or associate all clinical data with a validator the performance of which is monitored so that the reliability of data from each independent source can be efficiently monitored; or allow for compensation of individuals for the use of their data; or allow for compensation of validators for the validation of that data.
Prior art exists in predictive genomics, which tries to understand the precise functions of proteins, RNA and DNA so that phenotypic predictions can be made based on genotype. Canonical techniques focus on the function of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP); but more advanced methods are being brought to bear on multi-factorial phenotypic features. These methods include regression analysis techniques for sparse data sets, as is typical of genetic data, which apply additional constraints on the regression parameters so that a meaningfuil set of parameters can be resolved even when the data is underdetermined. Other prior art applies principal component analysis to extract information from undetermined data sets. Recent prior art, termed logical regression, also describes methods to search for different logical interrelationships between categorical independent variables in order to model a variable that depends on interactions between multiple independent variables related to genetic data. However, all of these methods have substantial shortcomings in the realm of making predictions based on genetic and phenotypic data. None of the methods provide an effective means of extracting the most simple and intelligible rules from the data, by exploring a wide array of terms that are designed to model a wide range of possible interactions of variables related to genetic data. In addition, none of these prior techniques enable the extraction of the most simple intelligible rules from the data in the context of logistic regression, which models the outcome of a categorical variable using maximum a-posteriori likelihood techniques, without making the simplifying assumption of normally distributed data. These shortcomings are critical in the context of predicting outcomes based on the analysis of vast amounts of data classes relating to genetic and phenotypic information. They do not effectively empower individuals to ask questions about the likelihood of particular phenotypic features given genotype, or about the likelihood of particular phenotypic features in an offspring given the genotypic features of the parents.

System and method for improving clinical decisions by aggregating, validating and analysing genetic and phenotypic data


A system and a method for time lapse monitoring of a target feature within a rock formation are provided. The system includes a data weighted electromagnetic source configured to generate an electromagnetic field in vicinity or at a surface of the rock formation; and an electromagnetic receiver configured to measure a component of the electromagnetic field generated by the source. The data weighted electromagnetic source includes a plurality of electromagnetic sources and an electromagnetic field contribution from each electromagnetic source is weighted so as to enhance the component of the electromagnetic field measured by the electromagnetic receiver.

The controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) technique has been considered as a potential reservoir monitoring tool due to the direct sensitivity of the signal to water saturation. However, the response from time-lapse changes in an oil or gas reservoir undergoing production can be small. In addition, in the case of hydraulic fracturing, the change in the electromagnetic response of a portion of the earth undergoing hydraulic fracturing can be small as well.

Method and system of using a data weighted electromagnetic source for time-lapse monitoring of a reservoir production or hydraulic fracturing


Novel methods for the treatment and/or prophylaxis of diseases caused by tissue-adhering bacteria are disclosed. By interacting with periplasmic molecular chaperones it is achieved that the assembly of pili is prevented or inhibited and thereby the infectivity of the bacteria is diminished. Also disclosed are methods for screening for drugs as well as methods for the de novo design of such drugs, methods which rely on novel computer drug modelling methods involving an approximative calculation of binding free energy between macromolecules. Finally, novel pyranosides which are believed to be capable of interacting with periplasmic molecular chaperones are also disclosed.

Pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria cause a number of pathological conditions such as bacteraemia, bacteria-related diarrhoea, meningitis and (very commonly) urinary tract infections, i.a. pyelonephritis, cystitis, urethritis etc.
Urinary tract infections are one of the major causes of morbidity in females. Despite the overall importance of urinary tract infections in women, there have been few efforts to apply novel strategies in order to treat and/or prevent these diseases. Commonly, conventional antibiotics are used to treat these infections, such as treatment with penicillins, cephalosporins, aminoglycosides, sulfonamides and tetracyclines; in the special case of urinary tract infections, urinary antiseptics such as nitrofurantoin and nalidixic acid are employed, too. However, emerging antibiotic resistance will in the future hamper the ability to successfully treat urinary tract infections. Multiple antibiotic resistance among these uropathogens is increasing. It has been estimated that the annual cost for evaluation and treatment of women with urinary tract infections exceeds one billion dollars. In addition, approximately one-fourth of the yearly 4 billion dollar cost attributed to nosocomial infections is a consequence of urinary tract infections. Among the causative agents of urinary tract infections, Escherichia coli clearly predominates among Gram-negative bacteria.
Pathogenic gram negative bacteria, notably Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, Salmonella enteriditis, Salmonella typhimurium, Bordetella pertussis, Yersinia pestis, Yersinia enterocolitica Helicobacter pylori, and Klebsiella pneumoniae owe part of their infectability to their ability to adhere to various epithelial tissues. Thus, e.g. E. coli adhere to the epithelial cells in the upper urinary tract in spite of the flushing effect of unidirectional flow of urine from the kidneys.
As indicated above, the above mentioned bacteria are involved in a variety of diseases: Urinary tract infections (E. coli), acute diarrhoea (E. coli, Y. enterocolitica and Salmonella spp), meningitis (E. coli and H. influenzae), whooping cough (B. pertussis), plague (Y. pestis), pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections (K. pneumoniae, H. influenzae) and peptic ulcer (H. pylori).
The initiation and persistence of many bacterial infections such as those described above is thought to require the presentation of adhesins on the surface of the microbe in accessible configurations which promote binding events that dictate whether extracellular colonization, internalization or other cellular responses will occur. Adhesins are often components of the long, thin, filamentous, heteropolymeric protein appendages known as pili, fimbriae, or fibrillae (these three terms will be used interchangeably herein). The bacterial attachment event is often the result of a stereo-chemical fit between an adhesin frequently located at the pilus tip and specific receptor architectures on host cells, often comprising carbohydrate structures in membrane associated glycoconjugates.
Uropathogenic strains of E. coli express P and type 1 pili that bind to receptors present in uroepithelial cells. The adhesin present at the tip of the P pilus, PapG (pilus associated polypeptide G), binds to the Gal.alpha.(1-4)Gal moiety present in the globoseries of glycolipids, while the type 1 adhesin, FimH, binds D-mannose present in glycolipids and glycoproteins. Adhesive P pili are virulence determinants associated with pyelonephritic strains of E. coli whereas type 1 pili appear to be more common in E. coli causing cystitis. At least eleven genes are involved in the biosynthesis and expression of functional P pili; the DNA sequence of the entire pap gene cluster has been determined. P pili are composite heteropolymeric fibres consisting of flexible adhesive fibrillae joined end to end to pilus rods. The pilus rod is composed of repeating PapA protein subunits arranged in a right handed helical cylinder. Tip fibrillae which extend from the distal ends of each pilus rod were found to be composed mostly of repeating subunits of PapE arranged in an open helical conformation. The PapG adhesin was localized to the distal ends of the tip fibrillae, a location which is assumed to maximize its ability to recognize glycolipid receptors on eukaryotic cells. Two minor pilus components, PapF and PapK, are specialized adaptor proteins found in the tip fibrillum. PapF links the adhesin moiety to the fibrillum while PapK joins the fibrillum to the pilus rod. The composite architecture of the P pilus fibre reveals the strategy used by uropathogenic E. coli to present the PapG adhesin to eukaryotic receptors. The rigid PapA rod extends the adhesin away from interference caused by LPS and other components at the bacterial cell surface while the flexible fibrillum allows PapG steric freedom to recognize and bind to the digalactoside moiety on the uroepithelium. With a few exceptions, the structural organization of type 1 pili is very similar to that described for P pili. In type 1 pili, the mannose binding fibrillar tip adhesin is known as FimH.
The assembly of virulence-associated pili in Gram-negative pathogens requires the function of periplasmic chaperones. Molecular chaperones are vital components of all living cells, prokaryotic and eukaryotic. Chaperones serve a variety of cellular functions including folding, import and export of proteins in various cellular compartments (Gething and Sambrook, 1992). Thus, a periplasmic chaperone is a molecular chaperone which exerts its action in the periplasmic space in bacteria.
PapD and FimC are the periplasmic chaperones that mediate the assembly of P and type 1 pili, respectively. Detailed structural analyses have revealed that PapD is the prototype member of a conserved family of periplasmic chaperones in Gram-negative bacteria. These chaperones have a function which is part of a general strategy used by bacteria to cap and partition interactive subunits imported into the periplasmic space into assembly competent complexes, making non-productive interactions unfavourable. Determination of the three-dimensional structure of PapD revealed that it consists of two immunoglobulin-like domains oriented in a boomerang shape such that a cleft is formed. PapD binds to each of the pilus subunit types as they emerge from the cytoplasmic membrane and escorts them in assembly-competent, native-like conformations from the cytoplasmic membrane to outer membrane assembly sites comprised of PapC. PapC has been termed a molecular usher since it receives chaperone-subunit complexes and incorporates, or ushers, the subunits from the chaperone complex into the growing pilus in a defined order.
With the exception of the type IV class of pili, all other genetically well characterized pilus systems in Gram-negative prokaryotes contain a gene analogous to PapD (Normark et al., 1986; Hultgren et al. 1991); cf. also table A. FanE, faeE, sfaE, ClpE and f17-D have been sequenced (Lintermans, 1990; Schmoll et al., 1990; Bertin Y et al., 1993; Bakker et al., 1991) and encode pilus chaperones required for the assembly of K99, K88, S and F17 pili, respectively, in E. coli. The assembly of Klebsiella pneumoniae type 3 pili and Haemophilus influenzae type b pili requires the mrkb and hifB gene products, respectively (Gerlach et al., 1989,; Allen et al., 1991). The structure-function relationships of all of these chaperones have been analyzed using their amino acid sequences and information from the crystal structure of PapD (Anders Holmgren et al., 1992). The results have provided insight into the molecular intricacies that have been evolutionarily conserved in this class of proteins and suggested significant structural similarities to immunoglobulins.
PapD is thus the prototype member of a family of periplasmic chaperone proteins which are necessary for the correct supramolocular assembly of bacterial pili. Chaperones such as PapD in E. coli are required to bind the above-mentioned pilus proteins imported into the periplasmic space, partition them into assembly competent complexes and prevent non-productive aggregation of the subunits in the periplasm (Dodson et al., 1993).
In the absence of an interaction with the chaperone, pilus subunits aggregate and are proteolytically degraded (Kuehn, Normark, and Hultgren, 1991). It has recently been discovered (Strauch, Johnson and Beckwith, 1989) that the DegP protease is greatly responsible for the degradation of pilin subunits in the absence of the chaperone. This discovery has allowed the elucidation of the fate of pilus subunits expressed in the presence or absence of the chaperone using monospecific antisera in western blots of cytoplasmic membrane, outer membrane and periplasmic proteins prepared according to standard procedures. Expression of papG or papA in the degP41 strain (a DegP.sup.- E. coli strain) in the absence of a chaperone was toxic to the bacteria due to the accumulation of these proteins in the cytoplasmic membrane suggesting that the chaperone was required for subunit import into the periplasmic space. The severity of the growth defect was related to the level of expression of the pilin subunit, and was generally more dramatic with PapG than PapA. Co-expression of PapD under the control of the inducible arabinose promoter rescued the growth defect associated with subunit expression in the degP41 strain and allowed PapG to be imported into the periplasm.
Up to this time, little has elucidated about the molecular recognition motifs of chaperones. Cytoplasmic chaperones such as SecB, GroEL and DNaK bind to a diverse group of unfolded target proteins in a sequence independent manner (Gething and Sambrook, 1992). Recently, it has been suggested that DNaK binds mainly via the target's peptide backbone (Landry et al., 1992) and that GroEL may rely more on side-chain hydrophobicity and the ability of the target sequence to form an amphipathic .alpha.-helix (Landry and Gierasch, 1991). PapD differs, however, in that it seems to bind its target proteins in folded conformations (Kuehn et al., 1991).
The three-dimensional structure of PapD has previously been solved (Holmgren and Branden, 1989). This has shown PapD to consist of two globular domains positioned such that the overall shape of the molecule resembles a boomerang with a cleft between the two domains. Each domain is a .beta.-barrel structure formed by two antiparallel .beta.-pleated sheets, packed tightly together to form a hydrophobic core, with a topology similar to that of an immunoglobulin fold. The N-terminal domain of PapD most resembles an Ig variable domain whilst the C-terminal domain of PapD resembles CD4 (Wang et al., 1990, Ryu et al., 1990) and the human growth hormone receptor (de Vos et al., 1992).
A structural alignment between PapD and several periplasmic chaperones predicted to have a similar immunoglobulin-like structure has identified invariant, highly conserved and variable residues within this protein family (Holmgren et al., 1992). Most conserved residues seem to participate in maintaining the overall structure and orientation of the domains towards one another. However, two conserved residues, Arg-8 and Lys-112 are surface exposed and oriented towards the cleft between the domains. Site-directed mutagenesis of the Arg-8 amino acid has shown that it form at least part of the pilus subunit binding pocket (Holmgren et al., 1992; Kuehn et al., 1993).
From a sequence analysis of a number of the above-mentioned pilus subunit proteins, it has been observed that they possess a number of common features including homologies at the C termini (see also example 2). It is thought that these similarities in sequence may be responsible for some function common to all the pilus proteins, such as binding to their periplasmic chaperone. Indeed, the C-terminal region of the P-pili adhesin PapG has already been shown to be important in the in vivo binding to PapD (Hultgren et al., 1989). Table A lists 16 periplasmic proteins, all involved in assembly of cell surface structures in pathogenic bacteria and all with significant homology with PapD.
TABLE A ______________________________________ Structure Organism Chaperone Assembled Reference ______________________________________ E. coli PapD P pili Lund et al., 1987 E. coli* FimC Type 1 pili Klemm et al., 1992 E. coli Sfae S pili Schmoll et al., 1990 E. coli FaeE K88 pili Bakker et al., 1991 E. coli FanE K99 pili Bakker et al., 1991 E. coli CS3-1 CS3 pili Jalajakumari et al., 1989 E. coli F17D F17 pili Lintermans et al., 1990 E. coli ClpE CS31 A Bertin et al., 1993 E. coli EcpD not identified Raina et al., 1993 E. coli CssC Antigen CS6 E. coli NfaE Nonfimbrial adhesin 1 E. coli AggD Aggregative Adhe- rence Fimbria 1 K. pneumoniae MrkB Type 3 pili Allen et al., 1991 B. pertussis FimB Type 2 & 3 pili Locht et al., 1992; Willems et al. 1992 S. enteriditis SefB unknown pili Clouthier et al., 1993 S. typhimurium PefD PEF H. influenzae HifB unknown pili Smith et al., 1993 Y. enterocolitica MyfB Myf fibrillae Iriarte et al., 1993 Y. pestis PsaB pH6 antigen Lindler et al., 1992 Y. pestis Caf1M F1 envelope antigen Galyov et al., 1991 P. mirabilis MrpD MR/P Fimbriae ? YehC ? ______________________________________ *This chaperone is present in all Enterobacteriaceae, since all members o this family produce type 1 pili.
In summary, the three-dimensional structure of PapD as well as the function of PapD and other periplasmic chaperones are known, whereas the exact motif of binding between PapD and the pilus subunits has been unknown until now.

Treatment or prophylaxis of diseases caused by pilus-forming bacteria


A color filter array of a color imaging element includes a basic array pattern P of 4×4 pixels in which RGB filters corresponding to red (R), green (G) and blue (B) are arrayed, this basic array pattern P is repeatedly disposed in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction, a G filter is disposed in each pixel line in four directions of horizontality, verticality, oblique upper right and oblique lower right, and R and B filters are disposed in each pixel line in the horizontal direction and vertical direction of the color filter array. Moreover, the color filter array includes consecutive first filters of two or more pixels in four directions of horizontality, verticality, oblique upper right and oblique lower right.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a color imaging element and an imaging device, and specifically relates to a color imaging element that can reduce occurrence of color moire and achieve high resolution, and a color imaging device including the color imaging element.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a single-plate color imaging element, since a monochromatic color filter is set on each pixel, each pixel has only monochrome color information. Therefore, since an output image of the single-plate color imaging element is a RAW image (mosaic image), a multi-channel image is acquired by processing (demosaicing process) that interpolates a missing color pixel with a surrounding pixel. In this case, there is a problem in reproduction characteristic of an image signal of high frequency, and, since aliasing is likely to occur in a taken image in a color imaging element as compared with a black-and-white imaging element, there is an important problem that a reproduction band is widened for high resolution while suppressing occurrence of color moire (false color).
In a primary color Bayer array that is a color array of a color filter that is used in a single-plate color imaging element most widely, since green (G) pixels are disposed in a checkered pattern and red (R) and blue (B) are disposed in a line-sequential manner, there is a problem in reproduction precision when generating a high frequency signal in which G signals are in an oblique direction and R and B signals are in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction.
In a case where a black-and-white stripe pattern (high-frequency image) as illustrated in (A) of FIG. 12 enters a color imaging element having a color filter of a Bayer array illustrated in (B) of FIG. 12, when this is distributed to a Bayer color array and comparison is performed every color, as illustrated in (C) to (E) of FIG. 12, R becomes a mosaic color image of light and flat, B becomes a mosaic color image of dark and flat, and G becomes a mosaic color image of light and shade. While it is originally a black-and-white image, concentration difference (level difference) is not caused among RGB but it enters a state where it is colored depending on the color array and input frequency.
Similarly, in a case where an oblique black-and-white high-frequency image as illustrated in (A) of FIG. 13 enters an imaging element having a color filter of a Bayer array illustrated in (B) of FIG. 13, when this is distributed according to the Bayer color array and comparison is performed in each color, as illustrated in (C) to (E) of FIG. 13, R and B become a color image of light and flat and G becomes a color image of dark and flat. If a value of the black is assumed to be 0 and a value of the white is assumed to be 255, only G becomes 255 and therefore oblique black-and-white high-frequency image becomes green. Thus, in the Bayer array, it is not possible to correctly reproduce an oblique high-frequency image.
In general, it is avoided by disposing an optical low-pass filter including a birefringent material such as crystal in front of a color imaging element and optically decreasing high frequency in an imaging device using a single-plate color imaging element. However, it is possible to mitigate coloring by aliasing of high-frequency signals in this method, but there is a problem that resolution degrades due to its negative effect.
To solve such a problem, there is suggested a color imaging element where an color filter array of the color imaging element is assumed to be a three-color random array satisfying array restriction conditions in which an arbitrary target pixel is adjacent to three colors including a color of a target pixel on any of four sides of the target pixel (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-308080: PTL 1).
Moreover, there is suggested an image sensor of a color filter array (color imaging element) where the image sensor includes a plurality of filters with different spectral sensitivities, and a first filter and a second filter among them are alternately disposed in a first period in one diagonal direction of a pixel grid of the image sensor and are alternately disposed in a second period in other diagonal direction (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-136766: PTL 2).
In addition, there is suggested a color array where, in a color solid-state imaging element of three primary colors of RGB (color imaging element), a set of three pixels in which R, G and B are horizontally disposed are disposed in a zigzag manner in a vertical direction to make appearance probabilities of RGB respectively equal and to cause an arbitrary line (horizontal, vertical and oblique lines) on an imaging plane to pass through all colors (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-285012: PTL 3).
Furthermore, there is suggested a color imaging element where R and B among three primary colors of RGB are disposed every three pixels in horizontal and vertical directions and G is disposed between R and B (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-023543: PTL 4).

Color imaging element and imaging device


A system for setting addresses includes a master device, a plurality of slave devices, and a bus. The master device includes a broadcasting module, a reading module, a responding module, an address assigning module, and a first judging module. Each slave device includes a performing module and a requesting module. The broadcasting module is configured to send messages to the slave devices. The performing module is configured to put the slave device be in an address setting mode. The reading module is configured to read a time assignment for each slave device from a timing module. The requesting module is configured to send an address request. The responding module is configured to respond to the address request. The address assigning module is configured to assign an address to the slave device. The first judging module is configured to check if all the time windows for the slave devices have elapsed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and system for setting addresses in a data communication system.
2. Description of Related Art
In communication circuits, serial interfaces such as RS485 serial interfaces are familiar communication interfaces for data communications between a master device such as a server and a plurality of slave devices such as uninterrupted power supplies (UPS). In communication between the master device and the slave devices, the master device transmits data to a slave device by using an address of the slave device. A slave device receives data corresponding to its own number and transmits response data to the master device. Thus the master device is able to transmit data to a slave device.
A way to set addresses in earlier RS485 control systems uses two rotary address switches to set the address. The two rotary address switches use a decimal format to set the addresses of the slave devices of the RS485 bus control system. When the RS485 bus control system includes several hundred or several thousand slave devices, setting the addresses of the slave devices becomes time consuming, and the possibility of mistakes is great.
What is desired, therefore, is to provide a method and system for setting respective identification numbers for a plurality of slave devices constituting a network.

Method and system for setting addresses for slave devices in data communication system


A straddle type vehicle includes a movable cover on a rear trunk space and a light assembly having a first light unit extending in a generally horizontal direction and a second light unit extending in a generally vertical direction. The assembly can also include two vertical light units, one positioned on the left side of the movable cover and the other positioned on the right side of the movable cover, and one horizontal light positioned below the movable cover. Connectors and fastening mechanisms can be utilized to connect the light units and movable cover of the assembly. In addition, the first light unit and the second light unit can both be a light-emitting diode (LED) light source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to straddle type-vehicles in general and, in particular, to a straddle type vehicle having a rear light assembly for providing sufficient light on an aft end of the vehicle at least during operating conditions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some straddle type vehicles (e.g., motor scooters) are typically driven on highways, streets and roads during both the daytime and nighttime. As a result, straddle type vehicles typically have an exterior lighting system including a taillight and a pair of rear turning lights attached to the body frame of the vehicle. In addition, riders often desire to store cargo and other belongings in the vehicle during its operation. Storage space is limited in a straddle type vehicle and it is well known for such vehicles to have a trunk space, which often is located in the rear of the vehicle and is capable of storing cargo and other belongings of the rider. However, due to the compact nature of a straddle type vehicle and the desire to have the trunk as large as possible, the trunk's cover often comprises a significant portion of the rear surface of the vehicle.
Prior straddle type vehicles have placed the taillight and rear turning lights directly on the cover of the trunk since this was the most feasible location for such lights. While this approach allows a rider to store belongings in the open space contained in the trunk, the taillight and rear turning lights are often made smaller.
Consequently, there exists a need for a rear light assembly that provides larger rear lights, including a taillight and pair of turning lights, to enhance visibility of the vehicle and of its turn and braking indicators while still providing for ample trunk space.

Straddle type vehicle having rear cover and light assembly and method for assembling a light unit


A simulator reproduces a game running on an electronic gaming machine using a model that implements the game rules and logic of the game. The electronic gaming machine stops at predetermined breakpoints during execution of a game session and sends data to the simulator at each breakpoint and at a conclusion of the game session. The data may include random number values, other game variables, and the result of the game session. The simulator uses the data to independently reproduce the game session. Output from the simulator is used to verify the state of internal variables and/or the result received from the electronic gaming machine.

Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for many years. However, confirming correct operation of a gaming machine is difficult because the number of play scenarios is virtually limitless and the actual payouts are a function of chance. While each game is extensively tested, Monte Carlo tests do not necessarily reflect actual game play and the associated sequences of events that may occur in use on a gaming floor.
In a gaming floor environment, game play history may be recorded but typically only covers tens of games. When a game is suspected of having a flaw, such as overpayment, it is difficult to prove whether the game is actually performing correctly. As the popularity of such games has increased, the need to refresh games more frequently has become the nature of the industry. This high turnover can add to an operator or owner questions about a certain machine or class of machines and whether it is operating correctly and more particularly, paying correctly.


The amount of water emitted from an elongated irrigation tube having a series of holes in its periphery can be decreased by forming an enlarged wall portion of the peripheral wall of the tube and locating the dispensing holes in this enlarged portion. Preferably the holes are located so as extend at an angle of less than 45.degree. to the center of the tube.

The significance of these latter factors is most easily explained by referring to common irrigation or watering tubes. These are usually cylindrical tubes in which a series of dispensing holes or openings are located so as to be spaced from one another in a series extending along the length of the tube. The walls in such tubes are normally as thin as possible without being so weak as to be apt to break under the internal pressures which such tubes are intended to contain as they are used. Such pressures can be referred to as "rated" pressures. While the use of such thin walls is desirable in minimizing the amount of material required to form a tube of a specific internal diameter and length it results in such tubes having comparatively thin walls.
This latter is considered disadvantageous because it tends to make it exceedingly difficult to form the holes in such tubes so that they are small enough to provide sufficient resistance to water flow so that the amount of water dispensed through such a hole during normal conditions of use will be as limited as may be desired for some agricultural and related applications. It is considered a practical impossibility to increase such resistance to flow by making such holes smaller than small laser drilled or burnt holes as are found in current irrigation tubes because it may not be possible to form such smaller holes and, if it is possible, it probably is not practical or economical to form them.
As a consequence of the effective limit to which the size of a dispensing hole in an irrigation tubing can be reduced a number of efforts have been made to develop specialized tube constructions and related devices used with irrigation tubing to limit the amount of water capable of being dispensed from an irrigation tube. Fortunately an understanding of the present invention does not require a consideration of all of such expedients. Many of them are based upon the principle that the longer the passage water has to pass through to be dispensed the greater the pressure drop across the ends of the passage and the less the amount of water emitted. This is related to the fact that the longer a piece of pipe is the greater the pressure required to achieve a specific flow through the pipe.
In the irrigation field such comparatively long passages have been achieved in a number of different ways. In some cases housings having passages which extend back and forth between the sides of the housings are attached directly to an irrigation tube so that all water dispensed from the tube has to flow through such a housing. In other cases tubes have been formed so that opposed edges or surfaces of a strip of material used to form these tubes have been secured together to define comparatively long passages to retard the flow of water. While expedients of this type are considered effective it is not considered that they are as economic as other constructions in which small conventional cylindrical or specialized holes leading through the wall of a tube are used to constrict water flow.
Unfortunately the amount which even the smallest holes capable of being created in the wall of a watering or irrigation tube will not provide enough resistance to fluid flow so as to restrict such flow to the very limited amounts desired for many applications. Efforts to increase such resistance to flow by slanting the holes in accordance with the ancient method employed during Roman civilization to influence the flow from an irrigation canal are not normally satisfactory with present day plastic or polymer tubes because the walls of such tubes are so thin that there is simply not space enough to slant a dispensing hole so as to gain any significant length of the hole.
Common plastic or polymer irrigation tubes as used at the present also can be undesirable in some applications for another, quite different reason. In some applications it is desired to be able to orient the dispensing holes in such tubes so that they face a specific direction. Thus, in some cases it would be desirable to hold an irrigation tube used to dispense limited quantities of water so that the water would not tend to run down the length of the tube as it seeps from the holes in such a tube but instead would tend to drip from the tube adjacent to such holes onto the ground adjacent to such holes. Although cylindrical irrigation tubes can be held in a desired orientation it is rather difficult to accomplish this result.

Irrigation tubes with thickened wall sections


A transmitter for use in a cable modem termination system includes a data processing module that generates a plurality of OFDM symbols from a data packet. A probe symbol generator generates a probe symbol, as one of a plurality of probe symbol types. The probe symbol is selectively inserted within the plurality of OFDM symbols, at a pre-defined probe symbol interval.

1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates generally to communication systems; and, more particularly, it relates to point-to-multipoint communication systems such as cable modem systems.
2. Description of Related Art
In conventional point-to-multipoint communication systems, a network supports bidirectional data communication between a central entity and multiple customer premises equipment (CPE). Example point-to-multipoint communication systems include cable modem systems, fixed wireless systems, and satellite communication systems. In each system, the communication path from the central entity to the CPE is typically referred to as the downstream, while the communication path from the CPE to the central entity is typically referred to as the upstream.
One type of point-to-multipoint system is a cable modem system, which typically includes a headend that is capable of communicating with multiple CPEs, each of which provides cable modem functionality. In a cable modem system, the CPE can be a cable modem, a set top box, or a cable gateway, to provide some examples.
DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) refers to a group of specifications published by CableLabs that define industry standards for cable headend and cable modem equipment. In part, DOCSIS sets forth requirements and objectives for various aspects of cable modem systems including operations support systems, management, data interfaces, as well as network layer, data link layer, and physical layer transport for data over cable systems. One version of the DOCSIS specification is version 2.0, and includes the DOCSIS Radio Frequency Interface (RFI) Specification SP-RFIv2.0-103-021218 (hereinafter "DOCSIS RFI Specification"), the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.
DOCSIS 2.0 supports the ITU-T J.83 B (hereinafter "Annex B") standard for downstream physical (PHY) layer transmissions from the headend to cable modems. Advances in communication technology are requiring increasingly more bandwidth, which can lead to deficiencies in channel capacity, especially with respect to these downstream transmissions. For example, even cable plants operating at a frequency of 750 MHz are being challenged with capacity shortages, due to increased demand for video on demand (VOD), high-definition television (HDTV), digital services, and expanding analog channel lineups. Numerous schemes have been proposed to help alleviate the downstream bandwidth issues, including analog spectrum reclamation and advanced video coding techniques. A DOCSIS 3.0 specification with channel bonding support has been in use for several years and a DOCSIS 3.1 proposal has been circulated.

Communication system with proactive network maintenance and methods for use therewith


A cleaning device for cleaning a capsule based beverage system is described. The cleaning device includes a body portion having an open end and configured to be located in the brewing chamber of the beverage system and a reservoir portion located at an opposed end to the open end of the body portion as well as a fluid jet forming portion in fluid communication with reservoir region. The cleaning device also includes a cleaning material holding portion located internally of the body portion for holding the cleaning material spaced apart from the fluid jet forming portion. The cleaning device is configured to allow water under pressure originating from the inlet arrangement of the beverage system to flow into the reservoir portion and to form a fluid jet from the fluid jet forming portion that impinges on cleaning material held in the cleaning material holding portion to create a cleaning solution to clean the brewing chamber and outlet arrangement of the beverage system.

In the co-pending patent application PCT/IB2015/000878 titled "CLEANING DEVICE AND METHOD" the Applicant has described a cleaning device for a capsule based beverage system comprising an open ended body that included a cleaning material holding portion where the cleaning material holding portion is configured to hold the cleaning material in a fixed relationship with respect to the body portion and where the body portion is configured to allow water under pressure originating from the inlet arrangement to flow through the body portion and to interact with the cleaning material to create a cleaning solution to clean the brewing chamber and outlet arrangement.
While this arrangement has worked more than satisfactorily, the Applicant has developed new enhancements which further improve the cleaning capability of the cleaning device or at least provide an alternative arrangement.

Cleaning arrangement for capsule based beverage dispensers


A parcentric objective is described, including an objective lens configured to receive an incident ray from a field of view and to translate the incident ray into a translated incident ray, the objective lens substantially aligned across an optical axis, and a wedge prism configured to receive and deflect the translated incident ray into an exiting ray, the wedge prism rotated about the optical axis. A specimen review system is also described, including a specimen stage configured to receive specimens for viewing, a source of illumination providing illumination to the specimen stage, a review scope configured to review specimens positioned on the specimen stage, the review scope comprising a parcentric objective configured to resolve a field of view of the specimen stage.

Maintaining a specimen within a field of view when switching or translating objectives may be affected by the degree of parcentricity. A specimen may shift from a field of view when, for example, objective lenses are translated across their optical axes. Switching or translating objective lenses can create deviations resulting in a specimen being lost from a field of view when, for example, a greater magnification objective is selected and translated. Objective lenses may be switched manually or automatically and are often translated along a single degree of freedom, such as along a straight line or an arc. Subsequently, maintaining parcentricity while translating objectives is problematic.
Conventional objectives have several problems with regard to parcentricity. For example, translating an objective to a higher power magnification objective typically shifts the center of the field of view. Such shifts can also cause users to incur significant time and effort attempting to fix and align an objective after translation. Current methods of correction for parcentricity during manufacturing require specially-trained technicians. Furthermore, the parcentricity error can grow due to mechanical wear—restoration of parcentricity requires service by technicians. Conventional objectives typically provide for only a single degree of freedom during operation, rendering correction of parcentricity errors impossible during operation. Alignment methods for parcentricity are available during manufacture, but they are not appropriate during operation. These alignment methods employ translation of an objective across its optical axis. These parcentricity methods are typically not performed by an operator of the microscope. Alignment of parcentricity requires considerable effort by a specially-trained technician.
Conventional methods for beam steering can be applied to the exiting light of an objective to achieve parcentricity but these existing methods are impractical. Specifically, a pair of Risley prisms can establish parcentricity, but this alignment method would not be appropriate for an ordinary operator. A Risley prism is a wedge of glass with a freedom of rotation about a normal to one of the faces of the prism. Alignment of Risley prisms also require a specially-trained technician. A pair of Risley prisms are impractical when applied to parcentricity of microscope objectives.
A pair of Risley prisms is often used to provide two degrees of freedom in beam steering applications. Risley prisms deflect rays in a range of deflection that is typically less than 5°. However, Risley prisms cannot be used to achieve a net deflection of zero due to finite differences between the wedge angles of the prisms. The finite difference between wedge angles creates a small circle of exclusion, resulting in a range of deflection in the shape of an annulus. This circle of exclusion is problematic in application to parcentricity. Further, when used with converging rays, Risley prisms create aberrations in the form of astigmatisms that are dependent upon the variable orientation of the prisms. When used with parallel rays of different colors conventional Risley prisms create aberrations known as lateral color.


A printed wiring board includes an insulating substrate having a wiring circuit formed on at least one side thereof. An insulating layer is formed on the wiring circuit and has a plurality of individual curved openings extending therethrough to expose corresponding connection lands of a ground circuit of the wiring circuit. An electromagnetic wave shielding layer is formed on the insulating layer over a portion of the wiring circuit and electrically and mechanically connects with the ground circuit through the connection lands. The curved openings are circular, elliptical or similar shape and dimensioned to prevent formation of bubbles when forming the electromagnetic wave shielding layer thereby enhancing the electrical and mechanical connection between the electromagnetic wave shielding layer and the planar connection land. The curved openings also prevent thinning of the wave shielding layer at the connection lands so as to prevent an increase in connection resistance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printed wiring board, and more particularly is directed to a printed wiring board having a shielding layer for shielding an electromagnetic wave which may cause an externally induced noise.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Conventionally, an electromagnetic waveshielding layer has been formed on a printed wiring board in order to prevent a malfunction of a wiring circuit caused by an electromagnetic wave from the outside. A printed wiring board having such an electromagnetic wave shielding layer is disclosed in Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. 55-29276.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an electromagnetic wave shielding layer 5 is formed through an insulating layer 3 on the front of the printed wiring circuit which is overlaid on an insulating board 1.
Also, the insulating layer 3, defines a connection land 2 which is provided on a ground circuit 4 in the printed wiring circuit, and the electromagnetic wave shielding layer 5 is electrically connected with the connection land 2 upon the formation of the electromagnetic wave shielding layer 5.
However, when forming the connection land 2 on the ground circuit 4 through the insulating layer 3 in the conventional electromagnetic wave shielding printed wiring board, the connection land 2 has an opening whose contour is not circular but square or polygonal shape which is analogous to that of the ground circuit as shown in FIG. 3. This often causes bubbles to form at the edge of the connection land 2 when forming the electromagnetic wave shielding layer 5, which leads to a problem in the connection reliability.
Also, the connection land 2 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is consequently formed over a wider area, and hence the thickness of the electromagnetic wave shielding layer 5 becomes thinner in that area, which increases a connection resistance, thus leading to a reduction in the shielding effect.
The present invention was therefore conceived in view of the disadvantages in the conventional electromagnetic wave shielding printed wiring board. An objective of the present invention is to provide a printed wiring board which prevents the bubbles from entering the electromagnetic wave shielding layer in the connection land, prevents the thinning of the electromagnetic wave shielding layer on the connection land, and allows the electromagnetic wave shielding printed wiring board to effectively function.

Printed circuit board having an electromagnetic shielding layer


A multi-stream cross correlator for spiking neural networks, where each stream contains significant stochastic content. At least one event occurs, with a fixed temporal relationship across at least two streams. Each stream is treated as a Frame Of Reference (FOR), and subject to an adjustable delay based on comparison to the Other streams. For each spike of the FOR, a timing analysis, relative to the last and current FOR spikes, is completed by comparing Post and Pre accumulators. Also, a new timing analysis is begun, with the current FOR spike, by restarting the production of Post and Pre weighting functions, the values of which are accumulated, upon the occurrence of each Other spike, until a next FOR spike. A one-spike delay unit can be used, if time-neutral conflict resolution is used. The average spike rate of the FOR can be determined and used for the Post and Pre weighting functions.

Cross correlation is well understood in signal processing, and often used to find the relative delay between signal streams in a variety of applications. Established methods of cross correlation compare signal similarity at multiple relative delay offsets, typically seeking the offset of maximum similarity.
Many optimizations exist to mitigate the computational cost of the repetitive comparisons required, including the use of FFT and various sliding window approaches. In addition to their computational expense, established methods also suffer from the disadvantage of introducing high latency into a system, both because of the need to perform many comparisons, and the need for a memory buffer when processing streaming data. The buffer is required to enable bidirectional search, for both positive and negative delay offsets, on an ongoing basis.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a method of cross correlation with lower latency, and that does not require buffering.

Method and apparatus for cross correlation


Methods and systems for modifying display of applications displayed on local computing devices are described herein. A local computing device may request, from a remote application server, one or more remote applications. The local computing device, user of the remote computing device, and/or the one or more applications may be associated with layout preferences. The layout preferences may be based on a location of the local computing device, a device type and/or device properties of the local computing device, or other similar context information. Display of the one or more remote applications may be modified based on the layout preferences. A user may alter display of the one or more remote applications, and the layout preferences may be modified.

A user of a local computing device may access and use remote applications as if they were stored and executed on their local computing device. For example, rather than maintain a copy of a word processing application and a spreadsheet application on a local computing device, the user may remotely retrieve such applications from a remote server. This remote access may not only be more secure, but may allow complex computational tasks to be performed by remote servers, rather than a potentially weaker local computing device.
A user may use a wide variety of local computing devices in a wide variety of contexts to access such remote applications. For example, a user may draft a presentation using a remote presentation application and later make quick edits to the presentation via a different instance of the remote presentation application using their smartphone. The local computing devices may vary in terms of location, computational power, display properties, operating system, and the like. Because remote applications are centralized, remote applications may not account for such variance in local computing devices. For example, the remote application may display using the same user interface on both a laptop and a smartphone, though using certain elements of the user interface may be difficult to do on a touch interface of the smartphone.

Management of remote access user application layouts


A music accompaniment machine processes a music accompaniment file to alter a stored beat of the music accompaniment file to match a beat established by a user. The machine identifies the beat of the user using a voice analyzer. The voice analyzer isolates the user's singing signal from excess background noise and appends segment position information to the singing signal, which is indicative of the beat established by the singer. A MIDI controller alters the musical beat of the music accompaniment file so that it matches the beat established by the user.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a musical accompaniment system and, more particularly, to a music accompaniment system that adjusts musical parameters in response to individual singers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A music accompaniment apparatus, commonly called a karaoke machine, reproduces a musical score or musical accompaniment of the song. This allows a user, or singer, to "sing" the lyrics of the song to the appropriate music. Typically, both the lyrics and the musical accompaniment are stored in the same medium. For example, FIG. 1 represents a conventional karaoke machine 100 comprising a laser disc player 102, a video signal generator 104, a video display 106, a music accompaniment signal generator 108, a speaker 110, a microphone 112, and a mixer 114. Karaoke machine 100 operates when the user inserts a laser disc 116, which contains a video, or lyric, signal (not shown) and an audio, or accompaniment, signal (not shown), into laser disc player 102. Video signal generator 104 extracts the video signal from laser disc 116 and displays the extracted video signal as the lyrics of the song on video display 106. Accompaniment signal generator 108 extracts the audio signal from laser disc 116 and sends it to mixer 114. Substantially simultaneously, a singer sings the lyrics displayed on video display 104 into microphone 112, which transforms the singing into an electrical singing signal 118 indicative of the singing. Electrical signal 118 is sent to mixer 114. Mixer 114 combines the audio signal and electrical singing signal 118 and outputs a combined acoustic signal 120 to speaker 110, which produces music.
Karaoke machine 100, however, simply produces a faithful reproduction of the stored music accompaniment, including a beat. The beat is defined as the musical time as indicated by regular recurrence of primary accents in the singing or the music accompaniment. This forces the user or singer to coordinate with the fixed or pre-stored parameters of the music accompaniment stored on the laser disc (or some other acceptable medium, such as, for example, a memory of a personal computer). If the singer does not keep pace with the fixed beat, then he will not be synchronous with the musical accompaniment. The singer must, therefore, adjust his beat to accommodate the fixed beat of the stored music. Therefore, it would be desirable to adjust parameters of the stored music to accommodate the singing style of the singer.

Method and apparatus for interactive music accompaniment

Industrial Technology Research Institute


The present invention provides a sheet supplying apparatus which has a sheet supporting device for supporting a sheet, a sheet absorbing device for absorbing the sheet supported by the sheet supporting device by utilizing an absorbing force generated by an absorbing force generating device, and a shift device for shifting the sheet absorbing device to bring the sheet absorbed by the sheet absorbing device to a sheet supply device disposed downstream in a sheet supplying direction. The sheet absorbing device and the shift device receive respective driving forces from the single or common drive source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet supplying apparatus used with an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine and the like, and more particularly, it relates to a sheet supplying apparatus in which stacked sheets are separated and supplied one by one by absorbing the sheet.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, as one of sheet supplying apparatuses used with an image forming apparatus such as a printer, a copying machine and the like, there has been proposed a sheet supplying apparatus of air absorption type in which sheets stacked on a sheet stacking means are separated and supplied one by one by absorbing the sheet (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 61-23050). Such a sheet supplying apparatus comprises a sheet absorbing means for absorbing a sheet from a sheet stack rested on a sheet stacking means by utilizing an absorbing force generated by an absorbing force generating means, and a shift means for shifting the sheet absorbing means to direct the sheet absorbed by the sheet absorbing means to a sheet supply means disposed downstream of the sheet stacking means in a sheet supplying direction, and the separated sheet is supplied to a recording portion by the sheet supply means.
The absorbing force generating means is generally constituted by a relatively large negative pressure generating pump having an exclusive motor. After the sheet is absorbed by the sheet absorbing means connected to the negative pressure generating pump and the sheet is transferred to the sheet supply means, an absorbing force is not needed until a next sheet is to be absorbed. Thus, since the absorbing force of the sheet absorbing means affects a bad influence upon the transferring of the sheet to the sheet supplying means, it is controlled such that the absorbing force acting on the sleet absorbing means is reduced to substantially zero by communicating the absorbing force to the atmosphere in an air path between the negative pressure generating pump and the sheet absorbing means. Further, since the negative force generated by the absorbing force generating means or absorbing capacity is influenced by permeability of the sheet to be absorbed, for example, when a sheet such as a plain sheet having relatively great permeability is used, the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating pump is set so that a desired absorbing force can be obtained in accordance with the permeability of the sheet.
However, in the above-mentioned conventional technique, since the absorbing force generating means is constituted by the relatively large negative pressure generating pump having the exclusive motor, the entire apparatus is made bulky not to save space, and, since a plurality of independent drive sources are provided, the number of parts is increased to make the apparatus expensive. Further, since the plurality of independent drive sources must be controlled in a synchronous manner, the construction of the control means for bringing the absorbing force of the sheet absorbing means to substantially zero (after the sheet is absorbed by the sheet absorbing means and then is transferred to the downstream sheet supply means) becomes complicated. In addition, when the negative pressure generated by the negative pressure generating pump or the absorbing capacity is set in dependence upon the sheet having relatively great permeability, if a sheet such as a resin film sheet having relatively small permeability is used, the absorbing force of the sheet absorbing means excessively acts on the sheet, so that sheet is deformed and/or excessive load is added to the sheet absorbing means and the negative pressure generating pump to damage the latter and to spend useless energy.

Sheet supplying apparatus of air absorbing type