A method of cutting a block of fibrous material for further recompression from a rectangular bale of fibrous material in which the bale is first positioned with the string side up. Slabs are cut from the bale generally parallel to the longitudinal axis and between parallel wrappings of baling twine to form a cut slab of predetermined width which is still wrapped with baling twine. The cut slab is laid over on to its side, the baling twine is removed from the slab, and the slab is cut into suitable sized pieces for recompression wherein the stems and grass blades are oriented generally parallel to each other but vertical and transverse to a longitudinal center line of the cut block.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to the handling of large bales of fibrous material, and more particularly to a means for cutting large hay, grass or straw bales into smaller sectional blocks sized appropriately for recompression or rebating for the export market, and those domestic consumers who cannot utilize the larger bales.
2. Background
Hay and other forages for feeding and bedding animals must often be transported over great distances from the place of production to the location of the animals. It is not uncommon to ship large quantities of hay and straw to dairies, feed lots, or race tracks located near or in metropolitan areas, and to other locations to where hay, grass and straw cannot be grown, or where there is limited availability of land on which to grow hay, grass and straw.
For purposes of this disclosure, the term "hay" will be used in a generic sense to describe normal hay, such as that made from alfalfa, grasses used as feed, and straw. Hay is typically harvested in the United States by use of hay balers, either the type which produce rectangular bales or round bales. The use of rectangular bales is by far the most common method of harvesting hay. An important reason for this is that rectangular bales can be easily stacked, one atop the other, whereas round bales are not so readily stacked. These bales are constructed of a pre-determined size by the bale machines within a certain normal range of densities. In determining the density of the hay in the standard field bale, consideration is given to optimizing storage life, optimizing food value of the product, minimizing damage through high or low moisture content, and the actual weight of the bale that has to be manually handled by the farmer, dairyman, or those with pleasure animals.
A traditional standard field bale is shown representationally in prior art FIG. 1. It has three distinctly different sets of sides, as shown in prior art FIG. 1. These are traditionally known as the cut sides, string sides, and ends. The difference in the sides, particularly between the cut sides and the string sides, is the inherent result of the baling process In the baling process, blades and stems of hay, grass or straw are picked up from a windrow in the field, where the material has been left to dry, and transported up and into a baling chamber. Stems or blades of the hay, grass or straw lie, as it arrives in the baling chamber, are generally aligned perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the baling machine. A platen set to one side of the baling chamber periodically presses the accumulating hay transversely into a bale forming chamber. Cutter knives are used at one end of the baling chamber to clip off the incoming hay as the platen pushes the collected hay into the bale forming chamber. In this manner there are created a pair of horizontally oriented opposing cut sides, and a pair of vertically oriented string sides wherein the stalks, stems, strands and blades of the fibrous material lie generally parallel to each other.
Once the bale is formed, it has to be wrapped with twine around the string sides where the fibrous material lies in a parallel array. If the string were wrapped around the cut sides, the bale would fall apart upon being ejected from the baling machine.
Standard field bales are stored in hay stacks. Care is taken to manipulate the bales as they are either manually or mechanically retrieved from the field and formed into the stacks to insure that the string sides on the top and bottom, with the bale resting on one string side. There are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that the string sides absorb much less moisture and provide a much better protective barrier from spoilage when exposed to the elements than do the cut sides. If a bale is stored cut side up, it absorbs water and spoils much more rapidly. Also, the standard field bales, typically weighing 80 lbs. to 120 lbs., are intended, at some point in time, to be manually handled. Storing them string side up gives the farmer or dairyman the strings as handles for picking up and moving the bale.
It is uneconomical and impractical to ship standard field bales overseas, or even across great land differences. The freight costs, because of the low density and high volume, become prohibitive. Therefore, a number of methods have been developed to increase the density of the hay/straw so as to minimize freight costs. The two most common methods are first to chop the hay and compress it into pellets or cubes which are approximately one inch square, and the second method is to recompress the original bale to approximately one-half its original volume, retie it, and stack the recompressed bales into standardized dry cargo ocean freight containers or railway freight cars, which can then be transported-by ship or rail.
Examples of recompression machines and methods of using them are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,153 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,335, both to Gene Ast. The recompressed bales in the prior art are retied in the same direction as the string wraps of standard field bales from which they were made, that is to say, around the string sides of the original bale. This is because the fibrous material of the recompressed bale still lies in the same general orientation that it did in the standard field bale, and given the tremendous recoil forces of the recompressed bale attempting to re-expand, if they were tied around the cut sides as opposed to string sides, the recompressed bale would likely burst, or at least an unacceptably high percentage of them would burst once free of the recompression press. A standard recompression press in commercial use today will recompress approximately 200 tons of fibrous material in a 24-hour period of time. Even at a 5% bursting rate, and it would most likely be much higher, this would result in 10 tons of burst bales and loose hay at the pressing site for each day of operation. This would be unacceptable. For this reason, the conventional prior art wisdom has been to always recompress standard field bales and retie them in the same direction as they were originally tied.
While standard field bales have been used for the recompression process, large hay growing operations have increasingly favored the "big bale" for the harvesting operation. These bales run in size anywhere from 800 to 2,000 lbs. The big bale format is preferred, simply because it is far more economical to handle these bales with automated equipment. Thus, it follows that the big bale format would be preferred in the recompression business for the same reasons. The big balers presently available for baling field crops into big bales are in the following sizes: 38".times.48".times.96"; 48".times.50".times.96"; 32".times.38".times.96", 28".times.48".times.96"; and 32".times.34".times.98".
The baling machines used to form the big bales generally operate on the same principles as the traditional standard field baler. The material to be baled is picked up from the windrow into a baling chamber, and pushed by a platen into a bale forming chamber. The big bales are wrapped with twine, in the same general manner as are the standard field bales, except that typically six equidistantly spaced wraps of twine are used as opposed to two or three for the standard field bale. There is a significant difference in how these bales are handled and stored, and that is, unlike the standard field bale which is handled string side down, the big bale is usually handled and stored cut side down. There is a reason for this. While there are competing interests, generally speaking, in the prior art, big bales are handled and stored cut side up as opposed to string side up. The most common reason for doing this is that they weigh so much that they cannot be handled manually. Equipment must be used to move the bales, and the most common equipment for picking up and moving a big bale is a fork lift truck equipped with side squeezes as opposed to standard bottom forks. The side squeezes are used to clamp on to the sides of the bale and hold it while it is being lifted, lowered, or otherwise moved around. If the big bales are stored string side out, then the fork lift squeeze breaks the string while the fork is sliding between the bales resulting in broken twine and burst bales.
The typical dimensions for a standard field bale, which may vary, are usually 16" high .times.17" wide .times.48" long. For purposes of this specification, in both the prior art and detailed description, a long bale with dimensions of 50" high .times.48" wide .times.96" long will be used. However, it should be apparent that the principles disclosed are applicable to other sizes of large bales.
The commercial recompression machines in use today are designed to accept and recompress standard field bales. If the source of supply of fibrous material to be recompressed is in the form of a large bale, the large bale must first be cut into blocks equivalent in both density and size to the standard field bale.
As shown in prior art FIGS. 2 and 3, in the prior art, large bales are cut to recompression size by means of either a sickle or a chain saw. In the prior art, great care was taken to manipulate the large bale and the pieces thereof, as they are cut, so as to create field bale size blocks of fibrous material, oriented as in the same position as would be a standard field bale about to be recompressed. That is to say, the cut blocks are oriented so that the fibrous material is oriented to be the equivalent of what would be a string side up standard field bale about to be recompressed.
This is shown representationally in FIGS. 2 and 3. As can be seen, the big bale from which a slab has been cut, if handled as usual, string side up, has to be reoriented cut side up so as to place the string on the sides, with the parallel orientation of the stalks and blades of the fibrous material in a more or less vertical, parallel, orientation. The strings of the baling twine must then be removed prior to cutting off a slab which, when laid down, is 16" high .times.52" wide .times.96" long. The slab is then cut into three sections or blocks, each of which have dimensions of 16" high .times.17" wide .times.96" long.
In using this prior art method, as can be seen, the ultimate result is the fibrous material lies in an orientation equivalent to that of a standard field bale with its string side up.
There are two problems with this prior art method. The first is that the big bale must be reoriented from its string side down position to its cut side down position prior to cutting the slabs. This is an extra handling step, and requires stoutly built machinery to pick up and rotate a 2,000 lb. bale. The second problem is that the strings must be removed from the bale prior to cutting the slabs. When this is done, typically in the prior art, the bale is first moved into and encased within a squeeze chute to hold the untied bale together as the slabs are being cut. Often times, the slabs being cut from the big bale will simply burst apart and the operator will find him or herself with 700 lbs. of loose hay representing a 16" slab cut from a 96" 2,000 lb. bale. Next, if the prior art slab remains intact as it is laid down on to a transport table for movement to a secondary cutting position where the slab is further cut into the blocks, it will often times simply burst apart during this operation
The loose hay, in the prior art, and continuing today, must be collected and re-baled by a standard field baler located at the recompression cite, before reintroduction into the system. Breakage rates for large bales as they are cut into slabs in the prior art, are unacceptable for commercial production.
What is needed is a method of cutting large bales into smaller blocks which can then be recompressed without breakage or disintegration of the blocks of fibrous material prior to its recompression.

Method for cutting blocks of fibrous material for recompression


An electronic circuit interconnect apparatus that includes two zipper tracks configured to zip together thereby causing a first circuit to electrically couple with a second circuit. Specifically, each of the zipper tracks include a plurality of teeth, one or more of which are electrically coupled to the first circuit or the second circuit. As a result, when the teeth coupled to the first circuit are zipped to the teeth coupled to the second circuit it causes the first and second circuits to be electrically coupled.

Traditionally, electronic circuitry is coupled together via permanent physical connections such as wires. Similarly, non-permanent connections, such as switches or plugs and sockets, although able to selectively disconnect two or more portions of a circuit, are not designed to enable physical separation of the two portions of the circuit because it would break the switch apart. With regard to wearable electronics, this inability to physically separate the circuitry created a problem of preventing washing, upgrading, or partial replacement of the circuits because even if only one portion of the circuitry is non-washable, non-upgradable and/or has failed it prevents the whole circuit from that functionality. Accordingly, this lack of selective physical and electrical coupling/de-coupling results in such product having higher cost due to the increased waste due to failures and non-upgradability despite the product also having less functionality.

Electronic circuit slidable interconnect


A context based access control system that includes a set of one or more authorization contexts that are activated in response to selection of different functions or tasks or other functional boundary object of an application program. The authorization contexts are associated with one or more access policies that are invoked in response to activation of the one or more authorization contexts.

Many users can access business or other information through applications over a local or wide area network. Some information generated by an application contain sensitive information, such as payroll data or credit information. Other information is general. Businesses or other organizations want to limit access to sensitive information, such as credit information or payroll information to a select group of users, yet provide unrestricted access to general information.
Effective security would grant access to information based upon application of one or more criteria, such as time of day, location, task and the role of the user in relation to the information requested. Systems that control access based upon a user's function or role are not sensitive to the functions or information structure of the application program. Access control applied directly on the object is not sensitive to the functional context (task) in which the access happens. Discretionary Access lists control access to files and directories based upon an authorized user list. Once the right is granted, the right typically applies regardless of the task or function activated by the user.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

Application context based access control


In some embodiments, a method includes establishing a communications link between a computing device and an adapter. The adapter is configured to receive at least a portion of a medicament delivery device. A wireless signal is received to maintain the communications link. A relative position between the computing device and the adapter is determined. An alarm is produced when the wireless signal is not received within a time period. The alarm is based on the relative position between the computing device and the adapter.

The invention relates generally to a medical device, and more particularly to a medicament delivery device, and/or a simulated medicament delivery device having a locating feature, as well as devices for interacting with such medicament delivery devices and/or simulated medicament delivery devices.
Exposure to certain substances, such as, for example, peanuts, shellfish, bee venom, certain drugs, toxins, and the like, can cause allergic reactions in some individuals. Such allergic reactions can, at times, lead to anaphylactic shock, which can cause a sharp drop in blood pressure, hives, and/or severe airway constriction. Accordingly, responding rapidly to mitigate the effects from such exposures can prevent injury and/or death. For example, in certain situations, an injection of epinephrine (i.e., adrenaline) can provide substantial and/or complete relief from the allergic reaction. In other situations, for example, an injection of an antidote to a toxin can greatly reduce and/or eliminate the harm potentially caused by the exposure. Because emergency medical facilities may not be available when an individual is suffering from an allergic reaction, some individuals carry a medicament delivery device, such as, for example, an auto-injector, to rapidly self-administer a medicament in response to an allergic reaction.
As another example, naloxone is a medicament that prevents and/or reverses the effects of opioids. Known formulations of naloxone can be used, for example, to treat respiratory depression and other indications that result from opioid toxicity. For example, known formulations for naloxone can be used to reverse and/or mitigate the effects of an overdose of a drug containing opioids, such as, for example, heroin. In such situations, it is desirable to deliver the naloxone formulation quickly and in a manner that will produce a rapid onset of action. Known methods for delivering naloxone intranasally or via injection, however, often involve completing a series of operations that, if not done properly, can limit the effectiveness of the naloxone formulation. Moreover, because naloxone is often administered during an emergency situation, even experienced and/or trained users may be subject to confusion and/or panic, thereby compromising the delivery of the naloxone formulation.
As yet another example, glucagon is a medicament that is administered to treat patients suffering from hypoglycemia. In certain situations, the onset of hypoglycemia can cause the patient to lose motor coordination and/or lose consciousness. Thus, glucagon is often administered by a care giver during an emergency situation.
In the above-identified examples, as we well as other instances, the individual requiring the injection may be incapacitated and may unable to inform bystanders of the nature of the medical emergency, that a medicament delivery device is available, and/or how to use the medicament delivery device. If bystanders remain unaware of the availability and location of the medicament delivery device, or are unable to administer the medicament, important medical aid may not be delivered. In addition, to actuate some known medicament delivery device, the user may be required to execute a series of operations. For example, to actuate some known auto-injectors, the user must remove a protective cap, remove a locking device, place the auto-injector in a proper position against the body and then press a button to actuate the auto-injector. Failure to complete these operations properly can result in an incomplete injection and/or injection into an undesired location of the body. In certain instances, for example, users who have become confused in the operation of some known auto-injectors have inadvertently injected the medicament into their thumb by improperly positioning the auto-injector.
The likelihood of improper use of known medicament delivery devices can be compounded by the nature of the user and/or the circumstances under which such devices are used. For example, many users are not trained medical professionals and may have never been trained in the operation of such devices. Moreover, in certain situations, the user may not be the patient, or primary caregiver, and may therefore have no experience with the medicament delivery device. Similarly, because some known medicament delivery devices are configured to be used relatively infrequently in response to an allergic reaction or the like, even those users familiar with the device and/or who have been trained may not be well practiced at operating the device. Finally, such devices are often used during an emergency situation, during which even experienced and/or trained users may be subject to confusion, panic, and/or the physiological effects of the condition requiring treatment.
Some known medicament delivery devices include printed instructions to inform the user of the steps required to properly deliver the medicament. Such printed instructions, however, can be inadequate for the class of users and/or the situations described above. Moreover, because some known medicament delivery devices, such as, for example, auto-injectors, pen injectors, inhalers or the like, can be compact, such printed instructions may be too small to read and comprehend during an emergency situation.
Some known medicament delivery devices are associated with simulated medicament delivery devices (e.g., "trainers") to provide a method for users to practice using the medicament delivery device without being exposed to the medicament and/or needles typically contained therein. Such simulated medicament delivery devices, however, can also include inadequate use instructions as described above.
Monitoring the patient's compliance with known medicament delivery devices can also be problematic. For example, some known treatment regimens include multiple doses of a medicament that must be administered in a timely fashion and/or in a particular order to ensure effectiveness (e.g., certain vaccination regimens). Thus, monitoring the patient's compliance is an important aspect in ensuring that the treatment method will be effective. Some known medicament delivery systems include a medicament delivery device and an electronic system to assist the user in setting the proper dosage and/or maintaining a compliance log. Such known medicament delivery systems and the accompanying electronic systems can be large and therefore not conveniently carried by the user. Such known medicament delivery systems and the accompanying electronic systems can also be complicated to use and/or expensive to manufacture. Moreover, some known medicament delivery systems include sensors disposed within the medicament delivery path, which can interfere with the delivery, result in contamination, or the like.
Thus, a need exists for medicament delivery systems and/or devices that allow a medicament delivery device to be quickly identified and located, and provide instructions that can be easily understood by a user in any type of situation. Additionally, a need exists for simulated medicament delivery systems and/or devices that can provide instructions and that can be reused multiple times. Moreover, a need exists for medicament delivery systems and/or devices that can provide compliance information associated with the use of the device and/or that can communicate electronically with other communications devices.

Devices, systems and methods for locating and interacting with medicament delivery systems


Toggling functional critical path timing sensors measure delays in toggling functional critical paths that continuously receive patterns from an aging pattern generator. Wear is accelerated. A margin delay adjustment controller sweeps margin delays until failures occur to measure delays. The margin delay is then adjusted in functional critical path timing sensors that add the margin delay to functional critical paths that carry user data or chip controls during normal operation. When the path delays fail to meet requirements, the functional critical path timing sensors signal a controller to increase VDD. When no failures occur over a period of time, the controller decreases VDD. Wear on the toggling functional critical paths is accelerated using both toggle and low-transition-density patterns. Circuit aging is compensated for by increasing margin delays to timing sensors.

While Integrated Circuit (IC) semiconductor devices are much more stable over time compared with older technologies, signs of wear or aging can occur, and IC's can have a finite lifetime. As device sizes shrink, aging effects may become more pronounced. For example, some newer flash memories may spec a reduced number of lifetime read/write cycles.
Hot Carrier Injection (HCI) occurs when electrons are accelerated by a high electric field, such as near the drain of a Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET) transistor. These "hot" electrons can damage the gate oxide, resulting in trapped charges. As more charges are trapped over the lifetime of a chip, the transistor threshold voltages may increase, reducing the transistor's current drive and speed.
Other aging mechanisms may occur for more advanced IC processes. Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) is thought to occur when nitrides are added to gate oxides, especially at the silicon-oxide interface. NBTI may have a greater impact on p-channel transistors than on n-channel transistors, resulting in circuit skews. Other mechanisms that cause circuit wear may also exist or are yet to be discovered and understood.
Semiconductor devices are specified (spec'ed) to operate within certain parameters, such as a maximum power draw and a maximum clock frequency. While semiconductor manufacturing processes are very precise, process variations do occur. Although the manufacturing process may target a typical device, sometimes process variations produce slower chips or faster chips. As device sizes shrink, larger relative variations may occur.
Chips may be tested to determine their power draw and speed, and these chips may be sorted into slow-chip bins, fast-chip bins, and typical-chip bins. The faster chips may be sold as faster speed grades, while the slower chips may be sold for slower speed grades. Unfortunately, such process skews are not always reproducible or planned but may occur randomly, making for logistical difficulties. Therefore all process skews are often lumped together. The slowest expected process skews determine the specified speed of the device, while the fastest expected process skews determine the specified maximum power dissipation.
FIG. 1 is a graph showing how process variations affect device specifications. The slowest process skew (SS) has the lowest power and the lowest performance or speed. A typical process (TT) has a better power and performance product. The fastest process skew (FF) has the highest performance and speed, but also consumes the most power.
All three process skews—slow, typical, and fast, share the same device specifications when no grade sorting is performed. Devices produced with the slowest process determine the speed specs such as the maximum clock frequency, or the minimum clock-to-output delay times. However, the fast devices consume more power than do the slower devices, so power specs are determined by devices manufactured by the fast process skews. The power-supply voltage VDD is usually fixed.
The performance and power specs are determined by the worst-case devices over the expected process skews. Slow devices set the speed specs and fast devices set the power specs. This is not optimal, since fast devices are spec'ed slower than they can actually operate, and slow devices actually draw less power than spec'ed.
Also, as the devices age, wear occurs, such as by HCI or NBTI. This wear may be caused by trapped electrons or other ions that gradually increase threshold voltages and thus reduce current drive. As thresholds gradually rise over the life of the chip, the chip's performance worsens. The manufacturer may have to add a margin of safety to the chip's spec's to account for future aging effects.
Specialized sensors may be added to chips to facilitate at-speed testing. Dummy bit lines have been added to RAM arrays to adjust bit-line sensing circuits. An oscillator or a canary circuit may be added to track process variations. However, the actual circuit may be much more complex than an oscillator, resulting in tracking errors. For logic chips, a dummy path and an on-chip timing sensor may be added. The timing sensor can report its results to a tester or even to an on-chip controller that can adjust operating conditions, such as to slow down or stop a clock to reduce power consumption.
While such on-chip dummy paths and sensors are useful, it is desired to measure the actual critical paths rather than measure a dummy path. It is desired to add a timing sensor to an actual critical path on a chip so that the timing sensor is measuring the delay of the same physical path that carries functional data during operation of the chip.
It is further desired to account for wear and aging of the chip. It is desired to accelerate aging on a dummy path, and then to measure the amount of wear and adjust other on-chip sensors to account for the measured wear. It is desired to accelerate wear on a dummy sacrificial path, and then use the measured wear to adjust margins for timing sensors on actual critical paths. Thus the actual critical paths do not experience accelerated wear, but are adjusted for the accelerated wear on a dummy path.

Circuitry and method for measuring negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) and hot carrier injection (HCI) aging effects using edge sensitive sampling


Enhanced step coverage and reduced resistivity of a TaSiN layer may be achieved when a semiconductor device is manufactured by: forming an interlayer insulating layer on a semiconductor substrate, the interlayer insulating layer having a contact hole that partially exposes the substrate; depositing a TaN thin film on the interlayer insulating layer and in the contact hole using a reaction gas containing a Ta precursor and a nitrogen source gas; removing impurities from the TaN thin film; forming a TaSiN thin film by reacting the impurity-removed TaN thin film with a silicon source gas, and repeating the TaN-depositing, impurity-removing, and silicon source gas-reacting steps.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method for manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a diffusion barrier that blocks diffusion of metal from a metal line and a method for forming such a diffusion barrier.
(b) Description of the Related Art
During a process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, a diffusion barrier is frequently formed on an interior wall of a hole such as a contact hole or a via hole, in order to prevent diffusion of a metal such as copper from a metal line into silicon and/or an oxide.
Group-II nitrides such as tantalum nitride (TaN), in which nitrogen (N) is contained in a refractory metal such as tantalum (Ta), or group-III nitrides, such as tantalum-silicon-nitride (TaSiN) containing N and silicon (Si) together with Ta, may be used for the diffusion barrier. Among the two groups of nitrides, the group-III nitride containing Si shows better performance.
In addition, a TaSiN layer is generally easily deposited, since it is usually deposited by a physical vapor deposition (PVD) method. On the other hand, the TaSiN layer formed by the PVD method shows poor step coverage for a contact hole of a high aspect ratio. In addition, sufficient (poly)silicon remains such that, when PVD TaSiN is used as a diffusion barrier for a copper line, the copper may easily diffuse to form a copper-silicon compound or alloy (CuSi) at the interface of the TaSiN layer and the copper line layer. phenomenon during thermal processing.
For such reasons, research and investigations are conducted into forming the TaSiN layer by chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which may provide better step coverage and a (more) amorphous state for the TaSiN layer. However, according to the CVD method, the substrate has to be heated to a temperature higher than 600° C. in order to obtain a sufficient reaction between the Ta precursor and the other reaction gas(es). Therefore, the method necessarily involves a high temperature, resulting in an increase in surface roughness of the layer, and in particular, a decrease in layer density, thereby causing an agglomeration phenomenon during thermal processing.
In addition, due to various residual atoms or other materials included in the Ta precursor, an undesirable amount of impurities may be included in the layer during its deposition, thereby increasing the resistivity of the TaSiN layer.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention, and therefore, it may contain information that does not form prior art or other information that may be already known to others in this country.

Semiconductor device and method for manufacturing the same


A method of determining the time relation between an original or input speech signal (10) and an output speech signal (15) affected by time warping in a communications system, such as a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) system. Wherein corresponding speech bursts (11, 12; 16, 17) of the input (10) and output speech signal (15) are located in accordance with a predefined signal property thereof. The corresponding speech bursts (11, 12; 16, 17) thus located and time aligned (10, 30) for the correction of continuous and discontinuous warping effects. A performance estimate is generated by comparing the time aligned input and output speech signals (10, 30) applying cross-correlation techniques and PSQM (Perceptual Speech Quality Measure) or PSQM+ (Enhanced Perceptual Speech Quality Measure) techniques.

When transporting speech in packet switched communications systems, such as systems operating under ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) or by Internet Protocol (IP) techniques, warping of the time scale occurs from different transportation or transmission delays of the different packets, and buffering. In practice, each speech burst may encounter an individual transmission delay.
For objectively measuring the speech quality of time warped speech signals, such as signals transmitted in VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) systems, by comparing corresponding speech bursts of the output speech signal and its original input speech signal, the time relation between the speech bursts has to be determined before a performance estimate of the output speech signal can be provided.
In the context of the present invention, the term "speech burst" has to be construed as an amount of speech delimited by periods of lower energy or loudness. For the purpose of the present invention, the term speech burst refers to a speech utterance either on a coarse or sentence level or on a fine or spurt level.
Applicants' International patent application WO 96/06496 (invented by Michael HOLLIER et al, titled Analysis Of Audio Quality and filed Aug. 17, 1995) discloses a method of analyzing speech quality of an output speech signal affected by time warping in a communications system. Continuous time dewarping is applied to the received output signal using transform or digital filtering techniques, to adapt the macro properties of each speech element, such as pitch and duration, for providing an estimated original input signal. The estimated original input signal and the actual output signal received are subjected to a comparison step for providing an estimate of the subjective audio perception quality.
In a VoIP system, for example, warping is a discontinuous phenomenon in that the signals are manipulated during periods of silence, to keep the manipulations essentially non-audible to the receiver (i.e. the person receiving the signals). Degradation of the speech signal by discontinuous warping cannot be accounted for by the method disclosed in Applicants' International patent application WO 96/06496 (Michael HOLLIER et al, entitled "Analysis Of Audio Quality" and filed Aug. 17, 1995).

Determination of the time relation between speech signals affected by time warping


The invention thus relates to a radiation module incorporating a support, at least one heating and/or heat conducting element and a temperature exchanging element made by extrusion and constituted by a single-piece base with an internal face incorporating at least one means to integrate the heating and/or heat conducting element and an external face incorporating radiation fins wherein the module incorporate a diffuser receiving infrared radiation from the temperature exchanging element, said diffuser enabling infrared radiation to be emitted of a wavelength that is less than that of the radiation received.

1. Field of the Invention
The technical scope of the present invention is that of thermal exchange devices, and more particularly infrared radiation heating devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heating and maintaining a constant temperature in a room or building is a principal concern for architects and heating engineers who must plan for and provide one or several heating sources according to the geometry of the room to be heated. Numerous means to heat a room are known: floor heating, forced-air heating, convector heating, and radiant heating or a combination of convection and radiant heating. Radiators are currently the most common heating means. They classically incorporate a support onto which a temperature exchanging element and a heating element are attached. The temperature exchanging element generally incorporates cooling fins arranged vertically in the case of natural convection and in parallel to the air circulation in the case of forced convection.
Air conditioning systems have several drawbacks. A first drawback lies in the cost of manufacture and installation. Another drawback lies in the fact that a flow of air often generates medical problems for the users (development of germs in the system, chills, etc.). Another drawback lies in the poor efficiency of these energy-consuming systems. Another drawback lies in the noise generated by the air circulation.

Temperature exchanging element made by extrusion and incorporating an infrared radiation diffuser


Forced compression halftone processes and forced compression techniques may be used to forcibly compress page raster images passed between a Digital Front End (DFE) processor and a Continuous Feed (CF) printer within a CF printing system. If a DFE processor determines that a compressed image size exceeds a static or dynamically predetermined threshold, the DFE processor may re-render the image using a “forced compression” halftone process, such as 2-to-1 forced compression, 4-to-1 forced compression, reduced resolution, etc. Once the page raster image has been re-rendered, the DFE processor may use a forced compression technique, which is complimentary to the applied “forced compression” halftone process to re-compress the page raster image. The approach allows page raster images to be compressed to meet interface bandwidth constraints associated with the physical interface between the DFE processor and CF print engine, thereby allowing otherwise unprintable jobs to be printed with reasonable quality.

This disclosure generally relates to Continuous Feed (CF) printing systems that include a processor that receives Page Description Language (PDL) input or other input from a PDL source device or other source device and supplies raster images to a CF printer.
FIG. 1 is a side view of an exemplary CF printer. A CF printer prints on a band or roll of paper as opposed to a sheet printing system that prints on discrete sheets of media. FIG. 1 illustrates a CF printer 100 that incorporates a media input roll 102, media input adapter 104, multiple printing modules 106, 108, 110, and 112, a media output adapter 114 and a media output roll 116. The media input roll 102 comprises a wound-up paper web 118, and the media input roll 102 unwinds as the web of paper 118 is fed by the input adapter 104 to a first printing module 106. The paper web 118 continues to proceed through second 108, third 110 and fourth 112 printing modules. The web 118 continues to be processed through the output adapter 114 that feeds the paper web 118 onto the output roll 116. Any paper cutting required may be performed external to the CF printer illustrated in FIG. 1. Alternatively, the paper web 118 may be fed directly to a cutter after printing, rather than being wound on the output roll 116. Other variations of a CF printer are available, such as the CF printer embodiments described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,786,149, issued to Lomoine et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIG. 2 is a system level block diagram of an exemplary CF printing system 200 which may include a PDL source device 202, a Digital Front End (DFE) processor 400, an exemplary CF printer 100, as described above with respect to FIG. 1, and printed material finishing devices 204.
As shown in FIG. 2, DL source device 202 may generate page data that describes a page to be printed using PDL. For example, the page to be printed may be described using a PDL based on, for example, the Adobe Postscript standard, or another standard. The PDL description of the page may be passed by PDL source device 202, via a direct or network-based connection, to DFE processor 400.
DFE processor 400 may process the PDL page description for each page to produce a raster image of each page to be printed that may be passed to CF printer 100 for printing. Processing performed by DEE processor 400 for each page of PDL may include several steps. First, DFE processor 400 may raster image process (RIP) the PDL page description received for each page to be printed to generate a set of page objects, e.g., rectangles, letters, bitmaps, etc., and coordinates for arranging each of the respective page objects on the page to be printed. Second, DFE processor 400 may render the set of generated objects for each page to be printed using a selected halftoning process to produce a rendered halftoned raster image, as addressed in greater detail below. Third, DFE processor 400 may compress the halftoned raster image. Fourth, DFE processor 400 may transmit either a compressed, or an uncompressed, halftoned raster image to a CF printer 100 for each page to be printed.
CF printer 100 may receive a halftoned raster image, decompress the received raster image if the image was previously compressed, and then print the raster image on web of paper 118 passing through CF printer 100, as described above with respect to FIG. 1. CF printer 100 may then pass the printed output on web of paper 118 to one or more finishing devices 204.
The finishing devices 204 may receive the stream of printed output on the web of paper 118, and may cut, collate, fold and/or otherwise process the web of paper 118 to produce a printed product. Such product may include newspapers, magazines, pamphlets, and/or any other printed material. These printed products may be further processed by hand and/or by additional specialized finishing equipment to meet the needs of the final product.
An exemplary CF printing system 200, as described above, may generate printed output with a page-per-minute output rate of many hundreds of pages per minute. To support such high printed page rates, media input roll 102 and media output roll 116 may rotate in locked phase to supply web of paper 118 passing through CF printing 100 to support web feed rates of many hundreds of feet per minute. By rotating at rates sufficiently high to supply web of paper 118 to CF printing 100, both media input roll 102 and media output roll 116 develop significant rotational momentum.
DFE processor 400 supplies halftoned raster images to the CF printer 100 at an average rate that matches the page-per-minute throughput of the CF printer. A CF printer operates continuously on the principle that an image will always be available for output to the continuous web of paper 118 passing through the printer. The pages of a print job may have relative positions with respect to one another on web of paper 118, so that as the printed output is processed by the respective finishing devices, the pages of the final printed output are properly collated. For this reason, the CF printer 100 cannot accommodate a skip of one or more images in the stream of raster images received from DFE processor 400.
Therefore, should DFE processor 400 fail to deliver halftoned raster images to the CF printer 100 at a sufficiently high average rate, raster image storage buffers in CF printer 100 may become depleted of all images, resulting in an error condition referred to as "clutching" During a clutching process, the CF printer terminates the current print job and engages clutches, or brakes, to slow media input roil 102 and media output roll 116.
Given that CF printer 100 operates at such high speeds, such a termination, mid-stream of a print job, may result in damage, e.g., stretching and/or tearing of web of paper 118 and/or a failure to fuse toner on portions of web of paper 118. Recovery from such a clutching operation involves a lot of human interaction in order to clean up CF printer 100, to reinitiate CF printer 100 for a second printing process and to correlate and fuse the printed output of the separately initiated runs.
To avoid clutching, the processes executed by DFE processor 400 to generate raster images for transfer to CF printer 100, the physical interface, e.g., optical cables, point to point Ethernet, etc., between DFE processor 400 and CF printer 100, and the raster image buffer maintained by CF printer 100, may be configured to assure that DFE processor 400 can supply a stream of raster images at a rate that supports the throughput rate of the CF printer.
Due to marketplace constraints, the processing speed of DFE processor 400, the throughout capacity of the physical interface between DFE processor 400 and CF printer 100, and the storage capacity of image buffers in CF printer 100, etc., all have finite capacities. Therefore, despite efforts to design a system in which clutching is less likely to occur, operational conditions may still arise that result in clutching of CF printer 100. Often, the physical interface between DFE processor 400 and CF printer 100 is the principal bottleneck.
For example, if a print job includes a large number of pages that do not compress well, the physical interface between DFE processor 400 and CF printer 100 may be required to pass a large number of larger-than-average files. Such an occurrence may result in a reduction in the average page-per-minute transfer rate of page raster images from DFE processor 400 to page raster image storage buffers in CF printer 100. Should the average page-per-minute transfer rate of page raster images into the CF printer page raster image storage buffers fall below the page-per-minute output rate of the CF printer, a net reduction in the number of page raster image files stored in the CF printer's page raster image storage buffers will occur. Should such conditions continue for a period of time longer than that planned for when the total page storage capacity of the page raster image storage buffers in the CF printer system configuration was established, the CF printer's storage buffers may become depleted of page raster image files, thereby forcing CF printer 100 to clutch.

Adaptive forced binary compression in printing systems


Polyarylcarboxamide compounds of formula (I)

Obesity is the cause of a myriad of serious health problems like the adult onset of diabetes and heart disease. In addition, the loss of weight is getting an obsession among an increasing proportion of the human population.
The causal relationship between hypercholesterolemia, particularly that associated with increased plasma concentrations of low density lipoproteins (hereinafter referred as LDL) and very low density lipoproteins (hereinafter referred as VLDL), and premature atherosclerosis and/or cardiovascular disease is now widely recognized. However, a limited number of drugs are presently available for the treatment of hyperlipidemia. Drugs primarily used for the management of hyperlipidemia include bile acid sequestrant resins such as cholestyramine and colestipol, fibric acid derivatives such as bezafibrate, clofibrate, fenofibrate, ciprofibrate and gemfibrozil, nicotinic acid and cholesterol synthesis inhibitors such as HMG Co-enzyme-A reductase inhibitors. The inconvenience of administration (a granular form to be dispersed in water or orange juice) and the major side-effects (gastro-intestinal discomfort and constipation) of bile acid sequestrant resins constitute major drawbacks. Fibric acid derivatives induce a moderate decrease (by 5 to 25%) of LDL cholesterol (except in hypertriglyceridemic patients in whom initially low levels tend to increase) and, although usually well tolerated, suffer from side-effects including potentiation of warfarine, pruritus, fatigue, headache, insomnia, painful reversible myopathy and stiffness in large muscle groups, impotency and impaired renal function. Nicotinic acid is a potent lipid lowering agent resulting in a 15 to 40% decrease in LDL cholesterol (and even 45 to 60% when combined with a bile acid sequestrant resin) but with a high incidence of troublesome side-effects related to the drug's associated vasodilatory action, such as headache, flushing, palpitations, tachychardia and occasional syncopes, as well as other side-effects such as gastro-intestinal discomfort, hyperucemia and impairment of glucose tolerance. Among the family of HMG Co-enzyme-A reductase inhibitors, lovastatin and simvastatin are both inactive prodrugs containing a lactone ring which is hydrolyzed in the liver to form the corresponding active hydroxy-acid derivative. Inducing a reduction of LDL cholesterol by 35 to 45%, they are generally well tolerated with a low incidence of minor side effects. However there still remains a need for new lipid lowering agents with improved efficiency and/or acting via other mechanisms than the above mentioned drugs.
Plasma lipoproteins are water-soluble complexes of high molecular weight formed from lipids (cholesterol, triglyceride, phospholipids) and apolipoproteins. Five major classes of lipoproteins that differ in the proportion of lipids and the type of apolipoprotein, all having their origin in the liver and/or the intestine, have been defined according to their density (as measured by ultracentrifugation). They include LDL, VLDL, intermediate density lipoproteins (hereinafter referred as IDL), high density lipoproteins (hereinafter referred as HDL) and chylomicrons. Ten major human plasma apolipoproteins have been identified. VLDL, which is secreted by the liver and contains apolipoprotein B (hereinafter referred as Apo-B), undergoes degradation to LDL which transports 60 to 70% of the total serum cholesterol. Apo-B is also the main protein component of LDL. Increased LDL-cholesterol in serum, due to oversynthesis or decreased metabolism, is causally related to atherosclerosis. In contrast high density lipoproteins (hereinafter referred as HDL), which contain apolipoprotein A1, have a protective effect and are inversely correlated with the risk of a coronary heart disease. The HDL/LDL ratio is thus a convenient method of assessing the atherogenic potential of an individual's plasma lipid profile.
The two isoforms of apolipoprotein (apo) B, apo B-48 and apo B-100, are important proteins in human lipoprotein metabolism. Apo B-48, so named because it appears to be about 48% the size of apo B-100 on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels, is synthesized by the intestine in humans. Apo B-48 is necessary for the assembly of chylomicrons and therefore has an obligatory role in the intestinal absorption of dietary fats. Apo B-100, which is produced in the liver in humans, is required for the synthesis and secretion of VLDL. LDL, which contain about ⅔ of the cholesterol in human plasma, are metabolic products of VLDL. Apo B-100 is virtually the only protein component of LDL. Elevated concentrations of apo B-100 and LDL cholesterol in plasma are recognized risk factors for developing atherosclerotic coronary artery disease.
A large number of genetic and acquired diseases can result in hyperlipidemia. They can be classified into primary and secondary hyperlipidemic states. The most common causes of the secondary hyperlipidemias are diabetes mellitus, alcohol abuse, drugs, hypothyroidism, chronic renal failure, nephrotic syndrome, cholestasis and bulimia. Primary hyperlipidemias have also been classified into common hypercholesterolaemia, familial combined hyperlipidaemia, familial hypercholesterolaemia, remnant hyperlipidaemia, chylomicronaemia syndrome and familial hyper-triglyceridaemia.
Microsomal triglyceride transfer protein (hereinafter referred as MTP) is known to catalyze the transport of triglyceride and cholesteryl ester by preference to phospholipids such as phosphatidylcholine. It was demonstrated by D. Sharp et al., Nature (1993) 365:65 that the defect causing abetalipoproteinemia is in the MTP gene. This indicates that MTP is required for the synthesis of Apo B-containing lipoproteins such as VLDL, the precursor to LDL. It therefore follows that an MTP inhibitor would inhibit the synthesis of VLDL and LDL, thereby lowering levels of VLDL, LDL, cholesterol and triglyceride in humans. MTP inhibitors have been reported in Canadian patent application No. 2,091,102 and in WO 96/26205. MTP inhibitors belonging to the class of polyarylcarboxamides have also been reported in U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,246 as well as in WO-96/40640 and WO-98/27979.
One of the goals of the present invention is to provide an improved treatment for patients suffering from obesity or atherosclerosis, especially coronary atherosclerosis and more generally from disorders which are related to atherosclerosis, such as ischaemic heart disease, peripheral vascular disease and cerebral vascular disease. Another goal of the present invention is to cause regression of atherosclerosis and inhibit its clinical consequences, particularly morbidity and mortality.

Polyarylcarboxamides useful as lipid lowering agents

Abstract: are useful as lipid lowering agents.


The present invention relates to payloads containing functionalized platinum-(benz)acridine hybrid agents as cytotoxic warheads and a method of synthesizing the payloads. The payload can be regioselectively conjugated to a biologically active moiety in order to facilitate the delivery and/or enhance the activity of the platinum compound.

Platinum anticancer agents such as cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin presently in clinical use are among the most widely used anticancer agents in the world. In particular, these platinum drugs have been known to exhibit superior antitumor activities against genital cancers such as testicular, ovarian, and bladder cancers as well as colorectal cancer.
However, like other low molecular weight anticancer agents such as paclitaxel, doxorubicin, etc., platinum anticancer agents administered systemically attack not only tumor cells and tissues but also normal cells and tissues equally without tumor selectivity, which cause severe toxicities such as nephrotoxicity, neurotoxicity, etc. In addition, their acquired cross-resistance and low water-solubility seriously limit their utility for cancer treatment.
Tremendous efforts have recently been made worldwide for the development of tumor targeting anticancer agents having selective cytotoxicity only on tumor cells or tissues, thereby drastically reducing adverse effects resulting from toxicity and overcoming drug-resistance. One of the most rational approaches to overcome non-selectivity and drug resistance inherently associated with the low molecular weight anticancer agents currently in clinical use is to use polymeric drug delivery systems, which have been intensively studied for the last decade. As representative examples, there are two different methods (nano-delivery and molecularly targeted delivery) to afford the low molecular weight anticancer agents to have tumor selectivity.
However, the efficacy and bioavailability of many of such conjugate drugs remain questionable. Further, the biocompatibility, tumor selectivity, and efficacy are yet to be improved.
Therefore, a need exists to develop more effective and selective anticancer agents with enhanced bioavailability and efficacy.

Payload and linker designs for platinum-acridine anticancer agents and methods thereof


An electroconductive resin composition useful for packaging an electronic device, is provided, whereby a drawback that carbon black is likely to fall off from the surface of a molded product by abrasion, has been overcome. It is an electroconductive resin composition which comprises at least one thermoplastic resin selected from the group consisting of a polyphenylene ether resin, a polystyrenic resin and an ABS resin, and carbon black and which contains a styrene/butadiene/butylene/styrene block copolymer or a mixture of such a copolymer with an olefinic resin, and has a surface resistivity of from 102 to 1010 Ω. Contamination of IC, etc., to be caused by falling off of carbon black, etc. by abrasion when contacted with IC, etc., can be substantially reduced.

As a container for packaging an electronic device such as IC, an injection tray, a vacuum-formed tray, a magazine or an embossed carrier tape may, for example, be mentioned. For such a container for packaging an electronic device, an electroconductive resin composition is used to prevent breakage of the accommodated IC or the like by abrasion between the electronic device and the container or by static electricity generated when a cover is peeled from the container.
As such an electroconductive resin composition, one comprising a thermoplastic resin and an electroconductive filler, is known. The electroconductive filler may, for example, be fine metal powder, carbon fiber or carbon black. Carbon black is most commonly used, since it can uniformly be dispersed by adjusting the kneading conditions, etc., and a constant surface resistivity can easily be obtained. As the thermoplastic resin, a polyvinyl chloride resin, a polypropylene resin, a polyethylene terephthalate resin, a polystyrenic resin or an ABS resin is employed. Further, as one having heat resistance at a temperature of at least 100° C., a polyphenylene ether resin or a polycarbonate resin may, for example, be used. Among these resins, a polyphenylene ether resin is superior for heat resistance, and for general purposes, a polystyrenic resin and an ABS resin are superior to other resins in that even if carbon black is incorporated in a large amount, there will be no substantial decrease in the flowability or moldability, and they are advantageous also from the viewpoint of costs.
Such containers for packaging electronic devices are disclosed, for example, in JP-A-2001-84834, JP-A-2000-34408, JP-A-2000-143891, JP-A-2000-119454, JP-A-11-335549, JP-A-11-256025, JP-A-11-80534, JP-A-11-10806, JP-A-10-329279, JP-A-10-329278, JP-A-10-329885, JP-A-10-309784, JP-A-09-265835, JP-A-09-245524, JP-A-09-174769, JP-A-09-76422, JP-A-09-76423, JP-A-09-76425, JP-A-09-76424, JP-A-08-337678, JP-A-08-283584, JP-A-08-199075, JP-A-08-199077, JP-A-08-198999 and JP-A-08-199076.
A molded product of a composition having a large amount of carbon black incorporated, has a drawback that carbon black is likely to fall off from the surface of the molded product by abrasion.


The present invention is directed to a low-profile or ultra-thin navigational pointing device incorporating haptic feedback related to the hardware designs, and sensor optimization relative to the functionally of joysticks, computer mice, gaming equipment, cell phones, personal digital assistants, telecommunications equipment, entertainment equipment, and other electronic pointing devices requiring height profiles of 5 mm or less. In one embodiment, a device in accordance with the present invention includes a support structure component, a read component, a sensor component, and a capture enclosure component. The read component is coupled to the support structure, and the sensor component is coupled to the capture enclosure where it is positioned in close proximity to the read component by capture enclosure.

Control devices, such as joystick navigational pointing devices, are commonplace components related to gaming equipment, cell phones, personal digital assistants, telecommunications equipment, entertainment equipment, digital music players, and other electronic devices. Users now require, to a large degree, the presence of such pointing devices that provide functionality related to touch (e.g. feeling), sight and sound in a dynamic fashion on demand.
For practicality, firmware can be defined as software that is embedded in a hardware device that allows reading and executing the software, but does not allow modification, such as, writing or deleting data by an end user. An example of firmware is a computer program in a read-only memory (ROM) integrated circuit chip. A hardware configuration is usually used to represent the software. Another example of firmware is a program embedded in an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) chip, which program may be modified by special external hardware, but not by an application program.
With regard to navigation devices such as joysticks and computer mice, firmware is used to control the movement of the cursor related to the interaction between the navigation device and the user. For example, as the user moves the navigation device pointer up or North, the cursor moves up or North on the display screen.
Related to haptic feedback, firmware can be used to unify the interaction between a navigation device and user with haptics such as touch sensations, creating the ultimate digital and sensory experience for the user. Using a cell phone joystick as an example, firmware controlling the joystick allows the user to experience all spatial senses such as sight, hearing, and touch making a feature-rich phones easier and more enjoyable to use.
Firmware that adds sight, sound cues, and touch sensations that allows greater realism and intuition in the way people navigate and use joysticks and other navigation pointers in gaming environments (such as when users are playing a game on their cell phone or personal digital assistant) can be defined generally as haptic firmware.
Haptic firmware technologies embedded in such devices help solve the product differentiation problem for handset manufacturers and operators, provide more practical and interactive content options for developers, and redefine the quality of the communication experience for end users.
Variable resistance devices have been used in many applications including joysticks, navigation pointers, sensors, switches, cell phones and transducers. A potentiometer is a simple example of a variable resistance device which has a fixed linear resistance element extending between two end terminals and a slider which is keyed to an input terminal and makes movable contact over the resistance element. The resistance or voltage (assuming constant voltage across the two end terminals) measured across the input terminal and a first one of the two end terminals is proportional to the distance between the first end terminal and the contact point on the resistance element. Resistive elastomers or resistive rubber materials have been used as resistance elements including variable resistance devices. The terms "resistive rubber", "resistive rubber material" and "resistive material" as used herein, refer to an elastomeric or rubber material which is interspersed with electrically conductive materials including, for example, carbon black, or metallic powder or both.
Examples of pointing devices include U.S. Pat. No. 6,404,323, issued to Schrum et al., titled "Variable Resistance Devices and Methods," which is hereby incorporated by reference focuses on variable resistance and sensor movement. U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,477, issued to Soma et al., both disclose various types of position reporting devices, joystick, or pointing devices incorporating force related technology.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,404,323, issued to Schrum et al., teaches a variable resistance device that comprises a resistive member having a resistive rubber material. A first conductor is configured to be electrically coupled with the resistive member at a first contact location over a first contact area. A second conductor is configured to be electrically coupled with the resistance member at a second contact location over a second contact area. The first contact location and second contact location are spaced from one another by a distance. The resistance between the first conductor at the first contact location and the second conductor at the second contact location is equal to the sum of a straight resistance component and a parallel path resistance component. At least one of the first location, the second location, the first contact area, and the second contact area is changed to produce a change in resistance between the first conductor and the second conductor. A resistance component increases or decreases as the distance between the first contact location and the second contact location increases or decrease, respectively. The resistance component has predetermined desired characteristics based on selected first and second contact locations and selected first and second contact areas. The first and second contact locations and first and second contact areas can be selected such that the change in the resistance between the first and second contact locations is at least substantially equal to the change in position.
When variable resistance devices similar to those of Schrum et al. are utilized in a gaming environment, a voltage divider value, related to the change in resistance, is determined by a X and Y axis location of the rubber contact across a conductive "read" area. This read area is analogous to the location of a "wiper" across a resistive area in a traditional potentiometer.
The resistance of the rubber used also changes when a Z-axis force is applied. If the Z-axis resistance change differs from the X, Y axis resistance change it can cause counter-intuitive results for the user causing inconsistent positioning reporting. More specifically, when resistive rubber technology is used in gaming devices in high emotion environments, many times device users use extreme amounts of force in handling such gaming devices.
Another example of inconsistent position reporting is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,477, issued to Soma et al. That problem involved in a force feedback device for sensing the position of the manipulandum near the limits to provided degrees of freedom. For example, force feedback devices typically provide hard stops to limit the motion of the manipulandum to a constrained range. Due to compliance in the mechanical and/or drive system, the problem of sensing the position of the manipulandum is exacerbated at the hard stops. For example, when the user moves the manipulandum fast against the hard stop, the compliance in the system may allow further motion past the hard stop to be sensed by the sensor due to compliance and momentum of the manipulandum. However, when the manipulandum is moved slowly, the momentum inertia is not as strong, and the sensor may not sense extra motion past the hard stop. These two situations can cause problems in sensing an accurate position consistently.
The inconsistent position reporting problem is further exacerbated with variable device joysticks and pointing devices being incorporated into cell phones, digital music players, and personal digital assistants (or PDAs) imposing additional restrictions on the height and size of such devices requiring a miniature form factor or elevation.
As users demand haptic feedback and require dynamic analog performance in a digital environment, the size and height of such conventional devices that meet such criterion are at odds with the user demand for low profile or ultra-thin, high-performance electronic equipment.
There is a need to address these and other drawbacks that are inconsistent with user demands for correct and dynamic position reporting, haptic feedback, and physically thin devices.

Low-profile or ultra-thin navigation pointing or haptic feedback device


Isolated antibodies that specifically bind to an epitope comprised in the stretch of amino acids ranging from amino acid 76 to amino acid 84 of human insulin-like growth factor-1 precursor (SEQ ID NO:1). Use of the novel antibodies for the sensitive and specific detection of insulin-like growth factor-1, in some embodiments while in the presence of high excess concentration of insulin-like growth factor-2, for example in a bodily fluid sample.

Human Insulin-like Growth Factor-1, (UniProtKB entry P05019, IGF1_human, (SEQ ID NO:1)) also known as somatomedin C and somatomedin A, is in its mature form a 70 amino acid polypeptide (SEQ ID NO:2), that shares large stretches of sequence identity and high structural homology with IGF-2 and insulin (Rinderknecht, E. and Humbel, R. E., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 73 (1976) 2365-2369; Rinderknecht, E. and Humbel, R. E., J. Biological Chemistry 253 (1978) 2769-2776). Human IGF-2 is present in human serum with a 500-fold molar excess over IGF-1 (Jones, J. I. and Clemmons, D. R., Endocr. Rev. 16 (1995) 3-34). The higher serum concentration of IGF-2 and its sequence homology with IGF-1 are major obstacles to the specific immunological detection of IGF-1.
Similar to insulin, the IGF-1 polypeptide chain can be divided into domains. IGF-1 comprises four domains, B (amino acid residues 1-29), C (30-41), A (42-62) and D (63-70), respectively. Domains A and B are structural homologs of insulin B and A chains, respectively, domain C is analogous to the connecting peptide of proinsulin, while the D-domain has no counterpart in insulin.
As summarized by Manes S., et al., J. Endocrinol. 154 (1997) 293-302, IGF-1 is thought to mediate the growth-promoting activity of growth hormone (GH) (Sara, V. R. and Hall, K., Physiol Rev. 70 (1990) 591-614). It is also considered critical in local control of cell growth, differentiation and survival in a variety of cell types through a paracrine or autocrine pathway (Jones J. I. and Clemmons, D. R., Endocrin. Rev. 16 (1995) 3-34). The putative receptor for IGF-1, the type-1 IGF receptor (IGF-1R) (Ullrich, A., et al., EMBO J., 5 (1986) 2503-2512), has been proposed to play a key role in tumorigenesis (Sell, C., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90 (1993) 11217-11221). There is ample evidence indicating that many tumors express IGF-1R and produce and secrete IGF-1 or IGF-2 to the extracellular milieu (Baserga, R., Cell 79 (1994) 927-930; Werner, H., et al., Int. J. Biochem. Cell Biol. 27 (1995) 987-994), thereby promoting continuous cell growth in an autocrine fashion.
Both IGF-1 and IGF-2 are expressed in numerous tissues and cell types and may have autocrine, paracrine and endocrine functions. Mature IGF-1 and IGF-2 are highly conserved between the human, bovine and porcine proteins (100% identity), and also exhibit cross-species activity. The IGFL (insulin-like growth factor-like) family includes four small (˜11 kDa) family members in humans and one in mouse.

Antibody specifically binding to insulin-like growth factor-1


A method for dispensing temperature-automotive body sealant includes providing a dispensing system having a pump operable to pump the sealant and a manifold receiving the sealant and operable to temperature-adjust the sealant has an elongated central body and elongated passages extending from the first end to the second end. First and second end caps are detachably connected to ends of the central body. A thermal unit is in thermal communication with the elongated central body and operable to heat or cool the elongated central body. A dispenser is in fluid communication with the manifold and operable to dispense the temperature-adjusted sealant. Sealant is pumped through the manifold and heated or cooled so as to provide a temperature-adjusted sealant. The temperature-adjusted sealant is dispensed from the dispenser.

Automotive body sealants are widely used in the manufacturing of automobiles, where they are sprayed or otherwise dispensed onto vehicle bodies and/or components. Examples of such automotive body sealants include under-body coating (UBC), seam sealer, PVC sealer, anti-chip coating, acoustic damping or absorbent materials and a variety of other materials. Some such automotive body sealants are designed to be dispensed at particular temperatures and therefore dispensing systems include heating and/or cooling devices for adjusting the temperature of the sealant.
FIG. 1 illustrates a generic system 10 for dispensing automotive body sealants. The sealants are provided with some type of supply 12, such as a barrel or tank. The supply is connected to an intake 14 to provide the sealant to a pump 16. The pump pumps the sealant through a conduit 18 to a heating or cooling system 20 where the sealant is heated or cooled. Exemplary systems include a manifold, with a plurality of passages for the sealant, in thermal communication with a plurality of passages for heated or cooled water. The water is heated or cooled by a thermal control system, not shown. The pump 16 forces the sealant through the system 20 where it is temperature-adjusted. The sealant then flows out through some type of dispenser 22. Such dispensers may take a variety of forms. The sealant is typically highly viscous and therefore a significant amount of energy and pressure is required to force the sealant through the manifold and out of the dispenser. Additional pumps may be provided. Also, the supply may be pressurized such that it is forced out of the supply rather than being pumped out.
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary manifold 50, which may be used as part of the heater or cooler 20 the system of FIG. 1. The manifold 50 is manufactured from a block 52 of materials such as aluminum. In one example, the block 52 is rectangular and has a first end 54 and a second end 56. In order to provide sealant passages in the manifold, a plurality of parallel longitudinal channels 58 are drilled from the first end 54 to the second end 56. A first cross-channel 60 is drilled perpendicularly to the longitudinal channels 58 near the first end 54 so as to intersect each of the channels 58. A second cross-channel 62 is drilled perpendicular to the longitudinal channels 58 near the second end 56 so as to also intersect each of the channels 58. This leaves a plurality of ports 64 in the first end 54 of the block 52 and a plurality of ports 66 in the second end 56 of the block 52, along with a pair of ports 68 and 70 at the end of the cross channel 60 and a pair of ports 72 and 74 at the ends of the cross channel 62. All but one of the ports 64 is then plugged with a plug 75 and all but one of the ports 66 is plugged with a plug 76. Each of the cross-channel ports 68, 70, 72, 74 are plugged with plugs 80. This results in a manifold having one inlet defined by the unplugged port 64 in the first end and an outlet defined by the unplugged port 66 in the second end with the parallel longitudinal channels 58 being in fluid communication with one another via the cross-channels 60, 62. As shown, the non-plugged port 64 may be a first one of the parallel longitudinal channels 58 and the unplugged port 66 may be the last of the parallel longitudinal channels 58 such that material flowing through the manifold 50 is forced to go through the cross-channels 60 and 62.
The manifold of FIG. 2 has a number of drawbacks. First, the various plugged ports create short dead-end passages in which material may accumulate and dry out. Over time, this dried out material may start to block the flow passages, a process referred to as packing out. At this point, the manifold 50 is removed from production, each of the plugs 75, 76, 80 is removed, and the various channels are reamed out so as to remove the dried material. The manifold 50 also provides a significant amount of flow resistance, increasing the energy and pressure required to pump the highly viscous automotive body sealant through the manifold. Referring to FIG. 2, the manifold 50 would typically have some type of heating or cooling device attached to the side faces. For example, hot or cold water manifolds may be attached thereto.

Method and apparatus for dispensing temperature-adjusted automotive body sealant


An organic electroluminescent device comprising a pair of electrodes and a light emitting layer, a hole transport layer containing a hole transporting material, and an electron transport layer provided between the pair of electrodes wherein, the light emitting layer contains at least two host materials and at least one red phosphorescent material, and the hole transporting material in the hole transport layer has a small ionization potential than the two host materials in the light emitting layer.

OELDs have been drawing attention as promising display devices because of their capabilities of emitting light of high brightness at a low driving voltage. For the purpose of postponing the life (endurance) of OELDs, that is, suppressing increase in driving voltage and decrease in luminance with time, investigations have been conducted into various structures of hole injecting materials, hole transporting materials, luminescent materials, host materials, electron transporting materials, and electron injecting materials.
Among fluorescent devices using a single excited state for light emission so far developed for improving endurance are those containing an electron transporting compound selected from a metal complex having a nitrogen-containing ligand, a nitrogen-containing heterocyclic compound, and a silicon-containing cyclic compound and, as a host material, an anthryl compound (see, e.g., JP-A-2001-284050). A mixture of a non-polar organic compound capable of transporting both electrons and holes and, as a host, an organic compound that is more polar than the transporting compound is proposed (see, e.g., European patent application publication No. 1221473). Incorporation of a host into a luminescent device using a triplet excited state capable of high luminescence efficiency is also disclosed (see, e.g., JP-A-2002-313583, JP-A-2002-313584, JP-A-2002-313585, and JP-A-2002-319492). However, these devices still need improvements on efficiency, color purity, and endurance. Moreover, the triplet red light emitting devices using a mixed host proposed in JP-A-2002-313584 and JP-A-2002-313585 supra are unsuited to industrial production due to the complexities of the methods of production.


A controlled-release dosage form of azithromycin having an improved side effect profile; a process for preparing the dosage form; and a method of treating a microbial infection, comprising administering azithromycin in such a controlled-release dosage form to a mammal, including a human patient, in need of such treatment.

Azithromycin is the U.S.A.N. (generic name) for 9a-aza-9a-methyl-9-deoxo-9a-homoerythromycin A, a broad spectrum antimicrobial compound derived from erythromycin A. Azithromycin was independently discovered by Bright, U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,768 and Kobrehel et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,517,359. These patents disclose that azithromycin and certain derivatives thereof possess antimicrobial properties and are accordingly useful as antibiotics.
It is widely known that oral dosing of azithromycin can result in the occurrence, in some patients, of adverse gastrointestinal (GI) side effects, such as cramping, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. In combined clinical studies of azithromycin involving 3,995 patients (all dose levels combined), 9.6% of patients reported gastrointestinal side effects. The most frequent of these side effects were diarrhea (3.6%), nausea (2.6%), and abdominal pain 2.5%) (Hopkins, Am. J. Med. 91(suppl 3A) (1991) 40S–45S).
The incidence of gastrointestinal side effects is higher at higher doses than at lower doses. For example, a common 5 day course of azithromycin therapy consists of 500 mg on day 1 followed by 250 mg on days 2, 3, 4, and 5. For this course of therapy, the reported incidence of various, gastrointestinal side effects was 5% diarrhea/loose stools, 3% abdominal pain, and 3% nausea (Zithromax (Trademark of Pfizer Inc.) capsule package insert). After a single 1 g oral dose, the reported incidence of various gastrointestinal side effects was 7% diarrhea/loose stools, 5% nausea, and 2% vomiting (Zithromax capsule package insert).
It is also known that azithromycin can cause gastrointestinal side-effects in non-human mammals, e.g. dogs.
An improved dosage form of azithromycin which permitted oral dosing of high doses of azithromycin (e.g., 2 g) with relatively reduced side effects would permit wider application of single dose azithromycin therapy, and would accordingly provide a significant improvement in dosing compliance and convenience. Likewise, an improved dosage form which lowered the incidence of gastrointestinal side-effects at lower doses would also be of significant value.

Controlled-release dosage forms of azithromycin


The diameter of a hafnium insert press fit into the bottom end of a copper electrode varies as a function of the level of current carried by the electrode. The diameter is the minimum necessary to support emission at that current level while also protecting the copper body against attack by the arc. The insert is generally circular and preferably extends completely through the bottom wall to a circulating flow of cooling water at a hollow interior of the electrode. The bottom wall includes an annular recess in a portion of the copper wall surrounding the insert. A coolant inlet tube extends into the recess in a spaced relationship to provide a high flow velocity of the coolant over the interior rear surface of the electrode.

This invention relates in general to plasma arc cutting torches. More specifically it relates to an improved electrode and insert cooling method for use in low current, high definition torches.
In plasma arc cutting of sheet metal and the like using air or oxygen as the plasma gas, it is common to use an insert of a high emissivity material such as hafnium or zirconium press fit into the bottom face of a copper electrode. A current is applied to the electrode. In a transferred arc mode of operation, a pilot arc is typically formed within the torch between the electrode and an adjacent nozzle. The arc then transfers to a workpiece in conjunction with a ramping up of the arc current to a full operating value.
In all electrodes of this type heretofore in commercial use, the insert is cylindrical and has a diameter of about 0.070 inch (17.8 mm) for torches carrying currents varying from 20 to 260 amperes. This value was chosen by Hypertherm, Inc., the assignee of the present application, in the 1980's during the development of a 260 ampere oxygen plasma cutting systems. It has remained the standard insert size ever since.
While the high emissivity of the insert is very desirable, in practice standard electrodes with these inserts exhibit an extremely short life when used at low current levels, e.g. 15 to 70 amperes. This problem is particularly severe for use in high definition torches where the current density is typically three to four times than that of a conventional torch and a strong vortex flow of the plasma gas is used to stabilize the location of the arc. For example, in an early test of a high definition torch using the standard insert size, when the operating current was 15 amperes the hafnium insert exhibited a wear depth of more than 0.030 inch after only 50 cycles of operation. This high wear rate is observed even when using the electrode wear reduction techniques described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,227.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an electrode for plasma arc cutting torch that operates with a reactive plasma gas at a low operating current level and nevertheless has a useful life several times greater than that obtained with conventional electrodes for the same applications.
Another principal advantage is to provide an electrode and method of cooling the electrode that exhibits significantly improved wear and cut quality.
A further object is to provide an electrode with the foregoing advantages which is also less costly than conventional electrodes for comparable applications.

Electrode for high current density plasma arc torch


Systems and methods for deploying adjacent trailing edge flaps that are part of different flap assemblies of different stiffnesses are disclosed. An exemplary method comprises: deploying a first flap of a first flap assembly having a first stiffness by a first deployment amount and deploying a second flap adjacent the first flap by a second deployment amount where the deployment amount of the first flap part of the flap assembly of lower stiffness is greater than the second deployment amount of the second flap part of the flap assembly of higher stiffness. The difference in deployment amounts may be adapted to improve continuity between the first flap and the second flap when the first and second flaps are deployed and subjected to an aerodynamic load.

Flaps are a type of deployable high-lift device used to increase the lift of an aircraft wing at a given airspeed and are usually mounted at the trailing edge of a wing of a fixed-wing aircraft. Flaps can typically lower the minimum speed at which the aircraft can be safely flown. Flaps can also cause an increase in drag so they are typically retracted when not needed.
One common type of flap is the "double-slotted" type of flap that comprises a forward flap panel and an aft flap panel. The use of double-slotted flaps can require actuation mechanisms of increased complexity but the use of double-slotted flaps can nevertheless be desirable on some aircraft. On aircraft that have both double-slotted flaps and single-slotted flaps on the same wing, flap continuity in the spanwise direction of the wing is typically interrupted. Such interruption in spanwise flap continuity can reduce the effectiveness of the flaps.

Methods and systems for deploying adjacent trailing edge flaps


An automatic heat exchanger flushing and maintenance system includes a heat exchanger having coolant circulation passages and raw water circulation passages disposed in thermal contact with the coolant circulation passages, an engine disposed in fluid communication with the coolant circulation passages, a raw water inlet conduit disposed in fluid communication with the raw water circulation passages of the heat exchanger, a flush fluid supply disposed in fluid communication with the raw water circulation passages of the heat exchanger, at least one flush fluid valve disposed between the flush fluid supply and the raw water circulation passages of the heat exchanger and a valve controller disposed in communication with the at least one flush fluid valve and operable to open and close the at least one flush fluid valve.

Heat exchangers are used in a variety of applications to transfer heat from one fluid to another through a solid surface. Transfer of heat in heat exchangers can occur through heat absorption or heat dissipation. Heat exchangers are typically designed in such a manner that the materials of construction, thermodynamic laws and liquid characteristics work together to achieve optimal heat transfer results.
Marine heat exchangers are used to transfer heat from an engine coolant to a heat-absorbing medium in marine vessels. Marine heat exchanger systems may include a heat source such as a propulsion engine with a closed coolant system containing circulating coolant, a heat exchanger connected to the coolant system and a raw water suction pump connected to the heat exchanger. The raw water suction pump draws raw water from a water body into the heat exchanger, where heat from the coolant is dissipated to the raw water. The cooled coolant is returned to the engine and the heated raw water is discharged back into the water body. An expansion tank may be included in the coolant system to accommodate changes in coolant volume which are produced by different temperatures and pressures.
Periodically during operation of a marine engine, it is necessary to flush and maintain the raw water system to prevent premature corrosion and failure of the system. Therefore, what is needed is an automatic heat exchanger flushing and maintenance system which facilitates automatic flushing and maintenance of a heat exchanger at selected time intervals.

Automatic heat exchanger flushing maintenance system


Disclosed is a device that receives an optical signal having an authorization code that allows the device to utilize an access point to obtain access to the Internet and other networks. The device may include: a modem; a light sensor; and a processor. The light sensor may receive an optical signal from a light source. The processor may execute operations including: processing the received optical signal to identify an authorization code and to connect the device through the modem to the access point based upon the authorization code such that the device may obtain access to the Internet and other networks.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a device that receives an optical signal having an authorization code that allows the device to utilize an access point.
2. Relevant Background
Free wireless hotspots (e.g., Wi-Fi, MiFi hotspots) are a great service to people utilizing wireless devices. Free ones from a provider (e.g., a coffee shop; a restaurant; a store; a hotel; a mall; etc.) are accessible by anyone within range. Unfortunately, these free ones are often utilized by people not utilizing the provider (e.g., the coffee shop; the restaurant; the store; the hotel; the mall; etc.). This may include people outside of the provider but within enough range to use the free wireless hotspot.
Private and/or paid for wireless hotspots often broadcast their service set identification SSID and provide a password that a user is required to manually enter via their device to authenticate it as a legitimate user device. In some cases, a user may manually capture a quick response (QR) code with their device's camera. The QR code contains the password the device needs to submit for authentication.
These types of processes to provide users with wireless hotspot access are useful. However, in both cases, issuing access passwords and entering them manually can be cumbersome and as a result the passwords do not rotate often. This "hassle-factor" means these types of processes have limitations in terms of controlling the group of user devices allowed to access the hotspot.

Device utilizing an optical signal to access an access point


A torque sensor includes: a base portion fixed to a metal shaft having a rod shape as a measurement object of strain; a strain detection element of a surface acoustic wave type which is arranged in the base portion, and detects the strain of the metal shaft (10) through the base portion; and a fixing portion that is arranged between the base portion and the strain detection element, and fixes the strain detection element to the base portion.

Up to now, a torque measuring device has been proposed in, for example, Patent Literature 1. In the torque measuring device, a strain gauge for detecting a strain of a torque sensor shaft is fitted to an outer surface of the torque sensor shaft. Specifically, a configuration has been proposed in which when the torque sensor shaft is twisted and strained, the strain gauge detects the strain, and outputs an electric signal corresponding to a change in electric resistance attributable to the stain, and a torque value is calculated according to the electric signal.
The strain gauge is configured in such a manner that a metal resistive element is formed on a thin insulator, and stuck onto the torque sensor shaft by adhesive. Therefore, even if the strain gauge undergoes the strain of the torque sensor shaft, the strain gauge is flexibly deformed. For that reason, the strain gauge does not crack due to the deformation of the torque sensor shaft.
In this example, when not the strain gauge but a torque sensor of the SAW type is employed as device for detecting the strain, the torque sensor is configured as a sensor chip of a hard piezoelectric body. Therefore, the hard piezoelectric body is fixed directly to the torque sensor shaft by adhesive. For that reason, when the adhesive is crept or deteriorated, the strain of the torque sensor shaft is not transmitted to the hard torque sensor of the SAW type, resulting in such a problem that a detection precision of the strain decreases.

Torque sensor and manufacturing method therefor