An apparatus and a method for estimating a Channel Impulse Response (CIR) with respect to a location where a power of a channel exists are provided to enhance a channel estimator in a mobile communication system. The apparatus includes a CIR searcher for selecting a CIR group that is a region where a channel power exists, a CIR estimation part for estimating a CIR of the selected CIR group, and a Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) for performing a DFT on the estimated CIR.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and a method for channel estimation in a mobile communication system and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for estimating Channel Impulse Response (CIR) for a location where a power of a channel exists so as to enhance performance of a channel estimator.
2. Description of the Related Art
Advances in the communication industry and an increase in user demand for Internet service has recently increased the desirability for communication systems that can efficiently provide Internet service. To respond to this demand, a Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) system has been introduced with enough broadband to meet the increasing user demand for an efficiently provided Internet service.
The BWA system integrally supports voice services and multimedia application services such as various low-speed and high-speed data services and high-definition video. The BWA system accesses a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a Public Switched Data Network (PSDN), the Internet, an International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-2000 network, and an Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) network in a mobile or stationary environment based on radio media using broadbands of 2 GHz, 5 GHz, 26 GHz, and 60 GHz, and supports a channel transfer rate over 2 Megabits per second (Mbps). A BWA system can be classified as a broadband wireless subscriber network, a broadband mobile access network, and a high-speed wireless Local Area Network (LAN) based on the terminal mobility (stationary or mobile), the communication environment (indoor or outdoor), and/or the channel transfer rate.
The radio access scheme of the BWA system is standardized by Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 Working Group, which is an international standardization organization.
Compared to a conventional radio technique for the voice service, the IEEE 802.16 standard enables the transfer of more data within a shorter time over a wide data bandwidth and enables all users to efficiently share and utilize channels (or resources). Also, with Quality of Service (QoS) guaranteed, the users can enjoy services of different qualities according to the service characteristics.
The IEEE 802.16 communication system adopts Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)/Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) scheme for physical channels. That is, using the OFDM/OFDMA scheme, the BWA system achieves high-rate data transmission by sending physical channel signals using a plurality of subcarriers.
The BWA system supports mobility of a Mobile Station (MS) using a multi-cell structure, wherein every cell utilizes the same frequency for better efficiency. However, in this multi-cell based system, interference from the neighboring cells greatly affects its performance.
A transmitter in the wireless access system encodes information data to transmit and then generates a pilot signal. The transmitter then allocates the data symbols and the pilot symbols to the subcarriers and converts the symbols to a time-domain signal through Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT).
Accordingly, a receiver eliminates a guard interval from the received signal, converts the received signal to a frequency-domain signal through FFT, estimates the channel using the pilot signal, and equalizes a single tap channel using the estimated channel. The receiver uses the received, channel-equalized signal to determine a Log Likelihood Ratio (LLR) and generates final information bits by channel-decoding using the LLR.
A channel estimator of the receiver estimates the channel at the pilot position, performs the conversion to the time domain using Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform (IDFT), estimates a maximum time delay of the channel using the converted Channel Impulse Response (CIR), extracts only an effective CIR by applying a time window suitable for a time delay, and converts to the frequency domain by applying a DFT to the extracted effective CIR.
Disadvantageously, when a rate of a guard band is not negligible relative to a used band, channel estimation drastically deteriorates at a band edge due to spectral leakage.
Further, because a time window is applied using only a maximum time delay of the channel, the CIR includes considerable noise power with a considerable dispersion in the time axis. Thus, in a region having a low Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR), performance is degraded.
To address these shortcomings, a method for applying a virtual pilot and a frequency domain window has been suggested. This method helps diminish a band-edge performance degradation to some degree, but is still subject to the performance degradation caused by an inaccuracy of a virtual pilot generation and a channel decoding performance degradation caused by noise coloring of a frequency window.
In this regard, a successive interference cancellation method for searching a path of the maximum power to the time domain, removing distortion components using the searched path, and then searching a maximum path was suggested. However, when the accuracy of an initial estimation value falls, which is a fundamental problem of successive interference cancellation, the interference cannot be effectively eliminated.

Apparatus and method for channel estimation in a mobile communication system


Breaker valve assemblies for a simplified boiling water nuclear reactor are described. The breaker valve assembly, in one form, includes a valve body and a breaker valve. The valve body includes an interior chamber, and an inlet passage extends from the chamber and through an inlet opening to facilitate transporting particles from outside of the valve body to the interior chamber. The breaker valve is positioned in the chamber and is configured to substantially seal the inlet opening. Particularly, the breaker valve includes a disk which is sized to cover the inlet opening. The disk is movably coupled to the valve body and is configured to move substantially concentrically with respect to the valve opening between a first position, where the disk completely covers the inlet opening, and a second position, where the disk does not completely cover the inlet opening.

In a typical simplified boiling water reactor (SBWR), a vacuum breaker valve is positioned between a drywell and a wetwell to facilitate proper operation of the passive containment cooling system (PCCS) of the reactor. Particularly, a hollow vent pipe extends through the floor of the drywell, and the vacuum breaker valve is coupled to the vent pipe and facilitates transporting particles, e.g., noncondensibles, between the drywell and the wetwell.
Known vacuum breaker valves are designed and tested to comply with various criteria and to demonstrate reliability for all credible events. For example, vacuum breaker valve leak tightness and reliability are important for successful reactor operation. Particularly, such leak tightness and reliability directly affect the pressure difference between the wetwell and the drywell, and the PCCS relies on such pressure difference to operate. More particularly, vacuum breaker valves limit drywell negative pressure, which reduces the possibility that negative drywell pressure might exceed the containment liner negative pressure service limit and substantially prevents the suppression pool water from rising to the level of the spillover holes in the main vents.
Known vacuum breaker valves typically are swing check valves which include a pivot pin pivotally coupled to a breaker valve body with bearings. The pivot pin also is coupled to a disk which is sized to cover one end of the vent pipe. An inlet screen is attached to the vent pipe and substantially prevents debris from flowing from the wetwell and through the vent pipe. In normal operation, the vacuum breakers provide a wetwell to drywell path for inerting nitrogen supplied by the Containment Atmospheric Control System (CACS). In addition, external forces, e.g., gravity, cause the pivot pin to rotate with the disk between a first, or closed, position, where the disk substantially seals one end of the standpipe, and a second, or open, position, where the end of the standpipe is at least partially unsealed. In the sealed position, the disk abuts a valve seal, or seat, which is positioned about a perimeter of the vent pipe, and the disk-seat-pipe connection is substantially leak tight. Gravity and positive drywell to wetwell pressure difference typically cause the disk to rotate to and remain in the closed position. However, if negative pressure difference exceeds a valve lift pressure, which typically is one half pounds per square inch (0.5 psid), then the disk rotates to the open position and enables noncondensibles to pass through the vent pipe between the wetwell and the drywell.
Vacuum breaker valve leakage, or failure to properly close and seal the vent pipe, possibly could result in degradation of heat removal capability during a loss of coolant accident (LOCA), which is undesirable. In addition, such failure to properly close and seal the vent pipe possibly could also cause suppression pool water to rise through the suppression pool vent pipes to the level of the spill over holes and uncover the PCCS vents and create a potential suppression pool bypass path during LOCA, which is undesirable.
Swing check valves, while generally acceptable, may possibly fail to close properly during reactor operation. While moving from the open position to the closed position, the closure force exerted between the disk and the vent pipe reduces, which is undesirable. If the closure force is insufficient, the swing check valve possibly may not close properly. Swing check valves also potentially are vulnerable to valve failure during reactor operation. For example, if debris passes through the inlet screen, such debris may affect the integrity of the breaker valve seat and bearing. In addition, swing check valves tend to chatter at low flow rates, and such chatter sometimes causes unnecessary valve seat and bearing wear, which is undesirable.
It would be desirable to provide a vacuum breaker valve assembly which exerts a more uniform closure force between the disk and the vent pipe and provides an improved seal, as compared to a swing check valve. It further would be desirable to provide such an assembly which is substantially simple to install in a reactor.


An ink-jet recording head has two kinds of nozzles discharging different volumes of ink-drops. Large nozzles discharging larger ink-drops and small nozzles discharging smaller ink-drops are disposed alternately along a side of a common liquid chamber. The opening area of the large nozzles is larger than that of the small nozzles. Flow paths communicating with the small nozzles are shorter than those communicating with the large nozzles. Since the smaller ink-drops are discharged at higher frequency than the larger ink-drops, printing speed in high-quality recording using mainly the smaller ink-drops is improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid-jet recording head for recording on recording media by discharging liquid-drops from nozzles.
2. Description of the Related Art
In ink-jet printers that record images on recording media by discharging ink-drops, in order to achieve both high-quality printing and high-speed printing, it is useful to use a recording head with nozzles having different discharging amounts.
FIG. 7A is a perspective view of a recording head having such nozzles. This recording head 1000 is mounted on a so-called serial printer. The serial printer prints desired images by repeating recording on recording media row-by-row while conveying the recording media in the column direction. Therefore, this recording head 1000 is movable in the direction perpendicular to the direction of conveyance of the recording media (not shown). A discharging surface 903 with a plurality of nozzle columns is provided in the recording head 1000 so as to face the recording media. The nozzle columns are disposed perpendicular to the moving direction of the recording head. Each nozzle column consists of, for example, large nozzles 101a discharging ink-drops of 3 to 7 pl (picoliter) and small nozzles 101b discharging ink-drops of 1 to 2 pl (picoliter), disposed alternately and substantially parallel to the direction of conveyance of the recording media. In the case of printing at a high resolution, the small nozzles 101b discharging the smaller ink-drops are used. In the case of printing at a low resolution, the large nozzles 101a discharging the larger ink-drops are used. As examples of such a recording head, PCT Japanese Translation patent Publication No. 2003-508257 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-201003 are given.
In the above known recording head, the smaller the volume of the smaller ink-drops, the higher the resolution of the recording. At the same time, the number of drops required for a certain print density increases because the recorded area per drop decreases. Therefore, in order to maintain a constant printing speed by discharging the smaller ink-drops, it is required to discharge them at higher frequency than the larger ink-drops.
Some of the known recording heads have increased discharging frequency of the smaller ink-drops as compared with discharging the larger ink-drops. However, there remains a huge gap between the printing speed for high-quality recording by using mainly the smaller ink-drops and that for high-speed recording by using mainly the larger ink-drops.


The present invention provides: a coating composition comprising a UV curable resin containing an acryloyl functional group, an isocyanate-based compound, an antioxidant, and a solvent, wherein the UV curable resin is prepared by copolymerization of an acrylate monomer containing an epoxy functional group and a silicone macromonomer and then performing addition reaction of an acrylic acid monomer; and a preparation method thereof. The present invention provides a transfer sheet comprising: a base film; and a coating layer formed on one surface of the base film, wherein the coating layer comprises a coating composition comprising a UV curable resin containing an acryloyl functional group, an isocyanate-based compound, an antioxidant, and a solvent, and the UV curable resin containing an acryloyl functional group is prepared by copolymerization of an acrylate monomer containing an epoxy functional group and a silicone macromonomer and then performing addition reaction of an acrylic acid monomer.

In fabrication of existing transfer sheets through EB curing or UV curing, the use of a urethane coating liquid containing a silicone additive or a silicone polyol to impart soft tactility provides problems, such as poor attachment due to interface transfer of the additive, deterioration in abrasion resistance, and the like. In addition, there are problems of blocking upon winding of a transfer sheet, and solvent erosion upon printing.
Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 10-2010-0026012 discloses a hard coating film which allows easy molding and also exhibits excellent film strength such as scratch resistance, abrasion resistance, and the like. However, since the publication does not disclose a coating composition exhibiting excellent tactility, and the like, it is still difficult to solve the above problems.

Coating composition with excellent tactile characteristics, preparation method thereof, and transfer sheet using same


A steelmaking process is disclosed utilizes solid ferrous metallic material as a substantial part of the metallic charge and uses heat released by combustion of two different types of carbonaceous materials and steel scrap that have been strategically charged inside of at least a partially refractory lined steelmaking vessel. One of the carbonaceous materials contains a high content of volatile hydrocarbons and is primarily responsible for early preheating and partial melting of the solid ferrous material. The second carbonaceous material contains a low content of volatile hydrocarbons and is primarily responsible for providing a reducing capability to the slag, for carburizing the melt and for providing additional heat generated by combustion which is used to enhance heating and melting of solid ferrous materials. This method of steelmaking also consists of the controllable introduction of oxygen rich oxidizing gas which initially is used for combustion of said hydrocarbons in the carbonaceous materials to melt solid ferrous metallic material and further is used for refining the resultant molten pool of ferrous material before tapping. Slag forming material is used at the bottom of the furnace to provide for continuous refining of molten ferrous material throughout entire steelmaking process. Molten blast furnace ("hot") iron also can be charged in an embodiment of this method of steel production. Electrical energy may be used as an additional heat source to increase the metallic yield.

Known steelmaking processes for processing a solid ferrous charge consist of certain generic steps such as: charging ferrous metallic materials, directing heat toward the surface of the metallic pieces, charging non-metallic slag-forming material, superheating and refining the molten pool and discharging the molten metal and slag.
The different steelmaking processes are distinct due to essential differences in the techniques of conducting one or more of these steps. The known steelmaking processes are also distinct due to essential cross-dependence and cross-influences of these steps. In many cases, to maintain the competitiveness of a steelmaking process, each of these steps are carefully optimized with respect to each other, so that an innovation in one process step or parameter may require a substantial alteration of traditional engineering philosophy that has been previously used to design one or more of these basic steelmaking steps.
The processes of metallic scrap melting that are used to produce molten steel are varied based on the source or sources of heat which are used to accomplish the melting. Modern electric arc furnaces are capable of transferring, in a very short time, more than 250 kwh/ton of thermal energy into the scrap to be melted. But the high cost of electricity and low thermal efficiency of these furnaces (less than 50%) continuously motivates the steelmaking industry to develop new steelmaking processes which utilizes less expensive heat from the combustion of fuel to preheat and melt scrap.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,622,007 and 4,642,047 teach how to melt steel by using a plurality of burners as an energy source to preheat scrap and then to direct multiple oxidizing flames toward the preheated scrap to melt it down by partial oxidation. This method is utilized now in many electric arc furnaces equipped with auxiliary burners. Today, electric arc furnaces are responsible for processing approximately 70% of ferrous scrap in the United States and other developed countries.
Numerous attempts to develop a new, more advanced steelmaking technology utilizing solid scrap and the heat released by combustion of different fuels (including carbonaceous materials) have been conducted around the world during many decades in order to provide a competitive alternative to electric arc steelmaking. At the same time, the companies involved in the production of primary steel from molten ("hot") iron are motivated to increase the fraction of metallic scrap utilized in the production, because ferrous solid scrap is significantly cheaper than hot iron and can be charged and processed in a basic oxygen furnace by transferring from auxiliary combustion sources additional heat, which is necessary to melt this additional solid charge.
Several methods of producing steel from a solid metallic charge are described in German patents Nos. 2,719,981; 2,729,892; and 2,816,543 and also in international patent application No. PCT/SU83/00025. All of these methods can be carried out in a basic oxygen furnace equipped with bottom and side tuyeres that are used to supply gaseous oxygen as the oxidizing gas and liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons as a fuel.
The shortcomings of these methods originate chiefly from the necessity to supply liquid, gaseous and solid carbonaceous fuels through the oxygen tuyeres. Major deficiencies in this method are: the excessive wear of refractory lining in areas surrounding the tuyeres; the high content of CO in exhaust gases and, therefore, low thermal efficiency; and excessive metallic losses due to substantial exposure of essentially the entire scrap surface to a fraction of unconsumed oxygen being supplied throughout multiple tuyeres. The significant part of oxygen that is not able to react with carbon reacts first with the metallic charge, creating metallic oxides. The fuel supply system, as well as the system for preparation and transport of the fine-grained materials, requires complex additional equipment, which results in an increase in capital and operating expenses.
Moreover, these systems may be less economical due to increased fuel consumption and prolonged heating time.
Any steelmaking process utilizing solid ferrous material and conducted in a high temperature furnace involves several concurrent process steps cross-influencing each other. To be converted from solid to the liquid form ferrous material has to receive a significant amount of heat. This heat should be transferred very rapidly to make the steel process economical. At elevated temperatures (above 900.degree. C.) the oxidation of solid ferrous materials exposed to a gaseous atmosphere containing unconsumed oxygen is accelerated very rapidly, creating solid oxide scale which insulates metallic pieces from heat transfer. Further, when oxides become liquid, they run down together with the iron-carbon melt to the colder bottom of the furnace, influencing the metallic melt and slag chemistry and the heat and mass balance of reactions between carbon and other components of slag and molten metal.
When fuels such as liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons and or carbonaceous solid materials are burned to release the heat needed to melt solid ferrous material, the combustion products that occupy the furnace atmosphere actively react with solid ferrous material. The temperature and chemistry of these combustion products influence the rate of heating and oxidation and, therefore, the dynamics of oxide generation in the scrap pile and the rate of its introduction into the slag.
The timing of slag formation and its chemistry is also influenced by dynamics of the supply of heat, slag forming materials and carbon into the furnace bottom region wherein the slag formations takes place. The carbon content in the slag, the slag temperature, and basicity influence the reactions between the oxides of the slag, the sulfur, phosphorus and silicon in the slag and the iron-carbon melt during the entire steelmaking process.
Existing methods of steelmaking speed scrap melting by placing hot combustion products inside of a scrap pile in such a way that maximum contact between the combustion products and the surface area of scrap is realized to maximize heat transfer. In order to provide contact between the entire surface area of scrap and hot combustion gases, oxygen is fed from many directions, fluid fuel is fed to mix with oxygen by the tuyeres or burners to arrange good mixing, and carbonaceous material is placed inside of the scrap pile by batch charging.
When the maximum surface area is exposed to the oxygen flow supplied to oxidize carbonaceous material, during the low temperature stage of preheating, the metallic surface is not effected. But later, when the scrap surface becomes hot, excessive oxygen contact results in excessive iron oxide production. This excessive iron oxides production later cools the slag by endothermic reaction between the iron oxides and the carbonaceous materials collected in the slag. This also leads to increased oxidation of the iron-carbon melt during melt superheating which reduces metallic yield and process competitiveness. Excessive oxidation of the scrap surface also results in a heat insulating layer of oxides on the scrap surface, which reduces the rate of heat transfer and increases the duration of scrap preheating and melting.
When cold solid materials are charged on the bottom of the furnace that is not provided with local heat input means, they cool down very rapidly this bottom lining. Later, during the melting cycle, a first portion of molten material reaches the colder furnace bottom zone. Contact between this first portion of molten material and the cold bottom lining results in solidification of this first portion mixed with a fraction of the solid charge that has been charged on the bottom of the furnace. These solidified materials stay solid until a later part of the melting cycle and only when the molten metallic pool becomes substantially hot does this solidified bottom layer melt down and begin to participate in the refining reactions. This results in a significant increase in the duration of steelmaking cycle.
Due to the recognition of such negative influence of having a cold bottom zone, the patents referenced above disclose means, such as burners or tuyeres, for providing local heat input to keep the furnace bottom zone hot during steelmaking process. Unfortunately, the introduction of oxidizing gas near the bottom of the furnace for the purpose of combustion of auxiliary fuel triggers the chemical reactions of oxidation of molten materials actively competing for oxygen with said fuel. This negatively affects the efficiency of the entire steelmaking process, including the metallic yield, the rate of slag formation, the length of melting and refining, and the predictability of melt chemistry.
Therefore, in order to provide for high productivity and efficiency of steelmaking processes utilizing solid ferrous metallic material and fuel consisting of hydrocarbons and solid carbon, it is important to protect the solid material from excessive oxidation during entire melting down cycle.
It is also important to provide for hot combustion products at the bottom of the scrap, so that the lower part of scrap pile and the melt itself can be continuously heated,thereby protecting the first portion of the melt from cooling by contacting the colder bottom of the furnace.
At the same time, to reduce the duration of the steelmaking cycle by providing for continuous refining of the melt, it is desirable to provide for continuous desulfurization of the melt by placing it in contact with hot high basicity slag as early as possible.
In order to increase the metallic yield when 100% solid ferrous material is used for steel production, it is important to provide for continuous carburizing of the iron-carbon melt collected at the bottom of the furnace via contact with hot solid carbon.
In order to increase the flexibility of a steelmaking process utilizing solid ferrous metallic material, it is desirable to provide the capability of using not only solid steel scrap, but also solid pig iron, direct reduced iron, a small fraction of back charged molten steel, or a portion of hot iron.


Kalman filtering is applied to obtain a fast convering, low complexity echo. An averaged diagonal Riccati equation allows optimal time varying adaptation gains K(t) to be precomputed, or computed online with a small number of scalar Riccati equations.

Echo control is an important problem in telecommunication systems. In public switched telephony networks (PSTN), echo is sometimes generated in the four to two wire connections because of impedance mismatch. More precisely, the local loops between the subscriber and the switch use two wire connections, while the connections between switches use four wires. The coupling between two wire and four wire connections is performed with an electrical device called a hybrid. Ideally, the hybrid should direct all incoming signal energy from the far end (the distant speaker) to the near end terminal. Since the connection is a duplex connection it must be possible for the near end speaker to talk also when the far end speaker is talking. Unfortunately, this means that some signal energy coming from the far end can be reflected back to the far end because of impedance mismatch in the hybrid. These hybrids are numerous, and hence it is not feasible to tune them manually. The situation is symmetrical, i.e. the same effects occur at the far end when the near end is speaking.
In an attempt to solve the echo cancellation problem it has been suggested to use adaptive filters, especially filters that are updated in accordance with the NLMS algorithm. This algorithm is attractive due to its relatively low complexity. However, a drawback of the algorithm is its slow convergence.

Echo canceller having Kalman filter for optimal adaptation


An illustrated view of an exemplary emergency kit for use in an emergency medical condition and a method for automating the ordering of the emergency kits for dentist is presented. The emergency kit is useful for providing short-term medical relief in an emergency while waiting for ambulance or other emergency medical personnel to arrive at the scene. The emergency kit provides a useful medical syringe for use by a dentist in a mouth of a patient experiencing an emergency medical condition.

A medical emergency kit can consist of several drugs, some of which come in multi-dose vials, uni-dose vials, preloaded auto-injector devices, pills and sprays. Epinephrine comes in auto-injector and multi-dose vials, uni-dose vials, etc.
At continuing education courses for medical emergencies in a dental office, the lecturers suggest that if a dentist encounters an emergency which calls for the injection of a multi-dose vial medication, such as epinephrine or diphenhydramine, use of a basic medical syringe may be necessary for drawing up the dose required. Muscle injections (such as in the leg or arm) are foreign for dentists as the dentist is accustomed to injecting in the mouth of the patient. The mouth of the patient is most likely already anaesthetized at this point, but the muscle in the leg or arm is the target suggested by the lecturers.
Further, to be prepared for the emergency, the dentist must order yearly or later, the multidose or unidose vials and the medical syringes if they have expired. The multidose vials and syringes are items never used for any other purpose by the dentist except for than in an emergency. Making sure all items are stocked, not expired or too old, requires office protocols and a staff member in charge of the protocol. In small dental offices, the dentist usually tends to this protocol, however in larger dental offices staff must be utilized to perform this protocol.
When this protocol is being tended to by staff, the dentist must trust that the protocols are being followed and the emergency kit is always properly stocked with unexpired drugs and equipment. In most cases a prescription has to be filed, faxed and picked up, although delivery of the emergency kit is provided in some cases.

Administration of a vaccine or emergency administration of a medicament using a dental carpule


A door closer being affixable to a door for closing the door. A channel having a slide therein for engaging with a detent also in the channel for holding the door open. The slide is connected to an arm of the door closer which arm moves the slide along the channel into contact with the detent which holds the door open once the detent and the slide have engaged with one another.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fixing device for door panels with a door closer, the closer shaft of which is coupled to one end of a swivel arm, the other end of which is engaged by means of a slide so that it can move longitudinally in a guide rail. The slide together with an abutment fastened to the guide rail forms a holding unit to fix the door panel connected to the swivel arm, whereby the holding unit comprises an overthrusting, automatically yielding and resetting holding element.
2. Background Information
On fixing devices of the prior art, a holding element in the form of a spring-loaded pivoting lever, the travel of which can be limited, is mounted on the abutment fastened to the guide rail. The pivoting lever has a retaining cam for a pin of the slide which may cross the holding element. For its part, the slide is mounted so that it can move longitudinally in the guide rail, and is connected to the free end of the swivelling arm of a door closer. On such fixing devices of the prior art, the swivelling lever forming the holding element is essentially located above the slide in the guide rail, and for this reason, and on account of the spring mounting or suspension of the swivelling lever and the limitation of the swivelling lever travel, the guide rail must be relatively tall. In addition to this uneconomical configuration of the guide rail, the fixing device itself is a relatively expensive part to manufacture.

Door closer with a detent for holding a door open and the detent therefor


A partitioned collection container including a central compartment and two lateral compartments is described herein. A first lid is pivotally mounted to close the central compartment and third and second lids are pivotally mounted to respectively close the two lateral compartments. A lid locking mechanism is provided. The lid locking mechanism has two positions. In a first position, the lid locking mechanism allows the first lid to open while preventing the second and third lids from opening. Conversely, in a second position, the lid locking mechanism allows the second and third lid to open while preventing the first lids from opening.

Partitioned collection containers are known in the art. They are conventionally used to collect recyclable and/or non-recyclable waste material.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,458,452 issued to Louis A. Pellegrini on Oct. 17, 1995 and entitled: "VEHICLE AND METHOD FOR COLLECTING RECYCLABLE WASTE MATERIAL" describes a three-compartment vehicle used to collect different types of recyclable material. A three-compartment container is used to keep the recycled material segregated between collections. When the vehicle lifts the container, the compartments of the container are aligned with the compartment of the vehicle to therefore transfer the different types of recyclable material from the compartments of the container to the appropriate compartments of the vehicle.
The vehicle and method described by Pellegrini has many drawbacks. For example, since the three lids of the compartments of the container open simultaneously and since the distance separating the compartment is relatively small, the separation of the different types of recyclable material in the vehicle may not be sufficient. Furthermore, the dimensions of the compartments of the vehicle must be carefully balanced to ensure that they will fill at approximately the same rate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,490,606 issued to Santo J. Lombardo on Feb. 13, 1996 and entitled: "REFUSE CONTAINER FOR SEGREGATING REFUSE AND TRUCK ATTACHMENT FOR USE IN CONNECTION THEREWITH" describes a two-compartment container provided with separate lids that may selectively be locked before the transfer of the refuse from the container to a refuse collecting vehicle. An actuator is provided on the refuse collecting vehicle to actuate one of two locking mechanisms used to prevent the lids from opening. Each locking mechanism is under the form of an eccentric element rotating under the pressure of the actuator and engaging a projection of a respective lid. This engagement prevent the lid from opening when the container is manipulated by the refuse collecting vehicle.
The container of Lombardo, while being an improvement over the container of Pellegrini since it provides means for selectively lock one of the lids, suffers from various drawbacks. For example, the lids must be properly closed for the locking mechanisms to operate adequately. Indeed, if the projection of the lid is too far from its normal position, the eccentric element will not contact it and the lid will open. This could be caused by refuse or other material so positioned between the lid and the container to prevent adequate closure of the lid. Furthermore, the locking mechanisms and/or the projection of the lids may be damaged if they are inadequately positioned when the locking mechanism attempts to engage the projection of the lid.

C.S. Gestion de Dechets et de Matiere Recyclable Inc.


A reference signal generation circuit generates a reference signal from a reading result of the reference point detection pattern. The first light-receiving element array includes a first light-receiving element that outputs a first signal, and a second light-receiving element that is disposed in a first direction of the first light-receiving element and outputs a second signal. A second light-receiving element array includes a third light-receiving element that outputs a third signal, and a fourth light-receiving element that is disposed in the first direction of the third light-receiving element and outputs a fourth signal. The second light-receiving element array is disposed in a second direction of the first light-receiving element array. The reference signal generation circuit outputs a reference signal that starts at a period when levels of the first and second signal become equal and ends at a period when levels of the third and fourth signal become equal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a reference signal generation apparatus and a reference signal generation system.
2. Description of Related Art
Optical encoders are widely used to detect a position of a measurement device and the like. In an incremental encoder, a scale for detecting a relative position and a scale for detecting a reference position are provided. The incremental encoder reads the scale for detecting a reference position so as to convert detected relative position information into absolute position information. Therefore, the incremental encoder is required to detect a reference position with high accuracy.
To detect a reference position, there is a known method in which a plurality of light-receiving elements are arranged separately from each other in a reading direction of a reference point detection pattern, and a difference signal between the light-receiving elements is generated. By detecting a point where the difference signal crosses over a zero level (an intersection point), it is possible to identify a position of the reference point detection pattern in the reading direction (e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-332431).
As another example of detecting an intersection point, there is a proposed method of correcting a shift in the intersection point pattern using a result of reading a pattern finer than the reference point detection pattern (Japanese Patent Translation Publication No. 2009-515182).
Further, there is another proposed method in which a plurality of light-receiving elements having a small width in the reading direction are arranged in the reading direction, and a logical AND of a difference signal between two adjacent light-receiving elements is obtained, thereby generating a reference signal with a small width (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2006-329652).
Furthermore, there is another proposed method of providing a plurality of reference point detection patterns and generating a reference point by a difference in timings of reading the respective patterns (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-304574).

Reference signal generation apparatus and reference signal generation system


The present invention relates to low-pressure discharge lamp having a discharge tube filled with mercury and a noble gas, sealed in a gas-tight manner and provided with electrodes at its ends and having a cap connected to the discharge tube and contact components for connection to a power supply, the discharge tube ends containing the electrodes are arranged adjacent to each other, the electrode-side ends of the discharge tube are fixed--e.g. by means of an adhesive--in the cap, at least a portion of the electrode leads is fixed in the holes of the connecting part of the cap and is connected to conduct electric current, with at least a part of the contact components protruding from the outer side of the connecting part. According to the invention the contact components (1) are completed with connecting extensions (1a) located in the inner space (2a) of the cap (2), at least a part of the leads (4a) is fixed to the connecting extensions (1a) of the contact components (1) and the joint (5) between the leads (4a ) and the connecting extensions (1a) is also arranged in the inner space (2a) of the cap (2).

The present invention relates to a low-pressure discharge lamp having a discharge tube filled with mercury and a noble gas, sealed in a gas-tight manner and provided with electrodes at its ends and having a cap connected to the discharge tube and contact components for connection to a power supply, the discharge tube ends containing the electrodes are arranged adjacent to each other, the electrode-side ends of the discharge tube are fixed--e.g. by means of an adhesive--in the cap, at least a portion of the electrode leads is fixed in the holes of the connecting part of the cap and is connected to conduct electric current, with at least a part of the contact components protruding from the outer side of the connecting part.
The fact that the so-called compact fluorescent lamps are becoming more and more widespread recently is explained by their low specific energy consumption and long life. Nowadays, these low-pressure mercury discharge lamp types are used not only indoors, but their application is continuously gaining ground, e.g. in the advertisement and decorative lighting also--another field where the energy consumed for ensuring the desired lighting effect is an important aspect.
Lamp manufacturers are making efforts to produce fluorescent lamps with continuously increased life and reliability, in the best possible quality and economically.
Several solutions are known for improving the compact fluorescent lamp properties and reducing manufacturing costs. The cap design in the construction of a low-pressure mercury discharge lamp provided with improved cap according to Hungarian Patent No. 196.860 simplifies the insertion of a starter and the connection of current leads connected to the starter. The cylindrical contact components for connection to the lamp-holder are joined with the current leads by means of mechanical fixation as usual in conventional fluorescent lamps. This is performed by pressing a portion of the mantle surface of the contact component from two directions on the current lead inserted into the cylindrical cavity contact component previously mounted in the cap.
The joint produced in this way has several disadvantages. The major one of these is that the joint produced by deforming the corresponding parts is of unsafe quality strongly depending on the physical characteristics of the partner materials of the joint.
A further disadvantage is that the quality of the joint cannot be directly inspected. Due to this, rejects can be separated only in extreme cases when the lamp does not start as early as during manufacturing and joints with intolerable performance from the lamp quality point of view are left in the manufacturing process. Intolerable performance means that, caused by the poor contact between contact component and current lead, the contact resistance in the joint spot may have a wide-range spread adversely affecting electric lamp parameters and quality.
As the shape and dimensions of the lamp parts including the contact component that have to match the lamp-holder are specified by standards, a close control of the location and dimensions of the joint is needed and this increases lamp production expenses.


Disclosed is a system for delivery of a drug comprising a multiple unit dosing device comprising a housing and an actuator, said device containing multiple doses of multiparticulates comprising drug particles, said device upon actuation delivering a unit dose of said multiparticulates, said drug particles having a mean diameter of greater than 10 μm to about 1 mm such that an effective dose of said drug cannot be delivered into the lower lung of a human patient. Also disclosed are novel methods, devices and dosage forms for delivering a drug.

The most prominent mode of delivery of therapeutic agents is by the oral route by means of solid dosage forms such as tablets and capsules. Oral administration of solid dosage forms is more convenient and accepted than other modes of administration, e.g. parenteral administration. However, the manufacture, dispensing and administration of solid dosage forms are not without associated problems and drawbacks.
With the manufacture of solid dosage forms, in addition to the active agent, it is necessary to combine other ingredients in the formulations for various reasons, such as to enhance physical appearance, to provide necessary bulk for tableting or capsuling, to improve stability, to improve compressibility or to aid in disintegration after administration. However, these added excipients have been shown to adversely influence the release, stability and bioavailability of the active ingredient. The added excipients are a particular problem with drugs which require a high dose in order to provide a therapeutic effect, e.g., biphosphonate drugs. The inclusion of the additional excipient can make the final tablet extremely large which could result in esophogeal damage due to the physical characteristics of the dosage form if it is not swallowed properly. Esophogeal damage can also be caused by toxicity caused by the drug itself, if the tablet becomes lodged in the throat or has an increased transit time through the esophagus, due to its increased size.
Further, the tableting of certain drugs has many associated production problems. In particular, many drugs, e.g., acetaminophen, have poor compressibility and cannot be directly compressed into solid dosage forms. Consequently, such drugs must either be wet granulated or manufactured in a special grade in order to be tableted which increases manufacturing steps and production costs.
The adherence to good manufacturing practices and process controls is essential in order to minimize dosage form to dosage form and batch to batch variations of the final product. Even strict adherence to these practices still is not a guarantee that acceptable variation will occur.
With the high cost of industrial scale production and governmental approval of solid dosage forms, such formulations are often available in a limited number of strengths, which only meet the needs of the largest sectors of the population. Unfortunately, this practice leaves many patients without acceptable means of treatment and physicians in a quandary with respect to individualizing dosages to meet the clinical needs of their patients.
The dispensing of oral solid dosage forms also makes the formulations susceptible to degradation and contamination due to repackaging, improper storage and manual handling.
There are also many patients who are unable or unwilling to take conventional orally administered dosage forms. For some patients, the perception of unacceptable taste or mouth feel of a dose of medicine leads to a gag reflex action that makes swallowing difficult or impossible. Other patients, e.g., pediatric and geriatric patients, find it difficult to ingest typical solid oral dosage forms, e.g., due to tablet size.
Other patients, particularly elderly patients, have conditions such as achlorhydria which hinders the successful use of oral solid dosage forms. Achlorhydria is a condition wherein there is an abnormal deficiency or absence of free hydrochloric acid in the gastric secretions of the stomach. This condition hinders the disintegration and/or dissolution of oral solid dosage forms, particularly dosage forms with high or insoluble excipient payloads
Flavored solutions/suspensions of some therapeutic agents have been developed to facilitate the oral administration of oral agents to patients normally having difficulty ingesting conventional solid oral dosage forms. While liquid formulations are more easily administered to the problem patient, liquid/suspension formulations are not without their own significant problems and restrictions. The liquid dose amount is not as easily controlled compared with tablet and capsule forms and many therapeutic agents are not sufficiently stable in solution/suspension form. Indeed, most suspension type formulations are typically reconstituted by the pharmacist and then have a limited shelf life even under refrigerated conditions. Another problem with liquid formulations which is not as much a factor with tablets and capsules is the taste of the active agent. The taste of some therapeutic agents is so unacceptable that liquid formulations are not a viable option. Further, solution/suspension type formulations are typically not acceptable where the active agent must be provided with a protective coating, e.g. a taste masking coating or an enteric coating to protect the active agent from the strongly acidic conditions of the stomach.
Another alternative to oral dosage forms for certain medications is aerosol dosage forms which administer therapeutic agents for deposition to the pulmonary system. The use of aerosol dosage forms has many advantages for the patient. The packaging of the active agent is convenient and easy to use, generally with limited manual manipulation. As the medicine is sealed within the device, direct handling of the medication is eliminated and the contamination of the contents from air and moisture can be kept to a minimum. Further, a metering valve can be included in the device in order to individualize the dose for particular patients. However, such formulations also have drawbacks such as decreased bioavailability of the drug due to improper administration by the patient. For example, if a patient's breathing is not coordinated with the activation of the device, the active agent will not reach its intended site of action which will lead to a decrease in therapeutic benefit.
Another alternative is dry powder dosage forms. For example, International Patent Application WO 94/04133, hereby incorporated by reference, describes a powder composition for inhalation which contains a microfine drug such as salbutamol sulfate and a carrier containing an anti-static agent. The carrier is calcium carbonate or a sugar, especially lactose. The amount of carrier is 95–99.99 weight percent. The compositions are said to be useful for delivery of the active agent to the lungs while providing reduced side effects such as nausea by maximizing its proportion of drug reaching the lungs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,590,206, hereby incorporated by reference, describes capsules, cartridges or aerosol containers containing spray-dried sodium cromoglycate in finely divided and un-agglomerated form. A substantial proportion of the individual drug particles have sizes and shapes which allow deep penetration into the lung and yet are free-flowing so as to allow capsule filling.
International Patent Application WO 93/25198, hereby incorporated by reference, is directed to an ultrafine powder for inhalation. The powder comprises a drug and hydroxypropyl cellulose and/or hydroxypropylmethylcellulose. More than 80 weight percent of the particles in the powder are said to have a particle diameter of 0.5–10 microns. The powder is said to be able to reach the lower windpipe and bronchi.
Due to the disadvantages of known drug delivery discussed above (as well as other disadvantages) there exists a need in the art for the development of a device and method for facilitating delivery of a wide range of therapeutic agents for gastrointestinal deposition and which minimize pulmonary deposition of materials having undesirable or unknown pulmonary toxicology but which are approved for oral delivery.


A seal assembly configured to seal against a surface of a seal depressor is disclosed. The seal assembly includes a body member configured to elastically expand from an original state into an expanded state. The body member exerts a sealing pressure against the surface of the seal depressor when in the expanded state. The seal assembly also includes one or more actuation members constructed from a shape memory material having a high energy state and a low energy state. The one or more actuation members are configured to urge the body member of the seal assembly from the original state into the expanded state when the shape memory material transitions from the low energy state to the high energy state.

Many seals are required to continually compress and decompress, which in turn cycles the seal and may create fatigue issues. Furthermore, because of issues such as unpredictable geometry, kinematics, and tolerance stack-ups, there are many instances where there is little to no engagement between the seal and a corresponding sealing surface during initial installation. For example, kiss seals located on a pre-cooler inlet of a thrust reverser in an aircraft may encounter such issues. Kiss seals are typically installed between two opposing flanges, where the kiss seal is secured to one of the two opposing flanges and the remaining flange presses against the kiss seal. The kiss seal installed on a thrust reverser is cycled each time the thrust reverser is opened and closed. The kiss seal is also exposed to extreme vibrations. Furthermore, it is to be appreciated that the kiss seal not only prevents leakage of pressurized gas, but also acts as an anti-fire barrier.
In another example, a linear seal may be rigged around a periphery of the thrust reverser, which is a time-consuming and laborious process that may take up to several days. Specifically, numerous customized shims are installed between the seal retainer and substructure. The shims are sized to wash out variabilities and adjust the seal assembly so that the seal assembly locally deforms within a predetermined range of compression. Once the shims are installed, the thrust reverser is latched and checked against various requirements. One of these requirements dictate a force required to close the latches. The force may increase drastically in the event the seal assembly is overcompressed. Furthermore, if any of the various requirement are not met, then the entire rigging process for installing the seal assembly is repeated. Thus, it often takes multiple iterations to correctly rig the linear seal around the periphery of a thrust reverser.

Seal assembly with actuation members constructed of shape memory material


In a method for enriching the exhaust gases of a combustion engine with unburnt hydrocarbon engine operating conditions are monitored and in-cylinder post injection of unburnt hydrocarbon into one predetermined cylinder of at least two cylinders connected to an exhaust manifold is performed when the monitored engine operating conditions equal predetermined engine operating conditions. The predetermined engine operating conditions are set for resulting in a substantially zero flow of the post-injected hydrocarbon to an EGR circuit for the specific design of the engine in operation.

This invention relates to a method for enriching the exhaust gases of a combustion engine with unburnt hydrocarbon, said combustion engine comprising a plurality of cylinders, at least one exhaust manifold for receiving exhaust gases from at least two of said plurality of cylinders, and an EGR circuit for supplying exhaust gases from said exhaust manifold to an air inlet of at least one of said cylinders, wherein said exhaust manifold comprises a first outlet for supplying exhaust gases to an exhaust aftertreatment system, and a second outlet for supplying exhaust gases to said EGR circuit.
The invention also relates to a computer program comprising program code means, a computer program product comprising program code means stored on a computer readable medium, as well as a computer system for implementing said method for enriching the exhaust gases of a combustion engine with unburnt hydrocarbon.
The inventive method is particularly applicable for diesel engines where regeneration of the exhaust aftertreatment system periodically may be needed.
The diesel engine is known for operational reliability and low fuel consumption but does not produce as low emissions as, for example, a petrol engine provided with a three-way catalyst. One way of improving the emissions from a diesel engine is to fit a particle filter which filters soot and particles from the exhaust gases and/or the NOx post-treatment system. These filters are usually very effective and gather both large and small particles. To prevent the filter from becoming full of soot and causing a major pressure drop for the exhaust gases leaving the engine, the soot has to be burnt. One method is for this soot to be burnt by the nitrogen oxides contained in diesel exhaust gases. In that case, the portion of the nitrogen oxides that takes the form of NO2 can oxidise the soot within the temperature interval of about 250 to 400 Degrees centigrade but this process takes a relatively long time and needs to be more or less constantly active even if there is an oxidation catalyst before the filter or the filter itself is covered with a catalytic layer. Another method for oxidising soot accumulated in the particle filter is to heat the filter to about 600-650 degrees centigrade so that the surplus oxygen O2 from diesel combustion can oxidise the soot directly, which is a rapid process. Soot accumulated over many hours of operating time can be oxidised away in a time of the order of 5 to 10 minutes. The exhaust temperature of a diesel engine normally never reaches 600-650 Degrees centigrade particularly after a turbo unit whereby the turbine extracts power from the exhaust flow and causes a temperature drop. It is not unusual that the exhaust temperature after the turbine of the turbo unit is lower than 250 Degrees centigrade, which is a temperature below which an oxidation catalyst does not function properly.
Temporarily increased temperature of the exhaust for regeneration of a NOx trap, such as a particle filter, may for example be realised by supplying unburnt hydrocarbon, e.g. in the form of fuel into the exhaust gas upstream of the NOx trap or NOx catalyst. One common solution is to provide the exhaust system with a separate fuel injector for injecting unburnt hydrocarbon directly into the exhaust system upstream of the particulate filter. This solution however requires an additional fuel injector located within the exhaust system, as well as fuel supply lines to said additional fuel injector, thereby increasing the cost, maintenance requirement, and risk of malfunction of the exhaust aftertreatment system.
According to an alternative solution, unburnt hydrocarbon is supplied by in-cylinder post injection of fuel into one or more cylinders. This solution thus does not require an additional fuel injector for providing unburnt hydrocarbon to the exhaust gas. Some of the most modern diesel engines are often equipped with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides. Combining in-cylinder post injection, EGR system, and particle filters and/or NOx post-treatment by so-called NOx trap or NOx catalyst entails complications, such as potential contamination of the EGR circuit by unburnt hydrocarbon, as well as enriching the intake air with the unburnt hydrocarbon, possibly resulting in altered combustion conditions. There are therefore gains to be made by channeling exhaust gases with unburnt hydrocarbon to the exhaust system for regeneration purposes, but preventing unburnt hydrocarbon from being recirculated in the EGR circuit.
These adverse effects due to fuel in the EGR circuit can be prevented by selectively closing the EGR circuit when late post-injection takes place, as disclosed in US20060196178 A1, or by applying in-cylinder post injection only in carefully selected cylinders in combination with a specifically designed exhaust manifold, as disclosed in US2008110161, or by providing an exhaust system that is divided into two portions in combination with in-cylinder post injection in certain designated cylinders, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,987,884 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,959.
The method of controlling exhaust gas flow by means of controllable valve means or internal partition walls dividing the exhaust manifold and/or system into at least two portions results in a more expensive exhaust system, and requires more space for installation. A specifically designed exhaust manifold however requires significant design effort and limits the possible design possibilities of the exhaust manifold. There is thus a need for an improved method for enriching the exhaust gases of a combustion engine with unburnt hydrocarbon that removes the above mentioned disadvantages.
It is desirable to provide a method for enriching the exhaust gases of a combustion engine with unburnt hydrocarbon where the previously mentioned problem is at least partly avoided.
The invention concerns, according to an aspect thereof, a method for enriching the exhaust gases of a combustion engine with unburnt hydrocarbon, said combustion engine comprising a plurality of cylinders, at least one exhaust manifold for receiving exhaust gases from at least two of said plurality of cylinders, and an EGR circuit for supplying exhaust gases from said exhaust manifold to an air inlet of at least one of said cylinders, wherein said exhaust manifold comprises a first outlet for supplying exhaust gases to an exhaust aftertreatment system, and a second outlet for supplying exhaust gases to said EGR circuit.
The invention is characterized, according to an aspect thereof, by the step of monitoring engine operating conditions, and performing in-cylinder post injection of said unburnt hydrocarbon into one predetermined cylinder of said at least two cylinders connected to the exhaust manifold when the monitored engine operating conditions equal predetermined engine operating conditions, which predetermined engine operating conditions are set for resulting in a substantially zero flow of said post-injected hydrocarbon to the EGR circuit for the specific design of the engine in operation.
One advantageous effect of the method according to an aspect of the invention is the possibility to omit any fuel injector arranged in the exhaust system for the sole purpose of regenerating parts of the exhaust aftertreatment system by heating, and instead using one or more of the existing combustion cylinders fuel injectors for this purpose. Omission of a fuel injector within the exhaust system results in reduced costs and increased reliability of the engine and exhaust system. A further advantage is a high degree of separation of exhaust gas from cylinder in which post injection of fuel is performed and exhaust gas entering the EGR circuit, without expensive or space-consuming measures. Furthermore, the inventive method allows simultaneous in-cylinder post injection of fuel and active EGR operation, such that a continuously high level of NOx reduction by the EGR system can be provided.
Further advantages are achieved by implementing one or several of the features of the dependent claims.
A combination of said one predetermined cylinder and said predetermined engine operating conditions may be based on a mapping and/or modelling from which cylinder the exhaust gases flowing through said EGR circuit origins at different engine operating conditions. In other words, the mapping and/or modelling is used to determine from which individual cylinder the exhaust gas flowing in the EGR circuit origins and thereby to determine which cylinder the in-cylinder post injection of fuel advantageously should be conducted for a specific engine operating condition. Upon determining that the exhaust gas from one or more cylinders not at all, or only to a small degree, enters the EGR circuit, then this one or more cylinders can be registered as suitable for said fuel post injection upon registering required predetermined engine operating conditions.
It may be preferred to perform said in-cylinder post injection of said unburnt hydrocarbon into said one predetermined cylinder only when said monitored engine operating conditions equal said predetermined engine operating conditions, because then substantially normal operation of the EGR circuit can be realised.
The performance of in-cylinder post injection of said unburnt hydrocarbon into said one predetermined cylinder may be the only means for enriching the exhaust gases of said combustion engine with unburnt hydrocarbon and at the same time avoiding that the post-injected hydrocarbon reaches the EGR circuit.
The engine operating conditions may preferably comprise at least engine speed and engine load. An additional or alternative engine operating condition comprises exhaust gas flow rate in said EGR circuit, or a corresponding parameter.
The EGR circuit may be provided with a single EGR valve for each exhaust manifold, or for each set of cylinders, or for each engine. Conventional EGR systems uses a single EGR valve to control the EGR flow rate, and additional control valves for preventing unburnt hydrocarbon from entering the EGR circuit leads to increased costs and reduced reliability of the engine, as well as increased maintenance effort.
The first and second outlets may be positioned at a distance from each other in a direction parallel with an alignment direction of the cylinders connected to said at least one exhaust manifold. Separation of the first and second outlets in said direction increases the amount of engine operating conditions in which fuel post injection can be performed without too high level of unburnt hydrocarbons entering the EGR circuit.
The exhaust manifold may preferably be free from internal partition walls and/or controllable flow valves.
The present invention further provide, according to an aspect thereof, a computer program comprising program code means for performing all the steps of the inventive method described above when said program is run on a computer.
The present invention further provides, according to an aspect thereof, a computer program product comprising program code means stored on a computer readable medium for performing all the steps of the inventive method described above when said program product is nm on a computer.
The present invention further provides, according to an aspect thereof, a computer system for implementing the method for enriching the exhaust gases of a combustion engine with unburnt hydrocarbon, said combustion engine comprising a plurality of cylinders, at least one exhaust manifold for receiving exhaust gases from at least two of said plurality of cylinders, and an EGR circuit for supplying exhaust gases from said exhaust manifold to an air inlet of at least one of said cylinders, wherein said exhaust manifold comprises a first outlet for supplying exhaust gases to an exhaust aftertreatment system, and a second outlet for supplying exhaust gases to said EGR circuit, the computer system comprising a processor operable to monitor engine operating conditions and commanding in-cylinder post injection of said unburnt hydrocarbon into one predetermined cylinder of said at least two cylinders connected to the exhaust manifold when the monitored engine operating conditions equal predetermined engine operating conditions, which predetermined engine operating conditions are set for resulting in a substantially zero flow of said post-injected hydrocarbon to the EGR circuit for the specific design of the engine in operation.

Method for enriching exhaust gases with unburnt hydrocarbon


A mechanism and method for counteracting and removing the twist of a rolled metal strip being formed into a tube by a tube forming machine. The mechanism has a frame rotatably mounted to the tube forming machine between the forming rolls and the seam guide. A pair of edge rolls are attached to the frame and are engageable with the opposing longitudinal edges of the rolled metal strip. Backing rolls, also attached to the frame, inhibit the transverse displacement of the rolled metal strip by the engagement of the edge rolls with the longitudinal edges of the metal strip. An adjustment screw rotates the frame relative to the tube forming machine about a longitudinal axis to align the longitudinal edges of the rolled metal strip with a seam guide prior to welding the longitudinal edges to each other.

In the formation of seam welded tubing, a seam guide, as taught by Crawford in U.S. Pat. No. 2,936,357 and Hellman, Sr. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,885, is used to align the seam to be welded with the welder. However, due to imperfections in the metal strip, the formation of the seam by the preceding forming rolls will not be aligned with the seam guide. As a result, one edge or the other of the seam being formed may engage the edge of the seam guide with enough force to cause that edge to be galled or otherwise deformed and fail to maintain alignment under the welder. This deformation of an edge of the metal strip often results in defects in the welded seam and the misalignment can cause the strip edges to be welded out of registry. As a result, the tube forming process must be closely monitored and the tube fabrication process be stopped when a twist in the seam being formed is detected.
Attempts to solve this problem are taught by Crawford in U.S. Pat. No. 2,936,357, Kato et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,708 and by Nakako in Japanese Application 99224. All three disclose a rolling seam guide in the form of an annular fin. Kato et al. and Nakako teach that the annular fin is provided on the internal surface of one or more of roll just prior to welding. These rolls serve as tube forming rolls and seam guides.
Although these rolling seam guides reduce the galling and deformation of the edges forming the seam, problems are still encountered. The invention is a mechanism for removing the twist in the metal strip as it is being shaped into a tubular form which substantially eliminates the galling and deformation of the edges as they are being guided by the seam guide and effectively assures that the edges of the metal strip are not misaligned when welded.

Mechanism and method for removing twists in a tube forming machine


Examples of image sensors are provided. In one example, a pixel cell comprises a first semiconductor die, a sampling capacitor, and a second semiconductor die which may include the sampling capacitor. The first semiconductor die includes a photodiode and a charge sensing device. The second semiconductor die forms a stack with the first semiconductor die, the second semiconductor die including an interface circuit coupled with the photodiode, the charge sensing device, and the sampling capacitor. The interface circuit is configured to: enable the photodiode to accumulate charge responsive to incident light within a integration period; transfer the charge from the photodiode to the charge sensing device; perform, using the sampling capacitor, a sample-and-hold operation to convert the charge in the charge sensing device into a voltage; and generate a digital output based on the voltage to represent an intensity of the incident light received by the photodiode.

The disclosure relates generally to image sensors, and more specifically to pixel cell structure including interfacing circuits to determine light intensity for image generation.
A typical image sensor includes an array of photodiodes to sense incident light by converting photons into charge (e.g., electrons or holes). To reduce image distortion, a global shutter operation can be performed in which each photodiode of the array of photodiodes senses the incident light simultaneously to generate charge. The charge generated by the array of photodiodes can then be quantized by an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) into digital values to generate the image.


A method of accessing a first communication system of a first communication provider via a packet-based network, the first communication system maintaining a first list of contacts being users of the first communication system. The method comprises establishing a contact-sharing channel with a second communication system of a second, partner communication provider, wherein the second communication system is accessible via an independently executable web-browser and the packet-based network, and wherein the second communication system maintains second group of contacts being users of the second communication system. The contact-sharing channel is used to fetch contact information of one or more of the second contacts, so as to display at least part of the fetched contact information in the client application and establish a communication based on at least part of the fetched contact information.

The Internet is used to provide a variety of different forms of communication between users. Two popular forms of communication are: (a) social networking sites, and (b) live voice or video calling using voice and/or video over internet protocol ("VoIP").
A problem with existing Internet-based communication tools is that different software providers frequently offer independent, incompatible products. For example, a first software provider may offer a VoIP client, which may become very popular with a large number of users communicating with each other via this VoIP client. Similarly, a second software provider may provide a social networking website which may also become popular and gain a large user base. To gain the benefit of both these services, a user must run both the VoIP client and a web-browser separately. Furthermore, conventionally the user must maintain separate contact lists for each of the two services which is a cumbersome and inconvenient arrangement for the user, and also does not maximise the potential user base from the perspective of the communication providers.
There is therefore a need for a technique to address the aforementioned problems with separate internet-based communication tools in order to provide integration and interoperability.
In some existing social networking sites, an instant messaging (IM) client is integrated within the website to allow a user of the social networking site to communicate with the user's social networking site contacts over IM. This only allows the user to communicate with users that are part of the user's social networking contact list.
It is also possible for the user to 'import contacts' from a social networking website to an instant messaging or VoIP client. However, in this case the user may only communicate with another user who is already signed up to use the instant messaging service. The user must otherwise invite the other user to sign up to the VoIP or instant messaging service (and the client application may present the first user with a window having controls enabling them to send the invitation by email). Furthermore, when the user selects to import contacts to the client it is necessary for the user to select which contacts he wishes to import. Should the user decide that he wishes to communicate with any other contacts from the social networking site it is necessary for him to perform a further 'import contacts' operation.
Furthermore, whilst it is possible to import contacts from one list of contacts to another, other contextual information such as presence information that is relevant to the network from which the contact was imported is lost.


This invention relates to monovalent and multivalent, monospecific antibodies and to monovalent and multivalent, multispecific antibodies. One embodiment of these antibodies has one or more identical binding sites where each binding site binds with a target antigen or an epitope on a target antigen. Another embodiment of these antibodies has two or more binding sites where these binding sites have affinity towards different epitopes on a target antigen or different target antigens, or have affinity towards a target antigen and a hapten. The present invention further relates to recombinant vectors useful for the expression of these functional antibodies in a host. More specifically, the present invention relates to the tumor-associated antibody designated PAM4. The invention further relates to chimeric PAM4 antibodies, and the use of such antibodies in diagnosis and therapy.

The pancreas produces insulin to assist the body in converting glucose to energy and enzymes to assist the body in digesting food. Pancreatic cancer is a malignant growth of the pancreas that mainly occurs in the cells of the pancreatic ducts. This disease is the ninth most common form of cancer, yet it is the fourth and fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in men and women, respectively. Cancer of the pancreas is almost always fatal, with a five-year survival rate that is less than 3%.
The most common symptoms of pancreatic cancer include jaundice, abdominal pain, and weight loss, which, together with other presenting factors, are nonspecific in nature. Thus, diagnosing pancreatic cancer at an early stage of tumor growth is often difficult and requires considerable suspicion and extensive diagnostic work-up, often times including exploratory surgery. Endoscopic ultrasonography and computed tomography are the best noninvasive means available today for diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. However, reliable detection of small tumors, as well as differentiation of pancreatic cancer from focal pancreatitis, is troublesome. Unfortunately, the vast majority of patients are presently diagnosed at a late stage when the tumor has already extended outside of the capsule to invade surrounding organs and/or has metastasized extensively. Gold et al., Crit. Rev. Oncology/Hematology, 39:147-54 (2001). Late detection of the disease is common, and "early" pancreatic cancer diagnosis is rare in the clinical setting.
Current treatment procedures available for pancreatic cancer have not led to a cure, nor to a substantially improved survival time. Surgical resection has been the only modality that offers a chance at survival. However, due to a large tumor burden, only 10% to 25% of patients are candidates for "curative resection." For those patients undergoing a surgical treatment, the five-year survival rate is still poor, averaging only about 10%.
Early detection and diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, as well as appropriate staging of the disease, would provide an increased survival advantage. A number of laboratories are proceeding on the development of a diagnostic procedure based upon the release of a tumor-associated marker into the bloodstream as well as detection of the marker substance within biopsy specimens. The best tumor associated marker for pancreatic cancer has been the immunoassay for CA19.9. Elevated levels of this sialylated Lea epitope structure were found in 70% of pancreatic cancer patients but were not found in any of the focal pancreatitis specimens examined. However, CA19.9 levels were found to be elevated in a number of other malignant and benign conditions, so that currently the assay cannot be used for diagnosis. However, the assay is useful for monitoring, the continued increase in CA19.9 serum levels after surgery being indicative of a poor prognosis. Many other monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) have been reported with immunoassays for diagnosis in varying stages of development. These include but are not limited to DUPAN2, SPAN1, B72.3, Ia3, and various anti-CEA antibodies.
Man-made antibodies, in particular MAbs and engineered antibodies or antibody fragments, have been tested widely and shown to be of value in detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer, as well as other various human disorders, including cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases [Filpula and McGuire, Exp. Opin. Ther. Patents (1999) 9: 231-245]. The clinical utility of an antibody or an antibody-derived agent is primarily dependent on its ability to bind to a specific targeted antigen associated with a specific disorder. Selectivity is valuable for delivering a diagnostic or therapeutic agent, such as isotopes, drugs, toxins, cytokines, hormones, hormone antagonists, enzymes, enzyme inhibitors, oligonucleotides, growth factors, radionuclides, an angiogenesis inhibitor, or metals, to a target location during the detection and treatment phases of a human disorder, particularly if the diagnostic or therapeutic agent is toxic to normal tissue in the body. Radiolabeled antibodies have been used with some success in numerous malignancies, including ovarian cancer, colon cancer and lymphoma. This technology may also prove useful for pancreatic cancer. However, other than the application of anti-CEA antibodies and B72.3, little clinical information exists.
The potential limitations of such antibody systems are discussed in Goldenberg, The American Journal of Medicine, 94: 298-299 (1993). The important parameters in the detection and treatment techniques are the amount of the injected dose specifically localized at the site(s) where target cells are present and the uptake ratio, i.e. the ratio of the concentration of specifically bound antibody to that of the radioactivity present in surrounding normal tissues. When an antibody is injected into the blood stream, it passes through a number of compartments as it is metabolized and excreted. The antibody must be able to locate and bind to the target cell antigen while passing through the rest of the body. Factors that control antigen targeting include location, size, antigen density, antigen accessibility, cellular composition of pathologic tissue, and the pharmacokinetics of the targeting antibodies. Other factors that specifically affect tumor targeting by antibodies include expression of the target antigens, both in tumor and other tissues, and bone marrow toxicity resulting from the slow blood-clearance of the radiolabeled antibodies. The amount of targeting antibodies accreted by the targeted tumor cells is influenced by the vascularization of the tumor, barriers to antibody penetration of tumors, and intratumoral pressure. Non-specific uptake by non-target organs such as the liver, kidneys or bone-marrow is another potential limitation of the technique, especially for radioimmunotherapy, where irradiation of the bone marrow often causes the dose-limiting toxicity.
One suggested approach for delivering agents to a target site, referred to as direct targeting, is a technique designed to target specific antigens with antibodies carrying diagnostic or therapeutic radioisotopes. In the context of tumors, the direct targeting approach utilizes a radiolabeled anti-tumor monospecific antibody that recognizes the target tumor through its antigens. The technique involves injecting the labeled monospecific antibody into the patient and allowing the antibody to localize at the target tumor to obtain diagnostic or therapeutic benefits. The unbound antibody clears the body. This approach can be used to diagnose or treat additional mammalian disorders.
Another suggested solution, referred to as the "Affinity Enhancement System" (AES), is a technique especially designed to overcome deficiencies of tumor targeting by antibodies carrying diagnostic or therapeutic radioisotopes [U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,395 (1993), Barbet et al., Cancer Biotherapy & Radiopharmaceuticals 14: 153-166 (1999)]. The AES utilizes a radiolabeled divalent hapten and an anti-tumor/anti-hapten bispecific antibody that recognizes both the target tumor and the radioactive hapten. Haptens with higher valency and antibodies with higher specificity may also be utilized for this procedure. The technique involves injecting the antibody into the patient and allowing it to localize at the target tumor. After a sufficient amount of time for the unbound antibody to clear from the blood stream, the radiolabeled hapten is administered. The hapten binds to the antibody-antigen complex located at the site of the target cell to obtain diagnostic or therapeutic benefits, while the unbound hapten rapidly clears from the body. Barbet mentions the possibility that a bivalent hapten may crosslink with a bispecific antibody, when the latter is bound to the tumor surface. As a result, the radiolabeled complex is more stable and stays at the tumor for a longer period of time. This system can be used to diagnose or treat mammalian disorders.
There remains a need in the art for production of multivalent, monospecific antibodies that are useful in a direct targeting system and for production of multivalent, multispecific antibodies that are useful in an affinity enhancement system. Specifically, there remains a need for a antibody that performs as a useful diagnostic tool for pancreatic cancer and that exhibits enhanced uptake at targeted antigens, decreased concentration in the blood, and optimal protection of normal tissues and cells from toxic pharmaceuticals.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.