Disclosed herein are compositions and methods for the treatment or prevention of neurological disorders. Also disclosed are compositions and methods for the treatment or prevention of skin pathologies. The invention further discloses compositions and methods for the modulation of acetylcholine receptor activity. Antibodies generated against SLURP-1 and related proteins are also included.

The Ly-6/uPAR superfamily of receptors and secreted proteins contains a carboxy-terminal consensus sequence motif CCXXXXCN (SEQ ID NO: 1) and one or several repeats of the Ly-6/uPAR domain, which is defined by a distinct disulfide bonding pattern between eight or ten cysteine residues (See Ploug et al., J. Biol. Chem., 268, 17539-17546 (1993); Ploug and Ellis, FEBS Lett., 349, 163-168 (1994); Casey et al., Blood, 84, 1151-1156 (1994)).
The superfamily can be classified into two subfamilies on the basis of the presence or absence of a GPI-anchoring signal sequence (See Adermann et al., Protein Sci., 8, 810-819 (1999)). GPI-anchored Ly-6/uPAR receptor proteins include the retinoic acid-induced gene E (RIG-E, or human Ly-6E), the E48 antigen (human Ly-6D); Ly-6H; the PSCA; CD59 or protecting Lynx1 and uPAR (See Shan et al., J. Immunol., 160, 197-208 (1998); Brakenhoff et al., J. Cell Biol., 129, 1677-1689 (1995); Horie et al., Genomics, 53, 365-368 (1998); Reiter et al., Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA, 95, 1735-1740 (1998); Tone et al., J. Mol. Biol., 227, 971-976 (1992)). The E48 gene is known to be expressed in human keratinocytes, but not in lymphocytes, and it modulates desmosomal cell-cell adhesion of keratinocytes (Brakenhoff et al., J. Cell Biol., 129, 1677-1689 (1995); Schrijvers et al., Exp. Cell. Res., 196, 264-269 (1991)). The urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) interacts in dynamic association with integrins and initiates signaling events that alter cell adhesion, migration, proliferation and differentiation (See Blasi and Carmeliet, Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell. Biol., 3, 932-943 (2002)). uPAR is a distant Ly-6/uPAR family member and, contrary to other members, it contains three contiguous copies of the Ly-6/uPAR domain. Differential cleavage of these domains regulates the multiple functions of uPAR (See Palfree, Immunol. Today, 12, 170 (1991); Montuori, et al., J Biol. Chem., 277, 46932-46939 (2002)).
The second subfamily, which has a Ly-6/uPAR domain but no GPI-anchoring signal sequence includes SLURP-1 and SLURP-2 (See Adermann et al., Protein Sci., 8, 810-819 (1999); Tsuji et al., Genomics, 81, 26-33 (2003)). Mutations in the gene encoding SLURP-1 have been implicated in Mal de Meleda (MdM), as the MdM gene is located in a cluster of Ly-6 genes on chromosome 8q24.3 (See Fischer et al., Eur. J. Hum. Genet., 6, 542-547 (1998); Fischer et al., Hum. Mol. Genet., 10, 875-880 (2001); Eckl et al, Hum. Genet., 112, 50-56 (2003); Ward et al., J. Invest. Dermatol., 120, 96-98 (2003)).

Use of Slurp-1 for treating diseases related to acetylcholine receptor dysfunction


A cap is fitted onto an engagement portion of a main body such as that of a writing implement, paint applicator, make-up applicator, or container. An inner wall of the cap is provided with a flexible operating member having a free end capable of bending inward. An oblique guide surface is formed on at least one of the main body and the cap such that the cap can be separated from the main body by pressing the operating member inward.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cap device and, in particular, to a cap device which includes a cap that can be removed easily by a one-handed operation from an engagement portion on a main body such as that of a writing implement, paint applicator, make-up applicator, or container.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cap fitted onto a main body, such as that of a writing implement, paint applicator, make-up applicator, or container, can be separated therefrom by pulling it away from an engagement portion. With an article having a main body containing a liquid which would cause problems if it were to dry out, such as an applicator (correction pen) containing correcting ink, it often happens that the solvent within the correcting ink evaporates from the applicator tip so that the correcting ink accommodated within the main body solidifies, making it unusable. To prevent this, means, such as an inner cap, is provided within the cap to maintain a hermetic seal around the applicator tip. Also, the cap engages with the engagement portion of the main body with a comparatively strong engagement force. With this type of cap, it is necessary to use both hands to pull the cap from the engagement portion of the main body, and thus it is difficult to separate the cap from the main body by a one-handed operation.
"Device for Causing Cap To Spring Off Pen", disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 48-18239, and "Capped Container", disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-259962, are known means of pulling a cap from an engagement portion of a main body by a one-handed operation. However, these prior-art techniques do not relate to the present application in which the cap itself is of a configuration whereby the cap can be separated easily from the engagement portion of the main body by a one-handed operation. In the former prior-art technique, a pressure member is inserted between the cap and the pen shaft. To operate this pressure member, it is necessary to provide a handle portion of a fairly large surface area in such a manner that it is exposed to the exterior, which makes it impossible to obtain a product with an attractive design.
In addition, if the handle portion is made larger so as to make it easy to operate, a problem arises in that the handle portion is obstructive when the pen shaft is held during writing or the application of liquid.
In the latter prior-art technique, a sliding member that touches an aperture end surface of the inner cap is provided on the main body side, with the arrangement being such that the sliding member is pushed in a protruding direction by a spring. However, this prior-art technique necessitates modification of the engagement portion of the container itself, creating a problem in that it makes it impossible to utilize the mechanism that has long been known in the art for engagement between a cap and a main body such as that of a writing implement, paint applicator, make-up applicator, or container.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to solve the above described problems which are inherent in the prior-art technology and provide a cap device in which the implementation of a simple process on the cap alone makes it possible to pull the cap away from an engagement portion on a main body such as that of a writing implement, paint applicator, make-up applicator, or container by a one-handed operation.


A system and method for containing leaks from appliances. A fluid containment member has a bottom panel and four side panels. At least one of the side panels is movable relative to the bottom panel to allow the fluid containment member to be reconfigured among a plurality of configurations. In one configuration, one of the side walls is made substantially coplanar with the bottom panel to allow an appliance to be placed onto the bottom panel. In a second configuration all four side panels extend at an angle to the bottom panel to define a sump region that is enclosed on five sides. In a third configuration, all four side panels are substantially coplanar with the bottom panel to allow the fluid containment member to be stored in a flat configuration. Indicator means may be provided to indicate the presence of water in the sump region.

Household appliances such as washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, garbage disposals, and hot water heaters often contain, circulate, dispense, and otherwise use water while operating. Due to failed gaskets, worn seals, broken or improperly connected hoses, and/or plugged drain pipes, water used by such household appliances can leak or overflow into the floors and walls surrounding the area in which the appliance is located. Such leaks and overflows can cause extensive damage to carpets, furniture, flooring, and personal possessions within the home; slow leaks can be even more serious, resulting in serious structural damage to the home itself.
Often, cabinets and the like are built around at least the base of appliances that use water. For example, a garbage disposal will normally be mounted to the drain of a kitchen sink and will be entirely out of sight within the cabinet. A dishwasher is normally mounted under a kitchen countertop such that only its front face is exposed. A refrigerator will often be abutted on at least one side, and usually on two sides, at its bottom by kitchen cabinets.
In any of these cases, a slow leak will likely be out of sight and may go undetected for a long period of time; such a slow leak can cause water to seep into the cabinets adjacent to the appliance and eventually into the flooring and framing of the house. If this situation persists for a long period of time, the cabinets, flooring, and frame of the house can be extensively damaged.
The need thus exists for a system for preventing slow water leaks in household appliances from damaging wooden components of a house.

System and method for containing fluid leaks and overflows from appliances


A hydraulic jar coupled between opposing first and second portions of a downhole tool string. The hydraulic jar includes a housing comprising a shoulder protruding radially inward from an internal surface of the housing, a shaft disposed within the housing, a piston fixedly positioned about the shaft and fluidly sealed against the shoulder, and a pressure relief device. The housing and the shaft move axially relative to each other and the shoulder axially interposes first and second portions of an annulus formed between the shaft and the housing. The pressure relief device controls fluid flow from the first annulus portion to the second annulus portion based on a pressure of the fluid in the first annulus portion relative to a set pressure of the pressure relief device.

Drilling operations have become increasingly expensive as the need to drill deeper, in harsher environments, and through more difficult materials have become reality. Additionally, testing and evaluation of completed and partially finished wellbores has become commonplace, such as to increase well production and return on investment.
In working with deeper and more complex wellbores, it becomes more likely that tools, tool strings, and/or other downhole apparatus may become stuck within the wellbore. In addition to the potential to damage equipment in trying to retrieve it, the construction and/or operation of the well must generally stop while tools are fished from the wellbore. The fishing operations themselves may also damage the wellbore and/or the downhole apparatus.
Furthermore, downhole tools used in fishing operations are regularly subjected to high temperatures, temperature changes, high pressures, and the other rigors of the downhole environment. Consequently, internal components of the downhole tools may be subjected to repeated stresses that may compromise reliability. One such downhole tool, referred to as a jar, may be used to dislodge a downhole apparatus when it becomes stuck within a wellbore. The jar is positioned in the tool string and/or otherwise deployed downhole to free the downhole apparatus. Tension load is applied to the tool string to trigger the jar, thus delivering an impact intended to dislodge the stuck downhole apparatus.


A disclosed measurement head includes a sensor body attached to a camera by a resilient member. The sensor body includes a sensor that measures linear distance and is actuated by arms pivoting outward from the sensor body into contact with an interior surface of pipe for measurement. Each of the arms includes a catch engageable to a latch sleeve to hold each of the arms in a compact folded position for insertion into a pipe. The latch sleeve is movable to release the catch and the arms to provide for measurement of the interior profile of the pipe. Another measurement head includes guide wires attached to an end of each of the arms. The guide wires provide for movement of the arms to provide for insertion of the measurement head into and through a pipe.

This disclosure generally relates to a device and method of measuring a sewer pipe.
A cured in place pipe lining method utilizes a resin soaked liner that is installed within a sewer. The resin soaked liner is forced against the inner walls of a sewer with fluid or mechanical pressure until cured. Once cured the liner becomes a new pipe within the original pipe. The resin soaked liner is custom tailored to the particular sewer pipe to match diameter and length requirements. Accordingly, prior to installation, the old sewer pipe is cleaned and measured. Measurements such as the pipe diameter are required for the entire desired length of lining. Further, in many instances a video inspection of the sewer is desired to contrast the original and repaired state of the sewer pipe.

Inspection device for measuring pipe size


A workpiece transportation system includes a machining palette that is able to move while holding a cut workpiece including a product and the remainder; a supporter that receives the workpiece from the machining palette and supports the workpiece; a suction attacher disposed on the supporter and attaches by suction to at least the product in the workpiece supported by the supporter; and a gripper that separates the remainder from the product attached to by suction by the suction attacher.

There are known technologies by which products are cut out of a workpiece such as a plate material. For example, products are obtained by cutting a workpiece into products and the remainder using various machines such as a laser cutting machine, then separating the remainder and the products, and performing other steps. Examples of proposed technologies that separate products and the remainder include a product separator in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2013-184805 and a thermal cutting system in International Publication No. 2014/077059.
The product separator of JP '805 separates the remainder from products in a workpiece by lifting the remainder from the workpiece using a skeleton separation unit, places the lifted remainder on a skeleton vehicle, and transports the remainder. The thermal cutting system of WO '059 cuts a workpiece placed on a workpiece support table, lifts the cut workpiece from the workpiece support table using a workpiece lifting apparatus, and then picks up products from the workpiece.
When products and the remainder are separated using the above conventional technologies, the products may move due to, for example, catching of the product on the remainder. For example, when an attempt is made to pick up products accompanied by the remainder, the remainder may catch on one product and interfere with other products, thereby misaligning the products and making efficient pick-up (collection) of the products difficult.
It could therefore be helpful to make it possible to satisfactorily separate a product and the remainder.

Workpiece transportation system and workpiece transportation method


An apparatus and a method for efficiently executing correction of false color, such as purple fringe, caused by chromatic aberration and for generating and outputting high-quality image data are provided. A white-saturated pixel is detected from image data, a false-color-pixel detection area is set around the detected white-saturated pixel, and pixels having color corresponding to false color such as purple fringe are detected from the set area. The detected pixels are determined as false-color pixels and correction processing based on the values of the surrounding pixels is performed on the determined false-color pixels. With this configuration, an area of false color such as purple fringe generated in the neighborhood of a white-saturated pixel can be efficiently detected, pixel values can be partially corrected, and high-quality image data can be generated and output without affecting the entire image.

For photographing with a camera, various problems are caused by lens aberration. Examples of typical chromatic aberration include Seidel's five aberrations, which are monochromatic aberrations. This is five aberrations analyzed by Seidel in Germany and based on a lens sphere and is a collective term of spherical aberration, coma aberration, astigmatism aberration, distortion aberration, and field curvature. Apart from those aberrations, it is known that chromatic aberration can also cause a serious problem. The chromatic aberration results from the fact that the refractive index of light with respect to lens material varies due to its wavelength, and produces false color at an image capture surface.
As typical examples of chromatic aberration, axial chromatic aberration, which causes color blur since a focal-point position on an optical axis varies depending on the wavelength, and magnification chromatic aberration, which causes color shift since the image magnification varies depending on the wavelength, are well known. In general, a phenomenon called "purple fringe (purple tringe)" in English is also an important cause of image deterioration. This is a phenomenon in which false color is generated at an edge portion in an image because of a difference in point spread due to a light wavelength. Even when it is not so visible among typical pixels, the presence of a high-contrast edge portion where white saturation, i.e., a state in which the luminance level is saturated, occurs causes purple false color to be generated around the edge portion, thus forming an unnatural image. In general, false color generated in the neighborhood of a white-saturated portion is called "purple fringe" since a large amount of purple-based color is generated. However, the false color may be any colors, such as green-tined color, depending on a lens and photography conditions. Hereinafter, the "purple fringe" refers to a false-color generation phenomenon that occurs at a high-contrast edge portion where white saturation occurs, regardless of color generated.
As a technology for reducing color aberration, lenses using glass made of special material, such as fluorite, are available. However, since high cost is required to manufacture such lenses, the price is also high. Such lenses are used for some high-class cameras, such as lens-replaceable cameras, but cannot be said to be widely used.
Patent Document 1 describes a method for reducing false color generated due to chromatic aberration by performing image processing. In this processing, processing for suppressing color, i.e., reducing color saturation, is performed on a portion where green-channel high-frequency components are high. As measures for a case in which white saturation occurs, Patent Document 1 also discloses a configuration for performing processing for reducing the color saturation of a white-saturated portion by photographing two images with varied exposure and estimating the original luminance of the white-saturated portion.
However, in the processing described in Patent Document 1, since the false color is reduced by reducing the color saturation, the color saturation of original subject color is also reduced to thereby make it impossible to faithfully reproduce the original color of the subject. As a result, there is a problem in that an image that looks unnatural is output. Additionally, in order to estimate the luminance of a white-saturated portion, photography needs to be performed twice. When hand movement or subject movement occurs during the two photography operations, there is a problem in that it is difficult to obtain a correct result.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-60983

Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and computer program


A user-borne athletic pack having an easy to access water/liquid bladder through a rear entry back-flap is presented. A construction of the athletic pack allows for a separate rear compartment containing the bladder to be accessed by unfastening of a back-flap. The rear compartment is separated from the front compartment via material integrally connected on the inside of the athletic pack. The rear access back-flap and rear compartment allows for unhindered access, storage and control of the water bladder in either its full or empty state.

Transport and storage of water, or other hydrating fluids, is an important facet in today's athletic sports as dehydration has been recognized as a serious health problem which needs to be contended with. This is especially true with regard to individual sports which take the participant off of the "beaten" trail and away from sources of hydrating liquids, such as for climbers, bikers, and runners.
Initially water or other hydrating fluids were carried in canteens, generally slung over the shoulder or clipped onto a waist belt. These, however, often proved to be bulky and cumbersome and thus often difficult to carry. Over time, fluid storage made the leap to being carried in one's backpack, also called athletic or hydration packs. This had the advantage of more evenly distributing the weight over the back and allowed for keeping the hands free.
Hydration packs generally are constructed to have a water/fluids bladder which carries the water. A tube is then connected to the bladder through which the wearer of the pack can drink. But the current athletic hydration packs have problems with access to the liquid storage bladders in that storage and control of the bladders in either the full or empty state in the pack themselves is difficult to manage. In addition, the bladders are difficult to fill due to the positioning and retention of the bladders in the pack. Such positioning of the bladders make the pack cumbersome for the users to get in and out of the packs. Also additionally a full bladder over time will tend to reposition itself in the current iterations of athletic packs thus increasing the burdens on the user in both refilling and re-positioning of the bladder in the pack and in comfortable wear and positioning on the user's back. Lastly, the current construction of the athletic packs today require threading of the water hose tubing into and out of the shoulder straps and their retainers on the shoulder straps in order to keep the tubing in place. Such routing is often undone by the disposition and movement of the bladders in today's pack.
For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,387, to Gleason et al., shows a separate bladder pack which resides between the carrying and storage back pack and the user's back. The separate bladder pack having a bladder residing in a compartment which rests against the back of a user. However, while the bladder compartment has an opening in which the bladder may be secured, the opening is shown to be on a side of the bladder compartment. While separate and distinct from the back pack, it is a separate pack from the backpack, wherein the pack bag is attached to the back side of the bladder compartment pack.
Another example is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 6,764,064 to Sturm et al., which shows a bladder compartment pack which has a zipper for accessing the compartment on the front side away from the user. The patent discloses a opening on the back side of the bladder compartment pack that does not allow for easy visibility of the bladder or easy filling of the bladder should the storage pocket on the front side of the bladder compartment pack be full of user items.
Lastly, another example is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 6,908,015 to Choi et al., which shows a bladder stored in a pack with an import in which the bladder is filled on the back side of the pack. However, this places the bladder cap in direct contact with the user's back. This potentially may cause the user irritation and discomfort due to friction between the bladder cap and the user's back.
A disadvantage of the bladders accessible by a front-flap is multi-fold. Firstly access to the bladder is often obstructed by the current contents in the pack in the front compartment. Secondly, a problem presents itself upon filling of the bladder in that the user cannot often tell exactly how full the bladder is due to such obstructions.
Thus such construction of the pack for storage does not allow for access to the bladder without entry into the main storage area/compartment. This can be problematic both in retrieval of items from the compartment and when the need arises to refill the liquid bladder. Thus, as can be see, none of these examples and from a review of packs currently in use, allow for easy access of the liquid storage bladder from the rear.

Rear entry bladder for user-borne athletic packs


A motion detector capable of sensing motion of an object includes a motion sensor secured to one of a plurality of surfaces of a fastener. The fastener is directly coupleable with the object.

A variety of different applications use motion sensors to detect the motion of an underlying object. One widely used application involves detecting the motion of an automobile. Specifically, motion sensors often are mounted about the periphery of an automobile chassis to sense pre-specified accelerations or rotations. Those in the art typically refer to such sensors as "satellite sensors."
When a satellite sensor detects a pre-specified type of motion, systems within the automobile respond in an pre-specified manner. For example, if a satellite sensor detects a sudden and high deceleration, air-bag systems may deploy their air bags. Alternatively, if a satellite sensor detects a sudden rotation (e.g., the automobile is swerving), breaking systems may selectively break to avoid a rollover. Accordingly, satellite sensors have become critical in ensuring automobile safety.
Currently available satellite sensors typically have a relatively large housing that contains both a printed circuit board with electronics for detecting motion, and a mounting device (e.g., bushings) for mounting the housing to the automobile. Moreover, to facilitate mounting, the housing generally is molded to a shape that conforms to the specific geometry of the portion of the chassis to which it is to be mounted. Use of such a satellite sensor, however, is undesirable for a number of reasons. For example, its relatively large size, specialized shape, and high number of electronic components drives up its overall cost. As a further example, such a satellite sensor also undesirably may mechanically filter signals used in high frequency applications.


The disadvantages of existing cover surrounds for wall-mounted bathroom fittings are avoided by the invention by virtue of the fact that the cover surround comprises an inner supporting plate (10) fastened to the wall (7) and an outer cover plate (11). The inner supporting plate (10) is preferably designed to be held in place by fixation means (13), while the outer cover plate (11) can be clipped over the inner supporting plate (10), thus concealing the fixation means (13) used to fasten the supporting plate (10).

The invention relates to a covering surround for sanitary water fittings especially for concealed fittings.
As is generally known, concealed fittings, except for the operating element or operating elements, e.g., handles, levers, push buttons used for switching etc., are present in the plumbing wall. The covering of the installation opening and thus, of the concealed fittings together with their connections, takes place by a correspondingly large covering surround, which, as a rule, is connected by screws with the fittings body. The covering surround is braced, in this case, by interpositioning of an outside sealing ring on the plumbing wall, namely in the area of the edges of the installation opening.
It is disadvantageous in the known covering surrounds for sanitary water fittings, especially for concealed fittings, that the screw heads of the screws, to which the known covering surrounds are connected with the fittings body, remain visible. Apart from visual aesthetic drawbacks, the danger exists that during the insertion of the screws in the fittings body, the screw heads and the covering surround itself are damaged by scraping; fairly often even deformations of the covering surround occur. In addition, the maintenance of the covering surrounds is made more difficult in the area of the screw heads.

Covering surround for sanitary water fittings especially for concealed fittings


A data processing server may receive a set of data objects for frequent pattern (FP) analysis. The set of data objects may be analyzed using an attribute diversity technique. For the set of data attributes of the set of data objects, the server may arrange the attributes in one or more dimensions. The server may initialize a set of centroids on data points and identify mean values of nearby data points. Based on an iteration of the mean value calculation, the server may identify a set of attributes corresponding to final mean values as being groups of similarly frequent attributes. These groups of similarly frequent attributes may be analyzed using an FP analysis procedure to identify frequent patterns of data attributes.

A cloud platform (i.e., a computing platform for cloud computing) may be employed by many users to store, manage, and process data using a shared network of remote servers. Users may develop applications on the cloud platform to handle the storage, management, and processing of data. In some cases, the cloud platform may utilize a multi-tenant database system. Users may access the cloud platform using various user devices (e.g., desktop computers, laptops, smartphones, tablets, or other computing systems, etc.).
In one example, the cloud platform may support customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. This may include support for sales, service, marketing, community, analytics, applications, and the Internet of Things. A user may utilize the cloud platform to help manage contacts of the user. For example, managing contacts of the user may include analyzing data, storing and preparing communications, and tracking opportunities and sales.
In some cases, the cloud platform may support analytics by performing frequent pattern (FP) analysis on data sets to identify meaningful patterns. For example, FP analysis may be performed on a data set of users and associated attribute data to identify user categorizations based on similar attributes. Performing FP analysis on a data set containing data attributes with widely varying distributions may affect the quality of the resulting patterns. For example, if the data set includes data attributes that differ in frequency by multiple orders of magnitude, the FP analysis procedure may discount less common data attributes based on a much larger number of occurrences for more common data attributes. This may result in the determined FPs missing important information related to rare data attribute types (e.g., the less common data attributes).

Attribute diversity for frequent pattern analysis


Methods and devices for aggregating hardware loopback streams of a plurality of display devices in communication with a computer device may include a plurality of hardware loopback streams with rendered audio data from the plurality of display devices in communication with the computer device. The methods and devices may include combining the rendered audio data from the plurality of hardware loopback streams into a loopback buffer to create aggregated loopback audio data. The methods and devices may include providing the loopback buffer with the aggregated loopback audio data to one or more applications executing on the computer device.

The present disclosure relates to multiple devices in communication with a computer device.
Applications may want to use a loopback audio stream of the audio data being rendered to a speaker for various processing. For example, applications may want to use a loopback audio stream for echo cancellation or recording audio for the application. When multiple devices are communicating with a computer device, there may be a plurality of loopback streams an application may need to access for the processing and it may become cumbersome for the application to determine which loopback stream to access.
Thus, there is a need in the art for improvements for audio loopback on devices.


Determination and indication of operational performance of deployments in an expert integrated system that has multiple deployments, with each deployment having multiple patterns. The determination is based upon pipe analytics, with the pipe analytics being performed over a common subnet that includes both the analytics platform and the management nodes of each deployment of the multiple deployments.

An expert integrated system is a set of components and servers. Traditionally, an expert integrated system took the form of a factory pre-configured set of hardware that could be physically delivered to a location, or locations. More recently, many expert integrated systems have become cloud based, so that there is not a strong correlation between the services provided to the expert systems customer and the specific, real world physical components that make up the expert integrated system at a given time.
Expert integrated systems include: (i) a flexible software-based system manager; and (ii) "patterns of expertise" for the automated configuration and management of the services provided by the expert integrated system. The patterns of expertise can provide field engineers' expertise from decades of system configuration. Preferably, these patterns of expertise offer industry-specific (for example, banking, insurance, automotive) defaults for the fully automatic and optimal orchestration of resources (for example, workload balancing).
Expert integrated systems may use various operating systems (now known or to be developed in the future). Expert integrated systems may include various kinds of hypervisors for various kinds of hardware architectures (for example, power architecture and/or x86). At least some expert integrated systems can be described as "converged systems," with these converged systems combining the functionality of an appliance with the flexibility of an arbitrarily scalable system.
Some cloud-based expert management systems: (i) manage hybrid cloud infrastructure environments "out of the box;" (ii) combine integrated hardware and software in a manner that can be easily maintained; and (iii) include server machines (for example, server blades) that host virtual-machine-based compute nodes.
A cloud group in an expert integrated system consists of one or more "deployments." Each deployment is a set of virtual machines located in the cloud. Each deployment is also broken into patterns, with each pattern providing different functionality. There is not generally a one-to-one correspondence between the virtual machines of a deployment and the patterns of the same deployment. The patterns include: (i) virtual machines (VMs); (ii) physical host computers (physical hosts); (iii) configurations (iv) policies; and (v) shared services.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Analytics platform spanning a subset using pipeline analytics

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to an input device having a multi-stage indicating lamp. The input device includes a case and an electronic lighting module. The electronic lighting module includes a printed circuit board, a first electronic lighting element, a second electronic lighting element, a light guide post member, a light-shielding member, a lamp cover and a button. By means of the light guide post member and the light-shielding member, the possibility of scattering the light beams is reduced.

Nowadays, with increasing development of high technology industries, electronic devices are widely used in our daily lives. For most electronic devices, a variety of electronic lighting elements are used to generate light signals to notify the user. For example, a red light signal is shown if an electric hot-water heater is cooking water. After the water contained in the electric hot-water heater has been boiled, the red light signal is switched to a green light signal to notify the user that the water has been boiled and is now feasible to drink. The examples of using electronic lighting elements in electronic devices to notify the users are too numerous to be enumerated.
Recently, the electronic device using a single electronic lighting element to generate the light signal is not satisfactory. The electronic devices using multi-stage electronic lighting modules to generate multi-stage light signals. A multi-stage electronic lighting module contains numeral electronic lighting elements, in which one or more of the electronic lighting elements selectively illuminate to create different light signals or different lighting effects, thereby generating many kinds of prompts. For example, a multifunction peripheral has multiple light signals to indicate different working modes. When the multifunction peripheral is switched from a working mode to another working mode, different number of light signals will be generated. For example, when the multifunction peripheral is in a scanner mode, a light signal is generated; when the multifunction peripheral is in a copier mode, two light signals are generated; and when the multifunction peripheral is in a printer mode, three light signals are generated. Moreover, the multi-stage electronic lighting module is applicable to computer peripheral devices such as mice, keyboards or other input devices.
During operation of the multi-stage electronic lighting module, the light beams emitted by different electronic lighting elements are possibly interfered with each other. In other words, the light beams emitted by an electronic lighting element may be scattered such that portions of light beams are projected to adjacent electronic lighting element. Under this circumstance, a so-call light leakage problem occurs. Hereinafter, the structure of the multi-stage electronic lighting module of an input device and the light leakage problem occurred in the electronic lighting elements will be illustrated in more details with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an input device having a multi-stage indicating lamp according to the prior art. The input device 1 principally comprises a case 14 and an electronic lighting module. A plurality of case perforations 141 are formed in the case 14. The electronic lighting module comprises a printed circuit board 10, a first electronic lighting element 11, a second electronic lighting element 12, a light guide post member 13 and multiple partition plates 15. The light guide member 13 comprises a light guide platform 131 and multiple light guide posts 132. The first electronic lighting element 11 and the second electronic lighting element 12 emit first light beams B1 and second light beams B2, respectively.
In the input device 1 having a multi-stage indicating lamp, the first electronic lighting element 11 and the second electronic lighting element 12 are disposed on the printed circuit board 10 and aligned with the light guide posts 132 of the light guide member 13. Consequently, the light beams B1 and B2 emitted by the electronic lighting elements 11 and 12 are guided by the light guide posts 132 of the light guide member 13. The upper terminals of the light guide posts 132 are inserted into corresponding case perforations 141 of the case 14. Every two adjacent light guide posts 132 are separated by a partition plate 15. When the light beams B1 and B2 emitted by the electronic lighting elements 11 and 12 are guided by respective light guide posts 132 of the light guide member 13 and exited from the case perforations 141, the partition plates 15 may block the light beams B1 and B2 from being scattered to adjacent light guide posts 132. That is, the partition plates 15 used in the input device 1 may facilitate avoiding or minimizing the light leakage problem. The conventional input device 1, however, still has some drawbacks. For example, since the light guide platform 131 of the light guide member 13 is made of transparent material, some of the light beams B1 and B2 are not blocked by the partition plates 15 and possibly scattered out of the light guide platform 131. Under this circumstance, the light leakage problem still occurs.
Therefore, there is a need of providing an input device having a multi-stage indicating lamp for minimizing the light leakage problem.

Input device having multi-stage indicating lamp


A wearable display apparatus comprises a control unit, a display unit, an optical transmission unit and a photoelectric detection unit. The control unit is configured to control the display unit to output a display image, the light transmission unit is configured to transmit a first part of light of the display image to human eyes, and transmit a second part of the light of the display image to the photoelectric detection unit, the photoelectric detection unit is configured to send a feedback signal to the control unit; and the control unit is configured to compensate for a drift of characteristics including brightness and color according to the feedback signal from the photoelectric detection unit.

With rapid development of OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display technology and expansion of capability of manufacturing large-size display, OLED display apparatuses have become popular. OLED display apparatuses also occupy a considerable market share of medium-sized display apparatuses and even large-size TV display apparatuses. When OLED display technology is applied to some special application fields, such as microdisplay apparatuses in Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) glasses, the OLED display apparatuses need to be wearable and thus need to be considerably compact and light weight. Nowadays, miniaturization of OLED microdisplay apparatuses has become an inevitable trend in development of wearable AR/VR glasses.
To acquire a similar light intensity as in a larger display apparatus, a display apparatus in a smaller size needs to have greater brightness than the larger display apparatus. In definition, the light intensity means light flux per unit solid angle, and the brightness means light intensity per unit area. High brightness generated by a miniaturized display apparatus, such as an 0.5″×0.5″ OLED chip mounted in a glass, will be associated with a problem of heat dissipation. Moreover, recent development pursuing high image resolution more than 4K, and high frame frequency more than 60 Hz, has been making the heat dissipation problem in OLED microdisplay even worse due to extended working hours under high temperature stress.
Under high-temperature stress for long working hours, some light-emitting materials, especially organic light-emitting materials, will be suffered by some serious problems such as decay of light-emitting efficiency, color drift, residual image, or potential permanent screen burning. Even at room temperature, organic molecules are gradually getting aged and losing luminescent activity, and continuous high-temperature stress for long working hours will accelerate the aging process of the organic material. The aging decreases the light-emitting efficiency of the OLED display apparatus, or in other words, increases power consumption to keep a same brightness as before. Further, as OLED microdisplay usually employs white OLED and color filters to create different colors, the color shift may occur due to different usage histories in different color pixels, for instance the duration of illumination and light intensity. As time goes by, color shift will show up and needs be addressed accordingly.

Wearable display apparatus and driving method thereof


An assembly for use in a lithographic apparatus is disclosed. The assembly includes a reticle, and a reticle holder. The reticle holder is adjustable between a form closed reticle blocking state and a reticle releasing state. The reticle holder is arranged to (1) prevent movement of the reticle with respect to the reticle holder in at least one direction without friction when the reticle holder is in the form closed reticle blocking state, and (2) release the reticle when the reticle holder is in the reticle releasing state.

An assembly of a reticle and a reticle is generally known from the art. The reticle of the known assembly may, for example, be suitable and arranged for use in a lithographic process, carried out by a lithographic apparatus, to manufacture devices. In the known assembly, the reticle holder may be arranged to hold the reticle using a clamping device. In particular, the known reticle holder may be a storage box for storing and transporting the reticle. In certain cases, the reticle may need to be aligned accurately with respect to the reticle holder before the assembly may be used in a manufacturing process. Usually, such alignment is carried out by a reticle prealigner.
A problem of the known assembly is that it is relatively difficult to maintain the reticle in a certain desired, for example, aligned, position with respect to the reticle holder when being held thereby. As a consequence, the reticle may shift under the influence of vibrations and/or acceleration during transport of the assembly, which may lead to misalignment of the reticle. Such undesired reticle movement may lead to undesired particle generation due to friction between the reticle and the reticle holder. Such particles may impair processes making use of the reticle, for example, vacuum processes and/or lithographic processes, in which the processes require substantially contamination-free process environments. In the known reticle holder, movement of the reticle is prevented by using relatively large clamping or friction forces. However, such forces lead to a high contact stress, which may damage the reticle and/or reticle holder.

Assembly of a reticle holder and a reticle


The present disclosure relates to RNAi agents, e.g., double stranded RNAi agents, able to inhibit xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH) gene expression. Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions that include XDH RNAi agents and methods of use thereof. The XDH RNAi agents disclosed herein may be conjugated to targeting ligands to facilitate the delivery to cells, including to hepatocytes. Delivery of the XDH RNAi agents in vivo provides for inhibition of XDH gene expression. The RNAi agents can be used in methods of treatment of diseases, disorders, or symptoms mediated in part by XDH gene expression, such as gout and hyperuricemia.

Gout is a progressive inflammatory arthritis caused by hyperuricemia (elevated serum uric acid levels) and deposition of monosodium urate crystals in joints and tendons. Gout is estimated to affect 0.6% of the world population with a substantially higher prevalence in certain geographical regions and ethnic groups. Gout patients without receiving a urate-lowering therapy suffer from recurrent episodes of gout flare (inflammation response) and ultimately can develop advanced gout, which is characterized by chronic joint pain and activity limitation.
Xanthine dehydrogenase is a molybdenum-containing hydroxylase that catalyzes the production of uric acid from xanthine. XDH is highly expressed in liver and gastrointestinal tract. Hepatocyte-specific ablation of XDH or global inhibition of XDH activity reverses hyperuricemia phenotype in animal models.
Small molecule inhibitors of XDH have been widely used for urate-lowering therapies. However, a large population of gout patients are intolerant of or refractory to these therapies, and some serious side effects include increased risk of death. There remains an unmet need for novel XDH inhibitors, such as XDH RNAi agents, to reduce hepatic XDH levels and treat hyperuricemia and gout.

RNAi agents for inhibiting expression of xanthine dehydrogenase (XDH), pharmaceutical compositions thereof, and methods of use


A method of motion compensated frame interpolation wherein an intermediate image frame is generated between two image frames in a motion image sequence. The method includes the steps of: identifying a moving foreground or object and the background for two successive frames in a motion image sequence; estimating a velocity vector field for the foreground, and a velocity vector field for the background; using the estimated velocity vector field for the foreground to identify the location of the foreground and the background in the intermediate image; and obtaining the intermediate image by using the foreground velocity vector field to perform motion compensated interpolation for the foreground in the intermediate image and using the background velocity vector field to perform motion compensated interpolation for the background in the intermediate image.

Motion compensation is widely used in digital video processing algorithms to exploit temporal redundancy in an effort to produce high-quality results. An example of video processing is frame interpolation, used for standards conversion as well as for generation of slow and fast motion in motion picture film/video post-production. In frame interpolation, direct temporal interpolation, i.e. without using motion information, results either in blurring or temporal aliasing when there is relative motion between objects from frame-to-frame. Motion-compensated interpolation, on the other hand, is capable of producing results without blur and aliasing.
The success of motion-compensated interpolation hinges on the accuracy of the motion information. Because motion estimation is an underdetermined problem, it relies on a priori constraints and information about the motion vector field (e.g. smoothness), the image intensity, and models for the 3-D-to-2-D projection. When such constraints becomes invalid, motion estimation becomes inaccurate. When a background is occluded with an object moving across the background, fundamental constraints such as image intensity conservation (the optical flow constraint), used in motion estimation, becomes invalid. At the boundaries of the occluded regions, corresponding to object boundaries, smoothness of the motion field is invalid since motion of occluding objects may be significantly different. Occlusions manifest themselves as covered and uncovered regions, or self occlusions due to local deformation in non-rigid objects. Of particular interest for the subject invention are occlusions that are due to covered/uncovered regions, assuming that object deformations are sufficiently small. A depiction of such regions for a hypothetical 1-D case is given in FIGS. 1A and 1B.
FIG. 1A is a depiction of an occlusion in a 1-D image. As the rectangular object 10 in Frame 1 at time t.sub.P, moves against a stationary background 12 to a new location indicated by the location of the rectangular object 10' in Frame 2, at time t.sub.Q, FIG. 1B, it covers region 16 and uncovers region 14. The uncovered region 14 is absent at time t.sub.P and the covered region 16 is absent at time t.sub.Q. The 1-D example is shown for simplicity with the understanding that 2-D and 3-D occlusions may also occur.
FIG. 2 illustrates an Intermediate Frame, occurring at time t, wherein the region 16 is partially covered and the region 14 is partially uncovered by the rectangular object 10". In other words, the object 10 moved from its position in Frame 1 to the position shown in the Intermediate Frame to its final position shown in Frame 2. Applying linear trajectories 20 between like points at times t.sub.P and t.sub.Q. provides information about the image at time t. To be noted: If the time period between t.sub.P and t.sub.Q is great, any non-linear motion of the rectangular object 10 at time t will not be accurately detected resulting in an inaccurate Intermediate Frame determination. In a like manner, if the object 10 linearly moved to, for example, the far left and linearly back to the position shown in Frame 2, the Intermediate Frame would not represent that motion. Therefore, the time between t.sub.P and t.sub.Q must be relatively small for accurate results when using the present algorithm. Applying motion-compensated, bi-directional interpolation along the linear motion trajectories 20 results in occluded regions 18 in the intermediate frame, denoted by ellipses. Image intensities for the occluded regions are copied from the appropriate existing frame. That is, for the occluded region 18, the image intensities are copied from Frame 2, and for the occluded region 18' image intensities are copied from Frame 1. The trajectories 20 shown are ideal trajectories assuming exact motion estimation.
In summary then, using motion-compensated frame interpolation, a frame at an intermediate time instance, t, is interpolated from existing frames that are captured at times t.sub.P and t.sub.Q, where t.sub.P <t<t.sub.Q. The linear motion trajectories 20 (vectors) are estimated between the existing Frames 1 and 2 such that they describe linear trajectories passing through pixel locations at the missing Intermediate Frame. FIG. 2 assumes the ideal case where motion vectors are accurate and the occluded regions 18 are accurately detected and handled. For linear motion trajectories (vectors) corresponding to non-occluded regions a linear combination (e.g. a weighted average) of the two image values at times t.sub.P and t.sub.Q is used to estimate the missing pixel value through which the associated vector passes. In uncovered regions of the Intermediate Frame, background intensity values from the future frame, Frame 2, are taken as the estimates for the missing pixels. Conversely for covered regions the background intensity values for the past frame Frame 1 are taken as estimates for the missing pixel values. This is what is meant by "occlusion handling" in the context of frame interpolation.
The accuracy of motion estimation and detection of occlusion regions are important practical problems that have been addressed. See, for example, Philippe Robert, "motion compensating interpolation considering occluded, appearing and disappearing areas", Signal Processing of HDTV, III, H. Yasuda and Chiariglione (Eds.), pp. 329-341, Elsevier Publishers, Amsterdam, 1991; and M. Bierling and R. Thoma, "Motion-compensating interpolation considering covered and uncovered background", Signal Processing: Image Communication, pp. 191-212, 1989. In addition, inaccuracies in motion estimation are not limited to only occluded regions. In almost all motion estimation algorithms, the problems within the occluded region propagate to regions outside the occluded region, adversely affecting the estimates immediately outside the occluded region. This case is depicted in FIG. 3. The case of FIG. 3 should be viewed as a non-ideal version of the case shown in FIG. 2 and represents what happens in practice. The regions 22 and 22' containing the occluded regions 18 and 18', respectively, at the Intermediate Frame location of the rectangular object 10" over which motion estimates are inaccurate are designated "bad regions," respectively. In practice, motion estimates are inaccurate within "bad regions", containing the occluded regions 18 and 18' and the immediate neighborhood.
The origin of "bad regions" can be explained as follows: At occluded region boundaries, the motion vector field should not be smooth, however the optical flow constraint is valid. On the other hand, within the occluded region, the optical flow constraint is invalid, but the motion vector field is smooth. Therefore, a successful algorithm has to enforce/suppress these two constraints at the appropriate locations at and around the occluded regions. Most algorithms are incapable of doing so since they tend to enforce these constraints with a fixed relative strength for the entire image region. The Fogel algorithm (see S. Fogel, "The estimation of velocity vector fields from time-varying image sequences, Computer Vision Graphic and Image Processing: Image Understanding, vol. 53, pp. 253-287, 1991), on the other hand, deals with occlusions using an adaptive mechanism that attempts to detect occluded regions and to adjust the relative strengths of these two constraints. Detection of occluded regions is based on implicit detection of image intensity transitions (i.e. edges) and gradients of the motion vector field. Because detection of occluded regions is itself a difficult problem, the Fogel algorithm may be unable, for instance, to turn off the smoothness.sub.-- constraint at the exact position of the occlusion boundary. In fact, in certain cases, detection of edges may be rather difficult for the eye of an observer. This causes the propagation of estimation errors into what has been called the "bad regions" of FIG. 3.
There is a need therefore for an object-based method to accurately determine occluded regions, to remove the bad regions, and to perform appropriate interpolation of the Intermediate Field at occluded regions.

Segmentation-based method for motion-compensated frame interpolation


An image pickup position information acquisition unit acquires, from a position fixing unit, position information of an image pickup location of a moving image being picked up. A preceding image pickup position information storage unit stores position information of a preceding image pickup location as preceding image pickup position information. A change point detector compares the image pickup position information and the preceding image pickup position information. If the position indicated by the image pickup position information is spaced apart from the position indicated by the preceding image pickup position information by a predetermined distance, the change point detector detects the current position as a change point. The change point is recorded onto a change point position information. Thumbnail data generated by a thumbnail generator is recorded as a change point thumbnail.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for picking up and reproducing images and, in particular, to method and apparatus for picking images, method and apparatus for reproducing images, and method and apparatus for picking up and reproducing images, and programs for causing a computer to perform theses methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image pickup apparatuses for picking up moving images are in widespread use. A lot of users enjoy picking up moving images. Since the operation of the image pickup apparatus is easy, the user can shoot various landscapes, streets, etc. at will, and as a result, a vast amount of moving image data is accumulated.
When a vast amount of data is accumulated, the user cannot memorize locations of captured data even if the user shoots himself. It is thus necessary to associate pickup position with captured moving image data somehow. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-18506 discloses a recording system that records video data captured by a camera and position data acquired from a global positioning system (GPS) with one associated with the other.


A circuit, and a processing and calculation method that makes use of the digital samples of either the positive or negative half-cycle of voltage or current signals to achieve a sixteen to one improvement in accuracy for controls connectable to an electrical utility system.

(a) Controls for Electric Power Apparatus
The general arrangement for control of electric power apparatus in electrical utility power systems is shown in FIG. 1. This apparatus responds to some criteria, including amplitude, of voltage or current signals or both. If two or more input signals are required for a specific application, the phase relation between any two may also be included in the criteria. For purposes of this document, "control" means the timely response to varying measurements in an electrical utility power system, and not to the instantaneous response sometimes required to protect against damage from fault or short-circuit conditions in such systems. Controls may require only one alternating current voltage signal input, such as for use in power factor capacitor controls, which are connected to or removed from electrical power distribution circuits in response to the magnitude of the distribution voltage. Another control for use on a three-phase, four-wire electric power circuit may require three voltage and three current input signals for response to three-phase watts or vars. A simplified version of a control for the same purpose could use one voltage and three current input signals, where it is assumed that the voltages are equal and 120 degrees apart in relative phase angle.
The voltage signal input to the prior art control 17 is from a potential device 14; such as a voltage transformer, capacitor potential device, or a resistive potential device. The current signal inputs, if required, are obtained from sensing device 16, such as a current transformer or line current sensor. Current sensors are air core coils held by an insulator in close proximity to an electric power conductor. The coil picks up a voltage from the magnetic field produced around the conductor by the current flowing in the conductor. Additional potential devices, collectively numbered 13, and current transformers or sensors, collectively numbered 15, are shown to indicate that they may be required depending on the functions of the specific control 17, as described previously.
Control 17 uses one or more output relays, collectively numbered 18, which typically close their output circuit to actuate power system apparatus 19. For example, assume apparatus 19 is the switch mechanism to activate the "raise" or "lower" motor starters of a load tapchanging transformer. In this example, control 17 would have a "raise" output relay and a "lower" output relay 18, which would close accordingly to actuate the "raise" or "lower" motor starters, respectively. In response to the relay conditions, the motor would either raise or lower the tap position to raise or lower the voltage from the transformer. Another example would be "close" and "trip" output relays 18 that would control a power factor capacitor "connect" and "disconnect" switch, which would be used to bring the capacitor on and off line, respectively.

Method and apparatus providing half-cycle digitization of AC signals by an analog-to-digital converter


An improved forced air sampling cassette is provided for the capture, identification, quantification, and analysis of airborne particles such as mold spores, plant pollens, dust, and other airborne pollutants. An adhesive assembly for the cassette is also provided. The cassette makes use of a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer with substantially improved properties for quantitative capture of airborne particles up to about 300 microns in size or larger.

For reasons of personal and public health, regular monitoring of the quantity and identity of both natural and man-made airborne particles present in outdoor and indoor air is important. Particles that may be regarded as pollutants and require monitoring include allergenic plant pollens, mold spores, and both organic and inorganic dusts and fibers, for example. Razmovshi et al., in an article entitled "Adhesive tapes as capturing surfaces in Burkhard sampling" (Grana 37: 305-310, 1998), pointed out that monitoring devices for pollutants have employed sticky surfaces such as adhesive tapes and coatings containing glycerin. Such devices are used to capture, sample, and measure the amount of pollen in the atmosphere. Hirst measured the spore content of air using microscope slides coated with petroleum jelly in an automatic volumetric spore trap (Hirst, J. M., Annals of Applied Biology, 39:257-265, 1952). The so-called Hirst-Burkard 7-day spore trap employs an adhesive containing petroleum jelly partially hardened with paraffin; this adhesive was commonly used for collecting and monitoring spores, despite its limitations due to temperature and humidity sensitivity and variable film thickness, which result in variable spore capture and retention efficiency.
In exploring alternative adhesives, Razmovshi et al. tested a variety of adhesive tapes containing different water-based and solvent-based pressure-sensitive adhesives for capturing airborne particles. These investigators described air flow sampling through a Hirst-Burkard spore trap in which air propelled by suction was maintained at a controlled rate of 8-10 liters/min to limit "particle bounce" on the adhesive tapes. Such devices are often referred to as forced air sampling cassettes (FASCs). For microscopic analysis of spores and other particles, adhesive tapes have been affixed to microscope slides using double-sided semi-transparent sticky tape (adhesive applied to both sides of a thermoplastic carrier film). Results indicated that particles smaller than about 40 microns were captured on adhesive tape more easily than larger particles such as pollen grains.
Alcazar et al. (Aerobiologia 15:105-108, 1999) used a double-sided self-adhesive acrylic tape (Scotch 3M 9425) for collecting airborne particles in a Hirst-Burkard spore trap. The clear acrylic tape contained a polyvinyl chloride carrier coated on each side with acrylic adhesive having a thickness of approximately 2 mils (0.002 inch, or about 50 microns). This method was reported to have 20% greater capture efficiency than a glycerin coating. In U.S. Pat. No. 9,933,351, Kent, et al., describe a personal airborne particle monitoring device utilizing a 3M Company polyester film tape (No. 850) to capture and collect airborne particles. The tape contained a 1 mil thick (0.001 inch, about 25 microns) acrylic adhesive coating that is functional over a wide temperature range. Other compact cassette collection devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,693,895 by Baxter and U.S. Pat. No. 7,205,145 by Ryan which allow pollutant particles in a rapidly propelled air stream to impact a tacky surface and be retained on that surface. Besides adhesive tapes, other tacky surfaces including grease coatings, hydrocolloids, and nutrients have been used to trap and preserve particles of biological origin in a living state.
Several problems exist in the in the use of FASC devices for capturing and identifying airborne pollutants. These problems include the following:
Inconsistent particle capture. Sticky, viscous gel-like materials used in FASCs often have properties that change over time and alter particle capturing efficiencies. Viscous gel-like materials including vaseline, glycerin, hydrocolloid gels, and aqueous components are thickly coated to facilitate capture of large particles, and are often applied in small window patterns or panels on an optically flat and transparent surface such as a glass microscope slide or a glass coverslip. However, the surface of such materials may undego physical and/or chemical changes over time that alter the efficiency of capture of certain particles, depending on particle surface morphology or size.
Limited shelf life. Viscous gel-like capture materials are awkward to handle and are generally perishable, such as hydrogels subject to drying and chemical breakdown, or materials containing perishable nutrients, which limits the shelf life of the capture material and the overall FASC device to one year or less. The shelf life is not substantially extended by adding sealing membranes or removable closures over the air inlet and air outflow ports present in the FASC device.
Failure to capture large particles. The use of pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes such as 3M 850 and 9425 has been largely unpopular because these adhesives have failed to efficiently capture larger pollutant particles such as approximately 100 micron diameter and larger fungal spores. This can lead to underestimation in counting of large spores such as fungal spores.
Therefore, there remains a need for airborne particle traps that more efficiently and consistently trap particles, especially larger particles of about 100 microns or more, and that have a longer shelf life.

Airborne particle collection device and method


A tread design for a radial tire provides a tread block pattern that reduces the treadwear of the tire. The tread design comprises a plurality of blocks cooperatively formed by circumferential grooves extending around the tire and angularly oriented transverse grooves intersecting the circumferential grooves. The blocks are preferably arranged in three circumferentially extending ribs, wherein each rib is separated from another by a circumferential groove. Each individual block is separated from an adjacent block by a straight transverse groove. Each transverse groove extends at an angle of about 40.degree. to 60.degree. with respect to the circumferential plane of the tire, with the preferred angle being approximately 45.degree.. The tread pattern on the left side tire is the mirror image of the tread pattern on the right side tire.

A radial tire for a passenger vehicle typically includes a tire carcass, breaker belt and tire tread. The tire carcass includes radial plies extending from bead to bead and embedded in rubber. The radial plies typically include at least two layers, wherein each layer has a series of reinforcing cords which extend substantially perpendicular to the circumferential direction of the tire.
The belt plies are positioned between the carcass or body plies and the tread. The belt plies similarly include at least two layers, wherein the first layer has a series of reinforcing cords extending at an angle of about 15.degree. to 30.degree. with respect to the circumferential plane of the tire, and the second layer has a series of reinforcing cords extending at an angle of about 105.degree. to 120.degree. with respect to the circumferential direction of the tire, and crossing the first layer. A radial tire is superior in performance--and in particular, comfort, vehicle control, acceleration and braking--to conventional bias tires by virtue of the radial carcass plies and reinforced belt plies.
Another factor which determines tire performance is treadwear. The faster the tire tread wears out during use, the quicker the performance characteristics of the tire are reduced, and the more frequently the tire needs to be replaced. The pattern on the tire tread in large part determines the treadwear of the tire. The tread pattern is segmented into a plurality of raised blocks defined and separated by intersecting circumferential and transverse grooves. The grooves are necessary to provide flexibility and water removal, while the blocks determine the control, acceleration and braking characteristics of the tire. Consequently, the slower the tire tread wears out, the longer the performance characteristics of the tire are maintained and the less frequently the tire needs to be replaced.
The types of irregular tire treadwear include (1) heel-toe wear, (2) cupping, and (3) diagonal wear. Heel-toe wear is the wearing down of the rear portion of a tread block to a greater degree than the front portion of the block. Cupping is the wearing down of several circumferentially adjacent tread blocks in a dish-like manner. Diagonal wear is the excessive wear of a row of tread blocks extending from one shoulder of the tire to the other shoulder at an acute angle to the mid-circumferential plane of the tire. The best measure of the total wear of a tire tread is the weight loss, or the difference between the weight of the tire when it was new and the weight of the tire after it has been in service.
In general, the factors that effect the treadwear of the tire include: (1) the block dimension, (2) the number of ribs, (3) the transverse groove angle, and (4) the shoulder groove subdepth. The dimension of a tread block includes the length of each block in the circumferential direction of the tire. The number of ribs is the number of columns of blocks that extend circumferentially around the length of the tire, with each column being separated by a circumferential groove. Further, the transverse groove angle is the angle at which the transverse grooves, which separate adjacent blocks, extend across the width of the tire. Finally, the shoulder groove subdepth is the depth of a defined portion of the transverse grooves between the blocks.
The block dimension, number of ribs and transverse groove angle determine the amount of tread that contacts the road, and hence the traction and control of the car. The shoulder groove subdepth determines the ability of the grooves to channel water. Moreover, the block dimension, number of ribs, transverse groove angle and shoulder groove subdepth all cooperate in determining the overall performance of the tire--and in particular, in determining the treadwear of the tire.
Prior art tires have attempted to reduce treadwear with various tread designs. For example, a tire manufactured by Yokahama, Model AVS Intermediate, shows a tread pattern wherein at least six ribs of blocks are formed in the tire tread in an asymetrical shape. The transverse grooves on the Yokahama tread pattern extend at an angle of about 45.degree. with respect to the circumferential direction of the tire.


A host signal processor (HSP) modem which includes procedures executed in response to interrupts has a CPU utilization control procedure which uses the numbers of clock cycles associated with modem tasks and the total number of clock cycles between interrupts to select a task for execution during the interrupts. The utilization control procedure changes or selects the task as required to automatically adjust the HSP modem for the available processing power and a desired maximum percentage utilization of a host computer. For example, the task can be selected to match the data transfer rate of the HSP modem with available processing power. The HSP modem is more robust and is operable in host computers having relatively low processing power. A user can change the maximum utilization of processing power used by the HSP modem so that more processing power is available for other purposes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to modems in which the processor of a host computer executes procedures which implement modem functions or protocols.
2. Description of Related Art
Host signal processing (HSP) modems use a central processing unit (CPU) in a host computer to perform digital signal processing tasks which are performed by hardware in conventional modems. For example, a conventional modem receives data from a host computer, converts the data to an analog signal in compliance with a communication protocol, and transmits the analog signal on telephone lines. The conventional modem also receives an analog signal from telephone lines, extracts data from the analog signal, and transmits the data to the host computer.
For an HSP modem, the host computer executes software which performs many of the conversions performed by hardware in a conventional modem. Hardware in HSP modems performs simple analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog conversions such as converting a received analog signal to a series of digital samples which represent amplitudes of the received signal. The host computer executes software which interprets the samples according to a modem protocol and derives received data from the samples. The host computer also generates output samples which represent amplitudes of a transmitted analog signal in compliance with the modem protocol, and the hardware of the HSP modem converts the output samples into the transmitted analog signal.
Execution of HSP modem software typically occurs during periodic interrupts of the host CPU. During each such interrupt, the host CPU executes a task which reads a first block of digital samples from the modem hardware, extracts received data from the first block of samples, encodes data to be transmitted as a second block of digital samples representing an analog signal in accordance with a modem protocol, and writes the second block of digital samples to the modem hardware. Between interrupts, the modem hardware uses the second block of digital samples to maintain a continuous transmitted signal and collects a block of samples of the received signal to be read during the next interrupt. The blocks of digital samples have a size about equal to the sampling rate of the modem hardware times the time between consecutive interrupts. The amount of data represented by a block of samples depends on a data transfer rate for the modem protocol.
When compared to conventional modems, HSP modems have less complex (and less expensive) hardware because HSP modems do not require dedicated signal processors. However, HSP modems consume part of the host computer's processing power, and the varied available computing power of different host computers is a concern for HSP modems. For example, host CPUs for IBM PC compatible computers come in a variety of types (e.g. 486, 586, 686, Pentium, and K5) which operate at a variety of clock speeds. Some computer systems may be unable to execute HSP modem processes and still provide adequate performance for other applications such as communications software which is interrupted for modem processes. In a worst case, the host CPU has insufficient available processing power for the HSP modem alone, and the HSP modem is inoperable.

Dynamic control of processor utilization by a host signal processing modem


Privacy fence inserts for chain link fences and assemblies comprising a chain link fence and a plurality of fence inserts wherein portions of the fence inserts comprise an inner core and an outer layer comprising a material which is different from said outer layer. One preferred embodiment comprises a central tubular portion and lateral wing members.

Chain link fences have been widely used for many years to satisfy fencing requirements. While they provide acceptable strength and durability over many years, they do not provide privacy or serve as a windbreak due to their appertured construction. Various inserts, typically referred to as "slats", have been suggested and manufactured for increasing the privacy of a chain link fence, as well as serving as a windbreak. Many early arrangements were designed to be directly connected to the wire of the fence and required clamping or bending of a metal slat onto a link of the fence.
One inventor of the present invention overcame a problem with slats migrating upwardly and downwardly due to wind or other environmental forces, which created an unfinished uneven appearance, by providing a slat retaining means which extended through a slot in the slats and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,556 to Meglino which issued on Apr. 23, 1985.
Those skilled in the art appreciate that one of the major costs incurred in the manufacture of privacy inserts is the cost of the raw materials. It would therefore be desirable to provide a readily fabricated fence insert which is less expensive than previous designs without lowering the aesthetic standards of the insert.
It is also desirable to provide an aesthetically pleasing fence insert which is readily installed into an existing chain link fence, and which has sufficient structural integrity to withstand adverse weather conditions typically encountered by a chain link fence.


In accordance with at least selected embodiments or aspects, the present invention is directed to improved, unique, and/or complex performance lead acid battery separators, such as improved flooded lead acid battery separators, batteries including such separators, methods of production, and/or methods of use. The preferred battery separator of the present invention addresses and optimizes multiple separator properties simultaneously. It is believed that the present invention is the first to recognize the need to address multiple separator properties simultaneously, the first to choose particular multiple separator property combinations, and the first to produce commercially viable multiple property battery separators, especially such a separator having negative cross ribs.

It is helpful to understand the diverse functionality required of different battery separators and the measured property or properties that provide the best indication of meeting the required functionality. First, with respect to inside the battery functionality, the typical lead acid battery separator provides electronic insulation between the opposing electrodes. Simply put, the separator provides a physical barrier so that the electrodes are not allowed to come into physical contact and this function is performed over the life of the battery.
Second, the separator is porous and as such functions or allows for ionic conductance there through. The battery industry has developed a test called separator resistance.
Next, as the battery separator is exposed to a highly oxidative environment, the battery industry has developed a test to measure the resistance of the separator to such an attack, which is called the Perox 80 test. In this Perox 80 test, the separator is placed in oxidizing solution at various times and the residual mechanical properties are measured. The longer the separator can maintain the original strength or a portion thereof, the higher the oxidation resistance and the longer the life in the battery.
In order to reduce fuel consumption and generation of tail pipe emissions, auto manufacturers have implemented varying degrees of electrical hybridization. One form Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) is often referred as the 'Micro HEV' or 'micro-hybrid'. In such Micro HEV or concepts, the automobile has the idle stop/start (ISS) function and often regenerative braking. In order to keep costs down, many auto manufacturers are considering a flooded or enhanced flooded lead acid battery (EFB) to meet the electrical functionality associated with the ISS function. As the functionality associated with this battery is often different than a standard automotive application, such as Starting Lighting and Ignition (SLI) battery, this may result in different functions or preferred performance of the ISS or micro-hybrid battery separator.
A need exists for new or improved battery separators, batteries including such separators, and/or methods of production, and/or methods of use thereof.

Lead acid battery separators, batteries and related methods


Two resin films each provided with an orally administrable edible agent layer are joined so that administrable agent layers face each other, drawn into a nip between a pair of press rolls, pressurized at back surfaces to bond the administrable agent layers together, and conveyed in a direction substantially conforming to a tangential direction at a pressurization zone of the press rolls. A delamination roll disposed in the conveying direction is used to draw only one of the two resin films sandwiching the bonded plural administrable agent layers in a direction different from the conveying direction, while continuously conveying the other resin film retaining the plural administrable agent layers in the conveying direction. This allows only one of the joined two resin films to be delaminated. The obtained pressure bonded product, that is, an orally administrable edible agent of laminate film form can be punched out into predetermined shapes.

Various techniques for forming orally administrable edible agents such as drugs, quasi drugs, cosmetics, food, etc. into a shape of a sheet or a film have been proposed. The term "film form" is used herein for generally referring to a shape of a thin layer such as a film or a sheet.
For example, Japanese Patent No. 2559301 discloses production of an orally administrable agent of sheet form by spreading an orally administrable agent preparation solution containing a mixture of a film forming agent, a gel forming agent, an active substance, an inert filler, and a polar solvent on siliconized paper using a coating device, and drying the solution at 80° C. for 10 to 15 minutes, but does not disclose a structure including laminated multiple orally administrable agent layers.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-504106 describes production of an orally administrable agent of film form by coating an orally administrable agent preparation solution on an appropriate carrier material, drying the solution, and then delaminating, or peeling, the obtained orally administrable agent of film form from the carrier material. The carrier material includes a non-siliconized polyethylene terephthalate film, non-siliconized kraft paper, polyethylene-impregnated kraft paper, or a non-silicone polyethylene film, and a knife over roll coating head is preferably used as a coating technique. This document, however, does not teach production of a film orally administrable agent of film form having a structure including laminated multiple orally administrable agent layers.
WO98/56266 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-191343 disclose a method for producing food having a multilayer structure by feeding edible materials of different types and/or blend-ratio into hopper-chambers respectively which are partitioned off a hopper by partition plates, forming a plurality of primary rolled sheets of strip form by a primary common mill roll below the hopper-chambers, superposing the sheets one on another with a certain space therebetween in a direction perpendicular to a longitudinal direction of the sheets during conveyance, and rolling the superposed sheets by a secondary mill roll to bond them to each other. This method is, however, adapted to form a thick multilayer sheet such as cookie dough, pie dough or cracker dough having plasticity by rolling, and cannot produce orally administrable edible agents such as drugs, food, etc. formed by pressure bonding edible materials having a plurality of extremely thin layers of several hundreds μm to several tens thick into a thin multilayer structure having an entire thickness of several thousands μm to several tens μm.
The following is a patent document that relates to obtaining an edible multilayer structure of film form of several thousands μm to several tens μm thick.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-506640 discloses an orally administrable agent of sheet or tape form for administering buprenorphine to oral mucosa, and a producing method for combining a plurality of materials of sheet or tape form coated with an orally administrable agent preparation solution containing buprenorphine so as to form a multilayer material, but does not teach at all a specific method for producing a multilayer structure and a specific producing apparatus for obtaining the multilayer structure.
Further, in the above-described Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-506640, a tape, a sheet, or a foil coated with the orally administrable agent preparation solution and dried is separated as it is by cutting or punching out into a dose or a plurality of doses, and thus delaminating the tape, the sheet, or the foil from the cut piece for administration into the oral cavity is troublesome. When used without the material being delaminated such as the tape, the sheet, or the foil that provides uncomfortable feeling in the oral cavity, the use thereof is restricted and the use is further limited to an inedible material.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-235220 discloses an orally administrable agent of film form having a multilayer structure including a drug-containing layer, a non-adhesive layer and an adhesive layer. A producing method thereof disclosed in an embodiment includes repeatedly spreading or spraying an orally administrable agent layer preparation solution on a petri dish made of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon®) and delaminating the spread or sprayed orally administrable agent layer preparation solution from the petri dish after drying to obtain an orally administrable agent of film form having a desired multilayer structure. Such a producing method cannot be industrially used, though used in a laboratory. Further, if another orally administrable agent layer preparation solution is manually spread or sprayed on the formed orally administrable agent layer to form a multilayer structure, it is difficult to spread or spray an accurate amount of preparation solution to prevent control of an accurate amount of drug ingredient, and the obtained multilayer orally administrable agent of film form cannot satisfy quantitative accuracy required for pharmaceutical preparations. This document does not teach a producing apparatus at all.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-288074 filed by the applicant of this application proposes a troche (an orally administrable edible agent) of film form including three layers of a covering layer (a), a drug layer I (b), and a drug layer II (c) laminated in order of a-b-c-b-a. This document discloses a method for producing the troche of film form including repeatedly coating and drying each orally administrable edible agent layer preparation solution on a polyester delamination film to form a desired multilayer laminated structure.
In producing the orally administrable edible agent of film form having the multilayer laminated structure described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-288074 filed by the applicant of this application, the applicant uses a coating apparatus 200 for continuously coating and drying the orally administrable edible agent layer preparation solution on a continuously moving resin film as shown in FIG. 1. The coating apparatus 200 guides a resin film 202 set on a resin film unwinding shaft 201 into a drying oven 205 through a nip between a guide roll 203 and a doctor roll 204, and winds up the resin film 202 on a resin film winding shaft 206, thereby continuously moving the resin film 202. In the meantime, an orally administrable edible agent layer preparation solution 208 contained in a dam portion 207 for supplying the orally administrable edible agent layer preparation solution is coated on the resin film, and at this time, a clearance between the resin film 202 on the guide roll 203 and the doctor roll 204 is adjusted to a predetermined dimension to obtain a predetermined coating amount (see the partial enlarged view). A coating layer 208a on the resin film 202 thus formed passes through the drying oven 205 and is dried by hot air uniformly blown from a hot air blowing device 209, and a resin film 210 provided with an orally administrable edible agent layer is wound up on the winding shaft 206 into a roll.
Then, the orally administrable agent layer-formed resin film 210 wound up on the winding shaft 206 into the roll is mounted to the unwinding roll 201 again, the orally administrable edible agent layer preparation solution 208 of the same or different composition is supplied to the dam portion 207 for coating and drying again, and the resin film is wound up on the winding roll 206, thereby producing a resin film including laminated two orally administrable edible agent layers. Repeating such coating and drying steps allows the orally administrable edible agent of film form having a desired multilayer structure to be produced with higher productivity than the conventional methods described above.
However, it has been found that even with the coating method as shown in FIG. 1, accurate control of a coating amount of the orally administrable edible agent layer preparation solution 208 is difficult in producing the orally administrable edible agent of film form having the multilayer structure by repeating the coating and drying steps, and quantitative accuracy required for pharmaceutical preparations cannot be satisfied, like the conventional methods described above.
Specifically, in a first coating step including drying step, the clearance between the doctor roll 204 and the resin film 202 can be set to the predetermined dimension to accurately control the coating amount at a predetermined value. However, a thickness of a dried orally administrable edible agent layer formed in a drying step after the first spreading step varies depending on minor variation of condition of the drying step and environmental conditions such as daily temperature and humidity. Therefore, in a second coating step including drying step, even if the clearance dimension between the doctor roll 204 and the resin film 202 is accurately set, a coating thickness of the second orally administrable edible agent layer further varies depending on variation of the coating thickness of the first orally administrable edible agent layer, since a coating thickness of the orally administrable edible agent layer preparation solution 208 is determined by a clearance between an upper surface of the first dried orally administrable edible agent layer and the doctor roll 204. It is significantly difficult to measure the variation of the thickness of the first edible orally administrable layer 208a after the drying step.
Such an inaccurate coating amount of the orally administrable edible agent layer preparation solution tends to increase as the number of coating steps increases. Further, as the number of coating steps increases, drying time increases. More specifically, drying time for the second orally administrable edible agent layer is 1.5 times longer than that for the first layer, and drying time for a third layer is twice longer than that for the first layer.
In such a situation, in order to obtain an orally administrable edible agent of film form having a multilayer structure including laminated plural thin layers, the applicant attempts to coat and dry an orally administrable edible agent layer preparation solution on a surface of a resin film to produce a resin film provided with an orally administrable edible agent layer having a predetermined thickness, join the resin films together so that orally administrable edible agent layers thereof face each other, pressurize the resin films at back surfaces to pressure bond the orally administrable edible agent layers, and delaminate one of the two resin films sandwiching the bonded orally administrable edible agents.
Then, the orally administrable edible agent having the multilayer structure including laminated plural layers has strength sufficient to form a self-supporting film, and thus the orally administrable edible agent layers adhere to the delaminated resin film to sometimes prevent the orally administrable edible agent layers from being retained on the other intended resin film.
Further, in order to prepare the orally administrable edible agent of film form having the multilayer structure including the laminated plural layers into a predetermined shape, it is efficient that a repeating step of coating, drying and pressure bonding when forming the multiple orally administrable edible agent layers on the surface of the resin film is performed using as wide a resin film as possible, and the resin film is cut into predetermined narrow strips to supply the strips to a preparation step where the strips are punched out into predetermined shapes. However, wildly cutting the wide resin film retaining the orally administrable edible agent layers on the surface thereof into narrow strips may cause distortion, wrinkles or cracks in the orally administrable edible agent layers retained on the resin film.

Process for producing edible orally administered agent of laminate film form and compression bonding apparatus