The present invention addresses an elastomeric sole having a sidewall with a height less that 0.625 inch, forming a cavity and a horizontally disposed rim extending from the top surface of the sidewall. The sole includes at least two upstanding regions extending upwardly from the cavity lower surface, each region formed from elastomer and having a different effective modulus of elasticity. The invention also includes the combination of an elastomeric sole and an upper and a method for sewing an elastomeric sole to an upper by means of a converted sewing machine.

Footwear manufacturers and designers continually strive to find ways to make footwear more comfortable and durable. To this end, inserts and footpads commonly are used in the art to provide shock absorbency, advantageous weight distribution, cushioning, ventilation, and other benefits.
Many of these designs are inserts, which may be used in a previously purchased shoe or boot. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 532,429 describes an elastic heel and sole for boots. The heel and sole consist of cushions, pads, or air cells that are secured to a flexible in-sole, which then is inserted into a boot.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,387 describes an inner sole for use with a shoe having an upper and a sole structure. The inner sole rests upon the upper surface of the sole structure and has a plurality of upwardly extending protrusions, which bend, depress or telescope to conform to the shape of the wearers foot. When depressed, some air from inside the protrusions will flow between the inner sole and the sole structure; however, most of the air will remain trapped to provide a spring action when the foot is lifted off the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,896,441 describes a removable innersole for footwear. The innersole has the shape of the sole of the shoe and has a plurality of discrete, elements extending toward the sole of the shoe. These elements distribute the weight of the wearer along a surface greater than the sole of the shoe alone.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,207 describes a sport or rehabilitation shoe having an insert part formed from elastic compressible material. The insert is positioned in a recess of the shoe sole or midsole in the area of the ball of the foot. This provides the shoe with increased stability for wearers whose feet tend to tilt inwardly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,367,791 describes a shoe sole insert that includes downwardly extending foam-filled compressible regions. The insert is housed between a midsole and an insole board.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,529 describes a shock absorbing cassette to be inserted between the outer sole and midsole of a shoe, preferably to be used by skateboarders. The cassette includes a base and sets of deformable cushion elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,138,383 describes an insert for a conventional walking or running shoe. The insert includes cavities formed in the insert bottom face that provide a spring action at a point of impact or applied force.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,178,662 describes a footpad for use in a sole, insole, or heel. The footpad includes a plurality of resilient lugs. The side surfaces of the lugs define therebetween a void which extends lattice-like over the footpad. The lugs transmit downward pressure to the pad from which they extend. The volume between adjacent lugs decreases as downward pressure is applied. Fluid, such as a gas, a liquid, or a viscous or a plastic material, also may be incorporated in the lugs.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,367,172 describes a shoe for active wear including an outsole, padding, an insole and an upper. A cavity is formed in the outer sole with the padding adhesively bonded therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,194 B1 describes a cushioning insole specifically designed based on the foot of the wearer. Using a pressure map of the wearer's foot, the cushioning insole is created. The insole has a central layer whose upper surface conforms to the wearer's foot. The bottom surface of the central layer has a layout of spaced apart pressure receiving fingers. Each finger has a predetermined height and diameter such that the fingers as a whole optimally suit the pressure map of the foot.
U.S. Des. 298,583 shows a midsole having an upper surface that cradles the foot of the wearer and a bottom surface having a plurality of downwardly extending protrusions.
While providing potential benefits to the wearer, the above-described inserts are designed to be placed in conventional footwear. None of these patents disclose footwear having a specially designed sole that, rather than being an insert or an addition, is the actual sole of the footwear.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,619,809 does describe a sole assembly for providing air circulation around the foot. This sole assembly, however, is a somewhat complicated assembly including five separate components. These components include an outsole, an insert, a conventional insole, and an orthotic. The insert is suspended above the outsole to provide an air chamber. A plurality of pins extending downwardly from the insert correspond to opening pockets in the outsole. When depressed (i.e., when subjected to a load), the pins deform and fill the pockets. When the pockets are filled, further deformation of the pins is restricted by the walls of the pockets enabling the sole assembly to resist high impact forces.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,560,900 B2 describes a sole having a honeycomb pattern and a vamp connected thereto. The sole includes a vertical extending sidewall to which the vamp is sewn. The height of the sidewall must be sufficient to provide a lip for stitching to the vamp's lower perimeter.
Sewing of an upper to a sole as described with respect to the '900 patent can be difficult and time-consuming. An improvement for sewing a sole to an upper is disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 10/200,856, by Michael H. Ganon now U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,157, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. In that patent, method and apparatus are disclosed wherein a basic flatbed sewing machine design is converted for sewing through a thick workpiece such as a molded rubber or elastomeric sole having a sewing rim extending generally horizontally from either its top or bottom surface. To connect such a sole with an upper by a stitching procedure, the design facilitates the operational tasks of the sewing machine operator, permitting the holding of the two pieces to be joined with both hands and permitting the thus joined and aligned assemblage to be held down against a work surface as well as an upstanding guide surface. This arrangement achieves both accurate and desirably positioned stitching and results in less operator fatigue and substantial minimization of any opportunity for "kick-out" of the workpieces being joined together.
With the approach of the invention, preexisting basic sewing machines can be retrofitted very simply, for example, using a screwdriver, at relatively low cost inasmuch as the drive mechanisms of the basic machine, for example, incorporating cam actuation and the like are not altered. Correspondingly, the stroke of the machine is not altered. Thus, sewing machines with which operators are already familiar may be retrofitted for the production of footwear such as slippers or the like with relatively thick molded rubber soles and cloth uppers for a given production interval, for example, three months. Following that interval, the machines readily are converted back to their original structuring for production of a next product. As a consequence of the resultant low cost tooling for these specific products, cost of the products themselves are substantially reduced to the extent that superior products are cost competitive with preexisting inferior ones.
The method and apparatus disclosed in the '157 patent enables rubber or elastomeric soles to be easily sewn to an upper. Eastomeric soles for use with the converted sewing machine of the '157 patent continue to be sought.

Elastomeric sole for use with converted flatbed sewing machine


An HDTV signal (dot density: 2N dots/line) is converted into a luminance signal and a line sequential color signal, and the resulting signals are both subjected to vertical interpolation and vertical filtering to derive a sequential scanning luminance signal and a sequential scanning color signal. The resulting sequential scanning luminance signal and sequential scanning color signal are subjected to frame thinning to reduce the frequency thereof to a half. Then, subsampling is performed to reduce the dot density to N dots/line. Next, dot rearranging for distributing adjacent dots to adjacent lines is performed to double the number of frames, whereby the dot density of each frame is reduced to N/2 dots/line. These consequently derived frames are encoded for recording. In this manner, the frequency bandwidth required to a recording medium for recording HDTV signals can be reduced.

Three primary color video signals produced by three television cameras are standard television signals and are the so-called interlaced signals. When such those three primary color video signals are produced in the HDTV system each of them has 1125 number of scanning lines per frame and a transmission bandwidth of the luminance signal thereof extending over 20 MHz which is about four times as much as that of the NTSC system being 4.5 MHz. It is therefore necessary to perform bandwidth compression in order to transmit such HDTV signals through conventional TV transmission lines. One of systems for achieving this is known as the so-called MUSE (Multiple Sub-Nyquist Sampling Encoding) system.
On the other hand, for recording and reproducing HDTV video signals using a recording medium, the bandwidth compression or data compression is required also for utilizing existing recording apparatus. The present assignee has proposed an HDTV signal recording/reproducing system in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-169841.
A recording/reproducing system of this earlier application, as shown in FIG. 1(a), converts interlaced HDTV signals each having 1125 scanning lines, a number of horizontal pixels equal to N (N is an integer, for example, N=960), and a field frequency at 60 Hz into sequential (non-interlaced) scanning video signals each having 525 scanning lines, a number of horizontal pixels equal to N/2, and a frame frequency at 60 Hz for recording. Then, as shown in FIG. 1(b), the thus recorded signal is reproduced as sequential scanning video signals having 525 scanning lines, the number of horizontal pixels being N dots, the frame frequency at 60 Hz, and an aspect ratio equal to 16:9. In this manner, a current NTSC recording apparatus and a medium can be utilized to record/reproduce video signals with high image quality.
It should be noted that when a movie film is used as a video source, the number of horizontal pixels may be increased to 2N dots/line (N=960) since the resolution of the film is sufficiently high.

Apparatus for recording and/or reproducing HDTV signals


The present invention relates to binder compositions containing. A) 40 to 95 parts by weight of OH-functional graft copolymer resins prepared by copolymerizing PA1 B) 5 to 60 parts by weight of polyfunctional crosslinking resins,. a) 0.1 to 10 parts by weight of polybutadienes containing at least 20% of 1,2-vinyl groups, PA2 b) 5 to 30 parts by weight of aliphatic .alpha.-olefins, PA2 c) 0.1 to 35 parts by weight of glycidyl esters of .alpha.-alkylalkane-monocarboxylic acids, PA2 d) 10 to 70 parts by weight of unsaturated, aromatic monomers, PA2 e) 5 to 60 parts by weight of hydroxyalkyl esters of acrylic and/or methacrylic acid having primary hydroxyl groups, PA2 f) 0 to 50 parts by weight of (cyclo)aliphatic esters of acrylic and/or methacrylic acid, PA2 g) 0.1 to 20 parts by weight of .alpha.,.beta.-mono-olefinically unsaturated monocarboxylic or dicarboxylic acids and/or maleic acid or fumaric acid semi-esters and PA2 h) 0 to 30 parts by weight of other copolymerizable compounds and. wherein 1 to 30% by weight of the OH groups of the component A) are secondary OH groups. The present invention also relates to the use of these binder compositions for vehicle coatings, in particular automotive refinish coatings and large vehicle coatings, for wood and furniture coatings, general industrial coatings, and for coatings that provide corrosion protection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to new, polyacrylate-based OH functional binder components, a process for their preparation, and their use to prepare coatings.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The advantage of high solids polyacrylate resins is the reduction in emissions of organic compounds, preferably solvents, during application of the lacquer. In order to obtain these high solids lacquer formulations, appropriate polyacrylate resins having low viscosities, i.e., low molecular weights, must be used.
It is known that free radical solution polymerization can be used to prepare low viscosity polymers (e.g. EP-A 408,858, EP-A 398,387, U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,513). The disadvantage in some cases is that the properties of the polymers are adversely affected by the use of considerable amounts of polymerization regulators as well as their secondary products. In particular the thiols used as polymerization regulators may have an extremely unpleasant smell or may even be poisonous. In EP-A 225,808 and EP-A 225,809 .alpha.-olefins, for example 1-octene or 1-decene, which do not have an unpleasant smell, are therefore used as regulators. However, as comparative tests have shown, two-component (2K) polyurethane (PUR) coating compositions (lacquers) based on the polyacrylate resins described in EP-A 225,809 and aliphatic lacquer polyisocyanates have too long a physical drying time for use in automotive repair lacquers (touch-up lacquers) and large vehicle lacquers.
EP-A 635,523, EP-A 638,591 and EP-A 680,977 describe high solids polyacrylate resins that are prepared by bulk polymerization and then diluted with a suitable solvent. In EP-A 635,523 an attempt was made to apply the technique--known from solution polymerization of using peroxides containing tert.-amyl groups to prepare unimodally narrowly distributed, high solids polyacrylate resins--to bulk polymerization. As expected, it was found that polyacrylate resins having a lower viscosity were obtained with peroxides containing tert.-amyl groups than with peroxides containing tert.-butyl groups. The advantages of this bulk polymerization compared to solution polymerization cannot be demonstrated unequivocally due to the lack of appropriate comparative tests. The polyacrylate resins prepared in the examples had viscosities of between 2790 and 9130 mPas at 23.degree. C. at a solids content of 70 wt. %, which means that they are in the medium solids rather than the high solids range and, thus, do not satisfy present day requirements for high solids lacquers.
EP-A 638,591, describes high solids copolymers that have a relatively low viscosity at a high solids content by using (meth)acrylate monomers with sterically hindered (cyclo)alkyl radicals. In the preparation of these copolymers by bulk polymerization a monoepoxide (Cardura E 10 from Shell) is mentioned as reaction medium in all of the described examples. This monoepoxide reacts with the added (meth)acrylic acid during the polymerization and is thereby incorporated into the polyacrylate. Secondary hydroxyl groups are predominantly formed by this reaction, which in addition to the primary hydroxyl groups (hydroxyethyl methacrylate) or secondary hydroxyl groups (hydroxypropyl methacrylate) introduced by hydroxy-functional monomers, are available for reaction with the polyisocyanate crosslinking agent. The copolymers described in EP-A 680,977 are similar to EP-A 638,591, except that the copolymers used in EP-A 680,977 must have an acid value of at least 15 mg KOH/g.
Secondary hydroxyl groups have a significantly lower reactivity than primary hydroxyl groups with respect to polyisocyanates. 2K-PUR coating compositions based on polyacrylate resins containing more than 30% of secondary hydroxyl groups only attain a sufficient crosslinking density and consequently a satisfactory solvent resistance after several days. However, in automotive refinish lacquers and large vehicle lacquers, fast physical drying as well as a rapid chemical crosslinking are absolutely essential so that the vehicle is available for use again as soon as possible.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new hydroxy-functional copolymers by a simple solution polymerization process, which in combination with (cyclo)aliphatic lacquer polyiso-cyanates result in high solids coating compositions that exhibit fast physical drying and also rapid chemical crosslinking. In contrast to coatings prepared from known coating compositions, it is an object to provide high solids coating compositions that can be used to prepare high quality coatings that possess excellent solvent resistance after curing for only a few days so that coated vehicles are available for use as soon as possible.
It has now surprisingly been found that coating compositions based on binder compositions containing certain high solids graft copolymers and polyisocyanates have a very high solids content in the ready-to-use state. These lacquers may be used to prepare coatings that undergo very rapid physical drying and fast chemical crosslinking at; room temperature (23.degree. C.), i.e., they have an excellent solvent resistance after only 1 to 2 days. The extremely good overall property profile of the resulting coatings, such as hardness, elasticity, chemical resistance and weathering resistance, permits their use in vehicle lacquering, preferably in automotive refinish lacquering and large vehicle lacquering. Other applications include their use to provide corrosion protection and as wood and furniture coatings.

High solids polyurethane binder compositions containing grafted polyacrylate polyols


The present invention relates to composite paperboard containers and methods for making the same. Specifically, the present invention includes a curvilinear container comprising a tubular body formed convolutely or via spiral winding from a single paperboard ply or multiple plies as commonly known in the art. The tubular body includes opposing ends that can be sealed by paperboard, metallic, plastic, or membrane-type end closures so as to preserve the consumable products typically enclosed by the container. The curvilinear container includes a tubular body having a curvilinear portion wherein the diameter of the tubular body varies along the length of the curvilinear portion. A plurality of radially projecting ribs are distributed about the circumference of the curvilinear portion as collection areas for excess tube wall material and thereby accommodate reduction of the tube wall diameter within the curvilinear portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to consumer product containers, and more particularly to consumer product containers having a curvilinear portion such that the diameter of the container varies along the length of the curvilinear portion. In addition, the invention relates to various methods of making consumer products containers having at least one curvilinear portion.
2. Description of Related Art
Consumer food and drink products and other perishable items are often packaged in known tubular composite containers 10 of the type depicted in FIG. 1. These containers 10 are comprised of a tubular body 15 that is sealed at both ends. As shown in FIG. 2, the tubular body 15 is conventionally formed of at least one paperboard body ply 30 that is wrapped around a mandrel to create a tubular structure. The body ply 30 may be spirally wound or convolutely wrapped around the mandrel. Composite containers 10 may also include a liner ply 32 adhered to the interior surface of the body ply 30. Liner plies 32 are typically comprised of an impervious material so as to ensure that (a) products packaged within the container do not leak from the container, and (b) air, water, or other environmental contaminants do not enter the container and thereby spoil or degrade the contents. Composite containers 10 may also include a label ply 35 wrapped around and adhered to the exterior of the body ply 30. Such label plies 35 typically provide consumer information or display a desired product trade dress.
Composite multi-ply containers as described above have been well-received in the marketplace and are now found in use throughout a wide variety of applications. For example, composite containers are used to hold food products such as frozen juices, powdered drinks, bread dough, snack products and the like. In view of this broad usage, it has become apparent that composite containers containing one product must be adequately distinguished from others containing different products. Further, principles of efficiency and marketplace competition suggest the desirability of manufacturing containers that stand out from one another, such that, when placed in a retail display environment a given composite container (and the product enclosed therein) becomes more noticeable.
Markings provided on label plies serve, to some extent, to distinguish the colors or trade dress of competing products; however, color schemes may be copied or simulated and by themselves do not ensure that a given product will stand out. Changing the size of a given container to distinguish a product may not be desirable as such changes generally require modifying the quantity of goods enclosed and further could negatively impact product price. Varying the shape of a composite container to attract consumers is also traditionally problematic. The basic cylindrical (i.e., uniform cross-sectional, straight-sided) shape of composite paperboard containers is generally dictated by the container's primary function (i.e., to package consumer products effectively) and the container's method of construction (i.e., convolute or spiral winding about a mandrel). Changing this basic cylindrical straight-sided shape to produce non-straight-sided containers that can effectively hold products has been possible with certain types of containers such as those formed by blow-molding, injection molding, or the like, but heretofore has not been accomplished with composite containers.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a composite paperboard container having enhanced visual distinctiveness in terms of shape, for better consumer recognition. It is also desirable to improve a consumer's ability to grip or manipulate the container when handling. Finally, it is desirable to produce the above containers by adding simple downstream operations and processes entailing relatively little additional expense without modifying the basic apparatus and processes of existing composite container manufacturing lines.

Paperboard container having curvilinear portion


A data management system comprising, a management device, wherein the management device comprises, a plurality of data, a table formation device for forming a management table indicating respective conditions of a right of use for each one of the plurality of data, a use authorization determination device for determining whether a request for the right of use for one of the plurality of data is authorized by reference to the management table, and a use allocation device for granting the right of use for one of the plurality of data on the basis of a determination by the use authorization determination device. The data management system also includes a plurality of information processing devices, each one of the plurality comprising, a use authorization request device for requesting from the management device a grant of the right of use for one of the plurality of data, and a data storage devices for storing at least one of the plurality of data upon transfer of the one of the plurality of data from the management device and, a connection cable between the management device and the plurality of information processing devices, whereby a network is formed and whereby data is transferred.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data management system for managing data used by an information processing apparatus connected to a network, and particularly to a data management system capable of managing economically valuable data such as software programs in a network.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Information networks are known in the art. Networks have typically been implemented in business establishments such as building, factories, plants, etc., by routing cables between various terminals and equipment. In such a network, data and software are loaded in information processing devices, such as work stations, in accordance with a user's demands. Network users typically require additional software capabilities beyond those provided in their information processing device. For example, a user may require a graphics capability at a certain work station, and the graphics software must, therefore, be loaded in the work station. Another user may wish to perform accounting at another work station, and the accounting software must be loaded in the other work station. Thus, where software in addition to that originally provided in an information processing device is required, it is necessary for the user of the information processing device to make an agreement with an offerer of the additional software and to pay rent for the software to the offerer.
As a rule, conventional networks establish a right of use for particular software for each information processing device in which the software is to be used. FIG. 5 shows a network in which a conventional data management system manages the right of use. In the illustrated network, twenty five work stations 12-1 to 12-25 are connected to a cable 11. As an example, it is assumed that three work stations, 12-1, 12-2, and 12-3, wish to use software "A" and eleven work stations, 12-3, and 12-15-12-24, wish to use software "B." Accordingly, an agreement with respect to the use of software "A" has been separately made by each of the above three work stations and an agreement with respect to the use of software "B" has been separately made by each of the above eleven work stations.
In the conventional data management system, several problems exist with respect to the management of software and the fact that management is performed for each separate information processing device. In an arrangement where software is freely available for use among multiple information processing devices connected in a network, it is necessary to establish the software right of use in all the information processing devices. As a result, the rent for the software, or other such data, becomes unreasonably expensive.
Considering the case above where three or eleven information processing devices can use the specified software, it does not necessarily follow that each information processing device will actually use the specified software for the entire time period agreed upon. For example, an information processing device which has made an agreement with respect to the use of software "A," may also have made an agreement with respect to the use of software "B." (See work station 12-3 in the above example.) Accordingly, when an agreement is made with respect to the use of specified software, or other such data, it does not necessarily follow that the information processing device will actually use the specified software for the entire time period agreed upon. As a result, it is difficult to fairly calculate the rent due.

Data management method and system with management table indicating right of use


An exemplary inventive optimization model delineates a three-dimensional geometric environment for situation therein of electromagnetic sources and an electromagnetic sensor array used for measuring electric and magnetic fields emanating from the electromagnetic sources. Based on measurements and computations relating to electrical, magnetic, and structural physical properties, the geometric environment is stratified into air, sea, and seafloor regions as well as into electromagnetically distinct zones. The design of the electromagnetic sensor array is optimized through an iterative process involving successive determinations as to how well the electric and magnetic fields emanating from the electromagnetic sources may be calculated based on measurements taken in the geometric environment by the electromagnetic sensor array. Every instance of the electromagnetic sensor array in the iterative process is uniquely located and/or uniquely configured vis-à-vis every other instance. Design optimization can be performed with respect to various frequencies or frequency ranges.

The present invention relates to sensor arrays, more particularly to methods, systems, and apparatuses for selecting optimal characteristics of electromagnetic measurement sensor arrays for given applications.
An electromagnetic measurement sensor array is a group of electromagnetic sensors that is constituted and configured for collecting and processing electromagnetic signals. According to current practice of performing electromagnetic sensor array measurements, land-based or submerged electromagnetic sensor arrays are optimized only for a narrow spectrum of sources and frequencies. Users routinely need to separately measure the electric and/or magnetic fields from sources and frequencies for which the sensor array system is not optimal. In the geophysics realm, conventional methods performed for geophysical prospecting using controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM) data have focused their attention on implementing robust inversion techniques to locate various geophysical features of interest, e.g., oil, gas, or mineral deposits.
Notwithstanding the effectiveness of some electromagnetic measurement sensor arrays that have heretofore been utilized, the need continues for greater accuracies and efficiencies in conducting such measurements.

Method for optimizing an electromagnetic measurement sensor array

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


The present invention is directed to methods of diagnosing a disease or predicting an increased risk of a disease, such as obesity, obesity-dependent subacute inflammation, atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease and a metabolic disease, by determining the levels of omentin 1 and 2 protein in a subject, or by determining the levels of omentin 1 and 2 gene expression in a subject. The present invention is also directed to methods of disease treatment using omentin 1 protein and omentin 2 protein.

Adipose tissue, once considered simply a fuel storage depot, is now recognized as an endocrine tissue that communicates actively with the central nervous system and peripheral tissues, responding to and regulating various neuronal, metabolic and hormonal signals to participate in energy storage, fatty acid metabolism and glucose homeostasis (46, 47). Adipose tissue also plays an important role in the pathogenesis of obesity and its associated diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and dyslipidemia (metabolic syndrome).
Regional distribution of adipose tissue is an independent factor for the susceptibility to obesity-associated morbidities. Numerous epidemiological studies have firmly established that central obesity, the accumulation of intraabdominal (omental) fat, as compared with subcutaneous fat, is associated with a higher degree of risk for type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia (48, 49). Many investigations have been undertaken to try to understand the reason why abdominal fat is more pathogenic and to study differences between omental and subcutaneous fat. Studies also suggest that these two adipose tissue depots differ in important ways. Omental adipose tissue is more metabolically active with respect to lipolysis and lipogenesis (50, 51). Abdominal fat pads secrete higher pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 6 (IL-6) (52), plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) (53), angiotensinogen (54), resistin (55) and exhibit greater apoptosis (56) than that found in subcutaneous fat pads. In contrast, leptin expression is higher in subcutaneous fat tissue than omental fat tissue (57, 58). Omental fat is also less insulin sensitive but more sensitive to beta-adrenergic stimulation (50). It is thought that these depot-specific variations in metabolism may explain features of metabolic syndrome. Because the pathophysiological basis of this syndrome is likely to be complex, several tissues, gene products and pathways may participate in the disease process.
Adipose tissue is composed of a number of different cell types in addition to the adipocytes themselves, such as preadipocytes, endothelial cells, mast cells, pericytes, fibroblasts, macrophages and inflammatory cells (59). These supporting non-adipocyte cells are collectively called stromal-vascular cells (SVC), the majority of which are preadipocytes and endothelial cells. Differing ratios of stromal-vascular cells, innervation, vascularization, anatomical location and metabolic demands may all contribute to the adipose depot-specific differences that are observed.
A variety of bioactive factors that impact energy metabolism, the immune system, angiogenesis and cardiovascular health are secreted by adipose tissue. These factors include leptin, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), IL-6, adiponectin/ACRP30/adipoQ, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and resistin (55, 60, 61). Alterations of the levels of cell surface receptors for cytokines could induce changes in insulin action. Adiponectin, a bioactive factor that promotes insulin sensitivity, is decreased in obesity (62, 63). Adipocytes almost exclusively produce leptin and adiponectin (57) as well as large amounts of VEGF (64) and bFGF (65). However, non-adipose stromal-vascular cells produce the majority of PAI-1 (55) and essentially all IL-6 (55), TNF-alpha (Fried, unpublished observations) and resistin (55). Thus, the non-adipocyte cells in adipose tissue significantly contribute to the secretion of bioactive factors that are attributed to this endocrine organ. (74).
In a recent study on obesity, a chronic pathological condition, obesity was associated with increased macrophage infiltration of adipose tissue and production of TNF-alpha, a pro-inflammatory cytokine that causes insulin resistance (75). Endothelial cells of the adipose tissue stromal vasculature play an important role in obesity and obesity-related insulin resistance by secreting monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) which promotes macrophage infiltration. Obesity is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD) (1-4). Several studies have shown that visceral obesity, in particular, is strongly associated with insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, dyslipidemia and hypertension. Subcutaneous fat deposition has also been associated with decreased risk of cardiovascular disease in some studies (5-9).
Recently, studies of germ-free mice focused attention on the intestine and its role in the etiology of obesity. Germ-free mice exhibited 42% lower fat mass than their conventionally raised littermates with a normal intestinal microbiota. These intestinal symbiotic bacteria can affect the regulation of energy metabolism by inducing formation of more capillaries to increase absorption, increasing monosaccharide uptake from bacterial breakdown of indigestible polysaccharides which stimulates triglyceride (TG) production and suppressing angiopoietin-like protein-4 which allows increased lipoprotein lipase activity leading to increased fat storage (67, 68, 70). Thus, the control of nutrient flux through the intestine may be the first line of defense against obesity and insulin resistance and their pathophysiological consequences.
To aid in the control of this bacterial "organ", the intestine has developed secreted factors that are part of the innate immune system such as defensins, RELMb, and RegIII that prevent bacterial invasion of the intestinal mucosa, inflammation and increased intestinal permeability (71, 72). Intestinal inflammation, often caused by increased TNF-alpha, can cause intestinal insulin resistance resulting in overproduction of intestinal apolipoprotein B48 containing TG-rich particles (73). High fructose-induced intestinal insulin resistance also caused similar elevated TG flux across the intestine to create metabolic dyslipidemia (79). Although the intestine is not classically thought of as an insulin target tissue, many recent studies have utilized oral insulin to improve intestinal health, permeability and decrease plasma triglycerides and cholesterol (80). Oral insulin administration was shown to decrease atherosclerotic lesions in ApoE knockout mice (81).
In light of the divergent pathological nature of adipose tissue accumulation, it is of great interest to resolve the molecular differences between visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue depots. Although anatomical location and vascularization are clearly different (10), the molecular basis of differences in metabolism and secretory profile between visceral (omental) and subcutaneous adipose tissues and their impact on whole body physiology are not completely understood. Indeed, understanding the life cycle of the adipocyte, tissue dynamics or fat depot-specific differences will involve gaining more insight into the complex stromal-vascular cell interactions and paracrine/endocrine environment in adipose tissue.
In the furtherance of such studies, two adipose-specific proteins have been identified. Initially, omentin 1 was shown to be a novel secreted factor that is detectable in human plasma and has human visceral fat depot-specific expression (86; 11-13; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/785,720 (U.S. patent application publication no. 2004/0220099)). Omentin 1 was named for its preferential expression in visceral (omental) rather than subcutaneous adipose tissue (11). Omentin 1 has been identified in other tissues at reduced expression levels and named intelectin (14), intestinal lactoferrin receptor (15) or endothelial lectin (16). It is expressed in intestinal Paneth cells (17), endothelial cells (16), as well as visceral adipose stromal-vascular cells (11). In vitro studies have shown that omentin increases insulin signal transduction by activating the protein kinase Akt/PKB, and enhancing insulin-stimulated glucose transport in isolated human adipocytes. Thus, omentin 1 may play a paracrine or endocrine role in modulating insulin sensitivity.
Omentin 2 has 83% amino acid identity with omentin 1 (16) and is also expressed preferentially in visceral fat although at much lower levels (87). Omentin 2 expression is highest in small intestine and lung but is not detected in the plasma (87). Preliminary studies (discussed herein) of omentin genetics indicate association of omentin 2 polymorphisms with metabolic syndrome traits and impaired glucose tolerance.
The two omentin genes, omentin 1 and omentin 2, are localized adjacent to each other in the 1q22-q23 chromosomal region (18) that has been previously associated with type 2 diabetes in several populations (19-23).
Another adipokine, visfatin/preB-cell colony enhancing factor, was reported to have visceral fat-specific expression and insulin-mimetic properties (83). However recent studies in humans have shown little difference between visfatin expression in visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue depots, elevated visceral fat expression in obesity and no correlation with measures of insulin sensitivity (84, 85). Unlike the visfatin's insulin-mimetic properties, omentin was shown to augment insulin-stimulated glucose transport in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and isolated human adipocytes, thus, acting as an insulin-sensitizer (86). These data suggested that omentin secretion from visceral fat may positively impact insulin sensitivity and glucose homeostasis.
The evidence discussed above, and further presented herein, suggests a crucial relationship between the regulation of intestinal nutrient absorption and the metabolic responsiveness, endocrine function and development of adipose tissue. Strong genetic evidence points to omentin 2 as a metabolic syndrome susceptibility gene. It is critical to understand the role of omentin 2 in the intestine and its regulation. It is also equally important to understand the relationship between omentin 1 and 2. Both of these molecules have the potential to greatly impact visceral adipose metabolism and potentially affect whole body energy metabolism. Therefore, it is of great significance to determine the effect of obesity and inflammation on omentin expression so that an understanding of the role of these unique secreted factors in the dynamics of intestinal physiology, adipose biology, obesity and insulin resistance can be obtained. Furthermore, knowledge of the regulation of an omental fat-specific gene may offer insight into specifically targeting gene therapies to this depot, and will provide fundamental knowledge of 'adipose depot-specific' gene expression.
Obesity and subacute inflammation are associated with increased risk for development of chronic disease, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease (CVD). The prevalence of obesity among American men and women has increased dramatically in the past two decades. Thus, the obesity epidemic has major implications for health of the nation, and for predicted health care costs to society for treatment of chronic disease (76). Thus, further understanding of the mechanisms by which obesity alters or is altered by intestinal function, adipose tissue metabolism/endocrine function is a particularly important research priority. Understanding the mechanisms linking obesity and inflammation to altered adipose tissue, intestinal and whole body metabolism may lead to the development of therapeutic agents or interventions that can prevent the deleterious consequences of increased adiposity or to prevent the development of obesity per se.

Method of diagnosing or predicting disease states in a subject using omentin 1 and omentin 2


A bi-directional presentation display device for displaying an image visible to an audience on both sides of the display device. The display device has a pair of screens, each defining an image surface which face in generally opposite directions relative to one another. The display includes a power means for providing power to the pair of screens. A reflective element is disposed between the screens for aiding in illuminating the screens. A single light source concurrently illuminates the screens for displaying an image on the pair of image surfaces.

Computers are often used for making presentations to one or more people. Business persons frequently travel to locations remote from their own office to meet with others taking with them only a laptop computer. Also, business persons often make presentations within their own working environment or offices. These meetings may be informal and entail only a presenter sharing computer information with a small audience of one or more individuals. These meetings may also be more formal and entail one or more presenters sharing information stored in a computer with a relatively large audience.
Information stored in a computer is sometimes of great value in making a presentation but difficult to share with an audience because the computer screen may not be visible and accessible to the audience. When the computer screen is positioned so that the audience can see it, the presenter is normally positioned behind or next to the screen where the image is either not visible or visible upside down or at a very sharp angle with respect to the presenter. The presentation is therefore limited by the type, orientation and size of display screen connected to the computer and the size of the audience.
There are a number of display products available which permit a computer to be used for presenting information to an audience. Laptop computers are available with a removable panel on the back of the computer screen. When the panel is removed, the screen, which is now transparent, may be folded down away from and parallel with the keyboard and set over an overhead projector screen. The image displayed on the computer screen will then be projected onto a wall or retractable screen in a conventional manner. This type of system requires access to a screen or a white and relatively smooth wall and also requires availability and use of an overhead projector.
An additional prior art product is available which projects an image received from a video output device such as a cam-corder or VCR onto a large screen or wall. The product includes a small liquid crystal display (LCD) screen which produces a video image and projects it onto a larger screen or a wall.
Another prior art display screen is a portable LCD projector having a housing which contains projection and light mechanisms inside. A rear projection screen is pivotally attached to the housing which when pivoted up to an essentially vertical position displays an image which is projected onto the screen from within the housing. This type of display only has one display surface which may be directed towards an audience or the presenter, but not both.
Another type of LCD projection system has a cylindrical rear projection screen which displays an image on the external surface of the screen. The cylindrical screen is rotated at a relatively high rate synchronized with an image periodically projected onto portions of the screen such that a viewer will see the image when it is projected onto the screen section normal to his or her angle of view. The rotation speed of the screen is such that viewers positioned around the screen will see a particular image substantially simultaneously. This type of display screen is relatively complex in construction and therefore somewhat costly and is not easily transportable since it is not collapsible.
One significant problem with these prior art devices is that a projected image does not have the same quality as the true original image. This is because a projected image is enlarged causing the image to have a lesser quality, fidelity and resolution when compared to the original displayed image. Another cause is that the image is often projected onto a surface such as a wall which is usually not clean, smooth and free of obstructions such as light switches, signs, artwork and the like.
What is needed is an improved presentation display device which displays an image visible simultaneously to viewers situated on opposite sides of the display device. What is further needed is a presentation display device which may be connected directly to a standard port of a computer for communicating therewith. What is additionally needed is a presentation display device which is highly portable and consumes a minimal amount of power. What is also needed is a presentation display device which is relatively simple in construction requiring little or no maintenance and is of relatively low cost. What is further needed is a presentation display device which produces an image visible in its original form and not in a from projected from a source to another surface or display medium.


A radiation emitting device, such as an LED, is optimally driven in dependence on the value of a carrier frequency of a signal to be transmitted. The current provided to the radiation emitting element is controlled responsive to the carrier frequency. When using an LED, the current value is increased with decreasing duration of current flow. The apparatus is usable for remote controls suitable for controlling two or more devices.

The present invention relates to a method and an according device for driving a radiation emitting device, such as light emitting diode (LED) which is to be used for a wide range of modulation frequency.
LEDs are generally known. These kind of diodes transmit electromagnetical radiation with a given wavelength (or colour), which depends on physical characteristics of the LED. Commonly known LEDs transmit light with e.g. red, green, yellow colour or infrared (IR) radiation. LEDs transmitting visible light can be used for for displaying information, such as a process parameter of a device, to a user.
In addition to this, all kinds of LEDs can be used for a system including a light transmitter and a light receiver. Such systems can also use a light wave conductor and can be used for the transmission of audio-, video- and/or data-information. A preferred application for such a system is a infrared- (IR-) remote control for any kind of devices, such as TV-sets, audio-receivers, videotape-recorders, etc. For transmitting the mentioned information it is necessary to modulate the radiation transmitted by the LED. This can be done e.g with the aid of a pulsed modulation wherein during the duration of a pulse the transmitted radiation is switched on and off with a given modulation frequency, which is called in the further description carrier frequency.
Known IR-remote control systems work in a wide range of carrier frequencies, normally from 30 kHz up to 500 kHz. Often a remote control transmitter is used just for the control of a single device, and thereby it works either in the carrier frequency range of --30 to 40 kHz, or --390 to 500 kHz.
From EP 289 625 B1 there is a remote commander known which can be used for controlling a number of devices by learning commands from other remote commanders.
From the elder (not yet published) German patent application P 43 08 441.9 is a learning remote commander known, which can be used for different kinds of carrier frequencies and which is also able to consider the presence of so-called togglebits.
We have found out that there occur problems, if a remote commander of the type mentioned includes just a single radiation emitting element, such as a LED, or a number of such elements which are driven simultaneously.
It is an object of the present invention to solve the above mentioned problem.

Method and device for driving a radiation emitting device


In a method for the capacitive fill level measurement of a fill substance in a container, electrical current is determined at two alternating voltage signals U1, U2 of differing frequencies f1, f2. On the basis of the two values for current, the capacitive reactance and therewith the fill height h of the fill substance can be easily determined. Influences of ohmic resistance on the measurement results are eliminated in this method.

Arrangements for the capacitive measurement of the level of fill of a substance in a container using a measuring electrode and an evaluation circuit have been known for a long time.
In such arrangements, the capacitance between the measuring electrode and the usually metallic container is evaluated. The capacitance depends essentially on the fill height of the fill substance in the container.
As a rule, the capacitance is ascertained by determining the reactance of the measuring arrangement. For this, an alternating voltage is produced, and the associated alternating electrical current, or its amplitude, is measured. There is a simple relationship involving the amplitude of the alternating voltage and the amplitude of the alternating current, also referred to as the amount of current, for obtaining reactance, and, from that, using the frequency, the capacitance can be calculated.

Method for capacitive measurement of fill level


A snow removal machine of this invention has a blower provided in a blower housing for throwing up snow collected by an auger toward a chute. The blower has a plurality of supporting members provided on a drive shaft for rotating the auger and the blower and a plurality of throwing-up blades attached to the respective supporting members. The throwing-up blades are elastically deformable. A vacant space is formed between the supporting members and the throwing-up blades. The vacant space allows deformation of the throwing-up blades in a direction opposite to the rotation direction of the blower.

Snow removal machines with an auger unit including a blower for removing snow accumulated on a road surface or the like include a known snow removal machine disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. HEI-3-137311. The auger unit of this snow removal machine including the blower will be described with reference to FIG. 10.
In the auger unit 200 shown in FIG. 10, rotation of a drive shaft 201 causes an auger (not shown) to rotate and also causes a blower 202 to rotate as shown by arrow "a." Rotation of the auger causes snow to be collected to the center in the transverse direction. Advancement of the auger unit 200 causes the collected snow to be brought into a blower housing 203.
The snow brought into the blower housing 203 is thrown up by a plurality of throwing-up blades 204 of the blower 202 toward a chute 205 as shown by arrow "b." The chute 205 is provided on top of the blower housing 203. The snow is thrown through the chute 205 onto a desired location.
In the accumulated snow, a foreign matter 206 such as a stone can be buried. The foreign matter 206 can enter a gap 207 between the blower 202 and the blower housing 203.
When the foreign matter 206 enters the gap 207, the blower 202 presses the foreign matter 206 against the blower housing 203, increasing the frequency of catching the foreign matter 206 in the gap 207. When the foreign matter 206 is caught in the gap 207, it is necessary to remove the foreign matter 206 from the gap 207, becoming a burden on an operator.
While the foreign matter 206 is removed from the gap 207, the auger unit 200 should be stopped. Nonoperating time of the auger unit 200 becomes longer, which prevents an increase in workability.
When the foreign matter 206 is caught in the gap 207, a load greater than a predetermined value is applied to the blower 202 and the blower housing 203, deforming the blower 202 and the blower housing 203.
It is thus desirable to avoid catching a foreign matter in a gap between a blower and a blower housing.
In order to throw up snow within the blower housing 203 toward the chute 205 as shown by arrow "b," it is necessary to carry the snow on the throwing-up blades 204. When a large amount of snow enters the blower housing 203, some snow is left on supporting members supporting the throwing-up blades 204. Specifically, the supporting members are located in the vicinities of the center of the blower 202, thus having a throwing-up force smaller than that of the throwing-up blades 204. Snow carried on the supporting members thus remains on the supporting members without being thrown up.
The remaining snow on the supporting members adds its weight to the blower, preventing the blower from providing a sufficient torque to efficiently throw up snow to the chute. Further, for an extra load to the blower, it is required to increase the strength of the blower to withstand the load, which is unfavorable for reducing the weight of the blower.
Similarly, the output of the engine should be set larger than necessary in view of the application of an excessive load to the blower, which is unfavorable for reducing the size of the engine.
It is thus desired to prevent snow from remaining on the supporting members of the blower.


A structure and method of fabrication for MOSFET devices with a polycrystalline SiGe junction is disclosed. Ge is selectively grown on Si while Si is selectively grown on Ge. Alternating depositions of Ge and Si layers yield the SiGe junction. The deposited layers are doped, and subsequently the dopants outdiffused into the device body. A thin porous oxide layer between the polycrystalline Ge and Si layers enhances the isotropy of the SiGe junctions.

Today's integrated circuits include a vast number of devices. Smaller devices are key to enhance performance and to improve reliability. As MOSFET (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistor, a name with historic connotations meaning in general an insulated gate Field-Effect-Transistor) devices are being scaled down, the technology becomes more complex. There is great difficulty in maintaining performance improvements for devices of deeply submicron generations. Many avenues are being explored for keeping device performance improvements on track. Along the path of seeking ever higher device performance, downscaling of the MOSFET devices is the established guiding principle.
Downscaling dimensions naturally leads to shallower and lower doped device (source and drain) junctions, thereby increasing the parasitic resistance of the device. This happens at a time when performance dictates exactly the opposite, namely the reduction of parasitic resistance of junctions, especially that of the source junction. Spreading resistance, junction extension edge resistance, contact resistance at silicon and metal silicide interfaces, are all components of the parasitic resistance of junctions. To reduce these resistances, abrupt dopant profiles and high electrical activation are required, all the while maintaining the shallow junction profiles.
Usual techniques of the art for obtaining shallow junctions involve the implantation of the necessary dopants, such as boron (B), arsenic (As), phosphorous (P), and others, in a high dosage and at ultra-low energies, followed by a spike-Rapid Thermal Annealing (spike-RTA ) to activate these dopants. However, the high thermal energy of spike-RTA annealing results in high defect generation in junctions, resulting in fast dopants diffusion through defects. As a consequence, the junctions are no longer shallow and also become electrically leaky.

Polycrystalline SiGe junctions for advanced devices

International Business Machines Corporation


A power storage unit has: a plurality of power storage modules each constituted of a power generation element which in a power generation element case containing the power generation element; and a power storage unit case containing the power storage modules and an insulative liquid, wherein at least two of the power storage modules have a first valve that switches from a closed state to an open state in response to the pressure in the power generation element case increasing up to a first threshold and a second valve that switches from a closed state to an open state in response to the pressure at the outside of the power generation element case increasing up to a second threshold.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a power storage unit having a case, a plurality of power storage modules provided in the case, and an insulative liquid provided in the case. The invention relates also to a vehicle incorporating such a power storage unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
A typical battery pack is constituted of a plurality of battery cells (e.g., secondary batteries) electrically connected in series and disposed in a battery pack case. For example, a battery pack is known which has a battery pack case containing an insulative oil to facilitate the heat radiation from the battery cells and to insulate the battery cells from each other (Refer to Japanese Patent Application Publications No. 10-247513 (JP-A-10-247513), No. 2001-307691 (JP-A-2001-307691), No. 2001-60466 (JP-A-2001-60466), No. 2003-51298 (JP-A-2003-51298), and No. 09-17401 (JP-A-09-17401)).
Each battery cell is constituted of a battery case and a power generation element disposed in the battery case. In the event of an abnormality of the battery cell (e.g., when the battery cell is overcharged), gas may be produced by the power generation element in the battery cell. In view of this, there are battery cells having a valve for discharging the gas produced by the power generation element to the outside of the battery case. Note that the power generation element of each battery cell is constituted of a positive electrode plate, a negative electrode plate, and an electrolyte solution, and it is charged and discharged as needed.
In a battery pack having battery cells with the valves described above, in the event of an abnormality of any battery cell, gas is produced in said battery cell and then discharged therefrom. At this time, part of the power generation element (i.e., part of the electrolyte solution) in the battery cell may leak to the outside together with the gas. Although the battery pack case is filled with the insulative oil and therefore the respective battery cells are insulated from each other as mentioned above, if the electrolyte solution leaks to the outside of any battery cell, the insulation of the insulative oil weakens accordingly.
If the insulation of the insulative oil weakens, it may cause current to flow between the battery cell producing the gas and other battery cells, and this increases the temperature of each battery cell. An increase the temperature of each battery cell induces gas production therein, causing the valve at each battery cell to open.
As such, if the valve of any battery cell is opened, it may cause the valves of other battery cells to be opened. In this case, the pressure in the battery pack case increases excessively.
One option to solve this issue is to form the battery pack case to be strong enough to withstand such a pressure increase or to provide a gas guide mechanism for guiding the gas in the battery pack case to the outside.
However, increasing the strength of the battery pack case inevitably results in complication of the structure of the battery pack case, which leads to enlargement of the battery pack, or in a heavier weight of the battery pack case. Further, having a gas guide mechanism inevitably results in enlargement of the battery pack for accommodating said mechanism, which reduces the freedom in arranging the battery pack.
For example, such enlargement of the battery pack is not desirable especially in a case where the battery pack is mounted in a vehicle because it may result in enlargement of the vehicle, or the like.

Power storage unit that effectively controls pressure and vehicle


A low voltage differential driver includes a first driver, a second driver, and an output driver. The output driver is configured to provide an output between a first output node and a second output node, and includes a current source, a first branch, and a second branch. The current source is configured to provide a source current. The current source is connected with a parallel arrangement of the first branch and the second branch. The first switch and the second switch are respectively controlled by a first switch circuit and a second switch circuit which together comprise the first driver. The third switch and the fourth switch are respectively controlled by a third switch circuit and a fourth switch circuit which together comprise the second driver. Each of the first to fourth switch circuits is connected between the upper node and the lower node.

The present disclosure relates to a low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) driver.
Low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) transmission is advantageous in its low voltage, low power consumption, and immunity against noises. FIG. 1 shows a circuit diagram of a LVDS transmission system. The LVDS transmission system 100 includes a driver 102 and a receiver 104. The driver 102 includes a current source 106, and first to fourth transistors 108, 110, 112, and 114. The current source 106 provides a current which, according to the standard TIA-EIA0-644-A-2001, preferably is 3.5 mA. The first transistor 108 and the second transistor 110 are series connected between the current source 106 and ground. The third transistor 112 and the fourth transistor 114 are series connected between the current source 106 and ground.
The first transistor 108 and the fourth transistor 114 are conductive in response to a first input signal applied to gate (control) terminals thereof. The second transistor 110 and the third transistor 112 are conductive in response to a second input signal applied to gate (control) terminals thereof. The driver 102 provides an output signal at a first node 116 between the first and the second transistors 108 and 110, and a second node 118 between the third and the fourth transistors 112 and 114.
The receiver 104 includes a termination resistor 120 and a comparator 122. The comparator 122 has a reverse input terminal and a non-reverse input terminal each coupled with a corresponding one of the first node 116 and the second node 118 of the driver 102. The resistor 120 is coupled between reverse and non-reverse input terminals of the comparator 122. The resistor 120 has a resistance of preferably 100 ohms. The comparator 122 is configured to have a high DC input impedance so the current of the output signal transmitted from the driver 102 mainly flows through the termination resistor 120 to cause a voltage difference between the input terminals of the comparator 122. As described, the voltage difference is around 350 mV.
As a polarity of the current of the output signal of the driver 102 changes due to the switching of the first to fourth transistors 108 to 114, the polarity of the voltage difference between the input terminals of the comparator 122 toggles to cause a logic status of an output of the comparator 122 to change.
LVDS transmissions allow processing of the signals to focus on the voltage differences on the terminals of the comparator 122, for example 350 mV in this example. Accordingly, LVDS transmission is power efficient and reliable. As critical dimensions (CD) of the process for fabricating the transistors shrink to 14 nm or even 7 nm, power supplies are being lowered to 1.8 V or less. This brings challenges to the transistors to meet the LVDS requirements.

Low voltage differential signaling driver


The disclosure provides a method for transmitting traffic data over a paging channel, comprising: determining, by a network side, that a user equipment (UE) has a capability of transmitting a paging channel (PCH) beared on a High Speed-Physical Downlink Shared Channel (HS-PDSCH); informing, by the network side, the UE of information of a traffic control information bearer channel through a paging identifier, when the UE is in a PCH state; listening, by the UE, for the traffic control information bearer channel; and receiving, by the UE, the traffic data on a traffic channel indicated by the traffic control information. The disclosure provides a system and a UE for transmitting traffic data over a paging channel. The solution in the disclosure allow the UE to be still able to transmit data with highspeed when in the PCH state, so as to avoid the complex process in the conventional art, to reduce signaling cost and traffic delay and to improve user experience.

With development of wireless communications, the types of services become increasingly diverse. Services that can be provided are no longer restricted to conventional voice and short message services, new services are emerging, such as the email service, the private network service, the Always on service in which data is frequently transmitted and the amount of the data is small. The Always on service may be processed automatically in the background without user intervention, while data transmission has to be always kept. If such a service is accessed in a conventional way, i.e., a User Equipment (UE) is paged firstly, then the UE initiates a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection to establish a dedicated wireless channel and transmits or receives user data on the Dedicated Channel (DCH), the user of the UE cannot enjoy the service of a high speed data transmission physical channel. If the Always on service is transferred from the DCH to the High-Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH) for transmission, the transmission process will be too complex due to added additional signaling overhead and additional service setup latency caused by interaction, and thus user experience is degraded.
Therefore, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) introduced a Forward Access Channel (FACH) technology into the Release8, so that the UE may access and transmit Always on traffic data at a high data rate in a CELL_FACH state. For example, the Chinese application published on May 7, 2008 with Publication No. CN101175302A and titled "Method and apparatus for always on service maintaining" discloses a method for realizing enhanced FACH in detail, i.e., to realize the Always on service using the FACH. However, in addition to the FACH, the Always on service may be realized using other means such as a Paging Channel (PCH).
The Chinese application published on Mar. 31, 2010 with Publication No. CN101686527A and titled "Method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving broadcast control channel" discloses a method for receiving and sending HS-DSCH transmission resources through PCH. However, this application only discloses interactions between a NodeB and a network side and is focused on the configuration for channels inside the NodeB, but does not relate to the information interaction between the UE and the NodeB, the UE, the NodeB and the network side.
In view of the above, there is no mature and effective technical solution which enables bearing of the HS-DSCH channel in the CELL_PCH state and transmission of the Always on service data.

Method, system for transmitting traffic data over a paging channel and user equipment


An injector employs a method for introducing an exact amount of liquid additive into operating vapor-compression systems and the like. The injector has a chamber and a piston-cap which have a loose fitting threaded connection to define a leakage path for removing excess liquid additive and undesirable non-condensable gas. After filling the chamber with the liquid additive and screwing the piston-cap back onto the chamber, each end of the injector is connected via Schraeder valves to the high and low sides of an operating vapor-compression system through refrigeration hoses with valve depressors.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for introducing liquid additive into vapor-compression systems and the like, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus whereby it can be ensured that addition of the liquid does not introduce any air or other non-condensable gases into the system.
It is sometimes necessary to add oil or other liquids into a vapor-compression refrigeration or air conditioning system without in any way interrupting the operation of the system. One conventional way to do this has been to use the natural pressure difference developed by the compressor of an operating system to push the liquid additive into the system. For example, the compressor discharge or high-side pressure service valve on the system can be connected to the one port of a dual valve recovery tank and the other port of the recovery tank connected to the low-side or suction-side of the system. Opening the recovery tank valves drives the tank's contents into the operating system. This tank must first be filled, however, with the substance to be injected into the system.
One way to charge liquid into a system using this dual valve recovery tank is to immerse a hose connected to the liquid connection of an empty recovery tank into the liquid to be added as seen in FIG. 1(a). The vapor connection of the recovery tank is then be connected to a vacuum pump. Turning on the vacuum pump creates a vacuum to draw liquid into the tank. When sufficient liquid had been drawn into the tank the liquid connection to the tank is closed, and the vacuum pump is operated to remove the air out of the system as seen in FIG. 1(b). Having introduced the liquid into the recovery tank and removed the trapped air, this liquid is then driven into the system using hoses connected to the high-side and low-side of the system as described above and connected as shown in FIG. 1(c).
Alternatively the recovery tanks can be opened by, for example, removing a valve or an access plug, and the liquid to be introduced into the system is poured into the tank as seen in FIG. 1(d). The tank is then be sealed up again, and the trapped air is drawn out of the system via a vacuum pump. It is, however, necessary to remove any trapped air before using the pressure difference of an operating system to push the liquid into the system. Failure to remove the trapped air results in this air being undesirably driven into the vapor compression system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,070,917 discloses in FIG. 10 a compact device for introducing a liquid into a vapor compression system utilizing a removable inlet connectable to a source of pressurized refrigerant and a check valve incorporated into at least one of the inlet or outlet, and a transfer member for sealing and retaining the treatment liquid. This device can also utilize a second method of introduction of the liquid by way of a threading action to drive the liquid into the system instead of using the vapor compression system's pressure to drive the liquid into the system.
UView Ultraviolet Systems Inc. sells an injection tool which uses a ratcheted plunger to push liquid to be injected into the system. This approach does not use the pressure difference of the system to drive the liquid into the system but rather uses the pressure developed by the ratchet mechanism on a liquid plunger to push the liquid into the system.
Another, more improved approach developed by Mainstream Engineering Corporation of Rockledge, Fla., the assignee of the present invention, uses an injector comprised of a small chamber as seen in FIG. 2(a) to introduce this liquid into the system rather than a large recovery tank. This injector is smaller and easier to carry around compared to the larger recovery bottle and uses a single resealable valve core which is automatically opened by a connection to a standard refrigeration hose with valve core depressor. A valve is necessary to allow the chamber of the device to be filled with liquid without the liquid leaking out of the bottom of the chamber as it is filled. The use of a resealable valve core, which is opened by a valve core depressor, is less expensive than a traditional hand valve.
This device has a practical limitation which has led to the present invention. In particular, I found that, when the device was filled, trapped air in the device still needed to be removed even though the quantity of trapped air was significantly less than in prior arrangements. This small volume of trapped air again required a vacuum pump to evacuate the vapor space as seen in FIG. 2(b).
Another problem was that only one self-sealing resealable valve core was provided on the base of the chamber, i.e. inside the flare fitting as shown in FIG. 2(a). Thus, the liquid fill would easily leak out of the top (open fitting) while it was being connected if the device was not held upright. A second self-sealing fitting could not be used because if both fittings were leak-tight when the cap was screwed on, the pressure inside the system would build as the cap was tightened because there is essentially no path for the trapped liquid and vapor to exit as the cap was tightened. As a result, the cap does not always properly tighten down because of this pressure build-up.
The present invention overcomes the problems found in conventional devices by providing a chamber with a removable screw piston-cap. More specifically, the threads on the cap are purposely machined with significant thread play (e.g. a very coarse or very fine loose fit thread is used) so as to allow a significant leakage path between the mating male-threaded piston-cap and female threaded chamber body. The piston-cap is configured with an extended threaded or unthreaded internal protrusion or piston which acts to displace air or liquid as the cap is threaded into the female chamber. The purpose of this internal piston is to drive air or excess liquid fill, out of the chamber by leaking past the mating male and female treads so that no non-condensable vapor remains and an exact charge of liquid is always introduced into the chamber in those cases where the chamber is sufficiently filled before closing and the chamber must use a valve at the chamber base to contain the liquid.
The sealing of the cap to the chamber is accomplished in accordance with the present invention by a conventional O-ring face seal between a flat surface on the cap and a corresponding flat surface on the chamber. The threads are not used for sealing as noted above due to their coarseness. The chamber end face is fitted with an O-ring groove to properly trap the O-ring, protect the O-ring from damage associated with the rotational motion of the piston-cap relative to the chamber and assist in sealing.
The O-ring groove is not sized to the exact circumference as is normally done, but instead is sized to accommodate the O-ring in its original circumference as well as in its elongated size. Consequently, an O-ring groove results with an inner radius to accommodate the original O-ring diameter and an outer radius to accommodate the O-ring after the O-ring's diameter has increased due to swelling in the presence of some liquid additives. While proper O-ring materials can minimize elongation and swelling, even the best materials exhibit some swelling over prolonged use. Thus, the widened O-ring groove has been found to provide the best overall solution to the swelling problem.
The piston-cap configuration according to the present invention advantageously allows the excess liquid fill or trapped air to escape until the flat shoulder on the piston-cap finally seals against the O-ring surface of the chamber. This approach assures that air is not trapped in the chamber as long as the chamber is filled to a minimum volume swept by the piston-cap prior to sealing. Another advantage achieved is that the liquid charge can never be exceeded, because excess liquid is squeezed out in the same manner as the trapped air is removed, i.e. by displacement of the piston cap into the chamber.
The present invention also allows the use of a valve on both the chamber body and piston-cap because pressure does not build as the cap is tightened. The device uses a standard flare-fitting on each end to attach to a standard refrigeration hose and allow the refrigerant pressure between the high and low sides of an operating compressor to push the liquid into the operating system.
To further simplify the operation of this device, we have incorporated resealable valve-core depressors, also known in the industry as a Schraeder valves, on both ends of the device as part of the flare fittings in the piston-cap and chamber body. Both ends of the device can be fitted with self-sealing Schraeder valves because the device does not seal until the piston-cap seats on the O-ring in the chamber body.
One advantage of the present invention is that the device is field refillable without the need for any special tools.

Method and apparatus for introducing liquid additive into vapor-compression systems


An improved architecture in a circuit switched communications network is provided in which a plurality of network service provider devices, eg intelligent peripherals are arranged to provide network service data to a plurality of time division multiplex circuits and trunks by converting these circuits and trunks to streams of packets, and providing network service data packetized in a set of network service data packet streams to the circuit packet streams without incurring delays to the circuit packet streams. The circuit packet streams may be duplicated and forwarded to the network service provider devices without incurring delay to the ongoing through put packetized circuits, and similarly packet streams containing network service data may be superimposed into the circuit packet streams, without the requirement for the circuit packet streams to be switched to the network service provider devices. The architecture comprises a plurality of TDM interfaces, a plurality of conversion means for converting from time division multiplexed mode to a plurality of packet streams; a plurality of packet streams switching devices and a plurality of network service provider devices.

Prior art time division multiplexed (TDM) telephone systems provide network services to individual calls by internally redirecting those calls within an exchange to one or more individual network service provider equipment items which may be co-located in the exchange, either within a switch, or within a rack or row of racks associated with a switch. Network service provider devices provide services to calls passing through an exchange. Such devices may include network announcers, intelligent peripheral devices, universal tone receivers (UTRs) and universal tone generators (UTGs). Network announcers may comprise simple announcement devices for sending messages such as "all international lines are busy" or the like. Such machines have historically developed from simple analogue devices for playing pre-recorded messages, more recently to digital devices for playing pre-stored messages. A universal tone generator provides dial tones to a call, and a universal tone receiver detects tone dial digits from a call.
Referring to FIG. 1 herein, there is illustrated schematically a general architectural overview of a prior art exchange comprising a conventional prior art TDM switch 100, a network announcer device 101, an intelligent peripheral device 102, and a universal tone receiver/universal tone generator (UTR/UTG) device 103. Typically, network service provider components 101-103 may be co-located with the TDM switch within an exchange building in an array of racks as illustrated schematically in FIG. 2 herein. A conventional circuit switched TDM call comprises first and second channels between an originating source device, eg a first telephone device, and a receiving destination device, eg a second telephone device. Each circuit carries traffic data, eg voice or fax/modem traffic data in a first direction on the first channel from the first device to the second device and in a second direction on the second channel from the second device to the first device. A call on an incoming (originating) TDM circuit or trunk may be received by TDM switch 100 at an input port 104 of the switch, routed through the switch via one or more network service provider devices associated with the switch and routed through an output port 105 of the switch. Network services are provided by network service modules comprising for example the network announcer, intelligent peripheral, or UTR/UTG.
In the conventional network, such network services are required at many points in the network. For example in prior art legacy networks, when a number is dialed, parts of the number are echoed from exchange to exchange across the network. Each exchange in a path has to separately recognize it's portion of the dialed number and route the call on that basis. This process incurs delays at every exchange the call passes through. In legacy networks, it is common that some types of service provider for example the UTR/UTG are provided at each exchange in the network, whilst other types of service provider eg the network announcer or intelligent peripheral may appear only at specified places in the network and not on every exchange.
In each case, in prior art legacy networks the network service provider comprises a discrete card or rack of equipment within an exchange. The exchange, when it receives a call either directly from a subscriber or from an incoming trunk recognizes dialed digits or an off-hook signal, and internally switches the call to an appropriate service provider component. This incurs delays throughout the network.
Referring to FIG. 3 herein, there is illustrated components of an exchange which detect a call and connect the call to a UTR and UTG. As a call is built up from originating source to destination, when a phone 300 goes off hook, a seize detect element 301 of a local exchange 302 detects that the phone has gone off hook. This causes an electronic connection of the call to a universal tone generator 303 which applies a dial tone back to the call.
In the prior art switches, the whole call must be switched entirely through the internal switch network. Each switch takes time to re-direct the call to the appropriate network service provider component. In practice, the physical media used to connect each rack and component is electrical or optical cabling using T1/E1 or higher rate trunks. Where higher rates are used there is an inefficiency in re-multiplexing the data to a higher rate and then de-multiplexing data within the relevant service provider function. Normally, the whole speech path of a call has to be passed to the relevant service provided component and that component then has to pass the speech path back to the switching fabric of the switch for completing a path to the outgoing trunk, thereby incurring delays at the switch in connecting a call to the network service provider devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Network service provider architecture in communications network


A variable-length decoding (VLD) unit performs a variable-length decoding on an MPEG video stream. An inverse quantization (IQ) unit computes a discrete-cosine-transform (DCT) coefficient by performing an inverse quantization on results of decoding by the VLD unit. An inverse-discrete-cosine-transform (IDCT) unit carries out an IDCT for the DCT coefficients computed by the IQ unit so as to convert frequency components into the original signals. A motion-compensated-prediction (MC) unit performs a best-effort reproduction processing on received frames, during the time until the arrival of a frame serving as a reference for decoding, and returns to a normal decoding processing after the reference frame has been received.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for reproducing images, and it particularly relates to method and apparatus for reproducing coded image data, and to a television receiver that utilizes said method and apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The digitalization of TV broadcasting is advancing by rapid strides. The digital broadcasting has already begun in BS (Broadcast Satellite) broadcasts and CS (Communication Satellite) broadcasts, and the plan is set for the digitalization of ground wave broadcasts as well. In digital TV broadcasting, the use of MPEG-2 (Moving Picture Expert Group 2), which is an international standard for data compression and expansion, makes it possible not only to transmit and store information at high efficiency but also to transmit multiple channels by a single repeater. It is also expected to provide greater convenience to the users.
On the other hand, the widespread use of portable terminals in recent years is expected to create greater needs for coding systems with high data compression ratio. Accordingly, investigations are being conducted on the use of MPEG-4 coding methods that can transmit images compressed at low bit rates. In digital TV broadcasting from now on, it seems that MPEG-4 will be used along with MPEG-2 for the distribution of image information.
In the digital TV broadcasting as mentioned above, it is necessary to extract coded image data from received signals and decode them. In the image coding by MPEG-2, inter-frame coding is done together with intra-frame coding, so that decoding according to the standard can not be carried out immediately after the reception of coded image data, when it is impossible to refer to the reference frames for inter-frame coding.
To resolve this problem, the inventor of the present invention proposed, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-112138, a digital broadcast receiving apparatus capable of receiving in the background and storing in advance one of a plurality of channels in preparation for the channel switching by the user, but has further come to realize that additional demands described as follows exist in connection with the subject matter. That is, in the image coding by MPEG-4, the data compression ratio is raised higher by holding the number of reference frames lower than MPEG-2 in order to increase the proportion of inter-frame coding, with the result that the delay time for coding is even longer. When the MPEG-4 system is employed for digital TV broadcasting, reference frames cannot be received for about four seconds, at the worst, after the start of reception, during which decoding of images cannot be started. Hence, images cannot be displayed immediately at power-on or channel switching of the receiving apparatus such as a television receiver, which will surely irritate the user. This is a great demerit for a product to be marketed.

Image decoding method and apparatus, and television receiver utilizing the same


A thrust bearing for a turbocharger includes a bearing body having a bearing surface extending parallel to a collar of a rotating shaft. The bearing body defines a central bore through which the rotating shaft extends. The thrust bearing includes tapered lands formed in the bearing surface at spaced arcuate locations extending radially outward of the second bore. Each tapered land includes a first ramp extending from within the bearing body to the bearing surface along a gradient, a flat extending from the first ramp along the bearing surface, and a second ramp extending from the flat into the bearing body along the gradient. Rotation of the shaft and the collar in either direction equally pressurizes a working fluid between the collar and the bearing surface.

In the field of internal combustion engines, turbochargers are forced-induction devices that are used to increase the pressure of the intake air provided to the engine. Increasing the intake air pressure can produce an increased power output relative to a naturally-aspirated engine.
In operation, exhaust gases from the engine are routed to the turbocharger and are used to drive a turbine wheel. The rotational force generated by the turbine wheel is used to drive a compressor wheel, thereby pressurizing ambient intake air and supplying the pressurized intake air to the engine. By pressurizing the intake air, the amount of air and fuel that can be forced into each cylinder during an intake stroke of the engine is increased.
Turbochargers have a variable distribution of air pressure on opposite sides of the compressor wheel and the turbine wheel that can affect the operation of the turbocharger. A thrust bearing is used to absorb the axial portion of the load created by the air pressure, thereby ensuring reliable operation of the turbocharger.

Bi-rotational thrust bearing for a turbocharger


A network-communication method includes detecting network activity between a local area network and a wide area network, decoding the network activity, responsive to the decoding step, obtaining at least a source network address, and using the source network address to establish a transparent networking bridge between the local area network and the wide area network.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to the field of service provisioning in a network and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a method of and system for transparent bridging and bi-directional management of network data.
2. History of Related Art
Individual users connect every day to computer networks for the purpose of utilizing services that the networks provide. As the Internet grows and evolves, more and more users access networks and the services provided by these networks. Such services include access privileges, which permit access to servers that provide different resources, including security services that aim to protect users from malicious attacks.
Even though all users face the same Internet threats that large businesses face, many individual users do not understand and cannot afford high-priced blended-threat solutions designed for businesses. Most devices that aim to prevent Internet threats are expensive. For example, when a personal computer (PC) is infected, a separate client application is required to remove the infected files. With most PC security solutions, users are forced to install a separate piece of extensive-client security technology for each type of security threat. Typical extensive-client security technology requires large and separate file setups for each application. Installed individually on each PC, the extensive-client security technology often presents a confusing and expensive array of software applications that may conflict with other PC applications. Therefore, there is a need for a method and system for an affordable, comprehensive, network security service.

Method and system for transparent bridging and bi-directional management of network data


A centrifugal air blower comprises a fan (2); and a scroll casing (4). The scroll casing includes: a sidewall (4c) covering the fan (2) from an axial direction of a rotation axis on which the fan (2) rotates, the side wall having a suction opening for sucking air; a discharge opening (41) for discharging an airflow generated by the fan (2); a tongue portion (4b) for guiding the airflow to the discharge opening (41); a peripheral wall (4a) surrounding the fan (2) from a radial direction of the rotation axis; and a bell mouth (3) formed along the suction opening (5) of the sidewall (4c). The bell mouth (3) includes an upstream end (3a) and a downstream end (3b), the upstream end being an end portion on an upstream side in a direction of flow of the air passing through the suction opening (5), the downstream end being an end portion on a downstream side in the direction of flow of the air. A distance in the radial direction of the rotation shaft between the upstream end (3a) and the downstream end (3b) at a location larger than the tongue portion (4b) in angle of a direction of rotation of the fan (2) is longer than a distance in the radial direction between the upstream end (3a) and the downstream (3b) end at a location adjacent to the tongue portion (4b).

A scroll casing of a centrifugal air blower has a bell mouth that guides an airflow sucked into a suction opening. If the axial distance between the upstream end and the downstream end of the bell mouth is short in the centrifugal air blower, the direction of the airflow changes suddenly, and turbulence occurs in the flow, resulting in a decrease in air blowing efficiency. Patent Literature 1 discloses a centrifugal air blower in which at least the portion of the bell mouth of the scroll casing having a higher air inflow velocity protrudes outward from the scroll casing.
In the invention disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the axial distance between the upstream end and the downstream end of the bell mouth is partially long, and accordingly, the airflow is gradually changed at the suction opening. Thus, turbulence hardly occurs in the flow, and the decrease in air blowing efficiency can be effectively reduced.

Centrifugal blower, air-blowing apparatus, air-conditioning apparatus, and refrigeration cycle apparatus


Conversational understanding systems allow users to conversationally interface with a computing device. In examples, a query may be received that includes a request for execution of a task. A data exchange task definition may be accessed. The data exchange task definition assists a conversational understanding system in managing task state tracking for information needed for task execution. Using the data exchange task definition, a per-turn policy for interacting with the user computing device is generated based on the state of a dialogue with a computing device and an evaluation of a process flow chart provided by a task owner resource. The task owner resource may be independent from the conversational understanding system. A response to the query may be generated and output based on the per-turn policy. In examples, the per-turn policy is used to generate one or more responses during a dialogue with a user via a computing device.

Conversational understanding (CU) systems allow users to interface with a computer system for and during execution of a task of interest to the user. Often, the execution of a task supported by such a CU system consists of two (possibly repeated) phases: an initial phase during which the CU system gathers information required to execute a task, followed by the invocation of the system action to complete the task, whether that system action be the display of the piece of information requested by the user, or performing a transaction involving some external (to the CU system) module. Previous state-of-the-art CU systems define a task as a process flow; at each step in the process flow, the system may request information from the user, process information obtained from the user, or make some decision about what to do next. As an example, a task may be defined implicitly by a process flow chart that is provided by a resource that is external to a CU system. Such process flows charts are by necessity very constrained. As an example, a module defining how to process user input typically restricts an understanding to a narrow class of user utterances in order keep the process flow tractable. In such cases, a user may provide an utterance that does not match with one of the narrowly accepted class of responses. This can create problems for the CU system when interacting with the user.
Examples of the present application are directed to the general technical environment related to task state tracking for management of a dialogue with a processing device.

Policy authoring for task state tracking during dialogue