A structure for protecting connection terminals of a battery pack and connection terminals of an electronic apparatus to be loaded with the battery pack. The electronic apparatus and battery pack each has a terminal portion including a cover for protection. When the battery pack is removed from the apparatus, the cover of the former and the cover of the latter conceal and protect their associated connection terminals from accidents.

The present invention relates to a structure for protecting connection terminals of a battery pack and connection terminals of an electronic apparatus to be loaded with the battery pack. More particularly, the present invention is concerned with a protection structure capable of securely protecting the connection terminals of a battery pack and those of an associated electronic apparatus when the former is removed from the latter.
A battery pack is extensively used with various kinds of electronic apparatuses, e.g., miniature portable radio apparatuses including a portable radio telephone and a radio pager, audio apparatuses including miniature radio and television sets, and portable office equipment including a personal computer and a word processor. When a battery pack is mounted on such an apparatus, its terminals are connected to the terminals of the apparatus to feed power to the apparatus. While this kind of conventional configuration securely connects the terminals of the battery pack and those of the apparatus, it does not give consideration to the protection of the terminals when uncovered due to the battery pack being removed from the apparatus. Therefore, it is likely that when the battery pack is handled carelessly outside the apparatus, some conductor will come in contact with its terminals causing a short circuit. Moreover, the terminals of the apparatus which are also bare are apt to suffer from damage.

Terminal protection structure for a battery pack and an electronic apparatus to be loaded therewith


A liquid pumping device includes a barrel, a cylinder, a conducting rod, a piston, an operation lever, and a cover. Thus, the liquid pumping device is operated automatically by the power source or operated manually by the operation lever to suck the liquid from the suction pipe into the inside of the barrel rapidly, so that the liquid pumping device is operated automatically and manually, thereby greatly enhancing the versatility of the liquid pumping device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid pumping device, and more particularly to a liquid pumping device that is operated automatically and manually, thereby enhancing the versatility of the liquid pumping device.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional liquid pumping device comprises a cylinder, a suction pipe connected to the cylinder, a piston movably mounted in the cylinder, a movable rod movably mounted in the cylinder and having a lower end secured to the piston to push the piston, and a press lever mounted on the movable rod to move the movable rod. Thus, the press lever is pulled upward and pushed downward to move the piston in the cylinder reciprocally, thereby forming a vacuum suction in the inside of the cylinder so as to suck a liquid, such as the oil or the like, from the suction pipe into the inside of the cylinder. However, the conventional liquid pumping device is operated manually by press lever to suck the liquid from the suction pipe into the inside of the cylinder, thereby wasting the manual work and the working time.


Provided is a multi-beam semiconductor laser device in which deterioration of element characteristics is suppressed even when a beam pitch is reduced. The multi-beam semiconductor laser device includes: a first semiconductor multilayer in which a plurality of semiconductor layers are laminated; a plurality of light emitting ridge portions that are formed on the first semiconductor multilayer; a support electrode portion formed in a region between a pair of neighboring light emitting ridge portions; and a front ridge portion formed on the front side of the support electrode portion. The support electrode portion is electrically connected to one of the pair of neighboring light emitting ridge portions. The support electrode portion is higher than the one light emitting ridge portion. An end of the front ridge portion on the front end surface side is higher than the one light emitting ridge portion at the front end surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor laser element and a semiconductor laser device including the same, and more particularly, to a technology for reducing a beam pitch of a multi-beam semiconductor laser element.
2. Description of the Related Art
For instance, a semiconductor laser device used for a light source of an image printing apparatus such as a laser printer or a copying machine is equipped with a semiconductor laser element (laser chip) in which a light emitting portion is formed on a semiconductor substrate (hereinafter referred to simply as "substrate"). In particular, a multi-beam semiconductor laser element in which a plurality of light emitting portions are formed on a laser chip substrate has an advantage in that the number of scanning beams can be increased to perform high speed printing, and hence demands for the multi-beam semiconductor laser element have rapidly increased.
In view of cost reduction in a manufacturing process, it is desired that the multi-beam semiconductor laser element have a ridge structure. Depending on a semiconductor material used for a laser chip, it is necessary to enhance heat dissipation in order to suppress temperature rise in an active layer. As a mounting method for enhancing the heat dissipation, there is used a junction-down method involving bonding an upper surface of the laser chip (chip surface on a side closer to the active layer) to a submount (support substrate).
As a bonding material for bonding the semiconductor laser element and the submount, solder such as AuSn is usually used. However, because there is a difference in linear expansion coefficient between the semiconductor material of the laser chip and the submount material, thermal stress may occur when the device bonded at high temperature is rapidly cooled to room temperature. In this case, if the thermal stress is applied to the light emitting portion (or a waveguide section) of the semiconductor laser element, polarization property of a laser beam emitted from the semiconductor laser element is changed. As an example, it is known that a polarization plane of the emitted laser beam is rotated so that a polarization angle is increased. If the polarization angle of the laser beam is increased, when an optical component (lens or the like) having polarization angle dependence in optical characteristics is used, there occurs a malfunction such as a variation of a laser beam optical path or transmitted light intensity. JP 2006-278694 A discloses an optical semiconductor device in which uniformity of a reaction layer between a laser chip electrode material and a bonding material is enhanced so that a variation in a polarization direction is suppressed and good polarization property is achieved.
JP 2011-108932 A discloses a semiconductor optical device including a laser diode having a bank structure (bank portion 31) formed on right and left sides of a ridge structure (ridge portion 12). For instance, as illustrated in FIG. 1 of JP 2011-108932 A, a conductor is formed so that a height of an upper surface of the conductor (conductive layer 16) formed on an upper part of the bank portion 31 is higher than a height of an upper surface of the conductor (conductive layer 16) formed on an upper part of the ridge portion 12. Therefore, the bonding material (solder material 20) is melted and bonded to the conductor formed on the upper part of the bank portion 31. In contrast, the bonding material is separated away from the conductor formed on the upper part of the ridge portion 12 via an air gap so as not to be in contact with the conductor. Thus, polarization angle characteristics of the semiconductor optical device are stabilized.


The present invention relates to an antioxidant, anti-inflammatory or anti-aging composition containing any one or more of a Taxus cambium- or procambium-derived cell line, an extract thereof, a lysate thereof and a culture medium thereof. The composition according to the present invention has minimized side effects compared to existing antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents, is involved in intracellular metabolism to reduce intracellular reactive oxygen species, and reduces and induces aging-related signals. Thus, the composition of the preset invention is useful for preventing and delaying aging. In addition, the composition of the present invention has the effect of inhibiting melanogenesis, and thus is useful as a whitening cosmetic composition.

Aging is a functional, structural and biochemical process that occurs continuously throughout the life of human beings. Aging occurs throughout the cells and tissues of the human body, displays a decrease in metabolic rate, an increase in diseases, a decrease in adaptability and the like, and ultimately leads to the death of the cells and the whole of tissues of the human body. Theories explaining the processes and causes of aging are broadly divided into the genetic theories (Chung. H. Y. et al., Kor. J. Gerontol., 2:1, 1992) and the wear-and-tear theories (Chung. H. Y. et al., Kor. J. Gerontol., 2:1, 1992). The wear-and-tear theories suggest that the cells of organisms lose their functions with the passage of time or due to the accumulation of harmful substances. Among these explanations, the most plausible theory is the free radical theory suggesting that free radicals which are produced through human metabolic processes, radiation exposure, viruses, heavy metals and air pollution form highly toxic substances, thereby stimulating aging and causing various diseases related to aging.
Free radicals are substances having one unpaired electron in the outermost orbit and their structure is highly unstable and reactive because they tend to be stabilized by receiving electrons. Particularly, free radicals which are derived from oxygen are termed "reactive oxygen species", and these reactive oxygen species react with proteins, lipids, carbohydrates and the like to cause lipid peroxidation, DNA damage, protein oxidation and the like, thereby causing damage intracellular structures and ultimately causing the death of cells. Particularly, these reactive oxygen species increase arterosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease and blood homocysteine levels by involving inflammatory processes as a cause of vascular aging.
Oxygen-related toxic substances in the human body are referred to as reactive oxygen species (ROS). Examples of ROS include free radicals, such as superoxide, hydroxyl, peroxyl, alkoxyl and hydroperoxyl, and non-free radial radicals, such as hydrogen peroxide, hypochlorous acid, ozone, singlet oxygen, and peroxynitrite. Among these reactive oxygen species, superoxide free radicals have been most frequently studies and play an important role (Fridovich L., Science, 201:175, 1978).
During the progression of aging, ROS generated in cellular mitochondria becomes a target indicating oxidative damage (Lesnefsky, E. J. & Hoppel, C. L. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 420, 287, 2003). There are many reports that the free radical theory regarding intracellular oxygen radicals has much correlation with aging-related oxidative stress and aging-related diseases caused thereby (Finkel, T. & Holbrook, N. J., Science 408; 239, 2000) and there are also reports that such oxidative stress play an important role in inducing senescence (Chen Q. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. May 9; 92(10):4337, 1995; Packer L. & Fuehr K., Nature, 267(5610):423, 1977). Such oxidative stress is a term used to describe damage to cells caused by the oxidation of macromolecules by an increasing level of reactive oxygen species and reduced antioxidant reserve (Thomas C. & Squier, Experimental Gerontology, 36; 1539, 2001).
Aged cells which are in the progression of replicative senescence can produce ROS at higher levels compared to young cells and also produce toxic byproducts, such as superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radicals and the like during a normal metabolic process. According to the results of experiments on old individuals or old test animals, tissues accumulate oxidative damage to their DNAs, proteins and lipids (Chen, Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci., 908:111, 2000). ROS, and particularly, hydroxyl radical, attacks DNA and causes the formation of 8-oxo-2′-deixyguanosine and other potent mutagenic adducts, and the ratio of ROS in each species is associated with life-span and that means it is the decisive factor in defining the rate of aging and various diseases related to aging (Finkel & Holbrook, Nature, 408(6809): 239, 2000).
In 1961, Hayflick and Moorhead first reported that the replicative potential of young cultured cells decreases as the number of divisions increase, and ultimately the cells lose proliferative potential and have a "doubling limited" which the growth condition is over. Since then, ROS has been used to define the senescence-related molecular changes of human cells as experimental models for in vitro senescence and intracellular senescence in human fibroblasts (HAYFLICK L. & MOORHEAD P. S., Exp. Cell Res., 25: 585, 1961).
All aerobic organisms, including humans, fundamentally have a self-defense mechanism against injury caused by reactive oxygen species which always occur during an energy metabolic process that uses oxygen, the production of reactive oxygen species exceeding the defense capability of tissues causes various adult diseases, including arthritis, disorders of the cardiovascular system, and dementia (Halliwell et al., Drugs, 42:569, 1991; Fukuzawa et al., J. Act. oxyg. Free Rad., 1:55, 1990).
Reactive oxygen species which are frequently called harmful oxygen species include superoxide anion (O2−) which is singlet oxygen produced by oxidation-reduction of the most stable triplet oxygen (3O2); hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), hydroxyl radical (.OH) as unpaired free radicals, and these cause diseases by damaging factors of the immune system, such as proteins, DNA, enzymers and T cells (Regnstrom et al., Lancet., 16:1183, 1992; Gey et al., Am. Ac. J. Clin. Nutr., 53:326, 1991).
For this reason, studies on the development of antioxidants have been actively conducted and, as a result, many antioxidants are known, including preventive antioxidant enzymes, such as superoxide dismutase, catalase and glutathioneperoxidase, natural antioxidants, such as vitamin E, vitamin C, carotenoid and glutathione, and synthetic antioxidants, such as t-butyl-4-hydroxyanisole (BHA) and 3,5-(t-butyl)-4-hydroxytoluene (BHT). However, the antioxidant enzymes show a decrease in the defense ability against reactive oxygen species as people get older, and the synthetic antioxidants are known to have mutagenecity and toxicity. For these reasons, it is urgently required to develop more stable and potent natural antioxidants (Hatano et al., Natural Medicines, 49:359, 1995; Masaki et al., Biol. Pharm. Bull, 18:162, 1995).
Meanwhile, inflammation is a local response which appears against injury sites to initiate the removal of invasion of pathogens or damaged tissues. Despite its positive role, inflammation became one of the most general pathogenic mechanisms for human diseases. The production of nitric oxide (NO) in activated monocytes and macrophages initiates a potent inflammatory response and is most important in an initial immune response to bacterial pathogens (Bogdan C., Nat. Immunol., 2:907, 2001).
When there is a damage to a tissue (cell) or an infection by a foreign substance (e.g., bacteria, fungi, viruses, various allergy-inducing materials), it usually entails an inflammatory response expressed as a series of complex physiological responses such as activation of enzyme, secretion of inflammation-mediating materials, infiltration of body fluid, cell movement, and damage to tissues that are related to various inflammation-mediating factors and immunocytes in local blood vessels and body fluid, and as external symptoms such as erythema, edema, pyrexia and pain. For normal persons, inflammatory responses remove external sources of infection, reproduce damaged tissues, and recover the function of organisms, but when an antigen is not removed or inflammatory responses occur excessively or continuously due to intrinsic substances, inflammatory responses stimulate damage to mucosa and, as a result, in some cases, cause diseases such as cancer. Accordingly, there has been a need to develop natural anti-inflammatory agents which can prevent excessive and continuous inflammatory responses without causing side effects.
Therefore, the present inventors have made many efforts to develop natural material-derived compositions which minimized side effects compared to existing antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents and have excellent antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory activity. As a result, the present inventors have found that a Taxus cambium- or procambium-derived cell line and an extract thereof have excellent inhibitory effects against aging and inflammation, thereby completing the present invention.

Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory or anti-aging composition containing taxus cambium- or procambium-derived cell line as active ingredient


A novel neurotrophic factor referred to as glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) has been identified and isolated from serum free growth conditioned medium of B49 glioblastoma cells. Rat and human genes encoding GDNF have been cloned and sequenced. A gene encoding GDNF has been subcloned into a vector, and the vector has been used to transform a host cell in order to produce biologically active GDNF in a recombinant DNA process.

Neurotrophic factors are natural proteins, found in the nervous system or in non-nerve tissues innervated by the nervous system, whose function is to promote the survival and maintain the phenotypic differentiation of nerve and/or glial cells (Varon and Bunge 1979 Ann. Rev. Neuroscience 1:327; Thoenen and Edgar 1985 Science 229:238). Because of this physiological role, neurotrophic factors may be useful in treating the degeneration of nerve cells and loss of differentiated function that occurs in a variety of neurodegenerative diseases.
In order for a particular neurotrophic factor to be potentially useful in treating nerve damage, the class or classes of damaged nerve cells must be responsive to the factor. Different neurotrophic factors typically affect distinctly different classes of nerve cells. Therefore, it is advisable to have on hand a variety of different neurotrophic factors to treat each of the classes of damaged neurons that may occur with different forms of disease or injury.
Neurotrophic factors can protect responsive neurons against a variety of unrelated insults. For example, the neurotrophic factor nerve growth factor (NGF) will rescue a significant portion of sensory neurons from death caused by cutting their axonal processes (Rich et al. 1987 J. Neurocytol 16:261; Otto et al. 1987 J. Neurosci 83:156), from ontogenetic death during embryonic development (Hamburger et al. 1984 J. Neurosci 4:767), and from damage caused by administration of taxol or cisplatin (Apfel et al. 1991 Ann Neurol. 29: 87). This apparent generality of protection has lead to the concept that if a neurotrophic factor protects responsive neurons against experimental damage, it may be useful in treating diseases that involve damage to those neurons in patients, even though the etiology may be unknown.
A given neurotrophic factor, in addition to having the correct neuronal specificity, must be available in sufficient quantity to be used as a pharmaceutical treatment. Since neurotrophic factors are typically present in vanishingly small amounts in tissues (e.g., Hofer and Barde 1988 Nature 331:261; Lin et al. 1989 Science 246:1023), it would be inconvenient to prepare pharmaceutical quantities of neurotrophic factors directly from animal tissues. As an alternative, it would be desirable to locate the gene for a neurotrophic factor and use that gene as the basis for establishing a recombinant expression system to produce potentially unlimited amounts of the protein.
The inventors of this application describe a method for screening biological samples for neurotrophic activity on the embryonic precursors of the substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons that degenerate in Parkinson's disease. This bioassay for identifying neurotrophic factors that may be useful in treating Parkinson's disease is based on an assay previously described (Friedman et al. 1987 Neuro. Sci. Lett. 79:65-72, specifically incorporated herein by this reference) and implemented with modifications in the present invention. This assay was used to screen various potential sources for neurotrophic activity directed to dopaminergic neurons. The present invention describes the characterization of a new neurotrophic factor that was purified from one such source, the conditioned culture medium from a glioblastoma cell line, B49 (Schubert et al. 1974 Nature 249:224-27, specifically incorporated herein by this reference). The conditioned medium from this cell line was previously reported to contain dopaminergic neurotrophic activity (Bohn et al. 1989 Soc. Neurosci. Abs. 15:277). In this previous report, the source of the neurotrophic activity was not purified, characterized chemically, or shown to be the consequence of a single agent in the conditioned medium. Nerve damage is caused by conditions that compromise the survival and/or proper function of one or more types of nerve cells. Such nerve damage may occur from a wide variety of different causes, some of which are indicated below.
Nerve damage may occur through physical injury, which causes the degeneration of the axonal processes and/or nerve cell bodies near the site of injury.
Nerve damage may also occur because of temporary or permanent cessation of blood flow to parts of the nervous system, as in stroke. Nerve damage may also occur because of intentional or accidental exposure to neurotoxins, such as the cancer and AIDS chemotherapeutic agents cisplatinum and dideoxycytidine (ddC), respectively. Nerve damage may also occur because of chronic metabolic diseases, such as diabetes or renal dysfunction. Nerve damage may also occur because of neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), which result from the degeneration of specific neuronal populations.
This application describes a novel neurotrophic factor. Neurotrophic factors are natural proteins that promote the normal functions of specific nerve cells and/or protect the same-cells against a variety of different forms of damage. It is these properties that suggest that GDNF may be useful in treating various forms of nerve damage, including those forms indicated specifically above.
Parkinson's disease is identified by a unique set of symptoms that include rigidity, bradykinesis, seborrhea, festination gait, flexed posture, salivation, and a "pill rolling" tremor. The disease is encountered in all races throughout the world, and the average age of onset is 60 years.
After years of conflicting theories and controversy, a biochemical basis for Parkinson's disease has emerged as the major cause. (See, e.g., Bergman, 1990 Drug Store News, 12:IP19.) Of significant importance to an understanding of Parkinson's disease are the areas of the brain known as the substantia nigra the basal ganglia, and particularly, the corpus striatum. The substantia nigra, a bilaterally paired layer of pigmented gray matter in the mid-brain, is involved with dopamine transmission, while the normal basal ganglia function involves a series of interactions and feedback systems which are associated with the substantia nigra and mediated in part by dopamine, acetylcholine and other substances.
In Parkinson's disease, there is a dysfunction in the dopaminergic activity of the substantia nigra which is caused by neuronal degeneration. This results in a state of dopamine deficiency and a shift in the balance of activity to a cholinergic predominance. Therefore, although there is no increase in the concentration of acetylcholine, the excitatory effects on the central nervous system (i.e., tremors) by this cholinergic mediator overwhelm the inhibiting effects of the depleted dopamine.
The most effective treatment for Parkinson's disease to date is the oral administration of Levodopa. Levodopa penetrates the central nervous system and is enzymatically converted to dopamine in the basal ganglia. It is believed that beneficial effects of Levodopa are, therefore, in increasing the concentration of dopamine in the brain. Unfortunately, neither Levodopa or any of the less commonly utilized medications actually stem the progression of the disease which is caused by the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons.
Other researchers have reported the existence of dopaminergic activity in various biological sources. In PCT publication WO91/01739 of Springer et al., a dopaminergic neurotrophic activity was identified in an extract derived from cells of the peripheral nervous system. The activity identified was not purified, but was attributed to a factor having a molecular weight of less than 10,000 daltons. The factor was isolated from rat sciatic nerve but is apparently not CNTF, which is also found in the nerve (Lin et al. 1989 Science 246:1023).
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,735 of Appel et al., dopaminergic activity was identified in an extract from caudate-putamen tissue. Again, no factors giving rise to the activity were purified and the apparent molecular weight of the activity containing fractions was relatively small. See also, Niijima et al. 1990 Brain Res. 528:151-154 (chemically deafferented striatum of adult rat brain); Lo et al. 1990 Soc. Neurosci. Abstr., 16:809 (striatal-derived neurotrophic factor). In addition, other known neurotrophic factors have also been shown to have dopaminergic activity, e.g., Brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), and acidic and basic Fibroblast Growth Factors.
The GNDF of the present invention was isolated based on its ability to promote the functional activity and survival in cell culture of dopaminergic nerve cells isolated from the rat embryo mesencephalon. These dopaminergic nerve cells are the embryonic precursor of the dopaminergic nerve cells in the adult substantia nigra that degenerate in Parkinson's disease. Therefore, GDNF may be useful in reducing the neuronal degeneration that causes the symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Furthermore, GDNF may be useful in treating other forms of damage to or improper function of dopaminergic nerve cells in human patients. Such damage or malfunction may occur in schizophrenia and other forms of psychosis. Current treatments for such conditions often require drugs active at dopamine receptors, suggesting that improper function of the dopaminergic neurons innervating these receptor-bearing neuronal populations may be involved in the disease process.
Based on previous experience with other neurotrophic factors, new forms of nerve damage that may be treated with GDNF will emerge as more is learned about the various types of nerve cells that are responsive to this neurotrophic factor. For example, nerve growth factor (NGF) only emerged as a potentially useful treatment for Alzheimer's disease when it was recently discovered that NGF acts as a neurotrophic factor for the basal forebrain cholinergic neurons that degenerate in Alzheimer's disease. (Williams, et al. 1986 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:9231). Methods are provided in the present invention for determining other forms of nerve damage that may be usefully treated with GDNF.
Patrick Aebischer and coworkers have described the use of semipermeable, implantable membrane devices that are useful as means for delivering drugs or medicaments in certain circumstances. For example, they have proposed the encapsulation of cells that secrete neurotransmitter factors, and the implantation of such devices into the brain of patients suffering from Parkinson's Disease. See, U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,538 of Aebischer et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,472 of Aebischer et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,627 of Aebisher et al.; PCT Application WO 91/10425; PCT Application WO 91/10470; Winn et al. 1991 Exper. Neurol. 113:322-329; Aebischer et al. 1991 Exper. Neurol. 111:269-275; and Tresco et al. 1992 ASAIO 38:17-23.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Nucleic acids encoding glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF)


A method and apparatus for efficiently forming a gaseous material from a solid starting material. The produced gaseous material includes a CGE HHV having a high percentage of an original HHV of the starting material. The gaseous product may be used to form a plurality of materials for various purposes.

Since electricity and electrically powered systems are becoming ubiquitous, it has become increasingly desirable to find sources of power. For example, various systems may convert directly various petrochemical compounds into electrical energy. Further, petrochemical compounds are used to create various materials, such as steam, which are used to drive steam powered turbines.
Various petrochemical compounds and forms, such as coal, petroleum, and the like may be used to power various systems or produce heat to create steam. Various sources of certain compounds are expensive or difficult to extract and require complex machinery to process. Therefore, it is desirable to provide systems that are operable to produce various compounds, either synthetics of generally known compounds or alternatives thereto to produce the selected heat energy or electrical energy.


A method of manufacturing a vehicle trim panel having a storage compartment includes providing a first mold assembly comprising a first mold section and a second mold section, wherein the first mold assembly defines a first cavity. A second mold assembly is provided and comprises a third mold section and a fourth mold section. The second mold assembly defines a second cavity. A first material is introduced into the first cavity, thereby producing a substrate. A second material is introduced into the second cavity, such that the second material defines a flexible member. The substrate and the flexible member define a vehicle trim panel, such that the flexible member defines an expandable portion of the storage compartment.

It is known to provide an interior trim panel for a vehicle, and components thereof, which is aesthetically and /or tactilely pleasing to the vehicle occupants. Such trim panels may include a cavity, such as a map pocket, having an expandable panel which can expand to provide for storage of articles of various sizes.
Known flexible panels are typically formed separately from the trim panel and assembled to the trim panel during an assembly operation subsequent to forming the trim panel. Such assembly operations can be complex and time consuming. It would therefore be desirable to provide an improved method of manufacturing an expandable panel for a cavity formed in an interior vehicle trim panel.


An adjustable dumbbell comprises a carrying seat, a plurality of weights, and a selection device. The carrying seat is formed of two support plates and a connection member. The weights are held by the carrying seat by two connection rods. The selection device is mounted on the carrying seat and is formed of an adjusting mechanism, and two rotary rods which are controlled by the adjusting mechanism to move into or out of the through holes of the weight. A user of the dumbbell can use the selection device to pick out a desired weight.

The present invention relates generally to a body building device, and more particularly to an adjustable dumbbell.
The U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,637,064; 5,769,762; and 5,779,604 disclose an adjustable dumbbell comprising a handle and a plurality of weights joined by the handle, by which the dumbbell is lifted or swung about in the hand for muscular exercise. The weights are joined by the handle in conjunction with a U-shaped pin which is provided in the longitudinal direction with a plurality of side forks arranged at an interval. The handle is provided with a plurality of grooves in which the forks of the pin are retained. The weights are selectively joined by the handle by changing the position of the pin. The weights are vulnerable to falling on the ground in the event that the pin is not held securely in the grooves. In addition, the pin and weights are separated from each other, thereby resulting in inconvenience in case of loss or misplacement of the pin.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an adjustable dumbbell which is free from the drawbacks of the adjustable dumbbells of the prior art described above.
In keeping with the principle of the present invention, the foregoing objective in the present invention is attained by an adjustable dumbbell comprising a carrying seat, a plurality of weights, and a selection device. The carrying seat is provided with two support plates opposite to each other, and a connection member located between the two support plates. The weights are held by the carrying seat and are provided in two plate bodies opposite to each other, and a fastening member located between the two plate bodies. Two plate bodies are coaxially provided with a through hole. The selection device is mounted on the carrying seat and is formed of an adjusting mechanism and two rod members which are controlled by the adjusting mechanism to select the weights.


A telephone subscriber placing a telephone call through a telecommunications network (10) to a telephone line carrying an existing call may interrupt that call by entering an interrupt code to the network. Upon receipt of the code, the network verifies whether the interrupt code is valid by consulting a data base (21) that cross-references interrupt codes to corresponding lines. If the code is valid for the line carrying the existing call, the network then interrupts the existing call.

Residential telephone subscribers often find it necessary to call their own line to communicate with a family member or a baby sitter. Often, the reason for making the call may be minor. For example, a subscriber away from home may wish to remind a family member at home, such as a child, to perform some task, such as homework. Some times, the reason for calling home may be more important. For example, a subscriber who is traveling may want to call home to alert a family member of a sudden change in plans, such as a delayed arrival because of bad weather.
Not surprisingly, a subscriber seeking to call his/her own home number may experience a busy signal as a consequence of a family member using the phone. If the subscriber enjoys call waiting, the family member using the phone hears a pulsed tone indicating an incoming call. In response, the family member on the phone can receive the incoming call by executing a "flash" on-hook operation. Reception of the "waiting" call is dependent on willingness of the party on the phone to execute the flash on-hook operation. In some instances, the party on the phone may choose to ignore the pulsed tone signaling a waiting call. Depending on the nature of the call, the party on the phone may even choose to disable the call waiting option, particularly if the party is using the phone to establish a data connection to an On-line or Internet Service Provider.
In addition to call waiting, a telephone subscriber may also subscriber to a network-based messaging service that records a message when the subscriber's own line is busy or does not answer. Thus, a subscriber trying to reach his/her own line can leave a message when the line is busy. However, a family member may not necessarily access the message on a timely basis, if at all. The subscriber has no way of knowing whether the message was indeed received and acknowledged.
Most providers of local telephone service allow their operators to interrupt an existing call to a subscriber's premises on an emergency basis. While the subscriber seeking to call his/her home may believe that the call is important, in actuality, the reason for interrupting the call is not likely to be an emergency to justify an operator's intervention. Consequently, without an actual emergency, a subscriber may be unable to reach home because the line is busy.
Thus, there is a need for a technique to allow a subscriber to interrupt a call on the subscriber's line after receiving a busy signal.

Method for interrupting a telephone call after receiving a busy signal


The present invention relates to humectant and lubricant solution for ophthalmic use based on a glycogen polysaccharide.

This invention relates to a humectant and lubricant solution for ophthalmic use based on a glycogen polysaccharide.
It is known that the instillation of humectant and lubricant solutions into the eye is indicated in some circumstances. These solutions are all the more useful if they mimic the functions of natural tear fluid.
This type of humectant and lubricant solution has therefore been given the name of xe2x80x9cartificial tearsxe2x80x9d, even when the capacity to mimic natural tear fluid is not entirely satisfactory.
Artificial tears are used, for example, to alleviate the symptoms of dry keratoconjunctivitis, exposure-induced keratopathies and other situations resulting in dry eye syndrome. In addition to this artificial tears are useful to wearers of contact lenses, particularly in the case of hard lenses.
One of the properties required from artificial tears is that they should produce a sensation of well-being and freshness which lasts for a sufficient length of time.
In the past it was considered that in order to achieve this objective artificial tears should have a high viscosity, and this was achieved by adding polymers such as cellulose esters, polyethylene glycol, polystyrene sulphonate or polyvinyl acid.
However, such artificial tears do not satisfactorily mimic the properties of natural tear fluid which, as is known, has a rather low viscosity (between 1 and 6 cP) [J. M. Tiffany, xe2x80x9cInternational Ophthalmologyxe2x80x9d, 15, 371-376, 1991 H. Botner, T. Waaler and O. Wik, xe2x80x9cDrug Development and Industrial Pharmacyxe2x80x9d, 16(5), 755-768, 1990].
In addition to this it has been shown that a viscosity greater than 20 cP is generally regarded as being uncomfortable on account of eyelid movement (J. I. Greaves, O. Olejnik and C. G. Wilson, xe2x80x9cPharma. Sciencesxe2x80x9d, 2(1 13-33, 1992). Also, viscosities in excess of 40-50 cP can cause occlusion of the tear duct and give the patient a continual sensation of having a foreign body in the eye (M. Amorosa, xe2x80x9cPrincipi di Tecnica Farmaceuticaxe2x80x9d, (Principles of pharmaceutical technology), 399, 1983).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,662 proposes that this disadvantage should be overcome through a low viscosity ophthalmic solution containing dextran or arabinogalactan together with benzylalkonium chloride. In particular, the abovementioned patent specifies that the polysaccharide component alone without benzylalkonium chloride is incapable of remaining adsorbed onto the cornea for a sufficiently long period (column 3, lines 9-13). In explanation of this behaviour it is hypothesised that the polysaccharide particles described in the aforesaid patent combine in solution with the benzylalkonium chloride by electrostatic attraction. This seems to form a complex having an electron charge which causes the macromolecule to be adsorbed onto the surface of the cornea (column 3, lines 19-37).
Furthermore, it is known from the literature that aqueous solutions of dextran have an osmotic pressure which is much greater than that of natural tears (F. J. Holly and E. D. Esquivel xe2x80x9cColloid Osmotic Pressure of Artificial Tearsxe2x80x9d, Journal of Ocular Pharmacology, 1, 327-336, 1985). Despite the fact that this contrasts with the principle according to which tho physical proportions of artificial tears should be as similar as possible to those of natural tears, Holly et al. specifically attribute the greater acceptance of dextran-based artificial tears by patients to the said greater oncotic pressure.
Now it has been surprisingly found that glycogen polysaccharides provide an ophthalmic solution of low viscosity and low oncotic pressure and exert a pleasing refreshing, lubricating and humectant effect on the cornea even in the absence of benzylalkonium chloride (Table I).
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide the use of a glycogen polysaccharide, as an active ingredient, substantially free of nitrogen when determined by the Kjeldahl method, for the manufacture of ophthalmic sterile aqueous solution useful as an artificial tear.
Preferably the glycogen polysaccharide Is prepared according to patent EP-B-0 654 048.
It has also been found that, in addition to being characterized by a long residence time In the eye, aqueous solutions of glycogen polysaccharides can be filtered to 0.2 microns, and can thus provide sterile solutions up to a concentration of 12% (w/v). In addition to this, these solutions have a low viscosity and a low oncotic pressure.
Typically the quantity of glycogen polysaccharide in the ophthalmic solution according to this invention is of from 0.1 to 12% (w/v).
Preferably it is of from 1 to 6% (w/v). Even more preferably it is of from 2 to 4% (w/v).
Typically the ophthalmic solution according to this invention has a viscosity of between 1 and 9 cP. Preferably it has a viscosity between 2 and 7 cP. Even more preferably, it has a viscosity between 2 and 6 cP.
Typically, the ophthalmic solution according to this Invention has an oncotic pressure of less than 5 mmHg. Preferably it has an oncotic pressure of less than 3 mmHg.
The ophthalmic solution according to this Invention may also contain other conventional ingredients such as: antioxidants, buffers, compounds to render the solution isotonic with tear fluid, stabilising agents, colouring agents and the like.
Typical examples of antioxidants are cysteine, ascorbic acid and taurine. The latter is also particularly preferred on account of its anti-free radical properties.
The quantity of antioxidant in the ophthalmic solution according to this invention will vary widely according to the preselected composition. In the specific case of taurine, the quantity is preferably of from 0.1 to 0.6% (w/v) and, even more preferably, from 0.2 to 0.4% (w/v).
Typical examples of buffers are borate, bicarbonate, acetate and phosphate buffers, and their quantities will be selected so as to regulate the pH of the ophthalmic solution according to this invention between 5 and 8. Preferably the buffer will be a phosphate buffer and the pH of the ophthalmic solution according to the invention will be adjusted between 6.5 and 7.5.
Typical examples of compounds suitable for ensuring that the ophthalmic solution according to this invention is isotonic with natural tear fluid are glycerine, sodium chloride and mannitol.
The quantities of these in the ophthalmic solution according to this invention will vary widely according to the preselected composition. In the particular case of mannitol, the quantity is preferably of from 0.5 to 3% (w/v). Even more preferably it is of from 1.5% to 2% (w/v).
The composition according to this invention may also contain one or more preservatives selected from the group comprising benzylalkonium chloride, thimerosal, methyl parabenes, ethyl parabenes, propyl parabenes and butyl parabenes.
The glycogen polysaccharide used in the examples below was extracted from Mytilus edulis or Mytilus gallus provincialis using the method described in EP-B-0 654 048 and had the following characteristics:
C: 44.44%
N: absent(1)
reducing sugars(2): absent
[xcex1]D20: 198xc2x11.0 (c=1, water)
mean surface tension(3):
3% aqueous solution at 25xc2x0 C.: 66.29 mN/m
6% aqueous solution at 25xc2x0 C.: 61.04 mN/m
3% aqueous solution at 37xc2x0 C.: 59.19 mN/m
6% aqueous solution at 7xc2x0 C.: 58.20 mN/m
contact angle with glass(4) at ambient temperature (the comparison test with water yielded a result of 42xc2x0):
3% aqueous solution: 32xc2x0
6% aqueous solution: 18xc2x0.
Notes:
(1) determined by the Kjeldahl method,
(2) determined in accordance with F. D. Snell and Snell, xe2x80x9cColorimetric Method of Analysisxe2x80x9d N.Y., 1954, Vol. III, pag. 204,
(3)determined using a Lauda tensiometer,
(4)determined using a contact angle measuring device of the Face Contact Angle Meter, Kyowa Kaimenkagaki Co. Ltd., Nordtest type.

Aziende Chimiche Riunite Angelini Francesco A.C.R.A.F. S.p.A.


Methods, computing systems and computer program products implement embodiments of the present invention that include associating a token with a computing device, defining preferences for the computing device, and conveying, by the computing device, the token and the preferences to an event processing system. Upon the event processing system, an event message from a computing system via a one-way firewall and matching the computing device preferences to the event message, the event processing system can convey the token and the event message to a push notification system. In some embodiments, upon the push notification service receiving the token and the event message, the mobile device can be identified based on the token, and the event message can be conveyed to the computing device. The event messages may include a severity level, and the preferences may include a severity threshold and a message detail level.

Devices such as storage devices, cable video routers and switches that communicate via a private network (also known as a restricted network) are typically continually monitored in order to prevent attacks such as denial-of-service (DOS) attacks and to prevent exposure of critical and/or confidential data. While private networks typically do not have an inbound transport layer, they may have an outbound transport layer configured to convey device status and event notifications, thereby enabling the devices can be monitored by an external monitoring device.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.

Push notifications of system events in a restricted network

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


The techniques described herein may provide techniques for precise and fully-automatic on-site software failure diagnosis that overcomes issues of existing systems and general challenges of in-production software failure diagnosis. Embodiments of the present systems and methods may provide a tool capable of automatically pinpointing a fault propagation chain of program failures, with explicit symptoms. The combination of binary analysis, in-situ/identical replay, and debugging registers may be used together to simulate the debugging procedures of a programmer automatically. Overhead, privacy, transparency, convenience, and completeness challenges of in-production failure analysis are improved, making it suitable for deployment uses.

The present invention relates to precise and fully-automatic on-site software failure diagnosis that overcomes issues of existing systems and general challenges of in-production software failure diagnosis.
In-production software failure diagnosis remains a challenging task even after decades of research. Failure diagnosis, with the ultimate goal of identifying statements and sequences of memory accesses leading to a failure, may consume substantial amounts of overall development costs and developers' time. It can be extremely challenging to diagnose in-production software failures for multiple reasons. For example, some failures are not always reproducible. Normal users of in-production software (such as MICROSOFT OFFICE®) are typically not experts, and may not have the ability or willingness to perform failure diagnosis, especially when existing tools require either nontrivial manual effort or expertise to operate. Programmers generally cannot access the in-production environment, due to business or privacy concerns.
As a result of these challenges, current state-of-practice systems mainly focus on post-mortem analysis of crash dumps collected from users. Such systems may pinpoint call stacks or even root causes of partial sequential errors by employing offline core dump and binary analysis. However, they share some common issues, since core dumps only include the states at the time of failure, but lack state changes prior to failures. Therefore, they cannot diagnose concurrency failures, due to the lack of interleaved accesses from multiple threads. Further, they cannot diagnose a large portion of sequential failures due to incomplete states and information-destroying instructions. Finally, users may still have privacy concerns with regard to sharing core dumps with software vendors.
To overcome some of these issues, some conventional approaches may record partial execution information to assist offline failure analysis. Likewise, some conventional approaches may record control flow tracing and coarse timing information, relying on modern hardware support. After obtaining the trace data, such approaches may performs inter-procedural static analysis, only on executed code, and employ the timing information to perform partial flow sensitive analysis. However, such conventional approaches still have issues such as requiring multiple successful and failed traces to statistically infer the control flow differences which lead to concurrency failures. Such conventional approaches are not designed to diagnose sequential failures and may not be able to diagnose highly concurrent failures, failures caused by multiple variables, or failures where failing instructions are not inside the bug pattern, such as software aborts/assertions, and nonstop failures.
Other conventional approaches may employ record-and replay (RnR) systems to replay failures offline in an in-house setting. However, there are multiple issues with such systems, for example: offline replay also requires the same runtime environment, which may not be accessible due to privacy reasons, such as private inputs or all related third-party libraries. Many existing record-and-replay systems may impose prohibitively high performance overhead.
Accordingly, a need arises for techniques that provide precise and fully-automatic on-site software failure diagnosis that overcomes issues of existing systems and general challenges of in-production software failure diagnosis.

Watcher: precise and fully-automatic on-site failure diagnosis

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


This application discloses a method of treating or preventing atrial arrhythmias which utilizes compounds which are blockers of the ultra-rapidly-activating delayed rectifier K.sup.+ current (I.sub.Kur) of the human atrium in a use-dependent and/or rate dependent manner, and which provide the selective block preferentially at fast heart rates so that the effect is realized or maximized when required.

This application discloses a method of treating or preventing atrial arrhythmias which utilizes compounds which are blockers of the ultra-rapidly-activating delayed rectifier K.sup.+ current (I.sub.Kur) of the human atrium in a use-dependent and/or rate-dependent manner, and which preferentially block at fast heart rates so that the effect is realized or maximized when required.
Atrial flutter and/or atrial fibrillation (AF) are the most commonly sustained cardiac arrhythmias in clinical practice and are likely to increase in prevalence with the aging of the population. Currently, AF affects more than 1 million Americans annually, represents over 5% of all admissions for cardiovascular diseases and causes more than 80,000 strokes each year in the United States. While AF is rarely a lethal arrhythmia, it is responsible for substantial morbidity and can lead to complications such as the development of congestive heart failure or thromboembolism. Currently available Class I and Class III antiarrhythmic drugs reduce the rate of recurrence of AF, but are of limited use because of a variety of potentially adverse effects including ventricular proarrhythmia. Because current therapy is inadequate and fraught with side effects, there is a clear need to develop new therapeutic approaches.
Although various antiarrythmic agents are now available on the market, those having both satisfactory efficacy and a high margin of safety have not been obtained. For example, antiarrhythmic agents of Class I, according to the classification scheme of Vaughan-Williams ("Classification of antiarrhythmic drugs", Cardiac Arrhythmias, edited by: E. Sandoe, E. Flensted-Jensen, K. Olesen; Sweden, Astra, Sodertalje, pp 449-472, 1981) which cause a selective inhibition of the maximum velocity of the upstroke of the action potential (V.sub.max) are inadequate for preventing ventricular fibrillation. In addition, they have problems regarding safety, namely, they cause a depression of myocardial contractility and have a tendency to induce arrhythmias due to an inhibition of impulse conduction. .beta.-adrenergenic receptor blockers and calcium channel (I.sub.Ca) antagonists which belong to Class II and IV, respectively, have a defect in that their effects are either limited to a certain type of arrhythmia or are contraindicated because of their cardiac depressant properties in certain patients with cardiovascular disease. Their safety, however, is higher than that of the antiarrhythmic agents of Class I.
Antiarrhythmic agents of Class III are drugs that cause a selective prolongation of the action potential duration (APD) without a significant depression of the maximum upstroke velocity (V.sub.max). Available drugs in this class are limited in number. Examples such as sotalol and amiodarone have been shown to possess interesting Class III properties (Singh B. N., Vaughan Williams E. M., "A third class of anti-arrhythmic action: effects on atrial and ventricular intracellular potentials and other pharmacological actions on cardiac muscle of MJ 1999 and AH 3747", Br. J. Pharmacol 1970; 39:675-689, and Singh B. N., Vaughan Williams E. M., "The effect of amiodarone, a new anti-anginal drug, on cardiac muscle", Br. J. Pharmacol 1970; 39:657-667), but these are not selective Class III agents. Sotalol also possesses Class II (.beta.-adrenergic blocking) effects which may cause cardiac depression and is contraindicated in certain susceptible patients. Amiodarone also is not a selective Class III antiarrhythmic agent because it possesses multiple electrophysiological actions and is severely limited by side effects (Nademanee, K., "The Amiodarone Odessey", J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 1992; 20:1063-1065.) Drugs of this class are expected to be effective in preventing ventricular fibrillation. Selective Class III agents, by definition, are not considered to cause myocardial depression or an induction of arrhythmias due to inhibition of conduction of the action potential as seen with Class I antiarrhythmic agents.
Class III agents increase myocardial refractoriness via a prolongation of cardiac action potential duration (APD). Theoretically, prolongation of the cardiac action potential can be achieved by enhancing inward currents (i.e. Na.sup.+ or Ca.sup.2+ currents; hereinafter I.sub.Na and I.sub.Ca, respectively) or by reducing outward repolarizing potassium K.sup.+ currents. The delayed rectifier (I.sub.K) K.sup.+ current is the main outward current involved in the overall repolarization process during the action potential plateau, whereas the transient outward (I.sub.to) and inward rectifier (I.sub.K1) K.sup.+ currents are responsible for the rapid initial and terminal phases of repolarization, respectively. Cellular electrophysiologic studies have demonstrated that I.sub.K consists of two pharmacologically and kinetically distinct K.sup.+ current subtypes, I.sub.Kr (rapidly activating and deactivating) and I.sub.Ks (slowly activating and deactivating). (Sanguinetti and Jurkiewicz, "Two components of cardiac delayed rectifier K+ current. Differential sensitivity to block by Class III antiarrhythmic agents", J Gen Physiol 1990, 96:195-215).
Class III antiarrhythmic agents currently in development, including d-sotalol, dofetilide (UK-68,798), almokalant (H234/09), E-4031 and methanesulfonamide--N--[1'-6-cyano-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-2-naphthalenyl)-3,4- dihydro-4-hydroxyspiro[2H-1-benzopyran-2,4'-piperidin]-6yl], (+)-, monochloride (MK-499) predominantly, if not exclusively, block I.sub.Kr. Although, amiodarone is a blocker of I.sub.Ks (Balser J. R. Bennett, P. B., Hondeghem, L. M. and Roden, D. M. "Suppression of time-dependent outward current in guinea pig ventricular myocytes: Actions of quinidine and amiodarone", Circ. Res. 1991, 69:519-529), it also blocks I.sub.Na and I.sub.Ca, effects thyroid function, is as a nonspecific adrenergic blocker, and acts as an inhibitor of the enzyme phospholipase (Nademanee, K. "The Amiodarone Odessey". J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 1992; 20:1063-1065). Therefore, its method of treating arrhythmia is uncertain.
Reentrant excitation (reentry) has been shown to be a prominent mechanism underlying supraventricular arrhythmias in man. Reentrant excitation requires a critical balance between slow conduction velocity and sufficiently brief refractory periods to allow for the initiation and maintenance of multiple reentry circuits to coexist simultaneously and sustain AF. Increasing myocardial refractoriness by prolonging APD, prevents and/or terminates reentrant arrhythmias. Most selective, Class III antiarrhythmic agents currently in development, such as d-sotalol and dofetilide predominantly, if not exclusively, block I.sub.Kr, the rapidly activating component of I.sub.K found both in atrium and ventricle in man.
Since these I.sub.Kr blockers increase APD and refractoriness both in atria and ventricle without affecting conduction per se, theoretically they represent potential useful agents for the treatment of arrhythmias like AF. These agents have a liability in that they have an enhanced risk of proarrhythmia at slow heart rates. For example, torsades de pointes, a specific type of polymorphic ventricular tachycardia which is commonly associated with excessive prolongation of the electrocardigraphic QT interval, hence termed "acquired long QT syndrome", has been observed when these compounds are utilized (Roden, D. M. "Current Status of Class III Antiarrhythmic Drug Therapy", Am J. Cardiol, 1993; 72:44B-49B). This exaggerated effect at slow heart rates has been termed "reverse frequency-dependence" and is in contrast to frequency-independent or frequency-dependent actions. (Hondeghem, L. M., "Development of Class III Antiarrhythmic Agents", J. Cardiovasc. Cardiol. 20 (Suppl. 2):S17-S22).
The slowly activating component of the delayed rectifier (I.sub.Ks) potentially overcomes some of the limitations of I.sub.Kr blockers associated with ventricular arrhythmias. Because of its slow activation kinetics however, the role of I.sub.Ks in atrial repolarization may be limited due to the relatively short APD of the atrium. Consequently, although I.sub.Ks blockers may provide distinct advantage in the case of ventricular arrhythmias, their ability to affect supra-ventricular tachyarrhythmias (SVT) is considered to be minimal.
Another major defect or limitation of most currently available Class III antiarrhythmic agents is that their effect increases or becomes more manifest at or during bradycardia or slow heart rates, and this contributes to their potential for proarrhythmia. On the other hand, during tachycardia or the conditions for which these agents or drugs are intended and most needed, they lose most of their effect. This loss or diminishment of effect at fast heart rates has been termed "reverse use-dependence" (Hondeghem and Snyders, "Class III antiarrhythmic agents have a lot of potential but a long way to go: Reduced effectiveness and dangers of reverse use dependence", Circulation (1990),81:686-690; Sadanaga et al ., "Clinical evaluation of the use-dependent QRS prolongation and the reverse use-dependent QT prolongation of class III antiarrhythmic agents and their value in predicting efficacy" Amer Heart Journal (1993)126: 114-121), or "reverse rate-dependence" (Bretano, "Rate dependence of class III actions in the heart", Fundam Clin Pharmacol (1993) 7:51-59; Jurkiewicz and Sanguinetti, "Rate-dependent prolongation of cardiac action potentials by a methanesulfonanilide class III antiarrhythmic agent: Specific block of rapidly activating delayed rectifier K+current by dofetilide", Circ Res (1993) 72:75-83). Thus, an agent that has a use-dependent or rate-dependent profile, opposite that possessed by most current class III antiarrhythmic agents, should provide not only improved safety but also enhanced efficacy.
In intact human atrial myocytes, an ultra-rapidly activating delayed rectifier K.sup.+ current, (I.sub.Kur), which is also known as the sustained outward current, I.sub.sus or I.sub.so, has been identified. This current has properties and kinetics identical to those expressed by the human K.sup.+ channel clone (hKv1.5, HK2) when isolated from the human heart and stably expressed in human (HEK-293) cell lines. (Wang et al., "Sustained depolarization-induced outward current in human atrial myocytes. Evidence for a novel delayed rectifier K+ current similar to Kv1.5 cloned channel currents", Circ. Res. 1993; 73:1061-1076; Fedida et al., "Identity of a novel delayed rectifier current from human heart with a cloned K+ channel current", Circ. Res. 1993, 73:210-216; Snyders et al., "A rapidly activating and slowly inactivating potassium channel cloned from human heart. Functional analysis after stable mammalian cell culture expression", J. Gen. Physiol. 1993,101:513-543) and originally cloned from rat brain (Swanson et al., "Cloning and Expression of cDNA and genomic clones encoding three delayed rectifier potassium channels in rat brain", Neuron 1990, 4:929-939).
The ultra-rapidly activating delayed rectifier K.sup.+ current (I.sub.Kur) is believed to represent the native counterpart to a cloned potassium channel designated Kv1.5 and, while present in human atrium, it appears to be absent in human ventricle. Furthermore, because of its rapidity of activation and limited slow inactivation, I.sub.Kur is believed to contribute significantly to repolarization in human atrium. Consequently, a specific blocker of I.sub.Kur, that is a compound which blocks I.sub.Kur but has little or no effect on the other K.sup.+ channels of the heart, would overcome the short-comings and disadvantages of other currently used or developed agents. By retarding repolarization and prolonging refractoriness selectively in the human atrium without causing the delays in ventricular repolarization, a selective I.sub.Kur blocker would not produce arrhythmogenic after depolarizations and acquired long QT syndrome observed during treatment with current Class III drugs.
The method of treatment of atrial arrhythmia presented herein provides for greater safety and efficacy as well preferentially providing treatment at fast heart rates when treatment of this type is most desired through "use-dependent" and/or "rate-dependent" block of I.sub.Kur.

Methods of treating or preventing cardiac arrhythmia


A magnetic slide lock assembly includes interconnecting male and female members and utilizes the attractive force of a magnet to interconnect the male and female members. The male member of the magnetic slide lock assembly can include a protruding member or housing with a magnet positioned therein. The protruding member includes an opening so as to expose a portion of the magnet. The female member can include a plate or plates which are slidable so as to come into engagement or out of engagement with the magnet. The magnetic slide lock assembly provides for a strong closure between the male and female members so as to resist a disengagement of the male and female members when a strong force is exerted on the lock assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic slide lock assembly for various types of bags such as handbags, briefcases and backpacks, and for various types of boxes, belts and other types of fasteners used for keeping door-type structures either open or closed.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Fastening devices which utilize the combination of interconnecting male and female members and the attractive force of a magnet are advantageous in that they are easy to use and the female member can be easily attracted to and detached from the male member. However, conventional fastening devices have drawbacks in that they do not provide for a sufficiently positive closure between the male and female members and thus, when a force or an impact stronger than the attraction force of the permanent magnet is exerted on either the male or female members, they become easily disengaged.
Additionally, it is difficult to mass-produce conventional fastening devices due to the fact that they tend to have a complicated structure and include a large number of component parts.


A screen sharing session between a participating computer and a presenting computer can be established. A copy of a graphical user interface screen from the presenting computer can be presented within a display on the participating computer. A selection of the sub-portion of the copy of the graphical user interface screen from the participating computer can be received. Boundaries of the sub-portion can be determined and can be transmitted from the participating computer to the presenting computer. Responsive to receiving the boundaries, the remotely located computer can define the sub-portion of the graphical user interface screen of the presenting computer. The defined sub-portion of the graphical user interface screen can be conveyed over a network from the presenting computer to the participating computer without conveying data for other portions of the graphical user interface screen.

The present invention relates to the field of collaborative computing.
Web conferencing has become a staple of enterprise collaboration permitting exchange of ideas and resources over geographically distant locations. Web conferencing technologies often include capabilities that permit real-time collaboration and remote log-in functionality. For example, desktop sharing can allow remote access and remote collaboration on a person's computer by a remote participant. Traditional web conferencing often can include a participant, such as a presenter, coordinating the conference. During conferences, a presenter often can be required to determine what content is to be transmitted and presented to other participants. Participants of a conference can receive selected content and can have no control over what content is being transmitted to their display devices. Further, when a participant views previously recorded presentations from a remote location, the participant can have no control over what content of the presentation is being transmitted to their display devices. That is, for cases in which multiple participants can access a web conference, each participant can have the same information transmitted to their display devices.
Several drawbacks of this approach arbitrarily limit participant control of received and presented content. In many cases, only certain portions of the presentation are relevant to a particular participant. That is, relevant portions of content within a presentation can differ from one participant to another participant. Consequently, each participant may be forced to view content that is relevant and content which can be irrelevant. This drawback can quickly become prevalent when a participant utilizes a display device that has a smaller screen. For example, smaller display devices often shrink the shared content to adequately present the content within the screen. Consequently, small display devices can make it difficult for a user to focus on the relevant shared content of the presentations and ignore the irrelevant content.
These drawbacks can exist even when the shared content is part of a single application. For example, many applications, for example some Integrated Development Environments (IDEs), include multiple windows presenting different information. Frequently, during a presentation, the relevant portion for a participant can be one window (e.g., editor window), but, for another participant, the relevant portion is another window of the same application (e.g., outline view). The result can be a confusing experience for one or more participants attempting to focus on relevant content.

Permitting participant configurable view selection within a screen sharing session


A handheld weaving tool is provided, the tool including a housing having a first end opposite a second end and a sidewall extending therebetween defining an interior volume. The second end comprises at least one aperture therethrough. A needle is disposed within the housing and can selectively move between an extended position and a retracted position, wherein an extended position, the needle extends through the aperture, and wherein a retracted position, the needle is disposed entirely within the housing. An opening is disposed in the first end, wherein the opening is dimensioned to receive a thread therethrough, such that the thread is operably connected to the needle. A motor is disposed within the housing and can reciprocally move the needle between the extended position and the retracted position. A control is disposed on the housing and activates the motor when actuated.

The present invention relates to weaving tools. More particularly, the present invention pertains to motor operated weaving tools configured to sew weaves into a user's hair.
Many individuals utilize hair weaves to style their hair in specific ways, or to fill in otherwise thinning hair. However, placing a hair weave is often a difficult and time-consuming process. Typically, the hair must first be tightly braided into cornrows or the like, which then serve as an anchor for receiving a thread or weft to attach the hair weave or extension. Additionally, wig caps are utilized to further provide an anchor. Often, it can be difficult to simultaneously hold the extension to be attached to the individual's hair as well as the needle used to sew the extension to the individual's hair. Furthermore, personally attaching an extension or hair weave to yourself is quite difficult due to the inability to see the top of the head. In order to address these issues, many individuals rely on professionals to attach extensions and weaves, which can become very expensive very quickly. Therefore, a device that allows a user to easily sew an extension or hair weave to their hair is desired.
In light of the devices disclosed in the known art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the known art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing weaving tools. In this regard, the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.


A system evaluates a first data cleansing application and a second data cleansing application. The system includes a test data generator, an application execution module, and a results reporting module. The test data generator creates a dirty set of sample data from a clean set of data. The application execution module cleanses the dirty set of sample data. The application execution module utilizes the first data cleansing application to cleanse the dirty set of sample data and create a first cleansed output. The application execution module further utilizes the second data cleansing application to cleanse the dirty set of sample data and create a second cleansed output. The results reporting module evaluates the first and second cleansed output. The results reporting module produces an output of scores and statistics for each of the first and second data cleansing applications.

In today's information age, data is the lifeblood of any company, large or small; federal, commercial, or industrial. Data is gathered from a variety of different sources in various formats, or conventions. Examples of data sources may be: customer mailing lists, call-center records, sales databases, etc. Each record from these data sources contains different pieces of information (in different formats) about the same entities (customers in the example case). Each record from these sources is either stored separately or integrated together to form a single repository (i.e., a data warehouse or a data mart). Storing this data and/or integrating it into a single source, such as a data warehouse, increases opportunities to use the burgeoning number of data-dependent tools and applications in such areas as data mining, decision support systems, enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), etc.
The old adage "garbage in, garbage out" is directly applicable to this environment. The quality of the analysis performed by these tools suffers dramatically if the data analyzed contains redundant values, incorrect values, or inconsistent values. This "dirty" data may be the result of a number of different factors including, but certainly not limited to, the following: spelling errors (phonetic and typographical), missing data, formatting problems (incorrect field), inconsistent-field values (both sensible and non-sensible), out of range values, synonyms, and/or abbreviations (as illustrated in FIG. 1). Because of these errors, multiple database records may inadvertently be created in a single data source relating to the same entity or records may be created which don't seem to relate to any entity. These problems are aggravated when the data from multiple database systems is merged, as in building data warehouses and/or data marts. Properly combining records from different formats becomes an additional issue here. Before the data can be intelligently and efficiently used, the dirty data needs to be put into "good form" by cleansing it and removing these mistakes.
Thus, data cleansing necessarily involves the identifying of similarities between fields in different records. The simplest approach for determining which records have "similar" values for a particular field would be to define only identical values to be "similar". If two records have the same value for the field, they would be considered to have similar values. Otherwise, they would not. This approach is very prone to "noise," or errors present in the data causing differences between records describing the same object (i.e., causes records to have different values for the field).
Usually, the cleansing application output is evaluated by a human expert tracing through the result from the execution of the application on a given sample data set (where the correct answer is known). This interactivity is infeasible for all but the smallest record sets.
Many methods for evaluating the correctness of the application results solve this by only considering the number of records left in the cleansed output. Applications leaving a smaller number of records in the result are generally considered better, the idea being that these applications detected a higher number of duplicate records and eliminated them. The weakness of this measurement is that all discarded records are treated equally, whether they are actually duplicates (thrown out correctly) or were unique records (thrown out incorrectly). Additionally, measuring final record size alone fails to account for duplicate records being incorrectly left in the cleansed result.
This measurement rewards an application that aggressively merges records together (or has a low threshold for two records to be considered duplicates) and removes a large number of records. Duplicates incorrectly left increase the size of the final record set, while unique records incorrectly thrown out decrease the size. Thus, an application that makes the later type of error more frequently would be considered higher quality. Depending on the user application for which the data is being cleansed, incorrectly throwing out unique records may be much worse than leaving duplicate records in the final result.
Consider the example of a customer mailing list. A customer being represented by several records means that customer receives multiple copies of a catalog, which may be annoying. Completely removing all reference to the customer means that customer receives nothing, and that business could be completely lost.
Further, conventional measurements of cleansing applications totally separate correctness measurements from resource usage measurements (e.g., space used, execution time). Constraints on resources mean users usually are willing to make a tradeoff between quality and resources used. For example, a user with a deadline may choose to accept a result with more duplicates if the solution is arrived at quickly. There is no way to express this tradeoff if correctness and resource usage measurements are kept separate.

Framework for evaluating data cleansing applications


In order to cool a room, a cooling element fitted in the ceiling region is cooled to below the freezing point, preferably to about -40.degree. C., during the cooling phases so that condensate forming thereon freezes immediately. During regeneration phases when the room is not in use, the cooling element is defrosted and the melted condensate is caught in a condensate tray beneath the cooling element and drained via a discharge. The great temperature difference between the room to be cooled and the cooling element also makes it possible to obtain a strong cooling effect with a small cooling element, especially by indirect radiation exchange between the room and the cooling element via an intermediate ceiling. In addition, the air in the room is dehumidified since water vapor is deposited on and bonded to the cooling element in the form of ice.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for cooling a room by radiant heat exchange and to an apparatus for carrying out the method.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known (see for example H. Sokolean: "Kuhldeckentechnologie zur Erreichung des bestmoglichen Raumkomforts", [Cooling-ceiling technology for achieving the best possible interior conditions], Architektur und Technik August 1992, p. 49-53, B+L Verlags AG, Schlieren (Switzerland)), to cool rooms by means of cooling elements which are preferably arranged in the ceiling area and through which usually there flows a heat transfer medium cooled in a central refrigerating unit. In this case, the cooling takes place by convective heat exchange of the cooling element with the air in the room and in particular by direct radiation exchange of the same with the objects located in the room.
The cooling capacity of such cooling elements is limited by the fact that their surface temperature must not drop below the dew point, since otherwise condensate forms during the cooling phases, which usually coincide with the times during which the room is in use. Although it has been proposed (WO-A-91/13 294) to cool below the dew point and to drain the condensate produced away by means of condensate channels or trays, it must be assumed that the formation of condensate during use of the climatically conditioned room is always problematical and undesired.
Also known (from DE-A-28 02 550) is a device for drying and cooling air in which the air is sucked by means of a fan over a cooling element which is temporarily cooled below the freezing point and which is freed of deposited frost by heating during short regeneration phases. However, such devices are not suitable for use in a room to be climatically conditioned and would therefore require air to be transported by forced convection, which would have to cause undesired draughts.
Since the dew point at the usually prevailing atmospheric moisture levels is around 12.degree. C. to 15.degree. C., if the formation of condensate is to be avoided in the case of a conventional cooling element arranged in the room to be cooled, the difference between the permissible temperature of the said element and the desired room temperature of about 22.degree. C. is very small and the cooling capacity which can be achieved is correspondingly modest. As a result, very large cooled surfaces are required, which entails comparatively high costs and has the effect of restricting interior design possibilities.


A thread forming tap includes a partial thread. The partial thread is provided, in the axis direction view, with a protrusion formed so as to protrude in the radial direction and a clearance section formed so as to have a smaller diameter than the protrusion, and as a result of the foregoing, if a thread forming tap rotates in a state where the inner circumferential surface of a pilot hole and the partial thread come into contact, the protrusion of the partial thread can be caused to engage with the inner circumferential surface of the pilot hole. Due to this configuration, rubbing in a state where the partial thread is pressed against the inner circumferential surface of the pilot hole can be suppressed, and as a result, chipping of the partial thread can be prevented.

Thread forming taps have a thread formed at the front end of a chamfer portion which is known as an incomplete thread (partially-cut, not-fully-formed thread having no flank on the front end side of the chamfer portion) (e.g., Patent Literature 1). The incomplete thread is conventionally beveled along the circumference direction about the axis of the thread forming taps to remove their crests.

Thread forming tap and manufacturing method for thread forming tap


The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer implemented methods for providing selection and assessment of software components. One process includes operations for identifying a software component for assessment. Dependencies associated with the software component are analyzed, wherein analyzing dependencies includes identifying at least one relevant perspective associated with the software component, identifying a scope associated with the at least one relevant perspective, and determining whether the software component is associated with at least one related infrastructure component based on the scope or at least one other software component that the software component depends on based on the scope. The software component and each of the at least one related infrastructure component or the at least one other software component are assessed against a set of criteria.

Software products may be composed of smaller components, partitioned according to their functionalities. In some instances, software components may be marketed, priced, sold, and delivered separately. For example, the software component may define an application programming interface (API) that provides access to a particular function of the software product. Different software components may be developed and distributed by different parties. For example, one company may manage overall development of a particular software product but include software components developed by third parties in the software product to perform specific functions. Incorporating third party software into the lifecycle of a software product, however, may lead to risks or complications with respect to licensing, support, delivery, production, and other factors. In some instances, third party software may be associated with a complicated network of libraries interlinked through various dependencies.

Selection and assessment of software components


An opposed wiping type wiper unit for use with one of right-hand and left-hand specifications has a crank arm that rotates when driven by a motor, an intermediate link connected to right-hand and left-hand wiper shafts through driving rods, and a connecting rod that connects the crank arm and the intermediate link. The length of the connecting rod and the connecting position thereof to the intermediate link are set so that the actual angular acceleration change of the intermediate link is substantially symmetrical. The angular velocity changes of right-hand and left-hand wiper arms are made asymmetrical on the basis of the length of the driving rods and the connecting positions thereof to the intermediate link. Only the lengths of the driving rods and their connecting positions to the intermediate link need to be varied. Thus, the opposed wiping type wiper unit can easily be designed in accordance with both right-hand and left-hand specifications, and permits the use of as many parts common to the specifications as possible, thereby decreasing the cost.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an opposed wiping type wiper unit for wiping a window of an automobile or the like.
2. Description of Related Art
An opposed wiping type wiper unit generally comprises a crank arm that rotates when driven by a motor, an intermediate link pivotally supported by an intermediate link fulcrum, and a connecting rod interposed between the crank arm and the intermediate link so as to convert the rotation of the crank arm into reciprocating oscillation of the intermediate link. In addition, the upper and lower ends of the intermediate link are respectively connected to driving levers of right-hand and left-hand wiper shafts through driving rods so as to cause opposed wiping operations of right-hand and left-hand wiper arms. Further, the angular velocity changes of the right-hand and left-hand wiper arms are set to be asymmetrical so that the wiper blades of the right-hand and left-hand wiper arms are superposed at a lower reversal position. Namely, in the vicinity of the lower reversal position, the angular velocity of the upper wiper arm (on the driver side) is set to be higher, and the angular velocity of the lower wiper arm (on the passenger side) is set to be lower so that the right-hand and left-hand wiper blades are superposed without interference therebetween.
Previously, when the angular velocity changes of the right-hand and left-hand wiper arms were set to be asymmetrical, however, all factors of angular velocity changes, such as the length of the connecting rod, the connecting position of the connecting rod to the intermediate link, the length of the driving rods, the connecting positions of the driving rods to the intermediate link, etc. were variably set. For example, all of these dimensions had to be changed when the vehicle has the driver position on the left-hand side instead of on the right-hand side. This not only complicates setting but also causes the need to design wiper units according to different setting specifications for different vehicle types and driver positions (i.e., right-hand and left-hand specifications). As a result, the parts to be used are changed in accordance with the specifications, and the number of part types is significantly increased, thereby increasing the cost.
As shown in FIG. 11, when a crank arm 3 and a connecting rod 5 are on a line at both the lower and upper reversal positions, and when both reversal positions A and B are set (uniform distribution setting) to be on this line, the intermediate position C of the crank arm 3 in the forward wiping motion of the wiper and the intermediate position C' in the backward wiping motion are not at symmetrical opposite positions at 180", but are slightly shifted from the symmetrical positions (at a calculated angle of 167.29') from the geometrical viewpoint of conversion from rotation into oscillation as shown in FIG. 11. For the same reason, the oscillation angle of the driving lever 7 at a position before the reversal (upper reversal) position where the crank arm 3 rotates for 200 in the forward motion is slightly different (a calculated value of 0.91.degree.) from the oscillation angle in the backward motion.
Actual changes in the angular acceleration are described below with reference to FIG. 9 (an embodiment of the present invention employing uniform distribution setting for comparison). The changes in the operating angle show a sine wave with a maximum at the upper reversal position, and the changes in the angular velocity also show a sine wave form that is point-symmetrical about the upper reversal position. On the other hand, the changes in the angular acceleration in the forward and backward wiping motions of the wipers are not symmetrical for the above reason and due to the stress of the pushing and drawing motion of the connecting rod on the driving lever. The angular acceleration becomes maximum immediately before the upper reversal position and lower reversal position, and the absolute values of both maximum angular accelerations are different.
The velocities of the forward and backward wiping movements of the wipers are thus different from each other. Particularly, in an opposed wiping type wiper unit in which right and left wiper arms are superposed at the center, setting is complicated for the above reasons, and it is difficult to calculate an ideal wiping pattern and produce e wiper unit.
In summary, the setting of a conventional opposed wiping type wiper unit must be strictly balanced in order for the right and left side wiper arms to move without interfering each other when they reach the housing position. In the uniform distribution setting shown in FIG. 9, the maximum angular acceleration changes are properly set to be 0.6 rad/s.sup.2 slightly before the housing position, i.e., 360.degree.. If the same motor is used, i.e., a rotating direction is in the same direction, for both a right and left hand specification car, a 180.degree. phase difference must be implemented because the moving direction of the wiper arms for the right hand specification is opposite to that of the left hand specification. Namely if a wiper unit is used for the reverse hand specification, the housing position of the wiper arms corresponds to 180.degree. of FIG. 9 of which minimum angular acceleration changes are -0.9 rad/s.sup.2. An absolute value difference of 0.3 rad/s.sup.2 is created, which causes an imbalance such that the right and left hand wiper blades interfere each other.
Thus, theoretically, with the uniform distribution setting, the same wiper motor cannot be used commonly for both the right hand specification and the left hand specification because all components, including the wiper motor, must be produced reflecting the symmetrical relationship based upon 0.degree. in FIG. 9 in accordance with the difference between right and left hand specifications. Therefore, components for the right hand specification are symmetrically different from components for the left hand specification, however, the same dimensional setting is applied to both specifications. On the other hand, if a motor with the same rotating direction is used for both specifications, e.g., as is common in actual production, the size of the components of the motor is set to be different for the right hand specification as opposed to the left hand specification.


A random access sorter has a plurality of trays in a vertical stack into which are deposited sheets of printed material from an office printer, facsimile machine or other source of printed sheets. The sorter has a sheet transport and gates at the respective trays to deflect sheets from the transport in a selected tray. Each tray is in the form of a drawer normally locked in a sheet receiving position. A gate closing device closes the selected gate to a sheet deflecting position from a normal position permitting the sheet to pass by the trays. The gate closing actuator device is also an actuator for selectively unlocking the drawers which are normally locked.

Office printers and facsimile machines have evolved which are used in a relatively free or open office environment. The output from such office machines may be generated at various remote locations and may be designated for a number of different recipients. Frequently, there is a need for confidentiality of the material received in one or more of the trays, but, typically, the material in the receivers or sorters for the output of such office machines is deposited in un-sorted or, if sorted or separated as between different documents, in clear view of the entire office staff and anyone has access to any document so deposited. Particularly, this is a security problem when the documents are received during non-working hours when the printer or facsimile may be generating output over night, say, from networked computers or facsimile senders anywhere in the world.
The security of documents is especially useful with sorters which are useful as random access sorters or mailboxes, such as the typical sorters employing deflectors, including moving nips, or gates to deposit sheets in a selected tray, as shown for exmaples, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,235,435 and 4,691,914 issued to Lawrence.


A process identifies multiple server roles and stores the server roles in a knowledge base. For each of the multiple server roles, the process identifies at least one service used by the server role, at least one communication port used by the server role, and any web-related requirements of the server role. This identified information regarding each of the server roles is stored in the knowledge base.

Different types of servers are used to perform a variety of tasks in, for example, a network environment. Example servers include file servers, print servers and web servers. A file server is a computing device and a storage device that stores files. Users on a network can store files to the file server and retrieve files from the file server. A print server is a computing device that manages one or more printers coupled to the print server or coupled to a common network. A web server is a computing device coupled to a network (such as the Internet) that delivers (i.e., serves up) web pages. A web server has an IP address and, in some cases, a domain name.
Servers are often dedicated such that they do not perform other tasks outside their server tasks. Certain servers may be capable of performing multiple tasks or functioning as multiple servers simultaneously (such as a file server and a print server).
Initially, a server needs to be configured to perform the various functions desired by a network administrator or other operator. Configuration of the server may also define certain operating characteristics, such as what types of users can access the server, how the server handles various types of requests, and what types of data should be encrypted by the server.
In existing systems, network administrators or other operators are responsible for configuring servers. Often, this configuration requires a significant amount of understanding and low-level control of the various operating characteristics. These manual tasks are time-consuming and may be redundant if the network administrator is configuring multiple servers that perform similar functions. In these situations, the "quality" of the server configuration is dependent on the knowledge and skill of the network administrator. If the network administrator is inexperienced at configuring servers, the server may not be configured in the best possible manner. Improper or inefficient server configuration may cause problems, such as poor server performance or inadequate server security.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques for configuring one or more servers.

Method and apparatus for configuring a server using a knowledge base that defines multiple server roles


A pipe for transporting automobile fluids includes a smooth inner tube (1) based on a fluorinated thermoplastic material, a corrugated outer tube (2) in contact with the inner tube via the inside peaks (3) of its corrugations, and made of a polyamide-based thermoplastic material, and elements for connecting the outer and inner tubes together.

Amongst the pipes used in a motor vehicle, there are smooth pipes of large diameter presenting bends and which are intended, for example, to form the fuel tank filler pipe. Such pipes are made by blow-molding. Unfortunately, that method of manufacture is relatively expensive. Attempts have been made to make such pipes by extrusion followed by hot-forming, since that method of manufacture is less expensive and also makes it possible to obtain pipes that are lighter than those obtained by blow-molding. However, that method has been found to be difficult because extruded pipes tend to flatten while they are being shaped.
That type of problem is to be found in general manner in all smooth pipes made of plastics material that are shaped in such a manner as to have bends so that their shape matches the environment in which they are to be installed. More particularly, such structures are not suitable for diameters in excess of 25 millimeters (mm) since they are difficult to shape by thermoforming: a smooth pipe of large diameter tends to kink as soon as too small a radius of curvature is imparted thereto.
Attempts have been made to replace such smooth pipes with corrugated pipes which are easier to shape. Nevertheless, such pipes lead to problems of fluids foaming, in particular of fuel foaming, problems of noise, and problems of head loss.
Furthermore, another drawback of the pipes presently in use lies in the fact that it is difficult to obtain permeability to automobile fluids that is low enough to enable them to perform their function effectively. This drawback is particularly harmful in corrugated pipes which present a large surface area in contact with the fluid.
To obviate that drawback, is it known to use multilayer pipes, but they too are relatively expensive.

Pipe for transporting automobile fluids, comprising a smooth inner tube and an annellated outer tube