The problem is to regenerate the purification ability of an exhaust gas purification device more reliably or efficiently in an exhaust gas purification system that combines a plurality of branch passages branch off from an exhaust gas passage and exhaust gas purification devices. When the purification ability of an exhaust gas purification device is regenerated, in the branch passage where the exhaust gas purification device is provided whose purification ability is to be regenerated, the opening angle of an exhaust gas flow volume control valve is set to the minimum opening angle that can reliably transport a reducing agent that is added from a reducing agent addition section. While the opening angle is maintained, the reducing agent is added. After the addition of the reducing agent is complete, the opening angle of an exhaust gas flow volume control valve is closed completely.

The exhaust gas of an internal combustion engine contains harmful substances such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and the like. It is known that an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine is provided with a NOx catalyst to remove NOx from the exhaust gas in order to reduce emissions of these harmful substances. With this technology, for example, when a NOx storage-reduction catalyst is provided, the purification ability drops if the amount of stored NOx increases, so a reducing agent is supplied to the NOx storage-reduction catalyst, and the NOx stored in the catalyst is reduced and discharged. (Hereinafter, this process is called "NOx reduction processing".) Sulfur oxides (SOx) in the exhaust gas are also stored in the NOx catalyst, which results in SOx poisoning that reduces the purification ability of the catalyst. To eliminate the SOx poisoning, sometimes the bed temperature of the NOx catalyst is increased and a reducing agent is added. (Hereinafter, this process is called "SOx regeneration processing".)
It is also known that when a reducing agent is supplied to an exhaust gas purification device, such as a NOx catalyst or the like, and the purification ability is regenerated, as described above, it is desirable to reduce the flow volume of the exhaust gas that is introduced into the exhaust gas purification device, so as to ensure sufficient time for diffusion and reaction of the supplied reducing agent within the exhaust gas purification device.
For this purpose, technologies have been proposed, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2003-106142 and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2003-74328, whereby a plurality of branch passages are provided in an exhaust gas purification system, and an exhaust gas purification device is provided in each branch passage. (Hereinafter, the expression "exhaust gas purification system" is used to refer to one or more exhaust gas purification devices and an associated control system.) With these technologies, the flow volume of the exhaust gas that is introduced into any one of the exhaust gas purification devices is decreased to a prescribed volume by means of a valve that varies the cross-sectional area of a flow passage, and fuel is supplied as a reducing agent to an exhaust gas purification device for which the flow volume of introduced exhaust gas has been reduced. This allows the supplied fuel to be used efficiently to regenerate the purification ability of the exhaust gas purification device. It also limits the effect on the operating performance of the internal combustion engine. A related technology is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2004-52603. With this technology, when NOx reduction processing is carried out for the NOx catalyst, a switching valve is changed from a forward flow setting to a reverse flow setting or vice versa. By this method, the volume of exhaust gas within the NOx catalyst is reduced by changing a valve setting. The reducing agent is supplied after a prescribed amount of time has elapsed from the time the valve switching signal was generated.
However, with the technology described above, when the flow volume of the exhaust gas in the exhaust gas purification device was reduced at a constant speed, for example, there was a risk that the reducing agent would not arrive at the exhaust gas purification device with the timing at which the reducing agent should be added. There was also a risk that the reducing agent would pass through the exhaust gas purification device and escape. As a result, it was sometimes difficult to supply the reducing agent to the entire exhaust gas purification device reliably and to regenerate the purification ability efficiently.
The present invention provides a technology that more reliably or more efficiently regenerates the purification ability of an exhaust gas purification device in an exhaust gas purification system that combines a plurality of branch passages that branch off from an exhaust gas passage and an exhaust gas purification device that is provided in each branch passage.

Exhaust gas purification system for internal combustion engine and method for regenerating purification ability of exhaust gas purification device


A mail system is implemented with secure stamps that are coded to identify the person who purchases the stamps. The system also defines a relative security risk for any such person and handles mail submitted by that person according to the defined risk. This system facilitates the identification of possibly hazardous mail and the persons who send such mail through the system.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a secure mail system that minimizes the time and resources required to detect and treat toxic mail, and helps identify the terrorists who send such mail.
2. Description of Related Art
The United States is undergoing terrorist attacks on its infrastructure and institutions. One such attack involves anonymous mailing of harmful anthrax spores in envelopes addressed to members of the media and Congress. This bioterrorism is particularly insidious because it makes use of a postal system that has been trusted to deliver the nation's mail for generations.
Postal workers who handle this toxic mail have been contaminated and recipients of such mail have been infected, with deadly consequences. The Postmaster General has reported that there is no way known to ensure safe processing of mail in the United States. Also, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies have been unable to identify the persons who send toxic items in the mail. There is little evidence to support a search for such terrorists, because the open mail system of the United States can be used with relative anonymity.
It has been suggested that this present threat of bioterrorism may be addressed by either steam heating or irradiating each of the millions of envelopes and packages that pass through the system, thereby destroying any hazardous biological material.
While machines are available to provide such decontamination, they are very expensive and it may take considerable time to modify them for operation in handling mail. Given the huge volume of mail in the United States, it is doubtful that all such mail could be efficiently and reliably decontaminated without requiring substantial delays in delivery. Moreover, the decontamination process could destroy the contents of packages that are not harmful. Bio-decontamination also does not eliminate the threat of terrorism from explosive devices or hazardous chemicals sent through the mail. Moreover, the proposed decontamination processes will not assist in the identification and apprehension of the people who are responsible for this bioterrorism.
In attempting to deal with the terrorist threat, the Post Office has instructed the public not to open suspicious mail. For example, users of the postal system have been admonished not to open mail that is heavily taped, bears excess postage, or is addressed from a person whom the recipient does not know. Unfortunately, terrorists are also privy to these instructions and will no doubt modify their behavior to avoid the described characteristics of suspicious mail.
Under these circumstances, it is imperative that the United States and other countries with similar problems employ an improved mail processing system that not only discourages the mailing of hazardous substances but also assists law enforcement in identifying terrorists who engage in such activity and those who support them.
It is desirable to provide such an improved mail processing system that reliably identifies and isolates or treats only the relatively small volume of mail that has a high security risk. It is also desirable to implement such a system without requiring burdensome and expensive changes to the infrastructure of the postal system and unreasonable delays in the delivery of mail.

Mail system using personalized stamps for enhanced security in handling mail


A method is provided in the illustrative embodiments. A failure is detected in a first computing node serving an application in a cluster. A subset of actions is selected from a set of actions, the set of actions configured to transfer the serving of the application from the first computing node to a second computing node in the cluster. A waiting period is set for the first computing node. The first computing node is allowed to continue serving the application during the waiting period. During the waiting period, concurrently with the first computing node serving the application, the subset of actions is performed at the second computing node. Responsive to receiving a signal of activity from the first computing node during the waiting period, the concurrent operation of the second computing node is aborted.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a method for managing a data processing environment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for tolerating failures using concurrency in a cluster.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data processing systems can be divided into logical partitions (LPARs). Such data processing systems are also known as logically partitioned data processing systems. A logically partition is also known simply as a "partition." Each partition operates as a separate data processing system independent of the other partitions. Generally, a partition management firmware component connects the various partitions and provides the network connectivity among them. A Hypervisor is an example of such partition management firmware.
Workload partition is a technology that allows separating users and applications by employing software techniques instead of forming separate hardware partitions. In other words, a data processing system can be so configured as to allow one or more virtual partitions to operate within the data processing system's operating system. Such a virtual partition is called a workload partition, or WPAR.
A high availability (HA) system is a data processing system configured to ensure a threshold level of operational continuity during a given period. Availability refers to the ability of the users and applications to access the data processing system, whether to submit new work, update or alter existing work, or collect the results of previous work. If a user or application cannot access the system, the system is said to be unavailable. Generally, the term downtime is used to refer to periods when a system is unavailable. HA systems are often employed in business organizations to deliver business critical applications and services.
An HA system can be configured using a one or more physical or logical data processing systems. For example, one HA system may include several standalone physical data processing systems configured to operate in unison. As another example, several logical data processing systems, such as LPARs, may be configured to operate together to form a HA system.
As another example, a combination of one or more WPARs, LPARs, and physical data processing systems may also form a part of a HA system. Such a combination is called a cluster. HA systems or clusters therein may further include other components, systems, or devices. For example, a cluster may include an array of data storage devices, such as a storage area network (SAN). As another example, a HA system or a cluster therein may also include a networking device, such as a switch.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Tolerating failures using concurrency in a cluster


A method for correcting an actuator characteristic of a clutch actuator for a friction clutch of a vehicle transmission after the commissioning of the vehicle. The actuator characteristic relates a first desired variable, such as a desired clutch pressure, to a second desired variable, such as an desired actuator current. The method includes approaching a quasi-steady-state operating point of the friction clutch. In addition, a deviation is detected between the first desired variable and an actual variable of the friction clutch. Also, a correction function is set up for the actuator characteristic according to the deviation.

The present invention relates to a method for correcting an actuator characteristic of a clutch actuator for a friction clutch of a vehicle transmission.
Modern vehicle transmissions, such as automated manual transmissions, dual clutch transmissions and automatic torque converter transmissions, have friction clutches actuated in an automated manner. For example, dual clutch transmissions have two friction clutches, which are each assigned to a transmission section and can be actuated in an overlapping manner in order to be able to carry out a gear change without interrupting the traction. In this case, the friction clutches are actuated by respective clutch actuators, which can be designed as electric or hydraulic actuators.
The friction clutch is controlled, for example, via the clutch pressure. As a rule, however, the clutch actuator is activated via another variable, such as, for example, the electric current which is required for activating an electronic pressure control valve or an electromotive or electromagnetic actuator.
In the production of such vehicle transmissions, a vehicle-specific teach-in is carried out at the end, and this teach-in relates a first desired variable, such as a desired clutch pressure, to a second desired variable, such as a desired actuator current. In the process, the entire operating range is scanned step by step and then completed iteratively.
During operation, changes in the clutch actuator, for example changes in a hydraulic circuit for actuating the friction clutch, are estimated. However, this estimation is often inaccurate.

Adaptive method for controlling characteristics of a friction clutch actuator

GETRAG GETRIEBE- UND ZAHNRADFABRIK HERMANN HAGENMEYER GMBH & CIE KG


The present invention is directed to an absorbent article having adjustable absorbent assemblies. The absorbent article includes a chassis having a urine collection zone disposed in at least a portion of the front waist region and a feces collection zone disposed in at least a portion of the rear waist region. The chassis includes a first absorbent assembly, at least a portion of which is located in the urine collection zone. The chassis also includes a second absorbent assembly, at least a portion of which is located in the feces collection zone. The chassis further comprises an adjustment member adjustably joining said first absorbent assembly and said second absorbent assembly such that said first absorbent assembly and said second absorbent assembly are moveable relative to each other in at least a direction parallel to said longitudinal centerline.

The major function of absorbent articles such as disposable diapers and adult incontinence briefs, is to absorb and contain body exudates. Such articles are also intended to prevent body exudates from soiling, wetting, or otherwise contaminating clothing or other articles, such as bedding, that come in contact with the wearer. Disposable diapers, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,003 issued to Kenneth Barclay Buell on Jan. 14, 1975, generally have a topsheet, a backsheet, and an absorbent core. However, despite the effectiveness of such structures, body exudates often leak or are stored in the diaper in such a way that the exudates may irritate the skin of the wearer. Although it is generally known that urine and feces (BM) have significantly different physical properties and forms, current diapers do not have distinct zones configured for the collection and processing of urine and feces (BM).
While attempts have been made to separate the wastes by incorporating various fecal barriers into diapers, these attempts suffer because a single, nonadjustable absorbent assembly is used to collect both urine and BM. Since humans vary considerably in terms of size and dimensions even within a given weight range, (for example, the distance between the urethra and anus), it has been found to be advantageous to provide urine and BM collection zones with separate absorbent assemblies which are adjustable relative to each other.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a diaper having an adjustable chassis.
It is yet a further object of the present invention is to provide a diaper having separate urine and feces (BM) collection zones.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a diaper having separate urine and feces collection zones having separate absorbent assemblies wherein the relative spacing between the absorbent assemblies is adjustable.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a diaper having separate urine and BM collection zones having separate absorbent assemblies wherein the relative position of the absorbent assemblies relative to the body of the wearer is adjustable.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment member joined to the separate absorbent assemblies which is elastically adjustable.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment member joined to the separate absorbent assemblies which is inelastically adjustable.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an adjustment member joined to the separate absorbent assemblies which is reversibly inelastically adjustable.

Diaper having adjustable absorbent assemblies


An orthopedic appliance such as a body brace or a prosthesis includes a substantially rigid structure adapted to be placed against a body portion. The orthopedic appliance of the invention includes a moisture management system for facilitating the removal of moisture that would otherwise accumulate between the affected body portion and the substantially rigid structure. The moisture management system includes a plurality of ventilation holes through the substantially rigid structure, and means for facilitating the transfer of moisture directly out through the ventilation holes to the atmosphere. The facilitating means can include a flexible support means disposed between the substantially rigid body portion, the support means either being porous, or the support means having a plurality of holes therethrough in alignment with the holes in the substantially rigid structure. The orthopedic device may also include a fabric liner disposed against the body portion, the fabric liner serving to wick away moisture directly through the vent holes, and also serving to provide sufficient compression to prevent window edema.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to orthopedic appliances, and, in particular, to orthopedic appliances having improved moisture management.
(2) Description of Related Art
Orthopedic appliances such as orthoses and prostheses are well known in the art. Prostheses include replacements for missing or amputated limbs. Orthoses include body braces used in the treatment of injured body parts, such as, for example, ankle braces and walking braces. For instance, the intent of an ankle brace is to provide support for an injured ankle while the ankle is healing and to stabilize the ankle against inversion and eversion without restricting plantoflexion and dorsiflexion.
Such ankle braces have utilized a pair of substantially rigid shell members, usually of a stiff, durable, molded plastic material generally shaped to conform to the lateral and medial sides of the lower extremity, respectively. In some cases, a base member, having a pair of hinge portions with distal ends, is formed from a common piece of flexible woven nylon material that has bonded thereon a layer of fastener material such as hook and loop material. The distal ends of the hinge portions are inserted in slots proximal to the lower ends of the shell members and are fastened to an area of mating hook and loop material attached to the inside surfaces of the shell members.
In order to protect the ankle from direct contact with the substantially rigid shell members, it is well known to provide a flexible support member between the ankle and the shell members. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,628,945 and 4,280,489, assigned to the assignee herein and incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
As set forth in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,450, also assigned to the common assignee and incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, the recovery rate for ankle function following an inversion sprain may be related to the effectiveness of edema control at the injury site. Numerous authors have reported the use of a U-shaped felt or foam rubber device beneath an elastic wrap or adhesive tape for applying focal compression to the soft tissues adjacent to the fibular malleolus. Focal compression involves pressure application to surface concavities of a body part while adjacent proximal convex bony prominences are left uncompressed.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,955,565 discloses an orthopedic apparatus comprising two nesting half shell members that surround a limb. The half-shell members are each provided with columns of apertures hat serve to reduce the weight of the apparatus, to allow longitudinal flexing of the apparatus, and to allow ventilation to the atmosphere. Each shell is provided with one or more air cells, which can include an outer covering or sleeve of absorptive material. These sleeves of absorptive material serve to transfer or wick away moisture that accumulates between the user's skin and the inner surface of the air cell that contacts the user, by directing the moisture from the front of the air cell around the edge of the air cell to the back of the air cell, and then out through the apertures.
In ankle braces, in order to ventilate the affected portion of the ankle, holes have been formed in the rigid outer shell members. Such holes can allow heat that accumulates beneath the shell to vent to the atmosphere, but may not be sufficient to remove moisture that accumulates beneath the shell. Such accumulated moisture can result in unacceptable skin irritation for the user. Another potential problem with such vent holes is that the affected portion of the ankle can be forced outwardly in the areas of the holes, in what is known as "window edema." This, of course, is an undesirable condition that should not exist in the control and treatment of any body injuries, including ankle injuries.
Thus, it is one object of the invention to provide orthopedic appliances, including orthoses and prostheses, that facilitate the removal of moisture that would otherwise accumulate between the body brace and a user's skin, and preferably that do not promote "window edema" in the user.

Orthopedic appliance with moisture management system


In an auto-choke system for a general-purpose engine, it is determined whether the operator has operated a combination switch to enable ignition in the engine and based on the result of this determination, the operation of a choke motor (actuator) is controlled to regulate the opening of the choke valve, specifically the operation of the choke motor is controlled to fully open the choke valve when ignition is found to be disabled. As a result, jetting of fuel is minimized and flooding prevented when the recoil starter is manipulated with ignition disabled. In addition, the operation of the choke motor is controlled to fully close the choke valve when ignition is found to be enabled, thereby enhancing the starting performance of the engine.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automatic choke control system for a general-purpose or industrial engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, automatic choke control systems for improving engine starting performance by utilizing an actuator to open and close a choke valve have come to be applied to general-purpose internal combustion engines used as prime movers in generators, agricultural machines and various other equipment, as taught, for example, by the automatic choke control system set forth in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2004-232529.
General-purpose engines are commonly equipped with recoil starters. When starting an engine with a recoil starter, the operator manipulates the recoil starter after first activating the ignition system by turning on an associated ignition switch. Most general-purpose engines use a carburetor to supply fuel. If the recoil starter is manipulated when the choke valve is closed, the carburetor jets a large amount of fuel even if the ignition switch has still not been turned on and ignition is disabled. In this case, the ignition plug is wetted by the fuel, i.e., flooding occurs, and firing becomes hard to achieve after the ignition switch is turned on.

Automatic choke control system for general-purpose engine


A sun tracking method is disclosed. The method can track the position of sun continuously, without the need to install an optical sensor, to calculate a sun-tracking solar orbit function, and to calibrate the mechanical structure periodically. The method comprises the steps outlined below. (A) A motor of an attitude control device is driven for changing attitude of a photovoltaic cell device to sense and record a short-circuit current by a short-circuit current measuring device directly or in cooperation with the switching behavior of a switch power unit of a maximum power tracking control device, or to sense and to record an output power by a power measuring device. (B) A maximum value of the short-circuit current or the output power is calculated. (C) The motor-driving device is driven for modulating the photovoltaic cell device to an attitude corresponding to the maximum value of the short-circuit current or the output power.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a sun tracking method and a sun tracking system. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a sun tracking method and a sun tracking system that is able to continuously track the position of the sun without additional light sensors, calculation of the solar orbit function, regular calibration of the mechanical structure of the sun tracking system regularly or precise initial installation of the sun tracking system.
2. Description of Related Art
Concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) system is a conventional photovoltaic device that uses optical devices to concentrate a large area of sunlight onto the photovoltaic cells. The method of concentrating the sunlight reduces the area of the photovoltaic cells and makes the CPV system cost-effective. However, it makes the CPV system become sensitive to the incident angle of the sunlight as well. The further reduction of the area of the photovoltaic cells adapted in the highly concentrated photovoltaic system (with a concentration ratio higher than 500) makes the offset of the tracking angle that is tolerable by the light-concentrating module reduced at the same time. Accordingly, the precision of the tracking system becomes more and more important. In order to concentrate the sunlight precisely on the photovoltaic cells, a tracking device is necessary to be adapted to the light-concentrating module to modulate the axis of the light-concentrating module toward the sun.
In the CPV system, the tracking device performs the tracking mechanism in cooperation with the sensing device. The sensing device makes use of a plurality of light sensors disposed in different places and the pillars that o generate shadows to make the light incident to the light sensors uneven. The uneven incident light results in different voltage outputs generated by the light sensors. The direction of the incident light that has the highest intensity can hence be determined by the voltage values of the voltage outputs. There are various kinds of sensors such as optical conductors, photodiodes, phototransistors and photovoltaic cells. Each of the light sensors generates a corresponding short-circuit current according to the intensity of the incident sunlight, where the short-circuit current becomes larger when the intensity of the sunlight becomes higher. The amount of the short-circuit current is then outputted in a voltage form.
Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a 3-D view of a conventional sun tracking system. The conventional sun tracking system is a CPV system having a photovoltaic cell device 11, an attitude control device 12, a light-sensing device 13 and a micro-control device 14. The micro-control device 14 is coupled to the attitude control device 12 and the light-sensing device 13. The attitude control device 12 has an azimuth angle control unit 121 and an elevation angle control unit 122 to adjust the attitude (including an azimuth angle and an elevation angle) of the photovoltaic cell device 11.
When the photovoltaic cell device 11 is in operation, the light-sensing device 13 keeps sensing the intensity of the light incident thereon. The micro-control device 14 drives a motor driving device to drive a motor in the attitude control device 12 according to the light-sensing result to adjust the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 11 and the light-sensing device 13. However, a time-consuming initial calibration is needed when the light-sensing device is adapted to make the four (or a plurality of) light sensors of the light-sensing device generate the same amount of output voltage/current when the photovoltaic cell device 11 faces directly to the sun.
Moreover, after the conventional sun tracking system operations for a certain time period, the mechanical structure of the system may be damaged, deformed or loosened due to the environmental effect to change the relative position of the photovoltaic cell device 11 and the light-sensing device 13. On the other hand, the light sensors of the light-sensing device 13 deteriorate over time since they are under the sun for a long time. Accordingly, the direction of the incident light having the highest intensity detected by the light-sensing device 13 may not correspond to the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device 11 that can receive the largest amount of sunlight. Comparing to the initial state of the sun tracking system, the efficiency of the conventional sun tracking system degrades more when the operation time is longer.
In order to avoid the above defects, regular calibrations of the mechanical structure are need to make the relative position of photovoltaic cell device 11 and the light-sensing device 13 back to the initial state. However, the regular calibrations make the maintenance cost increase and persecute the maintainer as well.
On the other hand, some conventional sun tracking systems use complex solar orbit function to calculate the position of the sun to adjust the attitude of the photovoltaic cell device. The result of the calculation of the complex solar orbit function is reliable only when the initial position of the sun is extremely precise. If an offset of the initial position is present, the error is generated in the calculation result. Therefore, a precise initial setting of the architecture and the position of the system is unavoidable in such a kind of to conventional sun tracking systems. The installation cost of the conventional sun tracking systems thus increases.
Accordingly, what is needed is a sun tracking method and a sun tracking system that is able to continuously track the position of the sun without additional light sensors, calculation of the solar orbit function, regular calibration of the mechanical structure of the sun tracking system regularly or precise initial installation of the sun tracking system.
Moreover, in order to make the photovoltaic cell device generates the maximum output power, a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) device is installed. The maximum power point tracking (MPPT) device has a voltage-increasing circuit or a voltage-increasing/decreasing circuit. A measurement of the voltage, current or power is performed to generate a feedback signal to control the power transistors of the voltage-increasing circuit or the voltage-increasing/decreasing circuit such that the photovoltaic cell device can always generate the maximum output power after the photovoltaic conversion no matter what the condition of the illumination of the sunlight and the load is. The short-circuit current of the photovoltaic cell or the output power of the photovoltaic cell is also at the maximum value when the photovoltaic cell device faces directly to the sun.

Sun tracking method and sun tracking system


A braking control device for a vehicle executes braking force distribution (BFD) biased to the front wheels, taking into account auxiliary braking control such as braking assist control (BAS) executed when an abrupt or full braking action is performed by the driver. In BFD control a braking force on the rear wheels is held at a holding braking force and a braking force on the front wheels is incremented beyond a braking force requested by a braking action of the driver. After the starting of BFD control, further increase in the braking action is reflected in the braking force of the front wheels. When auxiliary braking control is executed, the holding braking force on the rear wheels and the increment of the braking force on the front wheels are determined based upon a demand of the auxiliary braking action as well as the braking action amount by the driver.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for controlling brakes of a vehicle such as an automobile, and more specifically, to such a device that controls braking force distribution among front and rear wheels in a vehicle.
2. Description of Prior Art
During braking of a vehicle, a rear wheel is liable to lock if its frictional circle shrinks due to a forward shifting of the load of the vehicle. The locking of a rear wheel, prior to locking of a front wheel, induces serious deterioration in vehicle running behavior, such as disturbance in the attitude and/or spinning of the vehicle body. In order to avoid the locking of a rear wheel, braking force distribution (BFD) control has been proposed to keep braking force on rear wheels lower than on the front wheels. In such BFD control, braking pressures applied to rear wheel cylinders in a hydraulic braking system are held, reduced or pulsatively increased, i.e. the increase in braking force generated on the rear wheels is restricted, providing a distribution of braking force biased to the front wheels. Usually, BFD control, often referred to as "Electronic Braking force Distribution Control (EBD control)", is executed by a computerized device operating a plurality of solenoid valves in a hydraulic circuit. Examples of devices executing EBD control are seen in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications (JP) Nos. 5-213169 and 2001-219834.
Under EBD control, a demand from a driver of a vehicle for increasing braking force (e.g. a depression of a brake pedal) is modified to restrict a braking force on the rear wheels, which would cause the reduction of the total braking force. Thus, the driver would feel that the actually generated braking force is incompatible with his braking operation. In order to eliminate this feeling of the incompatibleness while maintaining the braking performance and behavior of a vehicle, JP No. 2001-219834 discloses an EBD control device, in which, after once restricted, braking force on rear wheels is pulsatively increased in response to the increase of a braking action by a driver under a certain running condition. To prevent locking of the rear wheels, however, braking force on the rear wheels cannot be increased limitlessly.
Accordingly, it is preferable that, in BFD control device, total braking force on a vehicle body may be rendered as close to the amount requested by a driver of the vehicle as possible, without inducing the locking of the rear wheels and the instability in the vehicle attitude induced therefrom.
Further, in the above-mentioned device, auxiliary braking control, such as Braking Assist Control (BAC) to be operated simultaneously with BFD or EBD control is not taken into account. Such auxiliary braking control increases a braking pressure beyond the amount requested from a driver of a vehicle so as to assist the driver in keeping her/his vehicle stable, so BFD control should be executed compatibly with any auxiliary braking control without reducing its effect.
Accordingly, a BFD control device may be improved more appropriately in conjunction with auxiliary braking control.

Vehicle braking control device for braking force distribution


The present invention provides a commercially viable process for preparing pazopanib and its pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salts thereof in high yields using novel intermediate. The present invention also provides a process for the purification of pazopanib hydrochloride.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,105,530 disclosed pyrimidineamines and their derivatives thereof. These compounds are antineoplastic agents, and are useful in the treatment of various cancers and renal cell carcinoma. Among them pazopanib hydrochloride, chemically 5-[4-[N-(2,3-Dimethyl-2H-indazol-6-yl)-N-methylamino]pyrimidin-2-ylamino]-2-methylbenzenesulfonamide hydrochloride. Pazopanib hydrochloride is represented by the following structure:

Pazopanib hydrochloride is a potent and selective multi-targeted receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor of VEGFR (Vascular endothelial growth factor receptors)-1, VEGFR-2, VEGFR-3, PDGFR (Platelet-derived growth factor receptors)-α/β, and c-kit that blocks tumor growth and inhibits angiogenesis. It has been approved for renal cell carcinoma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Pazopanib hydrochloride may also be active in ovarian cancer and soft tissue sarcoma. Pazopanib hydrochloride also appears effective in the treatment of non-small cell lung carcinoma. Pazopanib hydrochloride is marketed under the brand name Votrient® by Glaxosmithkline in the form of tablet.
Processes for the preparation of pazopanib hydrochloride and related compounds were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,105,530 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,262,203.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 7,105,530, pazopanib hydrochloride can be prepared by reacting the N-(2-chloropyrimidin-4-yl)-N,2,3-trimethyl-2H-indazol-6-amine with 5-amino-2-methylbenzenesulfonamide in the presence of hydrochloric acid in isopropanol and ether.
U.S. patent application publication no. 2006/0252943 disclosed a process for the preparation of pazopanib hydrochloride. According to this patent, pazopanib hydrochloride can be prepared by reacting the N-(2-chloropyrimidin-4-yl)-N,2,3-trimethyl-2H-indazol-6-amine with 5-amino-2-methylbenzenesulfonamide in the presence of hydrochloric acid in ethanol or methanol or tetrahydrofuran or acetonitrile and dioxane.
We have discovered a novel process for the preparation of pazopanib using novel intermediate. The process of the invention results in higher yields compared with the known process.
We have also discovered a process for the purification of pazopanib hydrochloride.
Thus, one object of the present invention is to provide a novel process for preparing pazopanib and pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salts of pazopanib in high yields using novel intermediate.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a process for the purification of pazopanib hydrochloride.

Process for the preparation of pazopanib using novel intermediate


A micromechanical inertial sensor having at least one seismic mass which may be deflected relative to a substrate, and at least one electrode surface which in terms of circuitry, together with at least portions of the seismic mass forms at least one capacitor having a capacitance which is dependent on the deflection of the seismic mass. At least one additional auxiliary electrode is included which is located outside the region which forms the capacitor and which may be set at a potential that deviates from the potential of the seismic mass.

Linear accelerations are often detected with the assistance of Z sensors which are based on the use of seismic masses which are deflectably fixed and asymmetrically positioned with respect to a torsion spring (See European Patent No. 0773443 A1).
In Z sensors, the seismic mass is usually composed of a rocker structure exposed by trench etching techniques, referred to below as a rocker, which on account of the asymmetrical mass distribution of the rocker is twisted and deflected about a rotational axis, defined by the torsion spring, during an acceleration in the Z direction. Beneath the rocker which has been exposed by etching are situated electrodes which are formed by a thin conductive layer on the substrate and which together with the seismic mass represent a differential capacitor. Mechanical deflections of the rocker result in changes in capacitance of the individual capacitor regions, and may be detected as differential signals and further processed by an evaluation circuit.
For acceleration sensors it is common to check the mobility of the seismic mass and the functionality of the sensor, using a test signal, and optionally to perform calibration. Application of a test voltage to the capacitor electrodes generates an electrostatic force which results in a deflection of the seismic mass which is equivalent to the acceleration.
During processing, as the result of the technology used, charges are generated on surfaces exposed by etching. These charges are sometimes localized, and also remain in the region between the seismic mass and parallel electrode surfaces, and thus generate a permanent electrostatic force which results in faulty deflection of the seismic mass, and also results in a sensor signal, even without application of an acceleration. This "zero-point signal," also referred to as offset of the output signal, is usually compensated for in the evaluation circuit.
However, a problem arises when the charge density on relevant surfaces changes. This may be caused, for example, by high temperature, for example in the range above 100° C., or by aging processes. In such cases surface charge drift may result, which is directly associated with offset drift. Permanent monitoring and compensation would be costly and complicated. To reduce the influence of drifting surface charges on the output signal of lateral acceleration sensors, so-called X sensors, a clocked voltage is applied according to an intelligent clocking scheme to the electrodes which form the capacitor (See German Patent Application No. DE 103 50 536 B3).
However, this method requires substantial symmetry of the impinged regions as a basic geometric condition, with the result that Z sensors having an asymmetrical rocker may be used only in the region of the electrodes which are part of the differential capacitor.
However, on account of the considerable leverage it is specifically the outer surface region, which provides the asymmetry of the rocker, which greatly contributes to tipping of the rocker. If the density of the surface charge changes in this surface region, this has a particularly strong effect on the drift of the output signal, i.e., the test signal response.

Micromechanical inertial sensor having reduced sensitivity to the influence of drifting surface charges, and method suited for operation thereof


In various embodiments, a scanner optimizer system may generate a virtual model of a predicted flitch based on a 3D model of a log/cant and a cut solution for the log/cant. The scanner optimizer system may compare a virtual model of an actual flitch to virtual models of predicted flitches by comparing data points at a fixed elevation relative to one or both faces of the models. Based on the comparisons, the scanner optimizer system may identify the source log from which the actual flitch was cut. In addition, the scanner optimizer system may identify the saw used to cut the actual flitch, and/or other relevant information, and use the additional information to monitor and adjust the saws and other equipment. Embodiments of corresponding apparatuses and methods are also described.

Lumber mills process logs in a variety of ways to produce lumber. A common strategy is to cut the logs into several pieces, such as flitches and/or cants, which can then be cut into lumber of the desired dimensions. For example, some mills open flat faces along opposite sides of the log and cut one or more flitches from each side of the resulting cant. The flitches are sent to an edger to be cut into side boards. The remaining portion of the two-sided cant is chipped or cut to yield a smaller four-sided cant, which is sent to a gang saw to be cut into center boards. Some of the other options include cutting at least one flitch from each side, cutting multiple flitches from multiple sides, cutting the entire two-sided cant into flitches, or cutting a flitch from one side of the log before rotating the log 90 degrees and cutting a flitch from the next side.
The flitches are dropped onto a queuing deck to be picked up by an unscrambler, which singulates the flitches. The singulated flitches are fed onto a lugged conveyor and conveyed through a scan zone to an edger infeed. The flitches are positioned on the edger infeed for cutting and conveyed into the edger to be cut into boards. The cant is sent to a gang saw to be cut into additional boards.


A dual core crosspoint system includes a differential signal core for receiving N differential input channels with common mode voltage removed and providing m differential output channels with m output stages associated with the m output channels; and a common mode core for receiving N common mode voltage input channels derived from the N differential input channels and providing m common mode voltage output channels simultaneously with the m differential output channels.

Crosspoints exist on the market which connect a plurality of N inputs to a plurality of m outputs, with each output being connected to a single input at most. Their usefulness arises from the need to connect source signals (video and audio, for example) to multiple loads (video monitors, for example), where the connectivity matrix can be conveniently reprogrammed via a digital interface.
Crosspoints exist which accept single-ended sources to produce single-ended outputs (single-ended-in single-ended-out), as well as crosspoints which accept their inputs from differential sources and produce differential outputs (differential-in differential-out). In the latter case, the differential inputs carry no useful common-mode (CM) information, so that the output common-mode is simply redefined and set equal to an arbitrary reference value.
In some cases the common mode voltages can be used to carry useful information such as control signals for horizontal and vertical control circuits for video information carried by the accompanying differential signal. One solution is to just construct larger crosspoint systems which can handle all of the differential signals and their accompanying common mode voltage so that they arrive simultaneously with the video carried by the differential signal. One shortcoming with that approach is that the voltage headroom is now more constrained by having to accommodate both the common mode voltage range and the differential signal range.


A method and apparatus to ensure proper operation of an air permeable vent on an electronic device by allowing the vent and its surrounding area to be pressure decay leak tested using liquid to create the seal around the air permeable vent. The method may include filling a chamber with a known volume of liquid to cover the vent. Then, a remaining volume of air can be pressurized and monitored to detect a liquid leak either through the vent or through the sealing surface around or between the vent and the substrate of the electronic device. A pressure decay unit may adequately determine a leak rate to determine if the electronic device will pass or fail the required IP rating.

Many electronic devices such as cellular phones, portable batteries, or other electronic devices that include batteries may be required to be waterproof. For example, the overall system may include a seal to prevent water, liquid, or other media from entering the device. This intrusion may cause damage to the electronic device. Different electronic devices may be rated depending on their resistance to ingress of liquid or other material. For instance, an electronic device may be rated depending on the amount of time the device can be submerged in a liquid and not have any ingress of the liquid. These tests may be time consuming and cumbersome in a production environment.

Test fixture and method of liquid leak testing an electronic device


A source terminated serial link can recover from a low power mode by turning on multiple current-mode drivers in a phased sequence where the phased sequence is related to a resonant characteristic of a power supply net.

Links-based systems use point-to-point links to communicate between devices. Each of the point-to-point links can be considered as a single serial link. When devices enter low power modes, serial links can also enter low power modes. When recovering from low power modes, power supply transients may occur, and systems may wait for the transients to end before commencing operation.

Serial link apparatus, method, and system


A wireless transmitter used with an operator system controls movement of a barrier between limit positions can be used in an unsecure, single-button actuation mode, or a secure, multiple button actuation mode. The transmitter includes at least two transmitter switches, and a controller connected to the switches. The controller has a first mode of operation, wherein actuation of a single one of the switches generates a wireless signal receivable by the operator system, and a second mode of operation, wherein actuation of the switches in a predetermined sequence generates the wireless signal.

For convenience purposes, it is well known to provide garage doors which utilize a motor to provide opening and closing movements of the door. Motors may also be coupled with other types of movable barriers such as gates, windows, retractable overhangs and the like. An operator is employed to control the motor and related functions with respect to the door. It is also known to provide safety devices that are connected to the operator for the purpose of detecting an obstruction so that the operator may then take corrective action with the motor to avoid entrapment of the obstruction.
There are three basic types of transmitters that can be used to instruct an operator to initiate a desired action. A portable or remote transmitter is usually kept in the user's vehicle and allows the user to open and close the door from inside the vehicle. The portable transmitter may have several buttons, wherein each button is associated with operation of a different door. A wall station transmitter is usually mounted near an interior door of the garage and allows the user to open and close the garage door as needed. The wall station may include function buttons to allow programming of the operator, delay closing of the door, setting of a pet height and other functions. The other type of transmitter is a keypad, which is typically mounted outside the garage, that requires manual entry of a code prior to sending an open/close signal. These remote devices may also be provided with additional features such as the ability to control multiple doors, lights associated with the doors, and other security features.
In order for a transmitter device to work with an operator to control movement of the garage door, the operator must be programmed to learn the particular serial number code for each transmitter. In the past, radio controls utilized a code setable switch, such as a ten-circuit DIP switch to set the data for both the transmitter and the receiver. Both the transmitter and the receiver's code switch must match for the transmitter to activate the receiver's output. This method did not allow for enough unique codes and was relatively easy for someone to copy the code and gain improper access. Accordingly, this process required the setting of transmitter and receiver codes physically switched to identical settings for operation of the garage door.
Presently, most radio controls for garage doors use either a fixed code format wherein the same data for each transmission is sent, or a rolling-code format, wherein some or all of the data changes for each transmission. A fixed code transmitter, also known as a fixed address or a fixed serial number transmitter, is assigned and factory programmed into a transmitter's non-volatile memory during the manufacturing of the product. A receiver is designed to "learn" a transmitter's code and the transmitter's code is stored in the receiver's non-volatile memory. This increased the number of possible codes (from 1024 or 19,683 to millions) and eliminated the DIP switch. This also prevented the code from being visible, as is the case with the DIP switch transmitter, thus preventing theft of the code.
A rolling code transmitter is similar to a fixed code transmitter, but at least a portion of the address, also known as the code or serial number, is changed with every operation of the transmitter. The transmitter and the corresponding receiving unit use an algorithm to determine what the next code to transmit/receive shall be. Only the proper code will activate the receiver.
The use of the portable or remote transmitter is problematic inasmuch as it provides ready access to a home or business if the remote transmitter falls into the wrong hands. For example, an opportunistic thief may steal just the remote transmitter from an automobile, and knowing where that person lives can, at a time when the home or business owner is absent, use the remote transmitter to enter the site and perform whatever mischief. The only known solution to this problem is to clear all transmitter codes from the operator and then re-learn the transmitters so that different codes activate the operator and move the barrier. This is time consuming and, if not done properly, still may allow the stolen transmitter to be used with the operator. Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a remote transmitter that allows for use in an unsecure, single button actuation mode, or a secure, multiple button actuation mode.

Barrier operator with secure/unsecure transmitter and method of use


There is provided a device for performing an optical function, the device comprising one or more reflectionless potential wells in an array of waveguides; and one or more control solitons injected into the one or more reflectionless potential wells; wherein the one or more potential wells have potential well design parameters comprising a potential well number, and wherein the one or more control solitons have control soliton design parameters comprising a control soliton number and power; and wherein the optical function of the device is set by the potential well design parameters and the control soliton design parameters. There is also provided a method of manufacturing the device.

During the past few decades there has been tremendous increase in demand for performing various optical processing/operations using a single device. Waveguides play an important role in this field. Waveguides have gained importance since they are used for communication in an optical network.
Typically, waveguides are manufactured by a number of ways. One of the most important techniques is using the femto-second laser in which straight waveguides of separation in the order of 5-30 μm and depth of few micro meters are prepared. These waveguides support self-focused beams denoted as discrete solitons, which is an envelope of the field intensities that extends over a minimum of five waveguides. The unique features of the solitons, particularly their dispersionless propagation, have encouraged many previous proposals to use them for the so-called all-optical operations.
One such device that uses solitons to perform the switching operations is a "blocker soliton". The blocker soliton is a high-intensity fixed power soliton that serves as a reflector of incoming signal. This device allows only signals of a certain velocity to pass, while reflecting others. This device however can only be used as switch. Further, the blocker soliton is not confined, which in turn leads to ruining the functionality of the device. The use of waveguides proves to be advantageous when solitons are considered for data transfer in order to confine the solitons for providing clean output and thereby resulting in robust functionality with almost no background radiation.
It is known that when the separation between waveguides is modulated, the associated coupling coefficient, which is proportional to the probability to tunnel from one waveguide to the next one, is also modulated according to an exponential law. For solitons propagating across the waveguides, this modulation is an effective potential. Designing the separations between the waveguides in a certain (pre-calculated) manner results in a special type of potential known as reflectionless potential. Scattering solitons off reflectionless potentials is characterized by clean particle-like scattering with almost no background radiation.
Now-a-days the use of optical fibers has become the new generation for data transfer. Such use of optical fibers has exceeded by orders of magnitude the speed and band width of the electronic means. However, these gains are downgraded by the use of electronic-based data processing at the user's end. Such downgrading resulted in the demand for all-optical data processing in order to be compatible with the high bit-rate optical data transfer. Hence, there arises a need for a practical solution that enables all-optical operations with a simple device made of waveguide arrays.
While all the above is known in the literature as theoretical or experimental facts, there is a need for a highly useful device which can act as a single device for performing multiple electronic operations of devices such as logic gates, diodes, switches and filters. Such a device shall increase the efficiency of an optical communication network in which it may be employed. Further, there is a constant need for improving the processing speed in the communication network and obtaining a clean output.

Device for performing multiple optical operations in communication network


What is described is a light stable, whitish antimicrobial product which is a silver-allantoin complex encapsulated with allantoin. The molar ratio of silver-to-allantoin in the product is between 1:100 and 1:4.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to silver-allantoin complexes, and, more particularly, to a silver-allantoin complex encapsulated with allantoin.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Silver-allantoin complexes are known in the art. For example, a dark gray-to-black silver-allantoin complex having a molar ratio of silver-to-allantoin of 1:1 was described by C. Schaffer in U.S. Pat. No. 2,336,131 (1943). However, the complex was not light stable and so was of little practical use for treating antibacterial infections.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved antimicrobial silver-allantoin product which is light stable and has antimicrobial activity down to 15 ppm of silver.
Another object of the invention is to provide an antimicrobial product which is a silver-allantoin complex encapsulated by allantoin and which is whitish in appearance, light stable and active against both gram-positive and gram-negtive bacteria, molds and yeast.

Light stable antimicrobial product which is a silver-allantoin complex encapsulated with allantoin


The present invention involves a method of delaminating aggregated particles of natural silicate, nanoplatelet, nanofiber, or nanotube structures. The method comprises diffusing a coating agent in a substantially supercritical fluid between the aggregated particles and catastrophically depressurizing the substantially supercritical fluid to form delaminated particles.

The use of plastics in various industries has been steadily increasing due to their light weight and continual improvements to their properties. For example, in the automotive industry, polymer-based materials may comprise a significant portion, e.g., at least 15 percent, of a given vehicle's weight. These materials are used in various automotive components, such as, interior and exterior trim and side panels. As the industry seeks to improve fuel economy, more steel and aluminum parts may be targeted for replacement by polymer-based materials.
For example, improvements in the mechanical properties of polymers are desired in order to meet more stringent performance requirements. Such mechanical properties include stiffness, dimensional stability, modulus, heat deflection temperature, barrier properties, and rust and dent resistance. Improved mechanical properties may reduce manufacturing costs by reducing the part thickness and weight of the manufactured part and the manufacturing time thereof.
There are a number of ways to improve the properties of a polymer, including reinforcement with particulate fillers or glass fibers. It is known that polymers reinforced with nanometer-sized platelets or particles of layered silicates or clay can significantly improve the mechanical properties at much lower loading than conventional fillers. (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,469,073 issued to Manke et al. (2002).) This type of composite is termed a "nanocomposite." More specifically, polymer-silicate nanocomposites are compositions in which nano-sized particles of a layered silicate, e.g., montmorillonite clay, are dispersed into a thermoplastic or a thermoset matrix. The improvement in mechanical properties of nanocomposites is believed to be due to factors such as the increased surface area of the particles.
In its natural state, clay is made up of stacks of individual particles held together by ionic forces. The spacing between the layers is in the order of about 1 nanometer (nm) which is smaller than the radius of gyration of typical polymers. Consequently, there is a large entropic barrier that inhibits the polymer from penetrating this gap and intermixing with the clay. (V. Ginzburg et al., Macromolecules, 200, 33, 1089-1099.) Organically treated clays have been achieved by performing intercalation chemistry to exchange a naturally occurring inorganic cation with a bulky organic cation.
In one process, a number of steps are involved in producing reinforced polymers or polymer nanocomposites. The first step involves a process of conditioning or preparing the clay to make it more compatible with a selected polymer. The conditioning step is performed because the clay is generally hydrophilic and many polymer resins of interest are hydrophobic, thus rendering the two relatively incompatible. A cation exchange is then performed to exchange a naturally occurring inorganic cation with an organic cation. In addition, this process may increase the interlayer spacing between each particle, lessening the attractive forces between them. This allows the clay to be compatible with the polymer for subsequent polymerization or compounding. This preparatory step is known as "cation exchange." Typically, cation exchange is performed with a batch reactor containing an aqueous solution wherein an organic molecule, usually an alkyl ammonium salt, is dissolved into water along with the clay particles. The reactor is then heated. Once ion exchange takes place, the clay particles precipitate out and are then dried.
Depending on the polymer, a monomer may be further intercalated into the clay galleries. The organically modified clay is then ready for melt compounding to combine the clay with the polymer to make a workable material. Both the polymerization step and the melt compounding step involve known processing conditions in which the particles disperse and exfoliate in the polymer.
Recently, near-critical fluids (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,877,005 to Castor et al.) supercritical fluids have been proposed as candidate media for polymerization processes, polymer purification and fractionation, and as environmentally preferable solvents for coating applications and powder formation. (F. C. Kirby, M. A. McHugh, Chem. Rev., 99, 565-602, (1999).) Moreover, supercritical carbon dioxide has been used as a processing aid in the fabrication of composite materials. (T. C. Caskey, A. S. Zerda, A. J. Lesser, ANTEC, 2003, 2250-2254 (2000).) Generally, any gaseous compound becomes supercritical when compressed to a pressure higher than its critical pressure (Pc) above its critical temperature (Tc). One of the unique characteristics which distinguish supercritical fluids from ordinary liquids and gases is that some properties are tunable simply by changing the pressure and temperature. For example, while maintaining liquid characteristic densities constant, supercritical fluids generally experience faster diffusivity and lower viscosity than a liquid.
Supercritical fluids have been used for delaminating layered silicate materials. (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,469,073 issued to Manke et al. (2002) and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2002/0082331 A1 to Mielewski et al. (2002).) For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,469,073, original layered clay structures are swelled or intercaled with supercritical fluid medium to increase the spacing and weakening the bonds between the layers. Upon depressurization, the drastic volume change of the fluid mechanically spreads the layers pushing them apart. The depressurization results in the delaminated structure.
However, there are at least three possible scenarios following the depressurization step. If the layered structure is maintained, the spacing between the layers may increase, may remain the same due to reformation of the weak bonds, or may decrease due to the relaxation and reorganization of organic moieties.
Thus, there is a need to more effectively delaminate particles of silicate, nanoplatelet, nanofiber, or nanotube structures which may be processed with polymers to enhance properties thereof.

Method of delaminating aggregated particles with a coating agent in a substantially supercritical fluid


A pigmented skin care composition including a dermatologically acceptable carrier and at least a first and second interference pigment. The composition according to the invention is useful in improving the appearance of the skin and in particular in reducing the appearance of skin discontinuities.

A variety of products are available to consumers to aid in improving skin appearance, and in particular minimizing the visibility of discontinuities in skin appearance. One way to accomplish this is through the use of compositions including colored pigments. For example, cosmetic foundations (either in powdered or lotion form) contain colored pigments that are intended to mimic the skin's natural color. A problem with foundations of this type is that if such foundations are applied in a localized manner (e.g. only in a selected area of redness) the difference between the foundation color and the surrounding natural skin color may be readily apparent resulting in an irregular skin appearance. Alternatively, if such foundations are applied in a continuous manner over a larger area of skin, to thereby provide a more uniform skin appearance, an artificial "mask-like" appearance may result. It is further noted that in order to effectively conceal skin discontinuities, foundations of the type described above require relatively high pigment contents, which further contributes to the undesirable "mask-like" qualities of such compositions.
Certain colored lotions known in the art are specifically intended to reduce "redness", that is reduce the red appearance of certain skin discontinuities. These redness reduction lotions typically rely upon classic pigments or dyes that appear green (the complementary color of red) to thereby deliver the redness reduction effect. The problem with such redness reduction lotions is that they can impart an unnatural green color to the healthy skin surrounding the skin discontinuity.
Efforts have been made to overcome the shortcomings of the products described above by way of personal care compositions that utilize interference pigments, in lieu of conventional pigments. Interference pigments typically are thin plate-like, colorless, particles including two or more layers. The layers of the interference pigment have different refractive indices, and reflect a color resulting from the constructive or destructive interference of reflections of light from the different layers.
A specific skin care composition including interference pigments is disclosed in US Patent Publication 2007065381A to Elsbrock, et al. Elsbrock discloses a skin care composition that includes a first pigment that reflects a first color and a second pigment that reflects a second complementary color.
The inventors of the present invention have discovered that one drawback of the composition disclosed in Elsbrock et al. is that a formulator making a composition in accordance with the teachings of Elsbrock et al. is limited in the selection of interference pigments that may be employed. Specifically, since the composition of Elsbrock et al. requires the use of a combination of a first and second pigment that reflect complementary colors, a formulator is thus limited in the selection of interference pigments that may be employed. In addition, the inventors of the present invention have discovered that if redness reduction is desired, using a composition of the type disclosed in Elsbrock et al., may require the use of relatively high total pigment concentrations. Finally, the inventors of the present invention have discovered that since the composition of Elsbrock et al. requires the use of a combination of a first and a second pigment that are complementary colors, if the chroma of the composition is to be minimized the first and second pigments must be employed in a 1:1 ratio or substantially similar ratio.
In view of the above, the inventors have recognized that further improvements in skin care compositions including interference pigments are required. More specifically, the inventors of the present invention have recognized the need for compositions that minimize the red appearance of certain skin discontinuities with minimal impact on the appearance of the healthy skin surrounding the skin discontinuity. The inventors of present invention have also recognized the need for skin care compositions including interference pigments that can effectively reduce the red appearance of certain skin discontinuities at low total pigment concentrations. Finally, the inventors of the present invention have recognized the need for skin care compositions including at least a first and second interference pigment that have a relatively low chroma over a wide range of first and second pigment ratios.


According to an embodiment, virtual logical units are each provided with correlative data between a virtual logical unit number and a real logical unit number. In response to an access request specifying a virtual logical unit number from a host, a correlated real logical unit number is obtained by referring to the correlative data, thereby accessing a real logical unit having the obtained real logical unit number. By changing a real logical unit number correlated to a virtual logical unit number, it is possible to access a plurality of real logical units in a time sharing manner through one virtual logical unit number. Accordingly, it is possible to set the number of accessible logical units to be greater than the number of using logical unit numbers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a logical unit number increasing device and a logical unit number increasing method for increasing the number of logical units of a magnetic disk device, an optical recording and reproducing apparatus, a magneto-optical recording and reproducing apparatus, a semiconductor recording and reproducing apparatus, or the like connected to a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) standard for connecting peripheral devices to a computer and so forth, it is possible to allocate a plurality of LUNs (Logical Unit Numbers) to one SCSI ID. On the other hand, there is a limit to the number of SCSI IDs that can be used in one SCSI bus, and there is also a limit to the number of logical unit numbers that can be allocated to one SCSI ID. For example, in the SCSI2 standard, the number of SCSI IDs is 8 at maximum, but is substantially 7 at maximum because one of them is used for a host bus adapter. The number of logical unit numbers that can be allocated to one SCSI ID is 128 at maximum in typical Linux. In this case, assuming that a computer has one SCSI bus and one logical unit is allocated to each logical unit number with respect to each SCSI ID, it is possible to use 7×128=896 logical units at maximum. However, there are those instances where more than 896 logical units are required.
On the other hand, in WINDOWS (registered trademark) one drive letter composed of one alphabet is allocated to each logical unit so that only 26 logical units can be connected to a computer at maximum. Further, in WINDOWS (registered trademark), one drive letter is allocated to each logical unit having one logical unit number with respect to each SCSI ID. For example, if there are 5 logical unit numbers with respect to a certain SCSI ID, only 5 drive letters can be allocated to that SCSI ID.
In order to solve this problem, a plurality of CD-ROM devices are allocated to one drive letter as described in, for example, JP-A-H09-265360.
However, the described technique aims to improve a CD service program, and therefore, although the CD-ROM devices can be connected in a number exceeding a limit, this is not the case with respect to magnetic disk devices that have been widely used as external storage devices.
Further, when many storage devices are simultaneously recognized, there is a possibility of destroying data of an unexpected device by a wrong operation or the like.

Logical unit number increasing device, and logical unit number increasing method


An electronic device, such as a handset for providing telephonic communication, having a semi-translucent finish is provided. The handset generally includes a front cover with a display region, an input region and a back cover. The front cover may be formed of a transparent material, such as plastic and be covered by a semi-translucent vacuum metallized thin film. The handset includes an active mode wherein a display panel is illuminated and is visible through the thin film, and a standby mode wherein the display panel is not illuminated and not visible and, instead, the front cover appears as a continuous surface with a metallic finish. The handset also includes a base unit with an outer area that may change color to indicate the handset is properly positioned within the base unit. The base unit also includes electrical contacts to act as a charging unit.

Many electronic devices today are designed and manufacturing using a variety of parts and colors. In particular, handsets for telephonic communications, such as cell phones, often include several keys or buttons for accessing a variety of menus or features, on the front of the handset as well as the sides. Some handsets now include a qwerty type keypad in addition to a standard alphanumeric keypad.
This multitude of buttons and keys, along with the display panel, often make a handset look complicated and busy. As handsets continue to include additional features and capabilities, they are likely to include more buttons, further complicating the input region. Simplification of handsets will provide a sleeker, more modern handset.

Handset and base unit with semi-translucent finish


A rubber material, in particular for wiper blades of windshield wipers or for automotive tires, is described, containing at least one grade of rubber, at least one filler and processing adjuvants. Of at least one of the grades of rubber present, the rubber material contains a first and a second fraction which differ in viscosity in the unvulcanized state.

The invention relates to a rubber material, in particular for wiper blades on windshield wipers or for automotive tires as well as use thereof according to the preamble of the independent claims.
It is important for windshield wiper blades to be able to adapt as well as possible to the contour of the windshield of a motor vehicle and to remain flexible even at different temperatures. Wiper blades are usually made of elastomer profiles, using mainly rubber materials such as natural rubber or synthetic grades of rubber such as chloroprene rubber or EPDM. In addition, wiper blades made of silicone rubber or polyurethane rubber are also known.
Such a wiper blade is described in DE 196 15 421 A1, for example. This wiper blade is comprised of a base part which allows the wiper blade to be held in a metal frame, and a wiper lip which is connected by a web to the base part and has a lip area on its end facing the glass surface to be wiped. The base part and the web are made of a rubber matrix consisting at least primarily of polychloroprene, whereas the wiper lip has a different material composition. In addition, the wiper blade contains zinc oxide and carbon black as fillers which influence the mechanical properties of the wiper blade and its processability. The wiper blade is preferably produced by a co-extrusion method.

Rubber material and method for production thereof


A two-wheel drive cycle comprises a frame, a front fork assembly mounted on the frame through a pivotal connection to steer the cycle, a front wheel rotating on the fork assembly about a first axis, and a rear wheel rotating on the frame about a second axis. A front sprocket is mounted on the front wheel and centered on the first axis to drive the front wheel, while a rear sprocket is mounted on the rear wheel, is centered on the second axis and driven through the pedals or motor. A chain is meshed with both the front and rear sprockets and guided between these front and rear sprockets through a plurality of gears and pulleys, including a set of gear and pulley engaging the chain and rotatively mounted on the frame close to the pivotal connection. A spring mechanism lengthens and shortens the chain loop as the front fork assembly is turned. In operation, the front wheel is driven through the pedals or motor, the rear sprocket, the chain meshed with both the front and rear sprockets, and the front sprocket.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a two-wheel drive cycle, i.e. a bicycle or motorcycle, comprising a power train capable of driving the front wheel substantially as efficiently as the rear wheel.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art:
A prior art two-wheel drive bicycle is disclosed in International patent application published under number WO 91/12167 (Biannic et al.) on Aug. 22, 1991.
This bicycle comprises a rear wheel driven through the conventional pedals, cranks, chain wheel, chain and sprocket cluster. An additional sprocket is mounted on the rear wheel to drive the front wheel through first and second chains. The first chain is meshed with the additional sprocket of the rear wheel while the second chain is meshed with a sprocket mounted on the front wheel.
To enable easy steering of the front fork assembly, on which the front wheel rotates, the first and second chains are interconnected through a cardan joint mounted on the pivotal connection between the fork assembly and the frame of the bicycle, that is on the head tube of that frame.
The two-wheel drive bicycle of International patent application WO 91/12167 presents the following drawbacks:
the head tube of the frame as well as the fork assembly must be cast and/or machined to receive the cardan joint;
a cardan joint is complex and additional pieces such as bushings, needle bearings, etc. are required upon installation; it is therefore very expensive;
in the cardan joint used in International patent application WO 91/12167, the rotational speeds of the input and output shafts are different during two angular portions of each revolution;
the major disadvantage is that the different pieces of the cardan joint and those necessary to its installation withstand important stresses and therefore produce a lot of frictional losses; these losses obviously require an additional effort from the cyclist, which effort is not used to drive the bicycle; and
all the pieces of the cardan joint requires specialized maintenance as well as frequent lubrication.
The present inventor has constructed a two-wheel drive bicycle using a cardan joint as disclosed in the aforementioned International patent application, and obtained poor results due to the above mentioned drawbacks related to the use of a cardan joint.

1009, Route 202, Godmanchester Huntingdon, R.R. 4)


A floating gate voltage level shift circuit is disclosed for generating a voltage reference which can operate on a low supply voltage Vcc by providing a circuit that enables the floating gate to be set accurately to a positive voltage during a SET operation and subsequently shifted down to a lower voltage for a READ operation. The floating gate voltage level shift circuit comprises a differential amplifier with two floating gates, a first floating gate and a second floating gate where the second floating gate is capacitively coupled to either a READ voltage or a Vshift voltage. The floating gate voltage level shift circuit operates in two primary modes, a SET operation and a READ operation. During the SET operation, the C1p capacitor of the second floating gate is connected to a Vshift voltage, rather than ground, while accurately setting the floating gate a positive voltage. The output of the differential amplifier typically swings a volt or more above and below the voltage of the second floating gate while settling to a desired voltage. During the READ operation, the C1p capacitor of the second floating gate is connected to ground, thereby causing the floating gate to shift down to a lower voltage which enables the voltage reference to work on low supply voltage.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to electronics, and more particularly to a programmable floating gate circuit for generating a voltage reference.
2. Description of Related Art
Programmable analog floating gate circuits have been used since the early 1980's in applications that only require moderate absolute voltage accuracy over time, e.g., an absolute voltage accuracy of 100–200 mV over time. Such devices are conventionally used to provide long-term non-volatile storage of charge on a floating gate. A floating gate is an island of conductive material that is electrically isolated from a substrate but capacitively coupled to the substrate. Typically, a floating gate forms the gate of an MOS (metal-oxide semiconductor) transistor that is used to read the level of charge on the floating gate without causing any leakage of charge therefrom.
Various means are known in the art for introducing charge onto a floating gate and for removing the charge from the floating gate. Once the floating gate has been programmed at a particular charge level, it remains at that level essentially permanently, because the floating gate is surrounded by an insulating material which acts as a barrier to discharging of the floating gate. Charge is typically coupled to the floating gate using hot electron injection or electron tunneling. Charge is typically removed from the floating gate by exposure to radiation (UV light, x-rays), avalanched injection, or Fowler-Nordheim electron tunneling. The use of electrons emitted from a cold conductor was first described in an article entitled Electron Emission in Intense Electric Fields by R. H. Fowler and Dr. L. Nordheim, Royal Soc. Proc., A, Vol. 119 (1928). Use of this phenomenon in electron tunneling through an oxide layer is described in an article entitled Fowler-Nordheim Tunneling into Thermally Grown SiO2 by M. Lenzlinger and E. H. Snow, Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 40, No. 1 (January, 1969), both of which are incorporated herein by reference. Such analog floating gate circuits have been used, for instance, in digital nonvolatile memory devices and in analog nonvolatile circuits including voltage reference, Vcc sense, and power-on reset circuits.
The output voltage, Vo, of a floating gate analog voltage (FGA) reference can typically be set to any level between 0 and about 8V DC. For example, a FGA reference can be set accurately to Vo=100 mV if desired. However, in order for the reference to work properly on a very low supply voltage Vcc, such as 1V, the internal MOS gate voltages need to be less than ˜1V, such that the MOS transistors are enabled to operate in the high gain, low current prethreshold region. Devices that can be constructed using a thick oxide floating gate EEPROM (electrical-erasable programmable read-only memory) process limit how large a negative voltage can be generated on a chip, which makes it difficult to set the voltage on a floating gate negative or close to 0V directly during a set operation using the dual conduction electron tunneling FGA reference set operation, as described in patent application Ser. No. 10/338,189. Consequently, shifting the voltage level of a floating gate down after a set operation can be used to enable the floating gate to be accurately set to a more positive voltage during a set operation, and then shifted down to a lower voltage for read operations with a low supply voltage Vcc.
Floating gate level shifting is a well-known technique for programming and erasing EEPROM memory cells. A direct write EEPROM memory cell uses a coupling capacitor between the bit line and the floating gate as well as the poly2-poly1 capacitance between the word line and the floating gate to couple the floating gate negative after programming the cell. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,752,912. When a direct write EEPROM cell is programmed, the bit line is taken to about 14V, the word line is taken to +20V, the poly1 deselect line is taken to −3V, and the floating gate is set to approximately +8.5V. After programming, the floating gate is capacitively coupled down by about 70% of the 14V on the bit line (−9.8V) and by about 10% of the 20V on the word line (−2V) and coupled up by about 10% of the 7V difference on the deselect line (+0.7), such that the floating gate ends up with a voltage level of about −3.5V. This turns off the floating gate transistor by several volts to assure that no current flows in programmed EEPROM cells during a read operation. Several volts of negative programmed floating gate margin help assure that all of the programmed cells are off even with cell to cell variations and after many write cycles.
Various floating gate level shift circuits have been proposed to allow digital and analog circuits to operate at low Vcc by shifting the equivalent input transistor threshold lower during operation. In one solution, the floating gate level shift circuit has a floating gate with 2 coupling capacitor inputs. The charge level on the floating gate is initially set to 0 using UV exposure. Then, a positive Vbias is applied to the second capacitor input to the floating gate. The positive Vbias raises the voltage on the floating gate transistor close to Vt (threshold voltage), which reduces the DC voltage needed on the first coupling capacitor to turn on the transistor. This effectively "reduces the Vt" of the floating gate transistor as seen by the first coupling capacitor, which allows the circuit to work with lower input and supply voltages.
In another solution, floating gate MOS devices called FGUVMOS devices (floating gate ultraviolet metal oxide semiconductor), the floating gates are set by exposing the circuit to UV light, with ˜Vcc/2 applied to all the signal inputs. Once set in this manner, FGUVMOS devices have low "effective Vt" and can be operated at very low supply voltages. However, FGUVMOS devices require a very long (many minutes) UV exposure time to set each product, which is not practical for manufacturing accurate voltage references and comparators that operate on low Vcc.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a floating gate level shift circuit and method that generates a highly accurate voltage reference which can operate on a low supply voltage.

Floating gate analog voltage level shift circuit and method for producing a voltage reference that operates on a low supply voltage


A system, method, and computer program product uses an application that allows people who have websites including a webform for making inquiries to manage communications between prospective customers and one or more sales agents. When a webform is submitted, it is routed to a special address (e.g., as an email address, an SMS address, or a social media address such as a Facebook address, a LinkedIn address, a Twitter address or the like) and one or more sales agents are called and prompted to call the prospective customer at a callback number.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention in its disclosed embodiments is related generally to customer relationship management (CRM), and more particularly to a system, methods, and computer program products for managing prospective customers or "leads."
2. Statement of the Prior Art
According to the Harvard Business Review, firms that contacted potential customers within an hour of receiving a query were nearly seven times more likely to qualify the lead as those that contacted the customer an hour later—and more than 60 times as likely as companies that waited 24 hours or longer. Despite these findings, 63 percent of companies failed to respond in that golden hour. Twenty-four percent waited more than a day, and 23 percent didn't respond at all.
Various systems, methods, and computer program products for "call tracking" (i.e., the counting and gathering of marketing data on incoming phone calls that have been generated by a website) are known in the prior art. Such systems, methods, and computer program products have typically been designed for the purposes of search engine optimization (SEO), assessing a user's return on investment in a pay-per-click (PPC) environment, lead generation, direct marketing, and others.
Notwithstanding these developments, none of the voice-based marketing automation applications according to the prior art has enabled companies to convert more leads into sales. Web analytics solutions according to the prior art have also not provided a way to track phone calls by how they got to a given website.

System, method, and computer program product for lead management


Different sets of downlink control information (DCI) fields may be configured for DCI that includes an indication to trigger bandwidth part switching at a user equipment (UE). For example, a UE may receive DCI that triggers the UE to switch operation from a first bandwidth part to a second bandwidth part. The UE may also identify a set of transformable DCI fields and a set of non-transformable DCI fields within the DCI. The UE may then determine updated content of the DCI for application to the second bandwidth part based on whether DCI fields are included in the set of transformable or the set of non-transformable fields. In some cases, the UE may identify a null assignment in the received DCI and may switch its operation from the first bandwidth part to the second bandwidth part based on the null assignment.

The following relates generally to wireless communication, and more specifically to downlink control information (DCI) signaling schemes for bandwidth part (BWP) switching.
Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform-spread-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include a number of base stations or network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment (UE).
In some wireless communications systems, wireless devices may operate within different portions of a channel or carrier. For example, a UE may operate in one or more BWPs of a channel used for wireless communications. In such cases, the UE may be capable of switching between different BWPs, for example, to conserve energy by tuning a radio to a smaller BWP (e.g., as compared to other BWPs). As a result, techniques that ensure reduced BWP switching delays and correct interpretation of control information in respective BWPs may be desirable to ensure efficient communications.

Downlink control information signaling schemes for bandwidth part switching


A polyamide resin is produced by polycondensing a polyamide oligomer having a relative viscosity of from 1.1 to 1.3 and a water content of 3% by weight or less by melt-kneading using an intermeshed co-rotation twin screw extruder having at least one or more open vents OV1 and OV2 and at least one or more vacuum vents VV1 and VV2. A pressure-decreasing element Y for increasing the resin filling rate is provided at a position nearer to the supply section side than positions at which the vacuum vents VV1 and VV2 are provided, and an area of 30% or less of the total screw length is a vacuum area having a pressure of 300 Torr or less.

A polyamide has excellent mechanical properties and processability and has relatively strong gas-barrier performance, and is therefore widely used not only for injection-molding materials for automobile parts, electric-electronic parts and others but also for wrapping/packaging materials for foods, drinks, chemicals, electronic parts and others as well as for industrial materials. For example, a polyamide to be obtained through polycondensation of a xylylenediamine and an aliphatic dicarboxylic acid has high strength and elastic modulus and has low permeability for gaseous substances such as oxygen, carbon dioxide gas, odor, flavor and the like, and is therefore widely used as gas-barrier materials in the field of wrapping/packing materials. In addition, a polyamide has resistance and has gas-barrier performance against alcohols, weakly-alkaline chemicals, weakly-acidic chemicals, fuels, various types of organic solvents, industrial gasses and the like, and is therefore also widely used for materials in the field of industrial application.
Various methods for production of polyamide resins are known. For example, there is known a method that includes: obtaining a polyamide through polycondensation of a dicarboxylic acid component and a diamine component; and then increasing the degree of polymerization of the polyamide according to a solid-phase polymerization method using a heating and drying apparatus such as a tumble drier or the like. However, the solid-phase polymerization method is limitative in producing a resin having a high melting point or in increasing the molecular weight of a resin having low crystallinity, and is therefore problematic in that the method could not provide a resin having a high melting point.
On the other hand, also known is a method of obtaining a polyamide resin by melt-kneading a polyamide oligomer that has been obtained through polycondensation of a dicarboxylic acid component and a diamine component using a twin screw extruder for further polycondensation of the resultant oligomer (for example, see Japanese Patent Document JP-A 2012-188557). The advantages of the twin screw extruder are that an oligomer can be melt-kneaded therein within a short period of time and, in addition, a polyamide resin having a high melting point can be produced, and further, many kinds of products in small quantities can be processed owing to the self-cleaning performance thereof. Accordingly, various methods for producing various types of polyamide resins have been investigated using a twin screw extruder.