The method includes: calculating positional and angular magnification distributions of rays reflected by a reference aspheric surface on a light-receiving sensor and on a sensor conjugate surface; measuring a first wavefront of a reference light on the sensor; and calculating a second wavefront of the reference light on the sensor based on a parameter of an optical system. The method includes: moving at least two movable elements for calibration such that a difference between rotationally symmetric components of the first and second wavefronts becomes small; measuring, after the calibration, a third wavefront of the reference light on the sensor; measuring, after the calibration, a fourth wavefront of the measurement light on the sensor; and calculating the profile of the measurement object aspheric surface by using the third and fourth wavefronts, the positional and angular magnification distributions, and the profile of the reference aspheric surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for measuring aspheric surface profile of an optical element such as an aspheric lens.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a non-contact measuring method for fast measuring aspheric surface profile of an aspheric lens, a method has been proposed in Jahannes Pfund, Norbert Lindlein and Johannes Schwider, "NonNull testing of rotationally symmetric aspheres: a systematic error assessment" (App. Opt. 40 (2001) p. 439), which projects light having a spherical wavefront onto an aspheric surface as a measurement object surface through an optical system and measures a measurement light reflected by the measurement object surface by using a Shack-Hartmann sensor provided as a light-receiving sensor. This measuring method has an advantage of being able to measure profiles of various designed measurement object surfaces, as compared with an interferometer using a null lens disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-329427. Moreover, this measuring method also has an advantage that, as compared with a stitching interferometer disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-125768 which moves a sample during measurement and a scanning interferometer disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3971747, there is no need to use a stage and a length measuring device for moving the sample with high accuracy, and a complex analysis program.
In the method using the Shack-Hartmann sensor, proposed in Jahannes Pfund, Norbert Lindlein and Johannes Schwider, "NonNull testing of rotationally symmetric aspheres: a systematic error assessment" (App. Opt. 40 (2001) p. 439), the measurement object surface does not reflect the measurement light perpendicularly thereto and therefore a ray angle of the reflected measurement light from the measurement object surface is different from a ray angle of the measurement light reaching the measurement object surface. Consequently, the reflected measurement light entering the light-receiving sensor is not collimated, which is detected as a wavefront significantly different from a planer wavefront. Thus, the wavefront of the measurement light reflected by the measurement object surface, measured by the light-receiving sensor, does not directly show the profile of the measurement object surface, unlike a Fizeau interferometer.
Calculation of the profile of the measurement object surface from the measured wavefront requires a positional magnification (so-called distortion) that is a ratio of lateral coordinates of the sensor (sensor surface) and the measurement object surface, and an angular magnification that is a ratio of ray angles on the sensor surface and on the measurement object surface.
However, these positional magnification and angular magnification are not constant with respect to distance from an optical axis, that is, have distribution. The distribution changes sensitively, especially to error of curvature radius of a lens included in the optical system, error of position in an optical axis direction (so-called alignment error), spherical aberration and others. Therefore, calibration for the distribution is needed. Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-97663, 10-281736, 2006-133059 and 2009-180554 disclose calibration methods for the positional magnification distribution.
The calibration method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 2000-97663, 10-281736 and 2006-133059 performs calibration of the positional magnification distribution by moving a measurement object surface by a known distance and detecting a change amount of a measured value by a light-receiving sensor with respect to the movement of the measurement object surface. Thus, the method not only requires a stage for moving the measurement object surface with high accuracy and a length measurement device for measuring the movement distance with high accuracy, but also has difficulty in accurate calibration of both the positional and angular magnification distributions.
Moreover, the calibration method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-180554 performs calibration of the positional magnification distribution by moving part of an optical system of an interferometer. However, the method performs the calibration by using radii of interference fringes on a light-receiving portion as an indicator, which has a problem that cannot accurately measure the radii of the interference fringes because their pitch is too small. Furthermore, the method has difficulty in accurate calibration of the angular magnification distribution.

Aspheric surface measuring method, aspheric surface measuring apparatus, optical element producing apparatus and optical element


The present invention relates to compounds suitable for treating, ameliorating and/or preventing neuromuscular disorders, including the reversal of drug-induced neuromuscular blockade. The compounds as defined herein preferably inhibit the CIC-1 ion channel. The compounds include phenoxy propanoic acid, phenoxy propanoate, and phenoxy butanoate compounds.

Walking, breathing, and eye movement are examples of essential everyday physiological activities that are powered by contractile activity of skeletal muscle. Skeletal muscles are inherently resting and contractile activity exclusively occurs in response to commands from the central nervous system. Such neuronal commands take the form of action potentials that travel from the brain to the muscle fibers in several steps. The neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is the highly specialized membrane area on muscle fibers where motor neurons come into close contact with the muscle fibers, and it is at NMJ that neuronal action potentials are transmitted to muscular action potentials in a one-to-one fashion via synaptic transmission.
Neuromuscular transmission refers to the sequence of cellular events at the NMJ whereby an action potential in the lower motor neuron is transmitted to a corresponding action potential in a muscle fiber. When a neuronal action potential arrives at the pre-synaptic terminal it triggers influx of Ca2+ through voltage gated P/Q-type Cat′ channels in the nerve terminal membrane. This influx causes a rise in cytosolic Ca2+ in the nerve terminal that triggers exocytosis of acetylcholine (ACh). Released ACh next diffuses across the synaptic cleft to activate nicotinic ACh receptors in the post-synaptic, muscle fiber membrane. Upon activation, ACh receptors convey an excitatory current flow of Na+ into the muscle fiber, which results in a local depolarization of the muscle fiber at the NMJ that is known as the endplate potential (EPP). If the EPP is sufficiently large, voltage gated Na+ channels in the muscle fiber will activate and an action potential in the muscle fiber will ensue. This action potential then propagates from NMJ throughout the muscle fiber and triggers the Ca2+ release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum. The released Ca2+ activates the contractile proteins within the muscle fibers thus resulting in contraction of the fiber.
Failure in the neuromuscular transmission can arise from both pre-synaptic dysfunction (Lambert Eaton syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy) and as a result of post-synaptic dysfunction as occurs in myasthenia gravis. Failure to excite and/or propagate action potentials in muscle can also arise from reduced muscle excitability such as in critical illness myopathy (CIM). In Lambert Eaton syndrome, an autoimmune attack against the pre-synaptic P/Q-type Ca2+ channels results in markedly reduced Ca2+ influx into the nerve terminal during the pre-synaptic action potential and, consequently, a reduced release of ACh into the synaptic cleft. In myasthenia gravis the most common finding is an autoimmune attack on the post-synaptic membrane either against the nicotinic ACh receptors or the musk-receptor in the muscle fiber membrane. Congenital forms of myasthenia are also known. Common to disorders with neuromuscular transmission failure (Lambert Eaton syndrome, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy and myasthenia gravis) is that the current flow generated by ACh receptor activation is markedly reduced, and EPPs therefore become insufficient to trigger muscle fiber action potentials. Neuromuscular blocking agents also reduce EPP by antagonizing ACh receptors. In CIM with reduced muscle excitability, the EPP may be of normal amplitude but they are still insufficient to trigger muscle fiber action potentials because the membrane potential threshold for action potential excitation has become more depolarized because of loss-of-function of voltage gated Na+ channels in the muscle fibers.
While ACh release (Lambert Eaton, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, spinal muscular atrophy), ACh receptor function (myasthenia gravis, neuromuscular blockade) and function of voltage gated Na+ channels (CIM) are essential components in the synaptic transmission at NMJ, the magnitude of the EPP is also affected by inhibitory currents flowing in the NMJ region of muscle fibers. These currents tend to outbalance excitatory current through ACh receptors and, expectedly, they thereby tend to reduce EPP amplitude. The most important ion channel for carrying such inhibitory membrane currents in muscle fibers is the muscle-specific CIC-1 Cl− ion channel.
ACh esterase (AChE) inhibitors are traditionally used in the treatment of myasthenia gravis. This treatment leads to improvement in most patients but it is associated with side effects, some of which are serious. Because ACh is an import neurotransmitter in the autonomic nervous system, delaying it's breakdown can lead to gastric discomfort, diarrhea, salivation and muscle cramping. Overdosing is a serious concern as it can lead to muscle paralysis and respiratory failure, a situation commonly referred to as cholinergic crisis. Despite the serious side effects of AChE inhibitors, these drugs are today the treatment of choice for a number of disorders involving neuromuscular impairment. In patients where pyridostigmine (a parasympathomimetic and a reversible ACHE inhibitor) is insufficient, corticosteroid treatment (prednisone) and immunosuppressive treatment (azathioprine) is used. Plasma exchange can be used to obtain a fast but transient improvement.
Unfortunately, all of the currently employed myasthenia gravis drug regimens are associated with deleterious long-term consequences. In addition, the otherwise safe use of common drugs such as anti-infectives, cardiovascular drugs, anticholinergics, anticonvulsants, antirheumatics and others have been reported to worsen the symptoms of myasthenia gravis patients.

Compounds for the treatment of neuromuscular disorders


Substrates containing a copolymer of sequentially alternating lysine and alanine residues are provided. The use of those substrates for promoting neuron survival and axon growth are also provided.

It is known in the art to use polymers as substrates for neuron cell cultures of the central nervous system (CNS). The most common method utilizes polylysine, a homopolymer, to coat glass and plastic surface see Banker & Cowan, Rat hippocampal neurons in dispersed cell culture, Brain Res., 126:397-425 (1977); Mattson et al., Outgrowth-regulating actions of glutamate in isolated hippocampal pyramidal neurons, J. Neurosci., 8:2087-2100 (1988); Brewer & Cotman, Survival and growth of hippocampal neurons in defined medium at low density: advantages of a sandwich culture technique or low oxygen, Brain Res., 494:65-74 (1989)!. Polylysine is considered to be efficacious and economical.
However, it is unknown whether the cationic structures of polylysine substrates are able to promote neuron adhesion and differentiation. In fact, polylysine does not appear to mimic adhesive brain proteins that are known to stimulate differentiation. These proteins that stimulate differentiation, including laminin, pleiotrophin (HB-GAM), L1 and N-CAM, are distinguishable from polylysine because they do not contain sequences of polylysine or other basic residues. Unfortunately, the high costs of production, isolation and purification associated with these large cell-adhesion molecules cause researchers to turn to synthetic polymers to accomplish neuron adhesion and differentiation.
Copolymers of lysine and alanine (LAS) have not previously been reported as effective substrates for neurons or other cells. Other polypeptides containing the integrin binding site for fibronectin, RGD (Varani et al., 1993) have proven to be effective substrates for fibroblasts and other cells A ten-residue peptide fragment of laminin promotes neurite outgrowth (Liesi et al., 1989). An antibody to a 14 residue peptide from the L1 adhesion molecule increases neuritogenesis (Appel et al., 1995), probably through an integrin mediated receptor (Montgomery et al., 1996). Short polypeptides of lysine and alanine have been shown to bind strongly to DNA (Takeuchi et al., 1991), but this is not likely to be the mechanism by which substrate-bound LAS stimulates survival and axongenesis in neurons. LAS may be a model for naturally occurring polyamine such as spermidine, spermine and putrescine (Morrison et al., 1995). B27 medium, as well as the N2 medium of Bottenstein and Sato (1979) contains putrescine. Chu et al. (1995a) have shown that the butanediamine structure of these polyamine is required for enhanced survival of hippocampal neurons when added to the culture medium. Similar additions of any of the three of these polyamines promoted neurite elongation (Chu et al., 1994) or regeneration of injured hippocampal axons in cultures growing on poly-lysine (Chu et al., 1995a). A BLAST search of the NCBI protein data base revealed no proteins with and Ala-Lys-Ala-Lys sequence.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for a polymer substrate that is inexpensive while also having the ability to promote neuron survival and axon growth.

Alternating lysine-alanine copolymer substrate for promoting neuron survival and axon growth


A bidirectional adaptive thresholding technique for use in an image processing system. An array of pixel sensors scans a grayscale image and generates a set of grayscale image data. A buffer storage connected to the sensors stores the grayscale image data. A forward tracker reads the image data from the buffer storage in a forward direction and provides background and peak forward tracked values. A reverse tracker reads the image data in a reverse direction and provides background and peak reverse tracked values. A threshold level generating circuit generates a threshold level that is a proportional function of either the forward or reverse tracked values based on validity criteria. Thereafter, a thresholding circuit thresholds the grayscale image data using the threshold level to provide binary image data.

In performing digital processing of a grayscale image, a variety of thresholding techniques has been employed in the art. For example, in fixed thresholding, the magnitude of an analog output signal from a pixel sensor is compared against a fixed threshold value. Output signal levels above the fixed threshold level are digitized to one digital value, e.g. a binary one representing black, while levels equal to or below the fixed threshold level are digitized to another digital value, e.g. a binary zero representing white.
Other, more complex, thresholding techniques have also been used in the past. U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,875 (issued to D. Assael et al on Mar. 13, 1990 and hereinafter referred to as the '875 patent) describes an adaptive thresholding technique that is designed to vary the threshold value during image processing in order to compensate for the detrimental effects of a variety of noise sources. An adaptive thresholding technique is used here inasmuch as the magnitude of noise signals usually varies from one sensor to the next and at different locations along a scan line. Specifically, as described therein, an adaptive threshold level is set for each pixel position as a function of a running average of an analog sensor signal to which an offset value is added. The offset value is a function of a global measure of the noise as well as a function of the noise generated by the sensors.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,704 (issued to J. Stoffel et al on Aug. 28, 1984 and hereinafter referred to as the '704 patent) describes another adaptive thresholding technique that employs a threshold level which is updated continuously on a pixel-by-pixel basis in accordance with changes in image content. This technique uses a fractional average content algorithm in which a threshold level is set in accordance with an adaptive offset value that is a function of white peak and black valley pixel signals. After each pixel is processed, the white peak pixel signal is updated at each black-to-white transition and in each white region. The black valley pixel signal is updated at each white-to-black transition and in each black region. As such, the offset value and therefore the threshold level are updated in accordance with an algorithm based on the updating of the white peak and black valley pixel signals. The thresholding technique of the '704 patent also reduces the effects of noise.
Although such prior-art thresholding techniques have served their purposes, they have not proved entirely satisfactory under all conditions of service for the reason that considerable difficulty has been experienced in processing those areas of the image that are located adjacent to image edges. Most prior-art techniques require substantial settling times at the start of a data scan before valid data becomes available for adaptive thresholding. In this regard, at the very start of each scan line, adaptive threshold values are usually "seeking" a proper signal level and are therefore not usable. Consequently, those concerned with the development of image processing systems and methods have long recognized the need for providing thresholding techniques that mitigate, inter alia, settling-time problems associated with not having valid data. The present invention fulfills this need.

System and method for bidirectional adaptive thresholding


A technique for transaction recovery by one transaction manager of another transaction manager's transactions in which each transaction manager is adapted to manage two phase commit transactional operations on transactional resources and to record commit or rollback decisions in a transaction recovery log. The recovery transaction manager detects apparent unavailability of the another transaction manager for transaction processing and initiates a transaction recovery process for the another transaction manager's transactions. This process also determines whether any of the transactions of the another transaction manager have all respective resources prepared to commit without there yet being a pending commit decision record in the another transaction manager's recovery log. If so, the recovery transaction manager writes a rollback record indicating an intention to roll back the identified transaction, in the another transaction manager's recovery log provided no commit decision record has been recorded.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a method, transaction manager, transaction processing computer system and computer program for transaction recovery in a multiple transaction manager system and in particular to the prevention of conflict between a recovery transaction manager and another apparently unavailable transaction manager.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transaction processing computer systems in which operations are carried out on resources, for example customer databases, are extremely well known. Such operations are generally implemented using a so-called two phase commit process in which the resources involved are polled by a transaction coordinator (or manager) to see if they are ready to commit to make the changes defined by the transaction. If they are ready, they enter a "prepared" phase and reply in the affirmative. If all resources are prepared, the coordinator issues "commit" instructions, but until the changes to the resources have been made and they have confirmed this to the coordinator, the transaction remains "in-doubt". In the event that there is a failure in the transaction coordinator while the transaction is in-doubt, the coordinator enters a recovery phase, upon restart, in which it can either complete in-doubt transactions for which it has actually issued a commit instruction or else it can roll back the transaction, meaning that instructions are issued to restore the system to the state it was in immediately prior to the transaction starting. Thus, the transactions may be said to be "atomic" in that changes to resources are either all committed or all rolled back.
In order to be able to complete prepared transactions following a failure, both coordinators and resources log their status during the two phase commit process in transaction recovery logs. These logs are stored persistently and can be referred to as necessary to complete outstanding in-doubt transactions. This activity is referred to as transaction recovery processing and is carried out separately from mainstream forward processing of transactions.
Another aspect of modern transaction processing systems is the need for high availability (HA) under heavy transactional workloads such as may be found in a banking or reservation system. A well known approach to support high availability is to distribute transactions between multiple servers in parallel so as to balance the workload. The servers may be separate computers or separate server instances of a multi-processing computer. Each server acts as a transaction coordinator for transactions routed to it and maintains its own transaction log.
Such a group of servers may be configured as a peer group known as a cluster in which each server is aware of the other servers in the cluster. Should one of the servers fail in the course of a transaction, a high availability system needs to provide a means of rapid recovery in addition to normal attempts to restart the failed server. One such technique is that of peer recovery processing, whereby one of the peer group can be configured to take over and complete the transaction by accessing the failed server's transaction log. To achieve this, transaction recovery logs need to provide shared access to transaction coordinator peers.
For example, if servers A and B perform independent transactional work and server A fails, then in an HA configuration server B should continue its own independent work but may also act as a recovery server for server A's transactions if so directed by a high-availability management component of the server. If the recovery log medium is a logical file (which may consist of a number of physical files) on a shared file system, then server B's HA configuration must allow it to access server A's recovery log.
A well-known complication with this scenario is that peer recovery can be triggered as the result of the occurrence of a partial network partition in which both server A and server B can access the shared file system but can no longer see one another on the network. The high availability management software, when it considers a server to be unavailable, may direct a server peer to recover but often has no real way of knowing that the "failed" server really has failed. Problems will occur if a peer-recovery server takes over a "failed" server's log when the "failed" server is actually still healthy and writing to it. Various hardware techniques occur to prevent this, including redundant networks and "quorum" facilities that switch off the power to any servers that appear to have failed. These techniques rely on instantaneous partition detection and are not safe. For the case of a recovery log hosted in a shared file system, the use of an exclusive lease-based file lock provides a simple solution to this problem, with the exclusive lock determining ownership of the file. Modern file servers, such as those offering the Internet Engineering Task Force's open NFSv4 protocol for distributed file sharing, provide such lease-based locks.
One product that supports such a file system is the IBM WebSphere Application Server Version 6 ("IBM" and "WebSphere" are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation). A discussion of the problem and its solution by means of exclusive lease-based locking may be found in a paper entitled "Transactional high availability and deployment in WebSphere Application Server V6" by J. Beaven and I. Robinson published on line in the IBM WebSphere Developer Technical Journal on 6 Apr. 2005 at:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/techjournal/0504_beaven/0504_beaven.html.
In general transaction processing, it is known that transaction recovery logs may be stored in a database and that such a database may also hold persistent data on which an application operates within the scope of a transaction. Suitable databases include IBM's DB2 on z/OS or DB2 HADR and Oracle RAC ("IBM", "DB2" and "z/OS" are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation; "Oracle" is a trademark of Oracle Corporation). One such system is shown in US Published Patent Application 2008/0250272 A1 to T. E. Barnes et al. entitled "Logging Last Resource System", assigned to BEA Systems Incorporated.
It might therefore be contemplated that, instead of investing in the separate infrastructure and management of a highly available file system, it would be possible to base high-availability solutions around such databases. Such an arrangement cannot, however, solve the partial network partition problem in a high availability system employing peer recovery in the same manner as with a network file system since, while the database can serialize access to a table representing a transaction recovery log, it does not provide a reliable lease-based mechanism for revoking that lock in the event that an application server really has failed. A database may notice that a remote connection is no longer available if a remote process has failed, but may receive no timely indication from the communications stack in the case of server node outage.
If a recovery peer server is assigned to complete in-doubt work while a "failed" server is actually still healthy, unatomic outcomes may result, as in the following scenario:
Server A is part of a partitioned network. An HA manager believes it to have failed although it has not. Server A is processing a transaction and prepares resources XA1 and XA2, for example. It makes a commit decision which requires a COMMIT record to be written to the log.
Some time previously, server B has been assigned as a peer recovery coordinator for server A and contacts all configured resource managers to obtain a list of their in-doubt transactions. It determines there are resources XA1 and XA2 for which it has no COMMIT record (because Server A hasn't written it to the log yet) and so directs the appropriate resource managers to rollback XA1 and XA2.
Server A then forces its COMMIT record by writing it to the transaction recovery log and then directing both XA1 and XA2 to commit.
This creates a race condition since if server A gets to XA1 first and manages to commit while server B gets to XA2 first and effects a rollback, the outcome will be mixed and thus unatomic.

Transaction recovery in a transaction processing computer system employing multiple transaction managers


A wrench has at least one wrench sleeve. Wrench holes different in size are formed at a top and a bottom of the wrench sleeve mounted horizontally rotatable within wrench receiving portion provided at an end of a grip handle. Ratchet teeth are formed on an outer peripheral surface of the wrench sleeve. A switch lever has ratchet pawls each engageable with the ratchet teeth that are provided on one side of the wrench sleeve. The wrench is characterized in that the wrench sleeve has a barrel shape, and the wrench sleeve is mounted within the wrench receiving portion so as to be rotatable through 180.degree. with upper and lower opening surfaces being reversible upside down.

The present invention relates to a wrench having at both end portions wrench sleeves reversible upside down.
With a wrench, it is impossible to use wrench holes different in size so far as a grip handle is turned upside down by changing the gripped positions. In particular, with a wrench which is of a type with its tip end portions being bent to an obtuse angle, it is impossible to use the wrench well even if the handle is reversed upside down. In this case, therefore, it is impossible to form wrench holes having various different sizes. (Namely, only two kinds of holes in total are provided to one wrench at a front end and a rear end by reversing the handle upside down.)

Wrench having wrench sleeves reversible upside down


A tilt control mechanism for an office chair includes a spring assembly therein which controls the tilt tension on the back assembly. This tilt control mechanism includes a tension adjustment assembly having a cam wedge which supports the legs of a pair of coil springs and a cooperating drive block assembly which cooperates with the cam wedge to drive the cam wedge upwardly and downwardly to vary the tilt tension. The drive assembly includes drive blocks mounted on a threaded shaft which are displaceable sidewardly toward and away from each other to either drive the cam wedge upwardly when the drive blocks move together or downwardly when the drive blocks move away from each other.

Conventional office chairs are designed to provide significant levels of comfort and adjustability. Such chairs typically include a base which supports a tilt control assembly to which a seat assembly and back assembly are movably interconnected. The tilt control mechanism includes a back upright which extends rearwardly and upwardly and supports the back assembly rearwardly adjacent to the seat assembly. The tilt control mechanism serves to interconnect the seat and back assemblies so that they may tilt rearwardly together in response to movements by the chair occupant and possibly to permit limited forward tilting of the seat and back. Further, such chairs typically permit the back to also move relative to the seat during such rearward tilting.
To control rearward tilting of the back assembly relative to the seat assembly, the tilt control mechanism interconnects these components and allows such rearward tilting of the back assembly. Conventional tilt control mechanisms include tension mechanisms such as spring assemblies which use coil springs or torsion bars to provide a resistance to pivoting movement of an upright relative to a fixed control body, i.e. tilt tension. The upright supports the back assembly and the resistance provided by the spring assembly thereby varies the load under which the back assembly will recline or tilt rearwardly. Such tilt control mechanisms typically include tension adjustment mechanisms to vary the spring load to accommodate different size occupants of the chair.
Additionally, conventional chairs also may include various mechanisms to control forward tilting of the chair and define a selected location at which rearward tilting is stopped.
Additionally, such chairs include a pneumatic cylinder which is enclosed within a base of the chair on which the tilt control mechanism is supported. As such, the pneumatic cylinder is selectively extendable to vary the elevation at which the tilt control mechanism is located to vary the seat height. Such pneumatic cylinders include conventional control valves on the upper ends thereof and it is known to provide pneumatic actuators which control the operation of the valve and thereby allow for controlled adjustment of the height of the seat.
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved tilt control mechanism for such an office chair.
In view of the foregoing, the invention relates to an office chair having an improved tilt control mechanism which controls rearward tilting of the back assembly relative to the seat assembly.
The tilt control mechanism of the invention incorporates a tension adjustment mechanism which cooperates with a pair of coil springs that defines the tilt resistance being applied to the chair uprights. A tension adjustment mechanism includes a cam wedge on the spring legs of the spring which cam wedge is movable upwardly and downwardly to vary the spring load being applied by the coil springs. This cam wedge has an arcuate surface that cooperates with a pair of drive blocks. These drive blocks are mounted on a common threaded shaft which extends laterally across the tilt control mechanism and are movable toward each other and away from each other. These drive blocks have curved surfaces which face upwardly in contact with the wedge. When the drive blocks are driven together, the wedge is driven upwardly to increase tilt tension, and when the drive blocks are moved apart from each other, the wedge moves downwardly to reduce the tilt tension. This mechanism provides an improved tension adjustment mechanism that is easier to actuate for the occupant.
Other objects and purposes of the invention, and variations thereof, will be apparent upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.
Certain terminology will be used in the following description for convenience and reference only, and will not be limiting. For example, the words "upwardly", "downwardly", "rightwardly" and "leftwardly" will refer to directions in the drawings to which reference is made. The words "inwardly" and "outwardly" will refer to directions toward and away from, respectively, the geometric center of the arrangement and designated parts thereof. Said terminology will include the words specifically mentioned, derivatives thereof, and words of similar import.

Tension adjustment mechanism for a chair


A mold release agent is provided which is compatible for use with slip casting molds formed from alumina, which are more durable than conventional gypsum molds. The preferred mold release agent is a suspension whose suspended solid matter is water-insoluble, organic, and composed of fine natural or synthetic powders or fibers. The mold release agent forms a layer of particles and/or fibers on the mold cavity surface which promotes the ease by which the cast article can be removed from the alumina mold. The mold release agent is readily burned out during subsequent firing or sintering operations, so as not to leave an undesirable residue in the surface of the fired or sintered ceramic article. Furthermore, the mold release agent does not have an undesirable effect on the microstructure of the as-cast or sintered ceramic article, nor does its use result in any detectible surface or internal cracks in the as-cast or sintered ceramic article.

Ceramic slip casting is a known process by which ceramic powders can be used to produce a desired net shape cast ceramic article. In comparison to other ceramic forming processes (e.g., dry pressing, injection molding and high-energy impacting), intricate net shape articles can be formed by the slip casting process at relatively low production costs. The slip casting process generally involves forming a stable aqueous dispersion of ceramic powders, with the aqueous component most often being water. The aqueous dispersion, referred to as a slip, is then poured into the cavity of a porous mold. The liquid component of the slip is absorbed by the porous mold, leaving the ceramic powder component of the slip in the cavity to form the shaped article. Once the shaped article is sufficiently dry, it is removed from the mold cavity. To facilitate removal, it is typically necessary to apply a mold release agent on the surfaces of the mold cavity.
Both hollow and solid articles can be formed by slip casting processes. Solid articles are formed by allowing the entire slip mass to dry within the cavity, while hollow articles require draining the excess slip from the cavity after sufficient time has passed, so as to form a suitably thick dry ceramic layer on the wall of the cavity. After slip casting, the shaped article conventionally undergoes a firing or sintering operation so as to fuse and/or react the ceramic powder, thus forming a strong and dense solid ceramic article.
Molds for slip casting preferably have controlled porosity so as to facilitate removal of the liquid from the slip by capillary action. Gypsum (CaSO.sub.4 .cndot.2H.sub.2 O) is widely used for making porous molds for slip casting processes. Through gypsum molds are suitable for general slip casting processes, they have pores which are not generally uniform, ranging in size between about 0.4 and about 5 micrometers, with the bulk of the pores being about 1 to 2 micrometers. In addition, gypsum molds are typically delicate and susceptible to wear, resulting in a shortened service life.
Gypsum is also known to dissolve in acids and ammonium (NH.sub.4) salts and, further, is soluble in water at about 0.241 grams per 100 ml. As a result, the cavity surface of a gypsum mold will eventually become deteriorated by the aqueous medium of the slip. In addition, when slips are stabilized in an acidic or basic solution for purposes of dispersing the ceramic particles within the aqueous solution, deterioration of gypsum molds has been found to be even more severe since the acid that accumulates on the mold surface during the casting operation reacts with the gypsum. Accordingly, an alternative mold material has been sought by the casting industry.
The use of porous ceramic molds has been previously suggested for use as investment casting molds. Ceramic molds are advantageous in that they are typically strong, have long service life and are substantially nonreactive with aqueous components used in slip compositions. However, the use of a porous ceramic mold for a slip casting process requires a different mold release agent due to the different composition, porosity and surface characteristics of ceramic molds, as compared to gypsum molds.
Generally, mold release agents must be compatible with the mold material and prevent the slip from adhering to the mold cavity. In addition, mold release agents must not adversely effect the final properties of a cast ceramic article, which may occur as a result of the slip being in direct contact with the mold release agent during the molding process. This is particularly true when submicron ceramic powders are intended to be used in the slip casting process. Ceramic articles formed from submicron ceramic powders are desirable in that they are more capable of being sintered to full density at relatively low temperatures as compared to ceramic articles formed from larger-sized particles. However, the submicron particles tend to be more adherent to the molds, thus requiring more stringent control over the materials, porosity and surface features of the mold release agent and mold.
As an example, undesirable flocculation of the slip may occur, wherein the ceramic particles tend to clump together, thereby resulting in an inferior non-uniform dispersion of the ceramic particles throughout the slip. In addition, during the subsequent sintering of the cast article, unwanted residue due to the mold release agent on the surface of the sintered article may produce undesirable changes in the microstructure of the sintered article and/or detrimentally affect the physical properties of the sintered object.
Conventionally, ammonium alginate (C.sub.6 H.sub.7 O.sub.6 .cndot.NH.sub.4) mold release agents have been used satisfactorily with gypsum molds. Ammonium alginate-type mold release agents are dissolved in water to form a solution. The solution is then poured into the mold cavity and allowed to sit for a duration which is sufficient to form a continuous film on the surface of the mold cavity, with a portion of the solution being adsorbed into the mold. The excess solution is then drained out of the mold cavity. The continuous thin film serves as a permeable barrier layer between the slip and the gypsum mold, so as to promote release of the cast article afterward while also allowing passage of the water within the slip through to the porous ceramic mold.
However, it has been determined that ammonium alginate-type mold release agents do not perform well with ceramic molds. This is primarily because the cast articles do not easily release from the mold cavity. The reason for this is believed to be that, while ammonium alginate-type mold release agents are compatible with gypsum molds, they are generally incompatible with ceramic molds due to a ceramic mold's different chemistry and pore structure. Other known mold release agents, such as silicone, graphite, oxides, talc, olive oil and spray starch, have also been determined to be unsuited or otherwise less than optimal for use with ceramic molds.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a mold release agent which would permit the use of a porous ceramic mold in a slip casting process, wherein the mold release agent facilitates the removal of cast articles from the mold cavity, yet without promoting flocculation of the slip during the slip casting process or adversely affecting the surface characteristics or the sintering behavior of the cast article such as by leaving a residue on the cast article.

Mold release agent for ceramic molds used in ceramic slip casting processes


A side table includes a base unit, a top board, and a telescopic tube unit that is mounted to the base unit, and that includes an outer tube subunit, an inner tube subunit and a roller subunit. The outer tube subunit extends in an up-down direction. The inner tube subunit is coupled telescopically to the outer tube subunit. The roller subunit is mounted to the inner tube subunit, and includes a plurality of rollers that are in slidable contact with the outer tube subunit. The top board corresponds in position to the base unit in the up-down direction, and is mounted co-movably to the outer tube subunit such that a distance between the base unit and the top board in the up-down direction changes during telescopic operation of the telescopic tube unit.

A conventional side table is commonly found near a bed, and may be used for putting things thereon or be used as a place at which a user may eat when in bed. The conventional side table has merits of being easily movable and space-efficient. In addition, the conventional side table includes an upright telescopic unit that includes an outer tube and an inner tube coupled telescopically to the outer tube. By virtue of the telescopic unit, the conventional side table is height-adjustable.
However, friction between the inner tube and the outer tube may be excessive so that telescopic operation of the telescopic unit may not be smoothly performed. Furthermore, the inner tube and the outer tube may not be fittingly coupled because of manufacturing tolerances of the inner and outer tubes. If the inner and outer tubes are loosely coupled together, it may cause the conventional side table to become more prone to wobble during use.


In a neutral to drive shift timing control mechanism, a flow control arrangement is utilized in an electro-hydraulic control system for controlling a clutch fill period of a neutral to drive shift sequence. The hydraulic control system provides a pressure pulse of predetermined time which opens a valve to permit fluid flow to bypass an accumulator feed orifice to pressurize the clutch apply cylinder and piston to a value substantially equal to the piston return spring force without providing excess flow to the accumulator. The clutch apply pressure is then permitted to increase at a more normal rate which is controlled by the accumulator. The engagement time is determined so that the pulse time can be adjusted if the neutral to drive shift is not within a predetermined time range.

This invention relates to shift timing controls, and more particularly, to neutral to drive shift timing controls. Specifically, this invention relates to the control of the fill time for an on-coming friction device during a neutral to drive shift sequence.
Automatic transmissions utilize fluid operated or hydraulically applied clutches to provide drive couplings between the prime mover and the vehicle wheels. When the vehicle is at a standstill and a neutral to drive, either forward or reverse, is requested by the operator, a clutch is applied which establishes a reaction to ground through the transmission and drive wheels. This occurs when the operator moves the manual shift lever to forward or reverse, expecting a quick and smooth transition. There have been many attempts with varying degrees of success in providing for a quick and smooth transition during a neutral to drive (garage shift).
In at least one prior art system, the hydraulic fluid is directed from a pressure regulator valve to an accumulator selector valve to an accumulator feed orifice, after which, it is directed to an accumulator through a circuit restriction to a clutch apply chamber. The circuit restriction can be either an orifice plate disposed in the valve body or simply the tortuous fluid path the hydraulic fluid must overcome between the accumulator and the clutch apply chamber.
With systems of this type, the operator initiates a drive condition by shifting the manual valve, which controls the direction of fluid to the appropriate clutch. When the hydraulic fluid pressure at the clutch is sufficiently high, the clutch piston will begin to stroke against the return springs until the friction plates are engaged. When this occurs, the pressure of the feed oil will increase rapidly until the accumulator is pressurized sufficiently to begin stroking against the accumulator trim pressure and the accumulator spring.
While the accumulator is stroking, the feed pressure to the clutch will increase at a rate controlled by the amount of fluid flow, the accumulator volume and the accumulator spring rate. To accomplish a smooth garage shift, it is desired to have the accumulator begin stroking at that same instant that the clutch piston is first brought into engagement with the friction plates. This is the point at which the clutch return springs are overcome by the clutch piston.
One drawback of the system is that a high feed pressure and a high fluid flow are required. This can be accomplished if the feed pressure is maintained sufficiently high. However, with this system there is difficulty in controlling the pressure rise in the clutch apply chamber in that the high flow rate causes rapid accumulator fill. To overcome this situation, it is necessary to increase the accumulator volume which requires the use of space within the transmission envelope. This space is not always available.
Another disadvantage with maintaining high feed pressures and flow rates is that the accumulator must begin its stroke at the same instant that the clutch pressure overcomes the return springs. The high flow rate will result in a significant pressure drop in the circuit restriction between the accumulator and the clutch engagement chamber such that the accumulator will begin stroking during the clutch prefill cycle and therefore will not have the advantage of utilizing a total accumulator volume to control the clutch engagement time.
Other control schemes have been proposed, one of which permits bypassing of the accumulator feed orifice during the prefill cycle. However, with these control schemes, it is very difficult to provide an accumulator of a size sufficient so that it does not begin stroking during the high fill flow period and yet begins to stroke at the system pressure which will overcome the return springs. The end results of such control schemes is somewhat erratic in that at times a firm shift will occur and at other times, a long shift time will occur.


A method, system and computer program for operating an application server using email messages uses the address format of the email address of an incoming email message to invoke an application to process the content of an incoming message. Each application available on the server defines acceptable address formats of the email addresses of messages that it will accept for processing. An application may generate a reply to an incoming email message, or may generate an event, to advance processing of a task. The application server may also determine a recipient email address of an actual recipient of the incoming e-mail, and transmit the incoming e-mail message to the recipient email address. In this case, the application server functions by interposing itself in the email channel between two recipients.

Electronic mail has revolutionized the way that people do business. It has provided an alternative to many of the traditional communication mechanisms that were utilized in the past. These include fax, mail and telephone. However, it electronic mail has traditionally lacked the capability of automated tracking, followup and other management functions associated with communications that were monitored and traditionally rendered by human intervention. There is a need for a new method of processing electronic mail which overcomes the aforementioned limitations.

System, method and article of manufacture for enhancing electronic messages


An electric plug-in connector includes a plug receptacle provided for insertion of a contact pin, a contact lamina pivotally mounted on the plug-in connector housing, its free end being directed in the insertion direction of the contact pin, and a holding arm pivotably mounted on the plug-in connector housing, which protrudes at its free end into the plug receptacle in the ready-to-insert starting state of the plug-in connector and also holds back the contact lamina that is prestressed into the plug receptacle, the contact lamina and/or the opposite housing wall being made of an electrically conducting material for contacting the inserted contact pins.

Currently in the automotive field there are known electric plug-in connectors having contact laminae, in a prestressed state ready for plug-in connection to a contact pin. Prestressing is achieved by intentionally bending the contact laminae back from an initially bent-over state and supporting them in this new position by rigid supports on a steel nib. Due to this prestressing of the contact laminae, a large contact gap should be established without reducing the operative normal contact forces in the plug-in state, these forces being defined by the prebending state of the contact laminae in the unloaded state. The advantage of a large contact gap established in this way is that the high frictional force at the start of the plug-in operation (opening-up peak in the contact force-path diagram) is greatly reduced because the contact laminae and the contact pin do not come in contact with one another until immediately before the parallel region of the contact pin, i.e., in an area in which the sliding angles relative to the frictional forces are favorable. In addition, the probability of underplugging of the contact laminae is reduced by a large contact gap.
With the known electric plug-in connectors having prestressed contact laminae, the abutments for the prestressing are rigid elements of the steel nib which limit the spring movement of the contact laminae at one side even in the plugged-in state. Owing to the narrow tolerances of such spring systems, there is the risk that the contact force will not be reached completely and/or the contact pin will be contacted on only one side.

Electric plug-in connector having a prestressed contact lamina


The impeller of a rotating machine according to at least one embodiment of the present discloser is provided with: a disc; a cover disposed on an opposite side of a radial passage from the disc in an axial direction; and a blade disposed between the disc and the cover. In a dimensionless position along a camber line of the blade when the position of a leading edge of the blade is defined as 0 and the position of a trailing edge of the blade is defined as 1, a position where an angle difference between a first blade angle at a disc-side end portion of the blade and a second blade angle at a cover-side end portion of the blade is maximum is in a range of 0.5 or more and 1 or less. The first blade angle is −10 degrees or more and 0 degrees or less at the position where the angle difference is maximum.

As a rotating machine used in an industrial compressor, a turbo chiller, or a small gas turbine, a machine including an impeller with pluralities of blades mounted on a disc fixed to a rotational shaft is known. This rotating machine provides pressure energy and velocity energy to a gas by rotating the impellers.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a centrifugal compressor including an impeller. The impeller is a so-called closed impeller composed of a disc, a plurality of blades on the disc, and a cover that covers the plurality of blades.

Impeller of rotating machine and rotating machine

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES COMPRESSOR CORPORATION


A piston ring is broadly defined as a ring-shaped, non-stainless steel, iron alloy that is nitrided, and includes between about 1% and about 10% chromium by weight, and preferably includes between about 1% and about 2% chromium by weight, with additional alloying elements also included.

The present invention relates to the field of piston rings. More particularly, the invention relates to the field of materials used to manufacture piston rings for automobiles.
Piston rings that are used in the automobile industry are commonly nitrided by subjecting the piston rings to a PVD or CVD process, for example. A nitrogen-containing compound coats and/or penetrates the surface of the piston rings. Stainless steel has long been a preferred metal for piston rings as it is highly corrosive resistant and hard. Typically, stainless steel is about 81% iron, and about 18% chromium, with other alloying elements such as carbon, and nickel.
Because stainless steel is not typically highly alloyed, there are depassivation problems associated with a nitriding process, particularly involving a gas nitriding process. Efforts have been made to overcome depassivation problems such as raising the temperatures during nitriding, and prolonging the nitriding cycle. These steps are inefficient and therefore costly, with only limited success. Furthermore, stainless steel is rather difficult to prepare for machining of the piston rings. Coiling stainless steel wire requires a great amount of effort and time.
There is therefore a great need for a piston ring that is made from a strong, corrosion resistant metal that is easily and cheaply nitrided. There is also a need for a more efficient method for manufacturing piston rings.
The present invention relater to a piston ring that is broadly defined as a ring-shaped, non-stainless steel, iron alloy, sized and formed to accommodate an engine piston. The piston ring is nitrided, and the non-stainless steel enables a nitriding process to be performed in a relatively short interval, at lower temperatures than are required for stainless steel piston rings. The nitriding is most preferably performed using an ionic nitriding process.
The alloy includes between about 1% and about 10% chromium by weight, and preferably includes between about 1% and about 2% chromium by weight. By describing the alloy as a non-stainless steel, iron alloy, it is generally meant that the majority of the alloy is iron instead of, for example, titanium, and that chromium is present at a lower concentration than in stainless steel.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, additional alloying elements are included. The alloy can further include carbon, manganese, and silicon, for example. Most preferably, chromium is included at no greater than 2% by weight, and carbon, manganese, and silicon are included at concentrations of no greater than about 1% by weight.
The alloy preferably includes even more alloying elements. One embodiment of the invention further includes phosphorus, sulfur, molybdenum, and vanadium, each being present at no greater than about 1% by weight. Another embodiment of the invention further includes aluminum and nickel, instead of phosphorus, sulfur, molybdenum, and vanadium. The aluminum and nickel are each included at no greater than about 1% by weight.
A particular embodiment of the invention includes a non-stainless steel, iron alloy that includes chromium at about 1.4% by weight, manganese at about 1% by weight, molybdenum at about 0.9% by weight, vanadium at about 0.2% by weight, carbon at about 0.2% by weight, silicon at about 0.1% by weight, phosphorus at about 0.02% by weight, and sulfur at about 0.004% by weight. Another particular embodiment of the invention includes a non-stainless steel, iron alloy that includes chromium at about 1.8% by weight, aluminum at about 1% by weight, nickel at about 1% by weight, manganese at about 0.7% by weight, carbon at about 0.3% by weight, and silicon at about 0.3% by weight.
Additional, advantages and novel features of the invention are set forth in the description that follows or may be learned by those skilled in the art through reading these materials or practicing the invention.

Non-stainless steel nitrided piston ring, and method of making the same


A pressurized water nuclear reactor (PWR) includes a pressure vessel having a lower portion containing a nuclear reactor core comprising a fissile material and an upper portion defining an internal pressurizer volume. A condenser is secured to, and optionally supported by, the upper portion of the pressure vessel. A condenser inlet is in fluid communication with the internal pressurizer volume. A heat sink is in fluid communication with the condenser such that the condenser operates as a passive heat exchanger to condense steam from the internal pressurizer volume into condensate while rejecting heat to the heat sink. A condenser outlet connects with the pressure vessel to return condensate to the pressure vessel. A single metal forging having a first end welded to the pressure vessel and a second end welded to the condenser inlet may provide the fluid communication between the condenser inlet and the internal pressurizer volume.

The following relates to the nuclear reactor arts, electrical power generation arts, nuclear safety arts, and related arts.
Nuclear reactors employ a reactor core comprising a mass of fissile material, such as a material containing uranium oxide (UO2) that is enriched in the fissile 235U isotope. Primary coolant water, such as light water (H2O) or heavy water (D2O) or some mixture thereof, flows through the reactor core to extract heat for use in heating secondary coolant water to generate steam or for some other useful purpose. For electrical power generation, the steam is used to drive a generator turbine. In thermal nuclear reactors, the primary coolant water also serves as a neutron moderator that thermalizes neutrons, which enhances reactivity of the fissile material. Various reactivity control mechanisms, such as mechanically operated control rods, chemical treatment of the primary coolant with a soluble neutron poison, or so forth are employed to regulate the reactivity and resultant heat generation. In a pressurized water reactor (PWR), the primary coolant water is maintained in a subcooled state in a sealed pressure vessel that also contains the reactor core. In the PWR, both pressure and temperature of the primary coolant water are controlled.
To extract power from the PWR or other nuclear reactor, secondary coolant water is flowed in thermal communication with the primary coolant water. A steam generator device is suitably used for this thermal exchange. In the steam generator, heat (i.e., energy) is transferred from the reactor core to the secondary coolant water via the intermediary of the primary coolant water. This heat converts the secondary coolant water from liquid water to steam. The steam is typically flowed into a turbine or other power conversion apparatus that makes practical use of the steam power. Viewed another way, the steam generator also serves as a heat sink for the primary coolant.
The steam generator may, in general, be located external to the pressure vessel, or internal to the pressure vessel. A PWR with an internal steam generator is sometimes referred to as an integral PWR, an illustrative example of which is shown in Thome et al., "Integral Helical Coil Pressurized Water Nuclear Reactor", U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0316181 A1 published Dec. 16, 2010 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This publication discloses a steam generator employing helical steam generator tubing; however, other coil geometries including straight (e.g., vertical) steam generator tubes are also known. This publication also discloses an integral PWR in which the control rod drive mechanism (CRDM) is also internal to the pressure vessel; however, external CRDM designs are also known. Some illustrative examples of internal CRDM designs include: Stambaugh et al., "Control Rod Drive Mechanism for Nuclear Reactor", U.S. Pub. No. 2010/0316177 A1 published Dec. 16, 2010 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety; and Stambaugh et al., "Control Rod Drive Mechanism for Nuclear Reactor", Int'l Pub. WO 2010/144563 A1 published Dec. 16, 2010 which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
During normal PWR operation, the primary coolant is subcooled and is at both elevated temperature and elevated pressure. For example, one contemplated integral PWR is designed to operate with the primary coolant at a temperature of greater than 300° C. and a pressure of about 2000 psia. These elevated conditions are maintained by heat emitted by the radioactive nuclear reactor core. In various abnormal event scenarios, this radioactivity can increase rapidly, potentially leading in turn to rapid and uncontrolled increase in primary coolant pressure and temperature. For example, in a "loss of heat sink event" the secondary coolant flow in the steam generator fails, leading to loss of heat sinking provided by the secondary coolant. In a SCRAM failure, the control rod system is compromised such that the control rods may be unable to "SCRAM", that is, be released to fall into the reactor core, to provide rapid shutdown. While a SCRAM failure may not cause immediate core heating, the loss of this safety system typically calls for immediate shutdown of the reactor. In a loss of coolant accident (LOCA), a rupture in the pressure vessel or a pipe connecting with the pressure vessel allows some of the primary coolant to be released under pressure from the pressure vessel. The released primary coolant generally expands as steam outside of the pressure vessel. A LOCA introduces numerous potential safety issues such as a possible release of radioactivity, emission of hot steam, and so forth. Furthermore, a LOCA can constitute a positive feedback condition as the lost primary coolant causes the reactor core to heat up uncontrollably leading to increased pressure that drives further loss of primary coolant.
In view of such concerns, a PWR typically has an external containment structure to contain any release of primary coolant in a LOCA. The PWR also typically has an associated emergency core cooling system (ECCS) that is designed to respond to an abnormal condition by bringing about rapid cooling of the reactor core, suppressing any concomitant pressure increase, and recapturing any released primary coolant steam. One component of the ECCS is typically a condenser (or a redundant set of condensers) that are connected with the pressure vessel to condense steam in the event of a LOCA or loss of heat sinking event.
Disclosed herein are improvements that provide various benefits that will become apparent to the skilled artisan upon reading the following.

Integrated emergency core cooling system condenser for pressurized water reactor


In an embodiment, the present disclosure pertains to a method of determining optimal parameters for application of light from a light source to a tissue. In general, the method includes one or more of the following steps of: (1) utilizing an algorithm to generate results related to estimating light flow from the light source into the tissue; and (2) utilizing the results to determine optimal parameters for applying the light source to the tissue. In some embodiments, the method of the present disclosure further includes the step of: (3) applying the light source to the tissue using the optimal parameters; and (4) treating a condition associated with the tissue.

Typical methods for dose planning for photodynamic therapy (PDT) place large burdens on clinical staff. A simple standardized method for estimating light dose during daylight-PDT is needed to improve inter-site reproducibility while minimizing treatment times and eliminating burdens on clinical staff. Various embodiments of the present disclosure address the aforementioned needs.

Method for light treatment planning using location-informed models


A method for operating an electromechanical vehicle brake system is provided. The method comprises determining that an activation condition has been met, building an initial portion of the pre-charge pressure in the brake system, applying the initial portion of the pre-charge pressure to at least one wheel brake, building a secondary portion of the pre-charge pressure in the brake system, and adjusting the secondary portion of the pre-charge pressure to an expected braking pressure. Adjusting the secondary portion of the pre-charge pressure may include reducing the secondary portion of the pre-charge pressure.

Braking assistance systems fitted in vehicles support the driver of the vehicle on hazard or emergency braking. The principle is based on analysis of accident events. In this analysis it was found that the possible brake force amplification was actually only rarely used, since the foot brake was activated either too weakly or too late. The result is a disadvantageous elongation of the braking distance, which may for example lead to collision accidents.
Conventional brake force boosters operate with an evacuated volume. The difference between the vacuum (negative pressure) and the atmospheric pressure is used to generate an auxiliary force. This serves to increase the activation force applied by the driver, so that the actual braking force is composed of the activation force and the auxiliary force. In contrast, electromechanical braking systems work without vacuum. Here the braking pressure is produced exclusively by one or more electric motors. Hence there is no mechanical connection between the brake pedal and the wheel brake(s). The resistance felt for example at the brake pedal is produced independently in the form of feedback.
The combination of electronic and usually hydraulic components entails certain inertia in the response behavior of such electromechanical braking systems. In other words, these require a reaction time between the deceleration request and the actual occurrence of the initiated braking process. To counter this disadvantage, in a parallel German application, number 10 2014 211 377.6, the applicant has proposed a method for operating an electromechanical braking system for a vehicle. This significantly improves the performance of the braking system as a whole, both for a deceleration request initiated by the person operating the vehicle and for an automatic vehicle control system. The entire content of German application number 10 2014 211 377.6 is incorporated herein by reference.
The solution proposed provides that, in advance of a possible braking process, on the basis of a trigger factor, a temporary pre-pressure is created in at least one part of the vehicle braking system. In this way, when the expected braking process actually occurs, a pre-pressure created semi-preventatively is already present to an adequate level. During the actual braking process, the pre-pressure may be passed on, either in full or in part, to at least one wheel brake of the vehicle braking system. The pre-pressure may evidently also be supplemented by an additional pressure depending on the intensity of the braking process. As a result, the reaction time of the braking system is significantly reduced.
Despite the resulting advantages, electromechanical braking systems still offer room for improvement. Thus in connection with the creation of pre-pressure, the question arises of how this can be adapted ideally to the individual deceleration request.

Method for operating an electromechanical vehicle braking


According to one embodiment of the invention, a network-based management system comprises a controller, a networked device and a control server. The control server is in communications with both the controller and the networked device having a communication port for such communications. The control server generates a user interface for display on the controller and used to activate and/or deactivate the networked device.

With the expansion and public acceptance of the Internet, web cameras are being used more frequently. These cameras require a certain amount of bandwidth in order to route content over the Internet to a targeted viewer. Where multiple web cameras are deployed at a location, connections with much larger bandwidth capabilities (e.g., T-1 lines) are required in order to receive the content from these cameras. One existing challenge is to implement a system that can accommodate a large number of data streams from multiple cameras and concurrently control various remote devices and connections. Moreover, there is a need for a system that can control operational continuity of multiple networked devices.

System and method for monitoring equipment over a network


An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle body structure in which it is possible to improve a side collision performance of a vehicle. For this reason, a vehicle body structure 1 includes a roof side rail 10 that is disposed at an upper side position of a vehicle, and extends in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle; and a center pillar 14 which extends in a vertical direction of the vehicle, and an upper end portion of which is joined at a position in the way in which the roof side rail 10 extends. Each of fragile portions 20 and 22 is provided at a position apart from a joining spot of the center pillar 14 in the roof side rail 10 so as to have strength lower than that of other portions of the roof side rail 10.

Framework configuration members form a framework structure of a vehicle, and include a front pillar, a center pillar, a rear pillar, a roof side rail, a rocker, and the like. The front pillar is provided in a front portion of the vehicle. The center pillar is provided in a center portion of the vehicle in a longitudinal direction. The rear pillar is provided in a rear portion of the vehicle. The roof side rail is provided in an upper portion of the vehicle. The rocker is provided in a lower portion of the vehicle.
The framework structure of the vehicle is known in which the absorption of an impact is efficiently performed by controlling a deformation mode of the framework configuration member, which results from a side collision or the like. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a vehicle side body structure that includes a side sill that is provided in each of right and left lower portions of a vehicle body so as to extend in the longitudinal direction; a side roof rail that is provided in each of right and left upper portions of the vehicle body so as to extend in the longitudinal direction; the center pillar that is provided in each of right and left side portions of the vehicle body so as to extend in a vertical direction, and has upper and lower ends joined to the side roof rail and the side sill, respectively; and sill reinforcement portions that are provided along the side sill from the lower end of the center pillar at spots equally spaced apart in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle body. In the vehicle side body structure, a pair of sill reinforcement portions counteracts a torsional force exerted on the center pillar, and thus suppresses a torsional deformation of the center pillar.


An easy-assembled chair comprises a frame body having a seat frame; a cushion; the backside of the cushion having at least one recess; at least one through hole being formed in the recess; a back pad; a lower edge of the back pad being formed with at least one protruding sheet; at least one hook being installed at the protruding sheet; a combining device for combined handles or a table plate to legs of the seat frame of the frame body. The hook of the protruding sheet passes through the through hole of the recess of the cushion to hook the back rod of the seat frame. The frame body has supporting rods; and a rear side of the seat frame has a back rod; the hooks of the back pad can hook the back rod so as to secure the back pad to the frame body.

In the prior art chairs, the chair is formed mainly by a frame body, a cushion and a back pad. The assembly of these components are performed by studs and screws. However in this prior art structure, the components must be formed with threaded holes or protruded studs for combining these components, or some other screws are used to combine these components. Thereby the manufacturing process is complicated and the assembly work is tedious and time consumed. Thereby it is difficult as the components are to be reused because more works are necessary to detach these components, even it is very often the detaching of the studs and screws cannot be performed so that some components cannot be reused.


The production of household-machine washable and dryable, waterproof, nonflammable, and extremely colorfast leathers from wet blue hides by a process which has the advantage that significantly reduced volumes of toxic wastes are generated. The wet blue hides are washed and treated to equalize the pH at the surface and in the interior of the leather and to build at least one wanted end characteristics such as suppleness into the leather. This is followed by the introduction of additional character builders into the pores of the hide and the substitution of one or more softening agents for fats originally present in the pores of the hide. Next in a typical application of the invention are dyeing and the fixing of previously introduced substances in the pores of the hide. This is followed by refloatation with a hydrophobic waterproofing agent and buffering for pH equalization and increase of the pH. The hides are next treated to impart a pleasing, silky feel to the leather into which the hides are being converted and a hydrophobic silicone which promotes waterproofability and washability; and this is followed by a second fixing step.

"Tanning" is a process for treating animal hides which employs metal salts or substances found in plants and called tannin or a combination of metal salts and tannin. Tannin and metal tanning salts cause changes in the skins which make the skins resistant to decomposition; flexible; and very strong, which greatly improves their wear resistance. The tanned hides are called leather.
Tanning processes have been employed for many centuries to dress and preserve animal hides or skins. The treated skins are widely used for footwear, clothing, upholstery, sports equipment, saddlery, and many other items.
In conventional tanning processes, freshly split animal hides or skins are initially cured--typically by salting and/or drying--to prevent decay. These skins are treated to remove loose flesh and excess hair, typically by soaking them in a water bath containing enzymes and sometimes other chemical additives. The pretreated skins, commonly referred to as pelts, are bated by soaking them in an appropriate solution formulated to soften the pelts, to further remove excess proteins, and to improve color. In some cases, fatty substances are also leached out by additional soaking in solvent and/or detergent based solutions. The pelts are then chemically treated in vats with selected tanning agents of vegetable or mineral origin for conversion into leather. The leather is frequently treated with oils or fats or other lubricating agents to obtain soft and supple characteristics; and this is followed by appropriate dyeing, drying, and finishing steps.
The cleaning of such conventionally produced leathers can be difficult or impossible because leathers made by conventional tanning processes do not stay soft and compliant when wetted with water or water-based solutions of the type used for washing traditional woven fabrics. Instead, when wetted, leather products exhibit a tendency to become stiff and/or brittle as they dry with cracks or splits often occurring. Moreover, permanent discoloration and/or stains can occur when a conventional leather is wetted with water. As a result, cleaning techniques for leather have generally been limited to relatively costly dry cleaning processes employing organic solvents.
Attempts have been made to permit at least some contact of leathers with water without significant adverse consequences. For example, there are specially treated suede leathers somewhat capable of withstanding occasional spot cleaning with water-based solutions with only minimal change to surface characteristics or color. Other leathers have been treated during post-tanning processes with specialized oil formulations to enhance their resistance to water penetration and damage. However, even these leather products are not capable of withstanding repeated washing in water in the manner used for cleaning traditional woven fabrics.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,024 discloses a novel tanning process capable of producing leathers which, in contrast to even those made by the specialized treatment of conventionally tanned leathers, can be washed in water without cracking, drying out, or otherwise deteriorating. Instead, the leathers made by the patented process are soft, supple, and compliant and retain these characteristics, even after repeated washing.
The process disclosed in the '024 patent employs a preliminary step in which hides are impregnated with a grease/oil lubricating solution. the impregnated skins are then preserved by tanning to produce a soft and supple leather. Residual lubricating solution in the pores of the leather keeps the leather supple even after repeated washing in water.
Optimum results are obtained by starting with relatively thick skins having a well developed pore structure. The skins are typically split and cured by salting and/or drying. These skins are subjected to a preliminary cleaning step including tumbling in a bath of cold water. The tumbled skins are placed in a water-based bath containing a grease/oil lubricating solution designed to penetrate and impregnate the pores of the skins. The skins are tumbled in the lubricating solution at an elevated temperature, causing the pore structure of the skin to swell and absorb substantial quantities of the lubricating solution. Optimum results are obtained by first tumbling the skins in the heated bath and then allowing the skins to stand in the bath for at least several hours.
The thus-treated skins are removed from the lubricating solution bath, drained, and bated by tumbling them in a mild acid salt solution. Appropriate enzymes are normally added to the bating medium to assist in softening the skins and in removing excess proteins.
The bated skins are rinsed and tanned, preferably with a sequence of mineral and vegetable tanning agents. The result is leathers having a substantially closed pore structure with the absorbed lubricating solution trapped in the pores.
After the last (typically vegetable) tanning step, the skins are tumbled again in a water-based grease/oil lubricating solution containing additional lubricating agents to ensure that the leather is soft and supple. The resultant leather is drained and then finished in a conventional manner.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,024 is hereby incorporated by reference in and made a part of this specification.

Leather tanning processes and the products thereof


A lens including a flexible refractive optic having a fixed refractive index, an electro-active element embedded within the flexible refractive optic, wherein the electro-active element has an alterable refractive index, and a controller electrically connected to the electro-active element wherein when power is applied thereto the refractive index of the electro-active element is altered.

Intraocular lenses (IOLs) may be used within the eye for restoring vision function, for example, via implant for patients of cataract surgery. IOLs include monofocal lenses, which provide a single focal point or single optical power, multifocal lenses, which provide multiple focal points or optical powers, and accommodating lenses, which adjust the focus focal point or optical power of a lens.
The IOL may be inserted in a folded state through a small 3 mm or less incision of the eye. A syringe-like device having a piston may be used to help apply and position the IOL into the capsular bag which previously housed the removed natural crystalline lens. Once in the eye, the IOL may be unfolded to its natural state. When the incision size for inserting an IOL into the eye is larger than 2-3 mm undesired astigmatic changes of the cornea occur. Therefore ophthalmologists prefer to use the smallest incision possible for inserting an IOL into the eye. Therefore this makes a flexible and foldable IOL practically a necessity.
Corneal inlays, corneal on-lays and single vision and bifocal contact lenses are also used to correct the vision of the patient. In many cases, these are utilized to correct for the patient's distance and near vision needs. Each of these lenses is a very thin optic and requires curvature when applied on or in the eye.
Presently, all known electro-active elements within an electro-active lens are made of rigid materials. Although an electro-active element may be housed within a flexible outer host material, the electro-active element is rigid and therefore may add some rigidity to the contact lens.


A detection device includes: a first detector which irradiates light onto the target object and detects light emitted from the target object; a first shape information generator which generates first shape information representing a first shape of the target object on the basis of a detection result of the first detector; and a second shape information generator which adds a second shape, which is based on information different from the detection result of the first detector, to the first shape, and which generates second shape information representing a shape including the first shape and the second shape.

A technique for detecting three-dimensional shape information of an object has been known (for example, see Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2010-134546)). A depth camera used in such a technique, for example, irradiates a target object with light such as infrared light and detects light emitted from the target object. It is desirable in the above technique that the loss of shape information of, for example, the target object is low.

Detection device, processing device, equipment, detection method, and detection program


A system for measuring biological functions of a patient, such as cardiac output, filters noise from a signal provided by a thermistor catheter inserted into the body of the patient. A signal-conditioning cable is disposed between the catheter and an instrument which processes the signal to measure cardiac output. The cable includes circuitry which forms, in combination with a thermistor of the catheter, a low-pass filter for attenuating thermal and high-frequency noise from the signal provided to the instrument. The instrument can more accurately measure cardiac output with the filtered signal than with an unfiltered signal. Although the circuitry which forms the low-pass filter may be combined with the catheter or the instrument, it is preferred to dispose the circuitry in a separate cable to reduce manufacturing costs of the catheter and retrofitting costs of existing instruments.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems for measuring biological functions of a patient and, more particularly, to systems which use a thermistor catheter to measure biological functions continuously. The present invention also relates to methods and apparatus for reducing noise in a signal provided by a thermistor catheter to a processing instrument so that the instrument may more accurately measure biological functions such as cardiac output. The present invention is particularly beneficial in environments in which large amounts of thermal and/or high-frequency noise are present.
2. Description of the Related Art
Biological functions of a patient, particularly cardiac functions such as intercardiac pressure, flow rate, and ejection fraction, are monitored by physicians in order to obtain vital information necessary to perform various cardiovascular procedures. Of the various cardiac functions, cardiac output indicates to a physician the amount or volume of blood pumped by the heart per unit time. Information on a patient's cardiac output indicates the effectiveness of the heart as a pump and of blood circulation.
Cardiac output may be measured continuously throughout a particular surgical procedure. The cardiac output of a patient may also be measured before and after a surgical procedure. To measure cardiac output, the physician inserts a catheter into the cardiovascular system and positions the catheter at a target sight. The catheter has a heating element which is activated to heat the blood flowing around the catheter at the target sight. A temperature sensor, for example, a thermistor, positioned downstream of the heating element provides a signal from which blood temperature is calculated. Cardiac output may then be calculated based upon the blood temperature in conjunction with other variables.
The signal from the temperature sensor is relatively small. Accordingly, conventional temperature-sensing catheters are vulnerable to a number of error-inducing sources. A surgical theater is a particularly noisy electrical environment, due in part to multiple machines operating simultaneously. The human body is also very noisy. All of this electronic, thermal, and physiological noise decreases the accuracy of the signal from the temperature sensor and, therefore, affects the accuracy of cardiac output measurements and hinders a physician's ability to successfully diagnose, monitor, and treat cardiovascular problems of a patient. Although sophisticated signal-processing techniques and equipment have been employed in the prior art to reduce the amount of noise (and resultant error) as much as possible, there still exists a significant amount of noise in the measurement of cardiac output.
Conventional signal-processing techniques are implemented either on the catheter itself or in the processing instrumentation. As catheters are discarded after a single use, it is not cost effective to include signal-processing circuitry on the catheter. Such implementation increases the cost of the catheter and is wasteful as the catheter and the circuitry are disposed of after one use. Alternatively, the circuitry may be incorporated in the processing instrumentation. However, there are thousands of existing instruments in use which become obsolete and need to be replaced in view of new instruments including signal-processing circuitry. This is also expensive and wasteful.
Errors may also be introduced into the measurement of cardiac output when a thermal time response of the thermistor is fast. The thermal time response of a thermistor indicates how quickly the thermistor reacts to changes in temperature. One method attempting to overcome introduced errors is to control the time response of the thermistor by adding or subtracting material on the catheter at the thermistor. The amount of material controls the thermal time response mechanically. More material results in lower thermal diffusion, and less material results in higher thermal diffusion. One of the drawbacks of this approach is that it is expensive, particularly on disposable catheters. In addition, it is difficult to control the time response consistently with this mechanical approach.

Methods and apparatus for reducing noise in systems using thermistor catheters to measure biological functions