A method and apparatus are disclosed for comparing an input or query file to a set of files to detect similarities between the query file and the set of files, and digitally shredding files that match, to some degree, the query file and doing so from within the comparison feature. Using a comparison program, the query file is compared with each non-query file in a data processing system, ranging from a stand-alone computer to an enterprise computing network. A list of non-query files having some degree of similarity with the query file is compiled and presented to the user via a user interface within the comparison program. Certain or all non-query files can then be deleted by marking the names of those non-query files in the list. The comparison program can be of the type using either clustering or coalescing, or both, known hashing techniques, or other comparison algorithms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer applications and programming. More specifically, it relates to utility programs used to detect similarities and differences among multiple documents of the same or different type.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A common feature or utility in some word processing programs and operating systems is the ability to compare files and provide information on differences (or similarities) between the files. There are a variety of file comparison programs available which have different limitations and capabilities, for example, with regard to how and what comparison data is presented or the number of files that can be compared in one run. Many of these programs are adequate in certain aspects but have drawbacks in others making them poorly suited for certain applications. This is particularly true given the constantly growing trend to store, submit, transfer, copy, and otherwise manipulate information electronically.
One utility used to compare files in the UNIX operating system is known as diff This program can compare up to three files or documents. The output of this program is typically two columns of data. One column displays line numbers in one (subject) document across from a second column displaying line numbers in the query document that are different from corresponding line numbers in the subject document. Thus, the diff utility is used when the documents are assumed to be generally similar. The program uses a dynamic programming algorithm that computes the minimal xe2x80x9cedit distancexe2x80x9d between two documents. An xe2x80x9cedit distancexe2x80x9d between two documents, or strings, is the length of a minimal sequence of insertions, deletions, and substitutions that transforms one to the other. From information about how the minimal edit distance is derived diff computes matching passages in the two documents, which are presented to the user in the column format described earlier. The program can not find differences among sets or large bodies of documents, but typically between two or among three documents at most.
Other methods of comparing files can be broadly categorized as information retrieval methods. These methods compare statistical profiles of documents. For example, one strategy used by these methods is computing a histogram of word frequencies for each document, or a histogram of the frequency of certain pairs or juxtaposition of words in a document. Documents with similar histograms are considered to be similar documents. Refinements of these methods include document preprocessing (e.g. removing unimportant words) prior to computing the statistical profile and applying the same information retrieval method to subsections of documents. Some of the primary drawbacks of these methods include tendencies to provide false positive matches and presenting output or results in a form difficult to quickly evaluate. False positives arise because it is sometimes difficult to prevent dissimilar documents from having similar statistical profiles. With respect to presentation, these methods often simply provide correlations. In sum, these methods can often provide too little information about similarities or differences among documents thus requiring the user to closely evaluate the results and refer back to the files being compared to determine whether meaningful differences or similarities exist.
Another method is based on a procedure known as document fingerprinting. Fingerprinting a document involves computing hashes of selected substrings in a document. A particular set of substring hashes chosen to represent a document is the document""s fingerprint. The similarity of two documents is defined as a ratio C/T where C is the number of hashes the two documents have in common and T is the total number of hashes taken of one of the documents. Assuming a well-behaved hash function, this ratio is a good estimate of the actual percentage overlap between the two documents. However, this also assumes that a sufficient number of substring hashes are used. Various approaches have been used in determining which substrings in a document are selected for hashing and which of these substring hashes are saved as part of the document fingerprint. One way is to compute hashes of all substrings of a fixed length k and retain those hashes that are 0 mod p for some integer p. Another way is partitioning the document into substrings with hashes that are 0 mod p and saving those hashes. The difference from the first way is that the substrings selected are not of fixed length. In this method, a character is added to a substring until the hash of the substring is 0 mod p, at which point the next substring is formed. In order to reduce memory requirements, the program can set p to 15 or 20 thereby saving, in theory, every 15th or 20th hash value. However, based on probability theory, for a large body of documents, there will be large gaps where no hash value will be saved. This can potentially lead to the situation where an entire document is bypassed without having a single substring hash value saved for a fingerprint. More generally, if gaps between stored hash values are too long, a document""s fingerprint will be faint or thin and, thus, ill-suited for comparison to other documents.
Another related feature useful to many types of organizations is the ability to purge or delete documents and files containing redundant material. A feature of this type is useful for a variety of reasons, such as making better use of memory by deleting multiple copies of the same document or keeping better track of multiple versions of the same document within an organization. Importantly, many organizations temporarily use proprietary documents. When the time comes to delete the proprietary material, it is important to locate and delete all documents that may include fragments of the original proprietary documents. Comparison functions described above and as well as others generally do not include the additional feature allowing a user to delete or xe2x80x9cshredxe2x80x9d documents or passages that match a query document. Further, present comparison programs are largely inadequate for properly identifying the full complement of documents in a corpus that may include significant overlapping content with a proprietary query document (e.g. on original document). Note also that in current approaches, a user has to exit a comparison program, after manually or mentally noting which documents are to be deleted, and use typical operating system commands to delete the documents. In other words, the deletion process is separated from the comparison function thereby increasing the possibility of deleting the wrong documents and making the process further time-consuming. A document shredding component inherent in a comparison program would allow a user to delete documents efficiently and with the reduced possibility of committing errors in deleting wrong documents or leaving out documents meant to be deleted.
Therefore, it would be desirable to determine similarities among large sets of documents in a manner that guarantees that if a substring of a predefined length in one of the documents appears in another document, it will be detected, and thereby not rely on probability for measuring comparison accuracy. In addition, it would be desirable to present comparison results in a meaningful and easily comprehensible format to users thereby enabling quick evaluation of document similarities. It would also be desirable to be able to delete or otherwise manipulate documents similar to a query document without having to exit a document matching program, thereby enhancing a document comparison feature. It would be desirable to give a user the option to be presented with a user interface that facilitates the deletion of documents having a certain percentage of similarity with one or more query documents.
To achieve the foregoing, and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, methods, apparatus, and computer program products for comparing an input or query file to a set of files to detect similarities and formatting the output comparison data are described. In one aspect of the present invention, a method of comparing files and formatting output data involves receiving an input query file that can be segmented into multiple query file substrings. A query file substring is selected and used to search an index file containing multiple ordered file substrings that were taken from previously analyzed files. If the selected query file substring matches any of the multiple ordered file substrings, match data relating to the match between the selected query file substring and the matching ordered file substring is stored in a temporary file. The matching ordered file substring and another ordered file substring are joined if the matching ordered file substring and the other ordered file substring are in a particular sequence and if the selected query file substring and a second query file substring are in the same particular sequence. If the matching ordered file substring and the second query file substring match, a coalesced matching ordered substring and a coalesced query file substring are formed that can be used to format output comparison data.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of comparing two strings in a data processing system, where the strings can represent various types of documents or files, is described. Substrings common to the strings are identified. A subset of substrings, from within the common substrings, which occur in the same relative positions in the two strings are identified. Substrings which are present in the same relative positions in the two strings are then stored as a group or displayed as a group.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of segmenting a file, representable as a string of characters, as one step in a file matching program is described. Multiple substrings or segments from the string of characters having a predetermined length and a beginning position are created. A predetermined offset or gap between the beginning positions of each consecutive segment is maintained. A file matching program using the multiple segments and the predetermined offset is executed. The program is able to detect a similar passage between two or more files where the passage has a length of at least the sum of the predetermined length and the predetermined offset.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of comparing a first string and a second string is described. The first string is divided into multiple substrings of length l and offset or gap g between two substrings, where g is at least two characters long. A substring of length l is selected from the second string. It is then determined whether the substring of length l from the second string matches any of the multiple substrings from the first string. If the substring from the second string matches any substring from the first string, the substring from the second string is saved, at least temporarily. Finally, it is indicated that the substring from the second string matches a particular substring from the first string.
In another aspect of the present invention, a method of digitally shredding documents based on the documents similarity with one or more query documents and doing so from within a document comparison program is described. A first string, representing a query document, is compared with a group of second strings representing a corpus of non-query documents. A list of second string names taken from the group of second strings is compiled. Each second string corresponds to a name from the list of second string names and matches the first string to a degree or percentage greater than a particular threshold degree or percentage. Second string names corresponding to second strings (i e., non-query documents) are deleted from the list of names thereby eliminating copies of the first string (i.e., query documents) and remnants, such as partial copies or derivatives of the first string from the data processing system.

Method and apparatus for digitally shredding similar documents within large document sets in a data processing environment

The Regents of the University of California


An improved sharpening technique sharpens an image using diffusion rather than a Gaussian blur in the smearing phase. After an appropriate radius or number of passes is determined for the pixels of an image, a diffusive process is applied to the image in the smearing phase to generate a blurred image. The values of each pixel in the original image are differenced with the values of each corresponding pixel in the blurred image. The difference may be weighted by input from a user. The resulting value is added to the original image and a sharpened version of the original image is created.

Editing digital images is a practice used by photography professionals and amateurs alike, given the wide availability of photo editing software. A type of editing common to all digital image processing is image sharpening. Image sharpening emphasizes the changes in an image; that is, it accentuates changes in a dark to light band as opposed to smoothing the change out across pixels.
There are limitations to image sharpening, however. Specifically, sharpening emphasizes "noise." "Noise" in an image is the random fluctuation above and below actual image data and is a product of measuring imperfectly.
Unsharp masking is one kind of sharpening that is not too noise sensitive. Unsharp masking includes a smear phase and a differencing phase. Using the technique of unsharp masking produces a sharpened image based on a multiple of the difference between the pixel values in an original image and the corresponding pixel values of a blurred copy of the original image. Ordinarily, the blurred copy is computed by a convolution with a Gaussain, both of which are defined below.
Convolutions and Kernels
Convolution is a simple mathematical operation which is fundamental to many common image processing operators. Convolution provides a way of multiplying together two arrays of numbers, generally of different sizes, but of the same dimensionality, to produce a third array of numbers of the same dimensionality. The first array of numbers, in an image processing context, is the actual image, and the second array of numbers is a kernel. The kernel is applied against the image (added, multiplied, etc.) via convolution. Convolution is used in image processing to implement operators whose output pixel values are simple linear combinations of certain input pixel values.
By way of illustration, in an image processing context, one of the input arrays is simply a graylevel image. The second array is usually much smaller, and is also two-dimensional (although it may be just a single pixel thick), and is known as the kernel. The convolution is performed by sliding the kernel over the image, generally starting at the top left corner, so as to move the kernel through all the positions where the kernel fits entirely within the boundaries of the image. Each kernel position corresponds to a single output pixel, the value of which is calculated by multiplying together the kernel value and the underlying image pixel value for each of the cells in the kernel, and then adding all these numbers together.
Gaussain Blurs
The Gaussian smoothing operator is a two-dimensional convolution operator that is used to blur images and remove detail and noise. It uses a kernel that represents the shape of a Gaussian ("bell-shaped") hump. The idea of Gaussian smoothing is to use this 2-D distribution as a point-spread function, and this is achieved by convolution. Since the image is stored as a collection of discrete pixels, a discrete approximation to the Gaussian function is produced before convolution is performed.
Gaussian blurs are an obvious choice for the smearing phase of unsharp masking, not because of its shape, but because it is, in theory, infinitely smooth. However, there are several problems with Gaussian blurs. First, true Gaussians have infinite extent, which is impossible in a kernel. Therefore, some approximation is required. The approximation must always include truncating the Gaussian kernel. A truncated Gaussian is no longer infinitely smooth, which is one of its critical characteristics. In addition to truncation, discretization (i.e. the process of converting from real values to discrete values) magnifies the non-smoothness of a truncated Gaussian kernel. When an image is convolved with a non-smooth kernel, any lack of smoothness of the blurring curve gets magnified in the differencing phase, which introduces noise into the image.
Second, Gaussian blurs take a relatively long time to compute, despite the availability of ever faster processors. Computation complexity is an issue because the size of digital images today generally begins around 5 mega pixels for amateur photo editors and can be as high as 15 mega pixels for professional photographers. Gaussian kernels are generally 5×5 matrices, which means that for each pixel in a graylevel image there might be 25 calculations, and for each pixel in a color image there might be 75 calculations (because the Gaussian blur is performed on each red, green, and blue pixel value in each pixel). Thus, for a 10 mega pixel color image, one Gaussian blur makes approximately 750,000,000 calculations. Such a strain on a processor is significant. As a result, many software applications, instead of performing all the required calculations, perform a shortcut by attempting to approximate Gaussian blurs, which results in even less of a smooth blurring and increases noise.
Lastly, Gaussian blurs do not work well at very small pixel radii, such as one pixel, which is most often what a user wants. There are several reasons for this. First, a Gaussian kernel must have the sum of its weight equal to 1. If it is very small-width kernel, the weights applied to individual pixels are large, which reduces smoothing. Second, the discretization error is proportionally much larger when a Gaussian kernel is approximated over only nine pixels, the minimum possible size (because the source kernel must be at the center and the kernel must be square, the kernel size must be the square of an odd number. A 1×1 kernel does nothing. Third, the undesirable effects of truncation are large because the individual pixel weights are large, so the dropoff to zero outside the kernel is sharp. Finally, the fundamental nature of a Gaussian blur is superposition, which roughly means blurring each pixel individually and summing the results. Thus, a Gaussian blur emphasizes precision over smoothness.
Based on the foregoing, there is room for improvement in image sharpening, particularly in the smearing phase of the process.
The techniques described in this section are techniques that could be pursued, but not necessarily techniques that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the techniques described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.


The invention comprises a method for migrating control plane data transport between a control node (5) and a base station (5) controlled by the control node from an old and currently used transport technology, e.g. an ATM based transport option, to a new transport technology, e.g. an IP based transport option. A protocol stack for the new transport technology is created (31) in the control node (5). In a similar manner, a protocol stack for the new transport technology is created (31) in the base station (7). Thereafter, a connection based on the new transport technology is formed (33) between the control node and the base station. Then the new transport technology is used (39) on the formed connection for at least one new control plane message between the control node to the base station. The invention comprises also a device for controlling a migration of control plane data transport between a control node and a base station in accordance with the above-described method and a control node comprising such a device.

For many years there has been an increasing interest in wireless communications using cellular radio communications networks (cellular networks hereinafter). The cellular networks were originally based on analogue radio technologies and used foremost for fixed or mobile radio telephony services. Modern cellular networks are digital and are used for an increased range of services including various data services, such as messaging, downloading of music, video and other files, email communications, Internet access etc. The cellular industry is constantly seeking ways to provide new or improved services. For example, with the introduction of EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) technology for GSM (Global System for Mobile communications) and the HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) for WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), data communication using cellular networks has reached new heights. Development of IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) provides IP (Internet Protocol) based communications in a variety of modes—including voice, text, pictures and video, or any combination of these—in a highly personalised and secure way. IMS may, for example, be used to provide PoC (Push-to-talk over Cellular).
The cellular network has a design that is based on a number of radio nodes, often referred to as base stations, base transceiver stations, node Bs, radio access points or similar. Hereinafter, for the sake of simplicity, the term base station will be used as a generic expression covering any such radio node. The base stations provide radio coverage in one or more geographical regions, commonly referred to as cells. A user located in one of the cells can access the cellular network with a so-called user equipment (UE), i.e. equipment having necessary radio communication capabilities for communicating with the cellular network via the base stations. For example, the user equipment can be a mobile radio terminal (e.g. a mobile phone) for services such as speech and selected data communications, a personal computer having associated radio communications equipment, a mobile communicator for services such as speech and extensive data communications, a fixed radio telephone etc. The cellular network normally includes a core network linked directly of indirectly to the base stations for providing basic communication services, such as switching and transport, as well as the above-mentioned higher level services. Mobility is normally supported by the cellular network, i.e. the cellular network allows the user to move within the network while using communication services. This is usually accomplished by means of handovers between base stations. Handovers can of course also be performed between cellular networks, in order to support so-called roaming.
One example of a so-called third generation cellular network is the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), which is standardised by an undertaking known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). The radio access network in UMTS is abbreviated UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network). Key components of the UTRAN are the base stations (Node B) and the Radio Network Controllers (RNC). Communications between the user equipments and the UTRAN is performed over a standardised radio interface, most commonly based on WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access). The UTRAN additionally provides connectivity between the core network and the user equipments. The RNC is a governing control node controlling a number of base stations connected to the RNC. The 3GPP specified interface between the RNC and each associated base station is referred to as Iub. NBAP (Node B Application Protocol) is control plane protocol, which is designed to manage the logical resources of the base stations. The NBAP forms the basis for radio network control signalling between the RNC and the base stations and essentially handles all procedures between these two nodes. The NBAP protocol may be subdivided into NBAP common (C-NEAP) and NBAP dedicated (D-NBAP). The C-NBAP controls overall Node-B functionality. C-NBAP procedures are procedures that request initiation of a base station Communication Context for a specific UE in the base station or are not related to a specific UE. C-NBAP procedures also incorporate logical O&M procedures. Consequently, C-NBAP is used for controlling the base station itself, and for setting up dedicated connections towards the UEs. This implies that the common procedures are of a more essential nature. If they are unavailable, it is in principle impossible for RNC to control the base station. D-NBAP procedures are procedures that are related to a specific base station Communication Context in the base station. This base station Communication Context is identified by a Node-B Communication Context identity. Consequently, D-NBAP is used for communication with individual UEs. Each UE is related to a "communication context", thus is it possible to control a plurality of UEs simultaneously. The dedicated procedures are considered less critical, since they only relate to phone call(s).
NBAP control plane data is carried on transport bearers over the Iub interface between the RNC and the base stations. The 3GPP (3GPP TS 25.432) specifies various transport technology options for NBAP signalling over the Iub interface. The traditional transport option is ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode), but the 3GPP standard also supports the more modern IP (Internet Protocol) based transport option. Many operators are therefore currently migrating from the ATM based transport option to the IP based transport option. One known way to effect this migration involves the following. All traffic on the base station is stopped in a clean way, i.e. without dropping any calls. The ATM based NBAP connection is thereafter terminated, e.g. closed or cut. The base station is adapted to exhibit a timeout behaviour in response to the termination. That is, when the base station detects an interruption on the NBAP connection, the base station waits for a predetermined time (normally about ten seconds) and, if the NEAP connection is still interrupted, the base station takes down all its cells. This will drop all calls and stop all base station operation within a few seconds. A completely new NEAP connection is established using the new IP based transport option. This procedure can in principle be performed within a few minutes, but nevertheless requires base station down time, and is therefore generally performed at night. The technique requires extra planning and scheduling. This leads to increased costs and lost revenues for the operator, and to bad working hours for staff. Dropped calls may also negatively influence a reputation of the operator.
Consequently, an object of the present invention is to overcome or a least mitigate at least one of the above-indicated difficulties.

Method and apparatus to migrate transport protocols


A pullout assembly for a tall cupboard including U-shaped stationary, intermediate, and pullout rails, with the stationary and pullout rails being respectively attachable to a tall cupboard and a pullout section of the tall cupboard and with the three rails being arranged in a nested relationship relative to each other, and further including two stops for limiting a pullout length of the pullout rail with one stop being provided in the front region of the intermediate rail and projecting upward from the foot web of the intermediate rail, and another stop being provided on an underside of the foot web of the pullout rail, and with at least one of the two stops being releasably secured to a respective rail.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pullout assembly for a tall cupboard including a stationary U-shaped rail securable to a cupboard and having vertical side checks and support rollers which are provided in a region of an end side of the stationary rail and which project above the vertical side cheeks of the stationary rail, a pullout U-shaped rail telescopically arrange within the stationary rail in a nested relationship therewith and securable to an underside of a pullout section of the cupboard, the pullout rail being provided on its opposite outer sides in its rear region with running rollers which project downwardly beneath a foot web connecting opposite side cheeks of the pullout rail, and at least one intermediate U-shaped rail arranged between the stationary and pullout rails in a nested relationship therewith and having opposite cheeks provided at their upper edges with horizontal T-shaped flanges, the intermediate rail being provided in its front region with support rollers projecting vertically above the T-shaped flanges and in its rear region with running rollers projecting vertically beneath a foot web connecting the opposite cheeks of the pullout rail.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A pullout slide assembly of the type described above is disclosed in a prospect of a firm "Peka Metal AG" of February, 1996. In this assembly, the U-shaped pullout rail is so arranged that its open side faces downwardly and the side flanges are received between rollers of the central or intermediate rail. To take into the account different depths of the tall cupboards, several pullout slide assemblies with different lengths need be employed, with the pullout assemblies distinguishing from each other only by their length. As a rule, ten and more pullout slide assemblies of the same type but having a different length have been used, with a difference in length between two separate assemblies amounting to 50 mm. Thus, for a depth range from 400 to 1000 mm, ten or more pullout assemblies were required. The need for a large number of pullout slide assemblies led to a large expenditure of material and required a large storage space.
A rolling guide for such an assembly is disclosed in German publication DE 34 25 517A1. In the assembly disclosed in this German document, braking and/or stop means in a form of a braking member, which is secured on the inner rail, is used, which can be actuated even when the maximum displacement the inner rail with respect to the outer rail has not been effected. To this end, an elongate slot is provided in the inner rail and within which the braking member, which can be secured in a desired position, is arbitrary displaceable. The longitudinal displacement of the braking member permits to determine when the action of the braking member takes place with regard to the desired braking and an end position locking. For pullout assemblies for tall cupboards, this solution is neither applicable nor can it be transferred to the pullout slide assembly of the above-described type.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a pullout slide assembly of the above-described type which would be capable of being used for a larger depth range while having a single predetermined length, so that it can be used for tall cupboards having different depths.


A method of switching a display device according to one embodiment of the present specification can include the steps of displaying an image received from a rear side camera of the display device on a touch sensitive display unit positioned at the front side of the display device, setting an area on which a predetermined gesture is to be recognized based on a touch input and if a gesture substantially identical to the predetermined gesture is recognized on the set area in the image received from the rear side camera, capturing an image using the rear side camera.

Field of the Invention
The present specification relates to a display device and a method of controlling therefor.
Discussion of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a diagram for one embodiment of a display device.
Referring to FIG. 1, a user captures an image using a rear side camera (not depicted) positioned at the rear side of a display device 100. The user may want to be captured with other persons in a picture. In this case, the user may ask someone else to take a picture. Yet, a picture taken by the other person may be different from a picture that the user wants to take. For instance, the picture taken by the other person may be different from a picture to which the user wants to take in terms of a posture and composition. In order to constantly maintain composition of a picture, a tripod can be used. Yet, since it is difficult to precisely know when a picture is taken in case of using a timer, it is hard to take a posture and a look that the user wants.
A user may select a method of taking a picture while directly watching an object by eyes of the user. In this case, the user holds the display device 100 by one hand and may take a picture using a front side camera 131. The user can check an image to be captured using a display unit 120. Yet, in case of using the front side camera 131, composition of a picture to be captured is limited due to a physical limitation of the user. Moreover, resolution of the front side camera 131 is lower than that of a rear side camera in general.
Hence, it is required to have a method of taking a picture in composition desired by a user using the rear side camera.

Display device and method of controlling therefor


The present invention relates to an apparatus used for tightening tire chains. One embodiment of the present invention includes an outer portion and an inner portion. The outer and inner portions have a plurality of first and second apertures, respectively. A plurality of arms are secured onto the inner portion and extend through the second aperture and then through the first apertures. The arms have a first end which is adapted to be secured onto the inner portion, and a second end which is adapted to secure to a tire chain. A bar variably couples the outer portion and the inner portion. The distance between the outer and inner portions adds or subtracts tension in the arm which correspondingly adds or subtracts tension in the tire chain.

Tire chains are often wrapped around a tire to provide added traction for snow-laden roads or for off-road driving. They are used by a number of different vehicles such as passenger cars, trucks, ATVs (all terrain vehicles), tractors and motorcycles. These chains are typically comprised of chain links or wire cable arranged in two generally parallel portions with crossing portions which connect to both parallel chain portions. One common configuration for a tire chain has two parallel portions and a plurality of crossing portions which are generally perpendicular to each parallel chain portion. Once attached to a tire, the crossing chain portion runs generally across the treads of a tire and provides added traction.
Generally, a tire chain is applied circumferentially around a tire, with opposite ends of the tire chain being connected to each other to complete a loop. A drawback of conventional tire chains is that they are often difficult to apply, especially if the tire chain fits snugly around a tire. However, a loose fitting tire chain is often less effective. Furthermore, tire sizes often vary and one set of tire chains may not be suitable for certain tire sizes. There is a benefit to using a larger tire chain and then tightening the tire chain to fit snugly around a tire.
There are tire chain tightening mechanisms which are known in the art. Many of these simply connect the end portions of the tire chains. These devices typically just extend between end portions of the tire chain. However, depending upon the fit of the tire chains around the tire, these devices may also be very difficult to apply. Furthermore, these devices have a very limited adjustment range. Consequently, there is a need for a tire chain tightening apparatus that is easier to install on a tire, and that has a greater range of adjustment.


A processor architecture for multimedia applications includes processor clusters providing vectorial data processing capability. Processing elements in the processor clusters process both data with a bit length N and data with bit lengths N/2, N/4, and so on according to a Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) function. A load unit loads into the processor clusters data to be processed according to a same instruction. An intercluster data path exchanges data between the processor clusters. The intercluster data path is scalable to activate selected processor clusters. The processor operates simultaneously on SIMD, scalar and vectorial data.

There is an increasing demand for microprocessor architectures adapted to meet the requirements of various multimedia processing tasks and algorithms. The quest for increasing performance levels, however, needs to cope with the demands for limiting power consumption and code size growth.
Vectorial and/or SIMD (Single Instruction, Multiple Data) architectures are thus used in applications with massive data parallelism, while VLIW (Very Long Instruction Word) architectures are optimal for applications with high instruction parallelism.
The multi-dimensional microprocessor described in U.S. published patent application no. 2005/0283587 is exemplary of a microprocessor with SIMD/vectorial capabilities based on a VLIW machine. As mentioned in this description, an example architecture for digital media processing was introduced by Intel with their MXP5800/MXP5400 processor architecture. A multi-dimensional microprocessor architecture improves significantly over this more conventional architecture. For instance, in the MXP5800/MXP5400 architecture, processors require an external PCI-based host processor for downloading microcode, register configuration, register initialization, and interrupt servicing. Conversely, in a multi-dimensional microprocessor architecture this task is allotted to one computational unit for each column.
Moreover, if compared against the case of a multi-dimensional microprocessor, the basic computational block in the MXP5800/MXP5400 processors is inevitably more complex. It includes five programming elements, and each of these has its own registers and its own instruction memory. This entails a significant area size and large power consumption, particularly because a power management unit is not used to power down inactive Processing Elements (PEs).
While prior art arrangements as disclosed in U.S. published patent application no. 2005/0283587 are satisfactory for a number of applications, different types of data and instruction processing may co-exist within the same application. The processor core should support them dynamically by adapting its behavior at run time, i.e., while the algorithm is running.

Processor architecture with processing clusters providing vector and scalar data processing capability


A material supplying container and an image forming apparatus are provided. The material supplying container includes two or more containers each of which contains a material; supply openings respectively formed in and corresponding to the containers; and seal members that respectively close the supply openings, wherein the supply openings can be opened by simultaneously operating the seal members.

(i) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a material supplying container which is used in an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, a complex machine of these factors, etc. which forms an image on a recording medium such as recording paper, employing electro photographic system.
(ii) Related Art
The image forming apparatus employing the electro photographic system such as a copying machine and a printer is so constructed that an electrostatic latent image formed on a photoconductive drum, for example, is developed with a developer (toner) by a developing device to form a toner image, and this toner image is transferred to a recording medium such as recording paper to be fixed thereon.
Developing system in the developing device to be employed in the image forming apparatus of the above described type includes one-component developing system in which magnetic toner is used, and two-component developing system in which two-component developer containing toner and magnetic carrier mixed is used. Recently, particularly in a color image forming apparatus, the two-component developing system in which color toner not containing magnetic particles is used is a mainstream.
In whichever developing device of the one-component developing system or the two-component developing system, it is necessary to provide a structure for replenishing the toner which will be consumed along with formation of images.
Generally, replenishment of the toner is performed by using a developer container (a toner cartridge) which is detachably mounted on the developing device.
The toner cartridge is provided with an opening for supplying the toner to the developing device. The opening is closed by a seal member to contain the toner in the toner cartridge.
The seal member which closes the opening is so constructed that the opening can be opened by operation from the exterior, after the toner cartridge has been mounted on the developing device. In this manner, the toner can be prevented from scattering, when it is supplied to the developing device.
As the seal member for this purpose, use of a seal tape is known. In a structure where the seal tape is used, the seal tape is bonded to the toner cartridge so as to cover the opening, and folded back at one end of the opening in a longitudinal direction to be returned to the other end side, so that a distal end of the seal tape is projected outward. Accordingly, by pulling the tip end which is projected outward, the seal tape will be removed from a depth in the toner cartridge, whereby the opening can be opened.
As the seal tape, a so-called heat seal is used in many cases. The heat seal is made of a resin tape as a substrate having a fusible layer which will be fused by heat formed on its one face, and when the fusible layer is heated and pressurized with a hot plate or the like, the fusible layer will be fused and bonded to an objective position (the opening).
Moreover, as another system for replenishing the toner, there has been known an image forming apparatus which is so constructed that an image forming unit (a so-called process cartridge) in which a developing device having a toner storage container and a photoconductive drum are integrally incorporated can be exchanged as a whole. The image forming unit is detachably mounted on a main body of the image forming apparatus. Generally, in the image forming unit, components of other mechanisms related to electro photographic process to be disposed around the photoconductive drum are also integrally incorporated.
Even in the image forming unit as described above, a toner containing room which contains the toner is shut from the developing device by the seal member so that the toner can be prevented from leaking outside through the developing device during transportation or so. As the seal member, the structure using the above described seal tape is employed in many cases, so that opening operation can be done from outside of the image forming unit. In order to exchange the image forming unit, a new image forming unit with its seal member removed will be mounted on the main body of the image forming apparatus. Because the seal member isolates the toner containing room from the developing device in the image forming unit, the toner will not be scattered immediately, when the seal member is removed to do the mounting work.

Material supplying container having sealing member, and image forming unit including same


A toothbrush assembly includes a handle having a toothbrush head mounted at a forward distal end of the handle, with the handle head having a head top surface. Plural rows of bristle columns are mounted fixedly to the handle head's top surface, with the bristle rows arranged in varying angulations towards a forward or rear end of the toothbrush head to accommodate access to various portions of an individual's mouth during a toothbrushing procedure.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to toothbrush construction, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved angulated bristle toothbrush wherein the same is arranged with a plurality of toothbrush columns of varying angulations mounted to a top surface of the toothbrush head.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Toothbrush construction of various types have been utilized throughout the prior art to accommodate access to various components of an individual's mouth during a toothbrushing procedure. Such toothbrushes are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,608 to Key wherein the bristle head is formed having a fixed obtuse angle medially of the toothbrush head.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,142 to Yoshioka sets forth a toothbrush head having the bristles directed towards a medial center of the toothbrush head.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,202 to Ledwitz sets forth a toothbrush head having angulated bristles, wherein the bristles include first bristles having an orthogonal orientation relative to the toothbrush head, with a plurality of secondary bristles mounted at a generally forty-five degree angle relative to the toothbrush head.
Accordingly, it may be appreciated that there continues to be a need for a new and improved angulated bristle toothbrush as set forth by the instant invention which addresses both the problems of ease of use as well as effectiveness in construction arranged with angulated bristles and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


The present invention provides CDR-grafted antibodies against human tissue factor that retain the high binding affinity of rodent monoclonal antibodies against tissue factor but have reduced immunogenicity. The present humanized antibodies are potent anticoagulants and are thus useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of human thrombotic disease. The invention also provides methods of making the CDR-grafted antibodies and pharmaceutical compositions for the attenuation or prevention of coagulation.

The coagulation of blood involves a cascading series of reactions leading to the formation of fibrin. The coagulation cascade consists of two overlapping pathways, both of which are required for hemostasis. The intrinsic pathway comprises protein factors present in circulating blood, while the extrinsic pathway requires tissue factor, which is expressed on the cell surface of a variety of tissues in response to vascular injury. Davie et al., 1991, Biochemistry 30:10363. Agents that interfere with the coagulation cascade, such as heparin and coumarin derivatives, have well-known therapeutic uses in the prophylaxis of venous thrombosis. Goodman and Gilman, eds., 1980, The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York.
Tissue factor (TF) has been investigated as a target for anticoagulant therapy. TF is a membrane glycoprotein that functions as a receptor for factor VII and VIIa and thereby initiates the extrinsic pathway of the coagulation cascade in response to vascular injury. In addition to its role in the maintenance of hemostasis by initiation of blood clotting, TF has been implicated in pathogenic conditions. Specifically, the synthesis and cell surface expression of TF has been implicated in vascular disease (Wilcox et al., 1989, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 86:2839) and gram-negative septic shock (Warr et al., 1990, Blood 75:1481).
Ruf et al. (1991, Thrombosis and Haemostasis 66:529) characterized the anticoagulant potential of murine monoclonal antibodies against human TF. The inhibition of TF function by most of the monoclonal antibodies that were assessed was dependent upon the dissociation of the TF/VIIa complex that is rapidly formed when TF contacts plasma. Such antibodies were thus relatively slow inhibitors of TF in plasma. One monoclonal antibody, TF8-5G9, was capable of inhibiting the TF/VIIa complex without dissociation of the complex, thus providing an immediate anticoagulant effect in plasma. Ruf et al. suggest that mechanisms that inactivate the TF/VIIa complex, rather than prevent its formation, may provide strategies for interruption of coagulation in vivo.
The therapeutic use of monoclonal antibodies against TF is limited in that currently available monoclonals are of rodent origin. The use of rodent antibodies in human therapy presents numerous problems, the most significant of which is immunogenicity. Repeated doses of rodent monoclonal antibodies have been found to elicit an anti-immunoglobulin response termed human anti-mouse antibody (HAMA), which can result in immune complex disease and/or neutralization of the therapeutic antibody. See, e.g., Jaffers et al. (1986) Transplantation 41:572. While the use of human monoclonal antibodies would address this limitation, it has proven difficult to generate large amounts of human monoclonal antibodies by conventional hybridoma technology.
Recombinant technology has been used in an effort to construct "humanized" antibodies that maintain the high binding affinity of rodent monoclonal antibodies but exhibit reduced immunogenicity in humans. Chimeric antibodies have been produced in which the variable (V) region of a mouse antibody is combined with the constant (C) region of a human antibody in an effort to maintain the specificity and affinity of the rodent antibody but reduce the amount of protein that is non-human and thus immunogenic. While the immune response to chimeric antibodies is generally reduced relative to the corresponding rodent antibody, the immune response cannot be completely eliminated, because the mouse V region is capable of eliciting an immune response. Lobuglio et al. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 86:4220; Jaffers et al. (1986) Transplantation 41:572.
In a recent approach to reducing immunogenicity of rodent antibodies, only the rodent complementarity determining regions (CDRs), rather than the entire V domain, are transplanted to a human antibody. Such humanized antibodies are known as CDR-grafted antibodies. CDRs are regions of hypervariability in the V regions that are flanked by relatively conserved regions known as framework (FR) regions. Each V domain contains three CDRs flanked by four FRs. The CDRs fold to form the antigen binding site of the antibody, while the FRs support the structural conformations of the V domains. Thus by transplanting the rodent CDRs to a human antibody, the antigen binding domain can theoretically also be transferred. Owens et al. (1994) J. Immunol. Methods 168:149 and Winter et al. (1993) Immunology Today 14:243 review the development of CDR-grafted antibodies.
Orlandi et al. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:3833 constructed a humanized antibody against the relatively simple hapten nitrophenacetyl (NP). The CDR-grafted antibody contained mouse CDRs and human FRs, and exhibited NP binding activity similar to the native mouse antibody. However, the construction of CDR-grafted antibodies recognizing more complex antigens has resulted in antibodies having binding activity significantly lower than the native rodent antibodies. In numerous cases it has been demonstrated that the mere introduction of rodent CDRs into a human antibody background is insufficient to maintain full binding activity, perhaps due to distortion of the CDR conformation by the human FR.
For example, Gorman et al. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 88:4181 compared two humanized antibodies against human CD4 and observed considerably different avidies depending upon the particular human framework region of the humanized antibody. Co et al. (1991) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:2869 required a refined computer model of the murine antibody of interest in order to identify critical amino acids to be considered in the design of a humanized antibody. Kettleborough et al. (1991) Protein Engineering 4:773 report the influence of particular FR residues of a CDR-grafted antibody on antigen binding, and propose that the residues may directly interact with antigen, or may alter the conformation of the CDR loops. Similarly, Singer et al. (1993) J. Immunol. 150:2844 report that optimal humanization of an anti-CD18 murine monoclonal antibody is dependent upon the ability of the selected FR to support the CDR in the appropriate antigen binding conformation. Accordingly, recreation of the antigen-binding site requires consideration of the potential intrachain interactions between the FR and CDR, and manipulation of amino acid residues of the FR that maintain contacts with the loops formed by the CDRs. While general theoretical guidelines have been proposed for the design of humanized antibodies (see, e.g., Owens et al.), in all cases the procedure must be tailored and optimized for the particular rodent antibody of interest.
There is a need in the art for humanized antibodies with reduced immunogenicity and comparable binding affinity relative to the parent rodent antibody for various therapeutic applications. In particular, there is a need for a humanized antibody against human tissue factor having anticoagulant activity and useful in the treatment and prevention of thrombotic disease.

CDR-grafted anti-tissue factor antibodies and methods of use thereof


An acoustic environment identification system is disclosed that can use neural networks to accurately identify environments. The acoustic environment identification system can use one or more convolutional neural networks to generate audio feature data. A recursive neural network can process the audio feature data to generate characterization data. The characterization data can be modified using a weighting system that weights signature data items. Classification neural networks can be used to generate a classification of an environment.

Audio sounds carry a large amount of information about our everyday environment and physical events that take place in it. Having a machine that understands the environment, e.g., through acoustic events inside the recording, is important for many applications such as security surveillance, context-aware services, and video scene identification combined with image scene detection. However, identifying the location in which a specific audio file was recorded, e.g., a beach or on a bus, is a challenging task for a machine. The complex sound composition of real life audio recordings makes it difficult to obtain representative features for recognition.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Provided are a method, system, and program for allocating resources for computational resources. A request is received to modify a permitted resource allocation. A determination is made of a modification restriction providing a limit on modifications that may be made to permitted resource allocations and the requested modification to the permitted resource allocation is allowed if the determined modification restriction allows the requested modification.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method, system, and program for restricting modifications to allocations of computational resources.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a distributed database environment, database clients submit Structured Query Language (SQL) application programs to a database server to execute against a database. The database server may execute the SQL program and, in certain cases, update the database or return data to the client. In current systems, database administrators can set the level of privileges different client users may have to access different sections of data in the databases.
In a distributed database environment, many database clients may contend for the database server computing resources, such as the database server memory, processor cycles, processor threads, etc. A database administrator may set limits on the amount of computational resources a particular user may consume, thereby restricting the amount of memory, processor cycles, etc. of the database server that may be allocated to execute the user's SQL application. However, in certain database environments, a user may override any administrator computational resource restriction settings in the SQL application. This limits the ability of the database administrator to maintain and manage the allocation of database server computational resources to ensure quality of service to the different users accessing the database.

Method, system, and program for restricting modifications to allocations of computational resources

International Business Machines Corporation


A vehicle pre-impact sensing and control system generates tailored adaptive warning signals as a function of driver vehicle use. The tailored signals are used in a vehicle controller for determining appropriate driver warning or safety device activations.

Collision warning systems are becoming more widely used. In general, collision warning systems provide a vehicle operator with knowledge and awareness of objects or vehicles within close proximity so as to prevent a collision with those objects. Current collision warning systems are unitary in nature in that they only warn the operator of the vehicle containing the collision warning system of a potential collision. A sensor located on a vehicle, upon sensing an object generates an object detection signal, which is communicated to the operator of that vehicle.
Vehicle restraint and brake systems are designed to assist in mitigating the effects of a potential collision. A typical driver requires about one second to recognize a potential collision and responsively activate brakes. Often, however, when drivers activate brakes during imminent crash conditions a full amount of braking pressure is not always applied. Early activation and full application of brakes are therefore key requirements for collision avoidance or closing velocity reduction.
Pre-impact warning and brake assist systems (e.g. panic brake systems) have been introduced in the automotive industry for improved safety. Existing panic brake systems are activated when the action of the driver on the brake-pedal is considered a panic-braking situation.
Vehicle controller decisions to fully activate brake systems are generated as a function of driver initial application of the brakes. However, different drivers have different braking characteristics and nuisance panic braking activation can occur. A method to rapidly activate and tailor warning and brake-assist systems to the driver may therefore reduce nuisance panic braking.
Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an advanced pre-impact driver response feedback system to improve reaction time and decrease the probability of a collision occurring while reducing nuisance panic braking.

Vehicle pre-impact sensing and control system with driver response feedback


System and method embodiments are provided for null filling of IQ waveform. In an embodiment method, samples below a predetermined threshold are selected from a plurality of samples of an input signal. Amplitude values of a complex null-fill function are then calculated to push amplitudes of the samples below the predetermined threshold to a signal level at the predetermined threshold. The phase values of the complex null-fill function are calculated to push the samples of the input signal in an IQ plane in a defined direction from a point closest to a zero signal value. The resulting complex null-fill function is filtered within a predetermined bandwidth of the input signal, and then added to the input signal to provide a modified input signal for amplification.

For certain amplifier architectures in wireless systems, the null signal cannot be re-created properly after the signal is passed through the amplifier, which leads to both in-band signal degradation and out-of-band emissions. This is caused by any impairment imbalance between the decomposed signal paths prior to amplification. The impairment can be a gain or amplitude imbalance, a phase imbalance, or both amplitude and phase imbalance between the constant envelope signal paths. Even a relatively small amplitude or phase imbalance between the decomposed paths can lead to significant output signal degradation for in-bound and out-bound frequencies. An effective approach to address such imbalance is needed.

System and method for null filling of IQ waveform


A polymerizable composition for the production of high quality ophthalmic lenses is disclosed that includes:. a) between 20 and 90 weight percent, and preferably, at least 50 weight percent, of urethane, epoxy, or polyester oligomers end terminated with acrylate or methacrylate (or mixtures of acrylate and methacrylate); PA1 b) between 5 and 50 to 80 percent, preferably between 10 and 40 percent, by weight of an optional diluent, such as a hydrocarbon diol end terminated with acrylate or methacrylate, or mixtures thereof, or a crosslinkable tri-, tetra-, or poly-acrylate or methacrylate, or mixtures thereof; and PA1 c) conventional optional additives, including but not limited to free radical initiators, UV absorbers, mold release agents, stabilizers, dyes, antioxidants, and wetting agents.. The invention also includes ophthalmic lenses prepared from this composition and an apparatus for the production of lenses using sequential polymerization.

Most of the plastic ophthalmic lenses sold today by optical dispensers such as retail eyewear outlets are made by machining the desired prescription into the back face of a semi-finished lens blank made from diethylene glycol bis(allyl carbonate) resin, also known as CR-39. These blanks are manufactured off-site by casting the starting monomer for CR-39 between a set of glass molds held together by a flexible gasket and restraints. The mold assembly is initially heated in an oven using a precise cure schedule. During the subsequent polymerization step, the liquid resin is converted into a glassy solid. Shrinkage of up to 16 percent of the material occurs during polymerization and crosslinking. The molds must be designed to account for the shrinkage, so that the lens blank has the desired front curvature. The complexity of design is increased if, instead of a semi-finished lens blank, a finished lens is desired in which both the front and back surfaces have defined curvatures. Another disadvantage in preparing CR-39 lenses is that they require cure schedules of as long as sixteen hours.
Casting lenses from polymerizable compositions on-site would be preferable to a retail eyewear outlet over machining lens blanks if problems associated with shrinkage of the polymerizable material during casting and the long cure time of could be solved. One advantage of casting on-site is that the equipment needed for casting is less expensive than the lens generators and polishing instruments used in lens machining. Second, the casting process is cleaner and generates less waste than the machining process. In addition, the cost of the finished lens to the eyewear outlet using a casting process may be less than that when the lens is prepared by machining a lens blank, particularly for aspheric, multifocal, and progressive lenses.
CR-39 is unsuitable as a material for casting into lenses in one hour processing laboratories because of its slow reaction rate. It would be of great benefit to have a material that maintains most of the desirable properties of CR-39, such as good abrasion resistance, chemical resistance, impact resistance, clarity and generally superior optical properties, yet polymerizes in a short amount of time. It would also be of benefit to have an apparatus that can be used to produce lenses on-site in a short amount of time.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,185 to Toh discloses a crosslinkable casting composition for ophthalmic lenses that includes (A) a polyoxyalkylene glycol dimethacrylate or diacrylate, (B) at least one polyfunctional cross-linking agent, and (C) up to 40% by weight of a urethane monomer having from two to six terminal acrylic or methacrylic groups. The polymerizable composition disclosed in the '185 patent was designed to be used in conjunction with traditional methods for the preparation of ophthalmic lenses, wherein the polymerizable solution is poured into numerous molds, cast with blanket radiation, heated and then removed. The method of casting requires the use of a low viscosity polymerizable solution to minimize the problems that result from air entrapment. The '185 patent states that the viscosity of the polymerizable solution should not exceed approximately 200 cps at 25.degree. C. The polyoxyalkylene glycol diacrylate or dimethacrylate, present in the polymerizable composition in a range of 40 to 60% by weight, functions as a viscosity reducing agent for the composition. The polyoxyalkene moieties are based on ethylene oxide or propylene oxide repeating units, with 6 to 11 alkylene oxide repeating units preferred, as shown below. ##STR1##
Methacrylate terminated polyoxyalkylene glycols are preferred over acrylate terminated polyoxyalkylene glycols in the '185 patent because they have lower reactivities than the acrylate counterparts, which, using the traditional casting process, reduces surface aberration and internal stress. The patent indicates that this composition can be fully cured by two to four passes under a UV lamp followed by one hour of heat treatment at 100 degrees C.
An advance in the art of polymerizing shrinkable materials, including polymerizable solutions for ophthalmic lenses, was disclosed in U.S. Ser. No. 07/608,123, entitled "Controlled Casting of a Shrinkable Material," filed on Nov. 1, 1990, that is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Ser. No. 07/345,718, filed on May 1, 1989 by David S. Soane. Briefly, polymerizable material is introduced between two mold halves, one of which is, or both are, constructed of a material that transmits energy, either thermal or UV. Stress related voids in the polymeric material are eliminated by causing the partially polymerized material to polymerize in a differential fashion along a moving front, so that the material ahead of the moving polymer zone remains liquid, and the material that the front has passed is solidified. In a typical method, the moving front is a slit through which UV or thermal energy is transmitted. The still-liquid material ahead of the moving polymer zone can then flow freely, at a rate that equals the rate of shrinkage, and a void-free, reduced stress polymeric network is produced. Using this process, lenses can be cast in a way to prevent cavitation, or voids caused by the shrinkage of material during polymerization. This method is referred to below as "sequential polymerization."
Japanese Patent No. 61064716 (Chem. Abstract 105:192198b) discloses an impact resistant optical resin prepared by polymerizing acrylate or methacrylate, adducts of monoepoxide and brominated bis-phenol, poly-isocyanate and other unsaturated compounds such as styrene or divinylbenzene.
Urethanes have been used in coatings for ophthalmic lenses. U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,123 to Boekeler discloses a scratch resistant coating prepared from a polymerizable composition that includes at least one polyfunctional monomer having three or more acryloloxy groups per molecule, and at least one N-vinyl imido group containing monomer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,450 to Coleman discloses a method for applying abrasion resistant thin polyurethane coatings that includes forming a hydroxy-terminated prepolymer which is subsequently crosslinked using a relatively non-volatile triisocyanate, and applying the material by flow coating onto a glass or lens.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a polymerizable composition that can be polymerized into a lens that maintains or exceeds the mechanical and optical properties associated with CR-39, yet has a faster cure rate than CR-39.
It is another object of this invention to provide a polymeric material that can be sequentially polymerized into a finished product in less than one hour, preferably less than thirty minutes.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a polymerizable composition for the production of high quality ophthalmic lenses that is suitable for use in combination with the apparatus and method for sequential polymerization disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,110,514 and 5,114,632.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for the production of lenses using the sequential polymerization method.

Fast curing polymeric compositions for ophthalmic lenses and apparatus for preparing lenses


A carry-on luggage includes a casing having wheels rotatably mounted on a side face of the casing to allow the casing to move freely, a first recessed area defined in the side face thereof and a second recessed area defined in a side face of the casing to communicate with the first recessed area, a main board provided with a third recessed area, and a first and a second auxiliary handles securely and slidably received in the third recessed area to be able to extend out of the main board. The second auxiliary handle is able to extend out of the third recessed area and the first auxiliary handle is able to extend out of the third recessed area only when the main board is extended out of the first recessed area and pivoted relative to the casing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a luggage, and more particularly to a multiple function luggage having a handle extendable and rotatable relative to the casing and provided with a first auxiliary handle slidably received in a first side of the handle and a second auxiliary handle slidably received in a second side of the handle opposite to the first auxiliary handle such that the operator is able to use the first or the second auxiliary handle to carry the casing depending on the weight of the casing.
2. Description of Related Art
A carry-on luggage usually is equipped with an extendable handle and wheels so that the operator is able to easily carry the luggage to places as desired. When the handle is not in use, the operator is able to retract the handle in a pair of slots defined in a rear side of the luggage. Although the carry-on luggage does provide easy transportation for the operator, the handle is easily damaged because the strength of the handle is not enough especially when the load of the luggage is too much. Therefore, another drawback of this luggage is that there is no mechanism to cope with the weight of the luggage.
Even though the strength of the handle is enough to deal with the luggage weight, the handle length is fixed, which does not fit to operators of different heights. Therefore, some operators will have to use different and strange positions to carry the luggage.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention intends to provide an improved carry-on luggage to mitigate the aforementioned problems.


A carry select adder includes an adder for outputting a first sum of values based on a first presumed carry-in of zero and a second sum of the values based on a second presumed carry-in of one. A sum unit produces an actual sum comprising either the first sum or the second sum based on an actual carry-in and simultaneously determines whether the actual sum is all zeros or all ones. The sum unit selects the actual sum and determines whether the actual sum comprises all zeros or ones in the same time period such that there is no significant additional delay associated with the zero/one detection operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to arithmetic units for digital computers and, more particularly, to a carry select adder that includes zero and one detection circuitry.
2. Background Description
In a microprocessor, it is often necessary to check for overflow or underflow on the result of some operation. A separate zero and one detection function unit is conventionally performed on the output of an adder.
A zero detection unit operates in the binary system to check an output to determine if the output is all zeros (i.e., 0000). The one detection unit similarly checks if the output is all ones (i.e., 1111).
The zero detect function is necessary in units that compare two inputs to determine if they are equal and in floating point operations to determine underflow or overflow.
The conventional method of zero/one detection is to perform the addition in one unit and then check if the output bits are all ones or all zeros in a separate unit. This check is conventionally done in series with the addition operation. In some existing processor designs, the zero and one detection is done in a tree fashion, checking for all zeros or all ones in 4-bit slices. The 4-bit results are then combined into intermediate signals for 8, 16, 32 or 64-bit results. The timing of the zero and one detection is critical to the operational speed of the processor.

Zero and one detection chain for a carry select adder

International Business Machines Corporation


The invention describes a method of implementing a massively multiplayer game. The method has the following steps: firstly, three or more players select an item from an ordered set of three or more items. Secondly, an item from the set is designated based on the number of players who selected that item. Lastly, whether each player's selected item wins over the designated item is determined based on a rule-set (examples of rule-sets are given in FIGS. 3 and 4). The method may be implemented using a client/server architecture such as that shown in FIG. 5. Alternatively, the server may be decentralized across all the devices such as shown in FIG. 6. The client devices may be wireless devices. A system and software for implementing the method are also disclosed.

There are numerous multiplayer games available. These include games playable over the Internet, over Interactive TV, and over cellular networks. Presently the cost-per-packet of sending information over cellular networks is comparatively high. This necessitates the development of multiplayer games which can draw in and engage players but transmit little data to and from the cellular devices.
What is further desired is a multiplayer game concept which can be deployed across multiple platforms, protocols, and channels such as SMS (Short Message Service on wireless devices), WAP (Wireless Application Protocol on wireless devices), MMS (Multimedia Message Service on wireless devices), Flash, Java, Brew, Interactive TV, and Web.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a multiplayer method and system which satisfies these requirements or at least provides the public with a useful choice.

Massively multiplayer game method and system


An authentication server and a method of enabling a user of a communications capable device to make a payment via a mobile operator billing system are described. The authentication server determines a user identifier string for sending to a communications capable device according to a probability of successful entry by a user. The user identifier string is linked to the content item data and the string sent to the communications capable device. The user responds, via a mobile network, by sending a short message service (SMS) based user response. The response is compared to previously transmitted user identifier messages, and billable user identity data appended to the SMS by the mobile network can be used to associate the transaction in process with billable identity data derived from the carrier data to enable a user's mobile phone account to be billed for the purchase.

A wide range of content is available for download to communications/internet enabled devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, connected TVs, laptop and desktop computers. With the explosion in recent years of smartphones and tablets, there is also a move further towards using portable devices for more and more on-line transactions that were, until only a few years ago, reserved for desktop and laptop computers in the home or office.
The range of transactions now performed on portable devices ranges from small transactions such as the purchase of a ring-tone, acquiring credits for use on on-line portals, booking cinema and theatre tickets, through to grocery shopping and holidays. Many of these transactions are enabled through the use of on-line payments and billing platforms, which optimize and present the "on screen" user experience when a person makes a purchase on a mobile internet capable device.
For many of these transactions, more often those at the lower end of the price range, one method of payment is through a mobile network operator (MNO). A payment server may communicate with a MNO billing platform to identify and bill a user by charging the transaction to their mobile network account. Billing to a mobile network account is preferable for many users and transactions as it simplifies the transaction process, meaning no new credit card details need to be entered for each transaction, avoiding the transmission of personal data, and making the process quick and easy. It also means users without a credit card are still able to purchase items via their mobile phone/data account.
Performing this process requires identification of the user's mobile network account which is linked to a SIM, in the mobile device. This means that MNO-based billing is only possible when the transaction is performed over a mobile network, so that this identifier information can be obtained and tied to the transaction.
Data usage on cellular networks is becoming increasingly problematic for mobile network operators as media rich content including streaming and downloading is delivered to mobile devices. Where, previously, MNOs were keen to restrict mobile devices to using their own mobile networks only, effectively to 'lock in' users, the use of smart phones and tablets with other forms of connectivity has led to users making use of alternative communications infrastructure such as WiFi—something mobile operators are willing to accept to alleviate demands placed on the mobile network infrastructure. Moreover, even users themselves, provided with devices having media-rich capabilities, continue to use such devices in the home or office where WiFi connections are available providing increased bandwidth, data rates and to avoid using any allowance imposed on mobile (cellular) data access. Furthermore, when a user is abroad, data roaming costs can be prohibitively expensive for many users, meaning that users prefer to use other connections where possible for downloading content.
However, a downside of moving to the use of other networks, such as WiFi networks (or more generally wireless local area networks) that are not part of a mobile/cellular network is that a user is no longer able to bill a purchase to their mobile network account as the unique identifiers provided by the SIM (communicated as part of a transaction over the mobile network) are no longer available to a billing platform. There is therefore a need to provide systems and methods to retain such billing capabilities.


A latch assembly for use as a closure device in a door or compartment cover has a pan adapted to be flush mounted in an exterior panel, with a paddle-type handle hinge mounted within a recessed area of the pan. A mounting plate on an interior side of the pan includes a latch mechanism mounting flange which extends away from the pan, and to which a latch mechanism having a pawl and a trip latch jaw is mounted. A cam is rotationally mounted tightly parallel against the mounting plate, and has a paddle contact pin which extends through cooperating openings in the mounting plate and a floor of the pan. Lifting of the paddle causes the cam to rotate and engage the pawl of the latch mechanism, thereby releasing the trip latch jaw from a locked position. A lock cylinder may be mounted in the pan with a locking cam positioned proximate to a portion of the cam, to thereby interfere with rotation of the cam. The rotational mounting of the cam tightly against the mounting plate occludes the cooperating openings in the mounting plate and pan floor to prevent the passage of moisture or foreign objects to the interior of the latch assembly.

Latches with manually operated pawls are used on all types of closures such as doors, including vehicle compartment doors and doors to storage compartments. Typically, such latches have a rotatable latch which engages a striker bar to hold a panel or door closed. The latch is actuated either directly by a handle, or by a pawl which is rotated by connection to a handle. Some latches are actuated by a pivotally mounted paddle-type handle which is lifted out of the plane of the panel or door in which it is mounted to pivot about the hinge mount to actuate the pawl and/or latch with a sliding motion generally in the plane of the latch mount. Because the paddle induces a lateral force on the latch/pawl mechanism, the operation of many designs is not smooth.
In purely mechanical latch systems, because the latch is located on the interior side of the door or panel, and the handle on the exterior side, there must necessarily be an opening in the panel or door in which the latch is mounted. This opening presents the problem of moisture entering both the latch assembly and the compartment. In latches which employ rotatable handles to actuate the latch or pawl, the problem is fairly well managed by use of annular gaskets and seals. However, latches which have a sliding-type mechanism such as the paddle handled type have not heretofore been provided with adequate weather and moisture resistant structure.
The present invention overcomes these and other disadvantages of the prior art.


An internal combustion engine includes a plurality of cylinders (1 through 12) and at least one turbocharger (2) and at least one exhaust manifold (13) which passes exhaust gases from two or more cylinders (5, 6) to the turbocharger (20), wherein the exhaust manifold (13) has a region (15) cooled with a cooling device and a substantially uncooled region (14).

The present invention concerns an internal combustion engine comprising a plurality of cylinders and at least one turbocharger and at least one exhaust manifold which passes exhaust gases from two or more cylinders to the turbocharger.
Arrangements of that kind are known in accordance with the state of the art. The term exhaust manifold is used generally to denote the conduit communication between the cylinder head outlet and the turbocharger intake in the case of multi-cylinder engines. Those exhaust manifolds are usually either in the form of an uncooled and heat-insulated conduit assembly or they are of a water-cooled structure. In the case of a water-cooled arrangement the exhaust gas-carrying pipes are surrounded by a cooling water jacket, as is shown for example in DE 810 554 C, DE 42 07 048 C1 and DE 42 06 249 C1. Exhaust conduits of that kind are used inter alia in marine and explosion-protection sectors where high surface temperatures have to be avoided. In situations involving stoichiometric engine operation, water-cooled exhaust conduits are also used by virtue of the extremely high gas temperatures as otherwise the severe development of heat results in overloading of the materials carrying the exhaust gases. Alternatively in the case of a marine engine with a plurality of exhaust conduits it is also known from DE 27 21 614 A1 to provide a water-cooled intermediate plate between the exhaust gas conduits and the turbocharger for thermal decoupling purposes.
When the entire exhaust gas manifold involves a great cooling effect in terms of area the engine cooling water is greatly heated whereby thermal damage can be caused to the engine. With cooling involving a small area the exhaust gas is not sufficiently cooled down so that critical turbine intake temperatures can result in overheating of the turbocharger.


The present invention relates to the assessment of colorectal cancer. It discloses the use of the CYFRA 21-1 assay in the assessment of colorectal cancer. It also relates to a method for assessing colorectal cancer in vitro using a liquid sample, derived from an individual by measuring CYFRA 21-1 in said sample. Measurement of CYFRA 21-1 can, e.g., be used in the early detection or in the follow-up of patients with colorectal cancer.

The present invention relates to a method aiding in the assessment of colorectal cancer (CRC). It discloses the use of the CYFRA 21-1 as a marker of colorectal cancer. Furthermore, it especially relates to a method for assessing colorectal cancer from a liquid sample, derived from an individual by measuring CYFRA 21-1 in said sample. Measurement of CYFRA 21-1 can, e.g., be used in the early detection of colorectal cancer or in the surveillance of patients who undergo therapy, e.g. surgery.
Cancer remains a major public health challenge despite progress in detection and therapy. Amongst the various types of cancer, colorectal cancer is one of the most frequent cancers in the Western world.
Colorectal cancer most frequently progresses from adenomas (polyps) to malignant carcinomas. The different stages of CRC used to be classified according to Dukes' stages A to D.
The staging of cancer in the classification of the disease in terms of extent, progression, and severity. It groups cancer patients so that generalizations can be made about prognosis and the choice of therapy.
Today, the TNM system is the most widely used classification of the anatomical extent of cancer. It represents an internationally accepted, uniform staging system. There are three basic variables: T (the extent of the primary tumor), N (the status of regional lymph nodes) and M (the presence or absence of distant metastases). The TNM criteria are published by the UICC (International Union Against Cancer), edition, 1997 (Sobin, L. H., and Fleming, I. D., TNM 80 (1997) 1803-4).
What is especially important is, that early diagnosis of CRC translates to a much better prognosis. Most malignant tumors of the colorectum appear to arise from benign tumors, i.e. from adenoma. Therefore, best prognosis have those patients diagnosed at the adenoma stage. Patients diagnosed as early as in stage Tis, N0, M0 or T1-3; N0; M0, if treated properly have a more than 90% chance of survival 5 years after diagnosis as compared to a 5-years survival rate of only 10% for patients diagnosed when distant metastases are already present.
In the sense of the present invention early diagnosis of CRC refers to a diagnosis at a pre-malignant state (adenoma) or at a tumor stage where no metastases at all (neither proximal nor distal), i.e., adenoma, Tis, N0, M0 or T1-4; N0; M0 are present. Tis denotes carcinoma in situ.
It is further preferred, that CRC is diagnosed when it has not yet fully grown through the bowel wall and thus neither the visceral peritoneum is perforated nor other organs or structures are invaded, i.e., that diagnosis is made at stage Tis, N0, M0 or T1-3; N0; M0 (=Tis−3; N0; M0).
The earlier cancer can be detected/diagnosed, the better is the overall survival rate. This is especially true for CRC. The prognosis in advanced stages of tumor is poor. More than one third of the patients will die from progressive disease within five years after diagnosis, corresponding to a survival rate of about 40% for five years. Current treatment is only curing a fraction of the patients and clearly has the best effect on those patients diagnosed in an early stage of disease.
With regard to CRC as a public health problem, it is essential that more effective screening and preventative measures for colorectal cancer be developed.
The earliest detection procedures available at present for colorectal cancer involve using tests for fecal occult blood or endoscopic procedures. However, significant tumor size must typically exist before fecal blood is detected. The sensitivity of the guaiac-based fecal occult blood tests is ˜26%, which means 74% of patients with malignant lesions will remain undetected (Ahlquist, D. A., Gastroenterol. Clin. North Am, 26 (1997) 41-55). The visualization of precancerous and cancerous lesions represents the best approach to early detection, but colonoscopy is invasive with significant costs, risks, and complications (Silvis, S. E., et al., JAMA 235 (1976) 928-930; Geenen, J. E., et al., Am. J. Dig. Dis. 20 (1975) 231-235; Anderson, W. F., et al., J. Natl. Cancer Institute 94 (2002) 1126-1133).
In order to be of clinical utility a new diagnostic marker as a single marker should be at least as good as the best single marker known in the art. Or, a new marker should lead to a progress in diagnostic sensitivity and/or specificity either if used alone or in combination with one or more other markers, respectively. The diagnostic sensitivity and/or specificity of a test is best assessed by its receiver-operating characteristics, which will be described in detail below.
The clinical utility of biochemical markers in colorectal cancer has recently been reviewed by the European Group on Tumor Markers (EGTM) (Duffy, M. J., et al., Eur. J. Cancer 39 (2003) 718-727).
At present, primarily diagnostic blood tests based on the detection of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), a tumor-associated glycoprotein, are available to assist diagnosis in the field of CRC. CEA is increased in 95% of tissue samples obtained from patients with colorectal, gastric, and pancreatic cancers and in the majority of breast, lung, and head and neck carcinomas (Goldenberg, D. M., et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. (Bethesda) 57 (1976) 11-22). Elevated CEA levels have also been reported in patients with nonmalignant disease, and many patients with newly detected colorectal cancer have normal CEA levels in the serum, especially during the early stage of the disease (Carriquiry, L. A., and Pineyro, A., Dis. Colon Rectum 42 (1999) 921-929; Herrera, M. A., et al., Ann. Surg. 183 (1976) 5-9; Wanebo, H. J., et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 299 (1978) 448-451; Wanebo, H. J., et al., supra). The utility of CEA as measured from serum or plasma in detecting recurrences is reportedly controversial and has yet to be widely applied (Martell, R. E., et al., Int. J. Biol. Markers 13 (1998) 145-149; Moertel, C. G., et al., JAMA 270 (1993) 943-947).
In light of the available data, serum CEA determination possesses neither the sensitivity nor the specificity to enable its use as a screening test for colorectal cancer in the asymptomatic population (Reynoso, G., et al., JAMA 220 (1972) 361-365; Sturgeon, C., Clinical Chemistry 48 (2002) 1151-1159).
Whole blood, serum or plasma are the most widely used sources of sample in clinical routine. The identification of an early CRC tumor marker that would aid in the reliable cancer detection or provide early prognostic information could lead to a diagnostic assay that would greatly aid in the diagnosis and in the management of this disease. Therefore, an urgent clinical need exists to improve the in vitro assessment of CRC. It is especially important to improve the early diagnosis of CRC, since for patients diagnosed early on chances of survival are much higher as compared to those diagnosed at a progressed stage of disease.
It was the task of the present invention to investigate whether a biochemical marker can be identified which may be used in assessing CRC.

CYFRA 21-1 as a marker for colorectal cancer


A microfluidic device having opposed spaced apart sheets of siliceous material, such as glass, the opposed facing sides of each of the sheets having hydrophilic and hydrophobic areas which form therebetween a fluid capillary which is hydrophilic and bounded by hydrophobic areas to form an microfluidic hydrophilic fluid pathway. The preferred device is useful for capillary electrophoresis.

The value of electrophoresis in clinical chemistry has been recognized for some time in the analysis of proteins in body fluids. Gel electrophoresis is the older method used in clinical chemistry laboratories. With gel electrophoresis, a sample is applied near one edge of a layer of gelatin carried on a flexible sheet slab of gel. The gel is electrophoresised, stained and the density of the resulting pattern is measured to reveal the sample such as proteins and nucleic acids. Although gel electrophoresis is relatively inexpensive in terms of the supplies and equipment required to perform sample analyses, the technique requires skilled technicians and is time consuming, effectively resulting in a high price per test and limiting the number of tests that can be performed using the technique.
Efforts have been made to improve electrophoresis in the clinical laboratory. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,124,470 to Dahms describes a zone electrophoresis apparatus where a number of samples in individual large-bore tubes can be processed serially on a turntable.
Capillary electrophoresis is a more recent development. In capillary electrophoresis, a small tube or capillary having an inside bore diameter in the range of about five microns to about two hundred microns and often about twenty cm long is filled with an electrically conductive fluid, or buffer. A direct current voltage in a range of about 2,000 volts to about 30,000 volts is applied to the ends of the capillary by means of electrodes positioned in the buffer reservoirs, causing a small current, typically in the range of about five microamps to about one milliamp, to flow through the capillary.
With the correct polarity applied across the capillary, the sample begins to migrate from the sample introduction end toward the other end of the capillary. As this migration occurs, different molecules in the sample travel at different rates primarily because of slightly different electrical charges on the molecules. These different migration rates cause molecules with slightly different charges to separate one from the other, some moving more quickly and advancing relatively with respect to more slowly moving molecules. As the sample nears the other end of the capillary, the small volume of sample becomes separated into bands of different molecules according to the relative migration rates of the molecules. These bands or groups of different molecules are detected near the other end of the capillary by, for example, passing a light beam through the bore of the capillary. Changes to the light beam, such as absorbance caused by the different molecules, are detected as the separated molecules pass through the beam, thus identifying the different molecules or the classes or categories of molecules in the sample and the relative concentration of such molecules.
The core of each capillary electrophoresis system is the capillary. Although there are capillaries made of borosilicate glass or Teflon, fused silica is by far the most frequently used material. This is owing to the intrinsic properties of fused silica like the superior transparency for UV light, the high thermal conductance and the feasibility of manufacturing capillaries with diameters of a few micrometers. Because bare fused silica capillaries are extremely fragile, they are externally coated with a polyimide polymer to improve the flexibility and to make handling easier. However, a small amount of the polyimide coating has to be removed to allow light passage for detection.
Capillary electrophoresis analyzers using small bore tubes are known in the art. For example, in European Patent Application Number 89302489.3, Publication Number 0,339,779 A2, the ends of the capillaries along with electrodes are inserted into the vials by means of hypodermics that pierce caps on the vials. A single detector provides detection of electrophoresised samples.
Another automated capillary electrophoresis apparatus is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,172 to Guzman. A capillary, which is described in Guzman as being a single capillary or a plurality of capillary tubes operated in parallel or in a bundle, has two opposite ends. Other small bore tube capillary electrophoresis devices are described in Klein, U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,686 and Waska et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,312,535.
As an alternative to the cylindrical capillary glass tubes, rectangular capillaries have been disclosed by Tsuda et al, "Rectangular Capillaries for Capillary Zone Electrophoresis", Anal. Chem. 62 (1990) 2149-2152. Some of the advantages of these systems are their efficient heat dissipation due to the large height-to-width ratio and, hence, their high surface-to-volume ratio and their high detection sensitivity for optical on-column detection modes. According to the authors, these flat separation channels have the ability to perform two-dimensional separations, with one force being applied across the separation channel, and with the sample zones detected by the use of a multi-channel array detector. A significant disadvantage of rectangular capillaries are their thin walls, equal to the width of the narrowest dimension; for instance 20 um for 20.times.20 um.sup.2 capillaries. Special care must be taken to avoid breakage of these capillaries. The rectangular as well as circular capillaries of the prior art do not allow multiple electrodes or detectors at any one or more desired points between the ends of the fluid pathway.
The present invention provides a novel microfluidic device useful in capillary electrophoresis analyzers and other fluidic devices for separation and analysis of proteins, nucleic acids and other chemical compounds.


A first software stack and a second software stack are run in a virtual environment. The virtual environment may be created by a hardware virtualizer. The hardware virtualizer may send the first software stack to the discrete graphics processing unit and the second software stack to the integrated graphics processing unit.

A computing system can have a graphical processor to process instructions related to images to be displayed on a display. A computing system may have a graphics processing unit integrated into the chipset of a computing system. A computing system may have a discrete graphics processing unit that is coupled to a chipset of a computer system.

First and second software stacks and discrete and integrated graphics processing units

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.