A light conversion device is disclosed. The light conversion device includes a substrate and a wavelength conversion element (111). The wavelength conversion element (111) includes an inorganic binder, such as sodium silicate. Also disclosed are phosphor wheels and light engines including such phosphor wheels. Further disclosed are high-power laser projection display systems comprising a laser having a power of from about 60 W and about 300 W and a light conversion device. The use of an inorganic binder permits high thermal stability at reasonable cost.

The present disclosure relates to the projection display systems and optical light conversion devices, such as phosphor wheels, used in such systems. The present disclosure also relates generally to solid state devices and illumination provided thereby. The devices include a wavelength conversion element that uses an inorganic binder. These are used in optical devices for producing different colors of light, or light of different wavelengths.
Phosphor wheels are used in a variety of optical devices such as projection-based or other picture generation systems using Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology. The phosphor wheel comprises a hub portion, which is a cylindrical body that acts as a rotor when coupled to a motor. An optically-active radial portion, usually a metal plate or a substrate, is attached to or integrated with the hub portion. Wavelength conversion materials (phosphors) on the optically-active radial portion generate emission light of a different wavelength from incident excitation light. A blue laser lighting source is commonly used in many laser projectors.
Solid-state illumination commonly refers to light emitted by solid state electroluminescence, in contrast to thermal radiation (e.g. incandescent light) or fluorescence. Solid-state lights commonly produce blue light. However, other colors can be useful/desired.
Wavelength conversion materials such as phosphors are typically provided in one of two ways. First, in a phosphor-in-silicone product, the phosphor powder is mixed into a silicone binder or adhesive, then dispensed or printed in the desired pattern. A silicon binder is popular due to its high transparency, high bonding strength, lower refractive index, and proper viscosity. For example, a popular binder choice is Dow Corning® 0E-6336, a silicone adhesive manufactured by Dow Corning®, which has a mixed viscosity of 1,425 centipoise (cP), a transparency of 99.6% at 450 nm and 1 mm thickness, a refractive index of 1.4, and a heat curing time of 60 minutes at 150° C.
However, silicone binders/adhesives have poor thermal stability. At temperatures over 200° C., silicone adhesives will degrade, typically begin to turn yellow, and gradually begin to burn. This undesirably leads to a short service lifetime for the phosphor wheel, and the light conversion efficiency has been observed to drop sharply (>10% @ 200° C.) due to thermal quenching. It has also been found that in phosphor wheels at temperatures of more than 195° C., the phosphor-in-silicone layer cracks after about 1,000 hours. At reduced temperatures of about 185° C., phosphor performance was found to exhibit only a 10% decrease after 20,000 hours, without any cracking. In applications with high brightness (e.g., laser power up to 300 W), the temperature of the phosphor wheel is expected to be generally more than 200° C., thus making the use of silicon adhesive undesirable. That is, the phosphor-in-silicone product cannot achieve a long operational life in high-power laser projectors. In lifetime tests for such a product, it was established that the safe working temperature should be controlled under 150° C. Thus, the use of an organic binder (e.g., silicone) on top of or as a reflective layer for an optical light conversion device, such as a phosphor wheel, is undesirable due to the upper temperature limitations of such organic binders.
Second, in a phosphor-in-ceramic product, a phosphor is mixed with a ceramic binder and sintered to make a solid phosphor-in-ceramic product. A phosphor-in-ceramic product has good operating temperatures up to 300° C. However, the sintering temperature is well over 1000° C. and as a result such products are also very high cost.
It would therefore be desirable to provide light conversion device that are suitable for use in high-power, high-temperature sources (e.g., high-power laser projection systems) without significant reduction in efficiency or working lifetime and without any other significant parameter or performance changes.

MATERION PRECISION OPTICS (SHANGHAI) LIMITED


According to one embodiment, a telephone system which realizes voice communication by using a packet network comprises an exchange which accommodates a telephone terminal as its extension and a call processing server which processes calls on the packet network. The exchange comprises a first trunk connected to the packet network, a second trunk connected to a public network having a different protocol from that of the packet network, a monitoring module which monitors the call processing server, and when a failure occurs in the call processing server, deactivates the first trunk, and a call control module which transfers a transmission request which is made from the telephone terminal to the packet network to the second trunk when the transmission request is made and performs a detour transmission to the public network in a status where the first trunk is inactive.

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a telephone system realizing voice communication via an Internet Protocol (IP) network, an exchange for use in the telephone system, and a transmission control method.
2. Description of the Related Art
A system which realizes voice communication by means of a best-effort network, such as the Internet, is well known. This kind of system is called a voice-over-IP (VoIP) or IP telephone system and is expected as a next-generation telephone system. Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) represents a protocol usable in this system. Providing a SIP processing function for a telephone set (hereinafter, referred to as an IP terminal) achieves various services unique to SIP. Of course, various IP terminals including conventional telephone sets having no SIP processing function may be connected to the SIP network.
The SIP network, since it is well suited to a local area network (LAN), is frequently configured as a private telephone network. In transmitting to an external network from the private network, a SIP message "INVITE" is transmitted to a SIP server, which handles an external network, through a SIP trunk of a private branch exchange (PBX).
If, at this time, the SIP server has failed, call control cannot be performed and a new communication link cannot be formed. To avoid this situation, the SIP server has a redundant configuration. If a non-response status continues after transmission of the SIP message to the SIP server, a caller accesses sequentially the next SIP server. However, if all the SIP servers have failed, the telephone system cannot transmit any SIP message from the SIP trunk. In this case, the telephone system has to switch to a detour transmission using another trunk (analog trunk, Integrated Services Digital Network [ISDN] trunk, etc.).
In the existing technique, a transaction timer default value of the SIP message (INVITE) is set to 32 seconds. If the caller cannot access all the SIP servers, the caller has to wait by the time length in which 32 seconds is multiplied by the number of SIP servers. Shortening the transaction timer value can make the time to start the detour transmission shorter, reducing how long the telephone system has to wait. To eliminate the waiting time, it is necessary for the PBX to recognize the status of the SIP trunk (or SIP server) before a transmission operation to allow the detour transmission to be performed immediately.
A method for checking statuses of SIP terminals from the SIP server has been disclosed (refer to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2006-1660189). However, the technique of this reference document may not be applied to check statuses of SIP server or the SIP trunk from the SIP terminals. With reference to a result of registration that is a function of the SIP network, monitoring the status of the SIP server is a possible method. However, in recent years, the number of SIP networks having no registration functions has increased, so that the method of the above is not useful for a wide variety of purposes and lack of accuracy.
As mentioned above, the existing technique cannot determine the status of the SIP server by means of a general-purpose method before transmission. If a caller originates a call in a status in which the SIP server and the SIP trunk have failed, since the caller has to wait a long time until the detour transmission is established, some sort of countermeasure has been desired.

Telephone system, associated exchange, and transmission control method


A drawer slide may include features for installation of the drawer slide to a cabinet and/or features for withdrawing rails of the drawer slide from one another. The features for installation of the drawer slide may include offset surfaces in a web of a rail, for example allowing for clearance for mounting hardware, and/or openings allowing for various positioning of the rail on a cabinet. The features for withdrawing rails from one another may include a moveable disconnect lever allowing for release of a catch of a rail, and/or a moveable hook.

The present invention relates generally to drawer slides, and more particularly to a drawer slide with installation and rail removal features.
Drawer slides are commonly used to extendably mount trays, drawers, and casings in a structure, for example trays or drawers in a cabinet or other frame. The use of drawer slides often allows for compact storage of the trays or drawers, while providing relative ease of user access to items in the trays or drawers when desired.
Unfortunately, at times installation of the drawer slides may pose difficulties. Drawer slides may often be used in a pair for any particular tray or drawer, and to increase smoothness of operation it may be preferable that the pair of drawer slides be similarly aligned. Installation with such alignment may take some care, and may be made more difficult if the pair of drawer slides is desired to have an alignment different than that of the cabinet or frame in which they are installed.
For some drawer slides, there may be reasons to allow for disassembly of some of their constituent parts. For example, a drawer slide may include multiple rails, with each rail extendable from another. Separation of the rails may therefore be desirable at particular times, for a variety of reasons. However, during normal operation of extension and retraction of a drawer, separation of the rails of the drawer slide may be highly undesirable.


The holder comprises a shank which extends up through an opening in the driving mat. The shank has its dished upper end flush with the top face of the mat to support the golf ball for practicing irons. A conventional golf tee is inserted in a slot at the top of the tee holder for practicing drives.

In the typical driving range of the present day, a driving mat or carpet is usually supported on a wooden or concrete platform. The mat is formed with a tee-receiving opening, and the tee is in a form like an upsidedown toadstool. Specifically, the tee is rubber and comprises a circular flat base from the center of which extends upward a tubular shank. The base sits on the platform under the mat and the shank extends upward through the opening in the mat and terminates upwardly in an open end on which the golf ball is teed. Usually the tee as described extends up above the top of the mat as much as an inch. Generally there is no provision for height adjustment.
Patrons have complained that such teeing of the ball is unrealistic, that the ball is positioned too high and that height is not adjustable. Further, more experienced golfers have noticed that the resilient tee as described has, in being contacted by the club, affected the swing of the club, either arresting the acceleration of the club head through the ball or tending to angle the club head; that is, open or close the face at the critical impact instant.


Described is an adhesive clip including a back sheet with a first layer of removable pressure sensitive adhesive on its front major surface, and a second layer of removable pressure sensitive adhesive on its rear surface; and a front sheet of polymeric material having a size adapted to at least overlay the first layer of removable pressure sensitive adhesive on the back sheet which has a first edge attached to the back sheet with the front sheet overlying the first layer of removable pressure sensitive adhesive. When the back sheet is adhered to a planar substrate by the second layer of pressure sensitive adhesive, the front sheet can be pivoted away from the back sheet a distance affording positioning an edge portion of a sheet to be supported between the front sheet and the first layer of pressure sensitive adhesive and pressing of that portion of the sheet to be supported into engagement with the first layer of pressure sensitive adhesive so that the sheet will be supported along the substrate. Subsequently, the front sheet can be moved away from that supported sheet which can then be pealed away from the first layer of pressure sensitive adhesive and removed from the clip, after which the front sheet will protect the adhesive of the front of the back sheet until another sheet or other light object is adhered to it.

Sheets are known that have a polymeric backing and opposite major surfaces both coated with removable pressure sensitive adhesive, which sheets are adapted to have the adhesive on one major surface adhered to a vertical surface and to have a sheet or other light weight item removeably adhered to the adhesive coating on its other major surface to support it along that vertical surface. Wallsaver (t.m.) Removable poster tape available from Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul, Minn. is an illustrative example. When a strip of such tape is adhered to a vertical surface and then used to support a series of sheets, one at a time, along that vertical surface, however, the adhesive is exposed between having sheets adhered to it and can become contaminated so that it is less effective.


A watertight connector has a housing (10) with terminal fittings (11) therein. A busbar element (14) is mounted on the front of the housing (10) to short the terminal fittings (11). The busbar element (14) engages engageable portions (22; 23) formed by a mold removing space (24) in the housing (10). A rubber plug (12) and a plug holder (13) are assembled with the housing (10) by engaging locks (25) on the plug holder (13) with the housing (10). The locks (25) are inserted into the mold removing spaces (24). The locks (25) and the engageable portions (22, 23) overlap in width and/or height directions to miniaturize the watertight connector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a watertight connector.
2. Descriptiong of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,806, U.S. Pat. No. 6,193,549, U.S. Pat. No. 6,290,521 and FIGS. 20–22 herein all disclose watertight connectors. With reference to FIGS. 20–22, the watertight connector has cavities 100 formed in a synthetic resin housing 101. A busbar 102 is formed as part of a busbar element 103 that is mounted at the front end (right side in FIG. 20) of the housing 101. The busbar 102 is fit into the respective cavities 100 to short the terminal fittings in a specified pattern. The terminal fittings are passed through sealing holes 104 of a sealing member 105 provided at the rear end (left side in FIG. 20) of the housing 101 for individually sealing wires connected with the terminal fittings. A seal holder 106 is provided behind the sealing member 105 for tightly holding the sealing member 105 in cooperation with the housing 101.
The busbar element 103 includes a holder 107 and the busbar 102 is disposed in the holding element 107. The holder 107 has a rearwardly projecting tube 108, and guide grooves 109 extend forward and back at each of the left and right ends of the tube 108. On the other hand, the housing 101 is formed with locking projections 110 corresponding to the guide grooves 109. The busbar element 103 is held onto the housing 101 by the engagement of the guide grooves 109 with the locking projections 110.
Two holding projections 111 project back from the opposite left and right ends of the rear end surface of the housing 101, as shown in FIG. 21, and a locking piece 111A is formed at the leading end of each holding projection 111. Fitting holes penetrate the sealing member 105 in forward and backward directions and receive the holding projections 111 of the housing 101. As shown in FIG. 22, the seal holder 106 has retaining holes 112 that align with the holding projections 111, and a stepped receiving portion 113 is formed on the inner wall of each retaining hole 112. The sealing member 105 is assembled with the housing 101 while engaging the fitting holes thereof with the holding projections 111, and the seal holder 106 is assembled with the housing 101 by engaging the locking pieces 111A of the holding projections 111 with the receiving portions 113 of the retaining holes 112 to hold the sealing member 105 in cooperation with the housing 101. Thus the sealing member 105 and the sealing-member holder 106 are held on the housing 101.
The locking projections 110 are formed by rearwardly removing a mold. Thus, the housing 101 needs mold removing spaces 114 that extend from the rear ends of the locking projections 110 to the rear end of the housing 101. The holding projections 111 on the rear end of the housing 101 are formed at positions displaced from the locking projections 110 in the height direction or width direction to avoid the mold removing spaces 114 (see FIG. 21). As a result, the watertight connector has been difficult to miniaturize.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to miniaturize a watertight connector.


A method, a receiver, a computer program and a system for providing an interactive service in association with a motion picture service. The motion picture is displayed to the spectator via a receiver able to modify the motion picture displayed to the spectator and having a bi-directional network connection. The method, receiver, computer program and system are characterized in that a connection is formed that connects a plurality of participants to an interactive motion picture session, a selection of a target area in the motion picture is received, a selection of a graphical element to be associated with the target area is received, the target area is translated to a coordinate system shared by each participant in the interactive motion picture session and the graphical element is provided between the participants.

Interactive television services have been developed since the digital television service has been available. In addition to the ordinary digital television service, interactive services have problems that relate to data communications and incompatibility. Traditionally, television sets have been able to receive broadcast transmissions. In order to provide interactive services in association with a moving picture transmission or delivery service, a receiver unit of the service consumer, such as a television set, a set-top box or a computer, must also be able to transmit information back to server computers and other similar apparatuses provisioned by service provider of the moving picture transmission or delivery service provider or a party affiliated with the service provider. The transmission of information back to the service provider is catered for with a back-channel or, in other words, a reverse-channel, which may be an Internet connection over a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) such as ADSL, an Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) connection or a modem connection. The connection may also be by a bi-directional cable television providing an Internet service in association with cable television service. The back-channel or the reverse channel must provide for an Internet Protocol (IP) network connectivity to the server computers of the service provider. The server computer may be provided with sufficient knowledge on the content of the moving picture to be able to associate request messages received via the back-channel with a particular service request.
The most common interactive services include interactive program guide, web browsing, video on demand, chat services and other similar services. The services can be implemented so that they are available at the same time as the ordinary broadcast service or equivalent scheduled moving picture content delivery service. For example, it is possible to watch a football game and share comments with a friend on a chat screen that is located in a separate area on the screen.
A modern television set comprises a digital receiver. Most advanced digital receivers are able to provide the services mentioned above and even more, as they are capable of executing software products in a processor and memory associated with the digital receiver. The receivers may include a mass storage device such as a hard disk drive for storing television programs or computer software to be executed. When the receiver is started, it loads the software needed for the services mentioned above, such as the chat screen application mentioned above.
The problem of the known applications is that they are very limited. Limitations are caused by incompatibility and limited data transfer capabilities. Thus, there is a need for a mechanism for providing advanced interactive functions in a television.


A tube clip device, preferably having a one-piece construction and formed integrally of a resiliently flexible material, includes a flat base member having bar slot and stud slot attachment elements, a flat closure member having bar and stud attachment elements being complementary in shape to and interengageable with the bar slot and stud slot of the base member, a living hinge pivotally connecting the base and closure members together for pivotal movement between opened and closed positions relative to one another, and a clip element mounted on an outer side of the closure member for releasably clasping a flexible medical tube. Upon inserting the base and closure members over an edge of a garment and pivoting the members to the closed position, the bar slot and stud slot of the base member become releasably latched with the bar and stud of the closure member and with the garment edge therebetween, thereby attaching the medical tube clip device to the garment. The clip element mounted on the closure member clasps the medical tube securely for restraining the medical tube from twisting and for dispersing the weight of the medical tube more or less evenly over the garment and upper torso of the person.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to holders for medical tubing and, more particularly, is concerned with a medical tube clip device for use with oxygensupplying tubing and a cannula structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Medical advances in recent years have prompted the development of a variety of holders for various types of medical tubing. Formerly, such tubing was generally held in place on a patient's body by placement of strips of adhesive tape directly over the tubing onto the patient's body. For adjustment of the tubing, the adhesive strips would be removed and new strips applied to secure the adjusted tube in place. Such a process was quite painful for the patient since the skin was often irritated, bruised or torn by the adhesive tape. Additionally, the tape is easily contaminated by body fluids and not easily cleaned.
Therefore, a plurality of types of holders have been developed for use with particular types of medical tubing. Representative examples of such holders are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. to Schlesinger (3,990,454), Johnson (4,165,748), Levine et al (4,170,995) and Eldridge, Jr. (4,336,806).
The Schlesinger and Johnson holders are designed particularly for use with catheters. Their purpose is to restrain the range of motion of the catheter such that the catheter is essentially immobilized relative to the patient's body. Such restraint thereby prevents the inadvertent withdrawal of the catheter from the patient's body.
The Levine et al holder may be utilized with a catheter, as well as with nasogastric and intravenous tubing. The Eldridge, Jr. holder is basically utilized during surgical operations for anchoring vacuum tubes, electrical cords and the like to a surgical drape on the patient.
Each of these holders has relatively simple features for anchoring a particular tube within the holder and for releasing the tube for necessary adjustment on the patient. Each holder has an adhesive-coated backing feature for adhering to the patient's skin, as with the Schlesinger, Johnson and Levine et al holders, or to a surgical drape, as with the Eldridge, Jr. holder.
None of these holders, however, sufficiently address the needs of a person who requires a continuous tubular intake of oxygen. This person may be a hospital patient confined to a bed or may be ambulatory, residing at home or in a nursing home or retirement center. In particular, the ambulatory person needs a medical tube holder which will securely anchor the oxygen-carrying tube to his or her garment. Such anchoring serves to prevent twisting of the tube and the cannula structure worn about the person's face so that the ambulatory person may pursue his or her daily routine of activities in comfort while receiving his or her necessary supply of oxygen. This anchoring device should have a feature providing for dispersing or distributing of the weight of the tubing over the person's body, particularly over the shoulders, so as to relieve the person's and neck from potential stress caused by the cannular structure.
None of the aforedescribed holders include these particular features. Consequently, a need exists for a medical tube holder specifically designed to meet the requirements for supplying oxygen to a hospital patient or ambulatory person.


Borehole conditions can be determined using distributed measurement data. Real time data measurements can be taken from sensors distributed along the length of a drill string to assess various conditions or properties of the borehole. In particular, the distributed data can be used for example, to track the progress of a chemical pill or also track the location of different types of borehole fluids, and also to determine the hole size or volume of the borehole.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of drilling. More specifically, the invention relates to a method of analyzing distributed measurements in drilling.
2. Background of the Invention
During drilling operations, measurements of downhole conditions taken in-situ provide valuable information that can be used to optimize drilling practices, enhance operational efficiency and minimize operational risk. These direct measurements can also help to provide a near real time picture of changing trends down hole that can help to allow detection of developing problems in the well. The interest primarily arises from the fact that even minor interruptions in drilling operations can be exorbitantly expensive. Thus, drilling companies have a strong incentive to avoid interruptions of any kind.
Gathering information about down-hole drilling conditions, however, can be a daunting challenge. The down-hole environment is very harsh, especially in terms of temperature, shock, and vibration. Furthermore, many drilling operations are conducted very deep within the earth, e.g., 20,000′ 30,000′, and the length of the drill string causes significant attenuation in the signal carrying the data to the surface. The difficulties of the down-hole environment also greatly hamper making and maintaining electrical connections down-hole, which impairs the ability to obtain large amounts of data down-hole and transmit it to the surface during drilling operations.
Approaches to these problems are few in terms of assessing adverse downhole drilling conditions. Non-threatening conditions may be recorded, displayed, or analyzed by a computing device as well. In general, data taken from the surface and only limited data taken from the surface and/or the bottom of the borehole is available. The drilling operators must extrapolate the down-hole drilling conditions from this data. Because the borehole might be as deep as 20,000′ 30,000′, surface data frequently is not particularly helpful in these types of extrapolations. The down-hole data can be more useful than surface data, but its utility is limited by its relatively small amount and the fact that it represents conditions localized at the bottom of the bore. Thus, the down-hole data may be useful in detecting some conditions at the bottom of the borehole but of little use for other conditions along the length of the drill string.
There are significant technical challenges both to gathering data in the downhole environment and also to communicating this data to engineers at the well site or in the office. These problems are exacerbated in very long (extended reach) or very challenging (so called high temperature high pressure) wells. Conventional pressure pulse data transmission suffers both from a significant restriction in the volume of data that can be transmitted to surface, the incremental time taken to transmit and the fact that reliability decreases with increased well depth due to reduction in amplitude of pressure waves as they move up the well.
In drilling operations making use of mud pulse telemetry measurements are taken both down hole and at surface. Surface measurements can be split into instantaneous and lagged while down hole measurements are near instantaneous. Lagged data received at surface refers to measurements made or information inferred from drilling fluid that has been circulated to the surface and can include measurements such as gas concentration, volume of drilled solids carried or mud density. This lagged data takes a significant time to retrieve due to the time required to circulate drilling fluid from the bit to surface and as such is only useful for retrospective analysis. Down hole measurements are more useful but limited in how much of the measured data can be transmitted to surface and also in that there is only a single measurement point usually at the very bottom of the well. In the case of pressure this provides valuable information about the entire fluid column in the annulus but cannot be used to determine the location of any detected anomalies in the annulus we know only that something has happened between surface and the sensor.
One example of an application of downhole monitoring of conditions in down-hole drilling applications are the use of drilling fluids. Drilling fluids (muds) are circulated through the drill string and annulus of the borehole to remove cuttings from the well, lubricate and cool the drill bit, stabilize the well bore walls, prevent undesired influxes by countering formation pore pressure, and the like. The drilling fluid also facilitates removal of cuttings as result of drilling.
Indications that cuttings beds are forming in the well bore can be garnered through increases in torque and drag as well as a reduction in the volume of cuttings seen at surface. Currently however there is no certain method of determining in which regions of the well these beds are forming. The ability to take measurements at multiple points along the well simultaneously and in real time, as well as accelerate data transmission and increase volume of data from BHA conveyed tools that is seen at surface has the potential to increase accuracy and speed of diagnosis of down-hole events in real time.
Accordingly, the use of distributed sensors along the drill string and distributed measurements provides many advantages previously not feasible with existing technologies. However, beyond the basic concept of using distributed measurement data for cuttings loadings, detailed methods for doing so and applications for assessing other borehole conditions have not yet been disclosed with respect to distributed measurements.
Consequently, there is a need for methods of determining borehole conditions using distributed measurement data along the drill string.

Method of determining borehole conditions from distributed measurement data

BP Exploration Operating Company Limited


A wavelength-selective routing capability is provided in a single network element by configuring the network element using a combination of add/drop network elements to route individual optical channels of WDM signals among a plurality of optical transmission paths coupled to the network element. Any optical channel of any WDM signal received at the network element can be selectively added, dropped, or routed among the multiple optical transmission paths within and external to the node.

Optical fiber is fast becoming a transmission medium of choice for many communication networks because of the speed and bandwidth advantages associated with optical transmission. In addition, WDM is used to meet the increasing demands for more capacity in optical communication networks. As is well known, WDM combines many optical channels each at a different wavelength for simultaneous transmission as a composite optical signal in a single optical fiber.
Management of this increased capacity in WDM systems, e.g., managing the routing of communications traffic in many different optical channels on a wavelength-by-wavelength basis, is an important aspect of many WDM-based communication networks. For example, a desirable feature for many WDM networks is the capability to change routing of traffic among the different optical channels at certain nodes in the network to accommodate different users' requirements or changing requirements of a particular user. Certain types of network elements are deployed in WDM networks for such purposes. By way of example, cross-connects, add/drop multiplexers, optical switching arrangements, and the like are used at nodes in a WDM network to change the routing of individual optical channels (e.g., via cross-connections), to add or drop selected optical channels at particular nodes, and so on.
FIG. 1 shows one exemplary node 100 in a typical WDM network that is interconnected to many other nodes (not shown) by respective WDM optical line systems 101–104 via transmission paths 111–114. Although node 100 is shown in simplified form, it is assumed for this example that each of optical line systems 101–104 supports bi-directional communication via paths 111 114, wherein multiple optical fibers may be employed for such purpose. As such, it is also assumed that each of transmission paths 111–114 carries one or more WDM signals each having a number of optical channels.
In a so-called large node configuration, for example, node 100 might typically include a network element such as cross-connect 120 to switch or otherwise route traffic carried by individual optical channels of the WDM signals from one transmission path to another. For example, cross-connect 120 might be used to route communications traffic from an optical channel in the incoming WDM signal on path 111 to an optical channel in the outgoing WDM signal on path 114. Various cross-connect network elements employing either electronic, optical, or other switching fabrics are known to those skilled in the art. In general, these cross-connects are typically very costly and add a significant amount of complexity at a given node in the network. As such, cross-connects are generally reserved for use at the so-called larger network nodes. Add/drop multiplexers and other less costly and less complex network elements are typically found in the other network nodes that provide some limited routing functionality. However, these types of network elements are generally only used for managing a subset of the total number of optical channels that are being dropped and added in the WDM signal being processed at that node.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a lower cost and more robust wavelength-selective routing capability at nodes in a WDM network that do not have a cross-connect network element or the like.

Wavelength-selective routing using an optical add/drop architecture


An information processing device includes a memory and a processor coupled to the memory. The processor is configured to record, in the memory, requests to a plurality of computers. The processor is configured to determine, based on a past trend of requests and a specified maintenance-performing time, a time period in which maintenance is to be performed. The processor is configured to stand by until the determined time period comes. The processor is configured to determine, after standby, a maintenance standby time for each of the plurality of computers based on requests assigned to each of the plurality of computers. The processor is configured to determine, based on the maintenance standby time determined for each of the plurality of computers, an order in which maintenance is performed on the plurality of computers.

When maintenance is performed on a virtual machine (which will be hereinafter referred to as a "VM"), which is executed in a server device or the like that forms a cloud service, a technique called immutable infrastructure is employed in which a so-called VM re-creation is performed each time. Also, a technique called blue/green deployment is employed in which a VM in the same environment is prepared in advance and replacement is performed. "Maintenance" as used herein refers to a maintenance work, such as "re-creation of a VM", "deletion of a VM", or the like.
Related techniques are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2012-243157, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2014-142678, and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2014-67402.
In the above-described known techniques for maintenance of VM, it is preferable to abundantly prepare Internet protocol (IP) addresses and server resources. Therefore, use of the known techniques is restricted in a situation in which resources are limited.
Also, in a case where a maintenance target VM is chosen without any special consideration, a time during which a service in a VM that is not chosen is maintained is increased in the following cases.                A case in which a VM that is performing time consuming processing is chosen.        A case in which performance of a VM that is not chosen is remarkably deteriorated.        A case in which a current trend is different from a normal trend and, for example, large amount of requests are expected.
As a result, there is a probability that it will be difficult to ensure a value of service guarantee for user or that a system down will be caused.

Information processing device and information processing system


A receptacle for firearms that comprises a primary receiving cavity for a firearm that is considered to be semi-universal and has multifunctional capabilities. This primary receptacle allows the user to adjust the receiving cavity to fit a plethora of sizes, styles, and calibers within a certain model line. This is accomplished by a series of dual adjustment springs and molded stops that function together to customize tension and squeeze within the receptacle. The compact and ergonomic design allows the receptacle to be easily interchangeable among a variety of carriage or mounting apparatuses.

Since the invention of the sidearm, holsters have been created to accommodate an efficient way of carriage. As the number and range of sidearms advanced, so has holster technology. Often owners of multiple handguns face the costly problem of supplying a holster for every firearm. This not only can be very costly, but also very confusing when fitting a holster to firearms of similar models having different calibers. This creates a need for a holster that can accommodate a variety of pistols of the same style/model, but ranging in different widths due to the caliber. Any such holster must address a variety of factors, including:
1. Functionality;
2. Semi-universal Qualities; and
3. Interchangability.
Although some holsters may be very functional, they do not posses the quality of being very versatile. The term semi-universal (or semiversal) holster will be defined as a holster having a cavity for receiving a firearm that forms a structure around this entity, that has specific molded qualities which enable a certain style/model to fit while possessing the ability to adjust to various thickness to accommodate different calibers of this style firearm. Most holsters are pistol-specific in design and function, giving little room for multiple applications. For example, a firearm concealment rig that houses a specific firearm is useless when the user chooses to place another firearm of the same model/style having a different caliber. This forces the owner to purchase an additional holster for concealment. Each specific application or function and each handgun model/design thus requires a completely different holster for the firearm. The quality of a holster being semiversal in nature is very advantageous for the owner of multiple firearms. A good example is the Glock pistol. Many law officers carry such a weapon on duty. Many also have several models of the same pistol. Glocks have similar structure/design that may vary in length and thickness depending on the caliber. A holster that could fit all Glocks and have the ability to adjust to the user's discretion solves the confusion while saving money. Although attempts have been made to produce holsters that are semiversal in nature, the resulting products have been unacceptable by many or lack dimensions that are specific enough to give a desired fit (see Hellweg, U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,295 and Rogers, U.S. Pat. No. 5,622,297). In certain instances, the receiving cavity did not adequately define the specific dimensions necessary to custom-fit a specific range of styles/models. Additionally, in most instances, the holster material itself was relatively flimsy, even stretchy, provided little protection, little security, and proved to be unable to withstand extended use.
One universal holster has been designed, as specified in my patent application Ser. No. 09/921,740, hereby incorporated by reference. This holster accommodates a wide range of different manufacturer handguns due to the internal adjustment mechanisms and internal springs. While this holster will accommodate almost any handgun, a simpler semi-universal holster is still needed.
Problems with functionality lie generally within the longevity of the material. Although supple leather and cloth are functional in holster design, adverse conditions (i.e. stresses and weather) can degrade such materials. A relatively rigid material that resists these conditions and remains durable is more desirable. When pertaining to law enforcement and military, this need for durability is even greater, not only for longevity, but also for reliability. The holster must be resilient to certain stress points and at the same time, it must fit the firearm securely. For the holster to be fully functional, it must be of a semi-rigid material that is weather resistant, tough enough to resist resultant stresses, and provide longevity while remaining reliable under such conditions.
Many holsters may be stand-alone functional, while others may be somewhat semiversal in nature, but there is another need to be met—and that is for the holster to be interchangeable. For a holster to be interchangeable, the function must remain consistent even though the holster may not necessarily be semiversal. Interchangeable can be defined as the ability to be worn in different positions on or away from the body. In the past, each body position required design changes to accommodate mounting of the holster. The present trend of holster designs has failed to produce a product that simultaneously meets all three criteria of functionality, semiversal, and interchangeable.


To add new additional content to the reproduction schedule on the basis of reference content scheduled in a time slot in the reproduction schedule, a digital television in accordance with the present invention includes: an additional content extracting section for identifying, as the additional content, content associated with content information which meets conditions determined on the basis of content information of the reference content; and a placement position determining section for determining, based on time slot determining procedure information based on which a time slot is determined for the additional content related to the reference content, a time slot for the additional content identified by the additional content identifying means. The digital television therefore produces an optimal reproduction schedule to the user.

Conventionally, people often record a television program (content) on a video tape or other storage medium to replay and watch it after the broadcast time. Mass storage media are recently popular in line with widespread use of hard disk recorders and DVD recorders as well as video tapes. Large numbers of television programs can be recorded on these mass storage media once the programs are digitized, allowing the user to replay and watch the recorded television programs when convenient to the user. This kind of mass recording of digitized content happens not only with television broadcast programs, but with content distributed over the Internet and content distributed to mobile terminals.
The user selects desired content which they want to reproduce from the large amount of stored content, to view the content. However, it is a great burden for the user to perform manipulation to find the desired content in the large amount of content. The burden grows if the user is to select content they want to view from the content found in delivery plan tables provided by content providers which is planned to be broadcast (distributed), as well as the content in electronic program tables provided by broadcast stations. Therefore, there are demands for convenient content processing devices which enable the user to identify the content the user prefers from the huge amount of content that the user can view and produce their own schedules.
For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2004-328244 (Tokukai 2004-328244; published on Nov. 18, 2004) discloses a broadcast receiver device which produces a stored program index for stored programs (content) and displays the index and an EPG program table for broadcast programs on screen at the same time. More specifically, the broadcast receiver device searches for reproducible recorded programs before the broadcast of a program the user wants to view starts. The device then presents to the user. Accordingly, the user can select a recorded program so that they can reproduce broadcast programs they want to view without missing the programs.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication 2005-156996 (Tokukai 2005-156996; published on Jun. 16, 2005) discloses a management server which selects substitute advertisement information (second content) on the basis of the story pattern data (content information) for original advertisement information (first content) and the story pattern data indicating a content substance which matches with user preference. Accordingly, a reproduction device can reproduce the substitute advertisement information which matches with user preference in the original advertisement information.
Published Japanese Translation of PCT Application 2002-534860 (Tokuhyo 2002-534860; published on Oct. 15, 2002) discloses a program reproduction device which produces a personal reproduction schedule from all desired broadcast programs (first content) in accordance with a user profile. If there is more than one broadcast program in the same time slot which the user wants to have included in the schedule, the Tokuhyo 2002-534860 program reproduction device excludes the program with lower priority from the schedule, but records that program as a stored program (second content). When there occurs an free time slot in the broadcast program schedule, the device schedules the stored program, considering the duration of the free time slot and the duration of the reproduction time.
However, the devices disclosed in Tokukai 2004-328244, Tokukai 2005-156996, and Tokuhyo 2002-534860 entail following problems.
The Tokukai 2004-328244 broadcast receiver device considers only the length of reproduction time, the starting time, and the ending time of the stored program or the broadcast program. The device does not consider program (content) substance or relationships between stored and broadcast programs. That is, reproducible programs are scheduled only in consideration of time. The stored program index (reproduction schedule) produced that way is not always optimal to users.
The Tokukai 2005-156996 management server can only substitute the substitute advertisement information for the original advertisement information. The device allows poor flexibility in scheduling. For example, the device cannot reproduce desired advertisement information in a desired sequence. The device does not produce a schedule that is always optimal to the user.
The Tokuhyo 2002-534860 program reproduction device identifies a stored program which will fill in a free time slot in the personal reproduction schedule (reproduction schedule) merely by determining whether the program fits in to the free time slot. Therefore, similarly to Tokukai 2004-328244, the personal reproduction schedule is not always optimal to the user.

Content processing device, content processing method, control program, and storage medium


A laser includes a split-wave hybrid resonator that produces a high quality laser beam from a low gain laser medium. The split-wave hybrid resonator includes a resonator cavity formed by a pair of resonator mirror surfaces positioned at opposite ends of the laser medium and a pair of resonator walls positioned on opposite sides of the resonator cavity. The resonator walls are separated from each other by a separation distance such that the resonator cavity has a Fresnel number between approximately 0.5 and 1.5. At least one of the resonator walls includes a first ring oscillation filter adjacent to the lasing medium to filter out ring oscillations within the laser medium. One or more of the resonator walls may include first and second wall portions angled with respect to each other to form a wave-front splitting interferometer. The resonator mirrors are tilted off-axis with respect to the resonator walls.

Important practical examples of diffusion-cooled lasers include radio frequency (RF) excited gas lasers and also optically pumped solid-state lasers in which the lasing medium is cooled by the heat conduction through the active lasing medium toward its externally cooled boundaries.
An RF-excited laser produces laser energy when a lasing medium within an elongated laser resonator cavity is excited by a radio frequency voltage between a pair of externally cooled electrodes. The basic transverse RF-excited gas laser was first disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,251 to Katherine D. Laakmann ("the '251 patent"). That patent describes the laser resonator cavity as being enclosed in an elongated waveguide having two walls that are dielectrics and two walls that are the electrodes across which the RF voltage is applied.
The basic RF-excited laser evolved into high power slab gas lasers as disclosed in "Radio-Frequency Excited Stripline CO and CO.sub.2 Lasers," Gabai et al., Paper TUB4 presented at Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, June 1984 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,639 to Tulip. Such high power slab lasers enable the large volume lasing medium to be efficiently excited by an RF voltage and the resulting gas discharge and cooled by thermal conductivity through the gas to large surface area slab electrodes.
An example of a prior art slab laser 10 is shown in FIG. 1. The slab laser 10 includes first and second elongated, planar slab electrodes 12, 14 parallel to each other and extending between first and second resonator mirrors 16, 18. A gas lasing medium is positioned within an optical resonator cavity 20 formed between the slab electrodes 12, 14. When the RF voltage is applied to the gas lasing medium via the slab electrodes 12, 14, a gas discharge is formed within the resonator cavity 20 and the resonator mirrors 16, 18 form a laser beam 22 from the gas discharge within the resonator cavity 20. In the laser 10 shown in FIG. 1, the resonator mirrors 16, 18 form an unstable resonator with an exit aperture 24 such that the laser beam 22 travels laterally until the laser beam exits the resonator cavity 20 via the exit aperture. The slab electrodes 12, 14 are positioned sufficiently close to each other (e.g., 2 mm) so that resonator cavity 20 acts as a waveguide with a Fresnel number less than about 0.3 (D. Hall et al., Handbook on Molecular Lasers, P. K. Cheo, Ed., p. 170, 1987) and thereby prevent the laser beam 22 from expanding transverse to the faces of the electrodes. The slab electrodes 12, 14 act as a waveguide in that the entire laser beam 22 is reflected off of the slab electrodes multiple times along its path between resonator mirrors 16, 18.
As shown in FIG. 1, the laser beam 22 produced by the prior art slab laser 10 exits the resonator cavity 20 via the exit aperture 24. The transmission of the laser beam 22 toward and out of the exit aperture 24 can be accomplished using a negative-branch, confocal unstable resonator 26 as shown in FIG. 2 and discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,048 to Nishimae et al. The resonator mirrors 16, 18 of the resonator 26 have opposing concave reflective surfaces 28, 30 and are confocal, i.e., have a common focal point 32 on a resonator axis 34. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the exit aperture 24 is formed between the resonator walls 12, 14 by extending the first resonator mirror 16 beyond an end 36 of the second resonator mirror 18 so that the laser beam 22 is reflected by the first resonator mirror 16 out of the resonator cavity 20 through the exit aperture 24.
The typical prior art slab laser 10 shown in FIGS. 1-2 provides a laser beam of a reasonable laser beam quality, but has drawbacks. In particular, its power output is limited because of optical losses in the waveguide cavity, and because the lowest-order mode of the laser beam formed does not match the transverse gain profile of the waveguide cavity. The transverse gain profile of the prior art waveguide slab laser 10 of FIGS. 1-2 includes a relative minimum at the center of the waveguide cavity which corresponds to the position of the relative maximum of the lowest order mode of the laser beam. As a result, the lowest order mode of the laser beam achieves less than optimum power output.
In addition, the waveguide resonator cavity must be nearly perfect in order to achieve adequate laser output. In particular, the internal walls of the slab electrodes 12, 14 must be very highly polished to perform efficient waveguiding. Efficient waveguiding implies high reflection coefficients of the walls for a wide range of incident angles. This is achieved by diamond turning of bare metal electrode surfaces (A. Dutor et al., Proc. SPIE, 1996, 2773, p. 23). Further, the resonator mirrors 16, 18 must be nearly perfectly aligned with the optical axis of the resonator cavity. Such near perfection diminishes durability and adds cost to the manufacture of the waveguide lasers.
Another possibility is to position the electrodes sufficiently far apart to form a free-space laser resonator cavity with a Fresnel number of about 1.5 or more. Such a free-space resonator cavity allows the laser beam formed in the resonator cavity to expand without restriction from the resonator cavity walls. However, a laser with such a free-space resonator cavity also would have limited output power because the lowest-order mode of the resulting laser beam would not match the transverse gain profile of the resonator cavity. This results in lower electro-optical efficiency of the laser compared to lasers with a better match between the mode and gain profiles.


A protein composition derived from sesame seed is disclosed, which contains 40-95% by weight of crude proteins, 1-50% by weight of carbohydrate, 0-5% by weight of fat, 0-1% by weight of fiber, and 0.2-3% by weight of physiologically active substances derived from sesame seed, based on the dry weight of the composition and which is characterized in that when the protein composition is suspended at room temperature in pure water of pH 7 at a concentration of 5% by weight, not less than 80% by weight of the protein composition is dissolved in the pure water. A foodstuff or a cosmetic article containing the protein composition is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protein composition derived from sesame seed which excels in solubility in water and digestive assimilability, enjoys great practical utility as material for foodstuffs, and fits safe application as material for cosmetic articles and to foodstuffs using the composition.
2. Description of Prior Art
It has been known for long that sesame seed is an excellent food from the nutritional point of view. The sesame seed is used wholly as food in various forms such as roast sesame, ground sesame, roasted dehulled sesame, and pasted sesame. It is otherwise used widely in the form of sesame oil obtained by squeezing or by extraction with solvent.
Though the defatted oil cake which remains after the removal of sesame oil from sesame seed by squeezing or by extraction with solvent has high contents of proteins, carbohydrate, and physiologically active substances all abounding in nutritive value, it finds very little utility for practical applications except feed for domestic animals and fertilizer.
Though the defatted oil cake after the defatting predominantly comprises proteins of high quality, it manifests virtually no solubility in water. The scanty solubility imposes a strict limit on the kinds of applications to be found for the oil cake and the manners of application because it prevents the oil cake from being easily handled while it is being incorporated into foodstuffs and cosmetic articles.
As a means to obtain proteins from sesame seed, the method which collects proteins from oil cake which was roasted and then compressed by subjecting the oil cake to a heat treatment by the use of an acidic aqueous solution (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 01-206956) may be cited. Since this method collects the proteins from thermally degenerated defatted oil cake by adjusting the oil cake to a pH value of not more than 2, keeping it at or above 70.degree. C. thereby extracting proteins, causing the extracted proteins to precipitate in a neutral zone, and isolating the precipitate, the collected proteins exhibit solubility in water exclusively in an acidic zone and defies solution in neutral water. Further, since the collected proteins themselves are obtained in an undecomposed state, they are at a disadvantage in having a large molecular weight and manifesting no satisfactory digestive assimilability.
For the purpose of decreasing the molecular weight, the method for hydrolyzing the proteins by the use of an enzyme may be conceived. The method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 04-149138 represents a case of hydrolyzing the proteins by simultaneous use of a plurality of enzymes. This method implements the hydrolysis of proteins of soybeans, for example, by simultaneous addition of three kinds of enzymes to the proteins. The product of this hydrolysis principally comprises peptides which have notably low molecular weights averaging in the approximate range of 290-350. It is aimed at fulfilling the function of attaining recovery from fatigue and does not contain physiologically active substances derived from sesame seed. The invention covering this method suggests absolutely nothing about the use of sesame seed as the raw material.
A composition which contains proteins derived from sesame seed, also contains peculiar physiologically active substances derived from sesame seed, and has the proteins principally comprising crude proteins partially converted into peptides and possessing molecular weights distributed in a wide range is expected to excel in solubility in water and digestive assimilability and find extensive utility in applications such as foodstuffs and cosmetic articles. This ideal composition remains yet to be developed.
The subject imposed on the present invention consists in providing a protein composition derived from sesame seed which makes effective use of heretofore unused proteins of sesame seed, contains proteins exhibiting solubility in water unlike the ordinary water-insoluble defatted oil cake, as the proteins principally comprise crude proteins partially converted into peptides and possessing molecular weights distributed in a wide range, and further contains antioxidant precursors such as lignan glycosides and physiologically active substances peculiar to sesame seed such as antioxidant lignans.

Protein composition derived from sesame seed and use thereof


Solvents for agents or neutralizing media known in and of themselves for efficient, environmentally safe mass deacidification of books and other paper products, in the form of methylsiloxanes having at least two and maximally four silicon atoms, are a replacement for the previously used, environmentally unfavorable solvents such as chlorofluorohydrocarbons, whereby these special organosiloxanes are suitable to the same degree for use as solvents as well as for application in the recommended, efficient process and cause as little damage as possible to the books.

The invention relates to solvents for agents in the form of neutralizing media that efficiently mass deacidify books, printed matter and other paper products, as well as archived materials of all sorts, such as newspapers, records and documents.
All printed matter and paper products, in particular books, are subject to aging of the paper during storage, during the course of which traces of acid are released, leading to progressive damage to the paper.
If countermeasures are not undertaken, after a number of decades this damage can lead to the complete disintegration of the paper.
In order to preserve archives and libraries holding several hundred million books worldwide it is therefore necessary that the acid in the paper be neutralized and to simultaneously incorporate a buffering substance in the paper in sufficient quantity to neutralize acids released in the paper in the future.
In view of the very large quantity of books, only those processes which permit the efficient mass treatment of a large quantity of books in their entirety can be considered for this purpose; that is, processes which do not require opening the binding of the book and treating individual pages.
According to a process which is already known, the books are treated with vapor of metal alkyls for the purpose of deacidification, e.g. with diethylzinc vapor (U.S. Pat. No. 3,969,549). Due to moisture in the paper, the metal alkyl is converted to the oxide of the metal, e.g. into zinc oxide, which remains in the paper, neutralizing the free acids.
This process can be viewed as a "dry" process; that is, the books only come in contact with the vapor of the metal alkyl and are not saturated with a liquid.
This process achieves good deacidification, while not damaging the books.
The metal alkyls that are suitable for this application are, however, substances that are self-igniting in air and pose an extreme danger of fire and explosion and require the greatest degree of care and expensive safety measures to avoid serious accidents.
According to another known process, the so-called Wei-T'o process, the books are treated with solutions of an organo-metallic compound such as, for example, methylmagnesium carbonate, in suitable solvents such as the solvents mentioned below.
Using the example of methylmagnesium carbonate, this in turn is converted into magnesium oxide and magnesium carbonate by moisture in the paper, and both of these are capable of neutralizing the acids in the paper.
In contrast to the initially mentioned "dry" process, in this process the books are saturated with a liquid.
In addition to the main objective already mentioned, that being the deacidification of books, this process furthermore rinses away dust and dirt particles, similar to chemically cleaning textiles. Herein, aside from this process being safe, a further significant advantage can be seen.
It is necessarily true that very high requirements are placed on the chemical-physical properties of the solvents that are used in order to treat the books without damage.
Various secondary materials in addition to paper were and will be used in the manufacture of books, such as, for example, glue, adhesives, inks, including printing inks, cardboard, cloth, leather, and synthetics.
The solvents employed in the deacidification must neither damage the paper nor the secondary materials used to manufacture the book in any manner whatsoever. Since the solvents used in a dry process are removed from the books following the deacidification, the solvents must vaporize at temperatures which cause no damage to the books.
Previously, such non-damaging substances as fluorohydrocarbons and chlorofluorohydrocarbons (CFHC) were used along with the addition of alcohols such as, e.g., methanol or ethanol.
The mentioned fluorohydrocarbons and chlorofluorohydrocarbons are sufficiently compatible with most book materials and vaporize at temperatures at which, on the one hand, no significant evaporative losses occur during handling while, on the other hand, the books are not damaged.
However, in particular for chlorofluorohydrocarbons, there are highly significant manufacturing and application limitations as a result of their high potential for causing environmental and ozone layer damage.
In consideration of these worldwide limitations and their intensification as already fixed into contracts, a worldwide ban on application is to be expected.
German patent application DE 39 04 111 Al however specifies a process for mass deacidification of books and paper products in an environmentally safe manner, whereby emissions can be avoided to a large extent by means of an enclosed procedure and by carefully purifying the exhaust air. But if the production of fluorohydrocarbons or chlorofluorohydrocarbons is no longer possible in the foreseeable future as a result of a ban and/or voluntary discontinuance, suitable solvents for this efficacious, operationally safe and efficient process will be lacking.
The invention is thus assigned the basic task providing new solvents which are suitable for mass deacidification of paper products and permit their deacidification with the least possible damage to the products, while avoiding substances that have environmental drawbacks.

Solvents for agents to mass deacidify books and other paper products in an environmentally safe manner


A context-based concept fusion method detects a first concept in an image record. The method includes automatically determining at least one other concept in the image record which has a contextual relationship with the first concept and which is to be labeled by a user of the method; and labeling the at least one other concept by the user with a ground truth label to be used in the context-based concept fusion method to improve detection of the first concept in the image record.

Recognition of semantic information from visual context has been an important goal for research in image and video indexing. In recent years, NIST TRECVID (National Institute of Standards and Technology—Text Retrieval Conference—Video; see "Trec video retrieval evaluation", online at http://www-nlpir.nist.gov/projects/trecvid/) video retrieval evaluation has included a task in detecting high-level semantic features, such as locations, objects, people, and events from the image content of videos. Such high-level semantic features, termed "concepts" in this application, have been found to be very useful in improving quality of retrieval results in searching broadcast news videos.
A problem exists of enhancing concept detection accuracy. Semantic concepts usually do not occur in isolation—knowing the contextual information (e.g., outdoor) of an image is expected to help detection of other concepts (e.g., cars). For example, to detect "government leader" it is usually very hard to get a robust independent detector, because there are different persons from different views, and at different backgrounds. However, it is relatively easier to determine whether the image contains a face or whether it is an outdoor or indoor scene. These detection results form important context information which can be adopted to help detect "government leader" through a context-based model. Context-based concept fusion is such a framework to incorporate the interconceptual relationships to help detect individual concepts. It has a two-step framework. Given an input image, in the first step, independent detectors are applied to get an initial estimation about the posterior probabilities of concept labels. Then in the second step, these initial estimations are used as features to feed into a contex-based model which incorporates inter-conceptual relationships to refine the detection results.
Based on this idea, several Context-Based Concept Fusion (CBCF) methods have been proposed. The Multinet approach [M. R. Naphade, et al., "A factor graph framework for semantic video indexing", IEEE Trans on CSVT, (12)1: 40-52 2002] models the correlation between concepts with a factor graph and uses loopy probability propagation to modify the detection of each concept based on the detection confidence of other concepts. Because the joint probabilities of pairwise concepts are used as functions on the function nodes, thus needing a large amount of data to estimate, the performance will suffer when the training samples are limited. In [SS. Pack and S.-F Chang, "Experiments in Constructing Belief Networks for Image Classification Systems", Proc. ICIP, Vancouver, Canada, September 2000], models based on Bayesian Networks are used to capture the statistical interdependence among concepts present in consumer photographs. The Discriminative Model Fusion (DMF) method [J. Smith et al., "Multimedia semantic indexing using model vectors", Proc. ICME, vol. 3, pp. 445-448, 2003], generates a model vector based on the detection score of individual detectors, and a support vector machine (also referred to herein as an "SVM") is then trained to refine the detection of original concepts. In this method, there is needed an extra training set to train the context-based classifiers, and the performance will also suffer with limited training samples.
However, the results reported so far have indicated that not all concepts benefit from the CBCF strategy. As reported in A. Amir, et al., "IBM research TRECVID-2003 video retrieval system", Proc. NIST Text Retrieval Conf., (TREC), 2003, no more than 8 out of 17 concepts gain performance improvement by using CBCF. The lack of consistent performance gain could be attributed to several reasons: (1) insufficient data for learning reliable relations among concepts, (2) unreliable detectors, and (3) scales and complexity of the concept relations. Interestingly, results in Park and Chang, supra, suggests that user provided labels are much more effective in helping inferring other concepts compared to automatically detected labels.
It would thus be desirable to provide a method for effectively improving the accuracy of semantic concept detection in images and videos.


A help interface capable of receiving user-defined queries in a natural language and selecting the most appropriate answer from a plurality of potential answers, includes facilities for parsing and storing the character string content of the query in a buffer. Lists of punctuation characters as well as single and multiple word character strings are successively compared with the content of the buffer to eliminate punctuation, superfluous words, location reference words, and to identify synonyms to base words meaningful in the selection of an appropriate answer. The identified base words are used as references into a predefined rule set which inherently matches the base word with a potential answer and assigns a value based on the relationship of the potential answer to the base word. The cumulative values of all potential answers are computed and ranked with the highest ranking value presented to the user as a response to the query.

Numerous software applications, utilities, games, operating systems, etc., are designed to have some type of user assistance or "help" facility designed integrally within the software. Such help facilities, to a limited extent, enable the user to obtain instructional information while using the software and are less disruptive, and, typically less time consuming, than searching through manuals or other documentation accompanying the software.
Current help interfaces mimic one of a few basic designs. A first design, the limited context sensitive help interface utilizes the "context" or location of the user in the software to determine the nature and format of the help information to be displayed. For example, in a word processing application, if the user is editing a document and selects a command such as "FILE" from the drop-down menu and further presses a function key such "F1" for HELP, a limited context-sensitive facility opens a window explaining the functions offered under the drop-down menu. Unfortunately, users often have questions of a general nature which are unrelated to their current context or location. In such instances a context-sensitive help interface is of little or no value.
A second design, the table of contents/indexing help interface is formatted similarly to the table of contents or index of a document. Although this design does not limit the user to topics which are specific to the current context of the user's activities, the value of such an interface is dependent on the number and accuracy of entries contained therein. In addition, table of contents/indexing type interfaces are difficult and time consuming to build and rarely include all the topics to which a user is seeking a greater understanding. A further disadvantage of the table of contents/indexing type help interfaces is that users often seek information using words, phrases, and terminology of their own natural language, which although familiar to the user, are often different than those used by the author of the help interface. Both of the above-described help interfaces are not truly user interactive.
Artificial intelligence systems exist which accept natural language queries. However, such systems are usually very large and complex and, therefore, unsuitable for implementation with either an application or an operating system, where size is a primary consideration. Further, such systems have typically been unable to successfully answer a sufficient number of questions to make them useful. In addition, complex artificial intelligence systems are not amenable to "localization," i.e., the porting or translation of the software to adapt to a different natural language from that for which it was developed.
Accordingly, a need exists for a help interface for use with software which allows users to ask questions and make inquiries about topics unrelated to their current context or location within the software. Further, a need exists for a help interface in which the user may query the help facility using words, phrases and terminology of the user's natural language. An additional need exists for a help interface capable of effectively answering natural language queries and which is compact enough to be implemented in an application or operating system. A further need exists for a natural language help interface which may be easily localized to other natural languages without significantly redesigning the interface.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved help interface through which users can interact with software.

International Business Machines Corporation


A storage apparatus for holding a large variety of sports paraphernalia has rod members between opposing frame members. Upper and middle shelves are formed by upper and middle rod members with some of the rod members adjustable in a horizontal plane to hold and keep various sized balls or other sporting goods away from the wall of which the frame members are secured. A lower shelf is formed from a tray having a front support rod with hooks to hold roller skates, baseball bats, etc. between the frame members. Each frame member can include an L-shaped notch and hook that can hold hockey sticks, baseball gloves, baseball hats, etc.

Storage of sporting goods presents a special problem to the homeowner. Each sporting activity requires a unique piece of equipment leaving the homeowner with the dilemma of storing the various sized equipment. For instance, basketballs, soccer balls, softballs, baseballs, tennis balls, and racketballs are all ball shaped items that have a unique size. Further, it is not uncommon for a homeowner to have all of the above goods, including odd shaped items such as hockey sticks, baseball bats, roller skates, and baseball gloves which accompany the activity. The result is an array of items which are important for a particular sport yet provide a difficult storage problem.
Storage of such sporting goods on a conventional flat shelf also presents apparent problems. One problem is the need to prevent the aforementioned ball shaped items from rolling off the shelf. Even if shelf space is modified to secure a ball shaped item, the accompanying odd shaped items present additional problems. For instance, hockey sticks and baseball bats take up an inordinate amount of shelf space. Placing the items in a corner lends no form of organization or protection for either the item or an individual who may come in contact with a loose item. In-line roller skates are yet another sporting item commonly used which may be difficult to place on shelving as they are top heavy and the rollers make them movable. Placement of the skates in a corner may secure the rolling, but adds to room clutter and provides no protection to the skates. Improper storage of such items also makes it difficult for cleaning allowing accumulation of spiders and dirt. Improperly stored items may also lead to early degradation and with some skates costing upwards of $200, proper storage is a necessity. All of these problems are compounded in a home having more than one child for each child may have their own sporting goods.
Various attempts have been made to provide a storage device capable of holding sports paraphernalia, all with limited degrees of accomplishment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,462 discloses a sports equipment rack having a ball holder constructed from a tubular rod bent into U-shaped configurations providing support for ball shaped items wherein a rod continuance leads to an arcuate shaped leg providing a hook bracket for placement of a baseball bat in a horizontal position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,413,228 discloses a sports storage rack having a slotted member for supporting a baseball bat and an indented member providing for positioning of a baseball.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,467 discloses a sports equipment rack which consists of two frame members spaced apart by telescoping members. The rod members allow items to be placed against the wall with hooks on the front of each frame to allow storage of gloves and caps. Brackets bolted to the side of the frame provide storage for baseball bats. A disadvantage to this device is the use of the wall as a partial support which results in soiling of the wall. For instance, a basketball placed on the device is likely to impart marks on the adjoining wall leading to an unsightly arrangement. Should the basketball be wet it may not only soil the wall, but cause warpage of the wall. In addition, the device fails to provide a means for holding small items, as well as non-conforming items which may accompany a sporting activity, such as street hockey which employs hockey sticks, in-line skates and a hockey ball. Nondescript items also can not be stored, such as frisbees and paddle rackets.
Thus, what is lacking in the art is a multi-purpose sports rack capable of supporting sports paraphernalia that encompass a wide range of sports, including miscellaneous odd shaped sporting items.


A lens module comprises an optical lens component having an optical axis, an image sensing component located adjacent the optical lens component, and a dust trap located between the optical lens component and the image sensing component. The optical lens component has with a lens mount and a lens barrel mounted in the lens mount by way of a threaded connection. The dust trap comprises body having a groove which locates behind the connection between the lens mount and the lens barrel, for receiving dust dropping from the connection, and an inner extension arm separating the groove from the image sensing component for preventing the dust in the groove from moving onto the image sensing component which could reduce the quality of the image.

A digital imaging product such as a digital camera, a digital video camera, a cell phone with imaging function, a notebook computer with a camera, is generally provided with a lens module. Usually, the lens module comprises an optical lens component and an image sensing component located behind the optical lens component in the optical axis direction with the image being recorded being located in front of the optical lens component. The optical lens component comprises a lens mount, a lens barrel threaded to the lens mount, and a lens fixed in the lens barrel. Light rays travel to the image sensing component through the lens. The image sensing component transforms optical signals into electrical signals, then the electrical signals are transformed into digital signals by an A/D converter, the digital signals are processed into digital images via a DSP, and then the digital images are stored in a storage medium.
However, in existing lens modules, it is easy for dust to hide at the location where the lens barrel and the lens mount are connected. After finishing assembling the lens module, whether in the transferring process, at the time of being fixed to electronic products, or when users are using the electronic products, dust located at the connection between the lens barrel and the lens mount is very easy to be dislodged and fall onto the image sensing component because of being vibrated or shaken, so stains or irregularities may occur in the image shot, which will reduce the quality of the image.


A credit inquiry service system for inquiring about the credit standing of a check or credit card uses subscriber lines of a public communication network. The system includes credit inquiry terminals connected to the subscriber lines for generating and transmitting an inquiry request message requesting information regarding the credit standing of the check or credit card. The credit inquiry terminals also receive an inquiry result message corresponding to the inquiry request message via the subscriber lines. The system further includes a line multiplex device for one by one serially selecting the subscriber lines connected to the credit inquiry terminals, receiving the inquiry request message from one of the credit inquiry terminals connected to a selected subscriber line, and transmitting the inquiry result message corresponding to the inquiry request message to the corresponding credit inquiry terminal. A multiplexer is connected to a distributor of the public communication network to facilitate access of the subscriber lines, and to connect a selected subscriber line to the line multiplex device. A computer center receives the inquiry request message from the line multiplex device and transmits the inquiry request message to a card company's computer. The computer center then receives the inquiry result message indicating the credit standing of the check or credit card, and transmits the inquiry result message to the line multiplex device. The line multiplex device then transmits the inquiry result message back to the respective credit inquiry terminal via its corresponding subscriber line.

The present invention relates to a credit inquiry service system for inquiring about the credit status of a check or a credit card, and more particularly to a credit inquiry service system and method for performing the credit inquiry service using a public communication network.
In general, a credit inquiry service system is a system enabling a user using a credit inquiry terminal to inquire about the credit status of a check or a credit card by receiving information from a financial agency or a credit card company through a communication line. The advent of computer power greatly aided this process. Older efforts, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,017,835 entitled System For Verifying Credit Status issued to Randolph discloses a credit status verification system using a computer, modem and interface controller. In Randolph '835, the computer generates messages that are then sent to terminal units over telephones lines via a modem. Interface controllers distinguish between the types of messages and identify terminal units for receipt of messages by the computer. While this invention had benefits at the time of its inception, the current era of communication demands greater performance.
More recently, there have been attempts at creating more advanced credit inquiry systems to accommodate the greater needs of today's modem society for enhanced security, faster speed of transactions, and lower unit cost per transaction. One such attempt is disclosed in Korean Patent Publication No. 92-10483 entitled A Credit Card Terminal published on 26 Jun., 1992 by Beong-duk Jun of Gold Star Electric Machinery Co. Lid. That reference contemplates a credit inquiry terminal incorporated into in a credit inquiry service system. That system also includes a microprocessor, modem and transceiver to enable user communication between a terminal and a computer. Although that system has merit in its own right, we believe that it can be improved. Specifically, we believe that a more innovative system can be created that will provide the user with the desired credit information more in a much securely, shorter time, and at a lower cost per transaction than is possible with the aforementioned system.

Credit inquiry service system and method


In a joint apparatus for an automobile exhaust pipe, each of a pair of juxtaposed exhaust pipes and each of a pair of mutually coupled branch pipes of a bifurcated exhaust pipe are coupled to each other. The joint apparatus is provided with a spherical joint for coupling one of the pair of exhaust pipes to one of the branch pipes of the bifurcated exhaust pipe which is disposed in correspondence with the one exhaust pipe; and a flexible extensible joint for coupling another one of the pair of exhaust pipes to another one of the branch pipes which is disposed in correspondence with the another exhaust pipe.

The present invention relates to a joint apparatus for an automobile exhaust pipe.
In an automobile engine, in a case where exhaust gases from exhaust ports of respective cylinders are introduced into a muffler through a manifold, if an attempt is made to introduce the exhaust gases, which have passed through the manifold, into the muffler by means of an integrating exhaust pipe immediately after the manifold, the exhaust gases interfere with each other, deteriorating the exhaust efficiency. When the exhaust of an ensuing cylinder is started when the exhaust gases in the exhaust pipe are in the state of low pressure, the exhaust gases of the cylinder are forcibly exhausted, and the exhaust efficiency improves. Therefore, a means has been proposed in which, in a four-cylinder system, for example, the exhaust gases from cylinders whose timings of intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust are utterly reverse are made to converge, respectively, so as to enhance the exhaust efficiency.
In such a case, to prevent the transmission of vibrations from the manifold side to the muffler side, a joint apparatus in which each of a pair of juxtaposed exhaust pipes and each of a pair of mutually coupled branch pipes of a bifurcated exhaust pipe are coupled to each other is used immediately after the manifold. As shown in FIG. 2, this joint apparatus is generally provided with a pair of spherical joints 74 and 75 having common flanges 71 and 72 and resilient means 73. The spherical joint 74 is provided with a spherical annular seal member 78 fitted over an outer surface of an exhaust pipe 77 coupled to an exhaust port of a first cylinder by means of a manifold 76, while the spherical joint 75 is provided with a spherical annular seal member 80 fitted over an outer surface of an exhaust pipe 79 coupled to a fourth cylinder by means of the manifold 76. The common flange 71 is secured to the exhaust pipes 77 and 79, while the common flange 72 having spherical seats 83 and 84, on which spherical annular surfaces 81 and 82 of the spherical annular seal members 78 and 80 are respectively seated slidably, is secured to each of branch pipes 86 and 87 of a bifurcated exhaust pipe 85 coupled to the muffler side. The resilient means 73 is constituted by two resilient devices 61 and 62 which are symmetrically fitted to the flanges 71 and 72. Each of the resilient devices 61 and 62 is provided with a bolt 90 disposed in such a manner as to be passed through the flanges 71 and 72, a nut 88 meshing with the bolt 90, and a coil spring 89 interposed between a head of the bolt 90 and the flange 72. The resilient means 73 causes the two flanges 71 and 72 to approach each other by the resilient forces of the coil springs 89 so as to cause the spherical seats 83 and 84 to be resiliently pressed against the spherical annular surfaces 81 and 82.
In the joint apparatus shown in FIG. 2, the relative swinging motion of the bifurcated exhaust pipe 85 and the exhaust pipes 77 and 79 is allowed by the sliding motion of the spherical seats 83 and 84 with respect to the spherical annular surfaces 81 and 82. However, in the relative swinging motion in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing of FIG. 2, the spherical seats 83 and 84 are slid with respect to the spherical annular surfaces 81 and 82 without causing a gap between each of the spherical annular surfaces 81 and 82 and each of the spherical seats 83 and 84, whereas in the relative swinging motion in a direction parallel to the plane of the drawing, gaps can be caused alternately between the spherical annular surface 81 and the spherical seat 83 and between the spherical annular surface 82 and the spherical seat 84, thereby possibly causing the exhaust gases from leaking through the gaps.

Joint apparatus for automobile exhaust pipe