A silver halide photographic material having at least one hydrophilic colloid layer containing a dispersion obtained by emulsifying and dispersing a mixed solution containing at least one oil-soluble dye and at least one water-insoluble, organic solvent-soluble polymer.

Photographic emulsion layers or other hydrophilic colloid layers of silver halide photographic materials are often colored to absorb light in a specific wavelength region.
When the spectral composition of light incident upon a photographic emulsion layer must be controlled, a colored layer is usually provided on a side which is farther away from the support than the photographic emulsion layer. Such a colored layer is called a filter layer. When two or more emulsion layers are provided, a filter layer is sometimes provided therebetween.
On other hand, a colored layer called an antihalation layer is provided between the support and the photographic emulsion layer or on the side of the support opposite to the photographic emulsion layer to prevent blurring of an image, namely, to prevent halation caused by light scattering during or after the passage of light through the photographic emulsion layer. Particularly, light is reflected at the interface between the emulsion layer and the support or at the surface side of the support opposite the emulsion layer of the light-sensitive material, to again enter the photographic emulsion layer. When two or more photographic emulsion layers are provided, the antihalation layer is sometimes interposed therebetween.
Furthermore, the photographic emulsion layer is often colored to prevent reduced sharpness of the image due to scattering of light in the photographic emulsion layer. This phenomenon is generally called irradiation.
Generally, dyes are contained in the hydrophilic colloid layers to be colored. The dyes necessarily meet the following requirements.
(1) The dyes have an appropriate spectral absorption depending on the intended use.
(2) The dyes are photochemically inert. Namely, the dyes do not adversely effect the performance of silver halide photographic emulsion layers in a chemical sense. For example, the dyes do not cause a reduction in sensitivity, latent image fading or fogging.
(3) The dyes are decolorized during the course of photographic processing or (dissolved out) eluted in processing solutions or rinsing water so that any harmful coloration does not remain in the photographic materials after processing.
(4) The dyes do not diffuse from dyed layers into other layers.
(5) The dyes have excellent stability in solution or when introduced into a photographic material, and are neither discolored nor faded upon storage.
When the colored layer is a filter layer or when the colored layer is an antihalation layer provided on the photographic emulsion layer side of the support, the layer is often required to be selectively colored so that other layers are substantially not affected by the coloration. Otherwise, such coloration has an adverse spectral effect on adjacent layers, while the effect of the colored layer as the filter layer or the antihalation layer is reduced. However, when the dye-containing layer and another hydrophilic colloid layer in a wet state are brought into contact with each other, a portion of the dye is often diffused from the former into the latter. Many investigators have hitherto sought to develop techniques to prevent the dye from diffusing into an adjacent layer.
For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,548,564 and 3,625,694 propose a method wherein a hydrophilic polymer having a charge opposite to that of a dissociated anionic dye as a mordant is present with the dye in the same layer, and the dye is localized in a specific layer by interaction with the mordant.
In the dye fixing-decolorizing method using such a mordant, however, a large amount of the mordant must be used in comparison with the amount of the anionic dye. As a result, the thickness of the colored layer is inevitably increased. For example, when the colored layer is used as a filter layer for photographing materials, an increase in the thickness of the layer deteriorates the sharpness of the resulting image. Further, in a system using the mordant, the mordant necessarily does not interfere with the decolorization of sensitizing dyes used in the silver halide emulsions, in addition to the fixation-decolorization of the colored dye. However, the decolorizing performance thereof does not always reach a level which satisfies recent demands for higher image quality and rapid processing of the photographic materials.
Methods for dyeing a specific layer using a water-insoluble dye solid are disclosed in JP-A-56-12639 (the term "JP-A" as used herein means an "unexamined published Japanese patent application"), JP-A-55-155350, JP-A-55-155351, JP-A-63-27838, JP-A-63-197943, European Patents 15,601, 274,723, 276,566 and 299,436, U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,150 and WO 88/04794.
Furthermore, methods for dyeing a specific layer by using fine metal salt particles having a dye adsorbed thereon are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,719,088, 2,496,841 and 2,496,843 and JP-A-60-45237.
Such dyeing methods as described above provide excellent fixation and decolorization capability, but the absorption range thereof is generally broad. The broad absorption range is undesirable when the dyes are used as filter dyes for light in a specific wavelength region.
Furthermore, methods wherein oil-soluble dyes are dispersed with high-boiling organic solvents are disclosed in JP-A-61-204630, JP-A-61-205934, JP-A-62-32460, JP-A-62-56958, JP-A-62-92949, JP-A-62-222248, JP-A-63-40143, JP-A-63-184749 and JP-A-63-316852.
However, when such high-boiling organic solvents are used, the colored layer is softened and the mechanical strength of the layer is lowered. Hence, a larger amount of gelatin must be used, and the use of the high-boiling organic solvents adversely increases the thickness of the layer.
JP-B-51-39853 (the term "JP-B" as used herein means an "examined Japanese patent publication"), JP-A-51-59943, JP-A-53-137131, JP-A-54-32552, JP-A-54-107941, JP-A-56-126830, JP-A-58-149038, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,199,363, 4,203,716 and 4,990,435 disclose a method wherein a solution of a hydrophobic material such as a dye in an organic solvent is added to an aqueous dispersion of a polymer (polymer latex) to thereby impregnate the polymer latex with the hydrophobic material, thus forming a hydrophobic material-filled polymer latex. The method avoids the problems caused by the above noted high-boiling organic solvents, but the polymer latex particles are unstable during impregnation and tend to become agglomerated. The method is disadvantageous in that a large amount of the polymer must be used to sufficiently impregnate the polymer with the hydrophobic material, removal of a water-soluble organic co-solvent used for impregnation requires much time, and the entire process is lengthy and complicated.

Silver halide photographic material containing an oil-soluble dye dispersion


A method and system for acquiring a phalange edge image using an X-ray image of a hand are provided. The method includes: selecting a region of interest from an X-ray image of the hand; acquiring a soft tissue background gray level removed image by removing a soft tissue background gray level from the region of interest; and extracting a phalange edge image from the soft tissue background gray level removed image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of acquiring a phalange edge image and a system therefor, and more particularly, to a method of acquiring a phalange edge image extracted from an X-ray image of a hand, and a system therefor.
This work was supported by the IT R&D program of MIC/IITA [2005-S-069-02, Development of Wearable System Using Physiological Signal Processing]
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique for acquiring a phalange edge image extracted from an X-ray image is used to determine the bone age of a child.
As living standards improve, children's adult heights thereof generally increase. Short children, and their parents, worry that they will be short as adults. Therefore, child growth research has developed a technique for predicting the adult height of a child and a medical treatment for increasing adult height.
A child's adult height is predicted based on their bone age. Bone age is not a chronological age but a physiological age. The bone ages of persons who are completely grown are assumed to be equal. Therefore, bone age can be used to determine the remaining potential growth time of a child. If the bone age is larger than the chronological age, the remaining potential growth time is short, and the child has less opportunity to grow.
The bone age prediction method has been especially actively researched in Europe, where the Greulich-Pyle (GP) method based on atlas and the Tanner-Whitehouse (TW) method using a skeletal maturity score are widely used. The TW method is more objective than the GP method, and thus is most widely used. The TW method has been enhanced into the TW2 method, and in 2000, the TW3 method. If a child is predicted to have a short adult height, this can be increased through medical growth treatment. Methods of growth treatment include enhancing bone growth by injecting a growth hormone and prolonging the potential bone growth time.
In the TW3 method, radius, ulna, and short (RUS) bone scores and a carpal score are obtained by adding maturity scores of bone growth plates in the X-ray image of a hand. Generally, maturity stages of bone growth plate are divided into nine stages A to I, and each maturity stage is allocated a maturity score. A doctor determines the maturity stage of a bone using the TW3 method and calculates the maturity score thereof. Maturity scores of bones are added to calculate the RUS scores and the carpal score, giving the bone age of a child.
The results of determining the maturity stage differ among doctors, and even vary over time for the same doctor. Therefore, a more objective method of determining the bone maturity stage using a computer algorithm is required. Some bone maturity stage determination apparatuses using a computer algorithm have already been developed and used in clinics.
Most of the bone maturity stage determination apparatuses used in clinics are provided with only a tool for supporting a doctor to determine a TW3 bone age from an X-ray image, but not an automatic bone maturity determination unit. In addition, even in a bone maturity stage determination apparatus having a bone maturity determination function, a doctor needs to perform some operations. Even in a bone maturity stage determination apparatus having the automatic bone maturity determination unit, the result of the determination depends on the state of the X-ray imaging apparatus and the direction of the hand in the X-ray image, preventing the bone maturity from being determined accurately.
The bone maturity determination is performed by identifying and evaluating the change of shapes of epiphysis and metaphysis of the bone growth plate and a coupling state thereof. Since the shapes of the epiphysis and the metaphysis of the bone growth plate cannot be easily extracted from the X-ray image, it is difficult to implement the automatic bone maturity stage determination apparatus.
In general, in order to extract the shapes of the epiphysis and the metaphysis, a finger edge is detected, and after that, an edge detection mask is applied. Alternatively, a gray level threshold method may be used. When applying the edge detection mask to the epiphysis, the difference in the gray level between the epiphysis and the soft tissue background in the X-ray image is small, and thus the edge cannot be easily detected. On the other hand, when using the gray level threshold method, the threshold cannot be accurately set due to variations in the brightness of the neighboring soft tissue.
Therefore, a technique for accurately extracting the shapes of the epiphysis and the metaphysis from the X-ray image of a hand has been continuously researched. If the soft tissue background is removed from the X-ray image of the hand, the edges of the epiphysis and the metaphysis can be more easily extracted. Theoretically, using a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry technique, an image of only the bone or soft tissue can be obtained. However, the image of only the bone or soft tissue cannot be accurately obtained by general X-ray absorption imaging techniques.

Method of acquiring phalange edge image and system therefor

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A method for detecting a refrigerant charge in an air conditioning system. A charge detection device is connected to the air conditioning system that is operated to produce cooling air. The input temperature and pressure are measured from sensors in the air conditioning system. The charge detection device determines an actual sub cooling value of the air conditioning system from the input temperature and pressure. A desired sub cooling value is then assigned based on the ambient temperature and humidity of the air in which the air conditioning system is operating. The desired sub cooling value is obtained from a database in the charge detection device. The database stores predetermined sub cooling values at an optimum charge for a fixed compressor rpm, a fixed evaporator airflow and various ambient conditions encountered during normal operation. The charge detection device selects the desired sub cooling value according to the specific ambient temperature and humidity during operation of the air conditioning system. The actual sub cooling value is than compared to the desired sub cooling value. The difference between the actual sub cooling value and the desired sub cooling value is compared to the acceptable predetermined sub cooling value range. If the difference is outside of the range, the user is informed that the air conditioning system requires service.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a method and device for detecting the charge level in an air conditioning system, and more particularly, to a method and device for detecting the charge level in an automobile air conditioning system.
2. Discussion
Automotive air conditioning systems include a compressor, a condenser, an expansion device, and an evaporator connected by conduits to form a closed system. A mixture of refrigerant and oil, referred to as refrigerant charge, is circulated through the air conditioning system to produce cool air. The compressor receives the necessary lubrication from the oil in the refrigerant charge to circulate the refrigerant charge to the condenser, expansion device, and the evaporator. If the compressor is forced to function when the refrigerant charge is low, it can be damaged. The low refrigerant charge will cause increased compressor operating temperatures which would cause a reduced cycle system and an increase of compressor on time. Further, the low refrigerant charge can lower the mass flow rate decreasing the availability of the lubrication oil for the compressor and also causes the compressor to run hot. Therefore, the compressor will not receive enough lubrication oil to operate the system properly and will become damaged if it continues to operate.
There are a number of systems known to detect the charge in air conditioning systems. The refrigerant charge in a system has been measured by monitoring the pressure and temperature outside the compressor. If the system produces a high temperature and a low pressure outside the compressor, a low charge signal is indicated. Further, the refrigerant charge in a system has been measured by measuring the temperature and pressure after each process of the system. The measured values are compared to predetermined values to calculate the refrigerant charge. However, these methods can be inaccurate when determining the refrigerant charge level because the refrigerant charge is also effected by the compressor speed, air flow through the evaporator and the condenser. Consequently, if the inadequate charge level is not corrected immediately, the compressor will become damaged and can break down.
Therefore, it is desirable to improve the accuracy of detecting the refrigerant charge in an air conditioning system. Further, it is desirable to increase the durability of the compressor in the air conditioning system.

Method and device to detect the charge level in air conditioning systems


A one-mode, input-split electrically variable transmission is provided with two motor/generators and a torque-transmitting mechanism that is operatively connected to a second member of a first differential gear set and selectively engageable to connect the second member of the first differential gear set with the stationary member, thereby establishing a fixed speed ratio between the input member and the output member of the transmission. Preferably, another torque-transmitting mechanism is also provided to lock any two members of the differential gear set to one another, thereby establishing a second fixed speed ratio between the input member and the output member.

Internal combustion engines, particularly those of the reciprocating piston type, currently propel most vehicles. Such engines are relatively efficient, compact, lightweight, and inexpensive mechanisms by which to convert highly concentrated energy in the form of fuel into useful mechanical power. A novel transmission system, which can be used with internal combustion engines and which can reduce fuel consumption and emissions, may be of great benefit to the public.
The wide variation in the demands that vehicles typically place on internal combustion engines increases fuel consumption and emissions beyond the ideal case for such engines. Typically, a vehicle is propelled by such an engine, which is started from a cold state by a small electric motor and relatively small electric storage batteries, then quickly placed under the loads from propulsion and accessory equipment. Such an engine is also operated through a wide range of speeds and a wide range of loads and typically at an average of approximately a fifth of its maximum power output.
A vehicle transmission typically delivers mechanical power from an engine to the remainder of a drive system, such as fixed final drive gearing, axles and wheels. A typical mechanical transmission allows some freedom in engine operation, usually through alternate selection of five or six different drive ratios, a neutral selection that allows the engine to operate accessories with the vehicle stationary, and clutches or a torque converter for smooth transitions between driving ratios and to start the vehicle from rest with the engine turning. Transmission gear selection typically allows power from the engine to be delivered to the rest of the drive system with a ratio of torque multiplication and speed reduction, with a ratio of torque reduction and speed multiplication known as overdrive, or with a reverse ratio.
An electric generator can transform mechanical power from the engine into electrical power, and an electric motor can transform that electric power back into mechanical power at different torques and speeds for the remainder of the vehicle drive system. This arrangement allows a continuous variation in the ratio of torque and speed between engine and the remainder of the drive system, within the limits of the electric machinery. An electric storage battery used as a source of power for propulsion may be added to this arrangement, forming a series hybrid electric drive system.
The series hybrid system allows the engine to operate with some independence from the torque, speed and power required to propel a vehicle, so the engine may be controlled for improved emissions and efficiency. This system allows the electric machine attached to the engine to act as a motor to start the engine. This system also allows the electric machine attached to the remainder of the drive train to act as a generator, recovering energy from slowing the vehicle into the battery by regenerative braking. A series electric drive suffers from the weight and cost of sufficient electric machinery to transform all of the engine power from mechanical to electrical in the generator and from electrical to mechanical in the drive motor, and from the useful energy lost in these conversions.
A power-split transmission can use what is commonly understood to be "differential gearing" to achieve a continuously variable torque and speed ratio between input and output. An electrically variable transmission can use differential gearing to send a fraction of its transmitted power through a pair of electric motor/generators. The remainder of its power flows through another, parallel path that is all mechanical.
One form of differential gearing, as is well known to those skilled in this art, may constitute a planetary gear set. Planetary gearing is usually the preferred embodiment employed in differentially geared inventions, with the advantages of compactness and different torque and speed ratios among all members of the planetary gear set. Other forms of differential gearing include bevel gears or other gears in an arrangement where the rotational speed of at least one element of a gear set is always a weighted average of speeds of two other elements.
A hybrid electric vehicle transmission system also includes one or more electric energy storage devices. The typical device is a chemical electric storage battery, but capacitive or mechanical devices, such as an electrically driven flywheel, may also be included. Electric energy storage allows the mechanical output power from the transmission system to the vehicle to vary from the mechanical input power from the engine to the transmission system. The battery or other device also allows for engine starting with the transmission system and for regenerative vehicle braking.
An electrically variable transmission in a vehicle can simply transmit mechanical power from an engine input to a final drive output. To do so, the electric power produced by one motor/generator balances the electrical losses and the electric power consumed by the other motor/generator. By using the above-referenced electrical storage battery, the electric power generated by one motor/generator can be greater than or less than the electric power consumed by the other. Electric power from the battery can sometimes allow both motor/generators to act as motors, especially to assist the engine with vehicle acceleration. Both motors can sometimes act as generators to recharge the battery, especially in regenerative vehicle braking.
A successful substitute for the series hybrid transmission is the one-mode input-split electrically variable transmission disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,595, issued Sep. 24, 1996, to Michael Roland Schmidt, commonly assigned with the present application, and hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Such a transmission utilizes an input member to receive power from a vehicle power source such as an internal combustion engine, and a power output means such as an output member to deliver power to drive the vehicle. First and second motor/generators are connected to an energy storage device, such as a battery, so that the energy storage device can accept power from, and supply power to, the first and second motor/generators. The control unit regulates power flow among the energy storage device and the motor/generators as well as between the first and second motor/generators. In typical one-mode, input-split hybrid transmissions, fixed ratios may not be provided and electrical power must be circulated through both of the motor/generators, with the motor/generators acting either as motors or generators in order for power to be delivered at the output member to drive the vehicle.

One-mode input-split electro-mechanical transmission with two fixed speed ratios


The present invention is directed to a system for providing a trusted environment for untrusted computing systems. The system may include a HAC subsystem managing shared resources and a trusted bus switch for controlling a COTS processor to access the shared resources. The shared resources such as memory and several I/O resources reside on the trusted side of the trusted bus switch. Alternatively, the system may include a SCM as an add-on module to an untrusted host environment. Only authenticated applications including COTS OS execute on the SCM while untrusted applications execute on the untrusted host environment. The SCM may control secure resource access from the untrusted host through a plug-in module interface. All secure resources may be maintained on the trusted side of the plug-in module interface.

A secure communication system for military applications is required to have high bandwidth and support users who operate at different security levels. The levels of security depend on the type of information being communicated and upon the parties involved in the communication. For example, a network connecting real time embedded military multi-level applications must support communications between diverse groups with different clearance levels. In order to support such a network at a reasonable cost, it is desirable to utilize commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) network technologies and standards as much as possible. However, most COTS network components do not meet the level of security to meet information assurance requirements for the secure communication system including military multi-level applications.
Government and military applications often require more stringent standards for components. For example, security standards for computer and communication equipment for military applications are typically more stringent than security standards of comparable commercial computer and communication equipment. In the past, specialized components were employed which could meet the stringent standards of military applications. A drawback associated with the specialized components is the high cost associated with the design and manufacture of a specialized component with limited market potential outside of military applications.
Consequently, a system suitable for highly assured military applications employing widely available and cost effective commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components is necessary.

System for providing secure and trusted computing environments through a secure computing module


A fluid quick connector is mountable onto the threads of a threaded fluid component in a sealed fluid connection. A retainer element carried by the fluid quick connector is engagable with the threads on the second fluid component. In one aspect, the retainer element is at least one tab projecting inward into a bore in the quick connector body for engagement with the threads on the fluid component. In another aspect, the retainer is a resilient member carried within an expanded chamber in the quick connector body which has resilient legs positioning a tip end into engagement with the threads on the fluid component.

Modern plumbing connections frequently make use of threaded connections between joinable components to sealingly interconnect the components. Compression fittings are a typical threaded plumbing connection found in widespread use for home and building water connections.
While such threaded plumbing connections provide an effective seal between two joinable components, a certain amount of time is necessary to thread the connection together to sealingly join the two components. The same connection must be unthreaded if it is ever necessary to separate the two components.
Fluid quick connectors are employed in other applications, such as vehicle fuel and air lines, to provide rapid assembly of multiple fluid conduits to each other and/or to fluid use devices, such as pumps, air cylinders, valves, brake cylinders, etc. Such fluid quick connectors make use of a housing which receive an endform on another component in a through bore extending through the housing. A retainer is insertable into the housing, either axially from an open first end of the through bore in the housing or transversely in the case of a radially displacable retainer through a transverse bore formed in the housing which intersects the through bore. Such fluid quick connectors have proven an efficient means to provide rapid assembly of fluid components with a high pull-out retention force and without the need for special tools or time consuming threading operation.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a threaded fluid connection with a quick connect capability. It would also be desirable to provide a threaded fluid connection with a quick connect capability which does not require any modification to the threaded fluid component.

Fluid quick connector for threaded fluid components


The invention relates to a gasket seal (1) in the form of a profile comprising a U-shaped groove (23), which is intended to claim the edge (9) of the window (3) and a flexible masking lip (25) which is used to conceal the gap (8) between the window and the body (5). The inventive seal also comprises a longitudinal rib (29) which is provided with local deformations (30) that act as positioners (17). The method of producing the aforementioned gasket seal comprises a step involving the extrusion of a profile which comprises a U-shaped groove, a flexible masking lip and a continuous longitudinal rib and, subsequently, a step whereby said rib is deformed locally in order to form the positioners. During said deformation step, the rib is flattened locally by a crushing or pinching in order to reduce the thickness thereof and increase the height of same in the relevant area. The invention is particularly suitable for manufactures of motor vehicle accessories.

At present, the methods generally used to position fixed windows during course of automobile assembly are completely automated through the use of machine tools.
Fixed windows such as for example, windshields, rear side windows or back windows are now installed using conventional methods of adhering them to a recess in the vehicle body which forming a groove in the opening by means of a peripheral bead of adhesive.
Because of manufacturing allowances in vehicle body construction and the need to leave space for expansion, when the window is positioned there is a relatively large gap between the flange of the window and the end of the vehicle body.
For esthetic reasons, it is preferable to camouflage this gap by covering it with a frame profile or a perimeter seal also called an enhancer which may comprise, for example, a flexible masking lip used to compensate for the allowances.
In addition to their esthetic function, these frame profiles serve the additional purpose of positioning the window when the window is glued to the flanges of the opening in the vehicle body during assembly.
Actually, during the assembly procedure, a bead of adhesive is deposited on the groove in the metal vehicle body. The window is then gripped by a machine tool, generally using suction devices, placed in the opening to be covered, and finally pressed against the bead of adhesive until it is in the desired position.
For reasons related to air flow and esthetics, the industry has sought a way to position windows flush with the vehicle body, without any offset areas or protuberances between the window and the adjacent metal of the body.
Furthermore, in positioning the window, it is important to maintain optimal spacing between the window and the groove in the body so that on the one hand, the bead of adhesive is compressed sufficiently to adhere and form a tight seal between the window and the body, and on the other hand, the window does not exert so much pressure on the still liquid bead of glue that it overflows and drips onto the car body.
For all these reasons, it is desirable to maintain precise spacing between the window and the groove in the body that forms the edge of the opening. Advantageously, the seal may also comprise stop means to regulate this distance.
In the prior art various models of frame elements for maintaining the spacing between the window and the edges of the vehicle body opening have been proposed. For example, such elements have been described in French Patent Application No. 2.340.217 of REGIE NATIONALE DES USINES RENAULT or in European Patent Application No. EP 0.117.816 of VEGLA GmbH.
However, these elements are complex devices formed of several composite pieces. They entail long, expensive manufacturing and placement procedures, adding considerably to both the expense and length of time required to position the window.

Gasket seal with positioning stops for a fixed window glued to flanges of an opening


An engine control device is configured to cause an engine to operate at the optimum combustion mode according to the load when warming up of an emissions purification catalyst is required, and to obtain reduced HC discharged from the engine and accelerated warm-up of the catalyst. The engine control device performs stratified combustion with a compression stroke injection in a low-load region according to the engine load, and performs double-injection combustion with an intake stroke injection and a compression stroke injection in an intermediate load region, when warming up of the catalyst is required. In a high-load region, the engine control device performs homogenous combustion with an intake stroke injection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a control device for a direct fuel injection spark ignition engine. More specifically, the present invention relates to a control device that is suitable during cold starting and the like, or when it is necessary to warm up a catalyst for exhaust purification provided to the exhaust channel.
2. Background Information
One example of a direct fuel injection spark ignition engine is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 10-212987 in which emissions are significantly improved by reducing the amount of HC, NOx, and other exhaust from the engine during a cold start and accelerating warm-up. Accordingly, in this direct fuel injection spark ignition engine, an air mixture with the theoretical air/fuel ratio or a richer air/fuel ratio is formed in the area of the combustion chamber near the spark plug, and a mixture that is leaner than the theoretical air/fuel ratio is formed at the periphery of the combustion chamber by performing split injection between intake stroke injection and compression stroke injection.
Another example of a direct fuel injection spark ignition engine is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2000-145510. In this direct fuel injection spark ignition engine, a three-way catalyst is not activated during a cold start and HC is discharged without being reduced in the case of homogenous combustion with an intake stroke injection. Thus, in this direct fuel injection spark ignition engine, when the temperature of the engine is detected and the detected temperature is below a prescribed temperature, the air/fuel ratio is adjusted to be leaner than the theoretical air/fuel ratio in the compression stroke, and the fuel is injected.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved control device. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

Direct fuel injection/spark ignition engine control device


The invention relates to a semiconductor component comprising surface metallization and having at least one semiconductor body (3) and a package base body (2) on whose surface conductor path structures (7) are formed by means of surface metallization. A subregion of the conductor path structure (7) constitutes the solder connections of the semiconductor component. The solder connections (1) are combined to form rows, the individual rows of solder connections being arranged at a very small, predetermined spacing from one another.

Semiconductor components comprising surface metallization are known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,520. Disclosed therein is a semiconductor component having a semiconductor body and a substrate, and comprising on its principal faces surface metallizations in the form of conductive path structures. The semiconductor body is contacted via a subregion of the conductive path structures. Another subregion of the conductive path structures serves as the connecting region of the component.
Such connection surfaces realized as surface metallization are also used in so-called MID (Molded Interconnected Device) technology and CIMID (Chip-Integrated Molded Interconnected Device) technology, as is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,929,516, for example.
As can be seen from U.S. Pat. No. 5,081,520, the connection surfaces are ordinarily realized near the outer edges of the package or substrate. A known connection pattern consists, for example, in arranging the connection surfaces in two parallel rows extending along two opposite outer edges of the case.
A disadvantage of this arrangement is that when components of the aforesaid type have been soldered in, the solder connections readily tear away when the component is exposed to a temperature-change load. Such temperature-change loads can occur during normal operation, for example due to seasonal changes in outside temperature, during quality-control operations such as temperature-change testing and temperature shock, or during the soldering process itself.

Semiconductor component comprising a surface metallization


A cursor tool is assigned to a cursor and a first cursor control event is performed. If a predetermined time interval expires before a second cursor control event is performed, the cursor tool is activated. The first cursor control event may be a mouse down event and the second cursor control event may be a mouse up event. In another embodiment, a plurality of cursor tools are assigned to a cursor and a sequence of cursor control events are recognized. The sequence may begin with a mouse down event. If one or more mouse move events follow, a determination as to whether these are intended events is made. So long as no tools have previously been selected, if the mouse move events are determined to be intended events, a first of the assigned cursor tools is selected. Alternatively, if the mouse move events are not intended events but the events occurred after a preestablished time limit, a second of the assigned cursor tools is selected. If a mouse up event is then performed, and no cursor tool has yet been selected, a third of the assigned cursor tools is selected and the appropriate cursor tool action is performed. Otherwise, if a cursor tool was selected before the mouse up event, the action associated with the previously selected cursor tool is performed after the mouse up event.

A typical interactive computer system incorporates a user interface which bridges the gap between a human user who seeks to control the computer system and the hardware and/or software which makes up the computer system. In addition to hardware components such as alphanumeric keyboards, graphical user interfaces have become increasingly common features of personal computers. Such interfaces are provided either as built-in portions of the computer operating system, as in the case of the Macintosh.RTM. computer available from Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., or as add on software products that can be purchased and installed separately, such as the Windows.TM. operating system available from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash.
Regardless of whether the user interface is a hardware device or a software program (or, as is increasingly the case, a combination of both), the purpose of the user interface is, as indicated, to bridge the gap between the human operator and the device being utilized. For example, graphical user interfaces used with personal computers often have the ability to initiate execution of other, so called, application programs. Examples of application programs might be spreadsheets, wordprocessing systems, database programs, etc. Within application programs, a user is often able to move a cursor around an associated workspace displayed on a display screen by using a cursor control device (e.g., a mouse, trackball, pen, etc.). The user triggers certain events by pressing a button on the cursor control device (e.g., "clicking" a mouse). Each cursor control event may be associated with a command or may initiate a feature.
Mouse-driven interfaces often incorporate cursor tools. That is, the cursor can be assigned a specific functionality, after which the cursor is usually displayed as a tool image associated with its functionality. For example, a cursor may be assigned the functionality to act as a zoom-in tool. So assigned, the cursor may be displayed within the work space as a magnifying glass, thus representing its functionality as a zoom-in tool. Typically, each time a user wishes to change the functionality assigned to the cursor, the user must first perform a number of key strokes or other commands. For example, the user may have to access a pull down menu in order to assign a new functionality to the cursor. Thus, using a different cursor function requires two entirely distinct steps, one to select the tool and one to use the tool in the desired way.
For certain application programs, such as computer assisted drawing programs, a user will need to perform a mixture of several related operations repetitively. This will require the user to access a pull down menu or other means of assigning cursor functionality each time she/he wishes to initiate a new event. Such activities soon become a burden and/or a distraction. Therefore, it would be desirable to have a cursor tool which allows the user to select from a number cursor functions easily, and smoothly.


A high-strength steel wire for heat-resistant springs has both excellent high-temperature tensile strength and excellent high-temperature sag resistance at a temperature as high as 350 to 500° C., particularly at 400° C. or so (these properties are needed for spring materials). The steel wire contains (a) 0.01 to 0.08 wt % C, 0.18 to 0.25 wt % N, 0.5 to 4.0 wt % Mn, 16 to 20 wt % Cr, and 8.0 to 10.5 wt % Ni, (b) at least one constituent selected from the group consisting of 0.1 to 3.0 wt % Mo, 0.1 to 2.0 wt % Nb, 0.1 to 2.0 wt % Ti and 0.3 to 2.0 wt % Si, and (c) mainly Fe and unavoidable impurities both of which constitute the remainder. The steel wire has (a) a tensile strength of at least 1,300 N/mm2 and less than 2,000 N/mm2 before being treated with low-temperature annealing, and (b) a maximum crystal-grain diameter of less than 12 μm in the γ phase (austenite) in a transverse cross section of the wire.

As a material for springs used in the exhaust system of a car engine, austenitic stainless steels referred to as heat-resistant steels, such as SUS 304, SUS 316, and SUS 631J1 (JIS), or precipitation-hardened stainless steels have been used at an operating temperature of 350° C. or below.
In recent years, demands for more stringent control of the exhaust gas of automobiles have been increasing as a measure for environmental protection. The increasing demands have brought a tendency to raise the temperature of the exhaust system in order to increase the efficiency of engines and catalysts. Along with other parts, the springs are affected by this temperature rise. As a result, the most widely used austenitic stainless steels, such as SUS 304 and SUS 316, are sometimes insufficient in heat-resistant quality, particularly high-temperature tensile strength and high-temperature sag resistance especially needed for heat-resistant springs.
To avoid this problem, precipitation-hardened austenitic stainless steels such as SUS 631 are used as the material for the spring. However, the precipitation-hardened austenitic stainless steels have a problem in that a yield decrease in the hot working increases the cost, and an aging heat treatment at high temperatures for prolonged periods increases the production cost.
Consequently, the heat-resistant quality has been improved by employing the solid solution hardening which treats the steel by adding elements that form an interstitial solid solution, such as C and N, and ferrite-forming elements, such as W, Mo, V, Nb, and Si.
As a prior art that performs the solid solution hardening by adding the fore-going element, the published Japanese patent application Tokukoushou 54-18648 has disclosed a technique that intends to combine the anti-corrosion property of SUS 316 and the tensile strength of SUS 304.
Another published Japanese patent application, Tokukoushou 59-32540, has disclosed a technique in which in order to increase high-temperature tensile strength, high-temperature yield strength, and high-temperature oxidation resistance particularly at a temperature of 700° C. or so, the solid solution hardening is performed not only by the addition of C and N but also by the combined addition of B and V to an austenitic steel containing a large amount of Mn.
Yet another published Japanese patent application, Tokukaihei 4-297555, has disclosed a technique in which in order to attain high tensile strength and a long creep rapture life particularly at a temperature as high as 900° C. or so, the solid solution hardening is performed by the addition of C, N, Nb, W, etc.
Yet another published Japanese patent application, Tokukaihei 11-12695, has disclosed a technique which improves the performance of heat-resistant springs by mainly employing N to form a solid solution. Aiming at raising the elastic limit of SUS 316N, which is standardized in the Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS), by wire drawing, this technique has achieved not only a high elastic limit but also a high fatigue limit and a good heat-resistant quality at high temperatures by annealing a material containing a large amount of N.
Yet another published Japanese patent application, Tokukai 2000-239804, has disclosed a technique which achieves high sag resistance by the addition of elements, by the control of the average crystal-grain diameter in the γ phase (austenite) through the regulation of the heat-treatment conditions, and by the control of the aspect ratio (major-axis/minor-axis ratio) of the crystal grains in a longitudinal cross section of the wire through the regulation of the reduction rate of the cross-sectional area (hereinafter referred to as a "reduction of area") at the time of wire drawing.
However, the three techniques disclosed by Tokukoushou 54-18648, Tokukoushou 59-32540, and Tokukaihei 4-297555 do not intend to improve the high-temperature sag resistance needed for heat-resistant springs at a temperature of 350 to 500° C., particularly at 400° C. or so. The technique disclosed by Tokukaihei 11-12695 limits the Ni equivalent in addition to the specification of the containing range of the material elements. However, the Cr equivalent, also, must be considered to stabilize the γ phase (austenite). This technique has a drawback of high production cost because it uses a large amount of costly Mo as an additive to a material based on SUS 316 containing a large amount of costly Ni. The method of controlling the structure disclosed by Tokukai 2000-239804 is insufficient in considering the conditions for the solution treatment and the reduction of area. As a result, uneven plastic deformation occurs locally, and the performance of the drawn material may not be improved.
The heat-resistant quality of the heat-resistant steel treated by the solid solution hardening with N varies with the heat-treating conditions and the reduction of area. In particular, when the solid solution hardening with N is performed, the degree of hardening depends largely on uneven plastic deformation caused by the coiling process, for example. Therefore, it is necessary to properly specify the structure and the production conditions in order to attain the high-temperature tensile strength and the high-temperature sag resistance needed for heat-resistant springs.

Steel wire for heat-resistant spring, heat-resistant spring and method for producing heat-resistant spring


A dynamic message sign includes a front housing defining a viewing window and an interior. A LED assembly is in the interior for displaying a message within a cone of vision. A louver assembly limits the cone of vision. The dynamic message sign may also include a back frame for supporting the front housing and a bracket for setting the front assembly at an angle with respect to the back frame. The LED assembly can include a plurality of LED pixels arranged in rows and columns. The louver assembly can include a plurality of louver racks, each louver rack extending adjacent to a column of LED pixels.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject disclosure relates to methods and signs for displaying information, and more particularly to methods and signs for displaying information to motorists.
2. Background of the Related Art
Signs next to and above highways have become commonplace. Such signs can provide motorists with important information such as real-time traffic information, emergency conditions, and detour information. Signs can also provide ample advertising, instructional and other information. Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) have become a popular choice to present such information. For example, see U.S. PG Pub. No. 2004/0123501 published on Jul. 1, 2004 to Safavi et al., U.S. PG Pub. No. 2013/0282154 published on Oct. 24, 2013 to Chappall et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 7,511,634 issued on Mar. 31, 2009 to Stehle et al.
The typical DMS is LED based technology. Such DMS have a large cone of vision when used on roads to allow motorists from great distances and any lane to read the DMS. Although LED technology is bright and easy to read, modification is difficult.

Limited view dynamic message sign for traffic information


This invention relates to method and apparatus for collection of the complete fluorescence emission spectrum and the transient decay of a selected spectral band simultaneously with data acquisition times of less that one second. This invention is useful for studying human tissues and cells in vivo.

Laser-induced fluorescence spectroscopy has been employed to probe complex biological systems, like cells and tissues, for biochemical and morphological alterations associated with early evidence of diseases, potentially leading to non-invasive diagnosis in vivo. Once diagnosed, such tissue may be treated at their earliest stages, reducing or preventing the risk of developing clinically apparent diseases that often have associated morbidity or mortality, like cancer.
Steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy has been explored as a non-invasive means of detecting both cancers and pre-neoplasia (pre-malignancy) in vivo. In tissue fluorescence spectroscopy, light is used to probe endogenous biological fluorophores like collagen, elastin, NADPH, and tryptophan. Because tissue is an inhomogeneous medium, fluorescence signals measured in vivo reflect tissue morphology and optical absorption and scattering properties, as well as local biochemistry. These signals provide detailed information regarding tissue microenvironment and disease in a non-invasive way. Because fluorescence spectroscopy can be performed with fiber optic probes, the technique is compatible with minimally invasive methods, thus allowing optical detection in internal regions of the body accessible with endoscopes or catheters. U.S. Pat. No. 6,062,591 discloses an arrangement and method for diagnosis of malignant tissue by fluorescent observation using a stroboscope as a white light source to illuminate tissues through an endoscope, while a laser stimulates the fluorescence. U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,676 discloses a method for determining the biodistribution of substances using fluorescence spectroscopy. U.S. Pat. No. 5,208,651 discloses an apparatus and method for measuring fluorescence intensities at a plurality of wavelengths.
However, while the spectrally resolved fluorescence measurements described above are relatively simple to implement clinically and appear to provide useful diagnostic information, there are certain limitations intrinsic to the steady-state spectral technique. Further, because spectrally resolved measurements are inherently intensity dependent, variations in intensity resulting from optical loss in the experimental system or optical absorption in complex media may affect the lineshape of the steady-state emission spectrum in unpredictable and unquantifiable ways. This is an important limitation to consider when applying fluorescence spectroscopy in vivo, since intensity losses attributed to hemoglobin absorption in tissue are routinely observed in vivo.
Limitations to spectrally resolved fluorescence measurements arise from the fact that these steady-state measurements integrate the emitted fluorescence signal over time, thus ignoring the dynamics of the fluorescence decay and losing an additional dimension of information. Time-resolved techniques capture the transient decay of the fluorescence intensity in time, which reflects the relative concentrations and the lifetimes of the endogenous fluorophores contributing to the emission. Because of band broadening due to molecular vibrations and non-radiant relaxation, the fluorescence emission spectrum of biomolecules is rather featureless and therefore may be relatively insensitive to local biochemical variations. Fluorophore lifetimes, which depend on both radiative and non-radiative decay mechanisms, are known to be extremely sensitive to the local biochemical environment and to vary with pH and oxygenation, both of which may differ between diseased and normal tissue. This was demonstrated explicitly for NADH, where the average lifetime was found to vary by a factor of approximately six between mitochondrial NADH and NADH in aqueous solution. Further, because fluorophore lifetime does not change with variations in excitation intensity or optical losses from hemoglobin absorption, time-resolved measurements are intensity independent.
Until recently, time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy had been employed exclusively for in vitro diagnosis of tissue specimens, such as atherosclerotic plaque and malignant tumors. These early measurements used ultrashort laser pulses of picosecond duration for excitation and were therefore dependent upon large laser systems that would have been difficult to operate outside of the stable environment of a laser laboratory. Due to the relatively weak nature of fluorescence emission, detection was accomplished using highly sensitive photomultiplier tubes and time-correlated single-photon counting methods, which are time consuming and therefore require a static sample for measurement. For these reasons, technological limitations precluded the transfer of fluorescence lifetime spectroscopy from the laboratory to the clinic. The feasibility of using a time-resolved autofluorescence spectroscopy as a optical diagnostic technique for determining colonic polyp types in vivo, and the diagnostic accuracy of the technique was studied. (Mycek, M. A. et al., Gastrointestinal Endoscopy 1998, 48:4, 390-394)
The present invention relates to a portable Fluorescence Lifetime Spectrometer (FLS) designed to be compatible with both laboratory and clinical research studies on biological systems (cells and tissues), and which is useful to successfully discriminate cancerous and pre-cancerous tissues or cells from normal tissues or cells in vivo. The present invention also provides related methods for using the FLS to diagnose, pre-cancerous and cancerous tissues or cells and to distinguish from normal tissues or cells in vivo.

Fluorescence lifetime spectrometer (FLS) and methods of detecting diseased tissues


A method of producing a particulate-solid-bearing air-permeable sheet of material of other than woven and knitted material selected from non-woven fabrics and open cell foam materials includes the following steps: entraining a particulate solid in a gaseous carrier in the substantial absence of fibrous material; disposing one face of a preformed air-permeable sheet material, which material has a density at or below 0.25 g/cm.sup.3, in the path of a stream of the gaseous carrier and entrained particulate solid, whilst maintaining a pressure drop across the thickness of the preformed air-permeable sheet material from the one face to the other face of the air-permeable sheet material, whereby to entrap some or all of the entrained particulate solid on or on and in the air-permeable material; and fixing the retained particulate solid on or on and in the air-permeable material with a binder. The mean pore size of the preformed sheet material is greater than the mean particle size of the particulate solid.

The incorporation of particulate solids in air-permeable sheet materials has been practised for a very long time. Particulate solids may be therapeutic materials and may have an antiseptic or similar effect. Alternatively they may be adsorbents of gases (such as for example active carbon particles, which have been incorporated both in fibrous sheets and in cellular foam sheets).
Several methods have been adopted for incorporating particulate solids in permeable sheet material. One of the simplest is to form a laminate of the particulate solid with two sheets of woven cloth by applying to one of them a free flowing powder before the lamination of the two sheets is effected. This method is however rather primitive and the powdered material is not firmly bound but can shake out of the laminate.
Another method has been to impregnate a fibrous web, e.g. thin webs of a non-woven material with a suspension of the particulate material in a solvent carrier which also incorporates a binder (usually an aqueous latex). This method however necessitates the use of very finely ground powders since to maintain the powder in uniform suspension in the carrier liquid (even with the aid of dispersing agents) is difficult if the particle size is too great. This method also suffers from the disadvantage that the particulate solid loses some of its activity by prolonged contact with organic liquids in the suspension and may also become coated with the binder itself thus preventing those particles which are so coated from being active.
Furthermore when the aqueous suspension is dried (usually by the application of heat) the normal migration of the binder from the centre towards the faces of the web tends to take fine particles with it so that it is difficult with the microparticles used in this process to avoid such migration of the particulate solid. This leads to concentration of the particulate solid adjacent to the faces of the resulting web where the binder is also concentrated by the migration effect.
A considerable amount of activity can therefore be lost and although a considerable weight of powder can be incorporated there is a limit to the activity which can be achieved. Furthermore this process is very expensive to operate and is therefore rarely cost effective in a competitive market.
It has also been proposed in the past to tackify the surface of the fibres in a non-woven fabric by for example applying a solvent which plasticises the fibre surface or by heating to soften the surface of thermoplastic fibres in the non-woven material. After tackifying it has been proposed to apply a particulate solid such as an electrically conductive material to the tackified surfaces as from a suspension in a suitable liquid and then to solidify the surfaces as by removal of solvent or cooling so that the particles of solid remain partially embedded in the surfaces of the fibre. In this way a substantial amount of solid particulate material can be incorporated in the non-woven material. Such tackifying methods are however also disadvantageous in that deactivation of active particles can result and in that costs are high.
GB-A-2013102 describes a method of forming a filter material for use in safety clothing whereby adsorber grains initially on the surface of a base material are forced into the base material. An air current can be used to force the grains into the base material after the latter has been wetted. Alternatively the grains can be placed onto the surface of the dry material and forced into position by violent vibration. Filter material made by this method is stated to prevent the passage of liquid droplets as well as of vapours.
EP-A-0272798 describes a method of reducing the penetrability of a porous material by selectively incorporating particles of a pore modifying agent within the larger pores. A suspension, dispersion or aerosol containing the pore-modifying agent is passed through the material-by establishing a pressure differential across the-thickness of the material. The difference in flow rate through the large and small pores ensures that substantially all of the pore modifying agent is targetted to the large pores but it is critical that the pore-modifying agent be applied to the material under conditions of low inertia to establish such a flow pattern. The use of high inertia results in the pore modifying agent simply remaining on the surface of the material being treated since it is not then able to follow the flow pattern into the pores. The amount of pore modifying agent incorporated is described as being generally insignificant (e.g..ltoreq.1% w/w) compared to the weight of the base material. It is preferred that the pore modifying agent be less than 5 uM in diameter.
GB-A-1421346, relates to the production of moulded fibreglass batting of relatively high density for sound and heat insulation uses by compression moulding at elevated temperature of a fibrous batting containing a particulate thermosetting binder. In one step of the moulding process, particles of binder are entrained in a carrier fluid which is drawn through the fibrous batting by suction, particles which bounce off the surface of the fibrous batting being collected in a collecting duct disposed above the batting. The density of the binder material in the batting is increased by coating the fibres of the fibrous batting with water or oil before the carrier fluid with entrained binder particles is drawn through the batting.
The simultaneous formation of an air-permeable material from fibres admixed with a particulate solid has also been carried out in the past. Thus paper-making methods (both those in the liquid phase and those in which air-laying is utilized) have been used in this way. However depositing a mixture of fibres and powder on a paper machine is a difficult process because of the viscous drag of water drainage on the powders.
A more effective way of using fibres and particulate solid to prepare a particulate solid-bearing-material is by an air laying technique in which a mixture of fibres and powder is deposited using an air stream. One such method is described and claimed in GB-A-1283721. The process of that patent allows heavyweight webs to be loaded with powder. However the upper loading limit is only about 70% by weight. (Percentage by weight as used throughout the present specification is with respect to loaded base material before any processing steps subsequent to the loading of base material with powder, such as the incorporation of binder, have occurred).
The method of GB-A-1283721 can be used for heavy weight i.e. 300 grams per square meter at about 1 mm thick and upwards material (density from 0.3 gm/cm.sup.2), the lower economical limit of web weight for this process being about 200 grams per square meter at 0.5 mm thick (density 0.4 gm/cm.sup.3), at which weight not more than about 30% by weight of powder can be incorporated. It is not suitable for use with synthetic fibres nor for lightweight webs having very high air or liquid flow rates through the resulting material. It is therefore not suitable for example for preparing webs for use as air filters.
Using the method of GB-A-L 283 721 at below 200 gm per square meter (particularly with synthetic fibres) the webs are difficult to form, the amount of powder which can be incorporated falls rapidly (to well below 30% by weight) and the rate of production falls to uneconomical levels. Furthermore, when this process is applied to the production of lightweight webs, the product uniformity (i.e. the evenness of distribution of powder in the lightweight web) is not satisfactory.
It has also been proposed to mix powders and a latex and then to foam the latex as in GB-A-1471351. Webs made in this way are however virtually impervious to the flow of liquids and air and the activity of the powders is also impaired by the encapsulation of particles of powder.
Only a few of the prior art procedures are applicable to low density materials and even those that are either lower the activity of the particulate solid or are far too costly for general use.

Production of particulate solid-bearing low density air-permeable sheet materials


The regiospecific (1,2-Me.sub.2 C.sub.5 H.sub.3).sub.2 ZrMe.sup.+ MeB(C.sub.6 F.sub.5).sub.3.sup.- mediated ring-opening polymerization of methylenecyclobutane and its copolymerization with ethylene to polyolefins of microstructure--{CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 C(CH.sub.2)]--.sub.n and {--[CH.sub.2 CHR]--.sub.x [CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 CH.sub.2 C(CH.sub.2)]--.sub.y }.sub.n' respectively, is disclosed.

This application relates to catalysts and more particularly to homogeneous catalysts for use in polymerization via the ring opening of strained ring systems.
In the presence of Ziegler-Natta catalysts, methylenecyclobutane A can be polymerized into a polymer consisting of a mixture of micro-structure units B and C, through a ring-opening mechanism and a simple vinyl type insertion mechanism, respectively. ##STR1## Micro-structure B is particularly interesting in that it not only represents the thermodynamically unstable form of the synthetic rubber poly(isoprene), but when incorporated into copolymers with simple olefins, it can impart useful functionalities. Although it has been shown that several Ziegler-Natta catalysts including AlEt.sub.2 Cl-Cr(acac).sub.3 -TiCl.sub.4 ARA can selectively produce a polymer with structure B dominating, the activity of these catalysts appears extremely sluggish. More importantly, the mechanism of the ring-opening process which was earlier proposed to involve the oxidative addition of the ring C--C bond seems unlikely with the early transition metals where the required oxidation states may not necessarily be available.

Method of polymerizing exo-methylene cyclic organic compounds using homogeneous ring-opening catalysts


A snoring prevention apparatus for depressing a person's tongue during sleep is provided which includes a base plate, a tongue depressing member, an opening through which air may flow and a flexible band or strap to secure the apparatus to the person's mouth. The tongue depressing member is preferably a substantially flat member that extends from the base plate for disposition against the upper surface of the tongue such that the person's tongue is depressed which opens the airway of the person and prevents snoring. The flexible band is connected to the base plate and is disposed against the person's head for maintaining the apparatus in place. The tongue depressing member is resilient and flexible between a first tongue depressing position and a second upper position such that the tongue depressing member flexes from the first position to the second position in response to a normal body function which requires the tongue to raise during sleep, such as swallowing, coughing or sneezing. After the body function is accommodated, the tongue depressing member flexes back to the first tongue depressing position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of snoring prevention devices. This invention relates more particularly to depressing the tongue as a means for treating snoring.
2. Description of the Art
Snoring is a condition that occurs during sleep when inhaled or exhaled air vibrates the soft palate, uvula and adjacent structures, thereby causing a loud noise. In extreme cases it can cause sleep apnea, a temporary cessation of breathing during sleep. A number of devices are known in the prior art to address the problem of snoring. Unfortunately, these devices have significant drawbacks in terms of comfort, durability, reliability and effectiveness.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,046,512 to Murchie discloses an apparatus for treating snoring by regulating the air flow into the person's mouth. Unfortunately this device must be held by a person's teeth and can easily fall out of the mouth in the middle of the night. Also, in the event the person needs to swallow, cough or sneeze in the middle of the night the device will be dislodged from its functional location.
A device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,674,336 to King addresses the problem of snoring by providing an aperture to ensure a clear breathing path at the mouth. It also slightly separates the maxillary jaw from the mandibular jaw in order to create more space in the back of the throat for air to travel through. Unfortunately this device also must be held by the teeth and can become easily dislodged during sleep by a cough or sneeze.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,092,346 and 5,277,272 to Hays et al. and Hays, respectively, disclose a device which, when properly held in place with the teeth, projects the mandibular jaw slightly forward. This brings the back of the tongue forward such that the gap between the soft palette and the back of the tongue is enlarged to allow a more clear airway. The Hays devices have several drawbacks. First, they must be custom-fitted to the teeth of the individual. This custom-fitting, along with any necessary adjustments, requires the time and cost of professional services. Also, such a device can still become dislodged by a cough or sneeze, without returning to its functional position.
It is also known in the art to treat snoring by pulling the tongue forward as in U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,734 to Alvarez et al. This device contains an annular constricted sleeve portion using a suction force to pull the tongue forward and a mouth shield for positioning of the device. This device suffers from numerous drawbacks. Because the tongue is not free to rise, this device does not allow for swallowing, coughing or sneezing. If the person requires such a normal body function, the tongue will pull itself out from the annular sleeve portion, breaking the suction seal, thereby rendering the device nonfunctional. Further, the device is uncomfortable for the person.
It is also known in the art to suspend the soft palette while simultaneously depressing the tongue in an anti-snoring device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,132,647 to Corniello. This device resides completely inside the mouth. However, this device must be custom fitted to each individual person because of the method with which it attaches to the maxillary jaw. Also, if this device comes loose in the middle of the night it loses its functionality and could cause an obstruction to normal breathing. Finally, the presence of this device exerting an upward force on the uvula and soft palate is extremely uncomfortable and could cause gagging.
What is needed is an apparatus that will prevent snoring by depressing the tongue while ensuring that the apparatus does not become dislodged in the middle of the night. Further, what is needed is an apparatus that will allow the tongue to be raised temporarily for the purpose of swallowing, coughing or sneezing with the apparatus returning to its functional position immediately thereafter. It is further desired to provide an apparatus that prevents "lip-popping", another sleeping ailment whereby the force of expelled air pops open the closed lips causing an annoying noise. Further, the apparatus must be comfortable to wear and appropriate for use during sleep.


A reconfigurable system is provided for effecting temperature changes. A first thermally-conductive container stores a metal hydride while a second thermally-conductive container stores a metal alloy that is capable of absorbing hydrogen atoms at a pressure that is less than the storage pressure of the metal hydride. A valved conduit links the metal hydride and the metal alloy. A thermal insulator is disposed about one of the containers depending on whether the system is to be used for cooling or heating. A circulating fluid is placed in thermal communication with the insulated container and with an environment requiring temperature changes. When the conduit's valve is opened, hydrogen atoms desorbed from the metal hydride are transported through the conduit and are absorbed by the metal alloy. Desorption of the hydrogen generates a cooling effect while absorption of the hydrogen generates heat.

Small human-occupied, man-made environments that are used or immersed in harsh ambient environments may require heating or cooling in order to provide safe and comfortable temperature conditions for their human occupant(s). For example, garments worn by divers, firefighters, chemical "hazmat" workers, etc., frequently must be heated or cooled depending on ambient environmental conditions. In addition, small chambers such as dive chambers or hyperbaric chambers must also be heated or cooled. In each of these cases, constraints on size, weight, power availability and/or power consumption limit the types of heating or cooling systems that can be used. Furthermore, since some applications of these human-occupied environments may require heating while other applications may require cooling, it is advantageous to have a single system that is capable of being configured for heating or cooling as dictated by the particular application conditions.

Reconfigurable hydrogen transfer heating/cooling system

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


An apparatus for prediction of loop instructions. Loop instructions decrement the value in a counter register and branch to a target address (specified by an instruction operand) if the decremented value of the counter register is greater than zero. The apparatus comprises a loop detection unit that detects the presence of a loop instruction in the instruction stream. An indication of the loop instruction is conveyed to a reorder buffer which stores speculative register values. If the apparatus is not currently processing the loop instruction, a compare value corresponding to the counter register prior to execution of the loop instruction is conveyed to a loop prediction unit. The loop prediction unit also increments a counter value upon receiving each indication of the loop instruction. This counter value is then compared to the compare value conveyed from the reorder buffer. If the counter value is one less than the compare value, a signal is asserted that indicates that the loop instruction should be predicted not-taken upon a next iteration of the loop. In this manner, loop prediction accuracy may be increased by correctly predicting the loop instruction not-taken. Because loops are commonly found in a variety of applications, increasing the accuracy of loop prediction, even slightly, may have a beneficial effect on performance. The loop operation is particularly important in scientific applications where it may be used to perform various digital signal processing routines and to traverse arrays.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of microprocessors and, more particularly, to branch prediction mechanisms within microprocessors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Superscalar microprocessors achieve high performance by executing multiple instructions per clock cycle and by choosing the shortest possible clock cycle consistent with the design. As used herein, the term "clock cycle" refers to an interval of time accorded to various stages of an instruction processing pipeline within the microprocessor. Storage devices (e.g. registers and arrays) capture their values according to the clock cycle. For example, a storage device may capture a value according to a rising or falling edge of a clock signal defining the clock cycle. The storage device then stores the value until the subsequent rising or falling edge of the clock signal, respectively. The term "instruction processing pipeline" is used herein to refer to the logic circuits employed to process instructions in a pipelined fashion. Although the pipeline may be divided into any number of stages at which portions of instruction processing are performed, instruction processing generally comprises fetching the instruction, decoding the instruction, executing the instruction, and storing the execution results in the destination identified by the instruction.
An important feature of a superscalar microprocessor (and a superpipelined microprocessor as well) is its branch prediction mechanism. The branch prediction mechanism indicates a predicted direction (taken or not-taken) for a branch instruction, allowing subsequent instruction fetches to continue with the predicted instruction stream indicated by the branch prediction. The predicted instruction stream includes instructions immediately subsequent to the branch instruction in memory if the branch instruction is predicted not-taken, or the instructions at the target address of the branch instruction if the branch instruction is predicted taken. Instructions from the predicted instruction stream may be speculatively executed prior to execution of the branch instruction, and in any case are placed into the instruction processing pipeline prior to execution of the branch instruction. If the predicted instruction stream is correct, then the number of instructions executed per clock cycle is advantageously increased. However, if the predicted instruction stream is incorrect (i.e. one or more branch instructions are predicted incorrectly), then the instructions from the incorrectly predicted instruction stream are discarded from the instruction processing pipeline and the number of instructions executed per clock cycle is decreased.
One type of instruction for which branch prediction techniques are employed is the loop instruction. A loop instruction is used to execute a loop, or sequence of instructions, a number of times in succession. The number of executions, or iterations, of the loop is known as the loop count. The loop count is typically set by initializing a specified register prior to execution of the loop. In many cases, the specified register is pre-defined by the loop instruction. As used herein, the specified register used by the loop instruction is referred to as the "counter register".
A loop is delimited by the loop instruction, which executes as the last instruction in the loop. The loop instruction decrements the counter register (previously initialized with the loop count) and branches to a specified target address if the counter register is greater than zero. Since the specified target address is located at the beginning of the loop, branching to the specified target address causes another iteration of the loop to be performed. This sequence continues until the counter register is equal to zero. In this case, the loop instruction does not branch to the specified target address. Instead, execution continues with instructions located subsequent to the loop instruction in memory.
One example of a loop instruction is the "LOOP" instruction defined by x86 instruction set. This instruction uses the ECX register (or CX register, if operating in 16-bit mode) as the counter register. Similar to a generic loop instruction described above, the x86 "LOOP" instruction operates by decrementing the value in the counter register and branching to a target address specified as an operand of the instruction if the new value of the counter register is greater than zero.
In many cases, loop instructions are always predicted to be taken. In this manner, the prediction mechanism is correct in every iteration of the loop except the last one. For many implementations, this technique represents an acceptable level of accuracy. As the number of pipeline stages in microprocessors increases due to higher clock frequencies, however, the penalty for mispredicted branches increases as well. It thus becomes important to improve branch prediction accuracy as much as possible.
It would therefore be desirable to increase the accuracy of the branch prediction mechanism used in conjunction with the loop instruction.

Number of pipeline stages and loop length related counter differential based end-loop prediction


The machine for performing in-line treatment on containers comprises a treatment enclosure with a loading path for loading a row of containers and an unloading path for unloading a row of containers, the two paths being distinct from each other, and a carrousel of the first-in-first-out type, which carrousel firstly includes a plurality of mutually equidistant successive moving rails, each rail being designed to receive one row of containers, and means for moving the set of moving rails, and secondly is mounted inside the enclosure so that successive rows of containers can be transferred from the loading path to the unloading path of the enclosure. The carrousel is further equipped with regulation means which are designed to cause the set of moving rails to advance in successive steps at a given rate so that the transit time taken by each rail to travel from the loading path to the unloading path is substantially equal to a predetermined duration.

In the bottling industry, containers, and in particular bottles made of a plastics material of the PET or PVC type are conventionally transported via a pneumatic path between an upstream machine for manufacturing said containers by blow-molding, and a downstream machine for filling said containers. More particularly, such transfer lines implement pneumatic conveyors in which the containers are suspended via projections on their necks and are pushed one behind the other under the action of air jets. In practice, the output rates of such pneumatic transfer lines lie in the range 10,000 containers per hour to 60,000 containers per hour.
Clearly, for reasons of hygiene, it is necessary in such bottling lines to ensure that the insides of the containers are not contaminated with bacteria prior to being filled. For this purpose, it is possible, for example, to inject a disinfectant into the containers while they are being transferred pneumatically, it then being necessary to maintain said disinfectant at a determined temperature for a predetermined optimum duration, e.g. at 50.degree. C. for ten minutes. In which case, it is necessary to make sure that each container containing the disinfectant is maintained at this temperature for an actual duration that remains in the range set by a maximum duration that should not be exceeded and by a minimum duration below which the action of the disinfectant is not effective enough.

Machine for performing in-line treatment on containers, and a pneumatic container-transfer line equipped with such a machine