In an image forming optical system having a positive lens group, a negative lens group, and an aperture stop, the negative lens group is disposed at an image side of the of the aperture stop,                the negative lens group has a cemented lens which is formed by cementing a plurality of lenses, and        in a rectangular coordinate system in which, a horizontal axis is let to be Nd and a vertical axis is let to be νd, when a straight line indicated by Nd=α×νd+β (where, α=−0.017) is set,        Nd and νd of at least one lens forming the cemented lens are included in both of areas namely, an area which is determined by a line when a lower limit value is in a range of a following conditional expression (1), and a line when an upper limit value is in a range of the following conditional expression (1), and an area determined by following conditional expressions (2) and (3).1.45<β<2.15  (1)1.30<Nd<2.20  (2)3<νd<12  (3)

In recent years, a digital camera has been widely used as a next generation camera replacing a silver salt 35 mm film camera. Recently, there has been an increasing reduction in a size, and thinning of a digital camera. Moreover, a camera function (hereinafter called as an 'image pickup module') has been mounted even in a portable telephone, the use of which has also been increasing widely. For mounting this image pickup module in the portable telephone, an optical system has to be smaller and thinner than an optical system of the digital camera. Particularly, in a zoom lens, the reduction in size and the thinning have been sought. However, a zoom lens having a size reduced to be capable of being mounted in the portable telephone has not been known much.
As a typical means for reducing the size and thinning the zoom lens, the following two means can be taken into consideration. In other words,
A. To use a collapsible lens barrel, and to accommodate the optical system in a thickness (depth) of a casing. This collapsible lens barrel is a lens barrel having a structure in which, the optical system is protruded from a camera casing at the time of taking a picture, and is accommodated in the camera while carrying.
B. To accommodate the optical system in a direction of width or in a direction of height of the casing by adopting a dioptric system. This dioptric system is an optical system having a structure in which, an optical path (optical axis) of the optical system is folded by a reflecting optical element such as a mirror or a prism.
However, in a structure in which the abovementioned means A is used, the number of lenses forming the optical system or the number of movable lens groups is still large, and it is difficult to carry out the reduction in the size, and the thinning of the casing.
Moreover, in a structure in which the abovementioned means B is used, it is easy to make the casing thin as compared to a case in which the means in the abovementioned A is used, but an amount of movement of the movable lens group at the time of zooming, and the number of lenses forming the optical system tend to increase. Therefore, volumetrically, it is not at all suitable for the reduction in size.

Image forming optical system and electronic image pickup apparatus using image forming optical system

Abstract: Here, Nd denotes a refractive index, and νd denotes an Abbe's number.


An ultrasound probe includes an ultrasound probe housing and one or more ultrasound transducers disposed in the ultrasound probe housing. A dosimeter or ionizing radiation detector is disposed in or attached to the ultrasound probe housing. An alarm device receives radiation dose or radiation exposure data acquired by the dosimeter or ionizing radiation detector. The alarm device includes an electronic processor programmed to detect excessive radiation dose or radiation exposure received by the ultrasound probe based on the radiation dose or radiation exposure data acquired by the dosimeter or ionizing radiation detector, and output an alarm warning of the detection of excessive radiation dose or radiation exposure received by the ultrasound probe. In some embodiments, the dosimeter is a one-time use dosimeter that is not resettable.

External Beam Radiation Therapy (EBRT) employs an ionizing radiation beam as an oncological treatment tool. The ionizing radiation may be an electron beam, a proton beam, an x-ray beam, or the like. EBRT is commonly delivered as a fractionated therapy that involves multiple stages, beginning with pre-treatment imaging, followed by image-based treatment planning and culminating in multi-fraction treatment delivery. Each fraction is delivered on a separate day.
A difficulty with fractionated EBRT is that the target tumor and/or radiation-sensitive critical organs may shift between treatment delivery fractions (inter-fraction motion), or even during a single treatment delivery fraction (intra-fraction motion). Monitoring such motion is problematic, especially in the case of intra-fractional motion, because monitoring devices can be damaged by exposure to the ionizing radiation used in the therapy. Laser-based techniques have been developed to account for global patient shifts prior to delivering each fraction, but may be ineffective for detection motion of internal organs, or of the target tumor. Intermittent imaging by an imaging modality such as cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) may be used to account for inter-fractional motion, but is difficult or impossible to employ during a radiation therapy treatment delivery fraction to detect intra-fraction motion.
Another known approach for monitoring a radiation therapy treatment session (i.e. fraction) is ultrasound (US) imaging, which has good discrimination for soft tissue targets of the type that usually make up the malignant tumor and neighboring critical organs. However, the use of US imaging during a treatment delivery fraction has certain difficulties. A sonographer generally cannot be present to position the US probe due to the risk of radiation exposure; accordingly, either the US probe is stationary throughout the radiation therapy session, or a robotic US probe manipulator is used to manipulate the US probe. Furthermore, the US probe should not be irradiated by the therapeutic ionizing radiation beam during the radiation therapy session, which requires careful positioning of the US probe.
The following discloses a new and improved systems and methods that address the above referenced issues, and others.

Real time dosimetry of ultrasound imaging probe


A system, apparatus and/or method provides frequency response adjustment of an RF input filter of an RF tuner based on impedance of an antenna system that is providing reception of RF signals to the RF tuner. The frequency response adjustment is preferably accomplished dynamically and/or with respect to each frequency tuned. Particularly, the system, method and/or apparatus provides compensation at the RF tuner level for mistuning effects produced on the RF tuner by antenna system impedance presented at the antenna input that is other than a designed for impedance. Frequency response of an RF input filter for the RF tuner is electronically adjustable with an independent or semi-independent control voltage signal based on one or more measured parameters of a tuning frequency. Frequency response adjustment may include adjustment of a center frequency of the RF input filter bandpass frequency range and/or altering the bandpass frequency range of the RF input filter. The subject invention expands the capability of an RF signal receiver, particularly one using at least one electronically adjustable RF filter at the input of an electronic alignment type tuner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to tuners for radio frequency signal receivers such as televisions and, more-particularly, to a radio frequency tuner with an input filter having electrically adjustable frequency characteristics base on antenna input characteristics.
2. Background Information
Most, if not all, radio frequency (RF) signal receivers, such as radios, televisions, television signal receivers, and the like, include a tuner for selecting a particular radio frequency from the spectrum of available radio frequencies that are input to the RF signal receiver. The RF signal is supplied to the receiver by an antenna and/or cabling.
Tuner RF input circuits for RF signal receivers, particularly television signal receivers, are typically designed based on a known, good 75 ohms source such as provided by cable television systems in order to provide a proper expected performance. Many types of television antennas, particularly those of the indoor variety such as what are known as "rabbit ears", are not capable of providing a good 75 ohm source. As such, a television antenna (and associated cabling) may present the tuner with an input impedance that is other than 75 ohms, changes through the frequency band of interest, and which contains a resistive component and a reactive component.
The reactive portion of the input impedance will be absorbed by the section of the RF input circuit of the tuner. The resistive component will, in most cases, cause the input transforming network at the RF filter input to create the incorrect bandwidth base on the loaded Q of the network. The unknown impedance may cause the RF input circuit's center frequency to shift, resulting in a mistuning of the center frequency of the filter. Moreover, the effect of the antenna and associated cabling on the RF tuner input may be to adjust the bandwidth of the RF input circuit due to incorrect resistance in the tuned circuit. Additionally, different input circuits may exhibit an alternate effect, whereas the input reactance causes a change in bandwidth, center frequency, or a combination of both may be present. The result in tuner performance will be lower gain, higher noise figure, poor frequency response, and poor adjacent channel performance. The unknown impedance may also cause other tuning problems.
In RF signal receivers such as televisions, it is known to provide a tuner employing electronic alignment. These tuners use an alignment system that allows for an adjustment range on the RF tuning voltage centered around an oscillator control voltage. Basically, these tuners use voltage controlled RF filters for providing adjustability. When an antenna and cabling are used with respect to such electronic alignment tuners, the effect thereof may be to adjust the tuning of the filter(s) off the desired center frequency and/or bandpass frequency characteristics thereof. This "mistuning" can be seen in varying degrees and in varying modes across the entire input frequency range, and additionally varies in response to the antenna, cable, and type of input filter circuit employed.
It is evident from the above that what is needed is a manner of adjusting for an unknown impedance at the input of an RF tuner of an RF signal receiver.
It is further evident from the above that what is needed is a manner of adjustment of frequency response of an input of an RF tuner of an RF signal receiver based on impedance presented by an RF antenna system through its effects on RF signal reception.
It is yet further evident from the above that what is needed is a manner of dynamic adjustment of frequency response of an input of an RF tuner of an RF signal receiver based on impedance presented by an RF antenna system through its effects on RF signal reception.

Tuner input filter with electronically adjustable response for adapting to antenna characteristic


A memory system system includes a single in-line memory module (SIMM) which contains a memory device and a signal transmission line connected between the memory device and a connection terminal, and a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) which contains two memory devices and a signal transmission line connected between the two memory devices and a connection terminal. A length of the signal transmission line of the SIMM is longer than a length of the signal transmission line of the DIMM. The load of the memory device of the SIMM is less than the load of memory devices of the DIMM, and the longer length of the signal transmission line of the SIMM increases a signal delay time of the SIMM to compensate for the different loads of the SIMM and DIMM memory devices. The longer length of the signal transmission line of the SIMM may further compensate for a signal transmission line connected between the first and second sockets which receive the SIMM and DIMM, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory system, and more particularly, the present invention relates to improving the signal integrity of a memory bus channel of a memory system having different types of memory modules, for example, a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) and a single in-line memory module (SIMM).
A claim of priority is made to Korean Patent Application No. 2002-45914, filed Aug. 2, 2002 and entitled "Memory System", which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
2. Description of the Related Art
A computer memory system is generally made up of a memory controller chip set, memory devices, resistive elements, and wires mounted on a computer main board. The wires electrically interconnect the memory controller chip set, the memory devices and the resistive elements, and a memory bus channel functions as a data or signal transmission line between the memory controller chip set and the memory devices. The memory devices are mounted on the main board in a modular fashion.
When mounted on the main board, the memory module acts as a load on the memory bus channel, thereby electrically deteriorating channel characteristics. For example, the bandwidth of the memory bus channel is narrowed due to the parasitic components of each device on the main board and resultant impedance mismatches. Further, signal integrity is deteriorated which results in signal distortion and signal modification, particularly when the memory system is operated at high speed.
It has been suggested to use a plurality of memory bus channel structures in an attempt to prevent deterioration of signal integrity in high speed memory systems. Among these channel structures, a stub type channel is widely used for a memory data query (DQ) channel. In the stub type channel structure, a series resistor or a parallel capacitor is provided between the memory controller chip set and a first memory module, and a channel stop resistor is provided at an end of the memory channel. The stub type channel structure reduces wave reflection resulting from impedance mismatches, thereby substantially decreasing channel noise and improving signal integrity.
The stub type channel structure, however, may not sufficiently improve signal integrity adapted in a memory system having both a dual in-line memory module (DIMM) and a single in-line memory module (SIMM). In such a memory system, the channel structure and a channel length are the same for both the DIMM and SIMM. However, since the DIMM and SIMM have differing loads, the delay times of the modules are not the same and therefore signals arrive at the modules at different timings.
That is, when compared to a memory system having one type of memory module, signal integrity of the stub type channel structure is degraded when adapted in a memory system having different types of memory modules, for example, both SIMMs and DIMMs. This is especially problematic in the case of memory systems operating at high speeds, where signal integrity is particularly important.

Memory system having memory modules with different memory device loads


A switching converter controller includes an on-time timer circuit coupled to a switch driver circuit. The on-time timer circuit includes an up/down counter with a clock input node. The on-time timer circuit also includes a latch with an input coupled to an external clock signal and with an output coupled to the clock input node. The on-time timer circuit also includes an on-time capacitor array with a control terminal coupled an output of the up/down counter.

There are many different electrical system designs, each appropriate for a given scenario. Efforts to improve on electrical system designs and components are ongoing and involve commercialization of different system components. The use of semiconductor technology and the proliferation of consumer and industrial applications for semiconductor-based circuits drive product development. In summary, there is a competition to provide low-cost and functional electrical system components for use in consumer and industrial applications around the world.
Power management circuits are needed for many electrical system designs. A constant on-time control method is popular in power management system because it can achieve good load transient performance. Also, in many personal electronics or industrial applications, the application system needs special functions such as output ripple reduction and out of audio, where on-time control is appropriate. One way to provide the on-time involves an on-time capacitor or on-time capacitor array, Controlling the on-time capacitor or on-time capacitor array is not a trivial task.

On-time timer circuit with external clock for switching converter control


A pneumatic tire comprises main grooves extending in the tire circumferential direction. Grooves in vehicle inner and outer side center land portions are all narrow grooves. Vehicle inner side center land portion narrow grooves open to a vehicle center main groove at a first end, open to a vehicle inner side main groove at a second end, and bend in a tire circumferential direction. The narrow grooves in the vehicle outer side center land portion comprise vehicle outer side center land portion outer narrow grooves that open to a vehicle outer side main groove at a first end and terminate within the vehicle outer side center land portion at a second end and vehicle outer side center land portion inner narrow grooves that open to the vehicle center main groove at a first end and terminate within the vehicle outer side center land portion at the second end.

A pneumatic tire with a tread surface that includes grooves and narrow grooves that provides increased performance such as wear resistance is known in the related art. For example, the heavy duty radial tire described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H02-77306 is designed to improve uneven wear resistance and heat build-up resistance and includes a tread surface including four main grooves extending in the circumferential direction, ribs located between the main grooves, and narrow grooves formed in the ribs that extend in the tire lateral direction.
Additionally, the pneumatic tire described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-225020 is designed to suppress heel and toe wear and includes a plurality of lug grooves extending in the tire lateral direction, a plurality of main grooves, block land portions defined by the plurality of lug grooves and the plurality of main grooves, and narrow grooves formed in the block land portions that open to the main grooves at both ends in the tire lateral direction of the block land portion and oscillate in the tire circumferential direction. Furthermore, the pneumatic tire described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-184828 is designed to improve steering stability and ride comfort and includes three main grooves extending in the circumferential direction, a plurality of ribs defined by the main grooves, a narrow groove formed only in a rib formed between the main grooves, wherein the shape of the sipes is different between a rib on the inner side in the vehicle width direction of the equatorial plane in the tire lateral direction and a rib on the outer side.
Grooves formed in a tread surface contribute greatly to drainage properties. A tread surface with too few grooves has low drainage properties, and thus low wet properties, i.e., running properties on wet road surfaces. Wet performance can be ensured by providing the tread surface with more grooves such as lug grooves and the like to increase the groove area ratio of the ground contact region of the tread surface. However, increasing the groove area ratio may result in a decrease in rigidity of the land portion. A decrease in rigidity of the land portion can cause a decrease in steering stability and wear resistance. This makes providing good wet performance, steering stability, and wear resistance in a compatible manner a great challenge.


A catamaran includes a pair of floats, a deck extending in the air between the pair of floats as fixedly attached thereto and a connecting member extending in the water between the pair of floats as fixedly attached thereto. The connecting member has an airfoil-shaped section so that a lift is provided to the bow of the catamaran while it is cruising. Preferably, the airfoil-shaped section is inclined to define an attack angle in a range between 15 degrees and 25 degrees and most preferably approximately at 20 degrees. When applied to a working catamaran having a rotating impeller for collecting floats, a tail section is provided as extending downstream from a downstream edge of the air-foiled section.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to a water vessel and in particular to a catamaran including a submerged connection member connecting a pair of floats or hulls.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A catamaran typically includes a pair of hulls or floats which are joined by a deck or some other connecting structure bridging between them. However, such a connecting structure normally extends in the air and not submerged under the water. In the past, the present inventor invented a working catamaran including a pair of floats joined by a submerged connecting member for use in collecting solid floating materials on the water surface as disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model Post-examination Publication No. 57-18238. The working catamaran disclosed in this publication is illustrated here as FIGS. 4a through 4c. As shown in these figures, the working catamaran generally indicated by numeral 1 includes a pair of floats or hulls 2. In the illustrated structure, a bow tip end 3 of each of the floats 2 is located toward well 4, which is a region sandwiched between the floats 2 spaced apart from each other, with respect to its longitudinal center line CL. And, each of the floats 2 has a substantially vertical inner side wall at its bow portion a, intermediate portion b and stern portion c. In particular, the inner side walls b of the opposite floats 2 extend substantially in parallel each other and with respect to the longitudinal center axis CL of each of the floats 2.
A connecting member 5 extends between the opposite inner side wall surfaces a of the floats 2 at those portions d that are submerged under water. The connecting member 5 is fixedly attached at each end to the floats 2 so as to provide an increased structural integrity. Because of the provision of this connecting member 5, the floats 2 may be spaced apart at a greater distance than otherwise possible. This is particularly important in such a working vessel since it allows to sweep a wider water surface. As shown in FIG. 4b, the connecting member 5 is defined as a waterfoil having a particular cross sectional shape. That is, the connecting member 5 includes a curved bottom surface 5a which extends from the bow end downwardly until it hits the bottom of the float 2 with increasing its radius of curvature, and, then, extends along the bottom of the float 2 until it reaches its downstream end 5c. The curved portion of the bottom surface 5a extends generally from the forward end of the submerged inner side wall surface portion d to the bottom e of the bow portion a, whereby a space 5d having a generally triangular-shaped cross section is defined below the bottom surface 5a. The connecting member 5 also includes a curved top surface 5b which first extends substantially horizontally from the bow end over a predetermined distance and then extends downwardly toward the downstream end 5c with its radius of curvature gradually increasing. The particular shape of the connecting member 5 as described above is advantageous in providing stability while the working catamaran is in operation.
As also shown in FIG. 4b, a rotating impeller 7 is disposed above the connecting member 5 and extending between the opposite floats 2. And, thus, as the working catamaran 1 cruises, any solid materials floating on the water surface is first trapped in a mouth between the opposite floats 2 and then driven into the downstream portion of the well 4 defined between the opposite floats 2 by means of the rotating impeller 7. Also provided is a deck 6 extending between the floats 2 and in the air, which provides a working area for an operator and a bridge or operating room may be provided on the deck 6.
Thereafter, the present inventor improved the catamaran disclosed in the above publication so as to allow to collect oil spills rather than solid floating materials and filed a Japanese Patent Application, No. 58-29378, and also a U.S. patent application, Ser. No. 582,199, which has been issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,244, which is hereby incorporated by reference. This improved catamaran also includes a connecting member which is similar in many respects to the connecting member 5 illustrated in FIGS. 4a through 4c and described above.
As described above, the working catamaran provided with a submerged connecting member is advantageous in attaining stability in operation and such a submerged connecting member also has some merits in providing stability while cruising particularly through rough waters. However, it has been found that the bow end tends to become submerged under water when the working catamaran cruises at a relatively high speed. Since there are those cases in which the working catamaran is required to cruise at a relatively high speed so as to reach a site as soon as possible so that a collecting operation can be carried out immediately, it is also important that the working catamaran can cruise at a relatively high speed without problems. However, in the prior art structure, since the bow end tends to become submerged when the cruising speed increases, there has been an upper limit in the cruising speed. According to the experiments conducted by the present inventor, it has been found that a catamaran having a structure described above has a tendency to cause its bow end to be submerged under water when its cruising speed is increased even if the connecting member 5 has been removed. Therefore, there is an upper limit in the cruising speed for such a catamaran irrespective of whether it is provided with a connecting member or not.


An improvement is achieved in the reliability of a semiconductor device having an IGBT. In an active cell region, in a portion of a semiconductor substrate which is interposed between first and second trenches in which first and second trench gate electrodes are embedded, an n+-type emitter region, a p-type body region located thereunder, and a first n-type hole barrier region located thereunder are formed. In a hole collector cell region, in a portion of the semiconductor substrate which is interposed between third and fourth trenches in which third and fourth trench gate electrodes are embedded, the p-type body region and a second n-type hole barrier region located thereunder are formed, but an n-type semiconductor region equivalent to the n+-type emitter region is not formed. Under the first and second n-type hole barrier regions, an n−-type drift region having an impurity concentration lower than those thereof is present. The impurity concentration of the second n-type hole barrier region is higher than the impurity concentration of the first n-type hole barrier region.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, which can be used appropriately as, e.g., a semiconductor device having an IGBT.
As a power semiconductor device, there is a semiconductor device having an IGBT.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2013-140885 (Patent Document 1) describes a technique related to a semiconductor device having an IGBT.


An image based obstacle detection method. A camera mounted on a vehicle provides a set of image frames while the vehicle is in motion. The image frames define an image plane having a vertical aspect and a horizontal aspect. The relevancy of an object is determined by (i) selecting first and second feature points from the object that are spaced apart vertically in a first image frame; (ii) tracking the positions of the first and second feature points over at least a second image frame; and (iii) deciding the object to be relevant if the first and second feature points move dissimilar distances in physical space, within a tolerance, and deciding the object to be irrelevant otherwise. The motion of relevant objects is then estimated to determine if any relevant object is likely to become an obstacle to the vehicle.

Many vehicles now incorporate one or more obstacle detection system which use cameras to provide a field of view of the roadway and surrounding environment. The obstacle detection systems process the video stream or sequence of image frames provided by the camera in an attempt to ascertain the existence of an obstacle in the path of vehicle. Obstacle detection algorithms do this by attempting identify a variety of objects localized in one or more predefined regions of interest in the captured field of view, determine whether or not such objects are real, and estimate their path relative to the vehicle to determine whether or not such objects will indeed become obstacles.
The conventional approach to solving such a problem is to develop a series of classifiers and detectors to detect a group of predefined objects. The classifiers work in a cascade or in a parallel fashion to detect image content such as pedestrians, vehicles and geometrically shaped objects such as balls and poles. Such systems may require significant computational resources provided by expensive signal processors. In addition, in such a system, all the objects that need to be detected have to be defined in the development stage and require extensive training for the classifiers. Such a process is expensive and time consuming and might not be generic enough with respect to all possible different objects that might be encountered in the real world.

Image processing method for detecting objects using relative motion


A method including combining a silicon source precursor and a nitrogen source precursor at a temperature up to 550° C.; and forming a silicon nitride film. A system including a chamber; a silicon precursor source coupled to the chamber; a controller configured to control the introduction into the chamber of a silicon precursor from the silicon precursor source; and a memory coupled to the controller comprising a machine-readable medium having a machine-readable program embodied therein for directing operation of the system, the machine-readable program including instructions for controlling the second precursor source to introduce an effective amount of silicon precursor into the chamber at a temperature up to 550° C.

1.Field
Film formation.
2.Background
As process generations move forward, the sensitivity of circuit devices to higher fabrication temperatures increases. For example, the sensitivity of transistor components such as tips, wells, and implants to higher temperatures increases as these components become smaller and shallower. Higher temperatures cause implants, for example, to diffuse and adversely affect the implant and thus device performance.
Dielectric films are used in a number of instances in circuit fabrication. Silicon nitride is a common dielectric film that is typically formed by combining a silicon source precursor (e.g., a vapor) with a nitrogen source precursor (e.g., a vapor) in a deposition chamber. One current silicon source precursor is bis(tert-butyl amino) silane. When combined with a nitrogen source precursor such as ammonium (NH3), the reaction conditions to form a silicon nitride film generally require a temperature greater than 550° C. Such a chamber temperature can affect temperature sensitive devices as noted above and it is anticipated that the effect will be more pronounced as generations move forward.

Low-temperature silicon nitride deposition


A system for implementing service switching includes a primary service processing unit, a physical interface card, a control center, a switching unit and a standby service processing unit, to guarantee that the physical interface card connected to the failed primary service processing unit transmits the service data that should be processed by the primary service processing unit to the standby service processing unit, and to control the control switching unit to transmit the service data that should be transmitted to the primary service processing unit to the standby service processing unit. A method for implementing service switching includes: managing the physical interface card to transmit the service data that should be processed by the primary service processing unit to the standby service processing unit, and managing the switching unit to transmit the service data that should be transmitted to the primary service processing unit to the standby service processing unit.

The present invention relates to service processing technology of communication equipment, and more particularly to a system and method for implementing service switching.
In the currently applied communication networks, communication equipment is used everywhere. Each piece of such equipment may be considered as a service processing system used for processing services in the communication network. Thus communication equipment in the communication networks may be called service processing system.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the service processing system according to the prior art. Service processing system 100 in FIG. 1 includes a control center 110, a wiring board and a switching unit 140. Those skilled in the art should understand that, in the service processing system 100, one or more wiring boards may be included, such as wiring board 120, wiring board 130 and so on. Also, one or more physical interface cards and service processing units may be set on each wiring board. One physical interface card may connect to one or more service processing units. In FIG. 1, a physical interface card 121 and a service processing unit 122 connected to each other are set on wiring board 120, and a physical interface card 131 and a service processing unit 132 connected to each other are set on wiring board 130. Besides the connection shown in FIG. 1, switching unit 140 may also be connected to switching units or service processing units of other service processing systems.
Control center 110 connects to the physical interface cards in all the wiring boards in service processing system 100, and is used for performing such operations as configuration and communication control on each physical interface card and service processing unit by way of communication interaction. Control center 110 is also connected to switching unit 140 and is used for performing such operations as configuration and communication control on switching unit 140 by way of communication interaction. Each physical interface card receives and transfers communication information according to the configuration of control center 110, and each service processing unit processes services according to the configuration of control center 110. Switching unit 140 also receives and transmits service data from and to service processing system 100 according to the configuration of control center 110, as well as receives and transmits service data from and to the switching units and service processing units of other connected service processing systems.
However, when a failure occurs in the service processing unit, it is not easy to continue services in the service processing unit.

System and method for implementing service switching


A pillar trim component is provided that has a pillar trim member with at least one surface and an attachment member projecting from the surface of the pillar trim member. The pillar trim component includes an attachment member adapted to connect to a portion of the vehicle. The pillar trim component further has a region defined by at least a portion of the surface of the pillar trim member and at least a portion of a surface of the attachment member. A raised portion is positioned in the region that extends between the portion of the surface of the pillar trim member and the portion of the surface of the attachment member. The raised portion is adapted to facilitate a deployment of a tether of an airbag.

Conventional vehicles are equipped with airbags that deploy in the event of a collision with another vehicle or object. When deployed, the airbags act as an inflated cushion that absorbs the impact of a passenger in the vehicle. One type of airbag, known as a side airbag, deploys on a side of the vehicle to absorb impact by the vehicle passenger against that side of the vehicle. In one aspect, a tether connects the side airbag to a pillar of the vehicle to add support for the airbag when in its deployed state. When in an undeployed state, the tether is commonly located between the pillar and a pillar trim member.

Nissan Technical Center North America, Inc.


Downhole vibratory tools that use fluid flow to reciprocate a rotor in a vibration chamber and associated methods and processes. In a first illustrative embodiment, an elongated external housing allows connection to a drillstring, behind a downhole drill. From a top sub, fluid flows through a first flow plate and spiral flow chamber to enter a central vibration chamber in a spiral direction and exits the vibration chamber through a counterpart second flow plate and spiral flow chamber. A rotor is disposed in the vibration chamber. The spiral flow through the vibration chamber causes the rotor to reciprocate around the vibration chamber, thereby creating vibrations that are transmitted to the drillstring. Methods of use include deploying the vibration tool to improve rates of penetration and enhances reach by creating resonance vibrations against the wall of a wellbore to effectively break static friction.

Downhole vibratory tools that generate pressure pulses using fluid cavitation or spools that move in line with a long axis of the tool for extended reach drilling in open hole or reducing friction against a casing are known. Acoustic radiator tools for coal bed methane production, such as that disclosed in US 2014/0216727 use a hollow shaft to generate opposing flows through an orbital bushing to cause rotation around the shaft and thereby create sound waves. Testing of such an acoustic radiator tool for suitability for extended reach application in cased hole resulted in the tool breaking due to the higher flow pressures and volumes.
A system or device that was able to use fluid flow to create vibratory movement of a rotor to create vibrations suitable for extended reach wellbore use or drilling enhancement in open hole would be an improvement in the art.

Downhole vibratory tool with fluid driven rotor


A building panel (1) including a water resistant core (5) including thermoplastic material 21 and a surface layer (4) including thermosetting resins. Also, production methods to form a board material (1′) with a dry blend of thermoplastic particles 21a in powder form and fillers in powder form and to apply a surface layer (4) with a hot-hot lamination process to a core (5) including such board material.

The following description is used to describe the background and products, materials and production methods that may comprise specific parts of preferred embodiments in the disclosure. The floor types described below typically have two major common features.
They are intended to be installed in a floating manner with a mechanical locking system and the decor is, in most cases, obtained by colour pigments.
The different flooring types described below use two major classes of polymers, thermosetting and thermoplastic polymers, to provide a bonding between particles, mainly wood and mineral fillers. Such fillers are used to improve mechanical properties or just as extenders to decrease the amount of polymers used.
Thermosetting polymers are characterized in that they melt, float and polymerize with increased stiffness when heat and pressure is applied. They are completely cured and cannot be melted again. Thermoplastic particles on the other hand soften and melt when temperature is increased and the stiffness increases when they are cooled down.
Thermoplastic polymers are very moisture stable and may be formed as a product comprising only a specific polymer material. Thermosetting polymers are moisture sensitive and very brittle. They must be combined and reinforced with fibres, generally with wood fibres.
1. Thermosetting Flooring
This flooring category is characterized in that thermosetting resins such as, for example, Melamine Formaldehyde (MF), Urea Formaldehyde (UF) or Phenol Formaldehyde (PF) resins are combined with mainly wood fibres and cured under heat and pressure such that separate core or surface layers may be formed.
a) Laminate Floors
The majority of all laminate floors have a wood design. Such laminated floors have a core of 6-12 mm fibreboard, a 0.2 mm thick upper decorative surface layer of laminate and a 0.1-0.2 mm thick lower balancing layer. The decorative and wear properties are generally obtained with two separate layers of melamine formaldehyde impregnated paper (a decorative layer and a wear layer), one above the other. The decorative layer is a printed paper and the wear layer is a transparent overlay paper, which comprises small aluminium oxide particles. The core is generally a high-density fibreboard (HDF) comprising wood fibres and a mix of MF and UF resins. The decorative paper and the overlay paper are directly laminated by a hot-hot production method to the HDF core under high heat and pressure (170° C., 40 bar). Hot-hot pressing generally refers to a pressing method where a press table has essentially the same closing temperature as the opening temperature (e.g., within about 10° C.). Hot-hot pressing is very cost efficient since no cooling of the press table is needed but can only be used in direct lamination of thermosetting based surfaces that cure at high heat and that are laminated to rather thick core materials comprising thermosetting resins that are able to absorb the steam from the moisture of the core and the surface layer that is created at high pressing temperatures above 100° C.
A separate laminate sheet may also be produced in a continuous or discontinuous pressing operation and the laminate sheet is thereafter glued to a core material. This gluing, that may be made in cold condition, allows that separate laminate sheets may be bonded to different core materials, provided that they have similar moisture movements as the surface layer when relative humidity (RH) varies between dry (RH 20%) and wet conditions (RH 90%).
b) Powder-Based Floors
Recently new "paper free" floor types have been developed with solid surfaces comprising a substantially homogenous powder mix of fibres, binders and wear resistant particles hereafter referred to as WFF (Wood Fibre Floor).
The powder mix may comprise aluminium oxide particles, thermosetting resin such as melamine formaldehyde resins and wood fibres. In most applications decorative particles such as, for example, colour pigments are included in the mix. In general, all these materials are applied in dry form as a mixed powder on a wood-based core such as a HDF core and cured in a hot-hot direct lamination step under similar heat and pressure as used in laminate floors.
Digital powder printing has been developed and it is possible to create very advanced wood, stone and tile designs by injecting water based ink drops comprising pigment dispersions into the powder prior to pressing. A recently developed Binder and Powder (BAP) printing method may also be used to provide a digital print on a powder-based surface. Conventional digital printing methods are divided in two separate steps comprising a separate application of a liquid binder, generally referred to as "blank ink" and of dry colorants, generally referred to as "dry ink". Coloured particles of dry ink are applied on a panel surface. Some particles are bonded by a digitally formed pattern of blank ink applied by a print head. Other non-bonded dry ink particles are removed and the remaining bonded particles form a digital decor. This two-step process may be repeated and several colours of dry ink may be applied such that an advanced multi colour high definition digital print may be formed in a cost efficient way. The major advantage is that rather simple water based liquid substances may be used and the pigment based dry ink colorants are very cost efficient since no pigment dispersions are needed.
2. Thermoplastic Flooring
This flooring category is characterized in that thermoplastic materials such as, for example, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polypropylene (PP), or polyethylene (PE) are mixed with mineral or wood fibres. The final pressing is made under lower pressure than generally used in, for example, laminate production and with a hot-cold pressing method. The temperature is generally similar, about 140-160° C. Thermoplastic material melts at high temperatures and no curing takes place. The press table or belt must therefore be cooled down below 100° C. such that the thermoplastic layer is converted from a floating paste to a solid layer. Separate thermoplastic layers may be fused or laminated together by heating and cooling under pressure.
c) LVT Floors
Luxury Vinyl Tiles, generally referred to as LVT floorings, are generally constructed as a layered product made of thermoplastic material such as PVC, generally referred to as vinyl, mixed with mineral fillers, colour pigments and plasticizers. The name LVT is somewhat misleading since a major part of LVT floors have a plank size with a wood design. They may also comprise other plastic materials that are not vinyl. LVT has become a generic name for high quality resilient floor that may be installed floating with a locking system.
Thermal moulding is used to form the PVC layers. Co-rotating twin-screw extruders are used for the production of high-quality thermoforming PVC layers with fillers. The screws press and mix the material under heat.
The extruder may be filled with pre-formed small plastic pellets comprising a compound of PVC, pigments, fillers etc. Compounding is a process where mixing of polymers and additives in a molten state under heat and generally also under pressure is used in order to form plastic pellets comprising a homogenous blend of the different raw materials. Co-kneaders, twin-screw extruders and internal mixers are the most common compounders used in the plastic industry.
The compounding process may be avoided and an extruder may also be directly filled with basic plastic particles and separate fillers and other additives that are mixed in a hopper attached to the extruder. This method may be used to save material cost. Advanced twin-screw extruders with optimized screw geometry combined with accurate temperature control are used to obtain high melt homogeneity.
The extruder comprises a flat sheet die that provides a paste with essentially the same width as the finished layer. The die has generally oil temperature-controlled adjustable die lips that provide a wide thickness range.
The melted paste is further processed with 3-roll polishing calenders comprising a fixed central hot roll and two adjustable rolls on each side for calibration. The first roll is hot and the third roll is cold. The melt feed angle, which is determined by the weight and elongation of the melt, can be changed by adjusting the position of the first roll.
Horizontal, inclined or vertical roll arrangements may be used.
A wide range of downstream equipment and methods are used to laminate the layers under heat and pressure and to cool the plastic layers to a multi-layer sheet. One simple method is to cut the layers to sheets and to use a multi opening hot-cold press. In continuous production several extruders may be used and the layers are hot when they are laminated together, in most cases with an intermediate layer of glass fibre. Cooling and stabilization of the panel in order to avoid warping takes a lot of space and a continuous production line may be several hundred meters long.
Extruders and calenders may be replaced with a continuous double belt presses comprising heating and cooling under pressure combined with several nip rollers. Plastic compounds in pellet form are scattered on the lower belt and pressed together under heat and pressure. A similar continuous press may also be used to laminate several sheets and foils to a LVT floor panel.
The core is made primarily of several layers that comprise PVC mixed with chalk and/or limestone fillers. The most common core materials comprise a middle part with about 50% limestone and a balancing layer with about 40% limestone. The lower limestone content in the backing is used to balance the high plastic content in the top layer. Some LVT core material may comprise up to 80% limestone fillers. Such core materials with high filler content are very brittle and it is difficult to form a strong locking system.
A 0.1 mm high quality printed decorative PVC foil is applied on the upper side of the core. A transparent wear layer of vinyl with a thickness of 0.1-0.6 mm is generally applied on the decorative foil. The base layer, the decorative foil and the transparent layer are fused or laminated together with heat and pressure in continuous or discontinuous press operations to a 3-6 mm floor panel. A transparent UV curing polyurethane (PU) lacquer is generally applied as a protective layer on the transparent PVC foil. LVT floor are installed floating with a locking system similar to laminate and powder based floors.
The decorative effects are obtained with a decorative foil that is printed separately and fused on the core layers. The foil comprises a single colour that generally is white and covers the dark colour of the core. The foil provides a base colour for the rotogravure printing process where special solvent-based inks comprising pigments are used to create wood, tile and stone designs.
d) WPC Floors
Wood Plastic Composite (WPC) panels comprising thermoplastic material mixed with wood particles have been used in extruded sections and injection mouldings in several industries during many years. Recently WPC flooring panels in plank sizes have been developed for outdoor use mainly as decking. Thermoplastic material such as PVC or PP is mixed with wood in the form of sawdust or wood chips by wood particle weight (wt) of about 50% to 80%. Products intended for exterior use may comprise 50 wt % or less of wood particles. The wood content may exceed 70 wt % in products intended for interior use. The processing is similar to the methods used to produce a LVT floor. A two-step process may be used where wood fibre particles and plastic particles in a first step are compounded together under heat and pressure to plastic pellets and fed into an extruder. Fibres and plastic granules may also be mixed directly during extrusion. Alternatively compounded plastic pellets may be scattered on a belt and pressed to WPC sheets in a continuous double belt press comprises a heating and a cooling section as described above. The decorative properties are mainly obtained by pigments that are included in the wood/plastic mix. WPC panels may also be printed, painted or foiled.
3. Combi-Floor
Thermoplastic and thermosetting materials may be combined. Thermoplastic LVT layers may, for example, be glued to a HDF core or a WPC core.


In a positioning system using the time difference of arrival of signals between a station and a plurality of access points, each of the access points repeatedly measures a signal for calculating a position from the station, while changing any of time, the position of the station, and a frequency in use, and accumulates a plurality of measurement data. A position calculation server determines a given timing on each of a plurality of delay profiles created based on the measurement data obtained from the access points as a reception timing sample for the signal, performs a combination process with respect to the plurality of reception timing samples, and determines one reception timing for each of the access points. The position calculation server calculates the time difference of arrival of signals between the station and the access points based on the reception timings and calculates the coordinates of the position of the station.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for positioning a station by using the time difference of arrival of radio waves in a wireless communication system.
(2) Description of the Related Art
In a method for sensing the position of a mobile terminal station by using the time difference of arrival of radio signals, an error contained in the result of positioning the station is increased disadvantageously unless the time difference of arrival of the signals at individual access points (wireless base stations) is measured as precisely as possible.
In an ideal environment, a signal reception timing can be estimated with high accuracy since the waveform configuration of a correlation value used to measure the time difference of arrival of signals is close to that of a theoretical value. In an actual situation, however, an error factor such as attenuation, thermal noise, or multipath is caused by ambient conditions including a geographical environment, a temperature variation, and a surrounding radio-wave environment and the configuration of the correlation waveform of a received signal is distorted so that there are cases where the reception timing is estimated erroneously. In particular, the multipath is a major factor causing the degradation of positioning accuracy since it is difficult to analytically respond to a dynamic change in the geographical environment.
As an example of a technology for improving range finding accuracy when the multipath is a major error factor in a range finding process, there is a method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. HEI 10-246764 (Japanese Patent No. 3127220: Patent Document 1). According to the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1, GPS positioning is performed at each of auxiliary observation points provided in the vicinity of two observation points to allow accurate measurement of the distance between two points by using a GPS, respective distance vectors are determined from a plurality of results of positioning that have been obtained, and the plurality of results are averaged, whereby the influence of the multipath is reduced and accurate measurement of the distance between the two points is enabled.
A description will be given to the method with reference to FIG. 16. In the measurement of the distance between observing points A and B, auxiliary observing points B1, B2, and B3 are placed in the vicinity of the observing point B and the respective auxiliary vectors b1, b2, and b3 thereof are predetermined. Likewise, auxiliary observing points A1, A2, and A3 are also placed in the vicinity of the observing point A and GPS positioning is performed at each of the observing points. By using the results of positioning thus obtained and the foregoing auxiliary vectors b1, b2, and b3, provisional baseline vectors aib1, aib2, and aib3 (i=1 to 3) extending from the observing point A to the observing point B are calculated and the results are averaged, whereby a baseline vector extending from the observing point A to the observing point B is determined.
In a method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-311767 (Patent Document 2), it is determined whether each of signals received from GPS satellites is a direct wave or a reflected wave and positioning calculation is performed by using only the GPS satellite from which the signal determined to be a direct signal has been received. A description will be given to a method for determining a direct wave or a reflected wave. A positioning system is composed of a first antenna and a second antenna with directionality. Information on a GPS satellite A is acquired by using the first antenna and the second antenna is oriented in the direction of the captured GPS satellite. If a signal from the GPS satellite A captured by the first antenna is receivable by the second antenna, the signal is determined to be a direct wave. If the second antenna can not receive the signal from the GPS satellite A, it is determined to be a reflected wave.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-147261 (Patent document 3), a distance is sensed by performing communication between two communication stations by using signals at different frequencies, calculating the respective arrival times thereof, performing the determination of a direct wave or a reflected wave from the results, and selecting the direct wave.

Positioning system and method based on time difference of arrival


A bone graft substitute composition can include essentially of calcium sulfate, a mixing solution, and a plasticizing substance. A bone graft substitute composition can include calcium sulfate, demineralized bone matrix, cancellous bone, a plasticizing substance, and a mixing solution.

Calcium sulfate has been clinically used for many years as a bone void filler with successful results. A preliminary patentability search produced the following patents which appear to be relevant to the present invention:
Hanker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,619,655, issued Oct. 28, 1986, discloses an animal implant comprising a scaffold material composed of plaster of Paris and a non-bioresorbable calcium material (such as calcium phosphate ceramic particles) bound with the plaster of Paris; a method of inserting such a composition in fluid or semisolid form into the appropriate body location of an animal (e. g., about a fracture locus); and a method of inserting a preform of such composition into the appropriate location of an animal (e.g., at the locus of a fracture).
Gitelis, U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,403, issued Sep. 15, 1992, discloses a method or technique for implanting a prosthesis comprising the steps of first preparing the surface of a bone to receive the prosthesis, then applying a calcium sulfate suspension in free flowing form to the prepared bone surface, and then seating the prosthesis to the coated bone surface.
Randolph, U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,206, issued Mar. 25, 1997, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,807,567, issued Sep. 15, 1998, disclose processes for preparing pellets by mixing of calcium sulfate, water and other medicaments to provide controlled release of calcium sulfate and medicaments.
Snyder, U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,769, issued Jun. 20, 1995, discloses a composition for an artificial bone substitute material consisting of collagen in a calcium sulfate matrix which can be rendered porous by a foaming agent. The composition is adaptable for osseous repair by adjusting the collagen and calcium sulfate in varying ratios to suit particular applications and including admixtures of growth factors.
Sottosanti, U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,507, discloses a composition for use in bone tissue regeneration, the composition containing a barrier material and a graft material. The barrier material can be calcium sulfate, while the graft material may consist of a composite graft material containing demineralized, freeze-dried, allogeneic bone and calcium sulfate.
Sottosanti, U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,308, discloses a method for use in bone tissue regeneration including first filling a graft site with graft material, and then placing a layer of barrier material over at least a portion of the graft material. The barrier material can be calcium sulfate, while the graft material may consist a composite graft material containing demineralized, freeze-dried, allogeneic bone and calcium sulfate.
Hanker et al, "Setting of Composite Hydroxylapatite/Plaster Implants with Blood 5 for Bone Reconstruction," Proceedings of the 44th Annual Meeting of the Electron Microscopy Society of America, Copyright 1986, discloses using blood as the only moistening agent in a plaster or plaster/HA mixture as long as accelerator salts are utilized, and suggests that the putty-like consistency of such compositions offers distinct advantages in moldability and workability.
Osteotech, Inc., of Shrewsbury, N.J., markets a bone graft substitute under the mark Grafton®. It is comprised of demineralized bone matrix and glycerol as a carrier material. The carrier material, glycerol, is a viscous, gel-like, weak alcohol that is hydrophilic and water-soluble. It is recognized by the Food and Drug Administration as a "Generally Regarded As Safe" substance.
DePuy, Inc., of Warsaw, Ind., markets a bone graft substitute under the mark DynaGraft®. It is comprised of demineralized bone matrix and poloxamer as a carrier material. Poloxamer is a reverse phase polymer which becomes more viscous with increasing temperature.
Nothing in the known prior art discloses or suggests a bone graft substitute composition including calcium sulfate, a mixing solution such as sterile water, and a plasticizing substance such as carboxymethylcellulose, and having an extended set time and sufficient robustness to withstand fluid impact with minimal erosion.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Under the present invention, a system, method, and program product for are provided for performing calculations assigned to the relationships displayed in information visualization models, and for displaying the results of the calculations. The method comprises: displaying an information visualization model having a plurality of nodes, wherein at least one node in the information visualization model is configured to: perform a calculation based on values displayed by other nodes in the information visualization model; and display a result of the calculation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to image visualization, in which models are used to display information. More particularly, the present invention provides a method, system and program product for performing calculations assigned to the relationships displayed in those models, and for displaying the results of the calculations.
2. Related Art
Image visualization (IV) is the general field of using models to display information. A subset of this field is Focus+Context, which specializes in visualizing data in terms of relationships that remain in view while providing greater detail of the item in focus. A common example is the a hyperbolic tree, in which a selected node moves to the central focus while peripheral nodes remain in view, but off to the side. These types of models are excellent at displaying data relationships, but lack the functionality to perform calculations within those relationships.
A simplistic example of a hyperbolic tree 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. In this example, the revenue data from individual Sales Region nodes 12 is displayed. Sets of the Sales Region nodes 12 are contained by respective Geography nodes 14 (i.e., United States, Europe, Latin America, and Asia Pacific), which are themselves contained by the Total Worldwide Revenue node 16. These types of relationships are easily represented in a hierarchical fashion as shown.
The relationships within the hyperbolic tree 10 are defined in terms of Degrees of Interest (DOI) that identify one node's relative position to another. The node in focus is the A Priori Interest (API). In FIG. 1, for example, the Total Worldwide Revenue node 16 is the API. Because the Total Worldwide Revenue node 16 is the API, it is displayed in the center of the hyperbolic tree 10, with the Geography nodes 14 located outside of the Total Worldwide Revenue node 16, and the Sales Region nodes 12 located outside of the Geography nodes 14. In this example, each Geography node 14 has a Degree of Interest that is one level less (DOI: n−1) than the Total Worldwide Revenue node 16 (i.e., the node in focus). Similarly, each Sales Region node 12 has a Degree of Interest that is two levels less (DOI: n−2) than the Total Worldwide Revenue node 16. Further, each Sales Region node 12 has a Degree of Interest that is one level less (DOI: n−1) than its respective Geography node 14. The Total Worldwide Revenue node 16 can thus be considered the "parent" node, while the Geography nodes 14 can be considered to be "children" of the Total Worldwide Revenue node 16, and the Sales Region nodes 12 can be considered to be the "children" of specific Geography nodes 14 and "grandchildren" of the Total Worldwide Revenue node 16.
Referring now to FIG. 2, the hyperbolic tree 10 has been transformed in response to the activation of the "Asia Pacific" Geography node 14. In particular, the Geography node 14 "Asia Pacific" is now the API, located in the center of the hyperbolic tree 10. Typically, a node is activated by clicking on the node using a mouse pointer or the like. Other activation techniques are also possible. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the Total Worldwide Revenue node 16, as well as the remaining Geography nodes 14 (i.e., United States, Europe, and Latin America) and their respective Sales Region nodes 12 remain in view, but off to the side of the "Asia Pacific" Geography node 14.
While currently available IV models, such as the hyperbolic tree 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, are adequate at communicating hierarchical relationships between data, the IV models are not capable of analyzing the data within the context of those relationships. As such, there exists a need for an IV model that is capable of analyzing the data within the context of the relationships displayed by the model, and which is capable of displaying the results of the data analysis.

Embedded analytics in information visualization

International Business Machines Corporation


A spark plug including: an insulator having a through hole extending in an axial direction, the through hole including, a first portion and a second portion provided on a rear end side of the first portion, the second portion having a larger diameter than that of the first portion; a center electrode provided in the first portion; an external terminal provided in the second portion; and a sintered ceramic resistor provided in the second portion. The sintered ceramic resistor is formed from a sintered body of a conductive ceramic, connecting the center electrode and the external terminal electrically, and having a length in an axial direction of 40% or more of a length in an axial direction of the second portion of the through hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a spark plug for use in an internal combustion engine and, more particularly, to a spark plug having a sintered ceramic resistor assembled therein for preventing radio wave noise.
2. Description of the Related Art
A spark plug known in the related art for an internal combustion engine comprises: a cylindrical insulator having a through hole in an axial direction; a center electrode fitted in one end portion of the through hole; an external terminal fitted in the other end portion of the through hole; and a main fitting fitted on the outer circumference of the insulator. Moreover, gas tightness between the center electrode and the external terminal and the through hole of the insulator is maintained by a glass sealing method. In this method a conductive glass seal member substantially composed of a mixture of metal powder and glass powder is filled in the through hole between the center electrode and the external terminal, to thereby make an electric connection between the center electrode and the external terminal.
This engine spark plug generates interfering radio waves at the time of spark discharge which adversely affect various kinds of electronic devices. To address this problem, a spark plug having a resistor has been proposed, which is provided with both functions as spark plug and as a radio wave noise preventer. This resistor spark plug can be broadly classified into a monolithic type and a cartridge type resistor spark plug depending on the properties of the resistor.
The monolithic type spark plug is manufactured (as referred to in JP-A-51-27494, for example): by inserting the center electrode into the through hole of the insulator, filling the through hole on the rear end side of the center electrode with a conductive glass seal material powder of a mixture of glass powder and metal powder, a glass quality resistor composite powder of a mixture of ceramic powder, carbon black, a carbon substance and glass powder, and the conductive glass seal material powder in the recited order, and heating these fillers to a high temperature (e.g., 800° C. to 1,000° C.). The external terminal is thereby hot-pressed in the through hole of the insulator while the conductive glass seal material powder and the glass quality resistor composite powder are softened, so as to seal the space between the center electrode and the external terminal.
This monolithic type spark plug can be manufactured mainly by the step of filling the conductive glass seal material powder and the glass quality resistor composite powder in the through hole of the insulator and heating the filler. As such, this technique requires a small number of manufacturing steps, has excellent productivity and provides a durable product.
On the other hand, the cartridge type spark plug is manufactured: by inserting the center electrode into the through hole of the insulator; filling the conductive glass seal material of a mixture of the glass powder and the metal powder; inserting a coil resistor having an electric resistance material formed helically on the surface of the insulator; filling the conductive glass seal material; and heating those materials to a high temperature (e.g., 800° C. to 1,000° C.) to hot-press the external terminal in the through hole of the insulator and thereby seal the center electrode and the external terminal.
This coil resistor is exemplified by: one (as referred to in JP-A-49-116559, for example), in which a helical groove is formed in the surface of a column-shaped insulator and in which a resistive cover film is formed on the helical groove; by one (as referred to in JP-A-61-135079, for example), in which the column-shaped insulator is printed on its surface with a helical electric resistance material and is sintered; or by one (as referred to in JP-A-1-283784, for example), in which the cover film is made with a specific thickness to set its resistance and temperature dependency. Generally, the cartridge type spark plug using the coil resistor is superior in noise preventing effect as compared to the monolithic type because of less noise current.
3. Problems to be Solved by the Invention
Although the monolithic spark plug has excellent productivity and durability, it is difficult to make the resistor sufficiently long relative to the insulator through hole and to accordingly improve the noise preventing effect. This is because the manufacturing technique is restricted to filling the insulator with the conductive glass seal material powder and the glass quality resistor composite powder, and hot-pressing the external terminal in the through hole of the insulator.
The cartridge type spark plug using the coil resistor provides an excellent noise preventing effect but has insufficient durability. This is because a coil made by an electric resistance material is easily broken. Moreover, in the case that the conductive glass seal material powder is heated for the sealing operation so as to improve gas-tightness, the coil may not endure heating at the requisite high temperature. In order to heat and seal the conductive glass seal material powder, therefore, the use of a sealing terminal has been proposed. In the case of using this sealing terminal, however, the length of the sealing terminal makes it difficult to make the coil resistor sufficiently long relative to the insulator through hole, and accordingly it is difficult to improve the noise preventing effect.
Especially in recent years, increased use of a computer for complicated controls of an internal combustible engine has created a great demand for an effective noise prevention spark plug.


The present invention describes a novel recombinant NADH recycling system that is used as a process for producing reduced compounds. In a specific embodiment, the reduced compounds include ethanol, succinate, lactate, a vitamin, a pharmaceutical and a biodegraded organic molecule. The NADH recycling system effects metabolic flux of reductive pathways in aerobic and anaerobic environments.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the fields of microbiology, molecular biology, cell biology and biochemistry. More specifically, the present invention relates to manipulating reductive metabolic processes in vivo using genetic and metabolic engineering, thereby allowing external control of intracellular nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) availability. Further, the present invention relates to a method of producing increased reduced metabolites such as ethanol through aerobic or anaerobic growth of a living system comprised of a recombinant NADH recycling system.
2. Related Art
The metabolic pathways leading to the production of most industrially important compounds involve oxidation-reduction (redox) reactions. Biosynthetic transformations involving redox reactions offer a significant economic and environmental advantage for the production of fine chemicals over conventional chemical processes, in particular those redox reactions requiring stereospecificity. Furthermore, biodegradation of toxic chemicals often also involves redox reactions.
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) functions as a cofactor in over 300 redox reactions and regulates various enzymes and genetic processes (Foster et al., 1990). The NADH/NAD+ cofactor pair plays a major role in microbial catabolism in which a carbon source, such as glucose, is oxidized using NAD+ producing reducing equivalents in the form of NADH. It is crucially important for continued cell growth that this reduced NADH be oxidized to NAD+ and a redox balance be achieved. Under aerobic growth, oxygen achieves this recycling by acting as the oxidizing agent. While under anaerobic growth, and in the absence of an alternate oxidizing agent, the regeneration of NAD+ is achieved through fermentation by using NADH to reduce metabolic intermediates.
The metabolic pathways leading to the production of most industrially important compounds involve redox reactions. Biosynthetic transformations involving redox reactions also offer a considerable potential for the production of fine chemicals over conventional chemical processes, especially those requiring stereospecificity.
Enzymes referred to in general as oxidoreductases, or more specifically as oxidases, reductases or dehydrogenases, catalyze these biological redox reactions. These enzymes require a donor and/or an acceptor of reducing equivalents in the form of electrons, hydrogen or oxygen atoms. Cofactor pairs that are transformed reversibly between their reduced and oxidized states, nucleotide cofactors such as NADH/NAD+ and NADPH/NADP+ among others, serve as donors and/or acceptors of reducing equivalents very effectively in a living cell.
The NADH/NAD+ cofactor pair has demonstrated a regulatory effect on gene expression and enzymatic activity. Examples include, among others, the induction by NADH of adhE expression, which encodes an alcohol dehydrogenase (Leonardo et al., 1993; Leonardo et al., 1996) and catalyzes the production of ethanol during fermentation, the inhibition by high NADH/NAD+ ratios on the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (Graef et al., 1999), and the regulation by the NADH/NAD+ ratio on the shift between oxidation or reduction of L-lactaldehyde (Baldoma and Aguilar, 1988).
The ratio of the reduced to oxidized form of this cofactor, the NADH/NAD+ ratio, is critical for the cell. The NAD(H/+) cofactor pair is very important in microbial catabolism, where a carbon source, such as glucose, is oxidized through a series of reactions utilizing NAD+ as a cofactor and producing reducing equivalents in the form of NADH. It is crucially important for the continued growth of the cell that this reduced NADH be oxidized to NAD+, thus achieving a redox balance. Under aerobic growth, oxygen achieves this by acting as the oxidizing agent. While under anaerobic growth and in the absence of an alternate oxidizing agent, this process occurs through fermentation, where NADH is used to reduce metabolic intermediates and regenerate NAD+ (FIG. 1).
The high influence of cofactors in metabolic networks has been evidenced by studies in which the NADH/NAD+ ratio has been altered by feeding carbon sources possessing different oxidation states (Alam and Clark, 1989; Leonardo et al., 1996), by supplementing anaerobic growth with different electron acceptors, such as fumaratc and nitrate (Graef et al., 1999) and by expressing an enzyme like NADH oxidase (Lopez de Felipe et al., 1998). Other previous efforts to manipulate NADH levels have included the addition of electron dye carriers (Park and Zeikus, 1999) and the variation of oxidoreduction potential conditions (Riondet et al., 2000).
The effective regeneration of used cofactors is critical in industrial cofactor-dependent production systems because of the impeding high cost of cofactors such as NAD. The cofactors, also referred to as co-enzymes, NAD+ and NADP+ are expensive chemicals, thereby making their regeneration by reoxidation to the original state imperative if they are to be used economically in low cost, chemical production systems. Efforts to do such have been described. U.S. Pat. No. 4,766,071 describes in vitro regeneration of NADH using a cell lysate of Clostriduim kluyveri as a biocatalyst and an aldehyde as an oxidizing agent. U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,615 describes electrochemical regeneration of NADH using an electrode characterized by a mediator function. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,092 discloses mediators covalently attached to a polymeric backbone wherein the polymeric backbone coats the surface of an electrode. U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,520 discloses a NAD regeneration system and an adenosine phosphate regeneration system that, in the presence of pyruvate, yields a labeled carbohydrate.
In enzyme bioreactors, NAD+-dependent formate dehydrogenase (FDH) from methylotrophic yeast and bacteria is extensively used to regenerate NADH from NAD+ in vitro. FDH catalyzes the practically irreversible oxidation of formate to CO2 and the simultaneous reduction of NAD+ to NADH. This system of cofactor regeneration has been successfully applied in the production of optically active amino acids (Galkin et al., 1997), chiral hydroxy acids, esters, alcohols, and other fine chemicals synthesized by different dehydrogenases (Hummel and Kula, 1989), (Tishkov et al., 1999). Purified FDH has also been used to regenerate NADH in vitro for the industrial production of non-natural amino acids that cannot be obtained by fermentation, such as L-tert-leucine which has important applications when used in pharmaceuticals (Kragl et al., 1996).
In spite of these advances, biotransformation with whole cells remains the preferred industrial method for the synthesis of most cofactor-dependent products. In these systems, the cell naturally regenerates the cofactor; however, the enzyme of interest has to compete for the required cofactor with a large number of other enzymes within the cell. For this reason, in cofactor-dependent production systems utilizing whole cells, after the enzymes of interest have been overexpressed, cofactor levels and the availability of the required form of the cofactor (reduced or oxidized) become crucial for optimal production.
Furthermore, one of the long-sought goals in recombinant polypeptide production processes is to achieve a high cloned gene expression level and high cell density. Unfortunately, under these demanding conditions, the amount of acetate accumulated in the reactor increases precipitously. Acetate accumulation is associated with decreased recombinant polypeptide productivity (Aristidou et al., 1995). Methods of controlling acetate production would be beneficial in increasing recombinant polypeptide yield in large-scale industrial synthesis of polypeptides. Additionally, the sort of metabolic manipulation used to increase recombinant polypeptide yields could also be applied to the production of any biomolecule in a large-scale system in which the stress of biomolecule production normally leads to acetate accumulation, such as biopolymers.
Catalytic hydrodesulfurization has the potential to remove sulfur from various fuels. However, this technology is associated with high costs due to hydrogen consumption and heavy metal deactivation of the catalyst. A lower cost treatment is microbiological biodesulfurization. U.S. Pat. No. 6,337,204 describes a Rhodococcus bacterial culture capable of biodesulfurization. One obstacle in this method is that these reactions require NADH as a cofactor, the availability of which is a limiting factor.
Although it is generally known that cofactors play a major role in the production of different fermentation products, their role has not been studied thoroughly and systematically in engineered systems. Instead, metabolic engineering studies have focused on manipulating enzyme levels through the amplification, addition or deletion of a particular pathway. Such steps relegate cofactor manipulations as a powerful tool for metabolic engineering, as many enzymes require them. The dehydrogenases are but one example of selective catalysis requiring the energy-transferring redox couple, NADH/NAD+.
Prior to the present invention, a genetic means of manipulating the availability of intracellular NADH in vivo by regenerating NADH through the heterologous expression of an NAD+-dependent formate dehydrogenase was not known. By way of the present invention, the effect of manipulating intracellular NADH on the metabolic patterns in Escherichia coli under anaerobic and aerobic conditions by substituting the native cofactor-independent formate dehydrogenase (FDH) by an NAD+-dependent FDH such as from Candida boidinii is described. This manipulation provoked a significant change in the final metabolite concentration pattern both anaerobically and aerobically. Under anaerobic conditions, the production of more reduced metabolites was favored, as evidenced by a dramatic increase in the ethanol to acetate ratio. Unexpectedly during aerobic growth, the increased availability of NADH induced a shift to fermentation even in the presence of oxygen by stimulating pathways that are normally inactive under these conditions.

Recycling system for manipulation of intracellular NADH availability


The present invention relates to a method and associated agents for measuring the presence and amount of advanced glycosylation endproducts in cells and fluids. The methods take advantage of the existence of receptors and receptor complexes for AGEs and include receptor-containing ligands comprising whole mesangial and other cells, mesangial cellular fragments and protein extracts therefrom. Competitive assays, sandwich assays and assays involving AGE antisera are disclosed. Numerous diagnostic applications are defined and test kits are also contemplated.

The present invention relates generally to the nonenzymatic glycosylation of proteins, and particularly to the discovery of binding partners to advanced glycosylation endproducts such as AGE receptors, that may serve in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions in which the presence or activity of such advanced glycosylation endproducts may be implicated.
Glucose and other reducing sugars react non-enzymatically with the amino groups of proteins in a concentration-dependent manner. Over time, these initial Amadori adducts undergo further rearrangements, dehydrations and cross-linking with other proteins to accumulate as a family of complex structures which are referred to as Advanced Glycosylation Endproducts (AGEs). Although this chemistry has been studied by food chemists for many years, it was only in the past decade that the presence of AGEs in living tissue has been established. The excessive deposition of these products on structural proteins as a function of age and elevated glucose concentration, taken together with evidence of effective prevention of tissue pathology by an AGE inhibitor, aminoguanidine, has lent support to the hypothesis that the formation of AGEs plays a role in the long term complications of aging and diabetes.
Since the amount of AGEs found in human tissues is less than could be predicted from protein/glucose incubation studies in vitro, the applicants herein proposed several years ago that there might be normal mechanisms to remove those long-lived proteins which had accumulated AGEs in vivo. Particularly, and as set forth initially in Parent application Ser. No. 907,747, and the above-referenced applications that have followed, monocytes/macrophages and endothelial cells were found to display high affinity surface binding activity specific for AGE moieties independent of the protein which was AGE-modified. This AGE-receptor was shown to differ from other known scavenger receptors on these cells.
In addition, an endogenous means for the in vivo elimination or removal of advanced glycosylation endproducts was set forth, and corresponding diagnostic applications involving the receptors and including a specific receptor assay were also proposed.
Following this determination, the applicants herein have sought to further investigate the identity and role of advanced glycosylation endproduct receptors and possible binding partners, and any consequent diagnostic and therapeuptic implications of these investigations, and it is toward this end that the present invention is directed.
The AGE-specific receptor system now includes a variety of tissues and cell types in addition to monocyte/macrophages for which receptor-mediated AGE-protein internalization and digestion was first described. Endothelial, mesangial cells and fibroblasts have since been shown to specifically bind AGE-modified protein. In macrophages, AGE-protein uptake is accompanied by the release of a variety of potent cytokines and growth factors, which may coordinate processes of normal tissue remodeling. The other cell types do not bind the model compound AGE, FFI, nor are they known to release cytokines and growth factors in response to AGE-ligand binding, but each cell type does display distinct functional responses. For example, endothelial cells exhibit enhanced surface procoagulant activity and permeability; and mesangial cells display enhanced matrix protein synthesis; while human fibroblasts increase proliferation upon exposure to AGEs.

In vitro assay of mesangial cell-derived receptors for advanced glycosylation endproducts


The present invention provides a traffic analyzing system on a communications link having analyzer circuits connected to each other by a number of links, where each analyzer circuit has a data rate lower than the data rate of the communications link, and are adapted to perform respective different levels of analysis on packets. The information extracted from the packets analyzed at a first level of analysis by a first analyzer circuit is forwarded to a second level of analysis performed at a second analyzer circuit, where the additional analysis performed by the second analyzer circuit depends on the analysis performed by the first analyzer circuit. Such a system and associated method allows for an efficient, practical, and improved traffic flow analyses for computer networks to evaluate high-speed and heavy traffic flow, as well as for improved protocol analysis for emerging technologies.

Investigating traffic flow can take a lot of processing time and power to monitor and classify, and both the amount and speed of traffic data, especially Internet traffic data, are ferociously increasing. Systems for traffic flow analysis very often encounter several obstacles, which take place at the level of the traffic flow passage due to various types of heavy processing required in order to obtain a semantic, reliable, and useful classification and processing of network traffic.
Classification of traffic travelling around a data network makes it possible to decide on behaviours to be adopted for each traffic flow as a function of its classification. That is, before a data packet can be adequately processed, classification of the traffic flow permits the network components to classify the data packets according to the various characteristics of the packets and information contained in the packet. Thus, accurate and efficient data processing depends largely on reliable methods of packet classification. After the packet is classified, the network components can determine how to properly handle and process the packets.
For example, in a firewall, a security system setup generally relies on recognition of protocol properties to prevent certain transfers, and in devices for managing quality of service, such devices allocate priorities to data as a function of complex rules which describe various scenarios. A correspondence between these scenarios and data packets conveyed within connections uses techniques for classifying these connections.
Again, the operations for controlling and managing networks require classification of connections between various senders and receivers which generate digital data streams over these networks. This requires powerful and reliable methods of classification, and thus traffic analysis.
Furthermore, analysis and classification of packets often involve the complex task of constructing protocol attributes, i.e., determining the ordered sequence of protocol names used in the semantic stream of data and the parameter names carried by a protocol. Building such a graph or knowledge base to recognize different protocols is a very heavy task because of the increasing numbers of new protocols used in packet communication networks, as well as the number of protocol modifications and new dependency links.
Typically, a data packet observation task is assigned to a node of the network such as, for example, a proxy server where connections pass through, which generate these data packets. Thus, existing traffic flow analyses are generally performed in computer networked systems such as the one illustrated in FIG. 1. A traffic analyzing system for analyzing high-speed traffic (e.g., packets or datagrams) between various computers, includes a first network 100 connected to a second network 110 using a communications link 200. The link 200 is analyzed by an analyzer 300, which measures and analyzes the traffic flowing in both or either direction between the first network 100 and the second network 110. The traffic between the network 100 and network 110 is usually 1 Gbps in business networks but can be as high as a couple dozen Gbps in the core of an operator's network.
As mentioned above, in heavily trafficked networks, to continuously analyze all traffic in an accurate and precise manner is a tall order. The capacity for analysis and measurement of the analyzer 300 is determined by the number of simultaneous flows N (e.g., traffic flow size) and the throughput T of each flow (e.g., traffic flow speed). N directly affects the amount of memory required to manage the context of the registered applications, whereas T directly impacts the processing power required to perform the analysis without significant loss of packets. T defines the quantity of packets to be processed in a lapse of time and defines, as a result, the amount of processing that can be allocated to each packet.
In known systems, the amount of processing increases proportionally with the increase of the flow N, insofar as each packet contributes to the state of a flow and thus imposes a structure of data whose size is related to N. It is thus clear that a given material infrastructure will present a behaviour related to its intrinsic performance and configuration, which will make it possible either to increase N by decreasing D, or to increase D by decreasing N. In other words, N×D remains nearly constant.
However, the reality and progression of existing computer networks is that N and T are both increasing proportionally at the same time. That is, the size and the speed of the network traffic are no longer inversely proportional, but both N and T are increasing. Added to this is the vastness and complexity of the traffic flow left to monitor and analyze.
Therefore, it would be desirable to develop a new method and system to perform efficient, practical, and improved traffic flow analyses for computer networks to evaluate high-speed and heavy traffic flow, as well as perform improved protocol analysis for emerging technologies such as, for example, VoIP (Voice over IP) applications.


A buckle folding machine with at last one pair of folding rollers and at least one folding pocket (1). The folding pocket includes a top rail (43), which extends over the width of the folding pocket (1) and is attached to lateral toothed belts (26, 27) and has, on its side facing the folding pocket mouth (9), a plurality of stop fingers (44). The stop fingers have front end faces (48), located in a common plane, serve together as a paper stop within the folding pocket (1), and which can be brought by the toothed belts (26, 27) into a front deflecting position, in which their front end faces (48) together act as a paper deflector and guide the material arriving at the folding pocket mouth (9) for folding past the folding pocket (1) and into the next folding station (F2).

In buckle folding machines, the paper deflectors, which can be actuated by electromagnetic drive means and restoring springs and are each arranged in front of a folding pocket and can be moved into a corresponding locking position to close the mouth of the folding pocket, consist--because of the usually limited space available between the mouth of the folding pocket, on the one hand, and the folding rollers located in front of it, on the other hand--of relatively thin, rod-shaped profiled parts, which may have, like the folding pockets, a length of 50 cm or more. Therefore, at right angles to their flat side, they have a relatively low flexural strength, which may lead to an insufficient guiding function during the processing of thick or heavy paper or during the processing of a plurality of paper sheets together, if the paper deflector is located in its locking position, in which it closes the mouth of the folding pocket. This insufficient bending strength may lead to excessive sagging of the paper deflector and to jamming of paper.
This disadvantage is also present in a prior-art paper-guiding device of the type mentioned in the introduction (DE 39,30,855 A1), in which the paper deflector has a convex guiding surface on one of its flat sides, and this guiding surface directs, in its resting position, the material arriving for folding into the folding pocket, and the opposite flat side of this paper deflector has a concave guiding surface, which guides the material to be folded past the folding pocket in its locking position. Due to the compact design of this prior-art device, and because the paper deflector performs a three-dimensional turning movement rather than a limited pivoting movement around a stationary axis during changeover from one functional position into the other, only little space is available in terms of cross section for accommodating the paper deflector in such a way as to ensure correct functioning. Therefore, the cross-sectional profile of the paper deflector cannot be designed for a bending strength that would be sufficient for all cases.
To impart higher stability to the paper deflector in its locking position in which it closes the mouth of the folding pocket in a paper-guiding device of the type described above, it has also been suggested that a support rail, which is in functional connection with the switching elements of the paper stop, is in contact with the rear side of the paper deflector when the latter is in the locking position, and is in a starting position located at a spaced location from the paper deflector in the resting position of the paper deflector, be arranged on the side of the paper deflector facing the folding pocket.
Aside from the fact that the guide rail, which is insufficient in itself, is still present in this solution as well, and it does not guarantee sufficient reliability of operation under an extreme load, the combination of the mechanical control and actuating means for the paper deflector with the additional support rail and its actuating means represents a complicated and expensive design, which may involve several sources of malfunction.

Buckle folding machine having a moveable deflector


A track for traction of a vehicle, such as an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), a snowmobile, an agricultural vehicle, etc. The track may have rigidity (i.e., stiffness) characteristics to enhance its traction, floatation, and/or other aspects of its performance. For example, in some embodiments, a lateral bending stiffness of a carcass of the track may be symmetric while a longitudinal bending stiffness of the carcass of the track may be asymmetric.

Certain off-road vehicles may be equipped with track systems which enhance their traction and floatation on soft, slippery and/or irregular grounds (e.g., soil, mud, sand, ice, snow, etc.) on which they operate.
For instance, an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) may be equipped with track systems in place of ground-engaging wheels with tires for which it may have been originally designed. Traction, floatation and other performance aspects of the ATV depends on various factors, including its tracks. For example, rigidity characteristics of a track can have a significant influence on traction, floatation and other performance aspects of the ATV. In some cases, this may lead to conflicting requirements or desirable features for the track, such as high rigidity for floatation and traction but yet lower rigidity to manage power consumption as the track bends in motion.
Similar considerations may arise for tracks of other types of off-road vehicles (e.g., snowmobiles, agricultural vehicles, etc.) in certain situations.
For these and other reasons, there is a need to improve tracks for off-road vehicles.