The invention relates to an Automatic Identification System (AIS) ship's transceiver for sending and receiving AIS radio signals, wherein the position can be taken as a basis and/or adjacent ships can be taken as a basis for activating or deactivating the emission of AIS radio signals of a second AIS radio signal type for satellite-assisted monitoring.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an AIS ship's transceiver that is provided for installation on a ship in order to be able to send and receive AIS radio signals containing ship data, having an AIS radio transmission unit that is designed to send radio signals of a first AIS radio signal type that contain ship data, wherein the AIS radio signals of the first AIS radio signal type are provided for the interchange of ship data from the ships among one another, and that is designed to send AIS radio signals of a second AIS radio signal type that contain ship data, wherein the AIS radio signals of the second AIS radio signal type are provided for reception by a satellite and for transmission of the ship data that the AIS radio signals of the second AIS radio signal type contain to a ground station by means of the satellite, and having an AIS radio reception unit that is designed to receive AIS radio signals of the first AIS radio signal type that contain ship data and that have been emitted by AIS ship's transceivers on adjacent ships.
The invention likewise relates to a method for the sending and receiving of AIS radio signals that contain ship data by such an AIS ship's transceiver therefor.
2. Background Description
Today, the monitoring of shipping traffic, which is increasing worldwide, is based predominantly on radar monitoring, radio telephony and on the use of AIS (Automatic Identification System). Since the year 2000, AIS has been stipulated by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a binding standard in order to increase the safety of international shipping traffic. This locally bounded radio system is used for the interchange of navigation data and other ship data that are intended to allow ships to obtain a comprehensive overview of the adjacent shipping traffic. The primary aim in this case is to prevent collision between ships.
An AIS ship's transceiver arranged on the ships is used to emit AIS radio signals that the relevant ship data, such as navigation data, alternately on two channels in the VHF marine radio range, namely firstly on 161.975 MHz and secondly on 162.025 MHz, using the broadcast method. In this case, the individual AIS radio signals are emitted in fixed time columns, the use of which is coordinated independently by the relevant subscribers of an AIS radio cell, known as SOTDMA (Self Organizing Time Division Multiple Access). Therefore, there are just 2250 timeslots per minute available for transmitting data to the individual subscribers.
The AIS ship's transceiver installed on board can be used to receive the radio signals emitted by the other ships, with the ship data that the AIS radio signals contain then being able to be extracted. The reception of the ship data from various ships in the surroundings of a ship can therefore be used to derive an overview of the adjacent shipping traffic or of the adjacent ships, which means that a ship is able, by way of example, to establish the direction in which and the speed at which adjacent ships that are not directly visible, for example on account of poor visibility, are traveling. It is therefore possible to avoid collisions and to produce a substantially improved, albeit locally bounded, picture of the situation.
On account of the VHF frequency band used, the radio range of AIS from ship to ship corresponds to approximately 40 to 60 km, which corresponds to a little more than the usual range of vision on the high sea. Coastal stations can cover a radius of up to 100 km as a result of their relatively high position. On account of the limited range and also the SOTDMA transmission protocol used, ships that are able to see and receive one another form an AIS radio cell within which the subscribers can send and receive without collision.
Hence, the AIS is merely a local radio system that, although it provides sufficient timeslot capacity for a ship on the high sea, is unsuitable for a worldwide, in particular satellite-based, survey of shipping traffic, since the coverage of a satellite includes many individual AIS radio cells. For shipping companies, the maritime organizations or Ministries of the Environment, however, a realtime survey of the AIS shipping data arising worldwide would be of great interest in order to counter illegal machinations on the high sea too, in particular.
By way of example, the subsequently published DE 10 2011 113 152 A1 thus discloses a global ship monitoring system that can be used to monitor ships in shipping traffic on the high sea centrally. To this end, commercial aircraft have AIS reception units that, on their flight route, receive the AIS radio signals emitted by the ships and transmit them for further processing to a ground station. This allows almost uninterrupted coverage and monitoring to be achieved particularly on much-used routes.
In the most recent past, attempts have been made to arrange AIS reception antennas on satellites so as to be able to receive the AIS radio signals emitted worldwide using a satellite system. By way of example, US 2008/0086267 A1 thus discloses a satellite-based system in which an AIS reception unit is arranged on the satellites in order to be able to receive the AIS radio signals emitted by the ships. The AIS information that the AIS radio signals contain is forwarded to a control center so as to obtain global monitoring of the shipping traffic. Such a satellite system can therefore be used to achieve uninterrupted monitoring even in remote regions.
Western industrial nations, in particular, require the introduction of checking of maritime traffic from space in the course of their fight against terrorism. However, satellite-based monitoring systems of this kind have the substantial disadvantage in respect of AIS radio signals in highly frequented maritime areas that it is no longer possible to detect ships with sufficient precision. On account of the extreme altitude of a satellite, a reception region with a diameter of between approximately 5000 and 6000 km is produced. Since the AIS as a local radio system is naturally organized into individual radio cells that all send on the same frequency band, such a large reception radius results in the reception of a multiplicity of radio cells having an identical transmission frequency and timeslots, however, which means that AIS radio signals from different AIS radio cells overlap and normal data processing is no longer possible. Precisely on highly frequented shipping routes or in the proximity of harbors and coasts, the reception region of the satellite covers such a large number of ships that sufficiently secure monitoring is no longer possible on account of the signal collisions.
In order to overcome this problem, two additional VHF channels for satellite-assisted monitoring using AIS radio signals will be provided in future in addition to the already existing AIS frequencies (AIS1: 161.975 MHz; AIS2: 162.025 MHz). To this end, specifically the channels on 156.775 MHz (AIS3) and 156.875 (AIS4) are intended to be allocated for communication for the purpose of receiving AIS radio signals from space by satellite. The background to the introduction of the additional satellite AIS (SAT-AIS) frequencies is the obtainment of as complete a maritime picture of the situation as possible using SAT-AIS on the high sea away from coastal regions. This is currently not possible with AIS1 and AIS2 alone for the reasons cited above (interference).
According to the definition of the ITU (ITU-R-M-1371-4), AIS3 and AIS4 radio signals are automatically switched off by the ship when the ships are in the communication range of what are known as AIS ground stations (AIS base stations), which are usually installed on the coast. When a ship receives a "Base Station Report" (Message 4), emitted by an AIS ground station, with the request to shut down SAT-AIS (control bit for "Transmission control for longrange broadcast message"), the AIS ship's transceiver installed on the ship deactivates the emission of the AIS3/AIS4 radio signals for satellite-assisted monitoring. The effect intended to be achieved by this is that in coastal regions, which usually have a high level of traffic on account of the concentration of the shipping traffic, no AIS3/AIS4 radio signals are intended to be emitted so as not to interfere with the satellite reception on account of a large number of radio signals that may overlap one another. The monitoring is then effected by means of the AIS ground stations. If the ship is outside the communication range of an AIS ground station, the emission of the AIS3/AIS4 radio signals for satellite-assisted monitoring is automatically switched on again by the ship.
However, there is currently only a very small number of such AIS ground stations worldwide, with usually only pure AIS reception stations being operated in the area close to the coast, which AIS reception stations, although sufficient for monitoring ships close to the coast, are unable to emit an AIS ground station message on account of the lack of transmission unit, and therefore the AIS ship's transceiver continues to emit AIS3/AIS4 radio signals in the communication range of AIS ground reception units even in proximity to the coast. As a result, in the absence of an AIS ground station, the problem arises in proximity to the coast that the ships continue to emit their AIS radio signals for satellite-assisted monitoring on the AIS3/AIS4 frequencies, however, which means that collisions occur in the case of satellites that these on account of the large number of radio signals, as a result of which it is no longer possible to safeguard adequate monitoring of the shipping traffic even with the newly introduced frequencies.

Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V.


A system and method for localizing a spoken dialog system is disclosed. Source data from a source language spoken dialog system is accessed, including semantic annotations and transcriptions of a plurality of utterances. The transcriptions are machine-translated into a target language. Semantic classifiers are trained on the machine translated transcriptions and the source language semantic annotations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a system and method for spoken dialog systems.
2. Background Discussion
Automatic spoken dialog systems are often very complex. They may consist of hundreds of dialog states involving extensive dialog structures, have system integration functionality that communicates with backend databases or devices, support multiple input and output modalities, and can sometimes handle calls over more than 20 minutes in duration. In order to keep a caller engaged in such environments, the use of human-like speech processing is critical, e.g., the incorporation of various degrees of spoken language understanding, mixed-initiative handling, and dynamic response generation. One type of spoken language understanding, called natural language understanding, on a large scale was first introduced to automated spoken dialog systems as call classifiers. Here, the caller was asked a general question at the top of the call, such as, "Briefly tell me what you're calling about today." The caller's utterance was transcribed using a speech recognizer, and the caller was routed to a human agent based on a class of the utterance produced by a semantic classifier. The human agent then interacted with the caller providing services including, e.g., technical problem solving, billing support, or order processing. Other interactions may not require free form natural language input from the caller, but the speaking of simple commands as instructed by prompts, like yes or no, typically referred to as directed dialog input.
Typically, spoken dialog systems are built using semantic classifiers for most or all of the dialog contexts, both for natural language as well as for directed dialog inputs. A semantic classifier is a program that provides a mapping between utterances a speech recognizer produces and one or more predefined semantic classes which represent different categories of meaning. Semantic classifiers can be rule-based, i.e. manually generated as a set of rules that provide said mapping, or statistical, i.e. based on a statistical classification model whose parameters are trained from data, i.e. transcribed training utterances (transcriptions) and their respective semantic meanings (annotations). There can also be combinations of rule-based and statistical classifiers. Statistical semantic classifiers are today used almost exclusively for natural language input, while rule-based classifiers are typically used for directed dialog input.
Modern spoken dialog systems can be very complex applications comprising thousands of activities, classifiers, and prompts. Years of developing work can be spent to design these systems and much effort undertaken to tune involved speech recognition classifiers to achieve highest possible performance crucial for user acceptance and effectiveness of the applications. Such tuning can require processing of huge numbers of calls to analyze caller behavior in every single context of the system, building of recognition classifiers to effectively interpret caller utterances, and designing the application to respond appropriately at every context.
In an example, to tune a spoken dialog system for Internet, cable TV, and Voice-over-IP troubleshooting, more than two million speech utterances can be collected, transcribed, annotated, and used for training statistical classifiers, boosting overall accuracy from an initial 78.0% to 90.5% accuracy. Although transcription and annotation of such amounts of data is partially automatable, it can still keep several people busy for months. While transcription is a relatively straightforward exercise, semantic annotation, i.e. the mapping of a lexical content to one of a number of semantic symptoms, requires knowledge about the application. Not only must annotators understand what a caller utterance means in response to the system prompt in the respective context, but there are several aspects to semantic annotation making it a non-trivial undertaking, such as                Utterances may have no representation in the given set of symptoms suggesting that they are out-of-scope for the classifier.        When the ratio of out-of-scope utterances grows and well-distinguishable patterns manifest themselves, annotators are to suggest the introduction of new symptoms to the system designer.        Utterances may be ambiguous, vague, too specific, or carry content belonging to multiple symptoms making it hard for the annotator to make a decision.        Annotations have to follow a number of quality assurance criteria to produce powerful and exact results including criteria for completeness, consistency, congruence, correlation, confusion, coverage, and corpus size (i.e., "C7" criteria").
These issues emphasize that thorough speech recognition tuning in spoken dialog systems can be a very expensive task. Large scale spoken dialog systems as introduced above are mostly used in relatively big enterprises trying to optimize their customer care telephone portals. Many of these companies operate internationally producing a need to localize their phone services including involved spoken dialog systems. Localization of a dialog system entails translating it from one language to another. The high cost of producing and maintaining systems in different languages obviously increases as more languages are considered. Not only the cost, but also the time to generate speech recognition classifiers from scratch is a crucial issue when localizing a given spoken dialog system.

System and method for the localization of statistical classifiers based on machine translation


The duration of a knock detection window over which a filtered knock signal is single-point DFT-processed for engine knock detection is user adjustable. The knock detection window is defined by at least two overlapping identical duration sub-windows, and the extent of the sub-window overlap is changed to adjust the duration of the knock detection window. The DFT processing is performed over each sub-window and the processing results are combined for knock detection.

The occurrence of knocking in a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine can be detected by mounting at least one piezoelectric knock sensor on the engine to produce an electrical knock signal responsive to engine vibration, and suitably filtering and processing the knock signal. Since knocking in a given cylinder occurs primarily in a certain interval following the top dead center position of the combustion stroke, the filtered knock signal can be processed over specified knock detection windows corresponding to the various cylinders. When a knock event is detected for a given engine cylinder, the spark timing and/or fuel delivery for that cylinder are altered to suppress further knocking.
The signal processing portion of knock control generally involves analyzing the filtered knock signal to determine the amplitude of the signal at one or more specified knock frequencies. The specified knock frequency depends on the engine geometry and other factors such as the combustion temperature, and is typically determined off-line for a particular class of engines. In general, a knock event is detected if the signal amplitude at a specified knock frequency exceeds a calibrated threshold.
A common way of determining the knock signal amplitude at a specified knock frequency is to transform the filtered knock signal to the frequency domain over the knock detection window using Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) equations. In principle, the DFT calculations can be performed in real time by an on-board microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP). But in a production system, cost-driven limitations on the processing throughput and memory capacity can result in constraints that tend to limit the applicability and usefulness of the DFT. The usual way of addressing this problem is to limit the duration of the knock detection window to a single value in order to simplify the DFT calculations. However, fixing the duration of the knock detection window can make it difficult to calibrate the system for optimal knock detection, particularly when other sources of vibrational noise occur. Accordingly, what is needed is a technique for permitting adjustment of the knock detection window duration without significantly increasing the computational burden or memory capacity required to perform the DFT calculations.

Signal processing method for an engine knock signal


A shoe or clamp assembly for securing a buffer stop or bumping post to railroad track with a predetermined magnitude of retardation against sliding movement of the buffer stop when the same is engaged by a moving railcar to be stopped. The shoe assembly which clamps against opposite sides of a buffer stop wall, and also clamps against opposite sides of a rail, is secured by at least one bolt and nut and also a spring stack so that a torque wrench is not required in order to effect such securement.

The present invention relates to apparatus for attaching a buffer stop or bumping post to railroad track. It has been known for a long time to provide a bumping post or buffer stop at the end of a length of railroad track for serving as an emergency stop in the event a train or railroad car fails to stop in the intended manner due to mistake or equipment failure.
The known buffer stops may be of the type which are intended to slide along a track after being engaged by a railcar, or of the type which are intended to resist the impact of a moving railcar which engages the buffer stop without sliding along the track. In applications of the sliding buffer type, which are most often used in Europe, a sufficient length of extra track is provided to accommodate sliding movement of the buffer from its fixed position. In applications where such extra track is not available, which is often the case in the United States, the buffer stop is attached to rail track with the intent that it will remain in a fixed position when engaged by a moving railcar.
It is also known to provide one or more slave units which are mounted behind a buffer stop in spaced relation thereto so when a buffer stop is caused to slide along track due to the impact of a moving railcar, it will be moved into engagement with an adjacent slave unit which will also slide along the track and assist the buffer stop in stopping a moving railcar.
The present invention does not involve a novel buffer stop. Instead, it relates to novel mechanism for attaching a buffer stop to railroad track. Such novel attachment mechanism has application whether it is intended that the buffer stop will be of the sliding type, or whether the buffer stop is intended to remain fixed when impacted by a moving railcar.
It is also known to provide apparatus for attaching a buffer stop to railroad track. Such known apparatus includes a pair of shoes which at their lower ends engage opposite sides of a rail and upper ends which are bolted together and clamped on opposite sides of a bumping post or buffer stop side wall. In the foregoing manner, a bumping post is attached to the opposed pair of shoes, and the shoes are held by friction to the rail, so that the bumping post is attached to the rail. As noted above, such attachment may be intended to permit the bumping post to slide along the rail on impact from a moving railcar, or it may be intended to hold the bumping post fixed on the rail when impacted by a moving railcar to be stopped.
Still referring to known apparatus for securing a bumping post or buffer stop to rail track, such apparatus includes a pair of opposed shoes which are mounted on opposite sides of a buffer stop side wall, with their lower ends engaged firmly against opposite sides of a rail, and bolts are used to tighten the shoes against the opposite sides of the buffer stop side wall while at the same time tightening the lower ends of the shoes against the rail to obtain a predetermined tightness against the rail. The prior art teaches the use of a torque wrench which measures torque for tightening the bolts referred to above. It is common to provide three bolts for tightening each pair of opposed shoes to secure a buffer stop to a rail. It is also common to provide a plurality such as three sets of shoes for attaching each side wall of a buffer stop to a corresponding rail.
In the foregoing example, if three sets of opposed shoes are provided for each side of a buffer stop, and if three bolts are provided to attach each pair of shoes, nine bolts per side will be required or a total of 18 bolts to attach a buffer stop to rail. The number of bolts is important because it determines the time and effort required to attach a buffer stop to a rail. In this respect, it should be noted that when a sliding buffer has been caused to slide from its normal position due to impact from a moving railcar, it must be repositioned in its original location which requires using the usual torque wrench to properly retighten each of the bolts after loosening the same and repositioning the buffer stop.
One feature of the present invention eliminates the need for using torque wrenches by providing a novel spring pack associated with each of the bolts which tighten a pair of shoes against an opposite side of a buffer side wall. The foregoing feature permits an operator to tighten the bolts to a predetermined tightness with more accuracy and with less time and effort than when the known torque wrenches are used to obtain a predetermined tightness.
Another feature of the present invention comprises a pair of longitudinal wear strips which are riveted to each of a pair of opposing shoes at the inside lower ends thereof which shoes engage against a rail along spaced longitudinal strips thereof. Thus, the tighter the bolts are tightened to clamp a pair of opposed shoes against the opposite sides of a bumper stop side wall, the tighter will be the engagement between the lower ends of such shoes and the rail. In such applications, the shoes will engage the rail only by means of the longitudinal wear strips attached to each shoe. Such wear strips are preferably made of bronze or other metal dissimilar to the rail, and they may be replaced when undue wear occurs.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Apparatus for attaching buffer stop to railroad track


A chemiluminescent substrate of a hydrolytic enzyme having the following general Formula I is disclosed, as follows:Lumi-M-PFormula Iwhere “Lumi” is a chemiluminescent moiety capable of producing light (a) by itself, (b) with MP attached and (c) with M attached. Examples of Lumi include chemiluminescent acridinium compounds, benzacridinium compounds, quinolinium compounds, isoquinolinium compounds, phenanthridinium compounds, and lucigenin compounds, spiroacridan compounds, luminol compounds and isoluminol compounds. M is a multivalent heteroatom having at least one lone pair of electrons selected from oxygen, nitrogen and sulfur, directly attached to the light emitting moiety of Lumi at one end and to P at the other end. P is a group that can be readily removed by hydrolytic enzymes. An enzymatic reaction utilizing the above compound is the following:

The detection of hydrolytic enzymes has been extensively used in diagnostic assays ranging from immunoassays, nucleic acid assays, receptor assays, and other assays, primarily due to their high sensitivity and non-radioactivity. The hydrolytic enzymes include phosphatases, glycosidases, peptidases, proteases, and esterases. By far, most commonly used are phosphatases and glycosidases. For instance, alkaline phosphatase has been extensively used as a label in various enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) due to its high turn-over rate, excellent thermal stability and ease of use. Many glycosidases, such as β-galactosidase and β-glucuronidase, have also been used in ELISA due to their very high selectivity for the hydrolysis of their preferred substrates. On the other hand, some hydrolytic enzymes play important functions by themselves in biological processes of the human body and microorganisms. Therefore, direct detection of these markers is another important aspect of diagnostics.
In connection with the detection of hydrolytic enzymes, there are three types of substrates: chromogenic, fluorogenic and chemiluminescent substrates. Among them, chemiluminescent substrates offer the best enzyme detection sensitivity due to the intrinsic advantages of higher detectability of chemiluminescent product, or lower substrate and instrumental backgrounds, and less interference from biological samples. Therefore, there has been a steady trend towards developing chemiluminescent substrates and applying them in a variety of diagnostics.
Stable Dioxetanes
One class of widely used chemiluminescent substrates for hydrolytic enzymes are stable dioxetanes (Bronstein et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,931,223, 5,112,960, 5,145,772 and 5,326,882; Schaap et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,892,064, 4,959,182 and 5,004,565; and Akhavan-Tafti et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,370). Here, the thermally stable protective group on the phenolic moiety of the dioxetane substrates is cleaved by a hydrolytic enzyme of interest, such as alkaline phosphatase (AP) or β-galactosidase, depending on whether the protective group is a phosphoryl or β-D-galactopyranosidyl group. The newly generated dioxetane phenoxide anion undergoes auto-decomposition to a methoxycarbonylphenoxide in an electronically excited state. The latter then emits light at λmax˜470 nm.
In an aqueous environment where virtually all biological assays are performed, the decomposition of the dioxetanes produces chemiluminescence in a very low quantum yield, typically about 0.01%, and a slow kinetics with t1/2 1˜10 minutes. This is quite different from the decomposition of the dioxetanes in an organic environment. For instance, the dioxetane having the phenol moiety protected by an acetyl group or a silyl group, upon treatment with a base or fluoride, exhibits quantum yield up to 25% in DMSO and 9.4% in acetonitrile, respectively, and t1/2 is about 5 sec. at 25° C. Schaap, et al., Tetrahedron Letters, 28(11), 1155, (1987) and WO 90/07511 A.
Voyta et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 5,145,772) disclosed a method of intermolecular enhancement of quantum yield of the dioxetane products using polymeric ammonium salts, which provide a hydrophobic environment for the phenoxide produced by the enzyme.
Akhavan-Tafti et al., reported methods of intermolecular enhancement of quantum yield of the dioxetane products using polymeric phosphonium salts (U.S. Pat. No. 5,393,469) and dicationic surfactants (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,451,347 and 5,484,556).
Schaap et al., (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,959,182 and 5,004,565) disclosed another method for increasing quantum yield of the dioxetane products using fluorescent co-surfactants as energy acceptors. The resonance energy embodied in the excited phenoxide produced by the enzyme is effectively transferred to the fluorescent co-surfactants. Instead of emitting light at λmax 470 nm characteristic of the dioxetane, this system emits light at λmax 530 nm as a result of energy transfer to the highly efficient fluorophore, fluorescein.
Another approach for improving quantum yield of the dioxetanes, disclosed by Schaap et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,827), is to covalently attach a fluorophore having high quantum yield to the light emitting phenoxide moiety. The resonance energy from the excited phenoxide is intramolecularly transferred to the attached fluorophore. The latter in turn emits light at its own wavelength. It is claimed that such dioxetane-fluorophore conjugates exhibit quantum yield as high as 2%.
Wang et al., (WO 94/10258) unveiled a class of electron-rich, aryl-substituted dioxetane compounds in which the aryl group is poly-substituted with a suitable electron-donating group so that intense luminescence is observed.
Akhavan-Tafti et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,370) provided a group of stable chemiluminescent dioxetane compounds with improved water solubility and storage stability. The compounds are substituted with two or more hydrophilic groups disposed on the dioxetane structure and an additional fluorine atom or lower alkyl group.
Schaap et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 5,892,064) disclosed a class of chemiluminescent dioxetane compounds substituted on the dioxetane ring with two nonspirofused alkyl groups.
Urdea at al. (EP Application 0401001 A2) described another sub-class of dioxetane compounds that can be triggered by sequential treatment with two different activating enzymes to generate light. The system rests on the principle that the dioxetane substrates have two protecting groups that can be removed sequentially by different processes to produce an excited phenoxide, and the removal of the first protecting group is triggered by the enzyme used as a label in the assay.
Luminol Substrates
Sasamoto at al., Chem. Pharm. Bull., 38(5), 1323 (1990) and Chem. Pharm. Bull., 39(2), 411 (1991), reported that o-aminophthalhydrazide-N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminide (Luminol-NAG) and 4′-(6′-diethylaminobenzofuranyl)-phthalhydrazide-N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminide, both being the non-luminescent forms of luminol, are substrates of N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase. Upon the action of the enzyme on these substrates, luminol or luminol derivative is generated, which then can be detected by triggering with 0.1% hydrogen peroxide and a peroxidase (POD) or Fe(III)-TCPP complex catalyst to release a chemiluminescent signal.
Enzyme-Modulated Protected Enhancer and Anti-Enhancer
Kricka (U.S. Pat. No. 5,306,621) disclosed that light intensity of certain peroxidase-catalyzed chemiluminescent reactions can be modulated by AP that acts on a pro-enhancer or a pro-anti-enhancer. For example, the intensity of a chemiluminescent reaction containing luminol, horseradish peroxide and hydrogen peroxide can be enhanced by an enhancer (4-iodophenol) liberated by the enzymatic action of AP on a pro-enhancer (4-iodophenol phosphate), thus enabling AP to be assayed. Alternatively, in the same above reaction where additional enhancer (4-iodophenol) is present, the light intensity can be decreased by an anti-enhancer (4-nitrophenol) generated by the enzymatic action of AP on a pro-anti-enhancer (4-nitrophenol phosphate). In the latter format, the presence of AP can be assayed by measuring the reduction in the light intensity.
Similar to the above, an assay using enzyme-triggerable protected enhancer for quantitation of hydrolytic enzymes was also unveiled by Akhanvan-Tafti in EP Application 0516948 A1.
Akhanvan-Tafti et al., (WO 96/07911) disclosed another method of detecting hydrolytic enzymes based on the principle of the protected enhancer, where the light emitting species is generated from the oxidation of acridan by peroxidase and peroxide.
Acridene Enol Phosphate
Akhanvan-Tafti et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 5,772,926 and WO 97/26245) disclosed a class of heterocyclic, enol phosphate compounds represented by the non-luminescent acridene enol phosphate. Upon the reaction with a phosphatase enzyme, acridene enol phosphate is converted to the dephosphoryl enolate, which reacts with molecular oxygen to produce light (see scheme below). It was also disclosed that the light output was greatly enhanced by the addition of a cationic aromatic compound to the assay system.
Other Chemiluminescent Substrates for Hydrolytic Enzymes
Vijay (U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,328) disclosed chemiluminescent assays that detect or quantify hydrolytic enzymes, such as alkaline phosphatase, that catalyze the hydrolysis of indoxyl esters. The assay includes the steps of reacting a test sample with an indoxyl ester and then immediately or within a short time (typically less than about 15 minutes) measuring the resulting chemiluminescence. The resulting chemiluminescence may be amplified by adding a chemiluminescent enhancing reagent.
Among the above chemiluminescent hydrolytic enzyme methods, the dioxetane system appears to be the most sensitive detection system and therefore has been increasingly used in various assays. Despite its widespread use, this system has an inherent drawback in that background chemiluminescence in the absence of enzyme is observed due to slow thermal decomposition and non-enzymatic hydrolysis of the dioxetane. Another intrinsic disadvantage is that the phenoxide, once generated by enzymatic reaction, is extremely unstable and readily undergoes decomposition to release light. In this sense, the phenoxide, the light emitting species, is never "accumulated" during the enzymatic reaction. Therefore, it is one of the major goals of this invention to provide new chemiluminescent substrates whose derived chemiluminescent products have distinguishable emission profiles and whose total signal can be accumulated during the enzymatic reaction, thereby providing an alternative and sensitive detection method for hydrolytic enzymes.

Chemiluminescent acridinium compounds and analogues thereof as substrates of hydrolytic enzymes

Abstract: where HE is a hydrolytic enzyme. Lumi-M is a chemiluminescent product having physical and/or chemical properties different from those of Lumi-M-P.


A method for monitoring the soundness of the protective covering on underground metal structures subjected to cathodic protection, based on the electrical resistance offered by said covering, and consisting of modulating the imposed cathodic protection current and measuring the corresponding variation in potential due to the ohmic drop, said resistance being obtained from the ratio of the variation in potential to the modulation current.

Pipelines for transporting liquid or gaseous fluids, such as gas, water or oil pipelines, are generally constructed from lengths of metal pipe, generally of steel construction, which are welded together to form an assembled continuous pipeline which is laid in its final seat, generally consisting of a sufficiently deep trench, and then covered so that the pre-existing environment is restored and its subsequent utilization unhindered.
The assembled continuous pipeline is provided with protection against wet corrosion in that the environment in which the underground or immersed pipeline is located is very corrosive towards ferrous materials.
It is very important that the pipeline remains sound and well preserved for the entire duration of its technical life, not only because of its high construction cost but also, and in particular, because leakages of fluid must be prevented not only because of its economic value but also because it can be the cause of danger, pollution or serious disturbance. The protection generally adopted is in the form of two different types of protection which cooperate with each other, namely "passive" protection consisting of a covering which isolates the pipeline from the surrounding environment and "cathodic" protection by which it is given an electrical potential which inhibits the progress of possible electrochemical reactions which could attack the pipe metal until perforated.
The "passive" protection is generally formed by applying a continuous covering to the properly cleaned pipeline. This covering is of two main categories, the first of which comprises coatings of hydrocarbon materials such as asphalts, bitumens and greases generally applied hot in the form of a number of coats, with fibrous material reinforcements. The second category comprises coverings of synthetic polymer materials such as polyethylene, polyvinylchloride and epoxide polymers which are applied in the form of tapes wrapped spirally about the pipeline with their edges superimposed, or alternatively are applied by die-casting. Widely used protection and reinforcement materials include fibreglass tape, felt and cardboard, asbestos or other non-decaying fibrous material.
By itself, such protection is insufficient to permanently preserve a pipeline laid underground or immersed in water.
In this respect, the following facts must be considered:
no material is free of a certain porosity and permeability, even if perfectly applied, resulting in a certain though very slight passage of the chemical species responsible for the corrosive attack through the protective layer;
the sequence of operations involved in the preparation, covering, lifting, laying and burying of the pipeline can from the very beginning give rise to slight damage or imperfection in the applied covering, such defects then leading to future triggering of corrosion phenomena;
the hydrocarbon and polymer materials and their reinforcements have a very high but not absolute chemical and physical stability, especially where temperature or humidity variations occur;
natural phenomena such as earthquakes, landslips or alluvions, and accidental events can cause damage to the pipeline passive protection.
The "cathodic" protection provides protection for the pipeline at points in which porosity, damage or imperfect application of the covering have left the metal surface exposed to corrosive attack. A typical cathodic protection scheme is illustrated in FIG. 1. The pipeline 1 comprises the metal pipe 2 and its covering 3. It is segmented into discrete portions by isolating joints 4 which separate them electrically without interrupting continuity. The length of each portion is indicatively some kilometers, but this value can vary within very wide limits depending on the importance of the installation and its environment.
Of each pipeline portion, the metal part 2 to be protected is connected by the connector 5 to the negative pole of a direct current generator G, the positive pole of which is earthed through the connector 6, which is provided with a switch 7 and ammeter A, and then through a disperser electrode 8.
Said disperser electrode is generally constructed as one or more large-dimension cylindrical graphite elements and is positioned at a considerable depth and spacing so as to ensure that the electrical field which is established is correctly distributed along the entire pipeline portion. By virtue of the current fed to the pipeline, this latter assumes a negative potential with respect to its surrounding environment.
This electrical potential is measured by the voltmeter V which is connected by the connector 9 to the metal pipe 2 and by the connector 10 to a reference electrode 11 positioned in proximity to the outer part of the covering 3. It is apparent that the quantity of electric current required of the generator G to maintain the metal pipe 2 at a certain potential relative to the environment surrounding the pipeline is inversely proportional to the insulation provided by the covering 3 and directly proportional to the extent which the defects in, or the permeability of, said covering allow the electrochemical contact which generates corrosion.
The cathodic protection potentials are of the order of magnitude of one volt, and with efficient coverings the current required to maintain such potential difference relative to earth are not large. Direct measurement of the insulation from the ratio of the potential difference established in the pipeline with respect to a reference electrode to the imposed current is only significant in those cases in which the deterioration of the covering has reached such proportions that it cannot be remedied.
In this respect it should be noted that an exposed area of the order of one mm.sup.2 per m.sup.2 of covering is already significant from the corrosion aspect, but this would result in a change in potential (for equal imposed current) which would be practically unnoted by the measurement.
Many methods have been proposed in the known art for determining the insulation offered by the covering 3, but most of them can only be usefully used in the laboratory or, at the most, on site before laying the pipeline in the trench, and are therefore more suitable for preventive inspection by sampling than for effective field verification of an operating pipeline.
The only method for this verification which is currently of wide application is based on the measurement of the variation in the potential difference when the current fed by the generator G to the metal pipe is interrupted. This is illustrated in FIG. 1. The cathodic protection circuit shown in FIG. 1 is in operation and the generator G is feeding the current I.sub.reg required for the pipe 2 to assume the scheduled negative potential .DELTA.V.sub.reg necessary for its cathodic protection.
At time t, the switch 7 is opened to interrupt current passage, as indicated in diagram (A) of the FIG. 2. When the measurement has been made, the current feed I.sub.reg is then restored in accordance with the dashed line.
Because of the feed interruption, the potential difference decays rapidly from the value .DELTA.V.sub.reg. The first part of the potential drop .DELTA.V.sub.ohm is substantially simultaneous with the interruption in the current and corresponds to the "ohmic" potential drop due to the resistance offered by the covering 3. The second part .DELTA.V.sub.reat of the potential drop is slower, with asymptotic progress downwards, and is due to the reactive component of the circuit. The voltmeter V of FIG. 1, provided with a recorder REG, measures the pattern shown in diagram (B) of FIG. 2 in which the potential drop is clearly divided by a point of distinct tangency variation which separates the two components of the potential difference, allowing a reliable measurement of the value of .DELTA.V.sub.ohm which is proportional to the insulation of the covering 3, with consequent indication of its soundness or lack thereof.
In reality the described method is not free of considerable problem deriving from the actual need to interrupt the protection current in order to effect the measurement.
At time t, at which the protection action ceases, instantaneous currents begin to circulate in the pipeline due to different potential points along the pipeline which arise from local electrochemical reactions. These currents give rise to a potential .DELTA.V.sub.ec the pattern of which is shown indicatively in diagram (C) of FIG. 2, the voltmeter V in reality then measuring a potential value determined by the sum of diagrams (B) and (C) of FIG. 2 and shown in FIG. 2 as diagram (D) . The pattern of diagram (D) is such that it is very difficult to determine the ordinate value at the point in which the change of tangency separating the ohmic and reactive terms of the potential difference occurs.
Said instantaneous currents are the cause of large errors in determining the insulation resistance, in that although the imposed protection current is instantaneously nullified at the moment of interruption, it is precisely this interruption which generates said electrochemical currents which disturb the system to give rise to a disturbed pattern of the potential diagram of the type shown in FIG. 2 (D).
The nature and extent of these electrochemical currents are related to the heterogeneous state of the ground and to the active corrosion-producing chemical species present in it, such as different dissolved oxygen concentrations, pH variations, different global ion concentrations, different defect distributions along the pipeline, etc.
Under such conditions the potential drop consequent on zeroing the cathodic protection current does not assume a properly defined profile, and it is not possible to measure the value .DELTA.V.sub.ohm with sufficient reproducibility, as the point of tangency change cannot be properly identified even with sophisticated recording voltmeters.
To this phenomenon there is also added the fact that with the aforesaid method the current zeroing produced by real switches is often not instantaneous but progressive, even if rapid, with the result that the ohmic drop also has an inclined rather than vertical pattern, making it even more difficult to estimate with sufficient exactness the ordinate of the point of tangency change. Another important problem is the fact that during the measurement the pipe 2 is no longer cathodically protected and is exposed to corrosion. In practice, this method is used only during occasional inspection, and for long time periods when the state of the pipeline covering is not checked. In any event the method is unsuitable for continuous monitoring of the covering because the total time involved in testing would result in a considerable period during which the pipeline was not under cathodic protection. It does therefore not allow damage of accidental type to be indicated in sufficient time to take the necessary action.
The prior art has proposed, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,255,242, to determine the polarized potentials and the ohmic drops on cathodically, or anodically, protected materials, but disregarding the presence of protective coatings. According to such a procedure, waveforms are used which are not square, but are variously clipped sinusoidal waves. In such a case, the detection of the variations of the induced potential cannot be correlated to a value of impressed current and, moreover, it is not possible to separate the values to be attributed to the ohmic effects or the capacitive effects (or the reactive effects) which play a completely different role.
In the paper by Kasahara et al., on Materials Performance, Vol. 18, No. 3, pages 21-25 (1979), a method is disclosed for the simulated determination of the protection potential of a coated circuit, in correlation with the current pulses delivered to a sample fitted with a coating similar to that of the conduit and connected in parallel thereto, by measuring the potential induced into the sample.
Such a determination cannot be exploited to achieve any reliable information as to the condition of the coating on the conduit. Even if the sample should simulate with fidelity the state of the conduit at a certain instant of time, and give a substantially correct value of the induced potential, this data would not afford the solution of the technical problem posed herein, which is based on the "response" (in relationship with the ohmic component only of the potential included thereby) to the current modulation with a square wave, and to its trend with the lapse of time.

Method for continuously monitoring the soundness of the protective covering on underground metal structures, and devices for its implementation


Fixing device includes a first cylindrical rotating member having an inner peripheral surface and an outer peripheral surface; a second rotating member which is brought into contact with the first rotating member; magnetic field generation units for generating a magnetic field, the magnetic field generation units being provided at a predetermined distance from the inner or outer peripheral surface of the first rotating member; and a heat generation member that generates heat by a magnetic field, the heat generation member being provided so as to be opposed to the magnetic field generation units across the first rotating member and to be in contact with the first rotating member, having a thickness larger than a skin depth, and containing a magnetic metal material.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fixing device and an image-forming apparatus.
2. Related Art
Fixing devices using an electromagnetic induction heating method have been proposed. The electromagnetic induction heating method is a method according to which a magnetic field generated by an induction coil is applied to a rotating member having a conductive layer to generate an eddy current in the conductive layer so that the rotating member can directly generate heat.
This kind of fixing device using an electromagnetic induction heating method is proposed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-047988. The fixing device includes: an endless rotation member having a heat generation layer, and a guide member for guiding the rotation member, the guide member having a heat generation layer having a thickness of skin depth or less.

Fixing device and image-forming apparatus


A process that alleviates processor overloading, adaptively according to the current total processor load, by gracefully degrading video output quality, so that more jobs can be run simultaneously in a multitasking operating system environment is provided. The process reduces computation for video data decompression by substituting zero values for elements of one or more bottom rows of the matrix that is multiplied to a kernel matrix in the two-dimensional inverse discrete cosine transform. In one embodiment, a process is incorporated into an MPEG firmware as a part of library modules built into a multimedia signal processor integrated circuit, which runs a real-time multitasking operating system. If running an additional video decompression task will overload the processor, the operating system rejects running the task. When the additional video compression task is rejected, a degraded version, which will not overload the processor, of the original decompression task is submitted to the operating system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to integrated circuit devices, and, in particular, to ways integrated circuit devices manipulate image data.
2. Description of Related Art
The advent of powerful VLSI chips made it possible for multiple tasks to be performed on a single chip. Multimedia signal processor (MSP) chips are examples of such powerful VLSI chips, and are often equipped with multitasking operating systems which are capable of running multiple digital signal processing (DSP) tasks virtually simultaneously, such as video and audio compression/decompression processing, modem operations, and facsimile operations. A typical multimedia computer system configuration 110 is shown in FIG. 1. The multitasking operating system provides convenience, improves productivity, and also achieves better utilization of an MSP. But running several computationally demanding DSP tasks, can overload the MSP. Video compression and decompression are two of such computationally demanding tasks that are frequently performed on an MSP.
Typical digital video images require vast amount of storage or channel bandwidth. Motion Picture Expert Group (MPEG) is an international committee charged with providing a standard for achieving compatibility between image compression and decompression equipment. Since its inception, two standards (referred hereinbelow as "MPEG-1" and "MPEG-2") have been proposed by MPEG. Each of these standards specifies both the coded digital representation of video signal for the storage media, and the process for decoding. Using MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 encoding on image data saves storage space for video data, that is, the encoding achieves data compression. Yet, MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 compression are computationally intensive due to several steps involved, one of which is a two-dimensional discrete cosine transform (2-D DCT), which performs multiple matrix multiplications. A video file encoded (i.e., compressed) and saved on a storage device has to be decoded (i.e., decompressed) before actual usage. (From now on, terms "encoding" and "compression" will be used interchangeably, and so will terms "decoding" and "decompression".) Decompression is also a computationally intensive process, as it involves reversing the steps of the 2-D DCT, called 2-D IDCT (inverse discrete cosine transform), or merely IDCT.
As a result of the heavy computational demand of a 2-D IDCT, when one or more decompression tasks (each of which perform IDCT) are involved, the number of tasks that can be reasonably run on a single processor becomes relatively small, diminishing the advantage of the multitasking operating system.
For example, each decompression task may take up 38% of the MSP's computational capacity. If, in an operating system, a third decompression task is submitted when two decompression tasks are already being carried out by the MSP, operating systems, the will reject running the third task, since running it will overload the MSP.
One of the previous approaches to deal with the overloading problem with respect to video data manipulation is to reduce the frame rate of the video output. This approach, however, produces a noticeably degraded video output which is perceptually very awkward.
What is needed is a cost-effective approach that will allow relatively more tasks to be run on a processor.

Adaptive lossy IDCT for multitasking environment


Two- and four-columned stands for holding vehicles aloft during dismantling include A-frame style structures having no raised horizontal cross members. The stands have improved stability and safety for dismantlers and equipment operators in the work area and provide clear access to vehicle components. Preferred stands permit adjustment to the width of the stand at the top. Distance along the length of four-columned stands can be varied to accommodate vehicles of differing lengths, or height of the stand can be adjusted. Four-columned stands include a pair of two-columned stands, each of which is wider at its ground-level base than at the top, and two horizontal ground-level links that connect the two-columned stands at their bases. Preferably a top platform of each two-columned stand includes two horizontal sliding T-beam assemblies that contact portions of a mounted vehicle and also permit width adjustment. T-beam assemblies are mounted on top of diagonal column assemblies and the two resulting structures are firmly attached to opposite ends of a horizontal ground-level base plate. A height adjustment assembly, having a vertical adjustment tube and vertical extendable column, may be incorporated into diagonal column assemblies.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to new A-frame style automotive dismantler's stands useful in salvage and recycling of vehicle parts. The stands of the invention are most useful with motor vehicles such as automobiles, vans, private or commercial pick-up trucks and tractor trailer trucks. As used herein, the term "motor vehicle" can mean a complete vehicle or a portion of the vehicle, such as a portion remaining after (1) an accident where components have been mangled or lost or (2) prior removal of some parts. The A-frame style stands of the invention are stable and provide improved, clear access to components under and around a vehicle mounted thereon. Preferably, the A-frame style stands are adjustable in width, length or height to facilitate removal of parts from virtually any vehicle, regardless of size or condition.
2. Brief Description of Background Art
Hundreds of thousands of motor vehicles, ranging from subcompacts to tractor trailer trucks, are discarded annually in the United States alone. Often these discarded vehicles are sent to scrap or junk yards where they are dismantled for recycling and salvage of useable parts that can be sold or auctioned in the used auto parts market. Vehicles sent to such yards may be dismantled to obtain all recyclable components at one time or kept in the yard for removal of parts over time, for example when specific components are sought by a particular customer. Portions of the vehicle that remain after total dismantling are crushed or pressed and treated as scrap metal. Many vehicles that are brought to scrap yards have sustained major damage; for example they may be missing entire sections or are substantially distorted in shape.
Scrap yards move and dismantle salvage vehicles using heavy equipment, usually a front end loader or a forklift, which has long or short forks mounted in front. Loaders having long forks with a maximum width of about 48″ load vehicles lengthwise and are used for a variety of functions around the yard. Loaders mounted with short forks, known as scrappers, load vehicles from the side and are often used in the dismantling process to raise at least a portion of a vehicle off the ground and place it on a stand. After the vehicle has been mounted, people who dismantle the vehicle, called automotive dismantlers, work under and around the stand to remove parts. In small to medium-sized scrap yards, stands are made by local welders or builders, often based upon the design of a stand seen in another yard.
Typical stands have a square or rectangular box-type structure, of equal width at the top and the bottom, are built to one size and nonadjustable. This combination results in a stand that is unstable and prone to tipping, creating serious work hazards for automotive dismantlers and equipment operators in the vicinity. Potential for accidents is exacerbated when yards use these stands to mount and dismantle vehicles that are either too large or small for the stand or are distorted in such a way that they can not sit on the stand in a stable position. Even the process of removing parts can destabilize a vehicle.
The box-type structures of conventional stands include four vertical columns connected at right angles by horizontal cross members located significantly above ground level. The cross members create obstructions in the dismantling area and limit the dismantler's access to certain vehicle parts. This often requires that the vehicle be removed and repositioned on the stand several times for complete removal of parts, decreasing efficiency of the operation, increasing costs and increasing the potential for accidents.
The orientation of the vertical columns and presence of raised horizontal cross members of conventional stands can interfere with the loading and off-loading of vehicles by forklift operators. For example, loaders mounted with long forks often are not useable in the dismantling process because of the horizontal encumbrances. This means that the typical yard, which will usually have one front end loader and two different fork assemblies often has to remove a long fork assembly from the loader and replace it with a short fork assembly.
Other stands and assemblies for dismantling motor vehicles, in particular for draining fluids, are known in the art. One such stand, named "The Enviro-Rack" is a high capacity auto fluid removal and dismantling station sold by IronAx. United States Patent Publication 20040031645 to Sheppard et. al. discloses a vehicle articulation apparatus capable of elevating a vehicle for access by personnel and can be pivoted for more complete drainage of fluids before dismantling. U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,855 B1 to Lindner discloses a suspended disassembly line for automobile dismantling that uses a plurality of electrically operated lifts to stabilize and suspend the automobile. Such devices and assemblies are much more complex than conventional stands and too expensive for many salvage businesses, which continue to operate at the junk yard level. Moreover, these devices can actually limit access to parts of the vehicle, which is not preferred for most dismantling.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved dismantler's stands including improved stability and substantially obstruction-free work space for dismantlers and forklift operators. Simpler stands that are adjustable in length, width or height, preferably in two or all three dimensions, to accommodate vehicles of varying size or condition, are also needed.


An image processing apparatus having functions includes an image processing unit that executes the functions; a memory that stores a function table including function identification information identifying the functions, initial values preset for the functions, and registered values set for the functions by a user, in a corresponding manner to each other; a display processing unit that displays a function list screen on which initial value buttons for calling up an initial value function screen accepting an input of an instruction from the user to execute the function using the initial values, and first registered value buttons for calling up a registered value function screen accepting an input of the instruction from the user to execute the function using the registered values are arranged; and an accepting unit accepting a selection of the initial value button or the first registered value button on the function list screen from the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a computer program product.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there are known image processing apparatuses called multifunction peripherals (MFPs) each of which contains a plurality of functions of, for example, a copier, a scanner, a printer, and a facsimile apparatus in one housing. Such an MFP is provided with software programs corresponding to the copier, the scanner, the printer, and the facsimile apparatus, and selects and executes each of the software programs so as to operate as each of the copier, the scanner, the printer, and the facsimile apparatus.
Such a conventional MFP is provided with a display/operation unit, such as a touch panel, so that a user can make settings for executing the various functions mentioned above. Recent MFPs have multiple functions and an increased number of items to be set, and thus is required to display a user-friendly setting screen and to reduce a burden of operation for setting by the user.
In order to reduce a burden of operation, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2009-070365 discloses a technique of an MFP in which, when a user selects a desired item from high-level set items displayed on an operation panel, the operation panel displays overview information on mid-level set items corresponding to the selected high-level set item and low-level set items corresponding to each of the mid-level set items.
There is also known an MFP that can store, in a memory, registered values for set items for predetermined functions entered from the user, and can execute a function using a previously set registered value by calling up the stored register value.
However, in order to execute a predetermined function using a registered value already stored in the memory of the MFP as described above, the user must first display a function list screen on the operation panel and then must select on the function list screen the function to be executed so as to display a list screen of the registered values set for the function to be executed, and the user must further select the desired registered value on the list screen of the registered values, thus resulting in a cumbersome operation. Therefore, there has been a problem that it is troublesome to execute a function for which registered values are set.
Therefore, there is a need for an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and a computer program product that are capable of executing with a simple operation a function for which registered values are set.

Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and computer program product


An electric wire and cable according to the present invention comprises a sheath made of a radiation-resistant non-halogen flame-retardant resin composition in which the radiation-resistant non-halogen flame-retardant resin composition includes one to 30 parts by weight of aromatic amine antioxidant with a melting point of 40° C. or higher and 50 to 300 parts by weight of metal hydroxide blended into 100 parts by weight of ethylene polymer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation-resistant non-halogen flame-retardant resin composition which can be used in an environment exposed to radiation such as a particle accelerator facility, nuclear power plant, or nuclear reprocessing facility. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an electric wire and cable that uses the resin composition.
2. Description of Related Art
Ionizing radiation including gamma rays is present in a beam line peripheral equipment in a particle accelerator facility, a nuclear power plant, a fast breeder reactor, and a nuclear reprocessing facility. For this reason, electric wires and cables used to supply electric power or transmit signals to these sites must withstand deterioration due to ionizing radiation (see, e.g., JP-A Hei 7 (1995)-179682 and JP-A Hei 1 (1989)-128313).
From the viewpoints of safety in case of a fire and protection of environments, electric wires and cables have been required to be non-halogen electric wires and cables which do not include halogen elements including chlorine and nor do they generate harmful gases when they are burnt (see, e.g., JP-A-2002-302574, JP-A-2001-345022, WO2003-046085, JP-A-2000-281837, and JP-A Hei 5 (1993)-81936). In response to this requirement, electric wires and cables covered with flame-retardant materials, which are stipulated in JIS C 3605 and JIS C 3401, have been widely used in buildings in recent years. Here, it means that flame-retardant materials are non-halogen resin compositions produced by blending soft ethylene polymer such as ethylene ethyl acrylate (EEA), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer, or ethylene α-olefin copolymer with a metal hydroxide-based flame retardant such as magnesium hydroxide.
However, the main component of the resin composition used for the above electric wires and cables covered with flame-retardant materials is ethylene polymer, as described above. When these electric wires and cables are exposed to ionizing radiation even at room temperature, they excessively deteriorate and cannot be used in a radiation environment typified by particle accelerator facilities and nuclear power facilities.
This is because ethylene polymer exposed to ionizing radiation undergoes oxidative deterioration and thereby main chain scission and cross linkage progress, significantly reducing flame retardancy and mechanical properties including elongation and tensile strength. Furthermore, when electrical wires and cables are deteriorated, their sheaths are prone to crack. Safety in case of a fire is lowered.

Radiation-resistant non-halogen flame-retardant resin composition as well as electric wire and cable using same


A flying type thin-film magnetic head includes a write head element with a coil conductor and a yoke, a write current flowing through the coil conductor, an overcoat layer laminated on the write head element, and a heat-block layer formed in the overcoat layer and made of a material with a heat conductivity that is lower than a heat conductivity of the overcoat layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flying type thin-film magnetic head with an inductive write head element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such flying type thin-film magnetic head is in general formed on a magnetic head slider flying above a magnetic disk surface in operation. When a write current flows through a coil of the inductive write head element, Joule heat will be produced and thus an over coat layer or a protection layer for covering the write head element will thermally expand to protrude a part of the magnetic head slider. Therefore, in a recent magnetic head slider with a very low flying height, its rear edge or trailing edge that will have the largest protruded amount may come into contact with and crash onto the surface of the rotating magnetic disk.
In order to prevent such head crash from occurring, the following countermeasures have been proposed:
(1) reduction of heat generation by lowering an electrical resistance of coil in the inductive write head element;
(2) improvement of heat radiation by thinning of an undercoat layer on the substrate;
(3) dissipation of heat by forming a metal pattern on the protection film (Japanese Patent Publication 05-266428-A2);
(4) forming of recess at the trailing edge of the magnetic head slider (Japanese Patent Publication 07-307070-A2); and
(5) forming a recess portion on an air bearing surface (ABS) of the protection layer of the magnetic head slider (Japanese Patent Publication 04-366408-A2).
However, any of the proposed countermeasures cannot sufficiently reduce the protruded amount to satisfy an extremely lower flying height that will be required in future and thus further improvement is required.


A bag or pack for transporting material, which may include air tank bottles, rope, and/or other firefighting gear. The bag may be used in multiple different ways, but may be especially configured to rest on top of a primary air tank worn by the user and to avoid falling between that tank and the user's back. Pockets in the bag may allow the user to install bottles in an upright or inverted configuration, which may aid the user in quickly determining which bottles are usable. Bag may free up the user's hands, allowing him to carry extra gear and requiring further trips from a supply source to a staging area, which may be several floors up, e.g., in the case of a high rise environment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage device, such as a bag, for transporting equipment from one location to another.
2. Description of the Related Art
Previous methods for transporting gear, including self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) bottles, involved using webbing wrapped around the bottle tops, hauling a rope with the bottles attached to one or more rings, or manually carrying the bottles. The latter two methods can be cumbersome for the user, who often may be firefighting personnel. They also may require the use of the user's hands, which may prevent the user from carrying additional equipment, performing additional manual tasks, or doing something as simple as holding a handrail for support while climbing stairs.
In addition, while the first method may result in an apparatus that the user can carry without the use of hands, e.g., over a shoulder, it too has disadvantages. For example, the webbing may become tangled, requiring that the user spend time straightening it out instead of moving gear. Additionally, the webbing may become caught on the wearer's equipment, making it more difficult for the user to shed it if needed, or one some other structure such as a door handle, which may impede the user's progress, cause the user to lose his balance, or otherwise create a hazard for the user.
What is needed is a carrying apparatus that overcomes the drawbacks described above.


Communications is the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information. However, whilst immense investments into evolving communications infrastructure supporting multiple communications channels have been made the vast majority of communications models, standards, and developments focus to the transmission of the message as a single process with other aspects of the communications channel are considered simply delays in the communications channel. However, it would be beneficial to provide enhancements to such communications channels to provide additional information to the sender with respect to the delivery to and recovery by the recipient of the message such that not only do they have the option to elect to receive a delivery notification in communications systems that today do not provide such information, but that in these systems and those supporting delivery notifications increased information is provided to the user allowing them to ascertain or estimate the recipient's absorption/reading of the message.

Communication is the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information, as by speech, visuals, signals, writing, or behavior. As such communication requires a sender, a message, and a recipient, although the receiver does need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication and therefore communication can occur across wide ranges of distances in both time and space. Typically communication requires that the communicating parties share an area of communicative commonality and a communication process is typically considered complete once the receiver has understood the message of the sender.
The first major model of communication, see Shannon et al in "The Mathematical Theory of Communication" (University of Illinois Press, 1949) consisted of three primary parts, namely sender, channel, and receiver. In a simple model, often referred to as the transmission model or standard view of communication, information or content (e.g. a message in a natural language) is sent in some form (e.g. as spoken language) from a source/sender/encoder to a destination/receiver/decoder. This common conception of communication simply views communication as a means of sending and receiving information and according to Shannon is based on the following elements:                an information source, which produces a message;        a transmitter, which encodes the message into signals;        a channel, to which signals are adapted for transmission;        a receiver, which decodes (reconstructs) the message from the signal; and        a destination, where the message arrives.
This model was expanded by Berlo et al into the Sender-Message-Channel-Receiver (SMCR) Model of Communication, see for example "The Process of Communication" (Rinehart & Winston Press, New York, 1960) which separated the communication model into clear parts and has been expanded upon by other scholars. Accordingly, such models allow one-way, two-way, and multi-way conversations to be modeled, analysed and implemented within telecommunications infrastructure across multiple communications technologies to perform the transmitter, channel, and receiver such as wireless, wired, and fiber optic. Such models also support multiple communication formats including, for example, voice, either through Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) or Voice-over-Internet Protocol (VOIP), as a general two-way communication process, electronic mail, commonly referred to as email and generalized into one-way communications, and Short Message Service, commonly referred to as SMS or text and similarly generalized into a one-way communication. Accordingly, communications common today such as "Tweeting" on the social media network Twitter™ and concepts such as "email threads" and Instant Messaging are merely concatenations of multiple discrete email and SMS one-way communications. "Tweeting" and email provide multicast communications wherein the message is communicated to a plurality of recipients simultaneously in a single transmission from the source wherein copies of the message are automatically created in other network elements, such as routers, but only when the topology of the network requires it.
However, these models and the consideration of the interactions between sender and recipient is that the message is sent by the sender and received by the recipient as a single process and that other aspects of the communications channel such as voicemail, email server, and text server that store the senders message prior to the recipients receipt are modeled as a delay within the communications channel. However, going back to the primary definition of communication is the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information and accordingly these models and their physical implementations do not provide for verification that the exchange has occurred in the manner the sender intended unless for example the voice communication is a two-way session or a subsequent one-way communication from the recipient referencing the original one-way communication or its content is received by the sender.
According, whilst voicemail's introduction enabled people to leave lengthy, secure and detailed messages in natural voice, working hand-in-hand with corporate and personal phone systems it also broke the two-way communication session methodology of telephony prior to its introduction. This is further compounded by there being two main modes of voicemail operation, namely telephone answering and voice messaging. Telephone answering voicemail answers outside calls and takes a message from any outside caller, either because the extension was busy or rang with no-answer, or voice messaging which enables any subscriber with a mailbox number to send messages directly to any or many subscribers' mailboxes without first calling them. Accordingly, the sender is unable to determine whether the recipient has listened to the message, deleted it unheard, or stopped listening part way through the voicemail. With the rapid uptake of portable electronic devices (PEDs) many individuals now have three or more telephone numbers, for example home, cellphone, and work, thereby increasing the complexity of ensuring a message is delivered to a recipient, yet alone played and understood.
These issues have continued into email and SMS/text communications in the last thirty years as these systems have proliferated. With the adoption of email into business activities and its replacement of physical mail delivery which provided options for delivery verification such as from the mail delivery organization itself or through a signature of the recipient the absence of verification presented an issue. Accordingly, some email systems such as Microsoft™ Outlook introduced email to provide a digitally time-stamped record to reveal the exact time and date that an email was received and/or opened according to the settings established by the sender. However, due to the nature of the technology, email tracking cannot be considered an absolutely accurate indicator that a message was opened or read by the recipient. Even receiving a reply referencing the original email does not address whether the recipient read the content.
Likewise within SMS/text systems the vast majority of such systems, commonly referred to as Instant Messaging (IM) systems, present the same issues of whether the recipient received and read the text message. Accordingly, in these systems the receipt of a reply from the recipient may provide some indication that they received or read the message but their reply could be a coincidence. One notable exception to this is Research in Motion's Blackberry™ Messenger service which provides a delivery notification on the sender's messaging interface and a read notification when the recipient opens the message. However, this service is feasible as the entire messaging system is routed through Research in Motion's own messaging servers.
In many instances the sender whilst wishing to send the recipient a message does not wish to send the message at the time they decide to do so as they do not wish to disturb the recipient or potentially disturb the recipient. For example, the sender may need to send a message to the recipient at 10 pm in the evening at their home but does not want to disturb the recipient and their family at home. Accordingly, the sender may decide not to send the message at that time and to do so in the morning wherein they may forget or miss the recipient. Alternatively they may elect to use another form of communications, such as email, which is not delivered to the recipient due to a network issue or is not seen or opened by the recipient.
Accordingly it would be beneficial to provide enhancements to voicemail, email, SMS and other communications that provide additional information to the sender with respect to the delivery to and recovery by the recipient of the message such that not only do they have the option to elect to receive a delivery notification in communications systems that today do not provide such information, but that in these systems and those supporting delivery notifications increased information is provided to the user allowing them to ascertain or estimate the recipient's absorption/reading of the message.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

Methods and systems for delayed notifications in communications networks


The present disclosure relates to a method of measuring wear of a disk in an aircraft brake having a wear indicator that is movably mounted on a stationary portion of the aircraft brake and that moves progressively with increasing wear of the disk. The method includes using a picture-taking appliance to take at least one photograph of the wear indicator while an aircraft is stationary on the ground, and estimating a position of the wear indicator and a wear level of the disk by analyzing the photograph.

The present disclosure relates to the method of measuring aircraft brake disk wear.
The brakes of modern aircraft comprise a stack of disks (also referred to as a heat sink) that are pressed against one another by means of pistons or pushers in order to generate a braking moment suitable for slowing down the wheel with which the brake is associated. Each time braking is performed, the disks suffer wear, and it is important to know the state of their wear in order to make provision for replacing them with a stack of disks of appropriate thickness. In this respect, brakes are generally provided with at least one wear indicator that is slidably mounted on a stationary portion (e.g. the hydraulic ring of the brake) and that is constrained to come into contact with the face of the disks that faces the pistons of the brake, so that it moves in its housing progressively with increasing wear of the disks. Its position is thus indicative of the state of wear of the stack of disks.
To give an order of magnitude, heat sinks are typically changed after 2000 to 4000 landings, which, depending on the rate of use of an aircraft, can represent one year of operation of the aircraft. Over that length of time, the stack of disks loses 5 centimeters (cm) to 6 cm of thickness.
Operators in charge of maintenance verify the position of the wear indicator regularly (typically once a week) in order to verify the wear state of disks, and in order to replace them with new disks if the wear indicator reaches a maximum wear position. That constitutes a method that is elementary, and reliable, but that does not make it possible to estimate accurately the current wear of the disks in the inspected brake. That method makes it difficult to provide any automatic tracking of brake disk wear on a given aircraft.
In order to improve the tracking of brakes in service, proposals are made in U.S. Patent Application No. US 2009/0205910 to replace the wear indicator with a wear sensor capable of generating at any time a signal that is representative of the state of wear of the disks. Nevertheless, such a sensor requires development that is specific and expensive. It needs to be very reliable, it must not break, and it must not drift. The environmental conditions of its operation are severe: vibration, carbon dust, liquid spray, high temperatures. Furthermore, all aircraft have a plurality of braked wheels, and thus a plurality of brakes: e.g. four (A320, B737), eight (A330, B787), twelve (B777), sixteen (B747 or A380) braked wheels, and it is important to distinguish between all of the wear signals coming from multiple brakes so as to associate them with the appropriate heat sink. Finally, such a sensor involves modifying brakes that are in service, and modifying the electric cabling going down to the brakes, which gives rise to major requalification costs, and which involves campaigns for modifying aircraft that are in service.

Method of measuring aircraft brake disk wear


Techniques for determining a Next Best Action (NBA) are disclosed, with the determination being based on a position within an application, past actions by a user when experiencing a similar application context, and/or tasks in queue for the user to execute from current state of the application. Techniques are also disclosed for displaying an interface that includes the NBA in conjunction with a specific rationale for presenting the NBA, such as recommendations by a trusted person, based on the user's and/or other users' past behavior, and descriptions developed based on the specific NBA. Also, methods for determining a best NBA are disclosed, with the NBA being selected by applying static rules to a data set, heuristically analyzing the data set, and/or applying a machine learning model to the data set.

An enterprise application typically includes interfaces that display and provide navigational capability to users. This allows the users to move between the various functions and content provided by the enterprise application. In some cases, different functions and different content types may be provided with their own set of pages. Therefore, the enterprise application may include a large amount of pages from which the user needs to navigate in order to access the different content and functions of the enterprise application.
One of the key challenges that any enterprise application normally faces is to provide a user interface that not only responds to user selections efficiently, but also loads and renders all components of the user interface on a given page quickly. Page rendering time plays a significant role in user experience and any degradation in performance, such as due to a complex computational model supporting the user interface components, may deter customers from adopting and using the enterprise application.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Generating a next best action recommendation using a machine learning process


Systems and methods are providing for aligning an accessory to an electronic device interface. In particular, some accessories such as optical filters and lens require specific alignment to operative properly. Using a first magnet array positioned around the periphery of the interface and a second magnet array positioned within the accessory, a user can position an accessory on the electronic device and rotate the accessory until the magnets of each array exert a force on an opposing magnet of the other array. By distributing the magnets in a manner that includes no repeating segments, only a single alignment of the accessory relative to the interface can allow the magnet arrays to be properly in opposition.

This is directed to systems and methods for coupling and aligning an accessory to an electronic device. In particular, this is directed to systems and methods for coupling accessories requiring a particular alignment to an electronic device interface, such as optical accessories positioned over a lens.
Electronic devices can include different interfaces by which a user can interact with the device. For example, an electronic device can include one or more input interfaces, such as keys, buttons, or touch screens. In addition, an electronic device can include one or more output interfaces, such a display, audio output circuitry. To further enhance the user's experience, the electronic device can include one or more sensors operative to detect information regarding the user's environment, such as an optical or digital camera lens, light sensor, or other sensing mechanism.
Because the functionality and features of electronic device interfaces can be limited by space and power restrictions, especially in the context of portable electronic devices, a user may wish to couple one or more accessories to the electronic device. An accessory may cooperate with one or more interfaces to enhance the output or detection of the interface. For example, the electronic device can be coupled to an external lens positioned over an internal camera lens to provide a zoom or filter for captured images. As another example, the electronic device can be coupled to an audio dock operative to receive audio provided by output circuitry of the device (e.g., speakers) and redirect the audio output in a particular direction (with or without audio output circuitry in the accessory electrically coupled to the electronic device). As still another example, the electronic device can be coupled to a directional microphone comprising a structure operative to direct received audio to an internal microphone of the electronic device.
Some accessories can require specific alignment with a corresponding electronic device interface to operate properly. For example, optical accessories can include gradient filters for which alignment is important. As another example, an accessory plug operative to engage a corresponding opening in the electronic device can include one or more conductive prongs that must be aligned with associated conductive elements of the electronic device. While in some cases, mechanical alignment mechanisms can be used, the mechanical mechanisms can require complex manufacturing processes, increase the number of parts and therefore the risk of failure, and limit the reduction in size of the electronic device.

Magnet array for coupling and aligning an accessory to an electronic device


A toy animal having a rigid body with movable legs, head and tail, is operated by internal gear mechanisms powered by a single, reversible, battery-powered motor operated in different directions. A hand controller is attached to the body to actuate the single motor in a selected direction to either move a plurality of legs to cause movement of the body while wagging the animal's tail, and to then cause the toy animal to urinate, or to move the head and actuate a tongue held in the head to lick a person holding the toy animal, or ingest fluid. The toy animal may also include a speaker and related circuitry that is actuated to cause the toy animal to make sounds, such as a bark, panting, a whimper and/or a tinkling sound at appropriate times.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to toys, and more particularly, to an animated toy figure, such as a dog, which includes a battery-powered mechanism operated by a remote to allow the animated toy to perform a number of realistic functions, such as make sounds, walk, move its head, drink from a bowl, wag its tail and urinate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Mechanical animals or dolls that include one or more battery-powered motors for moving the animal or doll, or for moving one or more limbs are well known. Examples of such battery-powered animals or dolls are shown in following listed U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,224,759; 4,582,499; 5,112,265; 5,141,464; 5,181,877; 5,324,225; 5,713,780; 6,210,249; 6,273,782; U.S. 2001/0029147; and U.S. 2001/0049248.
Other mechanical animals or dolls are known that contain various means for simulating drinking or eating by a simulated tongue, bottle or item of food. Examples of such mechanical animals or dolls are shown in following listed U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,802,301; 3,858,352; 3,918,199; 4,192,092; and 5,167,561; as well as European published application number 0 630 669 A1.
Finally, there are a number of mechanical animals or dolls that are known that simulate the ingestion of drink or food and the excretion of milk or waste matter, such as urine. Examples of such mechanical animals or dolls are shown in following listed U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,959,919; 4,151,675; 4,164,092; 4,185,413; U.S. 2001/0029146 A1.
However, none of the known prior art disclose or show a mechanical toy that is actuated by a remote to walk, make sounds, move its head, drink, wag its tail and urinate by means of a gear arrangement or mechanism selectively driven by a single, reversible, battery-powered motor.
Therefore, there exists a need in the art for a mechanical toy animal that performs numerous simulated realistic functions by means of a remote controlled battery-powered motor driven gear arrangement, providing more enhanced play value for a child.