A flat mop head for cleaning floors includes a cover panel with structure fastening on its top surface and a highly absorbent material at least partially made of cotton and/or viscose in the central area of its bottom surface. At least the longitudinal sides of the cover panel are provided with a hem. A textile rim both at least partially surrounds the edges of the cover panel, and forms the hem. The cover panel consists of at least partially mixed yarns made of synthetic and natural fibers. This wash-resistant cover panel is inexpensive to produce, may be used both for wet and dry cleaning tasks, slides easily on the floor, and has high cleaning power both for water-soluble and solid soil.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to mop heads for cleaning floors, and more particulary to flat mop heads.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Numerous flat mop heads for cleaning floors are already known. The present invention relates in particular to wet mop heads, i.e. to mop heads suitable for the moist or wet cleaning of floors. These mop heads are expected to meet a number of requirements. They are expected to take up the cleaning liquid quickly, to transport it without dripping to the floor, to transfer it gradually to the floor and to take up the soiled cleaning liquid, the so-called dirty water, quickly. In addition, they are expected to take up a large amount of solid soil particles, to give off very little fluff and to glide easily over the floor. Since the mop heads are periodically washed at relatively high temperatures, they are also expected to be highly resistant to washing. Finally, the mop heads are expected to be inexpensive to make.
The cleaning-active side, i.e. the underneath of the cover panel, may consist of strands, loops, strips or tufts made of rayon, cotton, manmade fibers and blends thereof in various ratios. The wide range of flat mop heads available is explained by the large number of different requirements which, in general, cannot be optimally satisfied at the same time. If the cleaning-active side, i.e. the bottom of the cover panel, consists of strands, the cleaning performance of the mop head is high, but fluff is given off in large amounts and gliding behavior is poor. If mop heads with loops instead of strands are used, gliding behavior improves and less fluff is given off, but cleaning performance falls to an average level. If, on the other hand, the bottom of the cover panel consists of a sponge cloth or nonwoven material in the form of several strips arranged in rows adjacent one another, hardly any fluff is given off and cleaning performance is very high. Unfortunately, the gliding behavior of the mop head over the floor to be cleaned is poor. Strips such as these on the underneath of the cover panel are described, for example, in DE 38 09 279 C1.
The type of fibers used for the bottom of the cover panel also influences the cleaning result and the life of the mop heads. Although high absorbency is achieved with rayon, this material is unsuitable for frequent washing at relatively high temperatures. Although cotton is more stable to washing than rayon, its absorption capacity is lower. Particularly high resistance to washing and hence a very long useful life are achieved with the bottom of the cover panel being made of manmade fibers. Unfortunately, a mop head of manmade fibers has no absorption capacity.
For these reasons, a mop head according to DE 32 26 947 A1 has proved to be particularly suitable for practice. The mop head has two regions differing in the form of their textile covering. The middle region of the lower surface of the cover panel contains loops of a blend of manmade fibers and cotton. They are intended to take up the dirty water and soil dissolved therein. In addition, an encircling textile border of strands with open yarn ends which also consist of a blend of manmade fibers and cotton is arranged around the edges of the mop head. The strands are intended to take up solid soil particles by the so-called figure-of-eight wiping process in which only one of the two longer sides of the rectangular mop head is always to the front. A further increase in cleaning performance and useful life and a reduction in manufacturing costs would be of advantage.
The production of a flat mop head of the type described in DE 32 26 947 A1 is complicated. The cover panel, which is cut to size, has to be edged with binding to stop the edges of the cover panel from fraying. The binding is woven from polyamide and polyester, i.e. solely from manmade fibers. An encircling textile border of loops or strands with open yam ends is additionally attached to the binding. The provision of insertion pockets on the upper surface and of loops or strands on the bottom of the cover panel completes the production of the mop head. The prefabrication and attachment of the encircling textile border of loops or strands are particularly complicated aspects of the production of the flat mop head.
Mop heads without an encircling textile border are also known. Thus, the flat mop head according to DE 93 01 615 U consists entirely of a relatively thick so-called microfiber cloth. The microfiber cloth cleans very effectively and, according to the data disclosed in this document (page 2, line 1), has an extremely high water absorption capacity. However, the high water absorption capacity mentioned is difficult to comprehend in the light of the standard definition--also employed in this application--of the term "microfiber" which characterizes "microfibers" by a fineness of less than 1 dtex. In other words, 10,000 m of fibers weigh less than 1 g. Fibers as fine as these can consist not only of natural materials, they may also be made of synthetic materials, for example polyester. In view of their extremely smooth fiber surface and their hydrophobic properties, microfibers are definitely not capable of absorbing and binding water. Accordingly, mop heads consisting entirely of microfibers are not suitable for wet cleaning.
Another disadvantage of the mop head known from DE 93 01 615 U is the large amount of very expensive microfiber material required.
Another flat mop head consisting of a microfiber cloth is known from DE 29 34 009 A1. It is not reusable and cannot be washed. The known cloth is intended for the dry cleaning of smooth hard surfaces, i.e. for removing dust. The microfiber cloth in question is at most 1 mm thick random laid nonwoven fabric of microfibers with differently embossed regions to improve the dust uptake capacity of the cloth and to ensure an adequate useful life. It is not suitable for the wet or moist cleaning of floors.
A reusable mop head for a holder of a floor mop known from EP 0 250 429 B1 consists of a cleaning-active bottom of different regions extending stripwise across its length. These regions are formed by cotton fibers partly crocheted into a cover panel consisting of crocheted synthetic fibers. Between the strips of cotton fibers, the bottom surface of the cover panel is bare. The cotton loops are limited in their cleaning performance and, because they are closed, have a smaller effective overall surface than open strands, for example, and hence a reduced spontaneous absorption capacity and a limited soil uptake capacity.
The wet cleaning head according to DE 91 06 415 U1 is also a mop head of a floor mop with different strip-like regions on the bottom of the cover panel. The bottom consists mainly of a cotton terry cloth interrupted by strips which run parallel to the longitudinal axis of the mop head and between which the bottom of the cover panel is bare. The bottom of the cover panel also consists of cotton. This wet mop head has only the moderate cleaning performance typical of cotton and is not abrasive towards obstinate soil.
Another mop head intended for mounting on a baseplate held on a handle is described in DE 28 27 909 C2. A longitudinal strip of an absorbent layer, for example a fleece or a sponge, extends substantially over the middle portion of the bottom surface. Adjoining strips of an abrasive random laid nonwoven, material for example of manmade fibers or metal filaments, are provided at the longitudinal edges. The three strips are sewn onto a cover panel. A disadvantage attending the production of this known mop head is that a binding has to be provided for the cutout cover panel consisting, for example, of a woven fabric and the strips of the random laid nonwoven material have to be subsequently sewn on. An improvement in the production process would lie in a reduction in the number of steps involved.


A service provider provides instances of computing resources for customer use, such as instances of data processing resources, data storage resources, database resources, and networking resources. A customer of the service provider might create a solution that utilizes one or more instances of computing resources provided by the service provider. The customer can request to transfer control and payment responsibility for computing resources, such as those utilized in a solution, to another customer of the distributed computing environment. In response to such a request, control and payment responsibility for the resources may be transferred to the receiving customer. The request to transfer resources might be received by way of a solution marketplace or through another mechanism.

Network-based distributed computing environments exist that allow customers to purchase and utilize computing resources, such as virtual machine instances, on a permanent or as-needed basis. In addition to virtual machine instances, these types of services typically allow customers to purchase and utilize other types of computing resources with virtual machine instances. For example, customers might be permitted to purchase access to and use of block data storage services, database services, networking resources, and other types of computing resources. Utilizing these computing resources as building blocks, customers of such a service can create custom "solutions" that provide various types of functionality, such as application hosting, backup and storage, content delivery, World Wide Web ("Web") hosting, enterprise information technology ("IT") solutions, database services, and others. Once a customer of such a network-based service has created a solution, however, it is not currently possible to transfer control and the responsibility to pay for computing resources that provide the solution to another customer of the service.
The disclosure made herein is presented with respect to these and other considerations.

Transferring ownership of computing resources


The methods and apparatus for transporting compressed gas includes a gas storage system having a plurality of pipes connected by a manifold whereby the gas storage system is designed to operate in the range of the optimum compressibility factor for a given composition of gas. The pipe for the gas storage system is preferably large diameter pipe made of a high strength material whereby a low temperature is selected which can be withstood by the material of the pipe. Knowing the compressibility factor of the gas, the temperature, and the diameter of the pipe, the wall thickness of the pipe is calculated for the pressure range of the gas at the selected temperature. The gas storage system may either be modular or be part of the structure of a vehicle for transporting the gas. The gas storage system further includes enclosing the pipes in an enclosure having a nitrogen atmosphere. A displacement fluid may be used to offload the gas from the gas storage system. A vehicle with the gas storage system designed for a particular composition gas produced at a given location is used to transport gas from that producing location to a receiving station miles from the producing location.

This invention relates to the storage and transportation of compressed gases. In particular, the present invention includes methods and apparatus for storing and transporting compressed gas, methods and apparatus for construction of gas storage systems, land vehicles for transporting the compressed gas and storage components for the gas, methods for loading and unloading the gas from those systems, and methods for utilizing gas storage systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a compressed natural gas storage system specifically optimized and configured to a gas of a particular composition.
The need for transportation and storage of gas has increased as gas resources have been established around the globe. Traditionally, only a few methods have proved viable in transporting and storing gas in large quantities. One transportation method is to build a pipeline and "pipe" the gas directly to a desired location. A typical storage method is to simply build large pressure vessels or storage tanks to store the gas at ambient conditions or at a slightly pressurized condition. As an alternative to large pressure vessels pipeline loops have also been constructed to store a quantity of gas at pipeline conditions.
Due to the limitations of ambient, or near-ambient, storage and transportation methods, other methods have emerged. The most readily apparent problem with gas storage and transportation is that in the gas phase, even below ambient temperature, a small amount of gas occupies a large amount of space. Storing material at that volume is often not economically feasible. The answer lies in reducing the space that the gas occupies. Initially, it would seem intuitive that condensing the gas to a liquid is the most logical solution. A typical natural gas (approximately 90% CH4), can be reduced to 1/600th of its gaseous volume when it is compressed to a liquid. Gaseous hydrocarbons that are in the liquid state are known in the art as liquefied natural gas, more commonly known as LNG.
As indicated by the name, LNG involves liquefaction of the natural gas and normally includes transportation and storage of the natural gas in the liquid phase. Although liquefaction would seem a solution to the storage and transportation problems, the drawbacks quickly become apparent. First, in order to liquefy natural gas, it must be cooled to approximately −260° F., at atmospheric pressure, before it will liquefy. Second, LNG tends to warm during long term storage and transport and therefore will not stay at that low temperature so as to remain in the liquefied state. Cryogenic methods must be used in order to keep the LNG at the proper temperature during transport. Thus, the cargo containment systems used to transport LNG must be truly cryogenic. Third, the LNG must be re-gasified at its destination before it can be used.
Cryogenic process requires a large initial cost for LNG facilities at both the loading and unloading ports. The containment systems and storage vessels require exotic metals to hold LNG at −260° F. Liquefied natural gas can also be stored at higher temperatures than −260° F. by raising the pressure but, unless temperatures are kept relatively low, the efficiency of the storage system will quickly deteriorate. Therefore, although the storage temperature may be above −260° F., cryogenic problems still remain and the containment systems now must be pressure vessels. This may not be an economical alternative.
In response to the technical problems of ambient condition storage and transportation and the extreme costs and temperatures of LNG, the method of transporting natural gas in a compressed state was developed. The natural gas is compressed or pressurized to higher pressures, which may be chilled to lower than ambient temperatures, but without reaching the liquid phase. This is what is commonly referred to as compressed natural gas, or CNG.
Several methods have been proposed that are related to the storage and transportation of compressed gases, such as natural gas, in pressurized vessels by overland carriers. The gas is typically transported and stored at high pressure and low temperature to maximize the amount of gas contained in each gas storage system. For example, the compressed gas may be in a dense single-fluid ("supercritical") state, that is characterized by the presence of a very dense gas but with no liquids.
The transportation of CNG by overland vehicles typically employs trucks or trains. The vehicles include gas storage containers, such as metal pressure bottle containers. These storage containers are resistant internally to the high pressure and low temperature conditions under which the CNG is stored. The containers must be internally insulated throughout to keep the CNG and its storage containers at approximately the loading temperature throughout the travel and delivery of the gas and also to keep the substantially empty containers near that temperature during the return trip.
Before the CNG is transported, it is first brought to the desired operating state, normally by compressing the gas to a high pressure and cooling it to a low temperature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,232,725, hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, discloses the preparation of natural gas to conditions suitable for large volume marine transportation. After compression and cooling, the CNG is loaded into the storage containers of the storage systems. The CNG is then transported to its destination.
When reaching its destination, the CNG is unloaded, typically at a terminal comprising a number of high pressure storage containers or an inlet to a high pressure turbine. If the terminal is at a pressure of, for example, 1000 pounds per square inch ("psi") and the storage containers are at 2000 psi, valves may be opened and the gas expanded into the terminal until the pressure in the storage containers drops to some final pressure between 2000 psi and 1000 psi. If the volume of the terminal is very much larger than the combined volume of all the storage containers together, the final pressure will be about 1000 psi.
Using conventional procedures, the transported CNG remaining in the storage containers (the "residual gas") is then compressed into the terminal storage container using compressors. Compressors are expensive and increase the capital cost of the unloading facilities. Additionally, the temperature of the residual gas is increased by the heat of compression. The higher temperature increases the required storage volume unless the heat is removed, or excess gas removed, and raises the overall cost of transporting the CNG.
Previous efforts to reduce the expense and complexity of unloading CNG, and the residual gas in particular, have introduced problems of their own. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,972,873, hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, discloses heating the residual gas to increase its pressure, thereby driving it out of the vehicle storage containers. Such a scheme simply replaces the additional operating cost associated with operating the compressors with an operating cost for supplying heat to the storage containers and residual gas. Further, the design of the piping and valve arrangements for such a system is necessarily extremely complex because the system must accommodate the introduction of heating devices or heating elements into the storage containers.
In summary, although CNG transportation and storage reduces the capital costs associated with LNG, the costs are still high due to a lack of efficiency by the methods and apparatus used. This is due primarily to the fact that prior art methods do not optimize the vessels and facilities for a particular gas composition. In particular, prior art apparatus and methods are not designed based upon a specific composition of gas to determine the optimum storage conditions for that particular gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,088 discloses the use of pipe for compressed gas storage on an open barge. The storage components are strictly confined to be on or above the deck of the ship. Compressors are used to load and off load the compressed gas. However, there is no consideration of a pipe design factor and no attempt is made to utilize the maximum compressibility factor for the gas.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,232,725 does not contemplate a specific compressibility factor to determine the appropriate pressure for the gas. Instead, the '725 patent discloses a broad range or band to get greater compressibility. However, to do that, the gas container wall thickness will be much greater than is necessary. This would be particularly true when operated at a lower pressure causing the pipe to be over designed (unnecessarily thick). The '725 patent shows a phase diagram for a mixture of methane and other hydrocarbons. The diagram shows an envelop inside which the mixture exists as both a liquid and a gas. At pressures above this envelop the mixture exists as a single phase, known as the dense phase or critical state. If the gas is pressured up within that state, liquids will not fall out of the gas. Also, good compression ratios are achieved in that range. Thus, the '725 patent recommends operation in that range. The '725 patent does not pick a particular gas composition to match a particular gas reservoir.
The '725 patent graph is based on the lowering of temperatures. However, the '725 patent does not design its method and apparatus by optimizing the compressibility factor at a certain temperature and pressure and then calculating the wall thickness for the storage container needed for a certain gas. Since much of the capital cost comes from the large amount of metal, or other material, required for the pipe storage components, the '725 misses the mark. The range offered in the '725 patent is very broad and is designed to cover more than one particular gas mixture, i.e., gas mixtures with different compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,446,232 discloses offloading using a displacing fluid. The '232 patent does not consider low temperature fluids. It also does not consider onshore storage and thermal shock. The '332 patent carries the displacement fluid on the vessel which is used to displace sequential tanks. No mention is made of low temperature requirements.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,429,268 discloses the storage of compressed natural gas in pipes, which may be stationary or mobile as required. The pipes are supported in a vessel cradle having semi-circular concave portions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,712 discloses a system for handling, storing, transporting, and dispensing cryogenic fluids, liquid natural gas, and compressed natural gas. The system includes a container in a frame disposed on a flat car. The gas may be injected into the engine's combustion chamber.
Another problem in the energy industry relates to gas storage and occurs during "peak shaving." Energy consumption by consumers is not constant over time and there are periods when there is a greater demand for energy than other periods, particularly during the work day when energy consumption is higher due to industry and business operations and particularly when the temperature during the day is at its highest requiring additional energy due to the widespread operation of air conditioning. Peak shaving occurs when a power company encounters a time period when there is a peak demand for energy or power. That spike in energy consumption is met by consuming additional gas to generate the additional energy to meet that spike demand. Presently, power companies pay for a steady delivery of gas throughout the day at a volume which will meet peak shaving even though such gas volume is not required throughout the day. Thus power companies pay for this excess capacity without regard to peak periods of demand which is expensive. For example power companies pay the pipeline companies for this peak capacity throughout the whole heating season. It would be an advantage if the power companies could draw upon a reserve of gas during peak shaving to avoid paying for excess capacity of gas to produce additional energy during peak demand periods.
Another concern associated with natural gas relates to the development and testing of new oil and gas wells, particularly off-shore wells. Gas is typically produced during a test of the new well. Presently when conducting an extended well test on a new offshore well, a production package is disposed on the off-shore rig to separate the oil from the gas being produced. Although the government has a policy of not allowing the flaring of gas, the government has been allowing the gas produced by the hew well to be flared into the atmosphere. Of course, it is not cost effective to run a pipeline to the rig for the gas until the well has been tested to ensure enough gas is being produced to warrant a pipeline. An alternative to flaring the gas is needed.
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art by providing a method for optimizing a storage container for compressed gas and a method for loading and unloading the gas.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and apparatus for compressed gas


To provide a method of controlling a conductivity of a Ga2O3 system single crystal with which a conductive property of a β-Ga2O3 system single crystal can be efficiently controlled.

A light emitting element in an ultraviolet region is greatly expected especially in realization of a mercury free fluorescent lamp, a photo catalyst providing a clean environment, a DVD of the new generation realizing higher density recording, and the like. From such a background, a GaN blue light emitting element is realized (for example, refer to a patent document 1).
The patent document 1 describes a light emitting element including a sapphire substrate, a buffer layer formed on the sapphire substrate, an n-type cladding layer formed of an n-type gallium nitride compound semiconductor layer and formed on the buffer layer, a non-doped active layer, a p-type cladding layer formed of a p-type gallium nitride compound semiconductor layer, and a p-type contact layer having a high carrier concentration. This conventional GaN blue light emitting element emits a light having an emission wavelength of 370 nm.
Patent document 1: Japanese Patent No. 2778405 (FIG. 1)

Method for controlling conductivity of Ga

Abstract: The light emitting element includes an n-type β-Ga2O3 substrate, and an n-type β-AlGaO3 cladding layer, an active layer, a p-type β-AlGaO3 cladding layer and a p-type β-Ga2O3 contact layer which are formed in order on the n-type β-Ga2O3 substrate. A resistivity is controlled to fall within the range of 2.0×10−3 to 8×102 Ωcm and a carrier concentration is controlled to fall within the range of 5.5×1015 to 2.0×1019/cm3 by changing a Si concentration within the range of 1×10−5 to 1 mol %.


A system configured to generate a macro-fingerprint from at least one predefined set of summaries is provided. The system includes data storage storing a first predefined set of summaries associated with a first region of data, each member of the first predefined set of summaries characterizing data within the first region of data; and at least one processor coupled to the data storage and configured to: read the first predefined set of summaries; select at least one first member from the first predefined set of summaries based on a value of the at least one first member; and store the at least one first member within a first macro-fingerprint. The first region of data may have a first size indicative of a quantity of data included in the first region of data. The macro fingerprints are created from previously created smaller (micro) fingerprints without having to reread the data.

1. Technical Field
Aspects and embodiments relate to data storage, and more particularly to apparatus and methods for providing data driven de-duplication services.
2. Discussion
Given the costs associated with conventional tape libraries and other sorts of back-up storage media, storage system vendors often incorporate de-duplication processes into their product offerings to decrease the amount of required back-up media. De-duplication is a process of identifying repeating sequences of data and preventing or removing redundant storage of the repeating sequences of data. De-duplication is typically implemented as a function of a target device, such as a back-up storage device. The act of identifying redundant data within back-up data streams is complex, and in the current state-of-the-art, is conventionally solved using either hash fingerprinting or pattern recognition.
In hash fingerprinting, the incoming data stream first undergoes an alignment process (which attempts to predict good "breakpoints," also known as edges, in the data stream that will provide the highest probability of subsequent matches) and then is subject to a hashing process (usually SHA-1 or SHA-2 in the current state-of-the-art). The data stream is broken into chunks (usually about 8 kilobytes-12 kilobytes in size) by the hashing process; each chunk is assigned its resultant hash value. This hash value is compared against a memory-resident table. If the hash entry is found, the data is assumed to be redundant and replaced with a pointer to the existing block of data already stored in a disk storage system; the location of the existing data is given in the table. If the hash entry is not found, the data is stored in a disk storage system and its location recorded in the memory-resident table along with its hash. Some examples that illustrate this mechanism can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,065,619 assigned to Data Domain and U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,810 assigned to Quantum Corporation. Hash fingerprinting is typically executed in-line, that is, data is processed in real-time prior to being written to disk.
According to pattern recognition, the incoming data stream is first "chunked" or segmented into relatively large data blocks (on the order of about 32 MB). The data is then processed by a simple rolling hash method whereby a list of hash values is assembled. A transformation is made on the hash values where a resulting small list of values represents a data block "fingerprint." A search is then made on a table of hashes to look for at least a certain number of fingerprint hashes to be found in any other given stored block. If a minimum number of matches is not met, then the block is considered unique and stored directly to disk. The corresponding fingerprint hashes are added to a memory-resident table. Should the minimum number of matches be met, then there is a probability that the current data block matches a previously-stored data block. In this case, the block of disk storage associated with a matching fingerprint is read into memory and compared byte-for-byte against the candidate block that had been hashed. If the full sequence of data is equal, then the data block is replaced by a pointer to the physically addressed block of storage. If the full block does not match, then a mechanism that detects changed portions within the block is employed to determine a minimal data set within the block that needs be stored. The result is a combination of unique data plus references to a closely-matching block of previously-stored data. An example that illustrates this mechanism can be found in U.S. Patent Application US2006/0059207 assigned to Diligent Corporation. As with hash fingerprinting above, pattern recognition is typically executed in-line.

System and method for multi-scale navigation of data


The present invention increases output throughput and enhances user-friendliness by subjecting image data to magnification processing by an optimal image processing means, with an optimal magnification ratio, in accordance with a service provided to a user. When a service provided to the user is selected and a magnification ratio is set, a CPU of a MFP determines the distribution of respective magnification ratios of a first image data processor and a second image data processor. For instance, when the selected service is a “service relating to the output of image data” the distribution of respective magnification ratios is determined so that magnification processing with the set magnification ratio is carried out in the first image data processor. When the selected service is “a plurality of services relating to the output of image data”, and the set magnification ratios are all identical for each service, the distribution of respective magnification ratios is determined so that magnification processing with the respective magnification ratios is carried out in the first image data processor. When the set magnification ratios are different for each service, the distribution of respective magnification ratios is determined so that magnification processing with the respective magnification ratios is carried out in the second image data processor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus such as an image forming apparatus (digital multifunction machine, digital copier, fax machine, printer or the like), an image reading device (scanner or the like), or a personal computer (hereinafter, PC for short), to a magnification ratio distribution determination method in the image processing apparatus, to a program executed in a computer (CPU) controlling the image processing apparatus, and to a computer-readable recording medium in which the program is recorded.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years there have been proposed image processing apparatuses, for instance as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-269379, in which magnification ratio (resolution) can be set, through operation of an operative unit by a user, during transmission of image data stored in a memory device to an external device such as a PC or the like.
There have also been proposed image processing apparatuses, for instance as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-67018, in which, with a view to preventing miscopy and/or enhancing user-friendliness, a size to be printed is preset in accordance with the size of a document, so that a document image is printed scaled to a printing size that is set based on the size of the document actually read, and in which, through a simple operation of document insertion by the user, the read image data is aggregated and printed with a magnification ratio according to the printing size after magnification and according to the size of the read-document.
Although the apparatus in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-269379 comprises magnification processing means that can use magnification processing of image data stored in a memory device, magnification ratio is not optimally determined therein taking into account output (printing or transmission) throughput (processing speed) and reusability, for each service provided to a user, during storage of image data in the memory device.
Also, although the apparatus in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-67018 succeeds in enhancing user-friendliness by resorting to some magnification processing schemes, magnification ratio is not optimally determined therein taking into account output throughput and reusability, for each service provided to a user, during storage of image data in the memory device.

Image processing apparatus, magnification ratio distribution determination method, program, and recording medium


The present invention relates to a crystalline Form M of trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide solvate. Comparing with the prior art, Form M is a more stable crystalline form with better particle size distribution and good flowability and is non-hygroscopic. Therefore, it is more suitable for formulation. The present invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions thereof, methods of making and using thereof. Trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide solvate has a structure as shown below:

Trametinib, also known as GSK1120212, GSK212 or JTP74057, is conventionally named: N-{3-[3-cyclopropyl-5-(2-fluoro-4-iodo-phenylamino)-3,4,6,7-tetrahydro-6,8-dimethyl-2,4,7-trioxo-pyrido[4,3-d]pyrimidin-1(2H)-yl]phenyl}acetamide. The formula of this compound is as the following:

Trametinib, developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), is a new targeted drug for the treatment of melanoma. It is a powerful and selective MEK1/MEK2 inhibitor which can effectively prevent cancer cell proliferating and can induce cell apoptosis, and increase the life of patients. Phase III clinical trials show that the therapeutic effect of trametinib is significantly better than traditional chemotherapy drugs for treatment of advanced melanoma with BRAF V600E/K mutations and for treatment of BRAF V600E or V600K mutation-positive metastatic cutaneous melanoma. In addition, studies on therapeutic effect of Trametinib in combination with other cancer drugs is on the way and show very encouraging results. The dosage form of Trametinib include oral coating tablets, in which trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide solvate is the active ingredient (also known as GSK 1120212B). Each tablet contains 0.5 mg, 1 mg or 2 mg of Trametinib. The standard target content of dimethyl sulfoxide in Trametinib tablets is approximately 11.3 wt %(theoretical value), and the lower dimethyl sulfoxide content is approximately 9.5 wt %. Trametinib is also available in oral liquid dosage form.
Trametinib and its preparation methods were described in patent document WO2005121142A1 which discloses its 1H-NMR data. Also, WO2005121142A1 published trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide solvate. Although an example in WO2005121142A1 describes that trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide solvate can be obtained by conventional methods, neither detailed methods of the preparation, nor the stoichiometry of the trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide solvate, nor its characterization data were given except the 1H-NMR data.
The present inventors have found that trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide solvate can be obtained using the conventional methods in the field. However, the trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide solvate obtained by the conventional methods is not stable and is easy to transform its crystalline form. For example, the XRPD of the trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide solvate obtained by the conventional methods, when stored at a degree of 44% RH (relative humidity) under room temperature for a period of time (e.g., 9 months), its patterns changed, showing a form change in the solvate.
Therefore, in order to meet the strict requirements for crystalline forms of active ingredients in different pharmaceutical dosage forms, there is a need for the development of a more stable trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide solvate.

Solvate form M of trametinib dimethyl sulfoxide and methods of making and using thereof

Hangzhou Pushai Pharmaceutical Technology Co. Ltd.


Systems, methods, and programs of producing and using traffic signal information take, when a vehicle is closely approaching a traffic signal, an image of traffic signal lamps disposed on the traffic signal. The systems, methods, and programs produce image data of the traffic signal lamps, based on the taken image and analyze the image data. The systems, methods, and programs produce traffic signal state information, the traffic signal state information including a state of the traffic signal as of the time of taking the image of the traffic signal lamps. The systems, methods, and programs store traffic signal information, the traffic signal information including the produced traffic signal state information, traffic signal location information, and time information in a memory.

1. Related Technical Fields
Related technical fields include methods of producing traffic signal information, a method of providing traffic signal information, and navigation apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional navigation apparatus search for a route from a current position to destination and display a detected route. Conventional navigation apparatus include map data, including road information and signal location information, stored on an external storage medium such as a hard disk or an optical disk. The conventional navigation apparatus display, on a display, a map indicating locations such as intersections where traffic signals are disposed. However, the navigation apparatus does not provide information associated with the status of the traffic signals.
An in-vehicle camera system has been proposed to take an image of a signal using an in-vehicle camera (as disclosed, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-306498). In this system, an image of a signal is compared with color information stored in a storage unit to identify the current color of the signal, and the various characteristic of the vehicle, such as the vehicle speed, is controlled based on the comparison.

Method of producing traffic signal information, method of providing traffic signal information, and navigation apparatus


A low voltage analog switch having low leakage off-current and including a first transmission gate having a first N-channel transistor and a first P-channel transistor, each first and second transistor having respective drain and source terminals coupled together to form switch drain and source terminals, and a second transmission gate having a second N-channel transistor coupled in series to a second P-channel transistor coupled in series to a third N-channel transistor, the second transmission gate being coupled in parallel to the first transmission gate, the gates of the second and third N-channel transistors being coupled to the gate of the first N-channel transistor and a gate of the second P-channel transistor being coupled to the gate of the first P-channel transistor. In another embodiment, the second transmission gate includes a second P-channel transistor coupled in series to a second N-channel transistor coupled in series to a third P-channel transistor, the second transmission gate being coupled in parallel to the first transmission gate, the gates of the second and third P-channel transistors being coupled to the gate of the first P-channel transistor and a gate of the second N-channel transistor being coupled to the gate of the first N-channel transistor.

The present disclosure relates to CMOS analog switches and more particularly to a low voltage, low leakage CMOS analog switch employing low threshold devices.
Battery-powered operation and low voltage digital circuits have motivated the design of low voltage analog circuits. Analog integrated circuits are generally implemented using switched-capacitor techniques employing transmission gate switches. The ability of transmission gates to conduct reliably in the rail-to-rail range imposes a lower limit upon low voltage operation. The disclosed embodiments of a new transmission gate overcome this limitation and allow for operation with voltages as low as 1V.
A conventional CMOS transmission gate consists of an N-channel and a P-channel enhancement MOSFET connected in parallel. The respective drains and sources of the two transistors are tied together to become the switch terminals while the gates of the two transistors are usually driven to the power supply rails such that they are of complementary polarity. When the gate of the N-channel MOSFET is driven to the positive rail and the gate of the P-channel MOSFET is driven to the negative rail, the switch is on. When the gate of the N-channel MOSFET is driven to the negative rail and the gate of P-channel MOSFET is driven to the positive rail, the switch is turned off.
The xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d resistance of the transmission gate is a function of the device sizes, supply voltage, signal voltage and the threshold voltages of the MOSFETs. For the switch to have a finite xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d resistance over the entire range of the signal voltage, the sum of the magnitudes of the threshold voltages of the N-channel MOSFET and the P-channel MOSFET, VTN+|VTP|, must be less than or equal to the supply voltage. For low voltage operation ( less than 1.5V), VTN+|VTP| is therefore constrained to be less than 1.5V over process and temperature variations. However, reducing the threshold voltages of the devices results in the exponential increase of the sub-threshold leakage when the transmission gate is turned off.
In order to ensure that sub-threshold leakage is negligible, it is necessary to keep VTN greater than 0.5V and VTP less than xe2x88x920.5V over all process comers and temperatures. Given the typical process variations, these constraints are very difficult to achieve without unacceptable yield loss. It is generally not possible to satisfy both constraints simultaneously because the imposed limits are very tight over process variations and temperature. Moreover, for a 1.2V supply voltage, it is impossible to satisfy both threshold voltage constraints simultaneously.
Prior art solutions to this problem generally comprise increasing the gate voltage (i.e., clock multiplication) or reducing the leakage off-current. As disclosed in Bazarjani et al., xe2x80x9cLow voltage SC Circuit Design with Low-Vt MOSFETsxe2x80x9d, known methods of reducing the leakage off-current include limiting the signal swing, adjusting VT by back bias, providing a series transmission gate switch and a parallel/series transmission gate. In particular, Bazarjani et al. disclose a parallel transmission gate using high VT MOSFETs along with a series transmission gate switch using low VT MOSFETs. The disclosed transmission gate does not however reduce leakage off-current in the case where the signal is close to or equal to the negative supply rail.
There therefore exists a need for an analog switch capable of low voltage operation which substantially reduces leakage off-current over the entire signal range.
A parallel/series transmission gate using high VT MOSFETs in the parallel transmission gate and low VT MOSFETs in the series transmission gate is useful for general purpose signal routing. The series transmission gate includes either a P-channel MOSFET, N-channel MOSFET, P-channel MOSFET series configuration or an N-channel MOSFET, P-channel MOSFET, N-channel MOSFET series configuration. The disclosed embodiments substantially reduce leakage off-current. For low threshold voltage N-channel MOSFETs having VTNxe2x80x2=VTNxe2x88x92xcex94VTN and low threshold voltage P-channel MOSFETs having |VTPxe2x80x2|=|VTP|xe2x88x92xcex94VTP, the minimum required supply voltage for the xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d condition is reduced by the lower of (xcex94VTN, xcex94VTP). Additionally, the leakage current of the series transmission gate is less than or equal to the leakage current of the parallel transmission gate for the same device geometries as long as the supply voltage is greater than xcex94VTN+xcex94VTP. To provide for both finite xe2x80x9conxe2x80x9d resistance and low leakage current, both of the above constraints are satisfied and the resulting supply voltage is the lower of xcex94VTN+xcex94VTP and the minimum supply voltage reduced by the lower of (xcex94VTN, xcex94VTP).


A system, method and apparatus for dynamic power management including creating a model for each task of multiple tasks performed by a circuit, the model including a corresponding power requirement value for each task, selecting each task for execution, executing the selected task when the corresponding power requirement value does not exceed an average power consumption cap of an execution window, determining an actual power consumption of the selected task during execution of the selected task and storing the actual power consumption corresponding to the selected task as the corresponding power requirement value for the selected task. A memory system can include a memory die, a data bus coupled to the memory die, a power supply coupled to the memory die, a power monitor coupled to the memory die and the power supply and a controller coupled to the data bus and the memory die.

The present invention relates generally to circuit power management schemes, and more particularly, to methods, systems and apparatus for managing power consumption in memory circuits.
Prior art circuit power management schemes for flash memory circuits model a power consumption of each flash task that the flash memory circuit may be expected to execute. The power consumption model of each flash task is defined by a worst-case value observed in worst case environmental context (e.g., temperature, data pattern, user scenario, circuit component aging, etc.) of each of those tasks on a selected number of samples.
As each flash task appears in the pipeline, the flash tasks are delayed or executed based upon the worst-case scenario modeled power consumption such that an average power cap in a sliding execution window (e.g., a 16 millisecond sliding execution window) is not exceeded. All currently running tasks are summed to evaluate an average consumption, typically, the actual power consumption values are significantly lower than worst case power consumption values that are used for average calculation.
The prior art power consumption model of each flash task is static, meaning that once the model is defined, sometime during the manufacturing process, the model remains the same throughout the life of the memory device. Unfortunately many different dynamic execution conditions can occur that can change the actual power consumption of a given task. By way of example, an operating temperature, an age, a task execution order, a task execution rate demand, etc., can cause the actual power consumption being greater or lower than the static model that was created when the device was manufactured.
As a result, the prior art power consumption model of each flash task always forces the performance of each flash task to be artificially degraded to account for worst-case scenario, even when the worst-case scenario does not occur. Thus the performance of the memory device is often degraded excessively and unnecessarily. Further, the static, prior art power consumption model that was created when the device is manufactured cannot and does not account for possible dynamic changes and thus may not even limit the power consumption to less than the power cap. Further still, the static, prior art power consumption model is an open loop type system because there is no feedback.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a dynamic power consumption model of each task that accurately and dynamically reflects the actual execution conditions so as to more efficiently operate the memory circuit.

System, method and apparatus for handling power limit restrictions in flash memory devices


A device for treating fractures of the odontoid apophysis of the second cervical vertebra (axis) by containing the osseous fragments. The device includes a plate shaped to be placed on the caudal fragment of the axis and serves as a support for the head of a screw. The plate additionally contains a barrel for guiding the screw which is threaded into the cranial fragment of the odontoid apophysis of the axis. The plate has a forked part extending on the caudal side of the axis and which part is attached to the anterior surface of the body of the third cervical vertebra. The invention prevents the head of the screw from penetrating into the caudal fragment of the axis and the self-tapping screw from brushing the fragile caudal fragment before forming a positive hold in the cortical cranial fragment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the treatment of fractures of the odontoid apophysis of the axis, or second cervical vertebra C2, and in particular, to means of containment after reduction of the osseous fragments to be fused.
Specifically, the invention relates to a plate of a shape intended to be fixed onto the third cervical vertebra C3, serving to support a screw threaded into the axis C2 to assure interfragmentary compression there in order to provide solidarity for the osseous fragments.
The odontoid apophysis or dens of the axis C2 is the essential mechanical organ for articulation of the atlas, or first cervical vertebra C1, which supports the occipital bone. It is particularly around this vertebra that all the movements of head rotation are produced. Because of this functional requirement and its corresponding shape, the odontoid apophysis is a zone of convergence of accidental forces which affect the cervical column and is therefore a zone particularly subject to fracture, with the fracture assuming a perfectly characteristic form. These fractures have been difficult to treat in a sufficiently reliable manner.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
In the case of stable fractures, the osseous fragments can be immobilized by bringing the fragments together using a conventional external apparatus such as a compression brace. This brace however can only be used for stable fractures, where the separated fragments do not have the tendency of separating after reduction, or where there is neither anterior nor posterior displacement of the atlas C1.
In the case of unstable fractures, it is therefore necessary to use surgical techniques. These are relatively numerous, but all those currently known have major inherent insufficiencies or disadvantages. The techniques can be classified into three groups:
In mixed extra-articular arthrodesis by the posterior cervical route, the atlas C1 and the axis C2 are brought together with a metal band or a non-resorbable suture by their posterior cervical arcs. A graft is added in situ, in order to assure joining by the biological fusion of the two vertebral posterior arcs in case of rupture of the osteosynthesis suture. Under these conditions, if consolidation of the fractured odontoid apophysis does not occur, a graft is placed on the posterior arcs of C1 and C2. This combination of a band and a graft is very reliable, but the bonding of the arcs noticeably constrains head rotation. In addition, it is not practicable to allow this disabling technique to exist. While a simple band without a graft eliminates this defect, it remains too hazardous to maintain due to the possibility that the band suture may rupture.
In direct osteosynthesis by the transbuccal route, the surgeon, passing through the buccal cavity, makes an incision in the pharynx behind the base of the tongue. He then intervenes directly on the fractured odontoid apophysis onto which a consolidation plate is screwed. This technique is relatively simple and logical, but passing through the oropharynx can create serious septic complications.
In osteosynthesis by the anterior presterno-mastoid route, the odontoid apophysis is accessed first by the cervical route at the level of the anterior face of the neck, passing in front of the sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle. This technique, recommended by J. BOEHLER, carries out interfragmentary compression of the dens (odontoid apophysis) with screws, and is performed under radioscopic display with a brightness amplification. One or more screws are used, which can perforate the cranial extremity (located at the side of the cranium) of the dens. This method of operation is frequently used by doctors because it does not have the disadvantages of the other two methods discussed above. It is, however, encumbered with mechanical imperfections in its current state of development, which hinder its usefulness.

Screw-on plate for treatment of fractures of the odontoid apophysis


Particular embodiments provide a watch list of shows to users. The watch list is personalized for each user. Also, the watch list is dynamically organized to predict an order the user will want to watch the shows. Particular embodiments analyze historical user behavior with respect to the timing for recurring releases of the episodes for shows to determine the order of the shows in the watch list. The watch list is organized in a way that a user may select a “watch all” button where unseen episodes for the shows in the watch list are all played to the user in an order that is predicted to be the order in which the user would want to watch the shows. Providing the watch all button makes it important to predict the order of the shows accurately.

Users have a variety of options to watch videos. For example, users can watch videos through a traditional cable television system. In this case, the television shows are released on a set broadcast schedule. A user can watch the television show when it airs. Users may also have various options to save shows to watch at later times. For example, a digital video recorder (DVR) may be set to record television shows when they are broadcast by the cable television system. The DVR may provide a list of the recorded television shows that are ordered by time. For example, the list orders the most recently recorded television shows on the top of the list.
Also, using on demand or streaming services, a user may select any video that is offered by the streaming service at any time. For the on-demand service, users may save videos into a queue. Similar to the DVR list, the queue may list the most-recently-saved videos first.
Other lists may also attempt to automatically populate a list of videos. For example, videos most recently watched by a user in the on-demand service may be added to a list. However, in all of the above situations, these lists are generally static. For example, the on-demand list does not change except when a user affirmatively changes the list or when a new video is added.

Personalized generation of watch list of shows in a video delivery system


Edible W/O emulsion spread comprising a continuous fat phase which contains a natural structuring hardstock fat, which hardstock fat contains at least 45 wt. % of SOS triglyceride (S is C18-C24 fatty acid residue and 0 is an oleic acid residue). A fat with such composition may be isolated from plants belonging to the genus Allanblackia or the genus Pentadesma.

Butter is an edible emulsion spread consisting of a continuous fat phase and an aqueous phase which is dispersed as fine droplets in the fat phase. The fat phase consists of dairy fat, a 100% natural fat. Margarine too is a fat continuous emulsion, but margarine fat is not natural, but has been processed in order to give margarine properties desired for a spread. The fat phase of margarine and of similar fat continuous emulsion spreads is a mixture of a fat which is fully liquid (the oil part of the fat phase) and a fat which is solid at ambient temperature.
The solid fat, denoted as hardstock fat, serves to structure the fat phase and helps to stabilize the emulsion. For imparting to common margarine a semi-solid, plastic, spreadable consistency this stabilizing and structuring functionality plays an important role. The crystals of the solid fat form a network throughout the liquid oil resulting into a structured fat phase. The aqueous phase droplets are fixed within the spaces of the lattice of solid fat crystals. In this way coalescence of the droplets and separation of the heavier aqueous phase from the fat phase is prevented.
The technology of spread processing is well established. The type of fat and the ratio of liquid oil and solid fat are chosen such that after proper processing of the fat blend with an aqueous phase a plastic product with a suitable consistency and mouthfeel is obtained.
Vegetable oils are the usual source for preparing margarine fats. Vegetable fats are preferred over animal fats because their unsaturated fat composition enhances the spread's nutritional value. Besides that, vegetable fats are an abundant and relatively cheap resource. However, natural, non-processed vegetable fats which are suited as hardstock fat are rather rare.
Fractionation, hydrogenating and interesterification are the normally used treatments for turning liquid vegetable oils into suitable hardstock fats.
The present trend in food processing is to avoid processing, particularly chemical processing as much as possible and to opt for natural ingredients and natural processing. Natural means that the ingredients have a natural origin and after harvesting have been subjected to no other treatment than a refining or purification treatment and to no modification treatment whatsoever. This trend strongly appeals to present consumer appreciation. It also may contribute to the economy of the production process.
Generally, fats with a high content of HUH triglycerides show good structuring properties. H denotes a C16–C24 saturated fatty acid residue, such as palmitic acid (C16) or stearic acid (C18) and U denotes an unsaturated C18 fatty acid residue, such as oleic acid (C18:1) or linoleic acid (C18:2).
Cocoa butter is the only unprocessed fat which contains a high amount of HUH triglycerides and which has been used for margarine production. However, use of cocoa butter as hardstock fat for spread preparation entails serious disadvantages. Cocoa butter has a natural high content of palmitic acid. Palmitic acid has a well established negative effect on blood cholesterol level. Food containing a high palmitic acid content may contribute to increased incidence of cardiovascular disease. Further cocoa butter in its main application, chocolate manufacture, suffers from severe re-crystallisation phenomena, which is known as fat blooming. Similar defects are feared in spread preparation which would easily spoil the product's consistency.
Finally, cocoa butter is generally too expensive to serve as hardstock fat in margarine manufacture.
Shea fat, also having a high content of HUH triglycerides, ail needs to be fractionated before use, because it contains up to 10 wt. % of non-saponifiable matter. The stearin contains 73 wt. % of HUH where nearly all H are stearic acid residues and nearly all U are oleic acid residues. The high costs of fractionation are prohibitive for the commercial use of shea stearin in spread manufacture. Natural, non-processed hardstock fats with a high content of HUH in which H mainly is a stearic acid residue are still much sought ingredients for the manufacture of emulsion spreads with a wholly natural fat phase. The present invention satisfies the need of a natural non-processed hardstock fat with such triglyceride content.

Edible spread containing a natural fat phase


A memory interface device for facilitating electrical communication between distributed memory and a plurality of processors has a memory interface circuit configured to interface the memory interface device to at least one random access memory, an address generator circuit configured to generate addresses for data stored within the random access memories and a processor interface circuit configured to interface the memory interface device to a plurality of processors. Interfacing the memory interface device to both the random access memories and the plurality of processors facilitates simultaneous non-interruptible access by all of the processors to data stored in the random access memories.

The use of shared memories for multiple processors, e.g., CPU's or processors, is well known in high-speed, parallel processor computing systems. The use of such shared memory facilitates parallel processing with each CPU or processor having access to a common memory so as to expedite various CPU or processor intensive computer functions such as Fourier analysis, digital filtering algorithms, machine vision and three-dimensional graphics. The use of such a contemporary shared memory allows each CPU or processor to access those memory elements required for the CPU or processor to carry out its program instructions and data manipulations.
Such shared memories may also be configured as distributed memories, wherein the data stored therein is divided among a plurality of memory banks, so as to enable parallel access thereto and also so as to provide a fail-safe structure for the memory device. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, by distributing the data across multiple memory banks, the data may be accessed more rapidly. That is, more of the data may be simultaneously accessed by a particular CPU or processor.
A fail-safe structure for the memory device is provided since only a portion of the data is stored upon any particular parallel memory. Failure of a particular parallel memory thus results in the loss of only a portion of the data, which may typically be recovered utilizing contemporary error detection and correction methodology.
Although such contemporary shared memories have proven generally suitable for their intended purposes, they possess inherent deficiencies which detract from their overall performance. Most important among these inherent deficiencies is the inability of such contemporary shared memories to provide simultaneous access of a plurality of CPU's or processors to the data stored therein. According to contemporary methodology, when one particular CPU or processor is accessing data from the shared memories, then access to the shared memories by all other CPU's or processors is temporarily blocked. The other CPU's or processors must wait until the memory read cycle is complete before they can access the shared data. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the blocking of access to the shared memory has a substantial adverse impact upon the computer's performance. Indeed, it has been estimated that computational efficiency is reduced to approximately 10-20 percent of its theoretical maximum value due to such memory access blocking.
The reduction in computational efficiency can more particularly be broken down into three primary causes: the transfer of data from the global memory to any of the processing elements must wait for the bus to be free so that it can accept the transfer; the memory address register must complete its current read/write cycle in order to process the next addressing request; and only a single CPU or processor can initiate an address in the prior art sequential mode of operation.
Various attempts have been made in the prior art to improve memory access. One such attempt is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,695 issued on Jul. 28, 1992 to Ikeda and entitled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONSTANT STRIDE ACCESSING TO MEMORIES IN VECTOR processor. The Ikeda patent discloses a method for improving access to a plurality of reference memory banks, thereby enhancing memory access efficiency. However, Ikeda does not address simultaneously accessing shared memories by multiple processors and its implementation.
In view of the foregoing, it is beneficial to provide an implementation of a distributed memory addressing system wherein non-blocking access to shared memory is facilitated for multiple CPU's or processors.


A method of activating at least two electrodes in a multichannel electrode array using channel specific sampling sequences is presented. A channel specific sampling sequence is defined for each electrode, the sequence having a particular duration, pulse amplitude distribution, and number of pulses. A weighting factor is applied to the channel specific sampling sequence. Each electrode in the multichannel electrode array is then simultaneously activated using sign-correlated pulses, the sign-correlated pulses based on parameters of spatial channel interaction reflecting geometric overlapping of electrical fields from each electrode, non-linear compression, and each electrode's weighted channel specific sampling sequence.

Cochlear implants (inner ear prostheses) are a possibility to help profoundly deaf or severely hearing impaired persons. Unlike conventional hearing aids, which just apply an amplified and modified sound signal, a cochlear implant is based on direct electrical stimulation of the acoustic nerve. The intention of a cochlear implant is to stimulate nervous structures in the inner ear electrically in such a way that hearing impressions most similar to normal hearing are obtained.
A cochlear prosthesis essentially consists of two parts, the speech processor and the implanted stimulator. The speech processor contains the power supply (batteries) of the overall system and is used to perform signal processing of the acoustic signal to extract the stimulation parameters. The stimulator generates the stimulation patterns and conducts them to the nervous tissue by means of an electrode array which usually is positioned in the scala tympani in the inner ear. The connection between speech processor and stimulator is established either by means of a radio frequency link (transcutaneous) or by means of a plug in the skin (percutaneous).
At present, the most successful stimulation strategy is the so called "continuous-interleaved-sampling strategy" (CIS), as described by Wilson B. S., Finley C. C., Lawson D. T., Wolford R. D., Eddington D. K., Rabinowitz W. M., "Better speech recognition with cochlear implants," Nature, vol. 352, 236-238 (July 1991) [hereinafter Wilson et al., 1991], which is incorporated herein by reference. Signal processing for CIS in the speech processor involves the following steps:                (1) splitting up of the audio frequency range into spectral bands by means of a filter bank,        (2) envelope detection of each filter output signal,        (3) instantaneous nonlinear compression of the envelope signal (map law).
According to the tonotopic organization of the cochlea, each stimulation electrode in the scala tympani is associated with a band pass filter of the external filter bank. For stimulation, symmetrical biphasic current pulses are applied. The amplitudes of the stimulation pulses are directly obtained from the compressed envelope signals (step (3) of above). These signals are sampled sequentially, and the stimulation pulses are applied in a strictly non-overlapping sequence. Thus, as a typical CIS-feature, only one stimulation channel is active at one time. The overall stimulation rate is comparatively high. For example, assuming an overall stimulation rate of 18 kpps, and using an 12 channel filter bank, the stimulation rate per channel is 1.5 kpps. Such a stimulation rate per channel usually is sufficient for adequate temporal representation of the envelope signal.
The maximum overall stimulation rate is limited by the minimum phase duration per pulse. The phase duration cannot be chosen arbitrarily short, because the shorter the pulses, the higher the current amplitudes have to be to elicit action potentials in neurons, and current amplitudes are limited for various practical reasons. For an overall stimulation rate of 18 kpps, the phase duration is 27 μs, which is at the lower limit.
Each output of the CIS band pass filters can roughly be regarded as a sinusoid at the center frequency of the band pass filter, which is modulated by the envelope signal. This is due to the quality factor Q≈3 of the filters. In case of a voiced speech segment, this envelope is approximately periodic, and the repetition rate is equal to the pitch frequency.
In the current CIS-strategy, the envelope signals only are used for further processing, i.e., they contain the entire stimulation information. For each channel, the envelope is represented as a sequence of biphasic pulses at constant repetition rate. As a characteristic feature of CIS, this repetition rate (typically 1.5 kpps) is equal for all channels, and there is no relation to the center frequencies of the individual channels. It is intended that the repetition rate is not a temporal cue for the patient, i.e., it should be sufficiently high, so that the patient does not percept tones with a frequency equal to the repetition rate. The repetition rate is usually chosen greater than at twice the bandwidth of the envelope signals (Nyquist theorem).

Electrical nerve stimulation based on channel specific sampling sequences


The invention concerns a lighting and/or signalling device for motor vehicles comprising a housing equipped with a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted on a movable plate, at least one device for cooling the said diodes, comprising at least one first fixed heat sink, at least one second movable heat sink, and at least one means for effecting a forced air convection between the first radiator or heat sink and the second radiator or heat sink.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a lighting or signalling device for motor vehicles in which the light source is produced by means of light emitting diodes. The invention also concerns a motor vehicle comprising such a lighting or signalling device.
The invention finds applications in the automotive field and, in particular, in the field of lighting and signalling for motor vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally a motor vehicle comprises at least two lighting devices situated at the front of the vehicle, also called headlights, and signalling devices situated at the front and rear of the vehicle. Each lighting or signalling device comprises a housing closed by a protective lens and equipped firstly with a light source emitting a light beam and secondly optical elements for directing this light beam. Currently, in the majority of lighting or signalling devices, the light source is produced by means of a lamp, such as a discharge lamp, halogen lamp etc. Lighting and signalling devices therefore each comprise a single lamp or possibly two lamps for main-beam lighting.
These lamps have the advantage of having a high efficiency and high luminance. However, they have the drawback of emitting a high level of heat locally. Consequently they each constitute in the lighting or signalling devices, a source of heat with a very hot single concentrated point. For example, in the case of a halogen lamp, the filament of the lamp has a temperature of around 3,000° C., the glass balloon of the bulb has a temperature above 400° C. and the bulb cap has a temperature around 200° C. These lamps also have the drawback of emitting infrared rays.
Moreover, in order to increase further their light yield and to direct their light beams, these lamps are generally placed close to a mirror. This mirror is conventionally metal or metallised, which further concentrates the heat and infrared rays emitted by the lamp. In addition, these infrared rays are directed towards the exit face of the lighting or signalling device, namely the protective lens, which heats up under the effect of these rays. In addition, if the protective lens is dirty, the lens absorbs these infrared rays instead of transmitting them, which concentrates the heat further. Consequently the protective lens of the device must be produced from a material that is particularly resistant to heat.
The casings of the lighting or signalling devices must be perfectly impervious to ambient moisture, in particular rain, snow, etc. It is therefore difficult to ventilate the inside of the housing in order to cool it.
In order to resolve these problems of concentrated heat, it is possible to produce light sources using light emitting diodes. Such a light source is produced by means of a plurality of light emitting diodes, or LEDs, associated in modules and mounted on a fixed or movable plate. The temperature attained by a light emitting diode is around 100° C. to 150° C. Such a light source has the advantage of offering high efficiency, able to achieve that of conventional lamps, and where the heat is distributed over all the modules. This is because, the light emitting diodes being grouped together in modules within the housing, the light source is formed from several luminous points distributed in the whole of the housing. The heat emitted by the light source is therefore distributed in the whole of the housing, which avoids the existence of a single concentrated heat point.
In addition, the distribution of the luminous points in the housing makes it possible to direct the corresponding light beams in the required directions, without necessarily using an enveloping mirror. The heat emitted by such a light source is thus dispersed rather than shielded.
In addition, light emitting diodes are electronic components which have the advantage of not emitting near infrared rays (in the range 1 to 5 μm), which locally minimises the heat emitted by the light source.
However, even if the temperature of a light emitting diode is relatively low compared with the temperature of a conventional lamp and even if the hot spots are distributed in the housing, it is also necessary to cool such a light source. In order to cool electronic components, and in particular power diodes, it is known how to mount the component to be cooled on a radiator or heat sink. A radiator or heat sink is associated with each component. The component is then cooled with ambient air. In the case where the component is a light emitting diode mounted in a vehicle lighting or signalling device, the ambient air is the air of the housing of the device. It is therefore relatively hot (at a temperature around 95° to 100° C.). It is consequently necessary to use a radiator or heat sink of relatively large size in order to cool this component sufficiently.
The use of such a radiator or heat sink can be envisaged when the plate on which the light emitting diodes are mounted is fixed. However, in the majority of current vehicles, the light source is orientable to allow correction of the light range. In particular, with a DBL (Bending Light) system, the light source must be able to be oriented to the right or to the left of the vehicle so that the lighting follows the path of the road. The light source can also be orientable towards the top or bottom of the vehicle in order to take account of the attitude of the vehicle. In these cases, the light emitting diodes are mounted on a movable plate, moved by a motor. However, if each light emitting diode must be mounted on the movable mounting plate with the radiator or heat sink, of relatively large size, which is associated with it, then the movable plate becomes heavy and the motor moving it must be powerful.
In order to limit the weight of the movable mounting plate, it is envisaged dividing the light source into several modules, each module comprising its own movable plate. In this case, it is possible to use less powerful motors for each module. On the other hand, it is necessary to use one motor for each movable mounting plate, which considerably increases the cost of each device. In addition, the use of several motors simultaneously causes a problem of slaving the assembly to an initial position.
In order to improve the cooling of the electronic components, and in particular the power diodes, the document U.S. Pat. No.-B2-6,639,360 proposes associating fans with the radiators or heat sinks. More precisely, this document proposes to place, under each light emitting diode, a radiator or heat sink with which there is associated a fan providing a circulation of air propagated by the radiator or heat sink. In this case, each radiator or heat sink must be of smaller dimensions. However, the weight saved by the use of a smaller radiator or heat sink is at least partly compensated for by the addition of a fan. The problem of weight of the movable plate to be moved remains identical to the problems stated above.
There is, therefore, a need to provide a lighting and signalling device that overcomes one or more of the problems in the prior art.

Lighting and/or signalling device with light emitting diodes for motor vehicles


The present invention relates to a method for controlling content-sharing among a plurality of content-providing devices. The method includes: receiving information on a content from a first content playback device and displaying images corresponding to the content; storing the received content information; and transmitting the stored content information to a second content playback device and ending the displaying of the images corresponding to the content.

Recently, a digital television service using a wired and wireless communication network has been generalized. The digital TV service may provide various services that could not be provided in an existing analog broadcasting service.
For example, an internet protocol television (IPTV) service, which is a kind of digital TV services, provides bi-directionality allowing a user to actively select a kind of viewing programs, a viewing time thereof, or the like. The IPTV service may also provide various services, such as the Internet search, a home shopping, an online game, and the like, based on this bi-directionality.

Method for controlling content-sharing, and portable terminal and content-sharing system using same


Methods of identifying canine subjects having an increased likelihood of developing elevated levels of 4-ethylphenyl sulfate, canine stress, canine anxiety and/or an inhibition of growth of beneficial microbes and promotion of growth of harmful microbes are disclosed. Methods comprise analyzing a biological sample obtained from the canine subject for the presence of two copies of a minor allele of the single nucleotide polymorphism BICF2P1175095 in a canine subject. Methods of treating the identified canine subjects by administering an effective amount of tomato pomace are also disclosed. Methods of treating canine subjects for elevated 4-EPS levels, canine anxiety or canine stress are disclosed. Canine food compositions that comprises tomato pomace are disclosed.

The microbial toxin, 4-ethylphenyl sulfate (4-EPS) is a metabolite produced by gut microbes. Among other microbial metabolites, 4-EPS enters the systemic circulation. In canines, increased levels of 4-EPS in the blood is associated with stress, anxiety, brain damage and other behavioral issues. Reduction in levels of 4-EPS has been shown to alleviate symptoms of stress and anxiety.
Canine anxiety (anxiety) is a response to fear and agitation, or apprehension when the dog anticipates a threat or fearful situation. Some individual dogs experience disproportionate levels of anxiety. Anxiety can develop into an anxiety disorder and can lead to behavioral and other issues. Some dogs experience a generalized anxiety, in which the fearful reaction is displayed in a wide range of situations to which a "normal" pet would be unlikely to react. Anxiety can take the form of one of various anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorders, excessive stimulus anxiety, separation anxiety, confinement, noise phobias, among others.
Causative factors may include genetic components, prenatal and neonatal stressors, maternal separation, lack of socialization, unfamiliarity, or a previous unpleasant outcome during encounters with the stimulus (or similar stimuli). The most common causes are fear, separation and aging. Fear-related anxiety can be caused by loud noises, strange people or animals, visual stimuli, new or strange environments, and specific situations among others. Age-related anxiety affects older dogs and can be associated with cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS). Separation anxiety is a specific anxiety arising from an inability of the pet to find comfort when separated from family members. About 14% of dogs have separation anxiety. Some separation anxiety may be the result of dysfunctional attachment as a puppy ages and matures. In some cases, separation anxiety may arise in cases involving a change in household or daily routine, while in others separation anxiety is associated with an underlying state of anxiety along with other behavioral issues such as phobias.
Anxiety may lead to destructive behavior (particularly at exits or toward owner possessions), distress vocalization, house-soiling, salivation, pacing, restlessness, inability to settle, anorexia, and repetitive or compulsive behaviors. In some instances, anxiety may play a role in aggressive behavior.
Common symptoms of dog anxiety include aggression, urinating or defecating in the house, drooling, panting, destructive behavior, depression, excessive barking, pacing, restlessness and repetitive or compulsive behaviors. Different dogs display different symptoms and combinations of symptoms when suffering from anxiety.
Canine stress is the response of dog to a demand placed upon it to change or adapt, typically exhibited as feelings of strain or pressure. Dogs experiencing stress may result in feelings of fear, agitation, hyperactivity, nervousness, oversensitivity or irritability. Negative stress, excessive stress and chronic stress can have a detrimental effect on behavior, health and overall well-being. Stress has the potential to bring on illness, suppress the immune system, cause undesirable behaviors, and increase arousal, which increases the probability of aggressive behavior.
Causes of stress in dogs include grief, exposure to conflict, excessive or insufficient stimulation, overcrowded conditions, environmental changes (schedule, people, animals, increased noise); punitive training, insufficient social time, frightening events, neglect, frustration, and uncertainty among others.
Dogs communicate that they are experiencing stress in different ways. Some indications that a dog is experiencing stress include dilated pupils, tightness around eyes, whale eye/half-moon eyes, yawning, lip/nose licking, panting, excess salivation, smiling, teeth chattering, cheek puffing, showing teeth, wrinkled muzzle, pinned back or upright ears. Other indications include tense body, stretching, excessive shedding, little or no movement, low body posture, weight shifted back, trembling/shaking, penis crowning, sweaty paws, tight brow, barking, growling, howling and whining. When stressed, a dog's behavior will often change. Common behaviors that are often stress induced include restlessness, insufficient or excessive sleeping, jumpiness/hypervigilance, irritability, excessive self-grooming, destructive behavior, loss of appetite, obsessive/compulsive behaviors, inability to focus, hyperactivity, increased urination and defecation, and vomiting and diarrhea among others.
Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are a common type of genetic variation. SNPs are single base pair mutations at a specific locus. That is, a SNP is a difference in a single nucleotide in a DNA sequence that occurs at a specific position in a genome. Typically, for a SNP at a specific position, there are two possible nucleotide variations, which are referred to as alleles for that position. Within a population, the nucleotide variation that most commonly appears at a specific base position in a genome is referred to as the major allele; the nucleotide variation that is less common at that specific base position is referred to as the minor allele. Dogs, like most multicellular organisms have two sets of chromosomes. Thus, each dog has two copies of each gene or locus and therefore two copies of each SNP. Accordingly, for each SNP in the dog's genome, the dog may have two copies of the major allele, one minor allele and one minor allele or two minor alleles.
SNPs can act as biological markers. SNPs may be helpful in predicting drug responses and risk of developing particular diseases. SNP genotyping refers to detection of SNPs within the genome. There are numerous methods for detecting SNPs and performing SNP genotyping.
There is a need to develop improved methods to identify dogs having increased likelihood or risk of developing anxiety and stress, for methods of reducing risk of canine anxiety and stress, and for methods of treating canine anxiety and stress. There is a need for methods and compositions for reducing elevated levels of 4-EPS in canines. There is a need for methods and compositions for treating or reducing the severity of elevated levels of canine anxiety. There is a need for methods and compositions for treating or reducing the severity of elevated levels of canine stress.

Compositions and methods of treating and reducing risk of conditions associated with elevated 4-ethylphenyl sulfate in canines and identifying canines at risk of such conditions