The invention discloses a track element (80) for forming a continuous over tyre track (100), includes a generally C-shaped rigid member (10) having a base portion (10a) extending transversely to the track (100), a tapered side guide member (10b) on each end of the base portion (10a), and at least one inter-engaging connector member (10c) on each side of the base portion (10a); wherein the rigid member (10) is encased in a coating of elastomeric material (20).

Numerous types of vehicles are frequently used in terrain in which it is difficult for pneumatic or solid tyres to operate. Examples of such terrain include terrain that are very soft such as sandy surfaces and muddy terrain. Aforementioned vehicles include construction vehicles, agricultural vehicles, forestry vehicles and military vehicles which have to be retrofitted with a tyre engaging member to enhance traction and floatation on said terrain which include soft, slippery and/or uneven grounds such as soil, mud, sand, ice, snow, etc. on which they operate.
An example of a tyre engaging member that is conventionally utilized to adapt a vehicle equipped with rubber tyres for efficient operation on aforementioned soft, slippery and/or uneven grounds, is the tyre chain. Tyre chains have conventionally been used by cars, truck and other tyre mounted vehicles to improve traction of the vehicle with respect to the terrain it is traveling on. With regard to construction and other such tyre mounted vehicles (which include agricultural vehicles, forestry vehicles and military vehicles) in which a directional steering system is employed, because the center-lines of the front and rear tyres remain parallel and in line with each other at all times, the possibility of retro-fitting the vehicle with a multi-wheel tyre chain presents itself as a solution to improve the traction of the vehicle when the vehicle traverses over difficult terrain that include soft, slippery and/or uneven grounds among others. The tyre chain provides an improvement in operational performance in said difficult terrain by increasing the contact area of the vehicle with the ground it is traversing. This increased contact area hence improves traction between the vehicle and a terrain it is traversing on. Moreover the larger contact area spreads the weight of the vehicle over a larger surface area and hence further improves flotation of the vehicle over said terrain.
Tyre chains of the state of the art represent a type of metallic over tyre track assembly which comprises a plurality of metallic segments called "pads" that are mechanically pivot-ably interlinked to form a chain which is then snugly circumscribed over tyres of a given side of said given vehicle having a directional steering system in which center-lines of the front and rear tyres remain parallel and in line with each other at all times, even when said given vehicle is negotiating a turn. The "pad" in a tyre chain usually consists of a crossbar with two opposing sidewalls—one on each side of the crossbar. The sidewalls which are set perpendicular to the crossbar, create a valley or a groove. Hence, when so-called "pads" are connected together with links to comprise a chain, a continuous groove or channel is formed for tyres of a vehicle to ride within. The sidewalls of each pad keep the chain aligned with the tyres and at the same time prevent the tyres from derailing off the chain.
While tyre chains have been deployed successfully on construction vehicles like the skid steer loader and other such tyre mounted vehicles (which include agricultural vehicles, forestry vehicles and military vehicles) in which a directional steering system is employed and in which the center-lines of the front and rear tyres remain parallel and in line with each other at all times (i.e. even negotiating a turn), there is still room for improvement. More particularly, despite the improvement in vehicle traction and flotation provided by the deployment of multi-wheel tyre chains, the deployment of said multi-wheel tyre chains impose many drawbacks. Drawbacks of said multi-wheel tyre chains which represent a type of metal over tyre track assembly include the high levels of noise produced by vehicles equipped with said tyre chains when operational over difficult terrain, damage caused on paved roads and soil due to large weights and mechanical rigidity associated with said tyre chains, cumbersome and costly maintenance as well as high cost to manufacture.
Hence in view of the numerous drawbacks of multi-wheel tyre chains or metallic over tyre track assemblies, track assemblies for adapting directional drive tyre mounted vehicles such as skid steer loaders to traverse difficult terrain with improved traction and flotation have proliferated in the use rubber or elastomeric endless track assemblies over time. Elastomeric or rubber endless track assemblies, due to inherent elasticity of the rubber or elastomeric material enable a smoother more quitter operation of construction vehicles on difficult terrain. Moreover rubber or elastomeric endless track assemblies further enhance the ability of a given vehicle to readily absorb vibrations which consequently leads to a possibility of longer machinery life and lower overall machinery cost. Generally when alluding to the prior art with regard to rubber or elastomeric endless track assemblies, aforementioned rubber or elastomeric endless track assemblies are formed around an endless carcass or belt element having respective interior and exterior surfaces with a predetermined width dimension, said endless carcass further including terrain contacting lugs formed integrally with the exterior surface.
It is noted however, that the use of a rubber or elastomeric endless track assembly provides the disadvantage of lower mechanical strength as compared to metallic endless track assemblies. Moreover aforementioned rubber or elastomeric endless track assemblies of the prior art disclose track segments which comprise rubber or elastomeric pads bounded at symmetrically opposing sides with rubber or elastomeric side walls which consequently form a valley or groove which when assembled with a plurality of other identical rubber or elastomeric pads form a continuous channel for tyres of a vehicle to ride within, present the possible disadvantage of more frequent de-tracking of the tyres from the track assembly due to lower mechanical strength and elasticity of said rubber or elastomeric side walls and higher friction between the tyres of the vehicle and said side walls.
As a result, endless track assemblies of the state of the art usually comprise track segments which each comprise a composite assembly of elastomeric or rubber material and steel. Moreover there have been disclosed prior art endless track assemblies that comprise track segments that each include a pad member comprising elastomeric or rubber material impregnated with a reinforcing steel insert. Aforementioned configuration of pads of a given track segment of a given endless track assembly in which rubber or elastomeric material is impregnated with a solid planar reinforcing metallic or steel insert, presents the possibility of easy damage due to wear and tear that results from slipping between the impregnated reinforcing metallic or steel insert and the encapsulating rubber or elastomeric material that occurs when the track assembly is subjected to severe usage in difficult terrain that include rocky and muddy terrain. Moreover aforementioned configuration of pads due to being prone to damage due to aforementioned slipping between the impregnated reinforcing metallic or steel insert and the encapsulating elastomeric or rubber material, have reduced mechanical strength before failure as a useful track segment.
A further disadvantage of conventional endless track assemblies for adapting tyre mounted vehicles such as the skid steer loader and other such vehicles for use in difficult terrain which include muddy and rocky terrain is that there is no provision made for the quick and hassle free replacement of a faulty or damaged track assembly. Moreover such endless track assemblies would have to be completely replaced even if the extent of the damage is isolated to a relatively small portion of the track assembly. Hence, in some situations, it may be useful or necessary to quickly and conveniently install an endless track on a vehicle or remove and/or replace part of an endless track already installed on a vehicle. Therefore there is a need for an endless track assembly for use in adapting tyre mounted vehicles such as the skid steer loader and other such vehicles, which would simplify the installation and maintenance process and further minimize the occurrences of de-tracking. It would further be desirable if such rapidity and convenience with regard installation and maintenance be not detrimental to the track's performance.
Accordingly, in view of the abovementioned problems with regard to prior art endless track assemblies for use in adapting tyre mounted vehicles like the skid steer loader and other such vehicles for use in difficult terrain such as muddy and rocky terrain that require improved traction and flotation, it would be desirable if an improved endless track assembly be conceived.

Track elements for forming a continuous over tyre track with strength enhancement structure


A dual storage cell memory includes an array of dual storage cells, each of the dual storage cells containing a first memory cell and a second memory cell. The first and second memory cells are well known six-transistor static memory cells with the addition of transfer circuitry for transferring data directly from the internal data nodes of each of the memory cells to its corresponding complementary memory cell without requiring the use of the enable transistors or the bit lines associated with each of the dual storage cells.

A common occurrence in digital electronic systems is the requirement to transfer data between two asynchronous systems, that is, two systems which have independent clocks and are therefore not synchronized with each other. A common method used in the past to transfer such data is to use a first in, first out (FIFO) serial memory in which data from the transmitting system is written into the serial memory at the transmitting system's clock rate and read from the serial memory at the receiving system's clock rate. This FIFO memory generally uses a dual port memory cell so that data can be written into each memory cell independently of the data being read out of the memory cell.
However, this FIFO system is useful only for the transmission of data in one direction only and is, therefore, not suitable for interfacing between two systems in which data is to be transferred in both directions. In certain situations this bidirectional transfer of data can most advantageously be accomplished using a common memory between the two systems in which each system can both write data into the memory and read data from the memory at their own independent clock rates.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that a shared memory system which permits two asynchronous systems to both write data into the memory and read data from the memory is highly desirable.

Dual port static RAM with bidirectional shift capability


The invention relates to a liquid fuel composition of: 10-80 vol % of a first component which includes at least two aliphatic organic non-hydrocarbon compounds; 20-65 vol % of a second component including at least one hydrocarbon and having an aromatic content of less than 15 vol % of the total of the second component; 1-35 vol % of a third component, which includes an oxygenate; and 0.01 to 20 vol % water, wherein at least one compound in the fuel composition is miscible with both water and hydrocarbons to provide a single phase composition. Such fuels have been found to reduce undesirable emissions in the exhaust gases and enable the use of recycled compounds and water in the fuel.

The present invention relates generally to liquid fuel compositions such as those which may be used in internal combustion engines
Environmental pollution from exhaust gases from engines, such as those used in automobiles, is a widespread problem. Various liquid fuel compositions have been tried in an effort to reduce such pollution. For example, it has been tried to form fuels from mixtures of naphtha or gasoline with methanol or other alcohols. Such fuels can greatly reduce the concentration of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons in the exhaust gases. They can also replace conventional gasoline fuel.
When selecting a fuel composition, a number of factors must be considered. The fuel must be readily converted into energy by the engine. In an internal combustion engine, this means the fuel must have some volatility and must not be too viscous. The fuel must have good performance, that is, it must combust readily to give good acceleration to a vehicle. Preferably it should be stable, so that it does not separate on standing and does not chemically react with engine components during storage. It should be non-corrosive so that it does not damage the engine supply lines or storage vessels. The combustion products which will appear in the exhaust gases should be as low as possible in substances which are toxic or harmful to health or environment.
Although conventional gasoline does meet some of the above objectives, it is not a renewable resource. Thus it would also be desirable to find a fuel composition which was derived at least partly, from a renewable resource.
Although prior art fuels, which contain naphtha or gasoline mixed with methanol, ethanol or other alcohols do have a small effect in reducing the concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons in the exhaust gases from automobiles, they have other problems. Since they contain unstabilized alcohols and ethers, they can cause problems such as swollen rubber gaskets, decomposition of rubber, engine parts corrosion and wear, reduced performance affecting fuel consumption and driveability index, oxidation stability and increased NOx values to name a few. Such fuels are also known to break down and degenerate during storage or at high temperature and may cause a build-up of gum residue on engine parts. In addition, these fuels are usually unable to operate once water is added to them, as the water does not properly dissolve in the fuel and tends to separate back out of the mixture after only a short time which in turn causes engine stalling and poor performance.
The present invention seeks to provide an emission reducing liquid fuel, which avoids or reduces some of the above problems and is therefore better for the environment. The present invention seeks to provide an improved emission reducing liquid fuel capable of efficiency and an output similar to or better than that of conventional gasoline, without any need to modify existing internal combustion gasoline engines. The invention also seeks to reduce the concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and total hydrocarbons (THC) in exhaust gases as compared to conventional gasoline.

Liquid fuel composition having aliphatic organic non-hydrocarbon compounds, an aromatic hydrocarbon having an aromatic content of less than 15% by volume, an oxygenate, and water


In an apparatus for controlling operation of two outboard motors mounted on a stern of a boat side by side and each equipped with an internal combustion engine to power a propeller through a power transmission shaft and a transmission having a forward first-speed and a second-speed gear and a reverse gear supported on the power transmission shaft, control is conducted at turning of the boat to operate the inner one of the outboard motors to transmit the engine power to the propeller through the reverse gear, and to operate the outer one of the outboard motors to transmit the engine power to the propeller through the forward first-speed gear, when the detected engine speed is equal to or smaller than a predetermined first speed and the detected rudder angle is equal to or greater than a predetermined angle.

1. Technical Field
Embodiment of the invention relates to an outboard motor control apparatus, more particularly to a control apparatus for a plurality of outboard motors installed on a boat (ship).
2. Background Art
With reference to a boat installed with a plurality of outboard motors at its stern side by side, there has been proposed a technique to regulate outputs of respective outboard motors in response to navigation conditions such as a navigation speed so as the boat to make turning smoothly, for example, by Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2007-091115.
Specifically, in the reference, the outputs of the outboard motors are controlled such that, when a rudder angle is made large for turning, a thrust of the inner motor is decreased, while that of the outer motor is increased so as to make the angular moment about the center of turning great, thereby enabling to make turning in a small radius. In the reference, it is also suggested to make turning smoothly by exerting the thrust of the inner motor in the direction of reverse.


A method for monitoring a thin film of polyimide material on the surface of a liquid crystal display uses nonlinear second-order surface spectroscopy to monitor the condition of a surface. Electromagnetic radiation is directed towards the surface and the second harmonic or other second-order frequency responses are monitored to detect the state of the surface. Preferably, a laser, input optics and output optics are utilized to create the second-order frequency response that is detected.

At an interface between two media it is helpful to be able, at different times and/or for different applications, to determine the physical, chemical, mechanical, and molecular properties of that interface. A nonintrusive, nondestructive method to investigate the interface is desirable. Because the method should not impose restrictions based on the particular environment around that interface, an electromagnetic radiation technique utilizing visible light, ultraviolet light, infrared, x-rays, radio frequencies or any other electromagnetic radiation may be used. The frequency at which one or the other interface media is transparent will determine the type (e.g., visible, ultraviolet, etc.) of signal chosen to provide a surface specific response. For example, linear reflection optical techniques (i.e., the output frequency equals the input frequency), do not provide what is called a surface specific response.
2.1 Prior Approaches
Other techniques can be used to analyze molecular properties or behavioral properties at an interface. Unfortunately, many of them may be characterized as environmentally limited in their application. For example, such techniques may be applied only in ultra-high-vacuum, which means that nothing with a liquid or gas interface may be tested. Moreover to inspect a vacuum-solid interface, the material to be examined must be placed in a high vacuum chamber. This can often be either slow, expensive or impractical depending on the size of the particular material in question.
Other techniques which exist may require that the interface be placed in other environments such as between two solids, in which case it may be necessary to destroy the particular material to be studied. Still other techniques may require either fabrication of very exotic detection means or require signal integration times which makes them unusable in any sort of real time industrial scenario.
2.2 Historical Development
In nonlinear optics, outputs are produced at sum, difference or harmonic frequencies of the input(s). Using second-order nonlinear optical surface spectroscopy to study a surface was originally proposed in the 1960's in "Light Waves at the Boundary of Nonlinear Media" by Bloembergen and P. S. Pershan, The Physical Review, 128, p. 193 (1962). Experimental work involving second harmonic generation was also performed. However, because lasers at the time were comparatively feeble, impractical, slow, etc., there was little subsequent work done on the development of second harmonic generation or, more generally, second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) processes at surfaces until considerably later.
More recently, researchers have reviewed NLO processing and concluded that lasers had developed enough that they could be used for studying the physical and chemical properties of surfaces and interfaces. For example, a theoretical study of the physics of the interface and not its engineering aspects has been performed. See Annual Review of Materials Science, "Surface Second Harmonic Generation", Vol. 16, pp. 69-86 (1986).

Method of monitoring a thin film of polyimide material using surface spectroscopy


The invention proposes utilizing the known geometry of the measurements in order to assign them to one another and to resolve ambiguities, wherein the 3D position of an object (3) in space is determined by a spatial section at the same time. This is done using a plurality (N) of sensors (A, B, C) and their geometries (10, 11, 12), wherein a first sensor (A) is part of the master sensor and a space curve (A1) is calculated and then transmitted to the geometry (11) of a sensor (B) which is defined as a slave sensor and whose local geometry (11) is taken into account, a further sensor (C) is then defined as a slave in which the space curves (B1-B3) of the correspondence obtained in the preceding step are calculated and transmitted to the geometry (12) of the new slave sensor (C) together with the master curve (A1), wherein the steps are repeated at least until the last (N) remaining sensor is defined as a slave in a last step (N−1) and the master (A1) and all of its associated measurements of the previous slave sensors (B, C) are transmitted to the local geometry of the last (N) slave sensor and compared with the measurements.

The invention relates to a method for association of 2D measurements from a sensor system, in particular for air defense.
EP 0 205 794 A1 discloses a surveillance system such as this for space/airspace surveillance. The real targets which are produced as video signals by an IR position-finding appliance during each search cycle are preprocessed in a data preprocessing device, and are discriminated and stored in an IR signal processor on the basis of their elevation values and azimuth values. The real-target coordinates in elevation, azimuth and distance, as determined by the appliances, are supplied to a higher-level fire control facility.
A radar measurement device for airspace monitoring is disclosed in DE 1 057 788. A 2D pulse-Doppler radar is described in DE 36 88 935 T2. DE 39 26 216 A1 discloses a multifunction radar. A secondary radar system is published in DE 41 09 981 A1.
A method for airspace surveillance of a relatively large region with the aid of pulse surveillance radars has already been disclosed in DE-PS 977 646.
DE 198 56 231 A1 discloses a method for aircraft surveillance, which is carried out using satellites. DE 100 32 433 A1 also deals with a method for space surveillance. DE 36 37 129 C2 discloses a three-way DME system for attempting to find the position of an aircraft.
If the sensors and the fire control equipment are networked, they can interchange their current target status measurements (position and velocity) with one another and/or can send the measurements to a preferably central computer. In order to create the instantaneous air situation, the received signals from the respective fire control equipments are investigated to determine whether they originate from the same or from different targets. Once the measurements that have been received in a time interval have been associated, a decision is made as to how many targets have been recorded in an airspace, which and how many of them are new, and which and how many known targets have an updated state. In particular, it is difficult to associate targets that are flying physically closely together using known methods. Measurement errors relating to the position and velocity of a target are a major disturbance source for correct association. The errors generally occur during the measurement process or during a necessary time matching process, which is done by means of extrapolation to a common time, for comparison with other measurements. Measurement errors increase the probability of incorrect associations. The further aspect for errors occurs, as already mentioned, in the spatial resolution of the known 2D, 2.5D sensors which cannot resolve one of the three spatial dimensions at all, or can resolve it only inadequately. For example, in the case of a 2D search radar, only the range and azimuth of a target with respect to the sensor are measured, while in contrast there is no information about the elevation. In the case of 2.5D search radars, the elevation area of the target is restricted to an interval. In contrast, passive electro-optical sensors produce measurements of azimuth and elevation, but cannot measure the range to the target.
In order to allow the measurements to be compared, they must be converted to a common, higher-level coordinate system. A local 2D measurement can be transformed to a different three-dimensional coordinate system only by assuming the third dimension. This results in a further increase in the measurement inaccuracy, because of a high measurement uncertainty. Measurements such as these are in general distinguishable only with difficulty, thus exacerbating the association process.
The time required for association is a further factor, in addition to the technical problems relating to accuracy and resolution. In the case of large networked air-defense systems, which monitor an airspace with intensive targets, the association process leads to a computation complexity and time penalty which allows only a very low level of updating.
DE 44 39 742 C2 proposes a method for automatic combinational optimization of associations for tracking a plurality of moving objects. A new association matrix is generated on the basis of a more or less randomly selected, undefined, but valid association matrix. A check is then carried out to determine whether this matrix represents a better solution than the old association matrix. If this is the case, this matrix is adopted as the new starting point for a further search. The aim of this method is to avoid time-consuming searching and to achieve adequate quality.

Method for surveillance of space/air space


Tags, wireless communication systems, tag communication methods, and wireless communications methods are described. In one aspect, a tag includes a plurality of antennas configured to receive a plurality of first wireless communication signals comprising data from a reader, a plurality of rectifying circuits coupled with. respective individual ones of the antennas and configured to provide rectified signals corresponding to the first wireless communication signals, wherein the rectified signals are combined to produce a composite signal, an adaptive reference circuit configured to vary a reference signal responsive to the composite signal, a comparator coupled with the adaptive reference circuit and the rectifying circuits and configured to compare the composite signal with respect to the reference signal and to output the data responsive to the comparison, and processing circuitry configured to receive the data from the comparator and to process the data.

Wireless communications between remotely located communicating devices may be implemented using radio frequency (RF) technology. Radio frequency communications have continued to improve through recent decades. Relatively sophisticated components are commonplace enabling radio frequency communications at microwave frequencies in compact components and at reasonable cost.
Some exemplary applications utilizing radio frequency technology include identification applications including, for example, locating, identifying, and tracking of objects. Radio frequency identification device (RFID) systems have been developed to facilitate identification operations. For example, one device may be arranged to output and receive radio frequency communications and one or more remotely located device may be configured to communicate with the one device using the radio frequency communications. The remotely located device may be referred to as a tag, while the other device may be referred to as a reader. Some advantages of radio frequency communications including exemplary radio frequency identification device communications include abilities to communicate without contact or line-of-sight, at relatively fast speeds, and with robust communication channels.
Radio frequency systems typically enable communications between devices located at increased distances compared with inductively coupled identification device systems. Even with radio frequency systems, it may be desired in some communication system applications to increase or maximize a communications range between the remotely located devices. Alternatively or additionally, it may be desired to reduce the transmitting power of the reader device in a particular application. Accordingly, it may be preferred to increase the sensitivity of a tag of the system to provide improved wireless communications between the remotely located devices.
Some aspects of the present invention described below provide wireless communication devices having increased sensitivity.


A vehicle high voltage system may include switches (e.g., IGBTs, contactors, relays, etc.), wires, a traction battery, electrical components with electrical properties and at least one controller. The at least one controller may be programmed to modulate a switch to provide a testing voltage for the electrical components, which is less than an operating voltage of the battery, and in response to a current flow associated with the testing voltage being less than a predetermined threshold, stop current flow between the battery and electrical components.

A hybrid-electric vehicle (HEV) or all-electric vehicle (EV) has a traction battery to store and provide energy for vehicle propulsion. The traction battery typically operates at over 100 volts, which is an increased voltage in comparison to a conventional vehicle battery voltage of 12 volts. The industry standard is that low voltage is less than 60 volts Direct Current (DC) and 30 volts Alternating Current (AC) calculated by root mean square (RMS). Voltages above this threshold are considered high voltage. The traction battery also has greater current capacity in comparison to a conventional battery, which can be in excess of 100 amps·hours. This increased voltage and current is used by an electric motor(s) to convert the electrical energy stored in the battery to mechanical energy in the form of a torque which is used to provide vehicle propulsion. The battery is connected to the electric motor via wires, connectors, capacitors, and other electrical components.


Disclosed herein is a c-DNA coding for an antigen of B. dermatitidis. The antigen can readily be expressed in quantity at high purity from the cDNA, and the antigen can then be used for assays for the disease. The unique sequence. This invention was made with United States Government support awarded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), Grant Nos. AI-00905 and AI-31479. The United States Government has certain rights in this invention.

Blastomycosis is a disease that is caused by infection with the fungus Blastomyces dermatitidis. Humans and other animals (particularly dogs) are infected by inhaling aerosolized fungal spores from soil where the organism dwells. At body temperature, these spores convert to yeast forms. Acute primary pulmonary infection caused by the yeast can produce an influenza or pneumonia syndrome. Progressive forms of disease can cause serious damage.
The best available tests for this disease involve using antigens isolated from B. dermatitidis yeast in competitive binding RIA tests. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,118 (WI-1 protein); J. Green et al., 4 Curr. Microbiol. 293-96 (1980) ("A" antigen); and R. Cox et al., 10 Infect. Immun. 42-47 (1974) ("B-ASWS" antigen). The disclosures of these and all other articles and patents referred to herein are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
Existing supplies of B-ASWS antigen and A antigen are impure (see K. Young et al., 33 Infect Immun. 171-177 (1981); M. Lancaster et al., 13 Infect Immun. 758-762 (1976)), and they appear to be a mixture of cell wall components. It has not been possible to determine what portions of these two antigen are responsible for the antigenic response.
While WI-1 protein has now been isolated in reasonable purity, no one had previously been able to obtain DNA that would express this protein apart from B. dermatitidis. The amino acid sequence of WI-1 had not previously been determined and the cysteine rich nature of the protein rendered conventional protein sequencing techniques unsuitable. In this regard, WI-1 resists cleavage. It also adopts unusual configurations in stringent cleavage conditions. Thus, to date WI-1 has had to be obtained using relatively costly and time consuming isolations from natural yeast.
Thus, a need exists for a way to more quickly provide large amounts of an antigen to B. dermatitidis at low cost, and at consistant purity.

DNA coding for an antigen of Blastomyces dermatitidis


The invention relates to the use of polyglycerols in the manufacture of foods, in particular for influencing texture formation, water absorption capacity, freshness, inhibition of crystallization, protein denaturation and the improvement of the freeze and thaw stability and for fat replacement.

This invention relates to a process and the use of polyglycerols for processing foodstuffs, or in other words, for manufacturing foods.
The use of polyglycerol fatty esters for foodstuff processing in the food industry is known. Polyglycerol fatty esters, because of their properties, are also used as emulsifiers for food manufacturing.
As a result of nutritional studies, it has been established that polyglycerol fatty esters are readily tolerated, are enzymatically cleaved and the fatty acids are utilized calorically in metabolism.
It is likewise known that polyglycerols are not catabolized in the human body, but are excreted unchanged. However, the literature does not contain any positive indications of the suitability of polyglycerols as a processing aid for foods.
In comparison with fats, polyglycerols, beginning with triglycerol, exhibit the typical fatty mouth feel.

Use of polyglycerol for processing foodstuff


A power booster includes a housing with a rear housing section and a front housing section defining an internal cavity. A housing wall separates the internal cavity into a first chamber and a second chamber with an opening formed in the housing wall, wherein it is desirable to extend a component through the opening. A tube has an end secured in the opening in the housing wall. The tube's end includes a radially directed wall extending from the end of the tube that extends to an axially extending wall positioned concentrically with the tube and terminating with an outwardly turned segment. The axially extending wall is positioned within the opening in the housing wall with a seal positioned between the axially extending wall and the housing wall wherein the distance between the front housing section and the rear housing section is minimized, by extending the component through the tube.

Power boosters operating on a pressure differential, such as exists between the engine intake manifold of a vehicle and the atmosphere, are well known devices. Typically, a shell-like housing encloses at least one variable pressure chamber that is separated from a vacuum chamber by a diaphragm and its supporting wall. The diaphragm and supporting wall are axially moveable relative to the housing under variable pressure conditions. Often, the housing's interior is subdivided by a housing divider wall separating a secondary variable pressure and vacuum chamber combination from the primary chamber pair. A power piston is urged to move axially by the diaphragm(s) and actuates an output rod for operating the vehicle brakes through an engaged master cylinder.
It has long been known that the weight of a power booster can be reduced by using thin-wall or lightweight material for the housing walls. When this is done, some additional structural support is obviously needed to maintain the structural integrity of the housing. One manner of providing the additional structural support is to extend a shaft or shafts through the housing to carry the generated loads, freeing the housing shell from this function. When axial forces are generated in the power booster, the shaft(s) hold the relative positions of the front and rear housing walls.
One significant problem that arises when extending a shaft through the erstwhile hermetic chambers of a power booster, resides in a need to provide a secure, movable seal assembly where the shaft passes through the structure. This is complicated by the often desirable condition that the overall length of the power booster must be minimized. Accordingly, the sealing structure preferably avoids adding to booster length while concurrently providing an effective seal between relatively movable components. In the case of a tandem diaphragm vacuum power booster, the minimum theoretical length is equal to twice the space needed for the diaphragm and support wall travel distance, plus the thickness of the external housing walls, plus the divider wall thickness, plus the tolerances. In practice, approaching the minimum possible length has been difficult. Generally, the sealing mechanism undesirably adds to the booster length and may be difficult to assemble and expensive to produce. Accordingly, a new power booster sealing mechanism is needed.


The present invention relates to a scheduling method and apparatus for scheduling data packets in time-shared channels, wherein a scheduling priority is determined for a user based on a ratio between a transmission parameter, e.g. throughput, offered to the user and an average preceding value (Tn) of the transmission parameter provided to the user within a predetermined time period. The determined scheduling priority is changed in dependence on a difference between the average preceding value and a minimum average value allocated to the user, e.g. by using a mapping function for generating a mapped value (Hn) replacing the average preceding value (Tn). Thereby, the minimum average value allocated to the user can be guaranteed by increasing the scheduling priority when the monitored average preceding value converges to the minimum average value.

To satisfy increasing demands for high-speed packet data, emerging standards for next-generation DS-CDMA (Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access) systems are currently extended to cope with higher data rates. Both suggested High Data Rate (HDR) and High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) modes consider a time-divided downlink. One key issue for better utilization of scarce radio resources is an appropriate scheduling of users in order to enhance the throughput. Hence, rate control and time-division scheduling algorithms are used in forwarding packet data transmission to utilize the radio resource effectively and support the high transmission rate.
Employing an efficient packet scheduling algorithm is an essential technique in order to improve the total system throughput as well as the peak throughput of each access user. Although always scheduling the user with the highest link quality may maximise capacity, it can result in a performance too unfair among the users. In the RR (Round Robin) method, the packet transmission opportunities are equally assigned to all communicating users within a sector irrespective of the radio link conditions of each user. However, the total system throughput with this RR scheduler becomes much lower than with other scheduling methods. So far, efficient packet scheduling algorithms have been proposed that assign a slot to the access users within a cell based on the radio link conditions which an access user notifies to the base station. A good scheduling algorithm may guarantee the fairness or the QoS of each service while considering the time-varying channel conditions of each user.
Such fairness issues have been studied for many type of systems, not only wireless. For example, in "Asymptotic analysis of proportional fair algorithm" by J. M. Holtzman, Proc. IEEE PIMRIC, vol. 2, pp. 33-37, 2001, the purpose was to schedule the users to get access to the channel the same asymptotical fraction of time but taking advantage of instantaneous channel variations. According to this asymptotical analysis of scheduling, fairness accounts for providing certain channel access time fractions among the users. That is, equal expected throughput is not necessarily guaranteed, rather the access to the channel.
The proportional fair scheduling method assigns transmission packets based on criteria such as a ratio between an instantaneous signal-to-interference power ratio (SIR) and a long-term average SIR value of each user. Another well-known proportional fair scheduling algorithm is the so-called proportional fair throughput (PFT) algorithm which provides a trade-off between throughput maximisation and fairness among users within a cell. In the traditional framework, the PFT algorithm selects the user to be scheduled during the next transmission time interval (TTI) according to a priority metric, which can be expressed as:Pn=Rn/Tnfor a user numbered n, where Rn denotes the throughput which can be offered to user n during the next TTI where this user is scheduled, and Tn denotes the mean or average throughput delivered to this user within a predetermined time period. It is noted that the value Rn is typically time-variant as it depends on the SIR value of this user. The priority metric Pn is calculated for all users sharing the time-multiplexed channel, e.g. the Downlink Shared Channel (DSCH) or the High Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH) as described in the 3 GPP (third generation Partnership Project) specification TS 25.308 V5.4.0.
The user with the largest calculated or determined priority metric is selected to be scheduled during the next TTI. Hence, if the user n has not been scheduled for a long period of time, the monitored average throughput Tn will decrease and consequently cause an increase of the priority Pn of said user.
However, so far, the PFT algorithm does not include any mechanism which helps to guarantee a minimum average throughput to a single user in the system. The same applies to other proportional fair scheduling schemes based on other transmission parameters.

Fair scheduling with guaranteed minimum parameter


A system includes heat generating components in a vehicle and a coolant flow path connected to the heat generating components. The system includes a coolant pump that circulates coolant through the coolant flow path and a reversing mechanism that reverses a direction of circulation of coolant.

Cooling systems in vehicles are used to reduce the temperature of heat generating components such as an engine, batteries, and various electronic components of the vehicle. Electronic components such as a vehicle computer may have a separate cooling system from an engine because of the different cooling requirements of an engine and a computer system. A computer system in a vehicle may comprise multiple heat generating components such as a CPU and one or more GPUs. The cooling system for a vehicle computer system may circulate a cooling fluid that is a gas or liquid through one or more heat generating components of a vehicle. Heat is transferred to the cooling fluid as the cooling fluid comes into thermal contact with the heat generating components. An amount of heat that is transferred from the heat generating component to the cooling fluid is directly proportional to a temperature difference between the cooling fluid and the heat generating component. In short, heat transfer to reduce the temperature of a heat generating component is more efficient as the temperature of the cooling fluid is lower.
The temperature of the cooling fluid rises when heat is transferred to the cooling fluid, which lowers the efficiency of any subsequent heat transfer. Thus, the second or third heat generating components in a cooling fluid flow path may not gain the same benefit from the heat transfer as the first heat generating component in a cooling fluid flow path.
A proposed solution to the issue of lowering efficiency for heat transfer of the cooling fluid involves creating multiple parallel cooling systems in a vehicle. However, the multiple parallel cooling systems are expensive and take up valuable space in the vehicle. Another proposed solution is increasing the capacity of the cooling system so that second and third heat generating components in a cooling fluid flow path receive sufficient heat transfer from thermal contact with the cooling fluid. However, increasing capacity, such as increasing the cooling fluid flow rate, to sufficiently cool second and third heat generating components is inefficient and may provide too much cooling for a first heat generating component in a fluid flow path. There is a need in the art for a cooling system for heat generating components in a vehicle that efficiently cools multiple heat generating components.

Systems and methods for cooling vehicle components


Poling electro-optic polymers on an organically modified sol-gel cladding layer can enhance Pockel's coefficient by up to a factor of 2.5.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electro-optic materials. In particular, the present invention relates to methods of poling electro-optic polymer materials for use in optical devices.
2. Discussion of the Background
Electro-optic (EO) materials play a key role in optical communication systems, allowing for chirp free high speed modulation. EO properties are exhibited by both inorganic materials and polymers. EO polymers have advantages over inorganic materials with respect to bandwidth, EO activity, cost and processability.
The low dielectric constants of EO polymers allow for extremely high bandwidth devices, as evidenced by reports of EO polymer modulators with bandwidths of more than 100 GHz.
EO polymers with Pockel's coefficients, r33, of 262 pm/V have been reported, which may make possible in the near future low-cost, high bandwidth, EO modulators with less than 0.5 V drive voltages and 6 dB insertion loss. Such devices are of interest for analog radio frequency (RF) links, satellite communications and fiber to the home. These EO polymers are also expected to have application in optical packet switching, reconfigurable optical interconnects, wavelength conversion, and terahertz generation, among other areas.
Since EO polymers are soluble in organic solvents, they can be deposited as thin films by spin coating, eliminating the need for single crystal growth techniques. Furthermore, they can be integrated with semiconductor technology without the need for crystal lattice matching.
Most polymers are not electro-optic. To provide electro-optic properties to a polymer, chromophore molecules can be attached in a side-chain fashion to the backbone of a polymer chain. Alternatively, chromophores can be doped into a polymer matrix to provide a guest-host EO polymer.
In order to have a second order optical nonlinearity in a guest-host EO polymer, the electric dipoles in the chromophores need to be oriented in a preferred direction by an electric field in what is known as "poling". Poling can be done by applying a DC voltage at a temperature near the Tg of the host polymer and then cooling the polymer to room temperature with the field still applied to lock in the order to the degree possible by the governing statistical mechanics.
Two common techniques for poling are "contact poling" and "corona poling". In contact poling, voltage is applied directly to metallic electrodes contacting opposite sides of an EO film. In corona poling, a large electric field is applied between a needle positioned above an EO film and a ground plane on the other side of the EO film. The large electric field creates a corona discharge in a gas between the needle and the EO film. Ions build up on the surface of the EO film and create a very strong electric field across the EO film that poles the film.
When used in optical devices, EO polymers are often clad with a variety of materials. It is well known that the choice of cladding layers in poled EO polymer based devices has a major impact on device performance. Sol-gels have been studied extensively as materials for passive waveguide devices. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,937,811 and 7,206,490 disclose EO waveguide devices that include a poled EO polymer core and, surrounding the core, claddings of polymers or organically modified sol-gels.
To first order, the strength of the EO coefficient, r33, resulting from poling is directly proportional to the strength of the applied electric field. Thus, it is important to be able to apply as high an electric field as possible to an EO film during poling.
However, the EO coefficients that can be achieved by poling have been limited by the onset of dielectric breakdown in films.

Technique to enhance the electro-optic coefficient of polymers by using a sol-gel cladding layer to increase poling efficiency

The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of The University of Arizona


A graphical display animation system is disclosed that supports timed modification of element property values of elements within a graphical display. The animation system utilizes a display structure for maintaining a set of elements corresponding to displayed objects within a graphically displayed scene. The elements include a variable property value. The animation system also utilizes a property system that maintains properties associated with elements maintained by the display structure. The properties include dynamic properties that are capable of changing over time—and thus affecting the appearance of the corresponding element on a graphical display. The animation system includes animation classes, from which animation objects are instantiated and associated with an element property at runtime. The animation object instances provide time varying values affecting values assigned to the dynamic properties maintained by the property system.

Graphical user interfaces by their nature are highly visual. A typical interactive session involving a user and a graphical user interface includes multiple instances of a user performing an action with regard to a displayed element (e.g., moving a pointer and selecting an icon or control) to invoke an operation and then visually observing the consequences of the operation. One way to draw a user's attention to particular elements on a graphical user interface, to indicate an active or changed status, is through animation of the graphical element. Animation, as used herein, includes changing the appearance or location of a graphical display element (e.g., an icon, a control, a window, etc.) through a sequence of incremental changes applied to the display element over a period of time. However, animation also includes time-based changes to non-visually displayed elements. Thus, animation, as referred to herein, comprises both visual (i.e., changing a visual display parameter value) and non-visual animation (i.e., changing a parameter value over time without affecting a visual display element).
Animation has the potential to enhance the usability and aesthetic appeal of computer systems and applications. User interfaces, and more particularly graphical user interfaces, occupy an important role in computer/user interactions. Animation enhances the computer/user interaction experience by providing an additional type of information or way of conveying the status of a computer program, or component thereof, to the user. For example, rather than causing a selected item to merely disappear or instantly change, animation enables a progression of changes to be displayed that, in combination with an understood context, informs a user what has occurred (e.g., a deleted file floating to a recycle bin). Furthermore, many would agree that animation makes interaction with a computer system more interesting and engages the attention of users more effectively. Furthermore, animation can also automate changes to property values. In particular a user-mode application sets up manual timers and then responding to those timers to change a value.
Animation is likely not incorporated into many user interfaces where such animation would be beneficial to a user. One reason is simply the cost of animating user interface elements. Animation is generally a time-consuming/cumbersome task. Taking a cost/benefit approach to implementing animation in graphical user interfaces, the benefit of incorporating animation should exceed its cost. Due to the current relatively high cost of animation programming, many applications that would benefit from animation are not animated because of its relatively high implementation cost.
One way to reduce the cost of animation is to reuse animation programming for multiple distinct uses. However, animation code is not generally reused. Instead, single (application) use animation code is programmed completely within the applications themselves at development time using programming tools. The animation behavior is defined explicitly within the compiled program code. During runtime, the animation is carried out by merely executing the previously programmed code segment. In addition to being a time-consuming endeavor, incorporating animation into a program potentially results in an unduly large program due to detailed data and instructions utilized to carry out the desired animation behaviors in display elements.
Efforts to enhance the programmability of animation in user interfaces have resulted in the design and provision of non-editable/monolithic animation script sequences from which executable script segments are referenced to provide a desired animation behavior. Such known animation programming methods, based for example upon the Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language (SMIL) standard, incorporate key-framing. The key-framing methods rely upon referencing particular segments of monolithic, non-editable, animation scripts.
The prior known key-framing approach exhibits a relative lack of flexibility with regard to programming new animation behaviors in a graphical user interface. The key-framing script comprises a compiled, non-editable, sequence of animation instructions that morph a display element (or composition of elements) between a designated beginning and end point. The known key-framing animation approach of selecting two points in an animation sequence and then executing the program script between those two points aids programmers seeking to implement animation behavior embodied within the previously created/compiled animation scripts. However, the key-framing approach limits the scope of supported animations to the linear progressions defined by an existing base animation script. The base animation script development is hindered by the need to identify and code all the supported animation behaviors before shipping the animation scripts to users/developers. During the lifetime of the animation script, many instances are likely to arise where a desired animation behavior is not contained in the script. However, the script is not editable by users/developers and therefore cannot be used to execute new desired animation behavior that was not previously encoded in the compiled animation script.
There is therefore a need for a more efficient, flexible, and less costly way of implementing interesting, informative, and meaningful animation behaviors into graphical user interface displays.

System supporting animation of graphical display elements through animation object instances


Process steps are provided for electronically sending promotional and advertising materials based upon consumer preferences by providing a unique identifier to a consumer's electronic mail address and sending electronic mail to the consumer, wherein the electronic mail includes a plurality of embedded Internet web sites. Thereafter, the consumer accesses the plurality of embedded Internet web sites in response to the sent electronic mail, and consumer movement within the plurality of accessed embedded Internet web sites is tracked. Promotional material can then be sent to the consumer based upon the tracked consumer movement within the embedded Internet web sites. Process steps are also provided to track consumer movement without the consumer's electronic mail address, if the consumer makes a purchase with a credit card while at a seller's web site. The IP address is linked to the credit card to track consumer movement within the web site.

The Internet connects thousands of computers world wide through well known protocols, for example, Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/Internet Protocol (IP), into a vast network. A computer needs a unique Internet Protocol (IP) address to communicate once connected to the Internet. Information on the Internet is stored world wide as computer files, mostly written in the Hypertext Mark Up Language ("HTML"). The collection of all such publicly available computer files is known as the World Wide Web (WWW).
The WWW is a multimedia-enabled hypertext system used for navigating the Internet and is made up of hundreds of thousands of web pages with images, text and video files, which can be displayed on a computer monitor. Each web page can have connections to other pages, which may be located on any computer connected to the Internet.
The WWW is based on the concept of hypertext, where connections from parts of text to other documents can be hidden behind words and phrases. The connections to hypertexts are referred to as hypertext links and they allow users to read documents in any order desired.
The WWW also uses hypermedia that connects links to pictures, sounds and any other data files, which can be stored on a computer. Conventionally, hypermedia connects data files regardless of their format.
A typical Internet user uses a client program called a "Web Browser" to connect to the Internet. A user can connect to the Internet via a proprietary network, such as America Online or CompuServe, or via an Internet Service Provider, e.g., Earthlink.
A Web Browser may run on any computer connected to the Internet. Currently various browsers are available of which two prominent browsers are Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
The Web Browser receives and sends requests to a web server and acquires information from the WWW. A web server is a program that, upon receipt of a request, sends the requested document to the requesting user.
A standard naming convention known as Uniform Resource Locator ("URL") has been adopted to represent hypermedia links and links to network services. Most files or service can be represented with a URL. URLs enable Web Browsers to go directly to any file held on any WWW server. A URL typically consists of three parts: the transfer format (the protocol type), the host name of the machine which holds the file (WWW server name) and the path name to the file.
Information from the WWW is accessed using well-known protocols, including the Hypertext Transport Protocol ("HTTP"), the Wide Area Information Service ("WAIS") and the File Transport Protocol ("FTP"), over TCP/IP protocol. The transfer format for standard WWW pages is Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP).
The Internet is also integrated with television, smart phones and other electronic devices, making electronic commerce a viable option for thousands of consumers and businesses alike. In a typical electronic commerce transaction, a consumer visits the web site of a seller, views an electronic image of a product or witnesses a product demonstration via a video/audio stream and may purchase a product or services by using a credit or debit card.
With the increasing popularity of the Internet, electronic mail ("email") has become a popular way to communicate. Email allows users to send text, pictures, video and audio recordings to a recipient or to a group of recipients.
Typically, a user will create an email message using an email program running on a computer that is or can be connected to a network of computers. The email message can include text, recorded and live video, audio files, image files and embedded web site links. Email messages also include sender's email address. A user electronically transmits email messages to a recipient or a group of recipients. The recipient(s) can read and reply to email messages using an email program running on a computer.
The Internet is commonly used to send and receive email messages from anywhere in the world. Every user has a unique email address. The general form of an email address is given as: email@example.com. Domain is defined as the domain name service ("DNS") that implements the protocol used for email transfer. The protocol used for electronic mail on the Internet is called the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol ("SMTP"), where a user invokes SMTP to send an email.
Retailers and business entities today can conduct large-scale business in the electronic commerce environment and communicate with thousands of consumers via email messages. Advertising materials to consumers can also be sent via email messages that can contain text, images, video clips and web site addresses.
Currently, consumers receive electronic advertising material either as a part of a mass email transmission ("email blast"), or when a consumer provides an individual profile. Both the foregoing options have limitations. Mass email blasts may not consider what an individual consumer desires or prefers. Furthermore, getting consumers to provide individual profiles is difficult because consumers may not willingly provide personal information.
Hence, what is needed is a method and system that efficiently and intelligently transmits advertising/promotional material by tracking individual user preferences.

Electronically distributing promotional and advertising material based upon consumer internet usage


The invention relates to compounds having pharmacological activity towards the 5-HT7 receptor, and more particularly to some 2,2a,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-3-aza-acenaphthylen substituted sulfonamide compounds, to processes of preparation of such compounds, to pharmaceutical compositions comprising them, and to their use for the treatment and or prophylaxis of a disease in which 5-HT is involved, such as CNS disorders.

The search for new therapeutic agents has been greatly aided in recent years by better understanding of the structure of proteins and other biomolecules associated with target diseases. One important class of proteins that has been the subject of extensive study is the family of 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin, 5-HT) receptors. The 5-HT7 receptor discovered in 1993 belongs to this family and has attracted great interest as a valuable new drug target (Terrón, J. A. Idrugs, 1998, vol. 1, no. 3, pages 302-310: "The 5HT7 receptor: A target for novel therapeutic Avenues?").
5-HT7 receptors have been cloned from rat, mouse, guinea pig and human cDNA and exhibit a high degree of interspecies homology (approx. 95%), but it is unique in that it has a low sequence homology with other 5-HT7 receptors (less than 40%). Its expression pattern, in particular structures of the central nervous system (CNS) (highest in hypothalamus (in particular suprachiasmatic nuclei) and thalamus) and other peripheral tissues (spleen, kidney, intestinal, heart and coronary artery), implicates the 5-HT7 receptor in a variety of functions and pathologies. This idea is reinforced by the fact that several therapeutic agents, such as tricyclic antidepressants, typical and atypical antipsychotics and some 5-HT2 receptor antagonists, display moderate to high affinity for both recombinant and functional 5-HT7 receptors.
Functionally, the 5-HT7 receptor has been implicated in regulation of circadian rhythms in mammals (Lovenberg, T. W. et al. Neuron, 1993, 11:449-458 "A novel adenylyl cyclase-activating serotonin receptor (5-HT7) implicated in the regulation of circadian rhythms"). It is known that disruption of circadian rhythms is related to a number of CNS disorders including depression, seasonal affective disorder, sleep disorders, shift worker syndrome and jet lag among others.
Distribution and early pharmacological data also suggest that the 5-HT7 receptor is involved in the vasodilatation of blood vessels. This has been demonstrated in vivo (Terrón, J. A., Br J Pharmacol, 1997, 121:563-571 "Role of 5-HT7 receptors in the long lasting hypotensive response induced by 5-hydroxytryptamine in the rat"). Thus selective 5-HT7 receptor agonists have a potential as novel hypertensive agents.
The 5-HT7 receptor has also been related with the pathophysiology of migraine through smooth muscle relaxation of cerebral vessels (Schoeffter, P. et al., 1996, Br J Pharmacol, 117:993-994; Terrón, J. A., 2002, Eur. J. Pharmacol., 439:1-11 "Is the 5-HT7 receptor involved in the pathogenesis and prophylactic treatment of migraine?"). In a similar manner, involvement of 5-HT7 in intestinal and colon tissue smooth muscle relaxation makes this receptor a target for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (De Ponti, F. et al., 2001, Drugs, 61:317-332 "Irritable bowel syndrome. New agents targeting serotonin receptor subtypes"). Recently, it has also been related to urinary incontinence (British J. of Pharmacology, Sep. 2003, 140(1) 53-60: "Evidence for the involvement of central 5HT-7 receptors in the micurition reflex in anaesthetized female rats").
In view of the potential therapeutic applications of agonists or antagonists of the 5HT7 receptor, a great effort has been directed to find selective ligands. Despite intense research efforts in this area, very few compounds with selective 5-HT7 antagonist activity have been reported (Wesolowska, A., Polish J. Pharmacol., 2002, 54: 327-341, "In the search for selective ligands of 5-HT5, 5-HT6 and 5-HT7 serotonin receptors").
WO 97/48681 discloses sulfonamide derivatives, which are 5-HT7 receptor antagonists, for the treatment of CNS disorders. The sulphur atom is linked to an aromatic group and to a N-containing heterocyclic group, optionally containing a further heteroatom selected from oxygen or sulphur.
WO 97/29097 describes sulfonamide derivatives for the treatment of disorders in which antagonism of the 5-HT7 receptor is beneficial. The sulphur atom is linked to an aromatic group and to a C1-C6 alkyl substituted N atom.
WO97/49695 describes further sulfonamide derivatives in which the N linked to the sulphur atom is also fully substituted, for example forming part of a piperidine.
WO 03/048118 describes another group of 5HT7 receptor antagonists. In this case aryl and heteroaryl sulfonamide derivatives wherein the sulfonamide group is a substituent on a cycloalkane or cycloalkene ring which additionally bears an amino substituent. The N linked to sulphur atom is fully substituted.
WO99/24022 discloses tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives for use against CNS disorders and binding to serotonin receptors, in particular 5-HT7.
WO 00/00472 refers to compounds which are 5-HT7 receptor antagonists. The compounds contain a N-containing fused heterocycle such as tetrahydroisoquinoline.
EP 21580 and EP 76072 describe sulfonamide compounds having antiarrhythmic activity, corresponding to the formula R2N(CH2)n—NH—SO2R1, 5-HT7 activity is not mentioned.
EP 937715 A1 refers to a tetrahydrobenzoindole compound that binds selectively to a serotonin receptor subtype 5-HT7 vs 5-HT2.
There is still a need to find compounds that have pharmacological activity towards the receptor 5-HT7, being both effective and selective, and having good "drugability" properties, i.e. good pharmaceutical properties related to administration, distribution, metabolism and excretion.


A method for operating an implantable medical device to control a stimulation therapy includes the steps of: sensing an acoustic energy; producing acoustic signals indicative of heart sounds of the heart of the patient over predetermined periods of a cardiac cycle during successive cardiac cycles; extracting a signal corresponding to a first heart sound (S1) from a measured acoustic signal; calculating an energy value corresponding to the extracted signal; storing the energy value corresponding to the first heart sound; and initiating an optimization procedure, the optimization procedure comprising the steps of: iteratively controlling a delivery of the pacing pulses based on successive energy values corresponding to successive first heart sound signals and determining an optimal PV interval or AV interval with respect to the energy values. A medical device and a computer readable medium to implement the method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to implantable medical devices, such as cardiac pacemakers and implantable cardioverter/defibrillators, and in particular to a method, a medical device, a computer program product and a computer readable medium for controlling a stimulation therapy using detected heart sounds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Auscultation is an important diagnostic method for obtaining information of the heart sounds, which is well established as diagnostic information of the cardiac function. The sounds are often described as S1-S4. During the working cycle of the heart mechanical vibrations are produced in the heart muscle and the major blood vessels. Acceleration and retardation of tissue cause the vibrations when kinetic energy is transformed to sound energy, e.g. at valve closing. Vibrations can also arise from turbulent blood flow, e.g. at stenosis and regurgitation. These vibrations may be listened to using a stethoscope or registered electronically using phonocardiography, i.e. graphical registration of the heart sounds by means of a heart microphone placed on the skin of the patient's thorax. Auscultation using a stethoscope is, to a large extent, built on practical experience and long practice since the technique is based on the doctor's interpretations of the hearing impressions of heart sounds. When applying phonocardiography, as mentioned above, a heart microphone is placed on the skin of the patient's thorax. In other words, it may be cumbersome and time-consuming to obtain knowledge of the heart sounds and the mechanical energy during the heart cycle using these manual or partly manual methods and, in addition, the obtained knowledge of the heart sounds may be inexact due to the fact that the knowledge is, at least to some extent, subjective.
The first tone S1 coincides with closure of the Mitral and Tricuspid valves at the beginning of systole. Under certain circumstances, the first tone S1 can be split into two components. An abnormally loud S1 may be found in conditions associated with increased cardiac output (e.g. fever, exercise, hyperthyroidism, and anemia), tachycardia and left ventricular hyperthrophy. A loud S1 is also characteristically heard with mitral stenosis and when the P-R interval of the EKG is short. An abnormally soft S1 may be heard with mitral regurgitation, heart failure and first degree A-V block (prolonged P-R interval). A broad or split S1 is frequently heard along the left lower sternal border. It is a rather normal finding, but a prominent widely split S1 may be associated with right bundle branch block (RBBB). Beat-to-beat variation in the loudness of S1 may occur in atrial fibrillation and third degree A-V block.
The second heart sound S2 coincides with closure of the aortic and pulmonary valves at the end of systole. S2 is normally split into two components (aortic and pulmonary valves at the end of systole) during inspiration. Splitting of S2 in expiration is abnormal. An abnormally loud S2 is commonly associated with systemic and pulmonary hypertension. A soft S2 may be heard in the later stages of aortic or pulmonary stenosis. Reversed S2 splitting (S2 split in expiration—single sound in inspiration) may be heard in some cases of aortic stenosis but is also common in left bundle branch block (LBBB). Wide (persistent) S2 splitting (S2 split during both inspiration and expiration) is associated with right bundle branch block, pulmonary stenosis, pulmonary hypertension, or atrial septal defect.
The third heart sound S3 coincides with rapid ventricular filling in early diastole. The third heart sound S3 may be found normally in children and adolescents. It is considered abnormal over the age of 40 and is associated with conditions in which the ventricular contractile function is depressed (e.g. CHF and cardiomyopathy). It also occurs in those conditions associated with volume overloading and dilation of the ventricles during diastole (e.g. mitral/tricuspid regurgitation or ventricular septal defect). S3 may be heard in the absence of heart disease in conditions associated with increased cardiac output (e.g. fever, anemia, and hyperthyroidism).
The fourth heart sound S4 coincides with atrial contraction in late diastole. S4 is associated with conditions where the ventricles have lost their compliance and have become "stiff". S4 may be heard during acute myocardial infarction. It is commonly heard in conditions associated with hyperthrophy of the ventricles (e.g. systemic or pulmonary hypertension, aortic or pulmonary stenosis, and some cases of cardiomyopathy). The fourth heart sound S4 may also be heard in patients suffering from CHF.
Thus, the systolic and diastolic heart functions are reflected in the heart sound. The power of energy value of the heart sounds and their relation may carry information of the workload and status of the heart. For example, as discussed above, patients with a wide QRS complex due to e.g. right bundle branch block (RBBB) or A-V block are associated with a widened or split first heart sound S1. Furthermore, changes of the energy of e.g. S1 over time can be a useful tool, for example, in diagnosis of different conditions. A high variability of the energy parameters during otherwise constant conditions indicates, for example, that filling is altering due to e.g. arrhythmia or conduction disorder. As can be understood from the above-mentioned, knowledge of the heart sounds and the corresponding mechanical energy can be used for diagnosis/monitoring and controlling pacing therapy of patients. In addition, this knowledge can also be used to optimize a stimulation therapy and to verify that the stimulation output evokes a desired response in a selected region of the heart. In patients suffering from heart failure, such as Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), the knowledge of the heart sounds and the corresponding energy parameters can be used to estimate the severity of the condition and/or to optimize the AV delay. Consequently, it would be beneficial if signals related to the heart sounds and the corresponding energy could be collected and used for controlling/optimizing pacing therapy in an automated manner.
The known technique presents a number of automated systems for controlling/optimizing stimulation therapy. For example, medical devices and methods in such devices for optimizing AV delay are known. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,283, a method and apparatus for pacing patients with severe congestive heart failure is shown. The heart sounds are sensed and used to derive a mechanical AV delay of the patient's heart. The pacemaker applied AV delay is adjusted until the measured AV falls in a predetermined range of between 180 ms to 250 ms. This solution may require extensive signal processing in order to derive the mechanical AV delay of the heart from the sensed heart sounds. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,298, a method and apparatus for optimizing a pacing mode of a cardiac pacemaker for patients having CHF are shown. The Total Acoustic Noise (TAN) is measured and an optimum pacing mode is determined by detecting the particular mode associated with the minimum TAN, wherein the integrated value of the acoustic signal during a single heart beat cycle (from P-wave to P-wave or from R-wave to R-wave) is referred to as the total acoustic noise (TAN). However, the total acoustic noise is blunt tool in the optimization of the AV interval due to the fact that it comprises noise from of a large number of sources including, for example, the first heart sound to the fourth heart sound (S1-S4). In addition, other factors such as activity level of the patient, position of the patient, etc. also affect and/or contribute to the noise. This may, for example, introduce errors since it may be difficult to identify which noise source that contributes to the total noise signal and to what extent different sources contribute to it, which, in turn, may entail unreliable optimization results. Hence, the optimization may be based, at least in part, on erroneous information. In WO 01/56651 a system and method for adjusting AV delay by monitoring heart sounds S1 and S2 is disclosed. The presence or absence of one or more of the heart sounds S1 and S2 in the sensor signal indicates whether a stimulation pulse evokes the desired response in the patient's heart. This solution is thus directed to monitoring whether a desired response was obtained where the presence of a predetermined heart sound indicates capture rather than optimizing the AV delay.
Thus, there is a need of a method and a medical device that are capable of automatically controlling the stimulation therapy, and in particular the AV or PV delay, and that provide reliable optimization results using detected heart sounds.


A current mirror circuit comprises first and second resistors for conducting first and second reference currents dependent upon a supply voltage, and first and second current mirrors coupled to the first and second resistors, the second resistor being in series with a voltage reference. The second current mirror mirrors the second reference current, and its mirrored current output is subtracted from the first reference current, the difference current being mirrored by the first current mirror to produce a controlled output current. The circuit can be arranged so that the controlled output current is independent of changes of the supply voltage, or, optionally with further current mirrors and voltage references, so that the controlled output current has a desired relationship with the supply voltage. A circuit is described for a cellular telephone transmitter power amplifier for which the controlled current decreases with increasing supply voltage in a working range, and decreases more rapidly beyond this range for over-voltage protection.

Current mirror circuits are well known and widely used in various applications, especially for providing controlled currents in integrated circuits. A current mirror circuit makes use of a reference current source to determine a mirrored current. In the absence of an accurate reference current source, it is common to derive the reference current via a resistor coupled to a power supply voltage. When the supply voltage is sufficiently well regulated, this can provide a sufficiently accurate reference current, but in other situations, for example when it is desired to avoid costs and loss of efficiency associated with supply voltage regulation, it becomes desirable to compensate for supply voltage variations in the generation of the reference current for the current mirror circuit.
In addition, there can be circumstances in which it is desirable to control currents generated by current mirror circuits in a particular predetermined manner with variations in supply voltage. For example, for optimum operation of a transmitter power amplifier of a portable cellular radio telephone with varying battery supply voltage, it may be desirable to increase a bias current as the supply voltage falls in order to extend a low-voltage working range of the telephone, and/or it may be desirable to limit this bias current in the event that the supply voltage exceeds a normal working range, thereby providing an over-voltage shutdown function.
By way of example, Prak U.S. Pat. No. 3,875,430 issued Apr. 1, 1975 and entitled "Current Source Biasing Circuit" discloses a current source in which a square law dependency of output current on supply voltage is overcome by operating a field effect transistor in an exponential portion of its current-voltage characteristic, making the output current substantially independent of the supply voltage. Joseph U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,399 issued Aug. 16, 1983 and entitled "Precision Current Source" discloses a current source using a two-transistor current drive network in which a ratio of current densities is controlled to a predetermined value using an amplifier feedback circuit, an output current being produced dependent upon the ratio of the current densities and independent of supply voltage variations. Yamada et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,780 issued May 27, 1986 and entitled "Constant Current Source Device Having A Ratio Metricity Between Supply Voltage And Output Current" discloses a current source in which an output current changes at substantially the same rate as changes in the supply voltage.
Other current source circuits are known which provide compensation for process and/or temperature variations, and/or which use two or more current mirror circuit stages. Examples of these are found in Djenguerian et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,053 issued Aug. 6, 1991 and entitled "Temperature-Compensated Integrated Circuit For Uniform Current Generation"; Ryat U.S. Pat. No. 5,498,952 issued Mar. 12, 1996 and entitled "Precise Current Generator"; Perraud U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,149 issued November 17, 1998 and entitled "Voltage Control Means Having A Reduced Sensitivity To Temperature Variations"; Kothandaraman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,847,556 issued Dec. 8, 1998 and entitled "Precision Current Source"; and Brown et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,864,228 issued Jan. 26, 1999 and entitled "Current Mirror Current Source With Current Shunting Circuit".
An object of this invention is to provide an improved current mirror circuit.

Current mirror circuits for variable supply voltages


A guitar stand system including a bracket, a strap, and one or more studs. The bracket is provided with an upper portion having a horizontally projecting brace and a lower portion having a pair of downwardly projecting legs defining a slot therebetween. A pair of spaced apart hitches is provided on the upper portion of the bracket. The studs may be mounted on a stable object or structure and the bracket may be slidably engaged on the studs. A guitar may be leaned adjacent to the bracket. The strap, which is provided with an “O” ring at each end, may be drawn across the guitar neck and the “O” rings may be engaged on the hitches to confine the guitar securely on the stand.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to stands for musical instruments. More particularly, the invention relates to a guitar stand system that cooperates with an object or structure to provide a stand for safely and conveniently resting a guitar.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During rehearsals and performances, musicians find it necessary to periodically set their instruments aside, in order to play a different instrument, to take a rest break, or to complete some other activity. It is desirable to rest an instrument in a place that is protected from possible damage to the instrument, yet conveniently accessible when needed. Freestanding instrument stands are available in a variety of designs. Typically, the stands are tailored to receive a particular instrument and to hold the instrument in an upright orientation to conserve floor space. The stands are designed to hold the instrument without causing damage, which would affect the usefulness or cosmetic appearance of the instrument. Many stands are collapsible for convenient storage and transport.
It is common for musicians to rehearse, record, and perform in an area crowded with equipment. In addition to lighting, microphone stands and wiring, larger equipment such as amplifiers and combination amplifiers are frequently present in the area where musicians are working. Many musicians perform on multiple instruments, and instruments not currently being used typically rest on a stand. The stand is preferably located in a place that is safely out of the way but conveniently accessible. With space being at a premium, it is inconvenient to place a freestanding instrument stand among the other items of equipment on stage or in a studio.
While freestanding instrument stands are designed to be as compact as possible, some floor space is occupied by the supports for the stand. It is desirable to have a relatively large base for the supporting members of an instrument stand to prevent the stand from toppling over, in the event of accidental contact with moving persons or equipment. Modern music performances involve significant amounts of activity on stage and instrument stands are susceptible to toppling. Certain instruments, such as guitars, present particular difficulties. The relatively long neck and rounded body make guitars susceptible to being toppled over and unsuitable for simply leaning against an object, such as an amplifier. There is a need for a guitar stand system that occupies minimal floor space and holds the guitar without damage to the instrument. There is a need for a guitar stand that holds the instrument securely against toppling and which allows the guitar to be easily and conveniently released, when the instrument is needed.


A method for processing an image of a scene of interest includes receiving an original target image of a scene of interest at an image processing device from an image source device, the original target image exhibiting shadowing effects associated with the scene of interest when the original target image was captured, the original target image comprising a plurality of elements and representing an instantaneous state for the scene of interest, pre-processing the original target image using a modification identification algorithm to identify elements of the original target image to be modified, and generating a copy mask with a mask region representing the elements to be modified and a non-mask region representing other elements of the original target image. An image processing device for processing an image of a scene of interest and a non-transitory computer-readable medium are also provided.

The present exemplary embodiment generally relates to processing a target image using a background model corresponding to the scene depicted by the target image. The exemplary embodiment finds particular application in identifying shadow portions in the target image. A preprocessing step performed prior to foreground estimation via background subtraction modifies the target image or the background estimate according to a modification identification algorithm. The modified images are such that shadow portions won't be detected as foreground after background subtraction is performed.
Video-based detection of moving and foreground objects is typically a prerequisite of video-based object tracking. Foreground objects are moving and stationary non-permanent objects in a scene, where non-permanent is relative to general understanding of a constant state. For instance, moving people in a scene are foreground objects. Another example is luggage left in a terminal, which, while static over possibly multiple frames of video, is not part of the general understanding of the constant state of the terminal, and thus are also foreground objects. "Background" is the stationary content in a scene relative to general understanding of constant state. Some variability in time can be included in the definition of background. For instance, camera shake and swaying trees have dynamic effects on acquired images, but these effects are typically included in the background.
One of the problems in computer vision applications, such as surveillance, traffic monitoring, patient care, etc., is detection of foreground objects, particularly moving and stationary non-permanent objects, in a manner that is sufficiently reliable that also makes efficient use of resources. Examples of scenarios that rely on object detection and tracking include video-based vehicle speed estimation, automated parking monitoring, tracking people, and measuring total experience time in retail spaces. A key challenge associated with moving object detection is identifying shadows casted by the objects and moving along with them across the scene. Shadows may cause problems when segmenting and extracting foreground objects due to the potential misclassification of shadow pixels as foreground pixels. Although shadow detection algorithms have been widely explored in the literature, most existing work makes limiting assumptions about the scene, requires a number of key parameters to be fine-tuned based on the particulars of the specific application, and considers shadow detection as a separate step from background subtraction. The limiting assumptions are a barrier to broad deployment. Furthermore, the typical processes result in computational complexity that grows as the number of originally detected foreground pixels increases, which is usually the case in high vehicular or pedestrian traffic conditions.
In applications that perform analytics from video captured using fixed cameras (e.g., stationary surveillance cameras), the two most commonly used methods of foreground and motion detection are frame-to-frame differencing (strictly for motion detection) and background estimation and subtraction (for foreground and motion detection). The frame differencing method typically requires tuning to a very narrow range of object speed relative to the frame rate and camera geometry. On the other hand, background estimation and subtraction is more flexible in terms of adjustment of the time scale and dynamically adjusting parameters in the background modeling. Strictly speaking, a background subtraction method detects foreground objects rather than moving objects; however, moving objects will trigger foreground detection as their appearance differs from the appearance of the background estimate. In other words, moving objects are also considered foreground objects. This is in contrast with frame-differencing methods, which are only capable of moving object detection.
Background subtraction segments the foreground by comparing or subtracting the estimated background image from the current video frame. Significant differences in the resulting difference image usually correspond to foreground objects. Strategies used to maintain a background model or estimate include running averages, Gaussian mixture models, median filtering, etc. A background model is a mathematical or algorithmic framework used to estimate the background of a scene at a given time. This estimate of the background can be referred to synonymously as the background estimate or the background model because, in addition as a means to estimate, the mathematical/algorithmic is an alternative representation of the estimate.
Ideally, background subtraction should detect real foreground objects with high accuracy, limiting false negatives as much as possible; at the same time, it should extract pixels of foreground objects with the maximum responsiveness possible, avoiding detection of spurious objects, such as cast shadows, or noise. One of the main challenges associated with foreground or moving object detection is identifying shadows casted by objects and moving along with them across the scene. Shadows can pose serious challenges when segmenting and extracting moving objects due to the potential misclassification of shadow pixels as foreground pixels. The difficulties associated with shadow detection arise since shadows and objects share two important visual features. First, shadow points are detectable as foreground points since they typically differ significantly from the background. Second, shadows have similar patterns of motion as the objects casting them. Shadows can be especially problematic when they touch other moving objects in the scene, thereby making it difficult to identify distinct moving objects. For the above reasons, shadow identification has become an active research area.
Shadow detection algorithms have been widely explored in the literature. For additional information on shadow detection algorithms, see, e.g., Prati et al., Detecting Moving Shadows: Algorithms and Evaluation, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. 25, No. 7, July 2003, pp. 918-923. Existing approaches (deterministic or statistical, model- or non-model-based in terms of the decision process) exploit a large set of assumptions to limit complexity and to avoid being unduly constrained to a specific scene model. These existing approaches rely on carefully selected parameters either in the shadow model or the decision threshold. This limits their shadow detection accuracy as well as extendibility.
Moreover, the existing work considers shadow detection separate from background subtraction. Specifically, traditional background subtraction methods extract a foreground that includes both real moving objects and shadows and then apply a shadow detection criterion on the detected foreground area to remove shadow pixels that were extracted as foreground pixels during the background subtraction. The computational complexity of this approach grows as the number of (originally) detected foreground pixels increases (which is usually the case in scenes with high vehicular or pedestrian traffic).

Method and apparatus for processing image of scene of interest