The present invention satisfies these needs by providing an improved system and method for tokenless authorization of an electronic scrip transaction using at least one scrip supporter biometric sample and an electronic identicator. The preferred embodiment of the method comprises the steps of a scrip supporter registration step, wherein a scrip supporter registers with an electronic identicator at least one registration biometric sample, an electronic scrip transaction proposal step, comprising electronic scrip donator account data, at least one transmittal step, wherein a scrip supporter bid biometric sample is obtained from the scrip supporter's person and is electronically transmitted to the electronic identicator, a scrip supporter identification step, wherein the electronic identicator compares the bid biometric sample with at least one registration biometric sample for producing either a successful or failed identification of the scrip supporter, wherein upon successful identification of the scrip supporter, a scrip transaction is biometrically authorized, without the scrip supporter presenting any personalized man-made tokens such as smartcards or magnetic swipe cards.

Scrip systems have become a popular part of retail point of sale and internet commerce marketing. Scrip is a system whereby an individual person, known herein as a Scrip Supporter, can make donations to a pre-designated non-profit entity (Scrip Beneficiary) based on that person's usage patterns within the designated scrip system or program. Currently, over $2 billion is raised annually by non-profit organizations annually via such scrip programs.
There are several embodiments of scrip systems or programs. Scrip is defined as any unit of data, such as currency, products or services, which is honored by a Scrip Merchant such that a Scrip Supporter's purchase, expenditure or usage of these units results in the Scrip Supporter's donation of goods, services or currency to a pre-designated non-profit entity (Scrip Beneficiary). Such scrip may be actual tender in the form of gift certificates, stored-value cards or paper coupons having a pre-determined dollar value. As such, each unit of scrip has a tender or real face value when used with the participating scrip program merchant. Scrip can also include minutes of telephone calling time, miles towards earning a free airplane flight, points towards a gallon of gas, and the like.
In one example, these scrip may be purchased directly from the merchant by the non-profit entity at a discount on their face-value. In this case, the discount to the Scrip Beneficiary may be a percentage based on volume, such that when pre-purchasing a $100 volume of scrip, the Scrip Beneficiary may pay only $95 for the scrip total actual tender or face value of $100. The Scrip Beneficiary re-sells these scrip to its Scrip Supporters for the full price, or the full face-value, of the scrip. The Scrip Beneficiary thereby keeps the dollar differential as a means for raising funds for its programs. The Scrip Supporters then bring the scrip directly to the participating merchant to make purchases for goods or services.
Another example involves a Scrip Supporter registering any or all of their existing financial accounts, such as debit, credit or stored value accounts, for use in a donation program to benefit what is often a tax-deductible, non-profit or charitable Scrip Beneficiary that has pre-registered with the system. Examples of such non-profit entities are public schools, churches, civic organizations, and the like. Participating merchants will enable Scrip Supporters to automatically make donations to enrolled non-profit organizations, based on service usage, expenditures or purchases by Scrip Supporters. The Scrip Supporters can do this using their registered debit and credit accounts by automatically tendering a pre-designated percentage or fixed dollar surcharge per transaction directly to the Scrip Beneficiary via draft or electronic funds transfer (EFT). The Scrip Supporter can then track these electronic donations for tax-deduction purposes.
Another example involves a Scrip Supporter's use of certain services or purchase of certain products, resulting in a participating merchant itself donating goods, services, or currency directly to a participating Scrip Beneficiary.
Therefore, scrip programs enable a participating merchant to benefit from new sales to Scrip Supporters, while a Scrip Beneficiary can benefit by having raised funds through several programs. In addition, the Scrip Supporter may benefit: a) by having obtained pre-paid scrip towards the purchase of desired goods or services at no additional premium than the Scrip Supporter would have otherwise paid when making those purchasing via traditional means at the participating merchant, or; b) by having a tax-deductible percentage or automatic surcharge on their purchases through participating merchants, donated to their selected Scrip Beneficiary based on their use of registered financial accounts.
However, current scrip programs rely on portable tokens such as financial account cards or paper scrip coupons, and this is disadvantageous. Namely, it is costly to produce and distribute such tokens to Scrip Supporters. Furthermore, as cards and paper scrips are lost, damaged, or stolen, merchants and non-profit entities often absorb the cost of replacing them to the consumer. For example, if a stored value card or a paper coupon containing pre-paid scrip is stolen or lost, a fraudulent party can present such a portable scrip token in order to obtain the cost-savings or other benefits to which they are not rightfully entitled. Therefore, another problem with such tokens is that there is a tenuous link between the token and the actual identity of the authorized Scrip Supporter. As a result, the merchant or the Scrip Beneficiary may have to bear the cost of inadvertently providing these incentives to a consumer who does not have the requisite pre-payments or purchasing patterns to benefit from them. Hence, the merchant or the non-profit may literally be rewarding the wrong party and paying twice for this mistake. This is because the original consumer will likely demand from the merchant or the non-profit their rightful scrip even without having the token to authenticate their account. The merchant will thereby have to pay for the scrip for that genuine consumer as well. Therefore, there are few, if any, mechanisms in this system for establishing the correct identity of a Scrip Supporter and validating their authority to obtain or use scrip.
The use of various biometrics, such as fingerprints, hand prints, voice prints, retinal images, handwriting samples and the like have been suggested for authenticating the identification of individuals. A biometric is any distinct human characteristic which can uniquely identify an individual. However, because the biometrics are generally stored in electronic (and thus reproducible) form on a token and because the comparison and verification process is not isolated from the hardware and software directly used by the Scrip Supporter attempting access, the problem of having to carry cards is not alleviated. Further, such systems do not adequately isolate the identity verification process from tampering by someone attempting to gain unauthorized access. Examples of this approach to system security are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,821,118 to Lafreniere; U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,068 to Piosenka et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,086 to Lilley et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,089 to Uchida et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,194 to Barbanell; U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,427 to Yang; U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,428 to Igaki et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,680 to Kobayashi et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,102 to Higuchi et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,901 to Hiramatsu; U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,588 to Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 5,210,797 to Usui et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,152 to Fishbine et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,230,025 to Fishbine et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,606 to Horie; U.S. Pat. No. 5,265,162 to Bush et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,242 to Heath, Jr.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,442 to Knapp; U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,303 to Willmore, all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
An example of a token-based security system which relies on a biometric of a person can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,527 to Gullman et al. In Gullman's system, the person must carry and present a credit card sized token (referred to as a biometrics security apparatus) containing a microchip in which is recorded characteristics of the authorized person's voice. In order to initiate the access procedure, the person must insert the token into a terminal such as a public kiosk, and then speak into the terminal to provide a biometrics input for comparison with an authenticated input stored in the microchip of the presented token. The process of identity verification is generally not isolated from potential tampering by one attempting unauthorized access. If a match is found, the remote terminal may then signal the host computer that access should be permitted, or may prompt the person for an additional code, such as a PIN (also stored on the token), before sending the necessary verification signal to the host computer.
Although Gullman's reliance of comparison of stored and input biometrics potentially reduces the risk of unauthorized access as compared to numeric codes, like personal identification numbers, Gullman's use of the token as the repository for the authenticating data combined with Gullman's failure to isolate the identity verification process from the possibility of tampering greatly diminishes any improvement to fraud resistance resulting from the replacement of a numeric code with a biometrics. Further, the system remains cumbersome and inconvenient to use because it too requires the presentation of a personalized memory token in order to initiate an access request.
Almost uniformly, prior art disclosing biometrics are token-based systems which teach away from biometrics recognition without dependence on personalized memory tokens. Reasons cited for such teachings range from storage requirements for biometrics recognition systems to significant time lapses in identification of a large number of individuals, even for the most powerful computers.
In view of the foregoing, there has long been a need for an electronic scrip transaction system that is completely tokenless, ensuring Scrip Supporter convenience by providing authorization without requiring the Scrip Supporter to possess, carry, and present one or more proprietary tokens containing stored data customized for the Scrip Supporter, such as man-made portable memory devices, in order to accumulate the scrip, expend scrip units, or make scrip donations to their desired Scrip Beneficiary. Anyone who has lost a card, left it at home, had a card stolen knows well the keenly and immediately-felt inconvenience caused by such problems. Therefore, there is a need for an electronic biometric scrip transaction system that is entirely tokenless.
There is a further need for a computerized electronic scrip transaction system that uses a strong, secure, non-transferable link to the person being identified, as opposed to merely verifying a Scrip Supporter's possession of any physical objects that can be freely transferred. Therefore, there is a need for an electronic scrip transaction system that relies on Scrip Supporter biometrics, such as finger images, facial scans, voice prints, iris or retinal scans, and the like. Such a biometric is any distinct human characteristic which can uniquely identify an individual.
There is another need in the industry for a scrip system that is sufficiently versatile to accommodate both Scrip Supporters who desire to use personal identification numbers (PINs) for added security and also Scrip Supporters who prefer not to use them.
Lastly, such a system must be affordable and flexible enough to be operatively compatible with existing networks having a variety of electronic transaction devices and scrip system configurations.
As such, it is an objective of the invention to provide an electronic scrip system and method that is completely tokenless and eliminates the need for a Scrip Supporter to directly possess any personalized, portable man-made token which is encoded or programmed with data personal to or customized for a single authorized Scrip Supporter, such as a smart card, magnetic swipe card or a personal computer with resident Scrip Supporter-specific data.
It is another object of the invention to provide a computer system that is capable of verifying a Scrip Supporter's identity from convenient, secure and non-transferable data, as opposed to merely verifying his possession of propriety objects and information. Therefore it is an objective of this invention that the system use a biometric sample with unique physical characteristics and which is obtained directly from the person of the Scrip Supporter. One such biometric sample is registered with the computer system and another is provided when the Scrip Supporter conducts a scrip transaction. These two biometric samples are compared by an electronic identicator, which is a computer that uses this comparison to validate or deny the identity of the Scrip Supporter.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a computer system wherein access is secure, yet designed to be convenient and easy for a Scrip Supporter to use.
Yet another object of the invention is to enable a Scrip Supporter to donate scrip which are either immediately provided to a pre-designated Scrip Beneficiary or are stored for later access by the Scrip Beneficiary.
Another objective of this invention is that it function at both with merchants at the retail point of sale and with merchants over the internet.
Another objective of the invention is that the scrip participating entity, whether a Scrip Merchant or a Scrip Beneficiary, be identified by an electronic identicator, wherein the Scrip Merchant's identification is verified. Therefore, the Scrip Merchant would register with the electronic identicator some identification data, which may consist of any of the following data: a hardware ID code, a phone number, an email address, a street address, a digital certificate, an account number, a biometric, or a biometric and PIN combination.
Another objective of the invention is to be added in a simple and cost-effective manner to existing terminals currently installed at points of sale and used over the internet.
Yet another objective of the invention is to be efficiently and effectively operative with existing financial transactions systems and protocols, specifically as these systems and protocols linked to the processing of electronic scrip programs.

System and method for tokenless biometric electronic scrip


A phosphoric ester demulsifier composition prepared by reacting one or more alkylphenol-formaldehyde resin alkoxylates or one or more polyalkylene glycols, or a mixture thereof, with about 0.001 to about 1.0 molar equivalents of one or more phosphorous compounds selected from phosphorous oxychloride, phosphorous pentoxide and phosphoric acid and a method of using the demulsifier composition to resolve water-in-oil emulsions.

Crude oil produced from the geological formations can contain various amounts of water. Water and crude oil are naturally non-miscible. However, when naturally occurring interfacial active compounds are present, these compounds can aggregate on the oil and water interface and cause water to form droplets within the bulk oil phase. During crude oil lifting through production tubings, the oil and water encounters an increased mixing energy from rapid flow through chokes and bends. This additional mixing energy can emulsify the oil and water. This oil external, water internal two phase system is commonly referred to as crude oil emulsion. This emulsion can be quite stable. However, the presence of water in crude oil can interfere with refining operations, induce corrosion, increase heat capacity and reduce the handling capacity of pipelines and refining equipment. Therefore, The crude oil that is to be shipped out of the oilfield should be practically free of water and usually has a maximum water content limit of about three percent, depending on the type of crude and oil company.
The emulsified water can also contain various amounts of salts. These salts are detrimental to crude oil refining processes due to potential corrosion in the refinery. In crude oil refining, desalting techniques comprise the deliberate mixing of the incoming crude oil with a fresh "wash water" to extract the water soluble salts and hydrophilic solids therefrom.
Primary dehydration of the crude oil occurs in oil field water oil separation systems such as "free water knock out" and "phase separators". Quite often these systems are not adequate for efficient separation due to factors such as over production, unexpected production changes and system underdesigns. In these cases, emulsion breaking chemicals are added to the production processes to assist and promote rapid water oil separations.
Commonly used emulsion breaking chemicals include alkylphenol formaldehyde resin alkoxylate (AFRA), polyalkylene glycol (PAG), organic sulfonates, and the like. These compounds, however, may not provide satisfactory performance in all instances. Accordingly, there is an ongoing need for new, economical and effective chemicals and processes for resolving emulsions into their component parts of oil and water or brine.

Phosphoric ester demulsifier composition


An arrangement for reducing interference in a wireless electronic shelf label (ESL) (100) having a layered structure the ESL comprising: a display layer (101) comprising display material, a circuit board (203) with a backplane material structure and an antenna (202), and a circuit board arrangement with control electronics for controlling the operation of the label, such as the display and the radio communication, and a resilient layer having a space for a rigid component, such as a battery, wherein said resilient layer is arranged to provide a substantially even total thickness of said label (100), wherein the radio communication control further comprises means for radio frequency communication via modulated backscatter, wherein the arrangement is ring resonator arrangement isolating the ESL from the electrically conducting shelf arranged on the antenna circuit board, the ring resonator arrangement comprising a plurality of ring resonators (204) that are electrically isolated from the antenna and arranged at least on the side nearest the shelf when the ESL is attached to the shelf.

Electronically controllable compact display units find new and wider applications continuously. A well-known and a steadily growing field of applications can be found in stores and warehouses, where instead of conventional paper price labels on the shelves, the prices and other product related information is displayed using electronic shelf labels.
The electronic shelf label system, also known by the acronym ESL, is a system used by retailers for displaying product pricing on shelves. Typically, electronic shelf labels are implemented as electronic display modules that are attached to the front edge of retail shelving. These modules use different technologies to show the current product price and also other information to the customer. A communication network allows the price display to be automatically updated whenever a product price is changed. This automated system reduces pricing management labor costs and improves pricing accuracy.
ESL's are particularly suitable for use in large shops or supermarkets that offer thousands or tens of thousands product items for sale, whose prices must be updated frequently and correctly.
The electronic display modules can be updated from a centralized control sys-tem via wired or wireless communication. All-wired systems have obvious problems in terms of the layout limitations caused by complicated cabling due to the high number of individual ESL displays. Wireless systems have their major technological bottleneck in the need for individual power supplies for each ESL display unit and requirement for long power supply lifetime, i.e. operational life-time for the batteries. In addition, the wireless systems need to be able to pro-vide dependable communication channel in an environment that has high number of individual receiver-transmitter units that in order to prolong the battery life, need to operate with minimum transmitting power levels.
A display technology that is suitable for ESL applications is a so called Electronic Paper Display (EPD) that possesses a paper-like high contrast appearance, ultra-low power consumption, and a thin, light form. EPD's aim to give the viewer the experience of reading from paper, while providing the capability to electronically update the displayed information. EPD's are technology enabled, as one possibility, by electronic ink. Such ink carries an electrical charge enabling it to be updated through electronics. Electronic ink is well suited for EPD's as it is a reflective technology which requires no front or backlight, is viewable under a wide range of lighting conditions, including direct sunlight, and requires no power to maintain an image. Electrical power is only consumed when the displayed data is changed. In order become widely applied in different type of applications, wireless ESL's or corresponding electronically controlled wireless displays are faced with a number of requirements that are partly dictated by the manufacturing process and partly by the end use, for example, the use, environment and manageability in a store by the store personnel.
WO 0067110 (A1) (E Ink Corporation) discloses a display unit for electronic shelf price label system that utilizes electronic ink and EPD technology. The electronic display unit in WO 0067110 features a printable electronic display comprising an encapsulated electrophoretic display medium. The resulting electronic display is flexible and has in large measure the applications of a printed display. Further, since the encapsulated electrophoretic display medium used in the present invention can be printed, the display itself can be made inexpensively. The encapsulated electrophoretic display medium is an optoelectronically active material which comprises at least two phases: an electrophoretic contrast media phase and a coating/binding phase. The electrophoretic display medium can form, for example, a full color, multi-color, or two color (e.g. black and white) display. The electrophoretic phase comprises at least one species of encapsulated electrophoretic particles, having distinct physical and electrical characteristics, dispersed in a clear or dyed suspending fluid. The coating/binding phase includes a polymer matrix that surrounds the electrophoretic phase. In this embodiment, the polymer in the polymeric binder is capable of being dried, crosslinked, or otherwise cured as in traditional inks, and therefore a printing process can be used to deposit the encapsulated electrophoretic display medium onto a substrate.
In ESL's from the manufacturing point of view, in the order to achieve truly low cost ESL's, a roll-to-roll or web-based manufacturing process is preferred. This brings about severe limitations to the encapsulation of the ESL's to be suitable for such manufacturing methods, for example, due to the requirement a certain level of flexibility of the structures. Typically not all of the components required in an ESL and having cost and technical performance at acceptable level are nowadays available as mechanically flexible structures and this limitation would need to be somehow addressed in the manufacturing methods.
In order for the ESL's to be easily manageable during the manufacturing process and in the following logistical steps, the encapsulation of the ESL's need to provide a somewhat flexible structure against damage and preferably even thickness of the encapsulation or casing without any protruding or intending rims or order structures. Reasons for such requirements arise from, for example, simple and easy packaging and delivery of the items to the end user from the manufacturer, any preparations, automated or manual, needed for the ESL's to be used in the shelves (often also including adding conventional printed information on the ESL's) and installation/mounting of the ESL's on the shelves or holders therein. ESL's undergo a lot of handling during the preparation before they are installed to those substantially permanent final locations in the shelves. This make the requirements for these display modules clearly different from those of, for example, small sized electronic devices to be personally carried out in pockets etc. This also opens up more possibilities to choose materials as well in many cases relieves requirements for the size/dimensions of the devices. Further, the structure and encapsulation of ESL's need to be such that the wireless communication with the control systems can be realized with minimal or negligible interference from the encapsulation itself or by the surrounding structures, such as the metal shelves that the ESL's are to be attached to in the shop.
In addition, the preferred shape of the encapsulated devices in some applications is not a straight card type shape, but in order to improve the visual appearance and readability, the ESL display can also have a slightly curved shape so that the displayed information appears on the outwards curved surface. Further, in many applications the extreme thinness of the product might not be preferable, because it can complicate the handling of ESL's.
WO 2009103857 (A1) (Marisense Oy) discloses a layered thin display unit for ESL's comprising a flexible display layer having display material, preferably epaper, a flexible backplane layer having an electrode structure for driving the display material, a rigid component and a resilient layer. The unit is provided with wireless communication means including an antenna that is arranged in the backplane layer. This thin layered structure enables a roll-to-roll or web-based manufacturing process.
The main benefits of the display modules according to WO 2009103857 lie in the mechanical resistance of substantially thin and flexible display module laminates against mechanical impacts, as well as in the completely smooth outer surface and even thickness to aid overall manageability. Further, the encapsulation technique results in casings that have good performance in respect to the wireless communication using an internal antenna. A further benefit is the fact that the visual appearance of the ESL's resembles paper sheets or paper labels that are familiar for the customers and that can also be placed in the same type of holders, pockets or space as the conventional paper labels. It further allows using such energy source, for example, battery solutions, that provide long operational lifetimes without high cost that would be inherent for more exotic battery technologies.
The ESL's may, like in WO 2009103857, be implemented as semi-active RF tags that may be powered from incident RF communicating via modulated backscatter. The backscatter technique is relatively sensitive to interference form adjacent metal objects. As the ESL's are attached to shelves which often are of electric conducting material, typically metal, these metal shelves induce RF interference to the ESL's that are attached to them.

Arrangement for reducing interference in an electronic shelf label


Ionomer composite resins and core/shell nanoparticles are described. The ionomer resin contains a metal ion. The metal can be in the core, shell or both.

There is a growing interest in embedding nano-metals in polymer matrices because of antimicrobial and conductivity properties (thermal and electrical). By combining the properties from both inorganic (i.e., silver, gold, copper etc.) and organic (polymer) systems, new composite products can be generated that find expanded use in antimicrobial applications, thermal and electrical conductivity applications, and so on.
Metals have been used in medical care to prevent and to treat infection. In recent years, that technology has been applied to consumer products to prevent transmission of infectious disease and to kill harmful bacteria, such as, Staphylococcus and Salmonella. In common practice, noble metals, metal ions, metal salts or compounds containing metal ions having antimicrobial properties can be applied to surfaces to impart an antimicrobial property to the surface. If, or when, the surface is inoculated with harmful microbes, the antimicrobial metal ions or metal comp exes, in effective concentration, slow or prevent growth of those microbes.
In the context of antimicrobial coatings, colloidal silver has been indicated to work as a catalyst disabling a metabolic enzyme that bacteria, fungi and viruses have. Many pathogens can be eradicated effectively in the presence of even minute traces of silver. Indeed, colloidal silver is effective against more than 650 different pathogens. Unlike antibiotics, strains resistant to silver have yet to be identified.
Another area of interest is the use of composite resins in products that utilize the thermal and/or electrical conductivity properties of the metals. Those include, inks, toners, biosensor materials, composite fibers, cryogenic, superconducting materials, cosmetic products, and electronic components. Methods, such as, 3D printing and ink jet deposition, can be used to manipulate the functional composite resins to form a substrate or device of choice.
Conventional methods for making polymer/metal nanostructured materials require melt mixing or extrusion of metal nanoparticles with polymer matrixes which often leads to aggregated metal particles, as reported in the literature (also called ex situ).
New methods are emerging slowly that use in situ synthesis of metal nanoparticles in polymer matrices which involves the dissolution and reduction of metal salts on matrices or simultaneous incorporation during polymer synthesis. The polymer matrix has a role in keeping the metal nanoparticles dispersed as well as maintaining overall chemical and mechanical stability. WO 2013026961 describes a process for obtaining an ionomer, such as, an antimicrobial amorphous ionomer composition wherein at least one amine functional polymer is reacted with a silver halide. The metal is incorporated into the polymer after formation of the polymer, not during polymer formation.
There remains a need for new methods and composite binder resins wherein metal ion is incorporated within the polymer backbone during synthesis. Ionomer composite resins and core/shell nanoparticles thereof, wherein metal ion (meth)acrylate monomers are polymerized with styrene/monomers to form the resins, are described.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A video image of the article to be produced is displayed on a computer. A first geometric shape is developed to enclose fully the video image of the article. The first geometric shape provides a video image of a workpiece of machinable stock and the approximate unscaled dimensions of the workpiece. A selection is made from a library of known machine tool tables to select the exact type of machine tool table to be used to produce the article. The video image of the table is positioned visually underneath each of the video image of the article and first geometric shape. The video representation of the machine tool table includes a frame of reference origin which corresponds to the actual machine tool table zero reference. The library also includes the various locating, fastening and holding devices used with each type of machine tool table from which symbols representing these devices can be selected, displayed and positioned on the terminal in their working relationship with respect to the displayed image of the workpiece. The input device is again used to form a second geometric shape fully enclosing the video image of the article, the first geometric shape and any displayed symbol, and further being itself enclosed by the video representation of the table. The second geometric shape provides a video image of a fixture subplate, its approximate dimensions and its approximate location on the machine tool table. From the predefined frame of reference for the displayed representation of the machine tool table and a predefined location point for each displayed device symbol, compute a set of data points which correspond to the actual distance of each device to be used in the fixture from the machine table zero reference. The data is utilized to program the numerical controller of the machine tool to machine a piece of material mounted to the machine tool table in the approximate unscaled dimension and location of the second geometric shape as displayed on the video display terminal to form the subplate.

It has become common to produce an article of manufacture through a process or system which is typically referred to as computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM). Through the use of computer systems programmed with CAD/CAM software, the time necessary to engineer, prototype and manufacture an article of manufacture has been substantially reduced.
The CAD software allows the designer to visualize a dimensionally scaled image of the article to be manufactured on a video display terminal of the computer which contains the CAD software. Through use of the CAD software, the designer can then engineer the article by acting only on the displayed video image of the article. With each iteration in the design sequence, the CAD software will calculate useful information regarding the article and graphically display such information. This information may include, inter alia, geometries of the article, such as size, shape, dimensions and points of intersection, and relevant textual information concerning the article. The information is generally displayable in conjunction with the video representation.
By reviewing the video image of the article and any displayed information, the designer can, over one or more iterations, interactively modify the video image and review the modifications in conjunction with the updated information. The final iteration results in an enhanced and perfected design of the article. The CAD software can then develop digital data which defines or describes the final design and from which the article can be manufactured. The data may be stored in any appropriate medium.
The data is interpreted by the CAM software and a machine tool operator to program a machine tool numerical controller with a set of (x,y,z) data points and the action to occur between each data point, such as the cutting tool path and the tool selection for example, to develop a machining sequence. The (x,y,z) data is usually referenced from a frame of reference origin within a machine table fixture which holds the machinable stock from which the article is fabricated during the machining sequence.
The fixture in turn is mounted to the machine tool table which has its own frame of reference origin. In the prior art, considerable time and effort is expended in the set up or design of the fixture and its proper location upon the machine tool table to obtain the correct offset between the fixture and table frame of reference origins. Following is an exemplary description of a typical prior art fixture set up procedure.
The set up man and numerical controller programmer first need to discuss how the article is to be held for machining, the location of the fixture frame of reference origin and part orientation, and how the programmer will program the machining sequence so as not to damage the fixture. The set up man then calculates the location of alignment pins, clamps and hold down bolts from the fixture reference frame origin. The subplate stock for the fixture must be cut and placed on the machine table. The machinist needs to accurately align the fixture subplate on the table by using a precision indicator and soft hammer. Once the subplate is properly located it is clamped into place and the numerical controller programmed with the hole locations for the dowel pins and other holding devices. The machine tool reference frame origin must be referenced very accurately to the fixture reference frame origin so that the hole locations in the subplate are machined in the calculated positions. However, this step is accomplished by manually jogging the machine tool from the table reference origin and visually placing it at the fixture reference origin and setting this offset between each reference origin into the controller. After the subplate is machined and the pins, clamps and stock are affixed thereto, the numerical controller may then be programmed with the machining sequence program for the article.
Therefore, a significant disadvantage and limitation of the prior art fixture setup procedure exists in the need to manually align the fixture on the machine tool table and further manually referencing the fixture reference origin to the machine tool table reference origin. Of course, the offset between the reference origins can only be calculated as precisely as the machinist "eyeballing" the fixture reference origin when placing the machine tool over it and the scale of the measuring instrument used to measure the distance between each reference origin.
Various prior art methods and apparatus have been developed for machine tool table fixture set up. The known prior art is as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 4,645,391 for Work Set Up Method and Apparatus; U.S. Pat. No. 4,168,464 for Set Point Sensing System for Numerically Controlled Machine Tools; U.S. Pat. No. 4,073,215 for Subplate Assembly for Machine Tools; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,763 for Setting Fixture for Machine Tools.

Machine tool fixture computer aided setup


In an unstable driving situation of a vehicle with an electronically controlled hydraulic brake system with a front/rear split of brake circuits, for instance during a lane change, the inlet valve of one of the two front wheel brakes may be closed for the ESC in order to raise the pressure in only the other wheel brake of the brake circuit. If then the vehicle runs the risk of tipping over, ARP sets in. The vehicle path needs to be readjusted to reduce lateral forces. The ARP demands a pressure build-up in the curve-outer front wheel brake. The corresponding inlet valve will be opened for the ARP to allow a pressure build-up. However, the ESC may still demand a higher pressure on the initially actuated wheel brake to counter understeering. In this event, the inlet valve of the curve-inner wheel brake, which is under high pressure from the ESC intervention, will remain open to allow a cross-flow of brake fluid from the ESC wheel to the ARP wheel.

The present invention relates to a method of coordinating pressure demands within a brake circuit of an electronically controlled hydraulic brake system for an automotive vehicle. Electronically controlled brake systems include an electronic control unit which applies various algorithms to data collected from a variety of sensors detecting vehicle behavior.
Such algorithms include anti-lock brake control, traction control, electronic stability control (ESC), automatic rollover prevention (ARP), and possibly others. While anti-lock braking controls the brake pressure during a driver-operated braking maneuver, traction control, ESC, and ARP are so-called active brake controls, i.e. a pressure generator, e.g. a pump, will generate brake pressure to be applied to individual wheels independent of the driver's brake activation.
Sometimes two of the algorithms, simultaneously or in overlapping time segments, detect an instability in vehicle behavior, e.g. wheel speeds, yaw rate, lateral acceleration, etc., based on different criteria that would trigger different interventions. Thus an arbitration logic will prioritize one algorithm over the other or find a compromise by initiating a control including components of both algorithms.
In highly dynamic situations, i.e. in situations with rapidly changing pressure demands, a quick intervention and real-time performance is of high importance. In order to provide fluid pressure as quickly as possible during active braking operations, it has been suggested to include high-pressure accumulators which are filled by the pump when currently no intervention is required and connected to the brake lines when necessary. Other suggestions include priming pumps and other additional devices.
Any additional piece of hardware, however, will add to the packaging space, to the weight, and to the price of the brake system.
It is therefore an objective of the present invention to take advantage of existing hardware within the brake system to attain a rapid real-time pressure build-up where needed.

Method of coordinating pressure demands in an electronically controlled brake system


A title management apparatus resident on a first computer including a memory for storing a control program and data, and a processor for executing the control program and for managing the data. The apparatus includes user data resident in the memory including a set of user security indicia. The apparatus also includes a first title object resident in the memory including a title structure, the title structure further comprising a content element, a set of attributes, and a set of title object security indicia. The apparatus further includes a set of stub objects coupled to the title object, wherein the set of stub objects can further optimize the title structure; an authorization structure configured to selectively redeem the content element based at least in part of the user security indicia; and, a title management structure configured to associate a user with the first title object based at least in part of the user data and the title attributes.

The Internet has become an efficient mechanism for globally distributing digital content, such as documents, pictures, music, and other types of digital content. Information can now be transmitted directly and instantly across the Internet from the content owner to the content buyer, without having to first convert it into physical form, such as paper documents, compact disks, photographs, etc.
However, the advantage of easy digital communication has also allowed digital content to be easily pirated by just about anyone with a computer and Internet access. The combination of high-speed broadband Internet access, digital content compression software (which reduces the size of digital content files), peer-to-peer file trading networks (which allows users to post content files), and lack of a viable digital rights standard, has caused the content owners to lose control of their content. Consequently, content owners are experiencing a loss of potential revenue.
The lack of a standardized and transparent digital rights management system, however, is preventing a commercially viable solution from emerging. In order for such a system to be commercially viable, the system should be secure both from the user's and the content owner's standpoint, universal so that electronic device manufactures are encouraged to engineer it into their products, and transparent so that users are not required to change their behavior.
Existing systems that attempt to provide confidence between buyers include escrow agreements, third party confirmations, third party appraisals and other similar techniques. These systems are slow and complex, and they do not provide the content user with sufficient confidence that the buyers and sellers are not illegally replicating the content or otherwise attempting to sell pirated copies of works.
In addition to the pirating aspects associated with sharing digital content, users are burdened with less than ideal methods for legally sharing digital content. These cumbersome methods include transferring entire files to other users via electronic mail, instant messenger, peer-to-peer and other applications, or sharing hyperlinks via electronic mail, instant messenger, and other applications. These methods can be viewed as counter productive, anti-social and even bothersome to the users that receive or attempt to share the content. Sharing of entire digital content such as music via electronic mail is a drain on resources and inefficient to the electronic mail servers, the network, and the receiving users. Sharing of hyperlinks can lead to broken links, complex URL (Universal Resource Locator) strings, and restrictions on the type of content that can be shared (i.e. linked to). Compatibility problems are widespread and create frustration when sharing digital content of a specific media type.
What is needed are advanced techniques for controlling the trading of digital rights so that the buyers are assured of an authentic copy, "fair use" is preserved for the copy, and content owners are fairly compensated. In addition, advanced techniques are employed to provide an easy, friendly, efficient, and adaptable method for users to share digital content.

Methods and apparatus for title structure and management


Systems and methods of monitoring a patient. Exemplary methods include receiving sensor data associated with the patient from a plurality of sensors of a patient monitoring device and determining whether the sensor data satisfies one or more trigger conditions. For each of the trigger conditions satisfied, one or more messages are sent to at least one of the patient monitoring device and an external computing device for display thereby to at least one of the patient, a caregiver, and a support person. Satisfaction of one or more of the trigger conditions may indicate the patient has edema and/or is trending toward decompensation. The sensor data may have been collected from a heart rate sensor, an oximeter, an accelerometer, and/or a sensor configured to detect a distance around a limb of a patient. In some embodiments, the trigger conditions are provided by the patient, caregiver, and/or support person.

Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed generally to devices and methods for monitoring patient health, and more particularly, to methods and systems for detecting edema.
Description of the Related Art
Monitoring patient parameters is quite common in medical care environments, such as hospitals, doctors' offices, and the like. Further, patient monitoring outside of a clinical setting is increasing because of the rising cost of traditional healthcare. There is a need for devices configured to monitor a patient's health. Devices configured to notify professional healthcare providers when appropriate are particularly desirable.
A "compensated" system is able to function despite any stressors or defects that might be present. Decompensation occurs when the system can no longer compensate for these issues. Decompensation is a general term commonly used in medicine to describe a variety of situations.
Cells are surrounded by an extracellular fluid that includes interstitial fluid, plasma, and transcellular fluid. The interstitial fluid is found in the interstitial spaces, also known as the tissue spaces. Edema is an abnormal accumulation of fluid in the interstitial spaces that causes swelling.
Edema in the feet and legs is often referred to as peripheral edema. Limb volume changes have sufficient specificity and sensitivity to be predictive of impending heart failure decompensation in some forms of heart failure. The physiological conditions that cause an increase in interstitial fluid in the limbs of a heart failure patient may also cause decompensation. Therefore, edema may be predictive of congestive chest conditions that can endanger the patient.
There are several traditional methods of measuring or evaluating edema. The most commonly used method is to press a depression into the skin (e.g., of the lower leg) and assign a grade (e.g., on a 1 to 4 scale) indicating an amount of edema present based on the depth and persistence of the depression. This method provides a coarse but useful measure of edema.
More accurate methods of measuring or evaluating edema include placing the patient's limb in a container of water and measuring an amount of fluid displaced by the patient's limb. By collecting two or more displacement measurements, a change in limb volume, if any, that occurred between measurements can be determined. Unfortunately, this method is wet, cumbersome, and unsuitable for continuous patient monitoring and data collection.
A Leg-O-Meter device may be used to measure edema. The Leg-O-Meter device includes a tape measure positioned at a predetermined height above the floor. The tape measure is used to determine a single distance around a limb. While results obtained by the Leg-O-Meter device are well correlated with those obtained using the more cumbersome fluid displacement method, the Leg-O-Meter device requires a skilled practitioner to operate and the active involvement of the patient.
Electronic measurement devices also exist that are large, expensive, and fixed making them unsuitable for a home environment. Further, such devices typically do not provide methods of communicating with the patient, a caregiver, or a healthcare provider. These devices also do not typically analyze the data collected.
Quantifying and monitoring peripheral edema is important because the onset of edema and/or changes in an amount of edema present can occur many days prior to a considerable decline in patient health. In other words, the onset of edema and/or changes in an amount of edema present may predict (e.g., by several days) a significant decline in a patient's health. This predictive indication may be used in some cases to avoid a significant decline in patient health. For example, such early warning of an impending problem may be used to adjust the patient's diet, salt intake, medications, and the like. Further, consultation with healthcare professionals before the decline occurs may avoid precipitous health declines, such as, but not limited to, decompensated heart failure. Therefore, a need exists for methods and systems that provide substantially continuous monitoring of edema. A need also exists for methods and systems that track a patient's physiological parameters and symptoms for the purposes of detecting trends and/or recognizing impending patient health conditions that may require medical intervention, such as hospitalization.
The present application provides these and other advantages as will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying figures.

System and method for patient monitoring


Systems and methods of organizing a collection of objects are described. In one aspect, a sequence of objects is segmented into object clusters based on: comparisons of successive object intervals to weighted measures of cluster extent; and comparisons of successive object intervals to weighted measures of cluster object density. In another aspect, objects from the collection are segmented into clusters. Context-related meta data associated with the objects and parsable into multiple levels of a name hierarchy is extracted. Names are assigned to clusters based on the extracted context-related meta data corresponding to a level of the name hierarchy selected to distinguish segmented clusters from one another. In another aspect, a sequence of objects that are segmented into clusters is accessed. Each cluster includes multiple objects arranged in a respective sequence in accordance with context-related meta data associated with the objects. At least two constituent objects representative of beginning and ending instances in the corresponding object sequence are selected for each object cluster. The selected representative objects of each cluster are graphically presented on a screen.

Individuals and organizations are rapidly accumulating large collections of digital content, including text, audio, graphics, animated graphics, full-motion video, and other digital content, including business process execution data and monitoring data. This content may be presented individually or combined in a wide variety of different forms, including documents, e-mail messages, alerts, presentations, music, still photographs, commercial videos, home movies, and meta data describing one or more associated digital content files. As these collections grow in number and diversity, individuals and organizations increasingly will require systems and methods for organizing and browsing the digital content in their collections. To meet this need, a variety of different systems and methods for organizing and browsing different kinds of digital content have been proposed. Media object management and business process object management are examples of fields for which digital content organizing and browsing schemes have been developed.
Media Object Management
Many systems allow a user to manually classify images and other digital content by their association with a particular event or subject matter and to segment this digital content based on these classifications. Manual classification systems, however, tend to be time consuming and unwieldy, especially as the size of the digital content collection grows. Some systems are configured to automatically segment digital content, such as images, based on color, shape, or texture features. These automatic segmentation systems, however, often tend to misclassify the digital content because of the inherent inaccuracies associated with classification based on color, shape, or texture features.
A system for automatic albuming of consumer pictures has been proposed that automatically determines the order in which pictures should be presented and provides an initial basis for automating the selection of images to be included in a given album. The system includes modules for image event clustering, dud detection, and duplicate detection. The image event clustering module automatically segments a set of pictures into events and sub-events for layout onto an album page based on date and time information recorded at generation time, as well as image content information. The dud detection module detects very low quality pictures and allows a user to exclude such pictures from the album. The duplicate detection module detects potential duplicate pictures and allows a user to choose a particular one of the detected duplicates for inclusion in the album.
Another digital photograph browsing system applies time-based and content-based clustering algorithms to a collection of digital photographs to identify events in the collection. The time-based clustering algorithm compares a gap in the creation times of the photographs to a local average of temporally nearby gaps. A gap is considered to correspond to a change of event when it is much longer than the local gap average. In order to handle the wide dynamic range of time gaps, the gap detection algorithm operates on logarithmically transformed time gaps. The content-based clustering algorithm is based on probabilistic color histogram models of the digital photographs.
Business Process Object Management
E-business is transforming corporations, markets, and the global economy. The conduct of business over internet (e.g., buying, selling, servicing customers and collaborating with business partners) is affecting how business transactions are performed. Today, web interfaces allow customers to easily find products, services, providers and suppliers that they need, compare prices and qualities, and trade, buy, and get products and services delivered quickly. Customers may be presented with user-friendly graphical interfaces, targeted advertisements, up-to-date product catalogues, and personalized stores. The web facade, however, hides inefficiencies, manual and error-prone operations, and slow, complex, inflexible, and unmanageable systems. Indeed, in many e-business applications, the execution of business processes involves a substantial amount of human intervention in several aspects of business process execution, such as (repeated) data entry, process execution monitoring (a process that often requires tracking each process over several systems in order to find out its current advancement state), exception handling, and scheduling of process activities.
As a result, process design, automation, and management technologies are being used in both traditional and newly-formed, internet-based enterprises in order to improve the quality and efficiency of their administrative and production processes, to manage electronic commerce (or e-commerce) transactions, and to rapidly and reliably deliver services to businesses and individual customers. To this end, various data mining and other data management approaches are being developed to organize and browse the large collections of business process data that is being generated at an ever-increasing rate.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The liquid storage apparatus includes: a liquid storage chamber which is constituted by a flexible bag member and stores liquid; an exterior container which has walls constituted by a shape memory member and has a hermetically sealed space in which the liquid storage chamber is disposed, the shape memory member extending and contracting freely at temperatures not greater than a transformation temperature and recovering a memorized shape at temperatures not less than a shape recovery temperature; a forcing member which applies a contraction force to the walls of the exterior container in a direction in which the walls contract; and a temperature adjuster which adjusts a temperature of the shape memory member directly or indirectly so as to control a ratio of a portion of the shape memory member having temperatures not greater than the transformation temperature and deformed to a contracted shape by the contraction force of the forcing member and a ratio of a portion of the shape memory member having temperatures not less than the shape recovery temperature and recovering the memorized shape more extended than the contracted shape, so that a pressure in the liquid storage chamber is changed depending on a volume change of the exterior container due to deformation of the shape memory member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid storage apparatus for storing liquid, and to an image forming apparatus including this liquid storage apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of liquid storage apparatuses for storing ink to be supplied to an ink ejection head are known. An ink ejection head ejects ink supplied from the liquid storage apparatus toward an ejection receiving medium, such as paper, and forms images on the ejection receiving medium.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-230890 discloses an ink cartridge comprising: a housing which defines a first fluid tank; an air management system having an attachment to be supported by the housing; and an expansible bladder which defines a second fluid tank and which is supported by the attachment within the first fluid tank. The expansible bladder is configured to expand to thereby increase the second fluid tank from a first volume to a second volume. The expansible bladder is fabricated from a material having a shape-memory to thereby bias the expansible bladder toward the first volume.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-174815 discloses technology in which an elevator unit arranged inside an ink accommodating unit balances with the weight of an ink tank by means of a spring. More specifically, the ink tank is supported by a movable supporting member and a compression coil spring arranged between the ink tank and the movable supporting member. The ink tank is raised or lowered on the basis of the balance between the elastic force of the spring and the gravitational force on the ink inside the ink tank, so that the water head difference does not change even if there is a variation in the weight of ink.
In the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-230890, a slight negative pressure is generated in the ink chambers by using the expansion of the expansible bladder due to elastic deformation. Generally, in the case of an ink tank having a small capacity, the negative pressure can be created within an appropriate range until the ink is consumed. On the other hand, in the case of an ink tank having a large capacity, since the force generated by the elastic deformation increases, then the negative pressure exceeds the appropriate limit and the ejection state of the ink ejection head is thus affected, leading to a decline in print quality.
In industrial applications, various liquids having different physical properties, such as a specific gravity, viscosity, surface tension, and the like, are used. Possible examples of such liquids include: aqueous inks, oil-based inks, photocurable liquids, metal pastes, and the like. In the technology described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-174815, if the liquid used is changed to another liquid having a different specific gravity, then the height of the ink tank depends on the balance between the elastic force of the spring and the gravitational force on the liquid, and therefore the position of the liquid surface will vary depending on the specific gravity of the liquid used.

Liquid storage apparatus and image forming apparatus


A method for electromagnetic interference control and related devices are provided. The method includes the following. Electromagnetic interference between a Wi-Fi module and a MIPI of a display of the electronic device is detected in response to detecting a request for screen-projection to a target screen-projection device. In response to the detected electromagnetic interference, the display is turned off, and screen-projection to the target screen-projection device is performed, where the first prompt message indicates that the electronic device is turning off the display and performing screen-projection to the target screen-projection device.

With the development of mobile communication technology, users have an increasing demand for communication with electronic devices such as mobile phones. Currently, the electronic device on the market generally transmits data through a cellular mobile network or a wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) network, and full-screen mobile phones are facing radio frequency interference problems. Specifically, a driver-integrated chip of a display has extended to an antenna clearance area, and a frequency division point and/or a frequency multiplication point of a frequency of a mobile industry processor interface (MIPI) of the display has an interference to a radio frequency antenna, which leads to low receiving sensitivity (i.e., total isotropic sensitivity (TIS)) of the antenna.

Method for electromagnetic interference control and related devices

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


In a tool attachment, for fastening to an handheld machine tool equipped with a tool holding fixture, having an output shaft and a base body, which forms an inner cavity and on whose outer circumference an axially displaceable locking sleeve is situated, for releasing at least one associated locking element against a spring force of a spring element, which has a clamping ring, in the inner cavity, a anti-rotation locking unit is configured for the rotationally locked fastening of the base body to a fastening unit associated with the handheld machine tool, the anti-rotation locking unit and the fastening unit having complementary geometric forms, which are configured to engage with each other for the detachable rotationally locked fastening of the base body on the fastening unit; and the at least one associated locking element being situated in the vicinity of the anti-rotation locking unit.

Such tool attachments are known from the related art, whose base bodies are able to be locked on a tool holding fixture of a corresponding handheld machine tool via an associated locking element. As locking elements, for instance, locking balls are used, which are situated radially displaceably in associated openings of the base body, and are able to be operated using a locking sleeve that is displaceable axially on the outer circumference of the base body. In this connection, the locking sleeve is acted upon, for example, by the spring force of a spring element axially into a locking position, in which the locking sleeve, or rather a clamping ring associated with it, presses radially inwards the locking balls so as to lock the base body in the associated openings. Because of an axial displacement of the locking sleeve against the spring force of the spring element, a displacement directed radially outwards of the locking balls for unlocking the base body is then able to be made possible.
The disadvantage in the related art is that such tool attachments have a comparatively large overall length. That is why these tool attachments offer only limited manipulability as well as insufficient precision.


Techniques for dynamically distribute replication points based on routing metrics are provided. A receiver list may be split based on the routing metrics. For example, the receiver list may be split based on unicast reachability over an interface. If portions of egress routers are reachable over different interfaces, the portions are included together in a sublist. Thus, the list is split into sublists based on the reachability. Point-to-point links are then set up between a head end router and an egress router in each sublist. The sublist is then sent to each egress router, which can perform the process above in setting up a point-to-point link to another egress router in each sublist.

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to networking and more specifically to techniques for dynamically selecting replication points for replicating traffic.
Multiple receivers may desire traffic from a source. Egress routers for each receiver may then request traffic from the source. The traffic from the source may be multicasted from a head-end router to each egress routers. Each egress router then sends the information to a receiver. The head-end router replicates the traffic for all interested egress routers using point-to-point links.
The head-end router thus does all the replication of the traffic. This includes many disadvantages. For example, there is a large load on the head-end router because it has to replicate all the traffic for all requesting egress routers. Also, since all replicated traffic is sent from the head end router, the load on the link into the core of the network for the head-end router is also increased.

Techniques for distributing replication points for traffic using point-to-point links


A film forming method includes: (a) preparing a substrate having an oxide layer formed on the substrate; (b) supplying a nitrogen-containing gas to the substrate heated by a heater; and (c) forming a molybdenum film on the oxide layer by alternately supplying a raw material gas containing molybdenum and a reducing gas a plurality of times.

For example, Patent Document 1 proposes, when forming a molybdenum film on an insulating layer, forming a base film by a sputtering method without directly forming the molybdenum film and nitriding the base film by a heat treatment in a nitriding gas atmosphere or an ammonia gas atmosphere.
For example, Patent Document 2 proposes terminating a surface of a silicon substrate by oxygen or nitrogen atoms and forming a molybdenum film thereon by using MoCl5 gas and H2 gas.


A receptacle includes: a receptacle housing defining a pair of prong-inserting slots for extension of a pair of prongs of a plug therethrough and into the receptacle housing; a pair of conductive terminals mounted in the receptacle housing and adapted to be connected to the prongs of the plug; and a lock unit including a latch mounted movably in the receptacle housing and operable to move between a locked position, in which the latch is adapted to engage one of the prongs of the plug, thereby preventing undesired removal of the plug from the receptacle housing, and an unlocked position, in which the latch is adapted to disengage the plug, thereby permitting removal of the plug from the receptacle housing.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a receptacle, more particularly to a receptacle that has a lock unit operable to lock releasably prongs of a plug plugged into the receptacle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional receptacle usually includes a receptacle housing defining a pair of prong-inserting slots for extension of a pair of prongs of a plug therethrough and into the receptacle housing, and a pair of conductive terminals mounted in the receptacle housing and adapted to abut against the prongs of the plug plugged into the receptacle. While the prongs of the plug are fitted into the receptacle, there is still a tendency for the prongs to be undesirably and accidentally removed from the receptacle, particularly in the case where the prongs are loosely fitted into the receptacle.


A method for treatment of obesity involves implantation of bulking devices within the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) to inhibit swallowing, thereby limiting food intake and treating obesity. One or more bulking devices are implanted within or near the UES to create a partial obstruction, partially impair UES muscle function, or both. The bulking devices make swallowing difficult, limiting the rate of food intake by a patient, and discouraging the patient from quickly consuming an excessive amount of food at one time.

Obesity is a major health concern in the United States and other countries. A significant portion of the population is overweight with the number increasing every year. Obesity is one of the leading causes of preventable death. Obesity is associated with several co-morbidities that affect almost every body system. Some of these co-morbidities include: hypertension, heart disease, stroke, high cholesterol, diabetes, coronary disease, breathing disorders, sleep apnea, cancer, gallstones, and musculoskeletal problems.
Multiple factors contribute to obesity, including physical inactivity and overeating. A variety of medical approaches have been devised for treatment of obesity. Existing therapies include diet, exercise, appetite suppressive drugs, metabolism enhancing drugs, surgical restriction of the gastric tract, and surgical modification of the gastric tract. In general, surgery is reserved for patients in whom conservative measures, such as monitoring caloric intake or controlling appetite with appetite suppressants, have failed. In addition, surgery is generally reserved for patients who are seriously, and sometimes morbidly, overweight.
There are many surgical approaches to obesity. For example, one technique involves implantation of one or more bulking prostheses to reduce stomach volume. A bulking prosthesis and limits the amount of food the stomach can hold, causing a sensation of satiety. Another approach is restrictive surgery, which surgically makes the stomach smaller by removing or closing a section of the stomach. This procedure also reduces the amount of food the stomach can hold. Another surgical procedure is the gastric bypass procedure, in which a surgeon creates a small stomach pouch to restrict food intake and constructs a bypass of the duodenum and other segments of the small intestine. This procedure limits the amount of food that is completely digested or absorbed by the patient.

Bulking of upper esophageal sphincter for treatment of obesity


A multi-use system for influencing organic matter in an environmentally controlled room is provided with a modular dehumidification system. The modular dehumidification system includes a head unit, with separate cooling and heating subcircuits, and multiple modular dehumidifier units. Each modular dehumidifier unit has a cooling coil operable to cool and/or dehumidify the air and a heating coil operable to heat the air, for example, to raise room temperature and/or offset heat loss arising during dehumidification. The cooling coils are connected to the head unit in parallel to one another and the heating coils are connected to the head unit in parallel to one another. The number of modular dehumidifier units installed in the system is selected to provide the system with the desired maximum capacity. The control system may be configured to activate the appropriate number of cooling and heating coils, and to control the operation of each active coil.

Environmentally Controlled (EC) rooms are commonly used to store fruits, vegetables, and other commodities that benefit from storage in environments where certain factors, such as temperature and atmospheric composition, can be controlled to extend the life of such items. EC rooms typically utilize systems for monitoring atmospheric conditions inside of a gastight space (e.g. temperature, gas levels, humidity, etc.), as well as systems for controlling such conditions to maintain the atmosphere at one or more desired set points. For example, EC rooms typically employ various heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) components, such as heaters, blowers and fans, humidifiers, dehumidifiers, etc.
In addition to use as storage spaces, EC rooms can also be used in the preparation of certain agricultural products. For example, EC rooms in the form of greenhouses are used to germinate and cultivate many different varieties of plants, especially those not suitable for growth in a normal climate. Such specialized EC rooms are often used to maintain a compact growing area, preserve natural resources, minimize human resources, decrease crop loss from climate fluctuations and/or disease, etc. As another example, EC rooms are also used as dry rooms to prepare various cured products. Conventional dry rooms are generally configured to control room temperature (e.g. dry bulb) and relative humidity (i.e., the ratio of water vapor partial pressure (Pw) to equilibrium vapor pressure of water (P*w) at a given temperature (e.g. % RH=100(Pw/P*w)) via use a simple on/off humidistat or dry bulb thermostat to control the operation of a cooling coil. However, the cooling coil cycling on and off in this configuration results in swings of the dew point in the room and wastes energy via reheat (i.e., simultaneously cooling and heating the air in the room). Moreover, as Pw is dependent on dew point, P*w is dependent on dry bulb temperature, and the vapor pressure of any given dryable/curable product is unique, these dry rooms are typically not suitable for use with widely-varying products or changing atmospheric conditions. For example, in the curing of certain plant products and foodstuffs (e.g. meats, cheeses, etc.), the rate of moisture loss is important due to the drying process requiring the loss of free water from within the product. If available water is removed from such a product too rapidly (e.g. from vapor pressure in the dry room being too low compared to a vapor pressure within the product), the outer layer of the product may become too dry, in turn reducing the rate at which moisture can leave the center of the product, or trapping moisture in the center of the product all together. As such, EC rooms provide a benefit over traditional dry rooms in terms of the selective atmospheric control offered, which allows for increased control in balancing the product vapor pressure and room vapor pressure and, ultimately, the rate at which moisture may be removed from a product.
Unfortunately, conventional EC rooms are limited in application due to constraints on the ranges of conditions that may be employed. In particular, the various HVAC and other components (e.g. heat pump dryers) employed in EC rooms, while often very effective when operated individually within a preferred range of conditions (e.g. within a particular temperature range, humidity range, etc.), are typically inefficient when operated outside of the preferred range. Moreover, these same components are frequently counter-productive when employed simultaneously. As such, conventional EC rooms are typically designed for but one, or at most a very limited number of applications, and rely on atmospheric control systems tailored toward efficient operation within narrow conditions necessary for such application.
For example, EC rooms often include dehumidifiers or air conditioners in order to control and maintain the humidity within a set range. However, as these components are typically heat pump systems utilizing refrigeration, the desired operating temperature range of the EC room must be carefully selected to ensure that the system provides adequate refrigeration capacity (e.g. to cover both latent and sensible heat duties), and optimum efficiency, while also maintaining the refrigerant in the correct phase (e.g. gaseous or liquid). Moreover, as the refrigeration capacity of the heat pumps are typically selected based on the size and maximum product loading of a given drying chamber, these systems are often both incapable of being scaled down for operations with a reduced-loading size (e.g. to maintain cost/load, reduce pump strain, etc.), and unable to accommodate scale-up (e.g. for increased drying capacity) without partial, or sometimes complete, replacement of refrigerating components. Moreover, conventional refrigeration systems are limited in terms of the RH ranges that may be realized during operation, thus placing constraints on both atmospheric temperature and moisture loads within the EC room. For example, operating below certain humidity levels (e.g. 45% RH) can require the use of a low coil temperature (e.g. <0° C.), which can lead to the formation of ice on the coils, reduced moisture removal capacity, etc., and necessitate the use of remedial procedures/components (e.g. defrost cycles, tandem coils, brine solutions etc.), which are often burdensome and expensive, to maintain proper function.
Owing to the challenges facing modern production and processing facilities, development of new technologies is needed to increase the capability, applicability, and flexibility of EC rooms and systems, while decreasing the costs and labor burdens associated with operating conventional EC rooms.

Dehumidification system with variable capacity


The present invention relates to CCR5 receptor antagonists of formulae (1a) or (1b):

Chemoattractant cytokines or chemokines are a family of proinflammatory mediators that promote recruitment and activation of leukocytes (e.g, monocytes, lymphocytes, and granulocytes) and also have additional effects on diverse cell types. They can be released by many kinds of tissue cells after activation. Continuous release of chemokines at sites of inflammation mediates the ongoing migration of effector cells in chronic inflammation. The chemokines characterized to date are related in primary structure. They share four conserved cysteines, which form disulfide bonds. Based upon this conserved cysteine motif, the family is divided into two main branches, designated as the C—X—C chemokines (α-chemokines), and the C—C chemokines (β-chemokines), in which the first two conserved cysteines are separated by an intervening residue, or adjacent respectively (Baggiolini, M. and Dahinden, C. A., Immunology Today, 15:127–133 (1994)).
RANTES (Regulated on Activation, Normal T Expressed and Secreted), the macrophage inflammatory proteins 1α. and 1β (MIP-1α. and MIP-1β), and human monocyte chemotactic proteins 1–3 (MCP-1, MCP-2, MCP-3) are members of the C—C chemokine family and have been characterized as chemoattractants and activators of monocytes or lymphocytes. Migration of leukocytes from blood vessels into diseased tissues is important to the initiation of normal disease-fighting inflammatory responses. This process, known as leukocyte recruitment, is also involved in the onset and progression of debilitating and life-threatening chronic inflammatory, allergic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Compounds which block leukocyte recruitment to target tissues in inflammatory and autoimmune disease would be a highly effective therapeutic intervention. Abnormal production of chemokines, such as RANTES and MIP-1α have been implicated in a wide range of human acute and chronic inflammatory diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, endometriosis and respiratory diseases, such as asthma and allergic disorders. A review of the role of chemokines in allergic inflammation is provided by Kita, H., et al., J. Exp. Med. 183, 2421–2426 (1996). Chemokines and their receptors have been implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of neurological disorders including ischemic stroke, trauma, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis and cancer.
The chemokine receptors are members of a superfamily of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR) which share structural features that reflect a common mechanism of action of signal transduction (Gerard, C. and Gerard, N. P., Annu Rev. Immunol., 12:775–808 (1994); Gerard, C. and Gerard, N. P., Curr. Opin. Immunol., 6:140–145 (1994)). The first receptor for the C—C chemokines that was cloned and expressed, binds the chemokines MIP-1α and RANTES. Accordingly, this MIP-1α/RANTES receptor was designated C—C chemokine receptor 1 (also referred to as CCR-1; Neote, K., et al., Cell, 72:415–425 (1993); Horuk, R. et al., WO 94/11504, May 26, 1994; Gao, J.-I. et al., J. Exp. Med., 177:1421–1427 (1993)). Two other receptors have been characterized which bind and/or signal in response to RANTES: CCR3 mediates binding and signaling of chemokines including eotaxin, RANTES, and MCP-3 (Ponath et al., J. Exp. Med., 183:2437 (1996)), and CCR5 binds chemokines including MIP-1α, RANTES, MIP-1β, and MCP-2. (Samson, et al., Biochem. 35: 3362–3367 (1996)).
The CCR5 ligand RANTES is chemotactic for a variety of cell types, including monocytes, eosinophils, and a subset of T-cells. The ability of RANTES to induce the directed migration of monocytes and a memory population of circulating T-cells (Schall, T. et al., Nature, 347:669–71 (1990)) suggests this chemokine and its receptor(s) plays an important role in chronic inflammatory diseases, since these diseases are characterized by destructive infiltrates of T cells and monocytes. Macrophages and microglia also express CCR5 and the expression is upregulated following activation, especially under conditions of tissue damage such as demyelination. Particular diseases or conditions in which RANTES/CCR5 have been implicated include: transplant rejection, multiple sclerosis, arteriosclerosis (the formation of atherosclerotic plaques that lead to heart attacks and stroke), arthritis (particularly osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis), stroke, atopic dermatitis, airway inflammatory disorders such as Rous Sarcoma Virus-induced bronchiolitis, delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions, glomerular nephritis, asthma, endometriosis (Am J Obstet Gyncol 169(6): 1545–1549), cancers such as breast, cervical, melanoma, lymphoma, myeloma, Hodgkin's disease, and Hairy cell leukemia. (Cancer Research 62; 1093–1102)(Cancer Research 59; 4681–4687)(Clin Can Res. 7:285–289). Small molecule antagonists of CCR5 would have potential therapeutic utility in treating a wide range of disease states.
It has recently been recognized that the human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) requires a chemokine receptor, most probably CCR5 or CXCR4, as well as the primary receptor CD4 for efficient entry into target cells (Levy, N. Engl. J. Med., 335(20), 1528–1530 (Nov. 14, 1996). The principal cofactor for entry mediated by the envelope glycoproteins of macrophage tropic strains of HIV-1 is CCR-5, a receptor for the chemokines RANTES, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, and MCP-2 (Deng, et al., Nature, 381, 661–666 (1996)). Accordingly, agents which could antagonize the interaction of HIV with chemokine receptors in humans should prevent infection in healthy individuals and slow or halt viral progression in infected patients leading to a viable method for the prevention or treatment of infection by HIV and the prevention or treatment of AIDS and AIDS related syndromes such as HIV dementia.

Substituted quinoline CCR5 receptor antagonists

Abstract: enantiomers, diastereomers, salts and solvates thereof wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, and R7 are as defined herein. The invention further includes a method of CCR5-mediated disorders employing such compounds.


A vapor compression refrigerating system having a compressor, a radiator, a first pressure reducing mechanism for reducing a pressure of refrigerant cooled by the radiator, a refrigerant branching means for dividing refrigerant (m) reduced in pressure by the first pressure-reducing mechanism into portions, a second pressure reducing mechanism for reducing a pressure of one portion of refrigerant (m1), and a third pressure reducing mechanism for reducing a pressure of another portion of refrigerant (m2). One portion and pressure reduced refrigerant (m1′) exchanges heat in a cooler with refrigerant present between the first and third pressure reducing mechanisms, and another portion and pressure reduced refrigerant (m2′) is evaporated by an evaporator. The evaporated refrigerant (m2″) and the refrigerant (m1′) having passed through the cooler are mixed by a gas/liquid separator, and the mixed refrigerant is introduced into the compressor. In a vapor compression refrigerating system using carbon dioxide, the degree of refrigerant superheating at a suction side of the compressor may be reduced, and a coefficient of performance of the refrigerating cycle may be increased.

1. Field of the Invention
This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-351750, filed Dec. 6, 2005, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to vapor compression refrigerating systems, and specifically, to vapor compression refrigerating systems using carbon dioxide refrigerant suitable for use in an air conditioning system for vehicles.
2. Description of Related Art
In a case in which carbon dioxide refrigerant, which is a natural-system refrigerant, is used as refrigerant for a vapor compression refrigerating system, a structure is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. H07-294033 A, wherein a pressure of refrigerant in a higher pressure-side line is adjusted by controlling a valve opening degree of an expansion device by an external control signal in order to improve an efficiency of a refrigerating cycle. In such a refrigerating system, a higher pressure-side pressure, realizes an optimum coefficient of performance of the refrigerating system, is calculated by referring to a temperature of refrigerant in the higher pressure side and the like, and the valve opening degree of the expansion device is controlled, so that the higher pressure-side pressure is optimized.
Further, as another method for improving an efficiency of a refrigerating system, a structure is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. H11-193967 A, wherein an internal heat exchanger is provided for exchanging heat between refrigerant at an exit side of a radiator and refrigerant at a suction side of a compressor. In such a refrigerating system having an internal heat exchanger, it is possible to suppress increases in higher pressure-side pressure by reducing the specific enthalpy of the refrigerant at the exit to the radiator as compared with a refrigerating system without the internal heat exchanger, thereby improving the coefficient of performance of the refrigerating system.
Thus, in a refrigerating system having an internal heat exchanger, refrigerant at an exit side of a radiator exchanges heat with refrigerant at a suction side of a compressor. Further, when using carbon dioxide refrigerant, although the temperature refrigerant discharged from a compressor is reduced by a radiator, if a temperature of an external fluid (for example, air), which exchanges heat with the refrigerant in the radiator, reaches or exceeds a certain temperature (for example, critical temperature of carbon dioxide), the refrigerant at the exit to the radiator may not condense and may remain at a supercritical condition. If the refrigerant pressure is reduced, and if the refrigerant is evaporated by an evaporator, the refrigerating capacity may be reduced significantly. Therefore, by the heat exchange between the refrigerant at the exit side of the radiator and the refrigerant at the suction side of the compressor, the refrigerating capacity may be increased or maintained, the higher pressure-side pressure may be reduced as compared with that of a refrigerating system having no internal heat exchanger, and the coefficient of performance of the refrigerating cycle may be increased.
In the above-described refrigerating system including an internal heat exchanger, however, because the refrigerant at an exit side of a radiator exchanges heat with the refrigerant at a suction side of a compressor, when the load of the refrigerating system is elevated, the superheating degree of the refrigerant at the suction side of the compressor also is elevated. As a result, the discharge temperature of the compressor also may be elevated to an undesirable level. Thus, it becomes necessary to increase the thermal resistance of the compressor itself in order to protect the compressor. Further, if the superheating degree of refrigerant drawn into the compressor increases, the power required for compressing operation of the compressor may increase. Therefore, in the above-described refrigerant system, the need to increase the thermal resistance of the compressor and the increased power required for compressor operation may be undesirable.


Described is a technique for initialization of a device in a data storage system. A status indicating completion of the initialization is returned after setting initialization indicators associated with tracks of the device. The indicators indicate that the tracks of the device are to be initialized. As subsequent I/O operations for the device are processed, the tracks associated with the subsequent I/O operations are initialized prior to performing the I/O operation if the initialization indicators associated with the tracks are set. A background initialization task scans the initialization indicators and initializes tracks in accordance with the initialization indicators. Once a track has been initialized, its associated initialization indicator is cleared.

1. Technical Field
This application generally relates to a data storage system, and more particularly to techniques used with device initialization.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer systems may include different resources used by one or more host processors. Resources and host processors in a computer system may be interconnected by one or more communication connections. These resources may include, for example, data storage devices such as those included in the data storage systems manufactured by EMC Corporation. These data storage systems may be coupled to one or more host processors and provide storage services to each host processor. Multiple data storage systems from one or more different vendors may be connected and may provide common data storage for one or more host processors in a computer system.
A host processor may perform a variety of data processing tasks and operations using the data storage system. For example, a host processor may perform basic system I/O operations in connection with data requests, such as data read and write operations.
Host processor systems may store and retrieve data using a storage device containing a plurality of host interface units, disk drives, and disk interface units. Such storage devices are provided, for example, by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,939 to Yanai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,394 to Galtzur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,147 to Vishlitzky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,208 to Ofek. The host systems access the storage device through a plurality of channels provided therewith. Host systems provide data and access control information through the channels to the storage device and storage device provides data to the host systems also through the channels. The host systems do not address the disk drives of the storage device directly, but rather, access what appears to the host systems as a plurality of logical disk units. The logical disk units may or may not correspond to the actual disk drives. Allowing multiple host systems to access the single storage device unit allows the host systems to share data stored therein.
Different tasks may be performed in connection with data stored on one or more data storage systems. One task that may be performed in connection with a device of a data storage system is a command to initialize the device, such as with a SCSI format command. One existing technique for formatting a device on a data storage system may include, in addition to other processing steps, initializing each track of the device. Further, a system may utilize mirroring so that one or more mirrors of the device may also be initialized as part of the processing.
The foregoing existing technique has some drawbacks. Initializing each track of the device and one or more associated mirrors may be very time consuming and use a lot of computing resources. A track may define a portion of physical storage such as, for example, multiple blocks on a data storage device. The resources of the disk director or disk adapter (DA) performing the initialization of device tracks may be consumed to saturation so that the DA is unable to process other requests such as, for example, host I/O operations. Additionally, the amount of time to perform the initialization may cause a host that issued the format command to timeout while waiting for the initialization to complete.
A variation of the foregoing may notify the host that the format operation has successfully completed when a first mirror has its tracks initialized. However, the time taken to perform this initialization may still exceed an amount of time causing the host to timeout. Additionally, even if the host does not timeout, the host thinks that all mirrors have been initialized when, in fact, all the mirrors are not initialized. Subsequently, a write operation to the device may occur prior to completing initialization of all the mirrors so that a vulnerability exists in that the primary mirror may not be protected by the other mirrors (e.g., may not reflect the write operation).
Another approach may limit, or otherwise reduce, the amount of DA resources that can be devoted to performing the initialization operation at a point in time. While this makes DA resources available for performing other operations, such as host I/O operations, decreasing the DA resources allocated for use in initialization also further increases the amount of time it takes to perform initialization of the device and its associated mirrors.
Thus, it may be desirable to utilize a technique in connection with initializing a device and its associated mirrors which efficiently utilizes resources of a data storage system and performs the initialization within a time period that reduces the timeouts experienced by a host. It may also be desirable that such a technique provides data protection of write operations such that all mirrors protected. It may also be desirable that such a technique minimizes adverse performance related to host I/O operations.

Formatting and initialization of device mirrors using initialization indicators


Tab material which is wrapped tightly around an edge of a sheet is adhered flat to both faces of the sheet. The sheet is passed through a printer, and indicia is printed on both sides of a tab material fold line on at least a portion of the tab material on one of the faces. Then, the tab material portion is released from that face, folded onto itself on the fold line, and the end of that portion is re-adhered to that face but closer to the sheet edge. Thereby, the folded tab material portion extends out from the edge and has indicia printed on both sides thereof to define a tab. Pursuant to one embodiment, a series of these tab material portions line that face along the edge, separated from one another by die cut lines. The user can then select the portion to be released from the face, folded onto itself and its end attached to the face to define an outwardly extending tab at the desired place anywhere along the edge. Should the desired location of the tab change, the end of the tab defining portion can be detached, the portion unfolded and reattached flat against the face. Another portion at the desired new tab location along the edge can then be released, folded and its end attached to the face to define the new tab. Pursuant to another embodiment, a plurality of smaller end products are defined by microperforation lines on the sheet. Each product abuts an edge of the sheet and wrapped tab material is provided for each. Indicia is printed on each of the tab materials, the end products are separated from the rest of the sheet by pulling along the microperforation lines, and the tab material for each is released, folded and re-adhered. Thereby, a plurality of printed tabbed cards, such as flip-file cards, are formed.

The present invention relates to tab sheet and flip-file card assemblies and methods for forming tabbed sheets, dividers or cards with the desired indicia printed on the tabs thereof.
A number of brands of software are available for causing laser, ink jet and other printers or copiers to print the desired indicia directly on tabs of dividers. However, the tabs of these dividers extend approximately one-half inch out from the divider sheet edge, which causes printer feeding problems. Where the body of the sheet has a width of 8 1/2 inches, the one-half inch wide tab makes the effective sheet width nine inches. Unfortunately, many standard printers or photocopiers can only accept rectangular sheets whose widths do not exceed 8 1/2 inches.
Also, when tabbed dividers are fed in the portrait direction of the divider sheet using multipurpose or cassette trays into ink jet, electrophotographic or laser printers, the dividers tend to skew as they enter the printer. This skewing occurs because the tabs, by sticking out from the edge of the body of the sheet, do not provide full continuous contact of each divider to the paper guide of the (multipurpose) printer tray. Additionally, since the paper guide is much shorter than the divider itself, the last few tab positions do not contact the paper guide; specifically, the fourth and fifth tabs of a five tab set and the fifth through eighth tabs of an eight tab set do not contact it. When these dividers are fed into the printer, the tabs can catch causing the dividers to not feed straight into the printer.

User printable tab sheet or card construction