Disclosed is a search mechanism comprising: accepting search intent information from a user having a search intent; creating a semantic taxonomy tree having term(s) representative of the search intent information; augmenting the term(s) with associated concepts derived from the term(s) using existing terminological data; associating a weight with at least one of the term(s); obtaining user preference intent; determining root term(s); transforming the semantic taxonomy tree to a Boolean search query; submitting the Boolean search query to searcher(s); receiving at least one search result(s); interpreting the search result(s); requesting page(s) specified the search result(s); receiving the page(s); generating ranked results; presenting the ranked results to the user; presenting the semantic taxonomy tree to the user; accepting user feedback from the user; and using the user feedback to update the user preference intent.

The present invention relates to the field of information searching. Specifically, the present invention relates to efficient searching of information of networks such as the World Wide Web.
With the advent of the Internet and the Web, the amount of information available grows daily. However, having too much information at one's fingertips does not always mean high quality information, in fact, it may often prevent a decision maker from making sound decisions, by degrading the quality of the decision. Helping decision makers to locate relevant information in an efficient manner is very important both to the person and to an organization in terms of time, cost, data quality and risk management.
Although search engines assist users in finding information, many of the results are irrelevant to the decision problem. This is due in part, to the keyword search approach, which does not capture the user's intent, what we call meta-knowledge. Another reason for irrelevant results from search engines is a "semantic gap" between the meanings of terms used by the user and those recognized by the search engines. In addition, each search engine has its own proprietary and uncustomizable ranking system, where users may not specify search and ranking preferences to a search engine. For example, a shopping agent may go for the lowest price, while the user might want the "most flexible return policy." Finally, most search engines lack learning capabilities to adapt and personalize user preferences. They may not track large numbers of users. What is needed is a personal agent approach that may help to solve these problems.

Personalizable semantic taxonomy-based search agent

George Mason Intellectual Properties, Inc.


A rod includes a plunger attached thereto between first and second ends of the rod. The plunger is disposed within a cylinder and the rod extends through opposing ends of the cylinder. The cylinder is adapted to be attached to a toilet beneath a toilet seat. The cylinder includes an adjustable air port at each of the opposing ends thereof. The rod is adapted to be oriented with the first end above the second end, and to have the first end pivotally attached to the toilet seat. A foot operated apparatus is adapted to be positioned below the toilet seat, and includes a foot pedal at one end and a connection device at an opposite end. The connection device is configured to be pivotally connected to the second end of the rod. A fulcrum is positioned on the foot operated apparatus between the foot pedal and the connection device. A user raises the toilet seat by pressing downward on the foot pedal so that the foot operated apparatus urges the rod axially upward in the direction of the toilet seat, thus lifting the toilet seat, then after using the toilet, the user releases the foot pedal, permitting the toilet seat to lower itself by gravity, the plunger urging against air in the cylinder beneath the plunger, the air leaking outward through the air port which is below the plunger, additional air entering the cylinder through the air port which is above the plunger.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toilet accessories, specifically apparatus for raising and lowering toilet seats.
2. Description of the Related Art
A common concern of women, who share toilet facilities with men, is that men tend to leave the toilet seat in a raised position. If a woman does not notice that the toilet seat is raised, she risks falling into the bowl and potentially becoming injured by attempting to sit on the toilet when the seat is raised.
A common problem faced by men when raising a toilet seat is that they must touch the actual seat, thus potentially receiving bacteria and other germs from the seat. In addition, people who have difficulty in bending over find it difficult to raise a toilet seat in the traditional way.
A single invention which is able to solve all of the above stated problems would be welcome by both men and women.

Apparatus for raising and automatically lowering a toilet seat


There is provided mechanisms for transmitting adjusted signals. A method is performed by a radio communications device comprising at least two radio transmitter units. The method comprises generating a signal to be transmitted by the radio transmitter units. The method comprises adjusting the signal at at least one of the radio transmitter units by dithering at least one radio parameter value such that the signals from all radio transmitter units are mutually different. The method comprises transmitting the adjusted signal by the radio transmitter units.

In general terms, transmissions from radio communications devices, such as base stations and terminal devices, aim to radiate energy within a permitted frequency allocation. However, it is in most cases unavoidable that energy is also transmitted at frequencies other than the permitted allocation. Such frequencies could have been allocated for use by other communications systems. Leakage of radiated energy to non-allocated frequencies is termed unwanted emissions. Although unwanted emissions are unavoidable, the amount of unwanted emissions should be kept to a small level in order to avoid disruptive interference to the other communications systems.
Regulations and telecommunication standards for base stations and terminal devices include limits on the amount of unwanted emissions that the radio communications devices are allowed to produce. The radio communications devices must be tested and demonstrated not to exceed the unwanted emissions limits to be legal and type approved.
Many unwanted emissions limits are specified at the output of the radio transmitter of the radio communications devices and are known as conducted emissions limits. The emissions levels are tested by means of disconnecting the antenna from the radio communications device and instead connecting the radio communications device to test equipment that is able to measure the unwanted emissions levels. In general terms, as long as the disconnected antenna equipment does not contain any active or non-linear components, then the total emissions power radiated in all directions from the antenna during real operation will be lower than the unwanted emissions level measured with the test gear. Thus meeting the emissions limit with the test gear demonstrates that when radiating in real operation, unwanted emissions levels will also not be exceeded.
In addition to unwanted emissions, nonlinearities in the transmitters can give rise to distortions of the wanted signal. These distortions can be viewed as another source of emissions, this time within the same frequency range as the wanted signal. Typically, the level of interference to the wanted signal caused by self-induced distortions is captured by a metric known as EVM (Error Vector Measure).
For future radio communications devices having active antenna systems (AAS) that have a large number of transmitters in order to achieve a high directivity, if emissions are correlated between transmitters then there could be a large "antenna gain" for the emissions. In order to meet unwanted emissions limits, the power of the transmitters would need to be significantly reduced to compensate for the beamforming, or antenna gain if the unwanted emissions are defined as Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP). Alternatively, sophisticated linearization schemes with high complexity could be used to additionally reduce unwanted emissions to compensate for the antenna gain present in the EIRP of the unwanted emissions. Using such sophisticated linearization schemes to meet requirements could increase the cost and complexity of beamforming to the point where it would not be feasible to use it.
Furthermore the direction of maximum (EIRP) of the unwanted emissions for an AAS may not be aligned with the direction of the wanted signal and may not be easily predictable. Attempting to find the maximum EIRP may require a lot of measurements and measurement time. Furthermore, the direction of maximum EIRP may change with time due to scheduling decisions.
In view of the above, there is still a need for an improved handling of unwanted emissions from a radio communications device.

Handling of unwanted emissions from a radio communications device


The invention provides improved methods of wastewater purification. The present invention provides a process for the energy efficient production of Class A biosolids. More particularly, sewage sludge is subjected to an anaerobic digestion process resulting in class A biosolids, whereby methane gas byproducts are utilized to meet the high energy demands associated with Class A biosolid production.

A typical wastewater treatment facility accepts input wastewater containing solid and dissolved waste matter. The solids and dissolved matter are removed, and the water is purified prior to discharge into the environment. The waste solids are commonly referred to as sludge or biosolids. Biosolids contain viral and bacterial pathogens, organic and inorganic contaminates. Thus biosolids pose a safety and health risk to humans and the environment. Biosolids have historically been disposed of by incineration, landfilling, or land application. Generally over half of wastewater facilities' operating costs are associated with the handling and disposal of biosolids.
An alternative to landfill disposal and/or incineration is the production of environmentally safe biosolids, including Class A biosolids. Biosolids purified to United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) Class A standards result in the virtual elimination of pathogens. Class A biosolids are safe enough to be utilized as fertilizer on agricultural land and possess almost no application restrictions.
Although meeting Class A standards permits the recycling of biosolids and eliminates costs associated with incineration or transfer to landfill, conventional processes for producing Class A pathogen levels are very costly. Class A biosolids require a significant amount of energy to process, and are thus associated with extremely high fuel demands. There exists an economic disincentive for Class A biosolid production, which in turn has hampered its widespread adoption.
Anaerobic digestion has been one of the most widely used processes for the stabilization of primary and secondary sludges produced at municipal wastewater treatment facilities, but the majority of applications of anaerobic digestion to wastewater sludges have been in the mesophilic temperature range, from 35° C. to 40° C. (95° F. to 104° F.). Anaerobic sludge digestion in the thermophilic temperature range, necessary for producing Class A biosolids, is performed at 45° C. to 65° C. (113° F. to 149° F.) but has been practiced to only a limited extent. The limited use of anaerobic digestion at higher thermophilic temperatures is due to the greatly increased energy demands and high fuel (e.g., natural gas) costs.
The advantages of thermophilic digestion include increased stabilization and methane production rates, and improved sludge dewatering properties. Furthermore, thermophillic anaerobic digestion coupled with a mesophilic digestion has improved pathogen destruction and meets the pathogen quality requirements for EPA's Class A biosolid certification. However, there exists a need for cost-efficient Class A biosolid processing.
Anaerobic digestion processes produce biogas byproducts such as CO2, nitrogen, and methane. Generally, this renewable source of energy is flared as a gas byproduct. Advantageously, the significant amounts of methane should be converted to usable heat and electricity. There exists a need for a cost-efficient method for harnessing the energy potential inherent in wastewater treatment process and utilizing said energy to sustain the wastewater treatment process.

Integrated clean biomass to energy system


A multi-stage button switch includes a body, an elastic element and a compression element. The compression element has an integrated flexible harness arm. The body has a track zone and a harness portion which is formed with a selected geometric shape to define the moving path of the compression element that includes a start position, a first stage compression position, a compressed position and a second stage compression position in this order. The button switch thus formed consists of fewer elements, is simply structured and can be fabricated and assembled easily.

The multi-stage button switch, in addition to providing the function of a general button switch, also can function as a clip to provide clipping function through an upper portion and a lower portion that form a clipping zone. The clip basically functions by coupling two elements together, or releasing one element through a simple operation. It usually is used on doors, windows and the like. For instance, the door of general electric appliances has a clip. The conventional clips have many types and operate in different ways. The most widely used operation approach is compression. Such an operation includes two stages: A first compression is to couple two elements, and a second compression is to release one of the elements. A desirable clip must be operated simply, offers definite actions and not loosen off easily. The structural design of the elements of the clip directly affects its functionality.
R.O.C. Patent Publication No. 568197 entitled "Clip" discloses a clip which has an anchor seat with a housing trough holding a sliding dock which is movable between an upper and a lower detent positions. The upper side of the bottom of the housing trough and the lower surface of the sliding dock have a turnable action bar and a spring extendable upwards. The sliding dock can be compressed twice in the housing trough to form an upper and a lower anchor positions. The action bar pivotally coupled on the bottom of the anchor seat is elastic and deformable. The upper side of the action bar has two opposing and suspending ends. The two ends are located on the surface of two sides of an action plate of the sliding dock. The action plate has bosses on two sides. The two ends can slide and anchor between the bosses. By the elastic driving of the spring, the sliding dock can slide up and down in the housing trough to provide compression operation to function as a clip.
R.O.C. Patent Publication No. 221884 entitled "Improved clip" discloses a clip which has a compression portion and a housing portion. The compression portion is formed in T-shape and has a square compression surface on the top mating the housing portion. The compression surface has an indented dimple in the center. The compression portion is coupled with a upright and elastic anchor seat. The elastic anchor seat has a round hole running through the front and rear surfaces. There are two longitudinal notches on the left side and right side of the lower side of the round hole. Between the two notches, there is an elastic anchor member extended from the lower side. The elastic anchor seat has a spring on the bottom. The holding portion has a threading hole on the front side and rear side and an anchor hole on an upper side to hold the elastic anchor seat to slide up and down. The anchor hole has a square opening on the front edge and rear edge. The compression portion has a small anchor button above the round hole of the elastic anchor seat. The square opening of the holding portion has an anchor notch abutting one side running and running through an inner side of the anchor hole. The compression portion may be compressed downward and tilted. The small anchor button can be latched on the anchor notch so that the round hole and the threading hole of the compression portion and the holding portion mate each other to thread a rope.


The disclosed vacuum assembly can be mounted in a vehicle. The motor/fan assembly is positioned above a chassis wall. Lateral flanges on opposed sides of the tank support the tank in generally horizontal sliding motion from a forward position to an elevated rearward position. A rear flange supports the tank as it pivots to a mounted position in which an inlet on a removable lid on the tank communicates with a hose, and an outlet on the lid communicates with the motor/fan assembly. In a removed position, the inlet and outlet are disconnected. Alignment bosses fit in aligned openings when the tank is in the mounted position.

The invention described in this document relates generally to vehicles and particularly to vacuum systems that can be installed as a stock component or an aftermarket component of a vehicle such as an automobile.
Many automobiles, including minivans, are designed for transporting active families or groups, such as members of athletic teams. Other automobiles, including SUV's, are designed for rugged use. Although all types of automobiles are prone to become dirty, some automobiles are particularly prone to collecting dirt or debris in the cabin. An internally-mounted vacuum system could make it easier for vehicle owners to keep their vehicles clean.
There are many challenges to creating such a system. For example, the components, including the ducting, must be arranged to fit within a relatively tight space. Also, traditional vacuum cleaners are plugged into conventional AC outlets (which automobiles do not have), so power supply is an open question. Further, internal mounting of a vacuum presents unresolved challenges in arranging the components so that the dirt and debris—once collected—can be easily removed.

Vacuum assembly with inlet through removable tank


An automatic trailer hitch coupling apparatus having a hitch bar receiver mounted on a platform at the rear end of a towing vehicle, said hitch bar receiver having a square cross section and a flanged rear end into which a hitch bar is removably inserted. A winch have an extendable and retractable cable is mounted on the towing vehicle proximate the receiver and a cable having a cable lead is fed outwardly from the receiver. A hitch bar for coupling within the hitch bar receiver has a front portion connected to a rear portion with a universal joint; the front portion is connected to the cable lead with a quick release and lock system. The hitch bar is integrally connected to a hitch tongue having a horizontal portion on which a hitch ball is mounted.

Not applicable.
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Not applicable.
The present invention relates generally to devices for hitching a trailing vehicle to a towing vehicle, and more particularly to an automatic trailer hitch coupling apparatus that facilitates use by a wide variety of operators, including unskilled and physically impaired operators.
It is well known that hitching a towed vehicle to a towing vehicle can require significant strength, and occasionally skill. Furthermore, bringing a heavy and clumsy towed vehicle into effective registration with a towing hitch frequently necessitates situating the towing and towed vehicles such that the longitudinal axes are aligned. This is often difficult to accomplish. Accordingly, it is desirable to have an apparatus operable by the elderly, the weak, the physically impaired, or the injured, which effectively assists in easily hitching and automatically hitching a towed vehicle to a towing vehicle, even when the vehicles are significantly out of alignment.
Several hitch devices have been proposed for coupling a towed vehicle to a towing vehicle. It is well known to provide a trailer coupling with a manual or motorized winch to assist coupling of large or heavy loads. Illustrative examples include U.S. Pat. No.: 2,170,983 to Adams, U.S. Pat. No. 3,345,082 to Atkins; U.S. Pat. No. 3,596,925 to Richie; U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,113 to Smitherman; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,848,895 to Christopher; U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,632 to DeVorak; U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,899 to Belcher; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,048,854 to Clark.
The trailer hitch coupling device disclosed in the Dvorak patent includes a drawbar with a bellmouth hitch sleeve bolted to the truck bumper or frame and carries an extendible hitch tongue securely nested within the sleeve when towing a trailer or implement. The tongue is attached to one end of a wire rope with the other end of the wire rope reeled around a winch drum member, incorporated into the trailer hitch. When the wire rope is unreeled, the hitch tongue is allowed to be drawn out of the sleeve for coupling to a tow bar of a trailer. The coupling can be made with the insertion of an interconnecting lock pin. The wire rope is then reeled in on the winch drum while the bellmouth sleeve guides the rope and hitch tongue toward an aligning couple. The winch drum reel is powered by a hand crank to drag the hitch tongue with the attached trailer into a stowed position. A truncated pyramidal portion of the hitch tongue is brought into engagement with the bellmouth hitch sleeve. A second lock pin provides a positive mechanical towing couple between the tongue and sleeve, forming a rigid tow bar unit.
The hitch assembly of the Belcher ""899 patent comprises a receiver section that defines a tubular passage and is secured in axial longitudinal alignment on a rear bumper structure of a towing vehicle. A winch is mounted adjacent the receiver structure to retractably extend a cable rearward through the tubular passage for connection to a hitch bar that is adapted for hitch connection to a trailer or implement that is to be towed. The cable can be retracted to draw the hitch bar for tight, locked reception up within the tubular passage. A locking pin automatically drops into position to lock the hitch bar within the hitch receptacle.
The ""854 patent to Clark teaches a pivoting quick-connect winch-driven hitch system for coupling trailers to tow vehicles. The system comprises a unitary frame pivotally mounted beneath the bumper of the vehicle by a rigid pivot shaft, which projects upwardly from the center of the frame. A rigid base defines a tubular cavity and a platform for mounting a winch adjacent to the cavity. The cavity receives a rigid bar coupled to the trailer. Deflectors project angularly outwardly from the cavity to define a mouth for guiding the bar into alignment as it enters the mouth. The frame rotates in response to pressure applied by the cable when the trailer is drawn from either side of the tow vehicle. The bar comprises a tapered end, a locking orifice defined centrally through the bar, and an end having an orifice for receiving a trailer connector. A rigid travel-limiting stop projects upwardly between the locking orifice and the open end. The stop limits travel of the bar relative to the mouth to assure proper coupling. The frame pivots roughly sixty-five degrees relative to the longitudinal axis of the cavity. Rotation of the frame is limited by a rigid stop projecting upwardly from the frame. The winch cable is anchored by a hand-tied knot to facilitate repair if broken. A drop pin and cotter pin assembly are employed to ensure safe coupling and to preclude frame rotation when moving.
The above-mentioned related prior art disclose winch assemblies that facilitate drawing a heavy towed load into registration with the hitch. Nevertheless, there are certain disadvantages in the designs. For instance, the hand-driven winch of DeVorak ""632 and the powered hitch assembly of Belcher ""899 do not provide safe or convenient means to hitch a towed vehicle to a towing vehicle when the vehicles are not in axial alignment.
While the patent to Clark ""854 provides such means, it does so with a unitary design that includes a pivoting platform defining the hitch receptacle and to which a winch is mounted. This makes interchangeability of parts and use of only parts of the system on other vehicles difficult and inconvenient. Furthermore, the pivot range of the platform is limited, and no additional means is provided to provide registration of the hitching bar within the hitch bar receptacle other than rotation of the frame and flaring deflectors at the mouth of the receptacle.
Thus, although the above-indicated patents disclose a partial solution to the problem of hitching heavy loads, improvements in the art are needed to facilitate easy hitching of misaligned vehicles, particularly by individuals who are at physical disadvantage.
Accordingly, the automatic trailer hitch coupling apparatus of the present invention provides means for solving the aforementioned problems, including eliminating the need to bring a towing and towed vehicle into close proximity or into alignment before hitching the vehicles; eliminating the need to employ a second person to assist in guiding the driver; eliminating the necessity of lifting a heavy trailer tongue to effect coupling to a hitch receiver; and facilitating hitching on slick, uneven, and slanted surfaces.
The inventive apparatus comprises a hitch bar receiver having a square cross section and a flanged rear end into which the hitch bar is inserted. The hitch bar receiver is mounted on the rear bumper of a vehicle, or another suitably stable platform, and includes an aperture into which a locking pin is inserted when the hitch bar is fully engaged. A hitch bar for coupling within the hitch bar receiver has a front portion connected to a rear portion with a universal joint. In operation, the front portion is connected to a cable lead which has tapering sides for easy and accurate insertion into the hitch bar receiver. A winch, powered or manual, is mounted proximate the receiver.
A hitch ball is mounted on the horizontal portion of a tongue, which also includes a vertical portion functioning as a stop. The hitch ball may be left connected to a trailer tongue socket for easy connection to the automatic hitch coupling cable lead.
The hitch bar is selectively attached or detached from the cable lead with either a quick release and lock system or a threaded post. The quick release and lock system may be connected to the hitch bar with a mere insertion and quarter turn, thus enabling rapid and easy connection for operation. Thereafter, no heavy lifting or struggling to align the vehicles is required to effect hitching. Further, during operation, stress and strain on the cable and the system in its entirety is minimized by the unique two-part hitch bar having a universal joint. The joint keeps the cable in straight alignment relative to the cable lead and facilitates insertion into the receiver as the trailer nears the towing vehicle.
In operation, a user backs a towing vehicle with the rear end nearby the trailer. The winch cable and cable lead are then pulled to the trailer where the quick lock and release is used to connect the lead to the trailer hitch bar. The winch is engaged and the cable is retracted to pull the trailer into registration with the hitch receiver. When the hitch bar is fully inserted into the receiver, a locking pin secure s the h itch bar within the receiver.
When it is desired to disconnect the cable lead from the hitch bar, the locking p in is removed, the cable is fed out to slide out the hitch bar, and the quick release and lock system is disengaged by turning the key for removal from its complementary keyhole.

Automatic trailer hitch coupling apparatus


Guiding a printing medium that is being conveyed along a travel path in a printing machine, whereby the printing medium is not making contact along at least one edge. A stream of sucked air (9) is directed at least partially outward, with respect to at least one edge (5) of the printing medium. A printing media guide with at least one air suction mechanism (8) for sucking air out of the area of the travel path of the printing medium (1) in order to create a suction air stream (9) is directed at least partially outwards.

In printing machines, especially in electrophotographic printing machines, printing media such as paper, for example, are conveyed along a path of travel with the aid of conveyor belts, traction systems, or the like.
Printing media can be conveyed such that only certain areas of the printing media come into contact with the appropriate conveying elements. For example, the printing medium can lie midway on an electrostatic conveyor belt and be conveyed thereby while one edge or even both edges of the printing medium make no contact.
This freedom of contact of the edges can, for example, be necessary when microwave fuser mechanisms are used, as is proposed in DE 101 45 005 A1. In such case, for example, toner can initially be fused on the edges of the printing medium by microwaves. Because contacts made by the printing medium directly downstream of the microwave applicators can lead to smeared print images, it is desirable that the printing medium be conveyed in such a way that no contact is made with the edges. To achieve this purpose, the use of an electrostatic conveyor belt for conveying the printing medium is preferred, whereby the conveyor belt is set up such that the middle section of printing medium lies on the conveyor belt.
If the printing medium is conveyed such that the edges do not make contact, undesirable movements of the edges can occur. The edge can begin to flutter or become bent in an undesirable way; it can, in particular, hang down or roll up, or the like.
The undesirable movements can cause reductions in print quality. The layer of toner can be adversely affected or, inside a lithographic or ink jet printing machine, ink that has not yet dried can run. If the path of travel runs through another mechanism, the movements of the edges of the printing medium can result in the medium making contact with or bumping into feed-in slots that are present. This can damage the printing medium, or cause a paper jam.

Process for guiding printing media and printing media guide


The apparatus includes a combination of a microscope and an interactive image analysis system comprising a camera and a computer work station. The purpose of the apparatus is to facilitate the interactive control of coordinate displacements of the stage of the microscope. For each coordinate x and y an electromechanical control channel is established. At the input of the control channel two cascaded wheels in a coaxial arrangement and two angle encoders are used as a detached, independent tool which is not kinematically linked to the stage. In the middle of the control channel, the pulses of the angle encoders undergo a non-linear transformation. A processor performs a calculation which discriminates between slow displacements and fast displacements. At the end of the control channel, a flat, easily accessible platform of the microscope stage has two working areas, one for manual previewing and one for interactive scanning of a specimen.

The invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling coordinate displacements of a platform. The preferred application of the invention is a microscope stage.
In general microscopy, the subject of the investigation is supported on a stage. The subject may be a slide, i.e. a package of two glass plates enclosing a specimen in the form of a layer. The slide is supported by the stage which functions like a platform and defines the object plane of the microscope. The slide plane is referenced in conventional manner having coordinates x and y.
If the specimen or probe to be viewed has an area larger than the area of the microscopic field of view, as is normally the case, the user has to select a specific area which is just under observation. The slide may be dislocated by freely shifting it on a flat surface of the platform. Otherwise the field selection is accomplished by displacements of the stage in the x,y-plane. In other words, the platform carrying the fixed specimen slide may be shifted along the x-axis and the y-axis independently.
In pathology, the microscope is the basic instrument used to visualize specimen. The microscopic analysis satisfies diagnostic purposes of various kinds. In the past decade many attempts have been made to improve the reliability of the microscopic analysis. In addition to the qualitative information which is traditionally collected by a microscope, more and more quantitative information is gained. In order to collect the quantitative information, a computer-based image analysis system has been established around the microscope. Most of the known image analysis systems are of an interactive nature, i.e. the user performs a dialogue with the programmed computer in the course of collecting the optical information. An important interactive contribution of the user is to select the microscopic field to be measured.
Normally it is intended in such interactive image analysis systems to screen the complete slide only once. There is a need for an economical, systematic investigation of specimen having a relatively large area as compared to the necessary resolution of details. The machine performance may be enhanced by tracing and recording the x-y-position of the stage. Thus, the computer may not only forward position displacement signals to the microscope, but also gets a feed back signal on the position of areas which have already been screened. This means that the microscopes stage should be equipped with position read-out facilities.
There are two principal ways to perform the field selection when the slide is fixed on the platform: 1) the classical mechanical drive by two direct handling wheels or 2) an electro-mechanical drive which is typically used in conjunction with x,y-controllers of computers. Both principles will be explained now by referring to the prior art.
European Patent Application EP 317139 discloses a system for measuring selected features of cell parameters by optical identification of marked cells. The known system functionally operates as a digital image analysis and processing system. The apparatus comprises a high resolution microscope enabling an operator to view magnified specimen on a support, in a preferred embodiment a glass slide. The microscope includes adjustment or positioning means for focusing its optics on the slide and a platform movable incrementally in two directions via positioning means in order to view different areas thereof. Positioning means are in the form of mechanical adjustment verniers which are conventional for instrument quality microscopes.
The known microscope stage is fitted with an x-y sensing device having an accuracy of about 10 .mu.m in the microscope slide plane. These sensors are computer-interfaced and are constantly read by the system. They are used with special microscope slides having marks on the glass plates to record the relative x-y position of any image acquired by the system. This x-y-position detecting and recording mechanism is useful in experimental situations where a great amount of image information has to be evaluated. The microscope slide itself may be used, so to say, as an image storage medium. The microscope slide is accessed just like an image storage medium, e.g. when experiments are repeated or when a back-up memory for the digital image store is helpful or when complete sets of digitized images would require an enormous storage capacity.
A second example of a known microscope is marketed under the tradename Westerboer. The stage of Westerboer has--for each direction x, y--two different parallel-acting drive means in order to control the displacements in the x,y-plane. The first drive means is the conventional mechanical control of a microscope stage. The second drive means is a computer-aided electro-mechanical control of the stage. Both the mechanical and the electro-mechanical drive are linked in parallel to the known stage.
The conventional manual drive of the Westerboer microscope stage is operated by means of two cascaded wheels placed on the same axis. With the aid of gears the wheel movement is translated into the stage movement.
The second drive means of the known stage employs a so-called mouse or a so-called joy-stick to input desired x and y coordinates to a computer. The position command signals are decoded in the computer and transformed into corresponding drive signals. The drive signals are outputted from the computer to control a x-motor and a y-motor. The x-motor rotates a spindle having a threading for s a correspondingly threaded member of the stage. The y-motor rotates a y-spindle; the y-spindle rotation is transformed into a shift of the stage in y-direction by another threaded member. The motors for driving the known stage are DC servo motors which act in the known manner by comparing an input DC signal and a DC feedback signal of a position sensor belonging to the servo motor. If the difference between both DC signals is zero, the DC motor stops at the desired position.
The spindles of the electro-mechanical drive and the racks of the mechanical drive are commonly attached to the stage. The user decides whether he wants to actuate the conventional manual drive or the joystick/mouse of the computer-aided drive. Both drive means are mechanically interconnected by the driven stage itself. On actuation of the x-handling wheel, the displacement of the stage leads also to a rotation of the x-motor spindle. On the other hand, by actuating the mouse or the joy-stick, the DC-motor will not only shift the stage, but will also move the drive mechanism of the cascaded wheels. Hence, a mechanical connection exists between the handling wheels and the servo motors.

Method and apparatus for controlling coordinate displacements of a platform


A light emitting element module is provided including a board and plural chips arranged in the form of an array on the board. Each chip includes at least one light emitting element having a light emitting function and/or a photosensing function. The chips are arranged on the board so that the upper surfaces of adjacent chips which are located opposite to the board are positionally displaced in the height direction of the chips by at least the distance corresponding to the thickness of the chips. This uneven chip arrangement in the height direction may be established by alternately arranging thicker chips and thinner chips on the board.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a light emitting element module and a printer head using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known one type of light emitting element module in which a plurality of rectangular-parallelpiped chips each including plural LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) (i.e., "LED array") are arranged on a board (this type of light emitting element module is hereinafter referred to as "LED module").
When an LED is used as a light emitting element, the LED module is used as a light source for an LED print head for use in an electrophotographic printer, for example. On the other hand, when an LED is used as a light emitting element having a photosensitive (photodetecting) function as well as a light emitting function, the LED module is also usable as a reading/writing head for reading and writing characters, images, etc.
FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B) are plan views schematically showing a part of this type of LED module. Particularly, FIG. 1(B) is an enlarged view showing a part of the LED module which is surrounded by a broken line in FIG. 1(A). In FIGS. 1(A) and 1(B), reference numeral 1 represents a board, reference numeral 3 represents a chip and reference numeral 5 represents a light emitting element. When the distance between chips (inter-chip distance) is represented by x and the distance (chip edge margin) between the chip edge and the leftmost (or rightmost) light emitting element (dot) is represented by y in the LED module, the values of x and y are determined in consideration of the following conditions (1) to (3).
(1) The inter-chip distance x is set to such a value as satisfies the following conditions: A) the mutual interference between neighboring chips due to the different in thermal expansion coefficient between the chip and the board can be prevented; and B) even when a chip is mounted on the board or a defective chip is replaced with a new one, the arrangement of adjacent chips can prevented from being disturbed or the adjacent chips can be prevented from being damaged.
(2) The chip edge margin y is set to such a value as satisfies the following conditions: A) there is no probability that the device characteristics can be prevented from being deteriorated due to leakage of light to the side surface at the chip edge; and B) it is easy to cut out (dice) plural chips formed in a wafer individually.
(3) In order to keep the dot pitch constant over the entire LED module, the pitch (dot pitch) z between light emitting elements at the chip edges of adjacent chips and the dot pitch z between light emitting elements on each chip are set to be equal to or approximate to each other.
The values of x and y are determined on the basis of the tradeoffs of the conditions (1) to (3), and the chips are successively mounted on the board by die-bonding or the like to form an LED module.
However, the above-described conventional light emitting element module has such a problem that it is difficult to keep a sufficient inter-chip distance under the condition (3) for a chip having light emitting elements which are arranged in high density.
For example, the following table shows the possible inter-chip distance x for the chip edge margins y of 4 .mu.m and 8 .mu.m when the resolution of the LED module is set to 400 DPI, 600 DPI, 1200 DPI and 2400 DPI.
TABLE 1 ______________________________________ MAXIMUM INTER-CHIP DISTANCEs chip edge margin = 4 .mu.m chip edge margin 8 .mu.m ______________________________________ 400 DPI 55.5 .mu.m 47.5 .mu.m 600 DPI 34.3 .mu.m 26.3 .mu.m 1200 DPI 13.0 .mu.m 5.0 .mu.m 2400 DPI 2.5 .mu.m unmeasurable ______________________________________
It is readily understood from the above table 1 that as the resolution of the LED module is increased, the possible inter-chip distance x is reduced. As the inter-chip distance is reduced, when a chip is arranged or a defective chip is removed, the chip comes into contact with other chips adjacent thereto. Consequently, the probability that the arrangement of the chips is disturbed or the chips are damaged is increased. Therefore, it is more and more difficult to perform a chip arrangement process and a defective chip replacement process. The table 1 shows two cases where the chip edge margin is set to 4 .mu.m and 8 .mu.m. However, upon considering a bonding error, etc., it has been recognized that it is substantially difficult to perform an accurate mounting process for chips having a density (resolution) of 1200 DPI or more even when another chip edge margin value which satisfies the condition (2) is adopted.

Light emitting element module and printer head using the same


The present invention discloses a seating system that includes a seat back (20) with one or more plastic panels (22, 24) that extend across a lateral distance (D2) of the seat back (20). The seat back (20) preferably includes one or more channel forming ribs (50, 54, 58). Optionally the seat back (20) will be anchored to a body of an automotive vehicle with an improved attachment system (100).

There is an ever-growing need for improved seating systems in automotive vehicles. The surge in popularity of hatchbacks, sport utility vehicles and minivans, has posed unique design challenges, in view of the need for seating to be adjustable and in many instances to restrain cargo carried toward the rear of the vehicle. In light of the increased consumer usage of these vehicles for stowage and transport of cargo along with passengers (particularly passengers in rear seats), manufacturers have turned their attention to improving the ability of the seating systems to withstand large loads.
One approach has been to develop improved systems for transmitting loads to the seat tracks of vehicle seating assemblies. A growing number of applications, however, employ attachment of seating components directly to the vehicle body in white for load distribution to the body in white. For the improved seat track technology to be viable in the latter applications, it would require substantial modification, which is believed would unduly complicate the manufacturing procedures, require the development of expensive new processing techniques, or add substantial weight to the vehicles. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved, readily manufactured seating system that is capable of meeting vehicle manufacturer design criteria and government standards for vehicles, and which can be efficiently and conveniently adapted for use in a variety of applications including those involving seat track load distribution, body in white load distribution or both.
In addition to having load bearing characteristics, it may be desirable for seating systems to include one or more additional functional features, ordinarily packaged elsewhere (e.g., in other locations of a vehicle). Examples of such features include ducts, vents, motors, electronic devices, entertainment devices, communications devices, other comfort, convenience or utilitarian features and the like. Accommodation of these features in conventional seats often poses difficulties given the limited packaging space available. Thus, there is also a need for a seating system that can integrate one or more comfort, convenience or other utilitarian features.
Moreover, it may be desirable to maintain lower costs and lower weight for the seating system. Thus, certain embodiments of the present invention may seek to use relatively small amounts of material for the seating system shile still maintaining its structural integrity.
Examples of advantageous improved systems for seating are disclosed in commonly-owned and co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09/766,792 (filed Jan. 22, 2001), Ser. No. 60/312,874(filed Aug. 15, 2001), Ser. No. 60/329,187; filed Oct. 12, 2001, U.S. Ser. No. 09/766,792 (filed Jan. 22, 2001) and U.S. Ser. No. 10/216,970 (filed Aug. 12, 2002) the teachings of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein for all purposes.

Seating system and method of forming same


A system for controlling a voltage inverter, or supplying power to a multiphase electric motor of an automobile vehicle, including: a mechanism generating values of power supply voltages for each phase of the electric motor, together with an amplitude value of the power supply voltages; a phase-splicing determination mechanism; and a controller controlling the phase splicing cooperating to control transmission to the voltage inverter of duty cycles generated by determining the duty cycles, as a function of values of power supply voltages for each phase of the electric motor, and also of the amplitude value of the power supply voltages.

The invention relates to the technical field of the control of multiphase electric motors for automobile vehicles.
The traction machines of electric vehicles are electrically powered by transistor systems designed to generate single-phase alternating voltages from a DC voltage. This power electronic system is called a voltage inverter. The control of the switches included in the voltage inverter is carried out by signals modulated in pulse width (PWM for pulse-width modulation). Pulse-width modulation consists in generating a train of pulses at a fixed frequency and with variable width, whose average value corresponds to the value of the setpoint applied.
Various methods exist that are conventionally used to obtain such a modulation.
The sinusoidal method allows a PWM modulation with a zero or very low voltage to be supplied.
The injection of a third-order harmonic allows the amplitude of the main harmonic to be increased. This method has been developed principally for increasing the linear voltage region. It does however have the drawback of increasing the rms value of the current and hence the losses, both in the power electronics and in the motor.
Space Vector Modulation has been developed in order to increase the linear voltage region, while at the same time avoiding the increase in current caused by the harmonic injection.
Discontinuous methods allow the switching losses to be minimized in the transistors while at the same time conserving a good use of the voltage available and a limitation of the current. Their main drawback is being difficult to implement and not easily compatible with the real duty cycle limits. The reason for this is that, owing to the dispersion in switching times of the transistors, a voltage inverter must comprise a dead time in order to limit the duty cycle values.
The document US 2009/0179608 describes a method for controlling a voltage inverter supplying power to an electric motor of an automobile vehicle. The method described takes into account constraints on forbidden regions of the duty cycles in the case of a chopping frequency that can be variable. This method is of the space vector modulation type.

System for controlling a voltage inverter supplying power to a multiphase electrical motor of a motor vehicle


A wind turbine devices comprises a vertically rotating shaft; and a plurality of horizontally disposed, box-shaped wind catchment vanes connected about the shaft, each vane having an open front face to catch wind flow and a lightweight flap on their rear face that closes when acted upon by wind force to rotate the vane about the shaft. When the latter flap opens, wind spills through the vane thus increasing efficiency.

1. Current Standard Wind Power Generators (ERDA-NASA)
The contemporary "industry gold standard" for the wind generation of electricity is a propeller design with a directional mechanism to keep it facing the wind—sometimes called an ERDA-NASA design. Over time, a number of serious drawbacks and disadvantages of this design have emerged which imply that this design may not be the best way to meet the challenge of a rapidly accelerating demand for electrical power. These deficiencies include the following:
a. While thought to be more efficient than its known alternatives mostly because of its high "tip-speed ratio" (explained below), the ERDA-NASA design may not derive sufficient power from the wind to make it particularly cost-effective in the long run. It has been estimated that generating enough power for a single residential dwelling may require a propeller at least 25 feet in diameter. Other estimates suggest that very large diameter designs, from 125-200 feet, may be needed to achieve outputs in the 100 kilowatts-1000 kilowatts range. As size increases, production, installation, and maintenance costs rise very quickly. Also, given the higher stresses encountered with large, heavy units, failure rates rise making total replacement costs more likely. In addition, the efficient utilization of wind power by an ERDA-NASA unit requires supplementary control mechanisms for: turning (or orienting) the unit; feathering its blades; and overspeed braking in high winds. These control mechanisms use energy to operate—thus decreasing efficiency and further complicating design and production/maintenance costs. Units must be spaced apart roughly 10 times the rotor diameter to avoid turbulent interference with each other. Consequently, wind farms will occupy considerable acreage for a sizeable number of units. For example, one estimate requires 90 square miles for propellers 125 feet in diameter to produce 100 megawatts. Thus, for any proposed wind farm site, it remains a serious question whether ERDA-NASA units are economically feasible.
b. Safety considerations are also a factor. The higher tip speeds of today's propellers and greater dynamic strains and stresses on the materials used to make same all contribute to metal fatigue, increasing the risk of catastrophic failures. In addition, there are already abundant concerns about the detrimental effects on wildlife, especially birds and migratory fowl and raptors. ERDA-NASA units located near dwellings, or on the tops of tall buildings, also pose potentially serious hazards to human and animal life as well as to property. The tops of tall buildings are ideal sites for wind generators since wind speeds are proportionally greater at higher altitudes. In addition, the desire to develop "green" buildings gives ample motivation for incorporating rooftop wind generators into future architectural plans. Unfortunately, ERDA-NASA generators may not be the best answer because of safety issues alone.
c. ERDA-NASA units are not able to utilize wind power efficiently over a wide range of wind speeds. Current models of the ERDA-NASA wind turbines typically operate at a preferred constant wind speed of 40 rpm in a range between 6 and 60 mph. The propeller blades are feathered to prevent damage in high winds (i.e., above 60 mph). Consequently, there are significant energy losses at speeds in excess of 18 mph because the propeller blades feather to maintain a preferred constant rotation at 40 rpm. There are also significant energy losses at wind speeds less than 18 mph because generator changes (changes in load) must be made to keep that constant 40 rpm rotation. As wind speeds are highly variable, having such a narrow window of optimal wind velocities decreases expected efficiency.
d. High variation in wind speeds is not the only problem. The direction of wind current is itself in constant flux and unpredictable, especially in a small region over periods of great turbulence. Efficient wind turbines must be able to rapidly adjust to sudden directional changes over a full range, i.e., 360 degrees. Today's ERDA-NASA devices gradually reposition to take account of directional fluctuations, but by no means exhibit quick responsiveness to such directional changes.
e. Some wind generators have better applicability in smaller locations with lower electrical power demands. Individual dwellings, recreational vehicles, or marine uses may not readily accommodate smaller scale ERDA-NASA generators in terms of available physical space, safety and/or aesthetics.
Because of these disadvantages, alternatives to today's ERDA-NASA type generators should be sought for addressing the aforementioned problems.
2. Vertical-axis Wind Turbines
Numerous patents have been granted in a category of wind turbines called "vertical-axis" turbines. These turbines are so-named because they have vanes or blades displayed outward from a vertically mounted, central axis, contrary to the horizontal axis of rotation for ERDA-NASA generators. The type of device installed on many home rooftops to improve attic air circulation is a good example of a vertical-axis turbine. An anemometer is another. An immediate advantage of such devices is that they need not be rotated to always face the wind. Whatever direction the wind comes from, these devices can immediately absorb wind energy and convert it to rotational power. Such devices are sometimes technically described as having their axis of rotation transverse to the flow of fluid medium.
Previous designs of vertical axis windmills generally fall into two categories, the Darrieus rotor and Savonius rotor types. Many variations of the two have been designed over the years.

Gravity-flap, savonius-type wind turbine device


A car navigation system includes: a vehicle-information acquiring means 14 for acquiring the vehicle information held by a vehicle 2; a setting-information generating means 15, 16 for generating setting information to be set in a processing program 19 based on the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle-information acquiring means; a setting-information notification means 17 for notifying the setting information generated by the setting-information generating means 15, 16 to the processing program 19; and a setting-information switching means 18, included in the processing program 19, for switching the internal setting state of the processing program 19 according to the setting information given by the setting-information notification means, wherein the processing program 19 performs a navigation function in the setting state switched by the setting-information switching means 18.

Conventionally, a navigation device mounted on a vehicle has been known. The manufacturer of such a navigation device produces the hardware and programs therefor tailored to the specifications of individual customers (or dealers), who are automakers or car dealers, for example, and supplies the devices to the customers because the specifications of the navigation device vary from customer to customer. Therefore, even if the devices are of the same type, the map data and programs thereof may not be shared when the customer is different.
For this reason, a navigation device that can share a navigation system by selecting and exchanging the CD-ROMs used in various types of systems is developed (for example, see Patent Reference 1). This navigation device stores navigation processing programs, map information used for route search and route guidance, and other route information, which are compatible with various types of systems, in its CD-ROM, and its central processor retrieves the program supporting its own type of system from the CD-ROM, and reads the program into its program memory to start up the system, thus performing the navigation function. Accordingly, when plural types of systems share the CD-ROM, a navigation service freed from the system type can be provided.
Patent Reference 1: JP-A-09-053948
The conventional navigation device mentioned above is arranged such that a plurality of programs, which are compatible with the systems, respectively, are stored in a CD-ROM, and each of the systems acquires the program supporting its own type of system from the CD-ROM, and executes the program. Accordingly, the conventional navigation device can perform the navigation function adaptable to the device. However, the device cannot perform the navigation function suitable for an vehicle on which the navigation device is mounted, and for an environment in which the vehicle is used.
Moreover, the aforementioned conventional navigation device can be also arranged such that all the customers use the same type of hardware, for example, and the programs are provided for each of the customers, and are stored in a CD-ROM. However, it is necessary to store programs corresponding to the number of customers in the CD-ROM. When the number of customers increases, the quantity of data of the programs becomes enormous. Therefore, there develops a problem that the programs cannot be stored in the CD-ROM.
The present invention has been accomplished to solve the above-mentioned problem. An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation system that can perform navigation suitable for the vehicle and the use environment in which the vehicle is used by use of a small quantity of data.


The invention relates to a method for promoting the healing of dermal wounds by applying a composition containing chitosan and the polysaccharide, heparin or heparan sulfate. Heparin or heparan sulfate can be immobilized to chitosan by ionic or covalent bonds, and the degree of N-acetylation of chitosan can range from 25% to 90%. The composition can include a cellulose derivative as an additional polysaccharide to increase the viscosity of the composition. The combination of chitosan and polysaccharide, when applied to a wound site, effectively stimulates and accelerates wound healing.

With regard to wound ointments and similar agents for the treatment of dermal wounds, i.e. disorders in the form of wounds in the epidermis arising through accident, surgical incision or without exterior influence, for example wounds in connection with acne, so called chaps or the like, the market is flooded by products of different kinds. These products are characterized by containing as active constituents active substances of different kinds, for example antibiotics, antiinflammatory etc. whose action primarily is not directed to stimulate healing but instead are directed to act as desinfectants or in some other manner perform a cleaning action. The components contained are therefore often of such a character that they are not biodegradable to a desired degree, the storage stability also leaving something to be desired. Therefore, for the purpose of improving storage stability known products for dermal treatment often contain one or several excipients to prevent or delay decomposition, and among such excipients there may be mentioned sodium disulphate, dithiotreitol and others.

Method of promoting dermal wound healing with chitosan and heparin or heparin sulfate


A controller controls a mixing processor based on an operation in an operating portion. Besides, the controller causes a first display to display a view showing an entire console for controlling a parameter for signal processing in a mixing processor, and causes a second display to display a view showing a designated partial area of the above described control panel. Further, the controller accepts designation of any control in the view displayed by the second display, assigns a parameter corresponding to the control of which designation is accepted, and causes the mixing processor to change a value of the parameter assigned to the operating portion, in accordance with an operation content when the operating portion is operated.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a mixer controller which controls a mixing processor that processes inputted audio signals and outputs the audio signals, a mixer system having the mixing processor as described above and a controller which controls the mixing processor, and a program causing a computer to function as the mixer controller as described above.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there has been a known digital mixer which performs various kinds of signal processing such as mixing, equalizing, level adjustment and the like for inputted audio signals and outputs the audio signals.
In such a digital mixer, in order to designate a content of signal processing, a user can set values of various parameters of an input level and an output level for each channel, setting of a filter used for equalizing, setting of a channel used for mixing and the like. Such settings are generally performed by controls disposed on a console, and use of such a control panel provides the advantage of easily confirming a situation of entire settings.
There is known a mixer system in which a mixer engine that performs signal processing and a console including controls are constructed to be separate bodies. Further, in such a mixer system, a PC (Personal Computer) is caused to execute a predetermined control program, so that a parameter for signal processing can be set through GUI (Graphical User Interface) displayed on a display of the PC.
Such a mixer system and a control program are described in, for example, operation manual instructions of the console "CS1D (trade name)" and the application program "PM1D Manager for Windows (trade name)" sold on market by YAMAHA CORPORATION.


An archery bow includes a main riser frame with limbs extending therefrom. Each of the limbs has forward ends extended from the main riser frame. A bowstring has wound ends that are wound onto each of wheel cams that are attached to the limbs. The bowstring has a middle section that is not wound onto the wheel cams and that begins and ends at points on the wheel cams that are proximate to the farthest points along the wheel cams from the main riser frame. An elongate tube is mounted to the main riser frame through the central bore, and has a front handle attached to the elongate tube outer surface, and positioned between the first and second pairs of limbs. A push rod is slidably mounted at least partially inside the elongate tube, and has a rearward handle disposed outside the elongate tube rearward end.

Archery bows have been known for centuries. Compound bows are a relatively recent development. The early compound bows included an eccentric wheel or cam, which provided a lesser pull weight (or let-off) at full draw than the maximum weight applied at an intermediate draw position. Thus, the compound bow stores a substantial amount of energy without requiring the archer to hold the maximum draw weight while aiming or waiting for a clear shot opportunity.
The technology of compound bows has evolved, including attempts to reduce the overall bow length. A short length makes carrying and handling the bow less cumbersome, a particular advantage in a blind or tree stand or when otherwise shooting in a constricted space or from a constricted stance. However, attempts to shorten compound bows have been met with problems because reducing the bow length tends to reduce power while amplifying certain forces acting on and within the bow that may make accurate aiming more difficult.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a relatively small hand-drawn and hand-held shooting bow designed for sport shooting. In addition, it is desirable to provide a relatively small shooting bow that is highly accurate and usable in confined areas and from numerous stances. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description of the invention and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background of the invention.


A grip mitt (10) comprising a back piece (12) that has a forwardly claw configuration outline (14). A front piece (16) has a forwardly claw configuration outline (18) substantially corresponding to the back piece (12). An extension portion (20) is integral with and extends rearwardly from the front piece (16). A thumb piece (22) is attached into a bottom surface (24) of the front piece (16). A structure (26) is for joining the back piece (12) to the front piece (16) about the edges to form a hand covering (28) with two forward finger pockets (30) and a rear opening (32) for insertion of a hand of a person (34) therein, allowing a thumb to be received within the thumb piece (22) and two fingers to be received within each finger pocket (30) to increase the flexibility of the fingers of the hand to grasp objects more securely. The extension portion (20) will protect a forearm (36) of the person (34) from receiving burns, such as when extending the forearm (36) into a hot oven (38).

1. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates generally to hand coverings and more specifically it relates to a grip mitt. The grip mitt is claw shaped to increase the flexibility of a hand of a person wearing the mitt to grasp objects securely, will protect a forearm of the person and adjusts to fit the size of the hand.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous hand coverings have been provided in prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 133,689 to Whitaker; 1,714,648 to Walker; 2,884,644 to Jefferson; 3,377,627 to Madnick; 3,982,298 to Ota and 4,351,067 to Bartels all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.


A filter system for detecting and removing small amplitude, high frequency signals such as muscle artifact signals is provided. One form of the system includes a baseline wander filter, high and low pass filters, an adaptive line noise canceler and various noise detectors to identify, signal and remove muscle artifact or loose electrode signal contamination from an ECG signal wherein the ECG signal is conditioned to remove various portions of the ECG signal, such as the QRS portion of the ECG signal, prior to processing in various noise detectors while minimizing the signal conditioning effect of the filters on the ECG signal and while further providing the operator with the ability to manually or automatically activate the filters and to indicate the status of the filters on a printout or display.

A common problem in electrocardiography monitoring or acquisition is the contamination of the ECG signal with power line noise, wideband noise, or baseline wander. These distortions render the electrocardiogram difficult to read.
Power line noise is typically caused by environmental interference with the ECG device at about 50 Hz or 60 Hz. A common solution to correct the ECG for power line noise has been to pass the signal through a bandstop filter which rejects signal components at the power line frequency. However this filter has the disadvantage that it can cause ringing in the vicinity of the QRS complex of the ECG signal. Another solution is to employ an adaptive noise canceler to reduce or eliminate power line interference. This solution is less likely to cause objectionable ringing.
A common solution to correct the ECG for the wideband noise, which may be caused by muscle artifact or electrode movement, has been to pass the ECG signal through a low pass filter having a low cut-off frequency, typically about 25 Hz. Since wideband noise signals typically have significant energy at frequencies higher than 25 Hz, the low pass filter effectively reduces the muscle artifact signal. However, the use of a low pass filter has the disadvantage of also reducing the amplitude of the QRS complex because the high frequency components of the ECG signal which are necessary to describe the relatively high peaks of the QRS signal are also removed as the ECG signal passes through the low pass filter. An example of an approach to filtering muscle artifact in an ECG signal is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,387 granted to dePinto and owned by the assignee of the present invention.
Baseline wander is typically caused by interactions between the skin of the patient and the electrode where acids naturally present in the skin of the patient react with metals in the electrode to create an electrolytic reaction on the skin of the patient. This electrolytic reaction, which is similar to the reaction in a battery, provides a relatively constant long term or DC signal which varies slowly over time, producing a low frequency interfering signal superimposed on the electrocardiogram.
One common solution to overcome or minimize the problem of baseline wander is to abrasively remove the top layer of the skin of the patient. Another solution to the problem of baseline wander is to convert the ECG signal to a digital signal on a processing device by creating a cubic spline which passes through the P-R segment of every beat. The cubic spline is then used to determine an offset to be added to the ECG signal to cancel or adjust for the baseline wander. Yet another solution to this problem is to use a high pass filter to remove the slowly varying signals such as baseline wander. Ideally, these filters pass all frequencies above about 0.5 Hz, since baseline wander typically occurs with frequencies below this level and the energy in an ECG signal is primarily above this frequency.
Although the filtering methods described above are effective in reducing or eliminating interfering signals, these filters can also cause a certain amount of distortion of the ECG signal. Even though the magnitude of this distortion may not be sufficient to cause serious problems, it would be preferable to employ the filters only when excessive noise is present and to turn them off at other times. Furthermore, it is preferable to eliminate the source of noise, for example poor electrode preparation or strong electric fields in the vicinity of the patient, instead of turning on a filter.
What is needed is an automatic method of detecting interfering signals and notifying the user. The user may then take corrective action or turn on the appropriate filters. Filters may also be controlled by the automatic noise detection system in such a way as to be turned on when noise is present and turned off when noise levels are low while providing the user with an indication that the filters are on or off and allowing the user to manually override the automatic activation or deactivation of the filters.

Muscle artifact noise detector for ECG signals


A system for monitoring the percentage of stretch of a stretch wrap film in a stretch wrapping machine includes a first sensor associated with the stretch wrap roll and configured to generate a first signal as the film travels from the roll to the pre-stretch roller assembly, and a second sensor associated with the load and configured to generate a second signal as the film is wrapped around the load. A processor is operable to: a) calculate a pre-stretch length of the film based on the first signal during a time interval; b) calculate a stretched length of the film as the film is wrapped around the load on the rotating platform during the time interval; and c) calculate a percentage stretch of the film based on the pre-stretch length and said stretched length.

The present disclosure relates to a monitoring device for a pallet stretch wrapping machine.
Stretch wrap (also called stretch film) is commonly used as a packaging material for many companies that ship goods either on pallets or as stand-alone units. The stretch wrap is applied to the goods for a number of reasons, but generally to contain and protect the load. The stretch wrap is applied such that the film is stretched to a desirable percentage while being applied to the load. Control of the percentage of stretch is important as the stretch film achieves certain desirable characteristics at the appropriate percentage of stretch such as elastic rebound which serves to contain and protect the load.
Most types of stretch wrap machines have pre-stretch rollers that are configured to reduce the rate at which stretch film is fed to the load. In this way, the stretch film is stretched while passing over/through these rollers before application to the load. Over time, the pre-stretch rollers on stretch wrap machines can wear thus affecting the percentage of stretch achieved by the stretch wrap machines. When stretch film is applied to a load at an incorrect percentage of stretch, the amount of material used may be too great and therefore wasteful and expensive. Moreover, the stretch film may not achieve its desired characteristics thereby putting the safety or security of the load in jeopardy. It is desirable therefore, to have continuous and remote monitoring of the percentage of stretch so that any material deviations can be remedied without significant loss or expense.


A method distributes transport bearer capacity in a communication system. The method comprises defining a total need for transport capacity for a set of transport bearers sharing a physical channel. The method also comprises reserving transport bearer capacity from the physical channel based on total need. The method also comprises distributing transport bearer capacity to at least one individual transport bearer of the set of transport bearers from the transport bearer capacity reserved from the physical channel Furthermore, a network entity for a communication system and a communication system are configured to execute the method.

A communication system can be seen as a facility that enables communications between two or more entities such as a communication device, e.g. mobile stations (MS) or user equipment (UE), and/or other network elements or nodes, e.g. Node B or base transceiver station (BTS), associated with the communication system. A communication system typically operates in accordance with a given standard or specification which sets out what the various entities associated with the communication system are permitted to do and how that should be achieved.
Wireless communication systems include various cellular or otherwise mobile communication systems using radio frequencies for sending voice or data between stations, for example between a communication device and a transceiver network element. Examples of wireless communication systems may comprise public land mobile network (PLMN), such as global system for mobile communication (GSM), the general packet radio service (GPRS) and the universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS).
A mobile communication network may logically be divided into a radio access network (RAN) and a core network (CN). The core network entities typically include various control entities and gateways for enabling communication via a number of radio access networks and also for interfacing a single communication system with one or more communication systems, such as with other wireless systems, such as a wireless Internet Protocol (IP) network, and/or fixed line communication systems, such as a public switched telephone network (PSTN). Examples of radio access networks may comprise the UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) and the GSM/EDGE radio access network (GERAN).
A geographical area covered by a radio access network is divided into cells defining a radio coverage provided by a transceiver network element, such as a Node B. A single transceiver network element may serve a number of cells. A plurality of transceiver network elements is typically connected to a controller network element, such as a radio network controller (RNC). The logical interface between an RNC and a Node B, as defined by the third generation partnership project (3GPP), is called as an Iub interface.
Physical channels are transmission channels, such as radio channels, provided between transmitters and receivers. A transport channel defines characteristics, such as coding, interleaving and mapping onto physical channels, with which data is transported over the air interface. A logical channel is an information stream for a particular type of information carried by a transport channel. Wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) is an example of a channel multiplexing technique for mapping transport channels onto physical channels in a 3GPP network.
In different communication systems, different transfer modes may be used. Examples of transfer modes may comprise circuit mode, packet mode, frame mode and cell mode. The circuit mode is used, for example, in the PSTN and the GSM. The packet mode is used, for example, in the IP networks and in the GPRS. The frame mode may be used, for example, to interconnect local are networks (LANs). The cell mode comprises, for example, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM).
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is a cell-based technique for multiplexing and transfer of information used, for example, in the UTRAN. In the ATM, an information flow with different and varying bit rates, comprising different services, such as voice, data and video, is organised into one common cell flow. ATM uses fixed-length cells of 53 bytes having a cell header of five octets and a user part, also called payload, of 48 octets. ATM creates fixed logical channels between two points when data transfer begins. The logical channels are identified by an address in the cell header. The address is divided into two levels, virtual channels (VC) and virtual paths (VP). The header thus includes a virtual channel identifier (VCI) and a virtual path identifier (VPI) identifying a connection in the ATM network. A virtual path is a path between two network nodes and a virtual channel is a route for a specific connection on the virtual path. The physical transmission medium, such as an optical fibre, carries several virtual paths.
In the ATM, a protocol reference model defines layers of the ATM. The lowest layer is a physical layer transporting the ATM cells created in a layer above, in an ATM layer. Above the ATM layer, an ATM adaptation layer (AAL) maps bit streams from higher layers onto the ATM layer. The AAL comprises different protocols, namely AAL0, AAL1, AAL2, AAL3/4 and AAL5, for example, for supporting different service classes. The purpose of the AAL2, i.e. the ATM adaptation layer type 2, is to realise connections of variable bit rate on a common AAL2 virtual path. The AAL2 establishes an ATM virtual channel connection (VCC).
In the 3GPP WCDMA UTRAN, ATM switching may be used. For example, downlink Common Transport Channels, such as a Forward Access Channel (FACH) and a Paging Channel (PCH), each typically have a separate transport bearer, that is, a dedicated AAL2 connection over the Iub interface. In other words, for example relating to the FACH, one Iub FACH data stream is carried on one transport bearer and for each FACH in a cell, a transport bearer must be established over the Iub interface, as defined in the 3GPP TS 25.430 V3.6.0 (2001-06), Third Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; UTRAN Iub Interface: General Aspect and Principles (Release 1999), paragraph 4.5.1.
For a reliable transport for each common transport channel over the Iub interface, an AAL2 connection for each common transport channel is usually reserved based on the maximum bit rate of the channel. However, the common transport channels can use a single control channel, such as a Secondary Common Control Physical Channel (SCCPCH), over the air interface depending on the physical channel configuration used. Thus, the common channels cannot all send using the maximum bit rate configured for each channel in a single time interval (TTI). Scheduling, or admission control, of the SCCPCH may be managed by a medium access control-common/shared channel (MAC-C/SH) entity in an RNC, ensuring that the amount of traffic send by the RNC to a transceiver network element does not exceed the capacity of the control channel the common channels in question are using. If an AAL2 connection is reserved for all the common channels based on the configured maximum bit rate, some of the transport capacity may be unnecessarily reserved. This may lead to inefficient usage of available transport resources over the Iub interface.
Similar situation may arise, for example, when a Downlink Shared Channel (DSCH) concept is used. Each transport bearer is provided by a separate AAL2 connection over the Iub interface. A MAC-C/SH handles the scheduling and ensures that the capacity of a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) is not exceeded. However, each of the user data streams carried over the separate AAL2 connections can use momentarily the whole capacity of the PDSCH. Thus, the AAL2 connections over the Iub interface need to be reserved based on the maximum bit rate of an individual user data stream. This again may lead to inefficient usage of transport resources over the Iub.
For other channels, similar conditions may apply. In accordance with 3GPP TS 25.434 V6.1.0 (2004-03), Third Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; UTRAN Iub Interface Data Transport and Transport Signalling for Common Transport Channel Data Streams (Release 6), paragraph 5.2, ATM and AAL2 may be used at the standard transport layer for Iub Random Access Channel (RACH), Common Packet Channel (CPCH), FACH, PCH, DSCH, High Speed Downlink Shared Channel (HS-DSCH) and Uplink Shared Channel (USCH) data streams.
It shall be appreciated that these issues are not limited to any particular communication environment, but similar issues may occur in other communication systems as well.
Patent Application US 2002/0181470 A1 proposes a solution for bandwidth efficient quality of service separation of AAL2 traffic. In the US 2002/0181470 A1, bandwidth of an individual AAL2 path comprising an AAL2 path group is contributed to a total bandwidth of the AAL2 path group rather than to the individual AAL2 path exclusively. An admission decision regarding a connection seeking to use an AAL2 path belonging to the AAL2 path group is based on available bandwidth of the AAL2 path group rather than available bandwidth of an individual AAL2 path. ATM VCCs, which comprise the AAL2 path group, are transported on a virtual path together with ATM VCCs of a different type.
It might be desired to be able to reserve AAL2 capacity in the Iub based on a real usage of AAL2 resources in the Iub. This might help to avoid unnecessary reservations of transport resources. This might increase efficiency of a use of transport resources in the Iub interface.

Connection reservation in a communication interface


Compositions and methods are provided for the decontamination of waste matter, in particular for soil remediation. The methods include making and applying a polymer composition to waste matter and subjecting the waste matter and polymer composition to radiation, preferably microwave radiation.

A major problem in the world today is the contamination of materials, such as soil, by a wide variety of undesirable or toxic wastes. These wastes include various hydrocarbons including fossil fuels such as oil, gasoline, diesel, kerosene and the like, wastes from manufacturing, radioactive wastes, and biological contaminates. The cost of cleaning up these materials or sites runs into the billions of dollars.
Much of these wastes are currently being collected and then burned or encapsulated away from the site of contamination. These prior art methods are unsatisfactory in that they are expensive and cause their own contamination problems. For example, if the wastes are burned, they may not be burned completely and harmful byproducts may be released into the atmosphere. Encapsulation methods may alleviate the problem in the short term, but the wastes may continue to be released over time.
Excavation and disposal of contaminated soil in landfills is also becoming increasingly restricted by law. In some contaminated soil cases, such as contamination caused by tank leaks in urban or industrial areas, excavation is very expensive and sometimes even impossible without causing damage to surrounding structures. In situ treatment methods have distinct advantages over these methods in that they avoid extensive excavation costs and increase safety during treatment.
Existing in situ treatment methods involve heating soil with electromagnetic energy radiated from an antenna placed in a wellbore in the ground. Reliance on such thermal radiation wellbore techniques alone, however, is limited by 1) the cylindrical attenuation of the field power strength for each well, 2) exponential decay due to soil penetration depth, and 3) the use of extremely high energy electromagnetic radiation due to the ineffectiveness of ordinary radiation on hydrocarbons or non-polar contaminants. The resulting non-uniformity of soil heating causes limitations on well materials, overheating problems at particular wellbore sites, and poor application efficiency of the electromagnetic energy as well as very high cost and inherent dangers of generating high energy radiation. An example of in situ microwave radiation technology can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,370,477, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
A vacuum extraction method can also be used to remove contamination from the ground. This method, however, is only effective for a narrower range of contaminates than thermal treatment methods are, and it entails very long treatment times (up to years) which are difficult to predict, further complicated by variable weather. In this method, only contaminates with relatively high vapor pressures are removed. Low vapor pressure fractions of these materials are left behind. Materials such as diesel fuel, for example, constitute a variety of compounds with both high and low vapor pressures. Vacuum extraction, therefore, will unsatisfactorily selectively remove only the high vapor pressure fraction of contamination and leave behind high molecular weight, low vapor pressure materials.
What is needed is a composition and method of treating wastes more effectively and efficiently. Such compositions and methods should be capable of administration at the site of contamination. In addition, the compositions and methods should reduce the wastes to non-toxic products. Furthermore, the compositions and methods should be generally applicable to decontaminate a wide variety of wastes contained within a wide variety of carriers. The decontamination of wastes associated with a carrier, such as soil, should then render the carrier safe and reusable.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a composition and method for treating contaminated materials, such as soil.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a composition and method for treating contaminated materials in situ.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a composition and method for decomposing contaminated materials by subsequent exposure to radiation, such as microwave radiation.
It is further an object of the present invention to provide a composition and method for decomposing contaminated materials which renders associated carriers of the waste materials reusable.

Process and composition for soil remediation


A mucosal vaccine producing an antigen-specific mucosal IgA and a blood IgG in the levels capable of exerting an effective immune induction and an infection-preventing effect, which comprises:    (a) an AD vehicle consisting of a synthetic peptide and a lipid(s), wherein the synthetic peptide consisting of the amino acid sequence KnLm (wherein n is 4 to 8 and m is 11 to 20);    (b) a carboxylvinyl polymer; and,    (c) an antigenic protein, in an amount incapable of producing a sufficient mucosal IgA and blood IgG for exerting an effective immune induction and an infection-preventing effect when used by itself.

Patent Documents 1 and 2 made detailed descriptions of the demerits in conventional inactivated vaccines or toxoids, as well as the current states with regard to the development of mucosal vaccines and immunoadjuvants.
As described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the requirement of switching from a conventional vaccine of being inoculated subcutaneously or intramuscularly to a mucosal vaccine inducing the production of an IgA antibody on mucosa which is a natural viral infection route, is widely and profoundly recognized. Especially as a next generation vaccine in the 21st century, a mucosal vaccine inducing IgA antibody production, topical immunity or mucosal immunity is desired to be developed and brought into practical use all over the world, but it has not be achieved yet.
In response to these problems, the present inventors have invented an antigen-drug (AD) vehicle, which is a complex of a pulmonary surfactant protein B and/or a pulmonary surfactant protein C and a lipid(s), and a mucosal vaccine consisting of this AD vehicle and an antigen (Patent Document 1). The present inventors also found that by adjusting the weight ratio V/A of the AD vehicle amount (V) to the antigen amount (A), the selective production of an IgA antibody and the production of both IgA and IgG antibodies are convertible, and then developed a mucosal vaccine based on such action mechanism (Patent Document 2). Patent Documents 1 and 2 also disclose the effectiveness of fragments (peptides) of the pulmonary surfactant proteins B and C.
In addition, as a result of a study on various variants of pulmonary surfactant protein fragments for their antibody production enhancing effects, the present inventors have invented an AD vehicle comprising as a component a synthetic peptide KnLm (wherein n is 4 to 8 and m is 11 to 20) which, in spite that it is a smaller-sized peptide than the partial peptides disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, has a potent antibody production-inducing or -enhancing effect, especially for an exclusive production of a secretory IgA antibody as well as an excellent and effective inductory effect on the production of both secretory IgA and blood IgG, and a mucosal vaccine consisting of this AD vehicle and an antigen (Patent Document 3).
In a nasal drop formulation whose administration route is identical to that for a mucosal vaccine, for the purpose of increasing the viscosity to sustain the efficacy against a pollinosis or an allergy, a carboxyvinyl polymer (CVP) or a hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) is employed widely and a thickening gelator such as sodium alginate is also employed. For example, an HPC-containing mucosal vaccine (Patent Document 4), a CVP-containing mucosal vaccine formulation (Patent Document 5) and an influenza vaccine for nasal spray (Patent Document 6) are also known. Patent Document 7 also discloses a mucosal vaccine consisting of an antigen, an adjuvant [especially Poly(I:C)] and a thickening agent (sodium alginate and the like).    Patent Document 1: WO 2005/097182    Patent Document 2: WO 2007/018152    Patent Document 3: WO 2009/123119    Patent Document: JP-A-2008-231343    Patent Document 5: WO 01/017556    Patent Document 6: JP-A-03-38529    Patent Document 7: JP-A-2009-209086

Abstract: The mucosal vaccine of the invention has an antibody producing ability which is more potent than those of mucosal vaccines of the prior art, and as a result it can exert an excellent effect even with an extremely small amount of an antigen.