The present invention relates to a method for treating allergic diseases such as asthma, comprising administering a tyrosine kinase inhibitor to a human in need of such treatment, more particularly a non-toxic, selective and potent c-kit inhibitor. Preferably, said inhibitor is unable to promote death of IL-3 dependent cells cultured in presence of IL-3.

The present invention relates to a method for treating allergic diseases such as asthma, comprising administering a tyrosine kinase inhibitor to a human in need of such treatment, more particularly a non-toxic, selective and potent c-kit inhibitor. Preferably, said inhibitor is unable to promote death of IL-3 dependent cells cultured in presence of IL-3.
Recent surveys show that human are more and more afflicted in modern societies with allergic disorders such as allergic sinusitis, allergic rhinitis and asthma. For example, in the USA alone, it is estimated that more than 87 million people are coping with some form of allergic diseases. The financial burden of the treatments rises to a total of several billion dollars and is due to the recurrence of these diseases.
Different treatments are available to alleviate the symptoms associated with allergic diseases. For example, regarding severe allergic diseases such as asthma, histamine H.sub.1-receptor antagonists have been proposed together with antagonists of leukotriene receptors (U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,143), but anti-histamine compounds have been found to be less effective and do not provide a solution to the recurrence of asthma. Similar strategies have been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,221,880 using 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors, but again this treatment only reduces inflammation symptoms associated with allergic diseases and cannot be considered as a cure on the long run.
In response to this problem, the suppression of allergic disorders by treatment with interleukin-2 (IL-2) has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,989,546, but the induction of death by apoptosis of a subpopulation of T lymphocytes has many side effects limiting such therapy to the most severe forms of allergic diseases.
Therefore, there is a need for alternative treatments of these diseases that would be more effective on the long term and which would be well tolerated especially in respect to repeated administration.
Among these allergic diseases, we can cite allergic rhinitis, allergic sinusitis, anaphylactic syndrome, urticaria, angioedema, atopic dermatitis, allergic contact dermatitis, erythema nodosum, erythema multiforme, cutaneous necrotizing venulitis and insect bite skin inflammation, but bronchial asthma is the most prevalent and recurrent disease severely afflicting the human population.
Asthma is characterized by airflow obstruction, bronchial hyperresponsiveness and airway inflammation. Airway inflammation is the major factor in the development and perpetuation of asthma. In allergic asthma, which is the most frequent, especially in children, and better studied form of the disease, allergens are thought to initiate the inflammatory process by inducing a T-lymphocyte mediated response (TH2) that results in the production of allergen-specific IgE. IgE bind to its high-affinity receptor FceR1 on pulmonary mast cells triggering a type 1 (IgE-mediated) immediate allergic response. Mast cell activation induces diverse effector responses, such as secretion of allergic mediators, proteases, chemokines such as MCP-1 and RANTES (reviewed in Marshall et al, Allergy Asthma Proc. 2000 September-October; 21(5):309-13), leukotrienes, prostaglandins, neurotrophins (reviewed in Carr et al, Curr Opin Pulm Med. 2001 January; 7(1):1-7), induction of cytokine gene transcription (IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-13, TNFa and GM-CSF) (Bradding et al, Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 10, 471-80 (1994). These mediators contribute to creating the asthmatic phenotype by their effects on endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts and on extracellular matrix, and by recruiting other inflammatory cells (Martin et al, J Clin Invest 91, 1176-82 (1993); Bischoff et al, J Exp Med 175, 245-5 (1992), and reviewed in Galli and Costa, Allergy 50, 851-62 (1995); Galli, Curr Opin Hematol. 2000 January; 7(1):32-9; Bingham et al, Mast-cell responses in the development of asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2000 February; 105(2 Pt 2):S527-34; Busse et al, Asthma. N. Engl. J. Med. 2001 February 1;344(5):350-62).
Newly developed therapeutic approaches to asthma have suggested a role of mast cells in asthma. One is a humanized anti-IgE monoclonal antibody that is now in phase III of clinical trials (reviewed in Fick et al, Curr Opin Pulm Med. January 1999;5(1):76-80; Chang T W, Nat Biotechnol. 2000 February; 18(2):157-62; Barnes P J Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2000 November; 123(3):196-204). The rationale of the anti-IgE therapy is to specifically target IgE with the result of inactivating free IgE and halting further IgE production. In addition, since IgE levels are a major regulator of the level of expression of IgE receptor FceRI, one aim of this therapy is to decrease FceRI expression on mast cells and basophils, and, as a consequence, to decrease the capacity of these cells to be activated. These trials have shown that the anti-IgE therapy is capable of improving some of the parameters of asthma, for example corticosteroid usage. Nevertheless, antibody based therapy is not suitable to repeated treatment of the most recurrent forms of allergic diseases.
The capacity of the anti-IgE therapy to decrease FceRI expression has been demonstrated on basophils. The decrease in FceRI expression on basophils is associated with a decrease in the capacity of basophils to secrete mediators upon activation. Even though the effect of the anti-IgE therapy on pulmonary mast cells has not been studied because these cells are difficult to harvest.
In addition, compositions comprising tryptase inhibitors for treating mast-cell mediated conditions are proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,660, but decreasing the activity of free tryptase released by activated mast cells is not sufficient to block chain reactions caused by the others mast cells released factors.
Mast cells (MC) are tissue elements derived from a particular subset of hematopoietic stem cells that express CD34, c-kit and CD13 antigens (Kirshenbaum et al, Blood. 94: 2333-2342, 1999 and Ishizaka et al, Curr Opin Immunol. 5:937-43, 1993). Immature MC progenitors circulate in the bloodstream and differentiate in tissues. These differentiation and proliferation processes are under the influence of cytokines, one of utmost importance being Stem Cell Factor (SCF), also termed Kit ligand (KL), Steel factor (SL) or Mast Cell Growth Factor (MCGF). SCF-receptor is encoded by the protooncogene c-kit, that belongs to type III receptor tyrosine kinase subfamily (Boissan and Arock, J Leukoc Biol. 67: 135-48, 2000). This receptor is also expressed on others hematopoietic or non hematopoietic cells. Ligation of c-kit receptor by SCF induces its dimerization followed by its transphosphorylation, leading to the recruitement and activation of various intracytoplasmic substrates. These activated substrates induce multiple intracellular signaling pathways responsible for cell proliferation and activation (Boissan and Arock, 2000). Mast cells are characterized by their heterogeneity, not only regarding tissue location and structure but also at the functional and histochemical levels (Aldenborg and Enerback., Histochem. J. 26:587-96, 1994; Bradding et al. J Immunol. 155:297-307, 1995; Irani et al, J Immunol. 147:247-53, 1991; Miller et al, Curr Opin Immunol. 1:637-42, 1989 and Welle et al, J Leukoc Biol. 61:233-45, 1997).
In connection with the invention, evidence of focal and complete degranulation of mast cells was frequently observed. Besides, mast cells produce a large variety of mediators categorized here into three groups: preformed granule-associated mediators (histamine, proteoglycans, and neutral proteases), lipid-derived mediators (prostaglandins, thromboxanes and leucotrienes), and various cytokines (IL-1, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-a, GM-CSF, MIP-1a, MIP-1b and IFN-g). Then, liberation by activated mast cells of mediators (TNF-a, histamine, leucotrienes, prostaglandines etc . . . ) is proposed here to induce severe allergic diseases.
More recently, an approach directed towards mast cells has been developed and tested in a mouse model of asthma. This approach targets SCF and is based on the critical role of c-kit and its ligand, SCF, on mast cell growth, differentiation and activation. Intranasal administration of antisense oligonucleotides to SCF was shown to suppress various signs of lung inflammation, such as IL-4 production and eosinophil infiltration in a classical OVA-induced model of asthma (Finotto et al, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. February 2001;107(2):279-86). However, the efficacy of the antisens technology as far as clinical uses is concerned has not been actually demonstrated and the cost for producing such active nucleic acid molecules is not commensurate with a global marketing.
In contrast, the present invention propose to use c-kit specific kinase inhibitors to inhibit mast cell proliferation, survival and activation. A new route for treating allergic diseases is provided, which consists of destroying mast cells playing a role in the pathogenesis of these disorders. It has been found that tyrosine kinase inhibitors and more particularly c-kit inhibitors are especially suited to reach this goal.

Use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors for treating allergic diseases


Disclosed is an absorbent article including: a main body portion having an ability to absorb and retain a liquid; a front support member extending forward beyond a front edge of the main body portion; and a rear support member extending rearward beyond a rear edge of the main body portion. The individual front and rear support members produce an elastic contractive force in a stretched state. The individual front and rear support members are provided with a pressure sensitive adhesive layer for securing each support member to the skin of a wearer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an absorbent article of which a main body portion having an ability to absorb and retain a liquid hardly gets out of position once it comes into close contact with the crotch of the wearer's body.
2. Description of the Related Art
Absorbent articles to be used by women during a menstruation should be always kept in close contact with the vaginal opening for assuring absorption of menstrual blood.
Japanese Unexamined Utility-Model Publication No. H3-101933 (101933/1991) discloses an absorbent article comprising a main body portion having an absorbent core and elastically stretchable flaps. The flaps extend forward and rearward from longitudinally opposed-ends of the main body portion, and each flap has a slippage prevent member on its garment surface for facing an undergarment. This absorbent article is worn by stretching the flaps and fixing the slippage prevent members on an inner side of an undergarment such as short panty. During wear, the main body portion is forced against the vaginal opening of a wearer due to elasticity of the flaps, so that the main body portion can be kept in close contact with the vaginal opening of a wearer.
In the absorbent article disclosed in the above-identified publication, however, since the flaps are intended to be fixed on an undergarment for use, if the undergarment is loosened or stretched due to motion of the wearer's body or relative position of the undergarment and the wearer's body is changed, relative position of the absorbent article and the wearer's body may be changed. Thus, it is difficult to keep the absorbent article in close contact with the vaginal opening.

Absorbent article with front and rear supporting members


A method of reducing the effects of induced drag on a foil. A foil is provided with a series of steps along its span in the trailing edge, whereby a series of spaced vortices is generated. The spanwise spacing of the steps is selected so that the vortices are prevented from combining into a larger vortex at least until the aerodynamic effect of the larger vortex on the foil is insignificant.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to foils and a method of reducing drag on a foil.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
A foil to which this invention relates may be used on a lifting body on aircraft, missiles, ships, boats, vehicles and on any other equipment that uses any form of foil, including propellers, turbine and compressor blades and fans.
One of the main aims of foil research and development is to reduce drag, that is the resistant force acting in a direction opposite to the direction of the foil motion. Drag on a foil may be reduced by controlling the flow over the foil. This can be achieved using various forms of boundary layer control, for example surface finish, surface shape, various forms of vortex generator and boundary layer suction or blowing.
Further reductions may be achieved by reducing the effects of induced drag, which is associated with the development of lift, and results in the formation of a single vortex in the trailing flow from the foil. In conventional practice induced drag can be kept to a low value by providing a large ratio of foil length to foil width.
DE-A-3 127 257 discloses a method of reducing the induced drag of a lift generating aerofoil by disposing additional members at discrete positions on the wing in the region of free turbulent flow occurrence and using these members to generate artificial turbulent flows which have a direction of rotation opposed to the direction of rotation of the free turbulent flow. The additional members have a swirl generating adjustable air guidance system therein operable to vary the circulation or twist of air emerging therefrom. The intensity of the artificial turbulent flow is controlled so that it is at least approximately equal to that of the free turbulent flow in the same wing spread position. Hence, the artificial turbulent flow compensates for the free turbulent flow so that the induced drag on the foil is reduced to a minimum.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,369,775 discloses an aircraft wing system having means to overcome induced drag by providing a spanwise distribution of compensating trailing vortices equal in magnitude but opposite in sign to that produced by the wing lifting system. Several such means are disclosed, for example a spanwise distribution of vanes, ridges, grooves or fences may be provided on the surface of the wing itself. A jet flap system is also described. The function of the compensating vortices is to reduce or avoid the shedding of wing trailing vorticity, and thereby reduce the induced drag on the wing.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,743,888 discloses the provision of winglets at the tip of a wing for an aircraft, the winglets being designed to reduce the losses due to the tip vortex that is formed as a result of the airflow around the tip of the wing, by splitting the single tip vortex into a series of two or more vortices. It teaches the provision of retractable winglets in the leading edge of a delta wing at locations in the leading edge that are spaced apart in the spanwise direction along the leading edge. These are to be extended during take-off and landing and are to be retracted at other times such as cruise and in high speed flight. It is understood that these retractable winglets in the leading edge are proposed for splitting the detached vortex flow that would leave the wing from the leading edge during take-off and landing, the delta wing being designed to use vortex lift of which such detached vortex flow is a characteristic. Use of winglets at the tip of a wing, as proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,743,888, has been tested extensively and found not to reduce induced drag. Current theory suggests that this failure is a result of the fact that it is not possible to effectively prevent a single tip vortex from forming, in other words that the winglets do not achieve the purpose of splitting the tip vortex for which they were provided.


The present invention provides for amorphous, nanoporous, ceramic material having a surface area in excess of 70 m.sup.2 /gm and characterized by a high content of open microporous cell structure wherein the micropores have a mean width of less than 20 Angstroms and wherein said microporous structure comprises a volume of greater than about 0.03 cm.sup.3 /gm of the ceramic. The invention also provides a process for the preparation of such nanoporous ceramics wherein a ceramic precursor polymer or oligomer is gradually heated in the presence of an inert gas or vacuum up to a maximum temperature in the range of greater than 400.degree. C. up to about 650.degree. C. Optionally, the process may also include a crosslinking step conducted prior to the heating step wherein the precursor polymer or oligomer is heated in the presence of a crosslinking agent capable of undergoing addition or substitution reactions with backbone atoms present in said precursor material, at an intermediate temperature of about 100.degree. to 400.degree. C. for a period of time sufficient to crosslink said precursor material, followed by pyrolysis of the crosslinked material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the preparation of open pore, nanoporous ceramic materials having a high volume of microporous structure.
2. Description of Related Art
Porous materials play a particularly important role in a number of chemical processing industries and applications. Separations based on membranes are critical in such fields as chemical recovery, purification and dehumidification. Porous oxides (e.g. clays, silica, alumina and zeolites) are the materials of choice as catalysts or catalyst supports in chemical and petroleum processing reactions such as hydrocracking, catalytic cracking, hydrodesulfurization, reforming, and polymerization.
With respect to membrane technology, inorganic membranes offer a number of advantages over polymeric membranes which are typically limited to uses at temperatures below about 250.degree. C. These include: i) higher operating temperatures, ii) greater structural integrity and hence the ability to withstand higher pressure differentials and backflushing and iii) improved resistance to corrosion. Porous oxide, (e.g. aluminum oxide) and carbon membranes offer some of these characteristics, but advanced materials are still required for improved strength, toughness, structural integrity, temperature stability, water and oxygen resistance, thermal shock resistance, molecular selectivity to small molecules and gases, and high flux.
Similar considerations apply to clay and metal oxide type catalysts or catalyst supports, particularly as relates to stability and thermal shock resistance at temperatures above about 500.degree. C.
Ceramic materials of the Si--C, Si--N, Si--C--N, Si--B--C, Si--B--N, Al--N, Si--Al--N, B--Al--N and related types appear to offer many of the properties set forth above. However, the sol-gel synthesis methods typically used to prepare porous oxide membranes or catalyst supports are incompatible with the preparation of ceramics of the type described above because of the need to use water in their preparation. Sintering or reactive sintering of these ceramics likewise produces materials with pore sizes of from about 0.1 to about 1000 microns which are non-uniform and generally too large for effective molecular separation and other uses described above. Chemical vapor deposition can produce microporous ceramic layers, but this tends to be an expensive, high temperature process with limited ability to tailor complex ceramic compositions.
Recently, researchers have discovered improved methods for preparing ceramics using ceramic precursors as starting materials. A ceramic precursor is a material, either a chemical compound, oligomer or polymer, which upon pyrolysis in an inert atmosphere and at high temperatures, e.g. above about 700.degree. C., will undergo cleavage of chemical bonds liberating such species as hydrogen, organic compounds, and the like, depending upon the maximum pyrolysis temperature. The resulting decomposition product is typically an amorphous ceramic containing Si--C bonds (silicon carbide), Si--N bonds (silicon nitride) or other bond structures which will vary as a function of the identity of the ceramic precursor, e.g. Si--C--N, Si--N--B, B--N, Al--N and other bond structures, as well as combinations of these structures. Crystallization of these amorphous ceramic products usually requires even higher temperatures in the range of 1200.degree.-1600.degree. C.
The pyrolysis of various ceramic precursors e.g. polycarbosilanes, polysilanes, polycarbosiloxanes, polysilazanes, and like materials at temperatures of 1300.degree. C. and higher to produce ceramic products, e.g. silicon carbide and/or silicon nitride, is disclosed, for example, in M. Peuckert et al., "Ceramics from Organometallic Polymers", Adv. Mater.2, 398-404 (1990). The pyrolysis of polyorganosilazanes under ammonia atmosphere at pyrolysis temperatures up to 1400.degree. C. is also disclosed in Han et al., "Pyrolysis Chemistry of Poly(organosilazanes) to Silicon Ceramics", Chem. Mater., Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 705-711 (1992).
During pyrolysis, preceramic precursors such as described above liberate various gaseous decomposition species such as hydrogen and organic compounds, including methane, higher molecular weight hydrocarbon molecules, lower molecular weight precursor fragments and H--C--N species. These gases tend to coalesce within the preceramic matrix as they form, resulting in a bulking or swelling of the mass. These entrained gases can lead to the formation of gas bubbles within the developing ceramic mass as the preceramic precursor crosslinks and hardens, resulting in a lower density ceramic having a voluminous, macroporous or mesoporous closed-cell structure, without development of a significant amount of open celled micropores.
In copending applications Ser. No. 08/248,290, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,643,987, and Ser. No. 08/248,291, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,563,212, each filed in the United States on May 24, 1994, it is disclosed that microporous ceramics can be achieved by the pyrolysis of a preceramic intermediate composition based on an intimate mixture of from about 30 to 99 parts by weight of a preceramic precursor polymer or oligomer and correspondingly from about 1 to 70 parts by weight of a particulate material having a particle size of less than 10 microns. In this process, pyrolysis is conducted at temperatures of up to less than about 1100.degree. C. under flowing inert gas such as helium, argon or nitrogen, or under ammonia gas. Those inventions were based on the theory that the presence of a particulate filler in the preceramic matrix served to prevent the formation of large bubbles of decomposition gases as they were generated during decomposition under inert or ammonia gas, thereby yielding a microporous structure in the pyrolyzed product rather than a voluminous, macroporous mass of low bulk density which was achieved where pyrolysis was conducted under inert gas and the particulate material was not present in the precursor.
Also, copending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/385,299, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,696,217, filed Feb. 10, 1995 as a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 08/248,289, filed May 24, 1994, discloses that microporous ceramics can be achieved without the need to include particulate material in the pre-ceramic composition by conducting the pyrolysis at a controlled rate of heating and under flowing ammonia gas and at maximum heating temperatures of less than about 1100.degree. C., preferably less than 1000.degree. C.
In copending U.S. application Ser. No. 08/579,444, filed on Dec. 27, 1995, microporous ceramic materials are disclosed which are prepared by first forming a composite intermediate comprising a colloidal dispersion of a preceramic precursor polymer mixed with discrete, nanoscale metal particles having a dimension of from about 10 to about 500 Angstroms and gradually heating the mixture in the presence of an inert or reactive gas to a temperature of about 300.degree. C. up to less than 1100.degree. C. to achieve a microporous ceramic having a surface area in excess of 70 m.sup.2 /gm and a volume of open pore micropores of greater than about 0.03 cm.sup.3 /gm. Similar microporous ceramic materials are also disclosed in allowed U.S. copending application Ser. No. 08/578,084, filed on Dec. 27, 1995, which are prepared by first forming a composite intermediate comprising a mixture of a preceramic precursor polymer and from about 0.5 up to about 65 wt % of an organometallic compound containing a metal of Group bI, II, III, IV, V, VIB, VIIA, or VIII of the Periodic Table, including Rare Earth metals, and gradually heating the mixture in the presence of a reactive or inert gas to a maximum temperature in the range of from about 300.degree. C. up to less than 1200.degree. C.
It is to be noted, however, in each of the applications discussed above, heating of the preceramic composition is conducted either in an inert gas or ammonia over the entire range of temperature from room temperature up to the maximum heating temperatures disclosed.
The preparation of porous ceramics particularly useful for membrane gas separation processes is disclosed by K. Kusakabe et al., "Preparation of Supported Composite Membrane By Pyrolysis of Polycarbosilane for Gas Separation at High Temperature", J. Membrane Sci. 103, 175-180 (1995). This reference describes the synthesis of a porous membrane structure by pyrolysis of polycarbosilane film, deposited from xylene solution onto a .gamma.-alumina film on the outer surface of an .alpha.-alumina tube, and bulk porous material made by pyrolysis of polycarbosilane, formed by evaporating a xylene solution. After heating to 200.degree. C. in air and holding at that temperature for one hour, pyrolysis was conducted by heating for two hours in nitrogen or air at a temperature in the range of 350.degree. to 550.degree. C., followed by cooling to room temperature. Data are shown indicating the pore sizes are between 20 .ANG. and 100 .ANG.. The reference does not specifically describe the preparation of porous ceramics having a significant content of micropore volume having pore dimensions of less than 20 .ANG. (2 nanometers).

Pyrolysis of ceramic precursors to nanoporous ceramics


Facilitating text identification and editing in images in which in one or more embodiments, a user selection of a location in an area of text in an image is received. Given the location, a region of interest that includes text (including the location of the user selection) in the image is determined. Distortion resulting from a surface in the image on which the text is situated being at some angle other than parallel to the image capture plane is also corrected. One or more fonts and font sizes of the text in the region of interest are also detected. Various actions can be taken on the text in the region of interest (e.g., editing the text and/or identifying the text).

Images, such as photographs, having text embedded therein are commonplace. These images represent scenes in which the text is oftentimes inherent, such as writing on a board or sign. Situations arise in which users desire to have this text recognized and used in some manner by a computer. However, because the text is inherent in the scene, there is typically no metadata or other information accompanying the image that describes the text. This lack of information describing the text can make it difficult for the computer to recognize and use the text, hampering the experience of the user when using the computer.


A robot control method based on an acceleration/deceleration time constant wherein the acceleration/deceleration time constant of a servomotor is set for an optimum value for each block, to thereby control the operation of the robot. A reaching speed (Vu) is determined from an amount of movement (X) of a block, and based on the reaching speed, a maximum torque (Tmax) of the servomotor is determined and then a static load torque (T.sub.wn) is subtracted from the maximum torque (Tmax) to determine an acceleration torque (Ta.sub.n). Thereafter, based on the acceleration torque (Ta.sub.n) and the load inertia of the servomotor, an acceleration (a.sub.n) is determined and an acceleration/deceleration time constant (.tau.) is determined from the acceleration (a.sub.n), and accordingly, an optimum acceleration/deceleration time constant is determined.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a robot control method based on an acceleration/deceleration time constant, by which the operation of the robot is controlled by deciding the acceleration/deceleration time constant of a servomotor, and more particularly, to a robot control method based on an acceleration/deceleration time constant in which an optimum acceleration/deceleration time constant is determined for each block of movement of the robot to thereby control the operation of the robot.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a robot is adjusted on site, an acceleration time constant and deceleration time constant are set for each servomotor which drives each arm of the robot. The acceleration time constant and the deceleration time constant are combined, and thus are referred to as an acceleration/deceleration time constant. The acceleration/deceleration time constant depends significantly on the operating conditions of the robot, and therefore, it is difficult to establish a particular time constant to be applied to all cases. Accordingly, it must be decided by empirical judgements and trial operations, and the like.
Setting those time constants with such allowances, however, prolongs the cycle times, and setting them to smaller values tends to cause vibration and the like, which has an adverse affect on the positioning accuracy. Accordingly, the time constants must be set to exact values, but it is difficult to determine a standard on which quickly made objective judgements can be based, and accordingly, it is difficult to increase the operating speed when the robot is controlled with acceleration/deceleration time constants having large allowances, even when allowances are given to the torques of the servomotors.

Robot control method based on an acceleration/deceleration time constant


A joining directional control valve 13 is disposed to supply, to an arm cylinder 4, not only a hydraulic fluid delivered from a first hydraulic pump 1, but also a hydraulic fluid delivered from a second hydraulic pump 2 when an arm directional control valve 14 is driven. Respective delivery pressures of the hydraulic pumps 1, 2 are detected by pressure sensors 101, 102, and the opening area of a recovery control valve 6 is controlled depending on a lower one of the detected pressures from the pressure sensors 101, 102 such that, even in the combined operation of the arm cylinder 4 and another actuator 3, 4, the hydraulic fluid can be recovered for return to the arm cylinder 4 when the load pressure of the arm cylinder 4 is low. Thus, by supplying the hydraulic fluids from the two hydraulic pumps to the particular actuator for which the hydraulic fluid is to be recovered, a recovery flow rate is ensured when the load of the particular actuator is low in the combined operation.

Regarding the above-mentioned type hydraulic circuit for a working machine, there is known a technique oriented for a hydraulic excavator in which an arm hydraulic cylinder and a swing hydraulic motor are connected in parallel to one hydraulic pump, and a hydraulic fluid drained from the arm hydraulic cylinder is recovered (see, e.g., Patent Reference 1 given below):                Patent Reference 1; PCT Laid-Open Publication WO94/13959
A hydraulic recovery system provided in that related art includes, in a line via which a reservoir-side line connecting a reservoir and a reservoir port of an arm directional control valve for controlling a flow of the hydraulic fluid supplied to the arm cylinder and a pump-side line connecting a pump port of the arm directional control valve and a hydraulic pump are communicated with each other, a check valve allowing the hydraulic fluid to flow from the reservoir-side line into the pump-side line when the pressure in the reservoir-side line is higher than that in the pump-side line, and it also includes a variable throttle valve disposed in the reservoir-side line. The hydraulic recovery system further includes a pressure sensor for detecting the delivery pressure of the hydraulic pump, a control unit for receiving a pressure signal from the pressure sensor and outputting a drive signal corresponding to the received pressure signal, and a pressure reducing valve for reducing a primary pilot pressure from a pilot pump in accordance with the drive signal from the control unit and producing a secondary pilot pressure as a control signal for the variable throttle valve.
In the related art thus constructed, when the loads acting on the swing motor and the arm cylinder are small and the pump delivery pressure is low, the control unit outputs the drive signal to the pressure reducing valve so as to provide a higher pilot pressure, whereupon the opening area of the variable throttle valve is reduced under the higher pilot pressure and the reservoir-side line is brought into a throttled state. Therefore, the hydraulic fluid drained from the arm cylinder is throttled by the variable throttle valve so that the pressure in the reservoir-side line rises. As a result, a larger part of the hydraulic fluid drained from the arm cylinder flows, as a recovered flow, into the pump-side line through the check valve and joins with the hydraulic fluid delivered from the pump, followed by being supplied again to the arm cylinder. On the other hand, when the load of the arm cylinder or the swing motor increases and the pump delivery pressure rises, the control unit outputs the drive signal to the pressure reducing valve so as to provide a lower pilot pressure, whereupon the opening area of the variable throttle valve is increased. Hence, the pressure in the reservoir-side line becomes substantially equal to the reservoir pressure and the recovery flow rate becomes substantially zero. However, because the pressure on the drain side of the arm cylinder is low, a thrust for the arm cylinder can be ensured.
Thus, with the related art described above, when the loads acting on the swing motor and the arm cylinder are small and the pump delivery pressure is low, the recovery flow rate increases, whereby the speed of the arm cylinder can be increased.

Oil pressure circuit for working machines

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.


A method and apparatus for prescan phase correction analyzes the phase profile of the first echo sampled in a prescan and the phase profile corresponding to the lope echo of an impending FSE acquisition to determine appropriate phase correction settings of the FSE scan.

The present invention relates generally to magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and, more particularly, to determining prescan phase corrections for a fast spin echo (FSE) acquisition.
When a substance such as human tissue is subjected to a uniform magnetic field (polarizing field B0), the individual magnetic moments of the spins in the tissue attempt to align with this polarizing field, but precess about it in random order at their characteristic Larmor frequency. If the substance, or tissue, is subjected to a magnetic field (excitation field B1) which is in the x-y plane and which is near the Larmor frequency, the net aligned moment, or "longitudinal magnetization", Mz, may be rotated, or "tipped", into the x-y plane to produce a net transverse magnetic moment Mt. A signal is emitted by the excited spins after the excitation signal B1 is terminated and this signal may be received and processed to form an image.
When utilizing these signals to produce images, magnetic field gradients (Gx, Gy, and Gz) are employed. Typically, the region to be imaged is scanned by a sequence of measurement cycles in which these gradients vary according to the particular localization method being used. The resulting set of received NMR signals are digitized and processed to reconstruct the image using one of many well known reconstruction techniques.
Fast spin echo imaging is one of the most widely used MR imaging techniques for clinical applications. Fast spin echo imaging is often preferred because it is tailored to acquire T2, proton density, or T1-weighted images in a relatively short period of time. In this regard, FSE imaging is commonly used for neuro, body, and extremity studies.
Fast spin echo acquisitions are based on the so-called RARE (rapid acquisition with relaxation enhancement) technique. With a FSE pulse sequence, multiple echoes within an echo train are phase encoded. That is, FSE imaging techniques use multiple phase encode steps in conjunction with multiple 180-degree refocusing pulses per repetition time (TR) interval to produce a train of echoes. Typical FSE acquisitions sample an echo train from four to thirty-two echoes and, as such, can achieve a scan reduction factor of four to thirty-two compared to conventional spin echo sequences. With FSE imaging, each echo of the echo train experiences differing amounts of phase encoding that correspond to different lines in k-space. While advantageously reducing scan time and thereby increasing subject throughput, FSE images are prone to excessive ghosting, particularly in shoulder, spine, and head images.
A number of techniques has been developed to reduce ghosting in FSE images. Currently, the primary technique involves the use of a FSE prescan (FSEPS) phase correction. The conventional FSEPS technique acquires non-phase encoded echo data in a prescan of the subject. The phase profiles of the first two echoes in the prescan echo train are then compared to one another to determine a phase correction coefficient or value. This phase correction coefficient is then used to modify the relative phase of the 180 degree refocusing pulses as well as the area of the readout prephaser gradient of the impending FSE scan to improve phase coherence among all the echoes of the echo train of the FSE acquisition. While effective in reducing ghosting in FSE images, this conventional FSEPS phase correction technique is limited in the degree by which ghosting can be reduced. Specifically, since the first two echoes are automatically selected, current FSEPS phase correction fails to account for ghosting levels being highly dependent upon the lope echo of the echo train. The lope echo corresponds to that echo of the echo train that receives zero phase encoding during the FSE acquisition.
It would therefore be desirable to have a system and method capable of FSE phase correction that considers the relationship between the lope echo of an echo train and ghosting levels.

Method and apparatus for fast spin echo (FSE) prescan phase correction


A manufacturing method of an absorbent body used for an absorbent article, includes molding the absorbent body by sucking in a gas, mixed with a liquid absorbent fiber and a superabsorbent polymer, using a suction hole at a bottom portion of a mold, and laminating the liquid absorbent fiber and the superabsorbent polymer on the bottom portion, and making a lamination thickness of the absorbent body thin by sucking out gas in the absorbent body placed on a placement surface on which the absorbent body is placed by, after the molding, in a state in which the gas is not supplied, sucking air through the suction hole on the placement surface, and creating an air pressure, in a space in between fibers in the absorbent body while sucking out the air, lower than that in a space in between fibers in the absorbent body while laminating in molding.

A disposable diaper and a sanitary napkin are known as absorbent articles that absorb liquid such as bodily waste fluid. Such an absorbent article includes as a component part an absorbent body that absorbs a liquid, and this absorbent body is formed by molding into a predetermined shape a liquid absorbent fiber such as pulp fiber made by mixing therein superabsorbent polymer (a high molecular weight polymer having a high liquid holding ability and that swells and the like by absorbing liquid).
On the other hand, with a view to providing a better appearance when clothes are worn and decreasing the sense of bulkiness, there is a need to make thinner an absorbent article such as the diaper and the sanitary napkin.
In regards to this point, PTL 1 discloses, in a method that makes an absorbent body thin, passing through and sandwiching and pressing an absorbent body in between a pair of rollers which are opposed to each other and rotate.

Manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus of an absorbent body


Embodiments of the invention provide a trust framework for governing service-to-service interactions. This trust framework can provide enhanced security and/or manageability over prior systems. Merely by way of example, in some cases, an information store can be used to store information security information (such as trust information, credentials, etc.) for a variety of services across an enterprise. In other cases, the trust framework can provide authentication policies to define and/or control authentication between services (such as, for example, types of authentication credentials and/or protocols are required to access a particular service—either as a user and/or as another service—and/or types of authentication credentials and/or protocols a service may be enabled to use to access another service). Alternatively and/or additionally, the trust framework can provide authorization policies to define and/or control authorization between services.

Modern enterprise computing systems often rely on multiple applications that collaborate and/or interact with each other (often through the use of services). In some cases, this interaction serves the goal of performing a requested operation (and/or set of operations) in response to a user request. For instance, if a user requests an operation or service from one application, that application, as part of responding to the user request might need to interact with a service provided by another application.
Merely by way of example, in Oracle Corp.'s Oracle Collaboration Services™ ("OCS"), various components (including without limitation, email, calendar, file sharing, web conferencing, etc.) often will invoke one another in response to user request. When scheduling a meeting in the calendar component, for instance, a user might be given the option to set of a web conference for that meeting. A variety of other applications interact similarly, including for example, customer relations management software, enterprise resource planning software, various office applications, and the like.
In many cases, such inter-application interactions require that one application proxy for the user in requesting services from another application. In existing systems, a called service typically either will maintain its own local security policy and/or will trust the calling application implicitly. Hence, in many cases, these service-to-service requests can lead to manageability issues.
For example, in the typical environment, each application will implement its own policy mechanism to deal with security issues in a service-to-service context, requiring configuration and/or management of multiple, often disparate security models throughout the enterprise. Further, without a uniform security framework, these service-to-service interactions created additional security issues. Merely by way of example, in some cases, a particular service, when called by another service, might rely on the calling service to perform user authentication and/or authorization, while the calling service might not be configured to require user authentication and/or authorization, leading to a security vulnerability.

Enterprise service-to-service trust framework


An idling-stop control apparatus includes an idling-stop controller and an auxiliary-machine controller. The idling-stop controller is configured to automatically stop an engine to cause the engine to be in a state in which idling is stopped in a case where a predetermined condition for stopping idling is satisfied and configured to automatically restart the engine in a case where a predetermined condition for restarting the engine is satisfied. The auxiliary-machine controller is configured to control a drive state of an auxiliary machine that is to be driven by the engine. The auxiliary-machine controller is configured to control the drive state of the auxiliary machine that is driven by the engine such that, in a case where the engine is automatically restarted from the state in which idling is stopped by the idling-stop controller, a time differential value of an engine speed of the engine is constant.

The disclosure relates to an idling-stop control apparatus.
In recent years, a vehicle having an idling stop function (idling stop system) has been widely practically used, from the point of view of improving fuel economy of the vehicle and reducing exhaust gas. The idling stop function is configured to automatically stop an engine when, for example, the vehicle waits for a traffic light to change (when the vehicle is stopped) at an intersection. Upon detecting, for example, cancellation of stepping of a brake pedal when an engine is in a state in which idling is stopped, an idling stop system outputs a request for a restart of the engine, and the engine is restarted (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-329039).


The braking force to the driven wheels is subjected to feedback control so as to allow the actual slip value of the driven wheels to agree with a predetermined target value for controlling the brake. The control amount for the feedback control is determined by differentiation control. The feedback control amount contains a first control amount corresponding to a predetermined basic travelling state and a second control amount corresponding to a particular travelling state. In ordinary travelling state, the braking force is controlled by the first control amount, and the braking force is controlled by the second control amount when the automotive vehicle is travelling in such a particular state. When the the vehicle is travelling on a bad road, the second control amount is set so as to loosen the braking force, as compared with the first control amount. Alternatively, when the vehicle is cornering, the second control amount is set as to tighten the braking force as compared with the first control amount.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a traction control system for an automotive vehicle and, more particularly, to a traction control system for an automotive vehicle for an automotive vehicle so adapted as to prevent an excessive slip of a driven wheel of the automotive vehicle on a road surface.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to prevent an excessive slip of the driven wheel on a road surface, technology of controlling traction of the automotive vehicle has already been available which is so arranged as to reduce torque to be applied to the driven wheel, for example, during acceleration of the automotive vehicle, when the driven wheel or wheels slip or spin, or spins or spin, to an excessive extent.
The torque to be applied to the driven wheel or wheels is reduced by reducing braking force to be applied to the driven wheel or by reducing torque to be generated by a combustion engine.
When the traction control is performed by applying the braking force to the driven wheel, braking force adjusting means, or the braking force to the driven wheel, is subjected to feedback control so as to allow an actual slip value of the driven wheel to agree with a predetermined target braking value. In particular, recently, it is desired from the viewpoint of responsiveness, the feedback control has been desired to be performed mainly by differentiation control.
It should be noted herein that the target braking value is set on the basis of a certain basic travelling state of the automotive vehicle, e.g. on the basis of a state in which the automotive vehicle is travelling on a flat road, so that a slip value of the driven wheel to be detected when the vehicle slips may be measured as a slip value larger than the actual slip value when the automotive vehicle is travelling on a bad road, particularly on a largely rough road. As a result, the risk may be incurred that the braking force may be applied to the driven wheel to an extent larger than actually necessary, thereby worsening acceleration of the automotive vehicle. It is further noted that, as the target value is so common that it is set on the basis of the state in which the automotive vehicle is travelling straight forwards, it is desired that the slip value of the driven wheel should be maintained at a smaller value when the automotive vehicle is cornering, in order to secure stability of the automotive vehicle. From such a point of view, it is more appropriate to set the braking force to be applied to the driven wheel so as to comply with the particular travelling state of the automotive vehicle, for example, in which the automotive vehicle is travelling on a bad road surface or it is cornering, by changing the target value when the automotive vehicle has started travelling in the particular travelling state.
It is to be noted, however, that when the feedback control is performed mainly on the basis of differentiation control, the differentiation control is not reflected upon a change in the target value, so that it is extremely difficult to provide appropriate braking force so as to comply with the particular travelling state merely by the technique of changing the target value.
Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication (kokai) No. 106,762/1984 proposes that a signal detected by a sensor for sensing an actual slip value of the driven wheel is subjected to filter processing, thereby removing unnecessary noises contaminated by the sensor. In this case, however, a delay in phase may be caused, thereby making precise traction control difficult.

Traction control system for automotive vehicle


A communication switching system, composed of a performance characteristics system (LMS) and a base switching system (BVS), whereby the base switching system (BVS) has a basic call controller (BRS) for controlling a 2-party call composed of two connections communicating via messages with respectively allocated automatic status units, a database (DB) containing call objects (RO) and a plurality of performance characteristics control modules (LM-SB) available in exchange in the form of callable functions for the optional influencing of the call objects. Both the basic call controller (BRS) as well as the performance characteristics control modules (LM-SB) can access the database (DB). In an executive sequence of the basic call controller (BRS), a specific processing module is allocated to each message type in order to enable an initiation of handling of influenced call objects (RO) upon employment of processing blocks of the executive sequence of the basic call controller (BRS) by the performance characteristics system (LMS).

The invention is directed to a communication switching system In particular, it is directed to a switching system composed of a performance characteristics system and a base switching system.
Contemporary switching systems support a plurality of performance characteristics. These are auxiliary telecommunication services such as, for example, call redirection, conference service, hold for inquiry, hold, etc. Performance characteristics are realized in processor-controlled switching systems within the switching control procedures. These switching control procedures, also called switching software, contain the call control as well as the performance characteristics. The performance characteristics are thereby meshed with the call control as well as with one another. This leads to a high software complexity, the software structure thus becoming inflexible with respect to the introduction of new performance characteristics. In order to shorten the long introduction times for new performance characteristics caused as a result thereof, it has been considered to realize the parts of the control procedures that were hitherto dependent on one another separately in independent modules that respectively have a fixed interface toward the outside. Initial steps for separating the performance characteristics control from the switching control are pursued in the framework of the standardization procedures "Intelligent Network" at ITU-T SG 11 concerned with intelligent networks. In this respect, see the guidelines of the CCITT, "New Recommendation Q.1214. Distributed Functional Plane for Intelligent Network CS-1, COM XI-R212-E, pages 7 though 69 as well as annex pages 7 through 9.
A cleanly structured switching architecture arises by decoupling the performance characteristics control from the switching control, which is thereby reduced to its basic functionality. This is very modularly constructed and allows the fast introduction of new performance characteristics. The separation of the performance characteristics also enables development independent of the performance characteristics and the call control.
Such a structure divides a switching system or, respectively, the switching software into a base switching system and a performance characteristics system. The main components of a base switching system are a call controller, a database and a plurality of performance characteristics control modules. The call control is reduced to its basic tasks, the setup and cleardown of connections or, respectively, calls and is therefore referred to as basic call control. The performance characteristics control modules thereby form a set of functions via which the call objects of call, subscriber and connection can be accessed, via which, thus, calls can be manipulated.
The performance characteristics themselves are contained in the performance characteristics system that communicates with the base switching system via a protocol.
The basic call controller of the base switching system has the job of implementing the setup and cleardown of calls or, respectively, their appertaining connections according to subscriber requests. In the framework of its normal execution, consequently, it handles a two-party call. Over and above this, mechanisms are provided for reporting certain events to the performance characteristics control. Without influencing the performance characteristics system, the base switching system can control a call between two subscribers, i.e. it is autonomous with respect to the setup and cleardown of two-party calls. A two-party call exists between two communication terminal equipment respectively allocated to subscriber line units with a respective connection that produces the reference between a communication terminal equipment and the call. Each connection has a respective automatic status unit allocated to it as automatic status unit of the connection. The connections are linked to one another via the call.
Specific transitions that are triggered due to external events occur between the statusses of the automatic status units. Such events are subscriber/network messages or internal messages, namely messages between the two connections of a call.

Communication switching system with performance characteristics system and a base switching system


Two motors are arranged on opposing sides of a common shaft, drive plates of the pump/motors being rigidly coupled to each other, for example by being in hard contact with opposing sides of the shaft. By providing hard contact between the pump/motor drive plates and a common shaft, the drive plates and shaft act as a substantially solid element under compression, thereby substantially canceling axial loads generated by the pump/motors directly through the shaft. Residual axial loads are handled via bearings positioned on the shaft adjacent the drive plates in such a manner that the drive plates are in light contact only with the bearings. As a result, friction experienced by the bearings is substantially reduced as compared to conventional systems, thereby improving the efficiency of the system. To further reduce loads on the bearings, the pump/motors are arranged to ensure that they generate radial forces in a direction that is opposite to that of a separation force generated by a torque transferring device carried on the shaft and transmitted to the bearings. A common housing surrounding the two pump/motors, bearings and torque transferring device is divided into three regions, to segregate the bearings and torque transferring assembly from the pump/motors. In this manner, the regions containing the pump/motors are substantially filled with oil to, for example, fully lubricate the pump/motors, while the central region containing the gears and torque transferring device contains a significantly smaller volume of oil to simply splash lubricate the contents of the region, thereby reducing drag on the bearings. Control means are provided for selectively moving the two pump/motors substantially simultaneously to a selected displacement angle, using mechanical systems alone and in combination with hydraulic systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to hydraulic pump/motors uniquely arranged on a common shaft, including an apparatus for simultaneously changing the displacement of more than one pump/motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hydraulic pump/motors such as bent-axis piston machines, are used for a variety of applications in numerous industries, including the marine, automotive and aerospace industries. Such pump/motors are commercially available from a number of manufacturers, for example, Bosch Rexroth Corporation, headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.
In some applications, such as hydraulic automotive transmissions, it is desirable to have a set of opposing bent-axis piston machines on a common input/output shaft. Conventional assemblies with two or more pump/motor units arranged on a common shaft use one or more sets of bearings in hard contact with drive plates of the pump/motors to bear and transmit axial and radial forces generated by the pump/motors. The forces may then be transferred from the bearings into a common housing for load cancellation. As each pump/motor may generate up to and beyond 10,000 pounds of axial force at its lowest displacement, the bearings experience high loads and friction, reducing the efficiency of the system and life of the bearings. The bearings must therefore be sufficiently large to withstand these loads, adding to the weight and cost of such systems.
Due to these and other limitations, Applicant believes that there is a need for a new and improved system for providing two or more opposing pump/motors on a common shaft. Applicant further believes that there is a need for a system for simultaneously changing the displacement of two or more pump/motors. The present invention provides such systems.

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency


A tillage implement includes a main frame with adjustable toolbar sections thereon which each support respective tillage units thereon for engaging the ground. According to one aspect of the invention, the toolbar sections are angularly adjustable about a pivot head at one end thereof while also being slidable in a longitudinal direction of the toolbar section to maintain alignment of the tillage units. The pivot head is elongate in a direction transverse to the toolbar section to resist moments applied to the toolbar section by the tillage units engaging the ground while the toolbar section remains adjustable. In another aspect of the invention, the tillage units each comprise a trailing arm supporting the respective coulter disks thereon. The trailing arm is pivoted between two side plates fixed to the toolbar section and biased downward by a spring enclosed between the side plates to resist debris catching on the spring.

As described in US Patent Application Publication No. US2011/0056712 by Rozendaal et al, in one known form of conservation tillage, the soil is minimally disturbed prior to planting in order to allow air to penetrate the mat of crop residue. This technique is variously known as minimum tillage, residue management, soil aeration or seedbed aeration. A farm implement, sometimes known as a vertical tillage implement, is used to cut the crop residue and penetrate a short distance into the surface of the soil while lifting the soil vertically to permit access of air to the soil.
Known constructions of coulter disk vertical tillage implement typically support the coulter disk by an exposed spring member to resiliently bias the coulter disk downwardly into engagement with the ground. The exposed configuration of the spring member however commonly results in considerable debris being trapped in the spring such as corn stalks and the like which is a nuisance and can affect performance of the implement. Another deficiency which known constructions of vertical tillage implements having adjustable toolbar sections is the limited downforce that can be applied to the coulter disks due to the difficulty in providing adequate support to the toolbar sections supporting the coulter disks thereon when the toolbar sections are adjustable in angular orientation. Yet another deficiency with known constructions of vertical tillage implements is the cumbersome manner of replacing the coulter disks if damaged.


Recording of third party content on recording systems of a primary service provider is provided. Third party service providers may provide information about offered video content to a primary content service provider. The primary service provider may allow its customers/subscribers to access the third party content through the systems of the primary service provider. Upon navigation to a desired third party content item, a customer/subscriber may request a recording of the third party content. The third party content may be passed to the primary service provider for recording on one or more storage systems associated with the primary service provider, and the recorded content may subsequently be played back by the customer/subscriber in the same manner as play back of content recorded from the primary service provider.

With the advent of video distribution systems, it has become possible to deliver video content over Internet protocol (IP) to a variety of devices such as IP set-top boxes and associated television systems, mobile devices (telephones, tablet computers, laptop computers, etc.), smart televisions, and the like. In a typical setting, a content service provider, such as a cable television provider or other television content service provider, may provide such content for consumption by a customer/subscriber including allowing the customer/subscriber to record content to one or more storage systems for future playback.
Oftentimes, third party service providers allow customers/subscribers of a primary service provider to access third party content via the systems of the primary service provider. For example, a cable television service provider may allow its customers/subscribers to access and consume content from a third party news service, sports entertainment service or video service through the systems of the cable television service provider by providing the customer/subscriber links to the content of the third party service provider such that selection of the links allows the customer/subscriber to access the third party content from the primary service provider systems. A significant drawback to such third party content access, however, is an inability of the customer/subscriber to record the third party content for future playback.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the present invention has been made.

Recording third party content to a primary service provider digital video recorder or other storage medium


In one embodiment, a method comprises: receiving a signal from a remote antenna at first and second antennas, the first and second antenna being collocated and offset from one another by a fixed predetermined angle such that a center of a high gain region of a main lobe of the first antenna is substantially aligned with a low gain region of a main lobe of the second antenna; determining a set of characteristics of the signal based on the signal being received at the first antenna; decoding a first data set based on the signal being received at the first antenna and a second data set based on the signal being received at the second antenna, both using the set of signal characteristics; and determining a currently aimed direction of the first antenna with relation to the remote antenna based on the difference between the first and second data sets.

It is generally desired to point a transmitting device's directional antenna toward an intended receiver. For instance, the purpose of this aim is to ensure that a directional transmission lobe of the antenna provides the best receive power at the intended receiver. In certain situations, aiming the antenna may also have the benefit of creating the least amount of interferences at an unintended receiver.
Though in many instances, a "good enough" approach to antenna aiming is acceptable so long as the receiver can understand and decode the incoming signals, in some technology environments, precision antenna aiming is essential or even critical to operation. However, current antenna aiming techniques, particularly for low power, low cost devices, may have directional estimations or tolerances that do not meet the standards necessary for precise aiming, potentially creating unacceptable (or at least undesirable) signal transmissions.

Precision aiming of an antenna based on a radio source


A scheduling circuit of the present invention includes an IP (Internet Protocol) scheduling/format converting section for scheduling input IP packets and converting each of them to ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) cells. The IP scheduling/format converting section includes a plurality of packet FIFOs (First-In First-Out memories). The ATM cells output from each packet FIFO are written to corresponding one of a plurality of cell FIFOs. An ATM scheduling section schedules the ATM cells received from each cell FIFO cell by cell.

The present invention relates to a scheduling circuit and more particularly to a scheduling circuit applicable to an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode) communication network.
Scheduling circuits for the above application are disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-340983 and a paper 2 "B-8-12", The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers of Japan, 1999 General Meeting.
In a transmission network in which IP (Internet Protocol) is mapped and a communication terminal included therein, suitable delay is added at the output side of the apparatus on an IP packet or an ATM cell basis in accordance with traffic rates, which are dependent on notified values. The delay frees the network and a receiving terminal connected to the above terminal from excessive loads. In this case, a sequence of processing for smoothing the traffic, i.e., scheduling is essential for controlling data to be sent.
A conventional scheduling circuit includes an IP scheduling section, a format converting section, and an ATM scheduling section. The problem with such a conventional scheduling circuit is that both the IP scheduling section and ATM scheduling section discard a datagram. As a result, a datagram is discarded excessively, depending on the traffic.

Scheduling system using packet FIFOs and cell FIFOs for converting IP packets to ATM cells


In a flat image display device in which a first substrate having phosphor layers formed on an inner surface thereof and a second substrate having electron emitting elements which excite the phosphor layers are located opposite each other with a gap therebetween, the plate thickness of the second substrate is made smaller than the plate thickness of the first substrate. The second substrate is formed thinner than the first substrate so that it is more flexible. Even if spacers are subject to variation in height, therefore, the first and second substrates can be securely brought into contact with the spacers, whereby gaps between the spacers and the substrates can be eliminated, and electric discharge between the first and second substrates can be restrained.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image display device provided with opposed substrates and a plurality of spacers located between the substrates.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, various flat image display devices have been noticed as a next generation of lightweight, thin display devices to replace cathode-ray tubes (CRT's). A surface-conduction electron emission device (SED) has been developed as a kind of a field emission device (FED) that serves as a flat display device, for example.
This SED comprises a first substrate and a second substrate that are opposed to each other across a predetermined gap. These substrates have their respective peripheral portions joined together by a rectangular sidewall, thereby constituting a vacuum envelope. Three-color phosphor layers are formed on the inner surface of the first substrate. Arranged on the inner surface of the second substrate are a large number of electron emitting elements for use as electron sources, which correspond to pixels, individually, and excite the phosphor. Each electron emitting element is formed of an electron emitting portion, a pair of electrodes that apply voltage to the electron emitting portion, etc.
For the SED constructed in this manner, it is important to maintain a high degree of vacuum in a space between the first substrate and the second substrate, that is, in the vacuum envelope. If the degree of vacuum is low, the life performance of the electron emitting elements, and hence, the life performance of the device lower inevitably. In order to support an atmospheric load that acts the first and second substrates and maintain the gap between the substrates, in a device described in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-272926, moreover, a number of plate-shaped or columnar spacers are arranged between the two substrates. In displaying an image, in the SED, an anode voltage is applied to the phosphor layers, and electron beams emitted from the electron emitting elements are accelerated by the anode voltage and collided with the phosphor layers, whereupon the phosphor glows and displays the image. In order to obtain practical display properties, the phosphor used should be one that is similar to that of a conventional cathode-ray tube, and the anode voltage should be set to several kV or more, preferably to 5 kV or more.
In the flat image display device described above, a high voltage of 5 kV or more is applied between a front substrate and a rear substrate, whereby the electron beams emitted from the electron emitting elements on the rear substrate are accelerated and delivered to the phosphor on the front substrate. Since the luminance of the displayed image depends on the accelerated voltage, a high accelerated voltage should preferably be applied. In the case where the high voltage is applied, however, gaps, if any, between the first substrate or the second substrate and the spacers may possibly cause a problem, such as disturbance of the electron beams attributable to electric field concentration or electric discharge in micro gaps. If any electric discharge occurs, the electron emitting elements, a phosphor screen, or a driver circuit may possibly be broken or degraded.
Accordingly, the respective heights of the spacers must be controlled with high accuracy such that errors are 1 μm or less, to eliminate the gaps. Since a number of spacers are provided between the first substrate and the second substrate, however, it is technically difficult to make the heights of all the spacers uniform, so that the manufacturing cost is high.

Image display device with opposed substrates of different thickness separated by spacers


The subject invention provides a method of treating a symptom associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a patient suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which comprises administering a therapeutically effective amount of an oxandrolone to the patient. The subject invention further provides a method of improving functional capacity and/or pulmonary function in a patient suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease which comprises administering a therapeutically effective amount of an oxandrolone to the patient.

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
COPD is a progressively debilitating disease affecting an estimated 16 million Americans. In 1984, COPD ranked fifth as the leading cause of death in the United States. From a disability standpoint, COPD is the most frequent reason that people seek medical attention (1).
It has been found that there is a direct relationship between body weight and respiratory muscle mass (2) and that a significant percentage of patients with COPD are malnourished (1, 2). Epidemiologic surveys of COPD have suggested that undernutrition might be an important prognostic variable (2). When the COPD patient begins to lose weight, the average life expectancy is only 2.9 years (1).
Disabilities in patients with COPD due to limitations in pulmonary function are often compounded by a loss of muscle strength and lean body mass, resulting in an inability to perform many activities of daily living. These losses may be attributable to a number of factors including decreased ability to exercise, decreased appetite, hypermetabolism and protein catabolism resulting from prolonged glucocortoid therapy. Because of undue dyspnea, these patients are frequently afraid to exercise, which exacerbates their muscle wasting condition. Shortness of breath during eating also worsens this condition because it leads to inadequate calorie and protein intake. Furthermore, many of these patients are receiving intermittent or chronic treatment with anti-inflammatory steroids that may result in myopathy, especially causing weakness in the proximal lower extremities. A combination of these factors often contribute to disability in patients with COPD that exceeds what would generally be expected based on airflow limitation alone.
Because of the progressive decline due to dyspnea and cachexia in these patients, levels of morbidity and mortality exceed those expected based on pulmonary limitations alone.
The subject invention provides therapies to reverse or halt the catabolic process and restore lean body mass in COPD patients. The subject invention also provides therapies to improve functional capacity and/or pulmonary function in these patients.

Use of oxandrolone in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease


Decompression of video segments from a sequence of differential frames is done by selected scaling of frame resolution and color depth. A frame header indicates the computational complexity of decompression of a frame, allowing selection of scales for output resolution and color depth. Decompression proceeds by retrieving a frame from the compressed video stream in elementary units. An elementary unit is characterized by types, including an unchanged type, a homogeneous type, a pattern type and a predetermined pattern type. For a retrieved elementary unit of the unchanged type, an output pointer to a display buffer is moved by an elementary unit scaled by the output resolution scale. For a retrieved elementary unit of the homogeneous type, a color retrieved from the compressed video stream is applied to an area in the display buffer corresponding to an elementary unit scaled by the output resolution scale. For a retrieved elementary unit of the predetermined pattern type, a pattern from a table of patterns is retrieved using an index from the compressed video segment as an address. Two colors for the pattern are also retrieved and applied to the pattern.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the decompression for playback of video segments on a data processing system. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and a method of decompressing video data while enabling scaling of frame resolution and color depth for playback of a video segment by the playback platform.
2. Description of the Related Art
A video signal comprises a sequence of frames, which when displayed at a given minimum frame rate (e.g., 15 to 30 frames per second in a personal computer), simulate the appearance of motion to a human observer. In a personal computer system, each frame of the video image comprises a matrix of picture elements or "pixels." A common image matrix has 320 columns by 240 rows of pixels. A pixel is the minimum unit of the picture which may be assigned a luminance intensity, and in color video, a color. Depending upon the data format used, as many as three bytes of data can be used to define visual information for a pixel. A pixel by pixel color description of all pixels for an entire frame can require over two hundred thousand bytes of data. Spatial resolution of an image is increased by increases in the number of pixels.
To display a video segment, if such full frames were replaced at a frame rate of 30 frames per second, a computer could be required to recover from storage and write to video memory as many as 27 million bytes of data each second. Few contemporary mass data storage devices have both the bandwidth required to pass such quantities of data or the storage capacity to hold more than a few minutes worth of digital video information directly stored. As used here, bandwidth means the volume of data per unit time which can be recovered from an auxiliary storage device. Data compression is used to accommodate auxiliary storage devices in the storage and recovery of video segments for playback in real time and to reduce traffic on the system bus.
Data compression allows an image or video segment to be transmitted and stored in substantially fewer bytes of data than required for full frame reproduction. Data compression can be based on eliminating redundant information from frame to frame in a digitized video segment (temporal compression), or by eliminating redundant information from pixel to pixel in individual frames (spatial compression). In addition, compression may exploit superior human perception of luminance intensity detail over color detail by averaging color over a block of pixels while preserving luminance detail.
Frame differencing compression methods exploit the temporal redundancy that exists between digital video frames from the same scene recorded moments apart in time. This reduces the required data needed to encode each frame. Two successive frames from a sequence of digital motion video frames are compared region by region. The comparison process determines whether two corresponding regions are the same or different. The size and location of each region, and the nature of the comparison are outside the scope of this invention.
Before temporal redundancy can exist, one frame necessarily represents a point in time after another frame. If the field of view of the frames is unchanged, then the regions from a frame at period N do not need to be encoded and stored if the regions in a frame at period N-1 are already known. When change has occurred, the changed regions of the later frame must be encoded and stored. When each region of two frames have been compared, and changed regions of the later period encoded and stored, the process moves to the next pair of frames. During playback, the decompression process adds the stored information for each period to the current state of the display memory using a process that is the logical reverse of the encoding process. This is called conditional replenishment.
When there is very little temporal redundancy in a digital motion video the method fails. However, in a motion video sequence of a flower growing, shot at 30 frames per second, frames contain a great deal of temporal redundancy and compress well using frame differencing. Similarly a sequence recorded through a moving camera will contain little redundancy and not compress well, assuming motion compensation algorithms are not employed.
While compression makes it possible to store and reproduce video segments on personal computers, the quantities of data involved and the computational load imposed on the system central processor still tax the capacity of many contemporary personal computers, particularly low end machines based on the Intel 8086/88 family of microprocessors. Large capacity machines designed for multitasking of applications and having advanced video adaptors have an easier time handling video segments, unless two or more video segments are required to be simultaneously reproduced.
A way of providing portability of decompressed data between machines of different capacity is to introduce resolution and color depth scalability. Resolution scalability allows the playback platform to change the number of pixels in an output image. A common display resolution is a matrix of 320.times.240 pixels. Other resolutions include 640.times.480 pixels and 160.times.120 pixels. Color depth scaling is used to reduce (or increase) the number of shades of color displayed. Use of such scaling would be enhanced were portable processes available to recognize and decode compressed video segments set up to support such scaling by the playback platform itself.
Three methods have been employed to support resolution and color depth scaling. All three techniques are targeted for use in transmission channel applications, where compressed video information can be transmitted and reconstructed progressively.
One technique involves use of image hierarchies. Each frame of a video segment is compressed at a plurality of spatial resolutions. Each level represents a different level of compression obtained by subsampling of 2 by 2 pixel regions of the next higher level of resolution. The resolution of the base level is the same as the raw data frame. Frame resolution scaling is obtained by selecting a particular level of resolution at the decompression platform. Time differential compression between frames is still done, but by selecting low resolution levels, low powered computers can decompress the stream.
A second technique known in the art is called bit-plane scalability. Here each frame in the video segment is compressed by encoding the bit-planes of the color information independently. Each bit-plane has the same spatial resolution as the original image frame. Each compressed video frame is organized from the most-significant bit (MSB) planes to the least-significant bit (LSB) planes. Color scalability is obtained by only decompressing and displaying the compressed higher order bit-planes of each frame.
A third technique known in the art is called subband coding. In subband coding, an image is decomposed into different frequency bands, downsampling the spatial resolution of each produced band, and compressing each frequency subband with a suitable compression technique independently (e.g. vector quantization). Scalability is obtained by only decompressing, upsampling and displaying the compresssed low-passed frequency bands in lower end machines, and progressively decoding higher and higher-passed frequency bands in progressively more powerful machines.

International Business Machines Corporation