A toner supplying device for supplying toner to a developing device in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus comprises a toner hopper for containing and feeding new toner, a recycle device for introducing toner from a cleaner which collects residual toner on an electrostatic latent image carrying member to an outlet of the hopper or the vicinity thereof, a toner agitating chamber opposed to the outlet of the hopper and an outlet of the recycle device, a toner agitating member disposed in the toner agitating chamber, and a toner feeder for feeding the toner from the toner agitating chamber to the developing device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates an image forming apparatus such as an electrophotographic copying machine and an electrophotographic printer, and particularly to a toner supplying device used therein for supplying toner to a developing device which develops an electrostatic latent image on an electrostatic latent image carrying member.
2. Description of the Related Arts
Such toner supplying devices have been known that can merely supply new toner to a developing device and that can supply not only the new toner but also collected toner which is collected by a cleaner from an electrostatic latent image carrying member by recycle means.
The means for recycling the toner, which is collected by the cleaner, to the developing device is disclosed in the Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 63-45113, and the Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication Nos. 55-73078, 55-103578 and 56-66884.
According to summarized contents of these publications, resupplying of the collected toner is performed by (a) supplying the collected toner without processing, (b) supplying the collected toner without processing when new toner is not supplied, and supplying the collected toner together with the new toner when the new toner is supplied in response to a new toner feed instruction signal sent from appropriate means such a toner density sensor or an image density sensor, or (c) supplying the collected toner after applying to it corona charging of the same polarity as the toner polarity at a developing section when it is located on an electrostatic latent image carrying member (Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 63-45113).
However, the toner generally includes various kinds of additives or particles stuck thereto. Such additives and particles may include a fluidization agent such as silica, aluminium oxide, titanium oxide or magnesium fluoride; chargeable particles of silica, titanium oxide or the like to which coupling processing has been applied by chargeable monomer (e.g., monomer having amino group or fluorine atom); resin beads serving as a cleaning assistant, an abrasive for removing a deteriorated layer on a surface of a photosensitive member; or other additives such as releasing agent for improving fixing ability. Owing to these additives, condensation of the toner is prevented. Further, if two-component developer is used, frictional chargeability of the toner with respect to carrier in the developing device is improved. If monocomponent developer is employed, the frictional chargeability with respect to a toner restricting member which contacts a toner carrying and feeding member of the developing device is improved.
However, after the toner was once used for developing, the additives have moved to the carrier and further from the carrier to the electrostatic latent image carrying member, and have been substantially removed from the surfaces of the toner particles.
Therefore, the collected toner contains extremely small amount of additives sticking thereto. Consequently, if the collected toner were reused without processing, there would be possibility that the essential effect of the additives could not be obtained, and specifically, deterioration of fluidity of the toner, condensation of the toner and deterioration of the frictional chargeability of the toner would be caused. As a result of the deteriorated chargeability, there may be caused dispersion of the toner and fogging, i.e., sticking of the toner to an image background on a recording material.
In spite of disadvantages described above, the resupplying of the collected toner in the prior art is performed by returning the collected toner, from which the additive has substantially disappeared, into the developing device without any processing, so that the fogging and/or the dispersion of the toner are caused.
Even when the new toner is supplied and the collected toner is supplied together with it, it is impossible to expect that the additive of the new toner sufficiently sticks to the collected toner because the new toner and the collected toner are not positively mixed prior to supplying. Further, the collected toner is supplied without processing when the new toner is not supplied. Moreover, the collected toner, which passed developing and transferring sections and a cleaning section in which it contacts, e.g., a cleaning member, has frictional charging characteristics which is extremely different from those of the new toner which has not passed the above sections, resulting in unstable quality of finished images.
Even in such a case that the collected toner is subjected to the corona charging of the same polarity as the toner polarity at a developing section, as described above, uniform charging cannot be expected, which may cause the fog and unstable quality of finished images, because the additives have hardly stuck to the collected toner.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved device for supplying toner to a developing device in an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, and particularly to provide a toner supplying device in which, not only new toner but also toner collected by a cleaner can be supplied and resupplied, respectively, and further a toner fluidity and a toner chargeability can be improved in the collected toner by sticking an additive to it prior to resupplying, whereby condensation of the toner, fog in an image and dispersion of the toner can be sufficiently prevented without other countermeasures.


A belt guiding element for a child safety system, in particular for a child seat, can provide a high safety level and particularly highly comfortable use when the safety belt is inserted into the element and when the belt is removed therefrom. The belt guiding element comprises a slot for receiving a safety belt, on the vehicle side, in particular a three-point belt, and a locking element capable of being open or closed. The locking element enables, in an open position, for the safety belt to be inserted into the slot or the safety belt previously inserted into the slot, to be removed. In a closed position the locking element enables, the insertion or removal of the safety belt to be prevented. The locking element includes a lock lever which can pivot about a pin spaced apart from the slot.

The invention relates to a belt-guiding element for a child-safety system, or for a child seat, by which a child can be secured in a vehicle by a safety belt, for example a 3-point safety belt, of the vehicle. A child-safety system is known to be equipped with at least one belt-guiding element by which the safety belt is optimally positioned in the shoulder region of the child who is to be secured. In order to be able to accommodate the safety belt, such a belt-guiding element has to have an access opening through which the safety belt is introduced or "threaded in." From a safety point of view, such an access opening should be as small as possible, in order to prevent any instances of the safety belt sliding out of the belt-guiding element. From a handling point of view, however, the access opening should be as large as possible, in order to allow the safety belt to be straightforwardly introduced and removed.

Belt guiding element for child safety system


A foldable baby trailer includes a bottom frame, detachably provided with two rear wheels, two rear frame bars, a handlebar, a top frame bar, two front frame bars, and a trailer bar provided with a front wheel. The handlebar, the top frame bar, the two rear frame bars and the two front frame bars can be directly folded up and closely attached to the bottom frame to reduce the size for storage when the two bottom ends of the handlebar are unlocked from the two rear frame bars. Further, the user can grasp the top grip of the handlebar with the hands to push/pull the foldable baby trailer and to use the foldable baby trailer as an independent baby cart after disconnection of the trailer bar from the bicycle.

The present invention relates to a baby trailer and more specifically, to a foldable baby trailer, which can conveniently be collapsed to reduce the size convenient for carrying, storage or delivery and, which has a handlebar and front and rear wheels practical for uses as an independent baby cart when it is not used with a bicycle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,618 discloses a bicycle trailer, which has a connecting device adapted to be fastened on the frame body of a bicycle so as to be towed by the bicycle and which can be detached easily from the bicycle for storage. This structure of bicycle trailer is functional, however, it still has drawbacks as follows:
1. Because the bicycle trail does not have handle means or a front wheel, it cannot be used as an independent baby cart when detached from the bicycle.
2. When wishing to collapse the bicycle trailer, the user must unlock the knob at the rear top side and then detach the top reinforcing rod before folding the trailer frame. This procedure is complicated.
The present invention has been accomplished under the circumstances in view. According to one aspect of the present invention, the foldable baby trailer is comprised of a bottom frame detachably provided with two rear wheels, two rear frame bars, a handlebar, a top frame bar, two front frame bars, and a trailer bar provided with a front wheel. The handlebar, the top frame bar, the two rear frame bars and the two front frame bars can be directly folded up and closely attached to the bottom frame to reduce the size for storage when the two bottom ends of the handlebar are unlocked from the two rear frame bars.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the user can grasp the top grip of the handlebar with the hands to push/pull the foldable baby trailer after disconnection of the trailer bar from the bicycle, i.e., the foldable baby trailer can be used as an independent baby cart when detached from the bicycle.


Systems and methods for predicting customer compliance with requests to participate in demand response events are disclosed. The systems and methods may include receiving demand response information for a demand response event, receiving information for a customer, and determining or adjusting for the customer a compliance probability for the demand response event based at least partially on the demand response information and the received customer information.

Demand response (DR) may refer to actions taken by a utility and/or its customers to temporarily reduce the peak electricity demand at some time in the future. Demand response may be implemented by the utility sending demand reduction or response requests or signals to some customers or by the utility accepting demand reduction bids initiated by the customers. In some examples, demand response operations may be based on a contract between the utility and its customers, with the contract providing incentives for customer compliance with demand response requests and/or possible penalties for noncompliance with demand response requests.
A device for curtailing electric demand for responding to the real-time pricing of electrical energy or for reducing demand during power shortages is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,621,179. Electrical power distribution control methods, electrical energy demand monitoring methods, and power management devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,149,605. A method and apparatus for trading energy demand and supply response commitments is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US 2005/0027636. The disclosures of these and all other publications referenced herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.

Systems and methods for predicting customer compliance with demand response requests


To allow inputting and outputting of data using any apparatus of a plurality of MFPs, each of the plurality of MFPs includes a HDD to store user data including user identification information for identifying a plurality of users, a job attribute information generating portion to generate job attribute information which associates location information on the network of data inputted in a scanner with one of a plurality of user identification information, a control portion to control so as to store the job attribute information in HDDs of other MFPs connected to the network, a user identification information input portion to accept an input of the user identification information, a job attribute information obtaining portion to obtain from the HDDs of other MFPs connected to the network the job attribute information including the user identification information inputted, and a data obtaining portion to obtain data associated by the job attribute information obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing system, an image processing apparatus, and an image processing program product, and more specifically to an image processing system suited for transmitting and receiving data among a plurality of image processing apparatuses connected to a network, an image processing apparatus, and an image processing program product executed by the image processing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, an image processing apparatus such as a scanner, a printer, or a facsimile is commonly used in the form of being connected to a network. In such form of use, as a technology for allowing the sharing of data among a plurality of image processing apparatuses, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-42114 describes a copying machine management system consisting of a plurality of digital copying machines connected to a communication line and of a single server, wherein the server includes an image file directory having an image file for storing image data transmitted from each digital copying machine and a client directory having a reception header management file for storing management data related to image data created and to be received by each of the digital copying machines, and upon reception, the digital copying machine periodically accesses the reception header management file of its own client directory of the server to confirm whether there is any image data to be received, and if there is such image data to be received, accesses the image file directory and takes in the relevant image data.
With the copying machine management system according to Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-42114, however, the server is required to be connected to a network. Thus, in such a case as where a digital copying machine is connected anew to a network, a setting is required in which a network address of a file server required for accessing the file server is stored in the newly connected digital copying machine. As a result, there was a problem that system modifications could not be accommodated with flexibility.

Image processing system, image processing apparatus, and image processing program product suited for transmitting and receiving data among a plurality of image processing apparatuses

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


The invention provides FabH polypeptides and DNA (RNA) encoding such FabH and a procedure for producing such polypeptides by recombinant techniques. Also provided are methods for utilizing such FabH for the treatment of infection, particularly bacterial infections. Antagonists against such FabH and their use as a therapeutic to treat infections, particularly bacterial infections are also provided. Further provided are diagnostic assays for detecting diseases related to the presence of FabH nucleic acid sequences and the polypeptides in a host. Also provided are diagnostic assays for detecting polynucleotides encoding novel Fab family proteins and for detecting such polypeptides in a host.

The Streptococci make up a medically important genera of microbes known to cause several types of disease in humans, including, for example, otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, sinusitis, pleural empyema and endocarditis, and most particularly meningitis, such as for example infection of cerebrospinal fluid. Since its isolation more than 100 years ago, Streptococcus pneumoniae has been one of the more intensively studied microbes. For example, much of our early understanding that DNA is, in fact, the genetic material was predicated on the work of Griffith and of Avery, Macleod and McCarty using this microbe. Despite the vast amount of research with S. pneumoniae, many questions concerning the virulence of this microbe remain. There is an unmet medical need to employ Streptococcal genes and gene products as targets for the development of antibiotics.
The pathway for the biosynthesis of saturated fatty acids is very similar in prokaryotes and eukaryotes. However, whilst the chemical reactions may not vary, the organisation of the biosynthetic apparatus is very different. Vertebrates and yeasts possess type I fatty acid synthases (FASs) in which all of the enzymatic activities are encoded on one or two polypeptide chains, respectively. The acyl carrier protein (ACP) is an integral part of the complex. In contrast, in most bacterial and plant FASs (type II) each of the reactions are catalysed by distinct monofunctional enzymes and the ACP is a discrete protein. Mycobacteria are unique in that they possess both type I and II FASs; the former is involved in basic fatty acid biosynthesis whereas the latter is involved in synthesis of complex cell envelope lipids such as mycolic acids. There therefore appears to be considerable potential for selective inhibition of the bacterial systems by broad spectrum antibacterial agents (Jackowski, S. 1992. In Emerging Targets in Antibacterial and Antifungal Chemotherapy. Ed. J. Sutcliffe & N. Georgopapadakou. Chapman & Hall, New York; Jackowski, S. et al. (1989). J. Biol. Chem. 264, 7624-7629.)
The first step in the biosynthetic cycle is the condensation of malonyl-ACP with acetyl-COA by FabH. In subsequent rounds malonyl-ACP is condensed with the growing-chain acyl-ACP (FabB and FabF, synthases I and II respectively). The second step in the elongation cycle is ketoester reduction by NADPH-dependent .beta.-ketoacyl-ACP reductase (FabG). Subsequent dehydration by .beta.-hydroxyacyl-ACP dehydrase (either FabA or FabZ) leads to trans-2-enoyl-ACP which is in turn converted to acyl-ACP by NADH-dependent enoyl-ACP reductase (FabI). Further rounds of this cycle, adding two carbon atoms per cycle, eventually lead to palmitoyl-ACP whereupon the cycle is stopped largely due to feedback inhibition of FabH and I by palmitoyl-ACP (Heath, et al, (1996), J.Biol.Chem. 271, 1833-1836). Fab H is therefore a major biosynthetic enzyme which is also a key regulatory point in the overall synthetic pathway (Heath, R. J. and Rock, C. O. 1996. J.Biol.Chem. 271, 1833-1836; Heath, R. J. and Rock, C. O. 1996. J.Biol.Chem. 271, 10996-11000).
The antibiotic thiolactomycin has broad-spectrum antibacterial activity both in vivo and in vitro and has been shown to specifically inhibit all three condensing enzymes. It is non-toxic and does not inhibit mammalian FASs (Hayashi, T. et al., 1984. J. Antibiotics 37, 1456-1461; Miyakawa, S. et al., 1982. J. Antibiotics 35, 411-419; Nawata, Y et al., 1989. Acta Cryst. C45, 978-979; Noto, T. et al., 1982. J. Antibiotics 35, 401-410; Oishi, H. et al., 1982. J. Antibiotics 35, 391-396. Similarly, cerulenin is a potent inhibitor of FabB & F and is bactericidal but is toxic to eukaryotes because it competes for the fatty-acyl binding site common to both FAS types (D'Agnolo, G. et al., 1973. Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 326, 155-166). Extensive work with these inhibitors has proved that these enzymes are essential for viability. Little work has been carried out in Gram-positive bacteria.
No mutants totally lacking FabH activity have been described. .beta.-ketoacyl-ACP synthases are widely conserved enzymes in Gram-negative bacteria. For example E. coli FabH is 80% similar to the Haemophilus influenzae homolog.
No mammalian homologues to FabH have yet been identified. No marketed antibiotics are targeted against fatty acid biosynthesis, therefore it is unlikely that novel antibiotics would be rendered inactive by known antibiotic resistance mechanisms. Moreover, this is a potentially broad spectrum target.
There is a clear unmet need for developing new classes of antibiotic compounds. Clearly, there is also a need for factors that may be used to screen compounds for antibiotic activity, such as a simple high through-put assay for screening inhibitors of FAS. Such factors may also be used to determine their roles in pathogenesis of infection, dysfunction and disease. Identification and characterization of such factors, which can play a role in preventing, ameliorating or correcting infections, dysfunctions or diseases are critical steps in making important discoveries to improve human health.


Electrodepositable coating compositions containing 1,1-di-activated vinyl compounds are described. The coating compositions produce cured coating layers that exhibit resistance to cratering. The coating compositions can be used in electrodepositable coating composition formulations.

Electrodepositable coating compositions are film-forming compositions, typically water-based compositions, which are capable of being deposited onto an electrically-conductive substrate under the influence of an applied electrical potential. Electrodepositable coating compositions may exhibit "cratering," which refers to the formation of blind hole-like discontinuities ("craters") in the surface of electrodeposited and cured coating films. The development of craters is undesirable because craters disrupt the surface continuity and decrease the surface smoothness of electrodeposited and cured coating layers. The development of craters in electrodeposited and cured coating films can be increased by oil contamination on the surface of substrates to be electrocoated or on electrodeposited coating films prior to curing. Oil contamination may be particularly problematic in automotive applications, such as, for example, mechanized primer coating lines, where machine lubricating oils are used in relatively close proximity to coating substrates.
Various additives, such as siloxanes, acrylates, and polybutene dienes, have been formulated in electrodepositable coating compositions in an attempt to provide oil contamination-resistance and cratering-resistance. In many cases, however, such additives undesirably affect other coating properties such as adhesion. Therefore, it would be advantageous to provide electrodepositable coating compositions that exhibit improved oil contamination-resistance and cratering-resistance while maintaining other desirable coating properties.


The subject of the present invention is a connector cap for linkage between an electrical cable and an elbowed high-voltage output shaft (1; 20; 35, 35') of an ignition device (2; 19). To that end, it includes locking means (8; 14; 22; 31; 32) for locking it counter to a movement in a direction parallel to the cable axis.

The present invention relates to a connector cap for linkage between an electrical cable and an elbowed high-voltage output shaft of an ignition device.
It is well-known that there is a need to prevent misfiring in internal combustion engines that are equipped with a catalytic converter. When misfiring occurs, the gasoline located in the cylinder is sent directly to the catalytic converter and soon damages it.
Consequently, it is essential to assure the electrical continuity of the spark plug power supply circuit, in other words the high-voltage circuit between this spark plug and the output of the ignition device, coil, igniter or distributor. This electrical circuit is made up of a high-voltage cable, one end of which is mounted on the spark plug and the other end of which is mounted on the high-voltage shaft of the ignition device.
Disconnection of the cable from the high-voltage shaft can occur either from incorrect placement, for instance during a repair operation, or from the shocks or vibration that normally occurs during operation of the engine on which the ignition device is mounted.
Solutions to this problem have already been proposed, for straight high-voltage shafts. These solutions employ an intermediate connection device between the cable and the shaft. This device is in the form of a pancake, with the high-voltage cable connected in its plane. This pancake is connected to the ignition device by latching in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the cable.
However, this intermediate device has the disadvantage of being bulky. Moreover, this solution is not applicable to the case of elbowed high-voltage shafts.
The present invention seeks to overcome these disadvantages.

Connector cap for linking electrical cable


In various embodiments, a die is provided. The die may include a physical unclonable function circuit configured to provide an output signal, wherein the output signal is dependent on at least one physical characteristic specific to the die; and a self-test circuit integrated with the physical unclonable function circuit on the die, wherein the self-test circuit is configured to provide at least one test input signal to the physical unclonable function circuit and to determine as to whether the output signal provided in response to the at least one test input signal fulfills a predefined criterion.

In practical cryptography, a Physical Unclonable Function or PUF is a function that is embodied in a physical structure of a die or a chip and may be easy to evaluate but hard to predict. An individual PUF circuit may be easy to make but hard to duplicate, even given the exact manufacturing process that produced it. PUF circuits may be configured to provide for example strong PUF's or weak PUF's.
A weak PUF is a circuit which produces a value, for example a key, wherein variations that occur in the production process are utilized to produce the value. The value is used in an algorithm which produces an output signal in response to an input signal, wherein the value influences the output signal.
Rather than embodying a single cryptographic key, strong PUFs implement challenge-response authentication. When a physical stimulus or input signal which corresponds to the challenge is applied to the structure, it reacts in an unpredictable way due to the complex interaction of the stimulus with the physical microstructure of the PUF circuit, wherein the reaction corresponds to the response. This exact microstructure depends on physical factors introduced during manufacture which are unpredictable. So, the strong PUF corresponds to a function which depends on the physical characteristics of the circuit providing the strong PUF.
Unclonability for example means in this context that each PUF device produces a unique and unpredictable key or has a unique and unpredictable way of mapping challenges to responses, even if it was manufactured with the same process as a similar chip or die, and it is infeasible to construct a PUF with the same key or challenge-response behavior as another given PUF because exact control over the manufacturing process is infeasible. This is because the key or the response is created by a complex interaction of the challenge with many or all of the random components. In other words, given the design of the PUF system, without knowing all of the physical properties of the random components, the keys and the responses are highly unpredictable.

Die, chip, method for driving a die or a chip and method for manufacturing a die or a chip


A single high resolution frame is obtained from a plurality of frames sampled from moving image data, regardless of movement of a subject included in the frames. Patches are provided in a plurality of frames including a reference frame and other frames. The patches are moved and/or deformed, and correspondent relationships are estimated for each frame. The other frames are coordinate converted based on the estimated correspondent relationships. Correlative values, which represent the degrees of correlation between the other frames and the reference frame, are calculated. The number of regions within the patches is changed, and the correlative values are calculated in the same manner. A synthesized frame is generated from the plurality of frames based on the correspondent relationship, which was estimated for the number of regions that yields the maximal correlation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for synthesizing a plurality of frames, sampled from a moving image, to obtain a synthesized frame having a higher resolution than the sampled frames. The present invention also relates to a program that causes a computer to execute the method for synthesizing moving images.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the recent spread of digital video cameras, it has become possible to handle moving images in units of single frames thereof. When these frames of the moving image are to be output as prints, it is necessary to heighten their resolutions, to improve the image qualities thereof. Therefore, methods for sampling a plurality of frames from a moving image, then generating a single synthesized frame having higher resolution than the plurality of frames, have been proposed (for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-354244). These methods derive motion vectors among the plurality of sampled frames. Then, the methods calculate signal values to be inserted among pixels, based on the motion vectors, when generating the synthesized image from the plurality of frames. In the method disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-354244, each of the sampled frames is divided into a plurality of blocks. Then, perpendicular coordinate coefficients that correspond among the frames are calculated. Thereafter, data regarding high frequency components within the perpendicular coordinate coefficients are synthesized with low frequency components within other blocks, to calculate pixel values to be inserted. Therefore, necessary data is not reduced, and a synthesized frame having high image quality can be obtained. In addition, this method calculates motion vectors at resolutions finer than the distances between pixels. Therefore, movement between frames is accurately compensated for, enabling the obtainment of synthesized frames having still higher image quality.
Another method for synthesizing frames of a moving image has been proposed, as disclosed in: Y. Nakazawa, T. Komatsu, and T. Saito, "Obtainment of Finely Detailed Digital Images by Integrating Frames", Journal of the Television Academic Society, 1995, Vol. 49, No. 3 p 299-308. This method designates one of a plurality of frames as a reference frame. A reference patch, having a plurality of rectangular regions therein, is provided in the reference frame. A second patch, which is the same as the reference patch, is provided in a second frame other than the reference frame. The second patch is moved and/or deformed so that the image within the second patch matches the image within the reference patch. Then, correspondent relationships between pixels within the second patch and pixels within the reference patch are estimated, based on the moved and/or deformed second patch and the reference patch. Thereby, a plurality of frames are accurately synthesized.
In the method disclosed by Nakazawa et al., correspondent relationships among the reference frame and the other frames are estimated. Following this estimation, the reference frame and the other frames are assigned to an integrated image, having a necessary resolution. Thereby, a finely detailed synthesized frame is obtained.
There are cases in which a subject included in a frame, or included in a local portion of a frame, moves greatly or at extremely high speed among frames. In these cases, movement and/or deformation the patches in the method disclosed by Nakazawa et al. may not be able to follow such movement. In the case that the movement and/or deformation of the patches cannot follow the movement and/or deformation of the subject, the entirety of a synthesized frame may be blurred, or the subject therein, which exhibits great movement, may be blurred. Thus, there is a problem that a synthesized frame having high image quality cannot be obtained. In these cases, the movement and/or deformation of the patches can be made to follow the movement and/or deformation of the subject, by dividing the patches into a greater number of rectangular regions. However, if the number of rectangular regions is excessively increased, then each of the rectangular regions becomes extremely small, thereby causing great difficulty in following the movement and/or deformation of the subject.

Method, apparatus, and program for moving image synthesis


A system for controlling water leakage and excess humidity in a basement, including a water leakage vacuum apparatus that includes a water vacuuming apparatus to collect a water leakage through a basement wall, an air dehumidifying apparatus, and a perimeter channel system having a plurality of flow channels, disposed along the perimeter of the basement wall. The perimeter channel system includes a water channel for conducting the water leakage away from a basement wall to the water vacuuming apparatus, a humid air channel for communicating humid air from the air space proximate to the outer wall of the basement to a dehumidifying apparatus, and a dehumidified air channel for communicating the dehumidified air discharged from the dehumidifying apparatus to the air space proximate to the outer wall of the basement.

The foundations of buildings often experience water problems due to a variety of causes. When such foundations are constructed, the surrounding soil must be removed prior to construction and then replaced after the foundation is completed. As a result, foundations can become damaged as soil settles outside of the foundation. Furthermore, a negative grade sloping toward the foundation is also often formed due to such settling. With the negative grade, the force of gravity causes water to move toward the foundation cracking the foundation and eventually entering into the building. This is especially true of basements and crawl spaces.
When water enters a dwelling, many problems arise, both to the physical structure of the dwelling and to the air. It is known in the art to install structural waterproofing systems to drain water from basements and crawl spaces. Typical waterproofing systems include some method of draining the water from inside the building to the outside. U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,034 discloses a basement draining channel that extends around the periphery of a basement floor, next to the wall, for draining away collected water. The channel includes a plurality of drain entrance holes leading to drain tubes. When water enters the basement walls, it is collected in the channel and directed toward the entrance holes due to gravity. The water is channeled via gravity to a drain connector pipe to a sump pump. The problem with such existing gravity-based waterproofing systems, however, is that the system must absorb a certain amount of water before the water will flow, and ultimately drain from the structure. If there is too little water to cause flow, the water remains stagnant and may evaporate back into the interior of the basement causing mildew, mold, and general dampness. Also when a sufficient amount of water is present to create a flow, a residual amount of water is left in the conduit when the flow stops. Additionally, any water drained directly beneath the floor of the basement may evaporate back into the waterproofing system and eventually back into the basement. Dampness and associated mold from such evaporation causes damage to buildings, ruins possessions, produces foul odors, and even presents potential health problems. When excessive moisture or water accumulates indoors, growing molds produce allergens, irritants, and potentially toxic substances. Although mold growth can be treated, it cannot be eliminated as long as a moisture problem exists.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for a system for handling water leakage and resulting humidity in a basement and other room of a building or structure.

System for controlling basement leakage and humidity


A gaming machine has an armrest for a player to rest his/her arm(s) thereon. The armrest has a woofer specialized in low-pitched sound output inside the armrest. Vibrations produced with the sound output of the woofer are transmitted to the player through the armrest.

1. Technical Field
One or more aspects of the present invention relate to a gaming machine having a woofer that outputs sounds in a low pitch range.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, various types of gaming machines are installed in game arcades. The various types of gaming machines include a slot machine, a card game machine and so on. These gaming machines stimulate players' interests in games through performing various effects. The various effects include a visual effect based on display on a display device, an auditory effect by sounds output from a speaker and an effect of luminescence by a luminescent device (for instance, LED, etc.).
Here, as one type of these gaming machines, there is a heretofore known gaming machine having two types of speakers. The two types of speakers are the ones called a tweeter, and a woofer. The tweeter is a speaker specialized in outputting sounds corresponding to a high-pitch range in the human auditory range. The woofer is a speaker specialized in outputting sounds corresponding to a low-pitch range in the human auditory range.
In other words, this type of gaming machine can output stable sounds covering the whole human auditory range, using speakers. As a result, this type of gaming machine can appropriately transmit a sound effect etc. on a game to a player. Accordingly, this type of gaming machine can stimulate a player's interest through effects based on the sound output. Here, a gaming machine which can further stimulate the player's interest has been demanded.
In addition, such gaming machines house components used for control with respect to games in their cabinets. Such components include a motor, and a control board having a processor etc. thereon. When the gaming machines are operating, these components generate heat. Then, when the temperatures in the cabinets rise, the components may cause malfunction (such as abnormal operation of control programs).
Incidentally, there is a gaming machine having a vent hole in the back surface of the cabinet formed in a plane shape. This vent hole provides communication between the inside and the outside of the cabinet. The gaming machine circulates the air between the inside and the outside of the cabinet through the vent hole. Accordingly, the gaming machine can release the heat generated inside the cabinet to the outside of the cabinet. As a result, the gaming machine can prevent operational failure due to the heat of the components. In this regard, the gaming machine requires a certain size of space at the back face side of the cabinet so as to emit heat exhaust through the vent hole assuredly.
Meanwhile, managers of game arcades wish to install more gaming machines in their game arcades. Such managers of game arcades wish to offer more comfortable environment to players who play games in their game arcades.
In other words, the managers of game arcades wish to offer convenience to players by effectively utilizing spaces in their game arcades.
This invention provides a gaming machine which can further enhance the impact of the sound effect. In addition, this invention provides a gaming machine which can stimulate a player's interest in a game. Further, this invention provides a new gaming machine which can prevent a malfunction caused by the heat generated inside the cabinet. Further, the present invention provides a new gaming machine which can reduce spaces for installation in game arcades.


A vehicle safety system for impeding an occupant's egress from a vehicle is provided. A barrier is deployed, either manually or automatically, to cover at least a portion of the vehicle's exit in order to impede an occupant from egressing through the exit. The barrier may be a passive barrier or a reactive barrier. The barrier may also be a combination of a passive and a reactive barrier or the combination of several reactive barriers.

The present invention relates to vehicle safety systems and more specifically to an apparatus for protecting an occupant of a vehicle during abnormal operating conditions.
Various safety systems are used to protect occupants of vehicles. For example, seat belt and airbag systems may be used to protect vehicle occupants. In the case of a lift truck, one suitable seat belt system, for example, might comprise an automatic locking retractor and a belt buckle assembly as described in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 4,832,410 to Bougher, the disclosure of which is now incorporated herein by reference. Lift trucks may also be equipped with a Falling Object Protection System (FOPS), which comprises a sectioned roof resting on side supports, thereby creating a cab or cockpit in which the occupant is generally protected from falling objects. It has been found that during lift truck tip-over conditions, an occupant may try to exit the cockpit of the vehicle, or may be ejected from the cockpit, prior to completion of the tip over. What is desired is a safety system that blocks the exit pathway and contains the occupant substantially within the cab of the lift truck or other vehicle.
A vehicle safety system for impeding the egress of an occupant of a vehicle is provided. Such a vehicle safety system comprises one or more safety barriers mounted to one or more exits and configured to move between a stowed position, allowing an occupant to egress the vehicle through the one or more exits, and a deployed position. In the deployed position, the barrier(s) cover at least a portion of the exit(s) to impede occupant egress through the exit(s). One such safety barrier might be a passive barrier such as a net, or plastic sheet. Such a passive barrier affords the occupant the visibility necessary to operate the vehicle. Therefore, the vehicle may be operated with the passive barrier in the deployed position continuously. The vehicle may be equipped with a FOPS or other frame that defines the exit(s) in order to mount and/or guide the passive barrier as it is moved between the stowed positions and the deployed positions. The passive safety barrier may be deployed, moved from the stowed to the deployed position, and/or stowed, moved from the deployed to the stowed position, manually by the occupant. The occupant may manually deploy or stow the safety barrier by applying direct pressure to the passive safety barrier to move it. The occupant may also actuate one or more mechanical devises, such as for example a motor or hand crank or other devices described herein or known in the art, to deploy or stow the safety barrier. The safety system may further comprise a control system configured to sense one or more parameters or the occurrence of one or more defined events in order to automatically deploy or stow the passive barrier. Automatic deployment or stowing of the passive barrier may also be realized by other mechanical devices, such as for example a retractor biased to stow or deploy the safety barrier. The safety system may be equipped with one or more locking mechanisms to lock the passive safety barrier in the deployed position. These locking mechanisms may be any suitable mechanical, electrical, or electro-mechanical device, some representative examples of which are described herein below. The locking mechanisms may manually be actuated by the occupant, or automatically actuated by the control system. In the alternative, the safety barrier may be a reactive safety barrier, such as for example, an inflatable member. The inflatable member may be a tube, or a curtain comprising generally vertical and generally horizontal bladders, or a combination of a tube and a curtain. The reactive safety member also has stowed and deployed positions. The reactive safety member may be deployed manually by the occupant, for example, by pushing a button or actuating a switch, or automatically by the control system. The illustrative inflatable safety member(s) are deployed by filling them with fluid in order to inflate them, thereby causing them to cover at least a portion of the exit(s) to impede egress through the exit. The construction of the inflatable safety barriers may allow for the retention of the fluid for a desired length of time. The reactive safety barriers may be combined with each other and/or with a passive safety barrier. So too, reactive and/or passive safety barriers may be installed, alone or in combination, on any one, or every exit of the vehicle. The features of the safety barriers described herein may be used alone or in combination.
Features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon consideration of the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments exemplifying the best mode of carrying out the invention as presently perceived.


A method and kit which allows unskilled persons to prepare polished amber in a supervised or unsupervised environment. The method includes steps employing inexpensive materials and polishing compounds. The preferred polishing compounds comprise ingredients that are generally recognized as safe. The kit according to this invention contains components that will enable an unskilled person or child to polish amber using the method of this invention in supervised or unsupervised environments.

Amber is a composition of polymerized tree sap of prehistoric origin. It is of particular interest to natural scientists, hobbyists and craftspersons, because a variety of organic matter, including prehistoric insects, plant and animal materials, are often found embedded in amber. The inclusions may be studied for scientific merit or mere curiosity. Amber having inclusions has also found wide application in jewelry making.
Polishing amber by methods known in the gem polishing art involves the application of machine-driven abrasives and the use of toxic polishing compounds. Commonly, lapping machines, faceting machines and cabochon machines are used for the initial rough polishing. Thereafter, a variety of buffing machines are employed to produce the final finish. Polishing compounds are employed to provide a smooth surface.
The abrasives commonly used in conjunction with machine polishing are diamond abrasives embedded in wheels. Once the amber is roughly polished, polishing compounds are applied with buffing machines. Polishing compounds commonly used employ cerium oxide or aluminum oxide.
The amber polishing methods known in the art have certain disadvantages which make them impracticable and unsafe for use by children and other unskilled persons. The machinery and abrasives used in the art are expensive. Thus a casually interested person, a child or a schoolteacher is typically precluded from the use of such machines and abrasives. A major disadvantage of known methods is the toxicity of the polishing compounds. Therefore, the known methods are unsuitable for use by unskilled persons and children.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a method and kit which overcome the aforementioned disadvantages by allowing unskilled persons to polish amber in supervised or unsupervised settings.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a method whereby an unskilled person can polish amber by hand using inexpensive abrasives and non-toxic compounds.
Another object of this invention is to provide a method in which the compound, or compounds, used for polishing amber are generally recognized as safe (GRAS) in the event that they are ingested.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a kit containing all of the components necessary to enable an unskilled person or child to perform the method of the invention in supervised or unsupervised settings in the classroom or home environment.

Method and kit for preparing polished amber


An adjustable power supply (1) for light emitting diode arrangements (11), with the power supply (1) being dimensioned for a power class. The power supply (1) has an adjustable current source (3) and an adjustable power limitation (4), and the power limitation (4) is adjustable within the limits of the power class. The power supply (1) further has a control component (5) that is suitable for running an operating program (8). This operating program (8) uses, as its input parameters (7), the number of light emitting diodes (13) to be controlled and their method of connection and, from these parameters, it calculates the required current and the required power, according to which the current source (3) and the power limitation (4) are adjusted and regulated.

The invention describes a power supply for light emitting diode arrangements having a current source.
Previously, light emitting diodes were mainly used individually as a signal or a status indicator. Through advances in the manufacture of light emitting diodes, however, new areas of application have been constantly developed. Hence, the use of light emitting diodes for illumination purposes has become increasingly widespread. In the meantime, light emitting diodes are already being used in the place of light bulbs and fluorescent lamps for both general and specific illumination purposes, including large-area lighting.
In these applications, a plurality of light emitting diodes are usually combined to form a light emitting diode arrangement, the individual light emitting diodes being connected in parallel and/or in series.
For practically every application and in every device, the number, power and connecting method of the light emitting diodes within the light emitting diode arrangement differs. This means that each device needs a special power supply adapted to the light emitting diode arrangement. Since there is an almost infinite variety of possible configurations for light emitting diode arrangements, this becomes highly complex and cost intensive.

Programmable current source for light emitting diode arrangements


A method of forming a surface structure of a component of a medical devices includes forming a fatigue-resistant portion, which entails forming a first layer comprising a transition metal selected from the group consisting of Ta, Nb, Mo, V, Mn, Fe, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, and Si on at least a portion of a surface of the component, where the surface comprises a nickel-titanium alloy, and alloying the transition metal of the first layer with the nickel-titanium alloy of the surface. The method further includes forming a rough outer surface of the fatigue-resistant portion where the rough outer surface is adapted for adhesion of a material thereto.

Stents are generally designed as tubular support structures that can be used in a variety of medical procedures to treat blockages, occlusions, narrowing ailments and other problems that restrict flow through body vessels. Numerous vessels throughout the vascular system, including peripheral arteries, such as the carotid, brachial, renal, iliac and femoral arteries, and other body vessels, may benefit from treatment by stents. Self-expanding stents, which deploy automatically when released from an intraluminal delivery device, are often fabricated from superelastic materials such as equiatomic or near-equiatomic nickel-titanium alloys (e.g., Nitinol).
A limiting factor in many stent designs is durability. For example, stents employed in the superficial femoral artery (SFA) may be exposed to significant axial, torsional and bending stresses. In addition, due to blood flow through the vessel, stents may experience pulsatile loading on the order of 400 million cycles over 10 years of in vivo use. Fatigue life is thus a critical consideration for stent design.
Although the fatigue mechanics of nickel-titanium alloys are quite complicated, it is generally accepted that surface flaws (cracks) are initiating sites for fatigue failure. It is believed that fatigue crack growth rates in nickel-titanium alloys are higher than crack growth rates in other titanium alloys used in medical devices. Small surface cracks in a stent structure have the propensity under some loading conditions to propagate until the structural integrity of the stent is compromised.
Consequently, the surfaces of nickel-titanium alloy stents are generally highly electropolished in an effort to mitigate the impact of surface flaws on device performance. Electropolishing may not be effective in eliminating all surface flaws, however. Fatigue life improvement remains a challenge for nickel-titanium alloy stent design.

Surface structure of a component of a medical device and a method of forming the surface structure


An ECU of a vehicle control device selects a system-mounted vehicle traveling ahead of a system-mounted vehicle as a cooperating vehicle and controls the inter-vehicle distance between the selected system-mounted vehicle and the system-mounted vehicle, or the like to control the traffic volume of a road in the vicinity of the system-mounted vehicles, such that traffic jams can be prevented effectively as compared with a case where the system-mounted vehicle performs travel control independently. Furthermore, the ECU determines whether or not to select the system-mounted vehicle as a cooperating vehicle based on the relative speed of the system-mounted vehicle and the system-mounted vehicle a regardless of whether or not the system-mounted vehicle that is selected as the cooperating vehicle is traveling in the same lane as the system-mounted vehicle, such that it is possible to select the cooperating system-mounted vehicle without being influenced by the accuracy of recognizing the lane in which the system-mounted vehicle travels.

In the related art, it has been attempted to mitigate traffic jams by improving the traffic volume on a load through controlling the travelling of individual vehicles. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a preceding vehicle follow-up device that detects changes in the inclination on the forward side of a traveled road, and in a case where the change in the inclination is detected in the vicinity of a sag (a point of change from downhill to uphill on the road) or the like on the forward side of the traveled road, switches from inter-vehicle distance control to vehicle speed control. The preceding vehicle follow-up device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, in the vicinity of a sag, is switched from inter-vehicle distance control to vehicle speed control to suppress a variation in vehicle speed during the preceding vehicle follow-up control. Particularly, in the preceding vehicle follow-up device described in Patent Literature 1, even when the inclination changes on a sag when a plurality of vehicles are traveling in a sequence, the preceding vehicle follow-up device prevents the variation in the vehicle speed of a preceding vehicle from being amplified and propagated to the following vehicles.

Vehicle controller, control method for vehicle and control system for vehicle


A gelatinous external skin treatment composition comprising (1) spherical powder of organopolysiloxane elastomer having an average particle size of 1.0 to 15.0 .mu.m, (2) silicone oil and (3) polyether modified silicone having the formula (I): ##STR1## wherein A represents a methyl group, phenyl group, or B explained below, B is a polyoxyalkylene group having the formula: EQU --C.sub.3 H.sub.6 O(C.sub.2 H.sub.4 O).sub.a (C.sub.3 H.sub.6 O).sub.b R',. wherein R' is a group selected from the group consisting of a hydrogen atom, acyl group, and C.sub.1 to C.sub.4 alkyl groups, a is an integer of 5 to 50, and b is an integer of 5 to 50, PA1 R is a methyl group or phenyl group, m is an integer of 50 to 1000, and n is an integer of 0 to 40, provided that at least one polyoxyalkylene group is present in the molecule, and optionally (4) a lower alcohol having 3 carbon atoms or less and/or water.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gelatinous external skin treatment composition (e.g., make-up cosmetics) containing silicone oil formulated therein in a gelatinous (or gelatinized) form and having good useability.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the recent years, in the field of external skin treatment agents, wide use has been made of silicone oils as oil components giving a light spreadability at the time of use and with little stickiness. There have been few satisfactory methods for gelatinizing silicone oil base agent. One relatively simple method has been proposed to use the solidifying action of waxes, but the use of a wax results in a heavy spreadability and stickiness, and therefore, in many cases, the characteristic feeling of use according to silicone oil is lost.
In the case of cosmetic compositions including make-up cosmetics, one of the important factors is the persistence of cosmetic effects, or cosmetic persistency, in addition to the effects providing the skin conditionings and beautiful appearances. According to the known techniques for improving the cosmetic persistency, hydrophobically treated powders or silicone resins are formulated in cosmetic compositions. In the case of the hydrophobically treated powders, only a relatively short period of time after the application is effective, there are disadvantages that the effects are not large when the sweat or the sebum is largely generated in summer or during sports. In the case of the silicone resins, although the cosmetic persistency is exhibited unlike the use of the hydrophobically treated powders, there are disadvantageous in that the feelings of film are provided.

Gelatinous external skin treatment composition


The invention relates to methods of proliferating stem cells. More particularly, the invention relates to the use of glycosaminoglycans or proteoglycans to promote the growth of stem cells in ex vivo culture, while preserving their multipotentiality.

In all tissues of the body there is a sub-population of adult stem cells. These multipotent cells are recruited and activated to take part in tissue regeneration. Adult stem cells are a promising resource for therapy, but their numbers are very low and they need propagation in vitro to be of therapeutic use. When these cells are cultured ex-vivo it has proven difficult to recreate their natural microenvironment, which is thought to be a sum of signals from interactions with the extracellular matrix and neighboring cells and the hormonal status of the microenvironment. Therefore, regenerative therapies using adult stem cells are still hampered by the limited number of available cells and the fact that their expansion in vitro, necessary to attain therapeutic numbers, compromises their differentiation and proliferative potential.
Due to their capacity to form cartilage, bone, fat and other connective tissue, human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) constitute an exciting prospect for cell-based therapy in regenerating diseased or injured tissues. These adult stem cells can be readily purified from a small volume of bone marrow aspirates, and expanded in vitro for a limited number of population doublings (PD) (≈3) before they reach replicative senescence. It is likely that this growth arrest is linked to telomere shortening as over-expression of the catalytic subunit of the telomerase (hTERT) is sufficient to increase the life span to several hundred population doublings. These "telomerized" cells retain their ability to assume phenotypes of mesenchymal tissues, thus providing a useful tool for the study of hMSCs. However, it does not address the issue of attaining a therapeutic number of multipotent stem cells in culture without severely affecting their regenerative potential.
The spontaneous differentiation of stem cells in culture is a result of a change in the microenvironment from that normally found in the naïve stem cell niche. As mentioned above, the stem cell niche is a sum of signals from interactions with specific components of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and neighboring cells, and the hormonal status of the microenvironment.
Thus, there exists need for methods and media compositions that help to overcome the problems encountered in the expansion of ex vivo stem cell cultures.

Agency for Science, Technology and Research


The present invention is an improved transparency scanning module, which is applied on a cover of scanning device. The transparency scanning module and the cover can be taken apart for different consuming groups. The features of the invention are that transparency scanning module is embedded in cover, and a slot of cover for holding transparency scanning module is set plural fillisters, and there are plural connectors set on the relative positions of transparency scanning module for connecting each other. When the fillisters connecting with the connectors, transparency scanning module is able to offer light and also transparency scanning module and cover are combined and fixed each other closely; on the other hand, rim of transparency scanning module is thinner, and most central part is protruding in z direction, thus transparency scanning module can be inserted and held in the slot of cover. This is another design for closely combination.

The present science has being developed to approach a better level than before, and this result comes from computer. For example, the connection and information transit among people, e-commerce on the net, etc., and all of them can not avoid the key of computer. Thus, electronic tools, merchandise, etc. are utilized at the present time. The first priority of modern personal electronic tools is mobile phone, then personal computer, portable computer, personal digital assistant, digital camera, digital camcorder, personal scanner, etc. Those are to offer medias for transferring human being normal and professional life to digital format, and it is easily saved for reference; or it can be sent to other people for their reference. Further benefit is that those electronic tools or merchandise can save both video and audio information, and it is really useful.
For the present digital camera and digital camcorder, prices are normally thousands to several decades thousands NTD (New Taiwan Dollars), and sometimes they cannot even reach the requirement what customers need. Therefore, those products are for player, and not for general people or amateurs. Meantime, there is another way to approach the requirement that digital camera and digital camcorder can do, which is to ask traditional and low cost scanner. Furthermore, both electronic file and traditional picture can be saved to be used in different conditions.
There are several kinds of transparency scanning module, such as UTA (Upper Transparency Adapter), UTC (Universal Transparency Cover), etc. In case of scanning transparent document, the universal transparency device is a need. If there is no interface for upper light plate on originally purchased scanner, the scanner cannot be utilized to transparent document, and only for general document. Please refer to FIG. 1, which shows a side view of application of universal transparency device in prior art, wherein there are a cover A and a scanning platform B, and an upper light device C is set within the cover A, and a light source D is in the upper light device C, thus upper light device C moves back and forth in cover A; an optical module E is set in the scanning platform B. Therefore, only purchasing transmission upper light source device, the transparent can be made.
Another prior art which is UTC referring to FIG. 2, and the FIG. 2 shows a scheme of built-in universal transparency device in prior art. The device also includes a cover device F and a scanning platform I. A built-in upper light plate G is set in the cover device F, both sides of the upper light plate are separately set two light sources H; Same as the above scanning platform B, the scanning platform I is installed an optical module J. The mentioned UTC is a built-in type. Namely, user should purchase additional upper light plate device to scan transparent document.
To know from above mentioning, transparency scanning module and cover are in one body and cannot be separated, thus both of them should be purchased together. This kind of consumption is not suitable for that the consumer does not need the transparency scanning module, the customer who considers financial point, then, the product acceptance and competitiveness are also effected. On the other hand, if market does not need such designed product, continuously manufacturing it is to increase cost, and the economical benefit is low.


The present invention relates generally to communication systems, and more specifically, but not exclusively to a method and apparatus for quality of service control for a user equipment in a communication system comprising a home network with respect to the user equipment and a visited network. In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of quality of service control for a user equipment in a communication system comprising a first network and a second network, the first network being a home network with respect to said user equipment and the second network being a visited network with respect to said user equipment, the method comprising: receiving authorization information at said user equipment from the first network, said authorization information having data related to an entitlement to quality of service for said user equipment; holding said authorization information at said user equipment; performing a comparison of said entitlement to quality of service with a quality of service provided by the second network; and in dependence on said comparison, sending a message from said user equipment to the second network requesting an upgrade of quality of service.

A communication system may comprise a number of networks among which a user equipment may roam. For example, a wireless communication system may comprise a number of wireless networks, each wireless network being, for example, a public land mobile network (PLMN). A user equipment may be subscribed to a home network, referred as a home PLMN (HPLMN) and may roam to a visited network, referred to as a visited PLMN (VPLMN).
Typically, a user equipment may be allocated a Quality of Service (QoS) by the home network, that may, for example, include a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR), which may be allocated according to a service offered. In particular, a home network may provide services that require higher than normal quality of service to only a subset of its users, for example to users of high definition streaming video for large screen devices. However, when a user equipment is roaming, the visited network may offer only a default quality of service, that may not be satisfactory for users who are accustomed to receiving a higher quality of service from their home network.
In existing systems, it may be possible for a visited network and the home network to communicate to negotiate the provision of an appropriate quality of service for a user equipment by a signalling link, such as a "S9" link. However, such signalling links are not provided between all networks. Furthermore, even when a signalling link such as S9 is provided, the service offerings of the home and visited networks may differ, in particular in relation to video services, for which there are typically a large variety of coding/decoding schemes and encoding rates. As a result, the validation of quality of service provision rules using the signalling link may fail, and the visited network may apply default rules for a particular service. For example, a home network may wish to guarantee high definition (HD) H.264 video at 384 kbps, but if rule validation fails or the signalling link is absent, the visited network may provide the default guaranteed bit rate for H.264, which is 64 kbps, which may be too low for, in particular, large screen devices.

Method and apparatus for quality of service control for a user equipment


An analytical apparatus provides for the separation and analysis of a subset of ions from a mixture of ions in a gas. The apparatus includes an ion supply, such as an electrospray, which provides a population of variously charged ions. An analyzing chamber is coupled to the ion supply and includes a first wall with an inlet orifice for receiving the flow of variously charged ions, and a second wall opposed to the first wall. A laminar gas flow is established within the analyzing chamber along a flow axis. The second wall is provided with an outlet orifice that is displaced by a determined distance along the gas flow axis from the inlet orifice. A potential difference is applied between the first and second walls which causes the flow of ions, introduced via the inlet orifice, to migrate towards the outlet orifice. The laminar gas flow displaces ion flight trajectories along the flow axis, so that only the ions with a mobility near a specific value reach the second wall close enough to the outlet orifice to be sampled through it. The outlet orifice is coupled to the inlet of a mass spectrometer to enable analysis of the ions emerging from the outlet orifice.

A variety of techniques are presently in use to enable chemical analysis of ions in ion mixtures. Many such techniques rely on introducing in a gaseous atmosphere, ions from a substance originally dissolved in a liquid, and then analyzing such ions in a mass spectrometer. Sometimes, however, a large number of different species produced by the ionization process give rise to too complex a mass spectrum for individual mass peaks to be recognizable. This circumstance is particularly common for ion sources such as electrosprays, which yield each species in a multitude of charge states, especially in the case of analytes with very large molecular weights.
An electrospray atomizer is implemented by feeding an electrically conductive liquid through a tube, while a liquid meniscus emerging out of the tube is maintained at several kilovolts relative to a reference electrode positioned a few tube diameters away. This liquid meniscus assumes a conical shape under the action of the applied electric field, with a thin jet of solvent/solute emerging from the cone tip. This jet breaks up farther down stream into a spray of fine, charged droplets.
A distinct advantage which arises from the electrospray apparatus is that the generated droplets exhibit a net charge on their respective surfaces. This charge enables the particles to be guided and collected for a variety of purposes. Further, charge repulsion among the droplets prevents an agglomeration thereof. As liquid in the charged droplets evaporates, the electric charge may cause the droplets to further subdivide, which eventually creates arbitrarily small droplets, residue particles and even ions. Many of such particles hold enough charge not to be readily separated from the ions, giving rise to background noise in the mass spectrum.
Accordingly, a method for separating some of the ions in the gas from each other and from condensed particles in the electrospray is needed to simplify the mass spectra and also to reduce noise.
An efficient method for the separation of ions in a gas utilizes mobility analysis of ions and particles in the gas. Such analysis is based upon the differences in velocity at which different ions drift through the gas, in response to an applied electric field. One such method is based upon the time-of-flight of the ions/particles drifting between two points in the gas. If an analyzer is set only to be responsive to particles arriving within a preset time window, ion/particle selectivity can be achieved. Time-of-flight analysis has been successfully coupled with mass spectrometers to enable a determination of the mass of mobility-selected ions. However, in the time-of-flight analysis approach, ions are separated from each other in dependence upon a time of arrival at a detector. This complicates their introduction into most types of mass spectrometers which utilize atmospheric pressure sources. Such mass spectrometers tend to rely on the use of a steady, rather than a pulsed, ion input. Further, the approach of filtering out of the mass spectrometer inlet all ions from a time of flight mobility spectrum, except those within a small mobility range, causes a substantial loss in ion signal.
An alternative approach which avoids the low duty cycle that results from the use of the time-of-flight method, is based on mobility separation in space rather than in time. Instruments capable of performing a steady mobility selection of an ion stream are widely used in aerosol research, where they are commonly referred to as differential mobility analyzers (DMAs). Aerosol DMAs have traditionally been designed to isolate charged objects with relatively small mobilities. They exhibit rather poor resolution and very high losses for molecular ions of greatest analytical interest.
In a DMA, an electric field is established between two plane parallel metal plate electrodes (or two coaxial cylindrical electrodes) by a potential applied therebetween. Ions or particles are injected through a slit in a first electrode. As these charged entities drift in the electric field towards a second electrode, they are deflected in a direction parallel to the plate electrodes, by a flow of clean, ion-free gas which moves parallel to and between the surfaces of the plates. As a result, the position of the ions' impact on the second plate electrode, in relation to the gas stream direction, is an inverse measure of their electrical mobility. A further slit may be made in the second electrode, through which the charged species can be sampled. By alteration of the voltage, selected subsets of the ionic species can be caused to exit through the slit.
The response of DMAs is substantially influenced by Brownian motion which spreads particles of a given mobility around their mean trajectory. As a result, an aerosol sample through an exit slit contains a relatively wide range of ion/particles of varying mobilities (especially in the case of ultra-fine particles). Consequently, most existing aerosol DMAs do not function as monodisperse particle generators, nor do they measure mobilities of particles in the nanometer range with adequate resolution.
A further problem of aerosol DMAs relates to large losses of ions through the sampling lines which lead from an ion source to the analyzing section and then from the analyzing section to the instrument exit. Thus, most electrospray/mass-spectrometry devices sample ions into their vacuum systems at initial concentrations comparable to the very large ones prevailing in the electrospray source (or from an alternative ion source). However, the sampling process, in all available DMAs, reduces this concentration by more than the two orders of magnitude that are typically lost in coupling a time of flight mobility analyzer to a mass spectrometer.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method for analysis of an ion stream in a gas, which apparatus and method exhibit a better transmission efficiency than time-of-flight instruments.
It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method for analysis of an ion stream in a gas which enables exclusion of all but a narrow band of ions which exhibit a determined ion mobility.
It is another object of this invention to provide an apparatus and method for analysis of an ion stream in a gas which provides both precise ion selectivity, while providing a continuous stream of selected ions for analysis.
For complex mass spectra involving several large and multiply charged species, it is another object of this invention to provide a procedure to group together the peaks which correspond to same species present in different charge states. This grouping is equivalent to the identification of each of the species giving rise to the mass spectrum, which are otherwise difficult to resolve by mass spectrometry alone.

Method and apparatus for separation of ions in a gas for mass spectrometry


A method of predicting an achievable level of privacy of a flight path can include receiving an indication of a flight route of an aircraft, receiving an indication of one or more privacy enhancement techniques, estimating an air traffic density for one or more airspaces along or near the flight route where the estimating is based on information obtained from one or more aviation information databases, and estimating an achievable level of privacy of the flight path based, at least in part, on the air traffic density for one or more airspaces and the one or more privacy enhancement techniques. The method can further include using the estimated achievable level of privacy of the flight path as a privacy layer in one or more flight planning and optimization problems.

The present application is generally related to prediction of opportunities to enhance privacy of an aircraft flight path.
Air transportation systems with e-enabled aircraft and networked technologies, such as Automated Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B), are data communications systems developed to assist in reducing air traffic congestion and air traffic control inefficiencies by enabling exchange of precise aircraft surveillance data in shared airspaces. An e-enabled aircraft means an aircraft with advanced computing, sensing, control, and communications. An e-enabled aircraft is capable of communicating in a global information network, e.g., as a network node. ADS-B protocol requires each aircraft to periodically broadcast air traffic beacons, as frequent as one or two times per second. Each beacon from an aircraft contains an authentic digital identity of the aircraft as well as highly accurate surveillance data, e.g., position, altitude, velocity, time, intent, and other spatial data currently associated with the aircraft. Air traffic beacons can inform air traffic control tasks while ensuring liability or traceability of the associated aircraft in the shared networked airspace. These air traffic beacons are in plaintext and can be received by anyone located up to 100 miles or more from the source of ADS-B broadcasts. Thus traffic beacons from aircraft may be misused by unauthorized entities, e.g., an adversary, and used to obtain unique identifiers of communicating aircraft as well as track in real-time the positions of these uniquely identifiable aircraft and record all position trajectories of these aircraft.
In the airborne IP network, a major threat to flight privacy is from the location estimation of communicating aircraft based on their transmission radio signal properties as well as position data available from aircraft originating messages such as ADS-B beacons. Location tracking can invade aircraft operator privacy in unanticipated ways, since private aircraft may be used to visit places of political, business or personal interest. Location trajectories of a private aircraft, when correlated with other information databases such as geographic maps and business or political developments, can help in the identification of places visited by the aircraft as well as inference of travel intent of the user. Furthermore, location history of an aircraft over time can lead to profiling of the user's personal preferences and interests.
The default identifier in an ADS-B beacon from an aircraft may be, e.g., a permanent 24-bit address of the aircraft as defined by the ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). An aircraft in an uncontrolled airspace, operating under visual flight rules (VFR), or instrument flight rules (IFR) may use an anonymous identifier in ADS-B broadcast. An aircraft flight control system may compute a random identifier to generate a 24-bit anonymous identifier for an aircraft. The aircraft flight control system computes the anonymous identifier as a function of a random quantity, e.g., a location or a time of use of anonymous identifier, or a combination thereof, and the ICAO identifier. Air traffic controllers on the ground know the ICAO address of the aircraft and can verify ADS-B broadcasts from the aircraft, e.g., to establish liability in airspace for emergency events. Various methods of updating aircraft identifiers are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,248,294, by Sampigethaya, et al.
Privacy-enhancing technologies which provide confidentiality, such as cryptographic encryption, can also mitigate privacy risks by controlling access to sensitive or personal data in aircraft messages. Such solutions require a cryptographic key to be shared between each aircraft and all the air traffic controllers on the ground.


An aqueous pharmaceutical composition containing tapentadol or a physiologically acceptable salt thereof and being adapted for oral administration. The composition has excellent storage stability without relying on the presence of high amounts of preservatives.

The invention relates to an aqueous pharmaceutical composition containing tapentadol or a physiologically acceptable salt thereof and being adapted for oral administration.
Tapentadol is a centrally-acting analgesic with a dual mode of action as an agonist at the μ-opioid receptor and as a norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (cf. T. M. Tzschentke et al., Drugs of the future, 2006, 12, 1053-1061). Solid oral dosage forms of tapentadol are known from the prior art, e.g. WO 02/067651, WO 03/035053, WO 2006/002886, WO 2007/128412, WO 2007/128413, WO 2008/110323, WO 2009/092601, WO 2009/067703, and US 2007-128412.
However, solid oral dosage forms containing tapentadol are not satisfactory in every respect and there is a demand of pharmaceutical formulations which have advantages compared to the known solid oral dosage forms.
The stability of the active ingredient in the final product is a primary concern to the formulator. In general, drug substances are less stable in aqueous media than solid dosage forms, and it is important to properly stabilize and preserve liquid aqueous formulations such as solutions, suspensions, and emulsions. Acid-base reactions, acid or base catalysis, oxidation, and reduction can occur in these products. These reactions can arise from drug substance-ingredient interactions, ingredient-ingredient interactions or container-product interactions. For pH sensitive compounds, any of these interactions may alter the pH and may cause precipitation.
Oxidative labile drug substances or vitamins, essential oils, and almost all fats and oils can be oxidized by auto-oxidation. Such reactions can be initiated by heat, light, peroxides, or other labile compounds or heavy metals such as copper or iron.
The effect of trace metals can be minimized by using chelating agents such as EDTA. Antioxidants may retard or delay oxidation by rapidly reacting with free radicals as they are formed (quenching). Common antioxidants include propyl, octyl and dodecylesters of gallic acid, butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, monothioglycerol, potassium or sodium metabisulfite, propionic acid, propyl gallate, sodium bisulfite, sodium sulfite, and the tocopherols or vitamin E.
In addition to stabilization of pharmaceutical preparations against chemical and physical degradation, liquid and semisolid preparations, particularly multiple dosed preparations, must usually be protected against microbial contamination. In contrast to solid preparations, aqueous solutions, syrups, emulsions, and suspensions often provide excellent growth media for microorganisms such as molds, yeast, and bacteria (e.g. Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, E. Coli, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger). Contamination by these microorganisms may occur during manufacturing or when a dose is taken from a multiple dosed formulation. Growth of the microorganisms occurs when a sufficient amount of water is present in the formulation.
Ophthalmic and injectable preparations are typically sterilized by autoclaving or filtration. However, many of them require the presence of an antimicrobial preservative to maintain aseptic conditions throughout their stated shelf life, specifically for multiple dosed preparations.
When a preservative is required, its selection is based upon several considerations, in particular the site of use whether internal, external or ophthalmic (for further details it can be referred to e.g. Remington, The Science and Practice of Pharmacy, 21st edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2005).
Many liquid formulations for oral administration, particularly multiple dosed formulations, contain parabens as preservatives, e.g. methyl paraben (methyl-4-hydroxybenzoate) and propyl paraben (propyl-4-hydroxybenzoate). For example, in the Federal Republic of Germany liquid oral formulations containing parabens are commercialized under the trademarks: Ben-u-ron®; Cetirizin-ratiopharm®; Pipamperon HEXAL®; Sedotussin®; TALOXA®; Truxal®; XUSAL®; Talvosilen®; and Timonil®. Other commercialized liquid formulations contain sorbic acid or its potassium salt as preservative, e.g. ibuprofen liquid formulations and morphine liquid formulations.
Because of the number of excipients and additives in these preparations, it is recommended all the ingredients be listed on the container to reduce the risks that confront hypersensitive patients when these products are administered.
The preservatives benzalkonium chloride and potassium sorbate are also widely used e.g. in nasal drops and sprays. Recently, side effects resulting from mucosal damage caused by benzalkonium chloride and potassium sorbate were reported (cf. C. Y. Ho et al., Am J Rhinol. 2008, 22(2), 125-9). As far as hypersensitivity reactions of preservatives in topical ophthalmic therapies are concerned, quaternary ammoniums (benzalkonium chloride) are commonly associated with irritant toxic reactions whereas the organomercurials (thimerosal) and the alcohols (chlorobutanol) have high associations, respectively, with allergic responses (cf. J. Hong et al., Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2009, 9(5), 447-53). Parabens have been implicated in numerous cases of contact sensitivity associated with cutaneous exposure (cf. M. G. Soni et al., Food Chem Toxicol. 2001, 39(6), 513-32) and have been reported to exert a weak estrogenic activity (cf. S. Oishi, Food Chem Toxicol. 2002, 40(12), 1807-13 and M. G. Soni et al., Food Chem Toxicol. 2005, 43(7), 985-015).
Due to these undesired side effects of known preservatives, it is desirable to provide pharmaceutical compositions for oral administration that exhibit a sufficient shelf life and in use stability in the absence of preservatives or at least in the presence of comparatively low quantities thereof.
WO 2008/110323 discloses a composition for parenteral administration of 20 g (1R,2R)-3-(3-dimethylamino-1-ethyl-2-methyl-propyl)-phenol hydrochloride in 1 L water for injection purposes which has been isotonized by addition of NaCl.

Aqueous pharmaceutical formulation of tapentadol for oral administration


A device and method for producing complex multipart collections (K1) of printed products includes at least two partial collections (T1, T2, T3) of precursors. The device comprises a collating device (6) having a conveyor track (41) on which a plurality of receptacle units (50) circulate in a closed circuit for receiving collated precursors, and on which a plurality of feeder apparatuses (101-112) are disposed in at least one collating region (11, 12), from which precursors are dispensed into the receptacle units (50) moving past on the conveyor track. A transfer apparatus (30) is disposed in at least one location of the conveyor track (42), transferring collated first partial collections (T1) from the receptacle units (50) for further processing, and a collator (31, 32) is disposed in at least one further location of the conveyor track (41, 43), collating further collated partial collections (T3, T4) from the receptacle units (50) into collections (K1).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention refers to the area of print finishing. It relates to a print finishing system as claimed in the preamble of claim 1. The present invention also relates to a method for operating such a print finishing system.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In modern printing operations, during the further processing of printed products which originate from rotary presses, high processing speeds and capacities are demanded. In addition, there is the desire for the most efficient use and full capacity utilization of the systems, this above all also in view of the relatively high investment costs of the printing press and conveying systems. At the same time, the further processing is also to enable a high level of flexibility so that as many end formats of pre-products, main products and/or part products as possible can be processed further by means of the same system. The conventional conveying and processing systems in printing operations are still based, in this case, on serial processing concepts. In this case, printed products or part products, etc. are transported in the majority of cases by means of conveying belts, feeders or the like on a conveying line, often as a shingle stream, and are supplied to processing systems. As rotary presses according to their operating principle generally print paper webs in a serial manner, processing the printed products further in a serial manner is obvious. A serial processing concept is also often imposed as a result of the operating steps during further processing requiring a serial sequence. Accordingly, up to now conventional conveying and processing systems have remained restrained by said serial principle.
To increase the processing capacity, it has been proposed many times during further print processing to divide the printed product stream into several part streams by means of points. Such an apparatus is described, for example, in Patent Application CH 04 668/86. By using buffer devices, one or more continuous streams of printed products are divided into supply sections of at least two processing stations. Another method as claimed in Patent CH 649 063 shows how a conveying track is divided into several tracks in order "to be able to use the known and proven conveying technology". This is meant to achieve the object of maintaining the output of the suppliers, called feeders in the document, whilst retaining the mentioned conveying technology. The required processing capacity is divided into several transporting or processing paths which, for their part, once again use a purely serial conveying method. The disadvantage of dividing the conveying tracks is that along with a large space requirement for the separate lines, each of said lines requires its own processing means, etc. Consequently, expenditure on machines and organization is actually duplicated.
In the production of complex products where, if need be, parts of the products are also sewn, bonded, trimmed, coated, addressed, provided with stick-on labels or processed in another way, up to now in a corresponding manner many collating apparatuses have had to be set up and operated. This meant a large amount of expenditure on apparatuses and resulted in a correspondingly increased requirement for space.
An example of a device for processing printed products which is suitable for the production of complex, multi-part printed products is known from EP 0681979. Printed products are collected using at least one collecting drum. For carrying out certain processing steps on the printed products or for adding additional products to the printed products, said printed products are guided out of the collecting drum into a whirling arm. The printed products, in this case, retain their state in an unchanged manner when transferring from the processing drum to the whirling arm and from the whirling arm to the processing drum. They consequently do not "note" whether they are situated in the processing drum or in the whirling arm. As the whirling arm can be guided along a practically arbitrary movement path, there is the possibility for the most varied processing steps. The whirling arm offers, in particular, the possibility of guiding the printed products away from the processing drum for the execution of special processing steps or the supplying of additional products and of returning them again to said processing drum for further processing. As a further particular advantage, EP 0681979 provides that the whirling arm enables the transferring of the printed products from one processing drum to another, during the transfer the processing of the printed products or the supplying of additional products being made possible. In addition, the present invention makes possible the carrying out of special processing steps or the addition of additional products in the supply to the processing drum or in the guiding away from the processing drum, the serial processing mode always being retained, that is to say all the printed products in the product stream inside and outside the drum run through the same conveying belt and consequently the same processing steps and are processed strictly in a serial manner. This is so even in the case of embodiments where the printed products are guided from the drum to the whirling arm and back to the processing drum.

Printing finishing system and method for operating a print finishing system


A system, method, apparatus, means, and computer program code for determining a location of a device connected to a network. According to some embodiments of the present invention, a device, such as an IP enabled or compliant telephone, may receive, detect, or otherwise actively or passively determine a location identifier. The location identifier may be associated with a geographic location of the device. The device may then provide data indicative of the location identifier to another device, such as a network manager device, server, computer, etc. In some embodiments, the device may determine its geographic location after receiving a request for data indicative of its geographic location. In other embodiments, the device may provide data indicative of its geographic location each time it receives, detects or otherwise determines its geographic location. Alternatively, the device may provide data indicative of its geographic location only upon request or when it detects, receives or otherwise determines a new location identifier.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for determining the location of a device and, more particularly, embodiments of the present invention relate to methods, means, apparatus, and computer program code for determining the location of a device connected to a network.
Knowledge of the physical or geographic location of a telephone or other device can be important for network management, E911 services, and other activities. For example, a network manager may want to know where a device is located so he or she can send someone to repair, reprogram, inventory, etc. the device. Since some devices, especially IP enabled or compliant devices, can be disconnected and reconnected to a communication network, such devices are moved easily, thereby making it difficult to determine or monitor the location of the devices.
It would be advantageous to provide a method and apparatus that enabled the location of a device to be determined, particularly an IP enabled or compliant device.

Methods and apparatus for determining a location of a device