A process and an apparatus for an aerobic biological treatment of aqueous organic wastes, in which the aqueous organic waste is supplied to an aeration tank for an aerobic biological treatment in the presence of a biosludge composed essentially of aerobic microorganisms. The aerated aqueous suspension in the aeration tank is subjected to solid/liquid, separation, the so-separated liquid phase is removed as treated water, at least a portion of the separated sludge is recycled to the aeration tank, a part of the aqueous suspension in the aeration tank or of the separated sludge is treated with ozone at a pH of 5 or lower, and the ozonized suspension or sludge is recycled to the step of aerobic biological treatment. The biosludge is transformed into BOD components using a decreased amount of ozone to thereby decrease the amount of excess sludge and, in some cases, even reduce it to zero.

An aerobic biological treatment of aqueous wastes by biodegradation of the organic substances in the waste using aerobic microorganisms, such as the so-called activated sludge treatment, permits a low cost operation with a superior treatment performance and has found a wide use. It suffers, however, from a problem of the occurrence of a large amount of "excess sludge" formed in accompaniment with such an aerobic biological treatment, which is difficult to dewater up to a degree permitting easy disposal or further processing thereof. The excess sludge formed during the biological treatment may amount to about 30-60% by weight of the biolyzed BOD in the treated waste, so that the disposal thereof brings about a practical problem. Heretofore, such an excess sludge has been disposed by depositing it in a landfill. In practice, it becomes more and more difficult to reserve such a landfill site, so that it is required to develop a technique for reducing the amount of the excess sludge to be formed.
To achieve such a reduction of excess sludge formation, it has generally been practiced to employ a biological digestion of the excess sludge formed in a conventional aerobic biological treatment of aqueous wastes, either under an aerobic or an anaerobic condition. This is accomplished by installing a biosludge digestion unit separately from the aerobic biological treatment apparatus for aqueous organic waste, in which the digestion of the biosludge is effected under an aerobic or anaerobic condition.
Such a practice provides a decomposition of the biosludge only up to a proportion of about 50% thereof, with the remainder of about 50% being discharged out of the system as a so-called "digested sludge" which is impervious to biological attack and should be disposed by incineration or burial.
In Japanese Patent Application Kokai Nos. 8835/1980, 105897/1984, 112899/1984 and 222798/1990, a technique for treating an excess sludge by first subjecting it to an oxidative decomposition by ozone and, then, biologically digesting the remaining sludge under an aerobic or anaerobic condition is disclosed and it is taught that the performance of reduction of the excess sludge amount is increased or the requisite digestion time can be decreased by the ozone treatment.
In these conventional techniques, however, an ozone treatment is employed for transforming the biosludge into BOD, so that a problem still remains in that a large amount of ozone is required for sufficient transformation of the biosludge into BOD.
Japanese Patent Application Kokai No. 206088/1994 discloses a technique for an aerobic biological treatment of aqueous organic wastes in which the biosludge is subjected to an aerobic biodegradation after it has been pretreated by an oxidative decomposition with ozone, whereby the reduction in the excess sludge amount is increased and, in some cases, even a complete elimination of the occurrence of excess sludge can be achieved. However, this Kokai does not disclose an ozone treatment carried out at an acidic pH condition of 5 or below.

Process for biological treatment of aqueous organic wastes


A heater that may include an outer housing and an inner tube is provided. The inner tube is in a coaxial relation to and within the outer housing. An inward facing surface of the inner tube defines a volume sufficient to receive a reaction capsule, and the outward facing surface is radially spaced from an inward facing surface of the outer housing sufficient to define a gap. A filler material is disposed within the gap. The filler material responds to pressure such that the filler volume is reduced by less than 5 volume percent at greater than 500 MPa pressure and at greater than 500° C. temperature. One or more heating elements are disposed in the gap. The heating elements are in thermal communication with the inner tube.

1. Technical Field
The invention includes embodiments that relate to a heater, an apparatus that includes the heater, and associated methods.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A high pressure apparatus may include a heater that heats a work piece under pressure. The heater may include one or more heating elements. Heating elements suitable for use with a gas pressure medium may not be suited for use with a solid pressure medium that is pressed radially outward rather than uniformly pressurized from all directions (e.g., submerged in a high pressure environment). That is, the heater may change volume under operating conditions, but is not required to transfer pressure to or from the work piece. Known heaters for use in high pressure cells with a solid pressure medium may be single-use after being deformed with volume/shape changes in a high pressure high temperature environment, and some prior art single-use units have batch variability causing process variability from run to run.
It is desirable to have a heater, a heating element for use in the heater, and an apparatus that includes a heater that can be used in a high pressure high temperature apparatus with little change in volume, allowing for repeat usage. It is also desirable to have a method of making and/or using a heater, a heating element for use in the heater, and/or a high-pressure high temperature apparatus including a heater that can be used more than once.

Heater, apparatus, and associated method


The invention provides a biphasic multicomponent pharmaceutical composition consisting of an oil phase and a water phase, comprising one or more lipophilic or oil carrier, one or more hydrophilic or aqueous carrier, one or more ionic or nonionic type surfactant, one or more cosurfactant, one or more active principle for pharmaceutical use, and a compound able to modify the partition of the active principle between said phases selected from the group consisting of N- methyl pyrrolidone (NMP), isopropyl alcohol, propylene glycol, ethoxy-di-glycol, xcex2-cyclodextrin, hydroxypropyl xcex2-cyclodextrin and dimethyl xcex2-cyclodextrin. The invention also provides a method for making the composition.

This application is a 371 of PCT/98/02846 filed May. 13, 1998.
The possibility to improve the permeation of drugs through the biolocical barrieres such as mucosa or skin, to make the drugs coming into the blood circulation, has been always studied by the pharmaceutical researchers.
Specifically the administration of drugs for systemic absorption through the skin presents some basic advantages, e.g. over the oral route. Among these, the scarce variability of the systemic absorption basically determined by the skin permeation of the drug, which avoids some critical factors of the oral absorption, such as gastric acidity, intestinal motility, presence and quality of food, metabolic demolition of the drug by the liver.
Moreover the transdermic administration of drugs is particularly well suited for long term continous treatments and to avoid side effects related to some drugs. To achieve these goals many different inventions have been prosed based on different technological and scientific approaches.
For example biphasic multicomponent systems such as microemulsions have been proposed; microemulsions can be defined as xe2x80x9coptically transparent and thermodynamically stable mixtures, containing two non-mixable components, such as water and oilxe2x80x9d ( Schulman, J. H., Stoeckenius W., Prince L. M., Journal of Physical Chemistry, 63, 1677, 1959 ). To obtain such microemulsions four components must be used: 1) dispersed or internal phase; 2) dispersing or external phase; 3) surfactant and 4) cosurfactant, mixed together in molar ratios defined through psudo-ternary plots (Schwuger M., Stickdorn K., Chemical Rewies, 95, 849-864, 1995.
In some specific cases the components can be less than three, more often above four. There can be xe2x80x9coil in waterxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cwater in oilxe2x80x9d microemulsions; Usually oil means lipophilic liquids which cannot be mixed with water, such as organic solvents, oils, fatty acids, whereas water means polar and hydrophilic liquids which can be mixed with water.
B. W. Muller describes, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,239 , a multicomponent system, liquid and transparent, for pharmaceutical use, aimed for percutaneous, peoral and transmucosal absorption. In such a system the drug is solubilized either in the oil or water phase, in presence of physiologically acceptable surfactants and cosurfactants, and wherein in certain condition the cosurfactant can assume the function of the oil, or the last can act as surfactant.
The above mentioned patent claims for improvement of percutaneous absorption, compared to other multicomponent systems.
Swiss Pat. Appl. 81-CH0002327 Sandoz based on invention so called microemulsion, claims the obtention of a prolonged percutaneous administration (3 days ) thanks to a reservoir effect.
Eur. Pat. Application 135171 A (Hoffmann-Laroche) claims similarly to U.S. Pat. No. 4,719,239 a pharmaceutical carrier called xe2x80x9cpseudo-monophasexe2x80x9d, consisting of a surfactant (HPL 12-15) soluble in both oil and water phases, with percentages in the range of 5-45%. Such carrier, able to originate percutaneous administration of interferon, can be defined as an oil-water microemulsion and shows an improved diffusion through the skin.
The topical administration for systemic use (via transdermal) of ionic drugs can benefit from biphasic compositions of different kinds, among which the above described microemulsions.
Swiss Patent Appl. CH-86-2597/86 8 (Ciba -Geigy), describes in general, some compositions (such us cream, ointment and gel) which however do not include microemulsions, in particular refers to the anionic drug Diclofenac or its salts (sodic, potassium salt, diethylammonium salt). This patent claims for pharmaceutical compositions comprising Diclofenac or its salt for pharmaceutical use, a percutaneous asorption promoter, of defined chemical formula (ammide tri-substituted), liquid paraffin at body temperature and suitable pharmaceutical excipient.
An important limit to these biphasical compositions called xe2x80x9cmicroemulsionsxe2x80x9d is represented by the necessity of formulating the composition according to definite percentages rate of component substances, as shown from diagrams of pseudo-ternary phase. This relative composition, that allows the forming of the liquid system, anisotropic and transparent, defined as xe2x80x9cmicroemulsionxe2x80x9d, is essentially not modifiable because the addition or the substraction of one of the four components (I-IV) out of the component concentration limits will alterate the system, with separation of phases and destruction of the system itself, while substitution of one of the components will originate a system with different characteristics. As consequence, absorption or transdermal permeation of an active principle, released from microemulsion, depends on the composition of the system itself: the dissolved drug will partition itself into the two phases, oil (lipophilic) and water (hydrophilic), in relation to its coefficient of oil/water partitioning. Permeation rate and absorption of drug is therefore determined by the composition and the possibility of modifying such a rate without changing completely the composition of the microemulsion results virtually not realizable.
The present invention refers to a drug multicomponent biphasical composition that enables to solve the problems of prior art. In particular the present invention refers to a drug composition consisting of an oil phase and a water phase, comprising typically four essential components, defined as (I) dispersed or internal phase, (II) dispersing or external phase, (III) surfactant and (IV) cosurfactant, mixed together in molar ratios determined by the pseudo-ternary phase diagrams and moreover containing a drug (V) and characterized in that it furtherly comprises one compound (VI) able to modify the partitioning coefficient of the drug between oil and water phase, consequently influencing the rate of permeation through the skin. Furthermore the compound (VI) can, in some unexpected cases, form specific complexes with the drug modifying its concentration in the phases of the biphasic system and directly influencing transdermal permeation of the drug itself.

Biphasic multicomponent pharmaceutical dosage forms containing substances able to modify the partitioning of drugs


A valve device (1) for fluid flow control includes two independent valves comprising two movable valve bodies (4, 5) within two valve spaces (V1, V2), wherein each valve body is controllable against the force of a return spring (7, 8) acting thereon. The invention is distinguished in. that the valve spaces (V1, V2) are located axially with respect to each other in one common housing (2, 3), PA1 that the housing between the two valve spaces is provided with an essentially fixed separating means (6) against which the two return springs are resting, PA1 that the housing comprises a common discharge channel (11) which communicates with the two valve spaces, and PA1 that the device comprises a double one-way valve function (9, 10) in the area of the discharge channel in order to prevent unintentional flow actuation resulting from overflow between the valve spaces.

This invention concerns a fluid flow control valve device.
Such valve devices are previously known, wherein the two separate valves, for controlling for example cooperating consumers in a machine, are placed in two separate valve spaces in separate valve housings. The solution according to the prior art is thereby expensive and complicated since all functions have to be doubled.


Methods and systems for reducing network load on a Teredo server.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to network communication technologies and, more specifically, to mechanisms that enable IPv4 clients to communicate over an IPv6 network.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Computer networks allow computers and potentially any associated users to communicate electronically throughout the globe over a worldwide amalgamation of networks often referred to as the Internet. A common network protocol used to communicate over the Internet is called the Internet Protocol or "IP" for short. There are a number of different versions of IP including the common IP version 4 (herein also referred to as "IPv4") and the more recently-developed IP version 6 (herein also referred to as "IPv6"). Although IP is used on the Internet, it can be used in a variety of network contexts. IP is also often employed within local networks to connect computers.
In order for one computing system to communicate with another computing system over a particular network, it is important that each computing system be uniquely identified on that network. IPv4 provides a 32 bit addressing mechanism, which should allow for 232 or approximately 4 billion different addresses. Practical considerations limit the number of IPv4 addresses to approximately 2 or 3 billion. While this may seem like an unlimited supply of addresses, the proliferation of the Internet and network devices throughout the globe have pushed or exceeded these address limits.
As the pool of available IPv4 addresses has shrunk, various systems have developed to allow multiple computers or devices to share a single external (i.e., directly accessible from the Internet) IP address. One such system is called "Network Address Translation." A Network Address Translation device (also known as a "Network Address Translator" or a "NAT") separates out a number of computing systems in a private network from the rest of the Internet. All computing systems on the Internet that are not in such a private network are required to have a unique IP address that is unique as compared to all other Internet-connected computing systems that are also not behind a NAT. The computing systems in each private network generally have an address that is unique to that private network, but not necessarily to the global Internet. The NAT then translates that private address into a globally unique IP address on the fly as each packet exits the private network through the NAT and into the global Internet. NATs typically alter packets using TCP and UDP port mapping to enable two-way traffic between external hosts and internal clients.
Accordingly, the NAT uses a limited number (potentially just one) globally unique address that it exposes to the Internet, while allowing the network devices that are behind the NAT to have a larger number of private network addresses that need not be globally unique throughout the Internet. The use of NATs therefore allows for a short term solution to the problem of there being a relatively limited number of IPv4 addresses available. Accordingly, IPv4 computing systems and NATs often work together.
Certain address blocks are reserved under IPv4 for NAT-internal use only. For example, the address blocks 10.0.0.0/8, 192.168.0.0/16, 172.16.0.0/12 are all defined in RFC 1918 (entitled "Address Allocation for Private Internets") as reserved for "Private Internets." Generally, a NAT device routes packets to and from a reserved "private" IP address to a world-accessible "public" IP address.
IPv6, on the other hand, has a 128-bit addressing mechanism, which is sufficient to provide unique addresses for well into the anticipated future. Accordingly, the problem associated with a limited number of unique addresses under IPv4 may be addressed by reconfiguring the Internet to operate exclusively under IPv6 instead. Such a reconfiguration will likely occur over an extended period of time because there is significant infrastructural investment in the current Internet that is based on the IPv4 protocol. Furthermore, there is no one governing entity that controls the entire Internet. Accordingly, it is commonly accepted that the Internet needs to concurrently work with both IPv6 and IPv4, at least for the near future. In order to facilitate robust communication over the Internet, mechanisms have been developed that allow for IPv4 computing systems to communicate with IPv6 computing systems.
One mechanism often referred to as the "6to4" mechanism uses IPv6 packets as payload of IPv4 packets. When transitioning from an IPv4 network to an IPv6 network, the IPv6 packet is extracted and transmitted. When transitioning from an IPv6 network to an IPv4 network, the IPv6 packet is included as the payload of an IPv4 packet, and then the IPv4 packet is transmitted. Several problems exist with this 6to4 mechanism. Specifically, it may not work well when the IPv4 computing system that is to communicate is behind a NAT. Many NATs are not programmed to allow the transmission of arbitrary payload types. Accordingly, NATs may not permit communication of a payload in the form of an IPv6 packet. Even when the NAT permits such communication, the local address within the private network cannot be used in a 6to4 scheme. The 6to4 mechanism will work with a NAT if the NAT and 6to4 router are in the same physical box. However, there are many cases in which the NAT may not be easily upgradeable to include a 6to4 routing function.
"Teredo" is another protocol for transporting packets between nodes that support only IPv4 and nodes that support IPv6. Teredo is described in more detail in RFC 4380 (entitled "Teredo: Tunneling IPv6 over UDP through Network Address Translations (NATs)"). Teredo encapsulates IPv6 packets within IPv4 UDP datagrams, which most NATs can forward properly. Thus, IPv6-aware hosts behind NATs can be used as Teredo tunnel endpoints even when they don't have a dedicated public IPv4 address.
The Teredo implementation usually involves a client, a relay, and a server, although a relay is not always necessary. The Teredo client is a device on an IPv6 network. The client is assigned a unique IPv6 address that starts with a specific reserved prefix (2001:0000::/32).
A Teredo relay connects clients on an IPv6 network with an IPv4 network. The relay advertises a route to the Teredo IPv6 prefix to other IPv6 hosts in order to receive traffic from those hosts addressed to any Teredo client. The relay then forwards received packets a UDP datagram within an IPv4 packet. The relay also receives packets from Teredo clients addressed to native IPv6 hosts over UDP/IPv4 and forwards those packets into the native IPv6 network.
A Teredo server is used by a Teredo client both to determine whether the client is behind a NAT (and if so, to determine the type of NAT), and also to "punch holes" in the NAT so that the NAT will allow incoming traffic and forward it to the correct client. "Hole punching" involves initiating a connection from a host behind a NAT to a host external to the NAT so that the NAT will subsequently forward packets received from that external host back to the internal host. Some of the various types of NATs are described below.
A NAT needs to transmit packets both from an internal client to the external destination and in the opposite direction to facilitate communication. Accordingly, it needs some way to identify and match packets received from the outside with specific internal hosts. This is generally accomplished using port mapping. Port mapping can either be manually configured on the NAT, or can occur automatically. There are several different types of NATs that are commonly in use that can be categorized in terms of the system they use for port mapping. These definitions are set out in RFC 3489 (entitled "STUN—Simple Traversal of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) Through Network Address Translators (NATs)").
In the case of a "full cone" NAT, also known as "one-to-one" NAT, all requests that originate from the same internal IP address and port are mapped to the same external IP address and port. An external host can send a packet to the internal host by sending a packet to the mapped external address. For example, if the internal client has a local IP address of 192.168.1.5, and it attempts to connect to a web server on the Internet operating on port 80, the full cone NAT could modify the packet so the source IP address is the external IP address of the NAT device, for example, 220.127.116.11, and the source port could be mapped, usually to some unprivileged port, for example, 2000.
A "restricted cone" NAT is similar to a "full cone" NAT inasmuch as all internal requests from the same host to the same port number are mapped to the same external IP address and source port. Restricted cone NATs have the additional limitation that only external systems that have previously been sent packets are permitted to connect to the internal system. Thus, before an external system can connect to a client within the NAT, the client must have first initiated communication with that external system.
A "port restricted cone" NAT is similar to a "restricted cone" NAT with the additional limitation that external systems can only connect to clients within the NAT on the same port that the internal client used to connect to the external system.
Finally, in a "symmetric" NAT, all requests from the same internal IP address and port to a specific external destination IP address and port are mapped to a unique external source IP address and port. If the same internal client sends a packet with the same source address and port to a different destination, a different port mapping is used. Only an external host that receives a packet can send a packet back to the internal host.
For the purposes of this application, a "restricted" NAT is any NAT other than a full cone NAT.
Some NATs support a behavior called "hairpinning." Hairpinning is a mechanism that allows two endpoints on the internal side of a NAT to communicate even if they only use each other's external IP addresses and port numbers.
Some NATs support a protocol called "UPnP" or "Universal Plug and Play." UPnP supports zero-configuration networking and automatic discovery, whereby a device can dynamically join a network, obtain an IP address, announce its name, convey its capabilities upon request, and learn about the presence and capabilities of other devices. In particular, clients connected to a UPnP-enabled NAT can use UPnP to discover, add, edit, or delete port mappings.
For NATs that will not allow an inbound connection through to an internal client before that internal client has first initiated an outbound connection, the technique of "hole punching" may be used by the internal client as an indirect way of instructing the NAT to forward inbound packets. Hole punching often involves a server other than the two clients that are attempting to communicate. For example, a Teredo client may establish a connection with a known Teredo server. The client may continuously send "bubble" packets to the server so that the NAT will forward packets from the server back to the client. If bubble packets are not sent, the port mappings on the client NAT may timeout, thereby not permitting further communications from the Teredo Server. If a second Teredo client, outside the NAT, needs to connect to the first Teredo client inside the NAT but packets from the second client cannot penetrate the NAT to reach the first client because of the NAT port-mapping behavior (as described above), the second client may be able to contact the Teredo server which in turn will send a message to the first client concerning the connection attempt. The first client can then send a bubble message to the second client. Depending on how the NAT is configured, it might then allow packets from the second client to be forwarded back to the first client.
IPv6 also provides mechanisms for a nodes on a network to discover each other's presence, to determine each other's link-layer addresses, and find routers and maintain reachability information about the paths to active neighbors. Many of these mechanisms are described in RFC 2461 (entitled "Neighbor Discovery for IP Version 6 (IPv6)"). In particular, a "Neighbor Solicitation" or "NS" message is sent by an IPv6 node to determine the link-layer address of a neighbor, or to verify that a neighbor is still reachable via a cached link-layer address. A "Neighbor Advertisement" or "NA" message is sent in response to a Neighbor Solicitation message. A node may also send unsolicited Neighbor Advertisement messages to announce a link-layer address change.

Reducing network traffic to teredo server


A process for producing silicon which comprises: bringing molten silicon containing an impurity into contact with molten salt in a vessel to react the impurity contained in the molten silicon with the molten salt; removing the impurity from the system.

High-purity metallic silicon having a resistivity of 0.5-1.5 Ω·cm or higher and a purity of 99.9999% (6 N) or higher is generally used for polysilicon solar cells. The most desirable industrial process for producing this high-purity metallic silicon is a process in which raw-material metallic silicon that contains impurities in a large amount and has a low unit price is refined to remove impurities therefrom and thereby produce the high-purity metallic silicon.
Among the impurities contained in raw-material metallic silicon, iron, aluminum, and calcium can be removed by subjecting the molten silicon to solidification/segregation to thereby cause these impurity metals to remain in the liquid phase of the molten silicon. Calcium and the like can be removed by subjecting the molten silicon to a vaporization treatment in a vacuum of about 1.3×10−2 to 10−4 Pa (10−4 to 10−6 Torr), although this method requires much time.
However, boron and phosphorus, among the impurities, are exceedingly difficult to remove. Removal of boron is especially difficult. For example, an oxidation treatment is being conducted in which the boron is gasified and removed as a compound thereof with oxygen or hydrogen, for example, by adding oxygen, carbon dioxide, or water vapor to argon as an inert gas and bubbling this mixed gas into the molten silicon (patent document 1 and patent document 2).
The method described above has drawbacks that the operation for oxidizing the boron (B) contained in raw-material metallic silicon using, for example, water vapor and removing the boron as BO gas requires much time, and that silicon oxidation simultaneously occurs, resulting in a large loss. Especially when water vapor is blown into the molten silicon, a side reaction occurs to evolve hydrogen in a large amount. There has hence been a problem concerning safety.
There also is a method in which silicon prepared by melting raw-material metallic silicon is subjected to a vaporization treatment in a vacuum of about 1.3×10−2 to 10−4 Pa (10−4 to 10−6 Torr) in order to remove phosphorus. However, this method has had a problem that the treatment requires much time and is costly because the treatment is a high-vacuum process. Namely, there has been a problem that the boron and phosphorus to be removed must be removed by respective separate processes which are costly.
Meanwhile, as a method for refining silicon using an alkali halide, a technique has been proposed in which slag is formed from sludge of raw-material metallic silicon (the slag includes, as a main component, silicon dioxide which was present in the raw-material metallic silicon) and the slag is used for compositional regulation during impurity removal to recover the silicon (patent document 3). However, silicon having an entirely satisfactory purity has not been obtained.
Furthermore, patent document 4 describes a step in which 20 g of a raw-material metallic silicon powder is pulverized and mixed, in a weight ratio of 1:1, with NaF having the same particle diameter as the silicon powder, a step in which the powder mixture is heated at 1,300° C. and the solid silicon is brought into contact with the molten NaF, a step in which a second sample is heated at 1,450° C. for 10 minutes to melt the NaF and the raw-material metallic silicon, a step in which these samples (NaF and silicon) are cooled to room temperature, and a step in which the silicon is separated from the NaF contained in each sample by extraction with an aqueous medium and by succeeding decantation and filtration.
However, the process described in patent document 4 is a mere technique for silicon refining in which silicon is separated from solid matter containing NaF and raw-material metallic silicon by means of filtration, etc. to thereby refine the silicon. The process has had problems that the refining effect is insufficient and that the operation for separating silicon is not easy.

Process for producing silicon, silicon, and panel for solar cells


There is provided code amount control in which information data are input in predetermined units and a code amount is estimated in each of a plurality of stages, including a final stage. A calculation result is obtained based on a target code amount and the estimated code amount, for each stage. A short code amount and an excess code amount are updated based on the calculation result, and quantization parameters used upon encoding are controlled in accordance with the short code amount and the excess code amount obtained at the final estimation stage. Also provided is code amount control for controlling a code amount in units of second blocks, each consisting of a plurality of first blocks, each consisting of a plurality of sample value data, which discriminates quantization parameters which result in a code amount less than a predetermined amount when a second block of data is encoded using the quantization parameters. The discriminated quantization parameters are adjusted on a unit basis of the first block.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an encoding apparatus using variable length encoding and, more particularly, to code amount control.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, commercial VTRs for encoding an image signal with high efficiency, and recording/reproducing the encoded image signal on/from a recording medium such as a magnetic tape have been proposed.
As a technique for compressing and encoding an image signal with high efficiency, an encoding apparatus using orthogonal conversion is known. In this apparatus, after an image is divided into blocks (to be referred to as discrete cosine transform (DCT) blocks hereinafter) each consisting of a predetermined number of pixels, the DCT blocks are subjected to orthogonal conversion such as DCT conversion, and converted DCT coefficients are quantized to perform, e.g., entropy encoding.
As a method of high-efficiency encoding, a variable length encoding method with a high compression ratio tends to be used.
When data is recorded on a recording medium using variable length codes, it is desirable that a predetermined number of DCT blocks have a constant information amount in consideration of a special reproduction mode, error propagation, and the like.
A conventional encoding apparatus will be described below.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a conventional encoding apparatus. Note that two-dimensional DCT conversion is performed in units of small-size blocks each consisting of 8 pixels (horizontal).times.8 pixels (vertical) of an image signal, and the information amount is controlled to be constant in units of large-size blocks each consisting of 30 DCT blocks.
Referring to FIG. 1, a sample value of an image signal is input from an input terminal 1, and a large-size block forming circuit 2 selects 30 DCT blocks as a large-size block from 1-frame data according to an arbitrary rule.
This image signal is then supplied to a small-size block forming circuit 3, and is divided into small-size blocks each consisting of 8.times.8 pixels.
A sample value of the image signal divided into the small-size blocks is input to an orthogonal conversion circuit 4, and the small-size blocks are DCT-converted, thus outputting 64 conversion coefficients in units of small-size blocks.
The conversion coefficients are stored in a buffer circuit 5 in units of large-size blocks, and are also supplied to a code amount calculation circuit 7. The code amount calculation circuit 7 calculates the code amount of each large-size block upon encoding, and outputs the calculation result to a quantizer selection circuit 8.
The quantizer selection circuit 8 selects a quantizer (or a quantization table) which can achieve a predetermined code amount, i.e., a code amount equal to or smaller than a target code amount, in accordance with the input result.
A quantizer 6 quantizes the conversion coefficients delayed by the buffer circuit 5 using the quantizer selected by the quantizer selection circuit 8. The quantized conversion coefficients are subjected variable length encoding such as Huffman encoding by a variable length encoding circuit 9, and the encoded data are output from an output terminal 10.
The conventional problems will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B.
FIGS. 2A and 2B show the relationship among a code amount achieved by a finally selected quantizer Q.sub.n, a code amount achieved by a quantizer Q.sub.n-1 smaller by one than the quantizer Q.sub.n, and a target code amount. In FIGS. 2A and 2B, arrows a and b respectively represent the differences between the target code amount and the code amounts achieved by the quantizers Q.sub.n and Q.sub.n-1. More specifically, when data is quantized by the quantizer Q.sub.n, the code amount is smaller by a than the target code amount. When data is quantized by the quantizer Q.sub.n-1, the code amount exceeds the target code amount by b.
In the case of FIG. 2A, the value a is small, and encoding efficiency is high. However, in the case of FIG. 2B, the code amount is smaller by a considerably large value a than the target code amount, and encoding efficiency is low. In this case, the quantizer Q.sub.n-1 is to be selected if possible. However, since the code amount quantized by the quantizer Q.sub.n-1 slightly exceeds the target code amount by b, the quantizer Q.sub.n must be selected. In this manner, in the conventional apparatus, encoding with high efficiency cannot always be performed.
Conventional code amount control does not consider the visual characteristics of man. For example, the visual characteristics of man have steep discrimination characteristics for a relatively bright fine image, but have low identification ability for a dark fine image. Therefore, in the conventional control wherein the same quantization processing is performed for high-frequency components of low-luminance image data and those of middle- or high-luminance image data, high-frequency noise appears in a portion having a low luminance and a high degree of fineness, resulting in a visual obstacle.
Also, since the visual characteristics of man are lowered with respect to a moving image, image quality can be averaged by assigning a larger information amount to blocks with a small movement than blocks with a large movement. However, since the conventional method does not consider any movement, the above-mentioned control cannot be performed.

Controlling quantization parameters based on code amount


The present invention relates to compounds having the formula (I) and their use in clinical and industrial diagnosis.

The present invention relates to the field of diagnosis. In particular, it relates to a method for producing polybiotinylated dendrimer compounds useful for signal amplification, in particular during the detection of an analyte in a diagnostic test.
Probes which allow the detection of analytes such as proteins and nucleic acids are widely used and are tools of choice for in vitro and in vivo diagnosis. However, it may be difficult to detect these analytes because they are not always present in sufficiently large quantities. A detection amplification system is therefore necessary.
Several techniques have been developed for detecting analytes in insufficient quantities. These techniques involve either increasing the quantity of analyte, for example with PCR or NASBA techniques, or amplifying the detection, for example by using structures having multiple markers.
Thus, patent application EP0774119A describes conjugates having multiple markers comprising a polymer support having a maximum of 100 monomer units, which contains 1 to 10 molecules of haptene and 1 to 10 marker groups, and also the preparation of these conjugates by solid-phase synthesis (a) by introducing, at predetermined positions of the support, monomer derivatives which are coupled covalently to haptene molecules and/or marker groups and/or (b) by coupling haptene molecules and/or marker groups to reactive groups of the support, after the synthesis.
Dendrimers are clearly defined macromolecules which have multiple branches and which terminate in multiple peripheral functional groups. One of the advantages of dendrimers, due to the fact that they have multiple functional groups, is that they can be used as stable coupling agents, as described in patent application WO03/72546 filed by the Applicant. Another advantage also resides in the fact that they are structures with multiple markers because their peripheral functional groups can be used to bind multiple markers such as biotin, fluorophores or a combination thereof. Thus, patent application WO01/02861 describes dendrimers bound on the one hand to 1 to 1200 probes and on the other hand to 1 to 1200 markers. These dendrimers are used for signal amplification.
Other polybiotinylated dendrimers have also been described in patent application WO00/72802.
However, conventional methods for preparing dendrimers have the drawbacks that the dendrimers are synthesised in liquid phase, which is more complex and more lengthy than in solid phase. Furthermore, some methods produce non-neutral and non-polarised dendrimers.

Method for preparing polybiotinylated compounds


A display apparatus is provided which can perform display of high visibility with the load on a power supply for supplying power to display elements. A display screen is provided with a plurality of pixels arranged in an array. Each pixel includes a display element and a driving circuit for supplying the display element with a current corresponding to a video signal. A display state detection circuit detects the display state of the display screen twice or more within a one-frame period. A dimming circuit varies a current supply time to supply a current from the driving circuit to the display element, in accordance with an output from the display state detection circuit, and performs dimming control twice or more within a one-frame period.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus, and more particularly to a display apparatus in which the optical characteristic of a display element is controlled by a current passing therethrough, and a control method for the apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In organic electroluminescence (EL) display apparatuses, the brightness of an organic EL element is controlled by a current passing therethrough. Accordingly, the larger the driving current, the higher the brightness of the organic EL element. Further, the sum of the driving currents passing through all pixels is maximum when maximum gradation display is performed over the entire screen.
If the maximum value of the sum of the driving currents of all pixels is high, the power consumption is high, and an expensive large power supply circuit is required. Further, in this case, the temperature of the display apparatus is increased and the life is reduced. Accordingly, there is a need for reducing the maximum value of the sum of the driving currents passing through all pixels.

Display apparatus and its control method

Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd.


A voice control device includes a hearing estimate section configured to estimate hearing of a user based on a sending/received sound ratio representing a ratio of the volume of a sending sound to the volume of a received sound; a compensation-quantity calculating section configured to calculate a compensation quantity for a received signal of the received sound responsive to the estimated hearing; and a compensation section configured to compensate the received signal based on the calculated compensation quantity.

Conventionally, there are portable terminal devices that execute control to make received voices easy to hear. For example, there is a technology with which multiple single-tone frequency signals are reproduced for a user to calculate the minimum hearing level based on the user's hearing result for processing a voice (Patent document 1).
Also, there is a technology in which a Lombard effect is utilized so that if a sending sound volume is loud, it is determined that it is noisy in the surroundings to increase the received sound volume, if a sending sound volume is soft, the received sound volume is decreased automatically (Patent document 2).
Also, there is a technology in which an equalizer is provided for emphasizing a voice signal in a specific range, and characteristics of the equalizer are adjusted based on a volume operation by a user (Patent document 3).

Voice control device and voice control method


The present invention relates to a signal modulation loop for the multi-mode mobile communication. The adaptive up-conversion modulation loop is applied in the multi-mode mobile communication, and is used for signal integration for the communication system comprising the second generation communication system, the global system for mobile communication (GSM), and the third generation communication system, the wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA), so as to achieve the object of multi-mode communication by using a single modulation loop.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a signal modulation loop for the multi-mode mobile communication. The adaptive up-conversion modulation loop is used for performing the signal modulation so as to accomplish the signal modulation for the multi-mode mobile communication.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As the mobile phone gets more popular, the communication between the people gets more convenient. Not only the distance of the communication is shortened, but also the speed and efficiency for the proceeding of work are increased. Because of this, the capital and human resource are continuously invested in the development and application of the mobile communication so as to obtain the better quality and service of the communication.
In order to make the transmission speed of the mobile communication faster and the service quality better, a great amount of capital and research effort is invested, and the communication transmission protocol is developed from the first generation, the American mobile phone system (AMPS), to the popularly used second generation, the global system for mobile communication (GSM). Even the mobile phone applying the third generation protocol, the code division multiple access (CDMA), is developed and appeared in the market. All of these protocols are provided for the user to make the communication faster and have more various services. However, during the transition from one generation to another, the signal transmission and modulation between the different communication protocols become the crucial points of the development and research. Therefore, the multi-mode or multi-band signal transceiver is the main subject to be developed and researched for the wireless communication.
The conventional multi-mode adaptive up-conversion modulation loop is composed of a direct digital synthesizer, (DDS), a phase locked loop (PLL), a phase demodulator, a phase comparator and a control amplifier. Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a perspective diagram of a prior art modulation loop. The input modulation signal Mod is inputted into the phase comparator 10, and is compared with the modulation signal outputted by the phase demodulator 11 so as to obtain a difference. This difference is used for controlling the direct feed-in path of an assistant control amplifier 12. After the modulation signal Mod is inputted in the direct digital synthesizer (DDS) 13, the direct digital synthesizer 13 will process it so as to obtain a stable and reliable modulation signal to be inputted into the mixer 14. Furthermore, the mixer 14 will receive the feedback signal transmitted by the frequency divider 1, and then process it so as to directly feed the input modulation signal in the loop filter 15 in the PLL. Thereafter, a adder 16 will receive the signals outputted by the loop filter 15 and the control amplifier 12 so as to obtain a transmission signal having a higher speed and applying broad band. Then, the transmission signal is sent to a voltage controlled oscillator 17, and the voltage controlled oscillator 17 will output an emission signal to a power amplifier 3.
In the prior art, although the different modes of signals can be processed, the design has to be rearranged because of the usage of the direct digital synthesizer (DDS). The modulation loop further comprises the integrated circuits for the base band and radio frequency, and therefore, there are drawbacks for this application. Besides, because of the design method, there are drawbacks of vastly consuming electricity and occupying great area during usage. Thus, for the optimum transmission and design of the multi-mode communication system, the prior art cannot meet the needs of high-speed transmission and various functions for the service.

Up-conversion modulation loop for multi-mode mobile communication

Industrial Technology Research Institute


The present invention relates to a method and device for transmitting and receiving data in a wireless communication system. Specifically, the method comprises: a step in which a relay node receives a relay physical downlink control channel (R-PDCCH) including indication information relating to at least one piece of information about a second antenna port and a second scramble ID from a base station by using information about a first antenna port and a first scramble ID; and a step in which the relay node receives a downlink data channel from the base station, wherein the downlink data channel comprises a first downlink data channel region assigned to a portion of a resource block pair to which the relay physical downlink control channel is assigned, and a second downlink data channel region assigned to the other portion of the resource block pair to which the relay physical downlink control channel is assigned, wherein the first downlink data channel region is received using the first antenna and the first scramble ID, and the second downlink data channel region is received using the indication information.

FIG. 1 indicates an example of a wireless communication system including a relay node.
Referring to FIG. 1, a wireless communication system includes a base station, a relay node, and a user equipment.
The relay node (RN) indicates a node wirelessly relaying a signal transmitted from a source node to a destination node in a manner of receiving in the middle. The relay node can be considered in order for the user equipment to provide data throughput coverage improvement, group mobility, temporary network arrangement, throughput improvement in a cell boundary region and/or coverage within a new region.
The user equipment may be able to directly perform a communication with the base station or perform a communication with the base station in a manner of hopping twice via the relay node. For clarity, the user equipment directly performing the communication with the base station is called a macro-UE (M-UE) and the user equipment performing the communication with the relay node is called a relay-UE (R-UE) in the following description.
The relay node transmits the data received from the base station to the user equipment situated within a relay node region and may be then able to transmit a data received from the user equipment situated within the relay node region to the base station. For clarity, a radio link between the base station and the relay node is called a backhaul link in the following description. A link from the base station to the relay node is called a backhaul downlink and a link from the relay node to the base station is called a backhaul uplink. In particular, a radio link between the relay node and the user equipment is called an access link. A link from the relay node to the user equipment is called an access downlink and a link from the user equipment to the relay node is called an access uplink.

Method and device for transmitting and receiving data in wireless communication system


A unique, simple, and effective leg rest system of great versatility for desks, wherein a hinged or retractable panel is disposed within the leg opening of any desk, and is shifted from an inactive out-of-the-way position to an active position which may be parallel to the floor or at an angle thereto as desired, thereby to permit the desk user to elevate and rest his or her legs, feet, and thighs in comfort as well as to achieve desired orthopedic or therapeutic purposes. Various forms of the invention are disclosed.

In the course of an extended time while seated at a work desk as is common in office operations for executives, managers, clerical staff and others, as well as at home engaged in work, computer, or other activities, the human body and especially the legs, trunk, and back, can become weary, cramped, or even swollen and generally uncomfortable in the usual sitting position with feet on the floor despite efforts in the course of a day to shift position slightly or occasionally to walk away from one's desk.
Indeed, the usual sitting posture at a desk with knees bent and feet generally flat on the floor is not a natural posture or neutral to adverse effect on the body. With time, blood tends to pool in the legs and feet, causing swelling, and even the serious possibility of blood clots. Elevation of the lower limb members can alleviate this condition.
Further, while not as common in the United States, it is customary in many European and South American populations to deliberately take a rest period between noon and two P.M., commonly known as a siesta or sieste. When in an office environment seated at a conventional desk, such a rest is not feasible, and one must leave the desk and go elsewhere.
In passing, it should be observed that a relative lack of sleep is pervasive in our society, and that men and women of all ages frequently complain that "they are always tired". The ability, when work permits, of achieving even a short rest or nap at one's desk serves to alleviate this problem.
Heretofore, notwithstanding the plethora of desk constructions available on the market over many years, whether single pedestal, double pedestal, table-like or with computer credenza arrangements or the like, there has been no ready means to comfortably rest or stretch the legs, or to relatively elevate the same to rest the legs, nap, or to reduce possible swelling while remaining at the desk for protracted periods without leaving.
It is known to provide a mere footrest, per se, adjacent the bottom of a front panel or modesty panel of a desk, but such only elevates the feet a few inches from the floor if at all, and does not materially alter the depending position of the lower limbs and feet. Such rests do not contemplate increased body and leg comfort or indeed, if needed, napping while at the desk.

Therapeutic and orthopedic leg rest system for desks


A motor and a recording and/or reproducing apparatus using the motor. The motor includes a rotational member, a fixed member, a stopper member and a set of balls. The rotational member is formed by bending a first plate, and includes a first V-shaped bearing guide groove and central rotational shaft having a hole formed therein. The fixed member is formed with a second V-shaped bearing guide groove and bent portions which are used to attach the fixed member to a chassis. The balls are mounted in the first and second V-shaped bearing guide grooves and allow the rotational member to rotate relative to the fixed member. The stopper member is inserted through a central opening in the fixed member and is received in the hole formed in the rotational shaft, thereby connecting the rotational member to the fixed member so that the motor can be transported as a unit without separating.

The present invention relates to a motor and a recording and/or reproducing apparatus using the motor, and particularly to a motor and a recording and/or reproducing apparatus using the motor, which is characterized by the bearing construction.
FIG. 6 shows a spindle motor constituted by a conventional bearing construction.
In FIG. 6, reference numeral 20 designates a base (chassis), on which is caulked and mounted an oil-contained bearing 21. A center shaft 23 is pressed into and secured to a hub bed 22 as a rotary body, the center shaft 23 being inserted into the oil-contained bearing 21.
Thrust bearings 24 are mounted through balls 25 in kerves 26, 26 provided in the hub bed 22 and at positions opposite to the kerves 26, the hub bed 22 being rotatable about the center shaft 23. Reference numeral 27 designates a retainer, which performs a function to control a movement of the ball 25 in a lateral direction of a paper surface. There is generated a force for rotating the hub bed 22 by means of the action of a magnet 29 fixedly mounted on a rotor yoke 28 mounted on the hub bed 22 and a current flowing through a coil mounted on the base 20.
However, the aforementioned prior art had the following problems.
A clearance is produced between the oil-contained bearing 21 and the center shaft 23, thus causing a deflection in the center shaft 23 during rotation.
Further, a step for pressing the center shaft 23 into the hub bed 22 and a step of fastening the oil-contained bearing 21 to the base are required. Furthermore, the cost of the center shaft 23 is high. Further, a slip friction occurs in the oil-contained bearing 21.
Moreover, with recent trend of a smaller, thinner computer and higher performance of a computer, a floppy disk drive (FDD) as a memory has been demanded to be thinner. Particularly, in a 3.5 inch FDD, a thickness of 42 mm at the outset of development has been changed to 25.4 mm, and further, a 1/2 inch (12.7 mm) height thereof has been marketed. Now, there is a demand for to a thickness of 10 mm or so.
On the other hand, format of a 3.5 inch disk remains unchanged. Further, the provision of front-loading is necessary for the sake of using convenience. In this case, an absolute condition is to make a spindle motor thinner for making a drive thinner. A precondition for making a thinner spindle motor is to provide a thinner bearing, which is recongnized as a difficult problem.
In addition, with the trend of portability of computers represented by a personal computer, a word processor and the like, a lower power consumption FDD has been strongly demanded in terms of the necessity for relieving power consumption of a battery.
Further, since a current market price of FDD is 1/10 or less than the original market price, the spindle motor naturally becomes the target of being lowered in cost.

Motor and recording and/or reproducing apparatus using the motor


An object control system prevents shifting an object to a target position from requiring a long time, even if, for example, the position of installation of an image capturing unit is deviated. And, according to the present invention, an object control system includes: a first image capturing unit that captures a first image including a first reference mark that specifies a first object line determined in advance with respect to an object; an angle acquisition unit that, on the basis of said first reference mark within said first image, acquires a first differential angle that specifies the angle between a first target object line, determined in advance with respect to said first image, and said first object line; and an object control unit that controls a rotation mechanism that rotates said object, on the basis of said first differential angle.

In Japanese Patent 3,531,674, a position determination device is disclosed that determines the position of a body that is a subject for positional determination. While shifting a table upon which said subject body is mounted, this position determination device captures, with at least one camera, images that include marks provided upon said subject body. Then, using these images, the position determination device calculates the amounts of deviation between the positions of the marks and target positions for the marks, and rotates the table or shifts it parallel to itself until these deviations are eliminated. Furthermore, in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication 2006 49755, a workpiece position determination device is disclosed that acquires the coordinates of a rotational center of a stage, which are needed for correcting rotational deviation of a workpiece. From images that have obtained by capturing images twice with two cameras, this workpiece position determination device measures coordinates that specify the positions of corresponding marks. And then the workpiece position determination device calculates the rotational angle of the stage by using shift amounts of the marks that have been acquired from their coordinates and from the distance between the marks which is inputted in advance, and calculates the coordinates of the rotational center of the stage by using this rotational angle and the coordinates of the marks. And, in Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication Heisei 5 48295, an electronic component installation device is disclosed that installs chip type electronic components in predetermined positions upon an electronic circuit board. With this electronic component installation device, the attitude of an electronic component is corrected by rotating a suction nozzle on the basis of positional data for the suction nozzle inputted in advance, and position data for the reference position of the electronic component acquired on the basis of an image captured by a camera.

Object control system, object control method and program, and rotational center position specification device


Heat pipe wick structure wherein a stout sheet of perforated material overlays a high performance wick material such as stainless steel felt affixed to a substrate. The inventive structure provides a good flow path for working fluid while maintaining durability and structural stability independent of the structure (or lack of structure) associated with the wick material. In one described embodiment, a wick of randomly laid ˜8 micron thickness stainless steel fibers is sintered to a metal substrate and a perforated metal overlay.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to heat pipe wicks, and more specifically to high performance heat pipe wick structures including those comprising wick materials of 90% or greater porosity.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heat pipes are used in a variety of applications requiring heat transfer mechanisms for transport of thermal energy from one location to another. Heat pipes accomplish energy transfer through vaporizing a liquid in a closed system near a heat source and recondensing the liquid at a different location. Typically, heat pipes include a wick structure that wets with the working fluid to distribute it across a large surface area evaporator thereby facilitating vaporization.
High wick permeability offers low fluid resistance and allows the wick to recharge as vapor evolves off the wick. The result is that, with greater permeability (which often is associated with high porosity), more liquid is supplied during application of heat, and therefore, more heat can be transferred without wick dryout. An open structure made of very little material, however, is structurally weak. Consequently, wicks with high porosity and excellent fluid flow characteristics tend to lack durability in the absence of other mechanical support.
Typical wick structures deployed, for example, in dish Stirling solar engines, use either powdered metallurgy or woven wire screens to provide the wicking pores. Although these have limited porosity and permeability, they usually have good structural and durability properties due to the large amount of internal structure they exhibit. Durability is required, for example, in Stirling engines, where the liquid to be evaporated (for example, molten sodium) is carried upward from a reservoir through a wick by capillary movement. As the wick becomes loaded, the weight of the liquid in the wick exerts pressure that, without sufficient support to counteract the load, can cause the wick to deform or collapse. For low porosity wicks, the mechanical load can be supported by the internal wick structure, itself. However, for higher porosity wicks, such as those comprising randomly-laid fine metal fibers, collapsing (or inflating, where bubbles disrupt wick integrity) pose a serious challenge, especially where wick lifetimes of tens of thousands of hours are desired.
A need remains, therefore, for heat pipe wick structures that exhibit high porosity and permeability but are durable and can withstand, over the long term, mechanical loads and stresses encountered during normal operation.

Method of manufacturing a heat pipe wick with structural enhancement


A stringed instrument mountable device. The stringed instrument mountable device includes a vibration sensing device configured to detect a note being played on a stringed instrument. The stringed instrument mountable device also includes an attachment configured to attach the vibration sensing device to the stringed instrument.

Digital tuners allow user to easily tune stringed instruments, such as guitars. In particular, the digital tuner can provide an easy to understand display which allows the user to quickly determine the note being played and tune the stringed instrument so that the note produced is the note intended by the user.
However, these digital tuners suffer from a number of drawbacks. For example, they must be close to the stringed instrument in order to produce an accurate reading. If it is not sufficiently close, then the digital tuner will be unable to measure the note properly and tuning the stringed instrument will become difficult or impossible. However, this means that either the user is holding the tuner or balancing it closely to the stringed instrument. Neither is desirable because neither replicates normal play positions by the user.
Some users clip the digital tuner to the headstock on the stringed instrument to ensure proximity. However, this is often a temporary solution at best as the clip must be removed before transport. In addition, the clip and tuner are visible to the audience so it is not aesthetically pleasing to leave on during a performance. Further, the clip can ruin the finish of the stringed instrument while being used, placed or removed. Finally, the clip can cause an undesired "buzz" if it vibrates relative to the headstock.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a system that can attach a digital tuner to an instrument at locations other than the headstock. Additionally, there is a need in the art for the system to be capable of attachment for long periods of time, such as during transportation of the instrument. Further, there is a need in the art for the system to accurately transfer vibration to the tuner. Moreover, there is a need in the art for a system that can attach inconspicuously to the instrument, so that it is not obtrusive and distracting for the audience during a performance. Also, there is a need in the art for a system that would attach to instruments where a clip cannot be attached.

Vibration-sensing stringed instrument mountable device


A cushion for a seat of good appearance. The cushion for a seat comprises a three-dimensional cover constituted of a front surface portion, a substantially U-shaped rear surface portion arranged oppositely to the front surface portion while spaced apart therefrom, a circumferential surface portion arranged between the front surface portion and the rear surface portion while connecting at the edge thereof with the edge of the front surface portion and the edge of the rear surface portion, a stripe portion extending downward from the upper edge of an opening in the rear surface portion to close the opening, a first pair of teeth tapes fixed to the opposite side edges of the stripe portion, and a second pair of teeth tapes provided at the opposite side edges of the circumferential surface portion corresponding, in position, to the opposite side edges of the stripe portion and engaging with or disengaging from the first pair of teeth tapes so that the opening is closed or opened by the stripe portion, and a foamed resin pad molded integrally with each component of the cover, excluding the stripe portion, in the cover.

As a cushion for a seat back of a seat, which is formed by causing a foam resin padding and a three-dimensional cover covering the foam resin padding to be integrated with each other by a die apparatus, there is proposed a cushion for a seat back, which is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-262628, for example.
When the cushion is to be formed by the die apparatus, the three-dimensional cover is laid in the die apparatus. In this condition, expandable resin is poured into an interior of the three-dimensional cover through the die apparatus and allowed to foam, whereby a padding of the foaming resin integral with the cover is formed. In this way, a finished cushion is formed. After the finished cushion is formed and removed from the die apparatus, a seat back frame for supporting the cushion is incorporated in the padding. For this purpose, the die apparatus includes a core for forming a cavity opened at a rear side of the padding for receiving the seat back frame. When the three-dimensional cover is laid in the die apparatus, the core is inserted in the three-dimensional cover. In order that the three-dimensional cover can receive the core when it is laid in the die apparatus, a rear side section of the three-dimensional cover is adapted to be openable and closable with respect to the cover by slide fastener means.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the related art cushion will be discussed hereinafter in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention.
Referring to FIG. 1, the cushion includes the three-dimensional cover 33, in an interior of which the foam resin padding (not shown) is integrated with the three-dimensional cover 33. The cover 33 includes a front side piece 33a, a rear side piece 33c spaced apart from the front side piece 33a and opposed to the front side piece 33a, a peripheral piece 33b disposed between the front side piece 33a and the rear side piece 33c, extending along peripheral edges of the front side and rear side pieces 33a, 33c except lower edges of the front side and rear side pieces 33a, 33c, and sewed to the peripheral edges of the front side and rear side pieces 33a, 33c at edges of the peripheral piece 33b, and a lower side piece 34 sewed at an edge thereof to a lower edge of the front side piece 33a. The rear side piece 33c is formed substantially into a U-shape and includes a pair of spaced apart side sections 33d, an upper section connected to upper edges of the spaced apart side sections 33d and interconnecting the spaced apart side sections 33d, and a belt-shaped intermediate piece 33e. The intermediate piece is attached at an upper edge thereof to a lower edge of the upper section of the rear side piece 33c and is adapted to be coupled at left and right side edges thereof to inner edges of the side sections 33d by first and second slide fastener means, whereby an opening of the rear side piece 33c is openably closed by the intermediate piece 33e. The first slide fastener means includes a pair of first and second zipper tapes 35a which are provided along the left side edge of the intermediate piece 33e and an inner edge of a left side section of the rear side piece 33c, and a first slider assembly (not shown). The first slider assembly, supported by the first and second zipper tapes, is included for zipping and unzipping the first zipper tape with respect to the second zipper tape. Moreover, the second slide fastener means includes a pair of third and fourth zipper tapes 35b which are provided along the right side edge of the intermediate piece 33e and an inner edge of a right side section of the rear side piece 33c, and a second slider assembly (not shown). The second slider assembly, supported by the third and fourth zipper tapes, is included for zipping and unzipping the third zipper tape with respect to the fourth zipper tape. Thus, the intermediate piece 33e is configured so as to be separatable from the side sections 33d of the rear side section 33c by the first and second slide fastener means, so that the cover is openable at the rear side section thereof. The foam resin padding in the cover 33 is integrated with the respective sections of the cover 33 except the intermediate piece 33e and the lower side piece 34.
The cushion which includes the cover 33 constructed as discussed above and the foam resin padding is formed by utilizing a die apparatus 3 which is partially illustrated in FIG. 2. The die apparatus 3 includes a first die means 30 for forming front and rear sections of the cushion and a peripheral section of the cushion, a core 31 for forming a cavity opened at a rear side of the foam padding 36 for receiving a seat back frame (not shown), and a second die means 32 which is adapted to be combined with the first die means 30 and clamped against the first die means 30, when the cushion is to be formed by the die apparatus. The first die means 30 is provided with a first sectional die means 30a for forming the rear side section of the cushion, and a second sectional die means 30b for forming the peripheral section of the cushion. The first sectional die means 30a is coupled to the second sectional die means 30b by a first hinge means 30c. The second sectional die means 30b is coupled to the first die means 30 by a second hinge means 30d. Thus, the first and second sectional die means 30a, 30b can be opened and closed with respect to the first die means 30 by the first and second hinge means 30c, 30d.
When the cushion is to be formed by the die apparatus, the second die means 32 is removed from the first die means 30, the first and second sectional die means 30a, 30b are opened with respect to the first die means 30 by the first and second hinge means 30c, 30d, and the cover 33 is then laid on a die surface of the first die means 30 with the intermediate piece 33e being separated from the side sections 33d of the rear side piece 33c of the cover 33 by unzipping the first and third zipper tapes of the intermediate piece 33e from the second and fourth zipper tapes of the side sections 33d of the rear side piece 33c. Then, the core 31 is inserted within the three-dimensional cover 33 and the first and second sectional die means 30a, 30b are closed with respect to the first die means 30 by the hinge means 30c, 30d. At this time, each of the zipper tapes 35a, 35b provided at the both side sections 33d of the substantially U-shaped rear side piece 33c is located within a space X between the second die means 32 and the core 31, and each of the both side sections 33d of the substantially U-shaped rear side piece 33c becomes pinched by a protrusion 31a of the core 31 and the first sectional die means 30a. In this condition, the second die means 32 is combined with the first die means 30 and clamped against the first die means 30, and expandable resin is poured into the interior of the cover 33 and foams in the interior of the cover 33, whereby the cushion in which the padding 36 of the foaming resin is integrated with the cover 33 and formed with the cavity for receiving the seat back frame is formed. Each of the both side sections 33d of the substantially U-shaped rear side piece 33c is pinched by the protrusion 31a of the core 31 and the first sectional die means 30a as discussed above, so that the foaming resin will not adhere to a surface of the cover 33 and/or the zipper tapes 35a, 35b.
However, in the related art cushion constructed as discussed above, the front side piece 33a is sewed to the peripheral piece 33b, and the peripheral piece 33b is sewed to the rear side piece 33c, so that there are many sewed portions between the front and rear side pieces 33a, 33c and the peripheral piece 33b, thus detracting from the visual appearance of the cushion.
Moreover, if it is necessary to provide a pocket on a rear surface of the related art cushion, the pocket is obliged to be provided on the belt-shaped intermediate piece from the viewpoint of facilitating the assembling of the cushion. Therefore, only a pocket having a narrow width can be provided on the intermediate piece but a pocket having a wide width can not be provided on the intermediate piece.


A microcomputer with a sound effect output function, comprising a register 24 for temporarily storing a parameter specifying a sound effect to be output, a sound effect generating block 26 for outputting a signal representing a sound effect according a parameter supplied from the register 24, an output pattern setting register 25 for temporarily storing a repetition pattern of a sound effect signal supplied by the sound effect generating block 26, and an output control block 28 for outputting the sound effect signal, supplied from the sound effect generating block 26, according to the repetition pattern supplied from the output pattern setting register 25.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microcomputer including a function to output sound effects such as are used in a handy game, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
With a conventional microcomputer including a sound output function, a series of parameter data stored in a memory of the microcomputer is read sequentially, a sound effects generating block is operated according to respective items of data which are read out, and sound effects are output.
Conventional microcomputers of this type includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a memory for storing general data, connected to the CPU. The CPU is added with a circuit having a function to generate sound effects. This circuit with a sound effect generating function comprises a register for storing setting parameters for individual units of sound effects to be generated, a sound effect generating block for actually generating sounds by controlling output frequency, output time, and output level according to the parameters, a block for controlling the output of signals generated in the sound effect generating block, and so on.
To output and stop sound effects in a certain pattern, each time the output of sound effect corresponding to given parameter data ends, the next parameter data is read from the memory for data storage, this parameter data is stored in the parameter setting register, and sound effects corresponding to this parameter data are generated. Hereafter, this operation is repeated to eventually obtain a desired pattern of sound effects.
When a conventional microcomputer such as mentioned above is used, it is necessary to have all parameter data for sound effects to generate stored in the data storage memory, and therefore, a large memory area is occupied for this purpose.

Microcomputer with function to output sound effects


A fusing device installed in an electro-photographic image forming apparatus and method are provided. The fusing device includes a fusing belt having a continuous belt for rotating while being supported by at least two rollers, receiving heat from the at least two rollers, and delivering the heat to an image transferred onto paper; and a pressurizing roller for contacting the continuous belt and applying pressure onto the paper.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electro-photographic image forming apparatus and method of using the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fusing device installed in an electro-photographic image forming apparatus that applies heat and pressure onto an image so that the image can be fused to the paper and a method of using the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an electro-photographic image forming apparatus includes a fusing device that applies heat and pressure onto an image transferred onto paper so that the image can be fused onto the paper.
A heating unit 12 with a halogen lamp is installed in a center portion of the fusing roller 11. A surface of the fusing roller 11 is coated with a coating layer 11a comprising polytetrafluoroethylene. The heating unit 12 generates heat in the fusing roller 11 and the fusing roller 11 is heated by radiant heat generated by the heating unit 12.
The pressurizing roller 13 is resiliently supported by a spring 13a, and thus, capable of applying pressure onto the paper 14 passing between the fusing roller 11 and the pressurizing roller 13 so that the paper 14 can contact the fusing roller 11. Accordingly, when the paper 14 passes between the fusing roller 11 and the pressurizing roller 13, predetermined pressure and heat are applied onto a powder toner image 14a transferred to the paper 14. Thus, the powder toner image 14a is heated and fused onto the paper 14 by the predetermined heat and pressure applied by the fusing roller 11 and the pressurizing roller 13.
Use of a conventional fusing device, such as the fusing device 10 shown in FIG. 1, that adopts a halogen lamp as a heat source causes unnecessary power consumption. Accordingly, when no print job is required, the conventional fusing device is turned off to reduce its temperature. For this reason, when the conventional fusing device is turned on to perform a print job, it takes a long time to warm up until its temperature reaches a fusing temperature.
Since a fusing roller of the conventional fusing device is heated by radiant heat generated by the heat source, a heat transfer speed is slow. Also, since the heat of the heated fusing roller is delivered to paper when the paper contacts the fusing roller, it is impossible to timely compensate for a deviation in temperature caused by a reduction in the temperature, thus preventing adjustment of temperature dispersion.
Also, a nip caused when a pressurizing roller contacts the fusing roller has a narrow width, and thus, there is a limitation to forming an image at a high speed. To solve this problem, the nip width is increased by the diameter of the fusing roller or the pressurizing roller. However, in this case, the volume of the fusing device is increased.
To solve this problem, a fusing device with a continuous belt has been introduced. For instance, published Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-156961 discloses a fusing device that includes a fusing roller that includes a heat source therein, and a continuous belt rotated while being supported by three rollers, facing the fusing roller. One of the three rollers is pressed toward the fusing roller due to a spring force, thus applying pressure onto the fusing roller, and a part of the continuous belt contacts and applies pressure onto the fusing roller by a pressure support pad. Thus, when paper with an image passes through a contact portion between the fusing roller and the continuous part, the image is heated and fused onto the paper.
Published Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-182500 discloses a fusing device with a continuous belt, using electromagnetic induction. The fusing device includes the rotating continuous belt being supported by two rollers and a pressurizing roller that faces the continuous belt and is rotated to apply a pressure onto the continuous belt. An induction-heating unit that includes an induction-heating coil therein is installed on an inner surface of the continuous belt. A flux change in the induction-heating unit allows heat generated in a magnetic layer formed on the continuous belt to be delivered to paper passing through a contact nip between the continuous belt and the pressurizing belt, thereby fusing an image, which is transferred to the paper.
However, a high-thermal-capacity elastic layer of the continuous belt of the fusing device disclosed in published Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-156961 is minimized, thus lowering the thermal storage capability of the fusing device. For this reason, the fusing device is inconvenient to use since it needs to be frequently charged, thereby increasing power consumption and causing flicker.
Also, the fusing device using electromagnetic heating, disclosed in published Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-182500, requires the continuous belt to include a magnetic layer, thereby increasing manufacturing costs.

Fusing device of electro-photographic image-forming apparatus and method of using


The present invention provides a rack for holding sample vials comprising: (i) a solid base; (ii) an upwardly extending wall around the perimeter of said base; (iii) a plurality of means for supporting a plurality of vials, each means for supporting one vial; and (iv) a means for draining liquid from said rack.

Ultra high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) has developed over the last decade in response to the need for faster chromatography techniques that can handle the vast number of samples generated during drug discovery and development. Compared to HPLC, which has been the predominant technology used in laboratories across a wide range of technical fields, UHPLC is carried out with columns comprising particles of a smaller size and increased mobile phase flow rates. Typically the particles present in UHPLC columns will be less than 2 μm in size, e.g. 1.7 to 1.8 μm, and typically a pressure of 50-100 MPa is used to achieve high throughput. The effect of the smaller particles is to ensure analytes are still separated in the column despite their shorter residence time therein.
UHPLC is used to monitor the progress of chemical reactions, as well as physical or other transformations, e.g. dissolution studies, in a wide range of different contexts. Reactions may, for instance, be monitored by analysing the depletion of a starting material or the generation of a product. UHPLC is, however, particularly useful during drug development wherein huge numbers of reactions take place. During drug development, UHPLC may be used to monitor the progress of reactions during chemical syntheses, to monitor the stability of compounds to different conditions and to monitor the pharmacokinetic properties of drugs and their formulations. During the formulation stage of drug development, for example, UHPLC may be used to assess the properties of different formulations, e.g. dissolution rates in a variety of different conditions. For instance, a range of pharmaceutical formulations may be prepared with varying amounts of a set of excipients and/or varying excipients and the dissolution rates of each of the formulations determined. This is carried out by placing each formulation in a dissolution media and then monitoring the media for the presence of the drug. The monitoring is carried out by removing a sample of the liquid at regular intervals and analysing it by UHPLC to determine the amount of drug present therein. The data gathered, usually in replicate, from the different time points can then be used to generate an average dissolution curve.
In a conventional UHPLC set up a rack for holding sample-containing vials is provided on a shuttle tray which is positioned in the UHPLC analyser wherein an aliquot of sample is taken from a first vial and analysed. The UHPLC analyser will then take an aliquot of sample from another vial in the array and analyse it. This process is repeated until a sample is taken from each vial and is analysed.
Typically, however, the manner of collecting and analysing samples from multiple vessels is very intensive, particularly if replicates of each sample are to be analysed. This burden is further exacerbated in the case of monitoring chemical reactions, physical or other transformations (hereinafter referred to collectively as "reaction monitoring" or "monitoring of reactions"), e.g. dissolution studies, wherein there is a need for the analysis to be repeated at a number of different points in time. Overall it means there is a need to collect a vast number of samples into vials and for these to be transported reliably and efficiently to the UHPLC analyser for analysis.
One way in which this problem has been overcome is to carry out the reaction, test or study, e.g. dissolution study, to be monitored in sample vials within a liquid chromatography device. This solution is, however, very limited. It is often not possible to set up reactions, tests or studies under the necessary conditions within the confines of a liquid chromatography device, e.g. it is not possible to provide any heating or cooling to the reaction, test or study within the device. It is also not possible to carry out reactions, tests or studies at anything other than a very small scale. Thus, for example, it is not possible to monitor the dissolution rates of many tablet formulations since the capacity of even the largest sample vials is too small to contain the required amount of dissolution media.
A need therefore still exists for improved equipment and methods for automated and continuous monitoring of reactions.

Vial rack for liquid chromatography having draining means


The abduction wedge assembly for a wheelchair includes an abduction member joined to a slide, pivot and height extension mechanism that permits the abduction wedge member to be compatibly joined to wheelchairs of selected seat thickness. The slide, pivot and height extension mechanism which is joined to the base of a wheelchair seat includes a slidable member that is longitudinally slidable with respect to a fixed slide guide located at the base of the wheelchair seat. The slide member can be extended to a limit position that permits pivoting of the abduction member from an on-seat position to an off-seat position. The slide, pivot and height extension mechanism further includes a height adjustment member to which the abduction member is joined. The height adjustment member enables the abduction wedge member to be compatibly fitted to wheelchair seats of any thickness. A locking mechanism provided on the slide guide locks the slide member in any selected longitudinally extended position.

This invention is directed to accessories for wheelchairs and more particularly to a universal abduction wedge that can be installed on wheelchairs having seats of different thickness.
In many instances persons confined to wheelchairs because of handicapping conditions such as cerebral palsy, have postural abnormalities and positional instability that may require corrective support or stabilization. For example in individuals with lower extremity spasticity, the knees tend to converge or pull over each other in a manner which can cause hip dislocation.
One known device for limiting knee convergence and pull over is an abduction wedge that is located on a wheelchair seat between the knees and thighs. The abduction wedge keeps the legs separated and thus helps to prevent hip dislocation. The abduction wedge also helps prevent soft tissue contractures and limits forward movement of an individual's pelvis in the chair thereby preventing slippage from the chair.
Abduction wedges have various sizes and shapes such as exemplified in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,216,738; 3,761,126; 3,992,057; 4,165,127; 4,192,546 and 4,579,390.
Seating devices and chairs for infants and young children are also known to include a spacer or restraining member disposed between a child's legs to limit forward movement of the child as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,784,775; 2,851,084 and 3,037,813.
While the abduction wedge is highly beneficial in maintaining separation of the legs of a wheelchair occupant, it can also be an obstacle. For example, wheelchair occupants often require assistance when being transferred to or from the wheelchair. Many wheelchair occupants must be bodily lifted during such transfer which can be an awkward and strenuous procedure, especially for a caregiver who does the lifting. The awkwardness and physical demands of a wheelchair transfer procedure are further compounded if the wheelchair occupant must be lifted over an abduction wedge. In such instances, more than one caregiver may be required to assist in the transfer of the wheelchair occupant. Furthermore, if the wheelchair occupant is inadvertently lifted against or dropped against an abduction wedge, the resultant impact or rubbing can cause injury to the wheelchair occupant.
In response to this problem, some known abduction wedges can be temporarily removed or pivoted from an on-seat position to an off-seat position to facilitate transfer of the wheelchair occupant. When pivoted to a off-seat position the abduction wedge is usually disposed at the front lower leg portion of the chair. Thus with an abduction wedge in an off-seat position the transfer procedure is facilitated.
Abduction wedges that are pivotable from one position to another on a wheelchair are usually adapted to a specific seat thickness of a wheelchair. Thus an abduction wedge manufactured for a wheelchair having a specific seat thickness generally cannot be used on a wheelchair seat of another thickness.
It is thus desirable to provide an abduction wedge for a wheelchair that can be universally fitted onto wheelchair seats of different thickness and can also be pivoted away from the wheelchair seat to facilitate transfer of a wheelchair occupant.

Universal abduction wedge for a wheelchair


A redundancy system for a co-channel telecommunication system and related methods. Implementations of the redundancy system may include at least a first modulator and a second modulator having a symbol mapper coupled to a parallel bit signal. The symbol mapper may be configured to route each of a plurality of parallel bits received through the parallel bit signal to a plurality of significant bit signals. In a first implementation, a plurality of significant bit signal multiplexers may be used to switch the plurality of parallel bit signals to allow the first and second modulators to operate in either a redundant or operating mode. In a second implementation, a premapped symbol (PMSI) encoder and a PMSI decoder may be used to transmit the plurality of significant bit signals across an interface bus as a real dual-data rate (DDR) signal and an imaginary DDR signal.

1. Technical Field
Aspects of this document relate generally to telecommunication systems.
2. Background Art
Conventional telecommunication systems transmit signals across wired and wireless communication channels. The signals transmitted by conventional systems may take the form of modulated electromagnetic waves traveling through a wire or through open space. In various conventional communication systems, the amplitude and/or frequency of the electromagnetic signals may be altered or modulated to aid in data transmission. Many conventional telecommunication systems receiving modulated electromagnetic signals include a demodulator which receives the incoming signal and collects the data being transmitted by using various signal processing methods. In addition, many systems also include a modulator which receives data to be transmitted and translates the data into corresponding modulated electromagnetic signals.
In satellite telecommunication systems, to prevent system downtime and the breaking of the telecommunication link, redundant components, such as modems are often employed. The redundant modem is kept powered on and ready to operate should a problem with the operating modem be detected. In co-channel telecommunication systems, where the modem is engaged in receiving a combined signal containing a signal of interest and an interfering signal and canceling the interfering signal from the combined signal to retrieve the signal of interest, maintaining the readiness of the redundant modem generally requires that the redundant modem receive a real-time copy of the interfering signal from the operating modem. Conventionally, this has been done by using analog multiplexers and an radio frequency (RF) switching box that enables an RF copy of the interfering signal to be sent to the redundant modem.

Redundancy system for a telecommunication system and related methods


A particle separator having a housing, a radially centered core, helical augers which force a fluid stream in a helical flow direction, and separator devices for the progressive separation of particles from a particulate contaminated fluid stream.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to a system for the removal of particles from a flow stream, and more particularly to a device for the continuous separation, collection, and removal of particulate matter from a gas or fluid flow stream.
2. Discussion
Several devices have been developed over the years for removing particulate matter, such as dust and contaminated particles, from a flow stream of gas or fluid. Such devices include: a cyclone type filter; gravity settling chambers; filtration bags; electrostatic precipitators; as well as other similar devices. Most, if not all of these devices, are deficient in certain performance characteristics. For example, some devices have limited filtration efficiency (such as in cyclones, settling chambers, or, electrostatic precipitators where the particles have very high or low electrical resistivity), while other devices have high capital and operating expenses and are complex (such as bag houses). Still other devices employ pleated filtration elements; however, once the elements are loaded with particles a complex system, commonly known as a reverse pulse jet or backwash, is needed to remove the particles from the filtration pleats and return the device to its initial filtering state.
The demand for the separation and removal of particulate matter from gaseous and fluid flow streams is always increasing and is promoted by Government environmental regulations and process demands. The regulations and demands are generally related to cleaner air and gas streams for industrial processes, engine air intake systems, and commercial and residential HVAC applications, as well as other similar applications. In most applications, there is a constant demand for higher collection efficiency at a lower capital expense and operating cost.

Continuous particle separation and removal cleaning system