Disclosed are: Au—Ag core-shell nanorod particles wherein a cationic surfactant such as CTAB is substituted by an other compound; and a method for producing the Au—Ag core-shell nanorod particles. Specifically disclosed are Au—Ag core-shell nanorod particles which are characterized in that each of the nanorod particles comprises a gold nanorod particle that serves as the core, a shell layer that covers the surface of the gold nanorod particle and is formed from silver, and a copolymer that adsorbs on the surface of the shell layer. The Au—Ag core-shell nanorod particles are also characterized in that the copolymer is a block copolymer or graft copolymer that is obtained by polymerizing at least a polymerizable monomer (A) that has a group represented by general formula (I). In the formula, Ra represents an alkylene group having 2-7 carbon atoms.

Gold nanorod particles are nanoparticles of gold with a rod shape (bar-like shape) and show absorption at two wavelength ranges in a visible light range (ca. 520 nm) and a near-infrared range (ca. 900 nm). These are derived from surface plasmon resonance in short axis direction and long axis direction respectively, and the absorption at the near-infrared range is inherent to the gold nanorod particles. Furthermore, the absorbed optical energy is converted into heat, which is called as "photothermal effect". Since the transparency of biological material is higher in the near-infrared range, it is anticipated that the gold nanorod particles will find application in bio-imaging on the basis of intense near-infrared absorption capability thereof, photothermal treatment by use of heat generation, and the like, for example (see Non-Patent Documents 1, 2).
In recent years, Au—Ag core-shell nanorod particles are reported in which gold nanorod particles are cores and silver shell layers coat their surface (see Non-Patent Document 3). By way of coating with silver, absorption range of the particles shifts to blue. Furthermore, since silver-specific plasmon absorption is larger than that of gold, the photothermal effect can be enhanced by coating with silver.
Non-Patent Document 1: Drug Deliv. Syst., Vol. 24, No. 3, p. 260.
Non-Patent Document 2: J. Am. Chem. Soc., Vol. 130, No. 32, pp. 10643-10647.
Non-Patent Document 3: Chem. Lett., Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 60-61.

Au—Ag core-shell nanorod particles and method for producing same

Tokyo University of Science Educational Foundation Administrative Organization


The presently described technology provides a tomosynthesis imaging system that comprises an x-ray tube and an anti-scatter grid. The x-ray tube is configured to emit x-rays from a plurality of positions during movement of the x-ray tube along a long axis of a mobile patient surface. The anti-scatter grid is configured to filter out scattered x-rays and includes a grid line parallel to the long axis of the mobile patient surface. The x-rays emitted from the plurality of positions are reconstructed into at least one image of at least one plane of a patient anatomy. The described technology is useful in emergency or trauma applications where a patient may be quickly and easily moved on a mobile patient surface to a position near an x-ray detector used in combination with the x-ray tube and anti-scatter grid.

The present invention relates generally to tomosynthesis imaging. More specifically, the invention relates to cross table tomosynthesis in a trauma application.
Tomography involves obtaining a two-dimensional image slice (or tomogram) from a three-dimensional volume. A variety of tomographic imaging techniques exist today, such as conventional linear tomography, computed axial tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography (PET).
A relatively new and promising tomographic imaging technique is tomosynthesis. Tomosynthesis allows retrospective reconstruction of an arbitrary number of tomographic planes of anatomies from a set of projection images acquired over a variety of angles. Compared to conventional linear tomography, tomosynthesis provides premium image quality and enhanced depth information at a lower x-ray dose. Image quality and depth information is, of course, important when diagnosing patients. Additionally, tomosynthesis is relatively fast and cost-effective.
For trauma patients such as accident victims, it is critical to rapidly localize the site and extent of the injury for successful treatment and rehabilitation. As victims are often unconscious, imaging of vertebra misalignment (for example, lateral view) is often required for a patient at a supine position. Conventional x-ray systems are usually present in hospital emergency rooms, and these systems can provide fast, high resolution imaging of the patient spine.
However, such systems often fail to provide views through thick parts of a patient anatomy (for example, a shoulder) or to differentiate between overlapping bony structures (for example, a skull). In addition, such systems may not localize the site of the injury in three dimensions.
CT systems have been used as a potential solution to the above problems in trauma cases. However, these systems have several shortcomings. First, these systems are not typically found in emergency rooms. Therefore, additional time is required to move a patient to a CT system. In addition, CT scanning is usually slow compared to x-ray imaging. In emergency situations, this additional time may not be available.
CT systems also typically have larger spatial resolution than an x-ray image for an image plane that is perpendicular to the x-ray direction due to re-slicing, for example. Moreover, the x-ray dose from a CT imaging system is usually much higher than for an x-ray system. For example, CT imaging systems may use doses up to 10 times or more than doses used in x-ray systems.
Thus, a need exists for an x-ray system and method that provides for fast, high resolution imaging of a patient anatomy (such as a spine or other body parts), along with three-dimensional localization of a patient injury and good contrast resolution. In addition, the above needs should be met with existing equipment found in emergency rooms. These needs may be met using digital x-ray tomosynthesis systems and methods described herein.

System and method for cross table tomosynthesis imaging for trauma applications


A new cultivar of interspecific Baptisia, ‘Spilled Buttermilk’, that is characterized by its low growing plant habit that is wider than it is tall, its inflorescences held clear of the foliage that are slightly arching to horizontal at anthesis and becoming horizontal to pendulous as more flowers open, its second inflorescences with very densely borne flower buds, its flowers that are light yellow in color at anthesis and aging to a light green-white color, its foliage that is yellow-green to medium green in color, and its early bloom period beginning in early to mid-May in northern Illinois.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of hybrid Baptisia plant, botanically known as Baptisia 'Spilled Buttermilk' and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, 'Spilled Buttermilk'. The new cultivar represents a new false indigo, an herbaceous perennial grown for landscape use.
The new invention arose from an ongoing breeding program in a dedicated test plot in Glencoe, Ill. The objective of the breeding program is to develop novel interspecific hybrids of Baptisia that exhibit unique flower coloration, hybrid vigor, ease of clonal propagation, and desirable plant habits.
'Spilled Buttermilk' was selected as a single unique plant by the Inventor in May of 2007 after evaluating seedlings that derived from a cross made in May of 2004 between unnamed plants of hybrid Baptisia from the Inventor's breeding program. The female parent was a seedling that derived from open pollination of an unnamed interspecific hybrid of Baptisia australis×Baptisia leucophaea. The male parent was an unnamed plant in the Inventor's breeding program of Baptisia leucophaea.
Asexual propagation of the new cultivar was first accomplished by shoot tip cuttings under the direction of the Inventor in July of 2007 in Glencoe, Ill. Asexual propagation by shoot tip cuttings has determined that the characteristics of the new cultivar are stable and are reproduced true to type in successive generations.


To activate an alarm generator mounted on each of other vehicles except opposing vehicles running on an opposing lane, the alarm system for an automotive vehicle which informs other vehicles of the presence of its own vehicle comprises a timing detector for detecting a timing when the alarm system is activated or deactivated; two transmitters for transmitting wide- and narrow-area alarm signals, respectively to other vehicles; two receivers for receiving wide- and narrow-area alarm signals transmitted from another vehicle, respectively; an alarm generator; and a controller for activating the alarm generator when only the wide-area alarm signal transmitted from another vehicle is received.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle alarm system for informing other vehicles of its own presence, and more specifically to a vehicle alarm system for transmitting an alarm signal from an emergency car, for instance to other vehicles running ahead along or across the road along which the emergency car itself is travelling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, emergency vehicles (e.g. ambulance car, fire truck, etc.) travel by sounding a siren or blinking an alarm light. Recently, however, since almost all vehicles are running under the conditions that the vehicle windows are kept closed and the car's interior cooling apparatus is kept turned on, vehicle drivers generally have difficulty noticing the approach of an emergency vehicle, before the emergency vehicle comes close by their own vehicles. To overcome the above-mentioned problem, an alarm system for an automotive vehicle for transmitting an alarm radio wave to other vehicles (in addition to the siren and light) has been proposed.
An example of prior-art alarm systems of this type is disclosed in Japanese Published Unexamined (Kokai) Pat. Appli. No. 55-156731, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B. In FIG. 1B, an automotive vehicle 401 is provided with transmitting means 502 and a transmitting antenna 501. Further, two automotive vehicles 402 and 403 are provided with receiving means 504, a receiving antenna 503, and alarming means 505, respectively. In operation of this prior-art system, when the vehicle 401 transmits a radio wave from the transmitting means 502 via the transmitting antenna 501 toward the travelling direction, the vehicles 402 and 403 receive the radio wave transmitted from the vehicle 401 by the receiving means 504 via the receiving antenna 503, so that the alarming means generates an alarm to the respective drivers.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1A, even if the driver of the vehicle 402 cannot directly see the vehicle 401 due to the presence of a building 405, for instance, the driver can know that the vehicle 401 travelling on another road approaches an intersection.
In the prior-art alarm system as described above, however, whenever a vehicle transmits a radio wave, since the transmitted wave is received by all the vehicles running within a wave receivable area, the alarm is given to all the vehicle drivers, thus resulting in the following problem: For instance, in FIG. 1A, if the vehicle 401 travelling toward an intersection transmits a radio wave, the transmitted radio wave is received by both the vehicles 402 and 403 and the received alarm is given to both the drivers. In this case, the driver of the vehicle 403 cannot discriminate whether the alarm is transmitted from the opposing vehicle 401 travelling on the same road or the vehicle 402 travelling on a road crossing the same road. In other words, where there exists an opposing vehicle, the driver cannot discriminate whether the current alarm is transmitted from the opposing vehicle or another vehicle.

Vehicle alarm system for informing other vehicles of its own presence


A hand-held power tool is disclosed. The tool has a tool receptacle, an electric motor which drives the tool receptacle, and a machine housing. A two-part supply cable has a first section, which is mechanically fastened inside the machine housing, and a second section, which is coupled to the first section outside of the machine housing by a detachable plug connection. The detachable plug connection locks by rotating around an axis and unlocks along the axis in the case of a tensile load above a limit value.

The present invention relates to an electrical hand-held power tool, in particular a hammer drill and a saw. The hand-held power tool is attached to an electrical network for the supply of power via a supply cable. In the case of improper operation, a tool—e.g., a chisel—may sever the supply cable.
The hand-held power tool, according to the invention, has a tool receptacle, an electric motor which drives the tool receptacle, and machine housing. A two-part supply cable has a first section, which is mechanically fastened inside the machine housing, and a second section, which is coupled to the first section outside the machine housing by a detachable plug connection. The detachable plug connection has a locking mechanism, which is locked so that it can rotate around an axis and unlocks along the axis in the case of a tensile load above a limit value.
The plug connection constitutes a mechanical weak point in the supply cable. Due to the possibility of rupturing the plug connection, care must be taken in this case that no stranded wires or current-carrying contacts are exposed. As a result, the plug connection is provided with an overload protection, which forcibly opens the plug connection in a controlled manner in the event of a corresponding tensile load. The limit value for the tensile load is preferably greater than a weight force of the hand-held power tool, which is typically between 30 N and 300 N. In an emergency, an operator is able to lift the hand-held power tool by the supply cable without the plug connection disconnecting.
The locking mechanism has a rotating mechanism for manual locking and unlocking. The different actuation direction of the rotating mechanism, compared to the forcible unlocking triggered along the axis, decouples the rotating mechanism from the forcible unlocking. As a result, the closure mechanism is able to be actuated by an operator with a low expenditure of force. The second section of the supply cable is able to be replaced without great expense.
One embodiment provides that a first half of the locking mechanism contains a peg. A second half of the locking mechanism contains a connecting member guiding the peg. The connecting member connects two openings that point in the direction of the first half of the locking mechanism and are arranged offset in the circumferential direction. A spring-loaded barrier element engages in the connecting member. The peg is able to be introduced in the case of the one opening without an expenditure of force and be pushed using a rotary movement toward the back of the barrier element. The barrier element prevents the peg from being able to exit from the second opening in case of a low tensile force. The connecting member may have a route running monotonically along the axis between the second opening and the spring-loaded barrier element. When the barrier element is disengaged because of a great tensile force, it is possible for the peg to be pulled free along the monotonic route up to the second opening because of the tensile force. One embodiment provides that the connecting member have a further route from the first opening to the spring-loaded barrier element, wherein the further route has a change in direction with respect to the axis. In the case of applied tensile force, the peg is pulled to the barrier element and not to the first opening. If an operator wants to disengage the closure mechanism, he/she must first move the peg against the tensile force to the change in direction and then rotate it in the direction of the first opening.
A route section of the connecting member running parallel to the circumferential direction ends adjacent to the spring-loaded barrier element. This route section prevents the peg from running back to the first opening when a tensile force is applied.
One embodiment provides that the one plug connection half include a sleeve, from which the peg projects radially, and the other plug connection half includes a sleeve, in which the connecting member is configured as a groove countersunk in the radial direction. The sleeves are mutually rotatable. Moreover, the sleeves may enclose an electrical contact area.
One embodiment provides that the electrical contact area includes a socket with a first electrical contact and a plug with a second electrical contact, wherein the first contact is open in the circumferential direction for receiving the second contact. The electrical connection is established at the same time as the rotation to close the closure mechanism, or the electrical connection is interrupted with the rotation to unlock the electrical connection. An angular alignment of the first contact with respect to the peg may be equal to an angular alignment of the second contact with respect to the one opening of the connecting member.
The following description explains the invention on the basis of exemplary embodiments and figures.


The novel agents for preventing dental calculus in domestic animals of the present invention are sequestering agents that are applied as coatings to commercially-prepared diets for domestic animals and that are significantly superior in terms of their anticalculus efficacy to the soluble pyrophosphate crystal growth inhibitors of the prior art. The sequestering agents of the present invention form soluble calcium complexes in saliva and dental plaque fluids thereby preventing the calcification of dental plaque. Sodium hexametaphosphate has been utilized as the preferred sequestering agents of the invention to date.

This invention relates generally to agents for the prevention of dental calculus, commonly called tartar, that are added to commercially-prepared diets for domestic animals, and more particularly to novel agents for the prevention of dental calculus in domestic animals that are added as a coating to commercially-prepared diets for domestic animals, especially dogs and cats, and that produce significantly superior results.
Dental calculus, or tartar, is recognized as a recurring calcified deposit on the surfaces of the teeth of domestic animals, including dogs and cats, as well as humans. It is generally recognized that dental calculus develops in a sequential process that involves the accumulation of dental plaque and the subsequent calcification of the plaque by saliva, which has very high concentrations of calcium and phosphate. Although calculus, per se, is not directly responsible for the development of oral diseases, it is recognized as a secondary, or contributing, factor in the development of periodontal disease because: (1) its presence on the teeth serves as a local irritant to the adjacent soft tissues, eliciting an inflammatory response (and soft tissue inflammation is the initial phase of periodontal disease); (2) it interferes with the normal cleansing of the tooth surfaces, which occurs during the mastication of food or through the performance of conventional oral hygiene procedures, such as toothbrushing and flossing; and (3) it harbors bacterial toxins, which exacerbate periodontal disease formation, by virtue of its porosity. Once formed, calculus deposits can only be removed through concerted mechanical procedures, i.e., a dental prophylaxis. Thus, the prevention of dental calculus is of importance not only for cosmetic reasons, but also because of dental calculus' secondary role in the development of periodontal disease, and the resultant systemic infections, alveolar bone recession, tooth loss and adverse mouth/breath odors.
At present, the recognized approaches for the prevention of dental calculus formation are: (1) the meticulous, daily removal of dental plaque prior to its calcification; and (2) the daily application of crystal growth inhibitors that interfere with the calcification of dental plaque by saliva. Known crystal growth inhibitors include various soluble pyrophosphates, sodium tripolyphosphate, soluble diphosphonates, and certain soluble zinc compounds, such as zinc chloride. These crystal growth inhibitors are currently being used in dentifrices and mouthwashes for preventing dental calculus formation in humans. Soluble pyrophosphates are also currently being cooked or baked in the dough of commercially-prepared diets for dogs and cats for the stated purpose of preventing dental calculus formation in these domestic animals.

Methods for preventing dental calculus in domestic animals


A light unit which includes a plurality of light-emitting diode (LED) light sources arranged in parallel, a light-guiding member arranged on said LED light sources, a light reflecting part for reflecting light from said LED light sources forward, a light diffusion part for outgoing light from the surface of said light-guiding member to outside, and an optical path changing part arranged above said light-diffusion part, wherein a side of said light-guiding member that faces said light diffusion part is flat.

The present invention relates to lighting units that display images by adjusting the amount of light to be transmitted, and to display equipment that uses these lighting units.
The display equipment generally used can be broadly divided into a light-emitting type, which is represented by a cathode-ray tube (CRT) display or a plasma display panel (PDP) display, and a non-light-emitting type, which is represented by a liquid-crystal display (LCD), an electrochromic display (ECD), or an electrophotoretic image display (EPID).
The non-light-emitting type mentioned above has a display panel (such as an LCD panel) that adjusts the transmittance of light, and a lighting unit provided at the rear of the display panel in order to radiate light thereto. That is to say, the display panel displays images by adjusting the amount of transmission of the light radiated from the lighting unit. Hence, the lighting unit has a very important meaning in image display.
The lighting unit in the non-light-emitting type of display equipment employs either the edge-light scheme (light-guiding plate scheme), the directly downward lighting scheme (reflection plate scheme), the plane-like light source scheme, or the like. (Bibliography: "Liquid-Crystal Display Technology," pp. 252-256, published on Nov. 8, 1996 by Sangyo Tosho K. K., and "Full-Color Liquid-Crystal Display Technology," pp. 201-202, published on Feb. 26, 1990 by K. K. Toriqueps). The edge-light scheme or the directly downward lighting scheme is mainly used for medium-size and larger types of LCD equipment.
Also, a hybrid scheme, a combination of the above-mentioned edge-light scheme and directly downward lighting scheme, has been proposed in recent years.
Examples of existing lighting units employing the hybrid scheme are shown in FIGS. 28 and 29. The general configuration of hybrid-scheme lighting units is explained using the example of FIG. 28. A light unit of the hybrid scheme is composed principally of reflection plate 450, a plurality of light sources 110a to 110c arranged in parallel on the reflection plate, a plurality of light-guiding plates 290a to 290d arranged along the longitudinal direction of the light sources, a plurality of semi-transmitting reflection means 605a to 605c arranged directly above the light sources, and light diffusion means 740 provided on the entire plane of the light radiating side. This configuration makes it possible under the hybrid scheme, as with the directly downward lighting scheme, to achieve a larger screen and higher luminance by increasing the number of light sources, and at the same time, to maintain the uniformity in the in-plane distribution of luminance by providing light-guiding plates. It is therefore possible under the hybrid scheme to implement easily a lighting unit more uniform in the luminance of light than under the directly downward lighting scheme, and higher in luminance than under the edge-light scheme. Technology relating to lighting units of the hybrid scheme is set forth in, for example, Japanese Application Patent Laid-Open Publication No. Hei-208631 (1990), Hei-214191 (1991), Hei-338723 (1992), Hei-282921 (1997), and Hei-149073 (1999).
By the way, liquid-crystal display (LCD) equipment consisting of such a lighting unit and an LCD panel poses the problem that resolution decreases during full-motion image display mode. According to "Technical Report on Signal Engineering", EID96-4, pp. 19-26, 1996, released by Ishiguro et al., the problem mentioned above is ascribed to the fact that the image display speed of the LCD panel, or the response speed of the liquid crystals, is low (several tens of milliseconds), in other words, that a display scheme, called the hold type, is employed. In this Report, one frame means one cycle of time in video signals. How and why image quality deteriorates during full-motion image display of the hold type is described as follows:
In normal real-image display mode, a moving object, for example, constantly moves and does not stop in the same position. In hold-type display mode, however, since even a moving object continues to be displayed at the same position during one entire frame, although the image at the proper position is displayed during a moment of one frame, an image different from the real image continues to be displayed during another moment. The human eye perceives these images by averaging them, and thus resolution decreases. Technology for solving this problem is reported in IDRC '97, pp. 203-206, 1998, issued by K. Sueoka et al. This technology makes it possible for image quality deterioration due to such averaging to be minimized for improved full-motion image quality by blinking the lighting unit and displaying an image only at a specific moment.
In general, a maximum luminance of at least 400 cd/m2 is required for television-use display equipment to achieve dynamic image quality. Therefore, to attain such a luminance level using a non-light-emitting type of display equipment such as LCD equipment, its lighting unit needs to have a high luminance falling within the range from at least 5,000 to 8,000 cd/m2, since the fact that, although this depends on resolution and/or display mode, the light transmittance of the LCD panel usually ranges from about 5 to 8 percent, must be considered. And to achieve a luminance of at least 5,000 cd/m2 using a hybrid-scheme lighting unit, there is a need to use a cold cathode-ray tube (cold cathode fluorescent lamp), which is the mainstream in light sources, to use a tube current from 5 to 6 mA in order to allow for longer light source life, and to arrange a plurality of such light sources at intervals of about several tens of millimeters (or several centimeters) in parallel. This means a further increase in the number of light sources required, and accordingly, leaves pending or poses the problem that cannot be solved by achieving the uniformity of light with the conventional light-guiding plate. This problem is described below.
Conventional lighting units of the hybrid scheme can be divided into two major types: a type with flat light-guiding plates, and a type that uses plate-shaped members of the wedge type in its cross sectional structure.
FIGS. 28 and 29 are schematic block diagrams (partly cross-sectional diagrams) of lighting units of the hybrid scheme; one lighting unit using flat light-guiding plates, and one lighting unit using wedge-type light-guiding plates.
FIG. 28 shows a lighting unit that uses flat light-guiding plates 290a to 290d, and FIG. 29 shows a lighting unit that uses wedge-type light-guiding plates 290a to 290d. Wedge-type light-guiding plates 290b and 290c in FIG. 29 are butted to the respective thin edges.
First, problems associated with the structure of a lighting unit having flat light-guiding plates are described below.
As exemplified in FIG. 28, since the light-guiding plates have a flat shape, part of the light (for example, beam 1010 in the figure) that has been radiated from the light source (here, attention is paid to light source 110a in the figure) and has entered the corresponding light-guiding plate leaks to the light source side located next (here, light source 110b in the figure). Part of the light that has leaked is absorbed or dissipated by the phosphor of the light source located next, and as a result, the light is lost and cannot be used for lighting. For a flat light-guiding plate, therefore, the problem remains unsolved that since the rate of radiated light to the light which can be used for lighting is small (namely, the utilization efficiency of the source light is low), high luminance cannot be easily obtained, and this problem also is more significant for light sources arranged at shorter intervals. Therefore, this problem cannot be ignored since it is particularly significant in the lighting unit of TV-use LCD equipment that requires an light source arrangement interval of about several tens of millimeters.
Next, problems associated with the structure of a lighting unit having wedge-type light-guiding plates are described below.
Compared with the lighting unit of FIG. 28, the lighting unit in FIG. 29 that includes light-guiding plates having a wedge-type butted plate-shaped members in their cross-sectional structure decreases in the amount of light lost by the light source located next. For this reason, the lighting unit shown in FIG. 29 offers higher luminance than that achievable using the lighting unit whose light-guiding plates are flat in shape. However, at portion 10002 (the thinnest portion) of each light-guiding plate, since its cross section has a discontinuous portion, the luminescent lines corresponding to this discontinuous portion occur and reduces the uniformity in the in-plane distribution of luminance. In addition, the distribution of light in its traveling direction, after being radiated along the light-guiding plate, changes at the thinnest portion 10002, and along with this, the distribution of light in its traveling direction, after being radiated from the lighting unit, also changes. That is to say, there occurs the problem that the repetition of changes in contrast at the boundary between the thinnest portion 10002 of the light-guiding plate and the portion directly above the light source, namely, the nonuniformity of luminance, is made perceivable to the persons 5000a and 5000b who observe from diagonal directions.
This means that for the conventional lighting units of the hybrid scheme, design considerations relating to the simultaneous achievement of the high luminance and in-plane uniformity of luminance required for the implementation of LCD equipment suitable for TV use are not contained, these requirements are difficult to satisfy at the same time.

Plane-like lighting units and display equipment provided therewith


A connection switching apparatus and system are disclosed that provide an inexpensive, high-speed and large-capacity file system having functional extensibility and enabling redundant data writing. A connection switching apparatus is provided on the side of a telecommunication circuit of a plurality of file servers. Provided within the connection switching apparatus are a communication control unit, a signal processing unit for appending a code indicating the leading end to the file identifier of a communication packet to be the leading end, a switching unit for performing connection switching to select a communication packet, a file server switching order storage unit, and a table storage unit storing in a table format a file identifier set for each file stored in the file servers are provided. When reading out a file from the file servers, the connection switching apparatus first forms a table in the table storage unit and then sends a file read out from the file servers in the order set in the table.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for controlling a file server having a plurality of disk storage units, and particularly to an apparatus for writing a file in a distributed manner into a plurality of file servers and reading out a file written in a distributed manner in a plurality of file servers.
2. Description of the Related Art
A file server is a device for writing a file received from a client connected to a telecommunication circuit into a disk storage unit and reading out a file written in a disk storage unit in accordance with a request from a client.
FIG. 16 is a view showing a structure of a conventional file server. A file server 3 stores a file received from a client 1 (communication counterpart), which is an information processing device (terminal device) such as a personal computer, via a telecommunication circuit 2. The file server 3 also reads out and sends a file to the client 1 when a read-out request is received from the client 1 as the communication counterpart.
Generally, a file is transmitted and received by packet via the telecommunication circuit 2. The file server 3 has a communication control unit 11 for discriminating and storing received packets or sending a stored file as packets. The file server 3 also has a file management unit 12 for managing a file to be stored and a disk storage unit 13 for storing a file.
By communicating with the file server 3 of FIG. 16 via the telecommunication circuit 2, the user of the client 1 can write or read out a file to or from the file server 3.
Generally, inside a CPU or the like and in a control system of a file server using a disk device, processing is carried out at a much higher speed than the speed of writing or reading out file data to or from a disk drive. Moreover, the control device bears only a light load due to a file system and communication protocols. The control device also bears only a light load for controlling individual disk drives. In short, the bottleneck of the data reading/writing speed in a file system is the reading/writing speed of the head of the disk drive.
Although the file server is very convenient to the client as described above, increasing the number of clients connected to the file server also increases the number of files to be handled and hence the storage capacity of the built-in disk storage unit 13 may become insufficient. A typical method for increasing the storage capacity is to add an external additional disk storage device or to replace the built-in disk drive with a disk drive with a large storage capacity.
However, since the storage capacity per disk drive is limited and the number of disk drives that can be managed in an ordinary operating system of a file server is also limited, the possibility of increasing capacity in a general-purpose file server is limited. Therefore, when a file server with a very large capacity is necessary, expensive disk drives having particularly large capacities must be used as individual disk drives, or an expensive and special operating system capable of managing many disk drives must be used as the operating system of the file server.
FIG. 17 is a view showing a structure of a conventional file server having a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) device. The RAID device is a storage device formed by combining a plurality of relatively inexpensive disk drives (disk storage units) in an array as one virtual logical disk drive. The RAID device is adapted for redundantly writing data of a file or the like. The RAID device is a highly reliable and highly capable disk storage device that can improve the reading/writing speed of the head of the disk drive, which is the bottleneck of the above-described general-purpose file device, by redundantly writing data to the plurality of disk drives, and can also recover data in a defective disk drive, if any, by using the other disk drives.
To redundantly write data may be, for example, to add meaningless excess data to fill a predetermined number of bits, or to write data at different locations instead of completely overwriting the previous data in the disk drives. To redundantly write data in the RAID device is generally to write the same data in at least two different disk drives or to add the difference between basic data and data of this time as parity data. Thus, the RAID device enables recovery of data in a defective disk drive, if any, by using the other disk drives.
The difference between FIG. 16 and FIG. 17 is the employment of a RAID 4 device to be managed by the file management unit 12. A RAID device 4 has disk storage units 22 and 23 for storing files therein, and has a disk management unit 21 for managing the plurality of disk storage units 22 and 23. The file management unit 12 and the RAID device 4 are connected with each other by an optical fiber circuit or the like capable of communicating a large volume of data at a high speed. The disk management unit 21 has a dedicated program. Although two disk storage units are shown in FIG. 17 for simplifying the explanation, many of the actual RAID devices have three or more disk storage units. Likewise, the RAID device 4 may employ multiple disk management units 21.
The disk management unit 21 can manage the disk storage units 22 and 23 as one disk storage unit. Therefore, since the disk storage unit 13 of the file server 3 need not have a large capacity and the file server 3 may be a general-purpose file server, a high-speed large-capacity file system can be constructed relatively inexpensively by connecting a RAID device 4 to the file server 3.
Since the RAID device 4 has a large storage capacity, loss of stored data in case of some trouble in one disk drive is overcome by redundantly (doubly) storing data in the plurality of disk drives 22 and 23 like a mirror ring, and the processing in the file server can be continued.
However, in the case where the RAID device 4 is connected to the general-purpose file server 3, though processing of a large volume of data at a high speed is made possible by using the plurality of disk drives 22 and 23 as described above, the flow of data concentrates, for example, between the file management unit 12 and the RAID device 4, and therefore a special circuit is necessary. Moreover, in order to connect to many general-purpose disk drives, a special circuit board having a dedicated program and special hardware such as a high-speed processor, a large-capacity memory device, and fiber channels for communications between the disk drives is necessary as the disk management unit 21. Therefore, there is a problem that the RAID device 4 is generally expensive even though relatively inexpensive disk drives can be used as the individual disk drives 22 and 23 in the RAID device 4.
Also in the case where the file server 3 and the RAID device 4 are assumed to constitute a file system, since the RAID device 4 is expensive even though a relative inexpensive file server can be used as the file server 3, there is a problem that the file system is expensive as a whole.
Since special hardware is used for the RAID device as described above, there is also a problem that extension of its functions is difficult.
To deal with the above-described problems, a technique of constituting a high-speed large-capacity file system by sharing disk drives between file servers, and a technique of connecting many disk drives to a file server without using a RAID device have been considered. In these cases, however, processing of software is complicated and the capability of the CPU becomes less sufficient. Moreover, program development is very time-consuming and expensive and sufficient versatility and extensibility cannot be realized.
In order to solve the conventional problems as described above, what is needed is an inexpensive, high-speed and large-capacity file system having extensible functions and enabling redundant writing of data.

Switching system duplicating file operation command according to quantity of file servers and sending writing and reading commands according to a switching order

International Business Machines Corporation


Deconvolution-based processing of ultrasonic waveforms enables robust calculation of two-way travel time for an ultrasonic caliper, particularly in the presence of multiple, proximal reflectors (e.g., mud cake, formation, casing, cement, etc.).

Oilfield operators demand access to a great quantity of information regarding the conditions encountered downhole. Such information typically includes characteristics of the earth formations traversed by the borehole and data relating to the size and configuration of the borehole itself. The collection of information relating to conditions downhole, commonly is referred to as "logging," can be performed by several methods including logging while drilling ("LWD"), measurement while drilling ("MWD"), and wireline logging.
Among the available wireline and LWD tools are a variety of acoustic logging tools including, in particular, ultrasonic "caliper" tools. Such tools employ ultrasonic signals to perform measurements, for example, measuring a distance to the borehole wall. With an appropriate set of such distance measurements, the borehole size and shape can be estimated, as well as the relative position of the tool within the borehole. The ultrasonic tools may also be used in downhole acoustic imaging for casing thickness measurement, cement evaluation for cased holes, and formation evaluation for open holes.
Ultrasonic calipers typically utilize a piezoelectric transducer in a pitch-catch mode, where a source waveform (or "pulse") is transmitted through the borehole fluids, which then reflects from (and transmits through) the formation. The reflected waveforms ("echoes") are measured as received waveforms. The piezoelectric transducer is designed such that the source waveform is preferably localized so the ring-down is sufficient so that the reflected waveforms can be measured without source waveform contamination.
Conventional ultrasonic processing has a number of disadvantages. In conventional ultrasonic caliper processing (e.g., Althoff et al., MWD Ultrasonic Caliper Advanced Detection Techniques, SPWLA 39th Annual Logging Symposium, Paper III, 1998; Market et al., Reliable LWD Caliper Measurements, SPE Offshore Europe Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition, Aberdeen, UK, SPE 146245, 2011), echo detection is typically performed by (a) cross-correlating an a priori wavelet template with the received waveforms (or "echo train"), (b) applying a time-variable gain, and (c) peak detection for calculating the two-way travel-time. However, such techniques are very vulnerable to noise (e.g., ring down waveform or noise conveyed between transducers through the tool body) and have difficulty segregating between multiple reflectors (e.g., mud cake, formation, casing, cement, etc.). Moreover, conventional techniques are not amplitude preserving (i.e., can only derive distance to borehole wall) and, therefore, cannot provide quantitative information such as acoustic impedance necessary for imaging.

Ultrasonic waveform processing using deconvolution in downhole environments


An IRD is provided with expanded self-test capabilities, both hardware and software, that will provide standardized and more precise diagnostics. The IRD runs a sequence of tests to determine the fitness of the IRD and the health of the ODU. As the tests are completed, the results are displayed on-screen and written to a report. If a test fails, the appropriate remedial action such as “reset to factory default settings”, “service call” or “replace IRD, access card, modem, ODU” is also written to the report. The IRD appends the test report to a header message and forwards it to the service provider. The satellite service provider archives the report, modifies the header message to provide customer contact information and the responsible dealer, and forwards the file to the service dealer. To improve service and accountability, the dealer may send an acknowledgement back to the service provider and customer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to satellite broadcast television and more specifically to test procedures for performing failure diagnostics on a customer IRD.
2. Description of the Related Art
Satellite television programming has become widely available and has become a popular alternative to analog broadcast and cable services. Service providers such as DIRECTV® and EchoStar Communications Corp. (Dish Network™) provide a wide variety of programming.
As shown in FIG. 1, a satellite television broadcast system 10 includes a satellite broadcast center (SBC) 12 that manages customer services and billing and stores and uplinks programming content and authorization data, one or more satellites 14 that broadcast the uplinked programming on a number of transponders, a plurality of customer sites 16 that download and play selected programming and a back channel 18 such as the public switched telephone network for communicating billing information from the customer site to the SBC 12 through a "callback" function and for communicating with customer service representatives (CSRs) at a customer service center 20.
Each customer site 16 includes an integrated receiver decoder (IRD) 22 for decrypting and decoding customer selected programming content; an antenna, a multiswitch for selection of the appropriate satellite signal, a coax cable from the antenna to the IRD, connectors, inline amplifiers and low noise block downconverter (LNBs) (collectively the outdoor unit "ODU" 24) for downloading and routing the broadcast stream to the IRD; a video display, e.g. TV, 26; and a recording device 28 such as a VCR. A digital video recorder (DVR) integrates the features of the IRD and recording device as well as many other features and services such as Tivo®. Each IRD includes universal components such as an RF tuner/demodulator for receiving a signal from the antenna, a phone modem for performing the "callback" function and a decoder for decrypting/decoding the programming content. Each IRD is paired with a removable access card 30 that is customer specific and includes security information such as decryption keys and account information such as account numbers, an access card ID number, subscribed services, rating limits and billing limits. The access card determines if the customer is authorized to watch a program, and if they are, sends an authorization to decode the audio and video packets in the broadcast stream and direct them to television 26 for viewing and/or recording device 28.
It is not uncommon that problems will occur at the customer site, which interferes with the customer's ability to select, download, decrypt or report back activity to the service provider. The source of failure can be improper installation, user error or hardware failures in the ODU, IRD or access card. The customer will typically call a CSR for assistance. At a minimum, the CSR should be able to identify the problem and take the proper remedial action such as mailing the customer a new access card, an IRD, or dispatching a technician to replace one of the ODU components. More often than not, the problem is not attributable to a hardware failure and easily fixed if it can be identified.
Unfortunately the current self-test functions of IRD, hence the information available to the CSR is very limited, at best performing a gross functional test. In most cases, the signal and tuning test only check for signal on the currently tuned transponder, the modem test verifies a dial tone, and a basic access card read test verifies communication with the access card and validates its ID number. A simple LNB polarity test is usually performed by having the customer tune to channels 100 (ODD), 999 (EVEN) and 400 (119 switching), but this only confirms a problem exists; it does not isolate the problem. Even these basic tests require the CSR to walk the customer through the on-screen menu to verify the signal levels and validate communication with the access card, which is time consuming and frustrating for the customer.
Accurately troubleshooting these problems, especially remotely, is very difficult, and not always very precise. CSRs typically work from a script and are not experienced. Different CSRs may diagnose the same failure differently, prompting the customer to make repeated calls looking for resolution to their problem. Ultimately it is the CSR's judgment call as to the problem; do they replace the IRD, the access card or dispatch a technician? Typically they will replace either the access card or the IRD, a vast majority of which have no failures when returned for repair.
The limited self-test capabilities of the IRD and the ad hoc diagnostic procedures performed by the CSRs cost the service provider time and money and reduce customer satisfaction; in some cases leading to the customer's dropping the service.

System and method for performing diagnostics for a customer IRD in a satellite television system


In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a vehicle door including fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) members is provided. The vehicle door includes a fiber reinforced plastic outer skin member which is adhesively bonded to a fiber reinforced plastic intermediate shell including lateral side walls cooperating with inner and outer faces to define an open box-like structure with a hollow, interior cavity. The adhesively bonded outer skin member and intermediate shell define a door subassembly to which a hinge mechanism is coupled for securement to a body of a partially assembled vehicle. The door subassembly and the body of the partially assembled vehicle are simultaneously painted during the on-line assembly process. A carrier plate assembly, including a window glass and regulator mechanism for controlling vertical movement of the window glass, is mountable to the inner face of the intermediate shell after the application of the paint to the door subassembly and the body of the partially assembled vehicle. A metal intrusion beam may be affixed to the outer face of the intermediate shell prior to bonding the outer skin member to the intermediate shell.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to vehicles and, more particularly, to plastic modular doors for land vehicles.
2. Discussion
Modular door assemblies for land vehicles are generally known in the art. Such modular door assemblies typically include inner and outer panels that are fixed together to form a hollow shell structure in which the door's piece of window glass and associated hardware components are located. The hardware components typically include a window regulator unit, a locking mechanism, and other electrical and mechanical assemblies required for a particular door application. Unfortunately, these hardware components are commonly inserted through relatively small access openings in the inner panel and attached thereto during the on-line assembly process. Often, this is an awkward process to be performed during the on-line assembly process.
It is known to form the outer panel of a door for a land vehicle from a plastic material due to its light weight characteristics. Unfortunately, the use of this type of outer panel also typically requires some type of inner panel structure made from metal, such as steel or the like, to provide structural support and rigidity to the door. This approach leads to problems of attaching the metal inner panel to the plastic outer panel as well as other on-line assembly problems. Additionally, the use of a totally metal inner panel structure increases the overall weight of the door and the vehicle to which it is ultimately attached.
It is therefore desirable to provide a modular door for a land vehicle that minimizes the use of metal structures while exhibiting high rigidity and strength characteristics.
More particularly, it is desirable to provide a modular door for a land vehicle including a plastic outer skin member as well as a plastic intermediate shell that are adhesively bonded to one another to form a door subassembly in order to reduce the weight of the door as well as the overall weight of the vehicle to which it is attached.
It is further desirable to provide a modular door including the above-referenced door subassembly that is secured to the body of a partially assembled vehicle for simultaneous application of paint to the door subassembly and the body during the on-line assembly process.
Yet, it is also desirable to provide a carrier plate assembly that carries a piece of window glass and associated door hardware components that may be assembled off-line and mechanically attached to the door subassembly after the application of the paint during the on-line assembly process.


A process for the production of a synthesis gas from a light hydrocarbon feed, steam and an oxygen-containing stream is provided in which the feed components are mixed to form a feed mixture. The process provides an inert disengaging zone separating the mixing zone from an active catalyst zone.

Synthesis gas ("syngas") is substantially comprised of carbon monoxide and molecular hydrogen and is generally produced from natural gas, gasified coals, or other sources of light hydrocarbons ("light hydrocarbon gas" or "feed gas"). "Light hydrocarbon gas" includes hydrocarbon gasses composed primarily of hydrocarbons having a carbon number of less than or equal to 4. Syngas is used as a feedstock for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis wherein the syngas is converted into higher molecular weight hydrocarbons, including, for example, olefins, paraffins and alcohols. In a Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbon synthesis reaction carried out at low or medium pressure, i.e. in the range of about atmospheric to 500 psig, over a cobalt catalyst the optimal H2:CO molar ratio in the syngas is about 2:1.
Three basic methods have been employed for producing synthesis gas. A first known method is steam reforming wherein one or more light hydrocarbons such as methane are reacted with steam over a reforming catalyst to form carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The steam reforming reaction is endothermic and a reforming catalyst containing nickel is often utilized.
A second known method is partial oxidation wherein one or more light hydrocarbons are combusted in the presence of a stoichiometric deficiency of oxygen to produce synthesis gas. The partial oxidation reaction is typically carried out using expensive high-purity oxygen and may proceed with or without a catalyst.
In a third known method, partial oxidation and steam reforming are combined in a process known as autothermal reforming ("ATR"), wherein air or enriched air instead of high-purity oxygen, may be used as a source of oxygen for the partial oxidation reaction. In the ATR process, the exothermic heat of partial oxidation supplies the necessary heat for the endothermic steam reforming reaction. The process may be carried out in a relatively inexpensive refractory lined carbon steel vessel whereby a cost advantage is achieved.
In conventional autothermal reactors a burner is frequently used to combust the light hydrocarbon stream with an amount of an oxidant, which may be air or oxygen-enriched air or pure oxygen. The combustion product is then passed through a reforming catalyst to convert the oxidation product into a synthesis gas at equilibrium conditions at the temperature and pressure in the autothermal reactor. A major problem with such conventional ATR reactors is the formation of soot in the high temperature region associated with the burner which represents wasted carbon and can constitute an undesirable plugging material in the catalyst bed. In order to prevent excessive soot formation, a relatively high amount of steam is used. However, higher steam levels, for example, steam to natural gas ratios in excess of 0.6:1, lead to reductions in the amount of CO produced and tend to increase the H2:CO product syngas ratio above the desired 2:1 molar ratio.
The ATR process typically results in a lower hydrogen to carbon monoxide ratio in the synthesis gas than does steam reforming alone. That is, steam reforming methods generally result in an H2:CO molar ratio of about 3:1 or higher. When the feed to the ATR process is a mixture of light shorter-chain hydrocarbons, such as a natural gas stream, some form of additional control is usually necessary to maintain the ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide in the synthesis gas at an optimum ratio of about 2:1. For this reason, steam and/or CO2 may be added to the synthesis gas reactor to adjust the H2:CO molar ratio of the syngas.
Some prior methods have employed a two-zone ATR reactor in which homogeneous combustion occurs in the first zone and reforming occurs within the second zone. However, the two-zone ATR burner typically involves a costly and complicated design to prevent mechanical degradation due to excessive temperatures. Moreover, in a two zone ATR system, the light hydrocarbon feed gas and oxygen must be completely premixed and injected within a very short residence time prior to ignition in order to prevent backlighting and/or oxidation combustion within the injection nozzle.
The burner injection system and the need for a homogeneous oxidation reaction often is a limiting factor in scale up of conventional ATR systems. Furthermore, partial reduction can lead to volatile compounds (e.g., suboxides), and subsequent mechanical degradation of the reactor walls. Additionally, the volatile suboxides may precipitate in cooler sections of the reactor downstream from the oxidation zone.
It would be desirable to provide an ATR reactor and method of producing synthesis gas which operates at a lower temperature, in an efficient manner, such that excessive amounts of soot are not produced. In particular, a reactor that can more efficiently convert a light hydrocarbon feed gas, such as natural gas, to synthesis gas without a flame and at lower temperatures would be highly desirable.

Process for production of synthesis gas using an oxygen-containing gas


A density baffle assembly for use in a water treatment system is disclosed. The density baffle assembly includes a plurality of density baffles where each density baffle comprises a corrugated panel member having an upper edge, a lower edge, a first lateral side, and a second lateral side, with a corrugated pattern running across the corrugated panel member. Each density baffle also comprises a support flange integrally connected to the upper edge of the corrugated panel member. The support flange may be affixed to a wall of the water treatment system using a fastening means. Adjacent corrugated panel members may be nested together at their lateral sides and secured to each other using a fastening means.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,205 (the '205 patent), which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, is directed to a unitary clarifier baffle and integrated baffle system. The '205 patent describes a baffle system comprising a plurality of baffles. Each baffle includes a downwardly sloping flat panel member and an integral end bracket on a first lateral side of the panel member. The integral end bracket is used to attach one side of the panel member to a tank wall of a clarifier tank and to attach the panel member to an adjacent panel member. The end brackets also provide additional support for the panel members to help stiffen the panel members along the length and width of the panel members.
It is desirable to provide a density baffle assembly that is independent of any end brackets or support brackets such as for example, those type of integral brackets used in the '205 patent, and yet is able to be securely fastened to a tank wall and still have a relatively high level of rigidity across the length and width of the baffles.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional, traditional, and proposed approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems and methods with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Molded Fiber Glass Water Treatment Products Co.


A modular ceramic protective part for a metal blowing grate (1) in a catalytic cracker regenerator, comprises a tubular nozzle portion (4) and a flange portion (6) extending substantially perpendicularly from one end thereof. The part is useful in chemical engineering.

The catalytic cracking of hydrocarbons is a process which is widely used for producing fuels, in particular for automobiles, which takes place in the vapor phase at a temperature of between 500.degree. and 700.degree. C.
The equipment includes three main elements, namely the reactor, the regenerator and the separator.
The catalyst circulates between the reactor and the regenerator inside transfer tubes. One of them conveys the catalyst to the regenerator, while the other is taken by the regenerated activating agent returning to the reactor.
This catalyst is a solid pulverulent material, in general an aluminosilicate of the zeolite type with a particle size between 20 and 150 .mu.m having a large surface area.
The critical part of this equipment is the regenerator, the base of which includes a perforated metal piece, referred to as the blowing or injection grate. The latter is either flat or curved, which is the most general case.
It is through this grate that a hydrocarbon/ catalyst/air mixture is introduced into the regenerator. The perforations of this grate are equipped with stainless steel nozzles referred to as injectors. At these injectors, acting as venturis, rapid vaporization of the mixture into the regeneration chamber takes place, which gives it a speed of the order of 100 m/s. The catalyst thus entrained at high speed is particularly abrasive. Wear occurs on the injection region and on the top of the grate.
When the mixture enters the regenerator proper, which has a diameter of 3.5 m to 11 m depending on the processing capacity, an abrupt decrease in the flow speed of the gas flow takes place as a result of the change in the passage cross sections, which causes the reaction mixture to be separated into 2 phases. The catalyst remains essentially in the lower part of the regenerator, where it constitutes a layer which is subjected to very strong turbulent movements that are particularly damaging to the covering, but the surface of which remains in steady state, at a constant level just like a liquid.
Because of this abrasion and the temperature prevailing in the regenerator, the top of the injection grate should be equipped with an abrasion-resistant refractory covering which should also withstand the very strong vibrations caused by the turbulence, or else be degraded rapidly.
FR-A-2 569 828 or U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,447 describe a wear-resistant refractory lining formed by anchoring a layer of refractory material, such as a concrete, using special metal elements welded onto a casing to be protected.
This solution requires very long assembly and repair times, and a high degree of erosion/corrosion also remains at the passages. This solution improves the lifetime of the grate, but not the lifetime of the nozzles housed in the passages. Concrete and nozzles must be replaced at each shutdown.
In order to improve this situation, electrofused ceramic nozzles may be substituted in place of the stainless steel nozzles.
The current solution which has to date been most successful therefore consists in jointly using a lining of the abovementioned type and tubular ceramic parts forming nozzles, obtained by melting, casting and molding a mixture consisting essentially of alumina, zirconia and silica. The nozzles are housed in each of the holes in the grate which form the injection passages, and are held in place by a metal collar which also makes it possible to compensate for the differential expansion between the steel grate and each ceramic nozzle.
An assembly of this type is produced in three steps:
fitting the ceramic nozzles, with their metal collar, in the passages in the grate, then welding the metal collar onto the grate, PA1 fitting the metal elements for anchoring the refractory concrete, outside the passage regions, and welding these elements onto the grate, and PA1 pouring the refractory concrete. PA1 Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 =45-51%, ZrO.sub.2 =32-41%, SiO.sub.2 =12-16%, Na.sub.2 O and/or K.sub.2 O32 1-1.2% and the sum MgO+CaO+Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3 +TiO.sub.3 .ltoreq.0.3%.
In the event of partial repair being required, it is difficult to repair only a highly localized region and the repair time is long, which leads to down time for the cracking unit.
The weak point in this current solution therefore remains the concrete which must be replaced fully or partially at each shutdown in order to try to obtain periods of operation of the order of 6 years, while after 9 years of operation only about 10% of the total number of the ceramic nozzles would need to be replaced.
There is therefore a requirement for protection which is more effective and easier to produce than those currently known.

Blowing grate of a catalytic cracking unit regenerator, containing modular ceramic parts

Societe Europeenne Des Produits Refractaires


A dial plate structure of a vehicular combination meter includes a dial plate; a light guide disposed back side of the dial plate, the light guide receiving light from a three-dimensional scale light source incident upon a proximal end side thereof; three-dimensional scale marks protruding and disposed on a distal end side of the light guide, the three-dimensional scale marks protruding from through holes perforated in the dial plate; a dimming white print formed on the back surface of the dial plate; and a hard coat clear print formed on the back surface of the dial plate so as to cover at least portions of the dimming white print opposed to the three-dimensional scale marks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a dial plate structure and an automotive meter.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dial plates for automotive meters include an index portion and a ground color portion that forms a background for the index portion. The index portion and the ground color portion are generally formed through printing on a substrate, so that the dial plate is viewed planarly.
A known technique that causes the dial plate to be viewed three-dimensionally uses a previously printed flat substrate that is deformed by protruding molding or drawing to thereby form an inclined surface or irregularities on the dial plate. This technique allows the dial plate surface to have a three-dimensional look.
The technique is not, however, suitable for three-dimensionally molding only a limited area on which the index portion is formed and, unfortunately, is not capable of molding the index portion into a sharp form, as noted by the substrate being rounded for curvature of the wall thickness thereof.
A dial plate structure has been developed that further enhances design appearance of an automotive meter. The dial plate structure includes a three-dimensional scale disposed on an illuminating light guide member disposed beneath a dial plate. The three-dimensional scale protrudes from a through hole open at a corresponding portion in the dial plate, thus constituting a three-dimensional scale structure (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-106873).
The pointer instrument disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-106873 includes, as illustrated in FIGS. 6A to 6C, a pointer and an indicating plate (dial plate) 501 to be indicated by the pointer. The indicating plate 501 is disposed to have a circularly arcuate arrangement format along the rotational path of the pointer. The indicating plate 501 includes an index portion 503 to be pointed by the pointer and a ground color portion 505 that assumes a background for the index portion 503. The index portion 503 includes scale portions 507 and indicia portions 509 associated with the scale portions 507.
The ground color portion 505 includes a first ground color portion 511 and a second ground color portion 513. The first ground color portion 511 is formed into a band shape along the scale portions 507 to thereby form a background for the scale portions 507. The second ground color portion 513 is formed around the first ground color portion 511, part of the second ground color portion 513 forming a background for the indicia portions 509.
The indicating plate 501 has openings (through holes) 515 that correspond to the scale portions 507. An indicating member (light guide) 517 is disposed at the back of the indicating plate 501. The indicating member 517 includes a base portion 519 that extends in a band shape along a back surface of the indicating plate 501 and protruding portions 521 that protrude toward the side of the indicating plate from the base portion 519 (see FIG. 6C). The protruding portions 521 protrude on the indicating plate from the openings 515 to thereby form part of the scale portions 507. The protruding portions 521 are provided in plurality, each having an outline shape corresponding to the internal shape of the corresponding opening 515 in the indicating plate 501. A coloring layer 523 is formed on the surface of each of the protruding portions 521.
The foregoing arrangements result in the protruding portions 521, each having a three-dimensional structure protruding on the indicating plate, being visually recognized as a three-dimensional scale corresponding to the scale portions 507 of the indicating plate 501.
The above-described dial plate structure that includes the index portion 503 in the openings 515 formed at a corresponding portion of the indicating plate 501 is, however, very often provided with a dial plate back surface print (print layer) 525, such as a design print and a dimming print, on the back surface of the indicating plate 501, as illustrated in FIG. 7. It is noted that a print void portion 527 of, for example, a numeral may be formed according to the indicia portions 509 for the dial plate back surface print 525. Such a dial plate back surface print 525 is generally soft. If the protruding portions 521 have an angular shape, therefore, the dial plate back surface print 525 may be damaged when the indicating member 517 is mounted on the back of the indicating plate 501 to thereby cause the protruding portions 521 to protrude on the indicating plate through the openings 515. It is difficult to simultaneously fit the protruding portions 521 into the respective openings 515. Meanwhile, use of an assembly jig, for example, can minimize damage, but results in reduced workability and increased manufacturing cost.

Dial plate structure and automotive meter


An apparatus for treating an exposed surface. The apparatus has an elongate support with a proximal region and a distal region. The proximal region is engagable by a user to controllably reposition the elongate support and thereby situate the distal region at an exposed surface to be treated. At least one elongate element is provided at the distal region of the elongate support. The at least one elongate element is moveable at the distal region to repeatedly contact an exposed surface at which the elongate element is situated to thereby separate matter from an exposed surface at which the elongate element is situated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to exposed surfaces with separable, discrete matter thereon and, more particularly, to an apparatus for separating, and potentially controllably removing, the matter from those surfaces.
2. Background Art
Cargo ships, especially dry-bulk cargo and liquid-bulk cargo ships, are used to transport a wide range of products and materials on waterways worldwide. In one known dry-bulk cargo ship construction, multiple cargo holds are formed in the ship's hull to accept bulk quantities of particulate material. Each cargo hold is bounded by a ferrous wall structure and has an overhead access for loading and unloading of the materials. A typical cargo hold may have length and width dimensions on the order of 100 feet, a height on the order of 60 feet, and in excess of 220,000 square feet of exposed, interior, surface area.
A description of the transportation of powdered cement in a dry bulk cargo ship will be provided hereinbelow to demonstrate some of the problems that have plagued this industry. In a typical operation, a cargo hold will be filled with the cement at a load port. At the destination port, the cement is discharged. Loading and discharge of the cement is carried out using any of a number of different, well-known techniques and equipment. These techniques are designed to remove the majority, but not all of the bulk cargo. The balance of the residual cargo, as well as residues of previous cargo, other debris, loose rust, scale, loose paint and other potential contaminants such as stains, must also be removed prior to loading another cargo at the same or a different load port.
In the event that the hold is refilled with cement, the preparation of the hold for reloading may be minimal. However, if the next cargo is different, all interior surfaces of the hold, including the walls of the hold, may have to be thoroughly cleaned so as to not contaminate the new product with the cement residue that adheres to the walls, overhead and other structures, fittings within the hold, and hatch covers.
Heretofore, the cleaning of the walls and other surfaces within a cargo hold has been time and labor intensive and has further required relatively expensive equipment. Ladders are sometimes used to clean the lower areas of the hold, and a lift structure is often introduced to each hold to clean the upper areas. Each lift consists of a self-powered vehicle with a repositionable support for a bucket, within which a worker resides during the cleaning process. The vehicle must be strategically maneuvered into different locations to allow the worker to access the full areal expanse of the cargo hold wall.
The shipping industry has utilized the above techniques for decades and has contended with a number of problems associated therewith due to the fact that better alternatives have not been available, especially to clean inaccessible areas of the hold and hatch covers. First of all, this type of cleaning equipment is relatively expensive for a number of reasons, including the necessary delivery time and costs from anchor. The cleaning of the ship is very slow because only a few workers on the lift are able to clean the ship at one time. When working from ladders, additional labor is required to hold the base of the ladder, further depleting the normally available labor pool and slowing the overall cleaning operation. The refilling and deployment of the ships are therefore delayed, with a consequent loss of revenue.
Second, these conventional vehicles require that the workers be elevated to heights that are inherently dangerous. Personnel manning these vehicles must be trained and certified in their operation, and thus have a relatively high skill level and must exercise extreme care to avoid injury. This type of labor is generally expensive and often unavailable at cleaning locations to meet demands. The use of ladders at this height also causes workers to be precariously situated.
Third, the size and configuration of a hold may limit the number of vehicles that can function at the same time therein. The use of a single vehicle in each hold may delay the cleaning process for days, during which cleaning and docking expenses are incurred without any generation of revenue.
Fourth, if multiple vehicles are operated at the same time in a given hold, an even higher level of skill in operation may be required to coordinate the efforts of the workers in an efficient and safe manner and to place additional lifts into the hold of a rocking ship with a crane. In addition to the risk to workers, lift equipment is often damaged during these maneuvers. Safety and efficiency are further challenged by reason of the fact that these operations, to remove fine particulate cement, may cause the particles to be entrained in the air and completely fill the space in the hold, which impairs visibility and additionally exposes the workers to health risks associated with inhalation of these particles.
Fifth, these vehicles are generally powered by fuels that cause byproduct emissions that become confined in the hold. This introduces an additional health risk to the workers and limits the times when the ship can be cleaned. During periods of precipitation, the holds cannot be cleaned due to the dangerous emissions which accumulate when the holds are covered to keep them dry.
The shipping industry is highly competitive. Consequently, efficiency becomes a primary focus of those in this industry. A ship in port is doing nothing more for its owner/operator/charterer than generating expenses. Any crew that is not participating in the cleaning process is being paid for down time. Docking, fuel, and other fees accrue on a daily basis. Charter times are usually calculated in six minute intervals. Thus, it is clearly in the interest of the owner/operator to quickly, safely and efficiently clean the cargo holds and refill the same to allow transportation of materials and generation of income after the ship is certified clean and placed "on hire". Unfortunately, an emphasis on efficiency may cause a compromise in safety in the cleaning operations. Even on an expedited schedule, however, the preparation of five to nine separate cargo holds may take as long as 3-5 days, or longer.
Many of the above problems are inherent to cargo ship holds by reason of their significant expanse. However, other exposed surfaces in those environments in which discrete, pourable matter is stored and/or conveyed present a particular problem to those that are required to treat them, either by reason of separating matter therefrom or applying a surface preparation product thereto.
There are a number of exposed surfaces, both flat and contoured, that exist in cargo holds, on hatch covers, and in other environments, that require special measures to separate adhered matter. The matter may be foreign matter that becomes adhered to a surface by reason of contact with that surface, such as in the event of a separately stored material that contacts the surface. Alternatively, the matter may have been generated from the surface itself, be it by rust, corrosion, loose paint, interaction with a component, or infliction of some damage to the surface. Regardless of the origin of the matter, it is often present in such a manner that it is either a) adhered with a significant tenacity to the surface or b) located at a contour such that is not readily accessible to be dislodged, as by a brush or scraper.
As noted above, these conditions may be present in ship cargo holds and other environments, such as silos, storage tanks, barns etc. Further, this condition is not peculiar to environments in which materials are stored. As one example, material conveyors have surfaces which support matter and otherwise come into contact with the matter that must be cleaned during use. For purposes of explanation herein, the number of the field conditions with which the present invention is adapted to address will be described with respect to the shipping industry, with it being understood that the application is not so limited.
In a ship's cargo hold, a number of surface configurations are routinely encountered. In addition, each cargo hold may have its own unique configuration which impairs access and complicates the process of separating matter from exposed surfaces thereon.
Typical to ship holds are corners at which side walls, floors, and ceiling surfaces meet. Ladders and stairs for ingress and egress are also common to this environment. A crew cleaning a ship's cargo hold can also anticipate encountering ledges, hatches with various recessed contours, etc. It is also common in the shipping industry to bound cargo holds with corrugated panels and steel beams.
Heretofore, those cleaning ship cargo holds have had essentially two options. The first option is to use currently available equipment to access these hard-to-reach areas directly by the worker on a lift or ladder. This typically involves using lifts for higher surfaces to situate the worker in close proximity to the particular condition. While some such surfaces may be reasonably accessible, most surfaces are not, due in part to their height. At some locations, the matter to be separated, by reason of this inaccessibility due to either height or some obstruction, may be accessed as by a blast of pressurized air, which causes light particles to become entrained in the surrounding area. As previously noted, this creates a health risk to the workers and also potentially obstructs vision.
Some structures also create other unique conditions that must be contended with by those cleaning surfaces in these environments. For example, at upwardly facing ledges and other transition areas, a significant accumulation of matter may occur. Breaking up a large accumulation of such matter typically is accomplished by directly accessing the accumulations, potentially at dangerously high locations. Alternatively, blasting such accumulations may aggravate the aforementioned problem of entraining the lighter particles, which creates health risks and obscures workers' vision within the hold.
Accordingly, a second option in the industry to avoid these time consuming efforts is to focus the cleaning operation on bulk recovery, without spending the time required to separate matter by accessing these surfaces. This practice may contribute to the deterioration of surfaces over time. The residue may also contaminate subsequently loaded materials. This latter option is almost inevitable in certain environments in which surface intricacies are such that it would be impractical for workers to directly access and/or break loose the matter at a number of different locations.
As eluded to above, the cleaning process is not limited to separately adhered matter, but may also involve removing stain and rust and scale that is adhered with a tenacity sufficient that it is not easily broken loose, as by a brush passing thereagainst. Consequently, there is a need to take other measures to remove this type of potential contaminant. In a large volume space, in which there may be over 220,000 square feet of surface to treat, such a cleaning operation may represent an enormous amount of down time as crews maneuver and use equipment that requires that the ship be at rest in port.
Another operation that is commonly undertaken is the application of a component preparatory to storage of a particular type of material. Ideally, an additive would be applied to each surface which the material contacts. This may be a labor intensive process, particularly in large spaces wherein workers have been required to be placed in close proximity to the surfaces to which the additive is applied. Conventional application techniques may be inadequate to apply the additive to surfaces that are intricate, in tight spaces, or not readily accessible.
The shipping industry has for the most part contended with the above problems, most notable which are significant down time, expensive cleaning processes, and potentially ineffective cleaning of ship cargo holds. The industry continues to be in need of improved methods and apparatus for cleaning foreign matter from, and treating, such surface areas.

Apparatus for separating matter from an exposed surface


A method for controlling routing information for intellectual peripherals (IPs) in a subscriber-based ring-back-tone service. The routing information to be routed to IPs (50) corresponding to subscribers is classified on a subscriber telephone number-by-number basis, a subscriber telephone office number-by-number basis, a subscriber telephone office number group-by-group basis or a subscriber's major activity area-by-area basis according to a selection. The classified routing information is set and registered in a home location register (HLR) (10). When the HLR (10) receives a location registration request message from a terminal of an arbitrary subscriber, a corresponding routing information item to be routed to an IP (50) corresponding to the subscriber's terminal among the classified, set and registered routing information is contained within a response message to the location registration request message, and the response message is provided to a terminating mobile switching center (T MSC) (32).

There is conventionally used a method for allowing a terminating mobile switching center (MSC) to provide a uniform ring back tone to a caller when the caller tries to make a telephone call in an existing mobile communication network. However, since the conventional method uniformly provides the same ringing tone, the caller cannot determine the existence of a wrong connection until a called party makes a response.
There has been recently proposed a method for providing advertising jingles in place of the uniform ring back tone. The proposed method provides a specified advertising jingle selected by a communication network provider to a subscriber. At this time, the subscriber is not entitled to select a desired advertising jingle. Where the subscriber hears the specified advertising jingle, the communication network provider provides a predetermined free tall time to the caller. The proposed method also has a problem that the caller cannot determine the existence of a wrong connection until a called party makes a response. Furthermore, the proposed method has another problem that various ring back tones desired by the subscriber cannot be provided.
To address the above-described problems, methods for providing a subscriber-based ring-back-tone service which services, to the caller, a specified sound registered or selected by the called subscriber in place of an existing ring back tone, have been previously proposed by the applicant of the present invention. The previously proposed methods will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing the subscriber-based ling-back-tone service using a terminating mobile switching center (MSC) previously proposed by the applicant of the present invention. This method is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 2002-0010006 filed on Feb. 25, 2002.
First, if an arbitrary caller sends a call connection request to a service subscriber (hereinafter, referred to as a "called subscriber") using the caller's terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a "calling terminal"), a corresponding originating MSC (O_MSC) 31 requests that a home location register (HLR) 10 provide destination location information (S101).
In response to the destination location information request, the HLR 10 requests that a terminating MSC (T_MSC) 32 provide routing information (S102). The T_MSC 32 provides, to the HLR 10, the routing information, i.e., a temporary local directory number (TLDN), as a response to the request (S103).
The HLR 10 makes a response to the destination location information request contained at the above step S101 by sending the routing information to the O_MSC 31 (S104). Then, the O_MSC 31 sends an ISDN User Part (ISUP) call connection request to the T_MSC 32 on the basis of the routing information and then establishes a communication path between the O_MSC 31 and the T_MSC 32(S105).
If the T_MSC 32 receives location information of a corresponding called terminal from the HLR 10 when registering the location information of the corresponding called terminal therein, and then determines that the called terminal corresponds to a service subscriber and is in a service activation state on the basis of service setting information and routing information to be routed to an intellectual peripheral (IP) 50 previously stored in its own device (or a visitor location register (VLR)), the T_MSC 32 sends the ISUP call connection request to the IP 50, establishes a trunk communication path between the T_MSC 32 and the IP 50 and provides originating and terminating telephone numbers to the IP 50 (S106). As a result, a common communication path is established between the O_MSC 31, the T_MSC 32 and the IP 50. For reference, the service setting information and routing information are contained in a location registration response message that is sent from the HLR 10 to the T_MSC 32 when the location information of the corresponding called terminal is registered.
On the basis of the originating and terminating telephone numbers, the IP 50 requests that an IP server 70 provide a sound code (S107). In response to the request, the IP server 70 searches for the sound code linked to the received originating and terminating telephone numbers and transfers the searched sound code to make a response to the request contained at the above step S107 (S108). The IP 50 sends a replacement sound corresponding to the transferred sound code to the calling terminal through the established communication path in place of a ring back tone (S109).
If the called subscriber receives a telephone call while the replacement sound is transferred in place of the ring back tone, the T_MSC 32 recognizes the fact that the called subscriber has received the telephone call, and sends an ISUP call release request to the IP 50 so that the IP 50 can release an ISUP call (S110). Simultaneously, communication between the caller and the called subscriber is performed over the communication path between the O_MSC 31 and the T_MSC 32 (S111).
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method for providing the subscriber-based ring-back-tone service using an originating mobile switching center (MSC) previously proposed by the applicant of the present invention. This method is disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 2002-0047212 filed on Aug. 9, 2002.
First, if an arbitrary caller sends a call connection request to a terminal (or called terminal) of a service subscriber hereinafter, referred to as a "called subscriber") using the caller's terminal (hereinafter, referred to as a "calling terminal"), a corresponding originating MSC (O_MSC) 31 requests that a home location register (HLR) 10 provide destination location information (S201).
In response to the destination location information request, the HLR 10 requests that a terminating MSC (T_MSC) 32 provide routing information (S202). The T-MSC 32 provides, to the HLR 10, the routing information, i.e., a temporary local directory number (TLDN), as a response to the request (S203).
The HLR 10 makes a response to the destination location information request contained at the above step S201 by sending the routing information to the O_MSC 31. When making the response, the HLR 10 confirms a subscriber profile and determines whether a corresponding called party is a service subscriber, i.e., whether the called terminal is subscribed to the service (S204).
If the corresponding called party is not a service subscriber, the HLR 10 contains only the TLDN within a response message to the destination location information request, and sends the response message to the O_MSC 31 (S205-1). On the other hand, if the corresponding called party is the service subscriber, the HLR 10 contains service setting information and routing information (e.g., routing digits used for routing information to an intellectual peripheral (IP) 50) to be routed to the IP 50 within the response message, and sends the response message to the O_MSC 31 (S205-2).
In response to the response message from the HLR 10 according to a result of the performance of the above step S205-1 or S205-2, the O_MSC 31 sends a trunk (or ISUP) call connection request to only the T-MSC 32 and then establishes a communication path between the O_MSC 31 and the T_MSC 32 (S206). At this time, the O_MSC 31 selectively sends the ISUP call connection request to the IP 50 and then establishes a communication path between the O_MSC 31 and the IP 50 (S207).
If the communication path has been established between the O_MSC 31 and the IP 50 at the above step S207, the IP 50 requests an IP server 70 to provide a sound code on the basis of originating and terminating telephone numbers (S208). In response to the request, the IP server 70 searches for the sound code linked to received originating and terminating telephone numbers and transfers the searched sound code to make a response to the sound code request contained at the above step S208 (S209). The IP 50 sends a replacement sound corresponding to the transferred sound code to the calling terminal through the established communication path in place of a ring back tone (S210).
If the called terminal receives a telephone call while the replacement sound is transferred in place of the ring back tone, the O_MSC 31 recognizes the fact that the called terminal has received the telephone call and sends an ISUP call release request to the IP 50 so that the IP 50 can release an ISUP call (S211). Simultaneously, communication between a caller and a called subscriber is performed over the communication path between the O_MSC 31 and the T_MSC 32 (S212).
Since the number of service subscribers is small when a service is initially provided, a single IP 50 or a small number of IPs 50 are shared between a plurality of MSCs 31 and 32 that are distributed throughout the nation. However, where the number of service subscribers increases, there is a problem in that trunk resources coupled to the single IP 50 or the small number of IPs 50 are concentratedly and excessively occupied and hence a service disable state can be caused.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for controlling routing information for intellectual peripherals in subscriber-based ring-back-tone-service


One embodiment of a manual safety vegetable cutter has a frame which is supported on feet and which is provided with two parallel longitudinal uprights. The uprights define two guiding rails for a carriage which can be moved back and forth in translation and which are connected by means of a plate for adjusting the cutting width. At least one cutting blade is mounted transversely between the longitudinal uprights. The vegetable cutter is provided with at least one removable disc-cutting cartridge which can be inserted longitudinally between the uprights of the frame and which comprises a first edge, on which the cutting blade is mounted This disc-cutting cartridge is provided with gripping elements which co-operate with positioning elements provided on the frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manual safety vegetable cutter for both domestic and professional use.
According to the invention, the word "vegetables" should be understood in a very broad sense and the vegetables which are cut may be not only any type of vegetable in the strict sense, but also fruit or other foods suitable for being cut.
2. Description of Related Art
There are currently on the market various types of manual vegetable cutter which have in common that they are not very practical and expose their users to serious risks of cuts to the hands.
At the same time, there are also many vegetable cutters or electric food processors of a versatile nature intended for domestic use or for industries or collectives.
As a general rule, however, these are sophisticated appliances which, in addition to their high cost, often have the disadvantage of being inconvenient to use and also difficult to clean.
In order to overcome this disadvantage, in accordance with the document FR 2 825 043, a simple, practical and inexpensive manual vegetable cutter has been proposed which enables the cutting characteristics to be varied selectively.
This known device, which is referred to by experts as a "slicer" comprises:                a frame which is supported on feet, which can preferably be folded up, and which is provided with two parallel longitudinal uprights which define, on the one hand, two guiding rails for a carriage which can be moved back and forth in translation and which delimits, at the inner portion thereof, a space for receiving vegetables to be cut, and which are portion thereof, a space for receiving vegetables to be cut, and which are connected, on the other hand, by means of a plate which is mounted so as to be moveable in translation between these uprights, perpendicularly to the displacement axis of the carriage in order to allow the cutting width to be adjusted, and        at least one cutting blade which is mounted transversely between the longitudinal uprights facing an edge or first edge of the plate for adjusting the cutting width in order to define an aperture for the passage of the cut vegetables.
In a vegetable cutter of this type known from the prior art, the carriage is constituted, on the one hand, by a cylindrical guide chamber which is open at the upper portion thereof and which is provided, at the lower portion thereof, with a substantially rectangular collar, two of the opposing edges of which are folded down in order to define two grooves which co-operate with the guiding rails and, on the other hand, by a push-button which fits on or in the guide chamber and which is intended to be gripped manually by the user in order to move the carriage along the guiding rails with a pressure being applied continuously to the vegetables which are contained in the receiving space in order to press them against the cutting blade and allow them to be cut by this blade.
This safety vegetable cutter has the advantage of enabling many different types of preparation to be readily performed (smooth or corrugated discs, crinkle-cutting, dicing, . . . ) and has therefore been very well received by users.
It also has many other advantages which are connected, in particular, to its compactness for storage, and also its easy maintenance, particularly using a dishwasher.
However, it has been found from experience that the adjusting system for the cutting blades can be difficult to manipulate and may also expose users to cutting risks.