The present invention provides a method for producing N-acyl carbamate in high yield. The method of the present invention comprises the step of reacting an unsaturated acid halide with a carbamate in the presence of a hindered amine. Another method of the present invention comprises the step of reacting a N,N-diacyl carbamate with an active hydrogen compound.

The present inventors have developed N-acyl carbamate represented by the formula: ##STR1## wherein, R is hydrogen or a lower alkyl group and R' is a residual group obtained by removing a hydroxyl group from a monovalent alcohol; in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 275259/1986, 275260/1986, 275270/1986 and 66563/1992, and also have developed the use thereof.
This N-acyl carbamate is prepared by reacting the compound which has the metal salt of an amide group represented by the formula: ##STR2## wherein, A is a 1-alkylvinyl group or an alkoxy group, and M.sup.+ is a metal cation; with the compound represented by the formula: ##STR3## wherein, X is halogen, and B is an alkoxy group or a 1-alkyl vinyl group; in an inert solvent, as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 66563/1992. In this method, aprotic solvents such as a hydrocarbon, ether, ester, ketone, nitrile and the like, are exemplified as the inert solvent.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 279666/1990 discloses a method for producing an acyl carbamate in which an acid amide and a dicarbonate are reacted in the presence of a metal salt. 2-Butanol is exemplified as a solvent.
However, especially in case of producing N-methacryloyl carbamate, some problems may occur. For example, yield of the product decreases depending on a kind of the base compound used. When a metallic base is used as the base compound, the salt thereof with amide or the metal salt formed has low solubility in an organic solvent, and yield of the product extremely lowers. On the other hand, when an organic base is used as the base compound, the salt thereof is soluble in an organic solvent. However, N,N-dimethacryloyl carbamate is mainly produced, and an objective compound, N-methacryloyl carbamate is obtained in low yield.


An antistatic coat of the present invention coats a surface of a base body so as to prevent accumulation of electric charges in the base body, the antistatic coat having a multi-layers structure comprising at least one antistatic layer, and the antistatic layer being disposed between the base body and an outermost surface layer of the antistatic coat. On the back surface side of a thermal transfer sheet, there is formed a heat resistant slip layer through an antistatic layer, or a heat resistant slip layer containing a conductive material. Sulfonated polyaniline, a conductive carbon black having primary particle size of up to 40 nm and specific surface of at least 130 m.sup.2 /g, and a conductive carbon black having an oil absorption of at least 75 ml/100 g are favorable conductive material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antistatic coat suitable for coating a surface, in particular, a friction surface of a base body. In addition, the present invention relates to a thermal transfer sheet having an excellent antistatic property on the back surface side thereof, on which a friction is inflicted by a heating member such as a thermal head or the like. Furthermore, the present invention relates to an antistatic agent effectively used for manufacturing the above antistatic coat and the thermal transfer sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been various problems caused by the accumulation of static electric charges in such various film shaped products and resinous articles as a packaging material for electronic parts, an OHP film, a thermal transfer sheet or the like. There are proposed various methods for preventing the accumulation of static electric charges in the film shaped products. A cationic surface active agent is widely used as an antistatic agent. Although the above method using the cationic surface active agent is convenient and easily applicable method, the durability of the antistatic effect is not sufficient.
A thermal transfer sheet is explained as the principal example of the film shaped products, hereinbelow.
As a thermal transfer sheet, there are known a sublimation type thermal transfer sheet in which a dye layer comprising a sublimation dye and a binder is disposed on one surface of a substrate film such as a polyester film or the like, and a heat fusion type thermal transfer sheet in which an ink layer comprising a wax and a pigment, in place of the above dye layer, is disposed on the substrate film. Such a thermal transfer sheet is image-wise heated from its back surface side by the thermal head to transfer the dye of the dye layer or the ink of the ink layer to the image-receiving material, thus forming an image.
In case that an image is formed by the thermal head with the use of the above thermal transfer sheet, and when the substrate film is made of a thermoplastic resin like a polyester film or the like, a surface electrical resistance of the surface contacted by the thermal head is as high as at least 10.sup.14 (.OMEGA.), thus inducing static electricity in the process of forming the image to accumulate electric charges thereon.
When the electric charges are accumulated on the thermal transfer sheet, dusts or the like are attracted to the surface thereof, as a result, the dusts or the like are attached onto the thermal head, thus lowering the resolution of the formed image. In addition, similarly, the electric charges are accumulated on the image-receiving material such as papers, lowering a conveying ability of the image-receiving material. Furthermore, in worse case, there may occur sparks when the thermal transfer roll or the image-receiving material is replaced or inserted. In addition, there may be cases that human bodies are shocked.
As a method to overcome the above problems, there is known a method that an antistatic layer is formed on the back surface of the thermal transfer sheet. However, when the antistatic layer is formed with the use of a surface active agent or the like, there is caused a sticking on the thermal transfer sheet. In addition, there is the following problem when the thermal transfer sheet is rolled, the antistatic agent is transferred to the coloring material layer, or in reverse, the coloring material is transferred to the back surface of the thermal transfer sheet. Furthermore, together with the above problems, there is a further problem that the antistatic effect of the antistatic layer lowers as the time passes.
As another method, there is a method in which a conductive layer is formed with the combined use of a binder and a conductive agent like a conductive carbon black. However, according to the above method, the thermal head severely wears, in addition, when the thermal transfer sheet except a black color one is used, the image-receiving material becomes black as a whole, thus deteriorating appearance thereof, and furthermore, it becomes difficult to detect the detecting mark formed on the thermal transfer sheet.
As further another method, there is proposed a method in which an antistatic layer is formed with the use of an acrylic resin containing a quaternary ammonium salt (refer to Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2-182,491). However, according to the above method, since the quaternary ammonium salt comprises chlorine ion or bromine ion in general, the thermal head is remarkably corroded by such a halogen ion, thus causing another problem.
Furthermore, since the thermal head is heated at a high temperature, the thermal head is stuck to the substrate film, thus deteriorating an excellent mobility of the thermal head to cause breakage and wrinkles in the thermal transfer sheet.
As a method to solve the above problems, there is known a method in which a back surface layer comprising a heat resistance resin is formed on the contact surface to the thermal head. However, it is difficult in the above method to form such a thin film with the use of the heat resistance resin as not to lower a sensitivity thereof. Furthermore, even if such a thin film can be formed, it cannot afford a sufficient slipping ability, and resulting in an insufficient mobility of the thermal head.
On the other hand, there is known a method in which a slip layer is formed on the outermost surface of the back surface with the use of a silicone oil or silicone wax. However, since the silicone oil or silicone wax has a lower film strength, the slip layer thus formed is scraped off by the thermal head, and thus scraped slip layer deposits on the surface of the thermal head as the head grime, resulting in a poor printing.
In addition, it is impossible to form both of the antistatic layer and slip layer at the outermost position of the back surface.
More specifically, when the antistatic layer is formed on the outermost surface of the friction surface such as the contact surface with the thermal head, the remarkably excellent antistatic effect can be obtained. However, on the other hand, the durability of the antistatic effect is insufficient, and, the sticking on the surface of the thermal head and the contamination of the antistatic layer are caused. In addition, the bad influence to the other articles such as the image receiving sheet, the thermal head or the like was inflicted by the antistatic layer, for example, the contamination of the coloring material layer, the wear or corrosion of the thermal head. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide the friction surface of the products with not only antistatic property, but also other functions such as heat resistance and slipping ability. However, when the antistatic layer is formed on the outermost surface of the friction surface, the other functions which is necessary for the friction surface are sacrificed.

Antistatic coat, thermal transfer sheet having antistatic property and antistatic agent


A restriction condition extraction apparatus specifies operation targets including a first target and another target related thereto that are operated based on first procedure information in a first execution environment, extracts first procedures related to the specified operation targets from the first procedure information, generates first relation information indicating an execution order on related operation targets regarding the extracted first procedures, specifies operation targets including a second target and another target related thereto that are operated based on second procedure information in a second execution environment, extracts second procedures related to the specified operation targets from the second procedure information, generates second relation information indicating an execution order on related operation targets regarding the extracted second procedures, compares the first and the second relation information, and extracts relations of an execution order on related operation targets, which are common in the first and the second relation information.

There is used a cloud system that enables the use of a plurality of computing resources on a network as computing resources of a user by a technique of virtualizing a server and a network. Such a cloud system is expanding its scale and is becoming more complicated every year.
With this, manual operations and visual confirmation performed as operation management work are reaching limits of operators, and some of the operation management work has been automated. For example, a management server managing a cloud system applies, with use of a script, automatically a patch operation to servers under the cloud system. Thus, reliability and validity are essential to scripts used for automating operation management work such as patch operations.
Then, a verification system verifies whether a script to be executed satisfies certain conditions (restriction conditions) before the script is executed. The restriction condition is determined by a manager in a top-down manner. A conventional example is described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-285101.
However, it becomes difficult for the manager to construct accurately restriction conditions used for script verification. That is, the manager does not necessarily understand all restriction conditions to be fulfilled. For example, the manager does not understand sufficiently a configuration of a larger-scale cloud system or changes in devices forming a larger-scale cloud system. Consequently, the manager can fail to sufficiently understand all restriction conditions to be fulfilled. This makes it difficult for the manager to construct accurate restriction conditions.

Apparatus and method for extracting restriction condition


A consumer insertable battery pack assembly (70) comprises a plurality of substantially parallelipiped shaped rechargeable cells (61, 62, and 63) having a positive terminal (68) and a negative terminal (66). The positive terminal of one cell is coupled to the negative terminal of an adjacent cell. Insulation (17) is used on at least one of the terminals of the cells to offset the terminal location to prevent the charging of consumer insertable primary cells. The cells are within a housing (74) having contacts (76 and 86) for charging being arranged and constructed to mate with the offset terminals (68 and 66 respectively) of the cells. In this manner, the cells are unable to mate with the terminals of consumer inserted primary cells having centrally located terminals.

Consumer insertable cells or pre-packaged cells wrapped in shrink wrap typically have cell terminals with centrally disposed contact areas. For instance, a positive terminal in many cylindrical cells and even prismatic cells have bumped out contact areas that are centrally disposed while the negative contact terminal covers the entire surface of an opposing end of the cell. If a manufacturer of a consumer portable product provides a rechargeable cell or cell pack for their product, the manufacturer must be careful to prevent the charging of non-rechargeable cells or primary cells. Presently, most rechargeable and non-rechargeable cells physically fit into the same charger assembly, presenting a hazard to the consumer and liability to the manufacturer.
A product having a pre-packaged rechargeable cell pack or pre-packaged rechargeable battery pack usually has power contacts to power the product and charger contacts for charging the battery or cell pack. A battery pack having primary cells usually does not have charger contacts because charging many primary cells such as alkaline cells is hazardous. Consumer insertable rechargeable cells are inserted into a charger just as easily as a primary cell. The only thing preventing a consumer from inserting a non-rechargeable cell into a charger is a warning label. Therefore, a need exists to physically alter rechargeable cells and their respective chargers to only allow the charging of the rechargeable cells and prevent the recharging of typical consumer inserted non-rechargeable cells or primary cells.

Rechargeable cell or cell pack contact configuration


An electronic payment system and method facilitates electronic commerce through controlled transfer of identification and value representations to wireless devices. The system includes a payment collection apparatus and a transaction apparatus, and provides for representation of user and transaction information via machine-readable indicia. In one embodiment, the machine-readable indicia is a barcode. The present invention is useful in such example applications as credit transactions, lottery system operations, and mobile top up applications.

Since the introduction of the general purpose credit card in the 1950's, consumers have had an increasing number of options for paying for goods and services. The credit card, for example, provided the consumer with an opportunity to pay for goods and services using future money, or money the consumer had not yet earned. Frequent flyer or frequent purchaser programs have allowed consumers to redeem earned miles or points towards goods, services or value add-ons to purchased items. These miles or points are not necessarily tied to a currency equivalent value. Debit cards, introduced in the 1970's, have made it possible for consumers to purchase items using their own banked funds, much like a replacement for cash.
Recent legislation and worldwide banking and industry practices are providing a clear indication of the foreseeable future representation of money—i.e., representation in an electronic format.
There are many examples from recent years of the transformation from a paper-based money system to an electronic one. In the consumer setting, the Internet has given many consumers the option of shopping in the comfort of their own homes, workspaces, or even while mobile. Typically, an Internet shopper will provide his or her credit card information when making an "online" purchase. The credit card information is validated before the service proceeds to record the transaction and consummate delivery of the purchased product or service to the consumer.
The particular commercial application often determines the form in which information and representations of value are transferred in electronic commerce. In some commercial applications, there are several methods for executing transactions electronically, each with their own way of handling information and representations of value. For example, a pre-pay mobile phone subscriber has several options for depositing funds to or "topping up" his or her account.
First, a user may purchase a voucher at a retail location, whereupon the user may dial the phone number on the card and interact with either a live voice or an interactive voice response (IVR) system to add the voucher's value to his or her account. The user's account number is typically the same as his or her phone number. A second means of topping up a mobile phone account is via magnetic stripe card. In this example, the user provides their mobile phone service provider with billing and personal data to set up an account, and receives a magnetic stripe card, much like a credit card, from the service provider. When the user desires to top up their account, the user provides payment at a retail location along with their card. The retail clerk then swipes the card and keys in the amount corresponding to the user's payment, and the user's mobile phone account becomes credited in the amount of payment. As in the voucher method, the user's account number can be his or her phone number. A third method of top up allows the user to charge their top up to another account using the services of an automated teller machine (ATM). In this method, the user swipes his or her credit card, then indicates (through card swipe or key entry, for example) his or her mobile service provider, telephone number and amount of top up in order to credit their account.
In each case, information is transferred in different ways, and the representation of value takes different forms. In the voucher system, identification information may be provided by voice or keypad entry, while in the magnetic stripe card system, identification information is represented on the magnetic stripe card. Also, in the voucher system, value is represented in the voucher itself, while in the magnetic stripe system, value is represented by the number keyed in at the retailer location. In either case, the user can receive a printed receipt for payment at the retail location, and the user may also receive a text or other message on their mobile device from their mobile service provider, confirming the top up transaction.
Drawbacks arise in each case as well. While the paper-based voucher system may better maintain user anonymity, it also creates inventory problems for retailers, theft problems for retailers and users, and requires resource expenditures (e.g., live support or IVR system) for the mobile phone service provider. The magnetic stripe card system avoids the inconvenience of having to dial into an IVR system to activate the top up, but requires that users carry around an additional card in their wallets and register personal and billing data. This system has proven highly unappealing to users desiring to protect their personal information.


The supply fitting for gas cylinder valves, particularly of acetylene cylinders, consists of a housing provided with a supply inlet and a portion for engaging and retaining a gas cylinder vlave, which portion is formed with a supply outlet, a piston sleeve, which is movably mounted and sealed in the housing and displaceable against the force of a spring and comprises a valve member, which is formed with a through passage and is biased by a spring to its sealing position and is adapted to open a supply passage through the housing after the supply fitting has been attached to a gas cylinder valve, and means for holding the piston sleeve in position before and after the supply fitting has been attached to a gas cylinder valve. In a preferred embodiment the means for holding the piston sleeve in position comprise an eccentric actuating mechanism with associated detent means for preventing an inadvertent adjustment. The supply fitting can reliably and safely be handled also by unskilled persons.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a supply fitting for gas cylinder valves, particularly of acetylene cylinders.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Supply fittings previously employed to fill gas cylinders must be secured to the gas cylinder valve by means of a U-shaped clamp. For that purpose it is necessary carefully to check the position in which the supply fitting is attached and firmly to screw the U-shaped clamp in position while making sure that the supply fitting is tightly attached. For this reason the mounting of such supply fittings on gas cylinder valves is rather complicated and time-consuming.

Supply fitting for gas cylinder valves, particularly of acetylene cylinders


Minimizing or eliminating the amount of odor-laden air that leaves a cat litter box and circulates into the room is accomplished by the mixing of the cooler room air with the hotter air that rises from the animal's fecal matter to the top of the box and then out through a series of charcoal filters.. This is achieved by having a dome cover (aesthetically or ornamentally designed to look like a bank) of approximately fourteen inches high, and twenty inches long by fifteen inches wide placed across the top of the litter box and/or removably fastened to same. The odor elimination or minimization starts with the cat's excretion of warm fecal matter in to the litter box or waste elimination system. As the warm, odor-laden air rises, it mixes in with the fresh cooler air entering into the dome cover from several (such as ten) designed slots on the outside of the dome cover.. This diluted air automatically reduces odor by expanding the air flow to the top of the enclosure. At the top of the dome cover the diluted air enters outlets that have charcoal filters therein, thereby purifying the air as it passes through the filters and into the general air in the room in which the litter box or waste elimination system is placed.

When a cat eliminates warm fecal matter into a litter box or cat waste elimination system, warm, odor laden air rises from it in the first 5 to 10 minutes of the animal's excretion before a crust forms on the outer shell of the fecal matter. The device of this invention is designed to minimize the amount of this odor-laden air that leaves the box and circulates into the general air in the room in which the box is placed.

Waste odor eliminator cover for a cat waste box


A baffle plate (12A) is constructed such that two belt-like elements, bent in a warped arc, are joined by spot welding (13) or brazing (14) at a central portion thereof along a central circumferential portion. Thus, even if there is a difference in a radial directional deflection of grooves (11) between adjacent discs (9), the baffle plate (12A) will maintain close contact with the inner surfaces of the grooves (11) due to a spring effect and gas leakage is thereby prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas turbine rotor, and more specifically to a sealing structure for rotor discs.
2. Description of the Prior Art
FIG. 4 is a conceptual view showing a general construction of a gas turbine, FIG. 5 is a longitudinal cross sectional view showing one example of the construction of a prior art gas turbine rotor, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view showing a construction of portion VI of FIG. 5.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, the gas turbine is so constructed that air is compressed at a compressor (1) and fuel is fed into a combustor (2) in order to generate a combustion gas, which is introduced into a turbine portion (3) to rotate a generator (4). A rotor of the turbine portion (3) consists of a plurality of discs (9), as shown in FIG. 5. In order to prevent cooling air (6) in a rotor interior (5) from flowing out into a gas path (7) of the turbine portion as well as to prevent a high temperature gas (8), flowing in the gas path (7) of the turbine portion, from flowing into the rotor interior (5), as shown in FIG. 6, there is provided an annular projection (10) on each surface of the disks adjoining each other so that the annular projections (10) face or oppose each other and surround a rotational axis of the rotor. A groove (11) is provided on or formed in a tip surface of the respective projection (10), and a seal plate or baffle plate (12), which is sectioned into two pieces or four pieces in the circumferential direction, is inserted into the respective groove (11). The baffle plate (12) is pushed to a radial outer side of the groove (11) by a centrifugal force due to rotation so as to effect a seal.
In the prior art rotor disks, it is intended to effect a seal by pressing the baffle plate into engagement with the radial outer side of the groove provided at the projection of the disc by a centrifugal force due to rotation. However, as there is a temperature difference between the discs, a difference in elongation occurs in a radial direction of the groove. There is also a difference in elongation in the radial direction due to a centrifugal force between the discs. As the baffle plate is rigid, it will no longer maintain uniform pressing contact with the outer side of the groove, and minute gaps are created between the groove and the baffle plate. Thus, there is a fear that the cooling air in the rotor interior may flow out into the gas path of the turbine portion, or that the high temperature gas flowing in the gas path of the turbine portion may flow into the interior of the rotor. There is also a concern that the baffle plate may cause a self-induced vibration due to flow leaking from the minute gaps, causing an abrasion loss.


A protected lamp assembly includes a tubular lamp enclosed within a tubular protective housing. The lamp is supported by grommets or bushings of a resilient material that are retained within the housing. An end cap assembly may include the bushing for the lamp and also support the protective housing. Conductors through the end caps communicate with the lamp electrodes. In alternate embodiments the conductors may emerge from one of the end caps or the end caps may include a conductive coating with a connection to the lamp electrodes.

Electrically powered exit signs, traffic signals, task lights and other devices are widely used. Fluorescent lamps are used to provide illumination in typical electrical devices for general lighting purposes because they are more efficient than incandescent bulbs in producing light. A fluorescent lamp is a low pressure gas discharge source, in which light is produced predominantly by fluorescent powders activated by ultraviolet energy generated by a mercury plasma forming an arc. The lamp, usually in the form of a tubular bulb with an electrode sealed into each end, contains mercury vapor at low pressure with a small amount of inert gas for starting. The inner walls of the bulb are coated with fluorescent powders commonly called phosphors. When the proper voltage is applied, the plasma forming an arc is produced by current flowing between the electrodes through the mercury vapor. This discharge generates some visible radiation. The ultraviolet in turn excites the phosphors to emit light.
Two electrodes are hermetically sealed into the bulb, one at each end. These electrodes are designed for operating as either "cold" or "hot" cathodes or electrodes, more correctly called glow or arc modes of discharge operation. Electrodes for glow or cold cathode operation may consist of closed-end metal cylinders, generally coated on the inside with an emissive material. Conventional cold cathode lamps operate at a current on the order of a few hundred milliamperes, with a high cathode fall or voltage drop, something in excess of 50 volts. CCFLs are not appreciably affected by starting frequency because of the type of electrode used CCFLs emit light in the same way as to standard hot electrode lamps. The latter type operate as normal glow discharges and their electrodes are uncoated hollow cylinders of nickel or iron. The cathode fall is high and to obtain high efficacy or power for general lighting purposes, conventional lamps are made fairly long, about 2–8 feet, with a diameter of about 25–40 millimeters. About 2000 volts is required for starting these conventional lamps and about 900 to 1000 volts for running.
The advantages of CCFLs, compared with the hot electrode fluorescent lamps are that they have a very long life (usually) 15000 hours or more) in consequence of their rugged electrodes, lack of filament and low current consumption. They start immediately, even under cold ambient conditions. Their life is unaffected by the number of starts. Also, they may be dimmed to very low levels of light output.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,440,467 issued Aug. 8, 1995 to Lautzenheiser teaches a task light. The light assembly is provided for illuminating a work surface below and in front of the light assembly, and includes a housing configured for mounting over the work surface with an elongated linear light source supported in its housing. A tubular lens is built into and part of the housing, and includes prism-shaped triangular rings on its inside surface for controlling the light from the light source onto the work surface therebelow.
Other electric light sources currently include incandescent, compact and tubular fluorescent lamps, plasma arc lamps, neon lamps, electroluminescent (EL) lamps and light emitting diodes (LEDs). The fluorescent, plasma and neon lamps all require a voltage differential which may be achieved with electrodes in the interior of the tube or with conductive coatings or elements on the tube exterior that are adapted to be coupled to a source of electrical energy. High frequency energy fields, such as are generated by tesla coils or the like, can also cause a radiating ionization of the gases without the need for a direct connection to a source of electrical energy.


In accordance with the techniques for heart monitoring described in this disclosure, an implantable medical device (IMD) may assess cardiac wall motion using impedance measurements through cardiac leads. As an example, the IMD may calculate an amount or rate of change in impedance due to the motion of a wall of the heart during at least a portion of one cardiac cycle, e.g., systole, in order to assess the strength of systolic contraction.

A wide variety of implantable medical devices for delivering a therapy or monitoring a physiologic condition have been clinically implanted or proposed for clinical implantation in patients. In some cases, implantable medical devices deliver electrical stimulation therapy and/or monitor physiological signals via one or more electrodes or sensor elements, which may be included as part of one or more elongated implantable medical leads. Implantable medical leads may be configured to allow electrodes or sensors to be positioned at desired locations for sensing or delivery of stimulation. For example, electrodes or sensors may be carried at a distal portion of the lead. A proximal portion of the lead that may be coupled to an implantable medical device housing, which may contain electronic circuitry such as stimulation generation and/or sensing circuitry.
For example, implantable medical devices, such as cardiac pacemakers or implantable cardioverter defibrillators, provide therapeutic stimulation to the heart by delivering electrical therapy signals, such as pulses or shocks for pacing, cardioversion or defibrillation, via electrodes of one or more implantable leads. In some cases, such an implantable medical device may sense for intrinsic depolarizations of the heart, and control the delivery of such signals to the heart based on the sensing. When an abnormal rhythm is detected, which may be bradycardia, tachycardia or fibrillation, an appropriate electrical signal or signals may be delivered to restore the normal rhythm. For example, in some cases, an implantable medical device may deliver pacing, cardioversion or defibrillation signals to the heart of the patient upon detecting ventricular tachycardia, and deliver defibrillation electrical signals to a patient's heart upon detecting ventricular fibrillation. Pacing signals typically have a lower energy than the cardioversion or defibrillation signals.
Patients with heart failure are, in some cases, treated with cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). CRT is a form of cardiac pacing. In some examples, CRT involves delivery of pacing pulses to both ventricles to synchronize their contraction. In other examples, CRT involves delivery of pacing pulses to one ventricle to synchronize its contraction with that of the other ventricular, such as pacing the left ventricle to synchronize its contraction with that of the right ventricle. CRT is one example of a variety of modes cardiac pacing in which stimulation is delivered to one chamber or location at a time that is an interval before or after an event at another chamber or location. The event at the other chamber or location may be the delivery of a pacing pulse to the other chamber or location, or the detection of an intrinsic cardiac depolarization at the other chamber or location.

Assessment of cardiac wall motion using impedance measurements


An aperture LAR of a light-emitting portion is changed in diameter (size) from the center portion of a screen to the peripheral portion thereof. In this manner, any displacement observed between the aperture LAR and a vapor deposition region VAR of an organic EL material is controlled. The aperture LAR is preferably larger in size at the center portion of the screen, and smaller in the peripheral portion thereof. As such, a light-emitting layer is vapor-deposited on a substrate correctly for every pixel so that a high-quality self-emitting display including organic EL display can de derived.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flat panel displays and, more specifically, to a display suitably serving as a self-emitting display providing better positioning accuracy between a power supply line and pixels, and providing high-quality display by controlling the signal voltage not to decrease that much even if the wiring of the power supply line is increased in length.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flat-panel self-emitting displays include plasma display panels (PDPs), field emission displays (FEDs), organic electroluminescence displays (organic EL displays, referred also to as OLEDs), and others, which are already commercially available or are currently underway for commercial production. The organic EL displays are typical of thin-and-light self-emitting displays, and considered quite promising as future displays. The organic EL displays are of so-called bottom emission type or top emission type.
The organic EL display of a bottom emission type has the light-emitting mechanism configuring an organic EL device. The light-emitting mechanism includes an insulation substrate preferably made of glass. This glass substrate carries thereon, in the order of, a transparent electrode exemplified by Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) serving as a first electrode, an organic multilayer film, and a reflective metal electrode serving as a second electrode. Herein, the first electrode is referred also to as "one electrode", and extending in a first direction. The second electrode is referred also to as "the other electrode", and extending in a second direction. The organic multilayer film is referred also to as "organic light-emitting layer", and emits light in response to electric field application. The resulting organic EL device is plurally arranged in a matrix, and their multilayer structure is covered by another substrate referred to as sealing can so that the light-emitting structure is protected from the outer atmosphere. The electric field is applied between an anode, e.g., the transparent electrode, and a cathode, e.g., the metal electrode, and carriers (electrons and positive holes) are responsively injected to the organic multilayer film so that the film emits light. The light emitted by the organic multilayer film is directed to the outside from the side of the glass substrate.
In the organic EL display of a top emission type, on the other hand, the electric field is applied between one electrode of a reflective metal electrode and the other electrode of a transparent electrode such as ITO, and responsively the organic multilayer film emits light. The light emitted by the organic multilayer film is directed from the side of the other electrode. With such a top emission type, a transparent plate preferably made of glass is used as an alternative to the sealing can with the bottom emission type.
A PDP or FED is a display having a light-emitting mechanism including a first glass substrate carrying thereon a first electrode extending in the first direction and a discharge cell or an electronic source, and a second glass substrate carrying thereon a fluorescent layer. In the PDP or FED, the light-emitting mechanism is plurally arranged in a matrix.
Any related conventional technology is found in Patent Document 1 (JP-A-2001-160362), and Patent Document 2 (JP-A-7-288087). Patent Document 1 describes a shadow mask for a color picture tube, made of a metal plate formed with a plurality of apertures. Patent Document 2 describes a PDP in which a scanning electrode is changed in width at the center portion of the panel and the peripheral portion thereof.


The present invention provides a bicycle comprising front and rear wheels and a frame including a main frame having a head tube and a top tube secured to the head tube at an intersection spaced from an upper end of the head tube. The intersection has a first lateral width, and the head tube above the intersection includes a tapered portion that tapers to a second lateral width narrower than the first lateral width. For example, the first lateral width can be at least three percent wider than the second lateral width. In one embodiment, the head tube above the tapered portion includes a flared portion that flares to a third lateral width wider (e.g., at least ten percent wider) than the second lateral width. In addition, the tapered portion can include a length that is larger (e.g., at least one hundred percent larger) than the second lateral width.

The present invention relates generally to the field of bicycles and specifically to bicycle frames.
Most bicycles include two wheels supporting a frame having a main frame and a front fork pivotally coupled to a head tube of the main frame. The main frame commonly also includes a top tube extending rearward from an upper end of the head tube, a seat tube extending downward from a rear end of the top tube, and a down tube connecting a lower end of the seat tube with a lower end of the head tube.
Aerodynamics can be a very important part of a bicycle, especially racing bicycles. Any improvement to the aerodynamics of a bicycle is considered desirable.

Bicycle with aerodynamic upper head tube


A support cushion comprising a first member comprising a first support surface and a second member coupled to the first member, the second member comprising a second support surface. The second member is configured to move relative to the first member between a first configuration and a second configuration. The first support surface of the first member and the second support surface of the second member are configured to cooperatively support a first electronic device when the second member is in the first configuration, and the first support surface of the first member is configured to support a second electronic device when the second member is in the second configuration.

Smaller sized computing devices, such as laptop computers, have become commonplace. Similarly, the use of hand-held electronic devices, such as tablet computing devices or e-readers, has also become prolific. However, the use of such devices can be uncomfortable for prolonged periods of time, particularly if a user is in a supine or semi-supine position, such as while sitting or lying on a bed or other support structure configured to support a human in a prone or supine position.


A printing press electronic side guide registry apparatus for sheet stock to be printed on a printing press having a print cylinder, print stock forward motion advancer through the print cylinder, and a forward motion registry stop including a laterally movable side registry stock gripper device comprising a slide anvil positioned to be adjacent one surface of the stock, and a fluid cylinder positioned to be adjacent the opposite surface of the stock, aligned with the slide anvil to grip sheet stock therebetween, the slide anvil and fluid cylinder both mounted on a laterally shiftable support movable transverse to sheet stock forward motion, a nut connected to the support, and a laterally extending screw operably engaging the nut, a rotational servo motor drivingly connected with the screw for rotation of the screw to laterally drive the nut, support, fluid cylinder and slide anvil, and a sheet edge detector electrically associated with the servo motor to controllably actuate and deactuate the servo motor, whereby the presence of stock at a print station will cause the fluid cylinder to shift and grip the stock against the slide anvil and cause the servo motor to be actuated to rotate the screw and thereby move the nut, slide anvil, fluid cylinder and the stock toward the sensor, until the sensor senses the stock.

This invention relates to a printing press registry system, particularly for a cylinder press such as a screen printing press.
Cylinder presses such as those employing stencil screen printing require the stock that is to be printed is first position-registered prior to the print stroke. Typically, automatic side registry systems previously used on presses have involved a three point registry system to automatically register the stock prior to printing. When printing sheet stock, two permanent guides were typically located on the printing cylinder to achieve proper front-to-rear register of the sheet to the cylinder/stencil screen. The third registry point was on the side of the sheet to achieve proper side-to-side registry. This side registry was done automatically with either a push guide or a pull guide that moves laterally. A push guide is the simplest method of side registry, but is restricted to sheets stiff enough to allow pushing without buckling. Many materials are too thin or flexible to push, and therefore need to be pulled. Over the years several systems to do this have been employed. Each system had its benefits but also significant problems.
During the 1950s, several pull type registry devices used a pull guide formed of a slow moving wheel located just below the surface of the feed board. A pivoting pressure wheel was located above the sheet stock. At the appropriate time, the upper wheel would be moved down by a cam, putting pressure on the sheet and the lower rotating wheel. This pressure would cause the lower wheel to propel the sheet laterally to a fixed stop block. Problems with this design included the fact that it was difficult to adjust for various sheet widths, difficult to adjust to set the right pressure necessary for pulling various types of sheet stock, and the fact that it could not be moved from one side of the press to the other e.g., from the operator side to the nonoperator side of the press, to perform registry on the opposite side. It was not practical to move it mechanically from one side to the other.
During the 1960s and 1970s, registry devices such as that in U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,180 were used. This involved a vacuum pull guide which became a standard for over 20 years. The brass slide that was used for the push guide was changed to include a vacuum chamber and manifold. The brass slides were mechanically moved laterally a fixed distance in and out by a cam, or moved pneumatically. The vacuum was turned on and off at a predetermined point in the cycle, controlled by a cam and a four way valve. The sheet was first transported linearly up the feed board to the temporary stop which prevented further linear advancement, the vacuum would then be activated and the brass slide moved laterally, carrying the sheet laterally to a fixed stop block. Since the slide had to travel a fixed distance, and the amount of side registry travel required for the sheet would vary based upon its delivery position from the feeder, the operator had to regulate the vacuum suction on the sheet very precisely. This was so that, when the sheet hit the stop block, the vacuum seal to the sheet would break and release the sheet while the slide continued to its fixed position. If there was too much vacuum, the sheet would buckle when it hit the stop. If there was too little vacuum, the sheet would slip and not consistently hit the stop. Further, it was difficult to regulate the amount of vacuum required for accurate registry at various press speeds. It was also difficult to change from a push type to a pull type guide, or visa versa. Further, if the stock was wavy it was difficult to suck it down to the brass slide and hold it while moving the sheet into registry. Additional problems with this design included considerable consumption of time to change it from one side of the press to the other side.
Consequently, in the 1980s, presses in the U.S. tended to employ an imported feeder and side registry system from Germany. In this type of device, the register slides were moved mechanically by a cam located on the feeder. It would push or pull the sheet into registry. The pull guide consisted of a moving gripper finger which would grab the sheet and pull it to a fixed stop block. Tension of the gripping finger i.e. the amount of clamping force on the sheet, was controlled by a spring. The tripping/releasing action of the gripper finger was controlled by two pins located on the fixed stop block. Problems with this design included the fact that the operator had to adjust the cam on the feeder every time he wanted to change from push type to pull type registry, and this was difficult. Also, there were too many mechanical parts which wore out rapidly. Further, to pull heavy stock, the pressure needed from the spring to grip the sheet caused the parts to wear very rapidly, requiring frequent repairs. Finally, it was difficult to set the stop block and pull finger relationship.
A prior type apparatus used on presses for web stock employed a vacuum platen registry system controlled by a linear actuator and photosensitive eye. This worked well on presses printing web stock where the amount of pull to registry was only one-eight inch or less, but such does not respond rapidly enough for a cylinder press printing sheet stock. Until presently therefore, various ones of these above-described registry systems have been employed on sheet printing presses. All of these take considerable time to complete the registry.
Some presses are understood to use a vacuum pull guide in conjunction with a photoelectric eye sensor, although it is not known by the inventors herein how the sensor activates or controls the vacuum platen.
There is often a need to reliably move sheet stock up to one-half inch for registry, and a requirement to do so in a fraction of a second.

Printing press with electronic side guide


A new apparatus and methods for automatically unloading or removing an article from a printing machine, and preferably transferring the same to a suitable drying surface is disclosed. The disclosed apparatus includes a support frame, an extendable gripping means attached to the support frame for engaging the article, and a conventional controller for controlling operation of the extendable gripping means. Additionally, at least one platen attached to the printing machine in a manner allowing the extendable gripping means to vertically extend from the support frame to an area of the platen(s) is also disclosed. To permit gripping of the articles, the platen are notched at the area corresponding to the extendable gripping means.

The present invention relates to the field of screen printing. Particularly, the present invention relates to an automatic method and apparatus for unloading or removing an article from a printing machine.
Printed indicia for applying to items of clothing, such as T-shirts, sweatshirts, golf shirts, shorts, hats, and the like, as well as other cloth and paper goods, such as banners, posters, bags, flags, and the like, have become very popular over the last 20 years. Boutiques specializing in printing fanciful and textual indicia such as slogans, college names, sports team names and logos, licensed characters, and the like, on these various media, are commonly seen in stores across the country. The indicia available at these stores can be pre-printed on a substrate and applied with a heated press by operators at such boutiques to any of the aforementioned items purchased by a consumer, or they can be screen printed directly onto the items for later purchase.
In the screen printing process, a stencil screen is typically blocked (called xe2x80x9cmaskedxe2x80x9d in the industry) to embody the desired indicia and is then placed over the item to be printed. Ink of one color is then added to the screen surface and flooded onto the indicia by a flood bar of conventional design. The ink may be of any type well-known in the industry for screen printing. After the ink is flooded onto the screen, the ink is squeegeed through the screen interstices onto the item, leaving ink of the desired color where the interstices in the screen are unblocked. The squeegee can be of any type known in the art.
After the item is printed on, it is moved to a station where one or more operators transfer the article to a drying rack, conveyor surface leading to a dryer, or the like. This requires quick and deft handling by the operator because the cycling of the printing machine may print a shirt every four to six seconds. Further, as the articles are typically adhered to the platen with an adhesive, the article must be lifted at an angle to break the adhesive seal without smudging the print on the article.
The quick, repetitive movement may take its toll on the operator after some amount of time. Therefore, it is advantageous to automate such a repeatable process. A few reasons for automatically unloading an article from a printing surface of a printing machine are: (1) to allow printing machine operators to concentrate on other areas of printing; (2) to diminish the likelihood of ruining printed articles; (3) to increase the repeatability of the exact placement of unloaded articles; and, (4) to reduce injury risk to printing machine operators.
In automating any task, it is often necessary to make alterations to existing equipment to accommodate new techniques or processes, especially where human senses, such as sight and touch, are being replaced by inanimate machinery. The present invention is no exception.
In accordance with the present invention, new methods and apparatus for unloading or removing an article from a printing machine, and preferably transferring the same to a suitable drying surface are provided. One embodiment of the disclosed apparatus includes a support frame, an extendable gripping means attached to the support frame for engaging the printed article, and a controller for controlling operation of the extendable gripping means.
Additionally, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide at least one platen attached to the printing machine in a manner allowing the extendable gripping means to vertically extend from the support frame to an area of the platen(s). To permit gripping of the articles, the platen are notched at the area corresponding to the extendable gripping means.
Alternatively, the platen may include a ledge at the area corresponding to the extendable gripping means. This ledge also allows the supported article to be gripped by the gripping means. The extendable gripping means may take a variety of forms including as a pair or numerous pairs of automatic jaws. Each automatic jaw corresponds to a ledge or notch of the platen.
It is an aspect of the present invention to prevent, or at least minimize, the ruining of the printed indicia by maintaining the article in a taut manner as it is unloaded from the printing machine. Accordingly, the present invention includes a telescoping rod for each vertically extending pair of automatic jaws. Preferably, the jaws, via the telescoping rods, will move diagonally upward from two ends of the article to slightly stretch the article upon lifting.
It is a further aspect of the present invention to provide a method of automatically unloading a printed article from a screen printing machine. Accordingly, in the disclosed method the article is positioned for printing on a platen having opposing first and second ends and at least one notch or a ledge on each of the two opposing ends. After the article is printed upon, it is automatically engaged with a gripping means at an area corresponding to each notch or ledge on the platen. The article is lifted from the platen with the gripping means at each engaged area simultaneously. This lifting from both ends of the article maintains tautness in the printed portion of the article as it is lifted from the platen.
These and other aspects of the present invention set forth in the appended claims may be realized in accordance with the following disclosure with particular reference to the accompanying drawings.

Automatic textile unloader for a printing machine


A subscription system includes a national subscription server capable of tracking which local stations subscribe to particular radio station music formats, for example AC middays, Top 40 afternoons, morning programs, or overnight Contemporary AC. A local music scheduler can query the subscription server for a log of nationally scheduled content to fill one or more dayparts of a local broadcast schedule. The subscription system can determine where to obtain the requested log, and provide the log to the local scheduler for insertion into a particular daypart of the local clock, while leaving the remaining dayparts free for local scheduling. Trusted subscribers can also be permitted to alter portions of log of nationally scheduled items. Inserting the log of nationally scheduled items into the local clock provides local awareness of both local and national media items scheduled for broadcast.

Technical Field
This invention relates generally to media scheduling, and more particularly to automated scheduling of broadcast content.
Description of Related Art
Music programming for a radio stations has traditionally been performed at the local level (the local radio station). Recent technology using internet connectivity has enabled the music programming to be provided by remote music services that may be available on a subscription basis to the local radio station. Radio stations are sometimes provided the option of obtaining a static schedule of songs from the remote music service, but the songs in the schedule obtained from the remote music source are kept separate from local programming due to difficulty in managing the rights to modify the logs, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) requirements for song play, and complexities in web-based services required to enable the right to make changes to a log.
Because the logs from remote music services are kept separate from the local programming logs, special care must be taken to prevent scheduling songs locally that conflict with songs scheduled by the remote music service. This problem is exacerbated because the music service may not provide information about which songs it has scheduled in a timely manner—the local programming system simply knows that a particular block of time has already been scheduled by the remote music service. It is apparent, therefore, that current techniques and systems used for scheduling radio broadcasts are less than perfect.


A insulation displacement connector (IDC) patch panel includes a circuit (PC) board with interdigitated capacitance for balancing out inherent capacitance found within IDCs of the panel. Unwanted cross-talk signals are reduced as a consequence.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to communication connectors, and, more specifically, to a communication connector with improved crosstalk reduction.
2. Description of the Related Art
The widespread use of communication devices has spurred the development of communication connectors. Initially, communication devices such as telephones, computer terminals, and the like were hardwired. For example, the wire cable for a telephone was coupled directly through a hole in a wall plate to electrical terminals.
Modern telephone connectors use an industry standard receptacle mounted in the wall and a mating industry standard plug at the end of a telephone cord. The use of industry standard connectors permits the convenient installation of telephones. Similarly, industry standard connectors have been developed for other communication devices such as computers. For example, a personal computer may be coupled to a local area network (LAN) via a communication connector similar to those used with telephones.
The use of communication connectors with telephones does not result in the degradation of signal quality because telephones typically have limited bandwidth. However, high-speed communication devices, such as computers, can suffer significant degradation of signal quality due to conditions such as crosstalk occurring where a signal on a line pair interferes with a signal on another line pair.
Conventional insulation displacement connector (IDC) designs have associated capacitive and inductive crosstalk that hinders efforts to comply with sophisticated communication standards. Past attempts to satisfy Category 6 communication standards have sought to reduce the detrimental effects potentially caused by IDCs through use of configurations for the IDC different than the configurations for the conventional IDCs. Having different IDC configurations can be undesirable, however, since other problems can be introduced including those involved with equipment logistics and support.

Compensation system and method for negative capacitive coupling in IDC


An extended selection field for use in selecting one or more choices from a list on an information system display. The extended selection field exhibits the behavior and appearance of a standard single choice field, with the additional capability to switch into a multiple choice mode to override the single choice restriction. A single choice is selected using the standard technique of moving the selection bar to the desired choice and pressing the Enter key. However, the single choice restriction may be overridden by using the standard multiple choice selection technique of moving the selection bar to a first desired choice and pressing (instead of the Enter key) a choice selection key such as the space bar. The field then exhibits the behavior and appearance of a standard multiple choice field. The single choice selection bar immediately changes to a multiple choice indicator and the operator receives immediate visual feedback that the system is enabled to accept multiple choices. At the conclusion of the multiple choices, the Enter key is depressed to submit all of the selected choices for processing. The single choice mode can be reestablished by deselecting all of the selected choices.

Many computer programs exist in which an operator is presented with a list of items from which to choose one or multiple ones of the items for an action to be performed thereon. Such programs have become popular because human factors studies have shown that it is easier for users to recognize and select desired items from a list on the display screen, rather than having to remember the items (or make reference to another list) and type them. For example, consider the many programs available for maintaining the organization of program and data files on the hard disk of a personal computer. Such programs exist which allow an operator to mark one or more files to be, for example, copied, erased, or moved to another directory, disk or diskette. Alternatively, instead of choosing one or more files on which an action is to be taken, the operator may be presented with a list of actions to be performed on one or more files.
It is a common practice to allow an operator to select a desired choice in a list of choices by moving a highlight bar to the choice (with the aid of cursor direction keys or a pointing device such as a mouse) and pressing a keyboard key or mouse button to enter the choice. In programs in which only one choice at a time may be made, the selected choice may be submitted immediately to the system for processing, since no other choices are allowed. In programs in which a plurality of choices are allowed before processing of the choices takes place, the first selection cannot be immediately submitted because the user may need to make additional selections before submitting the field.
Accordingly, these two types of selection fields--the single choice field and multiple choice fields--have been mutually exclusive. While it is immediately obvious that multiple choices are not allowed when only a single choice is permitted, it must also be understood that where multiple choices are permitted, systems have been unable to recognize a single choice as being the only choice intended, since additional choices were allowed.
The single choice selection field provides better ease-of-use characteristics, because the choice is submitted to the system for processing just as soon as the choice is made. The operator does not sit and wonder if other necessary actions have been completed, because processing with the single choice can be undertaken as soon as the choice has been made, since only one choice is allowed. There are many applications in which selection of one choice at a time will be most typical, with only a occasional need for the selection of multiple choices. For example, consider a list of file names wherein the operator can select the name of a file and an action to be performed on it, such as "Erase". The typical situation will require erasing a single file. However there are also situations in which it is desirable to select several file names and request "Erase" for all of the files at once. The novice and casual users need the benefits of single choice field characteristics, while the more experienced user desires the capabilities of multiple choice fields.
As an example the IBM DisplayWrite 1 program allows a directory of files to be listed. The user may pick one of several choices of actions to be performed on a single file. Assume then that the user chooses "Erase" and moves the movable bar up or down the list of files and stops this movable bar on a file intended to be erased. When the Enter key is depressed the action to erase this chosen file begins. As another example consider a file manager program in which multiple files may be chosen for erasure. If the operator depresses the Enter key after choosing only one file (following the procedure of the DisplayWrite 1 program) the erasure process does not begin. Instead, the operator is prompted to use the space bar to select the files to be erased and then to depress the Enter key at the completion of selecting all of the choices. The operator is, therefore, not allowed to use the intuitively obvious technique of processing the single choice as is employed in the program which allows only single choices.
It would, therefore be of great benefit and utility to provide the ability within one program or system to make multiple choice selections while simultaneously allowing a single choice to be as immediately processed as in programs or systems which allow only single selections.

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to an orthogonal spreading code in a code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a method for generating and allocating code or code pairs on the basis of an orthogonal code set, which is generated using orthogonal spreading codes, so as to reduce a peak-to-average power ratio and enlarge the length of an interference free window. In accordance with the invention, at least one orthogonal code set is generated based upon orthogonal spreading codes, one of the at least one orthogonal code set is determined as a representative orthogonal code set, and then the order is allocated according to rules determined based upon the representative orthogonal code set. The codes or code pairs are generated and allocated using the orthogonal spreading codes, so as to reduce a Peak-to-Average Power Ratio or extend the length of an interference free window (IFW).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an orthogonal spreading code for a CDMA mobile communication system, and more particularly, to a method for generating and allocating code pairs on the basis of an orthogonal code set, which is generated using orthogonal spreading codes, so as to reduce a peak-to-average power ratio and expand the length of an interference free window or IFW.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile communication system adopts a spread spectrum communication method which uses a spread code with a transmission bandwidth which is much wider than that of an information signal to be transmitted. The spread spectrum communication method uses a wide frequency bandwidth, and thus can regenerate an original signal after despreading which increases the signal power and keeps the noise power low. According to a basic principle of the spread spectrum communication method, when a transmitting block modulates a data multiplied by a spread code to widen the bandwidth of a frequency and then transmits a signal, a receiving block multiplies the signal by the same spread code used in the transmitting block to narrow the bandwidth of the frequency and then demodulates the signal to detect the original signal. In general, the signal received through an antenna of the receiving block includes several kinds of noises mixed thereto in addition to the original signal. However, using the spread spectrum communication method converts the several kinds of noises into very weak electric power via a despreading process because the original signal is changed into a narrow bandwidth while the several kinds of noises are initially multiplied by the spread code to widen the bandwidth and remarkably reduce the interference of the noises when the receiving block multiplies the spread code for despreading.
The spread code used in such spreading and despreading processes can be used for spreading, synchronization and base station discrimination. In other words, autocorrelation and crosscorrelation processes can be executed for spreading, synchronization and base station discrimination. For detection of a desired signal, autocorrelation characteristics are required to have the maximum value when there are no time-offsets and a smaller value when time-offset values are not zero. Also, the crosscorrelation characteristics are required to have small values at all of the time-offsets for discrimination against a spread code used by another user.
In order to meet the foregoing autocorrelation and crosscorrelation characteristics, a conventional CDMA method uses a Pseudo Noise (PN) code together with a Walsh code as spread codes. The PN code satisfies required characteristics in autocorrelation, and the Walsh code satisfies required characteristics in crosscorrelation.
In the characteristics required in crosscorrelation single channel path allows no mutual interference among spreading codes allocated to a number of users. However, the mutual interferences exist among the spread codes having a number of channel paths. More particularly they are as follows:
With single channel path, the amount of mutual interference among the spread codes is determined only by the value of crosscorrelation having no time-offsets. On the contrary, with several channel paths, the amount of crosscorrelation among the spread codes is influenced not only by the crosscorrelation value having no time-offsets but also by the crosscorrelation values which have path delay times among separate channel paths as the time-offsets.
Therefore, in a multi-path channel environment which can be generally referred to as an actual channel environment, the crosscorrelation characteristics among the spreading codes are important not only in no time-offsets but also different time-offsets.
As a result, ideally the crosscorrelation values of the spread codes are required to be 0 at all of the time-offsets. However, it is not known so far about those codes for satisfying the crosscorrelation characteristics and the autocorrelation characteristics at the same time. In other words, referring to the PN and Walsh codes in use for the conventional CDMA method, the PN codes satisfy the required characteristics of autocorrelation while failing to satisfy the required characteristics of crosscorrelation. Also, the Walsh codes fail to meet the required characteristics of autocorrelation while only partially meeting the required characteristics of crosscorrelation. So, referring to the crosscorrelation characteristics of the Walsh codes, the crosscorrelation value is 0 when the time-offsets do not exist, but is not 0 when the time-offsets are not 0.
To solve such drawbacks, one of the orthogonal codes is proposed. The code is called Large Synchronization (LS) code. The LS codes perfectly meet the autocorrelation and crosscorrelation characteristics in a certain time-offset interval. The time-offset interval for perfectly meeting the autocorrelation and crosscorrelation characteristics will be defined as an Interference Free Window (IFW)
Referring to autocorrelation characteristics in the IFW, the autocorrelation value is the maximum where no time-offsets exist, and 0 at any time-offsets in the IFW where the time-offsets are not 0. Also, according to the crosscorrelation characteristics of the LS codes, the crosscorrelation value is 0 at any time-offsets in the IFW.
As a result, in the multi-path channel environments where the path delay time-offsets among the channel paths exist in the IFW, the interference among the spreading codes allocated to users can be removed. Therefore, the time-offset interval satisfying the foregoing autocorrelation and crosscorrelation characteristics is referred to as the Interference Free Window or IFW.
Conventionally, the PN codes and the Walsh codes partially satisfy the characteristics required in autocorrelation and crosscorrelation at the time-offsets in the IFW, whereas the orthogonal spreading codes perfectly satisfy the characteristics required in autocorrelation and crosscorrelation at the time-offsets in the IFW.
Although the orthogonal spreading codes have the autocorrelation and crosscorrelation characteristics excellent at the time-offsets in the IFW, however, there is a drawback that only a small number of codes are available in practice: i.e., the number of available orthogonal spreading codes decreases as the length of the IFW interval increase.
When a set of the orthogonal spreading codes satisfying the foregoing autocorrelation and crosscorrelation characteristics is defined as an orthogonal code set, the length of the IFW interval is inversely proportional to the number of elements in the orthogonal code set. When the length of the IFW interval increases as set forth above, the interference is proportionally reduced. However, the available number of orthogonal codes is restricted, thereby resulting in restriction of channel capacity.
A number of spreading methods using the orthogonal spreading, codes have been proposed, and examples thereof include: a Binary Phase Shift Keying (BPSK) spreading method in which the same orthogonal spreading code is used in both I branch and Q branch (FIG. 1), a Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) spreading method in which different orthogonal spreading codes are respectively allocated to the I branch and the Q branch (FIG. 2), and a complex spreading method for reducing the power imbalance between the I and Q branch (FIG. 3).
However, if different orthogonal spreading are respectively allocated to the I branch and the Q branch in carrying out the spreading methods, the spreading codes of the I branch and the spreading codes of the Q branch can be simultaneously varied, and thus the spread signals may undergo a phase transition of 180 degree. Such a phase transition of 180 degree has a negative influence on the envelope fluctuation of the spreaded signals after passing through a filter, thereby increasing a Peak-to-Average Power Ratio (PAPR).

Method for generating and allocating code pairs of orthogonal spreading codes


A facsimile machine capable of receiving input of data from a switchboard over a telephone circuit during a silent interval between a first ring signal and a second ring signal, and including a network control unit NCU for detecting the first ring signal; a clock for starting measurement of a predetermined duration of time when the NCU detects the first ring signal and stopping measurement of the predetermined duration of time between an end of the data and a beginning of the second ring signal; and a CPU for causing the NCU to close a telephone circuit when the clock stops measurement of the predetermined duration of time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a facsimile machine capable of receiving information service data called caller-ID inputted over a telephone circuit from a switchboard during a silent interval between a first ring signal and a second ring signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been known a service provided by switchboards called caller-ID information service. A caller-ID is inputted over a telephone from a switchboard to a terminal circuit during a silent interval between a first ring signal and a second ring signal. The caller-ID includes various data including, depending on the country and the switchboard service, the date, the telephone number of the caller, the telephone number of the ring recipient, the type of ring, the caller's name, and the condition of the network system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,956 describes a facsimile machine capable of receiving caller-ID data. In order to receive the caller-ID data, the modulation format of the modem must match that of the caller-ID data. The modulation format of the caller-ID data is FSK (frequency-shift keying). To match the modulation formats, the modem detects a single frequency signal added directly in front of the caller-ID data. In this way, detection of the single frequency signal acts as a trigger to start reception of the caller-ID data.

Facsimile machine for receiving caller-ID information


A sealing die assembly for a form fill packaging machine is disclosed. The sealing die assembly may have a forming station, a loading station, a sealing station, and a cutting station. The sealing station may contain a sealing die box and a sealing die head that come together to secure pieces of packing material around a product. To minimize the amount of scrap that the sealing die assembly produces, the die box may have one or more protrusions that extend in a longitudinal direction and provide surface area. The one or more protrusions may be configured so as not to interfere with the longitudinal spacing of one or more cavities that may be formed in the packing material.

Form fill packaging machines for forming, filling, and sealing flexible pouches containing products are used throughout the world. These machines provide the ability to package products along a continuous assembly line using heat seal wrapping material films, which are formed and then sealed around the product. These machines are used in many industries, including, but not limited to, the food industry, medical industry, textile industries, and the consumer products industry.
Generally, a form fill packaging machine may be comprised of indexed stations, each station performing a particular task. For example, in a forming station, a bottom film of the heat seal wrapping material may come off a continuous roll. The forming station will heat the bottom film to create a predefined cavity shape which may comprise a plurality of cavities. The bottom film may then be indexed to a loading station while still connected to the continuous roll. At the loading station, product may be placed in the cavity. The bottom film with the product positioned in the cavity may then be indexed to a sealing station. At the sealing station, a top film of the heat seal wrapping material coming off a different continuous roll is placed over the bottom film. A sealing die assembly then compresses the top film to the bottom film while applying heat, and if applicable, evacuating air around the product to form a vacuum seal around the product. The heat and pressure attaches the top film to the bottom film. The now attached top and bottom films with the sealed product are then indexed to a cutting station where the top and bottom films are cut off from their respective rolls.
The sealing die assembly used at the sealing station must apply a large amount of force to attach the top film to the bottom film. One drawback of these types of assemblies is that as a result of the required force, a sealing gasket located between a sealing die box and a sealing head must have enough surface contact area to offset the forces applied by and between the sealing die box and sealing head. Manufacturers of form fill packaging machines have generally added surface contact area to the sealing gasket by widening the sealing die box, sealing head, and sealing gasket in the direction perpendicular to the directional path the top and bottom films are indexed along, also known as the longitudinal path. This solution, however, results in a requirement for wider top and bottom film rolls which will thereby result in additional scrap material when the attached top and bottom films are cut off from the respective continuous rolls.

Sealing die assembly for form fill packaging machine


An electromagnetic medium is described, the electromagnetic medium comprising a periodic array patterned to provide at least one photonic bandgap and to provide negative refraction for incident radiation at an operating frequency lying within the at least one photonic bandgap. The periodic array includes an externally powered gain material having an amplification band that includes the operating frequency.

A photonic bandgap medium comprises an artificially engineered periodic dielectric array having at least one photonic bandgap, i.e., a range of frequencies in which ordinary electromagnetic wave propagation is strictly forbidden. The presence of these photonic bandgaps can be used to confine and guide electromagnetic waves for any of a variety of useful purposes. Guiding and confinement is achieved by the judicious introduction of defect regions, i.e., missing or differently-shaped portions of the periodic array, within which the electromagnetic waves are permitted to exist and wherealong the electromagnetic waves can be confined and guided.
Photonic bandgap media can also be engineered to provide negative refraction for incident electromagnetic radiation propagating therethrough. Such negatively refracting photonic bandgap media can be realized even though all of their component materials are intrinsically of positive refractive index. Unlike with homogeneous positively refracting material, the electromagnetic field within a negatively refracting photonic bandgap medium is highly modulated and cannot be described by a simple ray diagram. However, from a system-level viewpoint, optical performance can be at least partially characterized by assigning the negatively refracting photonic bandgap medium with a negative index of refraction at interfaces with surrounding media.
Due to the dispersive nature of photonic bandgap media and the manner in which negative refraction can be associated therewith, a broader sense of the term photonic bandgap is used herein. In particular, whereas some may refer to a photonic bandgap as a frequency range of width W between 3 db stop-band points around a center frequency, the term photonic bandgap herein refers to a broader frequency range therearound, e.g., a frequency range of width 2 W.
Among other uses, a negatively refracting photonic bandgap medium can be used to form a flat lens, a flat slab of material that behaves like a lens and focuses electromagnetic waves to produce a real image. Flat lenses can be potentially advantageous in that, unlike curved homogenous-material optical lenses, there is no diffraction limitation that limits focusing of the light onto an area no smaller than a square wavelength. Instead, light can be focused onto a very tight area even smaller than a square wavelength. Another potential advantage is that, unlike with curved homogenous-material optical lenses, there is no central axis and therefore many alignment difficulties are obviated. Accordingly, so-called "photonic bandgap superlenses" are great candidates for very small-scale optical circuits. It is to be appreciated, however, that the scope of the present teachings is not limited to flat-lensing applications, and a wide variety of other uses and devices can be achieved according to the present teachings.
One issue that arises in the realization of useful devices from negatively refracting photonic bandgap media relates to substantial losses experienced by the incident electromagnetic signal when propagating therethrough. Accordingly, it would be desirable to reduce signal loss in negatively refracting photonic bandgap media. It would be further desirable to provide a general approach to reducing such losses that can be applied to a variety of negatively refracting photonic bandgap media operating across a variety of different spectral ranges.

Externally powered negatively refracting photonic bandgap medium

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


The present invention is an imaging element including a support, having at least one image forming layer, and having at least one stain resistant overcoat layer. The stain resistant overcoat layer contains a fluoro(meth)acrylate interpolymer having two different segments, one of which is fluorinated and oleophobic and the other of which is hydratable.

In the photographic industry the need to protect an imaging element from dirt and dust, scratches and abrasion, and deposition of stains has long been recognized. Significant progress has been made in the prevention of dirt and dust attraction through the use of antistatic layers in imaging elements. Improved protective overcoats have reduced the propensity for imaging elements to be scratched or abraded during manufacture and use. However, there is still a need to improve the stain resistance of imaging elements.
A wide variety of substances may adsorb onto or absorb into either the front or back surface of imaging elements and cause a permanent stain that degrades image quality. The deposition of these stain causing substances onto an imaging element may occur in many different ways. For example, dirt, fingerprints, and grease may be deposited onto the imaging element during handling. An imaging element may be stained when it comes in contact with a dirty surface or as a result of an accidental spill from, for example, a liquid drink such as coffee or soda. Other stains may be deposited onto a wet photographic element during film processing. For example, a tar-like material which is derived mostly from polymeric oxidized developer and which may be present at the surface of or on the walls of film processing solution tanks may be deposited during film processing. This tar may adhere to or diffuse into the surface layer of the imaging element and cause an extremely difficult to remove, brown-colored stain.
The treatment of articles such as textiles and food containers with soil and stain resistant compositions is well known. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,574,791 and 3,728,151 disclose block or graft copolymers which have two different segments, one of which is highly fluorinated and oleophobic and the other of which is hydrophilic. U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,924 describes fluorochemical copolymers useful as paper making additives which impart oil and water repellancy and food stain resistance to ovenable paperboard food containers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,350,795 describes aqueous and oil repellent compositions which cure at ambient temperature. The compositions comprise an aqueous solution or dispersion of a fluorochemical acrylate copolymer and a polyalkoxylated polyurethane having pendant perfluoroalkyl groups. U.S. Pat. No. Re. 34,348 discloses stain resistant compositions containing fluorinated polymers derived from acrylamide-functional monomers. Fluorocarbon containing coatings for hard tissue and surfaces of the oral environment that reduce staining and adhesion of bacteria and proteinaceous substances are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,662,887 and 5,607,663.
For an imaging element the requirements for a stain resistant overcoat are rather unique. The stain resistant layer must not effect the transparency, color, or other imaging properties of the film. The application and curing of the stain resistant coating must be compatible with the imaging element manufacturing process. The overcoat layer must provide stain resistance when applied as a submicron-thick layer and protect against common stains such as grease and food and drink products, as well as stains specific to the imaging industry such as from the deposition of tar present in film processing tanks.
The present invention relates to improving the stain resistance of imaging elements by providing a thin, outermost layer that prevents tar pickup during film processing and resists permanent staining by dirt, grease, food and drink products, etc.
Further, the stain resistant outermost layer of the invention does not degrade the transparency, frictional characteristics, or other physical properties of the imaging element, and may be applied from solvent or aqueous media at low cost.

Stain resistant protective overcoat for imaging elements


Described herein is the identification of 68 genes with an elevated frequency of somatic mutations in melanoma. Nine genes were identified that exhibited recurring mutations in melanoma. The TRRAP gene was mutated at nucleotide 2165 (C2165T) in six different melanoma tumor samples. In addition, 16 genes were identified that were highly mutated in melanoma samples. The most highly mutated gene identified was GRIN2A, which was mutated in 34% of melanoma tumor samples. The study disclosed herein identified 34 different nonsynonymous somatic mutations in GRIN2A among 36 melanoma tumor samples. Provided is a method of diagnosing a subject as having melanoma or susceptible to developing melanoma by detecting one or more mutations in the TRRAP or GRIN2A genes. Further provided is a method of selecting an appropriate therapy for a subject diagnosed with melanoma by detecting the presence or absence of a mutation in TRRAP or GRIN2A.

Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer. Despite years of research, metastatic melanoma disease has a dismal prognosis and is often fatal (Jemal et al., CA Cancer J Clin 59:225-249, 2009). There are few therapeutic options for melanoma patients, demonstrating a need for new clinically relevant targets. Although candidate gene analyses have been powerful in identifying melanoma driver mutations (Davies et al., Nature 417:949-954, 2002; Curtin et al., J Clin Oncol 24:4340-4346, 2006; Prickett et al., Nat Genet. 41:1127-1132, 2009), no comprehensive analysis of this tumor type has yet been performed.
Glutamate antagonists have previously been shown to inhibit proliferation of human tumor cells (Rzeski et al., Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 98(11):6372-6377, 2001). Glutamate is known to activate two different types of receptors—ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs) and metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGlus). iGluRs are ligand-gated ion channels that allow cations, such as calcium and potassium, to pass through the plasma membrane of the cell after being bound by glutamate. iGluRs are subdivided into three receptor types according to agonist response, one of which is N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) (Hollmann and Heinemann, Annu Rev Neurosci 17:31-108, 1994). The glutamate receptor, ionotropic, N-methyl D-aspartate 2A (GRIN2A) gene encodes a subunit of NMDA receptors; the GRIN2A subunit contains the agonist binding site for glutamate (Johnson and Ascher, Nature 325:529-531, 1987).
Prior studies have suggested that transformation/transcription domain-associated protein (TRRAP) may function as an oncogene in pancreatic cancer (Loukopoulos et al., Cancer Sci 98(3):392-400, 2007; Bashyam et al., Neoplasia 7(6):556-562, 2005). TRRAP is an adaptor protein found in various multiprotein chromatin complexes with histone acetyltransferase activity, which in turn is responsible for epigenetic transcription activation. TRRAP plays a central role in the transcriptional activity of p53, c-Myc, E2F1 and other transcription factors (McMahon et al., Cell 94:363-374, 1998; Barley et al., Mol Cell 8:1243-1254, 2001). TRRAP knockout mice are embryonic lethal suggesting that TRRAP is essential for cell survival (Herceg et al., Nat Genet. 29:206-211, 2001).

GRIN2A mutations and use thereof for the diagnosis of melanoma

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services


A new concept of the LCD light-switching optical filter allowing for very high, electrically controlled, continuously variable light attenuation (up to ≧100.000) optimized/symmetrized for the light incidence along the normal to the LCD plane is proposed. The new LCD light-switching optical filter also exhibits very low light attenuation dependence for the oblique incidence of light within a limited cone of angles off the normal incidence direction in compliance with the international safety and quality regulation EN 379 for personal protection equipment.

The fundamentals of the above mentioned problems are well understood, because the origin of these problems is very similar to the well-known "viewing angle" problem found in Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) in general. Because of the very large impact of the viewing angle problem, found in liquid crystal displays (LCDs) of laptop computers and TV, worldwide interest in this problem has led to a number of solutions.
It has to be emphasized that active light filters, based on LCD light shutters are very specialized LCD products typically used for eye protection and stereovision devices. As such they are subject to noticeably different technical requirements, as found with typical LCD display applications. A point to be emphasized here is, that due to the voltage limitations, that exist for picture elements in the multiplex addressed LCD screens of lap-top computers and TV, as well as the overall user requirements for these display panels, the developed technical solutions did not lead to the desired performance and cost target for a shutter device, that has to be used for example in the personal protection devices. In the case of a shutter device for personal eye-protection applications (e.g.: welding glasses, . . . ), the drive voltage can be two to four times that of a LCD for a lap-top computer, and it is much more critical, that very high light attenuations are reached and the off-normal axis light extinction properties of the device are excellent.
The automatic LCD active light filters in their "optically closed" state (—eye protection!) usually operate in a "dark scale" regime (light attenuation ≧10), quite often even as two state devices in optically fully open and highly "optically closed state" (—the major issue of the presented patent application). They typically require very high light attenuation, which can be realized only with more than one (2 or even 3) LCD light shutters joint in the final protective device. Having more than one LCD light shutter in a device, significantly affects the overall problem of the angular dependence of the light attenuation as well as its symmetry around the normal to the LCD plane.
The most typical examples of stacked LCDs are found with automatic LCD light switching filters for personal protection applications in welding, where light attenuation exceeding 100.000 is required. So Harsch et al (U.S. Pat. No. 4,039,254) and Reisacher at all (DE 3721751) teach that stacking at least two standard Twist Nematic (TN) LCD (90° twist) light shutters in tandem provides the light attenuation, as required for eye protection in welding applications. None of them however discloses the advantage of the choice of the "complementary TN LCD light shutters" (complementary viewing angles), which can improve and symmetrize the overall viewing angle of the LCD welding filter.
Significantly more detailed analysis is provided in the patents of A. Hornell (WO 97/15254, WO97/15255, and WO95/29428) and in the publication by S. Palmer et al (Appl. Optics, 35, 13, (1996)). They teach that stacking two Low Twist Nematic (<90 degrees) cells (LTN LCD) provides adequate light attenuation. They further teach that the LCD cells and the adjacent crossed polarizers are mutually oriented in such a way that the polarizers are aligned exactly along the bisectrices of the LC alignment directions in both LCD cells—a solution already introduced before by Young et all (U.S. Pat. No. 5,940,155). The authors also teach that a positive-birefringent layer having its optic axis oriented in the plane of the LCD light filter is used to reduce the residual retardation of the LC cell in the optically closed state in order to reduce the driving voltage necessary for achieving high light attenuation.
The use of a different LCD technology (Pi-cell), exhibiting a significantly better angular symmetry than the above mentioned "TN and LTN solutions" is introduced for automatic LCD light filters by Fergason et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,515,186) from OSD Envision. They teach that stacking at least two Pi-cells in a tandem provides adequate light attenuation. With the difference from the above-mentioned Hornell's patents (LTN technology) the polarizers are not aligned along the bisectrices of the LC alignment directions on the boundaries of the LCD cells. The authors also claim the use of positive-birefringent layers, having their optic axis oriented in the plane of the LCD light filter and perpendicularly to the LC-molecular alignment. Such an additional element is necessary in order to compensate for the residual birefringence of the Pi-cell in the optically closed state so that the driving voltage necessary for achieving the required high light attenuation is reduced to acceptable value. The authors also propose the specific relative orientation of the LCD cells to improve the overall angular dependence of the LCD light switching filter and even introduce the use of additional in-plane (LCD) quarter-wave plate to increase this possibility.
None of the above mentioned patents discloses the use of a negative-birefringent layer with the optic axis oriented along the normal to the LCD light filter plane (negative-birefringent c-plate) to correct for the positive birefringence of the homeotropically aligned LC molecules in the "optically closed" state of the LCD light switching filter—the major source of the annoying high angular dependence of the light attenuation of the LCD light filters. They also do not mention the use of "complementary constructed LC-cells" stacked in a tandem in order to further reduce the angular dependence of the LCD light filters. Finally none of the above mentioned technical solutions mentions nor allows a "specific optimization" (other than standard LCD panel solutions) of the LCD cell parameters (like LC-molecular orientation twist angles, relative orientation of the polarizing films with respect to the LC-molecular alignment, . . . ) to get the required value and slope of the light transmission/voltage characteristics. Since the LCD light filters are typically autonomous, battery powered devices, the performances of the driving electronics are rather limited by the possible choice of batteries. The accuracy of the adjustment of the light attenuation and especially the overall power consumption therefore strongly depend on the light transmission/voltage characteristics of the LCD light filters.

Variable contrast, wide viewing angle liquid crystal light attenuation filter

Abstract: According to the invention the problem is solved by specific, novel modification of the general principle of highly twisted nematic LCDs, allowing for the adaptation of the light transmission/driving voltage characteristics to specific requirements of the driving electronics as well as “symmetrizing” the overall optical birefringent properties, which in turn results in a high degree of their angular compensation.