A graphical user interface is configured to guide a user through a method of creating an OData-compliant URL, without requiring that the user be familiar with syntax of OData-compliant URLs. The graphical user interface includes a set of graphical input devices to solicit and receive from the user input specifying a set of query options, which user input is used to define the OData-compliant URL. The graphical user interface is automatically customized to solicit and receive from the user input only for options available from a specific OData service.

Some computer networks allow a requesting computer (or client computer) to request, and retrieve, data from a remote server computer. An example familiar to Internet users is clicking on a link in a web browser, or entering a uniform resource locator ("URL") into a web browser. Each of those actions causes the client to send a request for content across the Internet to the server, and in response the server sends its content across the Internet to the client. In that familiar scenario, the response from, the server includes whatever the server stores at that moment it receives the request from the client, although the server may also add other content. For example, a server hosting a news site would send whatever news stories were posted on the site at the moment the server received the request, and may include advertising content in additions to the news stories. Either way, the client's request is open ended, and simply causes the server to send whatever the server has or wants to send. In other words, standard URLs do not allow the client to tailor the information it requests and receives from the server.

System and method for creating a protocol-compliant uniform resource locator


Disclosed is a method for the preparation of a linear polysilalkylenesiloxane from four- to seven-membered cyclic silalkylenesiloxane by subjecting the cyclic silalkylenesiloxane to ring opening polymerization by using as a catalyst a polynuclear ruthenium-carbonyl complex in which carbonyl groups are coordinated with three or four ruthenium atoms, in the presence of a silane compound having at least one Sixe2x80x94H bond.

The present invention relates to technology for preparing a silicone compound (a polysiloxane) and, more particularly, to a novel method for the polymerization of a linear silalkylenesiloxane by subjecting the corresponding cyclic silalkylenesiloxane to ring opening polymerization.
Silicone compounds (polysiloxanes) have excellent thermal resistance, high anti-weathering properties, and unique electrical properties, etc., so that they are used in diverse fields. Various attempts have also been made to attain improvements in their performance capabilities and properties. Polysilalkylenesiloxanes are one such group of silicone compounds having improved properties. Polysilalkylenesiloxanes are now drawing attention as polymers which, as compared with the dimethypolysiloxanes extensively utilized in various fields, have excellent resistance to acid, alkali and so on, and also remarkable mechanical strength, as they are produced by introducing silalkylene bonds such as silethylene bonds into the main siloxane chain moiety.
As a process for the preparation of polysilalkylehesiloxanes, there has been reported a process in which a cyclic silalkylenesiloxane is subjected to ring opening polymerization by means of anionic polymerization using lithium silanolate as an initiator under alkaline reaction conditions (B. Suryanarayanan et al., J. Polym. Sci., 12, 10891109 (1974)). Modified forms of the process include, e.g., a process for subjecting a cyclic silalkylenesiloxane to ring opening polymerization by using potassium silanolate as an initiator and divinylsiloxane as a chain transfer agent (Examined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 15614/1994: Japanese Patent Application No. 178727/1990) and a process for the ring opening polymerization by using water as a chain transfer agent (Examined Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 62773/1994: Japanese Patent Application No. 178727/1990). The reaction operations of such prior art technologies are, however, laborious because they require the use of a chain transfer agent for regulating the molecular weight of the resulting product due to the fact that they are based on the living polymerization by the anionic polymerization under alkaline conditions.
The present inventors have found a novel method that can produce a linear polysiloxane from a cyclic siloxane compound by means of ring opening polymerization that is carried out using the silane compound and a particular transition metal catalyst under neutral conditions yet that does not require the use of any chain transfer agent.
Therefore, the present invention provides a method for the preparation of a linear polysilalkylenesiloxane having a repeating unit represented by the following general formula (4):
(where b is an integer of 1 to 4; and R is a hydrocarbon group of from 1 to 8 carbon atoms),
which comprises subjecting a cylic silalkylenesiloxane represented by the following general formula (3):
(where b and R have each the same meaning as above)
to ring opening polymerization by using as a catalyst a polynuclear ruthenium-carbonyl complex with carbonyl groups coordinated with three or four ruthenium atoms, in the presence of a silane compound represented by the following general formula (1):
(where X1, X2 and X3 are the same or different, each being a functional group or atom selected from a group consisting of hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an amino group, an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, a thioalkyl group, an alkylamino group, an aryl group, an arylamino group, a vinyl group, a siloxy group, an organo-siloxy group, an organo-silyl group and a heterocyclic group)
or by the following general formula (2):
(where X1, X5, X6 and X7 are the same or different, each being a functional group or atom selected from a group consisting of hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an amino group, an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, a thioalkyl group, an alkylamino group, an aryl group, an arylamino group, a vinyl group, a siloxy group, an organo-siloxy group, an organo-silyl group and a heterocyclic group; and a is an integer of 1 to 4).

Method of polymerizing a silalkylenesiloxane

Japan Science and Technology Corporation


By providing a first magnet and a second magnet on wall surfaces of a hollow section where paper money is conveyed such that different magnetic poles face each other, a gradient magnetic field is formed wherein both a magnetic field component in an opposing direction to the magnets and a magnetic field component in a conveyance direction of the paper money include a zero point. An AMR element is provided between the paper money and the first magnet. The AMR element is enclosed by a multi-layered substrate and covered with resin. The AMR element is provided in an area where the magnetic field intensity is weak, which is where the magnetic field intensity in the gradient magnetic field in the conveyance direction is near zero. The paper money passes through an area where the magnetic field intensity of the gradient magnetic field is strong.

A magnetic sensor device is used for detecting micro-magnetic patterns such as magnetic patterns that are formed in paper money. There are magnetic sensor devices inside which a magnetoresistive element is used, the resistance value of which changes according to the intensity of an applied magnetic field. In a magnetic pattern that is included in a paper-like medium such as a paper money, the remnant magnetization is weak. Therefore, in order to detect a magnetic pattern, it is necessary to provide a magnetoresistive element in environments where the magnetic field is strong, and furthermore, it is necessary to deliver the paper money near the magnetoresistive element.
However, in a non-contact type of magnetic sensor device, the test object and the magnetoresistive element are arranged so as to be in noncontact with each other. Therefore, there is a problem in that the amount of change in the resistance value of the magnetoresistive element is small, and thus the detection sensitivity of the magnetic pattern included in the test object is low. Moreover, in conventional magnetic sensor devices, there is a problem in that the detection sensitivity may vary due to assembly error of the magnetic sensor device or variation in the position where the test object passes.
Patent Literature 1 discloses technology for improving the detection sensitivity of a test object. In the technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the magnetic sensor device is composed of two magnetic sensors, with each being provided with a high-potential-side magnetoresistive element and a low-potential-side magnetoresistive element. The two magnetic sensors are such that the one high-potential-side magnetoresistive element faces the other low-potential-side magnetoresistive element, and are connected so as to output inverted signals. The signal that is outputted from each magnetic sensor undergoes differential amplification by an amplifier. As a result, the output signal from each magnetic sensor is such that the in-phase noise component is removed, the signal component is amplified and the S/N ratio is increased.
Moreover, Patent Literature 2 discloses a magnetic sensor device in which, by pressing the test object in contact with and moving the test object over the surface of a protective case, variation in the location where the test object passes is reduced. In this magnetic sensor, in order to expose the leads of the magnetoresistive element chip, an insulator film on which the leads are exposed is used. The exposed leads of the insulator film are connected to the electrodes of the magnetoresistive element chip inside a device hole where the insulating layer on the magnetoresistive element chip surface has been removed. A protective case is provided in order to protect the magnetoresistive element chip and the exposed leads. In order to insulate the magnetoresistive element chip from the protective case, an air gap is formed between the magnetoresistive element chip and the protective case.


A method and apparatus for stochastic finite-state machine translation is provided. The method may include receiving a speech input and translating the speech input in a source language into one or more symbols in a target language based on stochastic language model. Subsequently, all possible sequences of the translated symbols may be generated. One of the generated sequences may be selected based on a monolingual target language model.

Finite state models (FSMs) have been extensively applied to many aspects of language processing including speech recognition, phonology, morphology, chunking and parsing. FSMs are attractive mechanisms for language processing because they are efficiently learnable from data and generally effective for decoding. Also, FSMs are associated with a calculus for composing a model, which allows for straightforward integration of constraints from various levels of language processing.
A conventional machine translation process includes two phases: (a) lexical choice phase where appropriate target language lexical items are chosen for each source language lexical item; and (b) reordering phase where the chosen target language lexical items are reordered to produce a meaningful target language string. With respect to the lexical choice phase, the conventional methods for constructing a bilingual lexicon use a string-based alignment. However, these conventional approaches incur the expense of creating a permutation lattice for recording and are, thus, less attractive.

Method and apparatus for providing stochastic finite-state machine translation


A sealed electrical junction box includes a sectional housing containing a chamber and having an end wall that contains at least one access passage in which is mounted a sealing bush containing a longitudinal through bore. An annular internal sealing rib on the access passage wall cooperates with a corresponding circumferential groove in the outer circumferential surface of the bush, thereby to seal the space between bush and the access passage wall. To seal the space around an inserted conductor, there is mounted on the inner circumferential surface of the bush through bore at least one integral deformable sealing lip that engages the outer circumferential surface of a conductor inserted into the bush longitudinal bore. When the bush is not in use, the longitudinal bore thereof is sealed by a cylindrical plug that is inserted into the longitudinal bore.

1. Field of the Invention
A sealed electrical junction box includes a sectional housing containing a chamber and including an end wall that contains at least one access opening in which is mounted a sealing bush containing a longitudinal through bore. First annular sealing means seal the space between the bush and the wall of the access opening, and second annular sealing means seal the space between the conductor and the wall of the through bore. When not in use, a closure plug closes the longitudinal bore in the bush.
2. Description of Related Art
Various proposals have been made for sealing electrical junction boxes in which are mounted electrical devices such as switches, relays, printed circuit boards or the like. This is particularly important in hermetically sealed containers that are designed for use in hazardous and/or moisture-laden environments.
The known housings are so designed that the injection-molded sealing ribs will seal the inserted conductor with certain given diameters. If a round conductor with a deviating diameter is to be introduced into the housing, then, until now, it was necessary to use a housing whose lead-in passageway was adapted thereto. Naturally, this calls for a considerable production effort because different housings must be kept in readiness.
The present invention was developed to provide an improved sealed junction box in which all the spaces associated with the conductor lead-in openings are completely sealed.

Housing containing a passage for an electrical conductor


A structure for an aircraft comprises a first wall and a second wall. The first wall comprises two jackets of composite material disposed on either side of an intermediate arrangement and further includes at least one soleplate enabling it to be secured to the second wall. The structure further includes at least one elongate member extending facing the jacket and spaced apart therefrom, the elongate member being secured to the soleplate or to the second wall and being arranged to act as a bearing surface for a portion of the first wall that becomes separated from the soleplate after rupture.

The structure of such aircraft needs to be compatible with standardized functional constraints, and also with certification, in particular.
In the event of the aircraft impacting against the ground (crashing), structural damage must be limited and even prevented, in particular in the vicinity of the cabin and the vital components of the aircraft. All unacceptable injury to humans must be avoided.
At present, complying with certain specifications is in contradiction with obtaining functions that are desired for such and such a component of the aircraft, thus requiring compromises to be made that are not always acceptable in practice. This applies in particular to rotary wing aircraft.
The search for increasing the capacity of the structure of an aircraft to absorb energy due to an impact (accident) has lead to numerous proposals.
Patent FR-2 632 604 describes a helicopter structure comprising a frame that is essentially constituted by a gantry whose ends are connected together by a cross-member. A particular structure makes it possible to obtain controlled deformation of the cross-member by initiating buckling in the event of an impact.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,084,029, U.S. Pat. No. 4,734,146, and FR-2 817 608 relate to beams having a composite corrugated core that undulates with a sinusoidal shape.
Various other structures for absorbing energy in the event of an impact to the fuselage of an aircraft against the ground have also been proposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,620,484 describes an absorption structure comprising vertical composite panels having a thread stitched therein at a density that increases from the bottom of the structure towards its top portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,870 relates to an impact absorber that extends under the floor of a helicopter cabin and that comprises a crossed array of beams including a laminate or two laminates covering a honeycomb-structure core. Rupture-initiators are provided in the bottom of the laminate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,941,767 describes intersecting planes with connections via ring-section parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,318 describes reinforcement surrounding a thin wall in order to stabilize its behavior in the event of a crash. U.S. Pat. No. 6,718,713 describes a preshaped member with a channel for inserting a plane partition. Document WO 03/018295 describes a member that is preshaped to the shape of the Greek letter "Pi", for assembling together composite-material parts.
The present invention applies in particular to rotorcraft in which the bottom structure includes a compartment that receives, or that is to receive, equipment (such as a fuel tank) that is liable, in the event of a crash, to exert thrust against a side wall of the compartment.
Patent FR-2 763 313 describes an installation for suspending a flexible fuel tank by means of straps within a compartment. In the event of a crash, the kinetic energy due to the mass of fuel causes the bottom partition of the compartment to rupture and subjects the straps to plastic deformation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,015 describes a helicopter having a structure that includes a compartment receiving a flexible fuel tank; the compartment comprises four side walls and a bottom wall that are all reinforced by stiffeners. Polyurethane foam is provided between the flexible tank and said walls. The respective strengths of the foam and of the walls are adjusted such that in the event of an impact, the thrust from the fuel does not completely destroy the walls of the compartment.

Composite anti-crash structure with lateral retention, for an aircraft


A transanal insertion device for surgically inserting an anastomosis ring having two unitary members into a tubular anatomic member comprises a distal adapter, a proximal adapter and an actuator. The distal adapter includes a hollow distal sleeve and a spring-loaded distal spool axially movable within the distal sleeve. The distal spool is biased in a first direction by a distal spring and includes alignment fingers pivotably connected thereon for aligning a first unitary member. The proximal adapter has a hollow proximal sleeve and a spring-loaded proximal spool axially movable within the proximal sleeve. The proximal spool is biased in a second direction by a proximal spring and includes alignment fingers connected thereon for aligning a second unitary member. The proximal member also includes a proximal gripper for securing the second unitary member on the proximal hollow sleeve. The actuator includes an elongated tube with a collar connected to its distal end and a handle assembly connected to its proximal end. First and second flexible rods connected to the handle assembly extend through the elongated tube. The flexible rods are manipulated to engage the distal adapter and draw it relative to the proximal adapter. The rods are also manipulated to release the distal and proximal adapters from their respective unitary members so the distal adapter, the proximal adapter and the actuator can be withdrawn transanally.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a surgical device, and more particularly to an anastomosis ring insertion device for use in anastomosing tubular body organs in connection with, for example, intestinal surgery.
The subject invention is particularly useful for anastomosing the lower colon, or bowel section, of the intestines, and is inserted transanally through the patient.
After a surgical procedure such as cutting and removing a diseased or cancerous portion of the bowel, the severed ends of the bowel must be anastomosed. Several procedures are available for connecting together two sections of hollow tubular body organs such as the intestines. Known procedures include suturing, stapling or clamping the severed ends together. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,576,167, No. 4,603,693 and No. 4,646,745 are directed to circular surgical staplers for joining hollow body organs.
Another procedure using anastomosis buttons and clamps is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,771,526, No. 4,055,186 and No. 4,154,241. These devices may utilize inserter rods which are forced upwardly into the rectum through the anus to position one half of a clamp device in the lower colon and engage the other half of the clamp device positioned in the upper colon to draw the two halves together.
Still another procedure involves use of an anastomotic device that is the subject of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,467,804, No. 4,552,148 and No. 4,766,898, which are assigned to the assignee of the present application, and marketed and sold under the VALTRAC.RTM. trademark. The anastomotic device receives the open ends of two tubular body organs to be anastomosed over a pair of ring members. The ring members have annular connecting means which mate with each other to clamp the body organs contiguous to each other so they can grow and heal together.
The anastomotic device, which will be referred to hereinafter and in its embodiment for use in the intestines as a bowel anastomosis ring, is pictured in FIGS. 12 through 14. A complete anastomosis ring 11 is shown in FIG. 12 and is comprised of two identical unitary members 13 of mushroom cap configuration. FIGS. 13 and I4 show a bottom plan view and top plan view, respectively, of the unitary member. The bottom plan view in FIG. 13 shows a ring member 15 having a pair of diametrically opposed depending legs 17 each supporting a plurality of engaging pawls 19. Alternately positioned between the depending legs and opposite to each other are depending engaging members 21, each of which has a pawl engaging recess 23 to cooperatively receive the pawls when the two unitary members 13 are joined together to form the anastomosis ring. For ease of reference, the ring member will be referred to as the head of the anastomosis ring and the depending legs and engaging members will be referred to as the neck.
FIG. 14 shows the top of the unitary member molded to form four notches 25 and four ridges 27 alternately positioned around its inner periphery.
As shown in FIG. 12, the pawls 19 are positioned on each depending leg 17 such that the unitary members can mate in an engaged position as shown in solid lines, or in a fully closed position as shown in solid and broken lines. A profile of the engaging pawl showing engaging edge 29 and slope 31 can also be seen in FIG. 12.
The unitary members 13 are formed of a bio-absorbable material that permits disintegration of the device in a relatively short periodof time after healing of the tubular body organ ends begins. Acceptable materials for forming the anastomosis rings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,297,033 and are referred to as poly-hydroxyacetic ester and lactide copolymers. Molded surgical articles made from a wide variety of glycolide/lactide copolymers are well known in the art.
2. Description of the Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,673, also assigned to the assignee of the present application, discloses an applicator device for mounting and inserting the bowel anastomosis ring described above and a method for using the applicator. The device includes a mounting extension for mounting the two halves of the bowel anastomosis ring and an inserter which may be curved. The inserter portion of the applicator passes through the interior of the rectum and out through the exterior of the anus so that the placement of the bowel anastomosis ring can be done without being exposed to the dirty and contaminated end of the bowel.
As a further improvement in an applicator device for inserting a bowel anastomosis ring, the present invention is directed to a transanal insertion device and provides further advantages for mounting and inserting the bowel anastomosis ring within, for example, the intestines.


A fluid ejection apparatus. The fluid ejection apparatus includes a chamber, a manifold, an orifice, a first bubble generating element and a second bubble generating element. The chamber contains fluid. The manifold is connected to the chamber. The fluid flows into the chamber at a first direction through the manifold. The orifice is connected to the chamber. The first bubble generating element is disposed above the chamber and close to the orifice to generate a first bubble. The first bubble generating element is substantially parallel to the first direction. The second bubble generating element is disposed above the chamber and is substantially parallel to the first direction to generate a second bubble. The second bubble generating element is close to the orifice and opposite to the first bubble generating element. The fluid in the chamber is ejected via the orifice by the first and second bubbles.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid ejection apparatus, and in particular to a fluid ejection apparatus that generates a virtual valve.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,530 discloses an inkjet device 1 which can generate a virtual valve. Two heaters 20, 22 are disposed beside an orifice 18. Ink 26 flows into a chamber 14 through a manifold 16.
Referring to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, the inkjet device 1 ejects the ink 26 using the heating speed difference between the heaters 20 and 22. Namely, the heater 20 reaches a predetermined temperature to vaporize the ink 26 to form a bubble 30 thereunder. As the size increases, the bubble 30 serves as a virtual valve to 20 isolate the chamber 14 from the manifold 16. The heater 22 then reaches the predetermined temperature required to vaporize the ink 26 to form another bubble 32 thereunder. The two bubbles 30 and 32 push the ink 26 to eject the ink 26 via the orifice 18.
Accordingly, the heaters 20 and 22 have different resistances, such that the heaters 20 and 22 have different heating speeds. The bubbles 30 and 32 formed thereunder have different forming speeds to generate the virtual valve. Thus, when the inkjet device 1 ejects the ink 26, the crosstalk therein is prevented and satellite ink droplets are reduced.
Nevertheless, since the resistances of the heaters 20 and 22 in the inkjet device 1 are different, the sizes of the heaters 20 and 22 must be accurately controlled to match the geometric shape of the chamber 14 and the orifice 18. Otherwise, the ink 26 in the chamber 14 is ejected obliquely or not ejected. Thus, the design of the inkjet device 1 is complex and the manufacture thereof is difficult.
Hence, there is a need to provide a fluid ejection apparatus to allow the ink therein to eject vertically and stably.


A registered dual in-line memory module is configured with multiple random access memory chips and a DRAM register configured to receive address and control signals from a memory controller. The DRAM register distributes the address and control signals to the random access memory chips, thereby providing the memory controller access to the chips. The module further includes a control register configured to store control bits for setting operating modes of the registered dual in-line memory module. The control bits are software programmable using signals received from the memory controller.

Dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) are used in a number of different types of computing systems. DIMMs include multiple dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips arranged to provide 64 data bits to a data bus within a computing system. The DRAM chips typically provide one (single rank), two (dual rank) or four (quad rank) 64-bit data areas on the DIMM depending on the type and number of DRAM chips used. Optionally, DIMMs include one or more DRAM chips to provide error correction code (ECC) check bits, which are used to verify the integrity of data stored on a DIMM.
Demanding computing systems such as servers and workstations require a high level of performance and reliability. To meet these requirements, these types of computing systems are often equipped with registered DIMMs. Registered DIMMs use a register component to synchronize address and control signals received from a system memory controller and distribute those signals to the DRAM chips on the DIMM. FIG. 1 is a block diagram depicting the main components of one example of a registered DIMM together with representations of some of the signals communicated between the components.
As shown in FIG. 1, registered DIMM 10 includes nine DRAM chips 11, which provide 64 data bits and 8 ECC check bits. Also included in registered DIMM 10 are register component 12 and phase-locked loop (PLL) component 13. Register component 12 receives address and control signals driven by a system memory controller (not shown) to access DRAM chips 11. Register component 12 synchronizes the address and control signals received from the system memory controller and distributes these signals to each of DRAM chips 11. PLL component 13 receives a CLOCK IN signal from the computing system and distributes a CLOCK OUT signal to register component 12 and each of DRAM chips 11. Using a feedback control system, PLL component 13 maintains the CLOCK OUT signal in a fixed-phase relationship with the CLOCK IN signal.
Register component 12 has a feature set that affects the performance and operation of registered DIMM 10. For example, one feature of register component 12 is its output drive strength which is set based on performance requirements and the number of DRAM chips the address and control signals must be driven to by the register component. Other features include command filters and mirroring settings. However, the register feature sets of conventional registered DIMMs are limited and are typically hard wired during assembly. Accordingly, the feature sets of conventional register components generally are not configurable by the end user. This limits the end user's ability to obtain performance improvements from the registered DIMM using existing and potential features of the register component.

Registered dual in-line memory module having an extended register feature set


Disclosed is a peroral endoscopic apparatus of a swallowable type, the peroral endoscopic apparatus including: at least one imaging unit configured to perform imaging of a human body digestive system and output image data; at least one ultrasonic unit configured to output ultrasonic data on a submucosal region of the digestive system and a peripheral organ located therearound; a magnetic unit configured to adjust a position, a posture, and a proceeding direction of the peroral endoscopic apparatus in response to an external magnetic force; a transceiving unit configured to transmit the image data and the ultrasonic data to an external device or receive an external control signal; a control unit configured to control the imaging unit and the ultrasonic unit to perform imaging of the digestive system and the submucosal region simultaneously or individually; and a power supply unit configured to supply power.

The human digestive system is divided into the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, and large intestine. Normally, the esophagus and stomach are observed with an upper gastrointestinal endoscope that can be inserted into the distal part of the duodenum, and the large intestine is observed with a colonoscope capable of observing the end of the ileum, which is the distal end of the intestine.
However, in the case of the small intestine, an endoscope having established diagnostic and therapeutic methods has not yet been established. Therefore, various radiation diagnostic methods including small intestine barium angiography and CT have been applied to the small intestine, but the diagnosis rate for small intestinal diseases is relatively low.
In recent years, in order to solve such a problem, research and development of a peroral endoscope have been actively conducted. The peroral endoscope is a swallowable capsule endoscope that allows a close-up view of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine as well as the large intestine by small-sized camera.
However, a conventional peroral endoscope is problematic in that it is difficult to judge abnormal symptoms in the digestive system, to stop at a site where precise observation is required, or to move back to a site having been passed to observe again. This is because the conventional peroral endoscope moves passively by the peristaltic motion of the digestive tract, not by self-power.
In addition, some peroral endoscope systems control the position and posture of a peroral endoscope in the stomach from the outside using a magnetic device that forms a strong magnetic field around the human body. However, since the device for control is large, the required facility size must be large, and there is a disadvantage that the operation cost as well as the facility cost is high.
Further, studies have been attempted to detect submucosal and muscular tumors of the gastrointestinal tract and even peripheral organs around stomach such as the pancreas by applying an ultrasonic sensor to the conventional peroral endoscope, but the presence of an air layer between the peroral endoscope and the inner wall of the digestive tract makes it impossible to directly perform ultrasonic imaging. To solve this problem, bringing the peroral endoscope into close contact with the inner wall of the digestive system is employed as a solution, but problems remain. Therefore, in order to examine peripheral organs around the stomach, such as the pancreas, examination accompanied with the inconvenience of using a CT scan or an ultrasonic endoscope using a probe separately.


A roller conveyor (10) has a roller (20), a frame (30), and a torque support (40). The roller (20) has an axle (21) and a casing (23) rotatably supported around the axle (21). The frame (30) has a bearing (32) and a support recess (33). The torque support (40) has an axle recess (41) and a support projection (42). The axle (21) of the roller (20) is received in the axle recess (41) of the torque support (40), and is connected to the torque support (40) in a torsion-proof manner. The axle (21) is inserted in the bearing (32) of the frame (30). The support recess (33) of the frame (30) is arranged off-center with respect to the axis of rotation of the casing (23) of the roller (20). The support projection (42) of the torque support (40) engages the support recess (33) of the frame (30).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a roller conveyor with a torque support, and to a method for fixing a conveyor roller in a frame structure by means of a torque support.
2. Description of the Related Art
Roller conveyors with conveyor rollers serve to transport goods. In order to transport the goods on the roller conveyor, the goods have to be accelerated or decelerated in part. To this end, driven or braked rollers exist, in which a torque for positive or negative acceleration of the rotating speed of the roller casing is generated in the interior of the roller. This torque has to be transmitted to the frame in which the conveyor rollers are mounted. Here, the torque is usually transmitted to the frame via the axle of the conveyor roller.
To this end, various methods are used. Partly, the axles of the conveyor rollers are screwed to or clamped in the frame, or are fixed to the frame with more or less complicated mechanisms.
The known mechanisms are complex and expensive to produce and mount and/or involve the risk of steps during fixation, such as the tightening of screws, being forgotten or incorrectly performed. Here, the conveyor roller, in the case of a driven motorized roller in particular the cable, can be damaged when the axle twists.
It is an object of the invention to provide a roller conveyor in which the conveyor rollers are easy to mount and in which a high reliability against failure and low maintenance are ensured. Moreover, a method for fixing the roller is to be provided, which pursues this objective.


Methods treating razors blade cutting edges having an adherent polyfluorocarbon coated thereon are described. The coated razor blade edges are treated with a solvent, which partially removes the coating from the razor blade edge. Addition of an antioxidant to the solvent improves the effectiveness of the treatment.

Razor blades are treated with a coating such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), sometimes referred to as "telomer," in order to reduce the cutting force required to use the razor blade. However, in many instances, the coating is applied too thick for optimal shaving comfort, especially during the first shave. The thick coating on the blade edge is pushed back during shaving, resulting in increased shave performance after the first shave. Accordingly, efforts have been directed towards reliably and reproducibly thinning the blade coating to simulate the effects of the "pushed back" coating.
In some instances, a portion of the coating is selectively removed using a solvent to provide a thin layer, which can improve the characteristics of the razor especially on the first shave. These methods are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,985,459 to Kwiecien et al.

Method of treating razor blade cutting edges


A tissue puncture closure device includes an anchor, a suture connected to the anchor at a distal end of the suture, a sealing plug positioned proximal of the anchor, and a compaction assembly. The compaction assembly includes a compaction tube having a distal end and a proximal end, and a pivot arm having first and second ends and being rotatable about a pivot axis. The proximal end of the compaction tube is connected to the first end of the pivot arm and a proximal end of the suture is connected to the second end of the pivot arm. The compaction assembly also includes a release member operable to release the pivot arm to rotate between a first position wherein the compaction tube is withdrawn, and a second position wherein tension is applied in the suture and the compaction tube is advanced to compact the sealing plug.

Various surgical procedures are routinely carried out intravascularly or intraluminally. For example, in the treatment of vascular disease, such as arteriosclerosis, it is a common practice to access the artery and insert an instrument (e.g., a balloon or other type of catheter) to carry out a procedure within the artery. Such procedures usually involve the percutaneous puncture of the artery so that an insertion sheath may be placed in the artery and thereafter instruments (e.g., a catheter) may pass through the sheath and to an operative position within the artery. Intravascular and intraluminal procedures unavoidably present the problem of stopping the bleeding at the percutaneous puncture after the procedure has been completed and after the instruments (and any insertion sheaths used therewith) have been removed. Bleeding from puncture sites, particularly in the case of femoral arterial punctures, may be stopped by utilizing vascular closure devices.
Typical closure devices place a sealing plug at the tissue puncture site. Deployment of the sealing plug may involve ejecting the sealing plug at a location in alignment with and adjacent to the tissue puncture along an outer surface of the vessel and within a percutaneous tissue tract. A challenge related to such deployment involves locating the tissue puncture in order to properly place the sealing plug in a position that provides sealing of the tissue puncture. Another challenge relates to deploying and compacting the sealing plug without advancing the sealing plug through the tissue puncture into the vessel. Opportunities exist for improvements in this technical area.

Vascular closure device with push/pull compaction system and methods


Methods and devices, including methods and devices for estimating classifier performance such as generalization performance, are disclosed. One method includes providing multiple samples. Each sample is characterized by one or more features. This method also includes associating a feature variability with at least one of the one or more features on a feature-by-feature basis; and computing a first probability of misclassification by a first classifier using the feature variability. Devices, including integrated circuits (ICs) and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), that are configured for use in carrying out the present methods are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to data classification. More specifically, the invention relates to estimating and evaluating classifier performance.
2. Description of Related Art
A classification algorithm, or classifier, is a method of determining the class to which a sample belongs based on a set of one or more features. A "class" is simply an attribute of the sample, which in some cases is well-defined. For example, the classes "tumor" and "normal" could be used in the design of a classifier for diagnosing whether a particular tissue sample is cancerous. Useful features for detecting cancer might include gene and/or protein expression levels measured from the tissue samples. Although the applications of classification algorithms are numerous, this diagnosis example underscores the need for accurate methods of evaluating classifier performance in certain domains.
A "sample" is any type of data. A "feature" is an aspect or characteristic of the data. For example, if the sample is a tissue, a feature of the tissue may be its protein expression level. If the sample is a credit card application, a feature of the application might be the age or income of the applicant.
For applications similar to the diagnosis example above, supervised learning techniques have been employed for the design of the classifier. Supervised learning is a kind of machine learning where the learning algorithm is provided with a set of inputs for the algorithm along with the corresponding correct outputs, and learning involves the algorithm comparing its current actual output with the correct or target outputs, so that it knows what its error is, and modify things accordingly. Such techniques are used to learn the relationship between independent features of a sample and a designated dependent attribute (i.e., the class of the sample). Most induction algorithms fall into the supervised learning category. By contrast, unsupervised learning signifies a mode of machine learning where the system is not told the "right answer"—for example, it is not trained on pairs consisting of an input and the desired output. Instead the system is given the input patterns and is left to find interesting patterns, regularities, or clusterings among them. Clustering algorithms are usually unsupervised. Supervised learning techniques utilize a training dataset in which the classes of the samples are known. Under ideal circumstances, a classifier designed to correctly classify the data in the training dataset will perform well on test data not contained in the training dataset. Such classifiers are said to generalize well. In practice, there are numerous complications that can impact the generalization performance of a classifier. Thus, simply evaluating a classifier based on training data performance alone is ill advised.
Many techniques have been developed in an effort to produce a more robust estimate of expected classifier performance. Most popular among these are crossvalidation methods. In these methods, the training dataset is partitioned into a design dataset and a test dataset. A classifier is computed from the design dataset and classifier performance is evaluated on the ability of the classifier to correctly classify the test dataset samples. The process is repeated for several distinct partitions of the training dataset, and an overall performance estimate is calculated from the collective test dataset results. The underlying principle at work is that measures of performance derived from data not included in the design process are apt to be more robust. However, it has been observed that these crossvalidation measures are not accurate in some circumstances. For example, an underlying assumption in the design of classification algorithms is that the training data accurately represents the population as a whole, i.e., that the class probability densities can be estimated from the training data. In many applications, the limited amount of data available for training renders this assumption invalid. As a result, classifiers generated based on such training data can be ineffective. "Class probability density" refers to the distribution of the class features within a particular class. For example, a single feature of a protein may have a density defined by a Gaussian with a mean of 1.232 and a standard deviation of 0.287. In more than one dimension, correlations can exist between features. These correlations are also defined by a class probability density.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods and devices relating to estimating classifier performance


An apparatus and method compensate for a touch error in an electronic device with a touch screen. A method for compensating a touch error includes identifying if a touch error takes place and, when the touch error takes place, compensating the touch error using at least one touch error compensation scheme among a noise reduction filter addition scheme, a touch sensibility adjustment scheme, and a touch frequency change scheme.

Portable electronic devices becoming necessities of modern people owing to the easiness of carriage are evolving into multimedia devices providing a variety of services such as a voice and image calling function, an information input/output function, and data storage.
As the use of a multimedia service using a portable electronic device increases, information quantitation to process and display in the portable electronic device increase. This results in an increase of a concern for a portable electronic device with a touch screen capable of improving space utilization and increasing the size of a display unit.
The touch screen is an input/output device performing information input and display on one screen. According to this, if employing the touch screen, the portable electronic device can increase a display area since the portable electronic device does not require a separate input unit such as a keypad.
A touch input scheme of the portable electronic device with the touch screen includes a resistive touch scheme and a capacitive touch scheme.
If employing the resistive touch scheme, the portable electronic device determines a touch coordinate considering a pressure that is sensed at a time a user touches the touch screen with a finger and the like.
If employing the capacitive touch scheme, the portable electronic device determines the touch coordinate considering a variation of capacitance that occurs at a time the user touches the touch screen with the finger and the like.
If employing the capacitive touch scheme as above, the portable electronic device can suffer a touch recognition error due to the affection of the environment, because the portable electronic device operates by the capacitance variation. For example, the portable electronic device using the capacitive touch scheme can suffer the touch recognition error, because a capacitance variation error takes place due to the affection of the electric field and the magnetic field of the surroundings such as a fluorescent light, a microwave oven and the like. For another example, when a Travel Adapter (TA) of the unstable ground is connected to the portable electronic device, the portable electronic device may suffer the touch recognition error, because the capacitance variation is affected by unstable power supply by the TA.

Apparatus and method for compensating touch error in electronic device with touch screen


In some examples, techniques and architectures for fabricating an image sensor chip having a curved surface include placing a substrate on a first surface of an image sensor chip, wherein the first surface of the image sensor chip is opposite a second surface of the image sensor chip, and wherein the second surface of the image sensor chip includes light sensors to generate electrical signals in response to receiving light. Fabricating also includes modifying a volume of the substrate so as to impart forces on the image sensor chip to produce a curved image sensor chip.

Optical systems are commonly used in many devices, such as cameras, telescopes, binoculars, office equipment, and scientific instruments, just to name a few examples. Optical systems may comprise lenses, mirrors, and/or one or more light sensing devices. Performance of optical systems hinges, in part, on the design of each of the elements of the system as well as the overall design of the system, which sets forth the optical interaction among the elements. For example, light output of one lens may be the light input of a subsequent lens or a light sensing device.
Light sensing devices, such as CMOS, charge-coupled devices (CCDs), or photodiodes, are present in a variety of optical systems. Often, CMOS or CCDs are configured in an array fabricated on a silicon substrate. A portion of an optical system that provides light to a CMOS or CCD array may be designed based, at least in part, on particular details of the array, such as the size of the array, the resolution of the array, and the positioning of the array with respect to the remainder of the optical system.

Image sensor bending by induced substrate swelling


An electronic component package of an embodiment of the disclosure includes a base, a first plated layer, a first electronic component chip, a second plated layer, and a second electronic component chip. The base includes a first surface and a second surface. The first plated layer covers the first surface. The first electronic component chip is provided on the first plated layer with a first insulating layer being interposed therebetween. The second plated layer covers the second surface. The second electronic component chip is provided on the second plated layer with a second insulating layer being interposed therebetween. The first plated layer and the second plated layer each include a first metal material that is less likely to undergo an ion migration phenomenon than silver (Ag).

The disclosure relates to an electronic component package in which a single lead frame is provided with two or more electronic component chips.
Recently, there has been proposed a technique that intends to achieve redundancy of an operation system in an electronic component package such as a sensor unit to be mounted, for example, on an electronic apparatus. For example, reference is made to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-191093.


In a static semiconductor memory device including a plurality of groups of memory cells, a plurality of word lines, and a plurality of bit line pairs, a plurality of transfer gate circuits are provided. Each of the transfer gate circuits is connected between one group of the groups of memory cells and one of the bit line pairs, and is controlled by a voltage at one of the word lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly, to a static random access memory (SRAM) device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, in an SRAM device which is constructed by flip-flop type memory cells arranged in rows and columns, and a plurality of word lines and a plurality of bit line pairs connected to the memory cells, a precharging operation needs to be carried out before an access operation such as a write operation or a read operation is carried out.
In a first prior art SRAM device, one of the word lines is connected to each row of the memory cells, and one of the bit line pairs is connected to each column of the memory cells. This will be explained later in detail.
In the above-mentioned first prior art SRAM device, however, since the number of bit lines is the same as that of columns of the memory cells, the number of bit lines precharged by each precharging operation is large. As a result, the power dissipation is increased.
In a second prior art SRAM device, two word lines are connected to each row of the memory cells, and each column of the memory cells is interposed between two adjacent bit lines. In this case, the number of bit lines is the number of columns of the memory cells plus 1. As a result, the number of bit lines precharged by each precharging operation is reduced, thus reducing the power dissipation. This will also be explained later in detail.
In the second prior art SRAM device, since the number of bit lines cannot be smaller than that of columns of the memory cells, the reduction of the power dissipation is limited.

Static semiconductor memory device capable of reducing precharging power dissipation


The present disclosure relates to medical devices using coated polymers, methods for reducing platelet attachment and/or fouling associated with medical devices, and methods for coating polymers. Certain embodiments of the present disclosure provide a medical device comprising one or more polymeric materials coated with a hyperbranched polyglycerol.

Most medical devices implanted into a subject suffer from a loss of performance and/or longevity after implantation, in part due to interactions of the device with the tissue and/or fluids of the subject.
For example, synthetic vascular grafts are used in a variety of peripheral, aortic and vascular access procedures. However such devices often suffer a loss of performance or function over time from the effects of cell attachment, hyperplasia and thrombus formation associated with the grafts.
Similarly, stents are a commonly used medical device for the treatment of a number of conditions, such as their use in angioplasty to improve blood flow to narrowed or blocked coronary arteries, their use for peripheral artery angioplasty to treat atherosclerotic narrowing of the abdomen, leg and renal arteries caused by peripheral artery disease, and their use to assist in the treatment of aneurysms. However, not only do stents suffer a loss of function over time, but they also carry a risk of stent associated thrombosis due to clots forming in the stent.
The ability of medical devices such as grafts and stems to resist one or more of platelet attachment, cell attachment and fouling may have important effects on their usable lifespan and to reduce the possibility of adverse effects occurring in a patient.
Accordingly, there is a continuing need to provide medical devices with improved properties, and in particular, to provide devices which have one or more properties of reduced platelet attachment, reduced cell attachment and reduced fouling.


A quinoxalinone derivative of the formula (I):

In the process of normal cell proliferation, cell division and its pause occur orderly in accordance with cell cycle, while cancer cell proliferation is characterized by disorder. For this reason, abnormality in the cell cycle control mechanism is supposed to have a direct relation with oncogenesis or malignant alteration of cancer. The cell cycle of a mammalian cell is regulated by a serine/threonine kinase called cyclin-dependent kinase (hereinafter abbreviated as Cdk) family, and Cdk needs to form a complex with the regulatory subunit called cyclin in order to exhibit its enzymatic activity. A cyclin itself also have a family, and each Cdk molecule is considered to regulate the progression of a certain cell cycle by forming a complex with a cyclin molecule which is expressed specifically at the corresponding stage of the cell cycle. For example, D type cyclin, in combination with Cdk4 or Cdk6, regulates the progression of G1 phase, cyclin E-Cdk2 regulates G1/S boundary, cyclin A-Cdk2 regulates the progression of S phase, and cyclin B-cdc2 regulates the progression of G2/M, respectively. In addition, three sub-types D1, D2 and D3 are known as a D type cyclin, and moreover the activity of Cdk is considered to be regulated not only by its association with cyclins but also by phosphorylation/dephosphorylation of Cdk molecules, degradation of cyclin molecules and binding with Cdk inhibitor proteins (Advanced Cancer Research, Vol. 66, pp 181-212(1995); Current Opinion in Cell Biology, Vol. 7, pp 773-780(1995): Nature, Vol. 374, pp 131-134 (1995)).
Cdk inhibitor proteins in a mammalian cell are classified roughly into two kinds due to the differences in structure and property; Cip/Kip family and INK4 family. The former inhibits cyclin-Cdk complex widely, while the latter binds with Cdk4 or Cdk6, thereby specifically inhibiting cyclin-Cdk complex (Nature, vol. 366, pp 704-707(1993); Molecular and Cellular Biology, vol. 15, pp 2627-2681(1995): Genes and Development, vol. 9, pp 1149-1163 (1995)).
For example, P21(Sdi1/Cip1/Waf1) is nominated for a representative example of the former, of which RNA transcription is induced by a cancer repressor gene product, p53.
On the other hand, for example, p16 (INK4a/MTS1/CDK4I/CDKN2) is one of the Cdk inhibitor proteins belonging to the latter. The P16 gene is located on the human chromosome 9p21 which are found to be abnormal with a high frequency in human cancer cells. Actually, many cases of deletion of the p16 gene have been reported in clinical patients. Also, high-frequency of tumorigenesis in a p16 knockout-mouse has been reported (Nature Genetics, vol. 8, pp 27-32(1994); Trends in Genetics, vol. 11, pp 136-140(1995); Cell, vol. 85, pp 27-37(1996)).
Each Cdk regulates the progression of cell cycle by phosphorylation of a certain target protein in a specific phase of cell cycle, and above all, the retinoblastoma (RB) protein is considered to be one of the most important target proteins. The RB protein plays an important role in progression from G1 phase to S phase and is rapidly phosphorylated during the term from late G1 phase to initial S phase. It is considered that this phosphorylation is carried out by cyclin D-Cdk4/Cdk6 complex followed by cyclin E-Cdk2 complex, following progression of cell cycle. The complex composed of hypophosphorylated RB and transcription factor E2F in early G1 phase dissociates when the RB protein becomes hyperphosphorylated. As a result, E2F becomes a transcriptional activator, and at the same time, the suppression of the promoter activity by RB-E2F complex is removed, thus leading to the activation of E2F dependent transcription. At present, the Cdk-RB pathway consisting of E2F, its suppressor RB protein, Cdk4/Cdk6 which repressively regulates the function of RB protein, Cdk inhibitory protein which controls the kinase activity of Cdk4/Cdk6, and D-type cyclin is thought to be an important mechanism to regulate the progression from G1 phase to S phase (Cell, vol. 58, pp 1097-1105(1989); Cell, vol. 65, pp 1053-1061(1991); Oncogene, vol. 7, pp 1067-1074(1992); Current Opinion in Cell Biology, Vol. 8, pp 805-814(1996); Molecular and Cellular Biology, vol. 18, pp 753-761(1998)). In fact, E2F-binding DNA sequence is located, for example, upstream of the sequence of many cell growth-related genes which are important in S phase, and it is reported that in several genes among them the transcription is activated in an E2F-dependent manner during the term from late G1 phase to initial S phase (The EMBO Journal, vol. 9, pp 2179-2184, (1990); Molecular and Cellular Biology, vol. 13, pp 1610-1618 (1993)).
Abnormalities of any factors which relates to in the Cdk-RB pathway such as, for example, deletion of functional pl6, high expression of cyclin D1, high expression of Cdk4 and deletion of functional RB protein are frequently found in human cancer cells (Science, vol. 254, pp 1138-1146(1991); Cancer Research, Vol. 53, pp 5535-5541 (1993); Current Opinion in Cell Biology, Vol. 8, pp 805-814(1996). These are abnormal to such an extent that they tend to promote the progression from G1 phase to S phase, and thus it is obvious that this pathway plays an important role in malignant alteration or abnormal growth of cancer cells.
Previously, as known compounds having an inhibitory activity on Cdk family, a series of chromone derivatives represented, for example, by flavopiridol are known (WO 97/16447, 98/13344); however, the inhibitory activity of those chromone derivatives is not sufficient.

Abstract: or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof, wherein;                X is NH, S or the like;        Y is O or the like;        the partial structure

Abstract: is, for example, the formula:

Abstract: B1, B2, . . . , Bn−1 and Bn, (in which n is 4, 5 or 6) are each independently CH, N or the like;        B′1, B′2, . . . , B′n−1 and B′n (in which n is 4, 5 or 6) are each independently hydrogen or the like; and        R is hydrogen, lower alkyl or the like.


A translation device driver apparatus and method are disclosed. A first type of request is received from a disk-based file system to access a first type of storage device. The first type of storage device permits direct access reads and writes and implements update-in-place data modification wherein individual blocks of data stored in the first type of storage device can be modified individually without invalidating data stored in any other blocks in the first type of storage device. The first type of request is translated into a second type of request. The second type of request is a request for a second type of storage device. The second type of storage device operates in append-only mode. The second type of storage device does not permit update-in-place data modification. The second type of request is forwarded to a storage system. The storage system is designed to be the second type of storage device. The storage system is modified to permit update-in-place data modification.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to data processing systems and more particularly to storage devices and storage systems. Still more specifically, the present invention provides a translation device driver for translating between disk device driver commands and tape device driver commands in order to provide a block addressable virtual tape storage system that permits direct access and update-in-place access to its data.
2. Description of Related Art
Tapes store data sequentially from the beginning of the tape to the end of the tape. A computer system cannot modify data stored in the middle of the data stored on the tape. A tape drive is an append-only storage system. Thus, data can be appended to the end of the data currently stored on the tape. Data stored in the middle of the data on a tape can be modified, but in this case, all of the data stored after the modified data will be invalidated. Therefore, data cannot be modified in the middle the tape and have the data located after the modified data remain usable. When data is replaced in the middle of the tape, all data on the tape located after the replaced data is invalidated.
Conversely, a disk drive storage system allows data to be updated in place. Thus, in a disk drive system, a block on the disk can be modified without invalidating other data stored on the disk drive.
Applications may be written assuming that the storage media the application will be using will be a storage system that permits direct access reads and writes as well as update-in-place. Disk drive storage systems permit direct access reads and writes as well as update-in-place. When an application attempts to access a disk drive storage system, the application makes a call to a file system in order to translate logical disk locations to physical disk locations. The file system is used to convert a request to access data at a logical disk location into a request to access the actual physical disk location where the requested data is physically stored.
A file system is a data structure that includes the names of files as well as the information needed to locate and access these files. The file system can be accessed directly, or randomly, for read and write operations. Furthermore, the file system supports update-in-place operations for each one of its blocks such that a write operation intended to update or replace the content of any block does not affect the content of any other block in the data structure.
The backing storage for this data structure must be a virtual or physical block storage device that supports direct access, i.e. random access, read, write, and update-in-place operations. Disk storage devices support these backing storage requirements and are typically used as devices to store a file system.
While tape storage is directly, i.e. randomly, accessible for reading and writing, there are no virtual tape storage devices that support an update-in-place capability. Virtual tape systems are known in the art. These systems are designed to operate using the same update rules as those used by physical tape storage systems or devices. Physical tape storage systems or devices do not support update-in-place data modification. Thus, known virtual tape systems do not permit update-in-place data modification.
Tape storage devices are unsuitable for storing a file system. Physical tape devices do not support update-in-place because of the inherent physical limitations of magnetic tape recording technology. All of the virtual tape implementations preserve the features and limitations of the physical tape drives and thus do not support update-in-place capability.
An attempt to rewrite or update a virtual or physical tape record location beyond the updated or rewritten record is not permitted because the data located after the updated or rewritten record is invalid after the update. This violates the update-in-place requirement for a file system data structure.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a data processing system 100 that uses a disk-based file system 102 to access a disk drive 104 through a disk driver 106 in accordance with the prior art. Individual independent blocks of data are stored on disk drive 104. Each block can be accessed and/or modified independently from all of the other blocks that are stored on disk drive 104. Disk drive access requests are sent to disk driver 106 which then forwards them to disk drive 104.
For example, as depicted by FIG. 1, a write command has been issued to write data to block 2000, and a write command has been issued to write data to block 504. When the data is written into these blocks, only these blocks are modified. Thus, when data is written to block 2000, only block 2000 is modified. The remaining blocks of data on disk drive 104 remain valid and unchanged.
In addition, FIG. 1 also illustrates a read command that has been issued to read data from block 77, a read command that has been issued to read data from block 241, and a read command that has been issued to read data from block 19.
Data can be read from and written to individual blocks in disk drive 104 without affecting the other blocks. For example, when the data in block 156 is modified, the remaining blocks are not affected. They remain valid regardless of where these blocks are located with respect to each other in disk drive 104.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a data processing system 200 that includes a tape application 202 that accesses a tape drive 204 through a tape driver 206 in accordance with the prior art.
Tape application 202 issues requests to access tape drive 204 first to tape driver 206 which then forwards the requests to tape drive 204. Data is stored in records on tape media 208 that is included within tape drive 204. When a particular record is to be accessed, tape media 208 must first be physically positioned to that record. When a record is to be read, tape media 208 is wound and rewound until that record is reached on tape media 208. The data can then be read from the record and transmitted from tape drive 204 back to tape driver 206.
Additional data can be stored in tape drive 204 by appending additional records to the end of the data that is already stored on tape media 208. Existing data that is already stored on tape media 208 can also be modified. When existing data is to be modified, tape media 208 is wound and rewound until the record that includes that data is reached on tape media 208. The new data can then be written to that record. In this case, all of the data that is stored on the tape after the modified record is invalidated.
For example, FIG. 2 illustrates reading a record, such as record 54, from tape media 208. When a record, such as record 54, is read, the data on tape media 208 is not affected. It remains valid. When a record, such as new record 58 is appended to the end of the existing records, the existing records are not affected. They remain valid. If, however, an existing record, such as record 55, is modified, the remaining records that are located after the modified record are invalidated. In this case, if record 55 is modified, records 56-58 are invalidated.
A file system generates a read/write command in a disk drive based format. Because the file system assumes that it is accessing a disk drive, the read/write commands are in a disk drive format. These commands are then transmitted to the disk driver as described above which then forwards the commands to the disk drive. When a tape application issues read/write commands, those commands are in a tape drive based format since the tape application assumes that it is accessing a tape drive. Thus, it is not known to replace a disk drive system with a tape drive system such that a file system is able to issue disk drive based commands that are used to access a tape drive system that is capable of processing only tape drive based commands.
Therefore, a need exists for a method and system that provides a translation device driver for translating between disk device driver commands and tape device driver commands in order to provide a block addressable virtual tape storage system that permits direct access and update-in-place access to its data.

Translation device driver for translating between disk device driver and tape device driver commands


A fuel vapor control module for a vehicle comprises a refill diagnostic module, a refill volume calculation module, a canister loading module, and a purge adjustment module. The refill diagnostic module diagnoses a refueling event when an engine is started. The refueling volume calculation module determines a refueling volume based on a difference between a first fuel volume measured before the refueling event and a second fuel volume measured after the refueling event. The canister loading module determines a canister loading value based on the refueling volume, wherein the canister loading value corresponds to a ratio of a volume of a vapor canister to a volume of fuel vapor within the vapor canister. The purge adjustment module adjusts a fuel purge rate from the vapor canister based on the canister loading value.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
Referring now to FIG. 1, a functional block diagram of an engine system 100 is presented. Air is drawn into an engine 102 through an intake manifold 104. The volume of air drawn into the engine 102 is varied by a throttle valve 106, which is actuated by an electronic throttle control (ETC) motor 108. The air mixes with fuel from one or more fuel injectors, such as the fuel injector 110, to form an air/fuel (A/F) mixture. The A/F mixture is combusted within one or more cylinders 112 of the engine 102 to generate torque. For example only, combustion may be initiated by spark from a spark plug 114. Resulting gas is expelled from the engine 102 to an exhaust system 115.
The fuel is stored in a fuel tank 116 prior to being brought to the engine 102 to be combusted. A modular reservoir assembly (MRA) 118 is disposed within the fuel tank 116 and includes a fuel pump 120. The fuel pump 120 provides fuel to the fuel injectors via a fuel rail 122. The fuel is filled into the fuel tank 116 through an inlet 124. A fuel cap 126 seals the inlet 124 and the fuel tank 116.
Fuel vapor may accumulate in the fuel tank 116 for various reasons, such as heat, radiation, and/or vibration. Fuel vapor travels from the fuel tank 116 through a vapor line 128 to a vapor canister 130, which stores the fuel vapor. The canister 130 may include, for example, an active charcoal that absorbs the fuel vapor. The canister 130 may also include a vent valve 132, which may be actuated to allow air into the canister 130.
The operation of the engine 102 creates a vacuum within the intake manifold 104. A second vapor line 134 connects the canister 130 to the intake manifold 104 via a purge valve 136. The purge valve 136 is actuated to draw (purge) the stored fuel vapor, from the canister 130, into the intake manifold 104. This fuel vapor forms part of the A/F mixture and may be combusted within the cylinders.


A system and method for providing information to the operator of a land, water or airborne vehicle includes a wide-area message transmitter for transmitting messages to the vehicle and a vehicle-based receiver system. Each message includes identification information specifying a location (including a direction of travel) for which the message is intended. The receiver system on the vehicle computes its position and direction of travel and compares the position of the vehicle to the intended location indicated by each message. When a match is found, the receiver system provides the matching message to the operator of the vehicle. The messages are digitized voice messages. In a preferred embodiment, the vehicle-based receiver system calculates its position and direction of travel using either GPS or signals received from a local transmitter site.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a system and method for communicating location specific information to a vehicle.
2. Related Art
It has long been considered desirable to transmit information to vehicles, such as automobiles and trucks, traveling along a roadway or boats traveling through a waterway. For example, on land, there are highways that pass through low-lying areas where the atmospheric conditions frequently produce dense fog. To prevent accidents from occurring, it is desirable to communicate a warning to a vehicle prior to its entering the fogged-in area. The warning might, for example, instruct the driver to reduce speed and turn on the vehicle's headlights.
Other situations which create road hazards include standing water, mud slides, rock slides, road constructions, accidents, stalled vehicles, traffic jams and railroad crossings. It is desirable to transmit warning information to vehicles approaching such hazards. This will provide drivers with sufficient time to react appropriately for the situation at hand. In addition to road hazard warning information, other types of information may also be transmitted to the drivers of the vehicles. Such information includes the availability and location of services near an exit of an interstate highway, alternate route/detour directions, traffic control information, rush hour shoulder usage, reversible roadway information, interchange ramp directions, parking information, special restrictions (propane prohibited, commercial traffic restrictions), truck weight and size restrictions and the like.
In a marine environment, it may be desirable to communicate information such as speed restrictions, tide conditions, locale specific weather information, hazard information, service availability, etcetera.
General weather and traffic information has conventionally been transmitted to moving vehicles by radio frequency signals such as conventional AM and FM radio broadcasts. A problem of this conventional approach, however, is that the information is widely broadcast to a large area and is not tailored to specific regions of the roadway. A traffic broadcast normally includes information for an entire metropolitan area and requires that a driver be familiar with the area (i.e., know the name of the roadway, his direction of travel and his position along the roadway) in order to glean from the broadcast information pertinent to his situation.
Thus, it is desirable to tailor the information provided to vehicles (both land vehicles and water vehicles) depending on their exact location and direction of travel. For example, for a hazardous condition only affecting the northbound lanes of a multi-lane highway, it is not necessary to provide warning information to vehicles traveling in the southbound lanes. For information such as availability of services, it is desirable to provide information for a particular highway exit only as a vehicle approaches the exit. Similarly, it may be desirable to provide information regarding the specific location of the particular services only after a vehicle has exited the highway and is on the exit ramp.
It is also desirable to provide information which is tailored to specific lanes of travel of a multi-lane highway. For example, in a highway which includes a plurality of lanes traveling in one direction, it may be desirable to transmit different vehicle class restrictions to the different lanes.
In a marine environment, a waterway may only be navigable in a very narrow channel during low-tide but fully navigable at high tide. It is desirable to communicate this information to a boat approaching the area of the narrow channel but to not communicate this information to boats in nearby channels or to boats traveling away from the narrow channel.
Conventionally, systems have been proposed which would selectively provide information based on direction of travel and/or lane position of a vehicle on a highway. These systems have generally been of two types. In a first type, an inductive loop is embedded in or placed adjacent the roadway. The loop is then driven by a constant frequency oscillator which produces a signal in the 10-20 KHz range. A transmitter modulates the constant frequency signal with the desired information, such as a voice signal. Systems of this type are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,105,119 to Cory, Jr., et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 3,105,120 to Hanysz.
A major shortcoming of the inductive loop type systems is that the vehicle must be within the electromagnetic field of the loop for the entire time required to transmit the message. For example, in order to transmit a five-second message, the vehicle must be in close proximity to the inductive loop for approximately five seconds. A vehicle traveling 60 mph will travel 88 feet in one second. Thus, in five seconds, the vehicle will have traveled 440 feet. Thus, to transmit a five second message to a vehicle traveling 60 mph, the inductive loop must be at least approximately 440 feet long.
This minimum length assumes that a message broadcast commences immediately and is synchronized with a vehicle entering a loop. However, it is possible that a message may already be transmitting when a vehicle enters the loop. In order to receive the full message, the vehicle must be in the loop a sufficient time to allow the partially completed message to finish before it is rebroadcast. Thus, the a loop must actually be twice as long as that required for a perfectly synchronized message. Thus, for the example above, the loop would have to be at least 880 feet long. As can be appreciated, for longer messages, the length of the loop will increase proportionately. Similarly, for vehicles traveling at faster speeds, the length of the loop must be increased proportionately.
A further disadvantage of the inductive loop type systems is that the loop must be embedded in the roadway. This normally requires that grooves be cut into the road surface to receive the loop.
Another method which has been conventionally proposed for transmitting information to vehicles is the use of directional signals such as microwaves. It has been proposed that microwave transmitters be mounted adjacent or above a roadway with highly directional beams directed downward onto passing vehicles. Such a system would eliminate the need for the cumbersome inductive loops. Such systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,669 to Dadds et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,214,793 to Conway et al.
While the microwave-based systems eliminate the need to cut a roadway and install very long inductive loops, they suffer from the same shortcoming as the inductive loop based systems. In order to send a five-second long voice signal to a vehicle traveling 60 mph, the vehicle must be within the microwave beam for approximately 880 feet. This limits the length of messages which may be sent to a vehicle to only a bare minimum size.
The system proposed by Conway et al. in the '793 patent attempts to solve this problem by providing a database of messages in the receiver mounted in the vehicle. The transmitters then transmit only a short encoded signal. A microprocessor-based system in the receiver decodes the encoded signals and retrieves a prerecorded message from the database or constructs a message from prerecorded message parts stored in the database. The messages in the database may be changed or tailored to specific areas of operation by replacing the database. The presence of the database, however, limits the flexibility of the system to only transmitting and decoding messages which have been previously defined.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,876 to Endo et al. proposes a system in which a voice message is digitized and time compressed before being sent to a vehicle using a directional microwave beam. Time compression is achieved by clocking the voice message out of a memory at a rate much greater than that which is later used to reproduce the voice message for human intelligibility. This time compression decreases the time that a vehicle must be in the microwave beam to receive a voice message. Thereby, the size of the voice message that can be transmitted to a passing vehicle is increased.
However, a problem with a system such as the one described by Endo el al. is that it cannot reliably provide direction specific information. For example, a message intended for a vehicle traveling in a southbound lane of a two lane roadway may (by reflection or directly) receive a message intended for northbound vehicles. It is desirable to have a system in which this possibility is minimized.
In a marine environment, radio broadcasts are normally used to communicate information to boaters. Wide-area radio broadcasts, however, do not allow locale-specific messages to be delivered.
What is needed is a system that overcomes the limitations of the prior art and provides a low cost system that may be practically implemented and will reliably communicate messages to vehicles.

System and method for communicating location and direction specific information to a vehicle


Multi-tenant and single-tenant methodologies are blended into a single solution to provide cost savings of multi-tenancy along with data security and privacy of a single-tenant environment. The cloud infrastructure is partitioned to include a first set of servers, and a second set of servers. The first set of servers are dedicated to a first operation, such as data presentation, while the second set of servers are dedicated to a second operation, such as data processing. The first set is operated in a multi-tenant operating mode, while the second set is operated in a single-tenant operating mode. Thus, the first set is available for general use, presenting data from any of the server(s) in the second set. The second set, in contrast, is dedicated to individual tenants. Preferably, each tenant has dedicated server(s) in the second set, which functions like a traditional, single-tenant environment providing inherent security and privacy guarantees.

Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to securing information in a cloud computing or other shared deployment environment wherein disparate parties share Information Technology (IT) resources.
Background of the Related Art
An emerging information technology (IT) delivery model is cloud computing, by which shared resources, software and information are provided over the Internet to computers and other devices on-demand. When multiple parties share resources within a cloud computing and other such shared deployment model, a compelling transformation and reduction in their IT costs (from fixed to variable) can be achieved. Using this approach, companies can extend computing and storage capacity elastically to match demand, shift operational and capital costs to an external data center, free IT staff to focus on new projects, and more. Cloud compute resources are typically housed in large server farms that run networked applications, typically using a virtualized architecture wherein applications run inside virtual servers, or so-called "virtual machines" (VMs), that are mapped onto physical servers in a data center facility.
Emerging cloud environments are being created out of existing IT infrastructures that are being adapted to support cloud-based services. One key characteristic of cloud computing that is different from existing environments is the requirement for so-called "multi-tenant" support, sometimes referred to as multi-customer single deployment. To satisfy this requirement, service providers have to be able to isolate different customer usage of the cloud services. Indeed, typically one of the most significant barriers keeping an enterprise customer from utilizing such resources is the ability to gauge a provider's security posture in relation to its own security compliance requirements.
In particular, shared environments have the potential to expose unprotected data to malicious attacks, hacking, and introspection by third parties, both intentional and otherwise. The service provider thus needs to maintain isolation between and among their specific customers that are sharing cloud resources. Thus, such systems need to ensure end-to-end trust and security of customer data regardless of their underlying networks, platforms, virtualization mechanism or middleware. Some of these problems can be addressed by the isolation of data and resources, and the use of VPNs and other such access mechanisms, but many cloud datacenters use non-traditional physical network configurations that negate traditional network isolation and that complicate VPN keying techniques.
Most companies that desire to use cloud computing and other shared deployment models assign high value to their data and applications. One approach to preserving confidentiality in the multi-tenant operating environment involves encryption of data on a per-tenant basis within such shared/cloud infrastructure. In one proposal, the tenants in the multi-tenant shared deployment are provided their own distinct key spaces over which they control a key management system. In this manner, virtual key management domains are created on a per-tenant (per-customer) basis so that, whenever a particular customer's data is co-tenanted, stored, transmitted or virtualized in the IT infrastructure of the provider's datacenter(s), it is secured using key management materials specific to that customer. This assures that the entirety of a tenant's data (including, without limitation, all generic data, and software applications) remains secure by cryptographically isolating it from other tenants' applications.
While the above-described approach is quite useful, there remains a need for additional techniques that provide for secure data separation in a cloud based application.

Multi-tenant secure separation of data in a cloud-based application

International Business Machines Corporation


A multi-part, partially pre-printed form useful as an airbill has address information printed thereon by a non-impact printer. The form includes top and bottom transparent plastic sheets affixed together by an adhesive having three panels defined by perforation cuts through the top sheet and die cuts through the bottom sheet. The adhesive facing side of one of the sheets is preprinted with information appearing on each panel. In addition, a background opaque color is printed over the information on two outer panels, leaving the center panel transparent. The information pre-printed on the opaque panels having is in a mirror image format relative to the information pre-printed on the transparent panel. The address is printed on the outward side of the bottom sheet such that the address printed on the transparent panel is a mirror image relative to the information on outer panels. A four part form is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a multi-part address form for use with a non-impact printer, and more particularly, to an airbill form which may be used for addressing packages sent by an overnight mail service.
2. Background Information
Overnight air courier services have become a common mode to send original documents and goods. Examples of such services include the Express Mail service of the United States Postal Service, Federal Express, United Parcel Service, DHL, Airborne, and many others. Most commercial air courier services utilize a similar multi-part airbill form in which as the name of the shipper and the name of the recipient are printed once and appear on all sheets of the airbill form. Typically, current multi-part airbill forms have four sheets, one for the sender, one for the recipient signature as a proof of receipt, one for the package and one for the air courier's billing department. Many of the various multi-part airbill forms used by the various air courier services have a peel away back, which exposes a pressure sensitive adhesive for permitting the airbill form to be affixed to the package being sent.
In order to use these airbill forms, it is necessary to add both the address of the recipient and the return address of the sender on the airbill form and this information must appear on each of the four sheets. Carbon paper or coatings of microcapsules are used to permit the user to add the information only one time on the top sheet and still have it appear on the remaining sheets. Nevertheless, the address information must be added to the airbill form by either, a typewriter, an impact printer, or by hand. Most offices today utilize computers because of their well known advantages over typewriters and manually prepared documents; further, most computer systems in use in offices have attached thereto a non-impact type printer, such as the laser printer or ink jet printer, because of the speed and quiet operation of non-impact printers over the older impact printers, or typewriters.
Because of the non-impact type of printing equipment used in modern offices, the address information added to air courier airbill forms must be done manually, leaving the air courier company with the problem of reading the handwriting of someone else. While manually adding the address information to airbill forms may be efficient where one, or a small number of packages, are to be sent, it is very inefficient where a large number of packages are to be sent. In the latter case, it is desirable to use a computer and associated printer to prepare the airbill forms. For example, where a mail order vendor ships merchandise by overnight air courier, many hundreds or thousands of airbill forms must be prepared daily and manual preparation of the airbill forms is very inefficient. With current airbill forms, the only manner of using a computer is to utilize an impact printer, which is both slow and noisy. Non-impact printers, which are faster and quieter than impact printers, cannot be used because of the requirement to have the address information on each sheet of the existing multi-part airbill forms.
What is needed is an air courier airbill form which can be printed using a non-impact printer.

Multi-part non-impact printer airbill form


This invention combines the functions of an eyeglass protection and storage device with the functions of an eyeglass securing device for when the eyeglasses are being worn. After the eyeglasses are removed from the protection and storage enclosure of this invention, the device can be transformed into a strap and used to secure the eyeglasses around the head of the wearer. Since such a dual-use protection and storage device can be worn along with the glasses, this invention also serves to eliminate the need to carry separately a single-use protection and storage device while the eyeglasses are being worn.

Many products of various rigidities and strengths serve as containers that protect eyeglasses from being crushed and/or having their lenses scratched while these eyeglasses are not being worn. Many products also exist that serve to secure eyeglasses to the person wearing the eyeglasses. Devices that secure eyeglasses are those comprised of a strap worn behind the head and attached to the `temple` of the eyeglasses by means of a fastening device, thereby preventing the eyeglasses from falling off the wearer.

Eyeglass storage and protection device that can function to secure eyeglasses while eyeglasses are worn


A unique fusion gene is disclosed which is useful for transforming a wide range of plants, resulting in a significant alteration of the plant phenotype with respect to shoot and floral tissue response, but not affecting root growth or function. The gene construct includes an ACC oxidase promoter to drive an ipt coding sequence that expresses IPT at certain stages of plant maturation and in certain tissues of the shoot. Exemplary transformations include chrysanthemum and tobacco, both of which exhibit increased branching in the vegetative shoot and increased bud count in the generative shoot.

Transgenic or recombinant plants are of increasing interest because of the potential to control phenotypic traits as well as to produce large quantities of commercially useful products. Plants have been employed to overproduce heterologous proteins and in principle can produce a wide range of products, including high value proteins and certain pharmaceuticals. Transgenic plants with visually attractive phenotypes are particularly desirable as a source of economic benefit to horticulturists and to florist retailers, while transgenic agronomic crops with enhanced production traits are of economic benefit to food producers and consumers.
Genetically modified plants for agricultural products are already on the market, including herbicide, insect and virus resistant crop plants. Some of the better-known crops engineered for herbicide resistance include soybeans, maize, rapeseed, sugar beet, rice and cotton. Maize, potatoes, tomatoes and cotton have been modified for insect resistance.
Food source plants can be engineered to improve traits that affect nutritional value; for example, elevated iron in rice and wheat, higher amino acid content in potatoes, seedless fruits and increased carotenoids in rice and tomatoes. Recent efforts have turned to produce recombinant plants with maximal desired plant product at a selected harvest time (patent publication 20030093836, May 15, 2003) or to significantly increase a desired expressed product by targeting protein product accumulation in a targeted tissue (patent publication 20040117874, Jun. 17, 2004). Of particular interest are plants engineered to increase oil production; for example, canola oil, which is considered more healthful than trans fats and oils.
Cytokinins play a role in many growth and developmental processes in plants, such as apical dominance, cell differentiation, flowering, fruit set and ripening, leaf senescence and seed germination. The effects of cytokinins on plants can be exploited for agricultural and horticultural purposes through either exogenous application of cytokinin or endogenous manipulation of cytokinin metabolism. In Hatiora gaetneri for example, flower bud number can be more than doubled in response to a spray application of synthetic cytokinins (Boyle, 1995). The efficacy of exogenous spray applications is limited however, because flowers and leaves do not readily absorb cytokinins and movement of cytokinins within the plant is limited.
Alternatively, it has been reported that endogenous levels of cytokinins can be modified by integrating the ipt gene into the plant genome. The ipt gene encodes the enzyme isopentenyl transferase, which catalyzes the rate-limiting step in cytokinin biosynthesis. A number of promoters, including those inducible by heat, wounding, or light, have been used to drive ipt gene expression. Unfortunately, most of the resulting ipt transgenic plants exhibit morphological abnormalities since overproduction of cytokinins interferes with so many developmental processes (Gan and Amasino, 1997).
Transgenic plants that overproduce cytokinins tend to show reduced stature, release of apical dominance, changes in vascular development, and in some cases, inhibited root growth (Ainley, et al., 1993) In one study, Li, et al. (1992) fused the ipt gene to the auxin-inducible SAUR promoter. This promoter is primarily active in elongating tissue and SAUR-ipt plants expressed elevated levels of cytokinins in these tissues. SAUR-ipt plants displayed reduced stature, increased axillary bud development, reduced root initiation and growth, and exhibited complex and variable changes in senescence.

Method and composition for increasing branching and flowering response in plants