Plural versions of an authoring/editing tool for fluid text include both a WYSIWYG editor and a content-driven treetable editor for producing narratives and their behavioral control in a fluid text viewing system environment. The tool includes content-driven treetable visualization and layout mechanisms for authoring and/or editing hypertext narratives, electronic mail threads and other tree-oriented applications. Edit operations are disclosed that permit interactive development and modification of treetables.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to methods of computer mediated text and graphic display.
2. Description of Related Art
Fluid documents are documents in which information contained in the text of the document is connected to other text or other information such as, for example, a textual annotation. Related disclosures of fluid documents include U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/098,942, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/098,451, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/794,100, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/098,451, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,230,170, each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Fluid document techniques disclosed in the '942 and '951 applications provide methods for dynamically presenting a primary body of data displayable on a graphical user interface and a supporting body of data relatable to the primary body of data. The primary body of data can include an "annotation tag" or "knob" associated with a specific region and referring to the supporting body of data. When a region of user focus at or near the annotation tag is selected in the primary body of data, the supporting body of data is dynamically displayed, i.e., displayed for as long as the user focus is maintained on that region. The data present in the primary body of data is concurrently modified to enhance presentation of the supporting body of data. When the user focus changes, the annotation tag or knob is restored and the primary body of data reverts to its original format.
The primary body of data can be primarily textual, primarily graphical, or some mixture of textual and graphical elements. Thus, the term "data" encompasses both textual and graphical elements. Similarly, the annotation tag or knob can be primarily textual, primarily graphical, or some mixture of textual and graphical elements. The annotation tag may be a numeric tag such as, for example, a footnote numeral, greeked or unreadably small interlinear or marginal text, a symbol such as, for example, an asterisk, a hypertext link, or a thumbnail graphic or drawing in the margin and may have different color attributes. In certain applications, the annotation tag may be a very small, yet still readable, version of the supporting body of data. In other applications, lines, curves, or graphical or textual animations can allow a user reviewing a primary body of data to identify the availability of supporting data. While typically a visual cue, in certain applications, the annotation tag may be visually imperceptible to the user until a pointer or other indicator of user focus is directed at a region to which the annotation tag is related. In certain applications, the annotation tag can be based on auditory or tactile feedback, with, for example, sound, operation of force feedback mice, or tactile displays providing audio or tactile annotations.
Treetables are a particular type of visualization for hierarchical or tree-structured data. A tree is a classic, abstract computational structure consisting of nodes and directed edges or links. A tree has a single root node, which has no parent node, and all other nodes have a single parent node. A parent is connected to each of its children by an edge or link from the parent to the child. Nodes with no children are called leaf nodes. A path in a tree is a sequence of nodes such that each node, except the last node in the sequence, is followed by one of its children.
Treetables are table-like visualizations of trees whose structural clarity is equivalent to that of direct node+edge representations, but which provide more space for data within the displayed nodes, and which make the root-to-leaf paths more easily perceptible. Related disclosures of treetables include U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/954,388 and 09/954,530, each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The treetables disclosed in '388 and '530 are structured so that a cell representing a tree node exactly spans the cells representing its successors. The columns of the treetable therefore represent the root-to-leaf paths of the tree. Also, the treetables disclosed in the above applications contain regular rows, so that all cells representing tree nodes at the same distance from the tree root are of the same height. The amount of data that can be included in a cell is thus determined by the height assigned to cells of its row. The above application '388 and '530 provide methods for structuring treetables of this type. They also provide methods for deeper exploration of their content in several ways. One such method is by focus operations causing in situ expansion of the space allocated to a particular column or subtree, thus increasing the amount of data that can be displayed in those regions. Another such method for deeper exploration is by extracting subparts of the treatable into another such structure, allowing more space for individual cells. Another such method is by using the treetables as a guide to the reading, in auxiliary displays, of the full concatenated content of all nodes associated with either (a) individual columns, or (b) all the successors to a given node. A particular use of treetables in applications '388 and '530 is for the visualization of email threads.

Authoring tools, including content-driven treetables, for fluid text


A resin composition containing (A) a thermoplastic polyurethane; (B) a polymer having a hydroxyl group at the end of the molecular main chain, the main chain principally comprising a conjugated diene compound unit (I) which may or may not be hydrogenated and an aromatic vinyl compound unit (II); and (C) a polyacetal resin, at ratios of (A), (B) and (C) being 2.5 to 90% by weight, 2.5 to 90% by weight and 5 to 95% by weight, respectively, on the basis of the total weight of the (A), (B) and (C), is excellent in terms of tensile strength and tensile elongation, and impact resistance at ambient temperature and lower temperatures.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a resin composition containing a polyacetal resin, a thermoplastic polyurethane and a specific polymer having a hydroxyl group at the end; and a molded article comprising the resin composition. The resin composition of the present invention is excellent in terms of mechanical performance such as tensile strength and tensile elongation, and impact resistance at ambient temperature and lower temperatures; wear resistance; and moldability. Therefore, the resin composition is useful as a material of a variety of molded articles.
2. Related Art of the Invention
Polyacetal resins have been used in wider fields as an engineering resin with good tensile strength and elongation, electrical properties, chemical resistance and thermal resistance. However, polyacetal resins have poor impact resistance, and therefore, as a method for improving the impact resistance, a technique of blending a rubber component has been known. In order that the rubber component might be finely dispersed in the matrix of the polyacetal resins to make the impact resistance effectively exerted, thermoplastic polyurethanes with a higher polarity have been used because polyacetal resins are highly polar. However, even a resin composition comprising a thermoplastic polyurethane blended in a polyacetal resin still remains to be improved, regarding the impact resistance at lower temperatures and the like.
So as to improve the polyacetal resins from the respect of the impact resistance at lower temperatures, the weatherability and the like, attempts have been made to add a styrene block copolymer to the resins. However, generally, such styrene block copolymer may not be dispersed finely; and when the resulting resin composition is modified into molded articles, delamination occurs severely while the tensile elongation is decreased markedly.
It has been known that a molding composition of a mixture of a polyacetal resin, an elastomer with a softening point below the crystallite melting point of the polyacetal resin and with a second-order transition temperature of -120.degree. C. to +30.degree. C., and a thermoplastic polyurethane, has good impact resistance (U.S. Pat. No. 4,277,577). However, the polyacetal resin-derived performance such as tensile strength and tensile elongation is severely deteriorated in the molding composition; and furthermore, the impact resistance may sometimes be insufficient for some use.

Resin composition and molded article of the same


The disclosed concepts provide for a method and apparatus for processing batched items, which may comprise a multitude of flats, e.g., letters. The individual items are conveyed in a row and abut against a band conveyor with one edge. They are at least partially resting against and overlapping each other in a shingle-like manner. The overlapping flats are further separated (fanned out) by guiding mechanisms on each side of the overlapping flats that accelerate and decelerate as necessary.

Conventional letter processing devices suffer from well known processing problems resulting from unique properties of each letter. For instance, letters may have varying formats, unequal thicknesses and different weights. Additionally, letters may be damaged or not glued properly, so that dog-ears stick out. These varying properties cause letter jams, multifeeds, etc., thereby reducing processing times. Also, such problems complicate the transport and especially the singling which is necessary for further processing. Due to these problems, preparatory actions from the emptying of the sacks to the feeding of the stacked and bundled letters are performed manually.
All known measures with which these problems have been addressed up to now have been relatively complex and could only be realized at high costs. Due to the great complexity, such measures are especially accident sensitive, only offer a moderate security, and do not contribute to the amelioration of the tool life.

Free transport for settling and singling of letters


A hair folding and creasing brake device for creating pre-folded and creased triangular hair foils for dimensional hair color placement has a hinged sheet which is hinged so that foil sheets placed on its surface can be clamped and then bent to form a crease in the foil. A hair coloring foil is prepared by placing a foil or a pack of foils onto the device which is then folded over the foil to clamp the foil and then folded again to bend the foil to impart a crease to the foil.

Thin rectangular sheets of aluminum foil, referred to as "hair foils," are commonly used by professional hair colorists and hair stylists to color or highlight the hair of customers in hair salons. Each rectangular hair foil is used to form a "packet" which is locked in place into a selected hair section with a lock of hair and a desired coloring composition. As many as fifty or more hair foils may be required to color a single head of hair. A busy hair colorist will use thousands of hair foils in a week.
Conventional rectangular or square hair foils are supplied to hair salons in stacks of flat foil sheets often separated by paper sheets. Hair foils are also sold as a pop-up style and in the form of continuous rolls of foil with a cutter to cut a custom length of foil chosen by the colorist. Many colorists simply work with what are commonly referred to as potato wrap foils.
Conventional rectangular or square hair foils require multiple folds to lock the foil packet with coloring product into the selected hair section. Thus, during its use as a hair foil, each foil sheet is folded at least once and usually multiple times by the hair colorist to form a pocket for the lock of hair and coloring composition. To facilitate this step the foil sheets are prepared before the hair coloring procedure begins by cutting to size and/or creasing a plurality of sheets. This makes it easier for the hair colorist to use them during the hair coloring procedure.
The preparation of hair foils is time consuming and tedious work and there have been efforts to mechanize the process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,062,947, Jun. 20, 2006 to James Douglas Farfor for CUTTING AND FOLDING MACHINE discloses a cutting and folding machine for cutting foil from a sheet into rectangular pieces with one edge folded over to provide reinforcement along that edge. U.S. Pat. No. 8,387,432, Mar. 5, 2013 TO Ross et al. for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING SHEETS OF FOIL discloses a machine for automatically dispensing sheets of foil ready for use in coloring hair.
However, machines are relatively expensive and may not be available to the hair colorist. Therefore, there remains a need for an improved and economical device for manual preparation of foils for hair color placement which will facilitate the preparation and use of the foils during the hair coloring process. There also remains a need for an improved hair coloring procedure. Accordingly, the present invention provides a small brake device for creasing triangular hair foils and a method of their use which offers several advantages over traditional rectangular or square hair foils.
Whereas conventional hair foils require multiple folds to lock the foil packet with product into the selected hair section, the triangular hair foils of the present invention require only a single fold to lock the foil packet into place. This single locking fold of the triangular foil allows for quicker and cleaner release from the hair than the multiple locking folds required by a rectangular foil. Additionally, triangular foils allow for the treated hair section to be placed farther into the body of the packet, away from the foil crease, keeping the product on the selected section of hair and decreasing the possibility of uneven product saturation and product displacement that can result from the multiple folds of rectangular foils pushing the product away from the hair section, thereby avoiding what is known in the industry as lines of demarcation. By placing the crease of the triangular foils parallel to the temporal hair line, the packets of product and treated hair are kept out of the client's eyes and face as the packets are folded, closed and directed away from the face, keeping chemicals away from the customer's face. This technique also provides a more professional presentation on the part of the colorist than allowed by traditional rectangular foils.
The present invention is directed to a device for manual preparation of triangular hair color placement foils and to their method of use. In accordance with the present invention the device can be provided at little expense yet is practical and will facilitate the preparation of triangular foils to make the life of the hair coloring user much easier. Use of triangular hair foils allows coverage of more head surface in a shorter time than use of conventional rectangular foils. Triangular foils also can be easily directed away from the face of the client and provide a more attractive, finished look during the coloring process.
Further understanding of the present invention will be had from the following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Mini brake for hair color placement foils and its method of use


The compound of formula (I)

Patients suffering from bronchoconstriction associated with reversible obstructive airways diseases are generally treated using a bronchodilator, to relax the bronchial smooth muscle.
Bronchodilators in use today generally fall into two classes, the β2-selective adrenoceptor agonists, such as albuterol (salbutamol), salmeterol and formoterol, and the muscarinic receptor antagonists, such as ipratropium and tiatropium.
β2-Selective adrenoceptor agonists may cause adverse effects, and these may in part be due to activation of the β1-adrenoceptor. The selectivity of an agonist for the β2-adrenoceptor receptor is therefore very important, because it limits the dose that can be given and so affects the magnitude of bronchodilations and the frequency of dosing.
A long duration of action is important to patients, not only to minimize the time spent taking the drug, but also to avoid having to take the drug during inconvenient times, for example at work, school or during the night. Some of the more recent β2-selective adrenoceptor agonists, in particular salmeterol and formoterol, have a long duration of action, typically about 12 hours. Formoterol has a particular advantage that it also has a fast onset of action. However, formoterol is extremely potent, which makes it very difficult to formulate, especially for administration using a metered dose inhaler in a manner that results in uniform drug delivery via aerosol dose after dose (i.e., dose content uniformity). Furthermore, it is unstable in aqueous solution, which means that solutions for administration using a nebuliser have to be kept refrigerated for a majority of their post-manufacture shelf life.
Formoterol is one of a group of α-aminomethylbenzyl alcohol derivatives for which patent applications were filed during the early nineteen seventies, for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,974. The invention of this compound built on earlier work by others, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,319 (equivalent to BE 765,986, cited in U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,974). Perhaps because of the difficulties associated with formulating the compound, it took a long time to be commercialized. The compound contains two chiral centers, and hence is capable of existing and being isolated in four stereoisomeric forms. The compound was firstly commercialized as a racemic mixture of the active (R,R)- and inactive (S,S)- isomers, in a dry powder formulation, then more recently as the active (R,R)-isomer in a nebuliser solution. It is also known, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,145, that the (S,R) isomer of formoterol is active. However, like the (R,R)-isomer, this compound is unstable at ambient temperature in aqueous solution and hence nebuliser solutions would need to be stored refrigerated.

Abstract: The compound of formula (I)

Abstract: is a water-stable, long acting β2-selective adrenoceptor agonist useful as a bronchodilator in the treatment of bronchoconstriction associated with reversible obstructive airways diseases and the like.


Disclosed herein are apparatus, methods and computer program products for using access point availability information in a wireless communications system. In aspects of the method performed at an access point in a wireless communications system, the access point generates a message indicating the level of availability of the access point; and transmits the message. In aspects of the method performed at user equipment in a wireless communications system, the user equipment receives messages from access points in the wireless communications system, the messages containing access point availability information indicating the respective levels of availability of the access points available for selection by the user equipment; and selects an access point in dependence on the access point availability information. In variants, the user equipment may perform additional steps to determine whether a current or contemplated operating mode requires selection of an access point be made in dependence on access point availability information associated with the access point. Only if the current or contemplated operating mode provides a quality of service that is dependent on level of availability of an access point will the access point availability information be consulted when selecting an access point.

The following abbreviations are herewith defined:APaccess pointBSbase stationBTSbase transceiver stationHOhand overQoSquality of serviceRATradio access technologyRNrelay nodeRNCradio network controllerSystem Infosystem informationTCPtransmission control protocolUEuser equipment (also referred to as a mobile device, e.g. acellular telephone)
When a UE receives system info advertisements from different APs/BSs current wireless systems and use cases assume that the APs/BSs are part of a static infrastructure. However, considering that networking is evolving to become more dynamic in nature, and that fixed access networks may utilize forwarding/routing/relaying capabilities of certain dynamic services, this assumption has or will become obsolete.

Apparatus, method and computer program product providing system information advertisement extension for dynamic networks


Pocket hearing aids are to be designed to be more comfortable. To this end there is provision on one hand for a wireless communication connection to be established between the microphone part and the earpiece part. To this end the microphone device of the pocket hearing aid has an appropriate electronics section (1) and an antenna (4), which can simultaneously be used as a clip. In order on the other hand to be able to dispense with feeding in external signals over a cable connection, the microphone device further features an adapter connector (5) with which for example it can be plugged in directly to a training device, a stereo device or a mobile telephone.

In numerous areas of life hearing aid wearers can resort to what are known as pocket hearing aids. This is useful for example on training courses but also for the use of mobile telephones, stereo equipment and comparable media.
With a pocket hearing aid the microphone device including the signal processing is constructively separate from the earpiece. A device which can be carried in the breast pocket for example receives the audio signals, processes them and directs them over an appropriate cable connection to an earpiece which the hearing aid wearer wears in a/on their ear.
The output signals of training devices, mobile telephones, stereo systems and such like are provided for example through Euro jack plugs. The pocket hearing aid possesses an audio shoe which serves as an adapter for the hearing aid. The audio signals are transmitted from the relevant device output over a standard cable to the audio shoe of the hearing aid.
In addition it is known from publication U.S. Pat. No. 5,721,783 that wireless transmission of signals from an external device to a hearing aid is possible. These types of external devices, which can be referred to as RPUs (remote processor unit), can be produced for example in the form of a wristwatch or a piece of jewelry.
Utility model DE 203 03 190 U1 further discloses a handsfree device for hearing aids to allow hearing aid wearers to use mobile telephones, digital telephones and CD players. Here a support element of a behind-the-ear hearing aid features a coil which is connected by means of a lead via a microphone to a plug for direct connection to the devices to be used.
The further publication DE 35 08 830 A1 describes a hearing aid in which the earpiece is located outside the hearing aid housing in an otoplastic. The connection between an amplifier of the hearing aid and the earpiece is a wireless connection.


A motorcycle fuel tank according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes an upper shell, and a lower shell including a body and fixing portions. The lower shell body is bonded to the upper shell and arranged to define a fuel storage space with the upper shell. The fixing portions are used to fix the lower shell body onto a motorcycle body. The lower shell is made of an aluminum alloy and the lower shell body and the fixing portions are formed by a casting process such that the fixing portions are integral with the lower shell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motorcycle fuel tank and more particularly relates to a motorcycle fuel tank made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy.
2. Description of the Related Art
To decrease the fuel consumption of a motorcycle or an automobile while improving its running performance, it is important to reduce the weight of its body as much as possible. The weight of a motorcycle or an automobile may be reduced by using a lighter weight material for its components. In the prior art, the majority of those components, including a frame, a chassis and so on, have been made of either iron or a steel containing iron. Recently, however, it was proposed that aluminum, having a smaller specific gravity than iron, be used as a material for those components. The density of aluminum is about one-third of that of iron. Thus, if aluminum or an aluminum alloy were used as a material for the components, then the weight of a motorcycle or an automobile could be reduced significantly.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 8-232789 discloses a fuel tank made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy for use in cars. This fuel tank includes an upper casing and a lower casing, which are made by a drawing process and which are brazed together, thereby defining a box-shaped closed space.
However, nobody has ever proposed a motorcycle fuel tank made of aluminum or an aluminum alloy. This is probably because a motorcycle fuel tank needs to meet a greater number of requirements than a car fuel tank and because it is not easy to obtain a fuel tank satisfying all of those requirements.
More specifically, as to motorcycles, the fuel tank forms an integral part of the vehicle's appearance, and therefore, needs to have a beautiful shape of good design. Also, in assembling the components on the body, the motorcycle fuel tank has to be arranged within a limited space. For that reason, a motorcycle fuel tank normally has a complex shape and it is difficult to make a tank of such a complex shape of an aluminum alloy, which is a metal that is hard to form in a desired shape and bond together. Furthermore, a motorcycle is easily subject to the vibrations of the wheels on the road, the vibrations of the engine, and the heat of the engine, and therefore, its fuel tank should be sufficiently durable so as to be protected from those vibrations and the heat. Furthermore, to fix a fuel tank of such a complex shape onto the frame of a motorcycle, it is necessary to provide a fixing portion for the fuel tank. However, the motorcycle fuel tank has such a complex shape that it is usually hard to provide a fixing portion for the motorcycle fuel tank with high positioning accuracy. Besides, this fixing portion also needs to be durable so as to be protected from the vibrations and heat from the motorcycle.


Systems and methods for repairing Thermo-Span® gas turbine engine components are described herein. Embodiments of these methods minimize post-weld residual stresses in a weld repaired Thermo-Span® component by solution heat treating the component by heating the component to about 2000° F.±25° F., holding the component at about 2000° F.±25° F. for about one hour; and cooling the component to below about 700° F. at a rate equivalent to cooling in air; and precipitation heat treating the component by heating the component to about 1325° F.±25° F., holding the component at about 1325° F.±25° F. for about 8 hours, cooling the component to about 1150° F.±25° F. at a maximum rate of about 100° F./hour, holding the component at about 1150° F.±25° F. for about 8 hours, and cooling the component at a predetermined cooling rate. Dimensions of the fully-machined and weld repaired component are maintained during solution heat treating and precipitation heat treating via custom designed furnace tools.

A relatively new alloy being used in aero applications is an iron-nickel-cobalt-based superalloy available from Carpenter Technology Corporation, known commercially as Thermo-Span® material, which has uniquely low thermal expansion characteristics over a broad temperature range. Thermo-Span® material offers several advantages over the mainstay alloys typically used in aero applications, making this superalloy highly attractive for various aero applications, such as, for example, for components in the high and low compressor sections of various gas turbine engines, where close control of the compressor blade and wear strip materials is required to assure compressor efficiency and stability. While this superalloy provides better corrosion resistance, improved thermal stability, good tensile properties, excellent creep resistance, and better microstructural stability as compared to traditional iron-nickel-cobalt-based controlled expansion alloys, this superalloy also has some drawbacks. Namely, Thermo-Span® material suffers from relatively poor notched mechanical properties (i.e. stress-rupture, dwell low cycle fatigue, etc.) at elevated temperatures, and typically requires a coating (i.e., a low temperature diffused aluminide coating) thereon to protect it from environmental effects. The presence of such coatings can further degrade the notched properties of the Thermo-Span® material, potentially allowing Thermo-Span® components to crack in service. This cracking is typically observed at highly stressed areas where stress concentration characteristics aggravate the material's notch sensitivity, such as at hole locations.
While various methods exist for repairing gas turbine engine components made of traditional mainstay alloys, there are currently no methods available for repairing gas turbine engine components made of Thermo-Span® material. Therefore, damaged Thermo-Span® components must be replaced by an entirely new component, and the damaged Thermo-Span® components are being returned to the manufacturer or set aside until a suitable repair method becomes available for salvaging them. As the number of damaged Thermo-Span® components continues to grow, the costs associated with those damaged components continues to rise as well. As such, it would be very desirable to be able to repair damaged Thermo-Span® gas turbine engine components so that such components could be returned to useful service.

Methods for repairing gas turbine engine components


An apparatus is provided for treating pollutants in a gaseous stream. The apparatus comprises tubular inlets for mixing a gas stream with other oxidative and inert gases for mixture and flame production within a reaction chamber. The reaction chamber is heated by heating elements and has an interior wall with orifices through which heated air enters into the central reaction chamber. The oxidized gases are treated also for particles removal by flowing through a packed bed. The packed bed is cooled and its upper portion with air inlets to enhance condensation and particle growth in the bed. The treated gas stream is also scrubbed in a continuous regenerative scrubber comprising at least two vertically separated beds in which one bed can be regenerated while the other is operative so that the flow may be continuously passed through the bed.

The gaseous effluents from the manufacturing of semiconductor materials, devices, products and memory articles involves a wide variety of chemical compounds used and produced in the process facility. These compounds include inorganic and organic compounds, breakdown products of photo-resist and other reagents, and a wide variety of other gases which must be removed from the waste gas streams before being vented from the process facility into the atmosphere. In such systems, process gas, which may be a single component or multi-component composition, is mixed with an oxidant, such as high purity oxygen, air or nitrous oxide, then the resulting gas mixture is oxidized in a reaction chamber.
In semiconductor manufacturing processes, various processing operations can produce combustible gas streams. Hydrogen and a variety of hydride gases such as silane, germane, phosphine, arsine, etc. may be present and, if combined with air, oxygen or other oxidant species such as nitrous oxide, chlorine, fluorine and the like, form combustible mixtures.
However, the composition of the waste gas generated at a work station may vary widely over time as the successive process steps are carried out.
Faced with this variation of the composition of waste gas streams and the need to adequately treat the waste gas on a continuous basis during the operation of the facility, a common approach is to provide a single large scale waste treatment system for an entire process facility, which is over designed in terms of its treatment capacity, which can continuously treat the waste gas. Large scale oxidation units, which often use catalytic chemistry, however, are typically expensive, particularly since they are over designed in terms of treatment capacity, must be heated to an appropriate elevated temperature and often generate a substantial amount of heat. It is difficult to make such gas treatment processes economically viable without recovering a substantial portion of the heat generated.
Accordingly, oxidation beds in large scale, typically single unit catalytic oxidation systems, are greatly oversized relative for the size and scale of oxidation beds which would be otherwise minimally required for treatment of the effluent stream under an average operating conditions, average concentration levels, and average composition of pollutants.
The present invention provides discrete units which may be employed at the point of use, that is, applied to a single tool, individual processing operation, and the like, within a plant facility to effectively and efficiently remove the pollutants without being over designed with respect to volume capacity, heat generation and power consumption.

Method for decomposition oxidation of gaseous pollutants


An approach is provided for providing energy optimization in multi-level distributed computations. A distributed computation energy optimization platform determines energy availability information associated with at least one level of a computational architecture executing at least portion of one computation closure. The distributed computation energy optimization platform also determines energy consumption information associated with the at least portion of one computation closure. The distributed computation energy optimization platform further processes and/or facilitates a processing of the energy availability information, the energy consumption information, or a combination thereof to determine whether to migrate the at least portion of one computation closure to at least one other level of the computational architecture.

Mobile devices with various methods of connectivity are now for many people becoming the primary gateway to the internet and also a major storage point for personal information. This is in addition to the normal range of personal computers and furthermore sensor devices plus internet based providers. Combining these devices together and lately the applications and the information stored by those applications is a major challenge of interoperability. This can be achieved through numerous, individual and personal information spaces in which persons, groups of persons, etc. can place, share, interact and manipulate (or program devices to automatically perform the planning, interaction and manipulation of) webs of information with their own locally agreed semantics without necessarily conforming to an unobtainable, global whole.
Furthermore, in addition to information, the information spaces may be combined with webs of shared and interactive computations or computation spaces so that the devices having connectivity to the computation spaces can have the information in the information space manipulated within the computation space environment and the results delivered to the device, rather than the whole process being performed locally in the device. It is noted that such computation spaces may consist of connectivity between devices, from devices to network infrastructure, to distributed information spaces so that computations can be executed where enough computational elements are available. These combined information spaces and computation spaces often referred to as computation clouds, are extensions of the 'Giant Global Graph' in which one can apply semantics and reasoning at a local level.
In one example, clouds are working spaces respectively embedded with distributed information and computation infrastructures spanned around computers, information appliances, processing devices and sensors that allow people to work efficiently through access to information and computations from computers or other devices. An information space or a computation space can be rendered by the computation devices physically presented as heterogeneous networks (wired and wireless). However, despite the fact that information and computation presented by the respective spaces can be distributed with different granularity, still there are challenges in certain example implementations to achieve scalable high context information processing within such heterogeneous environments. For example, in various implementations, due to distributed nature of the cloud, exchange of data, information, and computation elements (e.g., computation closures) among distributed devices involved in a cloud infrastructure may require excessive amount of resources (e.g. process time, process power, storage space, etc.). In various example circumstances, to enhance the information processing power of a device and reduce the processing cost, one might consider minimizing or at least significantly improving exchange of data, information and computations among the distributed devices. In various example embodiments we can minimize or improve or significantly improve data distribution within a computational architecture by providing multi-level distributed computations, such that the data can be migrated to the most cost effective computation level with minimized or improved cost. However, various computations may have different levels of energy consumption, security enforcement requirements, privacy policies, etc. One of the very important functionalities for optimizing computations is to detect, identify, and determine optimized energy consumption (and energy cost) for each computation. The recognition of factors such as computation capabilities, energy availability, and energy cost at every computation environment, and also energy consumption for each computation can provide guidelines for determining optimized and cost effective strategies for computation distribution and distribution.

Method and apparatus for energy optimization in multi-level distributed computations


In an internal combustion engine with a balancer including a crankcase having a pair of wall portions, a crankshaft supported for rotation on the wall portions and having a balancer driving gear wheel provided thereon, and a balancer shaft supported for rotation by the wall portions and having a balancer driven gear wheel provided thereon, both gear wheels are disposed between the wall portions. A positioning mark including a set of marks provided on side faces in the same direction of the gear wheels is disposed near to pitch circles of both gear wheels. At a position opposing to both side faces of the one wall portion on the side opposing to the positioning mark on the pitch circles of both gear wheels, a through-hole extending through the one side wall is provided to permit the positioning mark to be visually observed through the through-hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an internal combustion engine with a balancer wherein confirmation of positioning in meshing between a driving gear wheel and a driven gear wheel of a balancer mechanism can be carried out easily.
2. Description of Related Art
In a conventional internal combustion engine, for example, where a crankshaft is oriented in a vehicle widthwise direction (leftward and rightward direction) when the conventional internal combustion engine is mounted on a vehicle, if a balancer mechanism having a driving gear wheel is disposed between left and right crank journal walls, then the meshing region between the driving gear wheel and a driven gear wheel for balancer driving is hidden by a pair of wall sections formed from the crank journal walls. Consequently, it is difficult to confirm alignment of "positioning marks" for adjusting the timings of the gear wheels (predetermined mutual phase).
As a countermeasure against the difficulty, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3440573 discloses an apparatus wherein a cutaway portion is provided on a crank web so that, when the balancer mechanism is assembled to the crankcase, the positioning marks in the meshing region of the driving gear wheel and the driven gear wheel can be confirmed from the opposite side of the crankcase.
However, since the internal combustion engine of Japanese Patent No. 3440573 is structured such that the crankcase is composed of two left and right parts, the meshing region of the gear wheels can be viewed directly from the opposite side of the crankcase to confirm alignment of the positioning marks. However, depending upon the form of the internal combustion engine, the meshing region may not be able to be viewed directly and alignment of the positioning marks may not be able to be readily confirmed.
Therefore, an internal combustion engine with a balancer wherein alignment of positioning marks in a meshing region of a balancer driving gear wheel and a balancer driven gear wheel of a balancer mechanism can be confirmed readily irrespective of the form of the internal combustion engine is needed.

Internal combustion engine with balancer


Method of automatically sorting mail 1 which has to be forwarded by means of a sorting machine, which processes the mail 1 in a continuous main stream A and where the sorting machine comprises a feeder 2 via which a variety of unsorted addressed mail is fed. The singled mail 1 is marked with an individualising identifier by a following marking device. Each identifier is assigned to a data set in a file, and by means of a following reading device 5 the addresses on the mail 1 are taken up. A taken-up address is deciphered by a recognition module and is written in the corresponding data set. The mail 1 is assigned a corresponding error information when the address cannot be deciphered. A mail piece with assigned error information is then sorted out of the main stream as scrap mail 6. The scrap mail 6 is fed again together with the unsorted mail 1 into the feeder 2 after the address has been verified and has been written in the corresponding data set, and the fed again scrap mail 6 is automatically recognised as such.

Many mail sorting systems utilize scanning and optical character recognition to detect destination information for use in sorting mail pieces. In such procedures, the information important for the corresponding mail, namely the recognized addresses, are maintained in a database. However, some mail pieces do not have readable ZIP code or other address information, that is to say such pieces lack information detectable by the optical character recognition equipment and software. These pieces are considered as rejects or scrap mail. A video encoding technique has been developed to handle such rejects.
If a piece is rejected, the video image of the mail piece is saved and presented to a keying operator. The operator keys in the address information manually read from the piece, at least to the extent necessary to enable sorting. The keyed data is stored in a record in the database, and a corresponding bar code or other ID tag is printed on the mail piece. During subsequent sorting, the piece can be recognized and sorted in response to the printed ID tag and the keyed data.
Video Encoding thus provides coding of mail for sorting machines, when the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and directory software has failed to resolve the address on the mail piece. One industry standard implementation of a Video Encode process is "on-line" in that the reject is video encoded without removal from the mail stream. However, on-line encoding requires a long delay line, which delays the mail piece reaching the sorter stacker sufficiently to allow for encoding of the scrap mail piece.
The alternative standard approach, referred to as an Off-Line Video Encode operation involves sorting out the rejects during a first pass (FIG. 1a) and video encoding the rejects. Then, a separate pass through the sorter (FIG. 1b) is used to re-run only the mail that has been coded by the Video Encoding operators.
The disadvantage of the On-Line method is the extent of the necessary delay. The disadvantage of the Off-Line approach is that the sorting machine has to be configured especially for the separate run to handle the video encoded scrap mail. This is not "user friendly" to the machine operator, since the operator has to stop the "Machine First Pass" and select a special pass to run the Video Encoded mail. The separate sorting run incurs an additional expenditure of work and time, and thereby leads to increased costs. Further, these separate runs interrupt the continuity in the workflow of the machine. Altogether, the Off-Line processing of the scrap mails overstrains the machine's efficiency excessively.


A process and a device for dosing a pharmaceutical agent, preferably a liquid, are proposed. To achieve an enhanced dosing accuracy, a first component that is produced in batches, such as a shaped seal, is combined with a second component, such as a guide pipe selected from a suitable group guide pipes, wherein the suitable group of second components is selected based on at least one decisively significant value of the respective batch first components and is distinguished by an essential value of the second component which will optimize the sealing between the first and second components.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a process for producing a pharmaceutical agent, in particular as an aerosol, with enhanced dosing accuracy, as well as a device for administering a pharmaceutical agent, in particular as an aerosol, with enhanced dosing accuracy.
2. Description of Related Art
In this invention, the term "pharmaceutical agent" is defined, in particular, as pharmaceutical agent formulations or pharmaceutical agent mixtures. The pharmaceutical agent is preferably present in liquid form, wherein it may be a suspension, a solution or a mixture of the two (a so-called suslution). In addition, it can be a powder. The following description of the invention focuses primarily on a pharmaceutical agent in liquid form, so that often only liquid is spoken of, but this correspondingly applies for other pharmaceutical agents, and for comparable substances, in terms of this invention.
European Patent Application EP 1 426 662 A1 and corresponding U.S. Patent Application Publication 2004/0134495, which forms the starting point of this invention, discloses a device for dosing or dispensing a liquid, in particular, a pharmaceutical liquid. The known device has a guide pipe with a piston that travels therein as well as an O-ring seal to ensure sealing between the guide pipe and piston. The O-ring seal is arranged in a groove of the guide pipe. To achieve a good seal, a groove fill level of more than 90% through the O-ring seal is provided. In practice, it has been shown that the tolerances of the individual components can lead to an inadequate seal, in particular against air, and thus, to an inadequate dosing accuracy. An exact dosage is essential, however, specifically in the administration of pharmaceutical agents or the like, to which this invention relates.

Process and device for dosing pharmaceutical agents

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG


An electrostatic capacitance detection device includes a substrate having a predetermined thickness, an electrode layer formed on a front surface of the substrate in a predetermined pattern including electrodes to be touched so as to detect an electrostatic capacitance and wirings drawn from the electrodes, and a shield layer formed on a rear surface of the substrate and into a shield pattern corresponding to the predetermined pattern of the electrode layer. The shield pattern of the shield layer is formed surrounding the electrodes without overlapping with the electrodes, surrounding the wirings, and between the wirings when viewed in the thickness direction of the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrostatic capacitance detection device and, in particular, to an electrostatic capacitance detection device featuring a shield structure of the electrostatic capacitance detection substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electrostatic capacitance detection device is known that includes a substrate, an electrode layer for detecting electrostatic capacitance, and a shield layer formed on the substrate so as to prevent EMI (electromagnetic interference) (e.g., refer to JP-A-2009-169720). The electrostatic capacitance detection device is a touch sensor including an electrode substrate on which an electrode pattern is formed, and is configured such that a shield layer comprised of a transparent conductive film is formed in an outer circumferential region in plane with the electrode pattern of the electrode substrate, and an output wiring and the like electrically connected to the electrode pattern are formed above the shield layer.
According to the electrostatic capacitance detection device, the shield layer comprised of a transparent conductive film is formed between the output wiring and the electrode substrate, thereby even if a finger or the like touches or comes close to an output wiring part in which a plurality of output wirings are formed, namely a shield region, the electrostatic capacitances of the finger or the like and the output wiring can be prevented from being combined with each other by the shield layer in the part that the finger or the like has touched or come close to. Consequently, in the part that the finger or the like has touched or come close to, noise due to change in capacitance can be prevented from being transmitted to the output wiring and the like, and it can be prevented to erroneously detect as if an input were carried out in the sensor part, despite no input thereto, thus an occurrence of malfunction can be prevented. In addition, noise due to change in capacitance does not occur, and the threshold value of the input detection can be easily set, thus the device is regarded as a device that is capable of carrying out an accurate input detection.

Electrostatic capacitance detection device

KABUSHIKI KAISHA TOKAI RIKA DENKI SEISAKUSHO


The present invention relates to a method for transmitting video information, in which a bitstream is formed comprising a set of frames comprising macroblocks. At least one switching frame is formed into the bitstream, macroblocks of the switching frame are arranged into a first and a second group of macroblocks, each macroblock of the first group of macroblocks are encoded by a first encoding method to provide a switching point for continuing the transmission of video information with another bitstream formed from the video information; and macroblocks of the second group of macroblocks are encoded by another encoding method. Errors in transmission of video information are reduced by forming at least one SP-encoded frame by predictively encoding the macroblocks; replacing part of the SP-encoded macroblocks with intra encoded blocks; and transmitting the encoded frame containing both predictively and intra encoded macroblocks instead of the SP-encoded frame.

A typical video stream comprises a sequence of pictures, often referred to as frames. The frames comprise pixels arranged into a rectangular form. In existing video coding standards, such as H.261, H.262, H.263, H.264 and MPEG-4, three main types of pictures are defined: Intra frames (I-frames), Predictive frames (P-frames) and Bi-directional frames (B-frames). Each picture type exploits a different type of redundancy in a sequence of images and consequently results in different level of compression efficiency and, as explained in the following, provides different functionality within the encoded video sequence. An intra frame is a frame of video data that is coded by exploiting only the spatial correlation of the pixels within the frame itself without using any information from the past or the future frames.
Intra frames are used as the basis for decoding/decompression of other frames and provide access points to the coded sequence where decoding can begin.
A predictive frame is a frame that is encoded/compressed using motion compensated prediction from a so-called reference frame, i.e. one or more previous/subsequent Intra frames or Predictive frames available in an encoder or in a decoder. A bi-directional frame is a frame that is encoded/compressed by prediction from a previous Intra frame or Predictive frame and/or a subsequent Intra frame or Predictive frame.
Since adjacent frames in a typical video sequence are highly correlated, higher compression can be achieved when using Bi-directional or Predictive frames instead of Intra frames. On the other hand, when the temporal predictive coding is employed within the coded video stream, B-frames and/or P-frames cannot be decoded without correctly decoding all the other previous and/or subsequent reference frames which were used with coding of the Bi-directional and Predictive frames. In situations in which the reference frame(s) used in the encoder and respective reference frame(s) in the decoder are not identical either due to errors during transmission or due to some intentional action on the transmitting side, the subsequent frames that make use of prediction from such a reference frame can not be reconstructed on the decoding side to yield a decoded frame identical to that originally encoded on the encoding side. This mismatch is not only confined to a single frame but further propagates in time due to the use of motion compensated coding.
FIGS. 1A-1C illustrate the types of encoded/compressed video frames used in a typical video encoding/decoding system. For example, prior to encoding, the pictures of the video sequence are represented by these matrices of multiple-bit numbers, one representing the luminance (brightness) of the image pixels, and the other two each representing a respective one of two chrominance (color) components. FIG. 1A depicts the way in which an Intra frame 200 is encoded using only image information present in the frame itself. FIG. 1B illustrates construction of a Predictive frame 210. Arrow 205a represents the use of motion compensated prediction to create the P-frame 210. FIG. 1C depicts construction of Bi-directional frames 220. B-frames are usually inserted between I-frames or P-frames. FIG. 2 represents a group of pictures in display order and illustrates how B-frames inserted between I- and P-frames, as well as showing the direction in which motion compensation information flows. In FIGS. 1B, 1C and 2, arrows 205a depict forward motion compensation prediction information necessary to reconstruct P-frames 210, whereas arrows 215a and 215b depict motion compensation information used in reconstructing B-frames 220 in forward direction (215a) and backward direction (215b). In other words, the arrows 205a and 215a show the flow of information when predictive frames are predicted from frames that are earlier in display order than the frame being reconstructed, and arrows 215b show the flow of information when predictive frames are predicted from frames that are later in display order than the frame being reconstructed.
In motion compensated prediction, the similarity between successive frames in a video sequence is utilized to improve coding efficiency. More specifically, so-called motion vectors are used to describe the way in which pixels or regions of pixels move between successive frames of the sequence. The motion vectors provide offset values and error data that refer to a past or a future frame of video data having decoded pixel values that may be used with the error data to compress/encode or decompress/decode a given frame of video data.
The capability to decode/decompress P-frames requires the availability of the previous I- or P-reference frame, furthermore in order to decode a B-frame requires the availability of the subsequent I- or P-reference frame is also required. For example, if an encoded/compressed data stream has the following frame sequence or display order:
I1B2B3P4B5P6B7P8B9B10P11 . . . Pn−3Bn−2Pn−1In,
the corresponding decoding order is:
I1P4B2B3P6B5P8B7P11B9B10 . . . Pn−1Bn−2In.
The decoding order differs from the display order because the B-frames require future I- or P-frames for their decoding. FIG. 2 displays the beginning of the above frame sequence and can be referred to in order to understand the dependencies of the frames, as described earlier. P-frames require the previous I- or P-reference frame be available. For example, P4 requires I1 to be decoded. Similarly, frame P6 requires that P4 be available in order to decode/decompress frame P6. B-frames, such as frame B3, require a past and/or a future I- or P-reference frame, such as P4 and I1 in order to be decoded. B-frames are frames between I- or P-frames during encoding.
Video streaming has emerged as an important application in the fixed Internet. It is further anticipated that video streaming will also be important in the future of 3G wireless networks. In streaming applications the transmitting server starts transmitting a pre-encoded video bit stream via a transmission network to a receiver upon a request from the receiver. The receiver plays the video stream back while receiving it. The best-effort nature of present networks causes variations in the effective bandwidth available to a user due to the changing network conditions. To accommodate these variations, the transmitting server can scale the bit rate of the compressed video. In the case of a conversational service characterized by real-time encoding and point-to-point delivery, this can be achieved by adjusting the source encoding parameters on the fly. Such adjustable parameters can be, for example, a quantisation parameter, or a frame rate. The adjustment is advantageously based on feedback from the transmission network. In typical streaming scenarios when a previously encoded video bit stream is to be transmitted to the receiver, the above solution cannot be applied.
One solution to achieve bandwidth scalability in case of pre-encoded sequences is to produce multiple and independent streams having different bit-rates and quality. The transmitting server then dynamically switches between the streams to accommodate variations in the available bandwidth. The following example illustrates this principle. Let us assume that multiple bit streams are generated independently with different encoding parameters, such as quantisation parameter, corresponding to the same video sequence. Let {P1,n−1, P1,n, P1,n+1} and {P2,n−1, P2,n, P2,n+1} denote the sequence of decoded frames from bit streams 1 and 2, respectively. Since the encoding parameters are different for the two bit streams, frames reconstructed from them at the same time instant, for example, frames P1,n−1 and P2,n−1, are not identical. If it is now assumed that the server initially sends encoded frames from bit stream 1 up to time n after which it starts sending encoded frames from bit stream 2, the decoder receives frames {P1,n−2, P1,n−1, P2,n, P2,n+1, P2,n+2}. In this case P2,n cannot be correctly decoded since its reference frame P2,n−1 is not received. On the other hand, the frame P1,n−1, which is received instead of P2,n−1, is not identical to P2,n−1.
Therefore switching between bit streams at arbitrary locations leads to visual artefacts due to the mismatch between the reference frames used for motion compensated prediction in the different sequences. These visual artefacts are not only confined to the frame at the switching point between bit streams, but propagates in time due to the continued motion compensated coding in the remaining part of the video sequence.
A video streaming/delivery system inevitably suffers from video quality degradation due to transmission errors. The transmission errors can be roughly classified into random bit errors and erasure errors (packet loss). Many error control and concealment techniques try to avoid this problem by forward error concealment, post-processing and interactive error concealment. The predicted video coding mechanism has low tolerance on packet loss where the error caused by a missing block will propagate and thus create objectionable visual distortion. The intra macroblock insertion, which is based on the forward error concealment, can stop the error propagation by introducing a self-contained intra macroblock and concealing the erroneous block. The problem with the introduced intra macroblock is that the coding of such a macroblock increases the amount of information of the bit stream, thus reducing coding efficiency, and that it is not scalable.
A good error resilience tool is important when retransmission for lost packet is not possible. An Adaptive Intra Refresh (AIR) system described in MPEG-4 standard (Worral, "Motion Adaptive Intra Refresh for MPEG-4", Electronics Letters November 2000) Worral mentions the inserting intra macroblocks at later and later positions in succeeding frames as part of a motion-adaptive scheme. Deciding when to insert the macroblocks (when bandwidth is available for that frame) is shown to benefit from identifying image areas with high motion. Worral notes that his approach is backward-compatible with the standard (does not require a standard change). The encoder moves down the frame encoding intra macroblocks until the number of preset macroblocks have been encoded. For the next frame the encoder starts in the same position, and begins encoding intra macroblocks.
The purpose of the insertion of intra macroblocks is to try to minimize the propagation of artefacts caused by an erroneous macroblock and to stop the propagation. Another alternative is the Random Intra Refresh (RIR) used in the JM61e H.264 reference software where intra macroblocks are randomly inserted. However, as soon as the intra macroblock is inserted it cannot be replaced by a predicted block which in general is much smaller in size. In another words, the coding efficiency is fixed for systems based on the Adaptive Intra Refresh or the Random Intra Refresh. For a wireless connection the packet loss rate is different from time to time, wherein schemes such as AIR cannot reflect the packet loss rate to optimize for the performance. In another words, the error protection of AIR is non-scalable. In good connection conditions the quality is not optimized due to the inserted intra blocks.
It is important for Video Streaming Server to be able to adapt to different connection conditions and different network types such as wired and wireless networks. Bitstream switching scheme where multiple bitstreams are used provides a low complexity way for a server to adapt to varying connection conditions without re-encoding video content, which requires high computation power. However, switching from one bitstream to another produces pixel drift problem if the switching takes place at a predicted frame. Since the reference frame is taken from another bitstream, the mismatch would propagate and thus degrade the video quality.
The problem with bitstream switching is that the switching point must be an intra frame (key frame), otherwise a pixel mismatch which degrades the video quality will occur until the next intra frame. During a video streaming session it is desirable that the switching can take place at any frame. However, it is not easy to implement such a system without affecting significant reduction to coding efficiency.
Regular intra frames can be used to provide switching points. But, more frequent the intra frames more bits are required which will lower the video quality. One scheme provides extra bitstream with all intra frames at a certain period of, say, one second and during switching the intra frame will be used for switching, which will minimize the prediction error. Another simple technique is just to switch at any frame, which in general suffers from pixel drift quite significantly.
A correct (mismatch-free) switching between video streams can be enabled by forming a special type of a compressed video frame and inserting frames of the special type into video bit-streams at locations where switching from one bit-stream to another is to be allowed. The patent application WO02054776 describes switching frames which are used for enabling the system to perform the switching from one bit stream to another without the need to insert Intra frames into the bit stream for switching locations. The special type of compressed video frame will be referred to generally as an S-frame (Switching). More specifically, S-frames may be classified as SP-frames (Switching Predictive), which are formed at the decoder using motion compensated prediction from already decoded frames using motion vector information, and SI-frames, which are formed at the decoder using spatial (intra) prediction from already decoded neighbouring pixels within a frame being decoded. In general, an S-frame is formed on a block-by-block basis and may comprise both inter-coded (SP) blocks as well as intra-coded (SI) blocks (Switching Intra).
The special type of frame allows switching between bit streams to occur not only at the locations of I-frames but also at the locations of the SP-frames. The coding efficiency of an SP-frame is much better than the coding efficiency of a typical I-frame wherein less bandwidth is needed to transmit bit streams having SP-frames in locations where I-frames would be used. The switching of one bit stream into another can be performed at locations in which an SP-frame is placed in the encoded bit stream.


The process of producing a stable polymer dispersion by aqueous emulsion polymerization of an ethylenically unsaturated monomer in the presence of a stabilizer selected from a polyester or polyamide containing a sulfate or sulfonate group.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the use of polyesters and/or polyamides containing sulfate and/or sulfonate groups as stabilizers for the emulsion polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated monomers, to a process for the production of stable polymer dispersions and to their use.
One of the particular advantages which emulsion polymerization is known to have over other processes, such as bulk or solution polymerization, is that, on the one hand, an emulsion-polymerized product is present in an ideal form (as a latex) for use in paints, coating compounds, adhesives and impregnating compounds and, on the other hand, emulsion polymerization is particularly suitable for simple process control.
In processes of the type in question, the choice of the emulsifier is a very important factor both in regard to process control and in regard to the properties of the subsequent latex. Thus, the emulsifier should form a stable emulsion between the monomer and water phases on the one hand and, subsequently, a stable latex on the other hand. Since the emulsifier remains in the end product, it should not impart any negative properties to the end product. For example, it is often undesirable if the emulsifiers used float to the surface during drying of the latex and lead to discoloration and/or inadequate water resistance of the film formed.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Numerous emulsifiers have been tested for their suitability for emulsion polymerization. Accordingly, it has long been known from the literature that emulsifiers and/or water-soluble polymers (so-called protective colloids) can be used as emulsifying agents in emulsion polymerization. A review of the most important and widely used emulsifying agents can be found in G. Schulz "Die Kunststoffe", C. Hanser Verlag, 1964, in Ullmann, Encyklopadie der technischen Chemie, 4th Edition, Vol. 10, Verlag Chemie, Weinheim (1980), pages 455-461 and in J. C. Johnson "Emulsifiers and Emulsifying Techniques", Noyes Data Corporation, Park Ridge, N.J. 1979.
In addition, it is known that fine-particle dispersions having particle sizes of 0.1 .mu.m to 0.3 .mu.m can generally be obtained by the use of emulsifiers or surfactants in emulsion polymerization while coarse-particle dispersions having particle sizes above 1 .mu.m can be obtained where protective colloids are used. It is generally assumed that the fine or coarse nature of the dispersions is the result of different reaction mechanisms. Polymerization in the presence of emulsifiers and/or surfactants takes place in micelles and leads to particles which are smaller than the originally dispersed monomer droplets whereas, in the presence of protective colloids, the reaction takes place in the monomer droplets so that the size of the droplets is responsible for the size of the polymer particles. The two reaction mechanisms can often be brought into place simultaneously by the combined use of emulsifiers and protective colloids or by the use of monomer-soluble radical initiators instead of water-soluble initiators. In this case, dispersions containing bimodal particles or at least dispersions having a very broad particle size distribution are generally formed. The average particle diameter is in the range from about 0.2 .mu.m to 2 .mu.m.
It is generally very difficult to produce emulsifier-free fine-particle polymer dispersions of high solids content. Processes for the production of stabilized polymer dispersions which enable fine-particle dispersions to be produced without the use of emulsifiers and/or surfactants have recently been disclosed in the patent and specialist literature. Although the reaction mechanism is not discussed in detail, the fine-particle emulsifier-free dispersions are said to have particular performance properties.
The stabilization of polymer dispersions with polyelectrolytes is described in DE 25 40 468. The dispersions are said to have high shear and salt stability, high pigment compatibility and only a slight tendency towards foaming. The polyelectrolytes used are water-soluble polymers containing recurring units of lateral carboxylic acid groups which are reacted off with monofunctional alcohols or primary amines which in turn bear a sulfonate function as an additional functional group. The chain is a carbon chain of the type formed, for example, by polymerization of (meth)acrylates. Although these polyelectrolytes have ester functions, they are not polyesters in the sense that the polymer chain is formed by ester units.
Polyesters and polyamides containing sulfonate groups are already known to the expert. Thus, according to DE 35 19 678 for example, polyesters containing sulfonate groups and alkyl side chains are used as dispersion aids for coal suspensions.
The polyesters in question are polyesters of carboxylic acid dialkanolamides and sulfodicarboxylic acids. These polyesters are soluble in water which is one of the requirements mentioned in the statement of problem in the above-cited patent. In addition, the fact they are suitable as dispersants for coal suspensions does not mean that they are also suitable as stabilizers for emulsion polymerization because emulsion polymerization stabilizers have to meet different and, in some cases, additional requirements, for example they must not adversely affect the performance properties of the polymer dispersion produced.
The problem addressed by the present invention was to provide stabilizers suitable for the emulsion polymerization of ethylenically unsaturated monomers which would lead to fine-particle polymer dispersions showing improved resistance to water and producing a high level of gloss in the films produced from them. In addition, there would be no need, to use emulsifiers or surfactants in this regard.

Polymeric stabilizers for emulsion polymerization


A wiring block pre-forms a cable end having twisted wires for subsequent installation of a plug on the cable end. A back end of the block leading to a cavity within the block receives the cable end such that a cable portion adjacent to the cable end sits inside the cavity. A front end of the block has pass holes leading to troughs extending through the block between the cavity and the front end. The troughs receive the wires at the cable end with the wires protruding from the holes. When the cable end is inserted into the block the wires at the cable end have a length within the troughs corresponding to the plug trough lengths and a configuration within the troughs corresponding to the plug trough configuration with the cable portion adjacent to the cable end having a length within the cavity corresponding to the plug cavity length.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to pre-forming an end of a category 5 (CAT5) unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable used for Ethernet wiring.
2. Background Art
A category 5 (CAT5) unshielded twisted pair (UTP) cable typically has eight individual wires which are arranged in four twisted wire pairs. Insulation coverings respectively surround and insulate the individual wires. The insulation coverings have different colors which identify the individual wires. An outer insulation sheath surrounds and insulates the twisted wire pairs.
Users such as technicians install a RJ45 plug on an end of a CAT5 UTP cable in order to terminate the cable for interconnection into a RJ45 jack. Installing a RJ45 plug on a terminating end of a CAT5 UTP cable requires that a user initially strip the outer insulation sheath from the terminating end of the cable in order to expose the twisted wire pairs. The user then untwists and arranges the individual wires of the exposed twisted wire pairs into a specific configuration according to the color codes of the individual wires. The user then inserts the terminating end of the cable into the RJ45 plug such that the individual wires are individually received by the proper wire troughs of the RJ45 plug with a portion of the cable adjacent to the terminating end being received by the RJ45 plug as well. The user then crimps the RJ45 plug onto the terminating end of the cable which has been inserted into the RJ45 plug.
This operation of installing a RJ45 plug on a terminating end of a CAT5 UTP cable requires a high degree of manual dexterity and experience on the part of users. For instance, the individual wires are not laid out in the RJ45 plug by pairs, and the lengths of the resulting individual wires are relatively short given the length of a RJ45 plug. Furthermore, many users are not completely aware of the various color coding schemes used for CAT5 UTP terminations.
For a proper termination, the individual wires of the exposed twisted wire pairs should not be untwisted more than two twists and the length of the individual wires should be such that the sheath of the cable portion adjacent to the terminating end of the cable extends into the RJ45 plug. With a proper termination, the individual wires and the adjacent cable portion can be crimped properly such that the individual wires make contact with electrical connectors of the RJ45 plug and such that the adjacent cable portion has a sufficient amount of the outer insulation sheath to provide a strain relief.
This operation often has to be repeated to obtain a satisfactory combination of the operation elements prior to attempting to crimp the RJ45 plug onto the cable. Failure to provide the correct positioning or presentation frequently requires that the just crimped end of the cable be cut off and another attempt made to complete the task of installing a RJ45 plug on another terminating end of the cable.

Apparatus for pre-forming a twisted-pair electrical cable


An LED power supply device has a loop circuit formed by a switching circuit, an LED and a comparison circuit, and a reference voltage generation circuit for providing reference voltage to the comparison circuit. The loop circuit oscillates so that substantially constant current is applied to the LED.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an LED power supply device. The power supply device of this invention is suitable for in-vehicle use.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an LED power supply device whose conducting current is a few tens of milliamperes, current applied is controlled by connecting a resistor in series with the LED. However, as LED brightness is required to be higher so that the conducting current is a few hundreds of milliamperes, heat released and power consumed by the resistor are innegligible. In addition, since resistor size is larger, and design for heat releasing on a substrate side is required, constraints on design in portions other than the power supply circuit of the LED are caused.
Such resistor constraints can be overcome by using a switching power supply circuit. FIG. 1 shows an example where a versatile switching power supply circuit is applied to an LED.
In this circuit, feedback voltage from the LED is compared with reference voltage from a reference voltage generation circuit 3 at an error amplifier 2. A high-precision circuit of bandgap reference type is typically used for the reference voltage generation circuit 3. A result compared is amplified by a comparator 4, and compared thereat with oscillating voltage of a triangular wave oscillator 5, thereby opening/closing a switching circuit 6. Such versatile switching power supply circuit 7 is typically an integrated circuit.
Japanese patent application laid-open No.2002-98375 discloses such a versatile switching power supply circuit.
The power supply circuit shown in FIG. 1 is versatile, and not specially designed for the LED. It has unnecessary functions for LED lighting control. Although it is equipped with, for example, the independent oscillator 5 so as to continue voltage control operation irrespective of load presence/absence and kind, the oscillator 5 is an unnecessary function in the case where the load is limited to the LED. Although the power supply circuit shown in FIG. 1 uses the high-precision bandgap reference type reference voltage generation circuit 3 with very high temperature dependence to maintain high-precision voltage control, the high-precision bandgap reference type reference voltage generation circuit 3 is also an unnecessary function in the case where the LED is controlled. This is because even if current applied to the LED is changed by about ±20% in a high-brightness region, the human eye cannot recognize its change.
Since the reference voltage of the bandgap reference type reference voltage generation circuit 3 used in many cases is set to more than 1.25V, the feedback voltage from the LED 1 is more than 1.25V. As a result, power consumption due to feedback loss is innegligible.
A switching power supply IC for an LED only has been placed on the market. However, such ICs are costly because they use high-speed switching device for miniaturization, or specialized circuit configuration for high efficiency.


The present invention is a composition in the form of a soluble sheet or film which has a variety of uses, particularly in the personal care field. Such sheets are preferably water soluble. An important component of these water soluble sheets is a “base composition,” which includes a water soluble film forming polymer, a polyvinyl alcohol, and a humectant such as propylene glycol. Surfactant may be added to the liquid base composition so that, when the composition is dried into sheet form, the sheet will generate foam when exposed to water and have cleansing properties. Skin care ingredients may also be added to the base composition in addition to or in place of the surfactant. Volatile alcohols or hydrocarbons may also be incorporated into the liquid base composition to facilitate drying of the composition to form the flexible sheet product.

The prior art discloses various uses for soluble films. For instance, soluble films have been used to enclose materials. U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,737 to Shigeno, et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,693 to Surgant disclose soluble capsules into which various substances can be placed.
Soluble films have also been used for cosmetic purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,547 to Canter et al. discloses a water-in-oil emulsion film used to form a makeup foundation. Another cosmetic application of water soluble films is found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,126,142 to Saute, which discloses a face mask which is applied to the skin, allowed to dry, and then removed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,948,430 to Zerbe, et al., discloses a soluble film for oral administration. The film is used for the delivery of materials via the mucous membranes, particularly the buccal mucosa.
Although means for forming films for various applications are known in the art, there is a need for a water soluble film which will bind surfactant and other ingredients, and which, when exposed to water, will dissolve and provide personal cleansing such as can be obtained from, for example, hand soap or body wash. There is also a need for a water soluble film to which skin care ingredients may be added and which will release such skin ingredients upon exposure to sufficient moisture.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


An electrochemical apparatus and system for extracting and recovering metals from their compounds using electrochemical cells where the anolyte 10 is connected electrically to the catholyte 11 through an independent set of electrodes 13, 14 immersed in each electrolyte and connected to each other by a conductor 16. The specification details the application of this principle to commercial size cells and systems to extract metals from solutions, from ores in-situ, from ores in heaps and fixed beds, from fine metal concentrates dissolved either at the anode cell or in a separate leaching vessel. Alkaline electrolytes are also given for the extraction and recovery of nickel and copper from their oxide ores. A method for extracting gold from ores or residues is also included.

The core of this invention lies in a new concept of an electrochemical cell which allows high reaction rates and separate anode sections and cathode sections disclosed in our Australian Patent No. 654774. This present invention details the commercial scale equipment and systems using the principles in our Australian Patent no. 654774.
This present invention addresses the situation of many electrolytic processes which work satisfactorily in a small scale but fail when applied to pilot plant or commercial scale plants.
The conventional electrochemical cell for carrying out oxicising and reducing reactions consists of an anode section and a cathode section separated by a diaphragm where ions produced at the anode must migrate through the diaphragm to the cathode to be reduced. This process is too slow and does not prevent impurities from co-depositing with the desired metal at the cathode.


A fuse assembly includes a bus bar fuse and a clip. The bus bar fuse has a leg with a slotted opening. The clip surrounds a portion of the leg. The clip includes a first side having a threaded through-hole and a second side extending from the first side at an angle with respect to the first side. A third side extends from the second side at an angle with respect to the second side. The third side includes a through-hole. The threaded through-hole of the clip provides for captivation of the fastener within the clip when mounting the fuse assembly to the fuse mounting block assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical fuses, and, in particular, to bus bar fuse assemblies.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditional large amperage electrical fuses have copper bus bar ends or legs with slotted openings for going over threaded studs. The installation of the fuses into electrical assemblies typically requires the handling and installation of loose nuts and washers with the fuse mounted onto terminal studs. When bolts are used to secure the fuse to mounting bases, the fasteners, washers and fuse have to be held while starting the thread. This results in a risk of losing hardware within the assembly, potentially resulting in foreign object damage threat, e.g. in aerospace applications, or having washers slip under the fuse bus bar ends and being in the electrical joint potentially causing higher heating due to voltage drop.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purposes. However, there is still a need in the art for systems and methods that allow for improved fuse assemblies. The present invention provides a solution for these needs.


In a method for patterning a semiconductor component a first cover layer is applied to a first region and a second region of a semiconductor component being arranged in a semiconductor substrate. The first region is different from the second region. The first cover layer is patterned using a photolithographic mask so that the first region is uncovered and the second region remains covered by the first cover layer. The first region is uncovered, a second cover layer is applied to the uncovered first region, and the first cover layer is removed so that the second region is uncovered. The uncovered second region is then doped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for patterning a semiconductor component.
Although the present invention can be used in general terms for the patterning of a semiconductor component having first and second regions, the text which follows will describe the problems underlying the invention on the basis of the patterning of a memory cell of a DRAM memory.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the text which follows, a generally known memory cell of a DRAM memory is described with reference to FIG. 3. The memory cell includes a storage capacitor 802 (capacitor), which is embedded in a semiconductor substrate 801, and a horizontal transistor.
The transistor has a channel region 860 in a horizontal surface of the semiconductor substrate 801. A node region 811 and a bit line region 812 are arranged opposite one another horizontally adjacent to the channel region 860. A gate stack 803 is provided vertically with respect to the channel region 860. When a suitable potential is applied to the gate stack 803, the bit line region 812 is conductively connected to the node region 811.
The capacitor 802 and the transistor are arranged in such a way that the capacitor is conductively connected to the node region 811. Therefore, when the transistor is switched to a conducting state, a current path results between the storage capacitor 802 and the bit line region 812. For the DRAM memory, the bit line region 812 is connected to a bit line. For operation of the DRAM memory, it is necessary for the bit line and therefore the current path to have a defined electrical resistance.
The production of the transistor and of the capacitor 802 is carried out in a plurality of production steps, using a plurality of photolithographic masks. Deviations in the positioning of the individual masks with respect to one another result in a variation in the distance between the capacitor 802 and the gate stack 803 of the transistor, i.e. the dimensions of the node region 811, resulting in an undesirable variation in the resistance of the above-described current path. Therefore, an additional doping 841, which compensates for the variation in the resistance, is introduced into the node region 811.
This additional doping should not affect the switching properties of the transistor. Therefore, this doping 841 is only implanted remote from the channel region 860, in a region of the node region 811 which adjoins the capacitor 841. This is achieved by implantation at an angle to the surface of the semiconductor substrate 801. In the bit line region 812, however, the doping 841 is implanted near to the channel region 860. On the other hand, different dopings have to be introduced into the bit line region 812, which need not be present in the first region 811. Consequently, generally known semiconductor production processes provide for the node region 811 first of all to be covered with a photolithographic mask and then for the doping in the bit line region 812 to be carried out. After the photo-lithographic mask has been removed, the node region 811 is covered with a second photolithographic mask, and then the bit line region 812 is doped.
For this purpose, the corresponding photolithographic masks have to be accurately patterned and positioned to within one third of the lateral feature size. For desired feature sizes of less than 50 nm, this requires accurate alignment to within 15 nm. Therefore, the corresponding photolithographic masks are also described as critical masks. This imposes very high demands on process steps and apparatuses used to apply the critical mask, involving inter alia the use of high-resolution primary masks, lithography in the ultraviolet spectral region, a correspondingly suitable photoresist, an accurate alignment of the primary mask and the semiconductor substrate 801 with respect to one another. A considerable depth of trenches between the gate stacks results in difficulties in the exposure of masks, on account of the limited focal depth of the pattern being exposed in the vertical direction.

Method for patterning a semiconductor component


An array of speakers are fed from a single source of audio frequency sound but each speaker transmits the sound delayed by an amount which is determined by the distance between a particular speaker and a selected region in space, so that sound from each speaker constructively adds at the selected region in space. A sufficiently large number of speakers are employed so that when sound reaches a region in space at the same moment in time the audio volume will be increased substantially over sound in regions where there is not constructive interference. This simple technique allows audio frequency sound to be heard in only selected regions within the room or other auditory space. Multiple regions with multiple soundtracks can be created by simultaneously playing variously delayed soundtracks over each of the speakers in the array.

The present invention relates to systems for reproducing sound in general and to systems which can control sound production to localized regions in particular.
A typical sound system performs two functions: amplifying sound and reproducing sound with a given level of clarity or intelligibility within a particular room, auditorium, hall or other space. Sound may be either audio frequency sound, subsonic sound, or ultrasonic sound. The audio frequency sound falls within the range of 15 Hz to 20,000 Hz, the range generally of human hearing, with subsonic frequencies being those below 15 Hz, and ultrasonic frequencies being those above 20,000 Hz.
Recently new capabilities have led to research in sound systems which could have the potential to produce sound which is contained within a beam, or which is aimed at a particular point or listener. Such systems open up the possibility of providing different audio stimulus to different people occupying the same room, museum, or lecture hall. Such a system might also provide more realistic stereo without using headphones by providing a separate audio input to each ear of a listener.
One approach proposed by Joe Pompei while a student at MIT, involves generation of ultrasonic sound which distorts in a predictable way so that the distortions produce audio frequency sound. Starting with the desired audio frequency sound it is mathematically possible to predict the ultrasonic beam which will produce the desired audio frequency sound. By such means Pompei is able to generate an audio spotlight of sound.
Another proposed approach is to use an acoustic time-reversal mirror. Such systems have been developed by Mathias Fink at Ecole Superieure de Physique et de Chimie Industrielles de la Ville de Paris. A time-reversal mirror is a concept known from optics where it is known to be possible to construct a mirror which sends light reflected therefrom directly backwards so that the lightwaves appear to be reversed in time. Thus light emitted from a point when reflected in a phase conjugate, or time-reversal mirror, returns to the emitting point. To look into a time-reversal mirror is to see only the light emitted from the pupil which is gazing into the mirror. In a similar way, an acoustic time reversal mirror returns sound to the source that emitted the sound. This returning sound returns identically to that emitted, even if the path between the sound source and the time-reversal mirror involves many reflections, distortions, and dispersions. At least in theory, the time reversal process could be used to focus sound at a particular location so that different sounds would be heard by different people.
A wide variety of audio systems attempt to provide more realistic sound by providing an array of speakers which produce the effect that the sound appears to come from a particular direction or source and such systems are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,981 to Gehring or U.S. Pat. No. 5,974,152 to Fujinami. More generally, any stereo, quadraphonic, or surround sound system uses multiple speakers to produce sound which is more realistic.
However, none of the foregoing systems has produced a cost-effective system for providing sound which can only be heard in a localized region. What is needed is an apparatus and method for producing audible sounds which are localized so that multiple listeners can be provided with unique audio input without the use of headphones.


By raising a temperature of an element portion of a particulate matter sensor (8) that is arranged in an exhaust passage (4) of an internal combustion engine (2), a heat generation amount that results from the combustion of particulate matters is detected, during a removal treatment of removing, through combustion, particulate matters that are deposited on the element portion. Besides, an amount of particulate matters that are deposited on the element portion of the particulate matter sensor (8) is detected on the basis of an output of the particulate matter sensor (8), before the start of this removal treatment. On the other hand, an amount of particulate matters that are deposited on the element portion before the start of the removal treatment is detected in accordance with the heat generation amount. Furthermore, it is determined whether or not there is an abnormality in the particulate matter sensor (8), on the basis of a difference between a first particulate matter amount that is detected on the basis of the output of the particulate matter sensor (8) and a second particulate matter amount that is detected on the basis of the heat generation amount.

For example, in a system of Patent Document 1, a particulate matter sensor (a PM sensor) for detecting particulate matters (hereinafter referred to also as "PM") in an exhaust passage of an internal combustion engine is arranged. This PM sensor includes an insulating substrate, and a pair of electrodes that are arranged, spaced apart from each other, on the insulating substrate.
If the PM in exhaust gas is deposited between the pair of the electrodes of this PM sensor, the conductivity between the electrodes changes. There is a certain correlation between the amount of the deposited PM and the conductivity between the electrodes, and the resistance between the electrodes changes in accordance with the amount of the PM deposited between the electrodes. Besides, there is a correlation between the amount of the PM deposited between the electrodes and the amount of the PM in exhaust gas. Accordingly, the amount of the PM in exhaust gas is detected by detecting a resistance value between the electrodes of the PM sensor.
By the way, in the art of Patent Document 1, the PM sensor is arranged downstream of a particulate matter collection filter (a diesel particulate filter; hereinafter referred to also as "a DPF"). In Patent Document 1, it is determined whether or not there is a malfunction in the DPF, by detecting an amount of the PM discharged downstream of the DPF on the basis of the resistance value between the electrodes of the PM sensor.

Control apparatus and control method for internal combustion engine