A method and an apparatus are used to place virtual objects in video programs. Programs are selected and virtual object locations are defined in the selected programs. The available virtual objects available are categorized and the categories are correlated to subscriber information. When a frame of a program includes a virtual object location, a default or an alternate virtual object is displayed. The virtual object location may change over space or time. The virtual object may be interactive, and may be used to link a subscriber to a remote location, such as an Internet web site. An operations center or a cable headend may generate a group assignment plan that assigns the subscribers' terminals to groups, based on factors such as area of dominant influence and household income. A placement plan may instruct the television terminals to display the desired virtual object. The television terminals may record which virtual objects were displayed, and may report this information to the cable headends and the operations center. The reported information is used to generate billing for commercial advertisers, and to analyze viewer watching habits. The invention uses upstream data reception hardware, databases and processing hardware and software, and corresponding features in the televisions to accomplish these functions.

Television as an advertising medium has undergone significant advances since its inception in 1939. Modern advances in digital technology now allow viewers to be very selective in choosing programs to watch. Other advances in digital technology have led to such programming enhancements as a "tail" on a hockey puck, or an overlaid first down marker on a football field. The same technological advances allow improvements in the way advertisements are currently presented. Many sporting events are now presented with virtual object advertisements included in the video. For example, the broadcast of a major league baseball game may include one or more virtual object spots in which an advertisement is displayed. The advertisements are then seen by television viewers, but not by fans who attend the game. However, the advertisements are assigned and inserted into the program stream at a central location such as at a television broadcast facility.

Method and apparatus for placing virtual objects


Provided is a method of reducing postal revenue losses associated with the processing and delivery of international mail pieces. Algorithmically-resolved image data associated with a mail piece is compared to international-mail-services postage data and a determination is rendered, based on the comparison, as to whether any postage indicated as paid is sufficient to further process the mail piece in accordance with the level of delivery service requested. In various aspects, an attempt to algorithmically ascertain the identity of the sender is undertaken for purposes of automated charge assessment relative to a mail piece for which it is determined that insufficient postage has been tendered. In accordance with alternative aspects, if the sender identity cannot be ascertained, the mail piece is variously (i) rejected for manual handling or (ii) routed for automated sortation and delivery in accordance with a “downgraded” delivery service level for which the amount paid is adequate.

An international mail piece originating in the United States is deposited with the United States Postal Service at, for example, a local post office branch from which it is then routed to an appropriate one of a plurality of outgoing international mail centers, each of which mail centers services a specified geographic region or "zone" of the United States for purposes of handling both outgoing and incoming international mail. There exist approximately 13 zones in the United States and each is serviced by an international mail center that is generally located at or near one of the major U.S. international airports. For instance, there is an international mail center located at or near each of JFK airport in New York, LAX airport in Los Angeles and O'Hare International airport in Chicago.
Although an international mail piece could be deposited directly at an outgoing international mail center, it is typically received into the system at a local post office branch. Mail received into the postal system at a local branch office is eventually transported to a centralized postal hub. There are in excess of 250 postal hubs in the United States. These "hubs" are known by alternative names including (i) processing and distribution centers, (ii) general mail facilities and (iii) mail distribution centers. Postal hubs are regional mail centers that handle incoming and outgoing mail for individual post office branches within a particular range of ZIP Codes. Typically, a postal hub services one or more "three-digit ZIP Code areas." For example, the Central Massachusetts Processing and Distribution Center (also known as the "Worcester Facility") services the local post office branches situated in all the ZIP Codes beginning with "014", "015," "016," and "017." That is, mail destined for or departing from a local branch office within a ZIP Code beginning with any one of the four sets of three digits in the previous sentence will, under normal circumstances, pass through the Worcester facility. The Worcester facility services more than two dozen towns, each with its own local branch office. Nationally, the 250 plus hubs collectively service approximately five thousand individual postal branch offices.
Domestic mail coming into and going out of the various local branch offices in a particular geographic region is processed through one or more hubs before delivery to its final domestic destination. Mail pieces identified as international mail pieces are transported from a regional hub to an international mail center such as the mail centers described above. Each international mail center services a plurality of regional hubs.
International mail arriving at a regional hub or an international mail center is currently randomly sampled to ascertain whether senders are applying the required postage. As part of the random sampling process, heavy reliance is placed on manual handling and visual inspection by human personnel. One basis upon which random sampling may be conducted is when it comes to the attention of postal personnel that a single sender, such as corporation, is sending large quantities of overseas mail. If it is determined that the sender has applied inadequate postage on some predetermined threshold quantity of mail pieces, personnel remove the sender's mail pieces from automated sortation apparatus and quantify the total amount of the postage deficiency for all of the identified mail pieces in order to render postal charge assessment to the sender.
It will be appreciated that, although the measures described above identify and render charge assessment against some senders that underpay for postage, a large percentage of underpaid mail pieces go undetected and are transported and delivered at a loss to the postal system. The cost of human labor renders prohibitive reliance upon human inspection to detect a large percentage of underpaid mail pieces. Analogous processes and similar losses are implemented and incurred by the postal systems of countries other than the United States.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an enhanced, automated method of identifying and processing international mail pieces that bases (i) automated sorting decisions at least in part on a machine-executed algorithmic determination of the adequacy of applied postage and that, consequently, reduces reliance on costly human labor and error and (ii) enables automated postal-charge assessment to a postal customer who has underpaid the postage required to process a mail piece as desired.

System and method of identifying and sorting international mail pieces based on applied-postage adequacy in order to enhance postal service revenue protection


A cover for vehicle steering wheels that includes a base panel adapted to be stretched over an annular steering wheel and a pair of gripper panels secured to an outside surface of the base panel. The gripper panels are oriented on the base panel to provide preferred, safe positions for the vehicle operator to grasp. A plurality of spaced nodules extend outwardly of the gripper panels which provide an improved grip of the steering wheel and massage the vehicle operator's palms and fingers during extended periods of vehicle operation.

The need for providing an adequate means for grasping a steering wheel of a vehicle has long been recognized. Factors such as extreme temperature fluctuation, vehicle vibrations, and length of driving time affect the vehicle operator's ability to maintain an adequate grip on the steering wheel.
Some traditional steering wheels have been manufactured in an attempt to improve the operator's grasp of the steering wheel. For example, some steering wheels include a plurality of grooves or recesses to provide a grasping location for the operator's fingers. These steering wheels, however, generally do nothing to combat the effects of extreme hot or cold temperatures or vibrations of the vehicle transmitted through the steering wheel.
More recently, steering wheel covers have been developed which are stretched or wrapped over the steering wheel and secured in place by a strap or other type of cord which is helically wrapped around the cover and the steering wheel. Such covers are usually made of leather or some other type of soft compressible material to provide an insulated, cushioned grip to reduce the effects of extreme cold in the winter time and heat in the summertime. These covers also make the steering wheel easier and more comfortable to grasp.
There remain, however, several drawbacks with respect to these known devices for improving the grip of a steering wheel. First, these prior devices do not prevent the palms and fingers of the driver's hands from sweating because of the constant surface contact between the operator's palms and fingers and the surface of the steering wheel or steering wheel cover. During times of hot weather, the operator's hands may perspire and leave a slippery residue on the surface of the steering wheel or steering wheel cover. Even in the wintertime, once the inside temperature of the automobile reaches a level within or above the comfort zone, this same problem may occur, particularly when the vehicle is operated over long periods of time.
Another problem with respect to traditional devices for improving the driver's ability to grasp the steering wheel handle is that over extended hours of operation, the driver's hands become fatigued and stressed because of the constant tension of the muscles in the hands required to grip the steering wheel. Any amount of stress and fatigue will affect the driver's ability to maintain a firm grasp of the steering wheel and thus maintain adequate control of the vehicle.
Still another problem with the known steering wheel devices is that there is generally no structural incentive for the driver to place both hands in proper, safe positions on the steering wheel. In light of the above-mentioned problems concerning fatigue and sweating, there is a tendency to minimize the amount of contact between the operator's hands and fingers and the steering wheel. This minimal contact may be inadequate for proper handling of the vehicle and may, under certain circumstances, cause the operator to lose control of the vehicle.
Accordingly, there is a substantial need to provide a device for improving an operator's grip of a vehicle steering wheel, for relieving finger and hand stress during extended periods of driving, and for motivating the operator to place both hands on the steering wheel in proper, safe positions.
The present invention involves a steering wheel cover which overcomes many of the above-identified problems. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description of the invention which follows.


An automobile door has a glass run corresponding to a glass door. The glass run includes a body portion, which has a bottom wall portion, and a vehicle interior side wall portion and a vehicle exterior side wall portion respectively extending from opposite ends of the bottom wall portion, and also includes a pair of seal lips which performs sealing between the door glass and the glass run. Furthermore, in a cross-sectionally substantially-U-shaped outer peripheral portion of the body portion, sponge rubber layers are provided in a predetermined range in a longitudinal direction of a cross-section of the vehicle interior side surface wall portion and a predetermined zone including a continuously connecting portion between the bottom wall portion and the inner outer side surface wall portion, respectively. An auxiliary lip is provided at a continuously connecting portion between the bottom wall portion and the vehicle interior side wall portion. Additionally, a sponge rubber layer is formed on a door glass facing surface of the bottom wall portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a glass run mounted on a vehicle door.
2. Related Art
A vehicle door of an automobile or the like is provided with a glass run that seals a peripheral edge part of a door glass moved up and down. The glass run includes a cross-sectionally substantially-U-shaped body portion which has a base wall part and a pair of sidewall parts respectively extending from opposite ends of the base wall part, and also includes a pair of seal lips inwardly extending into the body portion from substantially ends of both the sidewall parts of the body portion, respectively, to seal the door glass.
Generally, the glass run is constituted by a solid elastic material having relatively high stiffness. Consequently, there is a fear of occurrence of a gap between the glass run and a door frame at the mounting of the glass run due to tolerance at the manufacture of the glass run. Accordingly, in recent years, to prevent occurrence of the gap between the glass run and the door frame, some conventional glass runs have been configured so that lip portions adapted to abut against the door frame are formed in an extended condition at the side of a door-frame facing surface of a bottom wall portion of the glass run (see, for example, JP-A-2003-165340).
However, although the lip portions of the conventional glass runs are sufficient to prevent water from infiltrating into a vehicle interior, such lip portions are insufficient for sound insulation to prevent external ambient noises and disturbing noises from infiltrating into the vehicle interior.
To solve this problem, it has been assumed to configure a vehicle so that a sponge elastic material layer put into elastic constant with a wall portion of a door frame is provided in the entirety of the cross-sectionally substantially-U-shaped outer peripheral part of the body portion to fill a relatively wider range of the gap between the glass run and the door flame therewith, as compared with the conventional case of filling the gap with the lip portions.
However, in a case where the sponge elastic material layer is provided in the entirety of the cross-sectionally substantially-U-shaped outer peripheral part of the body portion, as described above, the sponge elastic material layer does not slide along a wall portion of the door frame when the glass run is assembled to the vehicle door. Thus, the assembling of the glass run to the vehicle door by sliding the body portion therealong and pressing the body portion into an inner part of the door frame, similarly to the case of the glass run made only of the solid elastic material cannot be performed. There is a fear of reduction in assemblability. Consequently, also, there is a fear that during the assembly of the vehicle, the sponge elastic material layer ma be caught in the wall portion of the door frame, and that a caught part of this layer may break.
Also, in a case where the door glass is put into a fully closed position, there is a fear of generation of a sound of a thud, i.e., what is called a thudding sound due to impact caused when the door glass abuts against the top side portion of the glass run. In recent years, to reduce such a collision noise, some conventional glass runs have been configured so that the bottom wall portion has a buffer part. Such a glass run is configured to allow the top edge portion of the door glass to abut against the bottom wall portion of the glass run through the buffer part thereby to lessen the impact. Thus, the collision sound is reduced.
However, generally, the glass run is made of a relatively hard solid elastic material, as described above. Therefore, the conventional buffer part is insufficient for lessening the impact at the abutment of the buffer part against the door glass.
Also, conventionally, the generation of collision sounds is suppressed due to the structural properties of the glass run (or buffer part). Accordingly, in a case where a position, at which the door glass actually abuts against the bottom wall portion of the glass run, is deviated toward the exterior of a vehicle exterior, the effect of lessening the impact may be insufficiently obtained, depending upon a place of the door glass, against which the bottom wall portion of the glass run abuts.


A dichroic azo dye represented by general formula I! ##STR1## wherein D.sup.1 and D.sup.2 each represents an optionally substituted phenyl group or an aromatic heterocyclic group; W represents a connecting group comprising a linear polycyclic aromatic group; X represents a group selected from the group consisting of --OCH.sub.2 --, --CH.sub.2 0--, --OOC--, --COO--, --CH.sub.2 NR--, and --NRCH.sub.2 --, where R represents a hydrogen atom or a methyl group; Z.sup.1 to Z.sup.12 each represents a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a methyl group, or a methoxy group, or Z.sup.2 and Z.sup.3, Z.sup.5 and Z.sup.6, Z.sup.8 and Z.sup.9, and Z.sup.11 and Z.sup.12 are bonded to each other to form an aliphatic ring, an aromatic ring, or a nitrogen-containing aromatic ring; and m and n each represents a number of 0 to 2. A liquid-crystal composition containing the above dye and a liquid-crystal element employing the composition are also disclosed.

Besides the twisted nematic (TN) display mode and the super-twisted nematic (STN) display mode, various display modes for liquid-crystal display elements have been proposed so far. One of these is the guest-host (GH) display mode which employs a solution of a dye in a liquid crystal; this display mode is widely used in automotive display panels and other displays because of features thereof including a wide viewing angle.
Dichroic dyes for use in this GH mode are required to be excellent in dichroism, solubility, light resistance, and coloring power.
However, few dyes combine all those properties. In particular, although high dichroism is required for obtaining a high-contrast display, the dichroism of the prior art dyes is insufficient.

Dichroic dye liquid crystal composition containing the dye, and liquid-crystal element


The present invention relates to systems and methods for producing and dispensing aerated and/or blended products, such as food products.

Aerated frozen food products can be produced by mixing selected liquid ingredients with a prescribed volume of air and then freezing and dispensing the resultant mixture. The desirability of the finished product is often related directly to the manner in which, and to the degree to which, the air is metered and blended with the liquid ingredients of the mixture, referred to as overrun, and the manner in which the blended mix is frozen and then dispensed. Prior machines include many examples that dispense ice cream and other semi-frozen dairy products such as soft ice cream and frozen yogurt.
Conventionally, such machines are usually dedicated to dispensing one or two flavors of product and, in some cases, a combination of the two. For example, in an ice cream shop, there may be one machine with two separate freezing chambers for making and dispensing chocolate and vanilla ice cream, a second two-chamber machine for making and dispensing strawberry and banana ice cream, a third machine dedicated to making and dispensing coffee and frozen pudding flavors, and so on. The reason for employing multiple machines is that each chamber typically contains a volume of ice cream greater than is required for a single serving. In order to dispense a different flavor ice cream, that chamber must be emptied and cleaned before the new flavor can be made in that chamber and appear at the outlet of the dispenser. Additionally, the vat of pre-flavored mix from which the frozen product is made must also be clean enough to at least meet applicable health regulations. While high volume ice cream shops and confectionery stores may be able to accommodate several dispensing machines dispensing many different products and flavors, smaller sales outlets can usually only accommodate one or two such machines and are thus restricted in the number of flavors that they can offer to customers.
Further, because the product is typically formed in a quantity that is greater than that to be dispensed at any one serving, the excess product remains in the chamber after formation and until additional servings draw it down. The excess is thus subjected to further freezing, which promotes crystallization. Because of the relatively large quantity of the premixed flavors, and the continuous freezing of several quarts of the product, the freshness and palatability of the product may be adversely affected in outlets with relatively slow sales of the product.
Another disadvantage of many prior dispensers is that they have multiple interior surfaces and moving parts, as the cleaning and maintenance of those surfaces and parts at the end of each day or at intervals prescribed by local Health Department regulations is difficult and time-consuming. Each dispenser must be purged of any remaining product, and it's chamber walls, pumps and other internal parts cleaned thoroughly to prevent growth of bacteria that could otherwise contaminate the product being delivered by the dispenser. Not only is the cleaning operation expensive in terms of down time, it is also costly in terms of product waste. Furthermore, it can be an unpleasant task that is difficult to get employees to do properly.
While machines that dispense ice cream exist, until now no way has been found to provide a single machine capable of efficiently and economically making and dispensing different frozen food confections in a wide variety of flavors and in different formats, e.g., in a cup or cone.

Systems and methods for dispensing product


Computer-implemented methods, computer software, and computer systems for synchronizing user relationship across computer systems implementing workspaces. A computer system that provides features accessible by users by executing a workspace is accessed. Features provided to the users by remaining computer systems depends on the relationships between the users. A triggering event that represents a change to the computer workspace—for example, addition or removal or a user in the workspace, addition or removal of content in the workspace—is detected. Features provided to a first user by the remaining computer systems is affected by the change. Changes in relationships between the first user and the remaining users responsive to the change are determined, and provided to one or more of the remaining computer systems as respective messages that include the changes in the relationships.

Enterprise Workspace (EWS) technology leverages existing enterprise portal (EP) capabilities and acts as an "add-on" to EP technology. For example, EWS user interface (UI) technology can run on top of existing EP technology. EWS functionality can provide a flexible, intuitive environment for single EWS users or groups of EWS users (or both) to create, integrate, organize, compose, modify, and delete content, through the use of modules, both structured and unstructured, on EWS pages within an EWS. EWS technology can allow EWS users to take advantage of a "self-service" approach that is a decentralized approach in assembling content on EWS pages, often without involvement by an enterprise's information technology group.
EWS users can be assigned permissions and roles that, in conjunction with a permission/role policy, can determine content that a user can access in the EWS. Sometimes, a role assigned to an EWS user can be modified (for example, a new role can be added, or an existing role can be deleted or changed). Such a modification can result in a change in a relationship between the EWS user whose role was modified and other EWS users. If all computer systems that receive content from or provide content to the computer system executing the EWS are not synchronized to reflect the change in the user relationships, then some EWS users may gain access to unauthorized content or be denied access to authorized content or both.

Synchronizing user relationship across computer systems implementing workspaces


The present disclosure relates to high purity nickel molds for use in forming three dimensional glass substrates, along with methods of making three dimensional glass substrates. The mold compositions minimize imperfections in the formed glass substrates providing optical quality shaped glass articles for use in electronics applications.

1. Field
The present specification relates to molds for forming three-dimensional glass substrates, and methods for forming three dimensional glass substrates.
2. Technical Background
The current demand in modern electronics devices for thin, three dimensional glass substrates that have very high levels of surface quality has produced a need to find new materials and processes that are commercially capable of providing defect-free shaped glass substrates. Shaped glass forming generally refers to high temperature processes that involve heating the glass to be formed to a temperature at which it can be manipulated, and then conforming it to a mold to get the designed shape. Classic methods of shaping glass substrates include television tube forming, where a softened glass gob is pressed between male & female molds, and bottle forming, where glass is blown in a pair of hollowed molds.
In shaping operations, mold material selection is often the key to success. In order to optimize the shape and surface quality of the formed glass article, the mold material must: 1) have excellent oxidation and corrosion resistances at the process temperatures; 2) have minimal reaction with the glass (no sticking); and 3) be strong enough at the process temperature in order to resist the deformation and distortion from the forming force.
In reality, it can be difficult to select one material to meet all the above requirements. One solution has been to apply coatings on the mold surface to get the combined merits of the various materials to achieve forming success. Coated molds are the most commonly used in the glass forming industries today. Uncoated molds (or bare molds) are rare, and are limited to lower-end glass products such as bottles and certain glassware that don't require high surface quality. If bare molds are used, there is generally some level of lubrication applied to help with the forming process and to retain surface quality. These lubricants are difficult to consistently apply and require a secondary cleaning step to remove. For higher-end products, especially for optical-quality products such as press-formed camera lenses, coatings have been deemed as essential.
Although coatings help to meet the challenges in glass forming process, they create new problems. For example, coatings can add significant costs and new variables to manage the processes. More importantly, coatings often deteriorate during operation and lose functionality, limiting the lifetime of the mold and necessitating frequent re-coating. Therefore, there is an unmet need in the area of high-end, high quality glass substrates to obtain better mold materials that are commercially capable of providing defect-free, shaped glass substrates.

High purity nickel molds for optical quality glass forming


Ions in a chamber or space are detected using an electron multiplier operating at relatively low gain. The electron multiplier is placed in communication with the chamber, such as a chamber of a mass spectrometer, such that ions from the chamber enter the electron multiplier. A bias voltage applied to the multiplier sets the gain of the multiplier. By setting the gain at a relatively low value, the gain of the multiplier remains independent of chamber pressure, such that an accurate pressure measurement is obtained without calibration at a particular pressure or as a function of pressure.

In many applications, it is desirable to detect the presence of ions in a chamber or space. For example, in a mass spectrometer, ions of the various gas constituents are detected to determine the partial pressure of each gas constituent in a chamber and compared to the detected total pressure of the gas within the chamber. By detecting the partial pressure of each particular gas constituent, as well as the total pressure of the combined gases within the chamber, useful information can be acquired. For example, both total and partial pressures are proportional to the corresponding volumetric number density, respectively, of the total and constituent gases, thus providing information of the quantity of each gas constituent that is present. Knowledge of total and partial pressures is useful, for example, for detecting leaks in a system. For this and other reasons, it is highly desirable to measure both total and partial pressures as accurately and precisely as possible.
In conventional mass spectrometers and other systems, measurement of the partial and total pressures of the gases is based upon the probability of an electron colliding with a neutral atom or molecule, and thereby creating a positive ion. The probability is proportional to the volume number density of the neutral atom or molecule along the electron flight path. The probability is a function of the partial and total pressures, with the probability increasing with increasing pressure. Ions thus are measured within the chamber. In quadrupole mass spectrometers, partial pressures are measured using a quadrupole mass filter assembly and an ion current measurement device, positioned at the output of the filter assembly within the chamber, having a surface which (a) is exposed to the ions exiting the filter, and (b) generates a current when positively ionized particles contact a surface of the device. A current measurement instrument is used to measure the current which is proportional to the total volumetric number density of the neutral atoms or molecules of the gas constituent being measured, and therefore is proportional to the partial pressure of the neutral atoms or molecules of that gas. Thus, knowledge of the current due to ions contacting the surface provided with the current measurement instrument provides knowledge of the partial pressure of each constituent gas. Typically, the surface provided with the current measuring instrument is an ion detector which includes a device commonly known as a Faraday plate or cup. Charged ions strike the Faraday plate causing an ion current to be generated in the plate.
The Faraday plate is useful for detecting ions at relatively high chamber pressures, and in fact a second Faraday plate or cup can be used in the chamber to measure the total pressure in the chamber by continually detecting positive ions created in the chamber from all of the constituent gases. However, at low pressures, where the ion current is low, it is often desirable to enhance the sensitivity of the ion detector. One solution is to detect the ions with an electron multiplier. Electrons produced by the multiplier are collected by an anode or electron collector. Current at the anode is measured to quantify the electrons and to indicate the input ion current.
More specifically, an electron multiplier typically includes an ion/electron converter typically comprising a layer of doped resistive material. Electrons emitted from the converter in response to detected ions are increased (or multiplied) by a predetermined factor so as to create additional or secondary electrons measured through a more easily detected dynamic range. The space in which the number of electrons are multiplied is typically subjected to a bias voltage applied across the length of the multiplier space. The bias voltage creates an electric field gradient. Ions from the chamber enter the multiplier and strike the surface of the ion/electron converter, resulting in the release of electrons from the surface. Additional or secondary electron generating surfaces are provided within the field gradient so that when an electron travels through the field gradient and strikes one of these surfaces, there is a high probability that multiple secondary electrons are generated from the surface for each electron that strikes the surface. These secondary electrons are accelerated by the electric field such that they in turn strike another internal surface to cause the release of more secondary electrons, and so on. Finally, the secondary electrons exit the multiplier and strike the anode. The current at the anode is measured to quantify the electrons exiting the multiplier. In principle, since the gain of the multiplier, i.e., the number of electrons exiting the multiplier for each ion entering, is known, the number of electrons measured provides a determination of the number of ions and, therefore, the measured pressure. The predetermined factor or gain of typical electron multipliers used in presently available mass spectrometers typically varies from as low as 1000 to as high as 10,000,000.
The gain of the multiplier is determined by several of its characteristics and operating parameters, including the multiplier geometry and composition and the applied bias voltage level creating the electric field gradient. Given a particular multiplier, the gain is controllable by varying the bias voltage so as to vary the electric field gradient, although in the prior art it is assumed that the gain remains fixed during operation of the electron multiplier. Ideally, the gain of the multiplier is independent of pressure in the chamber. However, certain phenomena that occur within the multiplier cause the gain to vary with chamber pressure. One such phenomenon is referred to as ion feedback, which causes the gain to increase rapidly with increased pressure, particularly at high gain.
Ion feedback occurs when one or more of the secondary electrons inside the multiplier strike gas molecules with sufficient energy to ionize them. The resulting ions and electrons are accelerated by the electric field within the multiplier until they collide with an internal surface, causing more secondary electrons to be released and to produce still more secondary electrons. The result is more electrons exiting the multiplier for a given gain (bias voltage).
At low pressures, very few gas molecules are present in the multiplier and, therefore, the relatively small effects of ion feedback are negligible. However, at higher pressures, many more gas molecule collisions take place, and the gain of the multiplier varies rapidly with chamber pressure. Significant ion feedback typically occurs when the pressure at the electron multiplier is above 1.0 millitorr. As a result, the electron current measurement taken at the output end of the multiplier no longer provides a reliable measurement of the number of ions entering the multiplier, and inaccuracies are introduced into the pressure measurement. Further, operating at very high gains and high pressures increases the chances of voltage discharge and/or breakdown, as well as decreases the useful life of the multiplier by increasing the number of collisions with the doped inner surfaces of the multiplier. For this reason, electron multipliers of the prior art typically are not operated when the pressure at the electron multiplier is above 0.5 millitorr.
Presently, there are quadrupole mass spectrometers designed to operate at pressures up to about 20 mtorr. At least one of these spectrometers uses a Faraday cup ion detector, which as described above, does not have good performance at very low pressures. At least another of these prior art spectrometers includes both an electron multiplier with a collection anode and a Faraday cup to detect ions in a mass spectrometer. As a solution to the dependence of gain on gas pressure, this prior art system uses the electron multiplier for low pressures and the Faraday cup at high pressures. Specifically, at low pressures, ions entering the electron multiplier are multiplied as described above, and the electrons produced thereby are collected by the anode. The anode current is measured. As the pressure increases beyond a predetermined threshold (the threshold being equal to or less than 1.0 mtorr), within the 1.0-20.0 mtorr range, the multiplier is not used, but instead the ion current is measured directly with the Faraday cup. In such a system, the low-noise amplification benefits of the electron multiplier are forfeited at these higher pressures.

Apparatus for and method of ion detection using electron multiplier over a range of high pressures


A method for producing a duplication of a database stored in an external storage by writing over copy data of the database with update log data which was acquired after acquisition of the copy data. This method is implemented in a computer system having a virtual storage operating system. The system includes a virtual storage area which is defined as having virtual pages which have a one-to-one correspondence to blocks in an external copy data storage, where the virtual pages are the database copy data is stored and in an order according to physical addresses of the blocks. Each update log data is acquired in units of the blocks. A control table is provided which includes control values which have a one-to-one correspondence to the virtual pages. A control value from the control table is set when the update log data is set to the virtual pages. Repeated operations are made of reading out the update log data from the external log data storage and checking a corresponding control value to see if the control value is set, and setting the control value if it was not set. The control table is then searched in the order of virtual page arrangement and where the control values are set the update log data is read out and is written over the copy data in the external copy data storage. This writing thereby being done in such order that the actuator has a minimal travel distance to a track position of external storage where the copy data is stored.

This invention relates to a method of producing a duplication of a database capable of accomplishing a high-performance processing for writing differential data and historical update log data over copy data of the database.
A conventionally known method of database fault recovery is designed to write, over copy data, the database updating log data since the acquisition of the copy data, as described in a publication entitled "An Introduction to Database Systems, Vol. II" by C. J. Date published by ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY in 1983, page 20.
Copying all data stored on a magnetic disk or the like takes too long a time to copy. Therefore, according to the conventional technique, in order to confine the object of copying to portions which have been altered by job executions since the previous backup operation, a magnetic disk unit or the like is provided with a control memory for recording the updated portions and a means of transferring the contents of the control memory to the host system for the backup operation. The host system issues a command for reading only updated portions to the magnetic disk unit in accordance with the contents of the control memory.
A conventionally known system of this kind is disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 57-90770, for example. This system has its magnetic disk unit or the like provided with a control memory for recording the location of data which have been altered by job executions, and at a backup operation, the host system reads the contents of the control memory and issues ad command only for the updated portions in order to request the controller of the magnetic disk unit or the like to read the updated data.
The system is thus capable of backing up only data portions in the database which have been revised during a particular period (these backup portions will be termed "differential copy"). In order to restore the contents of the database at the occurrence of a fault, it is necessary to write the differential copy data over the backed up data, which is the entirety of the database irrespective of the update history (this backed-up data will be termed "whole copy"), and overwrite the update log data of the database since the acquisition of the differential copy.
However, the system does not deal with the matter that a growing volume of differential copy data and update log data will result in a prolonged overwrite processing time prolonged copy duplication producing time, and eventually in the retardation of database recovery from a fault.
Database multiplexing is known as a method of enhancing the reliability of a database. The multiplexing method, which suffers a significant overhead of accessing multiplexed portions at each database updating, is replaced with another known multiplexing method which writes, over the copy data of a database at a point in time, the update log data since that time in order to alleviate the overhead of database updating, although it involves the retardation. However, this method does not consider the fact that a growing volume of update log data and differential copy data will exacerbate the retardation, as in the case of the fault recovery.
Moreover, the above-mentioned prior art necessitates writing the differential copy data and database update log data over the copy data sequentially in the order of the time of database update events, and therefore these data are stored in random locations in the external storage without the consideration of its physical location.

System of database copy operations using a virtual page control table to map log data into physical store order


A folding workbench system (100) is provided which includes a main support member (102) to which a plurality of leg members (104, 106, 108 and 110) are hingedly coupled on opposing ends thereof. A work piece support platform (120) is pivotally coupled on opposing ends thereof to one pair of legs (104, 108) and slidingly engaged within a slotted opening (130) in each of the other leg members (106, 110). A power tool (174) is coupled to a power tool support (150) that is slidingly coupled to the main support member (102). The tool support (150) includes a turret (156) coupled to the main slide (152) and a vertical height adjustment assembly (180) coupled to the turret (156).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to workbench systems which permit a variety of operations to be accomplished such as cutting, drilling, routing, sanding, planing, etc. In particular, this invention is directed to a portable workbench system which is foldable into a compact state to allow easy transport and storage. More in particular, this invention directs itself to a folding workbench system which includes a main support member having at least a pair of legs hingedly coupled to opposing ends thereof. The main support member and legs form an A-frame type structure between which a work piece support platform is disposed. Further, this invention relates to a workbench system which includes a power tool support assembly which adjustably positions a power tool relative to the work piece support platform. Still further, the power tool support assembly of the invention provides for both rotational and vertical positioning of the power tool relative to the work piece support platform. Yet more in particular, this invention includes a plurality of support links which telescopically extend from the work piece support platform to each of the respective legs for providing a stable support platform onto which work pieces may be supported during the machining thereof.
2. Prior Art
Workbench systems of a portable nature are known in the art, as are knock-down workbenches for use with power tools. The closest prior art known to the Applicant include Applicant's own U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,755 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,165,317; 4,161,974; 4,494,431; 4,133,237; 4,958,544; 4,465,114; 4,827,819; 3,727,505; 2,803,271; 4,281,570; 3,734,151; 4,681,305; 4,265,283; 4,807,506; and, 4,934,423.
In such systems as Applicant's prior patented workbench system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,303,755, an A-frame type structure is utilized to support a power tool in either a position above a work piece platform or below it. While such system provided great utility, it was found to have several features which were disadvantageous. The power tool support provided vertical, lateral and rotational adjustment, however, such was not independently adjustable. When the mounting mechanism was loosened to provide an adjustment laterally, vertically, or angularly, such affected the other adjustments. Thus, if one intended to change the height of the power tool, the loosening of the support also allowed for lateral displacement and rotation thereof, making an accurate positioning difficult. Further, while the structure was sufficiently light to be considered portable, it could not be put into a compact form without knocking it down, which took a considerable amount of time. All of the above mentioned deficiencies have been overcome by the instant invention.


In at least one embodiment, the invention preferably relates to a hollow fiber membrane mat having hollow fiber membranes arranged parallel to one another and adjacent to one another, the membranes having a wall and a continuous lumen, wherein the hollow fiber membranes are connected to one another by means of a plurality of linear connecting elements which are arranged spaced apart from one another and parallel to one another and the membranes are kept apart from one another by the linear connecting elements and wherein the hollow fiber membranes are composed of a thermoplastic polymer and wherein the walls of the hollow fiber membranes arranged adjacent to one another are fluid-tight in at least one stripe extending parallel to the linear connecting elements, inside of which stripe the hollow fiber membranes are fluid-tight, preferably have a superheated steam shrinkage of at most 5%. Other embodiments of the invention preferably relate to a method for producing and/or using such hollow fiber membrane mats.

Membrane modules based on hollow fiber membranes or capillary membranes are used for the most varied purposes to filter or separate individual components out of a liquid or to add such components to liquids. Hollow fiber membranes as a rule have a semi-permeable wall with a porous structure via which the respective components permeate into the liquid or out of the liquid. In many cases, hollow fiber membranes are integrated in mats, such as e.g. woven or knitted mats for better processability as well as for the production of membrane modules with improved fluid dynamics. Mats of this type and multilayer wound bodies produced therefrom are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,617 hereby incorporated by reference herein.
In the meantime, hollow fiber membrane modules have found broad use in the area of adding gases to liquids, degassing of liquids or in gas separation. Hollow fiber membrane modules, contactors, fabrics, or cartridges are described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,535, U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,832, U.S. Pat. No. 5,264,171, U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,584, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,352,361, each incorporated by reference herein.
In various processes in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries, it is necessary to run multi-step extraction processes, during which a dissolved component in an e.g. aqueous phase is initially extracted by means of an organic phase and this component is subsequently separated from the organic phase by means of a second aqueous phase. Multi-step processes of this type can be combined in a one-step process in membrane modules, which contain two groups of hollow fiber membranes, wherein the feed stream flows through the hollow fiber membranes of the one group and the stream finally containing the separated component (strip stream) flows through the hollow fiber membranes of the second group. The outer space around the hollow fiber membranes is filled with an extraction liquid, which transports the component to be extracted from the hollow fiber membranes of the first group to the hollow fiber membranes of the second group. Here, the liquid surrounding the hollow fiber membranes functions as a liquid membrane. Processes of this type are also described in the literature as CLM (contained liquid membrane) separation processes (see e.g. Majumdar et al., AlChE Journal, vol. 34 (1988), No. 7, pp. 1135-1145; Sengupta et al., AlChE Journal, vol. 34 (1988), No. 10, pp. 1698-1708; Basu et al., J. of Membrane Science, vol. 75 (1992), pp. 131-149). By means of these separation processes, components can be separated from liquid as well as from gaseous media. The membrane modules delineated in the literature cited have two groups of hollow fiber membranes which are arranged parallel to each other in the middle section of the housing.
In various applications in the area of CLM separation processes, the stability of the liquid phase, i.e. of the liquid membrane, is insufficient, and there exists a need for alternative module designs that enable a long-lasting stability of the liquid membrane.
An example for a membrane module design of this type or for a membrane contactor of this type with increased stability of the liquid phase is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/112,071, filed on Apr. 30, 2008, published as US 2009/0272684 A1, published Nov. 5, 2009, hereby incorporated by reference herein. The CLM contactor described therein has a first and a second mat, composed of semi-permeable hollow fiber membranes which are arranged offset with respect to one another in the longitudinal direction of the hollow fiber membranes, said mats are wound around a perforated central tube. The ends of the hollow fiber membranes offset with respect to one another of the mats wound in this way into a hollow fiber membrane wound body are embedded at one end of the CLM contactor in a first and a third sealing compound and at the other end of the contactor in a second and a fourth sealing compound, wherein a first chamber is formed between the first and third sealing compounds as well as a second chamber between the second and fourth sealing compounds. Thereby, the walls of the hollow fiber membranes of the first hollow fiber membrane mat are fluid impermeable in the area of the first chamber and the walls of the hollow fiber membranes of the second hollow fiber membrane mat are fluid impermeable in the area of the second chamber, whereas the walls of the hollow fiber membranes are porous and semi-permeable outside of the respective chambers.

Hollow fiber membrane mats with fluid impermeable segments and related methods


A branch prediction apparatus having two two-way set associative cache memories each indexed by a lower portion of an instruction cache fetch address is disclosed. The index selects a group of four entries, one from each way of each cache. Each entry stores a single target address of a different previously executed branch instruction. For some groups, the four entries cache target addresses for one branch instruction in each of four different cache lines, to obtain four-way group associativity; for other groups, the four entries cache target addresses for one branch instruction in each of two different cache lines and two branch instructions in a third different cache line, to effectively obtain three-way group associativity, depending on the distribution of the branch instructions in the program. The apparatus trades off associativity for number of predictable branches per cache line on an index-by-index basis to efficiently use storage space.

Many modern pipelined microprocessors include a branch target address cache (BTAC) that caches target addresses of previously executed branch instructions. When a cache line is fetched from the microprocessor's instruction cache, the fetch address is provided to the BTAC and the BTAC uses the fetch address to predict whether there is a branch instruction present in the cache line, and whether the BTAC contains a valid target address for the branch instruction. If the branch instruction is predicted taken, the processor branches to the valid target address supplied by the BTAC. Since each cache line can store multiple instructions, the instruction cache line may contain more than one branch instruction. Consequently, some BTACs statically dedicate storage for caching two target addresses per cache line. This allows the BTAC to more accurately predict program flow since it is possible that one of the branch instructions in the cache line will be taken and the other not taken.
In the conventional BTACs, the storage for the two target addresses is fixed in the BTAC. That is, the space is statically dedicated regardless of whether two branch instructions are present in the cache line or one branch instruction is present in the cache line. In fact, in one conventional BTAC which is integrated into the instruction cache, the space is statically dedicated even if zero branch instructions are present in the cache line. However, it has been observed that only approximately 20% of the cache lines that contain a branch instruction contain two branch instructions. Consequently, the extra space in the BTAC statically dedicated for the second target address is wasted for 80% of the cache lines. For example, in a BTAC that is a 2-way set associative cache that statically dedicates storage for two target addresses per entry, since only about 20% of the cache lines include two or more branch instructions, only about 60% of the target address storage space is used to store valid target addresses.
Therefore, what is needed is a more space efficient scheme for predicting multiple branch instructions in a fetched cache line.

Variable group associativity branch target address cache delivering multiple target addresses per cache line


An electrophotographic reproduction machine including an image bearing member, latent image devices for forming on the image bearing member electrostatic latent images having a first relative polarity, and a hybrid development unit for applying to the latent images correct-sign toner particles having a second polarity relatively opposite to the first polarity. A detecting apparatus adjacent the image bearing member for sensing toner particles developed into non-image regions. The development unit includes a first biasing means including a DC power supply for biasing a magnetic roll mounted within the housing of the hybrid development unit. A second biasing means includes a second DC power for biasing a donor roll mounted which forms a toner transfer nip with the magnetic roll. The DC power supplies is adjusted so that "wrong sign" toner of said first polarity are attracted to the donor roll from the magnetic brush within the housing of the hybrid development unit. An electrostatic field is produced between the image bearing member and the donor roll having a wrong-sign toner thereon. The wrong sign toner is attracted to the image bearing member; and a sensor senses wrong-sign toner on said image bearing member.

This invention relates to electrostatographic reproduction machines, and more particularly to a hybrid development type electrostatographic reproduction machine having a system to detect a wrong-sign or wrong-polarity toner in a developer unit. Generally, the process of electrostatographic copying is executed by first using a corona generating or charging device to uniformly charge a photoreceptive member to a first polarity, and then exposing a light image of an original document, positioned in registration on a platen, onto the charged photoreceptive member. Exposing the charged photoreceptive member to a light image selectively discharges the photoconductive surface thereof in areas corresponding, for example, to non-image areas in the original document, while maintaining the charge (of the first polarity) on the image areas, thus creating an electrostatic latent image of the first polarity on the photoreceptive member.
The undischarged areas comprising the electrostatic latent image are subsequently developed with correct-sign or correct-polarity charged toner particles into a visible toner image. The sign or polarity of such correct-sign or correct-polarity toner, as is well known, is relatively opposite the first polarity of the latent image being developed. Ordinarily, toner particles are contained in the sump of a development apparatus where they are moved and mixed with carrier particles in order to triboelectrically charge the toner to the correct polarity. The toner image is thereafter transferred from the photoreceptive member onto a clean copy sheet on which the image is then fused or permanently affixed in order to provide a hard copy reproduction of the original document.
Unfortunately, the quality of the development step and that of the hard copy reproduction can be detrimentally affected by the effects of wrong-sign or wrong-polarity toner which forms and accumulates inside the sump of the development apparatus. Wrong-sign toner in the development sump of an electrostatographic reproduction machine is ordinarily the source of many machine performance failure modes, some of which can have catastrophic effects.
Wrong-sign toner is associated with a problem with excessive development of these wrong-sign toner particles in the background or non-image areas. This background development can be quite visible on the final copy sheet and is therefore a quite objectionable defect. The donor or developer roll which has predominantly correct sign charged toner on it might under certain conditions contain a small amount of oppositely charged carrier particles. The toner particles on this roll contact or develop both image and background areas on the photoreceptor of the machine. During such contact, wrong-sign toner particles on the donor or developer roll see each background area of the photoreceptor as a "development field" to which to transfer. This is because background areas are biased to repel correct-sign toner thus acting as a background cleaning field for toner of the correct sign or polarity. As such wrong-sign toner particles which have a polarity opposite to that of the correct-sign toner particles, obviously become attracted to these background areas, and so are transferred thus from and out of the developer housing.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method to detect detrimental amount of wrong-sign toner in development housings so to enable a process system to enter a correction mode to adjust for wrong signed toner. The correction mode could include lowering toner concentration; admixed cycle or entering in a purging mode.
The present invention utilizes a "hybrid" style development system, see for example Development Apparatus Having a Transport Roll Rotating at Least Twice the Surface Velocity of a Donor Roll", Jeffrey J. Folnins and Joseph Schram, D/89016, U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,875. In such a Hybrid system a magnetic brush dual component toner delivery system toner is applied to a "donor" or development roller according to the voltage difference between the DC bias on the donor and the loading "magnetic" roller. During normal operation the polarity and amplitude of the donor to magnetic roller bias difference is adjusted so that right signed toners on the magnetic roller are attracted and developed onto the surface of the donor roll from where they are transported into the region adjacent to the PR where they are then given the opportunity to develop any electrostatic latent images which might be present on the PR. During standby or non-imaging periods the donor to magnetic voltage difference is sometimes reversed to cause any toner on the donor roll to return back to the magnetic roller and be refreshed triboelectrically.


The invention relates to a drilling tool, especially for percussion drilling, which comprises a cutting element (3) that is configured as a plate (3) or head and that has at least one cutting edge (11) defined by a cutting face (6) and a free face (10). The cutting edge (11) is associated with a first free face section (10a) which is limited in a cutting plane at a right angle to the cutting edge (11) and parallel to the longitudinal axis (L) of the drilling tool (1) by a convex bulge (13) or a convex polygon outline. The vertical height of a rib (14) defined by the first free face section (10a) and an associated first cutting face section (6a) ranges from 0.1 mm to 1.0 mm.

The present invention relates to a drilling tool.
Publication DE 197 34 094 A1 makes known a rock drill that includes a cutting element that is configured as a plate and that has at least one cutting edge defined by a cutting face and a free face. The free face is defined by a first section with a small free face angle and a second section with a larger free face angle, in order to enhance the penetration of the rock drill into the material.
The object of the present invention is to provide a drilling tool with a cutting element that, in the region of the cutting edge, is optimal for penetration of the material to be worked, and that has an overall robust design.

Drilling tool with a cutting element that is configured as a plate or head


The present invention discloses an interventional medical device and methods of making the same. At least one coating layer is disposed on the outer surface of the interventional medical device and the material of the outmost layer of the coating layer is a sulfonate group-containing polymer. In the present invention, the material of the outmost layer of the interventional medical device is a sulfonate group-containing polymer. The polymer is endowed with a same surface property as that of heparin in addition to appropriate hydrophilicity due to the presence of the sulfonate group. After the interventional medical device is implanted into the human body, a hydrophilic surface is formed on the outer surface of the interventional medical device which is also negatively charged in the body fluid. Therefore, cells can easily adhere and grow on the outer surface thereof as a result of the enhanced cell compatibility. Furthermore, due to a surface property that is the same as that of heparin, the material is provided with excellent anticoagulant properties which inhibit the thrombosis and lower down the incidence rate of post-operational complications.

Interventional medical devices, as a rising technique in the field of medical devices in recent 20 years, play important roles in reducing patients' trauma and improving the efficacy of disease treatment. An example for such a device is represented by an interventional device applied in a variety of lumens in a human body, such as an intravascular stent, a biliary stent, an esophageal stent, an intestinal stent, a pancreatic duct stent, a urethral stent or a tracheal stent et al., and the associated interventional catheter, balloon, filter and the like. Among them, the stent exhibits a particularly outstanding performance in the field of interventional medical devices. For various vascular diseases resulted from vascular obstruction or other causes, a stent has been proven to be a relatively successful interventional medical device for long-term implantation into the blood vessel. During an operation, the stent is delivered to location of a vascular lesion for block through a delivery system and then deployed. Thus, the blocked blood vessel is enlarged by the expanded stent and the patency is maintained.
In order to improve the effect of biocompatibility and the therapeutic effect of the interventional medical device in vivo, certain part of or the entire surface of the body of these devices can be coated with drugs and/or polymers. For example, the surface of the stent can be coated with a polymer layer containing drugs. When the stent with a drug-containing layer is implanted into a human body, not only that the obstructed blood vessel can be expanded to open by the stent, but also that the drugs in the drug-containing layer can be continuously released to the pathological vascular tissue that is in contact with the drug-containing layer. Thereby, a thorough treatment can be achieved.
However, because of the complexity of the physiological constitution of the human body, there is complicated biocompatibility problem associated with the interventional medical device itself in its application in a human body. In addition, the polymer coating material on the interventional medical device will also cause same biocompatibility problem in vivo. Commonly used polymer materials at present primarily include polymethacrylates, fluoropolymers, polyethylene-based polymers or polystyrene-based polymers, which are all used for industrial applications at the beginning and have poor biocompatibility.
Hence, the interventional medical device in the prior art may cause more serious thrombosis and post-operational complications after being implanted into a human body for an extended period of time due to its poor biocompatibility.

Intervention medical device and preparation thereof

Shanghai MicroPort Medical (Group) Co., Ltd.


An active hydrogen-containing B-side composition for reaction with a polyisocyanate-containing A-side composition to make a polyurethane, polyurethaneurea and/or polyurea elastomer by reaction injection molding, which B-side composition comprises an acidic mold release composition, diethyltoluenediamine chain extender and, as a catalyst, a diorganotin dicarboxylate in which the carboxylate contains at least one alpha halogen atom.

Reaction injection molding (RIM) is a versatile process by which elastomeric and thermoset parts can be fabricated. The RIM process involves high pressure impingement mixing of a polyisocyanate stream (A-side) and an active-hydrogen containing isocyanate-reactive stream (B-side) followed by immediate injection into the closed mold. The primary appeal of this process lies in its inherently high productivity. One factor which limits productivity, however, is the necessity to spray the molds with external mold release prior to each injection. This is a time-consuming task and often has a negative environmental impact. This difficulty can be overcome by the incorporation of an internal release agent into the formulation via one of the two streams to significantly increase the number of molding cycles which can be accomplished between mold release sprayings.
The use of metallic soaps as release agents has been known for a long time. Zinc stearate, in particular, is known to be soluble in aliphatic amines, such as the polyether polyamines and ethylenediamine-initiated polyols. This is the basis for its use as an internal mold release (IMR) agent in RIM. If zinc stearate is simply dispersed as a fine powder in polyol blends, it does not dissolve and does not act as a release agent. Various patents teach that zinc soaps can be compatibilized or dissolved in polyol blends with amines, enamines, ketimines or salts of amidines or guanidines, and that excellent releasability of the subsequent RIM parts will result.
While the IMR approach is commercially applied, there remains significant shortcomings to the currently available IMR systems. The amine-solublized metallic soaps, which are most commonly used in this application, have been implicated in reactivity and/or physical property deficiencies for the RIM elastomers in which they are used. Furthermore, the high melting points and limited solubilities of the metallic soaps make them prone to precipitation in the RIM processing equipment, necessitating replacement of the piping regularly.
Another class of IMR agents which has been reported includes fatty acidic materials. WO 84/03288 discloses the optional use of fatty acids in addition to metallic soaps plus amines. U.S. Pat. No.4,220,727 discloses the use of fatty acids plus their alkali metal salts. U.S. Pat. No. 4,130,698 discloses the use of fatty acids plus their esters. Salts of amines with fatty acids are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,726,952; 3,993,606 and 4,098,731. U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,952 discloses amines with fatty acids in which the amines include primary amines or amines which contain ester or amide groups. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,993,606 the amines include primary, secondary or tertiary amine-bearing polysiloxanes. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,098,731 the amines include tertiary amines with a tertiary amine nitrogen to carbon ratio between 1:3 and 1:12 and having no ester or amide groups present. The effect of acids on the NCO--OH reaction is to retard the rate sufficiently to cause green strength problems. Therefore these approaches cannot be used in conventional RIM systems using traditional tin catalysts.
The search for IMR agents which are liquids without the possibility of solidifying led to the development of special silicone fluids for this application. U.S. Pat. No.4,076,695 discloses certain carboxy-functional silicone fluids as IMR agents for RIM, including Dow Corning's commercial carboxy-functional silicone fluid Q2-7119, which has the following general formula: ##STR1##
In general, acids have a deleterious effect on the green strength of aryldiamine-extended polyurethaneurea RIM systems due to a general deactivation of the tin catalyst. Thus, higher than normal levels of tin catalysts are needed when acids are present. Due to the sulfur atom, alpha to the carbonyl group, Q2-7119 is a much stronger acid than a typical fatty acid, such as lauric acid. Therefore, when T-12 (dibutyltin dilaurate) and Q2-7119 are in the same polyol blend, the equilibrium reaction involving the two components leads to a gelled silicone salt. This gelation results from a crosslinking reaction between the trifunctional silicone and the difunctional tin salt. The result is that the system exhibits extremely poor green strength which cannot be corrected by the addition of more tin catalyst.
Attempts to dissolve this problem include the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,100 discloses the use of a 3-stream approach to RIM molding where the Q2-7119 is delivered dispersed in polyol containing no tin catalyst. The other two streams are the normal A and B sides of RIM technology. The A side is isocyanate and the B side is a blend of polyol, diamine chain extender, surfactants and tin and amine catalysts.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,420,570 discloses that the tin catalyst can be placed in the A side. Gelation is avoided, but high levels of catalysts are still needed for adequate green strength. Furthemore, placing the tin catalyst in the isocyanate increases the moisture sensitivity and susceptibility to side reactions, such as allophonate formation, leading to gelation of the isocyanate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,396,729 discloses replacing the polyether polyol and the tin catalyst with polyether polyamines which require no tin catalyst. The result is polyurea RIM, and Q2-7119 can be used with no chemical modification or 3-stream approach.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,472,341 discloses that the acid groups on Q2-7119 can be converted to amides by reaction with amines or to esters by reaction with alcohols or epoxides yielding nonacidic IMR silicones. These materials have been shown to cause paintability problems. In addition, they have been seen to interfere with polyol nucleation so that low part densities cannot be achieved. In extreme cases, large voids are found in the parts due to coalescence of bubbles.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,366 discloses that Q2-7119 can be dispersed on the isocyanate side by using a nonisocyanate-reactive silicone as a dispersing and inhibiting agent.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,912 discloses the use of the reaction products of fatty cyclic anhydrides with primary or secondary amines, including distearylamine as IMR agents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,585,803 discloses that salts of Q2-7119 can be made with Group IA, IB, IIA, IIB, aluminum, chromium, molybdenum, iron, cobalt, nickel, tin, lead, antimony or bismuth. These salts are then compatiblized in the B-side blend with certain tertiary amines. In practice, these salts are extremely viscous or gelatinous in nature and do not disperse well into the polyol.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,764,540 and 4,789,688 disclose that salts of Q2-7119 can be made with amidines and guanidines, such as tetramethylguanidine, to yield neutralized forms of the silicone which would not gel tin catalysts. Waxy amidines such as the imidazolines from stearic acid and ethylenediamine derivatives were cited as particularly efficacious for release.
U.S. application Ser. No. 07/992,360, filed 16 Dec. 1992 discloses as the internal mold release (IMR) additive a composition consisting essentially of the reaction product of a tertiary amine, such as triethylenediamine (TEDA), with an epoxide reacted in the presence of a carboxy-functional siloxane such as Q2-7119. Application testing of these ionic silicone IMRs proves that they are release agents which do not gel tin catalysts. Excellent green strength and release is achieved using these release agents with conventional tin catalysts in RIM systems which are based on t-butyl toluenediamine (TBTDA) however, these new derivatives of Q2-7119 do not give good green strength in diethyl toluenediamine (TETDA) based RIM elastomer formulations with conventional tin catalysts even though no gellation of tin catalyst is seen.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,090 describes the use of bismuth carboxylates as catalysts for polyurethaneureas made from the reaction of polyisocyanates with blends of aromatic diamines with polyols.
JP 2,262,727 teaches the use of these bismuth salts and RIM systems based on TBTDA and IMR packages consisting of salts of fatty acids with tertiary amines.
JP 2,262,728 teaches the use of the bismuth salts for RIM systems based on tri-isopropyl-metaphenylenediamine and IMR packages consisting of salts of fatty acids with tertiary amines.

Tin catalysts for use in rim polyol blends containing acidic internal mold release agents and diethyltoluenediamine chain extender


The invention relates to a process for the preparation of PDGF-A and to biologically active PDGF-AA and PDGF-AB.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a process for the preparation of PDGF-A and biologically active PDGF-AA and PDGF-AB.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) is a major mitogen in serum which promotes growth of fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells in vitro. In vivo, PDGF is stored in the a granules of the platelets and released after stimulation of the platelets. Highly purified PDGF is a basic protein which displays a considerable heterogeneity with regard to its molecular weight (27,000 to 31,000 d). The reasons for this heterogeneity are aging, processing and the existence of various isoforms of type AA, AB or BB. The biological activity of all these forms is destroyed by reduction of the disulfide bridges. Human PDGF from platelets consists principally of AB heterodimers (Heldin, C.-H. & Westermark, B. (1984) Cell, 37, 9-20; Deuel, T. F., Tong, B. D. & Huang, J. S. (1985) Current Topics in Cellular Regulation, 26, 51-61; and Ross, R., Raines, E. W. & Bowen-Pope, D. F. (1986) Cell, 46, 155-169.).
Amino-acid sequencing in conjunction with DNA sequencing of the genes have shown that A and B are homologous (Betsholtz et al. Nature 320, 695-699, 1986). PDGF-B is virtually identical to the transformed gene product P.sub.28.sup.v-sis of simian sarcoma virus (SSV). Corresponding homodimers of type BB have been detected in SSV-transformed cells and showed properties similar to those of PDGF from platelets. However, these BB dimers were secreted to only a small extent from the infected cells. PDGF-AA forms are, by contrast, secreted efficiently by producing cells (Heldin et al. Nature, 319, 511-514, 1986). There is an increasing amount of evidence that the three isoforms, AA, AB and BB, assume different functions. Thus, for detailed investigations, it was necessary to develop a process for producing larger quantities of PDGF-A, PDGF-B, PDGF-AA and PDGF-AB.
Compare EP-A-0 288 307 for the use of PDGF for wound treatment.

PDGF-AB, preparation process and pharmaceuticals containing them


A computing device includes an array of addressable elements. Each addressable element is a hardware element that generates a substantially consistent response when interrogated. The device includes a processor coupled to the array of addressable elements and configured to communicate using a communication network. The processor receives a public key, and processes the public key to produce at least a set of addresses. Each address in the set of addresses identifies one or more hardware elements in the array of addressable elements. The processor generates a set of responses by interrogating the one or more hardware elements in the array of addressable elements identified by the set of addresses according to a set of reading instructions, appends the responses in the set of responses to generate a private key, receives an encrypted message and decrypts the encrypted message using the private key to generate an unencrypted message.

Encryption is a method to prevent a third party from intercepting messages between two parties. Encryption generally involves converting a message from plain text into encrypted text, which can be safely sent over a non-secure channel because the encrypted text cannot by understood unless decrypted. The message can only be decrypted with a particular private key. In a symmetric encryption scheme, the same private key is used to encrypt and decrypt the message. This private key is a shared secret of the message sender and the intended recipient. A Public Key Infrastructure (PM) is an encryption scheme which uses an openly-available public key to allow the message sender and recipient to generate the same secret private key.

Key exchange schemes with addressable elements

ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS ON BEHALF OF NORTHERN ARIZONA UNIVERSITY

GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE


A door hinge includes: a fixed board fixed to a door frame; a cover housing fitted to the upper end of the fixed board; an operation frame fixed to a door; an operation cam member rotatably disposed inside the cover housing and axially coupled to the operation frame fixed to the door by a shaft, so that the operation cam member rotates around the shaft according to the rotating operation of the operation frame; a link coupled eccentrically to one side of the operation cam member by a second pin and linearly moving according to the rotating operation of the operation cam member; a slider coupled to the link by a first pin and moving horizontally in forward and backward directions according to the linear movements of the link in the state disposed inside the cover housing; and a spring fitted to the outer circumferential surface of the slider to elastically support the closing operation of the door.

Generally, a top-loading door is open from the bottom side to the top side, and a representative example of the top-loading door is a door for a washing machine. Representatively, the door for the washing machine will be described herein.
Generally, the washing machine conducts a series of washing, rinsing, and dewatering operations automatically by feeding laundry, water, and an appropriate amount of detergent in a washing tub and applying the impacts produced by mechanical water currents to the laundry.
The washing machine has a water storage tank disposed inside a cabinet so as to store water therein and a washing tub disposed rotatably inside the water storage tank. Further, a door frame having hinge holes formed on the side thereof is mounted on top of the cabinet, and a door is mounted on the door frame so as to selectively open and close the washing tub through which the laundry is put from the outside.
On the other hand, door hinges are mounted at both sides of the door so as to perform the opening and closing operations of the door.
However, the conventional door hinges are configured to connect the door and the door frame just by means of pins (one axis), so that upon the closing operation of the door, it is impossible to artificially adjust the closing speed of the door. When the door is closed too strongly, therefore, a user's fingers may be damaged by the door being closed, and further, noise may be generated when the door is closed, which causes many inconveniences in use.


A mask and a method for forming a mask on a surface of an underlying layer of material used in semiconductor device manufacturing. The mask is a mixture of mask particles and spacer particles. The spacer particles space the mask particles apart from one another to control the distance and the uniformity of the distribution of mask particles across the surface of the underlying layer. The spacer particles and mask particles have different physical properties that allow the spacer particles to be selectively removed from the surface of the underlying layer. The spacer particles are preferably removed from the surface of the underlying layer by selectively etching the spacer particles from the underlying layer. After the spacer particles are removed from the underlying layer, the mask particles remain on the underlying layer to provide spaced apart mask elements on the surface of the underlying layer.

Microelectronic devices are typically fabricated, in part, by forming features on selected layers of a semiconductor wafer. The individual features are often formed by patterning a mask to protect selected portions of an underlying layer of material during subsequent processing steps. The mask of the present invention may be used in the fabrication of virtually any type of microelectronic device, but it is particularly useful in the fabrication of field emission displays ("FEDs") in use or proposed for use in computers, television sets, camcorder viewfinders, and a variety of other applications.
FEDs are one type of flat panel display in which a baseplate with a generally planar emitter substrate is juxtaposed to a faceplate with a substantially transparent display screen. The baseplate has a number of emitters formed on the emitter substrate that project from the emitter substrate towards the faceplate. The emitters are typically configured into discrete emitter sets in which the bases of the emitters in each emitter set are commonly connected. The baseplate also has an insulator layer formed on the emitter substrate and an extraction grid formed on the insulator layer. A number of holes are formed through the insulator layer and extraction grid in alignment with the emitters to open the emitters to the faceplate. In operation, a voltage differential is established between the extraction grid and the emitters to extract electrons from the emitters.
The display screen of the faceplate is coated with a substantially transparent conductive material to form an anode, and the anode is coated with a cathodoluminescent layer. The anode draws the electrons extracted from the emitters through the extraction grid and across the vacuum gap between the extraction grid and the cathodoluminescent layer of material. As the electrons strike the cathodoluminescent layer, light emits from the impact site and travels through the anode and the glass panel of the display screen. The emitted light from each of the areas becomes all or part of a picture element.
One objective of field emission displays is to produce a desired brightness of light in response to the emitted electrons. The brightness at each picture element depends, in part, upon the density of emitters in the emitter sets corresponding to each picture element. In general, it is desirable to have a constant emitter density from one emitter set to another, and also from one area in an individual emitter set to another. Thus, it is desirable to space the emitters apart from one another by a substantially uniform distance, and to make the emitters substantially the same size and shape.
One emerging method for forming emitters is to randomly distribute a number of beads on a hard oxide layer that has been deposited over the emitter substrate. The beads may be distributed across the surface of the oxide layer by depositing a solution in which the beads are suspended onto the oxide layer, spinning the substrate to spread the solution, and evaporating the liquid to leave the beads on the oxide layer. The beads may also be distributed across the surface of the oxide layer by a dry dispensing method in which a dry mixture of beads is propelled towards the oxide layer in a jet of air or inert gas. The mixture is then allowed to settle on the oxide layer to form a mask of randomly distributed particles on the surface of the oxide layer. The unmasked areas of the oxide layer are then etched with an etchant selective to the material of the oxide layer to form a random distribution of island-like oxide areas under the beads. After the beads are removed from the oxide layer, the emitters are formed under the island-like areas of oxide by isotropically etching the substrate.
One problem with this method for patterning the oxide layer is that the island-like oxide areas, and thus the emitters, may not have a uniform size and shape. The desired diameter of the base of each emitter is generally the diameter of a single, isolated bead. However, in this patterning method, the beads often agglomerate into clusters that remain intact as they are distributed across the surface of the substrate. It will be appreciated that clusters of beads produce larger, irregular-shaped islands of oxide which result in larger, irregular-shaped emitters. As a result, the emitters produce by this emitter pattering method may not have a uniform size and shape.
Another problem with this emitter patterning method is that the emitters may not be uniformly spaced apart from one another. Since the beads are distributed randomly across the surface of the oxide layer, it is difficult to control the space between the beads. Thus, the space between the emitters produced by this emitter patterning method may vary significantly from one area on the display to another.
In light of the problems associated with patterning an oxide layer to form emitters, it would be desirable to develop a mask that produces emitters with a substantially uniform size and shape, and controls the space between the emitters.

Mask for forming features on a semiconductor substrate and a method for forming the mask


A new and distinct variety of peach having a yellow-fleshed peento-shaped fruit.

The Latin name of the genus and species of the new tree is Prunus persica, Batsch.
xe2x80x98Rattrayxe2x80x99.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of peach tree, herein denominated as the xe2x80x98Rattrayxe2x80x99 cultivar. The xe2x80x98Rattrayxe2x80x99 cultivar has yellow-fleshed fruit with peento shape. Peach trees known to the inventors and which have peento-shaped fruit, such as of the xe2x80x98Saturnxe2x80x99 cultivar, are white-fleshed. Again, this new peach is a yellow-fleshed mutation; otherwise, it is believed identical in all other vegetative and fruiting characteristics to the xe2x80x98Saturnxe2x80x99 peach of commerce.
In 1982, we received a shipment of peach trees that were supposed to be xe2x80x98Elbertaxe2x80x99 variety (unpatented) trees from a mid-west nursery. We planted these trees at our facility in Mesa, Wash. In about 1985, we discovered about 50 trees that had peculiar fruit, peento-shaped, flattened fruit with low-acid, sweet, white flesh. At first we thought the trees were infected with a virus, but later we became convinced that the nursery had supplied us with a different peach variety. This peach variety subsequently was identified as Stark xe2x80x98Saturnxe2x80x99, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,123, now expired.
In the summer of 1993, it was noticed that a single limb on one of the xe2x80x98Saturnxe2x80x99 peach trees growing in a cultivated area had fruit with yellow flesh, rather than the usual white-fleshed fruit of the xe2x80x98Saturnxe2x80x99 variety. In the summer of 1995, approximately 35 trees were budded at our direction from the mutated limb. These trees were budded onto St. Julian plum rootstock. In the summer of 1997, the first fruit from the budded trees was produced, and all fruits were identical to those on the original mutated branch, including the yellow flesh. In 1999, we budded additional trees for our own planting. The original second-generation trees propagated in 1995 remain true to type, thus confirming the stability of this mutation.

Peach tree named xe2x80x98Rattrayxe2x80x99


An LED drive circuit (1) includes: a booster circuit (2); a light emitting pattern generator (5); and a switching switch (3) for, (i) during an on period, feeding back, to the booster circuit (2), an electric current flowing to an LED (7), and (ii) during an off period, feeding back, to the booster circuit (2), a voltage signal obtained by dividing an output voltage of the booster circuit (2).

In a case where an LED is used for a backlight of, for example, a liquid crystal television, the following configuration has been known (see Patent Literature 1). According to the configuration, a voltage source for turning on the LED is supplied by a booster circuit to the LED, and a pulse width modulation duty ratio (PWM-Duty) in which an electric current flowing to the LED is turned on/off is adjusted so that a desired light emitting brightness of the LED can be obtained.
FIG. 9 is a circuit diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional LED drive device 1000. The LED drive device 1000 includes LEDs 300R through 300B and a power supply device 100 for driving the LEDs 300R through 300B. The LED drive device 1000 is driven by a battery 200, and the power supply device 100 generates a drive voltage Vout for driving the LEDs 300R through 300B by boosting a battery voltage supplied from the battery 200. When colors do not particularly need to be distinguished from each other, the following description omits indices R, G, and B which are attached to members so as to correspond to the respective colors.
The power supply device 100 has an input terminal 102 via which a battery voltage is inputted, an output terminal 104 which is connected with an anode terminal of an LED 300 and via which an output voltage Vout obtained by boosting the battery voltage is outputted, and an LED terminal 106 which is connected with a cathode terminal of the LED 300.
The power supply device 100 includes a booster circuit 60 and a drive control section 70. The booster circuit 60 boosts the battery voltage inputted via the input terminal 102 and outputs the output voltage Vout via the output terminal 104.
The booster circuit 60 serves as a switching power supply including switching elements such as a switching regulator and a charge pump circuit. The booster circuit 60 has an enable terminal EN. When the enable terminal EN receives an enable signal SIG12 which is at a high level, the booster circuit 60 boosts the battery voltage by carrying out a switching operation. Meanwhile, when the enable terminal EN receives the enable signal SIG12 which is at a low level, the booster circuit 60 stops the switching operation.
The drive control section 70 controls a drive state of each of the LEDs 300R through 300B. The drive control section 70 includes constant current circuits 22R through 22B, switches 24R through 24B, AND gates 26R through 26B, a brightness controlling PWM oscillator 30, a light emitting pattern generator 82, and an OR gate 34.
The light emitting pattern generator 82 controls turning on/off of the LEDs 300R through 300B in accordance with data stored in a memory or externally supplied data. The light emitting pattern generator 82 generates light emission control signals SIG10R through SIG10B corresponding to the respective colors. When each emission control signal SIG10 is at a high level, a corresponding LED 300 emits light. Meanwhile, when the each light emission control signal SIG10 is at a low level, the corresponding LED 300 stops emitting light.
A constant-current circuit 22 is connected with a cathode of the LED 300 via the LED terminal 106 and is provided on a path through which an electric current of each of the LEDs 300R through 300B flows. A switch 24 turns on/off electric current generation by the constant current circuit 22.
The brightness controlling PWM oscillator 30 generates a PWM signal SIG14 for turning on/off the switch 24. The brightness controlling PWM oscillator 30 includes a voltage comparator 40, an oscillator 42, and a reference voltage source 44. The reference voltage source 44 generates a reference voltage Vref corresponding to each of the colors R, G, and B. The oscillator 42 generates a periodic voltage Vosc having a triangular waveform or a saw-tooth waveform.
An AND gate 26 receives a light emission control signal SIG10 supplied from the light emitting pattern generator 82 and receives the PWM signal SIG14 supplied from the brightness controlling PWM oscillator 30. The AND gate 26 outputs a logical product of these two received signals in a form of an output signal SIG16. The output signal SIG16 of the AND gate 26 is at a high level when both the light emission control signal SIG10 and the PWM signal SIG14 are at a high level.
The OR gate 34 receives the three light emission control signals SIG10R through SIG10B supplied from the light emitting pattern generator 82. The OR gate 34 supplies a logical sum of these three received signals to the enable terminal EN of the booster circuit 60.
According to the LED drive device 1000 having the configuration, the booster circuit 60 supplies the drive voltage Vout to each of the plurality of LEDs 300R through 300B in the power supply device 100. The drive control section 70 controls the drive state, i.e., a light emitting brightness of each of the LEDs 300R through 300B. The drive control section 70 carries out time sharing driving with respect to a plurality of load circuits. Further, the booster circuit 60, which has the enable terminal EN, stops the switching operation during a non-light emitting period in which none of the LEDs 300R through 300B are driven by the drive control section 70.
The light emitting pattern generator 82 generates the light emission control signals SIG10R through SIG10B for instructing the respective LEDs 300 to emit light. The booster circuit 60 logically operates the light emission control signals SIG10R through SIG10B so as to stop the switching operation during the non-light emitting period in which none of the LEDs 300 emit light.
As described earlier, the LED drive device 1000 turns on/off the LEDs 300R through 300B by turning on/off the respective switches 24R through 24B, and is capable of reducing electric power consumption by stopping oscillation of the booster circuit 60 during turning off of the LEDs 300R through 300B.
FIG. 10 is a circuit diagram illustrating a configuration of another conventional LED drive device. The LED drive device includes a direct-current power supply 201, a voltage detecting device 202, a control circuit 203, an input switch circuit 204, an output switch circuit 205, a signal formation circuit 206, a booster circuit 207, and an electric current detection circuit 208.
The direct-current power supply 201 generates a substantially constant direct-current voltage as an output voltage and supplies an electric current in accordance with a load connected with the direct-current power supply 201. When the direct-current power supply 201 has an output voltage Vin which is lower than a given threshold, the voltage detecting device 202 outputs a control signal for intercepting electric power supply from the direct-current power supply 201 to the booster circuit 207. The control circuit 203 outputs a control signal for controlling each of the input switch circuit 204 and the output switch circuit 205. The signal formation circuit 206 reverses, from a high level to a low level or from the low level to the high level, a level of a turn on control signal applied to a terminal 110.
The booster circuit 207 boosts the power supply voltage Vin and causes the boosted power supply voltage Vin to be an output voltage, and conducts, to an LED group 211, an output electric current Io in accordance with the turn on control signal. For example, the electric current detection circuit 208 detects a voltage between both ends of each of resistances which are serially connected with the LED group 211, and supplies the voltage to a control circuit 271 of the booster circuit 207. The control circuit 271 carries out constant current control so that an average of electric currents flowing to the LED group 211 is constant.
The output switch circuit 205 is parallel-connected with the LED group 211, and in sync with the turn on control signal, forces attenuation of the output electric current flowing from the booster circuit 207 during a turn off period of the LED group 211.

LED driver device, and television receiver