In an apparatus and method for acquisition and administration of medical image data, the apparatus having one or more medical image acquisition modalities for image data acquisition that are to be operated via associated computers, at least one server with an image data storage and at least one workstation computer with an image reproduction device for representation and processing of acquired and/or stored image data; the server and the workstation computer being connected with one another and with the image acquisition modality or image acquisition modalities via a data connection, the ability of a system administrator to get an overview of the system operation is facilitated by the server being configured (relative to the modality) for time-resolved determination of the image data acquisition and administration of associated performance data of the server and/or of the workstation computer, and/or of the data connection, the performance data relating to read and/or write activities at the server, and the server allows graphical representation of the performance data on an image reproduction device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns an apparatus for acquisition and administration of medical image data, of the type having one or more medical image acquisition modalities for image data acquisition that are operated by associated computers, a server with an image data storage, and at least one workstation computer with an image reproduction device for representation and processing of acquired and/or stored image data; wherein the server and the workstation computer are connected with one another and with the image acquisition modality or image acquisition modalities via a data connection.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In such apparatuses for acquisition and administration of medical image data, conventionally only a single server is provided with which a number of workstation computers and a number of modalities are normally connected. All information required for image acquisition and administration as well as the actual generated images of the examined patients is stored in the storage unit of the single server. It is therefore very important that the apparatus is operational at all times and is fast enough to be able to quickly process requests on the part of a user of the apparatus and, if applicable, to be able to react quickly to user activities.
Such apparatuses for the image data acquisition and administration, however, are individually configured for almost all customers, for example dependent on the number of hospitals, the type and capacity of the existing image acquisition modalities as well as the relevant doctors. Due to the individual configurations of the apparatuses for image data acquisition and administration, a problem is that these are often too powerful for their particular application, such that unnecessarily high costs arise for the customer. Moreover, an insufficient adaptation to the actual customer requirements can lead to bottlenecks, for example due to insufficient available bandwidth in the network.
The operation of a contemporary apparatus for acquisition and administration of medical image data additionally requires an administrator with special experience, since the service capability of the entire system directly depends on the ability of the administrator to read important data from the system and to correctly interpret them. For example, the administrator must read log files for the correct interpretation of which a great deal of experience is necessary. Additionally it is extremely difficult to recognize the critical components of such an apparatus and to implement targeted improvements.
A medical system architecture with an integrated RIS client of a radiology information system on the console computer of a modality is known from DE 101 54 740 A1. An RIS interface can be used for better planning, monitoring and optimization of the utilization of modalities and all involved resources such as personnel, consumables and the like. Furthermore, a "statistic module" can be used for evaluations. Data can additionally be collected into outcome analyses.

Method and apparatus for acquisition and administration of medical image data


A method for making a carbonated precast concrete product includes: obtaining a mixture including at least one binder material, an aggregate, and water; molding the mixture into a molded intermediate; demolding the molded intermediate to obtain a demolded intermediate, the demolded intermediate having a first water-to-binder ratio; conditioning the demolded intermediate to provide a conditioned article having a second water-to-binder ratio less than the first water-to-binder ratio of the demolded intermediate; moisturizing at least one surface of the conditioned article with an aqueous medium, thereby causing a weight gain of the conditioned article and providing a moisturized product, a first portion of the moisturized product having a third water-to-binder ratio greater than a fourth water-to-binder ratio of a remainder of the moisturized product; and curing the moisturized product with carbon dioxide to obtain the carbonated precast concrete product.

Precast concrete has become widely adopted in the construction industry. Precast concrete is a construction product that is cast into a reusable mold or form under controlled factory conditions. It cures in a controlled curing environment in the factory. After curing, it is then transported to the building site.
There is a wide range of structural and architectural applications for precast concrete. Some common examples include pavers, foundations, slabs, beams, floors, columns, walls, retaining walls, manholes, sewage pipes, blocks, modular boxes, bridge decks, and so on.
Traditionally, Portland cement is used as the binder in the manufacturing of precast concrete products. However, the manufacturing of Portland cement is known to have undesirable environmental impacts. For every tonne of Portland cement produced, approximately one tonne of CO2 is released. The acquisition of Portland cement involves quarrying, emitting airborne pollutants and entails the use of large-scale kilns, requiring substantial amounts of energy.
Cement-based precast products rely on the hydration of cement to obtain satisfactory strength. Heat and steam curing techniques have been widely adopted as the standard curing methods to accelerate early strength development in traditional cement-based precast concrete products.
Curing precast concrete in a CO2-rich environment may offer a reduction of the environmental impacts of precast concrete. This is known as carbonated precast concrete. While such carbonated precast concrete has certain environmental advantages, there remains a need to improve other physical properties of carbonated precast concrete, such as its ability to better endure freeze-thaw cycles and abrasion.

Method for making carbonated precast concrete products with enhanced durability


A method and apparatus for reducing latency caused by information server processing of subscriber request wherein a plurality of content streams defined by a playlist are sequentially provided to a subscriber in a substantially seamless manner and wherein the playlist is updated and otherwise maintained in response to subscriber commands and requests.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information distribution system such as a video-on-demand (VOD) system providing information services to a plurality of subscribers. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for reducing the latency experienced by system subscribers transitioning between offered information services within such a system while maintaining high quality presentation of subscriber requested information services.
2. Description of the Background Art
In an information distribution system, such as video on demand (VOD) system, an information provider (e.g., a head-end in a cable television system) must control of the distribution of requested information to ensure that requests for information, such as video information, are satisfied in an orderly manner.
Compression and decompression techniques utilized within such systems to efficiently store and provide content to system customers (e.g., users or subscribers within a VOD system), as well as processing of control information provided by such customers requires a substantial amount of time. As such, a customer may experiences a significant delay or latency between the time a function is selected (via a set top terminal or set top box associated with the customer) and the time that the selected function is actually implemented upon the screen of their television. Heretofore this latency has merely been an annoyance which, for the most part, has been ignored by the interactive information distribution system providers.
Typically, upon selection of a certain function, such as stop or pause, while viewing a particular video stream, the present VOD systems merely delay the time of implementing that stop or pause function by the amount of latency, which can be in excess of five seconds. Furthermore, if a customer has a particular video stream being displayed and then selects a second video stream for display, present systems, after a slight control signal processing delay, switch from one video stream to another video stream without any attempt to smooth the transition. As such, the video that is received and decoded by the user's set top terminal is generally garbled or distorted during the transition period. If a customer is rapidly switching from video stream to video stream, e.g., channel surfing, the customer will view garbled video images for a substantial amount of time between "channel" changes. Such an extended period of garbled images is unacceptable for a commercial system.
A method and apparatus for masking the effects of latency within an interactive information distribution system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,781,227, issued Jul. 14, 1998 and assigned to DIVA Systems Corporation of Redwood City, Calif. The '227 patent utilizes, inter alia, video and audio masking techniques at the set top terminal to mask latency inherent in transitioning between information streams.
Unfortunately, the '227 patent masks latency without addressing contributions to system latency caused by information server processing of subscriber requests. Therefore, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for avoiding the effects of latency in an interactive information distribution system. More specifically, there is a need for a method and apparatus for reducing latency caused by information server processing of subscriber requests.

Method for reducing latency in an interactive information distribution system


Charging control section 17 controls charging such that when the charging of an EV satisfies a predetermined condition, the EV is charged with electricity from a stationary energy storage and when the charging of the EV does not satisfy the predetermined condition, the EV is charged with electricity from an electric power grid and information communication grid 1 and the stationary energy storage is charged from electric power grid and information communication grid 1 based on the state of stored electricity of the stationary energy storage. Charging scheduling section 15 performs scheduling for the EV based on an electric power demand that cause electric power grid and information communication grid 1 to charge the EV with electricity, the electric power demand including electric power demand created by charging performed under the control of charging control section 17.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a charging control system and a charging control method that applies to vehicles that run on electricity, the vehicles including hybrid type vehicles that are equipped with an non-electric power source.
2. Description of the Related Art
In that serious concern is being focused on environmental problems in recent years, it is thought that renewable power supplies such as photovoltaic power generator and wind power generators that are being rapidly implemented will become effective means to achieve low carbon society and solve energy resource problems. On the other hand, however, since such renewable power supplies have large output fluctuations, adjustment means need to be provided that offsets their output fluctuations from the standpoint of supplying quality power. To date, since thermal generators that have high response speeds have been implemented as the adjustment means, this results in a dilemma in which as renewable power supplies are increasingly implemented, more thermal power generators are needed as adjustment means. Thus, it will become an important problem to ensure alternative powerful adjustment means. Although it might be effective means to implement large capacity rechargeable batteries such as NaS batteries, they would have a very high implementation barrier from the implementation and operation cost perspectives.
V2G (Vehicle-to-Grid) techniques that cause rechargeable batteries equipped in vehicles, that run on electricity and that are expected to be rapidly popularized (hereinafter, these vehicles including hybrid type vehicles equipped with a non-electric power source are referred to as EVs (Electric Vehicles)) and chargers connected thereto to be linked, and to be used them as a virtual large capacity rechargeable battery that would stabilize the power system have been studied. V2G has been proposed since 1980s and research including estimation of macroscopic stabilization effects of the entire electric power grid have been continuously reported up to the present. In recent several years, microscopic control techniques that are used in the manufacturing of specific systems, namely those that individually control charging and discharging of many EVs in real time have been reported.
Examples include, Non-patent Literature 1 (G. K. Venayagamoorthy et. al., "Real-Time Modeling of Distributed Plug-in Vehicles for V2G Transactions," Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, 2009. ECCE 2009. IEEE, 3937-3941 (2009)) presents a charging and discharging control method that performs optimum scheduling based on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) that sets up EV operation models, electric power grid models, time variation models of electric power prices, and so forth and that was inspired by movement of a shoal of fish.
Patent Literature 1 (JP2000-20977A, Publication) describes a configuration of an EV charging scheduling device and also mentions optimum charging schedule based on a genetic algorism.
Patent Literature 2 (JP2010-213560A, Publication) describes a configuration that stably charges an EV using a stationary rechargeable battery that serves as an electric power buffer connected in series between the electric power grid and the EV without necessity to expand the capacity of the electric power grid side infrastructure.
Although a configuration that is expected not only to charge an EV with electricity but also to discharge it from the EV to the electric power grid side is also referred to as V2G, a configuration that is expected only to charge the EV with electricity might be referred to as G2V so as to distinguish itself from V2G. G2V would reduce the load imposed on the internal rechargeable battery provided in each EV because of a decrease in charging and discharging cycles.
However, to date, few practical systems that comprehensive evaluate the reduction of load and risk (imperfect charging upon departure and accelerated deterioration of rechargeable battery of EV) imposed on EVs' owners, the quality of grid stabilization service, real time response, decrease of load imposed on computational processes for optimum scheduling, and so forth have been reported. Thus, this situation has bottlenecked the implementation of multiple EVs linked to a charging control system.
Next, realistic problems with respect to charging schedule for EVs will be described.
As a first problem, if connection times at which EVs are connected to chargers (electric power grid) at daytime at temporary parking lots largely fluctuate and if their connection times are unexpectedly short, the charging schedule will not be implemented exactly as planned, and this will result in EVs that are not fully charged. Even if arrival times and departure times of EVs can be completely ensured, if the connection times are too short, since the degree of freedom with respect to shifting charging times is low, charging demands that occur in EVs would not be almost effectively used to stabilize the electric power grid and thereby they would be expected to simply become temporal peak noise of electric power demands or could concentrate to a time zone in which charge connection times are long (for example, nighttime).
As a second problem, in a transitional period of popularization of EVs or if EV use times are irregularly patterned, since few or no EVs are connected to chargers (electric power grid), a time zone in which charging control can hardly be performed, namely, power demands that serve as an electric power adjustment capability are not supplied to the electric power supply (electric company) side, (this time zone is referred to as a dead time) could occur. In addition, before and after the dead time, since the number of EVs connected to the chargers (electric power grid) is small, it is likely that the load (rapid charging, imperfect charging, and so forth) concentrates on particular EVs.
FIG. 1a exemplifies a dead time that occurs in an ordinary multiple EV linked charging system and shows charger connection states that are generated at random for 50 EVs that are used for commuting for three days (one holiday and two weekdays). FIG. 1b exemplifies dead times that occur in an ordinary multiple EV linked charging system and shows that charging scheduling is performed such that charging demands of all EVs that arrived are adjusted in chronological order in the time zone in which the EVs stopped.
As shown in FIG. 1a, when EVs are not connected to chargers, they are running, namely they are consuming electric power. In FIG. 1a, the amounts of stored electricity of individual EVs at the beginning of the first day were randomly generated.
As shown in FIG. 1b, in a time zone in which EVs are running, namely they are not connected to chargers, dead times in which electric power (charging) demands cannot be controlled occur.
In the configuration described in Patent Literature 2, since a stationery rechargeable battery is connected in series between the electric power grid and the EV side, electric power supplied from the electric power grid is temporarily stored in the stationary rechargeable battery, and all EVs are charged with electricity through the stationary rechargeable battery, it would be necessary to provide a large capacity rechargeable battery that satisfies charging demands of nearly all the EVs although it would not be necessary to increase the rated capacity of an electric power system that is superior to the stationary rechargeable battery. Thus, it could be expected that both the initial cost and operation cost would remarkably increase.
Since charging demands that EVs create have the potential to prevent electric power demands from being forcibly created so as to stabilize the electric power grid, namely to prevent energy resources from being wasted and thereby to effectively use the saved energy for others. Thus, the charging demands of EVs could be considered to be a kind of "energy resources." In this context, latent electric power demands for the electric power grid that can chronologically shift demands to some extent are defined as electric power charging demand potentials.

Charging control system and charging control method


A communication apparatus includes a detection unit and a display control unit. The detection unit detects a network. The display control unit causes a display unit to display information. In a case where information about a provider providing a network is not obtained from the network detected by the detection unit, the display control unit causes the display unit to display identification information about the network. In a case where information about a provider providing the network is obtained from the network, the display control unit causes the display unit to display information about the provider instead of causing identification information about the network to be displayed.

Recently, public wireless local area network (LAN) services that allow wireless LAN communication supporting the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 series standards are available in public facilities such as train stations, airports, hotels, restaurants and the like. To utilize a public wireless LAN service, it is necessary for a user to acquire a user account, namely, a login user ID and a user password, provided by the provider of that public wireless LAN service. The main methods for utilizing public wireless LAN services are as follows.
First, a terminal used by the user searches for a wireless network established by wireless base stations (hereinafter, "base stations") which are called public wireless LAN access points. By analyzing beacons that are periodically broadcast by the base stations, the terminal can learn an identifier of the network (i.e., service set identifier, SSID), a frequency channel, a radio wave strength, and a security setting state (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-197122). The terminal notifies the user of the thus-obtained information together with the SSID. The user selects the network that he/she wants to wirelessly connect to from the notified SSID.
The user terminal then can user the public wireless LAN service by wirelessly connecting to the selected network, and being authorized by an authorization sever connected to the base station with use of the user account. During this operation, if the terminal connects to a network provided by a provider different from the operator that provided the user account, authorization by the authorization sever fails, so that the terminal cannot use the public wireless LAN service.
However, conventionally, when selecting the network to connect to from among a plurality of networks, the user has referred to the SSID, the frequency channel, the radio wave strength, and the security setting state. Therefore, it has been difficult for the user to identify which among the plurality of networks is the network provided by the LAN service provider corresponding to the user account that the user has.
Therefore, the present invention is directed to enabling a user to easily identify a network provided by a provider corresponding to a user account that the user has when the user utilizes a public wireless LAN service.

Communication apparatus, communication apparatus control method, and program


A scanning printer is connected to a computer by inserting the scanning printer into the card slot of the computer and both print data and power are supplied to the scanning printer. In printing, the scanning printer is extracted from the card slot and prints when an operator holds the scanning printer on recording paper and presses a printing button to start printing.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a scanning printer for printing by scanning on a recorded medium manually, automatically or semi-automatically, and more particularly relates to a scanning printer attachable to and detachable from, as a portable printer, a small-sized and portable external computer.
2. Description of Related Art
Heretofore, a scanning printer connected to an external computer was built in a housing different from the external computer housing and received print data via a cable, for example. A scanning printer that prints while it is scanned manually is proposed in JP-A-48-17630. Because this type of printer prints on recording paper manually, the travel speed is not fixed. Therefore, a displacement detector for detecting relative positional change between a print head and a recorded medium is provided. The change of a relative position caused by the displacement detector moving on the recorded medium is detected and the position of the print head is detected. That is, a roller moved together with the print head touches the recorded medium and is rotated. The change of the relative position between the print head and the recorded medium is detected by detecting the turning angle of the roller.
Because the displacement detector of the printer can detect the change of the relative position between the print head and the recorded medium and because the printer can execute satisfactory printing by controlling the print head in synchronization with the detected change of relative position even if the travel speed is not fixed, a carriage is not required. Further, the printer can be small-sized, with excellent portability, and can be carried and used outdoors. Finally, because printing can be readily executed in an arbitrary position on a recorded medium, printing can be executed on, for example, a bound thick book and document or a paper with large dimensions on which printing cannot be executed using a prior stationary type printer.
However, the prior printer is carried separately from an external computer, making it inconvenient to carry and use outdoors, for example.
In addition, there is a problem in that a procedure for receiving print data from an external computer is required because data sent from the external computer is received by the printer via a cable or by infrared radiation. When the external computer and the printer are connected via a cable, a dedicated cable is required to be carried together with the external computer. Use of the dedicated cable causes operability to deteriorate when the printer scans. When infrared radiation is used, an error frequently occurs in receiving or sending data because the effective angle of the directivity of an infrared ray is narrow and the effective communication distance is short.

Scanner printer connectable to a PCMCIA card slot of an external computer and method for connecting a scanning printer to a PCMCIA card slot of an external computer


Methods, systems, and devices for wireless communications are described. A first user equipment (UE) may be scheduled for communicating a first message over a first communication link with a base station and a second message over second communication link with a second UE. The first UE may select to communicate using the first communication link or the second communication link based on one or more prioritization rules that may involve the priority of the first message and the second message. The first UE may identify a mapping between the priority of the first message and the priority of the second message that may enable a comparison of the priorities of the first message and the second message. The first UE may select to communicate using the communication link of the message associated with the higher priority.

Wireless communications systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, and so on. These systems may be capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., time, frequency, and power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include fourth generation (4G) systems such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) systems, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, or LTE-A Pro systems, and fifth generation (5G) systems which may be referred to as New Radio (NR) systems. These systems may employ technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), or discrete Fourier transform spread orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (DFT-S-OFDM). A wireless multiple-access communications system may include one or more base stations or one or more network access nodes, each simultaneously supporting communication for multiple communication devices, which may be otherwise known as user equipment.

Prioritization techniques between communication links


One embodiment of the present invention provides a motor comprising a stator portion including a bearing using lubricant oil; and a rotor portion having a rotation shaft rotatably supported by the bearing, an oil deflector configured to return back to the bearing the lubricant oil that has leaked toward one end portion of the rotation shaft from the bearing, and a hub attached so as to oppose the oil deflector with a clearance therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a motor comprising a stator where a lubricated bearing is fitted in a bearing holder; and a rotor where a rotation shaft is rotatably supported by the bearing, an oil deflector is provided on one end portion of the rotation shaft in order to return lubricant oil back to the bearing, the lubricant oil having leaked from the bearing to the one end portion of the rotation shaft, and a hub is fixedly attached to the rotation shaft so as to oppose the oil deflector, thereby preventing the lubricant oil from reaching the hub even when the oil leaks from the bearing and reaches the oil deflector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a motor is composed of a stator stationarily mounted therein and a rotor rotatably driven in relation to the stator.
The above-mentioned stator includes a motor base stationarily mounted therein, a bearing holder attached on the motor base, a bearing fitted in the bearing holder, a stator core and a plural of coils wound around the stator core.
On the other hand, the afore-mentioned rotor is composed of a rotation shaft rotatably supported by the bearing, a hub fixedly attached on one end portion of the rotation shaft, a rotor yoke rotatable in unison with the hub and a magnet fixedly attached on the rotor yoke.
The plural of coils wound around the stator core of the stator oppose the magnet provided in the hub via the rotor yoke, with a slight gap allocated therebetween. The motor composed as above operate in such a way that a magnetic force is generated between the stator coil and the magnet when the stator coil provided for each phase is energized, so as to rotate the hub integrally with the rotation shaft.
By the way, the hub can be provided with a polygon mirror, a hard disc, an optical disc or the like.
As the bearing for rotatably supporting the rotation shaft, there is used a lubricated bearing such as an oil-impregnated sintered bearing, a fluid pressure bearing, a ball bearing or the like. Among the motors using such a bearing, there is disclosed for example in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2001-61253 (pages 3 to 4, and FIG. 2) a motor designed to prevent a reduction of lubricant oil in an oil-impregnated sintered bearing.
FIG. 1 is a magnified vertical cross-sectional view of the oil-impregnated sintered bearing in the related art motor, the oil-impregnated sintered bearing supporting rotatably a rotation shaft.
A related art motor 100 shown in FIG. 1 is disclosed in the aforementioned publication (No. 2001-61253) and will be explained briefly here referring thereto.
In the related art motor 100 shown in FIG. 1, a stator portion S has a bearing holder 102 mounted on a motor base 101. The bearing holder 102 has a center hole 102 into which an oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104 impregnated with oil 103 is fitted by pressure-fitting or a like method. The oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104 is cylindrically shaped and has a center hole 104a penetrating the center portion thereof. In addition, the oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104 has a first circular concave portion 104b on the top and a second circular concave portion 104c on the bottom, the concave portions 104b, 104c being open in a shape of circular concave.
On the other hand in a rotor R, there is supported rotatably a rotation shaft 105 in the center hole 104a of the oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104 as follows. On one end portion (an upper end portion) of the rotation shaft 105, a first rotation body (equivalently, a first oil deflector) 106 and a hub 107 are fixedly attached by pressure-fitting or a like method so that the hub 107 tightly contacts the first rotation body 106. On the other end (a lower end) of the rotation shaft 105, a second rotation body (equivalently, a second oil deflector) 108 is fitted into the center hole 104a, the second rotation body 108 being composed of a cut-washer. The rotation shaft 105 is inserted into the center hole 104a of the oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104 until the tip of the other end abuts a thrust plate 109 attached on the motor base 101.
The first and the second rotation body (respectively equivalent to the first and the second oil deflector) 106, 108, which are provided respectively on the one portion and the other end of the rotation shaft 105, are positioned in the first and the second circular concave portion 104b, 104c respectively provided in the upper and the lower portion of the oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104. The oil 103, even if leaked from the oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104, can be splattered by the first and the second rotation body 106, 108 into the first and the second circular concave portion 104b, 104c, thereby preventing a reduction of the oil impregnated in the bearing 104.
Although the related art motor 100 can prevent a reduction of an oil amount in the oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104 by attaching the first and the second rotation body (respectively equivalent to the first and the second oil deflector) 106, 108 on the one portion and the other end of the rotation shaft 105, part of the oil 103 that has leaked from the oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104 may leak farther to the hub 107 via the first rotation body 106.
The reason why this happens will be described in the following. The first rotation body (equivalent to the first oil deflector) 106 pressure-fitted to the one end (the upper end) portion of the rotation shaft 105 as a center hole 106a; and the hub 107 has also a center hole 107a Regarding these center holes 106a, 107b, it is rather impossible to realize a perfectly precise diameter and circularity. Therefore, when the first rotation body 106 is pressure-fitted to the one end of the rotation shaft 105 and then the hub 107 is pressure-fitted on the first rotation body 106, the center hole 106a of the first rotation body 106 and the center hole 107a of the hub 107 may deform to easily cause clearance between these holes 106a, 107a and the rotation shaft 105. Under these circumstances, since the first rotation body 106 and the hub 107 tightly contact each other, the oil 103 that has leaked upward from the oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104 can come above the upper surface (not shown) of the hub 107 passing through the clearance due to capillary phenomenon.
In addition, some (or, a slight) amount of the oil 103 leaked from the oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104 can flow along the circumferential surface of the first rotation body 106 to reach the lower surface of the hub 107 that is tightly fixed to the first rotation body 106 and then to reach the upper surface (not shown) of the hub 107 through the center hole 107a of the hub 107.
The oil 103 that has reached the upper surface (not shown) of the hub 107 spreads thereon by centrifugal force, thereby to adhere to an unshown polygon-mirror, hard-disk, optical disk or the like mounted thereon.
As stated above, since the hub 107 tightly contacts the first rotation body 106 that is pressure-fitted to one end (the upper end) of the rotation shaft 105, the oil 103 that has once leaked from the oil-impregnated sintered bearing 104 can easily reach the hub 107 via the first rotation body 106, which deteriorates leakage prevention that has to be exerted by the first rotation body 106.
Therefore, there has been desired a motor in which even when lubricant that has leaked from a bearing reaches an oil deflector provided to oppose a hub, the oil is prevented from reaching the hub, which is assuredly able to prevent lubricant leakage.


A secure tag comprising: a carrier doped with one or more rare earth ions, and a barrier material associated with the carrier and substantially blocking low-wavelength radiation to shield the rare earth ions from low-wavelength radiation. This enables a secure tag to be fabricated that does not photoluminescence strongly in response to a low-wavelength excitation radiation source.

The present invention relates to improvements in or relating to a secure tag.
Secure tags are used for a number of different purposes. One of the primary uses of a secure tag is to prevent counterfeiting. One type of secure tag that has recently been developed is based on small particles of a rare earth doped host, such as glass. This type of secure tag is described in U.S. patent application No. 2004/0262547, entitled "Security Labelling," and U.S. patent application No. 2005/0143249, entitled "Security Labels which are Difficult to Counterfeit", both of which are incorporated herein by reference. These rare earth doped particles (hereinafter "RE particles") can be applied to valuable items in different ways. For example, the secure tags can be incorporated in fluids which are applied (by printing, spraying, painting, or such like) to valuable items, or incorporated directly into a substrate (paper, rag, plastic, or such like) of the valuable items.
In response to suitable excitation, RE particles produce a luminescence spectrum having narrow peaks because of the atomic (rather than molecular) transitions involved. Known readers for RE particles include (i) a suitable excitation source to stimulate transitions in the secure tag, and (ii) a detector to measure the luminescence emitted in response to the excitation.
The suitable excitation source may be tuned (in the sense that the excitation is selected to optimize luminescence from one or more transitions in the rare earth ions), or high frequency (to stimulate all, or at least many, transitions in the rare earth ions and the host).
Tuned excitation is usually achieved using a narrowband source, such as an LED, in the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. High frequency excitation may be achieved using a broadband source having a high intensity contribution from the ultra-violet or low-wavelength visible (for example, between 350 nm and 400 nm) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Alternatively, high frequency excitation may be achieved using a narrowband source emitting in the ultra-violet or low-wavelength visible portion (for example, at 395 nm) of the electromagnetic spectrum.
One disadvantage of the RE particles being responsive to excitation from a high frequency source is that low-cost ultra-violet radiation excitation sources may be used for all types of RE particles, rather than having to use a different selective excitation source for each type of RE particle. This may reduce the security of the secure tags.


An access device for providing access between a substrate surface and an elevated surface. The access device comprises a ladder having first and second ends, the ladder including first and second side members connected by a plurality of cross members extending between the ends of the ladder. The ladder is pivotally connected to a rotary axle extending horizontally from the support surface so that the ladder may be moved between a substantially downwardly outwardly disposed boarding position and a substantially horizontally disposed storage position. The ladder is movable between the boarding position and the storage position and vice versa such that in a first step, the ladder is rotated on the axle by at least 90.degree. from the boarding position to a first intermediate position, in a second step, the ladder is pivoted between the first intermediate position and a second intermediate position wherein the second end of the ladder extends substantially above the elevated surface, and, in a third step, by rotation of the axle in the opposite direction, the ladder is moved between the second intermediate position and the storage position.

A variety of different access devices are presently known, to provide access between an operable or boarding position, and, a storage position.
One such prior art access device is disclosed in the Applicant's earlier Australian Application No. 67555/94, and corresponding overseas applications.
The Applicant's earlier access device provides access between a substrate surface and an elevated surface of a vehicle whereby the device is provided with a pair of rigid arms on each side member of the access device, such that, the device is pivotally moveable from a stable lower position to a stable upper position. In the lower position, that access device is inclined at between 60.degree. and 75.degree. relative to a substantially horizontally substrate surface, with the upper end of the access device was positioned substantially adjacent to and forwardly of the elevated surface. In the upper position, that access device is positioned substantially vertically or at a rearwardly inclined angle in a position which is totally upward and rearward of the elevated surface.
In the Applicant's earlier aforementioned application, the access device always remains in a substantially upwardly/downwardly disposed position.
While the Applicant's earlier access device invention provides significant advantages over prior art devices, it has been discovered by the Applicant that it is, in many instances, more useful if the device is not upwardly standing when being stored, but rather, is stored in a substantially horizontal position on the side or across the front or rear of the vehicle.


The present invention relates to unique waste recycling machines possessing improved efficacy in recycling bulky waste materials to a recycled waste product. The feed for the machine is equipped with a floating stripper plate which scrapes adhering waste materials from a continuous metal apron feed. The device also includes a releasable cradle assembly which supports a striking bar and a screen positioned about a rotating drum equipped with impacting teeth or blades. When a damaging obstacle enters an impacting or fragmenting zone of the machine, a shear pin which maintains the cradle assembly in a fragmenting position will shear causing the cradle assembly to become dislodged to an inoperable or non-damaging position. The machine also includes impacting teeth which are dynamically balanced and positioned upon a rotating impacting drum so as to effectuate especially effective fragmentation of waste materials to a desired particle size.

The current economy generates vast tonnages of wastes for disposal. Such wastes contain a multitude of diverse chemical components. Most unprocessed wastes exist as bulky materials which, in the unprocessed form, are usually unusable and occupy tremendous space. Landfill disposal no longer affords a satisfactory disposal solution to modern day wastes. Plastics, cellulosic materials (e.g. vegetative wood, paper, cardboard, etc.), glassware, waste foods and feeds, metals, agricultural, construction and industrial wastes, etc. generally comprise the bulk of such wastes. Certain waste collection sites and municipalities require a separation of wastes into different classes of waste materials such as a separation of paper, wood, metal cans, plastics, waste foods, etc. These separated wastes are desirably converted to less bulky materials and recyclable products such as recycled metals, recycled wood, (e.g. landscaping mulch and livestock bedding, pressed wood products), cellulosic products such as recycled paper, cardboard, cellulosic insulation, newsprint, livestock bedding, and other similar useful and saleable products. Processed wastes are also utilized as an energy source for powering commercial and industrial equipment such as in generating electricity and drying kilns.
Costly, heavy-duty equipment powered by energy-consuming motors operated at relatively high r.p.m. and momentum are generally needed to process such wastes. The recycling machines are designed to convert the wastes into a form suitable for resale or reuse. The waste recycling generally entails grinding the bulky waste material to a useful bulk density or particle size.
The problems associated with industrial waste disposal may be typified by the accumulation of wooden pallets at a heavy industrial manufacturing sites. Raw materials and components used by the manufacturer are customarily shipped upon wooden pallets which affords a convenient means for transporting the components about the manufacturing facility with forklift trucks. It is usually too costly to return, reship or reuse these wooden pallets. As a result, stockpiles of wooden pallets typically accumulate at the manufacturing site. Disposal of these bulky and space-consuming wood pallets becomes a troublesome and costly problem.
Waste materials are often prone to be contaminated with latent materials capable of causing considerable damage to the waste processing equipment. It is often economically unfeasible or undesirable to purify or refine waste materials so as to insure removal of machine damaging contaminants. This is typified by the processing of common wastes such as wood and garbage products which may often contain a machine damaging substance such as a large metal rod or rail, a rigid pry bar, etc. Conventional waste processing devices are poorly equipped with safety mechanisms capable of safely interrupting the mechanical operation or working of machine before extensive damage is caused to the device. This can result in extensive downtime for costly repairs and service. In the meantime, unprocessed wastes continue to accumulate at an unsafe and unhealthy rate. Another problem associated with conventional waste recycling devices is the propensity of the wastes to clog or foul the machinery. The need to frequently clean, maintain and repair untidy equipment leads to costly and prolonged downtime during which the wastes continually stockpile.
There exists a need for a high-capacity, waste recycling device capable of effectively handling a broad spectrum of waste materials to produce an end product of a desired uniformity and quality. A productive recycling machine capable of recycling stockpiled waste of conventional garbage and cellulosic materials (e.g. paper, wood, etc.) for prolonged operational periods without fouling or clogging would fulfill a long existing need within the waste disposal industry. A waste recycling machine equipped to productively handle large waste volumes at a relatively low rate of power or energy consumption would fulfill another existing need. Another prerequisitial need centers upon the need for a waste recycling machine equipped with different screen types which may be expeditiously removed and replaced by another screen so as to permit effective processing of different waste materials into end products of a desired uniformity. Another current need centers upon a desire for a high-capacity waste recycling device equipped so as to spontaneously interrupt its mechanical operation when subjected to potentially damaging hazards so as to avoid otherwise extensive damage and costly repairs to the processing equipment and injury to persons. Another desire is a need to provide a high volume and durable waste disposal device which can be effectively operated for prolonged mechanical working periods without requiring extensive downtime for maintenance and repair. These needs and other objectives are generally achieved by the unique waste recycling device of this invention and its use.


The method for the physical reutilization of sheet-like siliconized structures comprises treating the sheet-like siliconized structure in a liquid digestion system comprising acetic anhydride and/or an acetoxysiloxane, and at least one Brønsted acid, optionally solvent, preferably with addition of acetic acid, and removing the desiliconized sheet-like structure from the liquid phase.

The silicone coating of certain sheet-like structures, more particularly both paper and polymeric structures, is known practice in order to modify the surface of the structure, so as to generate a non-stick surface, for example. Silicone-coated papers or polymeric films of this kind are available on the market for a variety of end uses.
Silicone-coated paper is used, for example, as a base paper for pressure-sensitive adhesive labels, self-adhesive films and self-adhesive tapes, or as release paper for PVC film manufacture. This coated paper accumulates in considerable quantities at the premises both of manufacturers and of users, and by far the largest proportion of this paper, after having fulfilled its function as a base paper or release paper, is sent to landfill or disposed of thermally—that is, incinerated. To date, only in exceptional cases have lower-quality papers been produced from these papers, for packaging uses.
The significance of this topic for the goal of a circular economy is apparent, for example, from production figures for the years 2008 and 2010, taken from the PTS (Papiertechnische Stiftung) Research Report IGF_16407, Development of a coating concept for producing silicone release papers using the multi-layer curtain coater technology, by M. Staubner and H. Schmid, www.ptspaper.de. The report reads as follows on page 6: "The 2008 worldwide production volume of 33.7 billion m2 of release paper was increased in 2010 to only 33.98 billion m2. Of this, 52% in 2008 and 51.5% in 2010 were utilized for labels alone."
Aside from the paper-based systems, polymeric films (for example polyolefins, and here more particularly the monoaxially oriented polypropylene films (MOPP), biaxially oriented polypropylene films (BOPP), and also the polyester release films (PETP)) are increasingly being provided with silicone coatings.
MOPP systems are frequently used to protect adhesive surfaces in—for example—the lining of self-adhesive closures, and also in envelopes, pouches and cartons, and in the lining of self-adhesive cable ducts or else in component assembly by automotive and smartphone manufacturers.
The polyester release films (PETP) furnished with a silicone release system are increasingly being used in the electrical industry as release films for the pressing and forming of prepreg-insulated conductors, in the plastics industry as a release film in the production of plates from casting compounds, in the chemical industry as a release film, with siliconization on both sides, for the packaging, for example, of waxes and resins displaying clinging and sticking effects, and also as a release film in the production of adhesive tape, and in the rubber industry, in the rubber manufacturing operation, as protection from instances of sticking, and also in the electronics industry, as a release film during the production of multi-layer PCBs.
The prior art refers to various efforts toward the recycling of silicone-coated papers. For instance, the teaching of EP 0587000 A1 claims a method for recycling silicone-coated paper in flotation de-inking apparatus, using 10% strength sodium hydroxide solution, by beating and forming new sheets, that method being characterized in that the beating takes place in the presence of one or more salts of phosphoric esters of fluorinated alkanols. According to the teaching, the use of these exotic process auxiliaries is necessary in order to avoid typical problems in the alkaline recycling operation, such as poor pulp dissolution, incomplete resin dispersion, and also the formation of resin agglomerates and the associated risk of sticking on cylinder surfaces and felts.
A further operation for the recycling of silicone-coated, cellulose-based and/or polymeric carrier systems is claimed by the company Reculiner (Belgium) in EP 2542728 B1, but is geared solely to their utilization as materials. Here, for example, silicone-coated release paper waste is utilized for cellulose fiber insulation, employed for heat insulation and soundproofing in the construction sector. The release paper is treated for example with flame retardants and is thereafter processed into lightweight flakes, using specially developed equipment. The accompanying claim is that one of the most important advantages of the cellulose fiber insulation obtained not from conventional waste paper (such as newspapers, for example) but instead from a release paper of this kind lies in the greater elasticity of the fibers it contains. This property is said then to result in better fixation, meaning an improved resistance to the possible sinking of the insulating material following its blown injection into a cavity wall. By comparison with the traditional cellulose fiber insulation, obtained preferably from old newspapers, a further improvement on the part of the RecuLiner material is said to lie in its increased flowability, making it easier to apply.
In the as yet unpublished European patent application with the application Ser. No. 19/176,869.6, a new process is described for recycling silicones, more particularly silicone rubber and/or silicone oils, by the chemical transformation thereof into silanes and/or siloxanes containing acetoxy groups, wherein the silicones for recycling are subjected to a heat treatment in digestion systems comprising acetic anhydride and/or acetoxysiloxane, and at least one Brønsted acid, preferably with addition of acetic acid.
Not disclosed there, however, is the recycling of sheet-like siliconized structures such as, for example, siliconized release papers and siliconized polymeric films, respectively.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Physical reutilization of siliconized sheets


A golf ball supply system which is capable of reducing its failure, increasing its lifetime and performing an accurate operation by improving the switch for sensing the rotating angle of the operation handle of the system and the circuit of the system. The golf ball supply system contains an operating handle which is operated by a selective adjusting angle of a rotating angle control switch, a rotating angle sensing switch and an initial position switch which are composed of lead switches and are respectively installed in predetermined angular positions. A permanent magnetic piece is attached to the rear end of the operation handle so that an IC circuit receives and sorts an ON/OFF signal from the lead switches and the pedal switch and transfers the signal to respective timers. The timers receive the signals from the IC circuit and operate the solenoid through a first switch IC and further receive the signals from the IC circuit and operate the static motor through a second switch IC.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf ball supply system which automatically supplies golf balls, one by one, onto a golf tee installed on an in-door brush mat or setting position where a golfer practices the playing of golf. The golf ball supply system is capable of reducing its failure, increasing its life and performing its accurate operation by improving the switch for sensing the rotating angle of the operation handle of the system and the electrical circuit of the system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional golf ball supply system, a driving motor for carrying golf balls, one by one, onto a predetermined position in order to mechanically supply the golf balls during in-door golf practice is coupled with a solenoid, an IR sensor relay driving circuit and a plurality of switches such as a rotating angle sensing switch, so that an operating handle can be accurately controlled. The conventional system supplies a golf ball on a brush mat or golf tee in the desired position by an automatic supply method using the IR sensor or a semi-automatic supply method using a pedal. Thus, it is possible to effectively practise playing golf using the conventional golf ball supply system, and the system has contributed to the popularization of golf. However, since the sensing of the rotating angle in the system is performed by sensing the contact between the moving operation handle and a fixed limit switch, the limit switch frequently breaks down due to the frequent impacts produced during the repeating process. Further, since the system uses a mechanical relay switch, the contact of the relay switch wears away and thus the relay switch does not accurately function. Thus, there is the problem that the life time of the overall system is decreases.

23-103 Hanyang Z-cha Apt., 151 Songpa-Dong


A process for the separation of pentavalent arsenic from an aqueous solution using an N-alkyl pyridinium-containing adsorption medium is disclosed. An oxidizing medium and process for the oxidation of trivalent arsenic to pentavalent arsenic with removal of the pentavalent arsenic so formed is also disclosed.

Arsenic in drinking water is designated as a priority contaminant in the United States of America under the 1986 Safe Drinking Water Act and amendments thereto. Since 1974, an arsenic Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 50 parts per billion (ppb) has been in effect in the United States. As a result of more recent findings pertaining to health risks associated with populations exposed to high concentrations of arsenic in drinking water, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends the lowering of the MCL for arsenic from 50 ppb to 2 ppb. In the United States alone, more than 12,000 public water utilities would fail to meet the more stringent proposed arsenic standard. One estimate places the cost of compliance for the 2 ppb MCL proposal in excess of $5 billion/year.
The number of private wells in the United States that fail to meet the existing 50 ppb or proposed 2 ppb MCL for arsenic is unknown. It is believed that in many areas in the USA, many thousands of private wells produce drinking water with potential, serious health risks for the households depending on self-produced water because of arsenic contamination.
Regionally, high arsenic content in drinking water is a global problem. In West Bengal, India, for example, an estimated 200,000 people currently suffer from arsenic-induced skin lesions, some of which have advanced to pre-cancerous hyperkeratoses.
Arsenic is found in several oxidation states. Typically, arsenic is present in aqueous solutions in the oxidation state of plus five (As.sup.+5, pentavalent) and to a lesser extent the oxidation state of plus three (As.sup.+3, trivalent). There is no significant reported cation chemistry for arsenic, but organic arsenic salts are known for both oxidation states (e.g. KAs(C.sub.6 H.sub.4 O.sub.2).sub.2 !).
Examples of trivalent arsenic compounds are the halides (AsCl.sub.3, AsCl.sub.2.sup.+, and AsF.sub.3). The halides are readily hydrolyzed to arsenious acid (H.sub.3 AsO.sub.3) or it acid-dissociated forms (HAsO.sub.2.sup.2-). The oxide form is As.sub.2 O.sub.3. The trivalent arsenic compounds to be separated from aqueous solutions, most likely in an ionized form of H.sub.3 AsO.sub.3, in a process of the invention are collectively referred to herein as "trivalent arsenic".
As.sup.0 can be oxidized by concentrated nitric acid to pentavalent arsenic as arsenic acid (isolable as H.sub.3 AsO.sub.4 .multidot.1/2H.sub.2 O), which is a moderately strong oxidizing agent in solution. The corresponding halides are also known (e.g. AsCl.sub.5, AsCl.sub.4.sup.+). The pentavalent arsenic compounds to be separated from aqueous solutions, most likely an ionized form of H.sub.3 AsO.sub.4, in a process of the invention are collectively referred to herein as "pentavalent arsenic".
Surveys taken of drinking water around the world usually give a total arsenic level and fail to distinguish contributions from pentavalent arsenic or trivalent arsenic, even though trivalent arsenic is considerably more toxic than pentavalent arsenic. The failure to distinguish the valence of arsenic present in drinking water further confuses the logical assignment of MCL values because although a level of 2 ppb of pentavalent arsenic may cause no deleterious health effects, an equivalent level of trivalent arsenic can have negative health consequences.
There is an urgent need for a technology that will remove arsenic from drinking water to provide safe levels regardless of the oxidation state of the arsenic in an efficient, economical and environmentally sound manner. It is desirable that such technology be flexible and sufficiently robust in order to address the requirements of large municipal water utilities, private wells in developed countries and contaminated water sources in undeveloped countries.
A number of technologies have been described in the prior art to remove arsenic from drinking water. These technologies of the art include co-precipitation, alumina adsorption and classical ion-exchange with anion exchange resins. In a report entitled "National Compliance Assessment and Costs for the Regulation of Arsenic in Drinking Water" (January, 1997) prepared by the University of Colorado at Boulder, more than a dozen putative methods are evaluated for arsenic removal efficiency and cost. None of the evaluated methods described exhibited arsenic removal efficiencies greater than 95 percent, nor do the prior art methods offer the simplicity of use required for private well treatment or for underdeveloped areas of the world where reliable electrical power is unavailable.
Moreover, the prior art does not offer an environmentally sound "closure" to the arsenic removal problem. For instance, in situ precipitation with iron hydroxide has been shown to be moderately effective in removing certain arsenic species. A problem that remains from such a technology is the mechanical problem of filtering the iron oxide/arsenic co-precipitate from the water, and ultimately, the problem of disposing of arsenic-laden sludge which can re-leach into the same or different water supply. Much the same criticism can be made of the prior art methods of alum co-precipitation, lime precipitation or alumina adsorption.
Classical ion-exchange with anionic resins of the art suffer from poor efficiency (90 percent), low capacity (1500 bed volumes) and severe reduction in capacity and binding efficiency when competing ions such as sulfate are present in amounts of 50 ppm or more. Classical ion-exchange media suffer from poor longevity when challenged with a matrix of hard well water. It is estimated by the aforementioned Colorado report that 25 percent of such classical resins would have to be replaced on an annual basis.
There remains, therefore, a need for a simple-to-use adsorbent for removing dissolved arsenic from water that exhibits an arsenic removal efficiency greater than 95 percent that is stable and reusable.

Process for the removal of pentavalent arsenic from water


The object of the present invention is to provide a target protein for the activated Rho protein. The present invention is a protein having activated Rho protein binding activity and protein kinase activity or derivatives thereof. The molecular weight of the protein derived from bovine is about 164 kDa as measured by SDS-PAGE. The protein kinase activity of this protein is enhanced when it binds to the activated Rho protein.

A group of low-molecular-weight GTP-binding proteins (G-proteins) with molecular weights of 20,000-30,000 with no subunit structures is observed in organisms. To date, over fifty or more members have been found as the super family of the low-molecular-weight G-proteins in a variety of organisms, from yeast to mammals. The low-molecular-weight G-proteins are divided into four families of Ras, Rho, Rab and the others based on homologies of amino acid sequences. It has been revealed that the small G-proteins control a variety of cellular functions. For example, the Ras protein is considered to control cell proliferation and differentiation, and the Rho protein is considered to control cell morphological change, adhesion and motility.
The Rho protein, having GDP/GTP-binding activity and intrinsic GTPase activity, is believed to be involved in cytoskeletal responses to extracellular signals such as lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and certain growth factors. When the inactive GDP bound form of Rho is stimulated, it is transformed to the active GTP bound form of Rho protein (hereinafter referred to as "the activated Rho protein") by GDP/GTP exchange proteins such as Smg GDS, Dbl or Ost. The activated Rho protein then acts on target proteins to form stress fibers and focal contacts, thus inducing the cell adhesion and motility (Experimental Medicine, Vol. 12, No. 8, 97-102 (1994); Takai, Y. et al., Trends Biochem. Sci., 20, 227-231 (1995)). On the other hand, the intrinsic GTPase activity of the Rho protein transforms the activated Rho protein to the GDP bound form of Rho protein. This intrinsic GTPase activity is enhanced by what is called GTPase-activating proteins (GAP) (Lamarche, N. & Hall, A. et al., TIG, 10, 436-440 (1994)).
Natural RhoA proteins bear Cys-A-A-Leu (SEQ ID NO: 6) (A: aliphatic amino acid) on the C-terminal thereof. The Cys residue is geranylgeranylated by geranylgeranyl transferase and its carboxyl group methylated in posttranslational processing, which is considered essential for the binding of the Rho protein to cell membranes and interaction with activity regulating proteins as well as for the expression of the functions thereof (Imazumi, K. et al., Experimental Medicine, Vol. 13, 646-656 (1995)).
The Rho family proteins, including RhoA, RhoB, RhoC, Rac1, Rac2 and Cdc42, share more than 50% sequence identity with each other. The Rho family proteins are believed to be involved in inducing the formation of stress fibers and focal contacts in response to extracellular signals such as lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) and growth factors (A. J. Ridley & A. Hall, Cell, 70, 389-399 (1992); A. J. Ridley & A. Hall, EMBO J., 1353, 2600-2610 (1994)). The subfamily Rho is also considered to be implicated in physiological functions associated with cytoskeletal rearrangements, such as cell morphological change (H. F. Parterson et al., J. Cell Biol., 111, 1001-1007 (1990)), cell adhesion (Morii, N. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267, 20921-20926 (1992); T. Tominaga et al., J. Cell Biol., 120, 1529-1537 (1993); Nusrat, A. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 92, 10629-10633 (1995)*; Landanna, C. et al., Science, 271, 981-983 (1996)*, cell motility (K. Takaishi et al., Oncogene, 9, 273-279 (1994), and cytokinesis (K. Kishi et al., J. Cell Biol., 120, 1187-1195 (1993); I. Mabuchi et al., Zygote, 1, 325-331 (1993)). (An asterisk hereinafter indicates a publication issued after the first filed application which provides the right of the priority of the present application.) In addition, it has been suggested that the Rho is involved in the regulation of smooth muscle contraction (K. Hirata et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267, 8719-8722 (1992); M. Noda et al., FEBS Lett., 367, 246-250 (1995); M. Gong et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 93, 1340-1345 (1996)*), and the expression of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3 kinase) (J. Zhang et al., J. Biol. Chem., 268, 22251-22254 (1993)), phosphatidylinositol 4-phosphate 5-kinase (PI 4,5-kinase) (L. D. Chong et al., Cell, 79, 507-513 (1994)) and c-fos (C. S. Hill et al., Cell, 81, 1159-1170 (1995)).
Recently, it has also be found that Ras-dependent tumorigenesis is suppressed when the Rho protein of which the amino acid sequence has been partly substituted is introduced to cells, revealing that the Rho protein plays an important role in Ras-induced transformation, that is, tumorigenesis (G. C. Prendergast et al., Oncogene, 10, 2289-2296 (1995); Khosravi-Far, R. et al., Mol. Cell. Biol., 15, 6443-6453 (1995)*; R. Qiu et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 92, 11781-11785 (1995)*; Lebowitz, P. et al., Mol. Cell, Biol., 15, 6613-6622 (1995)*).
It has also been proved that the Rho protein enhances not only cell proliferation, cell motility and cell aggregation but also smooth muscle contraction. Recent studies have demonstrated that the Rho protein is involved in the smooth muscle contraction (K. Hirata et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267, 8719-8722 (1992); Noda, M. et al., FEBS Lett., 367, 246-250 (1995)). Therefore, it can reasonably be assumed that the activated Rho-binding protein is also involved in the smooth muscle contraction.
The phosphorylation of myosin light chain plays vital roles in the smooth muscle contraction (Kamm, K. E. & Stull, J. T., Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol., 25, 593-603 (1985); Hartshorne, D. J. & Johnson, D. R. (1987) in Physiology of the Gastrointestinal Tract, (Johnson, L. R., ed), pp. 423-482, Raven Press, New York; Sellers, J. R. & Adelstein, R. S. in The Enzyme (Boyer, P. and Erevs, E. G., eds), Vol. 18, pp. 381-418, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. (1987)) and the actin-myosin interaction for stress fiber formation in non-muscle cells (Huttenlocher, A. et al., Curr. Opi. Cell Biol., 7, 697-706 (1995)) and, thus, involved in cytokinesis and cell motility (Huttenlocher, A. et al., Curr. Opi. Cell Biol., 7, 697-706 (1995)).
Myosin light chain kinase phosphorylates primarily the Ser-19 of myosin light chain (Kamm, K. E. & Stull, J. T., Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol., 25, 593-603 (1985); Hartshorne, D. J. & Johnson, D. R., (1987) in Physiology of the Gastrointestinal Tract, (Johnson, L. R., ed), pp. 423-482, Raven Press, New York; Sellers, J. R. & Adelstein, R. S. in The Enzyme (Boyer, P. and Erevs, E. G., eds), Vol. 18, pp. 381-418, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. (1987); Ikebe, M. & Hartshorne, D. J., J. Biol. Chem., 260, 10027-10031 (1985)). No protein kinase obtained thus far other than specific kinases such as myosin light chain kinase phosphorylates this site (Tan, J. L. et al., Annu. Rev. Biochem., 61, 721-759 (1992).
When a smooth muscle is stimulated by an agonist such as an angiotonic, Ca.sup.2+ moves into cytoplasm, and activates the calmodulin-dependent myosin light chain kinase. The phosphorylated myosin light chain induces myosin-actin interaction, which in turn activates myosin ATPase (Kamm, K. E. & Stull, J. T., Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol., 25, 593-603 (1985); Hartshorne, D. J. & Johnson, D. R., (1987) in Physiology of the Gastrointestinal Tract, (Johnson, L. R., ed), pp. 423-482, Raven Press, New York; Sellers, J. R. & Adelstein, R. S. in The Enzyme (Boyer, P. and Erevs, E. G., eds), Vol. 18, pp. 381-418, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. (1987)), thus inducing the smooth muscle contraction (Kamm, K. E. & Stull, J. T., Annu. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol., 25, 593-603 (1985); Hartshorne, D. J. & Johnson, D. R., (1987) in Physiology of the Gastrointestinal Tract, (Johnson, L. R., ed), pp. 423-482, Raven Press, New York; Sellers, J. R. & Adelstein, R. S. in The Enzyme (Boyer, P. and Erevs, E. G., eds), Vol. 18, pp. 381-418, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. (1987)). However, Ca.sup.2+ level in the cytosol is not necessarily proportional to the contraction level, indicating another explanation for the mechanism of the regulation of Ca.sup.2+ sensitivity in smooth muscle contraction (Bradley, A. B. & Morgan, K. G., J. Physiol., 385, 437-448 (1987)). As GTP.gamma.S (non-hydrolyzable GTP analog) decreases the Ca.sup.2+ concentration necessary for the contraction of permeabilized (skinned) smooth muscles, GTP-binding proteins were expected to regulate Ca.sup.2+ sensitivity (Kitazawa, T. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 88, 9307-9310 (1991); Moreland, S. et al., Am. J. Physiol., 263, 540-544 (1992)). The Rho protein was proved to be involved in Ca.sup.2+ sensitivity of smooth muscles, which is enhanced by GTP (Hirata, K. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267, 8719-8722 (1992)). Recently, in permeabilized smooth muscles, it was demonstrated that GTP.gamma.S enhances the phosphorylation of myosin light chain at submaximal Ca.sup.2+ concentration, suggesting that the enhancement was attributed to the activation of the Rho protein and the inhibition of the enzymatic activity of myosin light chain phosphatase, which dephosphorylates myosin light chain (Noda, M. et al., FEBS Lett., 367, 246-250 (1995)). However, it has not been resolved yet how the Rho protein inhibits myosin light chain phosphatase, whether the enhancement of the phosphorylation of myosin light chain by the Rho protein is attributed solely to the inhibition of myosin light chain phosphatase activity, and, thus, how the Rho protein regulates the Ca.sup.2+ sensitivity of smooth muscles and enhances the smooth muscle contraction.
These findings indicate that the Rho protein controls a variety of signal transduction pathways for cell morphological change, cell adhesion, cell motility, cytokinesis, tumorigenesis, metastasis, vascular smooth muscle contraction, etc. The Rho protein appears to be able to act on a number of target molecules to control all these signal transduction pathways.
It is only recently (after the first filed application which provides the right of the priority of the present application) that a several proteins have been reported as candidates of Rho-targets in mammals: protein kinase N (PKN) (Watanabe, G. et al., Science, 271, 645-648 (1996)*; Amano, M. et al., Science, 271, 648-650 (1996)*), rhophilin (Watanabe, G. et al., Science, 271, 645-648 (1996)*, citron (Madaule, P. et al., FEBS Lett., 377, 243-248 (1995)*), ROK.alpha. (Leung, T. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270, 29051-29054 (1995)*), p160.sup.ROCK (Ishizaki, T. et al., EMBO J., 15, 1885-1893 (1996)*) and rhotekin (Reid, T. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 271, 13556-13560 (1996)*). All these proteins bind to GTP-binding RhoA protein, except that citron binds also to GTP-binding Rac1.
Among these proteins, PKN has an enzymatic region which closely resembles the protein kinase region of protein kinase C and exhibits serine/threonine kinase activity (Mukai, H. & Ono, Y., Biochem. Biopys. Res. Commun., 199, 897-904 (1994); Mukai, H. et al., Biochem. Biopys. Res. Commun., 204, 348-356 (1994)). On the other hand, ROK.alpha. (Leung, T. et al. (1995), ibid.) and p160.sup.ROCK (Ishizaki, T. et al. (1996)*, ibid.) also have amino acid sequences resembling a serine/threonine kinase region (Leung, T. et al. (1995)*, ibid.).
In addition to those reported in mammals, protein kinase C1 (PKC1) in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) has recently been identified as a target protein of the Rho1 protein, corresponding to RhoA in mammals (Nonaka, H. et al., EMBO J., 14, 5931-5938 (1995)*). Only recently, 1,3-.beta.-glucan synthase has been identified as a target protein of the Rho1p protein in yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) (Drgonova, J. et al., Science, 272, 277-279 (1996)*; Qadota, H. et al., Science, 272, 279-281 (1996)*).
However, mechanisms of intercellular signal transduction involving the activated Rho protein, particularly those of tumorigenesis and smooth muscle contraction, are still unknown.
An asterisk hereinafter indicates a publication issued after the first filed application which provides the right of the priority of the present application.


Technology for logging application usage based on monitoring of read or change operations on database elements and then using the information from log data to determine application usage states (for example, active, inactive) in time.

The present invention relates generally to the field of software use signatures.
It is known that certain computer software applications create and/or use databases. These databases generally include one, or more, tables of data. Sometimes more than one application shares the same database and database tables. As the applications associated with a database operate, they create tables, modify tables and/or delete tables. For example, a given application may create, and later delete a temporary table in its associated database. Possible modifications typically include: add row, add column, delete row (sometimes referred to as a record), delete column (sometimes referred to as a field that runs through some, or all, of the records of a table), delete a cell, replace a cell with new and/or modified data and/or add data to an empty cell.

Product usage discovery signature based on database table content changes

International Business Machines Corporation


An apparatus and a method are disclosed for tracking a plurality of targets (e.g. land-based vehicles). The method can include: for a first time-step, estimating a state of each respective target; at a second time-step, measuring values for a state of each target; for the second time-step, estimating a state of each target using the estimated target states for the first time-step; updating the estimated target states for the second time-step by performing a Joint Probabilistic Data Association process using the measured values; and performing an identity management process to estimate a probability that a particular state measurement corresponds to a particular.

Target tracking typically comprises inferring an unobserved state vector of a target (for example a vector including a target's position and velocity) from a given set of sensor observations and prior assumptions about target behaviour and sensor properties.
Conventional multi-target tracking algorithms tend to encounter problems when implemented in certain situations. In particular, problems tend to be encountered in situations in which the motion of targets is constrained and the paths of targets overlap or are proximate to one another (e.g. road vehicle targets may be constrained to travel on roads, and a portion of a track followed by a target may be shared by multiple targets).


A method of forming low dielectric contrast structures by imprinting a silsesquioxane based polymerizable composition. The imprinting composition including: one or more polyhedral silsesquioxane oligomers each having one or more polymerizable groups, wherein each of the one or more polymerizable group is bound to a different silicon atom of the one or more polyhedral silsesquioxane oligomers; and one or more polymerizable diluents, the diluents constituting at least 50% by weight of the composition.

Semiconductor devices require many layers of wiring to interconnect devices such as field effect and bipolar transistors into integrated circuits. Two major factors limit the speed of advanced semiconductors. The first is the wiring density, which is a function of wire dimensions, and the second is capacitance, which is a function of the dielectric constant of the material in which the wires are embedded. Therefore, there is an ongoing need for semiconductor interconnection structures and processes that are dense and have low capacitance.

Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane based imprint materials and imprint process using polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane based imprint materials


A fixing unit of an image-forming device having a heating roller, a pressure roller disposed in confrontation with the heating roller, and a case that rotatably supports the heating roller on both longitudinal ends thereof and covers the heating roller from the side opposite the pressure roller, while leaving the pressure roller exposed. A pair of pressure roller support plates, one end of which is supported on the case, rotatably supports both ends of the pressure roller. With this construction, a more compact fixing unit can be achieved than when the case is configured to cover the heating roller and pressure roller entirely. The fixing unit includes a temperature fuse for restraining abnormal temperature rises in the heating roller, and a temperature fuse cover that extends from an inner wall of the case to provide insulation between the temperature fuse and the heating roller. By integrally forming the temperature fuse cover with the case, it is possible to reduce the manufacturing costs of the fixing unit. Support members may also be provided between a bottom surface of the case and the temperature fuse cover to restrain deformation of the temperature fuse cover.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a fixing unit and an image-forming device for fixing toner images that have been transferred onto a paper or other recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, electrophotographic image-forming devices, such as laser printers, are equipped with a light-emitting unit including a laser diode for emitting a light beam, and a photosensitive member, the surface of which carries a uniform charge. When the surface of the photosensitive member is exposed to the light beam, electrostatic latent images are formed on the surface of the photosensitive member and the latent images are then developed into visible images with toner. Subsequently, the visible images are transferred onto a paper or other recording medium to form visible toner images thereon.
However, the images transferred onto the recording medium are merely carried to the recording medium by an electrostatic force or dispersion force at this time and can be easily removed from the recording medium. Therefore, a fixing process is required to fix and attach the visible images to the recording medium through a step of applying heat.
A fixing device provided in the image-forming device for fixing images using heat typically includes a heating roller and a pressure roller. As the recording medium passes between the heating roller and the pressure roller, the toner or other developing material is sintered and coalesced by the heat from the heating roller, so as to permeate and become fixed to the recording medium. The heating roller accommodates a heat source, such as a halogen lamp. Since failure if the halogen lamp is fatal to the image-forming device, resulting in a loss of the fixing function, the fixing unit must be configured in such a way as to be easily replaceable. Japanese patent application publication No. HEI 8-305205 discloses a fixing unit integrally configured of a heating roller and a pressure roller that can easily be replaced when malfunctions occur.
Further, in order to prevent the heating roller from rising to an abnormal temperature due to a failure of the heating source, the fixing unit is provided with a temperature fuse that interrupts the supply of power to the heating roller when the surface of the heating roller reaches an abnormal temperature.
Normally, the temperature fuse is fixed to contact points provided on a main fuse body by a synthetic resin disposed around the contact points in order to electrically connect these points. Upon reaching a prescribed fusing temperature, the resin melts, causing a spring provided in the fuse to break the connection between contact points and halt the supply of power. Since the temperature fuse is connected to the power source in this case, the temperature fuse is required not to electrically contact the heating roller. Normally, safety standard for electronic equipment (explosion-proof construction standards for general electronic equipment) stipulate that a distance of at least 4 mm should be maintained between the fuse and heating roller as an insulating distance.
Proposals have been made for technologies that interpose a fuse cover between the heating roller and the temperature fuse so as to reliably insulate the two. For example, Japanese patent application publication No. HEI 9-281842 discloses a fixing unit in which a temperature fuse is attached to the underside surface of an electrically insulated member having a heat collecting surface opposing the heating roller.
In Japanese patent application publication No. HEI 9-281842, the fuse cover is provided as a separate member. After the temperature fuse is attached to the fuse cover, the fuse cover is mounted in the fixing device. This assembling way may increase a cost of the image-forming device.
Further, the fixing unit of Japanese patent application publication No. HEI 8-305205 strictly regulates the relationship between the position of the fuse on the fuse cover and the fixing device. Accordingly, the fuse cover is not sometime appropriately mounted in the fixing device if there is any variation in the lengths of the leads on both ends of the temperature fuse.

Fixing unit having heater roller and pressure roller supports and image-forming device using the same


Methods and systems for estimating Supervisory Audio Tone (SAT) strength during data transfer and for a short time period thereafter. The SAT during this period is regarded as being identical to the strength measured just before the data transfer was started. In an alternative embodiment, a probabilistic algorithm can be used wherein previous measurements are used to predict the SAT strength during and for a period after data transfer. Where the present invention is used in a mobile radio telecommunications system of the type in which analog information is transmitted between at least one base station and a number of mobile stations, a method for supervising the quality of a connection between the base station and a mobile station includes transmitting data between the base station and the mobile station during which a SAT is not transmitted and using pre-data transfer SAT measurement for radio transmission quality supervision during at least a time period of said data transmitting step.

This invention relates to cellular mobile radio systems having channels for transmitting analog information between base and mobile stations by transmitting analog modulated radio signals. In particular, the present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for supervising call links or connections and confirming orders on an analog channel between a base station and a mobile station, at the site of the base station.
In cellular mobile radio systems it is fundamental that a base station with an established connection on a radio channel should be able to accurately receive from a mobile station an indication of the radio transmission quality of the connection, e.g., the combination of the down-link and the up-link. Additionally, it is important that the base station be able to be assured that the mobile station has received the base station's orders (e.g., handoff and disconnect orders), and that the base station be able to confirm requests from the mobile station (e.g., release request).
The radio transmission quality is important because, in general, radio communication is only possible when the desired information-carrying radio signals have sufficient signal strength at the receiver and are sufficiently strong in relation to noise and interfering radio signals at the receiver to be distinguished. The minimum strength of course depends on the particular features of the system, e.g., the kind of modulation and receiver used. In order to make sure an established connection may continue on a selected radio channel between a mobile station and a base station, handoff and disconnect processes perform various measurements on radio signals at the intended base and/or mobile stations.
A supervisory audio tone, hereinafter abbreviated SAT, is a continuous tone used for radio transmission quality supervision. During a call, an analog voice channel unit in a base station generates the SAT and adds it to the transmitted speech for transmission in a down-link (to a mobile station), as shown in FIG. 1. The mobile station then loops the SAT back to the base station sometimes adding a Signalling Tone (ST) in an up-link (to the base station), as also shown in FIG. 1. By comparing the SAT signal sent to a mobile station to the SAT signal received from the mobile station, noise in the radio path may be evaluated. The information obtained is used for two main purposes:
(1) deciding whether a handoff or a call release should be performed; and PA1 (2) deciding whether Signalling Tone (ST) information should be accepted. PA1 (1) when detecting a ST as being on, the signalling tone signal is accepted if the SAT strength value indicates that the SAT is on, in accordance with the IS-54-B standard; and PA1 (2) when detecting the ST as being on and the SAT strength value indicates that the SAT is off, the signalling tone signal is not accepted at this stage--however, should the SAT subsequently be detected as being on while the signalling tone is still on, the signalling tone signal is accepted, which is a deviation from the IS-54-B standard. In one embodiment, the measurements of the ST duration are not started until SAT and ST are both on.
When a mobile station confirms certain orders (such as a handoff order), or sends requests (such as a release request), this confirmation is done by sending a special tone, mainly the ST having a specified duration on an analog channel. For this tone to be accepted by the base station, a SAT must concurrently exist under TIA standard IS-54-B for dual mode radio telephone systems which handle both analog and digital radio communications. In the following, a distinction is made between the expressions "ST is on" and "ST is accepted." The phrase "ST is on" means that a radio signal has been observed with the characteristics typical for a signalling tone (ST). However, the TIA standard IS-54-B states that this signal shall not be approved unless a sufficiently strong SAT exists at the same time. If a strong enough SAT exists at the same time, then the system determines that "ST is accepted." Should the ST not be accepted, the base station will have to re-send the order(s) to the mobile station. However, if the ST represents a release request, this release would not be repeated since the mobile station sends it and immediately shuts down. Thereafter, there will be a sequence of presence verification attempts by the base station until it is decided that the mobile station has been released, which is inefficient.
Other problems exist in the prior art systems, particularly the system defined by TIA standard IS-54-B. There are two particular instances where it is difficult, if not impossible, to detect a SAT and/or a ST correctly in the current standard.
The first situation exists when a data message is sent to the mobile station (e.g., a handoff order), or a mobile station sends a data message to the base station (e.g., when acknowledging a power change order). When these data messages are sent, the speech transmission is interrupted. When sending a data message from the base station to a mobile station, the SAT is turned off. When sending a data message from a mobile station to the base station, the mobile does not loop the SAT back to the base station. This is because the combination of SAT and data message would not fit within a 30 kHz bandwidth channel (which is what is available in AMPS), and also there is a risk that the data message and the SAT would disturb each other so that neither of them would be received correctly. The consequence of this is that the SAT is not sent between the stations for a time period. However, if the mobile station has received an order, it confirms it by sending an ST. As seen above, acceptance of the order confirmation or the request (i.e., acceptance of the ST) requires that there actually be a SAT present on the channel in the system defined, for example, by the IS-54-B standard.
In actuality, the SAT may be on again when the ST is sent, but there are limitations in the detectors. For instance, a momentary value of the SAT strength is typically not available because it has to be measured over an interval to be accurate. Also, detectors measuring the SAT are relatively slow to stabilize, taking as much as 100 ms, for example, from activation to when their measurements are sufficiently stabilized.
Measurement results of the SAT as shown in FIG. 2 in a SAT detector are typical. The dotted line shows the actual SAT strength dropping off and starting up relatively instantly, and the solid line shows the lagging more gradual drop off and start up of the measured SAT strength. There may be occasions where the measured SAT strength is not strong enough even though the actual SAT strength is sufficient. The base station consequently will not accept the ST when it otherwise should.
Typical situations leading to this problem are illustrated in FIG. 2a. In the situation shown in FIG. 2a, base station sends a SAT to the mobile station (MS) which receives a SAT and sends it back to the base station (BS). The base station can then detect whether or not the "SAT" is on. In further reference to FIG. 2a, the SAT is turned off for approximately 50 ms when a data message is sent to the mobile station. The mobile station receives the data message for approximately 50 ms and thereafter acknowledges reception of the data message by sending an ST to the base station, which receives the ST and determines that the ST is on. The problem arises by the fast detection of the ST and the slow detection of the returned SAT in the base station, as illustrated in FIG. 2a. This typically occurs when the base station turns on and sends the SAT after the data message is sent, but the "SAT on" is detected in the base station after receiving an acknowledging ST from the mobile station. The mobile station loops the SAT back to the base station, but the base station detects the "SAT on" after receiving the ST. In this system in accordance with IS-54-B, the system will not accept the ST despite it correctly indicating a received data message.
FIG. 2b shows a flow chart which illustrates the procedure according to IS-54-B. As shown in FIG. 2b, at step S2, the SAT and ST are updated while waiting for an ST. At step S3, it is determined whether the ST is on. If the ST is not on, i.e., not detected (not received), the system returns to the update step S2. If the ST is on, then it is determined whether the SAT is on as shown in step S4. If the SAT is on, then the ST is accepted as shown in step S5, and the duration of the ST is measured in S6. If the duration is of an expected length, as determined in step S7, i.e., the measured length is within an expected interval, then the ST is interpreted as a message from the mobile, at step S8. If the length of the measured duration of ST is too short or too long, the received ST is regarded as not a message from the particular mobile station, as shown in step S9. This is the normal course of events for which the IS-54-B standard is appropriate.
However, at step S4 if it is determined that the SAT is not on (while the ST is on), the system waits (step S10) until the ST is off. This step indicates that if the ST goes on during the time when the SAT is off for a short while, the ST will not be accepted, although the SAT and the ST may simultaneously be on long enough for the ST to be regarded as a request/acknowledgment from the mobile station, should it only have been accepted.
Once it is determined at step S10 that the ST is now off, the system according to IS-54-B, returns to step S2 to update the SAT and ST.
The problem not solved by IS-54-B is if the SAT is off for a short period during which the ST is detected. For this situation, IS-54-B does not provide an appropriate solution. This could be compared to the fact that once ST has been accepted, the IS-54-B standard does not require that SAT be present during the entire period when the duration of the ST is measured, discussed in more detail below.
Previous solutions include removing the SAT strength criterion when accepting the ST during and for a time period immediately after a data transfer to or from the mobile station. This is not a particularly appropriate solution since there is no guarantee that the SAT strength condition was acceptable to begin with.
The SAT strength value is also used by the base station for other purposes than SAT-ST qualification. As mentioned before, it is also used as a quality measure when evaluating whether or not a handoff or call release should be performed. When the SAT is turned off for the sending of a data message, the measured SAT strength will drop slowly, as shown in FIG. 2. When the SAT is turned on again after the sending of the data message, the measured SAT strength will rise slowly back to the required value.
Another problem with the prior art is that the IS-54-B standard is rigid in the manner in which it will recognize SAT and ST as being on or off simultaneously and, consequently, in the manner in which it will accept signalling tones. In actual situations, variations in the measured SAT are possible and oscillations become apparent that may or may not correspond to actual variations. These oscillations can rapidly cross the threshold between on and off determinations, leading to inconclusatory decisions as to whether it is on or off.
It is not satisfactory to look at a momentary SAT value when determining whether to accept a ST of sufficient strength. This is because, if only momentary values are examined, the system will be vulnerable to oscillations in SAT strength crossing the threshold between SAT on and off determinations, depending on the speed of the detectors which require some period of time in which to measure the SAT value. If the SAT value is taken over an interval longer than required by the detectors, it is difficult to determine what length interval should be used. If the interval is too short, the system will be vulnerable to rapid oscillations. On the other hand, if the interval is too long, fast oscillations will not be noted when they should be. The interval ought to be of the same order as the length of the ST, but this still leaves a broad range. Knowledge of the actual system and the environment into which it is placed can be used to decide the actual value to be used as a practical solution. But even when the measurement interval is carefully determined under these criteria, there would be occasions when the ST value is not accepted even though the SAT is present, albeit at a strength oscillating such that the measurement value repeatedly passes a threshold value used to determine if the SAT is on or off.
The system is attempting to detect an ST signal of an expected duration. To be certain that the system is detecting an ST signal from the correct mobile station, the system requires that the base station receive a strong enough SAT signal from the mobile station. In order to detect the SAT signal, it must be measured over an interval. To reiterate the above, if the interval is too short (much shorter than the expected length of the ST), more information than necessary about the SAT variations will be provided to the system. Thus, the decision making process based on SAT values would become more complicated because of the frequent variations of the measured SAT strength. If the interval is too long (much longer than the length of the ST), the decision making based on the SAT values would be too insensitive. An ST could be accepted although the ST was off during the interval when the SAT was received, or vice versa, simply because the measured SAT value was averaged over too long a period.

Supervisory audio tone (SAT) approximation in an analog cellular mobile radio telephone system