The computer industry is currently striving to make computers and computer application programs more "user-friendly." Many user-friendly computer application programs permit users to input commands via a graphical user interface, e.g., a screen displaying various options in graphical format. Software programs using the WINDOWS.TM. environment, manufactured by Microsoft Corporation, often take advantage of the user-friendly interface permitted under this environment, by allowing users to enter commands by moving a cursor or pointer on the computer screen to select various options or move through windows.
In today's computers, cursor movement is often controlled using input devices such as mice or trackballs. These input devices also allow selection of options and navigation through windows and menus, however, are unsuitable for applications requiring high resolution computer input such as drawing, inking, gesturing, recognition and absolute positioning. Another drawback of mice and trackballs are that they are attached to the computer by a cord. At times, this cord can be annoying or a hindrance.
Pen and tablet and other similar digitizing computer input devices permit high resolution input. However, these input devices are not readily suited for cursor control, selection of options and navigation through windows and applications. Another drawback of pen and tablet input devices are that they require a special digitizing tablet upon which to move the pen. This tablet is often bulky and unsuitable in some working environments.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,668 describes a wireless computer input system using a battery-powered pen-type input device having a light emitting element at its tip. Light generated by a light-emitting diode in a pen is received by an input unit. The input unit detects and calculates the pen's position and outputs the position coordinates to a computer. The pen must be moved within a small area proximate to the input unit. The input unit has two sets of optical elements each having: a lens, an optical detector, and an optical filter. The optical detector is described as a two-division photodiode which detects a ratio of light impinging on both halves of the detector.
The system described in the above patent relies on two-division photodiodes. Two-division photodiodes require both halves to be tuned to provide equal outputs in response to an equal amount of impinging light, i.e., the two divisions must be identical. Such photodiodes are expensive to produce and may suffer from less than optimal resolution. The incident light spot must be large enough to impinge on both halves of the photodiode, and with enough energy, to produce ample current at the output terminals. Therefore, the photodiode output is dependent on the amount of incident light received. This often requires the light emitting element to produce a large amount of light, quickly draining the pen's battery during frequent use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,843 describes another computer input system using a moveable, wireless remote unit and a stationary input unit, both transmitting signals between each other. The remote unit contains a light emitting element, a light detector, a switch, a power supply, and a controller. The stationary input unit contains a light emitting element, a photo detector, an amplifier, and a processor.
One problem with the system described in this patent is that the light detector and associated circuitry are included in a large and cumbersome wireless remote unit. The light detector is placed at the end of a long tube, forming a camera-type receiver. The receiver, and the system as a whole, would be expensive to manufacture because of the many and costly components necessary to operate the invention. Another problem is that the remote unit must be moved in a large area, and would be unsuitable for small, detailed and accurate movements on a small work surface. The remote unit is used primarily to move a cursor on a television screen at a substantial distance (several feet) from the television. Consequently, this system cannot be used for inking, gesturing, or character recognition, because these functions require precision recognition of a user's small hand movements.


Brachycome multifida cultivar Metallic Blue.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Brachycome plant, botanically known as Brachycome multifida and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Metallic Bluexe2x80x99.
The new Brachycome was discovered by the Inventor in Croydon, Victoria, Australia as a seedling from a random cross of two unidentified selections of Brachycome multifida, not patented. The new Brachycome was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a plant within the progeny of the stated cross in a controlled environment in Croydon, Victoria, Australia in 1991. The selection of the new Brachycome was based on its upright growth habit and inflorescences with light violet-colored ray florets. Compared to plants of the parent selections, plants of the new Brachycome have a more upright plant growth habit, darker green-colored leaves and larger inflorescences.
Asexual reproduction of the new Brachycome by cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Montrose, Victoria, Australia, since 1991, has shown that the unique features of this new Brachycome are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The new Brachycome has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following characteristics have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be basic characteristics of xe2x80x98Metallic Bluexe2x80x99 and distinguish the new Brachycome as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and rounded plant growth habit.
2. Large inflorescences with light violet-colored ray florets.
3. Erect peduncles that hold inflorescences above the foliage.
Plants of the new Brachycome can be compared to plants of the cultivar City Lights, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,646. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in St. Richmond, Victoria, Australia, plants of the new Brachycome differed from plants of the cultivar City Lights in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Brachycome were more upright and taller than plants of the cultivar City Lights.
2. Inflorescences of plants of the new Brachycome had fewer ray florets than inflorescences of plants of the cultivar City Lights.
3. Plants of the new Brachycome and the cultivar City Lights differed in ray floret coloration.
4. Inflorescences of plants of the new Brachycome had smaller discs than inflorescences of plants of the cultivar City Lights.
Plants of the new Brachycome can also be compared to plants of the cultivar Billabong Mauve Delight, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,889. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in St. Richmond, Victoria, Australia, plants of the new Brachycome differed from plants of the cultivar Billabong Mauve Delight in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Brachycome were more upright and taller than plants of the cultivar Billabong Mauve Delight.
2. Inflorescences of plants of the new Brachycome were larger and had more ray florets than inflorescences of plants of the cultivar Billabong Mauve Delight.
3. Plants of the new Brachycome and the cultivar Billabong Mauve Delight differed in ray floret coloration.
4. Plants of the new Brachycome had longer peduncles than plants of the cultivar Billabong Mauve Delight.


The present invention has its application within the telecommunication sector, more specifically, relates to the analysis of mobile user traffic.
More particularly, the present invention refers to a method for detecting from mobile traffic applications (apps) of mobile user terminals (smartphones, tablets, etc.).
Smartphones offer users the possibility to install on them whatever applications (apps) they decide to (apart from preinstalled apps). These apps belong to categories as entertainment, sports, productivity, travel . . . . Therefore, applications installed in a certain smartphone provide useful information about its user profile, to be understood as the set of habits and preferences of a person.
Those apps require Internet connection for tasks as content update or access authorization. The set of queries or requests sent to retrieve data from Internet is here defined as traffic. Being a protocol a set of predefined rules that defines the way of transferring information, requests information may vary depending on the used protocol. Examples of information appearing in requests are: source IP, request date and time, domain or user agent. The latter concepts, domain and user agent, are defined as follows:                Domain is the unique name that identifies a website on the Internet.        User agent includes information about several aspects like: application source, device operating system or software version. It has to be emphasized that not every protocol includes the user agent field.
The smartphones have recently experimented an exponential growth in terms of number of users and hours spent with them. In this context, knowing applications used by a customer will allow to precisely define its profile. A correct user profile is the key to success in multiple use-cases like recommender systems, protection against possible security threats (malicious apps) or statistical analysis, as defined as follows:                Recommender systems: Those systems are present in several areas such as cinema, music or shopping. They aim to predict user interests, i.e. user profile, on those areas using information of his activity. Based on these predictions, they provide recommendations to users about elements that match their interests. As more precise the predictions, the better the recommendations.        Malicious apps: Applications classified as malicious are, for example, those tricking users into unwanted pays or subscriptions.        Statistical analysis: Analysis over user profiles and their distribution, which can guide, for example, further commercial or investment decisions.
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) can obtain information required to define users profile from mobile traffic. A request is generated each time a mobile user interacts with an app on its smartphone. The request passes through the MNO infrastructure, which both stores it in a database as sends it to the Internet. Data stored in the MNO database is simplified information of HTTP and DNS requests. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a protocol for transferring hypermedia files. Domain Name System (DNS) is a naming system for clients or services connected to the Internet or to a private network. DNS associates a domain name with an internet protocol address (IP). The information stored in the database is the domain and the date and time of the request, i.e. the complete URL is not consulted in any case. In addition, all stored data are anonymized.
There are approaches for analyzing mobile traffic based on domain information. However, relation between domains and applications is not bijective. Unique domains, i.e. domains exclusively accessed by an app, are the less frequent. Instead, there are some domains accessed by many apps. In the latter case, the knowledge of the domain does not univocally define the application.
There are also approaches for analyzing mobile traffic based on user agent. User agent presents two major drawbacks: not all HTTP petitions have user agent value, and applications developers decide the value of user agent field, so they can use another apps' user agent instead of setting their own.
Finally, there is a great variability in the requests of a concrete application. It is due, inter alia, to the different operating systems or mobile user devices (smartphones, tablets). Even different executions of the same application on the same terminal do not maintain the same request order. Some issues related to the requests variability are, to name but a few: request may be cached, latencies between requests vary depending on the mobile use, list of domains consulted by an app may vary between devices, or dynamic content include noise in executions.
Therefore, it is highly desirable to develop a method of apps detection from the mobile traffic which allows the MNOs to get a more precise user profile.


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The invention relates to a cervical restraint device for use on a psittacine bird to prevent feather plucking, self-inflicted trauma, and removal of or damage to medically applied healing aids used in the treatment of an injured bird. The device may be applied for short or long periods of time and may be repeatedly placed on or taken off the bird with relative ease.
Prior art forms of avian cervical restraint collars are either constructed in a flat or in a conical structure or a combination of both. The flat or conical circular collar is worn around the neck of the bird and extending outwardly equally in all directions to act as a physical barrier to a bird attempting to reach around the collar. The cylindrical tube collar is similarly positioned around a bird""s neck in partial or full extension to prevent the beak of the bird from reaching lower body parts by restricting the bending motion of the neck. Additionally, cloth padding has been added to prior art forms.
Many birds are able to grasp these collars on the peripheral edges, at overlapping edges, or at exposed fasteners to effectively chew the collar down to an ineffective size, release the fasteners, or endanger themselves with sharp or jagged edges as a result of the chewing. Fasteners include metal snaps, nuts and bolts, plastic strips woven through slots, cloth ties, and tape.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,414 illustrates a device mentioned above. This patent shows a dog collar formed as a funnel or a cone and is designated to be primarily used on dogs. The collar is used mainly to prevent a groomer from being bitten or the dog from licking wounds on its body.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,697,328 discloses a therapeutic collar for birds that includes a sheet formed in a rectangular configuration. The sheet is then formed into a cylindrical configuration. The end edges are releasably fastened to each other. The invention at hand is formed into a sphere having a continuously curved outer surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,779,828 describes a protective pet collar that is made of two sheets of flexible material and is fastened around an animal""s neck for preventing the animal from bending its neck and thereby prevent the animal from biting or licking an affected injured area. The invention at hand is a rigid sphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,842 reveals a radially projecting restrictive pet collar using an adjustable fastener to apply it to a pet""s neck. The collar forms a cylindrical shape which impedes the pet from passing through narrow openings or from chewing areas of it""s body under medical treatment. The invention at hand is a sphere with a curved outer surface and a smaller comparable radius.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,337 refers to an adjustable tubular or cylindrical shaped cervical pet collar. The invention at hand is a nonadjustable sphere.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,802 is a soft, round pillow shaped veterinary recovery collar with a central aperture and draw string to adjust to the size of the neck. The invention at hand is a nonadjustable, rigid sphere with two apertures directly opposed to one another.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,054 describes a substantially rectangular padded collar which wraps around and contacts an animal""s entire neck from mandible to scapula. The overlapping ends of the tubular or cylindrical collar are held in place by one or more inelastic bands. The invention at hand is an unpadded, rigid sphere with internal fasteners and or external fasteners additionally having two openings with curved borders that come in contact with only the upper and lower portions of the neck of a bird.
The psittacine bird has a large head relative to a long, slender neck. The neck rests in the shape of an xe2x80x9cSxe2x80x9d curve which may be straightened to increase it""s overall length and reach. This allows for fitting of a semi-rigid, hollow, three dimensional cervical collar in the shape of a round, elliptical, or eccentric oval sphere, to restrict the reach of the bird""s head and beak below the neck, thereby preventing self-destructive actions of feather picking or self mutilation and serving as an effective restraint to help inhibit removal of bandages or other medically applied devices. However, visual capabilities are not impaired. There is no interference with the movement of appendages.
The description below makes reference to a spherical form or shape. A sphere is defined as a shape which is equidistant in all directions from a central point. However, in the context of the invention at hand, the properties of the sphere as it relates to the avian cervical restraint collar, shall represent any of the three-dimensional shapes having a continuous curved surface including round, elliptical, centric and eccentric oval or multiple combination thereof.
The equator of a round or elliptical sphere is equidistant from either pole of the sphere. The equator of an eccentric oval sphere may be closer to one pole or the other thereby creating a top heavy or bottom heavy sphere. The sphere could even take on the general shape of an hour glass with two wide sections separated by a narrow section.
A hollow, spherical avian cervical restraint collar is formed by engaging two halves of a durable, semi-rigid lightweight, non toxic and solid material such as but not limited to plastic. The two halves of the sphere are held securely in place by internal male fasteners positioned on either or both hemispheres that engage corresponding female receptacles located on the opposing hemisphere.
Alternatively, external fasteners are capable of securing the hemispheres together. Each hemisphere would have one or more screw portals that retain the screw head which will be described below in more detail.
A bird must generate sufficient internally or externally applied forces to the two sections of the spherical avian cervical restraint collar simultaneously to distort the sphere to the point of disengaging the fastener from the receptacle of the locking mechanism. Removal of the collar by the bird in this manner is thus hindered by the overall properties and design of the sphere.
Clear, opaque, or colored semi-rigid non toxic materials may be utilized in construction of a sphere. Optional internal surface raised ribbing may be added to improve structural strength while maintaining a light weight characteristic.
As with prior art forms, different sizes of the spherical avian cervical restraint collar will be required to meet the physical variation of different sized birds. One size does not fit all. The avian cervical restraint collar requires selection of an appropriate size to fit an individual bird. As a general rule of thumb, the diameter of the sphere will approximate the widest diameter of the bird""s head excluding the beak. It is further recognized that birds other than psittacines will not necessarily benefit from the application of one or more spherical restraint collars.


Prior to filling this application the most pertinent prior art known to me was:
L. T. McBEE, U.S. Pat. No. 2,474,200;
A. R. MOORE, U.S. Pat. No. 2,801,630;
A. TEUFEL, U.S. Pat. No. 2,807,260;
N. J. HALL, U.S. Pat. No. 2,820,455;
A. CALABRESE, et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,756,226.


The invention relates to a dispenser or an assembly suitable as a dispenser, serving as a receptacle, reservoir and/or discharger for media which may be liquid, pasty, powdery and/or gaseous. All components of the dispenser or assembly may be made of plastics or as compression or injection molded components. For discharge the dispenser can be freely held and simultaneously actuated single-handedly. Its length thus amounts to max. 10 cm or 7 cm, its largest width not more than 8 cm or 5 cm. The dispenser is suitable for dispensing single droplets of the medium, a jet or atomized particle or droplet aerosol thereof. Furthermore, the dispenser may be configured for discharging but a single dose of the medium or for a single stroke with no return stroke or for repeated discharges each with a spring-actuated return stroke inbetween.
Experience has shown it to be expedient to compose complicated assemblies of components molded separately which during molding are located with or without a direct joint spaced away from each other or in a position other than that required in the operating condition. Reference is made to the German laid-open document 196 05 153 as well as to the pending German patent 198 13 078.3 in including the features and effects described therein in the present invention.
The invention is based on the object of providing a dispenser or a method of producing an assembly for a dispenser or the like which avoids the disadvantages of known configurations. It is more particularly the object to provide assemblies which have an increasing or decreasing inner or outer cross-section in the opposing direction. The dispenser is intended for facilitated production and safe operation.
In accordance with the invention two or more components are produced at the same time or with the same flow of plasticated material, immediately demolded once solidified or released in some other way at their jointing zones and then directly positioned relative to each other so that they can then be combined into an assembly. For the components the same material or differing materials may be employed. The components pass through the same temperature curves at the same time up to solidification and may have the same or differing volume of material. Expediently the components are produced in the same mold or so that they adjoin one or more common parts of the mold each integrally. This applies more particularly to the jointing surface areas of the components moldable juxtaposed in common by a movable part of the mold. After the components have solidified and subsequent retraction thereof or of another part of the mold these jointing zones are located exposed. The components can then be moved relative to each other until joined together and demolded completely where necessary. It is good practice when the components are located in production axially parallel or directly juxtaposed almost in contact with each other. Once the one component has been joined to the other it forms an elongation of the other component in the direction of its greatest extent. After being joined, forming the operating condition of the assembly for operation of the dispenser, the two components merge into a length which is smaller than the length of the one or other component. The components may, however, also be face joined without any mutual longitudinal engagement and locked in place mutually by a further component. Thus mutual locking of the components may be with zero clearance or positive, namely by being radially centered or by a captive lock.
Although the configuration in accordance with the invention is suitable for the outer or base bodies of dispensers it is particularly expedient for core bodies. One such core body is located totally concealed in the interior of the dispenser of the corresponding base body, e.g. within a discharge nozzle. This base body may also form the third component for the cited locational lock. Advantageously one or both components of the assembly forms longitudinally a middle section of largest outer width, w adjoining at each end thereof an end section of comparitively reduced outer width. Each of the end sections is formed by another component. An end section may be a hollow needle having a smallest diameter at the tip of the needle of less than one millimeter and a length of less than 10 or 8 mm. The other end section may be a dished, fluted or outer face-recessed body having a radially protruding collar forming the shorter longitudinal part of the middle section.
The two components are advantageously joined to each other via a single connecting member or link directly joining each of the components by a link section. The link sections are then mutually movable and adjoined by a connecting location which may remain stationary in mutual movement of the components such as in movement of the corresponding link section relative to the corresponding component. The connecting location is expediently a hinging zone having a sole hinging axis and/or a designed frangible location at which the link sections are parted in mutual movement of the components and prior to attaining the operating position in forming opposing fractured surface areas. The mold cavity for the link may form the one or sole flow channel via which the plasticated material flows from the mold cavity for the one component, more particularly the larger volume component, into the mold cavity for the other component. The smallest cross-section of this channel and thus of the link may be less than 5, 2 or one tenth of a mm2.
In production the jointing surface areas of the two components later to directly adjoin in the operating position are expediently located in the same plane. Beyond one of these jointing surface areas a locking member or the like may protrude. In production these jointing surface areas may point in the same direction or in opposite directions. Up to each jointing surface area the link may also extend which may comprise a surface directly translating into the jointing surface areas in the same plane or frangible or parting surface areas in this plane after parting. The components may also be translated by a radial or linear movement into their operating position, the one component forming a sliding guide for the other component flanked only at the bottom and sides which, however, does not attain the guide until after a first portion of the shifting travel or after the link has been parted. In addition, the components may be produced separately and then assembled in accordance with the invention.
Irrespective of the configuration as described, the dispenser is configured more particularly as a receptacle and reservoir for biological active substances over several weeks, months or even years. These may be physiological active substances containing hormones and/or cleavage products such as peptides containing protein. Such biological information transmitters which may contain amino acids and other similar active substances may be highly sensitive to moisture, this being the reason why they are held in the dispenser in a pressure-tight chamber which is not opened until immediately prior to delivery from the dispenser, e.g. by a closure being ruptured by means of the cited assembly.
These and further features of the invention also read from the description and the drawings, each of the individual features being achieved by themselves or severally in the form of sub-combinations in one embodiment of the invention and in other fields and may represent advantageous aspects as well as being patentable in their own right, for which protection is sought in the present.


Hydraulic type power steering has been known for a long time in which a hydraulic pump is driven by a belt on the shaft of the vehicle engine.
However, that type of power steering suffers from numerous drawbacks.
Numerous failures are to be observed in practice that are due to belt wear.
In addition, such a device occupies considerable axial space on the engine shaft.
It also requires the hydraulic pump to be located in an environment in which it is liable to be subjected to high levels of thermal and vibrational stress.
Electric type power steering is also known in which an electric motor meshes with the steering column.
Nevertheless, such systems require complex electronics to control the electric motor.
Also, such systems are not of satisfactory reliability: the rotor of the electric motor can become jammed, thereby also jamming the steering column of the vehicle.
To mitigate those drawbacks, proposals have already been made for hydraulically assisted steering in which the pump is driven by an electric motor.
Nevertheless, assisted steering of the above type that has been known in the past makes use of an electric motor that is overdimensioned and some such steering systems require the electric motor to be powered continuously.
Such systems also suffer from a particularly high level of power consumption (500 kW to 1.5 kW).
This gives rise to a problem of dumping heat losses generated in the motor.
To solve that problem, proposals have already been made to control rotation of the electric motor as a function of the force imparted to the steering column. In this respect, reference can be made to patent application EP A 0 741 068.
Nevertheless, such a solution requires a torque pickup (such as a torsion bar) or a rotary speed pickup to be included on the shaft of the steering column.


In current technologies, the threshold voltage of semiconductor devices does not scale with the power supply voltage and ground rules because of the non-scalability of the sub-threshold slope. Thus, the minimum gate oxide thickness and/or maximum wordline boost voltage of the array MOSFET is constrained by reliability considerations.
When used for the support MOSFET, the relatively thick gate oxide (having a thickness of greater than ≈6 nm for deep sub-μm technology) required by the array MOSFET results in degradation in the performance of the MOSFET device. Furthermore, if a thinner gate oxide is used to improve the performance of the support circuitry, charge transfer efficiency in the device array is compromised as a result of the reliability limitation of the wordline boost voltage.
Ideally, in such technology, a dual gate oxide thickness is desired. In the prior art, it is known to subject the array transistor to a dual gate oxidation process or an alternative gate oxidation process as compared to the support circuitry. These additional gate oxidation processing steps are costly, and they are also yield limiting since one must utilize additional processing steps such as, but not limited to: masking, exposure, etching, oxidizing and strip masking, which grow a second oxide on the entire structure of the MOSFET device. As such, prior art gate oxidation processes are not reliable nor cost efficient.
In view of the drawbacks mentioned above with prior art processes of fabricating MOSFETs, there is a continued need for providing a new and improved method of fabricating a MOSFET and other devices in which a dielectric layer, e.g., gate oxide, having a dual thickness can be formed without adding extra processing steps and costs to the overall manufacturing process.


The present invention relates to a digital broadcast receiving apparatus that receives data on an electronic program guide (EPG) for explaining the contents of TV programs with at least character data and displaying the EPG and a method of displaying video data associated the TV programs in the EPG.
There are several known methods of displaying EPGs. One is to display only character data associated with TV programs. Another is to display program icons instead of character data so that even children who do not understand the character data can easily select TV programs. Still another is to display video data associated with TV programs which are often selected by a user so that he or she can easily discriminate his or her favorite TV programs from other programs in an EPG.
There are, however, several disadvantages to the EPG displaying methods described above.
A known method of displaying only character data associated with TV programs tends to have much character data to explain the contents of the TV programs, so that users cannot understand the contents easily. A known method of displaying program icons instead of character data could offer child-friendly EPGs which, however, has a limit to explain the contents with icons, so that adults may have a difficulty in understanding the icons. A known method of displaying video data associated with user-favorite TV programs just offers images in an EPG irrespective of the size of the EPG or characters displayed with the images, thus lowering viewability.
Moreover, video data has a larger amount of data than character data. Therefore, as the number of TV programs with which the video data is associated increases, the storage capacity of a memory that stores EPG data increases. In addition, when an EPG is scrolled, even though the EPG has no enough space for displaying video data and the video data cannot be displayed anymore after scrolled, the video data remains in the memory, which is a waste of memory.


A variety of different methods have been developed to assay oligonucleotides, including DNA or RNA fragments. Such assays are typically directed to determining whether a sample includes oligonucleotides having a particular target oligonucleotide sequence. In some instances, oligonucleotide sequences differ by only a few nucleotides, as in the case of many allelic sequences. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) refer to alleles that differ by a single nucleotide. Even this single nucleotide difference can, at least in some instances, change the associated genetic response or traits. Accordingly, to determine which allele is present in a sample, the assay technique must be sufficiently sensitive to distinguish between closely related sequences.
Many assay techniques include multiple components, each of which hybridizes to other component(s) in the assay. Non-specific hybridization between components (i.e., the hybridization of two non-complementary sequences) produces background noise in the assay. For example, closely related, but not identical, sequences can form imperfect duplexes in which base pairing is interrupted at positions where the two single strands are not complementary. Non-specific hybridization increases when the hybridizing components have similar sequences, as would be the case, for example, for many alleles and particularly for SNP alleles. Thus, for example, hybridization assays to determine which allele is present in a sample would benefit from methods that reduce non-specific hybridization or reduce the impact of non-specific hybridization on the assay.


It is known that certain electromagnetic oscillatory phenomena occurring in connection with meteorological conditions are correlated with variations of biological and pathological parameters.
Characterization of the respective pulses (Very-Low-Frequency Atmospherics; hereinafter: atmospherics), particularly according to frequency and wave form, has been undertaken, among others, by H. Baumer and J. Eichmeier in: Eine Anlage zur Registrierung der Atmospherics bei 10 und 27 kHz, Archiv fur Meteorologie, Geophysik und Bioklimatologie [a System for Recording Atmospherics at 10 and 27 KHz, Archieves for Meterology Geophysics and Bioclimatology], Ser. A, 29, 143 to 155 (1980), and by W. Sonning, H. Baumer and J. Eichmeier in: Die Atmospherics-Aktivitat bei 10 und 27 kHz als Indikator fur die Dynamik der tropospharischen Wettervorgange [Atmospherics Activity at 10 and 27 KHz as an indicator for the Dynamics of Tropospheric Weather Processes], Archives For Meteorology, Geophysics and Bioclimatology, Ser. B, 29, pp. 299-312 (1981). Atmospherics are short-time pulses in the form of damped oscillations. Their respective duration comprises approximately 5 to 6 half-waves. They are a mixture of different frequencies. Using measuring techniques, atmospherics have been determined by Baumer according to their predominant frequency fraction of e.g. 6, 8, 10, 12 and 28 kHz. They will therefore be designated in the following as "according to Baumer"=atB.
A relationship has already been established between the frequency of occurrence of some definite atmospherics and various biological parameters. H. Baumer, in: Die Meteotropie eines Dichromat-Gelatinesystems, Technischer Informationsdienst des Bundesverbandes Druck e. V. [The Meteotropy of a Dichromatic-Gelatine System, published by the Technical Information Service of the Federal Association for Printing, Registered Assocation] II/1982, pp. 1 to 17, describes the difference in pulse rates in the 10 kHz and 28 kHz ranges and how they distinctly correlate with the diffusion behaviour of gelatine, which, in turn, influences the production process of rotogravure forms; cf. also H. Baumer and J. Eichmeier: Relationship between the Pulse Rate of Impulsstrahlung and the Diffusion Time of Ions in Gelatine Films, Int. J. Biometeor. 1980, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 271 to 276, as well as H. Baumer and J. Eichmeier: The Biophysically Active Wave Forms of Impulsstrahlung Incident on Gelatine Films, Int. J. Biometeor. 1982, Vol. 26, pp. 85-90.
The correlation of atmospherics with certain diseases such as epilepsy and cardiac infarction, for which some relationship with meteorological conditions had already been supposed before, has been described in the EP 0 120 991 A2 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,957); cf. also G. Ruhenstroth-Bauer, H. Baumer et al.: Epilepsy and Weather: A significant Correlation Between the Onset of Epileptic Seisures and Specific Impulsstrahlung - A Pilot Study, Int. J. Biometeor. 1984, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 333-340, and G. Ruhenstroth-Bauer, H. Baumer, among others: Myocardial Infarction and the Weather; A significant Positive Correlation between the Onset of Heart Infarct and 28 kHz Impulsstrahlung - A Pilot Study, Clin. Cardiol., 8, pp. 149-151 (1985).
Furthermore, a correlation has been found to exist between the 8 kHz and 10 kHz atmospherics and inflammatory processes in rats; see G. Ruhenstroth-Bauer, O. Rosing, and H. Baumer, Naturwissenschaften (Natural Sciences) 73, p. 625 (1986).
In addition, an important correlation between natural atmospheric spectra and the in vitro incorporation of (.sup.3 H)-thymidine into the nuclear DNA of C6-glioma-cells has been stated; cf. Vogl, G. Hoffmann, B. Stopfel, H. Baumer, O. Kemsky and G. Ruhenstroth-Bauer: Significant Correlations Between Atmospheric Spectra According to Baumer and the in vitro Incorporation of (.sup.3 H)-Thymidine into the Nuclear DNA of C6-Glioma-Cells, FEBS Letters, Vol. 288, No. 1, 2, pp. 244-246 (1991).
A summary of the relations between atmospherics and biological and pathological parameters known so far is to be found in G. Hoffmann, S. Vogl, H. Baumer, O. Kemsky and G. Ruhenstroth-Bauer: Significant Correlations Between Certain Spectra of Atmospherics and Different Biological and Pathological Parameters, in: Int. J. Biometeorol. (1991) 34, pp. 247-250.
It is not possible as yet, however, to detect any relation of causality between the occurrence of those atmospherics and the described biological and pathological parameters.


This invention relates to the detection and signal processing of electrical brain activity.
The purposes of this invention include the detection of information processing undertaken in the brain, the detection of concealed information in the brain, communication from the brain to a computer, and command and control of computers and electronic and mechanical equipment by the brain.
The Farwell MERA System is a new technology for the detection of concealed information that revolves around the non-invasive recording of brain electrical activity. The electrical brain activity pattern recorded and of interest is a specific multifaceted electroencephalographic response (MER) that occurs immediately after an examinee is visually presented (via a computer screen) with words, short phrases, acronyms, or pictures that are recognized and cognitively processed by that subject. This phenomenon, coupled with its absence following the presentation of the same information to a subject for whom the material is unknown or irrelevant, is the basis for discriminating between subject guilt and innocence. This would potentially allow for the determination of a whole host of issues of interest to the law enforcement and intelligence communities, e.g., (1) does a suspect have guilty knowledge connecting him to specific investigated criminal activity, (2) does an intelligence source have knowledge of the internal workings of a hostile intelligence agency that would indicate that he was an intelligence officer of that agency and not who he claimed to be, (3) has an informant, a debriefed spy, or a suspected member of a criminal organization accurately described the entirety of his actions and knowledge, (4) did a convicted serial killer who claims to have killed 40 to 50 individuals, other than the one(s) he was convicted of, actually commit these acts, or are these claims merely the bravado of a condemned prisoner.
The potential benefit of this program extends to a broad range of law enforcement applications, including organized crime, violent crime, white-collar crime, drug-related crime, foreign counterintelligence, non-traditional targets, and other categories of casework as well. This new technology promises to be of tremendous benefit both at the national level and for state and local law enforcement agencies.
This application describes a technology that is capable of detecting concealed information stored in the brain through the electrophysiological manifestations of information-processing brain activity. Additional information is described in a previous patent application of the inventor, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/016,215, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Truth Detection" filed on Feb. 11, 1993, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
This technique provides a means of distinguishing guilty and innocent individuals in a wide variety of law enforcement and information detection situations. The research described below demonstrates that the system is also effective in distinguishing between members of a particular organization (in this case, the FBI) and others who are not knowledgeable regarding that organization.
When a crime is committed, traces of the event are left at the scene of the crime and elsewhere. The task of the investigators is to reconstruct what has happened and who has been involved, based on the collection of such evidence.
In addition to the physical and circumstantial evidence that can be obtained, there is one place where an extensive record of the crime is stored: in the brain of the perpetrator. If this record could be tapped, criminal investigation and counterintelligence could be revolutionized.
Until recently, the only method of attempting to discern what information regarding a crime or other situation of interest was stored in the brain of a suspect or witness has been (1) to interrogate the subject, and (2) to attempt to determine whether or not the subject is lying.
Conventional control question (CQT) polygraphy has been used as an aid in the attempt to detect deception in such reports. The fundamental theory of conventional polygraphy is that a deceptive individual will be more concerned with and experience more emotional arousal in response to relevant questions than control questions, and this emotional arousal will be accompanied by corresponding physiological arousal which can be measured. Traditional interrogative polygraph ("lie detection") methods rely upon using questioning formats in conjunction with the recording of physiological parameters that reflect autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity (e.g. blood pressure, heart rate, sweating, etc.). This information is peripheral to the cognitive aspects of deception or of concealing guilty information.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to accessing to information over the Internet. In particular, the present invention relates to a customized access to information over the Internet by various internet appliances with various processing capabilities.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
As the Internet has become a preferred medium for information access and dissemination, many different devices (e.g., mobile phones, personal digital assistants and handheld computers) can now be used to access information on the Internet. In general, these devices typically have much lesser text and graphical processing capabilities than a conventional desktop computer. (For convenience, in the remainder of this description, these devices are collectively referred to as “internet appliances”.) As much of the information on the Internet is organized for access by a desktop computer using a hypertext protocol (e.g., http), access to such information by a device other than a desktop computer can be inefficient. For example, many web pages are designed with a high-resolution graphical display in mind. Even when possible, accessing such web pages from a mobile telephone without a graphical display and providing only a limited number of short lines for text display can be a very frustrating experience.
To accommodate the different capabilities of the internet appliances, in the prior art, an operator of a website typically provides for each supported internet appliance a specialized “edition” of the website accessible through a specialized gateway. For example, since the current generation of mobile telephones are typically only capable of displaying text of a small number of characters per line, an operator would provide specially designed text-only “stripped down” web pages accessible through a wireless access protocol (WAP) gateway. In most instances, information available in the general edition of the web pages are included or excluded by the designer or operator based on its resource availability or other criteria, without user participation. Often, therefore, information important to some users is arbitrarily excluded, thereby severely reducing the utility of the web pages.
Where a specialized website is not available, the gateway would provide only the text from the web pages and discard or ignore graphical information, animation or other functions embedded in the web pages. In such an instance, no attempt is typically made to filter the information based on the content of a web page. Consequently, a relatively small web page can result in the user pressing the “scroll” key a large number of times. Many users therefore do not consider internet appliances to be suitable for serious information retrieval purposes.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally in the field of electrical circuits and systems. More specifically, the present invention is in the field of memory devices.
2. Background Art
In various memory devices, such as RAMs (random access memory), CAMs (content addressable memory), or other memory devices, that handle a large amount of input data, the number of inputs to the memory device need be managed and reduced to, for example, reduce problems associated with data routing when there are numerous input pins. However, the reduction of the number of inputs need be accomplished without impairing the ability of the memory device to handle a large amount of input data. Moreover, it is desirable to preserve flexibility so that various system design requirements in receiving input data can be met.
For example, if a system is capable of providing write or compare data at a high rate into a RAM or a CAM, then it is desirable to utilize the high data rate advantageously so that data can be received by the RAM or CAM at a faster pace. On the other hand, if a system is not capable of providing data at a high rate into a RAM or CAM, then it is desirable to accommodate the slower data rate as well. In this manner a system designer can utilize fewer input pins of the RAM or CAM for providing input data, or can use a more conventional data rate which requires a greater number of input pins. The capability to provide and receive data at higher rates results in speed improvement, and a reduction of input pins and reduces input/output (I/O) routing complexity in memory devices, such as RAMs and CAMs.
Thus, it is desirable to maintain flexibility to accommodate receiving data at various data rates, and to switch between a slower incoming data rate and a faster incoming data rate in various memory devices, such as RAMs, CAM, as well as other memory devices.


In recent years, in a DC feeding system, regenerative power generated by a regenerative brake of a train is used as power-running electric power for other trains via an overhead wire. In such a DC feeding system, surplus regenerative power is intermittently generated in a same power transformation zone when the regenerative power exceeds the power-running electric power and it is effectively re-used by a power regenerative inverter installed in a substation.
Meanwhile, such a technique is disclosed in which if supply of commercial frequency power to an AC bus bar of the substation for electric railways is shut off, the operation of the power regenerative inverter is stopped and the power regenerative inverter is operated as a self-exciting inverter; and power supplied from an adjacent DC substation via the DC feeding system is converted to AC power. Accordingly, the emergency power is supplied to station building facilities of a station building via a high-voltage or extra high-voltage distribution system (Patent Literature 1, for example).


A. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to a method and apparatus for operating an internal combustion engine using a fuel consisting of water and a water-soluble flammable substance that is injected into a mixture of hydrogen and air.
B. Description of the Prior Art
The use of fossil fuels to run engines that used, for example, in cars and other vehicles, as well as many other engines used for a variety of purposes, is based on a very old concept based on the internal combustion engines developed in the nineteenth century. Despite intense research and development for alternate fuels for the last 50 years, fossil fuel derived from petroleum or natural gas, is still essentially the primary source of energy almost all the internal combustion engines presently in use all over the world.
As a result, the world supply of fossil fuels have been severely depleted creating a shortage, and the price of oil has been climbing for the past 40 years. In addition such fuels are very polluting and some suggest that it has either been the primary cause or has contributed substantially to global warming. All these factors led to many efforts to find and harness renewable energy sources other than traditional fossil fuels. Several alternative fuels have been introduced in the past few years to reduce the impact of petroleum depletion, including hybrid cars, electric cars, bio diesel, hydrogen based cars, etc. However, none of these solutions were effective. One reason for this lack of success is that they require a completely new infrastructure for the production of the engines, as well as the production and distribution of the fuel. Moreover, the most solutions proposed so far were incompatible with the existing engines and, therefore. The cost of replacing all the existing fossil burning engines may be so high that it may render any solution based on alternate fuels unacceptable, at least, in a short term basis.
Water as a source of fuel has been suggested by many in the past and many experiments have been conducted testing such systems. The basis of such experiments is the fact that water can be separated in to hydrogen and oxygen and the resulting stoichiometric mixture can be fed in to an internal combustion engine to generate power. However past experiments yielded unsatisfactory results. The main obstacle for their success is based on the fact that the energy required to separate the water into its components is much greater than the energy produce by the engine. In addition the amount H2 mixture needed to run a typical automotive engine is too large to make such a system practical.
Systems are presently available on market that can be used as accessories or add-ons to internal combustion engines using fossil fuels, however independent tests have shown that, in fact, these systems have very little, if any, effect on the overall efficiency of the engine.
A system developed by the present inventors is described in two co-pending applications includes means of generating from water and supplying a small amount of hydrogen/oxygen gas mixture into a standard internal combustion engine. (See U.S. Patent Application Publications 2010/0122902 and 20110203917). More specifically, these co-pending applications describe an efficient process and apparatus for generating a two-to-one mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, commonly referred to a brown gas or HHO. The mixture helps increase the efficiency of the conventional internal combustion engine by burning the fossil fuel more efficiently. While this latter system is much more efficient that previously described systems; its efficiency is still limited by the amount of hydrogen and oxygen produced on board a vehicle. Moreover, the internal combustion engine described is still burning a fossil fuel.


With the popularity of digital photography and digital image processing, consumers have increasingly desired to transfer photographic images stored on conventional film negatives into electronically stored digital images. Typically, this is accomplished by loading a sheet of processed film into a scanner and scanning the film to produce the digital image. Processed film is normally cut into sheets containing one to six images. Thus, if a user has a large number of negatives to scan, the process of loading each individual sheet of film into the scanner can become overly time-consuming. Accordingly, there is a desire for improved systems and methods for automate the loading and scanning of multiple sheets of film.
Conventional systems for handling the feeding of paper or film documents, such as those used in photocopiers, printing presses, printers and scanners, are not well suited for the handling of film. In particular, the rollers used for feeding individual sheets from a stack of paper or film may damage the image on sheets of film. In addition, these loading mechanisms are configured to load a large number of identically-sized sheets of paper in standard sizes such as 8.5″×11″ or 8.5″×14″. In contrast, photographic film negatives are often manually cut, resulting in sheets of film of varying lengths that are difficult to accurately load on a bulk basis. In addition, photographic film can change its shape over time or during operation, such as when the film curls around unpredictable angles.


An electronic device housing device that can house a plurality of electronic devices, such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a power source device, and a circuit substrate, inside a housing is known in the art. Examples of the electronic device housing device include a storage device equipped with a plurality of HDDs, a control device that controls the HDDs, and a power source device.
In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for thin storage devices that can house several HDDs arranged side by side in a row on one to three shelves. The thin storage devices are mainly used as placed on a rack. Such storage devices are called “rack-mounted storage devices”.
A plurality of slots partitioned by a plurality of partition plates are provided in the housing of the storage device to allow a cartridge HDD carried on a carrier with a grip to be housed in each of the slots.
An HDD is a storage device that magnetically stores data utilizing a rotatable magnetic disk medium and a magnetic head. Mechanical parts such as the magnetic disk medium and the magnetic head are housed in a sealed case.
A connection substrate formed by a single plate and equipped with a plurality of connection terminals is disposed near the center of the housing of the storage device. The plurality of connection terminals are disposed in parallel on the connection substrate to face the slots, and electrically connected to external connection terminals and power source terminals of the HDDs.
The connection substrate is provided near the center portion of the housing as discussed earlier, and therefore divides the housing space inside the housing into a front housing portion and a rear housing portion. The plurality of slots are disposed in the front housing portion, and the control device and the power source device electrically connected to the connection substrate are disposed in the rear housing portion. Each of the HDDs sends and receives a signal to and from the control device, and is supplied with power from the power source device, via the connection substrate.
A cooling fan is provided in the rear housing portion of the housing. The cooling fan is driven to allow a gas to be sucked into the slots from gas suction ports provided in a front panel of the housing and the carriers.
The sucked gas flows straight into the rear housing portion while cooling the HDDs in the slots, cools the control device and the power source device, and thereafter is discharged from an exhaust port provided in the rear wall surface of the housing. The HDDs, the control device, and the power source device are cooled by such an air-cooling structure. However, the plate-shaped connection substrate provided near the center portion obstructs the gas flow linearly guided from the gas suction ports to the rear housing portion across the connection substrate.
Examples of the related art described above are disclosed in Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-170649 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-204974.
In recent years, it has been further desired to reduce the thickness of a storage device. Reducing the thickness, however, makes it difficult to secure a passage of a gas for cooling electronic devices.


This invention relates to a competitive dice game which is Played with elements which are portable so that the game can be played anywhere and provides a unique and exciting competitive game experience.
There exist numerous games employing dice and other elements, frequently using game boards and pieces for moving the pieces around the game boards. One popular game is backgammon which is played with dice, a doubling cube, a board, pieces which move on the board and other associated elements. This game requires several independent elements and is difficult to easily transport and use without inconvenience.
There are numerous dice games in which dice are rolled, especially in betting environments. These games involve a single roller or player who is seeking to achieve a specific number with each roll, with there being no cumulative roll or count as the dice are repeatedly rolled by individual players in the game.
An object of this invention is to provide an improved competitive dice game which is susceptible to widespread use, easily portable and full of excitement and strategy suitable to players of different skill levels.


In the cathodic protection of ferrous structures, especially pipelines, the use of a mixture of alkali bentonite, gypsum and sodium sulfate as a backfill for underground magnesium-base anodes is well known, the particulars of which are shown in the patents listed below. It is noted that among the teachings in the patents it is taught that "alkali bentonite" is the operable form of bentonite, but that "alkaline earth bentonite" is inoperable.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,478,479 discloses a magnesium-base alloy on a Mg-Al alloy core, buried in a backfill of bentonite-gypsum mixture, for galvanic protection of a ferrous metal pipeline.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,480,087 discloses a backfill consisting of naturally-occurring "bentonite" in admixture with gypsum and a water-soluble metal salt, such as sodium sulfate. The operable bentonite is said to be "alkali bentonite" in contradistinction to "alkaline earth bentonite" which is said to be inoperable.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,525,665 discloses a gypsum-bentonite-sodium sulfate backfill such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,480,087 above.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,527,361 discloses a gypsum-bentonite-sodium sulfate backfill such as is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,480,087 above.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,567,855 discloses a backfill of gypsum-bentonite-sodium sulfate.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,601,214 discloses a backfill comprising a major proportion of magnesium sulfite and a minor proportion of "sodium-type" bentonite (montmorillonite).
A reference for mineralogical information about bentonite clays, and other clays of the montmorillonite type, is "Applied Clay Mineralogy" by Ralph E. Grim, published by McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York, 1962.
As used in this application the term "bentonite" is used in referring to minerals which are largely composed of montmorrillonite clays such as are mined as alterations of volcanic ash, and the like. Alkali metal bentonites (e.g., sodium bentonite) are known to swell upon addition of water, and to contract or de-swell upon removal of water, in contradistinction to alkaline earth metal bentonites (e.g., calcium bentonite) which undergo little, if any, such swelling or de-swelling.


Wireless communication devices have become smaller and more powerful in order to meet consumer needs and to improve portability and convenience. Consumers have become dependent upon wireless communication devices such as cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptop computers, and the like. Consumers have come to expect reliable service, expanded areas of coverage, and increased functionality. Wireless communication devices may be referred to as mobile stations, stations, access terminals, user terminals, terminals, subscriber units, user equipment, etc.
A wireless communication system may simultaneously support communication for multiple wireless communication devices. A wireless communication device may communicate with one or more base stations (which may alternatively be referred to as access points, Node Bs, etc.) via transmissions on the uplink and the downlink. The uplink (or reverse link) refers to the communication link from the wireless communication devices to the base stations, and the downlink (or forward link) refers to the communication link from the base stations to the wireless communication devices.
Wireless communication systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing the available system resources (e.g., bandwidth and transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access systems include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, and orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems.


The invention of this application relates to an improvement in the design of rack in which vertical beams and horizontal columns are attached together by bolts, for simple assembly and disassembly. Welded racks may be strong, but they cannot be easily disassembled for moving, and the labor involved in welding them together is substantial.
Bolted racks, while easily assembled, exhibit the problem that any looseness in the beam to column connection will result in a leaning, wobbling rack. This in turn induces higher stresses in many of the components which might cause collapse of a heavily loaded rack. Also, problems may arise because of irregularities in the floor of the warehouse or other place where the rack is positioned. This, along with small errors in the length and width of the beams and columns as well as the positioning of bolt holes therein, can result in the creation of unpredictable positional variations in the beams and columns as one attempts to affix them together. This, in turn, may create significant difficulties in getting a tightly bolted connection between the beams and columns, since the parts may not quite fit precisely together because of the unpredictable positional variations.
Thus, the final result may be a less than satisfactory leaning or wobbling rack, which may be quite unacceptable in any circumstances.
In accordance with this invention means are provided for affixing beams and columns together by bolt means in a tight, rigid manner despite unpredictable positional variations in the beams and columns as they are so affixed.
While racks are specifically contemplated as the environment for the use of this invention, other structures besides racks may take advantage of this invention as well, such as frames, buildings, mezzanines, or any other structure using a beam to column connection, or any connection between structural members.


1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to joints for linking relatively movable vehicle steering components to one another, such as ball joints, tie rod ends, and sway bar links.
2. Related Art
Vehicle suspension systems and steering systems typically include joints, such as tie rod end ball-type joints for operable attachment of a tie rod end to a steering knuckle and a ball joint for coupling the steering knuckle to a control arm. In addition, other applications, such as carnival rides or any other mechanism with relatively movable joints, typically have ball joints to facilitate the relative movement between linked components. Such ball joints typically include one or more bearings that are received in a housing and a ball stud that slidably contacts the bearing or bearings to allow the housing and ball stud to articulate relative to one another during use.
Upon assembly of ball joints, it is generally desirable to build in a frictional resistance between the ball stud and housing that is within a predetermined torque tolerance. In addition, it is essential that the ball joints exhibit a long and useful life, and of additional importance, it is important that the ball joints be economical in manufacture. If the frictional resistance or torque is too high, it may impede the motion of the mechanism and/or make installation difficult. If the frictional resistance is too low, it may result in an undesirable “out-of-box feel” to which the installer of the joint will believe the socket to have excessive looseness, and therefore, shorter operating life.
It is known to construct ball joints from metal, including coated metal bearings against which the metal ball stud pivots. However, although the coated metal bearings can provide a desirable “out-of-box” feel and exhibit a long and useful life, they typically come at a high cost in manufacture.
In an effort to reduce costs associated with manufacture, it is known to construct tie rod end ball joints with glass-filled nylon or fiber-reinforced nylon bearings against which a metal ball stud pivots. Although the cost of manufacture is greatly reduced, the glass-filled nylon bearings provide a reduced useful life as compared to metal bearings.
During manufacture of such socket assemblies, prior to molding a nylon bearing, the nylon resin must be sufficiently dried to remove any water from the nylon resin and minimize water in the socket assembly that could corrode the metal ball stud. Even with this drying operation, the metal ball studs of socket assemblies with nylon bearings are coated with a corrosion resistant material for further corrosion protection as water often inevitably finds its way into the socket assembly, if not during assembly, then during use.


Voice messaging systems that enable users to send and retrieve voice mail messages are known in the communication arts. In a typical prior art voice messaging system a telephone is connected to a private branch exchange (PBX) that may utilize a notification mechanism, such as a message waiting indicator light, to notify a message recipient that a new message is waiting for them. Many wireless telephone communication systems also provide a Short Message Services (SMS) feature that allows users to send and/or receive short text messages. Today, many modern communication systems provide messaging services via packet-based networks, i.e., those that operate in accordance with the Internet Protocol (IP). A unified messaging (UM) system handles voice, facsimile, regular text messages, and computer-readable documents as objects in a single mailbox that a user can access either with a regular email client, or by telephone. A UM system typically connects to a PBX to provide automated attendant, audiotext, and voice mail services to subscribers or users. For instance, a personal computer (PC) user with multimedia capabilities typically can open and playback voice messages, either as speech or text. Unified messaging is therefore particularly convenient for mobile business users because it allows them to reach colleagues and customers through a PC or telephone device, whichever happens to be available.
There are times when a caller connected to a messaging system via a voice-only channel leaves a voicemail, but also would like to attach media content such as electronic mail (email), Web pages, financial data, documents, and/or video attachments to the voicemail message. But due to the limitations of existing UM and telephony systems users are unable to attach additional rich media content (e.g., documents, media clips, Uniform Resource Locators (URLs), etc.) to a unified message that is left as a voicemail.


The present invention generally relates to an automatic implantable atrial defibrillator for delivering cardioverting or defibrillating electrical energy to the atria of a human heart. The present invention is more particularly directed to such an atrial defibrillator which inhibits therapy delivery when the time span between detected atrial events exceeds a predetermined limit to avoid delivering therapy when the heart reverts to normal sinus rhythm or during a normal sinus rhythm cycle of the heart.
Atrial fibrillation is probably the most common cardiac arrhythmia. Although it is not usually a life threatening arrhythmia, it is associated with strokes thought to be caused by blood clots forming in areas of stagnant blood flow as a result of prolonged atrial fibrillation. In addition, patients afflicted with atrial fibrillation generally experience palpitations of the heart and may even experience dizziness or even loss of consciousness.
Atrial fibrillation occurs suddenly and many times can only be corrected by a discharge of electrical energy to the heart through the skin of the patient by way of an external defibrillator of the type well known in the art. This treatment is commonly referred to as synchronized cardioversion and, as its name implies, involves applying electrical defibrillating energy to the heart in synchronism with a detected ventricular electrical activation (R wave) of the heart. The treatment is very painful and, unfortunately, most often only results in temporary relief for patients, lasting but a few weeks.
Drugs are available for reducing the incidence of atrial fibrillation. However, these drugs have many side effects and many patients are resistant to them which greatly reduces their therapeutic effect.
Early implantable atrial defibrillators were proposed to provide patients suffering from occurrences of atrial fibrillation with relief. Unfortunately, to the detriment of such patients, these early atrial defibrillators never became a commercial reality.
Two such proposed defibrillators, although represented as being implantable, were not fully automatic, requiring human interaction for cardioverting or defibrillating the heart. Both of these proposed defibrillators required the patient to recognize the symptoms of atrial fibrillation. One defibrillator required a visit to a physician for activation of the defibrillator and the other defibrillator required the patient to activate the defibrillator from external to the patient's skin with a magnet.
An improved atrial defibrillator which provides automatic operation is fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,282,837 entitled "IMPROVED ATRIAL DEFIBRILLATOR AND METHOD," and which issued on Feb. 1, 1994 in the names of John M. Adams and Clifton A. Alferness. This patent is assigned to the assignee of the present invention and is incorporated herein by reference.
In addition to being automatic in operation, the atrial defibrillator of the above-referenced patent includes further features to assure the safe operation of the device. For example, to assure that the cardioverting electrical energy is not applied during the T wave vulnerable period of the heart, the atrial defibrillator provides R wave detection of increased reliability which is utilized to advantage in synchronizing the delivery of the cardioverting electrical energy to the atria with an R wave of the heart. Further, as another feature, an electrode system is utilized which minimizes the amount of energy that is required to cardiovert the atria. This is achieved by locating the cardioverting electrodes in or near the atria of the heart to provide a cardioverting energy path which confines substantially all of the cardioverting electrical energy to the atria of the heart.
Further improvements directed to the safe operation of an implantable automatic atrial defibrillator are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,219 which issued on May 4, 1993 for "ATRIAL DEFIBRILLATOR AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING INTERVAL TIMING PRIOR TO CARDIOVERSION," and which is also assigned to the assignee of the present invention and incorporated herein by reference. The atrial defibrillator there disclosed provides an answer to the observation that during episodes of atrial fibrillation, the cardiac rate increases to a high rate and/or becomes extremely variable. At high or variable cardiac rates, the R wave of a cardiac cycle may become closely spaced from the T wave of the immediately preceding cardiac cycle. This creates a condition known in the art as an "R on T" condition which is believed to contribute to induced ventricular fibrillation if the atria are cardioverted in synchronism with the R wave close to the preceding T wave. In order to prevent cardioversion of the atria during an R on T condition, the atrial defibrillator described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,219 detects for a cardiac interval longer than a minimum interval prior to delivering the cardioverting electrical energy to the atria. This assures that the cardioverting electrical energy is not delivered during an R on T condition.
In addition to the foregoing, there is certain electrogram data related to atrial fibrillation detection and cardioversion from which the cardiologist would benefit. Such information includes electrograms of the heart during fibrillation to confirm proper operation of the atrial fibrillation detector, electrograms of the heart prior to cardioversion and electrograms of the heart from immediately prior to and ending after the deliverance of the cardioverting electrical energy to the atria to confirm that the application of the cardioverting electrical energy was synchronized with an R wave and not on a T wave and to also confirm that the cardioversion was successful by returning the heart to normal sinus rhythm. One such implantable automatic atrial defibrillator capable of storing such electrogram data for later recall by the cardiologist is fully disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,850 which issued on Jun. 4, 1996 for "DEFIBRILLATION AND METHOD FOR CARDIOVERTING A HEART AND STORING RELATED ACTIVITY DATA," which is assigned to the assignee the present invention, and which is incorporated herein by reference.
One problem with storing electrogram data related to the cardioversion of atrial fibrillation is that during atrial fibrillation, the heart may spontaneously convert to normal sinus rhythm or do so for at least one or more cardiac cycles. Such a cardiac cycle would most likely satisfy electrical energy therapy criteria, including a minimum interval criteria. Hence, it is possible for the defibrillator to correctly detect the presence of atrial fibrillation and then deliver cardioverting energy on cycle which, when later reviewed by the cardiologist, would appear to be a normal sinus rhythm cardiac cycle.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to elements for the quantitative or semi-quantitative analysis of liquids which may contain gentisic acid as an interferent.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known in the art to perform a quantitative or semi-quantitative analysis of a liquid by contacting that liquid with an analytical element containing reagents capable of yielding a detectable product in proportion to the concentration of a predetermined analyte in the liquid. One particularly useful method involves an enzymatic assay wherein the predetermined analyte, upon contact with the analytical element, is oxidized in the presence of an enzyme contained therein to produce a peroxide in proportion to the concentration of the predetermined analyte in the liquid undergoing analysis. A detectable product is then yielded by the reaction of the peroxide with an indicator composition in the presence of a substance having peroxidative activity. This detectable product should be formed in direct proportion to the peroxide present and thus also in proportion to the concentration of the predetermined analyte. Elements and analyses of this type are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,992,158 and in a copending U.S. application by B. J. Bruschi, Ser. No. 712,972, filed Aug. 9, 1976, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Methods of analysis employing reaction mechanisms other than the above-described peroxide mechanism to produce a detectable product are also known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,252, describes a method for the quantitative analysis of uric acid in aqueous liquids wherein the aqueous liquid is contacted with a carrier element containing a ferric salt and either 2,4,6-tri(2-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine of 2,2':6',2"-terpyride, in a buffered acidic medium. A color change is produced which is directly proportional to the concentration of uric acid in the aqueous liquid.
Additional methods are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,466.
In all of the above-cited references to elements and methods for their use, it is also recognized that substances present in the liquid undergoing analysis other than the predetermined analyte may interfere with or bias the analytical reactions such that the detectable product is not formed in direct proportion to the predetermined analyte alone. This is particularly true for relatively low concentration analytes. For example, in analyses for uric acid or lactic acid in aqueous liquids such as serum or urine, it is recognized that gentisic acid can interfere with the reactions used to indicate the concentrations of uric acid or lactic acid. This is a significant problem, because it is well known that gentisic acid may often be present in liquids such as serum or urine.
Gentisic acid is a metabolic product of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) and would be expected to be found in the body fluids of anyone who has recently ingested common aspirin. Its presence has been recognized and methods are available for its analysis in liquids. Since uric acid and lactic acid are normally present in body fluids in relatively small concentrations, the recent ingestion of one or two doses of aspirin can effectively destroy the accuracy of a lactic acid or uric acid analysis.
In some of the analytical methods described above, such as those discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,711,252 and 3,801,466, gentisic acid is falsely detected as more of the predetermined analyte, because it reacts with the analytical reagents to form the detectable product in the same way that the predetermined analyte does. The result is a false indication that there is a higher concentration of predetermined analyte than is actually present.
Methods are available and known to avoid interferences of this type. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,252, suggests prevention of gentisic acid interference by incorporation of persulfate in the analytical element. U.S. Pat. No. 3,801,466 suggests a multi-step method of avoidance involving preparation of comparative test samples in one of which the predetermined analyte is totally eliminated by a pre-analysis reaction. The two samples are then analyzed for predetermined analyte, and the difference in results between the two indicates the concentration of interferents such as gentisic acid that may be present. While such methods of avoidance are useful, they are either inconvenient to use (involving multiple steps) or are applicable only to one method of analysis. For example, the use of persulfate suggested by U.S. Pat. No. 3,711,252, would not be successful in avoiding gentisic acid interference with the proxide-linked analyses described previously.
The mechanism of interference of gentisic acid with a peroxide-mechanism-type analysis is quite different from the interferences described above, wherein gentisic acid is falsely detected as predetermined analyte. In a peroxide-mechanism-type analysis, gentisic acid interference produces the opposite effect. It causes a false indication that there is a lower concentration of predetermined analyte than is actually present. Unlike the other analytical methods wherein gentisic acid reacts to form the detectable product just as the predetermined analyte does, in the peroxide-linked analyses gentisic acid competes with the indicator composition in the presence of a substance having peroxidative activity in order to react with the peroxide formed by the interaction of predetermined analyte and enzyme. Thus, less peroxide is available to react with the indicator composition to produce the detectable product, and the concentration of predetermined analyte indicated is falsely low.
Although the mechanism of the competition between the indicator composition and gentisic acid for peroxide is not definitely known, the following hypothesis is presented as a possible explanation of the interference.
In the peroxide-linked analyses which use a analytical element as a test-reagent carrier, all of the test reagents except the liquid being analyzed are usually incorporated into the element itself. The indicator composition may be dispersed or dissolved in a suitable organic solvent within the element. When the liquid to be analyzed is contacted with the analytical element, some of the liquid is imbibed into the element. Any predetermined analyte present in the imbibed liquid then reacts with oxygen in the presence of the enzyme incorporated in the element to produce a peroxide. The peroxide is formed within the element itself and is situated in close proximity to, or interspersed with, the organic solvent containing indicator composition and a substance having peroxidative activity. It is desirable at this point that all of the peroxide formed in the element should act in the presence of the substance having peroxidative activity to oxidize some of the proximately located indicator composition. This oxidation of indicator composition produces a detectable product whose relative concentration is then determined by measuring its optical density spectrophotometrically or otherwise to indicate the concentration of predetermined analyte in the liquid undergoing analysis. It is apparent that any gentisic acid which is situated in similar proximity to the peroxide as is the indicator composition may itself be oxidized by the peroxide. Any peroxide undergoing such reaction is thus made unavailable for oxidation of indicator composition. What is not so apparent is the reason why significant amounts of gentisic acid come to be as well situated for this reaction as is the indicator composition which is dissolved in the organic solvent. Since gentisic acid is originally dispersed throughout the body of the liquid being analyzed, while indicator composition is in organic solvent within the element itself where the peroxide is first formed, one would expect that most peroxide formed would react with indicator composition before it had a chance to come into contact with significant amounts of gentisic acid. However, this is not the case, and it is accordingly hypothesized that the organic solvents previously chosen to facilitate dispersion of the indicator composition within the element, e.g., a solvent such as N,N-diethyl lauramide, which is used in the prior art (see, for example, U.S. Ser. No. 712,972 referred to above), act also to preferentially partition gentisic acid into the organic solvent from the aqueous liquid. This means that a much higher concentration of gentisic acid may be found in the organic solvent than in the aqueous liquid and thus is just as well situated to react with any peroxide being formed as is the indicator composition itself.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an analytical element using the peroxide-linked assay mechanism wherein gentisic acid is not preferentially partitioned into the organic solvent containing indicator composition and is thus not as well situated for reaction with peroxide as is the indicator composition and, therefore, does not interfere with the formation of detectable product to such a significant extent as it does in the analytical elements of the prior art.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a frequency divider circuit and a digital phase locked loop (PLL) circuit including the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a general programmable digital PLL circuit.
As shown in FIG. 1, a digital PLL circuit 6 comprises, for example, a phase comparator 2, a digital counter 8, a frequency multiplier 4, and a frequency divider 5.
The phase comparator 2 compares a phase of a reference clock signal of a frequency f.sub.ref with that of an oscillation output f5 from the frequency divider 5 and outputs an up/down signal to a digital counter 8 in accordance with the result of the comparison. For example, when the frequency of the oscillation output f5 is lower than the reference clock signal, it outputs an up signal to the digital counter 8, while in the opposite case, it outputs a down signal to the digital counter 8.
The digital counter 8 counts up or counts down the count value from the least significant bit toward the most significant bit based on the up/down signal from the phase comparator 2 and outputs an n-bit count value to the frequency multiplier 4.
The frequency multiplier 4 has the same function as a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), determines an oscillation frequency in accordance with an input count value S3, and finally outputs the target clock S4 of the frequency f.sub.0.
The frequency divider 5 outputs an oscillation output f5 obtained by dividing the output signal S4 from the frequency multiplier 4 to the phase comparator 2.
The digital PLL circuit 6 shown in FIG. 1 requires an operation time of as much as 2.sup.n /f.sub.ref to reach a locked status shown in FIG. 2 when the digital counter 8 is an n-bit counter.
In the digital PLL counter 6, the digital counter 8 is provided with a 32/33 frequency divider which selectively performs frequency division by 32 or 33 and uses this 32/33 frequency divider to count up or count down.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a frequency divider 1 of the related art which is provided in the digital counter 8 in FIG. 1.
FIGS. 7A to 7N and FIGS. 8A to 8N are timing charts of input signals S0, S7, S9, S11, and S14, and frequency division ratio determining signals S21, S14, S17, and S19.
FIGS. 7A to 7N are timing charts in the case where a 4/5 selecting signal S24 shown in FIG. 3 is a high level (when 4 is selected as a frequency division ratio in the circuit module 3). FIGS. 8A to 8N are timing charts in the case where the 4/5 selecting signal S24 shown in FIG. 3 is a low level (when 5 is selected as a frequency division ratio in the circuit module 3).
The frequency divider 1 divides the frequency of an input signal S0 by 32 or 33 in accordance with the 4/5 selecting signal S24.
As shown in FIG. 3, the frequency divider 1 comprises the circuit modules 3 and 5.
The circuit module 3 comprises D-type flip-flops (D-FFs) 7, 9, and 11, an AND circuit 13, and an OR circuit 14.
The D-FFs 7, 9, and 11 are driven using the input signal S0 as a reference clock.
The circuit module 3 divides the input signal S0 by 4 or 5 based on the frequency division ratio determining signal S21, shown in FIG. 7J and FIG. 8J, input from the circuit module 5 and outputs the divided signal S7 from a Q.sup.-- terminal of the D-FF 7 to the circuit module 5. Specifically, the circuit module 3 produces the signal S7 shown in FIG. 8B obtained by dividing the input signal S0 by 5 when the frequency division ratio determining signal S21 is a high level, and produces the signal S7 shown in FIG. 7B obtained by dividing the input signal S0 by 4 when the frequency division ratio determining signal S21 is a low level.
The circuit module 5 comprises D-FFs 15, 17, and 19, a 4-input NOR circuit 21, and a buffer 23.
In the circuit module 5, a CLK terminal of the D-FF 15 is connected to a Q.sup.-- terminal of the D-FF 7 in the circuit module 3, a Q terminal of the D-FF 15 is connected to a CLK terminal of the D-FF 17, and a Q terminal of the D-FF 17 is connected to a CLK terminal of the D-FF 19. Also, in the D-FFs 15, 17, and 19, the D terminals and Q.sup.-- terminals are connected.
Here, the D-FFs 15, 17, and 19 are connected in series and each D-FF can divide a signal into two. Accordingly, a signal S19 shown in FIGS. 7N and 8N obtained by dividing the signal S7 by 8 (=2.sup.3) is output at the Q terminal of the D-FF 19.
The signal S19 is output as an output signal S1 via the buffer 23.
A signal S15 shown in FIGS. 7L and 8L obtained by dividing the signal S7 by 2 (.dbd.2.sup.1) is output from the Q terminal of the D-FF 15, and a signal S17 shown in FIGS. 7M and 8M obtained by dividing the signal S7 by 4(=22) is output from the Q terminal of the D-FF 17.
The NOR circuit 21 receives as input four signals, that is, the signals S15, S17, and S19 from the Q terminals of the D-FFs 15, 17, and 19 and the 4/5 selecting signal S24, and outputs the result of the NOR operation to the AND circuit 13 in the circuit module 13 as a frequency division ratio determining signal S21. Here, the frequency division ratio determining signal S21 becomes a high level, as shown in FIGS. 7J and 8J, when all of the signals S15, S17, and S19 and the 4/5 selecting signal S24 are a low level, while becomes a low level in other cases.
In the case of dividing a signal by 32 in the frequency divider 1, the 4/5 selecting signal S24 is held at a high level and the signal S7 obtained by dividing the input signal S0 by 4 is divided by 8 in the circuit module 5. As a result, an output signal S1 obtained by dividing the input signal S0 by 32 is produced.
On the other hand, when the frequency divider 1 divides a signal by 33, it makes the circuit module 3 act as a 1/4 frequency divider for seven cycles out of 8 cycles of the signal S7 and act as a 1/5 frequency divider for one cycle out of eight cycles. Due to this, the operation becomes (4.times.7/8+5.times.1/8).times.8, so the frequency divider 1 produces the output signal S1 obtained by dividing the input signal S0 by 33.
The problem in the related art was, however, that the PLL circuits used in the cellular phone and other communications fields mainly use frequency dividers containing bipolar, not MOS logic, since the local frequencies have high frequency bandwidths of 1 GHz or more.
Also, the power source voltage of PLL circuits used in such communications fields is 3V in most cases, and a basic type of a D-FF has the configuration shown in FIG. 4.
Namely, the D-FF comprises differential amplifier circuits 200 and 201, emitter-coupled logic (ECL) circuits 202 and 203, and latch circuits 204 and 205.
The differential amplifier circuit 200 comprises emitter-coupled npn-type transistors Q1 and Q2 and a constant current source I0 provided at the coupling point. The differential amplifier circuit 201 comprises emitter-coupled npn-type transistors Q3 and Q4 and a constant current source I1 provided at the coupling point.
The ECL circuit 202 comprises emitter-coupled npn-type transistors Q5 and Q6. The ECL circuit 203 comprises emitter-coupled npn-type transistors Q9 and Q10.
The latch circuit 204 comprises collector-, base-, and emitter-coupled npn-type transistors Q7 and Q8. The latch circuit 205 comprises collector-, base-, and emitter-coupled npn-type transistors Q11 and Q12.
In this circuit configuration, the output amplitude of the D-FF can only be about 0.3V or less. It is necessary to reduce the load resistance to improve the through rate.
However, recent cellular phones are expected to provide longer call times, therefore if the load resistance is made small as mentioned above, this will result in an increase of the current consumption and the power consumption.
Also, when the through rate is poor, the jitter increases in the output of a bipolar ECL circuit and noise increases in the VCO output signal of the PLL circuit. As a result, the bit error rate of the digital communications signal becomes Inferior.
For example, in the D-FF in FIG. 4, when the waveforms of an E input signal and an F input signal produced by an input signal from the D terminal are as shown in FIG. 5A, jitter Ax shown in FIG. 5B is generated in the output signals G and H.
Note that in the frequency divider 1 shown in FIG. 3, the D-FFs 15, 17, and 19 are serially connected in an asynchronous mode in the circuit module 5.
Accordingly, the jitter occurring at the D-FF 15 is transmitted to the D-FFs 17 and 19, and jitter .DELTA.Y, which is three times the jitter AX, occurs in the output signals G and H output from the final stage D-FF 19 as shown in FIG. 5C.
Consequently, in the frequency divider 1 shown in FIG. 3, the jitter becomes large in the finally obtained output signal S1. If the frequency divider 1 is used in a PLL circuit, the phase noise of the VCO output signal of the PLL circuit will increase and the bit error rate of the digital communications signal will end up becoming inferior.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector for being mounted to a circuit board, and more particularly to an electrical connector with an improved spacer for heat dissipation.
2. Description of Related Art
With rapid development of electronic technologies, electrical connectors have been widely used in electronic devices for exchanging information and data with external devices. A conventional QSFP connector usually includes an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts received in the insulative housing, a spacer for organizing the contacts and a metallic shielding cage enclosing the insulative housing. Each contact includes a soldering portion extending beyond the insulative housing for being soldered to a circuit board.
However, since the spacer and the contacts are wholly embedded, the air permeability of spacer of the conventional QSFP connector is poor. As a result, heat generated by the contacts cannot be easily dissipated to the air, thereby decreasing the working life of the QSFP connector.
Hence, an electrical connector with an improved spacer for robust heat dissipation is desired.


This invention relates to the selective conversion of aliphatic and aromatic aminonitriles such as .epsilon.-aminocapronitrile into the corresponding lactams such as .epsilon.-caprolactam by employing a silica catalyst particularly a silica catalyst in the form of spherical beads having high BET surface area, narrow pore and grain size distributions.
N-substituted amides, especially 5, 6 and 7 membered lactams, are important raw materials for nylon 4, 5 and 6.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,357,484 (E. L. Martin) discloses a vapor phase process for preparing compounds containing the N-substituted amide group, for example, .epsilon.-caprolactam, by passing a vaporized mixture of water and an aliphatic amino-hydrogen-containing aminonitrile, or a vaporized mixture of water and a nitrile and amino-hydrogen-containing amine over a dehydration catalyst such as activated alumina, silica gel titanium oxide or borophosphoric acid. U.S. Pat. No. 2,357,484 also discloses that diamides are produced by passing a vaporized mixture of water and dinitriles and monoamines over the dehydration catalyst.