Abstract: A semiconductor laser module includes a laser holder, a semiconductor laser, a sleeve, an optical fiber, an annular member, and a flexible member. The laser holder has an end portion and is formed with a through-hole opened on the end portion. The semiconductor laser is provided on the laser holder and has a light-emitting portion for emitting a laser beam passing through the through-hole. The sleeve is fixed to the end portion so as to block the through-hole and is formed with an insertion hole. The optical fiber is disposed in the insertion hole and has an incident face. The laser beam is capable of entering the incident face. The annular member is provided on the end portion of the laser holder to encircle outside of the sleeve to be separated from the sleeve with a space between the annular member and the sleeve. The flexible member is affixed to the sleeve and the annular member for covering the space.

Abstract: A system and method for managing, manipulating, and analyzing data over a distributed network, such as the Internet is generally applicable to any field which could benefit from a centralized system for gathering, storing and analyzing data from multiple remote data sources over a distributed network. The present invention is particularly applicable for gathering, storing and analyzing health data from remotely located health data sources, such as remotely located medical devices, via the Internet.

Abstract: An antenna apparatus includes an antenna element having directivity in a vertex direction, an antenna case containing the antenna element, an antenna base coupled to the antenna case, and attached onto an installation face, and an angle regulator adjusting a relative angle between the antenna case and the antenna base.

Abstract: A running wheel arrangement for a wheelchair that can be driven by electric motor including a frame and wheels releasably connected. A driving motor being integrated in two wheels and the wheels are connected via a respective adapter arranged on the frame. The wheel is inserted into the adapter and mechanically lockable via a locking device which includes: a pivot plate fastened to the driving motor; the wheel is mounted rotatably in a pivot plate via an axle bolt; a link bolt pointing in the direction of travel arranged in the adapter; a cross-sectionally U-shaped tab arranged at one end of the pivot plate; the tab being placed onto the link bolt such that the wheel is shifted by means of a pivoting movement toward the frame until a locking bolt provided on the pivot plate engaged on the locking bush arranged on the adapter, and the wheel is locked mechanically with respect to the frame via the locking bolt and the locking bush.

Abstract: It is a collimator adapted to convert divergent light beams outputted from an optical fiber bundle to parallel light beams through a collimator lens. A large diameter optical fiber is disposed between an optical fiber bundle, which is a bundle of a large number of multimode optical fibers and serves as one optical transmission path, and a collimator lens. A cross-section of the core of the large diameter optical fiber is larger than a range in which the cores of the optical fibers of the optical fiber bundle are present. Also, a group of divergent light beams outputted from the optical fibers of the optical fiber bundle is converted by the large diameter optical fiber to one light beam.

Abstract: An electromagnetic relay is provided which allows free design of arrangements of each external connecting terminal and is capable of effectively dissipating heat from a base and suppressing a rise in temperatures within the electromagnetic relay. The electro-magnetic relay includes a core, a coil, a yoke, an armature, an electromagnetic block made up of a movable spring having a movable contact mechanically coupled to the armature, a pair of fixed contacts made up of an ordinarily closed fixed contact and an ordinarily opened fixed contact both being contacted with the movable contact, a group of external connecting terminals, a base, and an armored cover, wherein the movable spring and the yoke make up part of a current-carrying path, and a yoke extended portion is in direct mechanical contact with the movable contact external connecting terminal and the ordinarily closed fixed contact is mechanically coupled to an ordinarily closed fixed contact external connecting terminal.

Abstract: A diaphragm is provided in a pump case so as to define a pump chamber communicated with an external member having an air chamber. A motor actuates the diaphragm to introduce air into the pump chamber and to supply the introduced air to the air chamber. An exhaust valve exhausts air in the pump chamber to lower a pressure in the air chamber. The exhaust valve is provided with a valve body and an actuator which is driven by the motor to actuate the valve body so as to open or close an exhaust port communicated with the pump chamber.

Abstract: This invention provides novel chromogenic enzyme substrates which are indoxyl ?-D-ribofuranosides. A process for their production is provided. Methods for detecting ?-D-ribofuranosidase activity are given. The advantages of these novel compounds includes: detecting ?-D-ribofuranosidase activity with high sensitivity and low substrate concentrations and use with other enzyme indicators in situations where a plurality of enzyme activities is to be visualized simultaneously e.g. for identifying bacteria growth on solid growth media. The synthesis and use of 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl-?-D-ribofuranoside is exemplified.

Abstract: An inkjet apparatus 100 includes a plurality of nozzles 200, a plurality of piezoelectric elements 204, a drive voltage generator 406 and a plurality of switches 403. The plurality of piezoelectric elements 204 is provided in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of nozzles 200. The drive voltage generator 406 generates a drive voltage having a waveform Vd. Each switch 403 adjusts the waveform Vd of the drive voltage. Each of the plurality of piezoelectric elements 204 applies pressure to a corresponding nozzle 200 to eject ink droplets therefrom in response to the drive voltage having an adjusted waveform Vd.

Abstract: A control unit of a wafer prober for implementing wafer examination, using a probe card including a multiple number of probes, executes a multiple number of measuring operations by bringing the probes of the probe card into contact with bonding pads formed on a wafer and by measuring the electric characteristics between predetermined pads of the bonding pads, each of the measuring operations being implemented after varying the relative position between the probe card and the wafer, in directions parallel to the face of the wafer. The control unit, upon execution of each of the measuring operations, implements the measuring operation after adjusting the relative position between the probe card and the wafer so that the contact position of each probe of the probes against each pad of the bonding pads is separated from all the positions at which the probes have already touched that pad of the bonding pads for a predetermined number of different times.

Abstract: Preparations which elicit an immune response to hookworm antigens and which may be utilized as hookworm vaccines are provided. In addition, a method of increasing the effectiveness of vaccinations against infectious diseases in patients infected with hookworm is provided. The method involves chemically treating the hookworm infestation prior to administering the vaccine.

Abstract: A genetic algorithm (GA) approach is used to adapt a wireless radio to a changing environment. A cognitive radio engine implements three algorithms; a wireless channel genetic algorithm (WCGA), a cognitive system monitor (CSM) and a wireless system genetic algorithm (WSGA). A chaotic search with controllable boundaries allows the cognitive radio engine to seek out and discover unique solutions efficiently. By being able to control the search space by limiting the number of generations, crossover rates, mutation rates, fitness evaluations, etc., the cognitive system can ensure legal and regulatory compliance as well as efficient searches. The versatility of the cognitive process can be applied to any adaptive radio. The cognitive system defines the radio chromosome, where each gene represents a radio parameter such as transmit power, frequency, modulation, etc. The adaptation process of the WSGA is performed on the chromosomes to develop new values for each gene, which is then used to adapt the radio settings.

Abstract: Cannabinoid agonists and antagonists are provided for use in the treatment of disorders such as acute and chronic pain, inflammation, loss of appetite, convulsions, multiple sclerosis, nausea and vomiting. The cannabinoid agonists and antagonists contain a sulfonamide moiety incorporated into the cannabinoid side chain, and the side chain itself may be saturated or unsaturated.

Abstract: The present invention provides particles for the presentation of haptens for the purpose of eliciting an immune response. The amino acid sequences of the monomers which make up the particles are derived from duck hepatitis B virus core protein. The particles may also deliver nucleic acids. The nucleic acids may be delivered for the purpose of enhancing an immune response, or for other purposes such as gene therapy.

Abstract: A method and apparatus attains high voltage gain by using a composite structure of an elastic section of piezoelectric layers bonded between magnetic and electric sections of magnetostrictive layers, with a harmonic magnetic field being applied along the layers at a mechanical resonance frequency of the composite structure, through coils around the laminate carrying current, such as to produce a continuity of both magnetic and electric flux lines, and achieving a high voltage output.

Abstract: Rapid throughput of still image compressed data (e.g. JPEG) is achieved for presentation of images in rapid succession for browsing or browsing by panning within large images by using a hardware decoder adapted for presentation of moving images to reduce the processing load which must be performed in accordance with software although the still image data is incompatible with still image data in many respects; some of which necessarily lead to a loss of image fidelity. The still image data is partially decoded (e.g. entropy decoded) in software processing and re-encoded and reformatted to a form which can at least be accepted by the hardware decoder even though not compliant with any particular moving picture data standard (e.g. MPEG). Storage in the hardware decoder is reallocated to provide, in combination with a reduction of slower software processing, a throughput increase of four-fold or more.

Abstract: Standardized support for management of contextual relationships, which includes specification of the context hierarchy, association of relationships with a particular context, and derivation of transitive dependencies, is provided with a Context Manager service. The Context Manager provides a programmatic interface for defining contexts and the relationships therein. The Context Manager saves the relationship facts in one or more context stores, which are organized by contexts. The Context Manager interfaces with the Ontology Manager that processes queries on relationships with respect to a given set of contexts. The Context Manager provides a high-level abstraction for relationship management in a context. Developers of business solutions can then focus on the core business logic, without worrying about the details of storing and inferencing relationships.

Abstract: Power converters having reduced body diode conduction loss, reduced reverse recovery loss and lower switching noise, among other benefits, have a resonant capacitor Cr connected across an unfiltered output. The resonant capacitor Cr resonates with the leakage inductance Lk of the transformer. The resonant capacitor and leakage inductance are selected such that ½ a LC resonance period is equal to an ON time of each secondary switch S1 S2. The resonance provides zero current switching for secondary switches S1 S2, eliminates zero body diode conduction during dead times, and eliminates reverse recovery losses in the secondary switches. The present invention is applicable to many different circuit topologies such as full bridge, active clamp forward, push-pull forward, and center-tap secondary. The present converters provide high energy conversion efficiency and high frequency operation.

Abstract: The method of optimizing performance of a mobile terminal comprising a radio communication module, a central computing unit and a plurality of data processing software components which optimizes the operation performance of the mobile terminal comprises the steps of capturing the traveling speed of the terminal from an external source, and distributing the captured speed to each of the data processing software components.