The flat panel illumination system includes a high intensity light source with a contoured reflector assembly for providing light to the input of an optical mixer and heat removal device. The optical mixer and heat removal device removes infrared radiation and transmits de-focused light to the input ends of a plurality of rectangular couplers connected to light conducting cables which are in turn connected to the light emitting optical fibers for a light emitting panel. These fibers are woven in accordance with specific weave ratio ranges and weave configurations to emit light uniformly across the extent of a light emitting fabric surface.

In recent years, a number of different methods have been developed for causing conventional optical fibers to emit light. U.S. Letters Pat. Nos. 3,508,589 to B. N. Derick et al and 4,234,907 to M. Daniel disclose methods for causing clad or unclad optical fibers to emit light along the length of the fiber. This may be accomplished by scratching, abrading, chemically deforming, or otherwise removing or disturbing portions of the cladding of the optical fibers so that a small percentage of light traveling down the length of the fibers is emitted through the deformities in the cladding. Similarly, light emission may be achieved by providing optical fibers having a core region which is doped with refractive and/or reflective light scattering particles to provide enhanced, uniform light emission along the length of the optical fiber without the need for fiber deformation as disclosed in U.S. Letters Pat. No. 4,466,697 to M. Daniel.
Panels with surfaces composed of light emitting woven optical fibers have been proposed by the aforementioned Derick et al and Daniel patents, while panels composed of strips of light conducting glass or plastic, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,172,631 to Yevick, have been proposed as a means of producing a light emitting panel. However, panels constructed in accordance with these prior art methods have proven difficult to fabricate, since panels formed with light conducting glass or plastic strips require that each strip be cut with great precision. On the other hand, panels formed from woven light emitting optical fibers have never been developed to emit light uniformly and often have dark or shaded areas which extend across areas of the panel.
The technology dealing with light emitting optical fiber assemblies has, to this point, been directed toward obtaining light emission of any character along the length of a fiber and developing components which might ultimately find use in an assembly incorporating light emitting optical fibers. Thus, light sources have been designed which transmit light from a single point light source over a plurality of paths as shown by U.S. Letters Pat. No. 4,222,091 to C. Bartenbach, and this has led to the transmission of light from a single source to a plurality of light transmitting cables as disclosed in U.S. Letters Pat. Nos. 3,437,804 to V. Schaefer et al and 4,459,642 and 4,459,643 to K. Mori. These light source developments have led to the design of curved light paths emanating from a central hub, as shown by U.S. Letters Pat. No. 3,567,917 to W. Daley, and ultimately to the spiral galaxy mirror light collection assemblies illustrated in U.S. Letters Pat. No. 4,576,436 to M. Daniel.
Other optical components, such as the optical mixer disclosed in U.S. Letters Pat. No. 4,523,257 to K. Mori, have been developed for use in optical systems, but such prior art units are not designed for combination with other optical components in a complete illumination system to maximize the efficiency of the system while providing uniform illumination. In an effective illumination system, focused light from a high intensity light source should be distributed by an effective reflector system onto the input aperture for an optical mixer which will provide a defocused light output. Both the reflector system and the optical mixer will often be required to have a heat dissipation capability, since excess heat will normally be generated by a high intensity light source.
To this point, optical fiber light emitting panels have been primarily experimental, and the requirements for a commercially acceptable panel have not been met. There is a great difference between the theoretical generalization that woven optical fiber might emit light and the production of commercially acceptable light emitting panels which will uniformly emit light from an extensive surface area. The generalization can be supported by small, hand woven patches of fabric formed from optical fibers, but the problems involved in providing light to a plurality of panel sections having a substantial surface area and causing the substantially uniform emission of light from these surface areas remain to be solved.


An assembly for transferring torque including a first component having first wall portions, a second component having second wall portions, wherein the first wall portions extend radially from the first component toward the second component, the second wall portions extend radially from the second component toward the first component, the first wall portions are axially aligned with the second wall portions, and a clearance is formed between the first and second wall portions, and a ring rivet having a connecting portion inserted into the clearance and deformed for creating at least one head for axially locking the first component and the second component together, and wherein deforming the connecting portion fills the clearance for rotationally locking the first component and second component together for enabling a transfer of torque between the first component and the second component.

Rivet connections are commonly used in torque converters, for example, for securing a damper flange to a damper hub. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 7,658,679 (Avins et al.), which patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. Rivets may also be used between any other two components that transfer or transmit torque. Riveted connections, such as between the damper flange and the hub, require a large number of rivets that must be individually inserted during assembly and then deformed in a riveting die. A large number of rivets is required in order to reduce the shear stress levels in each rivet to an acceptable level for transferring torque between the flange and the hub, thereby increasing assembly time. In addition, the flange and the hub are axially stacked, which requires additional axial space. Another option is to secure the damper flange to the hub with a splined connection, however this can be expensive and time consuming to manufacture due to the strict tolerances, for example, that must be met to ensure a good connection between the parts. Vibrations will result in the system if the splined connection is not manufactured precisely. Therefore, there is needed, for example, an assembly that connects two torque transferring components without a splined connection or a plurality of individual rivets, and that saves axial space by connecting the components in an axially aligned orientation.


An earth leakage circuit breaker includes a current sensing unit configured to sense current in a circuit, a converter configured to detect a fundamental wave component and a specific harmonic component from the sensed current, the specific harmonic component being one of a plurality of harmonic components, and a controller. The controller is configured to compare a harmonic component ratio with a threshold component ratio, to determine whether the sensed current is abnormal current, and to control cutoff of the circuit according to the result of determination. The harmonic component ratio is a ratio of the specific harmonic component to the fundamental wave component. The converter is configured to convert the sensed current from an analog signal into digital data and to perform Fourier transform with respect to the converted digital data to detect the fundamental wave component and the specific harmonic component.

Embodiments relate to an earth leakage circuit breaker configured to protect a circuit.
In general, an earth leakage circuit breaker detects abnormal current in a circuit due to leakage or grounding and cuts off the circuit. Therefore, the earth leakage circuit breaker protects facilities and persons at a load end. That is, the earth leakage circuit breaker detects a peak current value from current sensed in the circuit and compares the peak current value with a predetermined current value. At this time, the peak current value may be detected from a fundamental wave component or a harmonic component of current. In addition, when the peak current value is equal to or greater than the predetermined current value, the earth leakage circuit breaker cuts off the circuit.
However, the earth leakage circuit breaker may malfunction. That is, the peak current value may be detected from the harmonic component of current according to the characteristics of a specific part in the earth leakage circuit breaker. Thus, even if abnormal current is not generated, the earth leakage circuit breaker may cut off the circuit based on the peak current value.


Methods and systems to transform human-perceptible acoustic vibrations (e.g., music) to human perceptible electromagnetic radiation (i.e., human perceptible colors and/or cymatic images), and/or to human perceptible tactile vibrations, based on pitch classes of tones contained within the acoustic vibrations.

Synesthesia is a perceptual phenomenon in which stimulation of a sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in another sensory or cognitive pathway. Chromesthesia is a form of synesthesia in which a sound automatically and involuntarily evokes an experience of color. It would be useful to evoke a synesthesia-like effect in a person who does not normally experience synesthesia, such so to evoke a chromesthesia-like effect and/or an auditory-tactile-like synesthesia in response to a complex sound, such as music.
Cymatics is a subset of modal vibrational phenomena in which in a thin coating of particles, paste, or liquid is placed on the surface of a plate, diaphragm or membrane (e.g., a Chladni plate). When the plate is vibrated, regions of maximum and minimum displacement are made visible as patterns in the particles, paste, or liquid. The patterns vary based on the geometry of the plate and the frequency of vibration. It would be useful to provide cymatic effects in response to complex sound, such as music.
In the drawings, the leftmost digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears.

Transformation of sound to visual and/or tactile stimuli


A needle thread passing device is capable of being constructed in a small size for easy storage.

As a needle thread passing device of such a type, one disclosed in Patent Documents 1 (Japanese Patent No. 3,315,364) is known. In this needle thread passing device, a needle insertion cylinder having a bottomed needle insertion hole is placed upright on a main body having a pedestal surface, and a thread passing hole to be communicated with a needle eye of an inserted needle is formed in a lower portion of the needle insertion cylinder in a direction crossing the needle insertion hole. A thread placement portion is formed near the entrance of the thread passing hole, and a thread locking piece is provided at an operating member provided in the main body. The thread locking piece is configured to be freely inserted into and removed from the thread passing hole through the operating member by a pressing force of a pressing member provided in the main body. In this configuration, a needle is inserted into the needle insertion hole of the needle insertion cylinder, a thread is set at the thread placement portion, and the pressing member is pressed. Then, the operating member is swung. As a result, the thread locking piece provided in the operating member pulls the thread set at the thread placement portion into the thread passing hole, whereby the thread is inserted into the needle eye. When the pressing force of the pressing member is released, the operating member swung back by a spring to its original position. As a result, the thread is passed through the needle eye.
Patent Documents 1: Japanese Patent No. 3315364

Abstract: A needle receiving member 34 has a needle insertion hole 34c and a thread insertion slit 34e forming an angle with the needle insertion hole 34c. A needle threader member 42 is movable between positions away from and close to the needle receiving member 34 and has a needle threader pin 48b that can push a thread inserted through the thread insertion slit 34e into a needle eye 52a of a needle 52 inserted into the needle insertion hole 34c when the needle threader member 42 moves from the position away from the needle receiving member 34 to position close thereto. A cover 32 can move with respect to a main body 30 containing the needle receiving member 34. The needle threader member 42 is constantly biased toward the position away from the needle receiving member 34. The cover 32 can move between a locking position at which the needle threader member 42 is locked to the position close to the needle receiving member 34 and an allowable position at which the needle threader member is allowed to move between the positions away from and close to the needle receiving member. At the storage time, the cover is located at the locking position.


An abnormality diagnosis device is for an exhaust gas sensor that detects an air-fuel ratio, or a rich or lean state of exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine and that includes a sensor element having a catalyst layer. The device includes an abnormality diagnosis unit that makes a sensor abnormality diagnosis whereby to change the air-fuel ratio alternately between a rich side and a lean side and to determine whether the exhaust gas sensor is abnormal or not based on response characteristics of the exhaust gas sensor in response to the change of the air-fuel ratio. When making the sensor abnormality diagnosis, the abnormality diagnosis unit calculates the response characteristics of the exhaust gas sensor with exclusion of a sensor output plateau region, which is a region in which an output of the exhaust gas sensor is stagnant due to the catalyst layer.

Recent years, in a vehicle including an internal combustion engine, a catalyst for exhaust gas purification is disposed in an exhaust pipe, and an exhaust gas sensor (air-fuel ratio sensor or oxygen sensor) for detecting an air-fuel ratio or rich/lean state of exhaust gas is disposed on an upstream side of this catalyst or both on upstream and downstream sides of the catalyst. The air-fuel ratio is feedback controlled based on the output of this exhaust gas sensor to increase an exhaust gas purification rate by the catalyst.
In such an exhaust gas purifying system, abnormality of the exhaust gas sensor needs to be diagnosed to prevent continued operation in a state where the exhaust gas sensor deteriorates and accuracy in control of the air-fuel ratio is reduced (state in which exhaust gas purification efficiency is lowered).
As an abnormality diagnostic technique for the exhaust gas sensor (e.g., air-fuel ratio sensor), there is, for example, a technique described in JP-A-2006-322426. This technique changes an air-fuel ratio forcibly, and determines normality/abnormality of the exhaust gas sensor based on a response time of the exhaust gas sensor with respect to the change of the air-fuel ratio.
The exhaust gas sensor has characteristics that the output of the exhaust gas sensor stagnates (change speed of the output is slowed down) in stoiciometry vicinity (stoiciometry and its vicinity) due to a catalyst layer which is one of components of a sensor element.
However, according to the art in the above publication of JP-A-2006-322426, a region in which the output of the exhaust gas sensor stagnates because of the catalyst layer (hereinafter referred to as a "sensor output plateau region") is not taken into consideration at all. Consequently, an influence of the sensor output plateau region may be included in the response time of the exhaust gas sensor. If the influence of the sensor output plateau region is included in the response time of the exhaust gas sensor, responsivity of the exhaust gas sensor cannot be accurately evaluated, and accuracy in detection of deterioration of the exhaust gas sensor responsivity may be reduced.

Abnormality diagnosis device for exhaust gas sensor


A method, non-transitory computer readable medium, and circuit for clock phase generation are disclosed. The circuit includes an injection locked oscillator, a loop controller, and a phase interpolator. The injection locked oscillator includes an input for receiving an injected clock signal and an output for forwarding a set of fixed clock phases. The loop controller includes an input for receiving a phase separation error of the fixed clock phases and an output for forwarding a supply voltage derived from the phase separation error. The supply voltage matches the free running frequency of the injection locked oscillator to a frequency of the injected clock signal. The phase interpolator includes an input for receiving the set of fixed clock phases directly from the injection locked oscillator, an input for receiving the supply voltage from the loop controller, and an output for forwarding an arbitrary clock phase.

Many serializer/deserializer (SERDES) implementations used for high-speed digital communications utilize a phase interpolator to generate an arbitrary clock phase. In order to generate the arbitrary clock phase, the phase interpolator typically requires a set of fixed clock phases as inputs. The set of fixed clock phases may be generated centrally, and subsequently shared among multiple communication lanes via global distribution. Alternatively, the set of clock fixed phases may be generated locally in each communication lane, close to the destination.
A centrally generated set of fixed clock phases amortizes power costs among the multiple communication lanes, but increases the global buffering power and phase error accumulation necessary to distribute the set of fixed clock phases. A locally generated set of fixed clock phases consumes less global buffering power, but the power cost of generating the set of fixed clock phases cannot be amortized. As such, the decision to generate the set of fixed clock phases centrally or locally balances power and performance considerations.

Method and apparatus for clock phase generation


The present invention is a deep draft partially submersible and buoyant floating vessel comprised of at least three independent vertical columns. The columns have an upper column with an upper column diameter and a lower column integrally connected to the upper column with a lower column diameter smaller than the upper column diameters. The lower column contains a variable ballast, a free flooding ballast, and a lower column fixed ballast. The lower pontoon is connected to each lower column opposite the upper column. The lower pontoon has lower pontoon fixed ballast means. A deck is located on the columns for supporting a tensioner assembly.

Many types of structures exist for oil and gas exploration, however few exist that can perform drilling and production operations and be moveable. Still fewer structures can perform drilling, production, and workover operations in deep waters, far from shore.
A need has existed for an improved, versatile vessel that can be used for demanding drilling operations in deep waters, yet be a floating vessel that can be towed from site to site for work.
Additionally, a need has existed for a vessel that is transparent to the motion of the waves about the lower portions of the rig, while having a center of gravity below the center of buoyancy to reduce the effects of heave and roll motion during use.
A need has existed for a rig that can additionally reduce the effects of pitch, yaw, and sway on risers connected to the rig.
The present invention contemplates reducing or eliminating many of the drawbacks associated with other conventional deep water rigs, and providing a mobile, stable rig, having superior motion characteristics and reduced response to wind and wave forces.

Deep draft semisubmersible movable offshore structure


A laser beam having homogeneous intensity distribution is delivered without causing interference stripes of a laser to appear on an irradiation surface. A laser beam emitted from a laser oscillator passes through a diffractive optical element so that the intensity distribution thereof is homogenized. The beam emitted from the diffractive optical element then passes through a slit so that low-intensity end portions in a major-axis direction of the beam are blocked. Subsequently, the beam passes through a projecting lens and a condensing lens, so that an image of the slit is projected onto the irradiation surface. The projecting lens is provided so that the slit and the irradiation surface are conjugated. Thus, the irradiation surface can be irradiated with the laser having homogeneous intensity while preventing the diffraction by the slit.

In recent years, a technique for manufacturing a thin film transistor (hereinafter referred to as a TFT) over a substrate has drastically progressed and development for applying a TFT to an active matrix display device has been advanced. In particular, since a TFT using a polycrystalline semiconductor film has higher electric field effect mobility (also referred to as mobility, simply) than a conventional TFT using an amorphous semiconductor film, high speed operation is possible. Therefore, it has been attempted that a pixel, which has been controlled by a driver circuit provided outside a substrate, is controlled by a driver circuit provided over the same substrate as the pixel.
A substrate used for a semiconductor device is expected to be a glass substrate rather than a quartz substrate or a single-crystal semiconductor substrate in terms of cost. However, a glass substrate is inferior in heat resistance and Easy to be deformed due to heat. Therefore, when a semiconductor film formed over a glass substrate is crystallized to form a TFT using a polycrystalline semiconductor film, laser annealing is often employed in order to prevent the glass substrate from being deformed due to heat.
Compared with another annealing method which uses radiation heat or conduction heat, the laser annealing has advantages that the process time can be shortened drastically and that a semiconductor substrate or a semiconductor film over a substrate can be heated selectively and locally so that thermal damage is hardly given to the substrate. The laser annealing method described here indicates a technique to recrystallize an amorphous layer or a damaged layer formed in a semiconductor substrate or a semiconductor film, and a technique to crystallize a non-single crystal semiconductor film formed over a substrate. Further, a technique applied to planarization or modification of the surface of a semiconductor substrate or a semiconductor film is also included.
Laser oscillators used for the laser annealing can be roughly categorized into pulsed laser oscillators and continuous wave laser oscillators according to the oscillation method. In recent years, it has been known that the size of a crystal grain formed in a semiconductor film becomes larger when using a continuous wave laser oscillator such as an Ar laser or a YVO4 laser than when using a pulsed laser oscillator such as an excimer laser in crystallizing the semiconductor film. When the size of the crystal grain in the semiconductor film becomes larger, the number of crystal grain boundaries in a channel region of a TFT formed using this semiconductor film decreases, and the carrier mobility becomes higher, so that a more sophisticated device can be developed. For this reason, a continuous wave laser oscillator is attracting attention.
In general, a laser beam which is used for laser annealing of a semiconductor film has a linear spot shape and the laser annealing is conducted by moving the linear spot of the laser beam on the semiconductor film. By shaping the laser beam into the linear spot, the area annealed by the laser beam at one time can be made larger. In this specification, laser beams having a linear shape and a rectangular shape on an irradiation surface are referred to as a linear beam and a rectangular beam, respectively. It is to be noted that the term of "linear" herein used does not mean a line in a strict sense but means a rectangle having a high aspect ratio (for example, aspect ratio of 10 or higher (preferably 100 to 10000)). The laser beam is shaped into a linear spot because energy density required for sufficient annealing to an irradiation object can be secured. Therefore, as long as sufficient annealing can be conducted to the irradiation object, the laser beam may be shaped into a rectangular or planar spot. In the future, there is possibility that laser annealing is conducted with a planar beam.
On the other hand, when a silicon film having a thickness of several tens to several hundred nm, which is generally used in a semiconductor device, is crystallized with a YAG laser or a YVO4 laser, a second harmonic having a shorter wavelength than the fundamental wave is used. This is because the second harmonic has higher absorption coefficient of a laser beam to a semiconductor film than the fundamental wave and the semiconductor film can be crystallized effectively with the second harmonic. The fundamental wave is rarely used in this step.
An example of this step is as follows: a CW (continuous wave) laser beam converted into a second harmonic having a wavelength of 532 nm and a power of 10 W is shaped into a linear beam spot with a length of about 300 μm in a major-axis direction and about 10 μm in a minor-axis direction and this linear beam is moved in the minor-axis direction, thereby conducting laser annealing. Thus, crystallization is performed. The width of a region where a large grain crystal is obtained by one scan is approximately 200 μm (hereinafter, a region where a large grain crystal is observed is referred to as a large grain region). Therefore, in order to crystallize the whole surface of the substrate by laser annealing, it is necessary to carry out laser annealing in such a way that a position from which a laser beam is moved is displaced in a major-axis direction of a beam spot by a width of a large grain region obtained by one scan of the beam spot.
The present applicant has already made the invention in which a semiconductor film is irradiated with a laser beam shaped into a linear beam at or in the vicinity of an irradiation surface, and filed patent application (see, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-257885).

Laser irradiation apparatus and laser irradiation method

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The invention allows an online print engine to enhance a printing quality and a user experience of an online printing system. The invention may be used for photo books, photo cards, photo calendars, and in other online print situations. One embodiment is a print engine residing on and executable from a digital medium, the print engine integrated with a graphical user interface (GUI) for creating and editing photo-based projects over a data network, the print engine including a communications link to a print server and a printer connected to the data network, a print queue for queuing printing tasks, and an effects filter size-reduction module. The print engine automatically senses via the effects filter size-reduction module if the area of a filter is greater than a pre-defined threshold, and if so produces a smaller filter embedded into a bitmap image, after which the bitmap image is scaled back up to the filters original size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of electronic commerce and pertains particularly to a print configuration engine integrated with an online collage-based editor.
2. Discussion of the State of the Art
In the field of electronic commerce also known as ecommerce, there are project-oriented Websites where users may create and edit works including models, poems, art, and photo-based products. Websites catering to photo-based editing promote online publishing and online transacting relative to printed works. The current state of such electronic services leaves much to be desired. Many of these services have fixed templates and multiple interfaces for project editing, making it tedious to get the desired output.
Other problems with the current state of photo-based services include inflexibility of the editor interface relative to process steps for editing content. Most such processes are not transparent and could lead to errors in printing and therefore in the final output product. Furthermore, each typical project is initiated from scratch in a way that does not promote efficiency from start to finish of a project.
One problem with the current state of photo-editing services is that printing output is often not optimized for the content being printed. Much manual pre-configuration is required before a decent print output is achieved.
Therefore, what is clearly needed is a print configuration engine integrated with an online collage-based editor for editing and printing image and or text-based projects.

Print configuration engine integrated with an online collage-based editor


A seat slide device includes: a first rail which extends in a longitudinal direction; a second rail which extends in the longitudinal direction and is joined to the first rail to be capable of relative movement in the longitudinal direction; lock holes which form the first rail, are open in a portion facing the second rail, are provided to extend such that one end in a short direction of the first rail forms an opening portion, another end forms a base portion including a base wall, and which are disposed at an equal interval in the longitudinal direction; and a lock lever which is joined to the second rail in a state of being capable of reciprocal movement in the short direction and is provided integrally with engaging protrusions capable of entering and exiting any of the lock holes in accordance with the reciprocal movement.

In the related art, there is known a seat slide device for adjusting a seat position of a vehicle such as an automobile in a vehicle front-rear direction (for example, refer to Japanese Patent No. 3788637 (Reference 1)).
The seat slide device is provided with a first rail and a second rail which both extend in a longitudinal direction, and the rails are joined to be capable of relative movement in the longitudinal direction (specifically, a vehicle front-rear direction). One (a lower rail) of the first rail and the second rail is fixed to a floor of the vehicle, and the other (an upper rail) is fixed to a seat of the vehicle. The first rail includes a plurality of lock holes which are open in a portion facing the second rail and which are shaped to extend in a short direction (specifically, a vehicle top-bottom direction). The lock holes are disposed to line up at an equal interval in the longitudinal direction of the first rail. The second rail includes a lock lever which is joined such that one end may move reciprocally in the short direction. The end portion of the lock lever is integrally provided with engaging protrusions which are capable of entering and exiting any of the plurality of lock holes in accordance with the reciprocal movement.
In a state in which the engaging protrusions of the lock lever are exited from the lock holes, since the engaging protrusions do not engage with the lock holes, relative movement becomes possible between the first rail and the second rail, and it becomes possible to change the seat position. In a state in which the seat position is set to a desired position, when the lock lever is operated and the engaging protrusions of the lock lever enter the lock holes, the engaging protrusions of the lock lever are locked into the lock holes. Accordingly, the relative movement in the longitudinal direction between the first rail and the second rail is restricted, and the seat position is fixed at the desired position.
In the seat slide device, the relative movement in the longitudinal direction between the first rail and the second rail is restricted due to the engaging protrusions of the lock lever abutting against the inner surfaces of the lock holes. Therefore, in the inner surfaces of the lock holes, the inner surface shape of the portion against which the engaging protrusions abut is defined as a shape capable of supporting the engaging protrusions (specifically, the lock lever) at a desired orientation.
Ordinarily, one end portion of the lock hole in the short direction is a base portion which blocks the lock hole, and the inner surface shape of the base portion is a shape which facilitates the manufacture of the first rail, where a portion corresponding to the boundary between the base wall and the side wall of the lock hole being formed as a curved surface or the like, and the inner surface shape of the base portion is not a shape capable of appropriately supporting the lock lever.
In the seat slide device, although the engaging protrusions of the lock lever do not abut against the base portions of the lock holes at ordinary times, the engaging protrusions may abut against the base portions of the lock holes due to variation in the engaging protrusions and the lock holes with the passage of time, shock applied to the device in accordance with a vehicle collision, or the like. In this case, since it may no longer be possible to appropriately support the engaging protrusions of the lock lever with the inner surfaces of the lock holes, this can become a cause leading to destabilization of the fixing state of the seat position.


An apparatus (1) to assist a patient's respiration by delivering air to a patient through a mask (20), including a ramp module (10) connected to a control unit (2) to provide the control unit with a pressure value PM at mask (20), so that when apparatus (1) starts functioning, the pressure progressively rises until it reaches a treatment pressure PTi, the apparatus further including a comparator connected to ramp module (10), at least one device for detecting the patient's breathing parameters and sending them to the comparator, so that the comparator can determine whether an event (E1, E2 or E3) occurs in patient's breathing and to send the corresponding data to ramp module (10) which provides control unit (2) with a pressure value PM that will speed up with respect of time, so that the pressure rise at patient's mask (20) is accelerated.

In many treatments apparatus are used to provide patients with air. More frequently they are used for patients with a breathing deficiency caused for example by the weakness of the breathing system or by obstructive apneas during the sleep. In those cases it is important to control the pressure of the air delivered to the patient. With respiratory insufficient patients, apparatus providing air at a higher pressure help to compensate the weakness of the patients lungs. In the case of patients suffering of sleep apneas, providing the air at a higher pressure removes the obstruction of the upper airways.
The pressure of treatment is usually not strong enough to wake the patient up, but can prevent him from falling asleep. An implementation of treatments apparatus is to wait for the patient to fall asleep before providing air under the treatment pressure. The classical solution is to have a ramp period, which is a slow increase of the delivered pressure from a low level to the treatment pressure.
Still to enhance the comfort of the patient, it is disclosed in patent U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,492,113 and 5,970,975 an apparatus wherein several cycles of ramp are provided on patient's conscious demand. The cycles actuated after the first cycle rise faster in pressure. All those ramps are predetermined in shape and duration. The patient can also select a fastest shape of ramp or select one special shape in order to fall asleep more easily. This selection being made among different predetermined shapes of ramp. However, such devices require from the patient a minimum of consciousness to activate the ramp cycles. This is not really very efficient to fall asleep and it is not possible when the patient has fallen asleep.
Moreover each ramp can not be modified during the time when the ramp is activated.

Apparatus to assist a patient's breathing with a variable ramp period to rise to treatment pressure


A polarization insensitive optical attenuator (10,40) uses a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) film (14,56) to provide attenuation control over a wide range of attenuation values. The attenuator has a relatively low minimum attenuation and reliable light transmission with minimal insertion loss. The present invention is also adaptable for use with a temperature controller (200) that stabilizes the PDLC film, which promotes more uniform, predictable attenuation values.

Optical attenuators are currently employed in optical test and measurement instrumentation and optical communication systems. The following background information is presented herein only by way of example with reference to an optical attenuator that is suitable for use in an optical fiber communication system. One type of conventional optical fiber communication system employs an optical fiber that transmits a light beam emitted by a semiconductor laser having narrow spectral linewidth characteristics. The light beam propagates through the optical fiber and strikes a light detector at an intensity or power level that occasionally oversaturates the detector and thereby causes a loss of information carried by the light beam.
Detector oversaturation can occur as a consequence of changes in the number of local area network users. Such changes cause variations in the light beam intensity received by the detector and sometimes result in information loss. To solve this problem, an optical attenuator may be used to vary the intensity of the light beam to a level within the operational range of the detector, preferably without undesirable variations in the spatial, temporal, spectral, or polarization distribution of the light beam.
Commercially available optical attenuators typically use either mechanical or nonmechanical devices to reduce the light beam intensity. One type of mechanical optical attenuator positions an object to obstruct the path of an expanded light beam. Such objects include, for example, neutral density filters or circularly graded half-silvered mirrors that are moveable or rotatable into and out of the beam path. Another type of mechanical attenuator moves a prism made of absorbing material within the beam path to vary the optical path length within the absorbing medium to increase its absorptive capacity. Because of their complexity, mechanical optical attenuators of the above-described types are costly, do not offer reliable precision control, and often increase the end separation or the transverse offset of a fiber splice. Increased end separation and transverse offset cause light loss, and may thereby cause information loss when the light beam is detected.
Nonmechanical optical attenuators may be as complex and costly as mechanical attenuators and often require additional light beam polarization control devices. One type of nonmechanical optical attenuator that includes electrooptical cells is described in Hanson "Polarization-Independent Liquid Crystal Optical Attenuator for Fiber-Optics Applications," Applied Optics, Vol. 21, No. 7, 1342 (1982). The attenuator uses a twisted nematic liquid crystal cell across which a variable voltage is applied to change the polarization state of an input beam. The cell is positioned between two planar calcite displacement prisms in an assembly that is placed in front of an optical fiber. The assembly splits the input beam into components that are either directed to or away from the optical fiber, depending on the voltage applied across the cell. The applied voltage affects the polarization states and, therefore, the directions of the beam components propagating through the cell. The attenuator is costly and very difficult to align.
One problem associated with a twisted nematic liquid crystal cell is its dependence on polarization devices, which can be a severe limitation because the state of polarization of a light beam in an optical fiber is generally unknown and often changes in response to thermal or mechanical stresses or inherent birefringence in the fiber. However, microdroplet-containing liquid crystal films offer light scattering properties that are potentially useful in an optical attenuator. A liquid crystal microdroplet film is a transparent, solid matrix containing generally spherically-shaped microdroplets of substantially pure nematic liquid crystal material. Such a film may be made, for example, from polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) or latex microencapsulated liquid crystal material.
Whenever no voltage is applied across a PDLC film (i.e., the "OFF state"), the liquid crystal molecules randomly align and develop a mismatch between the solid polymer matrix index of refraction, n.sub.p, and the effective index of refraction of the liquid crystal microdroplets, n.sub.d, thereby strongly scattering light incident to the film. The value of n.sub.d depends on the orientation and ordering of the liquid crystal molecules in the microdroplets. Whenever a voltage of sufficient magnitude is applied across a PDLC film (i.e., the "ON state"), the liquid crystal molecules align parallel to the field and change the value of n.sub.d to approach that of n.sub.p, thereby causing the film to become transparent. The size and distribution of the microdroplets can be adjusted to change the transmissivity of the film in the OFF state, in a manner more fully described by J. W. Doane et al., "Field Controlled Light Scattering from Nematic Microdroplets," Appl. Phys. Lett. 48, 269 (1986).
The shape or geometry of microdroplets in liquid crystal microdroplet films is of interest because the shape of the microdroplets largely determines the attenuation capability of the films. For example, relaxation response time performance can be reduced and OFF state scattering characteristics can be improved for liquid crystal microdroplet films if the microdroplets are formed such that they have oblate-spheroid or disk-shape and have their maximum cross-sectional areas disposed perpendicular to the direction of light propagation. Oblate-spheroid microdroplets increase the restoring forces on central molecules to allow the cell to relax into the OFF state more rapidly. Whenever the film is in the OFF state, light will be more strongly scattered by each microdroplet because the average molecular ordering is more nearly perpendicular to the direction of light beam propagation and the effective refractive indices of the microdroplets are mismatched by a greater degree with respect to the index of refraction of the polymer matrix. The oblate-spheroid microdroplet geometry also provides liquid crystal microdroplet films with more predictable, constant optical performance over time.
The microdroplet geometry in the films can be affected by applying external pressure during film polymerization. For example, substrate surface adhesion techniques or electric or magnetic fields can be used to affect the shape of the microdroplets. Specifically, a liquid crystal film undergoes net expansion during curing because the mixture of matrix material has a higher coefficient of thermal expansion than that of a glass substrate on which the film is supported. During cooling, the film contracts only in the direction perpendicular to the glass substrate because the film adheres to the glass substrate surface and, therefore, does not contract in the direction tangential to the surface. The resulting liquid crystal film has oblate-spheroid microdroplets.
The optical performance of liquid crystal microdroplet films also may be enhanced by certain techniques carried out during the curing step of the liquid crystal microdroplet film preparation. An improperly cured liquid crystal microdroplet film can have contaminant polymer precursors solidified within the microdroplets. A post curing step generally increases the purification of the liquid crystal material in the microdroplets, thereby decreasing the number of contaminant polymer precursors and increasing the dynamic attenuation range of the film.

Liquid crystal fiber optic attenuator and process for making same


A system associates multiple discrete traffic flows within a computer network into a group, and allows the traffic flows corresponding to a given group to share a single set of resources. A sourcing entity preferably generates a locally unique resource identifier (ID) for use in requesting a reservation of network resources for a first traffic flow or session. Intermediate network devices within the computer network reserve a set of resources and associate the reservation with the specified resource ID. The sourcing entity may then re-use this same resource ID in a subsequent request to reserve resources for a second traffic flow or session. The intermediate network devices determine that a reservation made by the sourcing entity and associated with this resource ID already exists and, rather than reserve additional or further resources for the second traffic flow or session, share the previously reserved resources between the two traffic flows or sessions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computer networks and, more specifically to the reservation of bandwidth in computer networks.
2. Background Information
Computer networks typically comprise a plurality of interconnected entities. An entity may consist of any device, such as a computer or end station, that "sources" (i.e., transmits) or "sinks" (i.e., receives) datagrams (e.g., packets and/or frames). A common type of computer network is a local area network ("LAN") which typically refers to a privately owned network within a single building or campus. LANs typically employ a data communication protocol (LAN standard), such as Ethernet, FDDI or token ring, that defines the functions performed by the data link and physical layers of a communications architecture (i.e., a protocol stack). In many instances, several LANs may be interconnected by point-to-point links, microwave transceivers, satellite hook-ups, etc. to form a wide area network ("WAN") or intranet that may span an entire country or continent.
One or more intermediate network devices are often used to couple LANs together and allow the corresponding entities to exchange information. For example, a bridge may be used to provide a "bridging" function between two or more LANs. Alternatively, a switch may be utilized to provide a "switching" function for transferring information between a plurality of LANs or end stations. Bridges and switches may operate at various levels of the communication protocol stack. For example, a switch may operate at layer 2 which, in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model, is called the data link layer and includes the Logical Link Control (LLC) and Media Access Control (MAC) sub-layers. Data frames at the data link layer typically include a header containing the MAC address of the entity sourcing the message, referred to as the source address, and the MAC address of the entity to whom the message is being sent, referred to as the destination address. To perform the switching function, layer 2 switches examine the MAC destination address of each data frame received on a source port. The frame is then switched onto the destination port(s) associated with that MAC destination address.
Other network devices, commonly referred to as routers, may operate at higher communication layers, such as layers 3 and 4 of the OSI Reference Model, which in Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networks corresponds to the IP and the TCP/User Datagram Protocol (TCP/UDP) layers. Data frames at the IP layer include a header which contains an IP source address and an IP destination address, while frames at the TCP/IP layer include source and destination port numbers. Routers or layer 3 switches may re-assemble or convert received data frames from one LAN standard (e.g., Ethernet) to another (e.g. token ring). Thus, layer 3 devices are often used to interconnect dissimilar subnetworks.
Voice Over IP (VoIP)
Traditionally, computer networks were used to exchange static files or data, such as text and spreadsheet files, while the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) was used to exchange voice information. Computer networks, however, are increasingly being used to transport "voice" information. Voice over IP (VoIP) typically refers to a group of technologies used to transmit voice information over computer networks. Such networks include a plurality of voice agents that convert voice information from its traditional telephony form to a form that is suitable for packet transmission. In other words, the voice agent encodes, compresses and encapsulates the voice information into a plurality of data packets. Examples of voice agents include IP telephones, VoIP gateways, certain private branch exchanges (PBXs), personal computers (PCs) running communication applications, network devices providing voice gateway services, etc. A calling party uses a voice agent to initiate a VoIP call. Once the voice information has been converted into packet format, it is carried by the computer network to a second voice agent configured to serve the called party. Voice traffic, unlike static data files or records, is highly sensitive to delay and to lost packets. That is, delays in receiving data packets carrying voice information at the called party's voice agent can seriously degrade the quality of the call. Accordingly, packets carrying voice information must be delivered to the called party with high probability and in a timely manner.
Computer networks include numerous services and resources for use in forwarding network traffic. For example, different network links, such as Fast Ethernet, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) channels, SONET links, satellite links, etc., offer different speed and bandwidth capabilities. Particular intermediate devices also include specific resources or services, such as priority queues, filter settings, traffic shapers, queue selection strategies, congestion control algorithms, etc. that affect the rate at which traffic moves through the device and thus across the network. Depending on the selection or allocation of such resources or services, network traffic for different sources and sinks can be forwarded at different speeds or rates, thereby controlling the loss and/or delay experienced by the traffic.
The Resource Reservation Protocol
As set forth above, to support VoIP, packets carrying voice information must typically be delivered within narrow time constraints. Although many computer networks have the resources and services to meet the delivery requirements of VoIP, these resources and services must be allocated, preferably in advance, to the correct network traffic. The Resource reSerVation Protocol (RSVP), which is set forth at RFC 2205, is a signaling protocol that was developed so that entities (typically referred to as receivers) could reserve bandwidth within their computer networks to receive from one or more sourcing entities a desired traffic flow, such as multimedia stream. Pursuant to RSVP, sources send RSVP Path messages identifying themselves and indicating the bandwidth needed to receive their programming or content. These messages proceed hop-by-hop through the intermediate network devices, making those devices aware of the possibility that a reservation of resources may be required. If a receiver is interested in the programming or content offered by a particular source, it responds with a RSVP Reservation (Resv) message, which travels hop-by-hop back to the source. At each hop, the corresponding intermediate device establishes a session for the receiver and sets aside sufficient resources to provide the requested bandwidth for the desired traffic flow. These resources are immediately made available to the traffic flow. If the resources are not available, the reservation is refused explicitly so that the receiver knows it cannot depend on the corresponding resources being devoted to its traffic. By using RSVP, packets carrying voice information can be accorded the resources and services they need to ensure timely delivery.
VoIP telephones and voice applications are increasingly being offered with greater feature sets. One such feature is "call waiting", which is a common service or feature of conventional, analog telephone sets. With call waiting, a first party who is on the phone with a second party is alerted to an incoming call from a third party. The first party can put the second party on hold and answer the call from the third party. The first party can even alternate back and forth between second and third parties. VoIP telephones and voice applications support of call waiting, however, can create potential problems, such as the setting aside of resources unnecessarily.
In particular, the VoIP telephone or application will typically use RSVP to reserve separate resources along the entire route to both the second and third parties to support the two calls. However, because call waiting only allows the first party to talk to either the second or the third party at any given point in time, only one set of the resources will be in use at any instant. That is, at any given time, the VoIP telephone or application will be generating packets for forwarding to either the second party or the third party, but not both. Nonetheless, resources will remain reserved to support traffic to both the second and third parties at all times. As a result, resources that could be applied to other traffic are wasted. In addition, the request to reserve resources for the third party may fail admission control at one or more devices along that portion of the route shared with the second party even though a separate set of resources are really not required. This would result in the voice traffic to or from the third party being denied access to adequate resources and thus severely degrading the "quality" of the call, even though resources set aside for the second party remain idle.

System for sharing resources among RSVP sessions


A battery pack includes a number of battery modules, a case, a circulation unit and a control unit. The case accommodates the plurality of battery modules therein. The circulation unit is positioned in the case so as to circulate heat generated from the plurality of battery modules. The control unit selects one or more of the number of battery modules and operates the circulation unit using power of the selected battery modules. Accordingly, the temperature equilibrium of the battery pack is implemented by conducting heat from a high-temperature battery module to a low-temperature battery module, so that it is possible to decrease the degree of deterioration and to extend the lifetime of the battery pack.

1. Field of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention generally relates to a battery pack.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, battery packs have been variously used as power sources of portable electronic devices. As the portable electronic devices are used in various fields, demands on battery packs are rapidly increased. The battery packs can be charged/discharged a plurality of times, and accordingly are economically and environmentally efficient. Thus, the use of the battery packs is encouraged.
The above information disclosed in this Related Art section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.


A torque limiter, in particular for a surgical instrument, comprises a rotor (4) and a cage (8) arranged coaxially in relation to the rotor (4), the cage has at least one rolling body holder (7) with a rolling body (6) held in it, the rolling body holder (7) has at least one side wall which is arranged at an oblique angle relative to a circumferential direction of the cage (8).

In surgery, screws or other components often have to be tightened with a defined torque. In such cases, a maximum torque in the direction of the tightening of the screw must not be exceeded in order to avoid damage to the components or to bones. On the other hand, loosening of the screw should be possible, including with a higher torque, in order for it to be possible in the event of a seized screw to remove it again from the body. For this reason, torque limiters such as are used in surgery are fundamentally different from torque limiters such as are used generally in mechanics, since in the case of the latter a freewheel is usually arranged in the opposite direction.
There are torque limiters known from the prior art that operate with an elastic body which can transmit a torque from an inner shaft to an outer rotor. For instance, European Patent Application EP 2 085 041 A1 relates to a corresponding surgical instrument. It is disadvantageous, however, that the maximum torque is determined by the elastic body. Furthermore, fatigue of the synthetic materials of the elastic body may bring about a change in the properties of the instrument. This is disadvantageous, since the maximum transmissible torque can change.


A method in a controller node for performing segment routing in a non-packet data network comprising a plurality of nodes, comprises receiving information relating to the topology of the non-packet data network connecting the plurality of nodes, the non-packet data network forming a data plane network. The method comprises computing a segment routing path to be taken for non-packet traffic data through the data plane network, wherein the segment routing path is computed using segment identifiers, SIDs, relating to a data communication network, DCN, coupled to the plurality of nodes. The method comprises sending the computed segment routing path to an ingress node of the data plane network.

Segment Routing is a network technology that provides enhanced packet forwarding behaviour while minimizing the need for maintaining awareness of mass volumes of network states.
It is commonly used for application-enabled routing in software defined networks as it has the ability to provide strict network performance guarantees, efficient use of network resources and very high scalability for application-based transactions.
Segment routing technology has been defined for Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) data planes.
In contrast, at present, non-packet transport networks such as optical networks are typically controlled based on fully distributed Generalized MPLS (GMPLS) control panes or a fully centralized control plane, for example an Open Flow based Software Defined Networking (SDN) solution.
However, fully centralized solutions are highly dependent on the availability and connectivity of an SDN controller and often have low performance in terms of scalability and resiliency.
Furthermore, fully distributed GMPLS control planes rely on signalling protocols, which implies a high effort in terms of the configuration maintenance and management complexity of the control plane. Also, as this is as stateful approach a periodic update is required.

Apparatus and method for segment routing


A thermal head includes a substrate, a heat-generating portion, electrodes, and a protective layer. The heat-generating portion is located on the substrate. The electrodes are located on the substrate and are connected to the heat-generating portion. The protective layer covers the heat-generating portion and parts of the electrodes. Further, a kurtosis Rku of the protective layer is smaller than 3. A thermal head includes a substrate, a heat-generating portion, electrodes, and a protective layer. The heat-generating portion is located on the substrate. The electrodes are located on the substrate and are connected to the heat-generating portion. The protective layer covers the heat-generating portion and parts of the electrodes. Further, a skewness Rsk of the protective layer is smaller than 0.

Conventionally, as a printing device of facsimiles, video printers, etc., various thermal heads have been proposed. For example, known in the art is a thermal head provided with a substrate, heat-generating portions positioned on the substrate, electrodes which are positioned on the substrate and are connected to the heat-generating portions, and a protective layer covering the heat-generating portions and parts of electrodes (see Patent Literature 1).


A soft magnetic core is provided, in which permeabilities that occur at least two different locations of the core are different. A method for producing a soft magnetic core that has different permeabilities at at least two different locations is also provided.

1. Field
The disclosure relates to cores of soft magnetic material, for example for producing inductances.
2. Description of Related Art
In electronic control devices such as, for example, DC-DC converters, storage inductors, storage transformers or filter inductors with low-permeable core material are often used, for example, as inductive energy storage devices. In the cores of these inductive components, highly non-uniform field distributions can occur, depending on the design. In general, the core material is therefore not optimally saturated or used over the site. Even for relatively highly symmetrical annular core inductors, this is still noticeably the case, and for a larger inside-to-outside diameter ratio, this leads to less optimum designs since at a given volume, the maximum possible inductance is not reached or for given inductance, the smallest or most economical design is not achieved.

Soft magnetic core with position-dependent permeability


The present application discloses a recombinant AAV vector comprising a promoter that targets gene expression to myofibroblast-like lineage of cells in the heart. The present application, also discloses the preparation and use of AAV expression cassettes using a modified periostin promoter that successfully drives gene expression in cardiac myofibroblast-like cells. The present invention encompasses compositions and methods useful for treating myocardial infarction. Further comprising compositions and methods for preparing and using AAV vectors for targeting cells and inducing gene expression. The compositions and methods of the invention are useful for efficiently targeting cardiac myofibroblasts following a cardiac injury, disease, or disorder. Further comprising a kit for effecting alleviation of the various diseases or disorders recited herein.

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has been used to program gene expression in a variety of tissues, including heart, liver, skeletal muscle, brain, kidney and lung.1,2 AAV9, in particular, provides highly efficient transduction in cardiac muscle.3,4 However, it has not previously been shown to transduce fibroblasts in vivo, including cardiac fibroblasts.
Studies by Zak5 and Nag6 demonstrated that fibroblasts account for over half of the cardiac cell population in adult rats, although more recent studies have shown that this fraction is lower in mice.? While cardiac fibroblasts are normally quiescent in the heart, after injury they differentiate into myofibroblasts, which are integral to the post-myocardial infarction (MI) wound healing process.8,9 After MI, myofibroblasts infiltrate the infarct zone, where they contribute to scar formation through collagen deposition and the secretion of cytokines, matrix metalloproteinases, and growth factors.7,10 While this normal healing response is crucial to prevent cardiac rupture, it generates non-contractile scar instead of regenerating viable myocardium. As a result, infarct-targeted therapies are needed to reprogram the post-infarct healing process away from scar formation and towards cardiac regeneration.7,11,12 Previous studies have targeted gene therapy to cardiomyocytes,11 but the ability to modulate myofibroblast behavior would open new avenues of therapy to treat LV remodeling in patients recovering from MI.
Several serotypes of AAV have been used to transduce fibroblasts in vitro. Studies using AAV6, -8 and -9 in cultures of human corneal fibroblasts have demonstrated 25-50 fold greater transgene expression using AAV6 as compared to the other two serotypes.13 However, despite this success in cell culture, AAV has not been shown to efficiently transduce fibroblasts, cardiac or otherwise, in vivo. Because a variety of AAV serotypes transduce cardiomyocytes after systemic administration,2,14 any therapy aimed at cardiac fibroblasts would benefit from a promoter that minimizes transcription of exogenous genes in cardiomyocytes to avoid off-target effects. Lindsley et al. dissected a 3.9 kilobase promoter responsible for controlling the transcription of periostin, an epithelial ligand and matricellular protein commonly expressed by fibroblasts.9,15,16
There is a long felt need in the art for compositions and methods useful for treating myocardial infarction and similar cardiac injuries, diseases, and disorders. The present invention satisfies these needs.

Compositions and methods for adeno-associated virus mediated gene expression in myofibroblast-like cells

University of Virginia Patent Foundation


According to various embodiments, an electronic device may include a carrier including at least a first region and a second region being laterally adjacent to each other; an electrically insulating structure arranged in the first region of the carrier, wherein the second region of the carrier is free of the electrically insulating structure; a first electronic component arranged in the first region of the carrier over the electrically insulating structure; a second electronic component arranged in the second region of the carrier; wherein the electrically insulating structure includes one or more hollow chambers, wherein the sidewalls of the one or more hollow chambers are covered with an electrically insulating material.

In general, a power electronic device, such as a diode, a bipolar junction transistor, an insulated gate bipolar transistor, or a power metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (power MOSFET), may be operated at a high voltage, e.g. up to 1000 V or up to 5000 V, and a high current, e.g. up to 100 A or up to 5000 A. Therefore, an additional external electronic device may be necessary to control the power electronic device or to analyze the function of the power electronic device, since for example a logic circuit, a switching circuit, or a measurement circuit (e.g. temperature sensor) may not withstand the high voltages and/or the high currents typically operated by a power electronic device.

Method for manufacturing an electronic device and method for operating an electronic device


Minimizing bandwidth cost for a participant in an online game, the method including: querying the game participant to determine a network service charge model; selecting a role for the game participant based on the determined network service charge model and a position of the participant in a network topology; and positioning the game participant into the selected role within the network topology of the online game.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an online game, and more specifically, to a network game topology for such an online game.
2. Background
The popularity of multiplayer online games on the Internet has dramatically increased in recent years. Unlike conventional single player electronic games, multiplayer online games enable a player to participate in games with other players, either as an individual or as a team member. The multiplayer aspect of these games adds to the players' gaming experience by offering new gaming considerations, including strategy, teamwork, and rivalries.
In order to enable playing of a multiplayer online game, host services must be provided by either an individual or a third-party host. Host services are typically executed on a host computer or server that determines the participants in the game, and whether new players may be added to each game session. However, these host services typically do not take networking costs of the game participants. As the Internet economic model evolves, and the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) change the contract with their customers from a flat rate contract (which charges a flat rate based on maximum bandwidth) to a "per-byte transferred" contract (which charges a rate based on total content uploaded and downloaded), the customers are becoming more conscious of their network usage.

Minimizing bandwidth costs for online games

Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc.


A computer-implemented method may include: receiving first data that may include information associated with an error in an execution of code; based on the first data, determining: for each contributor in a predetermined list of contributors: a respective familiarity value indicative of an amount of association between the contributor and the error in the code; and a respective set of task management statistics; and an urgency value of the error; using an optimization model, selecting at least one contributor from the predetermined list of contributors to assign to the error, the optimization model based on the respective familiarity values and the respective sets of task management statistics for each contributor, and the urgency value of the error; and transmitting a notification indicative of the error to a computing device associated with the at least one contributor assigned to the error.

Software development and support, especially when involving the work of multiple contributors, may be very complex. Tools have been developed to address such complexity, and/or to express software development issues in ways that are human-understandable. For example, version control tools have been developed in order to track how software code has been changed, by whom, and when. Debugging tools have been developed in order to facilitate identifying portions of computer code contributing to an error. However, familiarity and experience with portions of code in a project, as well as techniques for addressing errors, may vary greatly from contributor to contributor.
Given that each contributor also may have their own time commitments and responsibilities, finding a particular contributor with time available as well as familiarity and/or experience with an error in a portion of code may be difficult. Moreover, this problem may be quickly compounded, since many contributors may be working on more than one project or portion of code simultaneously, and because more than one error in various portions of code may also arise simultaneously.
The present disclosure is directed to addressing one or more of these above-referenced challenges. The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art, or suggestions of the prior art, by inclusion in this section.

System and method for managing software error resolution


A method of preparing an antibody therapeutic is provided comprising: (a) providing a dissociated cell sample from at least one solid tumor sample obtained from a patient; (b) loading the dissociated cell sample into a microfluidic device having a flow region and at least one isolation region fluidically connected to the flow region; (c) moving at least one B cell from the dissociated cell sample into at least one isolation region in the microfluidic device, thereby obtaining at least one isolated B cell; and (d) using the microfluidic device to identify at least one B cell that produces antibodies capable of binding to cancer cells. The cancer cells can be the patient's own cancer cells. Also provided are methods of treating patients, methods of labeling or detecting cancer, engineered T or NK cells comprising antibodies or fragments thereof, and engineered antibody constructs.

Immunotherapy is the burgeoning field of using a patient's own immune system to help fight cancer. A variety of immunotherapy strategies have been evaluated, including stimulating the patient's own immune system to attack cancer cells or administering immune system components from an external source. For example, monoclonal antibodies designed to attack cancer cells in vivo have been administered alone or in genetically engineered constructs. In addition, CAR-T (chimeric antigen receptor T cell) therapy has been investigated. In this therapeutic approach, genetically engineered T cells express antibody-containing fusion proteins on their surface, which target the T cells to the cancer in question and allows for the T cells to kill the cancer cells. Because the CAR-T cells can become permanently engrafted in the patient's body, this approach seems particularly promising. These approaches, however, still require further refinement.
One of the key problems in monoclonal antibody therapy or CAR-T therapy is identifying or designing an antibody that will provide the maximum benefit to the patient in question, keeping in mind that the patient may have a very short window of time before the treatment can begin or before treatment success is required to prevent significant morbidity and mortality.
The present embodiments offer a solution to identifying antibodies that will provide the maximum benefit to the patient in question, minimizing the amount of time required for research investigation and allowing for treatment to begin as soon as possible.

Methods of producing patient-specific anti-cancer therapeutics and methods of treatment therefor


A padded table for body massage or chiropractic work having a flat working surface supported upon folding legs. Table construction includes two flat top sections joined by a piano hinge so that they may be folded into parallel adjacent positions to form a case like structure which is easily carried, or they may be unfolded to form a single planar table top. When unfolded, support legs hold the table top parallel to a support surface. A unique brace and cable configuration is employed which provides table rigidity, strength and easy, fast unfolding.

The invention relates to folding tables in general, and specifically to tables for use in massage or therapeutic body work such as for the chiropractic art. The important aspect of this invention deals with the method for supporting said table while in use, and also to certain novel aspects of setting-up and refolding the table.


A dome switch can include a dome mounted to a circuit board and secured by a sheet constructed from a material that is impermeable to air. To allow air enclosed by a volume between the dome and the circuit board to be expelled when the dome is depressed, the sheet can include at least one venting hole through which air can flow to the environment of the switch. To prevent contaminants from accessing the volume between the dome and the circuit board through the at least one venting hole, the dome switch can include a membrane positioned over the venting hole. The membrane can be constructed from a material that is permeable to air, but impermeable to contaminants. In some cases, the membrane can be constructed from a mesh material.

Users can provide inputs to electronic devices using many different approaches. In some cases, an electronic device can include a dome switch, which can be actuated to provide a detectable input. The dome switch can be constructed by placing a conductive dome over a contact pad of a circuit board. When the dome is pressed, the dome can invert such that an inner surface of the dome contacts the contact pad. A volume of air enclosed between the dome and the circuit board may be expelled from the dome when the dome is depressed, for example through vents of the dome switch. The vents however, may also allow foreign contaminants or particles to enter the volume enclosed between the inner surface of the dome and the circuit board. The foreign contaminants or particles can adversely affect the operation of the dome switch by causing rust, oxidation, dendrite growth, or deposits of foreign substances.

Contaminent resistant membrane in a dome switch and methods for making the same


An induction coil (36) generates a magnetic field which induces current in an induction vessel (28). The induction vessel is heated by the current and supplies the heat to a passage (34) within the vessel. A liquid to be vaporized, such as water or hydrogen peroxide solution, is supplied to the passage where it is converted to vapor. The vapor is supplied to a defined area, such as a chamber (14) of a steam or vapor hydrogen peroxide sterilizer (10), where items are microbially decontaminated by the vapor.

The present invention relates generally to a vapor generator. It finds particular application in conjunction with steam and hydrogen peroxide vapor systems used in connection with medical device disinfection and sterilization and in the sanitation, disinfection, and sterilization of rooms, buildings, large enclosures, and bottling, packaging, and other production lines and will be described with particular reference thereto. It should be appreciated, however, that the invention is also applicable to other chemical vaporization systems such as those employing other peroxides, peracids, and the like.
A variety of microbial decontamination processes employ sterilizing vapors, such as steam or a mixture of water with another antimicrobial (e.g., hydrogen peroxide vapor), in relatively large quantities. Steam sterilizers, for example, employ pressurized high temperature dry steam as a sterilizing vapor. Unvaporized water droplets can shield microbes or prions from the steam. Hydrogen peroxide vapor systems use a flow of vapor, typically at around atmospheric pressure or below. Again, water droplets can shield microbes and prions from the peroxide.
Medical, pharmaceutical, dental, and food packaging items are often sterilized prior to use or reuse, in such systems. Vapors are also used in the decontamination of sterile enclosures and other clean rooms used by hospitals and laboratories for conducting tests in a microorganism-free environment, areas that have been microbially contaminated, and the like. Processing equipment for pharmaceuticals and food, freeze driers, and meat processing equipment are also advantageously disinfected or sterilized with a vapor.
In the case of steam, for example, microbial decontamination systems often create the steam by boiling water inside a reservoir of a steam generator, such as a boiler. A large heating element is usually located over the bottom surface of the reservoir to maintain a supply of boiling water.
In the case of other water-based antimicrobial vapors, such as hydrogen peroxide vapor, a vaporizer outside the chamber generates a flow of vapor. Typically, a solution of about 35% hydrogen peroxide in water is injected into the vaporizer as fine droplets or a mist through injection nozzles. The droplets contact a heated surface which heats the droplets to form the vapor, without breaking it down to water and oxygen. A carrier gas is circulated over the heat transfer surface to absorb the peroxide vapor.
Such vapor generation methods have disadvantages when large quantities of vapor are desired or vapor is needed at short notice. Boilers tend to be relatively large pieces of equipment, which work best when the wattage is spread out over a large heating element surface area. This keeps the watt density low and extends the life of the heating element. The large heating element surface area, however, takes up considerable space. Additionally, to avoid damage to the heating element, it is completely immersed in water. Thus, it takes some time to heat the large volume of water to steam temperature in order for steam generation to begin. It is expensive to maintain a supply of over 100xc2x0 C. water ready for a demand. Any unused heated water generally has to be cooled in a heat exchanger before it is disposed of in a municipal waste water system.
Vaporized hydrogen peroxide is a particularly useful vapor sterilant for both vacuum sterilizing systems and rooms and other large enclosures. It is effective at or close to room temperature, which reduces the potential for thermal degradation of associated equipment and items to be sterilized or disinfected within the sterilizer enclosure. In addition, hydrogen peroxide readily decomposes to water and oxygen, thus simplifying disposal.
As the size of the sterilizer or enclosure increases, or the demand for hydrogen peroxide is increased, the efficiency of the vaporization system becomes more significant. The capacity of the vaporizer is limited in a number of ways. First, the vaporization process creates a pressure increase, reducing the flow of air through the vaporizer. Second, to maintain sterilization efficiency, the pressure at which the vapor is generated is limited to that at which the hydrogen peroxide is stable in the vapor state. Third, the time taken to generate the hydrogen peroxide is dependent on the time taken to heat the heated surface to vaporization temperature.
One solution has been to increase the size of the vaporizer, the injection rate of hydrogen peroxide into the vaporizer, and the flow rate of carrier gas. However, the carrier gas tends to cool the heating surface, disrupting the vaporization process. Heating the heating surface to a higher temperature breaks down the hydrogen peroxide.
Yet another solution is to use multiple vaporizers to feed a single enclosure. The vaporizers may each be controlled independently, to allow for variations in chamber characteristics. However, the use of multiple vaporizers adds to the cost of the system and requires careful monitoring to ensure that each vaporizer is performing with balanced efficiency. None of these solutions addresses the initial warm up time needed for raising the temperature of the vaporizer to vaporization temperature.
The present invention provides a new and improved vaporization system and method which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a vapor decontamination system is provided. The system includes a vaporizer for vaporizing a liquid which includes an antimicrobial compound into vapor. The vaporizer includes means for generating a changing magnetic field and an induction vessel which intercepts the changing magnetic field, causing it to heat up. The induction vessel supplies heat to the liquid to convert the liquid to the vapor. A duct is connected with an outlet of the vaporizer for supplying the vapor to a defined region.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method of microbially decontaminating a defined area or an item within the defined area is provided. The method includes inductively heating a vessel and passing a liquid into the vessel. The inductively heated vessel vaporizes the liquid to form an antimicrobial vapor. The vapor is flowed out of the vessel to the defined area to microbially decontaminate at least one of the defined area and the item.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a vaporization system is provided. The system includes an induction coil which generates an oscillating magnetic field. An induction vessel is positioned to intercept the magnetic field and which is heated by the magnetic field. An interior passage having an inlet and an outlet is defined within the induction vessel and is heated thereby. A source of liquid is fluidly connected with the inlet to the passage, the liquid being converted to vapor as it passes through the passage.
One advantage of the present invention is that a high output of sterilant vapor is achieved.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it enables sterilant vapor to be generated xe2x80x9con demandxe2x80x9d at short notice.
Another advantage resides in reduced resistive electrical power loads.
Another advantage of the present invention is that it enables vapor concentration levels to be raised rapidly, particularly when used with smaller enclosures, thereby reducing the conditioning time.
Still further advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

Vaporizer using electrical induction to produce heat


A method for enhancing the rheology of drilling fluids that is effective for any mud weight “clay-free” invert emulsion drilling fluid, even when drilling at high temperatures. The improved rheology is effected with addition of a silicon oil to the drilling fluid. A nonlimiting example of such a rheology additive comprises polydimethylsiloxane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to compositions and methods for drilling, cementing and casing boreholes in subterranean formations, particularly hydrocarbon bearing formations. More particularly, the present invention relates to oil or synthetic fluid based invert emulsion drilling fluids which combine high ecological compatibility with good stability and performance properties. Most particularly, the invention relates to clay-free invert emulsion drilling fluids.
2. Description of Relevant Art
A drilling fluid or mud is a specially designed fluid that is circulated through a wellbore as the wellbore is being drilled to facilitate the drilling operation. The various functions of a drilling fluid include removing drill cuttings from the wellbore, cooling and lubricating the drill bit, aiding in support of the drill pipe and drill bit, and providing a hydrostatic head to maintain the integrity of the wellbore walls and prevent well blowouts. Specific drilling fluid systems are selected to optimize a drilling operation in accordance with the characteristics of a particular geological formation. For the drilling fluid to perform its functions, its optimum chemical and rheological properties must be controlled.
Oil or synthetic fluid-based muds are normally used to drill swelling or sloughing shales, salt, gypsum, anhydrite or other evaporate formations, hydrogen sulfide-containing formations, and hot (greater than about 300 degrees Fahrenheit ("° F.")) holes, but may be used in other holes penetrating a subterranean formation as well. Unless indicated otherwise, the terms "oil mud" or "oil-based mud or drilling fluid" shall be understood to include synthetic oils or other synthetic fluids as well as natural or traditional oils, and such oils shall be understood to comprise invert emulsions.
Oil-based muds used in drilling typically comprise: a base oil (or synthetic fluid) comprising the external phase of an invert emulsion; a saline, aqueous solution (typically a solution comprising about 30% calcium chloride) comprising the internal phase of the invert emulsion; emulsifiers at the interface of the internal and external phases; and other agents or additives for suspension, weight or density, oil-wetting, fluid loss or filtration control, and rheology control. Such additives commonly include organophilic clays and organophilic lignites. See H. C. H. Darley and George R. Gray, Composition and Properties of Drilling and Completion Fluids 66-67, 561-562 (5th ed. 1988). An oil-based or invert emulsion-based drilling fluid may commonly comprise between about 50:50 to about 95:5 by volume oil or oleaginous phase to water or aqueous phase.
Recent technology as described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,462,580 and 7,488,704 to Kirsner, et al., introduced "clay-free" invert emulsion-based drilling fluids, which offer significant advantages over drilling fluids containing organophilic clays. As used herein, the term "clay-free" (or "clayless") means a drilling fluid made without addition of any organophilic clays or lignites to the drilling fluid composition.
When used in drilling, "clay-free" invert emulsion drilling fluids have shown reduced downhole losses, reduced pressure surges and spikes, and less barite sag than traditional drilling fluids containing organophilic clay and lignites. Hole drilling is faster with "clay-free" invert emulsion drilling fluids and reservoir productivity is often greater.
A limiting factor in drilling a particular portion of a well is the mud weight (density of the drilling fluid) that can be used. If too high a mud weight is used, fractures are created in the formation with resulting loss of drilling fluid and other operating problems. If too low a mud weight is used, formation fluids can encroach into the well, borehole collapse may occur due to insufficient hydrostatic support, and in extreme cases safety can be compromised due to the possibility of a well blowout. Many times, wells are drilled through weak or lost-circulation-prone zones prior to reaching a potential producing zone, requiring use of a low mud weight drilling fluid and installation of sequential casing strings to protect weaker zones above the potential producing zone. A particularly critical drilling scenario is one that combines deepwater and shallow overburden, as is typical of ultra deepwater fields in Brazil. This scenario is characterized by high pore fluid pressure, low effective stresses, low fracturing gradients and narrow mud weight windows.
Commercially available clay-free invert emulsion drilling fluids may have less than preferred rheology at low mud weights, that is, mud weights ranging from about 9 ppg to about 12 ppg, with temperatures up to about 375° F. or higher. Addition of inert solids may improve the rheology, but result in a decreased rate of penetration during drilling and loss of or decline in other benefits seen with a clay free system. Such inert solids include for example, fine sized calcium carbonate, and the term as used herein is not meant to be understood to include or refer to drill cuttings. Low mud weight or reduced density clay-free oil based invert emulsion drilling fluids also may show a decline in the desired "fragile gel" strength characteristic of clay-free invert emulsion drilling fluids. "Fragile gel" strength generally refers to the ability of the drilling fluid to both suspend drill cuttings at rest and show a lack of a pressure spike upon resumption of drilling. Solids added to an invert emulsion drilling fluid may be difficult to remove later in the drilling process and can ultimately lead to poor control over the rheology of the drilling fluid system and decreased rate of penetration (ROP).
Mineral oils are often used in formulating invert emulsion fluids, and such oils include n-paraffins, mixtures of n-paraffins, iso-paraffins, and cyclic and branched chain alkanes. These base oils offer environmental compatibility and low mud weights. However, they also have low viscosities and invert emulsion fluids prepared with them typically need additives to impart adequate rheology.
Invert emulsion-based muds or drilling fluids (also called invert drilling muds or invert muds or fluids) comprise a key segment of the drilling fluids industry, but they are increasingly being subjected to greater environmental restrictions and performance and cost demands. The complexities and unpredictability of the interaction and behavior of the fluid components with each other and with the conditions encountered during drilling makes meeting these demands challenging. There is a continuing need and thus ongoing industry-wide interest in new drilling fluids that provide improved performance while still affording environmental and economical acceptance.

Method for improving high temperature rheology in drilling fluids


A closed refrigeration system is provided with a mass flow limiting device located upstream of the suction inlet of a compressor. The device limits the mass flow supplied to the compressor during pulldown and startup to prevent overloading the motor or engine driving the compressor but has minimal influence on the refrigeration system under equilibrium conditions since it is designed for the specific system parameters.

In its simplest form a closed refrigeration system, such as is used in transport refrigeration equipment, serially includes a compressor, a discharge line, a condenser, an expansion device, an evaporator and a suction line connected to the compressor. In such a system, the mass flow, which is generally proportional to the suction, pressure, is indicative of the compressor power requirements. In normal operation, the suction gas is in the form of a low pressure superheated vapor and its state is dependent upon a number of factors such as ambient temperature, the temperature being maintained and whether the system has reached equilibrium or is still being pulled down. At startup, the suction gas may be at ambient temperature and even partially condensed in the evaporator and suction line. Under these conditions, and especially during conditions of pulldown, the mass flow of refrigerant drawn into the compressor and subsequently compressed is much greater than it would be in an equilibrium situation. This greater mass flow results in significantly increased power requirements. During operation, the mass flow rate will change with ambient temperature and other variations in the heat load on the space being refrigerated such as the exposure of a refrigerated cargo container to sun load.
Refrigeration systems that see a wide variation in air temperatures over the condenser and evaporator coils experience a correspondingly large variation in suction pressure and mass flow rate of the refrigerant, resulting in a wide variation in the power requirements of the compressor. A transport refrigeration system is an example of this. Cargo requirements can range from 55.degree. F. for bananas to -20.degree. F. for ice cream, and ambient temperatures can range from -20.degree. F. to 120.degree. F. There are, in addition, operating factors such as having to pull down the temperature of cargo loaded at a temperature greater than the desired setpoint, and size and weight limitations on the system components, which result in instances where the mass flow rate and pressure of the suction gas returning to the compressor, if not regulated, would overload the engine which drives the compressor.

Refrigeration system with mass flow limiting device