A method of providing a multicast and broadcast service (MBS) in a multi-hop relay system is disclosed. The method of providing a multicast and broadcast service (MBS) in a multi-hop relay system comprises transmitting a first message including allocation information of a MBS zone; and providing the MBS from the MBS zone indicated by the allocation information. In this case, a downlink frame includes a downlink access zone, the MBS zone, and a downlink relay zone, and the MBS zone is allocated from the downlink frame used in a base station and a downlink frame used in a relay station at the same time.

It is expected that a relay station (RS) will be widely used in a wireless communication system for next generation. Hereinafter, the relay station (RS) will be described in brief.
A standardization project newly titled multi-hop relay is being in progress in the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) 802.16 of 2006 since the standard IEEE 802.16-2004 based on fixed subscriber mobile stations and the standard IEEE 802.16e-2005 for providing mobility of a subscriber mobile station.
This standardization project handled by a task group j (IEEE 802.16j) of the IEEE 802.16 has discussed usage models, terminologies, and technical requirements in the second conference in July, 2006 since the first conference in May, 2005. Hereinafter, the IEEE 802.16 task group j will be abbreviated as "802.16j".
The relay station to be described hereinafter will substantially be the same as a relay station considered by a 3GPP IMT-A (LTE-A) system. Also, a relay station that performs same or similar functions in various wireless access systems will be used similarly to the relay station described herein.
Project authorization request (PAR) of the 802.16j has two standardization tasks, i.e., coverage extension and throughput enhancement.
A network that uses a relation station includes a base station (BS), a relay station (RS), and a mobile station (MS). The mobile station can receive a radio signal through the relay station even outside a cell zone of the base station. Also, a mobile station located within the cell zone of the base station can establish a path of high quality, which has an adaptive modulation and coding (AMC) scheme of high level through the relay station. Accordingly, a user can obtain enhancement effect of overall system capacity through the same radio resource.
The standard to be made by the 802.16j project has predetermined requirements. For example, a mobile station based on the existing 802.16-2004 and 802.16e-2005 standards should perform communication with the relay station without additional function. Accordingly, an application range of the relay station can be limited to the existing system in such a manner that some functions for controlling the relay station are added to the relay station and the existing base station. It is expected that the standard of the relay station will serve as a main factor of the standardization
The relay station could be regarded as a subscriber mobile station that performs operations of a physical layer and a medium access control layer. Although the relay station is mainly controlled by the base station, it may have a predetermined control function if necessary. Various relay stations will be considered as usage models which are currently discussed, and their examples include a fixed relay station, a mobile relay station for providing a temporary service to a specific zone, and a relay station that can be built in a car or subway.
Main technical issues which will be discussed later are as follows:
1. a procedure of identifying relay stations that exist in an zone of a base station and acquiring and maintaining information of a topology with the relay stations;
2. definition of a structure of a physical transport frame between a relay station and a mobile station having backward compatibility with the existing IEEE 802.16 system;
3. a signal procedure for providing mobility between relay stations or between a relay station and a base station; and
4. a network entry procedure of a relay station to a base station and a network entry procedure of a mobile station through a relay station.
Hereinafter, a structure of a general frame used in a wireless access system will be described.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a frame structure used in a broadband wireless access system (for example, IEEE 802.16).
Referring to FIG. 1, a horizontal axis of a frame is a time unit and represents orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) symbols, and its vertical axis is a frequency unit and represents physical numbers of a subchannel. In FIG. 1, one frame is divided into data sequence channels for a certain time period by physical characteristics. In other words, one subframe includes a downlink subframe and an uplink subframe.
At this time, the downlink subframe may include a preamble, a frame control header (FCH), a downlink map (DL-MAP), an uplink map (UL-MAP), and one or more data bursts. Also, the uplink subframe can include one or more uplink data bursts and a ranging subchannel.
In FIG. 1, the preamble is specific sequence data located in a first symbol of each frame and is used so that the mobile station synchronizes with the base station or estimates a channel. The FCH is used to provide channel allocation information related to the DL-MAP and information of channel code. The DL-MAP/UL-MAP are medium access control (MAC) messages used by the downlink/uplink to indicate channel resource allocation to the mobile station. Also, the data burst represents a unit of data intended to be transmitted from the base station to the mobile station or from the mobile station to the base station.
A downlink channel descriptor (DCD) that can be used in FIG. 1 represents a MAC message for indicating physical characteristics of a downlink channel, and an uplink channel descriptor (UCD) represents a MAC message for indicating physical characteristics of an uplink channel.
In case of the downlink, referring to FIG. 1, the mobile station synchronizes with the base station by detecting the preamble transmitted from the base station. Afterwards, the mobile station can decode the downlink map using information acquired from the frame control header (FCH). The base station can transmit scheduling information for downlink or uplink resource allocation to the mobile station per frame (for example, 5 ms) using a downlink or uplink map (DL-MAP/UL-MAP) message.
Hereinafter, a multicast and broadcast service (MBS) will be described in brief.
A system for a multicast and broadcast service (MBS) includes a MBS media server, a MBS distribution server, one or more base stations (BS), and one or more mobile stations (MS).
The mobile station is a common designation of electronic devices that can perform wireless communication with the base station, and designates a comprehensive term that includes devices having mobility, such as mobile terminal. The MBS media server provides MBS data to the base stations, and performs authentication and encryption key distribution of the mobile station for MBS media. The MBS distribution server handles scheduling of MBS data transferred to a plurality of base stations. Selectively, the MBS distribution server may be omitted. Instead, the MBS media server may perform scheduling of MBS data. The base station provides the MBS data, which are transferred through a backbone network, to the mobile station through a radio interface, and the mobile station receives the MBS data from the base station.
The MBS can be divided into two types. The first type is a single-BS access type served by one base station within one cell. The second type is a multi-BS access type that several base stations constitute one MBS zone to provide the same MBS.
According to the single-BS access type, one base station equally grants random ID of connection IDs, which are allocated from one base station to multi-cast, to all mobile stations intended to receive MBS data, thereby transmitting the MBS data. According to the multi-BS access type, several base stations belonging to one MBS zone provide a multicast service to mobile stations the same multicast CID.
The multi-BS access type allows several cells within the same MBS zone to provide the same MBS to the mobile station, so that the mobile station can receive the MBS service without handover even in case of movement between cells within the MBS zone. Namely, the mobile station can obtain service continuity and macro-diversity gain.

Method of supporting a multicast and broadcast service in wireless access system supporting relay


A computer implemented method for detecting pocket stability for an implantable cardiac monitor, including under control of one or more processors in the ICM, collecting impedance data over at least one cardiac cycle. The impedance data is processed to separate an impedance waveform that varies over the at least one cardiac cycle in a manner representative of cardiac functionality over the at least one cardiac cycle. A characteristic of interest is analyzed from the impedance waveform over the at least one cardiac cycle. A pocket stability state of the ICM is identified and recorded based on the analyzing operation.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to systems and methods for detecting pocket stability of an implantable cardiac monitor (ICM), and more particularly to utilizing an impedance waveform to determine changes in the pocket stability.
An implantable medical device (IMD) is a medical device that is configured to be implanted within a patient anatomy and commonly employs one or more leads with electrodes that either receive or deliver voltage, current or other electromagnetic pulses from or to an organ or tissue for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. Such IMDs include ICMs used to monitor the heart and are positioned within a pocket of tissue within the patient.
However, the ICM positioning in the pocket, and the pocket itself can change characteristics, effecting measurements. In particular, despite being tightly secured within the pocket, the ICM can still move and reposition within the pocket, effecting the ICM reading. Additionally, fluid levels and tissue variances within the pocket similarly can cause reading variation for the ICM. When these reading fluctuations occur, the ICM can obtain an incorrect reading and trigger an inappropriate arrhythmia or brady episode suggesting that a patient's heart has temporarily stopped when instead a pocket change has occurred.

Method for detecting pocket stability for an implantable cardiac monitor


New copolymers, mixtures thereof with poly(meth)acrylate esters and the use thereof for improving the cold fluidity of crude oils.. Copolymers comprising as comonomers therein from 50 to 99.9% by weight of a C.sub.14 -C.sub.22 -alkyl(meth)acrylate and 50 to 0.1% by weight of a comonomer derived from a compound comprising a single polymerizable C.dbd.C group and these copolymers or their mixture with C.sub.14 -C.sub.22 -alkyl poly(meth)acrylates having enhanced pour point depressant properties.

Depending on the provenance, crude oils contain greater or lesser fractions of dissolved n-paraffins which represent a special group of problems, because they crystallize out on lowering of the temperature and thus can lead to a deterioration in the flow properties of these oils. In pipeline transport, this crystallization can cause depositions on the wall, and in an extreme case, complete blockage of the pipeline. In addition, paraffin precipitations can also lead to complications in production, storage and further processing.
The deposition of paraffin starts with the formation of microcrystals in the form of fine platelets and needles, and the viscosity of the crude oil rises significantly. When these microcrystals grow together into a three-dimensional network, the crude oil loses its fluidity and finally solidifies. The solidification point is also called setting point (pour point) and depends on the quantity and distribution of the paraffins dissolved in the oil.
For restoring or maintaining the fluidity, there are a number of measures of a thermal or mechanical nature--for example scraping the paraffin off the inner wall of the pipe, or heating of entire pipelines. It is certainly more elegant to combat the cause of the phenomenon by the addition of so-called setting point depressants (paraffin inhibitors, pour point depressants), in most cases in quantities of a few hundred ppm.
The effect of a paraffin inhibitor is based on the fact that it co-crystallizes with the paraffins, i.e. interferes with the build-up of the regular crystal structure. At the same time, the high-molecular inhibitor molecules represent crystallization nuclei, so that the number of primarily formed microcrystals is increased. Finally, polar groups within the inhibitor molecule prevent the crystals from growing together into a network. The paraffin inhibitor thus does not change the quantity of the paraffin crystallizing out, but the size and polarity of the crystals. The consequence is that the pour point is depressed and the fluidity of the oil is maintained across a wider temperature range.
The paraffin inhibitors are in general homopolymers and copolymers based on olefins, (meth)acrylate esters, maleic acid derivatives and certain vinyl monomers. Thus, for example, homopolymers of acrylates having 18 to 24 carbon atoms in the alcohol radical are claimed in German Offenlegungsschrift 2,264,328 for the use as pour point depressants.
In European Patent 0,120,512, copolymers of long-chain acrylate esters and comonomers such as styrene, t-butylstyrene, acrylonitrile, acrylamide or vinylpyridine are described for the same intended use.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,202 claims copolymers of long-chain acrylate esters and certain vinylidene components for crude oils and residual oils.
A disadvantage of all the substances mentioned is that their activity is not yet sufficient, so that high use concentrations result.


This invention provides a phantom whose light propagation characteristics and acoustic propagation characteristics are similar to those of human tissues and which allows detection of an absorber also with an ultrasonic wave diagnostic apparatus and allows adjustment of the oxygen saturation.

The photoacoustic imaging system is an apparatus which displays an image based on detection signals of acoustic waves (typically ultrasonic waves) generated by thermal expansion of a measuring object when a living body serving as an examination object is irradiated with light. The diagnostic apparatus examines specific substances in the examination object, e.g., glucose, hemoglobin, and the like contained in blood.
It is known that when a tumor such as a cancer grows in biological tissues, blood vessels around the tumor are newly formed and the oxygen is increasingly consumed by the tumor. As a method of evaluating the formation of new blood vessels and the increase in oxygen consumption, the light absorption coefficient of oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) and deoxyhemoglobin (Hb) can be utilized. For example, the photoacoustic imaging system measures the concentration of HbO2 and Hb in blood from the light absorption coefficient of HbO2 and Hb, respectively, at a plurality of wavelengths. Then, by creating a concentration distribution image of HbO2 and Hb in the biological tissues, a region where the blood vessels are formed can be identified. Moreover, by calculating the oxygen saturation degree based on the light absorption coefficient ratio of HbO2 and Hb at two or more wavelengths, a region where the oxygen consumption increases, which is considered to be a region where the tumor is present, can be identified. For example, it is known that the oxygen saturation in the tumor region reaches about 70%. Moreover, it is suggested that there is a correlation between the malignancy of the tumor and the oxygen saturation. When identifying the malignancy of the tumor using the oxygen saturation, the accuracy which allows identification of a difference of about 5% in the oxygen saturation is demanded.
Since it is difficult to recognize shape of the region with the photoacoustic imaging system, it is also difficult to distinguish signals based on a tumor from signals resulting from a noise and the like. Therefore, by combining the photoacoustic imaging system with an ultrasonic wave diagnostic apparatus, the identification of a tumor based on shape information can be achieved. To identify a tumor with the ultrasonic wave diagnostic apparatus, it is required to identify an acoustic impedance difference of about 0.1 rayl.
In a phantom for use in the photoacoustic imaging system, a material whose light propagation characteristics and acoustic propagation characteristics are similar to those of human tissues is demanded. For example, PTL 1 discloses a phantom for photoacoustic imaging system employing titanium oxide and polyol in which a carbon black pigment is dispersed.

Abstract: A phantom has light absorbers 12a to 12d in a phantom base material 11, in which the light absorbers 12a to 12d approximate the light absorption coefficient ratio at two or more wavelengths to that of biological tissues, and the acoustic propagation characteristics of the phantom base material 11 and the light absorbers 12a to 12d are different from each other.


Systems and methods for data aggregation, targeting and acquisition are described. A method may receive data and storing the data in one or more source data tables and select one of the one or more source data tables. The selected source data table includes updated data fields. The method may also identify a plurality of destination data tables that need to be updated, in which each destination data table is linked to and contains an aggregation of a subset of data from the selected source data table, identify one or more data fields in the identified destination data tables that need to be updated with data from the updated data fields in the selected source data table, and determine using the processor, for each identified destination data table, a best aggregation source data table. The best aggregation source data table may be a data table that contains all of the data fields of the destination data table and has the fewest data fields, and the best aggregation source data table may be the selected source data table or another destination data table.

High volume transaction businesses depend upon their back office system's ability to provide fast and accurate reporting. Since the transactional data could potentially be millions of records, an application is needed that is able to aggregate the transactions and report on them in seconds.
Many data processing applications today are responsible for hundreds of millions or even billions of transactions in total with millions of new transactions being added every day. With that volume of information flowing into a system it is important to clearly understand the purpose of the information as it applies to each potential type of user. Different users require different subsets of information, different tabulation of the information and even different performance in reporting. When the Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") of a company runs a report on the revenue by Day across 200 million transactions for a month, the system should access only those pieces of "perfected" information necessary to process his request in the most efficient way possible (he is an officer of the company and has very little time or tolerance for waiting). When a network designer wants to determine the performance of a particular piece of equipment for an hour for the previous hour to troubleshoot a problem, the network designer's path through the information and the resources allocated (either in ad-hoc or as a part of a capacity plan) is likely to be very different than that of the CFO. Access to information is rarely so much a matter of equality as it is a matter of planning and resource allocation within the real-world needs of an information technology (IT) environment.
A problem to be solved is: how does a system responsible for storing and retrieving such high volumes of information match the needs of the users with the resources available and how are those available resources identified in real-time as the most effective and/or necessary resources to be leveraged in both storing and retrieving information from multiple sources in multiple formats.
High-end database vendors, such as Oracle, attempt to be all things to all people by focusing on indexes, automated aggregation and caching strategies and an ever-increasing dependence on processing power. Indexes are very important for database processing. Indexes increase retrieval speeds significantly. However, when the volumes of data get as large as hundreds of millions of records, an index's ability to deliver rapid responses (less than 10 seconds) diminishes. Even with very effective indexes, the time required to summarize 200 million records ad-hoc is prohibitive. In some cases, to deal with this limitation, the databases will attempt to either aggregate information automatically (based on the queries that have been processed) or to cache the information (based on the most current information either written or retrieved). These techniques are useful in some cases, but fall short when faced with the huge volume of data being contemplated herein.

Method and system for data aggregation, targeting and acquisition


A mobile exercise device (1) having a plurality of exercise equipment modules (2, 3, 4). Each said module including a frame (7, 8, 9) defining a space (10, 11, 12) adapted to receive exercise equipment. A plurality of mounting means (46) locatable on said frames to connect said modules together. A plurality of indicators (30) operatively associated with said modules and adapted in use to direct a user and/or trainer to the equipment to use for a particular exercise routine.

People exercise for various reasons, such as, enjoyment of exercising, to maintain a fitness or strength level or to lose weight. In many cases, people exercise at a fitness centre or go for a swim or a run. In all these cases, people tend to be exercising on their own and with little structure or guidance. It has been found that when exercising on your own or without structure, a person is less likely to be motivated to exercise correctly, regularly or at a sufficient level to achieve goals, such as, increased fitness, strength or loss of weight. There is therefore a need to encourage people to exercise together in a structured environment to provide motivation for people to regularly exercise. In an effort to overcome these issues there has been an increase in the number of personal trainers working out in parks and other public areas. It is however difficult for a personal trainer to provide or even carry, a sufficient variation in equipment to properly train an individual or group of individuals. Accordingly, there is also a need to provide a mobile exercise device that can be located anywhere at any time and provide a wide range of exercise equipment that can be used by one or more people. There is also a need to provide a device that permits exercising participants of various fitness levels to exercise together at the same time using the same mobile device and provide a fitness instructor or the like with a compact multi-use mobile fitness station providing a variety of exercise equipment to provide a variety of fitness programs and visual competition.

Exercise device and method of exercising using said device


The present disclosure provides a method in a network device for geo-based transmission. The network device comprises at least one Transmission/Reception Point (TRP) each configured with at least one beam. The method comprises: obtaining a target geographical area of a data packet; selecting, from the at least one TRP and/or the at least one beam, one or more TRPs and/or beams for broadcasting the data packet based on the target geographical area; and broadcasting the data packet via the selected one or more TRPs and/or beams.

In the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 14, Device-to-Device (D2D) communications have been extended to support Vehicle-to-Everything (V2x) communications, including any combination of direct communications among vehicles, pedestrians and network infrastructures. In 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 22.185, V14.2.1, several different use cases for V2x have been investigated:                Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), covering Long Term Evolution (LTE)-based communication between vehicles;        Vehicle-to-Pedestrian (V2P): covering LTE-based communication between a vehicle and a device carried by an individual (e.g. handheld terminal carried by a pedestrian, cyclist, driver or passenger); and        Vehicle-to-Infrastructure/Network (V2I/N): covering LTE-based communication between a vehicle and a roadside unit/network (a roadside unit (RSU) is a stationary infrastructure entity supporting V2x applications that can exchange messages with other entities supporting V2x applications).
Downlink messages, originated from either vehicle User Equipment (UE) in V2V communications or from a network in V2N communications, are generally intended for a group of UEs within a particular geographical area. Unicast cannot provide sufficient capacity when there is a high traffic load, and broadcast/multicast is naturally an option for efficient delivery of such messages. In LTE, Multimedia Broadcast/Multicast Service (MBMS) has been introduced to provide an efficient mode of delivery for broadcast and multicast services. MBMS transmissions can be provided in a Multicast/Broadcast Single-Frequency Network (MBSFN), where the content of an MBMS bearer (which corresponds to a specific service identified by a Temporary Mobile Group Identity (TMGI)) is transmitted from different cells belonging to one single MBMS area, which can be a very large area. MBSFN transmissions occur over a dedicated multicast transport channel (MCH) over which control signaling (on Multicast Control Channel (MCCH)) and data (on Multicast Traffic Channel (MTCH)) can be multiplexed.
Single Cell Point-To-Multipoint (SC-PTM) has been introduced in 3GPP Release13, where multicasting/broadcasting of MBMS data is limited to a single cell area, and multicast/broadcast transmissions (for both control signaling and data) are sent over Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and scheduled by an evolved NodeB (eNB).
V2x communications can be a local broadcast in a limited area. For example, a message from a UE close to the center of a cell may be intended for UEs served by the same cell, while a message from a UE close to a border of a cell may be intended for UEs served by multiple cells. In the former case, it may be beneficial to broadcast the message in one single cell or even a smaller area for reducing redundancy. In the latter case, it may be beneficial to broadcast the message in multiple cells to ensure that all relevant UEs can receive the message.
To efficiently handle the different cases as disclosed above, a geographical-location-based (or geo-based) transmission has been introduced for V2x downlink messages using MBMS in 3GPP TS 36.885, V2.0.0. First, a V2x application server requests and (pre-)establishes one or more MBMS bearers (TMGIs) to appropriate eNBs. Each MBMS bearer is associated with a particular geographical area consisting of one or more cells, and is only transmitted in that area. Here the geo-based routing is performed at the V2x application server. An originating vehicle UE sends a V2x message, including its geographical location and possibly information on its serving cell, to the V2x application server. The V2x application server first determines a target MBMS service area of the V2x message based on the geographical location of the originating vehicle UE and possibly the information on the serving cell, and then selects the MBMS bearer(s) to be used for transmission of the V2x message in the target MBMS service area. The V2x message is then transmitted over the selected MBMS bearer(s) in their associated cell(s). All vehicle UEs that are served by the cell(s) and interested in the V2x message can receive the V2x message.
However, the above solution of geo-based transmission cannot support any target area smaller than a cell.
In order to provide a finer granularity, the entire network area can be divided into a number of local areas, which can be smaller than a cell. In an exemplary solution, the definition of each local area, i.e., its corresponding geographical location, can be known to both the V2x application server and the UEs, but not to eNBs. An eNB only knows the identifiers (IDs) of the local areas contained or partially contained in its coverage. Each MBMS bearer can be associated with a local area. In order to broadcast a message in a particular local area, the V2x application server informs an eNB of a TMGI and an associated local area ID. The eNB broadcasts the message in its entire cell along with the TMGI and the associated local area ID. The UEs in the cell can determine whether to receive the message or not based on the local area ID, the definition of the local area and its current geographical location. Again, in this solution the geo-based routing is performed at the V2x application server.
In New Radio (NR), both the V2x and the MBMS will continue to evolve. For the V2x communications in NR, the required medium rate could be up to 10 Mbps per device, which is much higher than the V2x in LTE. For the MBMS, an MBMS service area may be adjusted dynamically based on e.g. user distribution or service requirements (which relate to e.g. the required communication range). The conventional geo-based transmission may be inefficient when applied in NR.
There is thus a need for an improved solution for geo-based transmission.

Method and network device for geo-based transmission


A threshold control circuit for CMOS transistors wherein the voltage on the body of an n-channel reference transistor is controlled with a feedback circuit to produce a positive voltage on the body and decrease the threshold of the reference transistor to a desired value and the voltage on the body of a p-channel reference transistor is controlled with a feedback circuit to produce a negative voltage on the body and decrease the threshold of the reference transistor to a desired value.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of threshold voltage control and, more particularly, to the control of the threshold voltage of a transistor with a feedback control system, to bias the transistor body voltage in such a way as to reduce the threshold voltage to a desired value.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the last few years, the desire to lower the power supply voltages applied to integrated circuits, ICs, and thus reduce the power consumption while maintaining high reliability, has resulted in a significant decrease in the speed of the ICs. There have been attempts, in the prior art, to alleviate this problem by controlling the threshold value of the transistors. In the 1976 International Solid State Circuit Conference of IEEE, an article entitled xe2x80x9cA Threshold Voltage Controlling Circuit for Short Channel MOS Integrated Circuitsxe2x80x9d by Masaharu Kubo, Ryoachi Hori, Osamu Minato and Kikuji Sato was presented wherein a threshold controlling circuit which can automatically set a circuit threshold voltage free from the fluctuations in device fabrication processes, by adjusting the substrate voltage of a MOSIC chip with a negative feedback. Also, in the 1994 Custom Integrated Circuit Conference of IEEE, an article entitled xe2x80x9cSelf-Adjusting Threshold-Voltage Scheme (SATS) for Low-Voltage High-Speed Operationxe2x80x9d by Tsuguo Kobayashi and Takayasu Sakurai was presented wherein the threshold voltage fluctuations were reduced by self-substrate-biasing technique. A major difficulty with the techniques set fourth in these papers is that the transistor body is biased in the wrong direction or sense, e.g. negatively, with respect to ground, for n-channel transistors and thus requires an extra power supply and a more complex controller.
The present invention increases the speed of integrated circuits, particularly with small power supply voltages and thus maintains low power consumption while maintaining high reliability. The present invention biases the transistor body only positively, with respect to ground, for n-channel transistors and only negatively, with respect to the supply voltage, for p-channel transistors thus simplifying the prior art and eliminating the cost of an extra power supply.

Adaptive threshold voltage control with positive body bias for N and P-channel transistors


The object of the present invention is to provide an ionic liquid having a chiral center in the structure of a cation contained therein, a lithium secondary battery electrolyte includes the ionic liquid, and a lithium secondary battery including the electrolyte

A secondary battery is a battery which is able to provide electricity by converting chemical energy into electrical energy; moreover, it is a battery which is able to store (during charge) chemical energy by converting electrical energy into chemical energy by passing an electric current in a direction that is opposite to the discharge direction. Among secondary batteries, lithium ion batteries have higher energy density when compared to other chemistries such as Lead-Acid, Nickel-Cadmium and Nickel-Metal Hydride, and are thus widely used as a power source for notebook personal computers, cellular phones and other portable devices.
In a lithium secondary battery using graphite (C) as the negative electrode active material, the reaction described by the following formula (I) proceeds at the negative electrode at the time of discharge:LixC→C+xLi++xe−  (I)In this formula, 0<x<1.
An electron produced by the formula (I) passes through an external circuit, which acts as an external load, and then reaches the positive electrode. At the same time, a lithium ion (Li+) produced by the formula (I) is transferred through the electrolyte sandwiched between the negative and positive electrodes from the negative electrode side to the positive electrode side.
When lithium cobaltate (Li1-xCoO2) is used as a positive electrode active material, a reaction described by the following formula (II) proceeds at the positive electrode upon discharge:Li1-xCoO2+xLi++xe−→LiCoO2  (II)In this formula, 0<x<1.
Upon charging the battery, reactions which are reverse to the reactions represented by the above formulae (I) and (II) proceed at the negative and positive electrodes. The graphite material in which lithium was intercalated (LixC) becomes reusable at the negative electrode, while lithium cobaltate (Li1-xCoO2) is regenerated at the positive electrode. Because of this, discharge becomes possible again.
Conventional lithium secondary batteries use a flammable, volatile organic compound as an electrolyte solvent; therefore their safety is limited.
As an effort to increase the safety of electrolytic solutions, lithium secondary batteries using an ionic liquid as an electrolyte are conventionally known. An "ionic liquid" is a salt that is liquid at 100° C. or less, and it is generally nonflammable and nonvolatile. Such a nonflammable electrolyte has several advantages, in that it is able to not only increase the safety of the battery but also has a relatively wide potential window (stability range) and shows relatively high ion conductivity.
As an ionic liquid technique, Patent Literature 1 discloses chiral ionic liquids having, as the anion, an anion of an organic or inorganic proton acid and, as the cation, an optically active organic ammonium cation with at least one chirality center and at least one functional group, the chirality center being provided with a distance of up to 5 atomic bonds from the functional group and the functional group being selected from alcohol and so on and able to produce a coordination by forming hydrogen bridges or by providing free electron pairs.

Ionic liquid, lithium secondary battery electrolyte comprising the ionic liquid, and lithium secondary battery comprising the electrolyte


A system for detecting medical audio alarms. The system includes a detector and a server. The detector further comprises a microphone that is configured to receive a sound of the alarm; a microcontroller configured to determine an alarm pattern from the sound and to compare the determined alarm pattern to a plurality of patterns stored in a memory to identify a cause of the alarm; and a network interface configured to transmit the cause of the alarm. The server is configured receive the cause of the alarm and provide notification of the cause of the alarm.

A conventional hospital patient room 10 includes a few standard devices: a rolling bed 12 having an adjustable mattress 14 and side rails 16, an IV pump 18 secured to a stand 20 that also supports a IV bag 22 containing a fluid 24, and a vital signs monitor 26 that is configured to measure at least heart rate, blood pressure, and SpO2. Other devices may be included, depending on the type of care required by the patient and shown exemplarily shown in FIG. 1, may include compression socks device 28 and a ventilator 30. However, this should not be considered to be an exhaustive listing of potential devices found in a hospital room 10.
Many of the devices found within the hospital room 10 incorporate at least one sensor configured to detect a physiological parameter of the patient or an operational parameter of the item itself. For instance, the rolling bed 12 may include a weight sensor (not shown) for detecting weight, i.e., whether patient is in the bed; the IV pump 18 may include a sensor for detecting low power supply (whether battery or disconnected from power outlet), a sensor for detecting pump malfunction, and a sensor for detecting low fluid levels within the IV bag 22; the vital signs monitor 26 may include a sensor for detecting lower power supply (whether battery or disconnected from power outlet), a sensor for detecting malfunction of the monitor 26, a sensor for detecting blood pressure, a sensor for detecting heart rate, and a sensor for detecting blood oxygen saturation. Some devices within the room may have an alarm that is associated with all sensors of that device—that is, the device will produce one alarm for any triggered sensor. Other devices may have distinct alarms associated with different sensors. For example, the vital signs monitor 26 may have a first alarm pattern associated with the detection of low power and a second alarm pattern associated with the detection of low blood pressure measurements. Therefore it is possible that each hospital room 10 can produce tens to hundreds of alarms per hospital staff shift. The sheer number of alarms that can lead to alarm fatigue, which is a sensory overload that occurs when hospital staff is exposed to an excessive number of alarms that result in desensitization.
Conventional solutions to alarm fatigue include the directing of all alarms to a telecommunications system or a portable computing device so that one user can manage alarms. However, the likelihood of false alarms or misinterpretation of alarms exists.
There remains a need for a device or system that can detect alarms, locate and process the type of alarm, facilitate triaging alarms so as to reduce the sensory overload associated with alarm fatigue, and be adaptable for use with any medical device having an alarm.

Medical audio alarm distributed detection and alert system

Government of the United States as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


A triple-chambered container includes: a main container body with a first chamber which has an opening at its distal end; a main barrel formed and movable longitudinally within the first chamber, the main barrel defining therein a second chamber for receiving fluids, the main barrel further having an apertured stopper at its distal end; a second barrel formed within the main barrel, the second barrel defining a third chamber for receiving fluids, the second barrel being movable longitudinally within and with respect to the main barrel, the second barrel having a distal end which is engageable and disengageable with the apertured stopper; a shaft adapted to fit within the second barrel, the shaft being movable longitudinally within and with respect to the second barrel, the shaft having a distal end which is engageable and disengageable with an aperture in the second barrel; a device for controlling engaging and disengaging of the distal end of the shaft with the aperture of the second barrel. The first chamber, the second chamber and the third chamber may be selectively moved to receive and discharge fluids with respect to one another.

In the medical aesthetics field, many techniques are known and practiced to lessen skin tissue imperfections such as wrinkles and sagging skin, particularly in the facial areas. Many of these involve chemical treatments, such as chemical peels, or the use of electromagnetic energy, such as lasers, or even the introduction of somewhat poisonous materials such as Botox® which may be injected into the skin to "plump up" that area of the skin tissue.
It is also known to harvest, filter and inject autologous adipose tissue from one portion of the body and to reinject the filtered fat into a desired area such as in the area of wrinkles or sagging tissue. The benefit of using this autologous fat is that the probability of rejection by the person's immune system is very much lessened if not eliminated altogether.
Known techniques, however, are cumbersome, complicated and expensive. Further, with existing techniques, the need to remove and move fat components during the harvesting and filtering process may cause contamination of the fat components and thus medical complications to the patient.
Thus, there is a need for simple, inexpensive device that in addition avoids contamination problems by limiting or eliminating exposure to fat cell components all within one device. It is to this realization that the present invention is directed.
In addition, it has been found that in existing autologous fat removal systems, methods and devices that the rejection rate may be unacceptably high. This has been researched and theorized to be due to the relative absence of growth factors in the fat removed and filtered. (See, Tan S S, Ng Z Y, Zhan W, Rozen W. Role of Adipose-Derived Stem Cells in Fat Grafting and Reconstructive Surgery. J. Cutan Aesthet Surg [serial online] 2016 [cited 2018 Jan. 12]; 9:152-6). This article discusses the separation and addition of adipose-derived stem cell (ASC) rich component of stromal vascular fraction to, which exists in the lipoaspirate, to the reinjected autologous fat. One existing problem is how to structure a device and its method of use to separate out the several fat components and to mix the ASC material with the adipose tissue efficiently and without risking contamination. It is to this realization that the present invention is also directed.

System and method for harvesting autologous adipose tissue


An axial face seal (13), which seals a pump housing in the region of the pump shaft (12), is constructed in an axially compact manner. Spring holders (24, 25), which transmit the required pressing force of a compression spring (23), are connected to one another with a positive fit in a rotation direction, and hold a rotating axial face seal ring (19) in a rotationally fixed manner to the pump shaft (12). The spring holders (24, 25) are compact and enclose an abutment ring (33) for pump impellers as well as the compression spring (23). A motor-side spring (24) engages over the rotating axial face seal ring (19), by which an axially extremely short constructional length is achieved.

The present invention relates to a multi-stage centrifugal pump.
Single-stage or multi-stage centrifugal pumps are considered as belonging to the state of the art. In one aspect, the present invention relates to a multi-stage centrifugal pump whose drive shaft is arranged in a lying manner, i.e. arranged horizontally with normal operation. Such centrifugal pumps, as are considered as belonging to the state of the art, are, for example, offered by the company Grundfos in the series CH and CHN. These pumps have a pump housing with a shaft which is rotatably mounted therein and which, at its motor-side end, comprises at least one cylindrical section and connecting to this on the pump side, comprises a splined shaft section, on which impellers are arranged in a rotationally fixed manner. The impellers are clamped between an abutment ring seated on the shaft and the free shaft end. Such pumps are driven by an electric motor, whose drive shaft is connected in a rotationally fixed manner to the shaft mounted in the pump housing and carrying the impellers, and is connected to the pump via screw connections.
An axial face seal is provided, which is incorporated between the cylindrical shaft section and the pump housing, in order to permanently seal the stationary housing part of the pump with respect to the rotating shaft. This axial face seal comprises a stationary axial face seal ring which is sealed with respect to the pump housing, and a rotating axial face seal ring which is arranged on the shaft and is sealed with respect to the shaft. These rings comprise sliding axial sealing surfaces which are impinged to one another by a spring force. A spring, which is arranged between two spring holders and impinges the spring holders with a pressure force in opposite directions, is provided for mustering the spring force.
These known centrifugal pumps have proven their worth, in particular also the axial face seal described above. However, the arrangement described above necessitates a relatively large axial constructional length.
Against this background, it is one object of the present invention to design a centrifugal pump, such that its axial construction length may be reduced, with an otherwise equal hydraulic performance. Moreover, the design should be such that it may be manufactured as inexpensively as possible in large series manufacture. The present invention achieves these desirable features.

Multi-stage centrifugal pump (axial face seal)


A method and a system for preparing a radiation image of a target are provided. The radiation imaging method includes the steps of collecting radiation emission data from a target, classifying the data into at least one energy range, separating the data in each energy range into N independent radiation distributions, processing the data in each of the N independent radiation distributions to estimate its true distribution; and reconstructing a radiation distribution image of the target using the processed data. The system includes at least one radiation detector module and at least one computerized component configured to perform the steps of the method.

The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for imaging gamma ray emission in a space, and more particularly, two and/or three dimensional gamma ray emission image reconstruction methods and applications thereof.
Radiation imaging techniques have been widely used in the field of diagnostic and therapeutic medical imaging. Among such techniques, nuclear medicine imaging involves imaging of a distribution of gamma ray sources, which are emitted from within a body. In nuclear medicine imaging, radiopharmaceuticals (i.e., gamma ray sources) are taken internally, for example, intravenously or orally, and external detectors are used to capture radiation emitted by the radiopharmaceuticals and to provide images. This method is distinguishable from diagnostic X-raying, wherein external radiation is passed through a body to form an image. Therefore, the nuclear medicine imaging is also referred to as an "emission imaging."
Efforts have been made to utilize emission imaging techniques used in nuclear medicine to image radiation distributions in environment, for example, power plant monitoring, radiation waste management, cargo inspection, radiation contamination monitoring, environmental monitoring, etc.
One of the early research in this area was conducted by R. Redus, et. al. (see Reference 1 in References section below.) Redus et al. disclose a prototype imager, which combines a gamma ray imaging system with a conventional video camera, a personal computer-based data acquisition, and a display system. The gamma ray imager is based on a position sensitive photomultiplier tube (PSPMT) coupled to a segmented scintillator and collimator. The system superimposes a gamma ray image of a radioactivity distribution with a video image of the area, allowing a rapid and intuitive determination of a source location. This research led to a commercialization of "RadScan" series products by RMD instruments, LLC (MA, USA).
Other similar research includes "A portable gamma camera for radiation monitoring" by S. Gure et al. (see Reference 2 in References section below), which discloses a use of a multi-pinhole collimator; "Operations of the CARTOGAM portable gamma camera in a photon counting mode" (see Reference 4 in References section below); and "Development of coded-aperture imaging with a compact gamma camera" (see Reference 7 in Reference section below), which discloses a use of CCD based gamma detector and coded aperture collimator.
Other commercially available products for imaging radiological environment include "GammaCam™" from US Department of Energy (see Reference 3 in References section below) and "RadScan® 800" by BIL Solutions Ltd. (UK).
However, the proposed prior art methods and commercial products have not been widely accepted for imaging radiological environment because of some critical limitations.
Although the principle is similar, the conditions for imaging radiological environment are quite different from that of imaging a human in nuclear medicine. For example, environment imaging covers a much broader area and a distance between a target and a detector is substantially longer when compared to imaging a person. Typically, environment imaging is performed using a detector, which is placed few tens of meters to few meters away from a target. Further, gamma energy measurements in radiological environment imaging range up to few MeV (1,000,000 electron volt). On the other hand, a detector in nuclear medicine is configured to scan close to a contour of a human body and capture gamma rays ranging up to few hundreds of keV (1,000 electron volt.)
Due to such different imaging conditions, prior art environment imaging systems, which were based on nuclear medicine technologies for human imaging, posed some fundamental limitations, such as inferior sensitivity and spatial resolution. There are several factors that affect sensitivity of environment imaging systems:                Imaging a wide area from a long distance: sensitivity is inversely proportional to a distance square as shown in equation (1), where d is a distance between a detector and a radiation source/target. Thus, a long distance between a detector and a target is one of the major factors that cause a decrease in sensitivity of a detector system for radiological environment imaging.
                    sensitivity        ≈                  1                      d            2                                              (        1        )                            Pinhole type collimation: a collimator is a necessary component for gamma emission imaging. It classifies directions of incoming gamma rays. However, in radiological environment imaging, where a relatively small gamma detector is used to cover a wide target area, pinhole or coded aperture type collimators are often used, which also contribute to decrease in the sensitivity of a detector system. Further, a heavier and thicker collimation required for higher energy gamma ray measurements in radiological environment also causes a sensitivity drop.        A scintillator is another essential component in a gamma imaging system, which converts gamma ray into visible photons. In order to sufficiently block incoming gamma ray, absorb their energy, and scintillate, a thickness of a scintillator should be configured according to an amount of incoming gamma ray energy. As such, a substantially thicker scintillator is required for a system for environment imaging, which measures substantially higher energy gamma ray compared to systems for nuclear medicine. However, the thickness of a scintillator is inversely related to an intrinsic spatial resolution in conventional gamma imaging systems. Thus, the thickness of scintillator may not be increased freely due to the spatial resolution trade off.
Further, there are several factors that affect spatial resolution of environment imaging systems:                Imaging a long distance target: the spatial resolution of an imaging system is linearly proportional to a distance as shown in equation (2) where d is a distance between a detector and a radiation source. Thus, as a distance between a detector and a source increases, the resolution of an imaging system degrades.resolution≈d  (2)        Penetration: some portions of incoming gamma ray penetrate through a collimator shielding, especially around opening edges of a pinhole or coded aperture holes. Such penetration of gamma ray increases as incoming gamma ray energy increases. Thus, a decrease in spatial resolution due to gamma ray penetration is more significant in environment imaging systems, which involve higher energy gamma ray.        Thickness of scintillator: as discussed above, a thicker scintillator may improve sensitivity of an imaging system. However, thicker the scintillator, broader is the detector response function, which leads to resolution degradation.
Since the sensitivity and resolution are conflicting parameters in a gamma ray imaging system, it is difficult to improve both parameters simultaneously. Consequently, no practical solution has been proposed from numerous previous attempts to develop methods and systems for the field of radiological environment imaging.


A component includes a housing (110, 1110) at least partially defining a cavity (125, 1125), a sensor element (105) located in the cavity, and a support member (340, 1140) located over the cavity, located over at least a portion of the housing, and having a hole (341, 1141) over the cavity. The component also includes a filter (345, 700, 800, 1045) located over the support member and located over the hole in the support member.

This invention relates to filters, in general, and to components having filters and their methods of manufacture and operation, in particular.
Physical sensor components such as, for example, pressure sensors can be used in automotive, industrial, consumer, and various other applications. Elastic gels, polymers, diaphragms, membranes, and other coatings or encapsulants have been used to protect the pressure sensors from the potentially corrosive environments in which the pressure sensors operate. However, none of these encapsulants are entirely impermeable to the corrosive environments. Furthermore, the encapsulants do not completely satisfy many stringent reliability requirements demanded by customers who use the pressure sensors.
A common failure mechanism for a silicon pressure sensor having a prior art coating or encapsulant occurs due to diffusion of the corrosive media through the encapsulant, which delaminates the encapsulant from the silicon pressure sensor. This delamination exposes portions of the silicon pressure sensor that subsequently corrode from the direct exposure to the corrosive media.
In addition to this common failure mechanism, most of the prior art coatings and encapsulants adversely affect the performance of the silicon pressure sensor. These adverse effects can include a pressure offset due to acceleration and/or a gel over-expansion due to a rapid change in pressure. Both of these adverse effects can severely limit the use of the silicon pressure sensor.
Accordingly, a need exists for an improved component that provides effective corrosion protection while not adversely affecting the performance of the component.


The present application discloses a driving method and a driver chip for a display panel, and a display device, where the driving method includes steps of: acquiring a refresh rate of a first data information; performing local dimming on the first data information to generate a first backlight driving information and a first data driving information; and adjusting the first backlight driving information and the first data driving information according to the refresh rate to generate a second backlight driving information and a second data driving information, respectively.

The statements herein merely provide background information related to the present application and do not necessarily constitute the conventional art.
With the increasing popularity of liquid crystal display panels, the application range of the liquid crystal display panels is also becoming varied, from early computers, electronic clocks and radios to notebook computers, desktop computers, televisions, and the like. In order to reduce power consumption and improve contrast ratio, an area of backlight of a corresponding part in a display panel is usually adjusted by making the backlight darker, namely performing local dimming. The local dimming technology is a technology for analyzing data content of a part of display area of a display panel according to picture grayscale information based on inputted information source data and dynamically adjusting backlight of the corresponding display area.
Since the refresh rate of the information source data itself may be different due to different formats, such as 50 HZ or 60 HZ, different display panels are produced with a preset corresponding refresh rate, i.e. a standard refresh rate. However, the display panel is provided with a local dimming function only for data information with a fixed refresh rate, such as 60 HZ, and if the refresh rate of the inputted data signal is different from the refresh rate corresponding to the local dimming, the brightness of the panel is inconsistent, which results in bad visual experience of customers.

Driving method and driver chip for display panel, and display device

CHONGQING HKC OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A system is presented for remotely measuring a concentration of a target material (e.g., radioactive gas, suspended aerosols or non-radioactive gaseous chemistries). The system includes a data processing system and a monitoring device. The device includes a detector having a chamber, collector in the chamber and a sensor. The target material enters the chamber. The collector collects ions generated by decay of the material. In one embodiment, the sensor measures changes in an electrostatic potential of the collector in response to the ions. In another embodiment, the sensor includes a scintillation counter that measures alpha or beta particles and provides an energy spectrum. In another embodiment, the sensor includes a material whose optical properties vary according to fields formed within the sensor. The device includes a transmitter for transmitting the potential, the spectrum or the field strength to the processing system for determining the concentration of the target material.

This invention relates generally to analytical testing of chemical and physical properties and their changes within an area under test (AUT). In particular, the invention relates to systems and methods for measuring and monitoring concentrations of radioactive gases such as radon, thoron and other materials within a gaseous environment of the AUT in-situ by spectroscopic and/or electrostatic means.
There are numerous devices presently available for detecting the presence of radioactive gas (e.g., radon) within an environment. Such devices, for example, are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,992,658, issued Feb. 12, 1991 (the ""658 patent) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,107,108, issued Apr. 21, 1992 (the ""108 patent), both to Ramsey et al. The disclosure of these U.S. patents are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. The radon monitoring device disclosed in the ""658 patent includes a housing having an electret ion chamber. A technician locates the device in an environment to be monitored and opens a cover of the housing to permit radon in the environment to enter the electret ion chamber by diffusion. As the radon decays, radiation emitted by the decay process of the radon gas generates ions in the air inside of the electret ion chamber. The electret, having been pre-charged with a positive polarity, attracts the electrons (negative ions) to its surface. Every ion that is collected by the electret surface results in a reduction of charge in the electret. Measurements of a surface voltage, an indication of charge, of the electret before and after exposure to radon may be utilized to determine the concentration of radon encountered during exposure. For example, exposure to a predetermined concentration of radon over a predetermined period of time is known to result in the electret discharging by a defined amount of voltage. By recording a period of time of an actual exposure and the resulting discharge of voltage (e.g., surface voltage measured prior to exposure minus surface voltage measured after the exposure), an average concentration of radon within an environment of interest may be determined. The above described calculation assumes accurate knowledge of the initial electret charge and an ideal electret having no leakage or other loss of charge due to factors other than from exposure to radon.
Another device referred to as a continuous radon detector is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,871,914, issued Oct. 3, 1989, to William E. Simon et al. (the ""914 Patent). The ""914 Patent describes an electronic detector that uses a diffused-junction photodiode sensor to measure alpha particles. The device reports radon gas levels electronically after a given period of time (e.g., a total count of alpha particles). Other conventional electronic radiation detector devices include a thallium activated cesium iodide scintillation crystal coated over a silicon pin diode or photodiode. Another conventional detector consists of a silver activated zinc sulfide scintillation crystal coated over a silicon pin diode.
A perceived disadvantage of these devices is that they typically require physical human intervention during the test period. The inventors have realized that the perceived disadvantage may be remedied by employing telemetry and/or cellular communication for transmitting data in virtual time mode. As such, physical human intervention can be avoided.
The inventors have further realized a number of deficiencies in the current testing procedures and devices. In conventional systems, a technician typically visits a test site and operates the measuring device more than once so that actual measurements for determining a concentration of radon in the test site can be taken. For example, a technician initiates a test by physically setting the device in an area of the test site and exposes the measuring device (e.g., the detector or absorbing surface of the device) to the test area (e.g., atmosphere within the area of the test site). To complete the test, the technician returns to the test site and retrieves the measuring device so that the measurement and calculation can be performed. For some units, the technician performs the measurement calculation at the test site. In other units, the technician carefully tranports the measuring device to a testing facility where the measurement and calculations are made.
When testing procedures include the utilization of a device having a charcoal canister collector, a qualified technician completes the testing by completely sealing the canister and returns the canister to a test facility. At the test facility a gamma counter is use to measure an amount of gamma radiation emitted from a Pb-214 isotope generated by the adsorbed radon gas. When testing procedures include the use of a continuous monitoring device such as alpha or gamma sensors, a qualified individual completes the test by returning to the test site so that the sensor can be read and the measurements interpreted. When the measuring device includes an electret, leakage due to cleanliness of a housing enclosing the electret, humidity and other factors related to multiple handling of the device affects the xe2x80x9cas measuredxe2x80x9d parameters. Referring again to the charcoal canister device, trapped radioactive constituents are time dependent, as such the accuracy of the xe2x80x9cas measuredxe2x80x9d value is a function of the amount of time required to return the canister to a certified laboratory for measurement. Furthermore, the radioactive decay of radon and its progeny further increase the error of accuracy when there is a delay in performing measurement calculations. In recognition of the possibility of such inaccuracies the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published correction factors to account for different time periods between collection and measurement (e.g., delayed measurement calculation). An example of such an EPA publication is EPA 520/5-87-005, June, 1987, EERF Standard Operating Procedures for Radon-222 Measurement Using Charcoal Canisters, D. J. Gray, S. T. Windham, March, 1987.
It should be appreciated that human intervention in monitoring procedures, whether an intended or unintended (e.g., tampering with the device) step of the procedures, have been known to introduce errors in the obtained results. Therefore, it is preferable to minimize such intervention by limiting the number of times that a technician returns to the test site. Additionally, it should be appreciated that it is often cumbersome, inconvenient and/or inefficient for personnel (e.g., the technician) to go back to the testing site in order to perform final readings and/or retrieve a monitoring device for measurement at the test facility. Also, not every attempt to test an environment of interest is initially successful. A number of factors including, for example, failure of the monitoring device itself, misuse or tampering by non-certified persons at the test site may result in the need for another test. Such misuse or tampering can be, for example, an intentional or unintentional interruption resulting from a non-technician altering one or more parameters of the test procedures. As a result, a qualified technician would be required to revisit the test site, install a new device (or correct parameters of the current device) and initiate another test cycle.
In view of the foregoing, the inventors have realized that a need exists for a monitoring system that performs site specific collecting, detecting and measuring operations, substantially independent of conditions not directly related to the radioactive gas and suspended aerosols present at the test site, and that is capable of transmitting continuous or discrete results of measuring operations to a remote facility for real-time analysis. Additionally, the inventors have realized that it would be advantageous to employ a device that is responsive to control signals transmitted from, for example, the remote monitoring facility. The control signals may alter one or more parameters during, for example, a pre-test phase of the detecting and measuring operations, to improve the accuracy of the test results.
Accordingly, the present invention provides improved methods and apparatus for collecting, detecting and measuring radioactive gases (e.g., radon) and suspended aerosols within an environment of interest that addresses the above described and other perceived deficiencies in conventional monitoring devices.
It is an object and advantage of this invention to provide an improved system for collecting, detecting and measuring radioactive gases (e.g., radon) and suspended aerosols within an environment of interest.
It is another object and advantage of this invention to provide an analytical testing method having the ability to remotely measure and monitor chemical and physical properties and their changes within an environment of interest.
It is another object and advantage of this invention to provide a programmable monitoring device that includes a sensor for collecting ions generated by a decay of a radioactive gas, a detector for selectively measuring a change in an electrostatic potential of the sensor due to the collected ions, a microprocessor and a transmitter for transmitting the measured changes to a data processing system for real-time and/or virtual real-time analysis of the changes to determine a concentration of the radioactive gas or suspended aerosols within an environment of interest.
It is yet another object and advantage of this invention to provide a programable monitoring device that includes a sensor for collecting ions generated by a decay of a radioactive gas, a detector for selectively measuring radioactive particles or electromagnetic radiation of a given energy, a microprocessor and a transmitter for transmitting the measured changes to a data processing system for real-time and/or virtual real-time analysis of the changes to determine a concentration of the radioactive gas or suspended aerosols within an environment of interest.
It is still another object and advantage of this invention to provide a programmable monitoring device having the aforementioned sensor, detectors, microprocessor and transmitter, and that also includes a receiver for receiving signals from the data processing system. The signals including parameters for adjusting the selective measuring process employed by the detector in response to, for example, preferred values of a frequency of measuring and a duration of testing that corresponding to the determined concentration of the radioactive gas.
It is another object and advantage of the invention to provide a remotely programmable device for real-time detection and measurement of a concentration of radioactive gas such as radon, thoron and other materials in-situ by spectroscopic and/or electrostatic means and which saves the lives of personnel by relaying virtually instantaneous information to appropriate personnel such that the proper action is taken long before complications develop.
Further objects and advantages of this invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the drawings and ensuing description.
The foregoing objects are realized by methods and apparatus in accordance with embodiments of this invention, wherein a system is presented for detecting and measuring a concentration of radioactive gas and suspended aerosol within an environment of interest. The system includes a testing facility having a data processing system and a monitoring device located within the environment of interest. The monitoring device is operatively coupled to the data processing system. For example, the monitoring system includes a radiotelephone or the like for accessing the data processing system via a conventional telecommunication system.
The monitoring device includes a detector having a housing that defines a chamber, a collector that is located within the chamber and a sensor electrically coupled to the collector. The housing includes at least one opening for allowing radioactive gas and suspended aerosol within the environment of interest to enter the chamber. The collector collects ions generated by a decay of radioactive gas and suspended aerosol within the chamber.
In one embodiment, the sensor selectively measures changes in an electrostatic potential of the collector in response to an accumulation of the generated ions. In another embodiment, the sensor includes a material disposed within either an electric or a magnetic field formed within the sensor. The material has optical properties that vary in response to changes in the formed field. Changes over time of the optical properties is representative of changing field strengths.
The monitoring device also includes a transmitter for transmitting, in one embodiment, the measured changes in the electrostatic potential to the data processing system. In another embodiment, the transmitter transmits the changing field strength to the data processing system. The data processing system includes application programming logic for determining the concentration of radioactive gas and suspended aerosol within the environment of interest from either of the measured changes in the electrostatic potential or the changing field strength.

Real-time remotely programmable radioactive gas detecting and measuring system


A self-driving car includes a vehicle body; wheels mounted on the vehicle body for moving the car; brakes mounted on the vehicle body for stopping the wheels; a steering apparatus connected between the vehicle body and at least some of the wheels for steering the wheels; sensors configured to detect environmental parameters; and a processor that is configured to facilitate at least an autonomous parking module for controlling the wheels, brakes, and steering apparatus. The processor is further configured as part of the autonomous parking module to scan the surroundings of the self-driving car, using at least one of the sensors, in order to detect a road hazard proximate a door of the self-driving car.

The present disclosure relates to self-driving cars ("SDCs").
Self-driving cars are a rapidly developing field of technology. One aspect of SDC technology is the ability for a SDC to autonomously park itself. Typically, SDC parking modules use radar and/or cameras to detect and adjust for hard barriers that the car might impact—e.g., other cars, light posts, high curbs, and the like. Typically, SDC parking modules do not account for surface road hazards such as potholes, ice, mud, snow, or puddles. On non-asphalt or non-concrete roads, the probabilities of puddles, mud, or hidden holes are very high. Dangerous animals, such as snakes or wild dogs, also can be present. Accordingly it is possible for a passenger to disembark from an autonomously parked SDC directly into a road hazard. This is not only inconvenient for the passenger, it also may be dangerous.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A real-time scheduler for scheduling periodic access to a shared resource by a number of channels. The channel period for each channel is represented by a channel value partitioned into an extra-fine value, a fine value, and a coarse value. The fine value is in units of access intervals, the length of time of each access. The coarse value is in units of scheduling periods, the maximum number of access intervals that can be represented by the fine value. The extra-fine value is in units of a number that evenly divides the access interval. During each scheduling period all non-zero coarse values are decremented by one and then if zero, indicate that the next cell send time for that channel falls in the next scheduling period. Concurrently, a fine process executes repeatedly in which all fine values that had a zero coarse value at the end of the previous scheduling period are compared to find the smallest value. The scheduler waits until the smallest value is less than or equal to the current cell interval, and then outputs a trigger signal to initiate the sending of the next cell of the channel and to adjust the channel value using the channel period such that the extra-fine value overflows into the fine value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to real-time resource scheduling, more specifically, to a method and apparatus for the real-time scheduling of a shared resource in an information system such as in digital communications between terminals of a communications network.
2. The Prior Art
When two computers wish to communicate with each other, they do so via a communications network. Networks are composed of computers and other terminal devices, such as printers, (collectively, computers) that are interconnected by electrical or optical cables. The capacity of a cable, also called its bandwidth, is measured in bits per second. The sum of the bit rates over all connections supported at one time by a cable cannot exceed its capacity.
Many networks are networks within networks, that is, larger networks composed of smaller networks connected together. For example, a company may have a local area network (LAN) in one of its offices that ties together all of the computers in that office. It then has a wide area network (WAN) that ties together the local networks of all of its offices. The company WAN may then be connected to a larger WAN, such as the Internet, a global network of thousands of smaller networks and computers. Generally, a network is connected to another network at one point, the gateway, where a hardware device, the interworking unit (IWU), acts as a translator between the different communications protocols and bit rates of the connected networks.
In general, information transferred from one computer to another over a network is not sent continuously. The information is broken up into segments, called packets, each of which is prefixed with a header and sent. The header may contain various information, such as the address of the source computer, the address of the destination computer, and the position of the packet in the totality of information sent from the source to the destination. The later is necessary when it cannot be assumed that all the packets will reach the destination by the same route, implying that the packets may arrive at the destination in a different order than they are sent. In the typical network, the amount of time that it takes to transmit each packet is the packet transmission interval, and is determined by dividing the length of the packet, in bits, by the bit rate of the network.
With the proliferation in the number and power of computers and the desire for computers to communicate at increasingly higher speeds, network bit rates must continue to increase to keep up with the demand for their services. Some WAN lines currently run at bit rates of up to 2.4 Gb/s using asynchronous transmission mode (ATM) standards, with higher rates anticipated. In an ATM system, each information packet is sent as a series of fixed-size cells. At 2.4 Gb/s, a 53-octet ATM cell has a cell interval of (53 octets*8 bits/octet)/2.4 Gb/s=176 nanoseconds (ns).
When it is desired to send information from a source system to a destination system, a virtual connection (VC) is set up. A VC is a logical connection between the systems. The physical transmission path (which may include electrical wires, optical fibers, and intervening computers) will often have segments that are shared by several VC's. Of course, the physical medium used for each segment must provide sufficient bandwidth to meet the requirements of all VC's set up through it.
In a segment of a transmission path, packets can be transferred synchronously or asynchronously. In synchronous transfer mode (STM), data is transferred within equal time periods, or frames, which are themselves composed of time slots. The number of time slots in each frame typically is the same as the maximum number of VC's. A VC that passes through an STM segment is assigned one slot within the frame. Consequently, all channels using this transmission segment have the same fixed bandwidth, regardless of actual need. If the fixed bandwidth is more than is necessary for the VC, some of the bandwidth is wasted. Conversely, if the fixed bandwidth is less than is necessary, some information may be lost.
In asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), there are no frames. Packets are allocated time slots when needed. Consequently, each VC only uses the bandwidth that it needs. When a system wishes to send information over an ATM network, it sends a request to the network controller for a VC that will run at a specified bandwidth. The VC is allocated and the interval of time between cells necessary to meet the bandwidth requirement, the rate period, is determined. Then the cells are sent one at a time during an access interval, called a cell interval in communications systems, separated by the rate period. The network controller must determine which cell to assign to each cell interval. Because the number and assignments of VC's change dynamically, it is not generally possible to make cell interval assignments in advance. Thus, each cell interval assignment must be made in real time during the previous cell interval, which means that the transmitting unit only has the amount of time in a cell interval (176 ns in the 2.4 Gb/s example above) to make the next assignment.
In present day ATM transmission equipment, the scheduling of transmission of ATM cells is typically implemented using a scheduling table that contains an arbitrary number of entries. Each entry in the table specifies a particular virtual channel (VC) and each VC may appear in many entries of the table. Sometimes, the table has a hierarchical structure. The scheduler cycles through the table repeatedly, processing one entry every cell interval. This method is simple, but has several problems, including the difficulty of maintaining the table as VC's become active or inactive, and the limited accuracy of the channel period due to the finite size of the table.

Real-time scheduler method and apparatus


A pipe joint cleaner device primarily for plastic pipes which after being cut are to be joined together comprising an open tapered cone member having a plurality of sharp raised projections on both the exterior face of such cone and on the interior face thereof whereby when a cut piece of pipe is inserted into the interior of the cone, in contact therewith, and relative rotation is induced between the pipe and the cone, any burrs or slivers on the exterior end and surface of such pipe are removed by contact with the projections on the interior face of such cone and, conversely, when the tip of the cone is inserted into a cut piece of pipe until firm contact with the exterior of the cone results and again relative rotation takes place, any burrs or slivers on the inside of such pipe end will be removed by the projections on the exterior face of such cone. Due to the cone shape, the device is substantially self-centering, eliminating the need for complicated jigs or the like.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pipe joint cleaners and more particularly pertains to such cleaners which may be used where the pipe is to be joined with another pipe in slip fit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of pipe cleaners is known in the prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,593 being particularly directed thereto. More specifically, cleaners heretofore devised and utilized for the purpose of cleaning the ends of pipes are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements. Generally such cleaners will clean the inside or outside of a pipe but not both. Also such cleaners generally are complex and not adaptable to hand use or use with a simple tool like a power drill.
In this respect, the pipe cleaner according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides a single device primarily developed for the purpose of cleaning either the exterior or interior of a piece of cut pipe and yet is simple enough to be hand held if desired.
Typical cutting tools shown in the art, although generally not specific to cleaning pipe for joining are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,967,854; 4,093,392; and 5,040,930.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for new and improved pipe joint cleaner which can be readily used to clean both the inner and outer surfaces of a cut pipe preparatory to joining. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.

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A congestion control method for a communication system supporting layered radio channel structure for communication between at least a first communication device and a second communication device that offers a first and second types of service with corresponding first and second priority orders. The messages between devices include a preamble and a payload with each message being separated by at least a minimum allowable period. The first communication device generates a physical layer message pertaining to the first type of service, senses the radio channel idle for at least a period corresponding to the minimum allowable period between two messages, and transmits the physical layer message including a preamble indicative of the type of service the message pertains. The content of the preamble is detected by the second communication device within a communication range irrespective of the decoding state of the payload of the transmitted message.

In wireless communication networks congestion control is an issue that needs to be addressed in order to have a network that operates smoothly thereby providing good quality of service (QoS) to its users. By "congestion" in communication networks is usually understood a situation, where the network is unable to deliver the offered load due to the insufficient capacity or overloaded traffic. The results of congestion are the degradation of QoS for the services, i.e. lower throughput, higher end-to-end packet delay, or even discard of packets in some severe cases.
Communication networks are known, which can provide two different types of services in terms of safety. First class of services includes only services related to safety or security, whereas the other service type provides other types of services, i.e. services that are not related to safety. An example of this kind of system is a wireless inter-vehicle communications (IVC) system, which is intended for improving the safety and comfort of driving. Generally, the services provided by IVC systems fall into two categories, namely safety services and non-safety services.
In IVC systems safety services provide the driver with information about critical situations in advance. Typical applications of this category include traffic signal violation warning, emergency electronic brake lights, pre-crash warning, cooperative danger warning dissemination, lane change warning, etc. Since closely related with human safety in high speed vehicular environments, these kinds of applications are characterised by the strict requirements on reliability and latency that is usually less than 100 milliseconds. On the other hand, intended for enhancing the driving comfort and improving the efficiency of transportation system, the non-safety services are usually assigned with lower priorities compared to the safety services. This category of applications, including traffic message dissemination, toll collection, electronic map download, multimedia applications and so on, usually require more bandwidth.
Owing to the ability of offering high-rate data transmission with low latency in a local range of several hundreds meters up to one kilometer, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 wireless local area network (WLAN) technology is widely accepted as the enabling technology of medium access control (MAC) and physical layer (PHY) for the next generation IVC system. The IEEE WLAN MAC is based on carrier sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA), where each station follows a listen before talk and random backoff scheme to avoid collisions, as the distributed coordination function (DCF) specified in IEEE 802.11 standard. The priority of safety services is granted by assigning a relatively shorter channel sensing time and smaller random backoff slot number generating window, as the enhanced distributed channel access (EDCA) function specified in the IEEE 802.11e standard. However, in systems where the channel resource is shared by services with a priority of the first order, such as safety applications, and services with a priority of the second order, such as non-safety applications, e.g. IEEE 802.11p, the QoS of the safety applications may be compromised due to the channel congestion caused by the non-safety applications. In these systems, where the channel resource is shared by safety and non-safety services, non-safety applications may exhaust the channel resource, even if a higher priority has been assigned to the safety applications. Thus, it is desirable to avoid congestion in order to prevent the QoS degradation of services with a priority of the first order.
Thus, there is a need for an improved congestion control method.

Congestion control in a communication network based on the CSMA/CA protocol


The present application discloses a display device and a liquid crystal display, wherein the display device has a plurality of pixels, and the plurality of pixels are distributed at intervals along an array of a plurality of rows and columns; the pixel distributed at intervals along a plurality of rows includes a plurality of pixels distributed at intervals on odd rows and a plurality of pixels distributed at intervals on even rows; the brightness of the pixels on the odd rows is disposed differentially from the brightness of the pixels on the even rows.

The driving circuit system of the liquid crystal display comprises: a scan driving integrated circuit, also known as a gate driver integrated circuit (G-IC); and a data driving integrated circuit, also known as a source driver IC (Source Driver IC, S-IC).
The liquid crystal display is driven by progressive scanning, that is, the rows are sequentially turned on, and each time a row is turned on, all the column data signal lines transmit data to the row of pixels. The pixel driving structure can be divided into 1G1D and 2G2D according to the number of row openings and the input of corresponding pixel signals at a certain time.
The 1G1D structure is a conventional driving method for pixels, that is, only one row is turned on at a time, and all columns transmit data signals to the pixels of the row. According to the arrangement of the TFTs in the pixel, the 1G1D structure is further divided into a Column-Inversion 1G1D structure and a Z-Inversion 1G1D structure, and the data signal line therein is doubled compared to the conventional 1G1D, 2G2D structure. 2G2D means to open two rows at a time; the data signal of the odd column is input into the corresponding pixel of the previous row, and the data signal of the even column is input into the corresponding pixel of the next row. For the pixel driving structure of 2G2D, in the case where the total number of rows is unchanged, it is equivalent to increasing the data writing time (Writing Time) of each row, thereby facilitating the improvement or securing of the pixel charging rate.
It should be particularly noted that in the VA mode, in order to expand the viewing angle characteristics, each sub-pixel contains a plurality of domains (usually having eight domains, and domains refer to liquid crystal regions of different orientations). Compared to the conventional 1G1D pixel driving enclosure, the VA mode is implemented by adding scan lines or data lines in order to achieve multi-domain. A special pixel driving structure is sometimes used to reduce the data line and increase the scan line. This special pixel driving structure is a dual-gate pixel driving structure (Dual-gate). In the dual-gate pixel driving structure, the row scan line is doubled and the data line is reduced by half.
Since the liquid crystal is controlled by the directional light valve, it is relatively easy to cause a color cast at large viewing angle, that is, when viewed at a relatively oblique angle, a color cast phenomenon may occur. As shown in FIG. 1, any adjacent two pixels of the exemplary display device have the same brightness. At present, there are two ways to improve this phenomenon: one is to divide the original pixel (pixel) into main pixel and sub pixel in the pixel design of the liquid crystal panel, and dim the brightness of the sub pixel, but this will cause the transmittance of the panel to reduce significantly; another is to use a special mathematical algorithm inside the timing processing chip to design bright and dark data for adjacent pixels, and although this has little effect on the transmittance of the liquid crystal panel, the algorithm is complicated, the debugging and maintenance are not easy, and the cost of the timing processing chip is increased.

Display device and liquid crystal display

Chongqing HKC Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


Technologies are described herein for providing an automatic reminder function. The technologies are adapted to receive a definition of a reminder as an occurrence or are non-occurrence of an event and to receive operationally relevant data from a system data device. The technologies then determine whether the operationally relevant data indicates that the reminder is triggered by the occurrence or non-occurrence of the event. Responsive to determining whether the operationally relevant data indicates that the reminder is triggered by the occurrence or non-occurrence of the event, the technologies issue the reminder through instrumentation on an aircraft.

Flight crew may perform various activities during a flight on an aircraft. These activities may be performed upon the occurrence of specified events during the flight (e.g., change flight crew at 15:00, report to air traffic control when a given waypoint is reached, etc.). Conventionally, the flight crew may recall such activities by writing hand-written notes or by attempting to memorize the events that trigger the activities. The flight crew may then determine when the activities are performed by manually monitoring the occurrence of the events. For example, the flight crew may monitor the clock and/or monitor instruments on the flight deck of an aircraft indicating the occurrence of the events. However, such an approach to recalling the events that trigger the activities and identifying the occurrence of the events may be subject to human error and may add to the flight crew's workload.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.


A method includes selecting, from an image, a target block of pixels to be compressed, selecting a neighbor column of the target block, selecting a neighbor row of the target block, generating two or more basis values based on at least one of a portion of pixels of the neighbor column and a portion of pixels of the neighbor row, calculating a gradient based on the two or more basis values, and assigning at least one predictor for the target block using the calculated gradient.

Image compression/decompression traditionally segments an image into blocks of pixels. During encoding (compressing), pixels of previously compressed blocks may be reused as context to predict the pixels of the current block. During decoding (decompressing), pixels of the previously decompressed blocks may be reused as context to predict the pixels of the current block. A predictor is an algorithm that takes these context samples (usually bordering the block to be compressed/decompressed on its left and top sides) as input and output starting values for calculating prediction values for use during compression and/or during decompression in the block, that may later be completed by more encoded information and/or filtered to obtain the final reconstructed samples.

Gradient predictor for image compression


A method of instantly reducing the appearance of wrinkles and skin imperfections while smoothing the skin, which comprises applying a cosmetic composition in the form of an oil-in-water emulsion comprising a fractal particle based gel and refractive index matching polymers with respect to at least one of the fractal particles. The composition of the invention provides both optical blurring and skin smoothing effect on the skin.

A number of methods have been developed to reduce wrinkles and minimize fine lines. Some of these methods include active ingredients such as antioxidants; agents that act by neurotransmission inhibition in nerve cells such as botulinum toxin (Botox™) (Allergan, Irvine, Calif.), thereby relaxing contracted muscles; agents that accelerate the cell renewal process such as hydroxy and fruit acids like retinoic acid; emollients such as shea butter; skin plumpers such as hyaluronic acid; fillers such as collagen; light-diffusing pigments and microspheres which create the illusion that wrinkles have disappeared. Other methods have been developed to reduce the appearance of pores, skin surface unevenness and imperfections and the like. Some of these methods include skin lightening agents, and filling and camouflaging the skin.
Unfortunately, many cosmetic foundations and make-ups actually accentuate wrinkles and fine lines due to migration of the pigments into the wrinkle crevices. Other products cover the skin imperfections but create an unnatural, caked-on appearance. Others, such as mica, reflect rather than diffuse and scatter light, thereby resulting in a shiny appearance. Additionally, some of these methods are not immediate, requiring days and weeks of continued use to see effects. Others are invasive, requiring injections, patient discomfort, and may entail redness, swelling and other side effects.
Foundations in the form of oil-in-water emulsions are well known. However, these compositions merely cover the skin and often impart a white cast to the skin. Attempts have been made to provide foundations which result in either optical blurring or space filling, but not both.
Therefore, the need exists for alternative methods to provide a natural and smooth appearance to the skin with visible reduction in wrinkles, fine lines, pores, and skin imperfections but which overcome the problems associated with previous methods and compositions and would represent a significant advance in cosmetic art.
The present invention fulfills such a need. The inventors have discovered that fractal particle gels containing a refractive index matching polymer (as herein described) can be incorporated into a cosmetic formulation, which, when applied to a biologic substrate such as skin or lips, creates a film that is both optically blurring to diffuse the transmission of light from the surface of the film, and space filling to effect smooth skin surfaces and thus conceal fine lines and wrinkles. None of the existing art provides the advantages and benefits of the present invention.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cosmetic composition containing novel fractal particle based gels having improved optical properties