A mechanism for coupling a mower deck to a powered vehicle and having push arms pivotally connected to the vehicle between the front wheels of the vehicle and coupled to the front portion of the deck for pushing the deck in front of the vehicle. A member or outrigger extends outwardly from the rear of one of the push arms and supports a rear side portion of the deck and thereby establishes a pivot point for the deck outwardly from the rear of the push arm such that as the opposite side of the deck rides over a bump in the ground the side of the deck carried by the member or outrigger will not dip an undesirable amount.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to mechanisms for coupling mower decks to powered vehicles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many conventional mowers provide a powered vehicle for pushing a mower deck in front of the vehicle for the cutting or mowing of vegetation. Decks are typically coupled with the vehicle via a pair of push arms that extend from the top of the mower deck and connect with the vehicle between the vehicle's two front driven wheels. Large caster wheels are mounted to the front of these decks to support the front portion of the deck above the ground. Conventional push arms are not rigidly fixed to the vehicle, but rather have pin connections with both the deck and the vehicle in order to allow the decks to ride over irregularities in ground conditions. Each push arm can pivot about its connection to the vehicle independent of the other push arm to allow one side of the deck to ride over an irregularity in the ground conditions such as a bump. Therefore, these decks can swing about a plurality of axes parallel with a line defined by the direction of travel.
Many conventional mowers provide decks that are significantly wider than the arrangement of the push arms. Decks that are wider than the push arms and wheel base are advantageous during trimming operations and also act to decrease the size of any uncut circle of grass remaining when the vehicle executes a tight corner. The rear portions of these decks are supported above the ground by connections with the rear portions of the push arms near the center of the vehicle.
As one of the deck's front caster wheels encounters a bump, the caster wheel and the side of the deck on which the caster wheel is mounted will ride up and over the bump. The deck thereby pivots about the other side of the deck's connection with the rear of the push arm. The outer edge of the deck on the side which does not encounter the bump is thereby caused to dip down toward the ground. As the edge of the deck dips down toward the ground, the grass is caused to be cut unevenly. The amount that the edge of the deck will dip is even greater for the wider decks, since the edges of the wide decks extend farther outwardly from the point of connection with the rear of the push arm than do the narrower decks. Therefore, many conventional mechanisms for coupling a deck to a powered vehicle allow the edge of the deck to dip an unacceptable amount, resulting in an uneven cut, and even gouging of the ground.
Some conventional decks provide a gage wheel mounted near the rear outer edge of the deck to prevent the deck and blades from gouging the ground. When operating on level ground these wheels are suspended above the ground. When uneven conditions are encountered the wheels engage the ground as the edge of the deck dips toward the ground and thereby prevent the deck and blades from striking the ground. However, these wheels allow the edge of the deck to dip until the wheel engages the ground. Therefore, the deck is allowed to cut the grass unevenly as the deck dips. It would be possible to fix wheels to the rear of the deck for constant engagement with the ground to thereby establish a point, laterally spaced from the push arm, about which the deck pivots when uneven ground conditions are encountered. Since these wheels would constantly engage the ground, they would have to be larger and more sturdy than the gage wheels that do not constantly engage the ground. It would therefore be costly to mount such a wheel to the rear of the deck for constantly rolling over the ground.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a mechanism for pushing a mower deck in front of a powered vehicle such that when one side of the deck rises up over a bump in the ground, the corresponding lowering or dipping of the other side of the deck would be reduced. It would be desirable for such a mower to provide for a reduction in the amount of unevenly cut grass and gouging of the ground associated with the dipping of the side of the deck, while not significantly increasing the expense of manufacture for such a deck.


Described herein is a shampoo composition and methods of using the same, the shampoo composition including a Class I and/or Class II chelant, a detersive surfactant, and a carrier.

Many water sources that are used by consumers for personal care contain elevated levels of calcium and magnesium salts, as well as undesirable levels of redox metals (e.g., copper and/or iron) salts. As such, using chelants to sequester trace redox metals often proves to be ineffective because most chelants also competitively bind calcium and/or magnesium.
It has been found that even trace quantities of copper can deposit on the hair surface and in between the cuticle layers of hair. This deposition of copper on hair is especially problematic because transition metal ions, such as copper and iron, can facilitate reduction-oxidation (redox) reactions during hair coloring treatments and during UV exposure. These reactions generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which in turn can cause damage to the hair. In addition, they can interfere with the oxidative color formation chemistry and lead to reduced color uptake for hair colorant users.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved shampoo compositions that can inhibit copper depositing on hair, as well as facilitate the removal of copper already deposited thereon.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Shampoo compositions comprising a chelant


An artificial fishing lure has a hinged, integral elongate, asymmetrical body of soft, resilient material which has a slightly U-shaped surface and a convex bottom portion. The body of the lure is non-stabilized and moves with compound, unpredictable motion to simulate bait fish. T-shaped hinges may be utilized to connect adjacent segments of the body.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to artificial lures and deals more particularly with a flexible artificial lure designed to take advantage of predator fish's recognized or perceived abilities to identify and key on preyfish that are injured or otherwise disoriented.
2. Description of Background Art
Conventional fishing lure designs usually incorporate shapes that use water resistance to impart some form of action or movement to the lure body. Example shapes are lips that cause the lures to descend as they are pulled through the water; blades that turn in reaction to the forward progress of the lure; curved or flattened tails that ripple when straightened out by water resistance, appendages, etc. Such design factors in the various shapes, while enhancing body movement, impart a rhythm that contrasts with the random, haphazard movements of injured baitfish. While the body of a typical fishing lure moves, bends, vibrates or ripples, the devices which create these movements also promote a degree of directional stability atypical of the movements of injured prey and to which random movements predatory fish respond most readily to.
The present invention utilizes a balanced, streamlined design purposely devoid of such stabilizing features or "action" producing, water resistance driven devices, to eliminate directional stability. This lack of stability allows the lure, as it is moved through or over the water, to move in an overall erratic path, as opposed to the directional path of conventional lures. This random movement more accurately mimics the movements of disoriented prey. The balance of the preferred configuration of the present invention is such that the lure is free to move in random directions, as opposed to the "nose first" motion of conventional lures.
Another general problem associated with the design of artificial plastic fishing lures is their inability to function both on and beneath the surface of the water. Thus, a fisherman generally will need to change lures to accommodate above or below surface fishing.
A yet further problem generally associated with many known artificial lures is their inability to avoid entanglement with vegetation in the water or with the bottom of a body of water.


The disclosure relates to systems and methods for photonic sintering of conductive ink compositions with metal nanoparticles. Specifically, the disclosure relates to methods and systems for sintering ink compositions with metal nanoparticles using an illumination source comprising an array of pulsed light emitting diodes (LEDs).

The disclosure is directed to systems and methods for photonic sintering of conductive ink compositions with metal nanoparticles. Specifically, the disclosure is directed to methods and systems for sintering ink compositions with metal nanoparticles using an illumination source comprising an array of pulsed light emitting diodes (LEDs).
Printed circuit boards are generally fabricated by lithography using extractive methods, for example etching. Such a fabrication method provides formation of conductive lines by placing a conductive film on a substrate with an acid resistant material (resist) coated only on the part corresponding to a circuit pattern and the unnecessary portion of the conductive film etched by dissolution-removing the portion of the conductive film where there are not circuits with a corrosion solution and thereby to leave only necessary conductive lines.
However, since the formation process of the laminate, the resist coating, resist etching and washing, and the like is complex, requiring many stages that often cannot be done continuously, manufacturing process requires substantial amount of time and production cost thus increase.
In addition, discharged solution generated during the manufacturing process can cause environmental issues, requiring on many occasions treatment such as neutralization and the like, which can also cause increase in manufacturing costs.
Some of these drawbacks can be partially solved using additive manufacturing process of circuit board by, for example, directly printing the circuit pattern using conductive ink on a substrate.
In additive manufacturing processes, conductive ink sintering may be largely divided into heat sintering and laser sintering. However, since commercially available heat sintering and laser sintering methods require high energy and a long sintering times, problems such as cost increase still persist.
There is therefore a need for a system and methods for using readily available energy sources that will cure some of the deficiencies described above.


An imaging system may include an image sensor having an array of dual gain pixels. Each pixel may be operated using an improved three read method and an improved four read method such that all signals are read in a high gain configuration in order to prevent electrical offset in signal levels. Each pixel may be operated using an improved three read, two analog to digital conversion (ADC) method in which a frame buffer is used to store calibration data. Each pixel may be operated using an improved three read, three ADC method in which no frame buffer is required. A high dynamic range image signal may be produced for each pixel based on signals read from the pixel and on light conditions.

This relates generally to image sensors, and more specifically, to methods and circuitry for operating image sensor pixels with dual-gain readout for producing high dynamic range (HDR) images.
In conventional imaging systems, image artifacts may be caused by moving objects, moving or shaking camera, flickering lighting, and objects with changing illumination in an image frame. Such artifacts may include, for example, missing parts of an object, edge color artifacts, and object distortion. Examples of objects with changing illumination include light-emitting diode (LED) traffic signs (which can flicker several hundred times per second) and LED brake lights or headlights of modern cars.
While electronic rolling shutter and global shutter modes produce images with different artifacts, the root cause for such artifacts is common for both modes of operation. Typically, image sensors acquire light asynchronously relative to the scenery being captured. This means that portions of an image frame may not be exposed for part of the frame duration. This is especially true for bright scenery when integration times are much shorter than the frame time used. Zones in an image frame that are not fully exposed to dynamic scenery may result in object distortion, ghosting effects, and color artifacts when the scenery includes moving or fast-changing objects. Similar effects may be observed when the camera is moving or shaking during image capture operations.
Conventional imaging systems also may have images with artifacts associated with low dynamic range. Scenes with bright and dark portions may produce artifacts in conventional image sensors, as portions of the image may be over exposed or under exposed.
Dual gain pixels are commonly used to improve the dynamic range of an image sensor. They can be used either in a fixed high or fixed low gain readout mode or in a dual readout mode where both gain modes are read out. In the dual readout mode, charge is either stored entirely on the photodiode or is allowed to overflow to a floating diffusion node during integration. The combination of dual gain readout with overflow during integration allows for the largest dynamic range increase.
Dual gain pixels traditionally read out captured high-gain and low-gain image data in respective high-gain and low-gain configurations. Switching between the high-gain configuration and the low-gain configuration results in electrical crosstalk. This crosstalk causes an undesirable large electrical offset between signals read in the high-gain configuration and signals read in the low-gain configuration. This electrical offset can cause pixel output signals to have a magnitude that is outside of the operating range of analog readout circuitry in the imaging system.
Dual gain pixels traditionally read out captured image data using a method that requires either four pixel read operations and analog to digital conversions (ADCs) to operate without a frame buffer, or three pixel reads and three ADCs to operate with a frame buffer. In the latter case, the frame buffer is required to provide a reference image for offset correction between signals. Performing additional reads and ADC conversions requires additional power, whereas the introduction of a frame buffer requires additional hardware. Such increased power consumption and addition of hardware is generally undesirable.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide high dynamic range (HDR) image sensors that do not have a large electrical offset between pixel output signals, that require fewer reads and ADC conversions than traditional image sensors, and that do not require a frame buffer for pixel readout.

High dynamic range imaging pixels with improved readout

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC


A flow sensor includes a main flow body, a laminar flow element, and first and second bypass channels. The first bypass channel is formed in, and extends at least partially around, the outer surface of the laminar flow element, and is in fluid communication with the main flow channel and defines a first bypass flow passage between the laminar flow element and the main flow body. The second bypass channel is formed in, and extends at least partially around, the outer surface of the laminar flow element, and is in fluid communication with the main flow channel and defines a second bypass flow passage between the laminar flow element and the main flow body.

High flow sensors generally use a bypass flow channel in combination with a main flow channel. A laminar flow element (LFE) may be incorporated in the main flow channel. A typical LFE may include multiple parallel flow channels with relatively small cross-sectional area to laminarize the main flow and create a pressure restriction. The bypass flow channel incorporates a means of sensing bypass flow and is fluidly communicated to the main flow channel via taps that are disposed perpendicular to the main flow channel. The taps may include a first tap and a second tap, with the first tap disposed upstream of the LFE and the second tap disposed downstream of the LFE.
The perpendicular orientation of the taps presents static pressure at the taps. The difference in the static pressure between the first and second taps drives flow through the bypass flow channel. The flowrate through the bypass flow channel may be controlled by features of the bypass, such as length and diameter, or an orifice or tube shaped feature may be used to limit bypass flow rate.
A relatively long bypass flow channel is desirable to reduce orifice effects that can be caused by differences in relationship of cross sectional area of the bypass channel to partitions in the laminar flow element. It is also desirable to implement this type of flow sensor with minimal size. It is further desirable to implement a flow sensor with variable length bypass flow channels. These three desires interact with one another.
Hence, there is a need for a flow sensor that addresses the above-noted enhancements. Specifically, one that has a relatively long bypass flow channel and/or a variable length bypass flow channel and/or can be implemented with minimal size. The present invention addresses at least these needs.

Flow sensor with multi-position laminar flow element having integrated bypass channels


A method for distributing a nominal audiovisual stream to a recipient device including modifying, in the nominal audiovisual stream, at least one nominal coefficient among the nominal coefficients to generate a modified main stream; generating complementary information such that the nominal audiovisual stream may be implemented based from the complementary information and on the modified main stream, applying a plurality of methods for protecting the complementary information to generate multiple protected complementary information, each of the protected complementary information enabling the nominal stream of the main stream to be implemented upon application of an access method compatible with the protection method which has been used to protect it; and transmitting to the recipient device the modified main stream and the multiple protected complementary information.

To prevent the non-authorised piratical utilization of the digital contents, some solutions provide for the transmission to the user of digital audiovisual contents which is protected, scrambled and generally ciphered by one or several encoding key(s). The descrambling thus depends on the reception of a certificate or a licence which contains one or several descrambling key(s), the certificate or licence being generally sent to the user in exchange for a charged or free transaction. The certificate or licence generally contains legal elements relating to the possible utilization of the descrambled contents. One problem entailed in such solutions is that a user having powerful tools at their disposal can determine the descrambling key or keys without going through the transaction, and thus obtain a descrambled stream which can be used as desired, either for an illegal visualization or audio, or for making pirated copies. Another problem is that the user must have a terminal which incorporates the descrambling method as well as the so-called rights of use management method compatible with that used for scrambling the contents.
Some protective solutions enable the secure distribution of audiovisual contents through telecommunication networks or on audiovisual physical supports of the memory card or DVD types, more particularly using protection methods called DRM (Digital Rights Management) or CAS (Conditional Access System). Further in the following text, all the DRM and CAS will be called "DRM."
A DRM is a protection method implemented with a protection device comprising:                protection means of a cryptographic kind;        digital rights management means;        means for the secure transmission of keys of the cryptographic kind.
However, several DRMs exist, among which some are standardized. However, the DRMs are incompatible with each other. A consumer receiving audiovisual contents protected by one DRM can play it only if the terminal has the method corresponding to the DRM: the interoperability of the contents and the interoperability of the protection systems (DRM, CAS) do not exist.
EP 0 778 513 discloses a method making it possible to prevent the illegal use of information by adding a control information to check the rights of the user. The system makes it possible to know permanently what part of the information is used, by which user, and thereby makes it possible to know whether the user is in a legal or illegal situation. Such method thus protects data by adding additional information which change the nature of the initial information, but the interoperability with the other DRM systems is not provided.
WO 00/49483 also provides methods and systems for creating a link between the users and a digital entity editor. The method comprises at least one of the following steps: the step of subdividing the digital entity into two parts; the step of storing a part in a memory area of a server connected to a computer network; the step of transmitting the other part to at least one user having a computer; the step of connecting the computer to the computer network; the step of establishing a functional link between the first part and the second part. Such methods and systems do not mention whether the part stored in the server can be stored by the user which would enable him to pirate the digital entity, and the interoperability with the other DRM systems is not mentioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,937,164 discloses separating a stream into two parts, the smaller one of which contains information required for using the bigger one. However, this method is not sufficient for answering the problem identified. As a matter of fact, the elimination of a part of the stream changes the format of the stream which can no longer be recognized as a standard stream, which could be used with general software applications. That method requires both a specific software on the server side for separating the two parts, and other specific software not only providing the reconstruction of the stream but also the acquisition of the main stream and the use thereof according to a solution proprietary format. Such proprietary format is not the initial format of the stream before it was separated into two parts. Interoperability with the other DRM systems is not provided.
The OMA (Open Mobile Alliance) consortium and more particularly, in the specifications of the OMA 2.0 DRM does not make it possible to solve the problem identified, since OMA defines how the original audiovisual sequence is completely ciphered, then how the rights are structured in a security object prior to being sent to the decoders. Interoperability with the other DRM is not solved by OMA.
Two possibilities exist to avoid such drawbacks: either the terminals have all the existing DRMs, and the terminals can thus remove the protection on and play contents protected by all the present DRMs, but the terminals will not be able to play the contents protected by unknown DRMs which will be used in the future; or the audiovisual contents to be protected are protected by all the existing and future DRMs, the contents having to be protected and broadcast with all the DRMs, which means extremely important protection and broadcasting costs, without allowing the interoperability of the DRM systems, nor the free exchange of files between terminals, since each terminal does not have all the DRMs.
In addition, some terminals such as personnel digital assistants or mobile telephones cannot have several DRMs for reasons of software and hardware architecture.
Thus, in the existing solutions, if it is desired to transmit audiovisual contents comprising several types of DRM protections, it is necessary to transmit the whole corresponding stream which corresponds to the audiovisual contents, protected according to the various DRM formats. The volume of information thus transmitted is thus equal to the size of the contents to be visualized multiplied by the number of the DRM types used. However, the transmission of such volume of information is a problem, more particularly in case of a transmission, because of the limited passbands and memories.

Method and device for distributing secure digital audiovisual contents by interoperable solutions


A mercury-free discharge lamp with an electrical power consumption of less than 35 Watts may include a translucent discharge vessel which has a discharge space into which electrodes protrude for generating a gas discharge, wherein metal halides and ignition gas are contained in the discharge space, wherein the metal halides are present in a quantity in the range from 5 milligrams to 15 milligrams per 1 milliliter of discharge space volume in the discharge space.

Mercury-free discharge lamps in which the mercury used in a discharge gas is replaced by other metal halides are known from the prior art. However, if no mercury is provided in the closed bulb, the voltage between the electrodes is reduced such that an increased electric current is required for maintaining the voltage. This results in a higher level of power dissipation from the ballast for the mercury-free discharge lamp in comparison to a conventional mercury-containing discharge lamp. Since, where a lamp with a luminous flux of more than 2000 lm, as is emitted by a conventional mercury-free discharge lamp, is installed, it is mandatory additionally to provide a headlamp windshield washing system and a lamp leveling control, the use of mercury-free lamps as standard equipment was not of interest to automotive manufacturers.
In the prior art, for example in US 2004/0150344, it was therefore proposed that a mercury-free discharge lamp with reduced power requirements and decreased luminous flux be achieved by reducing the dimensions of the discharge bulb and shortening the distance between the electrodes in the discharge bulb. In this way, the temperature in the bulb can, despite the reduced power feed, be kept at a level necessary for a constant voltage.
However, a disadvantage of this lamp known from the prior art is that the light arc which forms in the smaller-sized discharge bulb has too low a spatial extension so that use of these lamps in existing headlamps is not possible.

Mercury-free discharge lamp having a translucent discharge vessel

Osram Gesellschaft MIT Beschraenkter Haftung


The present invention relates to a method and system for quality compliance, system and operator verification, and process management for point of care biological sample testing systems used in hospitals and other medical delivery environments. Specifically, the present invention may be directed to a computing device configured to generate a plurality of attributes configured to assess a competency level of an operator to operate at least one sample testing instrument, obtain operator derived data pertaining to the operator's ability to operate the at least one sample testing instrument, and determine a competency level of the operator for the at least one sample testing instrument based the plurality of attributes and the operator derived data.

For hospitals, the introduction of point-of-care testing capabilities has created unique requirements and issues for quality compliance, system and operator verification, and process management. These issues arise from the use of a plurality of instruments running multiple types of disposable sample testing devices at various locations within a hospital. Consequently, a hospital must provide an adequate supply of each type of device at each site of use, while ensuring the devices are within their usable shelf-life, along with also ensuring that the instruments are performing to specification. A further consideration is ensuring that each user of the technology, or operator, is properly qualified to do so and maintains a valid training record.
Point-of-care sample analysis systems are generally based on a re-usable reading apparatus that performs sample tests using a single-use disposable device, e.g., a cartridge or strip that contains analytical elements, e.g., electrodes or optics for sensing analytes such as pH, oxygen and glucose. The disposable device can include fluidic elements (e.g., conduits for receiving and delivering the sample to sensing electrodes or optics), calibrant elements (e.g., aqueous fluids for standardizing the electrodes with a known concentration of analyte), and dyes with known extinction coefficients for standardizing optics. The reading apparatus or instrument contains electrical circuitry and other components for operating the electrodes or optics, making measurements, and doing computations. The reading apparatus also has the ability to display results and communicate those results to laboratory and hospital information systems (LIS and HIS, respectively), for example, via a computer workstation or other data management system. Communication between the reading apparatus and a workstation, and between the workstation and a LIS, can be via, for example, an infrared link, a wired connection, wireless communication, or any other form of data communication that is capable of transmitting and receiving electrical information, or any combination thereof. A notable point-of-care system (The i-STAT® System, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Princeton, N.J.) is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,669, which comprises a disposable device, operating in conjunction with a hand-held analyzer, for performing a variety of measurements on blood or other fluids.
One benefit of point-of-care sample testing systems is the elimination of the time-consuming need to send a sample to a central laboratory for testing. Point-of-care sample testing systems allow a nurse or doctor (user or operator), at the bedside of a patient, to obtain a reliable quantitative analytical result, comparable in quality to that which would be obtained in a laboratory. In operation, the nurse selects a device with the required panel of tests, draws a biological sample from the patient, dispenses it into the device, optionally seals the device, and inserts the device into the reading apparatus. While the particular order in which the steps occur may vary between different point-of-care systems and providers, the intent of providing rapid sample test results close to the location of the patient remains. The reading apparatus then performs a test cycle, i.e., all the other analytical steps required to perform the tests. Such simplicity gives the doctor quicker insight into a patient's physiological status and, by reducing the time for diagnosis or monitoring, enables a quicker decision by the doctor on the appropriate treatment, thus enhancing the likelihood of a successful patient outcome.
In the emergency room and other acute-care locations within a hospital, the types of sample tests required for individual patients tend to vary. Thus, point-of-care systems generally offer a range of disposable devices with different sample tests, or combinations of tests. For example, for blood analysis devices, in addition to traditional blood tests, including oxygen, carbon dioxide, pH, potassium, sodium, chloride, hematocrit, glucose, urea, creatinine and calcium, other tests can include, for example, prothrombin time (PT), activated clotting time (ACT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT), cardiac troponin I (cTnI), brain natriuretic peptide (BNP), creatine kinase MB (CKMB) and lactate. While devices typically contain between one and ten tests, it should be appreciated by persons of ordinary skill in the art that any number of tests may be contained on a device. For example, a device for genetic screening may include numerous tests. To illustrate the need for different devices, a patient suspected of arrhythmia may require a device with a test combination that includes a potassium test, whereas a patient suspected of a diabetic hypoglycemia may require a device with a test combination that includes a glucose test. An emergency room will need to have sufficient inventory of both types of device to meet the anticipated workload.
Quality compliance, system verification and process management at the point-of-care has traditionally relied on direct human intervention. Typically, a person from the hospital central laboratory, e.g., a designated point-of-care testing coordinator, would be responsible for regularly visiting point-of-care testing locations to track performance. Because of the substantially manual nature of this approach, there are several opportunities for delay and possible human error. The present invention seeks to ameliorate these problems and provide a substantially automated system for quality compliance, operator and system verification, and process management.

Management system for point of care testing


A method for dynamically selecting string analysis algorithms can begin with the training of the dynamic string analysis handler of a string analysis module to effectively handle a subset of string queries having contextual metadata received from a client application in an instructional environment. The effectiveness of the training module can be based upon feedback from the client application. Upon completion of the training, a string analysis algorithm selection policy can be synthesized. The string analysis algorithm selection policy can correlate a context of a string query in the subset to the usage of a string analysis algorithm. When in the operational environment, the dynamic string analysis handler can dynamically handle string queries having contextual metadata received from the client application in accordance with the string analysis algorithm selection policy. The string analysis algorithm to be used for a string query can be dynamically and independently determined.

The present invention relates to the field of software analysis.
String analysis is a technique used to infer and analyze the contents of string variables generated by the operation of software applications. String analysis is a particularly beneficial tool used for detecting and assessing security vulnerabilities of software applications like cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities of Web applications or access-control policy violations.

Using a heuristically-generated policy to dynamically select string analysis algorithms for client queries

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A method and a system for matching medical condition information with medical resources are provided. Specifically, a plurality of medical resources such as, for example, practitioners, specialists, specialty hospitals, or any other medical or extended care providers may have information related thereto stored within a database on a computer network. The information may include information on specific medical conditions, such as, for example, diseases, disorders, or any other medical condition. Alternatively, the medical resource may include information on specific medical procedures in which the medical resource may have a specialty or may otherwise perform. An individual may access a website connected with the database and may enter information on medical conditions and/or medical procedures. A search of the database may then reveal specific medical resource categories and, thence, medical resources that may treat the medical condition or may perform the medical procedures chosen by the individual.

The present invention generally relates to a method and a system for matching medical condition information with a medical resource. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and a system for matching medical condition information such as, for example, diseases, disorders and/or medical procedures related thereto with a medical resource that may include, for example, a medical specialist, a specialty hospital and/or any other medical or health facility that may treat the medical condition or that may provide the medical procedure. In addition, the method and the system may be contained on a computer network for an individual to access on a remote computer via the computer network.
It is, of course, generally known to provide information on a computer network. Generally, the computer network may consist of one or a plurality of remote servers that may host one or more websites that may allow an individual to access a database. The database may contain the information in an organized manner so that an individual on a remote computer may access the website and search the database for particular information. The computer network may be a global computer network such as, for example, the internet. Alternatively, the computer network may be contained on an intranet such as a LAN network within an organization, such as a business. An individual may use a search engine to search the contents of the database to retrieve specific information related to a particular query.
Further, it is also generally known to provide access to databases that may contain medical information such as, for example, diseases, disorders or medical procedures. An individual may access the information when the individual wishes to learn more about a particular disease, disorder, and/or medical procedure. This information may be useful if an individual has been diagnosed with the disease or disorder and/or must have a particular medical procedure performed. The information may inform the individual about the particular medical condition.
Moreover, it is also generally known to access information regarding a particular resource related to a subject in which an individual may have an interest. Specifically, an individual may wish to contact the resource and to retrieve the contact information from the computer network.
However, these databases do not allow an individual to download or otherwise retrieve information regarding a particular medical condition and allow the individual to enter further information regarding the individual or the individual's condition. Further, known databases do not match a medical resource with the medical condition so that the individual may contact the medical resource. An individual may desire retrieving further information about the medical condition or otherwise contact the medical resource to set up an appointment.
A need, therefore, exists for an improved method and a system for matching medical condition information with a medical resource on a computer network.

Method and system for matching medical condition information with a medical resource on a computer network


A device housing includes a substrate, a metallic coating formed on the substrate by vacuum sputtering or vacuum vapor deposition, and a self-repairing coating formed on the metallic coating. The self-repairing coating substantially includes trimethylene oxide and polyhydric alcohols.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to device housings, particularly to an device housing coating with a self-repairing coating, and a method for making the device housing.
2. Description of Related Art
Decorative metallic coatings are often deposited on housings of electronic devices. The metallic coatings are typically formed by vacuum deposition to be nonconductive so as to not block electromagnetic waves. These metallic coatings may be transparent or translucent. However, the metallic coatings are not self-repairing.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

Device housing and method for making same

Shenzhen Futaihong Precision Industry Co., Ltd.


A pump device for a brake system of a motor vehicle has a housing, a pressure piston which delimits a pressure chamber in the housing for producing hydraulic pressure mounted in the housing in a longitudinally displaceable manner, a return spring assigned to the pressure piston, a non-return valve which separates the pressure chamber from a pressure connection and only removes the separation when the hydraulic pressure in the pressure chamber is greater than in the pressure connection, and an electromagnetic actuator which includes an armature and an electrically energizable solenoid. The armature is arranged on the pressure piston and the solenoid in and/or on the housing. The pressure piston has an axial through-channel which opens out into the pressure chamber at one end and is assigned to the non-return valve at the other end.

Pump devices and brake systems of the kind referred to above are known from the prior art. In order to allow hydraulic wheel brakes to be actuated independently of a brake pedal actuation or depending on a brake pedal actuation, but with the hydraulic or mechanical connection of the brake pedal to the wheel brake interrupted, it is known in the art for a pump device which is controllable, in particular electrically controllable, to be provided in a brake circuit to apply pressure to a wheel brake. With the help of a piston moved back and forth in an oscillating manner, hydraulic pressure is generated in a pressure chamber and made available to the brake system or brake circuit. A corresponding pump device is known from the unexamined patent document DE 10 2014 204 157 A1, for example. In this case, the pump piston is driven by an electromagnetic actuator against the force of a return spring, in order to carry out a pump movement or a pump action. During this process, a non-return valve prevents hydraulic medium from being able to flow out of the pressure connection back into the pressure chamber by automatically closing the connection between the pressure chamber and pressure connection when the pressure in the pressure connection is higher than in the pressure chamber. A reliable intake and expulsion of drawn-in hydraulic medium is thereby guaranteed.

Pump device for a brake system of a motor vehicle, brake system


A removable conveyor flight formed of a flight body 12 having downwardly extending arcuate clamp arms. A pair of opposing arcuately shaped rigid clamps (14) and (16) are embedded within the flight body. Formed integrally with clamps (14) and (16) are compression tabs (20) which extend upward into the flight body to a fulcrum point (22). Bolts (28) are provided to draw the clamps together, thereby clamping the resilient clamp arms of flight body (12) against the cross bar or rod (34) of draper chain (32).

Technical Field
This invention generally relates to a new flight for draper chain conveyors, and more particularly to a conveyor flight which is clampable to the transverse rod of a draper chain link.
Background
Draper chain is used in a wide variety of applications ranging from simple conveyance of all types of products to the field harvesting and elevating of food products. It is commonly used in situations where there is a need to separate a product from its environment, be it dirt and dust in the field, to water in a food processing application. The typical draper chain is formed of individual metal links having a connecting cross bar or rod of the appropriate length. Examples of draper chain links can be seen in FIG. 3 of the drawings.
Oftentimes when draper chain is used to elevate the item being conveyed, conveyor flights are added to keep the items from rolling or falling back down along the chain. These flights are usually paddle shaped and extend up normal to the plane of the elevating conveyor draper chain. In the prior art, these are typically special links wherein the conveyor flight body is substituted for the cross bar, or is formed integral with the cross bar. As a result, if the conveyor flight body breaks or wears out, the chain must be disassembled to replace the entire conveyor flight link. This is time consuming and labor intensive.
What is needed is a removable flight which can be securely clamped to an existing draper chain crossbar or rod, and which can be easily removed for repair or replacement.


An apparatus has a body with a wall defining at least in part an enclosed chamber. The wall has a first opening providing fluid flow into the chamber and a second opening providing fluid flow out of the chamber. The wall has a vent allowing gas to pass outwardly from the chamber. An outlet tube extends from the second opening into the chamber and an aperture. The aperture allows fluid within the chamber to enter the outlet tube and flow outwardly from the chamber through the second opening. Bubbles within the chamber are prevented from entering the outlet tube regardless of the orientation of the body.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to bubble traps for eliminating gas bubbles from a flow of blood or transfusate through a fluid line.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, bubble traps comprise a wall defining a chamber, with an inlet providing fluid flow into the chamber and an outlet providing fluid flow out of the chamber. Generally, the inlet and outlet are separated by an expanded chamber volume to establish a low velocity flow path for the fluid traveling between the inlet and outlet. As the fluid flows from the inlet to the outlet, the bubbles within the volume of fluid generally rise to a gas dome within the chamber to be vented from the chamber. Conventionally, bubble traps must be maintained in a specific orientation to enable the bubble trap to function effectively. Otherwise, if the bubble trap is skewed from its proper orientation, the bubbles within the flow of fluid can not be removed from the flow of fluid, thereby negating the purpose of the bubble trap.
Additionally, bubble traps containing a valve vent must be purged of bubbles periodically by manual or automatic intervention. Some bubble traps contain a gas permeable hydrophobic membrane barrier between an inner surface of the chamber and an exterior ambient environment. In these devices, the pressure within the fluid path is greater than the ambient environment, thus forcing the bubbles through the gas permeable hydrophobic membrane. These devices, though largely effective in their purpose of removing bubbles from the flow of fluid, potentially allow air to ingress into the fluid flow path if the pressure within the chamber is less than the ambient pressure, thereby negatively impacting their intended purpose of removing bubbles from the fluid flow path.


Techniques and apparatus for ion source devices with minimized post-column volumes are described. In one embodiment, for example, an apparatus may include at least one memory, and logic coupled to the at least one memory. The logic may be configured to receive analytical information from at least one analytical instrument, and generate at least one record in a distributed ledger having a transaction associated with at least a portion of the analytical information. Other embodiments are described.

Most industries are required to comply with various regulations in order to operate or provide goods within a certain jurisdiction. For example, pharmaceutical manufacturers are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) within the United States, the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the United Kingdom, and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) within the European Union. Conventional compliance systems typically involve third party auditors examining information stored on paper and/or in centralized databases that require individualized access. The information may include an audit trail intended to demonstrate that the manufacturer followed regulatory protocols and/or a chain of custody indicating control and sources of component products. Analytical information may be used as part of a compliance routine, for instance, to demonstrate the components of a product or to ensure purity standards. For example, chromatography and/or mass analysis data (e.g., mass spectrometry data) may be used to ensure the chemical makeup of a pharmaceutical component.
Conventional compliance systems are highly susceptible to data integrity issues. For instance, data may be manipulated either intentionally or unintentionally and/or may otherwise become inconsistent in the supply chain. Manufacturers and auditors may be required to expend a large amount of resources and time to determine the source for such data integrity issues, which may not be able to be resolved using existing systems. Accordingly, conventional compliance systems are inefficient and vulnerable to manipulation, leading to a lack of trust in certain industrial sectors and unnecessary expenditure of time and resources.

Techniques for managing analytical information using distributed ledger technology


A lift assembly having, among other things, a control mechanism in combination with multiple directional devices to facilitate efficient, versatile, and precise incremental leveling, securing, rising, and lowering of a platform, is disclosed herein.

The present disclosure relates generally to a lift assembly, and more particularly to a lift assembly having, among other things, a control mechanism in combination with multiple directional devices to facilitate efficient, versatile, and precise incremental leveling, securing, rising, and lowering of a platform.
Lift assemblies have found useful application with horticulturists for indoor growing of among other things, plants, fruits, herbs, and vegetables. In this regard, indoor plant growth for decorative, food source, medicinal, or other purposes has become a very sophisticated activity with many improvements over the last decade. In addition to water and nutrients, light is an important element in the growth of plants. It has long been a common practice to use artificial light to mimic the natural outdoor light for indoor growing operations. Application of artificial light has been refined to such an extent that light, temperature, light wavelength, duration of the applied light, and the height in which the light is introduced above the desired target have all been studied and refined. Accordingly, the height of the light from the plant is critical, and continued fine adjust is often needed to maximize plant growth. It is not uncommon to adjust the height of the light source on a daily basis, all in an effort to maximize the growth cycle.
Currently, there are several different lift devices or assemblies on the market that allow the user to manually adjust the height of the artificial light relative to the plant. One such method utilizes a pair of locking rope device. In these assemblies the light is held in place and a pair of rope locking devices, common in the tie down industry or sold through hydroponic supply outlets, are secured to a platform having plants or other vegetation disposed thereon. The rope locking devices are positioned in such a manner to allow the user to lift and lower the platform. However, these devices require the user to adjust the height of a first end or side of the platform using one of the rope locking devices, and subsequently adjust the height of the opposite or second end or side of the platform using the other rope locking device. This method of height adjust places the platform at an angled position after the first end is lifted and before the second end can be lift, potentially causing any object positioned on the platform to fall off the platform.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved lift assembly having, among other things, a control mechanism in combination with multiple directional devices to facilitate efficient, versatile, and precise incremental leveling, securing, rising, and lowering of a platform.


Multiple event types are monitored for events, and surveillance data is stored for each event. Surveillance data for a primary event of one event type can be presented to a user, and surveillance data for a set of related events corresponding to another event type can be presented based on a set of relatedness criteria and the surveillance data for the primary event. A user can adjust the relatedness criteria to filter/adjust the surveillance data presented for the related event(s). A user interface can enable the user to simultaneously view the surveillance data for both events and adjust the relatedness criteria. In an illustrative application, the invention is utilized to detect fraudulent merchandise returns in a retail store.

Fraud is a major concern in various industries. For example, in the retail industry, seeking to fraudulently obtain a refund for a purchased item is a common scheme employed by people. In the scheme, an individual makes a valid purchase of an item and leaves the retail store. Subsequently, the individual returns to the retail store with the receipt for the purchase, removes a similar item from the store shelves, and seeks to obtain a refund by presenting the receipt and the item just removed from the store. If successful, the individual will be able to keep the purchased item while obtaining a refund of the purchase price. Alternatively, without ever making a purchase, an individual may remove an item from the store shelves and attempt to receive store credit for the item at a return counter. Various other fraud schemes, such as compensation claims for fraudulent injuries, also require individual(s) to perform preparatory actions on a premises that may be monitored (e.g., public place, parking lot, etc.).
Current fraud prevention solutions are very limited. In particular, to date, retail stores typically employ individuals as store detectives and/or to monitor video surveillance in an attempt to prevent fraud. Further, video surveillance can be manually analyzed after the fraud has been committed. However, the perpetrators may not be able to be located and/or the video may no longer available upon discovery of the fraud.
Separately, transaction data is often stored for a retail store. The transaction data can include various information on the purchases made at the store (e.g., items purchased together, purchaser, payment method, cashier, cash register, date/time stamp, etc.). The transaction data can be warehoused and exploited for department and/or associate performance analysis, stock control, and information about the shopping behaviors of customers. Additionally, the transaction data can be used in a fraud investigation, but the transaction data is not fully exploited. Integration of surveillance video with transaction data is typically limited to copying timestamps from one system to the other, which may not be synchronized between the systems.

Multi-event type monitoring and searching

International Business Machines Corporation


A container is provided with an outlet opening and an annular insert embedded in the container at the opening. The insert surrounds the opening and includes an inner circumferential surface that is exposed within the opening. The synthetic resin material of the body surrounds the insert except for the inner circumferential surface so that the insert is substantially embedded in the body at the opening. The inner circumferential surface of the insert is threaded to receive an outlet coupling, and seats are defined between the insert and the interior and exterior of the container. A mold is also provided for forming a container within which an insert is embedded. The mold includes an insert assembly having a support and a heat sink which are able to shear free from one another during cooling of the container within the mold.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to liquid containers and, more particularly, to a container provided with an outlet opening within which a threaded insert is exposed to enable receipt of an outlet coupling. The invention also relates to a mold for forming a container within which an insert is embedded.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is known to form a container out of polyolefin or other suitable synthetic resin material, for use in storing agricultural and industrial chemicals. These containers are commonly formed by any of a number of different molding processes, such as rotation molding or the like.
Where it is desired to provide a means for transferring liquids into and out of the container, an outlet fitting is typically provided in the side wall of the container adjacent the bottom wall. By providing this construction, the container may be drained almost completely by grounding so that very little liquid is wasted as residue within the container.
The outlet fitting conventionally consists of an outlet opening cut into the side wall of the container or sump area subsequent to the molding operation, and a sandwich-type fitting, assembled at the cut opening, for receiving a universal coupler to which additional plumbing hardware may be attached.
Containers constructed in accordance with conventional practice experience numerous drawbacks. For example, because the outlet opening is cut after the molding process, the material surrounding the opening contains no additional reinforcement to support the increased loads typically exerted at the opening by plumbing hardware. In addition, by cutting a hole and removing material from the container, the strength of the container is adversely effected, and the area surrounding the opening is susceptible to cold-flowing away from the coupler such that the chance for leakage is increased.


A power supply system for personal computers aims to provide an additional sub-power supply needed when a personal computer requires a power greater than what can be provided by the original main power supply. This invention provides a sub-power supply in the spare space of the existing chassis of the personal computer without removing the main power supply to augment the power supply. The starting power of the sub-power supply is provided by the main power supply. Hence when the personal computer is in the machine stop condition, only the main power supply consumes electric power. Thereby this invention can preserve a green power.

With rapid advance of multimedia and Internet technologies, the power required by personal computers also increases significantly, especially for CPU, motherboard and graphic adapter card. For users who frequently play online games, the operation power of the personal computer has to be more than 600 W to meet requirements. Once the equipment of the personal computer is upgraded, the original power supply also has to be upgraded. Namely, the original power supply with insufficient power has to be replaced and discarded. However, in terms of the power supply specification, even if the upgraded speed of the personal computer is faster, the power specification and the size and installation location of the power supply on the personal computer are still compatible. To throw away the power supply merely because of insufficient power is a waste of resources. Moreover, recycling of the power supply is quite difficult. It also creates environmental pollution problem.
In industrial computers, using multiple sets of power supply to provide power is a common practice. In practice, the usual approach includes a backup power supply. For instance, for a power supply of 500 W that includes two sets configured in a 1+1 fashion, with the actual power requirement of 500 W, each of the two sets of power supply provides 250 W. As the industrial computer mainly aims to function as a server and must be maintained in an operating condition constantly, if one set of the power supply is damaged, another set has to be enhanced to support the maximum load and still maintain the normal operating condition. But for personal computers, they are not normally being maintained in the operating condition. If multiple sets of power supply are procured, there is no extra space for installation. Moreover, most personal computers have machine stop time longer than operation time. At present the concept of green environmental protection is widely aware, reducing power consumption at machine stop time is an important issue to be addressed. The existing design model of the industrial computer cannot be directly transferred to the personal computer.

Power supply system for personal computers


A vertical axis wind turbine with improved safety, production efficiency and greater functional wind speed range. A vertical axis wind turbine comprises turbine blades having geometric characteristics of a “yin yang” symbol when viewed from the top down. The turbine blades are configured to form a scoop portion for catching wind. The surface area of the scoop portion may be dynamically configured to accommodate power production in higher wind speed ranges by dynamically furling the blades to reduce the surface area of the scoop portion as RPM begins to exceed a safe limit. First and second permanent magnet rotor arrays are dynamically positioned above and below an array of stator coils to maximize power generation.

Most of the commercial wind turbines on the market today utilize a braking mechanism to help protect them from over-revving in high wind situations. This mechanism has drawbacks when the wind is greater than the braking mechanism can handle. In these cases, the braking mechanism can heat up to the point where it catches the lubricants in the generator housing on fire and complete failure of the wind turbine quickly follows. There are also drawbacks even when the braking mechanism is operating properly. In a situation where there are high winds and the brake is operating properly, the brake prevents the wind turbine from spinning and producing electricity during the very times when the wind is the strongest. If a solution were devised that could allow a wind turbine to safely continue operation in wind conditions greater than previously possible, the wind industry could both reduce losses due to braking mechanism failures as well as increase their energy production by producing electricity when other turbines have to remain offline.
When a permanent magnet comes into close proximity of a solid core winding such as the ones found in motors and generators there is a strong attraction created between the two which can cause a lockup or cogging effect at low or startup RPM ranges. This is a difficult problem to overcome in wind turbines due to the fact that there are many permanent magnets and solid core windings in close proximity to one another so that the turbine can produce sufficient energy output. A general practice in residential size wind turbine design is to utilize open core or air coil windings which are coils of copper wrapped around nothing but a hollow tube or wrapped around a form that is removed after the coil is wrapped. This absence of solid iron cores in the windings eliminates the lockup or cogging effect at low RPM ranges, but produces very little energy output as compared to solid core coils. In effect the main purpose of the wind turbine, namely to produce large amounts of clean energy, is negated by this fix to the cogging or lockup problem. Hence most residential size wind turbines are producing only a fraction of the energy that they could be producing if they were designed differently. In larger more expensive turbines there are a number of expensive and costly systems used to help reduce the cogging or lockup effects. They often handle these issues within an expensive gearbox. Currently there are a large number of challenges faced by the wind industry with regard to gearbox reliability. Gearbox failure accounts for most of the downtime per failure in wind turbines and significantly increases operation and maintenance costs. If a solution could be devised to eliminate the lockup or cogging effect at low RPM or startup speeds; while at the same time utilizing solid core generator coils to maximize energy production, the wind industry could enjoy a number of beneficial effects such as reduced size to power ratios, greater generation capacity and increased usage in urban areas due to smaller more energy dense designs.
Most conventional Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine designs are designed around an expensive unit often mounted hundreds of feet off the ground to accommodate all of the mechanisms necessary for directly facing into the wind, power generation as well as braking and gearbox mechanisms. This results in a large amount of expensive equipment being very high up in the air where maintenance workers receive hazard pay just to go up and perform routine maintenance on the turbines. It further complicates the problem when something is going wrong with the turbine because now someone has to risk their life to enter a potentially dangerous environment hundreds of feet off the ground. If a solution could be devised to keep the expensive and heavy parts on the ground it would eliminate a multitude of problems faced by the wind industry today.
Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation, Applicant has identified a number of deficiencies and problems with wind turbine cost, construction, and performance. Applicant has developed a solution that is embodied by the present invention, which is described in detail below.

Vertical axis wind turbine apparatus and system


A transverse filler for use in a CCD camera eliminates KTC noise even at very fast pixel rates with relatively relaxed constraints on component accuracy and timing control, The circuit includes summation, divider and subtraction circuits which add the plural outputs of a tapped delay line to which a video signal is applied and generate average KTC noise and KTC noise plus signal representations. The output of the circuits is applied to the input of an capacitor and the output of the capacitor is connected to an electronic switch and to a Sample-and-Hold amplifier. The capacitor is operative to subtract the average KTC noise from the average KTC plus Video signal, The circuit is able to run on-board binning and does not have pixel feedthrough problems.

A major problem in CCD camera systems is the elimination of KTC noise, the thermal noise of the FET switch associated with a CCD reset gate and is a function of temperature (T) and capacitance (C) of the gate times a constant (K). Prior art CCD camera systems employ three types of circuits to eliminate KTC noise. The first of these is the DC Restore Circuit DCR, which samples the KTC noise at two different positions in a pixel signal and subtracts the second valise from the first value obtained, This circuit has to work with a Low Pass Filter (LPF) to limit the noise bandwith. Such a filter causes pixel feedthrough problems and requires the circuit designer to compromise between system noise and pixel feedthrough. The advantage of the CDS circuit is that it can operate at high speed and change the pixel rate on the fly.
The second type of circuit is the Dual Slope Integrator(DSI) which has the highest performance of the three types of circuits but requires the most accurate components to implement. It is impractical to implement at high pixel rates because it requires two integration operations.
The third type of circuit is the Transverse Filter (TF) which can operate at very high pixel rates and does not have the feedthrough problems. Such a filter requires an accurate high speed Differential Amplifier and precision passive delay lines for achieving acceptable performance. Further, such a filter requires very precisely controlled timing causing increased difficultly in implementation. Also, once the hardware is installed (i.e. the delays are set), the read out speed is set and impossible to change during operation. This later draw hack prevents the system from carrying a out binning operations which are important for CCD systems which do not have binning registers.
It is clear that each of the three types of prior art circuits for eliminating KTC noise has its drawbacks. A characteristic of a system employing any one of the above types of circuits is that it uses the DSI for low pixel rate and DCR or TF for high pixel rates but not both. The three types of circuits and the operations of the circuits are well known in the art and not described specifically.


A system and method disposed to enable encoding, decoding and manipulation of digital video with substantially less processing load than would otherwise required. In particular, one disclosed method is directed to generating a compressed video data structure that is selectively decodable to a plurality of resolutions including the full resolution of the uncompressed stream. The desired number of data components and the content of the data components that make up the compressed video data, which determine the available video resolutions, are variable based upon the processing carried out and the resources available to decode and process the data components. During decoding, efficiency is substantially improved because only the data components necessary to generate a desired resolution are decoded. In variations, both temporal and spatial decoding are utilized to reduce frame rates, and hence, further reduce processor load. The system and method are particularly useful for real-time video editing applications.

Standard definition (SD) television delivers a full picture to the screen approximately 30 times per second. The North American standard for SD video (NTSC) requires that that each video frame be made up of 720 by 480 pixels. Because each pixel is commonly defined by 2 bytes (other sizes can be used), standard definition TV requires a sustained data rate of approximately 20 mega bytes per second (MBps) (i.e., 720×480×30×2 bytes/s). In today's computing and disk systems, 20 MBps is only a moderate data rate, achievable without substantial expense or design restriction.
The current standards for high-definition (HD) video contemplate video data rates that are up to six times higher than that of standard definition television. As used herein, high-definition or HD refers to any video format that increases the data rate beyond that of standard definition video including applications for digital film (motion picture) production, which currently use resolutions up to 4,096 by 2,731 pixels at 24 frames per second. One such high-definition video standard (often referred to as 1080i) contains frames of 1920 by 1080 pixels at 30 frames per second. Other HD formats (e.g., 720p) increase frame rates to 60 frames per second at a resolution of 1280 by 720 pixels. Both the common 720p and 1080i HD video formats require sustained data rates over 100 MBps. At a sustained rate of 100 MBps, standard computing solutions are no longer adequate. The common expansion bus within desktop PCs (32 bit PCI) can only sustain a maximum of around 80 MBps. Individual hard drives can only sustain about 30 MBps. Editing of video requires simultaneous processing of multiple 100 MBps streams that can overwhelm the fastest workstation CPUs. Due to these combined limitations, real-time HD editing is limited to the most expensive and custom systems on the market. As video resolutions increase, the demands on the system architecture increase.
To simplify the problems presented by video production, many solutions exist today to reduce the volume of data that needs to be processed. The limitations of drive and bus speeds have been commonly solved through video compression. Compression allows for a large reduction in data rate while maintaining the visual quality of the original source material. Compression is commonplace in SD video production, yet in HD video production, compression is not typically used in today's editing systems for a variety of reasons. For example, cost-effective production-quality hardware-based compression that allows an editor to compress and decompress video without visual quality loss does not currently exist. Although hardware compression exists for use in distribution systems (e.g., satellite or terrestrial HD broadcasts), these tools do not meet production quality or architectural requirements. In addition the CPU load for software-based compression using existing technology is very high. Although software decompression can be used for single-stream HD playback, it taxes the CPU, which may already be overloaded by processing video mixes and effects. For example, playback of a single stream of HD MPEG2 will consume 70-80% of the resources of today's fastest CPUs. As a consequence, multi-stream HD decoding and mixing is beyond the capabilities of the standard PC. Further, software encoding (i.e., compression) is typically much more CPU-intensive than decoding (i.e., decompression); therefore expensive hardware is required for encoding during video acquisition.
As a consequence of the difficulties associated with video compression discussed above, commercial HD-based production systems typically use uncompressed video. This mandates that the common PC be replaced with a workstation-class machine equipped with for example, a 64-bit PCI bus and a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) hard drive solution so that the required data rate can be sustained. These setups are expensive, and without compression, large quantities of disk storage are required for any long-form production.
Video editing typically involves a process that combines two or more video streams into a single video stream through application of one or more video processing filters (e.g., transitions that individually combine one or more video streams into a single video stream). Each of the video streams may be modified individually by one or more video processing filter effects. Any of the available effects can be applied to any portion or the entire video stream before and/or after a transition.
Mixing operations include a dissolve technique that generates fading from one moving video image into another, or a transitional wipe that displays two or more video images simultaneously on one output. Effects are filters that process a stream in order to change the stream's characteristic in some way. Some types of effect filters include color correction effects, which change any combination of image characteristics such as brightness, contrast, saturation and color tint, or a distortion filter that may blur or sharpen or enhance the moving image in any way.
When mixing multiple streams of video or adding special effects, most operations require access to the uncompressed image. Because there are no known alternatives to using uncompressed content when implementing edits, many editing applications simply do not offer a real-time preview (i.e., before edits are actually carried out) of editing results. Instead, to view the results of effect or transition editing in motion, the video must first be rendered. Rendering is the process of pre-computing video mixes over time (however long the processing takes), and placing the results back on disk. Video rendering performs the same mixing and effect operations as required by real-time playback; however, the results can no longer be viewed live. As a consequence, the rendering process requires that the resulting video composite must be completely written to disk before it can be viewed at normal playback speeds. In a rendered-only editing environment, the user/editor must wait before being able to view the "edit," then decide whether it needs to be changed. If it does need to be changed, then more rendering is required; thus, editing in a rendered-only editing environment can be very time consuming.
Some video editing applications alternatively scale an image down to a lower resolution during capture. In this scaling-upon-capture approach, lower resolution video previews can be seen in real-time, enabling the editor to quickly preview most editing actions. The drawback of scaling upon capture in this manner, however, is that the video must be recaptured at full resolution before the edits are actually implemented and the final-quality production can be completed. This approach to video production has been around for decades, and it is commonly called "off-line" editing.
Another approach offered attempts to overcome both the limitations of the rendering-only and scaling-upon-capture approaches by processing full-resolution HD data then resizing the output to SD for mixing and real-time presentation. Although this approach is intended to make use of existing real-time SD equipment to assist in HD editing, the HD-to-SD resizing introduces an additional processing stage after decompression, making this approach unsuitable for software-only solutions. As a hardware solution, this approach is very costly given that it requires either expensive compression chips or a system architecture with enough bandwidth (e.g., hundreds of MBps) and with enough disk capacity to store very large uncompressed HD video files.
To reduce CPU load, some video compression technologies have limited abilities to decode to a lower resolution. Common compression standards such as MPEG. JPEG, and DV, however, must fetch all data for a frame even when decoding to lower resolutions. Although modifications to the decoding procedure allow some reduction in CPU usage, the results do not offer both good image quality and reduced CPU load.
In the context of video editing, high performance of the decoding operation is important because the user/editor needs to view most editing operations at normal speed playback. Once the CPU load exceeds the system capability, however, the playback of the video will stutter or stall, preventing audio synchronization or smooth motion. Other qualities of the moving image are also important to the user/editor, such as subtleties of color shading and image definition that are used for scene selection as well as image correction. Any compromise that trades performance for artifacts, like those seen in quarter resolution DV decoding, will not be desired by the user/editor.
Conventionally, video previews are rendered by processing only the frames possible with the CPU and bandwidth resources available. In such conventional systems the previews typically stutter (non-smooth motion), and although they are not considered real-time, these systems do preserve audio synchronization by computing and presenting some frames at their correct display time. For example, if the current level of processing takes twice as long as it would in a real-time system, a frame will be skipped so that the next frame is displayed at the correct time. In this situation, playback will occur at half the normal frame rate. Stutter is obvious as the interim frames are not presented to the display; these missing frames contain motion information now missing from the final output. This form of preview introduces temporal artifacting, another undesirable characteristic in video production.
Referring to FIG. 1, shown is a screen capture of a typical desktop editing environment. Shown is a bin of source material 100 containing many video sequences, titles, graphics and audio; a timeline of edit decisions 102 where the editor places and reorders source material (mixing them with transitions and effects) a control panel 104 for manipulating the parameters for effects and transitions; and one or two preview windows 106 in which the source and edited output material can be viewed. The size of the video window 106 is dependent on the available screen space, not the resolution of the source image because video is scaled to fit comfortably in the computer's display hardware. This window area is typically the same size for HD as it is for SD video production (although the aspect ratio commonly is different: 16:9 vs 4:3). The resolution of most of today's high-definition frames will not fit within the window of this editing environment, however, so the image is typically scaled down by the display device as part of today's editing process.

Encoding and decoding selectively retrievable representations of video content


The present invention relates to the NEP inhibitor pro-drug N-(3-carboxy-1-oxopropyl)-(4S)-p-phenylphenylmethyl)-4-amino-(2R)-methylbutanoic acid ethyl ester, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof; or the NEP inhibitor N-(3-carboxy-1-oxopropyl)-(4S)-p-phenylphenylmethyl)-4-amino-(2R)-methylbutanoic acid, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, pro-drug for use in the treatment, prevention or delay of progression of a disease characterized by atrial enlargement and/or remodeling; a method for treatment, prevention or delay of progression of a disease characterized by atrial enlargement and/or remodeling comprising administration of a therapeutically effective amount, or a prophylactically effective amount, of the NEP inhibitor or the NEP inhibitor pro-drug, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt pro-drug thereof, to a subject, e.g. a human subject, in need of such treatment. The present invention further relates to a pharmaceutical composition or a commercial package comprising the NEP inhibitor or the NEP inhibitor pro-drug, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, pro-drug for use in the treatment, prevention or delay of progression of a disease characterized by atrial enlargement and/or remodeling.

Cardiovascular (CV) disease is the leading cause of death in the western world. The increase in CV disease has not only led to an increase in mortality but an increase in CV morbidity. One of the major forms of CV morbidity is heart failure (HF). HF is a complex clinical syndrome characterized by high mortality, frequent hospitalization, poor quality of life, and a complex therapeutic regimen. In the US alone, HF affects nearly 5 million people and there are an estimated 400,000 newly diagnosed cases annually (American Heart Association, 2006, Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 2006 Update, Dallas, Tex.). HF is responsible for more hospitalizations than all forms of cancer combined and is the leading cause of hospitalization in patients older than 65 years of age (American Heart Association, 2006, Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 2006 Update, Dallas, Tex.; Adams et al., 2006, J Cardiac Fail, 12(1):10-38.). In-hospital mortality is excessive and readmission is distressingly common, despite advances in pharmacological and device therapies. This need for increased hospitalizations results in enormous direct costs and more is spent annually on the diagnosis and treatment of HF by Medicare than on any other Medicare diagnosis (American Heart Association, 2006, Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 2006 Update, Dallas, Tex.; Adams et al., 2006, J Cardiac Fail, 12(1):10-38.). HF is classified as HF with reduced ejection fraction (HF-REF) versus HF with preserved ejection fraction (HF-PEF).
Therapies targeted at improving outcomes in HF-REF have been well studied over the past two decades leading to an improvement in morbidity, mostly in the form of a decrease in re-hospitalization for HF-REF with angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and β blockers (Cohn et al., 1991, N Engl J Med, 325:303-310; Pfeffer et al., 2003, Lancet, 362:759-766; The CONSENSUS Trial Study Group, 1987, N Engl J Med, 316:1429-1435; The SOLVD Investigators, 1992, N Engl J Med, 327:685-691; The SOLVD Investigators, 1991, N Engl J Med, 325:293-302; Packer at al., 2002, Circulation, 106: 2194-2199).
However, despite the availability of various therapies, HF deaths have continued to rise steadily. This increase has been attributed to the aging of the population and the better survival of underlying diseases, such as for example myocardial infarction, resulting in more incidence of HF as well as the availability of more treatment options which allow HF patients to live longer (American Heart Association, 2006, Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 2006 Update, Dallas, Tex.).
It is estimated that 35% to 60% of patients diagnosed with HF have normal or near normal left ventricle ejection fraction (LVEF) (ACC/AHA Guideline, 2005, Circulation, 112:1825-1852). In HF patients with preserved ejection fraction (HF-PEF), there is an impairment of cardiac relaxation resulting in an abnormal ventricular filling (Adams et al., 2006, J Cardiac Fail, 12(1):10-38). Such patients differ from those with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HF-REF) in a number of important ways. Patients with HF-PEF tend to be older and female, and their conditions are more likely to be associated with hypertension rather than with ischemia, and lower percentage of patients have prior myocardial infarction as compared to patients with reduced ejection fraction (Bhatia et al., 2006, N Engl J Med, 355:260-290).
Pathophysiologic mechanisms that have been implicated in HF-PEF include abnormal diastolic dysfunction with resultant increased ventricular filling pressures, atrial enlargement, increased vascular stiffness, and abnormal systolic function despite relatively preserved ejection fraction.
Left ventricular hypertrophy or concentric remodeling and left atrial enlargement are present in a majority of patients. In addition, left atrial size and left ventricular mass are independently associated with an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Therefore, the presence of structural remodeling is not only of diagnostic importance but also provide important prognostic insights (Zile et al., 2011, Circulation, 124(23):2491-501). As such a remodeled left atrium indicates increased left ventricular filling pressures that characterize heart failure but also serves as substrate for atrial fibrillation. A treatment that affects or even reduces the remodeling of the cardiac cavities is expected to address the underlying pathophysiology and hence to prevent disease progression.
Atrial Fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia in patients with Heart Failure (HF); its prevalence increases with the severity of HF, and its occurrence is frequently associated with symptom deterioration and increased morbidity.
Because the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) is involved in many of the processes associated with HF-PEF, inhibitors of RAS system have been of particular interest as a potential therapeutic intervention for these patients. However, several recently completed large, prospective clinical trials (PEP-CHF, CHARM-Preserved, and I-PRESERVE trials) have not demonstrated a significant benefit of blocking RAAS in improving mortality and morbidity in this population (Cleland et al., 2006, Eur J Heart Failure, 8: 105-110; Yussef et al., 2003, Lancet, 362:777-781; Massie et at, 2008, N Engl J Med., 359(23):2456-67), though these agents have showed favorable effects in patients with a reduced EF.
As a result, to date, there is no proven pharmacologic therapy for the HF-PEF population. Consequently, many of the guidelines for heart failure treatment do not address this group of patients (American Heart Association, 2006, Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics, 2006 Update, Dallas, Tex.; ESC Guidelines, 2008, Eur Heart J, 29:2388-2442). Rather, treatment options have been focused on treating co-morbidities, such as hypertension or diabetes. Just recently, in 2013, the American Heart Association has added to consider the administer Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs) to decrease hospitalizations for patients with HF-PEF.
Therefore it would be highly advantageous to provide a new treatment option and indeed providing relief or at least improvement for HF patients, and in particular for HF patients with preserved ejection fraction (HF-PEF).

Inhibitors for treating diseases characterized by atrial enlargement or remodeling


A proxy computer of a network can receive incoming telephony messages from one or more computers outside of the network and proxy them to computers within the network. Similarly, the proxy computer can receive outgoing telephony messages from within the network and proxy them to computers outside of the network. To set up inbound calls, a proxy program on the proxy computer looks for the presence of an alias in the call signaling messages, references a data structure to determine which computer on the network is associated with the alias, and proxies the call signaling and control messages between the callee computer and the calling computer based on the association, thereby creating a logical connection between the calling computer and the callee computer.

This invention relates generally to telephony over a computer network and, more particularly, to a method and system for proxying a call originating from a public network to a computer on a private network using a publicly known alias available from a directory service.
Telephony over computer networks has become more and more popular in recent years. In particular, multi-party conferencing systems such as NETMEETING by the MICROSOFT CORPORATION have given consumers and businesses the ability to conduct full audio and visual teleconferencing over traditional computer networks, thereby avoiding the high costs associated with renting time at a dedicated conference center.
One problem associated with network telephony is that most private networks are protected from the outside through the use of a proxy or firewall. Therefore, the internal IP addresses of the computers behind the proxy are hidden from potential callers outside the private network. This makes it impossible for outside callers to call a computer on a private network directly. Thus, it can be seen that there is a need for a novel method and system for proxying telephony messages.
In accordance with this need, a method and system for proxying telephony messages is provided. According to the method and system, a proxy computer of a private network can receive incoming telephony messages from one or more computers of a public network and proxy them to computers within the private network. Similarly, the proxy computer can also receive outgoing telephony messages from within the network and proxy them to computers outside of the network. To enable inbound calls, a proxy program on the proxy computer looks for the presence of an alias in the call signaling messages, references a data structure to determine which computer on the network is associated with the alias, and proxies the call signaling and control messages between the callee computer and the calling computer based on the association, thereby creating a logical connection between the calling computer and the callee computer.

Method and system for proxying telephony messages


The object is to provide a technique that can prevent cracks from appearing in an undesirable portion in a resin. A semiconductor device includes an electronic circuit including a semiconductor element, a metal electrode directly connected to the electronic circuit, and an encapsulation resin. The encapsulation resin encapsulates the electronic circuit and the metal electrode. An end portion of the metal electrode on a surface opposite to a surface facing the electronic circuit is acute-shaped, and an end portion of the metal electrode on the surface facing the electronic circuit is arc-shaped or obtuse-shaped.

The case-type or transfer-molding power modules in which resins encapsulate metal electrodes tend to have a structure of directly connecting a semiconductor element or a circuit surface to a metal electrode to support the high reliability and a large current. Although the reliability of connecting the semiconductor element to the metal electrode is high in this structure, differences in thermal expansion coefficient between the semiconductor element, the circuit surface on which the semiconductor element is mounted, and the metal electrode cause thermal stresses that reduce the reliability under a thermal environment.
Various technologies for reducing the effect of thermal stresses have been proposed. For example, an edge portion of a metal electrode is chamfered or rounded according to the technology of Patent Document 1. Such a structure can relax the thermal stress that easily concentrates on a side portion of the metal electrode, and reduce cracks in a resin.

Semiconductor device and power conversion device


The invention provides a digital dentistry system that utilizes a haptic interface and features a computer-based design application configured to allow the intuitive construction of irregular, amorphous three-dimensional structures typically seen in dental restorations, utilizing, where appropriate, the design skills of a user. In certain embodiments, the system provides a comprehensive digital solution for dental labs in the business of creating dental restorations such as partial frameworks, crowns, copings, bridge frameworks, implants and the like, with a sense of touch provided by a haptic interface device.

The U.S. dental restoration industry (crowns, bridges, partial and full dentures) is a very large market, currently generating more than $7 billion in revenue (over $20 billion worldwide). Despite its large size, the design and production of dental restorations is characterized mainly by low-tech, manual processes performed on a small scale by geographically dispersed and fragmented labs.
Traditional dental laboratory methods are labor-intensive, generations old, and require a great deal of manual dexterity and, for many assignments, an artistic skill. The traditional process by which a crown or bridge is fabricated (i.e., create wax replica, invest wax in stone, melt out wax, replace with molten metal, remove from stone, add porcelain or other materials) was first developed by the Egyptians over 3,000 years ago. Many labs have only very basic capital equipment, relying only on simple mixers, ovens and their years of training and skill in the design of dental restorations.
A number of digital dentistry manufacturers have introduced systems to help laboratories design restorations in a digital context in the hope of producing highly accurate restorations more rapidly and efficiently, improving the lab throughput, profitability and quality. Many vendors are vying for market share, but none of the currently available systems offer a solution that is easily adopted by dental lab technicians. Penetration is low, with the number of restorations made digitally still less than 10% of the total.
Some of the key hurdles to widespread adoption of digitized solutions in restorative dentistry are the difficulty that most technicians experience in utilizing traditional computer interfaces for mechanical design, and the lack of intuitive tools to modify digital models of restorations in ways that allow a technician to draw on their experience and expertise. The current industry offerings require technicians to develop proficiency in abstraction laden, complex design programs far different from their experience and training. Furthermore, these systems are ill-equipped to deal with the highly organic nature of designing dental prosthetics.
There is a need for a transparent, easy to use, and easy to learn digital dentistry system that dental professionals will embrace. The digital dentistry system must be able to generate highly organic shapes and allow the users to easily and intuitively modify these shapes, just like they do by hand on a wax model.

Haptically enabled dental modeling system


A method, system, and/or computer program product establish a password-free, token-based wireless network access for a mobile device that is within a wireless communication range of a wireless access point. A wireless connection is established between the mobile device and the wireless access point, where the wireless connection utilizes an extended existing protocol, and where the extension of the existing protocol is based on data stored as content in a data field in a token stored in a memory of the mobile device. The mobile device transmits a portion of the token as part of an initialization message to a verification server that is connected to the wireless access point. The mobile device receives a confirmation message for establishing the wireless connection based on a verification application running on the verification server.

The present invention relates generally to a computer-implemented method for a password-free, token-based wireless network access. The invention relates further to a mobile device subsystem for a password-free, token-based wireless network access, a mobile device, a data processing program, and a computer program product.
Today's smart phones are capable of accessing the Internet and browsing content available there. They need an IP (Internet Protocol) connection which typically is provided either via the mobile phone network provider or via a local WiFi (Wireless Fidelity, IEEE 802.11) network that also has Internet access. When using a mobile phone network provider connection without a flat rate, high connection costs are typically incurred. Access via a local WiFi network, however, is typically free of charge if the mobile device can be authenticated to the WiFi network. This is because an access point Internet backend connection is using most often a flat rate connection to the Internet. For that reason, when within the reach of a WiFi network owned by the user of the device, the device typically is configured to prefer the WiFi based Internet connection over the mobile phone network provider based Internet connection. This becomes particularly cost reducing in scenarios when the UMTS or mobile network connection would require the user to pay roaming costs, e.g., in another country or in an area with no coverage by a contracted network provider.
While outside the reach of the user's own WiFi access point (e.g., at home), the mobile device either has to find another accessible WiFi access point or revert to using the mobile phone network provider based Internet connection. When within the reach of WiFi access points owned by other users, typically, there is no incentive for those other users to provide service from their access points to foreign devices. However, if acceptable terms and conditions can be established between the access point and the mobile device, an incentive to provide Internet access to foreign devices may arise.

Password-free, token-based wireless access