A mechanism is provided for resolving livelock conditions in a multiple processor data processing system. When a bus unit detects a timeout condition, or potential timeout condition, the bus unit activates a livelock resolution request signal. A livelock resolution unit receives livelock resolution requests from the bus units and signals an attention to a control processor. The control processor performs actions to attempt to resolve the livelock condition. Once a bus unit that issued a livelock resolution request has managed to successfully issue its command, it deactivates its livelock resolution request. If all livelock resolution request signals are deactivated, then the control processor instructs the bus and all bus units to resume normal activity. On the other hand, if the control processor determines that a predetermined amount of time passes without any progress being made, it determines that a hang condition has occurred.

1. Technical Field
The present application relates generally to an improved data processing system and method. More specifically, the present application is directed to a method and apparatus for resolving livelock in a data processing system.
2. Description of Related Art
Deadlock is a situation where two or more processes in a data processing system are unable to proceed because each is waiting for one of the others to do something. A common example is a program communicating to a server that may be in a state of waiting for output from the server before sending anything more to the server, while the server is similarly waiting for more input from the controlling program before outputting anything. This particular type of deadlock is sometimes called a "starvation deadlock," although the term "starvation" is more properly used for situations where a program can never run simply because it never gets high enough priority.
A livelock is similar to a deadlock, except that the state of the two processes involved in the livelock constantly changes with regards to the other process. As a real world example, livelock occurs when two people meet in a narrow corridor, and each tries to be polite by moving aside to let the other pass, but they end up swaying from side to side without making any progress because they always both move the same way at the same time. For example, two or more processing elements may be stuck in loops because each processing element repeatedly reaches a point in the loop where it must tell the other to retry a particular command. A livelock can occur, for example, when a process that calls another process is itself called by that process. A livelock may be caused by malicious code or a software or hardware design bug.
A number of solutions in the prior art are concerned with preventing livelocks in a multiprocessor system. However, despite these efforts, combinations of software sequences and the way the hardware executes it may still conspire to create a livelock anyway.
A multiprocessor system typically provides each processing element with a watchdog timer. If a command begins and the watchdog time expires without any progress being made on the command, the processing element may signal that a "hang" has occurred. A hang is a freezing condition where the processor cannot continue execution. In the prior art, a service processor or control processor may signal a checkstop to the processors upon a hang condition, thus stopping the clock.


An acoustic touchscreen having a substrate capable of propagating acoustic waves, the substrate having a touch-sensitive area, and an array of acoustically reflective elements lying in or on the substrate are positioned to transmit or receive acoustic signals into or out of the touch-sensitive area, the elements having a focusing shape that provides waveguide functionality, i.e., focusing the acoustic wave energy to a narrow area along a center line of the array axis, without requiring a further waveguide core structure.

An acoustic touchscreen has a touch-sensitive area on which the occurrence and location of a touch on a surface is sensed by the effect of the touch on the transmission of acoustic waves propagated across the surface. FIG. 1 illustrates the operation of a conventional acoustic touchscreen 1, having an active, or "touch-sensitive" area 2. A first transmitting transducer 3a is positioned outside of the touch-sensitive area 2 and acoustically coupled to the surface of touchscreen 1. The transducer 3a sends an acoustic signal in the form of an acoustic wave (or beam) 11a traveling parallel to the top edge, and generally in the plane of, touchscreen 1. Aligned in the transmission path of acoustic wave 11a is a first linear array 13 of acoustically reflective elements 4, each of which partially reflects (by approximately 90 degrees) and partially transmits (i.e., passes through) the acoustic wave 11a, creating a plurality of acoustic waves (exemplary ones shown as 5a, 5b, and 5c) traveling vertically (parallel to the Y-axis) across touch-sensitive area 2.
For simplicity, as used in this specification and claims that follow, an "acoustically reflective" element includes any element which at least partially reflects acoustic wave energy, even if such element may actually pass through nearly all of the wave energy. For example, depending on the size of the touch-sensitive area, the number of elements used in the reflective array, the energy of the acoustic signal and/or other factors, it may be possible that an individual reflective array element reflects as little as 1% or less of an acoustic wave into the touch-sensitive area, while passing through the remaining wave energy to the next successive array element.
Returning to FIG. 1, the spacing of the reflective array elements 4 is variable to compensate for the attenuation of the acoustic waves with increasing distance from first transmitter 3a. Alternately, such compensation may be provided by densely spaced reflective array elements with variable reflective strengths. Upon reaching the lower edge of touchscreen 1, the acoustic waves 5a, 5b, and 5c are again reflected by approximately 90 degrees (shown by arrow 11b) by a second linear array 13 of acoustically reflective elements 4 towards a first receiving transducer 6a, where they are detected and converted to electrical signals for data processing. Along the left and right edges of touchscreen 1 are located a similar arrangement. A second transmitting transducer 3b generates an acoustic wave 12a along the left edge, and a third linear array 13 of acoustically reflective elements 4 creates therefrom a plurality of acoustic waves (exemplary 7a, 7b, and 7c) traveling horizontally (parallel to the X-axis) across touch-sensitive area 2. Acoustic waves 7a, 7b, and 7c are redirected (arrow 12b) by a fourth linear array 13 of acoustically reflective elements 4 towards receiving transducer 6b, where they are detected and converted to electrical signals.
If the touch-sensitive area 2 is touched at position 8 by an object such as a finger or a stylus, some of the energy of the acoustic waves 5b and 7a is absorbed by the touching object. The resulting attenuation is detected by receiving transducers 6a and 6b as a perturbation in the acoustic signal. A time delay analysis of the data with the aid of a microprocessor (not shown) allows determination of the coordinates of position 8. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that it is not essential to have two sets of transmitting/receiving transducers to make a touchscreen. The device of FIG. 1, without one set of transducers, will still function as a touchscreen, detecting the occurrence of a touch and providing limited location information (i.e., one of the coordinates). Or, a touchscreen can be designed with only two transducers by using a common transmit/receive transducer scheme as shown in FIG. 11 of U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,665.
A bezel (outline indicated by a dotted lines 9 and 10 in FIG. 1), typically made of molded polymer or sheet metal, overlays the touchscreen 1, concealing the transmitting and receiving transducers, the reflective elements, and other components, and defining the touch-sensitive area 2. This arrangement protects the concealed components from contamination and/or damage, presents a more aesthetically pleasing appearance, and defines the touch-sensitive area for the user. The touch-sensitive area 2 is surrounded by border regions 15 (only two labeled), where the reflective elements 4 and the transmitting and receiving transducers 3a, 3b, 6a, and 6b are located. Reducing the width of border regions 15 increases the percentage of the frontal area of the device that may be allocated to touch-sensitive area 2, as well as conveying a less cumbersome, sleeker design.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,636,201, which is incorporated herein by reference for all that it teaches, discloses acoustic touchscreens having relatively narrower border regions 15. The key to reducing their width lies with reducing the width of arrays 13 and the transducers (3a, 3b, 6a, 6b). FIG. 2 illustrates a transducer 16 and a reflective array 13 of an acoustic touchscreen that allows for a narrower border region than in conventional touchscreens. In particular, the path of the acoustic wave 11a is confined by an acoustic waveguide core 18. The reflective array 13 includes a plurality of acoustically reflective elements 14 cooperating with the waveguide core 18. In the illustrated embodiment, the reflective elements 14 are overlaid on top of the waveguide core 18 at predetermined intervals, which effectively allows the reflective elements 14 to partially deflect energy from the incoming acoustic wave 11a across the touch-sensitive area as the acoustic waves 5a and 5b. As illustrated in FIG. 3, a significant portion of the acoustic energy is confined to the array 14 of width w as a result of the inclusion of the waveguide core 18 of width y. Because the width of the acoustic wave energy can be controlled by the width of the waveguide core 18, the reflectors 14 may be made correspondingly narrower than conventional ones, but yet deflect a sufficient amount of acoustic energy across the touch-sensitive area for touch-sensing purposes

Focusing-shaped reflector arrays for acoustic touchscreens


A seat belt safety device is configured to prevent access to a release button located on a side of a seat belt housing opposite a housing side at which a first seat belt segment is affixed and proximate a housing slot for receiving a tongue latch affixed to a second seat belt segment, which tongue latch is inserted in the housing slot to securely latch the first seat belt segment to the second seat belt segment. The seat belt safety device includes a first substantially planar member including a slot opening for receiving the tongue latch of the second seat belt segment and a limited access opening, substantially centered and proximate the slot opening so that when a tongue latch is inserted through the slot opening into the housing slot to latch and secure the first seat belt segment with the second seat belt segment, the limited access opening is located proximate the release button. A second substantially planar member attached to at least one edge of the first substantially planar member to extend at about 90° from a point of attachment so that when the tongue latch is inserted through the slot opening into the housing slot to latch, the second substantially planar member contacts to lay substantially flat against a portion of an outer horizontal surface of the seat belt housing such that the seat belt safety device is substantially immobilized.

The present invention broadly relates to seat belt safety and, more particularly relates to a safety device that is used with a conventional seat belt apparatus to prevent small children or persons with impaired cognitive ability from accessing a push button release to unlock the seat belt.
Known automobile seat belts include a latch housing fixed to one seat belt segment, and a latch tongue fixed to the other seat belt segments. The latch tongue typically includes a latching aperture through which a locking element passes. During operation, a passenger is seated, the two belt segments are brought together to surround the seated passenger and the latch tongue is inserted into the latch housing. The insertion causes a locking member to extend into and become fixed within the latching aperture, securely connecting the two seat belt segments thereby securing the passenger in the seat.
To release and unfasten the locked seat belt, i.e., disengage the latch; a spring loaded release button is included in the buckle (latch) housing. The latch release button is located either on the side of the housing into which the tongue is inserted, or located on a horizontal housing surface that is substantially parallel to the insertion direction. Upon actuating the release button through application of a sufficient force, the locking member is extracted from the tongue aperture thereby releasing the latch. Releasing the latch allows for the tongue to disengage from the buckle housing, thereby separating the seat belt segments to release the passenger.
While the seat belt release button access is convenient for adult passengers, it may be dangerous for small children thought to be safely secured after latching, typically by an adult parent or guardian. That is, small children learn very soon the function of the seat belt release button and have the ability, at a very early age, to depress the release button and release them from the seat belt. Doing so not only puts them at a safety risk in case of a collision, but also allows them to stand up or climb throughout the automobile cabin. For matter, cognitively impaired older children and adults also may release seat belts or other safety harnesses employing push button release buckle holding mechanisms at inappropriate times.
In order to overcome this problem, various seat belt safety devices are known that attempt to prevent or limit access to seat belt buckle release buttons.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,194 (the '194 patent) discloses a child proof automobile seat belt. The seat belt includes a latch tongue with a latching aperture fixed to one seat belt segment and a latch housing fixed to the other seat belt segment. The latch housing has a recess and opening at its distal end to receive the latch tongue, which tongue is automatically latched within the housing by insertion. The tongue is released by depressing a release button through an opening in the top face of the latch housing. A safety cover sleeve designed to be slipped over the latch housing is configured with one end partially closed to pass the latch tongue and with a small opening that overlies the release button.
The sleeve is retained in enclosing position on the housing by the latch tongue, whereafter a key or other tool can be inserted into the hole to press and release the button. But while the inventive sleeve does limit access, it appears to be intended for operation with side located release button. Also, the sleeve is designed as a second housing, which is cumbersome, and bulky, and tends to slip up the belt on the tongue side.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,987,662 (the '662 patent) discloses a seat belt release guard for use with a seat belt assembly in which the seat belt includes a latch plate on one free seat belt end and a latch plate receiving buckle assembly on the other free seat belt end. The latch plate receiving buckle assembly includes a spring release member thereon. The release guard comprises a buckle assembly receiving component and a cover component hingedly secured to adjacent one end of the receiving component and moveable in an arc parallel to the longitudinal axis of the release guard, from an open, unguarded buckle release position to a closed, guarded position detachably covering the associated spring release member against inadvertent access.
The release guard further comprises means to detachably latch the cover component to the receiving component when in the closed position, means to selectively release the cover component from the release component to move the cover component to the open unguarded position and means to detachably secure the release guard to the associated buckle assembly. But like the '194 patent, the '662 patent hinged cover is cumbersome, and bulky, as it completely covers the seat belt mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,988,297 (the '297 patent) discloses a security cover for a belt-type passive restraint system. The security cover includes a buckle with a tab selectively received in a tab receiver. The tab receiver includes a release button for releasing the tab whereby the passive restraint system is opened. The security cover includes a slot for receiving the tab and a keyhole located thereover for passing a key to the release button for releasing same. The keyhole is generally aligned with the release button with said receiver positioned in the enclosure, and a retainer selectively connected to the cover and to one of the receiver and the second belt. The retainer selectively retains the receiver within the cover enclosure. An optional restraint assembly can be provided for retaining the security cover on the belt receiver. In any of the embodiments, the housing is cumbersome, and bulky, and being that connections must be made with the housing, the guard is difficult to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,544 (the '544 patent) discloses a seat belt buckle guard comprising a one-piece, molded plastic, box-like enclosure. The enclosure includes one open end and an opposite end wall with a slot. A seat belt buckle fits through the open end into the enclosure and includes a latch plate receiving slot aligned with the slot in the housing. The latch plate on one belt half is inserted through the housing slot to mate with the buckle. An opening is formed in the top wall and the end wall for gaining access to the buckle release button. In one arrangement, the opening is a narrow slot through which a flat object, such as a key, can be inserted to operate the buckle's release button.
Alternatively, the opening is a circular aperture of a size permitting one's finger to be inserted to operate the release button. That is, the opening is surrounded by a tubular stub or neck that is threaded on its exterior to receive a child-resistant safety cap of the type commonly used on medicine bottles. When the cap is removed, exposing the opening, a finger can be inserted to activate the release button. Alternatively, the unit can be separated by folding along the hinge to allow actuation of a lever-type release or to gain access to a release button disposed on a front end edge of the buckle receptacle. In any of the embodiments, the housing is cumbersome, and bulky, and being that connections must be made with the housing, the guard is difficult to use.


A guidewire is provided having a malleable segment extending beyond a superelastic tip portion of the guidewire. Such a configuration provides a guidewire which is resistant to kinking and plastic deformation in the superelastic portion, but which has a distal segment which can be shaped by a physician immediately prior to use in a surgical procedure. The malleable segment can be attached to the distal end of the superelastic tip portion, or alternatively, can result from a malleable coating on a portion of the superelastic tip, wherein the coating is thick enough to allow the coated portion of the tip to be formed into a desired shape. The malleable segment can be radiopaque to ease fluoroscopic visualization of the guidewire. In addition, the entire guidewire located proximally to the malleable segment can be fabricated from a superelastic alloy to provide resistance to kinking and plastic deformation along virtually the entire length of the guidewire.

This invention relates to guidewires for use with catheters in blood vessels or other body lumens. For example, such guidewires and catheters commonly are involved in various cardiovascular procedures. More particularly, the invention concerns a guidewire which can be steered into and along body passageways such as a narrow blood vessel (including naturally narrow vessels as well as stenosed vessels) to locate the distal end of the guidewire in a precise position at a target site. Once so placed, a catheter can be advanced over the guidewire directly to the target site. The invention is of particular importance for use in coronary dilatation techniques where the catheter itself is very small in diameter and is difficult to advance and place deeply in the patient's coronary arteries.
A wide variety of guidewires are well known in the prior art. An example of a tapered guidewire having a relatively flexible tip portion and a somewhat more rigid body portion is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,345,602 to Yoshimura et al. An example of a guidewire for use in coronary angioplasty is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,545,390 to Leary the teachings of which are incorporated herein, in its entirety, by reference. The Leary patent discloses a small diameter, steerable guidewire, the major portion of which is a flexible, substantially torsionally rigid shaft having a tapered distal portion. The tapered portion is surrounded by a helically wound coil which is attached to the shaft at its proximal and distal ends respectively. Additionally, a portion of the coil extends beyond the distal end of the tapered portion and serves as a highly flexible segment to avoid trauma or damage to a blood vessel through which the guidewire is advanced. The distal tip of the guidewire can be bent to a predetermined shape prior to use by a physician to enhance the steerability of the guidewire.
As described in European Patent Application No. 141,006 to Terumo, conventional prior art guidewires used with catheters commonly include flexible coils formed of wire. In a typical procedure, such a guidewire is inserted percutaneously into a blood vessel, typically using a needle, then the guidewire is manipulated and advanced to a target site. A catheter then is introduced into the blood vessel along and following the path of the guidewire to the target site. Among the difficulties sometimes encountered with conventional guidewires, is the possibility that the distal end of the guidewire may kink as it is advanced through the patient's vasculature. Kinking is the result of a plastic deformation of the guidewire and usually is characterized by a sharp deformation or point bend of the very distal section of the wire. Such a deformation may result from attempting to pass a guidewire through a relatively hard, calcified lesion, a mostly occluded vessel section or a very tortuous vascular section. The wire may kink or bend back upon itself in a condition referred to as prolapse. Thereafter, the wire may return to its original shape, or it may remain permanently deformed if, during the bending, the wire material is bent beyond its elastic limit.
Once kinking occurs, the guidewire is usually discarded because it cannot be adequately straightened for use. Typically that is because of the plastic deformation of the wire or because the physician does not want to spend the time necessary to attempt to straighten the kinked guidewire. Consequently, the procedure may have to be aborted and a new guidewire selected, reinserted, and again manipulated and advanced to the target site. Reinsertion of another guidewire increases the risk of trauma to the blood vessels. Unless great care is taken, the blood vessels can be seriously damaged.
It is important the guidewire be sufficiently flexible so that it does not damage the wall of the blood vessel and so that it can adapt itself to the path of the blood vessel into which it is being inserted.
Additionally, in many instances, it is desirable to provide a guidewire having a curvature or some other shape at its distal end to assist the physician in introducing, advancing and steering the guidewire and catheter to the target site in the blood vessel. However, because of the curvature of the wire, and the resistance of the wire to being straightened when the guidewire is drawn into the catheter and thereafter introduced into the blood vessel, undesirably high friction can occur between the guidewire and catheter. This increases the likelihood of kinking of the guidewire.
It has been suggested that the foregoing difficulties can be addressed by forming guidewires of superelastic alloys. An example of one such guidewire is found in the above-mentioned Terumo European patent application.
Superelastic alloys display a property referred to as stress-induced martensite (SIM). When alloys exhibiting SIM are stressed at a temperature above M.sub.s, a temperature denoting the start of martensite transformation, but below the maximum temperature at which martensite formation can occur under stress (denoted M.sub.d), they will first deform elastically and then, at a critical stress, begin to transform by the formation of stress-induced martensite. Depending upon whether the temperature is above or below A.sub.s, the austenite transformation temperature, the behavior of the material will differ when the deforming stress is released. If the temperature is below A.sub.s, the stress-induced martensite is stable; but if the temperature is above A.sub.s, the martensite is unstable and will transform back to austenite, with the sample returning or attempting to return to its original shape. This effect is seen in almost all alloys which exhibit a thermoelastic martensitic transformation. However, the extent of the temperature range over which SIM is seen, and the stress and strain ranges for the effect vary greatly with the particular alloy selected. Alloys displaying SIM frequently are referred to as pseudoelastic or superelastic alloys.
One problem with guidewires made of an SIM alloy is that, unlike the conventional prior guidewires, guidewires formed of such alloys cannot be readily formed immediately prior to surgery into a shape desired for a specific procedure. This is because the SIM property which is so desirable in prevention of kinking serves to preclude formability by the physician. Accordingly, there is a need for a guidewire that combines the advantages of guidewires formed of superelastic alloys with the ability to form or shape the distal end of the guidewire immediately prior to use by the physician.

Superelastic formable guidewire with malleable cladding


A semiconductor light-emitting element includes: a semiconductor stack including an n-type, layer and a p-type layer and having at least one n exposure portion being a recess where the n-type layer is exposed; a p wiring electrode layer on the p-type layer; an insulating layer (i) continuously covering inner lateral surfaces of at least one n exposure portion and part of a top surface of the p wiring electrode layer and (ii) having an opening portion that exposes the n-type layer; an n wiring electrode layer disposed above the p-type layer and the p wiring electrode layer and in contact with the n-type layer in the opening portion; and at least one first n connecting member connected to the n wiring electrode layer in at least one first n terminal region. The n wiring electrode layer and the p-type layer are disposed below at least one first n terminal region.

A conventional semiconductor light-emitting element to be flip-chip mounted, via bumps, on a wiring pattern formed on a mounting board is known (see, for example, Patent Literature (PTL) 1). A semiconductor light-emitting element described in PTL 1 has a structure in which a first semiconductor layer, a light-emitting layer, and a second semiconductor layer are sequentially stacked on a substrate, and exposure portions, at each of which the first semiconductor layer is exposed from the second semiconductor layer, are formed. The semiconductor light-emitting element also includes a second electrode and an insulating film sequentially stacked on the second semiconductor layer, and a first electrode stacked on the exposure portion and the insulating film. The semiconductor light-emitting element thus has a so-called two-layered wiring structure. Furthermore, in the semiconductor light-emitting element, bumps are disposed in high density directly under the light-emitting element to dissipate heat via the bumps. The bumps are disposed not to overlap the exposure portions so that the insulating film does not crack during the flip-chip mounting of the semiconductor light-emitting element.

Semiconductor light-emitting element and semiconductor light-emitting device


An embodiment of a data misalignment correction method for a mass storage drive array subsystem coupled to a computer operating system having input/output data block requests is provided. The data misalignment correction method includes automatically determining an amount of misalignment between a requested data block and a current data block alignment configuration, using the amount of misalignment to determine a preferred data bock alignment and realigning data block requests on the mass storage device according to the preferred data block alignment.

Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks (RAID) is commonly used with n drives grouped together. With this RAID system, the effective data transfer rate is increased n times. This technique is called "striping," which originated in the supercomputing environment where the transfer of large amounts of data to and from secondary storage is a frequent requirement. With this approach, the end physical drives become one or more logical volumes and may be implemented either through hardware or software.
The configuration of physical drives that comprise the RAID drive array is transparent to the computer operating system. Instead, the host computer operating system addresses the striped data in the drive array by logical volume and logical block number. Each logical volume includes one or more strips of data. Logical blocks belonging to several logical volumes might use one physical drive. The host operating system requests logical blocks from the drive array using a block size that it has determined to be the most efficient for itself. The RAID subsystem accepts block requests from the operating system and maps the requests to the appropriate physical drive, and further to a physical block on that drive.
In the most efficient configuration, the block size used by the operating system would match the RAID strip size. In addition, the alignment of the start of the operating system data would fall exactly on a strip boundary. In this configuration incoming requests from the operating system map most closely with the strips of data managed by the RAID subsystem, avoiding any additional strip accesses which would occur if the operating system block request unnecessarily crossed over a strip boundary. This unnecessary additional physical drive access can result in as much as a 50% performance loss.

Data misalignment detection and correction in a computer system utilizing a mass storage subsystem

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A strap lifter for use with a harness is shown and described. The harness may have two shoulder straps that support a central, front buckle for use at about the lower, central belly of a user. A generally horizontal buckle strap has a fixed, rigid lower loop beneath a movable, flexible upper loop secured to the front of the buckle strap. The lower and upper loops are generally parallel, and close, to each other. Typically, the distance between the two loops is slightly more than the thickness of a lifter strap which is threaded between the two loops. Preferably, a set of two harnesses is used by two persons standing face-to-face with a single lifter strap between them threaded through both of the buckles.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/466,101, filed May 7, 2012, and issued on Aug. 19, 2014 as U.S. Pat. No. 8,807,403, which claims priority of provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/483,650, filed on May 7, 2011, entitled "Two Person Lifting System with Middle Strap," the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Strap lifter for use between two persons


A peripheral and central device in a wireless network, such as a Bluetooth Low Energy network, may maintain privacy while connecting. During connecting energy in the peripheral device may be saved by linking an advertised address of the peripheral device to a resolvable private address of the central device, thereby providing an early indication if the central device is, according to the peripheral device, allowed to connect to the peripheral device. Hence a peripheral device performing such linking may have an improved resistance to a denial-of-service attack.

Denial-of-service attacks are a known problem in communication, in particular in wireless communication. Rogue devices will try to request a huge amount of services from one or more other devices to prevent normal communication between other devices. One implementation of a denial-of-service attack for a rogue device is to repeatedly set up communication with another device.
A communication capable device may be powered by a limited source of energy, such as a battery or an energy harvesting source of energy. Transmission and reception for communication may use significant amounts of energy. Hence a denial-of-service attack may drain the limited source of energy.
An example of a communication standard is the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard. A rogue central device performing a denial-of-service attack may attempt to set up communication with each or a specific peripheral device advertising its presence with an advertising address message. The rogue central device may even stall communication with keep alive messages according to the BLE standard.
A way of preventing communication with a rogue device is to recognize an address of the rogue device and to ignore further communication of the rogue device based on address selection. A disadvantage is that the rogue device may change its address, thereby preventing address selection.
The figures are schematic and not drawn to scale. In the Figures, elements which correspond to elements already described may have the same reference numerals.

Denial-of-service attack protection for a communication device


A fiber optic inspection microscope including an objective lens, an optical detector, an image detector, an illumination source, and first and second beamsplitters, wherein the first beamsplitter is in a first optical path between the objective lens, the image detector and the optical detector, wherein the first beamsplitter allows passage of an optical image to the image detector, wherein the first beamsplitter directs optical energy to the optical detector, wherein the second beamsplitter is in a second optical path between the illumination source and the objective lens, and wherein the second beamsplitter directs light from the illumination source to the objective lens.

1. Field
The invention is related to a fiber optic connector inspection microscope which integrates optical power measurement into the same optical path.
2. Related Art
Fiber optic inspection microscopes have been available for over a decade. Examples of such inspection microscopes include the following: JDSU FBP-SM05, Noyes VFS2 and Exfo FIP-400D. More recent variations include the combination of a separate optical power meter in the same package but with a separate test port for optical power measurement. Examples of such inspection microscopes include the JDSU HP2 Series. Recent variations also include the provision of dual inspection methods including one built in microscope for connector end inspection and a second port which accommodates a probe style microscope commonly used to inspect connector ends, bulkheads and adapters common in the industry. Examples of such an inspection microscopes includes the JDSU HP2 Series Option.
However, there is a need for microscopes that reduce the handling (and potential for contamination) of the fiber optic connector. As a result, an objective of the invention is to provide an optical inspection microscope that integrates optical power measurement into the same optical path. An application for such a microscope would be for inspecting optical fiber patch panels. The microscope would be able to indicate that power is present on a fiber that was thought to be dark (i.e. disabled and without traffic). This would indicate that corrective action is need by the user as an optical fiber service may have been interrupted. Another application could be a quick test of optical power present on connectors at the time of new equipment deployment. This application would provide a power indication without introducing the additional handling steps required by current products.

Fiber optic connector inspection microscope with integral optical power measurement


The present disclosure describes an implant for tissue replacement or augmentation including a resorbable non-pyrogenic porous body of irradiated oxidized cellulose, formed from a precurosr reactive mixture of irradiated cellulose and an oxidizing agent, where the body forms a heterogeneous three-dimensional fibrillar network. Also disclosed is a method for producing a body of oxidized cellulose including irradiating a body of cellulose to form an irradiated body of cellulose, and reacting the irradiated body of cellulose with an oxidizing agent to form a non-pyrogenic porous and resorbable body of oxidized cellulose.

Repair of the dura (duraplasty) is indicated following traumatic, neoplastic, or inflammatory destruction, surgical excision, or congenital absence. Dural replacements are used in cranial surgery when primary closure of native dura is not possible. Historically, numerous materials have been used including metal foils, human tissues, animal tissues (porcine dermis, bovine collagen and pericardium) and polymers (PTFE, polyglactin, hydroxyethylmethacrylate). Animal tissues remain the best of the currently available materials with bovine pericardium and bovine collagen being the market leaders (e.g., Duragen®, Duraform®). However, the animal material carries the possibility of infection by prions that may cause mad cow disease. Also, bovine collagen often resorbs within two weeks, prior to complete healing of the dura. Additionally, bovine pericardium is sometimes cross-linked with glutaraldehyde, which has natural biotoxicity. Synthetic materials have handling deficiencies and may cause cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage if not properly sutured in place.
Cellulose of various origins has been proven to be a versatile biomaterial. Synthesized by just about every type of plant and a select number of bacteria, it is a natural, renewable, biocompatible, and biodegradable polymer used in a wide variety of applications.
However, native cellulose cannot be resorbed in human body due to the lack of enzymatic machinery able to break down its highly crystalline structure, which is stabilized by inter and intra hydrogen bonds. Resorbability of cellulose can, however, be achieved through oxidation using various chemicals, including metaperiodate, hypochlorite, dichromate, or nitrogen dioxide (see Stilwell et al., Oxidized cellulose: Chemistry, Processing and Medical Applications, Handbook of Biodegradable Polymers: 1997, 291-306.). Oxidized plant cellulose has been successfully used as a resorbable hemostat (Johnson and Johnson's Surgicel® since 1949 and more recently by Gelita Medical's Gelitacel® since 2006). Products consisting of plant based oxidized cellulose are commonly used as hemostatic agents, wound dressings and anti-adhesion barriers (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,800,753; Stilwell et al., 1997).
Plant cellulose is oxidized most effectively through the use of nitrogen dioxide gas vapor. However, there are toxic effects to be considered from the use of nitrogen dioxide gas; whereas sodium metaperiodate has proven to be more selective when oxidizing highly crystalline celluloses with minimal side reactivity (see Nevell T., Oxidation, Methods in Carbohydrate Chemistry, New York: Academic Press 1963; 3: 164-185). Its oxidizing effects and methods of use have been studied extensively on plant cellulose (see Stilwell et al., 1997; Kim et al., Periodate oxidation of crystalline cellulose, Biomacromolecules 2000; 1: 488-492; Calvini et al., FTIR and WAXS analysis of periodate oxycellulose: Evidence for a cluster mechanism of oxidation, Vibrational Spectroscopy 2006; 40: 177-183.; Singh et al., Biodegradation studies on periodate oxidized cellulose, Biomaterials 1982; 16-20; Devi et al., Biosoluble surgical material from 2,3-dialdehyde cellulose, Biomaterials 1986; 7: 193-196.; Laurence et al., Development of resorbable macroporous cellulosic material used as hemostatic in an osseous environment, J Biomed Mater Res 2005; 73A: 422-429; Roychowdhury and Kumar, Fabrication and evaluation of porous 2,3-dialdehyde cellulose membrane as a potential biodegradable tissue-engineering scaffold, J Biomed Mater Res 2006; 76A: 300-309.). The mechanism of oxidation using periodate relies on cleavage of the C2-C3 bond in the glucopyranose ring and formation of dialdehyde groups. Such a dialdehyde cellulose is believed to degrade by hydrolysis under physiological conditions seen in the body into 2,4-dihydroxybutyric acid and glycolic acid (see Singh et al, 1982). Both of these degradation products are known to be biocompatible and biodegradable and can be metabolized by the body (see Devi et al., 1986; Singh et al., 1982). Once the degradation process is initiated it continues along the glucan chains that comprise the cellulose network (see Stilwell et al., 1997).
Methods for oxidation of bacterially-derived cellulose have also been described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,709,631. Bacterially-derived cellulose possesses unique physical and mechanical properties which results from its three-dimensional structure. Due to its handling characteristics, biocompatibility, and safety, it is already used in several medical devices, for example as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,374,775 and 7,510,725. One type of microbial cellulose synthesized by Acetobacter xylinum (reclassified as Gluconacetobacter xylinus) is characterized by a highly crystalline three-dimensional network consisting of pure cellulose nanofibers. Microbial cellulose has long been recognized as a biomaterial with potential applications for temporary wound coverage, for treatment of chronic wounds and burns, and as a scaffold for tissue growth, synthetic blood vessels, as well as many other biomedical applications (Fontana et al., Acetobacter cellulose pellicle as a temporary skin substitute, Appl Biochem Biotechnol 1990; 24/25: 253-264; Alvarez et al, Effectiveness of a Biocellulose Wound Dressing for the Treatment of Chronic Venous Leg Ulcers: Results of a Single Center Random, Wounds 2004; 16: 224-233; Czaja et al., The future prospects of microbial cellulose in biomedical applications, Biomacromolecules 2007; 8(1): 1-12; Klemm et al., Cellulose: Fascinating Biopolymer and Sustainable Raw Material, Angew Chem, Int Ed 2005; 44: 3358-3393; Bodin et al., Bacterial cellulose as a potential meniscus implant, J Tissue Eng and Regen Med 2007; 1(5): 406-408; Svensson et al., Bacterial cellulose as a potential scaffold for tissue engineering of cartilage, Biomaterials 2005; 26 (4): 419-431).
Although methods for oxidizing cellulose are widely described in the literature they often do not result in homogenously oxidized materials with the most desirable properties for medical applications. It is particularly true for soft tissue applications, for example dural repair applications, where the material needs to be able to rehydrate, readily conform to the various contours of the body, have adequate strength to allow easy handling, but also to be resorbable over a time frame that is compatible with healing of the particular anatomical site. Consequently there is a need for oxidized cellulose biomaterials and methods for producing the same that can achieve these desired properties.
The ideal material should be able to prevent CSF leakage, have good biocompatibility, be free of potential risk of infection, have good intra-operative handling, have mechanical properties similar to dura, have a resorption profile beneficial to tissue regrowth, and be readily available and storable.

Resorbable cellulose based biomaterial and implant


Multi-section print material, such as a newspaper, is folded so as to enable inserts to placed at any location or at multiple locations within the half fold. Several sections are stacked onto one another with one of the signatures offset in the transport direction by a given amount. When the stack is subsequently half-folded, the protruding signature forms a lap which enables an insertion device to automatically insert at the lap position. The system may be operated in straight operation or collect operation. In one embodiment, the sections are transported in two web paths where they are cut into signatures. One of the web paths is delayed so that its signature arrives at the half fold gripper or pin cylinder slightly later than the signature from the other web path. The subsequently formed half fold has the trailing edge of the later-arriving signature protruding by a given lap amount that enables the downline inserter to insert at that position.

The invention lies in the fields of newspaper folding and insertion technology. More specifically, the invention pertains to a device and a method for folding newspapers and preparing the half-folded newspaper for the insertion of inserts.
Newspapers are generally printed in rotary printing machines in which a continuous web of paper is fed from a roll and through a plurality of printing units. After the printing is finished in the last printing unit, the web continues on to a folder, which is considered the last module along the press line. In the folder, the web is cut and folded to form signatures. The signatures are arranged in accordance with their page numbers and they are stacked and delivered for post press processing. Such processing includes the insertion of auxiliary materials, such as special journals, advertising brochures, and flyers. The inserts can generally only be placed at the center of the paper, because the half fold can only open in the center.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,751 to Dutro describes a mechanism with which the half-folded signatures can be unfolded so that the signatures may be placed into the central fold. In order to allow a punch or a suction wheel to partially open the fold for insertion, a stack of signatures is folded not along the center line, but instead along an off-centered fold line. As a result, one half of the stack is slightly longer and its edge portion thus protrudes from the free end of the folded stack. The protruding portion can then be handled more easily, so that the half-folded stack can be opened for receiving the insert.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,205 to Hansch describes a folder in which one of the individual ribbons that are cut from a broadsheet web in a slitter prior to folding is cut with a greater width than the other ribbons. After the ribbons are cut, the signature cut from the wider ribbon is placed as the innermost signature. When the stack of signatures is folded, the innermost signature protrudes past the other signatures. The protruding portion can then be utilized to open the half-folded stack for placing an insert. The protruding material is then cut from the stack after the insert has been placed. The foregoing solutions do not provide for a flexible placement of the insert.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a newspaper folder and a folding method, which overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and which allows for completely flexible placement of inserts in newspapers.
With the foregoing and other objects in view there is provided, in accordance with the invention, a method of folding multi-section print material, which comprises:
transporting a plurality of sections of print material in a folder of a printing machine;
stacking the sections to form a signature stack having at least one of the signatures offset in the transport direction by a given amount; and
subsequently folding the stack of signatures to form a half fold with the at least one offset signature protruding from the half fold by the given amount.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, the method comprises:
simultaneously transporting the plurality of sections of print material along a first web path and a second web path;
cutting the sections of print material in the first and second web paths into respective signatures;
simultaneously delivering the signatures from the first web path and the second web path to a folding device, with the signatures from the first web path delayed by the given amount so as to form a stack of signatures having the signatures from the first web path offset by the given amount; and
folding the stack of signatures in the folding device to form the half fold having a trailing edge of the signatures from the first web path projecting from the stack by the given amount.
Typical inserters require a lap amount of approximately 10 to 25 mm.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the print material is transported in a plurality of ribbons, each of the plurality of ribbons of the print material is subjected to a former fold, and the former-folded ribbons are selectively diverted to the first web path or to the second web path.
In accordance with another feature of the invention, the folder is operated in collect mode, i.e., the sections are accumulated and stacked on the first cylinder (pin cylinder or gripper cylinder,) of the folder before the half fold is formed.
With the above and other objects in view there is also provided, in accordance with the invention, a device for folding a newspaper with a plurality of sections, comprising:
a transport device for transporting a plurality of newspaper sections printed on a continuous web;
a cutting device receiving the newspaper sections and cutting the continuous web into signatures;
a folding device receiving the signatures and folding a stack of the signatures in a half fold with at least one of the sections protruding from the stack by a given amount; and
a half fold delivery receiving the half-folded stack from the folding device and transporting the half-folded stack for further processing.
In accordance with again an added feature of the invention, the transport device includes a plurality of rollers configured to selectively deflect each of the plurality of sections from a plurality of formers to a respective web path, and wherein one web path is configured to delay an arrival of the section transported and cut therein a the folding device by the given amount.
In accordance with again an additional feature of the invention, an idler roller is disposed to selectively delay the arrival of the section transported thereby at the folding device.
In accordance with a concomitant feature of the invention, the cutting device is a two part cutter consecutively cutting two sections from the continuous web, and the cutter is adjusted to cut the sections to mutually different lengths.
In other words, multi-section print material, such as a newspaper, is folded so as to enable inserts to be placed at any location or at multiple locations within the half fold. Several sections are stacked onto one another with one of the signatures offset in the transport direction by a given amount. When the stack is subsequently half-folded, the protruding signature forms a lap which enables an insertion device to automatically insert at the lap position. The system may be operated in straight operation or collect operation. In one embodiment, the sections are transported in two web paths where they are cut into signatures. One of the web paths is delayed so that its signature arrives at the half fold gripper or pin cylinder slightly later than the signature from the other web path. The subsequently formed half fold has the trailing edge of the later-arriving signature protruding by a given lap amount that enables the downline inserter to insert at that position.
With this invention, it is thus possible for inserts to be placed at any location within a section of a half-folded newspaper. For example, the insert can be placed beside a tabloid if the tabloid formed the center section of a broadsheet paper. In general, inserts can be placed between any sections of a newspaper and the invention also allows for inserts at multiple locations.
Other features which are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a newspaper folding device and method, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims.
The construction of the invention, however, together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Device and method for folding newspapers with flexible inserting position


Embodiments herein relate to a method performed by a wireless device for managing communication of the wireless device in a wireless communications network. The wireless device determines at least two waveform parameters based on a metric of the wireless device, for communicating data between the wireless device and a radio network node in the wireless communications network. The wireless device further transmits an indication indicating the at least two determined waveform parameters to the radio network node.

In a typical wireless communications network, wireless devices, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and/or user equipments (UE), communicate via a Radio Access Network (RAN) to one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area and provide radio coverage over service areas or cell areas, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or beam being served or controlled by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a "NodeB" or "eNodeB" or "gNodeB". The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on radio frequencies with the wireless device within range of the radio network node.
A Universal Mobile Telecommunications network (UMTS) is a third generation (3G) telecommunications network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and/or High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for user equipments. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for third generation networks, and investigate enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. This type of connection is sometimes referred to as a backhaul connection. The RNCs and BSCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.
Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS), also called a Fourth Generation (4G) network, have been completed within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and this work continues in the coming 3GPP releases, for example to specify a Fifth Generation (5G) network. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN/LTE is a variant of a 3GPP radio access network wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network rather than to RNCs. In general, in E-UTRAN/LTE the functions of an RNC are distributed between the radio network nodes, e.g. eNodeBs in LTE, and the core network. As such, the RAN of an EPS has an essentially "flat" architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks, i.e. they are not connected to RNCs. To compensate for that, the E-UTRAN specification defines a direct interface between the radio network nodes, this interface being denoted the X2 interface.
The continuously evolving wireless communications networks are expected to cover many different use cases and will be operating in many different frequency spectra. With a wide array of applications, frequency bands, i.e. sub-1 GHz to 100 GHz, bandwidths and different modes of operations, e.g. licensed vs. unlicensed, different radio requirements have to be fulfilled. These radio requirements are subject to the regulatory requirements in the specific geographical region, to the specific frequency band/sub-band, etc. . . .
Moreover, the regulatory constraints, radio frequency planning and device capability demand appropriate selection, and adaptation of circuitry of wireless devices, which is in its turn highly important in order to optimize performance of the wireless device as well as its power consumption.
The evolving fifth generation (5G) wireless communications networks are envisioned to overcome the limitations of existing cellular networks by allowing for higher data rates, improved user experience, lower energy consumption and satisfying the ever-increasing traffic demand. For this purpose, the need for additional spectrum beyond what was previously allocated to existing standards is emerging. The use of high frequency bands, including licensed, unlicensed and licensed-shared spectrum is a potential candidate to overcome the problem of scarce spectrum resources by allowing for wider bandwidths, more advanced antenna arrays and massive beam-forming.
In order for the evolving wireless communications networks to handle the envisioned growth in traffic volume, wider frequency bands, new spectrum, advanced antenna solutions and in some cases denser deployments are needed. In addition, a massive growth in the number of connected wireless devices as well as an increasingly wide range of new applications are expected in order to enable a well-functioning networked society, where information can be accessed and data shared anywhere and anytime, by anyone and anything.
Similarly, other evolving technologies, including the fourth generation (4G) wireless communications networks and Wi-Fi are challenged by the same demands.
Multi-antenna technologies have a key role in the design of modern Radio Access Technologies (RAT) due to their well-recognized benefits. Specifically, the multi-antenna technologies enable array gain, spatial multiplexing, and spatial diversity, which lead to improved coverage, capacity, and robustness. The multi-antenna features have significantly contributed to the success of LTE and continue driving its evolution. Multi-antenna technologies have an even larger relevance in high frequency bands. For instance, high frequency propagation is subject to several loss factors, starting from the high atmospheric attenuation, rain fade, foliage attenuation, building and wall penetration, diffraction and body/obstruction loss. While some of the mentioned loss aspects may be considered as minor problems for lower frequency bands, their impact becomes severe in millimeter wave ranges. This increased path-loss limits potential communications range, however high frequency bands allow for smaller frequency reuse distances, larger bandwidth and small beam width allowing for higher gain values, which in turn can compensate to some extent for the experienced higher path-loss.
As of today, licensed spectrum is primarily used for wide area networks. The license costs are significant but on the other hand, the licensed spectrum permits high transmission power, accurate cell planning and full frequency re-use without the need to apply schemes like Listen-Before-Talk (LBT). This ensures good coverage even in areas of sparse deployments. The exclusive use of the spectrum minimizes the risk of delay spikes and maximizes the capacity.
On the other hand, Wi-Fi, LTE License Assisted Access (LAA) and other emerging technologies, use unlicensed spectrum. Such technologies permit access to wide frequency bands given that a wireless device must ensure fair access to the spectrum. In some bands this is typically achieved by coexistence mechanisms such as LBT, wherein an energy detection just before a planned transmission burst may reveal that the spectrum is already used by another wireless device. Various back-off schemes are supposed to keep access delay short while making the spectrum sharing fair. Moreover, well-established constraints on the radio requirements of the various wireless devices are set by the regulations. The main purpose for having such restrictions is the aim of establishing fair coexistence between the different technologies that are operating in these unlicensed bands. These restrictions are region- and frequency band-specific and highly depend on the specific band allocation to the various applications. Hence, these factors and restrictions pose several design challenges on the evolving RATs.

Radio network node, wireless device and methods performed therein


An archery bow holder apparatus includes a table mount block, a clamp mount block, a hinge mounting the clamp mount block to the table mount block for pivotal movement relative thereto about a first horizontal axis, a first adjustment device for releasably holding the clamp mount block at a selected angle relative to the table mount block, a bow mounting block, a pivot pin mounting the bow mounting block to the clamp mount block for pivotal movement relative thereto about a second horizontal axis extending in orthogonal relation to the first horizontal axis, a second adjustment device for releasably holding the bow mounting block at a selected angular position relative to the clamp mount block, and a locking clamp movably mounted to the bow mounting block and being actuatable to releasably lock an archery bow on the bow mounting block.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to archery servicing equipment and, more particularly, is concerned with a holder apparatus for adjustably positioning an archery bow relative to a pair of orthogonal axes.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Archery bows require frequent adjustment, repair and tuning of their strings and other accessories. During such servicing, the position of the bow needs to be changed from time to time to facilitate making the necessary adjustments.
Different devices are known in the prior art for holding archery bows. Representative of the prior art devices are the ones disclosed in Chelf U.S. Pat. Nos. (3,055,655), Morey et al (4,974,576), Ballard (5,048,504) and Hawk (5,121,736).
However, the holder devices of these patents are designed to hold specific designs of bows for specific purposes, such as sight tuning, storage stand, sight alignment, and bow stringing. None of these devices are designed for holding a wide variety of bow designs for facilitating various activities involved in servicing of bows.
Consequently, a need exists for improvement of bow holders so as to overcome the problems of the prior art.

Holder apparatus for positioning archery bow relative to orthogonal axes


The apparatus measure the exhalation of a subject and stores selected data relating to the peak value of the air pressure during exhalation. The storing unit for the data stores the peak values for a plurality of time periods and the apparatus can collect a series of measurements over an extended time period. Auxiliary information and data relating to each measurement can also be stored in the storing unit. A dedicated power source may be incorporated for holding the stored information in the storing unit.

Apparatus is already known for measuring the peak flow rate of exhalation, in which the subject blows into a measurement container to move a piston in the container against the force of a spring, the displacement of the piston progressively uncovering an open slot in the container wall through which the subject's exhalation escapes. The rate of exhalation determines the movement of the piston and the maximum displacement of the piston is thus related to the peak exhalation flow. In British Patent Application No. 2238130 such an apparatus is described in which data processing means are provided for the pressure values measured, and the disclosure of that earlier application is incorporated herein by reference.
Peak flow meters have been used for many years by medical staff to measure lung function. More recently, therapeutic techniques have involved the subjects themselves in measuring their lung function and this has given rise to problems not encountered during clinical use. It is not always easy to ensure that a subject has properly recorded the results he has achieved using the apparatus, and some subjects may use the apparatus in ways that gives false results.

Apparatus to measure and record peak air passage pressure


Flowability-improving particles are adhered to surfaces of iron powder through a binder to provide an iron-based powder for powder metallurgy which has excellent flowability and which is capable of uniformly filling a thin-walled cavity and compaction with high performance of ejection force.

Powder metallurgical technology is technology for producing products (sintered compacts) by compaction-molding metal-based powders used as low materials with a mold and sintering the resultant green compacts.
Powder metallurgical technology is capable of producing machine parts having complicated shapes with high dimensional precision and is thus capable of significantly decreasing the production costs of the machine parts. Therefore, various machine parts produced by applying the powder metallurgical technology are used in many fields. Further, in recent years, the requirement for miniaturization or weight lightening of machine parts has increased, and various raw material powders for powder metallurgy for producing small and lightweight machine parts having sufficient strength have been investigated. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 1-219101 (Patent Document 1), Japanese Unexamined. Patent Application Publication No. 2-217403 (Patent Document 2), and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 3-162502 (Patent Document 3) disclose raw material powders for powder metallurgy produced by adhering an alloying powder to surfaces of a pure iron powder or alloy steel powder with a binder (referred to as "segregation-free treatment"). Such powders mainly composed of iron (referred to as an "iron-based powder" hereinafter) are usually produced by adding an additive powder (e.g., a copper powder, a graphite powder, an iron phosphide powder, a manganese sulfide powder, or the like) and a lubricant (e.g., zinc stearate, aluminum stearate, or the like) and the resultant mixed powders are supplied to production of machine parts.
As the pure iron powder or alloy steel powder used as a raw material of the iron-based powder, there are an atomized iron powder, a reduced iron powder, and the like according to the production methods. Here, a pure iron powder may be referred to as an iron powder, but the term "iron powder" in the classification by production methods is used in a broad sense including an alloy steel powder. Hereinafter, the term "iron powder" represents an iron powder in the broad sense. The alloy steel powder includes steel powders other than prealloys, i.e., a partially alloyed steel powder and a hybrid alloyed steel powder,
However, the iron-based powder, the additive powder, and the lubricant have different characteristics (i.e., the shape, particle size, and the like), and thus flowability of a mixed powder is not uniform. Therefore, the following problems (a) to (c) occur:
(a) The iron-based powder, the additive powder, the lubricant, and the like locally unevenly distribute due to the influence of vibration or dropping during transport of the mixed powder to a storage hopper. The deviation due to differences in flowability cannot be completely prevented even by the segregation-free treatment.
(b) Since relatively large spaces are produced between particles of the mixed powder charged in the hopper, the apparent density of the mixed powder decreases.
(c) The apparent density of the mixed powder depositing in a lower portion of the hopper increases over time (i.e., due to the influence of gravitation), while the mixed powder in an upper portion of the hopper is stored at a low apparent density. Therefore, the apparent density of the mixed powder is nonuniform in the upper and lower portions of the hopper.
It is difficult to mass-produce machine parts having uniform strength using such a mixed powder.
In order to solve the above problems (a) to (c), it is necessary to increase flowability of the mixed powder of the iron-based powder, the additive powder, and the lubricant.
Therefore, an iron-based powder mainly composed of an iron powder having a predetermined range of particle diameters is proposed.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 3,357,818 (Patent Document 5) discloses, as means for improving flowability of a metallurgical powder, a technique of adding finest grained inorganic compounds, particularly oxide compounds (preferably having a particle diameter of 1 or less), in an amount of about 25% of an organic lubricant. Examples of the inorganic compounds include silic acid, titanium dioxide, zirconium dioxide, silicon carbide, iron oxide (Fe2O3), and the like.
In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (Translation of PCT Application) No. 2002-515542 (Patent Document 6) discloses a technique for improving flowability of an iron powder for powder metallurgy by adding 0.005 to 2% by mass of a metal oxide, such as SiO2 of less than 500 nm or the like. Also, this publication introduces, as segregation-free treatment, a wet method using a resin such as cellulose or the like as a binder (a method of adhering a binder in a natural liquid state or a solvent solution state to an iron powder and then removing liquid contents such as a solvent and the like) and describes that a method of dry-mixing the metal oxide after the removal of a liquid content is preferred.


Provided are a process and a device for preparing environmentally-friendly insulating gas perfluoroalkylnitrile. The device comprises a first tank reactor, a second tank reactor, and a fixed bed reactor. A condensing and collecting device is provided at the top of the first tank reactor, a collecting and guiding channel at the bottom of the condensing and collecting device is connected to an inlet of a storage tank, and an outlet of the storage tank is connected to an inlet of the second tank reactor. The second tank reactor is connected to a perfluoroolefin tank. An outlet of the second tank reactor is connected to a storage gasification tank. The storage gasification tank is connected to a carrier gas tank, and an outlet of the storage gasification tank is connected to an inlet of the fixed bed reactor. The present invention starts from cyanuric chloride and perfluoropropylene, and uses two tank reactors and a fixed bed reactor to realize production with high atom economy. The preparation method has simple reaction conditions, high atom economy, low cost, and is continuous and enables scale production.

In recent years, with the development of social economy and the increase of world population, the large-scale use of fossil fuels and human activities allow the emission of various greenhouse gases to cause global accelerated warming, posing huge ecological and environmental problems. The greenhouse effect of sulfur hexafluoride insulating gas which is widely applied in the electric-power industry at present is nearly 20 thousand times of that of carbon dioxide. In order to avoid the use of such greenhouse gases, reduce the damage to the atmospheric ozone layer, and protect the natural environment on which human beings depend for survival, higher requirements are placed on insulating gases. Due to good inertness, high electrical insulation, very low degradation time in the atmospheric environment and greenhouse effect, perfluorotetracarbon nitrile is regarded as a new generation of environmentally-friendly insulating gas which can replace SF6 following CF4 and C2F6, and is widely concerned.

Process and device for preparing environmentally-friendly insulating gas perfluoroalkylnitrile

STATE GRID SHAANXI ELECTRIC POWER RESEARCH INSTITUTE

STATE GRID (XI'AN) ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION TECHNIQUE CENTER CO. LTD


A biological fluid processing or fluid filtration system is provided having novel open and closed loop processing systems wherein the gases transferred into and out of the system during processing pass through a porous medium in upstream and/or downstream gas inlet or outlet housings or vents in a manner which precludes the fluid being processed or filtered from ever contacting the housings or vents. Each housing or vent is separated from the fluid by a column of gas in its respective transfer line. The upstream gas inlet housing or vent is in communication with the unfiltered biological fluid, and the downstream gas inlet housing or vent is in communication with the filtered biological fluid.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing biological fluids into their therapeutically valuable components. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for processing donated blood into its therapeutically valuable components. Most particularly, the present invention relates to an improved method and apparatus for processing donated blood into its therapeutically valuable components which uses improved open-loop and closed-loop systems to substantially increase the recovery of all the blood products from the donated blood.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Methods and apparatus for processing blood are well known in the prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,892,236 to Djerassi shows an apparatus for the continuous withdrawal of blood from a human donor, forced extracorporeal circulation of blood of the donor with separation of granulocytes, and return by gravity of the leukocyte-poor whole blood to the donor.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,054 to Matkovich shows a venting means for venting gas from the transfer line of a liquid delivery system comprising a housing, a first, liquid-wettable, microporous membrane carried in said housing so as to be in communication with the transfer line, and a second, non-liquid-wettable, gas permeable microporous membrane superimposed on said microporous membrane to the outward side of the housing. Gas in the delivery system is vented from the system so long as the first microporous membrane remains unwetted by the delivery liquid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,321 to Matkovich shows biological fluid processing assemblies having a gas inlet, and/or a gas outlet.
While these devices are generally satisfactory, some of the methods and apparatus of the prior art leave a large amount of biological fluid trapped in various elements of the fluid processing apparatus. While the aforementioned patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,451,321 to Matkovich provides for liquid trapped in various elements of the blood processing system to be recovered either by causing a volume of gas behind the entrapped liquid to push the liquid through those elements and into the designated collection bag, or by pulling the entrapped liquid into the designated collection bag by a pressure differential (e.g. gravity head, pressure cuff, suction and the like), the system still has several drawbacks. One drawback is that they require one or more nonwettable, gas permeable, membranes. This requirement can lead to increased costs over wettable membranes.
Therefore, those skilled in the art continue to search for a method and apparatus to provide for optimal recovery of the biological fluid from biological fluid processing systems, cost reduction and ease of use, and have developed novel open and closed loop systems and methods associated therewith to achieve this goal.

Biological fluid filtration method and apparatus


A computing device maintains an input history in memory. This input history includes input strings that have been previously entered into the computing device. When the user begins entering characters of an input string, a predictive input engine is activated. The predictive input engine receives the input string and the input history to generate a candidate list of predictive inputs which are presented to the user. The user can select one of the inputs from the list, or otherwise continue entering characters. The computing device generates the candidate list by combining frequency and recency information of the matching strings from the input history. Additionally, the candidate list can be manipulated to present a variety of candidates. By using a combination of frequency, recency and variety, a favorable user experience is provided.

With most computing devices and applications, it is desirable to try to reduce the amount of manual input from a user. One way to reduce manual input is to provide a user interface that displays words, phrases or other input strings that the computing device predicts a user is trying to enter. User input can be received, for example, through a soft keyboard on a touch screen of a mobile device, through a hardware keyboard or similar input device, or natural user interface such as a speech recognition engine. As the user input is received, a predictive input engine can generate candidate words and phrases or other strings for selection by the user. The user can select a candidate word or phrase instead of completing or correcting an entered string.
Applications such as electronic mail, search interfaces, word processing and the like can provide such a predictive input interface. On mobile devices, with touch keyboards or hardware keyboards, such prediction allows a user to enter input quickly. On desktop devices, such prediction can improve user productivity.
It can be a challenge to provide a satisfactory user experience using predictive inputs. Some predictive input engines present a list of candidates that are sorted based on frequency of use of the input string in an input history. Some predictive input engines also present multiple phrases that begin with the input string. These techniques often do not provide a reliably acceptable user experience. In some cases, the most frequent terms in the input history are not a good prediction of user intent. In some cases, multiple similar, yet undesired, terms are presented to a user. Instead of improving productivity, such predictive inputs can be distracting or reduce productivity.

Candidate generation for predictive input using input history


Complementary contact and contact block designs are disclosed that help prevent movement of a contact received in the contact block when an electrical connector is press-fit or otherwise connected to a printed circuit board. A protrusion may be included on one or both beams of a dual beam contact, and a contact cavity may be formed in the contact block. The protrusion and the contact cavity may include complementary shapes such that the protrusion abuts a wall within the contact cavity, preventing the contact from moving relative to the contact block as the electrical connector is connected to a printed circuit board. The protrusion and a wall of the contact cavity additionally may include other complementary shapes (e.g., a radius or angle shape) such that a length of the protrusion abuts the contact cavity wall, providing a longer load bearing surface.

Electrical connectors may be connected to substrates such as printed circuit boards. A type of electrical connector may include insert molded lead assemblies, where contacts are molded as part of and thus encapsulated within contact blocks. A second type of electrical connector may include a contact block into which electrical contacts are inserted after the contact block is manufactured.
One method of connecting an electrical connector to a printed circuit board is by a press-fit engagement with the board. The connector may be pressed down on the printed circuit board with a force large enough to fully connect contacts of the electrical connector with the printed circuit board. For those connectors that include contacts encapsulated as part of a contact block, the force required to ensure press-fit engagement with a printed circuit board may not cause movement of the contacts relative to the contact block. That is, the encapsulation may provide support for the contacts, preventing the contacts from moving relative to the contact block while the connector is firmly pressed onto the circuit board.
A problem may arise when press-fitting an electrical connector to a printed circuit board where the contacts are not encapsulated within a contact block during molding of the contact block. Contacts that are inserted into a contact block after the block is manufactured may move relative to the contact block when the electrical connector is press-fitted or otherwise connected to a printed circuit board. That is, as a force is applied on the electrical connector, pressing the connector onto the printed circuit board, the contacts may not fully engage with the printed circuit board and instead may move within the contact block, potentially causing damage to the contact block and electrical connector, and preventing a full connection with the printed circuit board.

Electrical connector with load bearing features


A circuit for sensing gate voltage of a power FET. A switching circuit includes a switching FET having a high voltage rating, its drain coupled to the gate of the power FET, and its source coupled to an output node. A first feedback loop is coupled to the gate of the switching FET to facilitate sensing rising gate voltage. A second feedback loop is coupled to the gate of the switching FET to facilitate sensing falling gate voltage.

A buck regulator is a step-down DC-to-DC converter and is useful in many circuit applications, particularly high-power circuits. A power field effect transistor ("FET" or "MOSFET") is designed to handle higher power levels than other semiconductor devices, and is therefore often used as a switch in a buck regulator.
For example, a synchronous buck regulator has a high-side power FET for charging an inductor and a low-side power FET for re-circulating the stored inductor current. Typically, the high-side power FET is sensed for control of the buck regulator. To avoid shoot-through, the low-side FET cannot turn on until high-side FET turns off. Thus, a circuit is required to sense when the high-side FET is off. Accurate and fast sensing is critical to achieve the best circuit performance. The sense circuit needs to be fast to minimize dead time when both FETs are off, and it needs to be accurate to prevent the low-side FET from turning on too early and causing shoot-through.
Prior solutions usually sense the gate-source voltage VGS of the high-side FET. However, this generates a sense signal in the high-voltage domain, and therefore requires level-shifting circuitry to bring the signal down to the low-voltage domain in order to be processed by other circuitry. This approach is accurate but slow due to the delay introduced by the level shift circuit. To compensate for this delay, the low-side FET can be made to turn on a little bit earlier. However, accuracy will be compromised because delay from the level shift varies with different operating conditions and process variations. Thus, under certain conditions, the low-side FET could turn on too early and cause shoot-through.
Therefore, it remains desirable to find an improved solution for generating a sense signal that is fast and accurate for controlling buck regulators and other useful power circuits.

Fast high-side power FET gate sense circuit for high voltage applications


A material for a hole transport layer has a p-dopant. The dopant forms with the hole transport material a charge transfer complex. A metal component in solution is processed with the hole transport matrix material in solution to form the hole transport layer.

The invention relates to a material for a hole transport layer with a p-doping agent.
It is known that the efficiency, for example expressed in cd/A or Im/W, and the lifetime (in hours) of organic light emitting diodes can be increased by introducing special layers for electron or hole transport. Since the layers are processed from solution, the solubility of the materials in particular is a basic prerequisite for their applicability.
Hole transport layers for polymer-based organic light emitting diodes are mostly produced from an aqueous solution of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) doped with polystyrene sulfonic acid (PEDOT:PSS).
It has however become evident that this material has disadvantages. Firstly, the highly acidic sulfonic acid it contains etches the electrode layer lying beneath which as a general rule is formed of ITO (indium tin oxide), and secondly it is known that the boundary surface between the light-emitting layer and the hole transport layer formed of PEDOT:PSS has too short a service life for economic applications.

Material for a hole transport layer with p-dopant


The present invention provides methods of treating osteoporosis and other bone disorders by inhibiting Notch signaling.

Bone undergoes continuous remodeling through interactive cycles of bone formation and resorption (bone turnover). Approximately 10% of the bone mass is removed and replaced in an average adult over the course of one year. Osteoclasts and osteoblasts, the major differentiated cells of bone, mediate the remodeling process. Typically, bone resorption is a rapid process that is mediated by osteoclasts, which are cells formed by mononuclear phagocytic precursor cells located at bone remodeling sites. The bone resorption process is followed by the appearance of osteoblasts (bone forming cells), which form bone slowly to replace the lost bone. The fact that completion of this process normally leads to balanced replacement and renewal of bone indicates that the molecular signals and events that influence bone remodeling are tightly controlled.
The mechanism of bone loss is not understood, but in general, bone loss associated disorders arise from an imbalance in the formation of new healthy bone and the resorption of old bone, skewed toward a net loss of bone tissue. This bone loss includes a decrease in both mineral content and protein matrix components of the bone, and leads to an increased fracture rate of the femoral bones and bones in the forearm and vertebrae predominantly. These fractures, in turn, lead to an increase to general morbidity, a marked loss of stature and mobility, and in many cases, an increase in mortality resulting from complications.
Several bone growth disorders are known that cause an imbalance in the bone remodeling cycle. Chief among these are metabolic bone diseases, such as osteoporosis, osteomalacia/rickets, chronic renal failure and hyperparathyroidism, which result in abnormal or excessive loss of bone mass (osteopenia), osteogenesis, osteopetrosis, and Paget's disease. Further, bone loss and a decrease in bone mineralization is often associated with therapies used to treat non-bone associated conditions such as HIV/AIDS, autoimmune disease, epilepsy, and juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, increasing the chances of bone fracture in the recipient.
Improvements in existing therapies and development of new treatments are needed to combat bone loss and promote bone growth. For instance, in the common bone ailment osteoporosis, skeletal mineral losses are in the range of 50% below peak bone mass, which occurs at approximately age 30. Seen from the perspective of correcting the deficit in bone mineral, complete reversal of this 50% loss would require a 100% increase in bone mass. Thus, seen from this perspective, the 2-8% increases in bone mineral density resulting from anti-resorptive therapy may be clinically significant and beneficial, but leaves a lot of room for improvement. Since the use of anti-resorptives to prevent bone loss does not result in new bone production, the ultimate effectiveness of anti-resorptives in quantitative terms is limited. These considerations emphasize the need for the development of pharmaceutical mechanisms to produce new bone.

Use of notch signaling regulators for modulating osteogenesis


A faucet includes a handle and a handle connection system. The handle includes an opening and a handle annular projection at least partially extending about the opening. The handle connection system is configured to be partially contained within the opening, threadably coupled to a yoke, and selectively coupled to the handle annular projection. The handle connection system is configured to facilitate rotation of the handle relative to the yoke while the handle connection system is threadably coupled to the yoke.

The present application relates generally to handle connection systems and methods. In particular, this application relates to systems and methods for connecting a handle to a yoke in a faucet.
Generally speaking, a faucet may include handles which are attached through intermediate components to a valve stem such that rotation of the handle causes rotation of the valve stem. These handles are typically retained relative to the valve stem through an interaction with a plumbing connection or surface. For example, the handle may be fastened to an intermediate component which is connected to a valve stem of a valve. As a result of such arrangements, it is often difficult to remove or service the valves. For example, the handle may have to be unfastened and removed before the valve can be removed from the valve body. Additionally, the handle may include an aperture through which the fastener is positioned. Even if this aperture is plugged, an aesthetic quality of the handle is decreased due to the fastener (e.g., an uninterrupted surface of the handle is interrupted by the aperture, fastener, or plug, etc.).


A method, system, and device for resource block (RB) indexing in a user equipment (UE) is provided. In an embodiment, the method includes obtaining, at the UE, a UE-independent frequency reference point. The method also includes determining, by the UE, a UE-independent index of an RB according to the UE-independent frequency reference point.

5th generation mobile networks (5G) are the proposed next generation of telecommunications standards beyond the current 4G standards. Some goals of 5G include higher capacity than current 4G, thereby allowing a higher density of mobile broadband users. 5G also proposes to support device-to-device, ultra-reliable, and massive machine communications. Additionally, 5G proposes to provide faster data transfer rates than are currently available. However, in order to achieve these goals, a number of problems must be addressed and solved. One problem to overcome is providing user equipment (UEs) with reference signals in a system in which the UE may not know the bandwidth of its component carrier (CC) and in a system that may include UEs that operate in intra-band carrier aggregation (CA) mode and UEs that operate in a single wideband mode.

Frequency location indexing for a wideband component carrier


Wing-to-fuselage joints and aircraft including the same. An aircraft includes a fuselage with an outer fuselage skin that at least partially defines an outer surface of the fuselage and a wing assembly operably coupled to the fuselage via a wing-to-fuselage joint. The wing assembly includes a left wing region with a lower left-wing-region skin and an upper left-wing-region skin, a right wing region with a lower right-wing-region skin and an upper right-wing-region skin, and a center wing region with a lower center-wing-region skin and an upper center-wing-region skin. The upper center-wing-region skin is coextensive with at least one of the upper left-wing-region skin and the upper right-wing-region skin.

Traditional aircraft manufacturing methods and designs are limited by engineering constraints, such as limitations imposed by the widespread use of metals such as aluminum in the airframe structure. For example, the physical properties of aluminum generally require that complex structures be assembled from a plurality of distinct aluminum components that are bolted or otherwise coupled to one another. As a more specific example, the formability of components such as aluminum plates, sheets, and extrusions may require that a traditional wing-to-fuselage joint in a commercial aircraft be a complex structure formed from a plurality of distinct components coupled together. Such a complex design may require using rivets, fasteners, and fittings that concentrate and resolve loads within localized areas. By contrast, modern aircraft manufacturing may employ the use of composite materials that may be formed into continuous, unitary structures with complex contours and highly tailored structural properties. However, such composite materials may present engineering and manufacturing difficulties when incorporated into traditional airframe designs optimized for aluminum construction.