A multi-functional hand strength assessment device includes a housing and at least one bellows device supported by the housing. A grip bar is interfaced with the bellows device for compression thereof. The grip bar is supported by the housing and is accessible by a user to grasp the grip bar for assessment of grip hand strength and finger pinch strength of the user. A grip is interfaced with the bellows device for compression thereof for assessment of twisting hand strength of the user. A pinch bar is supported by the housing opposite the grip bar and movement of one of the grip bar and the pinch bar towards the other compresses the bellows device for assessment of finger pinch strength of the user's fingers. A mechanical or electronic pressure gauge is in fluid connection with the bellows device to register a reading relating to hand strength.

1. Field of the Invention
The multi-functional hand strength assessment device permits quantification of three aspects of hand strength: grip hand strength, finger pinch strength, and twisting hand strength.
2. Description of Related Art
This disclosure is directed to the field of medical apparatus used to measure the grip strength of a person's hand, the pinch strength between two digits of the hand, and twisting or torque strength of a person's hand. It is useful for doctors to be able to objectively monitor the progress of patients who have suffered hand injury, either through accidents or debilitating diseases, such as arthritis, or who have undergone hand surgery.
Numerous devices are known in the medical field for measuring aspects of human hand strength. U.S. Pat. No. 2,708,367 to Lusk discloses a force dynamometer adapted to measure hand strength. The Lusk hand grip measurement device utilizes a force gauge that measures the applied force remotely from the point of application by means of hydraulic pressure transmitted through a liquid filled connection of pre-set length. U.S. Pat. No. 3,672,219 to Van Patten discloses a handgrip dynamometer equipped with an electric transducer which is connected to a volt meter. U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,330 to Ellis discloses an apparatus for measurement of both the grip strength of a person's hand and pinch strength of two digits of the hand. The Ellis apparatus comprises two parallel grip handles extending at right angles from a third member. A handle is rigidly fixed to the third member and has two pairs of strain gauges mounted thereon to measure the force applied to the handles irrespective of where that force is applied. The grip handles are adjustable with respect to the strain gauge handle to alter the distance between the grip handles which terminate in flat portions to be used for measurement of pinch strength.
A traditional device used to assess grip strength in the clinical setting as well as in experimental investigation is the Jamar® dynamometer. U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,445 to Sadoff et al. discloses an otherwise conventional Jamar® dynamometer that is provided with a force transducer. The analog output of the force transducer is sampled at regular intervals and converted to a sequence of digital values by a conventional analog-to-digital converter. The digital output of the converter is processed by a conventional computer in real time to produce an output that clearly indicates the maximum force exerted by the test subject. The output may be both a graphic display of the forces exerted by the test subject over a predetermined interval of time and a statistical analysis of those forces.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,729 to Hash discloses a hand grip assessment apparatus that comprises a fluid filled compressible object, such as an inflatable bladder, and a pressure transducer in fluid communication with the inflatable bladder. The pressure transducer is connected to a circuit used to determine the rate of change with time of the logarithm of the pressure of the fluid in the inflatable bladder between predetermined lower and upper pressure levels. This information is displayed and/or recorded for hand grip assessment purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,270 to Kovacevic discloses a human hand load sensor that uses a strain gauge force measurement instrument which has two platforms or handles that can be moved together with parts of the human hand, for example, a thumb and finger, or the handles can be grasped between the heel of the hand and several fingers. The instrument permits measuring of strength force by supporting a movable handle relative to a base or reference handle through a flexure system which deforms predictably under shear loading as the handles or platforms are moved together.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,157,970 to Lewis, Jr. discloses a hand grasp analysis apparatus and method by which the power of grasp exerted by the human hand can be measured. The apparatus includes a housing having opposed walls which can be forced towards one another in proportion to the magnitude of the compressive strength exerted by the person that grasps the housing. A transducer enclosed within the housing is compressed between the movable opposed walls and provides a signal that is proportional to the magnitude of the compressive force of the grasp. The signal is converted into a measurement indicative of the magnitude of the force.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,663 to Kovacevic discloses a grip sensor that is formed from a unitary block having upper and lower covers. The grip sensor comprises two sets of parallel flexure beams connected between outer end blocks and a center block and are loaded by a base plate connected to the outer end block and extending between the end blocks. The flexure beams deflect to respond to hand grip strength. Strain sensors located on the flexure beams and connected in a wheatstone bridge provide indication of gripping strength.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,299,457 to Pang et al. discloses a grip meter that includes a frame, a base on the frame sized and shaped to engage the palm of the hand, a plurality of plungers on the frame opposite the base and located for being depressed by corresponding fingers of the hand, and a device associated with the base and the plungers for simultaneously measuring and recording both finger strength and overall hand strength. The disclosed grip meter is symmetrical so that it can be used for measuring the finger and hand strength of either the left hand or the right hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,317,916 to Kovacevic discloses a digit grip sensor for measuring the grip strength of the human hand. The digit grip sensor comprises a post support having a first and a second sensor therein. A first post extends through the first sensor and a second post extends through the second sensor. A crossbar spaced from the post support extends between the first post and the second post. Each sensor has a plurality of strain gauges mounted thereon for measuring the deflection of the sensor. The crossbar can have a plurality of individual digit sensors mounted thereon for measuring the contributions of each finger to the grip force. The crossbar and the individual digit sensors can be adjusted for various hand and finger sizes.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,152,471 to Baratz et al. lists as an inventor the inventor of the subject disclosure. This patent discloses an apparatus and method for determining the strength of the hand based on a twisting action with the hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,467,551 to Yang discloses a grip strength detection device which includes a handle for the user to hold and apply a force, the movement of which drives a cable which rotates a shaft. A disk is connected to an end of the shaft and includes protrusions which pass through a photoelectric sensor so as to detect the angular distance that the disk travels. The angular distance is transferred into the value of the grip strength.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,470,217 to Jones-Glaser discloses a grip strength device that is configured to gauge the grip strength of contracted muscles or aid in exercising particular muscles by providing resistance against the contracted muscles. The grip strength device has a removable casing containing a first fluid, a first bellows, a second bellows, and a pressure gauge. The first bellows has a closed end and a first valve in communication with the casing. The second bellows has a second fluid. The second bellows has a second valve connected to the pressure gauge and a closed end abutting the closed end of the first bellows. Pressure applied to the removable casing is communicated from the first bellows to the second bellows and measured by the pressure gauge.

Multi-functional hand strength assessment device


A display apparatus includes a lower skin, a honeycomb core coupled to an inner upper surface of the lower skin by honeycomb patterns, an upper skin coupled to an upper surface of the honeycomb core, a fixing member coupled to the upper skin and the lower skin while extending through the upper skin and the lower skin, to fix a circuit including a light emitting diode to one end of the fixing member, and a filler interposed between the upper skin and the lower skin, to increase coupling force among the upper skin, the lower skin and the fixing member.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to a display apparatus, and, more particularly, to a display apparatus configured to easily fix a circuit to a metal plate member arranged at an inside or outside of the display apparatus while employing a honeycomb core.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, a honeycomb core exhibits a heat dissipation or heat insulation function in accordance with a honeycomb structure thereof. The honeycomb core is interposed between a pair of thin plate-shaped members, to provide reinforcement.
When such a structure employing a honeycomb core is used as a cover bottom in a display apparatus, to fix a circuit, there may be several restrictions in circuit fixing because thin plate members are coupled to opposite sides of the honeycomb core.

Display apparatus having a honeycomb core


This disclosure provides methods and systems for troubleshooting charging and photoreceptor failure modes associated with a xerographic process. Specifically, according to an exemplary method the photoreceptor decay behavior, with and without the effects of depletion, are quantified and used to determine a performance state of one or more of the charging stations and the photoreceptor surface.

This disclosure relates to methods and systems for troubleshooting charging and photoreception failure modes associated with a xerographic process.
An electrophotographic, or xerographic, image printing system employs an image bearing surface, such as a photoreceptor drum or belt, which is charged to a substantially uniform potential so as to sensitize the surface thereof. The charged portion of the image bearing surface is exposed to a light image of an original document being reproduced. Exposure of the charged image bearing surface selectively dissipates the charge thereon in the irradiated areas to record an electrostatic latent image on the image bearing surface corresponding to the image contained within the original document. The location of the electrical charge forming the latent image is usually optically controlled. More specifically, in a digital xerographic system, the formation of the latent image is controlled by a raster output scanning device, usually a laser or LED source.
After the electrostatic latent image is recorded on the image bearing surface, the latent image is developed by bringing a developer material into contact therewith. Generally, the electrostatic latent image is developed with dry developer material comprising carrier granules having toner particles adhering triboelectrically thereto. However, a liquid developer material may be used as well. The toner particles are attracted to the latent image, forming a visible powder image on the image bearing surface. After the electrostatic latent image is developed with the toner particles, the toner powder image is transferred to a media, such as sheets, paper or other substrate sheets, using pressure and heat to fuse the toner image to the media to form a print.
An image printing system generally has two important dimensions: a process (or a slow scan) direction and a cross-process (or a fast scan) direction. The direction in which an image bearing surface moves is referred to as the process (or the slow scan) direction, and the direction perpendicular to the process (or the slow scan) direction is referred to as the cross-process (or the fast scan) direction.
Electrophotographic image printing systems may produce color prints using a plurality of stations. Each station has a charging device for charging the image bearing surface, an exposing device for selectively illuminating the charged portions of the image bearing surface to record an electrostatic latent image thereon, and a developer unit for developing the electrostatic latent image with toner particles. Each developer unit deposits different color toner particles on the respective electrostatic latent image. The images are developed, at least partially in superimposed registration with one another, to form a multi-color toner powder image. The resultant multi-color powder image is subsequently transferred to a media. The transferred multicolor image is then permanently fused to the media forming the color print.
In a xerographic system, two of the most common failure sources are the charge device and the photoreceptor. Unfortunately, failure of either of these two components often produces identical failure mode effects (observables). Thus, it is often very difficult to quickly resolve which of these two components is the source of an observed failure mode effect. Such ambiguity leads to issues in properly diagnosing and fixing customer machines in the field and therefore increased downtime, increased parts usage (swapping in new components to try to resolve the issue), and increased on-site time for field service technicians.

Method and system for troubleshooting charging and photoreceptor failure modes associated with a xerographic process


A method of cleaning a metal surface includes covering the portion of the metal surface with a cleaning tape. The cleaning tape is chromium in combination with a fluoride ion source bound together by fibrillated polytetrafluoroethylene. This is applied to the portion of the area to be cleaned and is subject to heat treatment at about 1800.degree. F. and a reducing atmosphere of preferably hydrogen. This effectively cleans only the area covered by the tape. Further, the tape and binder format acts to force fluoride ions into the cracks on the surface providing a significantly improved cleaning operation.

The parts of a jet engine are primarily formed from superalloys which when used in the high temperature areas of an engine have a hard protective exterior coating to prevent oxidation of these parts. In the manufacture and subsequent operation of jet engines, microcracks can form in the engine parts. Oxides including aluminum oxide, chromium oxide, and titanium dioxide form on the untreated surfaces of these cracks. These oxides are normally not reducible in a standard vacuum or hydrogen thermal cycle and prevent repair of the surface since they prevent deposition of surface treatment compositions.
There are three primary methods currently used to remove the contaminant oxides. One method is a two-step reaction involving elemental chrome and ammonium fluoride heated in the presence of hydrogen to generate hydrogen fluoride gas. This generally requires treatment of the entire product. The second method uses the thermal decomposition of polytetrafluoroethylene in the presence of dry hydrogen to produce hydrogen fluoride gas. The third method is hydrogen fluoride gas treatment itself introduced to the cleaning retort.
The treatment of the entire surface with hydrogen fluoride gas is effective but requires treatment of the entire article which then must receive post-treatment, if previously coated. This is very costly. Localized treatment of the crack area is definitely preferred if accomplished effectively.

Fluoride cleaning of metal surfaces and product


A system and a method for providing a determination of predicted cognitive performance of an individual preferably based on the time of day and on factors including sleep history based on activity data from an actigraph. The system and the method provide a numerical representation of the predicted cognitive performance. Both may be used to optimize the work schedule of the actigraph wearer to maximize the cognitive capacity during working hours.

This invention relates to a system for predicting cognitive performance of an individual preferably based on the time of day, that individual""s prior sleep/wake history based on activity information from an actigraph worn by the individual, and tasks (or activities) being performed by the individual.
Maintenance of productivity in any workplace setting depends upon effective cognitive performance at all levels from command/control or management down to the individual soldier or worker. Effective cognitive performance in turn depends upon complex mental operations. Many factors have been shown to affect cognitive performance (e.g., drugs or age). However, of the numerous factors causing day to day variations in cognitive performance, two have been shown to have the greatest impact. These two factors are an individual""s prior sleep/wake history and the time of day.
Adequate sleep sustains cognitive performance. With less than adequate sleep, cognitive performance degrades over time. An article by Thorne et al. entitled xe2x80x9cPlumbing Human Performance Limits During 72 hours of High Task Loadxe2x80x9d in Proceedings of the 24th DRG Seminar on the Human as a Limiting Element in Military Systems, Defense and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine, pp. 17-40 (1983), an article by Newhouse et al. entitled xe2x80x9cThe Effects of d-Amphetamine on Arousal, Cognition, and Mood After Prolonged Total Sleep Deprivationxe2x80x9d published in Neuropsychopharmacology, vol. 2, pp. 153-164 (1989), and another article by Newhouse et al. entitled xe2x80x9cStimulant Drug Effects on Performance and Behavior After Prolonged Sleep Deprivation: A Comparison of Amphetamine, Nicotine, and Deprenylxe2x80x9d published in Military Psychology, vol. 4, pp. 207-233 (1992) all describe studies of normal volunteers in which it is revealed that robust, cumulative decrements in cognitive performance occur during continuous total sleep deprivation as measured by computer-based testing and complex operational simulation. In the Dinges et al. article entitled xe2x80x9cCumulative Sleepiness, Mood Disturbance, and Psychomotor Vigilance Performance Decrements During a Week of Sleep Restricted to 4-5 Hours Per Nightxe2x80x9d published in Sleep, vol. 20, pp. 267-277 (1997), it is revealed that on fixed, restricted daily sleep amounts, cumulative reduced sleep also leads to a cognitive performance decline. Thus, in operational settings, both civilian and military, sleep deprivation reduces productivity (output of useful work per unit of time) on cognitive tasks.
Thus, using computer-based cognitive performance tests, it has been shown that total sleep deprivation degrades human cognitive performance by approximately 25% for each successive period of 24 hours awake. However, it also has been shown that even small amounts of sleep reduce the rate of sleep loss-induced cognitive performance degradation: Belenky et al. in their article entitled xe2x80x9cSustaining Performance During Continuous Operations. The U.S. Army""s Sleep Management System,xe2x80x9d published in 20th Army Science Conference Proceedings, vol. 2, pp. 657-661 (1996) disclose that a single 30-minute nap every 24 hours reduces the rate of cognitive performance degradation to 17% per day over 85 hours of sleep deprivation. This suggests that recuperation of cognitive performance during sleep accrues most rapidly early in the sleep period. No other factor besides the amount of sleep contributes so substantially and consistently to the normal, daily variations in cognitive performance.
In addition to sleep/wake history, an individual""s cognitive performance at a given point in time is determined by the time of day. In the early 1950s, Franz Halberg and associates observed a 24-hour periodicity in a host of human physiologic (including body temperature and activity), hematologic, and hormonal functions, and coined the term xe2x80x98circadianxe2x80x99 (Latin for xe2x80x98about a dayxe2x80x99) to describe this cyclic rhythm. Halberg showed that most noise in experimental data came from comparisons of data sampled at different times of day.
When humans follow a nocturnal sleep/diurnal wake schedule (for example, an 8-hour sleep/16-hour wake cycle, with nightly sleep commencing at approximately midnight), body temperature reaches a minimum (trough) usually between 2:00 AM and 6:00 AM. Body temperature then begins rising to a maximum (peak) usually between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM. Likewise, systematic studies of daily human cognitive performance rhythms show that speed of responding slowly improves across the day to reach a maximum in the evening (usually between 8:00 PM and 10:00 PM) then dropping more rapidly to a minimum occurring in the early morning hours (usually between 2:00 AM and 6:00 AM). Similar but somewhat less consistent rhythms have been shown from testing based on various cognitive performance tasks. Thus, superimposed on the effect of total sleep deprivation on cognitive performance noted above was an approximately xc2x110% variation in cognitive performance over each 24-hour period.
Various measures have been shown to correlate, to some extent, with cognitive performance. These include objective and subjective measures of sleepiness (or its converse, alertness). Some individuals familiar with the art use xe2x80x9csleepinessxe2x80x9d to indicate the opposite of xe2x80x9calertnessxe2x80x9d (as is the case in the present document). xe2x80x9cDrowsinessxe2x80x9d often is used interchangeably with xe2x80x9csleepinessxe2x80x9d although some familiar with the art would argue that xe2x80x9csleepinessxe2x80x9d pertains specifically to the physiological need for sleep whereas xe2x80x9cdrowsinessxe2x80x9d refers more to the propensity or ability to fall asleep (independent of physiological sleep need) or the subjective feeling of lack of alertness. The term xe2x80x9cfatiguexe2x80x9d has been used as a synonym for xe2x80x9csleepinessxe2x80x9d by the lay population, but those familiar with the art do not consider xe2x80x9cfatiguexe2x80x9d to be interchangeable with xe2x80x9csleepinessxe2x80x9dxe2x80x94rather, xe2x80x9cfatiguexe2x80x9d is a broad term that encompasses more than just the effects of sleep loss per se on performance. Likewise, xe2x80x9ccognitive performancexe2x80x9d has been defined as performance on a wide variety of tasks, the most commonly used being vigilance tasks (tasks requiring sustained attention). From vigilance and other tasks, some researchers use accuracy as their measure of cognitive performance, while others use reaction time (or its inverse, speed). Still others use a measure that is calculated as speed multiplied by accuracy, that is the amount of useful work performed per unit of time (also known as throughput). Those familiar with the art generally agree that vigilance tasks are appropriate measures of cognitive performance under conditions of sleep deprivation, and that either reaction time (speed) or some measure that takes reaction time into account (e.g., throughput) is a valid and reliable way of measuring cognitive performance.
The Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) is a widely accepted objective measure of sleepiness/alertness. In the MSLT, individuals try to fall asleep while lying in a darkened, quiet bedroom. Various physiological measures used to determine sleep or wakefulness are recorded (eye movements, brain activity, muscle tone), and time taken to reach the first 30 seconds of stage 1 (light) sleep is determined. Shorter latencies to stage 1 are considered to indicate greater sleepiness (lower alertness). Sleep latencies under 5 minutes are considered to be pathological (i.e., indicative of a sleep disorder or sleep deprivation). During both total and partial sleep deprivation, latency to sleep on the MSLT (alertness) and performance decline (i.e., sleepiness as measured by MSLT increases). However, although there is a correlation between MSLT-determined sleepiness/alertness and cognitive performance (greater sleepiness as indexed by MSLT corresponding to poorer cognitive performance), this correlation has never been shown to be perfect and for the most part is not strong. As a result, the MSLT is a poor (i.e., unreliable) predictor of cognitive performance.
Subjective measures of sleepiness/alertness also have been shown to correlate (albeit weakly) with cognitive performance. Hoddes et al. in their article entitled xe2x80x9cQuantification of Sleepiness: A New Approachxe2x80x9d published in Psychophysiology, vol. 10, pp. 431-436 (1973) describe the Stanford Sleepiness Scale (SSS), a subjective questionnaire used widely to measure sleepiness/alertness. In the SSS, individuals rate their current level of sleepiness/alertness on a scale from 1 to 7, with 1 corresponding to the statement, xe2x80x9cfeeling active and vital; alert; wide awakexe2x80x9d and 7 corresponding to the statement xe2x80x9calmost in reverie; sleep onset soon; losing struggle to remain awake.xe2x80x9d Higher SSS scores indicate greater sleepiness. As with the MSLT, during both total and partial sleep deprivation, scores on the SSS increase. However, as with MSLT, the correspondence between SSS-determined sleepiness/alertness and cognitive performance decrements is weak and inconsistent. As a result, the SSS also is a poor predictor of cognitive performance. Some other examples of subjective measures of sleepiness/alertness include the Epworth Sleepiness Scale described by Johns in his article entitled xe2x80x9cDaytime Sleepiness, Snoring, and Obstructive Sleep Apneaxe2x80x9d published in Chest, vol. 103, pp. 30-36 (1993) and the Karolinska Sleepiness scale described by Akerstedt and Gillberg in their article entitled xe2x80x9cSubjective and Objective Sleepiness in the Active Individualxe2x80x9d published in International Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 52, pp. 29-37 (1990). The correspondence between these subjective measures and cognitive performance also is weak and inconsistent.
In addition, factors modifying cognitive performance may not correspondingly affect objective or subjective measures of sleepiness/alertness, and vice versa. For example, the Penetar et al. article entitled xe2x80x9cAmphetamine Effects on Recovery Sleep Following Total Sleep Deprivationxe2x80x9d published in Human Psychopharmacology, vol. 6, pp. 319-323 (1991) discloses that during sleep deprivation, the stimulant drug d-amphetamine improved cognitive performance but not sleepiness/alertness (as measured by the MSLT). In a similar study, caffeine given as a sleep deprivation countermeasure maintained elevated cognitive performance for over 12 hours while the effects on subjective sleepiness, vigor and fatigue transiently improved but then decayed. Thorne et al. in their article entitled xe2x80x9cPlumbing Human Performance Limits During 72 hours of High Task Loadxe2x80x9d in Proceedings of the 24th DRG Seminar on the Human as a Limiting Element in Military Systems, Defense and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine, pp. 17-40 (1983) describe how cognitive performance continues to decline over 72 hours of sleep deprivation whereas subjective sleepiness/alertness declined over the first 24 hours but subsequently leveled off. The findings that cognitive performance and measures of sleepiness/alertness are not always affected in the same way indicate that they are not interchangeable. That is, measures of sleepiness/alertness cannot be used to predict cognitive performance, and vice versa.
Methods and apparatuses related to alertness detection fall into five basic categories: a method/apparatus for unobtrusively monitoring current alertness level; a method/apparatus for unobtrusively monitoring current alertness level and providing a warning/alarm to the user of decreased alertness and/or to increase user""s alertness level; a method/apparatus for monitoring current alertness level based on the user""s responses to some secondary task possibly with an alarm device to warn the user of decreased alertness and/or to increase user""s alertness level; methods to increase alertness; and a method/apparatus for predicting past, current, or future alertness.
These methods and apparatuses that unobtrusively monitor the current alertness level are based on an xe2x80x9cembedded measuresxe2x80x9d approach. That is, such methods infer alertness/drowsiness from the current level of some factor (e.g., eye position or closure) assumed to correlate with alertness/drowsiness. Issued patents of this type include U.S. Pat. No. 5,689,241 to J. Clarke, Sr., et al. disclosing an apparatus to detect eye closure and ambient temperature around the nose and mouth; U.S. Pat. No. 5,682,144 to K. Mannik disclosing an apparatus to detect eye closure; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,698 to C. Liang et al. disclosing an apparatus to monitor eye localization and motion to detect sleepiness. An obvious disadvantage of these types of methods and apparatuses is that the measures are likely detecting sleep onset itself rather than small decreases in alertness.
In some patents, methods for embedded monitoring of alertness/drowsiness are combined with additional methods for signaling the user of decreased alertness and/or increasing alertness. Issued patents of this type include U.S. Pat. No. 5,691,693 to P. Kithil describing a device that senses a vehicle operator""s head position and motion to compare current data to profiles of xe2x80x9cnormalxe2x80x9d head motion and xe2x80x9cimpairedxe2x80x9d head motion. Warning devices are activated when head motion deviates from the xe2x80x9cnormalxe2x80x9d in some predetermined way. U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,785 to R. Gwin et al. describes an apparatus and a method for measuring total handgrip pressure on a steering wheel such that an alarm is sounded when the grip pressure falls below a predetermined xe2x80x9clower limitxe2x80x9d indicating drowsiness. U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,127 to H. Bang describes a device for detecting drowsiness as indicated by the user""s chin contacting an alarm device, which then produces a tactile and auditory warning. U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,067 to J. Hobson et al. describes a method and an apparatus to detect eyelid movements. A change in detected eyelid movements from a predetermined threshold causes an output signal/alarm (preferably auditory). As with the first category of methods and apparatuses, a disadvantage here is that the measures are likely detecting sleep onset itself rather than small decreases in alertness.
Other alertness/drowsiness monitoring devices have been developed based on a xe2x80x9cprimary/secondary taskxe2x80x9d approach. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,488 to E. Gozlan et al. describes an apparatus and a method for presenting auditory, visual, or tactile stimuli to an individual to which the individual must respond (secondary task) while performing the primary task of interest (e.g., driving). Responses on the secondary task are compared to baseline xe2x80x9calertxe2x80x9d levels for responding. U.S. Pat. No. 5,259,390 to A. MacLean describes a device in which the user responds to a relatively innocuous vibrating stimulus. The speed to respond to the stimulus is used as a measure of the alertness level. A disadvantage here is that the apparatus requires responses to a secondary task to infer alertness, thereby altering and possibly interfering with the primary task.
Other methods exist solely for increasing alertness, depending upon the user to self-evaluate alertness level and activate the device when the user feels drowsy. An example of the latter is U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,633 and related patents to M. Fukuoka in which a method/apparatus is described for causing the user""s seat to vibrate when the user detects drowsiness. Obvious disadvantages of such devices are that the user must be able to accurately self-assess his/her current level of alertness, and that the user must be able to correctly act upon this assessment.
Methods also exist to predict alertness level based on user inputs known empirically to modify alertness. U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,223 to M. Moore-Ede et al. describes a method for predicting the likely alertness level of an individual at a specific point in time (past, current or future) based upon a mathematical computation of a variety of factors (referred to as xe2x80x9creal-worldxe2x80x9d factors) that bear some relationship to alterations in alertness. The individual""s Baseline Alertness Curve (BAC) is first determined based on five inputs and represents the optimal alertness curve displayed in a stable environment. Next, the BAC is modified by alertness modifying stimuli to arrive at a Modified Baseline Alertness Curve. Thus, the method is a means for predicting an individual""s alertness level, not cognitive performance.
Another method has been designed to predict xe2x80x9cwork-related fatiguexe2x80x9d as a function of number of hours on duty. Fletcher and Dawson describe their method in an article entitled xe2x80x9cA Predictive Model of Work-Related Fatigue Based on Hours of Workxe2x80x9d published in Journal of Occupational Health and Safety, vol. 13, 471-485 (1997). In this model a simplifying assumption is madexe2x80x94it is assumed that length of on-duty time correlates positively with time awake. To implement the method, the user inputs a real or hypothetical on-duty/off-duty (work/rest) schedule. Output from the model is a score that indicates xe2x80x9cwork-related fatigue.xe2x80x9d Although this xe2x80x9cwork-related fatiguexe2x80x9d score has been shown to correlate with some performance measures, it is not a direct measure of cognitive performance per se. It can be appreciated that the fatigue score will be less accurate under circumstances when the presumed relationship between on-duty time and time awake breaks downxe2x80x94for example when a person works a short shift but then spends time working on projects at home rather than sleeping or when a person works long shifts but conscientiously sleeps all the available time at home. Also, this method is obtrusive in that the user must input on-duty/off-duty information rather than such information being automatically extracted from an unobtrusive recording device. In addition, the model is limited to predictions of xe2x80x9cfatiguexe2x80x9d based on work hours. Overall, this model is limited to work-related situations in which shift length consistently correlates (inversely) with sleep length.
Given the importance of the amount of sleep and the time of day for determining cognitive performance (and hence estimating productivity or effectiveness), and given the ever-increasing requirements of most occupations on cognitive performance, it is desirable to design a reliable and accurate method of predicting cognitive performance. It can be appreciated that increasing the number of relevant inputs increases cognitive performance prediction accuracy. However, the relative benefits gained from such inputs must be weighed against the additional burdens/costs associated with their collection and input. For example, although certain fragrances have been shown to have alertness-enhancing properties, these effects are inconsistent and negligible compared to the robust effects of the individual""s sleep/wake history and the time of day. More important, the effect of fragrances on cognitive performance is unknown. Requiring an individual to keep a log of exposure to fragrances would be time consuming to the individual and only result in negligible gains in cognitive performance prediction accuracy. In addition, while the effects of the sleep/wake history and the time of day on cognitive performance are well known, the effects of other putative alertness-altering factors (e.g., job stress), how to measure them (their operational definition), and their direction of action (cognitive performance enhancing or degrading) are virtually unknown.
An important and critical distinction between the present invention and the prior art is that the present invention is a model to predict performance on tasks with a cognitive component. In contrast, previous models involving sleep and/or circadian rhythms (approximately 24-hour) focused on the prediction of xe2x80x9calertnessxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csleepiness.xe2x80x9d The latter are concepts that specifically relate to the propensity to initiate sleep, not the ability to perform a cognitive task.
Although sleepiness (or its converse, alertness) could be viewed as an intervening variable that can mediate cognitive performance, the scientific literature clearly shows that cognitive performance and alertness are conceptually distinct, as reviewed by Johns in the article entitled xe2x80x9cRethinking the Assessment of Sleepinessxe2x80x9d published in Sleep Medicine Reviews, vol. 2, pp. 3-15 (1998) and as reviewed by Mitler et al. in the article entitled xe2x80x9cMethods of Testing for Sleepinessxe2x80x9d published in Behavioral Medicine, vol. 21, pp. 171-183 (1996). Thomas et al. in the article entitled xe2x80x9cRegional Cerebral Metabolic Effects of Prolonged Sleep Deprivationxe2x80x9d published in NeuroImage, vol. 7, p. S130 (1998) reveal that 1-3 days of sleep loss result in reductions in global brain activation of approximately 6%, as measured by regional cerebral glucose uptake. However, those regions (heteromodal association cortices) that mediate the highest order cognitive functions (including but not limited to attention, vigilance, situational awareness, planning, judgment, and decision making) are selectively deactivated by sleep loss to a much greater extentxe2x80x94up to 50%xe2x80x94after three days of sleep loss. Thus, decreases in neurobiological functioning during sleep restriction/deprivation are directly reflected in cognitive performance degradation. These findings are consistent with studies demonstrating that tasks requiring higher-order cognitive functions, especially those tasks requiring attention, planning, etc. (abilities mediated by heteromodal association areas) are especially sensitive to sleep loss. On the other hand, brain regions such as primary sensory regions, are deactivated to a lesser degree. Concomitantly, performance (e.g., vision, hearing, strength and endurance tasks) that is dependent on these regions is virtually unaffected by sleep loss.
Consequently, devices or inventions that predict xe2x80x9calertnessxe2x80x9d per se (e.g., Moore-Ede et al.) putatively quantify the brain""s underlying propensity to initiate sleep at any given point in time. That is, devices or inventions that predict xe2x80x9calertnessxe2x80x9d (or its converse xe2x80x9csleepinessxe2x80x9d) predict the extent to which sleep onset is likely. The present invention differs from such approaches in that the nature of the task is accounted forxe2x80x94i.e., it is not the propensity to initiate sleep that is predicted. Rather, the present invention predicts the extent to which performance of a particular task will be impaired by virtue of its reliance upon brain areas most affected by sleep deprivation (heteromodal association areas of the brain). The most desirable method will produce a highly reliable and accurate cognitive performance estimate based on the sleep/wake history of an individual, the time of day, and the individual""s activities (or inactivity).
A method in accordance with the invention includes accumulating a data series representing wake states and sleep states of an individual based on analysis of movement detected by the actigraph using a sleep scoring system, selecting a function based on the data series, determining a cognitive performance capacity based on the selected function and a prior cognitive performance capacity, modulating the cognitive performance capacity with a time of day value, and providing the modulated value.
A method in accordance with the invention includes receiving data from the actigraph, selecting a function based on the data, calculating a cognitive performance capacity using the selected function, modulating the cognitive performance capacity with a time of day value, and providing the modulated value as the cognitive performance level.
A device for collecting data from at least one actigraph and providing a cognitive performance index for each of the at least one actigraph includes a receiver, a data analyzer connected to the receiver, a calculator connected to the receiver, a memory with modulation data, a modulator connected to the memory and the calculator, and at least one display connected to the modulator; and wherein the modulator provides a cognitive performance index for each of the at least one actigraph communicating with the device.
A device for collecting data from at least one actigraph and providing a cognitive performance index for each of the at least one actigraph includes means for receiving information from the at least one actigraph, means for selecting an evaluation function based on the received information for at least one of the at least one actigraph, means for calculating a value using the selected evaluation function for at least one of the at least one actigraph, means for storing modulation data, means for modulating the value with a corresponding piece of modulation data for at least one of the at least one actigraph, and means for displaying the modulated value for at least one of the at least one actigraph.
A device for predicting cognitive performance for an individual includes an actigraph, a sleep scorer connected to the actigraph, a data analyzer connected to the sleep scorer, a calculator connected to the analyzer, a memory with modulation data, a modulator connected to the memory and the calculator, and a display connected to the modulator.
A feature of the present invention is that it provides a numerical representation of predicted cognitive performance with an immediate ergonomic and economic advantage, i.e., an indication of productivity or effectiveness of an individual. Another feature of the present invention is that it does not require or use measurements/computations that are indirect, intermediate, inferential or hypothetical concomitants of cognitive performance. Examples of the latter are alertness, sleepiness, time to sleep onset, body temperature and/or other physiological measures that vary with time. A further feature of the invention is that it accounts for transient or adventitious variations in cognitive performance from any source as a result of how that source affects the sleep/wake history (e.g., age) and/or physiological time of day (e.g., shift work). In effect, such sources are not treated as having effects on cognitive performance independent of the sleep/wake history and/or the time of day, and as such do not require separate measurement, tabulation, and input into the method.
One objective of this invention is to provide an accurate method for predicting cognitive performance of an individual.
A further objective is to provide a method that facilitates prediction of the effects of possible future sleep/wake histories on cognitive performance (forward prediction).
Another objective is to provide a method that facilitates retrospective analysis of likely prior cognitive performance based on at least the individual""s sleep/wake history and the time of day.
Another objective is to provide a method for coordination and optimization of available sleep/wake time in order to obtain net optimal predicted cognitive performance for an individual and/or a group of individuals.
It can be appreciated that an implicit advantage and novelty of the method is its parsimony. The method uses those factors possessing maximal predictive value (as demonstrated empirically) as continuously updated inputs. Thus, the model will be simple to implement. Other models predicting xe2x80x9calertnessxe2x80x9d require the user to track multiple input variables (e.g., caffeine, alcohol ingestion, light/dark exposure, diurnal type), rather than presenting these inputs as optional xe2x80x9cattachmentsxe2x80x9d to a standard, simplified model based on those factors accounting for maximum cognitive performance change. For example, in accordance with a segment of the present method, the effects of age on cognitive performance are accounted for implicitly via the empirically derived effects of age on sleep. That is, sleep quality degrades with age. The inherent degradation in sleep quality with aging would implicitly result in a prediction of degraded cognitive performance (since in the present method degraded sleep results in a prediction of degraded cognitive performance), even if an individual""s age were unknown. Therefore, age need not constitute a separate (independent) input variable to a cognitive performance prediction model.
The invention also provides other significant advantages. For example, an advantage of this invention is the elimination of a need for empirical evaluation.
An advantage of an alternative embodiment of this invention is obtaining an accurate prediction of cognitive performance of an individual. This advantage may be achieved by a method incorporating three factors that have been empirically demonstrated to exert a significant effect on cognitive performance, namely, (1) the individual""s sleep/wake history, (2) the time of day (xe2x80x9cdayxe2x80x9d herein referring to a 24-hour period including both nighttime and daylight hours), and (3) the individual""s time on a particular task/activity.
Another advantage achieved by this invention is an accurate prediction of current cognitive performance.
Another advantage achieved by this invention is that it is capable of providing a real time prediction of cognitive performance.
Yet another advantage achieved by this invention is a prediction of future expected cognitive performance throughout the day based on hypothetical future sleep/wake periods.
An additional advantage achieved by this invention is a retrospective analysis of cognitive performance at given times.
A further advantage of the invention is that a particular cognitive performance prediction is not based on normative data (i.e., does not require a xe2x80x9clook-up tablexe2x80x9d for output), but rather is calculated directly based on each individual""s sleep/wake information, the time of day, and time performing a task.
A further advantage of the invention is that it can be used to optimize the individual""s future sleep/wake schedule based on a fixed mission/work schedule. Previous methods and apparatuses are directed toward modifying the work schedule and/or mission to xe2x80x9cfit the individual.xe2x80x9d In most situations, however, work schedules and/or missions are fixed. Thus, modifying the work schedule or mission to suit the individual is impractical or impossible. A more reasonable approach incorporated in the present method is to allow the individual to adjust his/her sleep/wake periods to meet work/mission demands. Thus, the current method presents a more practical alternative by providing a means to regulate work hours to a directly applicable metric (cognitive performance) instead of regulating work hours by time off duty or by using indirect measures of cognitive performance such as alertness.
A feature of this invention is the provision of a graphical representation that translates an individual""s sleep/wake history and the time of day into an immediately useful, self-evident index. A prediction of cognitive performance, unlike a prediction of xe2x80x9calertnessxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9csleepiness,xe2x80x9d requires no further interpretation.
The system for predicting human cognitive performance based on information from an actigraph in accordance with the invention accomplishes the above objectives and achieves the above advantages. The system is easily adapted to a wide variety of situations and types of inputs.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention: an individual activity is monitored by an actigraph, the activity information is converted into an individual""s sleep/wake history, which is inputted into a processing device. The processing device classifies the individual pieces of sleep/wake history data as either sleep or wake. Based on the classification of data, the processing device selects and calculates a cognitive performance capacity corresponding to the present state of the individual, the cognitive performance capacity may be modified by a time of day value to adjust the cognitive performance capacity to a predicted cognitive performance. The predicted cognitive performance represents the ability of the individual to perform cognitive tasks. The predicted cognitive performance may be displayed for a real-time indication or as part of a curve, printed out with the information that could have been displayed, and/or stored for later retrieval and/or use. The calculation of the cognitive performance capacity is made based on functions that model the effect of the interrelationship of sleep and being awake on cognitive performance. The time of day function models the effect of an individual""s circadian rhythms on cognitive performance.
In accordance with the underlying method of the invention, the method can be accomplished with a wide variety of apparatus. Examples of the possible apparatus embodiments include electronic hardware as either a dedicated equipment or equipment internal to a computer, software embodied in computer readable material for use by computers, software resident in memory or a programmed chip for use in computers or dedicated equipment, or some combination of both hardware and software. The dedicated equipment may be part of a larger device that would complement the dedicated equipment""s purpose.
Given the following enabling description of the drawings, the invention should become evident to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Method and system for predicting human cognitive performance using data from an actigraph

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A method for using an over-the-roadway tractor, a puller configured for interconnection to and powered by a tractor for driving the puller over a railway, and railway bogies, for hauling one or more convertible roadway-railway trailers over both a railway and roadway. The method includes configuring the trailer for railway travel and operating the tractor to remove the trailer from the roadway and position the trailer on the railway, driving the tractor onto the puller and connecting the tractor to the puller drive system, operating the tractor to connect the puller to the trailer and drive the trailer over the railway when the trailer is configured for railway travel and positioned on the railway, disconnecting the tractor from the puller drive system and driving the tractor off of the puller, configuring the trailer for roadway travel and operating the tractor to remove the trailer from the railway and position the trailer on the roadway, and operating the tractor to drive the trailer over the roadway when the trailer is configured for roadway travel and positioned on the roadway.

The present invention relates generally to bimodal hauling vehicles which can be converted for use on both railways and roadways, and to a method for using the vehicles. In particular, the present invention is a bimodal hauling vehicle and associated method of use which permit one operator to operate the vehicle on both a highway and railway, and to convert the vehicle between highway and railway operation at a grade crossing.
The idea of moving one kind of vehicle on another vehicle is not new in North America. Between 1843 and 1854, canal boats were hauled by cog railroad over mountains from one stream to another. During the 1850s and the 1860s, boats were used to haul supplies, horses and wagons of Westward bound pioneers on inland waterways. On festive occasions, Canadian railroads operated special picnic trains hauling passengers and sleighs that were mounted on flat cars. In the United States, the first railway-highway intermodal operations were termed "piggyback" operations. The early piggyback operations consisted mainly of trains hauling farmers wagons. The first piggyback train began operation in 1885 and hauled 16 wagons on eight flat cars. The distance travelled was 20 miles and the savings in time was substantial. As the service became more well known special cars were built that could haul four wagons each. Passenger service for the owners or drivers of the wagons was furnished in a separate car. The operation only lasted ten years, but it was the beginning of highway-railway intermodal travel in the United States.
The railroad faced two handicaps in competing with motor carriers. First, rail service did not offer the door-to-door pickup and delivery service provided by motor carriers, and second, freight in less than carload quantities needed better packaging for shipment by rail than by motor carrier. Piggyback service was intended to overcome these problems.
In 1926, the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee Railroads began hauling railroad-owned highway trailers on flat cars, providing the first modern piggyback service in the United States.
Between 1939 and 1951, the railroads' efforts to expand piggyback service were largely abandoned. The economic pressure on the railroads to increase traffic was greatly relieved by the freight shipments generated by World War II and by the pent-up demand for consumer goods immediately following the end of the war. When the backlog of orders was reduced, rail tonnage again began to decline. Before any action was taken toward increasing piggyback services, however, the Korean War increased the demand for service to such an extent that railroads did not feel it was necessary to explore avenues which might yield additional freight tonnage. When rail freight tonnage began to decline in 1952, and the railroads again became interested in methods of increasing tonnage, the search lead them to a reappraisal of piggyback service. During the 1950s, piggyback operations expanded rapidly and by the end of 1959, most of the principal railroads in the United States were providing piggyback service.
Over the years, many methods and designs of piggyback service have been developed. Each, however, is a variation of one of two primary methods. One of these methods involves hauling the complete trailer. The other method involves hauling only the trailer body. The Clejan System is representative of a technique for hauling the complete trailer, while the New York Central Railroad's Flexi-Van Service is representative of a technique for hauling only the trailer body. The Clejan System uses trailers outfitted with special railroad wheel dollies that ride on rails built into specially fitted flatbed cars. The dollies can be either permanently attached to the trailer or detachably mounted with a pin mechanism. Detachable dollies are put on the trailer using a hydraulic jack to lift the dolly up to the trailer bottom. A pin is used to connect the dolly to the trailer. No tools were needed to connect the dolly to the trailer. The trailer's rear roadway wheels are not detachable. Front dolly wheels are attached by positioning the wheels under the landing gear and securing them with a pin.
The New York Central Flexi-Van system uses trailers outfitted with detachable Sliding rear roadway wheel assemblies. To detach a roadway wheel assembly, the trailer is backed up to a flatbed car that has a hydraulic turntable built into it. The roadway wheel assembly is released and slid forward before the turntable is hydraulically raised. The turntable mechanism lifts the trailer off of the roadway wheels. The trailer is hauled on a flatbed car.
The search for an easier and less expensive way of carrying more tonnage led to an innovation in intermodal transportation. In the late 1950s, the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad developed the Rail Van, a bimodal trailer with separate highway and railway axles. The Rail Van was designed to ride directly on the highway or the railway. In the late 1970s, a new trailer was designed with a single rail axle and tandem highway axles. This trailer, designed and built for am company called Road Railer, has a set of non-removable railway wheels located between tandem highway axles. To run on the road, the railway wheels are retracted above the highway wheels. Conversely, to run on rails, the railway wheels are extended below the roadway wheels. One major disadvantage of this system is that the railway wheels are heavy and the weight must be carried at all times. This decreases gas mileage and increases the cost of hauling tonnage over the highway.
The Ferrosud, Carro Bimodale System is another bimodal trailer design. It uses a two-axle railway bogie fitted with a locking device to ensure that the bogie and van trailer are correctly joined. On arrival at the roadway-railway transfer site, the pneumatic suspension of the trailer is used to lift the van body to a height above the rail bogie. The waiting bogie is moved under the van, the van is lowered into position, and the railway breaking system is connected. The roadway wheels end up above the railroad track. One two-axle bogie is used between two trailers with the back of one trailer mounted on one-half of the bogie and the front of another trailer mounted on the other half of the bogie. Although this system includes removable bogies, the two-axle bogie used in the Carro Bimodale System is heavy and cannot be securely attached to the posterior end of the trailer.
The Viens U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,169 discloses a rail bogie including a truck having a platform with railway wheels underneath, a fifth wheel and a hooking lock. A self-actuating lift assembly on the bogie is used to raise and hold a tractor on the back of a semi-trailer. Two different bogie designs are used to support and carry a semi-trailer on the railroad track. Neither bogie, however, can be securely attached to the trailer and lifted from the track.
The Wicks et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,020 discloses a transition vehicle with roadway wheels and railway wheels. The transition vehicle contains a clamping mechanism to grasp the sidewalls of a trailer being carried. The roadway wheels are raised during rail use by an air spring suspension system. The transition vehicle can be attached to a road vehicle, another rail car or a train engine. The transition vehicle, however, cannot be securely attached to the trailer and the trailer cannot lift the transition vehicle to a different track location. Again, this reduces flexibility. The transition vehicle is also used on the anterior portion of the hauling vehicle, between the moving vehicle and the hauling vehicle.
The Beatty U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,132 discloses a convertible railway-highway vehicle containing railway wheels and highway wheels. The vehicle uses a number of axles for highway wheels to maximize the load it can carry. The highway wheels are on a liftable axle assembly with a locking mechanism. An airbag spring assembly is used to lift the axle assembly. However, the railway wheels cannot be disconnected during highway use. This adds additional weight during highway use and increases the cost for hauling over the highway.
In many areas such as rural locations and developing countries, railways are a more effective means of transportation than roadways. Unfortunately, the railway-highway vehicles described above are relatively complicated to operate. Railways therefore tend to be an underutilized mode of transportation for smaller organizations or individuals such as farmers that are not hauling large quantities of goods typically required for the efficient operation of these known bimodal systems.
It is therefore evident that there is a continuing need for improved convertible railway-roadway vehicles. In particular, there is a need for vehicles of this type that can be conveniently converted between railway and highway travel operating modes at grade crossings. Vehicles of this type would be especially useful if they can be converted between railway and highway operating modes by one person, and efficiently operated by one person on both the railway and highway. To be commercially viable, any such vehicle must of course be capable of being efficiently manufactured.

Convertible railway-roadway vehicle and method of use


Systems, methods and articles of manufacture for accessing data for a fee are provided. Fee schedules are defined for any arbitrary granularity of data, including for fields and data structures (e.g., tables in a database). Fees may be calculated based on the type of operation to be performed. Fees may also be calculated per operation and/or per data item involved in the operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data processing, and more particularly, to accessing data through a logical framework.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information Technology (IT) encompasses all forms of technology used to create, store, exchange, and use information in its various forms (business data, voice conversations, still images, motion pictures, multimedia presentations, and other forms, including those not yet conceived). While information technology provides significant benefits to users, the providers of such technology often incur substantial costs. As such, it is common for providers to charge a fee for services rendered. For example, many service providers manage information databases and allow fee-based access to the databases. Such databases are particularly prevalent in various professions (e.g., medical, legal, etc.) as well as in research and development. However, such service providers in the information technology industry are providing users with access to databases using relatively inflexible and restrictive fee models.
Consider a service provider who owns and manages a repository of information which they provide fee-based access to. It may be a database of medical research information or any other kind of data that is of value within a particular domain. There are a number of methods established today which govern the fee structure for these kinds of environments. In some cases, the service provider may charge an annual fee for the right to access information in the repository. In other cases, the service provider may charge a per transaction fee for information retrieved. These models are adequate if all data in the repository is considered of equal value, but do not address issues where the value of information can vary between various entities in the repository.
Consider further service providers that are in the data hosting business, i.e., those who provide data storage and management services for a fee. One model that is used today involves a fee structure based on the volume of data stored. In this case, all types of data are considered equal; all types of data are viewed as simply a set of bytes being stored. This model works adequately if there is no distinction between how different types of data are managed, but is not a good solution if there are different types of services provided for different types of information. For example, assume a service provider who is storing patient demographic, account, test result and medical diagnosis information for a given client. There may be different levels of service associated with each type of information. The service provider may provide services to secure patient authorization to use data for research that would apply to individual patients stored in the repository. The service provider may need to provide more stringent access control and data encryption support for certain types of data. There may also be a set of data analysis services provided for some types of information. Existing fee models do not account for these variations on the type of data stored and services associated with that data.
Therefore, what is needed is a more flexible fee based model for accessing data.

Establishing a data management fee structure based on fine grained data entities

International Business Machines Corporation


Various embodiments relate to bearing assemblies configured to enable removal and replacement of superhard bearing elements, and bearing apparatuses that may utilize such bearing assemblies. The disclosed bearing assemblies may be used in a number of applications, such as downhole motors in subterranean drilling systems, directional drilling systems, roller-cone drill bits, and many other applications. In an embodiment, a bearing assembly includes a support ring and a retention ring assembled with the support ring. The bearing assembly further includes a plurality of superhard bearing elements. The retention ring and at least a number of the superhard bearing element are collectively configured to restrict displacement of the at least a number of the superhard bearing elements.

Subterranean drilling systems that employ downhole drilling motors are commonly used for drilling boreholes in the earth for oil and gas exploration. Subterranean drilling systems typically include a housing enclosing a downhole drilling motor operably connected to an output shaft. One or more thrust-bearing apparatuses may also be operably coupled to the downhole drilling motor for carrying thrust loads generated during drilling operations.
Each thrust-bearing apparatus may include a stator that does not rotate and a rotor that is attached to the output shaft and rotates with the output shaft. The stator and rotor may each include a plurality of superhard bearing elements or inserts. Each superhard bearing element may be fabricated from a polycrystalline diamond compact ("PDC") that provides a diamond bearing surface that bears against other diamond bearing surfaces during use.
In a conventional PDC thrust-bearing apparatus, a thrust-bearing assembly can include a steel support ring that may be configured to accept a number of superhard bearing elements. The superhard bearing elements may be made from a polycrystalline diamond ("PCD") layer formed on a cemented tungsten carbide substrate. The superhard bearing elements may then be brazed into the support ring using a brazing process.
Brazing the superhard bearing elements into the support ring involves high temperatures that can damage (e.g., graphitize) the polycrystalline diamond of the superhard bearing elements and can also cause the bearing ring to warp. In addition, the support ring and superhard bearing elements should be very clean in order to achieve a brazed joint between the support ring and superhard bearing elements with sufficient strength to withstand the forces applied to the superhard bearing elements during drilling operations. Despite best efforts, brazed joints may, nonetheless, fail during use or testing.
Therefore, manufacturers and users of bearing apparatuses continue to seek improved bearing apparatus designs and manufacturing techniques.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Bearing assemblies, and bearing apparatuses using the same


An exemplary embodiment of a bracket system for supporting a shelf or countertop includes first and second separate elongated bracket members, each having a connection end and a distal end. The connection end of the first bracket member is adapted for removable attachment to the connection end of the second bracket member. Each of the first and second elongated bracket members includes fastener members for fixing the first and second bracket members together at the connection ends.

The installation of a shelf, cabinet, countertop or other fixture may include attaching a right angle bracket or corbel to a wall surface to support the fixture. This can be a time consuming task. Sometimes a wall cleat is installed, which may interfere with the bracket or corbel location. Often the wall surface is not true or vertical, leading to additional installation effort when attempting to provide a horizontal shelf or counter surface. Mounting a bracket in a vertical orientation can also be a time consuming task as well.


A method for operating a DAC to minimize digital feedthrough includes inputting a clock signal to a DAC clock input, the clock signal having a periodic series of trigger events, wherein input data must be present for a time window between a setup time before a trigger event and a hold time after the trigger event; generating an input data stream, the input data stream having data that is present for the time window; altering the input data stream into a cancellation data stream wherein the data presence is maintained but pseudo-data outside of the time window is added; and applying the cancellation data stream to a DAC data input resulting in an analog signal output.

The present invention relates to digital to analog conversion and, in particular, to cancellation of digital feedthrough.
Many digital to analog conversion (DAC) circuits have issues with unacceptable digital signal interference feeding through to the analog signal. The problem is that a minute amount of capacitance between the digital inputs and the analog outputs can be enough to couple the two.
Typically, DACs operate with a clock input and a data input. A trigger event (e.g., a rising clock edge, a falling clock edge, or both) latches the data input into the DAC. For this data latching to happen, the data is required to be present for a time window between a "setup time" before the trigger event and a "hold time" after the trigger event.
Referring to FIG. 2, an example timing diagram for a parallel-input DAC that uses the rising edge as the trigger event is shown. An example time window A is shown about a rising clock edge.
For example, where a sine wave is being generated, the most significant bit of the data input will have a significant content of the frequency that is being outputted and this content will couple through the capacitance to the analog signal output, corrupting the analog waveform. This is possibly true even for very small signal levels, where the average of the signal is zero and it toggles between positive and negative output.


A new and distinct cultivar of Lantana plant named ‘Weslamo’, characterized by its compact, upright and mounding plant habit; vigorous growth habit; durable, dark green-colored leaves; freely flowering habit; and flowers that are held above the foliage in compact inflorescences and are initially yellow becoming orange and eventually dark pink in color.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Lantana, botanically known as Lantana camara, and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Weslamo'.
The new Lantana is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Südlohn, Germany. The objective of the breeding program is to create new freely branching Lantana cultivars with attractive flower coloration.
The new Lantana originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in 2000 in Südlohn, Germany of a proprietary selection of Lantana camara identified as code number 00PL3, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Lantana camara identified as code number 00PL6, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Lantana was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Südlohn, Germany in 2001.
Asexual reproduction of the new Lantana by vegetative cuttings in a controlled environment in Südlohn, Germany since 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Lantana are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.

Gartenbau und Spezialkulturen Westhoff GbR


A system, method and carrier medium for modeling a Financial Service Organization (FSO) business in a computer software program and for storing the model of the FSO business in a database. An object-oriented business model representing the FSO may be created and stored in a business model database. The one or more business objects included in the business model may be configured to describe various products, methods, functions and properties associated with an FSO. A process map business object may describe a process workflow. The process workflow may identify a sequence of tasks to be performed by an FSO production system to process an FSO transaction. The sequence of tasks associated with an FSO transaction may be consistent with pre-defined business logic for the transaction. Selecting a task object from a plurality of task objects and transferring the task object to a process map display representing the process map business object may create the process workflow. Additional task objects may be transferred and connected to the transferred task objects in a manner consistent with the business logic. An FSO production system, which may be configured to process FSO transactions, may access the database to request data associated with a particular FSO transaction. On receiving the requested data from the business model database, the FSO production system may complete the processing of the FSO transaction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to computer software programs to be used in Financial Service Organizations. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system for modeling a Financial Service Organization (FSO) production system for processing FSO transactions.
2. Description of the Related Art
FSOs such as banks, credit unions, insurance companies, mutual fund companies, credit card companies, brokerage houses, etc., market many types of financial products to their customers, such as savings accounts, brokerage accounts, commercial loans, mortgage loans, auto loans, personal loans, and credit cards. To acquire a credit product, for example, a customer of a FSO is typically required to submit an application for the credit product. The FSO then follows an application processing procedure for the credit product to determine whether the application is approved or rejected.
The application procedure includes such steps as gathering financial related information of the customer applying for the credit product, requesting credit reports on the customer, and examining and scoring the credit product application to see if the customer's credit a product application is to be approved or rejected. This application procedure is typically referred to as account acquisition.
Another function of a FSO is the management of existing FSO credit products. Part of this function is tracking the status of a customer's credit products such as loans and credit cards to determine if the customer's payments on a credit product or products are delinquent. If the customer is delinquent in payments to a credit product for more than a certain period of time, typically 30 days, the customer may be submitted to a collections process in an attempt to resolve the customer's delinquency status. The collections process may involve many steps, such as an FSO representative calling the customer, sending delinquency notices to the customer, contacting an attorney or collections agency for funds collection, or repossession of property used to secure the credit product. The process of attempting to resolve delinquent customer accounts may be called account collections.
Account acquisition and account collections computer software programs are used in FSOs to implement account acquisition and account collection. These software programs are typically executed on mainframe-based computer systems. Collectively, these software programs executing on mainframe-based computer systems may be referred to as customer credit systems. Being mainframe-based, customer credit systems are centralized, typically with a mainframe computer including the software and databases located at a central computing center, and user workstations for accessing the software and databases distributed among local and remote offices. These workstations are typically computer terminals, or in some cases microcomputers running terminal emulation software. Mainframe-based customer credit systems are not easily scalable. If the demands on a mainframe-based customer credit system outgrow the processing, storage, or workstation support capacity of the mainframe computer, the only recourse may be to replace the existing mainframe with a new, more powerful mainframe. As mainframe systems cost from the hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, upgrading can be very expensive. Further, downtime associated with the rollover to a new system with a larger mainframe may be disruptive to the account acquisition and account collection operations of the FSO.
Data such as credit product applications may be entered into existing customer credit systems by file access. File access involves copying files into the mainframe computer's memory or disk storage for processing by the customer credit system software. The formats of files to be read into the customer credit system are hard-coded into the system. As used herein, "hard-coded" indicates behavior that is inserted directly into a program, where it cannot be easily modified without the intervention of a computer programmer to make code changes, re-compile, and test the changes. Thus, all files copied into the mainframe for processing by the system must be in a fixed, correct format. Data may also be entered at a workstation by filling in fields on a computer screen presented on the workstation by the customer credit system. An example of data entered at a workstation is a loan application. The format and contents of an application displayed on a workstation, including titles and labels on fields, are hard-coded in the customer credit system.
Some FSO customer credit systems for implementing account acquisition and collection are static in that each customer application for product or each customer with a delinquent account is processed the same regardless of whether the customer is a new customer or an existing customer or whether the customer has an extensive and good credit history. Static account acquisition processes follow a preprogrammed, linear, fixed series of steps for all customers applying for the loan. For example, a long-term customer of a bank may apply for a credit card. The bank's customer credit system follows a fixed series of steps for all customers applying for the credit card, the first step of which is to request a full credit report from an external agency. The bank may have to pay for the credit report. If the customer has a large savings account, maintains a significant balance in a checking account, has little outstanding debt with the bank, and has a spotless credit history with the bank, it may not be necessary to request a credit report from an external agency before approving the credit card. However, since all customers are processed the same, a credit report will be requested for the customer. The same is true for the collections process. All customers entered into an account collections process in a customer credit system follow a preprogrammed, linear, fixed series of steps attempting to resolve a delinquency status.
The fixed linear hierarchy of steps in existing customer credit systems often result in redundant data entry. For example, one or more steps in the process may be to get a customer's credit history. Notwithstanding the existence of this data in the FSO's customer database, one or more of the steps require access to an external source to retrieve the same information.
Processing steps are programmed into existing customer credit system's software during the system's development. Data such as values used in approving or declining a credit product applications, time limits in the collections process, and screen formats to be presented at workstations are hard-coded into the software during the system's development. This makes customer credit systems inflexible and difficult to modify, limiting the adaptability of the systems to changing business environments. The process to modify a customer credit system typically requires the following steps: officers of the FSO determining the changes to be made to the system; communicating the changes to the Information Technology department of the FSO; systems analysts in the Information Technology department creating software design and specification documents; a team of software engineers modifying and compiling source code based upon the design and specification documents; database analysts modifying databases to meet the new specifications; testing and verification of the modified system, and; operations personnel replacing the customer credit system production system. This modification process is time-consuming and expensive, and may take months or even years to complete. Some desired changes may be lost or modified in the process of transferring the desired changes from business officers to source code changes. Business requirements may change during the modification process, requiring either a delay in the modification process so that new requirements can be added, or starting a new modification process overlapping the modification process in progress.
Existing customer credit systems are mainframe-based and are therefore not easily scalable. It is therefore desirable to provide a customer credit system that is easily scalable to meet increased processing demands in an FSO. Modifying existing customer credit systems to meet changing business needs is a long process requiring many steps, including code changes by programmers that may have limited business knowledge in the customer credit marketplace. It is therefore desirable to provide a customer credit system that may be modified quickly and easily by business officers that understand the customer credit marketplace and know what changes need to be made to address changes in the marketplace. All customers are treated the same in an existing customer credit system, regardless of the customers' current or previous history with the FSO. It is therefore desirable to provide a customer-centric customer credit system that may be tailored to handle customer transactions dynamically, allowing different customer credit strategies to be applied to customers with distinctly different credit profiles.
Current customer credit system software is designed in one step on paper and later implemented in computer programming languages. This makes it difficult to visualize the credit product processing actually implemented in the customer credit system software. It is therefore desirable to provide an integrated, graphical design and implementation process to better visualize and understand the credit product processing implemented in the system. Current customer credit system software also does not provide a way to model the business structure of a FSO. It is therefore desirable to provide a modeling tool for describing the business structure of a FSO, and for describing the credit product processing relationships among the organizational units in the FSO. It is also desirable to provide a method for adapting a customer credit system to a variety of credit products, including developing custom documents such as product applications and correspondence and developing custom product processing strategies, without a lengthy design and coding process.
The following is hereby incorporated by reference: Method for performing operations on informational objects by visually applying the processes defined in utility objects in an IT (information technology) architecture visual model (U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,893), System and method for providing a high level language for mapping and accessing objects in data stores (U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,515), Goal based tutoring system with behavior to control flow of presentation (U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,692), and Decentralized distributed asynchronous object oriented system and method for electronic data management, storage, and communication (U.S. Pat. No. 5,550,976).

Flow designer for establishing and maintaining assignment and strategy process maps

Comp Sci Holdings, Limited Liability Company


An integrated wireless network comprising a wireless public network and a wireless local area network. The wireless public network comprises a plurality of base stations for communicating with mobile stations in the wireless public network. Each base station communicates with mobile stations up to several miles away. The wireless local area network comprises access points for communicating with selected mobile stations located in the wireless local area network. An access point comprises a first transceiver that communicates with selected mobile stations within a short distance of the access point, a second transceiver that communicates with a first base station of the wireless public network; and 3) interconnection circuitry for transferring data traffic between the first transceiver and the second transceiver, such that the access point enables the selected mobile stations to communicate with the first base station via the access point.

The radio frequency (RE) spectrum is a limited commodity. Only a small portion of the spectrum can be assigned to each communications industry. The assigned spectrum, therefore, must be used efficiently in order to allow as many frequency users as possible to have access to the spectrum. Multiple access modulation techniques are some of the most efficient techniques for utilizing the RE spectrum. Examples of such modulation techniques include time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), and code division multiple access (CDMA).
There is a wide variance in the performance of wireless networks. A conventional public wide area network (WAN), such as a CDMA cellular network, covers a large geographical area (on the order of 1 to 100 plus square miles), but has a relatively low bit-rate between each mobile station and each base station. These public wireless networks use regulated portions of the radio spectrum and are shared by many users. The infrastructure costs of public wireless networks are relatively high due to the size and complexity of the base station equipment.
Newer wireless networks, such-as CDMA2000-EV-DO/DV networks, offer higher bit-rates (on the order to 2.4 MBps) and enhanced data services, such as web browsing. However, these networks also pack many users into a relatively small portion of the regulated spectrum. Still other types of radio networks try to improve spectral efficiency and to increase bit-rates by using unregulated frequencies and smaller coverage areas. For example, an IEEE 802.xx (or WI-FI) network may transmit at speeds up to 11 MBps in Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum (DSSS) mode or at speeds up to 54 MBps in Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) mode.
However, an access point (or base station) in an IEEE 802.xx (e.g., IEEE 802.11) network may cover an area only a few hundred feet in diameter. Each access point is connected to the core network (e.g., Internet) by a point-to-point wireless connection. In order to cover the same geographical area as a base station of a public wireless network, a large number of IEEE 802.xx network access points and a large wireline back haul network are required. The resulting IEEE 802.xx based network may be more expensive to set up and operate (due to back haul cost) than the public wireless network. Thus, there are always tradeoffs between and among the coverage areas, the maximum bit-rates, and the costs of different types of wireless networks.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved wireless network architecture that overcomes the limitations of the above-described conventional wireless networks. In particular, there is a need for a wireless network that provides 802.xx (or equivalent) communication services to mobile stations over a relatively large geographical area, without incurring the costs of a large wireline backhaul network to couple all of the IEEE 802.xx (or equivalent) access points to a core network.

Integrated WI-FI and wireless public network and method of operation


A printing system that receives an imaging media cartridge includes a rail and a dock to install the imaging media cartridge. The imaging media cartridge includes a housing that has pivots along an alignment axis substantially parallel to the rail. The imaging media cartridge further includes a roller that slides along the rail, the roller being disposed on the housing. The imaging media cartridge also includes a bracket disposed on the housing. To insert the bracket into the dock, the housing rotates on the pivots. To further adjust the position of the imaging media cartridge in the xerographic system, the housing rotates along at least one axis substantially orthogonal to the alignment axis. The rail includes a support beam and a flange. The roller includes at least a pair of wheel housings, each wheel housing having a pair of tandem wheels that glide along the rail. The tandem wheels face each other and glide along the flange and between the support beam. The imaging media cartridge includes a pair of magazines that contains the pivots, with the pair of magazines being disposed in the pair of wheel housings. The bracket includes at least one wheel to glide into the dock.

This invention relates to alignment and attachment mechanisms for removably mounting an imaging media cartridge in a printer.
Production-level high-end printer, such as the iGen printing press may include a customer changeable unit (CCU) to supply and/or develop imaging media corresponding to a customized color. Such imaging media may include dry toner or liquid ink. The CCU may include, for example, an imaging media dispenser as well as a developer, particularly for a toner and integrated together in an imaging media cartridge.
The imaging media may correspond to a standard set of colors that include cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK) in the four standard imaging media stations may be augmented by a trademarked color heavily used by a printer client for high quality publications.
Such trademarked colors may be assigned a corresponding four-digit PANTONE® number and assigned to a fifth imaging media station. Upon completion of a print run for one printer client using a first CCU having imaging media in a first trademarked color, the first CCU may be removed and replaced by a second CCU having imaging media in a second trademarked color for another printer client. Alternatively, the CCU in the fifth imaging media station may be assigned to a heavily used color of the CMYK set.
The CCU may be integrally designed and constructed and weigh between ˜30 and ˜40 pounds-mass. The CCU may be installed into a right side Xerographic-tower (or X-tower) of the iGen printing press as a consequence of overlapping design constraints. Close tolerances may be imposed for installing the mounted CCU in order to avoid misalignment of its imaging media dispensing and/or developing equipment.

Methods and systems for mounting an imaging media cartridge to a printer


Disclosed is a method of detecting a bonding failure of a wire bonder, which comprises a bonding tool operative to form an electrical connection between a semiconductor die and a substrate using a bonding wire. The method comprises the steps of: forming a first wire bond on a first surface located on the semiconductor die using the bonding tool and the bonding wire; forming a second wire bond on a second surface located on the substrate using the bonding tool and the bonding wire such that a wire loop connects the first and second wire bonds, wherein the first surface is not electrically-conductive; moving the bonding tool in a direction away from the second wire bond to break the bonding wire from the second wire bond; detecting whether the second wire bond remains bonded to the substrate; and determining an occurrence of the bonding failure if the second wire bond is no longer bonded to the substrate.

Semiconductor device fabrication involves many processes including wire bonding processes, in which electrical connections are formed between a semiconductor die (e.g. an integrated circuit die) and a substrate (e.g. a lead frame) to which the semiconductor die is bonded. In conventional wire bonding processes, a free air ball is first formed at one end of a wire before bonding the free air ball to the semiconductor die via ball bonding. Another wire bond (e.g. a wedge bond) is then formed between the wire and the substrate (e.g. a lead frame) to form an electrical connection between the semiconductor die and the substrate. Thereafter, the wire is clamped before being pulled in a direction away from substrate to detach the wire at the location of the wedge bond.
A non-stick-on-lead ('NSOL') bonding failure occurs if the wire is not properly bonded to the substrate via the wedge bond. In the case of conductive semiconductor dies, NSOL bonding failure can be detected via an electrical circuit as shown in FIG. 1. After a wire 100 from a wire spool (not shown) is detached from an electrical connection between a semiconductor die 106 and a substrate 104 at a location of a wedge bond 102, a tail wire 105 will be formed together with an open electrical circuit between the tail wire 105 and the substrate 104. As the tail wire 105 is at a higher relative electrical potential than the substrate 104 (which is grounded), detection of the higher electrical potential of the tail wire 105 relative to the conductive semiconductor die 106 means that the wire 100 has been successfully detached from the wedge bond 102, and accordingly, that NSOL bonding failure has not occurred. However, if the wire 100 is not successfully detached from the wedge bond 102 due to bonding failure of the wedge bond 102, the electrical potential of the wire 100 would be at an electrical potential that is comparable to the electrical ground potential of the substrate 104, because the semiconductor die 106 (to which the wire 100 is connected) is conductive. Therefore, detection of the lower electrical potential of the tail wire 105 relative to the conductive semiconductor die 106 means that NSOL bonding failure had occurred during wire bonding.
However, the aforesaid method of detecting NSOL bonding failure is applicable only to conductive semiconductor dies and not to non-conductive semiconductor dies. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to seek to provide methods of detecting bonding failure that applies, particularly but not exclusively, to non-conductive semiconductor dies, and/or to provide the general public with a useful choice.

Method of detecting wire bonding failures


A hearing aid includes a microphone to convert audible sounds into sound-related electrical signals and a memory configured to store a plurality of hearing aid profiles. Each hearing aid profile has an associated audio label. The hearing aid further includes a processor coupled to the microphone and to the memory and configured to select one of the plurality of hearing aid profiles. The processor applies the one of the plurality of hearing aid profiles to the sound-related electrical signals to produce a shaped output signal to compensate for a hearing impairment of a user. The processor is configured to insert the associated audio label into the shaped output signal. The hearing aid also includes a speaker coupled to the processor and configured to convert the shaped output signal into an audible sound.

Hearing deficiencies can range from partial hearing impairment to complete hearing loss. Often, an individual's hearing ability varies across the range of audible sound frequencies, and many individuals have hearing impairment with respect to only select acoustic frequencies. For example, an individual's hearing loss may be greater at higher frequencies than at lower frequencies.
Hearing aids have been developed to compensate for hearing losses in individuals. In some instances, the individual's hearing loss can vary across acoustic frequencies. Conventionally, hearing aids range from ear pieces configured to amplify sounds to hearing devices offering a couple of adjustable parameters, such as volume or tone, often can be easily adjusted, and many hearing aids allow for the individual users to adjust these parameters.
However, hearing aids typically apply hearing aid profiles that utilize a variety of parameters and response characteristics, including signal amplitude and gain characteristics, attenuation, and other factors. Unfortunately, many of the parameters associated with signal processing algorithms used in such hearing aids are not adjustable and often the equations themselves cannot be changed without specialized equipment. Instead, a hearing health professional typically takes measurements using calibrated and specialized equipment to assess an individual's hearing capabilities in a variety of sound environments, and then adjusts the hearing aid based on the calibrated measurements. Subsequent adjustments to the hearing aid can require a second exam and further calibration by the hearing health professional, which can be costly and time intensive.
In some instances, the hearing health professional may create multiple hearing profiles for the user for use in different sound environments. Unfortunately, merely providing stored hearing profiles to the user often leaves the user with a subpar hearing experience. In higher end (higher cost) hearing aid models where logic within the hearing aid selects between the stored profiles, the hearing aid may have insufficient processing power to characterize the acoustic environment effectively in order to make an appropriate selection. Since robust processors consume significant battery power, such devices sacrifice processing power for increased battery life. Accordingly, hearing aid manufacturers often choose lower end and lower cost processors, which consume less power but which also have less processing power.
While it is possible that a stored hearing profile accurately reflects the user's acoustic environment, the user may have no indication that it should be applied. Thus, even if the user could select a better profile, the user may not know how to identify and select the better profile.
In the following description, the use of the same reference numerals in different drawings indicates similar or identical items.

Hearing aid and computing device for providing audio labels