A shaped charge is shown with enhanced creep resistance for use in a perforating gun having an elongated spiral strip open to the wellbore through which the charges are attached. The shaped charge is a hollow bodied capsule and hollow bodied cap, both threaded for easy attachment to one another. At least the capsule consists of an alloy of, by weight, between about 4 and 12 percent copper, 2 and 4 percent aluminum, and the balance zinc and impurities.

1. Field of the Invention
This application relates to strip perforating systems using a plurality of shaped charges in a wellbore to form perforations through which water, petroleum or minerals are produced, and in particular, the incorporation of shaped charges composed of an improved zinc alloy to improve creep resistance into the perforating system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
This invention is an improvement of the prior art of shaped explosive charges. The conventional zinc alloy that is used to manufacture standard oil field shaped charges is Alloy ZA-5. There have been few improvements on the material used to manufacture the casing of the shaped charges. This is largely due to the use of shaped charges that are encased in metal piping as it is lowered into the wellbore, thus protecting the charge from the harsh wellbore environment. However, due to the advantages of using capsule-exposed shaped charges, there is a need for an improved material for manufacturing the casing or capsule.
Other shaped charges employing various metal alloys are disclosed. For example, Aubry et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,825); Brauer et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,487); Mandigo (U.S. Pat. No. 4,958,569); Reese et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,791). In these inventions, the unique features disclosed are various compositions in specific parts of the shaped charge. In Aubry et al., the invention is an explosive charge incorporating a "coating" that acts as a projectile upon explosion of the charge. In Brauer et al., the invention is a metal liner which covers the open face of the explosive material and creates a perforation that does not leave behind a metal slug which can impede the flow of oil. In Mandigo, the invention is a metal liner as in Brauer et al., but using a wrought copper alloy. Finally, Reese et al. discloses an invention of a liner for a shaped charge made of a mixture of tungsten and powdered metal binder instead of copper as in previous disclosures. None of these prior art inventions use any unique mixture of metals or alloy compositions for the casing material. These prior art references are primarily directed toward the liners used in the shaped charges under consideration.
The conventional ZA-5 zinc alloy exhibits many properties that makes it a good choice for die casting charge cases. These properties include: (a) easily die-formed into shaped charge cases, (b) material vaporizes upon detonation of the charge, (c) high density material maintains the shaped charge performance, (d) acid soluble material, (e) inexpensive materials, (f) little machine work needed before loading charge, and (g) low cost process to manufacture the case. In any new material used to make shaped charges it would be desirable to maintain these properties.
There are, however, two important drawbacks to the conventional zinc alloy shaped charges: low yield strength, and low creep resistance. The low yield strength equates to lower performance shaped charges and low pressure resistance for capsule-exposed charges such as the charges in Shirley et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,638,901). Further, creep resistant qualities are important in perforating guns where the shaped charges are exposed to extreme pressures during placement in the wellbore. Thus, it is important to have a high creep resistance in the charge for maximum performance.
Further, the low creep resistance of the conventional materials causes poor performance of the shaped charges when used as exposed-capsule charges. When the case material creeps (moves) under stress, as when being lowered into the wellbore, the charge liner and explosive load relaxes and moves from its proper position. This creates and unpredictable and uncontrollable pattern of perforations within the formation surrounding the wellbore.
The only alternative inexpensive die material that currently works for exposed-shaped charges as in Shirley et al. is certain aluminum alloys. However, these have many disadvantages such as (a) requiring more expensive cold chamber process in its formation, (b) low density aluminum is inferior to high density zinc alloy, (c) a high temperature of vaporization which will not allow the casing of the shaped charge to disintegrate when the charge detonates, and (d) the aluminum alloys have a lower acid solubility.
The present invention is an improvement to zinc alloy shaped charges that solves the above mentioned problems with Zinc Alloy Z-5 and other aluminum alloys, while maintaining the beneficial properties of the Z-5 alloy. The new shaped charge utilizes a zinc alloy with additional copper and aluminum known as ACuZinc. This material is discussed in certain prior art references such as Rashid et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,990,310), and Hanna et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,728) for use in diverse environments, such as that of a brake system. The invention described in those patents is assigned to General Motors Corporation, and they own the trademarked name ACUZINC as well.
The ACuZinc alloy was designed primarily for use as a creep-resistant alloy in automobile brakes. The physical properties of the alloy were desirable for withstanding the high forces and temperatures that are generated in the gear mechanisms of anti-lock braking systems. A use in an explosive device where the alloy disintegrates was not disclosed nor envisioned.
The ACuZinc alloy has the advantage of being easy and inexpensive to manufacture. ACuZinc alloy can be formed by traditional die casting operation. Typically, molten metal is injected at high pressure into a fixed-volume cavity defining the shape of the product desired. The cavity typically has a water-cooling jacket to cool the casted product. The molten metal is injected into the cavity by a shot apparatus comprising a sleeve for receiving a charge of the molten metal and a plunger that advances within the sleeve to force the molten metal into the cavity.
Two types of casting apparatus exist. In a hot chamber apparatus, a shot sleeve is immersed in a bath of the molten metal. In a cold chamber apparatus, the molten charge is transferred into the shot apparatus from a remote holding furnace. Although shaped charges can be cast using both methods, the hot chamber method is preferred due to lower cost. Alloys that presently exist embodying the desired creep resistance must be made by the cold chamber method. The ACuZinc alloy has the advantage of being employable by both hot and cold chamber methods. Thus, using the ACuZinc alloy will lower the cost of shaped charges as well as increase the strength.
The proposed embodiment for the shaped charge would employ the ACuZinc alloy. The shaped charge is a typical Owen-capsule exposed charged like the Shogun NT charge as disclosed in Shirley et al. These capsules are unique from prior art (e.g., Aubry et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4922,825; Brauer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,487). Since the Owen-capsules are exposed to the wellbore environment when in use, they must be able to withstand extreme pressures and resistance while being lowered into the wellbore. The ACuZinc alloy is ideal for this application because of its high strength at high temperature, high creep resistance, acid solubility, ease of hot chamber die casting, low cost, and high density.


A window curtain pulling device comprises a guide module, a pulling string wheel module, a rotary member module, a fixed casing, and a connecting component. A guide rod having a positioning ring passes through the rotary member module and latches the rotary member by a positioning ring. A pushing member coupled to the guide rod is latched with a fixed casing by a passing rod, such that an end of a pulling string at another side of a pulling string wheel module of the guide module is pulled to open a curtain, and another end of the pulling string is pulled once again. The rotary member includes a corresponding guide groove on one side and matches with a conical body of the pushing member, and the conical body is pushed by a slant of guide grooves of the coupling member pivotally coupled to the rotary member to rotate outward.

The present common curtain devices are used for shading sunlight or serving as a decoration, and these devices usually adopt a pulling string to roll the curtain up or down. However, such curtain is applicable for the Venetian curtain or the curtains that can be opened or closed sideway (from a left side or a right side), but it is not applicable for the one-piece curtains. The aforementioned curtain still has the following unsolved problems:
(1) The pulling string of the prior art curtain is pulled to the right slanting direction and then to a vertical direction, so that the curtain cloth can be opened completely. If the pulling string is pulled towards the right inclined direction, the pulling string will be stuck, and the whole curtain cloth will be rolled up to the top, and such pulling movement cannot fully control the curtain cloth to be opened or rolled up to a desired height.
(2) The prior art curtain cannot meet the user's requirements or roll the curtain cloth up or down to fix the curtain cloth to a desired height, and thus affecting the overall applicability of the curtain.


An electric power tool has a tool housing and a drive motor configured to drive an insert tool. The drive motor is switched on and off by an electric switch actuated by a switching device. The switching device has at least one switching slide with a first end and a second end. The first end has a receiver configured to receive an operating element. The second end is connected to an actuating element configured to actuate the electric switch. The receiver has a first region that tapers into a second region. The operating element has a connecting web connected to a holding element. The holding element has an extent that is less than or equal to an assigned extent of the first region. The connecting web has an extent that is less than or equal to an assigned extent of the second region.

The disclosure relates to an electric power tool, having a tool housing, arranged in which there is a drive motor, which can be switched on and off by means of an electric switch, for driving an assigned insert tool, a switching device being provided to actuate the electric switch, which switching device has at least one switching slide that is arranged in a longitudinally displaceable manner on the tool housing and that, at a first axial end, is provided with at least one receiver for receiving an operating element, at least portionally, and at a second axial end opposite to the first axial end is connected to an actuating element for actuating the electric switch.
Such an electric power tool is known from the prior art, having a switching device for actuating an electric switch, in which the switching device has an operating element arranged on a switching slide. This operating element is fastened to the switching slide by means of a snap-action hook.
A disadvantage of this prior art is that the fastening of the operating element to the switching slide by means of the snap-action hook has only a limited stability. Under the action of an externally applied force that may act upon the operating element or the switching slide, e.g. if the electric power tool falls down, the operating element may separate from the switching slide, in which case, or as a result of which, the snap-action hook may become damaged or destroyed.

Electric power tool having a switching device


A method performed by a vehicle feature evaluation system (1) for enabling evaluation of a simulated vehicle-related feature. The vehicle feature evaluation system determines (1001) in relation to a road-driven vehicle (2), with support from a tracking system (5), an orientation of a head-mounted display (4), HMD, adapted to be worn by an occupant (3) on-board the road-driven vehicle. The vehicle feature evaluation system further determines (1002) a simulated vehicle design feature to be evaluated in the road-driven vehicle. Moreover, the vehicle feature evaluation system provides (1006) in real-time to a HMD display (41) of the HMD, taking into consideration the HMD orientation, a virtual representation (7) of the simulated vehicle design feature superimposed on a real-time surrounding-showing video stream (6) derived from real-world image data (211) captured with support from one or more vehicle-attached cameras (21) adapted to capture surroundings external of the road-driven vehicle.

In the automotive field, when evaluating new vehicle functions, interaction designs, interaction models and/or new product designs, it is known to provide a virtually modelled evaluation environment. Static or dynamic evaluation rigs are commonly utilized, where the static rig for instance may be represented by a non-movable rig that may display the environment and traffic on large scale screens in front of a vehicle mock-up, and where the dynamic rig for instance may be represented by a similar rig with the difference that the dynamic rig may move in order to simulate acceleration forces and/or movement. A drawback for both static and dynamic rigs is that the test subject may feel motion sickness. Yet another drawback is that the environment as well as the traffic in fact is simulated. The latter results in that the interaction therewith may become somewhat artificial, and it may be difficult to validate that the result actually corresponds to an experience in a real vehicle, in real traffic. Furthermore, for evaluation of a complete vehicle—such as e.g. dimensions and/or designs thereof—it is commonly known in the art to build a physical mock-up. With this approach, however, it is not possible to drive and evaluate in an authentic and/or real environment. Accordingly, there is room for improvement and/or for alternative solutions when it comes to evaluating a complete vehicle or at least a portion thereof with functions, interaction models and/or design(s) in order to verify and/or validate concepts.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Evaluation of a simulated vehicle-related feature


System and method for measuring an aerial image are provided. The system may include a lighting unit for providing illuminating light to pass through a mask to form initial light. An imaging unit is configured for imaging the initial light to form imaging light. A beam splitting unit is for splitting the imaging light into projection light and reference light. A projection light is projected to a substrate to form a mask image in the substrate, and the substrate reflects the projection light to form first reflected light onto the beam splitting unit. A reflecting unit is for receiving the reference light to form second reflected light, and for projecting the second reflected light onto the beam splitting unit, the second reflected light and the first reflected light interfering with each other to form interference light. A measuring unit is for measuring an aerial image formed from the interference light.

With the development semiconductor technology, critical dimensions (CDs) of semiconductor devices become smaller and smaller, the integration degree of IC chips have become more sophisticated, and more stringent requirements are made for the semiconductor manufacturing processes. It is therefore desirable to reduce errors often occurred in every step during the semiconductor processes and to reduce device failure.
Photolithography process plays an important role in the semiconductor manufacturing processes. In a standard CMOS process, dozens of photolithography processes are needed. The photolithography processes, however, may be affected by resolution of photolithographic machine and alignment accuracy. Errors are often occurred in the photolithography processes.
In a photolithography process, scanning electron microscope (SEM) may be used to measure patterns formed in the substrate, by an etching process using a photoresist layer or other film layer as an etch mask. In an SEM measurement, an electron gun emits electron beams. The electron beams are then focused on surface of the pattern. High-energy electron beam thus interacts with the material of the pattern. A secondary electron collection generated on the pattern may be amplified and then sent to the gate of a picture tube to form various image features for observation.
However, it is not efficient when using an SME imaging measurement method for measuring a mask pattern.

SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING INTERNATIONAL (SHANGHAI) CORPORATION


A centralized account reputation system differentiates between illegitimate users and legitimate users using reputation scores associated with the users' online accounts. The system restricts the access of illegitimate users to certain network services while minimizing its negative effects on legitimate users. The system can manage the life cycle of an online account, considering data about the account that is obtained throughout the account network to compute the online account reputation score and allocating access to network services based on the online account reputation score. For example, a reputation score may be embedded in a security token that can be accessed by multiple services on the account network, so that each service can determine the appropriate level of access to be granted to the associated user account based on the reputation score. Various types of online account behavior over time can improve or diminish the online account's reputation.

Spamming refers to abuse of electronic messaging systems to indiscriminately send unsolicited messages, typically in large volumes. Spamming primarily occurs via email, although other spamming channels may include instant messaging, text messaging, photosharing services, newsgroups/electronic bulletin boards, blogging services, web search engines, junk fax transmissions, etc. Spamming is illegal in some jurisdictions and is considered undesirable by most commercial enterprises and users. However, spamming continues to comprise the majority of electronic message traffic, particularly email traffic.
Commercial enterprises running electronic messaging systems typically wish to discourage the use of their systems to originate or receive spam, in part because spam can consume large amounts of system resources and because the enterprises do not wish to assist spammers in such undesirable and unpopular behavior. In addition, the enterprise generally wishes to protect its legitimate users from spammers. Accordingly, enterprises typically promulgate rules against such system abuse. However, because many commercial electronic messaging systems are free consumer services, they still attract those illegitimate, rule-breaking users who abuse the systems for economic gain, in addition to legitimate, rule abiding users.
The commercial enterprises running electronic messaging systems also may implement security measures to combat spammers, such as identifying illegitimate users and shutting down their online accounts, collecting complaints about spam from recipients to identify illegitimate users, and providing spam filtering services. Nevertheless, spammers continue to attack and may eventually overcome these security measures.


The invention relates to oral care compositions such as toothpaste, gels, tooth powders, mouthwashes, mouth rinses, gums, mouth sprays and lozenges comprising diglycerol. The diglycerol is used as a humectant in the compositions. The compositions may further comprise water, flavoring agents, active compounds, emulsifier, alcohol, sweeteners, thickening agents, surfactants, suspending agents, astringent and toning drug extracts, flavor correctants, abrasives or polishes, deodorizing agents, preservatives, flavoring buffers, whitening agents, wound-healing and inflammation inhibiting substances, colorants, dyes, pigments, abrasives, polishes, antimicrobial agents, pH buffers and other additives and fillers.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to oral care compositions comprising diglycerols which unexpectedly have an enhanced and/or prolonged smooth lasting effect such as long lasting flavor and cooling characteristics in the mouth. The diglycerol provides humectant and emollient properties to the compositions.
2. The Prior Art
Oral malodor, plaque, gingivitis, periodontal disease, and discoloration of the teeth, are all undesirable conditions that affect many people. Malodor of the oral cavity is also known as halitosis or bad breath and it is generally believed that the cause of this condition is due to the presence of anaerobic bacteria, especially gram-negative anaerobic bacteria, in the mouth. These bacteria will generate volatile sulfur compounds (VSC), which are known to cause breath malodor.
Three chemical compounds cause some breath malodor, specifically, hydrogen sulfide (Hxe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94H), methyl mercaptan (CH3xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94H) and dimethyl sulfide (CH3xe2x80x94Sxe2x80x94CH3). These compounds result from the degradation of epithelial cells and bacteria in the oral cavity. The polypeptide chains of the epithelial cell walls are composed of a series of amino acids including cysteine and methionine, which contain sulfur side chains. The death of microorganisms or epithelial cells results in degradation of the polypeptide chains into their amino acid components, especially cysteine and methionine. Cysteine and methionine are precursors to the formation of VSC.
Oral malodor not only comes from the posterior dorsal surface of the tongue but also from periodontal pockets. A person with gingivitis or periodontal disease may have increased oral malodor from disintegrated epithelial cells. Epithelial cells turn over faster if inflammation is present. Therefore, a larger number of these dead epithelial cells remain in the oral cavity and will degrade into the malodorous compounds. In addition VSC will also alter the epithelial barrier, permitting penetration of the barrier by antigenic substances.
Oral care compositions, such as toothpaste, gels, mouthwashes, mouth rinses, gums, mouth sprays and lozenges, are directed, completely or in part, towards alleviating the conditions in the mouth which cause malodor, generally by physical means, such as brushing teeth with a dentifrice or by chemical means. The effectiveness of oral care compositions is generally perceived as a function of both 1) the ability of the active components of the oral care composition in attacking the conditions which bring about oral malodor, plaque, gingivitis, periodontal disease, and discoloration of the teeth and 2) prolonged smooth lasting effect and long lasting flavor and cooling characteristics in the mouth perceived by the user. Dentifrice manufacturers are constantly seeking ways to prolong the smooth lasting effect and flavor and cooling characteristics of oral care compositions.
Humectants and emollients absorb and promote the retention of moisture from the air. Traditional humectants in oral care compositions are glycerol, sorbitol or glycols. One of the more common humectants used in oral care compositions is glycerol. Glycerol will absorb moisture in the mouth, which serves to diminish the overall smooth lasting effect perceived by the user.
Flavor and cooling effects result primarily from the incorporation of flavoring and cooling agents in the oral care compositions. The objective in increasing the flavoring and cooling effect of an oral care composition is to increase the time that the flavoring and/or cooling agents remain effective after the oral care composition is applied by the consumer. Expensive and cost prohibitive methods of encapsulation are generally the only known means of achieving this objective. A formulation which efficiently enhances the flavoring and cooling effects of oral care compositions without costly means such as encapsulation has long eluded the dentifrice and oral care industry.
Diglycerol has, to the inventor""s knowledge, not been used in oral care compositions as a humectant or emollient, or otherwise. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,943 describes anti-caries compositions comprising phosphoric acid esters of alkoylated polyols, including diglycerol, as an active component with low molecular weight polyethylene glycols, glycerol and sorbitol as humectants in the composition.
An object of the invention was to develop oral care compositions, such as toothpaste, gels, mouthwashes, mouth rinses, gums, mouth sprays and lozenges, which have an enhanced and/or prolonged smooth lasting effect.
A further object of the invention was to develop oral care compositions that have long lasting flavor and cooling characteristics in the mouth.
Yet another object of the invention was to develop oral care compositions having enhanced prolonged smooth lasting effect and long lasting flavor and cooling characteristics in the mouth without the need for special processing or techniques, such as encapsulation.
These and other objects of the invention are achieved by the incorporation of diglycerol as a humectant and/or emollient in oral care compositions. The diglycerol may be used with other humectants and emollients in the compositions and can replace some or all of the traditional and conventional humectant components of oral care compositions. The oral care compositions comprising diglycerol have enhanced prolonged smooth lasting effect and/or long lasting flavor and cooling effect due in part to the characteristics of the diglycerol molecule and its interaction with flavoring agents, which may incorporate cooling agents, after application of the composition.
In the present Specification, all parts and percentages are on a weight/weight basis unless otherwise specified.
The invention pertains to oral care compositions comprising diglycerol which unexpectedly have an enhanced and/or prolonged smooth lasting effect such as long lasting flavor and cooling characteristics in the mouth. The diglycerol is a humectant and/or emollient in the composition and can be used with other humectants and emollients. The compositions can further comprise other ingredients, additives and fillers.

Oral care compositions comprising diglycerol


An integral multistage safety valve is designed to provide a second level of protection should a first stage fail. The valve may be used in oil and/or gas wells. The interior portion of the multiphase safety valve is designed so as to reduce turbulence and pressure loss through the valve when the valve is in an open position. The valves may be independently operable, or operable with a single control line. The multi-stage valve reduces the number of body joints required to construct two identical valves thereby reducing cost and potential leak paths and increasing reliability of the system.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is for multiple safety valves for location within an oil or gas well that can be activated to open or close and thus prevent, or permit upward flow of fluids within the well for example in case of an emergency.
2. Description of Related Art
Downhole safety valves are known that include a housing, a flapper valve and a remotely controlled actuator for closing the normally open valve in case of an emergency. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 7,392,849. Also serially arranged valves in a downhole tool are also known. Examples of such are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,394,187; 7,673,689; 4,846,281; 4,605,070; and 6,152,229. These valves are complicated in design and are not compact as is critical in the art. Furthermore the internal flow passage for the fluids are not of a single diameter and many contain obstruction shoulders or changes in diameter that result in turbulent flow or pressure drops.
Threaded joints are in common use in hydrocarbon producing wells. During design qualification of subsurface safety valves, a body joint must be designed qualified and verified which is an expensive process, because of the consequences of a leak in a valve of this type. Typical solutions would be to provide valves with two body joints and a pup joint between which adds two additional body joints. The present invention reduces the number of body joints in an integral valve to four or five and utilizes the same body joint.


A wireless terminal device (TA) receives a downlink signal that is repeatedly transmitted from a pre registered home repeater when requesting communication, specifies an idle channel based on idle channel information that is included in the downlink signal, and using the frequency of the uplink signal of the idle channel requests communication permission from the relay device that provides the idle channel. When communication permission cannot be received from the relay device from which communication permission was previously requested, the wireless terminal device (TA) uses the same frequency as the frequency of the downlink signal from the home repeater to transmit a signal to the wireless terminal device (TB) of an intended other party requesting communication.

In recent years, as the use of wireless terminal devices has dramatically increased, the amount of communication that is relayed by relay devices such as repeaters is also steadily increasing. Consequently, when a wireless terminal device performs communication with another wireless terminal device, a distributed trunking method wireless communication system that selects at least one of a plurality of relay devices that are connected together via specified communication lines has become widely used. Furthermore, wireless terminal devices are also known that have both a talk-around function for direct communication between wireless terminal devices without via a repeater, and a trunking function.
A wireless terminal device that has a trunking function and talk-around function can be switched by user control from the trunking method, in which a repeater relays communication, to the talk-around method, in which direct communication is performed between wireless terminal devices, when leaving the coverage area of a repeater, or in other words, when out of range. In order to omit this kind of user operation, a function is proposed in which when transmission to a repeater by a wireless communication device using the trunking method fails, the communication method is automatically switched to the talk-around function. For example, in Patent Literature 1, the wireless communication device comprises an external connector and microcomputer, and inputs and stores a trunk system communication instruction signal that gives an instruction to perform communication using the trunked system (trunking method) that is provided via the external connector, a TA communication instruction signal that gives an instruction to perform communication using the TA (talk-around) function, and a frequency instruction signal that gives an instruction for the transmitting frequency. The wireless communication device is constructed such that when an instruction is given to perform trunked system communication, the wireless communication device performs transmission processing via a repeater at a transmitting frequency based on the frequency instruction signal, and when a state in which there is no signal from the repeater within a predetermined period continues several times, the wireless communication device sets the receiving frequency to the transmitting frequency of the intended communicating party, sets the transmitting frequency to the receiving frequency of the intended communicating party and performs communication using the talk-around function.    Patent Literature 1: Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI publication No. 2007-60071.
In the technology disclosed in Patent Literature 1, after transmission to a repeater, when a state in which there is no signal back from the repeater within a specified period of time continues several times, communication is performed using the talk-around method, and when a signal is received back from the repeater, communication is performed using the trunking method. However, when communication is performed between a wireless terminal device having a relatively high level of transmission power (for example a mobile type of device) and a wireless terminal device having low transmission power (for example, a battery-operated portable type of device), as both terminals separate from the repeater and are located in the vicinity of the boundary between being in the coverage area and being out of range, deterioration of the communication quality may occur. In the vicinity of the boundary, the wireless terminal device having large transmission power is able to transmit an uplink signal to the repeater as well as receive a downlink signal from the repeater; however, even though the wireless terminal device having low transmission power may be able to receive a downlink signal from the repeater, an uplink signal may not reach the repeater. Particularly, in the so-called fringe area, which is the vicinity of the boundary between being in the service area and being out of range where the radio wave environment is unstable, deterioration of the communication quality remarkably occurs. Therefore, by switching between the trunking method and the talk-around method by just whether or not a downlink signal is detected from the repeater as in the technology of Patent Literature 1, this problem cannot be solved. Furthermore, when switching between the trunking method and talk-around method in the technology of Patent Literature 1, both the receiving frequency and the transmitting frequency must be changed, so that the time required for switching becomes long, and when communication becomes disrupted, deterioration of communication quality occurs.
The object of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned problems by providing a wireless terminal device, a wireless communication method, and a wireless communication system and program that maintain good communication quality even in communication by a pair of wireless terminal devices having a difference in level of transmission power or in areas where the radio signal environment is unstable.
Moreover, another object of the present invention is to provide a wireless terminal device, a wireless communication method, and a wireless communication system and program that do not require that both the receiving frequency and transmitting frequency be changed when switching between the trunking method and talk-around method.
In order to accomplish aforementioned objectives, the wireless terminal device of a first aspect of the present invention is a wireless terminal device that performs wireless communication with the wireless terminal device of another party via relay by a relay device or directly, comprising: communication permission request means (21, S101 to S104) for receiving a downlink signal that is transmitted from a pre registered specified relay device (home repeater) when requesting communication, specifying an idle channel based on idle channel information that is included in the downlink signal, and requesting communication permission from a relay device that provides the idle channel using the uplink frequency of the specified idle channel; and communication means (CPU 21, S118 to S131) that uses the same frequency as the frequency of the downlink signal from the specified relay device for transmitting a signal to the wireless communication terminal device of another party requesting communication when it is not possible to receive the communication permission from the relay device from which the communication permission was previously requested.
The communication means, for example, can further comprise a response receiving means (FIG. 2; receiving circuit 20, S121) for receiving a response from the wireless terminal device of another party. In this case, for example, the communication means comprises:
determining means (CPU 21, S122) for determining whether or not the response comes directly from the wireless communication terminal device of the other party and not via a relay device;
specification means (CPU 21, S130) for specifying a frequency that can be used when it is determined that the response is a direct response; and
direct communication exchange means (CPU 21, S130) for setting the communication frequency to the specified usable frequency, and exchanging communication with the wireless communication terminal device of the other party.
The communication permission request means, for example, can include means for selecting an idle channel and resending the communication request (S107 to S109, S207 to S208, 203) based on idle channel information that is included in the downlink signal from the specified relay device when communication permission could not be received.
The communication means, for example, comprises means (S120) for matching the receiving frequency and transmitting frequency with the downlink frequency of the specified relay device and transmitting a signal to the wireless terminal device of the other party when communication permission could not be acquired and a downlink signal could not be received after transmitting a communication request (step S106: YES, step S107: NO).
The wireless terminal device can further comprise
means (S218, 219) for waiting a set amount of time after communication permission has been received and the communication means transmits a signal when a downlink signal can be received from the specified relay device but no response is received from the terminal of the other party, and for executing a disconnection process when no response can be received even after waiting a set amount of time.
The wireless terminal device can further comprise means (20, 26) for determining the communication state and outputting information that indicates the communication state.
It is also possible to construct a wireless communication system comprising: a wireless terminal device as described above and a plurality of relay devices.
In order to accomplish the aforementioned objectives, a wireless communication method of a second aspect of the invention is a wireless communication method, comprising steps of:
transmitting a downlink signal from a relay device, the downlink signal including idle channel information;
a wireless terminal device receiving the downlink signal that was transmitted from the specified relay device (home repeater) when requesting communication, specifying an idle channel based on the idle channel information that is included in the downlink signal, and using the uplink frequency of the specified idle channel to request communication permission from the relay device that provides the idle channel,
transmitting a permission signal to the relay device that provides the idle channel when allowing communication; and
the wireless terminal device using the same frequency as the frequency of the downlink signal from the specified relay device to transmit a signal to the wireless communication terminal device of the other party when the communication permission could not be received from the relay device from which the communication permission was previously requested.
In order to accomplish the aforementioned objective, a computer program of a third aspect of the present invention is a computer program that causes a computer comprising a communication function to function as
communication permission request means (21, S101 to S104) for receiving a downlink signal that is transmitted repeatedly from the pre registered specified relay device (home repeater), specifying an idle channel based on idle channel information that is included in the downlink signal, and requesting communication permission to a relay device that provides the idle channel using the uplink frequency of the specified idle channel to request communication permission; and
communication request means (CPU 21, S118 to S131) that uses the same frequency as the frequency of the downlink signal from the specified relay device for transmitting a signal to the wireless communication terminal device of another party requesting communication when it is not possible to receive communication permission from the relay device from which the communication permission was previously requested.
Moreover, this program can be recorded on a recording medium and distributed or circulated.

Wireless terminal device, wireless communication method, and wireless communication system and program


A liquid dispensing container assembly includes a container having a container interior configured to contain a supply of liquid to be dispensed. A rotatable, liquid dispensing head is carried by the container and has a dispensing surface and a dispensing port. An opening in the liquid dispensing head may communicate with the dispensing port. The liquid dispensing head includes one or more rollers disposed in one or more respective sockets. A dispensing adaptor may be disposed in the liquid dispensing head. The liquid dispensing head may be rotatable between a dispensing position wherein the opening in the liquid dispensing head aligns or registers with an opening in the dispensing adaptor to facilitate flow of the liquid from the container onto the dispensing surface of the liquid dispensing head and a closed position wherein the opening misaligns or misregisters with the opening in the dispensing adaptor.

A variety of packages including roll-ons and dispensing packages or containers have been developed for personal care products such as shampoo, lotions and other fluid materials. Typically, these dispensers discharge the liquid substance from the container through a roller, which carries the liquid substance and applies the liquid substance on the user's skin. The substance, however, continues to flow from the container around the roller after the desired quantity of the substance has been dispensed, thus oversupplying the substance.
Another disadvantage of many conventional applicator dispensers is that the liquid content directly contacts the roller as it is dispensed from the container. There is therefore a potential risk that contaminants outside the container will contaminate the substance as it is dispensed.
Some conventional dispensers may include a valve through which the substance is dispensed. However, spreading of the substance on the skin of the user must be carried out by hand.
Accordingly, there is an established need for a solution to at least one of the aforementioned problems, and/or for further improvements to liquid substance dispensers of the type that are designed to dispense and apply a liquid substance onto a user's skin.


A method and apparatus for providing relocatable code storage in a multifunction controller or other integrated circuit which includes an embedded microprocessor and an internal memory. The relocatable code is initially stored in an external memory which is shared by the embedded microprocessor and other system processing elements such as a host CPU. During a system initialization, power-on reset or other predetermined event, a memory multiplexing circuit connects the address inputs of the internal memory to a read/write address bus, and connects the output of a jump data storage circuit to a code data output bus. The jump data storage circuit uses code addresses received from the embedded microprocessor to generate a jump instruction code which is supplied to the embedded microprocessor via the code data output bus. The embedded microprocessor is thereby forced to jump to a designated location in external memory which may include a transfer instruction directing the embedded microprocessor to transfer relocatable code from the external memory to the internal memory. The memory multiplexing circuit then configures the internal memory into an execution mode, in which the address inputs of the internal memory are connected to a code address bus and the data outputs of the internal memory are connected to the code data output bus. This ensures that the embedded microprocessor will have access to valid internal code after a system initialization or other predetermined event.

Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) often include components such as an embedded microprocessor and an internal random access memory (RAM). Multifunction controllers are one type of ASIC commonly used to provide functions such as input/output control and power management in computers and other electronic systems. A typical multifunction controller may utilize an embedded microprocessor and internal RAM to direct the operation of several independent input/output device controllers such as a floppy disk controller, one or more serial port controllers, a parallel port controller, and a keyboard/mouse interface controller. The embedded microprocessor provides power management functions for the system in which the multifunction controller is installed by monitoring the activity of the keyboard, mouse and other system elements using well-known interrupt processing techniques. The embedded microprocessor can shut down a main system power supply if no activity is detected for a predetermined time period, thereby placing the system in a standby or "sleep" mode of operation. A standby power supply is typically provided to supply power to the embedded microprocessor and other standby logic circuitry so that the system can be directed to exit sleep mode in response to a wake-up event such as a keyboard entry or mouse click.
The above-described multifunction controller generally requires some amount of internal code storage so that shutting down the main system supply does not completely prevent the embedded microprocessor from executing code. This internal code storage may be implemented in the form of read-only memory (ROM), which generally provides more code storage capacity for a given amount of chip area than other available memory types. However, a ROM-based code storage implementation usually requires that the code be programmed into memory at the time of chip fabrication, and it is relatively difficult to update or otherwise modify the code at a later date. An internal code storage technique which avoids these modification difficulties involves storing the code in the internal RAM of the multifunction controller. The stored code can then be updated or otherwise modified at any time. In such an implementation, chip area limitations often dictate that the minimum required amount of RAM be included within the multifunction controller, while the balance of the code storage is provided by an external memory device. The external memory device could be any type of memory device, including a non-volatile memory device such as a flash EPROM.
The external memory device may be shared by the embedded microprocessor and other system elements such as a host central processing unit (CPU). The code stored in the external memory device may therefore be unavailable to the embedded microprocessor when the host CPU is accessing the external memory device. In order to continue operating when the externally-stored code is unavailable, the embedded microprocessor must be able to execute code stored in the internal RAM. It is thus very important to ensure that the embedded microprocessor has adequate access to both internal and external code storage memory. Failure to provide adequate access can result in an undesirable interruption of the input/output control, power management and other functions of the embedded microprocessor. The problem of inadequate access to internal and external code storage may be particularly acute during certain phases of operation such as system initialization. For example, the external memory may include BIOS code or other code required by the host CPU soon after an initialization, and the internal code storage required by the embedded microprocessor may be dependent upon an initial loading of code from the external memory device. If the initial loading is prevented due to an inability to access the external memory device, the embedded microprocessor may be left with no internal code to execute. As noted previously, this can present a serious problem in the event of a main power supply shutdown. Unfortunately, prior art code storage techniques fail to provide adequate assurance that the host CPU or another system element will not prevent the embedded microprocessor from accessing the external memory device at or soon after a system initialization, as well as during other phases of system operation.
As is apparent from the above, there is a need for improved code storage techniques suitable for use in multifunction controllers as well as other microprocessor-based integrated circuits.

Relocatable code storage in an integrated circuit with an embedded microprocessor


A method of calibrating throttle controls in an electronic shift and throttle system includes opening the throttle and then moving the throttle back towards a hard stop in increments. The voltage level of an electrical signal sent by a throttle position sensor is measured and recorded at each increment. An idle position is established as being where the lowest voltage level was measured when the throttle is at least 0.75° away from the hard stop.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic shift and throttle systems and, in particular, to calibrating throttle actuators.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles such as marine vessels are often provided with electronic shift and throttle systems. These systems typically allow an operator to control the shift and throttle functions of a propulsion unit using a control lever which is pivotally mounted on a control head. The control lever is moveable between a forward wide open throttle (forward WOT) position and a reverse wide open throttle (reverse WOT) position, through a neutral position. A controller reads the position of the control lever as the control lever moves through its operational range. The controller sends shift commands and throttle commands which drive a shift actuator and a throttle actuator based on the position of the control lever.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,330,782 issued on Feb. 12, 2008 to Graham et al. and the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an electronic shift and throttle system in which a position sensor is used to sense the position of a control lever. The position sensor is electrically connected to an electronic control unit (ECU) and sends an electrical signal to the ECU. The ECU is able to determine the position of the control lever based on the voltage level of the electrical signal received from the position sensor. The ECU then determines the positions to which the output shafts of the shift actuator and the throttle actuator should be set.
Each of the output shafts is also coupled to a corresponding position sensor. Electrical signals sent by these position sensors may be used to determine the positions of the output shafts. This feedback may be used to govern the ECU. This is beneficial because variances and play between components used to link throttle actuators to throttles make it desirable to calibrate throttle controls.

Automatic throttle calibration in a marine vessel


A method of estimating a variation of a quantity of soot accumulated in a diesel particulate filter coupled to an internal combustion engine is provided. The method includes a passive-regeneration check for checking whether a passive regeneration of the diesel particulate filter is occurring and, if this check yields that a passive regeneration is actually occurring, the method includes determining an initial quantity of soot that was accumulated in the diesel particulate filter when the passive regeneration began and determining a rough variation of the quantity of soot accumulated in the diesel particulate filter. An engine speed and an engine load are determined and, using the engine speed, the engine load, and the initial quantity of soot, a correction is determined. The variation of the quantity of soot accumulated in the diesel particulate filter is calculated as a function of the rough variation and the correction.

It is known that an internal combustion engine generally comprises an engine block having at least a cylinder that accommodates a reciprocating piston coupled to rotate a crankshaft. A cylinder head closes the cylinder and cooperates with the piston to define a combustion chamber. An air and fuel mixture is inducted into the combustion chamber and ignited to produce hot expanding exhaust gasses that cause the movements of the piston.
The exhaust gasses exit the combustion chamber and are directed into an exhaust system, which includes an exhaust pipe coupled to the internal combustion engine and one or more exhaust aftertreatment devices configured to change the composition of the exhaust gasses flowing in the exhaust pipe. These aftertreatment devices generally include at least an oxidation catalyst (DOC) provided for oxidizing hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide and water, and a particulate filter (DPF), which is located downstream of the oxidation catalyst for trapping particulate matter or soot from the exhaust gasses.
More particularly, the particulate filter comprises a porous substrate structure that collects liquid and solid particles, while allowing the exhaust gasses to flow through. As a consequence, during the normal operation of the internal combustion engine, the quantity of soot accumulated inside the particulate filter progressively increases.
The quantity of soot accumulated inside the particulate filter, which is also conventionally referred as soot loading level, is constantly monitored by an electronic control unit (ECU).
More particularly, the ECU is generally configured to repeatedly measure a variation of the pressure drop across the diesel particulate filter, to apply the variation of the pressure drop to a mathematical model of the diesel particulate filter that yields an estimated variation of the soot loading level, and then to increase the soot loading level with the estimated variation.
As the soot loading level exceeds a predetermined threshold, which represents the nominal storage capacity of the diesel particulate filter, the ECU operates the internal combustion engine so as to promote an "active" regeneration of the diesel particulate filter, during which the accumulated soot is burned off and the original efficiency of the diesel particulate filter is restored.
More particularly, the ECU generally operates the internal combustion engine so as to increase the amount of hydrocarbons (HC, unburned diesel fuel) contained in the exhaust gasses. This increased amount of hydrocarbons is oxidized inside the diesel oxidation catalyst, thereby raising the temperature of the exhaust gasses flowing through the diesel particulate filter. In this way, the diesel particulate filter is heated up to a temperature (about 600-800° C.) which promotes a continuous oxidization of the accumulated soot.
However, the active regeneration is not the only regeneration process which the diesel particulate filter is subjected to. In fact, during the normal operation of the internal combustion engine, the diesel particulate filter may be subjected to a "passive" regeneration, also referred as CRT (Continuously Regenerating Trap), which causes part of the accumulated soot to be burned off.
A passive regeneration is a phenomenon that generally happens if the temperature of the exhaust gasses passing through the diesel particulate filter is comprised between 250° C. and 450° C., and the content of nitrogen oxides (NOx) at the inlet of the diesel particulate filter is large enough to promote the oxidation of the accumulated soot.
During a passive regeneration, the quantity of soot that actually oxidizes is generally smaller than the quantity of soot that, at the same time, is carried by the exhaust gasses and is trapped inside the diesel particulate filter, so that the net quantity of soot accumulated inside the diesel particulate filter is still increasing. Despite the increase of the accumulated soot quantity, the pressure drop across the diesel particulate filter during the passive regeneration generally decreases. The cause of this reduction of the pressure drop is that the passive regeneration oxidizes the soot which is trapped deeply in the porosity of the porous substrate structure of the diesel particulate filter, whereas the soot carried by the exhaust gasses is accumulated on the external surfaces.
The mathematical model used by the ECU to estimate the soot loading level in the diesel particulate filter generally correlates any reduction of the pressure drop to a correspondent reduction of the soot loading level. As a consequence, during a passive regeneration, this mathematical model may lead to a strong underestimation of the soot loading level inside the diesel particulate filter.
In order to solve this side effect, the ECU generally checks whether the diesel particulate filter is operating under the conditions for which a passive regeneration occurs, namely whether the temperature of the exhaust gasses is comprised in a predetermined range of values (typically 250-450° C.) and the nitrogen oxides content at the inlet of the diesel particulate filter exceeds an upper threshold. If these conditions are met, the ECU corrects the soot variation provided by the mathematical model with an additive correction.
At present, the additive correction is determined by means of three calibration maps, each of which is empirically determined for a different level of the environmental pressure and is designed to correlate the additive correction to the engine speed and the engine load. In use, the ECU measures the environmental pressure, the engine speed and the engine load, then uses the environmental pressure to select the proper calibration map, and the engine speed and the engine load to read in the selected calibration map the corresponding additive correction.
A drawback of this known strategy is that the estimation of the soot variation inside the diesel particulate filter during a passive regeneration phenomenon is still not sufficiently reliable, because of the too few parameters that are taken into account for determining the additive correction.
At least one object herein is that of solving the above mentioned drawback, in order to improve the estimation of the soot variation and consequently of the soot loading level in the diesel particulate filter.
At least another object is to attain this goal with a simple, rational and rather inexpensive solution. In addition, other objects, desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent summary and detailed description, and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.

Method of estimating a variation of a quantity of soot accumulated in a diesel particulate filter


A route generating system in which a work vehicle setting unit sets a vehicle information on a tractor. An altitude information obtaining unit of the route generating system obtains an altitude information on a field where an autonomous travel route is to be generated, and a traveling direction setting unit thereof sets a traveling direction of the tractor in the field. A region setting unit of the route generating system sets, in the field, a plurality of regions including a work region where autonomous work paths in parallel with the traveling direction are generated and headlands where connection paths each connecting corresponding ones of the autonomous work paths are generated. The region setting unit sets the widths of the headlands (headland widths) based on the vehicle information, the altitude information, and the traveling direction, the widths of the headlands extending in parallel with the traveling direction.

Heretofore, there has been known a route generating system for generating a route along which a work vehicle performs autonomous travel. Patent Document 1 (hereinafter, referred to as PTL 1) discloses this type of route generating system (travel route generating device). According to the travel route generating device of PTL 1, work-field shape measuring means measures a three-dimensional shape of a field. Based on the information on the measured three-dimensional shape of the field, data of a planned travel route for causing a work vehicle to travel in the field is generated.
The travel route generating device of PTL 1 determines an inclination of, e.g., the entire field based on the information on the measured three-dimensional shape of the field. Thus, the travel route generating device of PTL 1 can set the planned travel route for the work vehicle in consideration of the fact that a work width, in which a work machine performs work, is narrower on the surface of the inclined work field than a width in a plan view. PTL 1 states that this configuration can reliably prevent a disadvantageous situation as below. That is, in a case where a work route is set on the field simply based on the work width of the work machine viewed in a plan view as in a conventional way, a work width in which work is actually performed is smaller than a width in which the work is ought to be performed on the work region. This may result in an unworked region formed in the boundary between adjacent routes.

Route generation system, and autonomous travel system causing work vehicle to travel along route generated thereby


A processor calculates, from image data, a plurality of first coefficients corresponding to different frequencies using a Fourier transform and stores first frequency domain data, from which first coefficients whose magnitude is below a threshold have been excluded, in a memory. The processor also calculates, from kernel data, second coefficients of frequencies corresponding to the first coefficients indicated by the first frequency domain data using a Fourier transform and stores second frequency domain data in the memory. The processor uses the first frequency domain data, the second frequency domain data, and an inverse Fourier transform to generate a feature map indicating a result of applying the kernel data to the image data.

During image processing, such as image recognition, image classification, and image searches, a process called "convolution" may be performed to extract features of the target image. Convolution is a sum-of-products operation in which a kernel corresponding to a feature to be extracted is superimposed and applied to the target image while being moved in parallel across the target image. Through convolution, a feature map is generated from the target image and the kernel being used. One element in the feature map is calculated by superimposing the kernel on a partial region that is centered on one element in the target image and summing the products of the corresponding elements in the partial region and the kernel.
However, in place of the fundamental computation method described above, convolution may also be performed via an alternative computation method that uses a Fourier transform. In this alternative computation method, the target image and the kernel are both converted into frequency domain data by way of a Fourier transform, and corresponding elements in the frequency domain data of the target image and the frequency domain data of the kernel are then multiplied. After this, the multiplication results are converted into spatial domain data by an inverse Fourier transform. According to the convolution theorem, the spatial domain data outputted by this alternative computation method will match the feature map outputted by the fundamental computation method. The alternative computation method may be executed at higher speed than the fundamental computation method.
An image searching apparatus that, searches for a desired image from compressed image data has been proposed. The proposed image searching apparatus separates a direct current (or "DC") component of each block from image data that was compressed using a discrete cosine transform (or "DCT"). Based on the separated DC component, the image searching apparatus extracts blocks that satisfy an inputted search condition and restores a bitmap image from the extracted blocks using an inverse discrete cosine transform (or "IDCT"). When the restored bitmap image satisfies the search condition, the image searching apparatus outputs the image as the search result.
A component shape recognizing method that recognizes the shapes of components from compressed image data has also beer, proposed. The proposed component shape recognizing method extracts partial images in which an edge or corner of a component appears, performs a discrete cosine transform on the extracted partial images, and generates compressed data from which coefficients of high frequency components have been excluded. The compressed data is inputted into a neural network, which has been trained in advance through supervised learning, and edge or corner shapes are recognized.
See, for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 09-44519 and Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 10-187978.
During convolution using the Fourier transform described above, in the process that generates a feature map from the target image and a kernel, frequency domain data corresponding to the target image and frequency domain data corresponding to the kernel are generated and a multiplication result of both data is generated. This means that there is the problem of an increase in the amount of data stored during the convolution operation, and for a neural network with multiple layers, an increase in memory consumption.

Data compression apparatus and data compression method


A method for detecting fraudulent payment activity comprises designating one or more objects as typically being in a proximity of a payment mechanism when the payment mechanism is used in a payment transaction, verifying, when attempting to use the payment mechanism for a given payment transaction, whether the designated one or more objects are in the proximity of the payment mechanism, wherein the verifying is based on an electronic communication from at least one of the payment mechanism and the designated one or more objects, establishing whether a threshold number of the designated one or more objects are in the proximity of the payment mechanism, permitting processing of the given payment transaction if the threshold number of the designated one or more objects are in the proximity of the payment mechanism, and preventing processing of the given payment transaction if less than the threshold number of the designated one or more objects are in the proximity of the payment mechanism.

Some known credit or bank account payment fraud prevention methodologies depend on the location of the use of a payment card, such as a credit or debit card. For example, if a person is traveling and did not inform his or her bank prior to the travel, a fraud prevention department of the bank may block the usage of the payment card when they detect use of the payment card in a location that is not a understood as being a regular location of the account holder. This can greatly inconvenience a traveler. Such a situation may be even more aggravating if use of the payment card is blocked in a foreign country where the account holder may not speak the native tongue and/or has difficulty communicating. This known method of fraud prevention can be overly conservative and inconvenient and/or embarrassing for account holders attempting to use their cards. In addition, the known method may prevent the legitimate use of a payment card in a dire or emergency situation.
On the other hand, this method of fraud prevention may not work when account holders' payment cards are stolen or compromised while the account holders are in their normal home domain. In this case even if the card is used fraudulently, the fraudulent use may not trigger any reaction from the issuing bank since the card is being used in the account holders' home country or area and/or in at a location where the account holder is typically present.

Detection of fraudulent use of cards and mobile device-based payments

International Business Machines Corporation


The kil-kor system from the plasmid pIJ101 can be utilized for regulated gene expression in Streptomycetes. For this, the KorA protein is either inactivated or eliminated to "switch on" a particular gene.

Although the Streptomycetes are among the most important producers of antibiotics, there is still relatively little known in relation to genetics. Thus, there is still little known about the mechanisms which control gene expression in Streptomycetes.
Although induced expression by thiostrepton is known, this is unsuitable for practical use on an industrial scale because of the high price and the low solubility in water.

Regulated gene expression in streptomycetes


An arrangement is provided for testing DUTs with a chuck that has a support surface for supporting of a DUT as well as for supplying the support surface with a defined potential, or for connecting the DUT. The arrangement further includes a positioning device for positioning the chuck as well as an electromagnetic shielding housing enclosing at least the chuck. Inside the housing and adjacent to the chuck, a signal preamplifier is arranged whose signal port facing the chuck is electrically connected with the support surface, wherein the signal preamplifier is moveable together with the chuck by the positioning device in a way that it holds its position constant relative to the chuck during positioning. The signal preamplifier is connected to a measurement unit outside of the housing via a measurement cable.

For the development and manufacturing of semiconductor substrates, it is necessary to carry out various tests and assessments during the different stages of production specifically for semiconductor substrates that are part of a wafer. As is known, the probe stations which basically comprise a chuck with a support surface which supports the devices under test (DUT) on the semiconductor substrates to be measured, are used for those tests. The chuck is mostly movable in x- and y-directions. Further, the probe station has a probe support with sensors, also called probes, to electrically contact the devices under test (DUT). For producing the electrical contacts, a relative movement in z-direction between the probes and the devices under test is necessary besides the movability in the x-y plane, which is consistently defined as the plane in which the support surface of the chuck is located. The required movements in z-direction are mostly realizable in connection with a positioning device of the probe support.
Because small leakage currents within the mentioned measurement range already lead to a distortion of measurement results, a probe station has a shielding system through which the electromagnetic interference can be minimised. With conventional probe stations, the EMI shielding system is made of a housing of electrically conductive materials in which at least the chuck or other devices for supporting the semiconductor substrates, including their positioning device as well as devices for incorporating and positioning of the probes are arranged, and therefore are shielded from electromagnetic and optical interferences. The external interfaces of the shielding are the cables of the measurement instruments that comprise the devices to control and analyse measurements.
Often in addition to the housing, a triaxial formation of the measurement instruments is realized. At the same time, two shields which consist of electrically conductive material are arranged opposite, i.e. adjacent to the support surface of the chuck. The outer components, e.g. the wall of the housing, serves for EMI-shielding and the element in the middle, e.g. the inside encasing or shield, serves as a so called guard. The guard is kept at the same potential as the DUT, so that even a very low, measurement results distorting, leakage current is avoided between those two elements (See DE 19638816 A1).
The chuck also has such a triaxial formation. In this case, the support surface of the chuck on which the substrate lies and which is at least electrically conductive in some sections, is kept at a force-potential. The guard which is separated from the support surface by an insulating layer extends underneath the support surface. The shield—also electrically insulated from the guard—is underneath the guard. The support surface, the guard and the shield can be realized in form of differently conductive layering with insulating layers lying in-between, whereas the shield is connected to ground, mostly to the housing or is carried out floating, and the guard is kept at a potential that is at least nearly consistent with the force-potential but decoupled from it. In this way, the wafer is efficiently shielded from interfering sources that are in the proximate surrounding of the wafer such as the drives of the positioning device of the chuck.
Also, components of the signal transmission can be included in the shielding system. The signal preprocessing devices which prepare the measurement signals from the probes for the transmission are arranged within the housing in separate chambers which again are electrically shielded from the devices under test through their walls (See DE 102007053862 A1).
For measuring the devices under test, a defined arrangement of probes, mostly consistent with the density and the size of the contact pads to be contacted of the device under test as well as consistent with probes adjusted to the measurement signal, is placed on several contact pads at the same time and through the probes electrically connected to measurement devices for measuring the properties of the device under test. By means of the probes, the device under test can be supplied with a signal, or a signal can be picked up from a device under test.
As devices under test, various semiconductor substrates are suitable which are often still on the wafer. With such on-wafer-measurements, the rear side of the wafer that rests on the chuck is often connected as well to receive the signals from rear sided electrical contacts, or to feed them into those, or the rear side of the wafer is energized by a defined potential during the measurement. That takes place via the support surface of the chuck by electrically connecting the entire surface or certain contact areas with the measurement device.

Probe station for on-wafer-measurement under EMI-shielding


The present invention relates to a composition for treating inflammatory brain diseases, which includes stem cell-derived exosomes as an active ingredient. The stem cell-derived exosomes according to the present invention can be usefully applied to the treatment of inflammatory brain diseases, because the exosomes have outstanding therapeutic effects, including inhibiting cell death due to inflammation in nerve cells, increasing the survival rate in an inflammatory-brain-disease animal model, and substantially reducing brain damage and inflammatory cytokine levels due to inflammatory reactions such as edema.

Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that have the capacity to differentiate into two or more cell types with self-renewal capacity. Based on differentiation potency, stem cells can be classified into totipotent stem cells, pluripotent stem cells, and multipotent stem cells. Based on biological origin, in addition, stem cells can be classified into embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. Embryonic stem cells are derived from preimplantation embryos, developing fetal reproductive organs, and the like, whereas adult stem cells are derived from an individual organ, e.g., bone marrow, brain, liver, pancreas, or the like, of adults.
Totipotent stem cells are cells that have the ability to differentiate into any cell in an organism. Totipotency is maintained until the 8-cell stage after fertilization, occurring when a sperm fuses with an egg. Totipotent stem cells can be isolated and then transplanted into the uterus to develop into an intact individual.
Pluripotent stem cells are cells that have the capacity to differentiate into any types of cells and tissues which constitute ectoderm, mesoderm, or endoderm. Stem cells originate from an inner cell mass, located on the inside of a blastocyst that appears 4 to 5 days after fertilization, and the cells are called embryonic stem cells, which have the capacity to differentiate into multiple types of tissue cells, but have no capacity to develop into a new individual.
Multipotent stem cells are stem cells that have the capacity to differentiate only into specialized cell types in a specific tissue and organ where the stem cells are found. Stem cells play a part in functions that maintain adult tissue homeostasis and induce regeneration in the event of tissue damage, as well as growth and development of respective tissue or organs during fetal, neonatal and adult periods. Particularly, adult stem cells are the general term for such tissue-specific multipotent cells. Adult stem cells are derived from existing cells, which are isolated from various organs of the human body and then developed into stem cells. Interestingly, although adult stem cells have general features to differentiate into specialized cell types of the tissue, recent studies have received attention by showing that adult stem cells can differentiate into various tissue cells, such as liver cells.
Stem cells retain characteristics, such as self-renewing, differentiation, immortality, etc. In particular, adult stem cells, which can be obtained from multiple tissues, are widely used in research, because the cells are generally harvested from unlimited sources and avoid the ethical issues with which researchers may be faced when using embryonic stem cells.
Recently, preclinical and clinical research to apply stem cells to various diseases, such as cerebral infarctions, traumatic brain injuries, and musculoskeletal diseases, is underway. However, technologies pertaining to stem cell therapies currently have limitations, only focusing on isolating and culturing/proliferating stem cells, and injection thereof. In addition, recent clinical research results showed that such stem cell therapies do not exhibit distinct effects yet. Accordingly, research using various gene-modified stem cells to increase therapeutic effects is underway. However, application of cell therapy, in which genes are modified, to the human body is limited due to ethical problems.
In addition, there are several problems in applying therapeutic methods using stem cells to clinical trials. For example, tumor masses may be formed after engraftment of stem cells to organs, and cerebral infarction may occur due to an artery occlusion likely induced by the large size of stem cell itself. The stem cells easily move into the brain when the brain-blood vessel barrier is open as in an acute stage. However, in a chronic stage, movement of the stem cells is limited due to large sizes thereof.
Meanwhile, an exosome is a small vesicle with a membrane structure secreted from a variety of cell types. Exosomes reportedly have a diameter of about 30-100 nm. It was observed that exosomes were derived from specific intracellular parts called multivesicular bodies (MVBs) and released and secreted to the outside of cells, instead of being directly detached and released from plasma membranes, by means of an electron microscope. That is, when fusion between multivesicular bodies and plasma membranes occurs, vesicles are released to the outside of cells. These vesicles are called exosomes. Although a molecular mechanism for a formation process of such exosomes is not clearly determined, it is known that a variety of immunocytes including B lymphocytes, T lymphocytes, dendritic cells, platelets, macrophages, etc., tumor cells, and stem cells, as well as red blood cells, produce and secret exosomes during their lifespan. In particular, it is known that, since stem cell-derived exosomes contain nuclear components as well as receptors and proteins, the exosomes play roles in intercellular communication. In addition, since stem cell-derived exosomes contain a relatively small amount of animal serum, compared to stem cells, the risk of symptoms (zoonosis) due to infection caused by animal serum can also be eliminated. Considering such characteristics of exosomes, it is anticipated that cytotherapy using exosomes can be a new paradigm to overcome the limitations of existing stem cell therapies.
Meanwhile, inflammatory brain diseases refer to inflammatory diseases that occur in the brain by specific causes, and the diseases include encephalitis, encephalomeningitis, and meningoencephalitis, etc. Encephalitis is a general term for inflammatory diseases of the cerebral parenchyma and is different from the inflammation (e.g., encephalomeningitis) that occurs in cerebral meninges surrounding the brain. Meningoencephalitis is a medical condition wherein both encephalomeningitis and encephalitis exist simultaneously. Based on cause, encephalitis can be generally classified into infectious, vasculitis, neoplastic, chemical, idiopathic, etc., and further classified depending on the specific causes of disease according to each detailed item. Additionally, encephalitis can be also classified into acute, subacute, and chronic encephalitis depending on the elapsed time of disease. Up to now, antibiotic treatment is used as the method to treat the inflammatory brain diseases. However, although the causative agents of diseases may be eliminated by antibiotic treatment, side effects, including serious brain damage, hydrocephalus, hearing loss, epilepsy, etc., can occur due to use of antibiotics. Thus, development of new therapeutics is required. However, until now, treatments using stem cell-derived exosomes for inflammatory brain diseases have not been systemically studied.
The present inventors have been continuing research on development of a new therapeutic agent for treating inflammatory brain diseases. As a result, the present inventors demonstrated that stem cell-derived exosomes inhibit cell death due to inflammation in nerve cells, and showed that the exosomes have outstanding therapeutic effects in an inflammatory-brain-disease animal model, thus completing the present invention.

Method for treating an inflammatory brain disease comprising administering a stem cell-derived exosome


Method and apparatus for providing customized telecommunication services through a peripheral node which includes a node interface for connection through incoming and outgoing telephone trunks to a carrier switch of a public switched network, an audio response unit for recording, playing, and analyzing audio signals, and a node controller for controlling operation of the node interface and the audio response unit.

The present invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications, and more specifically, to the field of automated peripheral systems providing telecommunication services.
The field of telecommunication services is very large. One area of telecommunication services assists calling parties in transferring information from the calling parties to destination parties, thus assisting parties in "giving" information. This first area of telecommunication services includes, without limitation, such services as voice mail, voice messaging, operator-assisted call-bridging, registration/reservation services, and catalog ordering services.
A second area of telecommunication services assists callers in retrieving information from remote sources, thus assisting parties in "receiving" information. This second area of telecommunication services includes, without limitation, such services as directory assistance, news services, stock market services, and credit validation services.
In the past, automated telecommunication systems have typically offered only one, or a selected few, of the above-mentioned services. There is, therefore, a need in the industry for an automated telecommunication system capable of providing a large variety of services.

Automated telecommunication peripheral system


A system and associated method for forming a window opening in a poured concrete wall and installing a window therein includes a two-piece reusable window buck having a retainer temporarily coupled thereto. The retainer becomes partially embedded in the poured concrete wall and after the window buck is removed from the window opening formed in the wall, the window is easily and conveniently installed in the window opening and secured therein by the window retainer and cooperating spring clip on the window frame without the need for additional mechanical fasteners or tools.

This invention relates to poured concrete walls, and more particularly, to a pouring window buck system and associated method for installing a window in a poured concrete wall.
In pouring walls of concrete such as residential basement walls, window openings are commonly formed in the concrete wall as it is being poured. In the past, it has been common to construct wood frames for window openings as a part of the wood wall forms for the concrete walls. After the poured concrete had set, the wood forms, including the wood window frames, were removed and at least the wood window frames had to be discarded. The cost of the wood window frames which are not reusable, and the labor required in building the frames were distinct disadvantages of this type of construction.
Another general method which has been used is a metal buck frame or surround which is positioned between the wall forms and cast in place in the concrete wall. When the wall forms are removed, the buck frame or surround is in place to form the periphery of the window opening. Unfortunately, these types of systems have been found to be subject to deformation during the pouring of the concrete. Additionally, cast in place buck frames or surrounds significantly increase the cost of a window installation because they are not reusable.
To avoid these disadvantages, various methods and systems have been proposed. For example, a reusable metal pouring window buck, which is positioned between the spaced wall forms, is one alternative. The bucks may be made in two parts or a single piece and when the concrete which has been poured around the buck has set, the buck is removed from the window opening formed in the resulting concrete wall. Typically, a window frame is detachably secured within the buck such that the window frame is cast in and remains in the window opening when the concrete sets and the buck is removed. Unfortunately, due to the heavy forces delivered by the concrete being poured around the buck, this method has proven, in many instances, to be unreliable to protect the window contained within the buck. In many instances, the window is damaged or broken during the pouring of the concrete requiring additional time, effort and expense in repairing or replacing the window cast in place in the poured concrete wall. Furthermore, vinyl window frames, while providing many advantages acknowledged in the industry are highly susceptible to being damaged during the pouring of the concrete wall in such systems. Therefore, many contractors avoid the use of vinyl window frames in poured concrete wall installations and pouring bucks of this type.
Another alternative to the removable pouring buck and window frame combination is a removable pouring buck which allows a window to be installed into the window opening in the concrete wall after the buck has been removed. In the past, One disadvantage to such systems is the need for additional and often complicated or cumbersome fasteners to secure the window frame into the window opening. Typically, the window frame must be screwed, nailed, anchored or otherwise secured into the window opening with an additional fastener thereby requiring additional installation work, materials, tools and labor. Moreover, in many such systems, the window cannot be easily removed for cleaning, repair and/or replacement once installed in the window opening.
An additional shortcoming of many known systems for installing windows in poured concrete walls is the inability to provide an accurate and stable positioning for the pouring buck, frame or the like between the spaced wall forms. This is very important because the position and orientation of the pouring buck is the resulting position and orientation of the window in the poured concrete wall. In the past, one method to maintain the position of the pouring buck between the wall forms has been to sandwich the buck between the spaced wall forms and rely upon the compressive force between the wall forms to hold the buck in position. However, the heavy forces of the concrete being poured around the buck has proven to be unsettling to the buck and this method is therefore unreliable for accurately and consistently maintaining the proper position and orientation of the buck between the wall forms.
Nails may be driven through wood wall forms and into wood portions of the pouring buck or wood window frames to position them relative to the wall forms. However, the nails must be pulled out prior to disassembling the wall forms which is time consuming and potentially damaging to the wall forms. Furthermore, this technique is only practical for use with wood wall forms and window frames.
Therefore, there exists a need for an improved system and method for forming a window opening in a poured concrete wall and installing the window in that opening. The system and method should be economical, efficient and robust to withstand the forces of the poured concrete while allowing for the accurate and reliable positioning of the window in the poured concrete wall. Furthermore, the system and method must be applicable for a wide variety of window styles and materials.

Window buck system for concrete walls and method of installing a window


A computer-implemented system and method of determining anterior commissure (AC) and posterior commissure (PC) points in a volumetric neuroradiological image. The method includes determining, by a computer, a mid-sagittal plane estimate to extract a mid-sagittal plane image from the volumetric neuroradiological image, and AC and PC point estimates in the mid-sagittal plane image. The method further includes determining, by the computer, a refined mid-sagittal plane estimate from the AC and PC point estimates to extract a refined mid-sagittal plane image, the AC point from the refined mid-sagittal plane image, and the PC point from the refined mid-sagittal plane image and the AC point.

The present invention relates to a system and method for locating the anterior and posterior commissures (AC and PC) in a three-dimensional image of a human brain. Identification of the AC and PC are critical for operations such as targeting stereotactic and functional neurosurgery, localization, analysis in brain mapping, structure segmentation and labeling neuroradiology. For example, the Talairach atlas and its associated transformations, which have been widely used as a standard by neuroscientists and neurosurgeons to perform spatial normalization, require identification of the mid-sagittal plane (MSP), AC and PC.
Manual identification of the AC and PC from a volumetric neuroradiological image is tedious and inherently results in a degree of variability across analysts, while identification of these structures by known computer image analysis methods is either too computationally time-consuming or produces unreliable results. For these reasons, there is a need for an automated method of AC and PC identification that is simultaneously accurate, robust, and efficient.

Anterior commissure and posterior commissure segmentation system and method


A neuromonitoring system utilizes transcutaneous, trans-abdominal nerve root stimulation to monitor the health and status of the motor neural pathways of the lower extremities during the portions of a surgical procedure in which a tissue retraction assembly is used to maintain an operative corridor. A method of monitoring the status of nerve during a spinal surgical procedure delivers a transcutaneous, trans-abdominal stimulation signal to the spine. A determination is made of a stimulation threshold required to elicit a neuromuscular response from the stimulation signal.

The spinal column is a highly complex system of bones and connective tissues that provide support for the body and protect the delicate spinal cord and nerves. The spinal column includes a series of vertebral bodies stacked one atop the other, each vertebral body including an inner or central portion of relatively weak cancellous bone and an outer portion of relatively strong cortical bone. Situated between each vertebral body is an intervertebral disc that cushions and dampens compressive forces exerted upon the spinal column. A vertebral canal containing the spinal cord is located behind the vertebral bodies.
There are many types of spinal column disorders including scoliosis (abnormal lateral curvature of the spine), excess kyphosis (abnormal forward curvature of the spine), excess lordosis (abnormal backward curvature of the spine), spondylothesis (forward displacement of one vertebra over another), and other disorders caused by abnormalities, disease or trauma, such as ruptured or slipped discs, degenerative disc disease, fractured vertebra and the like. Patients that suffer from such conditions usually experience extreme and debilitating pain, as well as diminished nerve function.
A noteworthy trend in the medical community is the move away from performing surgery via traditional "open" techniques in favor of minimally invasive or minimal access techniques. Open surgical techniques are generally undesirable in that they typically require large incisions and high amounts of tissue displacement to gain access to the surgical target site, which produces concomitantly high amounts of pain, lengthened hospitalization (increasing health care costs), and high morbidity in the patient population. Less-invasive surgical techniques (including so-called "minimal access" and "minimally invasive" techniques are gaining favor due to the fact that they involve accessing the surgical target site via incisions of substantially smaller size with greatly reduced tissue displacement requirements. This, in turn, reduces the pain, morbidity, and cost associated with such procedures. One such minimally invasive approach, a lateral trans-psoas approach to the spine, developed by NuVasive®, Inc., San Diego, Calif. (XLIF®) has demonstrated great success in reducing patient morbidity, shortening the duration of hospitalization, and speeding recovery time if it is employed.
To create the lateral access corridor to the lumbar spine, the patient is positioned on his or her side and a surgical access system is advanced through an incision, into the retroperitoneal space, and then through the psoas muscle until the target spinal site (for example, a disc space between a pair of adjacent vertebral bodies) is reached. The surgical access system may include a sequential dilation assembly of increasing diameter and a tissue retraction assembly. The sequential dilation assembly is advanced to the target site first and the retractor assembly is then advanced to the target site over the sequential dilation system. Stimulating electrodes may be provided on the distal tip of one or more of the different components of the surgical access system. Nerve monitoring may be performed while advancing one or more components of the dilation and retraction assemblies to the target site to detect the presence of, and thereby avoid, nerves lying in the trans-psoas path to the target site.
Once the retractor assembly has been docked at a target site however, a nerve may become compromised due to a variety of factors including, but not limited to, compression of the nerve due to inadvertent contact with the retractor blade and patient positioning on the surgical table. Stimulating within the surgical site provides information regarding the health and status of nearby nerves within the surgical site during maintenance of a lateral access corridor. However, the portion of a nerve that is compressed or otherwise affected might not lie within the surgical site such that information regarding the health and status of a greater portion of the motor neural pathway is desirable. Other methods of stimulating the motor neural pathway (e.g., transcranial electric motor evoked potential (MEP) monitoring) use high stimulus intensities and depolarize all nerves along the corticospinal pathway and result in muscle activity of many muscles of the head, upper extremities, torso, and lower extremities sometimes leading to large amounts of patient movement during the procedure. It is generally preferable to conduct nerve monitoring with the least amount of stimulation intensity (and patient movement) as possible necessary (and patient movement) resulting in often excessive patient movement due to contraction of many or all muscles of the head, upper extremities, abdomen, and lower extremities. Furthermore, information regarding each specific nerve root is also desirable because it provides specific information regarding the health and/or status of each nerve root comprising the lumbar plexus. Therefore, a need exists for methods of performing nerve monitoring on a greater portion of the motor neural pathway with the lower amounts of stimulation and greater specificity of the at-risk nerve roots.

Systems and methods for performing neurophysiologic monitoring during spine surgery