A signal router, configured to receive information carried by a first signal and transmit the information on a second signal, is described. The signal router, using routing information it gathers, selects the second signal from a number of signals, with the first and the second signals differing in at least one physical characteristic. The signal router operates in a network of a number of such signal routers, and so each one of the signal routers is coupled to at least one of the other signal routers. The routing information is used to create a circuit from a first one of the signal routers to a second one of the signal routers. Once the circuit is created, the information is routed over the circuit. According to one aspect of the present invention, the signals are optical signals.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of information networks, and more particularly relates to one or more routers capable of routing information over a network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today""s networks carry vast amounts of information. High bandwidth applications supported by these networks include streaming video, streaming audio, and large aggregations of voice traffic. In the future, these bandwidth demands are certain to increase. To meet such demands, an increasingly popular alternative is the use of lightwave communications carried over fiber-optic cables. The use of lightwave communications provides several benefits, including high bandwidth, ease of installation, and capacity for future growth.
The synchronous optical network (SONET) protocol is among those protocols employing an optical infrastructure. SONET is a physical transmission vehicle capable of transmission speeds in the gigabit range, and is defined by a set of electrical as well as optical standards. SONET""s ability to use currently-installed fiber-optic cabling, coupled with the fact that SONET significantly reduces complexity and equipment functionality requirements, gives local and interexchange carriers incentive to employ SONET. Also attractive is the immediate savings in operational cost that this reduction in complexity provides. SONET thus allows the realization of a new generation of high-bandwidth services in a more economical manner than previously existed.
SONET networks have traditionally been protected from failures by using topologies that dedicate something on the order of half the network""s available bandwidth for protection, such as a ring or mesh topology. Two approaches in common use today are diverse protection and self-healing rings (SHR), both of which offer relatively fast restoration times with relatively simple control logic but do not scale well for large data networks. This is mostly due to their inefficiency in capacity allocation. Their fast restoration time, however, makes most failures transparent to the end-user, which is important in applications such as telephony and other voice communications. The existing schemes rely on 1-plus-1 and 1-for-1 topologies that carry active traffic over two separate fibers (line switched) or signals (path switched), and use a protocol (Automatic Protection Switching or APS), or hardware (diverse protection) to detect, propagate, and restore failures.
A SONET network using an SHR topology provides very fast restoration of failed links by using redundant links between the nodes of each ring. Thus, each ring actually consists of two rings, a ring supporting information transfer in a xe2x80x9cclockwisexe2x80x9d direction and a ring supporting information transfer in a xe2x80x9ccounter-clockwisexe2x80x9d direction. The terms xe2x80x9ceastxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwestxe2x80x9d are also commonly used in this regard. Each direction employs it""s own set of fiber-optic cables, with traffic between nodes assigned a certain direction (either clockwise or counter clockwise). If a cable in one of these sub-rings is damaged, the SONET ring xe2x80x9chealsxe2x80x9d itself by changing the direction of information flow from the direction taken by the information transferred over the failed link to the sub-ring having information flow in the opposite direction.
The detection of such faults and the restoration of information flow thus occurs very quickly, on the order of 10 ms for detection and 50 ms for restoration for most ring implementations. The short restoration time is critical in supporting applications, such as current telephone networks, that are sensitive to quality of service (QoS) because it prevents old digital terminals and switches from generating red alarms and initiating Carrier Group Alarms (CGA). These alarms are undesirable because such alarms usually result in dropped calls, causing users down time aggravation. Restoration times that exceed 10 seconds can lead to timeouts at higher protocol layers, while those that exceed 1 minute lead to disastrous results for the entire network. However, the price of such quickly restored information flow is the high bandwidth requirements of such systems. By maintaining completely redundant sub-rings, an SHR topology requires 100% excess bandwidth.
An alternative to the ring topology is the mesh topology. The mesh topology is similar to the point-to-point topology used in internetworking. Each node in such a network is connected to one or more other nodes. Thus, each node is connected to the rest of the network by one or more links. In this manner, a path from a first node to a second node uses all or a portion of the capacity of the links between those two nodes.
Networks based on mesh-type restoration are inherently more capacity-efficient than ring-based designs, mainly because each network link can potentially provide protection for fiber cuts on several different links. By sharing the capacity between links, a SONET network using a mesh topology can provide redundancy for failure restoration at less than 100% of the bandwidth capacity originally required. Such networks are even more efficient when traffic transits several links. One study found that for an 11-node, 22-span network, only 51% redundant net capacity was required for 100% restorability, as reported in, xe2x80x9cThe design and simulation of an intelligent transport network with distributed control,xe2x80x9d by T. Chujo, H. Komine, K. Miyazaki, T. Ogura, and T. Soejima, presented at the Network Operations Management Symposium, San Diego, Feb. 11-14, 1990, which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety and for all purposes. The corresponding ring-based design required five rings and a total DS-3 redundancy of 330%. However, path restoration often consumes several minutes in such a topology. This is much slower than the restoration times exhibited by ring topologies and is so long that connections are often lost during the outage.
Various kinds of networking equipment can be used to support the ring and mesh topologies just described. Options include:
1. Back-to-back wavelength division multiplexers (WDMs) and optical cross-connects (OXCs) for use in mesh topologies.
2. Back-to-back optical add/drop multiplexers (O-ADM) for ring topologies.
3. Other combinations (e.g., WDM combined with OXC, digital cross-connect systems (DCSs), and other such equipment)
WDMs may be connected in back-to-back configurations to allow the connection of various wavelength routes to one another (also known as xe2x80x9cpatchingxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cnailing upxe2x80x9d connections). Provisioning paths in such architectures is done manually using a patch panel. Thus, provisioning is slow and prone to mistakes due to human error and equipment failure. In the event of a failure, restoration is performed manually in such architectures and is again slow and error-prone. Such architectures scale poorly because additional bandwidth is added by either adding to the number of wavelengths supported (requiring the replacement of equipment at nodes, and possibly the replacement of fiber-optic cables as well) or adding new fiber-optic cables and supporting node equipment. Such architectures are also inherently unmanageable, due to the lack of centralized control. And, while the initial capital investment tends to be relatively low (as a result of their simplicity), operating expenses for such architectures tend to be relatively high because of the costs associated with configuration, expansion, and management. Thus, a mesh topology employing back-to-back WDM""s will tend to be slow to deploy and difficult to manage due to the need for manually xe2x80x9cnailing upxe2x80x9d paths and lack of centralization.
Another architectural element that may be used to create a mesh topology is the optical cross-connect (OXC). OXCs allow provisioning using a centralized scheme to accomplish provisioning in a matter of minutes. Restoration in the event of a failure may be performed manually or may be effected using a centralized management system. However, restoration still requires on the order of minutes per wavelength route restored. As with the back-to-back WDM architecture, a mesh topology that employs OXCs scales poorly. This is due in part to the exponential increase in the physical size experienced when expanding the capacity of an OXC with the addition of input and output links. For example, an OXC that supports two links (fiber-optic cables), each having three paths, will need to provide a switching fabric that supports the six possible combinations of connections between the paths carried by the two fiber-optic cables. When this number is increased to four paths per fiber-optic cable, the number of possible connections increases to twenty-four. As still more paths are added to each link and more links are supported, the possible number of connections increases dramatically, increasing the physical size of the affected OXC.
An OXC can be either transparent (i.e., purely optical, in which the signals are never converted to electrical signals) or opaque (i.e., the optical signals are converted into electrical signals and then converted back into optical signals). Transparent optical cross-connects provide little in the way of manageability because the information carried by lightwave is never made accessible to the OXC""s operator. In contrast, opaque OXCs can be configured to permit access to the information being switched. However, neither type of OXC maintains information regarding the topology of the network and, in fact, OXCs possess no intrinsic network intelligence. Moreover, OXC technology is expensive, making initial investment quite high, as well as the cost of future expansion.
Alternatively, a SONET network may be configured in a ring (SHR) topology by using add/drop multiplexers (ADMs). An ADM is a SONET multiplexer that allows DS1 signals to be added into or dropped from an STS-N signal. ADMs have two bidirectional ports, commonly referred to as an east and a west port. Using ADMs, a SONET network in a SHR topology uses a collection of nodes equipped with ADMs in a physical closed loop such that each node is connected to two adjacent nodes with a duplex connection. Any loss of connection due to a single failure of a node or a connection between nodes is automatically restored. The traffic terminated at a failed node, however, is lost. Two types of SHRs are unidirectional (USHR) and bidirectional (BSHR), as defined by the traffic flow in normal conditions. Bidirectional rings have a capacity carrying advantage over unidirectional rings because of the ability to share protection capacity among the links between nodes, as opposed to unidirectional rings, which dedicate capacity all the way around the ring.
Provisioning in such architectures is centralized and can be performed in minutes. While restoration can also be performed quickly (on the order of 50 ms, as previously noted), 100% spare bandwidth is required. Thus, the user must install fiber-optic cabling for two networks, one for normal traffic and one to be used in the event of a failure. Moreover, the cabling for each link should be physically located as far from its corresponding link in order to minimize the possibility that a cause of physical damage will damage both links and cause both directions of a ring to fail. These issues detrimentally affect cost, manageability, and scalability. With regard to expansion, ADMs are stacked in an SHR in order to increase capacity. However, stacked ADMs are blocking. In other words, the switching function may not allow the transfer of data from a port on one stacked ring to a portion on another ring. Thus, an architecture employing ADMs is best suited for small offices or other situations that do not require the relatively large amounts of bandwidth (implying the need for stacked ADMs). As noted, stacked ADMs are also difficult to manage and expensive due to the extra hardware required for 100% spare capacity.
Other combinations can also be employed. For example, WDMs can be combined with OXCs (either transparent or opaque) in order to create a network having a mesh topology. Such an architecture supports the cross-connection of wavelength routes by either manual connection or under centralized control. However, such an architecture is also difficult to expand due to the need to add WDMs/fiber-optic cables and the increase in size of the OXC, and cannot restore failed links quickly enough to avoid dropping or interrupting telecommunications connections.
Another option is the use of a digital cross-connect system (DCS). A DCS is used to terminate digital signals and cross-connect them, integrating multiple functionalities such as signal adding and dropping, cross-connection capabilities, and multiplexing and demultiplexing of signals. DCS based networks enjoy an advantage over networks employing back-to-back WDMs because the use of DCS eliminates the need for additional back-to-back electrical multiplexing, thus reducing the need for labor-intensive jumpers. Operational cost savings are realized by a DCS through electronically controlling cross-connections, test access and loopbacks, and maintenance. Two types of DCSs are wideband DCSs and broadband DCSs. Wideband DCS (W-DCS) terminates full duplex OC-Ns and DS3s, has VT cross-connection capability, and provides DS1 interfaces. A broadband DCS (B-DCS) terminates full-duplex OC-N signals and provides, for example, STS-1 and DS3 interfaces. The B-DCS makes two-way cross-connection at the DS3, STS-1, and concatenated STS-Nc levels. STS-Nc may be used, for example, in broadband services such as high definition television (HDTV), where an STS-3c cross-connection may be used to cross-connect the signal as a single, high-capacity channel.
Various attempts have been made to use DCSs in a mesh configuration to create a fault-tolerant network, but none have been successful in reducing restoration times below a few seconds. Some of these configurations rely on a central database and a central controller (usually an Operations System or OS) to restore failures.
Although these schemes often exhibit restoration times exceeding 10 minutes, such restoration times are an improvement over manual restoration, which requires hours, or even days to effect restoration. However, these results are not enough to meet the 50-200 ms restoration time required by existing telecommunication network equipment. Other implementations employ distributed architectures in which control is shared among multiple network nodes. This results in faster restoration times (on the order of about 2-10 seconds), but still does not address the need for restoration times below 200 ms.
One embodiment of the present invention overcomes conventional limitations by including a network element that supports relatively simple provisioning and relatively fast restoration (on the order of, for example, 50 ms), while providing relatively efficient bandwidth usage (i.e., minimizing excess bandwidth requirements for restoration, on the order of less than 100% redundant capacity and preferably less than 50% redundant capacity). Such a network element is, in one embodiment, based on an architecture that can be easily scaled to accommodate increasing bandwidth requirements.
One embodiment allows a network of nodes, each capable of routing information from one carrier signal to another, to be configured to support the routing of information across the network using those signals to form a circuit. The carrier signals (e.g., optica signals) differ from one another in at least one physical characteristic (e.g., wavelength). The carrier signals, and so the circuit thus selected can be based on routing information obtained from a user, generated by one or more of the nodes, or assembled from other sources. A network element capable of performing such routing functions supports simple provisioning and fast restoration (for example, on the order of 50 ms), while providing efficient bandwidth usage, and can easily scale to accommodate increasing bandwidth requirements.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, a signal router is configured to receive information carried by a first signal and transmit the information on a second signal. The signal router, using routing information, selects the second signal from a number of signals, with the first and the second signals differing in at least one physical characteristic. The signal router operates in a network of a number of such signal routers, and so each one of the signal routers is coupled to at least one of the other signal routers. The routing information is used to create a circuit from a first one of the signal routers to a second one of the signal routers. Once the circuit is created, the information is routed over the circuit. According to one aspect of the present invention, the signals are optical signals.
According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a signal router is capable of routing information on different wavelengths. The signal router includes an optical receiver, configured to receive light of a first wavelength. The light of the first wavelength carries the information being routed. The signal router further includes an optical transmitter configured to transmit light of a second wavelength. The optical receiver and the optical transmitter are coupled to a switching matrix. The switching matrix is configured to perform several actions. These actions include selecting the optical transmitter from a number of such optical transmitters, based on routing information obtained by the signal router, and transferring the information from the optical receiver to the selected optical transmitter.
The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is not intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the present invention, as defined solely by the claims, will become apparent in the non-limiting detailed description set forth below.


A sheet moisturizing apparatus, including a vertical conveyance route in which a sheet is guided upward or downward and paired moisturizing units which are mounted symmetrically to sandwich the vertical conveyance route.

As is well known, image formation conducted by an electro-photographic process incorporates the process in which a toner image is formed via electrostatic charge, exposure and development, the formed toner image is transferred onto a recording sheet and the toner image transferred onto the sheet is fixed to form a permanent image.
In this fixing process, when toner is melted by heat and pressure to fix the image onto the sheet, some water evaporates from a paper sheet due to the heat. Further, after the fixing, the sheet is open to the outside air, and thereby reabsorbs water from the outside air.
Since such evaporation and re-absorbance of water between the front and reverse surfaces of the paper sheet tends to occur at a different rate, it results in waving or curling of the sheet, which of course is a major problem.
Generally, a fixed paper sheet shows various phenomena. FIG. 1(a) shows wavy sheet S3 in which the printed surface is convexly and concavely curled. FIG. 1(b) shows a sheet which is convexly curled upward, which hereinafter is referred to as "convexly curled sheet S1", while FIG. 1(b) shows a sheet in which the printed surface is convexly curled downward, which hereinafter referred to as "concavely curled sheet S2". The conveyance direction of the sheet is shown by an arrow in FIG. 1(a), 1(b) and 1(c).
These phenomena generate various problems. In the case of post-processes conducted on the sheet which carries a formed image, problems occur during conveyance and processing of the sheet, and in the case of binding process, a book of bound curled sheets becomes very thick, which result in deterioration in quality of the final product. Further, when such sheets are ejected from the apparatus, they do not stack orderly. Accordingly, measures to count such wavy and curled sheets are required.
In Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication 61-23,068, to overcome the problem of the wavy or curled sheets, the sheet is moisturized via a mist of water. A moisturizing apparatus incorporating a moisturizing roller is shown, to effectively control the water supply, to reduce any adverse effects due to the water mist on various sections adjacent to the moisturizing apparatus, and to downsize the apparatus.
Moisturizing flattens wavy and curled sheet, but it curls the sheet again if water is not applied equally to both surfaces of the sheet.
Specifically, if more water is applied onto one surface than the other surface, the former expands more than the latter, and a convex curl is generated on wetter surface.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,553, a moisturizing apparatus is shown in which moisturizing rollers are provided on and under the horizontal conveyance route through which the sheet is fed. The upper and lower moisturizing rollers apply water to both surfaces of the sheet. In this apparatus, water is supplied to the upper and lower moisturizing rollers from respective water tanks.
In the case water is applied onto both surfaces of the sheet, due to the water routes from the surface of the water tank, serving as the water source, to the contact position of the moisturizing roller and the sheet, the upper moisturizing means and the lower moisturizing means are not equal, which makes it very difficult to apply equal amounts of water onto both surfaces of the sheet.
Even if water is equally applied onto both surfaces by adjustment, the supplied water amount changes during operation, which causes curled sheets. Further, in above-mentioned moisturizing apparatus, more than three rollers are required for the water supply route, which result in a larger apparatus.
In Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication 2006-8,282, a moisturizing apparatus is proposed in which paired moisturizing rollers convey the sheet horizontally, and apply water onto both surfaces of the sheet. A water tank, provided under the lower moisturizing roller, supplies water to the lower moisturizing roller, but the upper moisturizing roller is via the lower moisturizing roller.
In this apparatus, the applied water amount from the upper roller to the sheet tends to be lower than that of the lower roller, which causes the curled sheet.
In these apparatuses, the sheet is conveyed horizontally as it is moisturized. As shown in FIG. 2, since water applied to the sheet moves vertically due to gravity, the amount of water changes in accordance with the direction of thickness, and curling tends to be generated. In FIG. 2, moisture particles in sheet S are schematically shown by solid black dots w.

Sheet moisturizing apparatus and image forming system

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


A method for collecting data for statistical modeling purposes can include the step of selecting at least one user interface type from a plurality of previously defined user interface types. Parameters of the selected interface type can be defined for a particular data collection instance. Target participant data can be inputted. A data collection interface based upon the selected interface type and defined parameters can be deployed. Messages can be automatically conveyed to data providers selected in accordance with the target participant data. The data providers can be permitted to access the deployed data collection interface. Data provided by the data providers can be automatically stored and used for statistical modeling purposes related to the data collection instance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of data collection and, more particularly, to a system and method for data collection interface creation and the administration of a data collection effort.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of circumstances exist where it is desirable to obtain data from a population sample. For example, targeted data collection from a multitude of respondents is necessary for research surveys, markup forecasts, political opinion polls, and the like. Collecting a data sample is also necessary when building a statistical model, such as a statistical model used to construct a software application program. Many software applications are designed to receive user input, convert this input into a computer understandable form, and then to execute programmatic functions based upon the converted input. Software applications having this functionality include, but are not limited to, natural language understanding (NLU) applications, automated speech recognition (ASR) applications, and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) applications. These applications require relatively large amounts of sample or test data to build a realistic user response profile.
Even though data collection efforts are common, existing methods to develop and administer a data collection effort are technologically primitive and conducted in an ad-hoc manner. One existing method generates and conveys paper data response instruments to participants using postal mail. Responses are received via postal mail and converted into a digital format, which is analyzed and otherwise processed. This method is costly, is difficult to perform rapidly, and is subject to response and transcription errors. Further, this manual data collection process fails to utilize a set of standardized data collection instruments. Consequently, each data collection effort is treated in a unique fashion, each varying in format, form, and quality.
A modification of the pure paper data collection method is to e-mail electronic versions of a data collection instrument to a group of potential respondents. Respondents can e-mail back responses, often responding by textually adding their answers to prompts. This process suffers from the same shortcomings of purely paper collection efforts, except that the cost and time of mailing instruments through postal channels are eliminated. E-mail based data collection efforts suffer from additional security shortcomings as it is relatively easy to purposefully bias a data collection instance by generating multiple responses that appear to originate from multiple e-mail recipients, but are actually generated from the same data biasing sources.
A derivative of the e-mail collection approach is to include special markers within the sent e-mail to automate the data extraction process. Unfortunately, different e-mail systems can handle these markers in a non-uniform manner; causing some e-mail systems to incorrectly display the data collection instrument; and causing other e-mail systems to modify the markers in a way that foils the automatic extraction process.
Other existing approaches use customized data collection applications, which can be word processing documents with data gathering macros, data base applications, and/or completely customized software applications. In all of these cases, developers must come up with data collection scenarios from scratch. Because of the time and design effort involved, most of the developed data collection scenarios tend to be overly simplistic. Making more sophisticated scenarios to procure more realistic data requires significant development effort, skill, and time on the part of the developer. Additionally, respondents are forced to utilize a non-standard interface that is different from other data procurement interfaces that respondents have used in the past, which can increase a non-response ratio for the data collection instance.
Regardless of the exact method used, existing data collection methodologies fail to integrate the interface creation process with data collection tools, logistics tools, and/or analysis tools. There is a need for a configurable framework for performing data collection that can be readily adapted across domains. This framework would ideally require minimal manual processing and would streamline the data collection process from interface creation to data analysis.

System and method for data collection interface creation and data collection administration

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


Embodiments of the present invention are directed to reducing the computational cost of propagating the uncertainty in the state of an object, which requires the numerical solution of an initial value problem (IVP) ensemble, by means of a computer. The present invention uses an implicit-Runge-Kutta-based (IRK) method that exploits the proximity of the initial conditions within the IVP ensemble. More specifically, one of the IVPs can be solved over a given time span consisting of one or more time steps with an IRK method, and the resulting trajectory can be recorded. The system of equations that arises on each time step of the IRK method can be solved using various iterative methods. The remaining IVPs can be solved over the same timespan using the same IRK method and time steps, together with the recorded trajectory from the first propagation.

Space Situational Awareness (SSA) includes knowledge of the near-Earth space environment which can be accomplished through the tracking and identification of Earth-orbiting space objects to protect space assets and maintain awareness of potentially adversarial space deployments. Fundamental to the success of the SSA mission is the rigorous inclusion of uncertainty in the space surveillance network (SSN). The proper characterization and robust quantification of uncertainty is a common requirement to many SSA functions including tracking and data association, resolution of uncorrelated tracks (UCTs), conjunction analysis and probability of collision, sensor resource management, and anomaly detection. Other fields of endevour in which estimating the state of an object and its uncertainty include but are not limited to aeronautics and aviation, air and missile defense, etc.
The general framework for the problem of estimating the state of an object and its uncertainty (i.e., its probability density function) in the presence of uncertainty in the dynamics, model parameters, and initial conditions is that of the general Bayesian nonlinear filter. The Kalman filter optimally characterizes the state and uncertainty in the linear Gaussian case and the extended Kalman filter approximately characterizes the state in the Gaussian and (mildly) nonlinear case. Higher order filters can also be employed to improve the characterization of the state. The uncertainty propagation component of these filters uses the Ricatti equation or a higher order Ricatti equation (e.g., the covariance matrix associated with the extended Kalman filter is obtained as a solution of the Ricatti equation).
A different class of methods starts from the representation of the initial probability density function by a set of particles or states, propagates the ensemble of particles through the differential equation defining the dynamics (i.e., the time evolution of the particles or states) over some period of time, and then recovers the characterization of uncertainty at the end time. Mathematically speaking, the propagation of a given state amounts to solving an initial value problem (IVP). The particles can be chosen randomly through sampling techniques as in Monte Carlo methods (e.g., particle filters) or deterministically as in the unscented transform of the unscented Kalman filter or higher order methods based on Gauss-Hermite quadrature. Gaussian sum filters and generalizations using mixtures can also utilize the unscented Kalman filter as the basis for propagating the individual probability density functions. Grid methods represent the uncertainty through the propagation of particles and the subsequent recovery of the uncertainty. Ultimately, either the Fokker-Planck equation (for continuous time dynamics) or Chapman-Kolmogorov equation (for discrete time dynamics) govern the evolution of the probability density function. In the former, this parabolic partial differential equation can be solved by the method of lines in which the spatial variables are discretized with the time variables remaining continuous, resulting in an ensemble of IVPs. Finally, in addition to the general nonlinear Bayesian filter, the Probability Hypothesis Density filter and its generalization, the Cardinalized Probability Hypothesis Density filter can make use of Monte Carlo methods with the corresponding propagation of an ensemble of particles. Thus, a large class of methods for propagating a state and its uncertainty require the propagation of an ensemble of particles or states through the nonlinear dynamics. Once recovered and characterized, the uncertainty can be used to update the nonlinear filter, to compute a likelihood function or ratio for data association, to compute a probability of collision in conjunction analysis, to assist with the detection of anomalies such as maneuvers, and to provide state uncertainty for sensor resource management.
Traditional algorithms for propagating an ensemble of states are based on explicit numerical methods. As such, they solve each IVP independently from one another, regardless of the proximity of the initial conditions, by calculating the state of a system at a later time from the state of the system at an earlier time. Hence, even if two initial conditions differed by an infinitesimal amount and the solution to the first IVP is known because it had already been computed, current approaches would not be able to exploit this information in order to solve the second IVP in a more computationally efficient manner. Since the IVPs that arise in uncertainty propagation usually contain initial conditions that are closely spaced about some estimate of the current state, approaches are needed that can reduce the computational cost of uncertainty propagation by exploiting such proximity.

Method and system for propagating the state of an object and its uncertainty


A cannulated compression screw is used as an orthopedic implant and has a threaded distal end with an insertion tip that includes at least one and preferably two, three or four flutes to allow the screw to be self-tapping. Optionally, the screw also includes one or more reverse cutting flutes proximal to the insertion tip. The distal threads are cancellous threads having a generally constant minor diameter and a generally constant major diameter and a generally constant thread pitch. An intermediate portion of the screw is non-threaded and the proximal end includes a compression wedge or taper that has at least one, and preferably two to five flutes that terminate before the top of the screw. The proximal end further includes a radiused bevel to the terminal surface that includes a hexagonal torque driving recess. The diameter of the non-threaded shaft section is constant distal from the compression wedge to the distal tip where it defines the minor diameter of the threaded portion. The screw optionally includes a tapered insertion tip.

The use of implants in the field of orthopedic surgery has a relatively recent history, even including the use of screws, which can be used to hold plates or rods in position, or to hold bones or bone fragments in place to facilitate fusion between bone surfaces. Achieving repair across a fracture, or fusion between two otherwise unrelated bone segments through the use of a stand-alone screw, is often furthered by causing compression of the segments at the cortical surfaces. The prior art has recognized the use of screws that generate this kind of compression, and includes compression screws that are self-tapping, self-drilling and self countersinking. The present screw is designed to maximize the ease of insertion and the compression generated, in particular to suit the needs of small bone surgeons. This area includes bones distal to the elbow or knee that are smaller more delicate bones than the long bones, and further are bones that function in conjunction with less, and more delicate, soft tissue in order to achieve movements with greater finesse than the gross apendicular movement. There is often little bone for purchase, and even less muscle tissue to provide a buffer for protruding tips. Consequently, it is imperative in the small bone context that implants are designed to maximize the desired result with a minimum of volume. The present invention is designed to provide both a maximum of compression along the longitudinal axis of the screw and to provide for ease of insertion by lessening the need for an additional drilling step.
The present invention can be used for fixation or repair following trauma, for example of the scaphoid bone, or for correction of a developed condition such as bunion or congenital defect like flat feet. Thus, the present invention relates generally to a class of screw known as a "compression screw", and more specifically to those classed as "headless compression screws" which generally refer in the orthopedic arts to screws which are countersunk so that they that do not project beyond the surface of the bone in use. The present invention has a threaded distal end, which is preferably self-tapping and a proximal end, which has a compression taper or wedge. This area has an increasing diameter toward the distal end, such as is provided, for example, by a frusto-conical or domed shape to the maximum diameter area of the wedge. Beyond the maximum, the proximal portion includes a bevel or rounded edge that terminates in a flat proximal terminal surface that includes a torque driving recess, This proximal taper area has one or more, and preferably two to four, equally spaced cutting flutes, which also end at or below the rounded edge of the wedge. The flute or flutes do not extend through to the proximal terminal surface of the screw, and in fact end substantially before the end, meaning that a circumferential fillet or lip is formed at the top of each cutting flute by that portion of the taper which is proximally distant to the flute. Preferably this feature provides a plurality of lips that act as a stop portion located proximally at or below about the widest portion of the compression wedge. Thus, the proximal compression taper is self-drilling to the bone cortex, but will act to generate compression when the distal side of the lip engages the cortical bone that forms the top of the screw hole. Thus, in one specialized sense this stop portion can be considered to be a "head" in so far as it is not self-countersinking and in that it increases the longitudinal compression generated at the proximal portion of the screw, in particular because of the composition of bone at this surface. It is not intended to sit proud to the bone surface nor to be countersunk, but rather to sit flush with it unless the bone is subjected to a counterboring step prior to implantation. This design helps to provide optimal compression by causing the screw to impact the hard cortical portion of the bone and to thus drive the bone toward the distal end of the screw. Thus, the product is considered to be "self-drilling" but not "self-countersinking. This is an aspect of the invention that distinguishes it from the prior art "headless compression screws".


An improvement in a conventional air-operated diaphragm spring brake is provided by a guide (100) being disposed in registry with an aperture (26) in a service brake housing (16). A push-rod (10) extends from a diaphragm (58) within the housing (12) through the bushing (102) to pivotably connect to a slack adjuster (6). The bushing (102) serves to maintain the push-rod (10) at a preselected angle relative to the slack adjuster (6) when the push-rod is in the inoperative position.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to air-operated diaphragm brakes of the type including a push-rod actuator and used with air brake systems on vehicles such as trucks. More particularly, the invention relates to a dust shield for preventing contaminants from entering the service brake chamber which also serves as a guide to maintain the push-rod in proper adjustment with respect to the slack adjuster.
2. State of the Prior Art
A typical air brake system for a vehicle such as a bus, truck or the like includes separate brake means such as a brake shoe and drum at the vehicle wheels. The brake shoes are actuated in one direction to apply the brakes and in the other direction to release the brakes. The brake means may serve as both service and emergency brakes, and individual brake actuators are located adjacent the wheels for actuation of the brake means.
A typical brake actuator includes a service brake actuator for applying and releasing the brakes in response to delivery and exhaust of compressed air. Often a spring brake actuator is disposed in tandem with the service brake actuator. The spring brake actuator uses the force of a strong compression spring to operate the service brake actuator and to apply the brakes when air in a spring chamber is reduced below some predetermined level. Air may be reduced in the spring brake actuator under the control of the operator in the manner of a parking brake, or automatically in emergencies such as a failure of portions of the brake air system.
Brake actuators typically employ diaphragms that move in response to air pressure and springs. The diaphragms in turn move push-rods in reciprocating fashion which move the brake means between operative and inoperative positions. Typically, the push-rod is pivotally attached to a slack adjuster which is splined to a camshaft on which a cam causes the brake shoes to be forced against the brake drum as the cam is rotated. The slack adjuster acts as a lever to amplify the force generated by air pressure in the brake actuator.
The push-rod typically extends through an aperture in the brake actuator. Because the aperture is in open communication with the interior of the brake actuator, dust shields are frequently employed to prevent contaminants from entering the interior of the brake actuator. Such dust shields are typically flexible neoprene or rubber boots which move as the push-rod reciprocates and articulates.
Under heavy use, the push-rod sometimes abrades against the edges of the aperture which causes undue wear on the push-rod and may lead to premature failure. Also, when the push-rod is in the inoperative position, i.e., when the brakes are released, the push-rod may not be in the proper position for an automatic slack adjuster to maintain the brakes at the optimum adjustment. Typically, a preselected optimum angle is determined between the slack adjuster and the push-rod when the push-rod is in the inoperative position, and if this angle is not maintained, the automatic slack adjuster may maintain inaccurate adjustments.

Push-rod guide for air-operated diaphragm spring brakes


An outage schedule management apparatus and a method are provided, wherein a topology change is executed in response to an outage schedule set up by a user input, and a validity determination is executed to system operation standard to approve an outage.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates to an outage management, and more particularly to an outage schedule management apparatus and method configured for use in EMS (Energy Management System).
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The information disclosed in this Discussion of the Related Art section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the present disclosure and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.
In general, an EMS (Energy Management System) is an uppermost system of a power grid to manage supply/demand of entire power and operation of the system.
An outage schedule system of the EMS manages a schedule and operation of idle facilities. It should be noted that all facilities forming a power system are always under an operable state. That is, facilities may be stopped in operation for routine maintenance/repair or for the purpose of prior preventive maintenance by finding abnormal symptoms such as overheating and the like, or newly installing adjacent facilities or changing system configuration, the operation of which is called an outage or outage event, where set-up of system operation program is called an outage schedule or outage scheduling according to outage conditions.
The outage schedule is manually inputted by handwriting by a field worker at each area, reviewed by using programs including power flow calculation and fault calculation, and determined by the analysis for approval. However, the input by handwriting of outage schedule information ranging from hundreds to thousands of outage events a year is problematic in terms of waste of human resources, and process time as it takes lots of time.
FIG. 1 is an exemplary view illustrating an outage schedule management method according to prior art, where yearly, monthly and daily outage schedule information are inputted by hand or by handwriting to a field worker of each area, and outage approval is determined by forming an outage information-applied system through power flow calculation, fault calculation and credible accident interpretation.
Referring to FIG. 1, the conventional outage management includes a scheduled outage (100) and an emergency outage (200), where the scheduled outage (100) further includes an approval operation (110) and a notification operation (120).
A yearly outage review (111) is to prepare a utility (or facilities) outage schedule to be processed in a year in a predetermined format and to disclose (115) at every November end. A monthly outage review (112) is to prepare utility outage schedule to be processed in next month in a predetermined format and to disclose (115) at every 20th day. A temporary outage (113) is to prepare a utility outage schedule to be processed temporarily in a predetermined format and to disclose (115) along with a next day outage review (114). The next day outage review (114) is to prepare facilities outage schedule to be processed in next day in a predetermined format and to disclose (115) at 18:00 hours every day.
A next day outage list (122) in the notification operation (120) is a list transmitted from regional control centers to electricity feed stations. The list thus received is inputted by a field worker by hand (126, 123).
The field worker reviews (131) influences applied to system through power flow calculation, fault calculation and credible accident interpretation, determines (132) whether the outage is appropriate for system operation standard via a conference, and determines (133, 134) whether to trigger the outage as a result of the conference.
Meanwhile, if an emergency outage occurs (201), relevant regional electricity feed station requests a power exchange of an outage approval (202). The field worker inputs the received outage schedule by hand (203), reviews (204) influences applied to system through power flow calculation, fault calculation and credible accident interpretation, determines (205) whether the outage is appropriate for system operation standard via a conference, and determines (206, 207) whether to trigger the outage as a result of the conference.
In scheduling stage of power system in the conventional EMS system, a region where an outage is triggered is largely formed with a weaker system condition over that of an original system operation plan, due to non-consideration of separate outage condition for facilities. Furthermore, all outage scheduling are inputted by the field workers by hand, a system is newly constructed through an existing programs based on the handwritten outage scheduling, and whether to approve the outage is determined through a conference based on experiences by the field workers through the power flow calculation, fault calculation and credible accident interpretation.
However, the conventional outage management system thus described is problematic in that outage schedule information is manually processed to require many human resources, whereby process time is lengthened to make it difficult to establish reliability and credibility.
Another problem is that outage schedule is processed in written form to allow information on next day outage to be shared at 18:00 hours every day, information on monthly outage to be shared at every 20th day of a month, and information on yearly outage to be shared in November, such that it is difficult to share the information on outage and to determine validity of whether to reflect the outage schedules.

Outage schedule management apparatus and method in EMS


A touchscreen panel includes an upper substrate having a first transparent conductor layer provided on a first base layer, and a lower substrate having a second transparent conductor layer provided on a second base layer. The first and second transparent conductor layers oppose each other via a spacer and make contact when the first base layer is pressed. The first transparent conductor layer is segmented into a plurality of conductive regions that are electrically insulated from each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to touchscreen panels, electronic apparatuses having touchscreen panels, and methods of fabricating touchscreen panels.
2. Description of the Related Art
The touchscreen panel is arranged in front of a display panel, and is used as an input device to detect the presence and location of a touch on a display of the display panel. Because the touchscreen panel enables a user to make a direct input based on information that is displayed on the display panel and is visually detected by the user, the touchscreen panel is popularly used in various applications.
A resistive touchscreen panel is well known. The resistive touchscreen panel has an upper electrode substrate formed with a transparent conductor layer, and a lower electrode substrate formed with a transparent conductor layer, with a gap formed between the opposing transparent conductor layers. When a force is applied at one point on the upper electrode substrate, the opposing transparent conductor layers make contact to enable detection of the position where the force is applied.
The resistive touchscreen panel may be roughly categorized into the 4-wire type and the 5-wire type. The 4-wire type resistive touchscreen panel has an x-axis electrode provided on one of the upper and lower electrode substrates, and a y-axis electrode provided on the other of the upper and lower electrode substrates. On the other hand, the 5-wire type resistive touchscreen panel has both the x-axis electrode and the y-axis electrode provided on the lower electrode substrate, and the upper electrode substrate functions as a probe for detecting a voltage.
The applicants are aware of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publications No. 2004-272722 and No. 2008-293129.
Next, a description will be given of the 5-wire resistive touchscreen panel, by referring to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of the 5-wire resistive touchscreen panel, and FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view illustrating the 5-wire resistive touchscreen panel of FIG. 1.
As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a 5-wire resistive touchscreen panel 200 has a film 210 forming an upper electrode substrate, a transparent conductor layer 230 formed on one surface of the film 210, a glass 220 forming a lower electrode substrate, a transparent conductor layer 240 formed on one surface of the glass 220, and a spacer 250 sandwiched between the two mutually opposing transparent conductor layers 230 and 240. The 5-wire resistive touchscreen panel 200 may be electrically connected to a host computer (not illustrated) via a cable 260.
FIGS. 3A and 3B respectively are a perspective view and a circuit diagram for explaining a coordinate detection in the 5-wire resistive touchscreen panel 200. A voltage is alternately applied in the x-axis direction and in the y-axis direction via electrodes 241, 242, 243 and 244 that are provided at end portions of the four sides of the transparent conductor layer 240 as illustrated in FIG. 3A. When the transparent conductor layers 230 and 240 make contact at a contact position A that is pressed by a finger tip F of the user, for example, a potential Va is detected via the transparent conductor layer 230 as illustrated in FIG. 3B, in order to detect coordinate positions in the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction. In FIG. 3B, Rw denotes a wiring resistance, and IN denotes an input area of the transparent conductor layer 240.
However, the 5-wire resistive touchscreen panel 200 can only detect a single contact position at one time. If multiple contact positions are pressed simultaneously by the finger tips F of the user, for example, the 5-wire resistive touchscreen panel 200 cannot detect the multiple contact positions that are pressed simultaneously.
FIGS. 4A and 4B respectively are a perspective view and a circuit diagram for explaining the coordinate detection in the 5-wire resistive touchscreen panel when multiple contact positions occur simultaneously. In FIGS. 4A and 4B, those parts that are the same as those corresponding parts in FIGS. 3A and 3B are designated by the same reference numerals, and a description thereof will be omitted.
A voltage is alternately applied in the x-axis direction and in the y-axis direction via the electrodes 241, 242, 243 and 244 that are provided at end portions of the four sides of the transparent conductor layer 240 as illustrated in FIG. 4A. When the transparent conductor layers 230 and 240 make contact at contact positions A and B that are pressed simultaneously by the finger tips F of the user, for example, a potential Vc is detected via the transparent conductor layer 230 as illustrated in FIG. 4B, in order to detect coordinate positions in the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction. In this case, an intermediate position between the contact positions A and B is detected from the potential Vc, even though the two contact positions A and B are pressed and the intermediate position is not pressed. In other words, the intermediate position between the contact positions A and B is erroneously detected when the two contact positions A and B are pressed simultaneously.

Touchscreen panel, electronic apparatus and method of fabricating touchscreen panel


A system and a method are provided for authenticating a requester seeking service. In response to a received request, the system selects a random biometric behavior. A request to provide the selected behavior is output by the system. Evaluation circuitry compares a received behavioral response from a requester to information from an authorized user database and determines if the requested service should be provided.

There are many commercial applications that need to authenticate users, for example, door access systems found in hotels, businesses, or the like. Monitoring systems or system control panels need to verify that an expected user is, in fact, the one interfacing with the system or a control panel keypad.
Known facial and voice recognition systems are less than 100% accurate. Pre-recorded video/imagery/audio of an authorized user can be used to defeat these systems in security applications. Additionally, passwords for security systems or control panels can also be easily compromised if a different user learns a code.
There is, thus, a continuing need to improve anatomically based authentication systems.

System and method of enhanced identity recognition incorporating random actions


A polyamideimide resin composition containing: (A) a polyamideimide resin which has isocyanate groups at the terminals and in which at least a portion of the isocyanate groups are blocked with a blocking agent selected from the group consisting of alcohols, oximes and lactams, (B) N-formylmorpholine, and (C) water.

Polyamideimide resins have excellent heat resistance, chemical resistance and solvent resistance, and are therefore widely used as coating agents for various substrates. For example, polyamideimide resins are used as varnishes for enameled wires and as heat-resistant coating materials and the like.
N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and the like are well known as the solvents typically used for dissolving, diluting and synthesizing these polyamideimides, and because these solvents are capable of imparting excellent solubility characteristics to polyamideimide resins, they have been widely used up until this point (see Patent Document 1).
Further, in recent years, for reasons including environmental preservation, safety and hygiene, economic viability and coating workability, aqueous resin solutions that use water as the solvent medium instead of an organic solvent are attracting considerable attention. A method for converting a polyamideimide resin to a water-soluble form by reacting a basic compound with the residual carboxyl groups at the resin terminals has been reported (Patent Document 2), and is being used in a variety of applications.

Poly(amide-imide) resin composition and fluorochemical coating material


A wireless receiver is configured to perform a method of channel estimation in a multiple input multiple output (MIMO) network. The method includes despreading a vector of received samples to determine an average channel estimate for each of a plurality of multiplexed layers associated with the MIMO network, canceling inter-layer interference using the average channel estimates for the layers and obtaining a time-varying estimate for each layer, and estimating the channel using a two-dimensional minimum mean squared error (2D MMSE) technique.

Modern communications demand higher data rates and performance. Multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) antenna systems, also known as multiple-element antenna (MEA) systems, achieve greater spectral efficiency for allocated radio frequency (RF) channel bandwidths by utilizing space or antenna diversity at both the transmitter and the receiver, or in other cases, the transceiver. In MIMO systems, each of a plurality of data streams (or layers) is individually mapped and modulated before being precoded and transmitted by different physical antennas or effective antennas. The combined data streams are then received at multiple antennas of a receiver. At the receiver, each data stream is separated and extracted from the combined signal. This process can be performed, for example, using a maximum likelihood MIMO detection algorithm, or a minimum mean squared error (MMSE) MIMO algorithm. A key requirement for any MIMO detection algorithm is the knowledge of the MIMO channel (channel at all the different layers) at the receiver. Typically, the receiver obtains these estimates using the received samples at known pilot symbol locations, employing for example, a MMSE algorithm.

Methods and apparatus for channel estimation in MIMO-OFDM communication system


Disclosed is a removable attachment bar for a flip-top table that includes multiple tracks on which objects table top supports, storage containers, and other items may be mounted. While maintaining the benefits of standard flip-top tables, attachment bar also achieves many benefits including improved table rigidity and additional locations to secure attachments to the table.

Tables with tilting tops are well known in the art. Designers of flip-top tables, however, have faced many challenges in designing the mechanism that allows the top to tilt and preferably lock in place. First, the rigidity of a flip-top table must be comparable to conventional non-flip tables.
Second, the flip-top mechanisms must be simple to manufacture and preferably accommodate a variety of leg and table tops so that a single style of mechanism may be manufactured for multiple table designs.
Third, the flip-top mechanisms must provide sufficient support to the table top surface to prevent the table top from sagging when a load is placed on the table.
Fourth, when multiple flip-top mechanisms are used to support a table, it is desirable to have the distance between the mechanisms be adjustable so that various lengths of table tops may be supported by the mechanisms.
Fifth, pinch points at the location of mechanism activation must be minimized to reduce the risk of injury to the table operator. Sixth, the operation of the mechanism should be intuitive and a single or dual operation should be used for releasing the table top from multiple positions.
Seventh, it is desirable for the flip-top table system to be customizable with various attachments with a minimal amount of effort after the table has been delivered from the manufacturer to the customer.
Eighth, the mechanism must be difficult to accidentally activate when it is bumped or kicked by a person using the table. Ninth, the design of the mechanism must accommodate a modesty panel.
Finally, the mechanism should be constructed from lightweight yet robust materials. The mechanism should utilize unique latching features for each unique configuration because utilizing different portions of the mechanism helps to evenly spread the wear on the mechanism. Utilizing separate features for each latching position also allows the mechanical tolerances of the design and table wobble to be reduced. Additionally, separate features may be individually customized (strengthened, etc.) based on conditions the table will experience in a specific configuration.
There have been many attempts to address the challenges faced by designers of flip-top table mechanisms. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,203,783 issued to Reischmann and U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,946 issued to Charnay disclose lockable mechanisms for pivoting tables. The mechanisms have springs that are securable to a plurality of rods or holes, with each rod or hole corresponding to a unique table position. The '783 and '946 patents, however, do not provide unique spatially separated latching features since one spring interacts with all the rods or holes. Additionally, the latching mechanisms of the '738 and '946 patents are only functional with one type of table leg because the legs are integrated into the mechanisms, thus the need remains for an improved flip-top table mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,986,195 issued to Diffrient discloses a "tilting table top mechanism . . . [with] a chassis member which is secured to the underside of a table top and a base plate which is secured to the top of a table leg . . . . A dual locking mechanism maintains the table top in its normal 'use' position but is manually disengaged with ease." The mechanism of the '195 patent does not bi-directionally lock the rotation of the table in a folded configuration, thus the need remains for an improved flip-top table mechanism.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,796,169 issued to Bales and Estes discloses a flip-top table mechanism that utilizes unique portions of the latch for each configuration of the table. However, the mechanism of the '169 patent has several pinch points near the activation point of the mechanism.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2009/0114130 by Chirea, et al. discloses a table top with a flip mechanism has a frame of two spaced apart legs, each leg having two pivoting wheels, a spine connecting each leg, and a table top hingedly connecting to the spine for rotation off the center of the table. However, the mechanism disclosed by Chirea is not adjustable in length and does not provide attachment points on the mechanism.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an easily manufacturable mechanism for a flip-top table with rigidity comparable to a non flip-top table.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an intuitively operable mechanism that meets government and industry standards.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a flip-top table mechanism that is capable of locking a table in both a use and folded position.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism having a removable attachment bar.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a single release mechanism capable of releasing the table top from both a folded and a use position while being difficult to accidentally engage.

Removable attachment bar for a flip-top table


An insulated wire is suitable for use as a distribution wire, a wire for winding a coil or the like, which is used in a high-vacuum environment or in a high-temperature environment such as a high vacuum apparatus or a high temperature service apparatus. The insulated wire has a base material (1) forming a substrate, a chromium oxide CrO.sub.3-x containing intermediate layer (2) on the substrate, and an oxide insulating layer (3) on the intermediate layer. The base material (1) is an electrical conductor. The chromium oxide containing layer (2) is so formed that the ratio of oxygen to chromium O/Cr is not less than 0.5 but less than 1.5 to avoid the formation of chromic oxide Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3 which reduces the adhesive bonding strength. The oxide insulating layer (3) is formed by applying a precursor solution of a metallic oxide onto the chromium oxide containing layer (2) by a sol-gel method or an organic acid salt pyrolytic method. This insulated wire exhibits a high heat resistance and insulation ability as well as excellent flexibility, and does not provide any gas adsorption source when the wire is used in a vacuum device.

An insulated wire may be used in equipment such as heating equipment or a fire alarm, which requires a safe operation even under high temperature operating conditions. Further, insulated wires are also used in an automobile, wherein the vicinity of the engine, for example, is heated to a high temperature. An insulated wire formed as a conductor which is coated with a heat resistant organic resin such as polyimide, fluorocarbon resin or the like, has generally been used for the above purposes.
For applications requiring a nigh heat resistance or use of the wire in an environment requiring a high degree of vacuum, an organic coating has an insufficient heat resistance and does not satisfy the no gas emission requirement. Thus, an insulated wire of such a form that a conductor is inserted in an insulator tube of ceramics, an MI cable (Mineral Insulated cable) of such a form that a conductor is inserted in a heat resistant alloy tube of a stainless steel alloy etc. which is filled with metal oxide powder of magnesium oxide etc., or the like has been used under the above operating condition.
A fiber-glass braided insulated wire employing textile glass fiber as an insulating member is listed as an insulated wire having a certain flexibility and heat resistance.
The aforementioned insulated wire coated with an organic resin has such a heat resistance that the highest temperature at which insulability can be maintained, is about 200.degree. C. at the most. Therefore, it has been impossible to employ such an organic insulation coated wire under conditions which require a guarantee of the insulability under a high temperature of at least 200.degree. C.
Further, the insulated wire which is improved in its heat resistance by an insulator tube of ceramics, has the disadvantages of an inferior flexibility. An MI cable is formed by a heat resistant alloy tube and a conductor in the tube, whereby the outer diameter of the cable is increased relative to the conductor radius. Thus, the MI cable has a relatively large cross-section with respect to electric energy allowed by the conductor encased in the heat resistant alloy tube. In order to use the MI cable as a wire for winding a coil on a bobbin or the like, however, it is necessary no bend the heat resistant alloy tube along a prescribed curvature. Performing the bending of the heat resistant alloy tube is difficult. When winding the MI cable into a coil it is also difficult to improve the space factor since the tube forming the outer cable layer is thick as compared with the conductor.
Further, when the fiber-glass braided insulated wire having a certain heat resistance is employed and worked into a prescribed configuration in accordance with its use, the network of the braid is disturbed to cause a breakdown. In addition, dust of glass is generated by the glass fibers. This glass dust may serve as a gas adsorption source. Therefore, when the fiber-glass braided insulated wire is used in an environment requiring a high degree of vacuum, it has been impossible to maintain a high degree of vacuum due to the gas adsorption source provided by the glass dust.
A so-called alumite wire is manufactured by performing an anodic oxidation treatment on a wire of aluminum or an aluminum alloy to provide an insulated wire which has an excellent heat resistance, insulability and heat dissipation ability. However; the base material of the alumite wire is restricted to aluminum. Further, an inorganic insulating layer formed on the base material of the aluminum wire is also restricted to aluminum oxide. Thus, there has been a problem in that it is impossible to select combinations of the base conductor wire material and the inorganic insulating layer which are suitable for various uses.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,109,053 (Ahearn), issued Oct. 29, 1963, discloses an insulated conductor wire with a core of silver or copper, an intermediate layer of chromium, rhenium, iron or alloys thereof electroplated onto the core, and a vitreous insulating coating on the intermediate layer. The surface of the intermediate layer is oxidized after completion of the plating. Three different oxidizing procedures are disclosed by Ahearn. First, the plated wire core is heated to 600.degree. C. to 800.degree. C. in air or oxygen. Second, the plated wire core is anodized in an electrolytic bath. Third, the plated surface is coated with a ceramic composition containing an oxidizing agent and heating briefly to the curing temperature of the ceramic. These oxidizing procedures especially heating the plated chromium under the influence of air or oxygen has a strong tendency to form chromic oxide Cr.sub.2 O.sub.3 in which the atomic ratio of oxygen to Cr is 3/2=1.5 and chromic oxide does not provide an optimal two-fold adhesion first between the conductor core and the chromic oxide layer and second between the insulating coating and the chromic oxide layer. Tests set forth below show this point. In fact, Ahearn states that in order to further promote adherence of the vitreous insulating coating to the chromic oxide layer the latter's surface must be toughened by sandblasting, acid etching anti the like. This poses a further problem, because the intermediate layer should be as thin as possible and sandblasting may remove the intermediate layer.

Insulated wire with an intermediate adhesion layer and an insulating layer


A method and system for providing directory based services is provided. The directory service may process an ambiguous destination identifier from a call-session request to multiple database entries in a directory server, and return an appropriately constructed response that can be interpreted by a user as a prompt for additional input to refine the destination identifier. The possible matches could be sent as a list of possible choices. The user can then select the desired match from the list and send a follow-on request including the selection to the directory server. Based on the selection, the directory server will then either send additional possible matches to the user or obtain a contact address corresponding to the selection. After resolving the ambiguous match to a unique destination identifier, a call can then be established.

Internet protocol ("IP") telephony and IIP multimedia networks employ several protocols to setup and manage calls and sessions. One of the most widely adopted protocols for IP-based signaling is the Session Initiation Protocol ("SIP"). SIP is used, for example, for initiating new calls and sessions, manipulating call paths, and enabling the association of services with users regardless of their point of connection in the network. These are just a few areas of application of the SIP.
The increasing use of SIP has spurred development and introduction of numerous services with SIP interfaces for user and network access. This approach makes sense as the number of SIP-capable devices proliferates in IP networks. The use of SIP as an interface assures that a "customer" and a "server" can rely on a common and widely used method for exchanging information.
One general category of service relevant to SIP capabilities is directory services. SIP-based services, and other IP-signaling protocols, are generally lacking in methods for directory and directory-related services. For example, current SIP standards require that a destination identifier used in SIP messages must be an exact match to a specific identifier of the called party. This requirement eliminates the possibility of providing searches for ambiguous destination identifiers.
In particular, when a SIP message carries a destination identifier, such as a Uniform Resource Locator ("URL"), it must be an exact match to an identity or symbolic name that can be mapped to an IP address for a connection to occur. For example, the URL "firstname.lastname@example.com" used as the destination identifier in a SIP message must exactly match a character string that can be resolved, e.g., by a database lookup, to the routable IP address of the intended recipient. When the SIP message is received by a redirect server, the server resolves the message if an exact match to the destination identifier can be found in a mapping database, and responds to the sender with the proper routing information. If an exact match cannot be found, a response message is sent that indicates that the message is unroutable. Therefore, if a database lookup fails to yield an exact match to "email@example.com," the message would be deemed unroutable. This limits the utility of a SIP-based directory service to finding routes only when a caller (origin of the message) knows the exact destination identifier.

Method and system for providing directory based services


The device and the method are used to de-ice an elongated structural element having a closed contour. The device is formed of pairs of electrically conductive and insulated wires, preformed for winding, one next to the other, along and around the structural element following an helicoidal trajectory while embracing the contour of the structural element with a certain gap. The conductive wires have ends for receiving electromagnetic impulses, and opposite ends electrically connected together. The conductive wires are sized to withstand a current causing a repulsion force whose intensity is capable of breaking the ice or the frost on the structural element by the separation of the conductive wires from each other in response to the repulsion. The conductive wires have rigidity and elasticity properties such that they recover their shape around the structural element after the separation caused by the repulsion.

In cold regions, the structural tubular elements, no matter the shape that they exhibit, i.e. rectangular, square or circular, are often subjected to atmospheric ice precipitations, like hard frost, black ice and wet snow. The ice accumulation on these elements may cause mechanical overloads that will deform them, even going so far as to sometimes produce disastrous mechanical breakages. So far, there are no methods truly efficient from the energetic and automatized point of view, that are capable of reducing the ice accumulation on these structural elements.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,353 (HASLIM) and the U.S. Pat. No. 5,411,121 (LAFORTE et al.) describe devices or systems using high intensity electromagnetic impulses to break the ice.
In the case of HASLIM, the system is applicable to planar surfaces, and has been developed to remove the ice on the wing of an airplane. Electromagnetic pulses are injected in a thin double ribbon of copper positioned (embedded) in a rubber film.
In the case of LAFORTE et al., the device is applicable to stranded conductors, like a stranded cable. To break the ice, electromagnetic impulses are injected in some of the insulated, integrated conductive wires in the last stranded layer of the cable. These conductive wires are insulated for this purpose during the manufacturing process of the cable.
The publication entitled "An Investigation of Power Line De-icing by Electro-Impulse Methods", published in the paper IEEE Transaction on Power Delivery, Vol. 4, No. 3, July 1989 in the name of EGBERT et al., describes a test with an ACSR conductor coated with rubber bands containing flexible copper strips in which electromagnetic impulses have been injected. In this test, the rubber bands surrounding the conductor had not an appropriate shape and the copper strips, too thin, were not providing a sufficient mechanical resistance to break the ice, so that under the effect of impulses, the coating was deforming instead of breaking the ice, the mechanical resistance of the copper strips being lower than that of the ice. As underlined by the authors as a conclusion of their experimentation, the use of this type of overlapping does not allow to efficiently de-ice the closed surface of a conductor.

Device and method for de-icing an elongated structural element


Embodiments of the invention are related to data management systems, amongst other things. In an embodiment, the invention includes a video output and a processor in communication with the video output, wherein the video output and the processor are configured to display information regarding a patient in a first format and a second format through the video output simultaneously, the first format comprising a graphical formal and the second format comprising a textual format, the information displayed in the first format divided into a plurality of phases, wherein the system is configured to automatically change the information displayed in the second format based on user selection of one of the plurality of phases. Other embodiments are also included herein.

Many types of implantable medical devices gather and record data regarding the physiological state of the patient in which they are implanted and details of applied therapy. By way of example, an implantable cardiac rhythm management (CRM) device may gather and record data regarding heart rhythm, information regarding hemodynamics, details regarding electrical stimulation pulses that have been administered, and the like.
Clinicians may periodically access and review data gathered by implantable medical devices. By way of example, when a patient comes in for an appointment an external device, such as a programmer/recorder/monitor (PRM) device, may be used to access information stored by the implantable device. This information may then be stored and/or viewed by a clinician in order to assess the health of the patient and support treatment decisions.
However, the sheer amount of data provided by the implantable device may make effective use of the data challenging. In general, the more information that is presented simultaneously the more complex the display of the information becomes, resulting in a less user-friendly system.
For at least these reasons, a need exists for systems and methods of effectively displaying data gathered by an implantable medical device.

System for contextual display of data from an implantable medical device


A new and distinct Alternanthera plant cultivar is disclosed, characterized by an upright, freely branching growth habit, bright pink and dark purple two-toned foliage, small, narrow leaves and small, round white flowers that last 3 months or more during the fall.

The new cultivar is a product of a whole plant natural mutation. 'Brazilian Red' was discovered as a single plant by Lucilene Anatriello in a greenhouse of Alternanthera dentata plants on Sep. 10, 2005 in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil. The breeder selected the natural mutation of Alternanthera dentata for the best color and shape of the plant.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar 'Brazilian Red' by vegetative cuttings was performed in São José do Rio Preto, Brazil and Oxnard, Calif., and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type on successive generations.

Alternanthera plant named ‘Brazilian Red’


A valving system for reversing flow in a compressing device. The reversible compressor includes a reversible drive motor for reversing a rotational direction of a rotor, a first and second port located in a left and right side of a stator, respectively, and a first and second manifold located on a right a left side of said reversible compressor, the first and said second manifold includes a corresponding first and second inlet valve moveable between an open and closed position. A valving system between said first and said second manifold switches one of the first and second inlet valve to an open position to open a corresponding first or the second port for directional flow corresponding to the rotational direction of the rotor. In a first embodiment the valving system is a pressure-actuated control element and in a second embodiment the valving system includes a solenoid.

An air conditioning and refrigeration system consists of a relatively simple group of components that, collectively, are capable of transferring heat, through an intermediate fluid substance known as a refrigerant, from a relatively cool environment to a relatively warm environment. However, when the basic thermodynamics of air conditioning or refrigeration is applied to reversing this heat flow from inside-to-outside to outside-to-inside' without a reversible compressor, a heat pump is required, increasing the complexity of the air conditioner with additional system plumbing, solenoid valving, controls, etc.
The basic capability of an air conditioning (cooling) system that is also able to supply heating (a heat pump), lies within the compressor. Conventional compressors are not flow-reversible devices. In a system capable of cooling only, for example, the hot discharge refrigerant gas is routed directly to the heat exchanger residing in the relatively warm outside environment where relatively high-energy (high enthalpy) hot discharge refrigerant gas is condensed isothermally to a liquid due to the heat being transferred to the outside environment by a heat exchanger, referred to as a condenser.
The relatively warm, condensed (liquid phase), high pressure refrigerant then flows through a small orifice, known as an expansion valve, and into another heat exchanger (known as the evaporator) that is located within the cooled space, and is operating at low pressure because of the "suction" provided by the inlet flow into the intake of the compressor. A physical phenomenon, known as the Joule-Thompson effect, takes place as the liquid refrigerant that passes through the expansion valve becomes very cool due to the significant pressure differential it experiences as it flows across the orifice.
Because of a drop in the pressure the refrigerant experiences as it flows through the expansion valve, a portion of the liquefied (condensed) refrigerant leaving the expansion valve flashes into a vapor phase. This rapid drop in refrigerant pressure results in the flashed vapor and the remaining liquid refrigerant to become relatively cold. The remaining cold, low-pressure refrigerant flows through the evaporator where it absorbs heat from the air in the cooled space it is located in, causing the refrigerant to evaporate into its gaseous phase. The refrigerant then reenters the inlet of the compressor where the cycle repeats.
Conventional compression devices and valving systems are unable to exchange the inlet port for the outlet port by reversing the machine's rotational direction. In other words, conventional compression devices are not flow-reversible. In certain applications, such as air conditioning and heat pump systems, true compressor reversibility would be of exceptional value.
Since conventional compressors are not flow-reversible, when it is necessary to transfer heat from the outside environment to the inside to provide heating, additional hardware is required. The hot gas discharging from the compressor is re-routed from flowing to the outside heat exchanger to the inside heat exchanger through the use of additional plumbing and electrical solenoid valves, as described above. Subsequently, heat transferred to the inside heated space results in the condensation of the hot refrigerant gas to liquid form.
This relatively warm liquid refrigerant is required to be re-routed through additional plumbing, valving and controls to the outside environment heat exchanger after it passes through an expansion valve where the Joule-Thompson effect re-occurs causing the refrigerant to be colder than the outside environment. Due to the temperature difference, heat is absorbed through the heat exchanger that is now behaving as an evaporator.
As the environmental heat residing in the cool or cold outside is being transferred to the outside heat exchanger, the refrigerant evaporates as it absorbs the heat and returns to the gaseous phase. Having converted to a gas as a result of absorbing heat, the refrigerant re-enters the compressor inlet through additional plumbing, valving and controls; again, bringing the system to cyclic repetition.
On the other hand, if the refrigerant compressor had the capability to reverse its flow, the air conditioner would become a heat pump without requiring the additional plumbing, valving, controls, etc., required by conventional heat pumps. Since conventional compression devices and valving systems are unable to exchange the inlet port for the outlet port by reversing the rotational direction of the machine, they are not flow-reversible. In certain applications, such as air conditioning and heat pump systems, true compressor reversibility would be of exceptional value. For these reasons, a need exists for a reversible valving system for use in compressor devices.

Reversible valving system for use in pumps and compressing devices