In a dual chamber pacemaker capable of stimulating the atrium and ventricle in a heart, a stimulation pulse in the atrium could be sensed as a ventricular event which cannot be distinguished from a premature ventricular contraction, so the pacemaker institutes a blanking interval in which no sensing occurs and a crosstalk interval in which sensing occurs, detections in the crosstalk interval causing the emission of a ventricular stimulation pulse with a shortened A-V interval. A dual chamber pacemaker and a method for operating same are disclosed wherein the blanking interval is optimized so as to reduce the risk of a PVC being missed and so as also to minimize the number of detected events, caused by crosstalk from the atrium, in crosstalk intervals. This is accomplished by counting, for a number of cardiac cycles, the number of detections in crosstalk intervals and forming a relationship of the count to the number of cardiac cycles. This reduction is then used to determine the length of the blanking interval.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a dual chamber implantable pacemaker including a stimulation pulse generator which generates and emits stimulation pulses to an atrium via an atrial electrode lead and to a ventricle via a ventricular electrode lead, a detector which senses events in the ventricle and a control device which controls the stimulation pulse generator and the detector based on ventricular events detected (or not detected) within specified time intervals and a method for operating such a dual chamber pacemaker.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A dual chamber pacemaker of the type generally described above is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,870 wherein the control device inhibits detector sensing, after an atrial stimulation pulse has been emitted, for a preset blanking interval, orders a ventricular stimulation pulse after a lapse of a preset first A-V interval if no ventricular event is sensed between the end of the blanking interval and the end of the first A-V interval, orders emission of a ventricular stimulation pulse after a lapse of a preset second A-V interval, which is shorter than the first A-V interval, if at least one ventricular event is sensed in a preset crosstalk interval after the blanking interval, and inhibits emission of the ventricular stimulation pulse if a ventricular event is sensed after the lapse of the crosstalk interval.
This known pacemaker is capable of stimulating and sensing both in the atrium and ventricle and only stimulates when needed, i.e., when the heart itself is unable to maintain a normal rate. After every atrial event (stimulation or sensed spontaneous contraction), sensing of the ventricle is inhibited for one blanking interval, also referred to as an absolute refractory period, to prevent signals from the atrium from being interpreted as a ventricular contraction through crosstalk picked up by the detector in the ventricle. Numerous sources can give rise to crosstalk, but crosstalk from atrial stimulation pulses in particular can cause problems. The blanking interval is followed by a crosstalk interval, also referred to as a relative refractory period, during which ventricular events are sensed. However, it is impossible to determine whether events in the crosstalk interval are caused by noise or by a premature ventricular contraction (PVC). Since the sum of the blanking interval plus the crosstalk interval is selected to be less than the natural atrium-to-ventricle conduction time, i.e., the A-V interval, events in the crosstalk interval are interpreted as noise or crosstalk. As a safety measure for instances in which a PVC occurs in the crosstalk interval, the A-V interval programmed in the pacemaker is shortened. This is to prevent stimulation during the ventricle's vulnerable phase in conjunction with repolarization of cardiac tissue. In any event, the ventricular stimulation pulse is inhibited if a ventricular event occurs between the end of the crosstalk interval and the end of the programmed, or shortened, A-V interval.
One problem concerns deciding on the length of the blanking interval. The blanking interval should preferably be long enough to permit interference from the atrial stimulation pulse to abate. If it is too long, however, there is a risk that a PVC might not be detected, and a ventricular stimulation pulse could be emitted during the vulnerable phase, leading at worst to the triggering of fibrillation. On the other hand, a blanking interval which is too short often leads to detection of noise in the crosstalk interval. Ventricular stimulation with a shortened A-V interval could accordingly occur more frequently. As a result of the shorter A-V interval, a natural ventricular contraction might not have time to occur before the stimulation pulse is emitted. Unnecessary stimulation could thus occur, causing a needless energy drain on the implantable pacemaker's battery.
A pacemaker is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,589 in which the blanking interval can be initiated on multiple occasions during a single cardiac cycle. A first blanking interval is instituted after an atrial stimulation pulse, and a first crosstalk interval follows at the end of that blanking interval. If an event is detected within a given part of the first crosstalk interval, a second blanking interval is commenced. A second crosstalk interval starts thereafter, and a third blanking interval starts if an event is sensed within that given period. This sequence of blanking and crosstalk intervals continues until no event is sensed in the given part of the respective crosstalk interval, whereupon the crosstalk interval continues in the same way as in the pacemaker described in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,870 or until a maximum period of time elapses for blanking and crosstalk intervals, all subsequent events then being interpreted as ventricular contractions.
Even if this solution does produce immediate adaptation of the blanking interval, it does not fully solve the problem of minimizing the duration of the blanking interval without emission of excessive numbers of ventricular stimulation pulses with shortened A-V intervals. In addition, a PVC could appear in one of the crosstalk or blanking intervals without being registered as anything other than noise.

Dual chamber pacemaker and method for operating same


Systems and methods for performing diffusion-weighted multi-spectral imaging (“MS!”) with a magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) system are provided, Diffusion-weighted images can thus be acquired from a subject in which a metallic object, such as an implant or other device, is present. In general, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional diffusion-weighted PROPELLER acquisition is performed to acquire data from multiple different spectral bins. Images from the spectral bins are reconstructed and combined to form diffusion-weighted composite images. Non-CPMG phase-cycling and split-blade PROPELLER techniques are combined with PROPELLER MSI metal artifact mitigation principles to this end.

The field of the invention is systems and methods for magnetic resonance imaging ("MRI"). More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for diffusion-weighted MRI near metallic implants or devices.
Diffusion-weighted imaging ("DWI") is an MRI method for imaging certain brain and spinal cord pathologies, such as infarction (e.g., brain cell death) caused by ischemic stroke; nerve demyelination; and cytotoxic edema. Currently, DWI MRI relies on echo planar imaging ("EPI") pulse sequences to induce proton magnetization in tissue water molecules as part of the imaging process. However, imaging with EPI pulse sequence is highly susceptible to the effects of metallic implants or devices in the subject. As a result, the acquired images are often unrecognizable due to image distortions caused by metallic object-induced magnetic field perturbations.
To overcome the problem of the distortions caused by metallic implants or devices, multi-spectral imaging ("MSI") was developed. In general, MSI combines multiple MRI magnetic source measurements into a single set that is used to construct an undistorted image. MSI techniques have been successful in improving imaging of tissues near metal implants; however, these techniques are based on fast spin echo ("FSE") imaging and are therefore not inherently supportive of diffusion-weighting. In particular, the addition of diffusion lobes to an FSE sequence violates the CPMG condition, resulting in a rapid decay of the amplitude of the echo train. Additionally, FSE sequences do not solve the problem of obtaining high quality DWI images of brain, spinal cord, and other tissues if metal implants are present.
There remains a need then for the ability to perform diffusion-weighted MRI in regions near metallic objects, such as metallic implants or other devices.

Systems and methods for diffusion-weighted multi-spectral magnetic resonance imaging


The present invention provides a method for making an asymmetric inner structure in a contact or trench having a first sidewall, second sidewall, and a bottom in a semiconductor layer. A conformal dielectric layer is deposited on the interior surface of the contact or trench covering the first sidewall, second sidewall, and the bottom. A title angle ion implantation process is carried out to implant ions into the dielectric layer on the first sidewall and the bottom, but not the dielectric layer on the second sidewall. Thereafter, the doped dielectric layer on the first sidewall and the bottom is selectively etched away and leaving the un-doped dielectric layer on the second sidewall intact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor fabrication processes. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for fabricating asymmetric inner structure in contacts or trenches.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the fabrication of semiconductor devices, trenches, via or contact holes are always needed to provide electrical paths for devices situated in different levels of an integrated circuit chip or for isolation purposes. For example, shallow trenches are formed in the substrate in the front-end process. Dielectric materials are then deposited to fill the trenches such that the devices are isolated with the trenches. This is also known in the art as shallow trench isolation (STI) process. Via or contact holes are typically formed in inter-layer dielectric films as parts of the interconnections.
Sometimes, the trenches or via/contact holes with an asymmetric inner structure on their bottom and sidewalls are needed. However, the prior art method for making such asymmetric structure in the trenches or via/contact holes is complex and not reliable. According to the prior art method, to form such asymmetric structure in the trenches or via/contact holes, a photoresist layer is coated on the substrate to mask a part of the trench or contact opening, then a thermal or etching process is carried out, followed by removal of the photoresist. The process window of the prior art photolithographic method is quite small for contact holes with a small critical dimension, and misalignment happens from time to time.
Accordingly, the primary object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor fabrication process for making asymmetric structure in trenches or contact holes without the need of using photoresist or lithographic process.
According to the claimed invention, a method for making an asymmetric interior structure in a trench or contact hole of a substrate layer is provided. At least one trench or contact hole is formed in a substrate layer. The trench or contact opening comprises a first sidewall, second sidewall, and a bottom. A first dielectric layer is formed on the first sidewall, the second sidewall, and the bottom. A title angle ion implantation process is then carried out to dope ions into the first dielectric layer on the first sidewall and on the bottom, but not dope ions into the first dielectric layer on the second sidewall, thereby resulting in etching selectivity between the doped first dielectric layer on the first sidewall and on the bottom, and the non-doped first dielectric layer on the second sidewall. The doped first dielectric layer on the first sidewall and on the bottom is selectively etching away, thereby forming an asymmetric interior structure in the trench or contact hole.
Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the claimed invention will become more clearly and readily apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Method for fabricating asymmetric inner structure in contacts or trenches


Systems, methods, and apparatuses that allow for a high-hat mounted tambourine musical instrument to be muted are disclosed. In an aspect, the present disclosure provides a mutable tambourine jingle assembly that can be permanently engaged with the press of a button or otherwise. As such, the need for a user to physically hold the tambourine or an attached lever (e.g., a foot pedal) to mute the jingle assembly is obviated. In another aspect of the present disclosure, apparatuses are provided that facilitate a user simultaneously muting all of the jingles of a hi-hat mounted tambourine.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Percussion musical instruments capable of creating a sounds and rhythms are known in the art. One type of percussion musical instrument—the tambourine—has been used since ancient times and today can be found in many forms of music (e.g., Greek folk music, Italian folk music, classical music, Persian music, gospel music, pop music and rock music).
A typical tambourine consists of a frame, often made of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles (also called "zils") and may also include a drumhead. Tambourines come in many shapes, with the most common being circular or substantially semi-circular.
In order to play a tambourine, it is typically held in a user's hand and shaken, struck with the user's other hand, struck with a drum stick or other percussion tool, struck into the user's leg or hip, or a combination of two or more of the aforementioned techniques. When a user must use their hand or hands to play the tambourine, however, those hands are no longer available to play other percussion instruments. This is especially problematic because tambourines are often used in conjunction with other percussion instruments (e.g., drums). Thus, many tambourines are designed to be mounted to a drum set's high-hat rod. This allows a user to play the tambourine with a single foot pedal and frees their hands (and other foot) to play the drums as normal. This style of tambourine play is typically referred to as a "high-hat tambourine shake" technique.
Once a tambourine is mounted onto a high-hat rod, its jingles are subject to vibration from the user's other percussion instruments, and even vibration from the instruments being used by other members of the user's band. This produces unwanted and ill-timed sounds and rhythms during the course of a performance or musical work sound recording.
Given the foregoing, systems, methods, and apparatuses are needed that allow for a high-hat mounted tambourine to be muted.


A rotary magnetic head device for a helical scanning magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus includes a rotary drum, a thin-film magnetic head (6) protruding from the rotary drum in a diametrical direction for coming into contact with a magnetic tape (7), obliquely wound around part of the outer peripheral surface of the rotary drum, and head control circuit for adjusting the protrusion of the magnetic head (6) in the diametrical direction. The head control circuit includes a feed-forward control arrangement (9) to bring and hold the magnetic head into a protruded position in which the magnetic head exerts a constant normal force on a tape (7) wound around the drum.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a rotary magnetic head device for a helical scanning magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus, comprising a rotary drum, a thin-film magnetic head protruding from the rotary drum in a diametrical direction for coming into contact with a magnetic tape, wound around part of the outer peripheral surface of the rotary drum, and head control means for adjusting the protrusion of the magnetic head in the diametrical direction.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a rotary magnetic head device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,992. The device in this document is provided with an envelope detector for detecting an envelope of a reproduced signal from the magnetic head, search means, coupled to the envelope detector, for obtaining a minimum amount of projection of the magnetic head in a projection range in which a detected envelope level is saturated, by sequentially driving the magnetic head to vary the projection of the magnetic head, and control means for controlling the magnetic head to position the magnetic head at a projection which coincides with the minimum amount of projection obtained by the search means. In other words, the head control means comprises a feed-back control arrangement to bring and hold the magnetic head into a desired protruded position.

Rotary magnetic head device for a magnetic recording and reproducing apparatus


A method for treating a keratinous substrate comprising contacting the keratinous substrate with a composition containing at least one emulsifying agent comprising at least two different polysaccharides and at least one nonionic surfactant; at least one gelling agent; optionally, at least one film former, and a cosmetically acceptable carrier; wherein the composition exhibits an enhanced elastic property and the composition possesses a whipped texture.

Consumers of cosmetic products actively seek out multi-functional, new products which are pleasing to the senses, both on application and in use, and which have innovative, interesting and/or pleasing textures, preferably without any sacrifice to functional performance. One important functional element of such compositions is their ability to condition and style the hair without weighing it down. Many consumers seek hair care products which provide a light feel, are easy to apply, moisturize, and add shine to the hair. The resulting feel and texture of the product during the application process, in addition to the feel of the hair after the application are also important elements of such commodities. While different technologies and products exist that have similar qualities, there is still a need for improvement in these areas.
Traditional hair treatment compositions on the cosmetic market appear in various forms. They can range anywhere from solutions, foams, gels, creams, waxes, serums, to aerosols and can impart a variety of levels of conditioning depending on the state of the hair. However, these conventional cosmetic compositions contain emulsifying systems which have limitations and thus are less appealing to the consumer. Such limitations may include sticky or greasy products, irritation on the scalp, a heavy or oily feel to the hair, and the use of high levels of raw materials or additional ingredients to achieve certain attributes, leading to a costly product. Furthermore, some of these traditional hair treatment products require the use of propellants in order to achieve impart certain desirable textures to the product. Therefore, there is still a need to improve currently marketed commodities in order to provide the consumer with innovative formulations that present both sensory and functionality perspectives on hair treatment products.
Thus, the object of this invention is related to a composition and process of treating the hair utilizing hair compositions with unique emulsifying systems and a whipped texture that will penetrate the hair to add moisture, but will not result in any product build up or leave the hair feeling greasy. The unique whipped texture of the cosmetic composition of the present invention may be characterized by an enhanced elastic property, a desirable bouncy texture, and significantly improved viscosity over traditional hair treatment products.

Whipped composition for the treatment of keratin fibers


A hammer assembly is actuated to drive an earth bit through a formation. The hammer assembly includes a piston, and a flow control tube which extends through the piston. The flow control tube includes drive and return guide ports. The piston is repeatably moveable relative to the drive and return guide ports in response to a fluid flow through the flow control tube. In this way, the hammer assembly is actuated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to earth bits for drilling.
2. Description of the Related Art
An earth bit is commonly used for boring through a formation to form a borehole. Such boreholes may be formed for many different reasons, such as drilling for oil, minerals and geothermal steam. There are several different types of earth bits that are used forming a borehole. One type is a tri-cone rotary earth bit and, in a typical setup, it includes three earth bit cutting cones rotatably mounted to separate lugs. The lugs are joined together through welding to form a bit body. The earth bit cutting cones rotate in response to contacting the formation as the earth bit body is rotated in the borehole. Several examples of rotary earth bits are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,550,972, 3,847,235, 4,136,748, 4,427,307, 4,688,651, 4,741,471 and 6,513,607.
Some attempts have been made to form boreholes at a faster rate, as discussed in more detail in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,250,337, 3,307,641, 3,807,512, 4,502,552, 5,730,230, 6,371,223 6,986,394 and 7,377,338 as well as in U.S. Patent Application No. 20050045380. Some of these references disclose using a percussion hammer to apply an overstrike force to the earth bit. However, it is desirable to increase the boring rate when using the percussion hammer, and to reduce the amount of damage to the earth bit in response to the overstrike force.

Percussion assisted rotary earth bit and method of operating the same


A dynamically-reconfigurable antenna having a microstrip patchwork radiating surface wherein individual radiating patches can be connected to and disconnected from each other via photoconductive interconnections between the radiating patches. Commands from software alternately turn light from light emitting sources on or off, the light or lack thereof being channeled from an underside layer of the antenna so as to enable or disable the photoconductive interconnections. The resultant connection or disconnection of the radiating patches will vary the antenna's frequency, bandwidth, and beam pointing.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of communications antennas. More specifically the present invention relates to electronically reconfigurable and beam-steered planar antenna structures.
2. Background
The development of antennas for use on moving platforms such as aircraft and ground vehicles has not been particularly difficult for low frequency applications where near-omnidirectional antenna beam patterns provide sufficient radio frequency (RF) gain. However, at higher frequencies an air or ground vehicle antenna must possess a degree of spatial directionality to achieve sufficient gain to close transmit and receive communications links.
Spatially-directional antennas used in air and ground vehicle applications must also have beam steering capabilities in order to maintain line-of-sight communications. Where the dynamics are not too great, beam steering on moving platforms has been accomplished by mechanical steering means. However, when platform dynamics are high, electronic beam phase-shift steering is the only means that will suffice.
When airborne antenna applications will have an adverse impact on aerodynamics, planar, electronically phase-shift steered antennas represent the only viable solution because they afford integration into the airframe with minimal disturbance to airflow. Conformal antennas provide the ultimate solution to integration into an airframe because conformal arrays can be shaped to match portions of an aircraft such as fuselages and even wing leading edges. The application of multiple conformal arrays also relaxes the requirements for phase steering because at any given time the conformal array pointed being oriented nearest to boresight can be selected to carry the communications link.
Moreover, because antennas are generally designed to operate at a given relatively narrow frequency band, by design, their operational frequency range is generally fixed. Wide bandwidth antennas solve the problem of having to integrate a separate system of antenna arrays into an aircraft for each frequency band of interest. To the extent that a single antenna array can be reconfigured in real time to support multiple frequency bands of operation, the better in terms of power, weight, and space.
What is needed therefore is a communications antenna system and structure that provides real time control over electronic beam steering and operational frequency band, while possessing a simple planar structure with adaptability to conformal integration with a host platform.

Dynamically reconfigurable microstrip antenna

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force


The present invention concerns an apparatus and a method for stimulating brain tissue with pulsed electromagnetic fields weaker than the limit for elicitation of the action potentials of the cells of the tissue to be stimulated, the apparatus comprising: at least one electrically conducting coil positioned at a bitemporal position such that hippocampus is stimulated by at least one magnetic field upon supplying a pulse to said coil as well as a coil positioned at a occipital and parietal position; and a pulse generation means operationally connected to said at least one coil for supplying a series of current pulses for conduction, allowing generation of pulsed electromagnetic fields sufficiently strong to cause protein activation, and weaker than the limit for elicitation of the action potentials of the cells of the tissue to be stimulated.

Pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF) have been used widely to activate cellular signalling and have been implicated in a number of disease treatments including, delayed non-heating fractures, pseudoarthrosis, osteoarthritis, bone fractures and related problems and have also been suggested for the treatment of nerve growth and wound healing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,561,968 describes a method and apparatus that utilises the electromotoric force imposed on tissue by a unique combination of coils arrangements.
The application US 2003/50527 describes devices and methods for transcranial magnetic stimulation, "TMS". TMS is described as a means for repetitively stimulating the human brain through an intact scalp and skull, i.e. non-invasively. TMS is delivered by passing a brief (200 microsecond), strong (10 kV, 6000 A) electrical current through a coil of wire (a TMS stimulator) placed adjacent to the head. The passage of electrical current induces a strong (2 Tesla) magnetic field which induces electrical currents in nearby tissues. In particular, this application concerns rapid rate transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) using a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The stimulator output is set to 110% of relaxed motor threshold. Stimulation is delivered in ten trains of 5 seconds each, with trains beginning 30 seconds apart. Treatment is administered once daily for five consecutive weekdays.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,425,852 describes use of rapid rate transcranial magnetic stimulation with a frequency of 1 Hz or 5 Hz for the treatment of depression, apparently suggesting the use of strong magnetic fields in the Tesla range.

Apparatus and method for pulsed electrical field treatment


The present invention relates to the use of a pharmaceutical composition comprising a pyrethroid compound for inhibiting unwanted eye movement and for treating eye movement disorders, such as, but not limited to, nystagmus. The invention is directed to methods for treating unwanted eye movement and eye movement disorders by administering a pharmaceutical composition comprising a pyrethroid compound that is lambda cyhalothrin or an analog thereof, through topical administration of the composition or incorporation of the composition into a contact lens or an ocular device for implantation into the eye. It further provides for pharmaceutical compositions for the treatment of eye movement disorders and methods of preparing them.

Nystagmus comes from the Greek word "nystagmos", which means to nod or drowsiness, and "nystazein" to doze. It is a rhythmic, involuntary oscillation of one or both eyes. Using the information obtained from a complete history, physical examination, and radiographic and eye movement recordings, over forty types of nystagmus can be distinguished. Some forms of nystagmus are physiologic, whereas others are pathologic.
Although nystagmus is typically described by its more easily observable fast (jerk) phase, the salient clinical and pathologic feature is the presence of a slow phase in one or both directions. Thus, clinical descriptions of nystagmus are usually based on the direction of the fast phase and are termed horizontal, vertical, torsional, or any combination of these. The nystagmus may be conjugate or dysconjugate. The nystagmus may be predominantly pendular or jerky, the former referring to equal velocity to-and-fro movement of the eyes, and the latter referring to the eyes moving faster in one direction and slower in the other. Involuntary ocular oscillations containing only fast phases are "saccadic oscillations and intrusions" and not nystagmus. It is well documented that these differences may be difficult, if not impossible, to differentiate clinically and can only be accomplished with eye movement recordings. Recent advances in eye movement recording technology have increased its application in infants and children who have clinical disturbances of the ocular motor system.
Infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS) is an ocular motor disorder of unknown etiology, which presents at birth or early infancy and is clinically characterized by involuntary oscillations of the eyes. INS is defined according to the National Eye Institute collaborative Classification of Eye Movement Abnormalities and Strabismus (CEMAS). Estimations of incidence of INS vary from 1 in 500 to 1 in 6,000. Clinical characteristics include: increased intensity with fixation and decreased with sleep or inattention; variable intensity in some position of gaze (a null position); changing direction in different positions of gaze (about a neutral position); decreased intensity (damping) with convergence; anomalous head posturing; strabismus; and the increased incidence of significant refractive errors. INS can occur in association with congenital or acquired defects in the visual sensory system (e.g., albinism, achromatopsia, and congenital cataracts).
Nystagmus can cause significant impairment in vision. Visual symptoms are very common and are inversely proportional to the frequency (and speed) of the oscillation in the eye. Visual sensitivity for both pattern and movement detection is reduced because of these eye movements. Images spend little time in the foveal area, and image movement, often in excess of 80 degrees/second causes blur, oscillopsia, diplopia, and vertigo. These symptoms begin at retinal slip velocities of greater than 4 degrees/second. Abolishing or reducing the nystagmus frequency ameliorates these symptoms.
Ideally, the treatment of nystagmus would be directed against the pathophysiological brain mechanism responsible for the ocular oscillation. Alternative secondary ameliorative therapies treat the eyes directly, and include prism glasses, contact lenses, occlusion of one eye, botulinum toxin, anesthetic injections, and eye muscle surgery.
INS and adult nystagmus may respond to drug treatment. Some patients benefit from gabapentin, scopolamine, clonazepam, or valproate. All of these drugs have limited usefulness due to a significant number of systemic side effects.
Multiple examples of level II and II based-medical evidence suggest that eye muscle surgery improves nystagmus and visual function in patients with INS or adult nystagmus. Variables reported pre- and post-operatively in patients with INS include: optotype and gaze dependent acuity, contrast sensitivity, motion detection, null zone characteristics, visual recognition time, subjective visual function and electrophysiological characteristics. Patients from multiple studies, who had their null zone optotype best-corrected binocular vision tested within 1 week and 4 to 6 weeks after eye muscle surgery (INS grouped mean data), showed a significant improvement. Overall, seventy-five percent improved 1-3 lines and fifteen percent improved 3 lines or greater.
Eye movement recordings also show that surgical intervention increases the prevalence of favorable nystagmus waveforms. However, even if the nystagmus is completely eliminated, the integrity of the afferent system (optic nerve, retina, brain disease) and the age-related timing of surgery limit the acuity potential in any one patient with INS.
As a result of eye muscle surgery improving their beat-to-beat nystagmus, patients receive more useful vision per unit time and as a function of gaze, recognize objects faster, have less head movement, better motion, and contrast sensitivity, thus "function" better. The common clinical perception is that eye muscle surgery only serves to centralize the INS null position. In fact, what happens is a broadening and deepening of the null zone. Data accumulated over the last 30 years shows that many afferent and efferent visual system measures improve as a result of eye muscle surgery on INS patients, regardless of the indication (eccentric null, vergence damping, strabismus or nystagmus alone), suggesting that neurovisual changes take place as a result of the surgical procedure itself, unrelated to moving or removing some of the extra ocular muscle. The current hypothesis is that surgical interference with peripheral extraocular muscle/tendon, "enthesial" proprioceptive nerve endings influence central ocular motor pathways, resulting in an improved INS oscillation.
Electrophysiological analysis using precise eye movement recordings have provided a new basis for eye movement abnormality classification, etiology, and treatment. These electrophysiological investigations have had a significant impact on eye movement systems research in much the same way as electrocardiography did on the study of cardiac rhythms. Eye movement recording methodology is most commonly used as a research tool by neurologists, neurophysiologists, psychophysicists, psychologists/psychiatrists, ophthalmologists, and optometrists. Practical applications of eye movement recording technology in clinical medicine include diagnosis/differentiation of eye movement disorders and utility as an "outcome measure" in clinical research. Eye movement recordings, by convention, display data during continuous periods of time. Position and velocity traces are clearly marked with up being rightward or upward eye movements and down being leftward or downward eye movements.
Multiple studies have used measures obtained from eye movement recordings to evaluate varied treatment effects on patients with nystagmus. For example, Kim et al., Jain et al., DePalo et al., Bandini et al., Stahl et al., Young et al., Leigh et al., and Hertle et al. all used frequency measures obtained from eye movement recordings to evaluate varied treatment effects on patients with nystagmus. In those studies where therapy decreased the patient's symptoms and signs, eye movement recordings showed an improvement in the nystagmus.
It has been discovered that certain pyrethroid compounds, when administered, intraocular, through topical administration or implantation of an ocular device or contact lens containing the pyrethroid, have a significant impact in improving nystagmus and the visual abnormalities associated therewith, without the attendant disadvantages of medication side effects or invasive surgery. The pyrethroid compounds are formulated in a topical ophthalmic delivery system, such as a solution, suspension, ointment or gel, or incorporated into an ocular device, such as an ocular implant, reservoir or contact lens.
Pyrethroids are a group of man-made (synthetic) pesticides designed to resemble the natural pesticide pyrethrum, which is produced by chrysanthemum flowers. Pyrethroids disrupt the normal functioning of the nervous system in an organism or animal, including human, by prolonging the deactivation of voltage-gated sodium channels, which results in prolonged excitation of nerve fibers.
Synthetic pyrethroids containing an alpha-cyano group (such as lambda-cyhalothrin, the active ingredient in Hot Shot® Home Insect Control (Spectrum Brands) and Warrior IIR crop protection pesticide (Syngenta)) are more potent in eliciting neurotoxic effects, in comparison to pyrethroids that do not contain an alpha-cyano group.
While synthetic pyrethroids have a higher level of selectivity and toxicity for the insect nervous system, local effects on human skin resulting in paresthesias can occur in association with overexposure. Paresthesias are considered a local effect resulting from cutaneous overexposure to certain synthetic pyrethroids, in contrast to an effect mediated through the central nervous system.
Even so, systemic toxicity is uncommon in humans, as the dermal absorption of these chemicals appears to be minimal. Most cases of systemic poisoning and central nervous system effects from synthetic pyrethroids have been reported in association with occupational overexposure or from intentional ingestion. Field studies of agricultural workers with cutaneous exposure to synthetic pyrethroids have reported that when paresthesias occur, the abnormal sensations usually develop several hours after the time of contact. The paresthesia has been described as ranging from a mild itch to a stinging sensation, with progression to numbness in some cases. These paresthesias can be exacerbated by direct exposure to sunlight and upon contact with water. The duration of symptoms varies, ranging from several hours to approximately 24 hours. In most cases, there are no physical abnormalities (such as erythema, edema, or vesiculation) observed in areas of affected skin.
In a study that investigated abnormalities in neurological signs and electrophysiological findings among individuals who had experienced paresthesias from contact exposure to synthetic pyrethroids, no significant differences were observed in comparison to unexposed (control) subjects. Experimental studies and anecdotal reports have suggested that topical Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol) can reduce the effect of paresthesias through mechanisms that are not well understood.
The warning label for lambda cyhalothrin-containing insecticides states that it is potentially fatal if swallowed, and that it causes "moderate eye irritation." If the product contacts the eyes, the label recommends immediate rinsing followed by seeking the advice of a poison control center or physician. When handling the product, it indicates that handlers must wear eye protection.
It is an object of the invention to provide an ophthalmic composition comprising a pyrethroid compound useful in the treatment of eye movement disorders characterized by unwanted eye movements, such as nystagmus.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a method for the treatment of nystagmus or other conditions involving unwanted eye movements, which provides for significant and prolonged reduction of unwanted eye movements with little or no toxic local or systemic side effects.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide for pharmaceutical compositions comprising an effective amount of a pyrethroid compound, which may be administered topically in the eye or incorporated into an ocular implant, including but not limited to a reservoir, matrix, contact lens or other solid implantable device.
Still other objects of the invention will be evident from the disclosure herein.

Pyrethroids for treatment of ocular movement disorders


A display is disclosed that comprises an array of display pixels, in which light sensing pixels are interspersed with the display pixels substantially across the area of the display. At least one color display sub-pixel is arranged to be switched off when the corresponding color light sensor pixel closest to that display sub-pixel is detecting light to generate an image. A portable electronic device is disclosed which comprises the display. The display is then operable to capture an image from the light sensing pixels, so that for example it can then operate as one or more of a digital mirror, scanner, biometric lock or touch panel. When a user looks at the display for a video call, the captured image of the user appears to look directly the other party.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to an imaging device and method.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
Conventional devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers frequently comprise one or more cameras. These cameras are generally used for taking photographs or for making video calls.
One issue with video calls is that often neither user will appear to be looking at the other. This is because in order to appear to be looking at the other party, a user must look at the camera rather than at the screen where the other party is being displayed on-screen. Generally, most users will either just look at the display, or alternate between display and camera. Neither is a very satisfactory approach and results in an unnatural appearance or behaviour of the user.
One way to mitigate this effect is to display the user's own image in a small window on the display, so that they become aware of their appearance and can adapt it if they wish.
Another approach is to position video cameras on either side of the display; in this case when the user looks at the display, an interpolated image of the user may be generated from both images to produce an image in which the user appears to be facing a virtual camera positioned centrally within the display. However, this is relatively wasteful of computing resources and hence battery life, and also requires a second camera that is used potentially only for this purpose, which adds cost.
Hence it is still desirable to provide a means to mitigate this effect.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited


A device with semiconductor chips on a primary carrier is disclosed. In an embodiment a device includes a primary carrier, a plurality of semiconductor chips arranged on the primary carrier, a radiation conversion material arranged at least in places on the semiconductor chips and the primary carrier, a secondary carrier to which the primary carrier is attached and a scattering body arranged on a front side of the secondary carrier facing the primary carrier, the scattering body covering the semiconductor chips, wherein the primary carrier is formed reflective to primary radiation at least in a region of the semiconductor chips, and wherein, during operation of the device, at least secondary radiation exits through a front side of the scattering body facing away from the secondary carrier and through a rear side of the secondary carrier facing away from the primary carrier.

Conventional light bulbs are increasingly being replaced by light sources based on light emitting diodes. In particular, LED filaments, in which several LEDs are arranged on a strip-shaped substrate and surrounded by a silicone matrix, are used. These LED filaments simulate the filament of a conventional light bulb and produce an omnidirectional radiation. Such filaments can be incorporated into a glass bulb, which is identical to the gas bulb of incandescent lamps. However, the production of such LED filaments differs substantially from the production of other LED-based devices, such as surface-mountable devices. This typically requires a separate production line for the LED filaments. In addition, the production is cost-intensive, since the coating with the silicone matrix is complex and requires comparatively much material.

Device with semiconductor chips on a primary carrier


A KVS tree and operations thereon are described herein. A key-value set (kvset) is received to store in a key-value data structure on at least one machine readable medium. The kvset includes a mapping of unique keys to values with the keys and the values of the kvset being immutable. The key-value data structure is organized as a tree with nodes of the tree including a temporally ordered sequence of kvsets. The kvset, once received, is written to a sequence of kvsets of a root-node of the tree.

Data structures are organizations of data that permit a variety of ways to interact with the data stored therein. Data structures may be designed to permit efficient searches of the data, such as in a binary search tree, to permit efficient storage of sparse data, such as with a linked list, or to permit efficient storage of searchable data such as with a B-tree, among others.
Key-value data structures accept a key-value pair and are configured to respond to queries for the key. Key-value data structures may include such structures as dictionaries (e.g., maps, hash maps, etc.) in which the key is stored in a list that links (or contains) the respective value. While these structures are useful in-memory (e.g., in main or system state memory as opposed to storage), storage representations of these structures in persistent storage (e.g., on-disk) may be inefficient. Accordingly, a class of log-based storage structures have been introduced. An example is the log structured merge tree (LSM tree).
There have been a variety of LSM tree implementations, but many conform to a design in which key-value pairs are accepted into a key-sorted in-memory structure. As that in-memory structure fills, the data is distributed amongst child nodes. The distribution is such that keys in child nodes are ordered within the child nodes themselves as well as between the child nodes. For example, at a first tree-level with three child nodes, the largest key within a left-most child node is smaller than a smallest key from the middle child node and the largest key in the middle child node is smaller than the smallest key from the right-most child node. This structure permits an efficient search for both keys, but also ranges of keys in the data structure.


A generally square-shaped indexable cutting insert with four cutting edges for mounting in milling cutters for either slotting operations or for left-hand and right-hand face milling of right-angled corners in a metal workpiece. The cutting edge is parallel to the bottom surface and has a primary cutting edge extending between two wipers, each wiper being adjacent a corner edge. A first relief surface adjacent the primary cutting edge has a first relief angle and a second relief adjacent the two wipers has a second relief angle that is greater than the first relief angle. The first relief surface has a width dimension measured perpendicularly to the cutting edge that has a minimum value proximal to the two wipers and a maximum value at a central region of the cutting edge.

This invention relates to a generally square-shaped indexable cutting insert with four cutting edges for mounting in milling cutters for either slotting operations or for left-hand and right-hand face milling of right-angled corners in a metal workpiece.
In prior art milling cutters having square shaped indexable cutting inserts for milling of right-angled corners in a metal workpiece, the cutting inserts are generally mounted in such a way that a reference plane formed by the four cutting edges generates a negative radial rake and a positive axial rake (helix). Each insert has a main cutting edge for milling in a workpiece a right-angled corner, or shoulder, and a transversely directed secondary cutting edge. The secondary cutting edge generally comprises two sections, a section adjacent the main cutting edge that serves as a wiper for forming a smooth base wall of the shoulder and a non-operative section. The cutting insert is designed and mounted in the milling cutter so that a small clearance is formed between the non-operative section and the base wall of the shoulder.
Since the cutting insert is mounted with a positive axial rake it preferably has a positive geometry in order to ensure a clearance between the base wall of the shoulder and the side flank of the insert adjacent the base wall of the shoulder. A cutting insert mounted as described above in a milling cutter would have a relatively small cutting edge wedge angle and a large radial relief angle. Consequently, during machining the cutting insert would be susceptible to breakage in the region of the cutting edge and the milling cutter can also suffer from chatter. It has been found that the cutting insert""s performance can be improved when the clearance between the workpiece and the inserts side flank adjacent the workpiece is reduced in the region of the main cutting edge but is not reduced in the region of the wiper.
Of particular interest are generally square shaped cutting inserts with four cutting edges that can be used for both left-hand and right-hand milling. Such a cutting insert is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,951,212. However this insert does not provide for improved performance in the manner described.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel generally square shaped cutting insert with four cutting edges that can be used for both left-hand and right-hand milling and that provides improved performance in the manner described.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided an indexable cutting insert for use in milling cutters comprising:
a top surface, a bottom surface and M substantially identical side surfaces extending between the bottom surface and the top surface, the top surface having the general shape of an M-sided polygon in a top view of the cutting insert;
each side surface being located between two corner side surfaces;
each side surface sloping outwardly from the bottom surface toward the top surface and intersecting with the top surface at a cutting edge, the cutting edge being located between two corner edges and being substantially parallel to the bottom surface;
each cutting edge comprising a primary cutting edge extending between two wipers, each wiper being adjacent a corner edge;
each side surface comprising at least two component surfaces, a first relief surface adjacent the primary cutting edge and a second relief surface merging with the first relief surface at a boundary line and intersecting with the top surface at the two wipers; wherein
M is an integral multiple of four and the first relief surface has a width dimension measured perpendicularly to the cutting edge, the width dimension having a minimum value proximal to the two wipers and a maximum value at a central region of the cutting edge.
In accordance with the present invention, the first relief surface forms a first non-zero relief angle with a line perpendicular to a reference plane containing the cutting edge associated with each side surface, and the second relief surface forms, in the region of the first and second wipers, a second non-zero relief angle, wherein the second relief angle is greater than the first relief angle.
In accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention, the boundary line of each side surface comprises two equal substantially straight boundary line sections meeting at a central region of the side surface
Further in accordance with a specific embodiment of the present invention, the second relief surface comprises two similar constituent relief surfaces merging at the central region of the side surface.
Preferably, each one of the two constituent relief surfaces slopes outwardly from the corner side surfaces towards the central region of the side surface.
If desired, the first relief surface is ground.
Further if desired, the two constituent relief surfaces are ground.
Still yet further if desired, the second relief surface is provided with a recess centrally located therein.
In accordance with the present invention the cutting insert has a through bore passing through the top and bottom surfaces.
Preferably, the cutting insert comprises a pressed and sintered powder body.
In accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention, M is equal to four. In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the second relief surface is provided with a recess centrally located therein.


A measuring method of a battery includes the step of measuring frequency characteristics of an internal impedance of the battery by an AC impedance method, and determining a parameter of an element representing ease of mobility of charges on a surface of a positive electrode of the battery and that of an element representing the ease of mobility of charges on the surface of a negative electrode.

Compared with other secondary batteries such as nickel-cadmium batteries and nickel hydrogen batteries, lithium ion batteries have excellent characteristics such as a higher energy density, no memory effect, and a longer cycle life. For these reasons, lithium ion batteries have been widely used as a power source of portable electronic devices.
In the past few years, on the other hand, defects such as smoking or firing of battery packs using lithium ion batteries have arisen. The cause is considered to be a short circuit between electrodes due to mixed foreign metallic particles inside such lithium ion batteries. Currently, however, no foreign metallic particles have been found in batteries in which such defects have arisen and characteristics of batteries themselves could have caused such defects.
A battery capacity measuring method using impedance spectrum analysis is known as an example of a technology to measure such battery characteristics. Also, for example, the characteristic factor digitization method of batteries using a nonlinear equivalent circuit model is known.
However, the above technologies are both used to determine a battery capacity and are not methods of determining characteristics regarding safety of batteries.
Knowing electrical characteristics regarding safety of batteries is considered to be extremely important also for preventing defects caused by batteries. Moreover, if good batteries can be distinguished from bad ones by a simple method, defects may be considered to be preventable.
However, no method has been known to evaluate characteristics regarding safety of not only lithium ion batteries, but also other types of batteries. Thus, a simple evaluation method that can distinguish good batteries from bad ones is desired.
Under the current circumstances, as described above, there is a problem that it is difficult to evaluate characteristics regarding safety of batteries by a simple method to distinguish good batteries from bad ones.

Method of measuring characteristics regarding safety of battery


An apparatus for programmed audio annotation comprises a user's computer system having a display and a modem associated therewith, and a host computer system having an audio synthesizer unit and a memory unit associated therewith. The modem of the user's system and the audio synthesizer unit of the host system are coupled telephonically. An application program is executed on the user's computer system. The application program generates a sequence of screens for display to the user. Associated with each such screen is a digital word that is provided as part of a command to the modem. In response to such command, the modem transmits a dual tone multiple frequency (DTMF) signal which is received by the audio synthesizer unit of the host computer system. The memory unit of the host computer system contains digitized audio data corresponding to audio messages associated with each of the display screens of the application program. The audio synthesizer unit receives the DTMF signal and converts it to a digital address specifying a location in the memory unit. The specified digitized audio data is retrieved and is provided to the audio synthesizer unit which then synthesizes an audio signal. This audio signal is transmitted telephonically to the modem in the user's computer system where the signal is converted to an audible sound by the modem's internal speaker. Accordingly, the user hears the audible sound associated with a visual screen substantially concurrently with the display thereof.

Numerous computer programs have been developed that permit a user to operate the program interactively. Such programs are particularly well suited for educational, instructional and amusement purposes. The effectiveness of such programs can be greatly enhanced by providing sound effects and/or voice messages that are correlated with the visual information presented on the computer screen. It is well known that sound effects and voice messages can be synthesized from digitized data. However, the amount of audio information that can be presented is often severely limited by the amount of memory available. In this regard, it requires approximately 4 kilobytes of memory to store 1 second of audio information to obtain acceptable sound quality. Most personal computer systems, therefore, are capable of storing only a limited amount of audio information.
Systems for synthesizing voice and other audio messages are widely known. Systems for providing a telephonic audio interface are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,191,855 issued to Sakai; U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,438 issued to Hughes; U.S. Pat. No. 4,656,651 issued to Evans, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,877 issued to Dorsey, et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,777 issued to Szeto; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,716,583 issued to Groner, et al.
Such telephonic audio interface systems are often employed to provide an interface between a host computer and a user who desires to exchange information with the host system by means of a telephone. A common application for such a system is in the consumer banking industry. Typically, systems of this type provide a synthesized message in response to a user input. However, they do not provide messages that are correlated with the operation of an application program being run on the user's own computer.
As disclosed herein, the present invention provides a system whereby audio messages corresponding to visual information presented by a computer program are retrieved from a host computer and made audible to the local user such that it appears to the user as if the audio messages are being generated directly by the user's own computer.

Method and apparatus for programmed audio annotation


Lazy Write disk cache systems are often utilized in disk cache designs. In such systems, data to be written to the disk storage system is temporarily placed in cache memory for a preselected period of time until an actual update of the disk occurs. By deferring disk write operations input/output performance efficiency is enhanced. However, in sector-based disk storage systems in which data may only be read from or written to a disk in predetermined fixed amounts an attempted update of data often requires a read of data from the disk storage system to ensure that existing data is not written over during an update. The method and system of the present invention avoids this problem by maintaining a status table for each block of cache memory which includes an identification of each byte within each block of cache memory which will be updated. A required read from the disk storage system is then deferred until an update takes place, or eliminated entirely if all bytes within a cache memory block have been updated.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to improved data processing systems and in particular to methods and systems for improved efficiency in data updating within a data processing system. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to improvements in the efficiency of disk storage system input-output performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Data processing systems are well known in the art. Data stored within such data processing system is typically stored either within solid state memory devices such as Random-Access-Memory or within magnetic media, such as tape or disk storage systems. In the design of a data processing system the system designer must constantly trade off speed of access and cost when considering the maintaining of data within storage. For example, integrated circuit memory chips are increasingly less expensive; however, the cost of maintaining a particular amount of memory in integrated circuit memory chips is substantially greater than the cost for a similar amount of memory in a tape or disk storage system. However, access times for data stored within a tape or disk storage system are substantially greater than access times for data which is stored within Random-Access-Memory. Thus, modern system designers have often attempted to minimize the number of disk storage input/output operations which must take place during the processing of a particular application in order to maintain application speed at the highest possible level.
One technique known in the prior art for increasing the efficiency of an application is the so-called "Lazy Write" strategy, which is widely used in many disk cache designs. The Lazy Write strategy involves placing data to be written to the disk storage system in a memory cache for a defined period of time before the actual updating of the data on the physical disk block occurs. By postponing disk write operations, these operations are not performed in the time-critical path and the performance of the data processing system utilizing such a strategy is greatly enhanced over the write through strategy which requires at least one immediate disk access for each write request.
While the Lazy Write strategy greatly enhances the efficiency of input/output performance of disk storage systems in data processing systems it is not entirely efficient in sector-based disk systems. In such systems, disk granularity requires that only a fixed size data block may be read from or written to each disk during an input/output operation. These systems do not enjoy all of the efficiency of a Lazy Write cache write strategy in that an attempt to write less than the minimum data block of data to the disk requires that the non-updated data from the disk be read into cache memory before the execution of a write operation. This requirement is due to the fact that an attempt to write the minimum size data block to the disk system will overwrite any non-updated data within the data block. Several common cases in which this occurs are situations in which an application attempts a partial write, that is, a write of less than the fixed size data block permitted by disk system granularity or write which is less than the granularity permitted by the Lazy Write strategy in the writing to a disk system. The effectiveness and performance of the Lazy Write operation is therefore significantly degraded, due to the requirement for additional read requests in such sector-based disk systems.
It should therefore be obvious that a need exists for a method and system whereby input/output performance may be enhanced for sector-based disk storage systems within a data processing system.

Method and system for deferred read in lazy-write disk cache systems

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention relates to a device for feeding products, comprising a compartment for storing a plurality of products, on which compartment one or more products can be removed at a removal region, and on the side opposite the removal region a slider pretensioned by a spring rests against one of the products and is moved in the feed direction when a product is removed, wherein a sensor is provided for recording the stock of products, and a method for recording a stock of products on a compartment having a plurality of products.

The present invention relates to a device for feeding products, comprising a compartment for storing a plurality of products, on which compartment one or more products can be removed at a removal region, and on the side opposite the removal region a slider pretensioned by a spring rests against one of the products and is moved in the feed direction when a product is removed, wherein a sensor is provided for recording the stock of products, and a method for recording a stock of products on a compartment having a plurality of products.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,260,456 B2 discloses a device for feeding products in which a slider is provided on a product compartment, by means of which the products can be conveyed to a removal region. The slider is guided along a rail, and a sensor is provided at a rear region opposite to the removal region, by means of which the position of the slider can be detected. By recording the position of the slider, continuous inventory monitoring can be carried out. However, it is disadvantageous that the structural expenditure for recording the stock of products is high at the individual compartments and, in addition, due to the ongoing inventory monitoring, there is a high energy requirement, which requires a connection to a power grid.

Device for feeding products and method for recording a stock of products

POS TUNING Udo Vosshenrich GmbH & Co. KG


Light-sensitive silver halide color photographic elements comprising a silver halide photographic emulsion layer including a) at least one 2,5-diacylamino phenol cyan coupler dissolved in low-boiling water-immiscible organic solvent droplets dispersed in said emulsion layer in reactive association with at least one non-ionic surfactant compound having a HLB higher than 20 and at least one anionic surfactant compound and b) at least one cationic carbocyanine spectral sensitizing dye.

The spectral sensitizing technique of adding certain sensitizing dyes to a silver halide photographic emulsion to expand its natural light-sensitive wavelength region towards the longer wavelengths is well known in the art for preparing silver halide color photographic emulsions.
The degree of spectral sensitization is influenced by the chemical structure of the sensitizing dye, by the properties of the emulsion (for example, composition of silver halides, crystal habit, crystal form, silver ion concentration) and other characteristics. It is also influenced by the photographic additives present in the emulsion, such as stabilizer agents, antifoggants, color couplers, etc.
Combination of the sensitizing dye and the coupler to form a salt, causing the sensitizer molecules to be desorbed from the grain surface, has been since long recognised in the art (H. Meier, Spectral Sensitization, The Focal Press, 1968, p.52).
2,5-Diacylamino-phenol cyan couplers are known to produce cyan dyes having excellent resistance against fading as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,333,999; 4,451,559; 4,465,766 and 4,554,244.
The combination of 2,5-diacylamino-phenol cyan couplers with conventional cationic cyanine dyes shows no sensitometric problem if the coupler is added to a red sensitized emulsion immediately before coating, whereas it causes a dramatic loss of red sensitivity (desensitization) if the finalled emulsion is held several hours at high temperature before coating.
With cyanine dyes having two sulfoalkyl groups, desensitization does not occur, but such cyanine dyes cause an increased sensitization of the adjacent layers of the coated film (diffusion sensitization) since they can diffuse into them under high temperature and humidity. This is a serious problem in practical use.
U.S. Pat. No.4,513,081 describes a silver halide photographic emulsion comprising a 2,5-diacylamino-cyan coupler and a merocyanine sensitizing dye which does not undergo desensitization and diffusion sensitization. The inhibition of spectral sensitization which occurs with conventional carbocyanine dyes can be prevented by using particular merocyanine dyes.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,676,141 describes a process for dispersing an organic solution of a oleophilic photographic material into an aqueous gelatin solution in the presence of at least one anionic surface active agent and at least one nonionic surface active agent. The nonionic surface active agent used is selected from anhydrohexitol esters having HLB (Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance) values in the range of from 3.5 to 9.5. The process provides finely dispersed oleophilic photographic materials and stable dispersions. 2,5-Diacylamino-phenol couplers are not disclosed in said patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,425 describes a process for dispersing an organic solution of an oleophilic photographic material in an aqueous medium in the presence of a) at least one nonionic surface active agent containing in the molecule thereof polyoxyethylene units and polyoxypropylene units in a molar ratio from 0.1 to 0.6 and b) at least one anionic surface active agent. Said noionic surface active agents are characterized by low values of HLB (for example, Pluronic.TM. L-61, a nonionic surface active agent made by Wyandotte Chem. Co. and cited at col. 11 lines 17-18, has an HLB of 3). The process provides stable dispersions in which the oleophilic photographic material is finely dispersed in the aqueous medium. 2,5-Diacylaminophenol couplers are not disclosed in said patent.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,517 describes a method for incorporating a water-insoluble photographic ingredient into a photographic hydrophilic colloid layer which comprises dissolving said ingredient in a water-soluble organic solvent, admixing said solution with water in the presence of a surface active agent but in the absence of a hydrophilic colloid, removing said organic solvent and incorporating the dispersion thus formed into the hydrophilic colloid coating composition. The surface active agent comprises a combination of an anionic dispersing agent and a non-ionic dispersing agent so that the HLB value of the combination is between 8 and 18 inclusive. Among the examples of nonionic surface active agents in said patent is Span.TM. 20 (trade name of the Atlas Chemical Industries Inc., USA, for sorbitan monolaurate). The process gives improved stability of the dispersion and better coating characteristics of the hydrophilic colloid layer including said dispersion. 2,5-Diacylamino-phenol couplers are not disclosed in said patent.

Light-sensitive silver halide color photographic elements containing surfactants with a combined HLB greater than 20

Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company


An image processing apparatus stores pixel data of an input image in a storage apparatus after performing resolution conversion encoding, and performs a pixel interpolation process after reading out the pixel data stored in the storage apparatus and performing resolution conversion decoding. The image processing apparatus determines, when resolution conversion encoding the pixel data of the input image, whether a resolution of the pixel data will decrease due to the pixel interpolation process, based on attribute information indicating an attribute of the pixel data, and performs processing to decrease the resolution of the pixel data in the resolution conversion encoding, if it is determined that the resolution will decrease.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and a processing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, there has been strong demand for high-resolution color images, and in response to calls for improved quality of these images, digital multifunction peripherals now handle images with resolutions of 1200 dpi (dots per inch) or more. With image processing apparatuses such as digital multifunction peripherals, memory and hard disk space are saved and the write time to these memories is shortened, by performing encoding compression when internally spooling image data to be handled by the apparatus, allowing reductions in cost and increases in speed to be achieved.
Here, JPEG schemes utilizing the discrete cosine transform and schemes utilizing wavelet transform are often used as compression schemes for still image data handled by an image processing apparatus. These encoding schemes encode an image in prescribed block units (for example, 8×8 or 16×16 pixels), and obtain a high compression efficiency by performing the discrete cosine transform, quantization and entropy coding.
Also, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-104621 discloses an image coding apparatus that divides an image into small block unit areas (for example, 2×2 pixels), determines the representative color and interpolation representative color of the pixels constituting the blocks, and performs encoding at a fixed compression ratio by converting the resolution.
However, with an image processing apparatus that performs image processing after decoding encoding-compressed data that has undergone resolution conversion, there is a problem in that the compression efficiency decreases as shown below.
With an image processing apparatus, a pseudo-gradation process such as color conversion, filtering or dithering and a smoothing process are performed when printing, after decoding image data that has been encoding-compressed and spooled, after which image forming is performed. With smoothing, for example, edge enhancement is performed using a pixel interpolation process on edge portions of text and lines, which may lead to a decrease in resolution due to pixels in the block unit areas on which encoding compression is performed becoming thicker as a result of this pixel interpolation process. That is, pixels constituting a block that is determined to have a high resolution and is encoded at a low compression ratio when resolution conversion encoding is performed may become thicker low-resolution pixels due to the smoothing process, resulting in the high resolution determination when performing resolution conversion encoding being pointless.

Image processing apparatus and processing method thereof


The present invention is related to methods for dyeing a traveling cellulosic substrate. The methods include steps of cationizing a cellulosic substrate followed by applying foam including one or more dyes to the cationized cellulosic substrate.

The most commonly used processes for imparting color to cellulosic materials are piece dyeing, continuous dyeing and yarn dyeing. In continuous dyeing, which is used primarily for fabrics that are to be a solid color, a continuous length of dry cloth is passed full-width through a trough of hot dye solution. The cloth then goes between padded rollers that squeeze in the color evenly and removes the excess liquid. In the piece dyeing method, the fabric, in a rope-like coil, is processed on a reel that passes in and out of a dye beck or vat. Yarn dyeing, which occurs before the cloth is woven or knitted, is used to produce gingham checks, plaids, woven stripes and other special effects. Blue dyed warp yarns, for example, are combined with white filling yarns in denim construction. One of the most commonly used yarn dyeing methods is package dyeing. In this system, yarn is wound on perforated cylinders or packages and placed on vertical spindles in a round dyeing machine. In each of these referenced dyeing methods, heat, chemicals, and salts must be added to the dye bath regardless of the chemical class of the dye being used. That is, a significant amount of energy, chemicals, and salt is required in transferring dye molecules from the dye solution to the fiber as well as in swelling the fiber to render it more receptive to dyeing. Even with the best processes, only a certain percentage of the dyes are transferred to the cellulosic fabric and the excess must be washed out in subsequent steps. These processes are problematic for dye application uniformity, they use large amounts of energy and create waste water that contains residual byes, chemicals, and salts.
Since the world currently uses cotton more than any other fiber, computers are used increasingly in dyeing processes to formulate and match colors with greater speed and accuracy as the demand for cotton appears to be growing. However, there remains a need for efficient and robust methods of dyeing cellulosic materials.


An apparatus and method for high speed transmission of data over a transmission line/medium/network telephone, wherein this high speed is achieved by simultaneously, or in a timed and marked relationship, transmitting multiple bits of data over parallel frequencies rather than serially transmitting one bit of data at a time over one frequency.

This invention relates to devices for transmitting data over a communication line/medium/network, and more particularly to an apparatus and a process for transmitting data in parallel over a communication line/medium/network.
Devices for transmitting data over communications lines such as modems are well known in the prior art. These devices are commonly used throughout the world to enable businesses, governments and educational institutions to conduct their affairs. They are also being used more commonly in homes throughout the world for personal computing and communication. The use of these devices continues to increase as ever larger numbers of people are communicating on the information super highway.
Although improvements in modem technology enable the speed at which these devices operate to be periodically increased, the process they employ to transmit data serves as an inherent limitation on the top speed they will ever be able to attain. This is because conventional modems transmit data in serial, i.e. one bit of data at a time, over one frequency. It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an apparatus and a process which overcomes this limitation by simultaneously transmitting multiple bits of data over parallel frequencies within the narrowest possible bandwidth while providing a higher level of security.
An apparatus and method for high speed transmission of data over a communication line/medium/network, wherein this high speed is achieved by generating multiple signals which are alternately combinable and seperable to enable multiple bits of data to be transmitted simultaneously and or in a timed relationship over parallel frequencies rather than being transmitted one bit at a time over one frequency.

Apparatus and method for high speed data communication


Word line assist circuits are disclosed for high performance sub-micron SRAM designs. One embodiment is an SRAM device that includes a memory cell array and a pair of word lines that traverse the memory cell array for selecting memory cells. The SRAM device further includes a pair of word line drivers, each coupled to one of the word lines. The SRAM device further includes a word line assist circuit coupled to the pair of word lines that receives an enable signal. Responsive to receiving the enable signal, the word line assist circuit assists the first word line driver and the second word line driver in transitioning their respective word lines from a logic level zero to a logic level one in response to a voltage differential between the word lines.

In wide Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) devices, the number of columns of memory cells can be very high. When a word line traverses across the high number of memory cells, the word line is subjected to a large amount of impedance (e.g., from the gate capacitances of the SRAM latch access transistors). In small process technologies (e.g., 16 nanometer), it is difficult to ensure that the ends of the word lines that are farthest away from the word line drivers achieve an acceptable slope. In some cases, the far ends of the word lines are unable to reach the supply rail voltage of the drivers, which reduces the noise margin for memory cells located at the far ends. While word lines can often include re-buffers to boost the word line signals (e.g., a series pair of inverters in a word line signaling path), the re-buffers introduce propagation delays, which decreases the performance of the SRAM devices.

Differential latch word line assist for SRAM

Avago Technologies General IP Singapore) Pte Ltd


A sample solution including blood components is processed with a denaturalization reagent comprising a nonionic surface-activating agent and an oxidizing agent to denaturalize a hemoglobin derivative in the sample solution, and thereafter, an immunoassay is performing utilizing an antibody that is specific to a denaturalized site of the hemoglobin derivative to measure the amount of the hemoglobin derivative in the sample. Therefore, when performing assay of hemoglobin derivative, denaturalization of hemoglobin can be performed speedily and reliably while minimizing adverse effects of the denaturalization reagent on immune reaction.

Glycated hemoglobin as one of hemoglobin derivatives is an item that is often measured for early detection of lifestyle diseases, because the glycated hemoglobin enables determination of a blood sugar level in normal condition, excluding an influence of variation in blood sugar due to a meal. The glycated hemoglobin is also referred to as hemoglobin Alc, and it is hemoglobin included in blood erythrocytes, to which glucose is bonded. The glycated hemoglobin is quantified as an abundance ratio of glycated hemoglobin to hemoglobin.
As a glycated hemoglobin measurement method, there is a method utilizing immune reaction. The measurement method utilizing immune reaction is performed as follows. Initially, a blood sample is hemolyzed to extract hemoglobin out of blood erythrocytes. Next, in order to determine whether the hemoglobin is non-glycated hemoglobin or glycated hemoglobin, the cubic structure of the hemoglobin is changed to expose a glycated portion of hemoglobin protein from the cubic structure to the outside (denaturalization of hemoglobin), and further, the glycated portion is reacted with an antibody that specifically recognizes the glycated portion, thereby to immunologically measure the amount of the glycated hemoglobin.
As an example of a hemoglobin denaturalization method, there is a method of denaturalizing hemoglobin with negative ions in a lithium salt form (refer to Patent Document 1). To be specific, in an analysis method for measuring a specific hemoglobin derivative in a blood sample, (a) the blood sample is processed with a dissolution/denaturalization reagent, thereby dissolving blood erythrocytes, and denaturalizing a detectable amount of the derivative which is released from the blood erythrocytes, and (b) a resultant mixed solution is tested by immunoassay with respect to the amount of the denaturalized hemoglobin derivative that exists in the mixture solution. This method uses, as the dissolution/denaturalization reagent, negative ions in a lithium salt form which can dissolve the blood erythrocytes and denaturalize the hemoglobin derivative, and thereby the dissolution and the denaturalization of the hemoglobin derivative can be achieved speedily with the lithium salt concentration that does not significantly interfere with the immunoassay process.
Further, as another denaturalization method, there is a method of denaturalizing hemoglobin with a thiocyanate compound (refer to Patent Document 2). To be specific, this method is an analysis method for measuring a relative amount of a specific hemoglobin derivative in a blood sample, and comprises (a) a process of obtaining a denaturalized blood sample by processing a blood sample with (i) thiocyanate salt that can denaturalize substantially all hemoglobin existing in the blood sample, and has a concentration of 0.5˜0.6M in the sample, and (ii) an oxidizing agent that can transform substantially all hemoglobin existing in the blood sample to a form of methemoglobin, (b) a process of quantifying the methemoglobin in the denaturalized blood sample, (c) a process of quantifying a specific hemoglobin derivative in a denaturalized form in the denaturalized blood sample by immunoassay, and (d) a process of associating the test results obtained from the processes (b) and (c).
Furthermore, as still another denaturalization method, there is a method of denaturalizing hemoglobin with an ionic surface-activating agent (refer to Patent Document 3). To be specific, this method is a method for measuring a content of a hemoglobin derivative in a blood sample, and comprises (a) processing a blood sample with a hemolysis reagent including an ionic abluent having a pH of 5˜9.5, at a temperature of 4˜37° C. for up to ten minutes, and (b) immunologically measuring a hemoglobin derivative in the blood sample in which the hemoglobin derivative is hemolyzed.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Published Patent Application No. Hei. 3-51759
Patent Document 2: Japanese Published Patent Application No. Hei. 1-155268
Patent Document 3: Japanese Published Patent Application No. Hei. 6-11510

Hemoglobin derivative measurement method, and reagent composition, measurement kit, analysis device and analysis system for use in the method


A fluid meter includes a housing which comprises a cavity that defines a flow bore through which a fluid to be metered is directed, a rotor which is rotatably supported in the cavity and is set into rotation by the fluid flowing through the flow bore, a first magnet which is connected to the rotor, a second magnet which is magnetically coupled to the first magnet, a cap member which is positioned over the first magnet and separates the second magnet from the cavity, and a rotary encoder which is operatively coupled to the second magnet. Rotation of the rotor is magnetically transmitted through the cap member from the first magnet to the second magnet and is detected by the rotary encoder.

The present invention relates to fluid flow meters. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fluid flow meter which includes a rotor that is magnetically rather than mechanically linked to a rotational measuring device in order to eliminate potential leak paths between the flow path and the surrounding environment.
In many industries, such as the oil, gas and petrochemical industries, fluid meters are used to accurately measure large amounts of fluid passing through a pipeline in order to facilitate selling or otherwise transferring custody of the fluid. One type of fluid meter commonly used for this purpose is a reciprocating blade positive displacement (PD) meter. Referring to FIG. 1, such meters commonly include a meter housing, a fluid inlet and a fluid outlet. A slotted cylindrical rotor is rotatably mounted in the housing. A cam is fixedly mounted to the housing within the rotor. A number of blades are slidably mounted in the rotor slots and are fitted with cam following bearings. As fluid is pumped through the meter, it impinges on the blades, forcing the rotor to rotate within the housing. As the rotor rotates, the cam causes the blades to reciprocate in and out of the rotor. In some meters the blades on opposite sides of the cam may be fixed to each other, such that they reciprocate as a unit.
In the meter in FIG. 1, a maximum of two of the blades are fully extended at any given time. The space between the housing, the rotor and the two extended blades is the measuring chamber. The space between the housing, the rotor and the inlet and outlet is filled with a block of material which prevents direct fluid flow from the inlet to the outlet, thus forcing all the fluid through the measuring chamber. The cam causes the blades to retract into the rotor as they approach and pass the block.
Because the volume of the measuring chamber is accurately known, a known volume of liquid passes through the meter for every ¼ revolution of the rotor. Thus, the total quantity of liquid passing through the meter can be calculated by accurately measuring the number of revolutions of the rotor.
In some prior art fluid meters the housing may be double walled, with the space between the walls allowed to fill with the process fluid. This arrangement insures that the inner wall is pressure balanced and is not distorted by the pressure. Such distortion can change the volume of the measurement chamber and thus degrade the accuracy of the meter.
Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, an exemplary prior art reciprocating blade PD meter is shown to include a housing 10 and a cover 12 which is bolted to the housing. A mechanical counter 20 is mounted above the cover. A rotor 14 is rotatably mounted on a central shaft 16 inside the housing. In order to calculate the amount of fluid flowing through the meter, information on the rotation of the rotor 14 must be transmitted to the counter 20. A first set of gears 22 transmits the rotation of the rotor 14 to a secondary shaft 24. The secondary shaft passes through the cover 12, and packing gland 26 is provided between the cover and the secondary shaft. A second set of gears 28 transmits the rotation of the secondary shaft 24 to the mechanical counter 20. The mechanical counter may include an optical encoder.
One disadvantage of such mechanical transmissions is that the penetration of the secondary shaft through the cover creates a potential leak path through which the process fluid or volatile organic compounds (VOC's) may escape to the surrounding environment. Another disadvantage of mechanical transmissions is that they can limit the performance turndown ratio (i.e., the range of flow rates over which the meter gives repeatable results) of the meter.
Many reciprocating blade PD meters can be expensive to manufacture. Because the volume of the measuring chamber is so critical to the accuracy of the meter, the components which define the chamber must be manufactured to very tight tolerances. Also, it is critical to the operation and accuracy of the meter that the proper clearance be maintained between the housing and the tips of the blades when the blades are fully extended. Thus the blade assemblies must be uniform and centered in the rotor to very tight tolerances. For these reasons, many prior art meters are difficult to adjust or service in the field.
Another disadvantage of many prior art reciprocating blade PD meters is that they must be mounted in a particular orientation to avoid "cocking" of the blades within the rotor. Such changes in the blade position or orientation can change the meter factor, requiring recalibration of the meter. This lack of flexibility in mounting orientation can make it more difficult and expensive to design and install the meter. This can also be a problem for truck mounted meters when the truck is not parked on level ground.

Rotational measurement system for fluid meters


Terminals for the handling of payments are connectable to a plurality of transactors with transmission procedures that are protected against manipulation via an open data network, whereby the transactor is determined from the type of transaction. Chip cards, or smart cards, are used at the terminals for the transactions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to methods and arrangements for electronic accounting of services, particularly by payments, with chip cards using open data networks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cards with an embedded processor or memory, known as chip cards or smart cards, are employed for the payment of services. A number of different card types are known, these referred to being known as "credit cards", "debit cards", pre-paid money cards or as money cards with a refillable electronic purse.
There are currently money card solutions in many countries that are nationally developed and specific to each country; for example, "Avant" in Finland, "Danmont" in Denmark, the EC card with a chip in Germany, and "Quick" in Austria. These solutions are incompatible with one another in terms of technology and method of use.
Credit card organizations are currently testing solutions that are to be internationally employed, for example "Visacash" of Visa, "Mondex" of Mastercard, "Clip" of Europay, "Proton" of American Express. These solutions are likewise incompatible with one another. Even though this group of vendors has specified a common standard, which is currently known by the working title "EMV", cards that have already been issued and solutions that are already in the marketplace are not compatible with the new standard.
It has been shown that some of these cards definitely use largely the same hardware devices; they differ, however, on the basis of different software programs and protocols and specific security modules in the terminal for accepting the chip card. Accordingly, solutions have become known wherein a chip card terminal that the chip card uses during a payment procedure is equipped with a number of different software modules and to which several security modules are connected. Since it is expensive and inflexible, however, this solution is not suitable for broad area employment.

Network-supported chip card transaction method

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