The diagnostic test uses the effects of closed loop power control in order to measure the return loss of a receive antenna in a CDMA radio system. A standard CDMA call is established under closed loop power control by a mobile in a test unit. Using a switch matrix, the call is directed on the incident path of a receiving antenna. After a stabilization interval, the mobile phone in the test unit is queried for its transmit power level. The established call is then directed on the reflected path of the receiving antenna. After a stabilization interval, the mobile phone is again queried for its transmit power level. The difference between the previous incident transmit power level and the new increased transmit power level is the return loss of the antenna.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to operational maintenance surveillance of telecommunications equipment. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring receive antenna return loss in a CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) radio system.
2. Description of Related Art
Telecommunications equipment traditionally has been offered with a significant number of features allowing on-line system test and operational maintenance surveillance. These features allow economical system OAandM (Operation, Administration and Maintenance) since routine system testing and monitoring can be automatically performed and service provider technical staff can be relieved of these tasks.
After initial installation of a telecommunications system, determining the integrity of a base station antenna is an important concern. The Receive Antenna Return Loss test is a diagnostic measurement routinely automated with analog cellular base station products, which provides a reasonable verification of sustained antenna integrity. This test quantifies the reflection characteristics of an antenna in order to detect whether the antenna is functioning within desired parameters. The ratio of RF (Radio Frequency) power reflected from the antenna to the RF power applied to the antenna defines the reflection coefficient of the antenna. A reflection coefficient having a value close to zero (0) indicates that very little RF power is reflected and that the antenna is functioning properly. A reflection coefficient having a value close to one (1) indicates that most of the RF power is reflected and that the antenna is transmitting virtually zero RF power. Transmission of very low RF power indicates problems with the antenna.
Return loss is the magnitude part of the reflection coefficient expressed in decibels (dB). That is, return loss measures the magnitude of a reflected RF signal relative to the original incident RF signal. Return loss is typically referred to in terms of dBs of loss. As such, a large return loss value indicates very little reflection. For example, a return loss of 40 dB indicates very little reflection, while a return loss of 0 dB indicates complete reflection.
In analog systems, the Receive Antenna Return Loss test is performed by applying a signal from a RTU (Radio Test Unit) in the mobile receive band and monitoring the signal of a selected receive radio that is assigned to the selected channel frequency. A directional coupler is used to allow measurement of signal energy in both the forward direction and reverse direction, and a switch matrix, that is program controlled, selects the desired direction. The power difference between the forward and reverse signal levels is a measure of the return loss or impedance match accuracy of the antenna system. The forward and reverse signal levels are measured by querying the selected receive radio for its RSSI (Receive Signal Strength Indicator) output.
For a call in a CDMA system, a CDMA call, a unique code is assigned to all speech bits, and signals for all calls are spread across a broad frequency spectrum. The dispersed signals are pulled out by a receiver which knows the code for the call it must handle. This technique allows numerous phone calls to be simultaneously transmitted at one radio frequency. However, because all channels on a given carrier occupy the same frequency, a unique RSSI for one given channel is not available. As such, the conventional return loss test cannot be performed. Incremental RSSI measurements may be possible, but are confounded by the fact that typical CDMA signals are well below even the thermal noise level in most circumstances. Therefore, incremental RSSI measurements are extremely difficult and impractical.
Further, CDMA systems use closed loop mobile transmit RF power control. Achieving a known and stable RF level on a channel would violate such closed-loop power control and could confound other calls in progress on the system. Such approach would also require customized firmware and equipment for implementation.
Therefore, there is a need for an economical and practical method for measuring return loss of a receive antenna in a CDMA radio system.
The present invention uses the effects of closed loop power control in order to measure the return loss of a receive antenna in a CDMA radio system. A standard CDMA all is established under closed loop power control by a mobile phone in a test unit. Using a switch matrix, the call is directed on the incident path of a receiving antenna. After a stabilization interval, the mobile phone in the test unit is queried for its transmit power level. The established call is then directed on the reflected path of the receiving antenna. After a stabilization interval, the mobile phone is again queried for its transmit power level. The difference in dB between the reflected path transmit power level and the previous incident transmit power level, i.e., the reference transmit level taken when the call was set up, is the return loss of the antenna.

Method for measurement of receive antenna return loss in a CDMA radio system


Embodiments of methods and apparatus for reducing electromagnetic interference of a received signal are disclosed. One method includes receiving a signal over at least two conductors, extracting a common-mode signal from the at least two conductors, processing the common-mode signal, and reducing electromagnetic interference of the received signal by summing the processed common-mode signal with the received signal.

High-speed networks are continually evolving. The evolution includes a continuing advancement in the operational speed of the networks. The network implementation of choice that has emerged is Ethernet networks physically connected over unshielded twisted pair wiring. Ethernet in its 10/100BASE-T form is one of the most prevalent high speed LANs (local area network) for providing connectivity between personal computers, workstations and servers.
High-speed LAN technologies include 100BASE-T (Fast Ethernet) and 1000BASE-T (Gigabit Ethernet). Fast Ethernet technology has provided a smooth evolution from 10 Megabits per second (Mbps) performance of 10BASE-T to the 100 Mbps performance of 100BASE-T. Gigabit Ethernet provides 1 Gigabit per second (Gbps) bandwidth with essentially the simplicity of Ethernet. There is a desire to increase operating performance of Ethernet to even greater data rates.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a pair of Ethernet transceivers communicating over a bi-directional transmission channel, according to the prior art. An exemplary transmission channel includes four pairs of copper wire 112, 114, 116, 118. The transceiver pair can be referred to as link partners, and includes a first Ethernet port 100 and a second Ethernet port 105. Both of the Ethernet ports 100, 105 include four transmitter TX, receiver RX, and I/O buffering sections corresponding to each of the pairs of copper wires 112, 114, 116, 118.
The twisted copper wires can operate as antennas that are susceptible to receive electromagnetic interference (EMI). Generally, the EMI appears as a narrowband interference source to Ethernet receivers. Typically, Ethernet systems mostly rely on EMI protection that is provided by shielding, and by transmitting the information differentially to provide immunity against the common-mode characteristics of the EMI. Higher frequency EMI can be partially rejected by the filtering performed at the analog-front end (AFE) of the Ethernet receiver. Additionally, in the past, Ethernet systems had sufficient operating margin such that the EMI did not cause the link to fail.
However, the immunity of current Ethernet systems (higher frequency systems) to EMI is not sufficient, and the EMI can cause the link to fail, and be unable to transmit data. Suppression of EMI can be extremely challenging since the EMI usually appears at unknown times and with unknown frequency, bandwidth, power, modulation, duration, etc. Additionally, suppressing the EMI when the link is already transmitting data is extremely difficult since the EMI characteristics need to be determined very fast to be able to cancel the EMI before the link fails. Moreover, there is no training data to help detect and cancel the EMI since the link is transmitting real traffic.
It is desirable to have an apparatus and method for suppressing EMI of Ethernet systems to provide reliable link operation.

Reducing electromagnetic interference in a received signal


The present disclosure is directed toward systems and methods for providing a call to action in connection with a live video stream. For example, systems and methods described herein enable a broadcaster to configure one or more benefits and one or more calls to action. Systems and methods described herein further provide the one or more calls to action in connection with a live video stream and based on the broadcaster's configurations. In response to a live video stream viewer correctly interacting with a provided call to action, systems and methods described herein provide a benefit to the viewer.

Video communications are an increasingly popular method of connecting via a social networking system. For example, where social networking system users were once limited to only written electronic communications, they can now communicate electronically with a video taken from a personal computing device, such as a smart phone. Social networking systems also enable users to provide live video streams as a means of communicating with other social networking system co-users. To illustrate, a social networking system user can broadcast a live video stream, captured by a camera incorporated within a user's smartphone, to one or more social networking system co-users.
Businesses, newscasters, politicians, and other public figures often leverage live video stream capabilities in order to quickly communicate with large audiences of social networking system users. However, in a live video scenario, the communication channel is one-way, and a broadcaster generally has no feedback on how well his audience is engaging with the live video stream. In other words, the with many conventional live video broadcasting systems, a broadcaster generally does not know whether members of the audience are actually engaged with the live video stream.
Similarly, audience members receiving a live video stream generally have no way to provide feedback to or interact with the broadcaster of the live video stream. For example, conventional live video broadcasting systems generally fail to allow a user watching a live video stream to interact with the broadcaster. Additionally, with conventional systems, the user watching the live video stream typically has no indication as to the level of engagement of other social networking system users watching the same live video stream. Accordingly, each member of the live video stream audience essentially views the live video stream in a vacuum.
Thus, the above-described limitations of conventional systems generally prohibit live video stream broadcasters from influencing the engagement level of the live video stream audience, and similarly, prohibit viewing members from more fully engaging with the broadcaster or other viewing members of the live video stream.

Providing interactive elements with a live video presentation


Provided is an oscillation stop detection circuit having low current consumption, which is capable of detecting stop of oscillation regardless of whether an input signal stops at High or Low and thereby accurately measuring an oscillation stop detection period. The oscillation stop detection circuit includes: a pulse generation circuit for outputting a one-shot pulse in synchronization with an oscillation signal input from an input terminal; a capacitor including one terminal connected to a first power supply terminal and another terminal connected to an output terminal; a constant current circuit connected between the first power supply terminal and the another terminal of the capacitor; and a switch circuit connected between an output terminal of the pulse generation circuit and the another terminal of the capacitor, for connecting the another terminal of the capacitor to a second power supply terminal based on the one-shot pulse.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oscillation stop detection circuit to be used for an electronic device including a built-in oscillation circuit, for detecting a state in which the oscillation circuit stops oscillating.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some electronic devices including a built-in oscillation circuit are provided with an oscillation stop detection circuit for determining whether the oscillation circuit is normally oscillating. When the oscillation stops, the oscillation circuit is restarted or a system is reset immediately.
FIG. 4 illustrates a circuit diagram of a related-art oscillation stop detection circuit. The related-art oscillation stop detection circuit includes inverters 10, 11, and 12, an NMOS transistor 20, a PMOS transistor 30, a capacitor 40, a positive power supply terminal 1, an input terminal 3, a constant voltage terminal 4, and an output terminal 7. An output of the inverter 10 is represented by a node B, and an input of the inverter 12 is represented by a node C.
FIG. 5 is a timing chart illustrating an operation of the related-art oscillation stop detection circuit. An oscillation signal IN is input to the input terminal 3, and a signal in anti-phase with the oscillation signal IN is output to the node B via the inverter 10. When the oscillation signal IN is Low, the node B becomes High to turn on the NMOS transistor 20, thereby charging the capacitor 40 to set the node C to Low. A constant voltage Vref is input to the constant voltage terminal 4. When the oscillation signal IN is High, the node B becomes Low to turn off the NMOS transistor 20, thereby discharging the capacitor 40 to increase the voltage at the node C. When the oscillation signal IN has the amplitudes of High and Low, the node C repeatedly charges and discharges the capacitor 40 to output a signal of High as a signal STOPX to the output terminal 7 via the inverter 12. When the oscillation signal IN stops oscillating and becomes a signal of Low, the voltage at the node C continues to increase. When the voltage at the node C exceeds an inversion level of the inverter 12, the output of the inverter 12 is inverted so that a signal of Low is output from the output terminal 7. In this manner, it can be detected that the oscillation signal IN has stopped oscillating (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-252873).
In the related-art oscillation stop detection circuit, however, in the case where a signal obtained by frequency-dividing an original oscillation of the oscillation circuit by a frequency divider circuit or the like is input to the input terminal 3, there is a problem in that the stop of oscillation cannot be detected because it cannot be known whether the signal of the input terminal 3 stops at High or Low when the original oscillation of the oscillation circuit stops. Further, it is difficult to accurately measure an oscillation stop detection period that starts from the stop of the oscillation circuit and ends when a signal is output to the output terminal 7. In addition, there is another problem in that, when the input terminal 3 is Low, a current flows from the PMOS transistor 30 to the NMOS transistor 20 and an NMOS transistor of the inverter 11, resulting in large current consumption.

Oscillation stop detection circuit and electronic device


Methods and related systems for fabricating a device or a part, the method including the step of growing at least one material from a vapor phase, by a CVD process, for example a MO-CVD process, on a heated base substrate, wherein the at least one material conforms to one of at least one topographical pattern of the base substrate, one or more predefined geometrical shape on the base substrate or both. The method includes removing the base substrate embedded in the CVD deposited material, as well as optionally machining a portion of the CVD deposited material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to methods and systems of fabricating devices. More particularly, this invention relates to methods for fabricating devices having embedded features such as optical and electrical feedthroughs as well as microfabricated features such as microchannels. Several embodiments of this invention relate to methods for fabricating microfluidic devices, having embedded features such as optical and electrical feedthroughs.
2. Background of the Invention
Often in many applications there is a need for transmitting optical or electrical signals from one side of a metallic part to the other. Often, such transmission needs to occur while there is a significant pressure difference between the two sides of the metallic part. Several solutions exist to this problem, including but not limited to the use of optical windows sealed with elastomeric o-rings or brazed to the metallic part and, respectively, use of electrical bulkheads, or feedthroughs, fabricated out of electrically insulating material (usually plastic) and incorporating one or several electrical pins which traverse the feedthrough.
In many applications there is also a need for a metallic part with very intricate details machined in it, such as small channels and holes, at length scales and resolutions down to the micron level, which are not easily achievable using conventional machining techniques. One example of a situation where such a need exists is in the manufacturing of metallic microfluidic devices.
There has been tremendous growth recently in the use of micromachining for fabricating microstructures, microsensors, and microfluidic devices, and in integrating these microstructures with electronic circuits. Micromachining is the process of forming structures having micron-sized detail by producing patterns on the surface or bulk of a substrate, or in layers of material deposited on a substrate. The material layers can be formed using a variety of processes, including sputtering, evaporation, physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition and spin coating. Patterns are produced in these material layers by processes such as photolithography, precision physical machining, chemical etching, laser ablation, focused ion beam etching, ultrasonic drilling and electrodischarge machining, to yield the micromachined device.
Microfluidic devices, sensors, and systems, are also becoming increasingly common in several industries, such as pharmaceuticals, biotech, chemical engineering, homeland security, environmental engineering etc. For example, microfluidic devices can be used to transmit force and energy in hydraulic systems, such in the design of smart tools where the motion of the human hand must be scaled down to sub-millimeter dimensions, with a corresponding reduction in force. Further, microscale devices may also permit the assembly of a multiplicity of different functional devices in one compact, interconnected system. For example, individual microfluidic accessories such as mixers, micro-contactors, reactors, pumps, and valves may be added on a substrate containing microfluidic channels that connect such components in a microfluidic device
Microstructure technology offers distinct advantages over "macroscale" technology, including, for example, the ability to perform efficient and rapid chemical analyses at a lower cost per analysis, because of decreased sample volume requirements and increased throughput. Small sample volumes are advantageous because they allow a user to perform multiple analyses in parallel using a single sample on a single chip.
A variety of microfluidic applications require electrical conductors. Conductors can be used to form electrical interconnections ("interconnects") between elements of a microfluidic device, such as electrodes, and elements external to the device, such as power sources and data acquisition systems. Such interconnects can provide electrical flow to the electrode to power electrostatic, electromagnetic or electrohydrodynamic micropumps, to operate microvalves, or to induce electrolysis of a sample fluid. Conductors may also be used to guide electrical signals from sensor located on the microfluidic chip to data acquisition and analysis systems that are external. Conductors can also be used as resistive heaters for sample fluids or as temperature sensors in microfluidic applications.
Developments in the semiconductor processing industry have facilitated the fabrication of micron-sized structures, including sensors and monitoring systems that can be used in microfluidic devices. The fabrication of microfluidic devices requires a method of producing fluidic connections, referred to as microchannels, and electrical interconnects between regions of a single device or between a device and accessories such as power supplies, data acquisition systems, automatic valves, pumps, or syringes. Microfluidic devices typically consist of several components, such as: microchannels for fluid flow (typical dimensions may include 100 micron square cross section and a few centimeters in length); fluidic inlet and outlet ports, with appropriate fittings (typically able to accommodate capillary tubing); fluidic manipulation components (microvalves, micropumps, droplet or particle manipulators etc.); and embedded sensors and measurement devices (such as pressure, optical, chemical and electrical sensors etc.).
The fabrication of microfluidic devices can involve fabricating by one of several available technologies (below), open-top microchannels on a plane substrate, and then bonding the resulting part to a plane or structured layer, henceforth called the top layer, that provides a fourth wall to the channels, completely enclosing them. Inlet and outlet ports typically consist of through-holes that connect an end of one channel to some kind of tubing fitting. The substrate or the top layer may include various additional components of the system, such as sensors, optical fibers, optical windows, electrodes, valves and pumps, etc.
An existing fabrication technology for creating microchannels can include cure-molding of elastomers, e.g., soft lithography (J. C. McDonald et al., "Fabrication of microfluidic systems in poly(dimethylsiloxane)", Electrophoresis, 21, p. 27 (2000), to replicate photoresist master molds. The resulting surface with molded open-faced channels can typically be bonded to a glass layer or to another elastomer layer after an oxygen plasma treatment. Typically, this method results in soft devices that are unable to withstand high pressures, and are quite susceptible to swelling in the presence of organic solvents. The attractiveness of this technique consists of the fast prototyping capabilities, and optical clarity of the silicone elastomers typically used.
Another known fabrication technology for creating microchannels may include injection molding or embossing of plastics (typically low temperature materials such as polystyrene, polycarbonate, polymethylmethacrylate, polypropylene, cyclic olefin copolymer, but also including high-performance materials such as PEEK). Thermal lamination, adhesive bonding or plasma treatments in this case can be used for subsequent bonding. Very few plastics provide a strength/chemical compatibility/temperature resistance combination that is attractive for use in harsh environments, one of these being PEEK. N2 plasma proves to be particularly useful in creating a strong PEEK to PEEK bond, as recently reported, often stronger than the intrinsic material strength (H. Mühlberger, A. E. Guber, W. Hoffmann—"Microfluidic Polyether Ether Keton (Peek) Chips Combined With Contactless Conductivity Detection For mTAS" Proceedings of the MicroTAS Conference 2005, p. 184 (2005)). One issue among many other potential issues limiting the use is the fabrication of the mold insert tool, which needs to be made of a very strong material (such as Nickel in pure form or in one of several alloys) but at the same time have very fine microstructures machined into it. Still, another issue is the optical opacity of some plastic materials (including PEEK), requiring complicated post-fabrication processing to incorporate optical pathways (e.g. by embedding or adhesively bonding optical fibers).
Other known fabrication technologies for creating microchannels include co-firing of ceramic materials. This method has potential of providing microfluidic devices which provide for some temperature and pressure qualification of the materials and bonds (K. D. Patel, K. W. Hukari, K. A. Peterson—"Cofired Ceramic Microdevices For High Temperature And High Pressure Applications" Proceedings of the MicroTAS Conference 2005, p. 709 (2005)).
Another known fabrication technology for creating microchannels may include silicon micromachining. Silicon micromachining can be used to etch different channel geometries in single-crystal silicon wafers, the resulting channels being subsequently sealed with one or several layers of borosilicate glass (e.g. Pyrex) by anodic bonding. This method has many drawbacks such as the brittleness and chemical resistance of the materials, which ultimately limit its use in the field. The bond strength of the interface may also be an issue if high internal pressures are required (A. Hanneborg, M. Nese, P. Ohlckers—"Silicon-to-Silicon Anodic Bonding With a Borosilicate Glass Layer" J. Micromech. Microeng. 1, p. 139 (1991)). Bonding between two silicon wafers can also be achieved using an intermediate glass layer, direct (or fusion) bonding and eutactic bonding. Other known fabrication technologies for creating microchannels include can glass etching (usually of chemical nature, or by powder blasting or ultrasonic machining) can be used to create channels in glass, which can then be bonded to another layer of glass by direct bonding. A downside of this method is the difficulty to create very high aspect ratio, vertical wall structures.
Another known fabrication technology for bonding of metallic external components (such as inlet and outlet tubes) to the materials such as Nickel parts, can be achieved by diffusion bonding (or solid-state welding), welding or brazing. Several companies exist which specialize in this kind of operations, and reports also exist in the scientific literature (T. R. Christenson, D. T. Schmale—"A Batch Wafer Scale LIGA Assembly and Packaging Technique via Diffusion Bonding," in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. MEMS, p. 476 (1999)).
Another known fabrication technology for creating microchannels may include electrolytic metal deposition. Electrolytic metal deposition can be used to grow layers of metal however a substantial drawback in using such a method is that the metal grows only on conductive surfaces, so metallization is required in order to create a perfect metal topographical copy of a surface. Metallic parts fabricated using the LIGA technology may be used as metallic parts by themselves or as tools for plastic injection molding inserts (LIGA—W. Bacher, K. Bade, B. Matthis, M. Saumer, R. Schwarz—"Fabrication of LIGA mold inserts" Microsystem Technologies 4, p. 117 (1998)). This method has been used to create enclosed channels and chambers, typically by using sacrificial layers, or by bonding together several thin layers of electroplated metal using diffusion bonding techniques (T. R. Christenson, D. T. Schmale "A Batch Wafer Scale LIGA Assembly and Packaging Technique via Diffusion Bonding," in Proc. IEEE Int. Conf. MEMS, p. 476 (1999)). A drawback of the technique is the expensive and time-consuming electrolytic metal deposition step, often requiring several weeks of deposition to create a metallic part a few mm thick.
Other known fabrication technologies for creating microchannels may include other precision engineering machining methods, such as micro electro discharge machining, laser ablation, punching/drilling/embossing, wet etching of intermediate metal foils etc. (W. Ehrfeld, V. Hessel, H. Lowe—"Microreactors—New Technology for Modern Chamistry" Wiley-VCH Verlag, Weinheim, Germany, pp. 15-40 (2000)). These typically impose resolution limitations when compared to photolithography-type methods, and tool size may affect the minimum feature size and/or density of microstructures. Precision machining provides, however, a viable way to creating molding inserts for microchannel structures, particularly when they are not too densely packed (Mikell Knights, "Micro Molds Make Micro Parts", PlasticsTechnology online: see plasticstechnology.com/articles/200212fa1.html).
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) is a thin film deposition method relying on chemical reactions between gaseous precursors occurring on or near the substrate surface. CVD is usually performed in a CVD furnace at very high temperatures, which many materials cannot tolerate. CVD should be therefore be performed as one of the first steps in the silicon fabrication process. A variant of the CVD commonly used in the microelectronics industry is plasma-enhanced CVD (PE-CVD) whereby a plasma of the reacting gases is created to enhance reactivity and allows faster deposition rates at lower temperatures. Several materials can be deposited by CVD or PE-CVD, most commonly: polysilicon, silicon nitride, silicon oxide, and some metals. The resulting films are usually conformal; their properties depending a lot on process parameters: temperature, pressure, gas flow rates. A CVD variant called metalorganic CVD or MO-CVD can be used for deposition of thin as well as very thick conformal metal layers, such as CVD metal fabrication (see Terekhov, D. S., O'Meara, M.: "Recycling metals using the MO-CVD process", Proceedings of the TMS Fall Extraction and Processing Conference, p. 487 (2000).
Accordingly, there is a need for improved methods and systems capable of providing devices worthy of use in demanding environments so as to withstand, by non-limiting example, high pressures, high temperatures and harsh environments. There is also the need for versatile fabrication methods capable of batch manufacturing and/or batch processing of parts having characteristics, such as: high structural strength and excellent chemical resistance.

Fabrication technique for metallic devices with embedded optical elements, optical devices, or optical and electrical feedthroughs


A inflow control device includes a housing. A filter media disposed in the housing. A closure member; and a spring disposed between the closure member and the filter media. A method for controlling fluid loss for a period of time.

In the drilling and completion industry, it is often desirable to both reduce fluid loss during a part of an operation and allow fluid movement for production during another part of an operation through the same port structure. Strong and robust configurations are important and growing more so as downhole operations are carried out in increasingly difficult environments. Therefore the art will well receive new configurations for such devices that may perform better in certain applications than existing technologies.


A lacrosse stick having a downwardly canted handle and an upwardly canted head. In an embodiment, the handle can comprise a main portion and a dowel portion. The main portion can have a main portion axis and the dowel portion can have a dowel portion axis. The dowel portion axis can be disposed downwardly at a first angle to the main portion axis. The head can comprise a throat portion and a frame portion. The frame portion can be upwardly canted with respect to the throat portion, when viewed from a side elevation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to lacrosse sticks, and more particularly, to a lacrosse stick having a downwardly canted handle and an upwardly canted head.
2. Background of the Invention
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional lacrosse stick 100 having a handle 102 shown in dotted lines and a double-wall synthetic head 104. Head 104 comprises a throat portion 105 and a frame portion 109. Frame portion 109, which is generally V-shaped in this example, comprises a stop member 114, sidewalls 108 and 110 joining stop member 114, and a transverse wall (or "scoop") 112 joining the sidewalls at their ends opposite stop member 114. As shown, handle 102 connects to throat portion 105 and abuts stop member 114. A screw or other fastener placed through opening 107 secures handle 102 to head 104.
For traditionally-strung pockets (which have thongs and string instead of mesh), thongs (not shown) made of leather or synthetic material extend from upper thong holes 116 in transverse wall 112 to lower thong holes 118 in stop member 114. In some designs, such as the design shown in FIG. 1, upper thong holes 116 are located on tabs 117 of the scoop 112. On other designs, upper thong holes 116 are located directly on the scoop 112. FIG. 1 shows four pairs (116, 118) of thong holes that accept four thongs. To complete the pocket web, the thongs have nylon strings threaded around the thongs and string laced through string holes 120 in sidewalls 108 and 110, forming any number of diamonds (crosslacing). Finally, one or more throwing or shooting strings extend transversely between the upper portions of sidewalls 108 and 110, attaching to throwing string holes 124 and a string laced through string holes 122. The typical features of a lacrosse stick are shown generally in Tucker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,495, Crawford et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,034,984, and Tucker et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,566,947, which are all incorporated by reference herein.
As shown in FIG. 1, the traditional means for affixing head 104 to handle or shaft 102 involves sliding shaft 102 into throat portion 105 of head 104 and securing head 104 to shaft 102 with a screw or similar fastener placed in opening 107. In this configuration, the axis of handle 102 and the axis of throat portion 105 are coincidental. In FIG. 1, throat portion 105 provides a female connection (e.g., a socket) that receives shaft 102. Alternatively, in addition to or in place of the female connection, throat portion 105 can provide a male plug that fits within the bore of shaft 102, as is disclosed, for example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/630,856, filed Jul. 31, 2003, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
When double-wall synthetic lacrosse heads were first introduced, the early designs featured straight handles and straight heads, when viewed from a side elevation facing a sidewall of the head. In other words, the lacrosse head remained largely in line with the axis of the handle. Since those early designs, however, the trend has been to lower the lacrosse head below the handle axis. Lowering the head can enable better ball control and provide a player with an indication of the orientation of the lacrosse head, which results from the uneven weight distribution relative to the handle axis in directions radial to the handle axis.
Despite these advantages, the lacrosse sticks having lowered heads can also introduce undesirable ball handling characteristics because the ball is positioned a greater distance below the shaft axis and must travel a greater distance to release from the head. Traditionally, designers have lowered heads either by reshaping the handle or by lowering the sidewalls adjacent to the throat portion. In either case, the reconfiguration positions the ball a greater distance from the shaft axis. Compounding this problem, the reconfiguration can cause the ball to come to rest in a rear head position (i.e., more toward the stop member). This rear head position, combined with the greater travel, can create difficulties in releasing the ball from the head, and can therefore hinder a player's ability to execute quick and accurate shots and passing.

Lacrosse stick having a downwardly canted handle and an upwardly canted head


Disclosed are methods for the enzymatic synthesis of alpha-sialylated oligosaccharide glycosides. Specifically, in the disclosed methods, sialyltransferase is activated to transfer an analogue of sialic acid, employed as its CMP-nucleotide derivative, to an oligosaccharide glycoside. The analogue of sialic acid and the oligosaccharide employed in this method are selected to be compatible with the sialyltransferase employed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to methods for the enzymatic synthesis of alpha-sialylated oligosaccharide glycosides. Specifically, in the methods of this invention, sialyltransferase is employed to transfer an analogue of sialic acid, employed as its CMP-nucleotide, to an oligosaccharide glycoside. The analogue of sialic acid and the oligosaccharide glycoside employed in this method are selected to be compatible with the sialyltransferase employed.
2. References
The following references are cited in this application as superscript numbers at the relevant portion of the application:
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3. State of the Art
Carbohydrates and/or oligosaccharides are present on a variety of natural and pathological glycoconjugates.sup.1. Of particular interest are carbohydrates and oligosaccharides containing sialic acid residues particularly at the nonreducing sugar terminus.sup.31. Such sialic acid terminated carbohydrates and oligosaccharides are present in a number of products which have been implicated in a wide range of biological phenomena based, in part, on the concept of recognition signals carried by the carbohydrate structures and by their binding to specific ligands.
Specifically, such sialic acid terminated carbohydrates and oligosaccharides are believed to be receptors for the binding of toxins.sup.4, pathogenic agents such as viruses.sup.5, and are believed to be recognition sites for a variety of lectins, particularly those involved in cellular adhesion.sup.6,7, etc.
Similarly, certain oligosaccharides including sialic acid terminated oligosaccharides have been identified as capable of suppressing a cell-mediated immune response to an antigen. The ability of such oligosaccharides to suppress a cell mediated immune response to an antigen is described by Ippolito et al..sup.3 which reference is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Additionally, the presence of certain sialyl terminated oligosaccharides in tumor-related antigens is documented in the art.sup.1 and, in general, the structures of the oligosaccharides present on such antigens have been modified in some way from normal oligosaccharides so as to lead to the expression of tumor related antigens.sup.2. The prospect of passive immunotherapy with monoclonal antibodies directed against some sialylated tumor-associated antigens, such as the gangliosides GD.sub.2, GD.sub.3 and GM.sub.2, in patients with melanoma is being investigated.sup.8,9. However, most tumor-associated antigens are unable to lead to the production of tumor specific antibodies which would either inhibit or prevent the growth of such tumors. Without being limited to any theory, it is believed that this is due to the absence of real tumor specific antigens and that the structure of such antigens cross-react with that of similar structures expressed in a restricted number of normal tissue. In addition, carbohydrate antigens are generally not believed to lead to a T-cell mediated immune response that is expected to play a role in active immunity.sup.10. However, some recent studies indicate that, in some cases, tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens may stimulate anticancer T-cell immunity.sup.11,12 or the production of cytotoxic antibodies.sup.13.
In view of the general inability of carbohydrate tumor-related antigens to produce cytotoxic tumor specific antibodies, it has been proposed to chemically modify naturally occurring weak antigens so as to improve their antigenicity.sup.14. In this regard, methods for chemical modification of specific groups on carbohydrate tumor-related antigens have been reported and, because of the importance of the sialic acid group in sialylated oligosaccharide antigens, much of the focus of chemical modifications to non-or weakly-immunogenic or naturally occurring antigens has been to derivatize the sialic acid residue in the expectation that such modification could result in improved immunogenicity.
Specifically, the art has recognized that some structural modifications present on naturally occurring sialic acids render the corresponding oligosaccharides immunogenic in selected hosts. For example, E. coli K1 polysaccharide [an alpha(2-8) linked polymer of N-acetylneuraminic acid] is a poor immunogen but antigenic variations resulting from a partial and random O-acetylation of the sialic acid gave polysaccharides with increased immunogenic properties..sup.15 Chemical modifications of the sialic acid moiety of rabbit transferrin provides a modified antigen that produced cross-reacting auto-antibodies in rabbits.sup.16. Likewise, the creation of a more immunogenic epitope by chemical modification of the sialic acid group of B meningococcal polysaccharide has been achieved by the replacement of the N-acetyl with an N-propionyl group. The resulting artificial antigens produced high levels of cross-reacting antibodies as well as imparting a boosting effect.sup.17. Other literature references disclose immunogenic properties for the ganglioside GM.sub.1.sup.18,19 and GM.sub.3.sup.82 obtained by chemical modification of the sialic acid group.sup.18,19.
Recent work with artificial antigens indicates that while chemically modified sialosides (melanoma associated glycolipid antigens) are antigenic in humans, the antibodies generated by these modified sialosides do not cross-react with the natural substance..sup.81 On the other hand, when injected into mice, chemically modified sialylated antigens produce antibodies which do cross-react with the natural substance. Accordingly, cross-reacting monoclonal or polyclonal antibodies generated in mice would serve as a basis for either a diagnostic assay for determining the presence and/or amount of the natural substance in a human host or as a basis for antibody therapy for a disease condition in which the natural substance is attack by the antibodies which can optionally be coupled to a therapeutic agent.
It is also contemplated that the chemical modification of the sialic acid group of sialylated oligosaccharide glycosides could result in oligosaccharide glycosides having improved activity in the suppression of cell-mediated immune responses to an antigen.
However, chemical modification of the sialic acid group of such antigens or of such oligosaccharides is not feasible on a practical level by virtue of the fact that the chemical reactions employed must be specific for the intended modification so that the antigen or oligosaccharide is not altered in some unintended manner. As is apparent, such limitations make impractical the extent and type of chemical modifications which can be conducted on oligosaccharides or antigens.
Alternatively, it is also possible to initially modify the sialic acid which is then coupled to an oligosaccharide glycoside by chemical synthesis so as to provide an alphasialylated oligosaccharide containing an analogue of sialic acid. In this approach, a modified sialic acid residue is chemically generated and then chemically added to a specific site of an oligosaccharide. The modified oligosaccharide could either be used in methods for suppression of cell-mediated immune responses; or, if an appropriate aglycon group is employed, the modified oligosaccharide could be linked to a carrier to generate an artificial conjugate, including artificial antigens.
However, this approach is complicated by the fact that such a chemical synthesis invariably involves multi-step procedures which, at best, generally leads to overall moderate yields in the final product. Additionally, the inherent difficulties in chemically making stereoselectively an alpha-sialoside linkage dictate that the complete chemical synthesis of alpha-sialylated oligosaccharides would be a lengthy and a particularly difficult process for modified sialic acids.
In view of the above, it would be particularly advantageous to develop methods for the facile preparation of alpha-sialylated oligosaccharides containing an analogue of sialic acid. The present invention accomplishes this by using sialyltransferases to effect efficient coupling of an analogue of sialic acid activated as its CMP-nucleotide derivative (an artificial donor as defined below) to a saccharide glycoside or an oligosaccharide glycoside (an artificial acceptor as defined below).
While admittedly sialyltransferase enzymes are known to transfer N-acetylneuraminic acid (natural donor), activated as its cytidine monophosphate (CMP) derivative, to the terminal oligosaccharide structures of glycolipids and glycoproteins (natural acceptors), the use of such transferases in the transfer of an analogue of N-acetylneuraminic acid (artificial donor) to the non-reducing sugar terminus of an oligosaccharide glycoside (artificial acceptor) and other artificial acceptors has not heretofore been disclosed. At best, the art discloses that sialyltransferases can accept modification in either the donor or the acceptor and still result in the transfer but the art fails to suggest that sialyltransferases can accept modification in both the donor and the acceptor and still efficiently transfer analogues of sialic acid. The finding that sialyltransferases possess sufficient recognition flexibility to transfer an artificial donor to an artificial acceptor is particularly surprising in view of the unpredictability of catalysis including enzyme catalysis.

Methods for the enzymatic synthesis of alpha-sialylated oligosaccharide glycosides


An electrophysiology catheter includes a tubular body having a proximal region, a neck region, and a distal region predisposed into a loop and including electrodes. A first deflection wire extends through at least a portion of the proximal region of the catheter body and includes a first flattened section, while a second deflection wire extends through the neck region and at least a portion of the distal region and includes a second flattened section within the neck region. A first activation wire is joined to the flattened section of the first deflection wire, while a second activation wire is joined to the flattened section of the second deflection wire. Thus, forces acting on the first and second activation wires, such as forces imposed by a handle-based actuator, are respectively transmitted to the first and second deflection wires, thereby deflecting the proximal and neck regions, respectively.

a. Field of the Invention
The instant invention relates to catheters for use in medical procedures. In particular, the instant invention relates to an electrophysiology catheter for use in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures at or near an annular region of a patient's anatomy, such as the ostium of a pulmonary vein.
b. Background Art
Catheters are used for an ever-growing number of procedures. For example, catheters are used for diagnostic, therapeutic, and ablative procedures, to name just a few examples. Typically, the catheter is manipulated through the patient's vasculature and to the intended site, for example a site within the patient's heart.
A typical electrophysiology catheter includes an elongate shaft and one or more electrodes on the distal end of the shaft. The electrodes may be used for ablation, diagnosis, or the like. Oftentimes, these electrodes are ring electrodes that extend about the entire circumference of the catheter shaft.
One specific use of an electrophysiology catheter is to map the atrial regions of the heart, and in particular the pulmonary veins, which are often origination points or foci of atrial fibrillation. Such electrophysiology mapping catheters typically have at least a partial loop shape at their distal end in order to surround the pulmonary vein ostia. Because of varying patient anatomies, however, it may be challenging to properly place the looped section of the catheter precisely in the pulmonary vein ostia.

St. Jude Medical, Atrial Fibrillation Division, Inc.


A system and method is provided which represents hierarchical relationships. These relationships are statically stored in a compact manner that allows for easy determination of relations (such as dominance) between any two entities defined to the hierarchy. This stored information is referred to a dominance key or a DOMKEY. DOMKEYs, rather than storing the actual relationship between entities defined to the hierarchical structure, store a representation of the structure itself. In a preferred embodiment, the present invention is applied to computer security systems such as the RACF system and is embedded in a RACF administrator such as Vanguard Integrity Professionals VRA RACF Administrator.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to hierarchical systems, and more particularly to a system for representing and determining relationships between entities in a hierarchy.
2. Discussion
Systems and organizations are frequently hierarchical in their structure. Computer systems designed to interact with such systems and organizations must reflect their internal hierarchy. For example, access to a computer system could reflect the hierarchy of the organization to ensure not only that persons have sufficient access and system capability to perform their required job functions, but also to restrict their ability to access and control areas of the system outside their job functions. As a result, individuals at high levels in the corporate hierarchy would be able to access and control broad areas in the computer system commensurate with their job responsibilities; while lower level employees would have a restricted ability to access and control. Further, it is desirable to restrict even higher level employees' ability to interact with areas outside of their responsibilities. For example, individuals in the manufacturing branch of a hierarchy should not ordinarily have access to payroll and vice versa.
To meet these objectives, a number of computer security systems have been developed. Such security systems may be integrated as part of an operating system or may comprise an additional piece of software used as an adjunct to an existing operating system. Examples of the former include the network operating system called Netware, sold by Novell, Inc. of Provo, Utah; and examples of the latter include RACF, sold by IBM Corporation, CA-TOP Secret and CA--ACF-2, both sold by Computer Associates, Rosemont, Ill. These kinds of security systems, in general, can be used to define each individuals' position in a hierarchical organization and define his access and control to a limited sphere within the hierarchy.
Unfortunately, existing security systems have a number of limitations. Generally, determining relations between entities in a hierarchy in computer security systems is accomplished by dynamically accessing the entity definitions to determine their relative positions within the hierarchy. This causes a traversal of the hierarchical structure each time the relation between entities is required.
The dynamic method of determining hierarchical relations is costly in terms of processing time and resources. This is due to the method used to determine it, which involves retrievals of multiple entities defined to the hierarchical system each time their relation needs to be determined. (In effect, a traversal of the structure) Also, since entity definitions are local to the system where they are defined, this dynamic method does not provide the ability to decentralize or remotely determine a relation. As a result, it is not possible to administer the security product without duplicating the security definitions at a remote site. Further, it is not possible to administer the security product without having the security product installed.
In addition, with the dynamic approach, relationships are determined at the time an operation is being performed and it is not possible (or is very difficult) to generate reports detailing either the operations a particular entity can perform or that entity's scope of authority. Also, the overhead in a dynamic system is high because it requires the retrieval of the entity definitions throughout the hierarchy each time the relationship is determined.
Alternatively, a static method might be used to store the relationships between entities. However, this method would probably require maintaining tables or lists that contain the relationship of each defined entity to all other entities. Unfortunately, the amount of information stored would be large due to the number of permutations possible between even a small number of defined entities. While this method might allow for easy determination of the individual relationships, it does not allow for a concise representation of the structure itself.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a simple method of determining the relationship between entities in a hierarchy. It would also be desirable to provide such a method which can determine the hierarchical relations without involving the security product each time the relation is required. It would also be desirable to provide a system which permits decentralization to allow determination of hierarchical relations at a remote site without requiring access to the security product. It would also be desirable to provide a mechanism for determining such relations to make possible an easy method of providing reports detailing the operations a particular entity is able to perform and the scope of an entity's authorities. Further, it would be desirable to provide a system with the above features which operates quickly and uses a minimal amount of computing resources and without invoking the security product each time hierarchical relations are needed.

System for representing hierarchical structures


The invention relates to a device and a method for the separation of solids from a biowaste slurry before heat treatment, and for heat treatment of the separated solids. The device comprises a chamber with a main inlet port for feeding slurry, and outlet ports. A unit for separating solids is adapted to an outlet port so, that liquid leaving the chamber has passed through the separation unit. A second outlet port is provided directly from the chamber to allow removal, following sterilization, of solids collected in the chamber. The sterilization is secured by temperature monitoring at representative locations.

Biological waste in the form of liquids and suspensions is produced e.g. in hospitals, agricultural or biological research and production facilities, plasma fractionation facilities, etc. Biological wastes produced in such facilities cannot be directly conducted to a sewer system, as these wastes often contain micro-organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, germs and the like, which are hazardous to humans and animals. Prior to conducting to a sewer system, such biowaste must first be deactivated in a treatment plant designed for this purpose. For the treatment of biowaste, different treatment plants have been designed in which biowaste is sterilized prior to conducting to the sewer system. The sterilization of biowaste can be carried out chemically or by means of heat. The treatment plants can operate continuously or batchwise.
Sterilization in the context of the present discussion includes the killing of microbes including bacteria and viruses so as to render them non-pathogenic, as well as the destruction of other biological agents that may cause harmful effects.
A typical thermal continuous biowaste sterilisation apparatus comprises a separating unit for solid matter, a storage tank, a heating unit and a dwell circuit as well as a circulation circuit for circulating biowaste through said heating unit and said dwell circuit.
Separation of solid matter from a biowaste suspension or slurry is necessary in order not to cause clogging of the system or excessive scaling of heat transfer surfaces. Biowaste slurries may contain considerable amounts of solids. As the separated solids also constitute a biological hazard, they must be separately and reliably sterilized, by way of e.g. heat treatment, before being disposed of.

Solids separator and method of treatment for biowaste


The invention relates to an orthopedic locking screw, an orthopedic locking system, and a method for manufacturing an orthopedic locking screw. The orthopedic locking screw may be used for locking an intramedullary nail. The orthopedic locking screw comprises a screw shaft. The screw shaft comprises a recess. The recess extends at least partially along a longitudinal axis of the screw shaft. The recess extends at least partially along a chord of a cross section of the screw shaft. A surface of a circular segment comprising the chord is at least partially provided with a threaded portion.

In general, the intramedullary nail may be for example a femur nail, a humerus nail or a tibia nail. Usually, a leading end portion of the intramedullary nail which may at first be introduced into a medullary channel of a bone comprises two or more through holes adapted to receive locking screws.
At present, inserting locking screws in holes formed in the leading end of implanted intramedullary nails is problematic, namely because of the amount of radiation required during the determination of the position and orientation of transverse locking holes. Furthermore, it is time consuming and ideally requires well-trained and experienced personal. Therefore, it has a significant influence of the overall operation room time required.
Currently, locking of the leading end portion of an intramedullary nail is performed mostly freehand, by inserting a first locking screw into and through a first through hole. Due to the fact that the insertion is difficult to perform, the locking screw may not exactly hit the through hole so that the intramedullary nail may be slightly displaced or even deformed to accommodate the locking screw extending through the through hole. However, this first locking screw will be able to move relative to the intramedullary nail when forces are applied on the nail and screw.
For a locking providing angular stability, a second locking screw may be inserted through a second through hole adjacent the first hole. Also the second locking screw may not exactly hit the second through hole. Accordingly, the second locking screw has to be urged through the hole, with the result that the combination of the first and second locking screws will provide an angle-stable fixation of the intramedullary nail, i.e. a fixation with no movement of a screw relative to the nail.
However, such a fixation of an intramedullary nail requires the insertion of two screws, wherein each insertion of a screw through the leading end portion of an intramedullary nail is difficult and thus time consuming.

Stryker European Operations Holdings LLC


A method includes executing instructions recorded on a non-transitory computer-readable storage media using at least one processor. The method includes receiving a notification of a selection of an user interface (UI) element within a UI of a target application, generating a request for an element listener instance, notifying multiple test recorder hooks of the request for the element listener instance, where each of the test recorder hooks is associated with a specific UI format having multiple different element listeners depending on a type of selected UI element, creating the element listener instance by one of the test recorder hooks based on the UI format and the selected UI element, registering, by the element listener instance, for events associated with the UI element and recording the events.

Known test automation tools can be used to define test scenarios and to control execution of these test scenarios related to an application targeted for verification (e.g., verification testing). These known test automation tools may support automation of tasks such as application installation, test scenario creation, user interface (UI) interaction, problem detection (such as parsing, pulling agents, etc.), defect logging, comparison of actual outcomes to predicted outcomes, setting up of test pre-conditions, and/or other test control and/or test reporting functions. These known test automation tools can also be configured to record, as a test scenario, user interactions (e.g., native events raised by an operating system (OS) in response to a user interaction) with a user interface (e.g., a graphical user interface) of an application targeted for testing. Hence, the test scenario can be created for the application via the user interface, and the application can be tested via the user interface based on the test scenario.
Existing tools may provide a basic recorder that is capable of recording low-level UI events such as, for example, mouse clicks and keyboard inputs. The test generated with these tools and this approach may be poor in terms of semantics. For example, the tester cannot distinguish easily the click on a button from a click on a link. In addition, the flexibility of hypertext mark-up language (HTML) content generated by a UI framework that is running on a server may present difficulties in collecting information required to be able to play the recorded action again. Thus, it may be desirable to provide systems and techniques to address shortfalls of present technology, and to provide other new and innovative features.

Systems and methods for recording user interactions within a target application


This disclosure describes, in part, systems for tracking the removal of shopping bags or other items from a dispenser. Folded shopping bags are stacked in a holder so that a front shopping bag can be removed by pulling it along an axis that is parallel to the length and/or width dimension of the shopping bag. A motion sensor is positioned to sense movement of the front shopping bag as it is removed. Control logic monitors and/or analyzes data or other signals from the motion sensor and determines whether movement of at least a threshold distance has occurred. If movement of at least the threshold distance has occurred, the control logic concludes that a shopping bag has been removed and generates a corresponding event notice. Other system components may respond to the event notice by applying a charge for the removed shopping bag or by performing other actions.

Traditional physical stores maintain an inventory of product items in customer-accessible areas such that customers can pick items from the inventory and take them to a cashier for purchase, rental, and so forth. In some stores, automated checkout may be used. In an automated checkout store, automated systems track a customer's choices as the customer takes items from shelves. Checkout is performed automatically, so that the customer can simply leave the store when done shopping.
Retails stores may have shopping bags available for customer use. For example, plastic and/or paper bags may be available at different locations within a store so that a customer can take bags and use them for packing selected items. The customer may take a bag, for instance, for packing produce such as fruits or vegetables. Shopping bags may also be available at checkout locations for packing purchased items.
In some locations, it is desired to discourage the use of disposable bags. In these locations, a government entity may impose a fee for every disposable bag taken or used by a customer. This fee is typically charged to the customer during a checkout process.

Item dispenser with motion-based removal detection


The present invention provides a liquid crystal display device capable of shortening the time required for stabilizing the brightness and the chromaticity to the temperature change. The input of an LED driver is connected to the output of a PWM controller, so that the electric power supplied to the respective LED groups of red, green and blue are controlled with a PWM method. A feedback control means for controlling the PWM controller includes a brightness setting means, a color setting means, a multiplication means for receiving the outputs from the brightness setting means and the color setting means, a comparison means fed with the output of the multiplication means at one of the inputs thereof, a light sensor temperature compensation means for compensating for fluctuations of the output of the light detection means due to temperature changes, a liquid crystal display panel temperature compensation means for compensating for fluctuations of the spectral transmittance of the liquid crystal display panel due to temperature changes, an addition means for summing the result of detection by the light detection means and the output of the light sensor temperature compensation means, and a multiplication means for multiplying the output of the addition means by the output of the liquid crystal display panel temperature compensation means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to liquid crystal display devices including a backlight and, more particularly, relates to transmitted-light-display type liquid crystal display devices including LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) as a light source.
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an LED light source stabilization/control circuit 90 disclosed in Armand Perduijn et al., "43.2: Light Output Feedback Solution for RGB LED Backlight Applications", "SID2003 CD-ROM".
The stabilization/control circuit 90 illustrated in FIG. 8 is broadly divided into a color control means 22, a brightness control means 23 and an LED driving duty ratio control means 24.
The color control means 22 is structured to include an addition means 222, an integration means 223, a PWM control block 224, an LED driving/operation detection block 225 and a low-pass filter 226.
The brightness control means 23 is structured to include a brightness sensor 231, an adder 232 and a brightness feedback circuit 233, and the LED driving duty ratio control means 24 is structured to include an adder 241, a maximum duty ratio setting means 242 and an LED driving duty ratio clipping circuit 243.
The brightness control means 23 and the LED driving duty ratio control means 24 constitute a brightness adjustment means 26, in cooperation with a brightness setting means 25 for setting a brightness value (Y′).
In the stabilization/control circuit 90, XYZ values (a color set value) as control targets are set by a color setting means 20, and these values and the output of the brightness adjustment means 26 are supplied to a multiplication means 21 which performs multiplication thereof. The result of the multiplication is supplied to the addition means 222 in the color control means 22.
In addition thereto, the output of the LED driving/operation detection block 225 is fed back to the addition means 222 through the low-pass filter 226 so that the difference between the output from the LED driving/operation detection block 225 and the result of the multiplication from the multiplication means 21 is supplied to the integration means 223.
Further, the output of the integration means 223 is supplied to the PWM control block 224 which calculates the duty ratios for PWM driving of the red, green and blue LEDs. The PWM control block 224 is structured to enable setting the gain of the integration component of the PWM control for the amount of feedback.
The LED driving/operation detection block 225 includes three types of LEDs for generating red, green and blue lights, a PWM driving circuit which individually drives the three types of LEDs, and a color detection means which disperses white light generated from a light guide plate through color filters which are approximated to a CIE1931XTZ color matching function and detects the X′, Y′ and Z′ values (color detected values) of separated lights, wherein light guide plate mixes the red, green and blue monochromatic lights generated from the LEDs into white light.
The output of the PWM control block 224 is supplied to a PWM driving circuit in the LED driving/operation detection block 25.
The X′, Y′ and Z′ values (color detected values) which are output from the LED driving/operation detection block 25 through the low pass filter 226 are also supplied to the brightness control means 23, and a brightness sensor 231 detects only the brightness value Y′ and supplies it to the addition means 232.
On the other hand, a brightness value Y′ set by the brightness setting means 25 and the brightness value Y′ output from the LED driving/operation detection block 25 are supplied to the addition means 232 which outputs the difference therebetween. The difference is supplied to the brightness feedback circuit 233 in the brightness control means 23 where it is subjected to a PID (Proportional, Integral, Differential) comparison control. Further, the brightness feedback circuit 233 is structured to enable setting the gain of the integration component of the PID comparison control for the amount of feedback.
The value resulted from the comparison controlling process by the brightness feedback circuit 233 is supplied to the addition means 241 of the LED driving duty ratio control means 24 which outputs the difference between this value and the output from the PWM control block 224 to the LED driving duty ratio clipping circuit 243.
On receiving the output of the addition means 241, the LED driving duty ratio clipping circuit 243 calculates a PWM duty ratio (common to red, green and blue colors) for the LEDs, on the basis of the output, Then, the result of the calculation is supplied to one of the inputs of the multiplication means 21.
Further, the LED driving duty ratio clipping circuit 243 is structured to enable setting the gains of the proportional component and the integration component of the PID comparison control for the amount of feedback.
In the aforementioned stabilization/control circuit 90, when the duty ratio of the PWM driving for the LEDs reaches a certain value, the overall gain is reduced and a feedback operation is performed in such a manner as to prevent the color fluctuation due to the clipping of the duty, thereby stably controlling the light intensities of the red, green and blue LEDs of the backlight source and the balance thereamong.
FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C illustrate exemplary temperature-induced fluctuation characteristics of the light emission spectra of blue, green and red LEDs.
In FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C, the horizontal axis represents the wavelength while the vertical axis represents the light intensity (relative value), and there are illustrated, in a superimposing manner, the light-emission spectra of the LEDs of the respective colors, for casing temperatures Tc of +25° C., +85° C. and −20° C. at the casing housing the LEDs.
Further, in FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C, the light-emission spectra at the respective temperatures are illustrated, on the assumption that the peak light intensity (λ peak) at a casing temperature of +25° C. is 1.
As can be seen from FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C, the light-emission intensities of the LEDs of the respective colors are varied with the temperature. Conventionally, such effects of temperature changes have been compensated for through feedback controls using, for example, the stabilization/control circuit 90 described with reference to FIG. 8.
Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-311413 (FIG. 4) discloses a technique for determining the brightness of a backlight and the temperature within the device and then correcting the brightness on the basis of the temperature within the device in order to attain a target brightness.
As described above, the stabilization/control circuit for the LED light source described in the aforementioned literature can stably control the brightness and the chromaticity of only the backlight source. However, the light sensing circuit used as light detection means has the possibility of causing fluctuations of the electric current output of the photodiodes used for light detection due to temperature changes and also has the possibility of causing fluctuations of the resistance of the resistor used in the amplification circuit for converting the electric current outputs of the photodiodes into voltages, due to temperature changes.
FIG. 10 illustrates the relationship between the output voltages of light sensors for red, green and blue colors and the operating temperature.
In FIG. 10, the horizontal axis represents the temperature (° C.) while the vertical axis represents the output voltage (V), wherein the output voltage characteristic of the light sensor for the red color (R) is plotted with a rectangular mark, the output voltage characteristic of the light sensor for the green color (G) is plotted with a round mark, and the output voltage characteristic of the light sensor for the blue color (B) is plotted with a triangular mark. The left vertical axis and the right vertical axis have different scales and the left vertical axis is marked in 0.005 V increments while the right vertical axis is marked in 0.2 V increments. The left vertical axis represents the output voltage of the light sensor for the green color, while the right vertical axis represents the output voltages of the light sensors for the red and blue colors.
In spite of the scale difference, FIG. 10 shows that the output voltage of the light sensor for the green color exhibits greatest temperature dependence, and there are also observed slight fluctuations in the output voltages of the blue and red light sensors.
Further, a liquid crystal display panel employing LED light sources as the backlight also exhibits a spectral transmittance which varies with the temperature.
FIG. 11 illustrates a temperature characteristic of the transmittance of a liquid crystal display panel.
In FIG. 11, the horizontal axis represents the wavelength (nm) while the vertical axis represents the light intensity (relative value) which is transmitted through the liquid crystal display panel, wherein there are illustrated the transmittances for respective wavelengths for temperatures of 24.5° C. and 43° C. at the liquid crystal display panel, thereby showing that the transmittances are decreased with increasing temperature.
In FIG. 11, the transmittances for respective wavelengths are illustrated, on the assumption that the light intensity for a wavelength of 523 nm at a liquid crystal display panel temperature of 24.5° C. is 1.
Since the operating temperature of the light sensors and the operating temperature of the liquid crystal display panel are increased with the elapsed time after power-on, the detection characteristic of the light sensors and the spectral transmittance of the liquid crystal panel are also changed with the elapsed time.
FIG. 12 illustrates the result of tests for the fluctuation in a light feedback controlling operation for an experimentally-produced liquid crystal display panel including a stabilization/control circuit equivalent to the stabilization/control circuit 90 illustrated in FIG. 8, in the cases of using a cabinet (enclosure) or no cabinet.
In FIG. 12, the vertical axis represents the color difference (ΔEab) from finally stably obtained brightness and chromaticity, while the horizontal axis represents the elapsed time (min).
As can be seen from FIG. 12, the liquid crystal display requires about 250 minutes for stabilizing the color difference when it employs the cabinet while it can stabilize it within about 100 minutes when it employs no cabinet. Thus, the feedback converging time is largely varied depending on whether or not there is a cabinet.
It can be considered that the aforementioned phenomenon is caused by the difference in the heat release at the backlight LED light source portion between when there is a cabinet and when there is no cabinet.
As described above, conventional stabilization/control circuits for LED light sources have been susceptible to the temperature change within the cabinet of the liquid crystal display panel and the temperature change in the liquid crystal display panel, thereby requiring longer times for stabilizing the brightness and the chromaticity.
Further, although Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-311413 discloses correction of brightness on the basis of the temperature in the device in order to attain a target temperature, the device does not employ LEDs as the light source.

Liquid crystal display device which compensates for temperature characteristics in light detection and spectral transmittance


Systems, devices and methods are described including specifying a jitter response control parameter, receiving multiple timestamp pairs. A maximum jitter of the timestamp pairs may be determined along with an elapsed time, and a clock frequency may be adjusted if the maximum jitter is less than the elapsed time divided by the jitter response control parameter. The jitter response control parameter may be adjusted in response to changes in die jitter of the input A/V signal. Further, one or more Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controller coefficients may be adjusted in response to the evaluated jitter of the timestamp pairs.

To maintain adequate quality in the playback of a broadcast Audio/Video (A/V) stream it may be necessary to recover the clock signal of the device or system that broadcasted the stream so that a playback device's A/V circuitry can be properly synchronized. Inadequate clock recovery may result in the dropping of video frames from the stream with a resulting degradation of audio quality when the dropped frames are re-sampling during A/V stream playback.
Some broadcast environments, particularly IP network environments, may impose a high and/or variable degree of jitter on an A/V stream. Such jitter may place additional mathematical burdens on the playback device's clock recovery mechanism. Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers employed in conventional A/V clock recovery designs do not account for jitter in the stimulus. Thus, when a conventional A/V clock recovery mechanism receives a high-jitter stimulus the PID control may vary wildly and potentially may become unusable.

Adaptive PID controller for audio/video clock recovery


Disclosed is an isolated bacterium strain Candidatus Brocadia caroliniensis, having Accession Deposit Number NRRL B-50286. The strain is capable of oxidizing ammonium and releasing di-nitrogen gas.

The use of bacteria for removal of nitrogen from wastewaters features a combination of nitrification and denitrification processes. (Tchobanoglous, G., et al., (1991) Wastewater Engineering: Treatment, Disposal, and Reuse. Boston, Mass.: Irwin/McGraw-Hill). A disadvantage of the nitrification is that large amounts of oxygen and energy are required to convert all the ammonium (NH4+) into nitrate (NO3−). The subsequent biological reduction of nitrate to nitrogen gas (N2) requires heterotrophic bacteria that utilize a carbon source to convert NO3− into N2 gas typically under anoxic conditions (Furukawa, K., et al., (2009) Innovative treatment system for digester liquor using anammox process. Bioresour. Technol. 100:5437-5443). Given the high energy costs pertaining to nitrification and the addition of carbon source pertaining to the denitrification process, there is a need to develop a more economical treatment system for effluents containing high ammonium concentrations.
An alternative biological process to N2 production via nitrite (NO2−) reduction is via anaerobic ammonia oxidation. Anaerobic ammonia oxidation is also referred to as anammox. The anammox process was recognized in a wastewater treatment system based on N mass balance (Mulder, A., et al., (1995) Anaerobic ammonium oxidation discovered in a denitrifying fluidized bed reactor. FEMS Microbiol. Ecol. 16:177-184). In the anammox process, under anaerobic and autotrophic conditions, ammonium (NH4+) serves as the electron donor using nitrite (NO2−) as the electron acceptor resulting in production of harmless di-nitrogen (N2) gas (Strous, M., et al., (1998) The sequencing batch reactor as a powerful tool for the study of slowly growing anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing microorganisms. Appl. Micobiol. Biotechnol. 50:589-596; Jetten, M. S. M., et al., (1999) The anaerobic oxidation of ammonium. FEMS Microbiol. Rev. 22:421-437). The complete ammonia removal process, or deammonification, entails two sequential reactions: partial nitritation (NH4++1.5 O2→NO2−+H2O+2 H+) and anammox (NH4++1.32 NO2−→1.02 N2+0.26 NO3−+2 H2O). Although this anammox equation does not consider other reactants related to cell synthesis (Dongen, van L. G. J. M., et al., (2001) The SHARON-Anammox process for the treatment of ammonium rich wastewater. Water Sci. Technol. 44:154-160), it has been used to describe the basic anammox process. The partial nitritation can be accomplished with the inhibition of nitrite oxidizing bacteria through limited oxygen supply (Kuai, L. P., et al., (1998) Applied and Environmental Microbiology 64:4500-4506), the use of high process temperatures, (Dongen, van L. G. J. M., et al., (2001) The Combined Sharon/Anammox Process, STOWA report, IWA Publishing, London) or enhancing free-ammonia concentration as a result of high pH and ammonium concentrations (Anthoniesen, A. C., et al., (1976) Inhibition of nitrification by ammonia and nitrous acid. Journal WPCF 48(5):835-852).
Compared to conventional nitrification-denitrification, these combined partial nitritation and anammox reactions save more than 50% of the oxygen supply for nitrification and 100% of the external organic carbon source for denitrification (Furukawa, K., et al., (2009) Innovative treatment system for digester liquor using anammox process. Bioresour. Technol. 100:5437-5443). This leads to a significant reduction in energy needs of treatment and a decrease in operational costs. In addition, by-products of anammox do not include greenhouse gases. The isolation of anammox microorganisms adapted to animal wastewater environments is of significant importance to farming systems inasmuch as excess ammonia in modern livestock production is a global problem and the use of conventional biological N removal methods is limited by cost. Thus an economical anammox based treatment is needed to facilitate greater adoption of advanced wastewater treatment technologies by wastewater facilities.
All microorganisms found responsible for the anammox reaction have been extremely difficult to isolate and no pure cultures exist (Megonigal, J. P., et al., (2005) Anaerobic metabolism: Linkages to trace gases and aerobic processes. In Biogeochemistry Vol. 8, 317-424). One of the difficulties in isolating bacteria that perform anammox process stems from the fact that the bacteria have a slow growth rate, wherein the doubling growth rate can take approximately two weeks. Another difficulty is isolating anammox bacteria in a natural environment. Yet another difficulty is to develop a specific autotrophic enrichment media that eliminates initial growing inhibition of the particular bacterial strain while mimicking natural environment conditions.
The enrichment of anammox microorganisms has been reported in several bioreactor studies (Egli, K., et al., (2001) Enrichment and characterization of an anammox bacterium from a rotating biological contactor treating ammonium-rich leachate. Arch. Microbiol. 60:135-153; Strous, M., J et al., (1999) Missing littroph identified as a new planctomycete. Nature, 400:446-449; Toh, S. K., et al., (2002) Enrichment of autotrophic anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing consortia from various wastewaters. Microb. Ecol. 43:154-167; Nkajima, J., et al., (2008) Enrichment of anammox bacteria from marine environment for the construction of a bioremediation reactor. Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 77:119-116). Common to all these studies, anammox microorganisms were identified as members of the order Planctomycetales, a major division of the Bacteria, using molecular techniques such 16 rDNA and in situ hybridization (Schmid, M. C., et al., (2005) Biomarkers for insitu detection of anaerobic ammonium-oxidizing (anammox) bacteria. Appl. Environm. Microbiol. 71:1677-1684).
It is therefore an object of the invention to isolate a bacterium strain that utilizes the anammox process. It is contemplated that the bacterium strain would be used as a biotreatment of wastewaters containing ammonia.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent as a detailed description of the representative embodiments is disclosed infra.

The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


A Fruit Pitter is disclosed where a plunger and shaft are slidably disposed within a generally cylindrical barrel. The shaft contains a pit engaging end that serves to cut and push a pit through a food item and expel the pit into a pit ejection chamber. The plunger is spring actuated for ease of operation. The food item rests in an opening in the barrel and remains there throughout the pit removal operation until a user removes the food item from the Fruit Pitter. The pit ejection chamber keeps the pit retained until it can be disposed of, and further serves to reduce splattering while the Fruit Pitter is in use.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to food processing devices, and more specifically to a Fruit Pitter.
2. Description of Related Art
Many fruits have a stone or a pit that requires removal prior to consumption. For example, cherries, while having a delightful flavor and texture that make them well suited for raw consumption or use in prepared dishes and baked goods, have a small hard pit or stone that must be removed prior to use. Other foods, such as olives, for example, have a similar hard stone or pit that must be removed prior to use.
There are various ways to remove the pit or stone, including merely eating the food and expelling the pit while chewing the food. While this technique may be effective, it is not a particularly attractive technique, especially in more formal settings. In addition, many foods, cherries included, can be used in prepared dishes, salads, as toppings, in baked goods, and the like. In such applications, it is oftentimes desirable to not only remove the pit or stone but also to retain the basic shape of the food once the pit or stone is removed, keeping the food item basically intact. While devices for removing a pit or stone from a food item such as a fruit are known, many of these devices have shortcomings including the way in which the pit is removed, the way in which the food retains its basic shape after pit removal, the mechanism of the device, the overall shape and ease of storage of the device, and the like.
What is needed is an improved Fruit Pitter that overcomes many of these shortcomings.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a Fruit Pitter that retains the basic shape of the food after the pit has been removed. It is another object of the present invention to provide a Fruit Pitter with an improved mechanism. It is another object of the present invention to provide a Fruit Pitter with an improved and easy to store shape. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a Fruit Pitter with an improved way to retain a fruit and remove the associated pit.
These and other objects of the present invention are not to be considered comprehensive or exhaustive, but rather, exemplary of objects that may be ascertained after reading this specification and claims with the accompanying drawings.


Implementations described and claimed herein provide a system and methods for prioritizing data in a cache. In one implementation, a priority level, such as critical, high, and normal, is assigned to cached data. The priority level dictates how long the data is cached and consequently, the order in which the data is evicted from the cache memory. Data assigned a priority level of critical will be resident in cache memory unless heavy memory pressure causes the system to reclaim memory and all data assigned a priority state of high or normal has been evicted. High priority data is cached longer than normal priority data, with normal priority data being evicted first. Accordingly, important data assigned a priority level of critical, such as a deduplication table, is kept resident in cache memory at the expense of other data, regardless of the frequency or recency of use of the data.

As the demand for data storage continues to increase, larger and more sophisticated storage systems are being designed and deployed. Many large scale data storage systems utilize storage appliances that include arrays of storage media. Multiple storage appliances may be networked together to form a cluster, which allows for an increase in the volume of stored data. The increase in the number of components, the number of users, and the volume of data often results in disparate users creating separate but identical copies of data, leading to exponential growth in physical storage capacity. For example, multiple members of a business may use the same operating system or store the same document. In such cases, data deduplication technologies can significantly increase data storage efficiency and reduce cost. Data deduplication technologies remove redundancy from stored data by storing unique data a single time and subsequent, redundant copies of that data as indices in a deduplication table pointing to the unique data. As a result, data can be stored in a fraction of the physical space that would otherwise be required. For example, 100 copies of a 10 gigabyte (GB) operating system can be stored with 10 GB of physical capacity, and 1000 copies of the same 1 megabyte (MB) file can be stored with 1 MB of physical capacity.
Memory caching is widely used in data storage systems. Reading from and writing to cache memory is significantly faster than accessing other storage media, such as accessing spinning media. Data deduplication involves performing a lookup into the deduplication table prior to writing data to determine if the data is a duplicate of existing data. As such, to perform deduplication efficiently and not impact system response time, many data storage systems store the deduplication table in cache memory, such as a direct random access memory (DRAM) based cache. However, cache memory remains significantly more expensive than other storage media. Consequently, cache memory is usually only a fraction of the size of other storage media in a data storage system.
In some cases, a deduplication table can grow unbounded, beyond the size of the available memory cache. While this allows for the deduplication of arbitrary amounts of data storage, portions of the deduplication table may be evicted from the memory cache as the size of the deduplication table grows. Specifically, if cache memory is full, existing data must be evicted from the cache memory before new data may be stored. Many caching systems and methods evict data based on algorithms that track recency (evicting data that has been least recently used), frequency (evicting data that has been least frequently used), or some combination of recency and frequency. However, such algorithms fail to identify the importance of data, resulting in important data that is not recently or frequently used, such as all or portions of the deduplication table, being evicted from the memory cache into other storage media, such as flash or spinning disks. When all or a portion of the deduplication table is stored in flash or disks, read and write request overhead is substantially increased, resulting in significantly reduced system performance.
It is with these observations in mind, among others, that various aspects of the present disclosure were conceived and developed.

System and methods for prioritizing data in a cache