The invention discloses a via connection structure with compensative area on a reference plane. The substrate has several conductive layers isolated by the insulation layers. When two conductive lines formed on different conductive layers where a reference plane is sandwiched in, these two conductive lines are not electrical connected because of the insulation layers. Furthermore, a via connection structure is common used to connect these two conductive lines. When a non-conductive area, i.e. the compensative area, on the reference plane is overlapped with a portion of one conductive line and is close to the via connection structure, it compensates the capacitive effect of the via connection structure. By this compensative area and the variety of the via connection structure, the vertical connection between different layers has a well impedance-matched condition and transmits the signal correctly.

The present invention relates to a via connection structure in a RF circuit. More particularly, it relates to a via connection structure with a compensative area on a reference plane to achieve the well impedance-matching for the RF circuit.
The common electronic products comprise of one or more IC chips disposed on a substrate in the recent days. The chips could receive the signals from the substrate or from the outside devices; likewise the signals calculated by the chips transmit to the substrate or to the outside devices. Therefore, the quality of signal transmission in the substrate influences on the accuracy of the transmitting signals received by the chips or the substrate. In other words, the poor quality of the signal transmission will induce the fault or the malfunction of the electronic products.
The quality of the transmitting signal depends on the variation of the characteristic impedance in the signal transmission. Furthermore, if the characteristic impedance of the signal transmitting path is different to that of the system, i.e. the impedance mismatch, it causes a portion of the signal reflected while the signal transmits to the chips or the outside devices. The ideal condition which the characteristic impedance of the signal transmitting path matches to that of the system will cause the maximum propagation in the signals. Otherwise, most of the signal is reflected while the impedance mismatch is serious. On one hand, the chip could not receive the correct signals from the substrate; one the other hand, the substrate could not receive the correct commands from the chips. Thus, it will cause a fault, or a malfunction of the system operation.
The structure of a common substrate comprises a plurality of conductive layers and a plurality of insulation layers alternately stacked. The circuits designed for various functions are formed by the patterned-circuits on several conductive layers. The circuits on the different conductive layers are isolated by the insulation layers between of them. Thus, the via connection structure is used for the interconnection between two or more different conductive layers. The via connection structure comprises at least one via which is filled with the conductive material or is covered with the conductive material on the sidewall to electrical connect two different conductive layers. In general, the characteristic impedance is seriously deviated while the signal passing through a via connection structure. In other words, it is necessary to modify the structure to compensate the impedance deviation for the signal quality.
Please refer to FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b, wherein FIG. 1a is the schematic cross-sectional view of the four-layered substrate according to the prior art, and FIG. 1b is the schematic top view of patterned-circuits in the four-layer substrates. The substrate 100 comprises three insulation layers 112, 114, 116, a power plane 120 and a ground plane 130. The power plane 120 is disposed between the insulation layer 112 and the insulation layer 114; similarly the ground plane 130 is disposed between the insulation layer 114 and the insulation layer 116. The substrate 100 further comprises the first conductive line 142 formed on the insulation layer 112, the second conductive line 144 formed on the insulation layer 116, and a via 102 through those insulation layers 112, 114, 116, the power plane 120, and the ground plane 130. The via connection structure 140 comprises a conducting via 146 which fill in the via 102 or cover the sidewall of the via 102, the via pad 148 formed on the insulation layer 112, and the via pad 150 formed on the insulation layer 116. Two ends of the conducting via 146 electrically respectively connect to the via pad 146 and to the via pad 150. Furthermore, the conducting via 146 electrically couples to the first conductive line 142 through the ring-shaped via pad 146 and to the second conductive line 144 through the ring-shaped via pad 150.
The parasitic capacitance and the parasitic inductance of the via connection structure depend on the dielectric constant of the insulation layer, the thickness of the insulation layer, and the dimensions of the via connection structure. Please refer to FIGS. 2a and 2b respectively illustrated the character responses of the via connection structures of two different diameters in frequency domain and in Smith Chart. The curve 201 in FIG. 2a and the curve 202 in FIG. 2b are illustrated the characteristic response of the via connection structure having one via which the diameter of the via is 8 mil. Likewise, the curve 211 in FIG. 2a and the curve 212 in FIG. 2b are illustrated the characteristic response of the via connection structure having one via which the diameter of the via is 20 mil. The curve 202 in FIG. 2b is in the upper part of Smith Chart. It means that the parasitic inductance dominates the characteristic response of the 8-mil via connection structure. On the other hand, the curve 212 in FIG. 2b is in the lower part of Smith Chart. The parasitic capacitance dominates the characteristic response of the 20-mil via connection structure.
In respect to the parasitic capacitance, the parasitic capacitance between the via connection structure 140 and the power plane 120 and that between the first conductive line 142 and the power plane 120 are different. There are also different in the parasitic capacitance between the via connection structure 140 and the ground plane 130 and in that between the second conductive line 144 and the ground plane 130. Concerning about the parasitic inductance, the parasitic inductance induced by the via connection structure 140 is different from that induced by the first conductive line 142, or is different from that induced by the second conductive line 144. Thus, the difference in the parasitic capacitance and the parasitic inductance will induce the characteristic impedance deviation while the signal passes through a via connection structure, even more the malfunction of the system.

Via connection structure with a compensative area on the reference plane


A system and method for reducing service latency includes dividing an information technology service for a customer into an infrastructure management service and a data management service. Data associated with the information technology service is stored in a backup memory. A set of infrastructure images related to the information technology service is stored at a cloud service provider. The infrastructure images are updated with software updates and hardware updates, as needed, and the data associated with the information technology service is updated through backup and restore mechanisms. The set of infrastructure images that have been updated with data with latest updates are started for recovery, continuity, testing, etc.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to cloud service computing environments and more particularly to systems and methods with reduced latency time in using cloud network services including continuity management, testing and other services.
2. Description of the Related Art
Business Continuity Management (BCM) aims at sustaining an organization's business operations without disruption. Disaster Recovery Planning (DRP) is a subset of BCM that focuses on preparing for and recovering from disasters that threaten to seriously affect information technology (IT) service availability and thereby to disrupt business continuity. IT Service Continuity Management (ITSCM) formalizes DRP from an IT Service Management (ITSM) perspective. The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL), a widely recognized framework of ITSM best practices, describes the ITSCM lifecycle stages: Initiation, Requirements and Strategy, Implementation, On-Going Operation and Invocation.
ITSCM, particularly in distributed systems, is widely perceived as an expensive challenge for enterprise-class IT operations. The daunting complexity of resource management makes labor cost a significant factor in pursuing continuity and resiliency of a business. Predominantly small and medium businesses (SMB) are known to opt out from ITSCM due to high cost to the business in labor, hardware resources and the high price of services of external service providers. The medium and large enterprises who subscribe to ITSCM services, on the other side, fail to maintain currency of continuity plans and neglect frequent rehearsals due to high costs involved and potentially negative influences of rehearsals on production services. This failure leaves enterprises poorly prepared and jeopardizes the chances of rapid recovery in the event of a real disaster.
Bare-Metal Recovery allows backing up a computer system from and restoring it to a physical infrastructure. Flash Archive™ is a utility to clone and secure a computer system to disk or tape volumes. Hewlett-Packard® UX provides Ignite-UX™, a utility to clone and secure a computer system to network, disk or tape volumes. IBM® AIX™ offers mksysb, savevg and other utilities to clone and secure a computer system to network, disk or tape volumes. Linux based Intel® systems can use live backup mechanisms on the running system, such as file system snapshots based on logical representations of the data using the Logical Volume Manager (LVM). As an alternative to live backups, the backups can also be performed with support of the "alternate boot" method, i.e., a backup of the whole image requires rebooting the system. Windows® based Intel® systems support similar "alternate boot" backup and restore mechanisms.
All Bare-Metal Recovery techniques have a significant disadvantage: they require a similar physical infrastructure to recover on. This requirement can be fulfilled by setting up stand-by redundant physical infrastructure on a recovery site. Such a redundant site is usually provided as a service by an ITSCM service provider, and comes with a high price tag. One can further differentiate between cold, warm, hot and shared redundancy. Cold redundancy is based on an active/passive scenario with replicated hardware that must be set up and configured before it is usable. Warm redundancy is based on an active-passive scenario with pre-configured replicated hardware that must be manually brought into the system, whereas hot redundancy uses automated failover mechanisms in an active-active scenario. Shared redundancy relies on the simultaneous use of the production hardware and the replicated hardware.
Virtualization technology can be used to combine the recovery of computer systems with server consolidation, i.e., recovering physical servers on Virtual Machines (VM) that operate on a smaller pool of physical infrastructure resources. Furthermore, VM live migration and replication offers approaches to automate availability planning and ITSCM by moving workloads without service disruption. Mirage™ proposes an approach to improve inventory control of VM disk-images and fight image sprawl. One important idea of Mirage™ is to enrich VM images with metadata in a manifest that allows the separation of the storage of a VM and operations on it, such as search and update without having to start the VM.
However, these solutions introduce hypervisor dependencies and thereby might lead the customer into a technology lock-in situation. Although efforts are made to enhance hypervisor interoperability, such as the Open Virtualization Format, it is unclear how these standards can be effectively incorporated into higher-level business processes.
Recovery to virtual infrastructure can reduce the up-front cost of redundant physical hardware. However, the cost savings are limited and stand-by redundant hardware must still be provided by the customer or by an ITSCM service provider.
Cloud Computing provisions Internet-scale services which are mainly characterized by three properties: they provide means for on-demand mobilization of infrastructure resources, they exhibit the illusion of infinite amounts of resources being available, and they implement the idea of utility computing. The interest in cloud computing has been fueled by innovative Web service offerings. Customers face a number of challenges when outsourcing systems "into the cloud". For example, building secure virtualized networking solutions to complement simple cloud services to design more complex enterprise services. Other challenges come from the before-mentioned hypervisor interoperability problems. For example, VMs created with VMware cannot be brought into a system which uses VMs based on the Xen hypervisor.

System and method for reducing latency time with cloud services

International Business Machines Corporation


An ester-containing reaction product of a carbonyl compound, preferably an acyl halide and a thiodiphenol has high temperature antioxidant properties. The reaction product is useful as a synthetic lubricant base fluid or as an antioxidant additive when used in minor amounts of 0.01 to 10 wt. % in a mineral oil or hydrocracked oil lubricant base fluid. The reaction product can also be used in a fuel.

Oxidation of a lubricating fluid can occur during ordinary, as well as severe, conditions of use. Oxidation causes the properties and the chemical structure of the fluid to change dramatically, leading to bearing corrosion, piston ring sticking, lacquer and sludge formation and excessive fluid viscosity. Current commercial synthetic lubricant base fluids are not suitable for very high temperature engine operation, they tend to degrade under rigorous thermal/oxidative conditions. Because of this, they have an operating ceiling of about 200.degree. to 250.degree. C., in the presence of antioxidants. While future engine temperatures increase to boost engine operating efficiency, new classes of base fluids need to be developed. Fluids such as polyphenyl ethers or perfluoro hydrocarbon fluids are useful at high temperatures; they are expensive and their lubricating properties are limited, particularly at low temperatures, having a pour point range of about 10.degree.-15.degree. C. which is not suitable for most lubricant uses. The common practice of the art utilizes an antioxidant to reduce the rate of oxidation of the lubricating oil and thereby improve the apparent thermal/oxidative stability.
Direct frictional contact between relatively moving surfaces even in the presence of a lubricant can cause wear of the surfaces. The elimination of wear is an ideal goal which is approached by blending the lubricating media with additives which can reduce the wear. The most suitable antiwear additives are those that help to create and maintain a persistent film of lubricant even under severe conditions such as high temperatures which thin the lubricant film and extreme pressures which squeeze the lubricant film away from the contacting surfaces. Wear is most serious in internal combustion engines, diesel engines and gasoline engines in which metal parts are exposed to sliding, rolling and other types of forceful, frictional mechanical contact. Specific areas of wear occur in the gears, particularly hypoid gears which are under high loads, piston rings and cylinders and bearings such as ball, sleeve and roller bearings.
Sulfur-containing derivatives, such as 4,4-thiodiphenol, are known to provide beneficial additive properties such as antioxidancy, antiwear and an ability to lubricate under extreme pressure conditions in lubricant applications. A concern, however, is that they are known to degrade upon exposure to high temperatures, i.e., over about 150.degree. C., during engine operation leading to engine corrosion and deposit formation.
Thiophenol-derived reaction products have been considered to solve these problems. For example, transition/alkali metal complexes of thiobis(alkylphenols) are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,211,663 for their antioxidant performance in lubricating oils. However, for environmental and economic reasons it is desirable to avoid the use of metals in lubricant additives.
Thus, various non-metal derivatives have been developed. Borated diol-phenol sulfides are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,390 for their friction and corrosion reducing properties in lubricants. U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,655 describes lubricant additives made by using a thiodiphenol in a Mannich reaction. U.S. Pat. No. 4,460,486 describes a polyoxyalkylene compound derived from 4,4'-thiodiphenol as useful as fiber and rubber lubricant additives having antioxidant properties. Derivatives of phenolic thioacetals as lubricant additives having antioxidant properties are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,832.
A nucleophilic substitution reaction between alcohols and acylhalides to produce esters is known as described in March Advanced Organic Chemistry, pp. 346-347 (1985).

Ester fluids with high temperature stability


A method of treating a disease or condition in which up-regulating GAGs is therapeutically beneficial is disclosed, in particular osteoarthritis and skin diseases. The method comprises locally administering to a subject a therapeutically effective amount of an agent capable of down-regulating activity or expression of a component of the renin-angiotensin system.

The present invention relates to methods for treating conditions in which up-regulation of GAGs would be therapeutically beneficial and more specifically for treating such conditions by inhibiting the renin-angiotensin system.
It is known that glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are the most abundant heteropolysaccharides in the body. They are essentially long unbranched polysaccharides comprising a repeating disaccharide unit which in turn comprise one of two modified sugars N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) or N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) and a uronic acid such as glucuronate or iduronate. GAGs are located primarily on the cell surface or in the extracellular matrix (ECM). Specific GAGs of physiological significance include hyaluronic acid, dermatan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, heparin, heparan sulfate, and keratan sulfate.
The majority of GAGs in the body are linked to core proteins, forming proteoglycans (also referred to as mucopolysaccharides). The GAGs extend perpendicularly from the core in a brush-like, structure. The linkage of GAGs to the protein core involves a specific trisaccharide composed of two galactose residues and a xylose residue (GAG-GalGalXyl-O—CH2-protein).
The high negative charge associated with GAGs, as well as their extended conformation imparts high viscosity to the ECM. Due to the low compressibility of GAGs, their presence in joint synovial fluid is essential. At the same time, their rigidity provides structural integrity to cells and provides passageways between cells, allowing for cell migration.
Because of the many vital body functions performed by proteoglycans in general and GAGs in particular, a deficiency in their production or their rapid degradation is associated with a wide range of disorders. In addition, many disorders have been shown to benefit by an increase in GAGs.
Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis affecting over 20 million people in the United States alone. The incidence of osteoarthritis increases with age. The disease involves progressive deterioration of articular cartilage with minimal inflammation [Schoenherr et al. in Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 4.sup.th Ed., Hand et al. Eds., Walsworth Publishing Company, Marceline, Mo., 2000, 907-921; Hedbom et al., Cell Mol. Life. Sci 59:45-53, 2002; Pool, Front Biosci 4:D662-70, 1999].
Articular cartilage comprises chondrocytes (approximately 5%) and extracellular matrix (approximately 95%). The chondrocytes are important in the control of matrix turnover through production of collagen, proteoglycans and GAGs and enzymes for cartilage metabolism. The functional integrity of articular cartilage is determined by a balance between chondrocyte biosynthesis of extracellular matrix and its degradation.
Chondroitin sulfate is the predominant GAG found in articular cartilage. Together with its associated core protein, chondroitin sulfate has been shown to be reduced in various forms of arthritis including osteoarthritis as well as rheumatoid arthritis, leading to a decrease in cartilage thickness and stiffness [Altman R D, et al., Arthritis Rheum 16:179, 1973; Jasin H E, Dingle J T, J Clin Invest 68:571-581, 1981].
Standard drug therapy for the treatment of arthritis suppresses pain and inflammation, primarily through the use of non steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS). However, these drugs also promote progression of the disease process by inhibiting GAG synthesis and cartilage repair. Therefore several attempts have been made to affect GAG and proteoglycan constituents of articular cartilage directly, using various approaches.
One such approach is the administration of glucosamine sulfate which is an essential component in GAG synthesis. Several human studies have shown a modest decrease in symptoms of osteoarthritis with the administration of glucosamine sulfate using oral or intraarticular injections [Reichelt A et al., Arzneimittelforschung 44:75-80, 1994; Reginster J Y, et al., Lancet 357:251-256, 2001; Vajaradul Y, Clin Ther 3:336-343, 1981]. A meta-analysis of the six best-designed trials found a small to moderate beneficial effect of glucosamine on pain [McAlindon T E, JAMA 15:1469-1675, 2000].
Another approach is the administration of chondroitin sulfate. A meta-analysis in 2003 evaluated eight trials that involved 755 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who were assigned to receive chondroitin sulfate or placebo [Richy F, Arch Intern Med 163:1514-1522, 2003]. In terms of benefit, the likelihood of responding to chondroitin sulfate was significantly increased compared to placebo. However, there is limited information about the long-term effects of these supplements and their potential interactions. In addition, chondroitin and glucosamine usually require administration for many months before any benefit is felt.
Several genetically inherited diseases, for example the lysosomal storage diseases, result from defects in the lysosomal enzymes responsible for the metabolism of complex membrane-associated GAGs. These specific diseases, termed mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) in reference to the earlier term, mucopolysaccharide, used for glycosaminoglycans, lead to an accumulation of defective GAGs within cells that fail to be secreted or degraded. There are at least 14 known types of lysosomal storage diseases that affect GAG metabolism; some of the more commonly encountered examples are Hurler's syndrome, Hunter's syndrome, Sanfilippo syndrome, Maroteaux-Lamy syndrome and Morquio's syndrome. All of these disorders, except for Hunter's syndrome, are inherited in an autosomal recessive manner.
Several approaches are being used or pursued for the treatment of MPS, most of which focus on gene therapy or enzyme replacement therapy for use alone in disease management. Additionally, researchers have identified a number of small molecules for the management of MPS. However, none of these approaches have shown full therapeutic efficacy.
Cystic fibrosis is another example of a disease which is associated with an increase in GAGs. Cystic fibrosis (CF) patients develop chronic lung infections associated with airway obstruction by viscous and insoluble mucus secretions. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPG) have been shown to contribute to the insolubility of CF sputum and treatment with chondroitinase was shown to ameliorate this effect [Khatri et al., Pediatr Res. 2003 April; 53(4):619-27].
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, novel therapeutic modalities for treating disorders associated with an under- or over-production of GAGs, which are devoid of the above limitations.
Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) is a metallopeptidase that participates in tissue regulatory peptide systems involving angiotensin II (All) and bradykinin. ACE catalyses the formation of All from its inactive precursor, angiotensin I, which itself is generated by cleavage of angiotensinogen by the protease renin. All exerts its biologic effects via specific, cell surface receptors, of which two major subtypes, named AT1 and AT2 receptors have been identified in humans. All is a potent vasoconstrictor, and can stimulate angiogenesis, fibroblast proliferation, and growth factor expression, each mediated by AT1 receptors [Timmermans P B, Pharmacol Review, 45:205-251, 1993]. Furthermore, ACE inhibitors (ACE-I) and AT1 receptor antagonists (ARB) inhibit these effects.
ACE inhibitors and ARBs are typically prescribed for the management of heart failure, hypertension and myocardial infarction. They are also considered as the standard of care for preserving renal function in chronic renal disease and in renal disorders associated with proteinuria. The precise mechanism of renoprotection associated with these agents is still not defined.
While researching the mechanism involved in the therapeutic effect ACE inhibitors and ARBs have on the pathogenesis of proteinuria, the present inventors unexpectedly discovered that inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system up-regulates GAGs. Thus, the use of ACE inhibitors and ARBs in the treatment of pathologies that would benefit from an up-regulation of GAGs is proposed herein. Particularly of interest is the local administration of such agents for the treatment of diseases associated with a low level of GAGs in the cartilage.
U.S. Pat. App. No. 20030078190 teaches the treatment of a wide range of disorders including rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and lupus erythematosus using ARBs optionally in combination with ACE-I inhibitors.
U.S. Pat. App. No. 20030040509 relates to the use of ACE inhibitors for the treatment of diseases associated with a reduced level of Angiotensin II. Included in their list of diseases are also those that are associated with a low level of GAGs.
Contrary to the present invention, both of these patent applications do not teach local administration of the renin-angiotensin modulating agent. Furthermore, therapeutic efficacy was shown only for cardiovascular disorders such as hypertension chronic heart failure and renal disorders such as proteinuria and chronic renal disease and not for cartilage, skin or lysosomal storage disorders.
There have been several small open-labelled trials of ACE inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, with variable results [Martin M F et al., Lancet 1984; 1:1325-8; Bird H A et al., J. Rheumatol 1990; 17:603-8] using the ACE inhibitor captopril. The clinical benefits of captopril were attributed to structural similarities with penicillamine due to its thiol residue [Martin M F et al., Lancet 1984; 1: 1325-8]. In a later study ACE-I quinapril was shown to suppress inflammatory arthritis in mice [Dalbeth et al., Rheumatology 44:24-31, 2004]. The ARB candesartan had a similar inhibitory effect on disease activity as well. In all these studies, local administration of the renin angiotensin system inhibitors was not suggested and the effect of these agents on GAGs was not postulated.

Inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system for the treatment of renal, vascular and cartilage pathology


An image encryption system includes an encrypter configured to generate an encrypted image including an encrypted area by encrypting a partial area of an input image; an identification information generator configured to generate identification information for identifying the encrypted area based on an image of the encrypted area; and a registration unit configured to register the identification information and a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted area by making an association between the identification information and the decryption key.

Techniques for preventing secret information from leaking out have been studied and developed as an information society is making progress. By way of example, for digital data, a method for encrypting digital data, a method for authenticating a user, a method for restricting an access to digital data, and the like have been implemented.
In the real world, however, information leaks out of printed matters such as a paper medium and the like in many cases. For example, a statement of a credit card, a medical record of a hospital, a name list of a school, and the like include secret information. Accordingly, also development of a technique for preventing information written on printed matters from leaking out is demanded.
When information written on a printed matter is protected, for example, an area where secret information is written is processed into an unreadable state. In this case, for example, the area corresponding to the secret information is encrypted in a computer. Then, image data where the partial area is encrypted in this way is printed. As a result, the printed matter where the secret information is encrypted is obtained.
To read the secret information on the above described printed matter, a user generates digital data that represents an image of the printed matter, for example, by using a digital camera, a scanner or the like. Then, the secret information is regenerated by decoding the encrypted area.
As a related technique, an image encryption device for encrypting a digital image, digitized by an optical reader, into an encrypted image is proposed. This image encryption device includes encryption area specification means for specifying a partial area to be encrypted from a digital image, image conversion means for converting the partial area specified by the encryption area specification means into a processed image based on an encryption key, and pixel value conversion means for generating a converted image by regularly converting pixel values of the processed image converted by the image conversion means in order to make a position of the partial area identifiable (for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-301044).
Additionally, the following encryption/decryption is proposed as another related technique. Namely, when an image where part of a document is encrypted to be unreadable is decrypted, a user reads the document as an electronic image, accesses a key management server, and is authenticated as an authorized user by using a decryption device. Then, a management number obtained from the image is transmitted from the decryption device to the key management server. The key management server extracts, from a key management database, position information of the encrypted part of the document and a decryption key for decrypting the encrypted part based on the obtained management number, and transmits the position information and the decryption key to the decryption device. The decryption device processes the image by using the position information and the decryption key to decrypt the encrypted part to be readable (for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2008-301471).
When an image (the printed matter in the above described example) including an encrypted area is decoded, a user photographs the image by using a digital camera or the like as described above. Then, the decryption device decrypts the encrypted area by using a key corresponding to the encrypted area.
Here, when the encrypted image includes a plurality of encrypted areas, it is preferable to encrypt the encrypted areas respectively with different keys in order to improve security. In this case, an encryption key and a decryption key are managed for each of the encrypted areas in association with, for example, position information that represents a position within an encrypted image. By reading image data of the entire encrypted image, the decryption device can detect a position of an encrypted area to be decrypted within the encrypted image, and can obtain a decryption key corresponding to the position.
However, for example, when only a partial area of an encrypted image is taken when a user photographs the encrypted image with a digital camera, the decryption device cannot detect the position of the encrypted area to be decrypted within the encrypted image. In this case, the decryption device cannot obtain a key corresponding to the encrypted area, and thus cannot decrypt the encrypted area.
This problem occurs not only when image data of a target object is obtained by using a digital camera. Namely, for example, also if a scanner is set obliquely to a printed matter when image data of the printed matter is obtained by using the scanner, a similar problem may occur.

Image encryption system and image decryption system


The present invention relates to the interworking controlling method of an electronic eye protection apparatus for welding and a smartphone, or more specifically, it relates to the interworking controlling method of an electronic eye protection apparatus for welding and a smartphone, which enables remote management from a smartphone by interworking history state data on utilization, operation, settings, failure of the electronic eye protection apparatus for welding, and which enables location searching and anti-theft function such as password setting of electronic eye protection apparatus for welding with a smartphone.

In general, when performing a welding, cutting or grinding work, a welding mask is worn for protection of the welder's eyes from a variety of toxic substances and to block strong lights, and various kinds of convenient and secure electronic welding masks are being developed and used.
The conventional glare shielding device of electronic welding surface has been developed in order to provide the welder with a changed or fixed level of standard in terms of concentration of the shutter depending on the welding work of the environment, to allow control of shutter operation caused by welding light, and to variably control delay time of the shutter in order to prevent the light after welding from dazzling the driver which can occur in the base material after welding, so that the control switch or variable volume required for these shutter operations are mounted in various forms and provides convenience to the welder according to specifically set locations.
However, said glare shielding device according to the conventional technology, had an unpleasant problem that phone was difficult use especially in an emergency, because mobile phone ringtones were not well heard due to noise of work environment in case of an incoming call on a mobile phone during work, and the difficulty of having to take off the shield mask to pick up the phone after halting the work.
Therefore, the applicant, through KR 2009-0130323 (Dec. 24, 2009 Pending), provided a glare shielding device that has a wireless communication function, and the present inventor has come to developing the controlling method of electronic eye protection apparatus for welding, such as: setting history state of the main data such as utilization, operation, settings, failure, location, and password of a glare shielding plate (that is, automatic darkening filter (ADF)) to the main controlling method of said glare shielding device (that is, electronic eye protection apparatus for welding); remote controlling the main data of said ADF by interworking with said electronic eye protection apparatus for welding in Bluetooth communication by using the Apps by substituting said mobile phone with a smartphone; and supporting the Helps such as Instructions for Use; and preventing thefts.
Also, there was a problem of remote controlling workers who worked far away from the managing center.

Interworking controlling method of an electronic eye protection apparatus for welding and a smartphone


According to certain aspects of the disclosure, a computer-implemented method may be used for rotorcraft track and balance. The method may include capturing one or more images of at least one rotating blades of a rotorcraft and analyzing the one or more images of the at least one rotating blades to determine blade information. Additionally, the method may include determining a location of the at least one rotating blades in the one or more images based on the blade information and calculating blade position information based on the determined location of the at least one rotating blade and a parameter of a user device capturing the one or more images. Additionally, the method may include displaying the blade position information to the user device and displaying instructions on one or more adjustments to the at least one rotating blades of the rotorcraft based on the blade position information.

One routine maintenance item facing the rotorcraft industry is the issue of rotor track and balance (RT&B). Rotorcrafts such as helicopters may require track and balance to be performed on the rotors following every major rotor maintenance intervention, blade replacement, or according to defined time intervals. Helicopter rotor track and balance is currently a major high-cost maintenance item. Smoothing vibrations in helicopters may involve an extensive amount of maintenance man-hours and aircraft flight hours. High maintenance time eats away at the life-cycle usefulness of the aircrafts, burns high cost fuel, and detracts from operational readiness of the aircraft. While there are various approaches to performing RT&B, there are negatives to those approaches. For example, equipment used to perform RT&B may be expensive and prone to failures. In some cases, modification of helicopter's rotor tips may be required to enable equipment installation.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art, or suggestions of the prior art, by inclusion in this section.

Systems and methods to perform track and balance for rotorcrafts


Apparatus for providing an accelerated linear motion to a circuit breaker operating handle during ON or OFF operation of the circuit breaker. The accelerated linear motion being applied to the operating handle at a particular point during its movement such that the moveable contacts of the circuit breaker are not delayed in their opening or closing due to slow movement of the circuit breaker operating handle.

Circuit breakers are typically found in load centers, service entrance boxes or auxiliary circuit panels and are generally intended for manual operation by human hands. Therefore, the internal mechanical operating components of the circuit breaker are designed to function properly in response to the speed at which force is applied to the circuit breaker operating handle by the human hand. However, in some applications remote or automatic operation of the circuit breaker may be required. In these situations an external source of force such as a motor, solenoid, pneumatic cylinder, flexible cable or other device capable of applying force to the circuit breaker handle can be used. An interconnecting mechanism transfers the force from the source to the circuit breaker operating handle. These interconnecting mechanism generally employ a fork-like operator that rigidly engages the sides of the circuit breaker operating handle during the ON-OFF operations. Typically the external source will be operate at a slower speed than normal human interface with the operating handle to prevent damage to the operating handle, the connecting mechanism and/or the external source or because of power limitations. If the speed at which the operating handle is moved between the ON and OFF positions is too slow, arcing can be initiated between the fixed and movable contacts of the circuit breaker as they begin to close or open. Arcing of the contacts can severely reduce the service life of the circuit breaker and in extreme cases can cause failure of the circuit breaker. Therefore, a mechanism that provides additional speed to the circuit breaker operating handle at an appropriate time during operation would be desirable to prevent contact arcing and to maintain or prolong the normal service life of the circuit breaker.
Before one embodiment of the invention is explained in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction described herein or as illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various other ways. Further, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.


A precision pruner for selectively cutting twigs, branches, stalks and vines deep within a bush or shrub has an elongated tool portion with at least one notch. A first handle is stationarily disposed on the tool portion and a cutter portion is slidably disposed on the tool portion. A cutting edge is aligned with notch(es) in a normal position, and a second handle is pivotally disposed on the first handle portion such that squeezing the first and second handles together slides the cutter portion relative to the tool portion out of the normal position so that the cutting edge(s) and the notch(es) are moved towards each other, thereby cutting any material received within the notch(es).

Pruning tools are widely available in home improvement stores, hardware stores, and variety department stores. They can generally be broken into two large groups, the first of which would be shaping pruners, or hedge trimmers, which have a pair of long blades opposing each other with a pivot and two handles which operate like a long pair of scissors. These are useful for creating a shape to an exterior of a bush or shrub as they cut leaves and very small branches (twigs) easily in a long, straight line. The second group of ordinary pruning tools are branch pruners which often have a pair of longer handles, a pivot, and a smaller C-shaped cutter pair, which are meant to cut thicker branches and stems.

Tool for deep selective pruning of branches and vines


An introducer assembly (40) for use in the deployment of implantable medical devices such as stents and stent grafts includes a carrier element (20), a dilator tip (18) located at the distal end of the carrier element (40) and sheath (32) movable between a device covering position and a device deployment position. In the device deployment position, a restricted annular gap (34) is created between the distal end (36) of the sheath (32) and the proximal end (38) of the dilator tip (18). The gap (34) is restricted by a restriction mechanism (50) located at the proximal, external end, of the introducer assembly (40). The gap (34) allows for the progressive deployment of the medical device from the introducer (40) and for simultaneous retraction of the dilator tip (18) thereby avoiding snagging of the dilator tip (18) against the wall of a patient's vessels and of the medical device.

The endoluminal introduction and deployment of a medical device such as a stent or stent graft into a patient is a well known procedure. The introducer assembly is typically in the form of a catheter assembly which includes at least guide wire, a guide wire catheter and an outer sheath. The medical device is carried at a distal end of the guide wire catheter and the assembly may also include a pusher element which is also carried on or is part of the guide wire catheter. It is advantageous to have a flexible distal end to the introducer to assist in its trackability within the vasculature of a patient. It is also advantageous for the distal tip of the introducer to have a dilating function so as to prepare the lumen for the passage of the larger sheath-covered part of the assembly. For this purpose it is generally considered best to have a specific dilator tip at the distal end of the introducer assembly, formed of a very flexible material. The implantable medical device is typically positioned just by the proximal end of the dilator tip and on a cannula or catheter which has a smaller outer diameter than the diameter of the dilator tip.
During deployment, the implantable medical device is expanded from the introducer until this fixes to the inner walls of the patient's lumen at the treatment site. Once deployed, the introducer is removed, typically by withdrawing the guide wire catheter through the lumen of the expanded medical device. The dilator tip also follows through the lumen of the medical device. This withdrawal operation generally occurs without complications. However, where the medical device is deployed in a curved vessel, such as in the aortic arch, it is possible for the distal end of the introducer assembly, particularly the dilator tip, to rub and pull against the internal surface of the medical device. The reason this occurs is that the introducer assembly will generally have a straight configuration, or at least much straighter than the curve of such a vessel, and as a result will tend to reside against or proximate the outer radial side of the lumen. Thus, when the introducer comes to be withdrawn, it will brush against this side of the vessel and the deployed medical device. In some circumstances this can cause damage or trauma to the vessel walls and or shift the device from the position in which it was deployed. There is also the risk of damage to the medical device. Any movement or damage to the device can lead to an abortive medical procedure.
WO-2006/117167 discloses an introducer for a self-expanding braided stent which includes a mechanism within the introducer assembly at its distal end for holding and controlling deployment of the stent.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,533, US-2006/0184226 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,331,985 disclose other designs of introducer assembly.


An apparatus for displaying auto-multiscopic 3D images includes a parallax barrier; an image source layer with a first side facing the rear surface of the parallax barrier; and an electromechanical system facing the second side of the image source layer. The parallax barrier comprises an array of transparent spots. The image source layer comprises at least one clear spot and is configured to emit light away from the parallax barrier. The electromechanical system comprises one or more mirrors pivotably mounted and controllable to reflect light towards the at least one clear spot in the image source layer.

This invention provides improvements over the inventor's three earlier inventions: a first involving an auto-multiscopic 3D billboard display system, a second involving an auto-multiscopic 3D display system, and a third involving a system operating on light to capture images or produce a three-dimensional display.
The first invention is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/084,221 (the '221 application), filed 29 Mar. 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,411,167 (the '167 patent), issued 9 Aug. 2016: The '221 application and the '167 patent are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. The '167 patent is for a billboard display system that utilizes a light source housed in a box-like structure. The light source shines light away from a non-transparent front wall and through a transparent rear wall and thence through a sheet of projection film having an array of images thereon and thence is reflected by a corresponding array of concave mirrors back to corresponding apertures. The apertures are formed at the bottom of indentations, preferably cone-shaped throughout the area of the front wall. The light passes through the apertures and thence out of the indentations to create a 3D image in the eyes of a viewer looking at the front wall.
The second invention is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/167,489 (the '489 application), filed 27 May 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,491,444 (the '444 patent) on 8 Nov. 2016: The '489 application and the '444 patent are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. The '444 patent teaches an auto-multiscopic 3D display system utilizing one or more transparent organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays and Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs) to enable full motion 3D displays. This display system is expected to display dynamic 3D images on flat screen televisions, monitors, tablets, smartphones, and other electronic display devices without any need for 3D enabling glasses. The term auto-multiscopic is used to define a display that allows multiple viewers to view three-dimensional scenes on a display, simultaneously and without the need for 3D glasses.
The third invention is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/375,093 (the '093 application), filed 11 Dec. 2016, expected to be U.S. Pat. No. 9,762,892 (the '892 patent), to be issued on 12 Sep. 2017. The '093 application and the '892 patent are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. The '093 application teaches an apparatus for displaying and/or capturing auto-multiscopic 3D images using a concave mirror array; a parallax barrier with an array of first transparent spots or lines extending through the parallax barrier; and a membrane between the opaque outer wall and the concave mirror array. The membrane is capable of displaying an intrinsic image when illuminated, sensing an image projected onto it, displaying an image projected onto it, and/or emitting light. The membrane includes a second transparent spot or line atop each first transparent spot or line respectively. A light source may illuminate the membrane and/or project an image onto the membrane. The reflective concave surface also may be configured to permit some light to pass through it and when so configured a second transparent solid and/or an image sensor may be placed behind the concave mirror array.
The present invention teaches improvements to the systems described in the '167 patent, the '444 patent and '093 application in order to provide a device operable for displaying auto-multiscopic 3D images using an electromechanical system with controllable mirrors that are not necessarily concave mirrors. These mirrors can reflect light on or off clear spots or lines in an image source layer located between the electromechanical system and a parallax barrier, which clear spots or lines are ideally aligned with corresponding transparent spots or lines in a parallax barrier that forms the front of the display system. In some embodiments, the size, shape, number and location of the transparent spots or lines in the parallax barrier can be changed.


Disclosed herein are compositions for conferring oral tolerance in mammals to autoimmune disorders such as diabetes, as well as vectors and methods for plastid transformation of plants to produce a CTB-Pins protein for oral delivery. The invention also extends to the transformed plants, plant parts, and seeds and progeny thereof. The invention is applicable to plants edible without torrefying. Exemplified herein is the stable transformation of Lactuca sativa such that CTB-Pins is expressed.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly utilize insulin. Type 1 diabetes results from the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing cells. The major destruction of β-cells occurs predominantly from autoreactive T-cytotoxic cells (Nagata et al., 1994) and T-helper 1 cells (Ploix et al, 1999) reactive to β-cell autoantigens such as insulin. In 2002, the American Diabetes Association estimated that 18.2 million people in the United States, or 6.3% of the total population, have diabetes, with more than $120 billion in treatment costs each year. In 2002, diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death in the U.S. contributing to 213,062 deaths. The only currently accepted form of treatment is the administration of recombinant insulin, which serves to temporarily replace the missing insulin in diabetic patients. Therefore, it is essential to find a prevention and cure for this dreadful disease.

Chloroplasts engineered to express pharmaceutical proteins in edible plants

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


The present disclosure provides a method and apparatus for evaluating article value based on artificial intelligence, and a storage medium. The solution of present disclosure may be employed to pre-mine high-quality articles and low-quality articles as training data, and train according to the training data to obtain a value-scoring model. As such, value evaluation needs to be performed for the to-be-evaluated article, it is feasible to first perform feature extraction for the to-be-evaluated article, determine a score of the to-be-evaluated article based on the extracted features and the value-scoring model, and thereby implement effective evaluation of the article value.

Artificial intelligence AI is a new technical science for researching and developing theories, methods, technologies and application systems for simulating, extending and expanding human intelligence. Artificial intelligence is a branch of computer sciences and attempts to learn about the essence of intelligence, and produces a new intelligent machine capable of responding in a manner similar to human intelligence. The studies in the field comprise robots, language recognition, image recognition, natural language processing, expert systems and the like.
To better satisfy the user in using his fragmented time, an information distribution platform of a mobile internet tries to recommend some new and short articles that can cater to the user's interest, to the user. To obtain more display opportunities, a content producer also caters to this demand, and produces more articles that can attract user's click and include less content.
As such, some articles that are truly valuable and informative cannot be displayed sufficiently, and the content producer has not motivation to produce such articles, thereby forming a vicious circle so that high-quality articles become less and less whereas low-quality articles without less value become more and more.
The increase of low-quality articles is an extremely large threat to whether the user believes information resources of the Internet.
Hence, it is necessary to, upon information distribution, minimize the number of low-quality articles but increase the number of high-quality articles, to enable the user to obtain more high-quality resources, encourage creation of high-quality articles while enhancing the user's experience, and thereby create a healthy ecology of internet content.
Correspondingly, it is necessary to evaluate the value of articles and thereby regard articles with higher value as high-quality articles and recommend them to the user. However, there is not yet an effective value-evaluating method in the prior art.

Method and apparatus for evaluating article value based on artificial intelligence, and storage medium

BEIJING BAIDU NETCOM SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A namespace exploits individual resource identity attributes of an application to allow the integration of resource instances from applications into a configuration management database (CMDB), prior to any data cleansing or namespace harmonization activities. An approach for incremental reconciliation of resource instances within the CMDB is defined.

The present invention relates in general to data processing systems and in particular to using computers to import and reconcile resources from disjoint name spaces.
One issue inhibiting the integration of applications is the lack of a common naming scheme and namespace to identify resources dealt with by those applications. This is especially problematic in the common case where the applications are dealing with overlapping sets of resources. Configuration management databases (CMDBs) attempt to support the integration of applications by providing an integrated view of resources dealt with by those applications and the relationships among the resources.
A configuration management database provides a repository of information related to all the components (including applications) of an information technology environment. A CMDB can be used to represent a configuration of the components of the IT environment. A CMDB helps an organization understand the relationships between these components and track their configuration. CMDB implementations often involve federation, the inclusion of data into the CMDB from other sources, such as Asset Management, in such a way that the source of the data retains control of the data. For CMDBs to achieve their maximum value, they should be able to quickly and efficiently integrate and reconcile resource information, including identity, from multiple applications, even when the multiple applications lack a common naming schema.
CMDBs such as those addressing reconciliation of resources within a well-defined namespace often require manual data cleansing and harmonization of namespaces prior to integration into the CMDB. A characteristic of such CMDBs is that a name schema and namespace is defined as a data model common to the implementation (i.e., a Common Data Model). With this characteristic, data cleansing or harmonization is often required prior to integration.

Importing and reconciling resources from disjoint name spaces to a common namespace


A gain medium is disposed between two mirrors to form a resonant cavity. The cavity length is selected so that the gain bandwidth of the gain medium is less than or substantially equal to the frequency separation of the cavity modes and such that a cavity mode frequency falls within the gain bandwidth. A nonlinear optical material is disposed either inside or outside the cavity to generate new laser wavelengths. The nonlinear optical material may be contained in a cavity which is resonant at the microchip laser frequency. Alternatively, the microchip laser may be tuned, for example thermally or by the application of a longitudinal or transverse stress, to the frequency of the resonant cavity. The laser is optically pumped by any appropriate source such as a semiconductor injection laser or laser array. Suitable gain media include Nd:YAG, Nd:GSGG and Nd pentaphosphate, and suitable non-linear optical material include MgO:LiNbO.sub.3 and KTP.

This invention relates to single frequency microchip lasers.
In this specification, numbers in brackets refer to the references listed at the end of the specification, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference. The realization of practical single-frequency, diode-pumped, solid-state lasers has been the goal of several researchers over the past 20 years [1]. One approach has been the solid-state, unidirectional, nonplanar, ring oscillator [2]. While this approach provides the desired laser characteristics, it suffers from a complicated fabrication process and optical alignment is critical. A simpler approach is the miniature, linear, solid-state cavity [3-5]. Although there has been some work on multimode miniature flat-flat cavities [6], the most common design for single-mode miniature cavities uses one curved mirror to stabilize the resonator [3-5].


A system may include a graphics processing unit (GPU) and a processor. The GPU may include a GPU core and non-error-detection-and-correction (non-EDAC) graphics memory. The graphics memory may contain a data object and a copy of the data object. The processor may be configured to: instruct the GPU to handle the data object and the copy of the data object as textures; and instruct the GPU to execute a texture comparison shader program. The GPU core may be configured to: execute the texture comparison shader program; compare the data object and the copy of the data object; generate comparison results; and output the comparison results as pixels to an off-screen area of a framebuffer. The processor may further be configured to: obtain (a) a hash value of the off-screen area, or (b) the off-screen area; and determine whether the comparison results are at least one expected value.

Typical three-dimensional (3D) graphics processing units (GPUs) typically have large amounts of graphics memory (e.g., video random access memory (VRAM)); however, such graphics memory is typically not error detection and correction (EDAC) graphics memory (e.g., error correction code (ECC) graphics memory). Such non-EDAC graphics memory can be vulnerable to various sources of corruption, such as neutron single event upsets (NSEUs).
GPUs often store critical data in non-EDAC graphics memory. For example, critical data may include a graphics address remapping table (GART) (e.g., which may function like a memory management unit (MMU)), vertex data (e.g., associated with vertex coordinates, attributes, and/or indices), texture data, pixel data, and/or shader programs (which may be referred to, throughout, simply as "shaders"). For example, the size of a GART can grow proportionally to the ever-increasing size of the graphics memory.
Some existing methods of mitigating non-EDAC graphics memory's vulnerability to corruption significantly exceed bandwidth limitations of many applications. For example, existing methods of mitigating non-EDAC graphics memory's vulnerability to corruption for a GART for an AMD E9171 GPU may require approximately 700 rendered frames before detecting an error and latching a fault. At 700 rendered frames, such detection time would take greater than 30 seconds, when some aviation applications sometimes require error detection within 2 seconds. Other existing methods of mitigating non-EDAC graphics memory's vulnerability to corruption may involve refreshing critical data. However, such refreshing may be bandwidth intensive for the central processing unit (CPU) and/or Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) (e.g., PCI Express (PCIe)) bus, and/or may not actually detect that an error in the non-EDAC graphics memory occurred. Further, undetected prior occurrence of errors can have lasting side effects.

System and method for determining error occurrence in graphics memory of graphics processing unit


An arrangement is proposed for electrically conductively connecting an electrical component which is mounted in a housing containing oil, to an electrical unit, and mounted in which between the component and the unit at least two cores are arranged which consist of an electrical conductor and an insulation surrounding the conductor. The housing includes an opening which in the position of use is closed in an oil-tight moisture-tight manner which has at least one passage hole (9) for passing the cores (4,5) therethrough. For the cores (4,5) is provided a core for each in which material impermeable to oil is mounted between the conductor and its insulation, in such a way that all hollow spaces existing within the space surrounded by the insulation. The cores (4,5) are guided through at least one sealing plug which tightly surrounds the cores, and the sealing plug is in the position of use mounted in a passage hole (9) of the passage (7) in an oil-tight and moisture-tight manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an arrangement for electrically connecting an electrical component which is mounted in a housing containing oil, to an electrical unit in which are arranged between the component and the unit at least two cores composed of an electrical conductor and of an insulation surrounding the conductor.
Such an arrangement is used, for example, in transmissions of motor vehicles which are accommodated in housings containing oil. "Electrical components" in the sense of the invention may be, for example, sensors which monitor the rate of rotation of the individual wheels of the transmission, or valves or actors through which the positions of the wheels can be adjusted. In the following, representing all possible components to be arranged in the housing, the sensors are taken into consideration.
2. Description of Related Art
As already mentioned, the rate of rotation of the individual wheels of a transmission can be monitored by means of the sensors using known technology. The sensors are connected through electrical cores to an electrical or electronic unit. Such sensors are known and available on the market. They operate, for example, inductively or utilize the Hall effect. Errors occurring in a transmission are indicated in the respective motor vehicle, for example, in a display field, so that they can be eliminated. The sensors are in the housing continuously surrounded by oil or wetted by oil. This is also true for the areas of the cores to which the sensors are connected. In order to prevent the oil from migrating along the cores and up to the electrical unit, the cores are interrupted outside of the housing, for example, through plug-type connectors or other "oil stoppers." The assembly of the sensors with cores connected thereto is correspondingly difficult.

Arrangement for connecting an electrical component to an electrical unit


A fire suppression system and method thereof is provided. The fire suppression system includes at least one inlet pipe, at least one outlet pipe, and a valve. The inlet pipe is at least partially filled with a fluid substance, wherein the fluid substance creates a first pressure in the inlet pipe. The outlet pipe is in fluid communication with the inlet pipe and contains a gaseous fluid, wherein the gaseous fluid creates a second pressure in the outlet pipe. The valve is in fluid communication between the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe, wherein the fluid substance enters the outlet pipe through the valve when the second pressure is altered to a predetermined pressure.

Due to modern building codes, buildings above a predetermined size, based upon square footage, are generally required to have fire suppression systems. Generally, it may be beneficial to have a fire suppression system in any dwelling without regard to the size of the dwelling. However, due to climates where freezing temperatures are reached, fire suppression systems can generally be designed so that the water being held in portions of the system does not freeze. Typically, if the water in the fire suppression system does freeze, the fire suppression system can be rendered inoperable and/or cause damage to the fire suppression system. More specifically, the piping in the system can be damaged. Generally, environments having excessive temperatures that cause the water in the pipes to boil or climates with extreme temperature fluctuations can have adverse effects on pipes and/or piping components of the fire suppression system due to thermal expansion and contortion.
One exemplary system designed to prevent a fluid within the system from freezing is a system wherein the pipes of the fire suppression system are filled with glycol. Generally, glycol has a low freezing temperature when compared to the freezing temperature of water, which allows it to withstand cold ambient temperatures without freezing. However, the glycol systems typically require constant maintenance, which can be an expensive process. Additionally, glycol systems are generally undesirable, especially for residential dwellings, due to the chemical agent being constantly present in the fire suppression system piping that extends throughout the dwelling.
When a fire suppression system uses glycol or a similar chemical agent, the system typically includes a check valve that separates the glycol and the water. The check valve generally only allows fluids to flow one way, such that the glycol is prevented from entering the area of the system occupied by water. Thus, once the glycol is removed from the system, the check valve typically allows the water to flow into the area of the system where the glycol was previously present. Generally, the glycol exits the system when a sprinkler head is opened, and the glycol is discharged over an area surrounding the sprinkler head prior to the sprinkler head discharging water over the surrounding area. Further, the fire suppression system using a check valve generally requires a second fluid, such as the glycol, to be in a portion of the system, otherwise water would pass through the check valve at undesirable times, which creates a potential for the water to freeze and damage the system.
Additionally, in any fire suppression system where there is a fluid material in the system, there is generally a possibility of the fluid exiting the system at undesirable times. For example, the fluid material can leak from the fire suppression system and cause damage to item or objects around the system, such as furniture in a residential dwelling or inventory in a commercial or industrial dwelling.

Fire suppression system and method thereof


A holder for eyewear which removably attaches to a standard sun visor within a motor vehicle, comprises a spring clip releasably attachable to the sun visor, further having a decorative vehicle motif enclosure to clamp and secure the eyewear between protective pads. The vehicle motif comprises an upper and lower portion hingedly attached and latched to each other. The holder further comprises enhancements including the capability to broadcast pre-recorded audible sounds or messages, an integral flashlight, and a spray nozzle which propels a stream of a cleansing fluid. The holder may be introduced having different vehicle motif embodiments, such as a big rig, a truck, an automobile, or the like.

It has been observed that drivers of motor vehicles from automobiles to tractor trailers have need of, and regularly use, sun glasses when bright or glaring conditions are present Likewise, at dusk, at night and on cloudy days, wearing sunglasses are not recommended or desired by vehicle operator. Therefore, it is readily apparent that a need exists for the convenient storage of sunglasses when not use as well as the ability to quickly retrieve sun glasses when conditions warrant. It is further observed that the sun visor is common to virtually every motor vehicle and would be an ideal location for an eye glasses storage device. A further observation is that many motorists select decorative, yet functional, products for use in their vehicles. The apparatus herein disclosed fulfills the needs as identified.
Several attempts have been made in the past to design an eyeglass holder that protects eyeglasses in an aesthetically pleasing manner. U.S. Pat. No. 5,082,225 in the name of Nespoli discloses an apparatus for securing sunglasses and driving glasses to a sun visor. The apparatus has an "S"-shaped body including a clip which protrudes at an upward angle from the body to resiliently bias the clip closely to the body. The bow at the end of the clip is adapted to accept both the temples and the bridges of various sizes and styles of sunglasses and driving glasses. The leg is the bottom extension of the body and is adapted to support either the temples or the bridge of the sunglasses or driving glasses. The leg supports the temples and prevents them from hanging down and obscuring the driver's vision. Also a clamp at the top of the body is provided to mount the apparatus to sun visors. The apparatus is injection molded with a pliant plastic material which will not scratch or misform either sunglasses or driving glasses. Unfortunately, this prior art example is plain in design and provides no means for cleaning eyeglasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,966,783 in the name of Genereux discloses a clasp-like device for securing sunglasses or other articles to sun visors or other acceptable surfaces. This is accomplished by installing the sunglass temples between one of the device jaws and the sun visor. The device is opened by applying pressure to a lever that is located near the intersection of the device jaws. On the inner surface of a device jaw, nubs can be placed, if required, to aid in the securing of sunglasses or other articles in position. The device can also be held in position by a device retainer which can be mounted where there are unacceptable surfaces by using two-faced adhesive or a screw. The device is made of injection molded glass reinforced nylon or similar material for holding tension. Unfortunately, this prior art example is plain in design and provides no means for cleaning eyeglasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,210,003 in the name of Chan describes an eyeglass clip device which includes a convex cover member, a concave base member and an elastic clip. The convex cover member and the concave base member are respectively provided with a foam-rubber cushion in the inner room, and they are pivotally assembled by a pin penetrating their pivotal ears at the rear ends. The elastic clip is secured to the concave base member with its two front hooked ends being inserted in the slot of the concave base member and its rear clamping portion being against the rear bottom surface of the concave base member. The top front end of the convex cover member is provided with a flanged catching element to be caught in the pressing block of the concave base member. After the elastic clip is secured to an article by clamping, the pressing block is pressed outward to release the flanged catching element, and the convex cover member will be ejected to separate from the concave base member for two folded temples of a pair of eyeglasses to be placed between the foam-rubber cushions of the convex cover member and the concave base member. The convex cover member is then pressed down again to make the flanged catching element be caught in the pressing block of the concave base member so as to firmly clamp and protect the pair eyeglasses. Unfortunately, this prior art example is plain in design and provides no means for lighting the interior of a vehicle.
None of the prior art particularly describes a sun visor eyeglass holder, fashionably designed, that releasably attaches to a standard sun visor and provides a variety of functions which both entertain the user and complimentarily augment the use of the eyeglasses. Accordingly, there is a need for a sun visor eyeglass holder in order to overcome the above noted shortcomings. The present invention is simple to use, inexpensive, fashionably designed, and may be stored in a vehicle by clipping to a standard sun visor.


A pair of grippers or clampers (34) are arranged at opposite ends of a drum (14) that is to be provided with a wound optical fiber (12) pack. When a winding layer is being finished and a new layer is about to be started a clamper (34) is actuated to engage the last few windings and hold them in place while the new winding is initiated.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains generally to the winding of a filament onto a bobbin or canister for use as a data link, and, more particularly, for apparatus to secure the last several windings on an end portion of a canister attendant the beginning of an upper winding layer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many present day missile weapons include an extended length of a filament such as a wire or optical fiber wound onto a canister, one end of which is connected to apparatus aboard the missile and the other end being connected to apparatus at the launch site. On launch, the filament unwinds maintaining via the data link as a communications line for controlling the missile. Since an optical fiber is a preferred form of filament for this purpose, it will be used hereafter.
In winding the optical fiber onto the canister, it is important not to stretch or kink the fiber since this can substantially deteriorate the quality of a light signal being transmitted. One particular difficulty encountered in the winding of an optical fiber is that on moving from the end of one winding layer to the beginning of the next, the fiber is twisted out of the plane of the lower winding layer as well as being raised radially upwardly producing a "micro bend" which must be kept as small as possible to prevent the deterioration of the signal transmission already noted.
In certain other situations, the layers are applied onto a tapered canister so that an upper layer may start a number of turns back from the end of the underlying layer which complicates the winding procedure and the prevention of bending, stressing or micro bending during the winding.
Irrespective of the canister form it is necessary to set a specific transition point between layers during a fiber spooling operation. In the past, this has only been successfully accomplished manually where the operator had to set each layer end transition by hand. Of course, this is a very difficult and unreliable way of setting a layer end transition and it is desirable to be able to accomplish this by a machine control technique.


A map data is disclosed. The map data comprises a link data and a segment data. The link data describes a characteristic of each link in a group of links on a link-by-link basis. The group of links forms a road network. The segment data relates to each segment in a group of segments on a segment-by-segment basis. The segments are defined in units of link string. Each link string is a string of multiple links and corresponds to a main road. Each link string terminates at least at an intersection of the main road. The multiple links are a part of the group of links. The segment data of each segment describes information on a storage destination of the link data corresponding to the link string that forms the each segment.

Conventionally, an electronic apparatus performing processes based on a map data is known as an onboard apparatus (navigation system) that displays a map image on a display device, calculates a guidance route to a destination point, or gives information about roads near the traveling road (e.g., see Patent Document 1).
A known example of map data represents a road network based on connections between links, which are components of a road. This type of map data stores a link data relating to characteristics of a link such as a road length, a traffic regulation and the like on a link-by-link basis.
Another known technique of the related art hierarchically represents a road network according to levels of detail in order to represent differently scaled maps or effectively search for routes (e.g., see patent document 2). A high-level layer represents a road network by connecting high-level links, each of which is a collection of multiple links forming a road network belonging to a low-level layer. The high-level layer selectively represents a part of the road network belonging to the low-level layer, thereby representing a main road. The conventional map data hierarchically represents road networks and stores road data (including link data) on a level-by-level basis.
Patent Document 1: JP-2000-283777A
Patent Document 2: JP-2005-70482A corresponding to US 2005/0058155
However, the hierarchically-represented map data of the related art requires a complicated work when being edited. Specifically, since the map data has road data (such as link data) for respective layers, an addition of a new road or a change of an existing road requires the road data of multiple layers to be edited in order for the map data to reflect this information. For addressing this difficulty, the road data of the layers may be complied. However, simply compiling data hinders easy access to necessary information and causes an unfavorable effect on performance (including processing time) of processes such as route search and the like.

Map data, storage medium, and electronic apparatus


An object of the present invention is to provide a cable clamp which can be installed on a printed wiring board automatically without forming a through hole in the printed wiring board. A cable clamp (1), which is installed on a printed wiring board (20) to hold cables (21,21, . . . ) at predetermined positions on the printed wiring board (20), includes: a cable holding part (11) for holding the cables (21,21, . . . ); an opening and closing part (12) for opening and closing the cable holding part (11); a suction part (15), which is provided on the opening and closing part (12), to be sucked by suction unit (22) used to mount electronic parts on the printed wiring board (20); and a part to be soldered (13) to the printed wiring board (20).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable clamp for holding cables or optical fibers at predetermined positions on a printed wiring board.
2. Description of the Related Technology
A cable clamp is used to hold cables or optical fibers at predetermined positions on a printed wiring board.
In the conventional art, to install the cable clamp on a printed wiring board, a through hole 71 is formed in a printed wiring board 70, and a projection 73 provided on a resin cable clamp 72 is press fitted in the through hole 71 manually, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 (refer to JP 10-26262 A and JP 02-297503 A, for example).
FIG. 7 shows a state of the cable clamp 72 before it is fixed on the printed wiring board 70 and FIG. 8 shows a state of the cable clamp 72 after it is fixed on the printed wiring board 70. The reference numeral 74 in FIGS. 7 and 8 denotes mounted parts.
In the conventional art, as shown in FIG. 9, a double coated adhesive tape 83 is affixed to the bottom of a cable clamp 82 without forming a through hole in a printed wiring board 80 to fix the cable clamp 82 on the printed wiring board 80 manually by the adhesive force of the double coated adhesive tape 83.
Further, there is known a technology for fixing a cable clamp in such a way that the cable clamp is divided into two parts: the one to be fixed on a printed wiring board; and the other for holding cables, and the part to be fixed on the printed wiring board is first fixed on the printed wiring board by soldering, to which the part for holding cables is attached (refer to JP 2001-148584 A, for example).
However, according to the conventional method which involves forming the through hole 71 in the printed wiring board 70 to press fit the projection 73 of the cable clamp 72 into the through hole 71 (see FIGS. 7 and 8), the through hole 71 formed in the printed wiring board 70 decreases the part mounting area on a side opposite to the cable clamp 72 mounting side, or lowers the degree of freedom of designing the wiring pattern of the printed wiring board 70.
Since the circular through hole 71 is generally used to hold the cable clamp 72, the cable clamp 72 may turn with the projection 73 press fitted in the through hole 71 as the axis of rotation when or after it is installed and accordingly may interfere with another mounted part 74 adjacent thereto or may be installed in a direction different from that intended by a designer, thereby making it impossible to hold cables or optical fibers in a right direction.
The installation position and direction of the cable clamp 72 on the printed wiring board 70 and the type of the cable clamp 72 greatly differ according to the printed wiring board 70 to be assembled.
Therefore, according to the conventional method which involves forming the through hole 71 in the printed wiring board 70 to press fit the cable clamp 72 in the through hole 71 (see FIGS. 7 and 8) and to the other conventional method which involves affixing the double coated adhesive tape to the bottom of the cable clamp 82 to fix the cable clamp 82 on the printed wiring board 80 by the adhesive force of the double coated adhesive tape 83 (see FIG. 9), it is difficult to automatically assemble the printed wiring board by a machine, and assembly work must be carried out manually.
Accordingly, the work efficiency of installing the cable clamp 72 or 82 is impaired and a mistake such as that a worker fails to install the cable clamp may be caused.
The same problems occur according to the method which involves dividing the cable clamp into a part to be fixed on the printed wiring board and a part for holding cables.


An electrical relay using conducting liquid in the switching mechanism. Two electrical contacts are held a small distance apart. The facing surfaces of the contacts each support a droplet of a conducting liquid, such as a liquid metal. A piezoelectric actuator is energized to reduce the gap between the electrical contacts, causing the two liquid metal droplets to coalesce and form an electrical circuit. The piezoelectric actuator is then de-energized and the electrical contacts return to their starting positions. The liquid metal droplets remain coalesced because of surface tension. The electrical circuit is broken by energizing a piezoelectric actuator to increase the gap between the electrical contacts and break the surface tension bond between the liquid metal droplets. The droplets remain separated when the piezoelectric actuator is de-energized because there is insufficient liquid metal to bridge the gap between the contacts. The relay is amenable to manufacture by micro-machining techniques.

The invention relates to the field of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) for electrical switching, and in particular to a piezoelectrically actuated latching relay with liquid metal contacts.
Liquid metals, such as mercury, have been used in electrical switches to provide an electrical path between two conductors. An example is a mercury thermostat switch, in which a bimetal strip coil reacts to temperature and alters the angle of an elongated cavity containing mercury. The mercury in the cavity forms a single droplet due to high surface tension. Gravity moves the mercury droplet to the end of the cavity containing electrical contacts or to the other end, depending upon the angle of the cavity. In a manual liquid metal switch, a permanent magnet is used to move a mercury droplet in a cavity.
Liquid metal is also used in relays. A liquid metal droplet can be moved by a variety of techniques, including electrostatic forces, variable geometry due to thermal expansion/contraction and magneto-hydrodynamic forces.
Conventional piezoelectric relays either do not latch or use residual charges in the piezoelectric material to latch or else activate a switch that contacts a latching mechanism.
Rapid switching of high currents is used in a large variety of devices, but provides a problem for solid-contact based relays because of arcing when current flow is disrupted. The arcing causes damage to the contacts and degrades their conductivity due to pitting of the electrode surfaces.
Micro-switches have been developed that use liquid metal as the switching element and the expansion of a gas when heated to move the liquid metal and actuate the switching function. Liquid metal has some advantages over other micro-machined technologies, such as the ability to switch relatively high powers (about 100 mW) using metal-to-metal contacts without micro-welding or overheating the switch mechanism. However, the use of heated gas has several disadvantages. It requires a relatively large amount of energy to change the state of the switch, and the heat generated by switching must be dissipated effectively if the switching duty cycle is high. In addition, the actuation rate is relatively slow, the maximum rate being limited to a few hundred Hertz.
An electrical relay is disclosed that uses a conducting liquid in the switching mechanism. In the relay, two electrical contacts are held a small distance apart. The facing surfaces of the contacts each support a droplet of a conducting liquid, such as a liquid metal. In an exemplary embodiment, a piezoelectric actuator, coupled to first electrical contact, is preferably energized close the gap between the electrical contacts, causing the two conducting liquid droplets to coalesce and form an electrical circuit. The piezoelectric actuator is then de-energized and the electrical contacts returns to their starting positions. The liquid metal droplets remain coalesced because of surface tension. The electrical circuit is broken by energizing a piezoelectric actuator to move the electrical contacts farther apart to break the surface tension bond between the conducting liquid droplets. The droplets remain separated when the piezoelectric actuator is de-energized because there is insufficient conducting liquid to bridge the gap between the contacts. The relay is amenable to manufacture by micro-machining techniques.

Liquid metal, latching relay with face contact


An additive manufacturing system includes at least one imaging device configured to direct electromagnetic radiation towards a build layer of a component positioned within a powder bed of the additive manufacturing system. The additive manufacturing system also includes at least one detector configured to detect the electromagnetic radiation that reflects from the build layer.

The field of the disclosure relates generally to additive manufacturing systems and, more specifically, to imaging devices for use with additive manufacturing systems and methods of monitoring and inspecting additive manufacturing components.
Additive manufacturing systems and processes are used to fabricate precision three-dimensional components from a digital model. Such components are fabricated using an additive process, where successive layers of material are solidified one on top of the other. At least some known additive manufacturing systems use a laser (or similar energy sources) and a series of lenses and mirrors to direct the laser over a powdered material in a pattern provided by a digital material. Some known additive manufacturing systems include Direct Metal Laser Melting (DMLM), Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), Selective Laser Melting (SLM) and LaserCusing systems.
In some known additive manufacturing systems, layer and component quality is reduced due to variation in heat being transferred to the metal powder by the focused laser within the melt pool. For example, sometimes undesirable features such as air pockets, internal voids, and/or cracking occur within and/or between build layers. In addition, in some known additive manufacturing systems, heat variation also induces porosity within the build layers. Moreover, variation in laser position is also known to generate these undesirable features within the additively manufactured component.
At least some known additive manufacturing systems include imaging devices that generate images of portions of the melt pool during the fabrication process. The imaging devices typically include a static camera with low exposure that tracks the focused laser to capture light during the melting process. However, the imaging devices generate images of only visible portions of the component and thus do not capture subsurface features. Other known component inspection techniques include ultrasound and x-ray imaging. However, ultrasound imaging requires that the component be finished, thus further expending time and materials costs for a potentially undesirable part. Additionally, x-ray imaging is typically performed by a digital x-ray or Computer Tomography (CT) scans which are limited by the size of the component and also requires a large amount of x-ray energy to penetrate the entire component. When undesirable features are located, at least some known processes, such as Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP), attempt to cure the features by re-heating the completed component under pressure. However, not all features, for example, cracking features, are correctable by HIP.

Imaging devices for use with additive manufacturing systems and methods of monitoring and inspecting additive manufacturing components