A method and system for creating uniquely representative execution path identifiers of software program. The method comprises the steps of running the software program, continuously accessing execution information of the software program, identifying execution sequences of the execution information, and creating a unique execution path identifier of each of the execution sequences by summing the execution information when the execution information is within a functional boundary thereof so as to create an execution path identifier representing a unique execution sequence of the execution information. The system comprises an execution path identification creator continuously receiving and accessing execution information of the software program, identifying execution sequences of the execution information and creating the unique execution path identifier of each of the execution sequences.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to development and analysis of software programs, and, more particularly, to a method and system for creating uniquely representative execution path identifiers of software program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Developers of computer software have for over 50 years suffered a mismatch of information density to their needs. Within a computer system exists a superabundance of information about the executing software: every executed instruction, every data. value, and every iteration of every function. Within this vast information resides evidence of all software defects (bugs) and intimate details about how all of the code actually behaves. Unfortunately, no prior art has devised a method of both efficiently exporting that information for developer use, and organizing it to make it easier to find defects and to gain understanding of how software actually works. All prior art methods have sought to either severely limit the amount of exported information to a small, predefined subset (such as with breakpoint debuggers), or have enabled mass export of this data in its raw form (such as with trace debuggers), without assisting the software developer in organizing this mass of data.
The inherent problem with analyzing and debugging computer software has been in effectively managing complexity and information on a very large scale. From the earliest days of computer software, a subtle defect in a 20-line application running at 1000 instructions per second could confound even the best engineers, who could struggle for many hours to capture an infrequent anomaly that happens unpredictably in the midst of correct operation Software applications have since grown to millions of lines of code running at billions of instructions per second, yet these same troubles remain, Furthermore, the defect rates of software have remained nearly constant for decades, often exceeding 50 defects per 1000 lines of code for newly-written software, to less than 1 defect per 1000 lines of code for software developed in a rigorous development model. Even with 80% of the cost of developing software being consumed by finding and fixing software defects, this is usually a process of achieving 'good enough' software that contains fewer than 10 defects per 1000 lines of code, so software is regularly and knowingly released with hundreds of defects, and the cost of these defects are measured in the tens of billions of US dollars annually.
Prior-art techniques for debugging and analyzing software execution can be classified. into two categories, depending on their intrusiveness, Highly intrusive techniques include breakpoint debuggers, single-stepping through program code, and print debugging. These approaches can alter the flow of program execution enough to make the original problems non-reproducible during debugging. Low-intrusive techniques include real-time trace ports such as ARM ETM, MIPS PDTrace and IEEE/ISTO Nexus-5001, which do not intrude on program execution, but often require substantial resources (package pins for trace export or substantial on-chip buffers). All of these techniques suffer from serious drawbacks.
First, all of these methods are created on the premise that a software developer will search for the cause of one known, reproducible bug at a time. This requires the developer to first make an educated guess about where a particular defect originates, so a breakpoint, trigger or other mechanism can be set to enable capture of the exact portion of execution data that contains evidence of the cause of the present problem. This is usually an iterative process, since the cause of software errors are often not easy to determine, and a series of iterations can add up to span a long time duration to find and correct just one error, particularly if the error has a tow recurrence rate or is otherwise difficult to reproduce,
Second, these techniques will only help a developer to isolate software defects that they become aware of through external symptoms. Defects with subtle symptoms or very low recurrence rates can often elude detection through the entire development process, and end up shipping with the final product.
Third, these techniques only produce raw information about a particular moment of execution, but they do not provide context information as to whether this portion of execution is unusual, or if it is merely another instance of a common execution sequence.
Advancements have been made to try to solve some of these shortcomings. To provide more information to the software developer, real-time trace collection capacity has been steadily expanding, with premium trace collection probes (from Lauterbach GmbH, Green Hills Software Inc., etc.) offering capacities of up to 4GB, However, this capacity increase is somewhat misleading, as it only offers bulk collection capacity, but does not perform real-time characterization of the data to determine if it is actually useful and contains valuable information about a transient defect or other low-recurrence event. Trace data collection is still mainly centered on a pre-defined trigger event that is the suspected cause of a single defect of interest. Regardless of the capacity, a real-time trace collection system that cannot continuously collect and categorize the execution information will impose limits on the developers visibility into the executing software, and the process of debugging will likely remain a one-known-bug-at-a-time endeavor.
Several approaches to reducing the bandwidth requirements tor instruction trace export have been devised. Current industry-standard trace ports can reach an average as low as 1.2 to 0.4 bits per instruction for instruction-only trace export.
On-the-fly examination of execution sequences has been studied by Hou et al. (US 2010/0281310 A1), but this method is focused on identifying whether a single pre-determined execution sequence has occurred, as a means of creating a trigger for capturing the associated data. This is unlike the present invention, which is a compression and identification system for the entirety of software running on a target computer system. The system devised by Panigrahy et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 8,069,374 B2) creates 'fingerprints' from the text of system event log files for the purpose of automating the correction of system configuration errors, so unlike the present invention it cannot identify software bugs or behavioral anomalies at the function level, and it cannot be practically implemented in computer logic.
For software running on computer systems that lack any form of execution trace, the available options for debugging and understanding the behavior of target software are generally very intrusive and are required to place severe limitations on the total amount of information that can be obtained from the computer system. Breakpoint debuggers, and instrumented or sampled execution profiling arc the primary options for software developers on these platforms, but both are highly intrusive, and neither performs compression/decompression to reduce bandwidth and storage requirements.
The net result of these issues is that software development remains an expensive process. Software has become the single most expensive component in modern automobiles, aircraft, and scores of other devices, and is often the key determining factor in a products success or failure. Current trends point toward faster processors, more processing cores, and larger applications, which indicates that these problems likely get worse.
While known techniques for analyzing software execution have proven to be acceptable for some applications, such techniques are nevertheless susceptible to improvements advance the art.

System and method of software execution path identification


Cationic dyes and dye carrier ink ribbons are disclosed which is used in thermal dye transfer hard copy system. A counter ion (anion) of hydrophilic cationic dyes such as a halogen ion is replaced by anionic surface active agent such a dodecylbezenesulfonate ion through ion exchange treatment to obtain a dye having a structure of the following formula. The dye is used to form a coloring layer on a PETP film to obtain a dye carrier ink ribbon for thermal dye transfer systems. ##STR1##

This invention relates to a dye and a dye carrier ink ribbon for thermal dye transfer system hard copy which is suitably adapted for use, for example, as a color hard copying material of video printers.
In video printers, it is recently practiced to form a dye carrier ink ribbon by coating disperse dyes dissolved in hydrophobic high molecular weight materials on a ribbon substrate and form an image by causing thermal transfer of the dye from the dye carrier ink ribbon to a second hydrophobic high molecular weight material provided on an acceptor sheet such as a synthetic paper, wherein the thermal transfer of the dye is controlled according to a video signal to be printed synthetic paper. It will be noted that although it has been hitherto accepted as desired that the dye has sublimating properties in view of the principle of forming an image, more importance is placed on thermal diffusing properties than on the sublimating properties in view of a recent trend of investigations wherein the types of materials used therefor a taken into consideration.
The reason why disperse dyes are employed for this purpose is based on the fact that the disperse dye is hydrophobic in nature and the ink ribbon is appropriately fixed to a substrate, with a good practical sensitivity at the time of the transfer.
However, when disperse dyes are used as a dye for ink ribbons, there arises the problem that the sensitivity, hue and light fastness are not always satisfactory at the time of the transfer.
On the other hand, there are known cationic dyes which have good brightness inherent to basic materials and high coloring properties and which are used as a dye for acrylic fibers. The dye may be applied to as a dye for ink ribbons for the hard copy. Although cationic dyes exhibit good light fastness and wet fastness on acrylic substrates, they have hydrophilicity, so that it is difficult to stably, uniformly fix on a resin such as polyethylene terephtalate (PETP) which is ordinarily used as a substrate of ribbon. Thus, it is not possible to form an ink ribbon for thermal transfer by the use of cationic dyes.

Dye and dye carrier ink ribbon for thermal dye transfer hard copy


An alarm apparatus includes a mobile terminal, a plurality of streetlamps, a server, and a management center. The mobile terminal includes a microprocessor, a display screen, a first GPS positioning module, a battery, an emergency call button, a first GPRS communication module, a first wireless communication module, a first camera, a loudspeaker, and a microphone. The streetlamp includes a central processor, a power supply, a second camera, a mobile device, a second GPS positioning module, a second wireless communication module, and a second GPRS communication module. The caller sends a distress signal to the streetlamp. The streetlamp is automatically illuminated and the direction of the camera is adjusted to the escape direction of the suspect. All streetlamps located on the escape route of the suspect are turned on to capture the escape route of the suspect. The streetlamp sends the information to the management center by means of the server.

Current mobile phones typically do not have a function for sending a distress signal. Some mobile phones on the market can call for help through continuously broadcasting a distress signal, but it is of no use in tracing a suspect due to the poor alarm effect. This may be especially true in areas where signals are weak, such as densely populated or remote areas, where distress signals are often not responded to or ignored. Thus, police cannot determine where or what route a fleeing suspect may take. Police are, therefore, required to find the relevant surveillance videos and watch them one by one, which is very inefficient and is more likely to cause delay in apprehending criminals. Women, children, the elderly, the sick and the disabled need to be made secure. The security of society's most vulnerable, as well as the security of the public at-large depends to a large extent on the governance hardware of the public security environment.

Alarm apparatus and method for using the alarm apparatus


Two or more digital watermarks, with different characteristics, are embedded in a document. The characteristics are chosen so that the watermarks will be affected in different manners if the document is subsequently copied or reproduced. The detection process or mechanism reads two or more of the watermarks and compares their characteristics. While wear and handling may change the characteristics of the digital watermarks in a document, the relationship between the characteristics of the multiple digital watermarks in a document will nevertheless give an indication as to whether a document is an original or a copy of an original. Document wear can be independently assessed and used as an aid in interpreting the detected watermark characteristics.

The present invention relates to steganography, and more particularly relates to the use of multiple watermarks to determine the authenticity or history of a particular document or electronic object (e.g., image, motion picture, audio track).
Steganographic and digital watermarking technologies are well known. For example see U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,292 and the extensive references cited therein. Also see co-pending patent applications Ser. No. 08/327,426 which was filed Oct. 10, 1994 and co-pending application Ser. No. 08/436,134 which was filed May 8, 1995.
The technology for inserting digital watermarks in images and the technology for reading or detecting digital watermarks in images is well developed, well known and described in detail in public literature. Furthermore, there are commercially available products which include programs or mechanisms for inserting digital watermarks into images. For example the commercially available and widely used products xe2x80x9cAdobe Photoshopxe2x80x9d which is marketed by Adobe Corporation of San Jose Calif. and xe2x80x9cCorel Drawxe2x80x9d program which is marked by Corel Corporation of Ontario Canada, include a facility for inserting digital watermarks into images.
The technology for making high quality copies of documents is widely available. The technical quality of scanners and color printers has been increasing rapidly. Today for a relatively low cost one can purchase a high quality scanner and a high quality color printer. Thus, it is becoming increasingly easy to duplicate documents. The ability to create high quality copies has created a need for technology which can differentiate between original documents and copies of the original.
It is known that watermarks can be used to help differentiate genuine documents from copies. However, the prior art techniques for using digital watermarks to differentiate genuine documents from copies have serious limitations. The present invention is directed to an improved technique for using steganography and digital watermark technology to facilitate differentiating original documents from copies of the original.
The present invention can also be used for various other purposes such as to embed multiple types of information in a single document or to provide watermarks that enable documents to perform special functions.
With the present invention multiple digital watermarks, each of which has a different character, are embedded in a document. The characters of the two watermarks are chosen so that the watermarks will be affected in different manners by what may subsequently happen to the document.
The detection process or mechanism reads the two digital watermarks and compares their characteristics. While wear and handling may change the characteristics of the individual watermarks, the relationship between the characteristic of the two watermarks will never-the-less give an indication as to whether a document is an original or a copy of an original.
For example according to the present invention two digital watermarks in a document may have different energy levels. The absolute energy level of a digital watermark in an original image may be decreased if a document is subject to wear. Likewise the energy level of the digital watermark in an image may be decreased if an image is scanned and reprinted on a color printer. However, the relationship between the energy level of the two digital watermarks will be different in an image that has been subject to wear and in a reproduced image. Likewise if two digital watermarks are introduced into an image where the bit pattern used to construct the digital watermarks have different patterns, the ratio between the signal to noise ratio of the watermarks will be different in an original subject to wear and in a copy generated by scanning the original and printing the scanned image. Other characteristics of multiple digital watermarks can also be used to differentiate original documents from copies.
In other embodiments, a watermark-independent assessment of wear can be performed, and the results used to aid in differentiating original documents from copies.

Methods and systems using multiple watermarks


The invention discloses a sterilization device (1), to sterilize media, equipment and/or decontamination of waste material, said sterilization device (1) comprising a chamber (2), at least one exhaust line (6) arranged to said chamber (2) and at least one gas generator arranged to said chamber (2), at least two sterile filters (8a, 8b) arranged in series in the exhaust line (6), at least one vacuum means (7) connected to the chamber (2) via said exhaust line (6) and said at least two filters (8a, 8b). At least one heating means (9) is arranged to said exhaust line (6) between said two sterile filters (8a, 8b) in order to vaporize condensate that develops between the filters. Furthermore, it is disclosed a sterilization process for sterilization of media, equipment and/or decontamination of waste material, a vaporizing system (12) of a sterilization device and use of such a vaporizing system (12) in a sterilization device.

Laboratories, such as for example laboratories with bio safety level 3 and 4 (BSL 3 and BSL 4), research facilities, bio-containment suites and hospitals need autoclaves for sterilization of media, equipment and/or decontamination of waste material. Both "wet" wastes such as blood, organs, animal parts etc. and "dry" wastes such as animal cages, tools etc. are being treated in autoclaves. Essentially the autoclave shall kill dangerous microorganisms such as germs and viruses.
The pathogenic nature of the waste material from such facilities coupled with the use of the autoclave as a barrier between the facility and the outside world places special requirements on the autoclave design and processes used.
Sterilization is carried out in a manner known per se in pressure tight autoclaves, which can be charged with steam in a vacuum-steam process. In this process, the container, which are filled with the risky waste and equipments, is filled a plurality of times with steam and is then evacuated close to a vacuum level between each occasions as far as possible. After sterilization has taken place the chamber is once again evacuated, to accelerate the drying of the articles loaded inside the chamber. As pressure equalizer air is provided. The sterilized articles may now be removed.
It is very important that everything that leaves the autoclave is sterilized; not only the articles that are placed within the autoclave but also everything that leaves the autoclave via the different exhaust lines. At the top of the chamber usually an exhaust line is arranged where not condensate can be exhausted. However at the same time steam and airborne organisms may escape during the evacuation of the chamber, before they are sterile, especially under the pre-vacuum/steam process, since the vacuum device is connected to the exhaust line.
An incinerator may be arranged between the chamber and the vacuum means to enable sterilization of the steam/gas. Using incinerators is an effective and an easy way to kill organisms, since the process comprises very high temperature (several hundreds of ° C.). However, such a device may be more energy consuming and less cost effective. It is also bulky and not generally accepted.
Alternatively, a sterile filter may be used.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,610 discloses an apparatus and process for disinfection of waste in autoclaves and to odours neutralization of the exhaust vapours. It comprises two filters connected in series. The first filter is a prefilter and the second one is a sterile filter. The condensate produced by the filters, after disinfection is separately discharged into the waste water line.
However, for dangerous organism, disinfection is not enough and also the handling has to be done in a safe manner. Hence, there is still a need to improve the handling and safety of the medium evacuated from the chamber.

Sterilization device, sterilization process, vaporizing system and use of such vaporizing system


A photographic camera having a camera body and a plurality of film-bearing film chambers positionable within respective portions of a receiving chamber within the camera body. The camera body has a single lens situated in alignment with one of the portions of the receiving chamber, and each of the film chambers has a shutter which is opened when that particular film chamber is positioned in the receiving chamber portion having the lens. The remaining film chambers are positioned within the other portions of the receiving chamber and can be individually withdrawn for subsequent placement in the lens-bearing portion of the receiving chamber when the original film chamber is removed. The film chambers preferably are two in number and are pivotally attached to the camera body such that one film chamber can be pivotally removed from the lens-bearing portion and slid downwardly while the second film chamber can be pivotally removed from the non lens-bearing portion and slid upwardly for placement into the lens-bearing portion. In this manner, different types of film can be available for use within a single camera.

This invention relates generally to a camera, and in particular to a camera having a plurality of film chambers selectively alignable with the lens of the camera to thereby provide a photographer with a single camera having a plurality of readily available film choices.
The art of photography, whether by a professional or an amateur photographer, is a creative endeavor which benefits from individual style as well as from film media selected for particular subject matter. Two primary film types are color film and black-and-white film, and within these two categories are a selection of presentations (e.g. slides or paper prints) and film speeds appropriate to the scene to be photographed.
Since, for example, a photographer may wish to photograph one particular scene in black-and-white and another particular scene in color during one photography session, it has been necessary for that photographer either to carry two cameras each loaded with the appropriate film type, or to use one camera and remove and replace film in that camera. In the former situation, it is inconvenient and potentially expensive to have two cameras available at all times. In the latter situation where film is removed and replaced, the photographer can potentially lose a significant amount of time (and possibly subject matter) during the film change, as well as a loss of film usage. It is therefore apparent that a need is present for a camera that has the capability to simultaneously provide more than one type of film for selection by its user.
Accordingly, a primary object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a plurality of film chambers each capable of housing a different type of film.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a camera having a plurality of film chambers each positionable as desired in communication with the lens of the camera.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a camera which conveniently houses a plurality of film chambers for rapid interchangeability and selective photography.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent throughout the description of the invention which now follows.

Camera having interchangeable film chambers


The invention provides a novel thin film composite or coated membrane suitable for reverse osmosis, ultrafiltration and microfiltration applications, and having a porous polymeric substrate with one or more microporous layers to which a thin film or coating comprising a sulfonated polyarylether is attached substantively to provide an oxidatively stable, thin hydrophilic film or coating layer, and a method for manufacturing and using the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to composite or coated sulfonated poly(arylether) membranes for reverse osmosis ("RO"), ultrafiltration ("UF") and microfiltration ("MF") made by a novel process and their method of use.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The present commercially available membranes for water desalination by reverse osmosis are derived from two basic classes of polymers: cellulosic (predominantly cellulose acetates) and the newer generation condensation products consisting of polyamides, polyamidohydrazides, polyureas and polyetherureas. The cellulosic membranes are susceptible to microbiological attack, compaction at higher temperatures and pressures, and are limited to a relatively narrow feed pH range. These membranes do, however, possess fairly good resistance to low levels of chlorine, a popular disinfectant and cleaning chemical used in water desalination and other separation processes. The second group of polymers (which are suitable for ultrafiltration as well as RO) in general exhibit improved transport properties at given applied pressures and stability over a wider range of pH compared to the cellulosic membranes. Unfortunately, all of these membranes made from the newer generation of polymers suffer from poor resistance to continual exposure to oxidizing agents such as chlorine in a RO application. This "tradeoff" in sensitivities results in economically disadvantageous chlorine removal in many common feed streams or loss of membrane permselectivity due to oxidative degradation. Thus, this kind of sensitivity limits or even prevents their use in potable water applications and especially food and beverage, medical, biochemical, and pharmaceutical applications where chlorination and other similar oxidative cleaners or sterilants are commonly employed.
In recent years polysulfone type polymers have been extensively used in the manufacture of ultrafiltration membranes for use in many applications because of excellent hydrolytic stability and high temperature properties. The polysulfone polymers that are commercially available today, UDEL.RTM. polysulfone manufactued by Union Carbide Corp. and Victrex.RTM. polyethersulfone manufactured by ICI, also possess acceptable chlorine resistance when exposed periodically during cleaning. Therefore, these polysulfone type polymers are extensively used for membrane applications in the dairy and food processing areas that require daily sanitizations with chlorine and high temperature membrane cleaning regimens of 1% caustic and 1% phosphoric acid. Polysulfone type membranes have also found extensive use in pharmaceutical and biotechnology application areas and perform very well under most circumstances.
In recent years, sulfonated polyarylethers, and particularly sulfonated polyarylether sulfones have been examined for membrane separation applications due to their outstanding chemical and thermal stability. In addition to demonstrating good RO membrane flux and salt rejections at pressures greater than 300 psig, these membranes have demonstrated the ability to operate at continuous chlorine exposure levels and pH extremes that would destroy both of the previously mentioned classes of polymer membranes. Thus the chlorine tolerance and hydrolytic stability of the sulfonated polyarylethers would, at first blush, appear to make them particularly well suited for desalination of a wide range of aggressive feed streams represented by such conditions ranging from natural brackish waters, industrial effluents, sewage effluents, mining waters, agricultural run-off, etc. and many applications other than water desalination and water recovery mentioned previously.
The problem with these membranes has been their inability to achieve commercially attractive fluxes and salt rejections reproducibly at economical applied pressures. Acceptable performance for brackish water (low pressure RO) desalination would typically be: at least 15 GFD (gallons/ft.sup.2 -day) water flux and 95% or better salt rejection (5% or less salt passage) at 200 psig net driving pressure (NDP) or alternatively, an equitable tradeoff in these properties. Consistent with the principles of reverse osmosis, higher applied pressures will give higher flux and salt rejection, but at a penalty of added power cost for the extra pressure. It is therefore desirable to develop membranes which produce adequate flux and salt rejections at lower applied pressures.
The prior art involving sulfonated polyarylether membranes reveals that in order to obtain the desired transport properties on brackish (2000-5000 ppm NaCl) feeds of 15 or more GFD flux and 95% or better salt rejection, applied pressures of 300-600 psig or even more had to be used. The predominant membrane types developed were asymmetric, and consisted of thick (1-20 mil) anisotropic structures in which the permselectivity occurs at the thin dense film top side of this structure. The thin top film is integral with and supported by a progressively more porous understructure. Better results were found with thin film composite membranes in which selected laboratory samples developed by Graefe, et al (Office of Water Research and Technology, Report No. 2001-20) achieved low pressure goal performance at 250 psig (32 GFD flux and 94.5% salt rejection). This latter membrane example consisted of a thin film laminate prepared by brush coating a solution of sulfonated polysulfone onto a porous polysulfone substrate which was pretreated with aqueous lactic acid. The purpose for the latter solution was claimed to prevent intrusion of the sulfonated polysulfone solution into the pores of the porous substrate. This thin film composite membrane while demonstrating potential, suffered from an awkward porous substrate pretreatment step and lack of performance reproductibility and never reached commercialization.
One such thin film composite membrane which was carried further in its development was the hollow fiber composite system developed by Schiffer, et al. This membrane was prepared by coating an alcoholic solution of a highly sulfonated polysulfone (free acid form) onto a porous hollow-fiber polysulfone substrate. The thin film was claimed to have been crosslinked via the thermal treatment applied after solution deposition, though no proof of this was actually given. Performance was modest--at 6 GFD flux and up to 95% salt rejection on a 3500 ppm NaCl feed at 400 psig applied pressure. Problems with this membrane included inherent fragility of the coated fibers and ultimately inconsistent performance results on test in the full scale element mode.
The vast majority of prior art sulfonated polyarylether membranes has consisted of either (impractical) laboratory scale, thick dense films or asymmetric structures. These types of structures have been incapable of providing at least 15 GFD flux with 95% salt rejection at economical applied pressures (under 400 psig) as required for RO applications. As a result, some researchers investigated thin film composite membrane designs, since this approach if carried out optimally yields maximum fluxes in conjunction with good salt rejections. This is consistent not only with theory but also with other known membrane structures in operation today. The limitations with prior art thin film composites rested with the techniques of fabrication and the polymer choices used.

Stable membranes from sulfonated polyarylethers


There is provided a resin composition that comprises a polycarbonate resin derived from an ether diol such as isosorbide and that is excellent in flame retardancy, heat resistance, thermal stability, rigidity, transparency and moldability. The resin composition is a flame-retardant resin composition comprising 1 to 60 parts by weight of phosphorus compound (component B) having a thermal decomposition temperature of not higher than 340° C. based on 100 parts by weight of polycarbonate resin (component A) that mainly comprises a recurring unit represented by the following formula (1)

Polycarbonate resins are polymers in which aromatic or aliphatic dioxy compounds are connected to each other by a carbonate ester. Inter alia, a polycarbonate resin (hereinafter may be referred to as "PC-A") obtained from 2,2-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl) propane (commonly known as "bisphenol A") is excellent in not only transparency and heat resistance but also mechanical properties such as impact resistance and is therefore used in various fields.
The polycarbonate resins are generally produced by use of raw materials obtained from oil resources. However, since depletion of the oil resources has been concerned, production of polycarbonate resins using raw materials obtained from biogenic matters such as plants has been demanded. For example, an ether diol represented by the following formula (a):
is easily produced from sugar and starch, and three stereoisomers thereof are known. Specific examples thereof include 1,4:3,6-dianhydro-D-sorbitol (hereinafter referred to as "isosorbide") represented by the following formula (b):
1,4:3,6-dianhydro-D-mannitol (hereinafter referred to as "isomannide") represented by the following formula (c):
and 1,4:3,6-dianhydro-L-iditol (hereinafter referred to as "isoidide") represented by the following formula (d).

The isosorbide, isomannide and isoidide are obtained from D-glucose, D-mannose and L-idose, respectively. For example, in the case of the isosorbide, it can be obtained by hydrogenating D-glucose and then dehydrating it by use of an acid catalyst.
Of the above ether diols, incorporation of the isosorbide in particular as a monomer into a polycarbonate has heretofore been studied.
For example, Patent Literature 1 proposes a homopolycarbonate resin having a melting point of 203° C. and produced by use of a melt transesterification method. Non-patent Literature 1 proposes a homopolycarbonate resin produced by a melt transesterification method using zinc acetate as a catalyst and having a glass transition temperature of 166° C. and a thermal decomposition temperature (5% weight reduction temperature) of about 283° C. Non-patent Literature 2 proposes a homopolycarbonate resin produced by interfacial polymerization using bischloroformate of isosorbide and having a glass transition temperature of about 144° C. Patent Literature 2 proposes a polycarbonate resin produced by use of a tin catalyst and having a glass transition temperature of at least 170° C. Patent Literature 3 proposes a copolymerized polycarbonate resin from isosorbide and a straight-chain aliphatic diol.
When application of these polycarbonate resins comprising isosorbide to industrial applications such as components for electric/electronic devices, components for OA equipment and automobile parts is considered, flame retardancy thereof must be studied. For example, the flame retardancy level according to UL-94 standard of a molded article having a thickness of 1.6 mm and made of a homopolycarbonate resin comprising isosorbide is not-V, and it needs an improvement in flame retardancy.
The polycarbonate resin comprising isosorbide has a different structure from that of a known bisphenol-A-type aromatic polycarbonate resin. Therefore, it is considered that its combustion mechanism is also different from a combustion mechanism proposed for the bisphenol-A-type aromatic polycarbonate resin, i.e. one in which a carbonized film is formed through intramolecular rearrangement and isomerization. Further, the polycarbonate resin comprising isosorbide also differs from the known bisphenol-A-type polycarbonate resin in compatibility with a flame retardant.
Accordingly, not all flame retardants used in the aromatic polycarbonate resin can be directly used in the polycarbonate resin comprising isosorbide, and alternative flame retardants must be studied.    (Patent Literature 1) Specification of UK Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1,079,686    (Patent Literature 2) Pamphlet of International Publication No. 2007/013463    (Patent Literature 3) Pamphlet of International Publication No. 2004/111106    (Non-patent Literature 1) "Journal of Applied Polymer Science", 2002, Vol. 86, pp. 872 to 880    (Non-patent Literature 2) "Macromolecules", 1996, Vol. 29, pp. 8,077 to 8,082

Flame-retardant polycarbonate resin composition


A multi-use safety syringe has a retractable needle that retracts only when the user wants to retract the needle. The safety syringe has an internal moveable carriage that locks to an end cap with releasable locking elements. The safety syringe guards against premature retraction of the needle by requiring the simultaneous release of two releasable locking elements by the user. When the locking elements are released, the carriage is released. The released carriage slides backward within the barrel, retracting the needle within the barrel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a safety syringe with attached needle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Used needles and syringes, especially extended needles, pose a risk of transmitting infectious diseases from accidental needle sticks. Contaminated needles and syringes can carry blood-borne infectious agents, such as gonorrhea and syphilis bacteria, as well as hepatitis and HIV viruses. While medical personnel and sanitation workers are at risk, the general population is also at risk from improper disposal of the used needle and syringe.
Prior art safety syringes with retractable needles have many problems. These problems relate to complexity, reliability, repeatability, cost and ease of use. Because syringes are mass produced at the rate of millions per day, cost is a significant factor in manufacture of the parts and the assembly of the device. Automated production of parts and assembly of parts is critical in order to have any hope of supplying a practical syringe to the market.
A major drawback of prior art single use syringes is that single use syringes cannot be used to clear air bubbles from the medicine, to inject fluid to mix medicine within a vial or to rinse the needle and syringe with a different medicine before filling with the desired medicine. In many of these devices once the plunger is plunger all the way forward, the plunger locks the needle and retracts the needle within the barrel to prevent a second use.
A need exists for a multiple use retractable syringe for health care and other workers. Health care workers typically push the plunger all the way forward before withdrawing fluid from a medicine vial. The worker then partially withdraws fluid from a vial into the syringe. The worker next flicks the syringe to free trapped air bubbles before plunging the air and at least some of the fluid back into the vial. This step clears air trapped within the barrel. After clearing out the air, the user withdraws the fluid for use.
Health care workers often first inject fluid into a vial of medicine in order to mix the medicine with the fluid. After mixing, the worker withdraws the mixed medicine from the vial for injection. Likewise, health care workers may first rinse the needle and vial with another medicine before inserting the needle into a medicine vial and withdrawing the medicine. After use, the worker can retract the needle into the syringe to prevent any risk of harm from the needle to others.
In a curious development, healthcare workers in the drug control field have expressed a need for a reusable retractable syringe to prevent the spread of blood borne diseases, such as AIDS and hepatitis. Such a syringe is preferably a full displacement syringe which will deliver essentially all of the contents without retracting and without limiting the ability of the user to draw a second dose. Hopefully the drug user will confine use to himself without sharing the needle but can retract the needle when finished and render the device inoperable.
The present invention is designed to accomplish these goals and more.


The present disclosure generally pertains to a multiplex method for analyzing samples comprising using polynucleotide amplification to produce amplified products wherein one or more target sequences are tagged with a non-interfering, non-canceling target-specific polynucleotide identification tag, pyrosequencing the amplified products through the non-canceling target-specific polynucleotide identification tag sequence to detect the presence of one or more specific polynucleotide identification tags. The presence of a specific polynucleotide identification tag being correlated with the presence of a specific target sequence.

The development of nucleic acid amplification methodologies, for instance the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), enables the use of DNA amplification for a variety of uses, including molecular diagnostic testing. There are challenges associated with the use of PCR for molecular differential diagnostic (MDD) assays, however. PCR utilizes specific primers or primer sets, temperature conditions, and enzymes. For example, PCR reactions are easily contaminated, primer binding may require different conditions for different primers and primers should be specific for a target sequence in order to amplify only that target sequence. These limitations make it even more difficult to amplify multiple sequences from a single sample.
Diagnostic testing of clinical samples to find one or more causative disease agents has, in the past, required that microorganisms be isolated and cultured. This may take days, however, and in many cases a diagnosis must be acted upon within hours if the patient's life is to be saved. Analysis of a single clinical sample to identify multiple organisms in order to determine which one(s) may be the causative agent(s) of disease is the desired method for MDD, and methods have been developed to better achieve that goal. For example, multiplex PCR methods have been developed to amplify multiple nucleic acids within a sample in order to produce enough DNA/RNA to enable detection and identification of multiple organisms. Multiplex PCR has disadvantages, however. For example, each target in a multiplex PCR reaction requires its own optimal reaction conditions, so increasing the number of targets requires that the reaction conditions for each individual target are less than optimal. Furthermore, multiple sets of high-concentration primers in a system often generate primer dimmers or give non-specific, background amplification. This lack of specificity also requires the additional steps of post-PCR clean-up and multiple post-hybridization washes.
Crowded primers reduce amplification efficiency by requiring the available enzymes and consuming substrates. Differences in amplification efficiency may lead to significant discrepancies in amplicon yields. For example, some loci may amplify very efficiently, while others amplify very inefficiently or fail to amplify at all. This potential for uneven amplification also makes it difficult to impossible to accurately perform end-point quantitative analysis.
Often, time is of the essence, patient infections include more than one bacterial species, and the amount of the target DNA in a clinical sample is limiting. Technologies such as multiplex PCR have been developed to address these issues. However, improvements in this field are still needed in order to further decrease the time and effort required to accomplish quick and accurate analysis of clinical samples. Methods that can be automated, especially by use of a closed cassette for sample preparation and analysis, are particularly important, as they may provide the added advantages of decreasing potential contamination of samples and decreasing the time and effort that a laboratory technician must invest in preparing and analyzing each sample.
Although there have been significant improvements in multiplex sequencing technologies and their use in sample analysis, it would be highly beneficial if these could be further refined to make analysis and detection easier.

Multiplex pyrosequencing using non-interfering noise cancelling polynucleotide identification tags


A pasteurized to raw liquid processing system for milk or milk products includes top and bottom tanks, one elevated above the other approximately two feet. The tanks are vented to atmosphere. To prevent foaming, the inlet from a pasteurized source to the top tank is below the liquid level and the same is true of the inlet to the bottom tank which via a throttle valve receives liquid from the bottom of the top tank. Automatic feedback level controls are provided. Since both tanks are vented to atmosphere and because of the gravity flow between the top and bottom tanks, it is impossible to have a vacuum or pressure buildup which would cause a contaminating back flow.

In the processing of milk and milk type products, it is a United States Food and Drug Administration requirement that the processing system must provide adequate protection to prevent raw milk from contaminating pasteurized milk and milk products. A typical milk process might be, for example, raw milk from the farm is placed in a raw storage tank in the milk processing plant. Then it is pasteurized and stored in a pasteurized tank. Thereafter the output of the pasteurized tank can be to directly fill bottles and cartons and be sent to retail stores for sale. But when the contents of the pasteurized tanks are to be used for other purposes, such as being placed in a blending tank, for example, to make chocolate milk, or being transferred to a truck for transport, this is regarded as a transfer back to a raw stage. And when this occurs protection as specified by the FDA must be provided.
In the past and also with all present installations of other parties, a vertical air gap separation in the product flow is provided. In other words, there is a pipe inlet above the liquid level in a tank and the milk or milk product falls through an air gap to the liquid. The result is turbulence and air causes foam and/or air entrainment. And it is difficult to deal with the milk product in this state since the weighing of the milk, for example, if it is to be placed in cartons or is to be blended, is very difficult.

Pasteurized to raw liquid processing system


A light collecting reflector assembly adjustably secured to the peripheral edge of a photovoltaic solar array useful to charge a storage battery connected to power a light upon the sensing an ambient light below a predetermined level for collecting sufficient light emitted by a selected grid powered light source and reflecting same to supplement said ambient light to said predetermined light level.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for coordinating the operation of solar charged lighting devices in response to the timed sequencing of lighting systems powered by the electrical grid, and more particularly to directionally enabled light collectors useful in photocell switching of solar charged lighting devices focused on a selected grid powered light source.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In our current environment the use of solar lights is virtually universal, with little attention paid, however, to the over-all energy efficiencies that these very simple and trouble-free devices can provide. In its typical form the very simple solar charged light includes one or more photovoltaic cells connected to charge a battery which then powers a light when a photocell triggers a switch once the sun has set. Since both the charging and also the triggering cells respond to ambient lighting they are each typically embedded side-by-side in a single flat panel array with the various forms of this device exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 6,799,716 to Kuelbs; U.S. Pat. No. 5,570,000 to Kowalski; U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,329 to Doyle; U.S. Pat. No. 4,835,664 to Wen; and many others.
Since both the ambient light triggered switching device and also the light collecting charging array are best served by direct solar illumination these ubiquitous devices are typically deployed along the outer periphery of a residential property where they are most likely exposed to collect direct sunlight. Even in these peripheral locations, however, each such device is exposed to varying levels of sunlight exacerbated by varying levels of dust collection as well as varying intensities of reflected light and shading, resulting highly varied switching schedules as darkness begins to set in. Of course, these same variables also result in a wide range of battery charging rates and therefore the intervals of useful illumination that each solar light provides.
In consequence, the use of these solar lighting devices is typically only an adjunct to the grid powered outdoor lights that have illuminated our home entrances and rear decks as we each try to extended our active periods beyond those dictated by sunrise and sunset, an illumination system that is typically controlled by timers and the like to reduce the time intervals where solar charged lighting is needed at all. This grid powered illumination, however, is typically attached to the house structure itself, well inside the yard periphery with its lighting sources well outside the sensing angles of any surface mounted triggering photocell aligned towards the sun, thus precluding a coordinated switching response triggered by any of the grid powered lights.
Significantly, while the grid powered lighting sources are usually quite bright their individual lighting output is nonetheless far below the daylight collected by a switching photocell and a focused reflecting mechanism that inexpensively and effectively gathers a much larger portion of the light emitted by a single grid powered source and transmits this larger portion of its output directly to the photocell is therefore extensively required, and it is one such mechanism that is disclosed herein.

Method and apparatus for coordinating solar powered lighting with grid powered lighting


A phototherapy device comprises a face mask having a rigid (or semi-rigid) shell contoured to the human face. A flexible array of LEDs is affixed to the inner surface of the mask. A flexible, quantum dot-containing film is situated over the flexible array of LEDs. The quantum dots in the QD-containing film are selected to photo-luminesce at one or more particular wavelengths in response to photoexcitation by the light emitted from the LEDs. The LEDs emit “primary light” and the quantum dots down-convert at least a portion of the primary light to “secondary light.” The flexible, quantum dot-containing film may be interchangeable such that the wavelength(s) of the secondary light may be tailored to various phototherapy treatment regimes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to phototherapy devices. More specifically, it relates to phototherapy devices comprising semiconductor nanoparticles ("quantum dots") that adjust the light used to certain wavelength(s).
2. Description of the Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
The term phototherapy literally means the use of light to treat medical conditions. It is used to treat common skin conditions such as psoriasis, atopic eczema, acne, and the like. Other common names include: light boxes, bright light treatment, ultraviolet light therapy, UV, ultraviolet blood irradiation, colored light therapy, chromatotherapy. Within the scientific and medical communities, phototherapy is also referred to as ultraviolet phototherapy, photopheresis, extracorporeal photochemotherapy, and photodynamic therapy.
Light therapy involves the use of visible light or non-visible ultraviolet light to treat a variety of conditions.
Medical professionals may prescribe the use of light boxes, photopheresis, photodynamic therapy, or UV light therapy. These are typically used to treat conditions for which studies have shown the methods to be safe and effective. For example, the use of light boxes to mimic sunlight is a proven medical treatment for seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Ultraviolet (UV) light therapy is used to treat psoriasis and cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (a type of cancer that first appears on the skin). Photodynamic therapy is helpful in treating certain cancers or precancers of the skin, esophagus, and lungs, and is now being tested against other types of cancer. A special form of UV blood irradiation, called photopheresis or extracorporeal photochemotherapy, also inhibits T-cell lymphoma and may be helpful for other conditions.
Colored light therapy involves the use of colored lights such as blue, red, and violet lights that the practitioner shines directly on the patient. In some cases, the patient purchases the device and uses it at home in this alternative use of light therapy. Sometimes the lights flash in patterns.
One type of light therapy is used in conventional medicine for newborns who have a buildup of a waste product called bilirubin in the blood. The infant's skin is exposed to a special blue light, usually for several days. This helps the bilirubin to break down into a substance that is easier for the baby to excrete.
Light boxes contain lights that simulate the wavelengths of sunlight, and are used in mainstream medicine. Patients getting this kind of treatment sit in front of the light box or special bright lamp for a prescribed amount of time each day. The person may read or do other tasks during the light exposure, but must sit close enough to the light to receive its full effect. The amount of time required will vary according to the person and the strength of light being used. For most people with SAD, light treatment is used early in the morning from thirty minutes to two hours each day. A brighter light may require less time exposure.
In ultraviolet light therapy, the eyes and unaffected skin are protected while the patient is exposed to UV light for a prescribed length of time. This conventional treatment for psoriasis may involve the use of UV light and drugs that make the skin sensitive to UV light. A newer type of UV light source, called narrow-band UV light, is also being used now and may be preferred over broad-band UV light.
Ultraviolet blood irradiation is called photopheresis or extracorporeal photochemotherapy in conventional medicine and is mainly used to inhibit T-cell lymphoma. It may also be helpful for other conditions. During this procedure, blood is removed from the patient and separated into different types of cells. About a pint of blood, mostly white blood cells, is treated with a special drug to make it make it more sensitive to light. It is then treated with UV light, and the blood is infused back into the patient. This procedure is considered a form of immunotherapy and takes from three to five hours.
Photodynamic therapy is used in conventional medicine for certain types of cancer. The patient is given a drug to make cancer cells more sensitive to light. The tumor area is then exposed to laser or another type of light.
Ultraviolet light therapy (phototherapy) is commonly used to treat psoriasis. There is also evidence that UV light therapy inhibits the growth of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (a type of skin lymphoma). Researchers have found that when used along with other treatment, it has resulted in long-term remission and cure among many patients in the early stage of the disease. In patients who were treated later in the disease, it has prolonged survival. Early studies suggest that certain types of UV light may also be helpful for people with atopic dermatitis (an allergic skin condition) and vitiligo (uneven pigment in the skin).
Ultraviolet blood irradiation treatment is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treating T-cell lymphoma involving the skin. Photopheresis is sometimes used conventionally when organ transplant rejection or graft-versus-host disease (a complication related to bone marrow or stem cell transplants) does not respond to usual conventional treatments. Some clinical trial results appear promising for the treatment of immune system diseases such as multiple sclerosis, systemic sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and type 1 diabetes.
Light therapy that involves only visible light (light boxes and colored light therapy) is generally considered safe. Any treatment that exposes the patient to ultraviolet radiation presents some danger, including premature aging of the skin and an increased risk for skin cancer later in life.
People who get long-term UV light treatment for psoriasis or other conditions may have a greater-than-average number of cataracts and skin-related problems, including cancer. They may also be at higher risk of sunburn the day of UV treatment and are advised to avoid natural sunlight.
A flexible organic light emitting diode (FOLED) is a type of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) incorporating a flexible plastic substrate on which the electroluminescent organic semiconductor is deposited. This enables the device to be bent or rolled while still operating. Flexible OLEDs form the basis of one method of fabricating a rollable display.
An OLED emits light due to the electroluminescence of thin films of organic semiconductors approximately 100 nm thick. Regular OLEDs are usually fabricated on a glass substrate, but by replacing glass with a flexible plastic such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) among others, OLEDs can be made both bendable and lightweight.
Such materials may not be suitable for comparable devices based on inorganic semiconductors due to the need for lattice matching and the high temperature fabrication procedure involved.
In contrast, flexible OLED devices can be fabricated by deposition of the organic layer onto the substrate using a method derived from inkjet printing, allowing the inexpensive and roll-to-roll fabrication of printed electronics.
Flexible OLEDs may be used in the production of rollable displays, electronic paper, or bendable displays which can be integrated into clothing, wallpaper or other curved surfaces. Prototype displays have been exhibited that are capable of being rolled around the width of a pencil.
Current phototherapy masks are limited by:                Available area to populate with LED's        Fixed wavelengths        Varying distance across areas of the face        Distance from user's skin required for even distribution of light and alters light delivery        Variability of peak wavelength        Cost can be prohibitive        Performance trade-off between professional (clinical) and home-use devices

Phototherapy mask with quantum dot phosphors


A solid-state imaging device is provided. The solid-state imaging device includes an imaging region having a plurality of pixels arranged on a semiconductor substrate, in which each of the pixels includes a photoelectric converting portion and a charge converting portion for converting a charge generated by photoelectric conversion into a pixel signal and blooming is suppressed by controlling a substrate voltage of the semiconductor substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device capable of suppressing blooming and a control system. Particularly, the present invention relates to a solid-state imaging device such as a CMOS sensor that includes pixels each having a charge converting portion for converting a charge generated by photoelectric conversion into a pixel signal. The term "CMOS image sensor" used herein refers to as an image sensor produced by the application of or partially using the CMOS process. The solid-state imaging device may be formed of a single chip or a plurality of chips.
2. Description of the Related Art
CMOS image sensors and CCD image sensors have been known as solid-state imaging devices. Blooming has been a typical problem upon producing solid-state imaging devices. Blooming should be suppressed in solid-state imaging devices due to the reason of causing color mixture and color blur. In the case of a CMOS sensor, an overflowed charge leaks into an adjacent pixel to cause blooming and in the case of a CCD sensor, an overflowed charge flows from a photodiode that is a photoelectric converting portion into a vertical transfer register to cause vertical ghost lines.
In particular, when a difference between a bright portion and a dark portion is large in an image such as a starlit sky image captured with a night scene mode (subject including a bright spot in the darkness) or when a difference between a bright portion and a dark portion is large in an image including, for example, a dark spot in the bright portion with high intensity of light, such images may be unclear. Hence blooming should be suppressed.
In order to suppress blooming caused when an amount of charge is saturated (Qssat), there is typically proposed a method of changing a charge accumulation time in response to an amount of received light. In addition, there is known a method of changing an overflow potential barrier (hereinafter referred to as an "overflow barrier") by controlling a substrate voltage. In the case where such overflow barrier is changed, there are two kinds of methods employed for accumulating more charges, that is, raising an amount of charge saturated (Qssat). Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-153084 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 9-139486 disclose a method of lowering a substrate power supply (voltage) to raise an overflow barrier. With another method, the substrate power supply (voltage) is increased by reducing an overflow barrier in the depth direction of the substrate so that redundant charges be discharged to the substrate.
A method of suppressing blooming by controlling a substrate voltage is proposed for CCD sensors. CCD sensors use a high power supply voltage (not less than 10V), and hence the method of lowering a substrate power supply voltage to raise an overflow barrier is efficient.
On the other hand, for CMOS sensors, there is proposed a method of suppressing blooming by controlling impurities of a semiconductor well region (i.e., sensor well region) formed on a semiconductor substrate while a substrate voltage is constant to set an overflow barrier.

Solid-state imaging device and control system


Some embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus for viewing the operating panel of an electronic device, such as a printer, scanner, copy machine, facsimile machine, multi-function device and the like, wherein the apparatus is adapted to allow a person to view the operating panel from a line of sight that extends from an elevation lower than an elevation of the operating panel. The apparatus can reflect and/or refract an image of the operating panel to place it within the line of sight of the person, and can use one or more mirrors and/or prisms to perform this function.

Some printers and other computer equipment have operating panels that are positioned on an upper surface of the equipment, are positioned in an upward facing direction, or are otherwise not visible or easily viewed from an elevation beside or lower than the equipment. When this type of equipment is placed on an elevated surface, some users of the equipment may not have an appropriate line of sight to view the operating panel. Accordingly, such users can have a difficult time using the equipment due to the inability to view the operating panel.

Apparatus for viewing an operating panel of an electronic device


A container has a removable base assembly. The base assembly has a resilient portion. The base assembly is removably attachable to the container in a recess of the container. The base assembly being dimensioned to have a fixed fit with the recess such that when the base assembly is assembled with the container, the resilient portion is exposed from the recess allowing the container to be supported on a support surface by the resilient portion of the base assembly.

The disclosure is directed to a container having a base assembly. The base assembly may have a resilient portion. The base assembly is removably attachable to the container in a recess of the container. When the base assembly is assembled with the container, the resilient portion is exposed from the recess allowing the container to be supported on a support surface by the resilient portion of the base assembly.


An apparatus for hindering the collection of dust and particulate matter within unutilized housings or ports of hardware component chassis is provided. A port filler baffle for occupying a port within a chassis includes a panel assembly sized and dimensioned to fit within the port of the chassis. A bracket couples with the panel assembly. An aperture filler couples with the bracket. The aperture filler is disposed to hinder particulate intrusion into the unutilized port of the chassis. When the panel assembly is mounted in the chassis, the aperture filler presses against the unutilized port, substantially blocking access to the inside of the port, thus hindering particulate intrusion and keeping the port clean.

The invention relates to an optical switch compartment, and more particularly to a baffle for filling an empty port within the optical switch.
Optical switches typically include a chassis for interconnecting optical cards and ports. The chassis may have a skeletal structure formed from a sheet of metal and may include an opening for each of a plurality of ports. The chassis typically has a predetermined maximum number of components, i.e., a maximum number of cards and/or a maximum number of ports that can interface with the chassis. When the maximum number of components are interfaced with the chassis, the chassis is xe2x80x9cfully loadedxe2x80x9d. Often, however, the chassis is not fully loaded and thus one or more port openings remain unoccupied as do one or more slots for the optical cards.
Optical switches typically require cooling mechanisms such as one or more cooling fans to circulate air over one or more of the internal components of the optical switch. The circulating air helps to maintain desired operating temperatures. Typically, the air path for the fan or fans is designed for a fully loaded chassis, because when the chassis is fully loaded, the requirement for cooling is most often at a maximum. Therefore the cooling path, i.e., the path of the air flow from the fans, is designed for the fully loaded condition. If the hardware component chassis is filled with a number of internal components less than a maximum number, there may be one or more gaps within the hardware component chassis that distort the airflow from the cooling fans and redirect the cooling path. This can have the effect of reducing the cooling effectiveness of the cooling fans, and potentially lead to one or more of the internal components overheating because the cooling path is not reaching the components as required.
One known solution to this cooling problem is to provide one or more filler baffles within the hardware component chassis. The inclusion of the filler baffles takes the place of internal components having active elements (e.g. an optical card), without having to include the more expensive components when there is no use for the more expensive components. The filler baffle occupies a space equivalent to an internal component (e.g., an optical card) such that the air flow within the hardware component chassis propagates through the design cooling path and helps to maintain proper cooling levels.
When the filler baffles mount within the hardware component chassis, they do not contain the components that otherwise would interface with portions of the chassis. The lack of components and elements on the baffles leads to one or more unutilized ports, such as optical ports or housings. The ports are unutilized because there is no connector plugged into them from the baffle. The unutilized ports can collect dust if left open to the internal environment of the hardware component chassis, which is typically not airtight. The collection of dust requires a technician to clean out the ports when and if the ports are utilized at a later point in time.
There is a need for a mechanism to hinder the collection of dust within unutilized ports of hardware component chassis. The invention is directed to further solutions to address this need.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, a baffle for occupying a port within a plane of a chassis includes a panel assembly sized and dimensioned to fit within the port of the plane. A bracket couples with the panel assembly. An aperture filler couples with the bracket. The aperture filler is disposed to hinder particulate intrusion into the unutilized port. When the panel assembly is mounted in the chassis, the aperture filler presses against the unutilized port to substantially block access to the inside of the port and thus hinder particulate intrusion (i.e., the accumulation of dust).
According to one aspect of the invention, the chassis can include at least one groove for slidingly mounting the baffle. The baffle, in such an embodiment, can include a tongue shaped edge suitable for sliding into the groove of the chassis.
According to a further aspect of the invention, the panel assembly can include a mounting bracket. The mounting bracket removably and replaceably couple with the panel. The mounting bracket can include at least one fastener suitable for coupling the panel assembly to the chassis.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an optical switch includes a chassis. A plane (i.e., a backplane or a mid-plane) is disposed within the chassis. The plane supports one or more ports, wherein at least one of the one or more ports is unutilized. A port filler baffle is disposed within the chassis and has a pad. The pad of the port filler baffle is disposed to press against the at least one unutilized port to seal the port and hinder the entrance of particulate matter into the port when the port filler baffle is installed into the chassis.
The optical switch can have ports that are one or more of apertures, connectors, fixtures, housings, and the like.
According to still further aspects of the present invention, an assembly includes a chassis. A plane having one or more apertures is disposed within the chassis. A panel assembly is also disposed within the chassis. A support bracket is disposed on the panel assembly that includes an aperture filler disposed thereon, such that the aperture filler hinders particulate matter from entering the aperture.
The pad can be constructed of a deformable material suitable for sealing, such as silicone foam, and can be mounted to the support bracket with adhesive.


A wafer may comprise a substrate layer and a plurality of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) formed on or within the substrate layer. A respective trench-to-trench distance associated with the plurality of VCSELs may vary across the wafer based on a predicted variation of an oxidation rate of an oxidation layer across the wafer.

In a semiconductor laser, optical gain is produced in a semiconductor material. The choice of material may depend on a desired wavelength and/or properties of a generated optical beam. In some cases, the gain medium may include, for example, a quantum heterostructure, a double heterostructure, a quantum well, a quantum wire, a quantum dot, and/or the like. A semiconductor laser may include one or more multi-layer structures.

Emitter oxidation uniformity within a wafer


There is provided a flexible, low temperature, filled composite material composition and method of synthesizing the composite material composition. The composite material composition has a segmented copolymer elastomer having an α,ω-(alpha, omega)-dihydroxy terminated polysiloxane species, a diisocyanate species, and an amine or hydroxy terminated chain extender. The composite material composition further has a solid particulate filler. The composite material composition has a high flexibility at a temperature of down to about −100 degrees Celsius, has a percent elongation of greater than about 100%, and has a tensile strength of greater than about 5 MPa (megapascals).

1) Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to composite material compositions, coatings, and methods using segmented copolymers, and in particular, to composite material compositions, coatings, and methods using segmented copolymer elastomers and solid particulate fillers.
2) Description of Related Art
Elastomeric materials are required in a broad variety of applications, including use in low temperature, subfreezing environments, such as less than −50° C. Elastomeric materials that possess the ability to demonstrate a high degree of toughness through both high elongation and tensile strength find application in a variety of environments, such as the aerospace environment, where such low temperatures are common.
However, many known elastomers may not maintain their advantageous elastic properties at such low temperatures because such known elastomers may comprise polymer species that cause the elastomers to stiffen and become brittle. In addition, known elastomeric polymers, such as polysiloxanes, that are able to individually maintain flexibility at low temperatures may have reduced mechanical strength at low temperatures. Known elastomeric systems may exhibit dramatic stiffening at low temperatures due to onset of the glass transition temperature (Tg) from polymeric chains in the material. Below Tg, the elastomer may experience an abrupt increase in modulus of 10-100 times upon cooling, rendering the material hard and brittle. Many resins composed of silicones or polyurethanes which are commonly used on aircraft exterior surfaces may undergo this transition at −30° C. to −40° C. However, since the temperature at high altitudes is often well below this range, it is desirable to find an alternative that will maintain flexibility at lower temperatures.
Addition of particulate fillers in the range of 10-100 nm (nanometers) may have a beneficial effect on the mechanical properties of elastomers, and they are typically referred to as "reinforcing fillers". However larger particles, such as in the 1-100 μm (micrometer) range, may have a detrimental effect on elastomer mechanical properties, yet these particles are often desirable in order to add additional functionality to the overall composite material. Moreover, while some elastomeric materials may possess lower Tgs, they may be incapable of being processed in solution mixed with high levels of solid fillers and easily applied over vehicle scale areas.
In addition, known systems and methods exist regarding the use of polyether compounds to improve the mechanical properties of segmented polyurea silioxanes. However, these materials use the polyether compounds as a second soft segment block to reside between the silicone and urea hard segments rather than as a chain extender or curative, thus producing a different chain backbone structure. Such an intermediate polyether segment introduces a structural element into the polymer system with a higher glass transition temperature (Tg) of approximately −50° C. that may reduce the low temperature range over which the material is elastic. Moreover, the addition of fillers to these materials is desirable.
Further, it is desirable for elastomeric materials to be able to be formulated into a form that may be conveniently prepared and applied in the field. This may require precursor components that are capable of being stored and stable over acceptable time periods. Once combined, the elastomeric precursors may demonstrate an acceptable pot life or be suspended in a medium that allows for convenient application. Low general toxicity of individual components, chemical resistance to fluids commonly found in aerospace environments, and the ability to be compounded with filler materials are also desirable.
Accordingly, there is a need for filled composite materials that can maintain classic elastic properties and continue to demonstrate high degrees of toughness in low temperature, demanding environments, as well as a need for flexible, low temperature, filled composite material compositions, coatings, and methods that provide advantages over known compositions, coatings, and methods.

Flexible, low temperature, filled composite material compositions, coatings, and methods


In one embodiment, the gaming system and method disclosed herein employs a symbol accumulation sequence and a symbol evaluation sequence. The symbol accumulation sequence includes an accumulation of a designated quantity of symbols in association with a persistence game. The symbol accumulation sequence also includes the maintenance of a persistence game arrangement that displays a designated quantity of currently accumulated symbols (which in certain instances, includes some, but not all of the total number of symbols accumulated). In one embodiment, the symbol evaluation sequence includes the gaming system determining and providing an award based on the accumulated symbols of the persistence game. In another embodiment, the symbol evaluation sequence includes the gaming system determining and providing an award based on at least one of the accumulated symbols of the persistence game and at least one symbol generated for a current play of a wagering game.

Gaming machines which provide players awards in primary or base games are well known. Gaming machines generally require the player to place or make a wager to activate the primary or base game. In many of these gaming machines, the award is based on the player obtaining a winning symbol or symbol combination and on the amount of the wager (e.g., the higher the wager, the higher the award). Symbols or symbol combinations which are less likely to occur usually provide higher awards.
Secondary or bonus games are also known in gaming machines. The secondary or bonus games usually provide an additional award to the player. Secondary or bonus games usually do not require an additional wager by the player to be activated. Certain secondary or bonus games are activated or triggered upon an occurrence of a designated triggering symbol or triggering symbol combination in the primary or base game. For instance, a bonus symbol occurring on the payline on the third reel of a three reel slot machine may trigger the secondary bonus game. When a secondary or bonus game is triggered, the gaming machines generally indicates this to the player through one or more visual and/or audio output devices, such as the reels, lights, speakers, video screens, etc. Part of the enjoyment and excitement of playing certain gaming machines is the occurrence or triggering of the secondary or bonus game (even before the player knows how much the bonus award will be).
Certain known secondary games are played over the course of a number of plays of the primary or base game. Such secondary games provide one or more players an award for their persistence in playing the gaming machine for a prolonged number of plays or period of time. In these persistence or persistence-type secondary games, in association with one or more plays of the primary game, a portion of the secondary game is played or at least one secondary game element is provided to the player. After that player (or a different player currently playing at the gaming terminal) has obtained a designated number of secondary game elements (or advanced to the secondary game a designated number of times), these gaming machines provide a secondary game award to the player currently playing the gaming machine. The provided secondary game award is based on the plurality of obtained secondary game elements (or the plurality of plays of the secondary game) which randomly occur based on triggering events associated with the plurality of plays of the primary game.
To increase player enjoyment and excitement, it is desirable to provide players with new types of gaming devices that attract the player and keep the player entertained. Accordingly, a need exists for the further development of gaming devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Gaming system, gaming device and method for providing a persistence game with multiple symbol evaluations


A wall insert to be affixed within an opening in a vertical wall providing a finished recess for accommodating washer and dryer appliance fittings within the wall dimensions permitting the appliances to be mounted close to the wall. The insert is preferably of a molded synthetic plastic configuration, includes mounting flanges and lips, and an appliance fitting support.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to vertical wall inserts providing a finished recess in a wall for accommodating rear mounted washer and dryer appliance fittings within the wall dimensions.
2. Description of the Related Art
Appliances such as washers and dryers utilize back mounted fittings for connecting the appliances to the necessary plumbing, electrical outlets and vents. Automatic washers require hot and cold water supplies, a drain, and must be plugged into an electrical outlet. Dryers require gas or electrical connections, and also require a vent for exhausting the drying air externally of the dwelling.
The conventional practice is to attach the appliance's water, drain and electrical connections to a vertical wall and attach the appliance connections thereto by flexible hoses and electrical cords. The dryer vent conduit may be mounted in the wall, or in the floor adjacent the wall, and is usually attached to the dryer by a duct elbow, or the like. The necessity to accommodate the appliance hoses, vents, ducts and electrical cords behind the appliance requires that the appliance be located outwardly away from the adjacent wall approximately four inches or so. The necessity to locate the appliances away from the wall detracts from the usable floor space, and as many laundry areas have limited floor space, the necessity to locate the appliances away from the adjacent wall often results in cramped and inconvenience quarters, and may locate the appliances within the traffic pattern. Until the instant invention, a suitable solution to this problem has not been readily available.


The invention relates to an agent increasing the rate of hardening of cements, mortars and concretes while maintaining their workability. It also concerns an adjuvant for cements, mortars and concretes, comprising an effective quantity of said agent, and the cements, mortars and concretes comprising an effective quantity of said agent or said adjuvant. This agent corresponds to the formula ##STR1## in which R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3, which may be identical or different, denote the hydrogen atom or an alkyl, substituted alkyl, alkene, aryl or aralkyl group,. B denotes a hydrocarbon chain containing at least one --CH.sub.2 -- unit and in which the number of carbons situated in the chain is smaller than or equal to 10, PA1 A denotes the groups: ##STR2## in which: X denotes an organic or inorganic anion and in particular a halogen PA1 R.sub.5, R.sub.6 and R.sub.7, which may be identical or different, denote alkyl, substituted alkyl, alkene, aryl or aralkyl radicals.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an agent increasing the rate of hardening of cements, mortars and concretes while maintaining their workability.
It also concerns an adjuvant for cements, mortars and concretes, comprising an effective quantity of said agent, together with the cements, mortars or concretes comprising an effective quantity of said agent or of said adjuvant.
Within the scope of the present invention a rate of hardening is intended to mean the time elapsing between the beginning and the end of setting of the cements.
The standardized measurement method used to obtain this rate of setting is based on the change, as a function of time, in the coefficient of penetration of the needle of a setting tester.
Still within the scope of the present invention, workability of the cements, mortars or concretes is intended to mean the ability to maintain a rheological state in which the cements, concretes and mortars can be handled, that is to say in particular can be poured or pumped without appreciable alteration in their other properties. What is wanted is that this workability should at least be maintained from the end of the mix until the time when the mortars and concretes are placed in position.
2. Related Art Statement
Portland cements, or their analogs, are known to endow mortars and concretes which contain them with high mechanical characteristics after hardening. However, as a result of their essential constituent, which is tricalcium aluminate, these cements result in an onset of setting and a setting time which are frequently judged to be too long in certain uses.
In fact, in the case of applications in the building trade field, attempts are made not only to extend the period for which the workability is maintained, but above all, every effort is made to meet the requirements of working rates at the work sites. As a result, it is imperative that, after approximately 16-17 hours following their being placed in position, in other words in what has conventionally become known as "early age", the concretes and mortars should have sufficient mechanical strength to permit various operations such as, for example, the removal of shuttering. Further, it is not inappropriate to emphasize that the performance required where mechanical strength after 16-17 hours is concerned is increasingly high.
Many products have been proposed as additives for mortars and concretes in order to improve their characteristics.
Thus, various setting accelerators have been proposed, these products being chosen especially from chlorides, sulfates, nitrates and others. However, it is now recognized that their use gives rise to other problems including in particular phenomena of corrosion of the metal reinforcements of reinforced concretes into which they are incorporated.
To try and meet the various requirements of the art, that is to say essentially to obtain an increase in the rate of hardening while maintaining good workability, it might have been envisaged to add such setting accelerators only at the time of the placing of the concretes or mortars in position, or only a few minutes before this operation. This would have made it possible to maintain good workability of the mortars and concretes while obtaining an acceleration in their rate of hardening and therefore a satisfactory strength in the early age. Nevertheless, resorting to this type of solution entails heterogeneities in the concretes and as a result gives rise to large differences where their mechanical strength is concerned.
It has also been envisaged to use, in combination with these additives which have an accelerating effect on setting, setting-retarding agents such as gluconates, the effect of the latter additives compensating or moderating the effect of the former. However, resorting to such mixtures results almost unavoidably in problems of false setting, which produce serious disadvantages at the time of the removal of shuttering from the concretes in the early age.
These disadvantages exhibited by the various solutions tested and employed according to the prior art were aggravated further by segregation or bleeding problems appearing when, in order to meet technical requirements, fluid mortars or concretes had been used, that is to say hydraulic binders with a water-to-cement (W/C) ratios higher than 0.5 and in most cases between 0.6 and 0.7.
Consequently, no agent or no adjuvant has so far made it possible to increase the rate of hardening of hydraulic binders so as to make it possible to obtain satisfactory mechanical strength approximately 16 to 17 hours after their being placed in position, without, however, detriment to their workability.
Now, the Applicant Company has had the merit of finding, at the outcome of numerous investigations, an agent which makes it possible to maintain or even to improve the workability while increasing the rate of hardening of cements, mortars and concretes.

Agent increasing the rate of hardening of cements, mortars and concretes while maintaining their workability


An apparatus and method for insertion of a catheter, such as an IAB catheter, into a blood vessel such that the cross-sectional area of the catheter will be minimized while the circumference of the catheter is maximized. The apparatus is formed as an oval tube of flexible plastic. When placed in a blood vessel, the catheter retains its oval configuration to minimize obstruction to blood flow. During inflation of the balloon bladder at the end of the catheter, the catheter retains its general oval shape. When the catheter is placed in the blood vessel by pre-loading the catheter over a guide wire and inserting the catheter and guide wire without an introducer sheath into the blood vessel both the catheter and its leading balloon bladder are approximately of the same perimeter thereby reducing the possibility of arterial bleeding.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to catheters inserted into the vascular system for extended periods of time, and more particularly, to an oval IAB catheter for insertion into a blood vessel, and the method for placing such catheter into the blood vessel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Insertion of catheters into the vascular system of humans is a commonly performed procedure. These catheters function as a conduit for inflation of IAB. When a catheter needs to be in place for an extended period of time, it is common to place the catheters from the lower half of the body. Such catheters may have single or multiple lumens, and are typically made from a relatively rigid plastic material with a standard, round cross-section, both to facilitate placement of the catheter into the vessel and to prevent the catheter lumens from collapsing within the vessel. Generally speaking theses catheters are constructed in such a way that the lumen or lumens extending therethrough retain their circular cross-sectional configuration unless an external mechanical force compresses the catheter.
A complication of placing such a catheter is formation of clots on the wall of the catheter located in the vascular system. Blood clots form for several reasons. The vessel causes turbulence and slowing of the blood flow through the vessel, and these factors induce the formation of clots. Generally, the greater the cross-sectional area of the catheter relative to the blood vessel, the greater the induced turbulence and slowing of the blood. In addition, the catheter is a foreign body, and the surface of the catheter in contact with blood is an ideal site for clot formation. Once again, the greater the amount of surface area of the catheter or other foreign body in contact with the blood, the more likely that clots will form.
Such clots can break away and flow in the blood stream to the heart and lungs, causing severe complications. Furthermore, the formation of clots can often cause such vessels to become irreversibly damaged and thrombose, preventing further blood flow through such vessels. This may ultimately cause debilitating swelling of the limb.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a catheter which reduces the likelihood of the formation of clots or reduction in blood flow within the blood vessel into which the catheter is placed while reducing the chances of arterial bleeding at the puncture site of the artery all due to its oval or non-circular shape which has approximately the same perimeter as the balloon attached to the oval catheter.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a catheter which presents a minimal cross-section obstruction to the normal flow of blood within the blood vessel, yet has a maximum circumference to prevent blood leakage at the point of insertion. However, while it is desirable to have a catheter that has a low profile shape, when such a catheter is inserted behind the balloon bladder attached to the front of the catheter, which bladder is larger than the normally used circular catheter, the bleeding may occur at the site of introduction into the body. This is due to the fact the larger diameter of the wrapped balloon bladder which first enters the insertion site leaves behind a diameter opening larger than the smaller circular catheter following the balloon into the insertion site and thereby leaving a space for blood to flow from said opening. Such a problem is discussed, especially when sheathless insertion is performed, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,077. The solution to the blood leakage, in that Patent, was to use a hemostasis sheath, but that doesn't solve the problem of the catheters obstruction of blood flow in the blood vessel.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for conveniently placing such a catheter within the desired blood vessel using commonly available vascular apparatus.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more apparent to those skilled in the art as the description of the present invention proceeds.