A start-up clutch and torsional-vibration damper assembly including a disk clutch having an outer disk carrier and an inner disk carrier, and a torsional vibration damper having a primary element, a secondary element, and a spring dampening mechanism. The spring dampening mechanism is disposed between and operatively couples the primary element and the secondary element. The torsional vibration damper connected in series to the disk clutch such that the torsional vibration damper and the disk clutch are juxtaposed to each other along a common axis with the primary element having substantially the same outside radius as the outer disk carrier.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, generally, to a clutch assembly, and more specifically, to a start-up clutch and torsional-vibration damper assembly for translating torque between a prime mover and a transmission.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally speaking, land vehicles require a powertrain consisting of three basic components. These components include a power plant (such as an internal combustion engine), a power transmission, and wheels. The power transmission component is typically referred to simply as the "transmission." Engine torque and speed are converted in the transmission in accordance with the tractive power demand of the vehicle. Hydrokinetic devices, such as torque converters, are often employed between the internal combustion engine and its associated automatic transmission for transferring kinetic energy therebetween.
Torque converters typically include impeller assemblies that are operatively connected for rotation with the torque input from an internal combustion engine, a turbine assembly that is fluidly connected in driven relationship with the impeller assembly, and a stator or reactor assembly. These assemblies together form a substantially toroidal flow passage for kinetic fluid that circulates in the torque converter. Each assembly includes a plurality of blades or veins that act to convert mechanical energy to hydrokinetic energy and back to mechanical energy. The stator assembly of a conventional torque converter is locked against rotation in one direction but is free to spin about an axis in the direction of rotation of the impeller assembly and the turbine assembly. When the stator assembly is locked against rotation, the torque is multiplied by the torque converter. During torque multiplication, the output torque is greater than the input torque for the torque converter. However, when the stator assembly freewheels in the direction of rotation of the impeller and turbine assemblies, there is no torque multiplication and the torque converter becomes a fluid coupling. Fluid couplings have inherent slip. In the absence of a fully engaged lock-up clutch, torque converter slip exists when the speed ratio is less than 1.0 (RPM input>RPM output of the torque converter). This inherent slip reduces the efficiency of the torque converter.
While torque converters provide a smooth coupling between the engine and the transmission, the slippage of the torque converter results in parasitic losses that decrease the efficiency of the entire power train. More specifically, the operating efficiency of the converter during start-up is relatively low. It varies from a zero value at stall to a maximum value of approximately 80-85% at the coupling point. The coupling point occurs at the transition from the torque multiplication mode to the coupling mode when the torque multiplication ratio is unity.
In addition to the problems with efficiency, torque converters of the type known in the related art occupy substantial space in the driveline assembly between the transmission gearing and the engine. Torque converters typically define relatively large diameters when compared to the transmission gearing. Further, the torque converter has a substantial rotating mass that must be accelerated by the engine during start-up of the vehicle during forward drive or in reverse drive. The effective mass of the converter necessarily includes the mass of the hydraulic fluid that circulates in the torus circuit defined by the converter impeller, the turbine, and the stator assembly.
On the other hand, frictional clutches have been also employed in the related art to selectively connect a source of rotational power, such as the crank shaft of an internal combustion engine and its flywheel, to a driven mechanism, such as a transmission. The frictional clutches of the type that have been employed in the related art overcome the disadvantages associated with reduced efficiencies, parasitic losses, relatively large effective mass and the space that is occupied by torque converters used for the same purpose. In an automotive context, clutches used for this purpose are often referred to as "start-up" clutches. Clutches of this type typically include a clutch pack that is operatively supported between a drive and driven member of the clutch assembly. The drive member is operatively connected to the torque input from the prime mover. The driven member is operatively connected to the input shaft of the transmission.
In addition, some start-up clutches include a series connected, torsional-vibration dampers incorporated between the clutch pack and the output to the input of the transmission. A torsional-vibration damper is, generally, a type of elastic coupling disposed between the two main components of drive train of a vehicle (i.e., the engine and the transmission). Such devices reduce or otherwise prevent vibrations from being transmitted from the engine to other parts of the drive train.
The basic embodiment of a torsional-vibration damper includes a primary element and a secondary element that are coupled to each other through a spring dampening device and are limited in movement in relation to each other about a rotational axis. The spring device advantageously includes a plurality of springs disposed on a radial arc spaced relative to the rotational axis and, preferably, at a certain uniform distance from each other. The springs, or a sequence of multiple springs, if applicable, are then connected to the primary element on one side of the springs and to the secondary element on the other side of the springs. Torque is transmitted through the spring coupling, and, as a result of the spring characteristic, a certain additional damping effect is achieved.
In contrast to the aforementioned torque converters, combining a start-up clutch with a torsional vibration damper provides the additional advantages of smoother operation and ride characteristics for the vehicle, while reducing impact loading on driveline components thereby extending the life of the components. However, in conventional applications, the combination of a start-up clutch and a torsional vibration damper loses most of the space saving and mass reduction advantages of the start-up clutch alone versus a torque converter. Up to this point, the trade off of mass and space taken up when employing a combined start-up clutch and torsional vibration damper has been tolerated. However, as the progression toward lighter, smaller, and more efficient vehicle driveline components continues, the general size and mass of the conventional start-up clutch and torsional-vibration damper has become less tolerable and has proven to be a limitation to greater drive line efficiency.
Furthermore, early attempts at producing more compact start-up clutch and torsional-vibration damper assemblies have found that a smaller, more compact device must deal with larger frictional loads and thereby much higher heat dissipation to transfer the same torque loading as conventional devices. Thus, to this point, attempting to achieve a higher level of efficiency by reducing component size and weight of combined start-up clutch and damper assemblies has been problematic due to the excessive heat that is generated and must be dissipated.
Accordingly, there remains a need in the related art for a start-up clutch and torsional vibration damper assembly that is radially and axially more compact than conventional designs to provide more efficiency and cost savings by occupying less space and having less weight than conventional designs. Furthermore, there remains a need in the art for a more compact and lighter start-up clutch and a torsional vibration damper assembly that is capable of dissipating the higher frictional heat output normally generated by these devices.

Start-up clutch and torsional-vibration damper assembly


A cabinet includes a chassis and an electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding apparatus. The shielding apparatus includes a bracket installed to a first end of the chassis, a shaft rotatably installed in the bracket, and a shielding member reeled about the shaft. The shielding member includes a first end fixed to the shaft, and a second end opposite to the first end and forming a holder. A second end of the chassis forms a latch opposite to the bracket for engaging with the holder. The shielding member is made of EMI shielding material, and the shielding member is wound on or let out from the shaft as the shaft rotates.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a cabinet with an electromagnetic interference shielding apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
A server cabinet usually has a number of servers installed therein. Each server includes a motherboard, a power supply, a plurality of hard disk drives, and other functioning modules. Ordinarily, an access of the cabinet is not covered with a cover, for expediently changing or repairing the functioning modules of the servers. However, this allows electromagnetic radiations to enter or leaks from the cabinet.

Shielding apparatus and cabinet with same


Relative to a gaming system, a jackpot or game win processing device and server are configured to receive acknowledgement from a player regarding a gaming win award, such as input to the game win processing device of a signature by the player to gaming win forms. In response, the server is configured to generate at least one gaming win reporting form, such as a W2G, to generate a security code from at least two elements of personal information regarding the player, such as obtained from a casino player tracking server, to then secure the at the least one reporting form and then email the secure form to the player.

Casino winnings may be paid in different manners. For example, relative to a gaming machine which is capable of dispensing monetary winnings or a monetary value ticket or the like, the winnings may be directly awarded and then dispensed to the player. As one example, a player might win $500. Those winnings might be associated with the monetary value credit meter at the gaming machine. The player might then elect to cash-out that balance, including the winnings, as either coins dispensed at the machine or, in most modern gaming machines, a monetary value ticket which can be redeemed.
A casino may desire, however, to validate larger jackpot. In that event, the gaming machine may report a jackpot win to the casino gaming system. However, the jackpot winnings may not be awarded until casino personnel validate the win.
In addition, some jurisdictions like the U.S. require that a casino report player winnings over certain thresholds. For example, relative to a gaming machine, this threshold is currently $1200 in the U.S. In a situation where a player wins more than $1200.00, the casino will generally require the player to complete a jackpot winnings form which the casino can then use to report the jackpot win to the Internal Revenue Service of the U.S. government. This form, called a W2G in the U.S., includes information regarding the amount of the win and the player's identity (such as their name and social security number and the like).
One problem for casinos is that the player must later submit a copy of the tax reporting form with their tax return. Thus, a casino must generally provide a copy of the tax reporting form to the player, such as in the form of a receipt. However, players often lose their copy of the form. At tax filing time (usually April 15 of each year in the U.S.), players often bombard casinos with requests for copies of their tax reporting forms. In addition, these forms often include sensitive personal information, such that exposure of the information associated with the form can be damaging.
A new method of providing players with jackpot win forms, such as official game win tax reporting forms, is desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Mobile casino jackpot payment reporting system with secure form reporting to customer


A bearing monitoring/analysis system may comprise an acoustic emission sensor positioned adjacent a fluid film bearing, component thereof, and/or adjacent structure such that the acoustic emission sensor may collect a signal from the bearing, wherein the signal may be analyzed to allow a user to gain information regarding the fluid film bearing.

Non-intrusive methods for detecting damage and/or assessing performance of bearings are highly desirable, as such methods may allow personnel to collect crucial information regarding the bearing while the equipment is still operating. Avoiding expensive maintenance incidents and/or costly shutdowns to inspect or repair a bearing may result in many thousands of dollars saved each year at a single facility.
Regarding fluid film bearings, which are designed for unlimited life, fluid film bearing surface wear happens for reasons such as start-up/shut down, impact loading, misalignment, edge loading, debris, erosion, corrosion, etc. Pads, lobes, and faces (bearing surfaces) must be inspected visually for wear during scheduled or unscheduled maintenance. If fluid film bearing wear could be detected non-intrusively for customer's critical applications and machinery during operating, equipment reliability and uptime could be increased, maintenance cycle times could be extended, and surprises, such as unscheduled shut downs, loss of production, increased maintenance time and effort, could be avoided.
Acoustic emission is an elastic wave produced as a result of a swift discharge of energy from a source within a material that is compelled by an externally applied stimulus. Acoustic emission signals may correspond to elastic waves or signals in the range from 5 to 1000 kHz, and the frequency range may be higher than the vibration analysis range and lower than the ultrasonic testing range.
Acoustic emission monitoring and analysis has been applied in various fields to detect failure of certain types of equipment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,449; WO 2015178821; and WO 2013159840 all disclose using acoustic emission to detect failure of a rolling element bearing. However, acoustic emission monitoring and analysis has yet to be applied to fluid film bearings, a field in which the acoustic emission detection and analysis is extremely disparate to that of rolling element bearings due to the continual presence of fluid between rotating and stationary elements of fluid film bearings.


The present application provides an integrated gasification combined cycle system. The integrated gasification combined cycle system may include a gas turbine engine, a syngas system for producing a syngas for the gas turbine engine and having a compressor therein, and a second gas engine in communication with the syngas system. The second gas engine dives the compressor via the syngas.

Carbon dioxide (CO2) produced in power generation facilities is considered to be a green house gas. As such, the carbon dioxide produced in the overall power production process generally is sequestered and then recycled for other purposes. In current integrated gasification combined cycle ("IGCC") technologies, the precombustion capture of carbon dioxide is preferred. Once captured, the carbon dioxide generally may be compressed before transport, disposal, or other use. Specifically, various IGCC designs require the compression of the carbon dioxide before the gas is recycled to, for example, the feed system, the gasifier, or other locations in the overall IGCC process.
The gross power output from an IGCC or other type of power plant is determined by the output of the gas turbine engine(s) operating on a syngas or other fuel. Any parasitical electrical or other type of load in the power plant serves to reduce the net generation output of the power plant. Compression of carbon dioxide, however, generally requires large amounts of auxiliary compression power. This compression is usually provided by electric drives or steam turbines. This type of parasitic load thus results in lower power plant net output and efficiency.
There is thus a desire for an improved power plant and methods of driving compression equipment and other types of plant equipment without being a parasitic load on the IGCC plant as a whole. Such a reduced parasitic load also will increase the net power generation output.

Gas engine drives for gasification plants


An evanescent light generation element for oscillating evanescent light from an optical waveguide to a clad layer, including a 0.1 μm-10 μm thin layer composed of a ferroelectric single crystal or oriented crystal having first and second principal surfaces, and incident side end and exit side end surfaces. A ridge optical waveguide is formed in the thin layer and extends between the incident and exit side end surfaces of the thin layer. At least a pair of grooves is formed on both sides of the ridge optical waveguide in the thin layer and opened at the first principal surface of the thin layer. A clad layer is provided on the first principal surface or the second principal surface. A width of the ridge optical waveguide at the exit side end surface is less than a width of the ridge optical waveguide at the incident side end surface.

In an optical waveguide device such as an optical modulation element and a second-order higher harmonic generation element, a pair of ridge grooves is formed in an optical waveguide substrate, and a ridge optical waveguide is formed between the ridge grooves. Then, the optical waveguide substrate is attached to an independent support substrate, and it is known that phase matching is attained by configuring the optical waveguide substrate to be a thin plate equal to or less than 10 μm in thickness.

Evanescent light generation element and evanescent light generation device


Disclosed is use of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) or a salt thereof in the preparation of drugs or health-care products for treating phenylketonuria (PKU), wherein a single dose of the NADH or a salt thereof is 1-100 mg.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to the technical field of use of NADH, and particularly to use of NADH or a salt thereof in the preparation of drugs or health-care products for treating phenylketonuria (PKU).
Related Art
Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) is a coenzyme transferring protons (more precisely hydrogen ions), and involved in many metabolic reactions of cells. Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide includes reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH), which is also known as reduced coenzyme I; and oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD), which is also known as oxidized coenzyme I.
NADH is a fundamental redox coenzyme, which is key to both the respiration and the photosynthesis. Moreover, NADH cannot be directely oxidized by oxygen, but can become NAD by dehydrogenation under the action of NADH dehydrogenase. In the respiratory chain, through such an action, the flavoproteins, quinone, and cytochrome are gradually reduced, and finally oxygen is reduced into water. The pathway of oxidizing a substrate by O2 with NAD as a medium is a main oxidization pathway of organics in aerobic organisms. At present, the nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) used in the circle of industries and medicines or as a biochemical agent is essentially produced through fermentation with yeasts or produced enzymatically in vitro.
The People's Daily Online reported (on Oct. 30, 2013) that there are over ten thousands children having phenylketonuria (PKU) in China, and PKU incurs great pain to the patients and their families. Under a normal condition, the proteins are intaken by human from food, and then broken down to produce various amino acids needed in the human body. Phenylalanine (Phe) is firstly metabolized into another amino acid tyrosine, and then into carbon dioxide and water through a series of metabolizations and excreted from the body. For the PKU patients, because the phenylalanine hydroxylase produced in liver cells is defective, its activity is decreased or lost almost completely, such that Phe cannot be metabolized into tyrosine. As a result, the in-vivo concentration of Phe is much higher than a normal level, and a too high Phe concentration in human is the main cause of dementia in patients with PKU. Natural proteins contain abundant phenylalanine in 1953, the doctor Bichel in Germany preferred a low phenylalanine diet therapy for treating the disease, and better results are obtained. However, the low-phenylalanine diet (also known as "specially supplied food", or "special food") is usually very expensive, thus causing a heavy financial burden and mental stress to an ordinary family. Moreover, the effect remains to be improved. An object of the present invention is to provide such a therapeutic agent or a health-care product.

Use of NADH or salt thereof in preparation of drugs or health-care products for treating phenylketonuria


A new and distinct Chrysanthemum plant variety characterized by a pink/white color ray florets, consistent flowering response to short days, blooming consistently after 49 days of short day length, small foliage, long lasting blooms, and consistent natural season flowering habit during late September.

Latin name of the genus and species of the plant claimed: Chrysanthemum morifolium.
Variety denomination: xe2x80x98Moza SI 01xe2x80x99.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, and herein after referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Moza SI 01.xe2x80x99
This new cultivar originated from hybridization of a female parent Chrysanthemum cultivar MZ 215-01 (unpatented in the United States, and undistributed commercially) and a male parent Chrysanthemum cultivar MZ 257-01 (unpatented in the United States, and undistributed commercially). The new cultivar was discovered by the inventor in November 1998.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by apical tip cutting and meristem tissue culture was performed in Oxnard, Calif. and has shown that the unique features of this new cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type on successive generations.
The cultivar xe2x80x98Moza SI 01xe2x80x99 has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength, and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Moza SI 01.xe2x80x99 These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Moza SI 01xe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Chrysanthemum:
1. Pink/white color ray florets;
2. Consistent flowering response to short days, blooming consistently after 49 days of short day length;
3. Small foliage;
4. Long lasting blooms; and
5. Consistent natural season flowering habit during late September.
Plants of the new cultivar are similar to plants of the female parent cultivar in most horticultural characteristics, however plants of the new cultivar differed from plants of the female parent cultivar in the following characteristics:
1. The new cultivar has different color ray florets;
2. The new cultivar has a smaller diameter bloom;
3. The new cultivar is shorter; and
4. The new cultivar has a shorter internode length.
Plants of the new cultivar are similar to plants of the male parent cultivar in most horticultural characteristics, however plants of the new cultivar differed from plants of the male parent cultivar in the following characteristics:
1. The new cultivar is taller;
2. The new cultivar has a larger bloom diameter; and
3. The new cultivar naturally blooms 2 weeks later.

Chrysanthemum plant named xe2x80x98Moza SI 01xe2x80x99


A superconducting power cable system includes a superconducting power cable in a first temperature environment separated from a second temperature environment by a thermal barrier. The first temperature environment is an interior of a cryostat and is at a lower temperature than the second temperature environment located outside of the cryostat. At least one superconducting feeder cable has a first end electrically coupled to the superconducting power cable in the first temperature environment, and a second end electrically coupled to a normal conducting current lead in the second temperature environment. Each superconducting feeder cable is a flexible superconducting cable or wire formed of multiple superconducting tapes that are wound in a helical fashion and in multiple layers around a round former.

Superconducting systems such as power transmission or distribution cables typically require large currents to be injected and extracted into and from the cold, cryogenic environment in which they operate. Typically, current is injected from room temperature, where the power source is located, into an environment at much lower cryogenic temperature. The cooling power at these low cryogenic temperatures can be limited.
Current leads may be used to inject current from room temperature into the cryogenic environment, and may be optimized to minimize the heat load though conduction and resistive heating. Feeder cables that connect to the current leads may include a section of high-temperature superconducting (HTS) material bridging the temperature from an intermediate value of less than 90 K down to the low-temperature application, which may operate at 4.2 K to 65 K, or higher.
The high-temperature superconducting feeder cables that connect to the current lead may contain a significant amount of normal conducting material, to avoid burnout of the current lead during fault conditions, such as loss of cooling or excessive currents. However, the normal conducting stabilizer in the feeder cable can result in a significant thermal load into the low temperature environment, through conduction. This can be problematic in cases in which limited cooling power is available, for example, when the application is cooled with pressurized cryogenic helium gas or other cryogenic gas.
It may be desirable to minimize the heat load into the cryogenic environment, especially in helium gas cooled applications. The feeder cable may be rigid and may not accommodate bending or thermal contraction of the much-longer power cable during cool down. In particular, when operating superconducting power transmission or distribution cables, the main power cable may experience a relatively large thermal contraction during cool down, compared to that of the cryostat in which the cable is housed. Thermal contraction can overstrain the cable and cause mechanical damage to the cable or the other components of the system. Accordingly, such thermal contraction must be accommodated by the feeder cables or the current leads.


A thermal-type flow meter for representing a flow rate of air by the frequency of a periodic signal, wherein abnormalities in the waveform of an output signal due to frequency variation is prevented while high-frequency noise is suppressed. The thermal-type flow meter pertaining to the present invention is provided with a plurality of switching elements connected in parallel, and varies a delay width between the switching elements in accordance with variation of the frequency of a periodic signal for representing a flow rate.

A thermal-type flow meter is a sensor to measure a flow rate of flown air on the basis of a current necessary for returning a temperature of a heating wire which is changed by the ambient flowing air. The measured flow rate can be represented by aperiodic signal having a frequency corresponding to the flow rate for example. The periodic signal is input to an open drain circuit (or an open collector circuit; the same shall apply hereinafter) for example, and a frequency of a signal output from the open drain circuit is detected by a frequency measurement circuit, so that the flow rate can be detected.
The open drain circuit turns on/off a switching element to output an output signal of a high/low level. The output signal corresponding to the flow rate represented by the frequency of the periodic signal can be output by turning on/off the switching element according to the frequency of the periodic signal.
The output signal becomes a rectangular wave due to the configuration of the open drain circuit. Therefore, high-frequency noises are generated. As a means for relieving the high-frequency noises, it is considered that a plurality of switching elements are connected in parallel at multiple stages, and shifts timing for switching the switching elements so as to output the step-shape output signal. PTL 1 describes a specific example of the open drain circuit in which the switching timings of the respective switching elements are different.


A chair strengthens core muscle groups and promotes circulation along the gluteal and piriformis muscle groups. Locking castors enable the chair to be moved in busy environments, yet fix the position of the chair when needed. A user of the chair may activate a number of massaging elements by rocking side to side, and may perform back stretches while in the seated position. Additional active massaging elements may alert the user and further promote proper use. Adjustable elements allow users to tailor the chair to their specific needs. Embedded energy harvesters supply power to record and transmit data to users to enhance their awareness of their seating position. Thus a versatile seat is provided that is better suited to active environments while broadening the range of elements of core strengthening, massaging, circulation, and seated exercise.

Generally, designed for longer term sitting, chairs can be uncomfortable. Sedentary working environments promote little to no engagement of core muscles while sitting and can result in debilitating health problems. Engaging the core muscles while sitting can improve core strength and posture, and targeting key muscle groups such as the gluteal and piriformis muscles further enhance comfort, especially around the sciatic nerve.
Both U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,590,930 and 5,921,628 portray active seats that utilize a mechanism in the base promoting the use of core muscles while sitting. This mechanism allows for tilting in all directions about an axis, and also includes a mechanism which returns the seat to its original position. However, the devices described in these patents do not provide sufficient adjustments to better suit different body types.
Beyond activating core muscles, targeting key muscle groups are an important method of promoting circulation. U.S. Pat. No. 8,372,111 describes methods in which to activate the piriformis muscle through active and passive massaging. However, there is no suggestion or teaching as to integration of a mechanism into a seat having similar functionality, nor is there any discussion as to how any such functionality would be achieved by user operation.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2011/0095586 describes a tilting mechanism that allows for full rotation about a single axis, along with tilting in all directions. There exists a need to fix the rotational axis of the chair to be able to stretch and engage back muscles while in the seated position, and with no way of fixing the rotational axis, the device of this publication is limited only to activating muscles in a user's core.
U.S. Patent Application Publication 2013/0113249 combines a chair with electronic sensors, data transfer capabilities, and a power source, but only uses these capabilities to suggest proper use of the seat.

Therapeutic core building and massage chair


Techniques for searching in asynchronous systems are disclosed. In one aspect, a plurality of codes, such as SSCs, are correlated with a received signal at a plurality of offsets to produce a code/slot energy corresponding to each code/slot boundary pair. Unique subsets of the code/slot energies are summed to produce code sequence energies, the maximum of which indicates a located code sequence and slot boundary. In another aspect, the correlation is performed by sub-correlating the received signal with a common sequence, and performing a Fast Hadamard Transform (FHT) on the results. In yet another aspect, one sub-correlator can be used to search a plurality of peaks simultaneously. Various other aspects of the invention are also presented. These aspects collectively have the benefit of circuit area and search-time efficiency which translate into reduced costs, increased standby time, increased acquisition speed, higher quality signal transmission, increased data throughput, decreased power, and improved overall system capacity.

The present invention relates generally to communications, and more specifically to a novel and improved method and apparatus for step two W-CDMA searching.
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication such as voice, data, and so on. These systems may be based on code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), or some other modulation techniques. A CDMA system provides certain advantages over other types of systems, including increased system capacity.
A CDMA system may be designed to support one or more CDMA standards such as (1) the xe2x80x9cTIA/EIA-95-B Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard for Dual-Mode Wideband Spread Spectrum Cellular Systemxe2x80x9d (the IS-95 standard), (2) the standard offered by a consortium named xe2x80x9c3rd Generation Partnership Projectxe2x80x9d (3GPP) and embodied in a set of documents including Document Nos. 3G TS 25.211, 3G TS 25.212, 3G TS 25.213, and 3G TS 25.214 (the W-CDMA standard), (3) the standard offered by a consortium named xe2x80x9c3rd Generation Partnership Project 2xe2x80x9d (3GPP2) and embodied in a set of documents including xe2x80x9cC.S0002-A Physical Layer Standard for cdma2000 Spread Spectrum Systems,xe2x80x9d the xe2x80x9cC.S0005-A Upper Layer (Layer 3) Signaling Standard for cdma2000 Spread Spectrum Systems,xe2x80x9d and the xe2x80x9cC.S0024 cdma2000 High Rate Packet Data Air Interface Specificationxe2x80x9d (the cdma2000 standard), and (4) some other standards.
Pseudorandom noise (PN) sequences are commonly used in CDMA systems for spreading transmitted data, including transmitted pilot signals. The time required to transmit a single value of the PN sequence is known as a chip, and the rate at which the chips vary is known as the chip rate. CDMA receivers commonly employ RAKE receivers. A rake receiver is typically made up of one or more searchers for locating direct and multipath pilots from one or more base stations, and two or more multipath demodulators (fingers) for receiving and combining information signals from those base stations.
Inherent in the design of direct sequence CDMA systems is the requirement that a receiver must align its PN sequences to those of a base station. Some systems, such as those defined by the W-CDMA standard, differentiate base stations using a unique PN code for each, known as a primary scrambling code. The W-CDMA standard defines two Gold code sequences for scrambling the downlink, one for the in-phase component (I) and another for the quadrature (Q). The I and Q PN sequences together are broadcast throughout the cell without data modulation. This broadcast is referred to as the common pilot channel (CPICH). The PN sequences generated are truncated to a length of 38,400 chips. The period of 38,400 chips is referred to as a radio frame. Each radio frame is divided into 15 equal sections referred to as slots. W-CDMA base stations operate asynchronously in relation to each other, so knowledge of the frame timing of one base station does not translate into knowledge of the frame timing of any other base station.
It is possible to search for W-CDMA base stations offset by offset (38,400 of them) for each of the 512 primary codes. However, this is not practical due to the excessive amount of time such a search would require. Instead, the W-CDMA standard calls for base stations to transmit two additional synchronization channels, the primary and secondary synchronization channels, to assist the subscriber unit in searching efficiently. As a result, W-CDMA search can be performed in three steps, which will be detailed more fully below.
For initial acquisition, the three-step W-CDMA search provides a great performance increase, in terms of reduced search time, over the impractical alternative of searching the entire PN space for each scrambling code. Search time is an important metric in determining the quality of a CDMA system. Decreased search time implies that searches can be done more frequently. As such, a subscriber unit can locate and access the best available cell more often, resulting in better signal transmission and reception, often at reduced transmission power levels by both the base station and the subscriber unit. This, in turn, increases the capacity of the CDMA system (either in terms of support for an increased number of users, or higher transmission rates, or both). Furthermore, decreased search time is also advantageous when a subscriber unit is in idle mode, a low-power state where a subscriber unit is not actively transmitting or receiving voice or data, but is periodically monitoring the system. Reduced search time allows the subscriber unit to spend more time in the low power state, thus reducing power consumption and increasing standby time.
W-CDMA searchers designed to reduce search time will accrue the benefits just described. In addition, however, efficiency of implementation is also important to reduce integrated circuit area and power consumption. Step two of the 3-step search method described above is a complex procedure. There is therefore a need in the art for efficient searchers that can perform step two W-CDMA searching, and similar procedures.
Embodiments disclosed herein address the need for efficient searching in asynchronous systems such as W-CDMA. In one aspect, a plurality of codes, such as SSCs, are correlated with a received signal at a plurality of offsets to produce a code/slot energy corresponding to each code/slot boundary pair. Unique subsets of the code/slot energies are summed to produce code sequence energies, the maximum of which indicates a located code sequence and slot boundary. In another aspect, the correlation is performed by sub-correlating the received signal with a common sequence, and performing a Fast Hadamard Transform (FHT) on the results. In yet another aspect, one sub-correlator can be used to search a plurality of peaks simultaneously. Various other aspects of the invention are also presented. These aspects have the benefit of circuit area and search-time efficiency which translate into reduced costs, increased standby time, increased acquisition speed, higher quality signal transmission, increased data throughput, decreased power, and improved overall system capacity.
The invention provides methods and system elements that implement various aspects, embodiments, and features of the invention, as described in further detail below.

Method and apparatus for step two W-CDMA searching


In a packet transmission system, an importance level is assigned by a transmitter to transmitted packets. The transmitted packets contain one or more importance levels of those packets transmitted previously, so that a receiver can recover the importance level associated with a lost packet from a received packet. The receiver decides whether to send a retransmission request relating to the lost packet based on the importance level of the lost packet.

The article "An efficient multimedia distribution framework for Internet video" by Jia Yao, Jozsef Vass, Yan Huang and Xinhua Zhuang, published in the journal Image and Video Communications and Processing 2000—Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 3974, describes a transmission system in which the receiver decides whether or not to transmit a retransmission request relating to a lost packet while taking account in particular of the importance of said lost packet.
This article does not define the idea of the importance of a packet, and does not describe the manner in which the receiver determines the importance of a lost packet.
A first object of the invention is to present a mechanism allowing the receiver to determine an importance level associated with a lost packet.
A second object of the invention is to present several ways of defining the importance level of a packet.

Packet transmission method with packet retransmission requests and a control mechanism relating to the transmission of such requests


A network access control is performed by using a status management table having a maximum permissible number of entries, which is determined depending on a time-out period predetermined by user terminals and a hardware-setting time required for setting communication resource. When receiving an access start request received from a user terminal, it is determined whether the hardware setting corresponding to the access start request is estimated to be completed within the time-out period. If it is estimated to be completed, the received access start request is registered into the status management table to issue a hardware setting command. If it is estimated not to be completed, an access rejection message is sent back to the user terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network access control method and apparatus in a code-division multiple access (CDMA) system where a plurality of wireless terminals are allowed to simultaneously access the CDMA mobile communications network.
2. Description of Related Art
In principle, CDMA is not a time-based access system such as time-division multiple access (TDMA). Accordingly, the CDMA system permits a plurality of CDMA terminals to simultaneously send different network access requests to the network on the common channel. Even if different network access requests has been simultaneously received, they can reach the network with high probability or less probability of collision in radio section.
In the CDMA system, however, it is conceivable that instantaneous processing congestions are likely to occur in the network side, compared to the TDMA system. More specifically, radio-system/wired-system hardware settings are needed for each network access request. Accordingly, when a plurality of simultaneous access requests occur within a time period required for the radio-system and wired-system hardware settings, notification of access permission/rejection for a network access request is delayed, resulting in time-out in an originating CDMA terminal. When the time-out occurs, the originating CDMA terminal resends the same network access request to the network. Accordingly, such retransmission of the network access request accelerates the processing congestions in the network side and at worst a system failure may occur.
As described above, when CDMA terminals start network accesses in a CDMA system, the possibility of heavy instantaneous loads on the network may be higher than in the case of a TDMA system. Therefore, it is necessary for the network to increase in processing capacity and efficiently and properly control such access requests of user terminals even when the network is instantaneously overloaded by user terminals starting network accesses.

Network access control technique in a CDMA system


A method and apparatus for reducing down time in updating applications with metadata is provided. The application contains both code and metadata. A copy of the application is made. A software update is installed on the copy of the application. During installation, the original application continues to run and service users, who may modify the metadata of the original application. Periodically, the metadata of the copy of the application is updated to incorporate changes to the metadata of the original application. When the software update is completed, users are prevented from further modifying the metadata of the original application. The metadata of the copy of the application is updated to incorporate the final changes to the metadata of the original application. Users are redirected from the original application to the copy of the application.

Software applications are often updated through installation of a software update, also known as a "patch". For many applications, the installation of a patch takes only a few minutes. Therefore, one common way to update an application is to shut down the application to make it inaccessible to a user or users, install the patch, and then restart the updated, or patched, application to make it accessible to users again.
However, for some large and complex applications, the installation of a patch is a long and drawn-out process that may take many hours or even many days. For this type of application, shutting down the application in order to install a patch may result in the application being inaccessible to users for an unacceptably long period of time. Therefore, one solution is to make a copy of the application, install the patch to the copy of the application while the original application continues to service users, and then upon the completion of the patch installation to the copy of the application, commence the servicing of users by the patched copy of the application before shutting down the original application. This solution allows a patch to be installed without disrupting the accessibility of users to the application.
This solution, however, is inadequate for applications that contain metadata. Metadata is not part of the application code itself, nor is it part of the data that the application processes in its normal operation. Rather, metadata is data that controls and alters the behavior of the code in an application. Metadata can be included as part of an application, and is typically stored in a repository (either a database or file system) that is shared by all modules of the application. Because the application depends on metadata for correct operation, a patch to the application may contain metadata. Finally, users utilizing an application may also be modifying the metadata contained in the application as user customizations. Examples of user-customizations that modify the metadata of an application include: user interface elements, custom rule definitions, and definitions of reports to run. Because users may continue to make customizations as part of their utilization of the application, a simple solution involving only the patching of a copy of the application, such as the one just described, does not successfully carry over user customizations to the patched application.
The existence of metadata increases the difficulty of patching an application without downtime because each version of the application is typically built with its own version of metadata. Thus, installation of new metadata usually causes an older version of the application to fail or work incorrectly. Application developers can work around this problem by modifying the new metadata to be compatible with the old version of the application. However, this incurs significant cost in human time and effort, and may not be feasible in all cases.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop techniques for patching applications that contain user-modifiable metadata in an efficient manner and with minimal reduced utility for the user.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.

Techniques for reducing down time in updating applications with metadata


Methods and systems for dynamic IP categorization include receiving electronic requests to access an electronic server; logging a first set of requests occurring during a first period of time and originating from an IP address belonging to a set of IP addresses; assigning the set of IP addresses to a first category according to the first set of requests; logging a second set of requests occurring during a second period of time and originating from the first IP address or a second IP address belonging to the set of IP addresses; determining a second category according to the second set of requests; assigning the set of IP addresses to the second category when the first category and the second category differ; and providing a response to a requesting IP address based on the category associated with the set of IP addresses to which the requesting IP address belongs.

Website providers often desire to provide tailored responses to users, which enhance user experience and satisfaction with the website. For example, an e-commerce website provider may wish to offer deals to specific users based on past purchases. Furthermore, if a user is identified as conducting fraudulent activities, the website provider may want to prevent the user from causing additional harm.
In order to provide a tailored response, either to enhance user experience or prevent further harmful activities, an identifying characteristic of a user needs to be ascertained. Methods such as web cookies have been used which allow a website provider to identify a web browser based on previous activities. When a web browser on a user device accesses a website, for instance, a web server may cause information to be saved to the user device recording some aspects of the user's interactions with the website or an identification tag so that when the user visits the website in the future, the web server can create a website tailored to the user based in part on the past interactions.
However, users often obscure their identity, intentionally or unintentionally, and prevent identification by the website provider. For example, a user may access a website using multiple electronic devices, such as a laptop, cell phone, and a table. Other times, a user may deliberately obscure his identity by preventing websites from installing web cookies or deleting web cookies before browsing.
Although the user's web browser may vary or be unidentifiable, a website provider may nonetheless provide tailored responses according to the IP address associated with a request to access the website. This may be accomplished, for instance in the present disclosure, by categorizing a set of IP addresses according to the types of activities originating from them. The web server may then tailor a response to an IP address in a set of IP addresses based on the category.
The inventive embodiments of the present disclosure may allow providing a tailored response to a large number of devices and browsers accessing a website from a single IP address, such as a public WiFi access point. It also allows more consistent tailored responses to users, because the IP address associated with a user may be more stable than the browser by which a user accesses the web server.
Furthermore, in the inventive embodiments of the present disclosure, the category associated with a set of IP addresses may be updated dynamically, such that if the types of requests originating from a set of IP addresses change, the category is changed as well. In this manner, a website provider may ensure that accurately tailored responses are provided to users in the event of an IP address change. The website provider may also increase security of the web server by promptly categorizing IP addresses as fraudulent once fraudulent activity is detected and preventing further harm.

Dynamic IP address categorization systems and methods


Crosstalk in a piezo printhead is reduced by storing a coefficient that expresses an amount of crosstalk between a first nozzle and an adjacent nozzle. A drive waveform voltage is pre-biased using the coefficient, and the pre-biased waveform is applied to a piezoelectric material of the first nozzle.

Drop on demand (DOD) piezo printheads are utilized widely to print on a variety of substrates. Piezo printheads are favored versus thermal inkjet printheads when using jetable materials such as UV curable printing inks whose higher viscosity or chemical composition prohibits the use of thermal inkjet for their DOD application. Thermal inkjet printheads use a heating element actuator in an ink-filled chamber to vaporize ink and create a bubble which forces an ink drop out of a nozzle. Thus, the jetable materials suitable for use in thermal inkjet printheads are limited to those whose formulations can withstand boiling temperature without mechanical or chemical degradation. Piezo printheads can accommodate a wider selection of jetable materials, however, as they use a piezoelectric material actuator on a membrane of an ink-filled chamber to generate a pressure pulse which forces a drop of ink out of the nozzle.
However, one problem that piezoelectric printheads have is mechanical crosstalk between adjacent nozzles. When the membrane in a given nozzle moves up, the membranes in adjacent nozzles move down by some lesser distance. This affects the operation of the adjacent nozzles negatively. Ideally, when a given nozzle is actuated (moving its membrane up or down), the membranes in adjacent nozzles would not be affected. Rather, membranes in adjacent nozzles would be completely independent and would not move detectably when neighboring nozzles are actuated and their membranes move.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A switching power supply device includes a switching power supply circuit and a control circuit. The switching power supply circuit includes a transformer having a primary winding and a secondary winding, a switching circuit coupled to the primary winding, and a conversion circuit that is coupled to the secondary winding and converts an alternating current voltage outputted from the secondary winding into a direct current voltage. The control circuit determines a maximum load current value on a basis of a duty ratio in the conversion circuit and the direct current voltage, and controls, on a basis of the maximum load current value, an operation of the switching circuit to cause the switching power supply circuit to perform a predetermined voltage reduction operation. The maximum load current value indicates a maximum value of a load current that allows the conversion circuit to output a predetermined voltage.

The disclosure relates to a switching power supply device that performs voltage conversion by using switching elements and to a switching control circuit to be provided in such a switching power supply device.
Power supply devices are sometimes controlled such that their output voltage is reduced when their load current excessively increases. This control enables power supply devices and devices that serve as their loads to be kept in a safe state. As an example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-305873 discloses a switching power supply device that detects an excessive increase in a load current on the basis of an input voltage, an output voltage, and a duty ratio.

Switching power supply device and switching control circuit


A Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) capable of providing high output of fundamental transverse mode while preventing oscillation of high-order transverse mode is provided. The VCSEL includes a semiconductor layer including an active layer and a current confinement layer, and a transverse mode adjustment section formed on the semiconductor layer. The current confinement layer has a current injection region and a current confinement region. The transverse mode adjustment section has a high reflectance area and a low reflectance area. The high reflectance area is formed in a region including a first opposed region opposing to a center point of the current injection region. A center point of the high reflectance area is arranged in a region different from the first opposed region. The low reflectance area is formed in a region where the high reflectance area is not formed, in an opposed region opposing to the current injection region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) that emits laser light from the top face, particularly to a VCSEL suitably applicable to purposes necessitating transverse mode control.
2. Description of the Related Art
A VCSEL emits light in the direction orthogonal to a substrate differently from the existing edge-emitting laser diodes. In the VCSEL, many devices are able to be arranged in a state of a two dimensional array on the same substrate. Therefore, the VCSEL has recently attracted attention as a light source for a digital copy machine or a printer.
In the past, in the foregoing type of VCSEL, a pair of multilayer film reflectors is formed over a semiconductor substrate, and an active layer as a light emitting region is provided between the pair of multilayer film reflectors. In one of the multilayer film reflectors, in order to improve efficiency of current injection into the active layer and lower the threshold value current, a current confinement layer having a structure in which a current injection region is confined is provided. Further, a lower electrode is provided on the bottom face side, and a p-side electrode is provided on the top face side. The p-side electrode is provided with a light emitting aperture to emit laser light. In the VCSEL, a current is confined by the current confinement layer, and then injected into the active layer where light is emitted. While the emitted light repeats reflection between the pair of multilayer film reflectors, the light is emitted as laser light from the light emitting aperture of the p-side electrode.
In general, in the foregoing VCSEL, high-order transverse mode oscillation is easily generated. Therefore, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-119582, a reflectance adjustment layer is provided in the central part of a light emitting aperture of the top face of a mesa, a region where fundamental transverse mode is mainly shown is set to a region with high reflectance, and a region where high-order transverse mode is mainly shown is set to a region with low reflectance. Thereby, oscillation of the high-order transverse mode is prevented, and single transverse mode oscillation is realized.


Disclosed are a flexible circuit board component and a display device. The flexible circuit board component includes a flexible circuit board and a foam structure. The flexible circuit board includes a first area and a second area which are arranged in a first direction and connected to each other. The foam structure is located on a side of the first area in the flexible circuit board, and includes a first foam and a second foam, and in the first direction, the second foam is located between the first foam and the second area. After the flexible circuit board component is affixed to a non-light-emitting display side of a display panel, in a direction perpendicular to an interface of the foam structure and the flexible circuit board, a height of the second foam on a side adjacent to the second area is less than a height of the first foam.

Along with the development of science and technology and the progress of society, the degree of dependence of people on the aspects of information exchange, transmission and the like is ever increasing, and a display device serving as a main carrier and a material basis for information exchange and transmission has become a hot spot for research of many scientists.
At present, an optical element such as a fingerprint identification module and an ambient light sensor are often arranged on a back surface of a display screen of the display device such as a mobile phone, and the optical element may be connected to a mainboard through a flexible circuit board, may convert an optical signal received by the optical element into an electric signal and then transmit the electric signal to the mainboard.

Flexible circuit board component and display device

WUHAN TIANMA MICROELECTRONICS CO., LTD. SHANGHAI BRANCH


A vehicle operation pedal includes: a pedal arm disposed on a pedal support so as to be pivotable about a support axis, the pedal support being fixed to a vehicle; and a pedal sheet to be depressed by a driver, the pedal sheet being integrally fixed to a lower end portion of the pedal arm so as to extend from the pedal arm on both sides in a vehicle width direction, a pair of sheet attachment portions being integrally provided at the lower end portion of the pedal arm by bending the pedal arm so as to be enlarged apart from each other on both sides in the vehicle width direction, the pair of sheet attachment portions extending along the pedal sheet, and the pedal sheet being integrally fixed to the sheet attachment portions at two positions that are laterally spaced apart from each other in such a manner that a center of the pedal in the vehicle width direction sheet is located between the two positions.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle operation pedal and in particular to a structure for integrally fixing a pedal sheet to a lower end portion of a pedal arm.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle operation pedal that includes (a) a pedal arm disposed on a pedal support so that the pedal arm is pivotable about a support axis, the pedal support being fixed to a vehicle and (b) a pedal sheet to be depressed by a driver, the pedal sheet being integrally attached to a lower end portion of the pedal arm so as to extend from the pedal arm on both sides in a vehicle width direction, is often used as a brake pedal, an accelerator pedal, or the like. The vehicle operation pedal described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2007-122610 is an example. This pedal arm is formed of a pair of halves having shapes obtained by dividing the pedal arm in the vehicle width direction and the peripheral portions of the pair of halves are integrally welded to obtain a hollow structure. Lower end portions of the pair of halves, to which the pedal sheet is fixed, are enlarged apart from each other in the vehicle width direction and the pair of halves are bent inward from the enlarged end portions at substantially right angle to form a sheet attachment portion. The pedal sheet is integrally fixed to the sheet attachment portions by welding, for example.
However, in such a vehicle operation pedal, the welds are close to a center portion of the pedal sheet and therefore, during an offset depression, in which one end portion of the pedal sheet is depressed, a large pulling-off force is applied to the welds. For example, FIG. 6B is a sectional view corresponding to the VIB-VIB section of FIG. 6A and shows a case where sheet attachment portions 60a and 60b are inwardly provided at lower end portions of the pair of halves 32 and 34 of the operation pedal 14 and end edges of the sheet attachment portions 60a and 60b are integrally welded to the pedal sheet 18 by arc welding or the like. When a depression force F is applied to one end E of the pedal sheet 18, relatively large pulling-off forces La and Lb are applied to the welds W2a and W2b with the point P serving as a fulcrum. Thus, a relatively high joint strength is required and costs for welding become high.


An apparatus and a method for searching for a music piece which includes a storing device for storing first chord progression music data for a plurality of music pieces representing chronological changes in chords in the music pieces. Second chord progression music data representing chronological changes in at least a part of chords in a music piece is produced, the first chord progression music data for the plurality of music pieces stored and the second chord progression music data are compared on the basis of the amount of change in the root of a chord in a chord transition and the attribute of the chord after the transition in order to calculate a similarity for each of the plurality of music pieces, and a search output corresponding to a result of the calculation for each of the plurality of music pieces is produced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for searching for a music piece corresponding to music for an object of search.
2. Description of the Related Background Art
There is a case that a listener does not know the title or artist of a music pieces or a song broadcasted on TV or radio. It is necessary to acquire music information on the listened music in order to once again personally listen to the music. A music searching apparatus is known as an apparatus used to search for music information such as the title of the music piece.
In a conventional music searching apparatus, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai No. H10-134549 and No. H06-290574, characteristic parameters of music such as a tempo, a musical instrument pattern, an interval, a chord for each beat, the frequency of particular chords, and a rhythm pattern are detected on the basis of music data of each music piece. The apparatus includes storage means that stores these parameter data with their indexes, and characteristic parameters are detected for a desired music piece and the indexes for the detected parameters are used as extraction indexes. Then, the extraction indexes and the stored indexes are compared with each other and information for the desired music piece is displayed on the basis of the comparison result.
However, in the conventional music searching apparatus, various kinds of characteristic parameters must be extracted for each music piece and stored in the storage means in advance in order to obtain accurate information on the desired music piece. This necessarily complicates the structure of the apparatus.


A base layer for a suspension. The base layer includes a structure. The structure has a slider end portion and a tail portion. The structure includes an opening in the tail portion. The opening provides access to a conductive assembly coupleable there with. The structure also includes a strengthening member integrated within said opening.

Direct access storage devices (DASD) are integral in everyday life, and as such, expectations and demands continually increase for greater speed for manipulating and for holding larger amounts of data. To meet these demands for increased performance, the mechano-electrical assembly in a DASD device, specifically the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) has evolved to meet these demands.
Advances in magnetic recording heads as well as the disk media have allowed more data to be stored on a disk's recording surface. The ability of an HDD to access this data quickly is largely a function of the performance of the mechanical components of the HDD. Once this data is accessed, the ability of an HDD to read and write this data quickly is primarily a function of the electrical components of the HDD.
A computer storage system may include a magnetic hard disk(s) or drive(s) within an outer housing or base containing a spindle motor assembly having a central drive hub that rotates the disk. An actuator includes a plurality of parallel actuator arms in the form of a comb that is movably or pivotally mounted to the base about a pivot assembly. A controller is also mounted to the base for selectively moving the comb of arms relative to the disk.
Each actuator arm has extending from it at least one cantilevered electrical lead suspension. A magnetic read/write transducer or head is mounted on a slider and secured to a flexure that is flexibly mounted to each suspension. The read/write heads magnetically read data from and/or magnetically write data to the disk. The level of integration called the head gimbal assembly (HGA) is the head and the slider, which are mounted on the suspension. The slider is usually bonded to the end of the suspension.
A suspension has a spring-like quality, which biases or presses the air-bearing surface of the slider against the disk to cause the slider to fly at a precise distance from the disk. Movement of the actuator by the controller causes the head gimbal assemblies to move along radial arcs across tracks on the disk until the heads settle on their set target tracks. The head gimbal assemblies operate in and move in unison with one another or use multiple independent actuators wherein the arms can move independently of one another.
To allow more data to be stored on the surface of the disk, more data tracks must be stored more closely together. The quantity of data tracks recorded on the surface of the disk is determined partly by how well the read/write head on the slider can be positioned and made stable over a desired data track. Vibration or unwanted relative motion between the slider and surface of the disk will affect the quantity of data recorded on the surface of the disk.
During disk drive operation, rotation of the hard disks generates an internal airflow. Internal airflow can adversely affect the stability of components within the actuator arm assembly. It has been observed that some components of the actuator arm assembly, by virtue of design requirements, are susceptible to airflow induced instability.

High bandwidth and mechanical strength between a disk drive flexible circuit and a read write head suspension


Systems and methods for determining a care plan for a patient are disclosed. Data from a one or more databases are received or retrieved and used to determine a preferred care plan used to perform a surgical procedure or otherwise treat a patient. The data may include data pertaining to a patient, a healthcare professional, a healthcare facility, an implant, economic data, simulation data, imaging data, and/or the like. The data may be used to determine a plan that provides a positive outcome and patient satisfaction. The data may be updated over time or in real time to improve or refine the determination of care plans for the current patient or other patients.

Healthcare costs have risen dramatically in recent years for a variety of reasons. One cause leading to increased costs results from the isolation of various aspects of the healthcare system from the complete episode of care. For example, when a surgical procedure is performed, a hospital at which the surgery is performed and the surgeon performing the surgery often bill a payer (i.e., the patient, an insurance company, or the government) independently of each other. These payments are made after the surgery and recovery services have been performed and with little to no consideration with respect to the quality of care provided.
Moreover, neither the hospital nor the surgeon is incentivized to reduce overall cost for the payer. For example, the surgeon may have a significant level of influence over the particular products, such as surgical implants, used during a surgical procedure, but the surgeon has no financial responsibility regarding the cost of the products, which are typically purchased by the hospital. Rather, the surgeon is solely focused on long term clinical outcomes for the patient regardless of price or a clear demonstration of superior clinical outcome for higher priced products.
In many cases, the hospital and the surgeon operate independently. Even when the surgeon is employed by the hospital system, the surgeon is often in various locations with different management systems. For example, a surgeon is provided with a block of time for an operating room suite, such as every Tuesday in operating room 2, at one or more hospitals during which the surgeon can perform surgeries. Particularly busy surgeons may be allotted two rooms for a given day.
One problem with this arrangement is that the hospital has limited visibility into whether a surgeon's schedule is filled with surgical procedures on a given day. For example, it is not uncommon for a hospital to only have access to a month or less of a surgeon's schedule going forward. Because the surgeon's schedule directly impacts staffing hours, utilization of supplies, equipment, recovery rooms, and other overhead for the hospital, having limited visibility can cause the hospital to have to react quickly to accommodate deviations from the typical schedules of their surgeons and/or can increase costs passed down to the patients.
Moreover, a surgeon's office may communicate patient information with the hospital and others via email, over the telephone, and/or through facsimile. Having disparate forms of communication can cause a lack of cohesion for a patient's records. Also, it is not uncommon for a surgeon to assume that a patient was scheduled with the hospital for a surgical procedure, but to not have the patient scheduled due to a lack of confirmation. This can result in delayed start times, cancelled or postponed surgical procedures, overtime work for the operating room staff, or the like. Each of these inefficiencies can further result in increased costs to the payer or, more generally, the healthcare system.
Currently, the pre-operative diagnosis, intra-operative execution of prescribed care, and post-operative management of, for example, a total joint arthroplasty procedure is based on a physician's individual experience, published literature, and knowledge bases of the physician's peers. In addition, the execution of a total joint arthroplasty procedure may be guided or limited by the physician's native ability to make accurate intra-operative tactile discernment of "balance" and accurate manual execution of planar resections using guides and visual cues. This type of knowledge base and set of execution tools may result in substantial limitations with respect to optimizing the patient's outcome for a procedure. For example, having a limited set of inputs can result in limitations with respect to being able to accurately diagnose a patient to the proper, least-invasive prescribed care, limitations with respect to being able to align dynamic patient, healthcare economic, and surgeon preference elements with patient desired outcomes to maximize post-operative performance, and/or limitations on the ability to execute an exact plan of implant to bone alignment and balance. Other limitations may also result from these deficiencies.
A physician's personal limitations and biases can result in a sub-optimal patient outcome. While physicians may attempt to track operative techniques and intraoperative performance in order to link them to clinical outcomes and cost savings for the physician or healthcare facility, the knowledge set is too small and lacks diversity of information because it is accomplished with knowledge of a single physician, clinic, hospital or care network or through incomplete information obtained from scientific literature.
What is needed is a system that leverages patient data from a plurality of patient populations to optimize treatment for a desired clinical outcome.

Methods and systems for providing an episode of care

Smith & Nephew Asia Pacific Pte. Limited


Erythropoietin (EPO) can be delivered systemically in therapeutically or prophylactically effective amounts by pulmonary administration using a variety of pulmonary delivery devices, including nebulizers, metered dose inhalers and powder inhalers. Aerosol administration of EPO in accordance with this invention results in significant elevation of red blood cell levels. EPO can be administered in this manner to medically treat or prevent anemia, as well as to treat or prevent other maladies related to erythropoiesis.

All mammals possess a hematopoietic (bloodforming) system that replenishes the multiplicity of blood cell types found in a healthy animal, including white blood cells (neutrophils, macrophages, and basophil/mast cells), clot forming cells (megakaryocytes, platelets), and red blood cells (erythrocytes). The average human male's hematopoietic system has been estimated to produce on the order of 4.5 .times.10.sup.11 granulocytes and erythrocytes every year, which is equivalent to an annual replacement of total body weight [Dexter et al., (1985) BioEssays, vol. 2: 154-158]. Current scientific understanding proposes that small amounts of specific hematopoietic growth factors direct the proliferation, differentiation, and maturation of each of the various hematopoietic cell types from a small population of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells. These various growth factors act at different times on different cell populations, ultimately giving rise to a functional hematopoietic system.
One specific and vital role of the mammalian hematopoietic system is the production of erythrocytes, or red blood cells, which transport oxygen to the various tissues of the animal's body. The process of producing erythrocytes ("erythropoiesis") occurs continuously throughout an animal's life span to offset erythrocyte destruction. The typical red blood cell has a relatively short life-span, usually 100 to 120 days; Gray's Anatomy, Williams et al. eds., Churchill Livingstone, 1989, p. 665. Erythropoiesis is a precisely controlled physiological mechanism whereby sufficient numbers of erythrocytes are produced to enable proper tissue oxygenation, but not so many as to impede circulation.
Erythropoiesis is now known to be primarily controlled by the polypeptide erythropoietin (EPO), an acidic glycoprotein. Erythropoietin is produced as the result of the expression of a single copy gene located in a chromosome of a mammal. A DNA molecule encoding a DNA sequence for human EPO has been isolated and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,008, hereby incorporated by reference, and hereinafter referred to as the "Lin patent." Also, DNA molecules coding for EPO from monkeys [Lin et al., (1986) Gene, vol. 44, pp: 201 -209] and mice [McDonald et al., (1986) Mol. Cell Biol., pp: 842] have been described. The amino acid sequence for recombinant human EPO ("rHuEPO") is identical to the sequence for EPO obtained from human urinary sources. However, as could be expected, the glycosylation of rHuEPO differs from that of urinary EPO and human serum EPO. See, e.g. Starring et al. (1992), J. Endocrin., vol. 134, pp: 459-484; Strickland et al. (1992), J. Cell. Biochem., suppl. 16D, p. 324; Wide et al. (1990), Br. J. Haematol., vol. 76, 121-127.
In a healthy mammal, EPO is present in the blood plasma in very low concentrations, as the tissues are being sufficiently oxygenated by the existing number of circulating erythrocytes. The EPO present stimulates the production of new erythrocytes to replace those lost to the aging process. Additionally, EPO production is stimulated under conditions of hypoxia, wherein the oxygen supply to the body's tissues is reduced below normal physiological levels despite adequate perfusion of the tissue by blood. Hypoxia may be caused by hemorrhaging, radiation-induced erythrocyte destruction, various anemias, high altitude, or long periods of unconsciousness. In contrast, should the number of red blood cells in circulation exceed what is needed for normal tissue oxygenation, EPO production is reduced.
However, certain disease states involve abnormal erythropoiesis. Until the advent of recombinant DNA technology, no EPO was available for therapeutic use. Today, the situation is different. Recombinant human EPO (rHuEPO) is being used therapeutically in a number of countries. In the United States, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved rHuEPO's use in treating anemia associated with end-stage renal disease. Patients undergoing hemodialysis to treat this disorder typically suffer severe anemia, caused by the rupture and premature death of erythrocytes as a result of the dialysis treatment. EPO is also useful in the treatment of other types of anemia. For instance, chemotherapy-induced anemia, anemia associated with myelodysplasia, those associated with various congenital disorders, AIDS-related anemia, and prematurity-associated anemia, may be treated with EPO. Additionally, EPO may play a role in other areas, such as helping to more quickly restore a normal hematocrit in bone marrow transplantation patients, in patients preparing for autologous blood transfusions, and in patients suffering from iron overload disorders. See e.g.U.S. Pat. No. 5,013,718, hereby incorporated by reference.
The effective use of EPO as a therapeutic agent requires that patients be administered small but highly precise doses of the protein in stable, pharmaceutically acceptable formulations. For an example of a current EPO formulation, see Sobata, J., Erythropoietin in Clinical Applications, Garnick, M., ed., Marcel Dekker, Inc., N.Y. (1990). Current therapy for end-stage renal disease calls for intravenous EPO administration within twelve hours of dialysis, three times a week. Alternatively, EPO may be administered to such patients by intravenous, intramuscular, intracutaneous, or subcutaneous injection.
The instant invention is based upon the unexpected discovery that EPO may be delivered in a therapeutically efficacious manner by direct administration of the protein to the lungs of a patient (hereinafter "pulmonary administration"). EPO delivered to the lung in this manner is absorbed into the patient's bloodstream for systemic distribution. This new route of EPO administration enables the rapid delivery of a specified medicament dosage to a patient without the necessity for injection. In addition, pulmonary administration more readily lends itself to self-administration by the patient.
There has been some prior success in the pulmonary administration of pharmaceutical compositions comprised of low molecular weight drugs, most notably in the area of beta-androgenic antagonists to treat asthma. Other low molecular weight, non-proteinaceous compounds, including corticosteroids and cromolyn sodium, have been administered systemically via pulmonary absorption. However, not all low molecular weight drugs can be efficaciously administered through the lung. For instance, pulmonary administration of aminoglycoside antibiotics, anti-viral drugs and anti-cancer drugs for systemic action has met with mixed success. In some cases, lack of delivery to the blood stream was attributed to the drug's inability to pass through the alveolar epithelium. In other cases, the drug was found to be irritating and bronchoconstrictive. Thus, even with low molecular weight substances, it is not at all predictable that the pulmonary delivery of such compounds will be an effective means of administration. See generally Peptide and Protein Drug Delivery, ed. V. Lee, Marcel Dekker, N.Y., 1990, pp. 1-11.
With respect to higher molecular weight pharmaceuticals, such as proteins, pulmonary delivery of such molecules is not unknown, although only a few examples have been quantitatively substantiated. Leuprolide acetate is a nonapeptide with luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH) agohist activity having low oral availability. Studies with animals indicate that inhalation of an aerosol formulation of leuprolide acetate results in meaningful levels in the blood. See Adjel et al., Pharmaceutical Research, Vol. 7, No. 6, pp. 565-569 (1990).
In contrast, Endothelin-1 (ET-1), a 21 amino acid vasoconstrictor peptide produced by endothelial cells, has been found to increase pulmonary inflation pressure but to have no significant effect on arterial blood pressure when administered by aerosol to guinea pigs. However, when administered intravenously, an important and sustained increase in arterial blood pressure was observed. See Braquet et al., Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology, Vol. 13, suppl. 5, s. 143-146 (1989).
The feasibility of delivering human plasma .alpha.1-antitrypsin to the pulmonary system using aerosol administration, with some of the drug gaining access to the systemic circulation, is reported by Hubbard et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, Vol. III, No. 3, pp. 206-212(1989).
Pulmonary administration of .alpha.-1-proteinase inhibitor to dogs and sheep has been found to result in passage of some of that substance into the bloodstream. See Smith et al., J. Clin. Invest., vol. 84, pp. 1145-1154 (1989). Likewise, aerosolized .alpha.-1 anti-trypsin diffused across the lung epithelium and entered into systemic circulation in sheep and humans. See Hubbard et al., (1989) Ann. Intern. Med., vol. 111, pp. 206-212. However, vasoactive intestinal peptide, a small polypeptide with a molecular weight of 3,450 daltons (D) which causes bronchodilation when given intravenously in animals, including humans, lacks efficacy when administered by inhalation. See Barrowcliffe et al., Thorax, vol. 41/2, pp. 88-93 (1986).
Experiments with test animals have shown that recombinant human growth hormone, when delivered by aerosol, is rapidly absorbed from the lung and produces faster growth comparable to that seen with subcutaneous injection. See Oswein et al., "Aerosolization of Proteins", Proceedings of Symposium on Respiratory Drug Delivery II, Keystone, Colorado, March, 1990. Recombinant versions of the cytokines gamma interferon (IFN-.gamma.) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-.alpha.) have also been observed in the bloodstream after aerosol administration to the lung. See Debs et al., The Journal of Immunology, Vol. 140, pp. 3482-3488 (1988). Likewise, Pitt et al. have recently demonstrated the feasibility of pulmonary delivery of granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) to mammals. See commonlyowned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/669,792, filed Mar. 15, 1991.
Despite these examples of protein delivery via the pulmonary route, it is not predictable whether a particular polypeptide can be delivered for systemic effect in such a manner. Various factors intrinsic to the polypeptide itself, the delivery device, and particularly the lung, or a combination of these factors, can influence the success of pulmonary administration.
With respect to the lung, its complexity presents several barriers to pulmonary administration. Initially, after passing through the nose or mouth, inhaled air (and any particles contained therein) moves into the respiratory tree, which is composed of numerous dichotomous branches between the trachea and the alveoli. Bronchi, bronchioles, and terminal bronchioles comprise the conducting zone. The epithelium of these conducting airways is pseudo stratified and largely ciliated. The more distal levels of branching form the transitional and respiratory zones, comprised of respiratory bronchioles, alveolar ducts, and alveoli, where gas exchange and pulmonary absorbtion occur. The respiratory zone, in contrast to the conducting zone, is non-ciliated and comprised of a single cell layer.
In the normal human male, it is estimated that the lungs contain 3.times.10.sup.8 alveoli with a total surface area of approximately 140 m.sup.2. Alveoli are thin walled pouches that represent as minimal a barrier to gaseous exchange between the atmosphere and blood as is possible without comprising the integrity of the lung. Correspondingly, capillary beds adjacent to the alveoli are estimated to share a surface area of 125 m.sup.2 with the alveoli [Gray's Anatomy, supra]. Thus, each alveolus is in intimate association with numerous blood-bearing capillaries bringing oxygen-depleted blood from distal body tissues.
This air-blood barrier is comprised of the alveolar epithelium, the capillary endothelium, and the lymph-filled interstitial space separating these two cell layers. The mean thickness of the air-blood barrier in humans is 2.2 .mu.m [Gehr et al. (1978), Resp. Physiol., vol. 32, pp. 121-140], while the alveolar epithelium itself can be as thin as 0.05 .mu.m. In the alveolar epithelium, adjacent cells overlap and are bound by non-leaky tight junctions, which, in conjunction with the non-leaky single cell layer comprising the capillary endothelium, limits the movement of fluids, cells, salts, proteins, and numerous other macromolecules from the blood and intercellular spaces into the lumen of the alveoli. Most molecules, including proteins and polypeptides, must be actively or passively transported across this barrier in the absence of lung injury.
In addition, within the lung certain epithelial cells secrete mucous to form a contiguous aqueous lining throughout the lung to promote the diffusion of oxygen into the blood. This layer of moisture, with its incumbent surface tension within the alveoli, requires that a surfactant be secreted to reduce this surface tension. Otherwise, the alveoli would collapse. In mammals, this surfactant, comprised mostly of lipid, appears to be made up of five layers [Stratton, C. J., Cell Tissue Res., vol. 193, pp. 219-229 (1978)] and it can be a potential inhibitor of protein transport across the air-blood barrier.
Another protective system employed by the lung is the ciliary rejection current of the conducting zone. Here, numerous ciliated epithelial cells beat in a rhythmic one-way motion to propel the mucous lining overlaying the conducting airways towards the esophagus, where it is expelled from the respiratory system and moved into the digestive tract. Thus, particles impacting on these surfaces can be effectively removed prior to their penetration further into the lung.
Other cell types present in the alveolar lumen and in the interstitial space separating the alveolar epithelium from the capillary endothelium also serve as effective mechanisms for protecting the lung from and removing foreign material, such as protein-containing particles. Alveolar macrophages migrate from the blood across the air-blood barrier. These macrophages can phagocytose inhaled particles that reach the alveoli. These phagocytes may then migrate back into the lymphatic channels or to the base of the bronchial tree to be swept out of the lung by the ciliary rejection current. Additionally, other cell types, such as neutrophils and lymphocytes, can move into the alveoli from the blood to combat infection.
In view of the above, whether a particular therapeutic protein intended to have a systemic effect can be successfully delivered via the pulmonary route can not be predicted.

Pulmonary administration of erythropoietin


A method of evaluating the maconium content or concentration of amniotic fluid makes uses of a meconium measurement color chart which accurately reproduces the color and transparency of amniotic fluid having different amounts of meconium therein. Measurement indicia are denoted on the chart next to corresponding color samples. A sample of amniotic fluid is placed either on a transparent medium or in a transparent container. Then the sample is visually compared with the meconium measurement chart, while shining fluorescent light through both the sample and the meconium measurement chart, so as to determine the denoted measurement value which most closely matches the color and transparency of the amniotic fluid sample. If the measurement value is above a predefined threshold value, precautionary measures are taken to improve the infant's chances of survival, e.g., by intubating the infant's lungs.

Meconium is excrement in the intestinal tract of a fetus. In a large majority of human fetuses, meconium is excreted shortly (e.g., with one or two days) after birth. However, approximately eight to sixteen percent of human fetuses discharge at least some meconium into the mother's amniotic sac prior to birth. Some fraction of those fetuses aspirate meconium into their lungs, and approximately one to two percent of those infants die from complications caused by the aspiration of meconium. Thus, the aspiration of meconium is a life threatening problem for approximately ten to twenty out of every ten thousand babies born.
If it is known that there is a significant amount of meconium in the amniotic fluid, it is possible to undertake measures to improve the baby's chances of survival. In particular, it is possible to intubate the baby's lungs immediately after birth so as to remove amniotic fluid in the baby's wind pipe and thereby remove as much meconium as possible from the baby's wind pipe and lungs.
In the prior art, there have been two primary techniques used to evaluate the meconium content of amniotic fluid. One, has been to use spectrophotometry. This technique requires a laboratory, uses expensive equipment, and is sufficiently expensive and difficult that it is not used routinely.
The second prior art technique is to simply visually inspect the amniotic fluid, often just by looking at the fluid which has been expelled during labor. If the fluid looks clear, the doctor concludes that there is probably little or no meconium present. If the fluid looks "thick" or dark, precautionary measures are taken to intubate the baby's lungs. Unfortunately, amniotic fluid that looks relatively clear upon casual inspection may contain significant amounts of meconium. Nevertheless, this technique is the main one used routinely in the prior art, because it is inexpensive, even though it is insufficiently accurate to provide a reliable indication of meconium content.
The present invention provides a simple method of evaluating meconium content which is both very inexpensive and simple to use.

Method of evaluating meconium content of amniotic fluid


A surge protector, particularly for protecting components in a telecommunications system, has a thin ceramic substrate on a surface of which is formed a surge protection resistor having a serpentine path extending over the substrate, the width of the path and the distance between adjacent path lengths being relatively narrow. Resistance trimming means are provided, positioned such that there is a substantially isothermal heat distribution over the substrate under surge conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to surge protection for components in a telecommunications system. Particularly, protection is required against AC surges which can arise due to downed AC power lines or other such occurrences. A surge protector for such events is generally known as a surge protection resistor.
2. Related Art
Originally, such protectors comprised a wire wound resistor. However, an overload could cause the resistor to break down in a manner which was a fire hazzard, because of the materials used for manufacture. Wire wound resistors were replaced by a thick film resistor printed onto a surface of a ceramic substrate. The substrate is at least 0.1 inches thick and the resistor is a continuous layer. To trim the value of the resistor, the layer of resist material is abraded locally, the abrasion extending through the layer to the substrate.
By developments in materials and process, it has been found possible to reduce the thickness of the substrate to 0.06 inches, but disadvantages, such as 100% testing, resulted. Further development enabled some easing of test requirements, but the 0.06 inches thickness is still required.
The thickness of the substrate is set by the liability of the substrate to disintegrate under surge conditions, which heat up the protector. A thin substrate will disintegrate at a lower surge voltage level than a thicker substrate. This effect is amplified by variation in the heating of the substrate over the substrate area, particularly arising from the results of trimming.

Surge protector for telecommunications systems


An apparatus to facilitate security of a shared memory resource is disclosed. The apparatus includes a memory device to store memory data, wherein the memory device comprises a plurality of private memory pages associated with one or more trusted domains and a cryptographic engine to encrypt and decrypt the memory data, including a key encryption table having a key identifier associated with each trusted domain to access a private memory page, wherein a first key identifier is generated to perform direct memory access (DMA) transfers for each of a plurality of input/output (I/O) devices.

Trusted computing platforms have defined secure boot and device authentication that provide security for hardware components included in the platform. Trust Domain Extensions (TDX) provides a trusted platform that is implemented to guarantee isolation and data security (e.g., confidentiality and integrity) of tenant virtual machines (VMs) in cloud servers in the presence of a potentially untrustworthy cloud service provider (CSP). An untrustworthy CSP may manifest itself via a malicious virtual machine monitor and/or a rogue system/infrastructure administrator.