Aqueous ophthalmic compositions containing water-soluble borate-polyol complexes are useful in aqueous ophthalmic compositions containing polyvinyl alcohol. These compositions provide the benefits of a borate buffering system, such as enhanced antimicrobial activity, without the problems associated with the use of borate and pol, such as formation of borate-polyvinyl alcohol complexes which are water-insoluble.

This invention relates to the use of borate-polyol complexes in ophthalmic compositions. In particular, these complexes are useful in aqueous ophthalmic compositions containing polyvinyl alcohol to prevent the formation of borate-polyvinyl alcohol complexes, which are water-insoluble.
Ophthalmic compositions are generally formulated to have a pH between about 4.5 and 8.0 (physiological pH). To achieve a pH in this range, a buffer is often included. Borate buffer is the buffer of choice for use in ophthalmic compositions, since it has some inherent antimicrobial activity and often enhances the activity of antimicrobials; however, when polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is also an ingredient in the composition, borate and PVA form a water-insoluble complex which precipitates out of solution and acts as an irritant in the eye. The incompatibility of borate and PVA in contact lens solutions has been discussed in an article by P. L. Rakow in Contact Lens Forum, (June 1988), pages 41-46.
Since borate is incompatible with PVA, ophthalmic compositions containing PVA are generally buffered with acetate, phosphate or other buffers. There are disadvantages to using these alternative buffers: for example, acetate is a weak buffer (pK.sub.a of about 4.5), so a relatively large amount is needed, whereas phosphate is a good buffer, but it reduces the antimicrobial activity of preservatives. A need therefore exists for ophthalmic compositions which have a physiological pH, but whose antimicrobial efficacy is not compromised.

Use of borate-polyol complexes in ophthalmic compositions


A piezoelectric element including: a first electrode, a piezoelectric layer formed above the first electrode to have a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction, and a second electrode formed above the piezoelectric layer, wherein at least a part of a side surface of the piezoelectric layer in the transverse direction is a concavo-convex surface, and a width of the piezoelectric layer in the transverse direction from the second electrode to the first electrode changes with the concavo-convex surface.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a piezoelectric element, a liquid ejecting head, and a liquid ejecting apparatus.
2. Related Art
The piezoelectric element is an element having a characteristic of changing its shape according to the application of voltage and has a structure interposing a piezoelectric layer between an upper electrode and a lower electrode. Piezoelectric elements are used in a variety of applications, for example, liquid ejecting head portions of ink jet printers, various actuators, and the like.
For example, JP-A-2005-178293 discloses a piezoelectric element having a form in which the lower electrode is set as a common electrode and the upper electrode is set as a separate electrode.
Regarding piezoelectric elements, there are cases where moisture or the like sticks to a side surface of a piezoelectric layer, such as during manufacturing or driving thereof, whereby the side surface of the piezoelectric layer sometimes becomes a leakage path between the upper electrode and the lower electrode. When leakage current is generated between the upper and lower electrodes, the piezoelectric layer is burned and the reliability of the piezoelectric element may be deteriorated.

Piezoelectric element, liquid ejecting head, and liquid ejecting apparatus


A computer system configured to enhance data protection. A computer system includes one or more clients, such as processing subsystems and a memory subsystem interconnected via a network. Transactions within the system may involve the separation of data and a corresponding address in both space and time. At various points in the system, operations may be performed which seek to reunite a data and corresponding address, such as a store operation. In order to further ensure the correspondence of data and an address which is to be used in an operation, clients are configured to generate and utilize an additional symbol. The symbol is generated at least in part on an address which corresponds to data. The symbol is then associated with the data and serves to represent the corresponding address. The symbol may then be utilized by various clients within the system to check an address which is proposed to be used in an operation with the data.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to error detection and correction in computing systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Error codes are commonly used in electronic and computing systems to detect and correct data errors, such as transmission errors or storage errors. For example, error codes may be used to detect and correct errors in data transmitted via any transmission medium (e.g. conductors and/or transmitting devices between chips in an electronic system, a network connect, a telephone line, a radio transmitter, etc.). Error codes may additionally be used to detect and correct errors associated with data stored in the memory of computer systems. One common use of error codes is to detect and correct errors of data transmitted on a data bus of a computer system. In such systems, error correction bits, or check bits, may be generated for the data prior to its transfer or storage. When the data is received or retrieved, the check bits may be used to detect and correct errors within the data.
Another source of errors in electrical systems may be so-called "soft" or "transient errors". Transient memory errors may be caused by the occurrence of an event, rather than a defect in the memory circuitry itself. Transient memory errors may occur due to, for example, random alpha particles striking the memory circuit. Transient communication errors may occur due to noise on the data paths, inaccurate sampling of the data due to clock drift, etc. On the other hand, "hard" or "persistent" errors may occur due to component failure.
Generally, various error detection code (EDC) and error correction code (ECC) schemes are used to detect and correct memory and/or communication errors. For example, parity protection may be used. With parity, a single parity bit is stored/transmitted for a given set of data bits, representing whether the number of binary ones in the data bits is even or odd. The parity is generated when the set of data bits is stored/transmitted and is checked when the set of data bits is accessed/received. If the parity doesn't match the accessed set of data bits, then an error is detected. Such an approach may, for example, be good for single bit error detection.
Other EDC/ECC schemes assign multiple check bits per set of data bits. The encodings are selected such that a bit error or errors may be detected, and in some cases the encodings may be selected such that the bit or bits in error may be identifiable so that the error can be corrected (depending on the number of bits in error and the ECC scheme being used). Typically, as the number of bit errors that can be detected and/or corrected increases, the number of check bits used in the scheme increases as well.
In addition to the above, there are failure modes where the entire EDC or ECC codeword is misplaced or substituted. In such a case, the error protection codes may not provide protection. Examples of such failures include addressing failures in a memory array, logic failures in control state machines, or various kinds of control failures at structures such as registers, multiplexors, queues or stacks. Under these circumstances, perfectly valid data intended for different transactions can become mixed or swapped, resulting in undetectable errors and silent data corruption.
As efforts have been made to optimize and enhance the memory systems of computing devices, new complexities such as cache hierarchies, coherency protocols, other features have been introduced. Further, memory transactions other than basic reads and writes are now common. In many cases, a unit of memory data may be viewed as a data value, along with its associated state, bound to an address within a well defined address space.
In some systems, optimization of memory system transactions has led to the separation of these components of transaction data and/or state from its associated address. For example, in a system where a piece of memory data may reside in one of several caches, a transaction to update the data value may take the form of an address query through an address only path, followed by the data value (and/or state information) traveling on a different path at a different time in order to complete the transaction. In such an environment, individual error protection on the separate paths for the state, value, and address may not provide fault coverage for the entire transaction.
In view of the above, an effective method and mechanism for detecting errors is desired.

Data and control integrity for transactions in a computer system


Negotiating a multi-vehicle environment using vehicle-to-vehicle network tokens for intra-vehicle communication. Preliminary routing assignments are efficiently improved by available intra-vehicle communication.

The present invention relates generally to the field of traffic management, and more particularly to managing a driverless vehicle using reference tokens for a vehicle-to-vehicle network.
As a vehicle reaches a toll plaza, according to the state of the art, a user driving the vehicle must visually review the various toll gates to guess which toll gate best suits the user's needs, whether the user is paying electronically or by cash or whether the user wishes to find a shortest line or locate an otherwise more convenient line, such as one on a preferred side of the road.
A driverless car (vehicle), also known as an autonomous car, self-driving car, and robotic car, is an automated or autonomous vehicle capable of fulfilling the main transportation capabilities of a traditional car. As an autonomous vehicle, it is capable of sensing its environment and navigating without human input. Driverless vehicles sense their surroundings with techniques including radar, lidar, GPS (global positioning system), and computer vision. Advanced control systems interpret sensory information to identify appropriate navigation paths, as well as obstacles and relevant signage.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Reference tokens for managing driverless cars

International Business Machines Corporation


An adjustable tension gate bracket for application to fencing panels, specifically gate panel, applied to the frame components of the gate panel with diagonally adjustable interlocking and engaging upper and lower members for adjusting the swing and pitch of the gate panel, providing a stable support for the opening end of the gate.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is an adjustable tension gate bracket for application to fencing panels, specifically gate panel, applied to the frame components of the gate panel with diagonally adjustable interlocking and engaging upper and lower members, adjusting the swing and pitch of the gate panel, and providing a stable support for the opening end of the gate.
2. Description of Prior Art
The following United States patents are identified and disclosed herein. Several devices are disclosed relating to gate braces and brackets. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,628,149 to Kraczek, a gate tensioning system is disclosed, a tensioning device located between the vertical and horizontal elements of the gate, including a removable panel on the cross brace is disclosed, the removable panel providing access to a turnbuckle within the cross-brace. A diagonal cross-brace assembly is disclosed for a fence post, the brace having pivotally attaching diagonal braces which are engaged with each other and adjustable using fasteners within a plurality of holes, providing adjustment of the brace to varying landscape and terrain. A diagonal stress and bracing system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,761 to Hanneken, the brace securing fencing posts using a horizontal brace with a pair of diagonal anchor arms extending from the horizontal brace to the base of the posts. A chain tensioning system for a swinging gate is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,468,888 to Harris.
On most wooden or stockade fences, the gate panel is comprised of two or more horizontal supports upon which a plurality of vertical fencing slats are attached forming the fencing panel. The objective of the current invention is to provide an adjustable bracket for those gate panels used for in a wooden or stockade fence.
These gate panels are generally cut to fit the desired opening, hinges are attached between the horizontal supports on the gate panel and the fence post, and a gate catch is attached to the opening end of the gate to close the gate against another fence post. The present invention, having two horizontal members pivotally attaching to slidably engaging upper and lower diagonal tensioning rods, first attaches the two horizontal members of the invention to the horizontal supports on the gate panel. The slidably engaging upper and lower diagonal tensioning rods are then adjusted to obtain the proper swing, level and height of the opening end of the gate panel above the ground and to affix the gate latch on the gate panel at a constant height for proper engagement with the gate catch on the post to which the opening end of the gate panel is secured.
A second objective of the invention is to provide this adjustment not only at installation, but during the useful life of the fence and gate, readjusting to compensate for warping, sag, or damage to the fence, and insuring consistent level operation and swing of the gate panel.
The following drawings are informal drawings submitted with this provisional patent application.
FIG. 1 is a front view of the invention installed on a fence gate panel.
FIG. 2 is a view of the pivot joint between a horizontal member and a diagonal tensioning rod.
FIG. 3 is a view of an embodiment of the slidable engagement joint of the upper and lower tensioning rods.
FIG. 4 is a view of the center diagonal anchor bracket.


A toner composition comprised of a blend of resin particles containing styrene polymers or polyesters, and components selected from the group consisting of a semicrystalline polyolefin and copolymers thereof with a melting point of from about 50.degree. C. to about 100.degree. C., and pigment particles.

This invention is generally directed to toner compositions, and more specifically, the present invention relates to developer compositions having incorporated therein toner compositions comprised of blends of semicrystalline polyolefin resins, and conventional known glassy toner resins such as styrene methacrylates, styrene acrylates, polyesters, and styrene butadienes. More specifically, in one embodiment of the present invention there are provided developer compositions formulated by admixing toner compositions containing blends of polyolefin toner polymeric resins, and carrier components. In one specific embodiment of the present invention there are provided toner compositions with blends of polystyrene resins as illustrated herein and semicrystalline polyolefin resins, or alpha-olefin polymers, and copolymers thereof, which components are nontoxic, nonblocking at temperatures of less than 50.degree. C., for example, jettable or processable into toner compositions by other means, melt fusible with a broad fusing temperature latitude, cohesive above the melting point of the resin, and triboelectrically chargable. Moreover, in addition the toner compositions of the present invention in some instances possess lower fusing temperatures, and therefore lower fusing energies are required for fixing thus enabling less power consumption during fusing, and permitting extended lifetimes for the fuser systems selected. Accordingly, thus the toners of the present invention can be, for example, fused (fuser roll set temperature) at temperatures of from about 250.degree. to about 330.degree. F. Many current commercially available toners fuse at temperatures of from about 300.degree. to about 325.degree. F. With further respect to the present invention, the semicrystalline alpha-olefin polymers or copolymers selected which have a melting point of from about 50.degree. to about 100.degree. C., and preferably from about 60.degree. to about 80.degree. C. as determined by DSC and by other known methods are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,477 with the listed inventors Timothy J. Fuller, Thomas W. Smith, William M. Prest, Jr., Robert A. Nelson, Kathleen M. McGrane, and Suresh K. Ahuja, entitled Toner and Developer Compositions With Semicrystalline Polyolefin Resins, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference. Also, the toner and developer compositions of the present invention are particularly useful in electrophotographic imaging and printing systems, especially xerographic imaging processes.
The electrostatographic process, and particularly the xerographic process, is well known. This process involves the formation of an electrostatic latent image on a photoreceptor, followed by development, and subsequent transfer of the image to a suitable substrate. Numerous different types of xerographic imaging processes are known wherein, for example, insulative developer particles or conductive toner compositions are selected depending on the development systems used. Moreover, of importance with respect to the aforementioned developer compositions is the appropriate triboelectric charging values associated therewith as it is these values that enable continued constant developed images of high quality and excellent resolution, and admixing characteristics. Specifically, thus toner and developer compositions are known, wherein there are selected as the toner resin styrene acrylates, styrene methacrylates, and certain styrene butadienes including those available as Pliolites. Other resins have also been selected for incorporation into toner compositions inclusive of the polyesters as illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,000. Moreover, it is known that single component magnetic toners can be formulated with styrene butadiene resins, particularly those resins available as Pliolite. In addition, positively charged toner compositions containing various resins, inclusive of certain styrene butadienes and charge enhancing additives, are known. For example, there are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,560,635, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, positively charged toner compositions with distearyl dimethyl ammonium methylsulfate charge enhancing additives. This patent also illustrates the utilization of suspension polymerized styrene butadienes for incorporation into toner compositions.
Numerous patents are in existance that illustrate toner compositions with various types of toner resins including, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,104,066, polycaprolactones; U.S. Pat. No. 3,547,822, polyesters; U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,447, polyesters; U.S. Pat. No. 4,007,293, polyvinyl pyridine-polyurethane; U.S. Pat. No. 3,967,962, polyhexamethylene sebaccate; U.S. Pat. No. 4,314,931, polymethyl methacrylates; Reissue U.S. Pat. No. 25,136, polystyrenes; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,770, styrene butadienes.
Additionally, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,680 discloses magnetic toners for pressure fixation containing methyl-1-pentene as the main component. More specifically, there is illustrated in this patent, reference column 2, beginning at line 66, magnetic toners with polymers containing essentially methyl-1-pentene as the main component, which polymer may be a homopolymer or copolymer with other alpha-olefin components. It is also indicated in column 3, beginning at around line 14, that the intrinsic viscosity of the polymer is of a specific range, and further that the melting point of the polymer is in a range of 150.degree. to 250.degree. C., and preferably 180.degree. to 230.degree. C. Other patents of background interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,720,617; 3,752,666; 3,788,994; 3,983,045; 4,051,077; 4,108,653; 4,258,116; and 4,558,108.
Further, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,543,311 there is illustrated pressure fixing methods with toners containing polymers such as polystyrene, reference column 3, and offsetting agents such as low molecular weight polyolefins like polypropylene, especially those with a melting point of from 100.degree. to 180.degree. C., see column 2, lines 36 to 46, and column 2, beginning at line 47. A similar disclosure is present in U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,991. Also, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,265,992 there are disclosed coated magnetic developer particles with binder resins of aromatic vinyl components and low molecular weight olefin components see, for example, columns 5 and 6 thereof. Patents of background interest and which illustrate the addition of lower alkylene polyolefins as waxes include U.S. Pat. Nos. RE25,136; 3,079,342; 3,510,338; 3,775,326; 3,876,610; 3,893,934; 3,993,665; 3,965,022; 3,967,962; 4,022,738; 4,097,404; 4,254,207; 4,355,088; and 4,469,770.
Furthermore, a number of different carrier particles have been illustrated in the prior art, reference for example U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,000; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,387, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, wherein coated carrier components for developer mixtures, which are comprised of finely divided toner particles clinging to the surface of the carrier particles, are recited. Specifically, there are disclosed in this patent coated carrier particles obtained by mixing carrier core particles of an average diameter of from between about 30 microns to about 1,000 microns with from about 0.05 percent to about 3.0 percent by weight, based on the weight of the coated carrier particles, of thermoplastic resin particles. More specifically, there are illustrated in the '387 patent processes for the preparation of carrier particles by a powder coating process; and wherein the carrier particles consist of a core with a coating thereover comprised of polymers. The carrier particles selected can be prepared by mixing low density porous magnetic, or magnetically attractable metal core carrier particles with from, for example, between about 0.05 percent and about 3 percent by weight based on the weight of the coated carrier particles of a polymer until adherence thereof to the carrier core by mechanical impaction or electrostatic attraction; heating the mixture of carrier core particles and polymer to a temperature, for example, of between from about 200.degree. F. to about 550.degree. F. for a period of from about 10 minutes to about 60 minutes enabling the polymer to melt and fuse to the carrier core particles; cooling the coated carrier particles; and thereafter classifying the obtained carrier particles to a desired particle size. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,935,326 and 4,937,166, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference, there are disclosed carrier particles comprised of a core with a coating thereover comprised of a mixture of a first dry polymer component and a second dry polymer component not in close proximity to the first polymer in the triboelectric series. Therefore, the aforementioned carrier compositions can be comprised of known core materials including iron with a dry polymer coating mixture thereover. Subsequently, developer compositions can be generated by admixing the aforementioned carrier particles with a toner comprised of resin particles and pigment particles.
In copending application U.S. Ser. No. 751,922 (now abandoned) entitled Developer Compositions With Specific Carrier Particle Developers, the disclosure of which is totally incorporated herein by reference, there are illustrated toners with styrene butadiene copolymers, pigment particles inclusive of magnetites, charge control additives, and carrier particles containing a core with a coating thereover of vinyl copolymers, or homopolymers such as vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate
Other patents of interest include 3,939,086, which teaches steel carrier beads with polyethylene coatings, see column 6; U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,533,835; 3,658,500; 3,798,167; 3,918,968; 3,922,382; 4,238,558; 4,310,611; 4,397,935; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,434,220, the disclosures of which are totally incorporated herein by reference.
Although the above described toner compositions and resins are suitable for their intended purposes, in most instances there continues to be a need for toner and developer compositions containing new resins. More specifically, there is a need for toners which can be fused in some instances at lower energies than many of the presently available resins selected for toners. There is also a need for resin blends that can be selected for toner compositions which are low cost, nontoxic, nonblocking at temperatures of less than 50.degree. C., jettable, melt fusible with a broad fusing latitude, cohesive above the melting temperature, and triboelectrically chargable. In addition, there remains a need for toner compositions which can be fused at low temperatures, that is for example 250.degree. F. or less, as compared to several toners presently in commercial use, which require fusing temperatures of about 300.degree. to 325.degree. F., thereby enabling with the compositions of the present invention the utilization of lower fusing temperatures, and lower fusing energies permitting less power consumption during fusing, and allowing the fuser system, particularly the fuser roll selected, to possess extended lifetimes. Another need resides in the provision of developer compositions comprised of the toner compositions illustrated herein, and carrier particles. There also remains a need for toner and developer compositions containing additives therein, for example charge enhancing components, thereby providing positively, or negatively charged toner compositions. Furthermore, there is a need for toner and developer compositions with blends containing semicrystalline polyolefin polymers that will enable the generation of solid image areas with substantially no background deposits, and full gray scale production of half tone images in electrophotographic imaging and printing systems.
There is also a need for toner compositions with blends containing semicrystalline alpha-olefin polymers, copolymers thereof, and mixtures of the aforementioned polymers and copolymers with melting points of from about 50.degree. to about 100.degree. C., and preferably from about 60.degree. to about 80.degree. C.; and wherein toner compositions containing the aforementioned resins can be formulated into developer compositions which are useful in electrophotographic imaging and printing systems, and wherein fusing can, for example, be accomplished by flash, radiant, with heated ovens, and cold pressure fixing methods.

Toner and developer compositions with semicrystalline polyolefin resin blends


Mercerizing and/or causticizing wetting agent compositions containing alkali metal and/or ammonium salts of 2-ethyl hexyl sulfate, a mixture of terminally blocked polyethers and, optionally, trialkyl phosphates.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a mercerizing and/or causticizing wetting agent composition containing alkali metal and/or ammonium salts of 2-ethyl hexyl sulfate, terminally blocked polyethers and, optionally, trialkyl phosphates.
The object of mercerizing and causticizing cotton, i.e. the treatment of cellulose with lyes of different concentration, is to provide the fibers with better gloss effects, with increased receptivity for dyes, greater tensile strengths and a softer, fuller feel. However, the concentrated caustic soda used in practice does not have a particularly high wetting power. In addition, wetting is hindered by the hydrophobic substances adhering to the cellulose fibers. Accordingly, wetting agents are frequently added to the mercerizing and/or causticizing liquors to obtain a fast and uniform reaction of the lye with the cellulose (Chwala/Anger: "Handbuch der Textilhilsmittel", pages347-350, 1977).
Besides having high wetting power, the wetting agents must not cause any foaming in the liquors, must be stable over a wide alkali concentration range and must show very good biodegradability. However, most of the known mercerizing and/or causticizing wetting agents do not effectively satisfy these stringent requirements. For example, the salts of 2-ethyl hexyl sulfate frequently used as wetting agents tend to cause excessive foaming in mercerizing and/or causticizing liquors.
German Pat. No. 12 45 898 describes mixtures of branched-chain carboxylic acid esters, phosphoric acid esters of aliphatic alcohols, fatty acids or soaps and alkoxylated compounds or alkyl sulfuric acid esters as low-foaming wetting agents. In addition, it is known from Chemical Abstracts, Ca 93, 115887 g - (1980) that fatty alcohols alkoxylated with 20 mol of ethylene oxide in combination with 2-ethyl hexyl sodium sulfate improve the wetting power of mercerizing liquors and reduce foaming therein.
Terminally blocked alkyl alcohol ethoxylates are known as foam-reducing additives in low-foaming cleaning preparations from German Pat. Nos. 33 15 951, 37 27 378 and 38 00 490.
The problem addressed by the present invention is to provide low-foaming, alkali-stable and readily biodegradable mercerizing and/or causticizing wetting agents of high shrinkage wetting power.

Mercerizing and/or causticizing wetting agent: 2-ethyl-hexyl-sulfate and mixture of alkyl end-blocked polyethers


A measuring instrument utilizing surface plasmon resonance is described. The instrument employs no moving mechanical part because it produces the resonance by changing the parameters either electrically or acoustically, and it detects the reflection by a stationary detector.

Surface plasmon resonance is being used in biosensing, in such areas as immunoassay and nucleic acid detection Basically, surface plasmons are electromagnetic waves created along an interface between a conducting material and a non-conducting material. A common technique for their creation is to direct a beam of electromagnetic radiation into a glass prism with an angle of incidence above the critical angle so that it undergoes total internal reflection. The internal reflection creates an evanescent electromagnetic wave at a region outside of the prism adjacent to the surface. When a thin conductive film is deposited on the surface of the prism, surface plasmons will be formed.
Surface plasmon resonance occurs when the momentum (or the wave vector) and energy (i.e. frequency) of the evanescent electromagnetic wave are made to match the momentum and energy of the surface plasmons respectively. It is characterized by a sharp decrease in intensity of the reflected beam as its energy is transferred, because of the resonance, to the surface plasmons.
The wave vector K.sub.e of the evanescent wave is defined by the equation: EQU K.sub.e = (.omega./C) n sin.theta.,
where .omega. is the angular frequency of the incident beam, c is the speed of light in vacuum, n is the refractive index of glass and .theta. is the angle of incidence- The wave vector of the surface plasmon is defined by the equation: EQU K.sub.sp = (.omega./c) (1/.epsilon..sub.m + 1/.epsilon..sub.s).sup.-1/2,
where .epsilon..sub.m is the real part of the dielectric constant of the metal and .epsilon..sub.s is the dielectric constant of the substance under test (or in the absence of any substance, of air) surrounding the metal.
At resonance, the wave vector of the evanescent wave is the same as that of the surface plasmons so that there is no electromagnetic wave reflected from the surface. Therefore, occurrence of the surface plasmon resonance is given by the equation: EQU K.sub.e = K.sub.sp.
If a periodic structure such as a grating or a surface acoustic wave is impressed upon the thin metal layer, the above equation becomes: EQU K.sub.e + k = K.sub.sp.
where k is the wave vector due to the periodic structure.
The above equation provides a useful tool for measuring differences between the values of .epsilon..sub.s of different materials. It also provides a useful tool for detecting the presence of trace surface chemicals in a substance that alters its .epsilon..sub.s value. By measuring the differences of K.sub.e at resonance, the changes in .epsilon..sub.S can be determined.
Surface plasmon resonance measuring instruments heretofore known which utilize the above equality condition have all measured the differences of K.sub.e by varying .theta. and sensing the reflected beam at different values of .theta., as generally shown in FIG. 1 to detect the resonance. In these prior art surface plasmon resonance measuring instruments, sensing the reflected beam at different values of .theta. has been accomplished by three known methods.
Under a first method, the position of the source of electromagnetic radiation is fixed. The prism is rotated in order to change the value of .theta.. The detector for detecting the reflected beam is also rotated by 2.theta..
Under a second method, as disclosed in "The ATR Method With Focused Light -- Application to Guided Waves On A Grating" by E. Kretschmann, Vol. 26, number 1, Optics Communications, 1978, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,278, entitled "Biological Sensors", issued Mar. 5, 1991 to Finlan et al, both the source and the prism are fixed. Refractive optics are then employed to spread the incident light into a cone of light beams with different values of .theta.. The reflected beams are then detected by an array of diodes.
Under a third method, disclosed in European Patent Application Number 89304570.8, filed on May 5, 1989 by Finlan et al, the positions of both the light source and the prism are fixed. A rotating mirror is used to direct the source light to the prism at different angles of incidence. The reflection of the source beam is then deflected by another curve mirror into the detector.
All the above-described methods have relied upon moving mechanical parts to generate and/or detect the surface plasmon resonance. The disadvantages of a reliance upon moving mechanical parts are obvious -- they are susceptible to fatigues, wear and tear, and they require precision tolerances that are difficult to create and maintain.
The second method suffers an additional disadvantage. Because the incident beam is spread, its intensity is reduced. In typical applications, however, the beam is additionally used to produce intensity dependent phenomenon such as fluorescence, and the effectiveness of the instrument would thus be adversely affected by the reduction of intensity resulting from this method.
The third method also suffers from other additional disadvantages. Because the beam may enter the detector from different angles, the detector needs to detect the reflected beam from different directions. Therefore, a detector having a large collection solid angle is required, and detectors having such capability are typically either expensive or less sensitive. The detector is also required to be placed at the focal point of the curved mirror, which is inconvenient and renders the overall system more susceptable to alignment errors.
Although there are other devices in the prior art that utilize surface plasmon resonance, they are not suitable for performing measurements.
What is needed is an instrument which can be used for measuring chemical compositions by measuring the dielectric constants thereof utilizing surface plasmon resonance, and one that does not have any moving mechanical part.


A content scanner for electronic documents such as email scans objects which are the target of hyperlinks within the document. If they are determined to be acceptable, the hyperlinks are replaced by ones pointing to copies of the objects stored on a trusted server.

The present invention relates to a method of, and system for, replacing external links in electronic documents such as email with links which can be controlled. One use of this is to ensure that email that attempts to bypass email content scanners no longer succeeds. Another use is to reduce the effectiveness of web bugs.
Content scanning can be carried out at a number of places in the passage of electronic documents from one system to another. Taking email as an example, it may be carried out by software operated by the user, e.g. incorporated in or an adjunct to, his email client, and it may be carried out on a mail server to which the user connects, over a LAN or WAN, in order to retrieve email. Also, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) can carry out content scanning as a value-added service on behalf of customers who, for example, then retrieve their content-scanned email via a POP3 account or similar.
One trick which can be used to bypass email content scanners is to create an email which just contains a link (such as an HTML hyperlink) to the undesirable or "nasty" content. Such content may include viruses and other varieties of malware as well as potentially offensive material such as pornographic images and text, and other material to which the email recipient may not wish to be subjected, such as spam. The content scanner sees only the link, which is not suspicious, and the email is let through. However, when viewed in the email client, the object referred to may either be bought in automatically by the email client, or when the reader clicks on the link. Thus, the nasty object ends up on the user's desktop, without ever passing through the email content scanner.
It is possible for the content scanner to download the object by following the link itself. It can then scan the object. However, this method is not foolproof—for instance, the server delivering the object to the content scanner may be able to detect that the request is from a content scanner and not from the end user. It may then serve up a different, innocent object to be scanned. However, when the end-user requests the object, they get the nasty one.
The present invention seeks to reduce or eliminate the problems of embedded links in electronic documents and does so by having the content scanner attempt to follow a link found in an electronic document and scan the object which is the target of the link. If the object is found to be acceptable from the point of view of content-scanning criteria, it is retrieved by the scanner and stored on a local, trusted server which is under the control of the person or organisation operating the invention. The link in the electronic document is adjusted to point at the copy of the object stored on the trusted server rather than the original; the document can then be delivered to the recipient without the possibility that the version received by the recipient differs from the one originally scanned. Note that it does not matter to the principle of the invention whether the linked object is stored on the trusted server before or after it has been scanned for acceptability; if it is stored first and found unacceptable on scanning, the link to it can simply be deleted.
If the object is not found to be acceptable, one or more remedial actions may be taken: for example, the link may be replaced by a non-functional link and/or a notice that the original link has been removed and why; another possibility is that the electronic document can be quarantined and an email or alert generated and sent to the intended recipient advising him that this has been done and perhaps including a link via which he can retrieve it nevertheless or delete it. The process of following links, scanning the linked object and replacing it or not with an embedded copy and an adjusted link may be applied recursively. An upper limit may be placed on the number of recursion levels, to stop the system getting stuck in an infinite loop (e.g. because there are circular links) and to effectively limit the amount of time the processing will take.
Thus according to the present invention there is provided a content scanning system for electronic documents such as emails comprising:
a) a link analyser for identifying hyperlinks in document content;
b) means for causing a content scanner to scan objects referenced by links identified by the link analyser and to determine their acceptability according to predefined rules, the means being operative, when the link is to an object external to the document and is determined by the content analyser to be acceptable, to retrieve the external object and modify the document by replacing the link to the external object by one to a copy of the object stored on a trusted server.
The invention also provides a method of content-scanning electronic documents such as emails comprising:
a) using a link analyser for identifying hyperlinks in document content;
b) using a content scanner to scan objects referenced by links identified by the link analyser and to determine their acceptability according to predefined rules, the means being operative, when the link is to an object external to the document and is determined by the content analyser to be acceptable, to retrieve the external object and modify the document by replacing the link to the external object by one to a copy of the object stored on a trusted server.
Thus the content scanner can follow the link, and download and scan the object. If the object is judged satisfactory, a copy of it is stored on the trusted server, and the link to the external object replaced by a link to that copy.
One trick used by spammers is to embody 'web bugs' in their spam emails. These are unique or semi-unique links to web sites—so a spammer sending out 1000 emails would use 1000 different links. When the email is read, a connection is made to the web site, and by finding which link has been hit, the spammer can match it with their records to tell which person has read the spam email. This then confirms that the email address is a genuine one. The spammer can continue to send email to that address, or perhaps even sell the address on to other spammers.
By following every external link in every email that passes through the content scanner, all the web bugs the spammer sends out will be activated. Their effectiveness therefore becomes much reduced, because they can no longer be used to tell which email addresses were valid or not.

Method of, and system for, replacing external links in electronic documents


In a multi-axis articulated arm robot for transferring workpieces, there is a robot base, on which a movement unit is able to be pivoted about a first axis, which is vertical in an operational state. The movement unit has a pivoting part adjacent to the base, an articulated arm constituted by a top arm and a bottom arm, such top arm being connected for pivoting at one end about a horizontal second axis with the pivoting part at the other end is connected with the adjacent end of the bottom arm for pivoting about a horizontal third axis, a rotary member arranged at the bottom arm's end opposite to the top arm, such rotary member being able to be rotated about a fourth axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the bottom arm, a pivoting member connected with the rotary member for pivoting about a fifth axis extending athwart the fourth axis, and a supporting part rotatingly connected with the pivoting member, such supporting part extending athwart the fifth axis. On the supporting part a holding means of a lifting means, associated with the workpieces to be transferred, and more particularly a vacuum suction means, is arranged for rotation about a seventh axis. The supporting part is directed in the direction of the sixth axis away from the pivoting member. The seventh axis is directed athwart the sixth axis.

The invention relates to a multiple axis articulated arm robot for transferring workpieces, and more particularly for transferring sheet metal parts into or from a press or from one press to another adjacently placed press, comprising a robot base, on which a movement unit is able to be pivoted about a first axis, which is vertical in an operational state, such movement unit having a pivoting part adjacent to the base, an articulated arm constituted by a top arm and a bottom arm, such top arm being connected for pivoting at one end about a horizontal second axis with the pivoting part and at the other end is connected with the adjacent end of the bottom arm for pivoting about a horizontal third axis, a rotary member arranged at the bottom arm's end opposite to the top arm, such rotary member being able to be rotated about a fourth axis extending in the longitudinal direction of the bottom arm, a pivoting member connected with the rotary member for pivoting about a fifth axis extending athwart the fourth axis, and a supporting part rotatingly connected with the pivoting member, such supporting part extending athwart the fifth axis, on which supporting part a holding means of a lifting means, associated with the workpieces to be transferred, and more particularly a vacuum suction means, is arranged for rotation about a seventh axis.


A thin heating device is provided. The thin heating device includes a first circuit board, a second circuit board, an elastic connector and a heating element. The first and second circuit boards are face-to-face arranged. The elastic connector connects the first and second circuit boards to apply a return force to hold an under-tested device. The heating element is mounted on the first or the second circuit board to heat the under-tested device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heating device; in particular, to a thin thermo-controlling heating device.
2. Description of Related Art
Before packaged integrated circuit elements or memory modules are shipped, a burn-in test is usually carried out to evaluate the stability of the aforementioned elements while operating in high-temperature. In the so-called burn-in test, the products are placed in a predetermined high temperature ambience and an electrical test is performed. Through the Burn-in test, the early fail products could be screened out before shipping, and further the quality of the shipped products may be ensured.
The conventional method of testing includes the following steps of feeding the memory modules have been tested in room temperature together with the motherboard for test into the oven, and then, testing the performances of the memory modules, the motherboard and the processor (CPU) in different predetermined temperature through setting the oven temperature. But during the testing process, the memory module, the motherboard and processors for test are heated together, the durability of the motherboard and the processors may be shortened, and the malfunctions of the motherboard and the processors may be caused.
Once the malfunctions of the motherboard or the processors happened during the process of Burn-in testing, it will cause the distorted test results of the memory modules.


A spring element for connecting two components, the two components having substantially the same direction of extension, where one component is fixed relative to the other component, with the latter component having angle of rotation mobility relative to the fixed component. In the component extension direction, a T-shaped sectional piece is provided having a base section extending in the component extension direction and a section extending substantially perpendicularly from the base section. The section extending from the base section has a connecting device for connecting this section to the component with angle of rotation mobility. The base section has torsional flexibility and includes a connnecting device at each end for connecting the base section to the fixed component. The connecting devices for connecting the base section to the fixed component are limited to both ends of the base section.

The present invention relates to a spring element for connecting two components with angle of rotation mobility.
In the specific embodiment of an elastomer spherical joint in the case of a rotor known from the German Published Pat. application No. 28 29 605, such a spring element functions as a bearing arrangement with angular mobility for a blade control casing of the blade's pitch angle control system for the blade relative to the rotor hub. Thereby, the preferred design with elastomer laminated material represents a considerable portion of the weight of the support for the blade control casing on the hub side, above all when a long-lasting design is required of the articulated bearing.

Spring element for connecting two components with angle of rotation mobility


This present invention relates to a display device. The display device may include a backlight module configured to emit coherent light and incoherent light selectively, a spatial light modulator configured to display one of at least two types of image information, and a liquid crystal lens. The spatial light modulator and the liquid crystal lens may be sequentially disposed on a light exit path of the backlight module.

Among all technical categories of stereoscopic display, holographic display is considered to be the ultimate technology for displaying stereoscopic images. Holographic display devices currently on the market are mostly static holographic display devices. There has not been any dynamic holographic display device which is capable of mass production on the market. The main factors that limit development of the dynamic holographic display device include small viewing angles of holographic display, very few sources, and limited range of movement when viewing. Thus, a display device having only a single function cannot meet people's different needs for viewing.

Multimodal display device and display method thereof


A mobile communication device is operable to receive and store messages in a defined message inbox. A user input device is provided to permit a user of the device to make a message inbox status query. In answer to the query, the device provides a non-visual response communicating one or more characteristics of the message inbox. Such characteristics are definable and the method of providing a non-visual response communication is configurable. The non-visual response potentially includes an auditory communication that is provided in response to a query made using an easy to access button located on the device.

With the advent of mobile personal communication devices capable of receiving messages having different formats, it has been found desirable to include a visual interface to summarize the messages the user has received in each format. Typical wireless mobile communication devices are capable of receiving both voice and text messages in a variety of formats including phone calls, forwarded voice messages, email, SMS (Short Messaging Service) and other text message formats.
Messages received by the device are notionally collected in a message inbox until the user operates the device to delete or move the message to a storage location. When a user wishes to determine whether there are any new messages of interest listed in the message inbox for review, the user must visually check the mobile communication device's visual display. While a visual interface has proven to be a useful way to summarize the received messages to the user, such an interface requires the user to direct his or her attention to the interface to determine the contents of the inbox. This can be distracting to the user, or to others, in situations where the user's visual focus is required elsewhere such as driving, walking on a busy street or attending a meeting.
Since mobile communication devices are often worn in a holster or carrying case, viewing the visual interface typically requires removing the device from the holster or case to view the inbox summary display. Thus, while visual review of the contents of the inbox is efficient, the act of removing the device in order to view the display is potentially awkward or inefficient. Further, for devices with wireless headsets, the device is often carried in an inside pocket, a hand bag or briefcase.
It is therefore desirable to provide a system and method for allowing a user to review the contents of a message inbox on a mobile communication device without having to access the device to view the display.

Non-visual inbox summary for mobile communication devices


Embodiments disclosed herein can include one or more labels, each label having an indicia receiving surface adapted to receive indicium or indicia. The indicia receiving surface can provide a permanent, durable writing surface. A key for operating a mechanical lock can include one or more labels. The key can include a key main body and at least one label coupled to the key main body. The key main body comprises a head and an elongate body coupled to the head. The elongate body is configured to physically engage and operate a lock, such as a mechanical lock. The label can define an indicia receiving surface adapted to receive indicium or indicia.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure and some embodiments generally relate to a label system, and more specifically, to a label system with at least one writable surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various types of objects do not have a suitable writing surface. For example, metal keys for unlocking locks (e.g., car door locks, house locks, padlocks, etc.) do not have a suitable writing surface. These keys are often made from a flat piece of metal configured to engage movable pins in the lock. To unlock a lock, a key can be inserted into the lock and then turned to align the lock's internal pins. Once the internal pins are properly aligned, the lock can be opened. Unfortunately, the outer metal surface of the key does not provide a suitable writing surface for receiving ink or graphite from a writing instrument. An individual often memorizes the size or shape of certain keys and corresponding locks in order to select the proper key for opening the lock. It is often difficult to remember which key corresponds to a particular lock, especially if a large number of keys are kept together, for example, on a key chain or key ring.


A compressor assembly including a housing, a motor and a compression mechanism disposed within the housing, the compression mechanism driven by the motor. A pulsating discharge fluid flow emanates from the compression mechanism through a first conduit; the first conduit having an outlet which is open to a discharge muffler chamber. A standing pressure waveform is established by the first pulsating discharge fluid flow within the discharge muffler chamber. A second conduit is provided which has an inlet which is open to the discharge muffler chamber and disposed outside the standing pressure waveform therein, and an outlet through which discharge fluid exits, whereby the magnitude of the discharge pulse transmitted by the discharge fluid is attenuated. The present invention also provides a compressor assembly including a compression mechanism and a discharge muffler chamber having a substantially hemispherical inner surface and a central axis. First and second conduits are in fluid communication through the discharge muffler chamber, the openings of the first and second conduits within said discharge muffler chamber are directed substantially towards the central axis and oriented at approximately a right angle relative to each other therealong. A discharge fluid flow is received in the discharge muffler chamber from the compression mechanism via the first conduit. The discharge fluid flow contains pressure pulses of a first magnitude. The discharge fluid flow is exhausted from the discharge muffler chamber via the second conduit, the discharge fluid flow exhausted from the discharge muffler containing pressure pulses of a second magnitude less than the first magnitude.

The present invention pertains to compressor assemblies, and particularly to discharge muffler arrangements therefor.
Prior art hermetic compressor assemblies have, in some instances, comprised a discharge muffler disposed within its housing. In some cases, a plurality of such internal discharge mufflers have been in fluid communication with each other, either in series or in parallel. Further, in some embodiments of prior compressor assemblies, these discharge mufflers include chambers at least partially hemispherical in shape.
In certain embodiments of prior hermetic compressor assemblies, discharge gas compressed in the compression mechanism thereof, which may be of a reciprocating piston type, is exhausted through a conduit from the cylinder head to a first hemispherical chamber, and from that first hemispherical muffler chamber via a second conduit to a second, nearly identical hemispherical muffler chamber, and from the second muffler chamber via a third conduit which extends through the compressor housing to a refrigeration or air conditioning system comprising a condenser, and evaporator, and an expansion device in fluid communication with the compressor.
Such prior art discharge muffler arrangements, however, are not configured for optimally muffling pumping noise associated with the discharge fluid which flows therethrough. The discharge fluid flow exhausted from the compression mechanism contains pressure pulses associated with the cyclic compression of the fluid therein. These pressure pulses are conveyed with the fluid through the first conduit to the first muffler chamber, wherein the magnitude of the pulses are only somewhat attenuated before the discharge fluid flow exits the first muffler chamber and continues through the second conduit to the second muffler chamber. Similarly, the pressure pulses contained in the fluid flow exiting the first discharge muffler chamber and entering the second discharge muffler chamber, are somewhat further reduced in magnitude within the second chamber. The discharge fluid flow then exits the second discharge muffler chamber, conveyed via the third conduit through the compressor assembly housing wall to the remainder of the refrigerant system.
While somewhat effective at attenuating the pressure pulses carried by the discharge fluid flow, and thereby providing some muffling of the noise associated with compressor operation, the positioning of the inlet and outlet of both discharge muffler chambers in previous such discharge muffler arrangements has been primarily for convenience of construction, packaging and adaptation to the size of the compressor, rather than for obtaining maximum attenuation of pressure pulses and radiated sound. Consequently, prior compressor discharge muffler arrangements are not optimized and thus their performance leaves something to be desired. An improved compressor discharge muffler arrangement which provides quieter compressor and refrigerating system operation without appreciably compromising performance or increasing costs is desirable.


Exemplary embodiments are directed to a converter for an electrical system that is controlled in such that switching sequences for the converter, determined with respect to an optimization goal are modified such that by correcting a flux error resulting from assumptions on which the first optimization of the switching sequence is based.

Converters are used in electrical systems for transforming an input voltage, which can be a first DC voltage or a first AC voltage of a first frequency, into an output voltage, which can be a second DC voltage or a second AC voltage of a second frequency.
For example, if the converter is used as an inverter, the input voltage can be a DC link voltage and the output voltage can be used for supplying an electrical load such as an electrical machine with electrical current. Conversely, a converter can be used as a rectifier in which case it is connected to an electrical grid and transforms an input AC voltage into a DC output voltage.
Nearly all converters include semiconductor switches which generate the output voltage, for example for each phase of the electrical system. The switches are controlled by a controller that determines the next switching transition and applies this switching transition to the switches. The switching transition can include a set of switching states (i.e. whether the respective switch is opened or closed) and the time instant (i.e. the time point) at which these switching states are applied to the converter.
There are several possibilities for how these switching transitions can be generated by the controller.
For example, model predictive direct torque control (MPDTC) can be used for controlling internal states of the electrical system while generating the switching transitions. Internal states of an electrical drive can be the torque and the electromagnetic fluxes in the motor. In MPDTC, switching sequences, i.e. sequences of switching transitions over a certain switching horizon are optimized in real time. For example, the corresponding torque, stator flux and neutral point trajectories can be computed using an internal machine model and then an optimal switching sequence can be chosen that features the lowest switching losses or the lowest switching frequency. The first switching transition of the switching sequence can then be applied to the converter and the next sequence can be optimized online.
Direct torque control can achieve a very fast torque response, but it can lead to relatively high values of harmonic distortion of the stator currents and of the electromagnetic torque of the controlled machine for a given value of the switching frequency or of the switching losses.
Another possibility is the use of optimized pulse patterns (OPPs). Generally, an optimized pulse pattern can be a sequence of switching transitions that has been optimized with respect to a certain optimization goal. For example, optimized pulse patterns can be computed offline for all modulation indices and switching frequencies of the motor, or of any other physical system that acts as the load of the converter, and can be optimized such that the overall current distortion for a given switching frequency is minimal. The controller can select an optimized pulse pattern from a look-up table in which the optimized pulse patterns are stored and can apply the switching transitions of the selected optimized pulse pattern to the converter. However, the application of optimized pulse patterns can lead to very long transients and to harmonic excursions of the stator currents when changing the operating point: even very small changes of the operating point can lead to comparatively high excursions of the harmonic current. Such harmonic excursions can be quantified as current errors or, equivalently, as flux errors.


A method for mapping a fracture network that includes determining a source of at least one seismic event from features in recorded seismic signals exceeding a selected amplitude (“visible seismic event”). The signals are generated by a plurality of seismic receivers disposed proximate a volume of subsurface to be evaluated. The signals are electrical or optical and represent seismic amplitude. A source mechanism of the at least one visible seismic event is determined. A fracture size and orientation are determined from the source mechanism. Seismic events are determined from the signals from features less than the selected amplitude (“invisible seismic events”) using a stacking procedure. A source mechanism for the invisible seismic events is determined by matched filtering. At least one fracture is defined from the invisible seismic events. A fracture network model is generated by combining the fracture determined from the visible seismic event with the fracture determined from the invisible seismic events.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of determining subsurface structures from passive seismic signals. More specifically, the invention relates to methods for determining networks of rock formation fractures using passive seismic signals. The fracture network may be used as input to simulations of fluid flow through subsurface reservoirs.
2. Background Art
Reservoir simulation is a process by which fluid flow from one or more permeable subsurface rock formations is estimated with respect to time. Such estimation is important, for example, in determining the economic value of a subsurface hydrocarbon reservoir. The estimation is also useful in determining most profitable places to drill wellbores through such reservoirs, production rates of existing wells and the numbers of such wellbores that will most economically drain useful materials from the reservoir (e.g., oil and gas).
The performance of a subsurface reservoir is related to, among other factors, the spatial distribution of permeability in the reservoir. Methods are known in the art for estimating permeability distribution for "matrix" permeability, that is, permeability resulting from interconnections between the pore spaces of porous rock formations. Another type of permeability that is present in some reservoirs, and has proven more difficult to simulate is so called "fracture" permeability. Fracture permeability is associated with breaks or fractures in the rock formation. Fractures may be caused by a number of different mechanisms, including pumping fluid into the rock formation, withdrawing fluid from the formation, tectonic stress, pore pressure changes related to hydrocarbon generation or changes in the weight distribution of the rock formations ("overburden") above the reservoir rock formation.
One technique for estimating fracture permeability is to generate a discrete fracture network model. Methods to generate possible fracture distributions generally rely on stochastic approaches that also depend on seismic or structural attributes measured from the reservoir rock by using surface active source seismic data, e.g. amplitude vs. offset (AVO) or anisotropic (e.g. horizontal transverse isotropy—HTI) analyses, combined with fracture orientation and frequency statistics acquired from downhole data sources, e.g., well logs and pressure measurements.
Fractured reservoir models of natural fracture networks provide a basis for generating fluid permeability in reservoir rock related to existing fractures by modeling fracture networks with various distributions of fracture size (surface area of the crack face), aperture (distance between the two sides of the broken rock), and orientation. When fracture orientation measurements are not available from downhole data sources and cannot be interpreted from active surface seismic attributes, fracture orientations have been modeled from structural deformation using assumptions regarding stress and strain at the time of deformation. In general, there are very few measurements that can provide fracture size in a particular reservoir away from the wellbore.
Fracture data from downhole sources, however, are accurate only near the wellbore and fracture data from seismic attributes, while providing a constraint for fracture character at the reservoir scale, is accurate for fracture or fault features that can be resolved in the seismic data, in other words downhole measurements usually provide estimates on a significantly different scale than the reservoir scale and need to be upscaled through some assumptions. Seismic anisotropy attributes which can be interpreted to indicate fractures at the scale of tens of meters (the scale of importance for reservoir simulation flow modeling) are not directly imaged in an active source surface seismic volume and seismic anisotropy is only an indirect measurement of the fractures as it may originate from multiple other phenomena (background stress, unaccounted heterogeneity).
Microseismicity induced by reservoir stimulation of the geothermal field has been used to map fracture density. See, Lees, J. M., 1998, Multiplet analyses at Coso geothermal: Bulletin of The Seismological Society of America, 88, 1127-1143. In the Lees publication, a downhole monitoring array of several geophones was used to locate and invert source mechanisms, which provide estimates of fracture orientation. Density of the located events was then used to constrain the fracture density in a reservoir model.
Source mechanism inversion is described in, Jost and Herman, 1989, Seismological Research Letters, Vol. 60, pp 37-57, and in Aki and Richards, Quantitative Seismology, 1980.
Methods for modeling discrete fracture networks are described by Dershowitz, W., and Herda, H., 1992, Interpretation of fracture spacing and intensity, in Rock Mechanics, J. R. Tillerson and W. R. Wawersik (eds.), Balkema, Rotterdam, p. 757-766, and La Point P. R., Hermanson J., Thorsten E., Dunleavy M., Whitney J. and Eubanks D. 2001. 3-D reservoir and stochastic fracture network modelling for enhanced oil recovery, Circle Ridge Phospohoria/Tensleep Reservoir, Wind River Reservation, Arapaho and Shoshone Tribes, Wyoming: Golder Associates Inc., Report DE-FG26-00BC15190, Dec. 7, 2001, 63 p. Several commercial software packages are available that use these methods to generate fracture models. To do reservoir simulation, the fracture networks are used to calculate flow properties given a particular fracture network configuration. One of many methods for calculating fracture permeability is described in Oda, M. 1985, Permeability Tensor for Discontinuous Rock Masses, Geotechnique Vol. 35, p 483.
The above methods have proven less than satisfactory for use with reservoir simulation. There exists a need for methods for generating models of discrete fracture networks that better account for the source mechanism of stochastically determined fractures.

Method for determining discrete fracture networks from passive seismic signals and its application to subsurface reservoir simulation


An apparatus for removing rail tie clips comprises an elongated handle end section and a grasping end section extending from the outboard end of the elongated handle end section. The grasping end section terminates in a tooth oriented generally perpendicularly to the handle end section.

1. Field of Invention
This invention pertains to railroad tie clips.
More particularly, this invention pertains to a tool for removal of railroad tie clips.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although railroad rails are commonly secured to wooden ties, which may be relatively easily pierced with spikes, for example, there are certain places where concrete ties are preferred. For example, concrete ties are often preferred on tighter curves and when the railroad is intended to carry very heavy loads.
When concrete ties are used for a rail bed, alternative means are generally used for securing the rails to the ties. One means includes a pair of brackets set into the concrete tie at the time of molding the tie. The rail is set between the pair of brackets. The brackets are spaced apart by the width of the base of the rail. A generally U-shaped clip is then forcibly inserted, as with a hammer, for example, into each of the brackets to extend over the bottom section of the rail and thus secure the rail to the concrete tie. The clips are generally formed from steel rod which is not easily deformable, but nevertheless sufficiently deformable for forcible insertion into a bracket, often with a heavy hammer.
When a rail is damaged or excessively worn, it must be replaced. Accordingly, the clips must be removed. Removal of the clips has presented difficulties. Railroad repair workers have tried various tools to remove the clips and have spent inordinate time and incurred many serious injuries struggling with removal of the securing clips.
It is therefore desirable to provide a tool for quick and safe removal of the securing clips.


Participating in a game of chance, such as KENO, played remotely away from the site where the winning numbers are drawn. Each player can mark his predicted winning number combination on a sheet that is inserted into a facsimile machine remote from the game site; simultaneously and automatically charging the cost of playing participation to the player's telephone bill. Information is transmitted over the phone line to a second facsimile machine at the game site, where the information may be computerized and compared with the winning numbers drawn by the game operators. The number-drawing process may be televised, such that players located remote from the game site will learn immediately whether or not they have become winners.

Many persons enjoy playing games of chance, such as KENO, or other games. However, in some cases a person may not be able to play the game because of transportation problems or for other reasons. Thus, the person may not be physically able to drive a car to the site of a KENO game or to a store where lottery tickets are sold.
The present invention concerns a method of playing a game of chance, such as KENO or the lottery, without having to be physically present at the game site, or without having to travel to a store or other location where lottery tickets are sold.
The method of the present invention involves the use of phone-operated facsimile machines for transmitting game information from each game player to the physical site where the game is being played, i.e. the place where the KENO numbers are drawn, or the winning lottery numbers selected. Simultaneously, when dialing the telephone number to transmit the game information, the game player is automatically charging the cost therefor to his/her telephone bill. Each game player inserts a game sheet containing a predicted winning combination into a facsimile (fax) machine at his residence or where he might be at a particular point in time, e.g. in a hotel room or in a restaurant. Information on the game sheet is transmitted over the telephone line to a receiving fax machine located at the same site, e.g. the KENO hall or the main lottery headquarters. An electronic reader device at the game site will read the duplicate game sheet generated by the receiving fax machine, and electronically tramsmit the information on the sheet to a computer memory and return a receipt confirmation to the game player with date and hour received, and further information as to approximate time of playing and number of the game, personal identification number, etc. The information received by the game operator is stored in the computer memory pending the time when the game is to be played or the winning lottery number drawn. At the designated time the winning numbers are punched into the computer and electronically compared with the numbers in the computer memory to select a game winner (or lottery winner).
The principal advantages of the invention are that each game player can play the game without having to physically travel to the game site or to a lottery sales outlet and can automatically charge the amount played for to his/her telephone bill. Senior citizens, confined to their residences, would especially enjoy the benefits of this invention.

Method of playing a game of chance at locations remote from the game site


A positioning method and a driving apparatus of a touch panel are provided. The touch panel includes a conductive layer with anisotropic conductivity, a plurality of first electrodes and a plurality of second electrodes. The first electrodes and the second electrodes are respectively disposed on a first side and a second side of the conductive layer. The first electrodes and the second electrodes are sensed to obtain a plurality of sensing values. A first relative extreme portion at least having a relative extreme is defined among the first electrodes. A second relative extreme portion at least having a relative extreme is defined among the second electrodes. A ratio of sensing values is calculated according to the first relative extreme portion and the second relative extreme portion. A position of a touch point on the touch panel in a first axial direction is calculated with the ratio of sensing values.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to a touch panel, in particular, to a positioning method and a driving apparatus of a touch panel.
2. Description of Related Art
To achieve the higher portability, smaller volume and more humane design, lots of information products adopt an input method of a touch panel to replace the conventional keyboard and mouse. The touch panel may be assembled on many sorts of flat panel displays and provide the flat panel display with both the image display and operation information input functions. The conventional touch panel mainly includes resistive, capacitive, infrared and surface acoustic wave types. Different types of touch panels have varying benefits and drawbacks, for example, the capacitive touch panel exhibits vivid images and only needs a small touch force but the price is quite high. Therefore, it has always been a subject in this field to reduce the cost of the touch panel and accurately position a touch point.

Positioning method and driving apparatus of touch panel


The packing sleeve (10) of the packed electric lamp (1) has substantially flat walls (13-16) which are interconnected about edges (17, 17'). In a first end portion (11 ) of the sleeve, from an edge (17) incisions are present in adjacent walls (13, 14) to form a band (20) which is folded about creases (21) into the sleeve in order to form a pocket for the lamp cap (3). In the packed electric lamp, the band (20) clamps around the lamp cap (3) to keep the lamp fixed in the sleeve. The sleeve is a simple, reliable, cost-effective packing for an electric lamp.

The invention relates to a packed electric lamp comprising:
an electric lamp provided with a bulb having a lamp cap;
a packing sleeve with a first and a second end portion and with substantially plane walls which are interconnected along edges,
incisions being present in adjoining walls and extending from an edge in the first end portion so as to form a band which is folded inwards into the sleeve about creases extending transversely to said incisions and which in conjunction with these adjoining walls forms a pocket in which the lamp cap is accommodated,
means being present for fixing the lamp in the packing sleeve.
Such a packed electric lamp is known from SE 147.385.
The known sleeve has incisions in the second end portion on either side of each edge, whereby inwardly folded strips are formed in the second end portion of the sleeve. The strips reduce the passage of the sleeve and keep the lamp fixed in the sleeve. The strips near one end and the band near the other end keep the lamp inside the sleeve at a distance from the relevant end.
A related packing is known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,486. in this case, incisions form a band which grips around the bulb neck at the area where this neck widens into a spherical portion. The lamp is fixed in the sleeve in that the second end portion is folded inwards in the sleeve and rests against the bulb with folds.
CA 763.787 describes a similar sleeve with a band around the widening neck of a lamp. The lamp is fixed in the sleeve in that a second sleeve has been passed around the sleeve sideways.
The known packings have the disadvantage that they require considerably more packaging material than is required for enveloping the lamp. In addition, the sleeve in the first two packings is longer than the lamp in the position in which the latter is present in the sleeve. The packed lamp as a result occupies comparatively much space in an outer container for several lamps and on a pallet.
Another disadvantage of the known packed lamp is that many operations are to be performed in order to insert the lamp into the sleeve and fix it therein.


An exemplary embodiment of a full division duplex system comprises a receiver, a transmitter and an auxiliary circuit. The receiver receives an inbound RF signal of a first band to generate an inbound baseband signal, and the transmitter up converts an outbound baseband signal by an oscillation signal to generate an outbound RF signal of a second band for transmission. The auxiliary circuit calculates leakages from the outbound RF signal to generate a blocker replica, in which a LNA is coupled to a non-conductive coupling path extended from the input of receiver to collect leakages from the outbound RF signal to produce an induction signal. The induction signal is down converted to perform an adjustment, and thereafter up converted again to generate the blocker replica. In this way, the inbound baseband signal is generated from a subtraction of the inbound RF signal and the blocker replica.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to full division duplex (FDD) systems, and in particular, to methods and apparatuses for blocker filtering in a WCDMA system in which a transmitter and a receiver are simultaneously enabled.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1a, signal tones distributed on a frequency axis are shown. In wireless cellular systems, blockers originate from either a self transmitter, such as a WCDMA, or from a users' transmitter such as a GSM. As shown in FIG. 1a, a large blocker TX is always present when a weak desired signal RX is received. The blocker is typically a self transmitter in full division duplex (FDD) systems, such as a WCDMA, since the transmitter and receiver are simultaneously enabled. The blocker most often degrades the sensitivity of the receiver in three ways. First, the blocker could saturate the receiver, and secondly, the blocker could inter-modulate with strong jammers to generate in-band cross-modulation distortion (XMD). Thirdly, the blocker could generate low frequency 2nd-order inter-modulation distortion (IMD2) at baseband along with the desired received signal. Therefore, due to the blocking effects, integrated receiver design is stringently hindered.
Referring to FIG. 1b, a conventional FDD system 100 utilizing a surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter 105 is shown. In the FDD system 100, a duplexer 104 is deployed on the input of the receiver 110 to reject the out-of-band blockers by 45-55 dB on average, and also to scale down the transmitter 120 power amplifier (PA) noise floor to at least 10 dB below the thermal noise (kTB in 3.84 MHz bandwidth). To further lower the distortions generated by the blockers such as the signal tone TX in FIG. 1a, an off-chip RF SAW filter 105 with typically 20-25 dB blocker rejection is deployed in the receiver 110, coupled between a low noise amplifier (LNA) 112 and a down converter 116. The use of the SAW filter 105, however, introduces several drawbacks. First, they have 2-3 dB insertion loss at the desired receiver band. Secondly, the output of LNA 112 needs to be matched to the input impedance of the SAW filter 105, i.e. 50 ohm. To compensate for lower load resistance, the LNA 112 consumes more bias current to retain the high gain. Thirdly, the output of the SAW filter 105 needs to be matched to the input impedance of the proceeded stage, which is typically a down converter 116 whereby the mixer noise is further lowered. Finally the SAW filter 105 is an off-chip component that degrades the integration level of transceivers and increases costs. It is therefore necessary to develop an enhanced approach to substitute for the SAW filter 105.

Full division duplex system and a leakage cancellation method


Caesium-137 irradiates electronic paper. An incoming gamma-ray from the Cs-137 interacts with a particle inside a micro-container by generating a recoil electron and/or a hole. Because the recoil electron physically leaves the particle, the particle is charged depending on the dose from the radiation source. And, the charge of the particles change, which results in a movement of the particles within the micro-container. After refreshing the electronic paper, a visible difference in the gray-scale can be seen. Thus, the visible difference in the gray-scale is an effect caused by the irradiation of the electronic paper, showing sensitivity to high energy radiation—thus, non-optimized electronic paper is sensitive to high energy radiation and can be used as a radiation dosimeter. In addition, electronic paper can be used for sensing chemical and bio-chemical agents, as well as detecting high energy radiation.

Electronic paper was developed in 1992 at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) by N. Sheridan as a new type of display technology. According to M. E. Howard, E. A. Richley, R. Sprague, and N. K. Sheridon, "GYRICON electronic paper", J. Soc. for Information Display, Vol. 4, pp. 215, 1998, this news type of display technology was called "GYRICON" and combined advantages of regular paper and electronic displays. Sheridan fabricated a rubber like sheet containing thousands of tiny balls. Half of the balls where white colored and were positively charged; the other half were black and had no charge. When a bias was applied, the balls were able to rotate and generate a black-and-white pattern. The most important difference to conventional electronic displays was that power was only consumed when the balls rotated; in other words, power was only consumed when the displayed pattern changed. The "GYRICON" technology was not pursued by Xerox and remained dormant until the mid-1990's. In 1999, Xerox teamed with 3M Corporation to mass-produce GYRICON e-paper but this effort is now discontinued.
In 1998, J. Jacobson of MIT published a Nature article with a slightly different approach to electronic paper (see B. Comiskey, J. D. Albert, H. Yoshizawa, J. Jacobson, "An electrophoretic ink for all-printed reflective electronic displays", Nature, vol. 394, pp. 253, 1998). Jacobson's approach comprised transparent micro-capsules filled with blue dye and white titanium oxide (TiO2) particles. The diameters of the micro-capsules were approximately one hundred micrometers (100 μm) and made of low-molecular-weight polyethylene (see FIG. 1). The TiO2 particles were negatively charged and could be moved within the microsphere by applying an external bias. In response to an electrical charge, the TiO2 particles moved to the top or bottom of the capsule, thereby creating light or dark colored spots (see FIG. 2). Gray-tones were created by moving particles within the micro-sphere. The charge needed to "flip" one TiO2 particle can be as low as q=2.6×10−18, C=16 e− for a; given solution. As in the GYRICON technology, power is only consumed when the particles are moved within the sphere. MIT commercialized this technology and founded E-INK, Inc. (hereafter "E-INK"). E-INK electronic paper is inexpensive and has been integrated into consumer products. FIG. 3 shows a LEXAR USB drive with electronic paper from E-INK includes an indicator of how much data is stored on the device. The work of J. Jacobson sparked wide interest in electrophoretic ink (i.e., electronic paper).
Electronic paper is comprised of micro-containers filled with charged particles (with diameters ranging from approximately 100 nanometers (nm) to a few micrometers (μm)), preferably between from about 200 nm to about 5 micrometers. These particles are charged and form a stable colloidal solution (i.e., no sedimentation of particles over time). An external electric field can move the particles within the micro-container and change the overall color of the device. Power is only consumed when the display appearance changes. Several research groups and companies modified Jacobson's approach; one example is "SiPix, Inc." (hereafter "SIPIX") (see http://www.sipix.com/technology/microcup.html). SIPIX uses microscale containers made from a flexible polymer. These containers act as hosts for the particles (see FIG. 4). The production is scaled up to large area flexible displays.
The mechanism of particle movement due to an external voltage within the electronic paper is still under investigation. Early investigations of electronic paper revealed that electrophoretic forces alone could explain the particle movement. Today, most researchers believe that the particle movement in electronic paper can be described and/or explained by electrophoretic and dielectrophoretic forces, where the influence of the electrophoretic forces dominate.
The property of the stable colloidal solution formed in the micro-container, containing particles is directly correlated to the operation and sensitivity of the device. The liquid layer surrounding the particle exists as two parts; an inner region (Stern layer) where the ions are strongly bound and an outer (diffuse) region where the ions are less firmly associated. Within the diffuse layer, there is a notional boundary inside which the ions and particles form a stable entity. When a particle moves (such as due to gravity or an external electric field), ions within the boundary move the particle. Those ions beyond the boundary stay with the bulk dispersant. The potential at this boundary (surface of hydrodynamic shear) is the zeta potential. The magnitude of the zeta potential gives an indication of the potential stability of the colloidal system and their mobility The general dividing line between stable and unstable suspensions is generally taken at either +30 or −30 millivolts (mV). Particles with zeta potentials more positive than +30 mV or more negative than −30 mV are normally considered stable. The zeta potential can be adjusted by the colloidal solution parameters, for example the pH value of the overall electrolyte conductivity modifies the zeta-potential. An important consequence of the existence of electrical charges of particles is that they interact with an applied electric field. These effects are collectively defined as electrokinetic effects. There are two effects which affect the particle's motion in the micro-container: The dominating force is electrophoreses: the movement of a charged particle relative to the liquid it is suspended in under the influence of an applied electric field. Furthermore, to a much less extent, dielectrophoresic force plays a role: Dielectrophoresis describes the movement of polarizable particles in a non-uniform electric field. Some non-uniform electric fields can fore due to shape of the micro-container.
Common electronic displays like LCDs (liquid crystal displays) require constant power. Electrophoretic displays are now commonly used in consumer electronics, like Amazon's Kindle. When the Electronic paper is irradiated, the incoming gamma-rays interact with the embedded particles and generate a recoil electron. This recoil electron physically leaves the particle and thereby changing particle's charge. Particles inside the micro-container form a stable colloidal solution. The particles' position and mobility within the micro-container is a direct function of their charge. Since the basic sensing principle of the electronic paper is based on charging particles within a transparent micro-container, then the electronic paper can also be used to detect chemical or biological agents with a sensing reaction that involves charge transfer.
Currently, members of the military, police, fire, and medical first responders require reliable indicators of their exposure to doses of dangerous radiological, chemical and/or biological agents, if they are operating in environments that might contain high energy radiation, chemical or bio-chemical agents, as might be present in conjunction with terrorist attacks and/or industrial attacks, where bad actors use dirty bombs containing radioactive materials or target nuclear power plants for sabotage and/or destruction or use contraband nuclear weapons, or environments where industrial accidents have occurred. This invention materially contributes to countering such terrorism, by providing immediate real time indications of CBR agents. Thus, minimizing the ability of terrorists to influence the policy of the government of the United States with tactics directed at intimidation and coercion by inflicting pain, suffering and death on US citizens and first responders through the use of undetected CBR weapons of mass destruction.
Radiation detection can be broadly grouped into two types of instruments: (i) radiation detectors and (ii) dosimeters. On the one hand, radiation detectors like the traditional Geiger Counter tend to be big and bulky. These devices cannot be worn on regular clothing. On the other hand, wearable dosimeters, such as a film badge dosimeter, do not give instant warning and can only be used once. Pen dosimeters have been in use for approximately 50 years but are bulky and require constant re-calibration.
Semiconductor based dosimeters require constant battery power. Constant power consumption is problematic due to limited battery lifetime and weight.
None of the current devices meet the following requirements: re-usable, provides instant indication of dosage, exhibits ultra-low power and weight, and is capable of being integrated into a regular uniform.
Currently, there are no known radiation dosimeters based on electrophoretic displays (i.e., based on electronic paper).
Currently, there are no known chemical and/or bio-chemical sensors based on electrophoretic displays.
Therefore, the need exists for a radiation dosimeter based on electrophoretic displays.
Furthermore, the need exists for a radiation sensor and/or bio-chemical sensor, based on electrophoretic displays, which are re-usable, provide instant indications of dosage, exhibit ultra-low power and weight, and are capable of being integrated into a regular uniform.

Apparatus systems and methods of sensing chemical bio-chemical and radiological agents using electrophoretic displays

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


In a method and a device to control the workflow of an MR measurement in a magnetic resonance system, a predetermined volume segment is subdivided into parallel slices with a predetermined slice interval and measured with a continuous table feed. Apart from a start phase and an end phase of the MR measurement, multiple slices of the examination subject are excited and read out in every repetition of the underlying basic sequence, and these multiple slices are located in an active volume inside the magnetic resonance system. The number of slices excited and read out per repetition of the underlying basic sequence is selected automatically depending in particular on the parameters determining an image contrast and an image resolution, and thus cannot be freely set by a user of the magnetic resonance system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method and a device in order to control the workflow of an MR measurement (data acquisition), wherein multiple slices of a predetermined volume segment of an examination subject are excited and measured in each repetition of the MR measurement with continuous table feed, particularly in such a method and device wherein the MR signals are acquired with the SMS technique ("Sliding MultiSlice" technique).
2. Description of the Prior Art
The SMS technique is a special axial multislice measurement with continuous feed of a patient bed during an MR measurement. Measurements with table driven continuously through the magnets of the magnetic resonance system serve to expand the "field of view" (FOV) in the direction of the table displacement and can simultaneously limit the measurement area within the magnet. Concurrent with the continuous table feed is the acquisition of the expanded field of view in multiple stations given a stationary table. After all data of a station are acquired, the patient is moved with the patient bed to the next station and exposed to the measurement during the travel. Given axial multislice measurements with continuous table feed, the examination region or the volume within the patient from which images should be acquired is normally subdivided into multiple slice stacks. Given simple axial multislice measurements with continuous table feed, these slice stacks are acquired in succession. During the measurement of one of these slice stacks, the measurement position follows a fixed anatomical position within the examination subject driven with the table. The speed with which the table is continuously moved is selected such that the travel path during the acquisition time of a slice stack is, for example, equal to twice the length of a slice stack. It is thereby possible for corresponding slices of different slice stacks to be measured identically. Different slices of a slice stack or different slices of different slices stacks are measured differently, however. In particular, k-space lines of the slices that correspond to one another are measured (acquired) at different positions within the magnetic resonance system. This has the following disadvantage.
Since the B0 field of every real magnetic resonance system is not ideally homogeneous, and the gradient fields are not ideally linear, similar MR measurements at different positions lead to different distortions of the calculated images. After the composition of the images, this leads to discontinuities at the borders of the slice stacks since anatomically adjacent slices that are associated with different slice stacks occupy opposite positions within the respective slice stack. This problem is addressed and improved by the SMS technique, for example.
The SMS technique described by H.-P. Fautz and S. A. R. Kannengiesser in "Sliding Multislice (SMS): A New Technique for Minimum FOV Usage in Axial Continuously Moving Table Acquisitions", Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 55:363-370 (2006) allows acquisition-dependent differences between different slices of a slice stack to be minimized in comparison to other acquisition techniques. However, specific requirements with regard to the number of slices of a slice stack and with regard to the user parameters defining a resolution of the achieved imaging must be satisfied in specific MR measurements in which multiple slices are acquired with continuous table feed (for example in the SMS technique).

Method and device for controlling acquisition of magnetic resonance data in a magnetic resonance apparatus