A warranty registration method for a wireless remote unit in a communication network is provided wherein the communication network includes a wireless network and a message center. Initial activation of a wireless remote unit prompts retrieval of warranty information specific to the wireless remote unit. A message is constructed based on the warranty information and subsequently transmitted to the message center. The message center receives the warranty information and transfers it to a warranty center.

This invention relates to techniques for registering the warranty of a wireless remote unit in a communication network. More particularly, this invention relates to methods for a user of the wireless remote unit to register with a warranty center by utilizing a wireless-specific transmission medium.
Warranty registration is often ignored by the purchasers of warranted products because of the tedious process of completing a warranty form with various required information and mailing in the completed form. Even the purchasers of electronic products which may carry a fairly certain anticipation of repair needs in the near future avoid submitting the warranty registration until actual breakdowns. This causes disruption to the manufacturers of products because the manufactures may not be able to accurately estimate the costs related to the repairs covered under the warranty.
Due to the recent increase in the number of personal computers that are equipped with modem capability, the process for registering a warranty has been dramatically automated. The purchasers of new personal computers are requested in its first use to input warranty-related information and, by utilizing the modem, to register with the personal computer manufacturer for warranty service via a telecommunication network.
However, wireless remote units such as cellular telephones have not seen the benefits of such automatic warranty registration processes due to the complexities and difficulties associated with transferring data via a wireless network in contrast to the landline trunks of a public telecommunication network.
Another shortcoming of present-day warranty administration for wireless remote units (e.g., cellular telephones) is the questionable accuracy of the start date of the warranty period. For example, the date information may be missing from the paper warranty form that is submitted. This invention improves upon the current methods by automatically identifying and storing the activation date of the wireless remote unit.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide methods for efficiently registering wireless remote units utilizing a wireless transmission medium.

Methods for registering a warranty for a wireless device


Services and service components in a broadcast network may be mapped to disparate physical layer transmission channels (PLPs) using logical layer pipes (LLPs). The use of LLPs allows different service components of a single service to be mapped to physical layer transmission channels (PLPs). Accordingly, service components may be shared among different services. Additionally or alternatively, different functions (e.g., different error detection or correction protocols) may be applied to each service components of a service. A receiver may identify services, service components and corresponding PLPs based on LLP identifiers. The receiver may then access and receive desired services and service components through the identified PLPs.

Content and other services broadcast in a network may often include many service components. For example, a high definition video may include a standard definition component that provides a base amount of content data and a high definition component that supplements the base content data with high definition information. In current broadcast protocols, such service components are mapped to and carried in a physical layer—according to e.g. the OSI model—through pipes. A physical layer pipe provides a transmission channel through which a sender may transmit data as raw bits to one or more receiving devices. However, current protocols require that all service components of a given service be mapped to the same pipe. Accordingly, components cannot be shared between different services, increasing the resources necessary to broadcast multiple services at once. Additionally, requiring that service components be mapped to the same pipe can inhibit different functions such as error correction or error protection at different strengths from being applied to different components.

Mapping service components in a broadcast environment


A valve (100, 200, 300) includes a material with a first side surface (114, 214), a second side surface (116, 216), defining between them a thickness of the material. The material includes at least two self-sealing slits (126, 130, 226, 230) extending through the thickness and includes at least one frangible portion (150, 250) extending laterally between the at least two slits (126, 130, 226, 230) for at least part of said thickness of the material. The material includes confronting, openable portions along the at least two slits (126, 130, 226, 230) to define a normally closed orifice to minimize communication through the valve (100, 200, 300). The openable portions are constrained by the at least one frangible portion (150, 250) from moving away from each other into an open condition.

One type of valve is a flexible, resilient, self-closing, slit-type valve that can be mounted at an opening or port of a package or container of a fluent substance, or alternatively mounted within a conduit for a fluent substance. Such valves typically have a single slit or have multiple slits which define a normally closed orifice in an initially closed configuration or condition. The orifice opens to permit flow therethrough in response to either a sufficient pressure differential acting across opposite sides of the valve, or in response to mechanical engagement by a sufficiently rigid article such as a probe, cannula, conduit, or feed/drain tool inserted through the valve. Such valves that open in response to a pressure differential are typically designed so that they automatically close to seal or shut off flow therethrough in response to a sufficient reduction of the pressure differential acting across the valve. Similarly, mechanically engageable valves are typically designed so that they automatically close to seal or shut off flow therethrough upon removal of the engaging article.
A conventional valve 20 is shown in FIGS. 1-6, for use in a container of a fluent substance (not illustrated). The valve 20 is flexible, resilient, pressure-openable, self-closing, and of the slit-type. Forms of such a type of valve 20 are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,839,614 and 8,678,249. The descriptions of those patents are incorporated herein by reference thereto to the extent pertinent and to the extent not inconsistent herewith.
The conventional valve 20 is suitable for use with fluent substances, such as liquids and gases, including, inter alia, beverages, lotions, and creams. The conventional valve 20 is preferably molded as a unitary structure (i.e., one-piece structure) from a single substance or material which is flexible, pliable, somewhat elastic, and resilient. This can include elastomers, such as a synthetic, thermosetting polymer, including silicone rubber, such as the silicone rubber sold by Dow Corning Corporation in the United States of America under the trade designation D.C. 99-595 and RBL-9595-40. Another suitable silicone rubber material is sold in the United States of America under the designation Wacker 3003-40 by Wacker Silicone Company.
The conventional valve 20 has an initially "closed", unactuated, substantially unstressed, rest condition or position, and can be forced to an "open" position or condition (not illustrated) when a sufficiently high pressure differential acts across the valve 20, or when the valve 20 is engaged by a probe or other sufficiently rigid article.
With reference to FIG. 5, the conventional valve 20 has a first side surface 22 and a second side surface 24. In one known application, the first side surface 22 faces an interior of a fluent substance container and the second side surface 24 faces an exterior, ambient environment.
The conventional valve 20 has a peripheral attachment portion or mounting flange 26. The peripheral portion 26 is for being mounted or attached to a container of a fluent substance. Typically, this may be achieved through a retention structure or ring (not illustrated) that can mate with a feature on the container (not illustrated) on which the valve 20 may be installed.
Still referring to FIG. 5, extending laterally inwardly from the peripheral attachment portion 26 is a generally annular, intermediate portion or sleeve 28 that connects the peripheral attachment portion 26 to a head portion 30. The head portion 30 is flexible and resilient. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the head portion 30 has a generally circular configuration in plan view. The peripheral attachment portion 26, intermediate portion 28, and head portion 30 are oriented in a generally circular configuration and concentric relationship about a central axis 31 (FIGS. 4 and 5). A fluent substance can be dispensed (i.e., discharged) through the conventional valve 20 in a discharge flow direction generally along the axis 31 when the valve 20 opens. A probe can also be used to engage and open the valve 20 (not illustrated in FIGS. 1-6).
With reference now to FIG. 3, the head portion 30 has a normally closed orifice defined by a pair of intersecting, major slits 32 radiating laterally or radially from the center of the head portion 30. The head portion 30 further has a plurality of minor slits 36 branching from the radially outward ends of each one of the major slits 32. Each of the major slits 32 and the minor slits 36 extend transversely, fully through the thickness of the head portion 30 from the first side surface 22 to the second side surface 24.
The major slits 32 define four, generally pentagonal-shaped, equally sized openable portions or major petals in the valve head portion 30. The minor slits 36 define four, generally triangular-shaped, equally sized openable portions or minor petals in the head portion 30. Each major petal has a plurality of transverse faces defined by the major slits 32, and two of such transverse faces are visible in FIGS. 5 and 6. As can be seen in FIGS. 1-6, each such transverse face seals against a confronting transverse face of an adjacent major petal when the conventional valve 20 is closed.
Likewise, each minor petal has a pair of diverging transverse faces defined by the minor slits 36, and each transverse face seals against a confronting transverse face of an adjacent minor petal when the conventional valve 20 is closed. Forms of such types of slits and petals are disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 8,628,056. The description of that patent is incorporated herein by reference thereto to the extent pertinent and to the extent not inconsistent herewith.
The conventional valve 20 illustrated in FIGS. 1-6 can be opened in a number of ways. For example, a probe (such as the probe 102 illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 15 for a different valve), cannula, feed/drain tool, or other rigid article can be pushed against either side of the head portion 30 and through the head portion 30 so that the openable portions deflect to accommodate penetration by the probe. The conventional valve 20 can alternatively open when it is subjected to a sufficient pressure differential (e.g., a higher pressure on the first side 22 of the head portion 30 than on the second side 24 of the head portion 30, or vice versa).
The inventors of the present invention have discovered that, at least in some applications, a conventional valve (such as the valve 20 illustrated in FIGS. 1-6) may prematurely open and/or a fluent substance may undesirably leak through the valve after the initially closed valve is installed on a container or other type of fluent substance-containing system. Various fluent substances or products (including oils, lotions, creams, gels, liquids, food items, pharmaceuticals, granules, powders, etc.) may be packaged in a rigid, flexible, or collapsible container or contained within a system. Premature, inadvertent, or unplanned ingress or egress of a fluent substance through the valve may result in contamination of a product on one side of the valve or may result in premature or unwanted loss or release of the product from the system. Such instances of ingress or egress may occur during shipping, handling, sterilization, or storage of a container on which the valve is installed (especially if, for example, the container is subjected to impact, heating (such as during pasteurization), or other pressure increasing or decreasing conditions on one side of the valve).
The inventors of the present invention have determined that for at least some applications in which some types of fluent substances are contained within a package or container, it may be desirable to provide an improved valve that can eliminate, or at least reduce or minimize, the above-described, undesirable, premature valve opening events and/or ingress or egress leakage events.
The inventors of the present invention have considered that preventing leakage through, or premature opening of, a slit valve may be effected with a valve having an initially closed slit that is fully or partially sealed or coated on at least one side of the valve so as to leave a frangible coating that must be broken to initially open the valve. While such a coated valve can work well for its intended purposes in some applications, the inventors of the present invention have discovered that such a coated valve may not be desirable in some other applications for reasons relating to cost, manufacturing complexity or difficulty, operation, etc. The inventors of the present invention have discovered that for at least some applications, it would be desirable if at least some portion of a valve can be provided with an improved structure that can initially seal, maintain, or constrain the valve operable portions in a closed position or condition until the structure is ruptured during an initial opening process of the improved valve.
The inventors of the present invention have further determined that for at least some applications in which an article such as a probe, cannula, conduit or feed/drain tool is inserted through a valve, it may be desirable to provide a valve having both (1) improved sealing properties described above, and (2) a minimally increased opening force necessary to initially open the valve, when compared to the opening force of a conventional or prior art valve.
The inventors of the present invention have also determined that it would be desirable to provide, at least for one or more types of applications, an improved valve that can be configured for use with a fluent substance container so as to have one or more of the following advantages: (1) ease of manufacture and/or assembly, (2) relatively low cost of manufacture and/or assembly, (3) reduced unit-to-unit variability of the required initial valve opening force exerted by an engaging article or pressure differential, and (4) accommodation of the manufacture of the valve by means of efficient, high-quality, large-volume techniques with a reduced product reject rate to produce valves with consistent operating characteristics.
The inventors of the present invention have discovered how to provide such a valve that includes novel, advantageous features not heretofore taught or contemplated by the prior art, and which can accommodate designs having one or more of the above-discussed benefits or features.


A method for evaluating wellbore integrity including introducing a drill to a surface of a casing encompassing an annulus, enclosing the drill in a housing hydraulically isolating the surface, drilling through the casing and into cement surrounding the casing, observing a pressure of the fluid, and using the pressure observation and a drill position to evaluate a presence of a defect and a location of the defect. Apparatus for evaluating wellbore integrity including a probe comprising a drill, wherein the probe is hydraulically isolated from the wellbore, a valve that encompasses the drill, a pressure gauge to measure the pressure of the fluid within the housing, a pressure gauge to measure the pressure in the system outside the housing, and equipment to compare the pressure measurements and the position of the drill and to evaluate a presence and a location of the defect.

Well-bore zonal isolation is a very important requirement for both geological storage of CO2, and oil and gas production. It is a prerequisite for efficient and safe operation. Presence of micro-annuli, isolation defects or poor quality cementing facilitates hydraulic communication, thus allowing fluid migration, and pose a safety and contamination risk. Lack of proper isolation leads to costly treatment facilities, well intervention and operational interruptions. Isolation is achieved by pumping cement through the annulus between the casing and the formation.
In CO2 sequestration and oil and gas wells, estimating the quality of the annular isolation and repairing the cement where necessary is important for preventing potential leaks and fluid contamination. The presence of a mudcake adjacent to the formation and the lack of slip at the walls may lead to unfilled annuli during cementing. Cracks and micro-annuli may also form during setting and shrinkage, and radial cracks may be initiated due to expansion of the casing during pressurization. Such imperfections in cement facilitate inter-zonal migration. Additionally chemical alteration of cement is also complex and depends on thermodynamics, kinetics and diffusion of reactive species leading to reaction fronts. Both mechanical and chemical processes can cause radial and azimuthal variations in the cement properties. The ability to detect the presence of micro-annuli or isolation defects and where possible, quantitatively estimate cement transmissibility is crucial for ensuring project safety.
The quality of cement in the annulus is traditionally evaluated by ultrasonic measurements. These measurements, however, provide only qualitative evaluation of hydraulic isolation and are not suitable for volumetric estimation of subtle cement defects or cement transmissibility.
Other work has focused on techniques to quantify cement permeability in the annulus. These methods are based on the relationship between the observed pressure and the flow rate through a pressure probe set behind the casing. The flow rate may in turn be expressed in terms of the decompression characteristics of the fluid in the tool. Elimination of the flow rate allows one to obtain an explicit expression for the pressure decay in terms of permeability in the local region around the probe. Significant variation in the permeability estimates obtained at progressive depths of probe penetration within the cemented annulus could be interpreted as an indication of the cement permeability alteration. Although these procedures could be used to detect the changes in hydraulic isolation of the cement sheath, they do not provide any information on the presence and size of the isolation defects—a key input into the remedial action plan.

Detection and quantification of isolation defects in cement


The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for magnetic nanoparticle temperature imaging. Particularly, the present methods involve applying different combinations of magnetic fields to magnetic nanoparticles placed in a one-dimensional space, collecting AC magnetization signals of the magnetic nanoparticles, and analyzing the collected signals to obtain in vivo temperature information of the one-dimensional space. Different exciting magnetic fields are applied to the magnetic nanoparticles, so that one-dimensional temperature imaging is transformed into single-point temperature measurement of each minizone, and one-dimensional temperature imaging can be precisely and quickly achieved without knowing the concentration distribution of the magnetic nanoparticles.

In-vivo temperature imaging refers to temperature imaging of tissues of a complete and survival individual. In the biomedical field such as hyperthermia cancer therapy, as it is so difficult to obtain temperature field distribution information in vivo accurately that many medical treatments cannot be used effectively. At present, in-vivo temperature measurement is categorized as invasive measurement and non-invasive measurement. Invasive measurement is simple and is able to monitor temperature of a lesion directly with high accuracy in real time. However, it is highly traumatic, the probe insertion tends to cause transfer of infected cells, the radiation of a heating source have affect on the probe directly may leading to decrease of measuring accuracy, and the measured temperature data is a point temperature which cannot construct temperature field distribution of the whole lesion. Meanwhile, non-invasive measurement can avoid wound infection or proliferation of cancer cells effectively and realize real-time imaging of an in-vivo temperature field with comparatively high accuracy, which enables it to have widely potential applications in the biomedical field.
Non-invasive measurement mainly includes infrared temperature measurement, ultrasonic temperature measurement, NMR temperature measurement and magnetic nanoparticle remote temperature measurement. Infrared temperature measurement measures temperature of a measured object according to infrared radiation intensity thereof, which is applicable for surface temperature measurement of objects instead of temperature field measurement deeply in tissues, and is vulnerable to emissivity of an object and aerosol particles. The key of ultrasonic temperature measurement is to measure propagation time of an ultrasonic accurately, which requires to measure acoustic characteristics and temperature characteristics of tissues in advance. However, temperature characteristics of tissues are instable and differ greatly therebetween, which affects temperature measurement significantly. NMR temperature measurement features high price and limited space resolution and temperature resolution, and is unfavorable for widespread applications. Non-invasive temperature field imaging by magnetic nanoparticles may overcome the above shortcomings, by which in-vivo temperature imaging may be realized thereby monitoring a hyperthermia cancer therapy process in real-time so as to make adjustments timely and effectively.
However, current non-invasive in-vivo temperature measurement method based on magnetic nanoparticles can only realize single-point temperature measurement instead of obtaining temperature field distribution deeply in tissues. Besides, accuracy of temperature measurement is affected by concentration distribution of magnetic nanoparticles deeply in tissues. Therefore, it is an urgent problem to be resolved in the field of magnetic nanoparticle hyperthermia cancer therapy that developing a method capable of realizing in-vivo temperature field imaging without knowing concentration distribution of magnetic nanoparticles.

Magnetic nanoparticle temperature imaging method and magnetic nanoparticle temperature imaging system

HUAZHONG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


An object to be processed 1 comprising a substrate 4 and a plurality of functional devices 15 formed on a front face 3 of the substrate 4 is irradiated with laser light L while locating a converging point P within the substrate 4, so as to form at least one row of a divided modified region 72, at least one row of a quality modified region 71 positioned between the divided modified region 72 and the front face 3 of the substrate 4, and at least one row of an HC modified region 73 positioned between the divided modified region 72 and a rear face 21 of the substrate 4 for one line to cut 5. Here, in a direction along the line to cut, a forming density of the divided modified region 72 is made lower than that of the quality modified region 71 and that of the HC modified region 73.

Conventionally known as this kind of art is a laser processing method which irradiates a wafer-like object to be processed with laser light while locating a converging point within the object, thereby forming a plurality of rows of modified regions within the object along a line to cut and using the modified regions as a cutting start point (see Patent Document 1, for example).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-205180

Laser beam machining method and semiconductor chip


A method and apparatus are provided for catching-up on viewing a program on a viewing device. The apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention includes a storing mechanism configured for simultaneously recording and playing back digital video and audio streams. A controller is configured to control the storing mechanism to record and play back the digital video and audio streams. The controller is also configured to determine an accelerated playback speed that allows a viewer to catch-up to a real time viewing of the program. A playback mechanism operatively coupled between the storing mechanism and the viewing device is configured to control a playback speed of the video and audio streams provided to the viewing device from the storage mechanism in accordance with the accelerated playback speed.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to video viewing and, in particular, to a method and apparatus for catch-up video viewing.
2. Background Description
Conventional video recording/playback devices such as video cassette recorders allow for recording and playback of a video stream (as well as the accompanying audio stream). However, the two functions of recording and playback are mutually exclusive. That is, only one function may be performed at a given time.
When the telephone rings during television viewing and the viewer picks up the phone to engage in conversation (or the viewer is called away from the television for some other reason), the viewer either misses part of the television program or has to quickly start taping the television program. In the latter case, the viewer can wait until the television program is over and then rewind the tape to watch the missed parts. Alteratively, if the user desires to immediately watch the missed parts upon termination of the telephone call, the user must use a second recording/playback device to record the remainder of the television program while the user watches the missed parts from the first recording/playback device. Clearly the cost of owning two recording/playback devices may be prohibitive to some people. Moreover, the use of two recording/playback devices inconveniently requires the viewer to coordinate his efforts between the two devices.
Thus, it would be desirable and highly advantageous to have a method and apparatus that allows a user to watch missed parts of a program while simultaneously recording the remainder of the program.
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for catching-up on viewing a program such as a television program.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method for catching-up on viewing a program on a viewing device includes the step of recording the program, when a first time instance is identified corresponding to a viewer not viewing the program. An accelerated viewing speed is then calculated that allows a viewer to catch-up to a real time viewing of the program. The speed is based on at least a difference between the first time instance and a second time instance when the viewer is ready to resume viewing of the program. A portion of the program is played back at the accelerated viewing speed while recording a subsequent portion of the program, until the viewer is caught-up to the real time viewing of the program.
In another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus for catching-up on viewing a program on a viewing device includes a storing mechanism configured for simultaneously recording and playing back digital video and audio streams. A controller is configured for controlling the storing mechanism to record and play back the digital video and audio streams, and for determining an accelerated playback speed that allows a viewer to catch-up to a real time viewing of the program. A playback mechanism operatively coupled between the storing mechanism and the viewing device is configured for controlling a playback speed of the video and audio streams provided to the viewing device from the storage mechanism in accordance with the accelerated playback speed.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Method and apparatus for catch-up video viewing


Methods of injecting curable material within a bone structure, such as vertebroplasty, include locating a distal end of an access cannula within the bone structure. A channel creating device is inserted into a cannula lumen. A distal segment of the channel creating device is distally advanced from cannula distal end and into the bone structure. A curved channel is created in the bone structure with the distally advancing distal segment. A distal portion of a cavity creating device is then inserted into the cannula lumen, with the distal portion including an expandable body carried by an elongated body. The distal portion is distally advanced, following a path of the curved channel. The expandable body is transitioned to the expanded state to form a cavity in the bone structure. Finally, curable material is delivered to the cavity.

The present disclosure relates to systems and methods for stabilizing bone structures. More particularly, it relates to systems and methods for forming a cavity inside a bone structure, such as a vertebral body, and delivering a stabilizing material into the cavity.
Surgical intervention at damaged or compromised bone sites has proven highly beneficial for patients, for example patients with back pain associated with vertebral damage.
Bones of the human skeletal system include mineralized tissue that can be generally categorized into two morphological groups: "cortical" bone and "cancellous" bone. Outer walls of all bones are composed of cortical bone, which has a dense, compact bone structure characterized by a microscopic porosity. Cancellous or "trabecular" bone forms the interior structure of bones. Cancellous bone is composed of a lattice of interconnected slender rods and plates known by the term "trabeculae".
During certain bone-related procedures, cancellous bone is supplemented by an injection of a palliative (or curative) material employed to stabilize the trabeculae. For example, superior and inferior vertebrae in the spine can be beneficially stabilized by the injection of an appropriate, curable material (e.g., PMMA or other bone cement or curable material). In other procedures, percutaneous injection of stabilization material into vertebral compression fractures, by, for example, transpedicular or parapedicular approaches, has proven beneficial in relieving pain and stabilizing damaged bone sites. Such techniques are commonly referred to as vertebroplasty. Other skeletal bones (e.g., the femur) can be treated in a similar fashion. Regardless, bone in general, and cancellous bone in particular, can be strengthened and stabilized by palliative insertion or injection of bone-compatible material.
Using vertebroplasty as a non-limiting example, a conventional technique for delivering the bone stabilizing material entails placing an access cannula with an internal stylet into the targeted delivery site (i.e., the vertebral body). The access cannula and stylet are used in conjunction to pierce the cutaneous layers above the hard tissue to be supplemented, then to penetrate the hard cortical bone of the vertebra, and finally to traverse into the softer cancellous bone underlying the cortical bone. Once positioned in the cancellous bone, the stylet is removed, leaving the access cannula in an appropriate, lodged position for delivery of curable material (e.g., via a needle or tube inserted through the access cannula) to the trabecular space of the vertebral body that in turn reinforces and solidifies the target site.
In some instances, an effectiveness of the procedure can be enhanced by forming a cavity or void within the cancellous bone, and then depositing the curable material in the cavity. For example, a balloon or other expandable device can be initially deployed and then expanded. This action, in turn, compresses cancellous bone to form a cavity. To minimize the duration of the procedure and number of tools required, it is desirable to use the same access cannula to first guide delivery of the cavity forming device, and subsequently to guide delivery of the curable material. Stated otherwise, one desirable procedure entails initially locating and lodging a distal end of the access cannula within the bone, immediately adjacent the target site. The cavity forming device is then delivered through the access cannula to the target site and then operated to form the cavity. In this regard, the access cannula is normally a metal tube rigidly defining a central axis. Conventional cavity forming devices typically include a longitudinally linear shaft carrying the expandable body. With this linear configuration, the shaft/expandable body progress from the access cannula into the bone structure along a relatively straight or linear path that is coaxial with the access cannula's central axis. While viable, this linear approach may inhibit the surgeon's ability to form the cavity at a desired location. For example, with vertebroplasty, the confined nature of the inner vertebral body and surrounding anatomy oftentimes necessitates insertion of the access cannula immediately adjacent one of the vertebra's pedicles. This access site, in combination with the linear configuration of the access cannula and expandable body-carrying shaft, dictates that the expandable body can only be located in a relatively limited area in line with the access cannula's central axis. In some instances, this restricted spatial location of the expandable body relative to the desired target site may not be optimal.
In light of the above, a need exists for improved systems and methods for forming a cavity in a compromised bone site, such as a vertebral body, and for delivering stabilizing material to the so-formed cavity.

Systems and methods for forming a cavity in, and delivering curable material into, bone


A planer clamp assembly includes a pair of side rails, a pair of clamps having at least one hole, at least one leveler, the leveler including a screw and a cam, the cam including a lobe and the cam being configured to raise and lower the screw in a generally perpendicular direction with respect to the clamps when the cam is rotated about a generally parallel axis with respect to the clamps and at least one bar. The bar is configured to be secured between the pair of side rails. Each of the holes included in the pair of clamps are configured to slidably accept the bar thereby allowing the pair of clamps to slide freely about the bar between the pair of side rails.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to woodworking planers and, more particularly, to a planer clamp assembly used to secure and position a piece of rough sawn lumber such that the lumber may be passed through the planer to be milled.
2. Background Art
Woodworkers and others using wood to create toys, furniture and the like often begin their projects with a piece of rough sawn wood or lumber. It is generally far more economical to begin a woodworking project with a piece of rough sawn lumber or wood rather than lumber that has already been milled to a certain specification by a wood mill. Thickness planers are one tool that has been used by woodworkers for many years as a means of smoothing and leveling a piece of rough sawn lumber. Typically, planers are a second or third step in the evolution of preparing a piece of rough sawn lumber for use in woodworking projects.
In general, the evolution of a piece of rough sawn lumber begins with a jointing function to establish a datum or flat surface. Typically, an edge may be jointed with the jointer to create an edge datum. Once the edge datum is established a surface of the wood may be run through the jointer to create a surface datum. Many passes though the jointer may be completed in an attempt to create a very flat and straight edge or surface. The initial edge datum and surface datum may be critical because the edge and surface will be the starting point for the development of the second edge and surface and the production of a final piece of lumber that may be used in a woodworking project.
Once the datums have been established, a table saw or the like may be used to create a second flat and straight edge. In this operation, the first edge is placed against a flat straight metal fence that extends parallel to the saw blade and allows the first edge to pass along the fence as the second edge is created by the saw blade. Allowing the first edge to travel along the flat and straight fence may produce the same flat and straight second edge.
With both edges established as well as a first surface, the piece of lumber or wood may now be passed though a planer to create a second flat and level surface. Typically, the piece of lumber may be positioned on a flat, straight surface or table that is connected to or positioned near the planer. Often, a wood planer may require that an initial surface datum be established so that the surface datum may be fed along the table surface. Allowing the first surface or datum of the wood to be placed on the table and fed into the planer along the table may produce the same flat, level straight second surface. The cutting tools of the planer will remove the high spots of the second surface. The piece of lumber may be fed into the planer several times to create a flat level second surface. Once a satisfactory surface has been attained, the piece of lumber may now be ready to be used in creating the toy, piece of furniture and the like. If the initial edge and surfaces are not milled to be level, smooth and straight, the second edge and surface may not be level, smooth and straight either and the piece of lumber may be useless for any project.
While the above steps or operations have been used for many years to create a finished piece of lumber ready for use in creating a piece of woodwork, there are, however, several drawbacks. First, the width of a piece of lumber that may be used in woodworking may be limited to the size of jointer and planer in use. For example, if the width of the jointer is six inches, the width of the board that may be milled is limited to six inches. While jointers of varying width may be purchased, there may be a limit to the size of the jointer due to space concerns in a small workshop and of course the expense of purchasing and operating larger equipment. The limited width of boards may be a concern in the creating of table tops. Being limited by narrow widths may mean that many of the boards may have to be assembled together to create a wider table top. For instance, if a project calls for a table top having a width of twenty-four inches, four six inch boards would need to be assembled together to create the table top thus leading to extra work to do so and a possible loss of strength at the joints as well.
Second, the surface datum created by a jointer is often dependent on the skill of the operator as well as the jointer itself. An operator generally guides the piece of wood or lumber across the jointer table and cutting blades. If the operator is not skilled and/or careful, many passes over the jointer may be required to create the smooth surface which may result in a loss of time and wasted material.
Third, as described above, the milling of a piece of rough sawn lumber may require up to three separate pieces of wood milling equipment: a jointer, a table saw and a planer. The ability to remove a single piece of equipment from the equation may free up shop space and reduce expenses to allow one to purchase a single larger piece of woodworking equipment so that larger pieces of rough sawn lumber may be milled for larger projects.
Therefore, a need exists for a woodworking planer clamp assembly that may be sized to secure and level a piece of rough sawn lumber so that the lumber may pass though a woodworking planer to create a level surface datum. The planer clamp assembly may also limit operator involvement in the planing operation and may eliminate the need for a jointing operation to create a surface datum.


Techniques are described for performing automatic generation of one or more tags associated with an image file. One or more ink annotations for a displayed image are received. Handwriting recognition processing of the one or more ink annotations is performed. A string is generated and the string includes one or more recognized words used to form the one or more tags associated with the image file. The handwriting recognition processing and generating the string are performed in response to receiving the ink annotations.

Image files, such as those containing photographs or other image data, may be tagged with one or more different types of tags, such as keywords. The keywords may be used in connection with performing subsequent operations using the image files, such as sorting and retrieval of selected image files, based on the keywords. One existing technique for tagging images with keywords provides for manually specifying the keywords, such as by a user entering the keywords using a keyboard. However, manually entering the keywords and associating them with each image file can be a cumbersome and time consuming process. Furthermore, if a user has a device with no keyboard, such as a tablet computer, it may not be possible to manually enter the keywords used in connection with the image.


The present invention relates to light-emitting devices and in particular organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). In particular, the invention relates to emitter materials in which charged metal complexes are bonded to a polymer by electrostatic interactions.

The present invention relates to light-emitting devices and in particular organic light-emitting devices (OLEDs). In particular, the invention relates to emitter materials in which charged metal complexes are bonded to a polymer by electrostatic interactions.
In recent years, a novel technology based on the use of electroluminescent materials in so-called OLEDs (organic light-emitting diodes) has been developed in the area of display and lighting technology. The first OLEDs were developed in 1987 (Tang, C. W. et al., Appl. Phys. Let. 51, 913 (1987)). The way in which OLEDs function is based on a multilayered structure which comprises an emitter layer, a hole-conduction layer and an electron-conductor layer. The layers consist predominantly of organic substrates, which can be made very thin and flexible. OLED devices can be manufactured with large surface areas as lighting elements or display screens, but also in the form of smaller displays.
In the production of OLEDs, the various organic layers are applied to a support material. To this end, two different techniques are essentially employed. In vacuum evaporation, molecules are vapour-deposited in vacuo. In a wet-chemical process, the layers are applied from a solution, for example by spin coating, ink-jet printing, doctor blading or screen-printing processes.
The way in which OLEDs function has been described in detail, for example, in H. Yersin, Top. Curr. Chem. 2004, 241. An overview of the function of OLEDs is also given in C. Adachi et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 2001, 78, 1622; X. H. Yang et al., Appl. Phys. Lett., 2004, 84, 2476; J. Shinar, "Organic light-emitting devices—A survey", AIP-Press, Springer, New York, 2004; W. Sotoyama et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 2005, 86, 153505; S. Okada et al., Dalton Trans. 2005, 1583 and in Y.-L. Tung et al., Y. Mater. Chem. 2005, 15, 460-464. An up-to-date review of the state of the art is given, for example, in "Highly Efficient OLEDs with Phosphorescent Materials", ed. H. Yersin, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany 2007.
Since the first reports of OLEDs, these devices and the materials used therein have been intensively developed further. In particular, the emitter materials employed are currently the subject of intensive research.
In particular, so-called triplet or phosphorescent emitters have recently become the focus of research. It has been found that a significantly greater electroluminescence quantum yield can be achieved with phosphorescent emitters than with so-called singlet emitters. Whereas only a transition from the excited singlet state into the singlet ground state results in emission of light in the case of singlet emitters (purely organic compounds), higher electroluminescence quantum yields are possible in the case of organometallic complexes since here light is emitted on transfer from the excited triplet state. Triplet emitters are described, for example, in WO 2004/017042 A2 (Thompson), WO 2004/016711 A1 (Thompson), WO 03/095587 (Tsuboyama), US 2003/0205707 (Chi-Ming Che), US 2002/0179885 (Chi-Ming Che), US 2003/186080 A1 (J. Kamatani), DE 103 50 606 A1 (Stöβel), DE 103 38 550 (Bold), DE 103 58 665 A1 (Lennartz), WO 2007/118671 (Yersin). Higher electroluminescence quantum yields are also achieved using phosphorescent lanthanoid complexes.
However, the known emitter materials have various disadvantages. For example, the low thermal stability and the chemical stability to water and oxygen are problematical. In addition, many emitter materials have an excessively short lifetime for use in high-quality electronic applications. There is also a further need for improvement with respect to good synthetic accessibility and manufacturing reproducibility.
A very large number of charged emitter molecules is known which have extraordinarily high emission quantum yields and in which many of the above-mentioned disadvantages do not occur. However, the bonding of charged emitters into an emitter layer of an OLED device causes problems. Owing to their lack of volatility, charged metal complexes cannot be applied by vacuum evaporation. In the case of wet-chemical application, crystallisation/salt formation causes problems. Migration of the ions in the electric field results in different potential ratios in the OLED device.
Starting from the outlined problems of the prior art and the highly promising potential of charged emitters, the object of the present invention was to make charged emitters and in particular charged phosphorescent or triplet emitter metal complexes usable for use in OLED devices.
To this end, it is necessary to restrict the mobility of the charged emitters. Immobilisation of the emitters can be achieved by bonding to a polymer. The strategy of bonding complexes covalently to polymers is described, for example, in P. K. Ng et al., Chem. Eur. J. 2001, 7, 4358; X. Chen et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 636 and in J. Hjelm et al., Inorg. Chem. 2005, 44, 1073. However, the synthetic accessibility of phosphorescent polymers with covalently bonded triplet emitters has hitherto only been possible by very complex methods. The materials can only be obtained in multistep synthetic processes and frequently in unsatisfactory yields.


A process and apparatus for installation of a lockbolt to fasten together an assembly of at least two parts having a viscous fluid such as adhesive or sealant in the interface between the two parts, inserts a lockbolt into aligned holes through the two parts and exerts a pulling force of a predetermined intermediate magnitude on the lockbolt while reacting the pulling force against opposite sides of the assembly to exert a compressive force on the assembly to squeeze the fluid out of the interface. The intermediate pulling force is maintained for a precisely timed dwell period based on an optimal period for that fluid and that temperature. After the dwell period, the pulling force is increased in magnitude while simultaneously swaging a collar into threads on the lockbolt to secure the collar on the lockbolt and secure the lockbolt in a state of tension in the hole in the assembly. The pulling force magnitude continues to increase said until the pintail breaks off the lockbolt.

This invention pertains to fastener installation, and more particularly to installation of lockbolts in assemblies having sealant or adhesive between the parts that must be squeezed out before the lockbolt is secured.
Lockbolts have been used for many years, particularly in the aerospace industry, to fasten together assemblies of parts. A lockbolt is a high strength fastener capable of rapid installation, interference fit, low weight and repeatable installation parameters conducive to quality control documentation. Lockbolts are bolts, usually made of a titanium alloy such as 6AL-4V Titanium, having a head at a headed end and annular grooves adjacent the opposite (tail) end. A grooved xe2x80x9cpintailxe2x80x9d at the tail end of the fastener provides a gripping portion by which a lockbolt tool can grip the end of the fastener for applying a pulling force. A lockbolt is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,221,152, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference
Lockbolts are installed with a tool that pulls the lockbolt to the desired tensile preload and has a swage ring for swaging an aluminum collar onto the annular groves in the fastener tail for securing the fastener after it has been pulled tight. A narrow neck between the grooved tail and the pintail provides a fracture region designed to break at a predetermined force, about flush with the swage collar, allowing speedy removal of the tool to the next fastener location.
The lockbolt is a fast and reliable fastening system, but suffers from one disadvantage: after securing the swage collar, the fastener cannot be tightened further, or xe2x80x9cretorquedxe2x80x9d, in the parlance of conventional helically threaded bolts and nuts. The grooves in the tail of a lockbolt are annular, not helical. The benefit provided by the annular grooves is that the collar cannot become loose by rotating under the influence of vibration the way a nut can, but if the collar was swaged prematurely, before proper pretension was established, it must be cut off and the lockbolt replaced to obtain a properly pretensioned fastener.
One circumstance in which the lockbolt swage collar occasionally is secured prematurely is when a viscous fluid sealant or adhesive is used in the interface between the two parts to be fastened together, as when they must produce a fluid-tight seal. One example in which sealant is used is in the wing fuel tanks of a commercial jet airplane for fluid-tight seals to prevent leakage of fuel. When an assembly is fastened together with a viscous fluid such as a sealant or adhesive in the interface, the lockbolt is pulled tight on the assembly, but a finite time is necessary before the viscous fluid can flow out of the interface under the pressure exerted by the pulling force of the fastener. This finite time varies, depending on the flow characteristics of the viscous fluid, the temperature, the spacing between adjacent fasteners, the thickness and stiffness of the part material, the pulling force, etc.
Recognizing that it was necessary to allow time for sealant and adhesive to be squeezed out of the interface, manufacturers of lockbolt equipment in the past have provided an intermediate force which mechanics can apply to the lockbolt, during which the sealant or adhesive could flow out of the interface, before application of the final pulling force ramp-up, leading to swaging the collar and fracture of the pintail. The mechanics were expected to operate the lockbolt installation equipment with a sufficient time delay between application of the intermediate pulling force on the lockbolt and the final ramp-up pulling force on the lockbolt leading to the pintail fracture. That time delay would depend on a number of factors, such as the type of sealant, the temperature, the proximity of the fastener hole to the edge of the part. etc.
An experienced mechanic has a remarkably sensitive ability to discern the correct amount of time to allow the sealant to squeeze out of the interface, and high quality assemblies have been consistently produced using the manual approach. However, the commitment of airplane mechanics to produce quality assemblies sometimes resulted in excessive delay times between the intermediate force and the final force ramp-up. Delay times on the order of a two seconds are usually appropriate, but an unusually quality conscientious mechanic would sometimes allow 3 or 4 seconds for sealant squeeze-out, which is more time than necessary. Management was reluctant to admonish such quality conscious mechanics to increase production speed for fear of sending the wrong message about quality vs. production rate, but at the same time management was concerned about excessive production time per operation.
As a consequence, the sealed assemblies produced using lockbolts have continued to be made with excellent quality but at a slower than optimal production rate. An enormous number of such fasteners is installed in a large assembly, such as an airplane wing, so those additional few seconds per fastener accumulates into a significant production time increase, and therefore cost increase, for that assembly. Thus, there has long been a need for a lockbolt installation system that automatically shifts from intermediate pressure to full pressure in the optimal time delay for sealant/adhesive to squeeze out of the interface, allowing full fastener preload to be maintained for the fastener.
Accordingly, this invention provides an improved process for installing lockbolts in assemblies having an interface between two parts in the assembly, with a viscous fluid substance such as an adhesive or sealant in the interface. The invention provides an improved apparatus for installing lockbolts in such assemblies such that an adjustable time delay is provide for exerting a partial fastener preload to allow for fluid squeeze-out before establishing full fastener preload and swaging of the lockbolt collar. The invention produces assemblies fastened at an economical production rate that have fasteners tensioned at the designated preload without relaxation therefrom by fluid squeeze-out.
These features and benefits are attained in a process and apparatus for installation of a lockbolt to fasten together an assembly of at least two parts having a viscous fluid such as adhesive or sealant in the interface between the two parts. A lockbolt is inserted into aligned holes through the two parts and tension is exerted on the lockbolt with a pulling force at a predetermined intermediate magnitude applied by the apparatus. The tension exerted on the lockbolt is reacted against opposite sides of the assembly to exert a compressive force on the assembly to squeeze the desired amount of the fluid out of the interface. The intermediate pulling force is maintained for a precisely timed dwell period based on an optimal period for that fluid and the ambient temperature. After the dwell period, the pulling force is increased in magnitude while simultaneously swaging a collar into threads on the lockbolt to secure the collar on the lockbolt and secure the lockbolt in a state of tension in the hole in the assembly. The pulling force magnitude continues to increase until the pintail breaks off the lockbolt.


Frame collisions on communication channels connecting half-duplex units and a full-duplex unit are avoided using MAC and LLC layer protocols adapted to arbitrate channel usage. One or more flags can be included in MAC and LLC packet headers and/or acknowledgements to indicate whether subsequent packet transmissions will be attempted by sending units. Units receiving set flags can hold off transmission until receiving cleared flags from the sending units. In this manner, packet collisions can be avoided.

The present invention relates generally to wireless communication systems, and in particular, to a wireless communication system that supports both full-duplex and half-duplex operation.
Multi-user, wireless packet data communication systems are known. These systems typically include full-duplex base radio sites operating in conjunction with a support infrastructure for providing interconnect, dispatch and/or Internet protocol (IP) services. The base radio sites are linked to a population of half-duplex and full-duplex mobile subscriber units by way of radio frequency (RF) communication channels.
Each base radio site controls one or more pairs of RF communication channels, where each channel pair supports mobile subscriber units (SUs). One channel of each pair is designated as an uplink channel for carrying information from the mobile subscriber unit to the base site, while the other channel is designated a downlink channel carrying information from the base site to the mobile subscriber unit. Full-duplexed base stations are capable of simultaneously transmitting on the downlink channel and receiving on the uplink channel. However, half-duplex subscriber units can only transmit or receive at any given time. Employing a combination of full-duplex base stations and half-duplex subscriber units in a system can lead to xe2x80x9ccollisionsxe2x80x9d on the RF link.
A xe2x80x9ccollisionxe2x80x9d occurs when a particular subscriber unit is transmitting a packet of data and a base station is simultaneously transmitting another packet to the same subscriber unit. When a collision occurs, at least one of the two transmitted packets will be lost. Thus, retransmission of the lost packet is sometimes required, reducing overall system throughput.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method and system that prevents the collision of transmitted packets in wireless communication systems that support both full-duplex and half-duplex units.

Method and system for data packet collision avoidance in a wireless communication system


Methods and systems directed to monitoring for the presence or progression of amyloid diseases via detection of amyloid fibrils in a sample from an individual are disclosed. An individual, or sample from an individual, is treated with a reagent including a fluorescent protein. The fluorescent protein in the reagent binds to amyloid fibrils present in the sample. Detecting a signal from fluorescent protein bound to the treated sample indicates the presence of amyloid fibrils in the sample and possible diagnosis of an amyloid disease. The presence and progression of an amyloid disease is monitored by quantifying signal intensity from samples taken over time. Treatment with a reagent including a fluorescent protein inhibits amyloid fibril formation by providing the reagent to an environment including amyloid monomers. The fluorescent protein binds to amyloid oligomers during the lag phase and/or elongation phase of amyloid fibril formation, preventing formation of mature amyloid fibrils.

Amyloid fibrils are insoluble aggregates of enzymes, proteins, polypeptides, peptides, and hormones that form long, ordered fibers including β-sheet structures. In the human body, formation of amyloid fibril related species, including protofibrils, mature fibrils and oligomers has been associated with more than 20 human diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, e.g., Huntington's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, fatal familial insomnia, familial amyloid polyneuropathy, atherosclerosis, cerebral amyloid angiopathy, transmissible spongiform encephalopathy; and diseases affecting other organs, e.g., the liver, pancreas, heart, thyroid, such as diabetes mellitus type 2, medullary carcinoma of the thyroid, cardiac arrhythmias, isolated atrial amyloidosis, rheumatoid arthritis, aortic medial amyloid, prolactinomas, heredity non-neuropathic systemic amyloidosis, dialysis related amyloidosis, Finnish amyloidosis, lattice corneal dystrophy, systemic AL amyloidosis, sporadic inclusion body myositis, etc. In addition, amyloid fibrils present in the seminal fluid have been shown to enhance HIV infectivity. Currently there is no cure for these diseases and in many cases even diagnostics, i.e., identification of the presence of amyloid fibril related species, can be performed only on postmortem tissues.

Systems and methods for binding amyloid fibrils using fluorescent protein


The present invention provides a method and device for optically extracting discrete features of an object. With this method and device, small regions of interest or features within a relatively large object are optically extracted and collated into a single, condensed image. The condensed image contains all of the features in the original object, but not the parts of the object that are between the features. Thus, the optically extracted features can be viewed at high resolution, but in a limited field of view. Examples of objects that may be optically extracted according to the invention include spots of biomaterial on a biochip, material in wells of a microtiter plate, etc. In addition, this device and method can be used for non-planar objects. In this case, the device and method allow simultaneous visualization of spatially separated features on a surface of a 3-dimensional object.

There are many applications for which features of interest are small compared to the size of the object. For example, in microarrays and other biochips, small spots of nucleic acids or other biomolecules are spatially separated into an array of spots. Similarly, in microtiter plates, substances in wells are small compared to the size of the plate. Traditional imaging systems do not allow high resolution imaging of relatively small features without a corresponding expansion of the field of view. For example, if one were to take an image of a microarray at a high enough resolution to visualize the morphology of the spots, the resultant image would be extremely large, and would likely require the viewer to pan through the image in order to visualize all of the spots. Thus, multiple image acquisition systems are often used in a confined space for imaging a single microarray. These systems require complicated software to automate visual inspection and measurement of the spots. Alternatively, one imaging system may be used that moves in order to scan different spots on the microarray. In this case, the imaging of a full microarray the can be very time consuming. Accordingly, there is a need in the art to develop methods and devices for imaging small, spatially separated features. Such methods and devices should allow high resolution images of the features to be quickly acquired and displayed in a limited field of view without the need for complex imaging software.

Imaging device for optically extracting features of an object

The Board of Trustees of the Lelland Stanford Junior University


A multi-agent type hair treatment agent comprising a first composition containing component (A) and component (B); and a second composition containing component (C), wherein the weight ratio (H)/(C) of component (H) to component (C) in the second composition is less than 1. A hair treatment method comprising the steps of applying and rinsing the first composition to hair (i) and then applying the second composition to hair (ii).                Component (A): a carboxylic acid having an inorganic value of 230 or more and 450 or less and an organic value of 50 or more and 250 or less, or a salt of the carboxylic acid        Component (B): anionic surfactant        Component (C): an aromatic sulfonic acid having a molecular weight of 300 or less or a salt thereof        Component (H): cationic surfactant.

Hair-related problems often include difficulty in straightening curling and waviness, lack of setting, and undesirable hairstyle finishing. In order to solve these problems, it is common to use a hair styling agent (wax, mist, foam, etc.) or the like, that is, cleaving and re-forming hydrogen bonds within the hair, or adhering the hair to each other. However, this process is complicated and is not sufficient from the viewpoint of facilitating shaping. In addition, the application of the treatment agent to the hair surface is not effective from the viewpoint of deterioration of feel such as smoothness or the like. For this reason, various methods of enhancing the shapeability of hair by a simple method and simultaneously providing the hair with consistency and smoothness have been investigated.
Patent Document 1 describes a hair treatment composition containing glycylglycine and a specific carboxylic acid, or even a specific aromatic sulfonic acid, as a technique for facilitating and maintaining the style while preventing the sleepiness of the hair.
Patent Document 2 describes a keratin fiber treatment agent composed of two agents, a treatment agent A containing a specific aromatic compound and a treatment agent B containing a polyvalent metal salt, as a technique which can shape keratin fibers while imparting tension/stiffness, and keeps the shape of keratin fibers for a long period of time.
Patent Document 3 describes a hair treatment agent composition containing aromatic sulfonic acids, oxyacids, silicone derivatives, and specific organic solvents as a technique for imparting excellent settability and consistency only by application to hair.    (Patent Document 1) JP-A-2010-65022    (Patent Document 2) JP-A-6-305942    (Patent Document 3) JP-A-6-298625


A new and distinct Dracaena plant named ‘PVDRAGK’ which is characterized by the combination of large, very broad foliage born on a single dark green, unbranched stem, lorate-shaped and spiraled foliage, variegated foliage which is dark green and broadly and irregularly margined yellow-green with a yellow edge, older foliage which maintains the variegation, and the stability of these characteristics from generation to generation.

Parentage: 'PVDRAGK' is a spontaneous whole-plant mutation of Dracaena frangrans 'Golden Coast' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 12,603) which was discovered at a commercial greenhouse in Monster, the Netherlands in 2016. The mutation was initially noted for its unique foliage variegation. Said mutation was isolated for further evaluation to confirm the uniformity and stability of the unique characteristics first observed. Upon confirmation of the stability and uniformity of the characteristics, the new plant was selected for commercialization.
Asexual Reproduction: Asexual reproduction of 'PVDRAGK' is accomplished by way of rooting stem cuttings. Propagation was first performed in 2016 at the inventor's commercial greenhouse in Monster, the Netherlands. Through two subsequent generations, the unique features of this cultivar have proven to be stable and true to type.


The invention comprises press bending apparatus including a continuous uninterrupted peripheral shaping rail mounted for vertical reciprocating movement for lifting a heated glass sheet from a roll conveyor and pressing it against a complementary shaping surface. Conveyor rolls are provided exteriorly of the shaping rail for advancing a sheet into position over the shaping rail, and additional separate rolls are mounted so as to be disposed within the confines of the shaping rail for supporting the sheet interiorly of the shaping rail. An arrangement is provided beneath the shaping rail for supporting and driving the interior rolls so as to permit vertical movement of the shaping rail between the interior and exterior rolls.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to apparatus for the press bending of glass sheets, and more particularly to such apparatus including specially configured conveyor rolls mounted and driven within the confines of a continuous peripheral press bending ring.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In accordance with a widely used procedure for the production of curved or bent glass sheets in large quantities as required in the mass production of glazing units for the automobile industry and the like, sheets are advanced one after another along a generally horizontal path on roll-type conveyors successively through heating and bending areas, and finally through a heat treating area wherein the bent sheets are suitably annealed or tempered, as the case may be, in accordance with the end use for which they are destined.
The glass sheets are heated to their softening point in passing through the heating area, and are then advanced into the bending area and precisely positioned therein between complementary upper and lower shaping members as by engagement of their leading edge by locating stop members projecting into the path of the advancing sheets. The properly oriented sheet is then engaged along its lower marginal of edge portions by the lower press member and lifted from the conveyor rolls to be pressed to the precise predetermined curvature between the complemental shaping surfaces of the press members.
The lower or so called female press member in such press bending apparatus is generally of ring-type construction comprising a peripheral shaping rail which engages only the marginal edges of the sheets in urging them into engagement with the complemental male shaping member. Heretofore, in order to allow the shaping rail of the lower press member to be moved vertically between its lowered and raised positions below and above the conveyor, the shaping rail has been formed of a number of individual segments disposed end-to-end to define the desired outline pattern. The adjacent ends of the segments are spaced apart to provide gaps through which the rolls of the conveyor pass as the shaping rail is raised and lowered. In bending glass sheets of generally rectangular configuration as have been commonly employed in automobiles, the shaping rails are of a substantially rectangular configuration in plan. Thus two sides, generally the long sides, can be formed of continuous segments extending parallel to and positioned between the rolls and the other two sides of the shaping rail, which are oriented normal to the rolls are formed of short segments spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the rolls. Since the rolls are of relatively small diameter in the bending section, the spaces or gaps between adjacent segments of the shaping rail can likewise be relatively small so that sagging of the heat-softened glass in the unsupported spaces between adjacent segments will be insignificant, if not non-existent.
As automobile styling has evolved, more complex and elaborate glass shapes of non-rectangular outline have been employed. The similarly configured shaping rails required to bend the glass parts often have portions intersecting the rolls at acute angles. Consequently, the spacing between adjacent shaping rail segments must be increased to the point that difficulty is encountered in press bending the parts to the desired curvatures or shapes due to the tendency of the heat-softened sheets to sag between the widely spaced-apart shaping rail segments. In order to alleviate this problem there has been suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 4,116,662, conveyor rolls formed of two sections individually driven for rotation and rigidly interconnected at their adjacent inner ends so as to require a minimum of clearance openings in the associated press shaping rail to accommodate relative vertical movement between the shaping rail and conveyor rolls. Such rolls nevertheless require that the shaping rail be provided with gaps for accommodating the interconnecting members, as well as mechanism for pivoting the rolls between lowered and raised positions in conjunction with the vertical reciprocating movement of the shaping rails.

Glass sheet conveying and bending apparatus


A system and a method in which channel independent linear transfer functions or calibration curves for color devices such as printers, scanners and displays are individually created. The calibration curves are created using a low cost light intensity sensor. Scaling constants are determined and desired linear aim response curves are scaled together to maintain a desired color balance. The color saturation effects are also removed by scaling or normalizing to some maximum input drive level that does not saturate any of the colors. The characterization curves are rotated about the desired linear aim response curves to create compensation curves for each the characterization curves adapted to the particular device response characteristics. The dynamic range maximized, linearized, color balanced and saturation compensation curves are loaded into conversion tables which convert input values into the appropriate output values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for adaptively characterizing and calibrating color document scanners, color display units and color printers and, more particularly, the present invention is directed to providing-unique calibration transform for each device using a low cost achromatic sensor and where the calibration transform minimizes device population variance by providing a method, executable by the user of a color management system, producing constrained channel independent linearization, aim or target curve scaling to achieve a desired color balance and aim curve scaling for channel saturation correction.
2. Description of the Related Art
In desk top (low cost) color image processing or management systems which include peripheral devices, such as document scanners, color cathode ray tube monitors or displays and color printers, consistent color appearance matching between peripheral devices is necessary. Precise color rendering throughout such systems relies on the color stability, consistency and accuracy of the peripheral devices.
Calibration is an integral part of a low cost color management system. Numerous manufacturers market devices and/or software packages which addresses the peripheral calibration requirement with various levels of calibration accuracy. A majority of these solutions are limited to monochrome calibration for cost reasons, and thus are not as accurate as those products incorporating full colorimetric measurement and correction. It is generally though erroneously felt that monochrome calibration is sufficient for the desk top environment.
For scanner calibration, Savitar, markets two solutions aimed at the high and low end markets. The high-end solution, sold under the name SpectraPlate/35, utilizes a numerical analysis package in conjunction with a target containing a linear variable spectral filter and a neutral density gray ramp. The neutral density ramp is used to measure and correct tone scale deficiencies. This ramp exhibits constant transmission characteristics across the visible spectrum and varies linearly by two orders of magnitude in transmission from D-min to D-max. The linear variable filter is utilized to balance the scanner's red, green and blue (RGB) channels to neutral gray across the entire dynamic range of the device. It functions as an interference wedge that spectrally separates the scanner's illumination system into a continuous distribution (in a manner similar to a prism) which is then imaged onto a charge coupled device (CCD) imager. Fiducial marks on the target permits correlation of pixel data to wavelength. This enables the scanner to obtain its spectral response without external instrumentation. Savitar's low end product, ScanMatch, utilizes a 24 patch colorimetric target as a reference, thus enabling accurate colorimetric calibration with in target tolerance. Under this approach, the target is scanned by the device to be calibrated using either the ScanMatch application or some other program containing the appropriate device drivers. The resulting digital data file is processed by the ScanMatch application where data extraction and transform generation occurs. Transform table construction is simply performed by building a model linking scanned data to previously defined reference data that was derived from the target.
Vendors such as RasterOps, Radius, SuperMac and Barco market closed-looped monitor calibration packages which include various combinations of instrumentation (typically a colorimeter), signal correction electronics and control software for automated data acquisition and numerical analysis. Those systems contain or are capable of supporting colorimeters to provide color balance calibration by modifying look-up tables or a color correction matrix. Colorimetric calibration yields optimal results, but is excessively cost prohibitive, therefore, is usually instituted on high end systems. Those packages that do not support this calibration assume a nominal phosphor characteristic in their correction matrix.
The Radius and SuperMac Technology's SuperMatch products provide a low end solution limited to monochrome calibration. Both packages, which are essentially similar, contain a control and numerical analysis application and a measurement device for gun response measurements. These two solutions generate numerous test patches along the primary scales which are subsequently measured to ascertain the independent gun response. A look-up table for each gun is calculated which appropriately distorts incoming data to overcome channel irregularities to form some predetermined, idealized response. This process is generally referred to as "gamma" correction since it negates the monitor's characteristic gamma response, but the proper idealized response could help overcome systems problems such as flair, surround effect, etc. Both products also permit user selection of monitor white point which is accomplished by selecting the desired correlated color temperature and monitor type. Prestored phosphor chromaticity data for each monitor type is utilized to adjust the gamma correction curves to achieve the desired color balance. Obviously, this colorimetric calibration method is inferior when compared to others since device measurements are not performed on each device, instead they are made at the factory on a limited population.
If more exacting colorimetric calibration is required, each device must be measured independently using a colorimeter or spectralradiometer. The RasterOps CorrectColor Calibrator product serves this market by providing an integrated colorimeter with a supporting control/numerical analysis software package. This system supports user defined gamma correction and color temperature adjustments as outlined above, but uses measured phosphor chromaticity values rather than a factory standard default. The overall colorimetric calibration accuracy is then limited by measurement precision.
Printer calibration also utilizes a measurement device (usually a densitometer, colorimeter with a source or a spectrophotometer) and a software package to perform data generation and numerical analysis. The typical calibration procedure includes printing a standardized target containing tone and/or gray scales followed by patch measurement and data insertion into the software (usually automated). Some systems utilize visual matching methods in place of instrumentation which undoubtedly causes higher levels of measurement error as compared with other forms of instrumentation. Numerical analysis is then performed to generate channel independent look-up tables which correct for non-idealized printing characteristics. The exact target characteristic response is a function of the package and is defined linearly with respect to dot gain or in terms of a D-log E curve. This procedure is followed on both 3 and 4 color printers. The 4 color or "black" printer presents a special problem since the manufacturer has optimized the printing process by adding a black component in place of varying amounts of CMY (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow). These UCR (Under Color Removal) and GCR (Gray Component Replacement) algorithms are generally different for each device type and are considered proprietary knowledge of the print engine manufacturer. This information is not readily disseminated which forces the calibration system to compromise for a particular device to support all such devices.
Attempts to market low-end printer calibration tools have been limited at this point because of instrumentation cost and the recent emergence of consumer grade color printers. A need for higher accuracy rendering is just starting to emerge, thus product development efforts have not matured. Eastman Kodak Co. currently sells a calibration package to linearize a QMS (Color Script 100) printer from densitometer measurements of the tone and gray scales.

Method and apparatus for adaptive color characterization and calibration


One embodiment of the invention includes a system for operating a railway network comprising a first railway vehicle (400) during a trip along track segments (401/412/420). The system comprises a first element (65) for determining travel parameters of the first railway vehicle (400), a second element (65) for determining travel parameters of a second railway vehicle (418) relative to the track segments to be traversed by the first vehicle during the trip, a processor (62) for receiving information from the first (65) and the second (65) elements and for determining a relationship between occupation of a track segment (401/412/420) by the second vehicle (418) and later occupation of the same track segment by the first vehicle (400) and an algorithm embodied within the processor (62) having access to the information to create a trip plan that determines a speed trajectory for the first vehicle (400), wherein the speed trajectory is responsive to the relationship and further in accordance with one or more operational criteria for the first vehicle (400).

A locomotive is a complex system with numerous subsystems, each subsystem interdependent on other subsystems. An operator aboard a locomotive applies tractive and braking effort to control the speed of the locomotive and its load of railcars to assure safe and timely arrival at the desired destination. Speed control must also be exercised to maintain in-train forces within acceptable limits, thereby avoiding excessive coupler forces and the possibility of a train break. To perform this function and comply with prescribed operating speeds that may vary with the train's location on the track, the operator generally must have extensive experience operating the locomotive over the specified terrain with various railcar consists, i.e., different types and number of railcars.
However, even with sufficient knowledge and experience to assure safe operation, the operator generally cannot operate the locomotive to minimize fuel consumption (or other operating characteristics, e.g., emissions) during a trip. Multiple operating factors affect fuel consumption, including, for example, emission limits, locomotive fuel/emissions characteristics, size and loading of railcars, weather, traffic conditions and locomotive operating parameters. An operator can more effectively and efficiently operate a train (through the application of tractive and braking efforts) if provided control information that optimizes performance during a trip while meeting a required schedule (arrival time) and using a minimal amount of fuel (or optimizing another operating parameter), despite the many variables that affect performance. Thus it is desired for the operator to operate the train under the guidance (or control) of an apparatus or process that advises the application of tractive and braking efforts to optimize one or more operating parameters.

Method and apparatus for optimizing a train trip using signal information


A sample processing system is configured for analyzing, preprocessing, or carrying out other operations for a biological sample such as blood or urea. With the sample processing system, it is possible to store samples to be stored in a thermally insulated state or specimens required for accuracy control in the thermally insulated state for preventing evaporation or denaturing of the samples and specimens. Also it is possible to carry in or out the samples, rack by rack, according to necessity. Further, the sample processing system is provided with a buffer unit in a cold container having a capability for cold storage and also by accessing a sample rack at random for carrying in or out a rack with a transfer mechanism provided outside of the cold container.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sample handling system for storing and refrigerating a sample such as blood or urine sampled for checking and also for delivering a specimen required for accuracy control.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional sample handling system, a large-size cold container capable of accommodating therein 1000 or more samples is generally used for storing samples required for accuracy control in the thermally insulated state. The samples are stored and taken out with the unit of a test tube by an XYZ mechanism and a hand mechanism provided in the cold container. A known transfer path buffer used has been described, for instance, in JP-A-2005-274289.


An integrated such as a programmable integrated circuit may include input-output pins that have associated input-output circuits. An input-output circuit may include memory interface circuits, clock recovery interface circuits, shared interpolator circuitry, and selection circuitry that may be configured to convey control signals from selected interface circuits to the shared interpolator circuitry. The interpolator circuitry may receive multiple clock signals and perform phase interpolation operations on the clock signals based on the selected control signals to produce modified clock signals. The modified clock signals may be used by the selected interface circuits for communications over the input-output pins. Logic design computing equipment such as computing equipment having CAD tools may be used to configure the selection circuitry.

Programmable integrated circuits are a type of integrated circuit that can be configured by a user to implement custom logic functions. In a typical scenario, a logic designer uses computer-aided design (CAD) tools to design a custom logic circuit. When the design process is complete, the CAD tools generate configuration data. The configuration data is loaded into a programmable integrated circuit to configure the device to perform desired logic functions.
Programmable integrated circuits include input-output circuitry that is used for communications with external circuits such as memory and network devices. Because programmable integrated circuits can be configured in many different ways and are installed on many different types of boards, it can be challenging to design input-output circuitry that accommodates multiple configurations of the programmable integrated circuits, especially with ever-increasing communications speeds and performance requirements. For example, conventional integrated circuits typically include dedicated input-output circuitry at each input-output pin for each possible communications function. Communications functions include high-speed functions such as external memory communications or high-speed network communications. However, input-output circuitry for high-speed functions can include complex clock circuitry such as large multiplexers and clock phase interpolators that occupy a disproportionate amount of valuable circuit area.

Input-output circuitry for integrated circuits


One aspect of this disclosure provides a refrigerant charge compensator having an increased heat transfer surface. The housing has an internal volume and first and second ports for allowing a passage of refrigerant therethrough. The internal volume is partitioned into an indirect refrigerant passageway that extends through the housing and a refrigerant storage area. The refrigerant storage area has a storage access port and is in contact with the indirect refrigerant passageway. Also a heat pump system implementing the compensator is provided and a method of manufacturing the compensator is provided.

In heat pump systems, existing refrigerant compensators are able to adjust refrigerant charge to accommodate different amounts of refrigerant that are needed during heating and cooling cycles. Since the optimum refrigerant charge during the cooling mode is different from the refrigerant charge during the heating mode, it is necessary to adjust the refrigerant charge to get better performance at the respective operating modes for heat pump applications. Existing charge compensators comprise a tank with a vapor tube passing directly through the tank. In the cooling mode, sub-cooled liquid refrigerant further cools down and is stored in the compensator due to heat transfer because the temperature of the refrigerant vapor passing through the compensator is lower than the sub-cooled liquid refrigerant. Conversely, in the heating mode, stored refrigerant is driven from the compensator because the stored refrigerant absorbs heat from the higher temperature vapor passing through the compensator.