A method of communication between a first node and a second node for a system where a plurality of different channels is provided between said first and second node. The method comprises the step of calculating an integrity output. The integrity output is calculated from a plurality of values, some of said values being the same for said different channels. At least one of said values is arranged to comprise information relating to the identity of said channel, each channel having a different identity. After the integrity output has been calculated, Information relating to the integrity output is transmitted from one of said nodes to the other.

Various different telecommunication networks are known. A telecommunication network is a cellular telecommunication network, wherein the area covered by the network is divided into a plurality of cells. Each cell is provided with a base station, which serves mobile stations in the cell associated with the base station. User equipment, such as mobile stations, thus receive signals from and transmit signals to the base station, and thereby may communicate through the base stations. The cellular system also typically comprises a base station controller controlling the operation of one or more base stations. At least some of the user equipment in the system may be able to communicate simultaneously on one or more communication channels.
Telecommunications are subject to the problem of ensuring that the received information is sent by an authorised sender and not by an unauthorised party who is trying to masquerade as the sender. The problem is especially relevant to cellular telecommunication systems, where the air interface presents an potential opportunity for an unauthorised party to eavesdrop and replace the contents of a transmission.
One solution to this problem is authentication of the communicating parties. An authentication process aims to discover and check the identity of both communicating parties, so that each party receives information about the identity of the other party, and can trust the identity. Authentication is typically performed in a specific procedure at the beginning of a connection. However, this procedure leaves room for the unauthorized manipulation, insertion, and deletion of subsequent messages. There is a need for separate authentication of each transmitted message. This can be done by appending a message authentication code (MAC-I) to the message at the transmitting end, and checking the message authentication code MAC-I value at the receiving end.
A message authentication code MAC-I is typically a relatively short string of bits, which is dependent on the message it protects and on a secret key known both by the sender and by the recipient of the message. The secret key is generated and agreed during the authentication procedure at the beginning of the connection. In some cases the algorithm (that is used to calculate the message authentication code MAC-I based on the secret key and the message) is also secret but this is not usually the case.
The process of authentication of single messages is often called integrity protection. To protect the integrity of a message, the transmitting party computes a message authentication value based on the message to be sent and the secret key using the specified algorithm, and sends the message with the message authentication code MAC-I value. The receiving party recomputes a message authentication code MAC-I value based on the message and the secret key according to the specified algorithm, and compares the received message authentication code MAC-I and the calculated message authentication code MAC-I. If the two message authentication code MAC-I values match, the recipient can trust that the message is intact and sent by the supposed party.
Integrity protection schemes can be attacked. There are two methods that an unauthorised party can use to forge a message authentication code MAC-I value for a modified or a new messages. The first method involves the obtaining of the secret key and the second method involves providing modified or new message without knowledge of the secret key.
The secret key can be obtained by a third party in two ways:                by computing all possible keys until a key is found, which matches with data of observed message authentication code MAC-I pairs, or by otherwise breaking the algorithm for producing message authentication code MAC-I values; or        by directly capturing a stored or transmitted secret key.
The original communicating parties can prevent a third party from obtaining the secret key by using an algorithm that is cryptographically strong, by using a long enough secret key to prevent the exhaustive search of all keys, and by using a secure method for the transmission and storage of secret keys.
A third party can try to disrupt messaging between the two parties without a secret key by guessing the correct message authentication code MAC-I value, or by replaying some earlier message transmitted between the two parties. In the latter case, the correct message authentication code MAC-I for the message is known from the original transmission. This attack can be very useful for an unauthorised third party. For instance, it may multiply the number of further actions that are favorable to the intruder. Even money transactions may be repeated this way.
Correct guessing of the message authentication code MAC-I value can be prevented by using long message authentication code MAC-I values. The message authentication MAC-I value should be long enough to reduce the probability of guessing right to a sufficiently low level compared to the benefit gained by one successful forgery. For example, using a 32 bit message authentication code MAC-I value reduces the probability of a correct guess to 1/4294967296. This is small enough for most applications.
Obtaining a correct message authentication code MAC-I value using the replay attack i.e. by replaying an earlier message, can be prevented by introducing a time varying parameter to the calculation of the message authentication MAC-I values. For example, a time stamp value or a sequence number can be used as a further input to the message authentication code MAC-I algorithm in addition to the secret integrity key and the message.
In the case where a sequence of numbers are used as time varying parameters, a mechanism is used which prevents the possibility of using the same sequence number more than once with the same secret key. Typically, both communicating parties keep track of the used sequence numbers.
If there are several communication channels in use which all use the same secret key the following problem arises. A message in one communication channel associated with a given sequence number, for example n, can be repeated on another communicating channel at a suitable time, that is whenever the sequence number n is acceptable on the other channel.
It has been proposed to apply ciphering and integrity protection in the UMTS system for the third generation standard. However the method, which has been proposed, permits the identical message to be sent on two different signalling radio bearers at different times. This makes the system vulnerable to man-in-the-middle attacks. In particular, such a system may be vulnerable to the "replay attack" described above.
Typically, one single repeated signalling message does not give a significant advantage to the unauthorised third party but it is possible that the third party could try to repeat a longer dialogue in order to, for example, set-up an additional call and, thus steal parts of a connection.

Integrity check in a communication system


A mount for being releasably received on a medical apparatus and for accommodating a device adapted for insertion inside the mount includes at least two side parts including a first side part and a second side part, at least the second side part or at least a portion thereof being configured so as to pass from a first position into a second position as a result of operational arrangement of the mount on the medical apparatus and/or by operational insertion of the device into the mount. In addition, a medical apparatus includes a like mount.

A number of apparatus that are known from practice, in particular medical apparatus, comprise a device adapted to be releasably received, e.g., in recesses or depressions thereof. This device may be inserted or introduced into a portion of the medical apparatus and accordingly be separated again from the medical apparatus. Thus, e.g., accumulators or batteries integrated into dialysis machines are inserted in an exchangeable manner. These power sources must be replaced on a regular basis and are therefore arranged for easy insertion and removal. Exchangeability is generally also required in the case of other devices not serving for the energy supply of the medical apparatus.
It is an object of the present invention to propose another mount for releasably fastening or providing a device, in particular a power source, on an apparatus, in particular on a medical apparatus.
The object of the present invention is achieved through a mount having the exemplary features described below.

Mount for releasably receiving a device on a medical apparatus, and a corresponding medical apparatus


A method, computer program product, and system that include identifying a sector offset on a storage device and storing an image onto the storage device at the sector offset where the image includes an operating system. The method also includes providing the sector offset to an installation engine and, subsequent to storing the image on the storage device, initiating the installation engine to cause the operating system to be installed on the storage device using the image.

The disclosures herein relate generally to build-to-order computer systems and more particularly to a method, computer program product, and system for installing an operating system from a storage device using a sector offset. This application relates to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/315,657, filed on May 20, 1999, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Windows-Based Installation for Installing Software on Build-to-Order Computer Systems", naming Bobby G. Doran, Jr., Bill Hyden, and Terry Wayne Liles as inventors.
This application relates to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/333,786, filed on Jun. 15, 1999, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Testing Custom-Configured Software/Hardware Integration in a Computer Build-to-Order Manufacturing Process", naming Thomas Vrhel Jr., Gaston M. Barajas, Paul J. Maia, and W. D. Todd Nix as inventors.
This application relates to U.S. Pat. No. 6,041,395, filed on Dec. 3, 1997, entitled "System and Method for Changing Partition Mappings to Logical Drives in a Computer Memory", naming Alan E. Beelitz as inventor.
The patent and co-pending applications are incorporated by reference in their entirety, and are assigned to the assignee of this application.
In the process of manufacturing a build-to-order computer system, a computer manufacturer typically installs an operating system onto the build-to-order computer system. In the build-to-order model, the operating system to be installed may be selected by a customer from one of a number of different operating systems. Each operating system may come from a different operating system vendor and may have a vendor-specific installation engine for installing the operating system in a computer system. Because the installation engine for each operating system is vendor-specific, each operating system typically requires significant development effort by a computer manufacturer to incorporate the installation of a particular operating system into the manufacturing process.
It would be desirable for a computer manufacturer to be able to minimize the development effort required to incorporate an operating system in a build-to-order manufacturing process. Accordingly, what is needed is a method, computer program product, and system for installing an operating system from a storage device using a sector offset.

Method, computer program product, and system for installing an operating system from a storage device using a sector offset


A semiconductor memory device has a memory cell array in which a plurality of nonvolatile memory cells are arranged. The memory device also has word lines, bit lines connected with the memory cells by a virtual grounding scheme, a row decoder, shift registers, a write voltage control circuit for controlling voltages to be applied to bit lines, and a write voltage applying circuit for applying voltages to the bit lines. The write voltage control circuit controls the write voltage applying circuit such that when writing data 1 to a memory cell, different voltages V0 and VP are applied to two bit lines associated with the memory cell, while a same voltage V0 or VP is applied to the two bit lines when writing data 0 to the memory cell.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to a semiconductor memory device having nonvolatile memory cells such as flash memory cells or mask ROM (read only memory) cells.
In recent years, as semiconductor memories for data storage or code storage of mobile telephones, digital cameras, etc., nonvolatile memories such as flash memories in which data is not lost even if the power supply is off or the battery goes dead are frequently used.
In some of such semiconductor memories, bit lines are connected with memory cells by a virtual grounding scheme in order to reduce the chip size without reducing the storage capacity. However, when the memory cells are connected with bit lines by a virtual ground system, adjacent memory cells connected with the same word line share a bit line. Because of this, there is a problem that for example at writing to one of adjacent memory cells, drain disturbance occurs in the other memory cell.
In order to solve such a problem, there is known a semiconductor memory device in which the memory cell array is divided into some areas, the number of memory cells existing in the row direction in one area is limited to 8, 16, or the like, and write operations are carried out for the memory cells in the area on a one-by-one basis. In such a semiconductor memory device, the number of bit lines in the case that the memory cell array is divided, for example, into areas each having n (n>2) memory cells is 2(n+1)/3n (0.75 when n=8) of that in a fixed bit line system in which each two memory cells share a fixed ground wire. Thus, reduction in the chip size resulting from reduction in the number of the bit lines can be expected.
As such a semiconductor memory device, there is a previously proposed one in which the memory cell array is electrically divided into a plurality of areas using transistors, and writing to memory cells is carried out for each of the areas (see JP 2002-279789 A for example).
However, the above conventional semiconductor memory device in which the memory cell array is divided into areas each including n memory cells in the row direction needs n write operations (8 when n=8), for all of the memory cells in the memory cell array. Because of this, there is a problem that the write time becomes extremely long. In addition, the above semiconductor memory device in which the memory cell array is divided using transistors has a problem that it needs an area to form the transistors, thereby increasing the chip area on the contrary.
By the way, the information stored in a nonvolatile memory cell is determined with the help of variation in the cell currents responsive to the storage condition, it is difficult from a structure viewpoint to get perfect agreement of cell current between a plurality of memory cells in which the same information is stored. Thus, it is a common occurrence that cell current values distribute in some degree of width even if the same information is stored in a plurality of memory cells. However, if the distribution of cell current values of memory cells in which certain information is stored overlaps with the distribution of cell current values of memory cells in which other information is stored, it is difficult to correctly determine information. For this reason, programmed verify operations are carried out so that the distribution of cell currents of memory cells in which certain information is stored does not overlap with the distribution of cell currents of memory cells in which other information is stored, in other words, there is a gap between the two distributions. However, there is a problem that a gap between the distributions of cell currents goes narrower as memories become smaller, operate at lower voltage, and store more-valued data. Furthermore, disturbance (disturbance by access to other memory cells), endurance (deterioration of the rewrite characteristic of memory cells resulting from increase of the number of rewrite operations), retention (deterioration of the property of retaining stored information resulting from variation with temperature, variation with time, etc.), etc. have different degrees of influence on a plurality of memory cells. Because of this, there is a problem that the distribution conditions of cell current values are different between, for example, word lines, and thereby gaps between the distributions deviate in position.
In order to solve such a problem, conventionally, there is a semiconductor memory device in which a reference cell or reference cells are provided every word line, and the current value of the reference cell or the average current value of the reference cells is set to a reference current value, and the cell current values of memory cells from which information is to be read are compared with the reference current values to determine the information (see JP 2004-273093 A). Specifically, two kinds of reference cells are connected to word lines, and are brought into correspondence with data 0 and data 1, the average current value of the reference cells being used as a reference current value. In addition, in consideration of cell current values varying due to disturbance, program verify operations are carried out to obtain the distribution of cell current values of memory cells, and the reference current value is reset, or changed based on the obtained distribution of cell current values of memory cells.
However, the conventional semiconductor memory device has a problem that reference cells are provided every word line, so that many reference cells are required, thereby increasing the chip area. Furthermore, there is a problem that since the memory cells are affected by disturbance until the program verify operations are carried out, information may be incorrectly determined.

Semiconductor memory device and electronic equipment


A new and distinct cultivar of Gaura plant named ‘DOGAURGRAPI’, characterized by its compact and upright to outwardly spreading plant habit; vigorous growth habit and rapid growth rate; freely branching habit; freely flowering habit; bright pink-colored flowers; and good garden performance.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Gaura plant, botanically known as Gaura lindheimeri and hereinafter referred to by the name 'DOGAURGRAPI'.
The new Gaura is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands. The objective of the breeding program is to create new compact and early-flowering Gaura plants with attractive leaf and flower coloration.
The new Gaura plant originated from a cross-pollination in June, 2016 in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands of a proprietary selection of Gaura lindheimeri identified as code number GR-0007, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Gaura lindheimeri identified as code number GR14-000046-008, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Gaura plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands in June, 2017.
Asexual reproduction of the new Gaura plant by vegetative tip cuttings in a controlled environment in Aalsmeer, The Netherlands since July, 2017 has shown that the unique features of this new Gaura plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


The invention provides an on-line sampling apparatus for the metal nanoparticle fluid of the vacuum submerged arc process and the method thereof, using the principle of the pressure difference between the vacuum pump and the vacuum chamber and the constant temperature design of the sample pipeline to make the sample precisely be caught and flow into the predetermined collector, and the disadvantage of the vaporization of the sample due to the temperature rise caused by the ambient temperature can be prevented. Further, the invention integrates with a particle size analysis apparatus to carry out real time measurement and data analysis of the nanoparticle fluid with real time process characteristics, wherein the nanoparticle fluid is caught from the nanofluid process line, thus, the optimal design work of the process and the system parameters and particle quality monitoring may be proceeded efficiently.

Accordingly, the present vacuum submerged arc production method and machine thereof as a heat source are to provide an energy condition necessary for fabrication process, wherein an advantage of using the arc as the heat source of the heating system is primarily on the high power and the excellent stability; and further, the technique of arc control system is mature and the cost of establishment of the system is relatively low. After the material immersed in the cooling liquid of the vacuum chamber is excited by the arc-inducing machine to produce the arc, the temperature produced will be high enough to evaporate the material, and the nanoscale metal particle can be obtained through condensation. Due to the nanoparticles directly stored in the liquid, the nanoparticles can be carried with the cooling liquid to an area collection to be classified and selected, and then the dried particles of those can be separated from the liquid-state cooling liquid through the extraction process.
As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional vacuum submerged arc manufacture equipment 1 primarily consists of a vacuum chamber 11, an arc-inducing system 12, a cooling liquid circulatory system 13, and a pressure balance system 14. Wherein the pressure balance system 14 substantially includes a vacuum pump 141 and a switching valve 142, which are used to keep the vacuum chamber 11 under proper vacuum pressure. The deionized water is used as a dielectric liquid in the vacuum chamber 11, wherein the metal bar is located in the bottom, wherein keeps proper gap with the bar of the same material located in the arc-inducing machine 121 in the arc-inducing system 12. The arc-inducing system 12 can provide a stable arc current as the heat source of the heating system, while the arc-inducing system 12 can be used to set or adjust the important process parameters of the desired current, dischargeable time, dischargeable rest time, servo providing time, and dischargeable interval, etc. The cooling circulatory system 13 controls the switch valve 131 to make a cooling liquid 111 inside the vacuum chamber 11 achieving a stable low-temperature state, which is helpful to make crystal grain nucleation, and to simultaneously prevent the growth of the crystal grain; thus, the nanoparticles with smaller diameters and more uniform distribution can be obtained.
The patents or technical theses disclosed related to the above-mentioned on-line sampling technique, analysis technique and relevant process for the nanoparticle fluid or suspension are extremely few, and the more relevant prior patents are as below:
The analysis method and technique of the particle diameter distribution measurement and the solid composition and the concentration in the suspension (U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,844, Oct. 29, 1996): They primarily arrange the probe, sensor, and stirrer within the suspension sample, and use the decay degree from the ultrasonic emission to the received signal to decide the particle diameter inside the suspension, while the measurement scale is around the micrometer level.
Rapid fluid sampler (Taiwan R.O.C. Publication No. 120030 Utility Patent): An oil or fluid sampler, the principle thereof is to use an inlet to introduce the air and an outlet with gradually open downward funnel structure to produce the vacuum suction to proceed the sampling action.
Automatic sampling apparatus (Taiwan R.O.C. Publication No. 248309 Utility Patent): Using the siphon principle is to catch the specimens of the sample trough inside the general chemical examination instrument and rearrange new specimens; and thus the problem derived from manually replacing the sample can be avoided.
Ultrasonic enhanced submerged arc vacuum oscillation nanoparticle manufacture method and machine (R.O.C. Publication No. 506867 Patent): By using the deionized water or the discharge processed liquid as the dielectric liquid under vacuum condition, the material will be melted and evaporated instantly due to the arc discharge, and in the mean time. The disturbance and impact force from the ultrasonic oscillator make the vaporized metal tend to deflect the high-temperature melted region resulting in more uniform and precise particle dimension. Manufacturing method and machine structure for the nanoparticle material vacuum arc enclosure fluid field (Taiwan R.O.C. Patent Application Serial No. 091114909): Its characteristic is to put the original material in the quartz crucible of the vacuum chamber and induce the arc to make the material evaporated, while the cooling liquid of the enclosure fluid field will cool and condense the evaporated material floating from the quartz crucible to produce the nanoscale metal particle material with uniform distribution.
Though there are various characteristics and functions for above-mentioned relevant patents, respectively; however, there are no related patents or documents focusing on the development of the on-line sampling and detection of the nanoparticle vacuum submerged arc process (low temperature and low pressure) neither in domestic country nor in abroad.
The nanoparticle vacuum submerged arc manufacture method and machine (Taiwan R.O.C. Patent Publication No. 434067 is a novel nanoparticle manufacture method around the world, wherein the pressure and the temperature of the deionized water maintains at negative pressure approximately below 100 Torr and the range of 3° C. to 5° C., respectively, during the process. Using off-line TEM to observe the nanoparticle distribution of the Ti nanoparticles or TiO2 nanoparticles produced from pure Ti, and the major diameters of the nanoparticle distribution are within the range of 10˜200 nm. Because the process parameters effecting the nanometer generation control are numerous, the particle parameter data obtained from the present off-line particle measurement, undoubtedly, will be influenced by the problems of particle deposition phenomenon, contamination induced by the test handling process, and particle diameter distribution accuracy.
Furthermore, in the view of the optimal requirement for the process, because the amount of the manufacture parameters of the vacuum submerged arc process is plenty, and it's time-consuming for obtaining a set of parameter data, it will take about 2 hours to complete an effective sampling following the present process settings and restrictions; therefore, it is hard to effectively proceed the optimal design work of the process and the system parameters.

Apparatus for on-line sampling of metal nanoparticle fluid and technique of the same

National Taipei University of Technology


A method and system of providing private data privately when such data is requested from a VCD utilizes a communications network to communicate with a service containing the private data to determine if the data is private. Once the data is determined as being private, instead of being sent to the VCD to be broadcasted audibly, the data may be transmitted to a user's preferred device to be presented privately to the user.

The use of voice command devices has become increasingly common in today's households. Most voice command devices perform functions in response to simple voice commands. Some of these functions include responding to questions or providing certain information that a user may ask for. This information is often provided via audio output. Thus, the user may, for example, ask about the weather and the voice command device may provide the latest weather report by reading the information outload in response. Because the information is broadcasted audibly, it is possible for anyone within the immediate vicinity to hear the response. Such a public response poses a problem when the response includes private or confidential information of the user.

System and method of retrieving and conveying sensitive information when using voice command devices


The invention relates to a boring appliance for producing a concrete element in the ground with a vehicle on which are located a tower, a concrete pump and a boring tool, which is installed for introduction in the ground at the tower. By means of a concrete pump and a delivery line concrete is pumped into a cavity formed by the boring tool for forming the concrete element. According to the invention, the concrete pump is detachably held on the rear region of the vehicle, which is opposite a front area with the tower.

(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a boring appliance for producing a concrete element in the ground with a vehicle.
A boring appliance of this type is known from JP 56 031 928 A, in which in addition to the boring tool a complete preparation and mixing installation for concrete are placed on a carriage.
(2) Description of Related Art
In the case of loose soil, in ground water or for concrete piles, which are to be produced in displaceable soils, preferably the following production procedures are used:                boring methods using continuous, long soil augers,        displacement boring methods, in which essentially long tubes are turned or rammed into the ground, the cropping out ground being displaced to the side,        methods in which long soil augers are surrounded with a rotary encasing tube and both the auger and the tube are simultaneously introduced into the ground.
Such methods are essentially based on the same concreting procedure. After the augers or enveloped augers or displacement tubes have been brought to the final depth, the tube and/or auger is retracted and during retraction concrete is pumped into the resulting space or cavity through inside or soil-sided openings in the auger or tube. The introduction of concrete preferably takes place under a low pressure to ensure that no soil from the borehole wall can pass into the cavity.
The use of pumpcrete has a positive effect on the production rate of such piles.
According to the prior art, such as is e.g. known from U.S. Pat. No. 3,255,592, the concreting of such piles takes place in that at the outside or air-sided end of the boring tool, i.e. either at the outside end of the continuous auger or at the outside end of the displacement tubes, a concreting hose is fixed and leads to a concrete pump which is supplied by mobile or travelling mixers. As the concreting head at the end of the concreting auger or tube is constantly moved up and down, it is not recommended that working takes place with a freely hanging hose. During each pump impact the hose is struck and swings through the air. This can easily lead to damage and constitutes a hazard for personnel.
Thus, generally mobile concrete pumps with adjustable distributing masts or towers are chosen. This procedure is practicable in principle, but suffers from the disadvantage that throughout the pile production time it is necessary to have at the building site and expensive concrete pump with adjustable distributing mast, including driver, although the actual concreting process only lasts for a short time.
To economize on the driver, constructions are known such as from U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,137, in which a stationary concrete pump is installed at the building site and from there hoses are laid up to the concreting head on the boring appliance. Since as a result of the rapid operation the boring appliance covers considerable distances, relatively long hoses are used, which in the case of considerable heat suffers from the disadvantage that in such long hoses frequently blockages occur due to overheating. A further risk is that such hoses can be damaged during the movement of the boring appliance. The generally concrete-filled hoses are heavy and are therefore difficult for the site personnel to handle during the movement of the boring appliance. It must constantly be ensured that the hoses are not bent or that the tracked travelling gear does not pass over the hoses.
As a result of the pressure surges of the plunger or piston pumps the hose on the ground scrapes on the substrate, which leads to damage to the hose casing or jacket.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,700 discloses a boring appliance with pressure containers on the top of a superstructure from which pulverulent materials or water are injectable directly into the borehole for producing concrete therein.


A dispenser that is mountable on a vertical or horizontal surface for dispensing adhesive-backed articles from a bulk stock using a single hand. The dispenser includes a housing having a bucket portion for receiving and containing the adhesive-backed articles to be dispensed and a cover connected to the bucket portion. The cover includes a window through which the adhesive-backed articles can be removed from the backing sheet and applied to a person or other animal using a single hand. The dispenser also includes a support member secured within the housing such that at least one of the cover and the support member is biased toward the other for preventing movement of the backing sheet as one of the adhesive-backed articles is removed from the backing sheet through the window.

The present invention relates to a dispenser for adhesive-backed articles, more particularly, it relates to a dispenser for adhesive-backed articles, such as bandages, that can be applied using a single hand.
Adhesive-backed articles such as adhesive bandages are known in the art. These bandages are commonly sealed in sterile wrappings and packaged either on a continuous roll or within paper or metal boxes. Examples include the well-known Band-Aid(copyright) brand bandages. While popular, these products suffer certain disadvantages such as the fact that the bandages themselves can be difficult to remove from their individual wrappings and difficult to apply to the desired location. The user generally must remove the bandage from the wrapping, remove nonstick cover layers from the adhesive portions of the bandage and then attempt to apply the bandage to the desired location while compromising the sterility of the bandage or having the bandage curling and adhering to itself or the person applying the bandage. These traditional bandages are not designed so they can be removed from their packaging and applied to a patient using only a single hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,511,689 to Frank and U.S. Pat. No. 6,124,522 to Schroeder, which are both hereby expressly incorporated by reference, both disclose bandages that are packaged so they can be removed from a backing strip, applied to a patient and separated from their cover using only a single hand. The packaging for these bandages can include separate, individually sealed packages or a plurality of sealed packages that share a common, elongated backing sheet.
Dispensers for bandages that share a common, elongates backing sheet are known. Typically, the backing sheet assumes the form of a roll that is positioned within the dispenser so that it can rotate or otherwise move relative to the housing of the dispenser. U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,586 to Taulbee, et al. discloses a known bandage dispenser in which a continuous strip is grasped with one hand and a bandage is removed with the other hand. This is accomplished using a continuous backing strip with first and second layer. Bandages are placed on sterile mounting pads affixed to the first layer. The bandages and the first layer are then enclosed by a cover layer and stacked or rolled within a container. In use, the sheet is pulled through a splicer attached to the container that cuts the first and second layer. The second layer is then lifted and removed. The first layer is then grasped with one hand and a bandage is removed with the other. Like other known dispensers, the dispenser disclosed in the patent to Taulbee et al. requires that the person removing the bandage and applying it use two hands. This can be impractical for a busy health care professional and impossible for a person who has injured one of their hands. Additionally, it can be very difficult and inconvenient for physically challenged people, such as amputees, to use a conventional, two-handed dispenser.
In view of the foregoing, it is useful to provide a dispenser for adhesive-backed articles that permit an adhesive based article to be taken from the dispenser with one hand. In particular, when using adhesive-backed articles (such as adhesive bandages, as discussed above) that can be applied to a location (such as a wound) with one hand, it is useful to provide a dispenser that permits such articles to be taken from the dispenser with one hand. Otherwise, a dispenser that requires a user to manipulate such an adhesive-backed article with both hands diminishes some of the utility of the articles and can cause the sterile portion of the bandage to be compromised.
In general, the present invention provides a dispenser for dispensing adhesive-backed articles from a bulk stock. Generally, bulk stock refers to a continuous web of backing material on which individual adhesive-backed articles are affixed and covered. The dispensers according to the present invention can be mounted to a wall, a horizontal surface or any other convenient location that permits a person to access the dispenser and remove one of a plurality of the adhesive-backed articles using a single hand.
In one embodiment, the dispenser includes a housing having a bucket portion for receiving and containing the bulk stock adhesive-backed articles to be dispensed and a cover connected to the bucket portion. The cover includes a window through which the adhesive-backed articles can be removed from the backing sheet and applied to a person or other animal using a single hand. The dispenser also includes a support member secured within the housing such that at least one of the cover and the support member is biased toward the other for preventing movement of the backing sheet as one of the adhesive-backed articles is removed from the backing sheet through the window. This prevents the need for someone to hold the backing sheet as the adhesive-backed article is removed.
In another embodiment of the present invention, the dispenser includes a feed roller and a pressure roller that cooperate to form a nip for receiving a section of bulk stock roll and advancing it within the dispenser. The received section of the bulk stock roll can include the backing material, the adhesive-backed article and any cover applied over the article. Alternatively, this section can include only the backing material. The dispenser also includes an activation mechanism that causes the rollers to rotate when it is operated. Rotating or otherwise moving a handle relative to a housing of the dispenser can cause the activation mechanism to operate and the rollers to rotate within the housing.


A multiplexed data producing apparatus which multiplexes N (integer) pieces of object data in which one of video data, audio data, and digital data is multiplexed to produce one piece of multiplexed data comprises a temporal storage means for temporarily storing the N pieces of object data; a control means for controlling synchronization of time information of each object data for each temporarily stored object data; and a multiplexing means for multiplexing the processed object data to produce multiplexed data.

Recently, with progresses of digitization of data and compression technique, applications of digital images and digital sounds have been developed in broadcasting, CATV or the like. Merits of using digitized data in broadcasting are as follows. i) Since various data including video, sounds, characters or the like may be handled collectedly, integration of services can be provided. ii) By utilizing compression technique in transmitting/receiving data, a great deal of broadcasting of high quality can be performed utilizing a limited transmission bandwidth. iii) Uniform services can be provided using an error correcting technique. iv) High techniques may be utilized with ease as an encryption technique for limited receive.
Packetization is generally employed for transmitting/receiving digitized data or compressed/encoded data. A packet represents an unit of data with entire data divided into a given size. Transmitting/receiving data as a packet allows high efficiency and precision in data communications. For example, in the case of performing exchange of packets in a computer network, respective separate packets are sent to transfer destination at varied timings through a network and reconstructed into original data in the transfer destination, so that information as to the transfer destination, transmission origin or order of packets is added to respective packets.
In the case of handling digital data, use of a packetization technique allows various data such as video, sounds, and character information•additional information to be packetized and combined to make multiplexed data, which is transmitted/received as a transport stream (TS) for transmission. Accordingly, both the compression technique and a multiplexing method of data are important in transmitting the data.
International standards of the multiplexing method of data includes MPEG2 (ISO/IEC 13818-1: Information technology-Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio: Systems", 1996.4). A description is given of production of multiplexed data according to the MPEG 2 standard and reproduction of the produced multiplexed data in the prior art.
FIGS. 19(a) to 19(c) and 20(a) to 20(e) are diagrams for explaining multiplexed data which is produced according to the MPEG 2 in the prior art, wherein FIG. 19(a) to 19(c) illustrate TSs for use in transmission of digitized data and FIG. 20(a) to 20(e) illustrate packets constituting TSs. A description is given of production of multiplexed data in the prior art with reference to FIGS. 19(a) to 19(c) and FIGS. 20(a) to 20(e).
Video data is compressed/encoded for each frame corresponding to a screen and audio data is compressed/encoded every given sample number such as 1024, and one or a plurality of frames are collected into packets which are refereed to as PES (packetized elementary stream) packets. It should be noted that the given sample number of the audio data represents a frame in the MPEG. FIGS. 20(a) to 20(c) schematically show formats of TS packets as packets constituting TSs. The PES packet includes a header, and the header includes types of subsequent data areas, i.e., a stream ID indicating video data, audio data or the other data, DTS (decoding time stamp) and PTS (presentation time stamp) as time information for synchronization video with audio to be reproduced. The PES packet is divided into a plurality of TS packets of 188 byte length, respectively, to be transmitted or to be stored.
FIGS. 20(d) and 20(e) schematically illustrate formats of TS packets comprising an adaptation field in which various information is included. As shown in figures, the adaptation field includes PCR (program clock reference). The PCR has a time base for encoding data such as video data or audio data, and has the same time base as PTS and DTS.
FIGS. 19(a) to 19(c) schematically show formats of TS packets. The TS packets have numbers inherent in packets, respectively, which are called PIDs (packet identifiers). The same PES packet has the same PID. The TS packets comprise a header, an adaptation field or data part subsequent to the header as shown in FIG. 19(b). The PID of the TS packet is given as a part of the header as shown in FIG. 19(c).
In FIGS. 19(a) to 19(c), a data region of the TS packet may include information as to program selection which is called PSI (program specific information) other than the PES. In the PSI, a number of a program and the PID of the TS packet including video data PES, audio data PES and data PES packets are described. Multiplexed data of a specific program is decoded and reproduced to obtain original images, referring to the PIS.
According to the prior art, the PES packet or the TS packet is produced by adding various information to various data of video data or audio data, resulting in a TS, which is recorded and stored or transmitted.
A description is given of a prior art multiplexed data reproducing apparatus wherein data multiplexed in the MPEG 2 data multiplexing system is decoded/reproduced FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating the prior art reproducing apparatus. In the figure, a separating means 2101 is for separating required portion from multiplexed data for each packet, comprising a first buffer 2111 and a CPU 2112. A control means 2102 is for controlling of decoding, comprising a second buffer 2121 and a CPU 2122. A video decoder 2105 is for decoding video data. An audio decoder 2106 is for decoding audio data.
FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of control of the control means 2102. A description is given of an operation of the prior art MPEG 2 multiplexed data reproducing apparatus constructed above.
As shown in FIG. 21, multiplexed data is input from a recording medium 2107 or a transmission medium 2108 to the buffer 2111, the multiplexed data being stored temporarily therein. The CPU 2112 extracts video PES and audio PES corresponding to a desired program number based on a correspondence between a program and a PID which is obtained from separated PSI and outputs the video PES and the audio PES to a video decoder 2105 and an audio decoder 2106, respectively.
Each decoder performs decoding processing, directed by the control means 2102. FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure of control of the control means 2102. A description is given of control procedure of the control means 2102, following a flow in FIG. 22. In step 2201, an STC (system time clock) is obtained as a time base of the decoding apparatus on the basis of PCR in the TS packet. By obtaining the STC, a time base of reproducing apparatus matches a time base of an encoding apparatus. In step 2202, the video decoder 2105 performs decoding to obtain PTS or DTS. Similarly in step 2203, the audio decoder 2106 performs decoding to obtain DTS.
In step 2204, it is decided that whether the video decoder 2105 has started decoding or not and whether the PTS or the DTS which is obtained in step 2202 matches the STC. When it is decided that the video decoder 2105 has not started processing and the PTS or the DTS matches the STC, step 2206 is performed and the video decoder 2105 starts decoding. Similarly, in step 2205, it is decided whether the audio decoder 2106 has started decoding or not and whether the DTS which is obtained in step 2203 matches the STC or not. When it is decided that the audio decoder 2106 has not started processing and the DTS matches the STC, step 2207 is performed and the audio decoder 2106 starts decoding. For decision in step 2204, both PTS and DTS are not used for comparison. The video decoder 2105 and the audio decoder 2106 have the same time base under the control described above, so that synchronization and reproduction are performed, to be displayed.
A description is given of a prior art multiplexed data reproducing apparatus according to the standard MPEG2 (ISO/IEC 13818-1, "Information technology-Generic coding of moving pictures and associated audio information: Systems", 1996.4), in terms of use of clock information.
FIG. 23 is a block diagram illustrating the prior art data reproducing apparatus according to MPEG 2. In the figure, a decoder 2301 is for decoding and reproducing compressed video data and audio data. A buffer 2302 is for storing the data temporarily. A clock extraction circuit 2303 is for extracting clock information from input multiplexed data. A synchronization clock generation circuit 2304 is for generating synchronization clock signals on the basis of input clock information. For example, a PLL (phase locked loop) circuit under a feedback control may be employed to generate the synchronization clock signals. FIG. 24 illustrates multiplexed digital data as an input of the data reproducing apparatus. In the figure, reference characters d11 to d15 designate compressed digital video data, reference characters d21 to d22 designate compressed digital audio data, and reference characters c1 and c2 designate clock information, which have been multiplexed. Clock information includes a value of clocks at 27 MHs of the apparatus which is counted using set modulo.
A description is given of the prior art data reproducing apparatus constructed above. When multiplexed data is input to the apparatus, the clock extraction circuit 2303 separates/extracts the clock information c1 and c2 and outputs the extracted c1 and c2 shown in FIG. 24 to the synchronization clock generation circuit 2304. Video data d11 to d15 and audio data d21 to d25 in FIG. 24 are output to the buffer 2302 and stored therein temporarily for decoding.
The synchronization clock generation circuit 2304 generates synchronized clock signals on the basis of input clock information and outputs the synchronized clock signals to the decoder 2301. The decoder 2301 decodes video data and audio data stored temporarily in the buffer 2302 using the synchronized clock signals, resulting in an output of the apparatus.
FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining transition of a buffer in the case of decoding video data, where a lateral axis represents time and a longitudinal axis represents a buffer occupation. This figure does not illustrate transition itself of the buffer 2302 in FIG. 23 but illustrates transition of a virtual buffer as a model. Namely, a transition of a buffer defined as a virtual buffer model in MPEG2 is shown in this figure. It is assumed that data is input to the buffer at a given transfer rate through a transmission path and a decoder performs decoding in a short time every 1/30 second, i.e, for each frame. Therefore, data required for decoding of each frame is fetched from the buffer every 1/30 second. In encoding according to MPEG2, buffer status of a decoder is reproduced virtually by using a virtual buffer model and data is sent under control so that overflow and underflow may not occur in the buffer.
Reference numeral 251 in FIG. 25 indicates a normal status. In the normal status, clocks of the reproducing apparatus is synchronized with clocks of the encoding apparatus, so that processing is performed with no overflow or underflow mentioned later. Reference numeral 252 indicates a status in which speed of the clocks of the encoding apparatus is somewhat higher than that of the reproducing apparatus. In this case, since the encoding apparatus operates at high speed, the reproducing apparatus is in a status in which a transfer rate of input becomes higher. As a result, data to be input is more than data to be fetched as represented by 252 and accordingly buffer occupation of 252 becomes significantly higher than that of 251, resulting in overflow above buffer maximum at one point as shown by a and loss of data. On the other hand, in the case of higher speed clocks of the reproducing apparatus, a transfer rate is practically lower. As a result, as represented by 253, occupation becomes lower gradually, resulting in underflow below lower limit as represented by b in the figure which causes discontinuity of reproduction of motion pictures. Thus, when clocks of the encoding apparatus are different from clocks of reproducing apparatus, speed of transmitted data and speed of decoded data are varied from each other, causing overflow or underflow in the buffer of the reproducing apparatus.
For the reason mentioned above, clock information is multiplexed into multiplexed data as shown in FIG. 24 and synchronized clocks obtained on the basis of the clock information are used in the reproducing apparatus, thereby the problem previously mentioned is avoided.
As concerns image encoding, attention has been paid to an object encoding method in which components constituting an image, i.e., a background, characters, moving objects or the like are handled independently, respectively, and encoding is performed for each object. In the object encoding, since encoding is performed for each object, editing such as replacing specific objects can be performed with ease.
However, in production of multiplexed data and decoding and reproduction thereof according to the prior art, the following problem arises. According to the prior art, decoding and reproduction can be performed on the basis of the same time base on the assumption that multiplexed data is produced in the same encoding apparatus. Therefore, for the case of performing object encoding, if each object included in one piece of multiplexed data can be encoded in the same encoding apparatus and can be processed using the same time base, decoding and reproduction can be performed with ease. However, since each object to be edited is not always encoded by the same encoding apparatus, it does not always have the same base. In such case, synchronization and reproduction of objects cannot be performed using the prior art method.
For example, when multiplexed two objects are decoded using clocks synchronized with clocks of one encoding apparatus, one object can be reproduced with ease and clocks for the other object has not been synchronized. As a result, the buffer overflows or underflows, and decoding and reproduction cannot be performed normally.

Multiplexed data producing apparatus, encoded data reproducing apparatus, clock conversion apparatus, encoded data recording medium, encoded data transmission medium, multiplexed data producing method, encoded data reproducing method, and clock conversion method

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The invention disclosed herein relates to a side press safety cap, wherein when an outer cap is rotated to opening direction with sides of the outer cap pressurized, a first rotation protrusion of an outer cap is interlocked with open guide protrusions of an inner cap, rotating the inner cap, and thereby an inner cap is opened. On the other hand, when the outer cap is rotated to closing direction, a second rotation protrusion is interlocked with close guide protrusions, rotating the inner cap and thereby the inner cap is closed. As a result, the side press safety cap is possible to be opened and closed stably.

Generally, a cap is combined to an upper portion of a container body, and prevents contents stored in the container body from being spilled and the contents from being contaminated as well.
These caps are configured to be able to be opened and closed easily by anyone by rotating to one or the other direction by means of screw coupling with a screw thread seated in the container body; therefore, the caps may be opened by children or the elderly who are less sensible, sometimes resulting in contents being spilled out. Particularly, it is reported that when contents that are stored in the container body are harmful to human bodies, children who are not aware of this often get involved in accidents by ingesting the contents.
In order to solve these problems above, there have been developed safety caps which have configurations wherein caps can be opened only when an upper portion of a cap is pressurized downwards or only when both sides of an upper portion of a cap are pressurized, thereby impossible to be opened easily by children.
Hereinafter, referring to Registered Korean Utility Models No. 0318864, "Bottle Assembly Preventing Children from Opening" (following as Registered Korean Utility Models), conventional safety caps will be described. Referring to the registered utility model above, conventional safety caps are a container assembly, comprising a hollow container body 10 where only a part of an upper portion is opened, and a lid 20 that covers and blocks an opening of the container, wherein the said container body 10 comprises a neck 14 which is extended with a relatively smaller diameter than other parts of the container, a discharging hole 11 that is formed with an upper end of the neck 14 opened, a male fastening screw 12 formed protusively to the circumference of the neck 14, a flange 13 which is formed, with prescribed width extended to an outward of the radial direction along a circumference of the neck 14 at a lower portion of the male fastening screw 12, and an engaging protrusion 15 that is formed protrudently at the upper surface of the flange 13; wherein the lid 20 comprises an upper engaging protrusion 25 formed on the inner wall surface corresponding to the engaging protrusion 15, an inner lid 23 formed with an inner diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the discharging hole 11 inside of the lid 20, and a male fastening screw 22 formed protusively on inner wall surface of the inner lid 23 to be able to correspond to the male fastening screw 12.
However, because the conventional safety cap as the above has to form a flange 13 on the container body and a jamming protrusion 15 on a upper surface of the a flange 13 in order to form a jamming protrusion 15 that meets a upper side interference rising 25, a problem arise where the structure of the container body 10 becomes complicated and thereby it is impossible for general container installed with a screw thread to perform the function of a safety cap by combining with the lid 20.
To solve the problem above, the applicant discloses "a side press safety cap" with a simple structure, which was applied on Oct. 29, 2010 and registered as Registered Korean Patent No. 10-1221795 (following as the registered patent).
The registered patent is a safety cap which covers an upper portion of the container body and is coupled on upper portion with screw coupling, comprising:
an inner cap wherein a screw thread is formed on an inner circumference surface as encircling an upper portion of the container body and screw-coupled; an outer cap wherein a rotation protrusion is encircling the inner cap and is combined, is combined protusively with a multitude of combining protrusions on both of inner circumferential surfaces of the inner cap and is interlocked with the combining protrusion and rotates the inner cap; an inclined surface comprising a protruding piece which is protruded is protruded from an outer circumferential surface to the front direction, wherein the bent portion is curved gradually more gently as the distance becomes farther from the outer circumferential and a bent portion is bent from an end to one direction.
However, since the above registered patent has a problem wherein opening/closing of the cap is performed by a protruding interlocked structure, stability of operation not only falls down, but also when continuously used, an end of the bent portion may be broken or deformed, leading to failure of smooth opening/closing operation.
Furthermore, due to a separation space between the inner cap and the out cap, when the outer cap rotates, shaking condition of the outer cap against the inner cap occurs and stability of operation cannot be secured, thereby leading to customers' suspicion of the quality and eventually the drop in their trust in the goods.


A system and method to determine battery lifetime of a remote meter transmission unit. Disclosed methods may comprise sampling a meter transmission unit's voltage and temperature while the unit is not transmitting any data; selecting a temperature curve based on the sampled temperature of the unit from a plurality of predetermined temperature curves, wherein each predetermined temperature curve representing the battery lifetime based on the unit's sampled voltage at the unit's sampled temperature; locating a position from the selected curve based on the voltage sampled of the unit; determining the battery's electrical power consumed and remained based on the position of the curve; and determining the battery's lifetime based on the power consumed and remained. The disclosed method may be used to estimate the battery's remaining lifetime. Disclosed products may utilize the disclosed method.

A Meter Transmission Unit (MTU) may be a battery-powered unit used to transmit metered usage of power in residential as well as commercial applications to a head end so that metered power usage may be read remotely. Such transmission may occur over a network such as but not limited to an over-the-air network such as but not limited to a radio frequency network, a cellular network, or a wifi-network, MTUs may also allow two-way communications for electric meters and other smart-infrastructure devices on such networks. Further, a properly constructed MTU facilitates a reduction in risks to power utility personnel and ensures accurate, reliable and efficient transmission of meter measurements. To assure that these benefits are delivered reliably, MTUs are often sealed such that they are impervious to the elements and possibly also embedded in a meter or otherwise placed in a largely inaccessible or difficult to reach location so that the MTU cannot be tampered with or damaged. As a side effect of such means to protect an MTU from damage, replacing the batteries of the MTUs is highly impractical as cost prohibitive, time inefficient, necessitating of new training, and unduly demanding on replacement crew members, among other things. For at least these reasons, an MTU is generally replaced when its battery is dead or dying. Therefore, the battery life of an MTU is, as a practical matter, seen as the lifetime of the MTU itself. There is thus a need for an accurate method of predicting the battery life of MTUs so that an efficient prediction can be made as to whether an MTUs battery is dying with enough lead time to be replaced in an temporally, fiscally, and technically economic manner.
The battery life of an MTU is one of the most critical parameters of MTU products functionality. One of the critical parameters surrounding MTUs is the expectation that they will have a very long battery life. Estimating battery life can seem to be a trivial exercise that only takes into account the battery capacity and average loading on the battery. This assumption is typically true in use cases where current draw is heavy and temperature ranges stay relatively constant. However, when the battery is placed in a use case that requires extremely low average current draw and heavily varying temperature, this assumption is no longer valid. Further, it should be noted that due to the sealed, enclosed nature of the battery powering an MTU, cost considerations as well as logistical considerations make battery placement difficult, cost-prohibitive, or even impossible. Thus, often times the entire MTU must be replaced when the MTU battery dies. This can cause drag on the meter system and network, and current battery battery estimation methods have not adequately mitigated this drag. There is therefore a need for a method of replacing MTUs in a meter network according to an accurate battery life prediction system with a long predictive range based upon current data.
In addition to the complexity of estimating battery life with these new factors, the question is raised on how to determine where the battery lies in its lifetime calculation at any given moment. This determination adds even more levels of complexity as the determination depends on previous loading, temperature profile, current loading and current temperature, along with other nuances that come with how far along the lifetime curve the battery is. There is therefore a need for a method of battery lifetime estimation that takes numerous factors into account to provide an accurate estimate for when an MTU may need to be replaced.

Determining battery life based on temperature and voltage


A drive assemblage is described for a vehicle drivable by muscle energy and/or—in particular additionally—by motor energy, to an electric bicycle, e-bike, or pedelec, having: a crank spindle rotatable around a rotation axis for receiving a first torque that is generated in particular by muscle energy; and a transfer device that is embodied to transfer the first torque from the crank spindle to an output drive element couplable to a drive wheel of the vehicle, and is embodied, by way of an—in particular automatically—shiftable spur gear transmission, for a variable conversion ratio, in which: the spur gear transmission has a first shiftable spur gear transmission and a second shiftable spur gear transmission separate therefrom; the first shiftable spur gear transmission and the second shiftable spur gear transmission have a common transmission output to the couplable output drive element; and the first shiftable spur gear transmission and the second shiftable spur gear transmission are couplable alternatingly and alternatively into the power and torque flow of the transfer device.

Bicycles, electric bicycles, and the like are often embodied with a derailleur gear system or hub gear system on the driven rear wheel. Alternatively thereto, bottom-bracket drive systems having an integrated shiftable transmission can also be provided.
With known drive assemblages having shiftable transmissions disposed at the bottom bracket, the increased size and/or insufficient efficiency thereof is problematic. This relates in particular to friction ring transmissions, shiftable transmissions having a hollow shaft motor, or the like which are embodied on the bottom-bracket drive system. Further disadvantages of known drive assemblages are deficiencies in terms of shiftability under load, absence of interruptions in tractive energy, and the occurrence of "dead zones."


A physiological-signal-analysis device for determining a blood pressure value of a patient and a method of operating the device. The device includes a cuff attachable to an extremity of the patient, a pneumatic system connected to the cuff that supplies a fluid to the cuff, a pressure transducer that measures the pressure signal having pressure oscillations, and a control unit connected to the pneumatic system and the pressure transducer. The control unit is operable to acquire a first oscillation having a first fiducial point, acquire a second oscillation having a second fiducial point, calculate a time interval representing a time from the first fiducial point to the second fiducial point, decide against selecting the second oscillation when the time interval is not a substantial integral multiple of a nominal oscillation period, and calculate a blood pressure value based on selected oscillations.

The invention relates to a physiological-signal-analysis device for measuring a blood pressure, and particularly to a device that applies a pressure to a patient and determines whether a detected pressure oscillation satisfies one or more criteria.
There are many known devices for measuring a patient""""s blood pressure. One type of device uses a technique referred to as an oscillometric technique. For this technique, typically, a blood pressure cuff is connected to an arm of the patient and is pneumatically controlled to apply a high pressure to the patient. The pressure is then reduced in steps to a low pressure. For each pressure step (also referred herein as pressure level), a pressure transducer connected with the cuff senses a cuff pressure. The sensed cuff pressure includes the applied pressure and pressure oscillations (also referred to herein as blood pressure oscillations, pressure pulses and blood pressure pulses). The sensed cuff pressure is applied to a control unit that isolates the pressure oscillations and stores two consecutive, matching oscillations at each pressure step. Requiring two consecutive, matching oscillations prevents intermittent artifact from causing the device to seriously err when performing the measurement. Example blood pressure monitors that require two consecutive, matching oscillations are described in RAMSEY M., Blood Pressure Monitoring: Automated Oscillometric Devices, Journal of Clinical Monitoring, 1991, 7 (1), 56-67, which is incorporated herein by reference.
The time duration for measuring a blood pressure depends on the magnitude of the high pressure, the difference in pressure between steps, and the amount of time at each step. With the requirement that the device needs to match consecutive oscillations at each level, the blood pressure determination may be unduly prolonged and the patient may be unduly stressed or inconvenienced. The time for each pressure step is established by the time it takes two consecutive cardiac contractions to produce two, roughly equal pressure oscillations in the cuff. For example, if at a particular pressure step first, third, fifth and sixth pulses match while the second and fourth pulses do not, then the step may be unduly long. This is because the prior art system does not proceed to the next pressure step until after the sixth pulse. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a device for measuring a patient""""s blood pressure where the device includes criteria that allows two nonconsecutive pulses to be matched at a level.
Additionally, for some embodiments, it is beneficial to provide a device for measuring a patient""""s blood pressure where the device relaxes or changes one or more criteria when a known event is occurring. By relaxing one or more criteria, the device allows the measurement to be performed in a timely fashion for some medically unstable patients. Without the relaxed criteria, the measurement may take too long, causing discomfort to the patient and possibly resulting in no blood pressure determination. Relaxing the criteria in a proper fashion will not overly affect the accuracy of the determination.
Accordingly, in one embodiment, the invention provides a method of determining whether an oscillation of a pressure signal acquired from a patient satisfies one or more criteria. The method includes the acts of acquiring a first oscillation having a first fiducial point, acquiring a second oscillation having a second fiducial point, calculating a time interval representing a time from the first fiducial point to the second fiducial point, and determining whether the time interval is a substantial integral multiple of a nominal time interval.
In yet another embodiment, the method provides acquiring a first electrocardiogram (ECG) beat having a first fiducial point, acquiring a first oscillation having a relationship to the first ECG beat, acquiring a second ECG beat having a second fiducial point, acquiring a second oscillation having a relationship to the second ECG beat, calculating a time interval representing a time from the first fiducial point to the second fiducial point, determining whether the time interval is close to an integral multiple of a nominal time interval, and deciding against selecting the second pressure oscillation when the time interval is not close to an integral multiple of a nominal time interval.
In another aspect of the invention, the invention provides a physiological-signal-analysis device for determining blood pressure values of a patient. The device includes a cuff attachable to an extremity of the patient, a pneumatic system connected to the cuff that supplies a fluid to the cuff, a pressure transducer that captures a pressure signal having pressure oscillations, and a control unit connected to the pneumatic system and the pressure transducer. The control unit is operable to acquire a first oscillation having a first fiducial point, acquire a second oscillation having a second fiducial point, calculate a time interval representing a time from the first fiducial point to the second fiducial point, decide against selecting the second oscillation when the time interval is not a substantial integral multiple of an oscillation period, and calculate a blood pressure value based on selected oscillations.
In a further aspect, the invention provides a software program for operating a physiological-signal-analysis device. The software program includes a pneumatic control module for controlling the operation of the pneumatic system, and an analysis module for analyzing input from the pressure transducer and for calculating a blood pressure. The analysis module includes instructions that are implemented for acquiring a first oscillation having a first fiducial point, acquiring a second oscillation having a second fiducial point, calculating a time interval representing a time from the first fiducial point to the second fiducial point, and determining whether the time interval is close to an integral multiple of a nominal time interval.

Physiological-signal-analysis device for measuring a blood pressure and method

GE Medical Systems Information Technologies, Inc.


A method for securing payment data for transmission over open communication networks is disclosed. The method comprises establishing a data connection between a first and a second transceiver device, the first transceiver device configured as a merchant device and the second transceiver device configured as a customer transceiver device. The merchant device transmits a first data package which comprises a unique merchant identifier and transaction request data, to the customer transceiver device over the data connection. The merchant device receives a cryptogram from the customer transceiver device. The cryptogram having been generated from using a secret key and a counter value together with the received unique merchant identifier and the transaction request data. The method comprises forming an authorisation request comprising the received cryptogram, merchant identifier and the transaction request data and submitting said authorisation request to at least one of an issuer and an acquirer to facilitate authorisation and processing of said transaction request data.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a typical four-party network showing the institutions participating in a transaction over an open network. The network includes the card issuers and the merchant acquirers plus the cardholders (customers) and the merchants. The card issuer distributes cards to consumers, bills them, and collects payment from them. The merchant acquirer recruits merchants to accept cards and provides the front-end service of routing the transaction to the network's processing facilities. The acquirer is responsible for delivering the transaction to the appropriate card issuer so that the customer is billed and the merchant receives funds for the purchase.
The transactions process typically has two major parts. The first is authorisation, and the second is clearing and settlement. Authorisation is the process of obtaining permission from the bank that issued the card to accept the transaction and card detail for payment. Authorisation begins when a consumer presents his or her card to the merchant for a purchase (1). Traditionally, securing of the transaction occurs for authorisation which happens at the point of sale, though more recently transactions are being done in "card not present" situations (for example, online). In recent years, chip and contactless technologies have become increasingly widespread. With particular reference to the payment industry, contact and contactless transactions have advantages over traditional magnetic stripe technologies as chip based technologies have the ability to store and process data more securely.
In contact and contactless situations, merchants usually obtain the transaction information for authorisation electronically, either by having the consumer swipe or insert the card through a terminal at the point of sale or by bringing the card into the vicinity of a terminal or reader. Having obtained card information, the merchant's terminal compiles an authorisation request containing the card information, the transaction amount and the merchant's identification number and sends the authorisation request to the acquirer (2). The acquirer reads the information and sends the authorisation request to the specific issuing bank through a clearing card network (3). The issuing bank conducts a series of checks for fraud and verifies that the cardholder's available funds or credit line is sufficient to cover the purchase before returning a response (4), either granting or denying authorisation. The merchant acquirer receives the response and relays it to the merchant (5).
Acquirer banks, merchants and consumers are demanding that transactions over the internet and other open networks are more secure. Whilst current contact and contactless transactions offer increased security over traditional magnetic stripe technology they do not sufficiently address the level of security required to secure a transaction over the internet or other open networks.
Current systems are prone to "man-in-the-middle attacks" which compromises the authenticity of a transaction. Man-in-the-middle attacks prey on the difficulty of verifying both the authenticity of a transaction as well as the authenticity of the merchant who initiates it. Such attacks act to intercept communication between two devices. In this type of attack malicious software embedded on a computer operates such that it appears to be the merchant to the customer device whilst also appearing to be the customer device to the merchant. Such software may be operable to change the details of the receiving party or the value of the transaction.

Method, device and system for securing payment data for transmission over open communication networks


An organic electroluminescent display device includes an anode electrode formed on a substrate; a buffer pattern formed under the anode electrode having a certain thickness; a pixel define layer for exposing a portion of the anode electrode; an organic thin film layer formed on the anode electrode; and a cathode electrode formed on the substrate. An upper surface of the pixel define layer is at least coplanar with or lower than that of the anode electrode. The thickness of the pixel define layer is at least substantially the same as or less than a sum of thicknesses of the anode electrode and the buffer pattern.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat panel display, more particularly, to an organic electroluminescent display device capable of improving luminance non-uniformity and extending life time by removing a height difference between an anode electrode and a pixel define layer so that a good organic thin film layer is formed, and a fabrication method of the organic electroluminescent display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 illustrates a cross sectional view of a conventional organic electroluminescent display device. Referring to FIG. 1, anode electrodes 21 are formed on a substrate 20 spaced apart from each other in a certain distance per each pixel, such as R, G and B unit pixels. A pixel define layer 23 is formed on the substrate 20 so that a portion of the anode electrode 21 is exposed to form an opening 22. The pixel define layer 23 has an organic insulation film, which defines neighboring anode electrodes 21 per each pixel. An R, G or B emitting layer 25 is formed on the opening 22 of the anode electrode 21. A cathode electrode 27 is formed on the substrate 20 above the layer 25. Although it is not illustrated on drawing, the emitting layer 25 has at least one layer selected from a hole injection layer, a hole transport layer, a hole barrier layer, an electron injection layer and an electron transport layer.
Important features of the organic electroluminescent display device are a flatness of a conductive material used in the anode electrode 21 and a structure of the pixel define layer 23 having the organic insulation film for determining size of the opening 22 in the anode electrode 21. Conventionally, the anode electrode 21 is formed by patterning a deposited anode electrode material after depositing an anode electrode material on the substrate 20. The pixel define layer 23 is subsequently formed by patterning a deposited organic insulation film to expose a portion of the anode electrode 21 after depositing an organic insulation film on the substrate 20. Therefore, the pixel define layer 23 is formed in such a manner that the pixel define layer 23 has a higher step difference than the anode electrode 21 as shown in FIG. 1.
As described above, the conventional organic electroluminescent display device has problems in that a polymer remains since the pixel define layer 23 is formed by patterning the organic insulation film using a photosensitive photoresist. Furthermore, the conventional organic electroluminescent display device has problems in that a luminance becomes non-uniform and the life time deteriorates since the emitting layer 25 and the cathode electrode 27 are incompletely formed during the process of successively forming the emitting layer 25 and the cathode electrode 27 due to an angle of a part of the pixel define layer 23 having a step difference from the anode electrode 21. Also, the organic thin film layer deteriorates by outgassing generated from the photoresist. Moreover, the conventional organic electroluminescent display device has had problems due to contact defects generated between the anode electrode 21 and the organic emitting layer 25 since an organic material is not properly transferred at the part of the pixel define layer 23 having the step difference from the anode electrode 21 when the organic emitting layer is formed using a laser induced thermal imaging method.

Organic electroluminescent display device


Systems and methods for detecting change in an environment are provided. In one aspect, a system for detecting change in an environment includes an RF noise source configured to transmit an RF noise signal into the environment and to vary a parameter of the RF noise signal, and an interrogator configured to communicate with a plurality of communication devices distributed in the environment over a plurality of communication channels. The system also includes a detection system configured to receive information related to performances of the plurality of communication channels from the interrogator, to generate a fingerprint of the environment for each of the plurality of communication channels based on the performance of the communication channel at different values of the parameter of the RF noise signal, and to detect a change in the environment when one or more of the fingerprints deviates from a respective baseline fingerprint by a certain amount.

Security systems may be employed to detect an intruder in an environment under surveillance. Examples of security systems include systems using laser light, in which an intruder is detected by a break in a laser light caused by the intruder. Disadvantages of these security systems include high false alarm rates, danger to the eyes due to the laser light, and easily detectible coverage areas. In addition, these system can be easily defeated, for example, when the intruder moves around the laser light. Other systems use a heat sensor to detect the heat emitted by an intruder. These systems can be defeated, for example, by an intruder wearing thermally insulating material. In addition, these systems cannot detect when objects that do not emit detectable heat are removed or added to the environment.
Therefore, there is a need for systems and method capable of detecting changes in a monitored environment that overcome one or more of the disadvantages of current systems.

Monitoring using RF communication technology


The present invention discloses a prediction control method and system for component contents in a rare earth extraction process. The prediction control method includes: establishing an Elman neural network model of a rare earth extraction process; obtaining a predicted output value of the rare earth extraction process through the Elman neural network model of the rare earth extraction process; calculating an optimal set value through steady-state optimization; dynamically predicting an extractant flow increment and a detergent flow increment based on the predicted output value and the optimal set value; and controlling component contents in the rare earth extraction process according to the extractant flow increment and the detergent flow increment. According to the present invention, an optimal setting problem of a set point is solved through steady-state optimization calculation, and then an optimal control effect is achieved in combination with a dynamic prediction control method, thereby achieving optimal setting control over the component contents in the rare earth extraction process, and ensuring the product quality of the rare earth extraction process.

With excellent physical, chemical, and electrical properties, rare earth elements are widely applied in the conventional industrial field, military field, and high-tech field, and promote the technical progress of the related industries. In the rare earth industry in China, a single high-purity rare earth element is generally obtained using a solvent extraction method. However, for a multi-variable system with a characteristic of extremely complex operating condition changes in the rare earth extraction process industry, the extraction and separation of the rare earth element is a nonlinear, strong-coupling, severely lagged complex industrial process. It is impossible to describe the process by using a simple mechanism model, and it is also difficult to design a high-efficient controller to control the process. Currently, the rare earth extraction and separation industrial process has a relatively low degree of automation. On-site online detection has not been implemented yet. The extraction process still needs to be controlled by seasoned operating personnel based on their own experience. Through analysis on the rare earth extraction industrial process, an important index for measuring the quality of products at outlets of both ends of the process is obtained, that is, the distribution of component contents in an extraction tank. Therefore, the study on how to ensure that the component contents at monitoring points at both ends of the rare earth element extraction and separation process reach optimal set values is of great significance for guaranteeing the improvement in the product quality.
In the rare earth extraction process, modeling manners can be generally classified into two types, that is, static modeling and dynamic modeling. Establishment of a static model is mainly in accordance with a cascade extraction equilibrium theory, and dynamic characteristics in the extraction process are not taken into account in the static model established in this manner. In the existing technology, a bilinear model for the rare earth extraction process is established by means of segmented aggregation modeling in accordance with the principle of rare earth material equilibrium. However, an inter-stage interaction mode of the extraction tank is not taken into consideration, and the model still has a large error.
If the rare earth element extraction mainly employs a cascade extraction and separation technique, the rare earth extraction process is a multi-input multi-output nonlinear process that is particularly complex, and is affected by many factors. In order to better optimize and control the rare earth extraction process, a more accurate description model for the rare earth extraction process needs to be established.
With the development of the industrial process technology, the efficiency and stability of the rare earth industrial process production as well as the purity of the rare earth product also needs to meet increasingly higher requirements. Therefore, the control technology related to component contents in the rare earth extraction process is also developed to a certain degree. Conventional control technologies include technologies based on a PID control algorithm, and based on rare earth extraction process control algorithms such as fuzzy control, an expert system, and adaptive robust control. In the control technology based on the PID control algorithm, during control over feeding flow rates of the rare earth, influence of each flow rate on monitoring-stage component content set values is ignored, thus failing to achieve an expected effect. Based on the rare earth extraction process control algorithms such as fuzzy control and the expert system, the input of each stage is made fuzzy, and at the same time, the influence of each flow rate on the monitoring-stage component content set values is taken into consideration, thus improving the control effect. However, the fuzzy control and expert system control are implemented by simulating actual experience of experts, and when an operating condition of an extraction site changes or is disturbed, the control strategy cannot adjust parameters online in time. Although the adaptive robust control method can take system stability into consideration globally, it cannot measure dynamic performance of the extraction process. As can be seen, none of the existing control algorithms can meet an optimal control standard.

Prediction control method and system for component contents in rare earth extraction process


Heavy-weight, fast-moving molecular ions are slowed down in a light-weight collision gas to very low velocities and small distributions of velocity before their mass-spectrometric analysis. The velocity reduction of the ions which occurs in the collision gas reduces both ion energy and phase space. In accordance with one embodiment, in order to minimize fragmentation of large molecular ions, an ultrasonic gas jet traveling in the same direction as the ions is used for slowing down the ions. In accordance with another embodiment, the ions are examined in storage mass spectrometers such as ICR spectrometers or ion traps.

Methods have become known in recent years for the production of heavy molecular ions of organic substances, all of which have the disadvantage that the ions have a high average initial velocity which is the same for ions of all masses. In addition, there is a wide spread of initial velocities. The resulting ion beam fills a wide phase space and is difficult to use with conventional mass spectrometers.
More particularly, the production of ions by generating ultrasound or acoustic shock waves on the surface of solid matter was predicted some considerable time ago and is described in detail in printed German patent specification DE-PS 27 31 225. For purposes of this invention, the sound range from approximately 10.sup.9 to 10.sup.13 Hertz is referred to as "hypersound".
A phenomenon was recently discovered by L. N. Grigorov in which molecules in ionized form are shaken off the surface of a thin foil when the foil is bombarded with a laser pulse on the reverse side. This method is suitable for generation of ions from extremely large molecules in the order of magnitude of 1,000,000 Daltons. The method is described in detail in L. N. Grigorov, Bulletin of the USSR Academy of Science, Dept. of Physical Chemistry, v. 288, p. 654, 1986 (experimental setup), v. 288, p. 906, 1986 (theory) and v. 288, p. 1393 (shaking off the ions).
The theory put forward by Grigorov explains this effect by the amplification of a stationary hypersonic wave in the foil by stimulated emission of hypersound in a thin-layered field of considerable electronic excitation near the reverse surface. This effect, described by Grigorov as an "acoustor", resembles the amplification effects of microwaves and light by MASER and LASER (microwave amplification or light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation). The considerable electronic excitation of the very thin field is produced by a pumping effect of the laser pulse in the electronic states of the solid matter.
The hypersonic waves generated by the effect have frequencies of approximately 10.sup.11 Hertz. Molecules are vigorously shaken off by the considerable intensity of the longitudinal hypersonic waves passing transversely through the foil. The ions are ejected in an outwardly neutral plasma consisting of electrons and ions, more than 99% being ionized by a single charge according to estimates by Grigorov.
Irrespective of their mass, all molecules gain approximately the same acceleration from the shaking process and leave the surface with approximately the same average velocity of about 5,000 meters per second. Although the average velocity is the same, the spread of individual velocities is very large, varying from one third to three times the average velocity. Since the spread of energy corresponds to the square of the spread of velocities, the spread of energy between maximum and minimum energy for the particles of a particular mass amounts approximately to a factor of 100. Particles of various masses therefore have mass-proportional average energy.
In comparison to the length of the laser pulse, the shaking-off process lasts a relatively long time. With a pulse length of approximately 10 microseconds from a neodymium YAG laser operating without a Q-switch, the shaking-off of ions could be observed for approximately 1 millisecond with exponential decrease after the laser pulse was terminated. With this method, molecules are essentially transferred whole from the surface to a free-flying ionized state, with no observable limit apparently placed on the magnitude of the molecules. There are indications that ions up to a magnitude of 2,000,000 Daltons can be ionized whole with this method.
Another known method of ion generation is the production of whole molecular ions of high-molecular substances by matrix-assisted laser desorption. This method is described in general in "Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry of Biopolymers", F. Hillenkamp et al., Analytical Chemistry, v. 63 p. 1193, 1991.
In accordance with this method, the molecules of the substance under examination are dispersed in a suitable organic substance (called a "matrix") and applied to a suitable base, for example a level surface on the end of a metal insertion rod. A brief focused laser light pulse lasting less than 10 microseconds (generally only 10 nanoseconds) applied to the substance/matrix mixture then produces a plasma cloud which, with a suitable matrix, consists of a mixture of essentially neutral matrix molecules and singly charged ions of the substance under examination.
With this method, the molecules of the substance under examination are for the most part transferred whole to a free-flying ionized state with no observable limit apparently placed on the magnitude of the molecules which can be ionized. Ions up to a magnitude of 300,000 Daltons have already been ionized whole with this method.
According to more recent examinations reported by R. B. Beavis and B. T. Chait, Chemical Physics Letters v. 181, p. 479, 1991, the ions in the quasi-exploding and, at the same time, adiabatically cooling plasma cloud are accelerated by friction with the matrix molecules. In so doing, all ions of large masses gain approximately the same average velocity of about 750 meters per second with a distribution of individual velocities varying from approximately 300 meters to 1,200 meters per second.
Both of the above-described methods have problems when used with conventional mass spectrometers. Time-of-flight mass spectrometers, which accommodate the pulsed production of ions, have so far been used with these ionization methods. On closer examination, however, time-of-flight mass spectrometers do not allow optimal results to be achieved for several reasons. More particularly, for use with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer, the ions must undergo a twofold filtration process: firstly, time filtration in order to obtain only ions from a small time window of just a few nanoseconds, and secondly, energy filtration in order to make the time-of-flight principle applicable. In addition, the ions have to be focused from a widespread phase space to a narrow phase space which, according to Liouville's theorem, is not possible with optical means.
For example, for his experiments with the laser-induced hypersound ionization method, L. N. Grigorov used a time-of-flight mass spectrometer with a Mamyrin reflector for focusing energy, and an inline energy filter. However, if an ion production period of only 100 microseconds is assumed for hypersonic production of the ions and a time window of 10 nanoseconds is taken as the time-of-flight window, only 1/10,000 of the ions produced remain usable.
Even with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer used with an energy-focusing Mamyrin reflector, focusing of energy is limited to approximately 1% of the flight energy, from which there is a further reduction to a maximum of 1/100 of the ions. The maximum usable proportion of the ions in a time-of-flight spectrometer is therefore one millionth of the total ions formed, even neglecting focusing losses of an unknown magnitude.
In addition, the laser-induced hypersonic method of ion production has a further serious drawback. At a velocity of approximately 5,000 meters per second, a singly charged ion of 2,000,000 Daltons has a kinetic energy of approximately 0.5 million electron volts. Ions with this energy can no longer be handled in a mass spectrometer of normal dimensions since fields of exceptional intensity would have to be used for focusing and deflection. Present laboratory mass spectrometers operate with maximum ion energies of approximately 50 kev.
The matrix-assisted ionizing laser desorption method described above has similar drawbacks. Although both the time window for formation and energy spread are more favorable in this instance, the divergence and thus the focusability of the ion beam, which is formed by the expanding plasma cloud, is much more disadvantageous. The phase space (customarily formed from local coordinates and velocity coordinates) is also therefore very large and unsuitable for mass spectrometry. Here too, solely time-of-flight mass spectrometers have so far been used.
Consequently, it is the task of the invention to find a method of making ions of large organic molecules, which are produced at high velocities in a widespread phase space, accessible fully and with high efficiency for mass-spectrometric examination.

Method and device for the mass-spectrometric examination of fast organic ions