An adjustable filter uses an eight member frame construction to provide a wide range of filter sizes. A panel for encasing one or more layers of filtering materials within the frame is formed from a grid having a border which unevenly encompasses the crossbars of the panel in order to allow various sizes of panels to be formed without producing exposed barbs and without increasing the air resistance of the filter. An embodiment using an electric field is disclosed to enhance the filtering properties of the filter.

The importance of proper air filtration equipment has received increased recognition over the last few years. Increasingly, consumers are opting for air filters which have a greater efficiency in removing undesirable matter from the air. The desire for better air filters extends to both the home and workplace.
One problem with the purchase of a proper air filter is the wide range of sizes which must be supported for various residential and commercial air conditioning and heating equipment. While a number of standard sizes exist, the number of different sizes which must be carried by a supplier is great. Unusual sizes, therefore, may be hard to find. Further, a consumer may not know the appropriate filter size when he or she is in a position to make a purchase, such as when the consumer is at a hardware store.
Accordingly, a number of filter kits have been developed that let the consumer (who may be a homeowner or a contractor, for example) assemble an air filter according to his or her needs, without prior knowledge of the correct size. This allows the supplier or contractor to carry a single kit which covers a wide range of filter sizes.
Present day adjustable filter kits have significant drawbacks, particularly in ease of assembly. In many cases the consumer must perform a significant amount of work in measuring and cutting the parts of the kit. Further, many present day kits are limited in size range, and therefore do not cover all popular air filter sizes. Available adjustable filters also provide inadequate sealing with the filter holding device in which they are mounted, thereby allowing significant amounts of air to pass by the filter.
One example of a present day adjustable air filtration kit 10 is shown in FIG. 1a. This kit comprises filtering material 12 (shown in the cutaway view) which is held between mesh 14 in frame 16. Frame 16 is comprised of four corner pieces, denoted generally by reference numeral 18, including two male (outer) corner pieces 18a and two female (inner) corner pieces 18b which are slideably engaged to effect a frame of the proper size.
This type of filter kit has three distinct problems. First, the design of the filter uses male corner pieces, which are dimensioned to slide within the female pieces. Thus, a relatively large portion of the frame will not seal properly with the filter holding device, which is expecting a frame of uniform thickness. Consequently, air is allowed to bypass the filter in these areas.
Second, a fairly fine mesh is generally used to simplify cutting of the mesh material to a desired size. A fine mesh, however, significantly increases the air flow resistance of the air filter. The use of a wider mesh is inconvenient because cutting the mesh will often result in exposed barbs 22 (see FIG. 1b) which make the final assembly more difficult.
Third, although the manufacturer of the kit may provide a template, such as described in connection with U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,276 to Snyder, actual assembly of the frame and cutting of the mesh and filter medium is typically cumbersome.
One method of improving the efficiency of an air filter is to apply a voltage to the filter to increase the filtering efficiency of the filtering elements within the filter. This method is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,887. Filters employing an electric field have two distinct problems: (1) The bulk of the power supply greatly diminishes the filtering area of the filter and (2) the application of a high voltage from an external power source is cumbersome and potentially dangerous.
Therefore, a need has arisen in the industry for an adjustable air filter kit which is capable of accommodating a wide range of filter sizes, and which is easily sized, and further, a filter which can accommodate an electric field without significantly affecting filter size or requiring a high voltage external power supply.


A method for manufacturing a three-dimensional structure through nano-imprinting, includes: a stamp preparation step in which a stamp formed with a convex-concave portion corresponding to a pattern of functional layers to be formed is prepared; a material formation step in which at least one material for forming the functional layers is formed to a thickness of several to dozens of nanometers on the convex-concave portion; a material stacking step in which the material formed on the convex-concave portion is stacked on a substrate; and a functional layer securing step in which the material is cured by applying pressure, heat and pressure, or light and pressure thereto such that the material can be converted into the functional layers.

Generally, in order to manufacture a three-dimensional structure, a mold for shaping the three-dimensional structure is manufactured. To this end, a wooden pattern is manufactured and the mold for the three-dimensional structure is manufactured using the wooden pattern through several processes.
In order to manufacture the mold for the three-dimensional structure, a rapid prototyping process may be used. Here, the rapid prototyping process refers to direct formation of a three-dimensional prototype based on three-dimensional CAD data using materials such as paper, wax, ABS and plastics without a mold. Recently, a rapid prototyping process using metal powder and wire is developed in the art.
Korean Patent Laid-open Publication No. 2000-0054896 (Laid-open Date: 2000 Sep. 5) discloses a technique for manufacturing a prototype having a desired shape by forming a shape portion on each thin metal plate, stacking the thin metal plates each having the shape portion one above another, and welding the metal plates to each other using a welding roller.
However, such a conventional method for manufacturing a three-dimensional structure has a limit in thickness reduction of the metal plates and encounters difficulty in winding the metal plates around a roller when the metal plates have a small thickness of several to dozens of nanometers. In addition, the conventional method has difficulty in formation of a complex shape portion on the metal plate having a thickness of several to dozens of nanometers and in manufacture of a high strength ultra-lightweight three-dimensional structure having various holes therein.

Method for manufacturing three-dimensional structure using nanoimprint method


An improved air purification adsorbent is disclosed. The air purification adsorbent comprises titanium dioxide (TiO2) impregnated with zinc chloride (ZnCl2). The adsorbent may be used in air purification systems for removing ammonia from air streams. The nanocrystalline (amorphous) structure of the adsorbent results in a higher density of surface defects, higher surface area, and higher reactivity which, when combined with the synergistic effect of ZnCl2 and the nanocrystalline TiO2, provides a significantly longer breakthrough time of ammonia as compared with breakthrough time from unimpregnated nanocrystalline TiO2, the commercial (crystalline) TiO2 impregnated with ZnCl2, pure ZnCL2, and other commercially available adsorbents of ammonia. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Air-purifying respirators are used in a variety of applications to protect the user from inhaling potentially life-threatening concentrations of compounds that can have adverse health effects with prolonged exposure. Typically, such air-purifying respirators include at least one activated carbon filtration element to remove toxic gases such as ammonia from the user's airstream. Though activated carbon can be used with some success, it has limitations, particularly in dry and humid conditions. Traditional extended surface area substrates typically must be enhanced by reducing the particle size distribution of materials. This can result in increased breathing resistance or the potential for reducing the particulate size of the adsorptive media such that it could become respirable and no longer retained in the filtration device.
Typically, ammonia adsorbents are high surface area materials such as activated carbons or zeolites. Due to the low boiling point of ammonia, these materials are not suitable to trap ammonia vapors irreversibly. Zeolites, with their small micropore sizes, are better at trapping ammonia; however, since zeolites and high activity activated carbon alone do not destroy the compound, it is possible for the adsorbent to release the ammonia. To overcome this problem, most adsorbents are impregnated with a chemical that can react and neutralize the ammonia vapors. Most commonly, these materials are acids (citric acid, phosphoric acid, or sulfuric acid) or transition metal salts (Cu, Zn).
U.S. Pat. No. 7,309,513 B2, December 2007, Brey et al. describes a broad-spectrum filter media that use Cu and Zn salts as ammonia-sensitive impregnants. The adsorbent also is impregnated with ammonium sulfate that can decompose to form an acidic material. GC-IPA from General Carbon Corporation (Paterson, N.J., USA) employs phosphoric acid (up to 45%) on coal-based carbon to neutralize ammonia. PICA USA, Inc. (Columbus, Ohio, USA) uses a coconut shell activated carbon impregnated with zinc chloride to adsorb ammonia (Picatox AM80).
High surface area materials (carbon, alumina, zeolites) are commonly used for air filtration because they can remove many contaminants. The ability of these materials to remove certain chemicals greatly depends on the chemical composition of the adsorbent, surface area, and pore size. The removal also depends on the chemical and physical properties of the contaminant. These properties determine whether a contaminant is physisorbed or chemisorbed. Physisorbed contaminants are usually only weakly bound and can be released with changes in temperature. Chemisorbed materials undergo a chemical reaction on the adsorbent surface and are thus converted to a different material. Activated carbons, while containing very high surface areas, are insufficient to adsorb low boiling point compounds such as ammonia, thus some type of impregnant is required to react and trap the contaminant. Impregnation of any support involves a balance of loading a sufficient amount of the reactive impregnant without destroying the high surface area of the support. Some types of metal oxides have shown the capability to adsorb ammonia, but high surface area materials are necessary to adsorb any significant amount.
There remains a need for an improved filtration medium for removing ammonia from air streams.

Adsorbent for removal of ammonia from air streams


Data processing apparatus includes a host processor and a network interface controller (NIC), which is configured to couple the host processor to a packet data network. A memory holds a flow state table containing context information with respect to computational operations to be performed on multiple packet flows conveyed between the host processor and the network. Acceleration logic is coupled to perform the computational operations on payloads of packets in the multiple packet flows using the context information in the flow state table.

Because cryptographic operations are computation-intensive, some computers offload these operations to a dedicated co-processor. For example, Intel® Corporation (San Jose, Calif.) offers the Cave Creek chip set for use with its Xeon® processors. The Cave Creek chips include hardware accelerators for cryptography, compression and pattern matching.
Some network cryptographic solutions use a "bump-in-the-wire approach." This term is defined in Request for Comments (RFC) 4949 of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as an implementation approach that places a network security mechanism outside of the system that is to be protected. For example, IPsec, a standard security architecture for the Internet Protocol (IP), can be implemented outboard, in a physically separate device, so that the system that receives the IPsec protection does not need to be modified. Military-grade link encryption is also sometimes implemented in bump-in-the-wire devices.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Efficient transport flow processing on an accelerator


A metal component (10) having non-uniform material characteristics which cause the component to undergo differential growth upon exposure to a neutron flux, and a process for producing such a component. The invention is useful for making metal components for use in nuclear reactors, particularly fuel assembly cantilever grid springs (12). By cold working a portion (40) of a cantilever spring on the convex side of the curved region of the spring, a spring can be provided which has a smaller reduction in preload upon exposure to radiation than a conventional cantilever spring.

The present invention relates generally to metal components and more particularly relates to metal components suitable for use in or near nuclear reactors.
The properties of metal components in a nuclear reactor are affected by radiation exposure. For safety reasons, the extent of irradiation-induced change in reactor parts can be a significant factor in reactor design.
One component of a nuclear reactor system in which consideration of radiation-induced changes is particularly important is in the fuel assembly. In a conventional reactor, the fuel is contained in rods which are grouped together and held in place by fuel assembly grids. The grids are structured to provide an individual channel for each rod. Coolant is circulated through the channels along the outer surface of the fuel rods. Adequate flow of coolant is needed in order to keep the fuel rods from overheating.
Each rod in a fuel assembly grid is held in place within a particular channel by springs, usually cantilever or arched springs. The springs are specially designed to result in minimal disruption to the flow of coolant around the rods, while supporting the rods strongly enough to prevent vibration or longitudinal displacement due to flow forces. Cantilever springs frequently are preferred over arched springs because grids containing cantilever springs have less blockage of coolant flow, and can be made shorter, than grids containing arched springs. Both of these factors contribute to the desirable result of a relatively low pressure drop across grids having cantilever springs. The springs often are made of zircaloy, a zirconium-tin alloy.
Cantilever springs made from zircaloy have a disadvantage, however, in that they tend to relax after only a short period of irradiation. Frequently, the load on the springs decreases to zero during one operational cycle of the fuel assembly. While the use of a high initial load may result in a somewhat longer retention period for a positive spring force, the degree of improvement is not substantial. In any event, the use of springs having a high initial load can be disadvantageous because the fuel rods must be inserted very carefully in order to avoid scoring the cladding of the rods.

Nuclear reactor grid strip cantilever spring with nonuniform material characteristics


A specimen collection cup has a container. The container has a wall and a floor and is configured for receiving and retaining a specimen. A section of the wall is transparent. Further, the container has a tab coupled to an inside surface of the wall that creates a slot for receiving a test card having a reagent pad affixed thereto. The tab is coupled to the inside surface of the wall such that when the test card is inserted in the slot indicia on the test card is aligned with the transparent section.

There are a variety of tests that may be used to test whether a donor has partaken in any number of drugs. There are urine tests in which a donor deposits his/her urine into a cup, and test strips that are submerged in the urine. The test strips have drug indication lines that appear or do not appear based on the presence or absence of drugs in the urine.

Specimen cup including test card slot and method of use thereof

Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc.


An angioplasty procedure wherein a balloon dilatation catheter is movably positioned within an anchoring catheter and which in turn is located within a guiding catheter or wherein a balloon dilatation catheter is movably positioned within a guiding catheter and the anchoring catheter in turn is positioned on the external surface of the guiding catheter, or wherein a balloon dilatation catheter is movably positioned within a catheter which serves both as a guiding catheter and anchoring catheter. Additionally, valve elements are attached to the guiding and anchoring catheters to provide points of securement between the catheters and the balloon dilatation catheter and to prevent the backflow of blood through the catheter assembly. Actuation of the valve elements allows a doctor to control the movement of the catheters.

Cardiac catheterization and angioplasty are common medical procedures. The coronary arteries are vessels which supply the heart muscle with blood and are located on the outside surface of the heart. In order to visually examine the coronary arteries, a contrast agent has to be injected into the vessels before x-ray pictures can be taken of them. This is accomplished through a procedure called cardiac catheterization. This contrast agent is delivered through a catheter, which is a small hollow tube. This catheter is advanced to the heart under x-ray guidance, usually being inserted at the level of the groin into the femoral artery. This is accomplished through a needle which is first advanced into the femoral artery and subsequently the catheter is passed through the needle into the blood vessel or femoral artery. The femoral artery in turn is a tributary of the great vessel originating in the heart and therefore the catheter can be passed in a retrograde fashion under x-ray guidance very easily back to the origin of the coronary arteries.
Once the catheter is positioned at the origin of the coronary arteries, a dye syringe is placed on the end of the catheter remaining outside the patient and injections are performed with simultaneous x-ray pictures being taken.
An angioplasty procedure is similar in technique but more invasive, by the fact that a smaller catheter with a deflated balloon on its tip is advanced through the catheter which is positioned at the origin of the coronary artery and advanced down into the coronary artery to the site of where the vessel is narrowed. The balloon dilatation catheter is not advanced down the coronary artery by itself; however, first, a very small guide wire is advanced down the coronary artery, across the narrowed segment and then advanced further down into the coronary artery, beyond the narrowed segment. The balloon dilatation catheter is then advanced over the guide wire to the site of the narrowing. The guide wire allows the balloon dilatation catheter to track over it, thereby facilitating advancement of the balloon dilatation catheter down the vessel and thus preventing damage to the vessel wall. Once the balloon is positioned at the site of the narrowing in the vessel, the balloon is inflated by means of a hand held balloon inflation device. The balloon is inflated for generally 30 to 90 seconds and then deflated and withdrawn. This compresses the fatty-like material which is responsible for narrowing the coronary artery and opens the vessel, allowing for proper blood flow to the heart muscle.
At times it is difficult to advance the balloon dilatation catheter to the site of the narrowing, as these vessels are not always straight and often times bends in the vessel have to be negotiated before reaching the point of narrowing. Frequently, the balloon dilatation catheter cannot be easily advanced and the guiding catheter which is housing the balloon dilatation catheter and the guide wire comes loose from its position at the origin of the coronary artery and does not provide enough structural support or backup to allow advancement of the balloon dilatation catheter to the narrowed site.
Improvements in this field have been made such as for example, the angioplasty method and means for performing angioplasty seen in U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,412. Specifically, in this patent a method and means is provided using a plurality of different catheters that are all interconnected using a plurality of balloons to provide more accurate handling and control to improve angioplasty procedures. Despite this improved means and method additional improvements are desired. Specifically, a need exists for the use of non inflatable equipment that accomplishes similar results.
Thus, the principal object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and means for performing an angioplasty that provides structural support to the guiding catheter.
Another object of the invention is to provide catheter designs having the capability of proximal embolic protection.
These and other objects, features, or advantages of the present will become apparent from the specification and claims.

Angioplasty method and means for performing angioplasty


A system, method and computer readable medium for deferring copy-on-write of a snapshot is disclosed. The method includes the generation of snapshot of a source file. Upon modification of a first data block referenced by the source file, the first data block is referenced by the snapshot and a second data block is allocated for the source file. Then, a first variable associated with the source file is set to a value indicating an incomplete source file data block and a second variable associated with the source file is set to a value indicating the valid portion of the second data block. Any portion of the second data block that is overwritten is considered valid. The second data block is then modified and the second variable is changed to reflect the modification. Upon reception of a read request, the corresponding portion of the second data block is retrieved.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to data storage systems and more specifically to data storage systems that store snapshots (i.e., indications of the status of stored data at particular points in time).
2. Description of Related Art
Many data storage applications store data on electromechanical systems that are prone to physical failure. Magnetic disk drives are an example of such storage systems. Magnetic disk drives utilize a rotating magnetic platter that has a read/write head suspended above but very close to the platter. Data is stored by creating a magnetic recording on the magnetic platter. Contamination on the surface of the magnetic platter often causes damage to the magnetic surface and the recording, thereby rendering the data inaccessible. Other data storage systems are subject to physical or electrical damage and may lose their data.
Many data storage systems organize stored data according to a file metaphor. In these storage systems, related data are stored in a file, and the data storage system stores multiple files. The data storage system then stores references to the multiple files in order to access the data in those files. A single file may be stored in contiguous locations in the data storage device, or the data may be stored in disparate locations. Storage of data in disparate locations in a data storage device often results when a large data file is to be stored on a device that already stores many files and the large data file must be broken up to fit in the free area of the storage device. Data is also often stored in disparate locations when additional data is added to an existing file. The assembly of stored data into files and the structure of those files on a data storage device is referred to as a file system.
Data storage systems often store images or snapshots of the data that is currently stored in the file system. The data contents of a snapshot are the data that is stored within the active file system or a previous snapshot at the time the snapshot was captured. One use of snapshots is to store the state of the file system on another storage system, such as another disk drive or magnetic tape storage system. Another use of file system snapshots is to be able to recreate data that was deleted, i.e., to access previous versions of files that have been deleted or updated.
The data stored within files in a file system have associated metadata to describe the data and allow access to the data. Some existing methods for taking snapshots of a file system defer actually copying the data in the original file system to the snapshot until the data in the original system is modified. Such systems are referred to as xe2x80x9cCopy-on-writexe2x80x9d systems since the data is not copied to the snapshot data until a write is performed on the original data.
Existing copy-on-write snapshot systems differ in how and when metadata is copied. Existing snapshot systems copy into the snapshot data file some or all of the metadata that describes the data file storage locations at the time the snapshot is made. These existing systems create snapshot data sets that include file references to the original data file in the original file system. This results in multiple references to the same data block in the original file system, the reference in the metadata of the original file system as well as the references in each of the snapshot data sets.
An exemplary file system data structure 400 is illustrated in FIG. 4 that contains two inodes, one in the active file system and one in a snapshot dataset, that each point to the same data block 406. The existence of multiple references to a single data block within the original file system impacts the requirements of the original file system. File systems that utilize snapshots that each store a reference to an original data block must maintain an indication of each reference to that data block in order to determine if the data block is in-use or free. Without multiple references, a single bit is able to indicate if a data block is in-use or free. With the multiple references, multiple bits are required to track the multiple references and ensure that no references exist to the data block prior to declaring the data block xe2x80x9cfree.xe2x80x9d This need to track the multiple references complicates the operation of the file system, limits the total number of snapshots, and also complicates, or renders impossible, the implementation of such snapshot system with file systems that do not support tracking multiple references to a data block.
Therefore a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above, and particularly for a way to more efficiently utilize system kernel memory within data processing equipment to support time sensitive processing tasks such as external data communications processing.
Briefly, in accordance with the present invention, disclosed is a system, method and computer readable medium for deferring copy-on-write of a snapshot. In an embodiment of the present invention, the method includes the generation of snapshot of a source file. Upon modification of a first data block referenced by the source file, the first data block is referenced by the snapshot and a second data block is allocated for the source file. Then, a first variable associated with the source file is set to a value indicating the lack of a complete source file data block and a second variable associated with the source file is set to a value indicating the valid portion of the second data block. Any portion of the second data block that is overwritten is considered valid. The second data block is then modified and the second variable is changed to reflect the modification.
In another embodiment of the present invention, upon reception of a request to read the source file, it determined from the first variable whether there is a complete copy of the source file. If so, the second data block is retrieved. Otherwise, it is determined whether the read request refers to a portion of the source file corresponding to a portion of the second data block that is valid. If so, the corresponding portion of the second data block is retrieved. Otherwise, the portion of the first data block that is requested and found to be invalid in the second data block is copied to the second data block. Subsequently, that portion of the second data block is retrieved.
The foregoing and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of the preferred embodiments of the invention, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

International Business Machines Corporation


A transmission gearing arrangements produces up to ten forward and one reverse speed ratios by selective engagement of various combinations of four shift elements. Each disclosed transmission includes four planetary gear sets and at least six shift elements. One of the shift elements may be a dog clutch. Optional passive one way brakes simplify the control.

Many vehicles are used over a wide range of vehicle speeds, including both forward and reverse movement. Some types of engines, however, are capable of operating efficiently only within a narrow range of speeds. Consequently, transmissions capable of efficiently transmitting power at a variety of speed ratios are frequently employed. When the vehicle is at low speed, the transmission is usually operated at a high speed ratio such that it multiplies the engine torque for improved acceleration. At high vehicle speed, operating the transmission at a low speed ratio permits an engine speed associated with quiet, fuel efficient cruising. Typically, a transmission has a housing mounted to the vehicle structure, an input shaft driven by an engine crankshaft, and an output shaft driving the vehicle wheels, often via a differential assembly which permits the left and right wheel to rotate at slightly different speeds as the vehicle turns.
The various speed ratios are typically selected by engaging certain shift elements while other shift elements are engaged. Different types of shift elements have different characteristics and properties. Automatic transmissions typically utilize a number of actively controlled friction clutches or brakes that transmit a torque between elements in response to a control signal such as a hydraulic pressure. A friction clutch or brake can transmit a controlled amount of torque even when the elements are at different speeds. However, friction clutches often transmit some parasitic torque even when disengaged. Positive engagement shift element such as dog clutches are actively controlled to be in either an engaged state or a disengaged state, but do not transfer torque between shafts that have relative rotation. Positive engagement shift elements typically exert less parasitic drag than a friction clutch of the same maximum torque capacity. Passive one way clutches permit relative rotation in one direction but allow relative rotation in the other direction. Some one way clutches can be actively controlled to enter alternative states such as preventing rotation in either direction or allowing rotation in either direction.


A method of dynamically adjusting a wireless transceiver may include acquiring a geographical location of the wireless transceiver and determining transmission characteristics that are compliant with wireless regulations covering the geographical location. The wireless transceiver may be adjusted to conform to the transmission characteristics, and data may be transmitted with the adjusted wireless transceiver.

Implementations of the claimed invention generally may relate to wireless communication, and in particular to adjusting the characteristics of wireless transceivers to comply with various regulatory requirements.
Mobile devices frequently include wireless transceivers. Such transceivers typically operate with fixed characteristics, such as transmission frequency and power. In large part, such transmission characteristics may be determined by the regulatory regime for the wireless spectrum in the selling locale of the mobile device. In the United States, for example, use of the wireless spectrum is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), although other countries may have similar regulatory regimes for the wireless spectrum. Typically, a mobile device destined for sale in a particular country may generally be designed with fixed transmission characteristics that comply with the regulatory regime of that country.
With the globalization of both manufacture and use of mobile device, however, it may be desirable for mobile devices to comply with multiple wireless regulatory regimes.

Using location information to set radio transmitter characteristics for regulatory compliance


A vehicle control device includes: a control portion that makes, of a plurality of shock absorbers included in a vehicle, a first damping force of at least one shock absorber that is located on a first direction side on which acceleration acts in a longitudinal direction of the vehicle larger than a second damping force of at least one shock absorber of the plurality of shock absorbers that is located on a second direction side opposite to the first direction in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle before acceleration acting on the vehicle is detected by an acceleration sensor due to acceleration or deceleration of the vehicle.

A technique has been developed, in which an acceleration detection result is obtained from an acceleration sensor that detects the acceleration acting in a vertical direction of a vehicle, an absolute speed of the vertical movement of the vehicle is obtained based on the detection result of the acceleration, and a damping force of the suspension is changed according to the absolute speed to suppress the vertical vibration of the vehicle.
JP 07-232530A is an example of the related art.
However, in the technique of changing the damping force of the suspension based on the detection result of the acceleration by the acceleration sensor, the damping force of the suspension cannot be changed unless the driving source for driving the wheels of the vehicle outputs torque and the posture of the vehicle changes according to the instruction of acceleration or deceleration by the driver of the vehicle and the stroke amount of the suspension or the acceleration in the vertical direction of the vehicle changes. Therefore, the responsiveness of the control of the damping force of the suspension is reduced, and it may be difficult to suppress a nose dive or the like due to the deceleration of the vehicle.
Thus, a need exists for a vehicle control device which is not susceptible to the drawback mentioned above.

Vehicle control device for an adaptive variable suspension


The present invention discloses a plasma operation electrode for an otolaryngology department. The plasma operation electrode for the otolaryngology department includes a tubular loop electrode, a water absorption tube and an effluent flow guiding component. The water absorption tube is sheathed in the tubular loop electrode, a water inlet channel is formed between the water absorption tube and the tubular loop electrode. An end part, away from the handle, of the tubular loop electrode is provided with at least one water outlet hole. The effluent flow guiding component is correspondingly installed at the water outlet hole, and sealed and connected on an outer wall of the tubular loop electrode. A water injecting channel is formed between the effluent flow guiding component and the tubular loop electrode. The plasma operation electrode for the otolaryngology department has a good flow guiding effect to normal saline, and high in reliability and safety.

A low-temperature plasma ablation technology, because it has the advantages of safety, minimally invasive, simple operation, small pain of a patient and the like, and is capable of achieving the functions of cutting, ablation and hemostasis and the like to a tissue in a low-temperature (40-70 DEG C.) condition, is more and more applied in clinical practice, especially in an otolaryngology department, it has a very extensive application in the cutting, the ablation and the hemostasis and the like of tonsil and adenoid resection operations. A fundamental principle of the technology is that an electric field in certain frequency is used, electrolyte between a plasma operation electrode and a target tissue is converted into a low-temperature plasma state, a highly aggregated plasma thin layer is formed at a front end of the operation electrode, the strong electric field is capable of enabling free charged particles in the plasma thin layer to acquire enough energy, and transmitting the energy to the target tissue, a molecular bond for forming a cell component in the target tissue is disaggregated, cells in the target tissue are disintegrated by using a molecule as a unit, and decomposed into a carbohydrate and an oxide, and coagulation necrosis of the tissue is caused, thereby ablation and cutting effects are achieved. A low-temperature plasma ablation operation belongs to a minimally invasive surgery, safety of a local mucous membrane tissue structure may be maintained, and post-operation edema and pain may be effectively relieved. Ablation time is very short, a post-operation symptom may be relieved in about 15-20 minutes, and may not be relapsed generally after the operation. The low-temperature plasma ablation operation is suitable for shaping, cutting and blood coagulating of various tissues of a human body, an operation process is safe and painless, and amygdalitis, sleep apnea syndrome, pharyngitis and the like may be effectively treated.
The plasma operation electrode is an operation instrument designed in order to achieve the low-temperature plasma operation, the plasma operation electrode is capable of generating a high-frequency and high-pressure repetitive pulse through using a modern electronic technology, and forming luminous plasma for discharging among the electrode in normal saline, in an incentive function of a strong electric field, achieving a purpose of tissue cutting, ablation and blood coagulating. In the plasma surgical operation, the normal saline is further used as a medium formed by plasma, besides used for maintaining electrolyte balance of a tissue, and cleaning up a wound, and a state of the normal saline plays a very important role in the plasma surgical operation. An effluent structure of the normal saline is rational or not is a key problem of affecting a normal saline conveying effect, a washing effect and electrical conductivity. As shown in FIG. 1, at present, an existing plasma operation electrode applied to tonsil and adenoid is generally that a lower side 201 of an external electrode 20 exposed out of an insulating layer is provided with a flow guiding hole 202, and the normal saline is discharged through the flow guiding hole 202, while such a structure is used, the following problems exists: because a metal end of the external electrode 20 is exposed out of the insulating layer, not only a potential safety hazard of easy current leakage exists, but also an exposed head of the external electrode 20 is easy to scald tissues of other parts, irritation is large, and a risk is high, it is easy to cause large mental stress of a doctor and a patent, thereby poor reliability, safety and stability of the operation are caused; otherwise, the flow guiding hole 202 is installed on the external electrode 20, on the one hand, water supply capacity is insufficient, and water supply is non-uniform, on the other hand, the normal saline is flowed to a water inlet place of a head end of the working electrode only dependent on water flow pressure and gravity action, so feed liquid of the head end of the electrode is unstable and uncontrollable, especially while the head end of the electrode is not downward vertically, particularly while the head end of the electrode is upward, the normal saline may not be accurately flowed to the water inlet place of the head end of the working electrode, a situation that the electrode is unstable in work even stopped is caused, insufficient feed liquid of the normal saline at the head end of the electrode may also cause an excess temperature so as to injure the tissue, and the insufficient feed liquid of the working saline at the head end of the electrode may generate a lot of smoke so as to affect definition of an operation view; at the same time, after the insulating layer adjacent to a working electrode end is used for multiple times, deformation is easily generated so as to cause a problem of poor water supply. Otherwise, in the operation, if the treatment operation needs to be simultaneously performed on the tonsil and the adenoid, because the electrode for the tonsil operation in an existing technology is difficult to achieve the operative treatment of the adenoid, another special electrode needs to be replaced, it is very inconvenient.
Therefore, it is very necessary to research and develop a plasma operation electrode for an otolaryngology department which is reliable in water supply, universal, no current-leakage, and high safety.

Plasma operation electrode for otolaryngology department


A drill in which a flute is formed from a point to a base end side of a body of the drill, on a side face to be rotated about an axis, a cutting edge is formed between a wall surface of the flute which faces a drill rotational direction side and a flank at the point of the body, and a thinned portion is provided to a web portion of the point. The cutting edge is formed in a convex arc shape with a curvature radius 0.25 to 1 times a drill diameter; a radial rake angle at an outer peripheral portion of the cutting edge is −60 to −15 degrees; a corner portion, closer to the center of the point, of the thinned portion is formed in an arc shape with a curvature radius of at least 0.1 mm and not greater than 0.05 times the drill diameter; and the drill includes three flutes and three cutting edges.

Conventionally, in a case where high feed machining, in which a feed per revolution exceeds 5% of a drill diameter, is performed with a drill with a linear cutting edge, fracture or the like of the cutting edge is likely to occur due to insufficient strength of a corner portion of the cutting edge, so the machining may be prevented in some cases. Furthermore, even in a case where the drill is used under normal conditions in which the feed per revolution is 2 to 3% of the drill diameter, the corner portion of the drill cutting edge may often be fractured or completely worn out to reach durability limit.
Therefore, Patent Document 1 proposes a drill which has a cutting edge with fracture resistance and which enables favorable chip curling as well as deep hole drilling and through hole drilling in a stable manner. In the drill, a portion, which is closer to a center cutting edge portion, of a main cutting edge portion is formed in a straight line or a convex arc with a large curvature radius. Furthermore, the outer peripheral side is formed as a convex-shape curved edge having a curvature radius that is gradually reduced towards the outer periphery. The lower limit of the curvature radius is 0.25 times the drill diameter. Moreover, the main cutting edge portion has no inflection point and a radial rake angle q at the outer peripheral portion is less than or equal to −15 degrees and greater than or equal to −40 degrees. The drill having a cutting portion formed as above disperses load across the main cutting edge, thereby preventing concentration of the load at one point. As a consequence, edge fracture is unlikely to occur, thus the tool life can be lengthened.    Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-285211


An optical connector comprises a mount having an accommodating portion and an optical connector ferrule. The mount and the outer surface of the optical connector ferrule to be brought into contact therewith are made of the same kind of material, thereby securing the good weldability therebetween. In one embodiment, both the mount and the ferrule are made of an amorphous alloy. In another embodiment, the mount is made of a metal, for example stainless steel, and the ferrule comprises a body made of an amorphous alloy and a surface part covering the outer surface of the body is made of the same kind of material as the mount, i.e. a metal such as stainless steel.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to optical connectors for connecting and/or fixing optical fiber ends or optical fiber cable ends to be used in optical communications and optical connector ferrules to be used therein, particularly optical connector ferrules having a metal tube incorporated therein as an integral part thereof (hereinafter referred to occasionally as xe2x80x9coptical connector ferrule of the metal tube built-in typexe2x80x9d). The term xe2x80x9cferrulexe2x80x9d used herein collectively refers to a capillary-shaped ferrule (also called xe2x80x9ccapillaryxe2x80x9d) and a ferrule having a flange part.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When an optical connector ferrule is connected to a semiconductor laser module to be used as a light source for an optical communication device and the like, a mount for attachment to a module is commonly used. Now, the relation between the ferrule and the mount is explained with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a conventional butterfly type LD module. An optical unit 20 assembled in advance is placed and fixed in a butterfly package 23. Reference numeral 24 denotes a group of package electrode terminals of the butterfly type which connect a driving power source to a laser diode (LD) 21 of the optical unit 20 and are adapted to be connected to electrode terminals of an optical system for monitoring the driving state. Two groups of electrode terminals 24 are respectively attached to both sidewalls of the package body as opposed to each other. A ferrule 1 into which a leading end of an optical fiber 2 is fitted is connected to the butterfly package 23 via a mount 10 for attachment to a module. Laser beams emitted from the laser diode 21 are collected by aspherical lenses 22 and 11 and introduced into the optical fiber 2 embedded in the ferrule 1 at the leading end thereof.
Heretofore, the ferrule 1 has been generally manufactured from ceramics such as zirconia and preliminarily press-fitted into the tube-shaped mount 10 made of stainless steel. This mount 10 is attached to the butterfly package 23 by laser welding. In the diagram the welding positions are indicated by the reference sign xe2x80x9cXxe2x80x9d.
Parts for optical connectors are required to have high dimensional accuracy in order to prevent the loss of light. The conventional method for the production of an optical connector ferrule (capillary) comprises the steps of first molding a ceramic powder containing a binder by injection molding, extrusion molding or the like thereby forming a ferrule blank, sintering the resultant blank, and finishing the blank into a desired dimension by subjecting it to machining such as abrasive finishing of the outside diameter, abrasive finishing of the inside diameter, and polishing of the leading end into the spherical convex surface (PC polishing). Since the inside diameter of a small hole of the ferrule for the insertion of an optical fiber is very small (for instance, the diameter of the small hole of the capillary of the SC type is 0.126 mm), the wire lapping finishing is commonly used for the finishing of the inside diameter thereof. Accordingly, the process of production is lengthy and requires expensive apparatuses such as an inside diameter finishing machine and an outside diameter finishing machine, and the cost of production is inevitably large.
In order to solve the problems mentioned above, the assignee of this application has already proposed to manufacture the ferrules from an amorphous alloy (Japanese Patent Application, KOKAI (Early Publication) No. 10-186176).
The use of amorphous alloy has such advantages that the ferrules satisfying the dimensional accuracy and the surface quality required of optical connector ferrules can be manufactured by a metal mold casting method with high mass productivity and in a single process and further that such machining steps as outside diameter finishing and inside diameter finishing of the ferrule can be diminished markedly. However, the weldability of an amorphous alloy to a metal such as stainless steel commonly used as a material of the mount 10 mentioned above is poor and thus the ferrule made of an amorphous alloy cannot be joined to the mount with sufficient strength. Therefore, it poses a problem that the ferrule made of an amorphous alloy can be used as a part of module only with difficulty.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to improve the joining properties or weldability of the ferrule made of an amorphous alloy and having excellent properties and advantages as mentioned above to a mount for attachment to a module and enable the ferrule to be used as a part of the module.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector ferrule having excellent optical properties, which ferrule can be joined or welded to a mount even when the mount made of a metal such as stainless steel is used and can be used as a part of the module.
To accomplish the objects mentioned above, a first aspect of the present invention provides an optical connector. A first embodiment thereof is directed to an optical connector comprising a mount having an accommodating portion or space and an optical connector ferrule attached to the mount, wherein the mount and at least the outer surface of the optical connector ferrule are made of the same kind of material and the ferrule is integrally joined to the mount. This embodiment includes the case that both the mount and the optical connector ferrule mentioned above are made of an amorphous alloy.
A second embodiment of the present invention is directed to an optical connector comprising a mount having an accommodating portion or space and an optical connector ferrule attached to the mount, wherein the optical connector ferrule comprises a body and a surface part covering the outer surface of the body, and the mount and the surface part mentioned above are made of the same kind of material and are integrally joined to each other.
Another aspect of the present invention provides an optical connector ferrule which can be advantageously used in this embodiment. The optical connector ferrule is characterized by comprising a body made of an amorphous alloy having at least a glass transition region and a surface part of an existing metal material covering the outer surface of the body.

Optical connector and optical connector ferrule to be used therein


A flow cytometer containg a device for sampling cellular material within a body. The flow cytometer is adapted to mark cells within bodily fluid with a marker to produce marked cells, to analyze the marked cells, to sort the cells within the bodily fluid to produce sorted cells, to maintain the sorted cells cells in a viable state, and to remove the marker from the marked cells. Two marker removal devices are used in the flow cytomter.

A flow cytometer adapted to both detect and treat mammalian cells, containing means for affixing a label to cellular material, removing such label, and cleaning the filter means which effectuate such removal.
Flow cytometers are well known to those skilled in the art. By way of illustration and not limitation, one may refer to, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,198,110, 6,197,744, 6,197,593, 6,197,540, 6,197,539, and the like.
Most of the prior art flow cytometers are relatively large and unwieldy and, thus, cannot readily accompany a patient in his everyday endeavors. Furthermore, most prior art flow cytometers are not adapted to sample cellular material directly; the analyte generally used with these prior art machines must be extracted and prepared in vitro from a cellular source.
It is an object of this invention to provide a flow cytometer which is portable, which can be affixed to the body of a patient, which can directly sample cellular material, and which can treat cellular material.
It is another object of this invention to provide a flow cytometer which can be used therapeutically as well as diagnostically.
In accordance with this invention, there is provided a flow cytometer which comprises means for sampling cellular material, a means for marking cells within said bodily fluid with a marker to produce marked cells, means for analyzing the cellular material, means for removing such marker from the marked cells, means for sorting the cellular material, means for modifying a portion of the cellular material, and means for maintaining a portion of the cellular material which has been analyzed in a viable state.


A waterway, interconnecting two bodies of water, has a centrally mounted first electrode and a pair of grounded second electrodes bracketing the first electrode. A source of alternating current electric power is connected across the first electrode and the pair of grounded second electrodes to develop an electric field within the waterway, which electric field causes narcosis or tetany in any fish attempting to swim through the electric field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrofishing and, more particularly, to electric fish barriers for controlling movement of fish.
2. Description of Related Art
Electrofishing apparatus, to attract fish to a specific location or to repel fish from a specific location, have been used for decades. Electric barriers to control movement of fish have also been used for decades with greater or lesser degree of success. These barriers fall into two broad groups: those that use alternating current (AC) and those that use direct current (DC). In each of these two broad groups, the electric barriers may incorporate electrodes that lie flat on the bottom of the body of water or they may incorporate various patterns of immersed vertical rods or cables serving as electrode arrays. Various other configurations of electrodes are also known. A plethora of varieties of types of electric power sources exist, including the use of pulsed and constant currents (whether AC or DC), various frequencies or frequency ranges, single phase or three phase current, spacing and separation of electrode elements as a function of the type and nature of electric power applied, etc.
Each of the existing electrofishing apparatus and electric barriers attempts to provide a balanced solution of the various problems set forth below. Alternating current (AC) is used as the source of electric power for the following primary advantages: (1) permits more economy of design; (2) fish are far more sensitive to an AC field than to a DC field; (3) continuous use of DC is limited because of the electrolytic build up of oxides and other chemicals that occur on the cathode electrode resulting in electrically non conducting blankets enveloping the cathode electrode and there occurs erosion of the anode electrode; (4) it is easier to design uniformly distributed fields to eliminate equipotential paths through the electric field. Direct current (DC), whether pulsed or constant, offers primarily only one advantage. Fish swimming in a unipolar electric field of sufficient strength will suffer a type of seizure (galvanotropism) which causes the fish to swim only toward the anode electrode. This means that if the cathode electrode is identified as a "barrier", fish swimming toward the cathode electrode will turn and swim away (galvanotaxis); thus, the cathode electrode presents a type of barrier to fish movement. Sophisticated versions of DC electric fields involve use of a pulsed current, shaping of the pulses, selection of pulse frequencies and control of the width of the pulses. Pulsed DC current is more efficient than constant DC current in (1) causing neurological reactions in the fish; (2) reducing the amount of electrical energy consumed by the barrier; and (3) turning the fish away before they enter the strongest part of the field near the cathode electrode. If the barrier (cathode electrode) is in a slow moving or stagnant water, the galvanotaxis syndrome will cause the fish to move out of the strong electric field before they become narcotized (the next level of seizure that a fish experiences if shocked above the level that produces galvanotropism) and an accumulation of unconscious fish in proximity to the cathode electrode is prevented. In practice however, fish that are not moved out of the strong electric field by the moving water, swimming or electrotaxis, suffocate and die. The accumulation of dead fish quickly translates into a very unpleasant and unhealthy problem.
DC systems that are sufficiently sophisticated to accomplish the desired control of the movement of fish are expensive and subject to failure. Where the system is a fish barrier, it must be on continuously with zero down time or else it is ineffective in serving its primary purpose. Finally, the electrolytic action on the cathode and anode electrodes will ultimately cause down time for replacement unless significant redundancy of electrodes and circuits is employed.
The electrolytic action on the electrodes due to DC current can be avoided and the neurological reactions of the fish to DC current can be preserved if the electric field is formed by an asymmetrical AC current. In such systems, the total amount of energy in the positive and negative portions of each cycle is equal. By appropriate circuit design, it is possible to produce a brief high voltage pulse in the positive half cycle and a much lower peak voltage but longer duration pulse in the negative half cycle, whereby the energy of each half cycle is essentially equal. Such equality of energy in each cycle will effectively neutralize electrolytic build up upon the electrodes. Since the fish will respond neurologically to the peak voltage half cycles, the reactions of galvanotropism and subsequent galvanotaxis will be preserved. Accordingly, such a system is probably ideal for a fish barrier but it is technologically different to construct, is expensive and suffers from problems of reliability. Accordingly, it has limited practical applications.
Electrodes are normally set in a vertical array since such an array will produce a uniform distribution of an electric field which field assures that fish travelling at any depth in the adjacent water column will encounter a strong field strength. Such a configuration is unpopular and not very suitable for sites such as rivers that have moving water that may carry debris since such debris may collect at and build up upon the electrodes. With such build up, the force of the moving water may be sufficient to damage or destroy the electrodes. If the electrode spacing is sufficient to allow expected debris to pass, the effective electrical field between the electrodes is severely degenerated. To place electrodes horizontally on the bottom of the body of water or suspended in a water column, or both for deeper waters, the debris problem may be solved but the electric field produced is not uniform from the top to the bottom of the water. Without a uniform field, accurate prediction of fish reaction at any location in the electric field becomes problematical. That is, the fish travelling along the bottom will not be subjected to the same field strength as the fish moving close to the surface or anywhere therebetween. When the electrodes are horizontal, such as only on the bottom of the body of water, the voltage gradient is essentially vertically oriented and equipotential lines within the field are, to a great extent, horizontal. Accordingly, it is possible for a fish moving horizontally to sense no voltage difference between the voltage present at its head and at its tail. Without such a sensed voltage difference, the electric field will have little effect upon the fish. While there is no voltage gradient between the head and tail when the fish is parallel to the equipotential lines, there is a voltage from one side of the body of the fish to the other. This voltage gradient is small when compared to the fish with its entire body length across the field and the amount of current induced in its flesh is proportionately less. Still, in the strongest part of the field, a fish can receive enough of a shock in this position that all of the neurological reactions of galvanotaxis narcosis, and tetany can occur.
In many parts of the United States and the world, there exist interconnected bodies of water wherein an upstream body of water has been stocked with fish for sport fishing purposes or for fish farming purposes. When fish predatory to the stocked fish exist in a body of water downstream, it is mandatory to prevent movement of the predatory fish into the upstream body of water containing the stocked fish. In most instances, the use of a physical barrier to absolutely prevent such migration of the predatory fish is not a viable solution. Accordingly, a barrier which accommodates flow from the upstream body of water to the downstream body of water must be used. Moreover, such barrier must accommodate the flow of normal debris and detritus. To be effective, as discussed above, the barrier must operate continuously and for a period of years with minimal maintenance and replacement requirements. Finally, the barrier must accommodate very slow moving water and rapidly moving water without change in effectiveness.


A method for determining an oil-gas-water interface based on the formation pressure equivalent density. The method comprising: determining working parameters of the wireline modular formation tester based on the acquired conventional logging data of a block to be studied; acquiring a series of formation pressure and corresponding depth data based on the working parameter; computing formation pressure equivalent densities at different depths based on the formation pressure and the corresponding depth data; drawing a crossplot of the formation pressure equivalent density and the depth according to the formation pressure equivalent density and the corresponding depth data at the different depths; and determining the oil-gas-water interface according to the position of breaking point of the formation pressure equivalent density on the crossplot of the formation pressure equivalent density and the depth.

According to the buoyancy principle, oil gas or other fluids with a density lower than the water density of the surrounding formation in the formation will be subjected to the buoyancy and tend to be moved from underground to the ground surface. Due to existence of geological structures such as anticlines, oil gas or carbon dioxide will accumulate at the top of the geological structures to form oil and gas reservoirs or carbon dioxide gas reservoirs, and the like. This creates an additional pressure on the inner top surface of the geological structure, and the magnitude of the additional pressure is related to a density difference between the reservoir-forming fluid and the formation water as well as the reservoir-forming height, as shown in FIG. 1. It is found through research that such a buoyancy effect can be reflected by the law that the formation pressure equivalent density in oil and gas reservoirs changes with depth. The formation pressure equivalent density Q (also referred to as a formation pressure coefficient in some papers) refers to a fluid density to generate the same formation pressure of a fluid column whose height is the formation depth under hydrostatic conditions. The calculation formula thereof is that the formation pressure at this depth is divided by a vertical depth and then by a coefficient. The value of the coefficient depends on whether the formation pressure is in the unit of MPa or PSI (pounds per square inch). Q is mainly used in the oilfield to determine mud density in the well, so as to balance the formation pressure and ensure that the safety of drilling engineering in easy-to-spray and easy-to-leak formations. However, based on the buoyancy effect principle of oil and gas reservoirs, the method of identifying and dividing oil and gas reservoirs by the relationship between Q and depth variation has not been reported.

Method and apparatus for determining oil-gas-water interface based on formation pressure equivalent density


Disclosed are terpolymer compositions of lactide, glycolide, and caprolactone and methods of making such polymers with an initiator. Methods of using the terpolymers as a drug delivery platform are also disclosed.

Homopolymers of glycolide and lactide have been extensively studied and reported in literature. Such polymers have received wide acceptance in pharmacological applications due to their biodegradability and non-toxicity in vivo (see e.g., Kulkarni et al., "Poly(lactic acid) for surgical implants," Technical Rep. 6608, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., 1966). Copolymers of glycolide and lactide have also been used in medical applications due to an improvement in polymeric properties over the homopolymers. For example, copolymers of lactide and glycolide are less crystalline and the intermediate copolymeric compositions are more susceptible to hydrolytic attack than the homopolymers. Miller et al. reported a 10-fold increase in degradation on moving from homopolymers to copolymers of lactide and glycolide (Miller et al., "Degradation rates of oral resorbable implants (polylactates and polyglycolates): Rate modification with changes in PLA/PGA copolymer ratios," J. Biomed. Mater. Res., 11:711-719, 1977).
It was noticed that hydrolysis rates of lactide-glycolide copolymers typically increase above the polymer glass transition temperature. Crystallinity and polymer chain orientation were shown to retard degradation. Irradiation, used for sterilization, was also shown to accelerate degradative processes. Thus, many have studied the effects of monomer ratios and different additives on lactide-glycolide copolymers in efforts to tailor specialty compositions with desirable properties.
It is often desired to prepare viscous formulations of polymers for drug delivery. In one example, ATRIX ATRIGEL™ is a poly(lactide-glycolide) polymer that can be prepared as a viscous liquid. However, it must be dissolved in relatively large quantities of organic solvents (like N-methylpyrrolidone) in order to form the viscous formulation. Typical polymer concentrations in the solvent are on the order of about 10% to 50%. Another high viscosity injectable is Durect's SABER™, which is a sucrose acetate isobutyrate that is a non-polymeric high-viscosity liquid that thins-out dramatically with the addition of small quantities of solvent (like ethanol). This makes it attractive in that only small quantities of solvent are needed to bring the viscosity of the material down to practical, injectable levels. However, the SABER™ material itself has few factors or variables that can be manipulated in order to adjust the attributes of the material as a platform-based technology.
Another drug-delivery platform involves polymeric micelles containing biodegradable, hydrophobic blocks. Polymeric micelles have been described where block copolymers comprising polycaprolactone (PCL) are the hydrophobic polymer core-forming components(s) and polyethylene glycol are the hydrophilic shell-forming components(s) (see e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,469,132). Such micelles can be particularly suited to carrying or solubilizing hydrophobic or lipophilic drugs having affinity towards (and that partition into) the hydrophobic cores of these particles.
Of the hydrophobic biodegradable polymers (such as polyesters based on lactide or caprolactone), PCL is often used because longer chain-length of the caprolactone produces a more hydrophobic polymer. However, PCL as a biodegradable, hydrophobic block suffers in that it is a crystalline to semi-crystalline polymer; PCL has a melting point of about 60° C. Crystallinity within the core of the polymeric micelle can be disadvantageous in that the crystalline regions are highly organized, tightly-structured areas that provide no room or space for carrying a drug load. Therefore, crystallinity will lower the drug-loading capacity of the resulting polymeric micelle. Another biodegradable polymer known to contain highly crystalline structures is poly(L-lactide).
What are needed are new biocompatible polymer compositions that can be viscous liquids or polymeric micelles and that have other unique properties suitable for certain pharmaceutical and medical applications. Compositions that are viscous liquids without the need for organic solvents or without large amounts of solvents are desired. It is also desired to have polymers with hydrophobic biodegradable core-forming blocks for preparing polymeric micelles and yet that do not also suffer from the disadvantages associated with the crystallinity of PCL. Also desired are compositions that can be easily modified to provide variability in terms of release, duration, and performance. The compositions and methods disclosed herein meet these and other needs.

Viscous terpolymers as drug delivery platform


Soldiers and vehicles are fitted with infrared laser detectors for detecting simulated laser bullets and artillery shells from SAT-equipped small arms weapons and tanks employing laser scanner transmitters. An infrared LED is mounted inside the protective housing which supports each laser detector for illuminating the exterior surface of a window, lens or other transparent optical element positioned in front of the detector. Dirt, dust, mud, snow, shoe polish or other contaminant on the exterior surface of the optical element scatters the infrared radiation from the LED and in accordance with a test periodically performed by a test circuit, if the scattered signal exceeds a predetermined threshold value, a visual and/or audible warning is given to the player. If the optical element is not cleaned within a predetermined time after the warning, a kill command is executed to prevent the player from cheating.

The present invention relates to military training equipment, and more particularly, to an improved system and method for processing signals from laser detectors worn by soldiers and carried by vehicles in simulated in war games.
For many years the U.S. Army has trained soldiers with a multiple integrated laser engagement system (MILES). One aspect of MILES involves a small arms laser transmitter (SAT) being affixed to the stock of a small arms weapon such as an M16A1 rifle or a machine gun. Each soldier is fitted with detectors on his or her helmet and on a body harness adapted to detect a infrared laser xe2x80x9cbulletxe2x80x9d hit. The soldier pulls the trigger of his or her weapon to fire a blank or blanks to simulate the firing of an actual round or multiple rounds. An audio sensor or a photo-optic detector detects the firing of the blank round(s) and simultaneously energizes a laser diode in the SAT which emits an infrared laser beam toward the target which is in the conventional sights of the weapon. Vehicles such as the HUM-VEE and tanks are also fitted with laser detectors for detecting infrared laser xe2x80x9cartillery shellxe2x80x9d hits. Soldiers and vehicles carry player units and control systems which include a microprocessor based control circuit for processing the signals from the detectors to determine if there has been a hit, the type of weapon registering the hit, and the identity of the shooter. After performing casualty assessment, the control circuit provides status information to the player, indicating on a display whether the player has been xe2x80x9ckilledxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cinjuredxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cdamagedxe2x80x9d. This in turn will tell the player his or her status in the combat training exercise. The exercise events and casualties are recorded, replayed and analyzed in detail during xe2x80x9cafter action reviewsxe2x80x9d (AARs).
In order to accurately assess the performance of soldiers during MILES-based combat training exercises it is essential that the laser detectors on the soldiers and vehicles accurately detect laser hits. Normally these detectors are equipped with a transparent window or lens that receives the infrared laser beam emitted by SAT-equipped rifle or a laser scanner transmitter on a tank gun. The infrared radiation passes through this optical element and impinges upon an infrared detector. If the window or lens is contaminated, e.g. with dirt, dust, mud or other debris, a laser hit may not be detected. A serious problem in MILES-based training exercises occurs because soldiers on occasion have been known to intentionally spread dirt, dust, mud, snow, shoe polish, or other contaminants on the window or lens of the detectors the player is wearing, or on the detectors mounted on his or her vehicle. These contaminants substantially limit or block the transmission of laser signals through the window or lens. This greatly reduces the likelihood, and in some cases completely eliminates the possibility, that they will be xe2x80x9ckilledxe2x80x9d thereby keeping them in the war game, and inaccurately reflecting their combat performance. Such incidences greatly impede the commander""s ability to accurately assess during an AAR the skill of the individual participants and the tactics employed. Accordingly there is an acute need to prevent unintentional and intentional fouling of these optical detectors. Any improvement in this regard must be designed to bar soldiers from overcoming the same.
Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention to provide an improved channel for processing signals from an optical detector used in simulated combat exercises.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of preventing soldiers from cheating during MILES-based training exercises and similar laser combat training exercises by deliberately contaminating the window, lens or cover of a soldier worn, or vehicle borne, laser optical detector.
In accordance with the present invention, an optical system for detecting contamination includes a detector mounted in a housing for detecting incident optical radiation having a predetermined wavelength and for generating signals representative thereof An optical element is mounted to the housing for allowing optical radiation received from an exterior side of the optical element to pass through the optical element and impinge upon the detector. A source or a plurality of sources of illumination may be mounted inside the housing for selectively illuminating the optical element from an interior side thereof with optical radiation having the same predetermined wavelength. A test circuit is connected to the detector for determining the presence of a predetermined amount of a contaminant on an exterior surface of the optical element based on the signals generated by the detector when the optical element is illuminated by radiation from the source of illumination.
The present invention also provides a method of preventing cheating in a simulated combat exercise. The method involves the first step of equipping a plurality of players with laser detectors for detecting simulated kills or injuries from SAT-equipped small arms weapons. The next step of the method involves electronically determining the presence of a contaminant on an exterior surface of an optical element positioned in front of a laser detector. The final step of the method involves providing an indication to a player if the contaminant is detected.

System and method for preventing cheating in a simulated combat exercise


The present invention discloses a method and a system for implementing communications between multiple subnets covered by one physical Mobile Switching Center and an MSC. The method maps the MSC to multiple virtual MSCs that are logical MSCs within the physical MSC, each virtual MSC corresponds to one subnet that represents one or more location areas within the physical MSC, assigns to each of the multiple virtual MSCs a virtual MSC number, identifies a virtual MSC number of one of the virtual MSCs that is currently visited by the wireless mobile terminal, according to the current location area and the set relationship between each subnet that represents one or more location areas within the physical MSC and each virtual MSC number, and transmits the identified virtual MSC number of one of the virtual MSCs that is currently visited by a terminal when the wireless mobile terminal implements communications.

In networking of mobile communication systems, a local area network is partitioned and set generally according to geographical locations and the number of terminals. In areas of sparse population, it is suitable to have a large local area network that covers several small subnets in order to achieve a closer access and a wide coverage. The large local area network refers to a network covered by one physical MSC, and it is partitioned into subnets based on geographical locations to obtain small local area networks.
The large local area network includes a Base Station (BS), a Base Station Controller (BSC), an MSC, a Visited Location Register (VLR) and a Home Location Register (HLR). The BS (BTS/Node B) receives and transmits wireless signals, and serves a certain area, and communicates with terminals in the area. The BTS/Node B is connected with a Base Station Controller/Radio Network Controller (BSC/RNC), which manages radio resources and controls the base station. The BSC is connected to the MSC through a Media Gateway (MGW) or directly. The MSC is mainly used for controlling the mobile calling procedure. The VLR is a database to store temporary information of terminals; and the information is needed when the MSC visits the terminal. The HLR is a database to permanently store management information of the terminals and service records of the terminals.
FIG. 1 shows a network structure which includes three subnets and is covered by one physical MSC. In FIG. 1, the MSC/VLR covers location area 1, location area 2 and location area 3; the location area 1 further includes two location zones: LAI 11 and LAI 12, the location area 2 includes one location zone: LAI 2, and the location area 3 includes one location zone LAI 3. It can be seen that the whole network includes one physical and logical MSC/VLR and one HLR that controls all the terminals in the network and generates billings and traffic statistic. The existing method of distance measurement between a calling party and a called party is implemented with the MSC/VLR number. Since there is one logical MSC/VLR, the whole large local area network uses the same MSC number. The billing and traffic statistics of terminals communicating in different small local area networks, are the same as those of terminals communicating in a small local area network.

Method and system for implementing communications between multiple subnets and MSC


An apparatus for coding an image includes a setting unit that sets quantization width for each coded block of an image frame of image data. The apparatus also includes a visual attention calculating unit that calculates a level of visual attention to a first element for each coded block of the image frame; and a perceptual distortion calculating unit that calculates a level of perceptual distortion of a second element whose distorted image quality is easily visually perceived, for each coded block of the image frame. The apparatus also includes a correcting unit that corrects the quantization width based on the level of visual attention and the level of perceptual distortion; and a quantizing unit that quantizes the image data based on the corrected quantization width.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for and method of coding an image, and more particularly to a technique to specify appropriate data of quantization width for quantization of a dynamic image or a static image.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional standards for motion-picture coding, such as ITU-TH.264, ISO/IEC MPEG-2, allow compression of high quality image through selection of the most appropriate coding mode or quantization parameter for each coded block, which is called a macroblock, according to the properties of the coded block.
More specifically, the most basic quantizing technique for image compression sets a smaller quantization step, which is a quantization parameter, for a macroblock which is determined to have a higher level of importance, and a larger quantization step for a macroblock which is determined to have a lower level of importance, thereby trying to achieve enhanced coding efficiency and improved image quality.
Proposals have been made to correct the quantization parameter in consideration of human visual characteristics. For example, "International Organisation for Standardisation TestModel Editing Committee, 1993. Test Model 5. April. ISO-IEC/JTC1/SC29/WG11/NO400" (hereinafter also referred to as first literature) proposes calculating an activity of an input image and correcting the quantization step so that the quantization step for flat areas is made smaller, considering the human visual characteristics that human visual system is more sensitive to distortions in flat areas.
Another image coding method utilizing a certain human perceptual characteristic is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-284071 (hereinafter also referred to as second literature). The method includes steps of conducting a modeling so that image quality lowers from a target area towards a background area, and correcting a quantization parameter according to the result of modeling.
Though the method described in the first literature intends to reduce quantization distortion in areas where attention of viewers tends to focus by setting a smaller quantization step for the flat area in the image frame, the area to which the viewer actually focuses attention is quite often not the flat area in the image frame. For example, if the image frame includes a human face image against a relatively flat background, the viewer is expected to focus more on the human face image rather than the flat background. In addition, the human visual characteristics allow men to perceive only a limited area in detail. Hence, for the enhancement of image quality, an area to which the viewer's attention focuses in the image frame needs to be prioritized. The method of the first literature, however, relatively increases the quantization step for the focused area, thereby deteriorating the subjective image quality of the focused area.
On the other hand, the method according to the second literature though enhances the image quality of the focused area by relatively decreasing the quantization step of the focused area, relatively increases the quantization step of the flat background thereby strengthening the quantization distortion in the flat background which is easily perceived. Thus, the method according to the second literature also deteriorates overall subjective image quality.

Apparatus and method for coding image based on level of visual attention and level of perceivable image quality distortion, and computer program product therefor


A hand tool includes a highly focused light as well as a display. The hand tool can include a plurality of different tools, and includes a polygonal housing and a conical nose section as well as an easily gripped outer surface which includes gripping protrusions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general art of hand tools, and to the particular field of multipurpose hand tools.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
More and more people are spending time out of doors. This includes both recreation and work. Thus, hiking, camping, fishing, climbing, backpacking, and the like, join traditional out-of-doors work activities such as farming in bringing people out of doors.
Many, if not all, of these outdoor activities often require the use of some sort of hand tool. For example, fisherman often require the use of a knife or a hook removing tool or the like, while others may require the use of screw drivers, tweezers, forks, can openers, bottle openers, pliers, eating utensils and the like.
Thus, the art contains many examples of multipurpose tools that can be used in such conditions.
However, many of these activities are carried out in low light conditions, such as at night or at dawn or at dusk. This is especially true of fishing. Low light conditions may hamper use of these tools. Thus, the art also contains hand tools that are combined with light sources.
However, these light sources are generally simply light bulbs and are not sharply focused on the work area. Thus, while somewhat helpful, these lights suffer drawbacks.
Therefore, there is need for a hand tool that is combined with a highly focused light.
Often, hand tools are used in less than ideal conditions. These conditions often include rain, sleet, snow and the like. Under such harsh conditions, it is easy to drop the tool. Thus, hand tools that are intended to be used in harsh environmental conditions should be easy to securely grasp, yet also be rugged to survive an impact if dropped. Sometimes these conditions are mutually exclusive.
Therefore, there is a need for a hand tool that is combined with a light and which can be securely gripped and still be sufficiently rugged to survive an impact if dropped.
Many hand tool users need to know some information about their surroundings. For example, a fisherman may want to know the temperature, a climber may want to know his altitude, or the like. While the art contains separate thermometers and separate altimeters, these separate instruments present problems. Any additional equipment that must be carried presents problems, including the loss of that equipment as well as the damaging of that equipment.
Therefore, there is a need for a hand tool that is combined with a light and which can also be combined with a measuring instrument, such as a compass or a thermometer or an altimeter.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide a hand tool combined with a light.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand tool combined with a light that can be used for both recreation and for work.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand tool combined with a sharply focused light.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand tool combined with a light that is easily gripped.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand tool combined with a light that includes a display for data.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand tool combined with a light that includes a compass.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand tool combined with a light that includes an altimeter.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand tool combined with a light that includes a thermometer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand tool combined with a light that is rugged and readily absorbs shocks.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hand tool combined with a light that can be used by fisherman.
These, and other, objects are achieved by a hand tool that is combined with a highly focused light and which includes a rubberized outer surface that is easily and securely gripped. A lens focuses the light in the manner necessary to provide a highly focused beam of light for the tool. The hand tool includes a display that can be connected to a thermometer or an altimeter or a compass and can contain a multiplicity of tools that can be slid into and out of the knife as needed. The knife is rugged and thus can stand a great deal of abuse and still function. Thus, the knife is useful in both the recreational and the work environments.


For manufacturing a multi-layer capacitor, a layer structure (2, 3, 4) is applied onto a substrate (1), said layer structure comprising conductive layers (2, 4) and dielectric layers (3) in alternation and successive conductive layers (2, 4) therein being respectively formed of one of two different materials which are selectively etchable relative to one another. Two openings (6, 8) are produced in the layer structure (2, 3, 4), whereby under-etchings (21, 41 ) are formed in the first opening (6) by selective etching of the one material and are formed in the second opening (8) by selective etching of the other material, so that only the conductive layers (2, 4) of the non-etched material respectively adjoin contacts (91, 92) introduced into the openings (6, 8).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a method for producing a multi-layer capacitor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Multi-layer capacitors are employed as passive, discrete components or in integrated circuits. Among other things, multi-layer capacitors are manufactured as film capacitors and as ceramic capacitors. In the film capacitors, films are printed with metallizations and subsequently wound under pressure. Portions are cut out of the resulting coil to form individual film capacitors. The metallization is printed on in such a way that only every second metallization layer is adjacent at the edges of the film capacitor. The metallization lying therebetween is set back from the edge. Only every second metallization layer is contacted in this way by contacts applied onto the edges. The film forms the dielectric. For production-associated reasons, the film cannot be selected arbitrarily thin.
For manufacturing ceramic capacitors, ceramic films are coated with metal films by silk screening. The coated ceramic films are stacked and subsequently sintered. The metal films are arranged such that every second metal film extends up to the edge of the ceramic film, whereas the metal film lying therebetween is set back from the edge. Contacts are applied onto the edges of each second metal film. The ceramic films used in manufacturing ceramic capacitors are typically produced in a thickness of 20 .mu.m. A ceramic capacitor usually has approximately ten layers.

Method for manufacturing a multi-layer capacitor