The present invention provides a corona discharge device, comprising a first electrode including: a first substantially cylindrical inner chamber portion and a second substantially conical inner chamber portion in communication with the first inner chamber portion, wherein the second inner chamber portion has a cross sectional area that gradually enlarges in a direction away from the first inner chamber portion. The present invention also provides an ion mobility spectrometer comprising: an ionization region; and the corona discharge device disposed in the ionization region. With the above construction and structure, the ion mobility spectrometer of the present invention has the advantages that extraction of ions is facilitated and a life time of the corona electrode is lengthened. In addition, the focusing and storing electrode is used to effectively shield interference of a corona discharge pulse, and to push and focus sample ions. A designed voltage control solution is used to achieve mobility differentiating of ions, while a corona pulse is shielded to prevent variation in an ion quantity due to the corona pulse, thereby achieving an effect of stabilizing mobility spectrum lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a corona discharge device and an ion mobility spectrometer having the corona discharge device.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ion mobility spectrometer achieves differentiating of ions based on the fact that different ions drift at different speeds in a uniform weak electric field. The ion mobility spectrometer has the following advantages. The ion mobility spectrometer is capable of differentiating ions quickly, has a high sensitivity, does not need a vacuum environment, and facilitates miniaturization. Therefore, the ion mobility spectrometer is widely used in the field of detection of drugs and explosives. A typical ion mobility spectrometer is generally composed of a sample feeding part, an ionization region, an ion door, a drift region, a collection region, a reading circuit, a data acquiring and processing part, a control part, and the like. The ionization part mainly functions to convert molecules of a sample into ions that can be drifted so as to be separated. Therefore, the effect of ionization affects performance of the spectrometer very directly. Among current techniques, the common and widely used ionization assembly is one which employs a Ni63 radiation source. The ionization assembly has a small volume and a high stability, and does not need any additional circuit, but brings about a narrow linear range, a lower concentration of converted ions, and radioactive contamination. Especially the radioactive contamination causes much inconvenience to the operation, transportation and management of the apparatus.
One solution for overcoming the radioactive contamination is to adopt corona discharge technology instead of radiation source technology. The corona discharge is a phenomenon in which ionization of molecules of gas is caused due to a local strong electric field in a spatial nonuniform electric field. Ions generated directly by the corona discharge are generally called reactant ions. When molecules of a sample having a higher proton or electron affinity pass through the ionization region, they capture electric charge of the reactant ions so as to be ionized. Generally, a structure for the corona discharge is relatively simple and thus has a low cost, while a concentration of electric charge generated by the corona discharge is far higher than that generated by a radiation source. Therefore, the corona discharge facilitates improvement of sensitivity of the ion mobility spectrometer and obtains a large dynamic range.
However, it has disadvantages to perform ionization by using corona discharge. The corona discharge needs a high-voltage power source for supplying electric power. Furthermore, because the corona discharge itself occurs in a pulsed process (a Trichel pulse), a disorder of spectrum lines will be caused such that a detection result will be seriously affected if ions are allowed to enter the ion mobility spectrometer directly through the ion door. In addition, ions in a region of the corona discharge will be accelerated by an electric field in the region to strike a corona electrode so as to be lost. As a result, improvement of the sensitivity of the ion mobility spectrometer is inhibited. How to effectively drag out the ions from the ionization region is still a serious problem to be solved. In addition, since the corona discharge will causes oxidation of the corona electrode, it is an important problem to lengthen a life time of the electrode.

Corona discharge device and ion mobility spectrometer having corona discharge device


The invention relates to a screen pipe to be used in dry forming of web material in order to distribute fiber material blown into the screen pipe through a jacket (2) of the pipe onto a wire arranged to move under the pipe. The fiber material provided inside the screen pipe is made to move for example by means of a spiked roll placed inside the pipe, so that the movement of the fiber material has both a radial and a tangential component with respect to the jacket (2) of the screen pipe. The jacket comprises on its inner surface profiled grooves (8) in the pipe""s axial direction. The edge (8a) of the profiled groove is situated downstream with respect to the tangential component of the fiber flow. The upstream edge (8b) of the groove is positioned downstream with respect to the tangential component of the fiber flow. The bottoms of the profiled grooves comprise holes or slots (9) through which the fibers are discharged from the screen pipe. In the invention, the downstream edge (8a) of the profiled groove is at a more acute angle to the tangential component of the fiber material flow than the upstream edge (8b).

The present invention relates to an apparatus which may be used for the rapid and even distribution of fibrous material onto a moving surface for the formation of web material.
There are several techniques for the formation of fibrous sheets as webs. Wet-laying is a process by which a liquid suspension containing fibers to be incorporated into a sheet is filtered through a sieve. The fibers in the liquid suspension are laid onto the sieve as the water passes through thereby creating the sheet. This process is most useful for the creation of thin, non-absorbent sheets such as paper. Another well known process is dry-forming. This process involves the suspension of fibers which are to form a fibrous sheet, in air. These fibers are then laid onto a wire screen across which a vacuum is applied to draw the fibers onto the screen and hold them in place. This technology is particularly useful in the production of absorbent products.
There are several dry-forming techniques known in the art. However, a common problem associated with dry-forming fibrous webs is the difficulty in creating an even distribution of the fibers across the web. This problem manifests in the industrial production of dry-formed fibrous webs wherein the fibers are laid continuously on a rapidly moving conveyer belt. The present invention embodies an apparatus to overcome this problem.
The invention relates to a screen pipe used in the dry forming of web material to distribute fiber material blown into the screen pipe through a jacket onto a wire screen arranged to move under the pipe. The fiber material provided inside the screen pipe is made to rotate for example by means of a spiked roll placed inside the jacket, so that the movement of the fiber material has both a radial and a tangential component with respect to the jacket of the screen pipe. The jacket includes, on its inner surface, profiled grooves extended axially along the pipe. The edges of the profiled groove with respect to the tangential component of the fiber flow are positioned at different angels to the tangential component. The bottoms of the profiled grooves include holes or slots through which the fibers are discharged from the screen pipe.
A distribution unit where a screen pipe, as described above, can be used is known for example from Finnish Patent 66,948. This patent describes the basic structure of a distribution unit typically used in dry forming of sheet material. The distribution unit, generally called a former, comprises screen pipes, as described above, placed preferably in pairs to provide fiber flow in opposite directions over the wire in the cross direction thereof. The primary reason for such positioning of the pipes is that, in practice, it is virtually impossible to ensure that fiber flow, which occurs only in one direction over the wire, is deposited evenly onto the wire in the cross direction, thus providing a uniform cross direction web profile. When screen pipes are placed in pairs so that the fiber flows in the pipes in opposite directions, a web""s cross direction profile can be made considerably more uniform. For a web to be of uniform quality, the variation in the web thickness in the cross direction thereof should be minimal. An acceptable deviation from a target thickness is typically xc2x15%.
It has proved to be difficult to provide an even cross direction profile with the distribution unit described in Finnish Patent 66,948, despite the use of screen pipes in pairs. However, the basic structure of the distribution unit is useful and provides a high fiber discharge rate also with rather long fibers.
A screen pipe including, on its inner surface, axial profiled grooves wherein the edge of the groove that is located downstream of the tangential component of the fiber flow and the edge of the groove located upstream of the tangential component are at different angles to the tangential component, is known for example from PCT application WO87/04474. In a screen pipe disclosed in the aforementioned publication, fiber material is caused to move by means of a rotor or a spiked roll placed axially inside the pipe. The rotor or roll rotates in such a direction that the fibers whose movement it activates first come across the edge of the profiled groove which is at a more obtuse angle to the tangent of the jacket than the upstream edge of the groove. This method produces microturbulence, which improves the flow of fibers through holes or slots provided in the screen pipe.
A primary problem with the aforementioned arrangement is the capacity at which fibers can be fed through the screen pipe. The higher the desired wire speed and thus the rate of web formation, the higher the required capacity of the distribution units. The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of uneven fiber distribution and low fiber feed capacity.
The present invention relates to a screen pipe for the expulsion of fibrous material from said screen pipe including a cylindrical screen jacket which may rotate in a single given direction during its normal mode of operation, which includes the following elements on its inner surface:(a) one or more slots which completely penetrate the jacket through which the fibrous material may exit the apparatus; and (b) a groove located immediately downstream of the slot, relative to the direction of rotation of the screen jacket, wherein the edge of the groove which faces the adjacent slot forms an angle with the tangent of the screen jacket between 100xc2x0 and 160xc2x0; and (c)a second groove located immediately upstream of the slot, relative to the direction of rotation of the screen jacket, wherein the edge of the groove which faces the slot forms an angle with the tangent of the screen jacket between 70xc2x0 and 110xc2x0. This screen pipe may further comprise a feed pipe, rotatable brush rollers and a blade wheel. The edges of the grooves may also be substantially straight or curved. The screen pipes of the invention may also be employed in oppositely oriented pairs for dry forming web material. Furthermore, the screen pipe may be operated such that the screen jacket is not rotated.

Screen pipe for dry forming web material


A resonance device with improved precision of temperature control. The resonance device includes a platform; a resonator including a vibrator and one or more holding arms that connect the vibrator and the platform to each other such that a first groove is provided around the vibrator. Moreover, the resonance device includes a sensor with a measurement portion that measures temperature and a heater formed on the platform. A second groove is provided between the measurement portion and the heater.

Precisely controlling the oscillating frequency of an oscillator is important in apparatuses for which precise frequency information of GPS (global positioning system) and the like is required. For example, to maintain a constant oscillating frequency in a resonator that uses MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) technology, the temperature of the resonator is required to be maintained constant.
For example, Patent Document 1 (identified below) discloses a resonance device including a resonator, a heater, a temperature sensor, and a control circuit that are integrally formed on a substrate.
Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 7,427,905.
In an existing resonance device, such as that described in Patent Document 1, a resonator is formed with a predetermined space from a substrate to prevent vibrations of the resonator from being hampered. Meanwhile, a sensor is formed on the substrate, and thus, the heat of a heater is easily conducted to the sensor compared with to the resonator. As a result, a discrepancy between a temperature sensed by the sensor and an actual temperature of the resonator is generated, which makes it difficult to perform precise temperature control.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A warming apparatus for warming contents of a foodstuff container includes an enclosure defining an interior space for receiving the foodstuff container and a reservoir separate from the interior space for receiving a warming liquid. A heating element is disposed within the enclosure for warming the warming liquid within the reservoir. A conduit is configured to extend between the interior space and the reservoir so that the reservoir is in fluid communication with the interior space. The heating element is adapted to move the warming liquid from the reservoir through the conduit into the interior space as the warming liquid within the reservoir is warmed.

Containers for baby foodstuffs such as breastmilk, nursing formula, other liquid foodstuffs or baby foods come in various materials, sizes and shapes. For example, breastmilk and nursing formula containers are typically in the form of what is commonly referred to as a baby bottle which may be made of a relatively rigid plastic or glass. However, flexible plastic pouches or bags that can be used for freezer storage of breastmilk and nursing formula may also be used as containers for baby foodstuffs. Of course, baby foods (e.g., semi-solids, pastes, gels, purees, solids, etc.) that are typically served using a spoon are often contained in jars but may also be contained in flexible tubes or other squeeze-type dispensing containers.
Conventional warming apparatus typically include a housing having a warming compartment into which the container (with the foodstuff therein) is placed for warming. In one type of warming apparatus, referred to as a bath-type warming apparatus, the warming compartment is filled with a warming liquid such as water. The foodstuff container, upon placement in the warming compartment is partially immersed in the warming liquid. The warming liquid is then heated to heat the foodstuff within the container. In other known warming apparatus, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,906,289 issued Jun. 14, 2005 and entitled Apparatus for Heating a Vessel Containing Foodstuffs, heated warming liquid is directed to an upper end of the warming compartment and dispensed onto the foodstuff container so that the heated liquid flows down over the container within the warming compartment. The warming then drains down into a reservoir below the warming compartment for reheating and delivery back to the upper end of the warming compartment.
In another known warming apparatus, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 8,866,050 issued Oct. 21, 2014 and entitled Baby Bottle Warmer and Method of Using Same, heated warming liquid is pumped into the warming compartment by an electric pump at the lower end of the warming compartment to fill the warming compartment with heated warming liquid. When warming of the foodstuff in the container is completed (e.g., to a desired temperature), the warming liquid drains out of the warming compartment through drain holes positioned within the lower end of the warming compartment and into the reservoir so that the foodstuff container does not remain immersed in heated liquid once the desired foodstuff temperature is reached.
In still other known warming apparatus, steamed warming liquid (e.g., steamed water) is delivered into the warming compartment to warm the foodstuff in the container.
One common drawback to these conventional warming apparatus is that internal piping/liquid passages and reservoirs for circulating and storing warming liquid are often very difficult for users to access. As a result, it is often very difficult for users to access the piping/liquid passages or reservoir to clean any milk or other foodstuff that may have been spilled or leaked from the foodstuff container.
There is a need, therefore, for a warming apparatus that includes an easily accessible warming liquid circulation system (e.g., liquid passages, reservoir) for inspection and cleaning by the end users.

Warming apparatus including a heating element


An array substrate and a manufacturing method thereof, and an OLED display device are provided. The array substrate comprises: sub-pixel units defined by gate lines and data lines that cross with each other on a substrate, each of the sub-pixel units comprising a first TFT, a second TFT and a pixel electrode, a gate electrode of the first TFT being connected to the gate line, a source electrode of the first TFT being connected to the data line, and a drain electrode of the second TFT being connected to the pixel electrode. The source electrode and a drain electrode of the first TFT are formed on the same layer as a gate electrode of the second TFT, and the drain electrode of the first TFT is directly connected to the gate electrode of the second TFT.

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an array substrate and a method for manufacturing the same, and an OLED display device.
Among various display devices available now, an OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) display has a lighter and thinner profile design, a wider visible angle, a faster response speed, a lower power consumption and other features as compared to a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display or a TFT-LCD (Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display), and so the OLED display has gotten people's attention as the next generation of display devices gradually.
The OLED display device is a self-luminous device, which usually includes a pixel electrode, a counter electrode disposed in opposition to the pixel electrode and an organic light emitting layer disposed between the pixel electrode and the counter electrode. In the OLED display device, by means of applying a voltage to the pixel electrode and the counter electrode, an electric field is formed across the organic light emitting layer disposed between the pixel electrode and the counter electrode, so that electrons and holes can recombine with each other in the organic light emitting layer to give off light. The voltage applied to the pixel electrode can be controlled by an array substrate with circuit units, so as to control the display effect of the OLED display device.
In the related art, in order to control the display effect of the OLED display device better, the circuit units of the array substrate generally adopt a structure of two TFTs (Thin Film Transistors), in which, a first TFT is a switch transistor, and a second TFT is a drive transistor. The partial structure of pixel units is illustrated in FIG. 1, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view in the direction of A-A of FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a gate line 13 is connected to a gate electrode (i.e. a first gate electrode 111) of a TFT 11, a data line 14 is connected to a source electrode (i.e. a first source electrode 112) of the TFT 11, and a first drain electrode 113 of the TFT 11 is connected to a gate electrode (i.e. a second gate electrode 121) of a TFT 12 through a via hole a. A Vdd line 15 parallel to the data line 14 is connected to a source electrode (i.e. a second source electrode 122) of the TFT 12, a second drain electrode 123 of the TFT 12 is connected to a pixel electrode 16. As can be seen from the sectional drawing FIG. 2, two TFTs are formed on a substrate 10, and each adopt a bottom-gate structure, and a gate insulating layer 101, an active layer 102 formed of an oxide and an etching blocking layer 103 are further formed on the first gate electrode 111 and the second gate electrode 121 in sequence. The first drain electrode 113 is connected to a connecting electrode 17 through the via hole a, and the second gate electrode 121 is connected to the connecting electrode 17 through a via hole b, so the first drain electrode 113 and the second gate electrode 121 can be connected by the connecting electrode 17 in the same layer as the pixel electrode 16. To avoid short circuit between the connecting electrode 17 and other electrode, the coverage zone of the pixel electrode 16 should keep away from the region where the connecting electrode 17 is located. As shown in FIG. 1, an organic light emitting layer 18 disposed on a corresponding pixel electrode 16 should also keep away from the region where the connecting electrode 17 is located, which needs to be covered by a light shielding material 19, and a counter electrode 110 is provided on surfaces of the organic light emitting layer 18 and the light shielding material 19, so as to constitute an OLED display device.
Due to existence of the connecting electrode 17, the region where the connecting electrode 17 is located needs to be covered by a black matrix, so that the area of an effective emitting zone of the OLED display device is decreased, and the display brightness is reduced. On the other hand, the array substrate of the OLED display device with such a structure needs to experience seven mask procedures from provision of a gate electrode to provision of a pixel electrode, so as to form a gate layer, a gate insulating layer, an active layer, an etching blocking layer, a source and drain electrode layer, a resin layer and a pixel electrode and a connecting electrode. Also, to connect the first drain electrode 113 and the second gate electrode 121, it is necessary that a plurality of via holes be provided on the substrate, which will cause the fabrication process of the OLED display device to be more complex. Thus, the production difficulty and the production cost of products are largely raised.

Array substrate and manufacturing method thereof, OLED display device


Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed toward a system that includes a turbomachine blade monitoring system having an eddy current proximity probe assembly. The eddy current proximity probe assembly includes an eddy current proximity probe having a probe tip and a probe tip shroud disposed about the probe tip, wherein the probe tip shroud comprises a non-metallic material. The eddy current proximity probe is configured to provide a signal indicative of a presence of a turbomachine blade, wherein the eddy current proximity probe assembly is configured to be disposed within a turbomachine casing. The turbomachine blade monitoring system also includes a monitor coupled to the eddy current proximity probe assembly, wherein the monitor is configured to monitor a parameter of the turbomachine blade based on the signal.

The subject matter disclosed herein relates to turbomachines, and, more particularly, to an improved blade monitoring system for turbomachines.
Turbomachines include compressors and turbines, such as gas turbines, steam turbines, and hydro turbines. Generally, turbomachines include a rotor, which may be a shaft, drum, disk, or wheel to which turbomachine blades are attached. Turbomachines may include blade monitoring systems to monitor degradation of the turbomachine blades.
Existing blade monitoring systems may include magnetic pickup type transducers. However, magnetic pickup type transducers may be susceptible to various weaknesses. For example, magnetic probes can exhibit very low signal amplitude at low turbine blade speeds and very high signal amplitudes at high turbine blade speeds. Additionally, magnetic pickup probes are susceptible to, and also induce, magnetic fields. Furthermore, magnetic pickup probe performance may be degraded due to thermal or mechanical stresses, or both.


Disclosed is a recombinant attenuated coxsackievirus B4 virion which is engineered to contain a heterologous nucleic acid within the open reading frame of its genome, wherein the heterologous nucleic acid encodes a heterologous polypeptide which is expressed by the virion. Specific examples of attenuated coxsackievirus B4 virions suitable for use in the present invention are CB4-P and JVB. In one embodiment the heterologous nucleic acid is inserted into the P1 region of the genome such that the heterologous polypeptide is expressed as a fusion of a viral capsid protein. Methods of use of the recombinant attenuated coxsackievirus B4 virion include inducing an immune response in an individual to the heterologous polypeptide contained therein.

An ultimate goal in the treatment of HIV-infected persons is to prevent disease progression. Therapeutic HIV vaccines have been developed to protect HIV-infected individuals from progression to AIDS. Current HIV vaccines include Remune, an inactivated HIV-1 lacking the gp120 glycoprotein, VaxSyn, a recombinant gp160, and p24 virus-like particles. Another approach in the treatment of HIV-infected persons is to use chemotherapy to reduce viral load, followed by immunotherapy to stimulate desirable HIV-specific immune responses, such as those observed among long-term asymptomatic HIV-infected individuals.
During the past ten years, chemotherapy for HIV-infected individuals has advanced rapidly. Current treatment consists of a cocktail of anti-retroviral drugs termed highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). While HAART reduces viral load, it does not eradicate HIV (Saag and Kilby, Nature Medicine 5(6): 609-11 (1999)). In addition, HAART is often associated with drug-related toxicity and the selection of drug-resistant mutants. Additional strategies would therefore be desirable to treat HIV-infected individuals.
A body of work suggests that continued health maintenance in patients with long-term non-progressive HIV infection can be attributed to effective CTL responses in general, and gag-specific CTL responses in particular, each driven by vigorous antigen-specific CD4+ T helper cells (Gotch et al., Immunol. Rev.: 170173-82 (1999)). Thus, one strategy in the treatment of HIV-infected individuals involves the reduction of viral load with HAART, followed by modulation of the host's immune response such that it mimics the protective immunogenic response found among long-term asymptomatic HIV-infected patients (Gotch et al., Immunol. Rev.: 170173-82 (1999)).
Modulation of the host's immune response can be carried out with the use of a viral vaccine which induces in the host both CTL and CD4+ T helper cell responses. Thus, a viral vaccine which induces HIV-specific T cell responses, and which is further capable of inducing CTL and CD4+ T helper cell responses, would be of great utility in the treatment of HIV-infected individuals.
Picornaviruses are attractive for use as viral vaccine vectors since they induce B and T cell immunity. In addition, the enteroviruses belonging to the Picornaviridae family, which include poliovirus and coxsackievirus, are known to induce mucosal immunity which is thought to be an important line of defense for pathogens (including HIV) that gain access via a mucosal port of entry. Thus, coxsackieviruses in particular should be considered.
Coxsackieviruses are subdivided into two serogroups, A and B, which comprise 24 and 6 serotypes, respectively (Rueckert, R. R., Fundamental Virology. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven, 1996). Coxsackieviruses of the B group have been implicated in diseases such as pancreatitis, type I insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, myocarditis and myositis. The existence of variants within a single serotype contributes to the variability in the pathogenesis of coxsackievirus infections. An avirulent coxsackievirus would be a suitable candidate for in vivo expression of HIV sequences capable of stimulating both CTL and CD4+ T helper cell responses.
Picornaviruses, which include coxsackievirus, are among the smallest RNA viruses, with a diameter of 30 mm (reviewed in (Metnick, J. L., Fields Virology. In: Fields B N, Knipe D M, Howley P M, et al. editors. Third ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott-Raven Publishers, 1996: 655-705). The coxsackievirus virion consists of a protein shell surrounding an RNA genome. The protein shell contains sixty copies of each of four capsid proteins, VP1, VP2, VP3 and VP4 that form an icosahedron. The enteroviral genome consists of a single-stranded RNA of positive polarity. Excluding the poly(A) tract, the genome-of coxsackievirus B4 consists of 7,395 nucleotides and is composed of a 5′ untranslated (UTR) region of 743 nucleotides, a 3′ UTR of 105 nucleotides and an open reading frame encoding a polyprotein of 2,183 amino acids which undergoes multiple cleavages (Jenkins et al., J. Gen. Virol. 68: 1835-1848 (1987)). The open reading frame is divided into three regions, P1, P2 and P3. The four capsid proteins, VP1 through VP4, are encoded within the P1 region while the non-structural proteins that are involved in viral replication are encoded within the P2 and P3 regions. Two B cell epitopes within the VP1 coat protein of CB4-V have recently been identified (Halim and Ramsingh, Virol. 269: 86-94 (1999)). A linear B cell epitope spans residues 68 to 82 that corresponds to parts of beta strand B and the BC-loop. A conformational epitope, analogous to antigenic site 1B of poliovirus, is predicted to contain sequences from both the DE- and BC-loops of VP1.
Efforts to exploit the picornaviruses as expression vectors have focused mainly on poliovirus. Several strategies have been used to express a variety of sequences within poliovirus vectors. Small antigenic epitopes have been expressed within the BC-loop of the VP1 capsid protein (Dedieu et al., J. Virot. 66: 3161-3167 (1992); Evans et al., Nature 339: 385-388 (1989); Jenkins et al., J. Virot. 64: 1201-1206 (1990); Murdin et al., Infect. Immun. 61: 4406-4414 (1993)). The resulting chimeras were either genetically stable, genetically unstable or non-viable. The stability of the recombinants seemed to depend on the retention of some flanking viral loop sequences and the size of the inserted sequence.
Two approaches have been used to generate live poliovirus vectors. One approach expresses foreign sequences in dicistronic vectors containing an additional internal ribosome entry site (IRES) (Lu et al., J. Virol. 69: 4797-4806 (1995)). While the dicistronic vector system resulted in replication-competent viruses, they were genetically unstable after just a few passages in tissue culture. Another strategy positions foreign sequence, flanked by artificial protease cleavage sites, at different sites within the polyprotein (Andino et al., J. Virot. 72: 20-31 (1994)). A larger than normal precursor polyprotein is synthesized and subsequently cleaved into its normal products and the foreign protein. Lately, some controversy has arisen regarding the utility of this strategy. Recombinants constructed by fusing the open reading frame (ORF) of the green fluorescent protein gene or the gag gene to the N-terminus of the poliovirus polyprotein were severely impaired in viral replication and genetically unstable (13). It is known that the site of insertion of the foreign sequence influenced viral replication (Tang et al., J. Virot. 71: 7841-7850 (1997)). A small amino-terminus insertion delayed virus maturation and yielded a thermosensitive particle. However, insertion at the junction between the P1 and P2 regions yielded a chimeric poliovirus that replicated like the wild type virus. While genetic instability remained a problem, the situation could be partially alleviated by altering the sequences flanking the insertion point. However, since poliovirus has been targeted for global eradication, the feasibility of using live poliovirus as a vector becomes uncertain.
Recent studies have led to the identification of an attenuated-live coxsackievirus variant, CB4-P (Ramsingh et al., Virus Res. 14: 347-58 (1989); Caggana et al., J. Virol. 67: 4797-803 (1993); Ramsingh et al., J. Virol. 71(11): 8690-7 (1997)). The major determinant of virulence was mapped to the 5′ end of the viral genome through the use of recombinant chimeric viruses derived from cDNA clones of the CB4-P variant and a virulent virus. The 5′ end of the genome encompasses both the 5′ untranslated region (UTR) and the P1 region, which encodes the four capsid proteins (Ramsingh et al., Virus Res. 23: 281-92 (1992)). Comparison of sequence data in the 5′ region between the CB4-P variant and a virulent pancreatropic variant of coxsackievirus, CB4-V, revealed five mutations in the CB4-P variant that resulted in amino acid substitutions in VP1, VP2, and VP4. In particular, one residue, Thr-129 of VP1, is a major determinant of virulence in the 5′UTR for coxsackievirus B4 (Caggana et al., J. Virol. 67: 4797-803 (1993)). An arginine residue at position 16 of VP4 also influences virulence but to a lesser extent than thr-129 of VP1 (Ramsingh and Collins, J. Virol. 69: 7278-7281 (1995)). The potential of this variant for use as a viral vector for delivery of heterologous polypeptides to a host has yet to be explored.
At least one attenuated strain of coxsackievirus has been used experimentally as a recombinant viral vaccine. Group B coxsackieviruses (CVB) cause human myocarditis, in which human adenovirus type 2 (Ad2) has been implicated as an agent. It has recently been demonstrated that an attenuated group B coxsackieviruses type 3 (CVB3) vector can stably express an antigenic polypeptide of Ad2 from within the vector open reading frame to ultimately elicit a protective immune response against both viruses in mice (Hofling et al., J. Virol. 74: 4570-8 (2000)).

Coxsackievirus B4 expression vectors and uses thereof


A voltage matched multijunction solar cell having first and second solar cell stacks that are electrically connected parallel to each other. The first solar cell stack is optimized for absorption of incoming solar light in a first wavelength range and the second solar cell stack is optimized for absorption of incoming solar light in a second wavelength range, wherein the first and the second wavelength range do not or at most only partially overlap each other.

Photovoltaic or solar cells are designed for converting solar radiation to electrical current. In concentrator solar photovoltaic applications, the incoming sunlight is optically concentrated before it is directed to solar cells. For example, the incoming sunlight is received by a primary mirror that reflects the received radiation toward a secondary mirror that, in turn, reflects the radiation toward a solar cell, which converts the concentrated radiation to electrical current by the generation of electron-hole pairs in III-V semiconductor or single crystal silicon, for example. Concentrator photovoltaics may, alternatively or additionally, comprise Fresnel lens optics for the concentration of the incoming solar radiation.
Since different semiconductor material compositions show optimal absorption for different wavelengths of the incoming solar radiation, multijunction cells have been proposed that comprise, for example, three cells showing optimal absorption in different wavelength ranges. The individual cells of the multijunction cell are electrically connected in series. Consequently, the particular cell having the lowest rate of generation of free charge carriers limits the overall power generation, i.e., the gained total current. This current matching is usually designed for the standard AM 1.5d ASTM 173-3 spectrum. However, the actual spectrum of the incoming solar light is time-dependent on scales from minutes or hours to months. In particular, the spectrum changes with seasons, day-time and weather conditions. Thus, the current matching results in significant performance losses due to the variability of the incoming solar light.
Thus, despite the recent engineering progress, there is still a need for a solar cell configuration that is only hardly affected by the temporally varying spectrum of incoming light.

Voltage matched multijunction solar cell


An endoscope includes a distal rigid portion, a bending portion comprising a first bending portion and a second bending portion and a flexible tube portion. The endoscope further includes an operation wire, a wire guide member, a bending operation portion. The endoscope further includes a regulation wire, the regulation wire being longer than the bending portion, the regulation wire being inserted through the first bending portion and the second bending portion, the regulation wire being provided to face the operation wire in the diametrical direction of the bending portion, the regulation wire regulating the bending of the bending portion so that the second bending portion is bent in a direction opposite to the bending direction of the first bending portion and the bending portion is bent in an S-shape when the first bending portion is bent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an endoscope having a bending portion which can be bent in an S-shape.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-261513 discloses an endoscope. This endoscope has a first bending portion provided at the distal end of an insertion portion, a second bending portion which is provided at the proximal end of the insertion portion and which is coupled to the first bending portion, and an operation portion which operates the first bending portion. The second bending portion is bent by external force.
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 10-234653 discloses another endoscope. A bending portion of the endoscope is bent preferentially from the distal end portion side of the bending portion.
For example, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2004-298446 discloses yet another endoscope. This endoscope has a first bending portion, a second bending portion coupled to the proximal end portion of the first bending portion, a first operation portion which operates the first bending portion, and a second operation portion which operates the second bending portion. Thus, the endoscope has the operation portions which respectively operate the bending portions.


A spectrum-spread signal is taken out by a mixer 11, a low pass filter 2 and a sample hold circuit 3, codes for one period of spreading codes on a transmitting side of the spectrum-spread signal is multiplied by codes for one period of previously given spreading codes on a receiving side and the summations of the multiplication are output by means of a matched filter in a correlator 4, and a symbolic integration section 6 inversely modulates known symbols of a symbol signal inversely spread at one chip interval using theoretical values, and performs symbolic integration, and in a pseudo correlation removing section 7, pseudo correlation is removed by subtracting the theoretical values of the correlation values in order of magnitude of an amplitude and in a synchronization detecting section 5, timing when the amplitude becomes to be maximum is detected as receiving timing.

The present invention relates to a receiving technique for spectrum spreading communication in which a spectrum-spread signal by direct spreading is received.
A direct spreading-spectrum spreading communication system using a spectrum spreading (SS) by means of direct spreading (DS) has a feature that interference is difficult to occur and communication capacity is large and so forth, and the system has been studied and developed as a communication system for communication and so forth of an automobile telephone.
Referring to FIG. 8, the direct spreading-spectrum spreading communication system will be explained. This direct spreading-spectrum spreading communication system is substantially the same as a disclosure as a prior art in JP-A-90222/1994, and has a transmitting device A for spectrum spreading communication and a receiving device B for spectrum spreading communication.
The transmitting device A for spectrum spreading communication has a spreading code generator 4' for generating a spreading code such as a pseudo noise signal (PN code) as a spreading code on a transmitting side. A spectrum spreading section 2' applies spectrum-spreading by means of direct spreading to an information signal using this spreading code on the transmitting side, and outputs a spectrum-spread signal. The spectrum spreading section 2' is a multiplier for multiplying the spreading signal by the information signal. A modulating section 3' phase-modulates a carrier having a predetermined carrier frequency with the spectrum-spread signal (base band signal), and outputs a phase-modulated carrier. An antenna 5' transmits the phase-modulated carrier as a radio signal. In this manner, the radio signal carries the spectrum-spread signal as the base band signal.
The receiving device B for spectrum spreading communication has an antenna 6' for receiving the radio signal as a receiving signal. A synchronizing circuit 7' has a spreading code same as the spreading code on the transmitting side which is generated by the spreading code generator 4' of the transmitting device A for spectrum spreading communication, as a spreading code on a receiving side, synchronizes the spreading code on the receiving side with the spreading code of the transmitting side of the receiving signal, and outputs a synchronized spreading code to a spectrum inverse spreading section 8'. This spectrum inverse spreading section 8' applies spectrum-inverse-spreading to the receiving signal with the synchronized spreading code, and outputs a spectrum-inverse-spread signal. This spectrum inverse spreading section 8' is a multiplier for multiplying the receiving signal by the spreading code. A demodulating section 9' demodulates the above-mentioned information signal from the spectrum-inverse-spread signal.
Here, in order to establish the synchronization in the synchronizing circuit 7', a point is searched where phases in the receiving signal of the spreading code on the receiving side to the spreading code on the transmitting side coincide with each other, and timing thereof has to be controlled within a predetermined range.
Referring to FIG. 9, a conventional synchronizing circuit is shown, which is used as the synchronizing circuit 7' in FIG. 8. The synchronizing circuit shown in the figure includes a frequency converter that has a local oscillator 1 for outputting a local oscillating signal having a predetermined oscillating frequency and a mixer 11 for mixing a receiving signal with the local oscillating signal and outputting a mixed signal. At this time, the mixer 11 outputs the above-described mixed signal having a frequency that is equal to the difference between the predetermined local oscillating frequency and a carrier frequency of the receiving signal. Since the predetermined local oscillating frequency is previously selected so that the difference between this predetermined local oscillating frequency and the carrier frequency is equal to a frequency of a base band signal (spectrum-spread signal), the mixer 11 outputs the above-described mixed signal having a frequency that is equal to the frequency of the base band signal (spectrum-spread signal).
An LPF (Low Pass Filter) 2 outputs the base band signal (spectrum-spread signal) from this mixed signal. A sample hole circuit 3 sample-holes the spectrum-spread signal and sends a correlator 4 the spectrum-spread signal that is under sample-held condition.
The correlator 4 is constructed of a matched filter and multiplies codes for one period of spreading codes on a transmitting side of a spectrum-spread signal by codes for one period of the previously given and above-mentioned spreading codes on a receiving side, and outputs the summation of results of the multiplication. This summation becomes to be maximum in case that timing of the spreading code on the transmitting side of the spectrum-spread signal and timing of the spreading codes on the receiving side coincide with each other. In this manner, the correlator 4 performs the above-described multiplication chip by chip corresponding to the spreading codes on the receiving side for one period, and outputs the summation of the results of the multiplication chip by chip.
A synchronization detecting circuit 5 detects a matched pulse indicating that the above-described summation is maximum, and outputs the above-described spreading codes on the receiving side at time when detecting the matched pulse, as synchronized spreading codes, to the spectrum inverse spreading section 81.
Referring to FIG. 10, the correlator 4 in FIG. 9 is shown. The correlator 4 shown in the figure is constructed of a matched filter, and has a shift register capable of storing codes for one chip of the spectrum-spread signal obtained as a base band signal. A coefficient generator 4b generates codes for one chip of the spreading codes on the receiving side. A multiplier 4d multiplies codes for one chip stored in the shift register 4a by the codes for one chip of the spreading codes on the receiving side, and outputs results of the multiplication. An adder 4c outputs the summation of the results of the multiplication. This summation becomes to be maximum in case that timing of the spreading codes on the receiving side from the coefficient generator 4b and timing of the spreading code on the transmitting side of the spectrum-spread signal coincide with each other. At this time, the adder 4c outputs the above-mentioned matched pulse indicating that the above-described summation is maximum.
However, in a method for synchronization using the synchronization circuit in FIG. 9, since correlation of phase shifts of the spreading codes is not zero, a pseudo peak occurs at timing other than a peak of proper correlation. Accordingly, in case of combining a plurality of paths with different timings by means of a RAKE combination, since it is impossible to discriminate between a peak due to multi-paths and a pseudo peak occurring due to the non-zero correlation, there has been a task that characteristic after the RAKE combination deteriorates.

Receiving apparatus for spectrum spreading and receiving method


Techniques for adjusting storage space involve: receiving a request for adjusting available storage space of a user in a filesystem from a first size to a second size; determining whether to allow to adjust the available storage space based on the request; and in response to allowing to adjust the available storage space, adjusting the available storage space to the second size. Accordingly, not only operations that an administrator needs to perform for adjusting the available storage space of a user is reduced, but also a quick and correct response for a request from a user of adjusting the available storage space is guaranteed.

In the field of data storage, a filesystem can be used by multiple different users simultaneously and accessed through a network. Therefore, the filesystem allocates available storage space to each user for storage space formed by the storage devices therein. The available storage space can also be referred to as the user storage space quota, which is used to limit maximum usage capacity of the storage space of each user on a filesystem. In the use of the filesystem, users may need to temporarily or permanently expand the available storage space along with business expansion, or they may need to temporarily or permanently shrink the available storage space of due to less overhead. In the above scenarios, there is a need to adjust available storage space of the users on a filesystem.
In conventional filesystems, the aforementioned adjustment needs to be performed manually by an administrator of the filesystem. That is, the administrator needs to manually receive a request from a user, adjust the available storage space of the user upon the request and restores the available storage space to an original size when an end time for the adjustment is reached for the temporary adjustment request. Obviously, it is inconvenient for an administrator to adjust the quota size manually per the project changes, especially when the filesystem has a large number of users and the administrator needs to handle a lot of the same and similar work. In addition, in order to expand available storage space of some users, it is necessary to shrink available storage space of other users, which results in a large amount of calculation and judgment operations that are difficult to be manually implemented by an administrator. Moreover, since adjusting available storage space of a user on a filesystem will bring a lot of workload to an administrator, the request of adjustment from a user often cannot be processed quickly and the adjustment cannot be guaranteed in an effective manner.

Method, a device, and a computer program product for adjusting a storage space


A MOSFET-based, multi signal-switching circuit controllably passes analog/audio signals and digital signals through a common terminal to a single connector. Analog/audio signals are coupled through a single N-channel MOSFET analog signal switch which, when turned-ON, minimizes distortion of the analog/audio signal and capacitive loading to an adjacent, MOS-based or CMOS-based digital data signal switch. A respective turn-OFF circuit maintains its associated switch MOSFET turned OFF.

A conventional complementary polarity MOSFET-based analog signal switching circuit FIG. 1a for controllably passing signals, such as audio or digital data signals, between input and output ports thereof is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1a. As shown therein, the switching circuit comprises a PMOS transistor MP1 and an NMOS transistor MN1, which have their source-drain paths connected in parallel between an input port or terminal IN and an output port or terminal OUT. The gate of the NMOS transistor MN1 is connected directly to a CONTROL terminal, while the gate of PMOS transistor MP1 is coupled through an inverter INV to the CONTROL terminal.
In operation, a prescribed maximum or minimum control voltage is applied via the CONTROL terminal to the gate terminals of the two complementary MOSFETs, in order to turn these switching devices OFF or ON, and thereby control the conductive or signal pass-through state of the switching circuit. MOSFETs MN1 and MP1 are complementary polarity devices to accommodate input signals that may extend to the voltage extremes, so that, when one MOSFET is off (so as to block the passage of signals therethrough), the other (complementary polarity) MOSFET is on (in a low resistance state, so as to allow the passage of signals therethrough).
An input signal applied to the input terminal IN serves as the source voltage for, and thereby determines the ON-resistance of, each MOSFET. The gate-to-source voltage can be less than the threshold voltage of either MOSFET, which puts it into the cut-off region of operation. This occurs when the input signal approaches the voltage of the positive or negative power supply rail.
FIGS. 1b and 1c illustrate variations of resistance vs. input voltage for the individual PMOS transistor and the NMOS transistor, respectively, of the CMOS-based analog switching signal circuit of FIG. 1a. As shown in FIG. 1b, as the input voltage increases, the ON-resistance of the P-channel device decreases, while FIG. 1c shows that the ON-resistance of the N-channel device increases with an increase in input voltage. FIG. 1d illustrates that the combined ON-resistance of the parallel combination of the P-channel and N-channel MOSFETs of the analog signal switching circuit FIG. 1a has a slightly undulating variation with input voltage.
Where it is desired to controllably interface multiple types of signals through a commonly shared port, it has been conventional practice to replicate the switch circuit of FIG. 1a for each type of signal, and then connect such switching circuits in parallel between the commonly shared port and separate signal terminals or ports associated with the various signal types. Thus, an application for coupling both audio signals and high speed digital data signals would entail a parallel combination of two of the dual MOSFET switching circuits of FIG. 1a—one for audio signals and the other for high speed digital data signals.
Unfortunately, such a replicated switch-based architecture has a number of inherent drawbacks. A first is the fact that the overall circuit occupation area is fairly substantial, since each signal switching path involves the same parallel combination of dual MOSFET switching circuits. This results in high cost and substantial capacitive loading at the common terminal. A second shortcoming is the fact that the gate-to-source voltage of the audio circuit's switching MOSFETs varies with the analog (audio) signal, which produces modulation of the ON-resistance of the switching MOSFETs, thereby causing distortion of the audio signal.

Method and apparatus for switching audio and data signals through a single terminal


An electrical box defining an electrical component enclosure for a device such as a receptacle, switch or wire for establishing connections. A wall of the box has mounting members, either flush or projecting above the surface, which mounting members define a bore for a nail or screw. The mounting means is exteriorly of the enclosure to comply with applicable codes. The bores are angularly oriented so an electrical fastener may install from the front of the box requiring a cut-out only slightly larger than the dimensions of the box. A fastener guide channel may be provided to assist to align the fastener with the bore when it is recessed. Preferably the box is fabricated by molding it from plastic such as phenolic material. The box may be round, square or rectangular.

The present invention relates to electrical outlet boxes and more particularly relates to electrical outlet boxes having mounting members which comply with the National Electrical Code (NEC) allowing the box to be installed without the necessity of having to cut large openings when installing boxes in walls enclosed by paneling or drywall.
A variety of electrical boxes have been developed for use in both residential and commercial construction. Electrical boxes are provided to contain or house electrical junctions, switches and receptacles. In the past, most of these boxes were formed of metal.
However, more recently, electrical boxes molded or extruded from plastic, such as phenolic resins, have been developed and are widely used due to their reduced cost and, further, because of their dielectric characteristics. While molded plastic electrical boxes have become widely accepted, certain problems exist with these boxes. One particularly problem relates to the attachment of the boxes to framing and structural members such as wall studs. Generally, boxes are molded or formed having some type of projection, or ear, that extends from the side box. Such projections serve as integral hanger elements and are provided to secure or attach the boxes to the stud or other structural member. These hangers extend outwardly from the box and include apertures or holes which allow them to be attached to the stud by a screw or nail fastener and are represented by the type of box termed xe2x80x9csingle gang with captive nailsxe2x80x9d manufactured by Carlon. However, placement of the hangers in these locations often requires that the electrician installing the box cut an opening much larger than the dimensions of the box in material, such as drywall, in order to be able to access the hanger and drive the fastener into the adjacent stud.
Another approach electricians have used when installing electrical boxes, such as molded plastic boxes, is to place fasteners or screws inside the box, extending through a wall in the box, into the adjacent stud. While this approach eliminates the need for cutting an oversize hole in the drywall, the presence of a metallic fastener within the interior of the box creates a potentially dangerous situation. It is possible that exposed conductors within the interior of the box may come into contact with the screws, thus creating an electrical short and a potential fire hazard.
Further, placement of fasteners or screws within the interior or confines of electrical outlet boxes is in violation of Article 314.43 of National Electrical Code (NEC) 2002 which states that provisions for supports or other mounting means for non-metallic boxes shall be outside of the box or the box shall be constructed so as to prevent contact between the conductors and the box and the supporting screws.
Accordingly, the present invention provides an electrical box structure that enables electricians to attach an electrical box to a wall stud or other member without having to cut a large hole in the paneling or drywall. The opening need only be cut approximately the same size as the electrical box and thereafter the box can be inserted into the cutout and attached. The present invention complies with the mandates of the NEC as metal screws or nails are not located within the interior of the box, nor in a location likely to come into contact with wires or conductors possibly creating a ground or short.
The present invention provides an electrical box which in one embodiment may have a generally square or rectangular shape and which may be configured in any conventional size such as single gang or double gang. The box has opposite sidewalls, a top surface and bottom surface and a rear wall defining an open interior for receipt of a receptacle, switches or for wire connection using wire nuts. A fastener receiving mounting member is disposed on the top and bottom surfaces of the box adjacent one sidewall. The mounting members each define a bore for insertion of a fastener. The mounting members are spaced rearwardly from the front of the box and the bores each have an axis which extends angularly to intercept the front face of the box so the installer may easily insert and drive the fastener in place. The mounting members are integrally formed as part of the surfaces and are received. A channel may also be placed in the top and bottom surface aligned with the bore axis to assist in positioning and orienting the fasteners.
In an alternate embodiment, the mounting members are formed as projections extending from the top and bottom surfaces of the box eliminating the channel in these surfaces. The mounting members are angularly disposed and have a bore with an axis extending to the front of the box.
In an alternate embodiment, the electrical outlet box is generally round having at least one angularly disposed bore or channel extending to a flat section of the sidewall for receiving a fastener.
The box can be easily installed in a closed-in wall by cutting an access opening in the drywall or paneling. The opening is only required to be slightly larger than the dimensions of the box. This allows the box to be inserted through the opening to a position abutting a structural member such as a stud. Proper positioning is aided by small, raised projections on the sidewalls of the box. A fastener, such as a nail or screw, can then be installed from the front of the box by inserting the fastener in the bore in the mounting members. The installation is completed by securing the fasteners to the adjacent stud by driving or screwing them into the stud.
Therefore, it is an object of the present to provide an improved molded, electrical box and includes a new and improved mounting structure.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new and improved molded, electrical box that has a mounting structure that allows the box to be easily mounted without the necessity of cutting a large, oversize hole in wall coverings.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an improved molded, electrical box that includes mounting structure as an integral part of the box and which is suitable for installation in an existing wall without requiring excessive cutting that may require subsequent patching.

Electrical outlet box with mounting means


A method for generating a perfusion weighted image using ASL with segmented acquisitions includes dividing an anatomical area of interest into slices and performing an EPI acquisition process using an MRI system to acquire a control image dataset representative of the slices. An ASL preparation process is performed using the MRI system to magnetically label protons in arterial blood water upstream from the anatomical area of interest. Following a first time period, a multi-band EPI acquisition process is performed using the MRI system to acquire a first labeled image dataset representative of a first subset of the slices. Following a second time period, another multi-band EPI acquisition process is performed using the MRI system to acquire a second labeled image dataset representative of a second subset of the slices. A perfusion weighted image is generated by subtracting the first and second labeled image dataset from the control image dataset.

Arterial spin labeling (ASL) perfusion imaging makes use of arterial blood water as an endogenous tracer to estimate tissue perfusion and evaluate tissue viability. The non-invasive and non-contrast enhanced characteristics of ASL imaging make it an attractive approach for both neuroscience research and clinical applications. High-resolution studies are desired in order to reduce partial volume effects on cerebral blood flow (CBF) quantification, increase the ability to identify small focal lesions and improve perfusion quantification in small sub-cortical structures such as the hippocampus.
Obtaining high-resolution ASL based perfusion measurements is challenging due to the intrinsically low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and increased acquisition times when using standard acquisition strategies. Decreased perfusion SNR for high-resolution imaging is a consequence of multiple factors including increased in-plane resolution, increased through-plane resolution, and the need for more slices to cover the same volume resulting in prolonged delay times between labeling and signal acquisition during which labeled spins experience longitudinal relaxation. The necessity of increasing the number of label/control image pairs for sufficient perfusion SNR greatly increases the total imaging acquisition time, thus limiting, if not prohibiting, the practice of acquiring high-resolution whole brain ASL perfusion data. To overcome such challenges, different strategies have been previously proposed to increase perfusion SNR including continuous arterial spin labeling (CASL), pulsed arterial spin labeling (PASL), and pulsed- or pseudo-continuous arterial spin labeling (pCASL).
Multi-band imaging, or simultaneous multi-slice imaging, offers another solution to reduce the total acquisition time of high-resolution whole brain imaging with 2D echo planar imaging (EPI), especially when increased spatial or temporal resolution is desired. Multi-band EPI (MB-EPI) uses multi-banded radio frequency (RF) pulses to simultaneously excite multiple spatially distributed slices, where the superimposed signals acquired from the multiple slices are unwrapped via anti-aliasing reconstruction. The simultaneous acquisition of multiple slices can greatly reduce total imaging acquisition time for whole brain applications with EPI, and particularly has the potential to improve whole brain ASL perfusion studies where high in-plane and through-plane resolution is desired, necessitating the use of a large number of thin imaging slices to achieve the desired coverage.
Despite the general benefits of MB-EPI, SNR efficiencies in the inferior brain region are comparable to that of perfusion imaging using single-band (SB) EPI even when high multi-band (MB) acceleration factors are used. The lack of improvement in the inferior brain region with MB-EPI ASL imaging results from the requirement for a sufficiently long post-labeling delay (PLD) with whole brain ASL imaging. In MB-EPI ASL whole brain imaging, imaging slices are acquired in a spatially interleaved fashion. Therefore, to allow labeled blood spins a sufficient time to travel down to arterioles or the capillary bed and avoid intravascular artifacts in brain regions with the longest arterial transit times, an adequately long PLD, such as 1.6 s, must be used. In contrast, in whole brain SB-EPI ASL imaging, the ascending slice acquisition order permits the use of a PLD, such as 1.1 s, shorter than that needed for MB-EPI while avoiding potential intravascular artifacts as the arterial transit time monotonically increases with each sequentially acquired slice from inferior to superior. However, as the resolution increases, the resulting delay time in the more superior regions with SB-EPI is much longer than necessary to avoid intravascular artifacts at great cost to spatial and temporal perfusion SNR efficiency.
Accordingly, it is desired to create a technique, which can take advantage of the small arterial transit time in the inferior brain and use a short PLD for the acquisition of inferior imaging slice as in a single-band EPI ASL imaging, while applying a long PLD for the acquisition of the rest slices covering the middle and superior brain region in order to maximize ASL imaging SNR efficiency.

Time efficient ASL imaging with segmented multiband acquisition


A suture assembly, including a button having two apertures and a suture defining a lumen and forming a double loop, formed by a double trap having a first end and a second end, opposed to the button. A first portion of the suture is threaded through the trap from the first end to the second end, and a second portion of the suture is threaded through the trap from the second end to the first end. The assembly further defines a first single trap, in which the first portion of the suture is threaded through the lumen between the second end and the button. Also defined by the assembly is a third trap, in which the second portion of the suture is threaded through the lumen between the first end and the button. Finally, the double loop is threaded through the two apertures of the button.

Continuous loop suture and button assemblies are commonly used during orthopedic surgery for bone-tendon-bone, single-bundle soft tissue, and double bundle soft tissue fixation, such as during cruciate reconstruction. For example, during anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction, a bone-tendon-bone graft is commonly positioned within both the femur and tibia bones. These grafts are often secured to a continuous loop/button assembly, which are in turn anchored to a bone. One example of a loop/button assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,533,802 to Bojarski et al. ("Bojarksi"). Bojarski references a few different general methods of attaching a button to a continuous loop: (a) start with a closed loop suture and then capture the button by threading loop sections through openings in the button or wrapping the loop sections around channels/arms of the button (e.g., Bojarksi FIG. 12), (b) start with a thread having a leading end and utilize an automated winding machine to continuously wrap the leading end through apertures in the button to form a closed loop, such as disclosed in WO99/47079 to Bryant ("Bryant"), or (c) provide a suture with two open ends, thread and/or wrap the suture to an anchor button and then tie the open ends together, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,894 to Ferragamo ("Ferragamo"). The above described methods of making continuous loop and button assemblies result in products that are susceptible to breaking over time due to mechanical stress.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 9,357,990 describes an assembly having a fixed sized loop attached to a button. This has provided a helpful advance in the art.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,578 discloses a device similar to those described in the references discussed above, except for that the suture loop that is threaded through the buttonholes has a variable size. To achieve this result a double trap is used with two suture lengths crossing each other inside a lumen in another length of the same suture. This adjustability permits the surgeon using the device to adjust it prior to use, and also to adjust the loop size during surgery. There is an advantage in not having to keep many different sizes of suture loop-button constructs on hand for surgeries on patients with differing bone thicknesses. Unfortunately, during use, the loop tends to expand, due to slippage in the double trap, leading to problems with the ligament implantation. Efforts to create a suture having less slippage by expanding the length of the double trap have met with issues in the construction of the construct.


Image filter values can be obtained by applying a high-frequency or edge-detection image filter to an image to extract a level of image detail. The image can be divided into blocks of a predetermined size and the image filter values of the pixels in a block can be used to obtain a density value associated with the level of image detail for the block. For blocks where the density value exceeds a threshold amount, a degree of blur may be applied based on the density value. Thus, the image can be rendered so that only some of the blocks of the image are blurred while other blocks do not have blur applied.

As images are reproduced on different types of display devices, some of these display devices may produce artifacts when rendering the image. These artifacts in the image may be caused by various factors. For example, a moiré pattern may be displayed in an image if the image contains a repeating pattern that cannot correctly be displayed on the display device.
Different approaches may be used to reduce rendering artifacts in an image. For example, an image may be preprocessed (e.g., by a server storing the image) to display correctly on the display device. Alternatively, a display device with a fast graphics processing unit (GPU) may modify the displayed image to reduce rendering artifacts. However, it may be impractical to preprocess an image to correctly display on all of the various display devices, and display devices with slower GPUs, e.g., mobile devices, may not be able to modify the image quickly, causing a delay in rendering the image. Further, varying degrees of modifications may be required in an image, requiring adjustments to parts of the image instead of the image as a whole. Thus, the ability to efficiently reduce rendering artifacts on a display device may be desired.

Processing an image to reduce rendering artifacts


A sample and hold display such as a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) monitor that is capable of displaying video signals at a high frame rate, usually at over 120 frames per second, is described. The goal of the monitor is to enable the end user to view stereoscopic 3D images with the use of circular polarized glasses. The display switches between a left perspective view displayed with left handed circular polarization and a right perspective view displayed with right handed circular polarization as stereoscopic 3D images that are viewed with passive analyzing glasses. A horizontally segmented impulse backlight is used to control the timing of the images displayed in synchrony with a horizontally segmented liquid crystal modulator that performs the circular polarization. The impulse backlight and LC modulator eliminate crosstalk while maintaining brightness and high image contrast. Additionally, a unique driving scheme eliminates the appearance of individual segments.

Electronic stereoscopic 3D visualization tools have been available since the early 1980's and have allowed the generation and display of stereo 3D images in computer equipment when displayed on CRT monitors. Using a combination of CRT monitors and liquid crystal shutter glasses (LC glasses), an end user is allowed to view a stereo 3D image by displaying a time sequential video stream on the CRT in sync with the LC glasses that only allow the user to view the left image with their corresponding left eye and the right image with the corresponding right eye.
This method of displaying stereo 3D images takes advantage of the fast impulse display properties of the CRT monitor. While the CRT monitor has served the PC industry well for over two decades and is known about to be fully replaced by flat screen technologies that allow lower power consumption and a truly digital display format to be exploited, mainly by LCD and Plasma monitors.
However the benefits of lower power consumption and digital formats do not have the same characteristics that a CRT presents for displaying Stereo 3D images. The main difference between a CRT and an LCD image display schemes is that the CRT displays a progressive raster scan that only has an image persistence of the phosphor being impacted by the electron beam. In other words each pixel of every image frame is only visible to the viewer for a few milliseconds (typically between 3 to 4 ms).
An LCD monitor on the other hand displays images on a sequential line by line basis, and because it is a digital device, the image pixel is displayed with a "sample and hold" approach. This means that it displays the information during the complete frame display time span.
Unfortunately for stereo 3D imaging, this sample and hold technique causes crosstalk because information belonging to the left eye is displayed while right eye image information is being refreshed and vice versa.
Another important factor to consider for stereo 3D visualization is display response time. A CRT because of the fast response time of a phosphor can display easily over 120 frames per second.
In the same manner, liquid crystal devices (say a single LCD pixel) can have fast turn on and turn off response times. But, because of how LCD monitors are addressed and controlled by their drive signals usually LCD monitors usually present very slow frame rates (up to only 60 frames per second). This causes significant flicker when attempting to view stereo 3D frame sequential images. To date, only a Stereo-Mirror display that uses two LCD panels is considered acceptable, with great reservations.

Method and apparatus for displaying stereoscopic 3D images with a liquid crystal panel


Various technologies described herein pertain to racking equipment in a data center. A modular equipment rack system can include an upper track, a lower track, a vertical support, a power and network distribution unit, and a tray. The upper track and the lower track can respectively include incrementally spaced mounting locations at which the vertical support and the power and network distribution unit can be attachable. The tray can be attachable to the vertical support and the power and network distribution unit when the vertical support is attached to the upper track at a first upper mounting location and attached to the lower track at a corresponding first lower mounting location, and the power and network distribution unit is attached to the upper track at a second upper mounting location and attached to the lower track at a corresponding second lower mounting location.

A data center is a facility that houses computer equipment and related components. Data centers oftentimes include many server computers and auxiliary equipment such as, for instance, storage systems, network infrastructure equipment, and the like. Equipment is commonly accommodated and organized in data centers by being mounted on racks.
Rack mountable equipment for use in a data center is oftentimes designed to fit in conventional, standard equipment racks. Examples of such racks include racks that conform to standards such as Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA)-310-D, European Telecoms Standards Institute (ETSI), and so forth. Accordingly, configurations of rack mountable equipment commonly are limited by the configuration of the rack in which such equipment can be mounted. For example, a 19-inch rack that conforms to EIA-310-D can include a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting equipment that is approximately 17.75 inches wide. The equipment typically has a front panel that is approximately 19 inches wide with edges or ears that protrude in the width direction on each side such that the edges or ears allow the equipment to be fastened to the rack (e.g., with screws, clips, bolts, etc.). Pursuant to this example, the height of the equipment that is mountable in the 19-inch rack is commonly standardized to be a multiple of 1.75 inches (e.g., a rack unit).
Moreover, configuration of the equipment can be dependent on an application being run with the equipment. Accordingly, different equipment configurations with differing volumetric requirements can be used within a conventional data center. To accommodate the differing volumetric requirements for the different equipment configurations, disparate systems that fit within conventional, standard equipment racks oftentimes are employed, which can cause increased supply chain complexity.
Further, when servers are refreshed (e.g., after a few years of use), other equipment such as power supplies, fans, sheet metal, connectors, batteries, etc. is oftentimes replaced as a result of being part of the infrastructure installed in a rack with the servers or a container in which the servers are included. For instance, a typical blade system can include a chassis that mounts into a conventional, standard equipment rack. The chassis can include slides or housings into which a plurality of blades (e.g., servers) can be inserted. However, the chassis of a typical blade system oftentimes is able to couple with blades having a fixed size. Moreover, blades for a chassis of a particular manufacturer commonly differ in size from blades for a chassis of a different manufacturer. Thus, if the blades are refreshed (e.g., when upgrading after a few years, etc.), then the chassis commonly is unable to be reused and oftentimes replaced.

Modular equipment rack system for data center


Disclosure concerns a portable drawing toy comprising an openable rectangular box having manual rotatable knobs in the two lower opposite corners, which knobs move by strings and pulleys a horizontal and a vertical bar orthogonally with respect to each other. At the intersection of these bars is a socket for one of a plurality of different colored marking pens. A cover for the box comprises a framed window with flanges for holding a translucent paper on the underside of the window so that when the cover is closed the marker pen contacts the paper and rotation of the knobs causes the pen to draw lines on the paper, which lines can be viewed through the window. The translucent paper can be changed for retaining the drawing made thereon, and a magazine for different colored pens is provided in the base of the box.

The prior art comprises manually-operated orthogonally movable stylus in a sealed box for etching a pattern on a window as disclosed in applicants' assignee's U.S. Pat. No. 3,055,113 to Grandjean issued Sep. 25, 1962 and Clark U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,505 issued Sep. 25, 1973. The adaptation of such drawing toys to produce a permanent replaceable record is disclosed in Barnes, Jr. et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,566,546 issued Sep. 4, 1951. These prior art devices have the disadvantage of containing a powder which is sealed in a box and/or being very complicated.


Disclosed is a booster assembly for vehicles capable of reducing assembly time of a vehicle. The booster assembly includes a booster including a casing having a front shell and a rear shell sealingly coupled to each other and a hollow tube mounted through the casing, a master cylinder including a flange part coupled to the casing, and a mounting bolt inserted through the flange part and the tube in the casing to fix the booster and the master cylinder to a panel of a vehicle body. The tube has a clip slot formed by cutting a circumferential surface of an end portion thereof. The clip slot is coupled with a clip to firmly secure the mounting bolt to the tube.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present invention relate to a booster assembly for vehicles, in which a booster and a master cylinder may be easily mounted to a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a booster for vehicles is an apparatus which creates great braking force with small input force utilizing the pressure difference between the suction pressure of an engine of a vehicle and atmospheric pressure. Accordingly, the booster develops braking force greater than force normally obtained when a brake pedal is depressed.
The booster is mounted to a dashboard of a vehicle body using a mounting bolt penetrating a sealed case of the booster.
The booster is first located in an engine room of the vehicle body, and the mounting bolt is pushed into a through-hole formed at the case of the booster so that an end portion of the mounting bolt passes through the dashboard and enters a passenger compartment. Then, the end portion of the mounting bolt is screwed into a nut disposed in the passenger compartment, thereby engaging the booster and a bracket of a brake pedal with each other.


A vibration feeding apparatus comprises a receptacle for holding and conveying components, and first and second linear motors coupled to the receptacle. The first and second linear motors are spaced from each other and have respective coils that are aligned parallel to each other. The first and second linear motors are operative to be driven at a first operation mode whereby to impart rotary vibration to the receptacle, and at a second operation mode whereby to impart linear vibration to the receptacle.

A vibratory feeding apparatus may comprise a container in the form of a rotary vibration bowl and a linear feeder in the form of a vibration track. They can be found in industry for conveying and orientating components, for instance electronic components, which are sorted from a pool of randomly oriented components during mass production. They are different from belt conveyers in that vibratory feeding apparatus use small vibrations to transfer components in a step-wise manner. Due to its simplicity and lack of moving mechanical parts, the vibratory feeding apparatus can provide a cleaner and more reliable way of conveying small components. Thus, there are large numbers of vibratory feeding apparatus developed for conveying small components in different industries.
A vibratory feeding apparatus generally involves four main mechanical modules: a bowl or track for orientation and sorting, a hopper for refilling the bowl or track, linear and/or rotary vibrator modules for exciting the bowl, track and/or hopper to vibrate, and a platform for vibration isolation.
The linear or rotary vibrator module generally excites the bowl or track to undergo vibration with a single frequency. The vibrator module comprises a movable block that transmits vibration to the bowl or track, an actuator that provides excitation forces to the movable block, and a spring-mass system that determines the vibration frequency of the vibrator and the conveyance direction. The vibrator module traditionally uses an electromagnetic solenoid, such that the force-displacement relationship of the vibrator module is non-linear in nature. The force from the solenoid accelerates the bowl or track to vibrate and the components placed on the bowl or track experience acceleration. The resultant acceleration has both vertical and horizontal components. When the vertical acceleration field is slightly larger than the gravitational field, the components are lifted off the bowl or track surface and are projected forward due to the horizontal acceleration component.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,206,180 entitled "Vibratory Parts Feeder" discloses a vibratory feeding apparatus which uses two sets of electromagnetic coils to generate vibration in vertical and horizontal directions respectively to create vibratory motion for a bowl feeder. An elliptical motion stroke is employed by changing the current phases of its motors in order to achieve a higher feeding speed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,705,459 entitled "Two-Way Vibratory Feeder" discloses two-way vibratory feeding utilizing motor exciters. The bidirectional mechanism is constructed with different operational resonant frequencies. It can control the components on the surface of the feeder to move back and forth along X and Y axes on a horizontal plane independently.
Generally, since solenoids are used as electromagnetic actuators and the force-displacement characteristic of a solenoid is non-linear, the force input to the vibrator module thus varies with both the driving current and the displacement. Driving of the solenoid using a sine wave signal source also introduces a non-linear force which contains many different frequency components other than the desired excitation frequency to the vibrator module. Undesirable frequency components will cause unwanted motion of the components being transferred using the vibrator module. It may also generate noise from abrupt changes in the driving signal source.
Another vibrator module uses a square waveform as the driving signal source. Apart from the multiple frequency components generated by the vibrator module, the vibrator module also generates noise as a result of abrupt changes in force inherent in a square waveform. It is thus preferable to develop a vibrator module with linear driving actuators so that the vibrator module can vibrate in a purer single frequency.
Certain state of the art vibrator modules use flexible piezoelectric elements as actuators, which provide linear forces to the vibrator module. The flexible piezoelectric elements are formed by bonding piezoelectric ceramic on a metallic or fiber-based composite substrate. As piezoelectric elements are compact and light, bowl or track designs using them are usually tidier and lighter. This also makes vibrator modules using piezoelectric elements more compact and much more space can be reserved for other functional modules. Moreover, the piezoelectric element is usually integrated to the spring of the vibrator module, and this makes the mass of the moving part of the vibrator module lighter and vibrator modules using piezoelectric elements can run at high frequencies.
However, since piezoelectric elements are made from the bonding of a piezoelectric ceramic on a metallic or fiber-based composite substrate, possible delamination may occur after repeated cyclic motion. Reliability of the piezoelectric element is thus a major problem for the vibratory feeding apparatus when it is operated in heavy volume production. It is thus advantageous to use a more robust actuation means that can operate in harsh conditions. Also, the cost of piezoelectric elements is usually higher than for solenoids.
Apart from nonlinear forces and lack of reliability of prior art vibration actuators, the designs of vibrator modules are usually limited to only linear or rotary agitation. Since there are many different vibratory feeder applications in the field, it is better to have a vibrator design which can easily switched between linear and rotary agitation. Also, this can help to standardize the parts required in inventory and make on-site maintenance easier. Where there are two separate systems produced respectively for generating rotary and linear motions, the two systems must be well-isolated so as not to adversely affect the respective motions. Further, there is a risk of jamming between the two systems when the two systems separately vibrate.
In view of the above mentioned shortcomings, it would be advantageous to design a vibrator which utilizes a linear actuator. Moreover, it is better to make the design common for both linear and rotary vibrators.

Vibratory feeder for conveying components


Disclosed is a hemostasis valve device including a connector including a first channel, a holder disposed at a first end of the connector and configured to communicate with the first channel, and a valve portion disposed at a second end of the connector and configured to selectively open or close the first channel. Here, the connector includes a first pipe including the first channel and a second pipe which diverges from a first point of the first pipe and includes a second channel configured to communicate with the first channel. Also, the first pipe includes a hole which allows the first channel to communicate with the outside. Here, the hemostasis valve device further includes an opening and closing portion disposed at the first pipe and configured to selectively open or close the hole. The hole is disposed between the first end and the first point.

Hemostasis valve devices are devices for introducing an introducer, a guide wire, or catheter (hereinafter, referred to as catheters) into blood vessels. Hemostasis valve devices guide catheters to be precisely inserted into coronary arteries or veins when cardiovascular angiography, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, or the like is performed. Also, hemostasis valve devices prevent blood from flowing backward through coronary arteries or veins. Medications may be injected through hemostasis valve devices as necessary.
As one of hemostasis valve devices, Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2001-0022303 (published on Mar. 15, 2001, hereinafter, referred to as the document) discloses a configuration contracted and extended according to according to rotation of a cap. However, the hemostasis valve device disclosed in the document has a problem that air flows into blood vessels when catheters are inserted into coronary arteries or veins. For example, bubbles may form in a contrast medium. Otherwise, bubbles may form during a process of injecting a contrast medium. When air flows into blood vessels, air embolism that bubbles block blood vessels may be caused. When air flows into blood vessels of a patient as described above, it may be fatal to the life of the patient. When bubbles block blood vessels connected to the heart or block cerebrovascular blood vessels, the patient may be led to death due to a cardiac arrest, a cerebral hemorrhage, or the like.
Accordingly, practitioners should pay a lot of attention to prevent air from flowing into blood vessels when catheters are inserted or medications are injected into coronary arteries or veins. Accordingly, a fatigue level of practitioners is high and a lot of skilled practitioners are necessary. Above all, a possibility of succeeding in treatment is significantly low.


The method according to the invention utilizes a color decomposition of histological tissue image data to derive a density map. The density map corresponds to the portion of the image data that contains the stain/tissue combination corresponding to the stroma, and at least one gland is extracted from said density map. The glands are obtained by a combination of a mask and a seed for each gland derived by adaptive morphological operations, and the seed is grown to the boundaries of the mask. The method may also derive an epithelial density map used to remove small objects not corresponding to epithelial tissue. The epithelial density map may further be utilized to improve the identification of glandular regions in the stromal density map. The segmented gland is extracted from the tissue data utilizing the grown seed as a mask. The gland is then classified according to its associated features.

Prostate cancer malignancy grading depends on the accurate identification and classification of the glandular components in the prostate tissue. In the grading system according to Gleason, malignant glands are classified into benign, PIN, and grades 1-5, although the grades 1 and 2 are no longer in use. In the new ISUP grade group system [4] [5], there are five grade groups, ranging from discrete well-formed glands to tissue that lacks gland formation with or without poorly formed/fused/cribriform glands. Regardless of the grading system, it is necessary that the pathologist identify the morphological variations in the glandular components as they are closely linked to the aggressiveness of the cancer.
Digital pathology is an emerging field, where glass slides are scanned and stored as digital images for improved workflow, computer-aided analysis, and storage and management of the data. Digital pathology facilitates remote consultation of experts across the world and may alleviate the pathologist deficit that is anticipated in most countries from population growth and increase in disease incidence. Once tissue slides are digitized, it is possible to enhance the resulting images digitally and also extract information to support the pathologists' decision process. This has the potential to reduce the intra- and inter-observer diagnostic variation and improve the prognostication, thereby improve patients' quality of life and reduce the healthcare burden from needless treatment. But computer-aided analysis of tissue data requires high-quality image data, where the tissue components are clearly delineated and where the stain variations and noise are kept to a minimum.
Pathologists rely on multiple, contrasting stains to analyze tissue samples, but histological stains are developed for visual analysis and are not always ideal for automatic analysis.
Earlier work described a methodology to compare different histological stains for classification of components in histological tissue. This methodology was used to evaluate stains for both supervised and unsupervised classification which showed that certain stains consistently outperform others according to objective error criteria [1].
Earlier work also describes an automatic method (the Blind Color Decomposition, BCD, method) for highly accurate blind color decomposition of histological images into density maps, one for each stained tissue type [2]. The method decouples intensity from color information and bases the decomposition only on the tissue absorption characteristics of each stain. The method also models biochemical noise, as well as noise from the CCD (charge-coupled device) array in the microscope. Careful selection of the tissue stain combined with BCD lays the foundation for accurate computer-aided processing of tissue data [3]. These techniques form the basis for gland segmentation of histological tissue.

Segmentation of histological tissue images into glandular structures for prostate cancer tissue classification


Apparatuses, computer readable media, and methods for dynamic resource block identification for power save polling in a high efficiency wireless local-area network are disclosed. A wireless apparatus comprising a memory and processing circuitry is disclosed. The processing circuitry is configured to encode a packet comprising a plurality of bits one bit for each association identification (AID) of a plurality of AIDs. A bit is set if the wireless apparatus is to poll a station with a corresponding AID. Each set bit indicates a resource block identification. The processing circuitry is further configured to encode a power save (PS) poll trigger to be transmitted to the stations. The processing circuitry is further configured to decode responses to the PS poll trigger from the stations, where the responses are to be received from the stations in accordance with the corresponding resource block identification.

The Internet of Things (IoT) is enabling many wireless devices to be deployed in wireless local-area network (WLAN). However, the IoT wireless devices are often battery constrained and yet need to communicate with central devices to download and upload data. Additionally, wireless devices may need to operate with both newer protocols and with legacy device protocols.

Dynamic resource block identification for power save polling in a high efficiency wireless local-area network