This invention relates to a method for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into ethyl esters of carboxylic acids. Said method consists of treating the biomass material with an oxidizing agent that is incorporated in an solution comprising one or more acids, one or more alcohols and water, and subsequently performing a catalytic reaction at a higher temperature using the same acidic solution into which a larger volume of alcohol is added, in such a way that the catalytic conversion occurs in a medium with a much higher concentration of alcohol, i.e. with a much higher alcohol-to-water wt ratio. Such a method results in relatively high yields of ethyl esters, such as ethyl esters of formic, acetic, and levulinic acids, while producing a low yield of dialkyl ethers, which are unwanted by-products. The concentration of the oxidizing agent in the pre-treatment step is preferably higher than 6.0 wt %. The oxidizing agent is preferably a Fenton or Fenton-type reagent, and most preferably hydrogen peroxide activated by Fe (II), and/or Ti (IV) ions. The alcohol is preferably ethanol, and when ethanol is used, diethyl ether is formed as the unwanted dialkyl ether by-product. Preferably, the biomass material is pelleted before treatment.

Lignocellulosic materials include materials such as wood, wood wastes, forestry residues, paper-making or cardboard-making residues, agricultural residues, municipal waste, and perennial grasses. These materials mainly contain cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin in various proportions.
There are known ways of converting lignocellulosic biomass materials into fuels and chemicals. In the case of wood and wood residues, it is known to convert such materials by first subjecting these to a chemical pre-treatment to disrupt the protective and chemically recalcitrant lignin layer. This allows access to cellulose and hemicellulose layers by chemical or enzymatic species being incorporated in a subsequent hydrolysis step. Thus, sugars (mainly glucose) can be extracted to produce, for example, bioethanol by enzymatic fermentation.
It is also known to use harsher conditions, such as stronger acids, for acid hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose of lignocellulosic biomass. This results in the formation of carboxylic acids such as formic acid, levulinic acid, acetic acid, and furfural. Such chemical degradation is industrially exploited in the Biofine process [Reference 1].
Production of Alkyl Levulinates and Other Alkyl Esters:
Catalytic conversion of cellulose and hemicellulose into alkyl levulinates and light alkyl esters is currently known to be carried out in a) a single step process or b) a two-step process [Reference 2].
In a typical single step process, alcohol is used as a reactant and solvent. At least one acidic catalyst is used, typically a mineral acid diluted in alcohol. The liquid products of the reaction consist of alkyl levulinate, alkyl formate, alkyl acetate, and 2-furfural (2-furfuraldehyde). The use of alcohol allows the occurrence of two chemical reactions: alcoholysis and esterification. However, the by-product dialkyl ether is also produced directly from the alcohol in significant amounts, said amounts varying with the process conditions such as temperature and exposure time. If the alcohol is ethanol, this ether is diethyl ether (ethyl ether). Diethyl ether, because of its high volatility at room temperature, is generally considered as an inconvenience in various process operations (such as handling and storage), and because of its low commercial value and limited market demand. Solid residues (commonly called lignin char) are also produced in significant quantities.
In a typical two-step process, both catalytic steps involve acid catalysts. The first step is the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose: this catalytic reaction uses water as a solvent, and produces levulinic acid as well as by-products such as formic acid, acetic acid, and 2-furfural. Most of the water is subsequently withdrawn from the reaction medium and replaced with ethanol [Reference 2]. Thus, esterification (of the resulting carboxylic acids) occurs in the second step, producing alkyl esters. Under some harsh conditions, 2-furfural resulting from the acid catalyzed degradation of the reaction intermediates of hemicellulose is partially converted into formic acid.
In a previous patent application entitled "Catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into fuels and chemicals" [Reference 3] and a 2012 publication in Catalysis Letters [Reference 4], preference was given to a single step process. In that invention, two novelties were introduced to the conventional approach:                a) The liquid product (esters) yields were significantly increased by having a Fenton reagent directly incorporated into the acidic ethanol solution. It is to note that the Fenton reagent comprised an oxidant (hydrogen peroxide, H2O2), coupled with Fe (II) and/or Ti (IV) ions [References 2, 3]. The incorporation of a Fenton reagent in the conventional acid catalyzed hydrolysis/ethanolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose did not significantly change the products spectrum, i.e. the same esters and oxygenates were produced, although in higher yields. In addition, some methanol was produced when Fenton reagents were used.        b) The unwanted diethyl ether was removed from the product liquids and then sent over a ZSM-5 based catalyst for its conversion into hydrocarbons [References 3, 4].
In that invention, the incorporation of the Fenton reagent in the conversion medium resulted in a rapid and important size reduction of the biomass materials, such a phenomenon being accompanied by a sudden, albeit limited, rise in temperature and pressure. This was indicative of some destructive action due to the free radicals generated by the Fenton reagent.
The total product yield of the process increased with increasing amount of Fenton reagent, particularly with increasing the proportion of hydrogen peroxide. However, due to its relatively high cost, the increase in hydrogen peroxide consumption results in higher production costs.
It is also known from WO 2014/144588 to treat biomass in other to increase the porosity of cellulosic material, remove lignin for treatment into sugars followed by optional acid hydrolysis. A pre-treatment using ionic liquids is used to swell the biomass prior to an second step alkaline treatment to release the lignin and a third step or acid or enzymatic hydrolysis. The ionic liquids are selected from cation structures that include imidazolium, pyrrolidinium, pyridinium, phosphonium, ammonium, or functionalized analogs thereof [Reference 5].
Finally, it is also know from CA 2872510 to pre-treat biomass by mechanical breakdown which does not substantially affect the lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose compositions of the biomass. Acid extraction is used to generate a sugar stream which is then treated with an amine extractant to remove impurities. [Reference 6].
Therefore, there is a need for an improved method that allows for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into ethyl esters of carboxylic acids, wherein the production of the DEE by-product is minimized; and wherein there is a decrease in the consumption of oxidizing agent.

Catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into industrial biochemicals

La Cooperative Forestiere Des Hautes Laurentides


Digital isolator devices, and many other devices, have a maximum device junction temperature, which, if exceeded, may cause device failure and the integrity of the isolation is no longer guaranteed. The use of an electronic fuse, eFuse, arranged in series with the digital isolator, provides a protection scheme for the digital isolator in which current is limited by the eFuse when it is determined that the supply current of the digital isolator exceeds a predetermined threshold that would the cause junction temperature to increase above an absolute maximum rating. As such, the integrity of the digital isolator is preserved in the event of a system fault.

Thermal management is of critical importance in electronics for protecting temperature sensitive electrical components from excess heat. Heat sinks, heat pipes, and thermoelectric coolers can be used for this purpose.
Many electrical components have a maximum device junction temperature, which is a predetermined temperature threshold above which component failure occurs. This rating is used to calculate maximum power dissipation for a given thermal resistance. Previously, efforts to measure device junction temperature of a component have been implemented directly by measuring temperature of the component and switching the component off when its temperature exceeds the maximum device junction temperature. However, it if often difficult to obtain an accurate reading of the component temperature in a quick enough time.

Analog Devices International Unlimited Company


Distensible ligaments and distensible ligament systems are provided, including apparatuses, systems, devices, hardware, methods, and combinations for distensible systems.

Corrective and other surgeries of the human body often require the implantation of ligaments, for example, to replace or augment existing ligaments or effect changes in position or alignment between bone structures, e.g., intervertebral spinal ligaments. Current implants have a limited elasticity/elongation, which may not be optimal. Accordingly, there is a need for improved ligament systems.


An image forming apparatus is provided. The image forming apparatus includes a plurality of photosensitive members arranged to align in parallel with one another, an exposure device arranged in an upper position with respect to the plurality of photosensitive members and configured to expose the photosensitive members to light, an exposure controller arranged in an upper position with respect to the exposure device and configured to control the exposure device according to inputted image data, a power board, arranged in a lower position with respect to the plurality of photosensitive members and configured to convert alternate current power to direct current power, and a voltage converter arranged in an upper position with respect to the exposure device and configured to convert the direct current power supplied from the power board into an at least single-leveled first voltage and supply the first voltage to the exposure controller.

1. Technical Field
An aspect of the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a plurality of photosensitive members aligned in parallel with one another and an exposure device arranged in an upper position with respect to the photosensitive members.
2. Related Art
An image forming apparatus (e.g., a printer) with a plurality of photosensitive drums and an exposure device (e.g., an LED unit) to emit light and expose the photosensitive drums to the light is known. The photosensitive drums may be aligned in line in parallel with one another, and the exposure device may be arranged in an upper position with respect to the plurality of photosensitive drums. The image forming apparatus may further have an exposure controller (e.g., an LED control board), which controls irradiation of the light from the exposure device, and the exposure controller may be arranged in an upper position with respect to the exposure device.
The image forming apparatus may further be equipped with a power board, which converts externally supplied alternating current power to direct current power. The power board may further convert the direct current power into different levels of voltages and supply the different-leveled voltages to each component deployed in the image forming apparatus.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Circuit board configuration for image forming apparatus


A bidirectional DC-DC converter comprises: a first low voltage-side input/output terminal and a second low voltage-side input/output terminal; a low voltage-side rectifying circuit connected to the first low voltage-side input/output terminal and the second low voltage-side input/output terminal; a first high voltage-side input/output terminal and a second high voltage-side input/output terminal; a high voltage-side rectifying circuit connected to the first high voltage-side input/output terminal and the second high voltage-side input/output terminal; a transformer connected between the low voltage-side rectifying circuit and the high voltage-side rectifying circuit; and a controlling circuit that controls operations of switching elements in the low voltage-side rectifying circuit and the high voltage-side rectifying circuit. The controlling circuit achieves soft switching of a switching element in the high voltage-side rectifying circuit in a step-down operation.

Conventionally, when power is interchanged with each other in direct-current systems, for example, it is proposed to use a bidirectional DC-DC converter to achieve a high direct-current voltage with a small-scale circuit.
For example, a conventional bidirectional DC-DC converter (JP2002-165448A, for example) has bidirectional direct-current/alternating-current converting parts on the both sides of a transformer.
In a secondary-side direct-current/alternating current converting part of the bidirectional DC-DC converter, a choke coil acting as a smoothing coil is used as a choke coil of a choke coil-using chopper circuit-type inverter in forward power transmission, and a switching and rectifying part between the choke coil and a secondary coil of the transformer functions as a rectifier in forward power transmission. On the other hand, in reverse power transmission, the switching and rectifying part functions as a chopper circuit.
However, with the conventional bidirectional DC-DC converter described in the 3P2002-165448A described above, for example, in a step-down operation, a switching loss occurs because of variations in characteristics between MOS transistors serving as switching elements, and the converter efficiency decreases.
And in hard switching, problems arise that noise increases and breakdown of switching elements occurs.

Bidirectional DC-DC converter and power supply system

Shindengen Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A pharmaceutical formulation is disclosed which includes at least: (1) elagolix sodium, (2) magnesium oxide, and (3) at least one disintegrating agent, such as crospovidone, croscarmellose sodium, sodium starch glycolate, pregelatinized and mixtures thereof. A tablet is also disclosed which includes a tablet core formed from the pharmaceutical formulation. The elagolix sodium tablets of the present disclosure display improved dissolution rates when tested using for example the Tablet Sink Time test. The tablets also exhibit improved storage stability of the elagolix sodium, with a reduction in degradation products during storage.

Elagolix is an orally available gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor antagonist indicated for the treatment of endometriosis and uterine fibroids. The chemical name of elagolix is 4-[[(1R)-2-[5-(2-fluoro-3-methoxyphenyl)-3-[[2-fluoro-6-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]methyl]-3,6-dihydro-4-methyl-2,6-dioxo-1 (2H)-pyrimidinyl]-1-phenylethyl]amino]butanoic acid. Elagolix is an uracil derivative which can be represented by the chemical structure according to Formula (I)
(I) (elagolix free acid), wherein the R-form Ia is preferred:
(Ia) (elagolix free acid, R-form).
Elagolix may be administered in the form of various pharmaceutically acceptable salts, including in particular elagolix sodium which can be represented by the chemical structure according to Formula (II)
(II) (elagolix sodium), wherein the R-form IIa is preferred:
(IIa) (elagolix sodium, R-form).
Elagolix is known to be unstable and susceptible to degradation during long term storage, leading to the formation of a lactam impurity within pharmaceutical dosage forms incorporating elagolix. In addition, elagolix may in some dosage forms exhibit relatively slow dissolution rates, leading to unacceptably slow release of the active ingredient when taken by the patient.
Previously, WO2019/036712 describes an elagolix formulation containing a so-called anti-gelling agent and at least 10% Compound A (elagolix). According to the reference, the anti-gelling agent may be a water-soluble salt of a weak acid, a base, a basic amino acid, a basic salt or a basic polymer, and the anti-gelling agent further acts as a stabilizer to reduce formation of a degradation product called Compound B. The reference principally focuses on sodium carbonate as the anti-gelling/stabilizing agent.
Additionally, WO2018/189213 discloses elagolix in the form of a solid dispersion which includes the elagolix together with at least one silicon-based inorganic compound.
WO2018/189212 discloses acid addition salts of elagolix with strong acids such as sulfuric acid and hydrochloric acid and pharmaceutical compositions including such elagolix acid addition salts. Similarly, EP 3572406 discloses methods for preparing acid addition salts of elagolix, along with pharmaceutical compositions incorporating the acid addition salts.
Further, WO2020/043763 discloses a method for preparation of a powder comprising elagolix by providing a solution containing elagolix, combining the solution with an insoluble, crystalline filler, and spray drying this suspension.
Finally, WO 2020/020999 discloses a process for preparing rapidly or very rapidly dissolving tablets comprising freely soluble active pharmaceutical ingredients, such as for example elagolix.
Despite the aforementioned disclosures, difficulties remain in providing satisfactory elagolix dosage forms. Thus, there remains a continuing need for elagolix dosage forms having improved dissolution rates and improved storage stability, and for methods for preparation of such dosage forms.


A touch control structure, and a display panel and a display device using the same are provided. The advantage is that an area of a first region which is blocked by metal wirings extending through the first region is less than an area of a second region which is blocked by metal wirings extending through the second region. Therefore, light transmittance in the first region is larger than light transmittance in the second region. A module that needs sufficient visible light can be disposed on a location corresponding to the first region to improve performance of the module.

As a concept of full-screen panel is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, display devices with high screen-to-body ratio have become a goal of display manufacturers. However, full-screen technology still faces many challenges. Although an under-screen fingerprint, a built-in light sensing, and an earpiece technology enable the "hidden" design of a microphone, earpiece, proximity sensor, and Home button, an under-screen camera technology still can't satisfy users' requirement due to extremely low light transmittance of an array substrate, an OLED film layer, or a display film layer. For instance, in an OLED display panel, since light needs to pass through a cover glass, a polarizer (POL), a touch layer, an organic array layer (an electroluminescent layer and thin film encapsulation), and an organic layer of an array substrate or an inorganic layer of an array substrate to reach a camera, the light will be attenuated. Although light attenuation can be slightly improved by optimizing imaging algorithms, the response rate of a camera will be seriously affected and cannot satisfy a commercial requirement. In addition, an opening can be defined in a display region of a display panel to enable the light to reach camera; however, such a manner will leave a circular non-display region in the display region, which affects the quality of the display panel. Therefore, the under-screen camera technology becomes a bottleneck for a panel to attain a full-screen design.

Touch control structure having metal wirings mounted around a functional module, and display panel and display device using the same

Wuhan China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co., Ltd.


Plastic air-filled balls comprising three identical layer pieces of plastic connected together. In the middle layer, a thru-hold is provided to balance air pressure and on either one of the other layers an air valve and plug are disposed to confine air in said ball.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to plastic balls used often for advertisement, education and toys, and is composed of three identical pieces of material wherein a middle layer is provided with an air passage to keep air pressure of two chambers in balance and either one of the other layers is provided with a valve to allow air on. The three pieces can be connected by high frequency waves to form an enclosed body, so that, the preparation of the plastic ball can be simplified and the cost of manufacture can be further reduced.
The conventional air-filled ball is shown in FIG. 1, which utilizes multi-pieces of plastic material to form the same. If said ball is to be made by using six pieces, the ball will be far away from roundness; while if nine pieces are used, better roundness can be expected. Nevertheless, either the six or nine piece method wastes a lot of time in preparing the materials, and the connection will need extra attention for a multi-pieces method; therefore, the efficiency is poor and the cost is high in this respect.


A method and apparatus for definition links for online documentation is provided. According to one aspect of the invention, the definition links for online documentation provide a non-sighted or visually impaired user employing a screen reading utility a method to select a definition link from an online document which in turn navigates the user to a corresponding link definition area of the online document. Once the user has finished reading the definition, the user can easily be navigated back to the original text area of the document. In one embodiment, the definition links for online documentation provides footnote information. In one embodiment, a method of accessing footnote links and corresponding footnote definitions is provided. The embodiments contained herein for definition links for online documentation adhere to United States Federal Section 508 guidelines for accessibility standards.

The mechanisms described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Online documents often include text that requires further explanation, for example further definition or information outside of the current context area. In general, online documents written in online formats, for example, the hypertext markup language (HTML), use reference links, for example, hypertext reference links (HREFs) to bring the reader to another section of the document that contains definitions or further information outside of the current context.
Under Federal Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1998(29 USC '794d), Federal Agencies' electronic and information technology is required to be accessible to people with disabilities. Section 508 establishes requirements for any electronic and information technology developed, maintained, procured, or used by the Federal government. Therefore, any entity that sells or develops electronic and information technology for United States Government agencies must adhere to Federal Section 508 guidelines.
Accessibility utilities are applications that can interact with assistive technologies, such as screen readers, speech recognition systems, and refreshable braille displays. An example of an accessibility utility is a product offered by Henter-Joyce called JAWS® (Job Access With Speech). JAWS®, uses an integrated voice synthesizer and a computer's sound card to produce an audio output of the content of a computer screen. JAWS® also outputs to refreshable Braille displays. JAWS® is an example of accessibility utility technology which provides access to a wide variety of information, education, and job related applications for non-sighted or visually impaired users.
However, the limitations of conventional techniques for accessing online document definition links and their corresponding definitions present non-sighted or visually impaired users with several problems. For example, traditional, accessibility utilities such as JAWS®, read documents from top to bottom. When an accessibility utility, such as a screen reader is employed in order to read an online document, an non-sighted or visually impaired user must eventually recognize that the desired definition has finished, and the user must proactively stop the screen reader from reading further. For example, consider footnote definition links and corresponding footnote definitions in online documents. When a screen reader reads a document from top to bottom, a drawback to traditional online definition links is that when read from top to bottom, definition links and their corresponding definition areas have little meaning. The reason for this is that as these links and definition areas are out of context with each other and the associated text. For example, when a user employs a screen reader to read an online document with footnotes, once the user selects the footnote link, the user is typically navigated to the end of the page where the footnote definition resides. The user must then recognize when a definition has finished and proactively stop the screen reader from reading further. Particularly in the case where there are multiple footnotes and therefore multiple corresponding footnote definitions in an online document, once the screen reader has completed reading a footnote definition, the screen reader typically will continue on in the document reading the next, unrelated footnote definition. Thus, in conventional systems the user is required to recognize that the screen reader has finished reading the document and unrelated information, and must proactively stop the screen reader from reading further. This limitation presents an inconvenient reading experience for those in the non-sighted or visually impaired community who employ screen readers to read online documents.
Additionally, after reading information in the definition area, in order to return to the original position within the online document, conventional methods require the visually impaired user to utilize a technique, such as selecting the browser's BACK button, to bring the user back to the general area of the document. For example, when a user employs a screen reader such as JAWS® to read an online document, the user is required to stop the reader and to use the browser's BACK button to return to the main text after the definition has been read.
A drawback to this type of manual navigation back to the original area in the document is that it is a cumbersome process for the visually impaired user who employs a screen reader for reading online documents. Once the user has employed a technique such as the browser's BACK button, the non-sighted or visually impaired user is presented with only a general area of the document and must thus manually navigate the original area of the document. Typically, employing a navigation method such as selection of the browser's BACK button will bring the user to the general area of the online document, up to a full page previous to the desired area. For example, when a non-sighted or visually impaired user selects a footnote hypertext link, the user is typically navigated to the end of the page where the footnote definition area resides. Conventionally, when a user employs a screen reader to read an online document, the user must recognize when the desired footnote has finished, and stop the screen reader from reading the next unrelated footnote. Additionally, once the user has stopped the screen reader the user must then navigate back to continue reading from the original location in the document.
Another techniques for accessing online definition links require the user to place a mouse over the corresponding definition link in order to view the definition area. For example, in certain systems, placing a MouseOver a footnote definition link, a corresponding footnote definition area is displayed to the user in response to a MouseOver. However, a drawback to this technique is that utilizing a mouse is not compatible with accessibility utilities such as screen readers, therefore the user who employs the screen reader is unable to access the definition area using a mouse over. This limitation presents an inconvenient reading experience for those in the visually impaired community who employ screen readers to read online documents.
Another drawback to traditional online definition links is that the definition areas typically do not have the capability of supporting text emphasis and navigation to additional reference links within an associated definition area. Typically, when accessing conventional online definition links, the user is navigated to a separate definition area, which may contain text emphasis, and additional reference information that may be accessed through an additional reference link. For example, if a user employs a screen reader to access a footnote definition link; the associated definition area may contain text emphasis and reference to additional reference information.
Yet another drawback to traditional online definition links is that current commercially available HTML generation tools used for online documentation footnote definition links typically place an HTML NAME tag at the beginning of footnote text, rather than before the footnote number. Typically, screen readers read the corresponding footnote text without having prefaced it with the footnote number, and then read the number for the next footnote. This presents another problem for users who employ screen readers in that this limitation results in confusion for the user.
The limitations of conventional online definition links make reading online documents with definition links and corresponding definition areas problematic for users. Based upon the foregoing, it is desirable to provide a mechanism that overcomes the limitations of traditional access to online documentation definition links and their corresponding definition areas when employing an assistive technology, such as screen readers.

Definition links in online documentation


An image formation device simulation apparatus performs a simulation of processing performed by an image formation device. The simulation apparatus includes: an image formation command acquisition unit that acquires an image formation command including information of a target image to be formed by the image formation device; a simulation unit that performs a simulation of image formation processing performed by the image formation device for forming the target image on a recording medium, and generates output image data that corresponds to the target image to be formed on the recording medium, based on the image formation command; and a consumption amount calculation unit that calculates and outputs an amount of consumption of a consumable item that the image formation device predictably consumes by the image formation processing, based on the output image data.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image formation device simulation apparatus for performing a simulation of processing performed by an image formation device, an image formation device simulation method and a program product therefor.
2. Related Art
Presently, various models of an image formation device such as a printer or a copying machine are commercially available, and consumable items of kinds or prices different by a type of the image formation device are used. Also, even when the same image is formed, the amount of consumption of the consumable item may vary by the kind of the image formation device. As a result of the above, performing cost at the time of use or a life of the consumable item also varies by the kind of the image formation device. Therefore, in the case of buying an image formation device, a user normally selects the image formation device by, for example, comparing plural image formation devices with respect to cost or a life of the consumable item by examining information released by catalogues previously.
However, the information released by catalogues of the image formation devices only shows information about running cost of the case of being used under a certain condition generally. Also, in the technique of the conventional example, performing cost or the amount of consumption of a consumable item cannot be known unless image formation processing is continued using an image formation device actually. As a result of that, for example, when a user frequently outputs image data of a particular format, the user cannot know the amount of consumption of the consumable item of the image formation device in a use form of the actual user until the image formation device is bought and used.

Image formation device simulation apparatus


A method and apparatus for checking the validity of an item of data stored for access by a first data processor of a data processing network having at least two interconnected data processors. The first data processor provides a second data processor with a copy of an item of data and the second data processor determines whether the item of data is valid. The second data processor then reports to the first data processor on the validity of the item of data so that the first data processor can prevent access to any invalid data.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for checking the validity of data in a data processing network, for example for checking whether the data contains viruses or other unwanted data or whether it has been authorised for or barred from use in the network or a part of it.
In general, data of a computer file or disk sector (such as a computer program) can be checked for unwanted data, or information indicating whether the file has been authorized for or barred from use, by the file being searched for data of a predetermined form. This form may comprise predetermined characteristics such as the presence of certain information anywhere in the file, possibly in any order, or at a certain location in the file, possibly in combination with other such data. For instance, computer viruses are stored in the data of a computer file as a set of virus data which can serve as instructions for the virus to operate. A file can be checked for known viruses by a virus detection procedure which searches the file for characteristics that are known to be indicative of each virus. As the number of known viruses to be checked for increases (around 3000 are currently known) the amount of storage capacity needed to store information defining the characteristics of all the known viruses increases too.
In a computer network of workstations and a file server it is conventional for each workstation to itself check on the validity of the data held by it. However, this means that every workstation must use a portion of its storage capacity to store information defining all the characteristic forms to be searched for. In total this requires a large amount of storage capacity, and as more characteristic forms come to be searched for, for example as new viruses are identified, it may become infeasible for workstations to carry out searching themselves because of the limitations of their operating systems. Also, each workstation must be updated individually to include new characteristics. This is inconvenient where there is a large number of workstations.
WO 93/01550 discloses a system for controlling the use of a licensed product, in which in order to determine whether access can be made to a licensed product stored for access by a licensee's data processor a licence datagram is copied to a licensor's data processor which returns a reply message. The licence datagram contains different data from the licensed product.


The invention provides a surgical device for performing a controlled resection of the neck of a femur during a hip replacement procedure. The surgical device comprises a body portion having: a frame comprising an aperture dimension for receipt of a femoral head of the femur to position the body portion with respect to a centre of the femoral head; a resection guide for indicating a position of a resection plane on the femoral neck, and an arm extending between the frame and the resection guide. The body portion includes a linear alignment surface for alignment with a femoral shaft axis of the femur while the frame is mounted on the anterior or posterior aspect of the femoral head.

Hip replacement is a surgical procedure in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic implant. In total hip replacement surgery, a patient's natural hip is replaced by an acetabular cup component that replaces the acetabular socket and a femoral component that replaces the femoral head.
During such a surgical procedure, a diseased portion of the femur is excised, usually by removing the femoral head prior to milling of the calcar face. A prosthetic femoral component and a prosthetic femoral head replace the natural structures that are surgically removed. The positioning of the femoral component of the prosthesis is important to ensure proper fit and smooth rotation of the femoral head within its socket (i.e., the acetabular shell).
If the surgeon removes too much of the femur at the resection stage, joint tension will have to be manipulated during later stages of the surgical procedure. This can be achieved by increasing head offset or by switching to a high offset neck trial. Both of these approaches would deviate from the optimal surgical plan, potentially increasing the risk of poor post-surgery biomechanics and patient outcome.
Not removing enough bone can make it harder to mill the calcar face effectively, increase bone fragments in the wound space and reduce the performance and life of the calcar mill instrument. Additionally, this leads to inefficiency in the surgical process, associated costs and a reduction in the free space within the wound cavity.
When performing joint reconstruction, such as hip replacement surgery, it is important that the pre-surgical geometry of the bone structure is replicated in the post-surgical structure. It is important to maintain the natural joint biomechanics, ensuring proper joint and soft tissue balancing. If this is not achieved, the result can be higher joint forces, and overall joint instability.
It is therefore necessary to ensure that orthopedic implant structures are properly placed within a patient. In the case of hip joint prostheses, it is important that the native anatomic centre of rotation of the femoral head within the acetabular shell be located and maintained during the implantation of the replacement structure. Misplacement of the centre of rotation during implantation of the femoral component of the hip joint prosthesis can affect the patient's leg length can lead to a very unsatisfactory result for the patient.
It is important in primary total hip arthroplasty to determine the natural offset and neck length of the femoral head by measurement. Offset can be measured from a point on the greater trochanter to the centre of the femoral head. Neck length can be measured from a point of the lesser trochanter to the centre of the femoral head.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,097 discloses an orthopaedic instrument for comparing post-surgical joint geometry to pre-surgical joint geometry. The instrument includes a head chuck that can be secured to the ball of a ball joint, and an arm having reference indicia thereon. Markings indicative of the pre-surgical joint geometry are made on the bone with reference to the centre of the ball joint. After replacement with a prosthetic ball, the post-operative geometry is verified by securing the head chuck to the prosthetic ball, and comparing the location of the bone markings against the reference indicia on the arm. As needed, adjustments are made in the prosthetic components.
There remains a need for surgical instruments that will assist surgeons to resect the femoral neck at the appropriate resection plane in order to reproduce within the artificial joint the hip's anatomic centre of rotation. Furthermore, the current resection guides do not take into account the variety of head offsets that can be templated and so leaves the surgical procedure open to an increase risk of error.


A storage device to store data includes an external interface, a controller, a nonvolatile memory, and an IC card. In response to a first indication from the external device, the controller receives a program to be executed in the IC card from the nonvolatile memory or the external device and writes the program in the IC card. In response to a second indication from the external device, the controller deletes the program written in the IC card.

The present invention relates to a storage device including a security function and a host device connectible to the same and to a storage device and a host device associated therewith to control management and execution of application software.
An integrated circuit (IC) card is a memory card used in a system requiring high security processing, for example, in a system of credit settlement and banking processing. Usability of an IC card is improved for the user by installing in the IC card a function called "dynamic loading" which loads a plurality of application programs in the card and which additionally loads application programs in the card after issuance thereof.
In the installation of an application program by the dynamic loading, it is required to make a check to prevent an illegal use thereof. That is, validity is checked both for the application program, and for the IC card. Only when both of them are valid, the application can be installed in the card. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2001-325037 describes a method in which to secure safety in the situation described above, a terminal device dedicated to a service provider is used for the purpose or a user terminal is used to conduct authentication and installation of application between a server and an IC card via a network.
In the installation of application using a dedicated terminal described above, it is required for the user to visit an installation place of the terminal. Or, it is required that the card is delivered to the place of the terminal and then the card is returned to the user. That is, the physical movement of the IC card imposes a heavy load onto the user and the service provider and hence there arises a problem of lower usability of the IC card. In the installation via a network, the physical movement of the IC card is prevented by using a terminal of the user. However, each time application is installed or deleted, it is required to connect the terminal to the server on a specified network. This leads to a problem that the operation is troublesome and the load of the server is increased. For example, in a case in which the IC card includes a plurality of application programs in advance, when the IC card does not have a sufficient area to additionally install a new application program therein, it is required for the user to delete at least one application program existing in the card before the new application program is installed. For this purpose, it is necessary to connect the terminal to the server for each operation. To restore the deleted application program, it is required for the user to request the application provider to install the application program again. This is troublesome for the service provider and the user.


A method for providing electronic purchase reminders includes: storing communication information and a plurality of transaction data entries, each transaction data entry corresponding to a processed payment transaction and including transaction data, a transaction date, and one of a plurality of category tags; storing, for each category tag, a recurring time period; identifying a subset of transaction data entries that includes a common category tag; identifying a most recent transaction data entry of the subset o based on the transaction date, where a difference between the transaction date included in the most recent transaction data entry and a present date is at least the recurring time period associated with the common category tag; generating a purchase recommendation based on the transaction data included in each transaction data entry in the subset; and transmitting the generated purchase recommendation to a computing device based on the communication information.

Consumers conduct payment transactions on a fairly regular basis. Some payment transactions may arise from random or otherwise unpredictable circumstances: a new gadget may be released that the consumer is interested in and goes to purchase. Other payment transactions may be recurring, where the same or a similar payment transaction may be regularly conducted at a predetermined interval. For example, a consumer may pay to have their vehicle serviced every four months, may pay for a dental cleaning every six months, may take a vacation on the same week every year, may purchase an anniversary gift before their wedding anniversary every year, and may purchase birthday gifts for friends and family at the appropriate times each year.
While consumers often budget for these types of transactions (e.g., putting money away throughout the year for gift purchases), budgets do not necessarily provide consumers with reminders of an upcoming purchase. Instead, consumers often have to set reminders themselves, such as by using a calendar service that the consumer may use to manage other appointments and events. However, although a calendar may serve to remind the consumer of an upcoming purchase that needs to be made, such as the approach of an anniversary for which the consumer needs a gift, such reminders do no more than notify the consumer of the existence of of an upcoming event. In this example, the consumer is provided only with a reminder that an anniversary is coming up.
For busy consumers, the need to conduct a new iteration of a recurring transaction may be just one more task added to a busy schedule. In cases where a consumer is provided only with a reminder that the period for a recurring transaction has passed or is about to pass, the consumer must decide how to proceed with the transaction on their own. For instance, in the above example, the consumer has to decide what gift to buy for the anniversary no guidance unless manually set by the consumer when making the calendar appointment. Such a process may be time consuming and difficult, particularly for consumers with busy schedules.
Thus, there is a need for a technological solution where recurring payment transactions may be identified by a third party system, where the third party system is configured to also provide recommendations for future iterations of the recurring payment transactions, to save consumers both time and effort. This creates technological challenges in finding ways to capture relevant information that provides indications as to scheduling but also a basis of recommendations, analyze the data to divine the recommendations and calendar events and interact with the consumer, as in an automated fashion. This cannot be done by simply automating a manual process, but instead must involve a different way of thinking about how technology can be harnessed to provide recommendation to individual members of a large population is a way that is accurate and fast on a mass scale.

Method and system for electronic purchase reminders


A vehicle cruise control apparatus includes a vehicle speed adjusting device that adjusts a vehicle speed to a set target vehicle speed, a brake operation detecting device that detects brake operation performed by a driver, and a first controller that controls the vehicle speed adjusting device based on a target driving force that maintains a vehicle in a stopped condition, when the brake operation performed by the driver is detected.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle cruise control apparatus, and more specifically relates to a vehicle cruise control apparatus and a vehicle cruise control method that do not stop an automatic cruise control when brake operation by a driver is detected.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to lessen the burden on the driver of driving a vehicle, vehicles are equipped with a vehicle cruise control apparatus that performs an automatic cruise control, such as a cruise control which controls the vehicle at a fixed speed so that a vehicle speed is equal to a target vehicle speed, or a tracking cruise control which causes the vehicle to track the preceding vehicle, that is, an adaptive cruise control (ACC). The vehicle cruise control apparatus performs a coordinated control of an engine that provides a driving force to the vehicle and a brake device that provides a braking force to the vehicle in order to make the vehicle speed equal to the target vehicle speed. With the vehicle cruise control apparatus, a target driving force is calculated as a target controlled variable by an automatic cruise control ECU in order to make the vehicle speed equal to the target vehicle speed; the calculated target driving force is output to an engine ECU; and the engine ECU controls the engine, which is a vehicle speed adjusting device that adjusts the vehicle speed, based on the target driving force. Furthermore, with the vehicle cruise control apparatus, the target braking force is calculated as a target controlled variable by the automatic cruise control ECU in order to make the vehicle speed equal to the target vehicle speed; the calculated target braking force is output to the brake ECU; and the brake ECU controls the brake device, which is a vehicle speed adjusting device that adjusts the vehicle speed, based on the target braking force. The vehicle cruise control apparatus according to related technology stops the automatic cruise control when drive operation is performed by the driver.
Related technology has been proposed that does not cause the vehicle cruise control apparatus to stop the automatic cruise control even when brake operation is performed by the driver. For example, technology is proposed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-90679 (JP-A-2004-90679) that does not stop the automatic cruise control even when brake operation is performed by the driver. In the technology, the automatic cruise control ECU reduces the target vehicle speed, and calculates the target driving force so that the vehicle speed becomes equal to the reduced target vehicle speed. The engine ECU controls the engine based on the target driving force calculated by the automatic cruise control ECU, thereby reducing the vehicle speed.
There has been demand in recent years to perform the automatic cruise control at a low vehicle speed, for example, at approximately 10 km/h. With a vehicle cruise control apparatus according to related technology, the automatic cruise control is stopped when the driver performs brake operation while the vehicle is moving at a low vehicle speed on a slope under the automatic cruise control. When the automatic cruise control is stopped while the vehicle is moving at a low speed on a slope, there is a possibility that the position of the vehicle may not be maintained, and thus, the behavior of the vehicle may change, for example, the vehicle may roll back down on an upward slope, if the vehicle cannot be maintained in a stopped condition on the slope by the braking force produced by the brake operation performed by the driver.

Vehicle cruise control apparatus and vehicle cruise control method


A device comprising a compartment attached to a container that keeps a first component, which may be moisture sensitive, from a second component, preferably a liquid, until a selected time before use. The compartment has improved manufacturability and decreased leakage.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to packages and containers, and in particular, pertains to drink or other containers having structures enabling addition of additives to the beverage or other component after sale of the containers and prior to consumption of the beverage or other component.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many different types of packages have been designed having two compartments to enable product components to be kept separate until use and, in some cases, to allow one component to remain sterile until use of the product. For example, see U.S. Ser. No. 09/775,486, filed Feb. 1, 2001, which is a divisional application of U.S. Ser. No. 09/598,792, filed Jun. 21, 2000, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6.209,718 on Apr. 3, 2001, which is a divisional application of U.S. Ser. No. 08/949.465, filed Oct. 14, 1997, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,105,760 on Aug. 22, 2000; and U.S. Ser. No. 09/592,217, which is a divisional application of Ser. No. 09/265,453, filed Mar. 10, 1999, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,795 on Aug. 8, 2000, which is also a continuation-in-part application of U.S. Ser. No. 08/949,465, filed Oct. 14, 1997. Thus, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,209,718; 6,105,760 and 6,098,795 disclose various delivery packages designed to contain an additive component. The delivery package is mounted in or on a main package and may be cut or punctured by a cutting means that is external to the delivery package when the user wishes to use the contents of the main package. These delivery packages may contain dried microbial cultures which are to be added to a food, liquid nutrition, medicine, or beverage product just before consumption, for the separate packaging of carbonation tablets from a liquid until just before consumption, and for separate packaging of vitamins or other unstable components before addition to a beverage, liquid nutrition, medicine or beverage before consumption. The main package may be a bag, such as an enteral bag or may hold a liquid beverage. The delivery package is preferably attached to the main package during the manufacturing process. The disclosure of all patents referred to herein is incorporated herein by reference.
In another type of two-compartment package, a stopper or other means is placed in the hole between the two compartments. For example, the two-compartment container of Halm (U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,321) comprises a one-piece container having two compartments assembled one upon another interlinked by a stoppered opening.
Other two-compartment packages utilize a perforating unit to allow the two previously separated components to mix. See, for example, the patents of Goncalves (U.S. Pat. No. 5,170,888 which has a glass defining a first compartment, which is provided with a neck upon which is mounted a bottle defining a second compartment, with a membrane between the two compartments that is perforated when a perforating unit is displaced relative to the glass, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,916 which has two units separated by a cover perforatable as a result of the manipulation of a mixing perforator). The two-part container of Wiegner (U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,772) has a frangible partition of coated aluminum foil dividing the compartments and a piercing member mounted on a resilient portion transversely directed toward the partition. In the patent of White (U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,934) rigid penetrating means are used to penetrate a compartment-closing diaphragm to allow nursing liquid to flow from the compartment to a communicating, attached nipple.
Two-compartment packages have also been previously developed which have an opening container attached to the top of the package and are provided with a screw cap and a cylinder jacket shaped supporting ring. The cylinder jacket shaped supporting ring is attached to the top of the package by means of a fixing flange externally surrounding the opening disc and is provided on its inner surface with a raised thread. The ring surrounds the external thread of the plastic screw cap. A cutter is integrally molded onto the free edge of the screw cap, and is provided with a front cutting edge, which passes at an angle through the free edge.
For such products as two-part epoxy glues, two compartments are also needed to keep the products from reacting, as in the patent of Wilkinson et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,279).
The dispenser of Renault (U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,600) has two compartments separated by a sealing member sealed against a seat, so that movement of one of the containers relative to the other causes the sealing member to move away from the seat and form an annular passage between the sealing member and the seat.
In some cases, such as with aseptically-filled bottles or cartons, there is a need to provide a means for adding a selected separate first component to a package after manufacture of the package and/or at a location on the package, which component may vary in concentration and/or composition, depending, for example, on the patient""s history and diagnosis. Providing a means of attaching a first compartment to a package after both the first compartment and package have been manufactured allows a user to select both a particular first component to add to a package and the time and place of addition of the first component to the package. There is also need to have the capability to add beverage additives, particularly degradable or moisture-sensitive or oxygen-sensitive components (for example, vitamins) to liquid beverage bottles at or just before the time the beverage is consumed.
The types of structures used for many prior two-compartment containers are complicated and often subject to leakage. Thus, there remains a need to have two-compartment packages which keep a first component separate from a liquid component until use, so that the first component does not become wetted until just before use, that keep at least one of the components sterile until just before use, and in which the two components may be easily mixed just before use, and which has minimal or no leakage prior to mixing of the components and once the components have been mixed. For example, there is a need for such containers for the separate packaging of dried microbial cultures which are to be added to a food, liquid nutrition, medicine, or beverage product just before consumption, for the separate packaging of carbonation tablets from a liquid until just before consumption, and for separate packaging of vitamins or other unstable components before addition to a beverage, liquid nutrition, medicine or beverage before consumption.
It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a device comprising a compartment attached to a container that keeps a first component, which may be moisture sensitive, from a second component, preferably a liquid beverage, until a selected time before use.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a compartment that has improved manufacturability and decreased leakage.
Other objects and advantages will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.
The invention herein is a device comprising a compartment attached to a container. The separate first compartment keeps a first component, which may be moisture sensitive, separate from a second component, preferably a liquid, until a selected time before use. The compartment has improved manufacturability and decreased leakage.
Other objects and features of the inventions will be more fully apparent from the following disclosure and appended claims.

Device for protecting and adding a component to a container


Novel unsaturated carboxy esters for use in dentistry as bonding agents are produced by a reaction of unsaturated alcohols with cyclic acid dianhydrides. The dianhydrides which can be used in the invention are in general symmetrical compounds having an aromatic nucleus substituted with four carboxylic acid groups from which two moles of water have been removed to form two cyclic anhydride groupings. The unsaturated alcohols used for making the unsaturated carboxy esters have the formula ##STR1## wherein R is H or CH.sub.3, R.sub.1 is H, CH.sub.3, or .dbd.CH.sub.2,. n is an integer from 1 to 4 inclusive, and PA1 x is 0 or 1.

In our copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/471,882, filed Jan. 29, 1990, now abandoned, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein, we disclosed a novel group of compounds, which can be generally described as ethylenically unsaturated carboxy esters, which are effective dentin conditioners useful for treating the dentin of a tooth prior to use of a bonding resin and/or restorative composite. As disclosed in said application, the dentin conditioner causes a substantial increase in the strength of the bond between the dentin and the composite.
In accordance with the present invention, we have discovered a novel group of compounds to be used in conjunction with the dentin conditioner disclosed in our earlier application to further increase the bonding strength between dentin and a dental composite restorative material. In addition, the new compounds of the present invention can be used alone, i.e., without the dentin conditioners, to increase the bond strength between dental composites and metals used in dentistry for orthodontic brackets, metal frameworks in crowns and bridges, and the like.


A method and apparatus is provided for impedance matching for a system capable of supporting voice and data bands. The method includes receiving an input signal having a voice and data band, filtering at least a portion of the data band of the input signal to provide a filtered signal, and adjusting the impedance of the system for the voice band in response to the filtered signal to provide an output signal.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to telecommunications, and, more particularly, to impedance matching in a system supporting Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) and x-digital subscriber line (xDSL) techniques.
2. Description of the Related Art
In communications systems, particularly telephony, it is common practice to transmit signals between a subscriber station and a central switching office via a two-wire bi-directional communication channel. A line card generally connects the subscriber station to the central switching office. The primary functions of the line card range from supplying talk battery to performing impedance matching to handling ringing signals, voice signals, and testing signals.
Subscriber lines generally have natural characteristic impedance. To drive a signal on a subscriber line while minimizing signal reflection from the far end of the subscriber line and maximizing the signal power coming out the far end, it is desirable to match the characteristic impedance of the subscriber line when it is terminated. This impedance is typically symbolized as ZLOOP, which is a function of frequency and generally decreases as frequency increases. For POTS lines, the value of ZLOOP is determined by individual telephone authorities in various countries and, although somewhat variable, is in the range of 600-900 ohms and may or may not include some type of capacitive element. The extent to which a signal driver is matched to the subscriber line in these systems is measured with a parameter known as xe2x80x98Return-Lossxe2x80x99. Perfect matching will have an infinite return loss. This indicates that none of the signal transmitted down the wire is reflected back to the driver.
In a Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), the impedance matching function has generally been performed by line cards using a variety of well-known impedance matching filter loops. The function of the impedance matching filter loop in POTS-only applications is to take the input signal, modify it through a programmable gain and delay element, and feed it back to the output so that the input signal sees a different response than it would without the presence of the impedance matching filter. The above-described impedance matching process is effective in accomplishing the intended purpose, at least as it pertains to a POTS-only system.
The Plain Old Telephone System, designed primarily for voice communication, provides an inadequate data transmission rate for many modern applications. To meet the demand for high-speed communication, designers have sought innovative and cost-effective solutions that would take advantage of the existing network infrastructure. Several technological solutions proposed in the telecommunications industry use the existing network of telephone wires. A promising one of these technologies is the xDSL technology.
xDSL is making the existing network of telephone lines more robust and versatile. Once considered virtually unusable for broadband communications, an ordinary twisted pair equipped with DSL interfaces can transmit video, television, and very high-speed data. The fact that more than six hundred million telephone lines exist around the world is a compelling reason for these lines to be used as the primary transmission conduits for at least several more decades. Because DSL utilizes telephone wiring already installed in virtually every home and business in the world, it has been embraced by many as one of the more promising and viable options.
There are now at least three popular versions of DSL technology, namely Asymmetrical Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), Very High-Speed Digital Subscriber Line (VDSL), and Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL). Although each technology is generally directed at different types of users, they all share certain characteristics. For example, all four DSL systems utilize the existing, ubiquitous telephone wiring infrastructure, deliver greater bandwidth, and operate by employing special digital signal processing. Because the aforementioned technologies are well known in the art, they will not be described in detail herein.
DSL and Plain Old Telephone System technologies can co-exist in one line (e.g., also referred to as a xe2x80x9csubscriber linexe2x80x9d). Traditional analog voice band interfaces use the same frequency band, 0-4 Kilohertz (KHz), as telephone service, thereby preventing concurrent voice and data use. A DSL interface, on the other hand, operates at frequencies above the voice channels, from 25 KHz to 1.1 Megahertz (MHz). Standards for certain derivatives of DSL are still in definition, and, therefore, are subject to change. Thus, a single DSL line is capable of offering simultaneous channels for voice and data. It should be noted that the standards for certain derivatives of ADSL are still in definition as of this writing, and therefore are subject to change.
DSL systems use digital signal processing (DSP) to increase throughput and signal quality through common copper telephone wire. It provides a downstream data transfer rate from the DSL Point-of-Presence (POP) to the subscriber location at speeds of up to 1.5 megabits per second (MBPS). The transfer rate of 1.5 MBPS, for instance, is fifty times faster than a conventional 28.8 kilobits per second (KBPS).
Although DSL and POTS systems can co-exist on one line, the DSL traffic passing through the POTS circuitry impairs the functionality of the impedance matching filter of the POTS circuitry. This is because decimators and analog-to-digital converters that are ordinarily utilized in a POTS-only system cannot process the high frequencies of the data band, thus causing the performance of the POTS impedance matching filter to degrade.
The present invention is directed to overcoming, or at least reducing the effects of, one or more of the problems set forth above.
In one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for impedance matching. The method includes receiving an input signal having a voice and data band, filtering at least a portion of the data band of the input signal to provide a filtered signal, and adjusting the impedance of the system for the voice band in response to the filtered signal to provide an output signal.
In another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is provided for impedance matching for a system supporting voice and data bands. The apparatus includes a driver having an input terminal and an output terminal, the output terminal of the driver is capable of providing an input signal; a data filter having an input terminal adapted to receive the input signal, the data filter capable of filtering at least a portion of the frequencies from the data band of the input signal to provide a filtered signal; and an impedance matching module capable of adjusting the impedance of the system in response to the filtered signal and capable of providing a first output signal to the input terminal of the driver.

Method and apparatus for impedance matching


A suction control valve is disclosed which includes a primary suction device access and an ancillary suction device access. The valve includes an actuator which is linearly movable between a first position in which the primary access is closed against suction pressure therethrough, to a second position in which the primary access is open to suction pressure therethrough. The valve also includes a rotatable valve core which can be rotated by the actuator to a third position to disable its linear movement and to open the ancillary access port. When the actuator is in the first position, atmospheric air can pass through the valve and into the suction pressure source in such a manner that a "hissing" auditory signal is generated, indicative of the presence of suction pressure within the valve. When the actuator is in the second or third positions, the "hissing" is prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to fluid flow valving devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a valving device for a suction catheter device. Even more specifically, the present invention relates to a suction control valve useable with suction catheters attachable to a respirator manifold of a respiratory system.
2. Prior Art
Respiratory systems used for the ventilation of critically ill patients are now commonly used in medical facilities. Typically, a prior art respiratory system includes a tracheal tube positioned either directly or through the nose or mouth into the trachea of a patient, a manifold connected to the tracheal tube at one port position thereof, and a source of breathable gas connected at a second port thereof. The purpose of the respiration system is to assist the patient in maintaining adequate blood oxygenation levels without overtaxing the patient's heart and lungs.
While a patient is attached to a respiration system, it is periodically necessary to remove fluid from the patient's trachea or lungs. In the past this procedure necessitated disconnections of the respirator system, either by removing the manifold or by opening a port thereof, and insertion of a small diameter suction catheter down the tracheal tube and into the patient's trachea and lungs. The fluid was then suctioned from the patient and the suction catheter was removed and tile respirator system reassembled. Because of the necessary interruption in respiratory support caused by this procedure, a patient's blood oxygen often dropped to an unacceptably low level during the suctioning, even when other previously known breathing assisting efforts were simultaneously provided.
A known solution to the above problem has been to place an additional port on the respirator manifold which is adapted to receive a connector of a suction catheter device. A suction catheter device such as used with this type of respirator manifold is adapted to allow a suction catheter to remain permanently positioned within the manifold without the necessity of attachment or detachment thereof from the manifold in between uses, thereby avoiding substantial manifold pressure loss. The suction catheter device includes an envelope which envelopes the suction catheter in order to prevent contamination of the suction catheter surface which must be repeatedly inserted into and removed from the patient's trachea and lungs. This type of suction catheter device allows continuous respiratory support of the patient during suctioning of fluid from the patient's trachea and lungs, and is commonly controlled by means of a valve located in fluid flow connection between the catheter and the suction source therefore. A valve of this type which is generally exemplary of the prior art is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,872,579. The valve selectively communicates vacuum pressure into the interior of a catheter tube when it is desired to evacuate respiratory fluids. The valve is normally biased to a closed position to prevent vacuum flow until a user initiated manual displacement of a valve actuator opens the catheter tube to the vacuum source. The valve actuator is also designed to be rotatable relative to the remainder of the valve from a closed position to a locked position in which actuation for suctioning is prevented.
There nevertheless remain several draw backs associated with suction control valves of the prior art. For example, prior art suction control valves of the above described type fail to provide the user with an auditory indication of the continued availability of suction pressure for use. Further, when it becomes necessary to perform a suctioning procedure on the patient with other than the suction catheter to which the prior art valve is attached, as for example when an oral suctioning device is required for suctioning of the patient's oral cavity, it is necessary with the prior art suction control valves to disconnect the valve and suction catheter entirely from the suction source in order to replace them with the desired oral suctioning device.


A touch display panel, a display device and a touch panel are provided, the touch display panel includes a plurality of block touch electrodes spaced apart from each other and a conductive shielding layer, the shielding layer is insulated from the touch electrodes; and an orthographic projection of the shielding layer on the base substrate in the touch display panel is at least in a gap between orthographic projections of the touch electrodes on the base substrate.

Projected capacitive touch panels not only have the advantage of simple and convenient operation, but also have advantages such as high penetration, high durability, high waterproof and dustproof property, and the like. Therefore, the projected capacitive touch panels are widely used in public information query, business affairs, industrial control, military command, video games and other fields.
According to detection principles, the projected capacitive touch panels include two types: self-capacitance panels and mutual-capacitance panels. In the self-capacitance panels, touch electrodes are usually arranged in rows and columns, and a touch position of a finger of a user is determined according to the capacitances obtained by scanning the rows of the touch electrodes and the columns of the touch electrodes. In the mutual-capacitance panels, sensing electrodes and driving electrodes are intersected with each other (for example, the sensing electrodes and the driving electrodes are perpendicular to each other), and a capacitance is obtained at an intersection of one row (or one column) of the sensing electrodes and one column (or one row) of the driving electrodes which cooperate with each other, to determine a touch position.
Compared with the mutual capacitance panels, the touch performance of the self-capacitance panels is easily affected by low capacitance uniformity.

Touch display panel, display device and touch panel

ORDOS YUANSHENG OPTOELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


Some embodiments of the invention provide a method of deploying tenant deployable elements on resource elements in public cloud datacenters. The method receives a request to deploy a particular tenant deployable element in one of a first public cloud datacenter (PCD) and a second PCD, the first public cloud datacenter belonging to a first cloud service provider (CSP) and the second public cloud datacenter belonging to a second CSP. For each candidate resource element in the first PCD, the method identifies a first set of performance metrics associated with the candidate resource element. For each candidate resource element in the second PCD, the method identifies a second set of performance metrics associated with the candidate resource element. The method evaluates the identified first and second sets of metrics to select a resource element to implement the particular tenant deployable element in one of the first and second PCDs. The method uses the selected resource element to implement the particular tenant deployable element in one of the first and second PCDs.

Today, scaling and serving high influxes of traffic and requests is necessary in a rapidly growing world of Internet network infrastructure. Traffic patterns can vary depending on various factors such as application, time of day, region, etc., which has led to a transition to virtualization from traditional hardware appliances in order to cater to the varying traffic patterns. As public datacenters offered by multiple cloud service providers (CSPs) become more popular and widespread, virtual network functions (VNFs), and/or other types of tenant deployable elements, that were previously deployed on private datacenters are now being migrated to the CSPs, which offer various resource element types (e.g., resource elements that offer different compute, network, and storage options).
However, the performance metrics published by these CSPs are often simplistic and fall short of providing necessary information that is crucial to deployment and elasticity of the VNFs. As a result, several challenges arise including determining the appropriate resource element type to meet the performance needs of various VNFs, dimensioning the deployment (e.g., determining the number of instances of the resource element type needed and determining an availability set for fault tolerance), determining whether the published SLAs (service-level agreements) are adhered to, determining the scale-in/-out triggers for different resource element types, etc.

Method and apparatus to evaluate resource elements and public clouds for deploying tenant deployable elements based on harvested performance metrics


A video decoding device includes a demultiplexer which demultiplexes Supplemental-Enhancement-Information having information indicating segments where a refresh has completed in a current picture, the segments including an intra-encoded-segment in the current picture, and a video bitstream including video data of an encoded slice; an extractor which extracts the information from a message which is part of the demultiplexed Supplemental-Enhancement-Information; and a video decoder which decodes image data from the demultiplexed video bitstream.

A video has a large amount of information, therefore it is necessary to perform compression encoding of the video with high efficiency when the video is recorded and transmitted as digital data. In order to realize high-efficiency compression, various elemental technologies are used for video compression encoding.
There is a predictive coding technology as one of the elemental technologies for video compression encoding. The predictive coding technology is a technology for, when respective pixels in a video are sequentially encoded, generating a predicted value of a pixel to be currently encoded by using one or a plurality of temporally and/or spatially neighboring pixels and encoding a differential signal between an original signal and a predicted signal, instead of directly encoding the original signal. Generally, since each of pixels in a video has a high correlation with temporally and/or spatially neighboring pixels, high-efficiency compression can be performed by using the predictive coding technology.
One of predictive coding technologies is called intra-picture predictive coding which performs prediction by referring a group of pixels included in the same picture, and another technology is called inter-picture predictive coding which performs prediction by referring a group of pixels included in a different picture (referred to as a reference picture). Generally, since there is a certain motion in a video, the inter-picture predictive coding technology is commonly used with a motion compensation technology for increasing prediction efficiency by using spatial displacement information. Note that a "picture" represents a processing unit of a screen, corresponds to a field in a case where a video image of the interlace format is encoded per field unit, while it corresponds to a frame in a case where a video image of the non-interlace format (the progressive format) is encoded and a video image of the interlace format is encoded per frame unit.
Generally, there is a higher correlation in a video, in particular, temporally than spatially. Therefore, the inter-picture predictive coding technology of predictive coding technologies can achieve high-efficiency compression in particular. On the other hand, there is a case when a temporal correlation is reduced remarkably in an entire or partial screen on the basis of movement in a position relationship between a foreground and a background or scene change by editing. Therefore, general video coding formats including ISO/IEC 14496-10 advanced video coding (AVC) described in Non Patent Literature 1 implement an adaptive predictive coding method for encoding partial images as units obtained by subdividing a picture by adaptively switching inter-picture predictive coding and intra-picture predictive coding, or by adaptively switching one of inter-picture predictive coding, intra-picture predictive coding, and intra-picture coding without prediction. A size of unit varies depending on video coding formats, but a rectangular area (referred to as a macroblock) including 16 pixels in a vertical direction and 16 pixels in a horizontal direction is typically used. Hereinafter, the intra-picture coding may be referred to as intra coding.
In the case of using the adaptive predictive coding method, due to a difference in correlation between pictures, a difference in prediction efficiency is caused. Consequently, a difference in compression efficiency is caused. As a result, a situation occurs in which a code amount varies in each picture. In addition, the variation occurs regardless of a transmission band of a transmission path through which a data group (referred to as a bitstream) obtained by compression encoding is transmitted. Therefore, a general video encoding device and a general video decoding device include a buffer memory for storing a bitstream so as to absorb a variation in the code amount and ensure transmission in a predetermined transmission band. The buffer memory is called a coded picture buffer (CPB) in the AVC standard. The capacity of the buffer memory is greatly different depending on characteristics of a system to which an encoding device and a decoding device are applied, but a capacity corresponding to 0.5 second multiplied by a transmission bit rate is typically provided, for example.
In various cases including channel switching of television broadcasts or special replay of storage type contents, it is required to start decoding in the middle of a bitstream, i.e. random access, at the time of recoding and transmitting a video. When decoding is started in the middle of a bitstream generated by the inter-picture predictive coding, a video cannot be normally decoded because of the inter-picture prediction process based on a non-decoded reference picture. Therefore, a general video encoding device implementing the adaptive predictive coding performs encoding control (referred to as refresh) for appropriately inserting intra coding so as to obtain a normal decoded video within a predetermined period of time even when decoding is started in the middle of a bitstream.
One of refresh methods is instantaneous refresh for inserting a picture (referred to as an intra-coded picture) where the whole picture is encoded by intra-picture coding. FIG. 14 illustrates an example of operation of instantaneous refresh. In the drawing, an area indicated by a dashed border is a group of pictures which is a unit of refresh control, and the group is called a refreshing group of pictures (RGOP). In the operation example illustrated in FIG. 14, the video encoding device inserts an intra-coded picture every four pictures, and controls such that three pictures subsequent to the intra-coded picture do not use a picture encoded prior to the immediately preceding intra-coded picture as a reference picture, that is, the inter-picture prediction is performed within the refreshing group of pictures. In this manner, even when starting decoding in the middle of a bitstream, the decoding device can obtain a correct decoded image by starting a decoding process from a leading intra-picture of each refreshing group of pictures. In the AVC described in the above Non Patent Literature 1, an intra-coded picture which limits subsequent pictures such that subsequent pictures do not refer to a picture encoded prior thereto, is called instantaneous decoding refresh (IDR) picture and a special picture identifier is assigned to the IDR picture in a bitstream. A video encoding device compliant with the AVC standard can correctly notify a video decoding device of the correct timing to start decoding for refresh by encoding a leading picture of the refreshing group of pictures as an IDR picture.
However, it is a problem that the instantaneous refresh increases transmission delay. As described above, generally, there is a high correlation in a video, in particular, temporally. Therefore, an intra-coded picture that cannot adopt inter-picture prediction requires a larger code amount than other pictures in order to maintain predetermined image quality. A larger difference in generated code amount between pictures increases required capacity of a buffer memory which is provided for the video encoding device and the video decoding device. The increase of capacity of the buffer memory causes an increase in transmission delay between the encoding device and the decoding device. Therefore, the instantaneous refresh is not appropriate for a use requiring high real-time property, such as equipment remote control through a video.
On the other hand, as a refresh method satisfying demands for a decrease in transmission delay, there is a method (referred to as gradual refresh) for gradually refreshing an screen by the partial area (referred to as segment) which is obtained by dividing the screen, and performing refresh across a plurality of pictures until refresh is completed. One of typical gradual refresh is intra-slice refresh, which is disclosed in, for example, Patent Literature 1. A slice is a set of coding unit blocks in a picture and refers to a segment that is independent of other coding unit blocks in the picture. An intra slice refers to a slice where intra-frame coding is selected for all coding units in the slice, and prediction using pixels in other slices including another slice of the same frame, is not performed. An intra-slice refresh performs such refresh in which a part of a slice in a picture is encoded as an intra slice and controls such that an area encoded as an intra slice in each of consecutive pictures is moved so that any area in the pictures is encoded as an intra slice at least once within predetermined time period.
FIG. 15 illustrates an example of operation of intra-slice refresh. A picture at the time t is indicated by P(t) below. In FIG. 15, P(ti−4), P(ti), and P(ti+4) are start frames of gradual refresh and the four pictures are refreshed until refresh is completed. A period (in FIG. 15, corresponding to 4 pictures) from the start of refresh and to the end thereof is called a refreshing period. In FIG. 15, partial areas indicated by black paint show intra slices. During a refreshing period, refresh of an image is performed by setting each of all areas in a screen to an intra slice at least once.
In the intra-slice refresh illustrated in FIG. 15, in order to refresh certainly, limitation is applied to a referable range for prediction also outside the intra slice, in the same way as the instantaneous refresh illustrated in FIG. 15. In FIG. 15, an area indicated by a dashed border constitutes a group of partial areas, which is a unit for refresh control, and is referred to as a refreshing group of segments (RGOS). Like the refreshing group of pictures in the instantaneous refresh, each refreshing group of segments is limited not to refer to a different refreshing group of segments which starts from a picture prior to a first picture having an area belonging to the refreshing group of segments. A video decoding device which receives and decodes a bitstream encoded as described above can obtain a correct decoded image of pictures after the end position of the refreshing period without disturbance in a whole screen by starting decoding from a leading picture within a refreshing period. Hereinafter, a leading picture within a refreshing period is referred to as a synchronization starting picture. A first picture, from which a correct decoded image can be obtained without disturbance in a whole screen when encoding is performed from the synchronization starting picture, is referred to as a synchronization completed picture.
Incidentally, the gradual refresh does not necessarily need to use an intra slice and is generally realized by limiting a prediction reference relationship between refreshing groups of segments. FIG. 16 illustrates an example of a general gradual refresh. In order to refresh certainly, areas belonging to each refreshing group of segments indicated by a dashed border are limited not to refer to a different refreshing group of segments starting from a picture prior to a leading picture of the refreshing group of segments. Further, more generally, when it is ensured that a decoded image after completion of refresh is sufficiently similar to an image decoded from the beginning of a bitstream, an area belonging to each refreshing group of segments may refer to another refreshing group of segments starting from a frame prior to a leading frame of the refreshing group of segments.
In gradual refresh, an increase in a code amount due to refresh is distributed to a whole refreshing period. That is, unlike an intra-coded picture of the instantaneous refresh, there is no picture which causes an increase in a code amount in the whole screen. Therefore, a variation in a code amount between pictures is more reduced than that in the case of using the instantaneous refresh. As a result, the required capacity of the buffer memory decreases and, furthermore, transmission delay between the encoding device and the decoding device is reduced.
On the other hand, in the case of using the gradual refresh, there is no an explicit refresh start point unlike an IDR picture. Therefore, a video encoding device, which generates a bitstream by using gradual refresh, multiplexes information on a synchronization starting picture and a synchronization completed picture (refresh information) on a bitstream and transfers the bitstream to a decoding device so that a decoding device can start decoding from the synchronization starting picture and also restart image display from the synchronization completed picture.
In the AVC described in Non Patent Literature 1, as a means where an encoding device transfers refresh information to a decoding device, a data group called a recovery point supplemental enhancement information message (recovery point SEI message) is defined. An AVC-compliant encoding device transfers the recovery point SEI message to the decoding device by multiplexing the message on the bitstream. An AVC-compliant decoding device can start decoding from the synchronization starting picture and restart image display from the synchronization completed picture according to the recovery point SEI message. The recovery point SEI message includes information on the synchronization starting picture and the synchronization completed picture and corresponds with both of the instantaneous refresh and the gradual refresh.
A list on FIG. 17 shows syntax elements configuring the recovery point SEI message which is used to transfer refresh information from an AVC-compliant encoding device to an AVC-compliant decoding device.
recovery_frame_cnt is a parameter for notifying of a synchronization completed picture. That is, for example, P(ti−4), P(ti), and P(ti+4) illustrated in FIG. 14, and, for example, P(ti−1), P(ti−3), and P(ti+7) illustrated in FIG. 15 are notified. A video decoding device is notified of the paired synchronization starting picture by existence of the recovery point SEI message itself. That is, an AVC-compliant video decoding device starts decoding from the synchronization starting picture to which the recovery point SEI message is associated and continues decoding until the synchronization completed picture indicated by recovery_frame_cnt, thereby obtaining a decoded image without disturbance in the whole screen. Therefore, the video decoding device can select and display only images without disturbance in regard to a bitstream generated using the gradual refresh.
exact_match_flag is a parameter for notifying of whether a decoded image in the case of starting decoding from the synchronization starting picture is exactly matched with a decoded image in the case of receiving and decoding the bitstream from the beginning thereof, in the synchronization completed picture indicated by recovery_frame_cnt.
broken_link_flag is a parameter for notifying of whether there is a possibility that disturbance will occur to the visibly unacceptable extent in a group of pictures existing until the synchronization completed picture indicated by recovery_frame_cnt, when decoding is started from the synchronization starting picture.
changing_slice_group_idc is a parameter for notifying of whether there is a partial area that does not affect completion of refresh even if a decoding process is omitted, in a group of pictures existing until the synchronization completed picture indicated by recovery_frame_cnt, when decoding is started from the synchronization starting picture.
The description related to an example of multiplexing of conventional refresh information with reference to the list of FIG. 17 is ended.

Video decoding device, method, and program


A system and method for providing a location snapshot service and associating a snapshot with location container data. The system includes a snapshot service for detecting the position of the computing device. The position of the computing device is associated with a street address. The street address is an identifier for a location container. The location container may be associated with internal data that is associated with the street address. The location container may also be associated with external network data that is associated with the street address. In this manner, a computing device may optimize the use of position data to increase computing functionality and applications on a computing device.

Cellular telephones, personal computers, stationary computers, mobile computers, and other computing devices are fast becoming mainstream modes for personal enjoyment, communication, and data manipulation. As mobile technologies have progressed, mobile devices are being used for far more than mere communication. However, notwithstanding advancements in mobile technology, current mobile technologies are lagging in positioning services apart from 911-emergency services. Moreover, current mobile technologies do not provide any manner of utilizing positioning data for computing functionality or associating positioning data with other core and shell-level applications on the mobile device.

System and method for providing a location snapshot service and associating a snapshot with location container data