Training and/or utilizing a machine learning model to generate request agnostic predicted interaction scores for electronic communications, and to utilization of request agnostic predicted interaction scores in determining whether, and/or how, to provide corresponding electronic communications to a client device in response to a request. A request agnostic predicted interaction score for an electronic communication provides an indication of quality of the communication, and is generated independent of corresponding request(s) for which it is utilized. In many implementations, a request agnostic predicted interaction score for an electronic communication is generated “offline” relative to corresponding request(s) for which it is utilized, and is pre-indexed with (or otherwise assigned to) the electronic communication. This enables fast and efficient retrieval, and utilization, of the request agnostic interaction score by computing device(s), when the electronic communication is responsive to a request.

Many platforms exist for enabling users to share various electronic communications with group(s) of other users, such as a group that includes all users of the platform and/or groups that each include a subset of users of the platform. For example, a given user can create a post utilizing a client device, and can submit the post to cause it to be shared with other user(s) of the platform. Various types of posts can be created, such as text-only, image-only, video-only, and/or multimedia posts.
In such platforms, a given user utilizes a client device to access the platform and create posts or other electronic communications for the platform, and/or to view electronic communications that are accessible to the given user. However, a quantity of electronic communications that are available for transmitting for presentation to the given user oftentimes significantly exceeds a desired quantity. For example, thousands of electronic communications can be available for transmitting, but it may be desirable to transmit only a small fraction of those electronic communications in response to a request. For instance, it may be desirable to transmit only a small fraction to conserve network resources, to not overburden hardware resources of the client device, to conform to display constraints of the client device, etc.

Generating, using a machine learning model, request agnostic interaction scores for electronic communications, and utilization of same


Automatically allocating storage space for a storage pool includes providing at least one spares pool containing unused data devices and moving at least one the unused data devices to the storage pool in response to a write causing the available space of the storage pool to be exceeded and/or the available storage space of the storage pool exceeding a predetermined amount. The predetermined amount may be an amount of used storage space that varies according to at least one of: the size and activity level of the pool. The data devices may be logical devices. The pools may correspond to storage space in a single storage device or may correspond to storage space in multiple storage devices.

1. Technical Field
This application relates to computer storage devices, and more particularly to the field of allocating storage devices for use.
2. Description of Related Art
Host processor systems may store and retrieve data using a storage device containing a plurality of host interface units (host adapters), disk drives, and disk interface units (disk adapters). Such storage devices are provided, for example, by EMC Corporation of Hopkinton, Mass. and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,206,939 to Yanai et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,778,394 to Galtzur et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,845,147 to Vishlitzky et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,857,208 to Ofek. The host systems access the storage device through a plurality of channels provided therewith. Host systems provide data and access control information through the channels to the storage device and the storage device provides data to the host systems also through the channels. The host systems do not address the disk drives of the storage device directly, but rather, access what appears to the host systems as a plurality of logical disk units. The logical disk units may or may not correspond to the actual disk drives. Allowing multiple host systems to access the single storage device unit allows the host systems to share data stored therein.
In some cases, it may be possible to organize storage into "pool" that are accessed by an application or set of applications (e.g., owned by a particular user or organization). Such pools are useful for a number of reasons, including the ability to manage and control storage for a particular user/organization. A storage pool may be assigned by a storage manager, who handles management of storage for an entire storage device.
A drawback to using storage pools is the necessity of manually monitoring the size of the pools to ensure that none of the pools run out of space (i.e., an amount of data is written to a pool that exceeds the pool's capacity). In large systems, this may be impractical, especially if there are a significant number of storage pools.
Accordingly, it is desirable to be able to allocate more space for storage pools in an efficient manner.


A tangle-free tether post assembly for tether animals which includes a post having a lower end adapted to be buried in the ground, and upper end formed to project above the ground. A tether securement assembly is mounted on the upper end of the post at a spaced distance above the ground. The tether securement assembly is positioned vertically above a rotatable sleeve which also is mounted on the post so that the combination of securement assembly and sleeve rotation ensures tangle-free tethering of animals. A ground anchor also is provided on the tether post assembly which may be used to anchor the assembly and remove the same from the ground without digging up the post.

The problem of providing a tether post or stake to which an animal can be tied which is tangle-free has existed for literally hundreds of years. One of the earliest solutions to this problem is found in U.S. Pat. No. 223,872, issued in 1880. Other examples of attempts to solve this problem are found in U.S Pat. Nos. 227,675, 417,617, 444,661, 2,087,176 and 3,100,476. These devices have the common approach of providing a stake having an upper end which protrudes above ground level and an element which is pivotally or rotatably secured to the protruding end of the stake so that an animal tether can be tied to the rotatable element.
Unfortunately, however, prior animal tether post assemblies invariably have not been tangle-free in actual use. The animal will be tied to the stake by a flexible tether line, and as long as the animal keeps the line relatively taut, the rotatable portion of the tether stake will turn freely as the animal moves about the stake. These ideal conditions seldom, if ever, occur.
Typically, a tethered animal will wander around the tether stake in a random fashion with the tether line becoming slack and the animal passing close by the post or stake during its wanderings. This results in two problems which produce tangling of the tether line about the tether stake. First, the slack line will become looped or wrapped several times around the stake before the animal tries to pull the line taut. Secondly, any debris in the vicinity of the stake will be pulled by the tether line up next to the stake. This second phenomenon, when coupled with the likelihood of looping the slack line around the stake results in tangling of the tether line about the stake, very often with debris, to the point of greatly restricting the animal's mobility and freedom to move with respect to the stake.
Illustrative of the problems above described are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,087,176 and 3,100,476. In both of these patents, the rotatable element to which the tether may be secured is located substantially at ground level. The flexible tether line, therefore, will drag debris to the stake or post. Additionally, the close proximity of the stake in U.S. Pat. No. 2,087,176 to the ground will virtually assure looping of the slack line over the stake top and any debris. In the device of U.S. Pat. No. 3,100,476, a pivotally mounted sleeve is provided to attempt to assist in unwinding of the tether rope from around the stake. The rotatable element and the sleeve, however, tend to move together as a unit, if they can rotate at all. Moreover, when animals of any size or strength are tethered to such a stake, the upward pull of the animal can bind the rotatable element and sleeve together to cause them to rotate as a unit and to inhibit rotation in general. Still further, the large eyelet portion of the rotatable element allows the tether line to move in close to the stake so that the moment arm which would enhance unraveling of the line from around the stake is reduced.
The net result of prior art tether stake assemblies has been that animals cannot be reliably tethered to the stake without tangling to the point of significantly reducing their mobility about the stake. Once the tether stake assembly becomes frozen so that it will not rotate, the animal invariably proceeds to wrap the line around the stake until he has progressively reduced the length of the tether to the point that it is dangerous to the unsupervised animal.


Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems and methods for improving wear leveling performance in solid-state memory. The embodiments described herein make more consistent the number of wear leveling operations that needs to be performed, so that sudden spikes in the number wear leveling operations may be reduced in solid-state memory. In one embodiment, a staggered threshold-based wear leveling approach is used to spread out the execution of wear leveling operations that otherwise would have been triggered in clusters. Under the staggered threshold-based approach, wear leveling is periodically triggered by different wear leveling thresholds that are associated with various units of solid-state memory such as a group of blocks, so that only a certain amount of units are wear leveled at any given time.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to solid-state storage systems. In particular, this disclosure relates to a system and method for improving wear-leveling performance.
2. Description of Related Art
Wear leveling is commonly used in Solid State Drives (SSDs) to prolong their lifecycle. A typical wear leveling operation involves moving data content in a first block of memory to a second block of memory that has just reached a certain erase level/count because of a recent erase operation. The first block of memory is then erased and made available for a future write operation. The overall process of wear leveling ensures that erase operations are evenly spread across blocks of memory in a SSD. Since each erase operation increases the wear of a block by incrementally reducing the block's ability to properly retain data content, wear leveling helps prevent certain blocks of memory from receiving an excessive amount of erase operations relative to other blocks and thus experiencing data failures much earlier than other blocks.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for improving wear-leveling performance in solid-state memory


A film is sandwiched between a first plate and a second plate. Outer convex parts formed on the second plate are formed so that their protrusion height dimension is larger than that of an inner convex part. Each outer convex part is formed so that its width dimension is smaller than the inner convex part. When the first plate and second plate are face-joined together, the film is sandwiched between outer concave parts and the outer convex parts, after which the film is sandwiched between an inner concave part and an inner convex part and a tension is applied to a diaphragm part stretched in concave flow paths.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid control device included in a so-called micro flow path device, and more particularly to a fluid control device in which a film is sandwiched between two plates and part of the film forms a diaphragm part.
2. Description of the Related Art
A micro flow path device is used in a reaction experiment or the like in which a small amount of fluid is used.
In a micro flow path device, a fine flow path is formed in, for example, a joined part of plates. A plurality of micro flow path devices of this type are combined for use in the application. A fluid control device that exerts functions of a pump, a valve, or the like may be used.
In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-027813, an invention related to a micro valve is disclosed as a fluid control device. In this micro valve, a thin silicone rubber film is sandwiched between a silicon wafer and a thick silicone rubber film. A conduit tube, which works as a flow path, is formed in the thick silicone film. An opening part, which leads to the thin silicone film, is formed in the silicon wafer. When a positive pressure is applied from a pressure source through the opening part to the thin silicone film, the conduit tube is blocked with the thin silicone film, interrupting a fluid flow in the conduit tube.


An adhesive composition for adhering an artificial nail to the nail comprising 2-methoxyisopropyl .alpha.-cyanoacrylate, and a copolymer of a specified alkyl acrylate or alkyl methacrylate and a specified fluorinated alkyl acrylate or fluorinated alkyl methacrylate. The composition is very low in exothermic temperature and has satisfactory properties to permit the artificial nail to be peeled off easily within a short period of time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adhesive composition for adhering an artificial nail to the nail.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Alpha-cyanoacrylate adhesive agents are well known as so-called instantaneous adhesives and have found wide use in various fields. For example, such agents are used for adhering artificial nails to nails.
While the nail originally serves to protect the fingertip, the fingertip is a portion which attracts attention, so that recently there is a tendency to apply a cosmetic also to the nail for beautification. Furthermore, there is a growing tendency not only to make up the nail itself but also to adhere a beautiful artificial nail to the nail for beautification and protection of the nail.
Accordingly adhesive agents are already developed for adhering artificial nails to nails, and .alpha.-cyanoacrylate adhesive agents, especially methyl .alpha.-cyanoacrylate and ethyl .alpha.-cyanoacrylate, are in use.
The characteristics required of the adhesive agent for adhering artificial nails are as follows.
(a) Since the nail itself, which is part of the human body, has a temperature approximate to the body temperature at all times, the .alpha.-cyanoacrylate adhesive agent rapidly undergoes polymerization to release heat, which is likely to cause damage to the nail or the finger. It is therefore required that the agent be least likely to produce heat or do not cause such a rise in temperature as to damage the nail or finger even if releasing heat. PA1 (b) The agent should permit the artificial nail to be separated off easily within a short period of time.
However, the methyl or ethyl .alpha.-cyanoacrylate adhesive agents mentioned above fail to fulfill these two requirements, so that .alpha.-cyanoacrylate adhesive agents represented by the formula (1) ##STR1## wherein R is methoxyethyl, ethoxyethyl or tetrahydro-furfuryl have been developed recently as disclosed also in Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication SHO 58-103406.
Although improved to some extent in respect of the above two requirements, these agents have yet to be fully improved, need to be further prevented from releasing heat and require a considerable period of time for the separation of artificial nails.

Adhesive composition for adhering artificial nail


Controllably dissolvable silica-xerogels prepared via sol-gel process and their use. A delivery device including controllably dissolvable silica-xerogel into which structure a biologically active agent is incorporated. Pharmaceutical preparations including this device. Medical devices for orthopedic and surgical purposes which contain controllably dissolvable silica-xerogels, which may further include a biologically active agent.

The present invention is directed to controllably dissolvable sol-gel produced silica-xerogel materials and their use. Specifically, the present invention is directed to controllably dissolvable silica-xerogel particles of small diameter, prepared via sol-gel process where the gelation of the sol and evaporation of the solvent occur simultaneously. More specifically, the invention is directed to controllably dissolvable silica-xerogel particles of small diameter, prepared via sol-gel process where the gelation of the sol and evaporation of the solvent occur by a spray drying method or by a fiber spinning or drawing technique. Further, the invention is directed to controllably dissolvable sol-gel produced silica-xerogels as sustained and/or controlled release delivery devices for biologically active agents, especially medicines, proteins, or hormones, and to pharmaceutical preparations comprising said devices. Further, the invention is directed to implantable and transmucosal forms of said devices. And further, the invention is directed to implantable medical devices comprising controllably dissolvable sol-gel produced silica-xerogels, which may further comprise a biologically active agent.
Silica-xerogels are partially hydrolyzed oxides of silicium. Hydrolyzed oxide gels can be produced by a sol-gel process, which has been used for producing ceramic and glass materials for many years.
The sol-gel process is based on hydrolyzation of a metal-alkoxide and subsequent polymerization of the metal hydroxides as follows:
1) Si(OR)4+H2Oxe2x86x92HO-Si(OR)3+ROH
2) HO-Si(OR)3+3H2O+ROHxe2x86x92Si(OH)4+4ROH
3) Si(OH)4+Si(OH)4xe2x86x92(HO)3Sixe2x80x94Oxe2x80x94Si(OH)3+H2O
When the polymerization reaction goes further, additional chains, rings, and three dimensional networks are formed, and a gel comprising water, the alcohol of the alkoxy group and the gel itself is formed. The sol may also contain other additives such as acids or bases used for catalysis of the reaction. If alcohol and water are now extracted from the gel by washing and evaporating, a xerogel is obtained.
During drying large shrinking occurs creating internal stresses into the gel. If the monolithic gel is not allowed sufficiently time to relax its internal stresses, it will crack. During drying further polymerization of the remaining OH-groups occurs. The continuing polymerization carries on for a long time after gelation. This is called aging. The further the polymerization goes on, the more stable the gel or xerogel becomes. However, at room temperature the polymerization will effectively stop after a few weeks aging and the xerogel will not become totally inert. If the temperature is raised, the polymerization reaction can be accelerated, further stabilization and shrinkage occurs, and more internal stresses are introduced into the xerogel.
If the temperature is raised high enough (around 1000xc2x0 C. for monolithic Si-gels) the gel or xerogel becomes a pure oxide and there are no OH-groups present in the material. However, in case of pure oxides, the reaction rate is extremely slow. If the oxides are incorporated with other ions, such as Na, K, Mg, or Ca, the reaction rate can be greatly increased. The so called bioactive glasses are developed from these systems. The dissolution rate of these glasses is controlled by the composition and surface area of the glass. These glasses are melted above 1000xc2x0 C.
The general principles of mixing organic substances with gels are well known. The basic idea is that an organic substance is added to the sol-stage of the sol-gel process. Then, after gelation, the organic part has become an inherent part of the material. In conventional glass melting processes, this is not possible at all because the temperatures are much too high for organic substances to survive.
The sintering temperature is naturally a limiting factor also for many substances in organically modified silicates (ORMOSILS). In the case of medicines, the sintering temperature is limited by the breakdown of the structure or functionality of the medicine. For proteins, enzymes, antibodies and whole cells, the sintering limit is as low as 40xc2x0 C. since they will begin coagulating at and above that temperature.
Organic substances are generally added to silica gels to modify the natural properties of the silicates with those of the organic substances. Some combinations of dopants and matrices used thus far are disclosed in Chemistry of Materials (1994) 6:1605-1614 (D. Avnir et al.).
Silicium sol-gel material directed for oral short term (less than 24 hours) drug delivery and methods of mixing drugs with silica-viscous sol have been described in Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy (1983) 9 (1and2):69-91 (K. Unger et.al). The article describes a polycondensation in solution method, which starts with mixing polyethoxysiloxane (PES) with a solution of the drug in an appropriate solvent, giving a molecular scale entrapment of the drug in the polymer. The release rate of the drug is controlled by diffusion through the pores of the matrix material.
Published application EP 0680753 describes a sol-gel produced silica coating and particles containing a biologically active substance where the release rate of the active agent is controlled by addition of penetration agents, such as polyethylene glycol or sorbitol.
Published application WO 96/03117 discusses bone bioactive controlled release carriers comprising silica-based glass providing for the controlled release of biologically active molecules, their methods of preparation and methods of use. These carriers are stated to be prepared using a sol-gel-derived process.
An object of the present invention is to provide controllably dissolvable silica-xerogels prepared via a sol-gel process. A further object of the invention is to provide controllably dissolvable silica-xerogel particles of small diameter prepared via sol-gel process, where the gelation of the sol and evaporation of the solvent occur simultaneously. Specifically, the present invention provides controllably dissolvable silica-xerogel particles of small diameter prepared via sol-get process, where the gelation of the sol and evaporation of the solvent occur by a spray drying method or by a fiber spinning or drawing technique.
A further object of the invention is to provide sustained and/or controlled release delivery devices for biologically active agents, especially medicines, proteins, or hormones, which are made of controllably dissolvable sol-gel produced silica-xerogel, and pharmaceutical preparations comprising said devices. Specifically, the present invention provides sustained and/or controlled release delivery devices for biologically active agents, which are made of controllably dissolvable silica-xerogel particles of small diameter prepared via sol-gel process, where the gelation of the sol and evaporation of the solvent occur simultaneously, and pharmaceutical preparations comprising said devices.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of administering a biologically active agent to a human or animal body, which comprises implanting, injecting, or transmucosally attaching to a human or animal body a delivery device made of a sol-gel produced, controllably dissolvable silica-xerogel according to the present invention, in which structure a biologically active agent is incorporated.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an implantable medical device comprising controllably dissolvable sol-gel-produced silica-xerogel, which may further comprise a biologically active agent.

Dissolvable oxides for biological applications


The present disclosure relates to a receive end determining method. In one example method, a first multiplex bearer between a terminal device and a wearable device, or a second multiplex bearer between the terminal device and a base station is established. The first multiplex bearer is used to transmit data between the wearable device and a first device. The first device includes one of the base station, the terminal device, or a combination of both. The second multiplex bearer is used to transmit data between the base station and a second device. The second device includes one of the wearable device, the terminal device, or a combination of both. The terminal device receives data from the wearable device through the first multiplex bearer, or receives the data from the base station through the second multiplex bearer. A destination receive end is determined based on indication information of the data.

The Internet of Things may implement interconnection between a person and a thing or between one thing and another. Possible application includes various aspects such as smart grid, intelligent agriculture, intelligent transportation, and environment detection. A wearable device (WD) application is a type of important application of the Internet of Things, that is, a portable device that is directly worn on a body or integrated to a piece of clothing or an accessory of a user. A wearable device is a hardware device, and also implements powerful functions through software support, data exchange, and cloud-based interaction.
In the prior art, different bearers are established to distinguish between different data directions. For example, a bearer herein may be understood as a data bearer (DRB). For example, there are three bearers DRBs between a wearable device and a terminal device: a DRB1, a DRB2, and a DRB3. The DRB1 is used to transmit data between the wearable device and relay UE. The DRB2 is used to transmit data between the wearable device and a network. In this case, a corresponding bearer DRB-a is required between the terminal device and a base station, to complete data transmission between the wearable device and the base station together with the DRB2. In this case, for uplink data (sent by the wearable device), a destination address of the data on the DRB2 indicates only the base station. In other words, for downlink data (sent by the network), a destination address of the data on the DRB-a indicates only the wearable device. The DRB3 is used to transmit data to both the terminal device and the base station. Similarly, in this case, a corresponding bearer DRB-b is required between the terminal device and the base station, to complete data transmission between the wearable device and the base station together with the DRB3. A difference lies in that: For uplink data, a destination address of the data on the DRB3 indicates both the terminal device and the base station. In other words, for downlink data, a destination address of the data on the DRB-b indicates both the terminal device and the wearable device.
As described above, in actual application, bearers need to be established based on different data directions. Therefore, a relatively large quantity of data bearers are established, wasting network resources, and reducing a quantity of wearable devices and terminal devices that can be supported by a network.

Receive end determining method, related device, and communications system


A container manufacturing device having a preform manufacturing portion, a conveyor, a blow molding device, where the preform is to the blow molding device while maintain the residual heat from the preform manufacturing portion. The preform manufacturing portion includes a molding die and a feeder for supplying a molten thermoplastic resin to a cavity of the molding die. In the blow molding portion, liquid is used to mold the preform into a container of a predetermined shape.

A resin container, such as those represented by a bottle made of oriented polypropylene (OPP) and a bottle made of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (PET bottle), has been used for various purposes including use for beverages, food, cosmetics, and the like. Such a container is generally manufactured by first forming a preform having a bottomed tubular shape by injection molding and compression molding a thermoplastic resin, heating the preform in a heating furnace to a temperature at which a stretching effect is exhibited, and molding the heated preform into a predetermined shape by blow molding using a die for blow molding (for example, Japanese Unexamined Application Publication No. 2003-251685).
For blow molding of the preform, liquid blow molding is a known process in which blow molding is carried out by supplying a pressurized liquid into the preform instead of pressurized air. With liquid blow molding, it is possible to simplify the production process and the configuration of the blow molding device by omitting the post forming process for filling a container with a content liquid, by using a content liquid to be filled in a container as a final product, such as beverages, cosmetics, medicine, and the like.


An AC LED lighting apparatus using a voltage edge detector is provided. The AC LED lighting apparatus includes: a rectification unit configured to rectify an AC voltage to output a DC rectified voltage; an LED unit including a first light emitting group and a second light emitting group each including at least one LED; and an LED driving control unit configured to control a serial/parallel connection relationship between the first light emitting group and the second light emitting group by comparing a voltage level of the rectified voltage input from the rectification unit with a reference voltage. The LED driving control unit sets the reference voltage by detecting a slope of the rectified voltage and simultaneously detecting the voltage level of the rectified voltage and the detected slope of the rectified voltage.

1. Field
The present invention relates to an AC LED lighting apparatus using a voltage edge detector, and more particularly, to an AC LED lighting apparatus using a voltage edge detector, which is capable of detecting a rising or falling slope of a sine wave signal (for example, a rectified voltage (Vrec)) by using a voltage edge detector, and sequentially driving the AC LED lighting apparatus and controlling a serial/parallel is connection relationship among a plurality of LED groups according to the detected slope.
2. Discussion of the Background
A light emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor element that is made of a material such as gallium (Ga), phosphorus (P), arsenic (As), indium (In), nitrogen (N), and aluminum (Al). The LED has a diode characteristic and emits red light, green light, or yellow light when a current flows therethrough. Compared with a bulb or lamp, the LED has a long lifespan, a fast response speed (time until light is emitted after a current flows), and low power consumption. Due to these advantages, the LED has tended to be widely used.
In general, a light emitting element could be driven only at a DC voltage due to the diode characteristic. Therefore, a light emitting device using a conventional light emitting element is restrictive in use and must include a separate circuit, such as SMPS, so as to use an AC voltage that has been currently used at home. Consequently, the circuit of the light emitting device becomes complicated and the manufacturing cost of the light emitting device increases.
In order to solve these problems, much research has been conducted on a light emitting element that can also be driven at an AC voltage by connecting a plurality of light emitting cells in series or in parallel.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a conventional AC LED lighting apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram illustrating waveforms of a rectified voltage and an LED driving current in the conventional AC LED lighting apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the conventional AC LED lighting apparatus includes an AC power source VAC, a rectification unit 10, a first light emitting group 20, a second light emitting group 22, a third light emitting group 24, a fourth light emitting group 26, a driving control unit 40, a first light emitting group driving unit SW1, a second light emitting group driving unit SW2, a third light emitting group driving unit SW3, and a fourth light emitting group driving unit SW4. Specifically, the rectification unit 10 receives an AC voltage from the AC power supply VAC and performs a full-wave rectification on the AC voltage to output a rectified voltage Vrec. The first light emitting group 20, the second light emitting group 22, the third light emitting group 24, and the fourth light emitting group 26 receive the rectified voltage Vrec and are sequentially driven. The driving control unit 40 controls the sequential driving of the first light emitting group 20, the second light emitting group 22, the third light emitting group 24, and the fourth light emitting group 26 according to a voltage level of the rectified voltage Vrec. The first light emitting group driving unit SW1, the second light emitting group driving unit SW2, the third light emitting group driving unit SW3, and the fourth light emitting group driving unit SW4 have a switching function and a constant current control function.
A process of driving the conventional AC LED lighting apparatus will be described below with reference to FIG. 2. The driving control unit 40 determines the voltage level of the rectified voltage Vrec applied from the rectification unit 10, and sequentially drives the first light emitting group 20, the second light emitting group 22, the third light emitting group 24, and the fourth light emitting group 26 according to the determined voltage level of the rectified voltage Vrec.
Accordingly, in periods during which the voltage level of the rectified voltage Vrec is equal to or higher than a first threshold voltage VTH1 and lower than a second threshold voltage VTH2 (t1 to t2 and t7 to t8 in one cycle of the rectified voltage Vrec), the driving control unit 40 maintains the first switch SW1 in a turned-on state and maintains the second switch SW2, the third switch SW3, and the fourth switch SW4 in a turned-off state, so that only the first light emitting group 20 is driven. In addition, in periods during which the voltage level of the rectified voltage Vrec is equal to or higher than the second threshold voltage VTH2 and lower than a third threshold voltage VTH3 (t2 to t3 and t6 to t7 in one cycle of the rectified voltage Vrec), the driving control unit 40 maintains the second switch SW2 in a turned-on state and maintains the first switch SW1, the third switch SW3, and the fourth switch SW4 in a turned-off state, so that only the first light emitting group 20 and the second light emitting group 22 are driven.
In addition, in periods during which the voltage level of the rectified voltage Vrec is equal to or higher than the third threshold voltage VTH3 and lower than a fourth threshold voltage VTH4 (t3 to t4 and t5 to t6 in one cycle of the rectified voltage Vrec), the driving control unit 40 maintains the third switch SW3 in a turned-on state and maintains the first switch SW1, the second switch SW3, and the fourth switch SW4 in a turned-off state, so that the first light emitting group 20, the second light emitting group 22, and the third light emitting group 24 are driven.
In addition, in periods during which the voltage level of the rectified voltage Vrec is higher than the fourth threshold voltage VTH4 (t4 to t5 in one cycle of the rectified voltage Vrec), the driving control unit 40 maintains the fourth switch SW4 in a turned-on state and maintains the first switch SW1, the second switch SW2, and the is third switch SW3 in a turned-off state, so that all of the first light emitting group 20, the second light emitting group 22, the third light emitting group 24, and the fourth light emitting group 26 are driven. However, in the conventional AC LED lighting apparatus described above, when the AC voltage is applied, a rising or falling slope of a sine wave signal is changed with time according to the magnitude of the AC voltage signal, and thus, the moment at which the switches are switched for the sequential driving is changed. Therefore, when the slope of the sine wave signal is large (that is, the magnitude of the input voltage increases), the LED is turned on earlier. When the magnitude of the input voltage is small, the LED is switched later, so that a current flows for a short time, that is, a turn-on time is shortened. Therefore, power consumption is irregularly decreased. As a result, when the conventional AC LED lighting apparatus is used, the switching time of the LED is generally changed according to the magnitude of the input voltage, making it difficult to maintain constant power. Furthermore, the conventional AC LED lighting apparatus includes a plurality of LED arrays, and sequentially turns on and off the plurality of light emitting groups according to the voltage level of the rectified voltage. Thus, since the light emission periods of the respective light emitting groups are different, the optical uniformity of the AC LED lighting apparatus is degraded and the lifespan of the plurality of light emitting groups becomes different. Consequently, the AC LED lighting apparatus is dependent on the LED array with the light emission period having the long lifespan.

AC LED lighting apparatus using voltage edge detector


An improved sealed dispenser for sequentially dispensing filters utilizing a band tangentially contacting a portion of the periphery of a wheel thereby providing a frictionalized surface. Filters may be added to the top of the dispenser in a prepackaged set and the packaging becomes a sealing top to the dispenser. A single filter can be drawn from a stack of filters positioned in the dispenser by rotating the wheel using an externally attached knob, which passes a single filter by friction between the wheel and the band. The filter exits the dispenser via a pivotably closable door located at the lower part of the front of the dispenser.

The present invention is an improvement to my prior invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,536, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
In today's environment, people have a greater sensitivity to cleanliness. Health regulations rate requiring new levels of operating procedures in restaurants and other food service businesses to ensure clean service and a minimum of human contact. With the proliferation of communicable diseases and the perceived threat of AIDS, people are more critical of the establishments they attend.
Many smaller restaurants have coffee making machines in full view of their patrons. In a busy restaurant one can often see an employee manually placing a coffee filter from a stack into a container or manually placing a single filter into a coffee pot. Such manual contact may cause concern for some customers. Additionally, since filters often are difficult to separate digitally, when in a hurry a user may wind up licking or otherwise wetting their fingers to provide enough friction to separate the filters.
Restaurants are environments typically having a great deal of moisture from steaming foods, tea and coffee pots and dish washing apparatus in the vicinity. Such moisture can contain bacteria, other microorganisms, airborne contaminants, and the like, which can be absorbed by the filter. It would be desirable to have a filter dispenser that could be loaded from the top using a sealed "cartridge" or pack containing prepackaged filters. Such a dispenser would then substantially reduce or eliminate hand contact with the filters. My previous invention did not have a way to load the apparatus from the top, nor did it allow for addition of a set of prepackaged filters without using one's hands. Furthermore, my previous invention was not a sealed box; rather, it had an opening which might better off have been closable.
It is therefore a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for dispensing single filters from a pack so as to minimize human contact with the filters.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a filter dispenser having a removable top that contains a sealable pack of filters that can be provided in a prepackaged form and can be unsealed and loaded in the dispenser with substantially no hand contact with the filters themselves.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a filter dispenser that is substantially sealable from external contamination by dust and other agents when not in use.


An internal combustion engine has a casing which includes interconnected elements and is connected to an engine housing with interposed vibration-damping means. The engine also has a cooling air blower driven by an engine crankshaft which draws in cooling air through an inlet opening in said casing and conveys such cooling air through an interior space between the engine housing and the casing. Exhaust air from such interior space exits through an outlet opening in said casing, the inlet and outlet openings being disposed in a single element of the casing which element is a closed unit at a side of the engine remote from the blower and is equipped with at least one sound-damping layer. The sound-damping layer has casing element passages formed therein which are separate from one another and which communicate said interior space respectively with the inlet and outlet openings.

A known internal combustion engine has a casing which comprises interconnected elements and which is connected to the engine housing with interposed vibration-damping means and has a cooling air blower driven by the engine crankshaft, which blower draws in cooling air through an inlet opening in the casing and conveys it through the interior space between the engine housing and the casing, the exhaust air exiting through an outlet opening provided in the casing. An object of the invention is to design the casing in such a way that it ensures an optimum flow of cooling air along the outer surfaces of the engine, enables economic manufacture and assembly, and allows necessary maintenance work on the engine to be performed with minimum expense.
It is an object of the invention to provide access through the casing to the transmission means, coupled to the engine crankshaft, for various external units in such a way that the sound-damping effect of the casing is scarcely impaired thereby.

Internal combustion engine having a sound-damping casing


Provided are embodiments of a method for averting a danger performed by a control apparatus. The method involves a step of obtaining a plurality of pieces of sensor information. At least partially depending on the obtained pieces of sensor information, it is determined whether a danger exists. A support offer request message is transmitted if it is determined that the danger exists. At least one first support offer message is received from a first support apparatus in response to the support offer request message. At least partially depending on the received first support offer message, it is determined whether a first support measure of the first support apparatus is suitable for averting the danger. The first support measure is then prompted if it is determined that the first support measure is suitable for averting the danger.

The prior art discloses, inter alia, unmanned vehicles having a receiving compartment for transporting one or more shipments. These unmanned vehicles may be exposed to different dangers during transport of the shipment, for example possible theft of the shipment. However, on account of the restricted installation space and the limited complexity of the unmanned vehicles, it is not possible to equip these vehicles with suitable means for averting all of these dangers, with the result that, in the event of a danger, it is often not possible to successfully avert this danger.


The present invention provides autoradiography methods and systems for imaging via the detection of alpha particles, beta particles, or other charged particles. Embodiments of the methods and systems provide high-resolution 3D imaging of the distribution of a radioactive probe, such as a radiopharmaceutical, on a tissue sample. Embodiments of the present methods and systems provide imaging of tissue samples by reconstruction of a 3D distribution of a source of particles, such as a radiopharmaceutical. Embodiments of the methods and systems provide tomographic methods including microtomography, macrotomography, cryomicrotomography and cryomacrotomography.

Autoradiography is a well-developed technique for imaging in the context of clinical medicine and research on biological processes. In this technique, a radioactive probe is administered to a patient or a subject or a tissue to provide an internal source of radiation, thus distinguishing this method from conventional radiography in which an external source of radiation is employed. Autoradiography is most commonly used for imaging of ex vivo samples obtained from tissue administered with a radioactive pharmaceutical. Thin slices (e.g., 5-50 μm thick) of the sample are subsequently analyzed using a high-resolution imaging detector sensitive to charged particles (e.g., alpha particles, beta particles and/or Auger electrons) emitted by the radioactive pharmaceutical. These techniques provide 2D images exhibiting high spatial resolution capable of resolving the distribution of a radioactive pharmaceutical at the cellular or subcellular level.
Although autoradiography provides a valuable approach for high-resolution imaging of tissue, this technique is significantly limited in its extension to 3D imaging of in vivo tissue. While reassembly of 2D slice image information to obtain a 3D image of a sample is feasible, this application of autoradiography is labor intensive and practically limited due to distortion of thin film slices introduced by dehydration and/or in transferring them to an imaging detector. Further, extension of conventional autoradiography to 3D imaging requires sectioning of the sample into thin slices to provide depth information, thereby effectively limiting the technique to application of ex vivo tissue samples.

Arizona Board of Regents on Behalt of the University of Arizona


A thromboembolic removal system for treating ischemic stroke includes an aspiration catheter and an elongate member having a separator on a distal portion of the elongate member. During use of the thromboembolic removal system, the aspiration catheter and elongate member are positioned in a blood vessel, with the elongate member extending through the lumen of the aspiration catheter. Vacuum is applied through the aspiration catheter and the separator is deployed distal to the aspiration catheter into contact with thromboembolic material within a blood vessel. Manipulation of the separator during aspiration can facilitate aspiration by loosening, separating, or softening pieces of thromboembolic material, by removing any clogs or flow restrictions within the lumen of the aspiration catheter, and/or by pushing or plunging loosened material towards and/or into the distal end of the aspiration catheter for subsequent aspiration out of the body.

I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of medical treatment and, more particularly, to a system and method for treating ischemic stroke which involves removing a thromboembolism from a cerebral artery of a patient.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability and a growing problem to global healthcare. In the US alone, over 700,000 people per year suffer a major stroke and, of these, over 150,000 people die. Even more disturbing, this already troubling situation is expected to worsen as the "baby boomer" population reaches advanced age, particularly given the number of people suffering from poor diet, obesity and/or other contributing factors leading to stroke. Of those who survive a stroke, approximately 90% will have long-term impairment of movement, sensation, memory or reasoning, ranging from mild to severe. The total cost to the US healthcare system is estimated to be over $50 billion per year.
Strokes may be caused by a rupture of a cerebral artery ("hemorrhagic stroke") or a blockage in a cerebral artery due to a thromboembolism ("ischemic stroke"). A thromboembolism is a detached blood clot that travels through the bloodstream and lodges so as to obstruct or occlude a blood vessel. Between the two types of strokes, ischemic stroke comprises the larger problem, with over 600,000 people in the US suffering from ischemic stroke per year.
Ischemic stroke treatment may be accomplished via pharmacological elimination of the thromboembolism and/or mechanical elimination of the thromboembolism. Pharmacological elimination may be accomplished via the administration of thombolytics (e.g., streptokinase, urokinase, tissue plasminogen activator (TPA)) and/or anticoagulant drugs (e.g., heparin, warfarin) designed to dissolve and prevent further growth of the thromboembolism. Pharmacologic treatment is non-invasive and generally effective in dissolving the thromboembolism. Notwithstanding these generally favorable aspects, significant drawbacks exist with the use of pharmacologic treatment. One such drawback is the relatively long amount of time required for the thrombolytics and/or anticoagulants to take effect and restore blood flow. Given the time-critical nature of treating ischemic stroke, any added time is potentially devastating. Another significant drawback is the heightened potential of bleeding or hemorrhaging elsewhere in the body due to the thombolytics and/or anticoagulants.
Mechanical elimination of thromboembolic material for the treatment of ischemic stroke has been attempted using a variety of catheter-based transluminal interventional techniques. One such interventional technique involves deploying a coil into a thromboembolism (e.g. via corkscrew action) in an effort to ensnare or envelope the thromboembolism so it can be removed from the patient. Although an improvement over pharmacologic treatments for ischemic stroke, such coil-based retrieval systems have only enjoyed modest success (approximately 55%) in overcoming ischemic stroke due to thromboembolic material slipping past or becoming dislodged by the coil. In the latter case, the dislodgement of thromboembolic material may lead to an additional stroke in the same artery or a connecting artery.
Another interventional technique involves deploying a basket or net structure distally (or downstream) from the thromboembolism in an effort to ensnare or envelope the thromboembolism so it can be removed from the patient. Again, although overcoming the drawbacks of pharmacologic treatment, this nonetheless suffers a significant drawback in that the act of manipulating the basket or net structure distally from the occluded segment without angiographic roadmap visualization of the vasculature increases the danger of damaging the vessel. In addition, removing the basket or net structure may permit if not cause thromboembolic material to enter into connecting arteries. As noted above, this may lead to an additional stroke in the connecting artery.
A still further interventional technique for treating ischemic stroke involves advancing a suction catheter to the thromboembolism with the goal of removing it via aspiration (i.e. negative pressure). Although generally safe, removal via aspiration is only effective with relatively soft thrombus-emboli. To augment the effectiveness of aspiration techniques, a rotating blade has been employed to sever or fragment the thromboembolism, which may thereafter be removed via the suction catheter. While this rotating blade feature improves the effectiveness of such an aspiration technique, it nonetheless increases the danger of damaging the vessel due to the rotating blade.
The foregoing interventional techniques, as well as others in the prior art, all suffer one or more drawbacks and are believed to be sub-optimal for treating ischemic stroke. The present invention is directed at overcoming, or at least improving upon, the disadvantages of the prior art.

System and method for treating ischemic stroke


A hybrid module is compact and easy to construct, with components for transmitting torque to at least one transmission input shaft. The disclosed hybrid module includes a counterplate, or at least one counterplate in the case of multiple counterplates, of a clutch device is connected to a rotor element. The connection may be a direct connection, or a connection without intermediate elements, in which no intermediate element is provided for bridging an axial spacing between the rotor and the counterplate. Thus, coupling of an electric machine of the hybrid module and of the clutch device is realized with a minimal structural space requirement. By means of this measure, the clutch device can project into a stator of the electric machine.

A corresponding hybrid module is known from WO 2014/026685 A1. Said document presents a hybrid module for a drivetrain of a motor vehicle, in which an electric machine is arranged between an internal combustion engine and a transmission. The hybrid module has a rotor of the electric machine and has a separating clutch arranged within the rotor, which separating clutch has a pressure plate and a counterplate. Furthermore, in conjunction with such hybrid modules, there is generally provided in the drivetrain a clutch device with at least one friction clutch, which in turn has a pressure plate and a counterplate.

Hybrid module for a drive train of a motor vehicle


A method for performing, for a plurality of applications, data communication on a wireless medium accessible for a plurality of nodes used by the applications is disclosed. Each application is assigned to one of a plurality of application classes. In one aspect, the method includes sending, at one of the plurality of nodes, a resource request for an application via a control channel dedicated to the application class which the application is assigned to, wherein the resource request is sent employing an access method available for the application class. The method also includes taking a decision on allocating resource on the wireless medium for the application. The method also includes performing data communication for the application via a conflict-free data channel, the data channel being separated in time from the dedicated control channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to methods for deciding when and how a plurality of users or nodes can access a wireless medium, data structures supporting such methods and devices that are specially adapted for using and supporting such methods.
2. Description of the Related Technology
In a wireless communication system the wireless medium is shared by all the users or nodes in the system. It is a big challenge to schedule the radio resource among multiple users to avoid collisions resulting from two nodes sending data packets at the same time over the same channel, and also to restrict multiple access interference. Hence, medium access control (MAC) protocols are developed to provide such coordination. In the seven-layer OSI protocol stack, the MAC layer is normally specified as a sublayer of the data link layer (layer 2).
MAC protocols have been extensively studied in traditional wireless communication systems. They can be roughly divided into two categories: contention-based and schedule-based.
Time division multiple access (TDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA) and code division multiple access (CDMA) are widely used techniques in modern cellular communication systems. Their basic idea is to explicitly assign transmission and reception opportunities to nodes and let them sleep the rest of the time. The radio resource, or channel, is differentiated by time, frequency or orthogonal codes. Since these sub-channels are orthogonal to each other, MAC protocols in this category are collision-free, and hence no special mechanisms are needed to avoid hidden-terminal problems. They are referred to as schedule-based protocols. There are also drawbacks related to schedule-based MAC schemes. Since all channels are allocated by a unique central controller, additional signaling traffic is needed to setup and maintain the schedules. For example, if TDMA is employed, all nodes in the network have to be synchronized and agree on the slot boundary. Otherwise, timeslot overlap also leads to collision. Hence, regular signaling for synchronization is a fixed overhead in such networks. Another drawback is that it is not easy to adapt the schedules to different traffic loads on small timescales.
Another class of MAC protocols is based on contention. Rather than using pre-allocated channels, nodes contend on-demand for a shared channel, resulting in probabilistic coordination. Collision may occur during the contention procedure in such systems. Classical examples of contention-based MAC protocols include ALOHA and carrier sense multiple access (CSMA). In ALOHA a node simply transmits a packet when it is generated (pure ALOHA) or at the beginning of the next available slot (slotted ALOHA, whereby time is partitioned into equally-sized time slots, each time slot being big enough to accommodate a packet). Packets that collide are discarded and retransmitted later. In CSMA a node listens to the channel before transmitting. If it detects a busy channel, it delays the access attempt and retries later. Otherwise, it begins data transmission immediately in the following timeslot or begins data transmission after the exchange of channel access confirmation. The CSMA protocol has been widely studied and extended. Today it is the basis of several widely-used standards including IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.15.4. The contention-based MAC protocol can be easily adapted to different traffic load situations. Furthermore, there is no infrastructure needed in such a distributed topology, which makes the network setup very flexible. However, in contention-based MAC schemes the system is faced with the exposed terminal and hidden terminal problem because the access decision is made locally by the node.
In general, contention-based MAC protocols are suitable for a network without central controller or with light traffic load, while schedule-based MAC protocols are appealing to centralized networks with busy traffic. Usually, contention-based schemes cannot provide Quality-of-Service (QoS) guarantee.
At the end of 2007 task group IEEE 802.15.6 known as Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) was launched. IEEE 802.15.6 is intended to endow a future generation of short-range electronics, both in the body and on or around it, with a wireless communication standard for exchanging information. The initial intention with this new standard comes from the medical application purpose. However, given the considerable interest from industries, consumer electronics (CE) related applications are also expected to be supported by this new standard.
Medical and CE applications have greatly different characteristics in terms of traffic arrival, data rate, access delay and reliability requirements. In medical applications the traffic is typically periodic and of a data rate below 100 kbps with strict latency requirement. In CE applications the traffic can be streaming or burst-based with a data rate up to 10 Mbps. In the discussion of the IEEE task group, it is desirable that a unique MAC protocol be proposed to meet the requirements from both medical and CE applications. This makes MAC protocol design a new challenge in such a specific scenario.
Body area networks (BAN) comprise a set of mobile and compact sensors, either wearable or implanted into the human body. Both medical related applications and CE applications are to be implemented in BAN. Due to the medical applications to be supported, the design target of the MAC protocol is that the QoS be guaranteed for the medical application and that at the same time the energy be used in an efficient way. Generally speaking, there are three key parameters to evaluate the performance of different MAC schemes: throughput, latency and energy efficiency. For the two types of applications, there are different emphases on the performance evaluation. For the medical applications it is important to achieve better latency and energy consumption performance. For the CE applications, throughput and energy consumption are the two factors one is most concerned with.
Most of the existing research work on MAC layer design for sensor networks aims at reducing the energy consumption on account of the battery-powered sensor nodes. Sensor-MAC (S-MAC) (as known e.g. from the paper "An Energy-efficient MAC Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks," W. Ye et al., Proc. IEEE Infocom, pp. 1567-1576, New York, June 2002) is designed to coordinate sleeping among neighbor nodes in order to avoid idle listening and to extend network lifetime. However, this mechanism cannot cope properly with heavy traffic load. To solve these problems, timeout MAC (T-MAC) (see "An Adaptive Energy-efficient MAC Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks", T. van Dam et al., Sensys03, pp. 171-180, Los Angeles, Nov. 2003) is proposed as an extension to the S-MAC, which allows a node to go back to sleep when there is no traffic detected for a certain period of time. T-MAC still suffers from the overhead due to synchronization and increased latency. Hence, in the state-of-the-art there is no existing protocol that meets the new requirements of body area networks.
IEEE 802.15.4 is currently the major technology for regulating low-rate low-power wireless personal area networks (WPANs), in which the contention-based and schedule-based MAC schemes are used in a combined way, considering that WPAN is the most related scenario to the WBAN. In this standard the physical layer (PHY) and medium access control (MAC) layer are specified, based on which the ZigBee Alliance defines the upper layer protocols.
An IEEE 802.15.4 network can operate in either beacon-enabled or non-beacon-enabled mode. In the beacon-enabled mode, the network is operated in a synchronized way, while in the non-beacon-enabled mode the system works in an asynchronous way. The beacons are used to synchronize all devices in the network and to bound the superframes. Using a superframe structure a coordinator on a personal area network in IEEE802.15.4 can bound its channel time. One superframe is divided into 16 equally sized slots. Optionally, the superframe can have an active and an inactive portion. The coordinator may enter a low-power (sleep) mode during the active portion. In the active part the superframe is partitioned into three parts: a beacon, a contention access period (CAP) and a contention-free period (CFP). A WPAN may consist of multiple traffic types, including periodic data, intermittent data, and repetitive low-latency data. In the CAP part the nodes employ the CSMA with Collision Avoidance (CSMA-CA) mechanism to access the channel. The CFP part is divided into guaranteed time slots (GTSs) on a reservation based approach to accommodate the periodic traffic. A node can first send a GTS request on the CAP part using CSMA-CA and then the network coordination will decide on the GTS allocation. The IEEE802.15.4 superframe structure is shown in FIG. 1.
The CSMA-CA algorithm is used before the data transmission or before. MAC command frames are transmitted within the CAP. If periodic beacons are used in the PAN, the MAC sublayer employs the slotted version of the CSMA-CA algorithm for transmissions in the CAP of the superframe. Conversely, if periodic beacons are not used in the PAN or if a beacon cannot be located in a beacon-enabled PAN, the MAC sublayer transmits using the unslotted version of the CSMA-CA algorithm. In both cases the algorithm is implemented using units of time called backoff periods.
In the slotted CSMA-CA procedure the basic time slot unit is a backoff period, which is aligned with the superframe boundary. The access contention procedure is determined by three variables: NB, CW and BE. NB stands for the maximum backoff time allowed in one transmission attempt. CW is the contention window length, which is the number of backoff periods that the channel should be free of activity before a transmission can commence. The value of CW is defined to be 2 in the standard. Backoff exponent BE determines the maximum number of backoff periods a node should wait before attempting to access the channel.
The slotted CSMA-CA procedure works as follows. First the number of backoff periods is initialized to 0. BE is set to the minimum BE parameter MinBE. The node randomly selects a number within the interval of [0, 2BE−1] to initialize the backoff delay counter. On each slot boundary the backoff counter is decremented by one. When the counter reaches zero, it performs a clear channel assessment (CCA). If the carrier is detected to be idle, the node begins to transmit in the following slot. Otherwise, both the number of backoff periods and the variable BE are increased by 1, after which another transmission attempt begins. With BE upper bounded by the parameter MaxBE, the transmission attempt repeats until a successful transmission takes place or the number of backoff periods reaches NB. The slotted CSMA-CA procedure is presented in FIG. 2.
The CFP starts on a slot boundary immediately following the CAP and it shall terminate before the end of the active portion of the superframe. If any GTS has been allocated by the PAN coordinator, it is located within the CFP and occupies contiguous slots. The CFP therefore grows or shrinks depending on the total length of all of the combined GTSs. No transmissions within the CFP use a CSMA-CA mechanism to access the channel.
In the paper "AGA: Adaptive GTS Allocation with Low Latency and Fairness Considerations for IEEE 802.15.4", (Y. Huang et al., IEEE ICC 2006, Vol. 9, pp. 3929-3934, June 2006) a priority-based scheme at the coordinator end is proposed for GTS allocation in IEEE 802.15.4. However, all the nodes still have to first compete on the CAP part to send the GTS requests to the coordinator.
In conclusion, when using existing access methods for at least two applications with substantially different characteristics, which requires guaranteed communication for at least one critical application and high data rate support for at least one other non-critical application, tuning of the parameters thereof can be done to give priority of one application over another. However, this does not result in a priority guarantee nor it is very efficient for cases where the traffic requirement of those applications are quite different.

Access method and data frame structure for use in body area networks


An image forming apparatus is provide which includes an ADU that can sustain productivity per unit of time, without controlling the operation of registration rollers at fixed intervals determined by CPM that leads to temporary stopping of paper. During non-stacked circulatory conveyance for forming images on both sides of a sheet of paper, the position or the timing is corrected at which the paper is accelerated and/or decelerated in a circulatory conveyance path, whereby the image forming apparatus does not control the operation of registration rollers at fixed intervals determined by CPM when forming another image on a back side of the paper.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus such as a printer or an electrophotographic copier, in which paper is conveyed in a circulatory conveyance path for formation of images on both sides of the paper.
2. Description of the Related Art
Image forming apparatuses are known which comprise circulatory conveyance means (hereinafter referred to as an ADU) for reversibly conveying paper on which an image has been formed on one side of the paper and circulatorily conveying the paper in order to allow images to be formed on both sides of the paper such as standard paper.
Among these image forming apparatuses, there is known a type of image forming apparatus employing a so-called non-stacked circulatory conveyance method in which a plurality of sheets of paper (e.g., five sheets of paper) are continuously supplied from a paper supply tray, a toner image formed on a photosensitive drum is continuously transferred onto a first or front side of the paper and the toner image is fixed onto the paper. Thereafter, the paper is reversed by the ADU, and circulatorily conveyed towards the transfer region where another toner image formed on the photosensitive drum is transferred onto a second or back side of the paper, fixed to the paper, and then the paper is discharged to a discharge tray, so that plural sheets of paper are not stacked at a time in an intermediate tray.
FIG. 1 shows, in an illustrative view, an example of the structure of such image forming apparatus.
A copier as an example of such image forming apparatus comprises an automatic document feeder 1 on an upper part of the body of the copier, and includes within the copier body an image reader 2, an image formation section 3, a paper housing section 4, a paper supply section 5, a reverse/discharge/paper resupply section 6, and an ADU 8 that serves as the circulatory conveyance means.
The automatic document feeder 1 is a device for sending out documents one by one at a time, conveying the documents to an image reading position, and discharging documents whose image has been read to a predetermined place. The automatic document feeder 1 includes a document mount 11 on which documents are mounted; document separation means 12 for separating the documents mounted on the document mount 11; document conveying means 13 including plural rollers for conveying the documents separated by the document separating means 12; document discharge means 14 for discharging the documents conveyed by the document conveying means 13; a document discharge tray 15 for receiving the documents discharged by the document discharge means 14; and document reversal means 16 comprising a pair of rollers for reversing the documents to read images on both sides of the documents. Plural sheets of the documents (not illustrated) mounted on the document mount 11 are separated one by one at a time by the document separation means 12, and conveyed toward the image reading position by the document conveying means 13.
The image reader 2 is disposed below the document conveyance means 13, and images on the documents are read through a slit 21 forming the image reader 2. Documents whose images have been read are discharged onto the document discharge tray 15 by the document discharge means 14.
When images on both sides of a document are to be read, documents for which an image on one side has been read are guided to the document reversal means 16, the documents are reversed by counter-rotational control of the rollers in a state in which trailing ends of the documents are held between the rollers, and then the documents are conveyed once more by the document conveyance means 13, whereby it is possible to read the images on the other sides of the documents at the image reading position. This process is repeated for the number of documents mounted on the document mount 11.
The automatic document feeder 1 is structured to be retractable. By retracting the automatic document feeder 1, a document can be mounted directly on a platen glass 22 and copied.
The image reader 2 is a means for obtaining image data by reading the images on the documents. The image reader 2 includes the slit 21; a first mirror unit 23 comprising a lamp 231 as a light source that irradiates the documents, and a first mirror 232 that reflects light reflected from the documents; a second mirror unit 24 comprising a second mirror 241 for reflecting light from the first mirror 232 and a third mirror 242; an image formation lens 25 that images onto an image pickup device 26 such as CCD light reflected from the second mirror unit 24; and a line CCD 26 adapted to obtain image information by photoelectrically converting the light image imaged by the image formation lens 25. After the image information thus obtained is subjected to appropriate image processing, it is temporarily stored in a memory not shown.
When the documents fed by the automatic document feeder 1 are read by the image reader 2, the first mirror unit 23 and the second mirror unit 24 are positioned as illustrated.
Images on documents that are directly mounted onto the platen glass 22 are read by the first mirror unit 23 and the second mirror unit 24 which are moved along the platen glass 22 while maintaining an optical path length therebetween.
The image formation section 3 forms images by an electrophotographic process on the basis of the image data obtained by the image reader 2. The image formation section 3 includes the photosensitive drum 31 having on a surface thereof a photoelectrically conductive photosensitive layer; an electrifier 32 for uniformly electrifying the surface of the photosensitive drum 31; a laser writing system 33 as an exposure means for exposing the photosensitive drum 31 to form a latent image thereon that is activated on the basis of the image-processed image data; a developer 34 for developing the latent image formed on the photosensitive drum 31 to form a toner image; a transfer electrode 35 for transferring the toner image onto the paper; a charge remover 36 for accelerating separation of the paper with the toner image transferred thereon from the photosensitive drum 31 by effecting an AC corona discharge to remove the charge; cleaning means 37 for cleaning the photosensitive drum 31 after the transferring process has been concluded; a fixing device 38 of heating roller type for fixing the toner image on the paper; and the reverse/discharge/paper resupply section 6 and the ADU 8.
The photosensitive drum 31, which is rotated in a direction shown by an arrow by appropriate drive means, is sequentially electrified by the electrifier 32, the electrostatic latent image is formed by dot exposure by the laser writing system 33, and the toner image is formed by the developer 34. Then, the toner image is transferred via the action of the transfer electrode 35 onto the paper that is synchronously conveyed by initiating rotation of registration rollers 56, which are second paper supply means, so that the paper is superposed on the toner image region, whereby an image is formed on the paper.
The paper with the toner image transferred thereon is separated from the photosensitive drum 31 by the charge remover 36, and the toner image is fixed on the paper by the heat and pressure applied by the fixing device 38.
The photosensitive drum 31 continues to rotate while the remaining toner on the photosensitive drum 31 which has passed through the transfer region is removed by the cleaning means 37 for preparation of the next image formation.
A conveyor belt 39 for conveying the paper separated from the photosensitive drum 31 by the charge remover 36 is disposed between the charge remover 36 and the fixing device 38.
Paper feed trays 400, 410 and 420 including housing sections 405, 415 and 425 comprising housing containers for housing stacked sheets of the paper and the paper supply units 51, 52 and 53 that serve as first paper supply means are arranged one on another in the paper housing section 4. Sheets of paper of different size are respectively housed in these paper feed trays 400, 410 and 420.
The paper supply units 51, 52 and 53 include paper separation rollers 506, 536 and 556 for preventing overlapping supply of paper and paper supply rollers 505, 535 and 555 which are positioned at substantially fixed positions with respect to the paper feed trays loaded in position in predetermined positions in the apparatus.
The paper supply section 5 includes pairs of conveying roller R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and R6 as conveying means for conveying the paper from the respective paper feed trays to the image formation section 3. PS is a photosensor which detects whether or not paper that has been fed from the paper feed trays has arrived at the positions of the conveying roller R1, R2 and R3 disposed downstream of the separation rollers.
The reverse/discharge/paper resupply section 6 is a region for discharging the imaged paper or resupplying the imaged paper in accordance with a required copying process. The reverse/discharge/paper resupply section 6 includes switching means 62 for switching the conveying path depending upon the situation that (1) the paper discharged by the fixing/discharge rollers 61 is to be discharged as it is to the outside of the apparatus, (2) the paper is to be discharged after it has been reversed, or (3) the paper is resupplied in order to form an image on the back side of the paper.
If it is required that the imaged paper is to be discharged with the final image formed on its top side, the switching means 62 is positioned as indicated by one-dotted chain line in the drawing. On the other hand, if it is required that the imaged paper is to be reversed to form images on both sides of the paper and then discharged, the switching means 62 is positioned as indicated by a solid line in the drawing, the paper conveyed by the fixing/discharge rollers 61 is once conveyed toward the ADU 8. Having passed through the switching means 62, the paper is reversibly conveyed by the conveying rollers 600 so that it passes through the left side of the switching means 62, and is discharged by the discharge rollers 63 onto the discharge tray 64 outside of the apparatus.
Moreover, if it is required that an image is to be formed on the back side of the paper as well, the switching means 62 is positioned as indicated by the solid line in the drawing, the paper conveyed by the fixing/discharge rollers 61 is conveyed as far as the ADU reversal rollers 800 by each of the conveying rollers of the reverse/discharge/paper resupply section 6 driven by a discharge motor, the paper is reversed by switching back by means of these rollers, and the paper is circulatorily conveyed to the registration rollers 56.
In the above structure, the ADU reversal rollers 800 are driven forwards and backwards by an ADU reversal motor M2 shown in FIG. 2, the conveying rollers 810, 820, 830, 840 and 850 are driven by a conveying motor M2 (as shown in FIG. 2) as a driving source, and the registration rollers 56 are driven by a registration motor M5 shown in FIG. 2.
The following operations will occur in a case where, for example, five sheets of paper are taken as a set and continuous image formation is effected by using the non-stacked circulatory conveyance method.
To describe the process by which image are formed on both sides using the ADU 8 while noting the motion of the paper, the five sheets of the paper, which are continuously fed at every predetermined time from the paper feed tray 40 in response to the implementation of the image formation process, reach the registration rollers 56 via the conveying rollers 55, are detected by a detection means not shown, resupplied by the rotation of the registration rollers 56, and enter the transfer region so that each paper is superposed on the toner image region formed on the photosensitive drum 31.
The toner image is transferred onto the first side of the paper by the action of the transfer electrode 35 in the transfer region and the paper is separated from the photosensitive drum 31 and conveyed toward the fixing device 38.
The paper with the toner image fixed thereon by the action of heat and pressure in the fixing device 38, is conveyed downward along the conveyance path that has been switched by the fixing/discharge rollers 61 and the switching means 62, is sequentially moved along the conveyance path formed toward the upper right direction by the conveyance rollers 600, 610 and 620, and thereafter reaches the ADU reversal rollers 800.
The ADU reversal rollers 800 are driven to rotate in the opposite direction at a timing at which the rear edge of the paper is nipped between the ADU reversal rollers 800 in the traveling direction. Therefore, the paper is reversed and conveyed on the conveyance path formed by the ADU 8, i.e., horizontally towards the right of the drawing at the conveying rollers 810 through 850, while the paper is conveyed in the opposite direction with its previous rear edge being as a new front edge. Thereafter, the paper is guided upward and sequentially arrive at the registration rollers 56 after passing through the conveying rollers 55, and a toner image is formed on the second side of the paper in the same process that has been described previously.
After the toner image on the second side of the paper is fixed by the fixing device 38, the paper is sequentially discharged onto the discharge tray 64 via the fixing/discharge rollers 61.
In this kind of image forming apparatus, a predetermined paper size (in particular, a length of paper in its travelling direction) is used as a standard, and a number of sheets of paper with an image formed thereon obtainable per unit of time is set for various paper size (feeding length). In order to achieve this, a distance from the exposure section to the transfer electrode 35 and a distance from the registration rollers 56 to the transfer electrode 35 are set to be equal to each other so that the paper of standard size reaches the registration rollers 56, the process for forming a toner image on the photosensitive drum 31 is initiated at a timing of supply of the paper by the registration rollers 56 and the paper is superposed on the toner image region at a transfer region of the transfer electrode 35. The registration rollers 56 are always activated at fixed intervals by setting linear velocities of the photosensitive drum 31, the registration rollers 56 and the transfer rollers 57 to be the same. Various operative conditions such as a length of the circulatory conveyance path of the paper are set so that a distance between consecutive papers with images formed on their first sides can be the same as a distance between the last paper that will just have an image formed on its first side and the first paper that will have another image formed on its second side by controlling the registration rollers 56 to be activated at a predetermined interval of time. With this structure, high productivity per unit of time that is a number of papers with images formed on both sides thereof that can be obtained per unit of time (minute) (hereinafter referred to as CPM) is realized.
In the image forming apparatus with the above described, any advance or delay for paper to arrive at the registration rollers 56 may occur after an image has been transferred on the paper on its first side and fixed until the paper is reversed for formation of another image on its second side thereof. One of causes for such unstable movement of the paper is that the paper is conveyed only by the conveyor belt 39 after the paper is separated from the photosensitive drum 31 until it is nipped by the pair of rollers of the fixing device 38. Therefore the paper may be moved out of place forward and backward on the conveyor belt 39 during conveyance. Another cause is that the ADU reversal rollers 800 may slip when the paper is reversed thereby in the circulatory conveyance path.
There has been proposed a method to solve this problem in which the paper is conveyed to the position of the registration rollers 56 at an earlier time and is caused to wait there until the scheduled time to adjust the advance or delay of the paper.
Another method for compensating the advance or delay of the paper is disclosed in Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 8-231133 in which conveying rollers are stopped temporarily to cease the paper depending upon the condition of the paper while being conveyed in the circulatory conveyance path so that the advance or delay of the paper is adjusted before it arrives at the registration rollers. However, some of the conveying rollers must be stopped while others need not be stopped depending upon the size of the paper, so that a conveying mechanism including the rollers and control are complicated. This will result in high cost of the apparatus and causes a difficulty in down sizing of the apparatus.
In some kinds of apparatus, conveying velocity of the paper is controlled to be accelerated and then decelerated during conveyance in order to realize high CPM (For example, Japanese unexamined patent publication No. 58-182655).
The present invention was made in the light of the above-described circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an image forming apparatus of high CPM in which paper is circulatorily conveyed without being temporarily stopped.
In order to achieve this object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an image forming apparatus comprising first paper supply means for supplying paper one sheet at a time; second paper supply means for receiving the paper from the first paper supply means and conveying the paper to an image formation section; the image formation section for forming an image by fixing a toner image after the toner image has been transferred to the paper supplied from the second paper supply means; and circulatory conveyance means for reversibly conveying and circulatorily conveying the paper, on which the image has been formed on a first surface thereof, to the second paper supply means once again, in order to form an image on a second surface of the paper, on which the image has been formed on the first surface thereof by the image formation section; after an image has been sequentially formed on the first surfaces of a predetermined number of sheets of the paper by the image formation section, the sheets of paper being reversibly conveyed and circulatorily conveyed to the second paper supply means by the circulatory conveyance means, and then image being successively formed on the second surfaces of the paper, on which the image has been formed on the first surfaces thereof; wherein a position at which the paper, on which the image has been formed on the first surface thereof, is accelerated from the paper conveyance speed during image formation in order for reversal and a position at which the post-reversal paper conveyance speed is decelerated in order to form the image on the second surface of the paper are alterable; and wherein images are formed on both sides of the paper without effecting control of the operation of the second paper supply means restricted by the number of image formed sheets per unit of time.
In the above aspect, the position or the timing at which the paper is accelerated for reversal may be determined by measuring the actual time from when conveyance of the paper from the second supply means to the image formation section is initiated to when the paper arrives at a position at which acceleration is possible.
Furthermore, the position or the timing at which the conveyance velocity of the reversed paper is decelerated may be determined by measuring an actual time required for the paper to arrive at a position where deceleration is possible from the position where reversal of the paper started.
According to the second aspect, there is provided an image forming apparatus having a paper waiting position where a sheet of paper to be supplied to an image formation section is caused to wait temporarily and a paper reversing means for reversing said paper with an image formed on one side thereof, said image forming apparatus comprising a paper supply means for supply paper from said paper waiting position to said image formation section; a first paper conveying means for conveying the paper with the image formed on one side thereof from said image formation section to said paper reversing means; a second paper conveying means for conveying the paper reversed by said paper reversing means to said paper waiting position; a controlling means for controlling a paper conveying velocity so that said paper is accelerated at a predetermined timing during being conveyed by said first paper conveying means and the reversed paper is decelerated at another predetermined timing during being conveyed by said second paper conveying means; and a correction means for correcting said timing of acceleration and deceleration of said paper.
The inventor of the present invention arrived at the invention by realizing that, in the image forming apparatus employing the non-stacked circulatory conveyance method for forming images on both sides of a sheet of paper, fluctuations of time required for the paper to arrive at the registration rollers for the purpose of formation of an image on the back side of the paper can be compensated by correcting the position or the timing at which the reversed paper is accelerated and/or decelerated in the circulatory conveyance path. As a result, it is not necessary to control the operation of the registration rollers at fixed intervals determined by CPM when forming an image on the back side of the paper.


A thorough wash operation of a process fluid is conducted within the confines of an enclosed housing. The housing includes four ports at one side of the housing for transmission of process fluids through a plurality of press frames so as to (1) separate solids from a principal liquid to recover a valuable commodity in the solid cakes formed from the principal liquid, or (2) remove contaminants from the principal liquid so as to recover a cleansed principal liquid, or (3) introduce a valuable commodity into a wash liquid from filter cakes formed from the principal liquid, which valuable commodity may subsequently be removed from the wash liquid. A drip pan hopper is removably secured to a bottom of the housing.

Heretofore encapsulated disc filter constructions have included horizontal disc filters stacked to form a vertical column of filter discs and these filter discs, after being assembled, are lowered into an upstanding container in which they are subsequently mounted to form a high capacity filter construction. However, these stacks of filters may be of considerable height and represent a considerable load, therefore requiring being handled by overhead hoist mechanisms. Accordingly, the task of replacing disc filters is time consuming and requires the placement of a suitable hoist adjacent the container for the disc filters.
Although horizontal filter constructions including a filter assembly of a plurality of side-by-side upstanding filter discs heretofore have been provided, these previously known forms of filter constructions are without enclosures and may therefore not be utilized in conjunction with certain fluids from which drippings and vapors may escape.
Accordingly, a need exists for an encapsulated horizontal filter construction including filter frames or plates which may be individually supported from the encapsulating structure and readily renewed or replaced when desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,392,956 discloses a filter construction including an elongated horizontal filter construction which is of the fully encapsulated type and is constructed in a manner whereby the individual filter frames or plates may be readily removed and replaced, when desired. The filter construction includes an elongated upwardly opening tank having interconnected opposite side and end walls with a first stationary filter head mounted in one end of the tank and a second movable head mounted in the other end of the tank and adjustably shiftable toward and away from the first head for clampingly engaging a plurality of filter frames between the heads.
The interior of the tank includes opposite side filter plate or frame supporting bars extending longitudinally thereof adjacent the upper marginal edges of the side walls of the tank and the various filter frames or plates to be clamped between the heads include support lugs slidably engaged with and supported from the bars. The shiftable head is movable toward the stationary head whereby the filter frames and plates may be clamped between the heads and the stationary head includes a fluid inlet passage and a fluid outlet passage for admitting fluid to be filtered into the filter construction and allowing the flow of filtered fluid from the filter construction.
The tank includes a downwardly opening cover and a support frame which swingably supports the cover from the tank for forward and downward swinging positions to close the tank and upward and rearward swinging to move the cover to an open position. The cover is supported from the frame for limited oscillation about a horizontal longitudinal axis and the opposite end walls of the tank include trapezoidal-shaped upper extensions and the end walls of the cover include complementary similar shape and size downwardly opening recesses in which the extensions are received when the cover is closed. The upper marginal edges of the opposite side and end walls of the tank include a seal structure for forming a vapor-tight seal with the lower marginal edges of the side and end walls of the cover when the cover is in the closed position and the movable filter head is supported from the corresponding tank end wall through the utilization of a jack screw threaded through the tank end wall and which may therefore be manipulated from the exterior of the tank to increase or decrease the compression forces applied to the filter plates disposed between the heads within the tank.
A lower portion of the tank includes a drain opening. The support frame for the cover and the tank have a pair of fluid cylinders operably connected therebetween for swinging the cover between the open and closed positions thereof.


A memory controller is to store a unique tag at the mid-point address within each of allocated memory portions. In addition to the tag data, additional metadata may be stored at the mid-point address of the memory allocation. For each memory access operation, an encoded pointer contains information indicative of a size of the memory allocation as well as its own tag data. The processor circuitry compares the tag data included in the encoded pointer with the tag data stored in the memory allocation. If the tag data included in the encoded pointer matches the tag data stored in the memory allocation, the memory operation proceeds. If the tag data included in the encoded pointer fails to match the tag data stored in the memory allocation, an error or exception is generated.

Memory tagging technology is a memory safety mechanism designed to prevent buffer overruns, overflows, and use after free exploits. Typically, the technology uses a repeating memory tag for every data block. For example, in systems using a 16 byte memory block, a 1 byte tag is associated with each memory block. Thus, a 16 GB memory allocation may require an additional 1 GB simply to store the tag data—resulting in gigabytes of wasted memory and performance impacts due to multiple redundant memory accesses to retrieve the tag metadata.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications, and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

Security check systems and methods for memory allocations