A contactless integrated circuit (IC) label has an IC chip and is capable of exchanging data with an external reading device without contact. The contactless IC label includes: a transparent label base material; an optical variable device formed on a lower surface of the label base material; a conductive layer bonded to and formed on a lower surface of the optical variable device, and configured to function as an antenna of the IC chip; a connecting layer electrically connected to the IC chip; an insulating layer formed between the conductive layer and the connecting layer, and configured to electrically couple the conductive layer and the connecting layer; and an impedance adjusting unit formed on at least the connecting layer of the conductive layer and the connecting layer, and configured to adjust impedances of the conductive layer and the IC chip.

Heretofore, contactless IC labels having an IC chip and an antenna have been used for merchandise control at retail stores or rental stores. This merchandise control involves attaching the contactless IC label to a commodity to be managed which is used as an adherend, and reading/writing data stored in the IC chip using a dedicated data reading/writing device to thereby perform ingress/egress control, inventory control, loan control, and so forth of the commodities. Due to the IC chip, a commodity code as well as an abundant amount of information such as an arrival date and a manager can be integrally managed with the commodity. Particularly, as for article control, contactless IC labels using microwaves are frequently used because they have a long communication distance of 1 to 2 m compared to contactless IC labels using electrostatic coupling or electromagnetic induction.
Further, as the contactless IC label comes into wide use, it is expected to combine an optical variable device (hereinafter referred to as "OVD") with the contactless IC label. OVD is a generic name of holograms or diffraction gratings that can represent a 3-dimensional image or a special decoration image using the interference of light, and multilayered thin films that cause the variation of a color depending on a viewing angle by superposing thin films having different optical characteristics. Since these OVDs make a special impression on the 3-dimensional image or the color variation, they have an excellent decorative effect, and thus are used for ordinary prints such as various packing materials or picture books, catalogs, and so forth. Furthermore, since the OVD requires advanced manufacturing technology, it is used as anti-counterfeit means for credit cards, securities, certified documents, and so forth.
When the above-described contactless IC label is combined with the OVD, a data reading/writing function of the contactless IC label is combined with an anti-counterfeit function or a decorative effect of the OVD. Thereby, it is possible to realize a higher level of anti-counterfeit effect, and to construct a label combining the anti-counterfeit effect or the decorative effect with a merchandise control function.
As one example, a contactless data transceiver is proposed in which a hologram is formed at a required position on a sheet metal having a conductive metal layer, and the conductive metal layer is used as an antenna pattern (e.g. see Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2002-42088


A method mixes a first component, a second component, and a buffer material. The first component includes an electrophilic polymer material comprising poly(ethylene glycol) having a functionality of at least three. The second component includes a nucleophilic material comprising a natural or synthetic protein at a concentration of about 25% or less that, when mixed with the first component within a reaction pH range, cross-links with the first component to form a non-liquid, three-dimensional barrier. The buffer material includes tris-hydroxymethylaminomethane having a pH within the reaction pH range. The method applies the mixture to adhere to a tissue region.

There are many therapeutic indications today that pose problems in terms of technique, cost efficiency, or efficacy, or combinations thereof.
For example, following an interventional procedure, such as angioplasty or stent placement, a 5 Fr to 8 Fr arteriotomy remains. Typically, the bleeding from the arteriotomy is controlled through pressure applied by hand, by sandbag, or by C-clamp for at least 30 minutes. While pressure will ultimately achieve hemostasis, the excessive use and cost of health care personnel is incongruent with managed care goals.
Various alternative methods for sealing a vascular puncture site have been tried. For example, collagen plugs have been used to occlude the puncture orifice. The collagen plugs are intended to activate platelets and accelerate the natural healing process. Holding the collagen seals in place using an anchor located inside the artery has also been tried. Still, patient immobilization is required until clot formation stabilizes the site. Other problems, such as distal embolization of the collagen, rebleeding, and the need for external pressure to achieve hemostatis, also persist.
As another example, devices that surgically suture the puncture site percutaneously have also been used. The devices require the practice of fine surgical skills to place needles at a precise distance from the edges of the puncture orifice and to form an array of suture knots, which are tightened and pushed from the skin surface to the artery wall with a knot pusher, resulting in puncture edge apposition.
There remains a need for fast and straightforward mechanical and chemical systems and methods to close vascular puncture sites and to accelerate the patient's return to ambulatory status without pain and prolonged immobilization.
There also remains a demand for biomaterials that improve the technique, cost efficiency, and efficacy of these and other therapeutic indications.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A catheter and guidewire exchange system in which the guideware is contained within a guidewire leumen in the indwelling portion of the catheter and with the guidewire and catheter being separated externally of the patient. The catheter includes a guidewire lumen which is slit longitudinally along the length of the catheter. The guide member is carried by the catheter and serves to spread the slit of the lumen to guide the guidewire into or out of the slit guidewire lumen. The guide member may be advanced along the catheter and guidewire in zipper-like fashion so that the proximal ends of the guidewire and catheter will be separated while the distal portions will be merged.

Catheters are placed at various locations within a patient for a wide variety of purposes and medical procedures. For example only, one type of catheter is a balloon dilation catheter which is used in the treatment of a vascular stenosis. Such a catheter has a balloon at its distal end which is intended to be placed, in a deflated condition, within the stenosis, and then inflated while in the stenosis to expand radially the stenosed lumen of the blood vessel. Typically, the placement of such catheters involves the use of a guidewire which may be advanced through the patient's vasculature to the location which is to be treated. The catheter, which has a lumen adapted to receive the guidewire, then is advanced over the wire, or the wire and the catheter may be advanced in unison with the wire protruding from the distal end of the catheter. In either case, the wire serves to guide the catheter to the location to be treated.
It often becomes necessary, in the performance of a catheter procedure, to exchange the indwelling catheter for another catheter, for example, for a catheter having a different size balloon. In a typical catheter exchange, the guidewire first is removed from the lumen of the indwelling catheter. Then a longer exchange wire, usually about twice the length of the catheter, is passed through the catheter to replace the original wire. Then, while holding the exchange wire by its proximal end to maintain it in place, the catheter is withdrawn proximally from the blood vessel over the exchange wire. After the first catheter has been removed, the next catheter then is threaded onto the proximal end of the exchange wire and is advanced along the exchange wire and through the patient's blood vessels until the distal end of the catheter is located as desired. The exchange wire may be permitted to remain in place or may be exchanged for a shorter, conventional length guidewire.
A device, referred to as the "monorail" system, has been proposed recently which would modify the foregoing catheter exchange technique. In the proposed monorail system, the catheter is formed so that the guidewire is located outside of the catheter except for a short segment at the distal end of the catheter, which passes over the wire. The distal segment of the catheter has a short lumen which extends from the distal tip of the catheter to a more proximally located opening near the distal tip. In use, the guidewire is placed initially in the patient's vascular system. The distal segment of the catheter then is threaded onto the wire. The catheter can be advanced alongside the wire with its distal segment being attached to and guided along the wire. The catheter can be removed and exchanged for another catheter without the use of the usual double length exchange wire and without requiring withdrawal of the initially placed guidewire.
Although the proposed monorail catheter system may avoid the requirement for using a long exchange wire, it presents several difficulties. For example, it is not possible to exchange guidewires in an indwelling catheter, should that be desired. Additionally, the device presents a potential for damaging the delicate inner surface of an artery from a tension load applied to the guidewire which would tend to straighten the artery. Also, there is an increased risk of guidewire entanglement in those procedures where multiple guidewires are used, because the guidewires are exposed within the blood vessel. It is among the general objects of the invention to provide an improved device which overcomes the foregoing difficulties.


The present invention relates generally to devices that are used to simulate a firearm recoil effect. It is a known fact that the recoil effect of a firearm directly influences quality of marksmanship of a shooter in areas including but not limited to target acquisition and re-acquisition, firing accuracy, psychological anticipation of a shot to be fired, proper grip of a weapon and more. The suggested device is used in a combination with training simulators to enhance the tactical functionality and by so increasing the quality of training. The recoil emulation device mounts on a barrel of any standard handheld firearm including but not limited to all types of machine guns and sniper rifles. It is then connected via a cable to an air compressor, which provides air pressure required to initiate a recoil emulation cycle. The recoil emulation device consists of a cylinder, which holds a metal ball, which travels throughout the cylinder and provides the impact required to cause an upward displacement of a weapon.

The proposed device falls into category of devices that imitate recoil shock that takes place during a firearm shot. It is known, that when shooting a typical rifle the operator experiences strong blows into his shoulder. Recoil causes a certain tension and constrains the shooter somewhat, which in turn affect the targeting ability of the shooter. Essentially every new shot requires re-targeting.
For acquiring weapon usage skills a shooting training is essential. Various training simulators that are used for this purpose allow practicing sharp shooting from any type of light firearms without using live ammunition. "Training Simulator For Sharp Shooting" (U.S. Pat. No. 6,942,486 and one with filing number U.S. Ser. No. 11/274,904 both issued to Matvey Lvovskiy) falls into this class. The last filing introduces a technical concept of building a simulator based on using real (but not loaded) weapons systems. In those training systems the image of the target shown on the screen, while shots are emulated by sending a laser beam from the emitter that is attached to the firearm and is activated by pulling on the trigger. To make training exercises more effective and to assist in development of recoil management and target re-acquisition skills we propose an additional device to emulate, the recoil effect.
Analysis shows a large number of patented devices in this area. In the Pat. No. 4,380,437 the recoil emulation device is installed into a model rifle approximating the shape of the weapon, rather than a real weapon itself. When the trigger is pulled a pneumatic system is activated, which rapidly propels an auxiliary bottom of the butt of the rifle in the direction of the shooter imitating the recoil effect. This approach leads to the phenomenon of varying distance between the shoulder and the butt of the weapon during the time interval between the shot and the recoil. When using a real weapon this phenomenon does not take place. Therefore this approach has a limited application and is not usable as an attachment to the real weapon systems that are used during training exercises. The Pat. Nos. 6,729,322 and 6,869,285 for teaching and training devices also use model rather then real rifles. Practically every weapon type requires a modification of the recoil emulation system.

Recoil emulation device for weapon training


A cartonless recyclable package for protectively enclosing a product, such as photographic film, comprises a recyclable plastic container and mating cap with recyclably compatible plastic labels thereon bearing product information. One such label on the cap has readily tearable tab portions extending therefrom and tautly secured to the container, to tear apart when the cap is first removed. A second label, secured to the container and overlapping the tearable tab portions, includes inner and outer sheets separably adhered together. The outer sheet can be peeled back to reveal information on the interfacing surfaces of both sheets, and then re-adhered to the inner sheet. A third label, separably adhered to the first label on the cap, may be peeled away and re-adhered to some other surface for reference after the product has been removed. A thumb tab on the cap, to facilitate cap removal, is used also to orient the container and cap for appropriate placement of the labels, and to orient the resulting package in a cooperating displaying and dispensing device. That device comprises an upstanding, open-ended, transparent, tubular chute having a longitudinal slot extending down a rear side thereof and configured to receive the package through its open top end, with the thumb tab projecting rearwardly through the slot, thereby orienting the package labels to face forwardly in a desired display direction. The package is gravity-fed to the open bottom end, where it is supported and oriented for convenient removal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to product packaging, particularly to such packaging having tamper-evident means thereon, and more particularly to such packaging suitable for protectively enclosing a photosensitive product.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various schemes for discouraging or evidencing product-package tampering are known in the prior art. Pertinent examples may be found in the following documents:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,383 (Wender)--Discloses a tamper-evident package comprising a jar with a circular opening, a circular cap that is closingly matable with the opening, and an annular connecting member on the cap with diametrically opposed, frangible tabs extending downwardly therefrom and secured to correspondingly opposite sides of the jar, to seal the jar closed and to evidence tampering by breaking or tearing apart whenever the cap is moved relative to the opening.
Jap. Patent Pub. No. 1-113235 (Fuji)--Discloses a film package comprising a plastic cylindrical can with an open end and an end cap hingedly attached thereto by a sealing tape that extends across the cap and down onto opposite sides of the can, for protectively containing a 35 mm film cartridge.
Jap. Patent Pub. No. 1-113237 (Fuji)--Discloses a film package comprising a plastic cylindrical can with an open end and an end cap removably attached thereto by a disposable sealing tape that extends across the cap and down onto opposite sides of the can, for protectively containing a 35 mm film cartridge.
U.K. Published Patent Application No. GB-2,213,135-A (Fuji)--Discloses a film package comprising a plastic container with an open end or side and a removable or hingedly attached cap, for opening and closing the container around a 35 mm film cartridge, wherein an information-displaying label may be attached to the container's outer surface, a seal may extend from the container to the cap to indicate whether the package has been opened, and a lug or tab may project from an edge of the cap to facilitate opening.
While protective packages with schemes such as those referred to above may have sufficed for their intended purposes, there is now an increasing need for product packages having a more efficient and reliable means for evidencing, and thereby discouraging, any attempted tampering with the enclosed product. That need heretofore has not been satisfactorily met.


A device for drilling a hole with an expanded diameter includes: a body, a shank; a sleeve; a compression spring; a drill bit body; an expanded diameter hole portion forming member attached to a side surface of the drill bit body and configured such that a cutting bit protrudes laterally from the drill bit body when the expanded diameter hole portion forming member moves forward on the side surface; a compression spring, which urges the expanded diameter hole portion forming member rearward relative to the drill bit body; and a cam. The expanded diameter hole portion forming member is configured to move forward on the side surface of the drill bit body owing to rotation of the cam when the body moves forward relative to the sleeve.

In the case of implanting an anchor bolt in a drilling object, such as concrete, there is a method of using an anchor bolt whose base portion is fitted with a slitted cylindrical body provided with a slit formed in its axial direction. In this method, a hole with a predetermined depth is drilled in the drilling object, and the base portion of the anchor bolt is inserted in the drilled hole. Thereafter, the slitted cylindrical body is expanded inside the hole such that frictional resistance is exerted between the cylindrical body and the wall of the hole, and thereby the anchor bolt is implanted.
In this case, the pull-out strength of the anchor bolt implanted in the drilling object greatly depends on the strength of the joint between the wall of the drilled hole and the expanded slitted cylindrical body. Accordingly, an expanded diameter hole portion where the diameter of the drilled hole is expanded by cutting the wall of the hole may be formed in advance in the inner part of the drilled hole at a position corresponding to the base portion of the implanted anchor bolt. In this manner, the pull-out strength of the anchor bolt can be greatly increased.
Therefore, various conventional hole-drilling devices for drilling a hole with an expanded diameter hole portion have been proposed. Such a conventional hole-drilling device drills a straight hole with a predetermined depth in a drilling object, such as concrete, by using a hole-drilling tool such as a hammer drill, and also, forms an expanded diameter hole portion in the inner part of the drilled hole by cutting.
As a hole-drilling device of this type, the inventor of the present invention has previously proposed a hole-drilling device for drilling a hole with an expanded diameter hole portion, which is configured as follows: a drill bit body is fixed to the center of the lower end of a base including a shank; an expanded diameter hole portion forming member is movably attached to a guide groove formed in the side surface of the drill bit body; a cylindrical sleeve is provided on the lower part of the base such that the cylindrical sleeve is movable upward and downward; a lifting spring is provided between the cylindrical sleeve and the expanded diameter hole portion forming member; a pushing plate that moves upward and downward in conjunction with the expanded diameter hole portion forming member is disposed in the cylindrical sleeve; and an application force transmission mechanism is disposed between the cylindrical sleeve and the pushing plate (see Patent Literature 1, for example).
According to the hole-drilling device disclosed in Patent Literature 1, in the case of drilling a hole, during the drilling, when a contacting portion of the cylindrical sleeve comes into contact with the surface of the drilling object and thereby the cylindrical sleeve stops moving downward, movement in which the base still moving downward together with the drill bit body comes closer to the cylindrical sleeve is converted into movement in which the application force transmission mechanism pushes down the expanded diameter hole portion forming member via the pushing plate, such that a cutting bit provided at the lower end of the expanded diameter hole portion forming member (i.e., an undercut bit) is caused to protrude laterally from the drill bit body from an inclined surface formed at the lower end of the guide groove of the drill bit body, and thereby an expanded diameter hole portion is formed in the inner part of the drilled hole by cutting.

Hole-drilling device for drilling hole with expanded diameter hole portion


In a method and apparatus, a property of an optically diffuse medium including a first optical absorber having a first concentration and a second optical absorber having a second concentration is determined. A surface area of the medium is imaged at multiple wavelengths around an isosbestic wavelength of the first absorber and the second absorber. A reflectance spectrum of the medium at the surface area at the multiple wavelengths is determined. A derivative of the determined reflectance spectrum around the isosbestic wavelength is determined. From the derivative, a concentration ratio of the first concentration and the second concentration is estimated.

Visual inspection is the oldest technique available to mankind to assess the quality of biological materials such as fruits, vegetables, meat, fish and live human tissue. Moreover, until recently, visual inspection has been the only technique available to mankind to assess the health status of said biological materials from the outer surface thereof.
Recently, camera based optical imaging has made its entry into the medical field. The power of optical imaging lies in the phenomenon that light penetrates up to centimeters into many biological materials. In most of these materials light is scattered strongly and becomes diffuse. In addition, very specific wavelengths of light are absorbed by specific tissue components.
Together, absorption and scattering determine the amount and spectral distribution of the light that is reflected. Hence, diffuse optical images do not only give information on the shape and the surface of the material imaged, but more importantly on what is below the surface.
Depending on the wavelength of the light, sampling depths in the order of, or up to, a centimeter, cm, are feasible.
In multispectral or hyperspectral imaging, optical images are acquired using dedicated camera systems that detect light in different wavelength bands. The images taken by these cameras are often processed by various image processing methods to obtain information on the status of biochemical composition of the imaged object. Examples of materials subjected to diffuse optical imaging range from raw foods to assess their freshness, crops to assess their status, to live human tissues to detect and locate remaining cancer cells during and after surgery.
Although light scattering is the very phenomenon that enables diffuse optical imaging, it also complicates quantitatively accurate imaging, and it limits the sharpness of the images taken.
When imaging a homogenous medium, the diffuse light captured in the form of diffuse reflection gives an excellent representation of the optical properties of the tissue. If images are taken at sufficient wavelengths, then there are ample mathematical models available that allow spectral unmixing, i.e. the extraction of the different concentrations of the tissue components.
These methods vary from complicated diffusion theory based spectral analyses based on a lot of prior knowledge on light transport and the tissue components to purely mathematical techniques such as spectral unmixing, SU, or machine learning, ML. Often, more simple approaches are used such as ratioing the diffuse reflectance at two strategically chosen wavelengths.
Preferentially, however, diffuse optical imaging is used in cases where a defect is not spread over the tissue evenly, and its location is not known. In fact, the purpose of imaging usually is to detect and locate a defect. In such a case the diffuse nature of the reflected light limits the sharpness of the image, and thereby decreases the accuracy of detection of small defects.
In diffuse media, the sampling depth and imaging resolution are inversely related: in the case of a decreased scattering coefficient the diffuse light detected has sampled deeper into the tissue, generating an image with a lower spatial resolution, while a sample with a larger scattering coefficient samples more superficially and may have a higher spatial resolution.
A case of inhomogeneously distributed optical properties is not rare, since most biological materials are very inhomogeneous. A possible defect can be considered as an additional inhomogeneity. For diffuse light this has serious consequences as the diffuse light will encounter different optical properties at different locations. Because these optical properties are wavelength dependent and this wavelength dependence is different for different tissue compositions, the diffuse light will have different distributions at different wavelengths.
As a consequence, different wavelengths will sample different volumes. This will compromise any spectral unmixing approach. This phenomenon is very well known in the field of diffuse optical spectroscopy.
In many cases, simple ratios of images taken at strategically chosen wavelengths can give excellent information on the ratio between different absorbing components. These numbers can then be used to characterize the tissue.
As an example, a fat-to-water ratio image has been proposed to be of particular interest, in particular for a diagnosis of breast cancer. Such a ratio would be accurate in homogenous tissue. Due to the inhomogeneous nature of the distributions of these tissue components, the ratios calculated have been documented to be in error by as much as 50%.
For a medium, the diffuse reflection Rd can be related to the absorption coefficient by the relation:Rd˜  (1.1)where μa stands for the absorption coefficient and l for the average path length of the detected photons.
When taking two wavelengths λ1 and λ2, a ratio X can be calculated from the natural logs of the diffuse reflections:
                    X        =                                                            〈                                  l                  2                                〉                                                                            μ                  a                                                                  (                                      λ                    2                                    )                                                                                〈                                  l                  1                                〉                                                                            μ                  a                                                                  (                                      λ                    1                                    )                                                              =                                    ln                                            (                                                      R                    d                                                                          (                                          λ                      2                                        )                                                  )                                                    ln                                            (                                                      R                    d                                                                          (                                          λ                      1                                        )                                                  )                                                                        (        1.2        )
Assuming the presence of two absorbers at molar concentrations C1 and C2, then:μa(λ)=C1μa,1(λ)+C2μa,2(λ)  (1.3)where μa,m(λ) stands for the molar absorption coefficient of absorber with index m. Introducing the concentration ratio:
                    ψ        =                              C            1                                              C              1                        +                          C              2                                                          (        1.4        )            so that (1.3) can be written as:μa(λ)=(C1+C2)(ψμa,1(λ)+(1−ψ)μa,2(λ))  (1.5)
Now expression (1.2) can be rewritten into:
                    X        =                                            ln                                            (                                                      R                    d                                                                          (                                          λ                      2                                        )                                                  )                                                    ln                                            (                                                      R                    d                                                                          (                                          λ                      1                                        )                                                  )                                              =                                                    〈                                  l                  1                                〉                                            〈                                  l                  2                                〉                                                                (                                                                    ψ                                                                                μ                                                  a                          ,                          1                                                                                (                                                  λ                          2                                                )                                                                              +                                                            (                                              1                        -                        ψ                                            )                                                                                μ                                                  a                          ,                          2                                                                                (                                                  λ                          2                                                )                                                                                ψ                                                                                μ                                                  a                          ,                          1                                                                                (                                                  λ                          1                                                )                                                                              +                                                            (                                              1                        -                        ψ                                            )                                                                                μ                                                  a                          ,                          2                                                                                (                                                  λ                          1                                                )                                                                                )                                                          (        1.6        )
From expression (1.6) it is clear that, when the path lengths l1 and l2 are identical and the absorption properties of both absorbers are known, the concentration ratio ψ can be derived from the ratio of the natural logarithms of the reflectances. The strongest sensitivity is found when wavelengths λ1 and λ2 are chosen to be at wavelengths where the two absorbers have maximum differences. This ratio is often used in hyper or multi spectral imaging to quantify concentration ratios of chromophores.
The main problem in practical application of expression (1.6), lies in the assumption that l1=l2. In practice the path lengths, l1 and l2, are dependent on the optical properties.
There are three main reasons why the assumption l1=l2 is problematic in practical use.
A first reason is that the path length is dependent on both the absorption and the scattering properties. When aiming at a maximum sensitivity, the wavelengths λ1 and λ2 are chosen to be at wavelengths where the two absorbers have maximum differences. This results in very different path lengths and sampling volumes, even in homogeneous tissue.
A second reason is that the two tissue types with different concentrations of the two absorbers considered may be biologically very different. Hence it is likely that these tissues will also have very different scattering properties. This too causes large differences in path lengths and hence differences in sampling volumes.
A third reason is that the need for imaging implies inhomogeneous tissue, where different types of tissue with very different optical properties coexist. This results in very different path lengths and very different sampling volumes in the different tissue areas. Also it can generate artefacts in the boundary region between the two tissues. Detected photons show a preference for 'paths of lowest absorption': Light detected at the wavelength of maximum absorption of a first absorber will have a stronger contribution from photons that have travelled preferentially through tissue containing a higher concentration of a second absorber, and vice versa. So, even if l1 would be of the same length as l2, the two paths would have sampled very different tissue volumes. This problem leads to an overestimation of the total amount of tissue components.

Method, apparatus and software for detection and localization of hidden defects in optically diffuse media

Stichting Het Nederlands Kanker Instituut-Antoni Van Leeuwenhoek Ziekenhuis


In the production of filter-tipped cigarettes (25), an apparatus (filter attachment machine) is used, which consists of a main cylinder (10) and a plurality of assigned further cylinders. The elements of the filter-tipped cigarettes (25), specifically a tobacco rod (15) or part-rods (16, 17), filter pieces (21), cigarette units (23), and the filter-tipped cigarettes (25) produced therefrom are transported by the main cylinder (10), with the exception that part-rods (16, 17) displaced at a distance from one another and with a filter piece (21) inserted for the attachment of a wrapping paper (22) are transported and connected to one another outside the main cylinder (10), so that one-piece cigarette units (23) are returned to the main cylinder (10).

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a method for the production of filter-tipped cigarettes from tobacco rods, which are severed centrally during transportation to produce part-rods, the part-rods being moved apart, and being connected by means of wrapping paper to a filter piece and cigarette units thus formed being severed centrally in the region of the filter piece. The invention also relates to an apparatus for carrying out the method.
2. Prior Art
The production or finishing of filter-tipped cigarettes takes place in the area of a filter attachment machine. The latter comprises a number of cylinders with troughs arranged on the circumference. The abovementioned process steps for the production of the filter-tipped cigarettes are performed in the area of these troughed cylinders.

Method and device for producing filter cigarettes


In one or more implementations, a static geometry model is generated, from one or more images of a physical environment captured using a camera, using one or more static objects to model corresponding one or more objects in the physical environment. Interaction of a dynamic object with at least one of the static objects is identified by analyzing at least one image and a gesture is recognized from the identified interaction of the dynamic object with the at least one of the static objects to initiate an operation of the computing device.

Display and input techniques utilized by computing devices are ever evolving. For example, initial computing devices were provided with monochrome monitors. A user interacted with the computing device by viewing simple text on the monochrome monitor and entering text via a keyboard that could then be viewed on the monitor.
Display and input techniques were then expanded into use of color and graphical user interfaces. These techniques, for instance, may be utilized to show graphics to represent files, devices connected to the computing device, images, and so on using color. A user may then interact with the graphical user interface using the keyboard as well as by using a cursor control device, such as a mouse.
Display and input techniques have continued to evolve, such as to sense touch using a touchscreen display of a computing device to recognize gestures. However, these techniques often involved sensing of actual contact by a sensor that was integral to the touchscreen device and therefore limited these techniques to detection of physical interaction between the user and the computing device.


A fluid impermeable protective layer is described for a structure that has a 3-dimensional profile. The 3-dimensional profile can include actuators. The protective layer is applied so that there are no breaches in the protective layer and so that the protective layer is not too thick to prevent the actuators from being able to properly function.

The following description relates to using a photoimageable material with a MEMS device.
Photoimageable materials provide a convenient means for forming patterned layers, such as in a semiconductor device. An exemplary process for patterning photoimageable materials is to expose the materials to radiation, such as light, and developing to remove unwanted portions material and to form a desired pattern. Some types of photoimageable materials can also function as adhesive to bond components or layers. Their adhesive nature allows joining objects with a wide range of planarity or roughness. Photoimageable materials can also be used for fabrication of structures.


Two or more solutions comprising an organic pigment solution in which an organic pigment is dissolved in a good solvent, and a poor solvent compatible with the good solvent, or a solution of the poor solvent are allowed to flow through a microchannel in a non-laminar state; and organic pigment fine particles are deposited from the organic pigment solution in a course of flowing through the microchannel by changing the solubility of the organic pigment solution with the poor solvent or the solution of the poor solvent. As a result, nanometer-scale monodisperse organic pigment fine particles can be produced in a stable manner.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to organic pigment fine particles used for coatings, printing ink, electrophotographic toner, ink for inkjet printers, color filters and the like, and a method of producing the same, particularly to a method of producing organic pigment fine particles by a build-up method. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of producing an organic pigment fine particle dispersion by depositing organic pigment fine particles by changing the solubility in the course of allowing an organic pigment solution to flow through a microchannel.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pigments generally exhibit vivid color tone and high coloring power, and they are widely used in many fields. Applications of pigments include, for example, coatings, printing ink, electrophotographic toner, ink for inkjet printers and color filters, and pigments have now become an important compound indispensable in everyday life.
General properties and classification of applications of pigments are described, for example, in "Stabilization of Pigment Dispersion and Surface Treatment Technique/Evaluation", 2001, pp. 123-224, Technical Information Institute Co., Ltd. Of the aforementioned applications, ink pigments for inkjet printers and pigments for color filters require high performance and are practically particularly important.
Although dyes have been used as a coloring material for ink for inkjet printers, they have disadvantages in water resistance and light resistance. To improve such problems, pigments are now being used. Images obtained using pigment ink have a special advantage that their light resistance and water resistance are better than those of images obtained by dye ink. However, formation of uniform fine particles of pigment ink of a nanometer size which can infiltrate through spaces on the surface of paper (i.e., monodispersing) is difficult, and thus there is a problem that the pigment ink has poor adhesion to paper.
With an increase in the number of pixels in digital cameras, thinning of color filters used in CCD sensors is in demand. Organic pigments are used in such color filters, and as the thickness of the filter depends largely on the particle size of the organic pigment, there has been a need to produce monodisperse and stable fine particles of a nanometer size level.
Generally, methods of producing fine particles are roughly classified into breakdown methods in which fine particles are produced from a bulk material by pulverization or the like as described, for example, in "The Fourth Series of Experimental Chemistry" edited by the Chemical Society of Japan, vol. 12, pp. 411-488, Maruzen Co., Ltd. and build-up methods in which fine particles are produced by particle growth in a gas phase or liquid phase. Although the method of producing fine particles by pulverization based on a breakdown method has been frequently used and is highly practical, it involves various problems such as extremely low productivity for producing particles of organic materials of a nanometer size and limitation on materials to which the method can be applied. In this situation, formation of nanometer-scale fine particles of organic materials by a build-up method is now being studied.
One of the build-up methods recently disclosed is a method for forming fine particles of an azo pigment, which is an organic pigment, using supercritical fluid or subcritical fluid (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2002-138216). Specifically, the method comprises dissolving a pigment in supercritical fluid or subcritical fluid and allowing crystal to grow by returning the conditions of the solution to room temperature and normal pressure, thereby producing fine particles. Practicing this method involves problems that equipment capable of giving extremely high temperature and pressure near the supercritical temperature and pressure is necessary and that organic compounds are generally easily decomposed under such conditions.
The second build-up method is a method for forming fine particles using a microjet reactor, which is a micro-chemical process technology described later (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2002-146222, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2002-155221, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2002-161218). The method comprises introducing a solution in which a pigment is dissolved and a medium for deposition into two opposing nozzles of a different micrometer size at high pressure (e.g., 5M Pa) by a pump, vertically injecting gas (compressed air, etc) to the area where the jet streams of the two solutions collide, and discharging the pigment suspension by the gas stream (about 0.5 m3/h). Of such methods, the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2002-146222 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2002-161218 are equivalent to the breakdown method, in which pigment particles are formed into fine particles by allowing pigment suspensions to collide with each other in a chamber. On the other hand, the method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2002-155221 is a method for producing fine particles by spraying a pigment solution and a medium for deposition in a chamber and depositing, which can be regarded as a build-up method. The method is designed to produce particles in a narrow space of a micrometer scale and immediately discharge the particles to the outside of the reactor in order to prevent blocking of the reactor by the pigment fine particles. Although the method is suitable for preparing fine particles with a narrow particle size distribution, it has a problem that control of the contact time of solutions is difficult and thus fine control of the reaction is difficult.
The third build-up method is a method comprising gradually bringing a solution in which an organic pigment is dissolved into contact with an aqueous medium to deposit the pigment (so-called coprecipitation method (reprecipitation method)), one of the solutions containing a dispersant, thereby producing stable fine particles (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2003-026972). Although particles of a nanometer size can be easily produced by this method, there may be fluctuation in particle size or needle particles tend to be formed upon scale-up. Therefore, although particles are measured to be single nanometer particles in a particle size measurement device, rather long needle particles are found when the particles are observed by a transmission electron microscope. Such particles are not suitable as fine particles for ink for inkjet printers for which spherical particles are desirable.
There are methods classified between the build-up method and the breakdown method. One of them is a method called conditioning, in which the particle size of coarse particles is made uniform by applying some energy. Recently, a method of conditioning by heat treatment of an organic pigment in a microreactor utilizing a concept of micro-chemical process technology (described later) is disclosed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2002-030230). By continuously introducing a suspension of liquid pigment precursor (a solution in which pigment with a wide particle size distribution is suspended) into a microreactor to perform heat-treatment, phase change of pigment crystal fine particles in the suspension occurs, and simultaneously, particles having a larger average particle size and a narrower particle size distribution than those of the precursor can be produced. The method has an advantage that particles with a narrow particle size distribution can be obtained, but has a disadvantage that although the precursor has a small particle size, the particle size consequently becomes large.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.2004-175975 discloses a method of producing a surface-treated organic pigment by collision mixing of an organic pigment, an aqueous medium and a mixture containing rosin and/or a derivative of the organic pigment. To perform such collision mixing, however, use of an extremely high pressure of 30 to 300 Mpa is necessary, and therefore, considering energy consumption, such a method of collision mixing using a microscale reactor has problems of productivity and environmental load.

Organic pigment fine particles and method of producing same


The present invention involves a method for preparing antibody-producing chicken cell clones. This method comprises a series of steps including initially immunizing a first chicken with a desired antigen. A population of antibody-producing lymphocytes from bursa or spleen of the first chicken is separated.. The antibody-producing lymphocyte population is then infected with helper-free reticuloendotheliosis virus REV-T or helper-free reticuloendotheliosis virus REV-T and CSV (preferably REV-T(CSV) and transplanted into a second chicken, the second chicken having been pretreated to remove normal B cells. The transplanted lymphocytes to proliferate in the second chicken, preferably for a period of at least about two weeks.. The lymphocytes from spleen, bursa or peripheral blood of the second chicken are isolated and plated out, for example in microtiter plates. Cell clones producing antibody such as IgG or IgM directed against the desired antigen are then selected. The isolation step most preferably involves cell culturing in the microtiter plates for a period of at least about one week.

Reticuloendotheliosis viruses (REVs) are a group of avian retroviruses that infect chickens, turkeys, and ducks (1). The prototype virus of this group is reticuloendotheliosis virus strain T(REV-T). REV-T(REV-A) designates a mixture of a replication-defective virus (REV-T) that induces acute neoplastic disease and a nondefective helper virus (REV-A) capable of inducing an immunosuppressive runting disease (2-4). REV-A and other non-defective REVs can be distinguished from REV-T by their ability to replicate in vitro in fibroblasts and their inability to induce acute neoplastic disease in vivo (5, 6). Some non-defective REVs, chick syncytial virus (CSV) and REV-A, induce a bursal-dependent B-cell lymphoma that is indistinguishable from avian leukosis virus (ALV)-induced lymphoid leukosis (6, 7). These tumors develop after a long latent period, are monoclonal and are characterized by proviral insertion within the c-myc locus (8, 9). In contrast, REV-T causes an acute neoplastic disease known as reticuloendotheliosis because the prominent cell in the original neoplastic lesion was morphologically identified as reticuloendothelial (10). These tumors develop rapidly, appear to be polyclonal and are thought to require the expression of the v-rel oncogene carried by REV-T (11, 12).
Despite the original description of the disease, the identity of the tumor induced by v-rel remains unclear. In situ characterization of the in vivo-derived tumor tissue has not been reported. In vitro studies suggest the REV-T-transformed cells are of early lymphoid origin (13, 14), but the absence of specific markers that define this phenotype has prevented conclusive identification. There are two reports of REV-T-derived cell lines which express IgM (14, 15) and it is possible that several phenotypically distinct cells may serve as target cells for v-rel-induced tumors.
REV-A is known to cause thymic and bursal atrophy as well as immunosuppression (2, 17, 18). Since the bursa is the major compartment of B lymphocyte development in the chicken, we reasoned that one consequence of REV-A infection and the subsequent disruption of this organ might be a reduction in B-cell proliferation and differentiation. If REV-T induces lymphoid tumors as suggested by studies of in vitro-derived REV-T cell lines, it is possible that REV-A replication influences the spectrum of lymphoid tumors that develop by reducing the pool of IgM positive B-lymphocytes that are available for REV-T infection. It has been reported that both immunosuppression and bursal atrophy are less severe in CSV-infected chicks (6, 18). We speculated, therefore, that if CSV provided the helper virus functions required for REV-T replication, the pool of cells available for infection by REV-T might contain significantly more IgM positive lymphocytes. Since IgM-positive tumor cell lines have been isolated following REV-T(REV-A) infection, albeit rarely, the present invention involves a prediction that REV-T(CSV) infection would lead to high frequency production of IgM positive B-cell lymphomas.

Avian immunoglobulin-producing cell lines

The Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


Disclosed are a method and device for adjusting a pupil distance of a virtual reality display device. The method adjusts a second pupil distance on a virtual reality display device by means of a first pupil distance of a user wearing the virtual reality display device, the first pupil distance referring to a pupil distance of the user wearing the virtual reality display device, and the second pupil distance being used as a distance between focal points of two lenses of the virtual reality display device; the method comprises: detecting whether the first pupil distance and the second pupil distance match; if the first pupil distance and the second pupil distance do not match, then executing a preset matching operation on the virtual reality display device. The present application solves the technical problem of a virtual reality display device being bulky and heavy.

VR display device is a type of 3D VR and observation equipment. It can be separately connected to the host to receive the 3D VR image signals from the host and utilize space tracker and positioner to observe the VR export effects.
As the inventor discovers, a VR display device normally requires manual regulation of pupillary distance. Such a method of regulation is rather subjective and normally leads to misalignment of the pupil center, lens center and screen (after screen splitting) center. As a result, the visual effects are poor and the problem of unclear and distorted image arises, thus reducing the user experience. Meanwhile, manual regulation requires considerable room, which causes the VR display device to be bulky and heavy.
No effective solution has been proposed to the problem of bulky and heavy VR display device.

Method and device for adjusting pupil distance of virtual reality display device


A patient couch for a medical diagnosis and/or treatment device includes a metal-free fluoroscopy section and at least two couch sections that are connected to each other in an articulated manner and may be pivoted relative to each other using a motor-driven adjustment mechanism. The adjustment mechanism is arranged outside of the metal-free fluoroscopy section.

The present embodiments relate to a patient couch for a medical diagnosis and/or treatment device.
Medical diagnosis and/or treatment devices may have different patient tables. There are patient tables having a one-piece couch that have an extremely high load-bearing capacity and offer optimal x-ray transparency. However, patient couches of this type only allow the patient to adopt a flat supine or prone position. If the patient is placed in a side position, accessibility for the user is more difficult.
In addition, extremely adaptable operating tables in which good flexibility with regard to the positioning of the patient is paramount are known. Due to the design concept, however, operating tables of this type have a complex construction, and disadvantages in terms of fluoroscopic suitability are to be accepted.
In practice, one-piece patient tables or patient couches may be used when only angiographic examinations are to be performed for diagnostic purposes. If interventional treatments are also to be possible, an operating table having a complex structure is provided. Apart from the flexibility with regard to the positioning of the patient, this has disadvantages in terms of fluoroscopic suitability and due to the complicated design.


A mobile station is provided. The mobile station includes: a wireless communication unit which establishes wireless communication with a base station; a storage unit which stores a roaming list used when roaming to a mobile communication network other than a specific mobile communication network; a communication network selecting unit which selects a mobile communication network with which the mobile station is capable of communicating wirelessly, by using the roaming list; and an update unit which requests update of the roaming list through the wireless communication unit at a time of starting the mobile station, and updates the roaming list stored in the storage unit if changed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile station capable of roaming between mobile communication networks, and a wireless communication method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, mobile stations such as mobile phones and Personal Hand phone System (PHS) have been widely used, and a phone call or access to information has become enabled irrespective of time and place. In addition, available regions of mobile stations have expanded, and a phone call or communication has become enabled anywhere at home and visiting using one mobile station.
There is a communication carrier for each area (service area) anywhere at home and visiting, and each communication carrier configures a mobile communication network. Among such mobile communication networks, it is possible to continue a wireless communication with so-called roaming in which a user can receive a same service as that provided by a communication carrier contracted with the user, by switching a communication method or the like. At the time of performing such roaming, a mobile communication network is specified in each area, and a roaming list having information for establishing wireless communication with the mobile communication network is used.
The user can acquire the above-described roaming list through BroadCast/MultiCast Services (BCMSC) for multicasting the same information from a base station to a plurality of mobile stations in an area, or through user's manual operation. A technique has been known in which a roaming list is acquired in the user's own country through e-mail or the like, an updated roaming list is read out without turning the power off, and a mobile communication system is detected, thereby immediately utilizing the update of the roaming list.
If a method of automatically updating a roaming list for all mobile stations through BCMCS or the like as described above is employed, there is a case in which the roaming list cannot be acquired at the updating time since a user turns off the power of a mobile station or the power is kept turned off in stock before selling. BCMCS is a one-way multicast from a communication carrier to mobile stations. Accordingly, there is a case in which the communication carrier side does not grasp an update state of a mobile station, a mobile station does not grasp an update failure and passes over a mobile communication network, and therefore, normal roaming cannot be performed.
Similarly, when update of roaming is performed by the user's own manual operation, the user might forget the update. In addition, for a user who does not recognize a roaming list itself, the update is not performed, and therefore, roaming cannot be performed normally.
To solve such a problem, it might be effective that the frequency of an automatic update by BCMCS is raised to reduce a chance of the update failure. However, update of a roaming list by BCMCS is unnecessarily repeated for a user having a mobile station in which a roaming list is normally updated, thereby resulting in unnecessary consumption of resource or unnecessary increase of the number of accesses.

Mobile station and wireless communication method


A trailer hitch includes a support structure having spaced end mounting brackets and a U-shaped cross member pivotally mounted to, and suspended between, the mounting brackets. The U-shaped cross member pivots about a first axis. The trailer hitch also includes a coupling subassembly pivotally mounted to a mid-section of the U-shaped cross member to pivot about a second axis that is substantially perpendicular to the first axis.

Trailer hitches are used to couple a powerless vehicle to a powered vehicle for purposes of towing. Commonly known powerless vehicles include recreational "fifth-wheel" trailers and semi-truck trailers. These powerless vehicles are pulled by powered vehicles such as pickup trucks, flatbed trucks, semi-trucks, and the like.
Trailer hitches are typically mounted to the powered vehicles and designed to receive a complementary tow member provided on the towed vehicle. In the context of fifth-wheel trailer hitches, the hitch has a clamping mechanism for receiving and clamping onto a towing pin mounted on the nose of a fifth-wheel trailer. This arrangement allows the fifth-wheel trailer to pivot about its towing pin to facilitate guidance of the trailer around corners and during parking.
Common fifth-wheel trailer hitches have a support unit that is fixedly mounted to a truck. The clamping mechanism is pivotally connected to the support unit to pivot about a single axis that is parallel to an axis defined by the rear wheel axles of the truck. In this manner, the trailer can move up and down relative to the truck when driving over hills and gullies. However, under some circumstances, the fifth-wheel hitches are difficult to operate because they only pivot about the one axis. For example, when the trailer is not level with the truck, but is tilted slightly relative thereto (e.g., due to uneven ground), it is often difficult if not impossible to disconnect the towing pin from the jaws of the uni-directional pivoting hitch because the pin is not properly oriented within the clamping mechanism. Common hitches simply do not yield or pivot to compensate for the improper pin orientation caused by the uneven tilt.
This invention provides a trailer hitch that has multi-directional pivoting capabilities.

Trailer hitch with multi-directional pivot


A method or cryptographic system for communicating securely over an insecure communication channel of the type which communicates a message from a transmitter to a receiver includes the step of providing a finite filed serial-serial multiplication/reduction structure wherein an initial delay and clock-cycle are inherently independent of word length and wherein input operands are serially entered one digit at a time and the output result is computed serially one digit at a time, wherein the digit size can be one bit or more. As disclosed, the multiplication structure is scalable and a serial transfer reduces the bus width needed to transfer data back and forth between memory and a multiplication/reduction step. A finite field multiplication structure in which an operand multiplication and a finite field reduction are formulated as a serial-serial computation is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to high-radix finite field multiplication methods and architectures, which constitutes an integral operation in cryptographic systems.
2. Field Multiplication in Cryptography
Due to the security requirements of data transfer and digitization, the current need for cryptography for data security mechanism is ever growing. The basic principle of cryptography is that a plaintext is converted into a ciphertext through encryption using a particular encryption key. When a receiver receives the ciphertext, decryption with a key that is related to the encryption key can recover the plaintext. Because the data is transferred or stored as ciphertext, data security is achieved since an adversary cannot interpret the ciphertext.
In particular, public-key cryptography enables secure communication between users that have not previously agreed upon any shared keys. This is most often done using a combination of symmetric and asymmetric cryptography: public-key techniques are used to establish user identity and a common symmetric key, and a symmetric encryption algorithm are used for the encryption and decryption of the actual messages. The former operation is called key agreement. Prior establishment is necessary in symmetric cryptography, which uses algorithms for which the same key is used to encrypt and decrypt a message. Public-key cryptography, in contrast, is based on key pairs. A key pair consists of a private key and a public key. As the names imply, the private key is kept private by its owner, while the public key is made public (and typically associated to its owner in an authentic manner). In asymmetric encryption, the encryption step is performed using the public key, and decryption using the private key. Thus the encrypted message can be sent along an insecure channel with the assurance that only the intended recipient can decrypt it.
The use of cryptographic key pairs is disclosed in the U.S. Patent of Hellman U.S. Pat. No. 4,200,770 which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference. The Hellman patent also disclosed the application of key pairs to the problem of key agreement over an insecure communication channel. The algorithms specified in the aforementioned patent relies for their security on the difficulty of the mathematical problem of finding a discrete logarithm.
In order to undermine the security of a discrete-logarithm based crypto-algorithm, an adversary must be able to perform the inverse of finite field exponentiation (i.e., solve a discrete logarithm problem). There are mathematical methods for finding a discrete logarithm (e.g., the Number Field Sieve), but these algorithms would take an unreasonably long time using sophisticated computers when certain conditions are met in the specification of the crypto algorithm.
In particular, it is necessary for the used numbers involved to be large enough. The larger the numbers used, the more time and computing power is required to find the discrete logarithm and break the cryptosystem. On the other hand, very large numbers lead to very long public keys and transmissions of cryptographic data. The use of very large numbers also requires large amounts of time and computational power in order to perform the crypto algorithm. Thus, cryptographers are always looking for ways to minimize the size of the numbers involved, and the time and power required, in performing the encryption and/or authentication algorithms. The payoff for finding such a method is that cryptography can be done faster, cheaper, and in devices that do not have large amounts of computational power (e.g., hand-held smart-cards).
A discrete-logarithm based crypto-algorithm can be performed in any mathematical setting in which certain algebraic rules hold true. In mathematical language, the setting must be a finite cyclic group. The choice of the group is critical in a cryptographic system. The discrete logarithm problem may be more difficult in one group than in another for which the numbers are of comparable size. The more difficult the discrete logarithm problem, the smaller the numbers that are required to implement the crypto-algorithm while maintaining the same level of security. Working with smaller numbers is easier, more efficient and requires less storage compared to working with larger numbers. So, by choosing the right group, a user may be able to work with smaller numbers, make a faster cryptographic system, and get the same, or better, cryptographic strength than from another cryptographic system that uses larger numbers.
A method of adapting discrete-logarithm based algorithms to the setting of elliptic curves was disclosed independently by V. Miller, in "Use of elliptic curves in cryptography" on Advances in Cryptology—CRYPTO'85, LMCS 218, pp. 417-426, (1986) and by N. Koblitz, "A Course in Number Theory and Cryptography," (1987). It appears that finding discrete logarithms in this kind of group is particularly difficult. Thus elliptic curve-based crypto algorithms can be implemented using much smaller numbers than in a finite-field setting of comparable cryptographic strength. Hence, the use of elliptic curve cryptography is an improvement over finite-field based public-key cryptography. The Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem relies upon the difficulty of the Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm Problem (ECDLP) to provide its effectiveness as a cryptosystem. Using multiplicative notation, the problem can be described as: given points B and Q in the group, find a number k such that Bk=Q; where k is called the discrete logarithm of Q to the base B. Using additive notation, the problem becomes: given two points B and Q in the group, find a number k such that kB=Q.
In an Elliptic Curve Cryptosystem, the integer k is kept private and is often referred to as the secret key. The point Q together with the base point B are made public and are referred to as the public key. The security of the system, thus, relies upon the difficulty of deriving the secret k, knowing the public points B and Q. The main factor that determines the security strength of such a system is the size of its underlying finite field. In a real cryptographic application, the underlying field is made so large that it is computationally infeasible to determine k in a straightforward way by computing all the multiples of B until Q is found.
The core of the elliptic curve geometric arithmetic is an operation called scalar multiplication which computes kB by adding together k copies of the point B. Scalar multiplication over elliptic curve is also referred to as exponentiation over elliptic curve.
Another well-known public key cryptosystem is Rivest, Shamir, Adleman (RSA) which is also based on the discrete logarithm problem of over the field GF(p). RSA requires field exponentiation over GF(p).
In what follows, field exponentiation is used to refer to scalar multiplication in elliptic curve cryptography, as well as finite field exponentiation in RSA cryptography.
A drawback of such cryptographic systems is that calculation of field exponentiation remains a daunting mathematical task even to an authorized receiver using a high speed computer. With the prevalence of public computer networks used to transmit confidential data for personal, business and governmental purposes, it is anticipated that most computer users will want cryptographic systems to control access to their data. Despite the increased security, the difficulty of finite field exponentiation calculations will substantially drain computer resources and degrade data throughput rates, and thus represents a major impediment to the widespread adoption of commercial cryptographic systems.
Accordingly, a critical need exists for an efficient finite field exponentiation method and apparatus to provide a sufficient level of communication security while minimizing the impact to computer system performance and data throughput rates.
Field exponentiation over an elliptic curve is heavily dependent on field multiplications. Point addition and doubling, which are the basic operations for exponentiation over an elliptic curve, require many field multiplication operations.
Field multiplication is also the basic operation used to compute field exponentiation in RSA cryptography, which is used in smart cards or other secure devices. RSA requires the rapid finite field multiplication of large integers, for example 512- or 1024-bits in length, in order to carry out finite field exponentiations.
Therefore, field multiplication is widely used in encryption/decryption, authentication, key distribution and many other applications such as those described above.
3. Prior Art of Field Multiplication:
Finite field multiplication can be described as follows. Given two elements, X and Y, that are members of a field, then X and Y, can be represented as polynomials,
                    X        =                              ∑                          i              =              0                                      d              -              1                                                                    x              i                                                  μ              i                                                          (        1        )                                Y        =                              ∑                          i              =              0                                      d              -              1                                                                    y              i                                                  μ              i                                                          (        2        )            where                (i) in case of GF(p), μ=2r is the radix and xi,yi are radix-2r digits which could also be represented in redundant form, and        (ii) in the case of GF(pm), μ=αr, α is the root of the generator polynomial, and xi and yi are digit polynomials of X and Y respectively and whose coefficients are elements of Zp.
The field multiplication of X and Y is given by,R=XY mod G(μ)   (3)where
                              G                                (            μ            )                          =                              ∑                          i              =              0                        d                                                        g              i                                                  μ              i                                                          (        4        )            where                (i) in the case of GF(p), G(μ) is the modulus M and gi are radix-2r digits which could also be represented in redundant form, and        (ii) in the case of GF(pm), G(μ) is the generator polynomial, and gi is a digit polynomial of G(μ) with coefficients that are elements of Zp.
Finite field multiplication consists of two stages: operand multiplication and field reduction. Several field multiplication algorithms have been proposed. It is well known that field reduction after operand multiplication is not as efficient as reduction during multiplication. In the later, the final result of field multiplication is obtained by applying corrections to partial products as they are generated and accumulated.
Field reduction of the generated partial products can be carried out iteratively starting form the most significant digit or the least significant digit.
Montgomery multiplication is a famous reduction-during-multiplication algorithm, which starts from the least significant position. The original Montgomery algorithm was proposed for GF(p) and is based on binary representation of the elements of the field. However, it has been generalized for other fields as well as for higher radix representation of the elements of the field.
In Montgomery multiplication, each digit of the operand X, starting with the least significant digit, is multiplied with the digits of the operand Y. The field reduction is carried from the least significant digit, since the least significant digits are generated first. The algorithm can be described using the following iteration,Rl−1=(xl−1Y+μ−1Rl−2)mod G(μ)   (5)
The final field multiplication result of Montgomery algorithm has the form,R=XYμ−d mod G(μ)   (6)
The factor μ−d is inherent in all least significant digit first algorithms, because field reduction starting from the least significant digit is equivalent to a division by μ−1 in each iteration as shown in equation (5).
Least-significant-digit-first algorithms are more natural for GF(p) due to the carry propagation from the least to most significant digits. However, these algorithms are not usually used for GF(pm) since there is no carry propagation between digit's significance. For GF(pm), most-significant-digit-first algorithms are more efficient since they do not result in any additional scaling factor such as that in equation (6), and produce the final un-scaled result at the end of the multiplication algorithm.
Least-significant-digit-first and most-significant-digit-first algorithms can be implemented using a variety of structures. Most of the existing structures are effectively based on different time-space mapping of the dataflow diagrams. The dataflow consists of nodes and edges. The nodes represent functional units and the edges represent flow of data between nodes.
It should be noted that for GF(pm), the carry edges do not exist since there is no carry propagation between digit's significance.
On one end of the spectrum, an array of processing elements is used, where each processing element performs the computation of a single node in graphs such as those shown in FIG. 1. Such realizations are usually referred to as parallel implementations.
Parallel finite-field multipliers have been reported in the U.S. Patent of Geong, U.S. Pat. No. 6,151,393 and in the published applications of Chen et al., Number 2002/0184281 and Glaser et al., Number 2003/0009503 each of which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
Parallel implementations are not efficient for large word-lengths such as those encountered in cryptography due to the huge area and high power requirements.
The other end of the spectrum is to use one processing element to implement the operation of all the nodes in the graphs such as those in FIG. 1. Such realizations are usually referred to as serial implementations. Serial implementations are not efficient for large word lengths such as those encountered in cryptography due to their long execution time.
Other variations of the basic serial finite field multiplication algorithms have also been proposed where a digit of one operand is multiplied by a block of another operand as shown in the published patent applications of Chin-Long Chen et al., Numbers 2002/0116429, 2002/0116430 and 2002/0110240 each of which is incorporated herein in its entirety. A single digit-block multiplier is used to carry out the complete multiplication in a serial fashion. Usually, the block size is larger than the digit size to speed up the computations of the basic serial multiplier. As a consequence, such multiplication algorithms require different bus-widths between the memory module and the digit-block multiplier module.
Another implementation style is mapping dataflow graphs such as those in FIG. 1 into a linear array of processing elements. The mapping can be done in one of two ways: (i) by projecting along the vertical axis to obtain the serial-parallel implementation as disclosed in an article by M. C. Mekhallalati, M. K. Ibrahim, and A. S. Ashur, entitled "Radix Modular Multiplication Algorithm" published in the Journal of Circuits and Systems, and Computers, Vol. 6, No. 5, pages 547-567, 1996. or (ii) by projecting along the horizontal-axis to obtain the serial-serial implementation as disclosed by A. F. Tenca, and C. K. Koc, in "A Scalable Architecture for Montgomery Multiplication" in Cryptographic Hardware and Embedded Systems, Lecture Notes in Computer Science No. 1717, pages 94-108, Springer Verlag, Berlin, Germany, 1999 each of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
It is well know that using more than one processing element gives a better trade-off between area and time than the parallel or serial realization.
In serial-parallel structures, the digits of one of the input operands are fed serially while the digits of the other input operand must be fed in parallel. The reason is that the digits of one of the operands are all required at every cycle.
Serial-parallel realizations have been reported in the above mentioned patents and articles.
In addition, serial-parallel structures have been reported in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,651 of Kassels entitled "Arithmetic Unit for Multiplying Long Integers Modulo M and R.S.A. Converter Provided With Such Multiplication Device" and U.S. Pat. No. 6,377,969 of Orlando et al. entitled "Method for Multiplication in Galois Fields Using Programmable Circuits" both of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.
The advantage of the serial-parallel realization is that the first digit of the product needed to perform field reduction is obtained after an initial delay of one cycle. Defining the initial delay as the number of cycles required before the first digit of the result needed for field reduction is obtained, it is clear that the serial-parallel realization inherently has an initial delay which is independent of the word length. The drawbacks of the serial-parallel realizations are as follows:                (i) it requires parallel loading of the digits of one of the operands, since the digits of one of the operands are all required at every cycle. It is significant to note that the use of parallel transfer of data back and forth from memory and the multiplication structures is a major drawback for large word lengths such as those encountered in cryptography. The reason is that parallel loading for large wordlenghs requires large bus-widths which are costly in area and have a significant impact on the execution time.        (ii) it also has to support serial loading of the other operand and hence the hardware must support buses with different bus-widths between the memory module and the multiplier module; one being for parallel communication and one for serial communication.
The major advantage of serial-serial implementations based on dataflow such as those in FIG. 1 is that all the operand communications are serial in nature and hence no parallel loading is needed.
It should be noted that both serial multiplication structures and serial-serial multiplication realizations require only serial communication for all operands and hence require busses with the same bus width. Serial-serial multipliers have the advantage of requiring less number of memory accesses than their serial counterparts. Also, to achieve the same execution time, the bus width of the serial multiplier needs to be higher than that needed in the serial-serial multiplier. Both of these features make serial-serial multiplier ideal for low power devices such as smart cards.
It should be noted that the serial-parallel multipliers in the aforementioned patents can be modified by loading the operand whose digits are needed at every cycle serially one digit at a time into a serial-in-parallel-out register. The drawback is that this will incur an initial delay prior to the commencement of the multiplication operation, which is dependant on the word length. The structures disclosed in the U.S. Patent of Monier, U.S. Pat. No. 5,742,534 and Walby U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,848 use a serial-in-parallel-out register. Such structures incur an initial delay prior to the commencement of the multiplication operation which is dependent on the word length.
The structures in these patents suffer from the same drawback in that the use of a serial-in-parallel-out registers will incur an initial delay prior to the commencement of the multiplication operation, which is dependant on the word length.
Serial-serial structures that do not require all the digits of all the operands in every cycle have been proposed. This can be achieved by folding the structure in FIG. 1 along the horizontal axis. One such structure was reported in the aforementioned article by A. F. Tenca and C. K. Koc. However, such structures have a major drawback in that the initial delay and clock cycle are dependant on the word length of the operands. For large word lengths such as those in cryptography, this long initial delay and clock cycle represent a significant drawback.
The authors of the structure in the aforementioned A. F. Tenca and C. K. Koc article use extra pipelining registers to make the initial delay and the clock cycle independent of the word length. It is significant to note that the use of extra pipelining registers will significantly increase the hardware and will require additional clock cycles, which are proportional to the word length.
A serial-serial finite field reduction structure is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,101,431 of Even for "Systolic Array for Modular Multiplication". However, as disclosed therein, the initial delay and clock cycle are dependent on the word length of the operands. For large word lengths such as those in cryptography, the long initial delay and clock cycles are a draw back. The patent also discloses the use of extra pipelining registers to make the initial delay and the clock-cycle independent of the word length. It is significant to note that the use of extra pipelining registers will significantly increase the hardware and will require additional clock-cycles, which are proportional to the word length.
Another serial-serial structure is disclosed in a published patent application of Mellott et al. Number 2002/0161810 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Multiplication and/or Modular Reduction Processing." In this structure the initial delay and clock-cycle are also dependent on the word-length. However, to reduce the effect of word length dependency, the inventors use a multi-port adder, which may be implemented for example as a tree adder. This will reduce the effect of word length dependency, but it will not eliminate it completely.
It is also significant to note that the use of a multi-port adder will lead to an irregular structure, and hence the structure is not systolic, i.e. it is not modular, and requires irregular communication
Therefore there is a need for a realization which (i) allows serial loading of all needed operands, and (ii) has an initial delay and clock cycle which are inherently independent of the word length.
It should also be noted that any new realization must allow for scalability, which is an additional requirement for the application of finite field multiplication in cryptography. Scalable multiplication structures are those that can be reused or replicated in order to generate long-precision results independently of the data path precision for which the unit was originally designed. Scalability is needed because the key lengths could be increased for higher security. Any cryptographic hardware such as smart cards should not become obsolete with a new key length.

Finite field serial-serial multiplication/reduction structure and method

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals


A lancing device for ejecting a lancet having a pricking element protruding therefrom along an ejection axis is provided. The lancing device includes a front cap having an opening facing against an object to be pricked, a lancet holder slideable between a cocked position and a pricking position, and a safety switch moveable between a safety position and a passing position, wherein the pricking element extends beyond the opening when the lancet is ejected; the safety switch prevents the lancet holder form being cocked when the safety switch is in the safety position, and the safety switch allows the lancet holder to be cocked and moved when the safety switch is in the passing position.

Many medical procedures in use today require a relatively small sample of blood, in the range of 5-50 μl. Normally such a sample is obtained by lancing or piercing the skin at a selected location, such as the finger, to enable the collection of 1 or 2 drops of blood. With the advent of home use tests such as self monitoring of blood glucose, there is a requirement for a simple and safe procedure which can be performed by a person needing to test.
Lancets in conventional use generally have a rigid body and a sterile pricking element, for example a needle, which protrudes from one end. The lancet may be used to pierce the skin, thereby enabling the collection of a blood sample from the opening created. The blood is transferred to a test device or collection device. Blood is most commonly taken from the fingertips, where the supply is generally excellent. However, blood can also be taken of alternate sites, such as earlobes and limbs.
To reduce the anxiety of piercing the skin and to guarantee a reproducible penetration result many spring loaded lancing devices have been developed.
The lancing device according to the present invention comprises a lancet holder, which is slideable in a housing member between a cocked position and a pricking position. In use the lancet holder carries a lancet which comprises a pricking element protruding there from along an ejection axis. The lancing device further comprises a front cap, which has an opening against which the object to be pricked is to be placed. The pricking element extends through the opening when the lancet is ejected.
Typically the lancet holder is axially slideable along the main axis of a generally tubular housing in forward direction into the pricking position and in backward direction for being loaded.
Conventional lancing devices, as for example disclosed in EP 0 115 388, typically require a user to put a lancet in a socket of a lancing device, arm the lancing device by latching the lancet holder in a retracted position, urge the lancing device against a target site, and then press a release button or other switch to manually activate the lancing device such that a lancet within the device is launched (also referred to as "fired") towards the target site. The lancet then penetrates the target site, thereby creating an opening for the expression of a bodily fluid sample.
After the lancet pierces the skin, a bounce back spring retracts the lancet to a safe position within the device. Now the lancet can be removed from the lancing device.
Typical lancing devices have a removable front cap, preferably also suited for adjusting the penetration depth. Once the front cap is removed the used lancet can be taken out of a socket of the lancet holder and a new lancet can be put in. When the front cap is removed from the body of the lancing device, the pricking element is exposed and there is a certain risk of injury and of contamination for the person who removes or changes the lancet. Known lancing devices generally are not protected from being fired unintentionally.
Even though many improvements have been made, the handling of the known lancing devices is still complicated for the user and there still is a risk of injury and contamination while replacing used lancets. It is the object of the present invention to overcome the drawbacks of the known devices, in particular to facilitate the change of the lancet, to prevent unintentional lancing and to provide a safe handling, especially of a lancing device with a used lancet.


Mechanism for simultaneously turning up and stretching out an extension part (12,112) relative to a reference part (1,101),with a telescopic sliding profile element (10,110) connected to the reference part and to the extension part, The essentially fixed sliding profile element may be connected to said reference part via a pantograph framework The invention also relates to recliner chair constructions involving such mechanism for turning up and simultaneously stretching out a footrest.

The invention relates to a mechanism allowing an extension part to simultaneously turn out (turn up) and stretch out (extend) relative to an object into which or against which it rests in turned back (turned in, turned down) position.
Such mechanisms find in particular their application in recliner chairs with a footrest which simultaneously turns up and stretches out.
The mechanisms currently known for turning up and simultaneously stretching out a footrest of a seating furniture (like in particular in certain, so called "recliner chairs" or "relaxation chairs") involve a rather complicated construction, using trapeze lever systems and/or lever and cable systems.
Such systems have shown in practice to be insufficiently safe, and furthermore too expensive and too heavy, too bulky and/or insufficiently reliable.
A specific system thus proposed for achieving the simultaneous pivoting and sliding movement of the footrest, involves the general principle of                fixed, linearly extending means, having one end connected with a reference part and the other end pivotally connected with an extension part, and        hinging, linearly extending means, having one end pivotally connected with a swivel point on the reference part and the other end rigidly connected with the extension part and pivotally connected with the other end of the fixed, linearly extending means.
Such a specific system is for instance known from EP 1 122 940, which discloses an extensible footrest mechanism for armchairs, sofas and the like, involving a frame, hinged to the frame of a seat or armchair, with the footrest provided on said hinged frame via slideable arms; the linearly extending stem of an actuator, rigidly connected to the seat frame, acts upon the slideably supported footrest via a pivot connection, so that extension of the actuator provokes the simultaneous pivoting and sliding movement of the footrest.
The known devices operating according to this general principle however have drawbacks in respect of cost, weight, reliability and operating smoothness.

Recliner chair having a turning up and stretching out footrest mechanism