Devices and methods of identifying and treating bodily passages, such as sinus cavities, are provided. More particularly, irrigation devices and methods useful in the identification and treatment of bodily passages, such as sinus cavities, are provided. The irrigation devices comprise an elongate tubular member and an optical fiber which assist with the transcutaneous identification and/or treatment of a bodily passage.

It is sometimes necessary or otherwise desirable to aspirate and/or flush bodily passages, such as sinus cavities, using a catheter. For example, when sinus cavities become infected, sinus irrigation provides an approach to address the infection. In conventional sinus irrigation procedures, a caregiver navigates a catheter over a previously-placed guidewire. Prior to irrigation, the caregiver must verify positioning of the catheter and/or guidewire using separate visualization equipment, such as a laryngoscope, fluoroscopy, or other suitable devices or techniques. This complicates the procedure by requiring the placement of multiple devices within the area of treatment and may provide less than ideal information about the area to be irrigated.
To facilitate position verification, lighted guidewires have been developed to facilitate visualization of the guidewire prior to irrigation. However, the use of such guidewires presents significant drawbacks. For example, while the guidewire can be visualized transcutaneously following placement in the sinus cavity, the light of the guidewire is blocked once the catheter is tracked over the tip of the guidewire, preventing the user from confirming final placement of the catheter prior to irrigating the sinus. Furthermore, the lighted guidewire does not convey any information to the user about the location of the catheter or the area of the cavity that will be treated during the irrigation procedure.
Therefore, a need exists for improved devices and methods of identifying and treating bodily passages.

Irrigation devices adapted to be used with a light source for the identification and treatment of bodily passages


A replication process to provide fault tolerance for a streaming signal in a computer network. In one embodiment, the original or source signal is sent to several splitters which, in turn, each make copies of the signal and send the copies into a second layer of devices, which are referred to as “concentrators.” A given concentrator receives as input one or more copies of the source signal. In a preferred embodiment, a given concentrator receives two copies of the source signal from at least two different splitters. The concentrators process the incoming streaming signal copies, for example, by merging them into a single or composite copy of the original source signal according to a given processing algorithm. The output of a given concentrator may then be fed into a splitter, with the process then being repeated if desired to make an arbitrary large number of copies of the signal. At the end of the replication process, the output of a splitter or a concentrator is fed directly or indirectly to an end user. The replication process is fault-tolerant, and thus the end user's signal is not interrupted regardless of signal or equipment problems within the distribution mechanism.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to digital signal transmission over a computer network and, in particular, to a method and system for streaming content over the Internet in a fault tolerant manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most Internet users do not have fast enough access to the Internet to download large multimedia files quickly. Streaming is a technique for delivering web-based video, audio and multimedia files so that these files can be processed as a steady and continuous stream at the requesting client, typically using a browser plug-in, such as Microsoft NetPlayer, Apple QuickTime, Real Networks RealSystem G2, or the like. Streaming video, for example, is an online video distribution mechanism that provides audio and video to Internet users, without the users having to wait while content completely downloads to their hard drives. Through caching, content is played as it is received, and buffering mechanisms ensure that content is played smoothly. Theoretically, streaming video plays to the end user, or viewer, as an immediate and ongoing broadcast.
From a network perspective, traditional approaches to streaming Internet content involve transmitting a streaming signal from a source to a device known as a splitter (or repeater, reflector or mirror), which, in turn, replicates the source signal into multiple signals. Each of the multiple signals is the same, and each is sent on to a different destination. By cascading splitters in a tree-like fashion, a single source stream can be replicated into thousands or more identical copies. In this manner, a large number of viewers on the Internet can receive the same streaming signal simultaneously.
A critical problem with existing streaming methods of this type is that they are not fault tolerant. FIG. 1 illustrates why this is the case. In this example, a source signal (A) is sent to a splitter (B), which then sends copies of the signal to ten splitters (C1, . . . , C10). Each of the second level splitters then sends a copy of the signal to five end customers (D1, . . . , D50). Thus, for example, splitter C1 sends a copy to end users D1-D5, splitter C2 sends a copy to end users D6-D10, and so forth. If communications at a given splitter fail, however, certain users are unable to receive the original signal. In the network of FIG. 1, this would be the case with respect to users D6-D10 if C2 fails. To overcome this problem, it is also known in the art to enable end users to detect they are no longer receiving the streaming signal and to enable such users to attempt to contact an alternative splitter (e.g., C3) in an effort to get another copy of the signal. Such approaches, however, can result in an interruption of the signal and are expensive to implement.
Thus, there remains a need in the art to provide improved streaming techniques that are fault tolerant. The present invention solves this important problem.

Method and system for fault tolerant media streaming over the internet


An ice-compensating cover including: a cover; a float; and a separable fastener interposed between the cover and the float, the separable fastener including a first portion adhesively bonded to the cover, and a second portion adhesively bonded to the float, wherein at least one of the first portion and the second portion defines a first opening in a center of the at least one of the first portion and the second portion.

(1) Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to an ice-compensating cover for a pool, a method of manufacture thereof, and a method of covering a pool with the ice-compensating cover.
(2) Description of the Related Art
The proper maintenance and protection of swimming pools during the winter months in northern climates has proven to be a problem to swimming pool owners. When water in a pool freezes, forces are generated which can damage the pool because water expands upon freezing. Also, when the ice thaws, portions can break off and damage the cover, pool liner, or pool wall.
Water in a pool provides the pool with structural integrity from the force of the water against the pool walls. Draining a pool can be problematic because of the large volume of water, which must be disposed of. Also, keeping a pool empty throughout the winter months is difficult because of the influx of rain, snow, and debris. Thus most owners elect to allow water to remain in the pool throughout the year.
To avoid damage from water freezing in an above-ground pool, a float is placed in the pool to absorb compressive forces generated by the freezing water. While not wanting to be bound by theory, it is understood that the compressive forces generated by the freezing water are absorbed by compression and/or displacement of the float, thereby relieving stress that would otherwise damage the wall of the pool due to the expansion of water upon freezing.
Use of a float can also be desirable to protect an in-ground pool. In addition to the aforementioned problems, draining of an in-ground pool can create unusual stresses in the wall of the pool caused by the lateral forces of the adjacent earth acting inwardly against the swimming pool's vertical surfaces. With water in the pool, such stresses can be counterbalanced by the forces generated by the retained water. Thus, removal of the water from the pool to prevent freezing can also remove the beneficial effect of the water forces, which normally act outwardly. The unbalanced forces of the weight of earth pressing against the exterior of the pool wall can be sufficient to cause structural damage.
A float is desirably maintained in a center of the pool to provide for even distribution of the ice and the forces generated therefrom. Also, use of a pool cover can also be desirable to prevent the influx of debris or pests, which can result in unsanitary conditions. However, positioning the float and cover on the pool, and maintaining a desirable positioning of the float and cover is difficult. Accordingly, there remains a need for an improved device and method for disposing a float and cover on a pool.

Ice-compensating cover, method of manufacture thereof, a method of covering a pool with the ice-compensating cover


A method and apparatus for providing improved lubrication of a spline connection between a PTO driver and a bevel gearbox in which lubricant from the bevel gear housing is directed to a location above and radially outwardly from the splined connection and the apparatus then directs the lubricant flow toward the splined connection by force of gravity. The apparatus is configured to be self-aligning when installed in an existing receptacle in the gearbox housing thereby enabling the apparatus to be conveniently installed in a housing designed to utilize gearbox lubricant to lubricate the splines.

This invention relates generally to a machine for severing standing crops from the ground to initiate a harvesting process and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for oiling driveshaft splines connecting a power take-off shaft to a bevel gearbox.
Disc cutterbars used on agricultural harvesters typically comprise at least one power take-off, usually in the form of a hydraulic motor, to drive the cutterbar. The hydraulic driver is typically connected to a gearbox to enable power to be delivered to multiple inputs on the cutterbar. Mechanical drives are favored to enable synchronization of all rotating disc cutters on the cutterbar; such mechanical drives feature bevel gearboxes to allow transverse shafts to be provided for powering the cutterbar at multiple transverse locations. Newer gearbox designs feature an integral connection for the PTO driver featuring a splined connection between the driver shaft and the top bevel gear for the connection. Lubrication of the splined connection has proven difficult in many applications. Grease was conveniently used to lubricate the splined connection, but was susceptible to being displaced from the connection resulting in spline fretting, corrosion, and eventually failure of the splined connection.
It would be advantageous to have a PTO driver to gearbox connection that would enable oil from the gearbox cavity to provide effective lubrication to the splined shaft connection area. Further advantages would be realized by a lubrication design that could be easily incorporated into existing gearbox designs thereby enabling improved shaft spline lubrication with minimal impact on header production and easily implemented as a retrofit.

Method and apparatus for oiling splines in a bevel gearbox


A method and apparatus for encrypting a Mode-S extended squitter exploiting a provided key. The key includes a control key segment, an address key segment, a first message key segment, and a first parity/identity key segment. Adding modulo two the control segment to the control key segment produces an intermediate control segment. Adding modulo two the address segment to the address key segment produces an intermediate address segment. Adding modulo two the message segment to the first message key segment produces an intermediate message segment. Adding modulo two the parity/identity segment to the first parity/identity key segment produces an first intermediate parity/identity segment. Concatenating the intermediate control segment, the intermediate address segment, the intermediate message segment, and the intermediate parity/identity segment produces an intermediate extended squitter. Shifting the intermediate extended squitter according to a linear function shift register produces a shifted-intermediate parity/identity segment.

Air traffic control is a relatively new concept. Although airplanes were invented in 1903 by the Wright brothers, aviation did not become widespread until World War I. As traffic increased, a control system became necessary; at first, pilots used portable radio devices to communicate to people on the ground. After radar was invented during World War II, controllers started to use it to track both civilian and military aircraft. It was not until the late 1950's that a comprehensive air traffic control system was deployed nationwide.
Mode S is an air traffic control that relies upon data link technology that uses discretely addressed interrogations to place aircraft in a controlled airspace. Mode S equipment includes ground stations with sensors, and transponders aboard aircraft. The interrogations that ground sensors send planes include a request for identification information of the target plane. Once the identity of the aircraft is known, the ground sensor can send uniquely addressed messages known as extended squitters to which other aircraft will not respond. Replies contain information such as altitude and position reports.
The Mode S extended squitter is modeled on a form of communication that was familiar to the aviation community. In a disciplined conversation, the Mode S squitter comprises a message payload according to a very controlled regimen, a sender address, a recipient address and a parity check to assure that the message has not been garbled. The extended squitter then mimics the language of the control tower to some extent. Rather than "SeaTac approach, American three nine nine leaving two three zero, descending to two zero zero," the Mode S extended squitter has the sender's identity, the recipient's identity, and a message. Just as the discipline of the pilots and controllers on a frequency causes them to ignore transmissions that do not name them, where the recipient address is neither all zeros (all call), nor the address of the intended recipient, the Mode S transponder simply ignores the transmission.
A TCAS equipped aircraft, independent of any ground inputs, performs surveillance of nearby aircraft by issuing interrogations at 1030 MHz. The transponders reply to TCAS on the 1090 MHz bandwidth. The replies are received and decoded by the surveillance portion of the TCAS software and the information is then provided to the collision avoidance algorithms.
Detection and tracking of another Mode-S equipped aircraft is dependent upon the ability of the TCAS receiver to hear the Mode-S extended squitter (automatic broadcast from the other aircraft's transponder) and the ability of the TCAS to reach the other aircraft with an interrogation. The designed parameters of the signal is especially useful as the power and the transmission radius of the messaging are small enough to assure that only relevant aircraft are involved in the conversation. The capability to receive another of transponder's extended squitter and interrogation replies is determined by the Minimum Triggering Level (MTL) of the TCAS RF receiver. The more sensitive the receiver, the lower the MTL.
Referring to FIG. 1, an exemplar 1 of a Mode-S extended squitter includes a control segment 2, 8 bits in length indicating the nature of the traffic; an address segment 3, 24 bits in length and configured, as indicated above, to uniquely designate the recipient and the recipient of the extended squitter or to place an "all call" to aircraft in the vicinity; a message payload segment 4 of exactly 56 bits in length; and a parity segment, indicative of the content of the message of 24 bits in length. By maintaining the discipline of message purpose, length, and format, a crowded airspace will still allow a great deal of interaction to assure safe passage through the airspace.
In military applications, relying on Mode-S extended squitter traffic for positioning and direction is useful but also exposes an Achilles heel to an enemy. For instance, where a an element 10, includes an element leader 15 and two formation members 12 and 18, extended squitter traffic through TCAS avionics 7, allow the element leader 15 to set the direction for the element 10, having formation members 12 and 18, "form up" on the element leader 15. When the element 10, joins a larger formation 5, the element leader 15 may "bind on" to the formation leader 24; "forming up" among additional element members 21 and 27.
In communication, as well, with commercial aircraft 9, the formation 5, by its formation leader 24 can safely avoid interference with commercial aircraft 9. Where aircraft are below a radar horizon, for instance flying within close proximity to terrain, the ability to avoid commercial aircraft 9 can be especially useful.
An enemy 6 might use the Mode-S extended squitter to hunt or sabotage the formation. As indicated, the anti-collision capability Mode-S use allows relies upon an interrogation and reply constituting a steady stream of extended squitter traffic. If either an enemy fakes or "spoofs" an interrogation or reply, a military aircraft might be steered or directed into a second aircraft or into terrain. Additionally, if the extended squitter traffic is subject to enemy 6 eavesdropping, there is no possibility of attacking without advance notice. Thus, it is very advantageous to have a method of communicating through a extended squitter without exposing its operation to the enemy.
There is, therefore, an unmet need in the art for a secure extended squitter system that is not subject to spoofing nor will betray the location of a military aircraft.

Information security for aeronautical surveillance systems


In a method for operating an infrared countermeasure optical device on an aircraft, the improvement comprises the steps of positioning a deflector upstream from the optical device to allow said optical device to operate in high-speed freestream flows.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to infrared countermeasures for use on aircraft and more particularly to means for limiting loads on optical devices used in such infrared countermeasures.
2. Brief Description of Prior Developments
Infrared countermeasure optical devices are conventionally positioned on aircraft. A need exists for a way to protect infrared countermeasure optical devices from high-speed airflow in order to maintain low torques on the rotating head of the device, lower drag load on the optical device, and limit foreign object damage to the optical device. This protection must not degrade performance of the optical device due to additional physical blockage of lines of sight.

Aerodynamic deflector shield for protection of optical devices mounted on fixed-wing aircraft

BAE Systems Information and Electronic Systems Integration Inc.


A cabin construction of a wheel loader having a vehicle body with a driver's section at a rear position, a backhoe detachably attached to a rear end of the vehicle body and a cabin for covering the driver's section. The improvement includes a detachable rear end cabin door construction which permits an easy and economical exchange of the rear door as necessary for the varying uses of the vehicle. A first door is used when the vehicle body is attached with the backhoe whereas a second door is used when the vehicle body is used without the backhoe. The feature has eliminated the necessity of costly and troublesome replacement of the entire cabin construction and is advantageous also for forming a compact the rear end of the vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cabin construction of a wheel loader having a vehicle body with a driver's section at a rear position, a backhoe detachably attached to a rear end of the vehicle body and a cabin for covering the driver's section.
2. Description of the Related Arts
In a known wheel loader of the above-noted type, the cabin is constructed integrally, i.e. undetachably with the driver's section so as to cover the top and four lateral sides of the same. With this integral construction, there arises an inconvenience if the vehicle is to selectively cope with two different modes of use, where the vehicle is used with connection with the backhoe and where the vehicle is used without the backhoe connection, since the former mode requires an additional space for accommodating a control unit for the backhoe which, when installed, projects within the cabin. In order to accommodate with these different cases, there must be provided several cabins of different constructions.
More particularly, when it is necessary to equip the vehicle with the backhoe. A cabin having an undetachable flat rear wall cannot accommodate the backhoe control unit, whereby the entire cabin must be replaced by another cabin having a rearwardly projecting rear wall. Needless to say, such replacement of entire cabin is troublesome and costly.
The present invention attends to this drawback of the prior art.


Methods and apparatus for a switchable balun for combined BLUETOOTH® and WLAN operation. A switchable balun is provided that includes an input circuit for receiving an amplified signal, the input circuit comprising first and second coils connected at a center tap, an output circuit comprising a third coil that is inductively coupled to the first and second coils, the output circuit for outputting an adjusted version of the amplified signal for transmission in a selected transmission mode, and a switch coupled to the center tap, wherein the switch is configured to couple a first voltage to the center tap to select operation in a first transmission mode and to couple a second voltage to the center tap to select operation in a second transmission mode.

1. Field
The present application relates generally to the operation and design of a RF front end for use in portable devices, and more particularly, to methods and apparatus for a switchable balun for combined BLUETOOTH® and WLAN operation.
2. Background
Efficient signal transmission and reception is especially important in portable devices due to limits on circuitry size and power constraints. Typically, such devices include a power amplifier that is coupled to a balanced-to-unbalance (balun) transformer that is used to transform balanced signals from the power amplifier (PA) to unbalanced signals that are coupled to an antenna for transmission.
Advances in communication systems have resulted in the development of various types of wireless networks that may be accessed by a portable device. For example, a wireless local area network (WLAN) may be accessed by a portable device to allow communication with other devices over a localized area such as an office complex or a home. Alternatively, a BLUETOOTH® (BT) network may be accessed by a portable device to allow the device to control printers, hard drives or other types of devices over a relatively short distance. Thus, as a portable device moves from one region to another, one or more wireless networks may become accessible to the device.
Typically, a device includes dedicated circuitry to allow communications with a particular type of wireless network. Thus, devices offering support for both BT and WLAN networks include separate circuitry to accommodate the different power requirements. For example, devices that are operable to communicate over both BT and WLAN networks include multiple transmitter circuits each comprising a separate PA, balun, and support circuitry. Unfortunately, having multiple transmit circuits to support multiple network connections increases costs and circuit board space requirements.
Therefore, it would be desirable to have a transmitter circuit that can be optimally tuned to communicate with both BT and WLAN networks thereby reducing the component count, costs, and/or circuit size when compared to conventional circuits.

Methods and apparatus for a switchable balun for combined Bluetooth® and WLAN operation


Provided are a Ni-based heat resistant superalloy for aircraft engine cases excellent in high-temperature characteristic such as tensile characteristics and low-cycle fatigue characteristics in a high-temperature range and also excellent in workability, and an aircraft engine case formed of the same. The Ni-based heat resistant superalloy has composition containing, by mass, Co: 4.0 to 11.0%, Cr: 12.0 to 17.0%, Al: 2.0 to 4.0%, Ti: 2.0 to 4.0%, Al+Ti: 4.6 to 6.7%, Mo: more than 5.5 to 10.0%, W: more than 0 to 4.0%, B: 0.001 to 0.040%, C: 0.02 to 0.06%, Zr: 0 to 0.05%, Mg: 0 to 0.005%, P: 0 to 0.01%, Nb: 0 to 1.0%, Ta: 0 to 1.0%, and Fe: 0 to 2.0%, and the balance of Ni with inevitable impurities, and is suitable for aircraft engine cases.

Ni-based heat resistant superalloys have excellent strength, toughness, corrosion resistance, oxidation resistance, etc., and as such, are utilized in various technical fields that require heat resistance, including engine members for aircrafts, members for electricity-generating gas turbines, and the like.
In particular, structural members for aircraft engines require higher combustion temperatures for improvement in fuel efficiency. Ni-based heat resistant superalloys having much better high-temperature characteristic are demanded.
Many Ni-based heat resistant superalloys are under development to respond to this request.
For example, Patent Document 1 discloses, for the purpose of providing an affordable, weldable, hot workable nickel-based alloy that has high temperature capability, a "nickel-base alloy comprising, in weight %: up to about 0.10% carbon; about 12% up to about 20% chromium; up to about 4% molybdenum; up to about 6% tungsten (wherein the sum of molybdenum and tungsten is at least about 2% and not more than about 8%); about 5% up to about 12% cobalt; up to about 14% iron; about 4% up to about 8% niobium; about 0.6% up to about 2.6% aluminum; about 0.4% up to about 1.4% titanium; about 0.003% up to about 0.03% phosphorous; about 0.003% up to about 0.015% boron; nickel; and incidental impurities, and wherein the sum of atomic percent aluminum and atomic percent titanium is from about 2% to about 6%, the ratio of atomic percent aluminum to atomic percent titanium is at least about 1.5, and the atomic percent of aluminum plus titanium divided by the atomic percent of niobium equals about 0.8 to about 1.3″ (see claim 1), and states that the nickel-based alloy can be used in components for gas turbine engines (e.g., disks, blades, fasteners, cases, and shafts).
Patent Document 1 discloses that commercially available Ni-based heat resistant superalloys, Alloy 718 (conforming to UNS N07718) and Waspaloy-equivalent alloy (conforming to UNS N07001) are adopted as conventional alloys for comparison, and reports that: the tensile strength and temperature stability of the Ni alloy described in Patent Document 1 are very close to the values of Waspaloy-equivalent alloy and much better than those of Alloy 718; the Ni alloy described in Patent Document 1 is superior in stress rupture properties and creep life to Alloy 718 and Waspaloy-equivalent alloy; and the Ni alloy described in Patent Document 1 has equivalent temperature stability as to time-dependent stress rupture properties and creep characteristics as compared with Waspaloy-equivalent alloy, and therefore possesses all of higher tensile strength, stress rupture properties, creep life and long-time temperature stability than those of Alloy718 and Waspaloy-equivalent alloy and retains better hot workability and weldability, and is more advantageous in cost than these alloys.
In this context, the "UNS" refers to "Unified Numbering System" stipulated in SAE HS-1086 and ASTM DS-566, and the N07718 or the N07001 denotes a unique number of an alloy registered therein.
Patent Document 1 has reported that the typical component composition of Alloy 718 is "by mass, C: 0.08% maximum, Mn: 0.35% maximum, P: 0.015% maximum, S: 0.015% maximum, Si: 0.35% maximum, Cr: 17 to 21%, Ni: 50 to 55%, Mo: 2.8 to 3.3%, Nb plus Ta: 4.75 to 5.5%, Ti: 0.65 to 1.15%, Al: 0.2 to 0.8%, Co: 1% maximum, B: 0.006% maximum, Cu: 0.3% maximum, and the balance of Fe with incidental impurities", and also reported that the typical component composition of Waspaloy-equivalent alloy is "by mass, C: 0.02 to 0.10%, Mn: 0.1% maximum, P: 0.015% maximum, S: 0.015% maximum, Si: 0.15% maximum, Cr: 18 to 21%, Fe: 2% maximum, Mo: 3.5 to 5.0%, Ti: 2.75 to 3.25%, Al: 1.2 to 1.6%, Co: 12 to 15%, B: 0.003 to 0.01%, Cu: 0.1% maximum, and Zr: 0.02 to 0.08%, and the balance of Ni with incidental impurities".

Ni-based super-heat-resistant alloy for aircraft engine cases, and aircraft engine case formed of same


The present invention relates to a method of evaluating cellulite using fibulin-3 and/or sarcoglycan gamma as an indicator in a harvested skin sample, and a method of evaluating a drug for improving, preventing or treating cellulite using fibulin-3 and/or sarcoglycan gamma as an indicator in cultured cells.

"Cellulite" (also named gynoid lipodystrophy) is a tissue that exhibits a rippled appearance of the skin mainly observed in the abdomen, thigh and buttock of women, and is especially a cosmetic problem, since it markedly impairs skin appearance. The pathogenesis of cellulite has not been fully elucidated academically or medically, and it is simply considered to be an accumulation of subcutaneous fat. According to a noninvasive analysis using MRI conducted by Mirrashed, F. and Querleux, B et al., morphological changes of adipose cells and adipose tissues were not observed in cellulite skin, but in cellulite skin, it was revealed that a part of the subcutaneous fat tissues projected deeply into the dermal layer (Non-patent Literature 1 and 2).
Since 40% of adult women have cellulite, and cellulite significantly impairs aesthetic appearance, there is a high demand for alleviating, preventing and treating cellulite, and products and aesthetic treatments intended for cellulite are already on the market both domestically and abroad. However, since the histological characteristics defining cellulite and the formation mechanism thereof have not been elucidated, such products are usually directed to a product lacking effective data or simply slimming agents intended to reduce the amount of fat. Thus, there is very little at present that is really effective for reducing, preventing and treating cellulite, and no products specifically targeted for cellulite have been commercially available yet.
Although there are few references disclosing drugs and/or treatments for improving the appearance of cellulite along with experimental data on them, nicotinamide, conjugated linoleic acid and sulfocarbiose are disclosed as drugs that alleviate cellulite by applying on the affected cellulite site, along with experimental data (Patent Literature 1 and 2, and Non-patent Literature 8), and furthermore 1-4 MHz ultrasonic stimulation is disclosed as a treatment for alleviating cellulite (Patent Literature 3). While these references disclose data indicating the effect of alleviating cellulite, they do not clearly demonstrate its mechanism of action, and thus it is still unknown whether the reduction in cellulite is caused by the reduction in the amount of fat or whether a mechanism other than the reduction in fat works.
Researches on cellulite are mainly carried out by investigating skin tissue by means of noninvasive methods. However, in addition to a problem relating to a small number of test samples due to the nature of noninvasive methods, only fragmented information has been obtained. Thus, it is hardly said that cellulite has been systematically investigated.

Method of evaluating cellulite and method of evaluating cellulite-effective drug using fibulin-3 and/or sarcoglycan gamma as an indicator


A medication dispensing apparatus with a spring-driven locking feature includes a drive member movable in a distal direction within a housing, and a fluid container with a piston that is advanceable by the drive member (60) when such drive member is moved distally by a driving means. The apparatus includes a latching element (180) having a skid (190) that is slidable along a surface of the drive member as the drive member passes distally during advancement. The drive member is arranged with the skid so as to maintain a latching lip of the latching element against a spring force in a first position free of the driving means during dose preparing and injecting prior to a final dose administration. The skid-engaging surface shifts distally of the skid such that the skid passes beyond a proximal end of that surface upon administration of a final dose, whereby the latching lip is urged by the spring force from the first position to a second position to physically lock the driving means to prevent further dose preparing and injecting.

The present invention pertains to medication dispensing devices, and, in particular, to a portable medication dispensing device such as an injector pen.
Patients suffering from a number of different diseases frequently must inject themselves with medication. To allow a person to conveniently and accurately self-administer medicine, a variety of devices broadly known as injector pens or injection pens have been developed. Generally, these pens are equipped with a cartridge including a piston and containing a multi-dose quantity of liquid medication. A drive member, extending from within a base of the injector pen and operably connected with typically more rearward mechanisms of the pen that control drive member motion, is movable forward to advance the piston in the cartridge in such a manner to dispense the contained medication from an outlet at the opposite cartridge end, typically through a needle that penetrates a stopper at that opposite end. In disposable pens, after a pen has been utilized to exhaust the supply of medication within the cartridge, the entire pen is discarded by a user, who then begins using a new replacement pen. In reusable pens, after a pen has been utilized to exhaust the supply of medication within the cartridge, the pen is disassembled to allow replacement of the spent cartridge with a fresh cartridge, and then the pen is reassembled for its subsequent use.
Some injector pens allow a dose to be set that is larger than the amount of useable medicine remaining in the pen. While some users may find such settability undesirable, providing an insufficient remaining dose indicator may not be practical in all cases, such as due to it complicating the pen design. Still further, a shortcoming with some injector pens is that the design platform on which they are based may not allow a manufacturer sufficient options as to the mechanical advantage to provide, such as a mechanical advantage that can be very small in order to readily inject a large volume dose, or which mechanical advantage can be quite large so as to deliver a small volume dose with a suitable plunger travel.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an apparatus that can overcome one or more of these and other shortcomings of the prior art.

Medication dispensing apparatus with spring-driven locking feature enabled by administration of final dose


A method for generating configuration information includes: a network control unit receives a virtual machine association message, where the VM association message includes an identifier of a first VM and an identifier of a first virtual built-in network element (NE), where a state of the first VM changes and the first virtual built-in NE detects that the state of the first VM changes; and the network control unit determines first information according to the identifier of the first VM, where the first information includes at least one of: a first forwarding entry, a location information mapping entry of the first VM, and a first network policy. According to the method, a network control unit determines first information according to an identifier of a first VM whose state changes and whose identifier is included in a VM association message, network configuration efficiency and network performance are improved.

A virtual machine (VM) refers to a complete computer system that is simulated by using software, has a function of a complete hardware system, and is run in a completely isolated environment. Generally, one or more virtual machines can be simulated on one physical computer, and these virtual machines can work like real computers.
With increasing demands for improving server utilization and reducing a server cost, a server virtualization technology emerges based on a virtual machine technology. Server virtualization refers to abstracting a physical resource of a server into a logical resource, changing one server into several or even hundreds of virtual servers that are isolated from each other, or changing several servers into one server for use, so that restrictions of physical boundaries are overcome, and hardware such as a central processing unit (CPU), memory, a magnetic disk, or an input/output (I/O) changes into a "resource pool" that can be dynamically managed, thereby greatly improving resource utilization and simplifying system management. In a data center (DC) network, after a server is virtualized, traffic of multiple or even dozens of VMs may exist on a same physical port of a switch. For different VMs, corresponding information, for example, a network policy and a forwarding table, needs to be configured. Currently, the configuration of all of the corresponding information is implemented by means of manual configuration. When a state of a virtual machine changes, for example, when a server performs an operation, such as creation or deletion, on the virtual machine, the related configuration information also changes. However, a manual configuration method causes both a heavy workload and poor timeliness, which severely affect network performance.

Method for generating configuration information, and network control unit


To augment the temperature dependence of the voltage used to detect temperature in a semiconductor integrated circuit device having a temperature detection function, the operating power supply voltage of the semiconductor integrated circuit device needed to be enhanced. It becomes possible for such a semiconductor integrated circuit device to generate a voltage of great temperature dependence, even under a low operating power supply voltage, by including: a temperature-to-current converter which outputs a first electric current proportional to temperature; a current generator which outputs a second electric current having extremely small temperature dependence; a current subtracter which outputs a third electric current proportional to a differential current obtained by subtracting the second electric current from the first electric current; and a current-to-voltage converter which converts the third electric current into a voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor integrated circuit devices with a function of measuring temperatures, and more particularly, to a technique suitable for the temperature-to-voltage converter mounted in a semiconductor integrated circuit device.
2. Description of Related Arts
The so-called contactless IC card with a semiconductor integrated circuit device and an antenna mounted within the card implements various functions such as exchanging information between an interrogator and the semiconductor integrated circuit device, transmitting the data retained in the contactless IC card, and holding the data that was transmitted from the interrogator.
The semiconductor integrated circuit device mounted in the contactless IC card receives high-frequency signals from the interrogator by means of the antenna mounted in the contactless IC card, rectifies and smoothens the voltages developed at both ends of the antenna, and forms the internal voltages required for the operation of internal circuit.
In recent years, there has been a growing demand for more advanced functionality of the contactless IC card. Coupled with this tendency, increases in the current consumption of the semiconductor integrated circuit device mounted within the contactless IC card are making sufficient internal voltages difficult to generate. To extend the communications distance with respect to an interrogator, the circuits mounted in the contactless IC card needs to be composed so as to operate at lower voltages.
Traditionally, the ambient temperature of a semiconductor integrated circuit device has been measured by conducting a temperature-to-voltage conversion based on the temperature characteristics of diodes or MOS transistors, and then further converting the voltage into an easily processable digital signal by means of an A/D conversion circuit or the like. These methods are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-307111 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Reference 1) and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-258111 (hereinafter, referred to as Patent Reference 2).
Patent Reference 1 describes a semiconductor integrated circuit device that allows the detection and control of its ambient temperature to be conducted with a one IC chip. Also, Patent Reference 2 describes a temperature detection circuit that can, by operating only when it judges temperatures, reduce current consumption, thus reduce increases in IC chip temperature with an operating current, and conduct accurate temperature judgments.
To augment the temperature dependence of the voltage to be used to detect temperatures in the means shown in Patent References 1 and 2, however, there has been a need to connect a plurality of diodes or MOS transistors in series. This has posed the problem in that the corresponding circuit encounters difficulty with its operation under a low power supply voltage due to increases in operating power supply voltage.

Semiconductor integrated circuit device and a contactless electronic device


A robotic process automation system with improved security in the form of a credential vault includes data storage for storing bots. The data storage also stores credentials in encrypted form where the credentials are not associated with any of the plurality of bots. The credentials include standard credentials and user specific credentials. A processor is operatively coupled to the data storage and is configured to execute instructions that when executed cause the processor to provide to an administrator a control console. The instructions implement a standard credential generator and a user specific credential generator, to generate a user specific credential template useable by a user to enter credentials specific to the user. The instructions also implement a configurable locker that is stored in encrypted form in the data storage to associate a set of users as a group and to provide selected standard credentials to the group.

Robotic process automation (RPA) is the application of technology that allows workers in an organization to configure a computer software or a "robot" to capture and interpret existing applications for processing a transaction, manipulating data, triggering responses and communicating with other digital systems. Conventional RPA systems employ software robots to interpret the user interface of third party applications and to execute steps identically to a human user. In certain environments, the robots will encounter information that needs to be protected for various reasons such as confidentiality considerations or privacy or other legal or regulatory requirements. In such environments, care must be taken to ensure that administrators and users, such as creators and operators of the robots have the appropriate credentials to access the protected information. As the number of tasks performed increases and the different types of tasks increases it becomes increasingly difficult to manage access to the protected information, and the consequences of failing to adequately protect the protected information continues to grow. Accordingly, there is a need for improved automation and management of access controls in RPA systems.

Robotic process automation system and method with secure credential vault


This invention is directed to an image reading apparatus. In the apparatus, reading an original by irradiating it with light of three primary colors, respectively, and by receiving the reflected light is performed as follows. More specifically, an operation mode is designated, and conditions used to perform image reading are set in accordance with the designated mode. Under the set conditions, the image reading is performed according to a method of irradiating an original sequentially with beams of the three primary colors and reading the beams reflected by the original. Alternatively, under the set conditions, image reading is performed according to a method of irradiating an original simultaneously with beams of two primary colors in each of three different combinations of the three primary colors and reading the beams reflected by the original. Instead, image reading is executed twice according to these two methods.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus, multifunction printer apparatus, and image reading method. Particularly, the present invention relates to an image reading apparatus, multifunction printer apparatus, and image reading method for optically reading an image original.
2. Description of the Related Art
A color scanner is known as an image reading apparatus which reads an image by switching light of different light emission wavelengths. Such a color scanner has a linear light source and an image sensor provided on a carriage movable in a predetermined direction. The light source includes LEDs capable of irradiating light emission wavelengths corresponding to three primary colors of light, that is, red (R), green (G), and blue (B). The carriage is moved in a direction (sub-scanning direction) perpendicular to the elongated direction (main scanning direction) of the linear light source. The liner image sensor receives reflected light obtained by irradiating an image original with light and reads the image original. To read the image original, a scanning read method is employed.
In the scanning read method, an original is read by switching three LEDs serving as a light source while conveying a CIS (Contact Image Sensor) unit in the sub-scanning direction. More specifically, the R component data of a color image is obtained by lighting a red LED. Next, the G component data is obtained by lighting a green LED. Finally, the B component data is obtained by lighting a blue LED. Image data of one line is obtained in one red, green, and blue LED lighting cycle. Image data of one page of the image original is obtained by repeating the lighting cycle while conveying the CIS unit in the sub-scanning direction.
In scanning read in which the red, green, and blue LEDs are sequentially turned on, color misalignment occurs. As a method of reducing color misalignment, a method of performing reading by turning on two LED light sources between charge readout timings is known, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-184390.
If bright LEDs are used to improve the signal-to-noise ratio, the cost increases. To solve this problem, a method of reading an image by simultaneously turning on two LED light sources is known, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-197531.
Alternatively, an image forming apparatus described in Japanese Patent No. 3,750,429 is known, which performs a reading operation appropriate for an original by switching transmitted illumination light in accordance with the transparent original type such as a negative original or positive original.
FIG. 9 is a timing chart showing a primary color reading method of reading an image original by lighting only one color LED at a single timing.
As shown in FIG. 9, according to this method, the red (R), green (G), and blue (B) LEDs are sequentially turned on so that the respective color component data are output in synchronism with a pulse signal SH. When the red LED changes from ON to OFF, and the pulse signal SH is turned on, R component data is output. Similarly, when the green LED or blue LED changes from ON to OFF, and the pulse signal SH is turned on, G component data or B component data is output.
Let (R,G,B)=(255,255,255) be the brightness value of a read white original, and (R,G,B)=(0,255,255) be the brightness value of a read cyan original.
When an edge at which an original changes from white to cyan is read at the timing shown in FIG. 9, the output data of a line (a) is (R,G,B)=(255,255,255), and the output data of a line (b) is (R,G,B)=(0,255,255). In the line (a), at the light emission timing of the red LED, the original color is white. Hence, the brightness output value of the R component is 255. At the light emission timings of the green and blue LEDs, the original color is cyan. Hence, the brightness output value of the G component is 255. The brightness output value of the B component is also 255.
FIG. 10 is a timing chart showing a complementary color reading method of reading an image original by simultaneously turning on two color LEDs (simultaneously lighting two primary colors).
When an edge at which an original changes from white to cyan is read by the complementary color reading method at the timing shown in FIG. 9, the brightness output values are as follows. The output data of a line (c) is (RG,GB,BR)=(510,510,255), and the output data of a line (d) is (RG,GB,BR)=(255,510,255). The read data is converted into the brightness values of the R, G, and B color components by equation (1). In the line (c), (R,G,B)=(128,255,128). In the line (d), (R,G,B)=(0,255,255). In equation (1), if the values of the R, G and B have a range of 0-255, respectively, the values of the GB, BR and RG have a range of 0-510, respectively. When converting from the GB, BR and RG to the R, G and B, if the GB, BR and RG exceed "255", these values are fixed to be 255, respectively.
                              (                                                    R                                                                    G                                                                    B                                              )                =                              1            2                                          (                                                                                -                    1                                                                    1                                                  1                                                                              1                                                                      -                    1                                                                    1                                                                              1                                                  1                                                                      -                    1                                                                        )                                          (                                                            GB                                                                              BR                                                                              RG                                                      )                                              (        1        )
Using the obtained values of the lines (a) to (d), a CTF (Contrast Transfer Function) is calculated by equation (2). In the primary color reading method, CTF=18%. In the complementary color reading method, CTF=7%.
                    CTF        =                                                            W                p                            -                              B                p                                                                    W                p                            +                              B                p                                              ·          100                                    (        2        )
Note that, in equation (2), Wp is the maximum brightness, and Bp is the minimum brightness. Further note that conversion into brightness uses the following equation: Brightness=0.3R+0.6G+0.1B.
As understood from a comparison between the calculated CTFs, the CTF value obtained by the complementary color reading method is smaller than that obtained by the primary color reading method. That is, if the complimentary reading method is employed, an image having a blurred edge is read. Since the reading method in the sub-scanning direction is different between the primary color reading method and the complementary color reading method, the CTF value readily changes at an edge portion in the sub-scanning direction.
The same as in image original reading by the method of simultaneously lighting two colors also applies to a two-color LED time-divisional lighting method as shown in FIG. 11.
As described above, the reading reproducibility of an edge portion according to a primary color reading method differs from that according to a complementary color reading. In actual image reading, various kinds of images are read. When forming a read image, a given reading method is suited to high edge-reproducibility, and another is appropriate for low edge-reproducibility. However, a conventional apparatus can employ only either method in reading.

Image reading apparatus, multifunction printer apparatus, and image processing method


A method of identifying a cell configuration for a print shop may include determining a print job size distribution for a plurality of print jobs. The method may include identifying one or more print device requirements associated with a cell in a print shop, identifying a plurality of available print devices associated with the print shop and determining, by a computing device, a plurality of different configurations of the available print devices that satisfy the one or more print device requirements. The method may include, for each configuration, determining a print job size threshold value, and determining, by the computing device, a processing time associated with processing the plurality of print jobs by a cell having the configuration and the determined print job size threshold value. The method may include selecting, by the computing device, the cell having the configuration associated with the smallest processing time.

Document production environments, such as print shops, convert printing orders, such as print jobs, into finished printed material. A print shop may process print jobs using resources such as printers, cutters, collators and other similar equipment. Typically, resources in print shops are organized such that when a print job arrives from a customer at a particular print shop, the print job can be processed by performing one or more production functions.
Scheduling architectures that organize print jobs arriving at a document production environment and route the print jobs to autonomous cells are known in the art and are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,051,328 to Rai et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,065,567 to Squires et al., the disclosures of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Methods for distributing jobs to a receiver on a network using devices are known in the art and are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,513,126 to Harkins et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
It is common for print shops to receive print jobs having variable job sizes. Problems arise when a wide distribution of job sizes exists. This may be referred to as a heavy-tailed distribution. Typically, print jobs are routed to autonomous cells by associating a print function of each print job to print devices in autonomous cells with the objective of minimizing the maximum makespan across all autonomous cells. However, processing heavy-tailed distributions in this manner often causes delays, inefficiencies and poor print shop performance. Print shops are not configured to account for these large jobs, and these large jobs are not routed in a manner that assures the best use of print shop resources.

Methods and systems for determining capacity allocation and job size thresholds for print jobs having heavy-tailed distributions


Connected to a differential transistor pair are a load current source and a tail current source. A bias circuit controls current generated by the load current source. A first self-bias switch is provided between a gate and a drain of a first input transistor; and a second self-bias switch is provided between a gate and a drain of a second input transistor, where the first input transistor and the second input transistor constitute the differential transistors pair. An external bias switch is provided between the bias circuit and the load current source.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a differential amplifier that amplifies or compares an inputted voltage.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, along with the progress in a digital processing technology of video signals there is a growing demand of high performance in an analog-to-digital converter circuit (hereinafter referred to as "A/D converter" also) used in the video signal processing. As an A/D converter that meets this demand, an A/D converter of a pipeline type has been utilized.
The pipeline type A/D converter is configured by including a sub-A/D converter and a digital-to-analog converter circuit (hereinafter referred to as "D/A converter" also). The sub-A/D converter is of a flash type, capable of performing high-speed conversion, where comparators are all connected in parallel. The sub-A/D converter is configured by including a plurality of differential comparators that compare a plurality of reference voltages with an input voltage. The conventional differential comparator is configured such that the switches within a circuit are CMOS switches (transfer gates). In such CMOS switches, parasitic capacitances exist between sources and gates or between gates and drains. Hence, switching noise dependent on the input voltage occurs when the switch is turned on and off. Then a problem arises where this switching noise is transferred to an output by way of the parasitic capacitance.


A method includes receiving a request to display sets of unread messages associated with a plurality of communication channels of a communication platform, wherein each set of unread messages is associated with a respective communication channel of the plurality of communication channels; receiving a selection to sort the sets of unread messages according to a user-defined sorting scheme for ordering display of the plurality of communication channels in the communication platform; and displaying the sets of unread messages sorted according to the user-defined sorting scheme.

A communication platform (e.g., a messaging platform or an email platform) may allow a user to view all unread messages so that the user does not have to scroll through all messages to find those that the user has not read. Communication platforms may provide different pre-defined sorting schemes for unread messages, such as for arranging the unread messages by date or alphabetically by one or more fields. In some cases, a communication platform may organize messages into different message groups. For example, an email platform may enable a user to group messages into different folders and a messaging platform may provide different messaging groups. When displaying unread messages from different message groups according to pre-defined sorting schemes, it may be difficult for a user to discern which unread message comes from which message group.

Systems and methods for sorting unread messages in a group-based communication platform


A system and method for maximizing a battery pack total energy metric indicative of a total energy of a battery pack is provided. The method includes receiving battery cell charge capacity estimates for all cells in the battery pack, composing battery pack configurations comprising subsets of the totality of battery cells, evaluating a battery pack energy metric for every battery pack configuration that is composed, selecting the battery pack configuration that has the maximum battery pack energy metric, and storing values indicative of the selected battery pack configuration in a memory.

Battery cells are used in a wide variety of electronic and electrical devices. Very often, individual battery cells are connected electrically in series to form battery packs having higher total voltage and higher total energy capacity than individual battery cells. One consequence of connecting battery cells in series is that all of the battery cells will experience the same electrical current. Therefore, the number of ampere-hours added or subtracted from every battery cell's charge level will be the same. However, individual battery cells may have different charge capacity (in ampere hours). This is particularly true as the battery pack ages, because over time individual battery cells degrade: battery cell resistances tend to increase and battery cell charge capacities tend to decrease. If this process occurs at different rates in different battery cells in a battery pack, then at some point in time one or more battery cells may limit the battery pack total energy capacity. A battery cell having lower charge capacity is more quickly charged to the maximum design voltage, and is more quickly discharged to the minimum design voltage. Therefore, either not all battery cells will be fully charged when the battery cell having lower charge capacity is charged, or not all battery cells will be fully discharged when the battery cell having lower charge capacity is discharged. Not all of the possible energy capacity of the battery pack will be realized.
At some point, a battery pack may be capable of higher total energy capacity if one or more of the battery cells having low charge capacity are removed from the battery pack so that they no longer limit the range of charge of the other battery cells. In some applications, these battery cells might be replaced with new battery cells. In other applications, that might not be practical, so the battery controller could then allow those battery cells to be abandoned—the lower voltage of these particular battery cells would no longer be restricted by the controller to the lower design voltage. This "undercharge condition" for some battery cell electro-chemistries causes the battery cell voltage to collapse to zero and the battery cell charge capacity to collapse to zero, effectively eliminating that battery cell from the battery pack without physically removing it. This is a safe operating condition, and can result in higher overall battery pack energy capacity.
While abandoning a battery cell in this manner can result in higher overall battery pack energy capacity, it will also place greater stresses on the remaining battery cells in the battery pack, since they must provide greater power levels per battery cell than they did before. Therefore, in some applications it may be desirable to optimize the battery pack total energy capacity. Battery pack total energy capacity is one possible battery pack total energy metric. In other applications it may be desirable to optimize a different battery pack total energy metric that takes into account the total energy capacity and stress factors on remaining battery cells when some battery cells are abandoned.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method for efficiently determining a battery pack configuration based on present battery cell charge capacities that maximizes a battery pack total energy metric. The embodiments disclosed herein perform this task.

System and method for maximizing a battery pack total energy metric


Various embodiments for disaster recovery (DR) production takeover in a computing environment by a processor device are provided. If, for a designated storage system operable in the computing environment, a takeover operation may be executed, and a DR storage system has validly replaced the designated storage system using a replacement process, a withdrawal of a DR mode of operation is performed, and ownership of at least one storage device operable in the computing environment is transferred to the DR storage system. The replacement process authorizes the DR storage system to transfer the ownership while withdrawn from the DR mode of operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to computers, and more particularly to apparatus, method and computer program product embodiments for disaster recovery (DR) production takeover in deduplication systems in a computing storage environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computers and computer systems are found in a variety of settings in today's society. Computing environments and networks may be found at home, at work, at school, in government, and in other settings. Computing environments increasingly store data in one or more storage environments, which in many cases are remote from the local interface presented to a user.
Computing environments better known as deduplication systems may externalize various logical data storage entities, such as files, data objects, backup images, data snapshots or virtual tape cartridges. It is often required that such data storage entities be replicated from their origin site to remote sites. Replicated data entities enhance fault tolerance abilities and availability of data. Such fault tolerance and wide availability is increasingly demanded. For example, replication may be used in certain disaster recovery (DR) scenarios to retain data security and data access. While several existing approaches may be used to perform data replication, and specifically, replication of deduplicated data entities, these approaches have accompanying limitations that negatively affect replication efficiency, system performance and data consistency, require additional overhead, or a combination of the above.

International Business Machines Corporation


The blade for a gas turbine includes a blade airfoil having a leading edge and a trailing edge and extending in the blade longitudinal direction up to a blade tip, and at the blade tip the blade airfoil merges into a shroud segment, wherein on the shroud segment a first rib, projecting upwards, is arranged in the flow direction, extending transversely to the flow direction, and upstream of the first rib, in the region of the leading edge of the blade airfoil, a winglet is formed on the shroud segment for guiding of the hot gas flow in this region. With such a blade, a longer service life is achieved by provision being made for direct cooling of the winglet.

The rotor blades of gas turbines, which are fastened on the rotor and exposed to the hot gas flow in the turbine, can be equipped with a shroud segment on the blade tip, which together with shroud segments of other blades of a blade row, form an annular shroud which lies concentrically to a rotor axis. As a result of the shroud, the blade row can be mechanically stabilized and a secondary flow of hot gas across the blade tip can be reduced. Therefore, aerodynamic efficiency can be increased. Such shroud segments and methods and devices for their cooling are disclosed in, for example, EP-A2-1 041 247, EP-A1-1 591 626 and GB-A-2 434 842.
Some of these shroud segments can be equipped with widened portions of a segment base in front of a first rib on a leading edge of a blade airfoil. This widened portion can be referred to as a "winglet." Such a blade is reproduced in FIG. 1. The blade 10 of FIG. 1 includes a blade airfoil 11, which extends in a blade longitudinal direction (corresponding to the radial direction on the rotor), having a leading edge 13 and a trailing edge 12. The blade airfoil 11 terminates in a blade tip 14 and at the blade tip 14 merges into a shroud segment 16. On the upper side of the flat shroud segment 16, there are two ribs 17 and 18 which, projecting upwards, extend transversely to the flow direction of the hot gas flow 21 and together with the corresponding ribs of the other blades of a blade row form an encompassing ring in each case.
In front of the first rib 18 in the flow direction, the base of the shroud segment 16 extends forwards (upstream), forming a winglet 19 which lies in the region of the leading edge 13 of the blade airfoil 11 and towards the front is delimited by a slightly rounded leading edge 24.
The winglet 19 can prevent hot gas penetrating directly across the first rib 18 into the cavity above the shroud which is formed between the two ribs 17 and 18. Because the winglet 19 projects directly into the hot gas flow 21, it can be exposed to high temperatures. As a result of this, the material properties deteriorate and high thermal stresses occur on the winglet 19, for example, on account of the mismatch in the metal temperatures between the uncooled winglet 19 and the cooled main volume of the shroud segment 16.
Attempts have been made to reduce the temperature on the winglet by a substantial cooling air mass flow being injected into the hot gas flow 21 in the region of the blade tip 14 in order to locally reduce the temperature of the flowing medium around the winglet. This very indirect cooling, however, is effective to only a limited degree, is difficult to meter and, as a result of the comparatively large injected cooling air mass flow, impairs the efficiency of the system.


There are provided mechanisms for reporting channel coefficients to a wireless device. A method is performed by a network node. The method includes receiving reference signals from the wireless device. The method includes transmitting a first set of beam-formed reference signals. The first set of beam-formed reference signals reflects channel coefficients and is based on the received reference signals and the number of beams in the first set of beam-formed reference signals is less than the number of receive antennas in which the reference signals are received, thereby reporting the channel coefficients to the wireless device.

In communications networks, there may be a challenge to obtain good performance and capacity for a given communications protocol, its parameters and the physical environment in which the communications network is deployed.
For example, for future generations of mobile communications systems frequency bands at many different carrier frequencies could be needed. For example, low such frequency bands could be needed to achieve sufficient network coverage for users (e.g. wireless devices) and higher frequency bands (e.g. at millimeter wavelengths (mmW), i.e. near and above 30 GHz) could be needed to reach required network capacity. In general terms, at high frequencies the propagation properties of the radio channel are more challenging and beamforming both at the network-side (e.g. at transmission points or access nodes) and at the user-side might be required to reach a sufficient link budget.
At the transmission points hundreds of antennas elements are expected to be used for beamforming in order to counteract poor radio channel propagation properties.
In the document "Echo-MIMO: A Two-Way Channel Training Method for Matched Cooperative Beamforming", by Lang P. Withers, Jr., in IEEE Transactions on Signal Processing, Vol. 56, No. 9, September 2008, there is a description of full loop precoding for a wireless device. The purpose of the precoding scheme is to attain channel state information (CSI) in the uplink from the wireless device when the wireless device is not calibrated between transmission and reception. The CSI can then be used at the wireless device for uplink precoding. A simplified signaling diagram of the method described in this document is given in FIG. 1.
Step S1: The wireless device 300 transmits sounding reference signals (SRSs) and the network node 200 receives the transmitted SRSs.
Step S2: The network node 200 amplifies and forwards the received SRSs to the wireless device 300 and the wireless device 300 receives the forwarded SRSs.
Step S3: The wireless device 300 performs an estimation of the round-trip channel HRound using the received SRSs.
Step S4: The network node 200 transmits downlink reference signals (DL-RSs) and the network node 200 receives the transmitted DL-RSs.
Step S5: The wireless device 300 performs an estimation of the downlink channel HDL using the received DL-RSs.
Step S6: The wireless device 300 performs an estimation of the uplink channel HUL by performing element-wise matrix division between HRound and HDL.
One issue with the full loop uplink precoding procedure in FIG. 1 is that if the network node 200 has many antennas it generates large overhead, especially due to the forwarded uplink SRSs. The number of forwarded SRSs is equal to M times N, where M is the number of SRSs transmitted from the wireless device (typically given by the number of antennas at the wireless device) and N is the number of receive antennas at the transmission point of the network node. There is also extra overhead due to the required N extra downlink reference signals.
Hence, there is still a need for improved channel estimation procedures.


The invention relates to apparatus for enlarging part of a metal workpiece by cold forging, characterised by an enlarging die (5, 6) and by the die having means (8, 8xe2x80x2) to alleviate stress to the workpiece during forging.

The invention relates to forging of workpieces, particularly metal workpieces such as reinforcing bars for use in building construction, particularly concrete construction.
Concrete reinforcing bars, which may be deformed by external ribs, or plain, are usually provided in finite lengths.
It is often necessary to join them in line to provide a more extensive reinforcement than might otherwise be possible owing to the finite length. Such bars have a high tensile strength, and it is accordingly necessary not to undermine that strength during any process to enable the bar to be connected with another. Usually this is effected by providing a thread on one end, usually by cold working, which can be advantageous as the bars are usually made from steel with a high carbon and manganese content. However, forming a thread at one end of the bar often reduces the cross-section of the bar, thus lowering its tensile cross-section in the region of the thread, which leads to failure in use, which can be catastrophic for the concrete. It is thus necessary to ensure that the threaded end (which is formed by rolling, milling or cutting) is enlarged, relative to the remaining length of the bar, so that the effective tension cross-section of the threaded part is not smaller than that of the remaining length of bar. However, in the past, enlarging techniques have not been able satisfactorily to produce an enlarged end of a ribbed bar in which the tensile strength is not effected as compared with that of the remainder of the bar.
It is an object of the invention to seek to mitigate these disadvantages.
According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for cold forging a metal workpiece, comprising a die with means to alleviate stress to the workpiece during forging.
According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided apparatus for enlarging part of a metal workpiece by cold forging, comprising an enlarging die with means to alleviate stress to the workpiece during forging.
Using the invention it is possible to provide an enlarged end of deformed (ribbed) and undeformed reinforcement bars without changing their overall tensile characteristics.
The stress alleviating means may comprise a relief channel into which metal can flow during forging. This is a relatively simple yet effective construction, particularly where the relief channel may be a substantially U-shaped groove in the die.
There may be two opposed dies. This provides for positive enlargement over the whole circumference of the workpiece.
Each die may have a first die part and a second die part which second die part may be enlarged relative to the first die part and may be adapted to allow part of the workpiece to project therefrom, the arrangement being such that in use the projecting part of the workpiece is upset and enlarged. This is a particularly simple and efficient construction.
There may be means to press the die parts together, and means to apply pressure in a direction substantially at 90xc2x0 to the first-mentioned press direction. This provides for maintaining a tensile integrity of the workpiece during a forging/enlarging procedure.
The means for pressing the die parts together may comprise an hydraulic press acting substantially vertically in use. This is an effective construction.
The second-mentioned means may comprise an hydraulic press acting substantially horizontally. This is also an effective construction.
At least the distance between the enlarging die and the substantially-horizontally acting hydraulic press may be adjustable. This provides for a desired enlarging operation.
The distance may be adjustable by adjusting the pressure of a forging piston for effecting forging. This is an effective way of adjusting the operation.
An equally effective alternative may be by the distance being adjustable by adjustment of a forging pad on which the forging piston can act.
The pressure of the substantially vertically acting hydraulic press may also be adjustable. This again provides a desired control of the procedure.
The first die part may have an internal die configuration substantially complementary to the external configuration of a major part of a workpiece which is to be forged. This provides for support of the workpiece during enlargement.
According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a method of cold forging an elongate metal workpiece, comprising the steps of providing forging apparatus having a die, providing the die with means to alleviate stress in the workpiece during forging, and forging the workpiece.
The method may include the steps of providing two opposed forging dies. This provides a positive method of operation.
Each forging die may comprise a relief channel into which material of the workpiece can flow during forging. This provides that the tensile integrity of the workpiece is maintained.
There may be the steps of providing that each die part has a first die part and a second die part enlarged with respect to the first die part, inserting an elongate workpiece between the dies so that the first die part receives a main part of the workpiece, and an end of the workpiece projects through and beyond the second die part, and upsetting the projecting end so that it flows into the enlarged second die part. This provides an efficient method of enlargement.
There may be the steps of removing the forged workpiece from the apparatus and forming a thread on the enlarged part of the workpiece. This provides a way to connect the workpiece with another similar one.
According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided an elongate metal workpiece whenever forged by a method as hereinbefore defined, or whenever produced by a method as hereinbefore defined.
The elongate metal workpiece may have at least one threaded end, and may comprise a reinforcing bar for use in building construction.
Such a reinforcing bar may have an internally threaded sleeve on an end opposite an enlarged threaded end.
According to a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided a reinforcing system, comprising a plurality of reinforcing bars as hereinbefore defined.
According to a sixth aspect of the invention there is provided concrete whenever reinforced by a workpiece or reinforcing bar as hereinbefore defined.

53 Sukhumvit 101/1, Soi, Prawitlehouan 14


Keyboard apparatus has a frame and a key pivotably mounted on the frame. Key guide structure includes a key-side guide member provided inside the key, and a frame-side guide member provided on the frame. The key-side guide member has at least one convexly-formed portion projecting from the inner surface of a distal end portion of the key, remote from a pivot point of the key, toward the pivot point. The frame-side guide member permits movement of the key-side guide member along a pivoting direction of the key, but limits lateral movement of the key-side guide member.

The present invention relates to a key guide structure for use in a keyboard apparatus, having keys pivotably mounted on a key frame, which guides pivoting movement of a key by means of a key-side guide member provided on an inner wall surface of the key and a frame-side guide member provided integrally with the key frame.
Key guide structures of the aforementioned type are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. HEI-9-244656 (patent literature 1) (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,824,928) and Japanese Patent Publication No. 3044810 (patent literature 2). In the key guide structure disclosed in patent literature 1, a key guide is disposed on an upper portion of a front plate of a frame and inside a distal end portion of a white key, and movement of the white key is guided by cooperation between the key guide and two side surfaces (side walls) of the while key which are opposed to each other in a direction in which a plurality of white keys are arranged (hereinafter "key-arranged direction").
In the key guide structure disclosed in patent literature 2, a key guide is provided vertically on a front portion of a keyboard frame, and a guided section is accommodated within a lower stopper provided on a front end portion of a key. The key is guided by cooperation between the key guide and two side surfaces of the key which are opposed to each other in a key-arranged direction. Patent literature 2 also discloses that a slight amount of grease is put between the key guide and the guided portion.
According to the disclosure of patent literature 1 and patent literature 2, the key guide structure is constructed to guide a key by the key guide contacting, for example, the key's inner side surfaces opposed to each other in the key-arranged direction (i.e., in a width direction of the keyboard). Thus, the disclosed key guide structures would present various problems pertaining to dimensional stability, positional accuracy and appearance of the keys, etc.
Typical example of the size stability problem is as follows. In general, keys are each formed by molding into a downward-opening box-like shape. Thus, due to change (e.g., temporal change) and variation (difference) in resin molding conditions and aftercontraction (or deformation after molding) of the resin molds, the greater the height of the opposed side surfaces of the keys, the more instable would become the dimensions of the opposed side surfaces. Further, regions of the opposed side surfaces farther from the front or rear end surface (i.e., closer to the lengthwise middle) of the keys tend to become instable in dimension (or distance) between the side surfaces. Thus, keys can not be molded accurately into originally-designed dimensions. Thus, unintended contact would occur between the key and the corresponding key guide, with the result that there would arise problems with the key guide function, such as unsmooth vertical movement of the key, noise sound produced due to the unsmooth contact between the key and the key guide, etc.
Typical example of the key position problem is as follows. Each key is positioned in a left-right horizontal direction by the corresponding key guide positioned between the pivot point and distal end of the key. Thus, the closer to the pivot point of the key (i.e., the farther from the distal end) the position of the key guide (key guide section), the more difficult would it become to achieve positional accuracy, in the key-arranged direction, of the key's distal end portion, which would result in great differences in gaps between adjoining keys.
Typical example of the key appearance problem is as follows. In a case where the key guide is located at a position Pa or Pb as shown in FIG. 9, it has been known to provide a rib Ra or Rb near the key guide Pa or Pb to interconnect the opposed side surfaces and thereby prevent deformation (inward warpage) of the side surfaces. However, unwanted sinkage or sink tends to occur in the outer surface of a portion where the rib Ra or Rb is provided. Further, the greater the distance between the side surface of the key (i.e., width of the key), or the greater the height of the rib, the more easily such sink tend to occur. Therefore, the key position problem can be avoided more easily if the position Pa of the key guide section of FIG. 9 is closer to the distal end (front end surface) of the key; in such a case, however, the outer surface of the portion where the deformation-preventing rib Ra is provided may sink more easily than where the key guide section is at the position Pb, and thus, the appearance of the outer surface would be aesthetically impaired. Further, if base portions of the rib are reduced in thickness with a view to avoiding the unwanted sink, it is necessary to provide a slide mechanism (i.e., core sliding toward the rear of the key) in a molding mold, and thus, a space extending toward the rear of the key is required for sliding movement of the slide mechanism.

Key guide structure in keyboard apparatus


Some implementations provide techniques and arrangements for semantic lexicon based processing, such as in an input method editor. In some instances, a semantic label may be received that is to be defined for a semantic lexicon and at least a first term may be identified as a positive or negative example of the semantic label. In response, some examples may label at least a second term in the semantic lexicon with the semantic label based at least in part on the identification of the first term as a positive or negative example of the semantic label.

The continued proliferation of computing devices has led to an increase in the availability of applications and other content used on these devices. For instance, users employ a variety of applications, such as word processing applications, business applications, communication applications, games, digital media players, browsers, and numerous other types of applications, on an assortment of computing devices. As the number of computing devices and applications used on these devices continues to increase, users are ever more interested in enhancing their experiences while using these computing devices and applications.

Semantic lexicon-based input method editor


A process for preparing poly-(imidesiloxanes) which comprises reacting an N,N'-dialkenyldiimide with an organosilicon compound containing two Si-bonded hydrogen atoms in the presence of a catalyst which promotes the addition of Si-bonded hydrogen to an aliphatic multiple bond.

Poly-(imidesiloxanes) are of particular interest because, like polyimides, they have outstanding thermal and mechanical properties, but are more soluble and more easily processed than polyimides.
Processes for the preparation of poly-(imidesiloxanes) are already known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,274,155 (F. C. Saunders, Midland Silicones Limited) describes the preparation of poly-(imidesiloxanes) from pyromellitic dianhydride, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,325,450 (F. F. Holub, General Electric Company) describes the preparation of poly-(imidesiloxanes) from benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride. Both of these patents describe the preparation of poly-(imidesiloxanes) by polycondensation with fairly long-chain .alpha.,.omega.-bisaminoalkylsiloxanes.
A polycondensation of this type is the most widely used method for preparing poly-(imidesiloxanes). In this connection reference should also be made, for example, to U.S. Pat. No. 4,011,279 (A. Berger, General Electric Company), European Application 54,426 (A. Berger, M&T Chemicals Inc.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,395,527 (A. Berger, M&T Chemicals Inc.) and Japanese Publication 62,227,953 (Yoshida Masatoshi, Hitachi Chemical Co. Ltd.).
In the preparation of poly-(imidesiloxanes) by these processes tetracarboxylic dianhydrides are first condensed with .alpha.,.omega.-bisaminoalkylsiloxanes to form polyamic acids, which are imidized at an elevated temperature.
Another method of preparing poly-(imidesiloxanes) is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,350 (Hong-Son Ryang, General Electric Company), U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,153 (J. D. Rich, General Electric Company) and the corresponding German Offenlegungsschrift 3,618,714, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,795,680 (J. D. Rich, General Electric Company) and the corresponding German Offenlegungsschrift 3,803,088. These processes relate to the condensation of anhydride-siloxanes with organic diamines to give polyamic acids, which then also have to be imidized.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a process for preparing poly-(imidesiloxanes) in a relatively simple manner and without undesirable side reactions and in which high conversions are achieved in short reaction times.

Process for preparing poly-(imidesiloxanes)


Some embodiments relate to an integrated circuit. The integrated circuit includes an inductive or capacitive wireless communication structure located on a die region of the integrated circuit. This wireless communication structure is configured to wirelessly receive a test stimulus vector to test circuitry on the die region. The integrated circuit also includes a landing region having a size and location suitable to allow a conductive needle or conductive probe to come into direct physical and electrical contact with the landing region. The landing region provides a DC power supply to the circuitry on the die region while the test stimulus vector is wirelessly received.

Modern integrated circuits often include millions of semiconductor devices, such as transistors, that are collectively capable of performing complex functionality. To ensure the end integrated circuits function properly before being distributed to customers, automatic test equipment performs integrated circuit testing prior to shipment of the integrated circuits.
As will be appreciated in greater detail below, the present disclosure relates to improved automatic test techniques for integrated circuits.

Contactless wafer probing with improved power supply

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd.


A keyboard device applicable on a computer device and includes a first side with a first pivoting unit and a second side with a second pivoting unit. The position of the first side is opposite to that of the second side. Both of the first side and the second side are connected with the base of the computer device via their respective pivoting unit. Therefore, the keyboard can be rotated relative to the base via the first pivoting unit and the second pivoting unit making the conversion steps from normal notebook operation status to tablet PC operation status easier and vice versa.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a keyboard device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a rotatable keyboard device.
2. Description of Related Art
The convertible tablet PC (personal computer) integrates a normal notebook and tablet PC in a shell. An easy way to convert a tablet PC from one operating status (such as normal notebook) to another operating status (such as tablet PC) is to directly rotate the display unit around the hinge to cover the base. Rotating the display unit uncovers the keyboard side of the base but leads to easy damage and incorrect pressing of the keyboard device.
Another method to convert the operating status of a tablet PC requires several steps. FIG. 1a˜1d shows a series of continuous operation diagrams of a traditional convertible tablet PC 100. FIG. 1a shows a traditional convertible tablet PC 100 comprising a display unit 110, a base 130 and a hinge apparatus 120, wherein the base 130 is a host or a server. First, the angle between the display unit 110 and the base 130 must be large enough; second, the display unit 110 must be rotated 180 degrees along a preset rotation direction "a" to make the front face 112 of the display unit 110 face backward and the back face 114 of the display unit 110 face forwards as shown in FIGS. 1b and 1c; and finally, the display unit 110 must be pushed down in the rotation direction "c" to cover the base 130 as shown in FIG. 1d. To convert the tablet PC 100 back to its original operation status (normal notebook), a user inverses the steps above.
The main disadvantage of a traditional convertible tablet PC 110 is that these conversion steps are too complicated to use for those who are not familiar with a notebook or tablet PC.
Besides, during the second step, while rotating the display unit 110 180 degrees, the display unit 110 can only be rotated in one direction, clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on the hinge apparatus 120 (for the foregoing example, rotation direction "a" is allowed while rotation direction "b" is not allowed). In other words, the user has to remember the preset rotation direction when rotating the display unit 110 or the hinge apparatus 120 may be damaged. To solve the problem, a user could apply a little force first to test which direction is correct, however, the little force repeatedly produced over a long period would still cause damage to the hinge apparatus 120.