A program includes sequential program segments, commercial segments, segment dividers delimiting the program and commercial segments and extraneous signals inserted into the segments. The extraneous signals are selected to mimic segment dividers and thus discourage recording of the program by a commercial skipping recorder device.

A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method and apparatus for inserting extraneous signals in broadcast programs selected to mimic segment dividers delimiting program and commercial segments and are calculated to discourage commercial skipping.
B. Background of the Invention
Video Cassette Recorders (VCRs) and Digital Video Recorders (DVRs) are well known devices that are used to record a broadcast program for time shifting. The term 'broadcast program' is used herein broadly to cover audio and video presentations that are transmitted by broadcasters, such as the major networks, to individual viewers over the air, by cable, satellite or any other means, including fixed media. VCRs record broadcast programs as analog signals on a magnetic tape. Digital video recorders compress the programs using known algorithms, such as MPEG, and then store them on a digital storage media.
During replay, commercials can be skipped by the viewers manually by using a FAST FORWARD button or other similar means present on all recorders. However, devices have been suggested that perform commercial skipping automatically. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2003/0202772 published on Oct. 30, 2003, PCT International Publication No. WO 98/07273 published on Feb. 19, 1998 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,788 issued on Sep. 29, 1992, each of which is incorporated herein by reference. As discussed in US 2003/0202772, a typical broadcast program consists of a series of program segments and commercial segments separated from the program segments by segment dividers. The commercial segments may consist of advertising or other content not directly related to the program segments. Typically, segment dividers consist of dark frames (also called "black fields"). Some commercial skipping devices include means of detecting the segments by measuring the luminescence of video frames and identifying the "black fields" or segment dividers, and determining the temporal distance between groups of such dividers. Other commercial skipping systems locate commercial segments by detecting audio dropouts or the presence of stereo audio (where the program segments are not broadcast in stereo due to the use of the second audio program, i.e. SAP, to broadcast either in a second language or with alternative audio content). The device can replay recorded programs in several modes selected by a viewer. In one mode, all the commercial segments are skipped.
Of course, commercials represent an important source of revenue for the broadcasters. If the viewers have the ability to skip the commercials, then the value of these commercials will be greatly diminished and therefore, commercials may cease to be an important source of revenue. As a result, broadcasters may be forced to charge the viewers for what are now "free" television programs, using a subscription service, like HBO, a pay-per-view service, or other similar means. Alternatively, the broadcasters will have to fund the programs through private contributions and/or state funding, like PBS or by obtaining revenues through product placements within the programming itself. None of these funding means are particularly attractive to either the viewers, or the broadcasters.
However, if viewers are discouraged from commercial skipping, then the alternate means of funding programs may not be necessary.

Method and apparatus for discouraging commercial skipping


An apparatus includes a first stent graft that is at least partially insertable into a first blood vessel. The first stent graft has a first end, a second end, an inside surface, and an outside surface. The apparatus also includes an inflatable fill structure fixed to a portion of the outside surface of the first stent graft. The inflatable fill structure includes an outer membrane that is configured to extend beyond the first end of the first stent graft when the inflatable fill structure is in a filled state.

Aneurysms are enlargements or bulges in blood vessels that are often prone to rupture and, therefore, may present a serious risk to a patient. Aneurysms may occur in any blood vessel and are of particular concern when they occur in the cerebral vasculature or the aorta.
There is some concern about aneurysms occurring in the aorta, particularly those referred to as aortic aneurysms. Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are classified based on their location within the aorta as well as their shape and complexity. Aneurysms that are found below the renal arteries are referred to as infrarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms. Suprarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms occur above the renal arteries, while thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAAs) occur in the ascending, transverse, or descending part of the upper aorta.
Infrarenal aneurysms are the most common, representing about 70% of all aortic aneurysms. Suprarenal aneurysms are less common, representing about 20% of the aortic aneurysms. Thoracic aortic aneurysms are the least common and often the most difficult to treat.
Among the macroscopic shape and size classifications is the most common form of aneurysm known as "fusiform," where the aortic wall enlargement compared to its normal diameter extends about the entire aortic circumference. Less common aneurysms may be characterized by a bulge on one side of the blood vessel attached at a narrow neck. Thoracic aortic aneurysms are often aortic wall dissecting aneurysms caused by hemorrhagic separation in the aortic wall, usually within its medial layer.

Modular stent graft systems and methods with inflatable fill structures


A safety catheter includes a flexible, multi-lumen shaft having an outer diameter, a distal tip, a proximal catheter end with a drain end and a proximal inflation end. The multi-lumen shaft defines a drain lumen, a distal hollow balloon portion, at least one inflation lumen, and a drainage port. A hollow stretch valve is coaxially disposed in the inflation or drainage lumen, or both, has a fixed portion within the inflation or drainage lumen, or both, and prevents fluid from passing through the drainage port in a steady state and has a sliding portion slidably disposed within the inflation or drainage lumen, or both, such that, in a stretched state when the proximal catheter end is stretched, the sliding portion slides within the inflation or drainage lumen, or both to permit fluid to pass through the balloon drainage port and/or wall of the catheter.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a catheter, especially an automatically deflating balloon catheter with a stretch valve and methods for using and manufacturing such a catheter.
2. Description of Related Prior Art
A number of conventional balloon catheters exist in the prior art. Some catheters are used to drain the bladder of a patient during surgical procedure or to treat bladder and/or urethra or prostate conditions, for example. For example, a common balloon catheter made by RUSCH® and referred to as a Foley catheter is widely used today for treating and draining a patient's bladder. The Foley catheter is shown in FIG. 1 and has a multi-lumen shaft 1 that is disposed in the urethra 10, a balloon portion 3 disposed at the distal end of the shaft 1, a fluid drain section 4 disposed at the distal end of the balloon 3, and a curved or straight, distal guiding tip 5 at the distal-most end of the entire catheter. When placed properly, the proximal-most side of the inflated balloon 3 rests on the interior wall 31 of the bladder 30, entirely blocking off the urethrovesical junction 11 connecting the bladder 30 and the urethra 10. In such a position, the fluid drain section 4 allows continuous drainage of the bladder 30 and the balloon 3 virtually entirely prevents the catheter from slipping out of the bladder. This ideally inserted position is shown in FIG. 1. As used herein, a fluid can be either a liquid or a gas. Exemplary fluids for inflating a balloon 3 are saline, sterile water, air, or carbon dioxide gas. Exemplary fluids drained by the catheters mentioned herein include urine and blood.
Basically, the catheter has a tube-like body with two lumens passing therethrough. The larger lumen is open to the bladder (distally) and empties into a non-illustrated ex-corporeal bag (proximally) for eventual disposal. A smaller lumen is used to inflate (and deflate) the balloon 3 with sterile water (typically) using a syringe attached to the inflation lumen fitting 260 (see, e.g., FIG. 3). When inflated in the bladder, for example, the catheter is substantially prevented from sliding out of the urethra in use.
In a conventional balloon 3, the balloon 3 has a substantially constant balloon wall thickness. The balloon 3 is fixed to the outer surface of a fluid drainage line (not illustrated in FIG. 1) and is not intended to be removed therefrom or to burst thereon unless an extraordinary amount of inflation occurs. If such an event happens, the material of the balloon will open at a random location based upon the microscopic fractures or weaknesses in the material itself. Such a tearing event is not supposed to occur under any circumstances during use with a patient.
Prior art catheters are not constructed to prevent tearing of the urethra during a catheter implanting procedure and are not constructed to break in any predefined way. Prior art catheters are designed to deflate only when actively deflated, either by a syringe similar to the one that inflated it or by surgery after the physician diagnoses the balloon as not being able to deflate, in which circumstance, a procedure to pop the balloon surgically is required.
Over 96 million indwelling catheters are sold worldwide on an annual basis. Twenty four million catheters are sold to hospitals in the U.S. There are numerous complications associated with those catheters that need to be prevented. These complications are responsible for increases in hospital stays, excessive bleeding, mortality, as well as morbidity. They also cause an increased expense and burden on the already-stressed health care system.
The complications result from several different mechanisms. First, and probably most common, is improper placement of the catheter. Because of the unique anatomy of the male urethra, placing a urethral catheter for urinary drainage can be difficult. A problem arises when the physician, technician, or nurse thinks that the catheter is actually in a proper position when it is not. The proper position for the catheter is with the balloon located in the cavity of the bladder. In this position, the tip distal to the balloon is located in the bladder and is used to drain the bladder cavity.
For placement of this catheter in the bladder 30 in the ideal position, however, the physician or technician has no visual aid. As shown in FIG. 1, the wall 40 defining the urethrovesical junction 11 is very short in the longitudinal direction of the urethra 10. If the physician inserts the catheter too far into the bladder 30, no damage occurs from balloon inflation; however, there is a possibility of leakage around the balloon 3, which, under normal conditions, actually helps to lubricate the urethra 10. In such a case, gentle proximal movement of the shaft 1 will place the proximal side of the balloon 3 against the urethrovesical junction 11. The bladder 30 can then easily expand and stretch to compensate for the balloon 3. A normal bladder capacity is 400 cc to 500 cc. A normal balloon capacity is approximately 10 cc to 12 cc although larger balloons are sometimes used. A typical balloon is 5 cc, however, most clinicians put 10 cc of water in the balloon for inflation. With 5 cc of water in the balloon, the diameter is approximately 2 cm and with 10 cc the diameter is approximately 2.5 cm.
Complications occur when the technician and/or nurse inflates the balloon when the balloon is not in the bladder. If the technician does not insert the catheter in far enough, then the balloon 3 will be inflated within the urethra 10—a condition that, while common, is to be avoided at all costs and is a frequent cause of bladder infections created during a hospital or clinic visit. Infections arise because inflation of the bladder 3 inside the urethra 10 causes the urethra 10 to stretch too far and tear. Even though the urethra 10 is a flexible tube, it has limits to which it can be safely stretched from within. Almost every balloon catheter has a balloon outer diameter/circumference that well-exceeds the safe stretching limit of the urethra 10. Therefore, if the balloon catheter is not inserted far enough, inflation of the balloon 3 will cause serious injury to the urethra 10. This is especially true with elderly patients who have urethras that are not as elastic as younger patients. Also, just as important is the change in anatomy of older males, in particular, the prostatic portion of the urethra. With age, the prostate becomes larger and, sometimes, the catheter cannot be advanced through the prostatic portion of the urethra. When this occurs, the technician does not insert the catheter all the way into the bladder and inflates the balloon within the urethra. Alternatively, strictures, i.e., scar tissue, cause the catheter to halt and further pressure tears the urethral wall to create a new, unintended passage. Both of these improper insertions cause severe bleeding and damage.
The elastomeric balloon of present-day catheter products requires relatively high pressures to initiate inflation and expand to an expected full-diameter shape upon over-inflation. As such, when incorrectly placed in the urethra, the rapid inflation, combined with the high-pressure, causes the balloon to tear the surrounding membrane, referred to as the mucosa. Tearing of the urethra 10 in this way causes bleeding and allows bacteria to enter into the bloodstream at the tear site, thus causing the subsequent bladder infection. Significant bleeding can become life threatening. The urethra can normally dilate several millimeters; however, when the balloon is inflated, this dilation is usually several centimeters. Also, without sufficient and immediate venting of the balloon inflation fluid after improper placement, an accidental or intentional pull on the catheter externally can and does cause extensive bodily harm to the patient.
Life threatening bleeds, especially in patients who are anticoagulated, can and do occur. Also when the urine is infected, as in immunocompromised patients and the elderly, the bacteria enter the blood stream and can cause serious infections (e.g., sepsis), which frequently can lead to death. If the patient survives the initial trauma, then long-term complications, such as strictures, can and usually do occur. Strictures cause narrowings within the urine channel and usually require additional procedures and surgeries to correct.
Other mechanisms of catheter-induced injuries are inadvertent manipulation of the tubing or dislodging of the balloon—caused when the catheter is pulled from outside the patient due to a sudden jerk or tension. This commonly happens when the patient is ambulating or traveling from the bed to the commode or bathroom. The tubing may inadvertently become fixed while the patient is still moving, at which time a sudden jerk is imparted upon the balloon and pulls the balloon into the urethra, which tears the urethra, causing severe pain and bleeding. Injury caused by the improper, inadvertent, and/or early removal of an inflated balloon catheter is referred to as iatrogenic injury (also referred to as an in-hospital injury). Hundreds of thousands of such iatrogenic injuries occur each year—all of which need to be prevented, not only for patient safety, but also because the cost imposed on the medical health industry for each injury is enormous.
Yet another scenario occurs when the patient deliberately pulls on the catheter, thereby causing self-induced pain and injury to the urethra. This commonly happens in confused patients, for example, patients in nursing homes who have a disease or cognitive dysfunction problem, such as Alzheimer's disease, or other diseases that make the patient unable to understand the necessity of having a catheter. Confusion occurs when the patient has a spasm causing pain and a strong urge to urinate. During the spasm, the confused patient often tugs and pulls on a catheter, which results in injury. Like iatrogenic injuries, these self-induced injuries must be prevented. In the particular case of injury caused by catheter withdrawal when the balloon is inflated (either iatrogenic or self-induced), hospitals have categorized such injuries as "never events"—occurrences that should never happen. Under such circumstances, insurance typically does not cover the resulting extensive medical expenses.
The injuries mentioned herein are not limited to males and also cause severe damage to the female bladder and urethra. The injuries can also occur post-surgically, which makes the damage even more severe. One common situation where injury is caused is when the patient is medicated with morphine or other analgesics that render the patient confused and unable to make rational decisions. Feeling the foreign body inside the urethra, the confused patient does not know to leave it alone and, instead, gives it the injury-causing tug. These injuries have been well-documented and are not limited to adults. Numerous injuries are documented in pediatric patients.
Usually, it takes time to make a diagnosis of patient-caused catheter injury. Immediately after diagnosing the injury, a technician needs to deflate the catheter. However, once the urethra is torn, replacing the damaged catheter with another catheter is quite difficult and, in fact, exacerbates the injury. Sometimes, the patient has to be taken to the operating room to replace a urinary drainage tube once the injury occurs. Because catheters and leg bags are now used routinely in certain situations during home health care, this scenario is not limited to hospitals and occurs at nursing homes and patients' homes as well.
Most of the recent catheter technology has been focused on reducing urinary tract infections that are caused by catheters, injuries that are usually the most common catheter-related complications. One example of such technology is impregnation of the catheter with antimicrobials or antibiotics. But, these advances do nothing to prevent the injuries explained herein.
Accordingly, it would be beneficial to provide a balloon catheter that does not inflate past the tearing limit of a urethra and deflates in a desired, predefined way under certain conditions.

Stretch valve balloon catheter and methods for producing and using same


The main object here is the use of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (as ethyl esters, hereinafter called “n-3 PUFA”) as a medicament, either alone or in combination with other therapeutic agents, for reducing mortality for a cardiovascular cause, in particular arrhythmia or for reducing hospitalization for any cause, in particular a cardiovascular cause and for the daily administration to patients with symptomatic heart failure (HF) for more than 3.5 years.

Heart failure is a condition that can result from any structural or functional cardiac disorder that impairs the ability of the heart to fill with blood or pump a sufficient amount of blood through the body. It is not to be confused with "cessation of heartbeat", which is known as asystole, or with cardiac arrest, which is the cessation of normal cardiac function with subsequent hemodynamic collapse leading to death.
Congestive heart failure is often undiagnosed due to a lack of a universally agreed definition and difficulties in diagnosis, particularly when the condition is considered "mild". Even with the best therapy, heart failure is associated with an annual mortality of 10%. It is the leading cause of hospitalization in people older than 65.
Heart failure is characterized by clinical signs and symptoms secondary to the inadequate response to the body metabolic requirements. This condition could occur acutely or have a chronic course.
The pathophysiological interpretations of heart failure have had a remarkable evolution in time. This syndrome was considered as a pump deficiency associated with a renal dysfunction in years '50-'60, a pump dysfunction associated with an increase in peripheral resistance in years '70-'80 and is considered at present as a failure of the pump function associated with the neuro-hormonal activation with resulting hemodynamic impairments which take to a dysfunction of many organs and apparatuses.
The present drug therapy of cardiac "pump function" includes the use of drugs acting by various modes of action on different points of the etiopathogenesis of the diseases.
Non-limiting examples of such drugs are: ACE-inhibitors (Angiotensin Converting Enzymes inhibitors), diuretics, non-digitalis positive inotropic drugs such as adrenergics and inhibitors of phosphodiesterase, arteriolar and venular vasodilators, e.g. hydralazine and isosorbide dinitrate, beta-blockers e.g. metoprolol and bisoprolol and digitalis derivatives, e.g. digitoxin.
The ageing of the population seems to be a contributing factor to amplify the relevance of the phenomenon.
WO 02/058793 relates to the use of polyunsaturated fatty acid for the prevention or treatment of heart failure. No experimental data are provided in this application.
Lancet 1999 (354: 447-55) (GISSI-Prevenzione clinical trial) relates to the reduction of total mortality in post-myocardial infarction patients treated with n-3 PUFA for 3.5 years.
EP1310249 relates to the use of polyunsaturated fatty acid for the primary prevention of major cardiovascular events in patients, who have not undergone previous infarct episodes. However only some animal data are reported in the patent application and these are not necessarily predictive of the drug efficacy in the treatment of HF in humans.
WO 89/11521 describes an industrial process for the extraction of mixtures having a high content in poly-unsaturated acids useful in the treatment of cardiovascular pathologies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,502,077, U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,667, U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,594 and IT 1235879, refer respectively to hypertriglyceridemia, defects of the cholesterol level and hypertension. However, each of the cited documents deal with the treatment of risk factors, not with real and proclaimed illnesses.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,703 describes the use of L-carnitine or its derivatives in association with polyunsaturated fatty acids of the omega-3 series or their esters, in particular EPA and DHA, for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disorders, vascular pathologies, diabetic peripheral neuropathies, and atherosclerotic, thromboembolytic and tissue disorders.
EP0409903 describes a process for preparing high concentration mixtures of EPA and DHA and/or their esters useful for treating hyperlipemia and related pathologies, thrombosis, cardiac infarct, platelet aggregation, as anticoagulants in the prevention of atherosclerosis, for the treatment of cerebral infarct, of lesions and occlusions caused by vasomotor spasms, of diabetes and its complications, of chronic and acute inflammations, of autoimmune symptoms, in the prevention of side effects caused by non-steroid anti-inflammatories at the gastrointestinal level and in tumour prevention.
CN 1082909 describes compositions based on ethyl esters of EPA and DHA and other polyunsaturated fatty acids of the omega-3 series in association with soya phospholipids, oenothera odorata and ginkgetin, as antithrombotic and antidementia agents for treating for example dementia and infarct of the myocardium.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,081 describes a method for preventing imminent fibrillation of the myocardial ventricle by intravenous infusion of a composition containing EPA, where the subject at risk of imminent fibrillation has already often been the protagonist of an episode of infarct of the myocardium and where the infusion is effected within 3 hours of the infarct episode, possibly using intracardiac injection. These are always situations of extreme emergency and of parenteral intervention, for the specific treatment of ventricular fibrillation.
Clinical Drug Investigation 15 (6), 473 relates to the administration of EPA and DHA ethyl esters, at a dose of 4 g per day for decreasing triglycerides and total apolipoprotein C III and increasing antithrombin III, in subjects with abnormal plasmatic lipoprotein symptoms and have undergone an infarct of the myocardium, they having consequently suggested that an administration of these compositions can result in an improvement in the lipoprotein level and hence a decrease in the relative risk factors.
WO 00/48592 describes the use of a mixture of EPA and DHA ethyl esters in quantities greater than 25% b.w., for preventing death, in particular "sudden death" in patients who have already suffered an infarct of the myocardium.
In the medical field there is still the need of a safe and convenient method for the prevention of deaths, the reduction of the total hospitalisations or the hospitalisations for a cardiovascular reason in patients with heart failure.

Long-term treatment of symptomatic heart failure

Sigma-Tau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite S.p.A.


The present invention provides a method for supporting data driving a software process. The method comprises receiving, from a user, input of a class of an object of a non-primitive data type; and providing to the user a description of the collection of attributes necessary to construct an instance of the object, based only on the class of the object. The step of receiving the class of the object is free of receiving a pre-existing instance of the data type. In further related embodiments, the method further comprises receiving, in a single user step, user input of defining attribute data necessary to create the instance of the object and set it into a desired state; and creating and initializing the instance of the object using the defining attribute data; wherein the defining attribute data does not include a pre-existing instance of the data type.

There are many marshalling/serializing frameworks that purport to know what data needs to be serialized in order to save the state of a given, pre-existing object; and how to reconstruct the same object given the serialized representation. JAVA™ Serialization, XMI®, SOAP, ValueClasses, and JVT's provide some examples of such marshalling/serializing frameworks. (JAVA™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems™, Inc., Santa Clara, Calif., U.S.A.; XMI® is a registered trademark of Object Management Group™, Inc., Needham, Mass., U.S.A.).
In addition, there is the Universal Test Client in WSAD (WEBSPHERE® Studio Application Developer), which addresses marshalling/serializing issues in a data and behavioral manner. (WEBSPHERE® is a registered trademark of IBM® Corporation, Armonik, N.Y., U.S.A. It allows the user to construct objects of arbitrary data types by first allowing the user to choose one of the available constructors for the object, and to specify the data for that constructor; and then subsequently allowing the user to execute methods of that object, and again pass data into those methods, in order to complete the process of driving it into the desired state.

System and method for supporting data driving a software process using objects of arbitrary data types

International Business Machines Corporation


In a class of embodiments, the invention is an open computing system (e.g., a PC) in which a protected, closed subsystem is embedded. The closed subsystem typically includes multiple parts that ensure that content protection keys and protected content are never revealed outside the closed subsystem. Content (e.g., high-definition digital video) that enters the closed subsystem (and is typically decrypted and re-encrypted within the closed subsystem) is afforded a similar level of protection within the open system as can be obtained in standalone closed systems. Other aspects of the invention are methods for protecting content within an open computing system, a closed system (or disk drive thereof) configured to be embedded in an open computing system, and circuitry configured to be embedded in an open computing system for combining the output of a closed subsystem with other output (e.g., graphics and/or audio output) of the open computing system.

Modern Personal Computers (PCs) have evolved from strictly computing devices into communication and entertainment devices. As a result, users expect to be able to view prerecorded video entertainment, including feature length movies, on their PC. In addition, the increased performance of processors makes it look advantageous to use software on the PCs processor to, for example, decode and play DVD movies. However, the owners of entertainment intellectual property (e.g., copyrights in movies) rightly are concerned about unauthorized use and copying of their property.
Unfortunately, the very nature of software decode in an open system such as a PC means that content cannot be effectively protected in a conventional open system that decodes the content. At some point during the decode process, both the keys and the decrypted content (e.g., video content) are available within the registers and/or memory of the open system and unauthorized copies of the keys or content can made.
In accordance with the present invention, this problem is avoided by creating a "closed" subsystem within a PC (or other open system) which can protect both content (e.g., video and/or audio data) and keys. The expression "closed subsystem" herein denotes a subsystem that does not provide users a way to add hardware or software thereto or remove hardware or software therefrom. Similarly, the expression "closed system" herein denotes a system that does not provide users a way to add hardware or software thereto or remove hardware or software therefrom. In typical embodiments of the invention, a closed subsystem within a PC employs key data to encrypt content, and is designed to prevent the key data and the unencrypted content (the content in its pre-encrypted state) from being disclosed outside of the closed subsystem.
Standard DVDs provide protection of their content from unauthorized use via the Content Scrambling System ("CSS"), an encryption method. It is anticipated that high definition video will be disseminated as high definition DVDs (HD-DVDs), and that an encryption method similar to CSS will be used to protect the content of HD-DVDs.
The trend in the industry for sending high definition video to display devices is to deliver the data in digital form over serial links.
Various serial links for transmitting encrypted or non-encrypted data are well known. One conventional serial link, used primarily in consumer electronics (e.g., for high-speed transmission of video data from a set-top box to a television set) or for high-speed transmission of video data from a host processor (e.g., a personal computer) to a monitor, is known as a transition minimized differential signaling interface ("TMDS" link). The characteristics of a TMDS link include the following:                1. video data are encoded and then transmitted as encoded words (each 8-bit word of digital video data is converted to an encoded 10-bit word before transmission);        a. the encoding determines a set of "in-band" words and a set of "out-of-band" words (the encoder can generate only "in-band" words in response to video data, although it can generate "out-of-band" words in response to control or sync signals. Each in-band word is an encoded word resulting from encoding of one input video data word. All words transmitted over the link that are not in-band words are "out-of-band" words);        b. the encoding of video data is performed such that the in-band words are transition minimized (a sequence of in-band words has a reduced or minimized number of transitions);        c. the encoding of video data is performed such that the in-band words are DC balanced (the encoding prevents each transmitted voltage waveform that is employed to transmit a sequence of in-band words from deviating by more than a predetermined threshold value from a reference potential. Specifically, the tenth bit of each "in-band" word indicates whether eight of the other nine bits thereof have been inverted during the encoding process to correct for an imbalance between running counts of ones and zeroes in the stream of previously encoded data bits);        2. the encoded video data and a video clock signal are transmitted as differential signals (the video clock and encoded video data are transmitted as differential signals over conductor pairs);        3. three conductor pairs are employed to transmit the encoded video, and a fourth conductor pair is employed to transmit the video clock signal; and        4. signal transmission occurs in one direction, from a transmitter (typically associated with a desktop or portable computer, or other host) to a receiver (typically an element of a monitor or other display device).
A use of the TMDS serial link is the "Digital Visual Interface" interface ("DVI" link) adopted by the Digital Display Working Group. A DVI link can be implemented to include two TMDS links (which share a common conductor pair for transmitting a video clock signal) or one TMDS link, as well as additional control lines between the transmitter and receiver. A DVI link includes a transmitter, a receiver, and the following conductors between the transmitter and receiver: four conductor pairs (Channel 0, Channel 1, and Channel 2 for video data, and Channel C for a video clock signal), Display Data Channel ("DDC") lines for bidirectional communication between the transmitter and a monitor associated with the receiver in accordance with the conventional Display Data Channel standard (the Video Electronics Standard Association's "Display Data Channel Standard," Version 2, Rev. 0, dated Apr. 9, 1996), a Hot Plug Detect (HPD) line (on which the monitor transmits a signal that enables a processor associated with the transmitter to identify the monitor's presence), Analog lines (for transmitting analog video to the receiver), and Power lines (for providing DC power to the receiver and a monitor associated with the receiver). The Display Data Channel standard specifies a protocol for bidirectional communication between a transmitter and a monitor associated with a receiver, including transmission by the monitor of an Extended Display Identification ("EDID") message that specifies various characteristics of the monitor, and transmission by the transmitter of control signals for the monitor.
Another serial link is the "High Definition Multimedia Interface" interface (sometimes referred to as an "HDMI" link or interface) developed Silicon Image, Inc., Matsushita Electric, Royal Philips Electronics, Sony Corporation, Thomson Multimedia, Toshiba Corporation, and Hitachi.
It has been proposed to use the cryptographic protocol known as the "High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection" ("HDCP") protocol to encrypt digital video to be transmitted over a DVI or HDMI link and to decrypt the data at the DVI (or HDMI) receiver. The HDCP protocol is described in the document "High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection System," Revision 1.0, dated Feb. 17, 2000, by Intel Corporation, and the document "High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection System Revision 1.0 Erratum," dated Mar. 19, 2001, by Intel Corporation. The full text of both of these documents is incorporated herein by reference.
A DVI-compliant (or HDMI-compliant) transmitter implementing the HDCP protocol asserts a stream of pseudo-randomly generated 24-bit words, known as cout[23:0], during each active period (i.e. when DE is high). In a DVI-compliant system, each active period is an active video period. In an HDMI-compliant system, each active period is a period in which video, audio, or other data are transmitted. Each 24-bit word of the cout data is "Exclusive Ored" (in logic circuitry in the transmitter) with a 24-bit word of RGB video data input to the transmitter, in order to encrypt the video data. The encrypted data are then encoded (according to the TMDS standard) for transmission. The same sequence of cout words is also generated in the receiver. After the encoded and encrypted data received at the receiver undergo TMDS decoding, the cout data are processed together with the decoded video in logic circuitry in order to decrypt the decoded data and recover the original input video data.
Before the transmitter begins to transmit HDCP encrypted, encoded video data, the transmitter and receiver communicate bidirectionally with each other to execute an authentication protocol (to verify that the receiver is authorized to receive protected content, and to establish shared secret values for use in encryption of input data and decryption of transmitted encrypted data). More specifically, each of the transmitter and the receiver is preprogrammed (e.g., at the factory) with a 40-bit word known as a key selection vector, and an array of forty 56-bit private keys. To initiate the first part of an authentication exchange between the transmitter and receiver, the transmitter asserts its key selection vector (known as "AKSV"), and a pseudo-randomly generated session value ("An") to the receiver. In response, the receiver sends its key selection vector (known as "BKSV") and a repeater bit (indicating whether the receiver is a repeater) to the transmitter, and the receiver also implements a predetermined algorithm using "AKSV" and the receiver's array of forty private keys to calculate a secret value ("Km"). In response to the value "BKSV" from the receiver, the transmitter implements the same algorithm using the value "BKSV" and the transmitter's array of forty private keys to calculate the same secret value ("Km") as does the receiver.
Each of the transmitter and the receiver then uses the shared value "Km," the session value "An," and the repeater bit to calculate a shared secret value (the session key "Ks"), a value ("R0") for use in determining whether the authentication is successful, and a value ("M0") for use during a second part of the authentication exchange. The second part of the authentication exchange is performed only if the repeater bit indicates that the receiver is a repeater, to determine whether the status of one or more downstream devices coupled to the repeater requires revocation of the receiver's authentication.
After the first part of the authentication exchange, and (if the second part of the authentication exchange is performed) if the receiver's key selection vector is not revoked as a result of the second part of the authentication exchange, each of the transmitter and the receiver generates a 56-bit frame key Ki (for initiating the encryption or decrypting a frame of video data), an initialization value Mi, and a value Ri used for link integrity verification. The Ki, Mi, and Ri values are generated in response to a control signal (identified as "ctl3" in FIG. 1), which is received at the appropriate circuitry in the transmitter, and is also sent by the transmitter to the receiver, during each vertical blanking period, when DE is low. As shown in the timing diagram of FIG. 1, the control signal "ctl3" is a single high-going pulse. In response to the Ki, Mi, and Ri values, each of the transmitter and receiver generates a sequence of pseudo-randomly generated 24-bit words cout[23:0]. Each 24-bit word of the cout data generated by the transmitter is "Exclusive Ored" (in logic circuitry in the transmitter) with a 24-bit word of a frame of video data (to encrypt the video data). Each 24-bit word of the cout data generated by the receiver is "Exclusive Ored" (in logic circuitry in the receiver) with a 24-bit word of the first received frame of encrypted video data (to decrypt this encrypted video data). The 24-bit words cout[23:0] generated by the transmitter are content encryption keys (for encrypting a line of input video data), and the 24-bit words cout[23:0] generated by the receiver are content decryption keys (for decrypting a received and decoded line of encrypted video data).
During each horizontal blanking interval (in response to each falling edge of the data enable signal DE) following assertion of the control signal ctl3, the transmitter performs a rekeying operation and the receiver performs the same rekeying operation to change (in a predetermined manner) the cout data words to be asserted during the next active video period. This continues until the next vertical blanking period, when the control signal ctl3 is again asserted to cause each of the transmitter and the receiver to calculate a new set of Ki and Mi values (with the index "i" being incremented in response to each assertion of the control signal ctl3). The Ri value is updated once every 128 frames. Actual encryption of input video data or decryption of received, decoded video data (or encryption of input video, audio, or other data, or decryption of received, decoded video, audio, or other data, in the case of an HDMI-compliant system) is performed, using the cout data words generated in response to the latest set of Ks, Ki and Mi values, only when DE is high (not during vertical or horizontal blanking intervals).
Each of the transmitter and receiver includes an HDCP cipher circuit (sometimes referred to herein as an "HDCP cipher") of the type shown in FIG. 2. The HDCP cipher includes linear feedback shift register (LFSR) module 80, block module 81 coupled to the output of LFSR module 80, and output module 82 coupled to an output of block module 81. LFSR module 80 is employed to re-key block module 81 in response to each assertion of an enable signal (the signal "ReKey" shown in FIG. 2), using the session key (Ks) and the current frame key (Ki). Block module 81 generates (and provides to module 80) the key Ks at the start of a session and generates (and applies to module 80) a new value of key Ki at the start of each frame of video data (in response to a rising edge of the control signal "ctl3," which occurs in the first vertical blanking interval of a frame). The signal "ReKey" is asserted to the FIG. 2 circuit at each falling edge of the DE signal (i.e., at the start of each vertical and each horizontal blanking interval), and at the end of a brief initialization period (during which module 81 generates an updated value of the frame key Ki) after each rising edge of signal "ctl3."
Module 80 consists of four linear feedback shift registers (having different lengths) and combining circuitry coupled to the shift registers and configured to assert a single output bit per clock interval to block module 81 during each of a fixed number of clock cycles (e.g., 56 cycles) commencing on each assertion of the signal "ReKey" when DE is low (i.e., in the horizontal blanking interval of each line of video data). This output bit stream is employed by block module 81 to re-key itself just prior to the start of transmission or reception of each line of video data.
Block module 81 comprises two halves, "Round Function K" and "Round Function B," as shown in FIG. 3. Round Function K includes 28-bit registers Kx, Ky, and Kz, seven S-Boxes (each a 4 input bit by 4 output bit S-Box including a look-up table) collectively labeled "S-Box K" in FIG. 3, and linear transformation unit K, connected as shown. Round Function B includes 28-bit registers Bx, By, and Bz, seven S-Boxes (each a 4 input bit by 4 output bit S-Box including a look-up table) collectively labeled "S-Box B" in FIG. 3, and linear transformation unit B, connected as shown. Round Function K and Round Function B are similar in design, but Round Function K performs one round of a block cipher per clock cycle to assert a different pair of 28-bit round keys (Ky and Kz) each clock cycle in response to the output of LFSR module 80, and Round Function B performs one round of a block cipher per clock cycle, in response to each 28-bit round key Ky from Round Function K and the output of LFSR module 80, to assert a different pair of 28-bit round keys (By and Bz) each clock cycle. The transmitter generates value An at the start of the authentication protocol and the receiver responds to it during the authentication procedure. The value An is used to randomize the session key. Block module 81 operates in response to the authentication value (An), and the initialization value (Mi) which is updated by output module 82 at the start of each frame (at each rising edge of the control signal "ctl3").
Each of linear transformation units K and B outputs 56 bits per clock cycle. These output bits are the combined outputs of eight diffusion networks in each transformation unit. Each diffusion network of linear transformation unit K produces seven output bits in response to seven of the current output bits of registers Ky and Kz. Each of four of the diffusion networks of linear transformation unit B produces seven output bits in response to seven of the current output bits of registers By, Bz, and Ky, and each of the four other diffusion networks of linear transformation unit B produces seven output bits in response to seven of the current output bits of registers By and Bz.
In Round Function K, one bit of register Ky takes its input from the bit stream asserted by module 80 when the ReKey signal is asserted. In Round Function B, one bit of register By takes its input from the bit stream asserted by module 80 when the ReKey signal is asserted.
Output module 82 performs a compression operation on the 28-bit keys (By, Bz, Ky and Kz) asserted to it (a total of 112 bits) by module 81 during each clock cycle, to generate one 24-bit block of pseudo-random bits cout[23:0] per clock cycle. Each of the 24 output bits of module 82 consists of the exclusive OR ("XOR") of nine terms as follows: (B0*K0)+(B1*K1)+(B2*K2)+(B3*K3)+(B4*K4)+(B5*K5)+(B6*K6)+(B7)+(K7), where "*" denotes a logical AND operation and "+" denotes a logical XOR operation.
In the transmitter, logic circuitry 83 (shown in FIG. 2) receives each 24-bit word of cout data and each input 24-bit RGB video data word, and performs a bitwise XOR operation thereon in order to encrypt the video data, thereby generating a word of the "data_encrypted" data indicated in FIG. 2. Typically, the encrypted data subsequently undergoes TMDS encoding before it is transmitted to a receiver. In the receiver, logic circuitry 83 (shown in FIG. 2) receives each 24-bit block of cout data and each recovered 24-bit RGB video data word (after the recovered data has undergone TMDS decoding), and performs a bitwise XOR operation thereon in order to decrypt the recovered video data.
Throughout the specification the expression "TMDS-like link" will be used to denote a serial link capable of transmitting encoded data (e.g., encoded digital video data), and optionally also a clock for the encoded data, from a transmitter to a receiver, and optionally also capable of transmitting (bidirectionally or unidirectionally) one or more additional signals (e.g., encoded digital audio data or other encoded data) between the transmitter and receiver, that is or includes either a TMDS link or a link having some but not all of the characteristics of a TMDS link. Examples of TMDS-like links include links that differ from TMDS links only by encoding data as N-bit code words (where N 10, and thus are not 10-bit TMDS code words) and links that differ from TMDS links only by transmitting encoded video over more than three or less than three conductor pairs. Some TMDS-like links encode input video data (and other data) to be transmitted into encoded words comprising more bits than the incoming data using a coding algorithm other than the specific algorithm used in a TMDS link, and transmit the encoded video data as in-band characters and the other encoded data as out-of-band characters (HDMI-compliant systems encode audio data for transmission according to an encoding scheme that differs from the encoding scheme employed for video data). The characters need not be classified as in-band or out-of-band characters based according to whether they satisfy transition minimization and DC balance criteria. Rather, other classification criteria could be used. An example of an encoding algorithm, other than that used in a TMDS link but which could be used in a TMDS-like link, is IBM 8b10b coding. The classification (between in-band and out-of-band characters) need not be based on just a high or low number of transitions. For example, the number of transitions of each of the in-band and out-of-band characters could (in some embodiments) be in a single range (e.g., a middle range defined by a minimum and a maximum number of transitions).
The term "transmitter" is used herein in a broad sense to denote any unit capable of transmitting data over a link and optionally also encoding and/or encrypting the data to be transmitted. The term "receiver" is used herein in a broad sense to denote any unit capable of receiving data that has been transmitted over a link (and optionally also decoding and/or decrypting the received data). Unless otherwise specified, a link can but need not be a TMDS-like link or other serial link. The term transmitter can denote a transceiver that performs the functions of a receiver as well as the functions of a transmitter.
The expression "content key" herein denotes data that can be used by a cryptographic device to encrypt content (e.g., video, audio, or other content), or to denote data that can be used by a cryptographic device to decrypt encrypted content.
The term "key" is used herein to denote a content key, or data that can be used by a cryptographic device to generate or otherwise obtain (in accordance with a content protection protocol) a content key. The expressions "key" and "key data" are used interchangeably herein.
The term "stream" of data as used herein denotes that all the data are of the same type and are transmitted from a source to a destination device. All or some of the data of a "stream" of data together may constitute a single logical entity (e.g., a movie or song, or portion thereof).
The term "channel," as used herein, refers to that portion of a link that is employed to transmit data (e.g., a particular conductor or conductor pair between the transmitter and receiver over which the data are transmitted, and specific circuitry within the transmitter and/or receiver used for transmitting and/or recovery of the data) and to the technique employed to transmit the data over the link.
The term "HDCP protocol" is used herein in a broad sense to denote both the conventional HDCP protocol and modified HDCP protocols that closely resemble the conventional HDCP protocol but differ therefrom in one or more respects. Some but not all embodiments of the invention implement an HDCP protocol. The conventional HDCP protocol encrypts (or decrypts) data during active video periods but not during blanking intervals between active video periods. An example of a modified HDCP protocol is a content protection protocol that differs from the conventional HDCP protocol only to the extent needed to accomplish decryption of data transmitted between active video periods (as well as decryption of video data transmitted during active video periods) or to accomplish encryption of data to be transmitted between active video periods (as well as encryption of video data to be transmitted during active video periods).
A example of an HDCP protocol that is a modified version of the conventional HDCP protocol is an "upstream" variation on the conventional HDCP protocol (to be referred to as an "upstream" protocol). A version of the upstream protocol is described in the Upstream Link for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection, Revision 1.00, by Intel Corporation, Jan. 26, 2001 (referred to hereinafter as the "Upstream Specification"). In the upstream protocol, the "transmitter" is a processor programmed with software for implementing the upstream protocol to communicate with a graphics controller (with the graphics controller functioning as a "receiver"). Such a processor can send video data to the graphics controller after executing an authentication exchange in accordance with the "upstream" protocol. The processor and graphics controller can be elements of a personal computer configured to send encrypted video data from the graphics controller to a display device. The graphics controller and display device can be configured to execute another encryption protocol (e.g., the above-mentioned conventional HDCP protocol, which can be referred to in this context as the "downstream" HDCP protocol) to allow the graphics controller (this time functioning as a "transmitter") to encrypt video data and send the encrypted video to the display device, and to allow the display device (functioning as a "receiver") to decrypt the encrypted video.
However, in contrast to the present invention, the upstream protocol would not provide adequate protection to raw content that is present in a processor of a personal computer (or other open system), where the processor is programmed with software for implementing the upstream protocol (with the processor functioning as a "transmitter") to communicate with (and send the raw content to) a graphics controller functioning as a "receiver," to allow the graphics controller (this time functioning as a "transmitter") to encrypt the raw content and transmit the resulting encrypted content (in accordance with the "downstream" HDCP protocol) to a device (e.g., a display device) external to the open system.
There are a number of structural flaws in the upstream protocol, and a personal computer (or other open system) that implements the upstream protocol would be subject to at least one attack in which the attacker could access the raw content present within the open system. An example of such an attack is a "man-in-the-middle" attack, in which the upstream authentication requests (from the graphics controller) are intercepted and the corresponding responses (to the graphics controller) are forged. A personal computer that implements the upstream protocol is easily attacked for one fundamental reason: at least two of the system elements (the application and the video driver) are in software. They can be debugged, de-compiled, altered, and copied, with any resulting "hack" potentially distributed quickly and easily across the Internet.
Thus, the upstream protocol is fundamentally flawed and will allow people of ordinary skills (and with no special hardware or tools) to bypass the intended HDCP protections. Furthermore, this can happen on a large scale, and can not readily be detected or counteracted.
The following is a list of the flaws of the upstream protocol (as implemented in a personal computer) that permit attacks of the type mentioned above:                key length is too short. Upstream authentication uses a key length of 56 bits, which is too short to be considered secure;        drivers can be hacked. If a driver is compromised, then the software application must assume that all of its communication is compromised;        there is no connection between downstream and upstream authentication. The software application can not validate that a proper "downstream" authentication has occurred;        there is no upstream revocation. No revocation mechanism is defined for the upstream link; and        the software and driver are not secure. The application software and driver can be studied, altered, copied, distributed, and otherwise assaulted.

Method and apparatus for content protection within an open architecture system


The present invention relates to novel carboxylic acid-substituted idebenone derivatives, skin treatment compositions containing these carboxylic acid-substituted idebenone derivatives, methods of treating skin changes by topical application of these carboxylic acid-substituted idebenone derivatives, and their methods of synthesis. The carboxylic acid-substituted idebenone derivatives of the present invention are unexpectedly effective in treating skin, particularly with respect to skin tolerance. When included in a topical composition, the carboxylic acid-substituted idebenone derivatives of the present invention have an antioxidant effect that is useful in treating a skin change.

Skin is exposed to damage resulting from various sources, including both environmental factors and biochemical processes. Oxidative processes damage proteins, lipids, and other cellular components necessary to maintain the health and appearance of skin, resulting in skin changes, such as skin aging (e.g., age spots), hyperpigmentation, UV damage, lines, wrinkles, uneven skin texture (e.g., cellulitis), etc. Oxidative damage to the skin and its more detailed causes are listed in Miyachi, Y: "Skin diseases associated with oxidative injury," Fuchs J, Packer L (Eds.), OXIDATIVE STRESS IN DERMATOLOGY, Marcel Dekker, New York, pp. 323-331 (1993).
The damaging effects of the UV part of solar radiation on the skin are generally known. While rays having a wavelength which is less than 290 nm (the UVC range), are absorbed by the ozone layer in the earth's atmosphere, rays in the range between 290 nm and 320 nm (the UVB range), cause an erythema, simple sunburn or even more or less severe burns. The narrower range around 308 nm is given as a maximum for erythema activity of sunlight. For protection against UVB radiation, numerous compounds are known, in which they are derivatives of 3-benzylidene camphor, 4-aminobenzoic acid, cinnamic acid, salicylic acid, benzophenone and also 2-phenylbenzimidazole. Also, for the range between about 320 nm and about 400 nm (the UVA range) it is important to have filter substances available, since its rats may cause reactions in light-sensitive skin. It has been proven that UVA radiation leads to damage of the elastic and collagenic fibres of the connective tissue, which allows the skin to age prematurely, and that it is to be regarded as a cause of numerous phototoxic and photoallergic reactions. The damaging influence of UVB radiation may be amplified by UVA radiation. It has also been proven that consumption of lipophilic antioxidants, for example, alpha-tocopherol, is triggered in the skin by UVA and UVB radiation (Thiele et al., J. Invest. Dermatol. 100, p. 756 ff. (1998)).
Further, UV radiation is ionizing radiation. Hence, there is the risk that ionic species are produced on UV exposure, which then in turn are able to intervene oxidatively in the biochemical processes.
For protection against the rays of the UVA range, certain derivatives of dibenzoylmethane have therefore been used, the photostability of which (Int. J. Cosm. Science 10, 53 (1988)) is not provided to an adequate extent. UV radiation, however, may also lead to photochemical reactions, wherein then the photochemical reaction products intervene in the skin mechanism.
Predominantly such photochemical reaction products are free radical compounds, for example hydroxyl radicals. Also, undefined free radical photoproducts, which are produced in the skin itself, may trigger uncontrolled side reactions due to their high reactivity. Singlet oxygen, a non-free radical excited state of the oxygen molecule, however, may occur in UV irradiation, short-lived epoxides and many others. Singlet oxygen, for example, is characterized with respect to the normally existing triplet oxygen (free radical base state) by increased reactivity. Nevertheless, excited, reactive (free radical) triplet states of the oxygen molecule also exist. Furthermore, there is the occurrence of lipid peroxidation products, such as hydroperoxides and aldehydes, wherein first in turn free radical chain reactions may be triggered and to which overall cytotoxic properties have to be ascribed (Michiels and Ramacle, Toxicology, 66, 225 ff. (1990)). Lipid peroxidation is an oxidative process that degrades lipids, wherein free radicals steal electrons from the lipids in cell membranes, causing oxidative stress and cell damage.
Light-sensitive skin includes the disorder photo dermatoses (photosensitive eruptions). Further designations for the polymorphic light-dermatosis are PLD, PLE, Mallorca Acne and a plurality of further designations, as are given in the literature (e.g., A. Voelckel et al., Zentralblatt Hautund Geschlechtskrankheiten (1989), 156, p. 2).
Erythematous skin symptoms also occur as concomitant symptoms in certain skin diseases or skin irregularities. For example, the typical rash in the clinical picture of acne is regularly reddened to a greater or lesser extent.
In order to prevent these reactions, additional antioxidants and/or free radical absorbers/scavengers may be incorporated in cosmetic or dermatological formulations. Antioxidants are substances that scavenge free radicals and prevent oxidation processes or prevent the auto-oxidation of fats containing unsaturated compounds. Antioxidants used in the field of cosmetics and pharmacy are, for example, alpha-tocopherol, in particular in the form of alpha-tocopheryul acetate, sesamol, colic acid derivatives, butylhydroxy anisole, butylhydroxy toluene, and idebenone. Antioxidants are mainly used as protective substances against the decay of the compositions containing them. However, it is known that undesirable oxidation processes may also occur in the human and animal skin. Such processes play a considerable part in skin aging. Thus, antioxidants and/or free radical absorbers may additionally be incorporated into cosmetic formulations to treat or prevent damage caused by oxidative and degenerative biochemical processes. It has been proposed to use vitamin E (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,144,325 and 4,248,861), a substance having known anti-oxidative action in sunscreen formulations, but even here the action achieved remains far below that hoped for. Tocopherol (a vitamin E antioxidant), for example, degrades to form pro-oxidative products.
Idebenone (6-(10-hydroxydecyl)-2,3-dimethoxy-5-methyl-1,4-benzoquinone) has been used previously to treat skin changes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,756,045, describes the use of idebenone as a topical composition for treating skin changes.

Skin treatments containing carboxylic acid-substituted idebenone derivatives and methods of preparation and use thereof


A bearing comprises a Bragg grated optical fiber to measure one or more parameters of the bearing such as load, temperature, acceleration/vibration and identification. To be able to fit as many Bragg gratings as possible, the utilization of the corresponding frequency plane output is optimized by having low bandwidth next to large bandwidth sensors in the frequency place. The corresponding physical sensors such as load sensors on a bearing will not be adjacent. Sensors in the loaded zone are giving a high bandwidth output and sensors in the un-loaded zone are giving a low bandwidth output, thus even though these are not physically adjacent, the corresponding frequency areas are adjacent by appropriate grating.

Bearings are a very important component in rotating machinery. If a bearing fails, then the complete functionality of the machinery usually also fails. In some applications it might be very difficult or just extremely expensive to replace a failed bearing outside regular scheduled maintenance. Such applications might be deep sea applications, cruise ships or other continuous manufacturing lines. In an attempt to predict when a bearing needs to be replace before it fails and suitable also in an orderly scheduled manner, condition monitoring is done. If the machinery and bearings are physically in a location which is easily accessible, then the condition of a bearing can be assessed by for example vibration measurement. Equipment which is not accessible, such as deep sea applications need other means to assess the condition of a bearing to be able to assess when maintenance is needed. There are many ways of remotely assess the condition of a bearing, however, there seems to still be room for improvement.

Bearing monitoring using a fiber bragg grating


A beam adjusting sample having a flat surface being like a plate and having two edges orthogonal to each other is employed. A beam is applied to the beam adjusting sample to detect an amount of the beam passing through the beam adjusting sample. The beam vertically scans the two edges.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a beam adjusting sample, a beam adjusting method and a sample adjusting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an electron beam radiating apparatus for applying an electron beam to an object and detecting the shape of the object has been well known. As the electron beam radiating apparatus of this type, a scan type electron microscope (SEM) is well known as disclosed in JP-A-5-159735 (page 2, FIG. 5).
In the scan type electron microscope, a predetermined voltage is applied between a cathode and an anode, electrons flying out of the cathode are axially adjusted by an alignment coil, converged by a focusing lens, and focused via a stigma coil, an alternation coil and an objective lens to a predetermined position of the sample, and secondary electrons generated from the sample are detected by a secondary electron detector.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, an electron beam adjusting method in the electron beam radiating apparatus of this type will be described below.
First of all, an electron beam 100 is applied onto a microstructure including a plurality of latex balls of known size laid on a stage and roughly adjusted, as shown in FIG. 1. At this time, the electron beam 100 is coarsely focused on the microstructure by changing the power of the objective lens in the electron beam radiating apparatus while seeing an image produced based on the detected secondary electrons.
If the focal point of the electron beam 100 is adjusted approximately on the latex balls 110, the beam diameters of electron beam in the x and y directions are adjusted to make the spot shape of electron beam almost circular. FIGS. 2 and 3 are views for explaining the beam diameter adjustment using a cross wire. In FIG. 2, two wires 120 and 130 crossed at right angles and a Faraday cup 140 placed directly under the wires 120 and 130 are shown.
The wires 120 and 130 are made of tungsten, for example, with the thickness being about 30 μm. The wires 120 and 130 extend in the x and y directions orthogonal to each other. In the adjustment using this cross wire, the electron beam 100 is scanned to stride the wires 120 and 130 along the x and y directions, and an amount of electron beam incident upon the Faraday cup 140 disposed under the crosswire is converted into an electrical signal. The electrical signal is amplified by an amplifier 150, passed through a low pass filter 160 for the wave form processing, and displayed on an oscilloscope 170.
FIGS. 4A to 4C are typical views showing the relationship between the electron beam 100 incident on the Faraday cup 140 and the wires 120 and 130. For simplification, a wire 120 is taken as an example here. As shown in FIG. 4A, if the electron beam 100 is totally applied over the wire 120, the electron beam 100 is obstructed by the wire 120, and does not enter the Faraday cup. This state is defined as state A. Next, if the electron beam 100 is applied near an edge of the wire 120, a partial electron beam 101.passes by the wire 120 to enter the Faraday cup, while a remaining electron beam 102 is scattered by the wire 120 to produce scattered electrons 103. This state is defined as state B. Moreover, when the electron beam 100 is not applied to the wire 120, but totally passes by, all the electron beam 100 is incident on the Faraday cup 140. This state is defined as state C.
FIG. 5 is a graph showing an output waveform of the Faraday cup 140 when one of the wires 120 and 130 is continuously scanned using the electron beam 100. In the graph of FIG. 5, the axis of abscissas is the beam scan position, and the axis of ordinates is the output of the Faraday cup 140, in which "A", "B" and "C" on the axis of abscissas correspond to the states as shown in FIGS. 4A to 4C. As shown in FIG. 5, the output of the Faraday cup 140 rapidly rises from state A to state C. In the adjustment, the beam profile is assumed to be Gaussian, and the width between the beam position at which the output of the Faraday cup 140 is 12% and the beam position at which it is 88% is defined as a beam diameter. The adjustment is made in each of the x and y directions to minimize the beam diameter and make the beam diameter almost equal to produce an almost circular spot electron beam with high precision.
However, with the above method, when the coarse adjustment using the latex balls is insufficient, it is required to repeat the adjustment many times to continue the operation, until an excellent beam diameter is obtained, which takes a quite enormous time. Also, this adjustment needs some experience, and is not treated simply.
With the cross wire method, though two wires are employed to measure the beam diameters in the x and y directions, the measurement height is different in the adjustment in the x and y directions by an amount of wire width, because the wire has a width, as shown in FIG. 3. Accordingly, the correct height position of the cross wire is not accurately measured, resulting in an error in the measurement precision.
Also, in the state B, the partial electron beam 100 is scattered as the scattered electrons 103, but part of scattered electrons 103 are scattered by the wire 120 to enter the Faraday cup 140, as shown in FIG. 4B. Accordingly, an output curve of the Faraday cup as shown in FIG. 5 is raised by part of scattered electrons and does not represent the beam profile accurately. Accordingly, it is difficult to make the measurement at high precision.
Also, the wires 120 and 130 are partially varied in the shape, the height in the z axis direction being possibly different depending on the position, whereby the measurement precision is degraded due to this height error.

Beam adjusting sample, beam adjusting method and beam adjusting device


A load cover arrangement for an interior luggage compartment of a vehicle. The load cover arrangement comprises a load cover having a fixed end attached to a tailgate of the vehicle, and a front portion having fastening members for releasably attaching to a front side of the luggage compartment. When attached, the load cover extends a distance Dclosed in a closed tailgate position, and a distance Dopen in an open tailgate position, measured from an opening in the tailgate and across the luggage compartment. The fixed end of the load cover is arranged inside of the tailgate and the load cover extends an internal distance Dinternal and projects out through the opening in the tailgate, wherein at least a portion of the load cover is resiliently elastic so that it is stretchable between a retracted position with a length of Dretracted, the closed tailgate position and the open tailgate position.

A luggage compartment in a car of for example one of the types station wagon, sports utility vehicle or hatchback is typically open to the passenger compartment and comes with an unrestricted view from the outside of any items stored in the luggage compartment. This is partly an aesthetic problem and partly a security problem. Furthermore, storage items may move around unhindered as the vehicle accelerates, maneuvers and decelerates.
Conventional load cover arrangements, such as the ones described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,077 and DE 10 2008 014 876, comprise a cassette or elongated housing arranged laterally in the front of the luggage compartment relative to the normal driving direction of the vehicle. The housing is usually arranged at the upper portion of the rear seats, and in the housing a winding shaft rotatably supports a web or flexible fabric which is slidably pulled rearwards to cover the luggage compartment as the winding shaft unwinds. The elongated housings may be relatively obstructive as they occupy some of the space in the luggage compartment and particularly if the seats are foldable to create more space, wherein the housing is often releasably arranged to the lateral side panels and needs to be removed and stored elsewhere not to obstruct bulky luggage or other large items. These solutions are relatively expensive, complicated and heavy components that contain moving parts which may cause rattling noises and may be more prone to fail. Further alternative solutions include such as the simple one described in DE 1 630 866 where a load cover is fastened to the rear seats on one end and fastened to the tail gate on the other end and which comprises an elastic stretchable fabric to account for the tailgate opening and for different sized luggage placed in the luggage compartment. It is desirable to have a load cover arrangement which is less obstructive and preferably lighter and also more cost effective than conventional load cover arrangement.

Light weight low cost stretching load cover


A multi-directional clamping device having a clamp body, a mounting block and a mounting slide is described herein. The clamp body has a first and second arm forming the C-shaped clamp body. The mounting block having a conical receptacle therein is attached to the clamp body such that the base of conical shape faces upward. The mounting slide has a conical slide for complementary engagement with the mounting block.

In the medical field, a large number of instruments and other items are commonly needed for patient monitoring and treatment, both in hospital and outpatient settings. This equipment must be supported and stabilized adjacent to the patient both in a hospital room and during transportation of the patient. Instruments typically found needing support are heart monitors and other treatment and monitoring devices.
Although clamps are currently used for some situations, most are overly complex requiring two hands to operate which is difficult in the hospital setting, especially during emergency situations. Moreover, traditional clamping systems are only designed for a single type of surface and are limited to either a vertical or horizontal configuration. Although there are some clamping systems that offer attachment to both vertical and horizontal surfaces, they often use ball joints and are subject to instability due to the weight of the item supported.
Accordingly, being able to clamp items in a manner that is both easy to use and accommodates either vertical or horizontal surfaces is an ongoing challenge in the industry. Consequently, there is a need for a clamping device that is easy to use and that is adjustable to accommodate both vertical and horizontal surfaces.


Systems, apparatuses and methods may provide for technology that determines a plurality of memory operations associated with a data-flow graph that represents a computer code, where a spatial architecture executes the data-flow graph and the spatial architecture includes a plurality of memory controllers, randomly assigns one or more of the plurality of memory operations to one or more of the plurality of memory controllers to generate a first allocation of the plurality of memory operations to the memory controllers, and determines that the first allocation is to be stored as a permanent memory allocation based on a first performance metric associated with the first allocation.

Computer code may be executable by a computing system. Such computer code may execute over various architectures and have a varying number of memory accesses points. Imbalance among such memory accesses points may delay the execution time increasing the latency of the execution of the computer code. For example, global resource allocation may become difficult to fairly balance and difficult to modify once implemented on an architecture. Further, some resource allocations may only consider one factor (e.g., issue counts) leading to less efficient designs. Thus, execution time can be lost due to contention in the memory sub-system.

Simulated-annealing based memory allocations


A multi-layer interposer in which the X-Y engineering change wiring pattern in the interposer terminates in a pattern of pads on the upper surface of the interposer around the periphery of the chip. In order to make an engineering change, a jumper wire connect pads on adjacent interposers mounted on the multi-chip module.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved system to facilitate making engineering wiring changes among semiconductor chips supported on a common multi-layer substrate, and more particularly, to a chip interposer that facilitates the use of direct jumper wires for making engineering change connections.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art and, as explained in U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,595 assigned to the assignee of this application, current packaging technology mounts a number of integrated circuit chips on a common substrate that interconnects the chips with each other and to input/output pads.
Such substrates normally are constructed of layered ceramic sheets (so-called green sheets) having thousands of vias and printed wiring lines that form the internal circuit network. After the substrate has been laminated and sintered, there is no practical method of changing the buried internal network. However, it becomes necessary quite frequently to modify the internal circuitry to (1) correct defective lines and/or vias and (2) make changes in the basic circuitry to accommodate design changes, to upgrade the package, or modify it by the use of different devices or the like.
A number of engineering change (EC) schemes have been developed to modify the interconnection network between chips; i.e., to disrupt the unwanted part of a network and to substitute a replacement network part. In known schemes, the network disruptions and replacements are accomplished through the use of "fan-out" networks with or without EC pads that are physically located in spaces between the chips on the surface of the substrate on which the device chips are mounted.
There have also been proposals in the prior art to facilitate making engineering changes by means of a so-called interposer module. That is, a wiring module for each chip that is interposed between the chip and multi-chip module. Here, a chip is electrically and mechanically connected to the top surface of the interposer module by solder bumps and the lower surface of the interposer is similarly connected to the multi-chip module. Prior art interposer modules have wiring layers and via chains formed by the same, or similar technologies, that are used to manufacture the multi-chip module itself. The wiring layers of the interposer module provide wiring patterns that can be used to reroute connections in accordance with desired engineering changes including changes in the connections between chips on the module. Prior art technology for making engineering changes by rerouting connection paths is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,489,363, also assigned to the assignee of this application. The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,803,595 discloses an exemplary prior art interposer.

International Business Machines Corporation


An apparatus may include a print head, multiple roller pairs to convey a sheet, a direct sensor, and a control unit. The print head prints on a conveyed sheet. The multiple roller pairs nip the sheet at an upstream side of the print head to convey the sheet, nip the sheet at a downstream side of the print head, and nip the sheet at an upstream side of a first roller pair to convey the sheet. The direct sensor measures a surface of the conveyed sheet at a measurement position between a nip position of the first roller pair and a nip position of a third roller pair to obtain information relating to a movement state of the sheet. The control unit controls to correct at least one of driving control of the print head and conveying control of the sheet, based on the information obtained by the direct sensor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing apparatus which conveys sheets using a conveying roller, and performs printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-6655 discloses a printing apparatus which directly measures speed at a sheet surface with a speed sensor, and controls ink discharge timing of a print head. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating in a simplified manner the printing apparatus disclosed in FIG. 25 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2009-6655. A sheet 500, wound in the form of a roll, is conveyed by an upstream side conveying roller pair 501 and a downstream side conveying roller pair 502, and printing is performed thereupon by a print head 503. A speed sensor 504 (laser Doppler sensor) for directly measuring the moving speed of the sheet is positioned between the upstream side conveying roller pair 501 and the print head 503. The driving control timing of the print head 503 is corrected in accordance with the conveying speed measured at the speed sensor 504, thereby realizing high-quality printing.


A liquid mixing collector includes first and second sump zones, a first and optionally a second liquid collection region, first and second interspersed sets of spaced apart liquid collection channels positioned in the first liquid collection region, the first and second sets of collection channels being associated with the first and second respective sump zones, wherein adjacent liquid collection channel sets are vertically displaced in parallel horizontal planes. The invention also relates to the process of using the collector within a heat or mass transfer column.

The present invention relates to a liquid mixing collector for capturing and mixing liquid descending from an overlying zone in a mass transfer or heat exchange column. The present invention also relates to a mass transfer or heat exchange column comprising said collector, use of said collector in a mass transfer or heat exchange column, and a method of collecting and mixing descending liquid in a mass transfer or heat exchange column.
Mass transfer columns, including heat exchange columns, typically include a shell and a plurality of zones within the shell in which packing and/or trays are used to facilitate mass or heat transfer between fluid streams flowing within the column. The fluid streams are normally one or more downwardly flowing liquid streams and one or more ascending vapor streams, although other combinations of fluid streams may be possible. Liquid exiting the bottom of a zone may have different concentrations and compositions at different locations across the horizontal cross section of the zone. In order to reduce these concentrational and compositional maldistributions, the liquid is often collected and mixed before it is then distributed to an underlying zone. To avoid detrimental maldistribution effects, the packing may be split in a number of beds, and the descending liquid may then be collected and redistributed over the cross section of the column in each portion between two beds. Separate collecting, mixing and distributing components are often used to carry out the desired collection, mixing and distribution of the liquid as it descends from one zone to another.
For example, the redistribution is classically achieved by means of a mixing drum. The use of separate components, however, can be undesirable because the vertical spacing occupied by each of these components reduces the available area within the column for other processing of the fluid streams such as the mass or heat transfer and may require that a taller and thus more expensive column be utilized to provide the spacing needed to effect the desired processing operations.
In particular, in order to achieve the best efficiency, beds of structured packing should not exceed a certain height. Increasing the bed height or increasing number of theoretical stages makes the bed prone to effects of maldistribution. As discussed earlier, maldistribution has a negative effect on the separation efficiency and the achievable purity of the distillate stream that is drawn at the top of the column. This aspect has a very high importance in the distillation of mixtures with very close boiling components because such a task can only be achieved with a large number of stages. Examples of such distillations include the separation of styrene monomer from ethylbenzene.
Chimney trays are a well known type of liquid collector that is placed below packing beds in columns of the type described above. They are used to collect the liquid that drains from the packing bed and to further convey it to the next packing bed. Such chimney trays consist of a flat horizontal portion to accommodate liquid. The liquid is collected in a downcomer which guides it into a pipe. The horizontal portion includes openings in the shape of chimneys through which vapor is allowed to rise. The chimneys feature a "cap" or "roof" which collects descending liquid and leads the liquid onto the horizontal portion of the tray.
There exists an alternative type of liquid collector, namely the vane collector. The vane collector has a much simpler construction than the chimney tray, but it is only useful for low liquid loadings. For applications with high loading (typically above 25 to 30 m3/m2h), the chimney tray is preferred due to its more flexible set-up. For example, increasing the height of the chimneys allows for a higher liquid level on the tray, and the flexible spacing between chimneys allows this spacing to be increased to give a larger area that may then be occupied by liquid on the tray.
Thus chimney trays can be flexibly engineered to deal with various types of liquid and vapor loads. However, this flexibility has the disadvantage of increasing the complexity of the construction. For example, trays must be tight such that no liquid penetrates through seams between the chimneys and the horizontal portion of the tray. As a consequence, chimneys are built as welded parts which are then also welded onto the horizontal portion of the chimney trays. Thus, chimney trays are a rather expensive liquid collector design to construct.
Both chimney- and vane-type liquid collectors may be used with mixing drums, as discussed earlier; however, the use of these separate liquid collecting and mixing components requires then a complex construction that disadvantageously takes a lot of additional space between the beds and raises the height of the column. Alternatively instead of using a separate mixing drum, a chimney tray combined with a mixing box installed on top of the chimney tray is known from EP 0 879626 A2. However, the use of a mixing box nonetheless still requires considerable vertical spacing in the interbed section, the disadvantages of which have been discussed earlier. It is noted that a special vane collector in which both liquid collecting and mixing functions are combined is known from U.S. Pat. No. 7,114,709 B2; however, this special vane collector still suffers from the disadvantages of vane collectors, for example, in applications having high loadings.
In conclusion, it would be desirable to have a chimney tray having combined liquid collection and mixing functions, especially one that is less expensive and requires less welding to construct, and particularly one for use in applications having high loadings.

Liquid mixing collector and a method for its use


A method and system for modular storage of measurement streams using a hierarchy of stream-processing objects. A first application may log measurement data of a plurality of data types to a shared memory location on a first computer, independent of the data type. Both the data and an index to the data may be logged. A second application may trend the data substantially concurrently as the data is logged. Both applications may include a plurality of filter objects, including a hierarchy of stream processing objects, which may operate to log/trend the data. Trending may include: (1) generating a query; (2) determining the location using the index; (3) accessing the data from the shared memory; and (4) displaying the data. The data may be replicated to an archival database, independent of the type of data. The replicated data may be transmitted to a plurality of computers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to computer software, and more particularly to storage and retrieval of multiple types of measurement streams.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various measurement devices may provide different measurement streams (e.g., value-time pairs, data acquisition (DAQ) data). Typically, separate software application programs are required to process different types of measurement data (e.g., different measurement streams). Conventional database configuration typically implies that certain characteristics (e.g., persistence (storage on disk), caching, replication, networking, security) are dependent upon the type of data stored in the database. It is desirable to have robust software application programs that are able to process multiple types of measurement data using a shared code base. Benefits of a shared code base may include a smaller footprint (i.e., code size) and ease of maintenance.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a system and method for modular storage of multiple types of measurement streams (i.e., input data).
The present invention provides various embodiments of a system, method, and medium for modular storage of measurement streams using a hierarchy of stream-processing objects.
A first application may log or write first measurement data to a shared memory location on a first computer system. The first measurement data may include one or more types of measurement data (e.g., live data acquired from a data acquisition device; waveform data; single-point data, wherein single-point data comprises a data value and a data timestamp; alarm data; event data, among others). The first application program may receive measurement data of a plurality of data types from a plurality of measurement devices prior to logging or writing or storing the first measurement data. The storing of the first measurement data may be independent of the data type of the measurement data.
The first application may include a plurality of first filter objects which operate to log the first measurement data. The plurality of first filter objects may include a hierarchy of first stream processing objects.
Logging may include receiving the first measurement data from a first measurement device, and storing the first measurement data in the shared memory location. Typically, the shared memory location is stored in a volatile memory. Storing the first measurement data may include storing the first measurement data in the shared memory location and storing an index to the first measurement data, wherein the index is also stored in the shared memory location.
A second application may trend, read, or retrieve the first measurement data, or at least a subset of the first measurement data, from the shared memory location on the first computer system substantially concurrently as the first measurement data is logged to the shared memory location on the first computer system by the first application.
Similar to the first application, the second application may include a plurality of second filter objects which operate to trend the first measurement data. The plurality of second filter objects may include a hierarchy of second stream processing objects. The plurality of first filter objects and the plurality of second filter objects may share filter objects.
Trending may include: (1) generating a query for the first measurement data stored in the shared memory location; (2) determining the location of the first measurement data in the shared memory using the index of the first measurement data; (3) accessing the first measurement data from the shared memory; and (4) displaying the first measurement data on a display.
The first measurement data stored in the shared memory location of the first computer system may be replicated to an archival database. The replication of the first measurement data may be independent of the type of measurement data. Thus, the replication may not require a version of the application software able to read and/or write any type of measurement data (i.e., the first application or the second application). When updated software to support a new data type for at least one of the first application and the second application is installed on the first computer system, the replication of the first measurement data may support the new data type without modification.
The archival database may be stored on the first computer system. Alternatively, the archival database may be stored on a second computer system, the second computer system being coupled to the first computer system via a network.
The second computer system may transmit the replicated data to a plurality of computer systems. Similarly, in the case where the archival database is stored on the first computer system, the first computer system may transmit the replicated data to a plurality of computer systems.

System and method for modular storage of measurement streams using a hierarchy of stream-processing objects


A power adapter including a wing deployment mechanism for retaining a wing in a first undeployed position and the second deployed position. One example may provide a housing, a spring, a spring cover, and the wing. In one example, the wing may be pivotally attached to the housing and the spring and the spring cover may be fixedly attached to the housing. The spring may contact a portion of the wing and may, in one example, apply a position dependent force to the wing that biases the wing towards either the first or the second position.

Mobile devices such as laptop and notebook computers, media players, smart phones, tablets, and others have become ubiquitous in the last few years and the popularity shows no sign of abating. To meet demand, designers have developed a wide range of devices having a constellation of form factors and features.
While features and form factors of devices have changed and evolved over time, these mobile devices rely on stored power and the maintenance of usable stored charge levels to perform their functions. In many of these devices, power is stored within one or several batteries.
As the batteries of the mobile device require frequent recharging, the user interaction with the power adapter can increase or decrease the overall level of user satisfaction with the mobile device. The user interaction with the power adapter can be of particular importance to overall user satisfaction when the charger affects the mobility of the mobile device such as, for example, when the power adapter is bulky. Additionally, because power adapters are frequently used, the features and perceived quality of the power adapter also affect the level of overall user satisfaction with the mobile device. Thus, apparatuses, systems, and methods are needed to improve the function of power adapters.

Wing deployment mechanism for a power adapter


A seat-back adjustment system for a seat for a vehicle may include a frame member configured for attachment to a support structure of the vehicle, and a rack arrangement movably attached to the frame member. The rack arrangement may include an adjustment rack and a locking rack. A driving arrangement may include at least one gear intermeshing with the adjustment rack and operable to move the rack arrangement relative to the frame member, and a locking arrangement may include at least one locking element operable to engage the locking rack when the vehicle experiences at least a predetermined negative acceleration.

Vehicle seats are often equipped with an adjustment system for adjusting the angle of the seat back to accommodate a position desired by the occupant. Some of these seat-back adjustment systems are motorized, while others are manual. Some seat-back adjustment systems provide only a few discrete positions for the seat back throughout a particular range of adjustment. In contrast, other adjustment systems—especially motorized adjustment systems—may provide continuous adjustment throughout the entire range of adjustment. In such a case, one or more gears may interact with the motor to move the seat back to the desired position, and upon reaching the desired position, the interaction of the gears with the motor turned off, maintains the seat back in its position.
The strength of the interacting gear teeth may be adequate to maintain the seat back in the desired position whenever it is subject to standard forces exerted by a vehicle occupant or resulting from standard vehicle movement; however, in the event of an extremely high acceleration or deceleration—which may occur in the event of a head-on or rear-end collision—this may not be the case. The resultant forces on the seat back caused by vehicle impact may cause mechanical failure—shear, tension, etc.—of the gear teeth, causing the seat back to move from the desired position. Merely increasing the strength of the material of the gear teeth is not a good solution. Extremely strong materials are difficult—e.g., expensive—to manufacture with the precision necessary for gear teeth in a seat-back adjustment system. Merely increasing the size of the teeth is also not a good solution because it does not provide the fine positioning desired from a seat-back adjustment system. Therefore, a need exists for a cost-effective seat-back adjustment system that facilitates fine positioning of the seat back and has the strength required to maintain the seat back in its position when it is subject to high forces.