The establishment of an interactive broadcasting network requires not only a transmission channel from transmitter to receiver but also a transmission channel from receiver to transmitter. A novel method of creating a data feedback channel from receiver to transmitter is implemented in a common frequency network and involves the use of a transmission procedure in conformity with the DAB standard. Each receiver or user is assigned an identifier which is transmitted in the data feedback channel at specially reserved frequencies to request transmission capacity. A computer then allocates transmission capacity to the receiver. The signals received in the forward channel are evaluated using the synchronization symbols they contain in order to synchronize the transmitter component in the receiver. The novel process can be used in all common frequency networks which use data transmission in conformity with the DAB standard and ensures a particularly economical synchronization in the receiver.

The invention concerns a method for the creation of a data feedback channel in a common frequency network having multi-channel transmission with which the transmitted data are modulated to a plurality of carrier frequencies proximate to each other in frequency space and transmitted in frames separated by synchronization symbols. The invention also concerns a circuit array for carrying out the method and for the realization of a data feedback channel between a receiver having receiver components to a transmitter of a transmitter network in common frequency network operation.
There is a long-felt need for a data feedback channel for use in broadcasting to allow interactive selection of transmitted data from a large data supply or to be able to facilitate billing according to actual media consumption.
Known in the art from WO 94/01825 is a system for the calculation of fees for electronic services. The consumer has a device in which the charges due are compared to a credit amount and subtracted from same to facilitate use of the service. Towards this end, there is a connection between a central computer and the device at the user location.
This system has the disadvantage that two differing types of transmission are selected for bi-directional communication between the user and the central transmission location. In addition, it is not possible to effect interactive operation, since the system is only designed for fee calculation.
Known in the art from WO 92/10038 is a fee calculation system for cable TV with which, similar to WO 94/01825, a device is situated at the user location. This device has the following components: a receiver for a first transmission procedure, a decoder in order to decode the received data, a monitoring circuit to verify the access authorization of the user, a transmitter to transmit data to a central location using a second transmission procedure as well as a demultiplexer for separation of the forward and feedback channels.
This system has the disadvantage that the transmission requires cables and therefore cannot be utilized for mobile receivers. There is the additional disadvantage that two differing transmission procedures are utilized. No information is disclosed with regard to the transmission method itself.
A fee calculation system for a so-called "Value Added Service" is known in the art from EP 601 523 A1 with which an identifier which identifies the data type is added to each data set at a central location and transmitted to the user. The user has a device having individual identification codes and stores the transmitted identifiers. Transmission of a control code by the central location facilitates a request for desired information from the user to the central location which is transmitted along with the identification code.
Disadvantageously, this publication only discloses the fact that the identification code is to be transmitted to associate the transmitted data with a particular terminal. No information is given concerning the transmission protocol used.
Known in the art from EP 595354 A1 is a fee calculation system for broadcasting. This system has a computer located on the transmitter side which stores different types of data, a receiver which receives these data and a transmission format which includes an identifier for each type of data. The receiver thereby comprises circuits for data processing of each data type and a memory for storing the identifiers. The computer transmits conversion data for the calculation of fees in irregular time intervals which are stored in the receiver and utilized together with the identifier for the calculation of fees. Data is transferred by the receiver via a telephone line back to the computer located on the sender side. The receiver requires access authorization previously granted by the computer.
The disclosed fee calculation system has the disadvantage that use requires an additional telephone line for the data feedback channel. Even in the event that such a line is available, additional costs result. In addition, a telephone line has a very small transmission bandwidth so that the transmission capacity is low.
Known in the art from EP 488289 A2 is a cable-related bi-directional video transmission system. A video signal in a base band is mixed to a particular frequency position in the radio frequency range and transmitted along a cable to the receiver. The frequency position of the video signal to be transmitted is determined by a control unit following request by the receiver. The control unit controls the mixer in the transmitter and receiver to effect transmission of the video and request signals within a frequency region which is not in use.
This system has the disadvantage that transmission requires a cable so that it cannot be used by mobile receivers. In addition, there is no description of how to effect high precision synchronization of the mixer in an inexpensive and straightforward fashion.
The purpose of the present invention is to realize a data feedback channel between a mobile radio receiver and a most recently received transmitter, wherein the transmitter and the receiver operate in multi-channel transmission mode within a common frequency network.

Circuit array and method for creating a data feedback channel from receiver to transmitter in a common frequency network


To enable soldering with high efficiency, high temperature and short time or reflow soldering without using baking or moisture-proof packaging.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical connector that is used to input/output an optical signal in various types of digital equipments including a DVD, an MD, a CD, an amplifier, a TV, an STB (set-top box: an adapter device for satellite broadcasting) and a personal computer and the like, and an optical element used for the optical connector. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical connector whose jack side into which a plug is inserted is improved, and an optical element used for the optical connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A box-shaped optical connector has been conventionally used for stationary digital audio equipment. A compact connector which is referred to as an optical mini jack and used for circular mini plug is widely used for a portable type digital audio equipment. The optical connector is disclosed in, e.g., Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-109189. A structure of the optical connector disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-109189 will be described with reference to FIG. 16.
The optical connector disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-109189 comprises a jack type body 1 into which a circular mini plug is inserted and contact piece members 3a through 3e mounted to the body 1. A plug insertion hole 2 into which a plug is inserted is formed at a front surface of the body 1. The contact piece members 3a through 3e elastically contact the plug inserted into the plug insertion hole 2 of the body 1 from opposite sides. At the same time, parts of them protrude from the opposite sides of the body 1 as connecting terminals and are electrically connected to a main substrate on which the body 1 is mounted, so that transmission of electric signals is performed. An optical device 4 is built in a back end portion of the body 2 so as to oppose the mini plug inserted into the plug insertion hole 2.
The optical device 4 disclosed herein has a structure that a chip mounted to a lead frame is sealed, together with a part of the lead frame, within a transparent resin package 4a. The other portion of the lead frame protrudes, as a connecting terminal 4b for the main substrate, from the transparent resin package 4a, and is extended backward from the body 1 in a state that the optical device 4 is incorporated into body 1.
Such conventional optical connector has the following problems mainly about the structure of the optical device 4.
When the optical connector is mounted to the main substrate, the connecting terminal 4b of the optical device 4 is soldered together with the contact piece members 3a through 3e to the main substrate. At this time, a coefficient of thermal expansion of the transparent resin package 4a of the optical device 4 is significantly different from that of the connecting terminal 4b (lead frame). Thus, there is a danger that cracks or peeling may occur in the transparent resin package 4a. In the worst case, there is a danger that a lead wire connecting the chip to the lead frame is broken.
For this reason, soldering with high efficiency, high temperature and short time or reflow soldering is impossible as a soldering step. Even if such soldering is possible, baking or moisture-proof packaging that is one of moisture removal treatments for the transparent resin package 4a is required, resulting in an increase in steps.
Further, the connecting terminal 4b of the optical device 4 protrudes backward from the body 1. This causes an increase in mounting area.
Moreover, in accordance with this optical connector, an external force is applied to the body 1 and the optical device 4 when the plug is inserted or removed. An external force generated by the plug inserted into the body 1 being wrenched is also applied. Thus, high soldering strength relative to the main substrate is required for the optical device 4 as well as the body 1.
The present invention was developed in light of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an optical connector which enables soldering with high efficiency, high temperature and short time or reflow soldering without using baking or moisture-proof packaging, and a reduction in mounting area.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an optical element for optical connector which enables the soldering with high efficiency, high temperature and short time or the reflow soldering without using the baking or the moisture-proof packaging, and a reduction in mounting area.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an optical element for optical connector which can ensure sufficient soldering strength for insertion/removal of plug or wrench thereof.
In order to accomplish aforementioned objects, the optical connector of the present invention is characterized in that an optical connector comprising: a body into which a plug is inserted; and an optical device which is disposed within the body so as to be placed at a side of the distal end of the plug inserted into the body, wherein the optical device is mounted to a surface of a printed wiring board which is placed within the body so as to make substantially a right angle, and is connected via the printed wiring board to a main substrate to which the optical connector is mounted.
The optical element for optical connector relating to the present invention is an optical element for optical connector which is mounted to a body into which a plug is inserted, comprising: a printed wiring board which is placed within the body so as to make substantially a right angle and in which wiring patterns are provided at a lower end surface thereof such that the lower end surface is soldered to a main substrate in a state of the optical connector being mounted to the main substrate; and an optical device which is mounted to a front surface of the printed wiring board so as to be disposed at the side of the distal end of plug inserted into the body.
In accordance with the optical connector of the present invention, the optical device is connected to the main substrate by directly soldering wiring patterns of the printed wiring board to which the optical device is mounted to the main substrate. Namely, the optical device is mounted to the main substrate without using a lead frame. Since the printed wiring board is made of resin, a difference of coefficient of thermal expansion between the transparent resin package of the optical device and the printed wiring board is much smaller than a difference of coefficient of thermal expansion between the transparent resin package and the lead frame. For this reason, there is little danger that cracking or peeling occurs at the transparent resin package. As a result, soldering with high efficiency, high temperature and short time or reflow soldering is possible. The printed wiring board needs not to be protruded from the body for connection to the main substrate as the lead frame. Consequently, a reduction in mounting area is possible.
If the printed wiring board is made of the same material as the transparent resin package of the optical device, cracking or peeling of the transparent resin package is particularly effectively prevented.
As the structure for fixing the printed wiring board, a structure that the printed wiring board is inserted into the body from the rear surface side opposite to the side into which plug is inserted and fixed thereto, or a structure that the printed wiring board is inserted into the body from the upper surface side opposite to the surface to which the optical connector is mounted is preferable. In accordance with such fixing structures, the optical device mounted on the surface of the printed wiring board is shielded by a part of the body at the side at which the optical connector is mounted. Thus, it is possible to prevent a flux from attaching to the transparent resin package of the optical device, which is a problematic matter when soldering the optical connector by the reflow soldering.
In a case of the fixing structure in which the printed wiring board is inserted into the body from the lower surface side which is the surface to which the optical connector is mounted, the optical device is exposed at the lower surface side by an insertion hole formed at the lower surface. At a time of the reflow soldering, flux vapor directly contacts the transparent resin package. As a result, the flux attaches to the surface of the transparent resin package, and a transparency thereof is decreased.
In accordance with the optical element for the optical connector, the optical device is mounted to the front surface of the printed wiring board which is disposed within the body of the optical connector so as to make substantially a right angle and wiring patterns provided at the lower end surface of the printed, wiring board are soldered to the main substrate to which the optical connector is mounted, thereby the optical device is connected to the main substrate. Consequently, the above-described functions can be obtained. Nevertheless, as the printed wiring board is vertically mounted on the main substrate in an inverted T-shape, there arises a problem in that the printed wiring board is easily peeled from the main substrate relative to a rotational moment when the plug inserted into the body is wrenched, in particular, a rotational moment within a plane parallel to the main substrate.
For such problem, it is effective to provide dummy patterns for mounting strength enhancement at the lower end surface of the printed wiring board, especially, at the opposite side end portions thereof. In this way, as well as the soldered area is increased, the soldered portions are disposed at the opposite side end portions of the lower end surface of the printed wiring board. Thus, it effectively acts for the rotational moment within a plane parallel to the main substrate.
Preferably, the wiring patterns and the dummy patterns provided at the lower end surface of the printed wiring board are continuously formed so as to be exposed from the lower end surface of the printed wiring board to at least one of the front surface and the rear surface thereof. Because of such structure, the soldered area is increased, and the mounting strength for the main substrate is also increased.
The printed wiring board preferably has first through-holes which pass through the printed wiring board in a plate thickness direction at positions corresponding to the wiring patterns of the lower end surface and second through-holes which pass through the printed wiring board in a plate thickness direction at positions corresponding to the dummy patterns of the lower end surface. Because of such structure, the mounting strength for the main substrate is even further increased.
The first through-hole is preferably a concave portion with its cross-section being formed in a substantial semi-circular shape. The second through-hole is preferably a concave portion formed from the lower end surface of the printed wiring board to the side surface thereof with its cross-section being formed in a substantial quarter of circle.

Abstract: An optical device which is placed at a side of distal end of plug inserted into a body is mounted on a surface of printed wiring board, and connected via the printed wiring board to a main substrate to which an optical connector is mounted. The printed wiring board is formed of the same material as a transparent resin package of the optical device. The printed wiring board is inserted into the body from the upper surface side opposite to the surface to which the optical connector is mounted, and fixed thereto. Alternatively, the printed wiring board is inserted into the body from the rear surface side opposite to the side at which the plug is inserted, and fixed thereto.


An apparatus which is convertible from a portable cargo container to a wheeled vehicle. In particular, the present invention is a backpack or article of luggage that includes a deployable wheeled platform so that the backpack or luggage is convertible to a scooter type vehicle. The present invention is particularly useful for transporting relatively heavy loads along with a human operator, quickly and with minimal effort.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Backpacks and articles of luggage combining wheels and retractable pull handles are well known in the art. Although these devices aid in transporting cargo, they do not aid in transporting a human operator.
Likewise, foldable scooters and bicycles as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,879 are also well known in the art. These devices provide a convenient means of transporting a bike or scooter, but do not provide an operator the ability to carry any cargo.
Other portable wheeled devices known in the art are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,155,579 which discloses a foldable child stroller and U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,670 which discloses an article carrying device. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,609,278, 5,984,154, 5,483,495, 6,179,176, 4,036,336, 5,749,503, 5,881,932, and 5,743,447 all disclose wheeled carrying devices with alternative carrying devices.
Convertible backpacks that also function as rideable scooters can be susceptible to folding and loading that sometimes pose physical risks to users. Some physical risks include folding and scissoring components that, without attention, may lead to pinching risks as a user transitions between the various modes.
Further, many deck transition/attachment systems can lead to unstable connections when the deck is open. It can be the case that the coupling that enables the end of the deck to fold for storage, also means that the attachment can be a point of failure during riding. Failure modes include instability or premature folding, particularly when a rider pushes forward, or pulls back, on a steering mechanism.
In some implementations having a backpack and a folding deck engaging a back of the backpack, the deck and folding hardware can add a significant distance between the backpack pack and the wearer. This distance can degrade the quality of the backpack function of being worn on the back and carrying items because the items extend too far away from the user.
An important consideration for some users is the ease by which a deck is transitioned between a closed mode and an open mode. For these users, a simple one-handed operable latching mechanism is superior. Unfortunately, for any latching solutions attempting to address other concerns identified herein, it can be a challenge to also maintain desired simplicity.
What is needed is a backpack or article of luggage that includes a deployable wheeled platform so that the backpack or luggage is convertible to a scooter type vehicle, preferably while reducing the drawbacks identified herein.


A personal computer system has an I/O channel and a memory channel with a main logic board incorporating both the I/O channel and the memory channel. The computer has eight (8) expansion slots including a dual-purpose expansion slot for providing space for selective connections of I/O devices through the use of full-length logic cards or half-length logic cards being inserted into edge connectors, High speed memory, including memory control, is mounted on the main logic board and expansion memory, controlled by the memory control is mounted on a printed circuit card that is connected to the memory channel in position within the dual-purpose expansion slot, occupying approximately one-half of that slot, thereby enabling the dual-purpose expansion slot to encompass both the expansion memory and a half-length logic card. In another embodiment, the half-length logic card and the memory card within the dual-purpose expansion slot are integrated into a single logic/memory card.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to personal computer systems having high-speed memory. More particularly, it relates to such systems having the facility for expanding the high-speed memory with minimum impact on the capacity for input/output connections.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) personal computers were introduced, high-speed memory capacity of 64 K bytes up to 256 K bytes was located on the main circuit board. These computers also contained an input/output (I/O) expansion capability which generally provided eight (8) slots for connection with the I/O channel which was incorporated in the main logic board. The memory was then expanded, as desired, through the use of plug-in adapter cards, plugged into the I/O channel. Memory on the I/O channel and memory on the memory channel had equivalent performance.
As higher speed processors and wider data paths (i.e., 32-bit versus 16-bit), as well as requirements for more and more high-speed memory led to architectures that could run the memory channel much faster than the I/O channel. Because of the performance impact (overall performance is tightly coupled to memory performance), it was desirable to allow maximum memory expansion on the dedicated memory channel. However, because of the form factor of existing personal computer chassis, the problem of providing large memory capacities on the dedicated memory channel was difficult.
A prior art scheme for providing a large amount of high-speed memory was to use a dedicated full-length memory card connected to the memory channel. A disadvantage with this solution is that the memory card extended over one of the eight available I/O expansion slots, making that slot useless.
Another prior art approach has been to provide Single In-line Memory Modules (SIMMs) in the allocated space for high-speed memory on the main logic board. This technique permitted a total memory capacity of 8 Megabytes. Any expansion of memory above 8 Megabytes had to be performed on the I/O channel which resulted in slow memory for the upper addresses as well as resulting in at least one full-length expansion slot being occupied.

Personal computer system with dual purpose expansion slot


This method of compressing messages, in particular messages intended to be displayed on a telecommunications terminal, in particular a portable telephone, is essentially characterized in that, with said messages being made up of words themselves made up of characters, it includes compiling two encoding tables, namely an "encoding table for compressing words", causing each compressed word represented by its rank in the table to correspond to a "semi-compressed" word made up of a sequence of compressed characters corresponding to the word, and an "encoding table for compressing characters", causing each compressed character represented by its rank in the table to correspond to a non-compressed character.

Various methods of compressing data are known, and they are described, for example, in the book entitled "Compression de donnees--Methodes, algorithmes, programmes detailles" ["Data compression--methods, algorithms, detailed programs"] by Pascal Plume, published by Editions Eyrolles.
Among those methods, reference may be made to the "Huffman" method which acts on characters and which consists in encoding characters that occur relatively frequently over a binary length that is relatively short (compared with conventional binary encoding such as ASCII encoding, for example), and in encoding characters that occur less frequently over a binary length that is longer, the resulting encoding table being conveyed to the apparatus serving to perform the inverse, decompression operation.
Such a method is not suited to compressing messages, in particular in terms of compression ratio, since said words or said messages usually include repetitive sequences of characters.
To avoid that drawback, it is possible to use a method such as the "Lempel-Ziv-Welch" method which enables such repetitive sequences of characters to be compressed by replacing them with their ranks in an encoding table referred to as a "dictionary" and created dynamically as the text to be compressed is read, and recreated in similar manner on decompression. Such a method, also referred to as "on-line textual substitution" offers a better compression ratio than the above-mentioned method. Unfortunately, its main drawback is that it requires a decompression time that is relatively long.
A particular need therefore exists for a method of compressing messages, in particular a relatively large number of messages that are relatively short and that use a relatively limited vocabulary, such as, for example, messages intended to be displayed on the screen of equipment such as a telecommunications terminal, in particular a portable telephone. This need requires in particular a method that offers a decompression time that is sufficiently short while remaining sufficiently economical in terms of compression ratio.

Method and apparatus for compressing and decompressing messages


An optical disk recording apparatus is designed for forming pits on a recording surface of an optical disk of a given type at a given recording speed by applying a laser light in the form of a sequence of multiple pulses obtained by intermittently turning on and off the laser light according to a given multi-pulse pattern. In the apparatus, a write strategy circuit is set with a pattern table and controls the turning on and off of the laser light according to a multi-pulse pattern selected from the pattern table in correspondence to a length of the pit to be formed. A storage section stores a plurality of pattern tables of different kinds, each pattern table containing a plurality of multi-pulse patterns corresponding to a plurality of lengths of the pit. A control section selects one of the pattern tables based on either of the recording speed and the type of the optical disk, and reads out the selected pattern table from the storage section and sets the read pattern table in the write strategy circuit.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical disk recording apparatus and, more particularly, to an improvement of write control (write strategy) of a CD-RW drive.
2. Prior Art
In a CD-RW, a phase-transition material is used for a recording layer, and when heated and then rapidly cooled, the phase-transition material is phase-changed from a crystalline state to an amorphous state to form pits. In addition, when the phase-transition material is heated and gradually cooled, the pits phase-changed into the amorphous state are returned to the crystalline state to thereby accomplish erasing of pits.
The crystalline and amorphous states are different in reflectivity by about 15 percent, which thus enables record/erase of information in the form of pits.
The recording layer is heated by applying a laser light, but in this case, there exists a disadvantage that, during writing, the rapid cooling is not satisfactorily achieved when a high power (write power) laser light is continuously applied and the recording layer that has been made amorphous once is turned again to the crystalline state, resulting in failure to form the pits. Now, write control (write strategy) of the CD-RW is performed, as shown in FIG. 7(A), by a multi-pulse method in which a laser light of write power is intermittently applied in a pulsed manner and the power level is lowered to bottom power between pulses to help the recording layer be cooled down rapidly.
A conventional CD-RW drive employs such a 1T multi-pulse write strategy that one cycle of a pulse (pulse width+pulse interval) corresponds to one clock cycle (1T) of EFM.
Furthermore, in cooling the recording layer, the electric current of a semiconductor laser diode is not completely cut off but is made to flow at bottom power so that a rise to the next write power may be promptly performed. In addition, for overwrite, portions where the pits are not to be formed (portions which become lands) are irradiated with a laser light of erase power to erase the old pits.
On the other hand, with a writing speed of writing information into the CD-RW becoming higher, 10 times to 24 times writing speed is required. When writing is performed at 24 times speed, a temporal length for 1T is about 9.6 nS. In the meantime, times needed for the semiconductor laser to turn on (a rise from bottom power to write power) and to turn off (a fall from write power to bottom power) are both about 2 nS. Therefore, when the write strategy for 1T multi-pulse is performed at 24 times speed to raise a pulse of 0.5T width, the pulse finishes before laser power rises as shown in FIG. 7(B), which thus causes a problem that good pits cannot be formed.
One possible idea to cope with this problem is to make a pulse cycle longer, but when the pulse cycle is made longer than 1T, a bit length might not synchronize with the pulse cycle, which means, for example, that a 3T-pit cannot be formed on a 2T-cycle, thus leading to a problem that a simple multi-pulse train does not allow pits having a correct length to be formed. Further, another problem is that the write strategy of the multi-pulse on a long pulse cycle does not enable pits having a good shape to be formed at about 1 to 10 times low recording speed.

Optical disk recording apparatus controllable by table of multi-pulse patterns


Audible crosstalk can be mitigated in a low-cost three-wire device having audio capability and/or voice applications. In some embodiments, a voltage can be introduced in a microphone power supply that is approximately the same as a measured noise voltage and the resulting voltage appearing at a microphone output can be optimized to mitigate the noise voltage and, thus, the presence of crosstalk. In some embodiments, a microphone within a circuit can be isolated to mitigate crosstalk by introducing current into a circuit that is approximately the same as a measured current, but having a flow in an opposite direction.

Wireless mobile technology has become widespread and is utilized for both personal as well as business use. Mobile devices such as telephones, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), data terminals, etc. are designed to be carried by those who travel from place to place in the daily course of business, for personal reasons, or both. It is also becoming more common for users of mobile devices to utilize such devices in place of conventional wired systems. If fact, many users rely solely on mobile devices to communicate information and no longer have a traditional wired communication system.
The appeal of mobile devices is due in large part to the convenience of having such devices available regardless of where the user may be located (e.g., at home, at work, traveling, out of town, and so on). In such a manner, users can stay in communication with those they need to or want to while mitigating missing a communication. The appeal of mobile devices can also be attributed to lightweight smaller devices, as well as devices that are relatively inexpensive to purchase and maintain.
Since mobile devices are utilized so extensively, a concern has arisen regarding the usage of these devices and performance limitations. For example, a wireless mobile computing device with a three-wire headset for voice applications can produce crosstalk, making communication frustrating, if not difficult. Thus, there is a need to mitigate crosstalk to increase or maintain audio quantity while maintaining a cost-effective device.


A method and system for locating a reflector in a formation. The method may comprise broadcasting a sonic waveform as a shear formation body wave or a compressional formation body wave into the formation, recording a reflected wave from a reflector with the one or more receivers as dipole data by the dipole receiver and quadrupole data by the quadrupole receiver, and processing the dipole data and the quadrupole data with an information handling system to determine a location of the reflector from the borehole sonic logging tool. The system may comprise a borehole sonic logging tool and an information handling system. The borehole sonic logging tool may comprise one or more transmitters configured to transmit a sonic waveform into a formation and one or more receivers configured to record a reflected wave as a dipole receiver for dipole data and a quadrupole receiver for quadrupole data.

In order to obtain hydrocarbons such as oil and gas, boreholes are drilled through hydrocarbon-bearing subsurface formations. Logging tests are subsequently made to determine the properties of formations surrounding the borehole. In wireline logging, a drilling apparatus that forms the borehole is removed so that testing equipment can be lowered into the borehole for testing. In measurement-while-drilling techniques, the testing equipment is conveyed down the borehole along with the drilling equipment. These tests may include resistivity testing equipment, gamma radiation testing equipment, seismic imaging equipment, etc. In examples, seismic imaging using borehole acoustic measurements may obtain an image of the formation structural changes, which may be referred to as a reflector.
Traditionally, a transmitter emits acoustic signals into the fluid-filled borehole. In examples, some of the signals may traverse through the formation and are reflected back to the borehole by a reflector in the formation. The reflected signals may travel back to the borehole and be captured by the receivers in the borehole. In examples, SH waves (a shear wave) may be polarized so that its particle motion and direction of propagation are contained in a horizontal plane, which may make the shear waves sensitive to reflectors. Using reflected shear waves may allow for imaging the fracture system outside of the well. Currently, transmitting and capturing the reflected shear waves that then reflect off near-borehole boundaries may be accomplished using dipole sources quadrupole sources, and receivers. However, both a dipole measurement system and a quadrupole measurement system are not able to accurately locate the direction of the reflector from the transmitter and receiver.

Imaging with both dipole and quadrupole receivers


Ventilation for a reducing agent tank, having a first reducing agent tank which is provided with a first reducing agent fill opening, a fuel tank which is provided with a fuel fill opening and a ventilation device, as well as a first line through which the first reducing agent tank is connected to the fuel tank.

DE 10 2006 027 487 A1 shows a vehicle tank for an aqueous urea solution in which there is an internal tank. A pump conveys the urea solution both out of the tank and also out of the internal tank of the tank to the exhaust gas line of an internal combustion engine. Ventilation takes place by way of a pressure control valve which is connected both to the internal tank and also to the outlet side of the pump. An activated charcoal filter can be assigned to the pressure control valve in order to reduce odor emission.
The disadvantage is that the vehicle tank filled with the urea solution is provided with its own ventilation device in the form of a pressure control valve with an optionally connected activated charcoal filter which entails additional weight in the motor vehicle and increased production costs.
DE 102 14 556 A1 shows a fuel and reducing agent filling system which has a tank for fuel and a tank for the reducing agent. Both tanks can be filled from the exterior with the pertinent liquids and have their own devices for ventilation, the ventilation of the reducing agent tank being made as a combination vent valve.
The disadvantage is that the vapors of the reducing agent can flow unobstructed out of the reducing agent tank through the combination vent valve to the exterior and thus lead to a not inconsiderable odor problem.
DE 103 37 572 A1 shows a storage tank for fuel and auxiliary substances of an internal combustion engine and/or devices assigned or connected downstream from it, which is made conical or pyramidal and has a removal opening on the bottom of the storage tank. In the storage tank there is furthermore a heating device for heating the medium. There is a ventilation opening on the tip of the storage tank.
The disadvantage is that the vapors of the medium located in the storage tank are released to the exterior through the ventilation opening; this constitutes a strong odor problem and in the case of fuel vapors also entails an explosion hazard.
The object of the following invention is therefore to make available ventilation for a reducing agent tank which can be integrated into a motor vehicle in a manner as economical as possible and with little added weight, and which does not result in any odor problem in the vicinity.


A valve (1) having at least one closure member (2) for closing a valve opening (3) and at least one valve rod (4), at least one first connecting section (5) being provided in or on the valve rod (4), at least one second connecting section (6) being provided in or on the closure member (2), and the closure member being fastenable or fastened to the valve rod by the connection of the first connecting section to the second connecting section. The first connecting section (5) and/or the second connecting section (6) has/have at least one pressure chamber (8) for a fluid, this chamber being delimited by at least one elastically deformable boundary wall (7) and the boundary wall can be elastically deformed by the fluid provided in the pressure chamber (8) in order to form a clamped connection of the first connecting section (5) to the second connecting section (6).

The present invention relates to a valve in particular a vacuum valve, having at least one closure member for closing a valve opening, and with at least one valve rod, at least one first connecting section being arranged in or on the valve rod, and at least one second connecting section being arranged in or on the closure member, and the closure member being capable of being fastened or being fastened to the valve rod by way of connection of the first connecting section to the second connecting section.
Various possibilities as to how the closure member can be fastened to the valve rod by way of connection of the two connecting sections are known in the prior art. For example, DE 10 2012 007 533 A1 shows one variant, in the case of which the closure member is fastened to the valve rod or to its connecting section via the interaction of a clamping screw and an oblique face. EP 2 146 122 A1 discloses one variant, in the case of which separate clamping pieces are used to fasten the closure member to the valve rod. U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,642 B2 shows a solution in the case of which the closure member is fastened to the valve rod by a screw.
It is an important aspect in the case of valves, in particular if they are used in vacuum technology, that as few particles as possible are produced by way of abrasion in the valve itself, since said particles can disrupt the processes which are carried out in process chambers which open and close the valves. It is to be noted, moreover, that the closure members of valves occasionally have to be subjected to a service or have to be replaced. To this end, the closure member usually has to be released from the valve rod. The use of screw connections to this end has the problem that particles can be produced and/or released, in particular, by way of rubbing of heads of the screws on the bearing faces, against which they bear. Oblique faces, as shown in DE 10 2012 007 533 A1, on which oblique faces the components rub against one another during opening and closing of the connection, are also problematic. Particles can also be produced here by way of abrasion.


A total internal reflection based imaging system may include a light transmitting member having an imaging surface. A pressure sensitive membrane may be arranged on the imaging surface. The pressure sensitive membrane may include a top surface, a bottom surface, and an elastic deformable film forming at least a portion of the top surface. The imaging system may include a textured surface disposed between the pressure sensitive membrane and the imaging surface. An application of pressure on the top surface may deform the deformable film to reduce a distance between the deformable film and the imaging surface. A light source may be configured to emit a light towards the imaging surface such that reduced total internal reflection of the light occurs where the bottom surface of the pressure sensitive membrane contacts the imaging surface. A sensor may be configured to capture the light reflected from the imaging surface.

A variety of technologies are available for acquiring fingerprints, which include mechanical, optical, opto-electrical, electrical, and/or other methods. Mechanical methods emphasize inks and powders to form physical replicas of fingerprints in a flat format. Optical methods utilize traditional film-based photography. Opto-electrical methods include digital photography and a variety of other ways to convert optical images or local optical effects into electronic records. Electrical methods generate electronic fingerprint records without using intermediary optical effects. Such electrical methods generally include a set of sensors that individually monitor changes in local electrical properties in response to interaction with a small region of a finger.
The generation of electronic fingerprint records may be desired to facilitate the rapid communication and analysis of fingerprint information using advanced telecommunications and computer technologies. Both opto-electrical and electrical fingerprinting methods may be used to make fingerprint acquisition systems with flat formats. Flat formats may be desirable to reduce the size, weight, and potentially the cost of the system, and are thereby marketable as portable devices or subcomponents of personal electronics.
Whereas small (i.e. less than about 1 square cm) electrical acquisition arrays may benefit from the economics of large scale silicon based integrated circuit manufacturing techniques, many fingerprinting applications require acquisition arrays that are about 10 cm by 10 cm or larger. Such large silicon based integrated circuits often become prohibitively expensive due to quality control statistics. This may lead to low effective yields of acceptable quality devices.
Many opto-electrical and electrical fingerprinting methods suffer from high variability in the properties of finger tissue and of the finger surface. Finger properties of concern include moisture, salinity, contamination, reflectance, scattering, ambient light, impedance, resistivity/conductivity, and/or other properties. Even within the same fingerprint, these and other properties may vary significantly from person to person, over time, and over distance. Variability in these finger properties may significantly alter the quality and character of a recorded fingerprint.
Explanation of Total Internal Reflection
It is well known that light travels at different speeds in different materials. A refractive index, ni, of a material, i, is the speed of light in a vacuum, c, divided by the velocity of light in the material, vi: ni=c/vi. As light passes from one material to another, the change of speed results in refraction. Measured from perpendicular to the surface, the angle of incidence, θ1, and the angle of refraction, θ2, are given by Snell's law: n1 sin(θ1)=n2 sin(θ2). Accordingly, when light emerges from a glass block (n1˜1.5) into air (n2=1), the light will be refracted towards the surface. That is, θ2>θ1 because n1>n2. At a critical angle of incidence, θc, θ1 becomes 90° as the refracted light runs along the glass-air surface to form an evanescent wave. When θ1>θc, the incident light is reflected back into the glass by a process called total internal reflection (TIR). By interfering with (i.e. scattering and/or absorbing) the evanescent wave, one may prevent (i.e. "frustrate") the total internal reflection phenomenon.
Systems employing frustrated TIR to obtain images of biometric prints are generally known in the art. The basic principle of these conventional systems is that light, if incident on an interface going from one medium (with n1) to another medium such as air (with n2<n1), will be totally reflected if the incident angle is large enough. A camera is generally oriented to image the reflected light. The reflected light may form a white background. However, if material (such as a finger ridge) with a relatively high refractive index makes intimate contact with the interface from the air side, then total internal reflection is disturbed and some of the light is transmitted into the contacting finger ridge, instead of being reflected. Thus, this region appears dark in the camera image. The result is a high contrast fingerprint image.
Challenges for Total Internal Reflection Based Fingerprint Interrogation
Conventional TIR based imaging systems suffer a number of drawbacks. For example, conventional TIR systems may capture incomplete fingerprints from dry fingers, because they do not have enough index matching moisture or oil to make intimate contact with the a prism surface (e.g., glass or plastic). The result is that dry finger prints typically appear as strings of intermittent dots, rather than patterns of continuous dark ridge lines.
Another drawback of conventional TIR based imaging systems is that if a finger is too moist, the valleys between the fingerprint ridges are filled with fluid and the low reflectivity contact area overlaps both the ridges and valleys of the finger. The result is a dark "blob" in the image such that few, if any, fingerprint ridges may be discerned from the image.
Yet another drawback of conventional TIR based imaging systems is the "halo" effect. That is, when moisture emanating from the finger condenses nearby on the prism surface. Since the glass or plastic used to make the prism is typically hydrophobic, the condensate typically forms tiny droplets. These droplets partially prevent TIR and thus appear as a shadow or halo around the fingerprints in the image.
Another drawback is that residual oil on the prism surface of conventional TIR based imaging systems may generate unwanted residual fingerprint images. If an operator does not clean the prism surface often, significant residual fingerprint oil patterns may remain on the prism from previous users. False or confusing composite fingerprints may be captured because of the residual oil.
Conventional TIR based imaging systems have prism surface areas that allow ambient light transmission into the system. Optical filters and light shades may be used to help alleviate effects of ambient light, but only to some degree. For example, capturing fingerprints in full sunlight is typically not possible since the ambient sunlight passing into the system dominates the light signal provided by a light source from the device. Ambient light may cause the camera detector to be saturated, and often no fingerprint image can be detected.
Limitations of Conventional Electrical Fingerprint Characterization Methods
Alternative electrical fingerprint characterization approaches that rely on sensing human tissue directly may suffer from low signal-to-noise ratios. Low signals may occur because the un-optimized electrical properties of human tissue may lead to smaller than desired changes in detected resistance, capacitance, etc. as a function of proximity to or pressure against an electrical readout grid. High noise may occur because of spatial and/or temporal variations in human tissue properties independent of the fingerprint profile itself. These high signal-to-noise ratios may effectively blur or obscure the fingerprint image. This may lead to poor spatial resolution of the collected fingerprint image, even if the readout sensor geometry has sufficiently fine spatial resolution.
Many developers of liquid crystal displays have incorporated touch sensitivity to form "touch screens". These touch screens allow a human finger to control many functions depending on the context. Although low resolution patterns related to an individual's finger are sometimes used to provide basic security and identity functions, it is generally recognized that the present resolution of touch screens is insufficient to produce high quality fingerprints.
Alternative methods that rely on human tissue to directly complete circuits in the readout sensor array depend on highly variable conditions at the tissue sensor interface, such as moisture, sweat, oil, dirt, corrosion, oxidation, variability in the resistance or impedance of human tissue from one person to another, and/or other variable conditions. Repeatedly exposing the electrical contacts to human tissue may reduce the service life of these alternative electrical approaches.
Some electrical fingerprint characterization methods include a film between the finger and the readout grid to protect the electronics. However, these conventional films tend to reduce the sensitivity of the sensing mechanism.

Systems and methods for capturing images using a pressure sensitive membrane


Surgical instrument with a handpiece having a drive and with a surgical tool, which has a tube and a working part with a shaft and with a tool head, the tube of the surgical tool can be detachably connected to the handpiece by a first coupling part and the shaft of the working part can be detachably connected to a drive shaft in the form of a pin of the drive by a second coupling part simultaneously.

Surgical tools, which are inserted into a handpiece, are known in various embodiments. The handpieces are usually connected to a drive, so that the tools or partial areas of the surgical tools can be driven, e.g., set into rotation. Such surgical tools may be designed, for example, as tools for minimally invasive endoscopy, especially in the area of the spine.
It is known from the state of the art, e.g., from DE 10 2006 062 421 A1, that such a handpiece is provided with a central hole or recess, into which a coupling area or attachment area of the surgical tool is inserted. Corresponding drive couplings of the handpiece now come to mesh with coupling parts of the surgical tool, so that rotary drive is achieved. The surgical tool is inserted into and locked in a handpiece by the handpiece being provided with a tool mount, with which a locking element of the surgical tool can be caused to detachably mesh. Such a locking element may be designed, for example, in the form of a ring groove. The counterpiece of the locking element to the ring groove within the tool mount may be designed, for example, in the form of a hook, balls or the like. When inserting the surgical tool into the handpiece, locking or coupling can thus take place, which prevents the surgical tool from becoming accidentally separated from the handpiece during use. To remove the surgical tool from the handpiece, for example, an actuating means, e.g., a button or a slide, is to be actuated.
To guarantee optimal coupling between the surgical tool and drive, coupling parts in the form of grooves or cams, which mesh with a counterpiece of the drive, are formed at the end of the surgical tool. Such a coupling is known from DE 69 622 563 T2, wherein a surgical instrument has a quick-action coupling, which comprises a plug-in connection in the manner of a bayonet catch and a coupling pin proximally from the tool to be inserted.
However, the devices known from the state of the art often have a complicated design, are correspondingly costly, their manufacture is complicated and they often can be operated poorly under surgical conditions of use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,741,263 shows a surgical instrument with a hand piece and tool with a double coupling mechanism, in which, however, a slide must be shifted simultaneously for inserting the tool in order to make the insertion of the tool possible at all. Such a double connection movement is a drawback and is undesired in the corresponding operating system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,871,493, which is likewise of this class, likewise shows a surgical element, in which, however, the uncoupling mechanism at the tool is designed in the form of an actuating element. This makes the tool, on the one hand, complicated and expensive and thus it cannot be formed as a disposable tool; on the other hand, a difficult cleaning and disinfection possibility arises as a result of this and precisely in a multi-usable tool, which is connected with risks for the patient.
Finally, EP 1 880 683 shows a surgical element not of this class, in which a tool can be connected at an intermediate part, on the one hand, by a transversely insertable cross pin (which can get lost), and, on the other hand, a drive element can be inserted at the opposite end at best in a frictionally engaged, but not positive locking manner and thus these parts lie open jointly as rotary parts over the entire length, such that such an element can be used in an open cavity, such as a dental element in the oral cavity, with certainty but not as a surgical element through body openings, especially in minimally invasive procedures.

Surgical instrument for detachably connecting a handpiece to a surgical tool


Interposers for semiconductor devices and methods of manufacture thereof are disclosed. In one embodiment, an interposer includes a substrate, a contact pad disposed on the substrate, and a first through-via in the substrate coupled to the contact pad. A first fuse is coupled to the first through-via. A second through-via in the substrate is coupled to the contact pad, and a second fuse is coupled to the second through-via.

Semiconductor devices are used in a variety of electronic applications, such as personal computers, cell phones, digital cameras, and other electronic equipment, as examples. The semiconductor industry continues to improve the integration density of various electronic components (e.g., transistors, diodes, resistors, capacitors, etc.) by continual reductions in minimum feature sizes of integrated circuits (ICs), which allow more components to be integrated into a given area. These smaller electronic components also require smaller packages that utilize less area than packages of the past, in some applications.
One type of smaller packaging that has been developed is three-dimensional (3D) ICs, in which two die or ICs are bonded together and electrical connections are formed between the die and contact pads on an interposer. Some 3DICs utilize through-silicon vias to make connections from one side to another side of the interposer.
Fuses are devices that are sometimes formed on semiconductor devices that may be programmed using a laser, by directing a laser beam at the fuse from the top or bottom of the semiconductor device. Fuses may be used to alter ICs by connecting or disconnecting redundant circuits or memory cells, to repair the ICs or increase the number of usable ICs on a wafer, for example.
Corresponding numerals and symbols in the different figures generally refer to corresponding parts unless otherwise indicated. The figures are drawn to clearly illustrate the relevant aspects of the embodiments and are not necessarily drawn to scale.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.


Aspects of the disclosure relate to rotating bioreactors and articles and methods that are useful for adapting a rotating bioreactor for use with tissues or scaffolds of different sizes. In some embodiments, bioreactors comprising a reservoir and an arbor assembly are provided herein, in which the arbor assembly comprises a rotatable support to which a tissue or tissue scaffold can be attached.

Engineered tissues or organs can be produced ex vivo (for example in a bioreactor) and implanted into a host (e.g., a human patient) in order to replace or supplement an injured, diseased, or otherwise failing organ in the host. Engineered tissues or organs can be produced in a bioreactor by cellularizing a support structure referred to as a scaffold. Current techniques for producing scaffolds that can be cellularized ex vivo include methods that involve decellularizing a natural organ or tissue to produce an acellular scaffold of natural structural material, or methods that involve configuring a synthetic material to mimic a shape of a natural scaffold

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


Systems and methods are disclosed to implement a Boolean query evaluation system that allows clients to specify a latency constraint for evaluating Boolean queries. In embodiments, the system evaluates queries using data from multiple external data sources. If some data sources fail to return data in a timely fashion to satisfy the specified latency constraint, the system will evaluate the query using the data that it was able to obtain and generate a partial answer to the query—a partial true or a partial false. In embodiments, the query response may include a reason for the partial answer, and indicate the list of data sources that failed to provide timely results. In embodiments, the system may publish a table indicating different latency constraints specified for a category of queries and the types of answers returned for those queries. Clients may use the table select latency constraints for future queries.

The latency requirement of a query evaluation system can vary widely depending on the client and the usage situation. For example, a first client of a query evaluation system may expect to receive service responses within 500 milliseconds, while a second client may require responses in 100 milliseconds. Moreover, some clients have zero tolerance for inaccurate query results, while other clients may have a more relaxed policy towards results accuracy. Unfortunately, current query evaluation systems do not take into account the latency and accuracy requirements of different clients during query processing. If the system cannot completely determine a query result within a particular client's latency requirement period, the client will receive no response at all, even if the client is willing to sacrifice some degree of accuracy to obtain a slightly faster response. The rigid handling of client queries without regard for the clients' varying latency and accuracy requirements is a source of frustration for many users of current query evaluation systems.
While embodiments are described herein by way of example for several embodiments and illustrative drawings, those skilled in the art will recognize that embodiments are not limited to the embodiments or drawings described. It should be understood, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit embodiments to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description or the claims. As used throughout this application, the word "may" is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words "include," "including," and "includes" mean including, but not limited to.
It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first contact could be termed a second contact, and, similarly, a second contact could be termed a first contact, without departing from the scope of the present invention. The first contact and the second contact are both contacts, but they are not the same contact.

Generating partial boolean query results based on client-specified latency constraints


Systems and methods to respond to error detection are provided. First data may be received at a first memory controller port in response to a read command issued from the first memory controller port. The read command may be issued as a second read command from a second memory controller port after determining that the first data contains a first uncorrectable error. Second data may be received at the second memory controller port in response to the second read command. A repair write command may be issued from the first memory controller port after determining that the second data does not contain any errors. The repair write command may initiate writing the second data from the first memory controller port.

Successful data storage and transmission may be impeded by multi-bit or single bit errors present in the data. Hardware diagnostic tests use error correction codes (ECCs) to detect and correct single-bit errors, which are categorized as correctable errors. ECCs are also used to detect multi-bit errors, which are known as uncorrectable errors.
Detection of an uncorrectable error often prompts a machine check condition. If the computer system is alternatively running in memory mirrored mode, a hot memory replace may alternatively result. For example, if a read to a memory structure results in an uncorrectable error, the read is reissued to a complement memory structure. The complement memory structure functions as a mirror copy. The read data from the complement structure is returned to a requesting agent. The uncorrectable error is reported as a recoverable error. Subsequent reads are directed to a complement port while a hot memory replace is performed.
Use of a memory structure is limited while a machine check condition or a hot memory replace is accomplished. Therefore, limiting repair actions would be beneficial.

International Business Machines Corporation


A wet cleaning apparatus having at least one outlet is provided. The apparatus has an intake fitting, for a suction air stream, which opens out into a liquid container. An upper housing part is disposed on the liquid container and has disposed therein a motor about which at least part of which flows a coolant air flow. At least one turbulence chamber is provided in which the suction air stream and the coolant air flow meet one another at an angle.

The present invention relates to a wet cleaning apparatus having a liquid container into which opens an intake fitting for a suction air stream; also provided is a housing cover portion in which is disposed a motor about at least part of which flows a coolant air flow; at least one outlet is also provided.
With such wet cleaning apparatus, air that is loaded or contaminated with dust and/or dirt particles is drawn in via the intake fitting. The air flows through the cleaning liquid, preferably water, that is present in the liquid container; the particles are retained in the cleaning liquid. The air that is freed of the dust/dirt particles flows upwardly through a separator and a blower or turbine before it is blown out through the outlet. To cool the motor, coolant air from the environment is drawn in by a rotor, for which purpose an additional opening is provided in the housing of the wet cleaning apparatus. This coolant air flow flows along the motor and cools it. The coolant air flow is blown out through a further opening. The coolant air flow and the suction air stream flow out through the respective outlets at relatively high velocities. A considerable development of noise is associated with this discharge. Since the air streams exit the wet cleaning apparatus downwardly at an angle, dust found on the floor is additionally unnecessarily raised or stirred up.
It is an object of the present invention to embody a wet cleaning apparatus of the aforementioned general type in such a way that in a structurally straightforward manner, a considerable reduction of noise during operation of the wet cleaning apparatus is achieved, whereby the danger that dust particles are raised by the exiting air streams is avoided.


A plurality of parallel capacitors is constructed using an elongate common capacitor electrode with individual capacitors formed from individual capacitor electrodes spaced along and separated from the common electrode by a layer of dielectric material. The layer of dielectric material can be a dielectric film material or a ceramic material. The layer of dielectric material can be tapered along the common electrode, and/or additional dielectric material can be positioned between edges of adjacent individual electrodes. An individual electrode at one end of the common electrode can be made wider to increase its capacitance.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to power supplies for generating high voltages. More particularly, the present invention relates to a high voltage power supply such as used with neutron generating tubes in oil well logging equipment. Further, the invention relates to an arrangement of special capacitors utilized in a linear fashion used in these high voltage power supplies.
Related Art
Oil well logging devices which include neutron generating tubes are well known in the art. Such devices are sized to be lowered down an oil well bore and emit neutrons into the formation through which the bore passes. By detecting the radiation coming back from the formation, particularly the atoms in the formation that have been made radioactive by the emitted neutrons, the location of the oil bearing strata can be determined along the depth of the well. This indicates where the well casing should be perforated to allow oil to flow into the well.
The neutron generating tubes which are the heart of these logging devices require 100,000 volts or more to operate. Currently available logging devices generally use a Cockroft-Walton type voltage multiplier circuit which include capacitors and rectifiers, which takes an AC voltage from a step up transformer and converts it to a high DC voltage by successively raising up the voltage in a step wise fashion to operate the neutron generating tube. Voltage multiplying circuits using capacitors and rectifiers are well known, with the Cockroft-Walton series multiplier type circuit being commonly used in the currently available logging devices. These currently available logging devices can generally operate satisfactorily up to about 150 degrees C. Beyond this point, excessive electrical leakage in the semiconductors (rectifiers) preclude efficient power conversion. The leakage currents in semiconductors generally increase exponentially with increases in temperature. Many of the deep oil wells currently being drilled have internal temperatures in the deeper parts of the well over 150 degrees C. and up to 175 degrees C. or greater. This presents a problem in logging the deeper portions of the wells because, as indicated, the presently used logging devices do not operate satisfactorily at these higher temperatures.
In addition, in order to provide the required 100 kV of operating voltage required by neutron generating tubes, a reasonable limit must be imposed on the number of stages present in a Cockroft-Walton series voltage multiplying circuit. Several reasons exist for this limit. One deals with the output voltage droop that occurs between no load and full load conditions which is proportional to the cube of the number of stages utilized. When the neutron tube is gated to be on, it is not uncommon to find the 100 kV dropping towards 80 kV as the power supply tries to feed into the load of the tube. A second problem that occurs is the generation of ripple voltage that rides on the high voltage output due to the incomplete conversion of AC to DC voltage. This unwanted electrical noise interferes with the acceleration voltage of the tube and is difficult to remove from the process. Unfortunately, the ripple voltage present on the high voltage output is proportional to the square of the number of stages used in the multiplier.
There is currently a need for an oil well logging device that will operate at temperatures above 150 degrees C.

Plurality of capacitors electrically connected in parallel as a single physical unit


A bar adjustment assembly for a chain saw includes a shaft, a bar adjustment pin that is journalled for rotation relative to the shaft, and a pin alignment spring that biases the pin toward an engagement position. A void is provided for accommodating the pin as it is rotated away from the engagement position by a guide bar that has been incorrectly attached.

The present invention relates to guide bar adjustment mechanisms for chainsaws, and more particularly to an adjustment mechanism having a breakaway adjustment pin.
Various mechanisms are known for adjusting the tension of the chain on a chainsaw. Nearly all of these mechanisms involve the movement of the guide bar upon which the chain rests. By lengthening the guide bar, the chain tension is increased. Conversely, shortening the guide bar decreases the chain tension.
A commonly used mechanism for adjusting the position of the guide bar consists of an adjustment pin threaded onto an adjustment screw provided on the body of the chainsaw. The adjustment pin engages a hole in the guide bar. As the adjustment screw is rotated, the pin advances or retreats along the screw, moving the guide bar with it.
One problem with these adjustment pin type chain tensioning mechanisms occurs during assembly of the guide bar onto the chainsaw body. The pin is not normally visible once the bar is placed onto the body. If the guide bar and the adjustment pin are not properly aligned during assembly, the adjustment pin and/or adjustment screw can be damaged.

Chainsaw bar adjustment assembly with breakaway adjustment pin


A method and device for inspecting the structural damage on the skin of an aircraft after a lightning strike, the skin has marks derived from the lightning strike, wherein the marks represent a Visual Damage (VD) and a Structural Damage (SD). The method includes for every mark: measuring the area of paint that has been removed by the lightning strike, and comparing the measured area with an area threshold value, wherein the threshold value is related to the Structural Damage (SD) of every mark.

Lightning strikes can affect airline operations causing costly delays and service interruptions. When commercial aircraft are struck by lightning, the result can range from no damage to severe damage which may require immediate repair that can take the aircraft out of service for an extended period of time. The severity of the damage varies greatly and is dependent on multiple factors such as the energy level of the lightning strike.
Lightning initially attaches to an aircraft extremity at one spot and exits from another. Due to the relative speed of the aircraft to the lightning channel, there may be several additional attachment points between those initial and exit points (swept stroke), this may lead to up to hundreds of marks spread out all along the skin of the aircraft.
The direct effects of a lightning strike are the damages caused to the structure which include melt through, pitting to the structure, burn marks around fasteners and burnt paint for metallic structures. In the case of composite structures, apart from burnt paint, damaged fibers and delaminations can be found.
At each attachment point of the lightning arc, the damage on a composite component can be separated into two parts:                Firstly, at the exterior surface of the fuselage burn marks and missing paint are visible and quantifiable.        Secondly, inside the composite material, structural damages as overheating of the resin, broken fibers and delamination can be found.
Some zones of the aircraft are more prone to lightning strikes than others. It is already known and standardized that the aircraft can be divided into several zones regarding the probability of receiving a lightning strike:                Zone 1—High probability of initial lightning strike attachment (entry or exit).        Zone 2—High probability of a lightning strike being swept from a point of initial attachment.        Zone 3—Any aircraft surface other than those covered by zones 1 and 2.
At each zone, a maximum energy level of the strike is expected according to existing standards, for instance, Eurocae ED-91 & ED-84.
When the aircraft is back on the ground after being struck, the severity of the damage shall be assessed and, depending on the size of the damages, some maintenance operations (repairs, inspection of areas, etc.) can be necessary.
In CFRP (Carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer) structures, it is well known that delamination damages can be greater than the external observed damage (the visual damage), reason why, with the current state of the art, an inspection with a device capable of detecting damage within the structure is required; typically these test devices use ultrasound, X-ray or thermography. The inspection is performed mark by mark spending between five to ten minutes at each mark; therefore, in a case when there are substantial lightning attachment points (swept stroke), the time associated to those inspections at each mark may require the aircraft to be on ground for a significant time, putting in risk the daily operations of the airline/air carrier. Thus the inspection of the aircraft after a lightning strike is time consuming and can only be done by qualified operators.

Method and device for inspecting the damage to the skin of an aeroplane after a lightning strike


A representative method for coordinating and optimizing resources in the completion of a set of tasks includes providing multiple task types defined for a scenario and task priorities; combining multiple solutions of the respective multiple task types into multiple candidate decisions; determining candidate scores for the respective multiple candidate decisions based on the combined multiple solutions of the respective multiple task types; determining an optimal candidate score based on the candidate scores from the respective multiple candidate decisions and task priorities; and selecting an optimal response to a given scenario based on the candidate decision based on having the determined optimal candidate score.

Many decision computing systems are designed to resolve a single task but not numerous tasks in a complex environment. For example, there are no decision computing systems that automate in real time the process of assigning resources to a multi-dimensional problem in any environment that could benefit from collaborative resource allocation, such as determining which sensors, weapons and timelines can be coordinated within a Naval force to optimize the total application or the coordination of first responder resources such as ambulances, fire, police assets in a large disaster scenario.
Accordingly, an improved decision computing system is desirable in the art that would improve upon the conventional decision computing system.

Methods, devices and systems for coordinating and optimizing resources


The present invention provides an expandable intervertebral implant, including: a superior member configured to engage a superior intervertebral body; an inferior member configured to engage an inferior intervertebral body; and an expansion mechanism disposed between the superior member and the inferior member configured to selectively adjust a separation of the superior member from the inferior member; wherein the expansion mechanism includes a proximal wedge structure and a distal wedge structure that are relatively translated between the superior member and the inferior member, wherein the proximal wedge structure and the distal wedge structure are each coupled to the superior member and the inferior member by a plurality of aligned and/or staggered (i.e. nested) track structures and rail structures; and wherein a load-bearing portion of a bottom surface of the superior member is configured to mate vertically with a load-bearing portion of a top surface of the inferior member when the expansion mechanism is undeployed via conformal protruding and recessed features.

In various cases, it is desirable to restore the anatomic relationship between various vertebral elements, thereby re-establishing spinal stability, by means other than conventional monolithic and/or multi-piece interbody spacers. Typically, these devices require sizable working channels, soft tissue disruption, nerve root retraction, and significant bone resection, thereby increasing the resulting stress on other vertebral elements. Further, morbidities associated with these more-invasive procedures include, but are not limited to, greater blood loss, longer recovery, and increased risk of surgical site infection.
In such cases, the use of an alternative intervertebral implant, especially one compatible with minimally-invasive surgical techniques, is desirable. An intervertebral implant that expands in-situ would allow implantation without the iatrogenic insult that is commonly associated with the implantation of conventional monolithic and/or multi-piece interbody spacers in a minimally-invasive manner. However, no such alternative devices or systems are currently available, at least not any that are adequate.

Expandable intervertebral implant and associated surgical method


A clasp for laces is composed of two pivotally joined elements which work together as a clasp or clip on the laces. The elements have been provided with openings for the ends of the laces and a point of union with an outlet for the remaining parts of the laces. The moveable pieces are biased to an open clamping position. In a preferred embodiment, the movable pieces are articulated obliquely so that they present a lower concave surface to fit over the curve of the shoe upper.

In lace shoes, it is necessary for correct attachment to the foot of the wearer to have a loop or similar item at the ends of the laces.
This operation which in principle would seem to be trivial is not so for inexpert wearers, such as children, old or physically handicapped people.
Furthermore, the disadvantage in the use is that these loops become loose or even open up completely, especially if the laces are of silk or nylon, with the resulting inconvenience, and the risk of falling when stepping on loose laces.
There are shoes on the market with simple and safe closing devices, but they are all based on the elimination of shoelaces. For various reasons, including fashion and design, it is still necessary to make lace shoes.
It is the purpose of the invention to develop a device of the type indicated which will avoid the above listed difficulties.


The present invention provides muscle-derived progenitor cells that show long-term survival following transplantation into body tissues and which can augment soft tissue following introduction (e.g. via injection, transplantation, or implantation) into a site of soft tissue. Also provided are methods of isolating muscle-derived progenitor cells, and methods of genetically modifying the cells for gene transfer therapy. The invention further provides methods of using compositions comprising muscle-derived progenitor cells for the augmentation and bulking of mammalian, including human, soft tissues in the treatment of various cosmetic or functional conditions, including malformation, injury, weakness, disease, or dysfunction. In particular, the present invention provides treatments and amelioration for dermatological conditions, gastroesophageal reflux, vesico-ureteral reflux, urinary incontinence, fecal incontinence, heart failure, and myocardial infarction.

Augmentation of soft tissue using synthetic materials such as silicone or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is well known in the art. U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,447 to Arnett discloses the use of silicone implants for facial plastic surgery. However, such synthetic materials are foreign to the host tissue, and cause an immunological response resulting in the encapsulation of the implant and scarring of the surrounding tissues. Thus, the implant may produce additional functional or aesthetic problems.
Soft tissue augmentation using biopolymers such as collagen or hyaluronic acid has also been described. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,208 to Wallace et al. discloses methods of augmenting soft tissue utilizing collagen implant material. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,353 to della Valle et al. discloses esters of hyaluronic acid that can be used in cosmetic surgery. However, these biopolymers are also foreign to the host tissue, and cause an immunological response resulting in the reabsorption of the injected material. Biopolymers are therefore unable to provide long-term tissue augmentation. Overall, the use of biopolymers or synthetic materials has been wholly unsatisfactory for the purpose of augmenting soft tissue.
Soft tissue augmentation using cell-based compositions has also been developed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,390 to Boss, Jr. discloses the use of autologous dermal fibroblasts for the treatment of cosmetic and aesthetic skin defects. Although this treatment avoids the problems inherent in the implantation or injection of synthetic materials or biopolymers, it results in other complications. Because fibroblasts produce collagen, the cells can cause the stiffening and distortion of the tissues surrounding the implant site.
The use of autologous fat cells as an injectable bulking agent has also been described (For review, see K. Mak et al., 1994, Otolaryngol. Clin. North. Am. 27:211-22; American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Report on autologous fat transplantation by the ad hoc committee on new procedures, 1987, Chicago: American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery; A. Chaichir et al., 1989, Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 84: 921-935; R. A. Ersek, 1991, Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 87:219-228; H. W. Horl et al., 1991, Ann. Plast. Surg. 26:248-258; A. Nguyen et al., 1990, Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 85:378-389; J. Sartynski et al., 1990, OtolaryngoL Head Neck Surg. 102:314-321. However, the fat grafting procedure provides only temporary augmentation, as injected fat is reabsorbed into the host. In addition, fat grafting can result in nodule formation and tissue asymmetry.
Myoblasts, the precursors of muscle fibers, are mononucleated muscle cells that fuse to form post-mitotic multinucleated myotubes, which can provide long-term expression and delivery of bioactive proteins (T. A. Partridge and K. E. Davies, 1995, Brit. Med. Bulletin 51:123-137; J. Dhawan et al., 1992, Science 254: 1509-12; A. D. Grinnell, 1994, Myology Ed 2, A. G. Engel and C. F. Armstrong, McGraw-Hill, Inc., 303-304; S. Jiao and J. A. Wolff, 1992, Brain Research 575:143-7; H. Vandenburgh, 1996, Human Gene Therapy 7:2195-2200).
Cultured myoblasts contain a subpopulation of cells that show some of the self-renewal properties of stem cells (A. Baroffio et al., 1996, Differentiation 60:47-57). Such cells fail to fuse to form myotubes, and do not divide unless cultured separately (A. Baroffio et al., supra). Studies of myoblast transplantation (see below) have shown that the majority of transplanted cells quickly die, while a minority survive and mediate new muscle formation (J. R. Beuchamp et al., 1999, J. Cell Biol. 144:1113-1122). This minority of cells shows distinctive behavior, including slow growth in tissue culture and rapid growth following transplantation, suggesting that these cells may represent myoblast stem cells (J. R. Beuchamp et al., supra).
Myoblasts have been used as vehicles for gene therapy in the treatment of various muscle- and non-muscle-related disorders. For example, transplantation of genetically modified or unmodified myoblasts has been used for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (E. Gussoni et al., 1992, Nature, 356:435-8; J. Huard et al., 1992, Muscle & Nerve, 15:550-60; G. Karpati et al., 1993, Ann. Neurol., 34:8-17; J. P. Tremblay et al., 1993, Cell Transplantation, 2:99-112; P. A. Moisset et al., 1998, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 247:94-9; P. A. Moisset et al., 1998, Gene Ther. 5:134046). In addition, myoblasts have been genetically engineered to produce proinsulin for the treatment of Type 1 diabetes (L. Gros et al., 1999, Hum. Gen. Ther. 10:1207-17); Factor IX for the treatment of hemophilia B (M. Roman et al., 1992, Somat. Cell. Mol. Genet. 18:247-58; S. N. Yao et al., 1994, Gen. Ther. 1:99-107; J. M. Wang et al., 1997, Blood 90:1075-82; G. Hortelano et al., 1999, Hum. Gene Ther. 10:1281-8); adenosine deaminase for the treatment of adenosine deaminase deficiency syndrome (C. M. Lynch et al., 1992, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:1138-42); erythropoietin for the treatment of chronic anemia (E. Regulier et al., 1998, Gene Ther. 5:1014-22; B. Dalle et al., 1999, Gene Ther. 6:157-61), and human growth hormone for the treatment of growth retardation (K. Anwer et al., 1998, Hum. Gen. Ther. 9:659-70).
Myoblasts have also been used to treat muscle tissue damage or disease, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,130,141 to Law et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,722 to Blau et al., and application U.S. Ser. No. 09/302,896 filed Apr. 30, 1999 by Chancellor et al. In addition, myoblast transplantation has been employed for the repair of myocardial dysfunction (C. E. Murry et al., 1996, J. Clin. Invest. 98:2512-23; B. Z. Atkins et al., 1999, Ann. Thorac. Surg. 67:124-129; B. Z. Atkins et al., 1999, J. Heart Lung Transplant. 18:1173-80).
In spite of the above, in most cases, primary myoblast-derived treatments have been associated with low survival rates of the cells following transplantation due to migration and/or phagocytosis. To circumvent this problem, U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,778 to Atala discloses the use of myoblasts suspended in a liquid polymer, such as alginate. The polymer solution acts as a matrix to prevent the myoblasts from migrating and/or undergoing phagocytosis after injection. However, the polymer solution presents the same problems as the biopolymers discussed above. Furthermore, the Atala patent is limited to uses of myoblasts in only muscle tissue, but no other tissue.
Thus, there is a need for other, different soft tissue augmentation materials that are long-lasting, compatible with a wide range of host tissues, and which cause minimal inflammation, scarring, and/or stiffening of the tissues surrounding the implant site. Accordingly, the muscle-derived progenitor cell-containing compositions of the present invention are provided as improved and novel materials for augmenting soft tissues. Further provided are methods of producing muscle-derived progenitor cell compositions that show long-term survival following transplantation, and methods of utilizing MDC and compositions containing MDC to treat various aesthetic and/or functional defects, including, for example, dermatological conditions or injury, and muscle weakness, injury, disease, or dysfunction.
It is notable that prior attempts to use myoblasts for non-muscle soft tissue augmentation were unsuccessful (U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,778 to Atala). Therefore, the findings disclosed herein are unexpected, as they show that the muscle-derived progenitor cells according to the present invention can be successfully transplanted into non-muscle and muscle soft tissue, including epithelial tissue, and exhibit long-term survival. As a result, MDC and compositions comprising MDC can be used as a general augmentation material for muscle or non-muscle soft tissue augmentation, as well as for bone production. Moreover, since the muscle-derived progenitor cells and compositions of the present invention can be derived from autologous sources, they carry a reduced risk of immunological complications in the host, including the reabsorption of augmentation materials, and the inflammation and/or scarring of the tissues surrounding the implant site.
Although mesenchymal stem cells can be found in various connective tissues of the body including muscle, bone, cartilage, etc. (H. E. Young et al., 1993, In Vitro Cell Dev. Biol. 29A:723-736; H. E. Young, et al., 1995, Dev. Dynam. 202:137-144), the term mesenchymal has been used historically to refer to a class of stem cells purified from bone marrow, and not from muscle. Thus, mesenchymal stem cells are distinguished from the muscle-derived progenitor cells of the present invention. Moreover, mesenchymal cells do not express the CD34 cell marker (M. F. Pittenger et al, 1999, Science 284:143-147), which is expressed by the muscle-derived progenitor cells described herein.

Soft tissue and bone augmentation and bulking utilizing muscle-derived progenitor cells, compositions and treatments thereof

University of Pittsburgh—Of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education


Processes for producing cellulose microfibrils from herbaceous plant material using enzyme compositions, the cellulose microfibrils obtained from the processes and their uses, and compositions comprising the cellulose microfibrils are described.

The present invention is concerned with the production of microfibrils of cellulose from plant material. Over the past 20 years there has been an increasing interest in extracting and utilising cellulose at a scale below that of the whole cell wall. Native cellulose within plant cell walls exists in the form of microfibrils, which typically have a lateral dimension in the range 2-20 nanometers and a longitudinal dimension of from tens of nanometers to several micrometers, e.g. a length of 100-4000 nm. Cellulose microfibrils are composed entirely of β-1,4-linked glucan chains that form crystalline regions as well as less ordered stretches referred to as amorphous regions.
Cellulose crystallites are very strong, but also very short; too short for many uses e.g. in high performance composites. To fully take advantage of the high strength of cellulose, it becomes important to release microfibrils with as big an aspect ratio as possible and with uncompromised amorphous regions. This is not trivial as β-1,4-linked glucose residues are accessible to enzymes or microorganisms in both hemicellulosic polymers that adhere tightly to cellulose and which shall be removed, and in amorphous regions that should be left intact.
A number of techniques for the liberation of microfibrils from various sources of native cellulose, and for the production of microfibrillated cellulose from same, are known. Typically, wood pulp is used as a source of microfibrillated cellulose. However, in general, methods of obtaining microfibrillated cellulose from wood pulp can involve harsh chemical treatment regimens and/or high energy mechanical treatments, and can have scalability issues.
Cellulose microfibrils can be found in nature from a number of sources other than heavily lignified "woody" tissues. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,983 discloses a process for the preparation of microfibrillated cellulose from primary wall plant pulp containing cellulose, pectins, hemicelluloses, proteins and mineral materials, which process comprises multi-step chemical treatment involving either acidic or basic hydrolysis of the pulp at 60° C. to 100° C., high mechanical shear treatment followed by high pressure homogenisation. Further, if a decolourized product is required, an additional bleaching step is involved.
State of the art in liberating cellulose microfibrils from herbaceous material is represented by the technology described in WO2006056737. The method comprises controlled fermentation of the more readily digestible parts of the primary plant cell walls by a consortium of microorganisms.
This technology also has some major drawbacks: It is slow; reproducibility is low due to the dynamic nature of the microbial populations; significant amounts of base in the form of bleach are used to sterilize the material and remove matrix polysaccharides that has been rendered more soluble by the fermentation but not digested; and excessive amounts energy are used for mechanical diminution and eventual microfibrillation of the material.
There remains a need to provide a method for producing cellulose microfibrils from plant material which is: an alternative to known methods; is environmentally friendly; involves less process steps and thus is easier to carry out; in which a separate bleaching step is not mandatory; is less energy intensive; in which amorphous regions are less damaged, and, where desired, the cellulose microfibril surface is more efficiently stripped of strongly adhering biopolymers.
It has been proposed in the prior art, most clearly in US2012/0316330, that enzyme-mediated digestion of plant biomass yields both a supernatant of fermentable sugars that may be turned into biofuel, for example, and a solid, cellulosic residue that is useful in various materials, films, composites etc.
However, as disclosed in US2012/0316330, endo-glucanase treatment of a chemically treated pulp also leads to digestion of amorphous regions of cellulose microfibrils as evidenced by a rapid decrease in degree of polymerization as cellulose microfibrils were released. Cellulose microfibrils with partially degraded amorphous regions are weaker than undamaged fibrils. Microfibrils with completely degraded amorphous regions are made up entirely of crystalline regions, and while these are very strong, they are also much shorter and thus have fewer applications in high performance materials. Cellulose microfibril amorphous regions are digested by polysaccharide hydrolases belonging to families where cellulases belong, a non-exhaustive list comprising CAZy families: GH5, GH6, GH7, GH8, GH9, GH12, GH44, GH48.
It is surprising that a method that shall release cellulose microfibrils while keeping them intact, notably the amorphous regions, still has to include enzymes from one or more of these families.