A medical equipment monitor apparatus and method whereby the normal operating conditions and alarm situations for the medical equipment are intercepted by the monitor where they are recorded and selectively transmitted to a base computer system at a remote location. Importantly, alarm conditions of the medical equipment are promptly transmitted over a telephone to the base computer to alert the operating personnel to the alarm condition. The monitor system also provides for a printed copy to be produced from selected data provided to the base computer by the monitor apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to monitors and, more particularly, to a novel medical equipment monitor apparatus and method whereby remotely located medical equipment is continuously monitored for selected performance characteristics.
2. The Prior Art
Advances in modern healthcare, particularly the rapid technological advances being experienced almost daily in the healthcare industry, represent significant benefits to patients through improved healthcare delivery to the patient. However, these advances are accompanied by increased costs to society. Not only do these remarkable technological advances contribute to the overall cost increases in healthcare services but they also extend the period over which these costs are incurred by extending the lifespan of persons who would have otherwise died. An important aspect of the foregoing is the recent trend to move patients out of the hospital setting into less costly environments such as skilled nursing facilities in certain instances although the preferred environment is that of the home setting.
Healthcare delivery in the home on an outpatient basis not only reduces the overhead and labor costs for facilities and skilled nursing care but also places the patient in familiar surroundings in the presence of others who are emotionally attached to the patient. It is a well-known phenomena that a patient in familiar surroundings and in the presence of loved ones experiences a remarkably increased feeling of well being and a more rapid recovery. Accordingly, there is an increasing interest in moving patients, whose conditions only a decade or so ago would have mandated hospitalization, out of the hospital setting into, preferably, the home setting.
This outplacement of patients means that certain items of fairly sophisticated life support equipment must accompany the patient to the home setting. One common item of life support equipment, for example, is an oxygen delivery system that can include a source of either compressed or liquid oxygen or derive its oxygen from an oxygen concentrator. Accompanying this piece of equipment is a pulse oximeter for measuring the oxygen concentration in the blood of the patient as well as an apnea monitor, in certain instances. The equipment is generally leased and maintained by a home healthcare agency that is responsible for its proper operation.
However, in the absence of a skilled professional such as found in the hospital setting, there is no apparatus or method for continuously monitoring this equipment on a twenty-four hour basis. The home healthcare agency does send a technician into the home on a regular basis of three or four times a week, but there is no accurate monitoring of this equipment on a consistent basis. Further, equipment failure may either go unrecognized by the patient and those around him or her or be of such a nature that the reporting person may erroneously report the wrong system malfunction. It is also a well-known problem that certain equipment undergoes a gradual deterioration in its performance during use so that the loss of support to the patient is especially insidious over time.
In view of the foregoing what is needed is a medical equipment monitor apparatus and method for directly and continuously monitoring the performance of selected items of medical equipment not only to provide an appropriate alarm signal but also to record all desired parameters of the operational characteristics of the equipment. It would also be a significant advancement in the art to provide the medical equipment monitor apparatus with the capability to transmit information and alarm conditions to a remote location. Such a novel apparatus and method is disclosed and claimed herein.

Medical equipment monitor apparatus and method


A cam follow arrangement has a rectangular-shaped through hole formed in an end portion of a ram member, the through hole having first and second opposed ends and a pair of parallel sides. A slider which is disposed in the rectangular-shaped through hole is configured to be slidable back and forth along the parallel sides toward and away the first and second ends. A spring is disposed between the slider and the first end of the rectangular-shaped through hole to bias the slider toward the second end of the rectangular-shaped through hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a cam and cam follower arrangement and more specifically to a pre-loaded cam follower arrangement which exhibits both a long working life and which can be efficiently manufactured.
2. Brief Description of the Related Art
In certain types of machinery such as those which use helical cams and the like, it is necessary to use a cam follower which grips the cam and ensures that the cam profile is faithfully followed. One example of this type of cam follower is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,006 issued to Marshall on Oct. 14, 1997. This patent discloses a preloaded-cam follower ram assembly for reshaping containers. The contents of this patent are hereby incorporated by reference thereto. Features of this arrangement are depicted in FIGS. 1-3.
As will be appreciated, this cam following arrangement includes first and second cam followers 10, 12. The second of these cam followers (12) is mounted on an end section 14 which is integral with a ram arrangement generally denoted by the numeral 16. The first cam follower (10), on the other hand, is supported on a pivotal member 18 that is operatively connected to the end of the end section 14 via a pivot pin 20. A cantilevered spring 22 is used to bias the pivotal member 18 to rotate in a direction which causes the first cam follower 10 to approach the second cam follower 12, and thus produce a nipper-like action that clamps the followers 10, 12 against the sides of cam member (not shown) when in use.
A further arrangement which has been developed is such that the cantilevered spring is replaced with a pack of conical springs. This arrangement is depicted in FIGS. 4-12. This arrangement has been found to extend cam follower life. As will be best appreciated from FIG. 4, this arrangement features a fork construction 23 which is configured to have a slide block (slider) 24 slidably received therein. The fork fingers 26 and the slider 24 have a tongue (261) and groove (262) arrangement (see FIG. 5 for example) which retains the slider 24 within the fork 23 while permitting the required reciprocal movement.
The ends of the fork fingers 264, which are located at the open end of the fork 23, are connected by an end cap 28. A conical spring pack 30 (see FIG. 12) is disposed between the end cap 28 and one end of the slider 24 to bias the slider 24 away from the end cap 28 and toward the closed end 231 of the fork 23.
However, as will be appreciated, very tight tolerances must be maintained to ensure that the slide block or slider 24 is freely movable in the axial direction, but does not have any clearance that permits rocking of the cam follower on the cam face under dynamic loading. To achieve this, the clearance required must be held in multiple planes, and is provided by the tongue in groove arrangement.
The end cap 28 has the ability, when connected to the ends of the forks, to either hold the fingers 26 in a slightly inwardly flexed condition or in a slightly outwardly flexed state, if necessary in order to provide the required clearances.
However, a problem occurs if the fingers of the fork twist as a result of processes which are applied during production. For example, during heat treatment which follows the machining processes and which is necessary to harden the surfaces that are in sliding contact with one another, the metal undergoes expansions and contractions which will unpredictably result in minor distortions (such as the above-mentioned twisting) and which cannot be corrected via the use of the end cap.
While this arrangement shown in FIGS. 10-12, has proven very effective if successfully manufactured, a drawback arises that the number of units which must be scraped or re-worked due to the above-mentioned distortions can be so high as to render the manufacture of this type of arrangement excessively time consuming and therefore expensive.


The present invention relates to a display device of a focal angle and distance in an iris recognition system, in which the device includes: a distance measurer for measuring a distance between a user and an iris recognition camera, and an indicator for quantitatively indicating a forward-backward distance and a right and left or up and down direction the user should move, in accordance with the distance measured by the distance measurer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an iris recognition system. In particular, the present invention relates to a display device of a focal angle and distance in an iris recognition system, which enables to focus a camera to obtain more accurate iris images, measure a focus angle and distance between the camera and a user, and using the measurement result, to instruct the user which direction and how far he should go with respect to the camera.
2. Description of the Related Art
As well known already, there have been a number of systems for security, crime prevention, and identity authentication, such as the traditional contact cards system or the non-contact cards system and up to the fingerprint recognition system. The iris recognition system has certainly joined this stream for authenticating a person's identity before allowing or rejecting the person to enter a particular place or to access specific data.
Among those, the iris recognition system is considered to be the best for its high recognition rate compared with the fingerprint recognition, and for its high accuracy. The iris recognition system is a technique for authenticating a person by comparing a pre-registered iris data with a new iris data that has been prepared by capturing iris images using a video camera and making iris pattern features into data using an image process technique.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a general iris recognition system in a related art. With reference to FIG. 1, operation of the iris recognition system is now explained below.
As a user approaches the iris recognition system, a distance measurement sensor 109 measures the distance between the user to the system, and a controller 105, having received the distance measurement value through an actuator 107, decides whether the distance measurement value is within the operation limit.
If it turns out that the user is within the operation limit, a control signal is sent out to the actuator 107 to extract iris images. And, the actuator 107 sends an active signal to an external indicator 108 and lets the user know that the system is on. When the user puts his or her eyes on an optical axis of a camera 103 through an optical window 101, a cold mirror 102 blocks a visible ray and passes infrared rays. And, the system indicates whether the iris of the user should be placed to make sure the user's eyes are properly positioned on the optical axis of the camera 103.
The control device 105, on the other hand, is provided with the distance from the distance measurement sensor 109 to the user, and based on the distance measurement value, it calculates zoom and focus values of the camera 103 and performs zoom in/zoom out and focusing control. Later, the control device 105 adjusts the intensity of an illumination device 106 through the actuator 107 in accordance with the distance measurement value, and photographs the iris image using the camera 103. The photographed iris image goes through a signal process to be appropriate for the iris image analysis at a frame grabber 104, and based on the information about the processed iris image, the control device 105 recognizes the iris and decides whether or not to authenticate the user.
The performance of this iris recognition system is totally dependent on how fast and how accurately it can recognize the iris.
There are different kinds of techniques of extracting the iris image in order to photograph the iris of the user from an appropriate distance. For example, sometimes the user himself has to focus the camera by looking at the screen and moving back and forth, or in some cases, several cameras are used at one time to find out where the user's face and eyes are and photograph the user's iris image. Also, some obtain the iris image by using the distance measurement sensor which measures the distance between the camera and the user in order to focus the camera automatically.
First of all, it would be pointless to say that the user would feel uncomfortable if he personally has to move around within a certain distance to focus the camera, while looking at the screen. Also, in this case, a single light source is used. Therefore, if the user wears glasses, the reflected image from the glasses makes it difficult to catch more accurate iris images. However, to prevent such problem, the user should keep moving while looking at the screen for himself until no reflection occurs, increasing inconvenience to the user.
Fortunately, using several cameras to focus the camera and obtain iris images has somewhat solved the trouble the user had to go through. But this time, the equipment is very complicated for a normal person to operate and it required very sophisticated control. In other words, the system uses two cameras for finding out where the user's face and eyes are, and another camera for obtaining the iris image. Although the system is convenient to use in that the user does not have to focus his eyes personally for the iris recognition because the system automatically focuses the camera and catches the iris image, the system configuration itself is very complicated in order to use several cameras and operate each camera systematically and electrically,
Lastly, in case the distance measurement sensor is used to focus the camera and photograph iris images, the distance measurement sensor senses a person's approach and focuses the camera based on the inputted images in possession and the focus values outputted from the camera.
However, since this technique also uses a single light source, the reflection problem due to the glasses of the user is likely to happen any time. As an attempt to avoid the secondary reflex due to the glassed, three LED (light-emitting diode) illuminations were put on the left side, the right side, and the upper side. But it was still uncomfortable to use because one should keep changing positions of the illuminations to get the images.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an autofocus adjusting device using a distance measurement sensor.
As shown in the drawing, a distance measurer 202 measures the distance between the user and the camera 205 at designated regular time intervals using the distance measurement sensor 201, and outputs the distance information successively. A distance processor 203, using the distance information, catches characteristics of the user's movement. More specifically, based on that successive distance information, the distance processor 203 measures the user's movement speed. If the speed is a positive number (+), it means that the user is approaching, and if the speed is a negative number (−), it means the user is going away, and if the absolute speed is within the limit, it means the user stopped moving.
A camera operation controller 204, using the information about distance, speed and acceleration provided from the distance processor 203, controls the operation of the camera 205 when the use stands still. Here, even when the user's movement is not yet stabilized, it is important to estimate beforehand where the user is going stop and drive the camera's lens to that position because it certainly reduces time necessary for focusing the camera.
When the user's movement is stabilized, the camera operation controller 204 adjusts the camera's zoom and focus based on the distance measurement values. Considering that the user can't be perfectly still but keeps moving little bit and the measured distance values are not necessarily the actual distances to the user's eyes, it is rather natural to accept the possibility of measurement error to a certain degree. Therefore, a fine adjustment process is carried out involving the camera operation controller 204, in which the camera operation controller focuses the camera by analyzing the successively inputted iris image from an image controller 206, calculating a focus range therefrom, moving a zoom and focus lens until the focus range becomes appropriate for performing authentication, and continuing the tracking until a maximum value is obtained.
However, if the user is wearing glasses, the iris image of the user could be reflected in accordance with the angle between the glasses and the LED mounted at an illuminator 208. To prevent this problem, the image processor 206 detects a possible reflection degree before calculating the focus range, and outputs the glasses reflection information to an illumination controller 207.
In a way of avoiding the glasses' reflection, the illumination controller 207 controls the lighting condition of the illumination LED based on the glasses reflection information, and changes the reflected positions from the glasses as well. In this manner, the reflection by the glasses can be prevented and the iris image recognition can be done successfully through an analysis on the iris images obtained from the camera 206.
However, one problem of the system is that it depends too heavily on the distance measurement sensor to measure the motion direction and distance of the lens when the camera needs to be focused. Thus, if the distance measurement sensor does not give accurate information on the distance to the user's eyes, which unfortunately does occur very often, the motion direction of the lens could be designated to a wrong direction and the time for adjusting the focus might take longer than expected. In addition, since the user has to approach within the permitted limit of the iris recognition system, the system is not that convenient for the user.
On the other hand, a combination camera for a video conference and iris recognition, which combined a camera for a video conference and an iris recognition camera into one system, has been introduced for recognizing an iris for an equipment like a personal computer system.
FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining a relation between the combination camera and the user in terms of position and distance.
As depicted in the drawing, the iris recognition system requires the user to adjust the focal distance (D) and the focal angle accurately while watching the combination camera for a video conference and iris recognition to get desired iris images.
In other words, the focal angle means the operation limit of X-axis and Y-axis between the user and the iris recognition camera, and the focal distance means the operation limit of Z-axis between the user and the iris recognition camera.
According to the system shown in FIG. 4, the user is supposed to put his eyes on the place where the distance and the focus adjusting image in the iris recognition camera with a single focus lens (use two circles with different colors) conform to each other. In short, the system does not start iris recognition until the user looks at the place where two points in the camera converge.
For a better adjustment of the focus position, the user is recommended to keep a certain distance from the camera (i.e., 44 cm to 48 cm), and is encouraged to adjust the focal angle using a blue circle and a white circle in the camera lens. In other words, the user is supposed to keep looking at the camera and move towards where he can adjust the focal angle until the two circles become one.
FIG. 4(a) illustrates a case where the focal angle is adjusted and (b) illustrates a case where the focal angle went wrong.
FIG. 5 illustrates an internal configuration of an optical system for leading and guiding the user to adjust the focal angle in the combination camera for a video conference and for iris recognition in the prior art.
Referring to FIG. 5, the optical system includes an iris recognition camera lens 301, a reflection mirror 302 for sending eye images of the user that are incidented through the lens, and an iris recognition camera 303. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4, a light emitting diode (LED) 304 for making two circles and displaying them is mounted on a back surface of the reflection mirror 302, and a circular hole 302a is formed on the reflection mirror 302 for transmitting the LED 304 light.
In this manner, the LED 304 light transmits the lens 301 through the hole 302a, and the user can see the circular light with a designated color and adjust the focal angle by moving the lens 301 right and left and up and down, until the circle with different color and size on the lens matches with the circle by the LED.
However, this device strongly encourages the user to practice to get the feeling of the focus position beforehand using a tapeline or something until he becomes intuitively accustomed to the focus position to a certain level. But for the user, it is rather difficult and inconvenient to adjust the focus position, making the white circle out of those two circles looking in the camera lens become one with the blue circle at the same time. Considering the small sized lens and visual difference of the user's eyes, the task seems to be even harder.
Moreover, because the system uses two lenses and the distance between the LED and the lens is very short, the user, even when he is not at the right front of the lens, could see the LED light, so he cannot be sure whether the focal angle is properly adjusted or not. Further, there is a white point marked on the surface of the lens such that the user can see the LED light from any angle and focus, but this can be an obstacle to obtain good iris images. On top of boring a hole in the reflex mirror to transmit the LED light, if the user looks at the iris recognition camera from a different angle rather than the front, it is very hard to adjust the focal angle since the camera would not look like a circle to the user then.

Display device of focal angle and focal distance in iris recognition system


A signal encoding method according to the present invention is a signal encoding method of dividing a coding target signal as an object of coding into partition units and performing arithmetic coding based on probability-related information in the partition units, which comprises (1) a configuration information deriving step of analyzing the coding target signal in each of the partition units to derive as configuration information, information about an initial value of the probability-related information used for the arithmetic coding of the coding target signal in the partition unit in question; (2) a coding step of performing the arithmetic coding of the coding target signal in each of the partition units, based on the configuration information derived in the configuration information deriving step; and (3) a configuration information adding step of adding a header containing the configuration information to the arithmetic-coded signal in each of the partition units.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a signal encoding method, a signal decoding method, a signal encoding apparatus, a signal decoding apparatus, a signal encoding program, and a signal decoding program suitably applicable to image transmission systems such as mobile video transmission systems.
2. Related Background of the Invention
The conventionally known methods of encoding moving pictures include International Standards of video coding such as the ITU-T H.26x series, the ISO/IEC MPEG series, and so on. These video coding methods are configured to process each of images of macroblocks obtained by dividing a frame image, by predetermined data transformation operations including Motion Compensation (MC) and Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT), so as to create image data as an object of coding.
The image data created by the data transformation operations is further subjected to entropy coding to obtain encoded data which is compressed data used in picture transmission. Arithmetic Coding (AC) is used as one of such entropy coding methods. The arithmetic coding will be outlined below, but reference should be made as to the details of the arithmetic coding to "The Data Compression Book" authored by M. Nelson and J.-L. Gailley and translated by Takeshi Ogiwara and Suguru Yamaguchi, and others.
In general, where the arithmetic coding is effected on an information source sequence (symbol sequence) as a combination of plural types of symbols, the symbols are first assigned respective fixed intervals according to probabilities of occurrence of the symbols, on a number line (probability number line) of [0.0, 1.0). At this time, a table indicating the correspondence between the symbols and the intervals on the number line is called a probability table. The information source sequence is entropy coded by the arithmetic coding with reference to this probability table, so as to create a code word as an expression of the information source sequence on the number line.
Let us explain the arithmetic coding herein with reference to FIGS. 14-16. Specifically, the arithmetic coding will be explained with an example in which a character string "ARITHMETIC" is an information source sequence as an object of coding and is encoded by the arithmetic coding.
There appear eight types of characters (symbols) of A, C, E, H, I, M, R, and T in the above information source sequence. These letters are assigned respective intervals on the number line (probability number line) of [0.0, 1.0), as shown in the table of FIG. 14, so that the intervals have respective lengths proportional to probabilities of occurrence of the respective letters in the letter string. The table shown in FIG. 14 to illustrate the correspondence between the letters and the intervals on the number line is the probability table used in the arithmetic coding.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the coding of the letter string "ARITHMETIC" through the use of the probability table shown in FIG. 14. In the arithmetic coding, interval reduction operations based on the probability table are successively carried out for the respective symbols in the information source sequence, so as to generate a code word as encoded data of the information source sequence.
In the example shown in FIG. 15, for the first letter "A" in the character string "ARITHMETIC" as an object of coding, the interval [0, 1) on the number line is first divided into eight intervals corresponding to the respective letters with reference to the probability table shown in FIG. 14. Then the interval is reduced to the interval [0.0, 0.1) corresponding to the letter "A" among those intervals. Next, for the second letter "R," the interval [0.0, 0.1) is divided into eight intervals. Then the interval is reduced to the interval [0.07, 0.08) corresponding to the letter "R" among those intervals.
Thereafter, coding operations by this interval reduction are successively carried out for the respective letters. Then we finally obtain the interval [0.0757451536, 0.0757451552) on the number line and the number "0.0757451536" in the interval is generated as a code word as a result of the arithmetic coding of the letter string "ARITHMETIC."
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the decoding of the code word "0.0757451536" into the letter string "ARITHMETIC" with the probability table shown in FIG. 14.
In the example shown in FIG. 16, the interval [0.0, 0.1) of the interval length 0.1 including the code word is first identified from the code word "0.0757451536" as an object of decoding, with reference to the probability table shown in FIG. 14. Then the letter "A" corresponding to the identified interval is outputted as the first letter and a new code word "0.757451536" is generated according to (code word-lower limit)/(interval length). Then, from the code word "0.757451536," the interval [0.7, 0.8) of the interval length 0.1 including the code word is identified with reference to the probability table. The letter "R" corresponding to the identified interval is outputted as the second letter and a new code word "0.57451536" is generated.
Thereafter, such decoding operations are successively carried out for the code word. It results in restoring the letter string "ARITHMETIC" from the arithmetic coded data of the code word "0.0757451536."
As described above, the entropy coding of the information source sequence by the arithmetic coding involves making the correspondence between symbols in the information source sequence and intervals on the number line, whereby it can express any information source sequence by a code word on the number line of [0.0, 1.0]. By setting the probability table providing the correspondence between symbols and intervals according to probabilities of occurrence of respective symbols, it is feasible to efficiently carry out the entropy coding of the information source sequence and thereby increase the efficiency of data compression by coding.

Signal encoding method, signal decoding method, signal encoding apparatus, signal decoding apparatus, signal encoding program, and signal decoding program


The present invention provides a system and method for designing secure synchronization protocols in mobile communication by using Deterministic Random Number Generator (DRNG) through linear operators without using multi-precision integers. It also provides an efficient way to generate a huge size collection of pseudorandom numbers with a less computational complexity and DRSG is designed for mobile and wireless communications and also the said DRSG algorithm is a lightweight algorithm. The generated sequence has a lot of applications in Mobile computation and Information security. The invention provides a securely transfer of registry and provision of consumer details over the communication network and also provide a light weight security with better performance in comparison to the lower layer chip level security provided by 2G, 3G or 4G applications.

In the mobile communication, the workstation has to identify their clients by means of synchronization process. From both parties (client and server), they have to perform the same mechanism and the server can verify the identity of each client. In order to execute this synchronization process, a random sequence of arbitrary n-bits length is to be generated at client-end through a linear operator with client's personnel data and then the server has to validate the generated random sequence. When multi-precision integers are used in client-server communication, the protocol becomes heavy and then it is difficult for implementation as well as performance degradation. All mobile processors won't support high-end computation while using multi-precision libraries.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,076,097 by London et al. discloses that a system and method for generating random data without using devices such as gas discharge tubes, leaky capacitors, noise generators or keyboard strokes, and without occupying UNIX timers and/or signals.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,647,402 by Chiu discloses that a process for generating a needed serial number for use from random number. In most devices nowadays, a Central Processing Unit (CPU) is installed; therefore it will not be a problem to generate a random number. The invention can save time and the expense of related components, and can at the same time avoid the interference of the same serial numbers; thereby devices of the same kind can be installed on the same bus.
United States Patent Application 20090150467 by Neumann et al. discloses that methods of generating pseudo-random numbers. This process done by means of an iteration, comprising at least two iteration steps, applied to a one-way function, wherein the one-way function, based on a start value and a key, generates part of the pseudo-random number and wherein the iteration is initialized with a random start value and a random key, and wherein, in each iteration step, both the start value and the key for an iteration step are determined from the part of the pseudo-random number determined in the previous iteration step using the one-way function.
United States Patent Application No. 20090193065 by Vijayarangan et al. teaches that a deterministic random number generator for Cryptography and Digital watermarking. It is based on an infinite Pi series that undergoes shuffling, nonlinear and LFSR operations.
None of the above mentioned prior arts provide a system and method for a lightweight and high speed secure synchronization protocols, which occupy less memory space for storage, for mobile and wireless communications and also provide secure synchronization protocols which are suitable for wireless communication devices enabled with 2G, 3G or 4G networks.
Thus, in the light of the above mentioned prior art, it is evident that, there is a need to system and method which: Designs secure synchronization protocols for secure synchronization between at least one wireless communication device and a server at an affordable cost; Provides an efficient way of producing a random sequence generated by wireless communication device without using multi-precision integers; Provides two way authentication in comparison to the current one way authentication standards for secure synchronization between at least one wireless communication device and a server; and Provides secure synchronization protocols which are easy to deploy on existing wireless communication devices.

System and method for a secure synchronization between a wireless communication device and a server


A badge holding system, a holder for a user identification badge and an associated method are provided in order to provide an alert in response to the identification of one or more objects proximate the holder of the badge holding system. In relation to a holder, the holder includes a housing to receive and hold the user identification badge and a controller carried by the housing. The holder also includes a proximity identification system carried by the housing to identify one or more objects proximate the holder. The proximity identification system also provides information to the controller regarding the one or more objects that have been identified. The holder further includes an alerting output device carried by the housing and responsive to the controller. The alerting output device provides an alert in response to identification of one or more objects proximate the holder.

Working or other environments may include a variety of activities occurring simultaneously, for which situational awareness is desired. Such working environments, e.g., a manufacturing environment, can present unique challenges for monitoring these conditions due to the simultaneous existence of complex operations, workers and/or bystanders present in the environment, equipment within the environment, products within the environment and processes within the environment, among other things.
In order to alert others of the presence of an individual, personal safety devices have been developed that may be worn or otherwise carried by the individual. Examples of these personal safety devices include a light that repeatedly flashes to provide an indication as to the presence of the individual and/or a reflective element to similarly provide an indication of the presence of the individual in response to illumination of the reflective element. These personal safety devices are frequently attached to a bag or backpack carried by the individual or alternatively may be attached to a lanyard that is worn by the individual and carries, for example, a user identification badge of the individual. These personal safety devices are intended to alert others to the presence of the individual and provide no information or alert to the individual as to the presence of other individuals, machinery or the like. Thus, these personal safety devices rely upon others to recognize the presence of the individual, but do not provide any information or alert to the individual to give awareness of what is happening around the individual.
Additionally, the other individuals alerted by the personal safety device may be limited in that not all other individuals in proximity to the individual carrying the personal safety device will necessarily be alerted. For example, other individuals may be located around a corner or behind a door or other obstacle relative to the personal safety device and, as a result, may not be alerted by the personal safety device even though the individual carrying the personal safety device is in the near proximity. Also, in instances in which the personal safety device is clipped to a backpack worn by an individual, other individuals who are behind the individual carrying the personal safety device may be alerted, but other individuals including those in front of the individual carrying the personal safety device and, therefore, in the path of travel of the individual carrying the personal safety device may not be alerted even though those other individuals in the path of travel of the individual carrying the personal safety device may be more likely to interact with an individual carrying the personal safety device. Additionally, in instances in which a personal safety device is carried by or otherwise incorporated within a lanyard, many individuals may elect to clip their user identification badge to their clothing and, as a result, may not wear a lanyard, thereby limiting the individuals who may take advantage of a lanyard-based personal safety device.
Also, the personal safety devices generally just announce the presence of the individual and do not provide any other information, such as information regarding any emergency conditions, such as a medical emergency, a security situation or the like. Thus, the functionality of such personal safety devices is limited.

Holder for a user identification badge and an associated method


An air purifier including a body including a suction port and a discharge port disposed on opposing surfaces thereof, and having an inner space through which air flows from the suction port to the discharge port, a fan disposed in the inner space and having a side surface separated from an inner wall of the body, at least one light source module disposed in the inner space to emit UV light, a power controller mounted on the inner wall and connected to a power source to supply electric power to the light source module, a cover mounted on the inner wall to cover the power controller, and at least one filter disposed in the inner space of the body, in which the cover includes a tilted air flow guide facet to guide tilted to allow air suctioned through the suction port toward the filter.

Generally, an air purifier uses a blower, such as a fan, to circulate air through various filters, such as a prefilter, a deodorizing filter, and a HEPA filter, to remove pollutants including fine dust, bacteria, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde from the air.
Recently, as it has been known that air pollutants can be released from furniture, office supplies, home appliances, interior paints on new houses, interior goods, automobile interior materials, toilets, and the like, there is a growing interest in indoor air quality. Accordingly, there is an increasing demand for a small air purifier, which is easy to install, simple to use, and does not take up much space, which may be suitable for use in houses, offices, automobiles, and the like.
The recent development of semiconductor technology has enabled high efficiency ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes to be produced at lower costs. As such, photocatalytic filters are widely used as deodorizing filters. A photocatalytic filter is fabricated by coating an air-permeable material, such as metal foam or porous metal, with a photocatalytic material, such as TiO2, ZnO, ZrO2, or WO3, and can generate hydroxyl radicals to decompose contaminants or odorous substances when irradiated with UV light. Such a photocatalytic filter can be reused through cleaning after a certain period of the usage.
However, a typical small air purifier has a structure that makes it difficult to disassemble a case for removing a reusable filter, such as a deodorizing filter or a prefilter, from the air purifier. Therefore, there is a need for an air purifier that allows easy replacement and attachment/detachment of a filter.
In addition, the HEPA filter is configured to collect fine dust in air. Thus, the fine dust collected from air adheres to the HEPA filter. In this case, microorganisms such as virus and bacteria contained in the fine dust remain on the HEPA filter, and thus are left inside the air purifier.


An electrosurgical instrument has a movable tissue cutting mechanism, a first elongated shaft housing at least a proximal portion of the movable tissue cutting mechanism, and a pair of jaws for clamping tissue. Each jaw of the pair of opposing jaws is rotatable relative to the first elongated shaft, and the movable tissue cutting mechanism is slidable relative to the first elongated shaft. A first link has a distal end rotatably coupled to a proximal one of a pair of non-conductive bushings in the first jaw and a proximal end rotatably coupled to a second elongated shaft, the second elongated shaft interior of and translatable relative the first elongated shaft.

A number of electrosurgical devices for cutting and sealing tissue are known in the field.
For example, the currently-available devices include the LigaSure (Ligasure is a trademark brand of Medtronic) line of devices, which includes a combined sealer and divider. This tool provides a pair of jaws that have substantially flat interfaces. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the end effectors have respective sealing surfaces that are substantially flat or in a horizontal plane, and a cutting path that is substantially straight. TheLigaSure tool also provides non-conductive travel stops to prevent the tool from closing completely. The LigaSure tool is known to apply a cycling power that has a sealing power of between 180 Watts and 300 Watts to tissue to cause the tissue to seal, and the tool is prone to cause tissue to stick between the end effectors in use.
The LigaSure tool and other known devices also have electrode surfaces with a large tissue sealing surface.
There remains a need for a device that provides the ability to reliably cut and seal tissue without damaging non-targeted tissue, and/or other new and innovative features.


A computer implemented system and method is provided for imposing access controls on selective portions of electronic documents by defining data attributes as conditions for access to particular information in a document. Commands from a redactor identify at least one portion of an electronic document to be subject to access control. A set of selectable access control directives defining conditions for accessing the identified portions is presented to the redactor. Access control is imposed on the identified portions in accordance with the defined conditions in response to receiving the selective access control directives.

Several systems and methods for redacting text from electronic documents are heretofore known. For example, a "Word 2007 Redaction Tool" by Microsoft Corporation of Redland, Wash. can be used to hide text within documents in Microsoft's Office Word document format. Users can mark text to redact and then create a new redacted version of the document in which the marked text is replaced with a black bar that cannot be converted back to the original text. The Word 2007 Redaction Tool works by allowing users to redact a document using a two stage process wherein regions of text which should be redacted are first marked within the document. Then, the marked document is redacted and all marked text is replaced.
A number of other systems provide similar capabilities. For example, both version 9.0 of Adobe Acrobat software by Adobe corporation of San Jose, Calif., as well as the prior version, include "Redaction Tools." The Redaction tools allow permanent removal of visible text and images from files in Adobe Corporation's PDF format. In place of the removed items, redaction marks may appear as colored boxes may be implemented as a blank area. Custom text or redaction codes may be specified to appear over the redaction marks.
FIGS. 1A-1E illustrate the principles of the presently known redaction methods using as an example the aforementioned Acrobat product. FIG. 1A shows a typical application window or browser screen 101 containing an electronic document 102, in which the user presumably wishes to redact certain as yet unspecified text or images. Tools list 103 is opened by various means including, as shown in FIG. 1A, by clicking on "Advanced" and selecting the "Redaction" option from the toolbar in application window 101. In the case of Acrobat, clicking on the redaction tool for the first time opens dialogue box 104, which as shown describes the essential properties of the tool. As noted, the dialogue box description includes warning 105 that underscores the aforementioned permanent nature of the redaction in the present state of the art by reminding the user that she will be prompted to rename the document after she applies the redactions in order to have one copy without redaction and another copy with redactions applied.
Continuing the illustration of previously known redaction tools with FIG. 1B, clicking on the Search option 106 opens a window where the user may search the text of the document to find a particular word or phrase, and which in turn opens Search results window 107. FIG. 1B shows the search results returned in this example when, as explained by notice 108, looking for the phrase "portions of the document". As illustrated by notice 109, this search results in a total of 3 instances in the example, and dialogue box 110 immediately below identifies each of these instances in the present document. Check boxes 111(a) through 111(c), corresponding to highlighted text fields 112(a) through 112(c), respectively, permit the user to select (by the check mark shown) or deselect (by un-checking the corresponding box) each of the times the phrase appears within the document that should be redacted. Once the user is happy with these selections, clicking on button 113 has the effect of marking the checked results for redaction.
FIG. 1C illustrates that in the case of Acrobat, this opens the "Redaction Properties" item 114 on tool list 103, and the corresponding "Redaction Tool Properties" dialogue box 115. As shown therein, the user is permitted to specify the desired properties for the redacted area. Thus, where as indicated above some examples of the present state of the art always return blackened fields, Acrobat permits the user to select a number of options including but not necessarily limited to area fill color 116(a); font 116(b); text color 116(c); and custom text 116(d) to appear within the redacted area. Once the user is comfortable with these settings, she clicks on the acceptance button 117, which will affect areas 118(a) to 118(c) (corresponding to areas 112(a) to 112(c) of FIG. 1B).
Continuing the illustration of previously known redaction tools with FIG. 1-D, clicking on link 119 allows the user to search for additional words and/or phrases in the document, and to repeat the foregoing process. FIG. 1-D shows, for example, the additional search results returned when, as explained by notice 120, looking for the phrase "portions of that document" (contrast with "portions of the document" in case of notice 108 of FIG. 1B), returns one additional instance 121, corresponding to marked text field 122. Once the user is satisfied that all of the desired portions of the document have been identified, she may click on the "Apply Redactions" item 123 on tool list 103. As shown, this action opens the warning dialogue box 124, reminding the user that this will permanently redact all of the marked areas and that once the document has been saved, the operation cannot be undone.
FIG. 1E shows the result of proceeding, which is accomplished by the user clicking on the "OK" button (in dialogue box 124 of FIG. 1D). As shown in this illustration, application window or browser screen 101 now contains a redacted version 125 of electronic document 102 of FIG. 1A, and incorporates the redaction properties specified in dialogue box 115 of FIG. 1C. As shown therein, redaction labels 126(a) through 126(c) now appear, respectively, in place of marked text fields 118(a) to 118(c) shown on FIG. 1C; and redaction label 126(d) now appears in place of marked text field 122 shown on FIG. 1D.
The redacted document 125 has the advantage of being permanently changed, thereby making it impossible for a recipient to recover the original text of the predecessor electronic document 102. This attribute of the redacted portions of the original electronic document being impossible for a recipient to recover has a number of applications, including without limitation in a legal, regulatory and agency context.
For example, ethics rules require attorneys to zealously guard the confidentiality of clients. Violations of this responsibility may result in civil and, in some instances, criminal penalties. Further, contractual obligations may be imposed on the recipient of confidential information. Violations of the contractual obligations may result in substantial damages. Government agencies and administrative departments also have a responsibility to protect state secrets in declassified documents. Additionally, a variety of state and federal regulatory requirements prevent disclosure of confidential information.
One such regulatory context is in the healthcare field. For example, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and recently enacted Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) obligate holders of confidential medical information to prevent disclosure of certain personally-identifiable information and other confidential information without the express authorization of the subject (e.g., the patient).
The inability of a recipient to recover redacted information in electronic documents that had been redacted using heretofore known redaction systems and methods presents a number of disadvantages. For example, certain obligations of confidentiality are often limited by a time period, after which the previously confidential portions of such documents are no longer subject to such restrictions. In another example, it may become useful for the party who originally imposed the confidentiality obligations to relieve some or all of the recipients of some portion or all of such limitations. This is particularly apparent in the case of confidential health information where, for example, a patient may indicate that all of their records be kept confidential but may elect to grant rights to selected parties such as medical specialists or care-takers to have access to some portion or all of such information for the period during which the patient is in such person's care.
In each of such examples, it would be preferable if the individual entitled to impose such confidentiality requirements were able to control access to their respective confidential data by defining data attributes thereto.

System and method for selectively redacting information in electronic  documents


The present invention offers improvement of performance and efficiency of a compact fluorescent lamp by means of a series tuned LRC ballasting circuit. The resonant voltage rise in the circuit is utilized to increase the cyclic crest voltage necessary for lamp ionization. After ionization occurs, lamp current and power are clamped and regulated by the lower Q factor of the tuned circuit. The LRC circuit provides a square wave of voltage across the lamp with considerable reduction in noise and RF ringing. Since it is a tuned circuit, it operates at approximately unity power factor, at lower temperature, and with a net equivalent impedance that provides for maximum illumination, lamp life and efficiency.

Dramatic improvements have occurred in lighting technologies in response to the continuing demands of society for increased efficiency in utilization of energy . As a result, products have reached the market which create increased illumination with extended life. One of the more recent of these improved technologies which has received wide acceptance is the compact fluorescent lamp. Many businesses have realized significant energy savings simply by retrofitting their existing lighting systems with compact fluorescent lamps and fixtures.
While the energy requirements of fluorescent lamps are only 25 to 35 percent of those of incandescent lamps for comparable levels of illumination, there are undesireable characteristics inherent in their operation, such as, low power factor and excessive heat generation. Conventional compact fluorescent lamps operate within a narrow range of tolerances, in that, a substantial level of applied voltage is required to initiate and sustain operation of the lamp, which, in accordance with Ohm's Law, results in significant levels of current and consequent heat. Since the ability of the lamp to produce suitable illumination is degraded with heat, it is desireable to reduce the current. This presents a dilemma, since voltage, which varies directly with current, cannot be reduced appreciably without interrupting operation of the lamp. The present compact fluorescent lamps are, therefore, heat sensitive, in that, they operate at temperatures which produce acceptable levels of illumination, but as overheating occurs, the level of illumination produced degrades sharply. This problem has become so pervasive that compact fluorescent lamps are now being fitted with metal heat sinks in an effort to radiate heat from the body of the lamp to minimize reduction in the level of lumens produced.

Tuned LRC ballasting circuit for compact fluorescent lighting


A particle (and a composition that includes a plurality of the particles) that includes at least one polypeptide molecule and at least one polymer covalently bound to the polypeptide molecule so as to form a polymer shell substantially encompassing the polypeptide molecule, wherein the particle does not define a dimension greater than about 1 μm. One example for making the particle includes modifying the polypeptide molecule to provide α, β-ethylenically unsaturated terminal functional groups, mixing the modified polypeptide molecule with a silicon-containing polymerizable compound, and subjecting the resulting mixture to conditions sufficient for polymerizing the polymerizable compound to form the particle.

Polypeptides or proteins, such as enzymes, are useful nanoscale bio-macromolecules, but the short lifetime of these nanobiological systems presently limits their usefulness. Enzyme immobilization is one of the most important methodologies that can provide enzyme stabilization. However, previously developed stable enzyme systems generally provide poor enzyme activity. Conversely, previously developed active enzyme systems generally display poor enzyme stability. Despite significant efforts, the development of enzyme systems that are both active and stable continues to be a great challenge.

Biocomposite materials and methods for making the same


A radiation detector (5) is configured such that weighting of detection signals of photodetectors (52) on an end portion side of the plurality of photodetectors (52) is set to be greater than weighting of detection signals of photodetectors (52) on a central portion side of the plurality of photodetectors (52).

Conventionally, there has been known an array (radiation detector) in which photodetectors whose number is less than the number of a plurality of scintillator elements is arranged. Such an array is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,019,297.
The array described in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,019,297 is provided with a plurality of scintillator elements in which fluorescence is generated by incident gamma rays and photodetectors to which the plurality of scintillator elements is optically connected. The array is provided with a controller for specifying at which scintillator element among the plurality of scintillator elements connected to the photodetectors fluorescence is generated. Further, the array is provided with an optical barrier arranged between the plurality of scintillator elements to reflect fluorescence generated in the scintillator elements. The controller is configured to detect fluorescence generated and diffused in the scintillator element by the plurality of photodetectors and to specify the scintillator element in which the fluorescence is generated based on respective detection signals of the plurality of photodetectors.
Here, although not clearly described in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,019,297, fluorescence proceeding to an end portion among fluorescence generated in a scintillator element adjacent to a scintillator element arranged at the end portion (hereinafter referred to as "adjacent scintillator element) is reflected by the outer end surface portion of the scintillator element arranged at the end portion, and therefore the fluorescence tends to concentrate on the photodetector arranged at the end portion. Here, in the photodetector optically connected to the adjacent scintillator element in which fluorescence is generated, the photodetector receives the fluorescence in which the intensity is peak. However, since fluorescence tends to concentrate on the photodetector arranged at the end portion due to the reflection, the intensity of fluorescence received by the photodetector arranged at the end portion and the intensity of fluorescence received by the photodetector adjacent to the photodetector arranged at the end portion become close to each other. As a result, the strength of the detection signal detected in the photodetector arranged at the end portion and the strength of the detection signal detected in the photodetector adjacent to the photodetector arranged at the end portion become close. Therefore, the interval between the position where the fluorescence generated in the scintillator element arranged at the end portion is specified by the controller and the position where fluorescence generated in the scintillator element adjacent to the scintillator arranged the end portion is specified by the controller becomes smaller than the interval between the other specified positions. This makes it difficult to accurately specify the scintillator element in which the fluorescence is actually generated, in the case where the fluorescence generated in the scintillator element on the end portion side is specified by the controller and in the case where the fluorescence generated in the scintillator element adjacent to the scintillator element arranged at the end portion is specified by the controller.
Therefore, in the array described in the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,019,297, by adjusting the length and the position of the optical partition wall to differentiate the intensity of the received fluorescence, the strength of the detection signal detected in the photodetector arranged at the end portion and the strength of the detection signal detected in the photodetector adjacent to the photodetector arranged at the end portion is differentiated. With this, the strength of the detection signal of the photodetector arranged at the end portion and the strength of the detection signal of the photodetector adjacent to the photodetector arranged at the end portion are differentiated from each other to specify the scintillator element in which fluorescence is actually generated.

Radiation detector and nuclear medicine diagnosis device


An audio encoder converts an input sound signal into a plurality of compressed frame data pieces in an sound signal compression coder, determines the importance of each bit in a classification unit of a transmission line coder based on the decoding quality in the presence of a transmission error, and classifies the bits into a plurality of classes. The audio encoder selects one of the three types of processing including convolution coding and addition of CRC check codes, convolution coding only, and no coding, in descending order of importance in the presence of a transmission error for each class. Then, the audio encoder adds preamble information and a synchronization signal in a multiplexer to generate a bit stream. It becomes possible to suppress degradation of a decoded sound signal without additional redundant bits.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission line coding method and a transmission line decoding method for line coding/decoding sound signals used by electronic equipments, and an apparatus which uses these methods.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been known a transmission line coding method and a transmission line decoding method for line coding/decoding sound signals defined in RCR-STD28 (PHS standards) of the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB). FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the key configuration of a communications system which performs this type of line coding/decoding.
The sending party has an ADPCM encoder 701 and a CRC code adder 702. The sending party adds CRC check code bits to all of sound signals subjected to compression coding by way of the ADPCM mode per transmission frame and then transmits. The receiving party has a CRC code checker 703 for detecting a transmission error, an ADPCM decoder 704 for decoding a received transmission frame, and a muting circuit 705 for muting sounds to be decoded in the event of a transmission error.
However, in the conventional communications system mentioned above, sounds are muted for the duration of a frame where a transmission error has taken place. This results in interruption of sounds in the meantime thus degrading the speech quality. Moreover, transmission frame has to be initialized mutually by using ARQ (Automatic Repeat reQuest) with bidirectional communications between the sending party and the receiving party. This results in a complicated system configuration.

Transmission line coding method, transmission line decoding method, and apparatus therefor


A secure enclosure is described which is designed to offer inventory management and tamper detection for the storage and removal of rolled coins and other valuable items. Within the secure enclosure a plurality of shelves are provided. Each shelf may have its own scale for the purpose of weighing the contents supported by its shelf. Each shelf may be designed for the storage of one particular denomination of rolled coin. Monitoring circuitry interfaces with the scales for the purpose of determining the quantity of rolls upon each shelf, and the possibility for an erroneous deposit or removal of rolls supported by a shelf or an improper access to other contents on the shelf. A further approach detects multiple types of rolls of coins utilizing a single scale.

A wide variety of scale and storage systems exist, such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 9,557,209 addressing a load cell bin system; U.S. Pat. No. 9,532,666 addressing a modular storage system; U.S. Pat. No. 7,142,944 addressing an apparatus for securing drawer contents; U.S. Pat. No. 5,954,576 addressing a coin hopper with preventative fill detector and automatic inventorying; U.S. Pat. No. 8,175,746 addressing a weight-based dispensing system; U.S. Pat. No. 9,984,355 addressing systems and methods for monitoring location of products on shelves at a retail sales facility; G.B. 2,307,560A addressing a shelf bar using weighing for central billing; and G.B. 201615490D0 addressing a cash drawer unit or cash register and methods of operation therefor, for example.

Tamper detecting and inventory monitoring retail safe


The present technology relates to a method of treating one or more behavioral symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome in a subject by transdermally administering an effective amount of cannabidiol (CBD) to the subject wherein one or more behavioral symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome are treated in the subject.

Cannabinoids are a class of chemical compounds found in the Cannabis plant. The two primary cannabinoids contained in Cannabis are cannabidiol, or CBD, and Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. CBD lacks the psychoactive effects of THC. Studies have shown that CBD can be used to treat disorders such as epilepsy, arthritis, and cancer.
FXS is the most common inherited intellectual disability in males and a significant cause of intellectual disability in females. It is caused by a mutation in the Fragile X Mental Retardation 1 (FMR1) gene located on the X chromosome and leads to dysregulation of the endocannabinoid system including reductions in endogenous cannabinoids (2-AG and anandamide [AEA]). The disorder negatively affects synaptic function, plasticity and neuronal connections, and results in a spectrum of intellectual disabilities, social anxiety, and memory problems. In the US, there are about 71,000 patients suffering with FXS.
"Behavior problems are often the most significant concern reported by parents, and high levels of stress and depression and low levels of quality of life for parents are commonly associated with elevated problem behaviors in children." Wheeler A, Raspa M, Bann C, Bishop E, Hassl D, Sacco H, Bailey D B. 2014. Anxiety attention problems, hyperactivity, and the Aberrant Behavior Checklist in fragile X syndrome. Am J Med Genet Part A 164A:141-155, 141. "As a result, reduction in behavior problems is a primary focus of ongoing clinical trials testing the efficacy of new medications for FXS." Wheeler at pages 141-142.
The Anxiety, Depression, and Mood Scale (ADAMS) is an instrument that is used by clinicians, doctors, and researchers to assess the level of anxiety, depression and mood in patients with intellectual disabilities, including FXS. ADAMS consists of questions grouped into five subscales, including (i) general anxiety, (ii) social avoidance, (iii) compulsive behavior, (iv) manic/hyperactive behavior, and (v) depressed mood. Each question is answered by a clinician/doctor on a four-point scale ranging from 0 ("not a problem") to 3 ("severe problem"). In addition to subscale scores, the ADAMS yields a total score.
The original Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) was "designed to assess behavioral concerns of adults within institutional settings." Wheeler at page 142. Since then, the original ABC has been adapted to address patients who are not institutionalized and specifically to address FXS. Id. The Aberrant Behavior Checklist-FXS Specific (ABC-FXS) scale is used by clinicians, doctors, and researchers to access certain behaviors in patients with FXS. The ABC-FXS scale has six subscales including (i) irritability, (ii) hyperactivity, (iii) socially unresponsive/lethargic, (iv) social avoidance, (v) stereotypy, and (vi) in appropriate speech. Similar to ADAMS, the ABC-FXS scale is a four-point Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (not a problem) to 3 (problem is severe).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Treatment of fragile x syndrome with cannabidiol


A foldable fork of a bicycle, comprising a stem having a first end and a second end; a pair of prongs configured to receive an axle of a bicycle wheel; and a pivot having an axis that is angled with respect to the axle of a bicycle wheel when connected to the prongs, the pivot connected to the second end of the stem on a top section of the pivot and connected to the pair of prongs on a bottom section of the pivot. The top section of the pivot is configured to receive the bottom section of the pivot. When the bottom section of the pivot is rotated away from the top section, a wheel connected to the prongs is offset by a distance to a side of a frame connected to the bicycle.

The design of the currently existing forks for folding a bicycle includes a stem having a first end and a second end, with the first end of the stem having a hole for insertion of a handlebar stem of the bicycle, and the second end of the stem having a pivot. From the pivot extends a pair of prongs, each having an end with a claw for attaching to an axle of a wheel of the bicycle. The pivot is in-line with both the first end of the stem and the ends of the prongs. The fork is used to fold the wheel around a frame of the bicycle.
The issue with the current design is that the pivot has limited mobility and cannot rotate to properly accommodate the bicycle while folding. That is, when folded, the wheel will interfere with the frame of the bicycle. The frame often needs to be bent in order to accommodate the wheel, and this results in a weakened frame and reduced life of the bicycle. The present invention addresses this issue because it comprises a two-part mechanism that allows the wheel to fold back and be offset from the frame, thus allowing for a neat fold with no interference of the frame with the wheel. The frame is straight and has no bends or curves, namely, it does not need to be bent to accommodate a wheel folded back, it can be a normal frame or a frame from a non-foldable bike. This increases the life of the frame, and thus the bicycle as a whole.


Embodiments of the invention are generally directed to detection of cable connections for electronic devices. An embodiment of an apparatus includes a port for the connection of a cable, the port being compatible with a first protocol and a second protocol, the port including a connector for the second protocol, the port including multiple pins including a first pin and a second pin. The apparatus further includes a pull-up resistor coupled between the first pin and a voltage source, a pull-down resistor coupled between the second pin and ground, and a voltage detection element coupled with the second pin. The apparatus is to determine that a cable compatible with the first protocol is connected to the port if the voltage detection element detects a voltage above a first threshold.

As the capabilities and functions of electronic devices, and in particular mobile devices, have proliferated, there are more situations in which such devices may be connected together. Such devices may be connected together via a cable to provide various functions.
For example, a mobile device may be connected via a cable with a device in order to present data. The mobile device may contain data, such as high-definition video data, for display, and the mobile device thus may be connected to a television or other device for the purpose of displaying the data on the device.
However, there are numerous different connection protocols that may related to a device such as a television, resulting in a confusing variety of ports and connectors installed in display systems.
It is possible to utilize a connector for multiple purposes in order to minimize the number of connectors needed. However, but this may result in complications in certain circumstances. Identification of the type of device attached to an opposite end of a cable is generally required, which may result in problems if expected signals are not received. If there is difficulty in identification of connected devices, the use of pins or connections for multiple different purposes for a connector may result in the application of improper signal to devices, which may create errors or, in certain circumstances, potential damage to a device.

Detection of cable connections for electronic devices


A thermoplastic resin composition comprising a thermoplastic resin (a) and a block copolymer (b) containing a methacrylic polymer block (A) and an acrylic polymer block (B).

Generally, thermoplastic resins are used in various fields, and methods of use in combination with other resins and the like are attempted when sufficient performance cannot be achieved by the uniform resin. Particularly, a polymer material having elastomer-like characteristics is used in combination therewith in most cases for improving impact resistance. The polymer material used for such purposes is referred to as an impact modifier.
There are proposed compositions obtained by combining, for example, a vinyl chloride resin with chlorinated polyethylene, an ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, a methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene copolymer (MBS resin), an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS resin), a butyl acrylate-methyl methacrylate copolymer or the like; a methacrylic resin with a butyl acrylate-styrene-methyl methacrylate copolymer or the like; a polycarbonate resin with an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS resin), a butyl acrylate-methyl methacrylate copolymer or the like; and a poly(butylene terephthalate) resin with an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS resin), an epoxy modified ethylene-propylene copolymer or the like. Many of these compositions are industrially utilized.
Among these impact modifiers, a methyl methacrylate-butadiene-styrene copolymer (MBS resin), an acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS resin) and a butyl acrylate-methyl methacrylate copolymer are copolymers obtained by graft copolymerization of a vinyl monomer (forming a shell part) in the presence of cross-linked rubber particles (forming a core part), which are called a core-shell graft copolymer based on the particle structure and are useful as an impact modifier. Among these core-shell graft copolymers, MBS resin and ABS resin obtained by copolymerizing butadiene have a problem of weatherability because unsaturated double bonds remain in the main chain of the polymer. Therefore, a butyl acrylate-methyl methacrylate copolymer is selected very frequently when weatherability is required. It is pointed out, however, that these core-shell graft copolymers have problems of molding flowability because they contain a cross-linked structure though they are useful as an impact modifier.
On the other hand, it is known that a block copolymer obtained by combining a hard segment and a soft segment (rubber component) can be used as a composition by combining the copolymer with a thermoplastic resin. As the block copolymer, a styrene-butadiene copolymer, a styrene-isoprene copolymer and hydrogenated copolymers thereof (referred to as a styrene-ethylene-butylene copolymer and a styrene-ethylene-propylene copolymer, respectively) are widely used. Generally, when these block copolymers are used, a composition having excellent balance of impact resistance, rigidity and molding flowability can be obtained but thermoplastic resins are limited to low-polar resins such as polystyrene resins, polyolefin resins and poly(phenylene ether) resins.
Recently, it is known that a block copolymer containing a methacrylic polymer and an acrylic polymer functions as an excellent impact modifier, and a thermoplastic resin composition excellent in impact resistance can be obtained by combining it with a thermoplastic resin. As the thermoplastic resin to be combined in this case, a high-polar resin such as a poly(vinyl chloride) resin, a poly(methyl methacrylate) resin, a polycarbonate resin, a polyester resin, or a polyamide resin is effective. However, in the acrylic block copolymers, there has not yet been known a means to control physical property balance by introducing a point of reaction with a resin or the like and thus to improve the performance. Therefore, it has been strongly desired to develop the means.
Furthermore, recently, although the above-described block copolymer obtained by combining a hard segment and a soft segment has been used as a thermoplastic elastomer, there is a considerable restriction on an upper temperature limit in use.
Therefore, improvement of physical properties including oil resistance, control of physical property balance, and the like are sometimes required.
A block copolymer having a methacrylic polymer block and an acrylic polymer block is known to function as a thermoplastic elastomer, but there are similar problems. However, there has not yet been known a means to control physical property balance by compounding the copolymer with a specific resin or introducing a point of reaction with a resin or the like and thus to improve the performance. Therefore, it has been strongly desired to develop the means.


Compounds, compositions and methods of use thereof are provided, the compounds comprising a hydrophobically modified polyelectrolyte comprising a nonionic monomer, an ionic monomer, a monomer having the structure of Formula 1, and a monomer having the structure of Formula 2,

It is often necessary in the oil and petroleum industry to quickly and effectively increase the viscosity of high salinity fluids. This viscosifying behavior is necessary for carrying a proppant into a hydrocarbon-bearing formation during the hydraulic fracturing stage of well stimulation.
Hydrophobically modified polyelectrolytes are often used as viscosifiers in high salinity brines and muds. In the presence of a suitable surfactant they impart significantly higher viscosity to high salinity water than typical synthetic polyelectrolytes such as acrylamide/acrylate and acrylamide/2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonate (AMPS) copolymers, due to their capability to form dynamic polymer networks.
Commonly used natural polymers like guar and xanthum gum exhibit good viscosifiying performance in high brines, but do not exhibit the desired biological resistance like synthetic polyelectrolytes. Furthermore, natural polymers have been shown to leave residuals that do not clear from the formation as well as synthetic polymers, leading to formation damage and reduced hydrocarbon production.
Thus, synthetic hydrophobically modified (HM) polyelectrolytes show the most promise for the desired application. However, they commonly suffer from an inability to dissolve quickly, adversely affecting the rate of viscosity build in high salinity water. It is often required that the viscosity build occurs within a few minutes during field application.
Thus, there is a need for proppant transport polymers that rapidly and effectively increase the viscosity of high salinity brines. Furthermore, the same fast-dissolving, viscosifying polymer can be used alone as a friction reducer or blended with an additional friction reducing polymer to provide a single, dual-use composition that can aid in a variety of well stimulation methods.

Salt-tolerant, fast-dissolving, water-soluble rheology modifiers

Abstract: wherein R1, R2, R3, R5, R6, and R7 are independently hydrogen, unsubstituted alkyl, substituted alkyl, carbonyl, carboxyl, aryl, or alkaryl; R4 is linear C3 to C30 alkyl; R8 is branched C3 to C30 alkyl; X1 and X2 areindependently —C(O)O—, —C(O)NR9—, —O—, —C(R9)2O—, -arylene-, -arylene-C(R9)2O—, -arylene-C(R9)2N(R10)— or -arylene-C(R9)2N+(R10)2—; R9 and R10 is independently hydrogen or a C1 to C4 alkyl; and wherein a molar ratio of the monomer of Formula 1 to the monomer of Formula 2 is from about 1.5:1 to about 15:1. The compounds are useful as viscosifying agents in oil and gas applications.


A clipping detector circuit includes a timer circuit and a counter circuit. The timer circuit is configured to monitor a time period elapsing since a last occurrence of an edge in a PWM signal, assert a first signal when the time period elapses, and de-assert the first signal and reset the time period as a result of an edge occurring in the PWM signal. The counter circuit is configured to determine a number of pulses in the PWM signal since the last de-assertion of the first signal, and assert a second signal when the number of pulses in the PWM signal since the last de-assertion of the first signal reaches m pulses. The clipping detector circuit is configured to generate a clipping detection signal indicative of whether the pulse-width modulated signal is clipped or not as a function of the first signal and the second signal.

Clipping is a form of waveform distortion that limits a signal once it exceeds a certain threshold. Clipping may occur, for instance, when an amplifier is overdriven and attempts to deliver an output voltage or current beyond its maximum capability, i.e., when the amplifier is saturated.
In the case of PWM signals, clipping (also referred to as "saturation" in the present description) may result in a duty cycle which is close or equal to 0% or 100%.
Particularly in the case of audio systems comprising switching PWM modulators, the behavior of the audio system may be affected as a result of the PWM signal being saturated or almost saturated, i.e., when clipping may occur.
Therefore, detecting clipping phenomena of PWM signals may be relevant, insofar as detecting clipping may provide a way for recognizing saturation of the PWM signal and consequently triggering feedback devices and/or corrective techniques for limiting distortion effects on the output signal of the (audio) system.
Known solutions for detecting clipping of a PWM signal are based on counting "missing" pulses in the PWM signal generated by a PWM modulator circuit, as exemplified in FIGS. 1 and 2.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram exemplary of a PWM modulator circuit 10 and a clipping detection circuit 12 coupled thereto. The PWM modulator circuit 10 is configured to generate a PWM signal PWMout, and the clipping detection circuit 12 is configured to detect clipping (i.e., saturation) of the signal PWMout.
The PWM modulator circuit 10 comprises:                a signal integrator comprising an operational amplifier 100 and a capacitor 102 coupled between the output node of the operational amplifier 100 and a first input node of the operational amplifier 100, the operational amplifier 100 configured for receiving an input square-wave (current) signal Isq at the first input node and generating thereby an output periodic carrier signal Vtri, e.g., a triangular or saw-tooth periodic carrier signal, and        a comparator circuit 104 receiving at a first input node the periodic carrier signal Vtri and at a second input node a modulation signal Vmod, thereby generating an output pulse-width modulated signal PWMout having a duty cycle which is a function of the amplitude of the modulation signal Vmod.
As long as the modulation signal Vmod is comprised between an upper threshold Vtri,H and a lower threshold Vtri,L of the periodic carrier signal Vtri, the signal PWMout is not saturated (or clipped) and comprises a pulse, i.e., a pair of edges (one rising edge and one falling edge), at each period of the periodic carrier signal Vtri.
Conversely, as a result of the modulation signal Vmod being not comprised between the upper threshold Vtri,H and the lower threshold Vtri,L (i.e., Vmod being higher than Vtri,H or lower than Vtri,L), the output node of the comparator circuit 104 does not commute and the signal PWMout is saturated, i.e., the signal PWMout does not comprise edges and stays at a low logic level (as exemplified in FIG. 2, when Vmod>Vtri,H) or at a high logic level.
Therefore, saturation (clipping) of signal PWMout can be detected by sensing the signal PWMout and detecting "missing" pulses therein by using a clipping detection circuit 12, i.e., detecting the absence of a pulse in the signal PWMout during at least one period of the periodic carrier signal Vtri.
In known solutions as exemplified in FIG. 1, a clipping detection circuit 12 comprises an up-counter 120 (implemented, for instance, with one or more flip-flops) configured to receive the signal PWMout and a clock signal ClkPkTri.
The clock signal ClkPkTri is a clock signal synchronized with the periodic carrier signal Vtri. For instance, clock signal ClkPkTri may be synchronized with peaks and valleys of the periodic carrier signal Vtri, e.g., having a falling edge when the periodic carrier signal Vtri reaches the upper threshold Vtri,H and a rising edge when the periodic carrier signal Vtri reaches the lower threshold Vtri,L, as exemplified in FIG. 2.
The signal PWMout is received at an (asynchronous) reset input R of the up-counter 120, so that the up-counter 120 increases (e.g., by one unit) an internal count number at each period of the clock signal ClkPkTri (e.g., at each rising edge or falling edge of the clock signal ClkPkTri), with the internal count number being (asynchronously) reset to zero at each occurrence of a pulse in the signal PWMout.
The clipping detection circuit 12 therefore counts the number of consecutive missing pulses in the received signal PWMout, being a pulse expected at each period of the clock signal ClkPkTri if the signal PWMout is not saturated.
As a result of the count of consecutive missing pulses reaching a certain value n (e.g., n=3), an output signal ClipDet of the clipping detection circuit 12 is asserted (e.g., set to high, see instant t1 in FIG. 2), thereby indicating saturation of the signal PWMout.
In known solutions as exemplified in FIG. 1, the clipping detection circuit 12 also comprises an internal logic reset circuit (not visible in the Figures annexed herein) configured to de-assert (e.g., set to low) the output signal ClipDet at the first occurrence of a pulse in the signal PWMout after assertion of the saturation condition (see, for instance, instant t2 in FIG. 2), i.e., when the internal count number is reset to zero.

PWM clipping detector circuit, corresponding electronic system and method


An arrestor system and method of decelerating an aircraft. The arrestor system has a base with at least one tile made of a plurality of particles being arranged such that the particles form a plurality of water drainage passageways and wherein the at least one tile has a compressive strength which will fatigue upon a force being imparted thereto which is greater than the compressive strength of the tile.

Aircraft can and do overrun the ends of the runways and taxiways at airports which may increase the chance of damage to passengers, the aircraft, the airport and/or pedestrians or other persons. While there is typically provided a safety area at the ends of the runways, some airports lack the space required to provide sufficient safety areas.
One device that has been utilized to provide assistance in decelerating an aircraft is an arrestor system. U.S. Pat. No. 3,066,896 issued to Schirtzinger discloses such a device. Additionally, the following patents disclose similar arrestor systems and/or a cellular concrete to be used in an arrestor system: U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,885,025; 5,902,068; 6,726,400; 6,685,387; 6,971,817. While presumably effective for their intended purposes, the patents related to cellular concrete disclose that obtaining an appropriate cellular concrete with sufficient strength can be difficult. Additionally, the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,066,896 discloses a cover for the arrestor bed that may be considered aesthetically unpleasing.

Aircraft arrestor system and method of decelerating an aircraft


A location based method of offering a recommendation of content to a user of a mobile station includes receiving information identifying a current location for the mobile station. Then, in a content usage database, records of other mobile stations that have recently been near that location are identified. For each identified record of another mobile station, content resident on an used by the other mobile station in the content usage database is identified. Then, for example, responsive to at least one inquiry received from the mobile station, a recommendation is transmitted through a wireless communications network to the mobile station of the user. The recommendation includes information about the identified content resident on and used by one or more of the other mobile stations.

In recent years, mobile communication services have expanded and increased in popularity around the world. Many advanced networks offer wireless mobile communication service for voice calls, mobile messaging services (e.g., text and/or multimedia) and data communications. The data services, for example, enable surfing the world wide web, e.g., via a browser. The speeds of the data communications services have steadily increased as service providers have migrated the networks to newer generation technologies with broadband data communication capabilities, and the mobile stations have steadily advanced to take advantage of the new network technologies. The data communication capabilities of the mobile stations and the broadband data communication services offered by the networks enable users to perform more and more tasks from their mobile stations.
Shopping has also evolved with the evolution to telecommunications technologies. On-line shopping is now commonplace, and increasingly, users can do their on-line shopping using their mobile stations. Although on-line shopping can be for traditional goods or services, on-line shopping from a mobile station is often related to shopping for content for downloading to the mobile station. Examples of mobile station content items include, without limitation, media, games, messaging, social networks, stores, and any other applications or information for use on or with a mobile station.
Mobile application stores traditionally provide the following options to allow a user to discover applications: 1) search by keywords, 2) browse categories such as Games, Business, Lifestyle, Shopping, Travel & Local, etc., or sub-categories such as Top Paid, Top Free, recent arrival, 3) recommendations, based on (a) the store's pick, (b) the user's download history, or (c) Context Relevance. Applications are then listed based on the number of downloads.
When traveling, relocating, or otherwise exploring an unfamiliar location, relevant mobile station content may be difficult to find. At least some content may be of particular interest to the local community, with minimal popularity outside the area. For example, a parking spot finder in San Francisco, or a Chicago transit schedule would likely be known to and used by the local community and may be of interest to travelers visiting those cities. However, visitors may not know or think about the availability of such applications. Moreover, it may be difficult to ascertain quickly the mobile station content items that are of particular interest to those in the vicinity or anticipated vicinity of the user, and thus might also be of interest to the user.
Hence, a need exists for improved technologies for distributing recommendations, for example, which provide a user with an indication of mobile station content that is popular with nearby users of mobile stations.

Location based recommendation method for mobile station content


Disclosed are various embodiments for provisioning client devices. A configuration file previously installed on the computing device can be read. The configuration file can contain a provisioning address. Then, a user account is automatically created using a predefined username and credential stored in the configuration file. Next, an enrollment request can be sent to the provisioning address to enroll the computing device with a provisioning service using the user account. In response, an enrollment response can be received from the provisioning service. The computing device can then be configured based upon the enrollment response.

Customers, such as enterprises or similar large organizations, often have standardized configurations for computing devices that they procure. For example, they can have a standard set of applications that are installed on every device to enable their workforce to perform their duties effectively. While these standard sets of application can be installed at the factory using a preconfigured machine image or provisioning package (PPKG) file, keeping these up to date is often difficult. Factory floors are often isolated from the Internet for security purposes, so changes to the preconfigured machine image or PPKG file often have to be manually delivered and configured for installation. Such a process can take months. By the time a new machine image or PPKG file is delivered, it can already be out of date. There is also an administrative burden associated with maintaining multiple machine images or PPKG files at the factory. Each machine image or PPKG file must be separately stored and workers must verify that the correct machine image or PPKG is being used when configuring a customer's device.