When captured videos transmitted from n units of cameras are received, a server analyzes position information and characteristic information on a person appearing in each of captured videos as analysis results. A client terminal displays, on a screen, each of a k number of captured videos that are selected by a user operation. According to a selection of a search target person, the client terminal transmits, to the server, a search request for the search target person in a (k−1) number of captured videos other than the captured video in which the search target person appears. The server extracts the search target person and transmits the analysis result to the client terminal. The client terminal displays cut-out images of one or more persons identical with or similar to the search target person based on the analysis result.

JP-A-2017-40983 discloses a security system in which, when a predetermined event is detected in a monitoring area, a captured image of a suspect is extracted from captured images recorded by a recorder, a transitional captured image based on a behavior of the suspect is displayed, and map information indicating the captured position of the captured image is displayed. In the security system, when a captured image as a position display target is selected in the transitional captured image, positional information of the captured point of the corresponding captured image is displayed on the map information. As a result, trace information related to the behavior of a monitoring target such as a person in the monitoring area is visually obtained.
However, JP-A-2017-40983 does not consider a technique of identifying a camera-captured image of a person who is visually similar to a person (that is, a criminal) causing an incident or an accident (hereinafter, referred to as "incident or the like") occurred at a point (for example, an intersection) where many persons come and go and searching for a similar captured image from a captured video of another camera based on the identified captured image as a clue.
When an incident or the like occurs, it is important to promptly grasp visual characteristics and whereabouts of a criminal in the initial investigation by police. In the related art, clues such as captured videos of cameras installed at intersections or eyewitness reports are collected, and a police officer grasps characteristics or an escaping direction of a person who is likely to correspond to a criminal based on the captured videos or the eyewitness reports. Therefore, a long time is required for the police officer to grasp the characteristics or the escaping direction of the criminal, and the initial investigation may be delayed. As a result, there is a problem in that the technique of the related art is not efficient.

Person search system and person search method


A method of manufacturing touch sensing electrode structure includes the steps of selecting a predetermined substrate material to form a substrate layer; forming at least one adhesion layer on the substrate layer; forming a masking layer with recessed lines on the adhesion layer; forming metal conductive electrodes in the recessed lines on the masking layer; removing the masking layer for the metal conductive electrodes to present a circuit pattern and etching off portions of the adhesion layer located between the metal conductive electrodes; and forming at least one weatherproof layer on peripheral surfaces of the metal conductive electrodes. The touch sensing electrode structure manufactured according to the above method has high yield rate and is weatherproof, and the metal conductive electrodes thereof have precisely controlled small width.

In response to the development of compact and light weight electronic information products, the semiconductor manufacturing process is now aimed to enable high-density and automated production. On the other hand, the currently available electronic information products are designed to have a touch sensing surface or touchscreen that is gradually increased in size. As a result, the conductive electrodes for the touchscreen originally made of an indium tin oxide (ITO) material are now replaced by metal conductive electrodes. To avoid the metal conductive electrodes formed on a substrate of the touchscreen from being visually perceived by a user, it is a target of the research and development engineers in the touchscreen industry to develop metal conductive electrodes having a very small width.
FIG. 1 is a pictorial description of a conventional method of manufacturing metal conductive electrodes 10. In a first step, a layer of material for forming metal conductive electrodes 10 is adhered to a substrate 12 via at least one adhesion layer 11, which is also referred to as a bonding layer, so that the metal conductive electrodes 10 formed later does not easily separate from the substrate 12. In a second step, at least one weatherproof layer 13, which is also referred as an anti-corrosion layer, is covered on the layer of material for forming metal conductive electrodes 10. In a third step, a wet etching process using an etching fluid is conducted, so that the weatherproof layer 13, the layer of material for forming metal conductive electrodes 10 and the adhesion layer 11 are etched to form an electrode circuit 14 consisting of a plurality of metal conductive electrodes 10. Finally, the entire surfaces of the electrode circuit 14 are covered with an optically clear adhesive (OCA) film 16.
Please refer to FIG. 2, the adhesion layer 11 formed according to the above conventional metal conductive electrode manufacturing method includes two sublayers, namely, an intermediate layer 17 connected to the substrate 12 and an electrically conductive seed layer 18 connected to the layer of material for forming metal conductive electrodes 10.
The wet etching is isotropic. Since the weatherproof layer 13 is formed of an etch-resistant material, there is a relatively large difference between the etching rates of the etching fluid on the weatherproof layer 13 and on the layer of material for forming metal conductive electrodes 10. Moreover, the weatherproof layer 13 formed in the second step usually has a non-uniform thickness. As a result, when the etching fluid vertically etches the weatherproof layer 13, the layer of material for forming metal conductive electrodes 10 and the adhesion layer 11, a serious side etching 15 will occur on the metal conductive electrodes 10 formed in the wet etching process.
In other words, when being viewed sidewardly as shown FIG. 1, the side etching 15 tends to occur on the lateral surfaces of the metal conductive electrodes 10 so formed, particularly when the metal conductive electrodes 10 have a designed width smaller than 5 μm and a designed thickness larger than 0.3 μm. As a result, the total etched surface on each of the metal conductive electrodes 10 is too large in proportion to the total area thereof, and the metal conductive electrodes 10 are unevenly etched to result in increased electric impedance of the electrode circuit 14. In some worse conditions, the electrode circuit 14 formed of the metal conductive electrodes 10 will break locally. Therefore, the metal conductive electrodes 10 are not easily controllable in quality and have low yield rate to form a tough problem in manufacturing very fine conductive electrodes.
Moreover, in view that the metal conductive electrodes 10 currently widely used to form the electrode circuit 14 all have a very small width, it is necessary to further provide the metal conductive electrodes 10 with some protection measure, so that the electrode circuit 14 is not easily oxidized after being used in the working environment over a long period of time and does not lose its intended operating performance, allowing the touchscreen produced with the metal conductive electrodes 10 to have prolonged service life, good yield rate and environmental durability.
In addition, all the manufactured touchscreens are subjected to a series of strict environmental durability tests. For example, the touchscreens are subjected to a high temperature of 85° C. and a 90% relative humidity for 1000 hours in a high-temperature heating test; and are boiled at 100° C. for 100 minutes to simulate the use of the touchscreens in a high-temperature and high-pressure environment for an extended time period.
During the above two tests, water molecules permeating through the optically clear adhesive film 16 to contact with the metal conductive electrodes 10 tend to cause oxidation of the metal conductive electrodes 10. Therefore, when the touchscreens using the metal conductive electrodes 10 manufactured with the conventional method have been used over a long time, their capacitive sensors might very possibly have a largely increased impedance value and could not operate in a normal state.
It is therefore tried by the inventor to overcome the drawbacks of the metal conductive electrodes 10 manufactured in the conventional method.

Touch sensing electrode structure and method of manufacturing same


A transition metal hexacyanoferrate (TMH) cathode battery is provided. The battery has a AxMn[Fe(CN)6]y.zH2O cathode, where the A cations are either alkali or alkaline-earth cations, such as sodium or potassium, where x is in the range of 1 to 2, where y is in the range of 0.5 to 1, and where z is in the range of 0 to 3.5. The AxMn[Fe(CN)6]y.zH2O has a rhombohedral crystal structure with Mn2+/3+ and Fe2+3+ having the same reduction/oxidation potential. The battery also has an electrolyte, and anode made of an A metal, an A composite, or a material that can host A atoms. The battery has a single plateau charging curve, where a single plateau charging curve is defined as a constant charging voltage slope between 15% and 85% battery charge capacity. Fabrication methods are also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to electrochemical cells and, more particularly, to a transition-metal hexacyanoferrate (TMH) cathode battery and associated fabrication processes.
2. Description of the Related Art
A battery is an electrochemical cell through which chemical energy and electric energy can be converted back and forth. The energy density of a battery is determined by its voltage and charge capacity. Lithium has the most negative potential of −3.04 V vs. H2/H+, and has the highest gravimetric capacity of 3860 milliamp-hours per gram (mAh/g). Due to their high energy densities, lithium-ion batteries have led the portable electronics revolution. However, the high cost of lithium metal renders doubtful the commercialization of lithium batteries as large scale energy storage devices. Further, the demand for lithium and its reserve as a mineral have raised the need to build other types metal-ion batteries as an alternative.
Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries employ lithium storage compounds as the positive (cathode) and negative (anode) electrode materials. As a battery is cycled, lithium ions (Li+) are exchanged between the positive and negative electrodes. Li-ion batteries have been referred to as rocking chair batteries because the lithium ions "rock" back and forth between the positive and negative electrodes as the cells are charged and discharged. The positive electrode (cathode) material is typically a metal oxide with a layered structure, such as lithium cobalt oxide (LiCoO2), or a material having a tunneled structure, such as lithium manganese oxide (LiMn2O4), on an aluminum current collector. The negative electrode (anode) material is typically a graphitic carbon, also a layered material, on a copper current collector. In the charge-discharge process, lithium ions are inserted into, or extracted from interstitial spaces of the active materials.
Similar to the lithium-ion batteries, metal-ion batteries use the metal-ion host compounds as their electrode materials in which metal-ions can move easily and reversibly. As for a Li+-ion, it has one of the smallest radii of all metal ions and is compatible with the interstitial spaces of many materials, such as the layered LiCoO2, olivine-structured LiFePO4, spinel-structured LiMn2O4, and so on. Other metal ions, such as Na+, K+, Mg2+, Al3+, Zn2+, etc., with large sizes, severely distort Li-based intercalation compounds and ruin their structures in several charge/discharge cycles. Therefore, new materials with large interstitial spaces would have to be used to host such metal-ions in a metal-ion battery.
Transition-metal hexacyanoferrates (TMHs) have been investigated as the cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) [1, 2] because they accommodate lithium-ion intercalation in their interstitial spaces. However, the lithium-ion size is too small to match the spaces, which degrades the TMH capacities rapidly during lithium-ion intercalation. In 2004, Eftekhari [3] used iron hexacyanoferrate (Prussian blue) as the cathode material in potassium-ion batteries (KIBs) with a counter electrode of potassium metal. The organic electrolyte was 1M KBF4 in 3:7 ethylene carbonate/ethylmethyl carbonate (wt.). The size of potassium-ion is almost two times that of the lithium-ions, and matches the interstitial spaces of Prussian blue very well. The results showed that Prussian blue was a good electrode material for KIBs, demonstrating a reversible capacity of ca. 75 mAh/g and a good capacity retention.
Similarly, Cui's group studied the intercalation behavior of large ions, for example, sodium, potassium and ammonium ions, in copper (CuHCF) and nickel hexacyanoferrates (NiHCF) with an aqueous electrolyte [4-6]. These large size ions were compatible with the interstitial spaces of the hexacyanoferrates, so that CuHCF and NiHCF demonstrated good capacity retention. Due to the narrow electrochemical window of water, these materials were evaluated under low voltages and demonstrated low energy density. In order to improve the performance, organic electrolytes with a wide electrochemical window would have to be used to increase the operation voltages of the TMH electrodes.
Goodenough's group [7] investigated a series of Prussian blue analogues in sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) with organic electrolytes. They found that KFe(II)Fe(III)(CN)6 demonstrated the highest capacity of 95 mAh/g, and KMnFe(CN)6, KNiFe(CN)6, KCuFe(CN)6, and KCoFe(CN)6 had a capacity of 50˜70 mAh/g. In the first 20 cycles, the capacity retention of KFeFe(CN)6 was higher than 97%.
FIG. 1 is a diagram depicting the crystal structure of a transition-metal hexacyanoferrate (TMH) in the form of AxM1M2(CN)6 (prior art). TMHs have an open framework. The large tetrahedrally coordinated A sites can host alkali, alkaline ions (Ax), and H2O molecules. The number of alkali or alkaline ions in the large cages of this crystallographically porous framework may vary from x=0 to x=2, depending on the valence of M1 and M2 that are metal ions. Of course, as the electrode materials in SIBs or KIBs, TMHs are expected to have two of Na+- or K+-ions in their interstitial spaces. Therefore, M1 and M2 with valences of +2 are selected in the synthesis process to produce (Na,K)2M1M2(CN)6. Moreover, M1 and M2 can be reversibly oxidized and reduced between the valences of +2 and +3 when Na+- or K+-ions are extracted/inserted from/into TMHs. When these TMHs are used as the electrode materials in SIBs or KIBs, it is hard to obtain very smooth and flat charge/discharge curves due to the fact that M1 and M2 have different chemical potentials, or occupy different spin states. For example, Na2CoFe(CN)6 exhibited two plateaus in its discharge curves at 3.78 V and 3.28 V vs. Na/Na+, that correspond to the reduction of Co3+ and Fe3+, respectively [8].
In order to obtain cheap electrode materials for batteries, manganese is a good choice for TMHs, e.g., (Na,K)xMn[Fe(CN)6]y.zH2O. Matsuda and Moritomo [9] synthesized a Na1.32Mn[Fe(CN)6].3.5H2O film for a lithium-ion battery that showed three plateaus in its discharge curve, and two plateaus in its charge curve that could be explained by the reduction and oxidation of Mn and Fe in the material. In the battery, the materials showed a capacity of 128 mAh/g. In a sodium-ion battery, Goodenough's group [7] also reported multiple plateaus in its charge/discharge curves. The Mn-based TMHs demonstrated a capacity of 70 mAh/g. However, it would be better to have a single, rather than two voltage plateaus in the charge/discharge curves. A battery with a single plateau charge/discharge curve has a tighter (more uniform) charge/discharge voltage than a battery with multiple plateaus. A tighter charge/discharge voltage renders a simpler battery control.
FIGS. 11A and 11B are graphs depicting the electrochemical behavior of a synthesized NaxMn[Fe(CN)6]y.zH2O cathode in sodium-ion batteries (prior art). When sodium ions electrochemically move in and out of the interstitial space of magnesium hexacyanoferrate (MnHCF), two main potentials appear in the charge or discharge process, due to the redox reaction of Mn and Fe [7, 9] in MnHCF. In battery applications, the redox reaction of MnHCF causes two plateaus during charge/discharge. Two plateaus are observed during charge/discharge that correspond to the redox reaction of Mn at higher voltages and the redox reaction of Fe at low voltages.                [1] V. D. Neff, Some performance characteristics of a Prussian Blue battery, Journal of Electrochemical Society, 132 (1985) 1382-1384.        [2] N. Imanishi, T. Morikawa, J. Kondo, Y. Takeda, O. Yamamoto, N. Kinugasa, T. Yamagishi, Lithium intercalation, behavior into iron cyanide complex as positive electrode of lithium secondary battery, Journal of Power Sources, 79 (1999) 215-219.        [3] Ali Eftekhari, Potassium secondary cell, based on Prussian blue cathode, Journal of Power Sources, 126 (2004) 221-228.        [4] Colin D. Wessells, Rober A. Huggins, Yi Cui, Copper hexacyanoferrate battery electrodes with long cycle life and high power, Nature Communication, 2(2011) 550.        [5] Colin D. Wessells, Sandeep V. Peddada, Robert A. Huggins, Yi Cui, Nickel hexacyanoferrate nanoparticle electrodes for aqueous sodium and potassium ion batteries. Nano Letters, 11(2011) 5421-5425.        [6] Colin D. Wessel's, Sandeep V. Peddada, M. T. McDowell, Robert A. Huggins, Yi Cui, The effect of insertion species on nanostructured open framework hexacyanoferrate battery electrodes, Journal of Electrochemical Society, 159 (2012) A98-A103.        [7] Yuhao Lu, Long Wang, John B. Goodenough, Prussian blue: a new framework for sodium batteries. Chemistry Communication, 48(2012) 6544-6546.        [8] J. F. Qian, M. Zou, Y. L. Cao, H. X. Yang, NaxMyFe(CN)6 (M=Fe, Co, Ni): A New class of cathode Materials for sodium Ion batteries, Journal of Electrochemistry (Chinese), 18(2012) 108-112.        [9] T, Matsuda, Y. Moritomo, Thin film electrode of Prussian blue analogue for Li-ion battery, Applied Physics Express, 4(2011) 047101.
It would be advantageous if a TMH cathode battery could be made to operate with a single plateau charge and discharge curve.

Transition metal hexacyanoferrate battery cathode with single plateau charge/discharge curve


This application provides a latency-based transmission path control method, an apparatus, and a system. Device latencies of network node devices on an active transmission path, device latencies of network node devices on a standby transmission path, latencies of links between the network node devices on the active transmission path, and latencies of links between the network node devices on the active transmission path are obtained, and calculation is performed based on the respective device latencies and link latencies to obtain an active transmission path latency and a standby transmission path latency. Then, based on a latency-based switching mechanism, when the active transmission path latency is greater than a switching threshold and the standby transmission path latency is less than the switching threshold, an active-to-standby path switching command is generated.

With advancement of research on a 5th generation (5G) communications technology and application and development of a latency-sensitive service such as virtual reality or automated driving, a higher and stricter requirement is imposed on a network latency for route forwarding and transmission, and in particular, a brand-new requirement is imposed on serviceability, availability, and reliability of latency performance.
In an existing application, when a service with a high-reliability and low-latency requirement is deployed between two network node devices, no method in the prior art can be used to monitor, in real time, service level agreement (SLA) satisfaction of a service latency and latency reliability. In the SLA, end-to-end quality in a service transmission process is usually considered. Network performance parameters related to an SLA satisfaction test include a latency, a latency jitter, latency reliability, and the like. When a latency related to the SLA degrades, no method in the prior art can be used to ensure that a latency of a service transmission path meets an SLA requirement.
Therefore, currently a solution for providing protection for a transmission path of a latency-sensitive service is urgently needed, and in particular, a solution that can be used to ensure that a latency of a service transmission path meets an SLA requirement when a latency related to the SLA degrades is urgently needed.

Latency-based transmission path control method, network controller, and system


This invention relates to the nano metal material preparation technology field, especially to the preparation method of one kind, of nano-rings. This invention uses polyvinyl pyrrolidone of different molecular weights as surface-protecting agent and dissolves silver nitrate in the low molecular weight polyvinyl pyrrolidone ethylene glycol solvent under frozen conditions. Frozen conditions can slow down or inhibit silver ions from being reduced to zero-valent silver, to generate silver nanoparticles coated and complexed with both low and high molecular weight polyvinyl pyrrolidone. Polyvinyl pyrrolidone of different molecular weight shows different selective absorption of silver, and different stability makes it affect the speed of growth of silver atoms along different crystal faces to different extent, which is better for silver nano-ring production, with higher yield. Silver nano-rings made from this invention features perfect circular shape, smooth surface, oval cross-section, and great crystal structure, and can be used as transparent flexible conductive material.

Nano metal materials are metal materials with at least one out of the three dimensions on the nanometer scale or made of them as basic units. As of now, studies have been conducted on gold, silver, nickel, iron and other nano metal materials, which are of sphere, strip, rectangle, polyhedron and other different shapes. Such metal nano particles of different shapes show unique physiochemical properties and other exceptional properties unseen in many bulk phase metals, which play an important role in the field of electricity, optics, and magnetics.
Silver, as one kind of precious metal, is widely appreciated for its stable property, soft texture, and great electric and thermal conductivity. Compared with macro silver, nano-scale silver elements show special chemical, optical, and electric properties, and can effectively inhibit and kill diversified pathogenic microorganisms, which are mainly used to make nano-scale electronic devices, optical devices, and biological antibacterial agents, etc.
At present, silver nano materials of various shapes are mainly prepared through chemical processes. Such shapes include nano-rod, nanoball, nano-sheet, and so on, but there are few studies on silver nano-rings. The patent with publication number CN102658373A provides the preparation method of one type of silver nano-ring, whose yield is low though.


Disclosed is a process for the preparation of 1,3-propanediol by the hydrogenation of hydroxypropionaldehyde (HPA) in aqueous solution on a formed carrier catalyst in a solid bed, the concentration of HPA in the solution being from 5 to 100% by weight and hydrogenation being carried out at temperatures of from 30.degree. to 180.degree. C. and hydrogen pressures of from 5 to 300 bar and at a pH of from 2.5 to 6.5. The carrier catalyst is formed principally of titanium oxide on which platinum is applied in a finely divided form in a quantity of from 0.1 to 5.0% by weight, based on the carrier.

The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of 1,3-propanediol by the hydrogenation of hydroxypropionaldehyde (HPA) in aqueous solution on a fixed bed catalyst. In a further aspect, the invention also concerns a catalyst used for the hydrogenation of HPA.
1,3-Propanediol has many different possibilities of application as a monomer unit for the formation of polyesters and polyurethanes and as starting material for the synthesis of cyclic compounds. Various processes are known for the preparation of 1,3-propanediol. These either start from a molecular structure of a C.sub.2 - and C.sub.1 -unit or from a C.sub.3 -unit such as acrolein. When acrolein is used, it is first hydrated in the presence of an acid catalyst to form hydroxypropionaldehyde. The aqueous reaction mixture formed in the process of hydration still contains about 8% of oxaheptanedial in addition to about 85% of HPA and other organic components in minor proportions by weight after removal of unreacted acrolein. This reaction mixture is hydrogenated in the presence of hydrogenation catalysts to produce 1,3-propanediol.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 2,434,100, catalysts containing one or more hydrogenation active metals such as Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Ag, Mo, W, V, Cr, Rh, Pd, Os, Ir or Pt are suitable for the hydrogenation of HPA to 1,3-propanediol.
As described in German patent 39 26 136.0, the catalyst may be used as such in suspended form or bound to a carrier or form part of fixed bed catalysts. Homogeneous catalysts may also be used. Raney nickel, which may be doped with various other catalytically active metals, platinum on active charcoal, and platinum on aluminum oxide are known as suspension catalysts (from U.S. Pat. No. 3,536,763). A high volume/time yield of hydrogenation is obtained if the solution to be hydrogenated is at a pH of from 2.5 to 6.5, the hydrogenation temperature is in the region of from 30.degree. to 180.degree. C., and hydrogen pressures of from 5 to 300 bar are employed.
Nickel catalysts are mainly used for hydrogenation. Among these, fixed bed catalysts are preferred as they do not need to be filtered off after hydrogenation. Nickel on Al.sub.2 O.sub.3/SiO.sub.2 is an example of a typical fixed bed catalyst for this purpose.
Catalytic hydrogenation entails the risk of small quantities of the catalytically active element being discharged with the stream of product in the form of soluble compounds so that additional operating steps are then necessary to remove these impurities. This phenomenon is most marked in the case of suspension catalysts such as Raney nickel, but nickel fixed bed catalysts also entail the risk of contamination of the product with nickel compounds, albeit in very small quantities.
Hydrogenation processes may be characterized by the conversion rates, selectivities and volume/time yields obtainable by these processes. The conversion rate indicates how many mols of the educt (in this case HPA) are converted into other substances by hydrogenation. The figure is usually given in percent of the mols of educt put into the process: ##EQU1## The selectivity of the hydrogenation process, on the other hand, is a measure of the number of mols of converted educt which are converted into the desired product: ##EQU2## For continuous hydrogenation processes the volume/time yield is another important characteristic which indicates the quantity of product obtainable per unit time and volume of reactor.
In large scale technical hydrogenation of HPA to 1,3-propanediol it is important for the economical efficiency of the hydrogenation process and the quality of the product that the conversion rate and selectivity should be close to 100%. Although the water present in the stream of product as well as residues of HPA and by-products are removed from the propanediol by distillation after hydrogenation, this distillative separation is rendered very difficult by the residue of HPA and by-products and may even become impossible due to reactions between the HPA residue and propanediol to form acetals, whose boiling point is close to the boiling point of propanediol. The lower the conversion rate and the selectivity, the poorer the quality of product obtainable.
Conversion rate, selectivity and volume/time yield are influenced by the properties of the catalyst and by the conditions of hydrogenation such as the reaction temperature, the hydrogen pressure, and the length of hydrogenation time, or, in the case of continuous hydrogenation, by the liquid hourly space velocity.
When HPA is hydrogenated to propanediol, it is observed that the main reaction has a linear relationship to the hydrogen pressure and the time (liquid hourly space velocity in the case of continuous processes), whereas the reaction temperature has hardly any influence.
The formation of by-products, on the other hand, is exponentially dependent upon the temperature. Other conditions being equal, the formation of by-products is doubled with every 10.degree. C. rise in temperature, with the result that the reaction becomes progressively less selective. An increase in the hydrogen pressure, on the other hand, has a positive effect on the selectivity. However, the positive influence of pressure on the selectivity is less powerful than the negative effect of a rise in temperature since the hydrogen pressure increases the velocity of the main reaction only linearly while an increase in temperature increases the velocity of the side reaction exponentially.
One important criterion of the quality of the catalysts used for the hydrogenation process is their service life in operation, i.e., good catalysts should ensure a constant conversion rate and selectivity in the hydrogenation of HPA to propanediol in the course of the operating time. In this respect hydrogenation processes known in the art, in particular those based on nickel catalysts, are found to have insufficient long term stability. As a result, more frequent changes in the whole catalyst package are required, with the well-known attendant problems of elimination of impurities and working up of the compounds containing nickel.

Process for the preparation of 1,3-propanediol by the hydrogenation of hydroxypropionaldehyde


The image capture apparatus includes an outer stationary support structure and an inner rotatable frame which rotates around a vertical rotation axis relative to a target object. An image capture device, such as a camera, is provided on the rotatable frame to capture an image or other data relating to the target object. The camera is mounted on the rotatable frame such that, while it is rotated around the target object, data collected from the camera is transmitted to a computer for further processing. The data collected therefore allows a three dimensional digital map of the target object to be created. A method of capturing an image of a target object by rotating an inner frame around the target object on a vertical rotation axis, and then constructing a three dimensional map of the target object is also provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to image capture apparatus, particularly, but not exclusively, image capture apparatus for capturing a 360 degree image of a target object such that a three dimensional model of the target object may be created.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
It is possible to manually rotate a camera around a three-dimensional target object in order to capture a series of images which can then be digitally "stitched" together to create a virtual three-dimensional map of the target object. An example of when this process may be used is when creating a three dimensional wax model of a person. Since such methods rely on manually maneuvering the camera around the target object they can be very slow and labor intensive to perform. Furthermore, the results obtained typically have a number of errors and inconsistencies which are often caused by inaccurate positioning and movement of the camera around the target object.

Image capture apparatus and method for constructing a three dimensional map of a target object


According to example embodiments, a thin film transistor (TFT) includes a channel layer including zinc, nitrogen, and oxygen; an etch stop layer on the channel layer; source and drain electrodes respectively contacting both ends of the channel layer; a gate electrode corresponding to the channel layer; and a gate insulating layer between the channel layer and the gate electrode. The etch stop layer includes fluorine. The channel layer may be on the gate electrode.

1. Field
Example embodiments relate to a thin film transistor and/or a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of Related Art
Transistors are widely used as a switching device or a driving device in electronic devices. Since a thin film transistor (TFT) may be manufactured on a glass substrate or a plastic substrate, the TFT is useful for displays such as an organic light-emitting display or a liquid crystal display (LCD). Properties of the TFT may depend on material properties of a channel layer (e.g., a semiconductor layer).
Most of the displays that are currently commercialized use a TFT including a channel layer formed of amorphous silicon (hereinafter, referred to as an amorphous silicon TFT), or a TFT including a channel layer formed of polycrystalline silicon (hereinafter, referred to as a polycrystalline silicon TFT). Since the amorphous silicon TFT has very low charge mobility of about 0.5 cm2/Vs, it may be difficult to increase an operation speed of a display. Also, since the polycrystalline silicon TFT may require processes such as a crystallization process, an impurities injection process, and an activation process, a process of manufacturing the polycrystalline silicon TFT may be more complicated and manufacturing cost is higher than the amorphous silicon TFT. Also, since it may be difficult to ensure uniformity of a polycrystalline silicon layer, if the polycrystalline silicon layer is used as a channel layer of a large display, the image quality of the display may decrease.
In order to implement a high-quality, high-definition, large next-generation display, a TFT exhibiting excellent performance is demanded. In this regard, research related to an oxide TFT, to which an oxide semiconductor having high carrier mobility is applied as a material of a channel layer, is being conducted. However, a conventional oxide TFT may not ensure high reliability. Thus, it is necessary to develop a transistor (TFT) having high mobility and excellent reliability.

Thin film transistor and method of manufacturing the same


An integrated cleaning and cutting device includes a case, a cover sealed the case, a basket received in the case, and a basket shelter mounted on the basket. A plurality of palings is formed on the basket. A drive mechanism is accumulated in the cover for driving the basket to rotate in the case. A cutting mechanism is fitted in the cover for cutting salad material. The cutting mechanism includes a blanking hole communicating with the basket in the case. The salad material is cleaned in the basket by the rotating of the basket in the case. On the other hand, the salad material can be cut and stored in the device, in which the basket and the cutting mechanism are equipped. Since the device has multiple functions such as cleaning, cutting and storage, it is utilitarian in use.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to a salad making device, and more particularly to an integrated device for making fruit or vegetable salad, in which the fruits or vegetables contained can also be cleaned and cut.
2. Description of Related Art
When people host guests at home, they often provide the guests with fruits such as apples or pears after a meal. However, a whole apple or a whole pear is too much for one just after finishing the meal. Further, having a single kind of fruit, such as an apple or a pear, may not be as appealing to the guests as having different kinds of fruit. Therefore, a vegetable and/or fruit salad is usually provided instead of the single fruit.
Generally, a process of making salad includes cleaning the fruits or vegetables; cutting the fruits or vegetables into different shapes such as a cube, a slice, or a shred; putting the cut fruits or vegetables into a container and adding salad dressing; and stirring the mix of the salad dressing and the cut fruit or vegetables. Such process utilizing a lot of instruments such as containers, knives/cleavers, and utensils which are also needed to be cleaned after making the salad, is so time-consuming and troublesome.


An apparatus for restricting a contact head of a catenary grounding device unintentionally falling from a catenary in use that is connectable to the contact head. The apparatus forming part of a contact head of a catenary grounding device for restricting the contact head unintentionally falling from a catenary in use.

This specification relates to apparatus for restricting a contact head of a catenary grounding device unintentionally falling from a catenary in use, a contact head provided with such apparatus and method of use thereof.
EP0810691B1 teaches a contact head for short circuiting a catenary that supplies electrical current to trains. During maintenance of such a catenary it is important to short circuit the catenary by electrically coupling it to ground. This is illustrated in FIG. 1 in which a contact head 10 hangs from a catenary 12 and electrically couples it to rail tracks 14 in contact with the ground via a wire arrangement 16. The pole 18 is used to lift the contact head 10 up into contact with the catenary 12. A close up of the contact head 10 hanging from the catenary 12 is illustrated in FIG. 2, wherein electrically conductive components of the contact head 10 electrically couple the catenary 12 to the wire arrangement 16. In high current situations electromagnetic forces gendered by current flow can force the contact head 10 out of hanging engagement with the catenary 12 causing it to fall. Other occurrences can cause the contact head 10 to fall from the catenary 12 such as wind. It is desired to restrict the contact head 10 from unintentionally falling in use in order to reduce risk of injury.

Catenary grounding device fall restriction apparatus and method of use


A fire fighting apparatus includes a frame supported by wheels and a sectioned ladder assembly mounted on the frame for movement between stored and raised positions. The sections of the ladder assembly extend and retract. A waterway on the ladder assembly includes a fluid inlet connection and a water outlet structure for directing pressurized fluid. A lock member is operable to connect the waterway and a top ladder section so that the water outlet structure moves with the top ladder section as the top ladder section extends and retracts and to disconnect the waterway from the top ladder section to enable the water outlet structure to remain substantially stationary with respect to an adjacent ladder section as the top section extends and retracts. A control mounted on the frame at a location remote from the ladder assembly controls the lock member.

The present invention relates to fire fighting apparatuses. More specifically, illustrative embodiments of the invention relate to waterways mounted on aerial ladders for delivering fire fighting fluids to extinguish fires.
Fire fighters often use aerial ladder assemblies while fighting fires. An aerial ladder assembly is typically mounted on a frame of a fire fighting apparatus (e.g., a frame of a fire truck) for angular raising and lowering movements between a generally horizontal storage position on the frame and a raised position in which the ladder assembly extends upwardly at an angle from the frame. The ladder assembly is comprised of a plurality of ladder sections which are movably coupled to one another. The ladder assembly can be extended and retracted by extending and retracting the ladder sections.
Fire departments use aerial ladder assemblies to carry out a variety of fire fighting activities. For example, aerial ladder assemblies may be used to rescue people trapped on the upper floors of burning buildings. Fire fighters may also use an aerial ladder assembly in various ways to ventilate a building. For instance, fire fighters may use the aerial ladder assembly to climb onto a building roof to cut ventilation openings through the roof.
An aerial ladder assembly may also be used as a support structure for supporting and positioning a waterway. A waterway is a mechanism which may be used to transmit a fire fighting fluid to the location of a fire and which may be operable to direct a stream of a pressurized fire fighting fluid onto, for example, a burning building to knockdown or extinguish a fire. The waterway is in fluid communication with a source of a fire fighting fluid (e.g., water supplied from a fire hydrant, foams for chemical or electrical fires, etc.) and is operable to convey the fire fighting fluid to a water outlet structure (e.g., a monitor and nozzle assembly, a monitor alone, or a nozzle alone) at the terminal end of the waterway. The nozzle is operable to help pressurized and/or shape the stream of water emitted by the water outlet structure. The monitor is vertically and horizontally adjustable to aim the stream of water. The water outlet structure of the waterway may be operated to emit a continuous stream of fire fighting fluid. The angle and/or orientation of the water outlet structure may be adjusted to aim the fluid stream.
The water outlet structure may be located in a range of positions along the length of an extended ladder assembly. For example, the water outlet structure may be positioned at the tip or terminal end of the top or fly ladder section of a ladder assembly or may be mounted at an intermediate position of the ladder assembly. Positioning the water outlet structure at the tip of the top ladder section maximizes the reach of the fluid stream. Positioning the water outlet structure of the waterway at an intermediate location on the ladder assembly provides the ladder assembly with a xe2x80x9ccleanxe2x80x9d aerial tip which may be important in instances in which the ladder assembly is used to carry out rescue operations and/or ventilation operations.
It is known to provide an aerial ladder assembly with a positionable monitor and nozzle assembly. A positionable monitor and nozzle assembly is an assembly that can be repositioned along the length of the ladder assembly. A positionable monitor and nozzle assembly can be positioned at the terminal end of the ladder assembly or at an intermediate location on the ladder assembly. Currently available waterways with positionable monitor and nozzle assemblies require a fire fighter to walk or climb to the location of the monitor and nozzle assembly and manually connect the assembly to the desired ladder section so that the nozzle of the monitor and nozzle assembly is in the desired position when the ladder assembly is extended. Climbing a ladder assembly to reposition the monitor and nozzle assembly is inconvenient, time consuming and exposes the fire fighter to a risk of injury.
The present invention may be embodied in an aerial type fire fighting apparatus that includes a frame rollingly supported by a plurality of wheels for enabling the apparatus to be transported to a location of a fire and an extendible and retractable ladder assembly comprising at least two ladder sections including a top ladder section. The ladder sections are movably mounted to one another such that in each pair of adjacent ladder sections an upper one of the pair can be extended and retracted relative to a lower one of the pair to thereby affect extension and retraction of the ladder assembly. The ladder assembly is movably mounted for raising and lowering movements between a generally horizontal stored position on the frame and a raised position wherein the ladder assembly extends upwardly at an angle from the frame. A power-operated ladder raising and lowering mechanism is operatively connected to the ladder assembly. The ladder raising and lowering mechanism is constructed and arranged to move the ladder assembly under power between the generally horizontal stored position thereof and the raised position thereof. A power-operated ladder extending and retracting mechanism is operatively connected to the ladder assembly. The ladder extending and retracting mechanism is constructed and arranged to extend and retract the ladder sections under power to thereby affect extension and retraction of the ladder assembly. The fire fighting apparatus further includes a waterway comprising a water outlet support member coupled to the ladder assembly, a water outlet structure supported on the water outlet support member, and a fluid inlet connection. The fluid inlet connection is configured to be coupled to a source of a fire fighting fluid, such as a fire hydrant or a storage tank in a separate pump truck or in the vehicle itself. The fluid inlet connection is in fluid communication with the water outlet structure. The water outlet structure is constructed and arranged to direct pressurized fire fighting fluid therefrom when the fluid inlet connection is fluidly connected to a supply of pressurized fire fighting fluid. A lock member is movable between (a) a first position in which the lock member couples the water outlet support member, the water outlet support member and the top ladder section to one another such that the water outlet support member and the water outlet structure move with the top ladder section as the top ladder section is extended and retracted relative to its adjacent ladder section, and (b) a second position in which the water outlet support member is disconnected from the top ladder section to enable the water outlet support member and the water outlet structure to remain substantially stationary with respect to the ladder section adjacent the top ladder section as the top ladder section is extended and retracted relative to its adjacent ladder section. The fire fighting apparatus also includes a remotely controlled actuator mechanism having a manually operable control mounted on the frame at a location remote from the lock member. The actuator mechanism is operatively connected to the lock member and is constructed and arranged to move the lock member between the first and second positions thereof responsive to remote manual operation of the manually operable control.

Aerial ladder fire fighting apparatus with positionable waterway


A pneumatic tire which facilitates separation of a rubber layer and is excellent in recyclability and retreadability and a method of scrapping the same. A pneumatic tire comprises a partition layer buried adjacent to a rubber layer, the partition layer including at least one cord repeatedly bent to turn around at its bent portion and arranged in a plane and rubber portions interposed between adjacent portions of the cord. Herein, the cord is arranged in a direction intersecting with the tire circumferential direction. The cord of the partition layer is pulled in an in-plane direction of the partition layer to sequentially cut the rubber portions interposed between the adjacent portions of the cord. The rubber layer adjacent to the partition layer is thus separated.

The present application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-158912, filed Jun. 4, 2003, the entirety of which is being incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a pneumatic tire taking into consideration recycling and retreading and to a method of scrapping the same. Specifically, the present invention relates to a pneumatic tire which facilitates separation of a rubber layer and to a method of scrapping the same.
In recent years, recycling of waste products is considered important. In order to increase the recycling rate without deteriorating physical properties of reclaimed materials, different materials require to be separated so as not to be mixed with each other. Moreover, separating materials requires being easy in order to save recycling costs and processing time.
A general pneumatic tire is composed of a rubber material and a cord of steel, organic fibers, or the like. Such a pneumatic tire has problems in recycling as follows.
Generally, tires are cut into pieces, and then materials thereof are separated from each other. The steel cord can be physically separated. However, the organic fiber cord is shredded and mixed into rubber, and different types of rubber are mixed with each other. Therefore, an installation is required which performs an aftertreatment for shredded rubber and separates the shredded rubber, and a lot of time is required for the aftertreatment. Moreover, mixture of a material with lower physical properties degrades the physical properties of reclaimed material.
On the other hand, another method is conceived in which a material softening at high temperature is placed between members and heated at high temperature in recycling to separate the members. However, in this case, the reclaimed material could be degraded by heating.
Meanwhile, a method (for example, see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 5-154939) has been proposed, in which a cord is spirally wound and buried in a tread portion at 0 degree with respect to the tire circumferential direction and the cord is pulled out in the transverse direction.
However, in such a structure that the rubber layer is separated using the cord at 0 degree with respect to the tire circumferential direction, the circumferential elongation of the tire depends on the elongation of the cord, and the allowable amount of elongation thereof is limited. Therefore, the aforementioned separate structure is limited to only application to a portion which is elongated by a small amount in a tire building process. Moreover, to spirally wind the cord in the tire circumferential direction, it is required to continuously wind the cord, in a tire building process, leading to low productivity.

Pneumatic tire and method of scrapping the same


Stiffness-treated honeycomb sandwich structures which exhibit reduced core crush and/or reduced void content are provided. Additionally, stiffness-treated prepreg plies which exhibit increased frictional resistance when disposed on other prepreg plies are also provided. Further, associated starting materials and methods are provided.

The invention relates generally to the field of laminated structures, and more particularly to methods for making honeycomb sandwich structures and associated products with decreased core crush values and/or reduced void content. In addition, the invention relates to the starting materials utilized to assemble such honeycomb sandwich structures.
Co-cured honeycomb sandwich structures comprising a honeycomb core and at least one prepreg ply (i.e., a fabric impregnated with a resin system) disposed on each surface of the honeycomb core are used throughout the aerospace industry in order to provide high mechanical strength at low densities.
A major problem of honeycomb sandwich structures is the tendency of the honeycomb core to crush during the autoclave process in manufacture. This problem is commonly referred to as "core crush." Core crush during the production of structures (e.g., airplane structures) renders the structure useless and increases production costs due to direct labor, delays and material expenses.
Core crush is known to occur due to differential movement during the autoclave process between the prepreg plies that comprise the honeycomb sandwich structure. This differential movement was believed by the industry to possibly occur late in the autoclave cycle when the resin system's viscosity is at a minimum. Thus, known methods utilized to reduce core crush during the autoclave process have focused on preventing the differential movement by either mechanical/physical means (i.e., using tie downs to keep the prepreg plies from differentially moving) or by chemical means focusing on the resin system (i.e., using a fast reacting resin system to permit increase of the viscosity of the resin system), or on other parameters of the autoclave process (e.g., resin system utilized, such as vacuum levels used for staging and lay-up or in-situ and post processing internal pressure). See, generally, D. J. Renn, T. Tulleau, J. C. Seferis, R. N. Curran and K. J. Ahn, "Composite Honeycomb Core Crush in Relation to Internal Pressure Measurement," Journal of Advanced Materials, October 1995, pp.31-40 ("The resin system was shown to be the most important parameter in determining core crush"). However, known mechanical/physical means of reducing core crush may increase production costs due to increased labor costs. Moreover, known chemical means of reducing core crush focusing on the resin system or other parameters of the autoclave process have sometimes failed to provide satisfactory reduction of core crush in known honeycomb sandwich structures.
An additional problem associated with honeycomb sandwich structures made by conventional methods is their tendency, in some cases, to break down over time due to the presence of a high content of voids and/or delaminations within and between the prepreg plies of the honeycomb sandwich structure. This problem is commonly referred to as "high void content." High void content in the prepreg plies may facilitate ingression and accumulation of moisture in the voids of the prepreg plies. When subjected to elevated temperatures (e.g., autoclave conditions), this moisture increases the pressure within the voids in the prepreg plies and expands the size of the existing voids in the resulting cured structure. Further, high void content in the cured structure provides a pathway for moisture to ingress and accumulate in the core of the structure, thereby adding weight to the structure. High void content thus tends to shorten the life of the structure and/or increase undesired properties (e.g. weight) of the structure, and increases production costs due to direct labor, delays and material expenses.
A known cause of high void content is insufficient consolidation of the components of the honeycomb sandwich structure during the autoclave process. Consolidation is known to optimally occur at high pressure (i.e., about 100 PSI) during the high temperature autoclave cycle. Consolidation of the components of a known honeycomb sandwich structure generally occur at relatively low pressures (i.e., less than about 45 PSI) because the higher pressures (i.e., greater than about 45 PSI and up to about 85 PSI) that would enhance consolidation would inadvertently cause core crush in known honeycomb sandwich structures. Thus, known methods utilized to reduce void content have generally focused on resin modifications and prepreg processing techniques to reduce moisture content and entrapped air within the prepreg. These known methods may increase production costs of honeycomb sandwich structures due to the need to process each honeycomb sandwich structure through at least two autoclave cycles. Additionally, low consolidating pressure used in these known methods may fail to sufficiently advance the consolidation of the prepregs plies with the honeycomb core.
As discussed above, known prepreg plies may have their differential movement constrained to reduce core crush in honeycomb sandwich structures produced therefrom. Known methods of constraining this differential movement have focused on mechanical/physical constraining means (i.e., using tie downs) or chemical constraining means focusing on certain parameters of the autoclave process (e.g., resin system utilized, vacuum levels used for staging and lay-up, in-situ and post processing internal pressure), as discussed above. However, as discussed above, these mechanical and chemical constraining means may increase production costs due to increased labor costs and/or may fail to at all times provide satisfactory reduction of core crush in known honeycomb sandwich structures.
Known fabric components of prepreg plies generally consist of fibers which have been sized and/or finished. Sizing of the fabric facilitates weaving of the fibers into a fabric. Finishing of the fabric enhances certain known properties of the fabric (e.g., moisture resistance) and certain mechanical properties of the prepreg ply formed from the finished fabric (e.g., tensile strength, compression strength, and adhesive characteristics to honeycomb core in honeycomb sandwich structure).
Properties generally associated with known fabric components of the prepreg ply are as follows.
Commercially available carbon-fiber based fabrics are generally sized but unfinished, with sizing concentrations of 0.5% to 1.5%+/−0.1% (by weight) depending on the type of weave employed and/or the type of end use contemplated and/or the type of sizing utilized. By contrast, commercially available glass-fiber based fabrics are sized and then finished. However, the starch-based sizing is substantially removed by baking after weaving of the fabric and before application of the finish. These glass-fiber based fabrics may have finish concentrations of 0.08% to 0.21%+/−0.018% (by weight) depending on the type of weave employed and/or the type of end use contemplated and/or the type of finish utilized. For example, commercially available glass-fiber based fabrics made utilizing an 8-harness satin weave and proprietary finishes commercially available from Clark-Schwebel™ (Anderson, S.C.) (i.e., CS 724) or Burlington Glass Fabrics™ (Alta Vista, Va.) (i.e., BGF 644, BGF 508, BGF 508A) are believed to have a finish concentration of 0.10%+/−0.02%.
Known glass-fiber based fabric components (with finish) based on a fabric having an 8-harness satin weave and a fiber areal weight of 293+/−10 g/m2 generally have an ASTM stiffness value of less than 3.0 pound foot (lb ft). An exception to this general rule is a glass-fiber based fabric finished with F-69 (Hexcel™ Corporation, Casa Grande, Ariz.), which Applicants have measured to have an ASTM stiffness value of about 9.25 lb ft, based on tests performed on a sample of an 8-harness weave glass-fiber based F-69 finished fabric having a fiber areal weight of 293+/−10 g/m2. Known carbon-fiber based fabric components (with sizing) based on a fabric having a plain weave and a fiber areal weight of 193+/−7 g/m2 generally have an ASTM stiffness value of not greater than 3.3 pound foot (lb ft).
Processing associated with known fabric components of the prepreg ply is generally as follows. Known glass-fiber based fabric components are generally finished by application of the finish, followed by heat treatment at a temperature in the range of 300° F. to 350° F.
Accordingly, there is a need for new and better honeycomb sandwich structures exhibiting reduced core crush. Additionally, there is a need for new and better honeycomb sandwich structures exhibiting reduced void content. Further, there is a need for new and better prepreg plies having constrained differential movement (e.g., during manufacture). In addition, there is a need for new and better starting materials for the honeycomb sandwich structures exhibiting reduced core crush, the honeycomb sandwich structures exhibiting reduced void content, and the prepreg plies whose differential movement is constrained.

Products and method of core crush prevention


A shrimp peeling machine (1) is provided with a closed chain (3) consisting of a number of joints (14,15), which contain cylindrical rollers (4, 5, 6). The cylindrical rollers' longitudinal axis is displaced 90 degrees in relation to the shrimp peeling process direction (13). The rollers can be turned by activation of toothed wheel (7), the chain operated by at least one toothed wheel (12), which is connected to a motor device (10,11). The rollers' mutual placement can be adjusted using position regulation guys (17). It is hereby achieved that the shrimp peeling machine, contrary to the hitherto known technique, can be mounted and function in shrimp trawlers. With the invention, in a continuous process, shrimp can be landed in a shrimp trawler and be boiled, peeled and packaged on the vessel and thus be ready for sale to the consumers, as soon as the trawler reaches harbour.

From U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,265(A), a method and a shrimp peeling machine are known where skewed parallel rollers are used for peeling or shelling boiled shrimp.
The skewed rollers are characterized in that their longitudinal direction runs in the same direction as the shrimp peeling process direction.
It has been found, however, that there are some drawbacks of this known technique, including that the efficiency of the shrimp peeling machine from U.S. Pat. No. 5,120,265 to an extensive degree is dependent on the angle, by which the parallel rollers are skewed.
This drawback, among others, results in that it has not been possible to use the known technique in shrimp trawlers since the trawlers' movement in the open sea will inevitably change the angle in relation to a horizontal level by which the parallel rollers are skewed.
The hitherto known technique has therefore in practice only functioned satisfyingly on land based production facilities.
It is obviously a drawback since the shrimps therefore must be frozen on the trawlers and then thawed when they must subsequently be peeled on the land-based shrimp peeling facilities.
The peeled shrimps can subsequently be refreezed for sale to the consumers.
The finished product has therefore gone through two freezing processes before it can be sold to the consumers.
The quality of the finished peeled shrimps is therefore lower than if the shrimps could be finish processed including being peeled directly after they were landed on the shrimp trawlers.
Concurrently, the whole manufacturing process is allocated to two places namely partly on the fishing boats and partly on the land based shrimp peeling production facilities, which is not optimum.
From U.S. Pat. No. 2,832,092, there is known a shrimp peeling machine where the shrimp peeling occurs in a shrimp peeling process direction. The shrimp peeling machine includes an endless conveyor belt, which includes an endless chain with a number of joints, which contain cylindrical rollers.
The longitudinal axis of the cylindrical rollers is displaced 90 degrees in relation to the shrimp peeling process direction and the rollers are turned by activation of a toothed wheel. The endless conveyor belt is operated by two larger driving toothed wheels, since the conveyor belt's rotation is started by mesh between the toothed wheel on the shaft for the rollers and the larger driving toothed wheels, whereby the rollers are rotated in tracks, which run along the sides of the endless conveyor belt. The rollers include rollers with a polymeric surface and rollers from metal, where the rollers with the polymeric surface have a larger diameter than the rollers from metal. Shrimps are added to the endless conveyor belt in the top via a conveyance belt, the shrimps are shelled, by friction between the activated rollers and the released shells, and are collected under the chain.
It has been found, however, that the technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,832,092(A) does not function in a sufficiently efficient manner, including that it is not possible to adjust the mutual position between the rollers, which is used for shelling the shrimps.

Shrimp peeling machine and method and application


Provided herein are novel therapeutic compositions and methods that keep cellular immunotherapies in the circulation or at the site of injection for extended periods of time without resorting to the use of cytotoxic preconditioning. For example, the compositions and methods herein lymphodeplete and reduce or ablate sites in the secondary lymphatics where the cellular immunotherapy is bound and sequestered, without the use of cytotoxic preconditioning.

Cellular immunotherapies need to remain in the circulation or at the site of injection for extended periods of time in order to effectively find and participate in killing cancer or autoimmune activated cells or infectious agents. Unfortunately, the cellular immunotherapies are rapidly, typically within one hour after injection, cleared from the circulation or site of injection unless cytotoxic chemotherapy or radiation preconditioning has been done (Muranski Nat Clin Pract Oncol. 2006 December; 3(12): 668-681.; Kalos M et al. Sci Transl Med. August 10; 3(95) (2011); Rosenberg et al., Clin. Cancer. Res. (2011)). The prevailing thought has been that preconditioning enhanced adoptive cell transfer or therapy (ACT) effectiveness by eliminating Tregs and competing elements of the immune system called 'cytokine sinks' that would use up cytokines needed for optimal activation of ACT (Muranski Nat Clin Pract Oncol. 2006 December; 3(12): 668-681 page 2 paragraph 3, page 4 paragraph 4; U.S. Pat. No. 9,855,298 B2 January/2018, Bot page 29 Detailed Description of the Invention first paragraph). Several investigators have observed that the cellular immunotherapies rapidly bind and accumulate in the lung, liver, spleen, and secondary lymphatics (Kershaw M H et al. Clin Cancer Res. October 15; 12(20 Pt 1):6106-15 (2006)); (Ritchie D S et al. Mol Ther. November; 21(11):2122-9 (2013); (Cheadle J Immunol Apr. 15, 2014, 192 (8) 3654-3665). Kershaw concluded that the cellular immunotherapy signal in the lung and spleen was due to the cells being sticky and non-selectively trapped (page 6114, paragraph 3), while Cheadle concluded that the spleen accumulation observed in mice was a chronic toxicity manifested as a granuloma formation (page 3654, abstract).
Because of the toxicities associated with chemotherapy or radiation and the contribution of the chemotherapy to neuroedema and cytokine release syndrome after ACT, there is a need to develop safer and less cytotoxic methods to precondition patients to allow cellular immunotherapies to remain in the circulation or at the site of injection for extended periods of time.
While chemotherapy and radiotherapy have often been used to precondition patients prior to ACT, most leaders in the field teach that steroids or other immunosuppressive medications are specifically excluded for at least 3 days prior to NK administration (Klingemann H, Transfusion. 2013 February;53(2):412-8 page 3 Study Design, paragraph 3), and in adoptive cell therapy clinical trials steroid use is commonly an exclusion criteria for patient enrollment. For instance see the ACTIVATE clinical trial exclusion criteria #2 which specifically excludes systemic steroid or other immunesuppressant therapy within 7 days of ACT which in this clinical trial is autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes that have been culture expanded (clinical trial identifier: NCT03158935—current online address: clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03158935). Also see U.S. Pat. No. 9,855,298 1/2018 (Bot et al) which in Example 3 exclusion criteria p Column 54 specifically excludes patients from ACT treatment if they have a current or expected need for systemic corticosteroid therapy. This demonstrates that the field believed corticosteroids were detrimental prior to ACT, and would not have conceived of preconditioning just prior to ACT with glucocorticoids as described in the present patent application. While US2013/0287748 A1 10/2013 (June et al) paragraph 0227 does disclose "In further embodiments, the T cells of the invention [claimed in US2013/0287748 A1] may be used in combination with chemotherapy, radiation, immunosuppressive agents, such as cyclosporin, azathioprine, methotrexate, mycophenolate, and FK506, antibodies, or other immunoablative agents such as CAM PATH, anti-CD3 antibodies or other antibody therapies, cytoxin, fludaribine, cyclosporin, FK506, rapamycin, mycophenolic acid, steroids, FR901228, cytokines, and irradiation. These drugs inhibit either the calcium dependent phosphatase calcineurin (cyclosporine and FK506) or inhibit the p70S6 kinase that is important for growth factor induced signaling (rapamycin) (Liu et al., Cell 66:807-815, 1991; Henderson et al., Immun. 73:316-321, 1991; Bierer et al., Curr. Opin . Immun. 5:763-773, 1993)", June does not explain whether the use of the listed agents "in combination" with the disclosed T cell therapy relates to prior, concurrent or subsequent use, e.g. to manage symptoms. Preconditioning is not suggested.
June references Liu who used cyclosporine, FK506 and rapamycin at 300 nM concentrations and Henderson who used about 100 nM concentrations, which translate to low in vivo doses, of below 0.05 mg/kg.
Prior studies into the use of steroids to precondition a patient prior to ACT had shown this approach to be ineffective. Hinrichs (J Immunother. 2005 November-December; 28(6):517-24.) had evaluated dexamethasone as a preconditioning treatment prior to ACT. In comparison to total body irradiation (TBI), Hinrichs demonstrated that an HED of 0.8 mg/kg administered on day −6, day −4, and day −2 lymphodepleted equivalently to 5Gy TBI. Hinrichs demonstrate that pretreatment with systemic intraperitoneal dexamethasone at 10 mg/kg (HED 0.81 mg/kg) on day −6, −4, and −2 before ACT induced equivalent lymphodepletion compared to radiation, but this pretreatment did not enhance ACT tumor killing. In contrast, Hinrichs discloses that pretreatment with radiation did enhance ACT tumor killing. In the Hinrichs paper, the dexamethasone reportedly caused lymphodepletion as demonstrated by 99% reduced spleen cellularity. However, while Hinrichs reported 99% lymphodepletion, no enhancement of ACT tumor killing was observed. In contrast, Hinrichs observed that radiation does enhance ACT tumor killing. Experiments to repeat Hinrichs reported lymphodepletion, however, demonstrate that the Hinrichs doses of intraperitoneal dexamethasone at 10 mg/kg (HED 0.81 mg/kg) on day −6, day −4, and day −2, do not effectively lymphodeplete peripheral blood lymphocytes. With Hinrichs dosing, only B lymphocytes in the peripheral blood were significantly lymphodepleted, from 10680 (vehicle control) to 3733 live events measured by flow cytometry of CD3-CD19+ cells, a 65% reduction. In contrast, CD3+ T lymphocytes were reduced from 3370 to 2441 live events, only a non-significant 33% reduction. CD3+CD4+ T lymphocytes were reduced from 1779 to 902 live events, only a non-significant 50% reduction. CD3+CD8_T lymphocytes were reduced from 1318 to 1277 live events, only a non-significant 3% reduction. CD3+CD4+CD25+FoxP3+ Tregs were reduced from 198 to 70 live events, only a non-significant 65% reduction. And natural killer (NK) cells were reduced from 1153 to 958 live events, only a non-significant 17% reduction.
Some studies have preconditioned patients with a chemotherapeutic agent, which was administered in combination with dexamethasone. For instance, Shi et al (Br J Haematol. 2008 December; 143(5):641-53.) preconditioned relapsed multiple myeloma patients with fludarabine (Flu, 25 mg/m2 on day −5 to day −2), and dexamethasone (Dex, 40 mg/d on days −5 to −2). This dose of dexamethasone corresponds to approximately 1.14 to 1.6 mg/kg within 72 hours prior to administration of ACT. Lymphodepletion was complete as shown in FIG. 5 of Shi et al with absolute WBC reduced from 10.9e9/L to 0.7e9/L a 94% reduction. Shi et al did not suggest using higher dexamethasone doses. Cell Therapy Catapult has preconditioned patients with fludarabine×5 days 30 mg/m2 intravenous (i.v.) and methylprednisolone×1 day 500 mg i.v. for their A Phase I/II Study of Gene-modified WT1 TCR Therapy in MDS & AML Patients (clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02550535). This dose of methylprednisolone corresponds to a 100 mg dose of Dexamethasone which translates to about 1.4 mg/kg to 2 mg/kg. Additionally, both the Shi publication and the Cell Therapy Catapult trial preconditioned with repetitive doses of chemotherapy. Furthermore, methylprednisone increases Tregs, an undesireable response in the cancer patient where Tregs limit T cell tumor killing (Braitch Acta Neurol Scand. 2009 April; 119(4): 239-245; Mathian PLoS One. 2015; 10(12): e0143689).
Because of the toxicities associated with chemotherapy or radiation and the contribution of the cytotoxic preconditioning to neuroedema and cytokine release syndrome after ACT, there is a need to develop safer and less cytotoxic methods to precondition patients to allow cellular immunotherapies to remain in the circulation or at the site of injection for extended periods of time.

Replacement of cytotoxic preconditioning before cellular immunotherapy


The present invention provides an earphone recognition method and an earphone recognition apparatus. The earphone recognition method includes: an acquisition step: when a user wears the earphone, acquiring left and/or right ear structure information, collected by the earphone, of the user; and a sending step: sending the left and/or right ear structure information to a terminal, so that the terminal determines whether the user correctly wears the earphone according to whether the left and/or right ear structure information matches left and/or right ear structure information acquired when the user correctly wears the earphone for the first time. By means of the solutions of the present invention, even though the user wears the earphone conversely, the user can still hear proper high-quality sound, and further, the listening experience of the user is improved.

With the development of science and technology, the quality of music output by electronic devices is getting better and better, more and more users will use high-quality earphones to enjoy the music, browse videos and dial voice calls and the like, however, once the users wear the earphones conversely, the sound heard by the users will be very uncomfortable, and the quality of the stereo sound generated by the earphones will be greatly reduced.
Therefore, in order to prevent the users from wearing the earphones conversely, the current common means is to mark "L" and "R" on the earphones to distinguish left and right sound channels, but when wearing the earphones, the users often do not bother to distinguish the identification symbols "L" and "R" of the left and right sound channels on the earphones, moreover, in the case of dark environments or low light, it is difficult for the users to distinguish the left and right character identification symbols on the earphones, in addition, the identification symbols of the left and right sound channels on the earphones will be gradually worn and then disappear with the use of the earphones, therefore, even if "L" and "R" are marked on the earphones, the users often wear the earphones conversely, such that the experience effects of the users are poor.
Therefore, when the users wear the earphones conversely, how to enable the users to still hear proper high-quality sound and improve the auditory experience of the users becomes a problem to be solved urgently.

Earphone recognition method and apparatus, earphone control method and apparatus, and earphone

YULONG COMPUTER TELECOMMUNICATION SCIENTIFIC (SHENZHEN) CO., LTD.


A sensor and system for observing the presence, location, movement and/or attitude of one or more objects to be monitored includes a sensor detecting presence, location, movement and/or attitude. The sensor includes two detectors, which are adapted to measure in two measuring ranges that are at a different height, of which the measuring range of the first detector is a lower measuring range and the measuring range of the second detector is an upper measuring range. The sensor further includes a third detector, which is adapted to detect an item, such as a towel or clothing article, placed in front of and/or on top of the first detector, second detector and/or third detector.

The monitoring of the condition of elderly people in a home environment is indispensable if it is desired to lengthen the possibility of an aging population coping in its home environment. Safety bracelet systems are widely used. Their weakness is that the user must wear the bracelet continuously and must be able to press the alarm button in an emergency. Bracelets that check the state of health also exist, but one of their problems is false alarms.
Prior art has also sought solutions in which a film that is of piezoelectric material is installed on the floor, which film registers pressure changes caused by movement on the surface of the floor. Also known in the art is the use of sensors to be installed on the floor, or under it, that detect the presence and movements of people without a change in pressure by means of capacitive sensors.
The possibility of using videocameras, movement detectors that are based e.g. on detecting infrared light, or e.g. ultrasound sensors, for monitoring the condition and state of elderly people is also presented in prior art.
For example, specification WO2012164169 discloses a method and a system known in the art that are based on ultrasound technology for tracking objects.
A drawback of observation and monitoring systems known in the art is that a user can easily cover the sensors performing the measuring, e.g. by inadvertently placing a towel or an article of clothing on top of a sensor, and in such a case the system no longer detects the movements of the user. Systems known in the art also do not issue an alarm about items in the measuring range of a sensor that prevent successful performance of the measurement.


The invention pertains to a method for estimating the attention level of the driver of a vehicle in a traffic lane, comprising the following steps: —the continuous capture of images (10) of the ground, —the reconstruction of an aerial view (11, 12) of a ground segment at successive instants t, —the reconstruction of an aerial view (11, 12) of a road segment at successive current instants t, —the estimation of the lateral position of the vehicle (100) in the reconstructed aerial view (11, 12), and the storage of said estimated positions of the vehicle, —the determination of an estimated attention level of the driver at a past instant t3, as a function: o of the evolution of the lateral position of the vehicle, o of the analysis of the profile of a road portion at least partially situated upstream of the vehicle at the instant t3.

The present invention pertains to the field of devices designed for assisting the driving of vehicles, in particular to methods for assessing a driver's attention.
The invention relates more specifically to a method for assessing the ability of the driver of a vehicle to keep the vehicle in its traffic lane, in order to assess his level of attention and, if necessary, to warn him when he potentially unwillingly crosses a delimitation line of a traffic lane.
Today, motor vehicles include many driver assistance systems. These systems are referred to by an acronym well known to those skilled in the art of ADAS, or Advanced Driver Assistance Systems.
More and more motor vehicles now come equipped with such driver assistance systems. Most of the functions provided by these ADAS systems require the vehicle to be able to detect the lane in which it is located.
Among these functions, the association of transmission data from a frontal camera, capturing images of the road, in front of the vehicle, and data from a camera located in the passenger compartment, filming the face of the vehicle driver, can be used to determine a level of attention or inattentiveness of the driver.
Indeed, at present, the development of technologies relating to autonomous vehicles, more recently, to driving assistance functions involving vehicle automation phases, is such that the information relating to the level of attention or inattentiveness of the driver is crucial, especially for the purpose of making a possibly necessary resumption of the control of the vehicle.
In this context, the images from the frontal camera are analyzed so as to estimate the lateral position of the vehicle in its traffic lane, and in particular, to detect a possible unwanted crossing of a traffic lane line.
In the current state of the art, the information relating to the lateral position of the vehicle in its traffic lane is generally available only via the frontal camera and, therefore, it strongly depends on the intensity and availability of the images that it captures.
Some vehicles are indeed equipped with such a frontal camera capable of determining the lateral position of the vehicle in a traffic lane. However, as is known, the data from such a frontal camera can be altered because of the hypothesis used, often erroneous, of "level ground", or because of the hypothesis used, again often erroneous, of the horizontal attitude of the vehicle, etc.
In addition, for all these systems, calibration parameters are required for the cameras to calculate the relative position of the lines relative to the vehicle. This makes them sensitive to any de-calibration event, (e.g., shock on a camera, a change of attitude of the vehicle according to its load, etc.). Likewise, these systems consider that the ground is a horizontal plane in the vehicle marker. This hypothesis is not always verified and this leads to positioning errors when the road goes up or down, or when the road has a deviation on the ground portion used to detect the line.
Thus, according to current practice, the lateral position of a vehicle in a traffic lane is an information variable used by several driving assistance functions including the assessment of the level of attention of the driver, including in combination with an image analysis of the driver's face.
Thus, the system observes, in particular, the evolution of the lateral position of the vehicle over time to estimate a crossing of a traffic lane line and alerts the driver.
The Patent Publication FR2947769_A1 describes a system comprising a camera at the rear of the vehicle, designed to allow the tracking of the vehicle trajectory for the of sending an alert to the driver in case of deviation from a predetermined ideal trajectory. This publication is representative of the state of the art.
Today, the information relating to the position of the vehicle in a traffic lane is generally determined in real time from the images captured by a frontal camera.
However, in addition to the defects related to imprecision, or even the impossibility of estimating the lateral position of the vehicles in their traffic lanes, another defect of these systems is that the calibration parameters of the cameras used must be finely regulated. This makes them sensitive to any type of "de-calibration" caused by, e.g., a shock on a camera, a change of attitude of the vehicle, etc. Similarly, these systems consider that the ground is a horizontal plane in the vehicle marker, which constitutes an overall erroneous hypothesis.
Moreover, in order to assess the level of attention of the driver and to effectively detect a possible untimely crossing of the line, it is useful to store, by road segment, the evolution over time of the relative lateral position of the vehicle in its traffic lane.

Device and method for estimating the attention level of a driver of a vehicle


Embodiments of the invention are directed to methods and systems for detecting incompatibilities in a computer system. The method includes logging incoming requests to a target component; receiving changes to the target component; analyzing the changed target component; performing a simulation to determine the compatibility of the target component with respect to one or more other components, and upon the finding of an incompatibility causing a notification.

The present invention relates in general to the field of computing. More specifically, the present invention relates to systems and methodologies for detecting software incompatibilities within a system stack.
In modern computing systems, computer software is occasionally updated for a variety of reasons. The software might be updated to provide additional functionality, to maintain compatibility with new versions of an operating system, or to fix various issues. A change to one piece of software can impact other pieces of software or other hardware, sometimes in manners not readily foreseeable. A software developer can be interested in seeing how their changes affect other portions of a computer system.

Detecting software incompatibilities within a system stack

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A device for storing shaving razor blades in a manner which prolongs usability includes containment for storing cleaned razor blades and for storing a razor handle. The interior of the housing compartment comprises a reservoir configured for retaining a volume of a cleaning and preserving solution. After shaving, a user detaches the razor blade from the handle and places it within a blade cleaning assembly which provides a means to submerge the blade into the solution. The razor blade is then retrieved for subsequent shaving. The device also provides a removable blade cartridge being especially useful for storing clean blades while traveling.

There are many different methods of shaving available to the consumer today. Various electrical shavers, depilatory creams and lotions, wax treatments, and the like are available for both men and women. But perhaps the most common method of shaving used is still the razor blade. Most shavers today use a common shaving handle which accepts disposable blade mechanisms. After the blades become dull, the user simply replaces them in order to obtain a close shave. However, such replacement blades are very expensive and are likely to be only slightly cheaper than a new razor blade and handle system. Accordingly, there exists a need for a means by which razor blades as used as part of a shaving system can be provided with increased usable life in order to reduce periodic replacement costs.
One (1) of the primary downsides of this method is that such replacement blades are very expensive and are likely to be only slightly cheaper than a new razor blade and handle system. As such, the vast percentage of money spent on these razors is due to the razors. However, the razor blades are difficult to maintain due to the fact that they are in contact with various chemicals and with the user's face and are often stored while wet, factors contributing to degradation, rusting, dulling, and dirtying of the blades. As a result, razors are discarded more frequently than they would be if not exposed to the factors described above.
Having recognized the abovementioned problems, the inventor observed there remains a need for a means by which razor blades as used as part of a shaving system can be provided with increased usable life in order to reduce periodic replacement costs.
Several attempts have been made in the past to provide such an hygienic storage system for razors. U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,594, in the name of Cobb, discloses a container that receives and supports a razor so the cutting implement is in close proximity to a corrosion inhibitor, essentially a wicking material impregnated with an agent. Unfortunately, the Cobb invention is not under the overall scope of the present invention in that it does not provide a storage means for individual blades that can be removed for transport.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,007,533, issued in the name of Purohit, describes a wet blade storage apparatus comprising a razor holder supporting a razor and blade within a vessel of mineral oil. The present invention also comprises a removable container for the razors and blades and a portable carrying case for individual blades.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,657, issued in the name of Cox, discloses a housing attachable to a blade portion of a razor filled with a mineral oil and biocide solution. Unfortunately, the Cox device only attaches to n individual razor and does not provide a means to store and clean multiple razors and their blades as well as it does not provide a portable carrying case for individual blades.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,634,492, issued in the name of Cox, discloses a housing filled with a mineral oil and biocide solution and a stand to enable the upright position of a razor so that its blade is submerged in the solution. Unfortunately, the Cox device only attaches to n individual razor and does not provide a means to store and clean multiple razors and their blades as well as it does not provide a portable carrying case for individual blades.
None of the prior art particularly describes a storage system for cleaning and transporting razor blades and razors.

Razor blade storage and sterilization device


Security barrier comprising at least one barrier structure (10) and at least one gate (1), wherein the barrier structure (10) comprises one or more bottom panels (20) and the gate (1) forms a closable passage through the security barrier and wherein the gate (1) comprises at least one base element (2), wherein in installed state of the security barrier one or more of said one or more bottom panels (20) rest upon the at least one base element (2), such that the gate (1) is at least partly held in place by the barrier structure (10) and gate (1) for a such security barrier.

Security barriers are used to prevent people, animals etc. from intruding a certain area. Many countries have one or several security barriers for protecting their national borders, in order to prevent people from other countries from immigrating. Also industrial sites, nature reserves, military sites or other areas/grounds are surrounded with security barriers to prevent intrusion of people and animals. These security barriers need to be solid and strong in order to effectively stop potential intruders. They also need to be able to absorb impacts from vehicles such as cars, trucks etc. because people can attempt to destruct a part of the security barrier by crashing into the security barrier with a moving vehicle. Security barriers can be used for temporary, semi-permanent or permanent access protection of areas.
These security barriers often comprise several barrier structures, such as gabions or fence structures and one or several gates such that certain people can access the area when desired. These gates are located between two barrier structures and connected to these barriers structures, such that the security barrier forms one continuous structure.
These gates and the connections between the gates and the barrier structures often form weaker spots in the security barrier, such that potential intruders try to pass the security barrier in the proximity of the gates. To prevent the gate from forming a weaker spot, these gates are sometimes embedded in concrete and/or comprise posts which need to be deeply anchored in the ground. However the installation of such a security barrier is labor intensive and also requires additional material, namely concrete. Security barriers are sometimes placed in remote places where it is difficult to get or to produce concrete. Also the use of deeply anchored posts and concrete does not strengthen the connection between the gate and the barrier structure.

Gate and security barrier comprising a gate


Display packaging for soft toys, in particular, dolls, that allows a doll to be stably displayed upright in a standing or upright position on a retail display shelf, while allowing the doll's costumes and other attributes to be displayed to a purchaser and/or and child accompanying the purchaser unimpeded by any packaging elements and in a more life-like manner is described.

The rapid and virtually unlimited development of toy products within the marketplace has been largely matched by the development of innovative product packaging and product packaging techniques. Toys, for example, have become increasingly entertaining, amusing, colorful and sophisticated and packaging for such toy products have often been developed to make the packaging more colorful, informative, eye-catching and entertaining.
The display of soft toys or soft dolls in particular has traditionally posed certain problems due to the fact that the dolls are generally haphazardly placed onto a retailer's shelves, or if the dolls are neatly arranged they become disarrayed or fall over as customers move them when they are moved and removed from the shelf for purchase. Thus, a neat and orderly display of such dolls in a standing or upright position is desired so as to enhance the appearance of the dolls at the point of purchase.
Additionally, in the case of soft dolls, the doll's costumes which may include items such as long dresses or gowns, flowing hair, and head decorations are often times obscured by the doll's packaging which impedes the purchaser, and/or a child accompanying the adult purchaser, from viewing the entirety of the doll's appearance. Particularly in the case of dolls based on well-known animated or fairy tale characters, the entire appearance of the doll, including its pose, is particularly important since a purchaser and/or child will be viewing the overall appearance of the doll in order to match the doll's appearance with the corresponding familiar character image known from cinema, print media, or other sources. Adopting packaging which places the doll in a stable standing or upright position in a particular pose and which allows it to have its costume elements such as a long dress and hair to flow in a more life-like and attractive manner without obstructing the views thereof is therefore advantageous.
It is also important to maintain a focus on the environmental impact of packaging, i.e., the particular materials used and whether they are used minimally so as to respond to environmental concerns


The invention relates to a computer-implemented system and method for providing travel information to a customer of a business such as a financial institution, according to one example. The method may comprise the steps of: acquiring customer profile data, acquiring customer location data, acquiring merchant location data within an airport, acquiring flight status data; acquiring product availability data; transmitting a first data set to the customer's mobile device after the customer arrives at the airport providing a departure time for the flight and a travel time period from a current location of the customer to a location of a departure gate; transmitting a second data set identifying amenities located along a route from the customer's current location to the departure gate, wherein the amenities are identified based on the customer profile data; and transmitting a third data set to the customer's mobile device comprising merchant product availability information and an invitation for the customer to order the product before arriving at the merchant.

Various efforts have been made to devise a system that provides useful information to a traveler. For example, many airlines distribute software applications (also referred to as "apps") that run on a mobile phone or a tablet computer. These apps provide flight status information and gate information for the traveler. Other third party apps (such as Google Maps) provide navigation for a traveler driving from his or her home to the airport. However, the amount of information these apps provide can be rather limited. For example, the airline app may simply inform the traveler of the status of the flight (e.g., delayed by 25 minutes, canceled, on time, etc.) and the gate number. The Google Maps app may not work particularly well inside the airport building. Hence, the traveler's experience getting to a flight can often be unpredictable and stressful. Furthermore, in most cases, the traveler does not know how long it will take to walk to his or her gate of departure, or what stores and/or amenities will be nearby when he or she gets there. Consequently, to avoid missing a flight, the traveler may get to the gate very early only to find no desirable amenities nearby. These and other drawbacks exist in existing apps and systems.
It would be desirable, therefore, to have a system and method that enhanced the traveler's experience by providing useful, timely information about the timing and location of available services, vendors and other amenities, and location and timing information relative to the traveler's departure gate.

System, method, and computer readable medium for providing travel assistance


A method of constructing a bedplate assembly for retention of a crankshaft in an internal combustion engine having an engine block includes forming a bedplate insert in a first pattern tool. The bedplate insert is defined by a height, a width, and a thickness. The bedplate insert also includes a shape having a variation in the width along the height. The method also includes arranging the formed bedplate insert in a second pattern tool. The method additionally includes forming in the second pattern tool a bedplate frame around the formed bedplate insert to generate the bedplate assembly. During forming of the bedplate frame, the variation in the width of the bedplate insert generates an internal rib in the bedplate frame that is configured to fix and retain the bedplate insert inside the bedplate frame and decrease deflection of the bedplate frame under crankshaft loads during operation of the engine.

Internal combustion engines (ICE) are often called upon to generate considerable levels of power for prolonged periods of time on a dependable basis. In order to achieve such dependable engine operation, many such ICE assemblies employ a bedplate to rotatably support the engine's crankshaft and affect retention thereof to the engine's cylinder block.
The bedplate is a structural member that typically incorporates crankshaft bearing supports and includes a perimeter wall with transverse webbings and intersecting ribs to withstand engine vibrations. As such, a bedplate is generally employed in place of individual bearing supports or caps for improved durability and quiet operation of a particular engine at elevated operating loads and rotational speeds.