The process comprises acquisition of experimental data from measurements of physical quantities by means of at least one sensor associated to the object. The process comprises a first reliable estimation of a first range of values with a first method. The process comprises at least one additional estimation of an additional range of values with a different method. The methods each present a predetermined reliability. The ranges of values are successively observed in order of decreasing reliability of the corresponding methods. Each additional range of values is compared with the range of values corresponding to the previous method according to said order. The additional range is chosen as result when the additional range is comprised in the range corresponding to one of the previous methods.

The invention relates to a process for estimating the motion phase of an object comprising acquisition of experimental data from measurements of physical quantities by means of at least one sensor associated to the object, the process comprising a first reliability estimation of a first range of values with a first method.

Process for estimating the motion phase of an object


A golf club head comprising a hinged face component is disclosed herein. The face component is preferably a partial face cup with striking face, a flange, and a grooved hinge region between the striking face and the flange, which allows the striking face to flex and improves the sound of the striking face when it makes contact with a golf ball. The face component can be L-shaped, r-shaped, or cup shaped, and the groove preferably extends along the entire horizontal length of at least one hinge. In other embodiments, the groove may extend along a horizontal midline of the rear surface of the face cup striking face.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a golf club head, particularly a putter, with a face component comprising a hinged portion.
Description of the Related Art
The prior art discloses many different types putter faces, including inserts made of different types of polymers and/or metal materials. There is, however, still a need for a putter face that provides greater spin control.


This invention is directed to treatments for dyed textile goods that will improve their fastness properties. More particularly, the invention is directed to certain fixatives that, when placed on the dyed textile, allow the dye to be permanently or substantially permanently affixed to the fabric. The dye-reactive fixative comprises a water-soluble or water-dispersible polymer or oligomer having reactive groups that react with a dye on a dyed web to affix the dye to the web.

The present invention is directed to the field of fiber and textile dyeing. More specifically, this invention relates to dye fixatives and their use in providing substantially permanent retention of dye color in textiles.
Poor washfastness, that is, the leaching and bleeding of dye stuffs from fabrics, along with poor crockfastness, or the removal of dye from fabric when it is abraded, are two significant problems that to one degree or another must be overcome for any dyed good to be used commercially. Some loss of dye will take place from dyed textiles during washing and/or abrasion with all categories of dyes, including sulfur dyes, direct dyes, and vat dyes, e.g., indigo.
A number of coatings or reagents have been developed to improve the fastness properties of dyed textiles. For example, for direct dyes copper aftertreatments and diazotization/coupling have been used to improve fastness. However, the copper (II) ion that is employed in copper aftertreatments is not environmentally friendly, and diazotization requires chemical reactions to be performed on the absorbed dyes in the fibers. For vat dyes, fastness may be improved by soaping (that is, a treatment with a hot aqueous solution of a surfactant), which causes the dye molecules to rearrange and crystallize. Soaping may, however, substantially change the shade of the dyed good and the process can be time-consuming.
This invention is directed to treatments for dyed textile goods that will improve their fastness properties. More particularly, the invention is directed to certain fixatives that, when placed on the dyed textile, allow the dye to be permanently or substantially permanently affixed to the fabric. The dye-reactive fixative comprises a water-soluble or water-dispersible polymer or oligomer having reactive groups that react with a dye on a dyed web to affix the dye to the web. The dye-reactive fixative, in one embodiment, comprises a polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymer or oligomer that is terminally capped with glycidyl groups or with oxirane rings in other forms, such as epoxycyclohexyl groups. In another embodiment, the dye fixative comprises a mixture of functionalized or unfunctionalized PEG and poly(butadiene), preferably maleinized polybutadiene. In a further embodiment, the dye-reactive fixative comprises a silicone that is terminally capped with epoxide groups or with groups that form anhydrides.
The invention is further directed to the process for treating dyed textiles and other webs with a dye-reactive fixative preparation, wherein the fixative compound or mixture is applied to the fiber, yarn, textile, or other web. In a presently preferred embodiment, the dyed web is placed into the fixative preparation (dipped), then padded and dried in a single continuous process.
This invention is further directed to the dyed fibers, yarns, fabrics, textiles, finished goods, or nonwovens (encompassed herein under the terms xe2x80x9ctextilesxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwebsxe2x80x9d) treated with the dye-reactive fixative preparation. Such textiles and webs exhibit a greatly improved colorfastness and resistance to fading, even after multiple launderings.
The dye-reactive fixative preparation of the invention comprises, in one embodiment, a glycidyl- or other oxirane-containing polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymer or oligomer. Without being bound by theory, it is believed that the PEG fixative preparation covalently binds to the dye. These dye-reactive PEG preparations provide improved colorfastness and retention of the dye on the textile or web fiber structure.
In one presently preferred embodiment, the dye-reactive PEG fixative comprises a coating or finish composed of a polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymer or oligomer that is terminally capped with glycidyl groups. Other PEG derivatives that contain 1, 3, or more glycidyl groups are also possible, as are PEG oligomers and polymers that contain oxirane rings in other forms, such as epoxycyclohexyl groups. The PEG oligomers and polymers may contain from one ethylene glycol unit up to many thousands. Copolymers of ethylene glycol and propylene glycol that contain one or more oxirane moieties may also be employed. This invention is not limited to oxirane groups as reactive groups on PEG, or copolymers thereof. Reactive groups derived from cyanuric chloride or based on vinyl sulfones or anhydrides may also be used, as well as silicones with epoxide groups or with groups that form anhydrides. Additionally, N-methylol compounds including dimethylol dihydroxyethylene urea (DMDHEU), dimethylol urea (DMU), dimethylol ethylene urea (DMEU), formaldehyde, and the like can be used.
Without being bound by theory, it is believed that glycidyl groups on PEG react with sulfhydryl groups (xe2x80x94SH) (reactions 1a and 1b, below) in sulfur dyes, or with amines (reactions 2a and 2b, below) in other dyes, e.g., direct, vat, sulfur, acid, and disperse dyes. The PEG preparation will crosslink the dye molecules together. Sulfhydryl groups should be present on sulfur-dyed goods because of incomplete coupling to produce disulfides during dye application. The amine group, which is usually attached to an aromatic ring structure but may be aliphatic, is widely found in dye structures. Any crosslinking between dye molecules should increase the substantivity of the dyes in the textile, and a greater degree of crosslinking is to be expected if more than one nucleophilic group is present on the dye. Reactions with hydroxyl, carboxyl, or other nucleophilic groups on dyes may occur. It should also be possible for some oxirane groups to react with nucleophiles that are part of the fiber, such as hydroxyls, amines, carboxyls, sulfhydryls, etc. If such reactions do occur, they would also be expected to increase the substantivity of the dyes.
PEG and the reactive groups taught herein have a number of advantages. PEG is readily available, inexpensive, water-soluble or water-dispersible, and of low toxicity. It also has a low Tg, which may help soften the hand of textiles to which it is applied. PEG that is endcapped with glycidyl groups is commercially available in a variety of molecular weights (from, for example, Aldrich) and is reasonably priced. PEG can also be derivatized with cyanuric chloride; the resultant compound can react with dyes and reactive textiles (e.g. cellulosics).
Another approach to improving colorfastness is to add polymeric xe2x80x9cnetsxe2x80x9d to the dyed textile. These nets may react with the textiles and provide physical barriers preventing dye loss during washing. The nets may also chemically react with the dye, thus affixing the dyes to the fabric through chemical bonds. A preferred embodiment of this approach uses a combination of hyperbranched polyethylenimine (PEI) and solubilized chlorotriazines to form textile- and dye-reactive nets.
It should be recognized that seemingly small chemical changes on a dye structure can shift its absorption spectrum and, therefore, the shade on a fabric. For aromatic systems, the electron-donating capability of pendant groups increases in the following order: xe2x80x94OR, xe2x80x94OH, xe2x80x94NH2, xe2x80x94NHR, xe2x80x94NR2, where R is an alkyl group. Therefore, reactivity of an amine that is pendant on an aromatic system with a glycidyl group is expected to red-shift the absorption maximum of the dye, and similar reactivity of a hydroxyl group should blue-shift its absorption maximum.
Some possible reactions of diglycidyl-PEG with sulfhydryls and amines are illustrated below:
The present invention is further directed to the dyed fibers, yarns, fabrics, finished goods, or other textiles (encompassed herein under the terms xe2x80x9ctextilesxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cwebsxe2x80x9d) treated with the dye-reactive PEG fixative. These textiles or webs will display improved colorfastness and retention of the dye on the textile or web fiber structure, even after multiple launderings.
The colorfast webs of the present invention are intended to include fabrics and textiles, and may be a sheet-like structure (woven, knitted, tufted, stitch-bonded, or non-woven) comprised of fibers or structural elements. Included with the fibers can be non-fibrous elements, such as particulate fillers, binders, sizes and the like. The textiles or webs include fibers, woven and non-woven fabrics derived from natural or synthetic fibers or blends of such fibers, as well as cellulose-based papers, and the like. They can comprise fibers in the form of continuous or discontinuous monofilaments, multifilaments, staple fibers, and yarns containing such filaments and/or fibers, which fibers can be of any desired composition. The fibers can be of natural, man-made, or synthetic origin. Mixtures of natural fibers, man-made fibers, and synthetic fibers can also be used. Examples of natural fibers include cotton, wool, silk, jute, linen, and the like. Examples of man-made fibers include regenerated cellulose rayon, cellulose acetate, and regenerated proteins. Examples of synthetic fibers include polyesters (including polyethyleneterephthalate), polyamides (including nylon), acrylics, olefins, aramids, azlons, modacrylics, novoloids, nytrils, aramids, spandex, vinyl polymers and copolymers, vinal, vinyon, Kevlare, and the like.
To prepare the webs, the fiber, the yarn, the fabric, or the finished good is dyed in the normal manner and is then exposed (by methods known in the art such as by soaking, spraying, dipping, fluid-flow, padding, and the like) to an aqueous solution or dispersion of the dye-reactive PEG fixative. The treated web is then removed from the solution and dried. The dye-reactive functional groups on the PEG fixative compound react, by covalent bonding, with the dye on the textile or web to permanently or substantially permanently affix the dye to the textile.
Additional additives may be included in the dye-reactive PEG fixative bath. For example, a hydroxyl-containing polymer, such as poly(vinyl alcohol) or starch, may be added to help improve colorfastness. Softeners, such as maleinized polybutadiene for example, or surfactants may also be added. A variety of other chemicals, including but not limited to wetting agents, antioxidants, salts such as sodium sulfate or sodium chloride and acids, bases, or salts that buffer the solution may also be present.


A developing device including a first frame including a first welding surface and a second frame including a second welding surface, wherein the first frame and the second frame are welded so that the first welding surface and the second welding surface are opposite to each other, and wherein the developing device further includes: a seal member that is adhered to a first adhesion surface of the first frame and a second adhesion surface of the second frame, wherein the seal member covers a first side end portion from a first side in an orthogonal direction at an opposite part, where the first welding surface and the second welding surface are disposed opposite one another; and a filling agent that is filled between the seal member and the first side end portion in the orthogonal direction at the opposite part.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a developing device that is provided to an image forming apparatus such as laser printer.
2. Background
In an image forming apparatus, it is known a related printer including a process cartridge, which has a drum cartridge holding a photosensitive drum and a developing cartridge holding a developing roller and removably mounted to the drum cartridge, is removably mounted.
As the developing cartridge mounted to the printer, a developing cartridge has been provided to which a lower frame holding a developing roller and an upper frame assembled to the lower frame are welded.
In the developing cartridge, the upper frame has a main body part having a plate shape and a beam-shaped part mounted to a front end of the main body part, and a welding rib to be welded to upper surfaces of a left sidewall, a right sidewall and a rear sidewall of the lower frame is formed at a periphery of a lower surface of the main body part. In other words, the welding rib is continuously formed on the lower surfaces of left, right and rear end portions of the main body part, and the welding rib has a substantial U shape having an opened front side.
When welding the upper and lower frames, a second seal member, which is to be squashed by front end portions of the welding rib, is sandwiched between the beam-shaped part of the upper frame and the left-and-right sidewalls of the lower frame, and then a second seal member is welded together with the front end portions of the welding rib.
In addition, when the upper frame and the lower frame are welded to each other, a front side end of the beam-shaped part of the upper frame is substantially flush with front end of the left-and-right sidewalls of the lower frame.
A first seal member is adhered to straddle over both the front side end of the beam-shaped part of the upper frame and the front end of the left-and-right sidewalls of the lower frame.
The second seal member suppresses toner leakage from between the beam-shaped part of the upper frame and the left-and-right sidewalls of the lower frame. The first seal member suppresses toner leakage from between the front side end of the beam-shaped part of the upper frame and the front face of the left-and-right sidewalls of the lower frame.


A dual plate organic electroluminescent display (ELD) device includes a first substrate and a second substrate having a plurality of sub-pixels, a gate line and a data line disposed on a first substrate and crossing to define one of the plurality of sub-pixels, a driving thin film transistor formed in the one of the sub-pixels, a passivation layer formed on the driving thin film transistor, at least two contact spacers formed on the passivation layer, and a connection electrode formed on the at least two contact spacers and connected to a drain electrode of the driving thin film transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electroluminescent display (hereinafter referring to as "ELD"), and more particularly, to an organic ELD display having a dual-plate structure.
2. Background of the Related Art
Recently, a lot of effort has been made to develop flat displays, such as liquid crystal displays (LCDs), field emission displays (FEDs), electroluminescent displays (ELDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), and the like. Among these flat displays, the LCDs have been widely used in personal information devices, such as personal communication service terminals, laptop computers, TVs, and so on. Since the LCD has disadvantages of a narrow viewing angle and slow response time, a self-luminescent organic ELD has attracted considerable attention.
The organic ELD device utilizes an electroluminescence phenomena, in which an electric field is applied to a negative electrode and a positive electrode formed in the upper and lower sides of an organic emitting layer such that electrons and holes are inserted into and transported into the organic emitting layer so that the electrons and holes are coupled with each other and energy generated when the electrons are coupled with the holes is emitted in the form of visible light. In other words, the electrons and the holes form hole-electron pairs, and the hole-electron pairs emit light when dropping from the excited state to the ground state.
The organic ELD device can be driven at a low voltage and display all colors within a visible spectrum. Also, the organic ELD device can satisfy a variety of consumers' tastes because of its advantages of a fast response time, excellent brightness, and thin films. Moreover, the organic ELD device can be implemented on a flexible transparent substrate, such as a plastic. Since the organic ELD device can be driven under the low voltage, exhibit relatively low power consumption and easily display three colors (green, red, and blue colors), it is ideal for use as the next generation flat display.
The organic ELD device is either a passive matrix type or an active matrix type depending on a driving method thereof. The passive matrix type organic ELD device has a simple structure and therefore, a manufacturing method thereof is also simple. However, the organic ELD device has high power consumption, and has limitations in achieving a large sized organic ELD device. Moreover, the more the number of lines, the lower the aperture ratio. On the other hand, the active matrix type organic ELD device has a high luminescent efficiency and provides a high-density resolution. Hereinafter, an active matrix type organic ELD device having a dual plate structure according to the related art will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an organic ELD device according to the related art, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view highlighting problems of the organic ELD device of FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the related art organic ELD device is fabricated by bonding a first transparent substrate 10 and a second transparent substrate 20 together using a sealant (not shown). A plurality of pixels (luminescent parts) P are defined on the first substrate 10, and thin film transistors T and array lines (not shown) are deposited at respective sides of the respective pixels P. Specifically, on the first substrate 10, gate lines are arranged in a single row, data lines and power lines cross each other and are spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval, switching thin film transistors Ts (not shown) are provided at positions where the gate lines cross the data lines, and driving thin film transistors Tp are provided at positions where the gate lines cross the power lines. Moreover, the switching thin film transistors Ts (not shown) have drain electrodes connected to gate electrodes 12a of the driving thin film transistors Tp. The driving thin film transistors Tp have drain electrodes 15b integrally formed with connection electrodes 41. A set of the gate line, the data line, and the power line defines a sub-pixel, and respective ones of the switching thin film transistors Ts and the driving thin film transistors Tp are provided in the sub-pixel.
On the second substrate 20, first electrodes 21 are formed as transparent hole injection electrodes, insulation layers 31 and separators 32 are disposed at the boundaries of the sub-pixels, organic luminescent layers 22 are formed on the first electrodes 21 between the insulation layers 31 and the separators 32, and second electrodes 23 are formed as electron injection electrodes on the organic luminescent layers 22. The organic luminescent layers 22 and the second electrodes 23 are each formed with separate patterns divided in a unit of the sub-pixel by the insulation layers 31 and the separators 32. The second electrodes 23 are connected to the driving thin film transistors Tp through the connection electrodes 41. Each of the connection electrodes 41 is deposited on the first substrate 10, contacting the second electrode 23 when the first substrate 10 is bonded to the second substrate 20. The connection electrodes 41 contact the second electrodes 23 through contact spacers 42, each of which is formed with a column-shape and a predetermined height between the two substrates to maintain a cell gap.
The organic luminescent layer 22 emits light with colors of red R, green G, and blue B. Generally, separate organic materials for emitting red, green, and blue are patterned in respective pixels. The organic luminescent layer 22 may be either a single layer or multiple layers. If formed with the multiple layers, the organic luminescent layer 22 further includes hole-injection layers and hole-transporting layers disposed near the first electrodes 21, and electron-injection layers and electron-transporting layers disposed near the second electrodes 23. When an electric field is applied to the first electrodes 21 and the second electrodes 23 of the organic ELD device, electrons are injected into the organic luminescent layer 22 from the second electrodes 23, and holes are injected into the organic luminescent layer 22 from the first electrodes 21.
However, the related art organic ELD device and method for fabricating the same has some problems. The related art organic ELD device has the single contact spacer 42 in the sub-pixel, and the connection electrode 41 is formed on the contact spacer 42. As shown in FIG. 2, when patterns 60 (for example, power lines) are further formed under the contact spacer 42 or the insulation layers 61 have uneven thickness, a cell gap of the organic ELD device is uneven. For this reason, when the cell gap in the sub-pixels is uneven, there occurs a problem, indicated by "A" in the drawing, that the connection electrode 41 on the contact spacer 42 does not contact the second electrode 23. In such a situation, the organic luminescent layer cannot be driven.

Organic electroluminescent display device and method for fabricating the same


Laser positioner for punching machines made up of two laser emitters (6) joined to a support (8) solidly fixed to the punching machine, wherein each laser emitter (6) emits a planar light beam, and has a rotational movement enabled in the direction of the emitted light beam (7), in such a way that the intersection of the two planar light beams (7) forms a line of intersection coinciding with the axis of action of the punch (4) of the punching machine.

In the current state of the art, there are basically two ways of performing punching in a determined position of a workpiece using a punching machine.
One of them is based on regulating the stops existing on millimeter rulers that are mounted on the punching work table. By subsequently supporting the workpiece against these stops the punching can be performed in the regulated position. Using this method, the punching position must be measured on the workpiece and these measurements subsequently conveyed to the millimeter rulers in order to thus calibrate the position. For workpieces wherein the punching is positioned on the plane of the workpiece it would not be necessary to measure on the workpiece, and only to convey the measurements of the plane to the millimeter rulers.
The other way consists of marking on the workpiece the position where the punching is required. To do this, this point is centre punched outside of the machine and is subsequently punched, by making the tip of the punch coincide with the marking that has been centre punched on the workpiece. This procedure involves a process that is just as complex as the punching itself, meaning that the accuracy in the position of the centre punching marks the precision of the process. At the same time the need for additional machinery makes it of little interest also from a economic point of view.
In short, both methods described are fairly cumbersome, slow and counter-intuitive, making the manufacture of workpieces that require the punching process an activity that is too painstaking and furthermore unprofitable.
By means of the present invention, the positioning of the workpiece is fast and simple, and the correct positioning of the workpiece can be appreciated at first sight, the process moreover being of a very low cost.


Disclosed is a program for validating a web cache independent of an origin server. A computer in between a client computer and the origin server computer receives a request for a resource and an entity tag (ETag) corresponding to the request. The computer forwards the request to the origin server and subsequently receives the resource. The computer generates an ETag for the received resource and compares the generated ETag to the ETag corresponding to the request. If the ETags match, the computer sends an indication toward the client computer that the resource has not been modified.

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application protocol for distributed information systems and is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web. A client computer submits an HTTP request message to a server computer. The server, which stores content, or provides resources, such as HTML files, or performs other functions on behalf of the client, returns a response message to the client. A response contains completion status information about the request and may contain any content requested by the client in its message body. The HTTP protocol is designed to permit intermediate network elements, such as proxy servers, to improve or enable communications between clients and servers.
An intermediate server between the requesting client computer and the origin server may cache responses from the origin server and return subsequent requests for the same content directly. A cache hierarchy is a collection of caching proxy servers organized in a logical parent/child arrangement so that caches closest to the origin server act as parents to caches closer to the client computer. For example, a request from a client computer to an origin server computer may go through a series of proxy servers arranged in a hierarchical manner. The first proxy server receiving the request searches its cache for the proper content. If the content is not found (termed a "cache miss"), the first proxy server requests the content from the next proxy server in the hierarchical line which in turn searches its own cache. If the "parent" locates the content ("cache hit"), it returns the content to the "child" without passing the request further. The child, in turn, returns the content to the client computer.
When a cache has a stale entry that it would like to use as a response to a client's request, it first has to check with the origin server (or possibly an intermediate cache with a fresh response) to see if its cached (stale) entry is still usable. This is known as "validating" the cache entry. An entity tag, or ETag, is part of the HTTP protocol. More specifically, ETags are part of HTTP version 1.1 or later as earlier versions did not support ETags. ETags are one mechanism that HTTP provides for cache validation, and which allow a client to make conditional requests. This allows caches to be more efficient, and saves bandwidth, as a server does not need to send a full response if the content has not changed.
An ETag is an opaque identifier typically assigned by an origin server to a specific version of a resource found at a uniform resource locator (URL). "Opaque" is used to denote that the ETag is unique to the computer generating the ETag. Another computer generating an ETag on the same version of the same resource would not produce the same ETag. If the resource content at the URL ever changes, a new and different ETag is assigned. Used in this manner, ETags can be quickly compared to determine if two versions of a resource are the same or are different. The use of ETags in the HTTP header is optional.
In typical usage, when a computer requests a resource, the server assigns an ETag to the resource and returns the resource along with the corresponding ETag value, which is placed in an HTTP "ETag" header field. The computer may then cache the resource along with the corresponding ETag. Later, if the computer requests the same resource, the computer sends the request and the ETag, the ETag being in an "If-None-Match" HTTP header field. On this subsequent request, the server may now compare the client's ETag with the ETag for the current version of the resource. If the ETag values match, meaning that the resource has not changed, then the server may send back a very short response with an HTTP "not modified" status. This status tells the computer that its cached version is current and should be used, saving the bandwidth that would otherwise be used to send the resource.

Using entity tags (ETags) in a hierarchical HTTP proxy cache to reduce network traffic

International Business Machines Corporation


A password, unknown to a user to be authenticated by the password, is created by comparing an image provided by the user to a master image. Random differences between the images are found and used to create the password. The password is then validated to determine whether the user is authorized and/or to determine whether a communication provided by the user is to be processed.

Passwords are used in many situations in which authentication of a user is desired or needed. As examples, passwords are used when logging into computing systems, in using credit/debit cards, in communicating electronically, in electronic transactions, in locking/unlocking locks, etc.
There are various types of passwords, including those that are keyed-in and those that are graphical in nature. Passwords that are keyed-in are susceptible to being mistyped, and often, passwords, regardless of type, are forgotten. Passwords must also be protected.
The protection of passwords has become increasingly more difficult. Clever techniques have been created to discover a user's password. For example, key logging programs, which are difficult to detect with anti-virus programs, have been developed that capture every key stroke that is entered through a keyboard. This leaves the user's password vulnerable.
Even graphical passwords are vulnerable to screen shots and/or video display of the graphic images that have been entered.

Graphical password authentication based on pixel differences


The invention includes a method and system for optimizing web visitor conversion—the science of measuring, testing, and improving the rate at which website visitors respond to website content. The system helps website operators create content variations, and then scientifically test and measure the impact of those variations on conversion rates. The invention includes a method of using a reverse proxy server to introduce page variations on existing website content without needing to modify the existing target server. The invention makes it possible to test any number of variations—in any combination—on a target server's visitors. Website operators learn how content variations impact visitor behavior and conversion rates.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to online marketing, advertising, and web functionality. The invention relates more specifically to conversion marketing, namely the science of measuring, testing, and improving the rate at which website visitors respond to website content with a predefined action or actions, including, but not limited to, clicking a link, filling out a web page form, putting an item in a shopping basket, subscribing to a newsletter, or purchasing a product.
2. Description of Prior Art
The greatest challenge for today's website operators is maximizing conversion rates—the number of visitors who make a purchase, register for a new account, sign up for a newsletter, submit a sales lead, adopt a website feature, etc. A website's conversion rate is a measure of how successfully the website persuades visitors to move toward making a conversion.
The conversion process is normally comprised of numerous pages and links. The content on each page (including the text headings of each link) must compel the visitor forward through the site. While a few visitors quickly move forward through a site, the majority of visitors never click to a second page on the average site. Of the few that do click to a second page, only a small percent follow through with any conversion action on the site.
To optimize web conversions, the website operator must figure out how best to speak to the site's visitors, in a way that they understand, telling them what they need to know at each point in the conversion process. Specifically, the website operator needs to test variations of website content (including, but not limited to, product descriptions, headlines, calls to action, assurance messages, images, and words that aid site navigation and usability) and determine which are most persuasive to the visitor.
There have been several attempts at optimizing web conversions using variation testing. One model for such testing is a remote content server model. In such a model, a request from a visitor's web browser is sent directly to a website. The website responds with customized content that includes JavaScript code. The JavaScript code subsequently contacts a remote server of the optimization tool vendor. The web browser executes the JavaScript and requests variable web page content from a remote server. Then the remote server processes the web browser's JavaScript request, sending the web browser content variations and tracking the visitor's session, typically using a cookie. The web browser inserts the content variations into the web page to complete rendering.
While the remote content server model provides a relatively simple way to introduce variations into multiple regions on the same page, the model suffers from a number of disadvantages:
1) The website operator must modify a target server's website pages to include the JavaScript code.
2) The web browser must have JavaScript enabled.
3) The web browser may have to make multiple HTTP connections to the remote server, which slows overall page load time.
4) This model cannot track or modify non-HTML content, such as ".TXT," ".XML," ".EXE," or ".PDF" files since JavaScript is not executed for those document types.
5) Since the page is not fully rendered until processed by the end-user's browser, the content that the user sees cannot be recorded for auditing or analysis purposes (which is done by products such as Tealeaf so that the operator's technical staff can investigate problems reported by end users).
6) The model can typically only insert static content into a page (whether the encompassing page itself is statically or dynamically generated). This prevents testing variations of the dynamic content itself, such as the formatting of a catalog page or search engine results.
Another model for testing variations is a remote redirection server model. In this model, a visitor clicks on a static link (HREF) for a website, and the web browser makes a request to a redirect server or redirect page. The redirect server responds with an HTTP "Location" redirect to a link on the target website. The redirect server also tracks a visitor's session, typically using a cookie. The web browser accepts the redirect and automatically requests a new URL from the website. The website then responds with content variations.
The remote redirection server model improves on the remote content server model in that it does not require JavaScript in the web browser. Although the remote redirection server model is able to track clicks and provide variations of any type of content, the model suffers from a number of disadvantages:
1) A website operator must physically create new variations of pages, and must re-code links wherever the resulting page may require a variation.
2) The web browser has to make two requests for a test page (one to the redirect server, and a second for the redirect to the website), which slows overall page load time.
3) Page content cannot be dynamically altered by the testing product.
4) Links may display the URL of the redirect server instead of that of the website.
5) The web browser may display a warning when redirecting from HTTPS to HTTP sites (or vice versa).
Another model for testing variations is an integrated module model. In this model, a visitor's web browser requests content directly from a target website. The target website server is integrated with a marketing optimization module so that the visitor's request is handled within the same system. The integrated marketing module instructs the website how to render content, track actions, and so forth. The website server returns content variations directly to the web browser.
The integrated model uses the website platform's own session management facility and thus can avoid using additional cookies and JavaScript. By integrating the marketing module with the website platform, there are relatively fewer time delays, more content variation options within the same page, and the model can track clicks and provide variations of any type of content. The integrated model, however, suffers from a number of drawbacks:
1) Installing an integrated model is complex, expensive, and time consuming to the website operator.
2) The website operator must reconfigure the website architecture to be compatible with the marketing vendor's integrated module.
3) The integrated module cannot manage marketing tests that span heterogeneous servers. For example, if a website operator runs a vendor's integrated module on a first subdomain (e.g. www1.example.com), but not on a second subdomain of the website (e.g. www2.example.com), then only the first subdomain can use the marketing test module, even though the two systems may host the website jointly.
There are also a number of patents and patent applications that attempt to optimize web conversions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,968,125 "Process For Optimizing The Effectiveness Of A Hypertext Element" (Garrick et al. Oct. 19, 1999) discloses a process for determining the effectiveness of a web page to a visitor by creating alternative and test web pages, sending requests to the test web page, and monitoring the use of the web page and the rate that the web page objective was met and replacing pages with the page most visited.
U.S. Patent Application 20020042738 "Method And Apparatus For Determining The Effectiveness Of Internet Advertising" (Srinivasan et al. Apr. 11, 2002) discloses a method and system for measuring the effectiveness of the layout or appearance of a website advertisement to a visitor wherein different visitors are shown different formats of the same page and response to the page is monitored and statistics are analyzed regarding the responses.
U.S. Patent Application 20030014304 "Method Of Analyzing Internet Advertising Effects" (Calvert et al. Jan. 16, 2003) discloses a method of evaluating Internet advertisement effectiveness that involves collecting Internet activity information associated with a multitude of cookies.
U.S. Patent Application 20030018501 "Adaptive Testing For Conversion-Related Estimates Relevant To A Network Accessible Site" (Shan Jan. 23, 2003) discloses a method and system for processing test data relevant to specific behavior of visitors of a website.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,662,215 "System And Method For Content Optimization" (Moskowitz et al. Dec. 9, 2003) discloses a system and method for determining appropriate website content for consumers comprising a server arrangement, including a "real time content optimization" server, a user computer, and a network, wherein upon request a web page is generated for the user having static and dynamic elements which are tested for user reaction and response.
U.S. Patent Application 20040030597 "Method And System Of Optimizing The Response And Profitability Of A Marketing Program" (Bibas Feb. 12, 2004) discloses a method and system for tracking a consumer's behavior on a website, dynamically changing an advertisement or sales page, and testing a sales page to a subset of the marketing program to optimize the content of the page.
U.S. Patent Application 20040123247 "Method and apparatus for dynamically altering electronic content" (Wachen, Mark et al. Jun. 24, 2004) discloses "[a] method and apparatus for altering electronic content includes a template for assigning variables and values to a section of the content, a generator that creates the permutations of the content, a transmitter that provides the content to a requestor and a evaluator and optimizer that aids in selecting the most optimal permutation of the content."
While the prior art discloses attempts to improve online marketing, none of the web conversion optimization models provides a method of introducing page variations on existing website content without needing to make modifications to existing, back-end, content on the target server. What is needed, therefore is
1) a product that does not require modifications to a target server,
2) a product that does not require web browsers to run JavaScript or accept cookies, and
3) a product that can track visitor actions on any type of request and introduce variations on both statically- and dynamically-generated HTML and non-HTML content.

System and method for optimizing website visitor actions


A cold-heat power generation device includes a thermal power generation device, a CAES power generation device, and an output merging part. A facility includes an LNG vaporizer, a motive power part that burns natural gas vaporized by the LNG vaporizer to convert the natural gas into motive power, and a primary generator that is driven by the motive power part. A facility includes an air compressor that compresses air cooled by the LNG vaporizer, an air tank that stores compressed air discharged from the air compressor, air heaters that heat the compressed air supplied from the air tank with heat generated when the natural gas is burned in the motive power part, an air expander that expands the compressed air heated by the air heaters, and a secondary generator that is driven by the air expander. At the output merging part, output of the primary generator and output of the secondary generator are merged with each other.

JP S58-107806 A and JP S63-230914 A disclose a cold-heat power generation device that uses cold generated when liquefied natural gas (LNG) is vaporized with heat generated by a gas turbine.
JP H04-127850 A discloses a liquid air storage power generation system in which liquid air produced by using cold generated when LNG is vaporized is stored in a tank, and the liquid air in the tank is vaporized as needed to produce motive power for power generation.


A mirror (10) with a pair of vertical dazzle light attenuation zones (24 and 26). Each zone consists of stripes (24a, 24b, . . . 24n, 26a, 26b, . . . 26n) capable of dynamically adjusting the widths and the attenuation intensity of the attenuation zones (24 and 26). The mirror (10) has a multi-layered structure containing a liquid crystal (32). The positions and widths of the stripes are controlled manually via adjustment pushbuttons (20 and 22), or automatically, in response to the intensity of the incident light. When a driver sees during night driving the reflection of the dazzling light in the non-attenuated areas of the mirror, the driver's head is slightly moved, or the driver manually shifts by pushbuttons (20 and 22) the groups of the attenuated stripes (24 and 26) to the position where the dazzling light (L) will be covered by these stripes. The localized attenuation of the mirror's surface will not disturb the overall view observed by the driver through the rearview mirror (10).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to mirrors, particularly to a vehicle rearview mirror which blocks excessive light levels, e.g., caused by headlight glare.
2. Description of Prior Art
During night driving, when a first car is followed by another car which has its bright lights on, these bright lights are reflected from the rearview mirror into the eyes of the car's driver. This can seriously impair the driver's forward vision because the light scatters within the driver's eyes, causing a "veil" or "curtain" of light over the scene. The driver therefore has reduced ability to detect objects which are dimly lit or have little contrast with the background. This situation is known as visibility glare. The driver is normally unable to detect this loss of visibility since it produces no physical sensation. At higher reflected light levels, this glare becomes uncomfortable, resulting in an unpleasant physical sensation in the driver's eyes.
To alleviate this problem, manually actuated rearview mirrors have been developed which include "day" and "night" settings. These day-night mirrors are installed almost in all modern cars and include front and rear mirrors joined at an angle to form a prism and a mechanism for changing the angular orientation of the prism. The front mirror is half-silvered. In the day setting, the rear mirror is angularly set to the working position to provide approximately 80% reflectance. In the night setting, the front mirror is angularly set to the working position to provide only approximately 4% reflectance.
Additionally, automatic day-night rearview mirrors have been developed which automatically switch the mirror prism between full and partial reflectance states in response to sensed light levels. One such mirror is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,057, issued Apr. 17, 1984, to Bauer et al. The Bauer mirror includes a forward light sensor for measuring light in the forward direction, a rear light sensor for measuring light in the rear direction, and a control circuit responsive to the forward and rear light sensors to control the mirror prism.
These automatic mirrors all suffer a common drawback. Specifically, the light sensors used in these mirrors have a response to the electromagnetic spectrum which is substantially different from the spectral response of the human eye. Accordingly, the sensitivities of the light sensors to visible and invisible wavelengths are different from the sensitivities of the human eye. Most notably, light sensors are extremely sensitive to infrared and longer wavelengths which cannot be seen by the human eye. Infrared wavelengths are prevalent in artificial lighting, particularly in tungsten filament bulbs. The light sensors detect relatively high light intensities when viewing headlights, taillights, streetlights, or any other source of infrared wavelengths. Consequently, the reflective element of a mirror incorporating such sensors is driven to an inappropriate reflective state. The mirror therefore is sometimes actuated when not necessary to meet the sensitivity of the human eye. As a result, either inadequate image information is presented to the driver and/or excessive glare from the rearview mirror is directed to the driver's eye.
An attempt has been made to obviate the disadvantages of the above-mentioned light sensors by utilizing filtered light sensors of the type described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,799,768, issued Jan. 4, 1989, to E. Gahan. The Gahan light sensor includes a detector responsive to electromagnetic wavelengths and a filter for filtering the wavelengths received by the detector, so that the spectral response of the light sensor approximates the spectral response of the human eye. Nevertheless, this rearview mirror switches the entire surface of the mirror into the "night" state. Furthermore, this mirror is based on the use of light sensors, and such sensors essentially attenuate the incident light to a certain level, or otherwise reflect the incident light in a certain direction. This causes distortion of a reflected image.
Another disadvantage, common to all two-position prism mirrors, is that such a prism is strictly a dual reflectance device which allows no option for a continuously variable reflectance or for intermediate reflectance states. Dual reflectance mirrors are highly inadequate because they distort and shift images.
A glare-free reflection mirror is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,364, issued Jan. 26, 1988 to H. Itoh et al. This mirror has an electro-optical element, the transparency of which is changed by applying an electrical field to this element. The mirror is divided into a dazzle-free zone in the lower part of the mirror's surface and a non-dazzle-free portion at the rest of the mirror's surface. Such rough regional localization of the
mirror's surface reduces the field of vision at nighttime. Furthermore, the Itoh mirror possesses the same disadvantages as the other sensor-type mirrors described above.
Recently, rearview mirrors using liquid crystal devices having light absorption properties have been designed. One such nonglare mirror is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,617, issued Jun. 9, 1987 to K. Hara. Mirrors of this type incorporate a liquid crystal device. In this device, the orientations of the liquid crystal molecules are changed to absorb light when the amount of the light incident on the mirror exceeds a certain limit.
There are many other dazzle-free mirrors based on the use of liquid crystals which are described in various publications. Each such mirror is aimed at the elimination of certain drawbacks of the existing liquid-crystal mirrors, such as: the prevention of a chemical reaction in the dichromatic dye of the liquid crystal (U.S. Pat. No. 4,848,878 issued Jul. 18, 1989 to E. Lee et al.); the provision of a control device to automatically initialize the antidazzle mirror to a selected mode of a predetermined antidazzle or dazzle state, when power is applied from a battery (U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,145 issued Nov. 22, 1988 to H. Demura, et al.); the elimination of interference fringes which often occur under monochromatic light sources, such as sodium or mercury lamps (found over highways), or the halogen lamps of automobiles (U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,638 issued Mar. 8, 1988 to Y. Shirai), and so forth.
A common disadvantage of all existing liquid-crystal dazzle-free mirrors is that they cannot provide efficient attenuation of the dazzling light. This is because the light attenuation effect is distributed over the entire surface of the mirror, causing the entire mirror to become dim even through a bright light shines in only a small area of the mirror.
An attempt has been made to solve the above problem by providing a liquid-crystal matrix-type reflection mirror with a localized dazzle light attenuation zone. The construction of this mirror is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,168,378, issued Dec. 1, 1992 to Michael Black, et al.
The mirror has a multilayered structure and consists of a broadband reflective base mirror having maximum reflectivity in the range corresponding to the spectral range of halogen lamps of automobile headlights. Deposited on the base mirror are a matrix transparent electrode and a photoconductive layer placed on the matrix transparent electrode. The photoconductive layer and the matrix transparent electrode have a matrix-type structure formed as a pixel array. Each pixel of the matrix transparent electrode is a projection of an overlaid pixel of the photoconductive layer.
The multilayered structure further includes the following subsequent layers: a rear polarizer which has a predetermined axis of polarization and is placed on the photoconductive layer, a common transparent electrode, a liquid crystal sandwiched and sealed between the rear polarizer and the common transparent electrode, a front polarizer, and an antireflection coating.
The mirror has a control circuit connected between the common transparent electrode and the matrix transparent electrode. The control circuit applies a control voltage to the liquid crystal in accordance with the incident light. The pixel enables just the dazzle light zone to be attenuated.
Although the mirror described in this patent will solve the problems described above for concentrated light beams, such as a laser beam, it will not work with optimal efficiency in the case of a vehicle rearview mirror. This is because a diverging beam of automobile's headlights, which reaches the surface of the rearview mirror of a particular vehicle, is much wider than the surface of the mirror itself. In other words, the entire rearview mirror in front of the driver will be illuminated by the beams of the car behind it.
Moreover, the driver sees the reflection of the headlights, and the position of this reflection in the mirror depends on the position of the driver's eyes. In other words, when the driver's head moves, the driver sees the reflection of the headlight in a different place of the mirror, while the entire mirror remains illuminated with a wide beam of the headlights, the width of which in the plane of the mirror is much wider than the width of the mirror. The distance from the driver's eyes to the plane of the mirror is much shorter than the distance from the light source to the plane of the mirror. Therefore a change in the position of the driver's eyes will change the position of the reflected image of the light source seen by the driver to a greater extent than would result from a change in the position of the light source. Thus, the principle of attenuation of one bright point or small zone on the mirror does not work optimally for non-concentrated light beams, such as those emitted by automobile headlights.
Furthermore, since the rearview mirror is located close to the driver's eyes, due to the binocularity of human vision, the driver sees the reflection of the dazzling spot as two images, which are converted in the brain into a single image.
More specifically, when a driver looks with both eyes at a small object located remotely, e.g., at a distance of several meters, the driver sees this object with both eyes as a single image. When this object is moved closer to the viewer's eyes, at a certain distance the viewer sees two images (one for each eye). Therefore, the driver will subconsciously see the dazzling spot. Strictly speaking, the driver sees two dazzling spot images, one with each eye. Thus, even if only a local area of the mirror, corresponding to the reflection of the dazzling point is attenuated, the reflected image of this dazzling spot will not be attenuated completely.
Another disadvantage of this mirror is that it has only two stable conditions, i.e., an attenuated state and a non-attenuated state. In other words, the control voltage of the active matrix is determined by a threshold device and is switched over discretely between the attenuated and the non-attenuated state.

Mirror with dynamic dazzle light attenuation zone


A sensor determines a wide range of air-to-fuel ratio values (A/F) about the stoichiometric A/F in a gaseous mixture which has oxidizing and reducing species as might be found in an automotive exhaust. The sensor includes a surface that serves simultaneously as the working electrode of a solid-state oxygen concentration cell and as a surface whose workfunction changes from a higher to a lower value as the oxidizing and reducing species in the adjacent gas phase, and in interaction with the surface, pass from an excess oxidizing to the excess reducing condition about the stoichiometric ratio. In one embodiment, the surface exposed to the gas in question is the emitter electrode of a thermionic diode which emits positively charged alkali ions into the exhaust ambient where they are collected by a nearby collector electrode. Changes in the ratio of the oxidizing and reducing species about the stoichiometric ratio produce corresponding changes in the thermionic emission. Oxygen pumping to or from the working electrode modifies the thermionic emission in a systematic way to provide a pumping method of operation in which the magnitude of the pump current required to maintain the thermionic emission current at some preset value despite changes in the A/F ratio of the ambient leads to a relationship between pump current and A/F that can be used to sense the A/F.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electrical means to measure over a wide range the ratio of the concentrations of oxygen and other oxidizing gaseous species to the concentrations of the various reducing gaseous species such as hydrocarbons, hydrogen and carbon monoxide as might be found in the automotive exhaust.
2. Prior Art
Under many operating conditions, it is desirable to keep the A/F (the ratio of the mass of air to the mass of fuel) at the input to the cylinders of an internal combustion engine near the so called stoichiometric value. At this value harmful exhaust emissions are minimized (and thus most easily reduced further by an exhaust gas catalyst), because there is just enough oxygen present to react with all of the injected hydrocarbons.
To maintain a tight tolerance on A/F control over the life of the car, widespread use has been made of feedback control methods using the so called exhaust gas A/F sensors as the feedback element. These high temperature, solid state devices detect various aspects of the ratio of the concentrations of oxidizing species (mostly oxygen) and reducing species (a mixture of hydrocarbons, hydrogen and carbon monoxide) in the automotive exhaust. Under steady state conditions these aspects are in turn proportional to comparable aspects of the A/F at the input to the cylinders.
Stoichiometric A/F sensors have a step-like transfer function in which a high/low output is obtained when the ambient gas is, for example, rich/lean of stoichiometry. A very sharp transition between the extreme outputs occurs in a narrow A/F region around stoichiometry. Variations in the output in the regions rich or lean of stoichiometry are generally quite small. One consequence of this type of transfer function is that feedback is accomplished in a limit cycle or oscillatory manner. Thus the A/F oscillates with a period on the order of a second about the stoichiometric A/F. These sensors are fabricated from oxide materials and typically employ either an electrochemical or resistive mechanism. For example, the oxygen ion conducting ZrO.sub.2 doped with Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 is the solid electrolyte used in combination with catalytically active Pt electrodes in most electrochemical devices. Porous TiO.sub.2 dosed with fine grains of Pt particles is frequently used for the resistive devices.
In appropriate circumstances it is desirable to operate rich (excess fuel) or lean (excess air) of the stoichiometric A/F. Thus rich conditions may be required for "cold start" and high "load." Lean conditions favor fuel economy. To obtain the advantages of feedback control under various circumstances, it is desirable to have a wide-range A/F sensor. There are known a variety of electrochemical structures made from the ZrO.sub.2 material mentioned above which combine the processes of oxygen pumping and emf measurements using the oxide cells to obtain a wide range of A/F measurements both rich and lean of stoichiometry with a near linear transfer function. See, for example, those described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,272,329 to Hetrick or a publication by Ueno et al. in "Wide-Range Air-Fuel Ratio Sensor" in SAE Paper No. 860409.

Wide range workfunction based A/F sensor


A cushioned braking system for cushioning the impact of a moving vehicle for amusement for children. The braking system comprises a double ended air cylinder having a first cylinder end and a second cylinder end. A first head member and a second head member close the first and second cylinder ends, respectively. A first piston rod extends axially outward from the cylinder through the first head member. A first piston is on the first piston rod within the cylinder. A second piston rod extends axially outward from the cylinder through the second head member. A second piston is on the second piston rod within the cylinder. A spring assembly resiliently connects the first piston to the second piston within the cylinder. The spring assembly serves to bias the first and second pistons toward a reference position. The cylinder also has a vent for controlling air flow within the cylinder. Contact between a piston rod and a stop causes said piston rod to be forced axially into the cylinder, thereby partially compressing the air in the cylinder and compressing the spring assembly. The spring assembly serves to bias the rod axially outward after the spring assembly has been compressed.

Suspended vehicles of the monorail trolley-type and others are known. The idea of being suspended in mid-air while moving along a track or cable predates the development of monorail technology. Most commonly, adults and children have found amusement in securing a rope or cable across a body of water, suspending themselves from a movable device attached to the rope or cable, sliding part way across the body of water, and then dropping from the device into the water.
Monorail systems also exist where the monorail trolley is intended to travel the full distance of the track. The trolley is usually stopped more or less abruptly after making contact with a stop located at each end of the track.
Monorail systems of this type have practical use in playground systems for the amusement of children. However, when the trolley makes contact with the stop, a child suspended from the trolley is likely to suffer significant injury if the trolley is stopped abruptly. Furthermore, since children often play together, there would be a likelihood that the child holding on to the trolley would be propelled into the stop by other children on the playground. Thus, the child holding onto the trolley could be significantly harmed by falling off the trolley and landing incorrectly, or by being catapulted off the trolley into a support structure or other children playing nearby.
In monorail systems for children, where a child holds on to the trolley until it reaches a stop, there is a need for a braking system which cushions the impact of the trolley to prevent undue harm to the child. The invention provides such a cushioned braking system.

Cushioned braking system for a monorail trolley


The present invention provides a composition for topical treatment of skin and mucosal membrane lesions comprising a synergistic combination of copper compound and hypericum perforatum extract.

Herpes is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) caused by the herpes simplex virus (HSV). There are two types of HSV; Herpes Simplex 1 (HSV1) and Herpes Simplex 2 (HSV2).
HSV1 or mouth herpes is commonly in the form of cold sores on and around the mouth. HSV2 or genital herpes is a much more intense strain commonly found on the genitals. However both types can be found on the mouth or genital areas. It is possible to be infected by both HSV1 and HSV2. Being infected by one particular strain does not make you immune to another.
Recurrent outbreaks of the Herpes virus generally follow a staged progression. The stages are easily identifiable and include prodrome, vesicles, ulceration, crust and healing. Prodrome is generally a short period of tingling, itching, numbness or burning with no visible sign of an outbreak. Vesicles are the formation of one or more fluid-filled blisters, often in a cluster and usually surrounded by sore, red skin. The ulceration stage is when the blisters open to form painful ulcers or open sores. At the edge of the sore, a soft or hard yellow crust begins to appear. Ulcers and painful, sore, red skin persist through this stage. At the crust stage, weeping sores or ulcers become completely covered by a crust or scab. No ulcers or blisters are present. The healing process is manifested by disappearance of the crust, swelling, pain and itching. Skin eruptions due to viral infection, especially Herpes viruses, generally have a normal infective course that lasts from 10 to 60 days depending on the exact causative species and anatomical location of the infection.
After the initial outbreak, the virus usually lies dormant in the skin or in nerve tissue (latent state) until something triggers another eruption or site infection. When the virus reactivates, it characteristically causes a sore at the site where it first entered the body. Often the trigger is unknown, but in some people overexposure to sunlight, fever, physical or emotional stress, hormonal changes such as pregnancy or menstruation, or certain foods and drugs seem to reactivate the virus.
Genital herpes on the other hand is generally considered to be sexually transmitted. An estimated 40 million people of the world population have genital herpes which makes it a chronic viral infection. About 500,000 people get new symptomatic herpes each year and there are even more people without symptoms. It has been estimated that about 20% of the world population have genital herpes and 90% have oral herpes (cold sores).
To date, there is neither a vaccine to prevent the Herpes infection, nor any way to eliminate the virus from the body. The fact that the herpes virus retreats into the nervous system makes it extremely difficult to eliminate completely.
Previous treatments for herpes virus infections have included the topical application of 5% by weight of acyclovir (Zovirax®), oral administration of valacyclovir HCI (Valtrex®) and laser treatments such as Lectroject®. Each of these treatments is expensive to the patient and the effectiveness is quite slow and often painful. Side effects such as headache and nausea are not uncommon when using repeated applications of acyclovir, whilst the Lectroject® laser method of treating herpes increases the possibility of scar tissue formation.
Accordingly, there remains a need for an effective treatment of skin lesions, and in particular, skin lesions associated with viral infections such as Herpes. Most herpes medications act to "suppress" the virus inside the body in order to reduce outbreaks. In contrast, the present inventors have developed a composition which works by substantially eliminating the virus on direct contact at the outbreak site which accelerates the recovery time of the viral outbreaks and reduces the inconvenience and embarrassment of the condition.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The invention relates to the field of producing material that has a low absorbance in the 5 to 15 micron wavelength range. The process is particularly useful for producing single crystals of silver halides for use in manufacturing fiber optic light guides with low optic loss in the medium IR range. This invention covers a totality of process steps and a sequential order in which they are carried out. The process of synthesizing this low IR absorbing material requires careful preparation of raw materials into suitable starting materials, followed by mixing specific ratios of the starting materials. A specific melting process then further purifies the mix. Once this initial purification process is completed, a specialized second purification process is performed on the material from the first process. This second purification process yields the proper material for crystallization via the Stockbarger-Bridgeman method. The final product becomes the starting material for an optical fiber or other optical component, like lenses or windows, with improved IR transmission.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of materials can be used in the middle infrared (IR) range for laser technology and fiber optics.
2. Invention Disclosure Statement
The current state of the art in the production of materials with low absorbency in the IR range has focused on the process for making an improved end product rather than improving the infrared transmission of the starting material.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,870 describes a method for fabricating a fiber capable of transmitting IR light. This fiber is constructed of a silver halide compound that is extruded to form a single crystalline structure for a core and a polycrystalline structure for the cladding. This patent refers to the process of manufacturing the fiber. This patent does not reveal how to produce the actual silver halide composite so as to reduce the absorption of IR radiation.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,955,689 describes the actual fiber produced by the process in U.S. Pat. No. 5,186,870. The formulation used was a halide compound. This patent does not reveal how to produce the actual halide composite so as to reduce the absorption of IR radiation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,960 describes a method of manufacturing an unclad fiber capable of transmitting IR. The process creates a fiber that is more durable and more evenly manufactured than conventional methods. This process does not reveal how to create a silver halide composite that is more transmitting and less absorbing of IR radiation than convention methods.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,575,959 describes a process for making an infrared window. This invention uses a zinc sulfide material with a gallium sulfide additive to produce a material that is highly transmitting to IR. This invention is limited to the making of IR windows using zinc sulfide. This patent also does not reveal how to improve the IR transmission of IR material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,532,000 describes a method for making a crystal fiber through the melting of two polycrystalline fibers. This patent concentrates on the ability to make a fiber that is capable of IR transmission. This invention does not reveal how to make a fiber that has an improved IR transmission or how to improve the materials of the fibers.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,731 describes a method for making a silver chloride fiber with a silver bromide cladding capable of transmitting IR. This invention concentrates primarily on the fabrication of the fiber and not the fiber material. This invention does not reveal how to improve the transmittance of the fiber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,274 describes an invention that improves the extrusion process for drawing fibers by integrating a rapid cooling mechanism. This cooling mechanism at the point of extrusion helps reduce the grain size of the fiber. A reduced grain size will reduce the scattering inside the fiber and therefore increase the transmission of the fiber. This invention, however, does not reveal how to increase the transmission of IR in the starting material prior to the drawing of the fiber.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,583,821 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,360 describe inventions that do improve the starting material used in IR transmission. The improvements, however, are only for the tensile and yield strength of the material not the transmission aspect of the material.
U.S. Pat No. 4,741,752 describes a process for treating a halide glass composition to improve infrared transmission at the wavelength of 2.7 microns by contacting a melt of the composition with dry oxygen without exposing the melt to ambient air. The improvement converts Fe (II) to Fe (III) and thereby reduces loss at the transmission wavelength attributable to Fe (II). The invention does not improve infrared transmission at 10.6 microns, which is the working wavelength of the CO2 laser.
It would be useful to have a process that can synthesize a material that allows greater transmission of IR in the 5 to 15 micron wavelength range than current processes allow.
It is an object of the present invention to describe a process for synthesizing single crystals of material that has a low absorbance in the 5 to 15 micron wavelength range.
It is another object of the present invention to provide single crystals of silver halides that have reduced absorbance in the 5 to 15 micron wavelength range.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide single crystals of silver halides that have improved transmittance at 10.6 microns, the working wavelength of the CO2 laser.
It is yet another object of the present invention to produce a fiber optic light guide for operation over medium IR wavelength range with low optic loss.
Briefly stated the present invention provides a method of synthesizing a material that has a low absorbance in the 5 to 15 micron wavelength range. The method is particularly useful for producing single crystals of silver halides for use in manufacturing fiber optic light guides with low optic loss in the medium IR range. This invention covers a totality of process steps and a sequential order in which they are carried out. The process of synthesizing this low IR absorbing material requires careful preparation of raw materials into suitable starting materials, followed by mixing specific ratios of the starting materials. A specific melting process then further purifies the mix. Once this initial purification process is completed, a specialized second purification process is performed on the material from the first process. This second purification process yields the proper material for crystallization via the Stockbarger-Bridgeman method. The final product becomes the starting material for an optical fiber or other optical component, like lenses or windows, with improved IR transmission.
The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings

Production of material with improved infrared transmission


A control method of a single-port surgical robot, the single-port surgical robot comprising a slave device including a surgical instrument provided with an elbow and an end effector, and a master device to control motion of the slave device may comprise setting a virtual incision port to an arbitrary position; setting an operating position of the end effector; calculating a target position of the elbow using the set position of the virtual incision port and the set operating position of the end effector; calculating a movement angle of each joint used to move the elbow using the calculated target position of the elbow; and/or calculating a movement angle of each joint used to move the end effector using the calculated target position of the elbow and the set operating position of the end effector.

1. Field
Some example embodiments may relate to control methods of single-port surgical robots that enable intuitive manipulation like that of multi-port surgical robots.
2. Description of Related Art
Minimally invasive surgery refers to surgical methods to reduce or minimize the size of an incision. Differently from laparotomy using a relatively large surgical incision through a part of a human body (e.g., the abdomen), in minimally invasive surgery, after forming at least one small port (or incision) of 0.5 cm˜1.5 cm through the abdominal wall, an operator inserts an endoscope and a variety of surgical instruments through the port, to perform surgery while viewing an image.
As compared to laparotomy, minimally invasive surgery has several advantages, such as reduced need for pain medication before, during, and after surgery, ability to use reduced strength and/or non-addictive pain medications, low pain after surgery, early recovery, early restoration of ability to eat, short hospitalization, rapid return to daily life, and superior cosmetic effects owing to a small incision. Accordingly, minimally invasive surgery has been used in gall resection, prostate cancer, and herniotomy operations, etc., and the use range thereof continues to expand.
In general, a surgical robot used in minimally invasive surgery includes a master device and a slave device. The master device generates a control signal corresponding to doctor manipulation to transmit the control signal to the slave device. The slave device receives the control signal from the master device to perform manipulation required for surgery of a patient. The master device and the slave device may be integrated with each other, or may be separately arranged in an operating room.
Surgical robots and associated systems provide numerous other advantages, such as potentially improved precision, better ability to monitor the patient, and ability to record the surgical procedure for training, qualification, and evidentiary purposes.
Examples of surgical robots include a multi-port surgical robot that forms a plurality of incisions in the body of a patient to insert a plurality of surgical instruments through the respective incisions in a one-to-one ratio, and a single-port surgical robot that forms a single incision in the body of the patient to insert a plurality of surgical instruments through the single incision at once. Here, the single-port surgical robot forms a single incision differently from the multi-port surgical robot and has been in the limelight owing to advantages of the narrow incision and early recovery.
However, since a plurality of surgical instruments is inserted through a single incision to perform surgery, single-port surgery is more limited as to movement of the surgical instruments as compared to multi-port surgery. That is, a single-port surgical robot may be controlled to move only within a conical workspace, an apex of which is a virtual incision center (that may or may not be predetermined). The virtual incision center is referred to as "Remote Center of Motion (RCM)". Under coincidence of the remote center of motion and the patient's incision, surgical instruments inserted into the patient's body are moved only within the conical workspace even if movement occurs at robot arms located outside the incision, which may prevent the incision into which the surgical instrument has been inserted from being damaged due to movement of the robot arms.
During surgery using a plurality of surgical instruments inserted through a single incision, shafts of the surgical instruments may need joint functions like the wrist or elbow such that end effectors of the respective surgical instruments are oriented toward a specific surgical region without a risk of collision therebetween to assist an operator in manipulating the end effectors as if the operator were performing surgery by hand.

Control methods of single-port surgical robots


A wireless communication method and device are provided.

With the advent of wireless networks and increased demand for multimedia-data transmission, there is an increasing need for studies on effective transmission. Furthermore, the need to transmit high-quality video, such as digital versatile disk (DVD) images and high definition television (HDTV) images, between various home devices in a wireless manner is increasing.
Currently, technology standardization for transmitting large amounts of data in a wireless home network is in progress by a task group of IEEE 802.15.3c. This standard, called "mmWave" (Millimeter Wave), uses electromagnetic waves having millimeter wavelengths (that is, in the range of 30 to 300 GHz) for transmission of data. This frequency band is an unlicensed band used for telecommunication, radio astronomy, and vehicle-collision prevention.
The carrier frequency of IEEE 802.11b and IEEE 802.11g is 2.4 GHz, and the channel bandwidth is approximately 20 MHz. Further, the carrier frequency of IEEE 802.11a and IEEE 802.11n is 5 GHz, and the channel bandwidth is approximately 20 MHz. In contrast, mmWave uses a carrier frequency of 60 GHz, and has a channel bandwidth of around 0.5 to 2.5 GHz. Hence, mmWave has much higher frequencies and channel bandwidths than the conventional IEEE 802.11 line standards. Likewise, by using high-frequency signals having millimeter wavelengths, a very high transmission rate of several Gbps units can be realized, and the size of an antenna can be made less than 1.5 mm, thereby implementing a single chip that includes an antenna.

Method and apparatus for wireless communication using bandwidth-request packet

Abstract: The wireless communication method includes: generating a bandwidth request packet requesting an allocation of a channel time from a coordinator of a wireless network; and wirelessly transmitting the bandwidth-request packet, wherein the bandwidth request packet includes information regarding a data output mode to be utilized at the channel time.


The present disclosure provides an insert of a fastening system. The insert includes (a) a flange, (b) a sidewall extending from the flange and defining a first through-hole, (c) a nut including a first end and a second end and defining a second through-hole, wherein the second end of the nut comprises two or more gripping fingers extending longitudinally from the first end of the nut and separated by two or more slots, and wherein the two or more gripping fingers are flexible in a radial direction and biased to converge inward such that the second through-hole is tapered from the first end of the nut to the second end of the nut, and (d) a stopper coupled to an interior surface of the sidewall and positioned between the first end of the nut and the flange.

Aircraft floor panels are generally honeycomb composite or fiberglass panels, typically comprising a composition of two sheets separated by honeycomb core. The floor panel assembly consists of floor panels with a bonded insert hole in the panel. A flange of the bonded insert provides a bearing surface to fasten the panel to the airplane structure.
Conventionally, floor panels in an airplane are mounted to airplane structure by use of clip-nuts or expandable nuts. The clip-nuts have to be attached to all structure attachment holes before the panel can be fastened to the airplane. As such, the use of clip-nuts is not a top down, one step blind fastener installation. Since there are a huge number of fastener attachments required for all floor panels to be attached to airplane structure, installation using clip-nuts takes a large amount of time. While the expandable nuts are a top down fastening system, they have the drawback of a preassembly of screw and nut and design limitations based on nut and insert design and cannot be used for temporary installation. As such, an improved fastening system may be desirable.


Parallel mark processing is disclosed including traversing first objects in a virtual machine heap based on correspondences between memory blocks in the virtual machine heap and N marking threads, pushing a first pointer of a first object into a private stack of a marking thread corresponding to a memory block, the first object being located in the memory block, performing first mark processing of the first object based on a push-in condition of the first pointer, and after traversal of the first objects has been completed, launching the N marking threads to cause the N marking threads to synchronously perform mark processing used in garbage collection based on push-in conditions of first pointers in respective private stacks of the first pointers.

Garbage collection (GC) technology is used in many popular high-level language virtual machines such as Java. GC technology can be divided into two categories based on the relationship of the garbage collector (also referred to as "collector") to the host (also referred to as "mutator"). The two categories include: the mutator pauses while the collector works (abbreviated as "stop-the-world GC," i.e., STW-GC) and the mutator does not pause while the collector works (abbreviated as concurrent GC). Currently, model of a virtual machine with a totally concurrent GC is typically not implemented. Popular high-level language virtual machines, such as Java virtual machine (JVM) and VMware Infrastructure (VI), are all STW-GC or partially concurrent GC. Non-reference counting STW-GC techniques can be divided into three categories: mark-copy (tracking live objects and copying them to another semi-space), mark-sweep (tracking live objects and collecting dead objects for further memory allocation, the live objects are not moved), and mark-compact (tracking live objects and moving them together to remove memory fragments).
All memory in the popular high-level language virtual machines such as JVM and V8 is managed in a unified manner through heaps. A heap organizes memory using memory blocks of a specified size (the specified size corresponds to a "page," which is typically a multiple of an operating system memory page size) as the basic units. For example, the page size in a V8 virtual machine is 1 MB. Moreover, in the initial part of each memory block (i.e., page), one bitmap region is partitioned off for marking whether each object in the current page is a live object. An object tree is traced starting from its root object, and those objects that can be reached through the tracing are deemed to be live objects, while the unreachable objects are deemed to be dead objects and need to be garbage collected. A bitmap bit is used to indicate the live and dead states of an object. After all reachable objects have been marked, a garbage collector will examine the states and collect the memory of dead objects. For example, a bitmap digit of an object in a page corresponding to the header of that page is set to 1, which indicates that the object is a live object and should not be collected during GC.
The marking technique currently used in garbage collection is typically a single-thread marking technique. The number of marked objects continually increases, and the memory space that the marked objects occupy increases as the number of marked objects increases. Clearly, the current single-thread marking technique wastes large amounts of memory space and reduces processing performance and efficiency. A more efficient technique is needed.

Method and system for parallel mark processing

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