The invention relates to a peptide compound and its pharmaceutical composition for inhibiting platelet aggregation and preventing/treating thrombogenic diseases. The invention develops pentapeptides and hexapeptides derived from snake venom C-type lectin-like proteins (CLPs) fragments, which can inhibit platelet aggregation and have antithrombotic activity without hemorrhagic tendency. Accordingly, they can be used as potential agents for the prevention and therapy of thrombogenic diseases.

Appropriate platelet adhesion, activation and aggregation are important in maintaining a balance between normal hemostasis and pathological arterial thrombosis such as stroke and myocardial infarction. Exposure of matrix protein collagen after vessel injury provides a substrate for platelet adhesion and triggers platelet activation, which recruits additional platelets to area of injured vessel wall, thereby initiating thrombus formation. Platelet adhesion and aggregation are critical events in intravascular thrombosis. The formation of a blood clot is normally the result of tissue injury which initiates platelet adhesion/aggregation and coagulation cascade and has the effect of slowing or preventing blood flow in wound healing. However, in certain disease states the formation of blood clots within the circulatory system reaches an undesired extent and is itself the source of morbidity potentially leading to pathological consequences. Activated under conditions of turbulent blood flow in diseased vessels or by the release of mediators from other circulating cells and damaged endothelial cells lining the vessel, platelets accumulate at a site of vessel injury and recruit further platelets into the developing thrombus. The thrombus can grow to sufficient size to block off arterial blood vessels. Thrombi can also form in areas of stasis or slow blood flow in veins. Venous thrombi can easily detach portions of themselves called emboli that travel through the circulatory system and can result in blockade of other vessels, such as pulmonary arteries. Thus, arterial thrombi cause serious disease by local blockade, whereas venous thrombi do so primarily by distant blockade, or embolization. These conditions include venous thrombosis, thrombophlebitis, arterial embolism, coronary and cerebral arterial thrombosis, unstable angina, myocardial infarction, stroke, cerebral embolism, kidney embolisms and pulmonary embolisms.
Many adhesive proteins and various receptors are involved in the complex progress of platelet adhesion, activation and aggregation. Circulating platelets become adherent and form an occlusive thrombus either by exposure to atherosclerotic lesions following plaque rupture or in response to pathological shear stress. Integrin α2β1 [glycoprotein (GP) Ia/IIa] and GPVI are two major platelet receptors for collagen, and mediate platelet adhesion and aggregation. Under high shear conditions, GPIb-V-IX complex is considered to be an indirect collagen receptor, acting through the binding of von Willebrand factor.
Snake venoms contain many biological components that affect hemostasis by various mechanisms, including affecting platelet function or coagulation factors, or disrupting endothelium. U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,475 uses this characteristic and provides methods for diagnosing and/or monitoring thrombophilic disease in a patient that can result from the antiphospholipid antibody syndrome (aPL syndrome), which are premised on the inhibition of binding of an anticoagulant protein, annexin, preferably annexin-V, to phospholipids by antiphospholipid (aPL) antibodies in a patient blood sample. C-type lectin-like proteins (CLPs) composed of αβ heterodimers are an important family in snake venoms. CLPs are often oligomerized to form large molecules and interact with specific platelet receptors such as GPIb, α2β1 or/and GPVI to activate or inhibit platelet function. Convulxin (CVX), a multimeric protein from Crotalus durissus terrificus venom, induces platelet activation via binding to GPVI and GPIb. The molecular interaction between convulxin and GPVI has been examined by X-ray crystallography, and the putative GPVI-binding sites of convulxin have been studied (Batuwangala T, Leduc M, Gibbins J M, et al. Structure of the snake-venom toxin convulxin. Acta crystallographica 2004 January; 60(Pt 1):46-53). Aggretin, also known as rhodocytin, purified from Calloselasma rhodostoma venom, has been shown to bind to α2β1, GPIb, and CLEC-2. Recently, the crystal structure of aggretin has been studied and its binding sites also have been proposed (Hooley E, Papagrigoriou E, Navdaev A, et al. The crystal structure of the platelet activator aggretin reveals a novel (alphabeta) 2 dimeric structure. Biochemistry 2008 Jul. 29; 47(30):7831-7; Watson A A, Eble J A, O'Callaghan C A. Crystal structure of rhodocytin, a ligand for the platelet-activating receptor CLEC-2. Protein Sci 2008 September; 17(9):1611-6). On the other hand, agkistin, purified from Agkistrodon acutus venom, inhibits platelet aggregation through its specific binding to platelet GPIb (Yeh C H, Chang M C, Peng H C, et al. Pharmacological characterization and antithrombotic effect of agkistin, a platelet glycoprotein Ib antagonist. British journal of pharmacology 2001 February; 132(4):843-5013). Trowaglerix, a CLPs purified from Tropidolaemus waglerix venom, specifically activates platelets via GPVI (Chang C H, Chung C H, Kuo H L, et al. The highly specific platelet glycoprotein (GP) VI agonist trowaglerix impaired collagen-induced platelet aggregation ex vivo through matrix metalloproteinase-dependent GPVI shedding. J Thromb Haemost 2008 April; 6(4):669-76). In a previous study, trowaglerix caused GPVI cleavage in vitro and abolished collagen-induced aggregation ex vivo. While the structure of CLPs together with their ligands have been determined, casting some light on the potential binding sites in a molecular level, the linear binding motif is also a very helpful indication for these binding ligands.
However, although the structure of CLPs together with their ligands have been determined, there is still a need to cast some light on the binding sites in a molecular level sp as to develop usable drugs with advantageous platelet aggregation inhibitory effect and antithrombotic activity without hemorrhagic tendency.

Peptide compounds for inhibitions of platelet aggregation


A system and method for generating a Web services description file is described. In one embodiment, a visualizer process metadata from a configuration file and applies the metadata to a predefined template to generate a portion of a Web services description file. The configuration file stores metadata about a service provided by a Web service. The template file defines structure and syntax of a portion of a Web services description file.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of data processing systems. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for improving Web services description generation and maintenance including the formation of WSDL files.
2. Description of the Related Art
The term "web services" can be viewed as a technology for engaging in business relationships (e.g., buying and selling) in a partially or wholly automated fashion over a network such as the Internet. FIG. 1 shows a web services model 100 that includes a registry 101, a service provider 102 and a service consumer 103. A service consumer 103, or "service requester", is generally understood to be an entity that seeks and (in cases where a suitable web service is found) uses a particular web service through a network 104.
The registry 101 includes listings of various "available" services, and, may assist the service consumer 103 in searching for a suitable service provider based on the web servicing needs of the service consumer 103. A service provider 102 is the provider of one or more web services that can be accessed over the network 104. Because of the vast expanse of the Internet and interest in automated business engagements, many registries, service consumers and service providers may be in operation at any instant of time.
Presently, the responsibilities of the most prevalent registry function 101 that is associated with the web services effort are defined in various Universal Discovery, Description and Integration (UDDI) specifications provided by uddi.org. Besides providing listings of available services, a UDDI registry 101 may also make available to a service consumer 103 additional details that pertain to any particular web service such as: 1) the location of the web service (e.g., its URI specified by a specific network destination address or name); 2) the capabilities of the web service (e.g., specific methods that are supported by the web service and that may be called upon by the service consumer), and, 3) communication semantics needed for invoking the web service through the network 104 (e.g., the structure of a messaging format and/or protocol needed to properly communicate with the web service).
According to one widely adopted approach, such "additional details" are described in Web Services Definition Language (WSDL) text documents written in extensible Markup Language (XML). Here, for example, for each web service that the registry 101 maintains a listing of, the registry 101 also maintains a WSDL document that describes the location, capabilities and communication semantics of the web service. Presently, a WSDL document for a particular web service is expected to include an "abstract interface" description of the web service (which includes the web service's methods and the data passed between the web service provider and web service consumer) and a "concrete implementation" description of the web service (which includes specific protocol and data format specifications for communicating with the web service (referred to as a "binding") and the location of the web service (referred to as a "port")).
According to another widely adopted approach, with respect to the actual communication that occurs between the service consumer 103 and the service provider 102, such communication is implemented through an exchange of Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) text messages written in XML.
WSDL files are created in the XML format that describe a Web service provider's services as a set of endpoints (or ports) operating on messages containing either document-oriented or procedure-oriented information. For example, a SOAP message may be directed toward a particular port of a Web services provider from a remote client. FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary WSDL file.
A WSDL file generally contains information for types 201, messages 203, port types 205, bindings 207, and services 209 supported by the Web service provider. From this WSDL file a client may determine how to communicate with a Web service and what functionality the Web service provides.
A type describes for data type definitions using a type system. For example, the type system may be XSD (XML Schema Descriptor). In the example of FIG. 2, the type 201 is an XSD file called patents.xsd. This file is located on the Web service provider's server (here bstz.com).
Messages in a WSDL file are described abstractly and define the data being communicated between endpoints or ports. For example, the message 203 is called "GetStatus" and provides the patent status in the body of the message.
Port types are abstract collections of operations supported by a Web service. Each operation describes a function supported. The port type 205 illustrated describes the operation "GetStatus" including the input and output message format to be adhered to.
Bindings are concrete protocols and define the particular data format for a particular port type. In the example, the binding 207 associates the "GetStatus" operation with a SOAP message.
A port is defined by binding a network protocol and message format. A collection of these ports define a service. The service 209 ties the "PatentAppSoaPBinding to the port "PatentAppPort."
Current WSDL document generation requires manual intervention to describe the Web service. Either a program such as GLUE is run or the WSDL file is generated manually. In either case, these WSDL files cannot be automatically generated based upon a request to the service provider.
Additionally, WSDL files were generated from web service artifacts such as Virtual Interface, WSD and web-services-deployment-descriptor which were inside a web service archive. The WSDL generation was done at the deployment time of a web service. Accordingly, when request is made for WSDL visualization, the WSDL simply read from the file system. In this approach it is impossible for a configuration to be edited/removed/added at runtime without editing the web service artifacts, updating the archive, and redeploying it.

System and method for dynamic web services descriptor generation using templates


A foldable chair with a seat portion, a back portion and leg portions is disclosed herein. A sun shade frame is mounted on the upper rear portion of the back portion of the chair. A mounting bracket is secured to the back of the chair, and a vertical post is slidably and rotatably supported by the mounting bracket. Adjustment means are provided on the bracket for changing the angular disposition of the post from a substantially vertical position to an inclined position in alignment with the plane of the back portion of the chair. A sun shade frame is pivotally secured to the upper portion of the post by a hinge means which permits the sun shade to be pivoted from a substantially horizontal operating position on one side of the post to a substantially vertical storage position on the other side of the post. A tray means is secured to one of the leg portions of the chair by a second mounting bracket. This mounting bracket permits the tray to be both vertically and rotatably positioned with respect to the chair. The tray is mounted on an L-shaped support arm which extends through the second mounting bracket, and the tray is adapted to be rotatable about a horizontal axis on the support arm.

Foldable lawn chairs exist in the prior art but they are normally not equipped with either a sun shade to shelter the chair from the sun, nor are they equipped with a collapsible tray to permit the chair to be used for either working or dining. Those chairs that are equipped with either a sun shade or a tray are of complex construction and are not easily adjustable. In addition, the sun shades and trays of the prior art are not easily foldable with the chair for storage purposes. Further, many chairs of the prior art make it difficult for a person to get into and out of a chair particularly when a tray is used.


Data processing systems, each belonging to one of a number of program groups, are connected to a network. Each group includes a data processing system containing a sequencer which determines the sequence of messages transferred over the network. The sequencer of each data processing system is either in the "operation mode" or in the "standby mode." A sequencer in the standby mode declares the operation mode independently of other sequencers and sends this operation mode declaration to the sequencers of the other data processing systems. When the operation mode declaration is sent a number of times equal to a specified count, the sequencer becomes the operation mode sequencer. When the operation mode sequencer stops, some other standby mode sequencer takes over the function of the operation mode sequencer, thus maintaining consistency in the sequence of messages to be sent to a plurality of data processing systems connected to the network.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a computer system containing a plurality of data processing systems connected over a network for distributed data processing. More specifically, this invention relates to a data processing method as well as the systems on which the data processing method is implemented.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is required that industrial systems such as chemical or steel plants, traffic control systems, and power systems including nuclear power plants, always be controlled correctly. This requires that data be processed in the correct sequence when controlling these systems.
One of the means to control these systems is to use a plurality of distributed data processing systems. This control means has a group of control units, each having a data processing system. These data processing systems are connected over a network to exchange control data (control messages) among them and to operate control units. For this type of control means, it should be noted that a plurality of data pieces sent from the sending system are not always received by the receiving system in the sequence in which they are sent. If the receiving system do not receive them in the sequence in which they are sent and control them in different sequence, the system safety may be affected.
For example, assume that two data processing systems connected over a computer network control an reactor as shown in FIG. 8. The reactor 100, which contains the heater 101, heats the materials fed from the materials feed pipe 102 and ejects a resulting product into the product ejection pipe 103. The materials feed pipe 102 has the flow adjustment valve 104 to adjust the feed speed. This materials feed pipe 102 and the flow adjustment valve 104 may be controlled by two data processing systems, one contained in this control unit and the other connected to this data processing system over a network. For example, the first data processing system is installed in the central control room of the plant, and the second data processing system is installed on the control unit to run two programs: "the materials feed control program" and "the flow adjustment valve control program". The second data processing system uses these two programs to control the temperature and the flow amount in the plant in accordance with messages from the first data processing system. Assume that the first data processing system sends the command "Open flow-adjustment valve 10 degrees" and then the command "Feed 20 Kg of materials to reactor". That is, the first data processing system sends the "flow" command and "materials" command in this sequence.
However, the second data processing system may receive the "materials" command and then the "flow" command because these two commands are sent along two different paths. Upon receiving the "materials" command, the second data processing system starts "the materials feed control program" and, before adjusting the flow, feeds 20 Kg of materials into the reactor. This is not the sequence intended by the first data processing system. This incorrect sequence of operation causes an abnormal reaction, endangering the safe plant operation.
To ensure the safe plant operation, the data processing system is sometimes duplicated to allow the overall system operation to continue even if an error occurs in the hardware constituting one of those systems. For example, assume that three data processing systems are connected to a computer network and that "the materials feed control program" and "the flow adjustment valve control program" stored in the second data processing system control the temperature and flow amount in the plant according to the control messages from the first data processing system. The third data processing system also contains these two programs to allow the whole plant system operation to continue even when a hardware error occurs in the second or third data processing system.
In a configuration described above, assume that the first data processing system sends the command "Open flow-adjustment valve 10 degrees" and then the command "Feed 20 Kg of materials to reactor".
However, the second data processing system and the third data processing system may receive the commands in different sequences because these two commands are sent along two different paths: that is, in some cases, the former receives the "materials" command and then the "flow" command while the latter may receive the "flow" command and then the "materials" command. Upon receiving the "materials" command, the second data processing system starts "the materials feed control program" and, before adjusting the flow, feeds 20 Kg of materials to the reactor. This is not the sequence intended by the first data processing system. On the other hand, the third data processing system first starts "the flow adjustment valve control program" and then feeds 20 Kg of materials to the reactor. This is the sequence intended by the first data processing system. This means that, even if the same commands are received by the second data processing system and the third data processing system as sent by the first data processing system, the consistency of the process cannot be maintained. As a result, if the third data processing system which has received the sequence of commands correctly fails, the commands received by the second data processing system, one of the duplicated systems, are executed. This results in an abnormal reaction and endangers the safe plant operation.
To eliminate an inconsistency in the sequence of operation, a data processing system containing a sequencer, which specifies the sequence of messages, has been devised heretofore. This sequencer makes it possible to send the commands to all the data processing systems in the same sequence, eliminating the inconsistency. More specifically, this sequencer sends to all the data processing systems a command specifying the sequence of messages (hereafter called a processing sequence command) on which the sequence of message operation of each data processing system is based.
Generally, a sequencer sends the processing sequence command based on the sequence in which the sequencer received the messages. Other data processing systems store the messages received from the sequencer for a while and, after receiving the sequence command from the sequencer, processes the sequence of messages based on the sequence command.
For system safety, the sequencer is also duplicated. That is, a plurality of sequencers are connected to a network, each in one of two modes: "operation mode" and "standby mode". A data processing system containing a sequencer in "the operation mode" (hereafter called an operation mode sequencer) controls the units of the whole plant system. On the other hand, while the data processing system containing the operation mode sequencer is active, a data processing system containing a sequencer in "the standby mode" (hereafter called standby mode sequencer) is in the standby state and does not send the message processing sequence command. That is, when an operation mode sequencer receives a plurality of messages, the sequence in which the sequencer receives the messages is sent to a standby mode sequencer and other data operating systems.
However, a conventional data processing system containing a sequencer has the following problem. When the data processing system containing "the operation mode sequencer" fails, some other data processing system must take over the processing of the failed data processing system in order to continue to control various kinds of plant system. To take over the processing successfully, the conventional system has a predetermined sequencer. And, the operation mode sequencer sends message processing sequence information to the data processing system of each control unit as well as to the predetermined standby mode sequencer. This requires the operation mode sequencer to continually send message processing sequence information to the standby mode sequencer.
However, neither messages are always sent over a network in the same sequences, nor is message processing sequence information. That is, the operation mode sequencer and the standby mode sequencer on the network do not always synchronize with each other just because the former sends message processing sequence information to the latter. Therefore, it is necessary to monitor that the operation mode sequencer and the standby mode sequencer are consistent in the message processing sequence. This requires the two sequencers to exchange synchronization messages.
This synchronization message is exchanged between the operation mode sequencer and a standby mode sequencer independently. This requires the operation mode sequencer to send a synchronization message in addition to message processing sequence information, increasing the overall system load. In addition, a complicated or critical system where a plurality of standby mode sequencers are provided must do synchronization processing more frequently, further degrading the system performance.
As described above, in a system according to the prior art, one or more specific data processing systems are decided to be standby mode sequencers previously and a synchronization process is needed between the standby mode sequencers and the operation mode sequencer. This increases the load on the system.
In addition, in a conventional system, a single sequencer manages message processing sequence information on all the data processing systems on the network. This increases the network processing load as more and more messages are exchanged among data processing systems, degrading the overall system performance.
This invention seeks to solve the problems associated with the prior art described above. It is an object of this invention to eliminate the need to synchronize between the operation mode sequencer and the standby mode sequencer in a plurality of data processing systems connected over network each other and to provide a data processing method and a data processing system which enhance the system processing capability.
It is another object of this invention, when an operation mode sequencer fails or stops, to allow one of the other data processing systems on the network to automatically take over the processing of the failed or stopped operation mode sequencer in order to eliminate the need for reserving a standby mode sequencer.
It is still another object of this invention, when a plurality of data processing systems on the network contain different types of program, to provide a plurality of operation mode sequencers according to the type of program to be executed in order to distribute the load among the operation mode sequencers.

System and method that prevent messages transferred among networked data processing systems from becoming out of sequence


A non-linear digital-to-analog converter is disclosed, which realizes non-linear output with overlapped resistor string. The non-linear digital-to-analog converter includes a first reference voltage select switching portion for selectively outputting first and second reference voltages Vh1 and Vc1 from externally applied reference voltages Vref[1, . . . 2.sup.N/2 ] and third and fourth reference voltages Vh2 and Vc2 from externally applied reference voltages Vref[0, . . . 2.sup.N/2 -1] if N bit digital value is input, a resistor string block for outputting Vh[0, . . . 2.sup.N/2 -1] number of level voltages, Vc[0, . . . 2.sup.N/2 -1] number of level voltages, and V1[0, . . . 2.sup.N/2 -1] number of level voltages from any one of the reference voltages Vh1 and Vc1 and any one of the reference voltages Vh2 and Vc2, a second reference voltage select switching portion for outputting a first analog conversion voltage V1 from the Vh[0, . . . 2.sup.N/2 -1] number of level voltages, a second analog conversion voltage V2 from the Vc[0, . . . 2.sup.N/2 -1] number of level voltages, and a third analog conversion voltage V3 from the V1[0, . . . 2.sup.N/2 -1] number of level voltages, and an output switching portion for selectively outputting any one of the first, second and third analog conversion voltages V1, V2 and V3.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a digital-to-analog converter, and more particularly, to a non-linear digital-to-analog converter which realizes non-linear output with overlapped resistor string.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Generally, industrial systems and controllers have trends to digitalization with the spread of CPUs having fast speed in an analog circuit at suitable cost. Most of industrial systems and controllers share digital mode with analog mode. In this respect, for signal transmission between digital mode and analog mode, an analog-to-digital converter or a digital-to-analog converter is required.
An analog-to-digital converter is used in the field of instrumentation and control. With the development of microcomputers, parts processed by analog mode have been processed by converting an analog signal to a digital signal using the analog-to-digital converter. For this reason, reliability and efficiency of applied products have improved.
A background art digital-to-analog converter will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIGS. 1a and 1b are schematic diagrams illustrating a background art digital-to-analog converter.
As shown in FIG. 1a, the background art digital-to-analog converter includes a primary resistor string 1, most significant bit (MSB) switching block 2, least significant bit (LSB) switching block 3, a secondary resistor string 4, and LSB output switching portion 5.
Two voltages formed in succession between V2 and V1 are applied between M1.about.M7 of the primary resistor string 1 using the MSB switching block 2 and the LSB switching block 3. One voltage is output through the LSB output switching portion 5.
As shown in FIG. 1b, the background art digital-to-analog converter includes a primary resistor string 6 consisting of Ra1.about.Ra2.sup.N/2 -1, a first switching block 7 consisting of Sa1-Sa2.sup.N/2 1, a secondary resistor string 8 consisting of Rb1.about.Rb2.sub.N/2 -1, a second switching block 9 consisting of Sb1.about.Sb2.sup.N/2 -1, a cubic resistor string 10 consisting of Rc1.about.Rc2.sup.N/2 -1, and a third switching block 11 consisting of Sc1.about.Sc2.sup.N/2 -1.
In the aforementioned digital-to-analog converter, resistor ratio of Ra, Rb and Rc is 2.sup.N/2 :2.sup.N/2 :1 and a total of resistor string selected by the MSB plus resistor string selected by the LSB is 2.sup.the number of MSB *2.sup.N/2 of Rc.
In other words, among 6 bits, when high 3 bits are the MSB and low 3 bits are the LSB, Ra is 2*2.sup.3 times (8-101.sub.(2) -1) of Rc in case of 101010.sub.(2). At this time, Rb is 5*2.sup.3 times (101.sub.(2)). Since Rc is always 2.sup.3, total resistor value is 8*2.sup.3 times (2.sup.3 *2.sup.3).
If the value of 010.sub.(2) is selected by Sc of the third switching block 11, it is possible to wholly select the value of 101010.sub.(2).
The aforementioned background art digital-to-analog converter has several problems.
First, since the secondary resistor string is always fixed at a uniform value, it can be applied to the digital-to-analog converter which outputs linear value. However, it cannot be used in apparatuses which require non-linear value. In addition, the resistor value may be greater than a desired resistor value due to on-resistor constituting each switching block. This causes incorrect conversion value.


An instant powdered yogurt composition is prepared containing lactobacillus culture, deactivated yogurt powder, a gelling agent, a hydrocolloid gum and a food acidulent. A preferred, gelling agent, hydrocolloid gum and acidulent is gelatin, locust bean gum and a mixture of acid whey and citric acid, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to food compositions and more particularly to solid instant yogurt compositions in dry particulate form which may be reconstituted by admixture with water or water and milk to provide a product of acceptable texture and flavor and having high nutritional and medicinal value.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
Yogurt is a form of fermented milk curdled to a smooth, creamy or custard-like consistency by lactic acid-producing microorganisms. The production of natural yogurt entails the implant of a beneficial culture of Lactobacillus bulgaricus and sometimes Lactobacillus acidophilus in milk which is then allowed to incubate until these particular species of bacilli establish the proper pH in the milk, after which the milk is chilled to inhibit growth of undesirable microflora.
Because of rising public demand, yogurt is now factory-produced on a large scale and widely sold in supermarkets. But consumers sometimes find it inconvenient to purchase the fresh product or that the product is too costly. However, electrically-heated yogurt makers for do-it-yourselfers are also available so that yogurt can be made at home to suit individual taste. In producing yogurt at home, a yogurt starter in the form of plain yogurt or a commercially-available dried yogurt culture is added to whole or skimmed milk. But whether yogurt is factory-produced or home-made, the processing thereof is time consuming, for it takes many hours of fermentation under proper conditions for the natural yogurt to develop fully. Moreover, both products are highly perishable and require refrigeration for their period of freshness (up to about a week).
When yogurt containing an active culture is consumed, some bacilli pass unharmed through the stomach, for these species favor an acid medium and are therefore not totally destroyed by gastric juices. But when the bacilli find their way into the intestines, they may implant a favorable flora. In any case, whether or not an implant is effected, beneficial vitamins are ingested.
Yogurt is believed to have medicinal value in the control of intestinal fermentation in that it contributes bacteria which establish themselves in the lower intestine and predominate over putrefactive types. Because of this characteristic, yogurt is often prescribed to patients who are required to take large doses of antibiotic drugs. These drugs, as a side effect, act to kill beneficial intestinal bacteria, and it is often necessary, therefore, to replenish such bacteria.
The texture of a yogurt is also an important factor in determining its acceptability, for yogurt should be free of lumps or curds and exhibit a smooth, custard-like consistency until the set is broken and whey is released. Hence a high quality yogurt is one of good texture which is low in fat and includes effective amounts of active culture as well as protein, calcium and other useful nutrients.
Though some factory-produced yogurt brands currently on the market satisfy all requirements for a high quality product, and it is also possible using home yogurt makers to provide a high-quality product, it has heretofore not been feasible to produce a satisfactory instant yogurt.
By a satisfactory instant yogurt is meant a dry preparation which can be stored indefinitely and which can be reconstituted simply by adding water or water and milk and stirring the mixture for less than five minutes to produce a product having a texture, taste and nutritional properties very similar to natural yogurt.
The main value of an instant yogurt as against a natural yogurt resides in its convenience and is based on practical considerations. There are many situations in which a consumer does not have ready access to a supermarket, dairy, or other facility carrying natural yogurt. While the consumer can, if necessary, make yogurt at home, this is a time-consuming operation requiring some degree of skill and also dictating the use of refrigeration to chill and store the yogurt. But even when refrigerated, natural yogurt has a limited life. One cannot safely stock a refrigerator with a large supply of natural yogurt, for in about a week the entire supply might no longer be edible.
Yogurt or yogurt-like compositions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,080,236; 3,128,190; 3,897,307; 3,917,875; 3,932,680; 3,950,544; 3,955,009; 4,066,792; 4,066,794; 4,081,567; and 4,110,476.
The search has continued for improved instant yogurt compositions in dry particulate form which may be conveniently reconstituted. This invention was made as a result of that search.


An integrated structure pressure sensor that is powered by induction and read out by induction and includes no integral power source, includes an oscillator circuit that is responsive to pressure variations. The oscillator circuit includes a capacitor having an electrode that is susceptible to induced stress and movement by an external source of pressure. A depletion mode semiconductor is preferably present in the circuit and includes source, drain and gate contacts. A first inductor is coupled between the source and drain contacts and is arranged to respond to an inductively induced voltage to enable current flow between the source and drain contacts. A second inductor in the circuit has a first terminal coupled to the source contact and a second terminal coupled to both the capacitor and the gate contact. The second inductor is arranged to respond to an inductively induced voltage to bias the semi-conductor for conduction. The power induction device is positioned external to the semiconductor structure and induces voltages in the first and second inductors, those voltages causing the circuit to oscillate at a frequency that is dependent upon a pressure level exerted on the capacitor by the external source of pressure. A sense circuit is positioned external to the semiconductor structure and is inductively coupled to the circuit for sensing the frequency of oscillation thereof as an indication of the pressure level.

The first miniature pressure transducer was described by Collins in 1967 for a bio-medical application. See Collins, "Miniature Passive Pressure Transducer for Implanting in the Eye", IEEE Transactions on Bio-Medical Engineering, Volume BME-14, pages 74-83, 1967. Collins' transducer used a hand wound inductor in a passive circuit. More recently, micromachining techniques have been used for similar LC passive circuits. Such systems achieve readout by using an absorption Q-meter
Pressure monitoring devices such as that mentioned above, have been applied to a number of medical applications and, in particular, to intra-cranial pressure measurement. The majority of such devices have been implanted with leads protruding from the cranial cavity. Micro engineering techniques applied to such devices enable drastic reduction in their dimensions and allow for easy implantation anywhere on the human body.
Resonant RLC devices have been reported, based on silicon technology, in which the capacitance varies with an external fluid static pressure. The resonant frequency of the RLC devices varies with static fluid pressure, as a capacitance diaphragm electrode spacing is varied. When any such device is implanted, it is desired that the device be externally powered and that its readout be available without requiring a direct connection to the implanted device. Further, the device should exhibit extremely small physical size to assure the least interference with other biological structures or functions. Remote power and readout pressure monitoring devices also have application in nonmedical areas including the measurement of pressure levels in untethered robotic equipment, automotive tires, systems with high vibration levels where electrical interconnections are not reliable, and in certain extreme miniaturization applications where interconnect wires are too massive.
Silicon microstructure technology provides a basis for the manufacture of high performance sensors at low cost and in high volume. In addition, silicon devices are typically small, rugged stable and unaffected by biological fluids. The basic silicon technology is identical to that employed in semiconductor devices and involves the patterning and chemical etching of wafers of silicon to create three dimensional structures. Recent process improvements enable very precise dimensional control and the achievement of multiple layers that are etched and then fused together to form highly complex three dimensional structures.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an integrated structure pressure sensor that is powered from an external source, without requiring direct electrical connection.
It is another object of this invention to provide an integrated structure pressure sensor wherein read out is accomplished without a requirement for a direct electrical connection.

Integrated pressure sensor with remote power source and remote read-out


This disclosure provides a method for manufacturing a large-version light guide sheet using a mask plate. The method includes adopting a mask plate containing a plurality of regions, performing selective polymerization on a photopolymerizable material mixture which is coated on a large-version light guide substrate (401) by means of the mask plate, and forming a raised or depressed microstructure (402) on the large-version light guide substrate (401), so as to constitute a large-version light guide sheet. The large-version light guide sheet comprises a plurality of units (U11, U12, U13, U14). By dividing the large-version light guide sheet, a plurality of discrete unit light guide sheets that are used for an LCD backlight source and an LED lighting assembly are obtained. The method overcomes the limitations of ink jet printing, injection molding, laser etching and other technologies, and improves the production rate of high-performance thinned light guide sheets.

A light-guide sheet refers to a rigid inflexible light-guide plate or a flexible light-guide film. The light-guide sheet in a side-lit backlight source of a liquid crystal display is one of the most important optical elements in the liquid crystal display. The light-guide sheet turns light from a light source on one side of the light-guide sheet into a surface light source that emits light towards the back of the liquid crystal display panel.
With the constant development of liquid crystal displays towards thin structure and high performance, there is an urgent need for high-performance thin light-guide sheets and technologies for preparing the same in the field of liquid crystal displays. The commonly used dot printing technique cannot accommodate such a development trend. Although there are studies on the use of methods such as ink jet printing, injection molding and laser etching in the fabrication of light-guide sheets, high equipment costs, demanding process requirements and inefficient production have restricted wide use of these techniques. Therefore, in the field of liquid crystal displays and LED lighting, an urgent need exists for a high-performance thin light-guide sheet that can overcome the restrictions of techniques such as ink jet printing, injection molding and laser etching and can be produced efficiently.

Method for manufacturing large-size light-guide sheet by using mask


Methods and apparatus for broadcasting high quality audio xe2x80x9cstudio directxe2x80x9d with the same digital information employed in the studio by the video producer with AC-3 digital audio signals for broadcast to individual receiver decoders (IRD) include a method for altering meta data bits with minimum recalculation of cyclical redundancy check values. Control over individual data bits such as copyright bits is maintained by determining the bit status, comparing it to a preferred status, changing the status if it does not comply with the preferred status, and reevaluating cyclical redundancy check value in each data packet to avoid disruption in the data transmission. The calculation according to the present invention simplifies the hardware, storage and processing demands of previously known calculation techniques by forward and reverse comparisons of partial packet cyclic redundancy check (CRC) values.

The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for altering AC-3 data streams using minimum computation to limit disruption of the content during transmission of video and motion picture broadcasts with AC-3 audio compression systems accepted by the Advance Television Systems Committee (ATSC) for the new American terrestrial broadcast digital television standard with direct from the studio multi-channel audio capability.
In 1994, AC-3 marketed as Dolby Digital(copyright) was accepted by the ATSC as the audio compression system for the new American terrestrial broadcast digital television standard. At that time, DIRECTV(copyright) was already delivering digital transmission to the United States via satellite. For audio compression, DIRECTV(copyright) was broadcasting using xe2x80x9cMPEG level 1xe2x80x9d audio compression providing stereo audio. Dolby Digital(copyright) AC-3 won the ATSC selection committee by providing for slightly better compression as well as means of handling a wide array of programming modes up to xe2x80x9c5.1 channelxe2x80x9d. 5.1 channels of surround sound provides for five distinct full fidelity channels, representing: right front, center front, left front, right rear and left rear channels, plus one limited bandwidth xe2x80x9cLow Frequency Enhancementxe2x80x9d channel. This selection of channels matches what has been available for presentation at movie theaters. The technical details for Dolby Digital(copyright) AC-3 is well described as part of the ATSC standard in the ATSC document A/52. This document, as well as the entire ATSC specifications, is available on the World Wide Web at www.atsc.org.
A satellite broadcaster provides multiple channels of recently released movies available for viewing on a Pay-Per-View (PPV) basis. This service competes with the VHS tape rentals market and companies. A competitive edge may be provided by the combination of convenience and quality.
Dolby Digital(copyright) with 5.1 channels surround sound has come available on DVD releases. Tape marketers would have a quality advantage for the home theater segment of this market unless technology could be developed to permit broadcasters to transmit such audio features. In the fall of 1997, DIRECTV(copyright) undertook the project to broadcast full 5.1 channels of audio into the homes of their customers. On Jul. 1, 1998 DIRECTV(copyright) began regular commercial broadcast of Dolby Digital 5.1 channel surround sound, begin the first broadcaster to provide such a service.
The prior practice for handling audio within a broadcast environment is as follows: Audio starts at the source as either analog audio, or digital audio in a generally uncompressed format. The audio is mixed to a final xe2x80x9creleasexe2x80x9d version and then possibly lightly compressed for delivery to the broadcast facility. At that broadcast facility, the audio would again be brought down to an uncompressed format and at the last step in the broadcast chain be fed to a real time audio compression. This compression step would do the final xe2x80x9cheavyxe2x80x9d lossy audio compression for transmissions to the integrated receiver decoders (IRD) used by the end customers.
In this project DIRECTV(copyright) was first to bring Dolby Digital(copyright) that was encoded at the movie studio by broadcasting that audio xe2x80x9cstudio directxe2x80x9d to the customer. This required the development of specific applications in the art to meet this objective. These developments are not obvious from the existing AC-3 technology itself, and many obstacles had to be overcome to develop xe2x80x9cstudio directxe2x80x9d broadcasting of this multiple channel audio standard. Specifically, Dolby Digital(copyright) contains what is called as xe2x80x9cmeta dataxe2x80x9d, that being ancillary data that is used to control the decoder process. This xe2x80x9cmeta dataxe2x80x9d routinely changes on a scene by scene basis, depending on plot of the movie. Examples of xe2x80x9cmeta dataxe2x80x9d present in a Dolby Digital(copyright) data stream are discussed below.
An LFE is a bit which enables the low frequency enhancement channel. Much of the time this is turned off, providing extra bandwidth availability for the main audio channels. It is enabled where the director wishes to xe2x80x9cshake the housexe2x80x9d. A Dialogue Normalization is a value that defines the dynamic range of the audio with respect to the normal dialog level. Mix Level is an information quantity regarding how to mix a 5.1 channel presentation down to a stereo mix. A Surround Sound Mix Level is a control for the down mix (that reduces the number of channels finally output) levels of the surround sound channels for reproduction as stereo or Dolby Pro-Logic outputs. A Compression gain meta tag controls the decoder dynamic range when the end customer selects a mode of operation that provides a narrow dynamic range.
To do a proper job of encoding Dolby Digital(copyright) AC-3, all the above meta data must be supplied correctly by someone knowledgeable of the content. The person most qualified to do provide this information is the sound engineer responsible for mixing the movie at the studio. The ability to deliver to the end customer exactly the same compressed data as created by the sound engineer is a very desirable feature, but not readily available for AC-3 multiple channel audio with the previous broadcast technology. No previously known devices permitted the CRC values to be simply recalculated without substantial processing and memory for look up tables or the like if changes are made to meta tags or other bits during switching or processing of the signals.
This problem that AC-3 data packets contain imbedded meta data flags is exemplified by the xe2x80x9ccopyrightxe2x80x9d flag. This flag bit is used to indicate that this audio program material can not be recorded. The problem is that changing the one flag, for example, to comply with protection obligations, would require a recalculation of the CRC values, which is a process which is an computationally intensive operation.
The standard solution to this problem, the one used by Dolby Digital(copyright) and others, is to precompute the solutions of the CRC and store the values in large tables. This is fine if one has large amounts RAM or ROM to store these values, but such amounts are not available in many known designs of equipment.
The present invention overcomes the above-mentioned disadvantages by providing xe2x80x9cstudio directxe2x80x9d broadcasting with the audio quality identical to the DVD release, since it would indeed be the same bits that were on a DVD. The present invention simplifies recomputations of CRC when changes of the status of bits, such as meta tag, is changed in a packet of AC-3 audio signal bits carried by an AES-3 signal. As a result, the broadcast will air exactly the same bits that were released to the theaters, without the need for substantial processing and storage for look-up table data and the like that would otherwise be required. In the preferred embodiment, CRC recalculation was achieved with a 56001 processor that only had available 14K of data space and 14 K of code space on an already existing board.
If processing techniques require change of a bit in a packet, a process for checking the CRC, and checking where the CRC values are located within an AC-3 packet, is clearly stated in the ATSC document A/52 in section 7.10.1 incorporated herein by reference. A first CRC value is one word immediately after the sync word, (the second word in the packet), and the second CRC value is finally the last word in the packet. One sync word covers the first ⅝th of the packet. In the present invention, the second covers the last xe2x85x9cth of the packet. The first sync word is computed by running the CRC in reverse from the ⅝th""s point within the packet.
The meta data is contained in the first eight words of the packet, well before the ⅝th point. To change this data the xe2x80x9cnormal methodxe2x80x9d would be to go to the ⅝th point within the packet and reverse calculate the CRC values going back, and then determine the CRC value that would be needed to drive this to zero. To achieve this in a timely fashion, Dolby Digital(copyright) suggest using look up tables, for the reverse calculation.
The algorithm employed is as follows: We already know the CRC value. All that is required is to calculate the data bit CRC value forward until we pass the meta data bit which needs to be changed, then change the meta data bit value and then compute the reverse CRC. The preferred embodiment, for example, a procedure was done in 20 CRC calculations, as compared to over 1000 CRC calculations, or 1000 or more looks ups into some very large tables, that were previously required. This algorithm gives at least a 50:1 savings in CPU utilization as well as saving a few megabytes of look up tables under working conditions where changes are made within the first 10 words of the packet and addsxe2x80x94another 10 words of a calculation.

Method for altering AC-3 data streams using minimum computation


A wind turbine control method is described based on the performance of various measurements of the oscillations of the nacelle of the wind turbine for the purpose of carrying out a series of calculations, the results of which allow parameterization of certain actions on different wind turbine elements in order to dampen oscillations. In summary, it may be said that the object of the invention described herein is a wind turbine control method whereby the oscillations of the nacelle of the wind turbine are dampened in the presence of voltage dips in particular and, in general, in any event that is susceptible of reducing active current generation capacity.

The introduction of new electrical topologies in grid-connected wind turbines and the use of new control methods has made it possible to increase the integration of electricity generation sources from wind energy in the grid, thereby contributing to the proper functioning thereof. Both in the case of configurations where the electricity generator is fully disconnected from the grid due to the use of AC/DC/AC converters in the connection of the stator thereof to the grid and in the case of doubly-fed induction generators (DFIG), the rotor of which is fed by a converter of a reduced percentage of total wind turbine power, there are various techniques for fulfilling grid requirements and for guaranteeing a certain capacity for supporting electrical disturbances without disconnecting these systems from the grid. For example, both DFIG converters and full power converters having electric torque controlled by means of power electronics equipment allow independent control of the active power and reactive power generated, thereby contributing to controlling grid voltage.
During a voltage dip wherein the grid voltage is lower than the nominal voltage to a certain degree, a wind turbine should increase its in-phase electric current when the voltage is reduced in order to produce the same power. In certain circumstances, such as for example when the wind turbine is operating at near-nominal production levels, during deep voltage dips the limitation of current in the electrical components makes it unfeasible to maintain the same power levels.
Therefore, the appearance of a voltage dip causes acceleration of the rotor. Said dynamics produce an overload in different wind turbine components. Thus, for example, the sudden loss of electric torque during a voltage dip and the fast action of the pitch control system to brake the acceleration of the rotor exerts strong loads against the tower which can shorten the life of the wind turbine.
However, it must be noted that the sudden actuation of the pitch system is harmful to the tower on suddenly braking wind thrust on the rotor and on exciting certain vibration modes thereof. Additionally, the variation in torque caused by said reduction in power evacuated by the generator also causes sideways oscillation of the nacelle, corresponding to very lightly damped modes.
In the state of the art prior to this invention, in the event of a dramatic reduction in available power, the control system acts on the pitch until the position of the blades is such that the power captured by the rotor equals the power evacuable by the grid. Said action is performed at the maximum pitch rate allowed by the actuator. Controlling the blade at the maximum pitch rate of the actuator allows the maximum braking power to be exerted on the rotor by means of aerodynamics and prevents wind turbine stop, which would lead to disconnection from the grid. This enables compliance with grid connection regulations. There are also references, as described herein, of inventions aimed at reducing the oscillations of the gondola in the event of a voltage dip.
In the current state of the art, solutions such as that provided by Patent ES2333393B1, which discloses a wind turbine control method whereby, on detecting the voltage dip in the grid, the power generated by the turbine is reduced by acting on the pitch angle to a certain degree in accordance with the power available during a voltage dip and from the wind at any given time, and power generated by the electricity generator is reduced by reducing the torque. This control method equates the power generated in dip conditions to the power available to the grid in those conditions. Said power evacuable to the grid depends on the grid voltage level, reactive current level and the maximum current limits of the system.


The transit time of acoustic waves between a generator and a receiver positioned across a fluid chamber is determined by generating acoustic waves using a self-purging pneumatic sound generator, a transducer adjacent the outlet of the sound generator, and a receiving transducer positioned away from the sound generator outlet so that the acoustic waves received by the receiving transducer pass through a portion of the fluid. The electrical signals generated by the transmitting transducer and the receiving transducer are processed to obtain the impulse response of these electrical signals, and the point of maximum value is determined. This point of maximum value corresponds to the arrival time of the acoustic waves at the receiving location. The transit time determination may be used to calculate the fluid temperature or other parameters. The pneumatic sound generator is driven by a compressed air source so that the generator is automatically purged of any contaminants in the process of generating the random acoustic noise.

This invention relates to the measurement of acoustic wave travel time in a fluid medium, with particular application to acoustic pyrometry.
Techniques are known for measuring the transit time of acoustic waves from a transmitting location to a receiving location through a fluid medium. Systems using both pulsed waves and continuous waves have been proposed and used in the past for various purposes. In pulsed systems, the transit time is typically measured by noting the time difference between the generation of an acoustic pulse at the transmitting location and the receipt of the same acoustic pulse at the receiving location. In continuous wave systems, the phase difference between the continuous wave at the transmitting location and at the receiving location provides an indirect measurement of the transit time. The transit time thus obtained is typically used to compute the velocity of the acoustic waves in the medium. In acoustic pyrometry, the computed velocity is used to compute the temperature of the fluid using a well-known relationship between acoustic velocity and temperature. For a fuller discussion of the pulsed technique see M. W. Dadd, "Acoustic Thermometry In Gases Using Pulse Techniques", High Temperature Technology, Vol. 1, No. 6, November, 1983. For a fuller discussion of the continuous wave technique see U.S. Pat. No. 4,215,582.
While both the pulsed and continuous wave techniques have been found to be useful in many applications, each is demonstrably unsuitable in extremely noisy environments in which erroneous transit time determinations occur due to the masking presence of substantial noise signals and multiple transmission paths for the acoustic wave. One example of such a noisy environment is in the field of industrial boilers, such as modern utility boilers, chemical recovery boilers and refuse boilers. Added to the noise problem is the compounding adverse effect of attenuation of acoustic waves due to scattering of the waves by temperature and velocity gradients (the latter in a moving fluid), and the masking effect of acoustic waves arriving at the receiving location via reflected boundary paths. While many efforts have been made to improve the reliability of acoustic transit time measurement in noisy environments, such efforts have not met with success to date.

Self-purging pneumatic acoustic generator

Scientific Engineering Instruments, Inc.


A video signal dropout compensation circuit is provided in a reproducing apparatus which reproduces a recorded signal from a recording medium recorded with a time-division-multiplexed signal which has been frequency modulated. The apparatus frequency-demodulates a reproduced frequency modulated time-division-multiplexed signal in a demodulator, and time base expands a time base compressed line-sequential color difference signal and a time base compressed luminance signal within a reproduced time-division-mulitplexed signal back to an original time base to obtain a reproduced line-sequential color difference signal and a reproduced luminance signal. The compensation circuit comprises a detecting circuit for producing a dropout detection signal when the reproduced frequency modulated time-division-multiplexed signal assumes a level smaller than a preset level, a switching circuit controlled in response to an output signal of the detecting circuit, and a delay circuit for delaying an output signal of the switching circuit by a delay time of two horizontal scanning periods. The switching circuit selectively supplies to the demodulator and the delay circuit the reproduced frequency modulated time-division-multiplexed signal while the dropout detection signal is not produced from the detecting circuit, and the output signal of the delay circuit while the detecting circuit produces the dropout detection signal.

The present invention generally relates to video signal dropout compensation circuits, and more particularly to a video signal dropout compensation circuit which is provided within a reproducing apparatus for reproducing a recorded signal from a recording medium which is recorded with a frequency modulated time-division-multiplexed signal, and compensates for a dropout in the reproduced time-division-multiplexed signal by use of a delay circuit. The time-division-multiplexed signal is obtained by subjecting a line-sequential color difference signal and a luminance signal corresponding to one horizontal scanning period to a time base compression, and time-division-multiplexing the time base compressed signals within a duration of one horizontal scanning period.
Among the existing color video signal recording and reproducing apparatuses such as video tape recorders (VTRs), the more popular recording and reproducing apparatuses separate a luminance signal and a carrier chrominance signal from a standard system composite color video signal. The standard system is a system such as the NTSC system, the PAL system, and the SECAM system. The separated luminance signal is frequency-modulated, and the separated carrier chrominance signal is frequency-converted into a low frequency range. The frequency converted carrier chrominance signal is frequency-division-multiplexed with the frequency modulated luminance signal and recorded on a recording medium. At the time of the reproduction, a signal processing opposite to the signal processing carried out at the time of the recording, is carried out to obtain a reproduced composite color video signal which is in conformance with the original standard system. In other words, the more popular recording and reproducing apparatuses employ the so-called low-band-conversion recording and reproducing system.
Other various recording and reproducing systems have been proposed besides the low-band-conversion recording and reproducing system. For example, there was a proposed recording and reproducing apparatus which was designed to subject two kinds of color difference signals which are obtained by frequency-demodulating the carrier chrominance signal to a time base compression, and also subject the luminance signal to a time base compression. According to this proposed recording and reproducing apparatus, the time base compressed signals are time-division-multiplexed, and the time division multiplexed signal is frequency-modulated and recorded on the recording medium. At the time of the reproduction, a signal processing opposite to the signal processing carried out at the time of the recording, is carried out to obtain a reproduced composite color video signal which is in conformance with the original standard system. An example of such a recording and reproducing apparatus may be found in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,781,463 and 4,245,235, for example. This proposed recording and reproducing apparatus takes into account the difference in the bands of the luminance signal and the color difference signals, and takes measures so that the color difference signals having the narrower band can be transmitted within the horizontal blanking period. In other words, one of the color difference signals which is transmitted within one horizontal scanning period (1H), is subjected to a time base compression into approximately 20% of 1H. In addition, to utilize the band effectively, the luminance signal is subjected to a time base compression into approximately 80% of 1H so as to occupy a band which is in the same range as the band of the time base compressed color difference signal, and transmitted. Further, the two color difference signals are time-division-multiplexed, as a line-sequential signal in which the two color difference signals are alternately transmitted for every 1H, with the time base compressed luminance signal. This time-division-multiplexed signal is supplied to a frequency modulator, and an output signal of the frequency modulator is recorded on the recording medium. At the time of the reproduction, a signal processing opposite to the signal processing carried out at the time of the recording, is carried out to obtain a reproduced composite color video signal. The recording and reproducing system employed in this proposed recording and reproducing apparatus, will hereinafter be referred to as a timeplex system.
According to the timeplex system which transmits the time-division-multiplexed signal, there is no duration in which the luminance signal and the color difference signal are transmitted simultaneously. In the case of the NTSC system color video signal and the
system color video signal, a mutual interference and moire may occur between the luminance signal and the color difference signals, because the luminance signal and the carrier chrominance signal are band-share-multiplexed and transmitted. However, such a mutual interference and moire will not occur according to the timeplex system. In addition, even when the color video signal of any one of the NTSC system, the PAL system, and the SECAM system is recorded by an azimuth recording and reproducing system on tracks having the horizontal synchronizing signals recorded in non-alignment between mutually adjacent tracks and then reproduced, there is substantially no crosstalk from the adjacent tracks due to the azimuth loss effect, and it is possible to obtain a reproduced picture of a high picture quality. This is because the time-division-multiplexed signal is recorded on the adjacent tracks in the form of a frequency modulated signal which is obtained by frequency-modulating by the time-division-multiplexed signal a high-frequency carrier which has a large azimuth loss effect.
The time base compressed luminance signal and the time base compressed color difference signal employed in the timeplex system, both have an energy distribution in which the energy is large in the low frequency range and the energy is small in the high frequency range. In other words, the time base compressed luminance signal and the time base compressed color difference signal assume a signal format which is suited for the frequency modulation Thus, it is possible to obtain a large modulation index, and the signal-to-noise ratio can be greatly improved. Moreover, it is possible to substantially eliminate a deviation in the reproducing time base when expanding the time base.
However, in the recording and reproducing apparatus which employs the timeplex system, a dropout may occur in the reproduced signal due to scratches on the recording medium such as a magnetic tape and dust particles or the like adhered on the recording medium. The conventional recording and reproducing apparatus employing the timeplex system, was not provided with a dropout compensation circuit for compensating for the dropout in the reproduced signal. Therefore, there was a problem in that the picture quality of the reproduced picture became deteriorated when such a dropout occurred in the reproduced signal.

Video signal dropout compensation circuit


A drawer slide apparatus mounted to a drawer slide assembly for moving a drawer slidingly within a cabinet provides push-to-open and soft close functionality while further providing a depth and alignment adjustment of the drawer relative to the cabinet carcass. The apparatus comprises a housing including a soft close track, a damper, and a carriage slidable within the soft close track. A guide block comprising a set of channels within a stationary part and a movable part for providing the depth and alignment adjustment. A pin, slidable within the carriage, has a first end engaged with the soft close track and a second end simultaneously engaged with the guide block provides the soft close and push-to-open functionalities.

Drawer slide assemblies include slides or rails mounted on both the cabinet carcass and the drawer. The slides attached to the drawer cooperate with the slides mounted to the cabinet carcass to allow telescoping extensions while providing support for the drawer. Drawer slides typically are mounted either underneath the drawer or on the sides of a drawer. Opening devices and closing devices fitted to the rails of drawer slide assemblies help prevent premature damage to the rails as well as the drawer and cabinet by controlling the opening and closing movements of the drawer. A push-to-open device provides a consistent, controlled opening force while also preventing unwanted inadvertent opening of a closed drawer. A soft close device damps inconsistent, user initiated closing forces and provides a controlled closing motion.
Adjustment of the drawer face of a drawer mounted using a drawer slide assembly is important to appearance and is necessary due to manufacturing tolerances. Drawer slide adjustment mechanisms overcome misalignment of an installed drawer relative to the cabinet and any adjacent drawers.
Push-to-open devices, soft close devices, as well as, drawer slide adjustment mechanisms are known in the art. However, the art fails to provide a device attachable to a drawer slide assembly that can accomplish all three functionalities.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0231083 to Garde, Jr. discloses a drawer slide assembly with a self closer apparatus that controls the closing movement of a drawer and further provides a vertical adjustment capability. No push-to-open functionality is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,802,856 to Hashemi, et al. discloses a drawer slide assembly with a push-latch device. The push-latch device includes a guide block carried by the outer slide member of the drawer slide assembly. The guide block includes a catch biased to a neutral position by a pair of springs. The catch interacts with a pin mounted on the inner slide to retain the drawer slide in a closed position. As the pin is moved into contact with the catch, the inner slide loads a spring which will force the inner slide towards an open position once the pin is released from the catch. No soft close or adjustment capability is disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,801,120 to Chen, et al. discloses a self-opening and self-closing slide assembly. An open-close device includes a movable unit and a passive unit fixed to a cabinet rail, a synchronic unit attached to an intermediate rail, and a hooking unit mounted to a cabinet rail. Each "unit" includes many components including frames, push members, protrusions, springs, movable members, and links which are complicatedly assembled and precisely positioned such that the units can engage one another. No drawer face adjustability is disclosed.
A simply assembled, compact, cost effective, and easy to operate solution providing a soft close and push-to-open drawer slide assembly capable of adjusting the position of the drawer face relative to the cabinet and any adjacent drawers is needed.

Push-to-open, soft close drawer slide apparatus and method of use


A lithium secondary battery includes an electrode assembly to which an electrode tap is attached, an electrode tap receptor configured to house a portion of the electrode assembly such that a portion of the electrode tap protrudes to an outside, and a case configured to surround the electrode assembly and seal the electrode assembly together with the electrode tap receptor, wherein the electrode tap receptor includes a gas barrier layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lithium secondary battery.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a lithium secondary battery, which is rechargeable and lightweight and has high energy and output densities, has been widely used as an energy source for wireless mobile devices. Further, as alternative means to solve problems of air pollution and greenhouse gases caused from conventional internal combustion engine vehicles using fossil fuels such as a gasoline vehicle and a diesel vehicle, an electric vehicle (EV), a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV), or the like have been proposed. The lithium secondary battery has been researched as a power source for the alternative vehicles to the internal combustion engine vehicles.
The lithium secondary battery is classified into a lithium ion battery using a liquid electrolyte and a lithium polymer battery using a polymer electrolyte depending on a type of electrolyte, and is classified into cylindrical, prismatic, and a pouch shapes depending on a shape of an exterior material in which an electrode assembly is accommodated.
Among these, since the pouch type lithium secondary battery has an appearance that is made of a metal layer (foil) and a pouch film formed of multi-layers of a synthetic resin layer coated on upper and lower surfaces of the metal layer, the weight thereof may be more remarkably reduced than that of the cylindrical or prismatic lithium secondary battery using a metallic can, such that the pouch type lithium secondary battery may be lightweight and may be modified into various shapes.
However, in spite of the above-described advantages, since there is a limitation on a molding depth of the pouch film in a structural aspect thereof, cracks easily occur in the pouch film itself during a molding process for housing large sized battery cells, and the metallic layer is exposed from the cracked portion, which causes a reduction in life-span of the cells.
In addition, the lithium secondary battery is sealed by molding a case for housing the electrode assembly in a predetermined shape, and by sealing protruding portions of electrode taps. In this case, an unnecessary space is formed in the sealed portion, and thereby causes a reduction in capacity of the battery.
Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2007-0109080 discloses a pouch type lithium secondary battery having a rounded corner in which a bottom and a side of an electrode assembly housing part formed at a rear surface of a pouch are met, however, fails to solve the above-described problems.


A robotic device in accordance with a plurality of embodiments is provided. The robotic device generally includes a plurality of groups of sensing devices for sensing environmental events; a plurality of controllers for recognizing the environmental events and generating corresponding commands; a plurality of driving devices for driving the robotic device to respond to the environmental events under control of the commands; at least one communication line for communication between the controllers; at least one power line for transmitting power to the sensing devices, the controllers and the driving devices; a plurality of ground lines; a plurality of branches extending out from the communication line, the power line and the ground lines; and a plurality of connectors for connecting the controllers to the branches.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to robots, and particularly to a circuit arrangement of a robot.
2. General Background
Robots are used for industrial applications and for entertainment. Robots are designed in a variety of shapes, such as human or animal shaped or other appropriate shape suitable for its job function. But whatever shape a robot is the parts of a robot generally includes sensors, controllers and drivers. These sensors, controllers and drivers are usually interconnected by wires, and the drivers are capable of driving the robots in response to events sensed by the sensors. Commonly, the numbers of sensors, drivers or even controllers will increase with increasing precision of functionality of the robot. This results in an increase in the number of wires used to connect the sensors, derivers and controllers. Eventually, the robot design becomes more complex.
Obviously, as the wiring becomes more complex and more wires are used, the weight of the robot will increase. Further, the resulting complex circuitry may increase the chance of failure of the robot.
Therefore, there is a need for providing a robotic device with a circuit arrangement which can solve the above problems.


A method of obtaining information about the position and/or orientation of a magnetic component relatively to a magnetometric detector, the magnetic component and the magnetometric detector being moveable independently from each other relatively to a static secondary magnetic field, the method comprising the steps of: measuring in the presence of the combination of both the magnetic field of the magnetic component and the static secondary magnetic field essentially simultaneously the strength and/or orientation of a magnetic field at at least a first position and a second position spatially associated with the magnetometric detector, the second position being distanced from the first position; and combining the results of the measurements to computationally eliminate the effect of the secondary magnetic field and derive the information about the position and/or orientation of the magnetic component.

In numerous medical procedures that involve the insertion of a medical device into a patient's tissue, e.g. minimally invasive procedures and local anesthesia, it can be of great advantage for the physician to be informed of the exact position of the medical device in the patient's tissue. For example, to introduce regional anesthesia, including peripheral nerve blocks for surgical anesthesia or postoperative analgesia, a needle can be guided to the region of interest with the help of ultrasound imaging. It has proven challenging, however, to precisely detect the needle's end point in the ultrasound image.
Northern Digital Inc., Ontario, Canada (www.ndigital.com) offers an electromagnetic detection system under the trade name "Aurora". The system comprises a field generator for creating an electromagnetic field and various types of sensor coils that react to the field produced by the generator. One or more of the sensor coils can be embedded into a medical instrument such as a biopsy needle, a catheter or a flexible endoscope for measuring in real time the position of the instrument's tip or, if several coils are embedded, the shape of the instrument. The various types of sensor coils available differ in shape and size and can detect their position relatively to the generator's electromagnetic field in three-dimensional space and their orientation in two or three dimensions. Wires connect the sensor coils with a sensor interface unit that transmits the coils' data to a system control unit. The system control unit collects the information obtained from the sensor coils and calculates their position and orientation.
In "Evaluation of a miniature electromagnetic position tracker", Mat. Phys. (2002), 29 (1), 2205 ff., Hummel et al. have studied the effects of the presence of an ultrasound scan head on the accuracy of the "Aurora" electromagnetic tracking system measurement results.
Placidi, G. et al. in "Review of Patents about Magnetic Localization Systems for in vivo Catheterizations", Rec. Pat. Biomed. Eng. (2009), 2, 58 ff., distinguish between systems where the magnetic field is located outside the patient's body ("extra-body generated magnetic field" as in the "Aurora" system) and systems where the magnetic field is generated by a permanent magnet located inside the patient's body ("intra-body permanent magnet"). A system is discussed that can detect the location in three dimensions and the orientation in two dimensions of a permanent magnet that is permanently fixed to an intra-body medical device. Each measurement involves at least two spatially separated three-axis magnetic sensors in order to measure x-, y- and z-components of the magnetic field produced by the permanent magnet in at least two spatial positions. Six magnetic sensors are arranged in a circle surrounding the patient in order to ensure that each part of the patient's body is covered by at least two of the sensors. Before use, the system is calibrated to take into account the terrestrial magnetic field. In the calibration step, in the absence of the permanent magnet, the terrestrial magnetic field is measured and then subtracted from each subsequent measurement. From the remainder, the position of the magnet is calculated. It is considered a disadvantage of the system that it cannot be moved once calibrated.
Yet, the U.S. Pat. No. 6,263,230 B1, which is cited in Placidi et al., supra, B1 describes a "continuous automatic recalibration" scheme with which a detector can be moved after the initial calibration, even though not simultaneously with the magnet. The magnetic detector system is attached to a fluoroscopic head in a known spatial relationship to detect the position of a permanent magnet of an indwelling medical device and the magnet's field is approximated as a dipole field. In order to compensate for the terrestrial magnetic field as well as localized perturbations associated with this field, an initial calibration is performed before the magnet is introduced into the patient. For each magnetic sensor of the detector system an offset value is determined. Later, when the magnet has been introduced into the patient, the offset values are subtracted from the readings of the magnetic sensors, thus compensating for the terrestrial magnetic field and its localized perturbations. Moreover, the "continuous automatic recalibration" scheme allows compensating for the localized perturbations of the terrestrial magnetic field even if the detector system is moved: According to this scheme, the detector is moved while the magnet remains stationary at its position that is known from the previous measurement. The exact positional change of the detector is tracked by a digitizing arm and from this the magnetic field at the detector's new location due to the magnet is calculated. The result is subtracted from the field actually measured by the detector and the remainder is considered the contribution of the terrestrial magnetic field at the new location. The process can be repeated as the detector is moved to yet another location.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,029 B1 discloses an apparatus for ultrasound free-hand directing of a needle. Both an ultrasound probe and the needle or a needle guide are provided with orientation sensors for sensing the position of the probe and the needle with respect to a reference. The orientation sensors each may comprise three transponders in triangular alignment. The transponders preferably are electro-optical sensors which operate with infrared or visible light. Alternatively, the system comprises a magnetic transmitter and magnetic receivers attached to an ultrasound probe and the needle or needle guide. On a displays screen, the ultrasound image of a target area is shown. Moreover, the needle is shown as a distinctly coloured line, even if the needle is outside the ultrasound image. In addition or alternatively, a trajectory of the needle is displayed.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,733,468 B1 discloses a diagnostic medical ultrasound system in which both an ultrasound probe and an invasive medical device, e.g. a cannula, have location sensors attached to them for sensing their position and/or orientation. From the positions of the needle and the probe the relative position of the needle with respect to the probe's imaging plan is determined. From this, a projected and an actual trajectory of the invasive medical device are calculated and superimposed on the ultrasound image.

Imaging probe and method of obtaining position and/or orientation information


A power supply system and a method for providing power supply to electrical equipment from conventional lighting circuits in buildings are disclosed. The invention is intended to provide power supply to electrical equipment, without the need of conventional alternating current (AC) power supply power socket outlets. Instead, it obtains electrical power from existing lighting points. An embodiment of the invention is disclosed for achieving this without disrupting normal operation of turning on and off existing lighting sources. The present invention consists a wall switch unit and a lighting source control unit. The wall switch unit controls the level or waveforms of AC voltage supply to the lighting source control unit while the lighting source control unit detects the AC voltage level or waveforms for switching on or off a lighting source. Additionally, regardless of whether the lighting source is switched on or off, an uninterrupted power supply is derived from the lighting source control unit with this power supply being usable for electrically powering external electrical equipment connected thereto.

During installation of electrical wiring in a building, mains supply power socket outlets are typically positioned at locations where power requirement is anticipated. After the laying of the building's electrical wiring or construction is completed, it is generally difficult, inconvenient and costly to provide additional mains supply power socket outlets at alternative or additional locations within the building as the building's completed electrical wiring is embedded in conduits or within the walls of the building.
With current advancements in technology, more electrical equipment and sensors are being produced for various applications in homes or buildings including security, communication, monitoring and remote controlling. As the electrical equipment and sensors require an electrical power supply for operation, installation of these electrical equipment and sensors in homes or buildings with completed electrical wiring requires the addition of new electrical wiring to the homes or buildings which poses great difficulty, inconvenience and cost to owners of the homes or buildings. In some applications such as installation of a security system, there may be numerous security equipment and sensors positionally scattered throughout the entire home or building that require power supply. The electrical wiring installation for these security equipment and sensors is not only costly but time consuming as well.
Existing methods for installing additional electrical equipment in the homes or buildings include provision of electrical power supply to the additional electrical  equipment by creating new electrical wiring from a position of the additional electrical equipment to a typical wall socket, which is cumbersome.
From the foregoing problems, it is apparent that there is a need for a quick, convenient and less costly way to install additional electrical equipment and sensors in existing homes or buildings with existing electrical wiring without adding to or altering the existing electrical wiring or disrupting the normal use of lighting.


A system and method for vehicle wheel detection is disclosed. A particular embodiment can be configured to: receive training image data from a training image data collection system; obtain ground truth data corresponding to the training image data; perform a training phase to train one or more classifiers for processing images of the training image data to detect vehicle wheel objects in the images of the training image data; receive operational image data from an image data collection system associated with an autonomous vehicle; and perform an operational phase including applying the trained one or more classifiers to extract vehicle wheel objects from the operational image data and produce vehicle wheel object data.

In autonomous driving systems, the successful perception and prediction of the surrounding driving environment and traffic participants are crucial for making correct and safe decisions for control of the autonomous or host vehicle. In the current literature and application of visual perception, techniques such as object recognition, two-dimensional (2D) object detection, and 2D scene understanding (or semantic segmentation) have been widely studied and used. With the assistance of fast-developing deep learning techniques and computational power (such as graphics processing units [GPUs]), these visual perception techniques have been successfully applied for use with autonomous or host vehicles. Compared with these 2D perception methods, full three dimensional (3D) perception techniques, however, are less studied because of the difficulty in getting robust ground truth data and the difficulty in properly training the 3D models. For example, correct annotation of the 3D bounding box for 3D object detection requires accurate measurement of the extrinsic and intrinsic camera parameters as well as the motion of the autonomous or host vehicle, which are usually difficult or impossible to obtain. Even if ground truth data can be obtained, the 3D model is difficult to train because of the limited amount of training data and inaccurate measurements. As a result, less-expensive and much less functionally-capable alternative solutions have been used in these visual perception applications.

System and method for vehicle wheel detection


The present invention relates to a suction nozzle for cleaning apparatuses. More specifically, the present invention relates to a suction nozzle for removing hair from a textile surface.

The hairs of domestic animals and particularly dogs and cats have long posed a problem for their owners who have rugs and carpets in their car, their home and in the rooms in which the animals are allowed. Vacuum cleaners are commonly used, but adherence between the animal hairs and the carpeting is such that the vacuum cleaner has to be taken over the same area, time and time again, to effect any sort of thorough removal of the animal hairs. A suction nozzle attached to the vacuum cleaner is frequently useful, but the filaments/protrusions of the suction nozzle have to be cleaned out regularly, and this is a messy, difficult, and time consuming chore.

Suction nozzle for removing hair from textile surfaces