A container is formed from at least one sheet-shaped segment made of paper and the like. The edges of the container which come into contact with the contents of the container are provided with a protective covering covering the surfaces bordering those edges of the segment as well as those of the wall of the container formed by the segment. The area of the segment to be covered by the protective covering is less thick, so that the thickness of the segment including the protective covering remains constant overall. The area with a reduced thickness is made by compressing the material of the segment. A segment provided with a protective covering and having a constant thickness can thereby be produced simply and cost-effectively.

The present invention relates to a container with at least one wall element which is made of one or more sheet-like segments having at least one edge enclosed by a protective covering which covers the inner surface and the outer surface of the area bordering the edge. The area has such a reduced thickness that the segment including the protective covering has at least an almost constant thickness.
German published patent application 3023835 describes a container which is made up of a plurality of wall elements. Each wall element comprises a paper carrier layer covered by at least one protective layer which is directed towards the inside of the container after assembly thereof. During production of the container, a segment is formed into an essentially conical body portion. An end area of the segment with an edge projects thereby into the inside of the container.
The edge projecting into the inside of the container is surrounded by a protective covering. The protective layer of the segment serves as a protective covering, which is folded over at an angle of 180.degree. in the area of the edge so that the edge itself, and the area of the segment joined thereto are surrounded by the protective covering.
First, for the production and application of the known protective covering, the carrier layer of the segment in the end area comprising the edge is skived, so that the segment there possesses essentially only half material size. A longitudinal groove is then formed at the bisecting line of the skived area and an adhesive is applied to the skived area. Finally, the skived area is folded over at an angle of 180.degree. along the longitudinal groove and adhered together. This process makes a protective covering in the area of the edge, and the covering is formed by the folded protective layer of the segment to cover the edge itself as well as the two sides of the segment resting on each other and joined to the edge.
Due to the paring down of the material at the longitudinal end to half its thickness, and the subsequent folding together of the end strip, a thickness is maintained in the area of the edge which corresponds overall at least approximately to the thickness of the segment. The segment, including the protective covering, has an overall, at least approximately, constant thickness. The purpose of the skiving of the material at the end area of the segment is to avoid cracks forming during folding, which cracks can occur in the case of full-strength material.
An object of the present invention is to provide in a container an edge protection which is simple and cost-effective to produce without having to increase a segment thickness.
This object has been achieved in accordance with the present invention by compressing the area to be covered by the protective covering.
The container and process therefor according to the present invention has the advantage that the reduction of the thickness of the segment in the area to be covered by the protective covering can be carried out in a particularly simple and cost-effective way. After application of the protective covering onto the area with a reduced thickness, the segment that is used for producing the container has an overall, at least approximately constant, thickness.
The approximately constant thickness makes possible a simplified production of the container. Segments of constant thickness are particularly good for stacking in piles to feed to container manufacturing machines. Also a plurality of segments can be put together to form a cardboard tape which can be presented in rolled-up form to a container manufacturing machine.
The present invention can be applied usefully to all containers where it is to be avoided that a medium, in particular the liquid contents, leaks into the wall elements of the container. In the edge area, the surface of the segment which is to be made into a wall element of the container is frequently broken open, particularly when the edge is made by cutting or punching. By applying the protective covering, the same or a similar protection can be made in the edge area as exist in the other areas of the container regardless of the outer shape of the container.
Another advantageous aspect of the present invention involves a segment which comprises a carrier layer and a protective layer. The thickness in the edge area is reduced in that the protective layer and/or the carrier layer is compressed. The protective covering can itself be compressed advantageously in the area of the segment to be covered.
In one advantageous embodiment of the present invention the protective covering is made in one with the protective layer of the segment.
Moreover, the present invention can be applied to all edges of a container to be covered with a protective covering.
In an advantageous embodiment of the present invention, a segment is made into a wall and forms a side body element of the container. Consequently, a section of the segment is so arranged that it overlaps the inner surface of the wall and is fastened thereagainst to project into the inside of the side body element. The end of the section is formed by an edge which is covered with a protective covering.
According to another advantageous aspect of the present invention, the edge to be covered is provided at an opening which is set in a container wall. This opening can be advantageously covered by a pull tab, whereby the area of the segment which can be covered by the pull tab also has a reduced thickness. The segment is then essentially of constant thickness in the area covered by the protective covering as well as in the area covered by the pull tab.
Compression of the segment is advantageously carried out by applying mechanical pressure to the area to be compressed.


A method for requesting a credential associated with token in a multiple token layer environment is disclosed. A tokenization certificate serves to validate the identity of a credential requestor and provide information about the requestor's authorization for de-tokenizing a token. Also, a public key in the tokenization certificate is used to encrypt the credential for secure transmission to the requestor.

Tokenization is an increasingly popular method of improving the security of transactions. Tokenization involves the generation of a token, or data element, that substitutes for another, possibly more sensitive, data element. For example, with regard to a payment transaction, a token may be used to as a substitute to a primary account number (PAN). Specifically, the token may be submitted by a merchant in place of the PAN to authorize a transaction. Thus, the PAN may be protected from eavesdropping during the transaction.
However, in some circumstances, it may be desirable for a merchant or other entity to de-tokenize a token to determine the corresponding PAN or other sensitive data. For example, a merchant may desire to perform analytics that track a consumer across multiple transactions, or may need to verify the identity of a consumer that conducted a transaction (e.g., for item returns). Further complicating the de-tokenization process is the possibility of multiple stages or levels of tokenization. For instance, a token generated by a first entity in a payment system may itself be tokenized by a second entity.
Embodiments of the invention address these and other problems individually and collectively.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for secure detokenization


A sensor for measuring magnetostriction of and/or magnetic thin film is constructed by depositing a thin film nonferromagnetic electrically insulating layer followed by a thin film layer of a sensor material which is piezoresistive and nonferromagnetic. The insulating and the piezoresistive film can be etched into an appropriate pattern and orientation to provide sensitivity to strain in the magnetic film. The magnetostrictive strain in the magnetic film is induced by a known magnetic field which produces a corresponding strain in the piezoresistive film which can be measured as a change in the electrical resistance which can be detected by external probes or other measuring means. The measurement of the magnetostriction can be performed as a part of the manufacturing process for wafers with a plurality of thin film magnetic heads thereon and does not require that the wafers be removed to a laboratory.

This invention relates to the field of thin film materials and more particularly the invention relates to methods and apparatus for measuring or sensing magnetostriction of thin film materials.
Ferromagnetic and nonferromagnetic thin film materials are widely used in transducers and disks in magnetic disk drives, as well as, the semiconductor industry. The films are deposited by various processes including CVD, electroplating and sputtering.
The magnetostriction of magnetic materials such as NiFe can be correlated with the composition of the materials. Thus, it known to be useful to measure the magnetostriction of the thin films deposited in the process of making magnetic heads as a way of monitoring the quality of the process. The current way that this is done, is to remove the wafers on which the films have been deposited from the process and perform the measurements in a laboratory. This obviously involves delay and considerable expense. Thus, there is a need for a way to conveniently test the magnetostriction of materials on a wafer.
Shinji Saitou (U.S. Pat. No. 5,589,770) describes a mechanical sensor for the measurement of stress or distortion using magnetostrictive distortion in a film by layering a magneto-resistive film on top of the magnetostrictive film with an intervening thin electrically insulating film. Saitou""s mechanical sensor comprises an initial layer of an amorphous ferromagnetic material having magnetostrictive properties preferably comprising at least one alloy selected from the group comprising Fexe2x80x94Crxe2x80x94Sixe2x80x94B-based, Fexe2x80x94Nbxe2x80x94Sixe2x80x94B-based, Fexe2x80x94Vxe2x80x94Sixe2x80x94B-based, Fexe2x80x94Coxe2x80x94Sixe2x80x94B-based, Fexe2x80x94Wxe2x80x94Sixe2x80x94B-based, Fexe2x80x94Nixe2x80x94Crxe2x80x94Sixe2x80x94B-based, Fexe2x80x94Nixe2x80x94Nbxe2x80x94B-based, and Fexe2x80x94Nixe2x80x94Moxe2x80x94B-based alloy. Saitou stated that it is preferable in the above-mentioned configuration that the amorphous magnetostrictive alloy comprise Fe75Cr4Si12.5B8.5 and that the electrically insulating layer is preferably SiO2. The second ferromagnetic layer must have a significant magneto-resistance effect and is preferably a NiFe alloy. A magnetic field generating means excites both of the ferromagnetic layers, and a change of magnetic flux density passing through the ferromagnetic layers resulting from a change of magnetic properties due to stress is detected as a change of resistance value arising from the magneto-resistance effect. Thus, Saitou""s mechanical sensor uses magnetoresistance and magnetostriction to measure strain.
Given a thin film magnetic material deposited on a substrate such as a silicon wafer, a sensor for the magnetostriction of the magnetic film can be constructed by depositing a thin film nonferromagnetic electrically insulating layer followed by a thin film layer of a sensor material which is piezoresistive and nonferromagnetic. The insulating and the piezoresistive film can be etched into an appropriate pattern and orientation to provide sensitivity to strain vectors in the magnetic film as desired. The magnetostrictive strain in the magnetic film induced by a known magnetic field induces a corresponding strain in the piezoresistive film which can be measured as a change in the electrical resistance which can be detected by external probes or other measuring means. The measurement of the magnetostriction can be performed as a part of the manufacturing process and does not require that the wafers be removed to a laboratory. It is preferable that the insulating and sensor layers be thinner than the magnetic layer to maximize the transmission of the strain. Duplicate piezoresistive films can be deposited over insulated areas where there is no underlying magnetostrictive film to provide a value for a differential measurement.
The preferred embodiment described below uses the sensor as a part of the process of manufacturing the wafers from which a plurality of magnetic heads will be cut for use in disk or tape drives. The sensors can be built in otherwise unused locations on the wafer, for example, in the saw kerf areas. The sensors may be built and used when the wafer is in an intermediate point in the build process and/or after the heads on the wafer are essentially complete.

International Business Machines Corporation


Embodiments of the present invention provide a memory array of macro cells. Each macro cell comprises a storage element and a calibration element. The storage element and its corresponding calibration element are part of a common memory array within an integrated circuit, and therefore, are in close proximity to each other. The calibration element may store a parameter used to modify the threshold voltage of the storage element.

Semiconductor memory has become increasingly popular for use in various electronic devices. For example, non-volatile semiconductor memory is used in computers, tablets, digital cameras, and mobile computing devices. Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM) and flash memory are among the most popular non-volatile semiconductor memories.
The threshold voltage Vth is an important parameter in flash operations such as programming and erasing. Variations in threshold voltage can degrade performance or even lead to data errors. It is therefore desirable to have structures and methods for reducing variation in threshold voltage for non-volatile memories.

Structure and method for narrowing voltage threshold distribution in non-volatile memories

International Business Machines Corporation


A disk with an engagement system for a surface cleaning machine includes a disk having an upper surface, a lower surface, a perimetric edge, and a retaining cavity defined in the disk; an engaging member having a base and a perimetric wall, which is configured to be nested in the retaining cavity of the disk and to entrain an inner wall of the retaining cavity; a first metallic member housed within the disk; and a second metallic member housed within the engaging member. The first and the second metallic members are magnetically attracted to one another with a force that is larger than the gravity force of the disk and smaller than a predetermined detaching force of the disk from the engaging member.

Surface cleaning machines have been used for years to clean floors, drapes and upholstery. One common type of surface cleaning machines include a housing with an elongated handle angled toward a user, a rotary drive system, and a disk carrying a treatment element such as a polishing or stripping pad or a brush.
Surface cleaning machines with orbital motion have been found to be particularly effective for polishing or stripping surfaces. The orbital motion is typically imparted by a drive assembly that transmits a torque through a drive assembly that is eccentrically mounted on a drive shaft linking the rotary drive system to the disk. Examples of rotary cleaning machines with orbital motion are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,355,542 to Oreck et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,938,295 to Lancaster et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 8,839,479 to Hruby.
One drawback of surface cleaning machines in the prior art, in particular of surface cleaning machine with orbital motion, is that the change-over from one type of disk to another is slow and cumbersome. Typically, the operator must angle the machine to gain access to the screws that attach the drive assembly to the disk; remove the disk; position a different disk in place; and re-attach the screws.
Therefore, it would be an improvement over the prior art to have a disk with an engagement system to the drive assembly that is configured to provide for a quick and less cumbersome changeover.

Disk with engagement system for surface cleaning machine


Disclosed is a frequency-locked loop (FLL), which attempts to bring about frequency and phase synchronization between two signals over the control bandwidth of the loop: a reference signal and a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) signal. For example, the FLL employs a reference signal generated by a crystal oscillator of frequency fREF and a VCO signal generated by the oscillations of an unquenched SRG resonator with tunable resonant frequency fRES. These signals are connected to the inputs of a phase/frequency detector (PFD) which produces output pulses in response to the relationship between fREF and fRES. These pulses are applied to a loop filter (LF) which creates a voltage using some kind of charge-storage element. This loop filter voltage is a so-called error voltage whose value is used to control the frequency of the resonator to bring the reference signal and VCO signal into phase synchrony.

The invention relates to automatic frequency comparison and/or control (AFC) of a phase/frequency of a signal with that of a reference. In a particular embodiment, it is directed to a novel frequency-locked loop architecture which uses gated input and reference signals.
The AFC of the invention will be described in connection with a superregenerative (SRG) radio receiver, though the invention should find other AFC applications. SRG radio receivers are used widely for reception of RF (radio frequency) signals because of its circuit simplicity and exceptionally high signal sensitivity. SRG radio receivers require a stable tuned circuit which is realized by the used of some kind of AFC. It should be noted that frequency and phase can be used interchangeably and the invention can be described by using in either term. It is however decided that xe2x80x9cfrequencyxe2x80x9d is used throughout the present specification.
A block diagram of a simple SRG receiver is depicted in FIG. 1. The input signal VRF is an RF signal at a fixed frequency fRF which is modulated with amplitude-shift keying (ASK); digital data is often transmitted as binary data. VRF is connected to some kind of resonant circuit with natural center frequency fRES. This resonant circuit is connected to some kind of Q control circuit such that overall resonator Q is variable, controlled by a deterministic signal Vq. In FIG. 1, the resonant circuit is an LC tank circuit with the parallel conductance g0 representing losses in the passive components, i.e., finite tank Q, and a transconductor gm configured as a tunable negative resistor, but other kinds of circuit (e.g., a ring oscillator) are possible. The resonator output voltage VRES is connected to an envelope detector followed by a band pass filter (BPF), the combination of which produces a voltage VOUT which contains the demodulated data.
Operation of the SRG receiver just described is as follows. The Q control circuit is driven with a periodic voltage (period Tq, frequency fq=1/Tq) such that for the majority of the period, the resonator is made very slightly unstable. VRES begins to oscillate, building in amplitude with an envelope whose shape is exponential; if left to build for a sufficient period of time, the shape ceases to be exponential because it eventually succumbs to an amplitude limiting mechanism. Usually such a mechanism is inherent to the SRG, for example nonlinearity in the Q control circuit or finite power supply voltage. For the remaining small portion of Tq, the Q control is driven such that the resonator is very stable, to the point that any built-up oscillations rapidly die out and VRES falls to near zero. This is known as xe2x80x9cquenching the oscillationxe2x80x9d. The quench frequency must be at least twice the data rate as the quenching is a form of sampling of the data and the sampling rate is governed by normal Nyquist restrictions.
The method of data detection at VRF works as follows. During the portion of Tq when VRES is permitted to oscillate, the oscillations commence because of wideband thermal noise inherent to any practical electrical system; this creates a nonzero voltage on VRES, and positive feedback inside the resonator passband ensures noise components at frequencies close to fRES are amplified more than those at other frequencies. As a result, the frequency of the built-up oscillation immediately prior to quenching is the same as the natural center frequency of the resonator. If there is coherent energy at the RF input VRF (i.e., a carrier) that falls within the passband of the resonators then the build-up of resonator oscillations is encouraged: the initial voltage at VRES has a larger magnitude than it would if only noise were present. The time constant of the exponential build-up is determined by the setting of Vq alone, and so it is the same whether or not passband energy on VRF is present; the more energy present on VRF, therefore, the greater the final amplitude of the oscillation. Thus, the energy build-up on VRES is proportional to the passband power on VRF and an envelope detector/BPF combination is sufficient to generate a signal proportional to this latter quantity. The envelope detector maintains the subcarrier position of the data relative to the carrier while translating the modulated signal to baseband. Hence, unmodulated signals translate to dc and are rejected by the baseband BPF, while the data pass through the BPF. Of course the BPF must be appropriately matched to the data frequency.
FIG. 2 illustrates typical waveforms and waveform envelopes during the operation of the receiver, all being time coordinated. Vq represent a periodical control signal for quenching. VRES envelope shows exponential build-ups and decays of oscillation amplitude.
Usual embodiments of SRG receivers use a resonator with a fixed center frequency. They require this center frequency to be set fairly precisely because the resonator passband is very narrow during operation (this improves sensitivity to weak RF signals). Component tolerances are often sufficiently poor that fRES can only be set with enough accuracy via mechanical means (for example, trimming the value of a tunable capacitor by hand) prior to first use of the receiver. Thereafter, fRES cannot be changed over the life of the circuit unless it is recalibrated. Manual setting of the resonator frequency is error-prone and expensive; more seriously, fRES might drift after calibration, for example, due to component aging or temperature variations. As noted above, the Vq control is operated such that when the resonator is made to oscillate, the band of frequencies to which the oscillator is sensitive is very narrow; even a slight frequency drift can be enough to mean the transmitted data on VRF is no longer within the resonator passband, which means the SRG receiver is no longer capable of receiving the data.
The present invention addresses these problems by the use of the automatic phase/frequency control in general. Its basic concept is applicable to a variety of areas in which phase/frequency control is needed. The invention, however, is described in detail in connection with the SRG in which the resonator center frequency is made tunable (for example, by replacing the capacitor in an LC-based resonator with a varactor), and the AFC of the invention is provided for adjusting fRES with no external mechanical control. Moreover, the invention provides a means of controlling fRES during receiver operation so that the center frequency is held fixed, even in the face of mechanisms which would otherwise cause the frequency to drift.
Other advantages, objects and features of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.
Briefly stated, the invention is directed to a frequency comparison circuit for comparing frequencies of a variable signal and a reference signal. The frequency comparison circuit includes a phase frequency detector for comparing frequencies of the variable signal and the reference signal and for generating an output that depends upon the relationship of the frequencies; and gate modules at the inputs of the phase frequency detector for gating the variable signal and the reference signal so that only a portion of the variable signal and reference signal are repetitively applied to the inputs of the phase frequency detector for processing.
In accordance with another aspect, the invention is directed to a frequency lock loop circuit for maintaining a predetermined frequency relationship between a detected signal and a reference signal. The frequency lock loop circuit includes a variable tuning circuit for adjusting its tuning frequency to generate the detected signal and a frequency comparator for comparing the frequencies of the detected and reference signals and for generating an output responsive to their frequency relationship. The frequency lock loop circuit further includes a gate module for applying repetitively and coincidentally only a predetermined portion of the detected signal and the reference signal to the frequency comparator for generating the output, and a loop circuit connecting the variable tuning circuit and the frequency comparator for applying the output to the variable tuning circuit to adjust its tuning frequency so that the predetermined frequency relationship is maintained between the detected signal and the reference signal.
In accordance with yet a further aspect the invention is directed to an RF receiver of the superregenerative type for detecting an amplitude shift keyed RF signal at a predetermined frequency. The RF receiver includes an RF amplifier for amplifying the RF signal, an RF tuning circuit connected to the RF amplifier and tuned to the RF signal at the predetermined frequency for generating a detected signal, and a quenching circuit attached to the RF tuning circuit for quenching periodically the oscillation of the RF tuning circuit. The RF receiver further includes an envelope detector connected to the RF tuning circuit for producing amplitude shift keyed data carried on the detected signal, a reference signal generator for generating a reference signal, and a loop module connected to the RF tuning circuit and the reference generator for generating a locking output in response to frequency relationship between the reference signal and the detected signal. In the RF receiver, there are provided further a frequency adjusting circuit connected to the RF tuning circuit for adjusting the predetermined frequency to lock it to the reference frequency, and a gate module for sampling the detected signal and the reference signal for a portion thereof to be inputted to the loop module for generating the locking output.

Frequency/Phase comparison circuit with gated reference and signal inputs


A method and apparatus for mitigating health risk from cell phone usage wherein a cell phone having a source of radiation generating excitatory radiation toward brain tissue and an earphone electrically connected to the cell phone via a cord of sufficient length to permit the cell phone to be located more than ten inches from brain tissue during operation of the cell phone. An automatic shutoff mechanism preventing operation of the cell phone unless the cord is extended at least ten inches whereby the excitatory radiation is at a sufficient distance from the brain tissue to prevent brain tissue damage from the excitatory radiation.

Wireless communication devices, including cell phones, mobile phones and other smart communication devices, operate by inducing movement of various forms of electromagnetic waves that carry packeted information including voice and data. These devices also produce radiation. Medical science accumulated over the past 15 years confirms health risks from the certain combinations of energy waves producing electromagnetic radiation from such device use. For example, brain cancer risk increases, especially after ten years of cell phone use. There is a pronounced five-fold increase in brain cancer when use begins in the teenage years and such use increases risk of benign tumors of the brain, tumors of the acoustic nerve, and tumors of the eyes.
There are also documented health risks from non-cancer conditions. For example, cell phone use has been reported to increase risk of impairment such as: anxiety disorders, sleep disorders, memory disorders, electro-hypersensitivity, learning disorders, Autism, ADD, ADHD, temper disorders and other behavioral disorders.
As used in this application, a cell phone is any device that can make and receive telephone calls, carrying voice or data, over any system that includes a wireless radio link. As is well known, such devices are useful while moving from place to place. Cell phones as used herein also include mobile devices that receive and transmit video and text. A battery that may be rechargeable provides power for the cell phone functions. The cell phone includes an input mechanism (keypads, touchscreen, etc.) that operates the cell phone functions.
There is also medical evidence that people with other health conditions not necessarily caused by cell phone exposures are made worse by the exposures and the efficacy of medicines used to treat medical conditions are sometimes rendered less effective when there is cell phone exposure.
Cell phone use while driving has been linked to dramatic increase in automobile accidents and fatalities. Twenty-seven states in the U.S. have mandated the use of headsets on cell phones to protect against accident risk.
During the past five years, both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have held hearings on cell phone health and safety dangers.
There are at present personal injury and product liability cases moving through the Courts in the United States, Europe and Israel, brought by plaintiffs who suffer from brain tumors whose cause they ascribe to their cell phone use.
In several states in the U.S., legislation has been introduced or otherwise considered that would affix health risk warning labels on cell phones with admonitions to use headsets as one risk mitigation step.
The equivalent of the Senate in France is considering legislation that would restrict promotion and sale of cell phones and other wireless devices to children and would require headsets to be included in each phone sold.
The scientific literature addressing the underlying health risks ascribed to cell phone and wireless device use numbers more than 12,000 peer-reviewed papers and reports. Included are three books by G. Carlo. One of those, "Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age", a best-selling book published in 2001 and now printed in six languages, was the first to define a summary of the nature of cell phone radiation hazards for the non-scientific public. Among the recommendations made was the use of headsets.
In the United States and other countries around the world, there are emission standards that are intended to provide a margin of safety for cell phone users that are based on the heat-inducing intensity of the electromagnetic fields produced by cell phones. These standards are expressed in Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) units which represents the amount of radiation passing through a gram of tissue per unit of time. The present standard SAR is 1.6 watts per kilogram.
The nature of cell phone radiation and the emerging scientific literature makes clear that there are several mechanisms of harm active with respect to cell phone dangers. There is universal acceptance in the scientific literature that there are two distinct radiation plumes emitted by cell phones that carry different types of danger, as well as effects generated by electromagnetic radiation produced by the internal circuitry of the phones. The most serious is the so-called 'near-field plume', which is the result of the power surge necessary to carry cell phone signals to transmission base stations. There is also an ambient or 'far-field' plume that carries with it unique health risk considerations. The concern about radiation produced by the circuitry is direct-contact exposure that produces allergic reactions in susceptible and sensitive users.
There is near universal acceptance in the scientific literature that the dual waveform—temporally-coherent carrier wave and spatially-coherent modulated wave—that is necessary for communication of information through wireless signals, is responsible for the biological responses elicited by both plumes.
The special significance of the near-field plume is that it emanates in all directions from the cell phone antenna about six to ten inches, depending upon the type of phone, geographic location of the phone during a call, position of the phone during the call, and the characteristics of the user (for example, there is deeper penetration into the heads of children because of the different biological make-up of their growing brain tissues.).
The penetration of this biologically active near-field plume into the brain is uniquely dangerous to brain tissue because brain tissue is highly vulnerable to environmental stressors. Brain cells, unlike all other cells in the human body, have very limited capacity for adaptation and self-protection. Thus, the human skull has evolved as a protection against trauma and the blood-brain barrier has evolved as a protection against dangerous circulating chemical exposures. Scientific data show that dangers from cell phones include both direct adverse impact on brain cells and tissue and diminution in the effectiveness of protective mechanisms including impact on the integrity of both the skull and the blood-brain barrier.
The penetrating Information Carrying Radio Waves (ICRW) from wireless communication devices (a dual wave form with a high-frequency carrier signal and a low-frequency secondary wave caused by modulation techniques) represents an evolutionarily new environmental exposure phenomenon so humans have not yet evolved a natural protective system.
The need, therefore, is to protect sensitive brain tissue from the near-field plume of ICRW by moving the plume away from the brain tissue. This is called primary prevention in medical and public health jargon—eliminating the dangerous exposure. The present new headset is thus a means of primary prevention in this regard.
Since the middle 1990s, there have been various varieties of headsets available for wireless devices. However, consumer research indicates that the current wired headsets on the market are considered to be cumbersome—especially the wire which is inconvenient, non-stylist, flimsy and are not therefore used. If they are not used, they offer no public health and safety protection benefit.
The present invention addresses these practical concerns and seeks to present a new headset platform that is convenient, stylish, strong, durable, of high sound-quality, and transportable from one device type to another. The present invention is designed specifically to protect against near-field plume health and safety dangers, migration of circuitry-induced radiation that harms sensitive and susceptible users, and the effects of excursions of ambient electromagnetic radiation drawn into the bio-field of the cell phone user.
There are two general types of headsets on the market presently: wired headsets and wireless or BlueTooth headsets. In the preferred embodiment, the present disclosure is an improvement on wired headsets or earphones. However, both types have their problems which may be improved by this disclosure.
There are a number of manufacturers, with the largest market shares owned by Jabra and Plantronics. These companies carry both wired and wireless versions that are offered as 'conveniences' rather than 'safety features'. It is noteworthy that some companies in the wireless industry itself openly recognize cell phone dangers in their product literature. Some others indirectly infer the presence of cell phone dangers in their user manuals. In either case, they do recommend headsets as a 'convenience' while still recommending keeping the phone a safe distance from the head.
Thus, the invention distinguishes itself in use from the products of these manufacturers in that the platform design is specifically addressing the health and safety concerns while also improving on the convenience and usability aspects.
BlueTooth headsets do not address the safety issue because they are in themselves wireless devices that change the near-field plume penetration profile but do not eliminate exposure to the near-field plume as does the present disclosure. In addition, the BlueTooth headsets introduce an additional type of ICRW exposure by virtue of their operating wireless signal which connects to the cell phone itself. These devices also draw ambient electromagnetic radiation into the users bio-field. So in effect, they increase the health risks to some, as yet unknown, degree.

Health risk, mitigating, retractable, wired headset and protective case platform for wireless communication devices


Extracorporeal affinity adsorption treatments which are aimed at the substantial removal of two or more compounds that are etiological in the pathogenesis of diseases in man provide effective therapeutic intervention means for these diseases. The methods are particularly suitable for the treatment of atherosclerosis, cancer, degenerative and autoimmune diseases. Extracorporeal chelation and immunotherapy for atherosclerosis, extracorporeal chelation treatment with on-line regeneration or replacement of chelant, extracorporeal immunotherapy with antibody fragments, and extracorporeal immunoadsorption utilizing antibodies bound to Protein A are also disclosed.

Atherosclerosis and cancer are the two major causes of morbidity and mortality in western societies. While there has been significant advance in the treatment of atherosclerosis there is still a great need for more effective treatment interventions.
The main mechanism by which atherosclerosis leads to morbidity and mortality is by narrowing the lumen of arteries and reducing the blood supply to the heart, brain and other vital organs. The factors associated with atherosclerosis include: High levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, low density lipoproteins (LDL) and low levels of high density lipoproteins (HDL).
Other factors are heredity, cigarette smoking, obesity, high blood pressure, reduced physical activity, high fat diets, and a high oxidation activity associated with the production of free radicals, leading to the oxidation of LDL, which accelerates the development of atherosclerotic lesions. Thus, J. Regnstrxc3x6m et al., Lancet, Vol. 339, No. 8803, May 16, 1992, pp. 1183-86, reported that the susceptibility of LDL to in vitro oxidation in the presence of copper, which acts as a catalyst in the oxidation process, was correlated with the severity of their coronary artery sclerosis. J. T. Salonen et al, Lancet, Vol. 339, No. 8798, Apr. 11, 1992, pp. 883-87, found that the level of autoantibodies to oxidized LDL predicted the progression of atherosclerosis of the carotid artery (the artery that supplies blood to the brain). One likely mechanism in development of atherosclerotic lesions via the oxidation of LDL is the induction of an autoimmune process leading to the production of antibodies specific to oxidized LDL and propagation of the atherosclerotic lesion by the autoantibody binding to oxidized LDL. J. Regnstrxc3x6m et al., supra, and T. Kita et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, Vol. 84, 1987, pp. 5928-31. J. T. Salonen et al., Circulation, Vol. 86(3), September 1992, pp. 803-11 reported an association between the risk of heart attack and the level of iron in the blood, with the risk being particularly high when plasma levels of both iron and LDL were elevated.
A significant reduction in blood levels of LDL and cholesterol by diet and lipid reducing drugs was found to result in regression of atherosclerosis. G. Brown et al., New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 323(19), Nov. 8, 1990, pp. 1289-1298. Oral lipid lowering drugs, such as Lovastatin, MSD (MEVACOR(copyright), Merck), are risky and may cause liver damage. Their efficacy is relatively limited, even when they are taken in association with a strict diet. Lowering of LDL by extracorporeal treatment of blood, M. Strahilevitz, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,375,414 and 4,813,924, and M. Strahilevitz, Atherosclerosis, Vol. 26, 1977, pp. 373-77, is significantly more effective in reducing blood cholesterol and LDL levels. H. Borberg et al., Journal of Clinical Apheresis, Vol. 4, 1988, pp. 59-65; R. L. Wingard et al., American Journal of Kidney Diseases, Vol. 18(5), 1991, pp. 559-65; V. Hombach et al., Dtsch Med. Wschr, Vol. 111(45), 1986, pp. 1709-15. LDL and cholesterol can be removed by affinity adsorption, utilizing as the adsorbent antibodies to LDL or other specific chemical adsorbents, such as dextran sulphate (M. Odaka et al., International Journal of Artificial Organs, Vol. 9, 1986, pp. 343-48) or heparin (D. J. Lupien et al., Pediatric Res., Vol. 14, 1980, pp. 113-17). LDL removal can also be achieved by heparin precipitation (D. Seidel et al., Journal of Clinical Apheresis, Vol. 4, 1988, pp. 78-81), and by double filtration plasmapheresis (S. Yokoyama et al., Arteriosclerosis, Vol. 5, November/December 1985, pp. 613-22) as well as by plasma exchange (G. R. Thompson, Lancet, 1981 I, pp. 1246-48).
The oral administration of vitamin E is associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease in men (E. B. Rimm et al., New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 328(20), May 20, 1993, pp. 1450-56) and in middle aged women (M. J. Stampfer et al., New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 328(20), May 20, 1993, pp. 1487-89). The mechanism of this protective effect is based on the antioxidant property of vitamin E, which inhibits the oxidation of LDL, thus exerting a protective effect from the development of atherosclerosis. The oxidation of LDL is catalyzed by heavy metals such as iron and copper. The removal of the metals by intravenous administration of chelating agents was reported to be effective in atherosclerotic vascular disease. E. Olszewer and J. P. Carter, Medical Hypotheses, Vol. 27(1), September 1988, pp. 41-49, and E. Cranton, xe2x80x9cBypassing Bypass,xe2x80x9d Hampton Road Publishers, Norfolk, V.a, 1992. Others did not confirm these reports. S. R. Wirebaugh and D. R. Gerates, DICP, Vol. 24(1), January 1990, pp. 22-24.
The apparent minimal effect, or lack of effect, of intravenous chelation in the treatment of atherosclerosis can be overcome by extracorporeal chelation which significantly increases chelation efficacy and reduces significantly its toxicity. M. Strahilevitz, Lancet. Vol. 340, Jul. 25, 1992, p. 235.
Extracorporeal chelation with desferoxamine was highly effective and safe in reducing blood iron in the treatment of hemochromatosis, a disease caused by the accumulation of excess iron in the blood and body stores. J. L. Held et al., Journal of American Academy of Dermatologists, Vol. 28, 1993, pp. 253-54. Ambrus and Horvath in U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,122 also describe a specific column configuration that can be used for extracorporeal chelation. In this column the chelating agent is physically immobilized in the spongy outer part of an anisotropic (asymmetrical) membrane.
Chelating agents can also be utilized with the extracorporeal affinity adsorption devices of Strahilevitz, U.S. Pat. No. 4,375,414.
Coronary bypass surgery is effective in reducing symptomatology, but its effect on mortality is limited. J. H. O""Keefe, Jr. and B. D. McCallister, Editorial, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Vol. 67, 1992, pp. 389-91, R. D. Simari et al., Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Vol. 67, April 1992, pp. 317-22.
Bypass surgery has no curative effect on the atherosclerotic disease process. The problem of post surgery atherosclerosis progression and the development of coronary or graft restenosis are major problems associated with bypass surgery. The need for effective means for reducing progression and inducing regression of atherosclerosis in patients following bypass surgery is well recognized, as is the need to further develop effective nonsurgical treatments that would replace bypass surgery in a significant proportion of patients that are currently being treated with bypass surgery, because of the lack of alternative effective medical treatment.
This is particularly relevant for candidates for bypass coronary surgery with moderately severe coronary occlusion that may not exhibit significant fibrotic changes in the atherosclerotic coronary lesions. Similar limitations to those of bypass surgery apply to percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. Simari et al., supra. In this procedure, an inflatable balloon is inserted into the coronary occlusion site. As with bypass surgery, this procedure also has no effect on the atherosclerotic disease process, thus restenosis is a significant problem. While the risks associated with angioplasty are lower than with bypass surgery, this is also an invasive procedure associated with morbidity and mortality risks.
While current medical treatments, particularly when combinations of conventional treatments are utilized, have significant effect in reducing progression and in inducing regression of the atherosclerotic process (Brown et al., supra), there is a need to have more effective treatment methods, particularly for those who can not be treated with oral lipid lowering drugs because of liver toxicity, who are unable to maintain a strict diet, or who fail to improve with conventional treatment, including oral lipid lowering drugs and diet.
The utilization of extracorporeal affinity adsorption of LDL (Strahilevitz, supra) can lead to marked reduction in LDL level, thus to significant regression of atherosclerotic coronary lesions. Hombach et al., supra. However, the effect of affinity adsorption of LDL and cholesterol, while aimed at a major factor in atherosclerosis, hyperlipidemia, is selectively targeted on this factor. Even when (as usually is the case) the affinity LDL adsorption is utilized with other measures (diet, exercise etc.) the quantitative impact of these conventional treatment methods may not be sufficient. The availability of non-surgical methods that will have a significantly larger quantitative effect on additional factors that are involved in the etiology and pathogenesis of atherosclerosis is of great importance, in order to optimize the non-surgical and post-surgical treatment of atherosclerosis.
One of the objects of the present invention is to provide effective non-surgical treatments of atherosclerosis.
Another object is to provide improvements in extracorporeal treatment methods for atherosclerosis and other diseases.
Another object is to provide improved specific affinity devices, particularly immunoadsorption devices, and methods.
Other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the following description.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, methods and devices for treating atherosclerosis and other conditions are provided that are based on the utilization of specific affinity adsorption of several of the biological molecules that are etiological in the pathogenesis of the condition. The affinity adsorbents utilized in accordance with the present invention are both immunoadsorbents and non-immune-based specific affinity chemical adsorbents.
In some applications of extracorporeal combined treatment, one or both of the extracorporeal methods may be based on other principles than adsorption, for example use of extracorporeal double filtration for the removal of LDL. S. Yokoyama et al., supra.
The adsorbents are incorporated in an extracorporeal treatment device. The methods of the present invention will be usually utilized in conjunction with conventional treatment methods, both medical and, when indicated, surgical methods.
The novel treatment methods that are the subject of the present invention are based on and are specific improvements of extracorporeal affinity adsorption and extracorporeal affinity dialysis which are disclosed in Strahilevitz U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,375,414 and 4,813,924 and British provisional patent application No. 16001, May 20, 1971, and which are incorporated herein by reference.
It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide additional specific improvements and embodiments to further increase the effectiveness and utility of extracorporeal affinity adsorption treatment of atherosclerosis.
Many of the elements of the present invention, as it applies to the treatment of atherosclerosis, are discussed in M. Strahilevitz, Lancet, Vol. 340, Jul. 25, 1992, p. 235, which is incorporated herein by reference.
One aspect of the present invention is to provide novel extracorporeal treatments for atherosclerosis based on specific affinity adsorption. The present invention also improves the efficacy of extracorporeal LDL affinity adsorption by combining it with affinity adsorption of ligands other than LDL and other lipids, that are also etiological in atherosclerosis.
Another aspect of the present invention is providing means for reducing the level of oxidized LDL in the body, using as affinity adsorbents specific antibodies to oxidized LDL, or using as specific adsorbent enzymatic digestion fragments of such antibodies, or synthetic fragments of such antibodies.
Yet another aspect of the invention is improving the immunoaffinity adsorption of LDL through the utilization of specific synthetic fragments of antibody (G. W. Welling et al., Journal of Chromatography, Vol. 512, 1990, pp. 337-43), with synthetic fragments that are specific to LDL. Yet another aspect is providing means for extracorporeal affinity adsorption of autoantibodies to oxidized LDL, which may be etiological in atherosclerosis, by using as the specific adsorbent oxidized LDL (the antigen) such as malondialdehyde LDL (Salonen, Lancet, supra), or to use as the adsorbent of oxidized LDL autoantibodies, Staphylococcal Protein A (Strahilevitz, Lancet, supra). Rather than Staphylococcal Protein A, a recombinant Staphylococcal Protein A or Staphylococcal Protein A component, or other synthetic peptides of Staphylococcal Protein A may be utilized, as may Protein G or its components. Bensinger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,513; R. Lindmark et al., J. Immunological Methods, Vol. 62, 1983, p. 1. As used herein, except when the context clearly indicates otherwise, the terms xe2x80x9cProtein Axe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cProtein Gxe2x80x9d include all such variations.
When fragments of antibodies are used in the present invention as affinity adsorbents, they can be produced by enzymatic (e.g., papain or pepsin) digestion of the intact antibody to produce Fab, (Fabxe2x80x2)2, or FV antigen-binding fragments, or they can be produced by other methods known to those skilled in the art for the synthesis of peptides, such as solid phase synthesis (R. A. Houghten, Proc. National Academy of Science USA, Vol. 82, August 1985, pp. 5131-35; R. E. Bird et al., Science, Vol. 242, 1988, pp. 423-42) or through genetic engineering in a suitable vector such as E. Coli or phage (J. W. Larrick, Pharmacological Reviews, Vol. 41(4), 1989, pp. 539-57). The use of fragments, rather than intact antibodies, as the affinity adsorbent may increase the adsorption capacity and reduces side effects that may be associated with the Fc non-antigen binding part of the antibody molecule.
Another objective of the invention is to provide for extracorporeal chelation therapy for cancer, autoimmune diseases and degenerative diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis.
An additional objective is to provide extracorporeal combined treatment of cancer based on combining extracorporeal chelation and extracorporeal adsorption of enhancing tumor antibodies and their complexes by utilizing one or more of the following specific adsorbents, (a) Tumor specific antigen and (b) Staphylococcal Protein A or Protein G.

Extracorporeal affinity adsorption device


A lightweight, low cost shower door assembly for enclosing a tub or shower enclosure having sides and a base. It includes an upper support member adapted to be positioned against opposing sides of the enclosure and a lower support member adapted to be positioned against the base of the enclosure. A door in the assembly includes a flexible rod connecting first and second frame members. The first frame member is connected to the upper and lower support members and positioned for movement about a vertical axis. The flexible rod is bowed to apply an upward force on the second frame member in order to maintain it in releasable connection with the upper support member. In use, a section of replaceable fabric or vinyl extends across the frame members in order to provide a water barrier for the door.

Shower doors are typically installed with a rigid safety glass or plexiglass material. These doors are heavy and expensive due to the glass materials. The weight of the glass materials makes it more difficult and expensive to move or transport the doors. Also, these doors usually require professional installation, since they are intended to be permanently mounted to a shower enclosure. The required installation thus also significantly increases the overall cost of the shower door. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved shower door and, more particularly, a low-cost, lightweight alternative to existing shower doors.


The invention relates to manual shaving razors. Particularly, the present invention relates to a shaving razor with a handle with a shaving razor head at each of opposite ends of the razor handle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to shaving razors. More specifically it relates to a shaving razor with a separate razor head on opposing ends of a razor handle and which is entirely disposable or has disposable razor heads.
2. Description of Related Art
Shaving razors and like devices are a common part of daily grooming. The number of devices available commercially is staggering with old straight edge razors; single edge safety razors; single, double and even triple bladed disposable razors; and razors with disposable razor heads all sharing shelf space in today""s stores. The wide number of different style, shape and size of razors and razor heads available indicates the need for razors that meet a wide variety of needs. These needs include convenience, cost, close shave, ease of use and specialty shaving uses such as shaving, styling and trimming. The patent literature has disclosed an even wider array of razors to fill those needs.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,078 to Carreker, a dual headed styling razor is disclosed. In that patent, a styling razor head is mounted on one razor handle and a shaving razor head is mounted on a separate razor handle. The handles are pivotally mounted together. The razor head-handle assembly enables the user designed to be able to style and shave with the same device. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,125,857 to Silber, opposing trimming razor heads are positioned on the opposing ends of a u-shaped handle for simultaneously trimming both sideburns at once and includes a device for keeping the whole mechanism level. The size of the device is adjustable to match the individuals"" head size. Two opposing independent shaving razor heads on the same end of a razor handle are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,564 to Schoenberg. The shaving razor heads are mounted in opposing positions and are not in contact with the skin simultaneously. The razor is designed to provide both an upwardly extending as well as a downwardly extending blade.
As can be seen, many attempts at improvements have been made in dual head razors for shaving, styling, and trimming but many share the problem of being costly, complicated to make and/or use, and inconvenient to use. It would thus be useful to have a dual head shaving razor that is inexpensive, easy to use and care for, and which saves time when being used primarily for shaving.
The present invention provides a shaving razor with dual shaving razor heads, one on each opposed end of a common razor handle. By xe2x80x9crazor handlexe2x80x9d is meant a handle roughly of the length to fit into the user""s hand. This razor handle has a body portion that can be optionally curved at each end that holds the shaving razor heads. The razor heads of the present invention are mounted so as to face away from the central axis of the common razor handle. The shaving razor head on each razor of the invention may face in the same direction or in different directions. In one embodiment, the razors face opposite directions. The razor handle can have almost any cross section such as square, rectangle, circular or oval as long as it fits into the user""s hand for use. A typical diameter of a razor handle is from about xc2xc to xc2xd inch. The improved razor, of the present invention, is also designed in such a way that it is economical to both make and use. Each shaving razor, of the present invention, is adapted to use disposable razor heads such as those by single, double or triple blade, or the entire razor may itself be made so as to be disposable.
The present invention razor has the advantage that it is economical, as one shaving razor of the invention can be made cheaper than two single-head razors of similar size. It is also useful in that it saves time during the shaving process. If the blade in one shaving razor head becomes dull during shaving, the razor can be turned around or flipped over and shaving can immediately continue with the blade of the other razor head. The shaving razor also can be used back and forth due to the opposing nature of the shaving razor heads. Other advantages of the improved dual headed razor of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a review of the description as well as reference to the accompanying drawings.


Alignment can be monitored by positioning at least one alignment verification location per alignment frame. The alignment verification location is a coordinate within the alignment frame. A distance between each of the alignment verification locations and a closest instance of an alignment target is determined. An alignment score can be determined based on the distance. The alignment score can include a number of the alignment frames between the alignment verification location and the alignment target. If the alignment score is below a threshold, then alignment setup can be performed.

Evolution of the semiconductor manufacturing industry is placing greater demands on yield management and, in particular, on metrology and inspection systems. Critical dimensions continue to shrink, yet the industry needs to decrease time for achieving high-yield, high-value production. Minimizing the total time from detecting a yield problem to fixing it determines the return-on-investment for a semiconductor manufacturer.
Fabricating semiconductor devices, such as logic and memory devices, typically includes processing a semiconductor wafer using a large number of fabrication processes to form various features and multiple levels of the semiconductor devices. For example, lithography is a semiconductor fabrication process that involves transferring a pattern from a reticle to a photoresist arranged on a semiconductor wafer. Additional examples of semiconductor fabrication processes include, but are not limited to, chemical-mechanical polishing (CMP), etch, deposition, and ion implantation. Multiple semiconductor devices may be fabricated in an arrangement on a single semiconductor wafer that are separated into individual semiconductor devices.
Inspection processes are used at various steps during semiconductor manufacturing to detect defects on wafers to promote higher yield in the manufacturing process and, thus, higher profits. Inspection has always been an important part of fabricating semiconductor devices such as integrated circuits (ICs). However, as the dimensions of semiconductor devices decrease, inspection becomes even more important to the successful manufacture of acceptable semiconductor devices because smaller defects can cause the devices to fail. For instance, as the dimensions of semiconductor devices decrease, detection of defects of decreasing size has become necessary because even relatively small defects may cause unwanted aberrations in the semiconductor devices.
Certain defect identification algorithms used during inspection need an alignment target nearby to find a defect. Alignment targets are typically used to correctly place care areas and perform defect detection with sensitivity that depends on the care area. If the care area is placed slightly differently, then the defect inspection may suffer from lower sensitivity if the defect was in a lower sensitivity care area due to a shift in the care area.
Determining whether a defect identification algorithm can be accurate enough may be challenging. For example, the contrast on an image may be insufficient or design alignment targets may not be usable. Determining accuracy also can be problematic as inspection systems switch between wafers because while the two wafers may have the same design, the features formed on the wafers or the features in the images may be different between the two wafers.
Furthermore, many of nuisance filtering techniques rely on accurate alignment of the patch images to the design. Slight differences in the alignment quality (e.g., due to wafer-to-wafer variation or insufficient density of alignment targets) can cause either excursions or missed defects without any notification that insufficient alignment accuracy is the root cause. However, it can be difficult to determine if design-based alignment is not the root cause of defect density variation within one wafer or from wafer-to-wafer, which may be important for troubleshooting.
Two metrics are currently used. The first metric is a defect-based pattern to design alignment (PDA) quality. The distance between the detected defect and the closest alignment site is calculated. If the distance is small, the alignment score is high. If the distance is large, the alignment score is low. However, if no defects are detected on a certain section of a given wafer, it is unknown whether poor alignment is the reason for not detecting the defects.
The other metric is a swath-based PDA score. If there is a certain number of alignment targets per swath, the swath gets a passing score. Otherwise it gets a failing score. The swath-based PDA score has the disadvantage of not giving granular information. Entire regions within a swath may not be close to any alignment target and still receive a passing score. The opposite is also true. A swath could be reported as failing alignment but certain areas within that swath actually have enough alignment sites and defects can be detected correctly.
Therefore, an improved technique to determine alignment during semiconductor wafer inspection is needed.

Performance monitoring of design-based alignment


Improved paper sizing is obtained by using water soluble salts of substitutes succinic acid having the formula: ##STR1## wherein R' is essentially hydrocarbon group of the formula ##STR2## wherein R is hydrogen or alkyl, at least two R groups being alkyl, and the total number of carbon atoms in R' is from 16 to about 26.

Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the production of paper and in particular to the sizing of paper using as a sizing agent water soluble salt of substituted succinic acid. The invention also relates to novel compositions of matter containing paper which has been sized using sizing agents of the present invention.
Numerous materials have been used in the past for sizing paper. Sizing using salt of certain substituted succinic anhydrides or acids is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,139,373. Sizing agents of that patent are substituted with hydrocarbon radicals having from 8 to 15, especially 10-14, carbon atoms. The patent discloses that agents whose substituent hydrocarbons radicals contain less than 8 carbon atoms or more than 15 carbon atoms give unsatisfactory results. The only substituent hydrocarbon radical having more than 15 carbon atoms disclosed in the patent is the n-octadecenyl radical of n-octadecenylsuccinic anhydride. From the examples and the claims, it appears that the patent shows a preference for normal dodecenyl substitution. In the process of U.S. Pat. No. 3,139,373, the substituted alkenyl succinic acid or anhydride is saponified with an alkaline material to form a soluble salt, which is combined with aqueous paper-pulp slurry. The resulting mixture is treated with a precipitating agent such as an aluminum salt to convert the soluble salt into an insoluble form which deposits on the pulp fibers.
Paper sizing using substituted succinic anhydrides is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,064. Although the patent indicates that the anhydride can be used in various ways, it appears that a preferred method of use is to form a starch emulsion of the anhydride as a working system. Unfortunately such starch-anhydride systems have a short useful "life" and must be used promptly after the preparation thereof. This necessitates not only special equipment for the preparation of the emulsions but also limits the effectiveness of recirculation of white water in paper mills that use such a recirculation technique.


The present disclosure describes a connector system for making electrical connections between connectors disposed at opposite extremities of a logic board to conductors in a respective pair of parallel, spaced-apart backplanes. Movable pin headers containing respective pluralities of pins are disposed on the outer surfaces of the backplanes. The pin headers are capable of assuming either a retracted or an extended position. In the former, the pins offer no interference to the insertion or removal of the logic board between the backplanes. In the latter, the pins traverse both feed-through holes in the backplanes and feed-through socket affixed to the opposed interior surfaces of the respective backplanes to electrically engage the connectors of the logic board, thereby completing circuit paths between the respective backplanes and the logic board.

Present day electronic systems, such as those employed for data processing, utilize a packaging arrangement having a single backplane (mother board) and a plurality of logic boards, sometimes referred to as daughter boards. The surface of the backplane includes a plurality of connectors into which respective logic boards are plugged in orthogonal relation to said surface. As such electronic systems become more complex, the task of routing electrical signals and of increasing the speed of system operation becomes more arduous. To accomplish these goals, a dual backplane configuration is advantageous. Thus, a pair of parallel, spaced-apart backplanes are provided with a plurality of parallel, spaced-apart logic boards oriented at right angles to the backplanes and disposed therebetween to form a card rack. However, it is apparent that such a configuration poses a unique interconnection problem. In order to make electrical connections between the opposite extremities of each logic board and the respective backplanes, it is necessary that means be provided to permit the logic board to slide into position between the backplanes. Once the logic board is in place, the connector system must be actuated to make the electrical connections.
Connector systems have been developed in the industry for use with dual backplanes. One such system is described by Fujitsu Limited of Kawasaki, Japan in a technical paper entitled "High Density Three Dimensional Stack Packaging for High Speed Computer", published in the Proceedings of the 1982 32nd Electronics Components Conference" relative to the "Components, Hybrids and Manufacturing Technology Society" program. As seen particularly in FIG. 9, page 452 of the Proceedings, the Fujitsu system is based upon the surface mounting of pin contacts on both the backplanes and at opposite extremities of the logic boards. Electrical connections are made via movable, double position, female connectors. Initially, the movable connectors are installed such that they engage only the pins emanating from male connectors disposed on the interior facing surfaces of the respective backplanes. In the installed position, the movable female connectors are slid into contact with the male backplane connectors. The logic boards with pins emanating from male connectors mounted on opposite extremities thereof are positioned relative to the homologously disposed pins on the respective backplanes. The female connectors are then moved toward the logic board pins which enter the connectors, such that the contacts of the female connector bridge both male connectors.
The system described by Fujitsu uses connectors which have a very small pin pitch and this has resulted in significant alignment and registration problems. Additionally, the sliding connectors mounted on the respective interior surfaces of the dual backplanes require considerably more space in this area than conventional connectors and the signal paths via the connector pins are considerably longer than optimum. The latter is an important consideration in high speed system operation. Finally, the cam mechanism taught by Fujitsu in the reference paper is located inside the card rack thereby limiting access to the mechanism for maintenance and repairs.
What is described is a dual backplane configuration system, which eliminates the foregoing deficiencies of the Fujitsu system, is economical, and relatively simple to implement. The pin-through-backplane connector system of the present invention fills such a need.


Disclosed are exemplified methods and systems that uses scientific and statistical basis to determine whether wells can be removed from a monitoring network and/or whether the frequency of well sampling can be reduced and/or whether the number of constituents being analyzed can be reduced. The exemplified method facilitates a more accurate and precise assessment of the sufficiency of the monitoring in decision making processes to modify the monitoring protocol of wells at a given contaminated site as well as to provide a defensible assessment and analysis that is empirical, graphical, and easy to understand.

Groundwater monitoring wells have been installed at tens of thousands of sites across the United States and the world to monitor groundwater contaminant plumes. Once installed, these monitoring wells are typically subjected to years or decades of monitoring at pre-defined sampling intervals (e.g., quarterly, semi-annually, annually, or other determined frequency or schedule). Over time, as a groundwater plume is cleaned-up, or if the extent of the contamination is assessed to be reducing, it may no longer be necessary to continue monitoring at past sampling intervals or sampling extent.
Tremendous cost savings can be recognized, for example, by reducing the number of wells sampled and/or by reducing the frequency of sampling and/or the number of constituents being analyzed. This is especially the case where it is determined that the groundwater plume is stable (i.e., not moving) or decreasing in size and/or concentration and/or mass.
Certain practices, by environmental professionals, to modify the monitoring well network and/or sampling frequency (these combined are referred to herein as a "monitoring well system") often rely on the subjective professional judgement of the environmental professionals, which often varies among professionals based on their respective experience and education. Because different practitioners can have different experiences with the assessment of a monitoring well system, they can come up with different opinions for the same set of data and measurements.
In addition, opinions on a monitoring well system provided by environmental professionals are often subjected to challenges by environmental regulators. Because of a lack of an established benchmark to determine when a well can be removed from a monitoring network or when a well can be sampled less often, the final decision on modifying a monitoring well system may be non-empirically based. For example, it may be determined based on the personalities or on environmental professional who makes the strongest assertions.
One class of programs (such as MAROS "Monitoring and Remediation Optimization System") are used to assist the environmental professional and the regulator in making this decision. However, these programs are often limited in the presentation of information in a manner that can be readily used by environmental professional or to support a given assessment position.
What are needed are devices, systems and methods that overcome challenges in the present art, some of which are described above.

Method and system for sufficiency evaluation of changes to a well monitoring system


Unique laser ablation transfer ("LAT") imaging technique presenting options of flexibility and versatility hitherto alien to LAT imaging science ("LATIS"), comprises LAT imaging onto special or conventional intermediate receptor elements, characteristically onto adhesive face surface thereof, and then laminating, notably hot laminating under pressure, the intermediate receptor thus imaged onto any one of a very wide variety of ultimate receptor substrates; thus produced are, e.g., original full-color prints or proofs, photomasks, monochrome or multichrome transparencies, and the like, having smooth or matte protective durable overcoatings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to unique variant of laser ablation transfer ("LAT") imaging onto special intermediate receptor elements that are well suited for secondary or downstream blanketwise lamination of both the image and, advantageously, a protective overcoating therefor, to a wide variety of ultimate substrates.
Representative applications of such "LAT decalcomania" techniques according to this invention include the production of matte or glossy full-color prints or proofs, and desirable monochrome photomasking films.
2. Description of the Prior Art/Current State-of-the-Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,938 to Diane M. Foley et al, assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby expressly incorporated by reference and relied upon, recounts the laser ablation transfer imaging science ("LATIS") prior art and describes a unique method/system for simultaneously creating and transferring a contrasting pattern of intelligence on and from an ablation-transfer imaging medium to a receptor element in contiguous registration therewith that is not dependent upon contrast imaging materials that must absorb the imaging radiation, typically laser radiation, and is well adopted for such applications as, e.g., color proofing and printing, computer-to-plate, the security coding of various documents and the production of machine-readable or medical items, as well as for the production of masks for the graphic arts and printed circuit industries; the ablation-transfer imaging medium, per se, comprises a support substrate and an imaging radiation-, preferably a laser radiation-ablative topcoat essentially coextensive therewith, such ablative topcoat having a non-imaging ablation sensitizer and an imaging amount of a non-ablation sensitizing contrast imaging material ("CIM") contained therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,650 to Ellis et al, also assigned to the assignee hereof and hereby also expressly incorporated by reference and relied upon, describes improved ablation-transfer imaging media having greater sensitivity, requiring less sensitizer and threshold energy (thus permitting a greater range of mass to be transferred), and which additionally are kinetically more rapid and facilitate the ablative transfer to a receptor element of an imaging radiation-ablative topcoat containing virtually any type of contrast imaging material (whether sensitizing or non-sensitizing).
Such method/system of the '650 Ellis et al patent for simultaneously creating and transferring a contrasting pattern of intelligence on and from a composite ablation-transfer imaging medium to a receptor element in contiguous registration therewith is improvedly radiation sensitive and versatile, is kinetically rapid and not dependent on a sensitized ablative topcoat, and is also very well adopted for such applications as, e.g., color proofing and printing, computer-to-plate, the security coding of various documents and the production of machine-readable or medical items, as well as for the production of masks for the graphic arts and printed circuit industries; the Ellis et al composite ablation-transfer imaging medium, per se, comprises a support substrate (i), at least one intermediate "dynamic release layer" (ii) essentially coextensive therewith and an imaging radiation-ablative carrier topcoat (iii) also essentially coextensive therewith, said imaging radiation-ablative carrier topcoat (iii) including an imaging amount of a contrast imaging material contained therein, whether or not itself including a laser absorber/sensitizer, and said at least one dynamic release layer (ii) absorbing such imaging radiation, typically laser radiation, at a rate sufficient to effect the imagewise ablation mass transfer of at least said carrier topcoat (iii).
By "dynamic release layer" is intended an intermediate layer that must interact with the imaging radiation to effect imagewise ablative transfer of at least the carrier topcoat onto a receptor element at an energy/fluence less than would be required in the absence thereof. The dynamic release layer ("DRL") is believed to release the carrier topcoat by effectively eliminating the adhesive forces that bond or consolidate the carrier topcoat with the support substrate. Preferably, under the same conditions additional propulsion is simultaneously provided by the interaction of the imaging radiation therewith, e.g., by ablation of the dynamic release layer itself, thus further facilitating the imagewise ablative transfer of the entire carrier topcoat to a receptor element. Representative DRLs per Ellis et al include metal, metal alloy, metal oxide and metal sulfide thin films, etc., and the organics.
Thus, the LAT imaging films employed in, for example, the Foley et al and Ellis et al LATIS' described above have essentially been limited to those "permanent" films available from inventory, namely, pre-manufactured or pre-coated, and, hence, which inventory is typically inadequate to supply the complete spectrum of LAT imaging films that may be required for a particular application, e.g., not all colors, not all color densities, not all film thicknesses, etc., are usually available from inventory.
Consequently, unique means have now been developed, described in Ellis copending application Ser. No. 07/978,482, filed Nov. 18, 1992, now abandoned, also assigned to the assignee hereof, for the on-demand or on-line production or generation, of LATIS imaging films that offers the end user a degree of flexibility and versatility hitherto alien to this art.
Such on-demand production/generation of LAT imaging films presents any one or more of an essentially infinite number of contrast imaging material options, as well any one or more of an essentially infinite number of thicknesses and CIM densities.
Too, such unique means for the on-demand production/generation of LATIS imaging films entails conventional toning techniques utilizing conventional liquid or dry toners, or liquid or dry toners especially modified or customized as to be tailored to a specific desire or LATIS application. Indeed, conventional or customized toners are employed that offer the option, whether from an economic and/or environmental standpoint, of recycling the unused toner from the non-imaged areas on imaged donor films.
The composite LAT imaging films described in the '482 Ellis application comprise a discontinuous or "toned" ablative topcoat and, hence, are improvedly laser radiation sensitive (by reason of the reduced adhesion of the discontinuous ablative topcoat to whatever substrate, whether or not including a DRL, in contradistinction to LAT imaging films which comprise a permanent, durably adhered continuous ablative topcoat).
In sum, the '482 Ellis application features the on-demand supply of appropriate substrate that will ultimately comprise the desired LAT film, and then on-site toning such substrate as to provide a unique composite film having a desired color or imaging functionality at a desired thickness or density, typically just prior to or immediately upstream of the actual imaging sequence.
To date, though, the state of the LATIS art has proven somewhat inflexible in that the known LAT techniques have essentially been limited to image transfer to one particular receptor element, itself strictly governing final image density, product morphology, amount of energy required for transfer, dimensionality of viewing of the final product, and the like.

LAT imaging onto intermediate/receptor elements/"LAT decalcomania"


The present invention relates to a dosage regimen of ST10 (ferric trimaltol) for the treatment of patients suffering from iron deficiency with or without anaemia. Specifically the invention relates to the treatment of patients with 30 mg ST10 twice daily.

Iron deficiency anaemia is characterised by low levels of iron in the blood and can be due to insufficient dietary intake of iron, or loss of iron from internal bleeding caused by diseases of the gastrointestinal or urinary tract, for example inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the colon and anaemia is recognised as a serious complication and symptom of ulcerative colitis. Iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is primarily caused by chronic blood loss from inflamed mucosa and/or iron malabsorption in both active and inactive stages of the disease (1). Dietary restriction and highly selective diets amongst IBD patients often result in poor dietary intake, whilst mucosal inflammation in the gastrointestinal tract may lead to inadequate nutrient absorption (2). Characteristic symptoms of IDA in IBD include chronic fatigue, headache and impairment of cognitive function.
Iron deficiency, without anaemia, has also been shown to have clinical consequences for patients and individuals. Iron is an important component of many intracellular processes and the effect of iron deficiency or iron deficiency correction has been reported in chronic heart failure, growth, behaviour and learning in children and cognition in the elderly. When iron deficiency remains untreated it can lead to iron deficiency anaemia.
Typically, treatment for iron deficiency anaemia is in the form of ferrous iron (Fe2+) salts, (e.g. ferrous sulphate) dosed orally as 300 mg tablets (60 mg elemental iron) three to four times daily. However, as the duodenum can maximally absorb only 10-20 mg of iron a day, greater than 90% of ingested iron is not absorbed, leading to symptomatic adverse events including toxicity at the gastrointestinal mucosa, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhoea and dark stools, all of which are dose related and lead to poor adherence with treatment.
In addition if ferrous iron tablets become lodged in the upper gastrointestinal tract contact irritation may occur causing erosion or ulceration. Hence treatment with ferrous iron is badly tolerated leading to poor compliance, particularly in patients suffering from IBD who already have significant damage to their gastrointestinal tract (3-4). In fact, treatment with ferrous iron preparations in such patients can often worsen their condition and lead to treatment of such patients with intravenous iron administration.
Alternative treatment with oral ferric iron (Fe3+) salts also results in poor iron absorption due to the ready formation of insoluble chelates when passing from the acidic environment of the stomach to the small intestine. Consequently there is a need to overcome the above-identified problems associated with current oral treatments for iron deficiency anaemia. There is a particular need to develop new orally-dosed iron-based treatments for patients who are intolerant of ferrous iron compositions.
ST10, also referred to as ferric trimaltol and ferric maltol is a chemically stable complex formed between ferric iron (Fe3+) and maltol (3-hydroxy-2-methyl-4-pyrone) was developed as an alternative to oral ferrous products and has been shown to correct iron deficiency in subjects with a history of ferrous sulphate intolerance (5). ST10 makes iron available in the gastrointestinal tract, providing iron in a biologically labile form for uptake across the mucus layer and intestinal wall (5). Since the iron is stabilized in a chelated form it is less toxic; therefore together with its high bioavailability, lower doses of elemental iron are administered thereby improving toxicity and patient compliance.
Harvey et al (6) reported single doses of 30 mg ST10 twice daily in patients recruited from gastroenterology clinics, those presenting with active inflammatory disease were excluded from the study.
The inventors have found that a combination of a particular dosage regimen and tablet formulation have led to surprising improvement in haemoglobin levels in patients suffering from iron deficiency with or without anaemia and in addition, from anaemia resulting from Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, which were previously intolerant to oral ferrous products. These results have been reported as clinically meaningful even after a short treatment period of four weeks and confirm that ST10 is an effective therapy for iron deficiency anaemia in IBD patients and may be administered safely over a twelve week period or longer with reduced side effects and improved compliance. In addition the inventors have observed fewer common side effects associated with ferrous iron treatment such as gut related side effects, reduction in blackened stools and compatibility with antacid treatments.


A microprocessor core operating on instructions in a dual six-stage pipeline. Instructions are fetched and decoded by an instruction scheduling unit which includes a queuing stage for facilitating conditional branch operations. Instructions can be executed in five execution units including a load/store/add unit, an ALU unit, a shift/multiply unit, a branch unit, and a coprocessor which interfaces with the microprocessor core. Exceptions are handled by the coprocessor which includes a plurality of registers and a multiple entry translation lookaside buffer and an exception program counter. When an exception is detected the coprocessor loads the exception program counter with a restart address where execution can resume after the exception is serviced, the plurality of registers being used during the exception processing. One of the registers is a circulate mask register which is used by the coprocessor in executing an Add with Circular Mask instruction in which an immediate field of the instruction is sign-extended and added to the contents of a general register, the result being masked with the extended value in the circular mask register.

This invention relates generally to RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) systems, and more particularly the invention relates to a RISC which is compatible with the MIPS-II instruction set and useful as a core with other circuit elements.
The conventional RISC such as the MIPS R3000 and R4000 are pipelined processors operating with a limited or reduced instruction set. The instruction pipeline includes instruction fetch (IF), read (RD), ALU or execute (EX), memory (MEM), and write back (WB). The processor includes a CPU and a system control co-processor for memory management and cache control. The CPU includes a general register file, an ALU, a shifter, a multiplier/divider, an address Addr, and a program counter. The MIPS R3000 and R4000 have compatible instruction sets except for the handling of exceptions.
The RISC offers distinct advantages in reduced hardware complexity and thus reduced design time and required area in a VLSI chip implementation, a uniform and streamlined handling of instructions, and increase in computing speed. A disadvantage resulting from the limited instruction set is the need for a plurality of instructions in executing some functions. Further, many RISC systems have large CPU register files to support RISC program execution and instruction traffic.
The present invention is directed to an enhanced CPU core which is compatible with both the R3000 and R4000 instruction sets.

DIG.
1
MS
File;DIG.
2
MS
File
FSS 375;800;449;550


A new circuit for giving audible indication to an operator of sound recording equipment impending distortion of audio-signals. The circuit includes a predistortion circuit which introduces distortion into a monitor circuit at a predetermined level below saturation and distortion of the primary channel thus allowing the operator to adjust the gain in the primary channel to avoid distortion on the channel as finally recorded. The invention employs a clipping circuit and amplifier in a branch channel from the principal signal channel. The branch channel including its distortion circuitry is set at a predetermined level with respect to the distortion in the primary channel. A visual indication of distortion is also available in the form of an L.E.D. display.

The setting of gain of an audio channel and of the mixing of multiple channels prior to recording is an extremely important function in the recording of music and sounds and speech, particularly in the television industry where video cameramen with recorders commonly go to the scene of a newsworthy event and record visually and in audio form the event, often working under extreme conditions. The cameraman may be his own audio man as well and his full attention, particularly visually, is concentrated upon the video camera, where he can not look at a common vu-meter.
In the case where a scene is recorded simultaneously in video and audio, any distortion in the audio channel greatly diminishes the acceptability of the recording produced. Once recorded, the distortion is virtually impossible to eliminate. Attempts made after the fact to correct distortion have met with little success. Another approach is merely to maintain gain at such a level to insure freedom from distortion, however, this often results in reduction or loss of good audio signal, due to high noise levels. Since the signal should be amplified above the noise level as high as possible without overloading any part of the recording channel which would result in distortion.
Other types of mixing circuits have employed automatic gain control, but I have found that automatic gain control does not provide a maximum usable undistorted good signal above noise level.
Predistortion circuits have been used in a number of applications usually in the signal channel e.g. Dolby Systems, however, not in a branch control channel.

Microphone mixer with predistortion indication


A method for preventing a portable electronic device from being left in a vehicle, and the electronic device and the vehicle using the same is provided. The method of the electronic device includes receiving, from the vehicle, a first signal including information regarding identification of an off state of an engine of the vehicle, receiving, from the vehicle, a second signal including information regarding identification of a change to an empty state of at least one seat of the vehicle, determining movement of the electronic device, and executing an alarm function, based on at least one of the first signal, the second signal, and the determined movement of the electronic device.

1. Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure relates generally to a method for preventing a portable electronic device from being left in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
A variety of features to help make people's lives more convenient, such as a schedule management feature, a map feature, and an Internet banking feature, may be applied to portable electronic devices, such as smart phones, tablet personal computers (PCs), or personal digital assistants (PDAs). Further, a portable electronic device may be connected to an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) system of a vehicle to provide audio signals of the portable electronic device to the IVI system. In this way, the portable electronic device may provide a variety of features in association with the vehicle.
Users of portable electronic devices may occasionally get out of their vehicles while leaving the portable electronic devices in their vehicles. In this case, a user may be forced to go back to his/her vehicle to pick up the portable electronic device, or to spend time without the portable electronic device.
Accordingly, a method is needed to prevent users from leaving their portable electronic devices in their vehicles.

Method for preventing portable electronic device from being left in vehicle, the portable electronic device, and the vehicle