An adjustable bicycle stem includes a downwardly projecting member adapted for insertion into a conventional receptacle in the frame of the bicycle and an adjustable forwardly projecting member adapted to hold the bicycle handlebar. The downwardly and forwardly projecting members of the bicycle stem are coupled for rotational adjustment of the forwardly projecting member with respect to the downwardly projecting member by providing a toothed adjustment plate and engaging pin arrangement by which the rider may incrementally raise or lower the handlebar, even while riding.

This invention relates generally to bicycles and more particularly to an adjustable stem for use on bicycles. The stem that is employed as a common component of bicycles serves to connect the handlebar to the bicycle frame itself. In prior art bicycles, the stem holds the handlebar in a fixed position with respect to the frame of the bicycle. A fixed position stem and, hence, handlebar, is not at all suitable for all riders under all riding conditions. For example, maintaining the body position required by a fixed position stem may be uncomfortable to the point of painfully straining the rider's back during the course of a long ride. Fixed position stems are also disadvantageous in that they force cyclists to make one choice of stem to fit all riding conditions, such as uphill, downhill, fresh at the beginning of the day, and fatigued at the end of the day. This is much like asking a golfer to select a single club with which to play an entire round of golf.
Some bicycle manufacturers have made an attempt to minimize the problems presented by fixed position stems by offering different fixed position stems on different bicycle models. For example, a very upright stem may be offered on models used by beginners, while a very forward stem may be offered on models targeted for agressive or expert riders. However, even these different fixed position stems offered as a function of the bicycle model purchased are disadvantageous in that they first force a bicycle purchaser to choose between an aggressive bicycle and a strictly recreational bicycle at the time of purchase. After he has purchased such a bicycle, the rider is forced to accept the particular fixed position stem, with which his bicycle is equipped, under all types of riding conditions.
It is therefore the principal object of the present invention to provide an adjustable bicycle stem that permits the rider to adjust the position of the handlebar, while riding, to accommodate a variety of terrain conditions that may be encountered, as well as his physical condition at any time.
This and other incidental objects are accomplished in accordance with the illustrated preferred embodiment of the present invention by providing a bicycle stem having a downwardly projecting member adapted for insertion into a conventional receptacle in the frame of a bicycle and an adjustable forwardly projecting member adapted to hold the bicycle handlebar. The downwardly and forwardly projecting members of the stem are coupled for rotational adjustment of the forwardly projecting member with respect to the downwardly projecting member by providing a toothed adjustment plate and engaging pin arrangement by which the rider may incrementally raise or lower the handlebar, even while riding.


A lollipop production and down-stream processing apparatus with a forming unit and a down-stream processing unit and a transfer wheel in between the units which rotates around a first axis and which includes a multitude of grippers which releasably hold the stick of the lollipop and which rotate relative to the transfer wheel around a second axis of rotation parallel to the first axis of rotation.

Such apparatus and methods are well known and are utilized to produce lollipops. The forming unit comprises a rotating drum with a multitude of forming chambers, for example at the circumference of the drum. In the forming unit, a piece of material is cut from a strand and formed into the head of the lollipop. During and/or after this forming step, a stick is inserted into the lollipop head. The lollipop is held at the forming unit until it is handed over to a down-stream processing unit, for example a packaging unit in which the head of the lollipop or the entire lollipop is wrapped in a plastic film. This handing over is carried out by a transfer wheel with grippers, which grasp the stick of the lollipop and move the lollipop out of the holding means of the forming unit and move it over to the packaging unit, which also comprise holding means to take over the stick of the lollipop. Since these apparatus must be very flexible and highly reliable, there is a constant need to improve these apparatus and methods.
It was therefore the objective of the present invention to provide an improved lollipop production and wrapping apparatus.

Transfer wheel between a lollipop forming and a lollipop wrapping unit


The disclosure provides a method for assisting an unregistered user device to access private network services and a communication system. The method includes steps as follows. A request to access a private service of a private network is sent by a user device. In response to determining that the user device not registered on the private network wants to access the private service, the user device is assisted to obtain a temporary user profile by a mobile edge computing server through an emergency type attachment procedure. In response to determining that the user device is registered on the private network through the emergency type attachment procedure, a regular attachment procedure is executed by the user device based on the temporary user profile. In response to determining that the user device executes the regular attachment procedure, the mobile edge computing server provides the user device with the private service.

Referring to FIG. 1A, FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a conventional user device accessing the Internet. In FIG. 1A, for example, a user device 110 is a registered/authorized user of an operator A but not a registered/authorized user of an operator B and an operator C. In this case, when the user device 110 is located within the service range of the operator A, the user device 110 can access the Internet through the operator A. In addition, when the user device 110 is located within the service range of the operator B, if the user device 110 is authorized to use the roaming service through the operator B, the user device 110 can access the Internet through the operator B and the operator A.
However, if the user device 110 uses the telecommunication service through the operator C without authorization, the user device 110 can only execute functions such as initiating an emergency call through the operator C but cannot access the Internet through the operator C.
Referring to FIG. 1B, FIG. 1B is another schematic view of the conventional user device accessing the Internet as shown in FIG. 1A. In FIG. 1B, it is assumed that the operator A supports new radio (NR), and the user device 110 can use the service such as VoNR through the operator A. However, since the user device 110 is not a registered user of the operator C (e.g., it may maintain a private network), even if the operator C can provide the registered users (e.g., a user device 120) with services such as VoNR, the user device 110 yet can use the emergency call service of the operator C only. In this case, even if registered users of the operator C can communicate directly with one another through the edge service provided by the operator C, the user device 110 cannot directly communicate with registered users (e.g., the user device 120) of operator C end-to-end.

Method for assisting unregistered user device to access private network service and communication system

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A content comparator memory (CCM) device can include a row (100) of CCM cells (102-1 to 102-I). Each CCM cell (102-1 to 102-I) can have a controllable signal path (104-1 to 104-I) arranged in series to form a match path (106) that provides a match indication MATCH that can be activated when a comparand value (CD[1:I]) is determined to match a stored data value. Each CCM cell (102-1 to 102-I) can also be commonly connected to a comparator line (110) that can provide a comparator indication CMP when a compare value (CD[1:I]) has a predetermined magnitude with respect to a stored value.

While typically memory devices, such as random access memories (RAMs) and read only memories (ROMs) access single entries according to an applied addresses, other types of memory devices can provide a matching function with respect all entries in a device. One such type of a memory device is the content addressable memory (CAM) device.
Conventional CAM devices can store a number of data values, each in one entry. Data values stored in the entries may then be compared to an applied comparand value (also referred to as a key) to generate a match indication. The relatively rapid speed at which CAM devices can compare multiple entries to an applied comparand value has resulted in CAMs enjoying widespread use in various applications, such as packet processing, as but one example. A match indication generated by a conventional CAM device can typically take only one of two possible results: match (HIT) or no match (MISS).
Conventional CAM devices include both binary CAM devices and ternary CAM devices. Conventional binary CAM devices typically include entries that can each store a data value having a number of data bits. In most cases, a match indication can be generated when all bits of a comparand value match all the bits of an entry. Thus, a conventional binary CAM device can include a number of binary CAM cells, each of which can operate to provide, on a bit-wise basis, a bit compare result of equal "=" (stored data bit "V" matches corresponding compare data bit "CD") or not equal "!=" (stored data bit "V" matches corresponding compare data bit CD).
Conventional ternary CAM devices may typically include entries having data bits, some or all of which may be masked from a compare operation. Thus, a conventional ternary CAM device can include a number of ternary CAM cells, each of which can operate to provide, on a bit-wise basis, a bit compare result of "=", "!=", or "don't care" (indicate data value is equal regardless of compare data value).
To better understand various aspects of the embodiments, examples of conventional CAM devices will be now be described. Referring to FIG. 21, one general configuration for a conventional CAM device is set forth in block diagram and designated by the general reference character 2100. FIG. 21 shows a CAM device row, which can be repeated to form a CAM array with match circuits. A conventional CAM row 2100 can include a match line 2102 that can be precharged to a high potential by a precharge circuit 2104. Connected between the match line 2102 and a low voltage can be a number of CAM cells 2106-1 to 2106-N, each of which can store data bit value. Each CAM cell (2106-1 to 2106-N) can receive a corresponding comparand bit value by way of a pair of comparand lines (CD1/BCD1 to CDN/BCDN).
In operation, a match line 2102 can be precharged to a high voltage level. Then, each CAM cell (2106-1 to 2106-N) can perform an exclusive NOR type operation with respect to a stored data bit value and the corresponding comparand bit value. If a match does not exist between at least one bit, a discharge path is created through the CAM cell of the non-matching bit and the match line potential falls. This can be detected by a match sense amplifier (MSA) 2108 as a "miss". In contrast, if a match exists between all bits, no discharge path is created and the match line remains high. This can be detected by a match sense amplifier (MSA) 2108 as a "hit".
In the case of a "binary" CAM cell, bit match and misses can be based solely on a stored data bit value "V" and compare bit value "CD". In the case of "ternary" CAM cells, bit match and misses can additionally be based on a "masking" of bit values, which can force a match or miss regardless of the stored data bit value. More particularly, in the case of a valid/mask (V/M) ternary CAM cell, if a mask bit M has one value (e.g., high), bit compare result can be "always match". Similarly, in the case of an two value (X/Y) encoded ternary CAM cell, if two data bits have one value (e.g., X=Y=low), bit compare result will be "always match", but if two data bits have another value (e.g., X=Y=high), bit compare result will be "always miss".
Various examples of conventional CAM cells that provide an XNOR/XOR type function are set forth in FIGS. 22A to 22D. FIG. 22A is a schematic diagram showing one example of a conventional binary CAM cell 2200. When a compare data value (CD) matches a stored data value (V), a discharge transistor N1 can provide a low impedance path to a low supply voltage, which can pull the potential of the match line lower. Conversely, when a compare data value (CD) matches a stored data value (V), a discharge transistor N1 can have a high impedance, and hence isolate a match line from the low supply voltage.
FIG. 22B is a schematic diagram showing one example of a conventional V/M ternary CAM cell 2202. V/M ternary CAM cell 2202 operates in the same general fashion binary CAM cell 2200, with the addition of a mask transistor N2 in the discharge path. FIG. 22C is a schematic diagram showing another example of a conventional V/M ternary CAM cell 2204. V/M ternary CAM cell 2204 includes series connected transistors having gates that each receive a data bit value or its complement (V or !V) and a compare data bit value or its complement (CD or BCD).
FIG. 22D is a schematic diagram showing one example of a conventional X/Y ternary CAM cell 2206. In the arrangement of FIG. 22D, the bit combinations of X and Y yield the following results: X=0/Y=1, match CD=1; X=1/Y=0, match CD=0; X=Y=0, always match; and X=Y=1, always miss.
The above conventional examples have demonstrated a "NOR", or "wire NOR" approach to match determinations. That is, in the event a miss in any bit location generates an overall miss result for the entire entry. An alternate approach is shown in FIGS. 23 and 24.
FIG. 23 shows a conventional CAM device row, which can be repeated to form a CAM array with match circuits. A conventional CAM row 2300 can represent an AND or NAND approach to match determinations. That is, only in the event that a match occurs in every bit location will a match exist for the overall entry.
A conventional NAND CAM row approach 2300 can include a number of CAM cells 2302-1 to 2302-N arranged in series between a high supply and a match sense amplifier 2304. In operation, CAM cell (2302-1 to 2302-N) can perform an NAND type operation with respect to a stored data bit value and the corresponding comparand bit value. If a match does not exist in the cell, a high impedance path is created, preventing a high potential from propagating to match sense amplifier 2304. In contrast, if a match exists between all bits, all CAM cells (2302-1 to 2302-N) of the row can present low impedance paths allowing a high potential to propagate to sense amplifier (MSA) 2304 and be detected as a "hit".
FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram showing one example of a conventional ternary NAND type CAM cell 2400 that can be included in an arrangement like that of FIG. 23. Prior a compare operation, a precharge device N7 can preset nodes between adjacent TCAM cells to a low potential. In a compare operation, when a compare data value (CD) matches a stored data value (V) or a match bit has a particular value (e.g., M=0), a low impedance path can be created through the NAND type CAM cell 2400.
Conventional CAM devices can provide both binary and ternary matching capabilities. However, in certain applications is may be desirable to have more complex types of operations. For example, in some cases it may be desirable to determine if a given comparand value, or portion thereof, falls within a given range.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,206,212 issued on Apr. 17, 2007, titled CONTENT ADDRESSABLE MEMORY (CAM) DEVICE WITH ENTRIES HAVING TERNARY MATCH AND RANGE COMPARE FUNCTIONS, by Richard Chou, discloses a CAM that can have a value match mode and a range match mode. In a range match mode, a comparand value can be compared to an upper and lower range limit.
Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/180,357, titled RANGE COMPARE CIRCUIT FOR SEARCH ENGINE, by Richard Chou, discloses a range matching circuit that receives a first range value from a first range store and a second range value from a second range store, and determines if a comparand value is within such a range.
In light of the above, it would be desirable to arrive at a compact comparator memory structure that can provide compare operations beyond equal "=" and not equal Such additional capabilities may help improve processing capabilities for various applications, including but not limited to network search engines (NSEs), image processing, database search acceleration, to name but a few.
It would also be desirable if such additional compare operations could be bit maskable, in the same general fashion as a conventional ternary CAM device.

Content comparator memory (CCM) device and method of operation


The object of the present invention is to provide a data recording method and optic recording medium that is capable of reproducing address data accurately by reducing the correlation of address data between adjacent tracks, reducing the effect of cross-talk between adjacent tracks on the recording clock and by making it possible to apply a cross-talk canceller to the wobble signal. The data-recording method of recording data while controlling the correlation between a first data string and a second data string that are contained in recording data, and is provided with a selecting process of selecting inversion/no inversion of first data string such that the correlation between first data string and second data string is reduced; and a recording process of recording first data string according to selected inversion/no inversion polarity, and recording control code that indicates whether inversion/no inversion was selected for first data string.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a data recording method and data recording medium that make it possible to suppress the effects of cross-talk by reducing the correlation of recorded data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Currently, optical discs, such as CDs and DVDs, are widely used. In recent years, in addition to CD-DA (CD-Digital Audio), which is a recording medium for reproduction only, CD-R (CD-Recordable), which allows recording digital data only one time, and CD-RW (CD-ReWritable), which allows rewriting digital data a multiple of times, have also come to be used.
When recording data onto or when reproducing data from an optical disc, it is necessary to rotate the optical disc at a specific rpm, and in the case of a recording medium for reproduction only, it is possible to obtain the specified rpm by synchronizing the rpm with the reproduction frequency of the digital data. On the other hand, in the case of a recordable recording medium such as CD-R or CD-RW, there are no digital data initially recorded on the tracks and it is not possible to control the rpm using the same method. Therefore, in the case of a recordable recording medium, the track (group track) that corresponds to the address data wobbles, and the rpm is controlled based on a wobble signal that is read from that track and the address of the track is identified.
Currently, a method of recording an FM modulated wobble signal on the track is known as a method for recording address data that uses wobbling. Also, a method of recording address data on a track by phase modulation of the wobble signal is disclosed in Japanese Laid-open patent application No. H10-69646.
However, there is a demand to further increase the recording density of an optical disc. In order to increase the recording density of an optical disc, it is necessary to reduce as much as possible the spacing between spiral shaped tracks (spacing in the radial direction of the optical disc), however reducing the spot diameter of the laser beam such that it fits completely in the area formed by the track becomes difficult, and a problem exists in that cross-talk from an adjacent tracks occurs.
FIGS. 22A to 22D are figures showing the effect of cross-talk from an adjacent track on the wobble signal. FIG. 22A shows the case when the wobble of the adjacent tracks has the same phase, FIG. 22B shows the case when the wobble of the adjacent tracks has the reverse phase, FIG. 22C show the case when the wobble of the adjacent tracks lags by 90 degrees, and FIG. 22D shows the case when the wobble of the adjacent tracks leads by 90 degrees. FIGS. 22A to 22D, show the effect of the adjacent tracks (track n and track n+2) on the wobble signal for a center track that is indicated as track n+1.
Also, there is a problem in that jitter in the recording clock that is generated by a PLL (phase locked loop) from the wobble increases due to the effect of this kind of cross-talk. The wobble signal is not only used for controlling the disc rotation, but is also used for generating a clock (recording clock) by way of the PLL that becomes a time reference when recording data onto the disk. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 22C or FIG. 22D, for example, when the wobble signal fluctuates in the time-axis direction due to the effect of cross-talk, there is a chance that it will cause jitter in the recording clock.
A method has also been proposed of canceling out cross-talk from the wobble signal. This method detects the cross-talk based on the correlation between the wobble signal from the track being reproduced and the tracks adjacent to that track. In this case, in order to be able to detect the cross-talk, the correlation between the wobble signals is controlled such that it is a minimum. Addresses are normally assigned serial numbers that increase in order incrementally, which gives a strong correlation between addresses of adjacent tracks. Therefore, naturally a strong correlation occurs between the wobble signals of tracks that are modulated and recorded based on the address data. In this method, when there is a strong correlation between addresses, it is not possible to detect the cross-talk accurately. Therefore, it is not possible to reproduce the address data accurately.
In order to solve the problems described above, the object of the present invention is to provide a data recording method and optic recording medium that is capable of reproducing address data accurately by reducing the correlation of address data between adjacent tracks, reducing the effect of cross-talk between adjacent tracks on the recording clock and by making it possible to apply a cross-talk canceller to the wobble signal.

Data recording method and data recording medium


Exemplary embodiments include systems and methods to operate an image forming apparatus including at least one or more images of an image reproduction job to be performed using the image forming apparatus and an image reproduction device having a useful life consumed by the image forming apparatus in performing the jobs. Exemplary embodiments include determining image information regarding one or more images for at least one image reproduction job; determining, for the image reproduction device, a remaining useful life of the image reproduction device; determining, for at least one job, and based on the remaining useful life of the image reproduction device, if that job can be performed based on the remaining useful life; generating, an alert notification if that job can not be completed in view of the remaining useful life; and conveying the alert notification to a user, wherein the image information includes fuser use information for reproducing the images.

Exemplary systems and methods described herein relate to performing image stress analysis, such as for a fuser in an image forming device.
Printers, copiers and other types of image forming devices have become ubiquitous office productivity tools for generating tangible copies of original documents and/or electronic documents. Under normal circumstances, a user sends a print request to the image forming system and then retrieves the formed image. Problems may arise when making copies on a recording medium, such as reaching the end of the useful life of one of the integral parts of the image-forming device, such as a fuser. Dealing with these problems results in lower productivity and additional cost to the user and/or customer.
In related art image-forming devices, a light image of an original to be copied is recorded in the form of an electrostatic latent image on a photosensitive member. The latent image can subsequently be rendered visible by the application of toner. The visible toner image is in a loose powdered form and can easily be disturbed or destroyed. The toner image can be fixed or fused with the fuser or fuser roll, upon a support, which may be a photosensitive member itself or other support sheet such as plain paper, transparency, specialty coated paper, or the like.
The related art uses thermal energy for fixing toner images onto the support member. When using the fuser to permanently fuse toner material onto a support surface by heat, it is necessary to elevate the temperature of the toner material to a point at which the constituents of the toner material coalesce and become tacky. This heating causes the toner to flow to some extent into the fibers or pores of the support member. Thereafter, as the toner material cools, solidification of the toner material causes the toner material to be firmly bonded to the support.


A method of treating a fluid containing at least methane and at least one acid gas and producing the acid gas or gases in liquid form. The method includes a step of regenerating the solvent, operated at a pressure whose value is at least equal to the bubble pressure of the mixture of acid gases produced in liquid form, a step in which the gaseous fraction from the regeneration step is rectified in a contact zone by separating at least some of the solvent from the gaseous fraction, a step in which the gaseous fraction from the modification step is cooled to a given temperature to cause at least some of the gaseous faction to condense forming at least one liquid fraction enriched with liquid acid gases and a step during which the liquid fraction of gases is separated from the remaining gaseous fraction.

Throughout this description, the expressions "liquid acid gas" or "acid gas in liquid form" will be used to designate the same product, namely acid gases which are present in a liquid state at the end of a processing step as opposed to a gaseous state.
The present invention is particularly well suited to processing a natural gas containing acid gases such as H.sub.2 S and/or CO.sub.2. In practice, it is often necessary to process this natural gas in order to remove at least some of the acid gases which it contains before transporting it.
The process most commonly used to separate these acid gases from the natural gas is one whereby the acid gases are absorbed in a solvent, as illustrated in the diagram of FIG. 1 and described below. The pressurised gas is brought into contact, in counter-flow, in a column CA with a solvent which is selective as regards the acid gases, which may be a chemical solvent such as diethanolamine (DEA) or methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), for example. The gas leaving the head of the column CA has had at least some of the acid gases, which are in a gaseous state, removed from it. The solvent leaving the base of the column CA is subjected to a first expansion process so that a gaseous fraction containing some of the methane co-absorbed from the natural gas can be removed in the separating flask SM, before being heated and expanded again in the exchanger E.sub.1 until a pressure close to atmospheric pressure is reached. The solvent is then regenerated in the distillation column CD, which is heated from the base by means of a reboiler RE. The gas leaving the head of the column CD is cooled in the exchanger DC by means of the ambient cooling fluid, for example water or the air. At the output of the exchanger DC, a separating flask DB separates a liquid fraction containing solvent and water, which is then delivered by means of a pump P.sub.2 to the head of the column CD, and a gaseous fraction enriched with acid gases which is produced at low pressure and which is close to water saturation. The solvent phase leaving the base of the column CD is picked up by the pump P.sub.1, cooled in the exchanger E.sub.1 then in the exchanger RA by means of the ambient cooling fluid, for example water or the available air, and recycled to the head of the absorption column CA.
Another known approach is to use a physical solvent, for example dimethyl-ether-tetraethylene-glycol (DMETEG), which can be regenerated, as illustrated in FIG. 2, by a series of expansions to a pressure close to atmospheric pressure. Consequently, gaseous fractions enriched with acid gases are obtained at the output of the separator flasks S.sub.1, S.sub.2 and S.sub.3 at decreasing pressure levels and are evacuated respectively via ducts 1, 2, 3. The fraction collected at the highest pressure from duct 1 contains a relatively high proportion of methane. It can be compressed and recycled to the inlet of the column CA or used as fuel gas.
The method illustrated in FIG. 2 is fine as long as the acid gases contained in the gas to be treated do not need to be completely removed, for example if the acid gas to be removed is CO.sub.2. In this case, the solvent can be regenerated by a simple process of expansion without heating.
In the two examples illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the acid gases separated are in gaseous form.
The acid gases are evacuated to a location which will depend on their nature. Usually, CO.sub.2 is discharged directly to the atmosphere. Very toxic acid gases, such as H.sub.2 S, can not be discharged directly to the atmosphere and will have to be treated in a thermal installation by incineration, for example. The SO.sub.2 discharged from this processing may then be discharged to the atmosphere. Another approach is to deliver the separated H.sub.2 S to a Claus unit so that it can be converted into sulphur. However, conversion is expensive and not very practical on economic grounds.
In all cases, the standards and conditions which need to be observed for reasons of environmental protection are becoming increasingly stringent and the discharge of acid gases such as SO.sub.2 or CO.sub.2 directly to the atmosphere in gaseous form is becoming less accepted. It has therefore become necessary to find another method of processing which will avoid having to discharge directly to the atmosphere and one which will be acceptable in terms of cost.
One solutions is to re-inject these acid gases into the subsoil where they can be stored rather than evacuating or discharging them into the atmosphere. Under certain circumstances, this re-injection can improve recovery of hydrocarbons, particularly where petroleum and gas are being produced simultaneously at the re-injection location.
For re-injection, however, these acid gases have to be re-compressed at a pressure generally in excess of 10 MPa, which is expensive in terms of capital investment and high on operating costs. Furthermore, compressing acid gases with a high concentration of H.sub.2 S poses technological problems which are difficult to overcome due to the risk of leaks.

Method of de-acidification in which acid gases are produced in liquid phase


Example embodiments provide various techniques for distributing connections within a connectional parallelism architecture. In one embodiment, a method is provided where resource utilizations of connection groups are measured. Here, each connection group is assigned to one of multiple processors. A probability distribution is accessed that maps probabilities assigned to relative resource utilizations. A relative resource utilization of one of the connection groups is determined based on a resource utilization of the one connection group relative to other resource utilizations of other connection groups. A probability from the probability distribution is identified based on the determined relative resource utilization, and based on the identified probability, a connection is assigned to this connection group for execution by one of the processors assigned to this connection group.

As demand for network content increases, the need for greater network bandwidth to handle the demand also continues to increase. Currently, many network-based systems provide multiple processors that can process in parallel to handle the increasing demands for network bandwidth. For example, applications on network devices (such as computer systems connected over a network) can create connections among each other over which they can exchange streams of data in the form of data packets. A data packet is a unit of information transmitted as a discrete entity between devices over the network. To achieve high-speed and high-performance of data packet processing, it is common to parallelize the processing so that network devices can execute more than one thread (e.g., a separate stream of packet execution that takes place simultaneously with and independently from other processing) simultaneously on a multiprocessing platform.
Multi-processing is useful when a single task takes a long time to complete and processing packets serially (e.g., one at a time) would slow down the overall packet throughput. In a multiprocessing system, packets can be queued to network groups (e.g., data structures that queue data packets that belong to the same network connection) for further processing based on some kind of algorithm. As a result, data packets that belong to a single connection (such as, for example, a Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connection) are queued to a single network group, and thus are processed by a single network thread. Data packets that belong to different network connections may be processed by different network threads.
However, one problem associated with parallel processors is parallelism efficiency, or the performance improvement relative to the number of processors. The law of diminishing returns dictates that, as the number of processors increases, the gain in performance decreases. Therefore, keeping parallelism efficiency high has been a constant challenge in multiprocessor research.
A recent attempt to improve multiprocessor efficiency for network applications focuses on the framework of connectional parallelism. In connectional parallelism, implementations of connection-parallel stacks map operations to groups of connections and permit concurrent processing on independent connection groups, thus treating a group of connections as a unit of concurrency. In particular, each independent connection group is serviced on an independent kernel thread, and each kernel thread may be executed on any one of multiple processors.
Currently, connections are assigned to independent threads of execution either randomly or sequentially (e.g., round robin fashion). However, the sequential or random policy assignment may not efficiently utilize parallelism effectively or efficiently because network traffic is unpredictable and the resultant traffic load distribution across all available processors may be unpredictable and/or non-uniform.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Connection distribution within a connectional parallelism architecture


The present invention is directed to a method and arrangement for controlling a glow discharge plasma in a gas or gas mixture under atmospheric conditions, in a plasma discharge space comprising at least two spaced electrodes in which at least one plasma pulse having an absolute pulse maximum is generated by applying an AC plasma energizing voltage to the electrodes causing a plasma current and a displacement current. The plasma is controlled by providing a relative decrease of the displacement current after the pulse maximum. In a preferred embodiment, the energizing voltage is applied through a series circuit including a choke coil and a non-saturable inductor.

Atmospheric Pressure Glow (APG) discharge is used in practice, among others, for non-destructive material surface modification. Glow discharge plasmas are relatively low power density plasmas, typically generated under atmospheric pressure conditions or partial vacuum environments.
Most commonly, the plasma is generated in a plasma chamber or plasma discharge space between two oppositely arranged parallel plate electrodes. However, the plasma may also be generated using other electrode configurations such as, for example, adjacently arranged electrodes. The plasma is generated in a gas or a gas mixture by energizing the electrodes from AC power supply means.
It has been observed that a stable and uniform plasma can be generated in, for example, a pure Helium or a pure Nitrogen gas. However, as soon as impurities or other gasses or chemical compositions at ppm level are present in the gas, the stability of the plasma will decrease significantly. Typical examples of stability destroying components are O2, NO, CO2, etc.
Instabilities in the plasma will either develop in a high current density plasma or will extinguish the plasma locally. With a large density of species and a high frequency of collisions in the plasma, an APG shows a fast positive feedback. That is, a random local increase of the ionization of the plasma will exponentially increase. Accordingly, an instability will develop either in a high current density plasma or will extinguish locally the plasma. This phenomenon of exponential increase of the plasma current is known as glow to arc transition. As a result, current arcing occurs and the glow discharge plasma can not be maintained. Instead, a combination of filamentary and glow discharge is generated.
Filamentary discharge between parallel plate electrodes in air under atmospheric pressure has been used to generate ozone in large quantities. However, filamentary discharge is of limited use for surface treatment of materials, since the plasma filaments tend to puncture or treat the surface unevenly and are associated with relatively high plasma current densities.
Although instabilities may occur at any time during generation of a plasma, it has been observed that the circumstances at the end of a plasma pulse (e.g. generated using an AC voltage) are beneficial to the occurrence and development of instabilities. At the end of the plasma pulse, the plasma current is relatively low while the voltage applied by the AC power supply increases due to the fact that the AC power supply tends to recover from the main plasma pulse. The life cycle of the plasma is approaching cut off in this stage of the plasma and the plasma current will decrease sharply, after which small instabilities and plasma variations may occur. Under the influence of the increasing voltage resulting from the recovering AC power supply, these instabilities and plasma variations may easily develop in major plasma instabilities, such as streamer formation and glow to arc transition. These circumstances, relatively low and decreasing plasma current together with increasing voltage, make it at the same time difficult to suppress or eliminate the instabilities.

Method and arrangement for controlling a glow discharge plasma under atmospheric conditions


A system and method is provided for providing security to components or assemblies employed by application programs during runtime. The present invention employs digital signature keys to ensure that an assembly name that is published is unique because the assembly is published with a publisher's public key. This prevents others from publishing an updated version of an assembly that claims to be published from the same publisher. The present invention guarantees name uniqueness and prevents name spoofing because the original publisher is the only one with the private key matching the public key related to a published assembly. Due to the fact that the public keys are stored in each reference, the caller can be assured that the assembly that the caller is binding to at runtime comes from the same publisher that owns the private key.

In the past, application programs consisted of a single monolithic binary file. Once a compiler generated the application program, the application program did not change until a next version was recompiled and shipped. Changes in an operating system, hardware and market demands were dependent on waiting for the next version to be implemented and recompiled. Today, application programs are comprised of several components—additionally, many of these components are linked at runtime. These components include dynamically linked libraries (DLLs) and other files that are shared by different application programs. These DLLs are listed within tables in application components to be linked at runtime. An operating system will search in a loader search path, application directory, operating system directory or user specified path for the name of the dynamic linked library, so that DLL code can be loaded into memory for execution. Since these DLLs can be shared by different application programs, changes to a DLL for one application may cause another application to stop operating.
Furthermore, many application programs running on operating systems, such as Microsoft® Windows® Operating System employ shared operating system components. One of the primary issues faced by administrators and developers on the current Microsoft® Windows® Operating System platform is the inability to control an exact set of dynamic link libraries and other files that will run as part of a deployed application program. It is quite common to have installation of one application program affect other application programs by overwriting files that those applications depend on. Unfortunately, there is no built in support in Microsoft® Windows® Operating System to detect when a file that an application depends on has changed.
In some situations, components may be changed and the application program may still choose to run if the integrity of the change can be trusted. For example, if a publisher of a component corrects a minor error in a component, the application program may still operate without a problem. Also, if a version upgrade has occurred by a trusted publisher, the application program may desire to accept a version upgrade and execute the component. However, if the component has been altered by an untrusted third party, execution of the code can result in damage to the software and hardware of the environment that the application program is operating on. Some codes include versioning information in the name of the component (e.g., foo1.dll, kernel2.dll). Since application programs reference these components by name, a change in the name will cause the application program to terminate its operation or use an old version of the component residing on the system.
Part of a component's identity is a simple, friendly textual name (e.g., My401kApp). These names are given to the component by the developer when the component is authored. These names are referred to as simple names. Simple names are not guaranteed to be unique and there is not any tool or anything in the runtime to prevent duplicate names from collisions. Simple names for components are easy and convenient to use and are sufficient in a number of situations. In particular, individual developers or small development shops do not have a need for a more sophisticated naming scheme. However, there are a number of situations where developers must be able to guarantee that the names they choose for their components will be globally unique. In COM, uniqueness is guaranteed by assigning a unique GUID to each component. However, GUIDs have a number of deficiencies. In particular, while GUIDs are unique when they are generated, nothing prevents another developer from later reusing the GUID and "substituting" their code in place of another's code.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need in the art for a system and method for ensuring and verifying integrity of components employed by application programs during runtime. There is also a need for a tool for verifying integrity of components at runtime. There is also a need for guaranteeing name uniqueness of these components and preventing name spoofing.


The present specification relates to a connecting material for a solid oxide fuel cell, comprising a conductive substrate; and a ceramic protective film provided on one surface of the conductive substrate, in which the ceramic protective film comprises an oxide represented by Formula 1, a manufacturing method thereof, and a solid oxide fuel cell comprising the same.

A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is an electrochemical device having high power generation efficiency without requiring an expensive noble metal catalyst required by other fuel cells. Further, there are many advantages in that various hydrocarbon-based fuels may be used without an expensive modifier, and the like because the solid oxide fuel cell can utilize a system with various capacities, can be applied widely from power generation to an auxiliary power supply, and use an oxygen ion conductive material as an electrolyte.
Studies over the last few years have brought a remarkable progress in lowering the operation temperature of SOFC to around 600 to 900° C., and accordingly, it is possible to replace a ceramic connecting material with a metal connecting material as a connecting material (separating plate) which is one of the SOFC constituting elements. The connecting material is an important element which is positioned between unit batteries to electrically connect a fuel electrode and an air electrode and separates a fuel gas and the air in an SOFC stack, is easily processed when a ceramic connecting material is replaced with a metal connecting material, and has many advantages such as excellent physical and electrical properties.
As a metal recently proposed, there is an Fe-based alloy steel comprising C (16 to 22%) (for example: Crofer22APU from ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany, ZMG 232 from Hitachi Metals, Ltd., Japan, and the like), and there are advantages in that the Fe-based alloy steel has better processability than other metals, and has a heat expansion coefficient similar to that of an electrode material, and the like, so that many studies for applying the same have been conducted. However, when an Fe—Cr-based metal is used as a connecting material, volatile chromium such as CrO2(OH) is generated from the metal under an oxidation atmosphere at high temperature, so that there is a problem in that the catalytic activity of the electrolyte and positive electrode of each cell deteriorates and there is a problem in that high contact resistance is generated due to a non-conductive oxide produced on the surface of metal. Accordingly, it is an important technical matter to secure a material for a metal connecting material, which has high corrosion resistance and highly conductive surface characteristics. As a method for improving the same, there are methods for developing a new alloy material or subjecting the surface thereof to a surface treatment with a conductive metal, a non-metallic coating, and the like so as to satisfy a function required by a separation plate.
Recently, attempts have been made to coat the surface of an existing commercial metal with a protective film, various coating methods such as an electroplating method, a sputtering deposition method, and a plasma spray coating method have been attempted, but due to high coating costs and difficulties to select coating conditions, there is a need for improving the coating methods.

Connecting material for solid oxide fuel cell, manufacturing method thereof, and solid oxide fuel cell comprising same

DAEGU GYEONGBUK INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY


This application provides a method for returning from a low-standard network to a high-standard network, to resolve a problem that a primary card of a terminal device in dual SIM dual standby single pass mode cannot return to the high-standard network after falling back from the high-standard network to the low-standard network during a data service. The method includes: detecting that a first subscriber identification module SIM card of the terminal device falls back from a first-standard network to a second-standard network; obtaining a registration status of a second SIM card, where the registration status includes an operator of the second SIM card and a network on which the second SIM card camps, and the first SIM card and the second SIM card enable the terminal device to work in the dual SIM dual standby single pass mode; obtaining a target standard network based on the registration status of the second SIM card; and registering the first SIM card with the target standard network.

As a high-standard network, a long term evolution, (LTE) network has been widely deployed. Whether a terminal device can be registered with the LTE network has become an important indicator for a user to evaluate a communication capability of the terminal device. However, in some application scenarios, after falling back from a high-standard network to a low-standard network (for example, a 2G network or a 3G network), the terminal device cannot return to the high-standard network. This severely affects user experience.

Method for returning from low-standard network to high-standard network and communications apparatus


We have now discovered that mammals have a DNA gene analogous to that existing in bacteria. MSH5 defects or alterations in this mismatch repair pathway in a mammal, such as a human, can be diagnostic of a predisposition to cancer, and prognostic for a particular cancer: We have discovered and sequenced MSH5 in a number of mammals, including humans. This gene can be used in assays, to express gene product, for drug screens, and therapeutically.

Accurate transmission of genetic information is important in the survival of a cell, an organism, and a species. A number of mechanisms have evolved that help to ensure high fidelity transmission of genetic material from one generation to the next since mutations can lead to new genotypes that may be deleterious to the cell. DNA lesions that frequently lead to mutations are modified, missing or mismatched nucleotides. Multiple enzymatic pathways have been described in prokaryotic systems that can specifically repair these lesions.
There are at least three ways in which mismatched nucleotides arise in DNA. First, physical damage to the DNA or DNA precursors can give rise to mismatched bases in DNA. For example, the deamination of 5-methyl-cytosine creates a thymine and, therefore, a G-T mispair. Second, misincorporation, insertion, or deletion of nucleotides during DNA replication can yield mismatched base pairs. Finally, genetic recombination produces regions of heteroduplex DNA which may contain mismatched nucleotides when such heteroduplexes result from the pairing of two different parental DNA sequences. Mismatched nucleotides produced by each of these mechanisms are known to be repaired by specific enzyme systems.
The well defined mismatch repair pathway is the E. coli MutHLS pathway that promotes a long-patch (approximately 3 Kb) excision repair reaction which is dependent on the muth, mutL, mutS and MutU (uvrD) gene products. The MutHLS pathway appears to be the most active mismatch repair pathway in E. coli and is known to both increase the fidelity of DNA replication and act on recombination intermediates containing mispaired bases. This system has been reconstituted in vitro and requires the MutH, MutL, MutS and UvrD (helicase II) proteins along with DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, DNA ligase, single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) and one of the single-stranded DNA exonucleases, Exo I, Exo VII or RecJ. MutS protein binds to the mismatched nucleotides in DNA. MutH protein interacts with GATC sites in DNA that are hemi-methylated on the A and is responsible for incision on the unmethylated strand. Specific excision of the unmethylated strand results in increased fidelity of replication because excision is targeted to the newly replicated unmethylated DNA strand. MutL facilitates the interaction between MutS bound to the mismatch and MutH bound to the hemi-methylated Dam site resulting in the activation of MutH. UvrD is the helicase that appears to act in conjunction with one of the single-stranded DNA specific exonucleases to excise the unmethylated strand leaving a gap which is repaired by the action of DNA polymerase III holoenzyme, SSB and DNA ligase. In addition, E. coli contains several short patch repair pathways including the VSP system and the MutY (MicA) system that act on specific single base mispairs.
In bacteria, therefore, mismatch repair plays a role in maintaining the genetic stability of DNA. The bacterial MutHLS system has been found to prevent genetic recombination between the divergent DNA sequences of related species such as E. coli and S. typhimurium (termed: homologous recombination).
A number of human mismatch repair genes have been discovered. Defects in the human MSH2 gene are associated with Hereditary Non-Polyposis Colon Cancer (HNPCC), a familiar form of human colorectal cancer (CRC) that is also known as Lynch's Syndrome. Other mismatch repair genes discovered in humans include MLH1.
These genes are not only involved with susceptibility to cancer, but can be associated with other aspects. For example, defects in MSH2 and MLH1 confer resistance to alkylating agents frequently used in treating cancers. Consequently, the discovery of mismatch repair genes is extremely important. For example, finding a new mismatch repair gene permits one to look for defects in that gene and determine its association with particular cancers. This not only permits one to determine susceptibility to particular cancers, but to have a better prognosis of the disease and to more fully understand what therapies to use. Thus, being able to find additional mammalian, particularly human, mismatch repair genes is very important.

Method of detection of alterations in MSH5


A method of fabricating a foamed, injection-molded component is provided. The method includes the step of plasticizing pellets including a first polymeric material and a second polymeric material within an injection barrel to form an injection material. The first polymeric material defines a first phase of the injection material and the second polymeric material defines a second phase of the injection material. The first and second phases of the injection material are immiscible. The injection material is injected into a mold to fabricate the foamed injection-molded component having microscale, microcellular voids. Upon tensile loading, submicron, secondary phase cavities are formed in the injection-molded component, resulting in improved ductility and toughness.

Plastics are the most widely used materials in the United States, surpassing steel, copper, and aluminum combined by volume. Among the various polymer processing methods, injection molding accounts for one-third of all materials processed. While plastics have become ubiquitous and have greatly improved our quality of life, the rising cost of fossil-based plastics, as well as the environmental burden, cannot be overlooked. Special injection molding processes that reduce material usage and energy consumption are highly desirable to cut production costs, save natural resources, and reduce permanent waste.
Microcellular injection molding is an emerging special injection molding process capable of producing foamed parts with many advantages. During the microcellular injection molding process, a supercritical fluid is introduced into a molten polymer prior to the polymer being injected into a mold. The polymer solidifies in the mold to form a desired component. The introduction of the supercritical fluid prior to injection of the polymer into the mold causes tiny bubbles to be distributed throughout the molded component. By providing tiny bubbles in the molded component, the amount of material necessary to mold the component is reduced, while the dimensional stability of the molded component is improved.
While the microcellular injection molding process saves on material cost and improves production efficiency as compared to conventional solid injection molding, the process does have certain limitations. By way of example, microcellular injection molding requires specially designed supercritical fluid delivery and dosing systems to be installed on the injection molding machine for the delivery of the supercritical fluid as a physical blowing agent. In addition, modifications need to be made to the injection molding machine itself, including the installation of a supercritical fluid delivery device and a special injection screw with mixing elements for effectively mixing the supercritical fluid with the liquid polymer. These two factors lead to an increase in capital investment, especially when a large number of injection molding machines need to be modified.
Alternatively, the microcellular injection molding process may performed be using gas-laden pellets processed by a conventional injection molding machines. More specifically, pellets of a polymer are saturated with a physical blowing agent in a high pressure vessel. These gas-laden pellets are introduced into the injection molding machine, which, in turn, are used to fabricate foamed injection molded parts. This type of process offers all of the aforementioned benefits of microcellular injection molding, yet requires a much lower investment in equipment.
While the microcellular injection molding process saves on material cost and improves production efficiency as compared to conventional solid injection molding, the process does have certain disadvantages and limitations. For example, components fabricated using the microcellular injection molding processes heretofore described exhibit relatively poor ductility and toughness. As a result, these components tend to be brittle, especially for thin-wall products. In order to improve ductility and toughness, modifiers such as fibers or rubber particles are commonly introduced during the foaming process of a component. However, while these modifiers do increase the ductility and toughness of the component, the modifiers are expensive thereby reducing the cost benefits of the microcellular injection molding process. Further, use of modifiers has been found to reduce the high temperature performance and increase the overall weight of the component.
Therefore, it is a primary object and feature of the present invention to provide a method for fabricating foamed, injection molded components with improved ductility over prior injection molded components.
It is a further object and feature of the present invention to provide a method for fabricating foamed, injection molded components which is compatible with prior microcellular injection molding processes.
It is a still further object and feature of the present invention to provide a method for fabricating foamed, injection molded components which is simple and which may be performed with standard injection molding machinery.
In accordance with the present invention, a method is provided of fabricating an injection-molded component. The method includes the step of introducing pellets and a first supercritical fluid into an injection barrel of an injection molding machine. The pellets include a first polymeric material and a second polymeric material. The pellets are plasticized within the injection barrel to form an injection material. The first polymeric material defines a first phase of the injection material and the second polymeric material defines a second phase of the injection material. The first phase and the second phase are immiscible. The injection material is injected into a mold to fabricate the injection-molded component.
Microcellular voids having diameters are formed in the injected-molded component. The injected-molded component may be subjected to tensile loading and secondary phase cavities having diameters may be formed in the injected-molded component in response to the tensile loading of the injected-molded component. The diameters of the microcellular voids are greater than the diameters of the secondary phase cavities. The microcellular voids have diameters greater than 10 micrometers and the secondary phase cavities have diameters less than 1 micrometer. Preferably, the microcellular voids have diameters in the range of 50 to 100 micrometers.
In a first arrangement, the first and second polymeric materials and the first supercritical fluid are heated to produce a melt. The melt is extruded and the pellets are formed from the extruded melt. Alternatively, the first supercritical fluid may be introduced into the injection barrel downstream of the pellets. By way of example, it is contemplated for the first polymeric material to be polypropylene (PP) and the second polymeric material to be high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The injection material includes at least 50% of the first polymeric material and less than 50% of the second polymeric material, and preferably, the first polymeric material is in the range of 60% to 85% of the injection material.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for fabricating a foamed, injection-molded component. The method includes the step of plasticizing pellets including a first polymeric material and a second polymeric material within an injection barrel to form an injection material. The first polymeric material defines a first phase of the injection material and the second polymeric material defines a second phase of the injection material. The injection material is injected into a mold to fabricate the foamed, injection-molded component. The first phase and the second phase of the injection material are immiscible.
Microcellular voids having diameters are formed in the injected-molded component. The injected-molded component may be subjected to tensile loading and secondary phase cavities having diameters may be formed in the injected-molded component in response to the tensile loading of the injected-molded component. The diameters of the microcellular voids are greater than the diameters of the secondary phase cavities. The microcellular voids have diameters greater than 10 micrometers and the secondary phase cavities have diameters less than 1 micrometer. Preferably, the microcellular voids have diameters in the range of 50 to 100 micrometers.
In a first arrangement, the first and second polymeric materials and the first supercritical fluid are heated to produce a melt. The melt is extruded and the pellets are formed from the extruded melt. Alternatively, the first supercritical fluid may be introduced into the injection barrel downstream of the pellets. By way of example, it is contemplated for the first polymeric material to be polypropylene (PP) and the second polymeric material to be high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The injection material includes at least 50% of the first polymeric material and less than 50% of the second polymeric material, and preferably, the first polymeric material is in the range of 60% to 85% of the injection material.
In accordance with a still further aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for fabricating a foamed, injection-molded component. The pellets include a first polymeric material and a second polymeric material are plasticized within an injection barrel to form an injection material. The injection material is injected into a mold to fabricate the foamed injection-molded component. Microcellular voids having diameters are formed in the injected-molded component. The injected-molded component may be subjected to tensile loading and secondary phase cavities having diameters may be formed in the injected-molded component in response to the tensile loading of the injected-molded component. The diameters of the microcellular voids are greater than the diameters of the secondary phase cavities.
It is contemplated for the microcellular voids to have diameters greater than 10 micrometers and for the secondary phase cavities to have diameters less than 1 micrometer. Preferably, the microcellular voids have diameters in the range of 50 to 100 micrometers. The first polymeric material defines a first phase of the injection material and the second polymeric material defines a second phase of the injection material. The first and second phases of the injection material are immiscible. By way of example, it is contemplated for the first polymeric material to be polypropylene (PP) and the second polymeric material to be high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The injection material includes at least 50% of the first polymeric material and less than 50% of the second polymeric material, and preferably, the first polymeric material is in the range of 60% to 85% of the injection material.

Method of fabricating a foamed, injection molded component with improved ductility and toughness


An acoustic image localization signal processing device capable of localizing an acoustic image in an arbitrary direction includes: a sound source data storage unit that stores second sound source data obtained by subjecting first sound source data to signal preprocessing in advance, such that the acoustic image is localized in a predetermined direction; and an acoustic image localization characteristic application processing unit that applies an acoustic image localization position characteristic, based on position information from an acoustic image control input unit, to the second sound source data, when the second sound source data are read from the sound source data storage unit and reproduced by headphones. Accordingly, the acoustic image localization position of the reproduced output signals resulting from the second sound source data is controlled.

Conventionally, there has been video game equipment (television game equipment), or the like, in which images are displayed on a television receiver, and these images are moved in response to instructions input by input means. Most of such game equipment has utilized a stereo sound field, reproduced by stereo audio output signals output from the game equipment main unit.
When reproducing such stereo audio output signals, for instance, a pair of speakers, positioned in front of and to the right and left of the listener (game player), may for example be used; these speakers may be incorporated into the television receiver. The reproduced acoustic images are normally localized only between the two speakers used as the reproduction means, and are not localized in other directions.
Further, when a listener listens to these stereo audio output signals using stereo headphones, the acoustic image remains confined within the listener's head, and the acoustic image does not coincide with the image displayed on the television receiver.
In order to improve such acoustic image localization by headphones, a method is conceivable which uses a headphone system including hardware configured to perform signal processing capable of reproducing the audio output signals of game equipment, with a sound field sensation equivalent to that of stereo reproduction using two stereo speakers on the left and right.
However, with this method it is possible to have the acoustic image come out from the head of the listener to the outside, and to reproduce audio output signals with a sound field sensation comparable to that of stereo speakers. But similarly to the reproduction by stereo speakers, the acoustic image is localized only between two virtual speaker positions, and localizing the acoustic image in other directions is not possible; also, expensive hardware is required in order to configure virtual sound sources.
Therefore, when reproducing audio in the conventional game equipment described above, even if the output is stereo audio output signals, when audio is reproduced by game equipment, there is a disadvantage that normally an acoustic image is localized only between the two reproducing speakers, and is not localized in other directions.
Also, when listening to reproduced stereo audio output signals using stereo headphones, the acoustic image remains confined within the listener's head, and there is the problem that the acoustic image does not coincide with the image displayed on the television receiver.
Moreover, in a method which uses a headphone system comprising hardware which can perform signal processing to reproduce the audio output signals from game equipment, with a sound field sensation comparable to stereo reproduction using two stereo speakers on the right and left, it is possible to have the acoustic image come out from the listener's head, and to reproduce signals with a sound field sensation comparable to that provided by stereo speakers; but similarly to the reproduction by stereo speakers, the acoustic image is only localized between the positions of two virtual speakers, and localizing the acoustic image in other directions is not possible; moreover, there is further the problem that expensive hardware is necessary to configure the virtual sound source.

Acoustic image localization signal processing device


Drug delivery systems and biocompatible coatings for use with implantable stimulation devices such as cochlear implants have been developed. These drug delivery systems and coatings comprise polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) polymers and copolymers. The drug delivery systems may be used to deliver pharmacologically active substances, for example, directly from a cochlear implant to the inner ear. The coatings can impart lubricity to cochlear devices for ease of insertion of the electrodes. In the preferred embodiment, the drug delivery system comprises a polyhydroxyalkanoate polymer, and in the most preferred embodiment, the PHA polymer comprises poly(4-hydroxybutyrate) (P(4HB)) or copolymer thereof. A particularly preferred embodiment is where the silicone sheath of the cochlear implant electrodes has been surface modified, and coated with P(4HB), and the P(4HB) either contains a pharmacologically active substance or has been coated with such a substance.

There is a need for implantable stimulation devices, such as cochlear implants, that can elute pharmacologically active substances following implantation. Such devices could, for example, improve the signal quality of a cochlear implant.
For many patients that are profoundly deaf, their deafness is a result of the loss or absence of hair cells in the cochlea that are necessary to transduce acoustic signals (e.g. sound energy) into auditory nerve impulses. These patients have sensorineural hearing loss (as opposed to conductive hearing loss that can often be treated with conventional hearing aids). Without hair cells, patients with sensorineural hearing loss are unable to generate auditory nerve impulses directly from sounds.
Many cochlear implants have been developed to treat patients with sensorineural hearing loss. These implants are capable of directly stimulating auditory nerve fibers, therein bypassing the hair cells, and producing the perception of sound in the brain and thus some sense of hearing. Such implants normally comprise a set of electrodes (an electrode array) that are implanted into the cochlea. These electrodes are designed to respond to external electrical stimuli, and in turn transmit these impulses to the ganglion cells and the auditory nerve fibers. In an ideal situation, the electronic circuitry combined with the electrodes of the cochlear implant would separate an acoustic signal into narrow bands of frequencies, and these frequency bands would be conveyed selectively to the auditory nerve cells normally responsible for transmitting those frequencies to the brain.
The electrode array of the cochlear implants is generally implanted in the scala tympani, one of three ducts of the spiral shaped cochlea, for best results. The array usually consists of a thin, elongated, flexible carrier containing six to thirty separate electrode contacts, and is inserted by the surgeon into the scala tympani duct. When electrical impulses are delivered from the individual electrodes to tissues and fluids in close proximity, spiral ganglion cells and their auditory nerve fibers create action potentials.
Despite tremendous success in restoring sound sensation to patients that are profoundly deaf with cochlear implants, performance of the implants can often be suboptimal due to (i) apoptosis and/or necrosis of nervous tissue resulting from the trauma of inserting the electrode array, and (ii) a rise in electrode impedance post-surgery that is due to the encapsulation of the electrode array by the growth of a fibrous membrane which reduces the efficiency of electrical stimulation.
Efforts to address these issues include a single intraoperative intracochlear application of corticosteroids during cochlear implantation to reduce impedances at the electrode contacts, and surface patterning of the electrode array to reduce growth of cells on the implant surface (see US Patent Application No. 20060020318 to Lenarz, et al., "Patterning of the surface of implantable devices for tissue growth management"). In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,309,410 to Kuzma, et al. describes a cochlear electrode with an incorporated drug delivery channel for application of drugs, and US Patent Application No. 20070213799 to Jolly, et al. describes cochlear implants with material in areas of the implant adapted to elute drug.
There is thus a need to develop materials that can minimize the force required to insert an electrode array into the cochlea, and thereby limit the trauma to the spiral ganglion cells.
There is also a further need to develop technology that allows pharmacologically active substances to be delivered to the inner ear after cochlear implantation, but without surgery. Delivery of pharmacologically active substances in the inner ear after cochlear implantation could (a) provide therapeutic treatment for trauma resulting from insertion of the electrode array, and (b) decrease fibrous growth. In addition, infection could be prevented or treated locally with antibiotics.
It is an object of the present invention to provide polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) coatings for implantable stimulation devices, including cochlear implants, wherein the coating provides the electrode with good lubricity to minimize trauma to tissues.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide implantable stimulation devices, including cochlear implants, which can deliver pharmacologically active substances, and comprise PHA polymers and copolymers.
It is another object of the present invention to provide PHA polymer and copolymer drug delivery systems for implantable stimulation devices that can be used to make cochlear implants with excellent physical and mechanical properties and biocompatibility.


A vertical flash device (e.g., such as a field effect transistor, charge trap gate transistor, or charge trap flash device) is placed in series with a selector device. The selector's threshold voltage may be modulated depending upon the channel resistance of the flash device allowing for the storage of a state via the selector device. In this manner, the selector device may exhibit a voltage-dependent volatile resistance state change that occurs between a first state of said selector device and a second state of said selector device. A first binary value can be represented by the first state of the selector device, and a second binary value can be represented by the second state of the selector device.

eDRAM ("Enhanced Dynamic Random Access Memory") and eSRAM ("Enhanced Static Random Access Memory") consume a significant area because they are transistor pitch limited. It is desirable to conserve area, especially in the front-end. For this reason, vertical transistors may be employed. Thus, to build compact memory structures, it is desirable to leverage a physical property that is suitable for such structures.
Floating gate ("FG") flash memory is an electronic (solid-state) non-volatile computer storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. In FG flash memory, each memory cell resembles a standard MOSFET, except that the transistor has two gates instead of one. On top is the control gate ("CG"), as in other MOS transistors, but below this there is a floating gate ("FG") insulated all around by an oxide layer. The FG is interposed between the CG and the MOSFET channel. Because the FG is electrically isolated by its insulating layer, electrons placed on it are trapped until they are removed by another application of electric field (e.g. Applied voltage or UV as in EPROM). A logical '0' or '1' state may be achieved respectively either by the presence or absence electrons on the floating gate. Counter-intuitively, placing electrons on the FG sets the transistor to the logical "0" state. Once the FG is charged, the electrons in it screen (partially cancel) the electric field from the CG, thus, increasing the threshold voltage (Vt) of the cell.
Charge Trap Flash ("CTF") is a semiconductor memory technology used in creating non-volatile NOR and NAND flash memory. The technology differs from the more conventional floating-gate MOSFET technology in that it uses a silicon nitride film to store electrons rather than the doped polycrystalline silicon typical of a floating gate structure. This approach allows memory manufacturers to reduce manufacturing costs several ways: fewer process steps are required to form a charge storage node; smaller process geometries can be used (therefore reducing chip size and cost); multiple bits can be stored on a single flash memory cell. CTF typically is more reliable than FG flash. It also generally has a higher yield since the charge trap is less susceptible to point defects in the tunnel oxide layer

Vertical flash memory cell with selector for fast read


A system for managing a project being a plurality of jobs including construction jobs wherein some of the jobs don't require completion of other jobs and remaining jobs require completion of at least one of the independent jobs and/or completion of other jobs in the plurality of jobs. The system separates jobs into lists according to their dependency on other jobs and assigns manpower according to expense, expressed as man days, for completing the job withoin a list period. The system is preferably implemented in conjunction with a panoramic camera and computer. One section of the computer screen displays a 360° field of view of the project. Another section displays a table showing the interrelationship of the jobs. Alpha-numeric indicia, entered by a mouse/keyboard at job locations on the image section of the screen are indexed to jobs scheduled in the table which is entered in the text section of the screen.

An important problem in preventing over-runs of expense during projects such as a building project is to monitor the progress of the project and relating the progress to a schedule of events. In the case where the project is a building project, such events include ordering and delivery of material, hiring of subcontractors, allowance of easements, payment related to construction status, etc.
Each of these activities are typically the subject of subcontracts whose fulfillment must be completed according to schedule in order that the entire project proceed on time.
Violations of contract agreements are sometimes the subject of litigation. Proof of these violations are generally the basis for winning favorable judgement. Establishing proof is often difficult because of the difficulty in establishing the timeliness of events.
Software programs, such as "Microsoft Project" and "Primavera" have been on the market for many years as an aid to developing a schedule for developing a project which includes a number of jobs. These projects are based on "critical path analysis" to produce a "gant chart" followed by assigning resources (men and equipment) to the project in order to meet the schedule.
Monitoring the progress of a project is often complicated by the fact that the most deeply committed parties in the project cannot be constant overseers because their concerns must be divided among a number of such projects. For example, an investor in a project in one country may be a resident in another distant country. Furthermore, investors are not usually experts on reading gant charts. The opportunity to have first hand knowledge of progress in a building program can sometimes be an inducement to a foreign investor to "take the plunge" into otherwise uncertain investment waters. A system that integrates pictorial information of the project site with projections and status reports in a simplified presentation would be a enthusiastically received in the investment community.
There are numerous constraints imposed on the process of scheduling time, materials and manpower for completing a project such as a large building project.
One of these constraints is that the project consists of numerous jobs that require a variety of skills for completion.
Another constraint is the release of funds based on the completion of distinct phases of the work.
Another constraint is that funds are released to finance a job traditionally after certain phases of the project are complete. Therefore the hiring of men and purchase of material must be planned with this constraint in force.
Another constraint is that many of the start of many jobs of a project depend on the completion of combinations of other jobs. This greatly complicates the requirement to schedule the right kind of workmen and delivery of material to support the project.

System for scheduling and monitoring a project


An apparatus for treating a heart by stimulating revascularization of the heart or creating channels in the heart, the apparatus comprising an artificial energy source for causing a first created heartbeat and a revascularization device for creating a first revascularization event in the heart, the revascularization device being controllable to provide a first revascularization event to occur at a selected time in relation to the first created heartbeat.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for revascularization of a heart, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for revascularization using heart pacing.
2. Description of Related Art
Heart disease is a significant health problem which has been the subject of substantial medical study. By-pass surgery has become commonplace, yet such surgery may only partially correct a diminished blood supply to heart muscle and may be unavailable to many patients, either because of the nature of the occlusions or the physical condition of the patient.
One promising alternative or adjunctive technique for treating such cases is known as transmyocardial revascularization (TMR). This technique was considered in the work of Dr. C. Beck in "the Development of a New Blood Supply to the Heart by Operation," Annals of Surgery Annals of Surgery, Vol. 102, No. 5 (11/35) pp. 801-813. The method was also studied in the work of Dr. M. Mirhoseini and M. Cayton, an example of which is found in "Lasers and Cardiothoracic Surgery" in Lasers in General Surgery (Williams and Williams, 1989) pp. 216-223. A device to perform TMR is described in Aita et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,316, issued Jan. 10, 1995. In TMR generally the surgeon creates narrow channels in the heart at the surface of a ventricle of the heart. The surgeon generally uses a laser to create these channels either by accessing the endocardium through a percutaneous route or the epicardium through an incision in the chest wall. The pressure within the left ventricle during systole forces oxygenated blood into the channels and consequently oxygenates the ischemic myocardium of the left ventricle.
It is desirable to be able to control the time point within the cycle of heartbeats at which the heart is revascularized. A heart synchronized pulse laser system which operates on a beating heart between the R and T waves of the electrocardiogram (ECG) signal is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,926 (Rudko).
An electrocardiogram signal may not always provide the most accurate indication of heart function. Further, the electrocardiogram signal is a passive indication of heart rate. It is not a method to control the rate at which the heart beats.
There is a need for an apparatus for stimulating revascularization of the heart or creating channels in the heart where the revascularization event caused by the revascularization device can occur at a selected time in relation to the heartbeat. There is a further need for an apparatus for treating a heart by stimulating revascularization of the heart or creating channels in the heart where the device can control the heartbeat rate. There is further need to reduce the number of cycles over which a laser must be fired to achieve the desired depth of channels in the heart.


A wiring tool for wire ducts disposed at a 90.degree. angle and having a plurality of teeth forming the side walls, the wiring tool comprising a pair of flat bars joined to form a 90.degree. angle with a riser portion extending upwardly from the juncture of the bars and elastomer strap fastened to the distal ends of the bars to hold the wiring tool at the juncture of wiring ducts to facilitate placing a bundle of wires in the ducts and bending the bundle 90.degree. in the ducts without damaging or removing teeth adjacent the juncture of the ducts.

With the use of wire ducts in control panel construction, there has been an ongoing problem with wire bundle strain on the wire ducts. More specifically when two sections of wire duct meet and form a 90.degree. union. The wire ducts have sides with a plurality of spaced apart teeth, which hold the wires that enter and exit the wire duct in place. Teeth adjacent the juncture of the wire ducts had to be removed or they became bent when the stiff wire bundles were placed in the wire ducts and bent 90.degree.. U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,734 describes the fabrication of a wire harness or bundle.


The transmittance of an etalon relative to an oscillating line having the wavelength of 1061.6 to 1062.2 nm by an Nd:YAG laser medium 3 is set to 0.9 or lower (the maximum value of the transmittance is 1.0). The oscillating line of the wavelength of 1061.6 to 1062.6 nm is damped by the etalon so that a peak corresponding thereto does not substantially appear in an outputted laser beam. Accordingly, a longitudinal mode can be preferably changed to a single mode and an output can be stabilized.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a solid state laser device and a method for producing a solid state laser device, and more particularly to a solid state laser device and a method for producing a solid state laser device in which a longitudinal mode can be preferably changed to a single mode by an etalon.
2. Related Art
A solid state laser device has been known that comprises a laser diode, an Nd:YAG laser medium, a non-linear optical element, an etalon and an output mirror (for instance, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,860). The laser diode outputs an excited laser beam. The Nd:YAG laser medium is excited by the excited laser beam to induce and emit a fundamental wave. The non-linear optical element converts the fundamental wave to a higher harmonic wave. The etalon changes a longitudinal mode to a single mode. The output mirror forms one end of an optical resonator and transmits the outputted laser beam.
When an etalon is not inserted into an optical resonator, for instance, as shown in FIG. 3, the spectrum of an outputted laser beam has a secondary oscillating line having the wavelength of 530.8 to 531.1 nm (represented by the wavelength of a fundamental wave, and refer it to as an oscillating line of the wavelength of 1061.6 to 1062.2 nm, hereinafter) or a secondary oscillating line having the wavelength of 531.4 to 531.8 nm (this is an oscillating line of a sum frequency of the previous oscillating line and the fundamental wave has no component thereof) as well as a main oscillating line having the wavelength of 532.1 to 532.6 nm (represented by the wavelength of the fundamental wave and refer it to as an oscillating line of the wavelength of 1064.2 to 1065.2 nm, hereinafter).
When the etalon is inserted into the optical resonator, for instance, as shown by a thin full line in FIG. 4, the transmitting characteristics of the etalon exhibit a sine wave form and the maximum transmittance peak thereof corresponds to the main oscillating line having the wavelength of 1064.2 to 1065.2 nm and a longitudinal mode is changed to a single mode. That is, a spectrum "having no etalon" shown by a thin broken line in FIG. 4 is changed to a spectrum "having an etalon inserted" shown by a thick full line in FIG. 4.
However, as shown in FIG. 4, assuming that the order of interference of the maximum transmittance peak corresponding to the main oscillating line having the wavelength of 1064.2 to 1065.2 nm is m, when one of other maximum transmittance peaks corresponds to the secondary oscillating line having the wavelength of 1061.6 to 1062.2 nm (in FIG. 4, the maximum transmittance peak of the order of interference of m+3 corresponds to the secondary oscillating line), a secondary peak appears having the wavelength of 530.8 to 531.1 nm also in the outputted laser beam, and further, a secondary peak having the wavelength of 531.4 to 531.8 nm appears in the outputted laser beam.
However, since the longitudinal mode is not changed to the single mode under this state, an output is undesirably unstable due to the competition of modes.


The present invention relates to a muffler used in a motor vehicle for cooling the engine exhaust gases. The muffler has an internal tubular member defining an internal chamber and a middle tubular member concentric in relation to and supported on the internal tubular member. The internal and middle tubular members form a first ring-shaped chamber adapted to connect to the exhaust pipe. The muffler also has an external tubular member being concentric in relation to and supported on the middle tubular member. The middle tubular member and the external tubular member form a second ring-shaped chamber with a third inlet portion. Hence, engine exhaust gases of the motor vehicle pass through the first ring-shaped chamber and are sufficiently cooled and depressurized by cooling air that passes through the internal and second ring-shaped chambers.

Various engine muffler devices have been adopted to use in connection with internal combustion engines, such as automobile engines. More specifically, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,185,489 to Wilman, 3,888,331 to Wang, 4,228,868 to Raczuk and 4,317,502 and 4,485,890 to Harris et al. each disclose an engine muffler that operates to dampen the noises created by the engines.
Moreover, U.S. Pat. No. 3,170,280 to Rees discloses a carbon monoxide eliminator used in the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine. The carbon monoxide eliminator can not only reduce the noise level from the engine but also eliminate carbon monoxide from the products of combustion. The eliminator is designed to introduce fresh air directly into the exhaust system to mix with the carbon monoxide and thus covert carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide before releasing the same into atmosphere. However, none of the above U.S. patents discusses the problem that engine exhaust gases are usually discharged at a high temperature. Such high temperature exhaust gases may cause injuries, such as burning, to pedestrians and damages to the muffler device.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a muffler that can overcome the deficiencies of conventional designs and thus reduce the temperature of exhaust gases before they are discharged into atmosphere. The present invention provides a muffler device that meets the above requirements.