A suction regulator having an elongated hollow body with interconnected distal and proximal ports at opposite ends thereof, each adapted to be connected to an end of a flexible conduits The proximal port is adapted for conduit connection to a vacuum source and the distal port is adapted for conduit connection to a device needing suction control. An elongated slot is provided in the hollow body and extends through a wall of the hollow body. The slot has converging straight side walls extending over a majority of a length of the slot and from a wide end to a narrow end thereof. The hollow body is provided with an axially extending guideway thereon which is operatively connected to the gate member and a guide structure thereon for guiding the gate member axially relative to the hollow body between a first position oriented spaced from the wide end of the slot so as to provide unobstructed access to the slot to thereby effect a minimum suction rate at the distal port and a second position fully obstructing access to the slot to thereby effect a maximum suction rate at the distal port.

During Arthroscopic, ENT, OB/GYN, Laparoscopic or any other surgical procedure, suction regulators are used to control the suction rate when removing bodily liquids or any other liquid which tends to collect in an area during a surgical procedure. The suction regulator device is connected in series with flexible tubing extending from a suction source, such as a hospital vacuum or suction canister, to a suction tip or any device needing control of suction. In many cases, it has been found that by installing a small suction regulator in series with the suction tip device, the flow in liters per minute can be regulated by letting a small amount of air into the tubing, therefore reducing the amount of suction force at the tip of the suction device.
One of the difficulties of constructing an effective control unit is to provide a passageway for liquid flow without reducing the diameter of the flow pathway. Liquids being drawn through the device frequently contain material that can block or clog the control unit. As a result, units of this type have heretofore provided large passageways which will not likely become obstructed even by a valve or even by a change in the direction of fluid flow.
One type of suction control device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,175. The suction flow rate is regulated by positioning the operator's finger over an air intake. This type of device controls the air being drawn into the suction tube and, therefore, controls the rate of suction through the suction tube. This device does not, however, control the flow if the operator is absent or if the air intake is not closed off by the operator's finger. In other words, when the operator is not present, the suction rate falls to zero.
Another type of suction control device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,823. The suction flow rate is controlled in a manner similar to the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,175 but it cannot regulate the suction force over a wide and controlled range.
A still further suction regulator is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,531,712. In this device, the suction rate is regulated by screwing a plunger into an opening to shut off or open up the air flow to thereby regulate the suction rate.
None of the aforesaid devices, including an Arthrex Model AR-6600 suction regulator, is capable of linearly controlling the suction rate so as to enable the user thereof to manipulate and control the suction force at the device needing suction control, such as a suction tip device used in surgical procedures. This becomes important during surgical procedures where the surgeon is desirous of having liquid or loose tissue removed from delicate regions where it is necessary to increase the suction rate ever so gradually so as not to disturb the surrounding area of the surgical site.
Accordingly, it is the object of the present invention to provide a suction regulator having an elongated hollow body which has therein an elongated slot in the wall thereof which is of an asymmetrical configuration so that when a gate member slides with respect thereto to either open or close off a portion of the slot, the suction rate at a distal end of the suction regulator is controlled in a linear manner.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a suction regulator, as aforesaid, wherein the elongated slot includes converging side walls extending over a majority of the length of the slot and from a wide end to a narrow end in an axial direction of the hollow body so that when the gate member slides with respect thereto, portions of the slot will be covered so as to effect the aforesaid linear control of the suction rate.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a suction regulator, as aforesaid, wherein the converging side walls are straight over a majority of the length of the slot.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a suction regulator, as aforesaid, wherein a guide structure is provided for facilitating a tactile indexing of the gate member to selected positions whereat the gate member is yieldably held until a manual force applied by the user occurs to cause the gate member to move with respect to the hollow body.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a suction regulator, as aforesaid, wherein the components are made of a metal or synthetic resin material and, if of a synthetic resin material, by an injection molding process.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a suction regulator, as aforesaid, wherein the side wall are smooth and rounded so as to minimize air nose.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a suction regulator, as aforesaid, wherein the components can be quickly and easily assembled with a minimum of instruction.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a suction regulator, as aforesaid, wherein the suction regulator is of a durable construction and is reliably operable with a minimum of instruction and is maintenance free.


A nonvolatile semiconductor storage device includes a semiconductor substrate, and at least one memory cell formed on the semiconductor substrate, the at least one memory cell having a gate electrode unit in which a floating gate electrode and a control gate electrode are stacked, at least part of the control gate electrode being silicidated. The nonvolatile semiconductor storage device further includes at least one dummy transistor formed on the semiconductor substrate, the at least one dummy transistor having a first dummy electrode, and a second dummy electrode which has a current leakage path and which is stacked on the first dummy electrode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor storage device. More particularly, it relates to an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) in which data can be electrically rewritten.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, there are roughly two kinds of transistor elements in an EEPROM. One is a transistor element (hereinafter, a cell transistor) provided in a memory cell unit. The cell transistor has a gate electrode structure in which a tunnel oxide film, a floating gate electrode, an interpoly insulating film and a control gate electrode are stacked from bottom to top in this order on a substrate. This cell transistor keeps data nonvolatile by a difference of a threshold value which changes depending on whether or not the floating gate electrode is charged. The other transistor element is a peripheral transistor provided in a peripheral circuit unit. The peripheral transistor has the same gate electrode structure as that of the cell transistor except for the interpoly insulating film. That is, the peripheral transistor has a metal insulator semiconductor field effect transistor (MISFET) structure in which the interpoly insulating film is partly or entirely opened so that a control gate electrode is electrically connected to a floating gate electrode. Moreover, the peripheral transistor is classified into two kinds of peripheral transistors having a thick gate oxide film and a thin gate oxide film, depending on the level of drive voltages. A peripheral transistor having a thick gate oxide film is called a high voltage transistor, while a peripheral transistor having a thin gate oxide film is called a low voltage transistor. This peripheral transistor is mainly used to construct a logic circuit.
In the case of the EEPROM, it is desirable that the resistance of the control gate electrode in the transistor be lower in terms of the suppression of RC delay. Polysilicon doped with impurities and thus having conductivity has been used for the control gate electrode. However, along with increasing demands for a higher velocity in the EEPROM, silicide generally lower in resistance than polysilicon is increasingly used to form the control gate electrode. Silicide is formed by heating a reacting species metal after depositing it on polysilicon, and then causing a reaction between polysilicon and the metal. However, silicide is generally more resistant to an etching gas and a drug solution for dry etching than polysilicon, and is more difficult to process than polysilicon. Therefore, when silicide is used to form the control gate electrode, a control gate film is first formed by polysilicon. Then, polysilicon is processed into a control gate electrode pattern and then silicidated.
Here, a silicon nitride film is generally used as a hard mask for the formation of the control gate electrode pattern. The reason is that a resist for lithography alone is not sufficient as a protective film during processing.
In general, the silicon nitride film used for the processing of the control gate electrode pattern remains unremoved even after the processing of the control gate electrode pattern. Further, after the processing of the control gate electrode pattern, a barrier nitride film for preventing the diffusion of impurities from an insulating film between the control gate electrodes to the cell transistor and the peripheral transistor, and a silicon nitride film serving as a stopper in the processing of contacts are again stacked on the control gate electrode pattern. That is, for the silicidation of the control gate electrode pattern, the silicon nitride film on the control gate electrode pattern has to be once removed to expose polysilicon. The dry etching is generally used to remove the silicon nitride film.
However, a charge (electrons and holes) in plasma attempts to enter the cell transistor and the peripheral transistor during the etching since the dry etching is usually carried out in plasma atmosphere. The silicon nitride film is resistant to the entrance of the charge, but polysilicon is not resistant thereto. Moreover, the silicon nitride film has a certain degree of variation in thickness. Therefore, if the etching is carried out for sufficient time to completely remove the entire silicon nitride film on the control gate electrode pattern, polysilicon is exposed in parts where the silicon nitride film is thin. Exposed polysilicon is subjected to plasma, and the charge enters polysilicon. The charge that has entered is trapped in the interpoly insulating film of the cell transistor and in the gate oxide film of the peripheral transistor, which induces variation of the threshold value corresponding to the trapped charge. This varies the threshold values of the cell transistor and the peripheral transistor, and causes a decrease in the reliability of the EEPROM.
In this manner, the reduction of charge accumulation (charge-up) due to the dry etching is required for the improvement of the reliability of the EEPROM having silicide in the control gate electrode.
In addition, in order to prevent charging damage, there has been already proposed a device having a configuration in which a dummy wiring line that is not used for circuit operation is provided in a MIS transistor formation area having a thick gate insulating film (e.g., refer to Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-183043). However, this proposal has a problem that the number of manufacturing processes and the area of a device tend to increase.

Nonvolatile semiconductor storage device having silicide in control gate electrode


Systems and/or methods for detecting a rotating wheel's speed and/or acceleration are provided. A sensor is attached to the rotating wheel. The sensor includes a circuit (e.g. a Wheatstone bridge circuit) having a plurality of resistors (e.g. 4 resistors). Each resistor includes a giant magnetoresistance (GMR) element and has a resistance changeable based at least in part on a change in magnetic field intensity with respect to an external magnetic field. The sensor generates a signal based at least in part on the resistors' resistances. A processor is operable to calculate the rotating wheel's speed and/or acceleration based at least in part on the signal.

A number of technologies are used in speed sensor devices to determine the rotational speed of various components. For example, in various types of vehicles, speed sensor devices may be used with anti-lock braking systems ("ABS"). One specific speed sensor device is disclosed in application Ser. No. 10/874,838, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Conventionally, magnetic encoder wheels may be installed in motor vehicles. An encoder wheel typically includes an outer surface having magnetized ferrite contained therein. Specifically, the magnetized ferrite is contained in a laminate with alternating north and south poles, and the laminate extends around the circumference of the encoder wheel. The encoder wheel may include features that extend from the surface and project towards a magnetic sensor device. As the wheel rotates, the magnetic sensor may measure the change in the strength of the magnetic field of the alternating poles. From this alternating magnetic field and, in turn, output from the sensor device, the rotational speed of the encoder wheel can be calculated. Such calculations may use, for example, the correlation between the peaks of the sensor's output and the number of the alternating poles around the encoder wheel.
One type of magnetic sensor device for use with speed detection includes a Hall effect transducer. A Hall effect transducer uses a transverse current flow that occurs in the presence of a magnetic field. Applying a direct current (DC) voltage at both ends of the Hall effect transducer creates a longitudinal current flow over its body. With the presence of the magnetic field, a transverse voltage is induced in the Hall effect transducer that can be detected by a second pair of electrodes transverse to the first pair. The potential created in the sensor surface generates a sine wave output with respect to the rotation of the encoder wheel.
FIG. 1A is a schematic view of an example motor vehicle having an encoder for use with a speed sensor, and FIG. 1B shows an enlarged schematic view of a portion of an encoder wheel illustrating the magnetization on the encoder wheel. The encoder wheel 10 is coupled to an axle shaft 20 which rotationally drives a wheel 22. An anti-lock braking system 14 is located on the encoder wheel 10, and it includes a magnetic sensor 16 and a vehicle control module 18. The encoder wheel 10 is magnetized such that it includes a plurality of alternating north and south magnetic poles around its circumference. When the encoder wheel 10 rotates, the magnetic field changes. The magnetic sensor 16 will detect the change in the magnetic field and induce a voltage. The vehicle control module 18 will calculate a speed signal and transfer this information to the anti-lock braking system 14.
Unfortunately, such techniques suffer several drawbacks. For example, it is difficult and expensive to manufacture a system that includes alternating magnetic north and south poles disposed around the circumference of an encoder wheel. Such systems also are complex. Moreover, to control the vehicle, it is necessary to detect the vehicle's rotational speed or acceleration speed, while these techniques only detect the speed of the vehicle.
Thus, it will be appreciated that there is a need for an improved system that does not suffer from one or more of the above-mentioned drawbacks.

Vehicle wheel speed and acceleration sensor and method for calculating the same


A method in a sending system entity for estimating a frequency offset associated with a data transfer from a receiving system entity in a mobile communication network is disclosed. The method includes extracting user data associated with a predefined user from the transferred data and transforming the extracted user data into a time domain. The method also includes estimating a resource symbol phase offset, θ1, between two resource symbols representing the same user from the transformed user data and estimating a resource element phase offset, θ2, between two resource blocks occupied by the same user. Additionally, the method includes estimating a frequency offset based on θ1 and θ2.

In 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), the packet-switched communication systems HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) and LTE (Long Term Evolution) have been specified for wireless transmission of data packets between user terminals and base stations in a cellular/mobile network. In this description, the term "base station" is used to generally represent any system entity capable of wireless communication with a user terminal. A base station of a cell in a wireless network may transmit data and control information in a physical downlink channel to a user terminal or "UE" (User Equipment), and a user terminal may likewise transmit data and control information in a physical uplink channel in the opposite direction to the base station. In this description, a physical downlink or uplink channel is generally referred to as a wireless link between a sending entity and a receiving entity. Further, the terms "sending entity" and "receiving entity" are used here merely to imply the direction of the wireless link considered, although these entities can of course both receive and send data and messages in an ongoing communication.
LTE systems generally use DFT-SFDMA (Discrete Fourier Transform-Spread Frequency Division Multiple Access) in uplink. The DFT-SFDMA transmission technique, is considered an effective technique in high-bit-rate data due to its spectral efficiently, it robustness in different multipath propagation environment, and its low PAPR (Peak-to-Average-Power-Ratio). However, a well-known problem of DFT-SFDMA is its vulnerability to the frequency offset (FO) including carrier frequency offset (CFO) resulting from the mismatch between the carrier frequencies at the transmitter and receiver. There are numerous estimation methods for CFO correction. Some of them are focused on the estimation accuracy, but the estimation range is then limited. Other methods are instead focused on a wider estimation range, but then the accuracy is not reliable enough. It is very difficult to balance the accuracy and range in the real system. In the invention, according to the frame structure of the LTE uplink, both estimation range and accuracy for CFO correction are considered.
With "resource block" is meant the smallest time unit possible to schedule for a user. Typically, a user occupies one or more resource blocks, as seen in FIG. 1. Each resource block consists of a grid with 14 resource symbols on one axis and 12 resource elements on the other axis.
It is thus generally a problem that in communication in uplink according to DFT-SFDMA based structures, the carrier frequencies for the resource elements are affected by various frequency offsets between the receiving system entities and the sending system entity, which disturbs the communication.


A force sensitive scale and dual sensor load cells for use therewith isolate, measure, and reject out residual rejected effects from the output of the scale. By isolating residual rejected effects, the overall accuracy of the scale may be improved, and the scale may be made substantially insensitive to the position of an object on the scale. In addition, where a scale includes multiple load cells coupled in parallel to a load receiving member and spaced apart in the direction of the force vector, the outputs of the load cells may be effectively scaled to cancel out frictional effects inherent in the scale.

Force sensitive scales, i.e., scales which are capable of measuring the applied force due to gravity of an object placed upon the scale, have numerous applications. One such application, for example, is on lift trucks, or forklifts, to weigh objects which are lifted and transported by the forks of the lift truck as they are being transported. Lift truck scales preferably do not require any specific operation by an operator of the lift truck other than positioning the truck and lifting the objects. As a result, the weighing operation is very efficient and non-intrusive.
One example of a lift truck scale which is particularly useful in the art is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,186 to Bradley, which is incorporated by reference herein. Generally, Bradley discloses a lift truck scale including a vertically oriented plate that is mounted to the existing crossbars disposed on the front of a standard lift truck. The plate is mounted through four load-bearing load cells arranged into two laterally-spaced vertical columns, which serve as the sole mechanical connection between the scale and the existing crossbars. The conventional forks used with the lift truck are hung off of the vertical plate in the same manner as they would the crossbars, whereby a load present on the forks is transferred across the load cells by the vertical plate.
Each load cell in the Bradley design includes four strain gauges connected in a wheatstone bridge circuit to reject many non-load force effects. Moreover, the outputs of the load cells are summed to provide the total weight reading for the scale.
The Bradley lift truck scale is capable of rejecting many non-load force effects (i.e., forces and moments which are not found along the primary force vector that is being measured). The Bradley scale is therefore relatively accurate, typically having an accuracy of about 1%. Bradley also has the advantage that it is easy to install on conventional lift trucks, thereby making it relatively cost effective. Also, the Bradley scale has a low profile which does not significantly decrease the overall carrying capacity of the lift truck.
On the other hand, the Bradley scale has been found to exhibit some degree of position sensitivity despite efforts to reduce the variations that occur as a result of different positioning of objects on the forks. These effects are most prevalent in the fore/aft direction (i.e., along the longitudinal axes of the forks), primarily due to "end effects" applied to the load cells at some positions. The end effects are maximized when an object is located near the tips of the forks, as a relative large horizontal separation exists between the load cells and the object in this position, resulting in non-load forces that are comparable in magnitude to the load forces along the primary force vector for the scale.
By "end effects", we mean primarily end loads and end moments, as well as other forces, that result in forces applied to the load cells that are not along the force vector of the desired forces to be measured (i.e., those representing the weight of an object). These end effects are mostly rejected in scales such as Bradley by the mechanical structure of the load cells and the strain gauge bridge circuits. However, it has been found that, particularly in lift truck scales where end effects are relatively great, these end and other effects are not purely rejected. This results in "residual rejected effects" being present in the output signal of each load cell, thereby limiting the accuracy of the scale and making the scale sensitive to the position of objects thereon.
It has also been found that the vertical arrangement of pairs of loads cells in the Bradley scale may introduce some degree of frictional effects (primarily creep and hysteresis) into the outputs of the load cells due to slippage in the mechanical couplings between the plate and the load cells, as well as due to relaxation in the structures of the plate and the load cells alike. In theory, a pair of vertically oriented load cells coupled in parallel should perfectly share a load such that the summed outputs of the cells remain constant even if the load is shifted between the load cells. In practice, however, it has been found that these frictional effects may limit this load sharing effect and introduce lag errors into the system, also reducing the accuracy of the scale.
Therefore, a substantial need exists for a scale and load cells for use therewith which more perfectly reject residual rejected effects and frictional effects from the output of the load cells. In addition, a need exists for a scale which is of greater accuracy and reduced sensitivity to the position of objects on the scale.

Force sensitive scale for fork lifts with electronically coupled load sensors


The present invention relates to a continuous, horizontal process for making water-reactive pouches, involving the steps of:                a) continuously feeding a first water-soluble film onto a horizontal portion of an continuously and rotatably moving endless surface, which comprises a plurality of moulds, or onto a non-horizontal portion thereof and continuously moving the film to said horizontal portion;        b) forming from the film on the horizontal portion of the continuously moving surface, and in the moulds on the surface, a continuously moving, horizontally positioned web of open pouches;        c) filling the continuously moving, horizontally positioned web of open pouches with a product, to obtain a horizontally positioned web of open, filled pouches;        d) closing the web of open pouches, to obtain closed pouches, preferably by feeding a closing material onto the horizontally positioned web of open, filed pouches, to obtain closed pouches; and        preferably sealing the closed pouches and whereby step d) and preferably step e) is also done in a continuous manner, preferably while the web of pouches is in horizontal position and continuously moving.

Cleaning compositions nowadays come in a number of product forms, such as granules, liquids and unit dose forms, including water-soluble or water-permeable pouches.
The most common process for making water-soluble pouches with products such as cleaning products is the so-called vertical filling process. Hereby, a vertically hanging string of open pouches is formed by folding a film, which is then transported in under a filling machine which partially fills the pouches, allowing a head space whereby the top part of the open pouch is then subsequently sealed together to close the pouch. The typically pillow shapes pouches are then cut loose of the string to form individual pouches.
A second known process for making pouches is by use of a die having series of moulds and forming from a film, open pouches in these moulds, which can then be filled and sealed. This method uses the pouch film material more efficiently and the process has a more flexibility in types of pouch shapes and ingredients used, however, the process is not very suitable in industrial, because it can not produce large quantities of pouches (per time unit), in an easy and efficient manner.
A third process proposed is the formation of pouches in moulds present on the surface of a circular drum. Hereby, a film is circulated over the drum and pockets are formed, which pass under a filling machine to fill the open pockets. The filling and sealing needs to take place at the highest point (top) of the circle described by the drum, e.g. typically, filling is done just before the rotating drum starts the downwards circular motion, and sealing just after the drum starts its downwards motion.
The problem associated with the vertical filling machine is that the process is not very efficient: the process is intermittent and very slow, for example due to process speed changes from one step to the next step, and each pouch formation step result typically only in one string of pouches in one dimension; thus, only a limited amount of pouches per minute can be formed. Moreover, the large quantities of film are used per product dose, because the method does not allow complete filling of the pouches and the method does not allow stretching of the film. Also, there is not much flexibility in shapes of pouches formed.
The problems associated with the second process using a die with moulds include also that that process is intermittent (or an index process), and that the process is slow and involves acceleration and deceleration, which reduces the overall speed and moreover, causes product spillage out of the open pouches. Also, the output of this process is not very high (per time unit).
The circular drum process overcomes some of the disadvantages of the first vertical filing process (and even the second (moulding) process to a certain extend), because it does not need speed changes (no acceleration/deceleration) and it can more easily provide pouches in two dimensions and the shape of the pouches can be changes to some extend. However, the spillage from the pouches is quite substantial, due to the circular movement, which causes product to spill onto the sealing area, and this causes problems with the sealing (leaking seals). Also, the process does not allow the pouches to be filled completely, because the spillage is then even more of a problem. Also, this process has even more significant problems when used for liquid products, which are more likely to cause large spillage, due to the circular motion. Moreover, the filling and sealing has to be done around the highest point of the circle movement of the drum, and thus hugely reducing the overall speed and the output of the pouch formation process.
Thus, alternative ways and more efficient ways to produce unit dose products are desirable.
The inventors have now found an improved process for making water-reactive or water-soluble pouches in industry. They found a way to overcome the problems of an intermittent process. Also, they found a way to overcome the problems of processes using a drum or the vertical filling technique.
The invention provided is a horizontal, continuous process whereby a horizontally positioned portion of an endless surface with moulds (in two dimensions), which moves continuously in one direction, is used to form the pouches, namely whereby a film is continuously fed onto this surface, and then, the film is drawn into the moulds on the horizontal portion of the surface, to continuously form a web of open pouches positioned in horizontal position, which can then be filled with the product (such as cleaning products, including liquid product), whilst horizontal and whilst moving continuously, and which is then preferably also closed whilst still horizontal and moving continuously. Hereby, the pouches can be filled about completely, because no speed changes occur and thus much less or no spillage. Also, the process allows great flexibility in film size used, pouch sizes, pouches shapes, product forms, time required per step (by varying length of horizontal surface, or changing the constant speed, for example) without impacting much on the overall output of the pouch making process. Also, the process uses a minimum of film material per pouch, in particular if during the pouch formation step or closing step, the film is stretched.

Abstract: The products introduced in the pouch are preferably cleaning compositions or fabric care compositions, in particular laundry or dish washing compositions.


A gantry film wrapping system and method useable for wrapping film about an elongated load. The system includes an overhead frame with first and second lateral support members for supporting opposing end portions of a carriage, which is reciprocatably translatable back and forth along the first and second lateral support members. A film wrapping apparatus having a rotary arm is coupled to the carriage, and a film wrapping carriage is coupled to a dependent member extending from an end portion of the rotary arm. The rotary arm and film wrapping carriage are rotatable in approximately 180 degree rotational increments between and during back and forth translations of the carriage along the first and second lateral support members of the overhead frame, wherein the film wrapping carriage is orbital in a substantially oval orbit about an elongated load disposed below the overhead frame.

A variety of systems exist for wrapping shrink or stretch films about elongated loads including textile rolls, rolled paper products, and non-cylindrical loads. The Mima Roll Wrapper.TM. system available from ITW Mima, Boca Raton Fla., for example, includes a turntable base for rotating elongated cylindrical loads relative to a fixed film wrapping head. The turntable base rotates the load about an axis substantially perpendicular to a major dimension of the load, and also the turntable simultaneously rotates the load about an axis through its major dimension during the film wrapping process so that the load is totally encapsulated by the film. The Mima Horizontal Wrapping Mast.TM. system also available from ITW Mima, Boca Raton Fla., includes a film wrapping head that translates back and forth along the major dimension of an elongated load as the load is rotated about an axis through its major dimension. In this application, overhanging film material at both ends of the load may be folded over or tied off. This system is useable in combination with a winding machine like a textile winding machine, which forms the elongated load, and is otherwise substantially stationary relative to the translatable film wrapping head.
In other systems, an elongated load is fixed in position relative to a film wrapping head that orbits about the load. The film wrapping head is usually disposed upon an end portion of a rotary arm rotatably mounted in a fixed position above the load. In some load wrapping applications, the load may be rotated about an axis through its major dimension during the film wrapping process so that film is applied to all surfaces thereof. These features are illustrated and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,565,051 entitled "Method and Apparatus for Wrapping Cylindrical Articles" issued Jan. 21, 1986 to Back.
In view of the discussion above among other considerations, there exists a demonstrated need for an advancement in the art of wrapping a film about a load.

Gantry film wrapping system and method for wrapping elongated loads


A laser welding method according to the present disclosure includes a step in which a third material is interposed between a first material and a second material, which are made of the same type of metal so as to be weldable to one another, and at least one of which is provided with a protruding portion, wherein the third material is difficult to weld to the first material and the second material and has a through-hole portion into which the protruding portion is inserted. The method also includes a step in which, when the third material is interposed between the first material and the second material, a region corresponding to the protruding portion is irradiated with a laser beam from the first material side, and the first material and the second material are welded via the through-hole portion. In the step in which the third material is interposed between the first material and the second material, a first gap is provided between the protruding portion and the inner peripheral face of the through-hole portion, and a second gap corresponding to the plate thickness of the first material is provided between the first material and the second material in the region corresponding to the protruding portion.

Recent expansion of global transport of automobiles and other products has increased production volume of them. Under such a trend, there has been a growing demand for reduction of a total cost per product; particularly for enhancing production efficiency by decreased production time.
At the same time, there has been a worldwide strong demand for constraint on carbon emissions to prevent global warming. To meet the demand, strenuous efforts on improvement of fuel efficiency are accelerating in transportation business including car industries. Decreasing weight of vehicles is a specific approach to improvement of fuel efficiency. Manufacturers are searching for using lightweight materials as possible.
As a welding method for transportation equipment including cars, a spot welding is widely employed. The spot welding (i.e., a resistance welding) has an upper electrode and a lower electrode as a welding gun for spot welding. Materials to be welded are tightly pressed between the upper electrode and the lower electrode and has application of current between the two electrodes. Therefore, the spot welding is not suitable for one-side welding and has limitations on shapes of material to be welded. Further, the welding gun needs a space on the upper and lower sides of the material to fit itself in and applies pressure to a welding position. This provides a product with limitation in shape. Besides, due to heavy weight of the welding gun itself, the welding gun cannot move fast. After arriving the welding position, the welding gun needs pressure time for welding material prior to welding. After welding, time for cooling the welded material is needed. That is, the spot welding needs lots of time before and after welding.
As for weight saving of materials used for cars, manufacturers try to change a part of components from steel to light-metal material, such as aluminum. In such an effort, a technique and a structure for connecting light-metal material with steel has been needed.
Generally, it is very difficult to connect steel and aluminum that is a different-type material to steel. A spot welding using a rivet and a joining method using adhesives are conventionally used for connecting materials of different type. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a rivet shape, caulking, and a spot welding method capable of absorbing plastic flow that not only occurs in application of pressure on a different-type material between a rivet and a joint material similar to the material of the rivet but also occurs in the different-type material caused by welding heat in spot welding. A different-type material often has a partial deformation in caulking and spot welding, and in other cases, such a different-type material sometimes has a depressed portion caused by a positional gap of the electrodes in spot welding. The structure disclosed in Patent Literature 1 addresses the problem above, maintaining joint strength so as not to have degradation.

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


A method for transmitting a packet of N input bits includes encoding all of the N bits as a single entity, such as with an interleaver of length N within a turbo coder, outputting M encoded bits, channel interleaving the M bits, splitting the M encoded bits into a parallel first and second portion, and transmitting them over separate channels to achieve spatial diversity. The size of the first and second portion is determined based on a closed feedback loop that provides some knowledge of the channel, preferably a measure of channel capacity. The feedback loop may also provide channel knowledge to a subpacket selector associated with each transmit antenna, which determines an appropriate rate for that channel and selects subpackets to fill a transmission packet for that channel. The subpacket selectors choose a subpacket of systematic bits and fill the remaining transmission packet size with subpackets of parity bits. Eigenvectors may be employed to transmit each transmission packet over more than one channel with a power disparity between the channels. A transmitter according to the present invention is also described.

Modulated wireless signals from a transmitter reach a receiver by a number of propagation paths. The characteristics of each path vary over time and between one another due to factors such as fading, multipath, and different signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR). Multiple transmit and/or receive antennas may be used to provide diversity that insures against adverse effects on any of these paths, because the likelihood of correctly receiving a transmission increases with the number of transmit antennas so long as one propagation path is not merely a linear combination of the others. This diversity-oriented approach used space-time coding, and due to the emphasis on performance over capacity, included knowledge of channel distribution at the transmitter but typically not of channel quality. They are fully realizable with only one receiver antenna, and additional receiver antennas were simply used to add receiver diversity gain.
While multiple receive and/or multiple transmit antennas (multiple input/multiple output or MIMO) have been successfully employed to enhance diversity, they also allow a substantial increase in communication capacity as compared to non-MIMO systems. That increase is linearly related to the number of transmit or receive antennas. For a system utilizing T transmit antennas and R receive antennas, the MIMO channel may be considered as a number of C independent channels, where C is less than or equal to the lesser of T and R. Each of the C channels is also referred to as a spatial subchannel of the overall MIMO channel, and corresponds to one dimension.
One approach to achieve that increased capacity utilizes layered space-time architecture, known as diagonal BLAST, delivers to each of the transmit antennas one of several streams of data that are space-time encoded. Diagonal BLAST presumes that the MIMO channel is Rayleigh fading and that the channel parameters are known at the receiver but not at the transmitter. Diagonal BLAST is therefore an open-loop approach. V-BLAST, which is a simpler implementation of diagonal BLAST, advocates a simple demultiplexing of the single data streams instead of some specific encoding in space-time. The corresponding receiver architecture for V-BLAST is also simpler. In general, the various BLAST approaches transmit at the same rate on each transmit antenna or antenna pair (depending upon feedback and spatial channel realization), and use a minimum mean square error linear transformation at the receiver followed by interference cancellation based on coded symbols. Because of its open loop approach, V-BLAST uses a simple demultiplexing of the symbols of the encoded packet over multiple antennas.
More recent approaches to achieving greater MIMO capacity rely upon the availability of some channel state information at the transmitter, a closed loop approach. One such approach is termed Per-Antenna Rate Control (PARC), wherein two or more transmit antennas are allotted variable transmit rates according to their respective channel conditions. Encoding is done separately on these two streams to achieve the different rates. Generally, the PARC approach inputs a data stream into a demultiplexer where it is split into several independent streams. Where a packet of size N is input into the demultiplexer, the corresponding outputs are then N1 and N2, where N=N1+N2. Each independent stream enters a turbo encoder where it is coded and interleaved across time. In a spread spectrum system, each of the N1 and N2 packets separately and independently undergo spreading, re-assembly, scrambling and transmission from one of the T antennas. Once divided at the multiplexer, the streams remain independent, so they are not encoded over space but only over time at the encoder. At the receiver, each sub-channel is received at one of the R receive antennas, where the signals are detected using a minimum mean square error algorithm. The antenna receiving the signal with the highest signal and interference to noise ration (SINR) is detected first, despread, multiplexed decoded, and collected. The decoded first signal is used to reconstruct the received signal, which is then subtracted from the remaining sub-channel that exhibits a lower SINR. Each of the signals are collected and multiplexed with one another.
In theory, the optimal approach for MIMO systems is to transmit multiple streams of data among several transmit antennas, where the encoding rate and power allocation of each stream is tailored to the channel quality over which the respective stream is be transmitted.
Researchers term this eigenmode or water-filling MIMO. Additionally, theory shows that the best MIMO performance may be achieved when each packet is jointly encoded and interleaved across the multiple channels. The present invention is directed to increasing capacity utilization within a MIMO system using some knowledge of channel quality or channel parameters at the transmitter.

Flexible rate split method for MIMO transmission


One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that facilitates user-mode system-level virtualization in a mobile device. During operation, a hypervisor intercepts a virtual machine's attempt to access a privileged resource. The hypervisor manages the virtual machine and runs on a host system in a user mode. Furthermore, the hypervisor emulates the privileged resource using a user-mode system call provided by the host system. In addition, the hypervisor provides access to the emulated privileged resource to the virtual machine, thereby allowing the virtual machine to operate with the emulated privileged resource without directly accessing actual privileged resources on the host system.

Over the past decade the mobile phone has evolved from a voice-centric device into a mobile personal computer. No longer just for telephony, the mobile phone has become a multitasking tool, useful for activities such as emailing and web browsing. The current trends for mobile phones are toward the mimicking of desktop functionality. As a result, mobile devices are becoming enterprise endpoints with rich applications and core enterprise connectivity. Because an enterprise may need to specifically provision a mobile device for accessing restricted data, an employee may either have to sacrifice a personal device or carry two devices, one personal and one enterprise, to work.
From an end-user perspective, it is desirable to consolidate a personal mobile device with an enterprise device. Virtualization offers an opportunity to provide a convenient solution by preserving isolation of environments without requiring a second physical enterprise device. Co-existing virtual phones on a personal mobile phone represents a very attractive alternative to existing solutions involving multiple physical mobile phones. The rapid pace of hardware advances in mobile devices over the past several years has led to a class of mobile phones with resources capable of supporting multiple virtual phones where the virtualization overhead is small.
Virtualization on a mobile device, however, presents its own challenges. On a conventional computer, a virtual machine monitor (VMM, also called a hypervisor) typically has access to privileged resources on the host machine, which are otherwise not available to an application running in user mode. On a mobile device, such privileges are typically not available to the user. When provisioning mobile devices with a traditional hypervisor, the developer often has to partner with carriers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), so that the hypervisor can be tightly coupled to the underlying host device and gain access to privileged resources. Such requirements increase the developer's time to market and limits its market coverage to specific phone models and carrier networks.

Controlling access to a privileged resource in user-mode system level mobile virtualization using a ptrace () system call


A rack for mounting electronic equipment includes a pair of vertical support members having a regular pattern of mounting apertures that repeats linearly at a regular interval and a vertically-oriented cable guide, disposed generally adjacent one of the support members, having a plurality of outwardly-extending projections forming cable rings. The cable rings are disposed along the length of the cable guide at a second regular interval that is a whole number multiple of the first regular interval.

Racks, frames, cabinets and the like for supporting computer and other electronic equipment are very well known. Similarly, raceways for routing cables and wires to and from that equipment are likewise well known. In particular, a number of raceways have been proposed for routing cables, wires and the like (generally referred to hereinafter as "cables") vertically through or adjacent to equipment racks, frames, cabinets and the like (generally referred to hereinafter as "racks"). Such raceways may be used to route cables vertically to equipment mounted or otherwise supported on a rack from other equipment on the rack, from overhead or underfloor raceway, or the like. These cables are generally routed in the vertical direction to a point adjacent to the desired equipment and then routed in the horizontal direction to the desired equipment.
An important characteristic of such raceways is the presence of a plurality of openings in the sides of the raceway through which cables may be routed, thereby facilitating more convenient access between the equipment and the interior of the raceway. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,921,607 to Caveney ("Caveney") and U.S. Pat. No. 3,705,949 to Weiss ("Weiss") each disclose a covered wiring duct or wireway which includes side walls having a series of finger-like projections separated by openings. The cables may be routed through the openings by bending them around the projections, thus allowing the cables to be routed with relative precision, and preventing cables from hanging loosely across the face of the rack itself. A gap at the distal ends of each pair of adjacent projections permits cables to be inserted into each respective opening. The gap is narrower than the opening, thus aiding in the retention of the cables within the opening. The distal ends of all the projections may then be covered by a cover, thus providing further retention capability.
Unfortunately, both the Caveney and the Weiss designs suffer from a number of drawbacks, including most particularly the relatively limited size of the openings. The openings between the Caveney projections are only approximately as large as the size of the projections themselves, and the openings between the Weiss projections, although of a somewhat unusual shape, are actually even smaller in area than the projections. Such small openings are frequently inadequate to handle the large number of cables that are frequently routed horizontally from a certain elevation on a vertical raceway to the equipment mounted thereon. Thus, vertical raceways having larger openings are required. Further, if a cover is to be installed on the Caveney or Weiss raceways, it must be carefully aligned with all of the distal ends of the projections and pressed into place, and no provision is made to allow the cover to be hinged open once installed.
More recently, a number of raceways have been developed having a small number of widely spaced fingers or other retention members projecting from a trough. Between each pair of adjacent projections is a wide opening which is many times larger than the width of the projections, such that a raceway for a full height rack might have only six or eight sets of projections. Unfortunately, because so few projections are available for the cables to be routed around, this type of raceway does not allow cables to be routed as precisely as with the Caveney and Weiss type of raceway, there is a much greater chance of cables dangling loosely, and/or cables of greater length must be used in order to reach a projection before being bent toward the desired equipment.
Still more recently, a new vertical raceway has been made available by Panduit Corp. The Panduit raceway utilizes a PVC trough attached to a steel base. The trough includes a base member and a plurality of narrow finger-like side members extending perpendicularly therefrom. A slit, narrower in width than the fingers, is formed between each pair of adjacent fingers for routing cables therethrough, similar to the Caveney design. Barbs at the distal ends of the fingers limit access to the slits to only a narrow gap, thereby preventing cables which have been installed in the slits from accidentally becoming dislodged. Advantageously, each finger is scored near the base member so that it may easily be broken off and removed, thereby creating a wider opening for receiving cables. A hingeable cover may be attached to the distal ends of the remaining fingers by clipping a plurality of hinges in between the tips of the fingers and attaching the cover thereto. The raceway may be attached to the side of a rack to route cables to electronic components mounted on or in the rack by guiding the cables vertically to a location adjacent to the selected component and then through one of the openings formed between the fingers.
Unfortunately, the Panduit raceway still suffers from a number of drawbacks. First, once fingers are broken off of the Panduit raceway to create larger openings, they cannot be replaced. Further, if one or more fingers is broken off to create a larger opening, the gap between the fingers which remain to define the opening is quite large, with very little material or structure remaining to retain the cables in the opening, other than the raceway cover. Also, the Panduit cover may be attached only using hinge members which are each mounted on the distal ends of a pair of adjacent fingers, rather than to the trough itself, thus increasing the risk of mechanical failure, particularly as the cover is opened and closed.
The Panduit, Caveney and Weiss raceways include other drawbacks as well. For example, the unibody construction of the side walls limits the construction and relative dimensions of the projections and the openings created thereby because the projections must be formed from the same material as the rest of the walls, and, in the case of Panduit and Caveney, from the same material as the base of the trough. In addition, the unibody construction limits the installation flexibility otherwise available if the projections could be selectively disposed at various locations along the raceway without affecting the body of the raceway itself.
Perhaps most significantly, none of the cable rings formed in the sides of known prior art raceways are arranged to align precisely with the equipment mounting locations on the racks to which the raceways are attached. It is well known that the vertical dimension of racks is frequently measured in standardized units. The most common unit of measurement is the "rack mounting unit" ("RMU"). An RMU is commonly defined as 1.75 inches in height. Electrical components as well as accessories, which include horizontal raceways, patch panels, and the like, are also commonly measured in RMU's. For example, a 2 RMU component is one which is 3.50 inches or less in height. Thus, a rack which has 45 RMU may accommodate components and accessories totaling 45 RMU. Further, to conserve space, components and accessories are frequently installed only at vertical locations corresponding to a whole number of RMU's in order to avoid interfering with adjacent components and accessories.
Unfortunately, none of the known prior art raceways take this arrangement into consideration. Thus, the cable rings or similar structures provided on prior art vertical raceways are not properly aligned with the equipment and accessories to which they must route the cables. As a result, the shortest path from the interior of the raceway to the equipment or accessory destination is frequently blocked by the body of one of the finger-like projections. Moreover, smaller components and accessories may not have any cable rings whatsoever disposed next to them. For high density wiring routes, cable rings may become unnecessarily overcrowded because they must be diverted through other cable rings. Thus, a need exists for a cable raceway having cable rings disposed at a standardized interval which corresponds to the mounting locations of the equipment and accessories stored in the rack.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


HIF-1 inhibitors and methods of their use are provided. In particular, 2,2-dimethylbenzopyran based compounds and methods of their use, for example in the treatment or prevention of hypoxia-related pathologies are provided.

The present disclosure is generally directed to inhibitors of Hypoxia Inducible Factor (HIF-1), more particularly to 2,2-dimethylbenzopyran compounds, derivatives thereof, and methods of their use including but not limited to anti-tumor therapies and disorders leading to ischemia (stroke, ischemic heart disease, etc.). 2. Related Art
According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 1.3 million Americans are estimated to be diagnosed with invasive cancer in 2003. The National Cancer Institutes estimates that approximately 8.9 million Americans had a history of cancer in 2003, and approximate 1,500 cancer-related deaths per day are expected in 2003. Because of the staggering number of cancer-related deaths and new cases, new medicines and methods of treatment are needed. Although recent advances have increased our understanding of some of the mechanisms leading to cancer, effective treatments for cancer remain in high demand.
Cancer can be a fatal disease, in part, because cancer can spread or metastasize throughout an organism. Metastasis plays a major role in the morbidity and mortality of breast cancer (Ford, K. et al. Breast cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment. Dis. Mon., 45: 333-405 (1999)). Breast cancer metastasizes in a stereotypical pattern resulting in lesions found in the lymph node, lung, liver, and bone marrow. Generally, cancer cells lose differentiated properties, proper tissue compartmetalization, cell-cell attachment as well as obtain altered cell substratum attachment, altered cytoskeletal organization, cell locomotion, and the ability to survive at distant sites.
Treatments for invasive cancers such as breast cancer historically include surgery, radiation, anti-hormonal therapy, and chemotherapy. Although each therapy has some degree of success, the failure to achieve a cure in approximately 70% of patients is due to a primary lack of therapeutic effect on undetected or detected metastases and to acquired drug and hormonal resistance during therapy (Fidler, I. and Nicolson, G. L. Concepts and mechanisms of breast cancer metastases. In Bland, K. I., Copeland, E. M. (eds): The Breast. Philadelphia: WB Saunders, 1991, p 395).
Hypoxia is a major hindrance to effective solid tumor therapy. The microenvironment of rapid growing solid tumors is associated with increased energy demand and diminished vascular supply, resulting in focal areas of prominent hypoxia, regions with reduced oxygen tensions (Folkman J. What is the evidence that tumors are angiogenesis dependent? J Natl Cancer Inst 82, 4-6(1989)). Tissue oxygen electrode measurements taken in cancer patients showed a median range of oxygen partial pressure of 10 to 30 mmHg, with a significant proportion of readings below 2.5 mmHg, whereas those in normal tissues ranged from 24 to 66 mg (Vaupel P. W. Oxygenation of solid tumors. In Drug Resistance in Oncology. Teicher, B. A. (ed.) 53-85 (Marcel Dekker, New York, 1993). In the absence of oxygen, which is the most electron-affinic molecule in cells and reacts chemically with the fundamental biological lesion produced by ionizing radiation, radiotherapy is severely compromised in its ability to kill hypoxic tumor cells (Gray L. H. et al. Concentration of oxygen dissolved in tissues at the time of irradiation as a factor in radiotherapy. Br J Radiol 26, 638-648 (1953). On the other hand, hypoxia (and possibly hypoxia-associated deficiencies in other nutrients such as glucose) causes tumor cells to stop or slow their rate of progression through the cell cycle (Amellem O, Pettersen E O. Cell inactivation and cell cycle inhibition as induced by extreme hypoxia: the possible role of cell cycle arrest as a protection against hypoxia-induced lethal damage. Cell Prolif 24, 127-141 (1991)). Because most anticancer drugs are more effective against rapidly proliferating cells than slowly or non-proliferating cells, this slowing of cell proliferation leads to decreased cell killing. Chemotherapy is further affected by hypoxia as chemotherapeutic drugs are delivered systemically and the diffusion of these into the tumor makes the hypoxic regions exposed to less drug than the oxygenated cells proximal to the vessels. Moreover, the multidrug resistance (MDR1) gene product P-glycoprotein is induced by ambient hypoxia (Comerford K. M. et al. Hypoxia-inducible factor-1-dependent regulation of the multidrug resistance (MDR1) gene. Cancer Res 62, 3387-94(2002)). Hypoxia also drives genetic changes in tumors such as loss of p53 tumor suppressor gene (Brown, J. M., and Giaccia, A. J. The unique physiology of solid tumors: opportunities (and problems) for cancer therapy. Cancer Res. 58(7):1408-16 (1998)).
Finally, hypoxic regions are expected to be less amenable to immunotherapy due to distance from nearby vessels and compromised lymphocyte function in a hypoxic environment. Tumor cells in this aberrant environment are therefore often resistant to radio- and chemotherapy (reviewed in Brown, J. M., and Giaccia, A. J. The unique physiology of solid tumors: opportunities (and problems) for cancer therapy. Cancer Res. 58(7):1408-16 (1998).
Accordingly, there is a need for new and effective treatments for cancer. In particular, there is a need for new and effective treatments that address hypoxia and its role in hyperproliferative pathologies.


A cross-platform service engages and connects influencers and consumers by facilitating content generation in connection with electronic-commerce platform. An influencer/content generator facing portal presents a set of tools to enable influencers to create content for use on the e-commerce side and to facilitate transactions related to influencer compensation. A consumer facing portal presents adaptive user interfaces to engage remotely connected consumers by presenting influencer-generated “looks” and tools to selectively navigate and select/deselect presented looks and explore look and products and ultimately to handle transactions for purchasing of products.

With the advent of the Internet and increasing access via communications network, a trend has been for consumers to increasingly buy goods through e-commerce sites, including e-commerce facilities associated with traditional brick and mortar retail stores. However, not all products are alike and adoption of online shopping and purchasing is different with documented online sales of some goods, specifically including make-up and beauty products, being comparatively lower showing a less developed transition by consumers to online purchasing. FIG. 45, statistical data available from https://www.similarweb.com/, shows documented consumer statistics related to e-commerce websites in the area of direct beauty online. The statistics show a low engagement (traffic volume, time spent on site, bounce rate) of consumers across brands illustrating the adoption is not company or product specific but rather a problem endemic to the beauty industry. Contrasting statistics are shown toward the bottom of the chart showing more positive engagement statistics for fashion related concerns (Fashion Nova, Asos, Boohoo). It is clear that a problem exists specifically in the make-up and beauty market in providing an online experience that effectively engages consumers from product exploration, education, and purchase.
What is needed is a solution that provides an online experience that effectively engages consumers in product exploration, education, and purchase in the area of online beauty sales.
One critical problem facing the beauty industry in presenting effective e-commerce consumer experience is in presenting very personal products, make-up and skin and beauty products, to consumers in a way that brings to life how such products can be used by the consumer to achieve a desired state. For many other products, e.g., a piece of luggage, a pair of shoes, and a set of speakers, most consumers have a well-established set of expectations and by simply looking at the product and related description can associate the benefits and advantages and readily make an informed purchasing decision. Beauty products, e.g., lipstick, rouge, foundation, eye liner, mascara, gels, eye shadow, and brushes and other tools for product application, are not easily presented to consumers in an online manner. Moreover, as opposed to many products that may come in one or two color options that deal very simply and one-dimensionally with a look of the product, beauty products may come in hundreds if not thousands of distinct colors and vastly more thousands of color combinations, e.g., overall color combination, and resulting "look," of color X1 (lip stick), color Y1 (foundation), color Y2 (rouge), color Z1 (eye liner), color Z2 (eye shadow), and so forth. In addition, the resulting "look" is affected by the particular application and perhaps brush or other tool used in the application. Also, additional colors of product may be added or blended to create a desired look. No existing website provides any sort of user experience to present such possible combinations of products or applications in an online manner to consumers. Historically, consumers shopping for beauty products in brick and mortar stores engage with sales personnel and can apply certain make-up products in person and have immediate feedback by looking in the mirror to see the resulting effect, i.e., the "look"—how the make-up looks on their face, and with that information decide to purchase or try another color or another product.
What is needed is an online facility that is capable of delivering a consumer with a real-world experience related to shopping and selecting beauty products.
Given the almost limitless combinations of beauty products, it would be very costly for a beauty company to try to present all the possible permutations of products much less "looks" as applied to individuals' faces. Although there are many blogs with so-called "influencers", social media content creators who demonstrate products, the beauty industry has not effectively engaged influencers as a way to directly engage with consumers on its e-commerce platforms. One key problem is no beauty company provides a way for influencers to apply/sign-up as associates or artists on staff of the beauty company.
What is needed is an innovative online facility capable of engaging influencers to generate content for presenting to consumers to facilitate selection and purchase of product and to provide compensation to influencers commensurate with their effectiveness with consumers.
Another problem facing e-commerce concerns is the array of platforms, including social media and content delivery sites (e.g., YOUTUBE) and the lack of a cross-platform client-server facility capable of connecting sites and tools and content of interest to users, including influencers and consumers, to effectively engage such users to result in increased online engagement and product sales.
What is needed is an innovative cross-platform facility capable of providing a dual influencer/consumer client-side experience via a central server architecture and having a social media component.

System, method and user interfaces and data structures in a cross-platform facility for providing content generation tools and consumer experience


There is a need for improved methods for determining the diagnosis and prognosis of patients with conditions, including autoimmune disease and cancer. Provided herein are methods for using DNA sequencing to identify personalized biomarkers in patients with autoimmune disease and other conditions. Identified biomarkers can be used to determine the disease state for a subject with an autoimmune disease or other condition.

The immune system comprises the innate and the adaptive immunity systems. The innate immune system comprises the cells and mechanisms utilizing generic methods to recognize foreign pathogens. Cells involved in innate immunity include neutrophils, natural killer cells, macrophages, monocytes, basophils, eosinphils, mast, and dentritic cells. These cells carry out the act of phagocytosis as well as the release of many chemicals that kill invading pathogens. In addition, these cells are involved in innate immunity defense mechanisms including the complement cascade and inflammation. Finally, some of these cells participate in the antigen presentation process that plays a role in the adaptive immunity system.
The adaptive immunity system has evolved to attack specific features on their targets. The occurrence of one response to a specific target provides the host with "memory" of it, causing it to mount a stronger response if it were to appear another time. Usually any protein or polysaccharide can serve as the target for some subset of the adaptive immune response cells or their products that recognize specific epitopes on the target. The adaptive immune response is divided into two types: the humoral and the cell-mediated immune response, and B-cells and T-cells play the specificity roles in these responses, respectively.
Since autoimmune disease involves the recognition of some element of the adaptive immune system to self targets, aspects of the adaptive immune system have been examined to aid in diagnosis and prognosis. Using standard immunological techniques, the humoral immune system has been investigated by looking for circulating autoantibodies. Autoantibodies, like antinuclear, anti-dsDNA, and rheumatoid factor, have been identified for several diseases. These antibodies may not themselves be pathological, nor is the target they recognize in the body necessarily the same as that tested for in vitro; however, measurement of their levels aids in the diagnosis and in some cases has some prognostic and treatment implications.
Another methodology to study the adaptive immune system in autoimmune disease is based on the analysis of the diversity of the adaptive immune cells. Activation of the adaptive immune cells leads to their clonal expansion. Evidence of this clonal expansion is usually achieved by amplification from the blood RNA or DNA of part of the nucleic acid sequence coding for the antigen recognition region. For example, PCR primers to amplify sequences that have a specific V segment of the β chain in T-cell receptor (analogous to antibody heavy chain) are used to amplify the J segments or J and D segments connected to the specific V segment. When a diverse cell population is present it is expected to amplify fragments with a distribution of slightly different size amplicons, but clonal expansion causes specific sizes to become enriched and thus more intense as visualized as bands on a gel. In the technique called spectratyping each of the V segments is amplified with the J and D segments to assess whether any of these amplicons shows a clonal expansion.
One problem of the spectratyping approach is that many distinct sequences can have the same length and hence are indistinguishable. Therefore only dramatic clonal expansion can be discerned by this technique. There is need to improve methods of diagnosing and aiding prognosis of autoimmune disease and autoimmune disease states as well as other diseases for which the immune system plays a central role.
While additional specificity in profiling the immune system would be of great utility in allowing its impact on human health to be better predicted, still greater utility would be delivered if methods were developed that would allow the specific T and B cells involved in disease processes to be identified even if those particular sequences had never before been observed. The vast diversity of the immune system provides it with an immense reserve of potentially useful cells but also presents a challenge to the researcher trying to use this repertoire for predictive purposes. Any single sequence targeting an antigen is one of a vast number that could be involved with and/or correlated to the disease process in a given individual. Methods that would identify which of the many cells in a given individual are involved with disease processes would be of great value to human health.

Methods of monitoring conditions by sequence analysis


The present invention is directed to an underground as well as above ground system and method of determining the intrusion into a security zone. One or more transceivers would transmit a unique electromagnetic signal which would power a response from one or more RFID transponders. Each of the transponders would transmit a unique code to the transceiver indicating that there has been no intrusion in the vicinity of that transponder. Failure of a transponder to receive a signal produced by a transponder, would indicate the existence of an intrusion. The transponders as well as the transceivers can be provided in a PVC pipe buried in the ground, or provided in or on a structure located on or above the ground.

Over the last several years and particularly since September 11, there has been a significant increase in the number of intrusions into various security zones as well as acts of international terrorism. Although a large amount of time, effort and money has been budgeted to agencies like the Department of Homeland Security, these intrusions and attempts to protect individuals as well as property have not lessened the threat.
Access control devices supervise access at perimeter doors of a facility, but fail to detect vandalism or terrorist threats to the exterior of the facility and the immediate vicinity of a structure or area to be protected.
Existing perimeter security systems and the prior art consist of CCTV cameras, sense cables either buried or attached to metal fences, infrared (IR) and microwave sensors. Limitations are the rule since CCTV cameras are less effective at night and both IR sensors and CCTV cameras are compromised by fog and rain. Furthermore, IR and microwave sensors do not locate the point of the attempted intrusion and fence cables are limited to the use with metal fences. Buried cable sensors require significant site engineering. None of the present solutions can locate intrusions accurately on hard surfaces such as brick walls or buildings.
Vibration based systems often result in false-positive alarms due to trucks traveling on nearby roads, weather, lightening, sonic booms from military aircraft, vibrations from trees/shrubs and animals as well as earthquakes, tremors, seismic rumblings and explosions. Repair and maintenance are frequent and costly. Sophisticated software requiring complicated algorithms must also be developed to determine the approximate location of an alarm.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,069,160 overcomes the shortcomings of the older technologies by utilizing radio frequency identification (RFID) passive proximity microchips to precisely locate intrusions regardless of weather or of the structural material it is attached to or imbedded in. However, this patent includes a power transmission cable that broadcasts an RF UHF signal and a data transmission cable with transponder microchips connected by a data bus that are powered by the transmission cable via electromagnetic coupling. Therefore, an intrusion is sensed by interference in the ability of the transponders to receive the EM field by an individual entering the field. Hydrogen absorption inhibits the EM field by an individual entering the field, and the transponder(s) fail to communicate their encrypted code down the data bus.

Intrusion detection system for underground/above ground applications using radio frequency identification transponders


An assembly according to the present invention includes a tattoo machine, a grip attached to the tattoo machine, and a light assembly inside the grip utilizing light emitting diodes (LEDs). The assembly further includes a power supply, a power cord for connecting the tattoo machine to the power supply, and two alligator clips conductively connected to the power cord or tattoo machine which transmit power to the light assembly via wires extending from the light assembly to the alligator clips.

Many present day tattoos involve small, intricate designs. Additionally, medical and dental procedures are often performed on small areas on the body. Operators presently rely on lighting sources, such as adjustable lamps, that often are large, awkward to move, require constant adjustment, and thus do not provide the optimal amount of light in the necessary locations, as is desired and necessary. Such a lighting source, because of its proximity to the subject, can cast shadows over the area where an operator is working which can adversely affect the operator's performance.
Additionally, in most cases this type of lighting source is lit with a standard 60 to 120 watt light bulb to provide ample lighting. However, the operator is now subjecting himself to over-exposure to bright light bulbs in order to remove shadows in the area where a subject is being examined. Additionally, higher wattage bulbs create excessive heat to both the operator and to the subject.
In particular, tattoos are applied by perforating the skin of a subject in a predetermined pattern with a needle and introducing one or more colored pigments into the perforations. Modern tattooing is performed using a tattoo instrument or tattoo machine comprised of a needle holder to hold the tattooing needle, an electric motor or other means, e.g., a solenoid, to rapidly reciprocate the needle, a power cord connection point which connects the power cord to the tattoo machine, a power source, a needle grip tube housing, and in many cases an adjustable grip which mounts to the grip tube housing by means of adjustable set screws.
Many present day tattoo assemblies use simple "L" shaped clips and a tension spring, both on one end of a power cord, to make a conductive connection to the tattoo machine. This cord in turn connects to a power source or foot-peddle to manually determine the electric current flowing to the tattoo machine, and therefore adjust the rate of speed by which the needle moves. This cord is made up of a standard copper wire of varying gauges that can safely manage the electrical current.
Additionally, operators presently rely on their capability to perform in an efficient work area. Certain accessories that can be utilized by an operator during the tattooing process, by their very design, do not provide for a convenient form of connection to the power cord. This can adversely affect the ability of an operator to provide consistently efficient work for consumers. Additionally, this inefficient capability to connect to the power cord could affect the life cycle of those accessories, causing unnecessary wear and tear to the accessory.
Thus, there remains a need for a new and improved way to light the area in a way that is compact, reduces shadows, and does not generate excessive heat transferred to either the subject or the operator. Additionally, there remains a need for a new and improved way to operate and provide power to accessories during use by the operator that is both efficient and reduces unnecessary wear and tear on accessories.

Lighted grip and alligator clip cord for tattoo machine


A fluid valve (10) that interrupts the flow of fluid when backpressure ceases. The valve (10) consists of a valve body (20) having an inlet (22), an outlet (24), a piston chamber (32), and a backpressure port (34). The port (34) is located between the outlet (24) and the chamber (32), and a stem bore (36) is disposed within the valve body (20) between the chamber (32), and the inlet (22) and the outlet (24). A piston (40) that includes a restricting stem (42), is confined within the chamber (32) and the stem (42) is positioned within the stem bore (36). The stem (42) restricts fluid flow when there is no backpressure, but when backpressure exists the stem (42) is forced away from the inlet (22) and the outlet (24) by the piston (40) thereby permitting a full flow through the valve (10). An adjustable compression spring (68) engages the piston (40) urging the stem (42) into the stem bore (36) when no backpressure exists. The valve (10) automatically restores full fluid flow when sufficient fluid backpressure is re-established.

Previously, many types of valves have been used to provide an effective means to control the flow and restriction of a fluid.
The prior art listed below did not disclose patents that possess any of the novelty of the instant invention, however the following U.S. patents are considered related:
U.S. Pat. No.InventorIssue Date3,050,086HonsingerAug. 21, 19623,120,243Allen et al.Feb. 4, 19643,630,236DiggsDec. 28, 19714,437,493Okuda et al.Mar. 20, 19845,373,873Miller et al.Dec. 20, 19945,868,163Mc DonaldFeb. 9, 1999
Honsinger in U.S. Pat. No. 3,050,086 teaches a fluid control mechanism for delivering a fluid having a substantially constant volumetric flow rate therethrough irrespective of a substantial variation in pressure drop. The application is directed to the domestic washing machine field where substantial variations in water pressure are encountered.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,243 issued to Allen et al. relates to pressure responsive valves that are used to stop fluid flow under pressure and to regulate the quantity of fluid under pressure that is allowed to flow into a stream at a given time.
Diggs in U.S. Pat. No. 3,630,236 discloses a continuous mini-flow irrigation device that uses a metering cone inserted through a resilient washer for adjustably metering fluid flow. Full flow is achieved when a cone is fully inserted through a washer which precludes plugging.
Okuda et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,493 teaches a constant flow control valve with a main flow passage having a variable area controlled by fluid dynamic pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,873 issued to Miller et al. is for a gauge block assembly that is used for refilling high pressure gaseous oxygen cylinders. A gas transfer control unit allows rapid evacuation of the spent oxygen cylinder but prevents rapid refilling. A check valve with a restrictive orifice opens or closes for evacuation and refilling.
McDonald in U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,163 discloses a flow control device that is inserted into the valve seat of a tap which has a passage terminating internally into a body. Passages radiate from the body to a peripheral surface and the end face of the body engages the washer of a tap.
For background purposes and as indicative of the art to which the invention is related, reference may be made to the following remaining cited U.S. patents found in the search:
U.S. Pat. No.InventorIssue Date3,203,629GoddardAug. 31, 19653,431,944SakumaMar. 11, 1969


Containing device for a treatment machine for loose products, provided internally with a treatment compartment that has at least an open side for loading the loose products to be treated, and for unloading the loose products that have been treated; the containing device comprises at least a first loading door for the loose products to be treated, positioned on a first portion of said open side and associated with at least a respective opening and closing unit, and at least a second unloading door for the loose products that have been treated, positioned on a second portion of said open side and associated with at least a respective opening and closing unit.

It is known, in the pharmaceutical field, in hospitals or other fields, for example the food industry, that it is necessary to treat, for example wash and/or sterilize, loose products in washing and/or sterilization machines provided with a sealed treatment chamber, delimited by walls, in which a rotary drum receives the loose products to be treated on a loading side, washes and/or sterilizes them during a treatment cycle, and unloads them on an unloading side, where they are generally packaged in sterile packages.
The rotary drums of these machines are partitioned by a multitude of containing devices, such as for example angular containing sectors, each able to contain, with every operating cycle, a desired quantity of loose products to be treated. The containing devices are normally in the form of racks, so as to guarantee an efficient washing and/or sterilization treatment.
Among the loose products that are normally treated we can include for example stoppers for closing test tubes intended to contain substances to be subjected to laboratory analysis, closing stoppers for phials of medicines or generally for containers of medicines, or small instruments or objects used in operating theaters or laboratories. The materials they can be made of include, by way of example, rubber, plastic, polymer materials, metals or metal alloys.
The loose products to be treated are loaded, through a first aperture provided with a door and manually or automatically inside the containing devices in order to carry out the treatment, for example washing and/or sterilization. Once the loose products have finished their treatment, they are unloaded through a second aperture, communicating for example with an unloading valve.
As is also known, machines for treating loose products exist which have the first loading aperture for the loose products to be treated and the second aperture for unloading the treated products on the same side; these machines are therefore very compact, efficient and particularly suitable for use in spaces that have to be limited.
However, such machines, with the loose products loaded and unloaded on the same side, can have problems of blockages and the accumulation of loose products, in particular during the loading and/or unloading of the loose products. Moreover, the loose products could remain trapped in an unwanted manner inside the containers, or even escape from the containing device during the treatment process.
The accumulation of loose products can occur for example in the bottom of the containing devices which, as we said, can be in the shape of angular sectors.
Document EP 2275018 A2 describes a machine for treating loose products, in particular for washing them, provided with a device to contain the loose products.
Document WO 2015150581 A1 describes a machine for sterilizing loose products.
However, these machines also suffer from the same problems as the known machines cited above, and in particular have obvious limitations, in particular in the steps of loading and unloading the loose products.
Other limitations and disadvantages of conventional solutions and technologies will be clear to a person of skill after reading the remaining part of the present description with reference to the drawings and the description of the embodiments that follow, although it is clear that the description of the state of the art connected to the present description must not be considered an admission that what is described here is already known from the state of the prior art.
There is therefore a need to perfect a containing device for loose products for treatment, in particular washing and/or sterilization of the loose products, and corresponding machine and method, which can overcome at least one of the disadvantages of the state of the art.
In particular, one purpose of the present invention is to obtain a containing device for loose products, particularly suitable for machines for treating loose products with the loading and unloading of the loose products on the same side, which prevents any risk of blockage and/or accumulation of loose products both in the loading step and also in the unloading step.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain a containing device for loose products which, in the unloading of the loose products that have been treated, has an unloading area which is totally without any obstacle, therefore by means of which the loose products can be conveyed due to gravity, rapidly and efficiently toward an unloading zone of the machine.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain a containing device for loose products which prevents the loose products from escaping accidentally and unwantedly during any step of their treatment inside the drum.
Another purpose of the present invention is to obtain a treatment machine for loose products provided with loading and unloading zones of the loose products situated on the same side, which allows rapid and efficient operations to load and unload the loose products.
The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

Containing device for a treatment machine, in particular a washing and/or sterilization machine, for loose products


There is provided a display driving circuit, including: a touch signal terminal, a first clock terminal, a second clock terminal, a power supply terminal, a drive signal enabling terminal, a drive electrode signal terminal, a common electrode signal terminal, and a plurality of sub-circuits connected in cascades, each of the sub-circuits including: a logic unit, a driving unit and a transmission unit, wherein the logic unit is connected to the touch signal terminal, the first clock terminal, the second clock terminal, the power supply terminal, the drive signal enabling terminal, and the driving unit, the driving unit is connected to the transmission unit, and the transmission unit is connected to the drive electrode signal terminal and the common electrode signal terminal. The present application realizes co-electrode time-division multiplexing of the in-cell capacitive touch screen in the narrow-fame display apparatus.

As mobile products, for example products of a mobile phone, a tablet computer and so on, become thinner and more subtle, screen resolution is required to be higher and higher, and thickness of screen is required to be thinner and thinner. A conventional out-cell One Glass Solution (OGS) touch screen has already not met the requirement of market due to its disadvantages of thicker module, low optical transmittance, complicated structure and high manufacturing cost and so on. A thin and light in-cell touch display screen having a simple structure is increasingly called as a mainstream of market development.
A pixel structure of a display screen having a conventional structure comprises a common electrode and a pixel electrode. A touch screen having a conventional structure comprises an X-direction electrode (driving electrode) and a Y-direction electrode (sensing electrode). However, the in-cell touch screen takes the common electrode of the display screen as the driving electrode of the touch screen to perform time-division driving. Since wiring of the driving electrode of the conventional in-cell capacitive touch screen is output by a driving IC directly, the number of driving electrodes increases as the screen size becomes increasingly large, such that the wiring led from the driving IC terminal would increase correspondingly, which results in that it becomes more difficult to realize narrow frame.

Display driving circuit, array substrate and touch display apparatus

ORDOS YUANSHENG OPTOELECTRONICS CO., LTD.


A method for determination of a repeater time delay in a mobile communication network, without affecting a correct positioning of a mobile terminal, is disclosed. The method includes the steps of determining an initial estimated position of a mobile communication terminal to be measured its position, estimating a respective distance between a serving base station and an adjacent base station and the mobile terminal using the initial estimated position, estimating a time difference of arrival of a serving base station signal and an adjacent base station signal received by the mobile terminal using the estimated distances, receiving the time difference of arrival of the serving base station signal and the adjacent base station signal measured from the mobile terminal, calculating a difference between the estimated time difference of arrival and the measured time difference of arrival, and determining the difference as a repeater time delay existing in the serving base station of the mobile terminal, if said difference is larger than a predetermined threshold value. The present invention makes it possible to estimate in advance the clock error in the terminal owing to the repeater time delay in AGPS system, so it can provide the terminal with more precise Acquisition Assistance Information (AAI). Further, such estimation of clock errors in the mobile terminal makes it possible to prevent the failure in acquisition of GPS signals that may occur due to the significant deflection error in the clock operation of the mobile terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a global positioning system for use in mobile communication terminals, and in particular, to a method for determining time delay by a repeater in a mobile communication network.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been proposed several feasible systems for implementing determination of a current position of a mobile communication terminal within a mobile communication network. One of those systems, for example, would be a conventional GPS (Global Positioning System) assisted mobile communication terminal with a GPS receiver capable of receiving a GPS satellite signal used for determination of a position of the mobile terminal. Another known system may be a positioning system utilizing pilot phase difference in base station signals. Alternatively, a modified positioning system has been also proposed in the state of the art that a mobile terminal equipped with the GPS receiver is provided with a series of acquisition assistance information from a position decision server of an Assisted GPS system (AGPS) such as a Position Determination Entity (PDE), in other words, a Serving Mobile Location Center (SMLC), to thereby obtain a GPS signal for determination of position.
Among the aforementioned positioning systems, the positioning system utilizing pilot phase difference in base station signals is usually referred to as Advanced Forward Link Trilateration (AFLT) system, in which information on a time difference of arrival (TDOA) in pilot signals from base station is utilized to determine a current position of a mobile communication terminal. The AFLT positioning system may utilize a time of arrival (TOA) of a radio wave to be measured as a round trip delay (RTD) or a round trip time (RTT) in addition to the TDOA information. Alternatively, a hybrid system utilizing both of AFLT and AGPS systems has been proposed.
However, the known positioning system that utilizes such time difference of arrival (TDOA) information, that is, the pilot phase difference in the base station signals to determine a current position of a mobile communication terminal may have a drawback that the TDOA information includes a large level of bias error, due to repeaters arranged in the mobile communications system. As such, this kind of bias error will give considerable adverse effect to a determination of a position of the mobile terminal. Explaining in more detail, in situations where that a time delay is caused by repeaters in AFLT positioning system using the TDOA information, it will often make the determination of a current position of the mobile terminal substantially impossible.
Furthermore, in situations where the time delay is generated due to the repeaters in AGPS positioning system using the GPS signal, it will subsequently induce a large level of error to a clock operation in the mobile terminal kept in synchronism with a timing system in a base station of the mobile communication system. Such a clock operation error in the mobile terminal will often function to obstruct the efficient acquisition of the GPS signal in the mobile terminal using AGPS positioning system, and under the worst condition, it will sometimes make it completely impossible for the mobile terminal to receive the GPS satellite signals even in an open sky environment.
With a view to solving the aforementioned problems caused by those time delays from the repeaters in the mobile communication system, one solution has been proposed in the art in which information on those repeaters arranged in the mobile communication system is organized and utilized as a set of database. That is to say, the position decision server in AGPS positioning system, such as PDE, will retain the coordinate values of the repeaters and the time delay information of each repeater as a set of database information, so that the information is utilized for decision of a position or generation of acquisition assistance information. However, this database system has a disadvantage, it will be very difficult to organize the variety of information relative to a large number of repeaters in the mobile communication network into a set of database in most efficient manner. Furthermore, the database system still has more problems in that whenever a request for decision of a position from the mobile terminal is made, the position decision server needs to search the database for information on repeaters, and that it usually requires additional cost and time to periodically update and maintain the database on repeater information in the mobile communication network.
In the meantime, in the AGPS system in which acquisition assistance information data are received from the position decision server, a modified solution that a fixed repeater time delay is also taken into account in addition to the acquisition assistance information data has been proposed in order to prevent acquisition of the GPS satellite signals owing to the time delay caused in those repeaters from failure. This solution with consideration of such a fixed repeater time delay may at least or partially compensate for the time delay problem as mentioned above, however it still fails to overcome a disadvantage that a time duration (Time To First Fix, hereinafter referred to as "TTFF) required for acquisition of the GPS satellite signal increases as the fixed repeater time delay in AGPS system. As a result, such an increase in TTFF by fixation of the repeater time delay subsequently causes the repeater time delay to be fixed with a smaller value with a view to preventing the increase in TTFF, which may eventually lead to a total failure in acquisition of the GPS satellite signal for a mobile communication terminal using AGPS positioning system.

Method for decision of time delay by repeater in mobile communication network