Radioactive therapeutic seeds include a two part seed capsule, a radioactive isotope, and, preferably, a radiopaque marker. According to the invention, the seed capsule has an outer part, and an inner part which fits into the outer part and which carries the radioactive isotope. The capsule is sealed by welding the end(s) of the inner part to the end(s) of the outer part. According to one embodiment, the outer part of the seed capsule is a cylinder with one open end and one closed end. The inner part of the seed capsule has a reduced diameter portion which carries the isotope and a larger diameter portion which mates with the open end of the cylinder. According to another embodiment, the outer part of the seed capsule is a cylinder with two open ends. The inner part has a reduced diameter portion which carries the isotope and two larger diameter portions which mate with the open ends of the cylinder. According to some embodiments of the invention, the isotope is carried on a radiopaque structure which is mounted on the reduced diameter portion of the inner part of the seed capsule. According to another embodiment, the inner part of the seed capsule is a hollow member. According to another embodiment, the inner part of the seed capsule is made of radiopaque material.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to radioactive therapeutic seeds. More particularly, the invention relates to improved radioactive therapeutic seeds for the treatment of oncological and other medical conditions.
2. State of the Art
Radioactive seed therapy is a well known and well accepted medical procedure for the treatment of various oncological and other medical conditions. Seed therapy, also known as brachytherapy typically involves the implantation of fifty to one hundred tiny capsules (seeds) into or around a treatment site. The capsules contain a radioactive isotope which irradiates the treatment site at close range without adversely affecting other parts of the body. Brachytherapy has been used successfully in the treatment of various types of cancers such as prostate cancer. It has also been used to prevent the growth or regrowth of tissues in the treatment of various occlusive diseases such as arteriosclerosis and arthrosclerosis subsequent to balloon angioplasty.
Radioactive therapeutic seeds are carefully designed to possess several important qualities. First, they must be relatively small, approximately 0.025 inch in diameter and approximately 0.16 inch long so that they may be implanted using minimally invasive instruments and techniques. Second, the radioactive isotope must be enclosed in a biocompatible protective package since the seeds are typically not removed and will remain in the body for many years. Third, each seed should preferably include a radiopaque marker so that it can be located at the treatment site with the aid of fluoroscopy. Fourth, the protective package and the radiopaque marker preferably do not cast "shadows" in the irradiation pattern of the isotope. Fifth, the isotope should be evenly distributed within the protective package so as to avoid any "hot spots" of radiation.
The state of the art of radioactive therapeutic seeds is substantially disclosed in seven U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,828 to Coniglione for "Hollow-Tube Brachytherapy Device", U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,309 to Carden, Jr. for "X-Ray Emitting Interstitial Implants", U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,165 to Suthanthiran for "Device and Method for Encapsulating Radioactive Materials" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,784,116 to Russell, Jr. et al. for "Capsule for Interstitial Implants", U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,228 to Russell, Jr. et al. for "X-Ray Emitting Interstitial Implants", U.S. Pat. No. 4,323,055 to Kubiatowicz for "Radioactive Iodine Seed", and U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,049 to Lawrence for "Therapeutic Metal Seed Containing within a Radioactive Isotope Disposed on a Carrier and Method of Manufacture".
The Lawrence patent, which issued in 1967, describes many of the essential features of radioactive therapeutic seeds. Lawrence describes radioactive isotopes (I-125, Pd-103, Cs-131, Xe-133, and Yt-169) which emit low energy X-rays and which have relatively short half-lives. When implanted at a treatment site, these isotopes provide sufficient radiotherapy without posing a radiation danger to the medical practitioner(s), people in the vicinity of the patient, or other parts of the patient's body. Lawrence further describes a protective capsule which contains the isotope and prevents it from migrating throughout the body where it might interfere with healthy tissue. The capsule is cylindrical and made of low atomic number biocompatible materials such as stainless steel or titanium which do not absorb X-rays. The isotope is coated on a rod shaped carrier made of similar X-ray transparent material and is placed inside the capsule cylinder. The ends of the capsule cylinder are closed by swaging or spinning and soldering or welding. According to a preferred embodiment, Lawrence places a radiopaque marker inside the seed. In one embodiment, the marker is a wire embedded inside the carrier rod. The wire is made of high atomic number material such as gold or tungsten which absorb X-rays.
In 1980, Kubiatowicz made a minor improvement in the basic Lawrence design by providing that the entire isotope carrier be made of radiopaque material such as silver. Kubiatowicz recognized that since the isotope was carried on the entire outer surface of the carrier, there was no need to make the carrier body X-ray transparent as suggested by Lawrence. The larger radiopaque carrier body described by Kubiatowicz makes the seeds easier to see with X-ray or fluoroscopic examination. Thus, the seeds may be placed more accurately at/around the treatment site.
Several years later, Russell, Jr. et al., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,707,228 and 4,784,116, explained that the capsule design of Lawrence and Kubiatowicz produces anisotropic angular radiation distribution. According to Russell, Jr. et al., the shell forming techniques used in the Lawrence-type seeds results in large beads of shell material at the ends of the seeds. These beads substantially shield radiation thereby casting shadows in the irradiation pattern of the isotope. Russell, Jr. et al. proposed a new seed design to solve this problem. In particular, Russell, Jr. et al. proposed a seed having a cylindrical container which is sealed with end caps which have a wall thickness that is substantially the same as the wall thickness of the cylindrical container. The end caps are attached to the cylindrical container by welding or crimping.
An alternate solution to the non-uniform radiation pattern of the Lawrence type seeds was proposed by Suthanthiran in U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,165. Suthanthiran's solution was to form a seed capsule from two interfitting sleeves, each having one open end and one closed end. The thickness of the sleeve side walls and their closed ends is such that when the sleeves are interfitted the total side wall thickness of the assembled capsule is approximately equal to the end wall thickness.
Other improvements in radioactive therapeutic seeds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,309 which concerns a safe isotopically pure Pd-103 seed, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,828 which concerns a hollow tube seed which can be implanted with suture material.
Despite the fact that radioactive therapeutic seeds have been in use for over thirty years and despite the several significant improvements made in these seeds, many concerns still exist regarding their design and construction.
While significant attention has been given to the methods by which a cylindrical seed capsule is sealed, it is still difficult to seal the ends of such a small cylindrical capsule without adversely affecting the functionality of the seed. For example, most of the proposed solutions to the end shadow problem of the Lawrence type seed are difficult to implement. The seeds are manually assembled under a microscope and fitting small pieces together is always difficult.


A semiconductor device includes a distortion correction unit that performs correct distortion processing on a captured image, a SRAM that stores image data after the distortion correction processing, a filter processing unit that receives the image data after the distortion correction processing from the SRAM and that performs smoothing filter processing on the image data after the distortion correction processing, after the image data after the distortion correction processing having a size required for the smoothing filter processing is stored in the SRAM, and an image reduction unit that performs reduction processing on image data after the smoothing filter processing.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, an image recognition system, and an image processing method.
There is a demand in a market for correcting a distortion of a captured image caused by a camera lens, and further reducing an image after distortion correction by a plurality of reduction rates to generate a plurality of reduced images. For example, in image recognition processing, there are cases where an object cannot be recognized unless a size of the object in an image is a size at which the object is learned, and it is effective to generate a plurality of reduced images from the captured image and use them as a recognition target image.
Generally, a graphics processing engine such as a Graphic Processor Unit (GPU) is used for distortion correcting processing. In the graphics processing engine, data before distortion correction is read from an external memory via a cache memory, and data after distortion correction is written back to the external memory via the cache memory.
For example, FIG. 3 of Reiji Suda: "Outline of GPU and GPGPU", Journal of the Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers, the Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers, Oct. 1, 2012, Vol. 66, No. 10, p. 808-812 describes a memory hierarchical structure of a GPU, and in this figure, a rectangle with rounded corners indicates a GPU, a "global memory" indicates an external memory, an "L1 cache" indicates a cache memory, and an "L2 cache" indicates a cache memory. Also, in this GPU, data is always read from and written back to the external memory via the L1 and L2 caches.

Semiconductor device for image distortion correction processing and image reduction processing


A throttle valve positioning device is disclosed, The device has a housing with a bearing for a throttle valve shaft and a throttle valve support, within which a throttle valve pivots which sits on the throttle valve shaft, running into a shaft passage in the support. With the device, air leakage may be avoided, such that the periphery of the throttle valve is arranged at a separation from a passage for the throttle valve shaft in. the throttle valve support.

The invention relates to a throttle valve positioning device having a housing which forms a bearing arrangement for a throttle valve shaft and comprises a throttle body in which a throttle valve is pivotable, said throttle valve sitting on the throttle valve shaft, which leads through the shaft passage into the throttle body, the housing being of split design, and the circumference of the throttle valve, at least on one side, lying next to the throttle valve shaft at a distance from a passage of the throttle valve shaft in the throttle body.
In the hitherto known arrangements of throttle valves in the throttle body which sit centrally on the throttle valve shaft or in a slot in the throttle valve shaft, leakage air usually cannot be prevented from flowing past in the region between throttle valve shaft, throttle valve and throttle housing and also via the shaft apertures in the bearings. The avoidance of leakage air is made more difficult in particular in split housings having two housing shells, since the parting line of the two housing halves likewise lies in the region of the throttle valve, so that, on account of the very high vacuum produced in the region of the throttle valve, leakage air is drawn in in this region, which can scarcely be sealed off completely.
It has been attempted hitherto to reduce this problem by minimizing the shaft apertures and the mismatch in mold between the housing halves, it not being possible in this way to absolutely remove the problem, but rather it only being possible to provide for a certain improvement with regard to leakage air at increased production costs.
Throttle valve positioning devices of the type described at the beginning have been disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 1,671,069, U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,475, U.S. Pat. No. 2,934,312 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,260,502.


Systems and methods for wirelessly controlling medical devices are provided. One system includes a portable user interface having a housing and a communication module within the housing configured to wirelessly communicate with at least one medical device. The portable user interface also includes a display displaying a graphical user interface to control the at least one medical device remotely, wherein the displayed graphical user interface corresponds to a control interface of the at least one medical device.

In patient care settings, such as in a hospital, individuals must physically observe the patient periodically, which may include adjusting monitoring or other equipment connected to the patient. For example, a nurse may have to periodically enter the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of a hospital to take readings and make device adjustments, which require the nurse to physically touch the device(s) in the ICU.
Hospital borne infections (or pathogens) may be transferred by touch, such as the point of contact with the device(s) in the ICU. The patients in the ICU are among the most vulnerable patient types due to the serious nature of their condition. Accordingly, these touches can lead to the transfer of infections, which may result in complications for the patient or even death. In particular, Healthcare-Associated Illnesses (HAIs), namely illnesses picked up while receiving care for some other condition, result in many deaths each year. This adds significant costs to healthcare.
In order to reduce HAIs, such as in the ICU, systems for cleaning or providing improved personal hygiene are conventionally used. For example, in some ICUs, a decontamination area is used for individuals entering and leaving the ICU. However, these approaches are often not effective.


Initiating a conference call includes receiving a conference call request message from an initiating user specifying a plurality of other users and determining an availability of the other users to receive conference call invitations. A conference call is initiated between the initiating user and one or more of the other users that are determined to be available. The availability of one or more of the other users determined to be unavailable is monitored and interaction with a conference call invitation by one or more of the other users determined to be unavailable is enabled upon their monitored availability changing from unavailable to available. The interaction with the conference call invitation by the other users is conditioned on whether the conference call is still in progress.

Several techniques are known for establishing conference calls between three or more parties. For example, a host may call each party to the conference and individually bridge each called party onto the conference call. Alternatively, a "dial-in" telephone number with associated access code may be used to join all parties at a common bridge. Each party dials into the bridge, eliminating the need for the host to call each party individually. In yet another technique, a host calls a central number and specifies the participants to the conference call. The network then places outbound calls to each of the specified participants, and the participants join the conference call by answering the outbound calls.

Conference calls and meetings via electronic messaging interface


A method was developed for the nondestructive removal of thermoset foamed potting material from the electronics package of components in ammunition. The ultimate objective in this effort was to perform a systems technical analysis of the electronic guidance and fuse systems. This was being done in order to determine the electronic components used, the engineering design, functional circuitry, and overall performance of the ammunition.

There has been a need for a method for the removal of cured thermoset polyurethane foamed potting material from multitiered electronics packages in ammunition (EP package). The objective is to perform a technical analysis of the electronic guidance and fuse systems used for the ammunition. This is done in order to determine the electronic components, the engineering, functional circuitry and overall performance of the ammunition.
Before the electronics analysis can be performed, a method is needed to remove the solid thermoset foamed polyurethane polymer (potting material) in which the individual electronic systems were encased. Being thermoset, the cured polymer was very hard and unaffected by most common polar and nonpolar organic solvents.
Concentrated and fuming sulfuric acid materials did readily attack and dissolve the polymer but left an acid residue which was both dangerous and corrosive to many of the electronic components. In addition, the printed identification on the individual components was often removed or rendered illegible.

Method for the removal of thermoset potting compound from the electronics package of a munitions item

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


A dispenser and method for storing and dispensing orthodontic arch wires of arcuate configuration, having first and second pairs of opposed side walls of generally rectangular disposition closed by a bottom wall and an opposed top wall to store arch wires in a stacked relationship generally parallel to the first pair of side walls, the top wall having an opening at least slightly shorter than the base width of said arch wire, such that the arch wire will protrude only a distance from the dispenser sufficient to be grabbed and pulled when removed from the dispenser through said opening and the second pair of opposed side walls constructed and arranged to maintain the apex of the stored arch wire orientated toward the dispenser opening such that the arch wires can be dispensed without contaminating the remaining arch wires.

This invention is used in the orthodontic dental field and, more particularly, is an arch wire dispenser and method to store and dispense orthodontic arch wires. Arch wires are generally U-shaped or parabolic shape, are formed of shape memory alloys and usually have a circular or rectangular cross section. In addition to the numerous cross sectional shapes, arch wires come in different shapes, sizes and strengths. They are an integral part of the orthodontic office treatment and are therefore kept at each chair side location in close proximity to the patient and within easy reach of the treating doctor or assistant (technician).
Arch wires usually come from a manufacturer in non-sterile packages, in groups of five to ten or twenty wires. In practice, the original packages are kept at the chair side location where the wires are removed from said packages or are organized and displayed in sets on racks or other displays visible to the technician. When an arch wire is needed, the treating technician selects the desired wire from the display rack. In the process of removing a wire from the rack, the remaining wires can and do become contaminated by the surrounding air, and by any contact between the hands or gloves of the technician and/or cross contamination from the patient either directly or indirectly as a result of the technician's contact with the patient. Likewise, when the wires are organized on a display rack, they come into contact with the ambient air or as previously stated, they come in contact with contamination from the technician or indirectly from another patient.
This invention prevents non-selected, remaining arch wires from becoming contaminated as will become obvious in the light of a description of the embodiment of this invention that follow.
Applicant conducted a patent novelty search. The following prior art patents were found, but do not disclose the novel dispenser system of the present invention.
French Patent No. 736,938 patented May 11, 1932 discloses means for dispensing pointed projectiles, possibly pencils, but with no means to limit their free fall from an apertured opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 857,274 to Gabasio, issued Jun. 18, 1907, discloses a match box dispenser for delivering a few matches at a time as opposed to the present invention only delivers a single device. Further, this patent discloses side flanges N are used to direct the dispensed article, but that do not control the orientation of the dispensed article.
What appears to be U.S. Patent to Martin, that appears in hand writings on the document to have issued Jan. 9, 1879, discloses a similar device as disclosed by Gabasio.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,744,195 to Alland, patented Jan. 21, 1930 discloses a cigarette dispenser to discharge stored cigarettes which completely drop from the container by gravity.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,226,626 to Mann, patented Dec. 31, 1940 discloses a cracker dispenser where crackers are horizontally placed in tiers. Though the crackers may be removed one at a time without touching the others, more than one cracker is available for removal at a time through opening 17, and thus contamination of the remaining crackers is not prevented.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,918,167 to Lowen, patented Dec. 19, 1957, discloses a pill or tablet dispenser, which is a plug for insertion into a conventional container. The plug includes an inner passageway constructed and arranged to allow only a single pill or tablet to pass freely out of the dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,207,564, issued to Patrick et al., patented Sep. 21, 1965 discloses a wire dispenser where the wires are stored in tubular containers, such that several wires within the tubular container are exposed and all are touched when removed from opening from the exposed end through aperture slot 46.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,212,670 issued to Tint et al., patented Oct. 19, 1965 recognizes the need of dispensing sterile prepackaged medical devices without affecting the sterility of the other needles remaining in the package. However, Tint's device dispenses round needles from a tubular bodied container, and, therefore, does not deal with the problems of dispensing flat objects.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,693,806 to Lit et al., patented Sep. 26, 1972 discloses a rotatable dispenser including a pair of disks, which has a large capacity for different kinds of materials to dispense bundles of precut lengths of wire from a single dispenser.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,325 to Pawlowski et al., patented Oct. 9, 1979 discloses a dispensing carton of articles to be stacked in an array and assuming an angular disposition within the carton.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,530,447 to Greenspan, patented Jul. 23, 1985 discloses a device to dispense a pill through a pair of juxtaposed openings.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,643,334 to Steele, patented Feb. 17, 1987 discloses a gravity-fed dispenser where the weight of the stacked items to be dispensed forces the item through a dispensing aperture toward a hand-engageable position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,900,251 to Andreasen, patented Feb. 13, 1990 discloses generally parabolic shaped arch wires having shaped memory alloys, but does not disclose or discuss means of storing and/or dispensing an arch wire.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,063,082 to Adell patented Nov. 5, 1991 discloses a generally U-shaped orthodontic arch wire of circular cross section, but does not disclose or discuss means of storing and/or dispensing an arch wire.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a dispensing device for storing orthodontic arch wires which will prevent contamination of the non-dispensed arch wires while dispensing an arch wire one at a time.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a dispenser holder to hold several dispensers chair side in an organized manner.
It is an object of this invention to provide a method of storing, distributing and then dispensing arch wires.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a dispenser that is economical to manufacture and that is of simple construction.


A method and a device for feeding a molten resin capable of accurately feeding the molten resin without the delay of feed timing by preventing the molten resin from adhering to route members before it seats on a mold to increase the positioning accuracy of the molten metal in the mold, and a method of manufacturing a molded part by using the fed molten resin. Vibration is provided to the route members such as molten resin guide pins (10, 40, 50), throat members (62, 70, 85), and female mold positioned in a route in which the molten resin (25) passes before it seats on the female mold (7, 63) by a vibration imparting device (27) or a gas layer film is formed on the surfaces thereof. Thus, the molten resin can be fed while preventing it from adhering to the route members.

A process in which a molten resin mass (referred to hereinbelow simply as "molten resin") extruded from a die head of an extruder is fed to a mold and compression molded to the predetermined shape with a female mold and a male mold has been widely used in the past. For example, in the field of containers, the molten resin extruded from a die head is compression molded in a mold as described hereinabove when molding a preform that is a premolded body for blow molding a synthetic resin container, molding a spout that is a discharge port of the container, or molding a cap. In this case, accurately feeding and placing a molten resin prior to compression molding to the desired position inside the mold is a necessary condition for obtaining a good molded article. The problem is that the occurrence of displacement, oblique placing, or falling delay causes molding defects. In particular, in the case of a multilayer molten resin that imparts a molded product with high functionality, if the molten resin is fed into a mold in an eccentric or tilted state and the compression molding is performed in this state, then the intermediate layers will shift to one side or the layers will be ruptured, causing molding defects. For example, when a molded article is obtained in which a multilayer resin comprises a gas barrier resin layer inside thereof, the gas barrier layer can be exposed to the outside or can be locally thinned or ruptured, whereby the gas barrier function will be lost.
A conventional molding apparatus has been suggested (see Patent Document 1) in which a molten resin is extruded with an extruder, fed to a mold, and compression molded to obtain a compression molded product, this molding apparatus having a route by which the molten resin is supplied from a mold of the extruder to be placed into a mold of a compression molding machine, wherein the mold of the compression molding machine is located or passes directly below the die head of the extruder, an annular molten resin extruded from the die head is received by the surface of an intermediate support member that extends from the mold of the compression molding machine and has an extending rod that can slide in the axial central section, and the molten resin is placed on the female mold by pushing down a molding plunger (male mold). In a suggested molding apparatus of another configuration (see Patent Document 2), a die head of an extruder for a molten resin and a mold of a compression molding machine are disposed so that the axial lines thereof are shifted from each other, a rotary disk is provided that has a cutting-holding mechanisms disposed with a predetermined pitch on the outer peripheral section thereof, this mechanism conveying the molten resin between the die head of the extruder and the mold of the molding machine, the cutting-holding mechanism conveys the molted resin to directly above the mold by the rotation of the rotary disk, and molten resin guiding means is provided so that it can be inserted between a female mold and a male mold and removed therefrom.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Publication of Examined Application No. 07-61656
Patent Document 2: Japanese Publication of Patent Application No. 2000-280248

Method and device for feeding molten resin, and method for manufacturing molded article by using the fed molten resin


In order to avoid a floor phenomenon of an error rate without insertion of a datum signal, a fading equalizer, for which it is assumed that a series of symbols that represent quadrature detect output are I(n) and Q(n) (n: natural number) and an assumed maximum fading frequency is F(max), and which demodulates a modulation wave that is to be transmitted whose data are carried by phase or amplitude modulation, or both, of a radio frequency carrier, includes a symbol extractor, for performing sampling of a signal at time intervals of 1/(2 F.sub.max) or smaller, in accordance with the series of symbols; N fading estimation units, for calculating a series of fading vectors F.sub.v (n) by using tentative transmission signals, signals for which likelihood is determined, and extracted symbols; N compensators, for performing fading compensation for the series of symbols by using fading that is estimated by the fading estimation units; and a selector for selecting one of a series of N symbols that are obtained by the fading compensation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fading equalizer, and in particular to a fading equalizer that is employed in a demodulator of a radio receiver for performing communication in a Rayleigh (uniform) fading environment, such as vehicular communication.
2. Related Arts
Recently, in consonance with the wide use of vehicular communication, high quality transmission, such as data communication, having a small error rate is demanded. Communication performed while moving, however, is affected by uniform fading according to the Doppler shift. Therefore, even for communication performed at a high average reception signal level (S/N), line or channel quality is not improved and data transmission efficiency is not enhanced.
Assume that a series of symbols that represent quadrature detect output are I(n) and Q(n) (n: natural number); a clock having a natural number, which is an integral times a symbol rate R.sub.s that is synchronous with the symbol sequence, is S.sub.CLK ; and a presumed maximum fading frequency, so called a Doppler frequency is F.sub.max.
A conventional demodulator adopts a delay detect method that is comparatively less affected by uniform fading. In addition, there is another method whereby a datum signal, which is a known signal is inserted at intervals of equal to or smaller than 1/(2F.sub.max) on the transmission side, and a reception side utilizes the datum signal to compensate for fading.
However, in the delay detecting method, even through the average reception signal level is high, the line quality, that is a bit error rate is not improved, and this is so called as error rate floor phenomenon.
In the fading compensation method whereby a datum signal is inserted, although the floor phenomenon for an error rate can be avoided, data transfer efficiency is reduced because of the insertion of a datum signal.


Embodiments of the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and system for recognizing patterns in log files with unknown grammar. A computer replaces one or more alphanumeric strings with a first alphanumeric character to generate a first resulting string. The computer then replaces one or more identical pairs of characters of the first resulting string with a second alphanumeric character to generate a second resulting string. The computer then replaces one or more consecutive instances of the second alphanumeric character, in the second resulting string, with one instance of the second alphanumeric character to generate a compressed string.

Log files present information on events occurring in computer systems. Log files are helpful in diagnosing errors occurring in the computer system. The computer system stores log files in human-readable formats (e.g., text). Log files may store information for subsequent review by humans in repairing errors in the computer system. The computer system writes log files according to a set list of rules called a grammar. The complete grammar defines the rules of a formal language. A grammar describes how to form strings of text from the language's alphabet (e.g. alphanumeric characters) that are valid according to the language's syntax. The language's syntax is the set of rules that defines the combinations of characters that are correctly structured in the language.

Automated recognition of patterns in a log file having unknown grammar

International Business Machines Corporation


A system allowing a participant to participate anonymously in a plurality of sessions but to be detected that the same participant has participated more than once in the same session is disclosed. The participant authorizes individual data using secret information depending on session-related information. The reception subsystem determines whether received data is anonymous participation data authorized by the participant subsystem and further determines whether anonymous signatures of arbitrary two pieces of anonymous participation data are signed by an identical participant subsystem. The anonymous signature may include data generated by raising a session-dependent base to a power dependent on the secret information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a participation authority management system for use in electronic access, electronic bidding, electronic lottery, electronic petition, electronic voting or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, an anonymous participation system using blind signature has been studied. Blind signature refers to a system in which a signer signs without seeing the signed contents. For example, in the case of electronic voting, data involved in the participation is the voting contents of the voter himself/herself.
Thus, electronic voting can be conducted as follows. First, a participant subsystem (presenter) authorized to vote proves before a manager subsystem that the presenter is authorized to vote and then has the manager subsystem sign the voting contents by section of blind signature.
A voting statement with the signature of this manager subsystem affixed is sent to a verification subsystem. The verification subsystem regards the voting statement submitted with the signature of the manager subsystem as a voting statement sent by an eligible voter To prevent an identical participant subsystem from participating in an identical voting session two or more times, it is determined that voting data which varies from one participant subsystem to another should be used and that the manager subsystem should issue a blind signature to each participant subsystem only once.
In the case where voting contents with the same signature are sent, this makes it possible to determine that the same participant subsystem has attempted to vote twice. Since blind signature is used, even the manager subsystem cannot know to which participant subsystem the voting statement with the signature has been issued, which makes it possible to maintain anonymity.
Likewise, an electronic voting system using anonymous certificates with blind signature is also under study. In the conventional example above, the participant subsystem needs to have the manager subsystem issue a blind signature every time the participant subsystem participates in voting, that is, for every voting session. Therefore, the following describes a conventional case where a participant subsystem can participate in electronic voting any number of times with a single registration procedure.
First, the participant subsystem proves before the manager subsystem that the participant subsystem is a participant subsystem authorized to anonymously participate, then has the manager subsystem sign its own public key by section of blind signature. The public key with this signature of the manager subsystem affixed is called "anonymous certificate".
Next, the participant subsystem signs the voting contents with its own secret key and sends the signed voting contents and the anonymous certificate to a verification subsystem. The verification subsystem confirms that the anonymous certificate submitted is a public key with the signature of the manager subsystem affixed and that the signature of the voting statement can be correctly verified based on this public key, and when the confirmation is obtained, regards this as a voting statement sent by an eligible voter. Whether an identical participant subsystem has not participated in an identical voting session more than once is confirmed by the absence of other voting statements based on the same anonymous certificate.
Use of blind signature makes it unknown even to the manager subsystem to which participant subsystem an anonymous certificate has been issued, which makes it possible to maintain anonymity. However, if an identical participant subsystem votes in two voting sessions using an identical anonymous certificate, it will be revealed that the same participant subsystem has participated.
Next, group signature will be explained below. This is a system in which even if two or more signatures are affixed it using an identical anonymous certificate, whether the same signer has signed or not is kept concealed. This technique is described in detail in a paper called "Efficient group signature schemes for large groups" in the international conference CRYPTO '97 by J. Camenisch and M. Stadler.
First, the participant subsystem proves before the manager subsystem that the participant subsystem is a participant subsystem that belongs to a group authorized to participate anonymously and then has the manager subsystem issue a group secret key.
Next, data to be sent is signed with this secret key and the signed data is sent to the verification subsystem.
The verification subsystem confirms that the data submitted has a signature verifiable by a group public key affixed and when the confirmation is obtained, this can be regarded as the data sent by a participant subsystem belonging to an eligible group. Use of group signature makes it impossible to identify the particular participant subsystem in the group to which the group secret key used for generating each signature is belonged, which makes it possible to maintain anonymity.
However, with this system even if an identical participant subsystem has sent data more than once to an identical session, there is no way to verify whether the two signatures are affixed by using an identical group secret key or not, and therefore this system cannot be used for applications such as electronic voting which must prevent double voting.
A technology similar to group signature, is escrow identification, which is described in detail in a paper called "Identity Escrow" in the international conference CRYPTO '98 by J. Kilian and E. Petrank. However, this technology does not provide section for determining whether two identification information pieces are issued from an identical participant subsystem or not, either.
A technology called "subgroup signature" is available, which is a technology using group signature whose number of signatures is equal to the number of different participant subsystems. This technology is described in detail in a paper called "Some open issues and new directions in group signatures" in the international conference Financial Cryptography '99 by G. Ateniese and G. Tsudik. However, since all participant subsystems provide signature for common data, this technology cannot be used for voting in which data to be sent varies from one participant to another.

Anonymous participation authority management system


A portable mass storage device is used to store large files such as digital pictures, movies and music. The mass storage device has firmware with security mechanisms that limit access to read write operations to ensure reliable operation of the device to prevent unwanted copying or storing of secure content such a copyrighted material. Although the security mechanisms generally limit access, the firmware is operable to work with a virtual machine and allows the virtual machine to access the secure content and work in conjunction with the firmware to read and write data to the mass storage memory, if the virtual machine is present. The virtual machine is either loaded but not activated at the time of manufacture, or is downloaded and activated post manufacture. Any royalty for the virtual machine is paid for only if and when the virtual machine is both present and activated in the device.

Smart Cards have been around for quite some time and are used frequently as debit and credit cards, among other things. Smart Cards, as the name implies, are processor controlled and also include a small amount of memory to retain identification and transactional related data. The ability to create and run Java based programs on Smart Cards has recently been developed and is gaining popularity. Java based programs can also be implemented in other intelligent devices, such as the mass storage memory cards typically used in digital cameras and music players. These other cards are recognized as mass storage devices because they must store and access very large libraries of data, such as photos and music, orders or magnitude larger than the transactional and identification data stored in a Smart Card. Examples of these mass storage cards are the compact flash ("CF") card, secure digital ("SD") card, mini SD card, micro SD card, multi-media ("MMC") card, and memory stick. There are many more different formats of mass storage cards in addition to the recited examples. Portable flash memory based universal serial bus ("USB") drives are another type of portable mass storage device.
Java Card™ technology enables programs written in the Java programming language to be run on smart cards and other small, resource-constrained devices. Developers can build and test programs using standard software development tools and environments, then convert them into a form that can be installed onto a Java Card™ technology-enabled device. Application software for the Java Card™ platform is called an applet, or more specifically, a Java Card™ applet or card applet (to distinguish it from browser applets).
While Java Card™ technology enables programs written in the Java programming language to run on small memory cards, such small devices are far too under-powered to support the full functionality of the Java platform. Therefore, the Java Card™ platform supports only a carefully chosen, customized subset of the features of the Java platform. This subset provides features that are well-suited for writing programs for small devices and preserves the object-oriented capabilities of the Java programming language.
Java Card™ is one type of virtual machine. Other virtual machines are also available, and a virtual machine is an abstraction of a physical processor and has virtual counterparts of a conventional processor. In the case of the Java language, a Java virtual machine is software that acts as an interface between compiled Java binary code and the underlying hardware platform microprocessor.
One application that would be particularly useful when implemented in such a small device involves payment for protected content such as music or movies etc. . . .
In order to run applications written in Java, the Java Card™ virtual machine must be loaded into the card and activated. Each instance of the machine requires payment of a license fee to Sun or to the supplier of such components. Because the main purpose of a Smart Card is transactional, the cost of the license fee is acceptable to the issuer of the card as a cost of doing business. However, the user of a memory card of the mass storage type may or may not have a use for the additional applications that the virtual machine makes possible, because the typical user possesses and uses the card primarily for the purpose of data storage. Therefore, the manufacturer cannot pass-on or absorb the cost of the license fee as a matter of course. Furthermore, each of the applets or other programs that run on the virtual machine(s) may also require a license fee that cannot be passed on (to a user that may have no use for it), or absorbed as a matter of course.
The role of the Java Card™ virtual machine is best understood in the context of the process for production and deployment of software for the Java Card™ platform. There are several components that make up a Java Card™ system, including the Java Card™ virtual machine, the Converter for the Java Card™ platform ("Java Card™ Converter"), a terminal installation tool, and an installation program that runs on the device. Development of a Java Card™ applet begins as with any other Java program: a developer writes one or more Java classes, and compiles the source code with a Java compiler, producing one or more class files. The applet is run, tested and debugged on a workstation using simulation tools to emulate the device environment. Then, when an applet is ready to be downloaded to a device, the class files comprising the applet are converted to a CAP (converted applet) file using a Java Card™ Converter. The Java Card™ Converter takes as input all of the class files which make up a Java package. The Java Card™ Converter also takes as input one or more export files. An export file contains name and link information for the contents of other packages that are imported by the classes being converted. When an applet or library package is converted, the converter can also produce an export file for that package.
Normally, after conversion, the CAP file is copied to a card terminal, such as a desktop computer with a card reader peripheral. Then an installation tool on the terminal loads the CAP file and transmits it to the Java Card™ technology-enabled device. An installation program on the device receives the contents of the CAP file and prepares the applet to be run by the Java Card™ virtual machine. The virtual machine itself need not load or manipulate CAP files; it need only execute the applet code found in the CAP file that was loaded onto the device by the installation program.
These and other aspects of the Java Card™ Platform are described in the following specifications from Sun Microsystems, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety: Application Programming Interface, Java Card™ Platform, Version 2.2.1; Runtime Environment Specification, Java Card™ Platform, Version 2.2.1; and Virtual Machine Specification, Java Card™ Platform, Version 2.2.1.
As mentioned above in order to run applications written in Java, the Java Card™ virtual machine must be loaded into the card and activated.
In one prior approach described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,772,955 to Yoshimoto et al., a virtual machine is provided as part of the memory card controller chip in order for the card to be used in point based transactions. The source code for employing the card as a point card is written in Java and is loaded into the card. A point balance is updated for each item purchased with the card.
Each instance of the Java Virtual Machine requires payment of a license fee to Sun or other suppliers. Similarly any other proprietary virtual machine may require payment to the licensor of such a machine. In a Smart Card, each card is provided with an active and paid copy of the Java Card™ virtual machine. This adds to the cost of each Smart Card, as it likely does to the system described in the Yoshimoto patent. Because the Smart Card's principle function is transactional in the majority of applications, this cost can be absorbed and/or passed on to the manufacturer, middleman, or consumer. However, it is undesirable to absorb or pass on the cost of the license in a consumer mass storage device, where the functionality of the virtual machine may never be utilized.
Global Platform is an industry consortium for the advancement and standardization of Smart Cards. Global Platform acts as a smart card industry standards body, creating and maintaining an open technology framework for the global deployment of smart card programs by many service providers across many industries. The Global Platform application programming interface ("API") and other aspects of the Global Platform are described in The Global Platform Card Specification. V. 2.1.1 and the Formal Specification of Global Platform Card Security Requirements, dated December 2004, which are available at www.globalplatform.com and hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. Global Platform provides for the downloading of applets to a smart card or other device that already has a virtual machine. However, while this provides applets and the associated functionality as needed, it does so for cards that already have the virtual machine required to run the applets.

Portable mass storage device with virtual machine activation


One embodiment disclosed relates to an electron beam imaging apparatus. An electron source is configured to generate an electron beam, and a beam-limiting aperture is configured to block a portion of the electron beam and to allow transmission of another portion of the electron beam through the aperture. A first detector is configured to detect scattered electrons emitted by the aperture due to the blocked portion of the electron beam. The imaging apparatus may also include a second detector configured to detect scattered electrons emitted by the sample due to impingement of the transmitted portion of the electron beam. A gain control device may also be included to adjust a gain of a detected signal derived from the second detector using a control signal derived from the first detector. Another embodiment disclosed relates to an electron beam lithography apparatus. The lithography apparatus may adjust a pixel dwell time based on a control signal derived from the scattered electrons emitted by the aperture.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the correction of beam current fluctuations in electron beam inspection tools and other similar apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
In electron beam inspection systems, defects are often detected by comparing the signals from corresponding image pixels in a chip (die) being tested and a reference standard. The reference standard may be an electronic database (for die-to-database inspection) or a reference die (for die-to-die inspection). A defect is typically detected when the signals between the die and reference differ by more than a threshold amount.
Beam current fluctuations may cause errors in such defect detection. These beam current fluctuations may be caused, for example, by emission noise from cold field or Schottky electron emission sources, or from other causes.
A conventional technique for correcting beam current fluctuations uses a circuit connected to the beam-limiting aperture to measure an electrical current from the aperture. This electrical current is due to the electrons being absorbed by the aperture. From the current measured, a beam current may be inferred. Changes in the current measured are used to infer changes in the beam current.

Method and apparatus for beam current fluctuation correction


Provided herein are, inter alia, nucleic acid conjugates including a non-cell penetrating ribonucleic acid compound attached at its 3′ end to a phosphorothioate polymer. Attachment of the phosphorothioate polymer to the non-cell penetrating ribonucleic acid conveys stability to and allows for efficient intracellular delivery of the non-cell penetrating ribonucleic acid. The nucleic acid conjugates provided herein including embodiments thereof are useful, inter alia, for the treatment of cancer, inflammatory disease, and pain.

The manipulation of intracellular molecules involved in disease pathology is an attractive treatment option for numerous diseases. The ability to modify the activity of intracellular molecules can have profound effects on intracellular signaling pathways and result in changes in gene expression that promote favorable disease outcome. However, targeting intracellular molecules for therapeutic purposes is particularly challenging due to the need for the targeting molecule to both penetrate the cell membrane and maintain biostability in a physiological environment. Thus, there is a need in the art for biostable, cell-penetrating compositions capable of targeting intracellular molecules involved in disease pathology. Provided herein are, inter alia, compositions and methods addressing these and other needs in the art.

Phosphorothioate-conjugated miRNAs and methods of using the same


The invention relates to a modular integrated construction joint which includes a first building module, a second building module or a structural wall and a joint between the first building module and the second building module or structural wall. The joint includes a flexible seamless stitching system, which provides a long-term firestop, smokestop and waterproof for the joint cavity in-between modules in modular integrated construction (MiC).

Modular integrated construction (MiC) is an innovative construction method in which free-standing volumetric modules (with finishes, fixtures, fittings, etc.) are manufactured and assembled in an accredited fabrication facility, and then transported to and installed on site to form a building. Compared to conventional buildings, there are more constructions joints with potentially large movement in the MiC building, such as module-to-module joint cavity and module-to-wall joint cavity. When water flows through these joints, it would accelerate the corrosion of steel walls and columns, making the buildings unsafe. Therefore, waterproofness of these joint cavities is essential to maintain the integrity and safety of buildings.
There are lots of expansion constructions joints with potentially large movement (at least ±10%) in MiC, and waterproofing materials applied to these expansion joints will subject to frequent cyclic loading due to the relative movement of the modules. Such movement imposes cyclic deformation in the waterproofing materials, which may cause large changes in rate and amplitude. Cyclic movement of the joint cavity may cause damage to the waterproofing system and make the building envelopes leaky. At present, flexible sheet waterproofing membranes are widely used in the MiC buildings in Singapore for waterproofing of joints. Generally, these sheet membranes can be applied directly to a substrate, but they may not fit certain areas. Instead, the sheet membranes must be cut into pieces and pasted together to fit the size of space, and special attention should be paid to the seams. Also, in view of the need to combine different sizes of paper, seams between each of the sheets must be carefully sealed to prevent penetration by water. However, these seams or joints between the sheet membranes usually delaminate after long-time service under cyclic movement, resulting in serious water leakage from the seams or joints. Therefore, there is a need in the art to manufacture a seamless waterproofing system with high movement accommodation capability, good adhesion and high water resistance for joints between the modules.
In addition, fire-rated materials are also required for the joint cavity to prevent fire and smoke from spreading through the joint cavities, which also has high flexibility, strong adhesion and good movement accommodation capability to accommodate potential relative movement between the modules, and therefore it can be seamlessly filled in the joints and provide good firestop and smokestop.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,578,6721 discloses a backer rod adapted for forming a fire-resistant seal within a construction joint. The backer rod may include an elongated tube defining a total assembly volume and a hollow interior, and a core disposed within the hollow interior. The tube is formed of a combustible foam plastic which disintegrates when exposed to fire. The core material is expandable when exposed to fire, such that the core has an intumescent expansion factor sufficient to expand to a volume beyond the total assembly volume. However, there are lots of voids in the backer rod, which cannot effectively prevent the penetration of water and the spread of smoke.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,644,3682 and 8,739,4953 disclose a fire- and water-resistant expansion joint system including a compressed lamination of fire retardant infused open celled foam, one coat of an elastomeric waterproof or water resistant material on the lamination, and another coat of an intumescent material on an opposing surface of the lamination, thereby providing fire resistance in one direction and water resistance in an opposite direction. The intumescent material may be further coated with a similar elastomeric material, thereby providing fire resistance in one direction and water resistance in both directions. In the alternative, the compressed lamination may comprise first and second opposing layers of intumescent material thereon each having a respective layer of elastomeric material to provide both water resistance and fire resistance in both directions.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,206,5964 discloses an expansion joint seal system which provides the fire protection of an intumescent to the exposed ends of construction panels while providing an elastic seal to protect the construction panels against contaminants and temperature fluctuations.
U.S. Ser. No. 10/179,9935 discloses a fire- and/or water-resistant expansion joint system for installation into building joints in vertical and horizontal configurations, which can be used for either an inside or outside corner. The expansion joint system includes a core having a fire retardant therein and a water-resistant layer disposed on the core to facilitate the compression of the expansion joint system when installed between substrates. The system can be delivered to a job site in a pre-compressed state ready for installation into the building joint.
U.S. Ser. No. 10/081,9396, U.S. Ser. No. 10/087,6207, U.S. Ser. No. 10/280,6118, U.S. Ser. No. 10/323,4089, U.S. Ser. No. 10/533,31510, US2019/024211711, US2019/02494202, US2019/024942213 and US2019/024942314 disclose a fire-resistant and water-resistant expansion joint seal, including one or more foam members and a plurality of fire retardant members, which may be intumescent members, interspersed within the foam member or members to provide a spring recovery force and fire resistance.
However, all expansion seal systems described in the above US patents and published patent applications are finished products manufactured by factories, also called ready-to-apply products, which can be delivered to a job site in a pre-compressed state ready for installation into the building joint. These ready-to-apply products are also not made specifically to fit certain areas, so they must be cut in pieces and pasted together to suit the size of space and a special attention to the seams is required. The seams between each sheet of the above products must be carefully sealed to prevent water penetration, smoke leakage and fire spread. Seams or joints usually delaminate after long-time service under cyclic movement, resulting in serious water and smoke leakage from the seams or joints, and also cannot inhibit the spread of fire. Therefore, there is a need for a modular integrated construction joint, which has good fire and smoke resistance and can inhibit fire and smoke spread through the joints, as well as having high waterproof.
The following reference list sets forth the literatures mentioned in this section, which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety:    1. U.S. Pat. No. 8,578,672 B2 (published on 2013 Nov. 12) by Tremco Inc.    2. U.S. Pat. No. 9,644,368 B1 (published on 2017 May 9) by Emseal Joint Systems Ltd.    3. U.S. Pat. No. 8,739,495 B1 (published on 2014 Jun. 3) by Emseal Joint Systems Ltd.    4. U.S. Pat. No. 9,206,596 B1 (published on 2015 Dec. 8) by Schul International Company, LLC.    5. U.S. Ser. No. 10/179,993 B2 (published on 2019 Jan. 15) by Emseal Joint Systems Ltd.    6. U.S. Ser. No. 10/081,939 B1 (published on 2018 Sep. 25) by Schul International Company, LLC.    7. U.S. Ser. No. 10/087,620 B (published on 2018 Oct. 2) by Schul International Company, LLC.    8. U.S. Ser. No. 10/280,611 B1 (published on 2019 May 7) by Schul International Company, LLC.    9. U.S. Ser. No. 10/323,408 B1 (published on 2019 Jun. 18) by Schul International Company, LLC.    10. U.S. Ser. No. 10/533,315 B2 (published on 2020 Jan. 14) by Schul International Company, LLC.    11. US 20190242117 A1 (published on 2019 Aug. 8) by Schul International Company, LLC.    12. US 20190249420 A1 (published on 2019 Aug. 15) by Schul International Company, LLC.    13. US 20190249422 A1 (published on 2019 Aug. 15) by Schul International Company, LLC.    14. US 20190249423 A1 (published on 2019 Aug. 15) by Schul International Company, LLC.

Nano and Advanced Materials Institute Limited


A circuit includes a high-side switch and a low-side switch. A first inverter includes first and second discharge current paths activatable to sink first and second discharge currents, respectively, from the control terminal of the high-side switch. A second inverter includes first and second charge current paths activatable to source first and second charge currents to the control terminal of the low-side switch. A high-side sensing current path includes an intermediate high-side control node, and a low-side sensing current path includes an intermediate low-side control node. The second discharge current path is selectively enablable in response to a high-side detection signal at the intermediate high-side control node having a high logic value, and the second charge current path is selectively enablable in response to a low-side detection signal at the intermediate low-side control node having a low logic value.

Monitoring and controlling the region of operation of the power transistors (e.g., power metal-oxide-semiconductor, MOS, transistors) which drive an output load is a desirable feature for switching amplifiers that include half-bridge arrangements (such as, for instance, class-D switching amplifiers).
Generally, logic circuits and analog circuits may be used to counter cross-conduction between two power transistors in the same half-bridge circuit. An example of a circuit configured to counter cross-conduction in a half-bridge power device is known from document U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,605 B1 assigned to the same Applicant of the instant application. As disclosed by document U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,605 B1, an output power switching stage, including a power switching device for the supply line and a complementary power switching device for the ground rail driven in phase opposition by a pulse width modulated (PWM) drive signal, is provided with sensors detecting a substantial turn-off state of each of the two power switching devices and generating a pair of logic signals. A combinatory logic circuit combines the drive signal of the half-bridge and the pair of logic signals and generates a pair of driving signals having opposite phase for the respective power switching devices. The switching to a turn-on state of any of the two power devices is enabled upon verifying a substantially attained turn-off state by the device complementary to the device commanded to turn-on. In particular, each one of the pair of complementary power switching devices constituting the high side driver and the low side driver stages, respectively, is provided with a circuit capable of monitoring the turn-on or the turn-off state, producing a respective logic signal, sens-H and sens-L, and indicating the state of the switching device. The pair of logic signals is combined with a digital driving input signal INPUT by a combinatory logic circuit, realized in the example by an AND gate switching the low side driver device to ground potential and an OR gate switching the high side driver device to the supply line. This ensures the switching from a cut-off state to a conduction state of one or the other power switching device only if it is enabled to do so by a positive verification of the substantially attained turn-off state of the switching device complementary to the switching device commanded to turn-on.
According to an example disclosed by document U.S. Pat. No. 6,288,605 B1, the state (on or off) of the power devices constituting the output stage of the half-bridge can be detected by means of respective detection circuits. Each power device has an associated transistor of the same kind, but having fractional dimensions, e.g., 1/100th of the dimensions of the respective power device. Each detecting transistor has an associated bias load current generator (Iref-H and Iref-L). The output node of the detection stage so constituted is coupled to the input of a logic inverter. The detection transistor is driven in parallel with the respective power transistor (e.g., by the same drive signal), and when the current flowing in the detection transistor exceeds the current established by the respective bias current generator, the respective inverter switches to generate the output logic signal (respectively sens-H and sens-L). Establishing a certain current level, definable by dimensioning the respective current generator, suitable to consider as practically off the respective power switching device, a pair of logic signals (sens-H and sens-L) is obtained, which reliably confirm a substantially attained cut-off phase of one or the other of the two power switching devices of the switching output stage. The two logic signals, sens-H and sens-L, combined to the driving digital signal INPUT, ensure the absence of overlapping of turn-on states of the two power devices of the stage.
Additionally, circuits that regulate or control (e.g., instantaneously) the speed at which a power transistor in forward conduction turns on may be used to avoid excessive current variations per unit of time (di/dt) which could cause operation issues and reliability issues of the half-bridge arrangement. In fact, an excessive slope of the current flowing through the power transistors of the half-bridge may generate excessive voltage overshoot due to the parasitic inductances in the circuit (e.g., inductances due to the bonding of the integrated circuits within a package). In a half-bridge arrangement comprising a power transistor in forward conduction and a complementary (e.g., opposite) power transistor in reverse conduction which drive an external load, a commutation where the power transistor opposite to the transistor in reverse conduction turns on may be critical, insofar as the power transistor which turns on discharges the intrinsic recirculation diode of the power transistor in reverse conduction.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide power switching circuits including an improved control of the turn-on phase of the power transistors included therein.

Power switching circuit and corresponding method of operation


A balance system for an assembled engine includes a rotor mounted on a shaft for rotation within an engine casing having an inner case and an outer case; and a weight system mounted on the shaft of the rotor and having at least one weight positionable relative to the rotor around a circumference of the shaft; wherein the inner case has an inner access port, the outer case has an outer access port, and the inner access port, the outer access port and the weight system are positioned on the same radial plane of the rotor, whereby the weight system can be accessed through the outer port and the inner port to adjust circumferential position of the at least one weight relative to the rotor.

The disclosure relates to balancing of gas turbine engines and, more particularly, to balancing of the high speed rotor of an assembled gas turbine engine.
The problem that this disclosure addresses is the inability to adjust the trim balance of the high speed rotor of a gas turbine engine with more than one rotor. Current designs do not provide access to adjustable balance features on the high speed rotor. If an engine either after initial assembly, maintenance, or time in operation exhibits high vibration due to an imbalance in the high speed rotor, the engine will have to be removed from the test cell, or from service, and significant disassembly will be required to allow access to adjust the trim balance weights on the high spool. In exemplary engines, correcting a high rotor vibration requires, at a minimum, separating the low pressure turbine, at least one bearing, the mid turbine frame, and the high pressure turbine.
Efforts have been made to address this problem, for example as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,938,832. However, the need remains for a solution wherein balancing can be accomplished effectively, without disassembling the engine and/or otherwise removing the engine from the test cell or from service, and wherein a minimum number of parts are actually installed and removed during balancing.

System and method for balancing a rotor in an assembled engine


A system having a primary inertial measurement unit and a secondary inertial measurement unit configured to generate a primary position signal and a secondary position signal respectively is provided. The system also includes an error detection module communicably coupled to the primary inertial measurement unit and the secondary inertial measurement unit. The error detection module is configured to receive the primary position signal and the secondary position signal and detect if an out-range error is present in at least one of the primary position signal and the secondary position signal. The error detection module is also configured to detect if an in-range error is present in at least one of the primary position signal and the secondary position signal and determine an action to be performed based on the presence of at least one of the out-range error and the in-range error.

A position detection system employed on a machine may make use of two inertial measurement units to generate signals indicative of a current position of the machine. In high integrity positioning systems, it may be needed to cross check readings obtained from the two inertial measurement units with each other. This cross checking may be utilized to verify if both or any one of the two inertial measurement units are working satisfactorily. However, in a scenario in which one of the two inertial measurement units has failed, it may be difficult to determine which one of the two inertial measurement units is faulty.
Sometimes, a third inertial measurement unit may be employed to determine the faulty inertial measurement unit. However, by using an additional third inertial measurement unit the overall cost and complexity of the system is increased.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,290,744, hereinafter referred to as the '744 Patent, describes a system for providing fault tolerant inertial measurement data. The system includes a sensor having less accuracy than an inertial measurement unit for measuring an inertial parameter. The system also includes a processor for detecting whether a difference exists between a first data stream received from a first inertial measurement unit and a second data stream received from a second inertial measurement unit. The processor upon detecting the difference determines whether at least one of the first or second inertial measurement units has failed by comparing each of the first and second data streams to the inertial parameter.
However, the '744 Patent includes an additional sensor in addition to the first inertial measurement unit and the second inertial measurement unit. The additional sensor may add to an overall cost and complexity of the system.

System and method for estimating position of machine


A network access system, e.g. a network hotspot, requires a mobile network access device, e.g. a smart phone or WiFi only device, to provide a network access standard designation and/or a device identification datum to gain access to network services. The network access standard designation may be provided by the mobile network access device to an online signup server via a EKU_key_purpose field of a PKCS10 certificate signing request. The device identification datum may be provided to the OSU via a subject field of the signing request. The OSU may require that the device identification datum be the same as a device identification datum provided by the mobile network access device prior to the mobile network access device requesting a signed network access certificate.

This section introduces aspects that may be helpful to facilitating a better understanding of the inventions. Accordingly, the statements of this section are to be read in this light and are not to be understood as admissions about what is in the prior art or what is not in the prior art.
Recent advancements in mobile devices and mobile applications have led to significant bandwidth and performance demands on mobile networks. The mobile and WiFi network technology and standards are evolving towards heterogeneous network (HetNet) architecture. This evolution is expected to allow mobile service providers to offload mobile network traffic to WiFi network and also enable them to offer comprehensive service plans including cellular and WiFi access.

Restricted certificate enrollment for unknown devices in hotspot networks


A tape dispenser, joining and dispensing a double-sided tape from two rolls of single-sided tape, includes a base having upper and lower sides, first and second spaced apart guide elements mounted to the upper side at first and second positions. First and second tape dispensing wheels, having rolls of single-sided tape mounted thereto, are mounted to the rearward portion of the upper side of the base. A handle extends from the lower side. A tape application roller is mounted to the forward portion of the base and extends above the upper side. A tape cutoff blade, or first and second cutoff blades, can be mounted to the base and extend above the upper side. An extension handle extending transversely to the handle, which can be at least 2 feet long or at least 4 feet long, can be removably mountable to the base plate.

Various building projects during new construction and during work on existing buildings often requires protection of surfaces and areas from dust, debris, paint, fumes, drywall/plaster/stucco compounds, moisture, air movement, light, and even people and pets. One technique is to use double-sided tape in which adhesive is present on a first side along a first edge and on the second side along a second edge. The first side is then typically applied to a surface and a sheet of plastic or other protective material is applied to the adhesive on the second, outer side of the tape.
This type of double-sided tape is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,582,737. However, it is often desired to use different types of tapes with each side having different adhesive qualities. For example, conventional blue masking tape, which is relatively non-damaging to delicate surfaces, can be combined with conventional white tape, which has stronger adhesive qualities for better adhesion to material such as plastic. Also, it may be desired to mix different types of tapes, including a fabric-based tape such as duct tape with an essentially paper-based tape such as masking tape. To provide for the flexibility to join different types and sizes of tapes, various designs of tape dispensers have been created. See, for example, the following U.S. Pat. Nos. and patent publication: 4,415,400; 4,981,537; 7,028,736; 7,921,896; and US 2010/0300625.


A clamping apparatus of molding machine including a base; a fixed board disposed on the base; a movable board movable relative to the fixed board; a plurality of mold clamping cylinders disposed in predetermined positions of the fixed board, the mold clamping cylinders each having a mold clamping piston with a tie bar reception hole and a tie bar connection device disposed on the mold clamping piston; a plurality of tie bars with a thread at their one end, the tie bars being disposed in correspondence with the mold clamping cylinders on the movable board; a plurality of mold opening/closing cylinders for moving the movable board; and an axially movable sleeve associated with each clamping cylinder for adjusting an axial position of an associated piston to adjust an engagement position of the tie bar connection device, the sleeve being disposed in an opening in the fixed board and forming an extension of the tie bar reception hole, with one end of the sleeve abutting against a reception wall provided in each piston surrounding the tie bar reception hole and the other end of the sleeve threadedly cooperating with an engagement adjustment screw ring secured to the fixed board.

The present invention relates to a clamping apparatus for a molding machine such as an injection molding machine, a die cast machine, and a press molding machine.
A clamping apparatus for clamping a mold whose halves are disposed on a fixed board and a moving board in the following construction is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Document No. SHO 63-317243.
In the clamping apparatus, mold clamping cylinder devices have tie bar insertion holes at four corners of the fixed board disposed on a base. Tie bars each having a thread shaft are disposed at the four corners of the movable board disposed on the base. Half nut connection devices disposed at an outer portion of the fixed board are connected to mold clamping pistons of mold clamping cylinders. As the movable board is moved, the tie bars are inserted into the mold clamping cylinders. Thereafter, the tie bars are connected to the mold clamping pistons by the half nuts.
In the above mentioned clamping apparatus, the connection is made with a thread engagement. Thus, the engagement position is determined in accordance with the thickness of molds to be used and both thread pitches should be matched.
Consequently, unless both the mold halves have been completely closed, the connection cannot be made with the thread engagement. Thus, since a time for which the clamping pressure rises becomes long, the molding cycle tends to have a loss.
Also, since the above-mentioned clamping apparatus outputs a large mold clamping force, mold clamping cylinders with a large diameter are used. Thus, a large amount of hydraulic oil is used, it is of course smaller than that of a direct pressure type clamping apparatus. Conventionally, in one oil chamber, hydraulic oil is supplied, while in other oil chamber, hydraulic oil is drained to the hydraulic circuit. In other words, when the oil chambers on both sides of each mold clamping piston are independently controlled, a pressure rise with a high speed characteristic cannot be accomplished. To accomplish it, a pump with a large delivery amount, a hydraulic pipe with a large diameter allowing a large capacity of hydraulic oil to pass instantaneously, and a valve with a large capacity are required.
Nevertheless, the pump with a large delivery amount has substantially a low response characteristic. To prevent that, it is possible to operate a plurality of pumps with a small capacity in parallel. However, when such a system is used, its construction will become complicated and large and thereby increasing the production cost.
Also, in such an apparatus, the parallelism of the mold mounting surfaces of the fixed board and the movable board should be kept by a particular means unlike another clamping apparatus where a plurality of tie bars disposed on a pair of fixed boards on a machine base are inserted into a movable board, the movable board being movable back and forth relative to the fixed board with a guide of the tie bars. The value of adjustment with respect to the parallelism is very small. In the above-mentioned apparatus according to the prior art, a support which extends in the moving direction is disposed on the left and right sides of the legs of the movable mold plate. On the lower side of the support, a guide mounting plate and a guide block are disposed. The movable mold plate is mounted on the guide rails. The guide mounting plate and the support are slightly rotated so as to relatively offset their positions. In this state, the guide plate and the support are connected at four positions of front, rear, left, and right positions by pins.
In the construction according to the prior art, the stopper bolt is screwed from the inner surface of the support to the guide mounting plate. The stopper bolt whose thread end contacts the guide mounting plate causes the guide mounting plate to relatively deviate from the support so as to adjust the parallelism of the movable mode plate against the fixed mold plate. Thus, the connections of the guide mounting plate and the support are limited only to the above-mentioned four positions which are front, rear, left, and right positions. In addition, the connected portions only withstand the relative deviation. Thus, when the mold halves are frequently clamped, the stopper bolt are loosened and the position of the guide mounting plate deviates, thereby losing the parallelism.
In the conventional clamping apparatus, a movable board is approached to a fixed board and thereby mold clamping pistons of mold clamping cylinders disposed on the fixed board side and tie bars with a thread shaft disposed on the movable board side are closed. Thereafter, a half-nut connected to each mold clamping piston is engaged with the thread shaft of each tie bar to thereby clamp mold halves.
In the clamping apparatus according to the prior art, it is said that the half-nuts and the thread of each tie bar can be matched by moving the half-nuts for a small amount in the longitudinal direction. However, although the half-nuts slidably supported through a bracket are contacted with the end portion of a ram by a spring, the practical construction of the fine adjustment of the engagement positions of the half-nuts and the thread of each tie bar is not shown. Moreover, in the prior art, when the fixed mold half and the movable mold half are engaged and the end portion of each tie bar passes through and stops at the fixed board, the tie bar is connected to the half-nuts. Thus, the mold closing speed cannot be slowed down with each mold clamping cylinder and thereby the mold halves cannot be properly protected.
In the conventional clamping device for an injection molding machine is equipped with a safety door in a side position thereof for safety of the operator. While the safety door is kept open, the mold closing operation is electrically prohibited. In addition, by considering the worst case, unless the safety door is closed, the mold halves cannot be mechanically closed as a dual safety countermeasure. In a conventional clamping device where a movable board is movably disposed between a pair of fixed boards on a machine base and mold halves are closed by the movable board with a guide of tie bars, a safety rod extends from the movable board to the fixed board which is provided with the mold half. A stopper member for supporting the end portion of the safety rod is vertically movably disposed on the fixed board side. The movable member of the stopper member is disposed at the upper end portion of the safety door. When the safety door is closed, the movable member upwardly pushes the stopper member. Thus, only when the components located at the end portion of the safety rod are removed, the mold halves can be closed. However, in a large clamping device where a pair of a fixed board and a movable board are disposed on the machine base and the movable board is movable back and forth relative to the fixed board with a pair of guide rails disposed on an upper surface of the machine base, no tie bars which are used to support the load of the movable board and to function as guides are used. Thus, when the safety rod which extruding toward the fixed board is mounted on the movable board, the load of the safety rod is applied to the movable board as a localized load. As a result, it is difficult to maintain the parallelism of the movable board relative to the fixed board.
In addition, whenever the mold halves are replaced, the length of the extrusion should be adjusted in accordance with the thickness thereof. Since the safety rod is fixed by nuts, the length of extrusion is adjusted by loosening them. In a small clamping device, such a manual adjustment operation can readily be performed by one person. Nevertheless, when the device becomes large, since the safety rod is heavy, it is difficult to adjust it only by one person.
Also, according to the automatic replacement of mold haves, with respect to labor saving, automatic position adjustment of the safety rod is desired.


A method for configuring a signal path within a digital integrated circuit. The method includes transmitting an output from a first logic module, receiving the output at a second logic module, and conveying the output from the first logic module to the second logic module by using a configurable signal path. The configurable signal path is variable by selectively including at least one latch.

The design and fabrication of high-performance signaling mechanisms for digital integrated circuit devices has become a significant challenge. For example, with respect to high-performance digital integrated circuit devices operating at high frequencies, ensuring the reliable transmission of signals between the various components of such devices has become problematic. In the past, slower clock speeds allowed sufficient margins in the timing constraints for signal propagation delay. However, modern integrated circuit designs require exacting control of critical timing specifications, and design parameters must be strictly maintained to keep the entire system in balance. Additionally, the system should run efficiently across different clock frequencies. Optimizations to ensure stable high-frequency operation should not unduly penalize the system during low-frequency operation. Thus what is required is a solution that can ensure critical timing specifications remain within certain specified parameters across a range of different operating frequencies.

Method and system for elastic signal pipelining


An emblem bearing cap attachment has a substantially planar, relatively stiff body defining a forward surface and a rearward surface. A primary crease extends centrally across the planar body defining an upper facing panel and a lower backing panel. The primary crease facilitates folding of the body about and capturing the band of a baseball style cap to position the rearward surface of the facing panel in confronting relationship with the inside surface of the crown rearward portion whereat are fastening means to secure the backing panel to the cap. The facing panel allows the display of emblems or other indicia thereon whether the facing panel is folded upwardly or downwardly.

This invention relates to baseball style caps, and more particularly to a cap with an emblem bearing cap attachment.
For as long as there has been baseball, there have been baseball caps. People wear their caps for all occasions. They are generally made of a fabric or woven material having a hemispherical crown. The crown may also be cylindrical with a flat top. Inside the crown at the lower periphery is located a rim or band of reinforced material for securing the cap to the head. At the forward lower periphery portion of the crown is located a stiff visor or bill to assist in keeping the sun out of the eyes of the wearer. Also on the outside of the forward crown portion, indicia or advertising is most common. This construction is universal with respect to all known baseball style caps.
At the rearward portion of the crown, the baseball caps begin to somewhat deviate. There are customized caps which have a continuous rim or band around the lower periphery of the crown for exact size fitting for a specific head size. Baseball caps are also made which are adjustable. At the rearward portion of the crown, they have a semicircular opening whereat the band or rim stops and a band sizing adjustment strap begins. Both these styles are always bare of indicia or the like at the rearward crown portion.
Recently it has become a fad for kids and young adults to wear their baseball caps with the visor or bill directed rearwardly. Wearing the cap in this orientation de-emphasizes the advertising or indicia on the crown forward portion which is undesirable by merchants. Furthermore, the band does not typically absorb perspiration at the forehead.
There is a need for an emblem bearing cap attachment which will secure about the band at the lower periphery of the rearward crown portion to completely cover the semicircular opening and permit the display of emblems or other indicia at the rear of the cap.


In an image forming apparatus, a controller allows a sound output device to output a starting sound and an ending sound at a start and end of diagnostic image formation processing, respectively, determines whether abnormal noise has occurred by identifying data ranging from the starting sound to the ending sound in an diagnostic spectrogram as a comparison target for data ranging from the starting sound to the ending sound in a normal spectrogram to match both the spectrograms in terms of width in a time-axis direction, and identifies a source of the abnormal noise by identifying the data ranging from the starting sound to the ending sound in the diagnostic spectrogram as a comparison target for data in ranging from a timing of start to a timing of end in a timing chart to match the diagnostic spectrogram with the timing chart in terms of width in the time-axis direction.

The present disclosure relates to electronic devices and particularly relates to a technique for detecting the occurrence of abnormal noise.
There is known a technique for collecting operating noise of an operating body with a microphone and determining, using operating noise data representing the operating noise, whether or not abnormal noise has occurred.
For example, a technique is disclosed in which a cause of abnormal noise is identified based on frequency spectral waveform data obtained from noise information representing abnormal noise generated in an image forming apparatus and recording position information.
For another example, a technique is disclosed in which frequency spectral waveform data obtained from noise information representing abnormal noise generated in an image forming apparatus and frequency spectral waveform data as a comparison target are displayed side by side on a display device and the position of display of one of the obtained data and the comparison data is changed in the direction of the time axis based on a user's operation.
A technique is also disclosed for emitting a beep sound at the start of recording of noise generated from a diagnostic target and using, as diagnostic data, data obtained by removing the beep sound from recorded noise data.
Another disclosed technique is to drive a photoconductor with a different timing and at a different linear velocity from during normal image formation processing and predict the occurrence of abnormal noise based on noise around the photoconductor detected with a microphone during operation of the photoconductor.
Still another disclosed technique is to identify occurrence of abnormal noise and a cause of abnormal noise using diagnostic data acquired by bringing a terminal device with a microphone close to a location of occurrence of abnormal noise in an image forming apparatus and recording noise around the location.
Still another disclosed technique is to determine a failure of a task when it is possible to determine, based on operating noise data representing a waveform of sound wave input to a microphone and an abnormal noise pattern representing a sound waveform pattern to be produced upon task failure, that noise upon task failure has been emitted.
Still another disclosed technique is to determine the presence or absence of abnormality in a cleaning blade by analyzing collected operating noise data representing operating noise of the cleaning blade input to a microphone and comparing the result of analysis of the collected operating noise data with predetermined noise profile data.

Electronic device capable of detecting occurrence of abnormal noise


A cover for covering an opening of a fuel tank holds a fuel pump, a fuel filter, a fuel level gauge and a pressure regulator inside the fuel tank. The fuel filter is contained inside a filter housing having a C-shaped cross-section. A filter element also has a C-shaped cross-section. This type of filter element is formed by bending flat stacked pre-assembled bodies into a C-shape. Other components such as the fuel level gauge, a fuel passage and the like are placed in an open part of the C-shaped cross-section and thus, the fuel filter and the other components are integrated in a high density.

A well known conventional filter for filtering fuel supplied to internal combustion engines contains an element inside a cylindrical housing. However, there is a need to provide a circular stay for installing such a conventional cylindrical filter. In addition, when a cylindrical fuel filter is installed on a vehicular body, the filter tends to greatly protrude from a surface where it is installed.
Accordingly, one prior proposal installs the fuel filter inside a fuel tank. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,750 discloses a ring-shaped fuel filter whose shape enables it to be installed on an outer periphery of a fuel pump.
However, one problem with the construction according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,750 is the enlargement of the diameter of the filter because it has to be installed on the outer periphery of the fuel pump.