A device generates a capability map. The device receives one or more design spaces from a materials supplier, the one or more design spaces including candidate components and capabilities of tools available to the materials supplier. The device inputs a design space of the one or more design spaces into a machine learning model, the training data including a plurality of components including input materials and/or chemicals, and, for respective combinations of the plurality of components, a plurality of respective performance properties. The device receives as output from the model a capability map of the materials supplier storing possible combinations of performance properties and a respective difficulty of developing a composition with that combination of performance properties. The device outputs a user interface for display to a user indicating data of the capability map.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) design products and parts that achieve desired outcomes in a range of dimensions, such as performance specifications, test qualifications, cost of production, manufacturability targets, and so on. As part of the design process, these OEMs simulate performance, test outcomes, and manufacturability of a product or part while varying geometry and material. OEMs may select materials from a catalogue of available materials, or may write a specification for a new material and ask their vendors to develop the desired new material. However, where a new material is desired, it may be unclear what performance specifications are achievable by a materials supplier, or which suppliers might be most capable of achieving a given performance specification. Moreover, some materials specifications might be extremely difficult for a materials developer to achieve, while others may be relatively easy for the same materials developer to achieve, though it may be unclear at the outset what the level of difficulty is. Because the OEM lacks the data on how difficult various materials specifications are for a given materials vendor to achieve through new materials development, the OEM cannot efficiently co-optimize the part performance with the materials specifications.

Product design and materials development integration using a machine learning generated capability map


The inventive system provides a user interface between a wireless communication device and an information service provider. The interface allows for a blended presentation of information and calling services for implementing an information service to a user of a wireless communication device. The user establishes an initial connection with a data network server to receive a particular service. The data network server sends a set of wireless protocol instructions to the user""s mobile device. Based on these instructions, the mobile device will display information to the user which can be used to select a particular service. While preferably presenting a continuous display to the user, the wireless protocol instructions initiate a communication connection between the mobile device and a voice server with speech recognition capabilities. Depending on the service selected and identification of the user by whatever means, including call signals, the voice will run a particular voice application which interacts verbally with the user to perform the desired service allowing the user to control the service without the necessity of entering data or information using the keypad on the mobile device. After receiving the necessary input data from the user, the voice application will obtain the information responsive to the service request. The information is translated into a wireless application protocol and sent to the data network server where it is then available to be sent to the user""s mobile device to complete the service. The communication connection is then terminated after which the data network connection will be reestablished to facilitate receiving the requested information. The user""s mobile device can then display the resulting information to the user. As seen by the user, there is a continuous connection with the selected service from the initial receipt of the wireless protocol instructions to the final receipt of the requested information. Thus, the user is presented a blended data and voice interface for access to the information service.

The integration of computers and telephony services has grown tremendously over the last decade. Rapidly advancing technology in combination with decreasing equipment costs have spurred the computer-telephony integration (CTI) industry to new heights. Because of these advancements, telephone service providers are now generally able to offer more complex calling services to a wider population and at a lower cost than previously available.
In the evolution of the modem communication network, all telephone services, including so-called xe2x80x9cenhancedxe2x80x9d services, were previously provided by telephone switches. Every time a new calling service was developed, the switch had to be re-programmed by the switch vendor to implement that calling service. Because of the enormous complexity and expense of telephone switches, new calling services were generally delayed until the new switches were implemented. This process and the enormous costs of switches typically prohibited smaller telephone service providers from introducing and implementing their own calling services.
In response to this slow progression, the industry developed a design architecture called Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN). AIN architecture allowed much of the call processing and calling services to be removed from the switches and placed in peripheral computing systems. The AIN architecture uses peripheral computing systems as service control points (SCPs), service nodes (SNs), and intelligent peripherals (IPs) to provide call processing and calling services. Telephone service providers could now invest in relatively inexpensive computers with enough processing power to provide the enhanced calling services and call processing. This opened the market for calling services to the smaller telephone service providers.
The Internet has also experienced unmatched growth over the last decade. A vast array of information and services is now accessible to anyone with an Internet connection.
Most companies have web sites or web-enabled databases. Services which were previously limited to interactive calling implementation, such as information services, home banking, stock trading, and retail sales, have now become a mainstay of Internet commerce. Within the last five years, advancing technology has allowed Internet service providers (ISPs) to enter the long distance telephony market in competition with traditional telephone service providers. This evolutionary step established the potential for integration of the Internet with traditional CTI.
Recently, in the wireless phone industry, Internet content has become accessible, in a limited format, over a new design of wireless phone and wireless data terminals, and the development of wireless information formats. In addition to all of the communication services available to wireless phone users, they now enjoy limited access to the Internet content over an expanded visual display on their wireless phones. While this limited integration has increased the services and information resources available to the public, the amount and character of the information and services available is limited by the current technology.
The availability of Internet-based information and services based upon standard digital data networking and Internet standards such as hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), transfer control protocol (TCP), Internet protocol (IP), extensible markup language (XML), hypertext markup language (HTML), scripting formats and others, which allow access to the Internet information relatively independent from a particular platform, creates a problem for mobile communication device users. With the memory, power, and input/output limitations inherent in the small mobile communication devices, it becomes increasingly difficult to take advantage of the current digital networking and Internet standards.
In response to this limitation, the industry has developed resource conservative alternatives to the current Internet and information protocols. Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) has risen to the top of these conservative alternatives as the defacto standard transport protocol for delivery of wireless information and telephony services to wireless devices.
Using WAP, information and resources are generally transported in a format which is more appropriate for wireless handheld device users. A WAP Gateway typically converts web protocols, such as HTTP and TCP/IP, into WAP transfer protocol and vice versa. To a limited extent, the WAP Gateway may also translate web content into the proper, reduced-sized format for display on a smaller handheld device, if it includes the appropriate logic and processing capabilities. Through appropriate use of proxy technology, much of the computational functionality is accomplished via the WAP Gateway, thus, further eliminating the need for excessive on-device memory and power.
The emerging wireless application protocols and formats (e.g. WML, HDML, see below) generally allow the use of soft keys (keys which have multiple functions dependent on the mode or function the handheld devices is operating in) for enabling users to make menu selections, scroll through multiple screens or xe2x80x9ccards,xe2x80x9d as they are referred to in WML. The availability of an alphanumeric keypad on most hand held devices allows for entry of standard text or numeric information either with dual tone multifrequency (DTMF) or other data signal criteria. Therefore, the presentation of the information is tailored to fit within the space confines and interactivity limits of a handheld device interface.
In addition to the WAP-styled technology, small-scaled web browsers are normally used to navigate through the information while presenting a familiar interface to the user. These small-scaled browsers, called mini-browsers, are typically designed to render mark-up languages designed specifically for the memory, input/output and bandwidth limitations of mobile handheld devices communicating over a wireless network. Two of the more prevalent languages, Handheld Device Markup Language (HDML) and Wireless Markup Language (WML) allow navigation similar to the standard HTML and use a tag-based language set defined as an XML document type. These wireless mark-up languages typically conserve memory resources by converting much of the overhead necessary for navigation into smaller machine-code or binary representations. WML or HDML applications can be written using existing HTML and XML development environments.
Although WAP and languages such as, HDML and WML, succeed in presenting a familiar interface compatible with a mobile handheld device, the inherent limitations of this interface complicates the user""s interaction. Entering even a small amount of textual information using a 12-key alphanumeric keypad requires a great deal of concentration and detailed manipulation for the user. Furthermore, soft key functions must be arranged in standard locations in order for a user to navigate intuitively through xe2x80x9cglance and touchxe2x80x9d activation. In most instances, a user is engaged in multiple tasks when using a wireless device. Such a user will be less inclined to access a wireless information service if it requires too much special, physical attention.
It would, therefore, be advantageous to have a fully-integrated communication system which may access and supply information services from the Internet, corporate databases, and other electronic information media and also provides enhanced interface between the user and the information service. It would also be advantageous to provide a simpler user interface which allows a user to control access to information and application functionality using basic inherent skills and minimized device manipulation. These and other features and technical advantages are achieved by a system that allows a blended communication and information system which can supply electronically accessed information to mobile devices and also provides a simple, intuitive interface between a user and an information service provider. Such mobile devices may include items like wireless telephones, handheld computing devices, pagers, and other electronic equipment which include a display, memory, processing capability, and some form of user interface for receiving user input.
The system provides a wireless information service interface for use between a communication device and an information service provider comprising a first server and a second server. In the preferred embodiment of the present invention described in this application, the first server would be a communication server with a data network connection wherein the server enables communication with the wireless data networking features of the communication device. The second server would preferably include a voice response unit (VRU) with a telecommunication connection and one or more voice applications, wherein the VRU provides voice prompts and/or audio information to the communication device over its telephony interface (via the PSTN). The VRU preferably has speech recognition capabilities allowing users to respond verbally to voice prompts created by any one or more of the voice applications.
According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the interface may include a data network server capable of providing information compatible with the communication device. The data network server preferably includes one or more data applications accessible by the communication device, wherein the data applications may provide visual information to the communication device, and are capable of automatically initiating a telecommunication connection between the communication device and the VRU. Once such a telecommunication connection is established, the VRU may selectively run one or more of the voice applications based on information provided to the VRU by the data application, the user, or a remote host application server in communication with the VRU or data network server.
In operation according to a preferred embodiment, a user will access one or more of the data applications via the data network server. The data application will then generally send a set of compatible instructions for controlling the application which are stored in a memory on the communication device. The application then preferably initiates a telecommunication link with the VRU sending data which allows the VRU to selectively activate one or more of the voice applications. It should be noted that the data application""s initiation of the telecommunication link may preferably be prompted by the user responding to an action that the data application presents or may preferably be automatically initiated by the data application either if the information that the data application is attempting to present is too complex for the communication device display, or the data application itself incorporates the simultaneous use of the voice application to accept and present input or output. Once the telecommunication link is established, the data application may then be suspended until the telephony session terminates, or allowed to process as a background task, depending on the capabilities of the wireless data network and handsets as well as the details of the application.
The VRU can preferably obtain information either from the data application, directly from the user using speech recognition technology, through data signals generated by the communication device, or from a remote host application server. Using selected voice prompts, text-to-speech capabilities, and/or pre-recorded messages, the voice application processes and obtains the information desired by the user. When the voice application has obtained the requisite data, it preferably places the information into memory storage, informs the caller that the information can be retrieved from the data network server, and suspends or terminates the telecommunication link. Alternatively, the voice application may present some of the retrieved information verbally to the user, if it is not too complex or long. Alternatively, the voice application may interact with the user to gather input needed to retrieve the information for the user and pass this input back to the data application server for actual information retrieval and presentation. As the telecommunication link is suspended or terminated, the data application is brought back to the foreground, such as by reactivation or redesignation as the active task, to operate with the user. Thus a preferred embodiment of the system allows for either the data application server or VRU server or both to have the ability to access the host application server.
A wireless data application generator, which can be a WML page generator, an HDML page generator, or some other wireless data application language, builds the data application information in a format compatible with the mobile communication device and wireless data network. The wireless data application generator then forwards the information to the data network server for final transmission via the wireless data network to the communication device. The application information thus sent to the communication device for rendering and user interaction may include both application navigation structures and data retrieval and presentation structures. For typical situations, there will preferably be a single button or command presented to the user on the communication device so the user can retrieve the information or initiate actions with single button actuation. Other situations may result in an automatic push of the data to the communication device when the data application is operating in the foreground.
After the wireless data application generator has forwarded the application information, some or all of the information may remain in the memory storage indefinitely. An alternative embodiment of the present invention would preferably provide the user addressable access to the memory storage for retrieving the information more than the one, initial time. Preferably, the user would be able to repeatedly access the user-specific memory location to review any or all of the currently stored information-retrieval results. The memory could be configured to retain all of the retrieved information until either the user deletes it, or the service provider deletes it according to terms negotiated in a service contract. Alternatively, the information may be deleted when subsequent activity by the user stores new information.
It should be noted that the preferred embodiment of the present invention is not limited solely to wireless communication devices. A conventional wireline telephone could also benefit from the services and interface disclosed by the preferred embodiment. In order to implement the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a wireline phone would typically have a visual display either built directly into the unit or as a supplemental display unit and some degree of memory capability. Such a telephone would generally also have processing capabilities to operate functions, programs, and instructions written in a wireless application protocol. In the use of this alternative embodiment, a desk phone could be connected to the Internet or other data network which could provide access to phone directories, locator services, retail services, or other information services available to the wireless communication device user. Alternatively, a standard data network access terminal such as a PC with internet access connectivity and browser software further enhanced with a voice telephony capability could also be used for the same purpose.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

Providing blended interface for wireless information services


Fully automatic true triaxial tunnel and underground project model test system, including a triaxial loading device for loading model test piece, automatic data collection and analysis device, power system and control system; triaxial loading device includes test bench, vertical loading system, horizontal front and back, and left and right loading systems, and the vertical, horizontal front and back, and left and right loading systems apply three-way pressure to model test body; test bench functions for supporting, fixing, and providing counter-force; automatic data collection and analysis device includes micro optical fiber sensor embedded in model test piece, optical fiber monitoring system, micro pressure box and strain brick, and can collect multi-field information.

With the rapid development of energy engineering and traffic engineering, the number of tunnels and underground projects is increasing and their scale is getting larger and larger, and more and more difficult engineering construction follows. In the construction process of the tunnels and underground projects, faults, caves, underground rivers and other unfavorable geology are often encountered. Due to the physical and chemical effects of the water on the rock, the grades of the surrounding rock of the tunnels suddenly drop, and when the tunnels are constructed to areas of water-bearing masses, the original support design can hardly maintain the stability of the surrounding rock, and the tunnels are prone to collapse and water inrush and mud inrush disasters. The water inrush disaster in the tunnels will cause project delay, damage to mechanical equipment and increase in the investment costs, and also cause a great threat to the safety of onsite construction personnel. Therefore, the identification of the precursor information of water inrush and mud inrush disasters in the tunnels is crucial to the early warning of water inrush and mud inrush in water-rich tunnels and is of great significance for the safe construction of the tunnels and underground projects. Therefore, the research on the mechanical mechanism of power catastrophe of the water-rich tunnels and the description of the evolution process of the water inrush power disasters are crucial.
An underground project model test is an effective method and means for simulating the underground project and guiding the design and construction of the underground project, by means of which the stress states, excavation and support of the protolith in the tunnels and underground projects can be vividly simulated. Since various monitoring elements can be pre-embedded in a test piece, the loading conditions and excavation conditions can be conveniently changed, and the changes of internal stress, strain and other parameters of the test piece are obtained through a monitoring device to provide guidance and reference for the excavation construction of tunnels at the project sites. Therefore, it is of great significance to carry out geomechanical model tests. Domestic and foreign scholars have also developed true triaxial tunnel and underground project model test systems, but the previous true triaxial tunnel and underground project test systems often have the following problems:
(1) A part of the model test systems may cause uneven stress of the test pieces due to the defects of loading devices, and unnecessary shear stress on the surfaces of the test pieces, which affects the accuracy and reliability of the test results.
(2) A part of the model test systems has low loading capacity, such as flexible bladder or hydraulic pillow loading, thereby failing to provide a sufficient load to simulate the high geostress state of deeply buried rock masses.
(3) The model test systems have the disadvantages of being cumbersome, requiring a lot of manpower and material resources, and being unable to achieve automation.
(4) A precursor information monitoring model test system of tunnel water inrush disasters is lacked to clearly clarify the multi-element precursor information of the evolution process of power catastrophe of water inrush of water-rich tunnels and the water inrush disasters.
With the increasing requirements for the scientific research design level and the calculation accuracy of the tunnel and underground project construction, as well as the identification problem and evolution rule of the multi-element precursor information of the water inrush and mud inrush disasters of the tunnels, it is urgent to develop a tunnel and underground project model test system with excellent performance and advanced technology.


A method and apparatus for encrypting and decrypting data is disclosed which employs two or more cryptographic algorithms to achieve high throughput without compromizing security. The invention is especially useful for software implementation to protect large amounts of multimedia data over high-speed communication channels.

There exists a need to transfer data confidentially over an open channel or to store such data securely in an unsecure location. Whilst such transfer or storage may be achieved by physical means, it is more effective and/or flexible to use cryptographic means.
In the prior art, to send private communications between two parties, the parties need to share a cryptographic key and use a symmetric-key cipher to encrypt and decrypt data. Various ciphers including block ciphers and stream ciphers have been proposed in the past. A stream cipher handles messages of arbitrary size by ciphering individual elements, such as bits or bytes of data. This avoids the need to accumulate data into a block before ciphering as is necessary in a block cipher. A conventional block cipher requires an accumulation of a certain amount of data or multiple data elements for ciphering to complete. Examples of block ciphers include DES (see ANSI X3.92, "American National Standard for Data Encryption Algorithm (DEA)," American National Standards Institute, 1981), IDEA (see X. Lai, J. Massey, and S. Murphy, "Markov ciphers and differential cryptanalysis," Advances in Cryptology—EUROCRYPT '91 Proceedings, Springer-Verlag, 1991, pp. 17–38), SAFER (see J. Massey. SAFER K-64: One year later. In B. Preneel, editor, Fast Software Encryption—Proceedings of Second International Workshop, LNCS 1008, pages 212–241, Springer Verlag, 1995), and RC5 (see R. Rivest, "The RC5 encryption algorithm," Dr. Dobb's Journal, Vol. 20, No. 1, January 1995, pp. 146–148). A typical data encryption speed for these ciphers is several million bits per second (Mb/s) on a Pentium 266 MHz processor.
Due to the pervasiveness of high-speed networking and multimedia communications, the demand for high-speed ciphers is ever increasing. For example, data rates over Asynchronous Data Transfer networks range from several tens of Mb/s to 1 Gb/s. Software implementations of existing block ciphers cannot reach these kinds of data rates.
In general, stream ciphers are much faster than block ciphers. However, stream ciphers are usually not sufficiently analyzed and are perceived to be weaker in security than block ciphers. Many stream ciphers that we believed to be very secure were subsequently broken. The design of secure and efficient high-speed ciphers remains a highly challenging problem.
Many powerful cryptanalytical methods have been developed during the past decade or so. It may be observed that the success of many of these methods in attacking a cipher depends on the availability of a large quantity of ciphertexts/plaintenxts under a particular encryption key. Normally, the likelihood of successfully attacking a cipher, i.e., discovering the key, diminishes as the amount of available ciphertexts/plaintexts decreases. The present invention, is motivated by the above observation, and provides an improved method and apparatus for data encryption and decryption.

Method and apparatus for encrypting and decrypting data


A putting training device having two alignment guides positioned to extend from the blade of a putter. In one embodiment the alignment guides extend generally parallel to each other to facilitate a generally parallel putting stroke. In an alternative embodiment, each of the alignment guides generally arcuate in shape and extends from the blade of the putter in a generally concentric manner, to facilitate a generally arcuate putting stroke. The ends of the alignment guides are tapered to prevent the alignment guides from catching on the putting surface. Additionally, at least one of the alignment guides is movable, such that the space between the two alignment guides can tailored for the experience level of each user.

Recreational sports and hobbies are popular all around the world. It is when a person is in the pursuit of some degree of proficiency in these types of activities that a diversion from the routine patterns of life can be experienced. Many times, a person may excel in a particular side interest or pastime to such a degree that they may be competitive with others who have the same interests. A person may enjoy bowling, for example, and find that competing in a league against other bowlers provides them with a great measure of enjoyment.
Those who participate in sports as a recreational activity and who desire to have some measure of success in so doing must develop and maintain a certain level of proficiency in the sport's skills. For baseball players, the ability to swing the bat in harmonious manner with the movement of the player's body is critical to successful contact with the baseball. Tennis players must also have the swinging motion coordinated with body movement and eye contact in order to play the game with success. Others who play sports such as racquetball and table-tennis have similar physical attributes that must be developed.
Golfers are among those who practice a great deal in order to prepare themselves to play with any degree of competence. They must be able to hit the golf ball with any of a number of different clubs properly under a variety of circumstances. Many golfers hire trainers to assist them in developing their golfing skills. Hours of time may be spent in preparation for a single game. The use of a driving range at a golf course, golf school, or public practice area is often a part of a golfer's training and preparation for a round of golf.
Of the many aspects of playing golf, putting is one of the most important components in the game. As a golfer must keep their head very still, in a fixed position during the putting stoke, it is very difficult for the golfer to determine whether the blade of the putter is being drawn back properly during the backswing and whether the blade of the putter is maintained in the proper orientation during the putt. If the golfer's head moves to watch the putter during the putt stroke, the rest of the putting stroke can be affected. Therefore, it is not only important that a golfer be able to practice a mechanically sound putting stroke, but also to be able to readily determine that the putting stroke is being done properly
As can be appreciated, there is a need for improved golf training devices that can be used while practice putting to not only help develop a good putting stroke, but can also provide feedback to the golfer that the putting stroke is proper.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A communication device including a plurality of frequency synthesizers (24, 28, 30). At least one of the frequency synthesizers (24) is driven with a reference frequency from a crystal oscillator (58). The at least one frequency synthesizer (24) includes a phase locked loop with a fractional-N divider (48) which is programmed by a control circuit (64) to vary as a function of temperature compensation, frequency compensation, and a frequency multiplication factor. The output (46) of the at least one frequency synthesizer (24) is used to provide a compensated reference frequency input for the remaining frequency synthesizers (28, 30). The radio provides all the frequency synthesizers (24, 28, 30) with temperature and frequency compensation using a reference frequency from a crystal oscillator (58) and only one high resolution frequency compensating synthesizer (24).

Radio communication devices require the generation of stable operating frequencies in order to function properly. Typically, stability has been obtained by using a crystal oscillator to provide a reference frequency. The reference frequency is used as a baseline for the frequency synthesizers in the radio. Specifically, the local oscillators of the radio are phase locked to the reference frequency. However, crystal oscillators by themselves can not provide a sufficiently constant frequency to meet the frequency stability requirements of the radio. In particular, the output frequency of a crystal oscillator varies over temperature.
Radios may also require frequency compensation to precisely center a radio transceiver operating frequency onto a base station channel frequency. This is accomplished using an automatic frequency control (AFC) which determines an error between the radio transceiver operating frequency and the base station channel frequency and applies a correction signal to the crystal oscillator to align the radio to the base station. However, the resolution needed to provide AFC correction (typically 50 Hz at 1 GHz) requires the use of a high resolution frequency adjust (warp) circuit in the crystal oscillator which adds cost to the radio.
Methods to temperature compensate crystal oscillators are known in the art. Generally, these methods incorporate compensation circuits composed of analog or digital devices and are used to provide a relatively constant output frequency over temperature. Typically, these circuits are incorporated within the crystal oscillator, and the output of the oscillator is applied as a reference frequency to all the frequency synthesizers or local oscillators of the radio.
A more recent temperature compensation scheme uses an uncompensated crystal oscillator and applies a temperature compensation signal directly to a divider of the phase locked loop of the frequency synthesizer, while at the same time the signal also incorporates the desired frequency multiplication for the frequency synthesizer. For this scheme, since the crystal oscillator is not temperature compensated, the output of the crystal oscillator can not be used to directly provide a stable reference frequency for other local oscillators of the radio unless each frequency synthesizer is temperature compensated by other means, a more costly approach. Furthermore, each frequency synthesizer would need to have a higher resolution than the resolution required to simply step between radio channels in order to provide adequate temperature compensation resolution, which adds cost to the radio.
There is a need for a radio communication device that replaces a temperature compensated crystal oscillator with temperature compensated local oscillators. There is also a need for a radio communication device that can be compensated at the local oscillators. The device should still meet requirements for high performance, low power, and low cost. The radio architecture should minimize the number of high resolution devices, realize both temperature and frequency compensation of local oscillators, and meet radio performance requirements.

Communication device with a frequency compensating synthesizer and method of providing same


A multiple station transfer press (20) is provided. The cross bar assemblies (42) transfer work pieces (22) between adjacent press stations (24) in transfer press (10). Movement of the cross bar assemblies (42) is provided by raising and lowering transfer rails (38) and (40) along with reciprocating cross bar assemblies (42) along transfer rails (38) and (40). Each cross bar assembly (42) can also be tilted and/or tipped relative to the transfer rails (38 and 40). Cross bar assemblies (42) are used to dynamically orient work pieces (22) during transfer between adjacent press stations (24). A portion of the motion of each cross bar assembly (42) occurs while upper dies (36) and lower dies (34) are separated by less than a maximum distance. The cross bar assemblies (42) preferably include at least two cross bars (130, 132) which may be rotated one hundred and eighty degrees to accommodate changing holding devices such as suction cups (268, 270) while changing dies (36, 34). The cross bars (130, 132) may also be independently rotated relative to each other and the associated cross bar assembly (42) to accommodate specific dies (36, 34) and/or work pieces (22) which are best engaged by holding devices (268, 270) oriented with a specific polar rotation relative to the longitudinal axis (384) of the respective cross bar (130, 132).

Sheet metal is used to form the basic components of many commercial products. For example, sheet metal is used to form parts for automobiles, appliances, airplanes and other mass produced items. To transform sheet metal into an appropriately sized and shaped part, a sheet metal work piece must be pressed, bent, cut, pierced, trimmed, etc.
A transfer press is typically used to expedite the process of forming parts from sheet metal. Transfer presses often include several upper and lower die sets or combinations that are arranged in a line within the transfer press. The die sets or die combinations are referred to as press stations. The dies for each press station are chosen to perform specific functions to create a desired part from a work piece. The transfer press generally includes an automated system to transfer the work piece from one press station to the next to increase the rate of output by the transfer press.
Over the years, the size of parts formed from sheet metal has increased significantly. For example, individual parts for automobiles such as doors and body panels have increased in size. Large parts typically slow down a conventional transfer press thus decreasing its output capability. Generally, it takes longer to move a large part between adjacent press stations. Additionally, large parts make it more difficult to reorient each work piece between dies because larger parts are more difficult to handle.
Prior systems and methods for transferring a work piece in a multiple station transfer press have used independent vertical and horizontal movement of a cross bar assembly. This independent vertical and horizontal movement frequently limited the rate at which large work pieces could be processed. Other systems use simultaneous vertical and horizontal movement of a cross bar assembly to increase the output of the associated transfer press. This type of movement is shown by way of example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,697 issued to Shiraishi, et al. entitled "Method for Withdrawing Work Piece From Drawing Mold" and U.S. Pat. No. 4,981,031 issued to Schneider, et al. entitled "Transfer Device in a Transfer Press or Similar Metal-Forming Machine." Shiraishi and Schneider both disclose movement of a cross bar along a curved path from a rest position between stations to a first press station. The work piece is transferred from the first press station to a second press station over a curved path and the cross bar returns to the rest position between press stations. The cross bar stays in the rest position during each pressing operation.
The Schneider patent also shows cross bar assemblies with carriages formed with low-mass construction to allow increased acceleration and thus a higher operating speed for the associated transfer press. Schneider also discloses idle stations disposed between each of the press stations to help reorient the work piece for subsequent processing. Although the idle stations may allow shortening the transfer movements of the work piece, they also introduce a delay by adding extra stations. Also, the idle stations require additional tooling. The idle stations add to the possibility of damaging a work piece by doubling the number of times each work piece is handled.
While changing the dies at a press station to fabricate a different part, it is often necessary to replace either the complete cross bar assembly or the holding devices on the associated cross bars to accommodate work pieces with configurations corresponding with the new die sets. Also, one or more holding devices may need to be replaced as part of normal maintenance and repair of the associated transfer press. Typically, changing holding devices in prior transfer presses required either removing the complete cross bar assembly or at least the respective cross bar from the associated transfer press. Therefore, replacing the complete cross bar assembly and/or holding devices often resulted in substantial downtime for the associated transfer press.

System for rotation of cross bars in a multiple station transfer press

Verson, a Division of Allied Products, Inc.


An organic electroluminescent display device includes a first electrode on a substrate, an organic layer including a light-emitting layer on the first electrode, a second electrode including lower and upper conductive layers sequentially stacked on the organic layer, and an insulating pattern extending into the organic layer through the lower conductive layer.

1. Field
Embodiments of the inventive concepts relate to an organic electroluminescent display device and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Description of the Related Technology
In general, an organic electroluminescent display device may include an anode, a cathode, and an organic layer interposed between the anode and cathode. The anode may include a transparent conductive material, such as, for example, ITO, and the cathode may include a metal layer whose work function is smaller than that of the anode. If the organic electroluminescent display device is forwardly biased, holes and electrons are injected into the organic layer through the anode and the cathode, respectively, and then, are combined with each other in the organic layer to generate excitons causing an electroluminescence phenomenone.
However, in a process of fabricating the organic electroluminescent display device, an extraneous matter, such as fine dusts, may be included in the organic layer between the anode and the cathode. The extraneous matter may result in an electric short between the anode and the cathode, and the pixel having such extraneous matter may malfunction.

Organic electroluminescent display device and method of fabricating the same


The present invention relates to modafinil or derivatives thereof as a medicine for the treatment of vascular diseases or KCa3.1 channel (Ca activated K channel) mediated diseases and a novel use of the same. More specifically, the present invention relates to a pharmaceutical composition for the prevention or treatment of vascular diseases or KCa3.1 channel-mediated diseases comprising modafinil or a derivative of modafinil, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof which relax blood vessels and inhibit KCa3.1 channel currents by increasing intracellular cAMP, a method for treating vascular diseases or KCa3.1 channel-mediated diseases using the composition and a health functional food composition for the prevention or improvement of vascular diseases or the KCa3.1 channel-mediated diseases comprising modafinil or a modafinil derivative compound, or sitologically acceptable salts thereof.

Vascular diseases refer to diseases caused by a narrowing of blood vessels and/or increased vascular resistance, and cause insufficient supply of gas and nutrition to tissues because blood flow is interrupted. Causes of Vascular diseases are developed by various causes including inflammation, necrosis, vasospasm and thickening of vessel walls.
The most typical vascular disease is hypertension. Hypertension is the disease with the highest incidence rate among chronic circulatory diseases and approximately 15% of the Korean adult population are estimated to have hypertension. Hypertension refers to a case in which blood pressure is abnormally high, and causes life-threatening complications such as coronary artery diseases, stroke/cerebral infarction, heart failure, and peripheral vascular diseases. Many anti-hypertension medications have been developed to control the increased blood pressure and have different pharmacological actions with different side effects. Since the causes for the increased blood pressure are unknown in about 90% of patients with hypertension, the patients with essential hypertension use multiple medications with different pharmacological actions. Thus, many kinds of anti-hypertensive medications with different pharmacological actions are needed for the patients. Among them, a cAMP-dependent antihypertensive drug is also used, but currently prescribed is just one, iloprost, which is used to treat pulmonary hypertension. However, iloprost is available for an inhaled or intravenous form, but not for an oral form. Thus, it is necessary to develop a new cAMP-dependent hypertension medication which can be used for an oral form,
On the other hand, KCa3.1 channel is distributed in nerve cells, erythrocytes, fibroblast, proliferating vascular smooth muscle cells, endothelial cells, immune cells (T cells and B cells), and the like, and contributes to regulation of cell functions in physiological and pathological conditions. [Kaushal V. et al., 2007, J. Neurosci., 27(1):234-244; Anand U. et al., 2006, Neurosci. Lett., 399(1-2):51-56; Wulff H. et al., 2004, J. Immunol., 173(2):776-786; Wulff H. et al., 2007, Curr. Med. Chem., 14(13):1437-1457]. Abnormal (new or increased) KCa3.1 expression might contribute to pathological cellular proliferation and thereby development of various diseases. Thus, KCa3.1 channel is believed to be the target to treat diseases.
Specifically KCa3.1 channel inhibitors are known to inhibit proliferation of immune cells (T cells and B cells), fibroblasts, tumor cells, vascular smooth muscle cells and the like. [Ghanshani S. et al., 2000, J. Biol. Chem., 275(47):37137-37149; Wulff H. et al., 2004, J. Immunol., 173(2):776-786; Pena T. L. & Rane S. G., 1999, J. Membr. Biol., 172(3):249-257; Chou C. C. et al., 2008, Expert Rev. Mol. Diagn., 8(2):179-187; Neylon C. B. et al., 2004, Pflugers Arch., 448(6):613-620]. Therefore, when a drug that inhibits KCa3.1 channel was administered or KCa3.1 channel was destroyed, the proliferation of cancer cells was suppressed and the progression of atherosclerosis, renal fibrosis and post-angioplasty restenosis was inhibited. [Chou C. C. et al., 2008, Expert Rev. Mol. Diagn., 8(2):179-187; Grgic I. et al., 2009, Pflugers Arch., 458(2):291-302; Kohler R. et al., 2003, Circulation, 108(9):1119-1125; Toyama K. et al., 2008, J. Clin. Invest., 118(9):3025-3037]. Further, KCa3.1 channel inhibitors eased the symptoms of autoimmune encephalomyelitis and cardiovascular diseases [Chou C. C. et al., 2008]. Therefore, substances that inhibit KCa3.1 channel are expected to be able to treat various KCa3.1 channel-mediated diseases; however, reports on substances that could effectively inhibit KCa3.1 channel are minimal.
Modafinil is currently being used to treat sleep disorders such as narcolepsy [Ballon J. S. et al., 2006, J. Clin. Psychiatry, 67(4): 554-566], and clinical tests are being performed for use in other psychiatric disorders such as cocaine dependence, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, seasonal affective disorder, bipolar depression, nicotine addiction, and schizophrenia. [Dackis C. A. et al., 2005, Neuropsychopharmacology, 30(1): 205-211; Donovan J. L. et al., 2003, Ther. Drug Monit., 25(2): 197-202; Minzenberg M. J. et al., 2008, Neuropsychopharmacology, 33(7): 1477-1502; Swanson J. M. et al., 2006, J. Clin. Psychiatry, 67(1): 137-147]. Also, some preclinical evidence indicates the possibility of modafinil use in the treatment of neurodegenerative disease, Parkinson's disease and cancer-related fatigue. [Campos M. P. et al., 2011, Rev. Assoc. Med. Bras., 57(2): 211-219; Portela M. A. et al., 2011, Curr. Opin. Support Palliat. Care, 5(2): 164-168; Wirz S. et al., 2010, Schmerz 24(6): 587-595; Zeng B. Y. et al., 2004, Neurosci. Lett., 354(1): 6-9]. Since other medications for the treatment have not yet been approved, the use of modafinil for the treatment of these psychiatric disorders is noteworthy.
In this light, because modafinil has been used as a psychostimulant for the treatment of narcolepsy, most of the research about the action mechanism of modafinil has been concentrated on the monoaminergic effect that displays modafinil stimulating histamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, dopamine, and orexin system in brain. Modafinil occupies and regulates the dopamine and norepinephrine transporters. [Madras B. K. et al., 2006, J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 319(2): 561-569; Zolkowska D. et al., 2009, J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther., 329(2): 738-746]. In addition, modafinil is known to inhibit the vitality of the human liver cytochrome p450 [Robertson P. et al., 2000, Drug Metab. Dispos., 28(6): 664-671] and to function as a neuroprotection [Anronelli T. et al., 1998, Neuroreport, 9(18): 4209-4213; van Vliet S. A. et al., 2008, Brain Res., 1189: 219-228; van Vliet S. A. et al., 2006, Behav. Pharmacol., 17(5-6): 453-462]. On the other hand, modafinil displayed the inhibition of GABA-activated currents [Huang Q. et al., 2008, Brain Res., 1208: 74-78]. However, its main action mechanism is still unclear and more research is needed to explain the effect of modafinil on cells. Furthermore, any use of modafinil for the treatment of vascular diseases or KCa3.1 channel-mediated channel-mediated diseases has not been identified prior to the present invention.
As a result of intensive research efforts to verify the possibility of modafinil as a medicine for treating vascular diseases or KCa3.1 channel-mediated diseases, the present inventors verified that modafinil increases intracellular cAMP levels, and thereby evokes relaxation of vascular smooth muscle, and KCa3.1 current inhibition by the phosphorylation of KCa3.1 channel protein. In addition, the effects to increase intracellular cAMP concentration, and thereby to induce vascular smooth muscle relaxation and KCa3.1 current inhibition have been identified in the novel derivatives thereof, thereby completing the present invention.

Composition of the treatment of vascular diseases or KCa3.1 channel-mediated diseases comprising modafinil or derivatives thereof

EWHA UNIVERSITY-INDUSTRY COLLABORATION FOUNDATION


A system of ammonia production for a selective catalytic reduction system is provided. The system includes producing an exhaust gas stream within a cylinder group, wherein the first exhaust gas stream includes NOx. The exhaust gas stream may be supplied to an exhaust passage and cooled to a predetermined temperature range, and at least a portion of the NOx within the exhaust gas stream may be converted into ammonia.

Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) provides a method for removing nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from fossil fuel powered systems for engines, factories, and power plants. During SCR, a catalyst facilitates a reaction between exhaust-gas ammonia and NOx to produce water and nitrogen gas, thereby removing NOx from the exhaust gas.
The ammonia that is used for the SCR system may be produced during the operation of the NOx-producing system or may be stored for injection when needed. Because of the high reactivity of ammonia, storage of ammonia can be hazardous. Further, on-board production of ammonia can be costly and may require specialized equipment.
One system for on-board ammonia production is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,088, issued to Kinugasa on Oct. 12, 1999 (hereinafter the '088 patent). The system of the '088 patent includes an engine having first and second cylinder groups being connected to first and second exhaust passages. The first exhaust passage includes an ammonia (NH3) synthesizing catalyst, and the two exhaust passages are merged downstream at an interconnecting exhaust passage, which includes an exhaust purifying catalyst. An additional engine, which performs a rich operation, is provided, and the exhaust gas from the additional engine is fed to the first exhaust passage upstream of the ammonia synthesizing catalyst to make the exhaust gas air-fuel ratio of the exhaust gas flowing into the ammonia synthesizing catalyst rich to thereby synthesize ammonia.
While the method of the '088 patent may reduce NOx from an exhaust stream through use of on-board ammonia production, the method of the '088 patent has several drawbacks. For example, the method of the '088 patent may produce high-temperature exhaust gas and catalyst exotherms, which may heat the ammonia synthesizing catalyst. Excessive heating of the ammonia synthesizing catalyst may cause the ammonia synthesizing catalyst to function less efficiently. Further, the '088 patent does not provide a method for controlling the temperature of the ammonia synthesizing catalyst to provide efficient ammonia production.
The present disclosure is directed at overcoming one or more of the shortcomings of the prior art ammonia production systems.

Exhaust purification with on-board ammonia production


A speech synthesizing method which synthesizes speech naturally is disclosed. Standardized frame power values of an n-th frame is calculated when frame power values at head and tail frames in a phoneme are standardized. An average value of the power values sampled from the power frequency characteristics in the n-th frame at a predetermined frequency interval is set as a mean frame power value. A sum of squares of signal levels in one frame of a frequency signal from a sound source is calculated as a frame power correction value. A speech envelope signal is calculated as a function having variables of the standardized frame power values, the frame power correction value and the mean frame power value. The speech envelope signal adjusts the amplitude level of a speech waveform signal supplied from a vocal tract filter according to the level of the speech envelope signal.

Speech waveforms of natural speech can be expressed by connecting basic units which are made by continuously connecting phonemes, one vowel (V) and one consonant (C) in a form such as "CV", "CVC" or "VCV".
Accordingly, a conversation can be created by means of synthetic speech by processing and registering such phonemes as data (phoneme data) in advance, reading out phoneme data corresponding to a conversation from the registered phoneme data in sequence, and generating sounds corresponding to respective read-out phoneme data.
To create a database based on the above-mentioned phoneme data, firstly, a given document is read by a person, and his/her speech is recorded. Then, speech signals reproduced from the recorded speech are divided into the above-mentioned phonemes. Various data indicative of these phonemes are registered as phoneme data. Then, in order to synthesize the speech, respective speech data is connected and supplied as a serial speech.
However, respective connected phonemes are segmented from the separately recorded speeches. Hence, irregularities exist in the vocal power with which the phonemes are uttered. Therefore, a problem arises that synthesized speech is unnatural when the uttered phonemes are merely connected together.
An object of the present invention is to provide a speech synthesizing method for generating natural sounding synthetic speech.


Determining the cardiac output of a patient uses first and second electrodes disposed with the peri-aortic adventitia or fat pad of the patient. Third electrode is disposed on the cardiac atrial area of the patient. Fourth electrode is placed either externally on the body surface or internally superior to electrodes one and two. A bioelectrical impedance recorder is coupled to the third and fourth electrodes to pass a current between the electrodes. A bioimpedance recorder is coupled to the first and second electrodes to measure the resulting voltage. The output of the bioelectrical impedance recorder is processed to compute a metric corresponding to the patient""s cardiac output. The third electrodes are adapted to be the cardiac pacing electrodes.

This invention relates to the monitoring of cardiac output, which can be critical in a post-cardiac surgery patient. Detection, diagnosis, and treatment of volume depletion, tamponade, and ventricular failure can be life-saving.
The measurement of cardiac output can be critical to patient care. 500,000 patients undergo cardiac surgery each year, and many of these patients receive pulmonary artery catheters to aid in hemodynamic management. There have been numerous efforts to replace the pulmonary artery catheter as the gold standard for measurements of cardiac output. Most of these techniques are inaccurate, expensive, or unreliable.
One of these, the Thoracic Electrical Bioimpedance (TEB) has never caught on because of a poor signal-to-noise ratio, low accuracy, and poor reliability. The electrical signal used for TEB is produced by variations in the volume of conductor in the chest. Unfortunately, measurement of the impedance of the chest relies on an accurate knowledge of the current path and associated electrical impedance of structures between the electrodes and the structure changing in volume. Fluid content of the lungs will effect the current path and consequently the magnitude of measured voltages. Cardiac pathology can affect right and left ventricular volumes and produce inaccuracies in the measurement.
Traditionally, TEB signals were thought to derive solely from changes in conductor volume. However, changes in the flow of conducting fluids with no change in conductor volume can effect impedance of that fluid. Flow measurements based on a change in conductor volume are critically dependent on mechanical distensibility of the structure containing the flow. If the mechanical distensibility is nonlinear (as in the aorta or heart) with pressure changes, the accuracy of the flow measurement will suffer over a wide range of pressures and flows. If the flow measurement is based on a true change in flow, the mechanical distensibility of the structure does not matter.
External thoracic electrodes for the measurement of thoracic impedance have been used for years but are not accurate or reliable. Intravascular recordings of left ventricular volume have been made but are highly invasive and only appropriate for animal or small clinical studies. Esophageal measurements have been made but had not been sufficiently accurate.
Endotracheal measurements were hypothesized by Ascher Schmulowitz, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,782,774 and 5,791,349, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein. This technology was further described in Wallace et al, Endotrachael Cardiac Output Monitor. Anesthesiology, Vol 92 No 1, p178-189, January 2000. The content of that article is also incorporated by reference herein. The Endotracheal Cardiac Output Monitor is termed the ECOM.
At the present time, the pulmonary artery catheter is the most commonly used reliable device for the measurement of cardiac output. Placement of a pulmonary artery catheter is expensive and has associated risk including: death; infection; hemorrhage; arrhythmias; carotid artery; thoracic duct, vena caval, tracheal, right atrial, right ventricular, mitral and tricuspid valvular, and pulmonary artery injury. Little evidence suggests that placement of a pulmonary artery catheter improves survival, and several suggest an increase in morbidity and mortality.
A simple, inexpensive, reliable method for the measurement of cardiac output without the associated risks and costs of a pulmonary artery catheter would be useful.
An object of the invention is to provide a method and system for the measurement of cardiac output which minimizes the disadvantages of prior art techniques.
According to the invention, there is provided an internal cardiac output monitor system, apparatus, and method (ICOM) for use in cardiac surgery patients who have temporary cardiac pacing in place, namely the pacing electrodes. Two extra wires or leads, namely first and second electrodes, are placed in relationship in the peri-aortic adventitia or fat pad. An alternating electrical current (100 kHz 2 ma) is injected from the atrial pacing wires or leads, namely the third electrode to a ground electrode (fourth). Impedance measurements are taken directly from the aorta. These measurements have a signal-to-noise ratio that is more accurate than extra-thoracic measurements. The current path is limited and relatively insensitive to changes in lung water. The changes in impedance caused by flow can be measured essentially directly. The voltage changes are induced primarily by blood flow dynamics since the current conducted between electrodes flows primarily through high-conductivity blood.
When the temporary pacing wires or leads are removed on postoperative day 4 or 5, the two extra wires or leads for the ICOM are removed at the same time. This system allows inexpensive, reliable, accurate measurement of cardiac output in postoperative cardiac patients for 4 to 5 days with minimal risk. It takes less time to place, is safer, and is less expensive than a pulmonary artery catheter.
The ICOM system is an inexpensive, accurate, reliable system to directly measure aortic impedance and derive cardiac output measurements in post-cardiac surgery patients. The placement of the two extra wires or leads in the peri-aortic adventitia or fat pad provides for accurate functioning. These wires should be separated by at least 10 mm. Both or either orthogonal-to-flow and/or parallel-to-flow placement can be used. Placement orthogonal-to-flow is superior. The impedance measurement circuit should be able to measure a delta Z signal with about 1% accuracy with a Zo of 1 ohm.
The ICOM technique controls the injected current path and measures the changes in impedance of a simple structure to produce a more reliable cardiac output measurement. This technique which increases the signal-to-noise ratio by 100 reduces the electronics cost and makes the technique more commercially viable.
The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments which makes reference to the figures.

The Regents of the University of California


An image forming apparatus using an electron source which has matrix-wired electron-emitting devices connected with wiring electrodes of conductive material, and a fluorescent member as an image forming member with an accelerating electrode on its inner surface side, opposite to the electron-emitting devices. The wiring electrodes include a wiring electrode where a semiconductive support member (spacer) is provided via a conductive connection member and a wiring electrode where the semiconductive support member is not provided. The height of the upper surface of the conductive connection member on which the semiconductive support member is provided and that of the upper surface of the wiring electrode where the semiconductive support member is not provided are the same, to prevent shift of electron-beam trajectories around the semiconductive support member, due to disturbance of electric-field distribution.

This invention relates to an electron-beam generating apparatus comprising a support member (spacer) and an image forming apparatus such as a display device, to which the electron-beam generating apparatus is applied, and, more particularly to an electron-beam generating apparatus comprising a large number of electron-emitting devices and an image forming apparatus using the electron-beam generating apparatus.

Electron generation using a fluorescent element and image forming using such electron generation


A process for making a work piece from a β-type titanium alloy material includes subjecting the β-type titanium alloy material to cold working with controlling the reduction rate thereof to vary the reduction rate depending on a position across a plain direction of the β-type titanium alloy material, and then subjecting the β-type titanium alloy material to an aging treatment.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for making a work piece from a β-type titanium alloy material that is capable of building up the hardness distribution with the hardness continuously varied across the surface of the work piece, as intended by a designer.
2. Discussion of the Background
In recent years, a demand for lighter weight and higher stiff parts is increasing in light of energy savings and environment protections. In order to meet this demand, a demand for developing a high performance material with a hardness gradient in a certain region of the material is increasing for the purpose of designing the hardness distribution suitable for each part or member.
Particularly for a plate, if the hardness and the plate thickness can be simultaneously applied as intended by a designer, bending strength, ability of vibration restraint, performance of bend or the like can be freely imparted as designed. It is needless to say that a plate with various characteristics thus imparted can be widely used.
As a conventionally used technique to impart different characteristics to the inside of a member or part, there is a technique to apply a so-called clad material formed by combining different metals (prior art 1). For example, in order to produce a clad steel plate, two or three different metal plates are layered and hot rolled into a single plate imparted with complex characteristics. This technique has come into practice for the purpose of imparting complex characteristics including corrosion resistance characteristic, magnetic characteristic, light weight characteristic and the like, rather than building up a specific hardness distribution in a member or part.
On the other hand, varying the hardness depending on the position in the same material is achievable by a hardening treatment for increased hardness, a annealing such as a spherodite annealing for decreased hardness, or other heat treatment, in which various heat conditions are employed for each intended purpose. Particularly, induction hardening treatment allows hardening of only the surface of a material, thereby achieving improved surface wear resistance (prior art 2).
It is known that a β-type titanium alloy material is subjected to cold working and aging treatment so as to have hardness controlled for increased hardness. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-54595 (prior art 3) discloses that a cold working ratio is set to 15% or higher and cold working is carried out in combination with the aging treatment. According to the teaching of this prior art 3, there is provided a desirable effect in increasing the hardness of a metal plate for assuring a required material hardness and hence the durability against crack.
As described above, the prior art 1 is directed to a technique to hot rolling of two or three different metal plates layered together into a single clad steel plate, to which complex characteristics are imparted. This means that the prior reference 1 only teaches layering of different plates, which makes it possible only to arrange materials respectively having two or three hardness conditions across the surface of a plate. Accordingly, the hardness distribution with the hardness continuously or gradually changed across the surface of a plate and hence a desired hardness distribution across the surface thereof is highly unlikely to be built up by this technique. Also, there are other problems such as difficulty in assuring hardness across the bonded interface, increased manufacturing costs and the like. Therefore, this technique is applicable only to a limited area.
In building up the hardness distribution across the surface of a material by the induction hardening treatment of the prior reference 2, although regions with different hardness values are obtainable by having regions contacting and not contacting a induction coil, it is very difficult to carry out the induction hardening treatment by precisely controlling the positioning of the induction coil corresponding to each intended region and the value of the hardness to be applied to each region. Accordingly, this induction hardening treatment is not suitable for building up the hardness distribution across the surface of a material.
Although the prior reference 3 discloses subjecting the cold working and the aging treatment to a β-type titanium alloy material for improved hardness in the entire metal plate aiming at improvement in durability against crack, it neither teaches nor suggests a technique to build up the hardness distribution across the surface of a material.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a process for making a work piece from a β-type titanium alloy material with the hardness continuously or gradually changed across the surface.

Process for making a work piece from a β-type titanium alloy material


The present invention is directed to a method for making silica glass and silica glass preforms. A liquid, preferably halide-free, silicon-containing compound capable of being converted by thermal oxidative decomposition to SiO.sub.2 is provided and introduced directly into the flame of a combustion burner, which converts the compound to silica, thereby forming finely divided amorphous soot. The soot is vaporized proximate the site where the liquid is converted into silica glass by atomizing the liquid, preferably with a stream of atomizing gas. A heater proximate the burner face and around the burner flame increases soot capture rate and allows for a reduction of the velocity of the atomizing gas. The amorphous soot is deposited on a receptor surface where, either substantially simultaneously with or subsequently to its deposition, the soot is consolidated into a body of fused silica glass.

Silicon, germanium, zirconium, and titanium metal halides are often used as vaporous reactants in forming metal oxide glasses. For example, hydrolysis of SiCl.sub.4 has been the industry preference for producing high purity silica over the years. The oxidation of SiCl.sub.4, through pyrolysis and hydrolysis, however, has the disadvantage of producing chlorine or a very strong acid by-product, hydrochloric acid (HCl). Hydrochloric acid is detrimental not only to many deposition substrates and to reaction equipment but also is harmful to the environment. Emission abatement systems have proven to be very expensive due to loss and maintenance of equipment caused by the corrosiveness of HCl.
As an alternative, high purity quartz or silica has also been produced by thermal decomposition and oxidation of silanes. However, this requires taking safety measures in handling because of the violent reaction that results from the introduction of air into a closed container of silanes. Silanes react with carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, oxygen, or water to produce high purity materials that are potentially useful in producing, among other things, semiconductor devices. However, silanes have proven to be much too expensive and reactive to be considered for commercial use except possibly for small scale applications requiring extremely high purity.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,002 to Dobbins et. al, which is relied upon and incorporated by reference, proposed alternative silica precursor materials. This patent disclosed bubbling a carrier gas through a silicon-containing reactant compound, preferably a halide-free compound such as polymethylsiloxanes, in particular, polymethylcyclosiloxanes such as hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane, octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane ("OMCTS"), and decamethylcyclopentasiloxane. A mixture of the reactant compound vapor and nitrogen is transported to the burner at the reaction site, where the reactant is combined with a gaseous fuel/oxygen mixture and combusted. U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,819 to Blackwell et al., the disclosure of which is relied upon and incorporated by reference, describes additional halide-free silicon compounds, in particular, organosilicon-nitrogen compounds having a basic Si-N-Si structure, siloxasilazones having a basic Si-N-Si-O-Si structure, and mixtures thereof, which may be used to produce high purity silica glass without the concomitant generation of corrosive, polluting by-products.
Although use of halide-free silicon compounds as feedstocks for silica glass production avoids the formation of HCl, some problems remain, particularly when the glass is intended for the formation of high purity bulk fused silica and high quality optical products such as optical waveguides. For example, as disclosed in copending U.S. patent application No. 08/574,961 entitled "Method for Purifying Polyalkylsiloxanes and the Resulting Products," which is relied upon and incorporated by reference, the presence of high boiling point impurities in, for example, a polyalkylsiloxane feedstock, can result in the formation of gel deposits in the vaporization and delivery systems carrying the vaporous reactants to the burner or within the burner itself. Such polymerizing and gelling of the siloxane feedstock inhibits the controllability and consistency of the silica manufacturing process. This problem is more prevalent when an oxidizing carrier gas such as oxygen is included in the reactant vapor stream, because oxidizers appear to catalyze polymerization of the siloxane feedstock. Such polymerizing and gelling reduces the deposition laydown rate of the bulk silica soot or soot preform that may be subsequently consolidated to a blank from which an optical waveguide is fabricated.
An additional problem encountered when silica soot or silica preforms are formed using siloxane feedstocks is that particulates of the high molecular weight, high boiling impurities may be deposited in the bulk silica soot or on the optical waveguide fiber blank, resulting in "defect" or "clustered defect." Defects or clustered defects are imperfections that adversely affect the optical and structural quality of the optical waveguides formed using the silica soot.
In copending application Ser. No. 08/767,653, the content of which is relied upon and incorporated by reference, it is disclosed that the clustered defects could be reduced by delivering a liquid siloxane feedstock to a conversion site, atomizing the feedstock at the conversion site, and converting the atomized feedstock at the conversion site into silica. One way to atomize the feedstock at the conversion site involves pneumatically or "airblast" atomizing the liquid siloxane feedstock by delivering the liquid feedstock to the conversion site with an inert gas.
Although atomizing the liquid siloxane feedstock proximate the conversion site reduces clustered defects, such a liquid delivery system presents several further challenges. For example, increasing the atomizing gas velocity desirably produces smaller liquid droplets, which are more readily vaporized and burned in the burner flame. Smaller droplets are desirable because larger droplets cause wart-like defects ("warts") on the surface of the soot blank. In addition, smaller droplets can be more easily focused with the surrounding gases to produce a more focused deposition stream. On the other hand, increasing atomizing gas velocity adds turbulence to the burner flame, which reduces the soot capture rate and is one cause of a physical soot defect known as "lizard skin." Lizard skin is a term for a rough soot blank surface.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method in which a liquid delivery system could produce a focused deposition stream containing small droplets without a high gas velocity, and in which there is low burner flame turbulence.

Method and apparatus for forming silica by combustion of liquid reactants using a heater


A vehicle includes: an input configured to receive a destination; a display; a driver assistance system configured to control a behavior of the vehicle based on surrounding environment information; and a controller configured to control the display to display a driving route. The controller may be configured to determine, when a distance between a branch point on the driving route and the vehicle reaches a first distance, a possibility that the vehicle deviates from the driving route based on GPS information, vehicle speed information, and the surrounding environment information, and search for, when the possibility is greater than or equal to a preset threshold, a deviation route for reaching the destination based on the deviated direction and control the display to display the deviation route until the distance between the branch point on the driving route and the vehicle reaches a second distance.

A vehicle is a type of transportation that can move humans, objects, or animals from one location to another while driving along a road or track. Examples of the vehicle may include a three-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle, a two-wheeled vehicle such as a motorcycle, a construction machine, a prime mover bicycle, a bicycle, and a train running on a track.
In general, a vehicle is provided with a navigation device that searches for and provides a driving route from a current location to a destination.
When the vehicle deviates from the driving path provided by the navigation device, the navigation device searches for a new path, and the driver is temporarily not provided with the driving route by continuously receiving the previously provided driving route while the navigation device re-searches the route or by receiving a re-search loading indication.
The information included in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the present disclosure and may not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.

Apparatus and method for detecting deviation vehicle


A configuration of a cloud application exposed via a public IP address is duplicated with modifications to include a private IP address to expose the application internally. The original configuration is updated so that external network traffic sent to the application is redirected to and distributed across agents running on nodes of a cloud cluster by which web application firewalls (WAFs) are implemented. A set of agents for which the respective WAFs should inspect the redirected network traffic are selected based on cluster metrics, such as network and resource utilization metrics. The redirected network traffic targets a port allocated to the agents that is unique to the application, where ports are allocated on a per-application basis so each of the agents can support WAF protection for multiple applications. Network traffic which a WAF allows to pass is directed from the agent to the application via its private IP address.

The disclosure generally relates to electric digital data processing and to security arrangements for protecting computers, components thereof, programs or data against unauthorized activity.
Attacks which target application layer processes are referred to as application layer attacks. To protect an application against application layer attacks, the application and its application programming interface (API) can be secured through deployment of an application firewall, or in the case of web applications, a web application firewall (WAF). For web applications running in a cloud environment, cloud-based WAFs can be deployed for protection against application layer attacks. Cloud applications differ from traditional software applications in that the applications are hosted in the cloud rather than locally and can be accessed via the Internet. Due to the growing trend towards cloud computing, applications are commonly developed to be cloud native, or designed to be run in a cloud environment. Cloud native applications, which can be composed of loosely coupled services/microservices, are containerized applications designed to be deployed to nodes of a cloud cluster on which the application will run and managed by a container orchestration platform.
Container orchestration platforms generally provide functionality which facilitates exposure of cloud applications either externally (i.e., made accessible to entities outside of the cluster) or internally (i.e., made accessible to entities within the cluster). For instance, a cloud application can be exposed externally through allocation of a public Internet Protocol (IP) address to the group of one or more containers of the cloud application by a cloud provider. Network traffic originating from entities external to the cluster is then routed to the cloud application via the public IP address and load balanced across the cloud application's containers by a load balancer external to the cluster (e.g., a load balancer controlled by the cloud provider). If public exposure is not desired, a cloud application can be made accessible to entities within the cluster through allocation of a private IP address to the group of one or more containers of the cloud application. Load balancing of network traffic originating within the cluster can then be managed by the container orchestration platform itself.

Dynamically scalable application firewall deployment for cloud native applications


A face recognition method is provided to use sparse representation and regularized least squares-based classification on a computing device. The method includes obtaining an image to be recognized as a test sample y and a set of training images of certain subjects as training sample matrix T, obtaining a sparse representation of the test sample and the training samples including an initial estimation of a sparse vector a, and constructing a new face dictionary comprising training samples with non-zero corresponding coefficients in the sparse vector a for the initial estimation. The method also includes obtaining new coefficients by solving a regularized least squares problem based on the constructed new face dictionary, and determining a face identity of the test sample based on minimum class residual calculated by using the new coefficients.

With the development of the computer and image processing technologies, face recognition is more and more used in security systems, interactive video applications, image editing and archiving applications, and computer vision applications, etc.
One challenging problem in face recognition is deducing a subject's identity through a provided image. Research efforts have been made on addressing practical large-scale face recognition systems in uncontrolled environments. Recently, face recognition via sparse representation-based classification (SRC) and its extensions may provide improved performance.
The SRC is based on the concept that a subject's face sample can be represented as a sparse linear combination of available images of the same subject captured under different conditions (e.g., poses, lighting conditions, etc.). The same principle can also be applied when a face image itself is represented in a lower dimensional space describing important and easily identifiable features. In order to enforce sparsity, l1 optimization algorithms can be used. Then, the face class that yields the minimum reconstruction error is selected in order to classify or identify the subject.
However, the sparse representation based face recognition often assumes that the training images are carefully controlled and that the number of samples per class is sufficiently large. In order to overcome the limitation of requiring large amounts of samples per class, this disclosure uses a sparsity-based approach combined with additional, more informative, least-squares steps to provide significant performance improvements with little additional cost.

System and method for rapid face recognition


Systems and methods provide secure, end-to-end high-speed data encoding and communication. In certain embodiments, this is accomplished by modifying a header portion of a data packet received from a first device and complying with a one Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) protocol to create a modified data packet that complies with a faster MIPI protocol. The header portion of the modified data packet is validated during a tunnel mode operation using an error detection process to validate the modified data packet, which can then be securely transmitted to a second device that complies with the faster MIPI protocol.

The present disclosure relates generally to secure high-speed data communication systems. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to data transfer and flow control in signal processing systems that utilize packet-based communication protocols for end-to-end communication.
Data packets transmitted to communicate information between system components typically have a packet structure that conforms to some transmission protocol that oftentimes includes a protection mechanism to facilitate reliable data transmission. For example, packet construction as defined by the Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) standard differs between C-physical-layer (PHY) and D-PHY packets, which utilize different protection algorithms. While D-PHY, which is used for differential signaling, protects packets that use an error correction code (ECC), C-PHY, which uses 3-level signaling, protects packets that use a cyclic redundancy check (CRC). Thus, existing MIPI methods that utilize tunneling mode end-to-end CRC/ECC protection are limited in that sensors, systems-on-chip (SoC), and similar devices must use the same MIPI protocol on both sides of a communication path.
In detail, to achieve end-to-end data protection, a CRC (or ECC) value generated by transmitting component, e.g., a sensor, must be received by a receiving component, e.g., a processor in an SoC, i.e., the same value must be passed through a serializer/deserializer (serdes) path (e.g., comprising serializer, serial link, and deserializer) without modification or regeneration. If a bit error occurs during the transmission from the sensor output to the SoC input using a serdes scheme, which is typically intended to minimize the number of I/O pins and interconnects, the ECC/CRC value on the sensor side of the transmission will not match the ECC/CRC check in the SoC.
While more and more SoCs are C-PHY technology compatible, almost all camera sensors are based on MIPI D-PHY technology, i.e., C-PHY sensors are virtually nonexistent. In practice, this limits end-to-end data protection to D-PHY speeds (e.g., 2.5 Gbps per lane), which are significantly slower than bit rates for C-PHY (e.g., 5.7 Gbps per lane). C-PHY includes an encoding scheme that allows transmission of 2.28 bits per clock cycle, whereas D-PHY transmission is limited to 1 bit per clock cycle. As a result, a common 4-lane C-PHY port can transmit at a significantly higher throughput 4×5.7 Gbps (i.e., 22.8 Gbps). In contrast, a common 4-lane D-PHY port can transmit only 4×2.5 Gbps (i.e., 10 Gbps), which is especially limiting for designs that aggregate multiple video streams in the deserializer and transmit over a MIPI PHY. For example, four GMSL2 6 Gbps (˜5.2 Gbps data throughput) cameras would need a greater than 20 Gbps MIPI interface to transmit an aggregated video stream.
Therefore, existing limitations of slower MIPI interfaces prevents system designers from securely transmitting large amounts of data in applications, such as advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) applications, which would greatly benefit from increased camera resolution and frame rates in higher ASIL systems. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have systems and methods that overcome the limitations of otherwise incompatible protocols to enable tunnel mode in end-to-end systems and facilitate reliable, high-bandwidth communication between many interconnected components, such as cameras, displays, and processors, in cell phone, video, automotive, and other applications.
FIG. 1 shows a stream of CSI-2 packets in a common data structure according to the MIPI standard. Stream 100 comprises short packets 102 and long packets 116 located between start of transmission 104 packets and end of transmission 106 packets comprising data (e.g., 112). As depicted, end of transmission 106 packets may be followed by low-power states 108. Long packets 116 comprise packet header 110, packet footer 114 and, if applicable, packet filler. The CSI-2 packets in stream 100 typically have some low-level protocol features, such as (1) (payload independent) transport of arbitrary data; (2) 8-bit word size; (3) support for up to four interleaved virtual channels on the same link; (4) special packets for frame start, frame end, line start and line end information; (5) descriptor for the type, pixel depth and format of the Application Specific Payload data; (6) 16-bit Checksum Code for error detection; and (7) 8-bit ECC for error correction (D-PHY physical layer only) and detection. Details of the packet header 110 and footer 114 for long packet 116 structure for a D-PHY physical layer are illustrated in FIG. 2A. FIG. 2B shows a header 252 for short packet structure 250 for a D-PHY physical layer.
Data identifier (ID) 202 in long packet structure 200 in FIG. 2A is an 8-bit data identifier (DI) that contains 2-bit Virtual Channel (VC) and 6-bit Data Type (DT) information. VC (bits 7:6) denotes the least significant two bits of the 4-bit Virtual Channel Identifier for the D-PHY physical layer option. DT (bits 5:0) denotes the format/content of the Application Specific Payload Data. Used by the application specific layer. A receiver reads the next 16-bit word count (WC) 204 data words independent of their values. The receiver is does not look for any embedded sync sequences within the payload data and uses the WC value to determine the end of the Packet Payload. 6-bit error correction code (ECC) in field 206 (bits 5:0) enables 1-bit errors within the 32-bit packet header 208 to be corrected and 2-bit errors to be detected. 2-bit VC Extension (VCX). VCX in field 206 (bits 7:6) is the most significant two bits of the 4-bit VC Identifier for the D-PHY physical layer option. Application specific payload 210 comprises packet data 214 having a length that equals the word count (WC) times the data word width (8-bits). There are no restrictions on the values of the data words. Checksum/CRC 212 comprises a 16-bit packet footer 216.
Packet header and footer details for long and packet structure for a C-PHY physical layer are illustrated in FIG. 3A. 5-bit Reserved Field (RES) (bits 7: 3) in field 302 is set to zero and reserved for future use. The 3-bit VCX field (bits 2:0) in field 302 is the most significant three bits of the 5-bit VC Identifier for the C-PHY physical layer option. 8-bit DI 304, used by the application specific layer, contains the 2-bit VC and the 6-bit DT Information. VC (bits 7:6) is the least significant two bits of the 5-bit Virtual Channel Identifier for the C-PHY physical layer option. DT (bits 5:0) denotes the format/content of the Application Specific Payload Data. Regarding the 16-bit WC 306, 312 the receiver reads the next WC 8-bit data words following the Packet Header and uses the WC value to determine the end of the Packet Payload. 16-bit CRC Code 308, 314 for the Packet Header is computed over the Reserved, Data ID, and Word Count fields (4 bytes) to enable detecting multi-bit errors. The physical layer simultaneously inserts a sync word on all N lanes after CRC code 308, 314, as a result of executing a CSI-2 PPI command.
The 16-bit packet footer comprises a 16-bit packet data CRC 318 that is computed over WC packet data words. Packet footer 318 is followed by filler 320, 322 that comprises FC 8-bit bytes added to ensure that all lanes transport the same number of 16-bit words. Application specific payload 316 comprises packet data having a length that equals the WC*data word width (8-bits). As with the D-PHY packet structure, there are no restrictions on the values of the data words.
FIG. 3B illustrates the details of the short packet structure for a C-PHY physical layer. VCX field 352 is LS 3 bits and all RES are zero. Short packet 350 has 6N×16-bits 350, where N is the physical layer count. The physical layer simultaneously inserts a 7-symbol sync word on all N lanes after the 16-bit CRC code, in response to a single CSI-2 PPI command.
The C-PHY and D-PHY protocols not only use slightly different header information, but they also use different protection algorithms. The D-PHY packet header is protected with a 6-bit ECC value, whereas the C-PHY packet header is protected with a 16-bit CRC value. The data protected in the header information is the same with the exception of the 5-bit "RES" field in C-PHY packets. This field is reserved for "future use" and as of the CSI-2 v3.0 spec release, all 5 bits are set to zero.


Devices with mechanical drivers for displaceable elements are described. In one aspect, a device includes a displaceable element, a driver, and a controller. The driver includes a plurality of actuatable drive elements. Each drive element has a respective engagement area that is operable to move from a respective start position to a respective end position and back to the start position. During movement from the start position to the end position the engagement area is engaged with the displaceable element and applies a mechanical force urging the displaceable element to move. During movement from the end position to the start position the engagement area is disengaged from the displaceable element. The controller is configured to choreograph the operation of the actuatable drive elements in moving the displaceable element.

Mechanical drivers (or motors) are used in a wide variety of different applications ranging from optics, microscopy, robotics, and analytical instruments. In many of these applications, it is desirable for the mechanical driver to be small in size and light in weight, while being operable to move and position one or more components within a device with moderate speed and high precision.
Semiconductor fabrication technology is being used to develop devices that include mechanical drivers that are formed with micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) that have micron-scale features. Various MEMS-based devices, such as actuators, acoustic devices, filters, resonators and sensors, are formed of active materials that change in size or shape in response to applied energy, which may be in the form of an electrical field, a magnetic field, an electromagnetic field, or thermal energy. Induced strain actuators (or morphs) bend as a result of internal moments that are induced by the applied energy. Induced strain actuators convert induced strains into moments that cause the constituent active materials to bend in a controlled way. Induced strain actuators may be formed of, for example, piezoelectric materials, ferroelectric materials, electrorestrictive materials, magnetorestrictive materials, and thermally expansive materials.
Different types of MEMS-based micro-motor designs have been proposed. Many such micro-motor designs are driven by electrostatic forces. In a typical approach, the micro-motor includes a rotor and a stator. The stator includes electrodes that are placed around the rotor. A voltage differential is applied between a selected group of stator electrodes and the rotor. The voltage differential creates an electric field that rotates the rotor into alignment with the selected group of stator electrodes. The rotor is rotated continuously by powering different sets of stator electrodes in a synchronized way.
In another approach, a linear bi-directional motor is driven by one or more MEMS-based induced strain actuators. These actuators incorporate a plurality of multi-clamps that ride on and alternately engage rails that are located on the base of the motor. The multi-clamps are driven by electrically energized auxiliary actuators. The operation of the multi-clamps is synchronized with the operation of a main actuator that alternately extends and contracts. The coordinated operation the main and auxiliary actuators results in incremental movement of the multi-clamp assembly along the rails.

Avago Technologies Sensor IP (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.