A technique for enhanced data mining of large scale relational databases is described. User defined functions (UDF) are created by a user and distributed by a managing node of a database to each node of the database. Upon the issuance of a prespecified SQL command, the UDF is executed by each node relative to the data controlled by each node. Specifically, targeted tuples in the data controlled by each node are scored based on criteria contained in the UDF. A new data field is added to each target tuple, and the score is placed therein. The score is then used to determine whether, for example, a customer which is represented by the tuple should be included in an advertising campaign or to tailor a mailing to a customer based on the score contained in the new data field.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for executing a data mining algorithm using structured query language (SQL) in a relational database. More particulary, the present invention relates to a technique by which a data mining algorithm may be implemented relative to a relational database without significantly degrading database performance.
2. Description of the Related Art
The sheer size of databases has been growing in recent years. For example, it is relatively common for businesses to have databases of data that are measured in terabyte. These databases may comprise customer information, employee information, stock holder information, etc.
Using customer information as an example, even before the computer revolution, customer information and lists and the like have long been recognized as extremely valuable corporate assets. In theory, it should follow that computers should be able to exploit databases of customer information for enhanced marketing purposes, more concise customer mailings (preventing duplicate mailings), etc. However, this can be extremely complex. A single entry can include a large number of distinct data entries or fields. This number can easily exceed 100. The huge volumes of data overwhelm traditional methods of data analysis (spreadsheets, ad hoc queries in relational DBMSs, multidimensional analysis tools, statistical analysis packages).
Relatively recently, data mining was introduced as a technique that can intelligently and automatically transform data into information. Data mining is the search for relationships and global patterns that exist in large databases, but are hidden among vast amounts of data. Data mining extracts previously unknown, and potentially useful info (eg, rules, constraints, correlations, patterns, signatures and irregularities), focussing on automated methods for extracting patterns and/or models from data.
The data mining community has focussed mainly on automated methods for extracting patterns and/or models from data. The state-of-the-art technique in automated methods of data mining is still in a fairly early stage of development. The primary goals of data mining in practice are prediction and description. Prediction involves using some variables or fields in the database to predict unknown or future values of other variables of interest. Description focuses on finding interpretable patterns that describe the data. The relative importance of prediction and description for particular data mining applications can vary considerably. In business, a successful data mining method is known as xe2x80x9cMarket Basket Research.xe2x80x9d Market Basket Research analyzes customer transactions for patterns or xe2x80x9cassociation rulesxe2x80x9d which help make business decisions (e.g., choose sale items, design coupons, arrange shelves, etc.); this is also known as association rules mining.
For example, data mining can be performed by a company relative to its customer database to determine, based on customer data stored in the database, which customers are most likely to be to good candidates for a new product, and focus marketing efforts on these customers. In data mining, an algorithm is often created which defines the desired mining. In practice, this algorithm can be quite complex. Commonly, the algorithm goes through each customer record and creates a score relative to each customer, which is utilized to determine whether to market the product to the customer.
Typically, the data mining algorithm is embodied in an application which is external to the database. One data mining product which adopts this method is the Intelligent Miner product from International Business Machines (IBM). The external application xe2x80x98scoresxe2x80x99 the database from an existing model. These applications utilize an SQL cursor and fetches each record or tuple to be scored sequentially.
However, a number of problems and limitations are associated with current data mining techniques. Databases are getting larger and larger. It is not uncommon to find databases that include terabyte of data. When a data mining operation is attempted relative to a database of such magnitude, a number of things occur. With known techniques, the performance of the target database is seriously degraded. Normal business use becomes is degraded, and the amount of time it takes for a data mining operation to complete is relatively large. One solution to the performance problem has been to write the data from the database out to a flat file, and the data mining operation is then performed relative to the flat file. But this has a number of drawbacks. This technique requires a great amount of processor and memory capacity. Further, with the added levels of complexity involved with creating the flat file, moving the results back to the database, etc., the possibility of operator error and thus contaminated results increases significantly.
Further, the approach whereby an SQL cursor and fetches each tuple to be scored sequentially severely impacts performance in a multiple CPU relational database environment, as each record can only be recovered sequentially.
Accordingly, a need exists for a database mining technique which does not degrade performance and simplifies the application of a data mining algorithm relative to a database.
An object of the present invention is to provide a technique for enable data mining of large databases without degrading database performance.
Another object of the invention is to provide a simplified technique for implementing data mining of large databases.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the description and the drawings which follow, and, in part, will be obvious from the description or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To achieve the forgoing objects, and in accordance with the purpose of the invention as broadly described herein, the present invention provides a system, method and computer readable code for for performing an enhanced data mining operation of a database distributed over a plurality of nodes, the database comprising a managing node and a plurality of nodes which control access to data in the database, comprising first subprocesses for registering a user defined function with the managing node; second subprocesses for distributing the user defined function from the managing node to each of the plurality of nodes of the database; third subprocesses for initiating the user defined function at each of the plurality of nodes based on a command input to the managing node; fourth subprocesses for adding a data field to each tuple which is to be scored by the user defined function; fifth subprocesses for scoring each tuple targeted by the user defined function; and sixth subprocesses for storing each tuple""s score in the newly defined data field. The system may also comprise seventh subprocesses for analyzing each tuple""s score and performing an action relative to data contained in each tuple should the tuple""s score fit a predetermined score criteria. Each tuple may represent a customer, and if the tuple""s score is within a certain range of values, the customer is selected for participation in a marketing plan. Alternatively, each tuple may represent a customer, and the customer is selected for participation in a different marketing plan based on the tuple""s score. Further, each tuple may represent a customer, a different advertisement may be associated with defined ranges of scores, and the customer may be sent an advertisement based on the tuple""s score.
The present invention will now be described with reference to the following drawings, in which like reference numbers denote the same element throughout.

Technique for data mining of large scale relational databases using SQL

International Business Machines Corporation


A method and system for regulating the flow of calls in a communications network. At least one calling area is assigned to each call response center of each service provider. Call regulating functionality is provided in communication with each call response center of each service provider and includes a set of parameters assigned to each calling area served by the call response center as well as a corresponding call regulating algorithm for the assigned calling areas. The call regulating functionality is operative to detect a call from a calling party to a service provider, determine the assigned calling area of the calling party for that service provider, determine the call response center and determine the current values of the assigned parameters for the calling areas assigned to the call response center. Based on these values and the call regulating algorithm, a decision is made whether to proceed with the call to the call response center, route the call to a corresponding holding queue, or route a call previously held in a holding queue.

Anyone who has ever placed a telephone call to a service provider such as, for example, a utility, ticket ordering service or radio station has likely experienced the unpleasant and undesired response of a busy signal. This occurs because the existing communication network, which in most cases is the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), has no mechanism to regulate the flow of such calls. As a result, the network and more particularly, the lines that serve the corresponding call response center of the service provider become overloaded. The caller is therefore unable to reach the desired call response center.
In emergency situations, such as, for example, E-911 calls, network overload poses an even greater danger in that an injured party may not be able to reach a Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP) to receive assistance. As those skilled in the art will recognize, the E-911 emergency response network in use today relies on dedicated trunk circuits from every end office (also called a central office switch or switching center) to regional routing switches and then onto the appropriate Public Safety Answering Point. This architecture is implemented by most regional Bell operating companies.
Typically, each end office is designed to have a minimum of two trunk circuits running from the end office to a regional 911 selective router. In more populated areas, some offices may have more than two trunk circuits depending upon traffic analysis. In any event, these two or more dedicated trunk circuits which are used for E-911 calls only, provide a guaranteed throughput of two simultaneous calls from each area. The trunk circuits also provide a threshold which limits the maximum number of simultaneous calls from a particular area. As readily seen, this limiting capability is necessary to prevent too many calls from an area flooding the PSAP lines, thereby preventing other E-911 calls originating from other areas from being routed to the call response center.
Because the current dedicated trunk network for E-911 calls that is part of the PSTN network is fixed, however, there is no way to adjust the allowed flow of E-911 calls from each area. Specifically, there is no way to adjust the allowed flow to take into consideration expected changes in call activity, i.e., increases or decreases based on times of day, days of the week, or in relationship to major public gatherings. Nor does the existing network permit real time changes in the allowed flow of calls to account for unexpected events such as, for example, mass emergencies i.e. earthquakes, fires, etc.
Historical 911 call data, however, shows that call patterns do exist. For example, during major sporting events, E-911 calls have been found to drop in the area immediately surrounding the sports arena. However, after an event concludes, emergency calls from those areas around the arena have been found to increase dramatically. Similarly, in urban areas, emergency calls from downtown nightclubs and restaurants have been found to be lower during weekday daylight hours, yet increase dramatically during evening hours, especially on the weekends. In short, emergency calls are known to increase in frequency from areas where the public concentrates, especially at places and times where alcohol and activity are involved. In all other areas, where there is less population, the frequency of emergency calls is less.
Unfortunately, the current dedicated trunk network described above, is fixed by the number of physical trunk circuits from each end office. Accordingly, there is no flexibility to allow and control variations in the amount of simultaneous calls from a particular area at a given time to a given call response center.
In short, there is no throttling mechanism provided in the prior art to regulate the flow of non E-911 calls to call response centers of a service provider. While throttling is provided with respect to E-911 calls, it is wholly deficient for the reasons discussed above.
Consequently, a need exists for a method and system for regulating the flow of calls from a calling party to a service provider having one or more call response centers. Such a method and system should be capable of being implemented using the public network switching and signalling and provide dynamic threshold call regulating control to allow a customer to pre-schedule different thresholds of current active calls for each area for different days, times, and events. Such a method and system should further provide an administrator the ability to make real time changes in the above described thresholds to account for unexpected events such as, for example, mass emergencies and other events which result in substantially increased or decreased call activity.

Method and system for regulating incoming calls from multiple points of origination


A lighting device and a display device are provided. The lighting device includes: a light source; a light dividing member; and a beam shaper. The light dividing member includes a light receiving surface, on which light is incident, and divides the incident light into a plurality of light beam groups each having a predetermined width and interval therebetween. The beam shaper is disposed between the light source and the light dividing member. Light from the light source is incident on the beam shaper, and light emitted form the beam shaper is parallel and has a cross-sectional shape corresponding to the shape of the light receiving surface of the light dividing member.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to a lighting device which divides light into a plurality of monochromatic light beams, such that each beam corresponds to a pixel and a display device which employs the lighting device and has improved light usage efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flat panel displays are classified as emissive displays, which form images by emitting light themselves, or as non-emissive displays, which form images by receiving light from an external source. For example, a non-emissive flat panel display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) requires an additional light source such as a backlight unit.
Since non-emissive flat panel display devices cannot use all the light emitted by the light source efficiently, they have low light usage efficiency.
For example, LCDs are manufactured by injecting liquid crystal material between substrates on which electrodes are disposed. Liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal material are moved by an electric field generated by applying a voltage between two electrodes, and thus, an image can be displayed by altering the transmissivity of light according to a state of the liquid crystal molecule. The liquid crystal layer within an LCD acts as a shutter to block or transmit polarized light, as the polarization properties of the liquid crystal layer are altered based on the voltage applied between the electrodes. Polarization plates are formed on both surfaces of the LCD. Since the polarization plates formed on both surfaces of the LCD transmit light polarized in one direction and absorbs light polarized in other directions, they are absorbing polarization plates. The absorbing polarization plates absorb about 50% of the emissive light, and therefore, an LCD employing the same has a low light efficiency.
In order to realize a color image, an LCD includes Red (R), Green (G) and Blue (B) color filters. The color filters are formed using dyes and pigments. Each color filter only transmits light corresponding to a color having a corresponding wavelength. Thus, they each absorb ⅔ of the light incident thereon, which provides another source of low light efficiency.

Lighting device and display device employing the same


A stent, which has an easier and better bendability and higher flexibility than known stents, has several meander paths (2,2a,2b,2c) successively arranged in the axial direction (A) and extending over its circumference (U), and between axially facing areas (3,3a,3'a,3b), interconnected by connecting areas (4,4a,4b,4c), of the meander paths (2,2a,2b,2c) in the circumferential direction (U) there are at least two facing, non-interconnected areas (3,3a,3'a,3b) of each meander path (2,2a,2b,2c)

Such stents or implantable catheters, which can be inserted in a body cavity, a vessel or the like, can be made from plastic or an inert metal, such as steel or nickel-titanium alloys. Such stents are in particular known as endovascular or endoluminal stents or intraluminal tubes. The stents are e.g. used for widening the ureter in the prostate region in the case of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) or in the case of sclerotic blood vessels for widening and keeping open the same. The stents have material areas and gaps between them. Thus, the parietal tissue of the organ kept open can grow round the stent. Stents can have a spiral construction or can be in the form of a helically wound coil. They can also be made from woven, knitted or braided wire or plastic material. Such stents can have memory characteristics, such as e.g. occur with certain nickel-titanium alloys (nitinol).
A problem with such stents is their limited bendability, particularly on introducing through narrow organs, such as blood vessels, at the point where a widening can take place. There is a risk that on bending the stent bends in in the center as a result of the action of axially vertically directed forces, in that its cross-sectional area is reduced in the direction of the acting forces, but is widened perpendicular thereto and to the axial direction thereof. This can make insertion more difficult and can also damage the surrounding tissue, particularly if the stent is to be inserted in a bend area of the vessel or the like. Stents are relatively stiff and inflexible. This more particularly applies with stents having a rhombic structure, which are e.g. produced by cutting from nickel-titanium sheeting and have memory characteristics.


Disclosed are a flexible array substrate, a preparation method thereof, and a flexible display panel. The flexible array substrate comprises a plurality of pixel island regions sequentially arranged, with a flexible region being disposed between adjacent pixel island regions, wherein each of the pixel island regions comprises a gate electrode, and the flexible region comprises a first connecting wire, an elastic layer disposed on the first connecting wire, and a second connecting wire disposed on the elastic layer, wherein a plurality of interlayer via holes are disposed in the elastic layer, an elastic conductive pillar is disposed in each of the interlayer via holes, the elastic conductive pillar is conductively connected to the first connecting wire and the second connecting wire respectively, and the first connecting wire and/or the second connecting wire are/is connected to the gate electrodes of adjacent pixel island regions.

In the technical field of display, liquid crystal display (LCD) devices and organic light emitting diode (OLED) display devices have gradually replaced cathode ray tube (CRT) displays. An OLED display device has advantages of self-luminescence, low driving voltage, high luminescence efficiency, short response time, high definition and contrast, a view angle of nearly 180°, wide range of operating temperature and so on, and can enable a large-area full color display, so it has a prospect of becoming a next generation panel display technology after the LCD technology. Thus, the OLED display technology is one of the panel display technologies attracting more attentions. Active matrix organic light emitting diode (AMOLED) display device is one kind of OLED display devices, and is essentially consisted of a thin film transistor (TFT) and an OLED. With continuous development of display technologies, the AMOLED technology is more and more used in flexible display.

Flexible array substrate, preparation method thereof, and flexible display panel


A tube connecting device includes a first tubular connector and a second tubular connector which extends into the first connector and which is formed with an annular peripheral groove that is registered with a pair of radial openings in the first connector. Each of a pair of press arms has one end mounted pivotally to the first connector adjacent to a respective one of the radial openings and formed with a cam face. Each of the press arms is pivotable to a locking position in which the cam face thereof extends into the peripheral groove via the respective radial opening so as to press against the second connector. Each of a pair of retaining units includes a positioning rod which is provided slidably in a positioning bore that is formed in an inner side of a respective press arm. A biasing unit biases the positioning rod so that an end portion of the latter engages a respective retaining seat which projects outwardly from the first connector when the respective press arm is in the locking position.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a tube connecting device, more particularly to an improved tube connecting device which can be easily installed and which provides firm and stable connection between two tubes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional tube connecting device is shown to comprise first and second tubular connector members (1, 5), each of which is connected to one end of a corresponding tube (shown in phantom lines). The first connector member (1) has a receiving end portion (2) and two opposite pairs of pivot ears (3) that project outwardly from the latter. A radial opening (4) is formed between each pair of pivot ears (3). The second connector member (5) extends into the receiving end portion (2) and has an outer surface which is formed with an annular peripheral groove (6). The peripheral groove (6) has an inwardly curved inner end and is registered with the radial openings (4). The tube connecting device further includes a pair of press arms (7), each of which having one end mounted pivotally to a respective one of the pairs of pivot ears (3) and formed with a cam face (8). When the press arms (7) are pivoted to a locking position, the cam faces (8) extend into the peripheral groove (6) via the respective radial opening (4) so as to press against the second connector member (5) at the peripheral groove (6), thereby securing the second connector member (5) to the first connector member (1).
Note that in the above described conventional tube connecting device, the pressing force that is applied by the cam faces (8) is used to secure the second connector member (5) to the first connector member (1). However, no retaining device is provided so as to prevent untimely movement of the press arms (7). Therefore, untimely disengagement between the cam faces (8) and the peripheral groove (6) can occur, thereby resulting in the untimely disengagement of the first and second connector members (1, 5)
In order to overcome the above mentioned drawback, the construction of the conventional tube connecting device shown in FIG. 1 has been modified, as best illustrated in FIG. 2. The first connector member (1') is provided with a pair of opposite retaining projections (9). Each of the retaining projections (9) is formed with a longitudinal through bore (11). Each of the press arms (7') is provided with an opening (12) to permit a corresponding one of the retaining projections (9) to extend therein when the press arms (7') are in the locked position Each of the press arms (7') is further provided with a hook end (13) and a fastening ring (14) provided on the hook end (13).
Referring to FIG. 3, the retaining projections (9) extend into the openings (12) in the press arms (7') after the press arms (7') have been pivoted to the locking position. One end of each of the fastening rings (14) is then extended into the through bore (11) of a respective one of the retaining projections (9), thereby retaining the press arms (7') on the first connector member (1') so as to prevent untimely movement of the former.
Note that although untimely movement of the press arms (7') can be prevented, the act of inserting one end of the fastening rings (14) into the through bore (11) of the respective retaining projection (9) can complicate the installation of the tube connecting device. The conventional tube connecting device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 is thus inconvenient to use.


A stretch nonwoven fabric 10 contains inelastic fibers having a varied thickness along the length and elastic fibers. The nonwoven fabric 10 preferably includes an elastic fiber layer 1 and a substantially inelastic, inelastic fiber layer 2 on at least one side of the elastic fiber layer 1. The fibers with a varied thickness along the length are contained in the inelastic fiber layer 2. The nonwoven fabric 10 is conveniently produced by (a) superposing a web containing low-drawn, inelastic fibers having an elongation of 80% to 800% on at least one side of a web containing elastic fibers, (b) subjecting the webs, while in a non-united state, to through-air technique to obtain a fibrous sheet having the webs united together by thermal bonding the fibers at their intersections, and (c) stretching the fibrous sheet in at least one direction to draw the low-drawn inelastic fibers, followed by releasing the sheet from the stretch.

An elastically stretchable composite sheet composed of an elastic sheet, which is formed of an elastically stretchable film or elastically stretchable continuous filaments, and a fiber aggregate having inelastic extensibility has been proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,730,390B1. The elastic sheet and the fiber aggregate are bonded to each other at discretely arranged bonds. The fibers making up the fiber aggregate are long fibers continuously extending between every adjacent bonds while describing irregular curves. The long fibers are independent of one another without being solvent welded nor thermally bonded between the bonds.
According to U.S. Pat. No. 6,730,390B1, because the long fibers of the fiber aggregate describe irregular curves between the bonds, the fiber aggregate does not interfere with the composite sheet stretch. However, since the long fibers of the fiber aggregate are independent of one another between the bonds, the elastically stretchable composite sheet has low strength against tension. The peel strength between the fiber aggregate and the elastic sheet is also low. Furthermore, the long fibers are liable to be raised between the bonds to cause a fuzzy appearance, which gives an unattractive impression.
Apart from the above described elastically stretchable composite sheet, various types of stretch nonwoven fabric containing elastic fibers made of elastomer resins are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,663,220A discloses an elastomeric nonwoven fabric including microfibers comprising an extrudable elastomeric composition containing at least about 10% by weight of an A-B-A block copolymer and a polyolefin. Containing a polyolefin, the microfibers cannot be designed to have sufficient stretch characteristics.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,775A proposes a composite elastic material which includes (1) an anisotropic elastic fibrous web having a layer of elastomeric meltblown fibers and a layer of elastomeric filaments and (2) a gatherable layer joined to the anisotropic elastic fibrous web. The material used to make the elastomeric filaments includes 40% to 80% by weight elastomeric polymer and 5% to 40% by weight resin tackifier. Containing a resin other than the elastomeric resin, the elastomeric filaments cannot be designed to have sufficient stretch characteristics.
JP 2002-361766A discloses a stretchable composite sheet including an elastic sheet formed of fiber or film containing 60% to 99% by weight of a styrene elastomer having a styrene content of 10% to 40% by weight and a number average molecular weight of 70,000 to 150,000. The fiber or film contains a material other than the styrene elastomer, such as an olefinic resin or an oil component. On account of the material other than the elastomeric material, the stretchable composite sheet cannot be designed to have sufficient stretch characteristics.
JP 4-11059A discloses a stretch nonwoven fabric formed of fibers of a styrene elastomer. The styrene elastomer is obtained by preparing a block copolymer composed of a styrene-based polymer block A and an isoprene-based polymer block B and hydrogenating the isoprene double bonds. The nonwoven fabric has a low modulus and cannot be regarded as having sufficient hysteresis of extension and retraction.


The invention relates to a novel method for the synthesis of N-{1-[bis(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]azetidin-3-yl}-N-(3,5-difluorophenyl)methylsulfonamide.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to processes for preparing azetidine derivatives of N-(1-benzhydrylazetidin-3-yl)-N-phenylmethylsulfonamide (I) and in particular N-{1-[bis(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]azetidin-3-yl}-N-(3,5-difluorophenyl)methylsulfonamide.
2. Description of the Art
These products are described in patent application WO 01/64634, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. These products are known as having high affinity for cannabinoid receptors and particularly those of CB1 type and are thus useful in the treatment and prevention of disorders affecting the central nervous system, the immune system, the cardiovascular or endocrine system or the respiratory system, and reproductive disorders. Thus, these compounds may be used for treating or preventing psychoses, including schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, depression, epilepsy, neurodegeneration, cerebellar and spinocerebellar disorders, cognitive disorders, head injuries, panic attacks, peripheral neuropathy, glaucoma, migraine, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's chorea, Reynaud's disease, tremor, obsessive compulsive disorder, senile dementia, thymus disorders, Toureffe's syndrome, tardive dyskinesia, bipolar disorders, cancers, drug-induced locomotor disorders, dystonia, endotoxaemic shock, hemorrhagic shock, hypotension, insomnia, immunological diseases, multiple sclerosis, vomiting, asthma, eating disorders (bulimia or anorexia), obesity, memory disorders, in weaning from chronic treatments and alcohol or drug (opioids, barbiturates, cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, phencyclidine, hallucinogen or benzodiazepines, for example) abuse, as analgesics or as potentiators of the analgesic activity of narcotic and non-narcotic drugs.
The present invention also relates to the use of N-{1-[bis(4-chlorophenyl)methyl]azetidin-3-yl}-N-(3,5-difluorophenyl)methylsulfonamide in the treatment of metabolic syndrome and visceral obesity.

Method and intermediates for the preparation of derivatives of N (1-benzhydrylazetidin-3-yl)-N-phenylmethylsulfonamide


Aspects of the technology described herein relate to ultrasound device circuitry as may form part of a single substrate ultrasound device having integrated ultrasonic transducers. The ultrasound device circuitry may facilitate the generation of ultrasound waveforms in a manner that is power- and data-efficient.

Conventional ultrasonic scanners dominating the ultrasound imaging industry have discrete transducers and control electronics. The transducers are often piezoelectric. As a result, the scanners are made using "dice and fill" manufacturing processes in which individual piezoelectric elements are cut and then positioned individually on a substrate to form a transducer probe. Such processes are prone to the cost, non-uniformity, and non-scalability of machining and wiring. Control electronics are typically not integrated with the transducers, but rather formed and housed separately.
Ultrasound transducer probes used for medical applications typically comprise many ultrasound elements each configured to emit ultrasound signals that collectively produce a medically relevant ultrasound field used to produce ultrasound images for medical applications. Typically, each ultrasound transducer is configured to emit an ultrasound waveform generated by a corresponding waveform generator. Thus, many waveform generators are needed to produce an ultrasound field with a conventional ultrasound transducer probe having many ultrasound elements.

Architecture of single substrate ultrasonic imaging devices, related apparatuses, and methods


An implantable microstimulator arrangement includes at least one implantable microstimulator unit; an implantable battery unit separate from the implantable microstimulator unit(s); and at least one lead coupling the microstimulator unit(s) to the battery unit. The microstimulator unit(s) are operated to treat body tissue.

Implantable microstimulators have been developed to provide therapy for a variety of disorders, as well as other treatments. For example, implantable microstimulators can be used in neurological therapy by stimulating nerves or muscles, for urinary urge incontinence by stimulating nerve fibers proximal to the pudendal nerves of the pelvic floor, for erectile and other sexual dysfunctions by stimulating the cavernous nerve(s), for reduction of pressure sores or venous stasis, etc.
Implantable microstimulators, such as the BION® device (available from Advanced Bionics Corporation, Sylmar, Calif.), have exposed electrodes and a small, often cylindrical, housing that contains the electronic circuitry and power source that produce electrical pulses at the electrodes for stimulation of the neighboring tissue. It is often preferable that the microstimulator be as small as possible to provide stimulation to the desired tissue without substantially disturbing surrounding tissue. Therefore, the battery for the microstimulator is typically small and often rechargeable. In many instances, the battery must be recharged every day or several days, at least in part because of its small size.

Implantable microstimulator having a battery unit and methods of use therefor

Boston Scientific Neuromodulation Corporation


The present disclosure relates to computing resource allocation methods, devices, and systems. One example system includes a management node and a target computing node. The management node is configured to obtain M computing tasks and establish a resource assessment model, and send one or more computing tasks of the M computing tasks and information about the resource assessment model to the target computing node. The target computing node is configured to receive the one or more computing tasks and the information about the resource assessment model, substitute input data of a particular computing stage of a target task into the resource assessment model to compute a resource size required for the particular computing stage, and compute the input data by using a computing resource that is of the resource size and that is in a preset resource pool.

Hadoop is a distributed system infrastructure developed by the Apache Foundation, and can perform distributed processing on a large amount of data. A core design of Hadoop is a Hadoop distributed file system (English: Hadoop Distributed File System, HDFS for short) and a MapReduce programming model. The HDFS provides storage for massive volumes of data, and MapReduce provides computing for massive volumes of data. Generally, MapReduce of Hadoop processes a group of input key-value pairs (key/value pairs), and after processing by using a MapReduce function specified by a user, finally outputs a group of key-value pairs. MapReduce actually defines a map function interface and a reduce function interface, a map function is used to convert an input record to obtain an intermediate result, and a reduce function is used to convert an intermediate result to a final result. Therefore, the user simply specifies the map function and the reduce function by using a parameter to compute data. As shown in FIG. 1, a map task (Map task) in the figure is implemented by the map function, and a reduce task (Reduce task) in the figure is implemented by the reduce function.
DREAMS is a resource scheduling framework that extends a Yet Another Resource Negotiator (English: Yet Another Resource Negotiator, YARN for short). As shown in FIG. 2, DREAMS is used to resolve a problem of resource allocation imbalance at a reduce stage in MapReduce. In DREAMS, the following is proposed: Real-time prediction is performed on a size of a data volume processed by each reduce task, and then a size of a computing resource container required when each reduce task is executed is assessed by using a task performance assessment model based on the size of the data volume. An execution procedure thereof is as follows:
Step 1: Each node manager (English: NodeManager, NM for short) runs a partition size monitor (Partition Size Monitor) module to monitor data information output by all map tasks, and send the data information to a partition size predictor (Partition Size Predictor) module at an application master (English: Application Master, AM for short) end by using a heartbeat of the NM.
Step 2: The partition size predictor receives data information sent by partition size monitors on all NMs, and performs real-time prediction on a data volume size of each reduce task according to the data information.
Step 3: A task duration estimator on the AM establishes, according to a data volume size of each reduce, a resource model used for computing a resource size.
Step 4: A resource allocator (Resource Allocator) module on the AM predicts, according to the data volume size of each reduce task by using the resource model, a size of a computing resource required for each reduce task.
Step 5: The AM communicates with a fine-grained container scheduler (Fine-grained Container Scheduler) communication module on a resource manager (English: ResourceManager, RM for short), to apply for a computing resource container required for each reduce task.
Step 6: The AM notifies, to a computing node on which each reduce task is distributed, the computing resource required for each reduce task.
Step 7: The computing node on which each reduce is located executes the reduce task according to a specified computing resource.
A disadvantage of the prior art lies in that execution of some reduce tasks is divided into multiple computing stages, and complexities of algorithms used for computing at the computing stages are different. Correspondingly, computing resources required for computing at the computing stages may also be different. If a required computing resource is allocated to an entire execution stage of a reduce task before the reduce task is executed, a waste of the computing resource is caused.

Mapreduce job resource sizing using assessment models


A cap for a blood-sampling tube has a collar adapted to fit on the tube and a tubular extension extending from the cap, defining an axis and having an outer end remote from the cap. An annular wall is formed inside the cap spaced from the outer end and an annular lip projects axially backward from the outer end and has an outer surface spaced radially inward of an inner surface of the extension and an axially directed inner end. A pierceable flat membrane in the extension on the annular wall snugly engages the inner surface of the extension and has an outer face spaced axially from the inner end of the lip. The lip has an inner surface defining a cylindrical passage of a predetermined diameter and the wall has an inner edge defining a similarly dimensioned coaxial annular passage.

As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,812 a standard blood-collecting kit comprises a sampling tube or vial having an open end, a cap fitted over this end and having a pierceable membrane, and a needle holder that is in turn fitted to the cap. The needle assembly comprises a luer collar fitted with a double-ended cannula or needle whose front end is inserted through the patient's skin normally into a vein from which blood is to be drawn. The cap also has a luer fitting that fits complementary with the collar of the needle with the rear end of the needle poking through the membrane, and the opposite side of the cap is normally threaded to fit on the collection tube. When fully assembled with the front needle end inserted into a blood vessel, a piston in the collection tube is retracted to draw blood through the cannula into the tube. Once the tube is full, it can be unscrewed and another tube similarly filled, if desired.
When the holder is separated from the cap some blood often drips from the rear needle end onto the membrane. Since this membrane is invariably mounted at the extreme outer end or mouth of a tubular extension of the cap, this creates a substantial risk of contamination and provides a possibility of a medical worker coming into direct contact with the warm fresh blood thus dripped onto the exposed face of the membrane. In this day and age it is obvious that such a potentially dangerous situation must be avoided.
In order to eliminate this problem it has been suggested to provide the cap with a pierceable membrane or plug which is mounted at the outer end of the cap but that has an outwardly concavely recessed floor so that any drip does not simply lie on a flat end surface, but is slightly recessed. This type of plug reduces the already small diameter of the cap extension or the wall thickness of the extension is increased by the wall of the plug. This recess creates a reduction in the diameter of the cavity into which the needle is poked, which creates extra friction with the pierceable sterile sheath that normally surrounds the rear end of the needle and that is pushed back like a harmonica as the needle pierces it and the membrane of the cap. Furthermore when the needle assembly is pulled off the cap, any blood on the needle tip is transferred to the end of the bunched-up sheath and spread on the end of the cap. Furthermore if the blood tube is knocked over, any blood on the outside of the membrane is free to run out of the tube, once again creating a possibility of infection.
In order to avoid some of these difficulties it has been suggested to clamp the membrane rather forcibly in the cap. This reduces leakage and prevents it from being pulled out when the needle is extracted. On the other hand the extra compression of the elastomeric disk makes the membrane somewhat harder, requiring more force to be exerted to poke the needle through it, and causing the needle to exert more traction on it when being pulled out. Of course pulling the membrane out of the cap creates a serious problem of contamination and spoils the sample.


A semiconductor structure includes a semiconductor substrate, a first fin, a second fin, a first isolation structure, and a second isolation structure. The semiconductor substrate has a memory device region and a logic core region. The first fin is in the memory device region of the semiconductor substrate. The second fin is in the logic core region of the semiconductor substrate. The first isolation structure is around the first fin. The second isolation structure is around the second fin, and a thickness of the first isolation structure is different from a thickness of the second isolation structure.

Shallow trench isolation (STI) helps to prevent electrical current leakage between adjacent semiconductor devices. In STI, one or more trenches, i.e., the trenches, are etched into a surface of a substrate and then filled with a dielectric material. The trenches are used to isolate semiconductor devices. The dielectric material helps to reduce electrical current leakage between the semiconductor devices.

Semiconductor device having isolation structures with different thicknesses

TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING CO., LTD.


A receiver synchronization technique is described in this disclosure that significantly reduces the convergence time for synchronization further enabling specially modulated radio frequency carrier waves using the following steps: the characteristics of the baseband signal are used to detect the start of a received burst. Once the presence of a symbol is detected, the data acquisition subsystem is enabled to begin collecting samples. These samples are then transferred to the DSP. The DSP then searches for a preamble to precisely determine the timing delay to the start of the payload data.

Modulation is the fundamental process in any communication system. It is a process to impress a message (voice, image, data, etc.) on to a carrier wave for transmission. A band-limited range of frequencies that comprise the message (baseband) is translated to a higher range of frequencies. The band-limited message is preserved, i.e., every frequency in that message is scaled by a constant value, and then transmitted by a transmitter. The three key parameters of a carrier wave are its amplitude, its phase and its frequency, all of which can be modified in accordance with an information signal to obtain the modulated signal. The receiver then must select the correct transmitted signal from all the signals being transmitted by other transmitters in the area, and demodulate the signal using the same parameters the baseband signal was modulated with.
There are various shapes and forms of modulators and demodulators. For example conventional Amplitude Modulation uses a number of different techniques for modulating and demodulating the amplitude of the carrier in accordance with the information signal. These techniques have been described in detail in "Modern Analog and Digital Communication Systems" by B. P. Lathi. Similarly conventional Frequency/Phase Modulation uses a number of different methods described in a number of textbooks. In all these techniques, carrier (which is a high frequency sinusoidal signal) characteristics (either amplitude, frequency, phase or combination of these) are changed in accordance with the data (or information signal) by the modulator and changed back by the demodulator after transmission.
Communication systems that have emerged in recent years include mono-pulse and Ultra-Wide Band communication systems. The problem with these systems is that all mono-pulse or Ultra-Wide Band communications systems form Power Spectrum Densities that tend to span very wide swaths of the radio spectrum. For instance the FCC has conditionally allowed limited power use of UWB from 3.2 GHz to 10 GHz. These systems must make use of very wide sections of radio spectrum because the transmit power in any narrow section of the spectrum is very low. Generally any 4 KHz section of the affected spectrum will contain no more than −42 dbm of UWB spectral power. Correlating receivers are used to "gather" such very wide spectral power and concentrate it into detectable pulses. Interfering signals are problematic. Since the communication system is receiving energy over a very wide spectrum, any interfering signal in that spectrum must be tolerated and mitigated within the receiver. Many schemes exist to mitigate the interference. Some of these include selective blocking of certain sections of spectrum so as not to hear the interferer, OFDM schemes that send redundant copies of the information in the hope that at least one copy will get through interference, and other more exotic schemes that require sophisticated DSP algorithms to perform advanced filtering. In addition, UWB systems have somewhat of a "bad reputation" because they at least have the potential to cause interference. A heated discourse has gone on for years over the potential that UWB systems can cause interference to legacy spectrum users.
Tri-State Integer Cycle Modulation (TICM) and other Integer Cycle Modulation techniques were invented by Joe Bobier to help alleviate this massive and growing problem which has now become known by its commercial designation, xG Flash Signaling. Its signal characteristics are such that absolute minimal sideband energy is generated during modulation but that its power spectrum density is quite wide relative to the information rate applied. Also, a narrower section of the power spectrum output can be used to represent the same information. The technique of receiver synchronization disclosed herein is primarily applicable to these types of single cycle systems and Ultra Wide Band systems.
In a wireless network using TDMA for multiple access, each user is assigned a time slot for transmission and reception. The receiver in these systems has to acquire and maintain precise synchronization with the transmitter in order to accurately extract the payload data from the received data. The receiver needs to determine symbol timing, carrier frequency offset, and carrier phase offset. The synchronization subsystem in the receiver determines these factors for each received burst of data.
The synchronization subsystem has severe performance constraints in terms of processing time. This in turn places heavy demands on DSP performance and the digital acquisition and data transfer system itself. The amount of time this search takes directly relates to the time slot requirements and the throughput of the receiver.
A traditional TDMA receiver will start sampling data when in its intended timeslot. An entire timeslot's worth of data is presented to the DSP. Every burst of data contains a known sequence of bits that precede the payload data, called the preamble. The synchronization subsystem will start searching for the preamble starting from the very first sample it received. Various methods are used to determine the location of the preamble, such as correlation, MLSE, etc.
The time it takes to process and search through all the samples from the start of the timeslot to the start of the preamble can be called convergence time. The time taken by the digital acquisition system to transfer an entire timeslot's worth of data can be called data transfer time.
The disclosure of this application provides a method, called Symbol Sensed Synchronization (SSS), that significantly reduces the convergence time for synchronization. This method also significantly reduces the transfer time, and the memory required for data storage.

System and method for fast signal acquisition in a wireless digital receiver for wideband signals


A display substrate includes a base substrate provided thereon with a pixel defining layer and a plurality of organic light emitting diodes, a plurality of conductive structures are provided on a side of a top electrode layer away from the base substrate, the top electrode layer being on the pixel defining layer, an orthographic projection of the conductive structures on a plane where the pixel defining layer is within an area where the pixel defining layer is disposed, the conductive structures are coupled to a portion of the top electrode layer on the pixel defining layer, the remaining portion of the top electrode layer is provided with a planarization layer on a side of the top electrode layer away from the base substrate, and an auxiliary electrode is on a side of the planarization layer away from the base substrate, and is coupled to the conductive structures.

Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) panels are a display illumination technology developed gradually in recent years, and are regarded as having a wide application prospect, especially in the display industry, due to their advantages of fast response, high contrast, flexibility, etc. Among them, the top-emission type OLED structure has advantages of higher aperture ratio, light extraction optimization with the use of microcavity effect, and the like, and thus becomes a main direction of research.

Display substrate and method of fabricating the same, and display device


An activation system (20, 120, 220) for establishing a voice communication through a radio system (22, 122, 222) in a vehicle. The radio system (22, 122, 222) has an audio controller and a device interface. The activation system (20, 120, 220) has a switch (28, 128, 228), a wireless communication device (26, 226), and a communication cord (36, 136, 236). The switch (28, 128, 228) is capable of initiating an activation signal when a user desires to accept an incoming voice communication. The wireless communication device (26, 226) has a controller (62, 262), a cellular transceiver (66, 266), a radio interface (38, 238), and a means for detecting the activation signal form the switch (28, 128, 228). The cellular transceiver (66, 266) is capable of receiving downlink audio of the voice communication. A communication cord (36, 136, 236) interconnects the radio system (22, 122, 222) to the wireless communication device (26, 226). The switch (28, 128, 228) is remote from the wireless communication device (26, 226). The controller (62, 262) in the wireless communication device (26, 226), in response to detecting the activation signal from the switch (28, 128, 228), sends the downlink audio of the voice communication received by the cellular transceiver (66, 266) to the radio interface (38, 238) for sending to the radio system (22, 122, 222) over the communication cord. There are also methods of operating the activation system (20, 120, 220).

Today, many people use portable phones in their vehicles. For safety reasons, the industry is focused on providing hands-free features to people who use portable phones in their vehicle. Some portable phones allow the audio output of the phone to be routed to the radio system in the vehicle. One known way to route the audio output of the phone to the radio system is through a wireless connection, such as a frequency modulated (FM) signal. There, the portable phone has an FM transmitter that transmits the audio output of the portable phone to the vehicle's radio system. The vehicle's radio system allows the audio output to be played through the vehicle's audio speakers when the radio system is tuned to a predetermined radio frequency.
Conventional systems, however, require at least a two-step process for answering an incoming cellular phone call. First, the user must tune the radio in the vehicle to a compatible radio frequency. Second, the user must answer the call via the cell phone's user interface. Although it is possible for a user of some phones to set the portable phone to automatically answer incoming calls and transmit the audio output automatically through a FM transmitter to the vehicle's radio system, the situation is not ideal since the user may not be ready to receive the phone call and the radio system may not yet be tuned to a compatible radio frequency to hear the audio output.
There is a need to reduce the number of steps in answering an incoming cellular phone call in the vehicle. Reducing the number of steps allows the user of the vehicle to focus on their primary role—driving the vehicle. Additionally, there is a need for improving the way a voice communication is established in a hands-free cellular communication system that reduces the number of distractions to the user.
It is, therefore, desirable to provide an improved hands-free cellular communication system and method to overcome or minimize most, if not all, of the preceding problems.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Activation system and method for establishing a cellular voice communication through a radio system


Cardioprotective pre-excitation pacing may be applied to stress or de-stress a particular myocardial region delivering of pacing pulses in a manner that causes a dyssynchronous contraction. Such dyssynchronous contractions are responsible for the desired cardioprotective effects of pre-excitation pacing but may also be hazardous. Described herein is a method and system that uses measures of ventricular dyssynchrony or a patient's physiological response to ventricular dyssynchrony to control the delivery of cardioprotective pre-excitation pacing in closed-loop fashion.

Coronary artery disease (CAD) occurs when the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle become hardened and narrowed due to atherosclerosis. The arteries harden and become narrow due to the buildup of plaque on the inner walls or lining of the arteries. Blood flow to the heart is reduced as plaque narrows the coronary arteries. This decreases the oxygen supply to the heart muscle. A myocardial infarction (MI), or heart attack, occurs when atherosclerotic plaque within a coronary artery ruptures and leads to the clotting of blood (thrombosis) within the artery by exposing the highly thrombogenic lipid core of the plaque to the blood. The complete or nearly complete obstruction to coronary blood flow can damage a substantial area of heart tissue and cause sudden death, usually due to an abnormal heart rhythm that prevents effective pumping.
Besides causing an MI, CAD can also produce lesser degrees of cardiac ischemia due to the narrowing of a coronary artery lumen by atherosclerotic plaque. When blood flow and oxygen supply to the heart is reduced, patients often experience chest pain or discomfort, referred to as angina pectoris. Angina pectoris serves as a useful warning of insufficient myocardial perfusion which can lead to the more serious situation such as a heart attack or cardiac arrhythmia. Patients who experience anginal episodes are commonly treated either with medication or by surgical revascularization. It has also been found, however, that patients who experience anginal episodes prior to a heart attack often have a lower mortality rate than heart attack patients who do not experience such episodes. It is theorized that this phenomenon may be due to preconditioning of the heart by the anginal episodes which thereby renders the myocardial tissue less likely to become infarcted if blood supply is sharply reduced by a subsequent coronary thrombus.
Heart failure (HF) is a debilitating disease that refers to a clinical syndrome in which an abnormality of cardiac function causes a below normal cardiac output that can fall below a level adequate to meet the metabolic demand of peripheral tissues. Heart failure can be due to a variety of etiologies with ischemic heart disease being the most common. Inadequate pumping of blood into the arterial system by the heart is sometimes referred to as "forward failure," with "backward failure" referring to the resulting elevated pressures in the lungs and systemic veins which lead to congestion. Backward failure is the natural consequence of forward failure as blood in the pulmonary and venous systems fails to be pumped out. Forward failure can be caused by impaired contractility of the ventricles due, for example, to coronary artery disease, or by an increased afterload (i.e., the forces resisting ejection of blood) due to, for example, systemic hypertension or valvular dysfunction. One physiological compensatory mechanism that acts to increase cardiac output is due to backward failure which increases the diastolic filling pressure of the ventricles and thereby increases the preload (i.e., the degree to which the ventricles are stretched by the volume of blood in the ventricles at the end of diastole). An increase in preload causes an increase in stroke volume during systole, a phenomena known as the Frank-Starling principle. Thus, heart failure can be at least partially compensated by this mechanism but at the expense of possible pulmonary and/or systemic congestion.
When the ventricles are stretched due to the increased preload over a period of time, the ventricles become dilated. The enlargement of the ventricular volume causes increased ventricular wall stress at a given systolic pressure. Along with the increased pressure-volume work done by the ventricle, this acts as a stimulus for hypertrophy of the ventricular myocardium which leads to alterations in cellular structure, a process referred to as ventricular remodeling. Ventricular remodeling leads to further dysfunction by decreasing the compliance of the ventricles (thereby increasing diastolic filling pressure to result in even more congestion) and causing eventual wall thinning that causes further deterioration in cardiac function. It has been shown that the extent of ventricular remodeling is positively correlated with increased mortality in HF patients.
A myocardial infarction (MI) is the irreversible damage done to a segment of heart muscle by ischemia, where the myocardium is deprived of adequate oxygen and metabolite removal due to an interruption in blood supply. It is usually due to a sudden thrombotic occlusion of a coronary artery, commonly called a heart attack. If the coronary artery becomes completely occluded and there is poor collateral blood flow to the affected area, a transmural or full-wall thickness infarct can result in which much of the contractile function of the area is lost. Over a period of one to two months, the necrotic tissue heals, leaving a scar. The most extreme example of this is a ventricular aneurysm, where all of the muscle fibers in the area are destroyed and replaced by fibrous scar tissue. Even if the ventricular dysfunction as a result of the infarct is not immediately life-threatening, a common sequela of a transmural myocardial infarction, or any major MI, especially in the left ventricle, is heart failure brought about by ventricular remodeling in response to the hemodynamic effects of the infarct that causes changes in the shape and size of the ventricle. The remodeling is initiated in response to a redistribution of cardiac stress and strain caused by the impairment of contractile function in the infarcted area as well as in nearby and/or interspersed viable myocardial tissue with lessened contractility due to the infarct. Following an MI, the infarcted area includes tissue undergoing ischemic necrosis and is surrounded by normal myocardium. Until scar tissue forms and even after it forms, the area around the infarcted area is particularly vulnerable to the distending forces within the ventricle and undergoes expansion over a period of hours to days. Over the next few days and months after scar tissue has formed, global remodeling and chamber enlargement occur due to complex alterations in the architecture of the ventricle involving both infarcted and non-infarcted areas. It has been found that the extent of left ventricular remodeling in the late period after an infarction, as represented by measurements of end-systolic and end-diastolic left ventricular volumes, is an even more powerful predictor of subsequent mortality than the extent of coronary artery disease.
Remodeling is thought to be the result of a complex interplay of hemodynamic, neural, and hormonal factors that occur primarily in response to myocardial wall stress. As noted above, one physiological compensatory mechanism that acts to increase cardiac output is increased diastolic filling pressure of the ventricles as an increased volume of blood is left in the lungs and venous system, thus increasing preload. The ventricular dilation resulting from the increased preload causes increased ventricular wall stress at a given systolic pressure in accordance with Laplace's law. Along with the increased pressure-volume work done by the ventricle, this acts as a stimulus for compensatory hypertrophy of the ventricular myocardium. Hypertrophy can increase systolic pressures but, if the hypertrophy is not sufficient to meet the increased wall stress, further and progressive dilation results. This non-compensatory dilation causes wall thinning and further impairment in left ventricular function. It also has been shown that the sustained stresses causing hypertrophy may induce apoptosis (i.e., programmed cell death) of cardiac muscle cells. Thus, although ventricular dilation and hypertrophy may at first be compensatory and increase cardiac output, the process ultimately results in further deterioration and dysfunction.

Closed-loop control of cardioprotective pre-excitation pacing


A device for recovering magnetic particles trapped on a magnetic plug, which includes a supporting end and a magnetized element for retaining the magnetic particles in a liquid resulting from the wear of parts with which the liquid has been in contact, the recovery device including a magnetization device and an enclosure having an opening, the enclosure to receive the magnetic plug via the opening such that the magnetized element is located inside the enclosure and the supporting end is located outside the enclosure. The opening is sized such that the supporting end blocks the opening. The device also includes an injection nozzle to inject a gaseous fluid inside the enclosure, the nozzle being oriented such that the flow of gaseous fluid expels the magnetic particles retained on the magnetized element toward the bottom of the enclosure. The magnetization device traps the particles urged toward the bottom of the enclosure.

In a known manner, a magnetic plug is placed in a liquid circuit (typically oil, liquid coolant or fuel) inside a case containing the moving parts, such as gear wheels or bearings, that stand in said liquid.
In general, the function of the liquid circuit is to enable the lubrication and/or cooling of moving parts (typically rotating parts). It turns out that the moving parts are caused to wear away throughout their lives, for example due to the friction resulting from the contact between two toothed wheels or bearings, or rather due to the shocks or intense friction between rotating parts due to intense and abnormal vibrations propagating through the case. Whatever the cause, the wear of parts leads to the formation of particles that detach from the parts and are driven by the liquid in the liquid circuit. Insofar as the rotating parts are generally metallic, the particles resulting from the wear of parts are conductive and are generally present in the form of filings. Furthermore, the parts are most often made from a ferromagnetic type metal such as iron, i.e., a metal that is capable of being attracted by a magnetic element such as a magnet.
In a known manner, such as schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, a magnetic plug 1 comprises at one end a head or support 2 and a permanent magnet formed by a magnetic bar 3 immersed in a liquid circuit, said magnetic bar 3 attracting metallic particles 4 when the liquid circulates. The operators on site must then periodically verify the condition of these magnetic plugs, remove the particles trapped on the magnetic bar and analyze these particles, for example by analyses of the SEM Scanning Electron Microscopy and EDS Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy type. From these analyses, it is possible to identify the nature and geometry of the removed particles; depending on the removal site of the plug, one may then limit the element or elements affected by wear and take measures that will guarantee the integrity of the machine and safety of the flight. It will be noted that the magnetic plugs are most often coupled with filters, the latter used to trap non-ferromagnetic particles.
Different techniques are known that enable the operators to remove particles trapped on the magnetic plug.
A first technique consists of using adhesive tape that the operator puts in contact with the magnetic bar of the plug. Such a solution is not entirely satisfactory insofar as the particles remain stuck on the adhesive and are difficult to extract (by dissolution) for analysis. Therefore it remains a residue of particles that cannot be used in the analysis and leads to a loss of data. In addition, the adhesive may generate surface pollution of the particles that is likely to distort the material analysis results.
A second technique consists of using a cloth to remove the particles on the magnetic bar.
Such a solution also poses certain difficulties. In fact, it, is necessary to clean the cloth, by immersing it in a solvent and then filtering the product obtained to recover the particles. In addition, the use of a cloth makes the recovery of all particles difficult; consequently, all of the particles are not available to carry out the analysis and a particle residue remains present on the magnetic bar, this residue being likely to distort the indication of pollution during a subsequent control. Lastly, the use of a potentially polluted cloth may lead to a suspicion of parasite pollution.
A third technique may consist of directly removing the particles on the bar by using a magnet that is more powerful than the magnet of the magnetic bar.
However, such a solution is difficult to utilize since it would lead to a risk of altering the magnetic plug by modifying the remnant field of the latter.

Device and method for recovering magnetic particles trapped on a magnetic plug


Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for fabricating a printed circuit board (PCB) having electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and also having reduced volume over conventional frame-and-shield approaches. Some embodiments include fabricating the PCB by mounting an integrated circuit to the PCB, outlining an area corresponding to the integrated circuit with a number of grounded vias, selectively applying an insulating layer over the PCB such that at least one of the grounded vias are exposed, and selectively applying a conductive layer over the PCB such that the conductive layer covers at least a portion of the integrated circuit and such that the conductive layer is coupled to the at least one of the grounded vias that are exposed.

I. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding, and more particularly, EMI shielding techniques that reduce the overall amount of space consumed and that offer substantially the same EMI protection as conventional shielding techniques.
II. Background Discussion
Electronic devices are ubiquitous in society and can be found in everything from portable cell phones to wristwatches. Many of these electronic devices either emit electromagnetic interference (EMI) to their surroundings, or are exposed to EMI through their surroundings. Because government regulations often stipulate the amount of EMI that these electronic devices are allowed to emit, the designers of these electronic devices often employ techniques to minimize the amount of EMI emitted from the circuitry within the electronic devices. Additionally, because it is potentially harmful to the circuitry within the electronic devices to be exposed to EMI, the designers of these electronic devices often employ techniques to minimize the amount of EMI to which these electronic devices are exposed. Using EMI shielding techniques, designers minimize both the amount of EMI emitted by and the amount of EMI to which these devices are exposed.
Conventional EMI shielding techniques, sometimes referred to as "frame-and-shield" approaches, often involve encasing circuitry of the electronic device within a metallic structure. The circuitry being encased is mounted, along with other circuitry, on a printed circuit board (PCB). In the frame-and-shield approach, first a metallic frame or "fence" is mounted to the PCB around the periphery of the circuitry that is to be shielded, and then a metallic shield is snap-fit to this fence. While this frame-and-shield approach may limit both the amount of EMI emitted by the circuitry and the amount of EMI to which this circuitry is exposed down to acceptable levels, it also consumes a great deal of space laterally on the PCB and a great deal of space vertically within the electronic device (i.e., in the Z-direction that is generally perpendicular to the surface of the PCB.) This problem is only made worse when the electronic devices have circuitry that is mounted on both sides of the PCB. For example, many portable electronic devices have circuitry located on both the top and bottom of the PCB, and thus, vertical space consumed by EMI shielding techniques is effectively doubled. Accordingly, EMI shielding techniques that reduce the overall amount of space consumed and that offer substantially the same EMI protection as conventional shielding techniques are desirable.

Electromagnetic interference shielding techniques


Battery charge indication methods, battery state of charge monitoring devices, rechargeable batteries, and articles of manufacture are described. According to one aspect, a battery charge indication method includes first determining a state of charge of a battery at a first moment in time using a first method, second determining a state of charge of the battery at a second moment in time using a second method different than the first method, and providing information regarding the state of charge of the battery at the first and second moments in time using information of the first and second determinings.

The sophistication and uses of electrical devices have increased dramatically. Consumer items having electrical components are ubiquitous in communications, computing, entertainment, transportation, etc. Numerous people rely upon or have grown accustomed to usage of electrical devices for business, education, or for other needs. Electronic devices are increasingly portable to accommodate these needs during travels from home or the workplace. The sophistication and capabilities of power supplies for such devices have also improved to meet the requirements of the electronic consumer devices. For example, cost, size, and capacity are some product characteristics which have been improved for the portable power supplies. In addition, portable power supplies are being used in additional applications. For example, there is increased interest upon usage of alternative energy sources including electrical energy for an expanding number of applications, such as transportation applications.
Exemplary portable power supplies such as batteries store electrical energy. It may be beneficial to know the state of charge of the batteries during operation of the electrical devices. However, challenges are presented with respect to determining state of charge information with respect to some battery cell chemistries. In one example, it may be difficult to monitor battery cells which have a substantially flat discharge profile.
At least some aspects of the disclosure provide methods and apparatus for monitoring charge of batteries.

Battery charge indication methods, battery charge monitoring devices, rechargeable batteries, and articles of manufacture


An accounting system inserts flow probes into various locations within a network to measure certain parameters. The flow probes capture Internet Protocol (IP) packets and determines if the captured IP packets contain messages relating to error reporting. If the IP packet does contain such an error reporting message and is generated within a first protocol, the system maps this into a second protocol.

This invention relates to accounting systems that collect information from computer networks.
Data collection systems are used to collect information from network traffic flow on a network. These data collection systems are design to capture one type of network traffic from one source type and delivery the data to one application type such as a billing application.


A field emission display apparatus including a field emission display panel and a driving device for the field emission display panel. The driving device includes a power supply unit, the power supply unit including an abnormal current detection unit and a discharge circuit. The abnormal current detection unit generates an arc-current detection signal when the value of a current flowing between a negative anode voltage terminal of the field emission display panel and a common ground line is larger than an upper limit. The discharge circuit generates a short circuit between an anode plate of the field emission display panel and the negative anode voltage terminal when the arc-current detection signal is generated from the abnormal current detection unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a field emission display apparatus, and more particularly, to a field emission display apparatus including a field emission display panel and a driving device for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2003/122,118 (entitled "FED driving method") is an example of conventional art related to field emission display apparatuses.
In such field emission display apparatuses, a field emission display panel typically includes electron emitter sources, data electrode lines, scan electrode lines, fluorescent cells, and an anode plate. The direction of scan electrode lines intersect the direction of data electrode lines. A potential is applied to the anode plate so that electrons from the electron emitter sources can move to the fluorescent cells.
According to the operational characteristics of such field emission display panels, an arc discharge is highly likely to occur between an anode plate and the other electrodes. The arc discharge may be generated due to a reduction in the degree of a vacuum, the insulation destruction caused by, for example, impurities between electrodes, the discharge of electric charges filled in a dielectric, or other factors. When such an arc discharge occurs, electron emitter sources may be damaged or destroyed.
However, conventional field emission display apparatuses have no effective protection circuits to handle an arc discharge.


An ink jet recording apparatus having a recording head that jets photo-hardening ink which is hardened when it is exposed to ultraviolet rays on a recording medium, a radiation apparatus equipped with a light source that radiates ultraviolet rays to jetted ink, a cooling device that cools the radiation apparatus, a temperature detector that detects a temperature of the radiation apparatus and a controller that controls temperature of the cooling device depending on the temperature detected by the temperature detector.

The present invention relates to an ink jet recording apparatus, and in particular, to an ink jet recording apparatus that conducts image recording by employing photo-hardening ink that is hardened by being exposed to light.
As a method for forming images even on a base material having poor ink absorbing properties, there is known a UV ink jet recording method. In general, UV-hardening ink containing therein a photoinitiator having sensitivity to ultraviolet rays is used, and the ink impacted is exposed to ultraviolet rays. In the case of this method, an expansion of a dot diameter, ink blotting between dots and ink penetration to the base material take place until the moment when the ink is hardened by ultraviolet rays and fixed, resulting in changes of image quality.
In the UV ink jet recording method described above, factors influencing greatly on image quality in particular include sensitivity of ink, a period of time up to the exposure to light and a wavelength and intensity of a ray of light. It is preferable to shorten, to the utmost, a period of time from ink jetting to exposure to light, because problems of dot diameters and blotting become conspicuous as time passes after an ink impact.
Japanese TOKKAISHO No. 60-132767 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,145,979 disclose an ink jet recording apparatus wherein a light source is arranged immediately abreast with an ink jet head so that a period of time from ink jetting to exposure to light may be shortened.
However, rays such as ultraviolet rays radiated from a radiation apparatus sometimes adversely affect on human bodies. Therefore, for using safely an ink jet recording apparatus equipped with the radiation apparatus radiating such rays, it is necessary to provide a cover so that rays radiated from the radiation apparatus may not leak out. However, if the radiation apparatus is arranged in the space surrounded by the cover, heat generated from the light source is not radiated, and temperatures in the vicinity of the light source are raised.
Conventional light sources for ultraviolet rays include those of a type of high power and high output such as a high-pressure mercury vapor lamp and a metal halide lamp, and temperatures of heat generated from them are as high as 650–900° C., and the above-mentioned tendency was especially conspicuous.
In recent years, therefore, there is proposed to use a light source for ultraviolet rays of a type of low power and low output such as a low-pressure mercury vapor lamp and a cold-cathode tube wherein temperatures of heat generated are controlled to be as low as 70–130° C. This low output type can be used for hardening ink of a cation hardening type that is of an energy accumulating type hardened by light exposure for a long time despite low illumination intensity.
However, the luminous efficiency for the low output type has a property to depend on the temperature at metal cap of a light source that conducts discharging, resulting in a problem that it is difficult to maintain an appropriate luminous efficiency for ink hardening stably.

Ink jet recording apparatus using a temperature detector to control the curing of ink


A method, apparatus, and computer program product for analyzing gene expressions is presented. An operation is performed for determining a gene expression pattern for a condition, wherein the gene expression pattern comprises a gene expression. Next, a spatial-expression pattern is formed by selecting a chromosomal region having an exon; and associating the gene expression within the gene expression pattern with its corresponding exon. A further operation may be performed, where in the forming of the spatial-expression pattern, a spatial-expression pattern signal is created as a representation of the spatial-expression pattern. The magnitude of the spatial-expression pattern signal at any point is determined by an expression level of the corresponding exon. Spatial patterns may be identified in the signal by means of various signal processing techniques such as Fourier or Wavelet transforms. Also, multiple regions and/or conditions may be tested and their reaction patterns compared to determine related genetic regions.

(1) Technical Field
The present invention relates to creating and analyzing spatial-expression patterns, wherein the spatial-expression pattern involves integrating the expression data with the spatial distribution of expression information.
(2) Discussion
The bioinformatics field, which, in a broad sense, includes any use of computers in solving information problems in the life sciences, and more particularly, the creation and use of extensive electronic databases on genomes, proteomes, etc., is currently in a stage of rapid growth.
In order to understand some of the concepts in the bioinformatics field, it is important to understand some of the basic principals of cells. A cell relies on proteins for a variety of its functions. Producing energy, biosynthesizing all component macromolecules, maintaining cellular architecture, and acting upon intra- and extra-cellular stimuli are all protein-dependent activities. Almost every cell within an organism contains the information necessary to produce the entire repertoire of proteins that the organism can specify. This information is stored as genes within the organism's DNA genome. Different organisms have different numbers of genes to define them. The number of human genes, for example, is estimated to be approximately 25,000.
Genetic information of all life forms is encoded by the four basic nucleotides, denoted by symbols A, G, C, and T. The make up of all life forms is determined by the sequence of these nucleotides. DNA is the molecule that encodes this sequence of nucleotides. The DNA molecule usually contains a large number of genes. Each gene provides biochemical instructions on how to construct a particular protein. The one-to-one nature of one gene creating one protein has been recently changed. In some cases multiple genes are required to create a single protein and commonly multiple proteins can be produced through alternative splicing and post-transcriptional modification of a single gene. An example of a genome is depicted in FIG. 1, wherein the genes 103, 105 are defined as segments of nucleotide sequence on the DNA genome 101. As depicted in FIG. 1, the letter "N" represents any of the four DNA nucleotides: "A," "C," "G," or "T."
Only a portion of the genome is composed of genes, and the set of genes expressed as proteins varies between cell types. Some of the proteins present in a single cell are likely to be present in all cells because they serve functions required in every type of cell. These proteins can be thought of as "housekeeping" proteins. Other proteins serve specialized functions that are only required in particular cell types. Such proteins are generally produced only in limited types of cells. Given that a large part of a cell's specific functionality is determined by the genes that it is expressing, it is logical that transcription, the first step in the process of converting the genetic information stored in an organism's genome into protein, would be highly regulated by the control network that coordinates and directs cellular activity.
Genes are activated, or expressed, in a very specific fashion and to a specific level at any given moment in time to achieve a desired state. The regulation of transcription is readily observed in studies that scrutinize activities evident in cells configuring themselves for a particular function (specialization into a muscle cell) or state (active multiplication or quiescence). As cells alter their state, coordinate transcription of the protein sets required for the change of state can be observed. As a window both on cell status and the system controlling the cell, detailed, global knowledge of the transcriptional state could provide a broad spectrum of information useful to biologists. For instance, knowledge of when and in what types of cell the protein product of a gene of unknown function is expressed would provide useful clues as to the likely function of that gene. Furthermore, determining gene expression patterns in normal cells could provide detailed knowledge of how the control system achieves the highly coordinated activation and deactivation required to develop and differentiate a single fertilized egg into a mature organism. Also, comparing gene expression patterns in normal and pathological cells could provide useful diagnostic "fingerprints" and help identify aberrant functions that would be reasonable target for therapeutic intervention.
The current approaches in studying gene expression patterns attempt at understanding the differences in expression patterns of genes in different conditions (either a pair of conditions or a series of conditions) by comparing the level of expression of various genes one by one. FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified example where two different gene expression patterns 201 and 203, each being composed of five distinct genes 205-209 are compared. Assume that Condition1 pattern 201 is for a healthy cell and Condition2 pattern 203 is for a diseased cell. Using an arbitrary expression scale of zero to ten, the example matrix of expression values is constructed as shown in FIG. 2.
Using the matrix of FIG. 2, the typical approach would compare the genes one by one and draw conclusions such as there are "no significant differences in Gene4 208 so it probably does not contribute to differences observed in Condition1 201 and Condition2 203". However, Gene3 207 exhibits a large difference and might indicate a gene having some relation to the observed differences between Condition1 201 and Condition2 203. Common measures used to calculate the difference between Condition1 201 and Condition2 203 utilize taking a difference or ratio between the expression values gene by gene. For example, the Euclidean distance or the Pearson correlation value between the two expression vectors may be calculated.
These prior art approaches do not take into account a very important piece of information, the spatial distribution of genes, or the sequence of nucleotides, along the genome. Thus, what is needed is an apparatus, method and computer program product which takes into account not only the expression levels of the genes but also their spatial distribution.

Apparatus, method, and computer program product for determining gene function and functional groups using chromosomal distribution patterns


The cell according to the present disclosure has a support body having a length direction and a pair of main surfaces, and an element part in which a first electrode, a solid electrolyte layer having an oxide containing a rare earth element oxide as a main component, and a second electrode are stacked, in that order, on one of the main surfaces of the support body. The cell also has a first layer provided on the other main surface of one end part of the support body in the length direction, which layer contains a different amount of a rare earth element oxide that is the same oxide as the main component of the solid electrolyte layer, and is stronger than the solid electrolyte layer. A second layer is provided between the first layer and the support body, and the second layer has a higher content of a component that is the same as the component contained in the support body than the first layer, and also contains the same component as the first layer.

In recent years, various fuel cell devices that house cell stack devices, formed by electrically and serially connecting a plurality of one type of cell known as a solid oxide fuel cell (hereinafter sometimes referred to simply as cell), in housing containers have been proposed as next-generation energy.
This kind of cell has a structure where a solid electrolyte layer is sandwiched by a fuel electrode and an oxygen electrode. A cell generates electricity by causing a fuel gas to flow to the fuel electrode and a gas containing oxygen to the oxygen electrode, and warming (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Patent Document 1 also discloses that a first layer stronger than the solid electrolyte layer is provided on a support body to enhance the strength of the cell.

Cell, cell stack device, module and module housing device


An open bowl for a vertical turbine pump, includes a bowl body having an inner wall and an outer wall, both walls being of substantially constant optimum thickness, surrounding a vertical axis and connected by diffuser vanes which define hydraulically optimized diffuser passages through the bowl body extending from a bottom end to a top end, the diffuser vanes being radially hollow and providing open paths through the inner and outer walls to a cavity surrounded by the inner wall; a flange at the top end of the outer wall for attachment of a discharge conduit for the pumped fluid; provision on the bottom end of the outer wall for attaching to a flange of a suction bell; further provision on an inner surface at the top of the inner wall for providing sealing engagement with an upper end of a separable substantially cylindrical bearing housing; and provision at the bottom end of the inner wall for attaching to a flange of the bearing housing. The open bowl concept provides a light weight pump which provides better metal flow, solidification control, and cooling during casting by elimination of drastic section thickness variations in the bowl body.

This invention relates generally to vertical turbine pumps and more particularly to vertical turbine pumps having a low number of appropriate thick diffuser vanes and minimal bowl diameter and weight for pumping both single phase and multiphase fluids, more particularly fluids containing fibrous materials and other solids.
The traditional design of a bowl for both a wet pit and dry pit solids-handling vertical turbine pump with few vanes, in order to allow passage of solid particles with relatively large diameter, results in a bowl with large masses of metal between the vanes which contribute nothing to the function of the pump. In addition, transition passage area control, required for hydraulic parameter optimization, leads to very large thicknesses for most of the extent of the vanes, which makes casting of such bowls very difficult due to radical changes of section thickness and mass which makes uniform cooling very difficult to achieve and often causes cracking. Pump bowls of traditional design have each hydraulic passage near to the next and separated from the next by a vane whose thickness is dictated by castability constraints and pattern and core requirements. Therefore, the hydraulic passages are overly constrained and negatively affected. This results in poor diffusion and strong vortical turbulent flows which lower the efficiency of the pump and increase the risk of poor reliability due to high vibration. Such pumps, in spite of their less than optimal efficiency, are very heavy and, because of the casting difficulties described, unnecessarily expensive.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present bowls for turbine pumps, and it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of those limitations. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.


The relay server may receive a first service request from a communication device and send, in a case where the first service request, is received from the communication device, a sending instruction to the communication device. The sending instruction may be for instructing to send first target data to a first service providing server. In a case where the communication device receives the sending instruction from the relay server, the communication device may send the first target data to the first service providing server without an intervention of the relay server. The relay server may receive a second service request from the communication device and send, in a case where the second service request is received from the communication device, the second target data received from the communication device to the second service providing server.

A communication system including an MFP (Multi-Function Peripheral), a relay device, and a service providing device. When receiving an upload destination URL acquisition request from the MFP, the relay device sends an upload destination URL request to the service providing device. Then, when receiving the upload destination URL, from the service providing device, the relay device sends the upload destination URL to the MFP. When receiving the upload destination URL from the relay device, the MFP reads an image of a document, and creates an electronic file of the image. Then, the MFP sends the electronic file to the service providing device by using the upload destination URL. Thereby, the electronic file is uploaded to the service providing device.

Relay server and non-transitory computer-readable recording medium storing computer-readable instructions for relay server for relaying communication between communication device and service providing server