In accordance with disclosed embodiments, there are provided systems, methods, and apparatuses for implementing increased human perception of haptic feedback systems. For instance, there is disclosed in accordance with one embodiment there is wearable device, having therein: a wearable device case; a plurality of actuators within the wearable device case, each of which to vibrate independently or in combination; one or more pins attached to each of the plurality of actuators, one end of each of the plurality of pins affixed to the actuators extrudes beyond surface of the wearable device case and is exposed outside of the wearable device case; electrical interconnects from each of the plurality of actuators to internal semiconductor components of the wearable device. Other related embodiments are disclosed.

The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section merely represents different approaches, which in and of themselves may also correspond to embodiments of the claimed subject matter.
As modern electronics advance, a variety of new use cases and implementations are entering the marketplace embedding various semiconductor products and consumer electronics for clothing and other wearable devices. So called "wearables," "wearable technology," "fashionable technology," "wearable devices," "tech togs," and "fashion electronics" are all in reference to a class of clothing, garments, and accessories which incorporate computer and advanced electronics technologies into "wearable" pieces, be they clothing, watches, wearable accessories, or otherwise. Wearable devices such as activity trackers represent a part of the "Internet of Things" or "IoT" as they form part of the network of physical objects or "things" embedded with electronics, software, sensors and connectivity to enable objects to exchange data with a manufacturer, operator and/or other connected devices, without requiring human intervention.
While such wearables commonly have an aesthetic aspect to them, there are additionally functional and technological aspects of wearables which raise challenges in the context of semiconductor and electronics manufacturing of such wearables.
Future electronic systems including wearable and other consumer products such as phones, tablets etc., will provide enhanced user experience by utilizing haptic or tactile feedback. Conventional haptic feedback systems vibrate an entire device responsive to user interactions by using a bulky motor. Such systems provide a single "global" haptic feedback signal to the user which is not localized at any specific location of the user's hand, wrist, body, etc.
The present state of the art may therefore benefit from the means for implementing increased human perception of haptic feedback systems as described herein.

Systems, methods and apparatuses for implementing increased human perception of haptic feedback systems


The present disclosure provides an electric cylinder for actuating a door lock which may be easily attached to the existing door lock to prevent picking completely, and an electric cylinder door lock not having a keyhole.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an electric cylinder for actuating a door lock which can attach to the existing lock for opening and shutting the door.
2. Description of Related Art
The existing lock for opening and shutting the door is generally designed to use a key so that if the key has been carried and lost or is missing, picking permits the lock to be unlocked by inserting a special tool or a picking tool into the keyhole of the lock. If a lock without a keyhole is attached to the door, additional equipment which has high reparation costs is required.
Recently, a lock structure is proposed to prevent unlawful unlocking without using a proper key, for example, as disclosed in JP-A-2002-276215, however these locks must be provided on the door when it is built, or the door must be reconstructed.

Electric cylinder for actuating a door lock and a cylinder door lock

Abstract: An electric cylinder for actuating a door lock comprises a motor wherein the tip of the motor shaft contacts the surface of a rotary dish plate, and the motor shaft is displaced by the operation of the motor to engage the rotary dish plate with a disc; a tailpiece which is connected to said rotary dish plate and is arranged in parallel to the motor, so that cables connected to the motor do not hinder the turning movement of the rotary dish plate; a cylinder case in which the disc, the rotary dish plate, the tailpiece and a stationary can are disposed in a linear relation and all electric cylinder parts are accommodated therein and in which the disc is put displaceably with a spring; wherein an electrode of the motor is changed to extend and contract the motor shaft, and the tailpiece is displaced by extension and contraction of the motor shaft to actuate a deadbolt.


A method is provided for producing and preparing fast pyrolysis products from a biomass for entrained-flow pressure gasification that includes: heating of the biomass under exclusion of oxygen in a pyrolysis reactor, a temperature of between 400 to 600° C. being established for one to 50 seconds, such that the biomass reacts to form porous pyrolysis coke, pyrolysis condensate and pyrolysis gas; and drawing off the pyrolysis gas; condensing vaporous constituents of the pyrolysis condensate in a plurality of condensation stages so as to: condense, in a first condensation stage, at temperatures above the dew point of water, a low-temperature carbonization tar from the vaporous constituents; and condense and separate at temperatures between 0° C. and the dew point of water, in at least one subsequent condensation stage, an aqueous solution of oxygen containing organic compounds.

A fast pyrolysis has as its purpose the conversion of carbon-containing feedstock, such as biomass, into highly liquid pyrolysis condensate (pyrolysis oil), as well as into not very solid pyrolysis coke and pyrolysis gas. In the case of the aforementioned biomass, a fast pyrolysis is performed under exclusion of oxygen within a few seconds, preferably in about one second, at approximately 400 to 600° C., preferably at about 500° C., a bio-oil content of 40 to 80% by weight and a biocoke content of only 10 to 30% by weight being reached.
Thus, the fast pyrolysis—also known as flash pyrolysis—is a special pyrolysis method in which a considerable amount of liquid pyrolysis condensate and little gas and coke are formed. In particular, wood and straw (lignocellulose) are able to be liquefied to over 50 to 80% into bio-oil.
The pyrolysis gas is typically separated off from the other two pyrolysis products, the pyrolysis coke and the pyrolysis condensate, and is thus usable as fuel for the aforementioned pyrolysis process.
The remaining liquid pyrolysis condensate and the pyrolysis coke are fed as a mixture of these constituents that forms an oil sludge (bio-oil sludge, slurry) from the fast pyrolysis, to an entrained-flow gasification, where the mentioned products are atomized and gasified in a hypostoichiometric oxygen stream.
By employing entrained-flow gasification at high temperatures and pressures, virtually tar- and methane-free raw synthesis gas is able to be produced at a high conversion efficiency which, above all, is advantageous in a subsequent synthesis. This cannot be accomplished in fixed-bed or fluidized-bed reactors, due primarily to the lower operating temperature. However, when working with an entrained-flow gasification, substantial outlay is entailed in preparing the fuels. Biomass, in particular lignocellulose, such as wood and straw, is able to be most readily converted by fast pyrolysis into a pumpable liquid or a slurry that is pumped using simple pumps into an entrained-flow pressure gasifier and atomized and gasified using oxygen.
However, the known method exhibits a few decisive limitations which complicate or substantially restrict the application, or necessitate special precautions.
Most notably, in terms of its composition, a slurry is often not stable or storable, i.e., following a storage or transport time of greater or lesser length, a segregation, increase in viscosity or other property variations are to be expected. On the one hand, the pyrolysis coke content can settle out in the slurry; on the other hand, pyrolysis condensate contents can separate, an aqueous and an organic phase thereby forming. The aqueous phase may contain greater or lesser quantities of water-soluble organic compounds, in particular acetic acid, alcohols and other hydrocarbons having oxygen or other heteroatoms.
What is dangerous in the case of gasification under oxygen in an entrained-flow pressure gasifier is, in particular, a locally heated aqueous component in the slurry, i.e., an aqueous phase of a mainly low calorific value (for example, low temperature carbonization wastewater) having only small fractions of organic components (for example, alcohols) and pyrolysis coke. Namely, if the aqueous phase exhibits a low calorific value due to a segregation that occurred, i.e., if it contains barely combustible compounds in dissolved or dispersed form, this results in an excess of oxygen in the entrained-flow pressure gasifier that can mix with previously produced synthetic gas and lead to an explosion.
Until now, the dangers and limitations referred to have made it difficult to carry out an entrained-flow pressure gasification of biomass on a large scale. In particular, the aforementioned segregations greatly restrict the capability to transport the intermediate product, the slurry, over relatively long distances, for example, from a decentralized pyrolysis, which preferably takes place directly at the producer of the biomass, to a central entrained-flow pressure gasifier for producing biosynthesis gas. In addition, many slurries produced from seasonal waste material from farming and logging are only storable for a limited period of time in a closed container such as a tank.
When pyrolysis condensates are stored in a tank, even in some cases for relatively long periods of time, there is the risk, in particular, of a phase separation occurring in the pyrolysis condensate between an aqueous phase of low calorific value and an organic phase of high calorific value. The risk arises, in particular, when the tank contents are not able to be thoroughly mixed continuously and with adequate efficiency.
Also, volatizable, low-boiling constituents can alter the composition of the organic and aqueous phase, depending on the type of storage, for one and the same pyrolysis condensate over the course of a storage time.

Method for producing and preparing fast pyrolysis products from biomass for an entrained-flow pressure gasification


An actuator device for an electric window winder (101) having an electric motor (104) and a window displacement actuator element (112) which is displaceable with respect to a frame (102) of the device under action of the electric motor (104). An electronic unit (27) for drive and control of the electric motor (104) has power elements and is housed in a first portion (120) of the frame (102), and the electric motor is housed in a second portion of (107) of the frame (102). The first and second portions (120, 107) of the frame (102) are formed by a single one-piece body part of the frame, and the power components of the electronic unit (27) are in direct thermal contact with the first portion (120), which is formed of a thermally conductive metal material for the dissipation of heat from the power components.

As is known, currently for drive and control of such actuator devices conveniently fitted on vehicles, in particular motor vehicles, use is currently made in practice of a wiring system with wires dedicated to the electrical supply of the motor, which lead from a common central control unit for various actuator devices, which include relay units, limiter circuits etc. This wiring system involves various disadvantages, including: the complexity and difficulty of positioning bundles of wires, the large number of electrical connections, the difficulty of identification in the case of failure, and the complexity of testing the operation of the installation during and/or after assembly on the vehicle. Therefore, there has been provided an actuator device, suitable for an electric window winder, comprising an electric motor for a window displacement actuator element, and including an electronic unit for drive and control of the electric motor, as shown in EP-A-0252481, so that the number of electric wires leading to the motor system can be reduced. In particular, the electronic unit is housed in a cover which is separate from the frame housing the electric motor, and which is then fixed by means of screws.
In this realization the frame must be produced in two pieces, which are then fixed together with a supplementary operation; there is not a good transmission of heat from the power components of the electronic unit to the frame of the actuator device, in fact between the cover and the frame housing the electric motor there is a gasket; and resin material is utilized covering the electronic unit to promoting the removal of heat from the power components in the cover.

Actuator device for an electric window winder


A system for document extraction and targeted dissection, the system comprising: a memory device; a communication device; and a processing device configured to: receive a first document via communication channel over the network; extract user information from a first data field of the first document, wherein the first data field has a first data type and a first data format; store the user information and the first document in a document database; identify a second document comprising a second data field, wherein the second data field has the first data type; populate, automatically, the second data field of the second document with the extracted user information; display the second document in an electronic presentation via a user interface of a user device; and augment the electronic presentation of the second document in the user interface with supplemental data associated with the second document.

The use of electronic documents in lieu of traditional paper copies continues to increase due to convenience and accessibility. Current methods typically depend solely on user input to populate these documents. While some automatic population methods exist, excessive auto-population of documents may lead to user misapprehension and potential incorrect document usage. Therefore, there exists a need for an improved system for intelligently extracting and populating documents with additional data.

Data extraction system for targeted data dissection


A method, apparatus and program storage device for correcting a burst of errors together with a random error using cyclic or shortened cyclic codes is disclosed. The present invention solves the above-described problems by providing a received word to a syndrome register defined by a polynomial of degree n-k, said polynomial generating a cyclic or shortened cyclic code, wherein n is the length and k is the number of information bits in the codeword. The syndrome gets modified each time the received (possibly noisy) word is shifted. The contents of the syndrome register are processed to identify a random error together with an error burst of the received word. Then correction of the random error and the burst is made and a corrected codeword is generated.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to error correction codes, and more particularly to a method, apparatus and program storage device for correcting a burst of errors together with a random error using cyclic or shortened cyclic codes.
2. Description of Related Art
In current magnetic recording systems, read and write operations are made with respect to addressable ECC-coded sectors of tracks stored eventually on high-density direct access storage devices (DASD). DASDs or disk drives include at least one rotating disk covered with a magnetic coating that can store magnetic or electronic data and an apparatus for reading data from and writing data to that disk. This is implemented by a "spindle motor" to rotate the disk or disks, at least one "read/write head" to read and write data to and from the disk or disks, an "actuator" to position the read/write head or heads radially over the disk or disks either on a linear or rotary basis, and a "data channel" to transfer information between the read/write head or heads and an accessing source.
Information is recorded on the disk along concentric tracks divided into sectors. Years ago, all the tracks had the same number of bytes recorded thereon. This meant that the recording density per track varied inversely with radial distance. Today, the recording practice and the capacity have changed such that groups of concentric tracks form a zone and have data recorded at a density (bytes/track inch) that is constant. Thus, the tracks in the outer zones will have more information recorded thereon than those on the inner zones.
The sectors on each track are each operable on a unit of addressable storage. Generally in the industry, each addressable sector consists of 512 bytes. Each sector includes redundant bytes that aid in the detection and correction of errors up to some fixed limit. Whenever an error or erasure exceeds the capacity of the sector level code, then additional measures are needed to recover.
It is also desirable to superimpose additional associations among the units of storage, either to assist in rapid accessing or to enhance the active or passive protection of the data. These additional associations are termed collectively as "logical views" of storage. One construct can be formed from a logical association of an arbitrary set of n same-size storage units and a redundancy unit derived therefrom. In the case of error or erasure beyond the ECC capacity for that sector, data on that sector would be unavailable. However, it can be reconstructed by logically combining the remaining n-1 sectors with the redundant sector of that group.
Block or cyclic codes have long been used for detecting and correcting multiple bits or bytes in error in long bit or byte strings read back from a cyclic, concentric, tracked storage medium such as a magnetic disk storage subsystem or the like. Typically, each bit or byte string of predetermined length is treated as if it were an algebraic polynomial and subject to modulo division by an encoding polynomial. If the code is denominated as being "systematic", then redundant bits or bytes derived from the data are appended to the data string which otherwise remains intact.
In the case of linear block cyclic or shortened cyclic codes, the remainder is generally appended to the end of the data bit or byte string, although in certain implementations it may be convenient to append it at the beginning instead. Each data bit or byte string plus the appended remainder is then recorded on a storage medium or transmitted. Subsequently, when the data is accessed and played back from the medium, a remainder is in principle recalculated from the datastream as it is extracted and compared with the recorded remainder. If the remainder values comparison match, the difference result is zero. If the results do not match (nonzero difference), then this is indicative of error. Codes are now quite advanced such that the remainders are processed not only for identifying the presence of errors, but also for pinpointing its location and determining the correction values to be applied to the datastream. This is referred to as syndrome processing. Codes used for error correction are called error-correcting codes (ECC).
A code, C, is said to be a linear cyclic code if the cyclic shift of each codeword is also a codeword. If each codeword u in C is of length n, then the cyclic shift π(u) of u is the word of length n obtained from u by shifting the last digit of u and moving it to the beginning, all other digits moving one position to the right. Reed-Solomon (RS) codes are the main example of linear cyclic ECC codes based on bytes. They are used extensively in magnetic recording and communications. One advantage of RS codes is that they maintain maximum distance among codewords for any given length of data. This "spacing" between permissible codewords renders them useful for detecting and correcting randomly occurring byte errors as well as burst errors over a run of contiguous bytes.
When the data is read from any storage system, the data bytes are subject to error and erasure from random, intermittent, and recurrent sources. These may be due to media defects, signal coupling between tracks, extraneous signals induced in the readback path, etc. It is generally desired to correct the errors in place. This means that an array is read from the medium and written into a sufficiently sized buffer or RAM and memory local to the storage subsystem.
Error correcting codes have thus been used to correct such errors. However, correcting bursts of errors is a difficult problem. Even for correction of one burst, the best codes are found by extensive computer search, although there are analytical constructions like Fire codes. A Fire code is a conventional linear binary block code, i.e., it consists in transmitting, in addition to k information bits, a number or redundant bits computed by exclusive-or manipulations on the information bits. For example, the original k information bits can be used to build a polynomial, whose coefficients are the bits of the sequence. The redundancy can be expressed as the coefficients of another polynomial obtained as the remainder of the division of the polynomial representing the sequence by a pre-defined polynomial, characteristic of the code and called the generator polynomial. Thus, a Fire code has a generator polynomial designed to allow good detecting and/or correcting performance when errors happen in bursts.
Nevertheless, correcting just one burst may be a problem when an extra random error occurs in addition to a burst. Data error in the storage context means any change in the stored value as a consequence of either random noise or a burst. In systems storing binary values such as 1 1 1 0 0 1 0 0, remanent magnetization states change such that some 1's become 0's and some 0's become 1's. This might appear as 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0. Here, the value in the 3rd position from the left is a random error. A run of errors due to a burst source may cause the string to appear as 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0. Here, positions 4, 5 and 7 are actually in error. Although position 6 is not in error, this is considered to be a burst of length four. This means, the first and last bits of the burst determine its length, the inner bits may be in error or not.
The presence of a single random error along with a burst of errors may result in incorrect decoding when using conventional burst-correcting codes, like Fire codes. The traditional solution of interleaving Reed-Solomon (RS) codes may be too expensive for channels requiring correction of one burst together with a random error.
It can be seen then that there is a need for a method, apparatus and program storage device for correcting a burst of errors together with a random error using cyclic or shortened cyclic codes.

Method, apparatus and program storage device for correcting a burst of errors together with a random error using shortened cyclic codes

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies Netherlands B.V.


A front wheel supporting structure for a straddle-type vehicle includes a front arm which supports a front axle and which extends rearward from the front axle to a location behind a front wheel, and a pair of upper and lower link members which are turnably connected to two vertically separated portions of a rear end of a front arm. The link members extend rearward from the rear end of the front arm. Rear ends of the link members are turnably connected to a vehicle body-configuring member. The front wheel supporting structure includes a front suspension mechanism which suppresses turning motion of the front arm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a front wheel supporting structure for a straddle-type vehicle for supporting a front wheel by a front arm in a swing arm manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As described above, as a front wheel supporting structure for a two-wheeled motor vehicle, there is the swing arm manner utilizing a front arm which can swing in the vertical direction.
The front wheel supporting structure in the swing arm manner is disclosed in JP H2 (1990)-189295 A, a pair of upper and lower parallel link members is vertically swingably supported on a vehicle body. The upper and lower link members extend forward to a location close to a front axle, and front ends of the link members support the front axle through a connecting member.
In the conventional swing arm manner, the pair of upper and lower link members extends long in the longitudinal direction, and the front ends of the link members support the front wheel. Therefore, rigidity of an entire link mechanism configured by the upper and lower link members must be increased, and a weight of a front portion of a vehicle is increased.

Front wheel supporting structure for straddle-type vehicle


A combination of sports game apparatus including a plurality of U-blocks, a plurality of triangle blocks, a plurality of elongated tubes, a plurality of L-bars, a plurality of angle connectors, and a plurality of coupling tubes, and adapted to be alternatively arranged into a framework for a net assembly for badminton or tennis, a framework for a goal for soccer or hockey, or a framework for a back stop for basketball.

The present invention relates to a combination of sports game apparatus which can be rapidly arranged into a framework for a net assembly for badminton or tennis, a framework for a goal for soccer or hockey, or a framework for a back stop for basketball.
When to play a particular ball game, people shall have to go to a particular court, field or place where the requisite facilities are available. For example, when to play the game of basketball, people shall have to go to a basketball court, or a place where a back stop is available. Further, the residents of a building or buildings may play games in a nearby open field or yard. However, the residents of a building or buildings cannot play a variety of ball games in the surrounding field due to the limitation of limited open space and the lack of requisite facilities.

3 Fl.-3, No. 88, Sec. 3, Shin-Sheng S. Rd.


Disclosed is a thin film transistor that includes a gate electrode, a semiconductor overlapping with the gate electrode, a source electrode that is electrically connected to the semiconductor, a drain electrode that is electrically connected to the semiconductor and faces the source electrode, and a stacked gate insulating layer that is positioned between the gate electrode and semiconductor. The stacked gate insulating layer includes an aluminum oxide layer. A method of manufacturing the same and a display device including the thin film transistor are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
A thin film transistor and a method of manufacturing the same, and a display device including the thin film transistor are disclosed.
2. Description of the Related Art
An electron device such as a resistance, a capacitor, a diode, a thin film transistor, and the like is applied in various fields. In particular, the thin film transistor (TFT) is used as a switching device and a driving device in a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) display, an electrophoretic display, and the like.
A semiconductor and a gate insulating layer in the thin film transistor are important components to determine device characteristics. The gate insulating layer is mainly made of an inorganic material such as silicon oxide. However, the silicon oxide has a high current leakage and thus, limitedly fabricates a device having high performance as well as is not appropriate for a semiconductor made of other materials than silicon. Accordingly, in order to fabricate a device having high performance, the gate insulating layer may be densely formed in an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process, which takes too long time and thus, may not be practically applied.

Thin film transistor and method of manufacturing the same and display device including the same

Samsung-ro, Giheung-Gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-Do

Seocheon-Dong, Giheung-Gu, Yongin-Si, Gyeonggi-Do

INDUSTRY ACADEMY COOPERATION FOUNDATION OF KYUNGHEE UNIVERSITY


This invention provides a method of fabrication and structure for spacers between the anode substrate and the cathode substrate of a field emission display. The spacers have a high aspect ratio and which will be invisible to the human eye in the display image. An adhesive dielectric paste of glass frit in a binder is formed in cylindrical holes in a photoresist layer. Glass spacer spheres are placed on each column of dielectric paste. When fired the glass frit coalesces into a solid glass rod and bonds the glass spacer sphere to one end of the solid glass rod and the anode substrate to the other end of the solid glass rod. The firing also burns away the photoresist layer. The dark area in the image due to the spacers is less than 50 micrometers which will be invisible to the human eye.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention deals with field emission flat panel displays and with methods of forming high aspect ratio spacers to separate the anode and cathode of these displays.
2. Description of the Related Art
In field emission displays a flat anode structure is placed parallel to a flat cathode structure with a small separation distance between them A vacuum is maintained in the space between the anode structure and the cathode structure A number of spacers are typically used to maintain a uniform distance between the flat anode and the flat cathode.
The image in the field emission display is formed when electrons are emitted from a number of emitters, formed as part of the cathode structure, and impinge on a phosphor layer formed as part of the anode structure thereby forming an image. One of the problems of these displays is that the spacers used to maintain the separation between the cathode structure and the anode structure cause dark areas in the image visible to the viewer of the display. These dark areas reduce the image quality of the display. Image quality and spacers has received the attention of a number of workers in the field of displays.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,728 to Swirbel et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,288 to Rindo et al. teach methods of forming ball type spacers to provide spacing between parallel plates of a Liquid Crystal Display.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,139 to Sato et al. shows the use of photoresist pillars as spacers for Liquid Crystal Displays but does not teach how the pillars are formed.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,240 to Kim teaches the use of elongated spacers for a Liquid Crystal Display. U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,104 to Kim teaches a method of forming barrier ribs to provide separation in a gas display panel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,549 to Cathey et al. teaches forming spacers for flat panel displays by forming a layer of polymer material from which the spacers will be formed. A pattern of reflective material is formed on the polymer and the unwanted polymer material is removed with a laser. Alternately a laser is used to form holes in an etchable material. The holes are filled with spacer material and the etchable material is etched away.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,499 to Ogawa et al. teach a method of forming spacers by coating glass balls with glass frit of a low softening point. The assembly is heated and the glass frit is coalesced to form a sheath around the glass balls and a bond with wettable areas on the substrate. The excess glass balls are then removed and the remaining glass balls form spacers.

Invisible spacers for field emission displays

Industrial Technology Research Institute


A device for assisting individuals when sitting or standing relative to an article of furniture wherein the device includes a lightweight frame having a pair of handgrasp rails connected to a base having a first portion which is adapted to extend forwardly of an article of furniture and a second portion which is adapted to extend beneath the article of furniture. The device is stabilized by members which abut the front of a chair as the individual's weight shifts to or from the device as the individual stands or sits.

The present invention is generally directed to devices for assisting individuals in standing from a seated position or in lowering themselves to a seated position relative to a chair, couch, sofa, bed or other article of furniture. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a lightweight assist device which includes a base having a front first portion which extends forwardly of the article of furniture when in use and a rear second portion which is adapted to be positioned beneath the article of furniture during use. A pair of vertical brace members extend from the base and are adapted to abut the front of the article of furniture when the front portion of the base is positioned beneath the article of furniture to thereby stabilize the device as an individual's weight is shifted to and from the device during use. A pair of handle members extend from the vertical brace members and are oriented in a L-shaped configuration above the front portion of the base for purposes of being grasped by the individual when sitting or standing.
There are many individuals who, because of their age, health, injury or temporary or permanent physical condition, require assistance when sitting or standing relative to a chair, couch, bed or similar article of furniture. Often, such individuals do not have sufficient lower body strength to elevate themselves by pushing on the conventional arms of a chair and, in other instances, other articles of furniture such as a bed or sofa may not have arms positioned to assist the individual when sitting or standing.
In view of the foregoing, there have been a number of innovations developed to help individuals who require the use of their upper body to supplement lower body strength when sitting or standing. Prior to these innovations, individuals would use walking aids to help them when sitting or standing. For instance, an individual using a fixed frame walker would place the walker in front of them when in a seated position and pull themselves upwardly by placing their hands on the handrails of the walker. Unfortunately, because of the positioning of the individual relative to the walker, the walker would tend to tip as the weight distribution is spaced from the legs of the walker a sufficient distance to make the walker unsteady when a person is rising from a sitting position or being lowered from a standing position. This instability makes it difficult and sometimes impractical to use a walker to aid an individual in sitting or standing and, in some instances, can cause injury if the walker were to tip and the individual lose control of their movement.
To overcome the limitations associated with walking aids, it has been proposed to use support or assist devices which are specifically designed to be utilized with a chair or similar article of furniture. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,226,439 to O'Keefe et al., a support device is disclosed for use with chairs wherein the device includes a generally continuous bottom platform upon which a chair may be positioned. A pair of U-shaped rails extend vertically upward on either side of the platform so as to provide vertically adjustable handles on opposite sides of the chair. Unfortunately, with this type of device, a chair must be manuevered onto the support device before an individual can utilize the handles associated therewith. In addition, when standing or sitting, the individual cannot adequately distribute their weight forwardly of the chair as the handles only extend along the sides of the chair.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,053, a transfer device for a person using a wheelchair is disclosed which also discloses a platform-type base. The base is designed to be engaged by the forward portion of the wheelchair and a handlebar is provided which extends from the base toward an individual seated in the wheelchair. Unfortunately, the handle is positioned directly in front of the individual when they are rising to stand and thus acts as an obstruction when the individual attempts to shift their weight to their feet.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,509,432 to Peterson, a device to assist disabled persons is disclosed which includes a platform having a pair of handrails which are adapted to extend forwardly of a chair or other article of furniture with the handrails being spaced generally parallel with the sides of the chair or other article of furniture. The device includes four elongated leg elements for providing stabilization. When a person desires to stand or sit, their weight is placed on the platform and the handrails which are positioned forwardly of the chair are used to assist them in sitting and/or standing. Unfortunately, the handrails are positioned generally parallel to the sides of the chair and thus require that the individual have a significantly strong grasp to hold onto the rails in that they cannot pull on the rails when sitting or standing. Further, the device requires that an individual, when standing, must move forwardly through the device before being able to reach a walker or other assistance device when moving about. Because of this construction, the forward legs utilized to stabilize the device must extend beyond the hand support rails, thus increasing the weight and manueverability of the device. It would be preferred to have a device which could be utilized by individuals sitting in a chair or similar article of furniture where the device can be easily moved to the side of the article of furniture when not in use, but may be easily pulled and placed into position without a great deal of physical effort.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,022 to Coonrod dicloses another patient assist device which includes a handle member which is generally U-shaped and designed to allow a patient to pull themselves forwardly as opposed to grasping a pair of parallel rails as was disclosed in the patent to Peterson. In this patent, the handrail is attached to the forward end of a platform which is designed to be positioned beneath the chair or other seating device and a clamp is provided along a vertical member spaced from the handrail for engaging a leg of the chair so that the device is clamped to the chair to provide stability and prevent the device from rocking relative to the chair when in use. Although this device provides the benefit of allowing a person to pull themselves up when in a seated position, the device does not provide adequate stability if the individual places their hands along a portion of the handrail remote from the stabilization clamp. In these instances, the frame would tend to shift relative to the chair, causing an individual possibly to lose their balance when moving from a sitting to a standing or standing to a sitting position. In addition, the structure requires that the clamped element be engaged with a leg of a chair and thus, once in place, cannot easily be moved and will be an obstruction to an individual which may be an inconvenience when the individual desires to be seated without the device being positioned in front of them.
In view of the foregoing, there remains a need to provide a stable, lightweight and easily manuevered assist device which can be utilized to assist individuals when sitting or standing.


Improved methods for production of stilbenoids including resveratrol, pinosylvin and their respective derivatives are provided, including producing hairy roots from plant cells and eliciting production of the stilbenes. The plant cells in an embodiment are infected by Agrobacterium to produce hairy roots, and contacted with substances which elicit production of the stilbenoid compounds.

Trans-resveratrol (trans-3,4′,5-trihydroxystilbene, FIG. 1), and derivatives such as piceid (Larronde et al., 2005; Rimando and Barney, 2005), along with pinosylvin (Celimene et al., 1999) belong to a class of naturally occurring defense compounds that are produced in a select number of plant species and known as stilbenes. These plant polyphenols are receiving considerable interest based upon a number of associated health benefits (Baur and Sinclair, 2006; Delmas et al., 2006). Most notably, the significant levels of the resveratrol metabolite in red wine have been credited to the phenomenon referred to as "the French Paradox". It was observed in a large population study that prolonged, moderate consumption of red wine correlated with a very low incidence of cardiovascular disease (most notably coronary heart disease) among this study group despite a life-style that included a high saturated fat diet, little exercise and widespread smoking (Frankel et al., 1993; Kopp, 1998). Over the last decade, resveratrol has been reported to be associated with numerous other health benefits ranging from its function as a general anti-oxidant, to its anti-cancer, -atherosclerosis and -aging properties and most recently its neuroprotective and estrogenic activities (Gehm et al., 1997; Miura et al. 2003; Orallo, 2006). Furthermore several natural derivatives of resveratrol have shown additional health benefits including a methylated resveratrol compound, pterostilbene (FIG. 1), that has been shown to reduce cholesterol levels in laboratory animals (Rimando et al., 2005). Pinosylvin, another relative in the stilbene pathway has been associated with anti-inflammatory and cancer chemopreventative activities (Park et al., 2004).
With a growing trend in the United States and the continued popularity in Europe and Asia, for seeking natural health enhancing products, many plant-derived nutraceuticals are being incorporated into the functional food industry, the herbal and dietary supplement markets, and pharmaceutical industry. Countless studies have shown that US consumers often prefer foods with added health benefits over the same food without the benefit, and inclusion of these health-enhancing compounds in food products is preferred to taking dietary supplements. While dried or extracted plant material (seeds, roots, rhizomes, etc.) enriched in resveratrol and other stilbenes are incorporated into a number of marketed products that include dietary supplements (i.e. Longevinex™) and health-enhancing food products (i.e. Old Orchard Beverage Company, Sparta, Mich.), this source of resveratrol and other stilbenes is typically associated with color pigments and numerous other components that limit their broader application into food, nutritional and cosmetic products. A high quality source of naturally-derived resveratrol and its many derivatives that is void of color, taste, odor as well as production contaminants (i.e. pesticide residues, heavy metals, etc.) is currently not available on the commercial market due to a lack of consistent, high volume, cost-effective production systems for these health beneficial plant metabolites.
Efforts to advance production systems for providing more enriched and concentrated commercial stocks of resveratrol have taken several distinct strategies. The reconstruction of a biochemical pathway in a heterologous host to produce resveratrol was first demonstrated in wine yeasts with the intent of increasing resveratrol production for health benefits during fermentation in both red and white wines (Becker et al., 2003). More recent efforts have successfully co-expressed several genes belonging to the stilbene biosynthesis pathway of peanut in E. coli (Watts et al., 2006). While the conversion of the substrate 4-coumaric acid was functional in this recombinant microbial bioproduction system and produces over 50 times the levels of resveratrol than recombinant yeast (100 mg/L in E. coli), issues of inefficient substrate utilization, high substrate cost and recombinant-based production issues currently limit commercialization efforts of resveratrol product from these systems. In other attempts to produce resveratrol, genes encoding resveratrol were introduced into legume plant cells (Paiva et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,895). Lengthy process steps and cost are among the disadvantages of such systems.
The use of a natural plant-based bioproduction approach for producing this plant-derived resveratrol has several advantages. While the use of grapevine cell suspensions for the production of trans-resveratrol has reported levels as high as 15 mM in the spent medium (Bru et al., 2006), there are issues surrounding long-term stability of plant cell cultures for secondary metabolite production (Wink et al., 2005). Such cultures are undifferentiated and in order to maintain the cultures ongoing hormone exposure is required, and stability becomes a problem. The culture can stop producing the stilbene and not respond to elicitors.
Accordingly, there exists a need to improve on systems for controlled, contained production of enriched fractions of natural stilbenoids that include resveratrol, pinosylvin and their respective derivatives.

Production of stilbenes in plant hairy root cultures


The disclosure concerns a hard multi-ply laminate, at least two of the plies comprising primarily wood fibers compressed with a plastic, and an intermediate ply of a different chemical composition than the wood fiber plies, and top and bottom plies of substantially the same physical performances to avoid warping. An adhesive is applied between each of the plies and all the plies are compressed to form a hard laminate. An edge of the resulting board is shaped to form an artistic configuration, and the edges are coated with a moisture barrier. Thus the resulting hard laminate boards with a sculpted edge can be used directly for table and desk tops, shelving and the like without the addition of an edging strip.

Multi-ply resin-impregnated boards of wood fibers with intermediate layers of plastic, cloth, and glass fibers are all well known individually and in subcombinations in the prior art. However, such boards for decorative purposes previously required separate edging strips and contained comparatively expensive plies of wood fibers impregnated with plastic and compressed under high pressure.


An image encoding method includes preprocessing source images according to preset preprocessing requirements to generate preprocessed images, merging the preprocessed images according to preset merging requirements to generate a target image, and encoding the target image.

In the field of aerial photography and entertainment using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), the wireless image transmission system (or simply "wireless image transmission" or "image transmission") has become an important component of the UAV.
With the development of market and the diversification of market demand, the demand of installing two or more cameras on a UAV for simultaneous multichannel image transmission is getting stronger and stronger. In conventional technologies, the multichannel image transmission (herein, two-channel image transmission is taken as an example) can be achieved using the following methods.
For example, two sets of image transmission system that are mutually independent are each used to perform image acquisition, image encoding, image sending, image receiving, image decoding, image display, image storing, and the like. The two sets of system (except for the wireless sending and receiving components) work independently and do not interfere with each other.
For another example, two encoders are used to independently encode images from two cameras, and then a multiplexer is used to alternately transmit two bitstreams, from which data is transmitted to the opposite terminal via a same set of wireless transmitter/receiver. After receiving the data, the opposite terminal uses a demultiplexer to restore the data into two independent image bitstreams, and then performs decoding, display, storing, and other subsequent processes on the two bitstreams.
However, the two solutions described above cannot simultaneously satisfy multiple requirements of keeping the bandwidth, image quality, and effective transmission distance unchanged.


A case or device for holding and camouflaging a tablet computing device, such as an iPad or iPad2 tablet. The case protects the tablet computing device, and allows use of the tablet computing device without being removed. The case has several built-in stands with adjustable variable viewing angles. The exterior of the case is camouflaged in appearance.

The proliferation of portable electronic devices and tablet computing devices is well known. Each successive iteration or generation provides increasingly greater features and capabilities, typically through a variety of user-friendly, content-specification applications (or "apps"). One market segment that has shown exemplary growth are tablet computing devices, which continue to impact the way people manage business, interact with each other, and conduct their daily lives.
Because these devices are intended to be portable and carried by the user, they are susceptible to damage from being dropped or hit. While some damage may be superficial or cosmetic, other damage may impair the functioning of the device (e.g., fractured screen or lens).
A variety of protective cases are known in the art for encasing and protect portable electronic devices from possible damage, particularly in the case of cell phones or smart phones. While some cases are known for use with tablet computing devices, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,312,991 and 8,328,991, which are incorporated herein by specific reference for all purposes, these cases do not always allow complete access to all functions and capabilities of the device while presenting an aesthetically pleasing and protective appearance. Accordingly, there is a need for cases for tablet computing devices that will protect the device while allowing full functionality and use of the device with an aesthetically pleasing and protective appearance.


A method for transmitting a signal of a medium access control sublayer in a mobile communication system which has mobile and base stations for providing a bearer service. A bearer service profile type is decided according to a bearer service combination type of the bearer service for the provision of the bearer service. A transport format indicator is set according to the decided bearer service profile type, and a transport format combination indicator is appended to a dedicated physical control channel. The most efficient data is transmitted on the basis of a service type and a measured radio environment result. Therefore, a data frame format most suitable to a channel environment can be produced, thereby providing the best service.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a mobile communication system, and more particularly to a method for transmitting a signal of a medium access control (referred to hereinafter as MAC) sublayer in a mobile communication system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various methods have been proposed to transmit signals in a mobile communication system. One such conventional signal transmission method may be a data frame-type method which varies a data rate according to a service type.
However, the above-mentioned conventional signal transmission method has a disadvantage in that it cannot transmit efficient data because it varies the data rate according to the service type without regarding environmental factors.

Method for transmitting signals in mobile communication system


The most accurate method of finding the true north is through astronomical observations, for example, by observing the position of the sun. However, the procedure is complicated. The instantaneous position of the sun must be calculated from astronomical data for each instance of observation, and the operator must wait for the predetermined time to come. Elaborate manual adjustments are required. The present invention discloses an automatic solar compass comprising a cylindrical omni-directional lens, a detection means, and a servomechanism. It is as easy to use as the magnetic compass, but much more accurate and reliable than the magnetic compass.

1. Field of the Invention
Finding the direction with regard to the true north is a necessity in everyday life, for example, in traveling, camping, sightseeing, driving, sailing, flying, exploration, land surveying, military activities, and the utilization of solar energy. Since the invention in the 11th century, the magnetic compass has been the most popular instrument for finding directions. It is well-known that the magnetic compass has a number of problems. The magnetic north is often grossly different from the true north. In the United States, the error (magnetic inclination) could be greater than ±20°, which also varies with location and time. In Canada, the error could be greater than ±45°. Furthermore, the magnetic compass is grossly affected by ferromagnetic materials in the neighborhood of the compass, for example, iron ore or steel pieces, such as vehicles and firearms.
The current invention discloses a novel compass which can automatically point to the true north based on the position of the sun, which is as easy to use as the magnetic compass, but much more reliable and accurate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In 1834, W. A. Burt invented a solar compass which uses the position of the sun to determine the true north. Because of its reliability and accuracy, since the middle of the 19th century, the US government defined the solar compass as the standard for land surveying. The solar compass is also used in the military for finding directions in the battle field, for example, the Astro Compass MKII was used extensively in WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Recent improvements of the solar compass were disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,451 by Dandurand, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,178 by Steele et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,931 by Waltho. However, the operation of those solar compasses is very complicated, which requires the calculation of the local solar time versus the local standard time at the time of measurement, and requires elaborate manual adjustments. When a gnomon is used, the image is fussy, and the equation of time correction must be accounted for. Therefore, to date, the solar compass is used only by few experts.
The advance of GPS (Global Positioning System) greatly facilitates the measurement of the location (longitude, latitude, and altitude). However, the GPS signal does not contain direction information. To find the direction of a line, at least two GPS points are required. To achieve sufficient accuracy, a distance of hundreds of feet is necessary. The direction is computed from the difference of the individual positions. Although very accurate, its application is complicated and time-consuming.
In a previous patent application (Ser. No. 11/840,428, 08/17/2007 by Chengjun Julian Chen), the present inventor discloses a new type of optical device, the spherical omni-directional lens, which can focus the sun beam from all directions onto a sharp spot with a long depth of field, with an application to an accurate and easy-to-use solar compass. Although it is much more convenient than the earlier solar compasses, it still requires manual adjustments to find the true north.

The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York


An image-recording device that improves processing speed for image-recording that is carried out using a light and heat sensitive recording material. At the same time as irradiation of the light and heat sensitive recording material with light by a light source for fixing, a heating device heats the light and heat sensitive recording material. Because photo-fixing/photo-decolorization is carried out while the light and heat sensitive recording material is heated, viscosity of the system decreases, and dispersibility of active radicals increases. Due to this activation of radicals, a photopolymerization reaction and a photo-decolorization reaction accelerate, so that efficiencies of fixing and decolorizing increase.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image-recording device and, in particular, to an image-recording device which records an image using a light and heat sensitive recording material.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an image-recording device which is used for printing silver halide photographs, photographing is carried out using a film such as a negative film, a positive film or the like, and image information recorded on the film, after development, is optically printed on printing paper. Then, the printing paper is processed with a processing solution, such that a print is obtained. Such an image-recording device usually utilizes a wet process that uses a processing solution. With such an image-recording device, the size of a processing device tends to be large, and thus processing costs are high.
As a method of processing a photosensitive material using silver halide, there has been developed an easy and rapid processing method which utilizes heat development. However, in this heat-development process, a dye generated by heat development is transferred to an image-receiving material, and the side of the image-receiving material subjected to transfer is used as a print. Thus, there is a drawback in that waste products are generated.
Currently, an image-recording device which utilizes a completely dry system free of waste products is being proposed. In this image-recording device, multiple processes are carried out with an optical recording section, a heat-development section, a photo-fixing section and the like, so that an image is formed on a light and heat sensitive recording material. Specifically, at an image exposure section, a light beam is irradiated onto the light and heat sensitive recording material to record a latent image. At the heat-development section, heat is applied to the latent image recorded on the light and heat sensitive recording material, and the latent image is thereby developed. Then, at the photo-fixing section, the developed image is irradiated with light and is fixed.
When the image is fixed using a light source lamp of the photo-fixing section, fixing takes several minutes, because of characteristics of the light and heat sensitive recording material. Thus, there is a problem in that the time required for processing in the photo-fixing section is long, and the overall speed of image-recording processing is significantly slowed.
The present invention has been devised in order to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an image-recording device which enables an improvement of processing speed when image-recording using a light and heat sensitive recording material. In a first aspect of the present invention, the present invention has: an optical recording section which exposes a light and heat sensitive recording material with light for recording a latent image; a heat-development section, downstream of the optical recording section, which develops the latent image by heating; and a photo-fixing section, downstream of the heat-development section, which brings a film surface of the light and heat sensitive recording material to a temperature from 30 to 200xc2x0 C. and irradiates light for fixing the developed image.
In accordance with the present invention, a recording material which uses a composition which is cured by light may be used as the photosensitive thermal material. In a case of using such a light and heat sensitive recording material, the composition which is cured with light is photo-cured by exposing the recording material with light which has been passed through or reflected by an original of the image or by carrying out exposure with light scanning using image data, such that a latent image is formed. Thereafter, when the light and heat sensitive recording material is heated, at an uncured portion corresponding to the latent image, components which relate to color formation or decolorization move within the recording material, and a color image is formed. Then, when the surface of the light and heat sensitive recording material is irradiated with light, the formed image is fixed and a non-image portion is decolorized. This process is useful not only for recording black-and-white images but also for recording color images. Now, the photo-fixing means heats the film surface of the light and heat sensitive recording material to from 30 to 200xc2x0 C., as well as irradiating the light and heat sensitive recording material with light. Consequently, radical activation in the light and heat sensitive recording material accelerates, so efficiency of a photopolymerization reaction and efficiency of photo-decolorization increase.
The high temperature of the film surface of the light and heat sensitive recording material at the photo-fixing section may be achieved by retaining heat applied at the heat-development section. That is, a part of the function of the photo-fixing section may overlap the function of the heat-development section, and image-fixing by the photo-fixing means is accelerated using preheat generated at the heat-development section during heat-development processing. Thus, energy consumption during heating by the photo-fixing means can be reduced, and the whole device can be made more compact. Further, the photo-fixing section may heat the film surface of the light and heat sensitive recording material by photo-heating.


A syringe adapter includes an adapter body having a first connecting portion that may be received into a power injector unit used to deliver contrast media. The adapter also includes a second connecting portion configured to receive the rearward end of an associated syringe. The adapter includes means for encoding information about the associated syringe that may be communicated to the power injector unit through one or more sensors. The means for encoding information may include a mechanism that moves linearly laterally back and forth to activate an actuator used to convey the encoded information. In particular, the action of installing the adapter may be decoupled from the action of encoding information.

Injectors are devices that expel fluid, such as contrast fluid, into a circulatory system, which is used to enhance medical imaging like for example x-ray or magnetic imaging. The contrast fluid or contrast media is injected from a syringe, through a tube, and into an animal subject or human patient. Injectors are well known for use with a powered injector unit that is frequently fixed to a stand or support. Injectors typically include a plunger drive that couples to the plunger of the syringe and moves the plunger forward to expel fluid into the tube thereby injecting the contrast media in the subject.
Powered injectors or motorized injectors often include circuitry that controls the plunger drive unit for setting the rate of injection and/or the amount of fluid injected. Typically, the control circuitry includes switches which allow a user to manually actuate the drive unit to move the plunger within the syringe. The injector may cycle the plunger through the syringe one or more times to fill the syringe with fluid and expel any air bubbles trapped inside. Other syringes come pre-filled, which reduces the number of plunger drive movements needed to prepare the injector for a new injection. After the procedure has ended, the syringe plunger, typically positioned at the forward end of the syringe barrel, is retracted so that the syringe may be removed from the injector. In some injectors, the syringe can only be removed or replaced while the plunger drive is fully retracted.
Excess contrast media remaining in a syringe after an injection must be discarded as is well known in medical procedures to prevent cross contamination and/or infection. However, contrast media can be expensive. For this reason, when preparing for an injection, an empty syringe is filled with only as much media as will be needed for the next procedure. Similarly, pre-filled syringes are sold in a number of sizes, for example ranging from 60 to 200 milliliters, allowing the operator preparing for an injection to select a syringe containing only as much media as is needed for that procedure. Accordingly, the syringes may have one or more characteristic properties or parameters that if communicated to the power injector would assist the operator in the procedure and provide safeguards for ensuring proper use of the contrast media. Examples of such parameters may include syringe diameter or length, syringe material, contrast fluid composition and concentration of the contrast media. These parameters may affect certain procedures like the delivery rate or pressure.
Some syringes include information encoded into the surface of the syringe. When the syringe is inserted and rotated, the power injector reads and processes the information accordingly. In this situation, customized syringes must be used with a specific power injector. What is needed is an adapter that encodes and provides information to the powered injector unit for generic types of contrast media syringes.


A holographic imaging device for imaging an object under study includes a partially reflective surface having a contact side for contacting the object under study and an imaging side for partially reflecting a radiation wave. The device also includes at least one radiation source for projecting the radiation wave onto the imaging side of the partially reflective surface and an image sensor arranged to receive the radiation wave when reflected by the partially reflective surface. The image sensor is adapted for determining an interference pattern between the radiation wave reflected by the imaging side of the partially reflective surface and the radiation wave reflected by the object under study when contacting the contact side of the partially reflective surface.

Holography was invented over 60 years ago by the physicist Dennis Gabor and is a technique that allows the light scattered from an object to be recorded and later reconstructed. Digital holography uses digital reconstruction of the diffraction patterns.
In digital holographic microscopy, a diffraction pattern, obtained by interference between a reference wave and an object wave which has interacted with an object of interest, may be detected and stored in a digital recording. By applying a reconstruction algorithm to such a recorded diffraction pattern, an image or image signature of the object of interest may be obtained. Coherent or partially coherent light, collimated by a small aperture, may be used to illuminate an object in order to produce a diffraction pattern. This diffraction pattern may then be acquired by a high resolution optoelectronic sensor array. Such a lens-free holographic microscopy setup may produce a hologram of the object with phase information encoded in the diffraction images. Lens-free holographic imaging can provide an attractive low-cost solution for imaging small objects, for example, microscopic objects, such as biological cells, because no expensive or complex optical components, such as high-quality optical lenses, are required.
Methods for holographic imaging in biological applications known in the art may be primarily based on in-line transmission geometry, in which coherent light from a light source illuminates a sample, which may be positioned on a glass substrate, and the diffraction or fringe pattern is recorded on an imager which is positioned on the opposite side of the sample with respect to the light source.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary holography setup, which may be known in the art, for creating a holographic image of a transparent object. This setup comprises a light source 102, an aperture 105 (e.g., a pin-hole), a transparent surface 106 (e.g., a glass substrate) for supporting an object 104, and an image sensor 101. The aperture 105 may collimate a light wave 107 emanating from the light source 102 to produce a substantially planar parallel coherent or partially coherent light wave near the object 104 after propagating unimpeded over a suitable distance between the aperture 105 and the object 104. The light wave may then interact with the object 104, for example, the object may undergo a phase shift due to changes in refractive index while passing through the object. The diffraction pattern formed by interference of an object wave component, which has interacted with the object 104, and a reference wave component, which has passed through the transparent surface 106 without interacting with the object 104, may then be recorded by the image sensor 101.
In a paper by Su et al., published in Lab Chip, 2009, 9, 777-787, a lens-free holographic cytometer is disclosed. This paper describes an imaging and reconstruction method that may result in an improvement of the reconstructed images, by providing rich texture information. This system is furthermore used for characterization and counting of cells which are positioned on a CMOS imaging chip. The paper therefore demonstrates that identification and/or characterization of a heterogeneous cell solution on a chip is feasible based on pattern recognition of the holographic diffraction pattern of each cell type.
However, holographic imaging using an in-line transmission geometry may not be suitable for imaging non-transparent samples. Furthermore, dense or connected objects, such as biological tissue samples, may prevent the undistorted transmission of a suitable fraction of the wave through the sample in order to form a reference wave component. Therefore, when imaging such a non-transparent or dense sample, a suitable object wave component may preferentially be obtained by reflection on the surface of the sample, instead of transmission through the sample.
When a high resolution for small objects needs to be achieved, the reflective-mode setup may involve a complicated set-up. FIG. 2 illustrates the working principles of a field portable reflection/transmission microscope based on lens-less holography, which was disclosed in a paper by Lee et al., published in Biomedical Optics Express, 2011, 2(9), 2721-2730. The configuration of this setup is similar to that of a Michelson interferometer, and comprises a light source 102, an image sensor 101 (e.g., a CMOS sensor-chip), a reflective surface 103, and a beam splitting device 108. It demonstrates a lens-less reflection-mode microscope based on digital off-axis holography in which a beam-splitter 108 and a reflective surface 103 are used to produce a tilted reference wave for producing an interference pattern by superposition on the reflected light from the object 104. Therefore, an off-axis hologram of the object 104 is created on the image sensor 101. The beam-splitter 108 is an essential feature of the device for the interference of the reflected beam with the reflected light from an object to create the hologram.

Device and method for holographic reflection imaging


The test results found that the EMI impact depended on the UWB power that fell within the receiver passband. Specifically, EMI occurred when the average power in the receiver passband was approximately equal to the desired signal level of the receiver. One waveform, TW7, did not cause EMI because the average power was too low. Three waveforms, TW1, TW2, and TW6 only caused EMI when the receiver was tuned to the frequency of the UWB spectral component. Three waveforms, TW3, TW4, and TW5, caused EMI at all receiver frequencies. As noted, these tests were performed to determine the susceptibility of various RF receiver (radars and communications systems) devices to UWB signals. The tests were not intended to evaluate the use of UWB signals for jamming purposes.

Embodiments of the present invention are directed to radio frequency (RF) jamming. More particularly, embodiments of the present invention are directed to jamming RF switching devices used to trigger RF-triggered explosive devices (RTEDs).
Modern war-fighters are increasingly confronting attacks from RTEDs, particularly devices that use improvised triggering mechanisms. These "booby traps" are often triggered by RF switching devices found in ordinary household items such as garage-door openers and radio-controlled (RC) toy vehicles. RFTDs can be very effective because they are difficult to detect and to counter.
During the Gulf War, coalition forces encountered significant numbers of booby traps and improvised RTEDs. Most of these devices were located in numerous bunker complexes. By way of illustration, a common improvised RTED consists of booby-trapped 5-gallon cans of napalm actuated by a RF receiving device such as a RC toy actuator or a garage door opener. Another common booby trap encountered involved daisy chaining a group of Valmara 69 antipersonnel (AP) fragmentation mines, again actuated by a RF receiver.
The proficiency of attacks in war zones has increased in frequency with many of the attacks directed toward interdicting convoys.
In response to the use of these RTEDs, field commanders began trying to protect themselves by using RF transmitters, such as toy car remote controls, to attempt to pre-detonate RTEDs. While this worked in some cases, many devices like garage-door transmitters and car alarms use rolling codes or other "protected" RF transmissions that are difficult to predict or duplicate and do not operate at the same frequencies as the RC toy controllers. This greatly increased the number of types and frequencies of the RF jammers needed to attempt to protect a vehicle or convoy.
Typically, improvised RTEDs are remotely detonated using relatively simple, readily available low-technology devices, such as garage door openers, car alarms, Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) devices, door bells, RC toy car remotes, family radio service (FRS) and general mobile radio service (GMRS) two-way radios, cellular telephones, and pagers—all of which can be used to enable radio frequency command detonation (RFCD). Therefore, this implies that observation of the target area probably requires line-of-sight (LOS) observation points in many cases. However, the adaptation of using radios, cell phones, and other RC devices has given the enemy the standoff ability to watch forces from a distance and not be compromised.
The type of RF switching devices of concern are cheap, simple, small, low power, limited range (from 10 to 200 meters) and operate in various frequency bands from HF (3–30 MHz) through UHF (300–3000 MHz). Most of these devices operate with a simple On-Off-Keying (OOK) or Frequency-Shift-Keying (FSK) modulation. They typically initiate commands based on bit streams consisting of a series of pulses from the remote keying device. For most RF switching devices and RKEs, the receiver must receive two full consecutive correct bit streams, with each bit stream lasting for tens of milliseconds. If a bit in either bit stream is not received correctly, the receiving device will not activate.
The RF characteristics for several of these devices are presented below.
Remote Keyless Entry (US/EUROPE):                315 MHz –433 MHz,        1 mW Transmit Power,        25–100 kHz Bandwidth (BW),        Range to 100 m,        Superheterodyne Receiver (Local Oscillator) Sleep/Wake Mode (To Conserve Battery Power),        Receiver needs to receive 2 full bit streams to perform intended function.
Garage Door Openers:                27 MHz–433 MHz,        1 mW Transmit Power,        25–100 kHz Bandwidth,        Range to 200 m,        Superheterodyne Receiver (Local Oscillator) on At All Times,        Receiver needs to receive 2 full bit streams to perform intended function.
Cordless Phones:                800 MHz–5.8 GHz,        100 mW Transmit Power,        50 kHz–500 kHz Bandwidth,        Range to 200 m,        Superheterodyne Receiver (Local Oscillator) on at all times.
The receivers of most RF switching devices and RKEs are superheterodyne receivers consisting of an antenna, an RF Filter, an RF amplifier, a mixer, a local oscillator, an intermediate frequency (IF) filter, and an IF amplifier. There are several ways to interfere with a superheterodyne receiver. Low-level interference sources on the same or adjacent channels can cause electromagnetic interference (EMI). Also high-level out-of-band signals can saturate the RF amplifier, causing desensitization, cross-modulation, or intermodulation products that cause EMI. These EMI interactions are antenna-induced products (i.e., the antenna is in the path from the interferer to the receiver). Another cause of EMI is high-level signals at the IF of the receiver which penetrate the body of the receiver. This interaction does not include the antenna and is commonly called "back-door" interference.
Large and expensive efforts have been undertaken by the military to address the RTED problem. However, all of the present solutions are very sophisticated, require large pieces of equipment, and are quite costly at over $500,000 per unit. A simpler, smaller, and cheaper solution would be highly desirable.
In other developments, Ultra-Wide Band (UWB) technology has also progressed in recent years. UWB technology has its origins in the development of time-domain (impulse response) techniques for the characterization of linear, time-invariant microwave structures. The advent of the time-domain sampling oscilloscope (Hewlett-Packard c. 1962) and the development of techniques for sub-nanosecond (baseband) pulse generation provided the requisite tools for further basic research. While there is no single definition of what constitutes a UWB transmitter, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) uses the following definition for regulatory purposes:                An intentional radiator that, at any point in time, has a fractional bandwidth equal to or greater than 0.20 or has a UWB bandwidth equal to or greater than 500 MHz, regardless of the fractional bandwidth. 47 CFR 15.503 (d).
In the early 1970's, impulse or baseband techniques were applied to a large number of potential applications ranging from low cost, high-resolution radar to specialized communications systems having low probability of detection (LPD) and low probability of interference (LPI). Within the United States, much of the early work in the UWB field (prior to 1994), particularly in the area of impulse communications, was performed under classified U.S. Government programs. Since 1994, much of the work has been carried out without classification restrictions, and the development of UWB technology has greatly accelerated. Recent UWB improvements have come about in the fields of communications, radar, and localization. Numerous manufacturers have begun producing UWB chips and the cost of UWB devices has decreased. UWB chip manufacturers include Motorola's newly spun-off chip unit, Freescale Semiconductor (XtremeSpectrum), Alereon, Staccato Communications, Wisair, FOCUS Enhancements, Inc., Jazz Semiconductor, Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation, Hua Hong NEC Electronics Co., Ltd, and Intel Corporation.
A summary of some UWB applications, for both the military and commercial markets, is presented below:
Commercial Applications:                High Speed (20+Mb/s) local area networks (LANs) and wide area networks (WANs)        Altimeter/Obstacle Avoidance Radars (commercial aviation)        Collision Avoidance Sensors        RF Identification        Intelligent Transportation Systems        Intrusion Detection Radars a Precision Geolocation Systems        Industrial RF Monitoring SystemsMilitary/Government Applications:        Tactical Handheld & Network LPI/D Radios        Non-LOS LPI/D Groundwave Communications        LPI/D Altimeter/Obstacle Avoidance Radar        RF Identification        Intrusion Detection Radars        Precision Geolocation Systems        Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV)/Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) Datalinks        Proximity Fuses        LPI/D Wireless Intercom Systems
The major advantages and disadvantages of UWB systems both result from the wide bandwidths associated with the ultra-short pulse waveforms that are used in most implementations of UWB technology. Although these ultra-short pulses result in the potential for high data rates for communicating and high-resolution imaging for radar applications, their associated wide bandwidths result in a potential for EMI over a wide range of frequencies. It is anticipated that UWB signals will be effective in interfering with the operation of these RF switching devices and RKEs because some portion of the UWB energy will be on-tune (thereby lowest power required to induce EMI) to the respective RF switching device and RKE receivers.
The RF characteristics for UWB devices are presented below:
Wideband Controlled Spectral Content (kHz To GHz)
High Peak Power (Effective Jamming) measured in units of Watts.
Low Average Power, measured in units of less than 1 mW.
Small Size, low power and low weight.
Although it is often regarded as new technology, the basic UWB technology has been around as long as wireless. Marconi's original spark transmission and all early wireless telegraphy were UWB. The military spent years investigating the application of UWB signals for high-resolution "carrier free" radar systems. Applications for UWB may be categorized as radar, location, and data communications.
UWB systems provide a potential for improved performance compared to legacy systems for certain military radio communication and sensing systems functions. However, the UWB systems also pose a potential threat to legacy systems because of potential EMI problems. The objective of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Networking in Extreme Environments (NETEX) program was to create a wireless networking technology for the military user that enables robust connectivity in a wide spectrum of environments and support its integration into new and emerging sensor and communication systems. The NETEX effort investigated the susceptibility of selected military communication, navigation, and radar receivers to EMI from various UWB waveforms. The results of this investigation implied that UWB devices can easily cause EMI in legacy systems. The test also defined the UWB system parameters that caused the most effective EMI. The results of these tests demonstrated that UWB can be used effectively to interfere with simple RF switching devices and RKEs.
Seventeen selected military systems were tested to determine the susceptibility of legacy receivers to the very narrow pulses (and pulse trains) of transmitters associated with UWB systems. The selected military systems provided a representative sample of communications, navigation, and radar systems that are currently used in military applications. Typical parameters that influence receiver susceptibility are the sensitivity of the receiver, the levels of the desired and interfering signal sources, frequency and modulation of the desired signal source, pulse repetition frequency (PRF) of the UWB source, receiver bandwidth and operating frequency, and threshold levels associated with any responses.
The basic approach utilized during the NETEX testing was to subject each of the selected receivers to a number of "worst case" UWB waveforms and determine the conditions that cause EMI effects in the receiver. The results of these tests defined the receiver susceptibility threshold to these waveforms when the UWB emitter was connected directly to the receive antenna port (through a variable attenuator).
DARPA conducted over 1600 individual tests for different modes (39), at fixed frequencies (65) and during frequency hopping (5), and frequency ranges between 30 MHz and 16 GHz using 7 generic UWB waveforms. These UWB signal parameters were specified relative to selected victim RF and IFs. The UWB signal levels were not limited to FCC rules.
The tested generic UWB waveforms were as follows:                TW1—PRF is equal to, or a sub-harmonic of, the test frequency with no modulation or dithering of the PRF.        TW2—PRF is equal to, or a sub-harmonic of, the test frequency with the PRF waveform dithered +/−10%.        TW3—PRF is equal to the IF bandwidth of receiver under test with the PRF waveform dithered +/−1%.        TW4—PRF is equal to the IF bandwidth with PRF frequency modulated (FM)        TW5—PRF is equal to one tenth of the IF bandwidth with no modulation or dithering on PRF.        TW6—PRF is equal to ten times the IF bandwidth with no modulation or dithering on PRF.        TW7—PRF is equal to one hundredth of the IF bandwidth with no modulation or dithering on PRF.
The tests performed measured receiver sensitivity, receiver susceptibility to white noise, receiver susceptibility to a small UWB signal (where the UWB is increased until it upsets the receiver and is then decreased until the receiver reacquires the desired signal), and receiver susceptibility to a large UWB signal (where the desired signal is increased until the receiver acquires it and then decreased until the signal reception at the receiver is upset).
The test results found that the EMI impact depended on the UWB power that fell within the receiver passband. As noted, these tests were performed to determine the susceptibility of various RF receiver (radars and communications systems) devices to UWB signals. The tests were not intended to evaluate the use of UWB signals for jamming purposes.
What would be useful would be a jamming system that would thwart the detonation of RTEDs using RF switching devices. Such jamming system would also be portable, use relatively small power sources, and be effective against a wide range of RF switching devices.

Method and apparatus for protecting personnel from RF-triggered explosive devices (RTED) using ultra-wideband (UWB) transmission


Methods of controlling reading/writing by a read/write head of a disk drive include generating a position error signal indicative of a displacement of the read/write head from a desired radial location on a surface of a data storage disk. A control signal for moving the read/write head to the desired location is calculated responsive to the position error signal. Writing by the read/write head is inhibited responsive to the control signal exceeding a control signal threshold value. A disk drive includes a controller configured to generate a position error signal indicative of a displacement of a read/write head from a desired location on a surface of a disk, and to generate a control signal for moving the read/write head to the desired location. The controller is further configured to inhibit writing by the read/write head responsive to a predictive metric that is predictive of the position error signal exceeding a threshold.

Disk drives are digital data storage devices that can enable users of computer systems to store and retrieve large amounts of data in a fast and efficient manner. A typical disk drive includes a plurality of magnetic recording disks that are mounted to a rotatable hub of a spindle motor and rotated at a high speed. An array of read/write transducers is disposed adjacent surfaces of the disks to transfer data between the disks and a host computer. The transducers can be radially positioned over the disks by a rotary actuator and a closed loop, digital servo system, and can fly proximate the surfaces of the disks upon air bearings.
A plurality of nominally concentric tracks can be defined on each disk surface. A preamp and driver circuit generates write currents that are used by the transducer to selectively magnetize the tracks during a data write operation and amplifies read signals detected by the transducer from the selective magnetization of the tracks during a data read operation. A read/write channel and interface circuit are connected to the preamp and driver circuit to transfer the data between the disks and the host computer.
The servo system can operate in two primary modes: seeking and track following. During a seek, a selected transducer is moved from an initial track to a destination track on the corresponding disk surface. The servo system applies current to an actuator coil to accelerate the transducer toward the destination track. During the seek, the servo system may sequentially measure the actual velocity of the transducer and adjust the current in relation to velocity error (i.e., the difference between the actual velocity and a target velocity). As the transducer approaches the destination track, the servo system decelerates the transducer to bring it to rest over the destination track. Thereafter, the servo system enters the track following mode wherein the transducer is maintained over the center of the destination track until another seek is performed.
Read and write operations may be performed during track following mode. In order to reduce the occurrence of off-track writes (i.e. writing while the transducer is located more than a threshold distance from the center of the desired track), the servo system may track the position of the transducer by means of a position error signal that is fed back to the servo system controller. The servo system controller moves the transducer in response to the position error signal in an attempt to minimize the position error signal.
In addition to responding to signals from the servo system, the position of the transducer may be affected by operational shock and/or vibration of the disk drive. For example, vibration and/or shock may be transmitted to the disk drive through the frame or housing in which it is mounted. In particular, operational shock may result in large position errors over short periods of time. If the position error signal exceeds a predetermined threshold level, data writing may be inhibited until the position error signal is reduced below the threshold level and/or a predetermined number of disk rotations has occurred. Although inhibiting writes based on a position error threshold is commonly implemented in disk drives, off-track writes may occur at an unacceptable rate if the threshold is set too high. However, if the threshold is reduced, the data throughput of the disk drive may be significantly impaired.

Methods and apparatus for managing write inhibit in response to a predictive metric


A tamper-indicating closure is used with an associated container having a finish including an external thread formation thereon, and an annular locking ring located axially under the thread formation. The closure includes a closure cap having a circular top wall portion and an annular skirt portion depending from the top wall portion. An internal thread is formed in the skirt and defines a skirt wall plane. The closure includes an annular tamper-indicating band depending from the cap that is detachably connected to the cap by a plurality of circumferentially spaced, tapered, frangible connectors extending between the band and the cap. The connectors taper to define a region adjacent to a juncture of the connector and the band having a cross-section that is smaller than a cross-section at a region of the connector adjacent to a juncture of the connector and the closure cap.

Tamper-indicating or tamper-evident closures have become common-place in consumer markets. Typically, a threaded container includes a locking ring, or like annular projection extending from the container finish, adjacent to and below the container threaded portion. The closure includes a cap and a depending tamper-indicating band that separates from the cap upon initial removal of the closure from the container.
Consumers will readily recognize that such closures are used for sealing containers of all types, including milk containers, juice containers, soft drink containers and the like. Those skilled in the art will recognize that such containers can have various sizes of openings and thus various sizes of closure caps. The container opening sizes may be dependent upon, in part, the liquid stored in the container. For example, some types of liquid foods may be best packaged in a container that has a relatively small dispensing opening that provides for directed pouring, while others liquids, such as milk, juice and the like, that are consumed directly from the container may be best packaged in containers having a relatively large dispensing opening.
A typical closure that is fitted to the container includes a plastic closure cap having a circular top wall portion and a depending annular skirt portion. The skirt portion has an internal thread configured to threadedly engage the container thread. Tamper indication is provided by a separable band that extends and depends from the skirt portion. The band engages the locking ring and separates from the skirt portion as the closure is removed from the container.
The band includes bridge-like connectors that extend between the skirt portion and the band. The connectors are designed and formed to break as the closure is initially removed from the container. Exemplary of such a closure is that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,972 to Zemlo, which patent is commonly assigned herewith, and is incorporated herein by reference.
The connectors that extend between the cap and the separable band are typically formed as either discretely formed frangible elements, or they are formed by the area that remains after the closure is scored to form a weakened region. The discretely formed elements generally have a constant cross-sectional area and a constant thickness. Thus, breakage of the connector can occur anywhere along the length of the connector.
The score-formed connectors do not include discretely formed elements. Rather, the closure is molded with the separable band integral with the cap. The closure is then scored to form the separable band at about the end of the depending skirt. The score can be made as a continuous cut line into a portion of the thickness of the skirt, or as a full or through-wall cut at discrete circumferential locations along the skirt, or a combination of the noted score types.
Although these types of bands are well-suited for tamper-indicating closure applications, and are in widespread use, they do have various drawbacks. First, the discretely formed connectors can be difficult to mold. That is, because the connectors are typically extremely thin and are formed having a constant cross-sectional area, they can become lodged or stuck in the closure mold. It will be appreciated that when closures become lodged in the molding apparatus, the molding operation must be stopped and the molding apparatus freed of the troublesome closure.
Moreover, because the connectors have a relatively constant cross-section, they can become damaged when the closure is removed or ejected from the molding apparatus. This is due, in part, to the possible difficulty of effectively ejecting the closure with the small connectors fully intact. In addition, the constant cross-section results in connectors that will fracture or break at any point long their length when the closure is removed from the container. It may, however, be desirable at times, to determine where along the length of the connector fracture will occur, or to increase the probability that fracture will occur at a predetermined location.
With respect to the scored-formed connector, inasmuch as this arrangement functions well, it requires an additional, separate step in the formation of the closure, namely, cutting or scoring the formed closure. As will be recognized, any additional forming step adds equipment cost, and likely processing time to the manufacture of the closures.
Accordingly, there continues to be a need for a closure having a tamper-indicating band, which closure is readily removable from a closure forming mold, without damaging the connectors that extend between the cap and the band. Such a tamper-indicating band will further be configured so that the fracture location along the length of the connector is more readily predetermined.

Tamper-indicating closure with tapered connectors