A rotary plasma reactor system is provided. In another aspect, a plasma reactor is rotatable about a generally horizontal axis within a vacuum chamber. A further aspect employs a plasma reactor, a vacuum chamber, and an elongated electrode internally extending within a central area of the reactor. Yet another aspect employs a plasma reactor for use in activating, etching and/or coating tumbling workpiece material.

This disclosure pertains generally to plasma reactors and more particularly to a rotary plasma reactor.
Plasma activation of biochar material was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,754,733 entitled "Method for Plasma Activation of Biochar Material," and international PCT Patent Publication No. WO 2018/136502 entitled "Magnetic Field Enhanced Plasma for Materials Processing" both to Q. Fan (one of the co-inventors of the present application). This patent and patent publication are incorporated by reference herein. While these are significant advances in the industry, further improvements are now desirable.
Conventional plasma systems employ a static machine within which particles are stationarily retained in a sample holder throughout the plasma treatment process. If the particles pile up, the plasma species disadvantageously interacts primarily with only an exposed top layer and much less so with hidden middle and bottom layers and surfaces. Thus, static plasma systems have room for improvement when used in mass production where a high volume of particles are processed.
In accordance with the present invention, a rotary plasma reactor system is provided. In another aspect, a plasma reactor is rotatable about a generally horizontal axis within a vacuum chamber. A further aspect employs a plasma reactor, a vacuum chamber, and an elongated electrode internally extending within a central area of the reactor. Yet another aspect employs a plasma reactor for use in activating, etching and/or coating tumbling workpiece material such as workpiece powder particles.
A further aspect uses spaced apart structures which internally project within a plasma reactor to move workpiece material from an inlet to an outlet in a generally horizontal direction. Another aspect includes a rotating reactor with a central internal electrode to transport workpiece material, tumble the workpiece material, plasma react the workpiece material, and optionally, sputter coat the workpiece material. A method of transporting, tumbling and/or acting upon material moving in a primarily horizontal direction, is additionally disclosed.
The present reactor is advantageous over prior devices. For example, the present reactor can more efficiently process a higher quantity of particles or material in a faster and more uniform manner than can conventional static workpiece devices. Furthermore, the rotary nature of the present plasma reactor, especially when combined with internally projecting fin structures and a centrally disposed electrode, provide plasma activation and/or sputter coating access to essentially all external surfaces of all workpiece powder particles as they are tumbled and/or transported. This allows for full coating of each particle which is especially beneficial for coating pharmaceutical drugs and coating metal particles, among other uses. Additional advantages and features will be disclosed in the following description and appended claims as well as in the accompanying drawings.

Board of Trustees of Michigan State University


A bag dispenser is provided. The bag dispenser includes at least one outer wall, an inner chamber located within the at least one outer wall, at least one opening in the at least one outer wall and an adjustable divider located with the inner chamber.

Plastic bags are commonly used for a variety of purposes to package and transport different goods. For example, supermarkets and other stores oftentimes provide plastic bags for customers to use for transporting purchased items. Additionally, plastic bags can be inexpensive and also are relatively compact for storage when not in use.
However, it is often desirable to recycle and/or reuse plastic bags. For example, customers may decide to save plastic bags from grocery stores for use as garbage bags, to transport items to and from their homes and for other uses.
It is often desirable to store plastic bags in a convenient location, such as the kitchen or pantry. For example, it is possible to store a number of plastic bags inside of one or more hanging plastic bags. Additionally, it is possible to store plastic bags in more rigid containers, such as thicker plastic walled containers. Oftentimes these containers have one or more openings to allow the user to quickly and easily access the stored plastic bags.
Furthermore, it may also be desirable to save and separate a variety of types of plastic bags. For example, a variety of different thicknesses and/or colors of bags may be desired to be separated from one another. For example, plastic bags from a grocery store may be relatively thin and therefore cannot support significant weight whereas plastic bags from a department store may be relatively thicker. Therefore, when a person reuses the plastic bags, it may be desirable to quickly grab a preferred type of bag depending on the end use.


A micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) slotline switch includes a slotline transmission line structure defined on top of substrate, a doubly-anchored conductive beam disposed perpendicular to, and above slotline so that there is a certain spacing between the beam and the slotline, a second conductive contact attached to the beam directly above the slot of the slotline a bottom conductive contacts defined on bottom surface of substrate and forming parallel-plate capacitor with conductive beam, conductive traces defined on the bottom surface of the substrate forming a microstrip-to-slotline transition for coupling signals in microstrip line to the slotline, and beam and bottom conductive contacts being spaced apart, and the beam being continuously movable when a voltage is applied between the beam and the bottom conductive contacts.

Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) devices and methods are presently being developed for a wide variety of applications in view of the size, cost and reliability advantages provided by these devices. Specifically, a MEM switch can be fabricated utilizing MEMS technology. MEM switches known in the prior art are of two types, namely, the series and shunt types. The series type 10, FIG. 1, consists of a beam 16 cantilevered from a switch base, or substrate 24. The beam 16 has an electrode 14 disposed on it, acts as one plate of a parallel-plate capacitor and contains under its tip a contact 20. A voltage, known as an actuation voltage, is applied between the beam 16 and an electrode 22 on the switch base 24. In the switch-closing phase, or ON-state, the actuation voltage exerts an electrostatic force of attraction on the beam 16 large enough to overcome the stiffness of the beam. As a result of the electrostatic force of attraction, the beam 16 deflects and the contact under its tip 20 makes a connection that bridges the gap in a transmission line 18 running under it, closing the switch. Ideally, when the actuation voltage is removed, the beam 16 will return to its natural state, breaking its connection with the signal line 18 and opening the switch.
The shunt type MEM switch 30, FIG. 2, consists of a doubly-anchored beam (bridge) or membrane 32 anchored on a substrate 42 and disposed across a set of ground-signal-ground (GSG) traces 40, 38, 34, respectively, known as a coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission line. In its normal state, the "pass" or ON-state, the bridge 32 is undeflected and the amplitude of the signal propagating down the CPW line and entering at its input 44, is minimally attenuated by capacitive coupling to the bridge 32 and, through it, to ground 40, 34, after passing exiting at its output 46. An actuation voltage applied between the bridge 32 and an insulation-protected electrode 36 disposed on the CPW's signal conductor underneath it 38, exerts an electrostatic force of attraction on the bridge 32 large enough to overcome the stiffness of the beam. As a result the bridge deflects and substantially increases the capacitive coupling of the signal to the bridge 32 and ground 40, 34. The amplitude of the signal propagating down the signal line 38, which enters at the input 44, after it passes the deflected bridge 32 and exits at the output 46, is now maximally attenuated and the switch may be said to be in its "blocking" or OFF-state. Ideally, when the actuation voltage is removed, the beam 32 will return to its natural state, breaking its connection with the signal line 38.
One problem with these switches is that the deflected-to-undeflected phase, or OFF-state in the series type, and ON-state in the shunt type, is not directly controlled, however, and relies on the forces of nature embodied in the spring constant of the beam to bring the beam to the undeflected state. However, the forces of nature are not always predictable and therefore unreliable.
For instance, in some cases once the actuation voltage is removed, stiction forces, (forces of attraction that cause the beam to stick to the contact electrode), between the beam and the contact electrode overcome the spring restoring forces of the beam. This results in the beam sticking to the contact electrode and keeping the beam down when, in fact, it should be undeflected. Prior art cantilever/bridge type switches have no mechanism to overcome stiction forces upon deflecting down.
Another problem associated with prior art switches is a problem intrinsic to the beam's change of state from undeflected to deflected. The operation of the beam is inherently unstable. When deflecting, the beam deforms gradually and predictably, up to a certain point, as a function of the actuation voltage being applied to the switch. Beyond that point, control is lost and the beam's operation becomes unstable causing the beam to pull-in, i.e., to come crashing down onto the secondary electrode. This causes the beam to stick as described above, or causes premature deterioration of the contact electrode. Both conditions impair the useful life of the switch and result in premature failure.
There is a need for a MEM switch that overcomes the problems associated with prior art cantilevered- and bridge-type switches.

High-reliability micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) switch apparatus and method


A method of extracting information from a structured document includes the steps of assigning a partial tree identifier inclusive of a tag identifier to a selected partial tree wherein the tag identifier includes a name of a tag corresponding to a root of the selected partial tree, a name of at least one format attribute of the tag, and a value of the at least one format attribute, arranging names of format attributes in a predetermined order in the tag identifier if the at least one format attribute of the tag includes two or more format attributes, and identifying a partial tree having a partial tree identifier identical to the partial tree identifier of the selected partial tree from a list of partial tree identifiers of partial trees that exist in the structured document after updating thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method of extracting information from structured documents such as HTML documents or the like, and particularly relates to an information extraction method that identifies and extracts a desired text portion selected in advance from daily updated structured documents. Further, the present invention relates to a user interface by which a desired portion can readily be selected in a structured document.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are needs for a means to select a particular portion from a structured document such as an HTML (hyper text markup language) document or the like that is daily updated. For example, a user may wish to select portions of particular interest from Web pages that the user is familiar with, putting these portions together to create a collection of information which allows the user to readily view only necessary information. When the source of collected information is daily updated, the selected portion needs to be identified again and again in the daily updated document for use in the collection.
Japanese Patent No. 2867986 directed to a WWW information extraction system teaches storing information indicative of a start point and an end point of a portion selected in advance. Based on this information, the start point and the end point are identified in the updated document, followed by extracting the portion existing between these two points as the selected portion. For example, texts corresponding to the start point and the end point, respectively, of the selected portion are stored in memory. When extracting the selected portion from the document, the stored texts are used to identify the start point and the end point in the HTML document, followed by extracting the identified portion.
A system proposed by webMethods corporation (http://www.w3.org/TR/NOTE-widl) and a system proposed by Luca Iocchi (Luca Iocchi: The Web-OEM approach to Web information extraction, Journal of Network and Computer Applications, Vol. 22, pp.259-269 (1999)) approach this issue by converting an HTML document into a tree structure, storing information about a partial tree corresponding to a portion selected in advance, and identifying a portion of the updated document that corresponds to the stored partial tree. Here, information about a partial tree is comprised of a character string serving as an identifier of the selected portion. A tag name is used as a tag identifier, and tag names at the same hierarchical level in the tree structure are provided with respective numerical value indexes. The tag names paired with the numerical value indexes are connected in series to make the character string for representation of a structure from the root of the whole tree to the root of the partial tree, which corresponds to the selected, portion. In an example of FIG. 1, "doc" is regarded as the root of the whole tree, and the identifier that points to the selected portion "local news" is represented as "doc.table[0].table[0]".
In the related-art method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2867986 regarding the WWW information extraction system, a selected portion is extracted based on the information indicative of the start point and end point of the selected portion. It naturally follows that such information needs to be an item that always remains intact in the document after updating. It is difficult, however, to identify enduring information that is unchanged through updating. Many exceptions exist on homepages on the Internet as designs of such homepages tend to be at the designers' discretion, so that the method as described above may not be applicable to a wide range of application areas.
If texts corresponding to the start and end points are used as a clue in the WWW information extraction system, these texts themselves may be subjected to updating as shown in FIG. 2. In such a case, this method fails.
Further, if a selected portion is extracted as shown in FIG. 3A by this method, the extracted portion does not constitute a proper partial tree as a tree structure, an example of which is shown in FIG. 3B. Because of this, difficulties would be encountered if an attempt is made to make use of this extracted portion in another structured document.
The method utilizing the identifier of a partial tree of a selected portion as taught by the webMethods corporation or Luca Iocchi relies on the premise that the document structure does not change through updating. If the document structure ever slightly changes through updating, the identifier of a partial tree selected in advance will not match an identifier after updating.
For example, a text block having the same tag as an existing tag may be inserted into the same hierarchical level of the tree structure to which the selected portion of the document belongs. This results in a numerical value index of the tag being changed in the identifier of the partial tree. In the example of FIG. 1, the document is updated by inserting the text regarding "ADVERTISEMENT 2" bracketed in table tags above the selected portion. As a result, the numerical value index of the tag identifier based on the tag name "table" in respect of the selected "local news" is change from "table[0]" to "table[1]". Such small format changes are likely to be made on a site top page where banners, breaking news, etc., are inserted and deleted constantly. Since such a site as having constant updating of information is the very kind of site that users wish to select portions from, the degradation of reliability of portion identification needs to be addressed if such degradation occurs through minor updating.
When a tag that was not in existence at the time of the portion selection is inadvertently left open above the selected portion, this tag appears as a parent node relative to the selected portion. In the example of updating shown in FIG. 1, the table tag inclosing "ADVERTISEMENT 1" above the selected portion is inadvertently left open. As a consequence, an identifier that should correctly appear as "doc.table[0].table[0]" becomes "doc.table[0].table[0].table[1]", which indicates the existence of a table tag as a parent node of the selected portion "local news". This makes the identifier of the partial tree fail to match between before and after updating. WWW browsers widely used today permit open-ended tags, and page designers often update pages without noticing the fact that open-ended tags are present in the pages.
Insertion of a text block having the same tab and inadvertent lack of a closing tag causes a trouble in the example of updating of the document shown in FIG. 1. Namely, the identifier of a partial tree that points to the selected portion is changed from "doc.table[0].table [0]" to "doc.table[0].table[0].table[1]".
The methods proposed by the webMethod corporation and Iocchi further have a problem in that knowledge of tags and document structures and skill are necessary when selecting a portion in a structured document such as an HTML document.

Extraction of information from structured documents

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation


Lunch holder having first and second sections which are hingedly connected together along one side thereof in clamshell fashion, a divider which separates one of the sections into a plurality of compartments for holding different food products, and a lid which is hingedly connected to the one section along a second side thereof for movement between covering and uncovering positions relative to the compartments. In one presently preferred embodiment, the two container sections, the divider and the lid are fabricated as a unitary structure of a semi-rigid plastic material.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to food holders and, more particularly, to a lunch holder for carrying a plurality of food products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, a number of different types of carriers or containers have been utilized in packing and carrying lunches. These have included disposable carriers such as paper and plastic bags, cardboard boxes and the like, and more permanent carriers such as boxes fabricated of metal and/or plastic. With such carriers, a variety of containers have been utilized for holding different food products, such as sandwiches, potato chips, pickles, fruit, cookies and the like.


A satellite communication system leverages the carrier offset detection capability of the demodulator contained in an on-board modem of M&C channel. The modem detects the frequency error Δf, introduced in the signal path from the output of the base station at ground to the output of baseband conversion on the satellite, by analyzing the baseband signal at the baseband conversion to estimate the received carrier f′c and subtracting it the from the expected frequency (fc).

U.S. Pat. No. 9,973,266 shows a system for assembling a large number of small satellite antenna assemblies in space to form a large array. The entire content of the '266 patent is incorporated herein by reference. As disclosed in the '266 Patent, FIGS. 1(a), 1(b) show a satellite communication system 100 having an array 300 of small satellites 302 and a central or control satellite 200. The small satellites 302 communicate with end users 500 within a footprint 400 on Earth, and also communicate with the control satellite 200, which in turn communicates with a gateway 600 at a base station. The small satellites 302 can each include, for example, a processing device (e.g., a processor or controller) and one or more antenna elements. And the control satellite 200 can include a processing device and one or more antenna or antenna elements.
Terrestrial mobile phone base stations must comply with the current specification, for e.g. 3GPP TS 36.104 V12.10.0 (2016-01), regarding radio transmission and reception. Among other things, the specification mentions frequency accuracy and stability requirements of signal transmitted from the base station. The terrestrial base stations can comply with the requirement by using highly accurate and stable clock sources.
To provide economically efficient connectivity to thinly populated remote areas or ships in open seas, earth station equipment (see FIG. 2) radiates (into space) signals from the base station processing device 13, typically several of them frequency multiplexed by a multiplexer in the MUX/DE-MUX 15, after up conversion to a higher spectral band by a Q/V-band interface 16 for reasons of spectrum availability and antenna size.
In space, these signals are received by satellite equipment (see FIG. 3), down-converted to a baseband signal by a Q/V-band interface 26, de-multiplexed by a de-multiplexer in the MUX/DE-MUX compensator 25, up-converted to the original mobile spectrum and relayed by a transmitter/receiver 27 to User Equipment on earth, over a wide field-of-view (FoV) mimicking coverage of a wide area base station.

System with modulated signal to compensate frequency errors in LTE signals


Apparatus (20) having two devices (21, 22) which can be connected to one another via an interface (23, 24), where the devices (21, 22) each have an activation unit which, upon receipt of a control signal at a control input, prompts the respective device (21, 22) to change over from a standby mode to an active mode, and where the control signal is transmitted by the respective other device (21, 22), and the control input in one device (21) is an interface connection and, in the other device (22), is located outside the interface (23, 24).

The two devices may be a host and a peripheral device, for example. For the purpose of data communication, the host and the peripheral device can be connected together via a serial interface.
The peripheral device may be based on the Bluetooth standard, for example. The host may be a telecommunication device which operates on the basis of the GSM, UMTS or CDMA standard, for example.
In literature written in the German language, the English term "host" is always used as such and is not translated into German. Hence, the term "host" is retained in the rest of the text in the original.
It is conceivable for system resources provided by the host to be used by the peripheral device too. Thus, by way of example, the system clock, which is typically in a range between 10 and 100 MHz, or a clock for the standby mode, for example the clock timing at 32 768 kHz, or the voltage provided by a voltage supply chip may also be used for the peripheral device.
Since the host and the peripheral device are each autonomous systems, operating states may arise in which just the host or just the peripheral device is active and the respective other device is in a standby mode with just low power consumption.
To be able to use the system resources of the host, the peripheral device must be capable of requesting the necessary system resources from the host using request signalling. However, if the host is in the standby mode at the time at which the system resources are needed, then the peripheral device first needs to signal to the host that the host needs to exit the standby mode in order to be able to receive the request signal from the peripheral device.
In addition, an active state is needed on the part of the host and on the part of the peripheral device when data interchange is intended to take place between the host and the peripheral device via the serial interface. Otherwise, the receiver would not be able to receive the data, since the serial interface is not supplied with voltage in the standby mode.
A known way of "waking up" a respective device using the other device is to provide additional control lines between the two devices in addition to the serial interface via which the data transfer takes place. The control lines can be used by one device to ask the other device to exit the standby mode.
In addition, it is also known practice to transfer a wake-up signal between the two devices via the serial interface. This is a protocol-based option which can be used when at least one reception pin, which is part of the serial interface, has a wake-up function in each of the two devices. The wake-up function is designed such that a device switches from the standby mode to the active mode as soon as a signal is applied to the reception pin with the wake-up function.

Devices with reciprocal wake-up function from the standby mode


An eddy probe is provided for identifying non-homogeneous objects in a material. The probe includes a power supply, an oscillator to produce electrical excitation powered by said power supply, a plurality of eddy current detectors, each detector measuring eddy current density, a marker disposed adjacent said plurality for indicating a location on the material in response to a maximum of the eddy current density, and a housing for containing the power supply, oscillator, detectors and marker. The plurality can be two or three detectors. The marker can include a drill bit disposed adjacent the detectors, a transmission connecting to the drill bit; and an electric motor connecting to the transmission and powered by the power supply for rotating the drill bit.

The invention relates generally to instruments for detecting eddy currents. In particular, the invention relates to eddy current probes with a marker to denote local maximums in eddy current density.
Eddy currents were reportedly first observed by Frangois Arago, a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and the France's twenty-fifth Prime Minister. In 1824, he observed what has been called "rotatory magnetism" in conductive bodies. These observations were completed and explained by Michael Faraday. Non-destructive evaluation (NDE) methods, also known as non-destructive inspection and nondestructive testing methods, enable the evaluation of subsurface features in various materials and structures without incurring their damage. Common NDE methods include ultrasonic, radiographic, eddy current-based and other methods.
Detection of eddy currents involves electromagnetic induction to search and characterize subsurface flaws in electrically conductive materials. Eddy currents can be described as closed loops of electrical current induced within conductors by a changing magnetic field in the conductor according to Faraday's law of induction. Eddy currents flow within conductors, in planes perpendicular to the magnetic field. They can be induced within nearby stationary conductors by a time-varying magnetic field created by an alternating current (AC) electromagnet or transformer, or by relative motion between a magnet and a nearby conductor. The magnitude of the current in a given loop is proportional to the strength of the magnetic field, the area of the loop, and the rate of change of flux, being inversely proportional to the resistivity of the material.
FIG. 1 illustrates an elevation view of eddy currents in a conductive material, as conventionally explained by the detection system 110 in a medium 120. A conductive coil 130 with an alternating potential across its terminals 140 produces a magnetic field 150, thereby inducing current loops 160 in the medium 120, including eddy currents 170. According to Lenz's law formulated in 1834, the direction of induced current flow in the medium 120 is such that its magnetic field will oppose the change of magnetic flux that caused the current flow. Eddy currents 170 produce a secondary field that cancels a part of the external field and causes some of the external flux to avoid the conductor.
This effect is employed in eddy current brakes which are utilized to stop rotating power tools quickly when they are turned off. French physicist Leon Foucault is credited with having discovered eddy currents. In 1855, he found that the force required for the rotation of a copper disc becomes greater when it is made to rotate with its rim between the poles of a magnet. The disc becomes heated by the eddy current induced in the metal.
Due to the electric resistance of the conductor, some energy dissipates as heat in the material. Eddy currents 170 are a cause of energy loss in AC inductors, transformers, electric motors, generators, and other AC machinery, requiring special construction such as laminated magnetic cores or ferrite cores to minimize them. Eddy currents are also used to heat objects in induction heating furnaces and equipment. Apparently the first use of eddy current for non-destructive testing took place in 1879 when David E. Hughes conducted his metallurgical sorting tests. The development of the eddy current NDE methods slowly progressed until the late 1940s when Friedreich Föster started developing and marketing eddy current test instruments. By the late 1960s, his laboratory developed a product line covering virtually every application of the eddy current test method.
The penetration depth of eddy currents depends on the excitation frequency and probe size. Some eddy current systems use sinusoidal alternating current of a chosen frequency. In the 1970s, an equipment manufacturer called "Intercontrolle" of France, advanced this NDE method by using a multi-frequency approach. Driving a test coil at multiple frequencies helped to overcome some limitations of the eddy current method. In addition, pulsing eddy current testing equipment uses a step function voltage containing a broad range of frequencies to excite the probe. In the 1980s, eddy current NDE equipment was used to inspect aircraft structures for cracks near fasteners.
Eddy current inspection has also been performed for graphite-epoxy solid rocket motor canisters. The development of microprocessors for eddy current instruments took place in the 1980s and helped to improve user friendliness in the application of eddy current sensors. Subsequently, a rather sophisticated signal processing and imaging instrumentation was added, enabling the automatic mixing of multi-frequency signals to improve images of identified subsurface features. The development of digital microprocessor-based eddy current instruments offered significant improvements over analog instruments.
In the early 1990s, arrays of low-frequency eddy current probe arrays were tested. Defects as small as 1 mm were detected under 1.6 mm aluminum aircraft skins. Two or more closely positioned eddy current probes generated overlapping zones that enhanced each other's eddy currents. In addition, a marker composed of steel and Metglas was developed to enhance the pickup signal, funded by the U.S. Air Force in 1996-1998. Testing of this inexpensive all-digital hand-held eddy current scanner was successful, and the two- and three-probe scanners produced significantly improved images of subsurface features in aluminum and graphite fiber-epoxy plates.
For multi-layer structures, eddy current NDE methods may perform better than ultrasonic and thermal imaging methods. One primary reason is that eddy current methods do not require bonded layers. In addition, inspection is possible in high-temperature environments by using eddy current methods. Modern eddy current NDE tools are very sensitive and can detect small cracks in ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic materials. Modern application areas for eddy current NDE include: surface inspection in aerospace and petrochemical industries, inspection of steam generator tubing in nuclear plants, and inspection of heat exchangers tubing in power and petrochemical industries.
Domestic development of various NDE methods appears to have decelerated since the 2000s and through the 2010s. According to Google Trends, between the years of 2004 and 2017, interest in eddy current methods has declined by 50-70%. For the same period, the interest in nondestructive testing and nondestructive evaluation has declined by 60-90%. The number of engineers and scientists working in the NDE area has also declined. Older technical experts retired while younger engineers are rarely interested in the NDE area, considering the technology somewhat dated and unattractive. Concurrently, the demand for the non-destructive evaluation of various materials and structures remains high, and will most like continue to increase.
Corrosion is a very expensive problem; it costs the Department of Defense $25M per year. This amount is probably triple to account for corrosion expenses in commercial fleet, oil and gas pipes, automotive industry, etc. Another area of application is assembly of aircraft when graphite-epoxy panels need to be riveted to holes in aluminum or composite frames. Improved methods for finding and marking hole centers are thus needed to assess structural integrity and to predict service life of structural materials based on their service history and aging mechanisms. Materials of interest include aged composites and metals with localized indentations, delamination, cracks, voids, as well as flame- and corrosion-damaged areas.
There is a need for improved methods to assess the structural integrity and predict the service life of structural materials based on their service history and aging mechanisms. Materials of interest include aged composites and metals with localized indentations, delamination, cracks, voids, as well as flame- and corrosion-damaged areas.
Eddy current techniques have several advantages over competitive ultrasonic and thermal approaches in nondestructive characterization of multiple layer structures. In contrast to ultrasonic techniques, eddy current methods do not require a mechanical bond between layers and thus are more applicable to the technology of aircraft assembly. Existing eddy current systems typically contain one probe or an array of spaced probes, depending on the area of structure to be inspected. The precise location and identification of subsurface features and objects such as holes and edges in multi-layer structures using an eddy current instrument is a complex problem stemming from the interaction between the eddy current probe and the multiple layer material, discontinuities at the edges of subsurface features and finite length scales in magnetic and electrical phenomena used in feature identification. Optimization of the precision of locating subsurface features requires modeling of eddy current probe interaction with the multiple layer structure to reduce effects caused by finite probe size and magnetic field inhomogeneity, development of hardware to minimize multiple edge effects and application of signal processing software to separate signal features from material-induced noise.
Conventional eddy current systems for non-destructive location of hidden features and objects and non-destructive inspection and characterization of materials typically include a sinusoidal or pulsed signal source, sending and receiving eddy current probes, a means of monitoring the impedance of the receiving eddy current probe and a signal processing system that filters the noise and extracts the signal from the changes in probe impedance.

United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A finger acupressure apparatus comprising a pair of upper and lower pressing plates configured with adjustable distance therebetween and at least one acupressure element on an inner side of the plates enabling for compressing against fingers or the palm muscle for physical therapy purposes.

Acupressure is a form of treatment for various conditions and maladies. It was generally believed that there are patterns of energy flow through the body that are essential for proper health maintenance. Imbalance or disruption of energy flow through any of these patterns is believed to be responsible for diseases. The energy flow patterns through the body have been mapped extensively and there are substantial numbers of points, called "sheh" herein, along the flow patterns where the energy flow is close to the skin surface. In one aspect, acupressure is to apply stimulation at that "sheh" point to modulate the flow of energy and modify the dynamics in the energy flow. When done properly, acupressure therapy rejuvenates the energy flow to one of balance and restoration of health.
Thus, acupressure therapy is a simple inexpensive technique, with virtually no negative side effects, that could greatly enhance the treatment of many health conditions if it were readily available to the lay public. Acupressure is a direct offshoot of acupuncture wherein one or more known points on the surface of the skin receive pressure instead of having a needle inserted. The concept remains the same. It is to re-institute balanced energy flow as treatment of a malady caused by an imbalance in the energy flow through the body. Western medical research has also shown physiological effects, including reflexes and neurohumoral effects of acupuncture and acupressure in human subjects. Several acupressure devices are known in the art, for example, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,866,597, 3,886,939, 3,987,787, and 4,022,189, all issued to Boxer. The devices disclose make and use of one or more small rigid objects that are applied by the user to one or more particular points of the user's body.
The benefits of massage and acupressure have been known for centuries. Massage as a form of therapy has been used by almost all cultures for thousands of years, dating back to the ancient Greeks and Romans where Hippocrates extolled its virtues as a form of medical treatment. There are currently over 100 different types of massage therapy being practiced today. Acupressure is a specific type of massage, dating back over 5,000 years in ancient China. The technique consists of applying localized pressure to specific points (that is, "sheh" as defined herein) on the body as opposed to acupuncture which inserts needles into these same points. The effects of acupressure and acupuncture are similar. Studies have demonstrated that acupuncture stimulates the nervous system, causing alterations in the amount of neurotransmitters and/or neurohormones released, thus resulting in changes in blood flow, immune function and/or pain perception. The effects of massage and acupressure such as reduction in pain, muscle tension and stress are well documented.
Other physical methods which have been scientifically proven to reduce pain and muscle spasm include physical modalities such as applying heat or cold. In addition, recent medical studies have demonstrated that treatment with magnetic fields reduces muscular pain and is useful in treating persistent neck pain. Treatment with these types of modalities typically requires daily treatment. In fact, most types of pain and spasm respond better to daily treatment whether it is by physical modalities or massage. Indeed, many instructors of ancient healing arts and physical therapists instruct their clients on self management of pain using techniques of self massage, self acupressure or other self administered physical modalities. Thus, it is advantageous to be able to self-treat the painful area with a simple apparatus.
U.S. Patent Application publication No. 2004/0088036, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a disc shaped device having two primary layers. A first layer has one side, which is the lower side in use, for adhering to a patient's skin surface, a second, upper layer on the underside of which electrical circuitry is printed or affixed so that the electrical circuitry is sandwiched between the layers.
U.S. Patent Application publication No. 2003/0045899, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses an acupressure device for each finger designed to be inserted by the end of the finger in order to provide pressure stimulation effects with protuberances of the inner surface of the device. The acupressure device for fingers includes an inserting unit for the end of a finger to be inserted, at one side, a cutting unit in a center of the inserting unit, a semi-circular base unit having a flat outer surface and an inner surface cast into a plurality of protuberances, and two fixing strips at both sides of the semi-circular base unit.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,458,146, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses an acupressure device for use on a selected skin surface portion of a human body. The device comprises a base sheet, one or more protrusions, a fastener, and an orienting margin, orienting constellation, orienting template or orienting protrusion, suitable to position the device on the selected skin surface. The invention also provides therapeutic methods comprising applying a devise of the invention to a human in need of therapy.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,774, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a hand paddle for a paddle ball game including a back member with a back surface which is conformed generally to the shape of either a user's right or left hand. The paddle includes a contoured palm support region, a plurality of elongated finger receiving depressions extending from the palm support region and a thumb manipulation region adjacent to the palm support region and the elongated finger receiving depressions. Each elongated depression has a finger gripping ridge transverse thereto at a distal location relative to the palm support region for being gripped by the end of the finger positioned in that elongated depression. Retention straps, including finger straps, crisscrossed hand straps and a crisscrossed wrist strap are attached to the back member for holding the hand paddle on the user's hand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,549,294, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a hand paddle that has first and second paddle members which are spaced apart to receive a user's hand therein, and which each have a top portion, a bottom portion, and outer and inner surfaces. This paddle includes post members for connecting the paddle members together in a manner which maintains the outer surfaces in substantially parallel alignment. It also has first and second compressible layers positioned on the inner surfaces of the first and second paddle members, respectively. These layers are spaced apart and face each other with the spacing between the layers at the top portion of the paddle members being less than the spacing between the layers at the bottom portion of the paddle members so that a user's hand is snugly received therebetween.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,234,919, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, discloses a table tennis handle-less paddle or racquet. A racquet is characterized by combination of two separate impact surfaces, between which a player's hand is inserted. The accessories and games are specifically designed as an integrated package, to develop motor skills for the young players, and to facilitate learning table tennis, starting from age five to six.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,938,684, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes an appliance for therapeutic pressure application, the appliance comprising at least one protuberance each having a base end anchored to a resilient medium and a point end for applying pressure to tissue, the medium having resilient, flexible and insulating properties to absorb the pressure between the point ends and the tissue so as to prevent pain, cut or penetration of the tissue by the point ends and to retain the heat generated by the tissue.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,669,657, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes a massage and tactile stimulation device in the nature of a hand covering such as a mitt, mitten, or glove to be worn on the hand of a masseur, therapist, or user preferably in the embodiment of a glove. The device having one or more predetermined prominent projections with or without friction areas. Both projections and friction areas may be of various shapes, sizes, colors, forms, and textures including smooth or pimpled. Both projections and friction areas are secured to effective working areas of glove to impart to a subject or patient a variety of distinct and improved manipulations such as deep pressure, grasping, and frictional rubbing.
The prior art teaches a conventional palm or singular finger acupressure apparatus that provides massage therapy for a patient. None of them discloses a simple stimulating finger apparatus with at least a surface comprising a plurality of protuberances configured for compressing against the fingers or palm muscle so as to stimulating and modulating the energy flow at about the skin surface. What is needed is a device that is relatively inexpensive, which can be applied by the user with both massage and exercise effects.


A system for transmitting data in real-time over a standard digital data network, or an analog network, whereby the facsimile data is sent in data packets on the digital data network. A number in an area being dialed by a facsimile device is monitored to determine whether the number is either a local number, inter-lata number, intra-lata number or a long distance number and whether the area is being serviced by the digital data network. Based on the determination, a first POP (point-of-presence) receives the facsimile transmission, converts the facsimile transmission to a rasterized form, and then converts the rasterized data into "packets" of data, which are sent over the digital data network, one packet at a time, to a second POP. The second POP receives the packets over the digital data network, converts the packets to the rasterized form, and then reconverts the rasterized data using the G3 protocol, to be sent over the analog telephone network to the destination facsimile.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an apparatus and method for transmitting facsimile data and, more particularly, to a facsimile system for transmitting data in real-time over a standard digital data network, or an analog network, whereby the facsimile data is sent in data packets on the digital data network.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In a known facsimile transmission, as shown in FIG. 1(a), a facsimile (fax) machine 10 dials a destination phone number and the call is routed through a central office Local Exchange Carrier LEC CO 14. A connection is made from the LEC Co 14 to an inter-exchange carrier's Point of Presence, IXC POP 16. IXC POP 16 makes a connection through a long distance carrier facility 15, to a destination IXC POP 17, which in turn makes a connection to a destination LEC CO 18. The destination LEC CO 16 then calls the phone number of the destination facsimile machine 11. Once the destination facsimile machine 11 answers, an end-to-end connection is established between the two facsimile machines 10, 11. The appropriate facsimile session setup is then performed by the two facsimile machines 10, 11, and this is followed by the facsimile data transmission. Upon completion of the facsimile transmission, the facsimile machines hang-up and the connection is terminated.
In the known system of FIG. 1(a), when one facsimile machine dials another, a circuit-like connection is created between the two machines. There is very little delay from when the source facsimile machine 10 sends data to when the destination facsimile 11 machine receives the data.
Further in the known system, the telecommunications services (phone lines, etc.) used for typical facsimile transmissions, and their associated cost structure, are formally defined by the carrier in a document called a tariff. Tariffs are filed for approval by state regulatory commissions and/or the Federal Communication Commission (FCC).
Other known systems use store and forward services for facsimile transmission. With store and forward, a facsimile is generally transmitted to a local vendor with information about the final destination. The local vendor then takes responsibility for delivering the facsimile. Such services are not in real-time in that there is no circuit-like connection between the source and destination facsimile machines. In such systems, the facsimile transmission is usually sent at a later time when the rates are less. A disadvantage to this technique is that in the event a facsimile cannot be delivered to the destination facsimile machine, there may be no reliable way of notifying the user of the source facsimile machine that the facsimile has not been delivered. Important facsimiles requiring immediate delivery and confirmation of receipt generally cannot be sent through such systems.
Another conventional way of reducing costs of data transmission including, for example, voice data, is to use alternate communication services, such as dedicated telephone lines such as a Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS) line. Alternatively, telephone companies offer a variety of overlapping discount schedules which could be utilized to minimize costs for a particular transmission. A disadvantage of using such alternate communication services is that a user has to be aware of a multitude of telephone number, access codes, and rate schedules.
Facsimile transmissions today are accomplished through the use of analog grade circuits, also known as POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service). Facsimile transmissions are inherently digital and need to be converted to analog only for compatibility with the existing access methods (i.e. voice grade lines). The bandwidth of analog voice grade circuits is very small and so the telephone companies have migrated most if not all of their equipment to provide transmission services using a digital network. The conversion of analog voice into digital form used in the digital networks involves a fairly high data rate of 64 Kbps, however, facsimile data is transmitted at a much lower data rate of, typically, 9.6 Kbps or 14.4 Kbps. A disadvantage of such systems is that when facsimiles are transmitted over a voice grade circuit through the network's digital transmission facilities, most of the bandwidth of the digital network is not utilized even though it is being paid for.
An example of the above-described digital network is shown in FIG. 1(b), and corresponds to a system recommended in a document published by the ITU. In the ITU system, data is transmitted digitally between a source facsimile packet assembly/disassembly facility (FPAD) 4 and a destination FPAD 6 through a Packet Switched Public Data Network (PSPDN) 5. The access to either FPAD 4 or 6 is still made through its respective General Switched Telephone Network (GSTN) 3 or 7. The ITU system has some technical characteristics; however, which make it unattractive, particularly for facsimile transmissions. They are:
1. It runs on X.25 protocol which significantly increases the length of call. PA1 2. It does not guarantee delivery of data. PA1 3. It has a variable delay in delivery of communicated packets. PA1 4. It does not accommodate switched analog access lines.

Apparatus and method for transmitting facsimile data


The invention relates to a sealing composition suitable for bonding yttria or alumina ceramic members, or bonding refractory metals to the ceramics. The sealing composition has, in mole percent, about 0.5 to 40 percent yttria, about 45 to 65 percent alumina, up to 10 mole percent strontia, and the balance substantially calcia.

Alumina has been used as an envelope material for high intensity alkali metal vapor lamps such as high pressure sodium vapor lamps, because it withstands the attack of the vapors of the alkaline metals even at high temperatures. Yttrium oxide is an excellent candidate material for such high temperature lamp envelopes, and a method of forming transparent or translucent yttria bodies is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,755,492, incorporated herein by reference. In making such lamps, enclosures which support electrodes in the lamps are bonded and hermetically sealed to the ceramic envelope, for example, by a ceramic sealing composition. The enclosures may take the form of metal end caps which provide direct electrical connection to the electrodes, or ceramic plugs having a metal conductor sealably extending therethrough to provide the electrical connection. Niobium has a coefficient of expansion similar to alumina, and has been used either for the end cap, or the conductor extending through the ceramic plug. U.S. Pat. No. 3,469,729 discloses a sealing composition comprising about 44 to 55 weight percent calcia, about 40 to 55 weight percent alumina, and about 0.5 to 10 weight percent of at least one material selected from the group silica, baria, zirconia, strontia, titania, beryllia, thoria, and yttria. While the conversion from weight percent to mole percent is known, examples of the conversion from weight percent to mole percent of compositions within U.S. Pat. No. 3,469,729 are shown below in Table I.
TABLE I ______________________________________ Conversion of Weight Percent to Mole Percent for Compositions in U.S. Pat. No. 3,469,729 CaO Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 Y.sub.2 O.sub.3 Weight Mole Weight Mole Weight Mole Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent Percent ______________________________________ 44 61.3 46 35.3 10 3.5 44 59.06 55 40.61 1 0.33 46 63.3 44 33.3 10 3.4 50 67.1 40 29.5 10 3.3 45 61 50 37.3 5 1.7 45 61.3 49 36.7 6 2.0 55 70.3 40 28.1 5 1.6 55 69.1 44.5 30.75 0.5 0.2 ______________________________________
One aspect of this invention is to provide a sealing composition suitable for forming seals in high temperature lamps between ceramic members comprised of yttria or alumina, or sealing between refractory metals and the ceramics.

Alumina, calcia, yttria sealing composition


In an arrangement wherein a first personal computer and a second personal computer perform peer-to-peer communication, and the first personal computer has an additional function module which the second personal computer does not have, the first personal computer and the second personal computer can perform peer-to-peer communication based on the additional function module. Accordingly, the functions of a function module can be used for communication even in the event that not all terminals communicating have the function module.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, recording medium, and program, and particularly relates to an information processing apparatus and method, recording medium, and program, wherein information necessary for establishing a communication connection can be obtained with simple procedures.
2. Description of the Related Art
Terminals connected to a network can communicate by executing communication programs corresponding to the network.
However, in the event that communication is attempted using predetermined functions realized on the communication programs, it has been necessary for all terminals communicating with one another to have a module for realizing the functions. That is to say, a terminal which does not have that module cannot communicate using that function, even in the event that a terminal with which it is communicating has the module.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, information exchanging method, recording medium, and program


A method for diagnosing Alzheimer's disease(AD) is disclosed. The method involves directly detecting the presence of a biochemical marker, specifically human glutamine synthetase, in bodily fluid, preferably blood or a blood product. The detection is by an immunoassay incorporating an antibody specific to human glutamine synthetase. In addition, a method for distinguishing between AD and non-AD dementia is disclosed.

Alzheimer's disease, also referred to as Alzheimer's dementia or AD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that causes memory loss and serious mental deterioration. Diagnosticians have long sought a means to definitively identify AD during the lifetime of demented patients, as opposed to histopathological examination of brain tissue, which is the only present means available for rendering an ultimate diagnosis of AD. AD is the most common form of dementia, accounting for more than half of all dementias and affecting as many as 4 million Americans and nearly 15 million people worldwide. Dementia may start with slight memory loss and confusion, but advances with time reaching severe impairment of intellectual and social abilities. At age 65, the community prevalence of AD is between 1–2%. By age 75, the figure rises to 7%, and by age 85 it is 18%. The prevalence of dementia in all individuals over age 65 is 8%. Of those residing in institutions, the prevalence is about 50%, at any age.
The social impact of this disease is enormous, caused by the burden placed on caregivers, particularly in the latter stages of the disease. The substantial economic costs are largely related to supportive care and institutional admission. The rapidly increasing proportion of elderly people in society means that the number of individuals affected with AD will grow dramatically, therefore finding an early accurate diagnosis and a cure for AD is becoming an issue of major importance world wide.
When an individual is suspected of AD, several recommended tests are performed : (1) Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE)—an office-based psychometric test in the of a Functional Assessment Questionnaire (FAQ) to examine the scale for functional autonomy, (2) Laboratory tests—complete blood count, measurement of thyroid stimulating hormone, serum electrolytes, serum calcium and serum glucose levels, (3) Neuroimaging—most commonly used is computed tomography (CT) which has a role in detecting certain causes of dementia such as vascular dementia (VaD), tumor, normal pressure hydrocephalus or subdural hematoma. However, neuroimaging is less effective in distinguishing AD or other cortical dementias from normal aging. In primary care settings, some suggest that CT could be limited to atypical cases, but others recommend routine scanning. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) currently offers no advantage over CT in most cases of dementia.
While Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia, accounting for at least 60% of cases, diagnostic procedures for determining the exact cause of dementia, among more than 80 different species, is difficult at best. Furthermore, the currently performed tests are inadequate in differentiating AD from other types of dementia.
In comparison to other disease areas, the field of dementia raises questions concerning the value of diagnosis, since there is currently no cure or effective therapy available. In dementia, as in all other branches of medicine, the certainty of a diagnosis has an important impact on the management of the patient. While AD cannot be cured at present time, there is symptomatic treatment available and the first drugs (acetylcholinesterase inhibitors) for the temporary improvement of cognition and behavior are now licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Other drugs are at different stages of clinical trials: (1) Drugs to prevent decline in AD—DESFERRIOXAMINE, ALCAR, anti-inflammatory drugs, antioxidants, estrogen, (2) Neurotrophic Factors: NGF, (3) Vaccine: the recent most exciting report by Schenk et al. (Nature 1999;400:173–7) raises the hope of a vaccine for AD.
The specificity of the various therapies thus require sophisticated diagnostic methodologies, having a high degree of sensitivity for AD, in order to insure their success.
Currently there are a multitude of tests available which aid in the diagnosis of AD. However, the only true existing diagnosis is made by pathologic examination of postmortem brain tissue in conjunction with a clinical history of dementia. This diagnosis is based on the presence in brain tissue of neurofibrillary tangles and of neuritic (senile) plaques, which have been correlated with clinical dementia. Neuritic plaques are made up of a normally harmless protein called amyloid-beta. Before neurons begin to die and symptoms develop, plaque deposits form between neurons early on in the disease process. The neurofibrillary tangles are interneuronal aggregates composed of normal and paired helical filaments and presumably consist of several different proteins. The internal support structure for brain neurons depends on the normal functioning of a protein called tau. In Alzheimer's disease, threads of tau protein undergo alterations that cause them to become twisted. The neurohistopathologic identification and counting of neuritic plaques and neurofibrillary tangles requires staining and microscopic examination of several brain sections. However, the results of this methodology can widely vary and is time-consuming and labor-intensive.
Given the ability of both current and prospective pharmacological therapies to forestall and/or reverse the onset and/or progress of Alzheimer's dementia, an early diagnosis of AD will assist to better manage the care of patients. There are many cases where non-AD dementia could be confused with AD dementia. Such examples include small, undetected strokes which temporarily interrupt blood flow to the brain. Clinically depressed patients or those with Parkinson's disease can also experience lapses in memory. Many older people are on a variety of medications which as a side effect may, alone or in conjunction, impair their ability to perform cognitive tasks.
Thus, if diagnostic techniques for the early differentiation of AD could be provided, physician's would achieve an enhanced ability to prescribe appropriate therapeutic intervention at an early stage in the pathogenesis of this disease.
Various biochemical markers for AD are known and analytical techniques for the determination of such markers have been described in the art. As used herein the term "marker" "biochemical marker" or "marker protein" refers to any enzyme, protein, polypeptide, peptide, isomeric form thereof, immunologically detectable fragments thereof, or other molecule that is released from the brain during the course of AD pathogenesis. Such markers include, but are not limited to, any unique proteins or isoforms thereof that are particularly associated with the brain.
Glutamine synthetase (GS) is recognized as an astrocyte-specific enzyme involved in the regulation of ammonia and glutamate metabolism that is over-expressed following brain injury (Norenberg and Martinex-Hernandez, Brain Res 1979;161:303). A few studies on the clinical role of glutamine synthetase have been reported: Gunnersen and Haley (Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 1992;89:11949) found monomeric GS protein in 38 of 39 AD cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples, Tumani et al. (Arch Neurol 1999;56(10):1241) describe that the concentration of GS in lumbar CSF of patients with AD is increased significantly but nonspecifically (i.e. also increased in VaD, schizophrenia and ALS). On p.1244, the left-hand column, Tumani states that GS was not found in serum.
Neuron-specific gamma-enolase (NSEγγ) and S1OOB proteins, abundant in the brain, are also useful markers for assessing the extent of brain damage: NSEγγ for neuronal damage and S100B for astrocyte damage. Concentrations of NSE and S100B proteins from cerebrocortical regions have been examined by means of enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The levels of these proteins in frontal cortex of AD patients were found to be significantly elevated (Kato et al. J Mol Neurosci, 1991;3(2):95). Activated astrocytes over-expressing S100B have been intimately associated with the neuritic β-amyloid plaques of AD (Sheng et al. J Neurosci Res, 1994;39:398, Mrak et al. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol 1996;55:273).
There are a number of different potential uses for biomarkers in AD evaluation, and each use could involve a different marker or set of markers. Such uses may include, but are not limited to, the use of a marker to distinguish AD from other causes of dementia; distinguishing dementia from the non-pathological effects of aging; monitoring the progress of the disease after clinical symptoms become apparent; utilization of a surrogate to monitor the efficacy of the forthcoming therapies for AD; and isolating markers which have utility as risk assessment factors for AD; and identifying both the earliest biological changes occurring in the brain and other changes that occur as the disease progresses. Ideally, it would be preferable to isolate a single marker to fulfill all requirements with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity, however this may be an unreasonable goal. Any individual marker needs to be assessed by sensitivity, specificity, reliability and validity for the type of clinical situation to which it is meant to apply. A marker which is poor at distinguishing AD from other causes of dementia, could nevertheless be an excellent marker for monitoring the progression of the disease process or the response to therapy.
With regard to diagnostic devices, the clinical evaluation and use of point-of-care tests utilizing biological markers are valuable tools for evaluating risk, monitoring disease progression and guiding therapeutic interventions. The advantages which flow from the use of biological markers as diagnostic tools include strengthening the certainty of the clinical diagnosis, distinguishing AD from other causes of dementia, and quantifying the severity of the disease and rate of progression. In addition, tests using biological markers should be rapid, non-invasive, simple to perform and inexpensive.
What is lacking in the art is a relatively non-invasive method and device therefore effective for definitively diagnosing Alzheimer's dementia in living patients. Additionally, a definitive method of assessing the risk of developing AD is greatly needed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for detecting the presence of monomeric brain associated human glutamine synthetase


A system is provided for sensing blood glucose data of a patient. The system includes a sensor, user interface, and an optional auxiliary device. If the connection between the sensor and user interface is by a wire, the sensor remains powered when the wire is disconnected. The communication between the sensor and the user interface may be wireless. The auxiliary device can be a patient monitor or other display or signal device, which displays information about the blood glucose data collected by the sensor. The sensor is connected to sensor electronics, which include a sensor power supply, a voltage regulator, and optionally a memory and processor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a sensing system including a physiological characteristic sensor, a user interface, and an auxiliary device. The invention more specifically relates to a blood glucose sensor which remains powered and performs functions when disconnected from communication with the user interface. The auxiliary device may be a display device.
2. Description of Related Art
Test strip meters are used to measure the blood glucose level for patients that do not have metabolic control. Frequent measurements are needed to intervene and control glucose levels, but frequently using a test strip meter is labor intensive. For example, in hospitals today, nurses need to take discrete blood glucose measurements from many patients each hour. An automated frequent measurement apparatus and process are needed to relieve nursing labor.
Medical sensing systems designed to measure a physiological characteristic of a patient generally consist of a sensor and a user interface for setting up the sensor and observing data from the sensor. Typically, the sensor requires power, which is supplied by the user interface or by electronics that accompany the sensor on the user's body. In some environments, it is inconvenient for a person to wear the sensor and the accompanying electronics or user interface, especially if the electronics are large such as a wall mounted display. For example, in a hospital, it is common to have patient monitors that display data about patients, such as heart rate, blood pressure and the like. If a sensor is in communication with a patient monitor, it may be needed or desired to remove the sensor. Yet, the patient cannot always remove the sensor as needed or desired, especially if the sensor is difficult to remove or if the sensor is a single use device, which must be replaced with a new sensor each time it is removed. Thus, new systems are needed that allow the patient to wear the sensor continuously, without the constant inconvenience of a user interface.


A gas and liquid massage system for a tub comprises jets. Each jet has a gas injector and a liquid injector. The jets concurrently inject liquid and gas. A liquid circuit feeds a flow of liquid to the liquid injectors. A gas circuit feeds a flow of gas to the gas injectors. A sequencer manifold in the gas circuit selectively closes the gas supply to some of the jets to intermittently inject gas with the injected liquid. A massage system controller operates the sequencer manifold in selectively closing the gas supply to some of the jets. A method for injecting fluids into the liquid of the tub is also provided.

Tubs are well known for their primary use, namely a washroom installation in which a user person washes/bathes. Tubs have, however, evolved to add pleasure and comfort to practicality, and are found in many forms, such as bathtubs, spas and whirlpools. For instance, tubs are now provided with air-jet systems and whirlpool systems.
Massage systems of various configurations have been provided to inject fluids, such as air or water, into the liquid of the tub, so as to procure a massaging effect for the occupant of the tub. One known massage system combines the injection of air and water to provide a different sensorial experience to the bather. The known massage system comprises water jets equipped with venturi devices whereby air is sucked by the flow of water directed to the tub. Accordingly, the resulting flow of water in the tub comprises air bubbles, thereby causing a different sensation on the skin of the bather.
Despite creating a different massaging effect due to the combination of air and water in the jets, there remains a need to perform additional effects to provide different types of treatment with air/water massage systems.


A reduced radius hem assembly and method for joining an inner panel and an outer panel together. The inner panel has an outwardly extending perimeter flange comprising an end surface, an inboard surface, and a beveled surface located between the end surface and the inboard surface. The outer panel has a peripheral edge comprising a bend portion, an intermediate portion, and an end portion. In the finished hem assembly, the intermediate portion is adjacent to the beveled surface of the perimeter flange and the end portion overlies a portion of the inboard surface of the perimeter flange. The method provides a reduced radius hem while allowing the peripheral edge of the outer panel to cover the marriage gap and minimizing the potential for interference between the inner panel and the outer panel in the hem assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to sheet metal hem flanges and an improved hemming process.
2. Background Art
Hemming is a production process for joining an outer panel to an inner reinforcement panel. Conventional hemming processes are accomplished by bending a peripheral edge of the outer panel back onto the inner panel. A multiple step process is used to form a hem. In a first step, a peripheral edge of an outer panel is formed to extend substantially perpendicularly relative to the body of the outer panel. In a second step, an inner panel is assembled to the outer panel with a perimeter flange being inserted inside the peripheral edge of the outer panel. In the third step, the peripheral edge of the outer panel is pre-hemmed. Prehemming may be performed by forming the peripheral edge to an acute angle of approximately 45° to extend inwardly over the perimeter flange of the inner panel. Alternatively, the edge may be pre-formed in two steps to 60° and then 30°. In a final step, the peripheral edge is formed to extend parallel to the body of the outer panel and engage the perimeter edge of the inner panel.
Hems in highly visible areas such as hoods and doors are key to assessing a vehicle's overall craftsmanship. This is especially true when two closure panels are located adjacent to each other as in the case of a gap formed between two doors or between a hood and a fender. The radius of the hem visually impacts the appearance of the gap, or margin, between the two panels. Larger hems tend to make the margin look larger, while smaller hems produce a crisper cut line and smaller perceived margin. In the prior art, as the thickness of the inner panel increases, the hem radius increases. This, in turn, increases the perceived gap between matched panels. In conventional hemming processes, the final hem radii is a function of the thicknesses of the inner and outer panels. With a conventional hem, the radius is equal to one-half the inner panel thickness plus the outer panel thickness.
Recent developments in the field of hem forming have led to the development of reduced radius hems that improve the appearance of the fit of adjacent panels by reducing the perceived margin between adjacent panels. One example of such a hemming method is disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/063,757, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,810,707, filed in the name of Samant et al., and assigned to Applicant's assignee. The Samant application describes a method of manufacturing a hem with a reduced radius hem. The method and apparatus discussed in the Samant application produces a hem with a radius sharper than half the total stack height of the inner and outer panels and can significantly improve the craftsmanship of closure panels.
A marriage gap is defined as the space between the outer edge of the perimeter flange of the inner panel and the bend of the peripheral edge of the outer panel. The marriage gap is provided to avoid interference between the two panels. Interference between the panels occurs when, during the pre-hemming pass, the outer panel peripheral edge is being formed into an acute angle to extend over the perimeter flange of the inner flange and improperly comes into contact with the inner panel.
Referring to FIG. 1, a prior art hem flanging operation is illustrated in which an interference occurs between a relatively thick inner panel I and the peripheral edge P of the outer panel O during pre-hemming. A hemming tool R is shown contacting the peripheral edge P of the outer panel O during a pre-hemming pass. A top corner C of the inner panel I interferes or makes contact with the inner surface of the peripheral edge P. This interference may cause distortion in the hem and limit reduction of the hem radius. Interference may cause splitting or tearing of the hem. The marriage gap can be increased to prevent the interference to a limited extent. For conventional hems, the marriage gap is generally approximately 2 millimeters. If the marriage gap is too large, the hem may be weakened and the edge of the panel will become prone to bending or deformation.
Recently, lightweight inner panels have been introduced that are cast or otherwise formed of magnesium, aluminum and other alloys, polymers, or similar materials. These panels are generally thicker than conventional metal inner panels. Conventional steel panels are approximately 0.7–0.8 mm. Conventional aluminum panels range between 0.9 and 1.2 mm. Inner panels made of other materials may be of greater thickness. For example, a cast magnesium alloy inner panel may be 3 to 4 times the thickness of a steel inner panel. Such thick inner panels increase the radius of hems which increases the apparent gap size and adversely effects overall quality and craftsmanship.
The use of thick inner panels creates unique hemming challenges. For thicker inner panels, a 2 millimeter marriage gap is not always sufficient to avoid interference between the panels when using a reduced radius hem. A conventional solution to eliminate interference is to increase the marriage gap. Increased flange length is required to cover the larger marriage gap. This solution may be acceptable in flat-straight areas of the panel but can cause problems in hems on curved edges or surfaces.
Short flange lengths must be provided in areas where there is either cut line or surface curvature. In these areas, splits in either the edge or flange can be caused due to the stretching or compressing of the flange during the bending operation. A conventional solution to solving hemming problems in such areas is to reduce the length of outer panel flanges to mitigate this problem. It may be necessary to reduce outer panel flange lengths to 6 millimeters or less to accommodate cut lines and surface curvatures.
Thick inner panels when hemmed with a reduced radius hemming process may result in edge run out. Edge run out is an unacceptable condition that occurs if the hem edge is not long enough to cover the marriage gap. This problem is particularly difficult with hems in panels having curved cut lines and surface contours.
There is a need for an improved reduced radius hem and hemming process that can accommodate thick inner panels while maintaining the size of the marriage gap and minimizing flange lengths in critical contoured areas. The disadvantages and shortcomings of the prior art are addressed by this invention as summarized below.


To allow drive at low voltage and obtaining high transmittance in liquid crystal panel driven by FFS mode. Liquid crystal panel 10 has first substrate 14 and second substrate 27 oppositely arranged, and liquid crystal layer LC interposed between the first and the second substrates, wherein the first substrate has plural signal lines 18 and scanning lines 15 formed in matrix in mutually insulated state, upper electrode 24 having plural slit-shaped openings 25 divided by the scanning lines and signal lines, and formed for every sub-pixel, and lower electrode 21 formed with the upper electrode through insulating layer 23, the second substrate has light-shielding layer 28 superimposed with the signal lines and scanning lines in planar view, and color filter layer 29 formed for every sub-pixel, and the liquid crystal layer has at least one compound having negative dielectric anisotropy and at least one compound having positive dielectric anisotropy mixed.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a liquid crystal panel, particularly, to a liquid crystal panel suitable for a driving system according to a fringe field switching (FFS) mode.
2. Background Art
A liquid crystal panel has features of lighter weight, a flat-panel and lower electric power consumption in comparison with a cathode ray tube (CRT), and therefore is used for many electronics as a display use.
According to the liquid crystal panel, orientation of liquid crystal molecules aligned in a predetermined direction is changed by an electric field to change an amount of light transmitted through a liquid crystal layer, thereby displaying an image.
The liquid crystal panel includes a reflective type in which outside light enters the liquid crystal layer to be reflected on a reflector, and reflected light re-transmits the liquid crystal layer and is emitted, a transmissive type in which incident light from a backlight apparatus transmits the liquid crystal layer, and a transflective type having both properties.
Moreover, specific methods for applying the electric field to the liquid crystal layer of the liquid crystal panel include a longitudinal electric field system and a transverse electric field system.
In the liquid crystal panel according to the longitudinal electric field system, an electric field substantially in a longitudinal direction is applied to liquid crystal molecules by means of a pair of electrodes arranged by interposing the liquid crystal layer. As the liquid crystal panel according to the longitudinal electric field system, a liquid crystal panel having a mode such as a twisted nematic (TN) mode, a vertical alignment (VA) mode and a multi-domain vertical alignment (MVA) mode is known.
In the liquid crystal panel according to the transverse electric field system, a pair of electrodes is mutually insulated and arranged on an inner surface side of one of substrates of a pair of substrates arranged by interposing the liquid crystal layer, and an electric field substantially in a transverse direction is applied to the liquid crystal molecules. As the liquid crystal panel according to the transverse electric field system, a liquid crystal panel having an in-plane switching (IPS) mode in which a pair of electrodes does not overlap in a planar view, and a fringe field switching (FFS) mode in which a pair of electrodes overlaps in the planar view are known.
The liquid crystal panel according to the transverse electric field system allows obtaining of a wide viewing angle, and therefore has been increasingly used in recent years.
So far, according to a liquid crystal display apparatus having upper and lower substrates to be driven by the FFS mode, in a pixel electrode and a counter electrode being a pair of electrodes arranged in one substrate, even when off-state voltage corresponding to 0 V is applied to a certain pixel, other pixels are turned on, and therefore a specific signal is continuously applied to a data bus line.
Accordingly, a noise field is formed between the data bus line and the pixel electrode or between the data bus line and the counter electrode, thereby liquid crystal molecule isolating from a polarization axis to cause light leakage in the part.
In order to block the leaked light, patterning of a black matrix in a large region is performed to the other substrate, which requires patterning and also induces a decrease of an opening ratio in the liquid crystal panel, and thus a problem resulting in reduction of brightness has been caused.
In order to solve such a problem, Patent literature No. 1 below discloses an art in which, in a liquid crystal display apparatus driven by an IPS mode or an FFS mode being a normally black mode, a rubbing direction of a liquid crystal having a positive dielectric anisotropy (Δ∈) is adjusted to coincide with a direction of a noise field, resulting in allowing a major axis of liquid crystal molecules to precisely coincide with the direction of the noise field, and thus even if the noise field acts, the liquid crystal molecules are not isolated from the polarization axis of a polarizer, and a dark state is designed to be maintained at any time.
Moreover, Patent literature No. 2 below discloses an art in which, in a transflective liquid crystal display apparatus such as an FFS mode liquid crystal display apparatus, a reflection display unit and a transmission display unit are adjusted in twist alignment and homogeneous alignment during no voltage application, and thus a less colored black display having high contrast is designed to be secured.


The power dissipation in a circuit, e.g., a CMOS circuit, is reduced through hazard pulse suppression. More particularly, hazard-producing gates are those gates whose delays are smaller than the differential path delays for their inputs. The adjustment to the delay of these gates is made by increasing the gate delay as a function of the corresponding differential path delays to eliminate the production of hazard pulses. Thus, by suppressing the hazard pulses in a circuit the power dissipation of the circuit is substantially reduced.

The power consumption of modern electronic equipment has become a critical issue due to the increased popularity of mobile products and the focus on miniaturization. For example, cellular phones are fast becoming a necessity for the everyday consumer, with the size and battery life of such phones being major issues in the purchasing decision. These modern hardware devices contain a significant amount of CMOS semiconductor circuitry. Power consumption in a CMOS circuit is most commonly attributed to at least the following factors: (1) short circuits; (2) leakage; (3) functional switching; and/or (4) hazard pulses. As is well known, power dissipation due to short circuits is often negligible and power consumption due to leakage is significantly smaller than that of functional switching or hazard pulses. Thus, the major contributors in CMOS circuit power dissipation are functional switching and hazard pulses. In particular, it has been reported that hazard pulses consume approximately 20-40% of the total power in digital circuits (see, for example, A. Bellaouar et al., Low-Power Digital VLSI Design: Circuits and Systems, Kluwer Academic Publishers, p. 493, Boston, 1995.)
Hazard pulses occur due to the fact that before signals of a digital circuit reach their steady state, the transistor gates making up the circuit incur multiple signal transitions as a function of signals arriving at the gate by paths of varying delays. These transitions generate the hazard pulses in a gate. These extra transitions and the generated hazard pulses of the gates increase the power dissipation of the digital circuit. One known technique for eliminating hazard pulses is to balance the delays of multipath signals serving as input to a gate. The balancing is accomplished either by using a tree-like logic structure or by inserting delay buffers within particular "fast" paths of the circuit (see, Ballaouar, supra.). However, the balancing technique is sensitive to delay tolerances and may, in some cases, actually incur additional power dissipation due to the use of additional delay buffering.
Another known technique for addressing hazard pulses is so called retiming. Retiming employs a flip-flop repositioning scheme within a circuit such that particular flip-flops are moved to circuit nodes having high hazard occurrences. However, one drawback of this approach is that in many instances the number of nodes having potential hazard pulses is much larger than the number of flip-flops available for repositioning (see, for example, J. M. Rabaey et al., Low Power Design Methodologies, Kluwer Academic Publishers, pp. 148-149, Boston, 1996.) In addition to the retiming technique there is known the so called self-timing technique in which a combinational element of a circuit will not compute a result until all inputs have stabilized. This technique, however, requires the addition of other circuitry to the overall circuit design thereby increasing the complexity of the circuit.
Finally, in S. H. Unger, Asynchronous Sequential Switching Circuits, Wiley-Interscience, pp. 153-163, New York, 1969, a technique for adding inertial delays to the output of a combinational logic circuit is described which eliminates hazard pulses in asynchronous circuits. Significantly, however, this approach may leave hazard pulses on many internal signals of the asynchronous circuit and does not address the issue of power dissipation within the circuit.
Therefore, a need exists for a hazard pulse suppression technique which does not require additional circuitry, effectively handles a potentially large number of hazard pulses within digital circuits, and which contributes to an overall reduction in power dissipation of a circuit.

Low power circuits through hazard pulse suppression


A method of monitoring and regulating the power and the energy consumed by a transport system including electrically propelled vehicles, said transport system including a power supply system including one or more power supply substations connected to an external electrical power supply network, said power supply substation or substations supplying energy to traction substations supplying power to power supply line sections having vehicle-mounted current pick-up means connected thereto, each vehicle carrying a power converter which is supplied with power by said current pick-up means and which monitors the power supplied to a traction motor of said vehicle, which method includes the following steps:                measuring the instantaneous electrical power and/or energy drawn from the external electrical power supply network by said power supply substation or substations, and        if the power or energy drawn from the external network tends to exceed an assigned threshold, sending one or more vehicles a set point acting on the converter on board said vehicle to reduce temporarily the power and/or the speed of rotation of the traction motor.

Transport systems such as underground railway, tram, trolleybus and guided road vehicle systems have high power requirements which are unevenly distributed through the day and essentially consist of the traction power that is dissipated by the vehicles of the system. The power requirements peak in the morning and in the afternoon, at times corresponding to the morning and evening rush hours. It is therefore not advantageous for companies operating these transport systems to acquire their own electrical power stations to supply electrical power, since the power stations would have to be rated to cater for the peak power in the rush hours, and would rarely be operated at their maximum efficiency.
It is therefore more economic for companies operating these transport systems to obtain electrical power from external electrical power distribution companies in the public or private sector. These companies operate electrical power supply networks that provide a very reliable supply and are interconnected to deal with peak power demand. However, most power distribution company price structures take account of a nominal power and energy specified in a contract negotiated with the client, and they bill clients for high additional costs whenever the power or the energy consumed by the client exceeds the nominal power or energy. It is therefore important for operators of these transport systems to optimize the peak power drawn from the external electrical power supply network, peak limiting having a significant financial impact by limiting the nominal power itself and the occasions on which power demand exceeds the nominal power. The same applies for the electrical energy consumed.

Method and a system for monitoring and regulating the power consumed by a transport system