An RSA cryptographic method and system is provided in which a sender encrypts a message (m) using a public modulus n, and an encryption exponent e that is a function of a sender-chosen string. This function is such that the values of e generated by it will not be coprime. In a preferred embodiment, a recipient receives the encrypted message and subjects it to a modulo-n blinding operation. The resultant blinded encrypted message is then made available to a trusted authority which decrypts it using a decryption exponent d based on the sender-chosen string and private data associated with the public modulus; however, the blinding applied to the message prevents the trusted authority from reading the message. The decrypted, but still blinded, message is passed back to the recipient who cancels the blinding to recover the message.

Identifier-Based Encryption (IBE) is an emerging cryptographic schema. A number of IBE cryptographic methods are known, including:                methods based on "Quadratic Residuosity" as described in the paper: "An identity based encryption scheme based on quadratic residues", C. Cocks, Proceedings of the 8th IMA International Conference on Cryptography and Coding, LNCS 2260, pp 360-363, Springer-Verlag, 2001;        methods using Weil or Tate pairings—see, for example: D. Boneh, M. Franklin—"Identity-based Encryption from the Weil Pairing" in Advances in Cryptology —CRYPTO 2001, LNCS 2139, pp. 213-229, Springer-Verlag, 2001;        methods based on mediated RSA as described in the paper "Identity based encryption using mediated RSA", D. Boneh, X. Ding and G. Tsudik, 3rd Workshop on Information Security Application, Jeju Island, Korea, August, 2002.
As the present invention also uses RSA cryptography, a description of the above-referenced identifier-based mediated RSA method is given below after a brief review of a basic RSA implementation and a mediated RSA arrangement.
The RSA public key cryptographic method is well known and in its basic form is a two-party method in which a first party generates a public/private key pair and a second party uses the first party's public key to encrypt messages for sending to the first party, the latter then using its private key to decrypt the messages. More particularly, and with reference to FIG. 1 of the accompanying drawings, in the basic RSA encryption method the following operational steps are carried out by a message sender A and a message recipient B acting through respective computing entities 10 and 20:
Initial Set Up Phase
                1. B chooses distinct random primes p and q.        2. B computes n=(p).(q) and φ=(p−1).(q−1).        3. B selects an encryption exponent e such that e and φ have no common factors.        4. B computes a decryption exponent d=1/e mod φ        5. B publishes both e and n as its public key and keeps d secret as its private key (p and q are either destroyed or also kept secret)Message Transfer Phase        6. A generates a message m.        7. A computes me mod n and sends this to B.        8. B computes (me)d mod n to recover m.
The set up phase is carried out once whilst the message transfer phase is carried out for each message to be sent from A to B. In practice, the set up phase may be carried out on behalf of B by a certificate authority that provides a trustable certificate associating B to its public key <e,n> and communicates d securely to B; the value of e is fixed for any particular domain.
It is often required to provide for control of message sending from A to B using a particular key pair. For example, A and B may initially be members of the same organization with A sending messages to B using a public key for B that was certified or otherwise vouched for by the organization as being associated with B; however, should B leave the organization, it is desirable that the validity of B's public key be immediately revoked. One way of doing this is by the use of a revocation list that A must check each time it wants to send a message. A more reliable method is to use a mediated RSA method in which the decryption exponent d is split into two components, one held by B and the other held by a security mediator; in this case, both decryption exponent components must be applied to an encrypted message to decrypt it. This means that the security mediator must be contacted by B each time B wishes to decrypt a new encrypted message from A; the security mediator thus has control over which messages B decrypts and can therefore implement any desired control policy including, in the present example, preventing B decrypting messages after B has left the organization.
However, it will generally be undesirable for the security mediator to have the ability to fully decrypt messages sent to B which implies that the security mediator must not have knowledge of B's decryption exponent component (or the data needed to compute it). Therefore, the security mediator must be separate from the entity generating the two decryption exponent components; since this latter entity clearly cannot be B (as B would then not need to go to the security mediator to decrypt a message), a separate key generation entity is needed with the result that most mediated RSA methods are four-party methods.
Inherent positive features of mediated RSA methods are that the messages passing between B and the security mediator are encrypted, and that the intended recipient is the only recipient capable of reading a message even if the security mediator is misled as to the identity of the recipient passing it the message. An inherent drawback of mediated RSA methods is that, notwithstanding the separation of the KGC and the security mediator which should ensure that messages to B cannot be read by the security mediator, so far as B is concerned there is no real guarantee that the KGC and the security mediator are not collaborating to read B's messages.
Considering now the identifier-based mediated RSA method described in the above-referenced paper by Boneh, Ding and Tsudik, this differs from normal mediated RSA methods in that it is the encryption exponent e that is made recipient specific rather than the values of n and d. More particularly, each potential recipient B has an associated predetermined identifier string IDB, such as an email address, that identifies the recipient. Thus, there exists a set of predetermined identifier strings IDB which by their nature are generally known to A and to the key generation center KGC. When A wishes to send a message to a particular recipient B, A chooses the relevant identifier string from the set of such strings and uses the chosen string to compute an encryption exponent. To effect its partial decrypt of the message, the security mediator SEM uses a decryption exponent component that the KGC has pre-computed for the recipient concerned using the known identifier string IDB of that recipient.
FIG. 2 of the accompanying drawings depicts in more detail the operational steps carried out in the identifier-based mediated RSA method, the parties involved being a message sender A, a message recipient B, a security mediator SEM and a key generation center KGC each acting through a respective computing entity 10, 20, 30 and 40. The operational steps involved are:
Initial Set Up Phase
                1. KGC chooses distinct random primes p and q. The primes p and q are specific to a particular domain and are not recipient dependent.        2. KGC computes n=(p).(q) where n has a fixed value for the domain, this value being published in an appropriate certificate.         The KGC also computes φ=(p−1).(q−1).        For each B, the KGC carries out steps 3 to 8        3. KGC uses the identifier string IDB of the particular recipient B concerned to compute a recipient-specific encryption exponent eB; the function used to compute eB is typically a hash function. The exponent e and the value φ should have no common factors.        4. KGC computes a recipient-specific decryption exponent d=1/eB mod φ.        5. KGC chooses dU (different for each B).        6. KGC computes a recipient-specific dT=(d−dU) mod φ.        7. KGC securely communicates dT to the security mediator SEM and dU to B.        8. KGC publishes IDB for B (only if not already known to message senders—where IDB is B's email address, it typically would not be re-published by the KGC).Message Transfer Phase        9. A generates a message m.        10. A chooses the identifier string IDB of the intended recipient and computes the corresponding encryption exponent eB using the same function as used by the KGC (this function will have typically been incorporated in software provided to A's computing entity 10 for implementing the cryptographic method, but may be provided to A in any suitable manner including by distribution with n).        11. A computes meB mod n and sends this to B which forwards it to the security mediator SEM.        12. SEM computes x=(meB)dT mod n and returns it to B.        13. B receives x which is equivalent to (meB)(d−dU) mod n.        14. B computes xdU mod n to recover the message m.
B's decryption exponent component dU can, of course, be generated by B, or jointly by the KGC and B, provided both know its value (in other words dU is a shared secret of B and the KGC). As with normal mediated RSA methods, unless the security mediator SEM only serves one recipient B, the security mediator will need to be provided with a recipient identifier in order to able to select which dT to use in step 11. This recipient identifier can be the IDB used by the sender and passed on by B or another identifier provided by B; as already indicated, it is not necessary for the security mediator to trust the recipient identifier—if the identifier does not identify the intended recipient of the message, then the message will not be even partially decrypted by application of the dT retrieved using the identifier.
Like normal mediated RSA methods, the identifier-based mediated RSA method of FIG. 2 must keep the key generation center KGC independent of the security mediator if the latter is not to have access to the messages. As a result, the identifier strings used by A must generally be predetermined strings for which the KGC has already determined the corresponding decryption exponent component dT to be used by the security mediator (the alternative of re-involving the KGC for each message to compute the dT for use by the security mediator is unattractive in practical terms).
It should also be noted that the same message m must never be encrypted using two different encryption exponents as this would compromise the security of the method. As a consequence, the basic message data must normally be combined with random padding to form the message m to be sent.
It is an object of the present invention to provide simplified identifier-based RSA cryptographic methods and systems.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A zoom lens is described. The zoom lens includes, in an order from an object side: a first lens group that comprises at least two negative lenses and a single positive lens, the first lens group having a negative refractive power; a second lens group that comprises a plurality of lenses, at least one correction lens of the second lens group being movable in a surface that crosses an optical axis to perform image-shaking correction, the second lens group having a positive refractive power; a third lens group that comprises a single negative lens, the third lens group having a negative refractive power; and a fourth lens group having a positive refractive power.

1. Field
Various embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a zoom lens and an electronic apparatus.
2. Related Art
Imaging apparatuses using solid-state imaging devices, such as a charge-coupled device (CCD) type image sensor and a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) type image sensor, have been widely used. These imaging apparatuses include digital still cameras, video cameras, and interchangeable lens cameras. Also, the imaging apparatuses using the solid-state imaging devices are appropriate for miniaturization, and thus, in recent years, the imaging apparatuses have been applied to small information terminals such as cellular phones and smartphones. Users demand high performance imaging apparatuses, for example, in terms of high resolution and a wide viewing angle. Also, consumer expertise with respect to cameras has been continuously increasing.
A negative lead type zoom lens in which a lens group having a negative refractive power overall is in a lead position may relatively easily achieve a wide angle and miniaturization of diameters of lenses in the lead position, and thus, it is widely used.
In such a negative lead type zoom lens, high optical performance is desired during zooming from a wide angle position to a telephoto position.


An optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus including a planar image obtaining unit configured to obtain a planar image of a subject based on a return beam from the subject irradiated by the irradiation unit that irradiates the subject with light of a first wavelength band, a tomographic image obtaining unit configured to obtain a tomographic image of the subject based on a beam in which a return beam from the subject irradiated with the laser beam emitted while sweeping a second wavelength range which is longer than the first wavelength band and a reference beam corresponding to the laser beam are combined, and a correction unit configured to correct an optical path length difference generated due to a difference between the first wavelength band and the second wavelength band.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus that captures an image of a subject using Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus for capturing an image of an eye, such as OCT, allows three-dimensional observation of an internal state of retinal layers. Such an optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus has been recently attracting attention as being useful in more accurately diagnosing diseases.
A time domain (TD-) OCT is a type of OCT in which a broad spectrum light source is combined with a Michelson interferometer. The TD-OCT is configured such that by scanning a delay in a reference arm, the interference light generated by a backscattered light of a signal arm and the light from the reference arm is measured to obtain information on depth resolution. However, high-speed image acquisition is difficult in the above described TD-OCT. To address this, as a method for obtaining the image at higher speed, a spectral domain (SD-) OCT which uses the broad spectrum light source and obtains an interferogram employing a spectroscope is known. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,321,501 discusses a swept source (SS-) OCT in which a single channel light detection device measures spectral interference by employing a high-speed wavelength swept light source as the light source.
In general, an OCT tomographic image is obtained using light of a wavelength band of 800 nm to 900 nm as illustrated in FIG. 13A. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-209166 discusses obtaining, before obtaining the OCT tomographic image, an infrared observation image of a fundus using light of the wavelength band of 700 nm to 800 nm. Further, after obtaining the OCT tomographic image, a visible still image of a fundus is obtained using light of the wavelength band of 400 nm to 700 nm.
Furthermore, peaks of an absorption coefficient of water, which is a main component of a biological object such as a subject's eye, exist at 980 nm and 1200 nm in the vicinity of the wavelength of 1000 nm. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-327909 discusses obtaining the OCT tomographic image using light of the wavelength band of 980 nm to 1200 nm to avoid being affected by the absorption coefficient peaks.
In general, it is known that since an optical path length difference is generated between light of different wavelengths, positional deviation of a focus position is generated. As a result, if the OCT tomographic image is obtained using light of the wavelength band of 980 nm to 1200 nm instead of 800 nm to 900 nm, the following occurs. When the OCT tomographic image is obtained after obtaining the infrared observation image, the positional deviation of focus position is increased compared with ever before. It thus becomes difficult to obtain a high-quality OCT tomographic image.

Optical coherence tomographic imaging apparatus and method thereof


The novel inclined plate 360 degree absolute angle sensor is designed to measure the absolute angle created by a base and a rotating surface. The assembly contains a metal inclined plate positioned above four coils so that coils one and two are at the minimum and maximum distance from the plate respectively, while at the same time, coils three and four are equidistant from the inclined plate. Rotation of the plate around a centerline, changes the distance that all four coils with respect to the inclined plate which, in turn, creates a change of the inductance of the coils. This change in inductance may be measured with alternating current bridge technologies in order to provide a measure of absolute angular position of a rotating surface with respect to the base.

This invention pertains to devices for measuring angles in a small sized instrument and, in particular, to an inclined plate 360 degree absolute angle sensor for use in biomedical, industrial, commercial and personal applications, such as measuring the angles of various body joints or the angles of implants or bones taken from radiographic images.
There have been a number of attempts to develop angle measuring units. Examples of this type device are the United States Patent issued to Graham, Baillet and Sankey U.S. Pat. No. 4,442,606 issued on 17 Apr. 1984 for a Digital Goniometer is an example of this typical units. Other attempts in this area include the United States Patents issued to Joyal et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,996,670 issued on December 1976 and to Beck, U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,314 issued in February 1981. There are, however many difficulties with those type devices. Among the difficulties are moisture problems, problems created by dirt and limitations of visibility and motion. Potentiometers wear out over time, usually have a travel stop which limits their rotatability and are not transparent.
What is needed is an inclined plate 360 degree absolute angle sensor that does not wear out over time and has an unlimited 360 degree resolution. What is needed is an assembly which is simple and easy to use, has a complete range of motion and allows complete visibility for the operator to measure any desired angle. What is also needed is signal sending means that allows the data from the sensors to be processed by a micro controller or personal computer.
It is the object of this invention to teach an inclined plate 360 degree absolute angle sensor which avoids the disadvantages and limitations, recited above in similar systems. Another object of this invention is to provide a system that is extremely efficient and accurate.

Inclined plate 360 degree absolute angle sensor


Disclosed is a process for preparing a foamer composition having an anionic surfactant and a neutralizing amine. The process includes the steps of estimating an extent to which the anionic surfactant will decompose into acidic components under an elevated temperature range, determining an effective amount of neutralizing amine needed to sufficiently neutralize the acidic components upon the decomposition of the anionic surfactant and mixing the effective amount of neutralizing amine with the anionic surfactant. Also disclosed is a foamer composition having from about 5% to about 70% by weight anionic surfactant, from about 1% to about 20% by weight neutralizing amine, from about 2% to about 10% by weight amine-based corrosion inhibitor, from about 0% to about 20% by weight solvent, from about 1% to about 10% by weight scale inhibitor and from about 0% to about 30% water.

As petroleum products are drained from subterranean formations, the reservoir energy gradually decreases. In some cases, the reduced reservoir pressure allows water to accumulate and "load" the well. Gas wells that are loaded with water tend to produce poorly in intermittent slug flow or cease to produce at all.
Artificial lift and stimulation procedures are often used to increase production from a loaded well. Chemical additives are often used to unload, or "de-water" the well. In recent years, it has become popular to inject "foamer" solutions down a capillary string to aid in the unloading of water accumulated in the wellbore. As gas passes through the foamer and water mixture, bubbles form and lift the water from the well. Foamers, or "soaps," typically include a surfactant component that reduces the surface tension and fluid density of the water-well fluid mixture in the wellbore.

High temperature foamer formulations for downhole injection


A transport apparatus is arranged to include a platform pivotally mounted relative to and within the legs of a table structure, whereupon the platform includes lever apparatus to cantilever the platform and project wheel members of the platform to engagement to an underlying support surface to permit rolling support of the table structure.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of invention relates to transport structure, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved transport apparatus arranged to provide for the mobility of a support table.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various transport apparatus such as dollies and the like are indicated in the prior art by the U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,846,485; 4,088,337; 3,913,763; 4,277,075; and 3,735,996.
The instant invention attempts to overcome deficiencies of the prior art by providing for a transport platform or dolly structure mounted relative to a table permitting pivoting of the dolly relative to the table providing cantilevered support of forward legs of the dolly and in this respect, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


Device for monitoring the tires of a vehicle, comprised of a central unit d for each wheel a measurement sensor, a rotating antenna, a stationary antenna, and metallic parts of electromagnetic coupling placed in the environment of the wheel, the hub, and the spindle.

The present invention concerns a device for monitoring the tires of a vehicle, and more precisely a device comprised of, for each wheel, an electromechanical module connected to a rotating antenna, and, coupled to the latter, a stationary antenna connected to a central unit of the vehicle.
It is known that monitoring the pressure and temperature of tires is essential for proper safety; in addition, if this monitoring is done continuously during utilization of the vehicle, added to increased safety is an extension of the service life of the tires, a decrease in consumption of fuel, an improvement in road-holding and comfort, etc.
The requester has developed over about the last ten years such a system of continuous monitoring, known under the name of "MTM" ("Michelin Tire Monitor"), which has proven itself in some very harsh automobile races. Briefly, this system is composed of a central unit powered by the battery of the vehicle, this unit being connected, for each wheel, to a stationary antenna; on each of the wheels is mounted a rotating antenna connected to a module comprised of a pressure sensor as well as a temperature sensor; electromagnetic coupling is established between the antennas in pairs; this coupling allows on the one hand to transmit energy from the central unit to each wheel module and, on the other hand, to transmit to the central unit the signals gathered from each sensor, these exchanges being made continuously according to specific rates.
This basic system has already given rise to improvements and adaptations. For example, patent FR 2 706 811 describes the case of a truck equipped with wheels mounted in single and duals, on which one of the lug nuts is used to connect the sensor of tire pressure and the wheel module to the rotating antenna.
We can also cite patent U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,850 (Texas Instruments) which implements for each wheel to be monitored a rotating part (rotor) connected to the measurement sensors, and a stationary part (stator) connected to a central unit, these parts being coupled by two rotating and stationary antennas of which one is annular.
But these known systems all present a disadvantage: they require a rotating annular antenna comprised of an annular coil made to measure for each type of wheel, which complicates the installation of these monitoring devices and which greatly increases their cost. The requester has therefore had the unexpected idea of eliminating the annular coil from this rotating antenna.

Device for monitoring the tires of a vehicle with electromagnetically coupled antennas

Compagnie Generale des Etablissments Michelin - Michelin & CIE


An inverter controlled generator set including: a power supply unit that uses a generator driven by an engine as a power supply to output a DC voltage; an inverter device that converts the output voltage of the power supply unit into an AC voltage; and a rotational speed control unit that controls a rotational speed of the engine so as to be kept at a target rotational speed suitable for a load applied to the inverter device, wherein the rotational speed control unit is comprised so that a settling time when the rotational speed of the engine is caused to converge to the target rotational speed in a state where the load is above a set value is longer than a settling time when the rotational speed is caused to converge to the target rotational speed in a state where the load is below the set value, in order to minimize an operation sound of the engine when the load is intermittently driven.

A power supply device that uses a generator driven by an engine as a power supply is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-217398 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 5-18285, which includes: a power supply unit that uses the generator as the power supply to output a DC voltage; an inverter device that converts the DC output of the power supply unit into an AC output at a fixed frequency; and an engine rotational speed control unit that controls a rotational speed of the engine so as to be kept at a target rotational speed suitable for a load applied to the inverter device. The target rotational speed is a rotational speed of the engine required for generating a necessary output for driving the load from the inverter device.
When an AC generator is used as a generator, a power supply unit is comprised of the AC generator and a converter that converts an AC output to a DC output.
The inverter device is comprised of a known bridge type inverter circuit, each side of a bridge including switch elements and feedback diodes connected anti-parallel to the switch elements, and an inverter control unit that controls on/off of the switch elements that constitute the inverter circuit at a predetermined timing so as to output an AC voltage at a predetermined frequency from the inverter circuit.
The engine rotational speed control unit provided in the conventional inverter controlled generator set includes, for example, a target rotational speed setting unit that sets a target rotational speed of the engine according to the size of the load of the inverter, a rotational speed detection unit that detects a rotational speed of the engine, a deviation detection unit that detects a deviation between the detected rotational speed and the arithmetically operated target rotational speed, an operation amount arithmetical operation unit that arithmetically operates an operation amount of an intake air amount adjusting unit (for example, a throttle valve) of the engine required for bringing the deviation to zero by performing a proportional arithmetical operation (a P arithmetical operation), a proportional plus integral plus derivative arithmetical operation (a PID arithmetical operation), or a proportional plus integral arithmetical operation (a PI arithmetical operation) of the detected deviation, and an operation unit that operates the intake air amount adjusting unit of the engine by the amount of operation arithmetically operated by the operation amount arithmetical operation unit, and the engine rotational speed control unit uses feedback to control the rotational speed of the engine so as to bring the deviation to zero between the rotational speed of the engine and the target rotational speed.
The inverter controlled generator set, including the engine rotational speed control unit that sets the target rotational speed suitable for the size of the load and use feedback to control the rotational speed of the engine so as to bring the deviation to zero between the rotational speed of the engine and the target rotational speed as described above, has the following problem when intermittently driving a load requiring a large starting current, for example, an electric power tool or the like.
For an inverter controlled generator set that drives a load requiring a large starting current such as an electric power tool, when an operator drives the load, an engine rotational speed control unit sharply increases a rotational speed of an engine to about an upper limit value to allow an inverter to pass a large starting current through the load. When the operator then stops the operation, the load is eliminated, and thus the engine rotational speed control unit sharply reduces the rotational speed of the engine to a lower limit value (usually an idling rotational speed). When the rotational speed of the engine is sharply increased and reduced, the engine makes a loud operation sound. The load intermittently driven such as the electric power tool is repeatedly started and stopped in a relatively short cycle, and thus if an engine driven inverter controlled generator set is used for driving such a load, a significant variation of the rotational speed of the engine frequently causes a loud operation sound. The operation sound of the engine and an operation sound made by the load itself produce a loud noise, which annoys the operator or people around.


A light comprising a rear light modifying panel having a front surface and opposite sides; a lamp support panel assembly connected at least at two spaced apart locations to the rear light modifying panel assembly, for supporting at least one lamp in front of the front surface and between the opposite sides of the rear light modifying panel assembly; and a front light modifying panel having a rear surface spaced from the front surface of the rear light modifying panel, the front light modifying panel having opposite sides connected to the opposite sides of the rear light modifying panel. The lamp support panel assembly is between the front and rear light modifying panels for holding the at least one lamp between the front and rear light modifying panels.

The present invention relates generally to the field of lighting and in particular to a new and useful light having a flexible reflector and diffuser for relatively flat storage and easy setup. The light is particularly useful for photographers and videographers of all skill levels. The light is modular as well and can be combined with other lights to create larger lighting arrays. Other areas of use for the invention are furniture or architectural lighting, motion pictures or cinema, task lighting, Internet web use, digital capture, videoconferencing, make-up lighting (e.g. lighting behind or near a mirror used for the application of cosmetics), or any other lighting need. The light of the invention can also be used to treat SAD or seasonal affective disorder by exposing a subject to light during a treatment known as "bright light" intervention.
Lights with reflectors and diffusers are generally known in the field of photographic or cinematic lighting. Such lights are used to illuminate an object or person whose image is being captured for different effects, including removing or creating shadows. When lights are used in a studio or stage setting, size and portability of the lights is not usually a concern, since often the lights will be moved by machines or fixed in place.
When photographing or filming on location, away from a studio or stage setting, the size, weight and portability of any equipment can be very important. This is especially true for professional photographers, amateur photographers and videographers alike, as they often must carry all their own equipment. These groups may want to have additional lighting available, but find it difficult to transport much equipment.
Lighting which produces softer, more distributed and diffuse light for illuminating subjects is presently more preferred by photographers and videographers. The structure needed to produce such lighting can often be heavy and bulky, since stands, reflectors and diffusers are all needed to support, direct and treat the light, in addition to the light source itself.
One of the most effective treatments for seasonal depression (SAD) is bright light therapy. People with seasonal depression benefit from daily exposure to bright light during the winter. Originally it was thought that special high-intensity light which mimicked the spectrum of sunlight was needed, but later studies demonstrated that high-intensity light works well even if it does not mimic sunlight. The most common treatment involves sitting in front of a bright fluorescent light from a "light box" for 30 minutes or so every day. This treatment has been proven to lift the moods of a majority of patients diagnosed with SAD.
Collapsible lights with diffusers are known in the art to assist photographers and videographers in their endeavors. For example, a portable light with a diffuser panel is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,176,598. The diffuser panel is connected over the end of an umbrella parabolic shade. Like other lights of this general type, the light is supported on a stand, as the parabolic shade is not adapted to independently support the light to shine horizontally otherwise.
Box lights with reflector panels and shades are known as well. But, these lights must also be supported on a stand, as they will fall over or tilt awkwardly if left to rest on the shade.
Also see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,669,031 and 5,023,756 to the present inventor which disclose box lights that can be self supporting.
A light which is self-contained and portable, and can be positioned without need for a stand distinct from the reflector body and lamp is desirable.


Methods of rapid distinction between growing cells and debris, which determine a time-lapse movie of specimen images, track features of each entity, and categorize each entity as growing cells or debris.

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods of rapid distinction between debris and growing cells. More specifically, certain embodiments relate to methods of rapid distinction between debris and growing cells in a specimen being imaged by e-Petri systems.
The miniaturization of biomedical imaging tools has the potential to change vastly methods of medical diagnoses and scientific research. More specifically, compact, low-cost microscopes could significantly extend affordable healthcare diagnostics and provide a means for examining and automatically characterizing a large number of cells, as discussed in Psaltis, D., et al., "Developing optofluidic technology through the fusion of microfluidics and optics," Nature, Vol. 442, pp. 381-386 (2006), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. For example, miniaturized imaging systems may provide a useful alternative to large microscopes in biology labs, allowing for parallel imaging of large number of samples. Some examples of compact microscopes can be found in Cui, X., et al., "Lensless high-resolution on-chip optofluidic microscopes for Caenorhabditis elegans and cell imaging," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(31), p. 10670 (2008), Seo, S., et al., "Lensfree holographic imaging for on-chip cytometry and diagnostics," Lab on a Chip, 2009. 9(6), pp. 777-787, Breslauer, D., et al., "Mobile phone based clinical microscopy for global health applications," (2009), Zheng, G., et al., "Sub-pixel resolving optofluidic microscope for on-chip cell imaging," Lab on a Chip, 2010. 10(22), pp. 3125-3129, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Conventional optical microscopes have bulky optics, and have proven to be expensive and difficult to miniaturize.
Rapid advances and commercialization efforts in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) imaging sensor technology has led to broad availability of cheap, high-pixel-density imaging sensor chips. In the past few years, these imaging sensor chips enabled the development of new microscopy implementations that are significantly more compact and less expensive than conventional microscopy designs with bulky optics. The optofluidic microscope and the digital in-line holographic microscope are two examples of these new developments. Some examples of optofluidic microscope technologies can be found in Heng, X., et al., "Optofluidic microscopy-method for implementing a high resolution optical microscope on a chip," Lab Chip, Vol. 6, pp. 1274-1276, Cui, Xiquan, et al., "Lensless high-resolution on-chip optofluidic microscopes for Caenorhabditis elegans and cell imaging," Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Vol. 105, p. 10670 (2008), and Zheng, G., Lee, S A., Yang, S., Yang, C., "Sub-pixel resolving optofluidic microscope for on-chip cell imaging. Lab Chip," Lab Chip, Vol. 10, pp. 3125-3129 (2010) ("Zheng"), which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Some examples of digital in-line holographic microscopy can be found in Repetto, L., Plano, E., Pontiggia, C., "Lensless digital holographic microscope with light-emitting diode illumination," Opt. Lett., Vol. 29, pp. 1132-1134 (2004), ("Repetto"), Mudanyali, O., et al., "Compact, light-weight and cost-effective microscope based on lensless incoherent holography for telemedicine applications," Lab on a Chip, Vol. 10, pp. 1417-1428 (2010) ("Mudanyali"), Xu, W., Jericho, M., Meinertzhagen, I., Kreuzer, H., "Digital in-line holography for biological applications," Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, Vol. 98, pp. 11301-11305 (2001) ("Xu"), Garcia-Sucerquia, J., et al., "Digital in-line holographic microscopy," Appl. Opt., Vol. 45, pp. 836-850 (2006) ("Garcia-Sucerquia"), Malek M., Allano, D., Coëtmellec, S., Lebrun, D., "Digital in-line holography: Influence of the shadow density on particle field extraction," Opt. Express, Vol. 12, pp. 2270-2279 (2004) ("Malek"), Isikman, S. O., et al., "Lens-free optical tomographic microscope with a large imaging volume on a chip," Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, Vol. 108, pp. 7296-7301 (2011), which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes.
Both optofluidic and in-line holographic microscopy technologies are designed to operate without lenses and, therefore, circumvent their optical limitations, such as aberrations and chromaticity. Both technologies are suitable for imaging dispersible samples, such as blood, fluid cell cultures, and other suspensions of cells or organisms. However, neither can work well with confluent cell cultures or any sample in which cells are contiguously connected over a sizable length scale.
In the case of an optofluidic microscope device, imaging requires fluidic (e.g., microfluidic) flow of specimens across a scanning area. Adherent, confluent, or contiguously arranged specimens are usually incompatible with imaging in a fluidic mode. In addition, the field of view may be limited by the geometry of the fluid channel.
In digital in-line holographic microscopy, the interference intensity distribution of a target under controlled light illumination is measured and then an image reconstruction algorithm is applied to render microscopy images of the target. Two examples of algorithms can be found in Liu, G., Scott, P., "Phase retrieval and twin-image elimination for in-line Fresnel holograms," J Opt Soc Am A, Vol. 4, pp. 159-165 (1987) ("Liu"), Fienup, J R., "Reconstruction of an object from the modulus of its Fourier transform," Opt Lett, Vol. 3, pp. 27-29 (1978) ("Fienup"), Koren, G., Polack, F., Joyeux, D., "Iterative algorithms for twin-image elimination in in-line holography using finite-support constraints, J Opt Soc Am A, Vol. 10, pp. 423-433 (1993), which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. The image quality depends critically on the extent of the target, the scattering property and the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the measurement processes, which are described in Mudanyali, and Garcia-Sucerquia, Malek, Fienup, and also in Lai, S., King, B., Neifeld, Mass., "Wave front reconstruction by means of phase-shifting digital in-line holography," Opt Commun., Vol. 173, pp. 155-160 (2000) ("Lai"), and Rodenburg, J., Hurst, A., Cullis, A., "Transmission microscopy without lenses for objects of unlimited size," Ultramicroscopy, Vol. 107, pp. 227-231 (2007) ("Rodenburg"), which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. The method works well for well-isolated targets, such as diluted blood smear slides. However, such approaches appear to have not been applied to targets that occupy more than 0.1 mm2 in total contiguous area coverage with submicron resolution, as found in Repetto, Madanyali, Xu, Garcia-Sucerquia, and also in Biener, G., et al., "Combined reflection and transmission microscope for telemedicine applications in field settings," Lab Chip, Vol. 11, pp. 2738-2743 (2011), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
The reason for this limitation is well-known: the loss of phase information during the intensity recording process. In order to recover the phase information, object support has to be used in the iterative phase recovery algorithm, which involves the light field propagation back and forth between the imaging domain (where the intensity data are applied) and object domain (where a priori object constrains are applied), as discussed in Liu. When the test object is real or nonnegative, it is easy to apply the powerful normegativity support constraint to extract the phase information from the recorded diffraction intensity, as discussed in Liu. However, for digital in-line holography, light field in the object domain is complex valued and, therefore, the phase recovery is possible only if the support of the object is sufficiently isolated (i.e., sparsity constrains) or the edges are sharply defined (true boundary), as discussed in Rodenburg and Fienup and also in Denis, L., Lorenz, D., Thiébaut, E., Fournier, C., Trede, D., "Inline hologram reconstruction with sparsity constraints," Opt Lett, Vol. 34, pp. 3475-3477 (2009), Zhang, F., Pedrini, G., Osten, W., "Phase retrieval of arbitrary complex-valued fields through aperture-plane modulation," Phys Rev A, Vol. 75, p. 043805 (2007), which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety for all purposes. Furthermore, the interference nature of the technique implies that coherence-based noise sources, such as speckles and cross-interference, would be present and would need to be addressed, as discussed in Garcia-Sucerquia and Malek, and also in Xu, L., Miao, J., Asundi, A., "Properties of digital holography based on in-line configuration," Opt Eng, Vol. 39, pp. 3214-3219 (2000), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Methods for mitigating problems in digital in-line holographic microscopy have been reported in Lai, Rodenburg and Micó, V., García, J., Zalevsky, Z., Javidi, B., "Phase-Shifting Gabor Holographic Microscopy," J Disp Technol, Vol. 6, pp. 484-489 (2010), which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. The generated images based on these mitigating methods have artifacts that may arise from interference, and are identifiably different and of lower quality than images acquired with conventional microscopes due to coherence based noise sources.
Embodiments of the invention are directed to systems that are improvements over conventional optofluidic and in-line holographic systems that use bulky optics.

Methods for rapid distinction between debris and growing cells


A system arrangement and method are disclosed for determining location of a wireless mobile unit involved in a call for public emergency assistance (e.g. a "911" call). The system is cost-effective in that it makes extensive use of existing telecommunication infrastructures, and does not require either special hardware or software at either the mobile unit site or the emergency assistance center handling a call. The system features shared use of a computer and specially defined database among a plurality of mobile switching offices serving a larger plurality of mobile base stations, the latter serving an even larger plurality of antenna and transceiving sites within predefined cellular regions. Signal strength measurements at the base stations are passed through the switching offices to a shared computer, and the latter uses the measurements to calculate a small area for which it would be practical to conduct a search if the mobile unit user requiring assistance is unable to help in determining his/her location. The calculated area and database are used to furnish the emergency assistance center handling the call with a detailed mapping of the calculated area, highlighting specific features (terrain, buildings, signs, etc.) that could be used to question the caller in a manner likely to produce responses from which the caller's location could be either precisely fixed or at least narrowed to a small part of the mapped area.

In the reception and handling of 911 emergency telephone calls, it is important to be able to automatically pinpoint the location of a caller; e.g. an anxious or hysterical caller unable to tell his or her location, or a caller that does not know his/her location and has no visible landmarks that could be used to fully identify such. In calls over ordinary telephone sets directly linked by wire to the Public Switched Telephone Network (hereafter, PSTN), it is possible to trace the number of the telephone from which the call is placed and use that information to locate the caller, since the calling device or unit is associated with a known "building" address from which the caller's location is easily implied or determinable.
However, this is not possible when the respective calling unit is mobile; e.g. a cellular telephone or a "2-way" pager. Mobile units of this kind generally link to the PSTN through a network of geographically dispersed antennas, base stations and switching offices. Although such units have an identity which is signalled during a call, that identity neither implies their physical location nor forms a basis for calculating it. Furthermore, even if the locations of the antennas and distances between them are known, that information per se does not form a basis for determining the location of a unit with which they are currently communicating.
The problem we are concerned with presently is that of obtaining sufficient information about approximate locations of mobile units involved in critical situations (911 calls, emissions from stolen vehicles, etc.), to enable operators on the PSTN to dispatch personnel (rescue workers, firemen, policemen, etc.) with a fair probability of the latter being able to successfully locate respective units. Another problem we are concerned with here is that of providing the foregoing services in a cost-effective manner which places minimal burdens (financial or other) on users of otherwise inexpensive mobile units.
Prior art GPS (Global Positioning System) arrangements are known wherein mobile units involved in public emergency (911) call situations can establish their geographic locations and relay that information to public emergency operators/centers. However, such mobile units require complex radio links to earth satellites, and therefore tend to be too expensive to be used by more than a very small percentage of users involved in such situations.
Other known prior art describes techniques for determining approximate locations of mobile units wherein the determination is made wholly within the existing infrastructure serving such units and require minimal information from the units themselves. However, this art does not concern itself with application of respective techniques to location of callers involved in emergency situations, and their levels of accuracy are considered too low to have useful application to more than a very small percentage of emergency call situations involving mobile units.
Our invention provides a cost-effective technique for determining approximate locations of mobile units, which has practical applications to public emergency calls and other critical situations involving virtually all users of such units, and which is not dependent for practicality upon having the users per se supply information relative to their locations.

International Business Machines Corporation


A liquid crystal device comprising a first substrate; a second substrate; and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate, the liquid crystal layer comprising a nematic liquid crystal material and a polymer network. The polymer network is anchored to said first substrate and is configured to alternatingly induce splay deformation and bend deformation of the nematic liquid crystal material along a line parallel with the first substrate. Hereby, the relaxation time τfall of the liquid crystal device is reduced.

Important characteristics of the electro-optic response of conventional nematic liquid crystal devices and displays are the switching rise τrise and fall τfall times, which usually are in the range of a couple of milliseconds. It is well known that τrise can effectively be controlled by the applied electric field whereas τfall cannot. In many device applications of the liquid crystals, such as 3D LCDs for instance, fast switching of the liquid crystal device with both τrise and τfall being preferably in the microsecond region, is required. To achieve such a fast switching in nematic liquid crystal devices and displays is however a difficult and very complicated task especially what concerns τfall.
As known, τfall depends strongly on the liquid crystal material properties, elastic constants and viscosity. It depends also on the characteristics of the sandwich cell containing the liquid crystal, cell gap d and anchoring strength W. In the presence of strong anchoring condition, τfall is proportional to the square of the cell gap, i.e. d2, whereas if the anchoring condition is weak then τfall is proportional to d and 1/W. To decrease the cell gap is obviously a possible way of reducing τfall. Such an approach, however, is not easy to employ due to the limitations of the LCD technology.
Another possible way of reducing τfall is to increase the contact area between the liquid crystal and the solid surface.
One known way of achieving this is to create a polymer network within the liquid crystal bulk. Thus, the effect of the restoring force of the liquid crystal/solid surface interactions on the relaxation process, taking place in the liquid crystal after turning off the applied electric field, is substantially magnified resulting in reduction of τfall.
This approach is described in US 2010/0245723, which discloses a liquid crystal device of the twisted nematic type where a polymer network is disposed among the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer. The polymer network is arranged to bias the liquid crystal molecules towards an untwisted state.
This will reduce the relaxation time (from the twisted state to the untwisted state), which is expected to result in a reduction of the total response time (τrise+τfall) of the liquid crystal device according to US 2010/0245723.
However, the polymer network in the liquid crystal device according to US 2010/0245723 will at the same time increase the rotation time (the time to transition the liquid crystal material from the untwisted state to the twisted state). Furthermore, it is likely that the introduction of the polymer network will result in an increase in the threshold voltage for switching as compared to the case without the polymer network. Further undesirable effects that may be introduced through the provision of a polymer network such as that in the liquid crystal device according to US 2010/0245723 include light scattering and residual birefringence, which may detrimentally influence the optical performance of the liquid crystal device.

Polymer network stabilized flexoelectric polarization


A device includes a removable load element. The removable load element includes a pin portion and a housing portion. The pin portion extends from the housing portion. The pin portion includes a sensor. The housing portion includes an electronic circuit connected to the sensor.

Load monitoring of large and expensive structural frames, such as aircraft and roadway bridges has been used to measure loads that lead to structural fatigue. Such measurements have identified structures in need of maintenance. They have also provided a way to lower overall maintenance costs, increase life span, and delay replacement costs.
In one example, the US Navy used conventional bonded foil type strain gauges to track operational structural loads on its fleet of fixed wing aircraft, including the F-18. The hard-wired structural monitoring system provided load information that greatly increased the operational life of the Navy's F-18 fleet. On average, these aircraft now operate for over 13,000 flight hours, more than twice the manufacturer's design life estimate of 6000 hours. If these flight hours had been replaced with new aircraft, as originally planned, the cost could be estimated at about $11B. However, this monitoring scheme has been costly and difficult to maintain for application to other fleets of aircraft.
Helicopter component loads, for example, have traditionally been monitored on only one or two strain gauge instrumented flight test aircraft, using slip rings to provide data on rotating components. These techniques were too costly and difficult to maintain for use on an entire fleet of helicopters. Instead of basing fatigue life of critical components, such as the pitch links, pitch horns, swash plate, yoke and rotor, on measured loads on those components on each helicopter, fatigue life was conservatively estimated based on the aircraft's flight hours, as described in an article, "The Art of Helicopter Usage Spectrum Dev." by S. Moon & C. Simmerman, Am. Helicopter Soc. (AHS) 61st Annual Forum, Grapevine, TX June 1-3, 2005.
Improvements, such as implementing energy harvesting, combined with advanced, micro-power wireless sensing electronics, enabled the realization of direct tracking of the operational loads on these rotating structures, resulting in improved condition based maintenance and enhance safety based on data obtained in instrumented test aircraft, as described in the articles, "Energy Harvesting Wireless Sensors for Helicopter Damage Tracking" by Arms et al., AHS 62, Phoenix, AZ, May 11th, 2006 and "US Navy Roadmap to Structural Health and Usage Monitoring" by Maley at al., AHS 63, Virginia Beach, VA, May 1-3, 2007.
In a report published by the Finnish Air Force, "A Review of Aeronautical Fatigue Investigations in Finland During the Period Feb 2001 to March 2003" by Siljander, A., Finnish Air Force Headquarters, Aircraft & Weapons Systems Division, Research Report BTUO33-031123, Presented at 28th Conference of the International Committee on Aeronautical Fatigue, Lucerne, Switzerland, May 2003, the authors stated that a reliable strain gauge fatigue damage detection system requires the following items:                an understanding of the monitored structures' mechanical behavior due to operational and environmental loads;        proper placement of sensors in the vicinity of structural fatigue "hot spots";        proper tuning of the data acquisition parameters, such as sampling resolution and sample rates;        tailored algorithms to analyze the sensor data to come up with reliable indications of structural deterioration, which would trigger maintenance actions.
In order to obtain useful loads data from an airframe structure instrumented with strain gauges, the strain gauges are calibrated to relate the strain gauge data to the loads experienced by the aircraft. This can be done on one or two flight test vehicles by applying static loads and moments in a full-scale test rig and monitoring the responses from various strain gauges. For a fleet of aircraft, however, this approach has been too expensive and time consuming.
Flight calibration has been a practical alternate approach, in which each aircraft in the fleet is flown in specific, proscribed maneuvers to create a known loading condition, and this in turn is used to calibrate the strain gauge's output. However, these calibration methods introduce variability based on the pilot's technique as well as variation due to strain gauge installation and manufacturing variations. Furthermore, portions of the airframe such as the vertical tail and canopy sill are not easily loaded through proscribed flight maneuvers.
Similar monitoring has been needed for road and railway bridges across the United States, as described in US-DOT, Federal Highway Administration, http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/marapr01/bridge.htm, by Phares, Brent M., Rolander, Dennis D., Graybeal, Benjamin A., and Washer, Glenn A., March/April 2001 and in "Structural Health Monitoring of Bridges for Improving Transportation Security," by Catbas, F. Necati; Susoy, Melih; and Kapucu, Naim Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management: Vol. 3: Iss. 4, Article 13 (2006), http://www.bepress.com/jhsem/vol3/iss4/13.
Recent catastrophic failures of bridges have highlighted the need for accurate loading information that would trigger maintenance activities to avoid the tremendous loss of life and property that accompany these events.
Construction of an instrumented shear pin for a load cell is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,695,096 ("the '096 patent") and 4,283,941 to Kutsay, both incorporated herein by reference. The '096 patent provides a pin or bolt with an axial bore that contains electrical strain gauges attached to its circumferential inner wall and having leads connected to exterior instrumentation, such as Wheatstone bridge instrumentation. The arrangement and orientation of the gages permit evaluation of the applied load both as to magnitude and direction.
A process for inserting the strain gauges into the axial bore in a bolt is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,873,341 ("the '341 patent") to Kutsay, incorporated herein by reference. In the '341 process, a core with the strain gauge mounted thereon is dipped or coated with epoxy and pressed into the bore. In one embodiment described in the '341 patent, a metallic core is cooled in dry ice or in any other manner and then inserted in the bore and allowed to expand therein so that the strain gauge is squeezed against the inner wall of the bore to make a shrink fit.
International patent publication WO 2006/067442 to El-Bakry, et al, ("the El-Bakrey patent application") incorporated herein by reference, describes a pin bearing arrangement for use on an aircraft landing gear that includes a pin, and means including strain gauges for measuring shear loads and accelerometers for measuring loads sustained by the pin. Inside the pin there is provided a processing unit, a memory store, and a battery-based power source. During normal operation of the aircraft fatigue loads can be monitored, the processing unit receiving input signals from the means for measuring loads and storing load data in the memory. The stored data is periodically extracted from the memory during maintenance of the aircraft. Thus, the pin bearing arrangement is able to perform the function of a self-contained load data logging device for logging data concerning loads sustained by the pin. And there is no need for any part of the pin bearing arrangement (in particular, the means for measuring loads) to be connected to any part of the aircraft's standard computer system.
A better system for monitoring structures and reducing failures has been needed that does not rely on expensive monitoring and calibration schemes. Several embodiments of such a system are provided in this patent application.

Independently calibrated wireless structural load sensor


A system for detecting manual ventilation and selectively delivering a high flow of oxygen. The system comprises a source of compressed oxygen coupled to a first lumen of a nasal cannula, with an oxygen flow control valve coupled to a processor to control the flow of oxygen to the nasal cannula. A second lumen of the nasal cannula is in connection with a pressure sensor and the pressure sensor in connection with the processor. The processor may receive the pressure values and be programmed to determine when manual ventilation has occurred, and send a signal to the oxygen flow control valve to send a high flow of oxygen in response to manual ventilation.

Oxygen is often given via a nasal cannula to patients who exhibit decreased breathing (hypopnea) as a supplement to the oxygen they receive from breathing room air. If the patient stops breathing (apnea), a clinician may need to manually push oxygen into the patient's lungs via positive pressure ventilation using a facemask connected to a reservoir and/or self-inflating bag and/or mechanical ventilator. Clinicians usually remove the nasal cannula prior to placing the mask in order to ensure a relatively leak-proof seal between the face and the mask to optimize lung inflation. Manual, positive pressure lung inflation or ventilation systems often include an oxygen bag-reservoir that collects oxygen while the patient is exhaling and delivers the oxygen to the patient when the bag-reservoir is squeezed to push oxygen into the lungs. Alternatively, the mask is connected to an anesthesia machine that either fills a breathing bag with oxygen before it is squeezed or the anesthesia machine's ventilator inflates the patient's lungs via positive pressure.
Removing the nasal cannula and connecting oxygen to the manual ventilation mask system can interrupt life-sustaining, supplemental oxygen needed by the patient and delays manual breath delivery with the mask. During sedation, this task may need to be repeated often as the patient alternates between spontaneous respiration and apnea. With each iteration, the clinician will need to reacquire an optimal seal between the patient's face and the mask.
Capnometry, or measurement of exhaled CO2 concentration, is often used to monitor the rate and quality of patient breathing. Rate is calculated by measuring the time intervals between elevations in the CO2 signal. The quality of respiration is assessed by evaluating the maximum, or end-tidal CO2 (etCO2) concentration observed during each breath. An etCO2 that is too high can indicate that the patient is, or has been, inadequately ventilated. Alternatively, an etCO2 that is too low could be a sign that breaths are too small to adequately clear the airway dead space. A low etCO2 could also indicate a leak between the face and mask during exhalation thereby decreasing the amount of etCO2 for analysis. When using a nasal cannula for oxygen delivery and etCO2 detection, exhaled CO2 is normally analyzed by continuously drawing a sample of the patient's exhaled breath through a separate lumen of the nasal cannula. In traditional mask ventilation, the nasal cannula is removed before the mask is placed. If the cannula is removed, then the monitoring sample is no longer available during manual ventilation unless the clinician takes the time to disconnect the CO2 sampling line from the nasal cannula and places it on the mask port. If the cannula is left in place during manual ventilation, and oxygen is allowed to flow continuously, the exhaled CO2 sample can be diluted by the oxygen that is constantly flowing through the nasal cannula.
Thus, there is a need to automatically detect when a patient is receiving manual, positive pressure ventilation to augment ventilation when receiving nasal cannula delivered oxygen. This will improve both oxygenation and respiratory monitoring thereby improving safety and possibly patient outcomes by controlling the flow of oxygen to the patient during manual, positive pressure ventilation or otherwise. Secondly, due to the difficulty of removing the cannula and replacing it and subsequent interruption in oxygen delivery to the patient, it may be advantageous for the device to be used with a standard cannula in place. It may also be advantageous for the system to allow an accurate (i.e., undiluted) end-tidal CO2 measurement with the nasal cannula in place.

Apparatus and method for oxygen delivery to a patient during manual ventilation


The present invention relates to an operating method for a communication device (DC) for remote control of an actuator (ACT) for a piece of mobile equipment (ME) in a building, comprising the steps consisting of: analysing a first received signal (RS) to determine if at least one sequence of the first received signal (RS) can be interpreted as being in accordance with a configuration communication mode which can be used by the communication device (DC); on receipt of at least one sequence of the first received signal which is in accordance with a configuration mode, defining said configuration communication mode (MCi) as the identified configuration communication mode; defining an operational communication mode (MUO) on the basis of the identified configuration communication mode (MCi); receiving a second signal (RS2) according to the operational communication mode (MUO); and interpreting the second received signal (RS2) according to the operational communication mode (MUO), in such a way as to identify control data in the second received signal (RS2).

It is known to use a communication device comprising a receiver and a data processing unit intended to receive a signal coming from the receiver and process this received signal as a frame of a communication mode.
Such a type of known device allows in particular carrying out the remote control of an actuator for a building mobile equipment, particularly of the closing type, for example a door, a gate or a window, or of the sun protection, the multimedia projection screen or even the ventilation hatch type.
Different existing types of communications protocols allow carrying out such a remote control. Particularly, document EP1696402 describes such a type of protocol. Protocols known under the names corresponding to registered trademarks RTS®, io-homecontrol®, z-wave®, or Zigbee® are also used for these purposes.
It appears however that the frequency bands usable for a communication on the basis of the aforementioned protocols are distinct according to countries or different regions. Thus, each device should be specific to one type of protocol and one determined frequency band, and is thus specific to a country or a given region.
This absence of harmonization of the authorized and thus usable radio frequencies between the countries leads to the manufacture of products specific to each country so that this product communicates on the authorized frequency band.
A production strategy of this type tends to segment the production of the product batches, each batch being specific to an area corresponding to a set of countries or regions that use the same types of frequency bands and/or protocols, and to use different product references for each distinct batch.
This results in an increase in the costs and complexity of manufacture of the products, given the significant number of batches and their small size. Similarly the product testings are multiplied by the number of batches. Finally, a significant non-moving stock is constituted because a batch can only be sold in the area specific to it, and it is not possible to use the stock of a given batch to compensate for an exceptional request concerning a different area.

Communication method and device for remote control of an actuator for mobile equipment in a building


A receiver of a communication system includes: an input module, a group-based pre-decoding module and a reconstructing module. The input module is for receiving a received data. The group-based pre-decoding module is for combining the received data with a grouped decoding matrix into an encoded equation matrix (EEM) based on a group parameter and for performing a group operation on the EEM. The reconstructing module is for reconstructing the EEM obtained from the group operation into an output data.

In recent years, transmitting multimedia on Internet via streaming becomes popular. When a server receives a video/audio request from a user client, the server packs the video/audio files into packets for transmitting to the user client one by one. The user client may view the beginning of the video/audio files in several seconds and then judge whether the video/audio files is desired or not. Further, the user client may view the video on demand (VOD) and even may view the video/audio files in forward or reverse directions by a faster rate. As for the content provider, because it is difficult for the user client to copy the video/audio files, the copy right of the video/audio files is protected. Due to development of broadband Internet, the streaming media will be one main video/audio transmission technique in future.
More and more users watch streaming media in a mobile environment. As for wireless signal transmission/reception, how to receive wireless signals stably is a challenge, especially in a highly mobile environment. That is because of bit error or packet lost. Forward Error Correction (FEC) is used to restore data or recover lost packets, thus improving data transmission and reception.
During wireless signal transmission and reception, signal encoding/decoding rate will have influence on the efficiency of the communication system.
Thus, the disclosure provides a communication system, a communication method and a receiver applicable thereto which improves decoding rates and thus improves the efficiency of the communication system.

Communication system, method and receiver applicable thereto

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


A semiconductor device according to the present invention is formed on a semiconductor chip and has a common module and a plurality of selectable modules. Each selectable module on the semiconductor chip performs a defined function and has a separate input power terminal. The device also has a voltage pad for connecting to a first voltage source having a first voltage level, so that the voltage pad supplies power to the input power terminal of each selectable module. The output of each selectable module may be connected to one common output pad, or alternatively, may be connected to a dedicated output pad. Also connected to each selectable module is a die/sort pad used for disconnecting a corresponding selectable module from the first voltage source. In the wiring between the first voltage source and the selectable modules, there is provided a plurality of fuses, each fuse having first and second terminals. The first terminal of the fuse is connected to the input power terminal of the corresponding selectable module and the corresponding die/sort pad. The second terminal of the fuse is connected to the voltage pad. Base on the customized specification provided, certain selectable modules may be made inoperable by disconnecting the input power. This is achieved by applying a second voltage source, such as a ground voltage, to one or more of the die/sort pads corresponding to the unused selectable modules.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method of manufacturing the same, and more particularly to a semiconductor device having internal modules, each module having a different function, in which any combination of modules are selectable during a die sorting test step.
2. Description of Related Art
A conventional method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes designing and developing circuits based on certain specifications provided by a customer. Alternatively, a semiconductor device may be manufactured by fabricating circuit elements or modules on a semiconductor chip and wiring the circuit elements based on the specification provided by a customer. The semiconductor device manufactured by the latter of the above methods is referred to as a custom-designed product.
All the processing steps carried out to fabricate circuit elements on the semiconductor chip are the same for each group of custom-designed products. During the aluminum wiring step, which is carried out after the circuit element forming step, circuit elements previously developed and fabricated that meet the specification are selectively wired to each other, thus resulting in a customized product.
Conventionally, for custom-designed products, aluminum master slicing and mask trimming steps have been used as part of the wiring step. The aluminum master slicing and the mask trimming differ from each other in the following aspects. In the aluminum master slicing, circuit elements corresponding to a particular specification are connected to each other during the first aluminum layer wiring step. Functional blocks formed on a semiconductor chip corresponding to the specification are connected to each other in the second aluminum layer wiring step. On the other hand, in the mask trimming, the first aluminum layer wiring step and the previous steps are made common. The circuit element characteristics are then evaluated. Thereafter, the circuit element characteristics are adjusted, so as to meet the customized specification in the second aluminum layer wiring step based on the evaluation result. The mask trimming may be, in some cases, performed even for products other than the custom-designed product.
With the custom-designed process described above, reliable semiconductor devices are more efficiently manufactured, as compared with a case where the device is manufactured from a basic circuit design. However, in the above-described method, it is necessary to use a wiring pattern corresponding to the customized specification and to evaluate the integrity of the wiring pattern. In particular, as shown in a flow chart of FIG. 1, product A or product B must be manufactured by selecting circuit elements for each product after carrying out the circuit element forming step. In addition, the aluminum wiring step is used on each semiconductor product using an aluminum wiring pattern designed in accordance to the customized specification.
Accordingly, the costs for designing and producing a mask (reticle) for forming an aluminum wiring based on the customized specification is substantial. In addition to the different aluminum wiring step, customized subsequent processing steps are required, thus increasing costs and processing time (generally, it takes several weeks to fabricate a customized semiconductor chip).
The present invention solves the above-described problems by providing a semiconductor device having a desired characteristic which can be supplied in a reduced time in response to customized specifications. This is achieved by initially having several types of custom circuit elements having independent functions in the semiconductor device and then disconnecting the unused circuit elements. This may be achieved by a program setting operation of a tester in a die sorting test.


A display device includes a display panel including pixels for displaying four colors including a white color. The display device further includes a signal converter for generating four output signals pertaining to the four colors using three input signals pertaining to three non-white colors of the four colors. The display device further includes a signal processor for processing the output signals to generate data signals and to provide the data signals to the display panel for the pixels to display an image. The signal converter includes at least one adder and a plurality of bit shifters for calculating a white-signal candidate using signals related to the input signals. The signal converter may determine a white-related output signal of the output signals using the white-signal candidate.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device and a method of operating the display device.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Flat panel displays, such as organic light emitting diode displays, liquid crystal displays, and electrowetting displays, have been implemented. A flat panel display may include a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix and emitting lights of three primary colors. A displayed color may result from adding lights of three primary colors emitted from primary-color light-emitting pixels, and the flat panel display may display a desired image by appropriately controlling the luminance of each pixel. Nevertheless, the flat panel display including only primary-color light-emitting pixels may provide images with unsatisfactory luminance.
A four-color display device may include white pixels, for emitting white light, in addition to primary-color light-emitting pixels. The four-color display device may receive input image signals for primary-color light-emitting pixels, for example, red pixels, green pixels, and blue pixels; the four-color display device may generate output image signals for white pixels and the primary-color light-emitting pixels.
The conversion of three-color input image signals into four-color output image signals may require a complicated structure in the display device or may require a substantially long conversion time.

Display device, signal converter for the display device, and method of operating the display device


A light amplification control unit whereby the gain of an optical amplifier can be controlled with ease. A plurality of pump light sources each generate a pump beam having the effect of amplifying a signal beam, and an external control light source generates an external control beam having a wavelength that influences the signal beam amplification effect by means of the pump beams. A multiplexing section multiplexes the pump beams with the external control beam and causes the multiplexed beams to enter an optical fiber in a direction opposite to that of the signal beam. A control section controls the output of the external control beam from the external control light source, whereby the gain of the signal beam amplified by the pump light sources can be controlled.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a unit and method for controlling light amplification, and more particularly, to an optical amplifier utilizing the Raman effect and light amplification control unit and method using such an optical amplifier.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Optical amplifiers used in wavelength division multiplexing optical transmission systems include optical amplifiers doped with a rare-earth element (such as erbium-doped optical amplifiers) and Raman amplifiers utilizing the stimulated Raman scattering effect. In the erbium-doped optical amplifier, for example, an erbium-doped fiber amplifier comprising an erbium-doped optical fiber and a pump light source is connected with an external control light generator, and the inverted component within the erbium-doped optical fiber is controlled by the external control light (cf. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H11-145533 (FIG. 1)).
Meanwhile, if an optical transmission system including optical amplifiers connected in multiple stages is associated with a gain-wavelength characteristic, a low-gain channel is deteriorated in optical signal-to-noise ratio (optical SNR) while in a high-gain channel the waveform is distorted due to nonlinear optical effect etc. It is therefore necessary that the gain-wavelength characteristic should be flattened.
The Raman amplifier uses a plurality of pump light sources for generating beams of different wavelengths and the individual amounts of pump beams are adjusted so that the in-band gain-wavelength characteristic may be constant. For example, there has been known a Raman amplifier which uses pump light obtained by multiplexing beams of 12 different wavelengths, in order to flatten the gain (cf. Y. Emori, et al., "100 nm bandwidth flat gain Raman amplifiers pumped and gain-equalized by 12-wavelength-channel WDM high power laser diodes", OFC'99, PD19 (1999)).
FIG. 17 shows an exemplary configuration of a conventional Raman amplifier. Light λS incident on an optical fiber 201 is emitted via a WDM (Wavelength Division Multiplexing) coupler 202 and an optical coupler 203. The optical coupler 203 guides part of the incident light λS to a light receiving element 204. The light receiving element 204 receives the light and supplies a control section 205 with an electrical signal corresponding to the intensity of the light. The control section 205 measures the intensity of the incident light λS on the basis of the electrical signal supplied thereto, and computes the intensity of pump light to be input to the optical fiber 201. Then, the control section 205 outputs a control signal indicative of the computation result to a pump light source 206.
The pump light source 206 generates a plurality of pump beams λP1 to λPN with intensity corresponding to the control signal from the control section 205. The pump beams λP1 to λPN generated by the pump light source 206 are introduced into the optical fiber 201 by the WDM coupler 202, whereupon Raman scattering takes place within the optical fiber 201, thus amplifying the incident light λS.
FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a conventional output control method for pump light sources. A signal beam transmitted through a transmission path 210 reaches an optical coupler 212 via a WDM coupler 211. In the optical coupler 212, part of the signal beam is extracted and transmitted to a channel monitor 213. The channel monitor 213 detects the wavelength and output of each channel and supplies, in the form of an electrical signal, information about the wavelength and output of each channel to a control section 214.
The control section 214 determines the output power for each of pump light sources 221, 222, 223. Control information indicative of the determined output power is then supplied from the control section 214 to a corresponding one of the pump light sources 221, 222, 223. Each of the pump light sources 221, 222, 223 outputs a pump beam with power corresponding to the control information supplied from the control section 214.
The pump beams are multiplexed by a multiplexer 231 and transmitted to the WDM coupler 211. The WDM coupler 211 causes the multiplexed pump light from the multiplexer 231 to enter the transmission path 210 in a direction opposite to that of the signal beam.
FIG. 19 illustrates the wavelength-optical output relationship according to the conventional technique, wherein the horizontal axis indicates wavelength and the vertical axis indicates optical output (gain).
As seen from FIG. 19, where the outputs of the individual pump light sources 221, 222, 223 change, the gains of single-pump gain spectra 241, 242, 243 are synthesized, forming a multiple-pump Raman gain spectrum 244.
However, the Raman amplifier needs to be controlled with the gain-wavelength characteristic of light amplification maintained, in order to compensate for level variations of transmitters and loss variations of the fiber transmission path. Also, in the case of a high-gain Raman amplifier operating with high-output pump light sources, if the number of wavelengths changes due to bandwidth upgrade or as a result of increase or decrease in the number of wavelengths by an OADM (optical multiplexer/demultiplexer) node which adds/drops transmit signals, the gain may undergo variation, possibly influencing the signal beam.
In the conventional optical output control wherein the amounts of individual pump beams are adjusted, the pump light sources used for flattening the gain need to be individually controlled taking account of the pump ratio of the light sources, which makes it difficult to control the optical output with ease at high speed. Where the outputs of the pump light sources 221, 222, 223 shown in FIG. 18 change, for example, the single-pump gain spectra 241, 242, 243 overlap each other (cf. FIG. 19). It is therefore necessary that the output information of each channel be monitored to clarify the interrelationship of the individual bands (channels) to be applied, or the power of each pump light source needs to be controlled stepwise. Consequently, it is difficult to have the control section 214 compute suitable power for the individual pump light sources. If the computation is simplified so as to control the pump ratio uniformly, then gain tilt arises.

Light amplification control unit and method


A metal particle removal and retention apparatus includes a canister-retention bracket, a liquid inlet channel connected to the canister-retention bracket, a liquid outlet channel connected to the canister-retention bracket, and a canister assembly connected to the canister-retention bracket. The canister assembly is in communication with the liquid inlet channel and the liquid outlet channel. A magnet attachment assembly attached to the canister assembly. The canister assembly includes a canister housing which includes an exterior magnet-attachment-reception portion which receives the magnet attachment assembly. The canister assembly includes an interior particle-reception pan attached to an interior pan-reception portion of the canister housing. The interior pan-reception portion is in registration with the exterior magnet-attachment-reception portion. An interior funnel element is supported inside the canister housing. The funnel element includes a relatively large diameter first end opening positioned adjacent to the particle-reception pan and includes a relatively small diameter second end opening in communication with an inside region of the canister housing. The relatively large diameter first end opening of the funnel element is spaced from the particle-reception pan by a separation distance. An inflow reception chamber is contained within the canister housing and is in communication with the liquid inlet channel. An outflow reception chamber is contained within the canister housing and is in communication with the liquid outlet channel and the relatively small diameter second end opening of the funnel element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to fluid clarification systems and, more particularly, to an apparatus especially adapted for removing metal particles from the oil in oil lubrication systems of internal combustion engines.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Magnetic attachments for an oil filter cartridge for an internal combustion engine are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,510,024 by the present inventor herein. Additional magnetic attachments for an oil cartridge are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,549. Hereinafter the foregoing magnetic attachments are referred to as the "prior magnetic attachments"). Such prior magnetic attachments employ shunt elements and shunt magnets. Although the benefits of using the prior attachments for oil cartridges are substantial, it may be desirable to provide even greater oil clarification than provided by the prior magnetic attachments alone. In this respect, it would be desirable if means were provided for obtaining greater clarification of oil than provided by the prior magnetic attachments.
With a conventional oil filtration system for an internal combustion engine, oil is pumped from an oil pump to a filter cartridge. Particles which are trapped by the filter cartridge inevitably tend to clog the filter causing oil flow to be impeded. To reduce such filter cartridge clogging, it would be desirable if an auxiliary oil filtering device were placed between the oil pump and the filter cartridge.
Once particles are trapped by a filter, there is always a tendency for some of the trapped particles to be dislodged and reenter the oil flow. In this respect, it would be desirable if an oil filtering device were provided that reduces the tendency of trapped particles from becoming dislodged and reentering the oil flow.
For an auxiliary oil filtering device, it would be desirable if means were provided for readily attaching the auxiliary oil filtering device to the body of a motor vehicle.
In a device wherein metal particles in flowing oil are attracted to a magnetic, to assure effectiveness of the magnet in attracting the metal particles, it would be desirable if the oil flow were reduced in the flow region wherein the magnetic lines of force of the magnet are most concentrated. The slower the oil flow rate in the region of the magnetic lines of force, the greater effectiveness of the magnet for removing metal particles from the flowing oil.
Some internal combustion engines have hoses or metal lines through which lubricating oil flows. With these internal combustion engines it would be desirable if an auxiliary oil filtering device could be spliced into such an oil hose or metal line through which lubricating oil flows.
An auxiliary oil filtering device, that is used in addition to a filter cartridge, can also employ magnetic means for attracting and retaining metal particles. In this respect, it would be desirable if an auxiliary oil filtering device could also employ the prior magnetic attachments.
Thus, while the foregoing discussion indicates it to be well known to use magnetic attachments to oil filter cartridges, there is no teaching or suggestion of a metal particle removal and retention apparatus which has the following combination of desirable features: (1) provides for obtaining greater clarification of oil than provided by the prior magnetic attachments; (2) provides an auxiliary oil filtering device which is placed between an oil pump and an oil filter cartridge; (3) reduces the tendency of trapped particles from becoming dislodged and reentering the oil flow; (4) provides for readily attaching the auxiliary oil filtering device to the body of a motor vehicle; (5) reduces the oil flow in a flow region wherein the magnetic lines of force of a magnet are most concentrated; (6) provides an auxiliary oil filtering device which can be spliced into an oil hose or metal line through which lubricating oil flows; (7) provides an auxiliary oil filtering device which employs magnetic means for attracting and retaining metal particles; (8) provides an auxiliary oil filtering device which can employ piror magnetic attachments. The foregoing desired characteristics are provided by the unique metal particle removal and retention apparatus of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.

Metal particle removal and retention apparatus


An overmolded electronic assembly includes a substrate, a plurality of surface mount technology (SMT) integrated circuit (IC) chips, a plurality of heat sinks, a backplate and an overmold material. The substrate includes a plurality of conductive traces formed on a first surface of the substrate. The IC chips each include an active front side and a backside and the IC chips are electrically coupled to one or more of the traces. The heat sinks are each in thermal contact with the backside of a different one of the IC chips and are independent of each other. The backplate is attached to a second surface of the substrate, which is opposite the first surface of the substrate. The overmold material covers the first surface of the substrate and maintains the heat sinks in thermal contact with an associated one of the IC chips.

Traditionally, overmolded electronic assemblies have utilized heat sink plates, having multiple integrated heat sink pedestals, as a primary thermal path for removing heat from flip-chip components mounted to a substrate of the electronic assembly. Usually, the heat sink plate has been made of a die cast aluminum and a thermal interface material has been placed between a flip-chip and its associated heat sink pedestal. Irrespective of whether an electronic assembly has been of a single plate or dual plate design, the heat sinks pedestals have been integrated into the plate. Unfortunately, utilizing a single plate with multiple integrated heat sink pedestals has required precise positioning and height tolerances for the pedestals. Typically, these precise height tolerances have required machining the pedestals formed on the single plate, usually as a secondary process. If the pedestals are not machined, the interface gap between the pedestal face and an associated flip-chip may be greater than desired, which, in turn, leads to poor heat transfer between the flip-chip and the pedestal.
During the overmolding process for an electronic assembly, it is common to use a Bellville-type washer to prevent plate bending, substrate cracking and damage to flip-chips and/or solder joints, due to relatively high mold clamp pressures. Even if the plate is machined, the Bellville-type washer is typically required, due to the tolerance stack-up between flip-chip-to-flip-chip and/or plate-to-plate and/or flip-chip-to-plate. During the overmold process, it is frequently difficult to adequately support the substrate to prevent damage to the substrate, due to the fill and pack pressures that typically exist in the overmold process. The lack of sufficient substrate support, due to the various electronic components, is known to lead to substrate warpage and/or cracking.
During the overmold process, when the overmold material is injected into the mold, pressures are typically unequal causing the substrate to flex. When the overmold material cures, the substrate may be set in a warped state, which can cause undesirable stresses on solder joints, connector pins, board traces, etc., which may cause the overmolded electronic assembly to experience a premature failure in the field. Further, in such electronic assemblies, the secondary heat path for removing heat from the flip-chip is not as good as it could be, as the heat flows from the substrate through the overmold material and then to ambient air.
What is needed is an overmolded electronic assembly that is economical to produce, less prone to tolerance stack-up and that provides better substrate support during the overmold process.

Overmolded electronic assembly with insert molded heat sinks


The present disclosure includes systems and techniques relating to simulating dialog in electronic games. In general, in one implementation, the technique includes: receiving a player interruption signal during presentation of a speech by a machine-controlled character in an electronic game, modifying a state of the machine-controlled character based on a time of the received player interruption relative to a length of the speech, and generating an action of the machine-controlled character based on the modified state. Modifying the state of the machine-controlled character can include adjusting an attitude variable of the machine-controlled character based on the time of the received player interruption, selecting a location in a dialog tree for the machine-controlled character based on the time of the received player interruption, or both.

The present application describes systems and techniques relating to directing a machine-controlled character in an electronic game, for example, simulating dialog in a video role-playing game.
Existing games often conduct simulated conversations between the character controlled by the player (PC) and the characters controlled by the computer (NPCs) using dialog trees.


A battery which includes: a plurality of cell stacks arrayed in a plane, each of which includes a plurality of flat cells stacked on one another; and a planar holding member to be pressed against the plurality of cell stacks for holding the plurality of cell stacks together. Heights of the respective cell stacks are adjusted for deflection of the holding member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-energy density battery.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, growing environmental consciousness has led to a movement to shift the power sources of vehicles from engines using fossil fuels to motors using electrical energy.
The technologies of batteries and cells, which are the power sources of the motors, have also been developed and advanced rapidly.
A battery to be mounted on a vehicle is required to be compact and lightweight as well as capable of charging and discharging high power frequently. The battery is also required to have excellent vibration resistance and heat dissipation characteristics.
A battery disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2000-195480 is one in which a plurality of flat cells are arranged in an outer frame member. Given spaces are provided between each cell by interposing spacers therebetween, so that each cell has good heat dissipation characteristics, thus improving the cycle characteristics and the rate characteristics (discharge characteristics) of the battery.