A process for recovering processing liquids such as gas-treating liquids wherein a feed mixture containing the processing liquid and components or impurities that are more volatile and less volatile than the processing liquid is initially heated in a first heating zone to a temperature sufficient to volatilize at least one of the more volatile components and a portion of the processing liquid, the temperature being maintained below the decomposition temperature of the processing liquid to produce a vapor stream containing the less volatile component and the vaporized portion of the processing liquid and a residuum containing the processing liquid, a reduced concentration of the more volatile components and the less volatile components, the vapor stream being separated from the residuum in a first separation zone, a portion of the residuum being passed through a second heating zone at a temperature below the decomposition temperature of the processing liquid to produce a first heated recycle stream, the heated recycle stream being admixed with the feed mixture to effect the initial heating of the feed mixture, the concentration of the less volatile components in the residuum being reduced, preferably on a continuous basis, any processing liquid present in the vapor stream being recovered for further use.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to process for recovering a processing liquid and, more particularly, to a process for recovering a processing liquid from a mixture comprising the processing liquid, at least one component that is more volatile than the processing liquid, and at least one component that is less volatile than, and can be dissolved or suspended in, the processing liquid.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are numerous industrial processes wherein a liquid, hereinafter referred to as a processing liquid, which can comprise one or more components, is used in such a fashion that it becomes contaminated with, or contains, various components, some of which are more volatile than the processing liquid and some of which are less volatile and can be dissolved in the processing liquid. Usually, the components in the processing liquid are contaminants, although they may be desirable, recovered components, depending on the process in which the processing liquid is used. In such cases, it is almost universally desirable to separate the processing liquid from the less volatile and more volatile components so that the processing liquid can be reused in the process or simply recovered in a substantially pure state for reuse or other uses.
Numerous examples of the above described general scheme of using a processing liquid abound. For example, it is well known that natural gas produced from oil and gas wells, in addition to containing gaseous hydrocarbons, such as methane, ethane, etc., almost invariably contains water and acidic gases, such as CO.sub.2 and H.sub.2 S. In cases where the natural gas contains water, it is very common for so called gas hydrates or clathrate hydrates to form. These clathrate hydrates are crystalline compounds that occur when water forms a cage-like structure around guest molecules, particularly gaseous molecules.
While the phenomena can occur in any system wherein there is water and gaseous compounds, e.g., hydrocarbons, the problem, at times, becomes especially acute in the petroleum industry, not only with respect to the production of gaseous hydrocarbons such as natural gas, but also in the transporting and processing of natural gas. As noted, typical gas hydrates formed in petroleum (hydrocarbon) environments are composed of water and one or more guest molecules, such as methane, ethane, propane, isobutane, nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide. However, it is also known that other guest molecules such as nitrous oxide, acetylene, vinyl chloride, ethyl bromide, oxygen, etc., can form clathrate hydrates.
With particular reference to natural gas systems and by example only, when gas hydrate crystals form, they can become a nuisance at least and pose a serious problem at worst. Gas hydrates can block transmission lines and plug blowout preventers, jeopardize the foundations of deepwater platforms and pipelines, collapse tubing and casing, and foul process equipment, such as heat exchangers, compressors, separators, and expanders. To overcome these problems, several thermodynamic measures are possible in principal: removal of free water, maintaining an elevated temperature and/or reduced pressure, or the addition of freezing point depressants. As a practical matter, the last mentioned measure, i.e., adding freezing point depressants, has been most frequently applied. Thus, lower alcohols, such as methanol, ethanol, etc., and glycols have been added to act as antifreezes.
While processing liquids such as alcohols and glycols used in natural gas production, transportation, and processing are effective at reducing gas hydrate formation, their use is not without problems. As is well known, the production of natural gas is frequently accompanied by the production of brine, containing sodium chloride and other water-soluble salts. While these halides, such as the alkali metal halides, are readily soluble in water, they also exhibit substantial solubility in the alcohols and glycols used to prevent gas hydrate formation. Accordingly, the processing liquid--in this case the alcohol, glycol, or the like--becomes contaminated with dissolved salts present in the produced water, as well as with certain gases, which, depending on the particular gas, are soluble in the processing liquid. Thus, this presents a specific example where a processing liquid has been used, in this case to prevent hydrate formation, and has now become contaminated with a more volatile component and a less volatile, and in this case dissolved, component.
Again, using the example of natural gas production, transportation, and processing, it is necessary that the natural gas be freed of acidic components, such as CO.sub.2, H.sub.2 S, sulfur oxides, etc., some of which are quite toxic, all of which can lead to severe corrosion problems and in certain cases the formation of unwanted by-products. It is common to scrub the natural gas stream with processing liquids such as liquid amines, particularly alkanolamines such as monoethanolamine (MEA); diethanolamine (DEA); methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), as well as glycols such as mono-, di-, or tri-ethylene glycol. Since scrubbing of natural gas to remove acidic gases is normally conducted on natural gas streams that have been substantially freed of water, the dissolved salt content of the natural gas stream from the gas stream is generally quite small. However, even though the ingress of dissolved salt is low from the natural gas stream, continuous use of the amine process liquid for acid gas removal tends to cause the amine to break down with contaminants and create heat-stable, unregenerable salts. If the residual buildup of heat-stable salts (HSS) is permitted to build to typical levels in excess of 1% by weight, the amine performance will decline, corrosion increases rapidly with a decline in pH, and the amine solution begins to foam, creating excessive process liquid losses. Accordingly, the processing liquid, e.g., the alkanolamine, will generally contain dissolved, less volatile components at a much smaller concentration than in the case of an alcohol or glycol used to prevent gas hydrate formation. Nonetheless, even in this instance, the processing liquid now presents a case where, after use, it contains more volatile components, e.g., CO.sub.2 H.sub.2 S, etc., and perhaps a small amount of less volatile and dissolved component.
In the case where treatment of the natural gas to prevent gas hydrate formation and/or remove acidic gases is conducted on offshore platforms, several problems are encountered. For one, the alcohols, glycols, and alkanolamines can be toxic to marine life and accordingly, once spent, e.g., saturated with contaminants that they are being used to remove, cannot be discharged overboard. Aside from ecological concerns, such a method is economically not feasible since it requires a constant replenishment of the processing liquid. Indeed, such a process would not be economically feasible in land-based refineries, chemical plants, or the like.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,152,887; 5,158,649; 5,389,208; and 5,441,605 all deal with processes and apparatus for reclaiming and/or concentrating waste aqueous solutions of gas treating chemicals. Additionally, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,315,815; and 4,770,747 likewise deal with processes for reclaiming or recovering gas-treating liquids. U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,208, incorporated herein by reference for all purposes, discloses and claims a method for reclaiming an impurity-containing waste aqueous solution of a gas-treating chemical that basically involves vacuum distillation of the spent material under temperature conditions that prevent decomposition of the gas-treating chemical and in such a fashion that the process can be operated in apparatuses made of carbon steel, as opposed to more exotic materials of construction, without causing substantial corrosion of the apparatus.

Process for recovering processing liquids


The invention relates to methods for treating cerebral vasospasm induced by hemorrhage or cerebral ischemia, by treating patients with a therapeutically effective amount of a lipophilic iron chelator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for treating cerebral vasospasm and/or cerebral ischemia using iron chelators. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method for treating cerebral vasospasm by administering to a patient an iron chelator which is able to cross the blood-brain barrier.
2. Description of Related Art
Although there are several postulated mechanisms for cerebral vasospasm, there is evidence supporting oxyhemoglobin as the principal spasmogen. Furthermore, recent experiments indicate that the binding properties of iron as a catalytic transitional metal play an important role early in the reaction cascade.
During erythrocyte lysis, free iron is released and accumulates in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the absence of iron binding proteins (e.g., transferrin. Additionally, oxyhemoglobin is released and auto-oxidizes to form methemoglobin and superoxide radicals. Free iron interacts with superoxides in the Fenton reaction and leads to the formation of hydroxyl radicals. Hydroxyl radicals are extremely reactive and initiate several cascade reactions, including lipid peroxidation, that can lead to cellular injury. (Kassell et al, J Neurosurg 73:18-36, 1990)
Limiting the amount of iron available to catalyze the Fenton reaction results in decreased free radical formation. (Al Refaie et al, Blood 80:593-599, 1992) It has been demonstrated that iron chelation with deferoxamine is effective in attenuating vasospasm. (Comair et al, Neurosurgery 32:58-65, 1993; Kontoghiorghes, Indian J Pediatr 60(4):485-507, 1993) Deferoxamine, a chelator of intra- and extracellular iron, is cytoprotective in several models of tissue injury and has been shown to protect against cerebral vasospasm in vivo. (Comair et al, Neurosurgery 32:58-65, 1993; Hamilton et al, Brit J Haem 86:851-857, 1994; Kontoghiorghes et al, Indian J Pediatr 60(4):485-507, 1993) However, although deferoxamine is effective as an iron chelator, it is relatively hydrophilic and thus does not readily cross lipid bilayers. Such hydrophilic compounds are therefore not as effective for treating cerebral vasospasm, because they cannot cross the blood-brain barrier.
Cerebral ischemia, commonly stroke, is one of the largest causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. In this medical crisis, brain tissue is deprived of blood. In such a situation, the generation of harmful superoxide radicals may be responsible for a significant amount of damage to brain tissue. Effective suppression of these harmful radicals may protect against at least some of the nerve cell damage encountered in stroke patients.
Therefore, in view of the aforementioned deficiencies attendant with prior art methods of treating cerebral vasospasm and cerebral ischemia, it should be apparent that there still exists a need in the art for method for such treatment.

Method for treating cerebral vasospasm and cerebral ischemia using iron chelators and pharmaceutical compositions therefor

The University of Virginia Patent Foundation


In an image forming apparatus, a drawer includes a first biasing part and a second biasing part. A process cartridge includes: a first protruding part provided on one end of the process cartridge in an axial direction of a photosensitive drum; and a second protruding part provided on another end of the process cartridge in the axial direction. Each of the first and second protruding parts extends in a sliding direction, in which the drawer moves, and overlaps with a center of the process cartridge. In a state that the drawer supporting the process cartridge is at an internal position inside of a main casing, the process cartridge moves from a first position to a second position positioned above the first position by the first protruding part being biased by the first biasing part and the second protruding part being biased by the second biasing part.

A conventional electro-photographic type image forming apparatus includes a plurality of cartridges each including a photosensitive drum.
United States Patent Application Publication No. 2010/239314A1 discloses such image forming apparatus including: a main housing; and a cartridge tray supporting a plurality of cartridges and configured to be pushed in and pulled out of the main housing. The main housing includes a pair of metal plates each being provided with positioning portions, and the cartridge tray is provided with a plurality of pairs of biasing assemblies. Each biasing assembly is configured to bias a corresponding end of a corresponding cartridge in a direction away from the corresponding positioning portion.
According to the disclosed image forming apparatus, the cartridge is subjected to positioning with respect to the main housing upon fixing the cartridge to the positioning portions, and the cartridge tray can be pulled out of the main housing after the cartridge has been spaced away from the positioning portions by the biasing assemblies. Each biasing assembly includes an abutment member configured to abut against the cartridge, and a single support spring configured to bias the abutment member.

Image forming apparatus having drawer supporting process cartridge


Devices for use in a water injection coffee extraction machine are in a form of a hollowed ring which may be fixed about the base of the extraction head of the coffee machine, and a grill or other member, which allows passage of extraction water therethrough, is positioned transversely within the interior of the ring so that upon fitting the ring about the extraction head base, the grill or other member is positioned adjacent the base of the extraction head. The grill may have projections which extend in a direction away from the extraction head, and the member may have a centrally disposed portion which has a form of a needle which also contains at least one hole.

This invention relates to devices for the extraction of cartridges containing a substance for the preparation of a beverage which are designed to be fitted to the extraction head of a conventional espresso machine.
Ordinarily, espresso type coffee machines are used to extract ground coffee which has been measured out and placed beforehand in a metal filter held in a receptacle.
The upper part of espresso type coffee machines consists of a spray nozzle for spraying the coffee, a tightening ring for fixing the receptacle and a rubber seal designed to ensure fluid tightness and good extraction by forcing the water to pass through the layer of coffee.
However, the use of this system is laborious and causes soiling and frustration because the quality of the beverage obtained does not always live up to expectations. This is because it is difficult to measure out the coffee correctly and to determine whether it has been properly ground.
The use of coffee capsules, for example those according to Swiss Patent No. 605 293, is a good alternative because handling is simplified, the quality of the coffee is better and constant and the risk of soiling is reduced. Nevertheless, the use of coffee capsules requires perfect compatibility between the capsule and the extraction system, essentially for reasons of fluid tightness and to force the water through the layer of coffee.
This compatibility may be embodied in the design of the machine although, in this case, the machine generally allows the use of capsules only.
European Patent No. 70 403 relates to an espresso machine with an adapter for the extraction of open cartridges made of filter paper which is fluid-tight in its medial part. However, this system is restricted to one type of capsule which is difficult to produce.

Device for use in beverage extraction machines


The present invention relates to a computer implemented system and method for generating and interacting with a multi-factoral patient simulation responsive to user queries and interventions.

Prior art physician certifying systems have traditionally relied upon written cognitive examinations as a method for the assessment of the candidate's (diplomate's) medical knowledge, or alternatively, oral examinations. Test formats such as multiple choice questions have well-defined operating characteristics and are reliable for determining a candidate's cognitive functioning in the test subject area.
However, these tools generally measure only cognitive knowledge, and provide at best a primitive ability to assess a candidate's problem-solving abilities.
Prior art physician assessment processes suffer from several disadvantages: 1) test development requires re-generation of an examination with new material on a recurring (usually annual) basis; 2) the use of multiple choice testing for assessing clinical problem solving is sub-optimal; and 3) the tests are generally incapable of presenting patients with symptoms responsive to physician interventions.
A plurality of computer programs and associated models have been constructed to simulate patient-physician interaction. However, many of these programs suffer from the problem that the clinical simulations are "hard-wired" in computer source code and thus must be reprogrammed for each new examination. Once a simulation is used widely, the examination is no longer secure thereby necessitating further simulation development.
Furthermore, prior art simulators are largely incapable of providing for interaction between a physician and a simulated patient. While some systems provide the ability for a simulated patient to present a symptom, and provide a rudimentary response to a user supplied intervention these systems do not have the ability to intelligently respond to a simple physician question such as, "Do you have pain anywhere?" and a follow-up detail question such as "What alleviates your pain?"
Responsive to the aforementioned disadvantages in the prior art, a computer implemented system and method for patient simulation that is capable of interacting with a user-physician is provided. The system is capable of instantiating medical knowledge as object-oriented data structures known as a knowledge base of family medicine, utilizing the medical knowledge structures to generate realistic clinical scenarios (simulated patients), accepting queries and interventions from a user based on symptoms presented by the simulated patient, provide detailed symptom descriptions to the user that are temporally and physiologically reasonable, and assess the candidate's clinical problem solving ability by determining the response to the simulated patient of a prescribed intervention.
One difficulty encountered when providing for simulation of patients for diagnostic purposes is the development of temporal events in a simulated patient such that a diagnosing physician may inspect the duration of events that impinge on the simulated patient's health and be presented with temporally reasonable reports that are descriptive of how a patient would feel given those events. In other words, a sophisticated patient simulator should be able to construct and present patient symptom histories that are both physiologically and temporally reasonable given the patient's health state and any interventions or courses of action that may have been prescribed by a diagnostician. Additionally, the modeling of concurrent diseases in the same patient requires the simulator to distinguish findings or patient symptoms that may be identical or substantially similar for the concurrent diseases, but require dissimilar treatment from the treating physician.
Furthermore, to enhance the ability of a system to examine diagnostic and health management skill sets, the system should simulate a patient that has the ability to communicate the presence of pain (a site), and the palliative, provocative, quality, radiation, severity and temporal details thereof. These details are sometimes referred to as the "PQRST" symptom details.
Thus a robust system should enable a simulated patient to include the presence or absence of a health problem, any findings related thereto, and the existence and effects of any interventions, prescribed or otherwise, over time. The patient simulator could then inspect these details and produce reports to the user that are temporally reasonable given the patient's history.
Prior art systems of patient simulation and interaction are generally incapable of producing a response to user queries that adequately describes the effects of provocative and palliative events over time, or even reasonably describes the net results of multiple events that may interact with each other. For example, the question "During an angina attack, what relieves your pain?" restricts any reasonable response from the simulator to the chest area, or wherever the simulated patient is feeling the angina, and the time to "during an angina attack". While the query itself is detailed in its nature, it lacks a specific reference to time (and is of course nonsensical absent some angina in the simulated patient).
Furthermore, the user's query may require that the simulated patient summarize the overall results of multiple events such as angina attacks. In such a case, a complete response may include multiple parts, which may not be logically possible when taken separately. For example, in response to a query regarding angina over time, a patient may respond thusly: "Rest completely relieves my pain in about 20 minutes. Nitroglycerin completely relieves my pain in a few minutes, but not if I continue to exercise." This response includes details about the patient's level of relief and how quickly it occurs under certain circumstances. Additionally, in order for the response to present a complete picture of the patient's pain, several details must be appended together.
Previously described mechanisms for answering queries (e.g. Sumner W., Hagen M D, Rovinelli R. The item generation methodology of an empiric simulation project, Advances in Health Sciences Education 1999; 4(1):25-35) severely limit a patient simulator's ability to adapt to important variables. A simple and obvious mechanism for describing temporal details is to record data such as the time that a health state begins during the generation of a virtual patient, then report the time elapsed since the health state began as a temporal feature of the patient. For instance, if the health state is hypothyroidism, and the user asks about fatigue, the simulator could report the duration of the virtual patient's hypothyroidism as a surrogate for the duration of fatigue. Similarly, the simulator could instantiate the hypothyroid state by asserting a fatigue score. This method, however, is inadequate to describe the end result of several diseases or several interventions affecting one symptom. For instance, a virtual patient portraying anemia, hypothyroidism, and depression may report fatigue, but the fatigue should not respond to any single treatment. Only simultaneous treatment of hypothyroidism, resolution or treatment of depression, and completed treatment of anemia should eliminate fatigue.
These variables may include the user's selection of interventions, the timing and strength or dose of those interventions, and the interaction of multiple diseases and interventions over time. Other important variables include the interval between queries, recall of previous query results, and descriptions of responses to individual interventions apart from the overall mixture of interventions. The invention described herein provides methods for each of these purposes.

Computer architecture and process of patient generation evolution, and simulation for computer based testing system


A prosthetic valve delivery system that is improved in controllability by way of a proximal handle system. Such a handle system of the present invention advantageously permits a controlled fine or micro movement or adjustment of a distal sheath for uncovering a plunger that is to be loaded with a prosthetic valve for deployment thereof. The delivery system of the present invention permits a trigger-release for a gross or macro movement to the sheath relative to the plunger. Also, the control handle of the delivery system is shaped and contoured for ease in manipulation of the micro-control actuator.

Recently, there has been interest in minimally invasive and percutaneous replacement of cardiac valves. In the specific context of pulmonary valve replacement, for example, U.S. Patent Application Publication Nos. 2003/0199971 A1 and 2003/0199963 A1, both filed by Tower, et al. and incorporated herein by reference, describe a valved segment of bovine jugular vein, mounted within an expandable stent, for use as a replacement pulmonary valve. The replacement valve is mounted on a balloon catheter and delivered percutaneously via the vascular system to the location of the failed pulmonary valve and expanded by the balloon to compress the native valve leaflets against the right ventricular outflow tract, thereby anchoring and sealing the replacement valve.
As described in the articles: "Percutaneous Insertion of the Pulmonary Valve", Bonhoeffer, et al., Journal of the American College of Cardiology 2002; 39: 1664-1669 and "Transcatheter Replacement of a Bovine Valve in Pulmonary Position", Bonhoeffer, et al., Circulation 2000; 102: 813-816, both incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, the replacement pulmonary valve may be implanted to replace native pulmonary valves or prosthetic pulmonary valves located in valved conduits. Other articles that describe features of percutaneous valve implantation include Louise Coats, et al., "The Potential Impact of Percutaneous Pulmonary Valve Stent Implantation on Right Ventricular Outflow Tract Re-Intervention," European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (England), April 2005, pgs. 536-43; Peter C. Block, et al., "Percutaneous Approaches to Valvular Heard Disease," Current Cardiology Reports (United States), March 2005, pgs. 108-13; Georg Lutter, et al., "Percutaneous Valve Replacement: Current State and Future Prospects," Annals of Thoracic Surgery (Netherlands), December 2004, pgs. 2199-206; Younes Boudjemline, et al., "Percutaneous Pulmonary Valve Replacement in a Large Right Ventricular Outflow Tract: An Experimental Study," Journal of the American College of Cardiology (United States), Mar. 17, 2004, pgs. 1082-7; S. Khambadkone, et al., "Percutaneous Implantation of Pulmonary Valves," Expert Review of Cardiovascular Therapy (England), November 2003, pgs. 541-18; Y. Boudjemline, et al., "Percutaneous Valve Insertion: A New Approach," Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery (United States), March 2003, pgs. 741-2; Philipp Bonhoeffer, et al., "Percutaneous Insertion of the Pulmonary Valve," Journal of the American College of Cardiology (United States), May 15, 2002, pgs. 1664-9; Younes Boudjemline, et al., "Steps Toward Percutaneous Aortic Valve Replacement," Circulation (United States), Feb. 12, 2002, pgs. 775-8; P. Bonhoeffer, et al., "Percutaneous Replacement of Pulmonary Valve in a Right-Ventricle to Pulmonary-Artery Prosthetic Conduit with Valve Dysfunction," Lancet (England), Oct. 21, 2000, pgs 1403-5; P. Bonhoeffer, et al., "Transcatheter Implantation of a Bovine Valve in Pulmonary Position: A Lamb Study," Circulation (United States), Aug. 15, 2000, pgs. 813-6; G. O. Yonga et al., "Effect of Percutaneous Balloon Mitral Valvotomy on Pulmonary Venous Flow in Severe Mitral Stenosis," East African Medical Journal (Kenya), January 1999, pgs. 28-30; and G. O. Yonga, et al., "Percutaneous Transluminal Balloon Valvuloplasty for Pulmonary Valve Stenosis: Report on Six Cases," East African Medical Journal (Kenya), April 1994, pgs. 232-5, all of which are also incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
The approach to pulmonary valve replacement described in the above patent applications and articles remains a viable treatment for certain patients. In particular, the Melody valve is a commercial form of a pulmonary valve replacement available from Medtronic, Inc. that is usable according to the above noted approach. Other techniques have also been developed to broaden those patients that can benefit from such pulmonary valve replacement procedures including the provision of other size valves than those of sizes that can be created from the size range of available valved segments of bovine jugular veins.
A delivery system that is associated with the Melody pulmonary valve is also commercially available from Medtronic, Inc. The Melody delivery system is a catheter system that includes an inflatable balloon at a distal end of the device onto which the pulmonary valve replacement is crimped. This system is designed for control and steerability from a proximal end of the device for guiding the pulmonary valve replacement to position within a patient's heart via the patient's vasculature. In particular, this system is designed for deployment by the balloon at the patient's native pulmonary valve annulus as accessed via the femoral vein of the patient. The valve is typically sheathed as crimped directly onto the distal balloon of the delivery system and includes the ability to slide the sheath from covering the collapsed replacement valve so that the balloon can thereafter be expanded for permanently deforming and expanding the metal structure of the replacement valve into a permanent position at the pulmonary valve annulus.
Percutaneous aortic valve replacement procedures are also being investigated. One such valve that has been successfully deployed from a catheter delivery system is the CoreValve aortic valve and system, that is also available from Medtronic, Inc. The CoreValve aortic valve replaces the aortic valve in patients with severe aortic stenosis. The valve leaflets are provided by utilizing a porcine pericardial valve that is sutured to the expandable metal frame. This expandable metal frame, however, utilizes Nitinol metal allow so that the frame and thus the aortic valve is self-expanding for controlled deployment at the aortic valve annulus. This frame structure is typically around 5 cm long and is shaped along its length with a non-uniform diameter for improved anchoring of the aortic valve in position at the valve annulus. Further disclosure of aspects of the CoreValve aortic valve and delivery system are provided within U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,682,390, 7,780,726 and 7,892,281.
Delivery of the CoreValve aortic valve prosthesis or any other percutaneous and self-expandable aortic valve prosthesis typically requires a movable sheath at the distal end of a delivery system that maintains a compressed valve prosthesis beneath the sheath. Retraction of the sheath in a proximal direction of the delivery system as controlled from the proximal end of the delivery system is controlled for deploying the self-expandable valve prosthesis from one end thereof to another. Specifically, a distally positioned end of the valve prosthesis initially expands as the sheath is retracted while a proximally positioned end of the valve prosthesis remains collapsed within the confines of the sheath. A gradual expansion is thus controlled so that the full prosthetic valve is deployed in position, such as at a particular valve annulus. Typically, controlled expansion is conducted by maintaining the prosthetic valve as positioned on the distal end of the delivery system at a precise position, such as determined by fluoroscopy, while sliding the sheath proximally relative to the prosthetic valve and distal end of the delivery system. Self-expansion of the valve prosthesis deploys the prosthesis in this precise position and expansion of the metal frame of the prosthetic valve anchors the prosthetic valve in place. The sliding movement of the sheath can be conducted manually by a surgeon, for example, and such movement can be facilitated and controlled by mechanical means incorporated within a handle at the proximal end of the delivery system.
One such delivery system that has been designed for delivery of a self-expanding valve prosthesis is the AccuTrak™ delivery system that is commercially available from Medtronic, Inc. and is provided as a part of a system including the CoreValve aortic valve prosthesis, discussed above. The Accutrak delivery catheter system is a single use, intravascular "over the wire" delivery catheter designed specifically to be used with the Medtronic CoreValve percutaneous aortic valve. The Accutrak system incorporates a protective deployment sheath that houses and deploys the aortic valve prosthesis. The Accutrak system includes an integrated handle designed to provide the user with accurate and controlled deployment. After the deployment system is placed in the vicinity of the aortic annulus, the user retracts the deployment sheath, thereby deploying the prosthetic aortic valve to the desired location. The system includes a micro-control thumb wheel and a macro-control slide, each of which are independently provided to the control handle thereof. In use, the deployment sheath can be partially pulled back to evaluate the PAV location prior to fully releasing the PAV. In this way, the user can make slight adjustments to the PAV location if needed prior to release.

Delivery catheter system with micro and macro movement control


Disclosed embodiments demonstrate batch processing methods for producing optical windows for micro-devices. The windows protect the active elements of the micro-device from contaminants, while allowing light to pass into and out of the hermetically sealed micro-device package. Windows may be batch produced, reducing the cost of production, by fusing multiple metal frames to a single sheet of glass. In order to allow windows to be welded atop packages, disclosed embodiments keep a lip of metal without any glass after the metal frames are fused to the sheet of glass. Several techniques may accomplish this goal, including grinding grooves in the glass to provide a gap that prevents fusion of the glass to the metal frames along the outside edges in order to form a lip. The disclosed batch processing techniques may allow for more efficient window production, taking advantage of the economy of scale.

Many micro-devices require optical access. Some micro-devices, such as digital micromirrors, need optical access in order to function, since light must be able to interact with the active elements of these micro-devices in order to achieve the desired results. By way of example, light must be able to enter and leave a digital micromirror device ("DMD") in order to be reflected by the micromirror elements for image projection. For other micro-devices, optical access may be needed for inspection purposes. Regardless of the reason, there is a need for optical access in many micro-devices.
On the other hand, the active elements of such micro-devices may be fairly fragile, needing protection from environmental contamination in order to operate effectively and reliably. Due to the extremely small size of the active elements within micro-devices, even dust particles may interfere with proper functioning. Thus, there is a need to shield the active elements of micro-devices from any contamination or environmental factors that might detrimentally impact their operation.
The active elements of micro-devices are often housed within a package that is hermetically sealed, but which provides a transparent window in the cover allowing optical access. The window can allow for visual inspection of the active elements within the micro-device, and can also be configured to allow visual light or any other specific range of electromagnetic wavelengths to enter into and/or leave the micro-device. So in many digital micro-devices, such as DMDs, windows serve a crucial role by allowing the transfer of light for the operation of the device, while sheltering the active elements of the micro-device from environmental contaminants that might hinder performance.
FIG. 1 provides an example of a typical optical MEMS window, which to date have been constructed one at a time. Such optical MEMS windows affix glass within a metal frame. Typically, the metal frame is formed having an aperture for the transparent window and a lip or flange surrounding the aperture that can serve as a location for anchoring the window upon a package. Glass is then fused to the metal frame in order to form the overall window structure. The heat involved in this fusing process tends to ruin the surface finish of the glass, however, requiring grinding and/or polishing of both sides of the glass to provide a useful window. Then, the transparent window is typically treated with anti-reflective coatings. The entire window is then mounted to the package for the micro-device. Typically the metal frame for the optical MEMS window is welded in place in order to hermetically seal the active elements of the micro-device within the package beneath the window.
While these traditional optical MEMS windows function quite well, they are fairly costly to produce, requiring multiple steps to manufacture each separate window. Since each of the process steps, which tend to be relatively time and labor intensive, is performed for each individual window, the cost of each window is driven up. The high cost of production for these traditional windows adds to the overall cost of each MEMS device. Accordingly, there is a need for a production process for windows that would reduce their costs.

Low cost window production for hermetically sealed optical packages


The present invention provides a new application for an inductive coupler (12) used proximate a power transmission line (14). The magnetic field based power measurement method and system discussed herein in unique and differs from the prior technology by using near-real time intervals and periods that occur systemically in parallel with electrical systems rather than an accumulated period with little or no active capacity or proactive features. The inductive coupler (12) described herewith is used to collect, measure, and/or extract electromagnetic changes.

Utility companies, power distribution companies and similar entities in the United States are currently handicapped by an inability to accurately monitor in real time the state of power lines and distribution grids. Thus, problems and inefficiencies often go undetected, resulting in needless expenditures and waste. The present invention is designed to address and rectify this situation.
Electrical power in the United States is largely transmitted in the form of alternating current at a predetermined frequency most frequently 60 Hz. As is known, when current passes through a transmission line, it generates an electro magnetic field that varies in frequency and intensity with the current flowing through the line. These fluctuations plotted against time, are in the form of a sinusoidal wave. As is also known, reflected waves traveling in the opposite direction of the current flow include harmonics, transients and variations that reflect conditions down the transmission line. Such harmonics, transients and variations in current and voltage as a function of time can be observed, characterized and analyzed using known mathematical techniques. See Arrillaga, Power System Harmonic Analysis (John Wiley & Sons, 1996), chapters 4, 6, 7 and 9. Events occurring to the transmission line such as shorts, lightning strikes, changes in load and similar conditions also generate transient variations that are reflected in the electro magnetic field surrounding the transmission line. The magnitude and frequency of such harmonics, transients and variations can be measured and in accordance with the invention, the data collected and processed to reflect events and occurrences affecting the transmission grid. Thus, in accordance with the invention, monitoring and measuring changes in the electro magnetic field surrounding the transmission line, enables real time or near real time monitoring of the state of the transmission line. The state of the line may be charged with high or low voltage, or be without current or charge. As used herein the terms "real time" and "near real time" refers to time required for a computer to receive and process one or more input data streams and output a signal or value based upon the input data. Thus, in most instances, "real time" will be measured in seconds or fractions of a second.
Stewart U.S. Pat. No. 5,982,276, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference, describes a system for communicating information between subscribers over power transmission lines which normally convey electrical power to a plurality of diverse electrical sites for providing electrical power to electrical devices disposed at these diverse electrical sites. This communication system makes use of an inductive coupling to receive the transmitted information from the magnetic field surrounding the power transmission line. The inductive coupler is preferably a ferroceramic type of inductive coupler having a sensitivity such as 10−23 volts. The present invention utilizes inductive couplers to detect changes in the electromagnetic field surrounding a transmission line, measures the changes and utilizes the data to identify conditions and events occurring on the transmission line.


A method and apparatus for a communication system provide for fast link setup for a mobile station by transmitting a request message, transmitting an assignment message from the base station to the mobile station, and transmitting a notification message from the base station to a base station controller. The mobile station transmits an indication message to the base station controller indicating a successful completion of acquiring the data packet channel. The base station controller processes the indication message for message integrity and security feature. A portion of the available communication resources at the base station is allocated for an immediate response to the request message for acquiring a data packet channel.

A system of protocols normally controls the ways a mobile station and a base station may operate in a communication system. Such protocols are disclosed in a set of standards published by a recognized standard body. The protocols may define a set of procedures for setting up a communication link between a mobile station and a base station. Generally, such a procedure provides for establishing a reliable and secure communication link. The process for establishing a link may require assigning resources, such as Walsh code assignment, data rate and power level assignment, etc. In addition, the request for establishing a communication link is processed for checking for integrity of the end user device requesting establishment of the link. Moreover, the link may require having a security feature for secure communications.
A system for communications of data benefits greatly by providing a fast link set up procedure. In such a system, a mobile user is able to set up a communication link in a very short period of time, thus enhancing the user experience of the communication systems. Therefore, there is a need for providing a fast link set up in a communication system.

Method and apparatus for fast link setup in a wireless communication system


An air conditioning system processes sensible heat load and latent heat load of a target space, and adjusts temperature and humidity of the target space. The air conditioning system includes a cooling heat exchanger circulating a heat exchanging medium to cool and dehumidify air blown into the target space, a heater heating the air cooled and dehumidified by the heat exchanger, a staged variable speed fan creating a flow of the air blown into the target space through the heat exchanger and the heater, and a control unit. The control unit has a cooling adjusting unit adjusting a quantity of cooling supplied from the heat exchanging medium to the air in the heat exchanger, a heating adjusting unit adjusting a quantity of heating supplied from the heater to the air, and an air flow adjusting unit adjusting an air flow volume supplied by the fan.

Air conditioning systems capable of adjusting the humidity as well as the temperature of an object space have been known previously. For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Application 2010-243005 has disclosed an air conditioning system set up in a semiconductor factory or the like. This air conditioning system cools air supplied indoors in an air conditioning unit by a cooling heat exchanger through which cold water supplied by a chiller unit circulates as a heat exchanging medium, and cools and dehumidifies the air. This air conditioning system can also heat air by an electric heater and humidify air by a sprinkler to adjust the temperature and the humidity by a combination of cooling, dehumidification, heating, and humidification.

Air conditioning system for adjusting temperature and humidity


A system and method for providing an estimate of the thickness of the ice regardless of the shape of its surface at the level of the air/ice interface. To this end the system and method measure an intensity profile of a luminous pattern generated by diffusion in the ice, which enables the system to measure the thickness of the ice even when the air/ice surface is not plane.

It is known to evaluate and to monitor the quantity of ice on a surface of an aircraft, such as a wing, for example.
An optical system is used for this comprising a still camera and a laser. The beam from the laser passes through the ice and illuminates the surface of the aircraft at a central point. The light rays of the beam are then reflected in all directions from the central point and some of these reflected rays are refracted in contact with the ice/air interface with the result that they are again directed toward the surface of the aircraft so as then to form a refraction spot on the surface of the aircraft at a non-zero distance from the central point. The system then measures the distance between the refraction spot and the central point and obtains the depth of the ice by deducing it from the refraction angle of the ice.
However, for this method, based on the refraction of the rays at the air/ice interface and therefore on the angle of refraction of the ice, to be reliable, it is necessary for the ice surface to be plane. Indeed, any deformation of the air/ice interface leads to unpredictable refraction of the rays and therefore interferes with the measurement of the thickness of the ice. The surface of the ice being liable to assume various shapes on the surface of an aircraft, this method does not guarantee that it will be possible to measure the thickness of the ice on aircraft surfaces in all circumstances.

Method and system for measuring the thickness of ice on a surface, notably of an aircraft, using a luminous pattern generated by diffusion in the ice


Method and system for managing transactions operating on replicated data items at multiple physical sites in a distributed database system. The transactions include local transactions each being processed at one of the physical sites and global transactions each being processed at multiple physical sites. Each transaction originates at one of the physical sites, and is permitted to read data items only at that physical site. In addition, only transactions originating at a physical site at which a primary copy of a data item is located are permitted to update that data item. A number of virtual sites are defined such that a given virtual site VS.sub.i.sup.j at a particular point in time includes a set S.sub.i.sup.j of all data items at a physical site s.sub.j that a given transaction T.sub.i has accessed from an initial operation up to that point in time. A replication graph is maintained to represent the relationships between the transactions and the virtual sites. The replication graph includes a first set of nodes for the transactions, and a second set of nodes for the virtual sites. A node for a transaction T.sub.i and a node for a virtual site VS.sub.i.sup.j are connected in the graph if a schedule of transaction operations includes a write operation by transaction T.sub.i on a replicated data item in the set of data items associated with virtual site VS.sub.i.sup.j. The replication graph is maintained as part of a concurrency-control protocol and the absence of cycles in the graph may be used to indicate whether a given schedule is globally serializable.

Many database systems support data processing transactions at multiple user sites. For example, a transaction operating at a particular user site may access a primary copy of a data item or record of a central database, while transactions at other user sites utilize replicated versions of the data item. A significant problem arises when the transactions at the different user sites attempt to update different replicated versions of the same data item, which may result in inconsistent replicated versions of a given data item. The problem of concurrent access to consistent replicated data has become increasingly challenging with the advent of large-scale distributed data warehouses and data marts, and the increasing use of distributed data in often-disconnected mobile computers. For example, data warehouses or data marts are now typically configured with storage capacities on the order of 0.5 to 3 terabytes, with approximately 10% to 25% of the stored data items being used in a replicated form, and about 10% of the data items being updated each day. These systems may require that all data item updates be reflected within a relatively short time period, such as 10 minutes or less. Other features of distributed database systems are described in, for example, A. A. Helal, A. A. Heddaya and B. B. Bhargava, "Replication Techniques in Distributed Systems," Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1996; C. Pu and A. Leff, "Replica Control in Distributed Systems: an Asynchronous Approach," Proceedings of ACM-SIGMOD 1991 International Conference on Management of Data, Denver, Colo., pp.377-386, May 1991; and J. Sidell, P. M. Aoki, S. Barr, A. Sah, C. Staelin, M. Stonebraker and A. Yu, "Data Replication in Mariposa," Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Data Engineering, New Orleans, La., 1996, all of which are incorporated by reference herein.
In order to ensure that multiple concurrent transactions have access to consistent replicated data, it is important to determine whether a proposed schedule of transaction operations is globally serializable. A schedule of transaction operations is "serializable" if running the transactions concurrently in accordance with the schedule yields the same results as running the transactions in some sequential order. Global serializability refers to serializability as applied to execution of all transactions in a system regardless of the physical sites at which particular transactions operate. The serializability of a given schedule of transaction operations depends in large part on the techniques used to update replicated data items. A number of so-called "eager" update propagation techniques are described in E. Holler, "Multiple Copy Update," Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Distributed Systems-Architecture and Implementation: An Advanced Course, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1981, which is incorporated by reference herein. However, these techniques are often unsuitable for use with large-scale distributed systems. In a typical eager propagation technique, the number of deadlocks, in which two or more transactions simultaneously attempt to update a replica or primary copy of the same data item, increases as the cube of the number of user sites and as the fourth power of transaction size. This is particularly problematic with relatively long data-mining queries, which typically access many different data items, and with mobile transactions which effectively live for a long period of time if the portable computer or other mobile computing device is disconnected. Deadlocks are thus no longer rare events with a negligible impact on performance, but instead present a substantial barrier to the efficient operation of large-scale distributed database systems.
Other known update techniques, generally referred to as "lazy" propagation techniques, address the above-described update propagation problem. Under lazy propagation, only one replica of a particular data item is updated by a transaction utilizing that data item. A separate transaction runs on behalf of the original transaction at each site at which update propagation is required. Lazy propagation effectively reduces transaction size but creates the possibility of two or more transactions committing conflicting updates to a data item if the transactions operate on different replicas. For example, a transaction T.sub.1 could update a data item d using the replica at a site s.sub.1 while a transaction T.sub.2 updates the replica of d at another site s.sub.2. If both transactions T.sub.1 and T.sub.2 commit an update of their replicas of the data item, the distributed system discovers the conflict only when the updates are propagated. Such conflicts may require either update reconciliation or the use of compensating transactions, as described in H. F. Korth, E. Levy and A. Silberschatz, "A Formal Approach to Recovery by Compensating Transactions," Proceedings of the Sixteenth International Conference on Very Large Databases, Brisbane, Australia, pp. 95-106, August, 1990, which is incorporated by reference herein. Consistency can be ensured despite lazy propagation by directing all updates to a primary copy of the data item, and employing an appropriate concurrency-control protocol. The process of directing all updates to a primary copy of the data item is referred to as the lazy-master approach to update regulation in J. Gray, P. Helland, P. O'Neil and D. Shasha, "The Dangers of Replication and a Solution," Proceedings of ACM-SIGMOD 1996 International Conference on Management of Data, Montreal, Quebec, pp. 173-182, 1996, which is incorporated by reference herein. Unfortunately, previous techniques for managing transaction updates in accordance with the lazy-master approach either fail to guarantee consistency, or are subject to a prohibitive number of deadlocks, or both.
Conventional lazy propagation techniques may also cause an update transaction to read "old" replicas of some data items, resulting in an execution that generates an inconsistent database state. As an example, consider a bank database for checking and savings accounts that is distributed over two sites s.sub.1 and s.sub.2. Site s.sub.1 contains the primary copy of the checking-account relation and a replica of the savings-account relation, while site s.sub.2 contains the primary copy of the savings-account relation and a replica of the checking-account relation. The bank requires only that the sum of a customer's checking and savings accounts be positive. Suppose that a husband and wife have joint checking and savings accounts and the balances in these two accounts are $300 and $700, respectively. The husband withdraws $900 from the checking account using an ATM at s.sub.1 and, at approximately the same time, the wife withdraws $900 from the savings account using an ATM at s.sub.2. Due to the delay in update propagation resulting from use of a lazy propagation approach, both transactions may succeed. However, after the updates are propagated, both accounts have a negative balance, violating the bank's constraint that the sum of the balances must be positive. Conventional lazy propagation techniques generally have difficulty avoiding this type of inconsistency. The problem may be alleviated to some extent by augmenting the lazy-master approach with restrictions on how the primary copies of data items are selected, as described in P. Chundi, D. J. Rosenkrantz and S. S. Ravi, "Deferred Updates and Data Placement in Distributed Databases," Proceedings of the Twelfth International Conference on Data Engineering, New Orleans, La., 1996, which is incorporated by reference herein. However, the resulting update propagation remains unduly susceptible to deadlocks and therefore is unsuitable for use in applications such as large-scale distributed systems with mobile computers.
It is therefore apparent that a need exists for an improved technique for providing update propagation and other concurrency-control operations in a distributed database system in which replicated data items are processed at multiple sites, such that global serializability of a transaction schedule can be ensured, while the likelihood of deadlocks is substantially reduced and other problems associated with the conventional approaches are avoided.

Method and system for managing replicated data with enhanced consistency and concurrency


An apparatus for composing two screens in a television which is capable of solving the problems of a jitter and a screen being cut off at the top and bottom portions caused by a non reference signal in composing two screens, includes a line memory for storing in the unit of lines a video signal for a main screen converted into a digital signal, a frame memory for storing in the unit of frames a video signal for a sub-screen converted into a digital signal, a mixing unit for receiving and mixing the outputs from the line memory and the frame memory to compose two screens, a D/A converter for converting an output from the mixing unit into an analog signal, an encoder for encoding an output from the D/A converter and outputting a double screen signal, a clock signal generator for receiving the horizontal synchronous signals for a main screen and a sub-screen, generating a clock signal corresponding thereto, dividing a horizontal fly back signal in a predetermined number in accordance with a division control signal and outputting the resultant signals, and a control signal generator for receiving an output from the clock signal generator to generate clock/timing pulse signals required in each unit and a read enable signal in accordance with the clock signal divided in a predetermined number when the above two memories read data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for composing two screens in a television, and more particularly, to an improved apparatus for composing two screens in a television which is capable of solving the problems of a jitter and a screen being cut off at the top and bottom portions caused by a non reference signal in composing two screens.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, as shown in FIG. 1, an apparatus for composing two screens on a television includes a first analog/digital (hereinafter, called A/D) converter 100 for converting a video signal for a main screen (VBS1) into a digital signal, a second A/D converter 110 for converting a video signal (VBS2) for a sub-screen into a digital signal, a line memory 120 for storing an output from the first A/D converter 100 in the unit of lines, a frame memory 130 for storing an output from the second A/D converter 110 in the unit of frames, a mixing unit 140 for receiving outputs from the line memory 120 and the frame memory 130 and mixing the outputs to compose two screens, a digital/analog (hereinafter, called D/A) converter 150 for converting the output from the mixing unit 140 into an analog signal, an encoder 160 for encoding an output from the D/A converter 150 for a display on the screen and outputting a double screen signal (DSS), a first clock signal oscillator 170 for receiving a horizontal synchronous signal (Sync1) for a main screen and generating a clock signal corresponding thereto, a second clock signal oscillator 180 for receiving an horizontal synchronous signal (Sync2) for a sub-screen and generating a clock signal corresponding thereto, and a clock/timing generator 190 for receiving outputs from the first and second clock signal oscillators 170,180 and generating a clock signal and a timing pulse signal required in each unit.
With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the operation and effect of the apparatus for composing two screens on a television having the above construction will now be described in detail.
First, the first A/D converter 100 converts the video signal (VBS1) for a main screen into a digital signal appropriate for processing, and the line memory 120 stores in the unit of lines the video signal (VBS1) for a main screen converted into a digital signal in accordance with a write enable signal shown in FIG. 2E-2. Here, the signal shown in FIG. 2E-2 is used as the write enable signal.
Here, as shown in FIG. 2E-1, a reset signal applied to the line memory 120 is generated synchronized with the horizontal synchronous signal (Sync1) for a main screen in FIG. 2A, after a predetermined time (a) passes, and as shown in FIG. 2E-2, a write enable signal is generated synchronized with the horizontal synchronous signal (Sync1) for a main screen in FIG. 2A, after a predetermined time (b) passes to store a set number of samples (c) in the line memory 120.
The second A/D converter 110 converts the video signal (VBS2) for a sub-screen into a digital signal appropriate for processing. The frame memory 130 stores in the unit of frames the video signal (VBS2) for a sub-screen converted into a digital signal in accordance with a write enable signal shown in FIG. 2F-2.
Then, a reset signal (a control signal) applied to the frame memory 130 is generated synchronized with the horizontal synchronous signal (Sync2) for a sub-screen shown in FIG. 2B, and the write enable signal shown in FIG. 2F-2 is synchronized with the horizontal synchronous signal (Sync2) for a sub-screen, and a predetermined number of samples (i) in the frame memory 130 is stored after a predetermined time elapses.
Since data is read in a frequency twice as large as a write clock signal such as a read enable signal illustrated in FIGS. 2E-3 and 2F-1 when the data is read from the line memory 120 and the frame memory 130, the image data outputted from the line memory 120 and the frame memory 130 is twice compressed. Here, when data is read from the line memory 120, as shown in FIG. 2E-3, a number of samples in (e) identical to those in (c) of FIG. 2E-2 are read out after a predetermined time (d) passes from the horizontal synchronous signal (Sync1) for a main picture, and when data is read out from the frame memory 130, as shown in FIG. 2F-1, a number of samples in (g) identical to those in (i) of FIG. 2F-2 are read out, after a predetermined time (d+e) passes from the horizontal synchronous signal (Sync1) for a main screen.
Therefore, the outputs from the line memory 120 and the frame memory 130 are mixed in the mixing unit 140 to be converted into a two-screen analog video signal through the D/A converter 150. Then the analog video signal is inputted to the encoder 160 to be encoded into a combined video signal, and a double screen video signal (DSS) is outputted.
The clock/timing generator 190 receives a clock signal generated by the first and second oscillators 170,180, and synchronous signals (Sync1,Sync2) for a main screen and a sub-screen generates clock signal/timing pulse signals required in the first and second A/D converters 100,110, the line memory 120, the frame memory 130, the mixing unit 140, the D/A converter 150 and the encoder 160. The first clock signal oscillator 170 receives the horizontal synchronous signal (Sync1) for a main screen to generate a clock signal corresponding to a phase locked loop(hereinafter, called PLL)(not illustrated) provided therein, as shown in FIG. 2C, and the second clock signal oscillator 180 receives the horizontal synchronous signal (Sync2) for a sub-screen to generate a clock signal corresponding thereto, as shown in FIG. 2D. Here, the PLL is also used.
However, a division ratio of the PLL is increased by using the PLL so as to generate a clock signal corresponding to the horizontal synchronous signal, resulting in generating a noise or a jitter in accordance with a non reference signal.
Moreover, when a reference signal and a non reference signal are inputted as video signals for a main screen and a sub-screen, the phenomenon the sub-screen is cut off into top and bottom portions occurs due to a jitter and a difference of a vertical frequency.
Further, when two screens are displayed on a television having a larger width, if the screen ratio is set to be 4:3, nothing is displayed at the upper and lower portions of the double screen pictures thereof on a 16:9 screen, and when a display is carried out on an entire 16:9 screen, the screen ration becomes 8:9, resulting in lengthening a screen.

Dual-screen apparatus capable of preventing jitter and screen cutoff


A dual magnetic head having a first magnetic core for reading and writing very high track density floppy disks and a second magnetic core for reading and writing conventional track density floppy disks. Neither the first nor the second magnetic cores require the trim erase elements associated with prior art magnetic cores for use with floppy disks. When writing on conventional track density floppy disks, separation between data tracks is achieved by erasing a circular region on a first rotation of the floppy disk, erasing a second region, separated from the first region by a small gap, on a second rotation of the floppy disk, and writing data during a third rotation of the floppy disk centered about the small gap. With very high density floppy disks, data is written directly between optical servo tracks on the floppy disk without use of the two erase steps.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic head and method for reading and writing information on magnetic media and more particularly to a head having one magnetic core that can read and write very high track density (greater than 1000 TPI) floppy disks and one magnetic core that can read and write conventional track density (less than approximately 135 TPI) floppy disks.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The track density of magnetic storage disks for conventional floppy disk drives is approximately in the range of forty-eight to one hundred thirty-five tracks per inch (TPI). In contrast, optical disk drives are capable of achieving track densities in excess of 15,000 TPI. The higher track densities of optical disk drives are achieved through the use of closed loop optical servos that allow the read/write head to follow data track eccentricities caused by defects in the medium and by disturbances from outside forces. It is well known that the term floppy disk refers to a single disk (i.e. single platter) flexible recording medium.
In rigid type magnetic disk drives, track densities of up to 2100 TPI are presently used. These drives commonly have multiple disks in which both sides are used for data. To achieve the high track density a dedicated surface of one of the disks is used for magnetic track servo information. This surface is then not usable for data storage. Thus, the total capacity of the drive is lessened. The tracking servo information is also capable of being accidentally erased causing loss of access to all data.
Various techniques have been reported for using optical means for acquiring track following servo information contained on a magnetic recording medium. For example, Ahn, et al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,451, issued on Dec. 30, 1986 for "Optical Servo For Magnetic Disks", discloses the use of a laser diode to read track following servo information in the form of a plurality of spots contained in an optical layer positioned above a magnetic recording layer. Ahn, et al. also discloses the positioning of two transducers on a slider. In FIG. 4 of the '451 patent, a magnetic recording transducer is shown positioned on one rail of the slider and an optical transducer is shown positioned on the opposite rail.
N. Koshino and S. Ogawa, in "Optical Method of the Head Positioning in Magnetic Disk Systems", preprint from IEEE Transactions on Magnetics (1980), discloses an apparatus for achieving optical servo control in a magnetic disk system which comprises an LED light source and three optical fibers for delivering light to a medium. The three optical fibers are embedded in a hole in the central rail of a Winchester-type ferrite head. The medium comprises a plurality of circular optical tracks, dyed black, and located underneath a magnetic film.
Neither of these references discloses a magnetic head that can be used with both high track density magnetic media and with conventional floppy disks.

Dual magnetic head and method for writing on very high track density and conventional track density floppy disks


A method of inhibiting the growth of algae and like organisms in plastic water tanks exposed to sunlight comprises providing an outer tank surface operative to reflect off a substantial portion of sunlight that hits the tank off the outer tank surface; and providing an opaque inner tank layer operative to substantially prevent sunlight passing through the outer tank surface from entering an interior of the tank. A two layer tank is provided comprising a light colored outer layer and a dark sun-blocking inner layer, and is conveniently made by a rotational molding process.

Plastic tanks are widely used for liquid storage because they are economical, lightweight, durable and resistant to corrosion & chemicals. In agriculture, industry and residential applications, plastic tanks are often used for the storage of water for household use, animal consumption and use in agricultural operations such as chemical crop spraying.
In the manufacture of molded plastic tanks for liquid storage, the use of unpigmented or light colored resins is often favored. Costs and process complexities associated with the use of pigments can be reduced or eliminated. A further significant advantage of tanks with a light colored exterior is that they do not absorb heat from sunlight to the extent that a dark colored tank does, but rather reflect a substantial portion off the outer surface. Thus a light colored tank is less susceptible to sunlight-induced heating and softening of the plastic. A light colored tank stays cooler in the sun and as a result the wall thickness can be reduced compared to a dark colored tank while retaining its structure.
Under sunlight-induced heating, a dark colored tank may seriously deform or collapse under its own weight when empty, or under the stress of retaining means when tied down for transport. Prevention of such deformation or collapse is conventionally accomplished through the use of structural stiffening provided by increased wall thickness or reinforcing ribs. However, the use of additional material renders a tank heavier and more costly, and reinforcing ribs require more costly and complex molds, which also increases the cost of the tank.
A significant drawback of a light colored plastic tank used for water storage is that the tank walls are translucent. Sunlight can pass through the wall of the tank and promote the growth of algae in water stored in the tank. Such tanks are not always completely drained between uses, and algae growth in a small amount of water retained in the tank over a significant period of time can be considerable.
This algae growth is highly undesirable. Such tanks are commonly used to haul and store water for human and animal consumption, water for household use, and water for agricultural chemical spraying. Such applications require relatively pure and uncontaminated water. Not only can algae be toxic to animals and humans, but it plugs spraying equipment and can interfere with the action of agricultural chemicals.
Plastic water tanks are commonly manufactured by rotational molding processes. It is known in the rotational molding art to provide an article with an inner layer of one plastic material and an outer layer of a different plastic material, as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,779 to Steinberg et al.

Method for inhibiting algae growth in water tanks and apparatus therefor


An additional toilet paper roll holder is described. In some examples, the additional toilet paper roll holder can include a first elongated portion, a first curved portion, and a first end as well as a second elongated portion, a second curved portion, and a second end. The additional toilet paper roll holder can also include a support member. The support member can include a first slot and a second slot and can be configured to carry an additional toilet paper roll. The support member can also be configured to pass the first curved portion through the first slot and the second curved portion through the second slot. The first elongated portion with the first curved portion and the second elongated portion with the second curved portion can be configured to be connected through a support member resting on the first end and the second end.

Toilet paper roll holders are commonly used to carry toilet paper rolls. However, these holders typically have a provision for carrying only one toilet paper roll. As single toilet paper roll holders do not provide means for carrying a spare toilet paper roll, spare rolls are usually placed on the toilet tank, a wash basin or in cabinets located within the toilet room. A drawback of storing spare toilet paper rolls away from the toilet paper roll holder is that the spare toilet paper roll is not handy for replacing the existing toilet paper roll once it has been depleted.
The conventional techniques for storing spare toilet paper rolls are not convenient in certain situations. Examples of such situations include depletion of an existing toilet paper roll and the need to replace the existing toilet paper roll with a spare toilet paper roll right away.
It may be desirable to provide an additional toilet paper roll holder capable of holding a second toilet paper roll to enable convenient use of spare toilet paper rolls in varying situations. Some implementations were conceived in light of the above-mentioned needs, limitations, or problems, among other things.


The disclosure relates to techniques and technologies for establishing a secure link between a mesh authenticator and a mesh key distributor for transporting security association messages. The secure link can allow the mesh key distributor to communicate results of an authentication process to the mesh authenticator.

Types of wireless networks include infrastructure-based wireless networks and ad hoc wireless networks.
Ad hoc networks are self-forming networks which can operate in the absence of any fixed infrastructure, and in some cases the ad hoc network is formed entirely of mobile nodes. An ad hoc network typically includes a number of geographically-distributed, potentially mobile units, sometimes referred to as "nodes," which are wirelessly connected to each other by one or more links (e.g., radio frequency communication channels). The nodes can communicate with each other over a wireless media without the support of an infrastructure-based or wired network. Links or connections between these nodes can change dynamically in an arbitrary manner as existing nodes move within the ad hoc network, as new nodes join or enter the ad hoc network, or as existing nodes leave or exit the ad hoc network. Because the topology of an ad hoc network can change significantly techniques are needed which can allow the ad hoc network to dynamically adjust to these changes. Due to the lack of a central controller, many network-controlling functions can be distributed among the nodes such that the nodes can self-organize and reconfigure in response to topology changes.
One characteristic of the nodes is that each node can directly communicate over a short range with nodes which are a single "hop" away. Such nodes are sometimes referred to as "neighbor nodes." When a node transmits packets to a destination node and the nodes are separated by more than one hop (e.g., the distance between two nodes exceeds the radio transmission range of the nodes, or a physical barrier is present between the nodes), the packets can be relayed via intermediate nodes ("multi-hopping") until the packets reach the destination node. In such situations, each intermediate node routes the packets (e.g., data and control information) to the next node along the route, until the packets reach their final destination.
As wireless communications networks become more prevalent, security continues to be a major concern to both communication network providers and end users. This is most evident when using a mobile wireless network where the security environment can offer the greatest challenges since data may be readily received and manipulated by many nodes. The radio links used in a wireless network expose the signaling and data traversing the network to eavesdroppers and/or would-be hackers. In a multi-hop wireless network, this requires each link between the nodes to have a unique security association established through the multi-hop authentication and key management process. Then, the communications on the links can be protected with the established security associations.
Mobile nodes such as cellular phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and notebook computers often require authentication when accessing remote databases or networks. In prior systems, a centralized authentication procedure is followed where an Access Point (AP), such as a base station, acts as a portal between the mobile wireless network and a wired backhaul network and handles an authentication process for all nodes within range of the AP. For instance, systems which adhere to American National Standards Institute/Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (ANSI/IEEE) 802.1X or ANSI/IEEE 802.11i standards utilize such a centralized procedure to control access to network resources.
IEEE 802.1X is an IEEE standard initially designed to provide authentication, access control, and key management in both wired and wireless networks. Three entities defined in 802.1X are a Supplicant, an Authenticator and an Authentication Server (AS). The Supplicant is the node seeking authentication and access authorization. The Access Server (AS), sometimes referred to as the Authentication, Authorization and Accounting (AAA) Server, authenticates and grants access, if authorized, to a Supplicant based on the Supplicant's credentials. An AS can be co-located with an Authenticator. Authentication is conducted between the Supplicant and the Authentication Server while the Authenticator acts as a pass-through of the authentication messages. The Authenticator has an uncontrolled port and a controlled port for every client. Before a client is authenticated, only authentication messages are allowed to pass through the uncontrolled port. Only after the Supplicant is successfully authenticated can other traffic be passed via the controlled port.
A protocol used for these communications between the Supplicant and the Authentication Server is EAP (Extensible Authentication Protocol). For 802.1X, EAP messages between the Supplicant and the Authenticator are encapsulated in EAPOL (EAP over local area network (LAN)) message formats. EAP is flexible and extensible in supporting multiple authentication mechanisms such as user password, certificate based authentication, one time password, authentication token or smart card, and the like. It provides a vehicle to negotiate and use appropriate authentication mechanisms including those which derive keying material at the Supplicant and the AS.
An authentication procedure can begin when a node transmits an authentication request using, for example, an Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) comprising EAP Over Local Area Network (EAPOL) packets. The authentication process involves several EAPOL packets being transmitted and received, beginning with an EAP start packet and finishing with either an EAP success message packet or an EAP failure message packet. EAP is a "lock step" protocol in that a new request cannot be sent prior to receiving a valid response. See [RFC 3748].
The authentication server stores the authentication credentials of a mobile device (typically called a Supplicant) that is being authenticated. Authentication servers also can be connected to other authentication servers to obtain Supplicant authentication credentials that are not stored locally.
As described in the "IEEE Standard for Information technology—Telecommunications and information exchange between systems—Local and metropolitan area networks—Specific requirements—Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) specifications—Amendment 6: Medium Access Control (MAC) Security Enhancements", ANSI/IEEE 802.11i-2004, July 2004, Supplicants (or nodes seeking to authenticate and gain access) are assumed to be one hop from the Authenticator (e.g., an access point (AP)) which grants or refuses access. Traditional 802.11i does not contemplate multi-hop communication between the Supplicant and the Authenticator. Because every Supplicant can be authenticated only via an AP, such a centralized procedure requiring single hop communications between a the Supplicant and an AP providing bridging services between the mobile wireless network and a wired backhaul network might not be practical in multi-hop ad hoc wireless communication networks that have nodes outside of the wireless communication range of an AP.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

Tunneling security association messages through a mesh network


A method of producing a casting by using a plastic core. The plastic core is made of a thermoplastic resin and set in a casting mold so as to form a cavity in the casting mold. A molten metal such as aluminum is poured under pressure into the cavity to form the casting (product). The plastic core maintains its initial shape during casting. The remaining heat of the casting or the solidifying metal causes the plastic core to melt after the casting so that the molten plastic core is easily removed.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to improvements in a method of fabricating an article by using a non-sand core and an article produced thereby, and more particularly to a particular arrangement of the non-sand core to obtain a high quality article while facilitating a production process thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Hitherto a variety of fabrication methods have been employed for metal, plastic and ceramic. Casting as a part of machining has been extensively used to fabricate metal. Injection molding is extensively used to fabricate or mold plastic or ceramic. In these fabrication processes of the above materials, a metal (non-disintegrative) core or a disintegrative core is generally used to fabricate articles having a hollow section and/or an undercut section.
The former metal core is used only in cases that the core can be directly extracted from a mold or extracted upon deformation of the fabricated article. Accordingly, use of the metal core is limited to a certain narrow range. The latter disintegrative core is usually formed of sand and therefore provided with the following disadvantages: The sand core is difficult to be formed to a predetermined shape and tends to easily disintegrate thereby rendering difficult handling thereof. Additionally, the sand core cannot meet conflicting requirements of compression resistance during fabrication and disintegration characteristics after the fabrication.
In this regard, it has been recently proposed in the field of casting of metal, to employ a sand core which is coated at its surface with a particular coating material so as to improve the compression resistance during casting. The coated sand core is used in a casting mold. However, even employment of such a coated sand core has the following difficulties:
(1) A plurality of layers of the coating material are required to be formed on the sand core, thereby making difficult formation of the coating layers. This troublesome operation increases the number of steps of a production process while increasing time and cost for the production process. PA1 (2) It is difficult to completely remove binder as components of the coating material and the sand core, after casting. The removal of the binder is usually accomplished by burning or heat-treating the sand of the core. The burning step increases the number of steps of the production process while increasing time and cost for the production process. PA1 (3) The sand core is difficult to be formed while requiring a complicated equipment and considerable steps in the production process. Additionally, the sand core tends to easily disintegrate and therefore is difficult in handling thereby increasing the number of steps in the production process while degrading the yield of the casting. PA1 (4) During casting, a complicated pressure regulation is required to prevent the sand core from disintegrate. Additionally, it is difficult to completely disintegrate the sand core after the casting. The above requires a heat-treatment step for the sand core and a sand removing step, and an inspection step for removal of sand from the resultant casting (product), which increases the number of steps in the production process thus increasing time and cost for the production process. PA1 (5) Penetration of molten metal into among sand particles of the sand core and penetration of components of the sand core into the casting (product) are made during the casting. These tend to produce small holes or cavities in the casting thereby degrading the yield and productivity of the casting (product). PA1 (6) Complete removal of sand of the sand core is difficult after the casting, so that the sand remains attached on the casting (product) thereby causing wear and damage of the casting (product). PA1 (7) It is difficult or substantially impossible to produce a complicated and/or large casting. This limits the application of casting methods using the sand core to a narrow range, thus providing troubles in designing and production of castings. PA1 (8) Reuse of sand of the sand core is difficult because the sand core contains the coating materials and the binder which are difficult to be completely removed. For reuse of the sand of the sand core, further steps are required in the production process thereby increasing time and cost for the production process. PA1 (9) The casting method using the sand core is usually accomplished with the following many steps which require increased production time and cost: (a) Forming a sand core; (b) Coating the sand core; (c) Drying the sand core; (d) Forming a casting mold; (e) Pouring a molten metal to accomplish a casting operation; (f) Removing sand from a casting (product); (g) Heat-treating the sand on the casting (product); (h) Inspecting completion of sand removing; (i) Removing burr from the casting (product); and (j) Obtaining a complete casting (product).
It will be understood that the above-discussed problems in the casting method are encountered also in the molding methods (using the sand core) for plastic and ceramic.

Method of fabricating a metallic article using a non-sand core


A smart electrical plug supports one or more electrical outlets and one or more universal serial bus (USB) outlets for charging electrical devices. Electrical power consumed through the one or more electrical outlets may be measured individually or in combination and reported via a wireless communication channel. The smart electrical plug may be implemented by a plurality of printed circuit board assemblies and distributed within a housing to reduce the effects of heat dissipation. The smart electrical plug may further reduce heat dissipation by utilizing one or more electrical circuit approaches.

A smart plug is typically a device that plugs right into an ordinary outlet and has its own outlet. An appliance may be plugged into the smart plug's outlet to obtain enhancements with respect to the ordinary electrical outlet. For example, a stuart plug may, via an app, enable a user to actively control it, automate it according to a time schedule, or trigger it from another electronic system.
Smart plugs may be a versatile building block of the smart home, with numerous uses for security, convenience, and energy savings. However, these capabilities typically require corresponding circuit complexity while supplying substantial electrical power under high and varying current loads to the attached appliance. Consequently, there is a real market need to provide a smart socket outlet to replace an ordinary socket outlet/smart plug in a smart home with a desired level of robustness. In this disclosure smart sockets outlets, smart outlets or smart sockets are interchangeably used such that the above terms refer to a smart socket outlet.

Smart and robust wall socket with integrated universal serial bus (USB)


The present invention provides a catalyst composition for the production of olefins by oxidative dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons, and of using such catalyst compositions. The catalysts of the present invention include compositions of the formula:XxYyWOz wherein X is at least one element selected from the group consisting of Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, and Fr; Y is at least one element selected from the group consisting of B, Al, Ga, In, Ti, C, Si, Ge, Sn, and Pb; x is 0.5-2.5; y is 0.05-5; and z is the number of oxygen atoms required to satisfy the valancy of X, Y, and W in said composition. The methods and catalysts of the present invention are specifically useful for the combined production of propene and isobutene at relatively high conversion, selectivity, and productivity, and with minimal side products.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to new catalysts for the production of olefinic hydrocarbons by oxidative dehydrogenation and to methods of using the same. More particularly, this invention relates to tungsten-based catalysts for the oxidative dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons to yield olefins, and preferably, to the production of light olefins from light hydrocarbons.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several publications are referenced in this application. These references describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains, and are incorporated herein by reference.
Olefinic hydrocarbons, such as ethylene, propene, butene, and isobutene, are critical intermediates in the petrochemical industry. In order to satisfy market demand, substantial efforts have been invested in the production of such compounds by conventional catalytic dehydrogenation methods. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,710 to Resasco et al. describes the use of a composition containing sulfided nickel and non-acidic alumina as a catalyst for conventional dehydrogenation of organic compounds, such as isobutane, to yield the corresponding olefin.
However, conventional dehydrogenation has several disadvantages, including the need for high reaction temperatures (e.g., 550-650° C.), the deactivation of the catalyst by coke formation, and the consequent need for periodic catalyst regeneration at 20-30 minute intervals throughout the process. In addition, there are thermodynamic limitations on the activity of catalysts for conventional dehydrogenation. For example, such catalysts are only 85% selective at 45-50% isobutane conversion.
As a result of these substantial drawbacks, the petroleum industry has sought a solution to the demand for olefinic hydrocarbons in the use of oxidative dehydrogenation methods. Oxidative dehydrogenation is not subject to the problems associated with conventional dehydrogenation because of the presence of oxygen in the reaction mixture. However, to date, no commercial catalyst systems are available for oxidative dehydrogenation methods.
Various methods have been used to develop such a catalyst system. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,821,324; 3,933,933; and 4,164,519 describe oxidative dehydrogenation catalysts comprising titanium, at least one component selected from tungsten and molybdenum, and at least one additional component selected from phosphorus, bismuth, lead, antimony, and arsenic.
Japanese Patent Publication No. JP 07010782 describes the uses of an oxidative dehydrogenation catalyst to prepare isobutene and methacrolein. The catalyst contained molybdenum, iron, cobalt, cesium, silicon, bismuth, phosphorus, and nitrogen. A mixture of isobutane, oxygen, and nitrogen gas was passed through a reactor containing the mixed oxide catalyst at 440° C. to yield the corresponding olefins, isobutene, propene, and methacrolein, at a 3.8% conversion, with 13.9, 3.3, and 18.9% selectively, respectively. Similarly, Japanese Patent Publication No. JP 93150371 describes the use of alkali metal- and alkaline earth metal-containing catalysts for the preparation of isobutene and methacrolein from isobutane. The oxidative dehydrogenation catalysts and mixed oxide catalysts contained bismuth and molybdenum.
Japanese patent 3-218327 describes the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane or isobutane using a catalyst comprising either tin oxide and phosphorous oxide as the main components, or indium oxide and phosphorous oxide as the main components. However, the selectivity was only 32% at 1.4% conversion. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,946 describes a catalyst based on chromium oxide for oxidative dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons, and European Patent Publication No. EP 0557790 discloses the use of a catalyst containing phosphorous oxide for producing isobutene by oxidative dehydrogenation of isobutane. However, like the catalysts described above, these catalysts suffer from low selectivity and/or yield.
D. Stem and R. K. Grasselli (J. Catal., Volume 167, pages 570-572 (1997)) disclose the use of several metal tungstate catalysts containing cobalt, nickel, iron, zinc, and cerium for the oxidative dehydrogenation of propane. A maximum yield of 9.1% was obtained using cobalt tungstate catalyst at a selectivity of 65.1% and at a reaction temperature of 560° C.
Sodium tungstate in combination with hydrogen peroxide was used as a catalyst for the epoxidation of unsaturated aldehydes and carboxylic acids (see EP 434546 and Ballisteri et al., Stud. Org. Chem., Volume 33, pages 341-46 (1988)). This catalyst was also used for the epoxidation of a cyclohexene ring in various organic compounds (see also Japanese Patent Publication JP 62230778). However, to date, tungsten-based catalysts have not been used for olefin production by oxidative dehydrogenation of hydrocarbons at reasonably high selectivity.
In view of the foregoing, it is evident that the art has not succeeded in achieving high conversion at high selectivity, such that the yield of the desired olefin is maximized, as extraneous oxidative side reactions are minimized. None of the prior art references disclose or suggest tungsten-based catalysts which provide selective production of olefins from hydrocarbons by oxidative dehydrogenation. Accordingly, it would be desirable to produce a new catalyst for use in the selective production of olefins from hydrocarbons by oxidative dehydrogenation.

Catalysts for production of olefins by oxidative dehydrogenation, and methods of making and using the same