The invention relates to a method for data processing device exchanging data with computer, including: a computer sends a enquiring message of the device's type to the data processing device; after receiving the message, the control module sends the information about the device's type of the data processing device, informs the computer that the data processing device is the device with auto-run function or is the device without auto-run function; if the device's type information indicates that the data processing device is the device with auto-run function, then the device attribute of the data processing device's is set to the device with auto-run function, and the data processing device is accessed according to the corresponding access specifications, if there is the auto-running file in the data processing device, then the auto-run function is performed according to the script in the auto-running file, else the operation on the data processing device is finished, or else the device attribute of the data processing device is set to the device without auto-run function; by using the invention it can realize the data processing device automatically exchanging data with computer, and the exchanged data can be defined by user.

In general cases, after connecting with a computer, a data processing device will exchange data with the computer. There are different processes of data exchanging depending on whether the data processing device is plug_and_play or not.
If the data processing device is plug_and_play, the process of data exchanging is as following: The operation system of the computer auto-checks whether there is plug_and_play device during the system start, if a new device is found and there's a *.inf file of such kind device in the direction INF of the operating system (INF is the abbreviation of Device INFormation File, and is one kind of file format provided for the manufacturer of hardware device publishing his driver program. The INF file includes the information of hardware device or script to control operation of hardware. The INF file specifies how to install the hardware driver into the system, where the initializing file is, to which folder installed is and how to add self-corresponding information into register and so on. Monitor, modem, printer and some like these kinds of devices are through INF file to install.) of the operation system, then the computer auto-installs driver program, else the computer will start the hardware guide to prompt user to select or search driver program of the device, i.e. the corresponding *.inf file, then the hardware guide will copy the specified file to corresponding direction according to the content of the *.inf file, and write corresponding information to register to finish installing of the driver program of the device. After finishing installation, setting the attribute of the device is necessary. For example, before using a network card, the network protocol must be installed and set; before using modem to access network, "new connection" must be built firstly, and so on. And then the operation system of the computer starts to exchange data with the device. The user manually starts corresponding application program or perform operation of the device and exchange data with the computer to realize the fixed function.
If the data processing device is not plug_and_play, the process of data exchanging is as following: The operation system of the computer can not auto-check the device during the system start and the user need to start the hardware guide for installation directly and manually. If there's not the corresponding *.inf file in the direction INF, the computer will start the hardware guide to prompt user to select or search driver program of the device, i.e. the *.inf file. The hardware guide will copy the specified file to corresponding direction according to the content of the *.inf file and write corresponding information to register to finish installing of the driver program of the device. After finishing installation, the attribute of the device is set. For example, before using a network card, the network protocol must be installed and set; before using modem to access network, "new connection" must be built firstly, and so on. And then the computer starts to exchange data with the device. The user manually starts corresponding application program or perform operation of the device and exchange data with the computer to realize the fixed function.
In the prior art, some problems existed in the method for data processing device exchanging data with computer: 1) If the driver program of some kind data processing device have not be embedded in the operation system, then the user must manually install the driver program of the device and the process of the operation is complicated. 2) Although the standard driver program of some kind data processing device has been installed in the operation system, but if the user need to use the substandard driver program of the device, then the user also must manually install the substandard driver program. 3) After finishing installing the driver program of data processing device, the user also demands to set relational device parameters of some special devices to make the normal use of the devices. This also causes the complicated process of operation. 4) When using the data processing device to attain definite application function, the user must start relative application manually. This also causes the discommodious operation. 5) It's unable to achieve as expected that some software stored can be executed directly when data processing device is connected to the computer according to the method of prior art.

Method for data processing device exchanging data with computer

Taiguen Technology (Shen—Zhen) Co., Ltd.


A method and apparatus to control interaction between two multi-threaded processor engines is presented. A first multi-threaded processor engine is configured for connection to a serial link, and performs receive and transmit operations in a first “PHY” mode of operation. A second multi-threaded processor engine is operable to process data received by the first multi-threaded processor over the serial link and to provide the processed data to the first multi-threaded processor engine for transmission over the serial link, when the first multi-threaded processor operates in the PHY mode. Additionally, the first multi-threaded processor engine is configured to execute certain operations, e.g., hardware accelerator operations, at the request of the second multi-threaded processor engine in a second “co-processor” mode of operation.

In recent years, intelligent network interface devices have evolved from customized, mostly hardware-implemented devices to highly programmable network processors capable of multi-threaded, parallel data processing. Some network processors use internal multi-threaded processing elements ("microengines") designed to handle packet-level processing typically associated with layer 3 protocol-based processing, while other network processors use different internal multi-threaded processing elements ("network processing engines") to handle processing functions typically associated with the physical and data link layer protocols. These two types of processing elements have significantly different performance capabilities.

Microengine to network processing engine interworking for network processors


An apparatus for magnetizing liquid matter including two magnetically conductive, substantially U-shaped shells connected together, two magnets mounted in the shells between upright side walls of the shells, two pairs of aluminum packing strips respectively mounted around the magnets within the shells, a packing resin covered over the shells and the magnets and filled in gaps within the shells around the magnets, and a curved liquid delivery pipe mounted in between the packing resin coated magnets within the shells for permitting a liquid carried therein to be magnetized by magnetic lines of force emitted from the magnets.

The present invention relates to an apparatus for magnetizing liquid matter, more particularly to such a liquid matter magnetizing apparatus which is practical for use in a motor vehicle to magnetize fuel oil for complete combustion.
In 1970, scientists started researching the effect of a magnetic field in changing the chemical and physical properties of a liquid matter. In 1980, various magnetic apparatus have been developed for commercial use. It is well known that magnetic lines of force can: (1) activate hydrogen in fuel oil, so as to increase the chance of the contact between carbon and oxygen; (2) improve the solubility of water and reduce its surface tension; (3) activate oxygen in air; (4) charge the body of human beings to keep anions and cathions in a balanced manner; (5) activate drinking water, enabling magnetized drinking water to effectively carry waste and toxic matter out of the body and to help blood circulation; and (6) to help farm products grow quickly, so as to increase the productivity.
FIG. 8 shows an apparatus mounted around an oil pipe 5 to magnetize fuel oil delivered in the oil pipe 5. This apparatus comprises of two semi-circular shells 6 mounted around the oil pipe 5, the shells 6 having end flanges 63 respectively fastened together by screws, a plurality of magnets 61 packed in the shells 6 by a polymeric packing resin 62 and arranged around the oil pipe 5 with the S pole closely attached to the periphery of the oil pipe 5. This design cannot effectively shield the magnetic lines of force from escaping out of the apparatus (see FIG. 9). According to tests, the intensity of magnetic field measured at the diameter of the oil pipe does not surpass 0.002 Tesla when the oil pipe is designed having the diameter of 60 mm (see FIG. 10).

No. 85-5, Ta-Pien-Tou, Hou-Tsuo Tsun, Sanchih Hsiang


A component mounting system for mounting a component on a substrate, the mounting system comprising a component supplying unit configured to supply the component; a substrate holding unit configured to hold the substrate in an orientation such that a mounting face for mounting the component on the substrate is facing vertically downward; a head configured to hold the component from vertically below; and a head drive unit that, by causing vertically upward movement of the head holding the component, causes the head to approach the substrate holding unit to mount the component on the mounting face of the substrate.

A component mounting system is proposed (for example, see Cited Reference 1) that is equipped with a stage for holding a substrate and a bonding unit disposed above the stage; after alignment of a chip relative to the substrate is performed by horizontal movement of a stage in a state in which the chip is held by a head of the bonding unit, the bonding unit is lowered, and the chip is mounted on the substrate (for example, see Patent Citation 1).


An eye-tracking system is provided. The system includes an at least partially transparent visible light waveguide having a visible light display region configured to emit visible light to impinge upon an eye of a user. A light source is configured to emit at least infrared (IR) light that travels along an IR light path to impinge on the eye. A microelectromechanical system (MEMS) scanning mirror positioned in the IR light path is configured to direct the IR light along the IR light path. A relay positioned in the IR light path downstream of the MEMS scanning mirror includes at least one mirror configured to reflect the IR light along the IR light path. At least one sensor is configured to receive the IR light after being reflected by the eye.

In a wearable device such as a head-mounted display (HMD) device, tracking the positions of the eyes of a user can allow the HMD device to estimate the direction of a user's gaze. Gaze direction can be used as an input to a program that controls the display of images on the HMD. In order to determine the position and gaze of the user's eye, an eye-tracking system may be added to the HMD device. However, challenges exist in developing eye-tracking systems for HMD devices, since they can add weight, require extra processing power, create obstructions to the user's field of view, emit too much light near the user's eye, and cause other optical complications for the user.

Eye-tracking with MEMS scanning and reflected light


A vehicle brake control apparatus controls an actual braking force of a vehicle to achieve a command braking force in accordance with a driver's demand braking force corresponding to a driver's braking operation, and a target braking force. A controller is configured to calculate a time rate of change of the target braking force; to calculate a time rate of change of the demand braking force; and to calculate the command braking force in the control mode in accordance with the time rate of change of the demand braking force and the time rate of change of the target braking force.

The present invention relates to apparatus and/or process for controlling a braking force of a vehicle automatically without regard to a driver's brake operation.
A Japanese patent 2600876 (JP-A-H02-171373) shows an automatic brake control system for producing a braking force automatically when a vehicle turning speed becomes close to a limit of a stable cornering operation range.


In an embodiment, a circuit for providing a mixed air temperature signal is provided. The circuit has a temperature input to an economizer controller, an air temperature sensor, a false air temperature device, and a switching device. The switching device has a switch and a switch actuating device. The switch connects the temperature input to the air temperature sensor when the switch is in a first state. The switch connects the temperature input to the false air temperature device when the switch is in a second state. The switch actuating device places the switch in the first state when a mechanical cooling signal is not sent. The switch actuating device places the switch in the second state when the mechanical cooling signal is sent.

A function of a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) unit is to cool an enclosed space, usually a building. A typical unit can perform two types of cooling, free cooling and mechanical cooling. In free cooling, the unit mixes cooler outdoor air with return air from the building. In mechanical cooling, mechanical components in the unit operate to condition air flowing through the unit. In particular, an evaporator coil absorbs heat from the air flowing past it.
Some units are controlled by an economizer controller, also called an economizer control system. During free cooling, the controller may control the unit based on mixed air, the mixture of outdoor air and return air received by the unit. The controller adjusts the relative amounts of outdoor air and return air, attempting to keep the temperature of the resulting mixed air at a mixed air set-point.
Technically, the term "mixed air" refers to air received by the unit that has not passed the evaporator coil. In contrast, the term "supply air" refers to the air after it passes the evaporator coil. Without mechanical cooling, mixed air temperature and supply air temperature are interchangeable. During mechanical cooling, the evaporator coil reduces the supply air temperature below the mixed air temperature.
In practice, due to space requirements, the temperature of the mixed air is often measured by a sensor located after the evaporator coil. In a typical HVAC unit, the outdoor air and the return air do not mix sufficiently until after the air passes the evaporator coil. If the mixed air temperature sensor were placed before the evaporator coil, either the outdoor air temperature or the return air temperature would dominate the temperature measured by the sensor. Therefore, to accurately measure the mixed air temperature, the mixed air temperature sensor is located after the evaporator coil.
Despite its name then, the "mixed air" temperature sensor really measures the temperature of supply air. The position of the mixed air temperature sensor creates an issue when free cooling and mechanical cooling are performed together. The evaporator coil tends to cool the air below the mixed air set-point. In response to the low mixed air temperature, the controller attempts to warm the mixed air. As a result, the controller signals the unit to stop using outdoor air to cool the building.
It would be desirable if a solution existed that would allow the unit to continue to receive outdoor air when free cooling is available and the unit is performing mechanical cooling. It would further be desirable if the solution could be implemented with only minimal modifications to an existing HVAC unit and HVAC controller.


The invention is a next generation miniature heart assist device developed in order to maintain the blood circulation in patients with severe heart failure, and is applied endovascularly to the large arteries. This device is technically a kind of synchronous servo electric motor using “direct drive technology”. It provides longer battery life and high blood flow. Small volume and very low energy consumption provide a much longer battery life and a high blood flow. As the outer surface of the parts placed into the blood vessel will be completely covered with the endothelial cells and the intima layer of the arteries in time, there will be no foreign surface contacting directly with blood. As a result, no thromboembolic event or any negative effect on the cellular components of blood is expected.

Heart assist devices are vital devices in heart diseases when heart muscle contractions are insufficient, and there is no respond to medications. Nowadays, due to coronary heart diseases and myokardial infarcts (it is the formation of necrosis as a result of blockage of a coronary artery), tens of thousands of people receive the treatment of heart failure. When the drug treatment is insufficient, a heart transplant becomes necessary. Since finding a donor for a heart transplant is not very easy, heart assist devices kept ready for emergency use have become life-saving. In addition, some heart diseases may lead to heart failure even in newborn infants. For this reason, heart assist devices should be produced in all sizes, including pediatric sizes.
In order to ensure a high quality of life for the heart patients waiting for donor's heart, a number of studies to improve heart assist devices have been made and many different products have been presented to the physicians. Jarvik 2000, Lionheart, Coraide, HeartMate II (Thoratec Corp), Berlin heart and HeartSaver are some of these main products. The latest generation device in this area is DeBakey Heart assist device that has been developed with the help of NASA engineers in the United States by Micormed Company representing new generation devices. The fact that they are small in size and suitable for all ages have made these devices the most ideal for today. As it also requires a less invasive surgical procedure, today, it is preferred by cardiac surgeons as for the patients.
Balloon pumps inserted into the aorta were used for this purpose in the past. It was intended that the balloon inflating and deflating synchronously with the heart would provide additional acceleration to the blood flow in the aorta. Later, air-driven systems have been developed. Compressed air is provided from the compressor and air tank moving with the patient. By moving back and forth when the compressed air inflates and deflates, the membrane produces a power propelling the blood. After a while, electric motor systems have been developed, and these systems were first designed with an electric motor and a snail water turbine adapted to it. There are artificial blood vessels (conduits) entering and leaving the system. One end of vessel is placed into the heart and the other end into the aortic artery, and when the engine runs, it takes blood from the heart and pumps out into the aorta.
Compressed air systems were annoying as they run loudly. Because the efficiency of the engine was low and the engine volume was large in electric motor systems, it was a problem to install it into the patients. Moreover, considering them as high-energy-consuming systems, they significantly restricted the ability of the patients to move.


A mold for casting a workpiece that includes a casting shell, a casting core and casting pin that supports the core within the shell. The casting shell includes an interior shell surface. The casting core is located within the shell, and includes a sidewall extending between a first core surface and a second core surface. The casting pin includes an intermediate segment connected between a first support segment and a second support segment. The intermediate segment contacts the sidewall. The first support segment extends from the first core surface to a first side of the interior shell surface. The second support segment extends from the second core surface to a second side of the interior shell surface that is opposite the first side.

1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates generally to a mold for casting a workpiece and, more particularly, to a mold that includes one or more casting pins.
2. Background Information
Various methods for investment casting (also referred to as "lost wax casting") are known in the art for manufacturing a hollow workpiece. An example of a hollow workpiece is a component such as a hollow rotor blade for a gas turbine engine. In one such method, molten metal is poured into a mold cavity defined between an exterior core surface of a casting core and an interior shell surface of a casting shell. The casting core may be supported within the casting shell using a plurality of casting pins. Each casting pin typically extends from the exterior core surface through the mold cavity and into the casting shell. Therefore, while a casting pin may prevent the casting core from moving in a direction that extends therethrough, the casting pin typically does not prevent the casting core from moving in an opposite direction that extends away therefrom. Such casting pins therefore are typically used in pairs, where a first casting pin is arranged on one side of the casting core, and where a second casting pin is arranged on an opposite side of the casting core.

Mold for casting a workpiece that includes one or more casting pins


A position detector for a check valve, including a bracket with a support arm, adjustable securing members adapted to rigidly secure the bracket to a check valve arm, a tilt switch, a connector, a circuit status indicator, a wire connector for both the tilt switch and the circuit status indicator, and a first plug. The connector adjustably connects the tilt switch to the bracket support arm in a selected one of a plurality of secure positions pivoted around an axis fixed to the bracket support arm, the axis being oriented generally horizontally when the securing members secure the bracket to the check valve arm. The first plug is selectively securable to the wire connector whereby a first circuit with the tilt switch and the circuit status indicator is formed when the tilt switch is in a selected position.

Check valves may be used, for example, to prevent back flow through a conduit. When flow in the desired direction occurs through the conduit, the check valve will automatically be opened by the pressure of the flow. Where such flow is provided by a pump, such a check valve will normally always be open during proper operation of the pump.
In some applications, therefore, check valves having check valve arms or handles are used. Such check valve arms are disposed outside the conduit but are mechanically connected to the associated valve, whereby the position of the valve inside the conduit can be manually controlled when desired by manipulating the handle. Further, the position of the valve can be visually determined based on the position of the check valve arm.
Of course, visual inspection of valves is not adequate in many situations, as they may not be in conveniently seen locations, and will typically operate round the clock whereby constant operator supervision would be impractical and/or impossible. Therefore, limit switches have heretofore been used to detect pump failure by detecting whether or not a check valve is closed when the pump is supposed to be operating. However, limit switches are expensive, and are difficult to install and adjust.
Mercury switches have also been used to detect pump failure based on detection of a closed check valve when the pump is supposed to be operating. However, such switches have required clear tube switches in order to be able to see whether the switch is making contact in the proper valve position. This requires that the tubes be exposed so that they can be seen, which also makes them particularly susceptible to breakage. Further, even where the switch appears to an observer to be making contact, it can be difficult to determine visually whether or not such contact is steady. To overcome this, or where the switch has not been adequately visible, cumbersome additional equipment, such as meters or test lights, have been used to ensure proper positioning of the switch relative to the check valve arm.
The present invention is directed toward overcoming one or more of the problems set forth above.


The present invention provides an index structure for managing weighted-sequences in large databases. A weighted-sequence is defined as a two-dimensional structure in which each element in the sequence is associated with a weight. A series of network events, for instance, is a weighted-sequence because each event is associated with a timestamp. Querying a large sequence database by events' occurrence patterns is a first step towards understanding the temporal causal relationships among the events. The index structure proposed herein enables the efficient retrieval from the database of all subsequences (contiguous and non-contiguous) that match a given query sequence both by events and by weights. The index structure also takes into consideration the nonuniform frequency distribution of events in the sequence data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to databases and, more particularly, to indexing weighted-sequences in large databases.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fast sequence indexing is essential to many applications, including time series analysis,multimedia database management, network intrusion detection, and the like. Recently, the field of molecular genetics has received increasing attention and is widely recognized as being one of the key technologies today.
Consider a domain of event management for complex networks where events or messages are generated when special conditions arise. Each event, as well as the environment in which it occurs, is logged into a database. Given a large data set of event sequences, a typical type of query (i.e., an event sequence match) is illustrated
EventTimestamp......CiscoDCDLinkUp19:08:01MLMSocketClose19:08:07MLMStatusUp19:08:21......MiddleLayerManagerUp19:08:37CiscoDCDLinkUp19:08:39......Among other possible attributes of the data set (e.g., Host, Severity, etc.), the attributes Event and Timestamp are shown. The event sequence match shown above can result from the following query: Find all occurrences of CiscoDCDLinkUp that are followed by MLMStatusUp that are followed, in turn, by CiscoDCDLinkUp, under the constraint that the interval between the first two events is 20±2 seconds, and the interval between the 1st and 3rd events is 40±3 seconds. Answering such queries efficiently is important to understanding temporal causal relationships among events, which often provide actionable insights for determining problems in system management.
A query can involve any number of events, and each event has an approximate weight, which, as described herein, is the elapsed time between the occurrence of the event and the occurrence of the first event (CiscoDCDLinkUp) in the query sequence. There are generally two characteristic issues in event sequences (i.e., the weighted-sequence problem): (1) In real life datasets, more often than not, certain events occur more frequently than others (this may affect query performance); and (2) It is unlikely that two causally related events are separated by a very large time gap. Currently known solutions do not address the weighted-sequence problem.
There has been much research on indexing substrings. A suffix tree, for example, is a very useful data structure that embodies a compact index to all the distinct, non-empty substrings of a given string. The suffix tree is described in greater detail in E. M. McCreight. A space-economical suffix tree construction algorithm, Journal of the ACM, 23(2):262-272, April 1976.
The suffix tree, however, is not adequate to solve the problems event sequence matching, as described above, because it only provides fast accesses for searching contiguous subsequences in a string database. More specifically, in string matching, the relative positions of two elements in a string is also used to embody the distance between them, while in the example provided above, the distance between two elements is expressed explicitly by another dimension (i.e., the weight).
Similarity based subsequence matching has been a research focus for applications such as time series databases. Similarity based subsequence matching is described in greater detail in C. Faloutsos, M. Ranganathan, and Y. Manolopoulos. Fast subsequence matching in time-series databases, In SIGMOD, pages 419-429, 1994. The basic idea is to map each data sequence into a small set of multidimensional rectangles in the feature space. Traditional spatial access methods (e.g., R-tree) are then used to index and retrieve these rectangles. Here, retrieval is based on similarity of the time-series within a continuous time interval. The method cannot be applied to solve the weighted-sequence problem because the pattern to retrieve is usually a non-contiguous subsequence in the original sequence.
Recently, the problem of exact matching for multidimensional strings has been addressed in H. V. Jagadish, N. Koudas, and D. Srivastava, On effective multi-dimensional indexing for strings, In SIGMOD, pages 403-414, 2000. Strings are mapped to real numbers based on their lexical order. Then these multidimensional points are indexed using R-trees. This technique works efficiently for queries such as "find a person whose name begins with Sri and telephone number begins with 973". However, this technique does not address how to find objects that match a given pattern instead of exact values.
There has been little research in fast retrieval of numerical patterns in relational tables. The techniques described above cannot be applied directly to solve the weighted-sequence problem, largely because they only handle one-dimensional series. On the other hand, much research has been devoted to finding frequent patterns in large database (e.g., Ramakrishnan Srikant and Rakesh Agrawal. Mining generalized association rules. In VLDB, Zurich, Switzerland, September 1995.). These methods typically scan a data set multiple times in order to find patterns whose occurrence level is beyond a threshold. That is, finding frequent patterns is a clustering problem, which typically involves scanning the data set again and again to find patterns that occur frequently. Therefore, the complexity of these algorithms is at least O(N). Some are even of exponential complexity.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an efficient solution for searching large databases to find objects that exhibit a given pattern or sequence of events.

System and method for indexing weighted-sequences in large databases

International Business Machines Corporation


A cloud storage server accesses a plurality of server-stored files of a cloud storage account of a client device and determines that one or more compromised server-stored files from the plurality of server-stored files are affected by a malware activity. The cloud storage server determines a plurality of recovery options based on an identification of the one or more compromised server-stored files and the time at which changes to the one or more compromised server-stored files became affected by the malware activity. The plurality of recovery options comprises a suggested restore point identifying a restore time to which changes to the one or more compromised server-stored files are reverted. The cloud storage server transmits a recovery notification that indicates the plurality of recovery options to the client device.

Malware attack such as ransomware can have a devastating effect on a computer. A ransomware malware attack modifies some files stored on the computer by encrypting the files' content and holding the encryption files for ransom. A user of the computer may not have other recourse to recover the encrypted files besides paying the ransom. If the ransom is not paid within a specified time, the files are permanently lost.

Selection of restore point based on detection of malware attack


A conversion device for use in an imaging system is provided. The conversion device includes a first perforated plate portion forming a plurality of collimator channels separated by a plurality of thin collimator walls. A second perforated plate portion forming a plurality of scintillator channels separated by a plurality of thin scintillator walls is attached to the first perforated plate portion. A reflective coating is applied to the inside scintillator surface of the plurality of thin scintillator walls. A scintillator material is filled into the plurality of scintillator channels.

Computed tomography utilizes x-rays to generate images. These images, in turn, can be utilized in a wide variety of applications such as medical imaging. Computed tomography detectors are typically used to translate the x-rays passed through an imaging object into electronic data that is used to generate images. CT detectors are commonly based on structured x-ray to light conversion scintillators of phosphor materials. Scintillators are utilized to convert x-rays into light photons. These light photons may then be converted into electrical impulses by elements such as photodiodes.
In some CT applications, high x-ray absorption is required. These applications often require the use of thick dense scintillator structures. Existing scintillator structures commonly are comprised of diced single crystals or transparent ceramic imaging plates. An important consideration, however, is the prevention or minimization of pixel to pixel contamination of the light produced within each luminescent module of the scintillator structures. In order to minimize this contamination, the scintillator plates have been diced and reflectors have been introduced in an effort to maintain as much of the generated light remaining within an individual pixel as possible.
The problems arising from contamination have further grown as CT technology has moved towards the use of smaller and smaller diode arrays. The smaller diode arrays require the use of smaller pixel arrays. Thus the pixel arrays must often be more finely divided and the pixel size must be reduced. Traditional methodologies for scintillator production such as dicing crystals and ceramics can become increasingly expensive as additional cuts and finer definition is required. When pixel size has been over 1 mm in pitch, inner diameter and outer diameter dicing has been successful in separating luminescent ceramics or single crystals into individualized pixels for mating to photodiode arrays. For the reduced size pixel arrays, however, existing attempts have turned to phosphors such as needles of CsI as well as phosphors deposited onto fiber optic face plates. These systems have been used to convey light into finely pitched pixels. These materials, however, are often found to not be adequate or desirable in terms of their luminescent or absorption properties for the more stringent requirements of many CT applications. In computed tomography, the afterglow and gain instability of the CsI will result in artifacts in the resultant CT image set. While the absorption characteristics of phosphors on fiber optics make this technology undesirable as-dose considerations to the patient becomes a concern.
To facilitate image reconstruction, the pixels of single crystals or ceramic scintillators are optically separated with a reflector material. The optimal reflector system is one that is very thin so it does not contribute a significant fraction to the overall surface area of the array exposed to x-rays. Often, very thin reflectors (except those comprised of metal) will leak light from neighboring channels. This often leads to image quality degradation. By increasing the reflector thickness to reduce the light leakage or cross talk, the overall efficiency of the array to converting x-rays to light is reduced due to the decreased surface fraction of scintillator.
Similar problems are exhibited in existing collimator designs. Current methods often require that individual plates of tungsten be placed at the correct angle to the beam to reduce scatter. As the detector pitch gets smaller, and the CT detectors get larger, the task of properly placing the collimators becomes difficult. It can also result in excessive production and assembly costs. Thus a technology that addressed both the limitations of existing scintillator designs as well as the limitations of collimator designs would be highly beneficial to the use of conversion devices in modern computer tomography systems.
It would, therefore, be highly desirable to have a methodology of scintillator construction and production that was suited for small pixel arrays. It would additionally be highly desirable to have a methodology that could further incorporate inexpensive and reliable production techniques. Finally, it would be highly desirable to develop a technology that could advance both collimator and scintillator design and performance.

Monolithic structure for x-ray CT collimator


A dust testing facility for static dust testing of a motor vehicle, wherein actual road dust is utilized, which dust is fully recirculated and reused, and wherein the dust testing of the motor vehicle suitably approximates a dynamic road dust test of the motor vehicle. The dust testing facility includes a dust testing chamber which receive thereinside a motor vehicle to be tested and is integrated with four major component systems: an air supply system, a dust supply system, a dust spray system interfaced with the dust supply system, and a dust recapture system interfaced with the air supply and dust supply systems. The dust testing chamber preferably includes, for purposes of dust testing of a motor vehicle, a leak detection system selectively interfaced with a motor vehicle being dust tested.

Original equipment manufacturers of motor vehicles perform various tests on prototype and production vehicles in order to ascertain their performance characteristics. Some tests involve subjecting the motor vehicle to certain environmental conditions. One of these environmental conditions is dust.
It has been routine practice for dust testing of a motor vehicle to be performed by a dynamic road test in which the subject motor vehicle is driven in the open air over a predetermined road course whereat dust is present, as for example at a dirt road course (public or private) in the desert. Various aspects of the motor vehicle are impacted by dust, as for example the quality of the door sealing.
In the 1970's Fisher Body, a division of General Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., experimented with the possible use of a dust testing chamber for motor vehicle dust testing at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren, Mich. However, the tests were inconclusive and the dust could not be recirculated. Accordingly, the dynamic road dust test was considered indispensable for the analysis of motor vehicle sealing and the dust chamber experimentation was abandoned.
Applicants have heard by second-hand information that the U.S. military may have a dust testing booth in Florida, but if it exists, the workings thereof are unknown to Applicants. Applicants are also aware that Boeing Corporation of Seattle, Wash., uses a type of dust booth that involves placing oil on an aircraft wing; the dust, in conjunction with the oil, serves to seal any cracks that my be present on the wing surface.
In the interim since the Fisher Body experimentation, improved air filtration systems have become available. Additionally, dry powder spray systems for paint application have been developed. These developments, combined with the time and money consumed by dynamic road tests, have given new impetus to the need to develop a successful dust testing facility for motor vehicle evaluations.

Dust testing facility for motor vehicles


A three-dimensional image grabber allowing for the simultaneous projection of multiple phase-shifted patterns onto an object, and the simultaneous acquisition of multiple images of these phase-shifted patterns is described herein. The grabber comprises a pattern projecting assembly and an image acquisition assembly. The pattern projecting assembly includes, for example, a spectral splitter or a plurality of light sources, grids and projectors for simultaneous projection of a plurality of patterns under different monochromatic lights. The image acquisition assembly includes, for example, a CCD camera sensitive to the different monochromatic lights, or a plurality of CCD cameras with filters to gather lights incoming for the object simultaneously illuminated by the plurality of phase-shifted patterns. A method and a system for measuring the relief of an object, using the above-mentioned process, is also disclosed.

The use of interferometric methods for three-dimensional inspection of an object or to measure the variations of height (relief) of an object is well known. Generally stated, these methods consist in generating an interferometric pattern on the surface of the object and then analyzing the resulting interferometric image (or interferogram) to obtain the relief of the object. The interferometric image generally includes a series of black and white fringes.
Interferometric methods that require the use of a laser to generate the interferometric pattern are usually called "classic interferometric methods". In such classic methods, the wavelength of the laser and the configuration of the measuring assembly generally determine the period of the resulting interferogram. Classic interferometry methods are generally used in the visible spectrum to measure height variations in the order of micron.
However, there has been difficulty in using such a method to measure height variations on a surface showing variations in the order of 0.5-1 mm when they are implemented in the visible spectrum. Indeed, the density of the black and white fringes of the resulting interferogram increases, causing the analyzis to be tedious.
Another drawback of classic interferometric methods is that they require measuring assemblies that are particularly sensitive to noise and vibrations.
Three-dimensional inspection methods based on Moiré interferometry allow for a more accurate measurement of the object in the visible spectrum as compared to the accuracy of classic interferometric methods. These methods are based on the analyzis of the frequency beats obtained between 1) a grid positioned over the object to be measured and its shadow on the object ("Shadow Moiré Techniques") or 2) the projection of a grid on the object, with another grid positioned between the object, and the camera that is used to photograph the resulting interferogram ("Projected Moiré Techniques"). In both cases, the frequency beats between the two grids produce the fringes of the resulting interferogram.
More specifically, the Shadow Moiré technique includes the steps of positioning a grid near the object to be measured, providing illumination from a first angle from the plane of the object (for example 45 degrees) and using a camera, positioned at a second angle (for example 90 degrees from the plane of the object), to photograph the interferogram.
Since the distance between the grid and the object varies, this variation of height produces a variation in the pattern of the interferogram. This variation in the pattern can then be analyzed to obtain the relief of the object.
A drawback to the use of a Shadow Moiré technique for measuring the relief of an object is that the grid must be very closely positioned to the object in order to yield accurate results, causing restrictions in the set-up of the measuring assembly.
The Projected Moiré technique is similar to the Shadow Moiré technique since the grid, positioned between the camera and the object, has a function similar to the shadow of the grid in the Shadow Moiré technique. However, a further drawback of the Projected Moiré technique is that it involves many adjustments, and therefore generally produces inaccurate results since it requires the positioning and tracking of two grids. Furthermore, the second grid tends to obscure the camera, preventing it from being used simultaneously to take other measurements.
The use of methods based on "phase-shifting" interferometry allows measurement of the relief of an object by analyzing the phase variations of a plurality of images of the object after projections of a pattern thereto. Each image corresponds to a variation of the position of the grid, or of any other means producing the pattern, relative to the object.
Indeed, the intensity I(x,y) for every pixel (x,y) on an interferometric image may be described by the following equation:I(x,y)=A(x,y)+B(x,y)·cos (ΔΦ(x,y))  (1)where ΔΦ is the phase variation (or phase modulation), and A and B are a coefficient that can be computed for every pixel.
In the PCT application No. WO 01/06210, entitled "Method And System For Measuring The Relief Of An Object", Coulombe et al. describe a method and a system for measuring the height of an object using at least three interferometric images. Indeed, since Equation 1 comprises three unknowns, that is A, B and ΔΦ, three intensity values I1, I2 and I3 for each pixel, therefore three images are required to compute the phase variation ΔΦ.
Knowing the phase variation ΔΦ, the object height distribution (the relief) at every point h(x,y) relative to a reference surface can be computed using the following equation (see FIG. 1):
                              h                                (                          x              ,              y                        )                          =                                                            ΔΦ                                                  (                                      x                    ,                    y                                    )                                            ·              p                                      2                                            π                ·                                  tan                                                        (                    θ                    )                                                                                30                                    (        2        )            where p is the grid pitch and θ is the projection angle, as described hereinabove.
The three images used by Coulombe et al. correspond to small translation of a grid relative to the surface of the object. The displacements of the grid are so chosen as to yield phase variations in the images. Coulombe et al. suggest obtention of the images by using a system that allows moving the grid relative to the object to be measured. A minor drawback of such a system is that it requires moving the grid between each take of images, increasing the image acquisition time. This can be particularly detrimental, for example, when such a system is used to inspect moving objects on a production line. More generally, any moving parts in such systems increase the possibility of imprecision and also of breakage.
A method and a system for three-dimensional inspection of an object free of the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior-art is thus desirable.

System for simultaneous projections of multiple phase-shifted patterns for the three-dimensional inspection of an object


A digital and analog television signal digitization and processing device that performs the digitization and processing functions using a common reference frequency source that is used to generate multiple subclock signals, wherein the reference frequency source is independent of any synchronizing characteristic of the input signal. For dual channel analog signal processing, the common frequency source is not locked to either channel/input signal. Digital signal processing is accomplished based on the same common reference frequency source. Advantageously, the present invention allows all of the analog-to-digital converters and decoder circuitry/logic necessary for simultaneously digitizing and processing several analog and digital television signals to be integrated on a single integrated circuit as well as eliminating duplicate frequency generation circuits.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for processing analog and/or digital signals, and more particularly, to integrated circuits that utilize multiple clock frequencies for digitizing and processing various analog and/or digital signals.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Integrated circuits, or ICs, are extensively used in all types of electronic devices. As these electronic devices become more complex, the number of ICs necessary to perform all of the required functions increases and/or the functions of several ICs are combined into a single IC. Even as multiple functions are consolidated into a single IC, it is desirable to reduce the internal complexity of the IC.
Current televisions use many different ICs for processing both analog and digital television signals from various terrestrial and non-terrestrial sources. The next generation of digital/analog televisions, however, will be expected to have even higher levels of integration than current televisions. Higher levels of integration translate into fewer ICs, wherein processes performed by several individual ICs are combined into one IC. However, various obstacles stand in the way of combining processing from analog television signal receivers with those required for digital television signals.
A problem with respect to integration of analog and digital television signal processing ICs is that different sources of video (both analog and digital) may require analog-to-digital (A/D) converters to be run at different sampling rates. Analog television signals are based on line-locked or chroma sub-carrier-locked frequencies, while digitally modulated (digital) television signals are based on their own symbol rates. Also, present A/D technology produces digital crosstalk that adversely affects A/D performance when asynchronous clocks are present.
It is known to use stand-alone digital demodulators using digital interpolation for off-frequency operation. Also, second channel processing for analog signals has been accomplished with an asynchronous sample frequency. In the latter case, however, the main channel is locked to a parameter of the incoming analog television signal, such as horizontal sync pulses or color burst.

Digital and analog television signal digitization and processing device


The driver condition detection system includes a driver monitor camera capturing a face of a driver of a vehicle and generating a facial image of the driver, and a driver condition detection part configured to detect a condition of the driver based on the facial image. If a part of face parts of the driver is hidden in the facial image, the driver condition detection part is configured to detect a condition of the driver based on face parts of the driver not hidden in the facial image. The face parts of the driver are a mouth, nose, right eye, and left eye of the driver.

Known in the past has been a device using an image capturing means provided in a vehicle for detecting a condition of a driver of the vehicle. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2016-057839A describes that a facial direction of the driver and an angular velocity of the facial direction is calculated from an image of the driver captured by the image capturing means and, if the facial direction of the driver is outside an image capturing range of the image capturing means, the facial direction is estimated based on the angular velocity of the facial direction.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A robot cleaner according to the present invention includes a body provided with a driving unit for movement, a position recognition unit provided in the body to recognize a position of the body, a storage unit configured to store, on a map, a region cleaned while the body is moving by the driving unit, and a control unit configured to control the driving unit, wherein the control unit determines whether a charging stand exists in a cleaning completed region on the map stored in the storage unit when a return condition that the body returns to the charging stand is satisfied, searches for an uncleaned region when the charging stand is not located in the cleaning completed region, and controls the driving unit such that the body moves from a current position to a point in a found uncleaned region or a point around the found uncleaned region.

Generally, cleaners are devices that suck and remove foreign matters on floors. Among the cleaners, a cleaner that automatically performs cleaning is called a robot cleaner.
The robot cleaner sucks foreign matters on floors to perform cleaning while moving by a driving force of a motor driven by a battery. In addition, the robot cleaner includes an obstacle sensor so as to avoid an obstacle while traveling to travel by itself and perform cleaning.
When the battery needs to be charged in the process of cleaning in the robot cleaner, the robot cleaner needs to return to a charging stand.
Korean Patent Publication No. 10-2004-0087176 (published on Oct. 13, 2004), which is a prior art document, discloses an automatic charging system and a return method for a robot cleaner.
According to the prior art document, when a mode of the robot cleaner is switched to a mode for returning to a charging stand, the robot cleaner searches for a position of the charging stand. The robot cleaner receives an infrared signal outputted from the charging stand to detect a direction of the charging stand and an angle with the charging stand.
When the infrared signal generated by the charging stand is not recognized, the robot cleaner moves forward by a predetermined distance in a previous traveling direction and performs wall-following. When the infrared generating means of the charging stand is detected, the robot cleaner detects the exact position of the infrared generating means while moving forward/backward based on the infrared generating means to and performs docking operation.
However, according to the prior art document, when the robot cleaner knows the position of the charging stand in advance, the robot cleaner may move directly toward the charging stand. However, when the robot cleaner does not know the position of the charging stand, the robot cleaner needs to search for the position of the charging stand, thereby taking a long time to search for the charging stand.

Robot cleaner and control method thereof


The present invention provides N-substituted-2(1H) pyridones or the pharmaceutical acceptable salts thereof, and the pharmaceutical preparations containing the compounds. The compounds of the present invention can be used to treat various fibrotic diseases effectively, e.g., hepatic fibrosis.

Fibrosis is a widespread disease involving various organs of a human body. It harms the function of organs mainly by way of the excessive production and deposition of collagen proteins resulting from inflammatory reactions. Fibrosis occurs in various tissues and organs of human body, such as cardiac muscle, liver, lung, kidney and skin. Once fibrosis happens, the function of this organ and even the whole body will usually be extremely damaged. For example, scar tissue proliferation caused by skin wound not only affects the appearance but also affects the movement of limbs in severe cased; the fibrosis of cardiac muscle caused by coronary heart disease is a key factor of heart failure; kidney fibrosis caused by chronic glomerular nephritis and pyelonephritis is responsible for over 90% uraemia caused by renal failure; lung fibrosis caused by multiple lung pathologic changes often results in death due to respiratory failure. One of the main symptoms of non-typical pneumonia breaking out in the year of 2003 is fibrosis of lung tissue.
Liver fibrosis is the common pathologic basis of the progress of chronic liver diseases. Various chronic damages lead to degeneration and necrosis of hepatocytes, and the abnormal proliferation and excessive deposition of fibrous connective tissue. The proliferative and overdeposited fibrous connective tissue encapsulates the regenerated hepatocytes to form "pseudo-lobule" which destroys the original structure of the liver and finally leads to the formation of nodule, sclerosis and cirrhosis, with the hepatic function impaired or even completely eliminated. Each year in the world, up to almost one million people die from liver cirrhosis, and there is still an upward trend. Cirrhosis is among the main reasons of death in the European countries, America, Japan and China, only next to cerebrovascular accident, angiocardiopathy and malignant tumor.
Many chronic liver diseases, such as chronic viral hepatitis, chronic alcoholism, cholestasis, dysmetabolism disorder of congenital enzyme defects, and long-term contact with toxin and drugs, can cause liver fibrosis. Among them, chronic viral hepatitis is the most common cause. The Hepatitis B is very popular in China. HBV antigen can be detected in about 76% of liver tissue with cirrhosis. A scientific research has shown that there are over 500 million carriers of Hepatitis B virus around the world. In China, 600 million people have been infected with Hepatitis B virus once, about 120 million people are carriers of Hepatitis B virus, and over 30 million patients suffer from chronic Hepatitis B, among which more than 20-30% are expected to develop into cirrhosis in 5-10 years, while about 20% of people with cirrhosis may develop into primary liver cancer. In view of the linkage relationship between Hepatitis B virus, cirrhosis and liver cancer, there are up to 400,000 people in China who die from cirrhosis after Hepatitis B infection and the liver cancer. It is of great significance to effectively prevent liver fibrosis and cirrhosis of the patients with a liver disease.
Although antivirus and anti-inflammation are the basis of Hepatitis B treatment, in fact, the conditions of most of the patients infected with Hepatitis B virus will have a chronically progressive development. Antivirus alone can not prevent the progression of the disease. A large portion of these patients will inevitably develop cirrhosis or liver failure gradually, which is the later stage of the chronic liver disease and is a result of liver fibrosis induced by long-term hepatocyte necrosis. If the condition can not be controlled, it will continuously develop to damage various organs. Such damages mainly include severe complications such as impaired liver function, portal hypertension, hemorrhage of digestive tract, hepatic encephalopathy and concurrent infections. Due to the lack of an effective therapeutic method available at present, the mortality is very high. In areas where liver diseases are popular, such as China and Southeastern Asia, hundreds of thousands young people lose their lives as a result of these complications every year.
At present it is believed that the cirrhosis lesion is irreversible. Even if the primary cause is eliminated, the condition will still develop and deteriorate. Liver fibrosis is a primary stage in the development of various chronic liver diseases into cirrhosis, and it is also the common pathologic basis of cirrhosis. From the viewpoint of treatment, this stage is reversible. It can be recovered to the original state upon treatment. Therefore, it is a key and breakthrough point to cure most of the refractory liver diseases by blocking and reversing liver fibrosis as soon as possible before it develops into cirrhosis.
The development of anti-fibrotic medicaments typically starts from the following aspects including inhibiting synthesis of collagen, inhibiting the expression of collagen mRNA, enhancing the degradation of collagen, and inhibiting the immune response of the organism. Now some medicaments, such as interferon, colchine, corticosterone hormone, malotiate, have been used in the research of anti-fibrosis. However, these medicaments have the disadvantages of high toxicity and side effects and high price, which limit their clinical application. At present, there is not an effective therapeutic means for fibrosis.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,789,426 discloses a method for treating fibrosis disease by administration of a protein hydroxylation inhibitor, wherein the inhibitor is a N-substituted hydroxyl pyridone derivative.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,090,822 discloses the use of N-substituted 2(1H) pyridone or N-substituted 3(1H) pyridone for treating the diseases caused by cytokines.
WO00/44381 discloses the use of N-substituted 2(1H) pyridone or N -substituted 3(1H) pyridone for treating cancers, such as lymphomas and leukemia, etc.
EP 1138329 discloses the use of 5-methyl-1-phenyl-2-(1H) -pyridone for treating fibrotic injuries.
Pirfenidone (PF) is a small molecule compound initially invented in the early 1980s. It has the effects of inhibiting the synthesis of collagen, decreasing the secretion of cytokines, and preventing the proliferation of fibroblast. The specific target gene of this agent is still unclear. Since then, it has been used to successfully inhibit the fibrosis of heart, kidney, lung and vascular inner wall in various animal models. This agent is being in Stage III clinical trial for treating idiopathic fibrosis of the lung (IPF) in America. However, the inhibitory activity of PF is not sufficiently satisfying.
Anti-fibrotic medicaments have a large demand in the market. It is estimated that 45% of causes of deaths in America can be attributed to physiological disorder of fibrotic proliferation, for example, liver fibrosis/cirrhosis, kidney fibrosis, heart fibrosis and lung fibrosis. Therefore, there is an urgent need in the art to develop novel compounds and medicaments for the effective inhibition of various fibrosis.


‘LIRTP’ is a distinctive variety of Liriope muscari which is characterized by the combination of its tall plant height, tall inflorescence length combined with narrow leaf width, dense foliage and a purple flower color.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct perennial variety of Liriope muscari, which has been given the variety denomination of 'LIRTP'. Its market class is that of an ornamental plant. 'LIRTP' is intended for use in landscaping and as a decorative plant.
The Liriope muscari variety 'LIRTP' was finally selected in 2005 in an Australian nursery in the state of New South Wales following a selection process carried out from 2002 to 2005 involving approximately 20000 seedlings of Liriope muscari cultivar 'Big Blue' (unpatented) production stock. 'LIRTP' is a seedling selection from open pollinated Liriope muscari cultivar 'Big Blue'. 'LIRTP' was selected due to its tall plant height with tall inflorescence length combined with narrow leaf width, dense foliage and a purple flower color. 'LIRTP' was first propagated asexually by division in the state of New South Wales, Australia and has since been asexually propagated by division and micropropagation. The distinctive characteristics of the inventive 'LIRTP' variety are stable from generation to generation; clones of the variety produced by asexual reproduction maintain the distinguishing characteristics of the original plant.
'LIRTP' has an upright to semi upright growth habit with a medium shoot density whereas 'Big Blue' has a semi upright growth habit with a medium shoot density. 'LIRTP' has a tall plant height whereas 'Big Blue' has a medium-tall plant height 'LIRTP' has a narrow-medium leaf width whereas 'Big Blue' has a broad leaf width.
An application for plant breeders' rights for variety 'LIRTP' has been lodged with the Australian Plant Breeders' Rights Office, and was first gazetted in 27 March 2006 under Application No. 2006/036.


A breast presser belt 1 comprising a belt body 2 adapted to be removably wrapped around a breast portion of a user, a presser member 3 adapted to extend from the belt body 2 over to the breast portion of a user, and a bag 4 adapted to be inflated by means of an appropriate fluid. The bag 4 is attached to the inner surface of the presser member 3 at a predetermined position. When the bag 4 is inflated, the breast presser belt 1 pressurizes the breast portion of a user and securely fastened to the breast portion. Thus, the pressurizing location of the breast presser belt 1 is prevented from being shifted. The breast presser belt does not require a user or patient to keep still on a bed. Allergic poisoning, previously experienced due to the use of medical adhesive tape, may be obviated. The breast presser belt may be applied to a female having larger breasts.

Recently, a pacemaker implantation operation has been performed relative to a cardiopath. The pacemaker includes an electrode attached to a heart of a patient. The electrode gives an electric pulse periodically to the heart, so as to activate contraction ability of the heart.
The pacemaker is implanted into a body of a patient through an incision in a breast portion of the patient. After implantation, the incision should be sutured and pressed or compressed for a relatively extended period of time until the wound becomes completely healed, so as to maintain the pacemaker at a fixed position. By this, tissue growth at the wound, which otherwise would be obstructed by displacement or shifting of the pacemaker, may be facilitated.
In a conventional way for pressing or compressing an incision for a relatively long period of time after completion of pacemaker implantation operation, a piece of gauze is applied to the incision and fixed thereby means of medical adhesion tape. Then, a weight adjusted to 500 gr. to 1 kg., such as a sand bag, is placed on the medical adhesive tape so as to immobilize the same. The immobilized or fixed condition of the medical adhesive tape is maintained for a relatively long period of time.
According to a prior art method mentioned above, fixation or immobilizaton of the weight such as a sand bag is not sufficienty achieved. Displacement of the pacemaker is easily caused due to shifting or displacement of the weight, whereby tissue growth is disadvantageously delayed. It is also noted that, since pressing force or compressing force from the weight is only exerted in the direction of gravity, a patient is required to keep still on a bed for a relatively long time of period. In such a situation, the patient is prevented from turning in bed. Since medical adhesive tape is used as a means for fixing the gauze and the weight, allergic poisoning can be caused to a patient. Furthermore, the weight cannot be easily applied to a female patient having larger breasts.


A replaceable liquid application implement is attached to a hand-manipulated fluid reservoir and a thumb-activated plate is disposed between the application implement and the reservoir for selectively controlling the flow of fluid.

In the past a number of attempts have been made to teach a device which dispenses liquid on demand such as the oil applicator of U.S. Pat. No. 2,100,855 which discloses a hollow shell having an open bottom and a rotatable sponge with a perforated disk in between which must be rotated to align the holes to dispense liquid, however this device while being functional in itself requires the use of both hands and is not ergonomically designed to be operated by one hand. Also, in actual use the disk will leak when out of register as it depends on a friction fit.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,698,824 also teaches an apparatus for washing vehicles, windows and other surfaces and carries its own supply of fluid which also teaches a disk as a valve means which must be moved into and out of register with its supply and the applicator which is rotational in design and again depends on a friction fit and is not designed in a hand-friendly, ergonomic manner.
Neither of the above mentioned references nor any prior art found by the applicants, are designed for use with livestock which the present invention addresses as the present invention teaches a hand-friendly, ergonomic dispenser which, although it may be used in other applications, such as washing vehicles, windows, etc., has special features which make it ideal for use with livestock.

Ergonomically designed liquid dispenser and applicator


An electromagnetic actuator (1) of the type of a relay, having an armature (2) polarized by a permanent magnet (5) and a movable drive element (6) attracted by the armature (2) against a spring means (8), incorporates an electric current sensor consisting of a toroidal transformer (16) penetrated by at least one conductor (17) from an electric power supply line. The actuator (1) of this invention has a major advantage in that it can combine in a single device the functions of sensing differential currents on the line and of tripping off the break mechanism of a protection breaker, within a highly compact volume.

Known are, in this specific field of application, protection apparatus which are intended for installation at consumer's outlets of single-phase or three-phase power supplies of the civil or industrial kinds.
Such prior apparatus include a protective automatic breaker, usually of the magnetothermic type, whose break mechanism is driven by a solenoid.
Also provided is a differential current sensor which comprises a toroidal transformer encircling the power supply line and being adapted to warn of the appearance of such currents, also referred to as leakage currents, by sensing any unbalance in the currents flowing through the line conductors.
The sensor is connected to the solenoid coil so as to trip off the breaker mechanism on a predetermined differential current value being exceeded.
High performance (type "A") protection apparatus, such as those designed to become operative on unidirectional or pulsed currents being sensed, include an electronic circuit connected between the sensor and the solenoid. This circuit is generally made up of series and/or cascade connected capacitors.
While being in many ways advantageous and substantially up to their intended function, such apparatus still have several drawbacks, as pointed out herein below.
The current-detection and break mechanism trip-off steps involve a sequel of energy conversions from electric into electromagnetic, and vice versa, and ultimately into mechanical, which unavoidably brings about losses and restricts the apparatus response.
The provision of an electronic circuit including capacitors is both cost-, space-, and power-intensive.
The solenoid and the toroidal transformer which forms the current sensor, by their very presence restrict the possibility of making such protection apparatus more compact.
Patent Application GB-A-2074380 discloses an electromagnetic breaker having a yoke polarized by a permanent magnet and a movable element which is attracted by the yoke against spring; electric conductors are passed through a hole in the yoke so that the magnetic flux induced by conductors through the yoke interferes with the permanent magnetic flux from the permanent magnet.
The technical problem that underlies this invention is to provide an electromagnetic actuator of the type of a relay, which has such structural and performance characteristics as to overcome the above-noted drawbacks.

Electromagnetic actuator of the type of a relay


A method for preventing or treating opioid induced side effects including dysphoria, pruritus and urinary retention and non-opioid induced changes in gastrointestinal motility. The method comprises administering methylnaltrexone or another quaternary derivative of noroxymorphone to a patient prior to the administration of an opioid or after the onset of side effects induced by the administration of an opioid, wherein the methylnaltrexone or quaternary derivative is administered by the route selected from the group consisting of intravenous, intramuscular, transmucosal, transdermal, and oral administration, preferably administered orally in an enterically coated form.

Opioids are effective analgesics, however, their use is associated with a number of undesirable side effects. One of these side effects is pruritus, or itching. Pruritus is a common side effect associated with the use of opioids and may be very severe. Pruritus can occur when the opioid is administered intramuscularly, intravenously, transdermally, transmucosally or intrathecally.
It is believed that the opioid induced pruritus results from the release of histamine in response to the administration of opioids. Opioids are thought to stimulate histamine release by binding to opioid receptors on the central nervous system. This, in turn, causes peripheral nerves and histamine containing cells to release histamine.
Based on this theory a number of treatments have been used to alleviate opioid induced pruritus. The first is the use of antihistamines. However, antihistamines have a variable effect on opioid induced pruritus. Additionally, the use of antihistamines, when effective, only treats the symptom after it has occurred, rather than preventing its occurrence.
Another undesirable side effect of opioids is urinary retention, or the patient's inability to spontaneously empty his or her bladder. This urinary retention is a common side effect that can occur when opioids or related compounds are administered intramuscularly, intravenously, transmucosally, transdermally, or intrathecally. It is not clear why opioids cause urinary retention, but it is thought to be related to the central anticholinergic stimulation that opioids induce. Based on this theory, a number of cholinergic-type drugs have been used to treat urinary retention. However, due to the side effects of cholinergic drugs, catheterization of the bladder with a tube to drain urine remains the mainstay of treatment.
Another opioid-induced side effect is dysphoria, a feeling of unpleasantness or discomfort. Many subjects, especially those without pain, report unpleasant psychomimetic responses to the administration of an opioid alone. These responses have been previously attributed to activation of centrally located opioid receptors. This opioid-induced dysphoria is commonly treated by the addition of other drugs, such as benzodiazepines, to decrease the dysphoria or to blunt the recall of the dysphoria. These drugs, however are associated with increased levels of sedation and may enhance respiratory depression caused by the opioid.
One treatment for side effects such as pruritis, urinary retention and dysphoria is the use of opioid antagonists which cross the blood-brain-barrier, or which are administered directly into the central nervous system. Opioid antagonists such as naltrexone and naloxone have been administered intramuscularly or orally to treat opioid induced pruritus. Naltrexone and naloxone are highly lipid soluble and rapidly diffuse across biological membranes, including the blood-brain-barrier. However, naltrexone, naloxone and other opioid antagonists also reduce the analgesic effect of the opioid being used.
Many quaternary amine opioid antagonist derivatives, such as methylnaltrexone, do not reduce the analgesic effect of the opioids. These quaternary amine opioid antagonist derivatives, which have a relatively higher polarity and reduced lipid solubility when compared to the tertiary forms of the drugs, were specifically developed to not traverse the blood-brain-barrier or to traverse it at a greatly reduced rate. Since these quaternary opioid antagonist derivatives do not cross the blood-brain-barrier, peripheral administration of these antagonists would not be expected to be effective in the treatment of an opioid induced side effect caused by the opioid within the central nervous system. In fact, experiments show that to be effective in blocking the opioid receptors in the central nervous system, these antagonists must be injected directly into the central nervous system. However, injection of drugs directly into the central nervous system is undesirable since it increases the possibility of introducing bacterial or viral contamination to the central nervous system.
It is desirable in the treatment of many conditions to have oral medications with prolonged effects. Such oral medications are particularly desirable both for the treatment of opioid-induced side effects (such as urinary retention, pruritus, and some forms of constipation) and for the treatment of nonopioid-induced side effects (such as other forms of constipation and delayed gastric emptying from enteric feeding).
It is further desirable to develop a method for the prevention of opioid induced dysphoria, opioid induced pruritus, urinary retention, opioid- or nonopioid-induced delayed gastric emptying from enteric feeding, and constipation, which does not counteract the analgesic effects of the opioid, or risk increased levels of pain.

Use of methylnaltrexone and related compounds


A filtering apparatus for filtering contaminants from a cooling system for an internal combustion engine with a liquid cooled radiator comprising a filtering screen to remove unwanted contaminants from the radiator fluid without substantially restricting fluid flow. Placed in a direct flowpath of the fluid, the filtering screen comprises a filtering surface and a semi-detachable precut flap. The precut flap can be partially cut to open once a specific flow pressure is reached thereby, as filtered contaminants become deposited on the filtering surface and increase in the flow pressure, the precut flap will open in the direction of the flow so as to provide sufficient fluid for the successful operation of the cooling system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filtering apparatus. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus for filtering contaminants, particles and the like from a cooling system working in conjunction with an internal combustion engine.
2. Art Background
It is commonly known that all types of fluids are easily susceptible to contamination. Thus, over the years, our society has developed a number of filtering systems to remove unwanted contaminants from certain fluids. For example, filtering systems have been widely used by cities and counties throughout the United States to remove unwanted contaminants from local water supplies so as to provide suitable drinking water for its citizens. Even commercial products, such as household faucets, have been designed to include a filtering system to prevent debris from the water pipes from getting into your drinking water. Besides being used to protect the health of the populous, filtering systems have been incorporated in many commercial products, such as an automobile, truck or generally any machine relying on an internal combustion engine, to improve the product's performance and extend its useful life.
Many years ago, the automotive industry realized that internal combustion engines operate more efficiently for a longer duration if unwanted contaminants are prevented from entering the engine and becoming deposited therein. Thus, in order to protect the engine from damaging contaminants thereby extending the useful life of its engine, the automotive industry began to incorporate filtering devices, particularly within the fuel lines ("fuel filters") and the oil lines ("oil filters").
These filters, which are installed originally and can be purchased as an after-market product, have been positioned within an accessible area of the engine so that ordinary consumers can replace these inexpensive filters once the vehicle is driven a certain number of miles or after a certain time period has expired. By routinely replacing these filters, consumers directly increase the useful life of their cars and enable their cars to perform at their optimum level. Although these filters protect the engine from contaminants, there is no such filtering device to prevent unwanted contaminants, particles and the like from damaging the radiator within the cooling system.
Car engines are formed by metal casting which provides a somewhat rough grain surface, which, over time, results in the accumulation of small particles in the radiator fluid as the granules break off from the surface. Additionally, corrosion occurs in the radiator over time causing an accumulation of "rust" particles as well. A few years ago, radiators were designed with metal heads so that the rectangular tubing within the radiator casing could be easily cleaned by welding the head open and removing the radiator rectangular tubing. In today's disposable society, radiators are designed with plastic heads so that the tubes cannot be removed. Thus, without a way to clean the rectangular tubing, the entire radiator must be replaced which costs consumers hundreds of dollars in unnecessary repairs, causes consumers the inconvenience of waiting many hours to get their car repaired, and unnecessarily wastes natural resources.
It would be a great advantage and, is therefore an object of the present invention, to provide a filtering apparatus for the cooling system with the purpose of extending the useful life of the radiator.


The present invention provides a method for verifying an unreadable information-based indium that has been generated by a postal security device (PSD) for information-based indium comprising a 2-D bar code, certain human-readable information, a digital signature and a certificate. The method comprises the steps of attempting to read the 2-D bar code using sophisticated digital image processing when the 2-D bar code is not readable; and continuing normal processing when the 2-D bar code is readable with the sophisticated digital image processing. When the 2-D bar code is not readable two independent processes are used to determine the indicium certificate. A first process includes reading human readable information by optical character recognition using context, syntax, and redundancy in the human readable information to obtain a PSD-ID; and using the PSD-ID to look up in a certificate database a certificate corresponding to the information-based indicium. A second process includes interpreting partial bar code data and extracting a "best guess" of the certificate and searching the certificate database for the closest matching certificate. The method further comprises merging data obtained from the two processes and attempting to reconstruct bar code data from the merged data. If the merged data is sufficient, an attempt is made to verify the digital signature obtained from the merged data. If the signature is verified, normal processing is resumed. If the merged data is insufficient or if the signature is not verified, a suspect mailpiece record is created.

The Information-Based Indicia Program (IBIP) is a distributed trusted system proposed by the United States Postal Service (USPS). The IBIP requires printing large, high density, two dimensional (2-D) bar codes on mailpieces. The Postal Service expects the IBIP to provide cost-effective assurance of postage payment for each mailpiece processed. However, such assurance will only be as good as the verification process within the IBIP.
The vast majority of the Posts around the world demand prepayment for postal services. This allows the Posts to avoid the substantial costs associated with collecting, processing and distributing billing data, as well as costs of remittance processing and collection for billions of mailers. Prepayment, however, necessitates that individual mailpieces carry verifiable evidence of paid postage. The familiar postage stamp is a prime example of such evidence. Although postage stamps are good for many applications they suffer from shortcomings. They are costly to produce and distribute and are subject to theft. For moderate to larger volume mailings postage stamps are difficult to apply and slow the process. Further, stamps do not provide information such as date and place of mailing and provide limited postal revenue security.
Arthur Pitney invented the first postage meter in 1902 to alleviate some shortcomings of postage stamps. The postage meter was a mechanical device with securely coupled printing and accounting functions. The mechanical meter, perfected over the years, became a widespread basic business machine; many are still in service. The accounting and machine control functions were computerized in the late seventies, after the invention of the microprocessor. This enabled new features, including departmental accounting and computerized meter resetting. The fundamental security of postage evidencing remained the same.
Postal revenue security in the analog postage meter depends on two features: (a) physical security of the printing process, i.e., printing of postage evidence can not occur without appropriate accounting, and (b) forensic detectability, i.e., fraudulent postal indicia can be distinguished from legitimate indicia.
Coupling the printing and accounting mechanism within a secure tamper evident device provides physical security of printing. Inspection of the device normally reveals tampering. The effectiveness of forensic detectability of fraudulent postal indicia depends on non-availability of alternative mechanisms suitable for forging indicia. Before the proliferation of inexpensive, high print quality computer-driven digital printers, serious attempts to generate fraudulent indicia using an alternate printing mechanism were detectable.
Recent availability of inexpensive computer-driven printers provides opportunities for customer convenience and cost advantages for printing postage evidence. This requires a new way of securing postage, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,641,347, 4,641,346, 4,757,537, and 4,775,246, which provide that the security of postage evidencing depends on the security of the information printed in the indicium, including message authentication and integrity. This idea is extended to unsecured printing of postage as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,831,555 and 4,725,718, which provide that at least some of the information in the indicium must appear random to a party not in possession of some secret. This random looking information is referred to as a digital token.
The basis of postal revenue security in the digital printing world is two new requirements: (a) security of the digital token generating process, i.e., digital tokens can not be generated without appropriate accounting, and (b) automatic detectability, i.e., fraudulent digital tokens can be detected by automatic means.
A cryptographic transformation applied to data appearing in the indicium produces the digital token. The data elements, referred to as input postal data or simply postal data, may include postage value, date, register values, postal code of the geographical deposit area, recipient address information and piece count. The secret used to generate the token is generally a cryptographic key held within the device. The digital token is validated, i.e., verification that accounting for the postage value printed in the indicium has been properly done, by a verifier with access to a key matching the accounting device secret. Several cryptographic algorithms and protocols have been considered for this purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 4,853,961 describes critical aspects of using public key cryptography for mailing applications.
Verification of Information-Based Indicia (IBI) indicia is the process of proving that the postage evidenced on each IBI mailpiece has been paid. The digital signature scheme proposed for the IBI system provides a secure method of proving the validity, specifically the integrity and authenticity, of the data within the indicium. However, this capability alone does not rule out all potential fraud attempts. A thorough verification system must account for cases where the indicium bar code is unreadable and must be able to detect duplicate mailpieces.
The generation of unreadable indicia bar codes is an attractive method of fraud. This attack circumvents the cryptographic security and tracking features of the IBI system. However, due to the difficulties inherent in printing large, high density, 2-D bar codes on mail it is likely that many honest mailers will also print a significant number of unreadable, but legitimate mailpieces. Thus, since there will probably be a large volume of such pieces, unreadable mail cannot arbitrarily be returned to the sender, nor can it automatically be suspected of fraud. Therefore, every effort must be made to correctly read as many mailpieces as possible.
Duplicate mailpieces pose another serious threat. For cases where the indicium does not involve destination address information, there is no relationship between the indicium data and a particular mailpiece, so a simple copy of an indicium will produce multiple mailpieces with cryptographically valid indicia. The only defense against this attack is to maintain a database of mailpieces at each mail processing facility. For computer-based systems, the destination address is cryptographically tied to the indicium data; thus, the potential benefit of a simple copy attack is limited. However, enforcement of this cryptographic link requires that the destination postal code specified in the indicium is the same as the address to which the mailpiece is actually delivered. This requires that the machine readable and human readable address information be checked to ensure that they agree with the destination address specified in each indicia.
Another complication with duplicate indicia is the determination of which mailpiece is legitimate and which is the fraud. While in some cases a mailer may naively copy indicia from his or her own postal security device (PSD), it is more likely that a sophisticated attacker will copy indicia data from other mailpieces. In these cases the verification system cannot necessarily determine which mailpiece is fraudulent, but it must make an effort to record sufficient mailpiece information for investigators to pursue the culprit.

Method of verifying unreadable indicia for an information-based indicia program